: 9 2013 . 9 . . PAK vs NED Highlights, T20 World Cup 2022 Updates: Shadab, Rizwan Shine as Pakistan Beat Netherlands by 6 Wickets BAN vs ZIM, T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh Survive Dramatic Last Over to Edge Past Zimbabwe by 3 Runs BAN vs ZIM Highlights T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh Clinch Thrilling 3-Run Win Over Zimbabwe 'The Game Will be Slightly in Favour of...': Gavaskar's Major Prediction for IND vs SA Tie in Perth Top Countries having the major market share in Luxury Packaging Market Luxury Packaging Market Research Report | Beige Market Intelligence http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-consumer-and-retail-market/luxury-packaging/ Luxury PackagingLuxury Packaging can be defined in both ways including the packaging type or packaging luxury products. When it comes to Luxury products generally the luxury products are considered luxury when they are of the highest quality and have the strength and weight required to maintain pack integrity. Packaging enables brands to interact with consumers before they even purchase the product. Having an appealing packaging is a vital element to consider for the product's packaging redesign.Luxury Packaging Market segmentation by GeographyThe Global luxury packaging market Strategical Analysis and Forecast till 2021 research report published by Beige Market Intelligence provides the market sizing, Market forecast, Growth factors, emerging trends of the worldwide luxury packaging market. On the basis of geographic segmentation, the research report gives a detailed study of the luxury packaging market of the following regions.The top countries who are having an accountable market share in Luxury Packaging market areThe USThe US is the largest luxury market in the world with a revenue share of approx. 21.5%. It is home to half of the brand of North America region almost 50% of the total market. US is also a key hub for tourist shopping, particularly, attracting tourists from Latin America and APAC. The luxury packaging market in US is forecasted to reach a growth of 3.51% over the period 2016-2021. Mostly Personal Care products, food and beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are a major share having an accountable share of revenue in the luxury packaging market. Paper and paperboard is the widely used packaging material for luxury packaging in US, followed by rigid plastics, metal and glass. The region is also a hub for luxury packaging manufacturers with four out of five leading manufacturers headquartered in US.ChinaChina is the worlds second largest consumer of luxury goods and second largest luxury packaging manufacturer in the world. Hosting one of the most remarkable manufacturing growth story of the past three decades, China is truly the powerhouse of the world. Rise in disposable incomes, favourable regulatory regime and trade policies, easier access and cheaper availability of factors of production has made the country a key manufacturing hub for luxury goods. Educated, well-travelled and tech-savvy, this generation of shoppers are soon emerging to be the ideal target market for gourmet food and beverage products, leather goods, fashion accessories and premium beverages. Though the country is the largest consumer of luxury goods, the goods are not completely manufactured or sourced from within the country. Although all the luxury brands have a Chinese manufacturing presence, these luxury goods often are termed to be expensive when compared to beyond the boundary purchases. With the robust demand for luxury goods comes the demand for effective packaging solutions. The demand for luxury packaging is estimated to reach approx. $4.38 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of 7.16% in terms of revenue. Paper and paperboard packaging followed by rigid plastics are the widely used packaging types for luxury goods and constitute a major part of the packaging market in terms of revenue.JapanJapans GDP is the third highest in the world and has few large manufacturing industries including automobiles and electronics. Although the nation is hugely dependent on imports of raw materials, they handle the manufacturing well using advanced technologies. Japan is among the leading consumers of luxury goods that range from alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, personal care products and leather goods. Japan stands as the third largest luxury market in the world behind US and China. With Japanese economy struggling to just retain its anemic growth of 1-1.5%, the demand for luxury goods moderated with demand contracting in certain product segments such as jewellery and general leather goods.Paper and paperboard packaging remains to be the widely used packaging variant for luxury goods, followed by rigid plastics and flexibles. The pulp and paper products consumption in Japan is quite high.IndiaIndia has another remarkable growth story that has been predominantly driven by domestic consumption. Driven by rapidly rising disposable incomes, growing purchasing power of the middle class in tier-1 to tier 3 cities, young aspirational population, increased brand awareness among the youth, there has been a rapid rise in demand for luxury goods and services. Leather goods, fashion accessories, gourmet food and beverages, alcoholic drinks, jewellery, cosmetics and fragrances constitute the major luxury good segments in the country. Paper and paperboard remain to be the widely used variant for packaging of luxury goods in the country, constituting a revenue share of 41%, followed by rigid plastics (22%).Almost all the major luxury packaging vendors have presence in the country either through joint ventures or on a standalone basis, and are constantly expanding their operational capabilities to match to the dynamic requirements of the end use consumer.The report gives a detailed analysis of other major areas such as Eastern Europe, Western Europe , Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa to name a few.For more information, Click here:About Beige Market Intelligence:Beige Market Intelligence is new-age provider of competitive business intelligence, working across various industry verticals. Our expertise and knowledge ensures that the market analysis Beige provides is comprehensive, detailed and complete. The analysis helps our client organizations become aware and make educated decisions, as far as investing or devising a marketing strategy is concerned. The actionable insights delivered through our market research provide a comprehensive market analysis for every level of market segmentation in an industry. Beige Market Intelligence is a quality driven high end Market Research organization. Our team of experts ensure the analysis you receive is not just analysed and smartly presented, but is completely customized based on the clients requirement. Our deliverables guarantee our current global client base does not look beyond Beige when it comes to any kind of industry and market analysis.Beige Market Intelligencechinnapannahalli Main Road, Doddanekundi, Bangalore- 560037Contact info:contactus@beigemarketintelligence.comUS: +1 347 903 9949UK: +44 20 323 99499APAC: +91 99 012 75473 Writers Now Make Careers By Spreading Fear Of Muslims Says Frances Fuller, Award Winning Author Of Book About Middle East, 'In Borrowed Houses' Author Frances Fuller http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com Frances Fuller, author of the award winning memoir 'In Borrowed Houses, a true story of love and faith amidst war in Lebanon' says that professional writers are making careers of spreading fear of Middle Easterners, especially Muslims. She identifies Islamophobic accusations as a serious threat to peace, because nothing will make people fight more quickly, more desperately, than fear.Because of the dangers of being misled, she went on to say, It is imperative that we learn how to be discerning about what we hear and read. Fuller used a quote from the Middle East Forum website as an example, since 2010, 96 individuals have been killed in 19 Islamist terror attacks on American soil. At the same time, nonviolent Islamists exploit our freedoms to undermine from within slowly chipping away at the rule of law, freedom of expression, free enterprise, and religious pluralism.Notice, she said, this common tactic. A verifiable statement is employed to lead the reader into unfounded and unreasonable accusations. She urges readers to research the statement with statistics, then question the rest. For instance, why would non-violent Muslims in our country be at work to undermine such principles as the rule of law and religious pluralism, when these are so vital to their existence as a minority group?"Ann Coulter has recently proclaimed publically that if Khizr Khan gets his way, we will all be living under sharia law. The first thing we should wonder is how she could know what Mr. Khan wants. And second, Does she even know what sharia is? Finally, Fuller wonders, How many Muslims would it take in a population of more than 300 million to change the law of the land?Suggesting that many who warn us about sharia do not know what they are talking about, Fuller then recommends several books that contain pertinent information.1.'Radical, My Journey Out of Muslim Extremism' by Maajid Nawaz2.'Who Speaks for Islam?' by John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed3.'The Fear of Islam' by Todd GreenAdvising her readers to read widely and think critically, Fuller said, This is the common citizens contribution to peace in our country and the world.Frances Fuller puts a face on the Middle East many Americans have not yet seen. Her award-winning memoir, 'In Borrowed Houses', gives readers a penetrating glimpse of the Middle East from the inside.Told in short episodes, Fullers book reveals the alienation, confusion and courage of civilians in the Lebanese civil war, introducing to the reader a variety of real people with whom the author interacts: editors, salesmen, neighbors, refugees, soldiers, missionaries, lawyers, shepherds, artists, students. With these people she works, studies, plays games, prays, laughs and cries, all to the accompaniment of gunfire. Together these small stories tell what war is like for civilians caught on a battlefield, and they create the impression of the Lebanese as a fun-loving, witty, patient and resilient people. Fuller's stories compose not a political history, but a historical document of a time and a place.Critics have praised In Borrowed Houses. A judge in the 22nd Annual Writers Digest Self-Published Book Awards called 'In Borrowed Houses' . . a well written book full of compassion . . . a captivating story . . . . Another reviewer described the book as Wise, honest, sensitive, funny, heart-wrenching . . .. Colin Chapman, lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut said, . . . western Christians and Middle Eastern Christians need to read this storyfull of remarkable perceptiveness and genuine hope.Frances Fuller is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at frances0516@att.net. The full text of her latest article is available at her website. Fuller's book is available at Amazon and other book retailers. A free ebook sample from 'In Borrowed Houses' is available at Payhip. Frances Fuller also blogs on other issues relating to the Middle East on her website.Frances Fuller spent thirty years in the violent Middle East and for twenty-four of those years was the director of a Christian publishing program with offices in Lebanon. While leading the development of spiritual books in the Arabic language, she survived long years of civil war and invasions.PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459 Free Webinar Introducing Damage Tolerant Stacks and High Temperature Stacks, October 27 Sign up for Noliac's webinar about damage tolerant stacks and high temperature stacks http://www.noliac.com/?id=837 http://www.noliac.com/?id=833 http://www.noliac.com/?id=661 http://www.noliac.com/?id=661 http://www.noliac.com/?id=498 http://www.noliac.com/?id=661 At the free, online course October 27, we offer an introduction to the newest additions to Noliacs range of piezo actuators: Damage tolerant stacks and high temperature stacks. Sign up for one of the 25 seats!Principles, characteristics and applicationsThe webinar describes the principle and characteristics of the damage tolerant actuator stack, which is a unique solution for critical applications. 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You will receive a link with all the practical information approximately 1 week before the webinar takes place.Sign up atWebinars and tutorials about piezo technologyThe purpose of our piezo webinars and tutorials is to get you closer to the world of piezo. We provide insight from the basics of piezoelectricity, piezo components and different types of piezo actuators to complex piezo motors.Go to our tutorials atSign up for our webinars atNoliac presents a unique proficiency in the field of piezoelectric technology. We design, develop and manufacture the total range of piezoelectric products - from powders to mono- and multilayer components and all the way to finished plug-and-play applications.Noliac A/SHejreskovvej 18DK-3490 KvistgaardDenmarkAtt.: Lotte Beck Cloud Access Security Brokers Market report , 2015- 2020 http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=51652 http://bit.ly/2d1H5ot http://bit.ly/2cZbxg1 http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/cloud-access-security-brokers-market.html http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) are cloud accommodated software that perform as a control point to protect cloud services. It provides a range of capabilities including encryption, auditing, data loss prevention (DLP), and access control & anomaly detection. It is a visibility and control point located between employees of an organization and the cloud services or applications like SaaS that posses box, dropbox, google drive, office 365, sales force, workday, etc.Get a copy of free Sample Report @The cloud access security brokers market is mainly driven by the growing adoption of cloud-based applications. Cloud access security brokers provide different security solutions like control and monitoring cloud services, risk and compliance management, data security etc. Data Security can be further categorized into data leakage prevention, cloud data encryption etc. This has fueled the growth of global cloud access security brokers market.The global cloud access security brokers market is segmented on the basis of solution, services, service model, organization size, application and region. Based on different services, market is segmented as professional service, support, training and maintenance. Professional service segment holds the largest market share in this market because it offers data security policies which help to protect critical business data and sensitive information.Get in-depth TOC (Table of Contents) with Tables and Figures @The report provides a comprehensive view on the cloud access security brokers market we have included a detailed company market share analysis, product portfolio of the major industry participants. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the cloud access security brokers market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.Application segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated from 2015 to 2020 in terms of revenue (USD Million). Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), education, government, healthcare, retail and other applications like telecommunication and IT etc. are the application segments of cloud access security brokers market.Inquire more before buying this report @Major regional segments analyzed in this study include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. This report also provides further bifurcation of region on the country level. Major countries analyzed in this reports are U.S., Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India, and Brazil. Geographically, North America is expected to lead the market during the forecast period.Some of the key players for global cloud access security brokers market includes Bitglass, Imperva, Inc., Skyhigh Networks, Protegrity , Cloudlock, Ciphercloud, Netskope, Adallom, Perspecsys and Cloudmask.Browse detail report @This report segments the global cloud access security brokers market as follows:Global Cloud Access Security Brokers Market: Solution Segment AnalysisControl and Monitoring Cloud ServicesRisk and Compliance ManagementData SecurityEncryptionTokenizationData Leakage PreventionThreat ProtectionGlobal Cloud Access Security Brokers Market: Service Segment AnalysisProfessional serviceSupport, training and maintenanceGlobal Cloud Access Security Brokers Market: Service Model Segment AnalysisInfrastructure as a ServicePlatform as a ServiceSoftware as a ServiceGlobal Cloud Access Security Brokers Market: Organization Size Segment AnalysisSmall and Medium Businesses (SMBs)Large EnterprisesGlobal Cloud Access Security Brokers Market: Application Segment AnalysisBanking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)EducationGovernmentHealthcareRetailOthers (Telecommunication and It etc.)Global Cloud Access Security Brokers Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaAbout US:Syndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@SyndicateMarketResearch.comWebsite: Air Compressor Market Growth Shows impresive with Rapid Industrialization and Developing Economies, TMR Reports http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2042 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/air-compressor-market.html An air compressor is a mechanical device that converts power from electric motor or from an engine into kinetic energy by pressurizing and compressing air which releases on quick bursts. Various methods of air compression are positive displacement type and negative displacement type. Positive displacement type of air compressors are piston type air compressors, rotary screw compressor and reciprocating air compressor. Negative displacement type of compressors includes centrifugal air compressor and axial flow compressor. Positive displacement type air compressors works by pushing air into a chamber whose volume has been decreased to compress the air. Negative type air compressors utilize centrifugal force produced by spinning impeller to increase and decrease air which further pressurizes it.Download Complete Report Brochure PDF:Air compressors are segmented according to the design and principle of operation such as reciprocating type compressor, rotary type compressor and turbo compressor. Reciprocating compressor is further classified such as single stage, two stage, rocking piston type and diaphragm type. Rotary type compressor includes scroll type, rotary helical screw type and rotary sliding vane typeSome of the major drivers of this market are rapid industrialization and developing economies. However, high operational cost in the manufacturing of air compressors can hamper the growth of the market. Ample opportunities lies for air compressor as large number of industries are coming up in future.Some of the key players in the business of Air compressor are Frank technologies, Bauer group, Oasis Manufacturing, Airtex Compressors, Ingersoll Rand, Bel Aire Compressors, Grainger Company, VMAC Company, Best Aire LLC, and Sullair among others.Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Global Cloud Computing Market In Higher Education Will Grow Steadily At A CAGR Of 24.57% During The Period 2016-2020 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=816240 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=816240 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Cloud Computing Market in Higher Education 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Cloud computing is the use of computing resources where systems are connected by public or private networks to offer scalable infrastructure for applications and file storage. It offers a pool of resources that includes data storage, specified applications, and networks and computer processing power. Across regions, governments and private organizations are accelerating education digitization through various monetary and non-monetary initiatives.Technavios analysts forecast the global cloud computing market in higher education to grow at a CAGR of 24.57% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global cloud computing market in higher education for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from software as a service, infrastructure as a service, and platform as a service.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:APACNorth AmericaRest of EuropeROWWestern EuropeNew report, Global Cloud Computing Market in Higher Education 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsBlackboardCiscoEllucianInstructureMake an Enquiry of this report @Other prominent vendorsAdobe SystemsEMCNetAppSalesforceMarket driverGrowing engagement and productivityFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeDifficulty in choosing right solutionFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendChanging learning environmentFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ T5 Data Centers' T5@Atlanta Receives Uptime Institute M&O Stamp of Approval http://www.t5datacenters.com http://www.uptimeinstitute.com http://www.t5datacenters.com http://www.t5datacenters.com http://www.t5datacenters.com T5@Atlanta, One of the Select Data Centers Independently Certified for Best-in-Class Infrastructure Management and Operations.Atlanta, GA, USA -- T5 Data Centers (), innovators in providing state-of-the-art, customizable and highly reliable computing support environments, today announced that the company's T5@Atlanta data center has received the Uptime Institute's Management & Operations (M&O) Stamp of Approval. The Stamp of Approval provides an unbiased, independent assessment that data center Management and Operations meet Uptime Institute standards.Only a select number of colocation data centers have qualified for the Uptime Institute's M&O Stamp of Approval. The M&O assessment process evaluates data center staffing, organization, training practices; preventive maintenance, operating conditions, as well as planning, management, and coordination practices for data center resources."The Uptime Institute M&O Stamp of Approval provides a proven methodology of assessing operations practices, pinpointing and analyzing operational gaps, and showing an organization's intention to differentiate themselves as a clear industry leader with a consistent path forward to excellence," said Lee Kirby, President, Uptime Institute. "We are pleased to congratulate T5 Data Centers on their M&O Stamp of Approval in their Atlanta facility."A recent 2016 study by Emerson Network Power estimates that unplanned data center outages can cost organizations up to $9,000 per minute, and human error is one of the most common causes of data center downtime. The M&O Stamp of Approval reduces risk by ensuring that the best collaborative and procedural protocols are in place, and that the data center staff is highly trained. Uptime Institute's M&O Stamp of Approval provides independent assurance of data center excellence and standardization with optimal staffing, reduced risk of downtime, and efficient operations which reduces operating costs."The M&O Stamp of Approval provides independent validation that our T5@Atlanta data center has world-class staffing and management protocols," said Mike Casey, President of T5 Facilities Management. "We agree with the Uptime Institute's notion that operational and management issues are fundamental to data center operations, and that with the right people and procedures, you can minimize risk and reduce operating costs. In fact, we formed T5 Facilities Management as an independent operation because we recognize the critical value of M&O."Although the M&O Stamp of Approval has been specifically granted for T5@Atlanta, T5 Data Centers is planning to request Uptime Institute certification for other data centers in its portfolio.For more information, visitandAbout T5 Data CentersT5 Data Centers (T5) is a leading national data center owner and operator, committed to delivering customizable, scalable data centers that provide an "always on" computing environment to power mission critical business applications. T5 Data Centers provides enterprise colocation data center services to organizations across North America using proven, best-in-class technology and techniques to design and develop facilities that deliver the lowest possible total cost of operations for its clients. T5 currently has business-critical data center facilities in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Portland, Charlotte, and Chicago with new projects announced in New York, and Colorado. All of T5's data center projects are purpose-built facilities featuring robust design, redundant and reliable power and telecommunications, and have 24-hour staff to support mission-critical computing applications. For more information, visitContact:Aaron WangenheimT5 Data Centers3344 Peachtree Road, N.E.,Suite 2550Atlanta, GA 30326(415) 292-7700aaron@t5datacenters.com Exploration and Production Software Market Size , 2015 - 2020 http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=61749 http://bit.ly/2dgpTut http://bit.ly/2cWcRSi http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/exploration-and-production-ep-software-market-global-industry.html http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com E&P software provides an integrated solution from exploration to production. This software allows the user to interpret seismic data, perform well interaction, builds reservoir models suitable for simulation. It also submits and visualizes simulation output, evaluate volumes, generate maps and design improvement strategies to expand reservoir exploitation. Exploration and production mainly deal with the oil and gas industry. It comprises different exploration stages such as testing, locating, and drilling for oil and gas. E&P software implementation make efficient transfer of data enabling easy productive function.Get a copy of free Sample Report @The E&P software market is mainly driven by the wide range of growth in energy expenditure in the emerging markets such as India and China. In addition, due to implementation of E&P software, repeatable workflows can be easily functionalized. Advancements in technology in E&P and increased use of E&P software in a large extent are expected boost the demand of the E&P software market. However, high investment cost and lack of technical skill are expected to hamper growth of E&P software industry.The global E&P software market is segmented on the basis of components, software type, deployment type and region. Based on components, market is segmented as software and services. Risk management mapping, seismic amplitude analysis, portfolio aggregation, performance tracking, navigation systems, resource valuation, and others are the software type segment of E&P software market. On the basis of deployment type E&P software segmented into on-premise software, cloud-based software and managed software.Get in-depth TOC (Table of Contents) with Tables and Figures @The report provides a comprehensive view on the E&P software market we have included a detailed company market share analysis, product portfolio of the major industry participants. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the E&P software market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein component, software type and deployment type segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.Inquire more before buying this report @Major regional segments analyzed in this study include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. This report also provides further bifurcation of region on the country level. Major countries analyzed in this reports are U.S., Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India, and Brazil.Some of the key players for global E&P software market include Schlumberger Limited, Paradigm B.V, ETL Solutions Ltd, ION Geophysical Corporation, Interactive Network Technologies, Inc., Hue AS and Aconex Ltd.Browse detail report @This report segments the global exploration and production (E&P) software market as follows:Global Exploration and Production (E&P) Software Market: Component Segment AnalysisSoftwareServicesGlobal Exploration and Production (E&P) Software Market: Software Type Segment AnalysisRisk management mappingSeismic amplitude analysisPortfolio aggregationPerformance trackingNavigation systemsResource valuationOthersGlobal Exploration and Production (E&P) Software Market: Deployment Type Segment AnalysisOn-premise softwareCloud-based softwareManaged softwareGlobal Exploration and Production (E&P) Software Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaAbout US:Syndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@SyndicateMarketResearch.comWebsite: Next Generation Biometrics Market Share Increses with Growing use of Biometrics in Cloud Computing and E-commerce Solutions http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=10691 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/next-generation-biometrics-market.html Global Next Generation Biometrics Market: OverviewThe identification and security systems deployed across organizations have evolved a great deal in the past few years. Many recent advances introduced in these systems have considerably benefited businesses worldwide in fortifying their security. Next generation biometrics is one such technology that has been witnessing rising demand around the world.Biometrics technologies are automated methods used for verifying and authenticating the identity of a person based on behavioral or physical characteristics such as fingerprints, voice patterns, vein and signature patterns, facial patterns, hand measurements, and eye retina and iris. Biometrics has emerged as a popular method of verifying the identity of a person under surveillance. The basic premise of the technology is based on the fact that every person is unique and it is possible to identify him/her by the intrinsic physical or behavioral traits.Download Free Sample Report Brochure PDF:Next generation biometrics has gained incredible popularity in the last few years, mainly because of the favorable government initiatives adopted globally to restrict illegal entry. The technology has also gained impetus from the introduction of e-passports and its increasing use in criminal identification. Furthermore, the growing use of biometrics in cloud computing and e-commerce solutions is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the global next generation biometrics market.This multi-billion dollar market is anticipated to further gain from the rising applications in the travel and immigration industries. Over the reports forecast period, the market is poised to exhibit an impressive CAGR. The report a comprehensive overview of the next generation biometrics market, presenting insights into the key drivers and restraints impacting the markets growth.Next Generation Biometrics Market: Key Opportunities and ThreatsThe next generation biometrics technology offers a high degree of privacy, accuracy, ease of use, interoperability, and uniformity across the system. The growing awareness about the benefits offered by biometrics has been crucial in driving the market for the technology behind it. Furthermore, biometric technology enables storage of information in the digital format, which is nearly impossible to decipher and reconstruct.Owing to its exceptional features, the next generation biometrics technology finds use across varied applications ranging from health care, government, defense, and border security to commercial security, travel and immigration, and banking and finance. The increasing government funding for deploying biometric technology across various economic sectors has been a major factor boosting the global next generation biometrics market.Despite witnessing widespread application across various sectors, the high cost incurred in deploying the system and the risk of privacy intrusion are a few factors inhibiting the growth of the market. Nevertheless, the increasing use of the technology in ecommerce and cloud computing is estimated to provide considerable growth opportunities for the market.The global next generation biometrics market has been classified on the basis of type into fingerprint recognition, face recognition, iris recognition, voice recognition, palm print recognition, vein recognition, and signature recognition. Based on application, the market has been segmented into banking and finance, government, travel and immigration, defense, government, health care, electronics, commercial security, home security, and other applications. Regionally, the market has been segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World.Next Generation Biometrics Market: Vendor LandscapeIn order to study the prevailing vendor landscape of the market, the report profiles players operating therein such as Fujitsu Ltd., 3M, Fulcrum Biometrics, and Cross Match Technologies, Inc. Strengths and weaknesses of companies profiled are determined using the SWOT analysis. The analysis also includes the opportunities and threats that these companies may face during the forecast period.Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market Segment and Analysis up to 2015 2020 http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=61750 http://bit.ly/2cOqJfx http://bit.ly/2cNb0Pw http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/automatic-passenger-counting-and-information-system-global-industry.html http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com Automatic passenger counting and information system is an electronic device utilized by many public transit vehicles which correctly records boarding and alighting data. Automatic passenger counting system can be used autonomously as well as being integrated into existing system structures. The automatically transferred counting data is processed by statistical tool. This device offers reliable and permanent data on the degree of utilization of vehicles used in public transit systems.Get a copy of free Sample Report @The global automatic passenger counting and information system market is mainly driven by growing demand for smart telematic solutions coupled with technological advancement is expected to positively affect on market within the forecast period. Additionally, government support and increasing urbanization are anticipated to fuel the growth in the years to come. However, high installation cost of the system may curb the market growth during the forecast period. Furthermore, dynamic ticket pricing and increasing adoption of real time passenger information systems may open up new avenues for the growth of the market in the years to come.The report provides a compressive view of the automatic passenger counting and information system market based on system, devices, applications and region. The automatic passenger counting and information system market can be classified in terms of systems into passenger information display systems, passenger information announcement systems, emergency communication systems and others. Passenger information display system is the leading segment and expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period.Get in-depth TOC (Table of Contents) with Tables and Figures @Based on device, the market has been segmented into multimedia displays, networking and communication devices and sensors. In terms of revenue, multimedia display was the largest segment in 2014 due to increasing installation of passenger information systems. Some of the key application in automatic passenger counting and information system includes roadways, railways, waterways and airways. Railway application segment is expected to be fastest growing market in the near future.Geographically, the automatic passenger counting and information system market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, further bifurcation of region on the country level, which include U.S., Germany, UK, France, China, Japan and India. North America has witnessed significant growth of automatic passenger counting and information system in recent past years on account of technological advancement. North America is expected to exhibit moderate growth over the forecast period.Inquire more before buying this report @The report provides comprehensive view on the automatic passenger counting and information system market. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the automatic passenger counting and information system market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.Some of the key players operating in the automatic passenger counting and information system market Alstom, Cisco systems, Inc., Eurotech SpA, iris-GmbH, Urban Transportation Associates, Inc., DILAX Intelcom GmbH, Hella Aglaia Mobile Vision GmbH, GE Transportation, Hitachi, Ltd and Siemens AG. The detailed description of players includes parameters such as company overview, financial overview, business and recent developments of the company.Browse detail report @This report segments the global automatic passenger counting and information system market as follows:Global Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: System Segment AnalysisInformation Display SystemsPassenger Information Announcement SystemsEmergency Communication SystemsOthersGlobal Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Devices and Component Segment AnalysisMultimedia DisplaysNetworking and Communication DevicesSensorsGlobal Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Application Segment AnalysisRoadwaysRailwaysWaterwaysAirwaysGlobal Automatic Passenger Counting and Information System Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaAbout US:Syndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@SyndicateMarketResearch.comWebsite: Printed and Flexible Sensors Strengthen Advantage of Internet of Things http://bit.ly/2cMl9eW http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/printed-and-flexible-sensors-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Printed electronics are being vouched as the next best thing in Internet of Things (IoT), the technology that is rightly regarded as a boon of advancing technology. Silicon-based sensors are the first that have been associated with IoT technology. These sensors have numerous applications, such as track data from airplane, wind turbines, engines, and medical devices, amongst other internet connected devices.However, these silicon-based are not suitable for several other applications. Bendable packaging and premium items are some of the application where embedded sensors do not work. For such applications, printed electronics befit the need. Using sensor technology, information is transferred on smart labels that can be attached to packages to be tracked in real time.Some Applications of Printed Sensor TechnologyGrocery Industry: While bar code is the standard technology used in the grocery sector, the technology has limitations pertaining to the data it can store. Also, for some products, product packaging can run up to 30-40% of the cost, for which printed sensor are best-suited to save packaging costs. For such needs, a printed sensor is the most apt solution for real-time information about a products temperature, moisture, location, movement, and much more. Companies can check these parameters to validate the freshness and prevent substantial spoilage. Smart labels are also used to validate the authenticity of products.Free PDF For Latest Advancements with Technological breakthroughs is @Healthcare: The use of smart labels enables manufacturers and logistics firms to track the usage and disposal of pharmaceuticals and to control inventory. The use of smart labels on patients clothing enables to check their body temperature, dampness of adult diapers, or bandages for assisted living scenarios.Logistics: Radio frequency identification (RFID) was the standard tag used by logistics companies until recently to identify shipping crates that carried perishable products. RFID is increasingly being replaced by smart labels that enable tracking of individual items. This facilitates companies to track products at the item level rather than at the container shipping level.Biosensors Lead Printed and Flexible Sensors MarketAs per the research study, the global market for printed and flexible sensors is estimated to grow at a fast pace, due to which several investors are interested in pouring funds into the market. This is expected to create potential opportunities for commercialization and product innovation. In addition, several new players are also projected to participate in order to gain a competitive advantage in the market. In 2013, the global printed and flexible sensors market stood at US$6.28 bn and is projected to be worth US$7.51 bn by the end of 2020. The market is expected to register a healthy 2.50% CAGR between 2012 and 2020, as per the study.Browse the full Printed And Flexible Sensors Market Report atThe rapid growth in individual application segments and several benefits over the conventional sensors are some of the key factors driving the global market for printed and flexible sensors. In addition, the developing global market for Internet of Things is further anticipated to fuel the growth of the market in the next few years. On the flip side, several challenges in conductive ink printing are estimated to hamper the growth of the market for printed and flexible sensors in the near future.Biosensors are most extensively used with the largest market share in the global market for printed and flexible sensors. Glucose strips incorporated with a biosensor are one of the most sought after ways to track and monitor glucose levels among diabetics. Thus, it accounts as a multi-billion dollar segment in the global market for printed and flexible sensors. To evaluate and monitor working of the heart, kidney diseases, and cancer are the other emerging applications where printed biosensors technology is being utilized.The expanding automobile industry holds promise for piezoelectric type printed flexible sensors for performance testing during production. Due to these varied applications of printed and flexible sensors, the global market for printed and flexible sensors will expand at a slow but steady 2.5% CAGR in the next six years starting from 2012.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Sunset High School Sunset High School is pictured in a January 2016 file photo. (Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Staff) Someone associated with Beaverton's Sunset High School has been diagnosed with tuberculosis, a Washington County health official said in a letter Monday. The letter -- addressed to school staff, students and families -- says the case of active tuberculosis of the lungs isn't an outbreak or medical emergency. It says officials don't have any information leading them to think the person caught tuberculosis at the school. Tuberculosis symptoms Active tuberculosis disease symptoms may include: Coughing up blood Frequent night-sweats Significant weight loss Chills and fever -- Washington County Public Health Dr. Jennifer Vines, Washington County Public Health's deputy health officer, didn't say whether the person who caught tuberculosis works at Sunset High School, is a student there or has some other association with the school. She said officials will contact anyone who may have been exposed to tuberculosis to arrange for testing. Tuberculosis bacteria spreads through the air. When someone with the disease coughs or speaks, for example, others can breathe in the air and become infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tuberculosis disease can be fatal if it isn't treated properly. "Fortunately, most people who have had contact with an active (tuberculosis) patient will not become infected," according to a frequently asked questions page included with the letter. "People usually become infected with the (tuberculosis) germ as a result of frequent, close, day-after-day contact with someone who has the disease. People are not likely to get infected with (tuberculosis) from someone walking in the hallway or from a brief encounter. Tuberculosis is not spread by sharing articles of clothing, dishes, or drinking glasses." Officials identified 76 tuberculosis cases in Oregon in 2015, according to the Oregon Public Health Division. There were 77 Oregon cases reported the year before and 74 in 2013. Vines asked anyone who has questions about the disease to get in touch with their health care provider or call Washington County Public Health at 503-846-3594. -- Jim Ryan jryan@oregonian.com 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 (PDF) ITT Tech fallout Oregon students left in the cold after the collapse of for-profit giant ITT Tech are still trying to figure out next steps. The federal government on Monday unveiled more help for students caught in the collapse of ITT Tech two weeks ago. The U.S. Department of Education's new website -- NextStepsEdu -- is designed to help students of the closed for-profit college figure out their options. The site is operated by a nonprofit that assists underserved students and a professional organization of student financial aid administrators. Through the new website, students from around the country will be able to talk to financial aid advisers and academic counselors for free via text, phone or email. Just last week, an estimated 300 people attended a workshop hosted by Mt. Hood Community College, where seven colleges and universities representatives were on hand to answer questions. At the time of its closure, ITT Tech had an estimated 35,000 students enrolled at campuses in 38 states, including roughly 555 students in Oregon. The one-stop resource is evidence of a significant lesson learned from the 2015 collapse of Corinthian Colleges, according to a federal education leader. "We learned that we needed to be communicating directing with borrowers as quickly as we can to make material resources available to them," said Ted Mitchell, undersecretary of education. Mitchell said the Education Department has had more than 22,000 phone calls, face-to-face meetings and other interactions with former ITT Tech students in the past two weeks. In a conference call with reporters Monday, Mitchell said the agency has been encouraged by the level of activity across the country by states trying to help ITT Tech students find a home. But Mitchell said community colleges or schools cannot use the fact ITT Tech's accrediting body is under scrutiny as the sole reason not to allow students to transfer credits to their institution. Some schools, including the Oregon Institute of Technology, have said they don't recognize credits from ITT because of its accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. The council has been under intense federal scrutiny for its lax oversight of some of the 243 schools it accredits. Some of those schools weren't disciplined by ACICS despite fraud charges and documented overpromises made to students. In June, the education department recommended eliminating the agency. Mitchell urged college leaders to find "sophisticated" solutions to help ITT students who want to continue their college experience do so. Former ITT Tech students who hadn't completed their degree face difficult decisions. They are eligible for a federal student loan forgiveness program, but that would mean losing credits earned at the for-profit giant and either starting over at a new school, or not pursuing an education altogether. Mitchell said if each student qualified to discharge their federal loans chose that option, the government would be obligated to cover the $500 million tab. The loan discharge plan does not cover private loans, and Mitchell said he was not certain of the total amount of private loans owed by ITT Tech students. Oregon higher education officials are working to help schools accommodate ITT Tech students, with particular focus on the 275 nursing students in the program. Preston Milstead, an Oregon ITT Tech student, said Friday the state and federal resources made available were not enough to help veterans. Veterans are not able to reuse their GI Bill benefits at a different institution. Mitchell said the path to restoring those benefits for veterans "does not seem to be open at the moment." "We would hope that Congress would take up the question," Mitchell said. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen An 87-year-old woman has filed a $1 million suit that accuses Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and its staff of failing to adequately investigate a certified nursing assistant accused of sexually assaulting her and at least one other patient. Adeladilew A. Mekonen, 34, of Portland, was charged last week with first-degree rape and first-degree unlawful sexual penetration in Washington County Circuit Court. The woman who filed suit Tuesday is the alleged victim in the criminal case, her attorney said. Sgt. Bob Ray, a Washington County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said Tuesday that investigators have identified several other potential victims, but he declined to say how many citing the ongoing investigation. The 87-year-old's lawsuit against Providence Health & Services, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges negligence and abuse of a vulnerable person. The not-for-profit health system operates Providence St. Vincent in the Beaverton area, as well as nearly three dozen other hospitals in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, California and Montana, according to its website. Adeladilew A. Mekonen The woman claims Providence should have known that Mekonen "had abused and was likely to again sexually abuse ill and elderly female patients, including plaintiff, if he were allowed to be alone with them in their rooms..." But Providence, she alleges, allowed Mekonen to keep working with female patients. She also claims the hospital failed to supervise Mekonen after earlier abuse allegations against him were made. The woman's attorney, Greg Kafoury, said the hospital had warning signs and called its response "inadequate" in a statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "Once again, the classic pattern emerges," Kafoury said. According to state records, Mekonen was licensed as a certified nursing assistant in February 2015 and has no history of discipline. He graduated from the Caregiver Training Institute in October last year, according to records. Ray said the sheriff's office first received a complaint about Mekonen from a 94-year-old woman in June but couldn't substantiate it at the time. Hospital staff had placed Mekonen on administrative leave after learning of the allegations, but he was allowed to return to work after they couldn't be proved, Ray said. On Sept. 9, the 87-year-old woman came forward with her accusations against Mekonen, Ray said, and the hospital again placed him on leave. Ray said Mekonen could face charges tied to the June report after prosecutors review it. Mekonen had been working at the hospital since May, Ray said, and had served as a caregiver for the women, tending to their hygiene. The 87-year-old woman was receiving treatment at St. Vincent for a heart condition, her attorney said. She has since suffered from feelings of embarrassment, fear, vulnerability, betrayal, pain and fragility, according to her suit. Mekonen was terminated last Wednesday after he was arrested, a Providence spokesman said. His next court appearance in the criminal case is set for Thursday. -- Rebecca Woolington 503-294-4049; @rwoolington 1deplorable.JPG Andres Novoa wears a hat reading "Deplorable," as he waits for the arrival of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the James L. Knight Center on September 16, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) By Megan McArdle There's always a temptation, when thinking about politics, to reduce people's views to a simple binary that allows us to easily get a handle on them. The two most popular such binaries in American politics today are economics and race. Both of these lenses have been much used to explain the Trump phenomenon over the last year. Trump voters, we are informed, are the victims of economic competition from abroad, and are therefore open to his populist pandering about immigration and trade. Alternately, they're just a bunch of racist pigs who have finally found a voice for their racist piggery. Hillary Clinton's infamous and ill-advised remark split the difference by putting only half of Trump's voters into a "basket of deplorables." There's a lot to like about simple explanations. Complicated explanations often end up sounding like this: "There's a lot of stuff going on, and it's all happening at once. Also maybe some stuff we don't know about." Complicated explanations thus do not lend themselves easily to solutions. The problem with simple explanations is that they are often ... not quite right. Consider how many articles, monographs, books, television appearances and lecture tours have been based around the "mystery" of why middle-class Republicans do not vote for what the author has identified as their economic self-interest. Now consider that as far as I can determine from the General Social Survey data, white American views about race haven't changed much since the beginning of the first Clinton presidency. This at least complicates attempts cast this currently tied election as a referendum on racism. Sure, some of Donald Trump's supporters are racist. But even the people who are racist and are voting for Trump aren't necessarily voting for Trump because they are racist; it is possible to be racist and have opinions on other things, and even opinions on other things that you care more about than your bigoted views. Economics doesn't explain everything either. It is possible to be out of a job and vote for the incumbent party. Few people are single-issue voters, and even fewer are the rationally value-maximizing Homo economicus of simple micro models. Clinton's first mistake in that "deplorables" remark, then, was implying that Trump's supporters are single-issue voters, and that she knows what those issues are. Her second mistake was to miss a huge political motivator, right up there with race and economics: respect. A few years back I wrote about former DC mayor Marion Berry, comparing him to another urban politician, Mayor James Curley of Boston. These sorts of politicians are common in American history: they develop a base, which has an ethnic component but also often a strong class component, and to the shock and horror of everyone who isn't in that base, they keep getting re-elected even though they are, in the opinions of everyone else, objectively and obviously horrible at their jobs. What has struck me most in reading about these figures is how fundamentally their critics misunderstand what's going on. They think that the fight is about zoning laws or civil service rules or economic development, and they go on and on explaining why the mayor is wrong about those things. Along the way, they develop theories about why no one's listening, which usually boil down to: the people who keep voting for the fellow are obviously somewhere between too stupid to put their shoes on and too morally bankrupt to care about basic human decency. Said critics often get pretty loud about sharing those theories. They all seem unable to grasp that there's one thing those politicians are consistently delivering to their constituents every day: respect. Maybe pundits and elites don't understand this selling point because they have spent their whole lives so thoroughly marinated in status and respect that they can't really imagine craving just a little taste of it. Respect is something I hear a lot about from Trump voters. The spirit of the sentiment is often: "Maybe Trump's a jerk, maybe he won't do what he says he will, but he acts as if people like me are important, and the people who disrespect me aren't." The problem for Trump is that Barry and Curley were running in cities where their bases were a majority. Trump's running in a very diverse country, and he's disrespected huge swathes of the electorate, which is one reason his poll ceiling has long seemed to be stuck around Clinton's floor. But that's also a problem for Clinton; she doesn't have a solid majority coalition either. Luckily, all she had to do was just ... not actively disrespect as many people as Trump. Instead she stood up and said, in essence, that huge segments of the electorate are unredeemably awful. That wasn't just a message that reached the alt-righters who fill my Twitter feed every time I say something mean about Trump. That message reached millions of people who aren't in the alt-right, but do think that coastal, professional America views the rest of the country as one vast sea of swinish ignorance. Then, instead of helping her to walk it back, her supporters hastened to add "No, seriously, she's right, you people are mouth-breathing troglodytes with a busted moral compass." And thereby did more damage to their cause than they would have by just shutting up. (Conservatives should recognize this misstep. They did the same thing after Romney's "47 percent" gaffe when they tried to explain that no, really, half of the country is the next best thing to welfare cheats.) This election probably won't turn on a single issue. But some voters do ask themselves: "Which candidate respects the American people?" Clinton should have won those voters easily handily. Instead, she gave away her advantage by insulting a bloc of voters, Trump-style. Megan McArdle is a Bloomberg View columnist For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view. (c) 2016, Bloomberg View Graduation ceremonies for Portland's Lincoln High School Measure 98 proposes to funnel money to Oregon schools that could help address the state's high drop-out rate. In part, the money could help bring more hands-on "career technology education" classes, which supporters say help students on a variety of fronts. (Randy L. Rasmussen/staff) By Elias Wilson Not everybody learns best learning by reading books or doing math from a book. That's no secret. Everyone I know likes hands-on learning, regardless of their learning style. Unfortunately, too many Oregon high school students are missing out because most of our high schools had to cut hands-on learning. That means too many students don't get to discover what they really like doing and what they could see themselves doing into the future. That's why I'm such a strong supporter of Measure 98, which would fund hands-on learning for Oregon high school students. That's vocational and career technical training, such as shop classes, computer coding, 3-D printing, engineering and more. I had hands-on learning in high school, and I can tell you about the value of it. I graduated from Silverton High School three years ago. One of the best things about high school was my three years in auto shop. I already knew when I got to high school that I'd go to college. Beyond that, though, I didn't know much else. Fortunately, my sophomore year, I was able to get into automotive mechanical technical class. I was hooked. I got a lot of hands-on experience in transferrable skills, such as solving problems by being creative. When you build an engine, like we did, you really get an understanding of how mechanical things work. In career tech classes, you also get unique guidance from your teacher. My auto shop teacher, Butch Stetson, always made a point to teach us about what an employer expects -- things like being punctual and interviewing for a job. This kind of practical advice really is important. Some kids won't get it anywhere else. Auto shop and everything it had to offer definitely made me a lot more competent. It's also how I figured out that I love engineering. Yeah -- love it. I love thinking through the processes needed to achieve an outcome. Before I took auto shop, I'd heard of engineering and had a basic understanding, but I didn't truly know what it meant to be an engineer. Now I'm in my junior year at Embry-Riddle University, studying aerospace engineering. The thing is, if we had more vocational and career tech education in high school, I'm sure we could help more young people avoid hitting dead ends so they can succeed. Measure 98 gets more career technical and vocational education classes into our high schools. It also increases student access to college preparation and early college credit. Students all across the country are taking career technical education -- modern classes, such as medical biotech, forensic psychology and aerospace engineering, as well as the traditional ones. Without access to classes like those, we fall behind. I want to make sure other kids have a chance at career technology education like I had. Without that opportunity, I might still be trying to figure out what I want to do in college -- wasting time and money. * Elias Wilson graduated from Silverton High School and is currently a junior at Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach, Florida. By Barbara Quinn and Darise Weller In regard to The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial on September 17, "Portland Harbor cleanup must move forward this year," there is a vital stakeholder the board failed to mention -- the community, the largest stakeholder in the cleanup and owner of the river. Representing the community is Portland Harbor Community Advisory. After working on the process for 16 years, we citizen advisers agree with conservation groups and tribes in arguing that the cleanup plan as now conceived will not achieve either safety for humans or the environment. It needs to include more active removal due to the type of toxins present in the lower Willamette River -- pollutants that do not break down. Also incorrectly implied in the editorial is that pollution of the lower Willamette River is from the past. Actually, there is still dumping and leaking of contaminants to this day -- some approved by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. We agree that "money is a key driver" in the proposed plan. In fact, we feel it has eclipsed the safety of the community and health of the river. But where is concern about cost to community health due to exposure to river toxins in air and water? Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the most toxic contaminant in the river, can go airborne and travel up to five miles on air currents. It can neither be seen nor smelled and doesn't break down in any known time frame. It is a potent carcinogen and endocrine interrupter that can particularly affect children. Citizen advisers don't know how the Environmental Protection Agency and Portland Commissioner Nick Fish arrived at the figure that the proposed plan would reduce human risk by 84 percent. That would have to be a miracle, since the current proposal only actively deals with 8 percent of the site, despite the fact EPA admits that persistent pollutants are spread all over it. The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board says that the EPA must rush to a Record of Decision before the end of the year. Where were the editorials during the last 16 years of industry stalling? Only the upper EPA administrators change with a new presidential administration, not the scientists who manage the Superfund. They are career employees. Further, according to consultant Peter deFur, it is not possible for the EPA to parse the thousands of comments sent from the community and write a Record of Decision in only four months. It normally takes 18 to 24 months. If they do it in four, it means they already have the decision written and have made no effort to incorporate community feedback. Why pressure the EPA to rush past the community to a decision? The EPA is bound by law to include the community in this process, and what the Portland Harbor Community Advisors, residents, conservation groups and tribes have said with stunning unity and clarity is this: We need more active cleanup to deal with persistent pollutants that will never break down. Dealing with only 8 percent of the river is unacceptable. * Barbara Quinn, Darise Weller, Doug Larson and Jackie Calder are all members of the Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group. 1trump.JPG Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Germain Arena, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Ft. Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) By Greg Sargent So it's come to this: The institutional position of the Republican Party in the great birther controversy roiling the 2016 campaign -- a consequential chapter in our political history -- is now essentially that Donald Trump did the nation a service by forcing the first African American president to finally show his papers. This new GOP storyline has gotten obscured by the ongoing back-and-forth in the media over various subplots (did Hillary Clinton start birtherism? did Trump really keep feeding this conspiracy after 2011?) that are related to the birther battle. Yet it's unmistakably the larger narrative that the Trump campaign and top Republicans -- including the chairman of the Republican National Committee -- are telling right now. The Trump campaign's effort to whitewash his birther history -- in which he fed racist conspiracy theories for years -- is being widely called out as dishonest. And that's good. But Trump's new narrative is actually a lot worse than the rendering of it we've seen in most media accounts suggests, and now the party has institutionally joined in promoting it. On the Sunday shows, RNC chair Reince Priebus, GOP veep candidate Mike Pence, and other surrogates for Trump all made the same argument: Clinton started the birther rumors in 2008, and Trump ended them by compelling Obama to release his birth certificate, rendering this a settled issue, which Trump declared to be the case last week. Priebus said: "after getting this issue resolved, he proclaimed on Friday that he believes that the president was born in America." Pence said that Trump brought the birther "issue to an end." Chris Christie said: "after the president presented his birth certificate, Donald has said he was born in the United States, and that's the end of the issue." Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said that he "put the issue to rest when he got President Obama to release his birth certificate years later." In other words, Trump's birther crusade legitimately got results. That is their argument. Indeed, when Pence was asked directly on ABC whether it was wrong to push this "issue" for so many years, he dodged: MARTHA RADDATZ: Do you think he should have promoted this birther issue for all these years? Was he wrong to do this? PENCE: Our campaign just really isn't focused on the past, Martha. Now, the claims that Clinton started birtherism, and that Trump stopped pushing it after he forced Obama to show his papers in 2011, are both lies. And all the moderators of these shows did a good job in pinning down their interviewees on these points. But in a way, to chase after those assertions is to get lost in a rabbit warren. It distracts from the larger point here, which is that the current official position of the Republican Party on Trump's birther crusade is in some ways just as reprehensible as the crusade itself was. To be clear, Republicans like Priebus and Christie have long left no doubt that they themselves know Obama was born in the U.S. But their position right now is simultaneously that Trump's years-long effort to "settle" this "issue" was nonetheless a defensible exercise that had a positive outcome. Indeed, their position is essentially that this "issue" might not be sufficiently settled for many people if Trump had not launched his crusade. In short, it's that Trump finally got Obama to cough up his papers, and now we can all move on -- thanks to Trump's efforts. It is likely that many Republicans and conservatives -- such as Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio -- see it as a blot on the history of the modern GOP that the party nominated someone who launched a years-long racist campaign to delegitimize the first African American president in the explicit belief that it would appeal to the racist tendencies of many GOP primary voters. Those Republicans might even say so right now if asked. But Trump has compelled the RNC not merely to participate in helping him push lies designed to muddy the waters around his birther history, but also -- and this is the really important part -- to institutionally defend that history. Indeed, while many Republicans previously repudiated this history, the RNC is now helping Trump validate it. (c) 2016, The Washington Post 21126703-mmmain.jpg Last week, Donald Trump said that President Obama "was born in the United States, period," before claiming that the so-called "birther movement" was started by Hillary Clinton. (Joe Raedle/News/Getty Images) Trump and birtherism: Donald Trump congratulates himself for acknowledging that President Barack Obama was born in the United States. This seems analogous to BP congratulating itself on finally capping the ruptured and gushing Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Yes, we were glad it was capped, but that was after months of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. There remain consequences from all of that destructive oil in the Gulf. And it continues leaking, to this very day. Thanks, BP. Likewise, there were five or six months of Trump spewing forth racist rhetoric and deliberately stirring up the dark forces that lurk in our nation's psyche. He nurtured and continues to perpetuate the racist opposition to our president. As a consequence we have a resurgent white-supremacist movement. Former KKK Imperial Wizard David Duke delights in the Trump campaign bringing Duke's issues into mainstream discussion. A deplorable segment of the electorate rallies to Trump's plan of exclusion and bigotry. It is a cultural equivalent to the ecological and environmental destruction in the Gulf of Mexico. Thanks, Donald Trump. An apology? Sure, a genuine and heartfelt apology would go some way toward repair of the damage done. An apology would be a start. We are waiting ... Deborah McDaniel and Ronald Blanton Eugene * Trump and birtherism: Regarding "'Birtherism' issue not going away," (Sept. 19): The article by John Wagner of The Washington Post presents some issues that could be misleading without further explanation. Trump is not totally wrong when he says the birther issue was first brought up by the Clinton organization when she ran against Obama in 2008. James Asher, former McClatchy Washington Bureau Chief, says Clinton's close friend and confidant Sidney Blumenthal came to see him to discuss Obama's birthplace. As reported by McClatchy last Friday, Asher said that "during the 2008 Democratic primary, Sid Blumenthal visited the Washington Bureau of McClatchy Co. ... During that meeting, Mr. Blumenthal and I met together in my office and he strongly urged me to investigate the exact place of President Obama's birth, which he suggested was in Kenya. We assigned a reporter to go to Kenya, and that reporter determined that the allegation was false." While Mr. Trump may not have seen that information, he certainly did not start the rumor. Plus, do you really think Asher was the only journalist contacted by Clinton's hatchet man Blumenthal? Lee Richey Tualatin Updated at 6:38 p.m. After his arrest on Jan. 26, Ammon Bundy was found with an envelope containing $8,000 of cash in his jacket, a receipt from a Jan. 1 purchase of nearly $200 in ammunition from a BiMart in Idaho and a withdrawal slip in his wallet for $6,000 from a Chase Bank Fred Meyer in Idaho visited the day before, an FBI agent testified Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel told the court the evidence indicates that Bundy planned to remain at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for a long time. During transportation to jail by van after a cursory search of him, Harney County Sheriff's Sgt. Lucas McLain heard Bundy talking on a cell phone. Lt. Brian Needham turned on the overhead light in the van, and they could see Bundy, who was handcuffed, balancing a cell phone between his shoulder and ear, McLain testified Tuesday. They stopped the van at the Bureau of Land Management office west of Burns along U.S. 20, and Bundy, along with co-defendant Ryan Payne and Victoria Sharp, were removed from the van to be searched. McLain said he searched the van and found a cell phone in the crook of the seat where Bundy had been. "It appeared to be shoved down,'' McLain testified. Bundy's lawyer Marcus Mumford on cross-examination asked what was wrong with his client talking on the phone. "He was being transported, sir,'' McLain said. "We wanted to make sure there weren't any communications with any individuals who might intercept that transport.'' McLain said he hadn't searched Ammon Bundy before he entered the van. It's unclear who did. Mumford, during his cross-examination, suggested that Bundy was calling his wife and informing her about his arrest. Bundy and other leaders of the 41-day refuge occupation were arrested during a police stop on U.S. 395 as they were driving to a community meeting in John Day. Bundy and six co-defendants now are on trial, charged with conspiring to impede federal employees from conducting their work at the refuge through intimidation, threats or force. According to McLain, Sharp, an 18-year-old who was part of a singing family that had visited the refuge, and Shawna Cox were seated in the far back of the transport van, Brian Cavalier and Mark McConnell were in the middle seat, and Ryan Payne and Ammon Bundy were in the front seat of the van. McLain mentioned on the witness stand that Sharp at some point moved from the back to the front seat. "She actually urinated in the backseat of the van and was ordered to move,'' attorney Tiffany Harris pointed out, during her cross-examination. "She had asked several times to relieve herself.'' "I did not order her,'' McLain said, but he acknowledged that Sharp had urinated in the van. Harris is Cox's standby counsel. That night, McLain drove the van carrying Ammon Bundy and five others to the Sage Hen Rest Area off Highway 20, about 16 miles west of Burns. That's where he met up with FBI agents. FBI Special Agent Ben Jones testified that he received Ammon Bundy's iPhone from McLain there. Prosecutors offered it into evidence in court Tuesday. Jones held the silver iPhone up in a plastic evidence bag for jurors to see. Jone said he patted Bundy down at the rest area, and found $8,000 of cash in a white envelope in an inside pocket of his jacket, plus $31 of cash in his wallet, pulled from a back pocket. Inside Bundy's wallet were two receipts: A Jan. 1 receipt from BiMart in Emmett, Idaho, for $471.55, which included purchases of Federal ammunition for $189.97, three rifle scopes for $164.91, men's boots and a duck bib, using his wife Lisa Bundy's debit card. The other receipt was from a Jan. 25 cash withdrawal of $6,000 from a Chase Bank account at a Fred Meyer in Nampa, Idaho. The Jan. 1 purchase of ammunition, prosecutors pointed out, occurred a day before the refuge takeover. The Jan. 25 cash withdrawal occurred a day before Bundy's arrest. Mumford asked the agent if anything was illegal about Bundy's purchase of ammunition or rifle scopes? "In and of itself, nothing illegal,'' Jones responded. Note and Videos on Bundy's Phone Jones testified that he found a note on Ammon Bundy's iPhone, and 20 to 30 videos. The note was a breakdown of who was doing what duties, such as "defense," "organization," "moral(e)" "primary security," "signage," "maps and title,'' "recording," "food,'' "media," and "claim.'' It listed, for example, that Ryan Payne (spelled Pain in Bundy's note) was doing defense; Kenneth Medenbach was responsible for signage, Cox for "Maps & Title,'' and Ryan Bundy for "Claim.'' A video found on Ammon Bundy's phone was played for jurors, capturing a meeting he had at the refuge on Jan. 13 with Shawna Cox and a man named David Thomas. Cox is heard saying, "This is the time to stand up because we don't have another chance." Asked by another man if Ammon Bundy has reinforcements at the refuge, he replied, "We got some good force outside and in," according to the video. Bundy tells the men he's not afraid, and in fact, considered going to breakfast in Burns on his own. At another point, Cox is heard saying, "I'm going through the stuff...We're finding lots of evidence." Prosecutors also played audio of Oregon State Police Trooper Joshua Wolcott-Petersen's Jan. 15 arrest of Medenbach, who was found seated in a white Ford pickup truck belonging to the refuge in a Safeway parking lot in Burns. After Wolcott-Petersen walked up to the driver's window and asked what he was doing, Medenbach said, "Getting groceries here.'' The trooper told him the truck was reported stolen. "This is a Harney County Resource Center vehicle," Medenbach said, referencing the new decal he and others had placed on the refuge trucks. He told the trooper the vehicle was at the refuge, unlocked, and the keys were found in it. The audio showed Medenbach complied with the trooper and was arrested. Removal of 100 ft. of refuge fence Four more refuge employees testified Tuesday about what they found at the federal wildlife sanctuary when they returned after the occupation in mid-February. Ryan Curtis, a supervisory forestry technician, identified defendant David Fry on video, seated at Curtis' desk at the refuge and using his computer. "That's my desk and a picture of my daughter," as the video filmed by Fry scanning Curtis' personal belongings. Curtis testified that one of the fire trucks at the refuge "had everything stripped of it" when he returned to work in mid-February after the 41-day occupation of the refuge was over. Refuge ecologist Jess Wenick, a third-generation Harney County resident and 13-year refuge employee who manages the haying and grazing program and water management program, said occupiers drove out in his work-assigned white pickup truck to cut about 100 feet of fence on the northeast boundary of the federal property Jan. 11. He identified the refuge Bobcat truck used to remove fence poles from the ground and his work-assigned all-terrain vehicle being used by occupiers without his permission. Prosecutors played for jurors video of the fence-cutting, which showed occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum removing a pair of pliers from a truck, and Ammon Bundy, Jon Ritzheimer and Finicum taking turns cutting the barbed wire down. "Taking down the fence. Liberating this area," co-defendant Blaine Cooper could be heard saying in the video. Cooper already has pleaded guilty to the federal conspiracy charge. Upon returning to work at the refuge in mid-February, Wenick testified that he found his desk in the main office of the refuge "disorganized and messy," and his personal paperwork had been rummaged through, including bank account information, Social Security numbers and the "complete family history" of him and his wife. He noticed a stack of historical documents placed in his office that had been moved, including a number of papers about the controversial case of Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steve Hammond, who were ordered to return to federal prison in January to complete a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for arson on federal lands. The pending imprisonment of the father and son prompted the Jan. 2 protest in Burns that preceded the occupation of the wildlife refuge. Wenick testified that some of the Hammond records are still missing from the refuge. He also said he found a scanner in the refuge office that didn't belong to the refuge. He described co-worker Faye Healy's office next door to his as a "technological sweatshop," with computer parts strewn about, tobacco spit on the wall and personal photos and a "disturbing odor" in the air. During Wenick's cross-examination, Mumford, Bundy's lawyer, tried repeatedly to get Wenick to discuss how the federal government has authority to own the refuge. Each time, a prosecutor objected and U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown sustained the objections. "What authority does the federal government have to maintain the fence?'' Mumford asked Wenick. "Were you involved in the burns that the Hammonds were prosecuted for?'' Mumford asked him. After sustaining objections to those questions, the judge advised Mumford, "Please confine yourself to cross on direct'' examination. Later, the judge threatened to halt Mumford's cross-examination of a witness if he didn't confine himself to the testimony offered during the prosecutor's direct questioning. Earlier, Mumford addressed a witness by the wrong name. Shane Theall, a refuge fire management officer, testified that he found a fire truck outside of its station, with the nozzles, shovels and hoses all pulled off of it, and pocket Constitutions in the old fire house. He said fire clothing and new electronics he had bought were missing. He testified that the fire bunkhouse "smelled terrible," full of cigarette smoke. He also said a prescribed burn at the refuge scheduled for January didn't occur. Asked by defendant Ryan Bundy, who is representing himself, if he ever had any prescribed burns burn more than the area intended, Theall said yes. "Have you ever been prosecuted as a domestic terrorist for that?" Ryan Bundy followed up. The judge asked jurors to disregard the question after she sustained an objection from a prosecutor. Refuge maintenance mechanic Edward Moulton testified that he was the last person at the refuge on Dec. 31, and locked his office and the middle and back gates to the refuge. When he returned on Feb. 14, he found beds and cots in his office and a tobacco-rolling station. Later, when an FBI agent and pilot Jeffrey Cleveland testified that he flew aerial surveillance during the occupation, and spent about 23 hours flying above the refuge on Jan. 18, Ryan Bundy asked him,"So do you spy on the American people a lot?'' The judge sustained another objection to that question. -- Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian 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. Pouring money into agriculture: a gamble for Vietnamese tycoons VietNamNet Bridge - Though they followed methodical production methods, many Vietnamese tycoons, who have succeeded in their core business fields, have harvested bitter fruit in the agricultural industry. Hoang Anh Gia Lais owner decided to develop cow farms, while Hoa Phats owner makes animal feed and Vingroup is growing clean vegetables. In 2015, Vingroup, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Hoa Phat Groups, the three richest Vietnamese stock millionaires, surprised the public when announcing plans to pour money into agricultural production.Hoang Anh Gia Lais owner decided to develop cow farms, while Hoa Phats owner makes animal feed and Vingroup is growing clean vegetables.Other large conglomerates, including TH, Vinamilk (dairy producers) and T&T Group also have injected money into agriculture projects. Local newspapers commented that a new wave of investment in agriculture had started.However, the movement seems to be fading. This is attributed to the huge debt of VND3 trillion incurred by Hoang Anh Gia Lai, which decided to give up real estate projects to focus on agriculture.The groups H1 finance report showed that its payable accounts had reached VND32.995 trillion, which included VND26.683 trillion in loans.Hoang Anh Gia Lai is not alone. Nguyen Kim, a home appliance distribution chain, after pouring money into food companies in Mekong River Delta, has seen unsatisfactory business results.Duc Long Gia Lai, another powerful conglomerate, stated that once the maize growing project brings high profit, it would join forces with Vinamilk to develop a project on breeding 80,000 milk cows and 45,000 meat cows. However, the project has remained on paper over the last two years.Only Vingroup still works with with farmers in many projects. On September 1, Vingroup kicked off a program on supporting agriculture production under which it would invest VND300 billion a year to support 1,000 cooperatives and households to grow clean vegetables, distribute products and develop brands.The need for high investment because of dependence on weather and the worlds price fluctuations partially explain the unsatisfactory business results of the projects.This is also why investment capital into agriculture only accounts for one percent of the total investment in the national economy, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).Meanwhile, according to the deputy director of MARDs Planning Department Nguyen Thi Hong, there are two other problems: the small agricultural land fund and outdated technologies.She said that Vietnam needs to change its thinking about production, especially in the context of influences from nature and climate change. Ninety percent of agricultural enterprises are small or tiny.There are 16.3 million farming households in Vietnam. It is estimated that each farmer has 1,150 square meters of land for cultivation. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. To the editor: I find it interesting that Keith A. Humberts letter (Clintons aspirations) appeared next to mine (Take exception), where he repeats the insinuated wrongdoing and deprecation of Hillary Clinton that is based on unfounded opinion and rumor rather that factual proof or legal jurisprudence for which I criticized Joe E. Benes. I should be careful in expressing political views, why? Because I dont buy his way of interpreting the Bible? Dont get me wrong. Mr. Humbert is entitled to his approach to biblical interpretation and application, but he may not impugn me or any other Christian for not buying his questionable use of a text to bash Clinton. I would ask that he and other letter writers move beyond being able to quote any text from the Bible in a deprecating way, especially in an unfounded attack. Instead, show to us that you follow and are trying to embrace the Spirit of the Christ, who is after all the focal point of the biblical witness. More to the point, no one can tell someone who has been called and trained to be an interpreter of the scriptures what that interpretation and application to life should be. Just because I am clergy does not mean that I should come to the same conclusion about what any other Christian may express. When I was ordained, I did not become infallible (even Pope Francis admits that), but I also did not become stupid in the process. There are, however, bigger fish to fry in this matter. I dont spend any time in my letters trying to shoot people with the gospel gun or cram some traditional doctrine down peoples throats for a reason. I know and Hillary Clinton knows very well that this nation was never intended to be a Christian Nation. Neither did it ever become one. This despite the subsequent marriage between bastardized Christian moralistic thinking and sentimentality to an overboard patriotism. This created an American Civil Religion, which flourished for a time, but is now in its death throes due to wide communication and awareness of vast human diversity springing from our common humanity. To the extent that Christian faith and practice, when true to the Spirit of Christ, is good human care and protection of all people, I want a candidates faith to inform their decisions without putting the whole nation in some particular religious straight-jacket. Further, if you bother to get beyond the cartoon caricature of Clinton that the Alt-Right likes to bash, and the things that she says that people rip out of context and criticize, you will discover that Christian faith (United Methodist style) has played a motivating influence on her and is part of her spiritual armor against all the hateful lies and misogynistic darts hurled at her. Clinton just does not wear her faith on her sleeve or claim that everyone ought believe as she does. In short, she follows Jesus advice to pray in the secret of her own closet (Matthew 6:5) and not trumpet (pun intended) her faith and practice on the street corner. You may not like what she advocates after her emergence from her prayer closet, but offer constructive criticism of that and not the projected fears and baseless rumors of others. THE REV. DR. HAROLD J. SLATER Midland NORMAL The former Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School Administration Building will be demolished this year. The Normal City Council voted 5-2 on a plan for owner Nicholas Africano to raze the building, give the site to the town, receive $500,000 in public money in return and develop the adjoining infirmary building, which he owns as well. Council members Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston voted "no." Both said they dislike a provision in the deal barring the town from transferring the land to anyone who is not Africano for the next two years. Jeff Fritzen, Cheryl Gaines, Kevin McCarthy, R.C. McBride and Mayor Chris Koos voted "yes." "If he wants to use these two years to go out and raise funds to purchase back that land and potentially keep it as green space, part of me wishes that (he pursued it) two years ago, and he could have handled this project and demolition himself," Preston said. Koos said he's not concerned about the two-year delay in redeveloping the site, should Africano not buy it back. "I don't see the urgency on this. We have dealt with this property for 20-some years," he said. "It's a reasonable request given the efforts Mr. Africano has made over the years on that property." Lorenz said she's also uncomfortable with the lack of direction for the property beyond the town taking possession. Africano and the town have been trying to market the property for redevelopment for years to little interest, and officials hope to recover the price of the demolition through redevelopment. Even if Africano used the land as green space, the town would receive some revenue, said City Manager Mark Peterson. He added that the town isn't obligated to sell the land back if they don't like Africano's offer. "The deal feels thin," Lorenz said. "We're not having a constructive picture painted for us right now." Peterson said it's a "reasonable risk" to take on the land, especially given the successful redevelopment of nine other buildings on the former ISSCS campus not including the infirmary. Peterson said officials could have used the town's vacant buildings ordinance to try to compel Africano to knock down both buildings. That could require legal action, he added. "We could secure it, board it up and leave it," he said of the building. "But it is a bit of an attractive nuisance." Gaines said the town benefits because the building is "a terrible accident waiting to happen." Officials said trespassing and vandalism on the site are common. "If (Africano) were able to pay for the property what the town has invested, that would be a good outcome," Peterson said. Of the Normal Historic Preservation Commission voting against the demolition last week, Preston said the building is beyond saving. "The town of Normal's track record for historic preservation is very strong and should speak for itself," McBride said. SPRINGFIELD A federal appeals court has denied requests from David Gill that could have allowed the Bloomington physician to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday declined to reconsider a three-judge panels earlier action blocking Gill from the ballot or to quickly grant him a hearing on his case. After U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough ruled late last month that Gill should appear on the ballot despite not having collected all of the 10,754 signatures he needed on his nominating petitions, the appeals court halted her order. The Illinois State Board of Elections, which had previously certified the ballot with Gills name on it, voted unanimously Monday to formally remove him. Sam Cahnman, the Springfield attorney representing Gill in the case, said theyre still studying the appellate courts order, which he believes may have left the door open for future court action between now and Monday. Ballot access appeals are ordinarily expedited, so treating this as a standard appeal, which would yield a ruling after the election and therefore be moot, would be unusual, Cahnman wrote in an email. Gill, who previously ran for Congress four times as a Democrat, collected nearly 8,500 valid petition signatures. He filed a federal lawsuit challenging the states signature requirement for independent congressional candidates because his would-be opponents, Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville and Democratic challenger Mark Wicklund of Decatur, each had to collect fewer than 740. With Election Day drawing nearer, Gills options may be running out. Local election authorities must have absentee ballots prepared to mail to military and overseas voters by Friday. Gill still could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and overrule the appeals court, an option Cahnman said hes still weighing. Barring that, he has until a week before the election to notify local election authorities in the 13th District, which stretches from Champaign County to the Mississippi River and includes parts of Bloomington, Normal and Decatur, that he wishes to run as a write-in candidate. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have trumpeted a message from their respective marble roosts in the sky, in the form of a divorce statement. The two--who've been locked in a fairly grim custody battle over their six children--said this, of their highly publicized split: The parties and their counsel have signed agreements to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family by keeping all court documents confidential and engaging a private judge to make any necessary legal decisions and to facilitate the expeditious resolution of any remaining issues. The parents are committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification. Why does Reunification sound like a name of a sequel in a sci-fi franchise? ALIEN: REUNIFICATION. Header photo via Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com Disney is celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the "Beauty and the Beast" animated film this year. By March 2017, the live action treatment featuring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, as well as an ensemble of talented actors, will finally be running in theaters. Paige O' Hara, who was the voice actor for the animated "Beauty and the Beast" released in 1991, is thrilled about the live action coming. She admits, via Popsugar, that she's eager to watch Emma Watson bring the character to life on the big screen. "I think she's perfect casting!" said O'Hara, when asked about her opinion of Watson as Belle on "Beauty and the Beast." Vanity Fair reports that O'Hara has nothing but praises for the young actress. "She's got the intelligence, the humor, the spirit, the soul, and [she's] beautiful. I mean, she's going to be fantastic," O'Hara said. The voice actress also admits how much she loves the idea of adapting the animation into a live action film. "It's like we're passing the baton onto this cast for a whole new generation of kids," she added. Paige O'Hara said that what she's looking forward to watching the most on "Beauty and the Beast" is how the live action version will play out the big ballroom scene from the animated film. She's also anticipating Beast's transformation in the final scene. Earlier, Parent Herald reported on photos from the set of "Beauty and the Beast." It showed Dan Stevens, who plays the Beast, as the prince or the "human version of the Beast." Meanwhile, the voice of Mrs. Potts in the animated version of "Beauty and the Beast" surprised an audience in New York during the celebration the movie's milestone. Angela Lansbury went on stage to perform the theme song to "Beauty and the Beast," as she did in the 1991 movie, per People. The audience cheered and gave Lansbury a standing ovation after her performance, where she was accompanied by music composer Alan Menken. Watch Angela Lansbury sing in the video below. Gina Torres is leaving "Suits" after six seasons of playing top corporate lawyer Jessica Pearson. However, she won't be without work for long as the actress has snagged a part in Shonda Rhimes' "The Catch" on ABC. The actress has spoken up about why she left her former cable series, as her new show begins its filming for Season 2. In an interview with New York Times, Gina Torres said that her contract was up on "Suits" and she opted not to renew this. She spent the last six years flying to Toronto -- where the show is being filmed, from Los Angeles -- where she is based with husband Laurence Fishburne. "My personal life needed to be tended to," the actress added. With her recurring character on "The Catch" Season 2, Gina Torres won't have to travel far because the show's filming locations are in Los Angeles and Texas. Deadline reports that little details have been revealed as to her character on "The Catch." Shonda Rhimes' production is wary about spoilers leaking out, hence the secrecy about plots and casting. Gina Torres also joins T.R. Knight as the newest additions in this exciting drama about a private investigator played by Mireille Enos. "The Catch" is expected to return to ABC in the mid-season schedule. "The Catch" was also a mid-season offering on ABC in the last season. The show debuted in March 2016 and ran for short 10 episodes. Mireille Enos is Alice Vaughan on "The Catch," who manages a private investigation firm that only deals with affluent clients. Playing opposite Enos is Peter Krause, as Benjamin Jones, Vaughan's fiance who turned out to be a con artist. In "The Catch's" first season run, Jones ended up in jail to save Vaughan, who was supposed to be the one under arrest. It's still unclear where the show will go after the cliffhanger last season. Based on "The Catch" writers' Twitter page, filming for Season 2 has already started. Shonda Rhimes also announced, via Twitter, that the cast has had their first table read in late August. The family of a young boy, who was handcuffed at school for crying, is filing a lawsuit against the institution that was supposed to nurture his education. Kalyb Wiley Primm attended the George Melcher Elementary School in Kansas as a 7-year-old student in 2014 when the incident happened. School authorities allegedly mishandled the situation, where he was being bullied in class. Metro reports that Kalyb, who has a hearing disability, was being teased by school bullies, which led to his crying and screaming. Unable to contain him, school authorities apparently handcuffed Kalyb and sent him to the principal's office. Being handcuffed for crying became traumatic for the boy that he avoided school for two years. But with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the state of Missouri, the Primm family is going to court. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, Sept. 15, by the ACLU on behalf of the family, alleged that Kalyb's rights were violated. Named in the complaint is school officer, Brandon Craddock, and the principal, Anne Wallace. The boy related that Craddock grabbed and twisted his hands, then placed the handcuffs. "I just didn't really like how it felt," said Kalyb via Fox News. "This child committed no crime, threatened no one, and posed no danger to anyone," said the ACLU in their statement. "Gratuitously handcuffing children is cowardly and violates the constitution." Kansas City Star reports that the elementary school allows for the use of force on students if it meant putting an incident in order. Back in 2014, a spokesperson allegedly admitted that use of handcuffs is one of the allowable methods for school officers. Thus, the lawsuit is also demanding that the public school district implements proper training among Kansas City school officers. "Instead of treating a routine situation involving a child acting like a child like it's a crime," said Tony Rothert, the lawyer for ACLU. Kalyb is now in the fifth grade at a new public school, following two years of homeschooling. The Kansas City school board has declined to comment on the case since it is due for litigation. It used to be that to succeed in college -- and for that matter, in life -- one needs to have good and solid credentials or accomplishments to show off in the curriculum vitae. But it's not the case for those studying to get degrees in technology or business schools today. It seems that being the smartest and most diligent student in class doesn't guarantee the person landing a good job anymore. These days, opportunities in the tech and business sectors are more about student's capabilities or "talents" and less about grades or credentials. Tech Crunch likens this trend to Hollywood, wherein students of higher education who are looking for jobs must be able to demonstrate just how talented they are to future employers. For instance, some tech companies have apparently been hiring college kids based solely on their ability to code. Interviews, in this case, become inconsequential in the hiring process where the employer might not even have to consider the student's school. This is one of the reasons why Silicon Valley gives college education the least value because it is talent that matters more, much like in Hollywood. "Employers are interested in what skills you bring and how these skills can be used in their business," said Silicon Valley's Kris Stadelman, via Time. The scenario is the same for those in business courses, where higher education students need to have an ample portfolio of presentations or papers to showcase to future employers. According to the Tech Crunch story, online work samples have boomed in recent years among university students and alumni. This is largely because employers are now using sites like Portfololium to look for talented individuals with substantial materials to showcase. Now, this trend poses a challenge for higher education institutions. If a college or university doesn't adapt to the current system and come up with a process that will enable students to showcase their talents through technology or good programs, then students likely to be motivated to take up higher education in the future could become fewer. Do you agree with this observation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! A scare of of flakka drug suddenly emerged in the media channels after Austin Harrouff, a 19-year-old teenager from Florida, reportedly murdered a married couple and then bit the face of his male victim. Florida authorities believe that the teenager was under the influence of flakka drug, a highly addictive trendy drug which can cause psychosis and paranoia. Florida police arrested Austin Kelly Harrouff last month after stabbing to death a husband John Stevens III, 59, and wife, Michelle Stevens, 53, in their house at Jupiter, Florida. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder blamed the flakka drug for Harrouff's face-eating attack. "When you see a case like this where someone is biting off pieces of somebody's face, could it be flakka? The answer is it absolutely could be a flakka case," Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said in a report published in the Independent. But detectives are still working to know whether or not Harrouff had the drug in his human system, the report continued. Flakka, which includes alpha-PVP, is a chemical substance similar to the ingredients utilized to create bath salts. It looks like a combination of meth and crack cocaine. In 2013, it swept through Florida, getting the name "five dollar insanity" as it causes psychosis, "superhuman" power and hallucinations. When ingested, flakka causes a sensation of hallucinations, euphoria and often apparent superhuman power and psychosis. Jim Hall, an epidemiologist from Nova Southeastern University described that flakka users become psychotic, often rip off their clothes and run out into the street violently with an adrenaline-like strength that when police are called, it would take four or five officers to restrain them, via the DailyMail. Sheriff Snyder said that Harrouff was "abnormally strong" during the night of murder. "And the following day, he was intubated and sedated in the hospital after suffering dog bites, bruises and cuts," the sheriff added. For the current status of Harrouff, Treasure Coast Palm said that he's in poor state, with police believing that he might have consumed something triggering "intestinal problems." Hoang Anh Gia Lai considers selling 20,000 hectares of rubber area to Chinese VietNamNet Bridge - In an effort to generate cash flow for debt repayment, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group will have to sell sugar refineries and possibly sell 20,000 hectares of rubber area to the Chinese. The board of directors has submitted to the shareholders a plan on issuing 110 million shares to strategic investors at the price of VND6,400 per share in order to raise funds to restructure capital. Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agrico (HNG), a subsidiary of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, owned by Doan Nguyen Duc, who was recognized by the international press as one of Vietnam's most influential businessmen, held a 2016 shareholders meeting where the board of directors said the company estimated a loss of VND559 billion in 2016.HNGs debt restructuring was one of the key issues of the meetings agenda. Ernst & Young, the auditing firm, has warned about the company's continued operation in case the debt restructure cannot be implemented.HNG now owes VND8.168 trillion to commercial banks and VND10.327 trillion to Hoang Anh Gia Lai holding company, while short-term assets have exceeded short-term loans.The board of directors has submitted to the shareholders a plan on issuing 110 million shares to strategic investors at the price of VND6,400 per share in order to raise funds to restructure capital and pay VND700 billion to Singaporean Temasek, to which it is owing VND1.1 trillion.Duc, president of Hoang Anh Gia Lai and president of HNG, said the board of directors has decided to sell sugar production units, while the negotiations on the sale are getting completed.Local newspapers days ago quoted their sources as reporting that Hoang Anh Gia Lai would sell its sugar refinery to Thanh Thanh Cong Group, the largest sugar manufacturer in Vietnam.Thanh Thanh Cong is also well known in Vietnam, partially because it is owned by Dang Van Thanh, a renowned banker, who was the founder and chair of Sacombank.Duc went on to say that Hoang Anh Gia Lai is still awaiting the governments decision on the groups debt restructuring plan, and that if necessary, HNG will sell its 20,000 hectares of rubber area in Laos.He revealed that some Chinese investors want to buy the rubber area for VND8 trillion.Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agrico doesnt go so far as to die, said HNGs president.Meanwhile, there is good news for Hoang Anh Gia Lai that US President Obama has lifted the embargo against Myanmar. This could help boost Myanmar economy, thus benefiting Hoang Anh Gia Lai, which is developing real estate projects in the country.Hoang Anh Gia Lai still ranks 16th among 50 most valuable Vietnamese brands as reported by Brand Finance. The "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart remain a favorite item, despite their split a few years back. Both are already in a relationship to different individuals but some are still rooting for the pair to reunite. However, based on the new reports, the Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart reunion is farfetched, even if Pattinson already split with FKA Twigs. That is because the "Cosmopolis" star is currently romantically linked to his former "Maps to the Stars" co-star Mia Wasikowska. According to Movie News Guide, reports are rife that Robert Pattinson and FKA Twigs already called off their wedding because the pair already broke up. However, Kristen Stewart is not behind the alleged break up because another actress is. One source told OK Magazine that Robert Pattinson barely sees his fiancee FKA Twigs. However, he is seeing Mia Wasikowska non-stop. Pattinson and Wasikowska are reuniting for their upcoming film "Damsel" but if they are not filming, the pair is in a trailer running lines. FKA Twigs is busy with her music while Robert Pattinson is busy filming. However, there are still chances for the couple to reunite. Twigs and Pattinson's wedding has been subject to cancellation reports in the past months but the pair just squashed those reports. Are FKA Twigs and Robert Pattinson doomed? Is there wedding happening? Contrary to earlier reports, there is no bad blood between Pattinson and his ex Kristen Stewart. In fact, Stewart thinks that the couple is a good pair. Meanwhile, the Stopru reported that Kristen Stewart and Alicia Cargile's romance is going too fast. One source claimed that Stewart was spotted walking alone on the streets of West Hollywood alone. A source close to the couple disclosed that Kristen Stewart regrets exposing her private life with Alicia Cargile to the public. In an interview with Elle UK, the "Cafe Society" star proudly said that she is in love with her girlfriend but things seem to have turned cold between the two. Did Kristen Stewart make a wrong move in publicizing her love life with Alicia Cargile? Do you believe that Robert Pattinson and FKA Twigs already broke up? Do you believe on the alleged affair of Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Valve apparently did not take kindly to the lawsuit filed by game developer Digital Homicide against users who wrote bad reviews on the company's games on Steam; the "Half-Life" developer-turned digital distribution company issued a ban against Digital Homicide on the platform in response. All titles developed by Digital Homicide have now been removed from Steam, according to a report by Ars Technica. The ban was implemented by Steam owner Valve, after Digital Homicide filed a lawsuit claiming for damages the company apparently incurred after a host of users posted negative reviews on Digital Homicide's works. A posting of Digital Homicide's lawsuit on Scribd labelled about 100 Johns and Jane Does, 11 of which had their Steam user identification specifically mentioned. The lawsuit indicated several counts of apparent "harassment," "Stalking," and "cyber-bullying" Digital Homicide claimed were done by the Steam users against them. Digital Homicide is one of the lesser-known game development studios using Valve's Steam platform to distribute their games to audiences. One of the most well-known games from the company is 2014's "The Slaughtering Grounds," which was a first-person shooter survival horror game that received widespread attention after Jim Sterling of The Escapist issued bad reviews against it. Sterling was also one of the first targets of Digital Homicide in the studio's efforts to sue those who give their games bad reviews, with Kotaku reporting earlier this year that the studio filed a lawsuit against Sterling for $10 million. The legal battle between Digital Homicide and Sterling continues to this day, a conflict that the studio flared up even more with its efforts to sue Steam users. James Romine, co-founder of Digital Homicide, was granted a subpoena by an Arizona court that allowed him to demand Valve's release of identification data of users on Steam despite the privacy concerns. Onn its part, Valve banned Digital Homicide from Steam and removed the company's games with an email sent to Vice' Motherboard confirming the issue due to the studio "being hostile to Steam customers. Digital Homicide issued a response on its web page detailing its side of the story. Romine claimed it was Valve's responsibility to handle the abusive comments his company has received, including screenshots of Steam's page as examples, and said that Valve did not properly commit to this responsibility. Child custody battles and court proceedings may not only be traumatic for the child, but it can also cost their lives if wrongfully approved. As much as parents would want to go against the judge's decision, it was mentioned that their family's fate is based on the psychologist's findings, but this will soon change for the better. Hundreds if not thousands of families go through bitter custody battle each year, and there are some children that are unfortunate enough to land on an abusive parent's care. Long Island Press shared the story of the Castillo family, wherein the judge's decision was to give the parent's joint custody, where the children's father can still have unsupervised visits despite Amy's (the mother) claims that her husband Mark is not mentally stable and has physically threatened her and their children. Despite Amy's claims, the judge's decision was based on the court-appointed psychologist, who stated that Mark can still visit their children. Less than a year after the court's decision, three of the Castillo children were found dead in a hotel bathroom after their fathered drowned them. Mark Castillo was then captured by the authorities after a failed attempt to commit suicide. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, offered a resolution, which sheds light for families that were caught up by the justice system of the family court. Poe created a movement to stand for the immediate improvement in terms of the family court cases that needs to be corrected. Poe mentioned that child abuse cases should be thoroughly studied and investigated before moving forward with the child custody battle. Thus, there is a call for a Family Court Reform. "Protecting our children is one of the most important things we can do for society," Poe said in his statement when the measures were discussed. "Courts should resolve all claims of abuse independently before looking at any other factors in deciding custody or visitation." "An independent and rigorous investigation into claims of abuse, coupled with heightened evidentiary standards, will help courts prevent the endangerment of any child. It is my hope that this new resolution will provide similar encouragement," Poe added. The resolution is solely focused on child abuse cases prior to the custody battle for the betterment of the child and the rest of the family. ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom, did their investigation in regards to the resolution and is yet to post updates in regards to its progress. Thousands of students are affected due to the sudden closure of ITT Technical Institutes and according to reports, the Education Department will be aiding them to look for schools where they will continue their studies. The former students of the institution also recently talked about the underwhelming classes that they had in the past. The Education Department announced on Monday that they have new online resources that students could use. This comes after ITT Technical Institutes decided to close down because of the new policies of the government when it comes to for-profit schools. The Education Department officials are reportedly partnering with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators as well as Beyond 12. The online platform that the students could use is NextStepsEdu.org. The staffers of the website will be asking students questions via email, phone, and text messages regarding their options that are available as financial aid and federal loan discharge, the Washington Post reports. Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell said in a statement on Monday that they are working around the clock to make sure the former ITT students will remain to be inspired to pursue finishing their higher education. The announcement of the Education Department comes after it was announced that anyone who enrolled in ITT or those who withdrew from the school in the past 120 days are eligible for federal student loan forgiveness. For the students who have attended classes in the ITT schools, they recently talked to Consumerist to comment about their experiences with the institution. They said that they experienced high-pressure marketing, underwhelming courses, and numerous shady practices. Another student shared that there was no time during the courses where he learned or understood about anything. One student named Don said that he was heavily persuaded by a recruiter to enroll in a certain program while he was still trying to decide what he wants to do with his life after graduating from high school. He added, "The recruiter took me around the so-called campus... he [expletive] near promised me the world." Lawsuits against ITT have been passed and they suggest that ITT and its recruiters were misleading students to believe that their lives would be better if they enrolled in the institution's courses. An 89-year old paleta vendor in Little Village, Mexico will receive the $385,290 on Wednesday from the largest GoFundMe campaign in Illinois. Sanchez also told CNN that he is still not sure if he is ready to stop working. He was orphaned at 6 months old, and he was a child laborer since he was 13. At least 17,500 people contributed from $5 to $2,000 in donations to Fidencio Sanchez, through the online fundraising campaign that was created Sept. 9 by Joel Cervantes, who once bought paletas from Sanchez. "It broke my heart seeing this man who should be enjoying retirement still working at this age," Cervantes said to CNN. Cervantes' photograph of Sanchez has pulled numerous heartstrings that is why the target of $3000 donations was largely surpassed in the first three days. The campaign is the largest in Illinois and also among the top 25 campaigns in the U.S., GoFundMe spokesperson Bobby Whithorne told Chicago Tribune. Before the campaign, Sanchez and his wife were facing a huge problem. Their daughter, who was taking care of them just died. And so the couple were so worried about their bills. Sanchez did not know where to get money to pay their apartment, electricity, water, and others. Gilberto Bahena, Sanchez's pastor at his neighborhood church, said that those 9,000 people who outpoured the donations were great parts of a miracle from God. The neighborhood who enjoyed his frozen treats for over 23 years may miss him if he chooses to stop selling under the sun, rain and all seasons. Blanca Gutierrez, Sanchez's boss, said to CNN that the elderly man is among the hardest workers and actually works year-round even in winter time. The good old man is scheduled to receive all donations at a ceremony that will be held at Paleteria y Neveria Poncho, the ice cream parlor where he pushed his paleta cart from.e Sadie Robertson on "Duck Dynasty" opens up about her opinions when it comes to bullying, religion, and even politics. During one of her most recent interviews, Robertson stated that she is not ashamed to open up about neither her political views nor her opinion when it comes to standing. "Duck Dynasty" cast member Sadie Robertson opens up to Washington Times as she shared that she is not ashamed to voice out her opinions. She then added that social media plays a huge part when it comes to spreading the hate, especially bullying. "I think there're so much peer pressure and so much bullying and insecurity, but I think it may just be like that because that's how the world is," Miss Robertson told Washington Times during one of her exclusive interviews. "With social media, it's really hard to stop bullying. But I think ... everybody needs to work on being confident in them. Instead of being fragile, be solid. Because if you're solid, nothing can shake you. No matter if people talk about you ... you're going to be solid in what you believe, so it doesn't really matter." Sadie Robertson may not only be an author as she was also offered a film role. Sadie was offered the lead role for "I am Not Ashamed," which is the story of Rachel Joy Scott, who was one the victims of the Columbine shootout in April 1999. Rachel was one out of the 13 students that were shot dead. One student who witnessed the shootout stated that Rachel Scott was shot after admitting that she is a Christian. Sadie then opened up to Fox News about the film's storyline which would hit the big screen by October 21. Though Sadie was offered the major role, the "Duck Dynasty" cast turned it down as she agreed to take on a minor role of a character named Charity. "The [movie] itself is not about [Scott's] death, Sadie said, "It's about her life and I think that people will take away dying isn't the end of the world because as a Christian, Jesus died for us so the least we can do is die for him. It's how we live our life before him," she continued." Businessman Christian Grey is transforming into an outlaw. Jamie Dornan is reportedly in the final stages of negotiations to join the upcoming "Robin Hood: Origins." Should things go well, Jamie Dornan is going to play as one of the members of Little John's group of Merry Men. The character is named Will Scarlet, Robin Hood's half-brother in the books. Robin Hood will be played by Taron Egerton, while Jamie Foxx will take on Little John. Scarlet is described as a "hot-headed wearer of fine clothes" and is also the best swordsman in the group, according to JoBlo.com. In "Robin Hood: Origins," Scarlet is the husband of Maid Marian, to be played by Eve Hewson, "who will be none too happy when he learns that she loves the outlaw." Lionsgate's "Robin Hood: Origins" is written by Joby Harold, with Otto Bathurst at the helm. The story follows Robin Hood as he returns from the Crusades. He forms a group of outlaws whose aim is to fight corruption, per Variety. The film is set in the Sherwood Forest. "Robin Hood: Origins," which is going to kick-start production in January in Budapest, is under productions of Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson via Appian Way, Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell via Safehouse Productions, and Basil Iwanyk via Thunder Road Pictures. Jamie Dornan is wrapping up productions for the next installment of "Fifty Shades," with "Fifty Shades Darker" already set for a Valentine's Day 2017 release. The trailer has recently been released and broke records of most watched trailer within 24 hours after release. The 34-year-old actor stars in BBC drama "The Fall" and recently appeared in "Anthropoid" and "The 9th Life of Louis Drax." He next projects include "Untogether" (2017), "Jadotville" (coming in October) and "Fifty Shades of Freed" (2018). Jamie Dornan is repped by UTA. Families who have elderlies or family member in need of care often look to caregivers. The number of family caregivers continues to rise in the United States. But while they are capable of providing care to other people, sometimes they are the ones who need care the most. The Huffington Post looked into the status of caregivers in the country and found some "cringe-worthy" facts. These include about 60 percent of caregivers who live with the person they are caring, which means they are on-call 24/7. More than half of them are caring for their spouse, which makes things worse because they are more prone to higher rates of stress and depression. The number of people that live in a nursing home has also declined to just 22 percent now because caregiving has grown to be an expectation from a family member. Most of them are well on their way to a different life until they had to switch their career into caregiving. If not totally giving up their current jobs, caregiving results in part-timers having missed work or making adjustments in their work schedules. To make things more cringe-worthy, instead of receiving pay for their caregiving, 42 percent of family caregivers are actually spending some $5,000 on caregiving-related expenses, such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. As family caregiving could take a big bite on someone's job, income, and retirement, both nominees for the president of the U.S. position, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, are proposing benefits for family caregivers. As reported by Fortune, Trump's proposal includes allowing people to deduct up to $5,000 a year for the cost of elder care that a family member would need so he could keep working outside their home, as well as creating a tax-sheltered Dependent Care Savings Account, which will cover elder and child care expenses. On one hand, Hilary Clinton wants to expand Social Security for those who have to spend their time taking care of an elderly, children, or sick family member. However, while the proposals are well-intentioned, financial experts say a careful plan is needed to be committed. Save This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions So over the weekend, Nick Kristof had an article asking, Would you hide a Jew from the Nazis? Now, as it happens, I read this over the weekend, and closed out, and when I attempted just now to re-read it Id hit my monthly article limit. But the flavor of the article was very similar to something hed written back in August, in which he said, Anne Frank Today Is a Syrian Girl. In both cases, his point was that the same moral obligation the United States had to accept Jewish refugees in danger of their lives due to Nazi persecution, the United States now has with respect to Syrians. Now, that same case has been made by others, and I wrote about it back a year ago, but Ill rephrase and repeat some of my points from the prior article and say a few new things. First, in the immediate pre-war years, or, really, up until the Nazis moved westward, Americans could have felt reasonably comfortable with the statement, Its a European problem. Let France, the Netherlands, and Belgium take the refugees. The infamous St. Louis, whose passengers sought refuge in Cuba, then in the United States, ended up offloading its passengers in those countries, and one really shouldnt scold prewar Americans for failing to recognize those countries would fall like dominoes and were unsafe harbors. But Kristof raises the issue (in his August article which I opened first and was presumably article #10 for the month) that even as late as April 1941, when the Netherlands was occupied but the United States wasnt yet at war with Germany, Otto Frank was desperately seeking a visa to the United States, or to Britain or Cuba. Which does pose a meaningful, if hypothetical, question: what should the United States have done? Remember, they were on the verge of war, but were not actually at war. And, though Germany had prevented Jews in its own territory from leaving long before (I think), Kristofs Frank family example implies that the Nazis were still letting Jews leave from occupied territories. Now, in hindsight, we know that their ultimate aim was genocide, but its not really fair to say that Americans in the year 1941 should have known that. At this point, however, it was clear that the persecution was terrible, and, in Poland, the Nazis has already moved the Jewish population into ghettos, and, while Im not sure exactly when they started up, the Einsatzgruppen were certainly in operation in the summer of 1941. So the question I asked back a year ago was this: should the United States have, indeed, established an emergency rescue plan, to bring over every last Jew whose departure the Nazis would have permitted? Polish Jews, Dutch Jews, French Jews, even German Jews, if permission could have been managed, though likely only upon payment of a ransom. Never mind the political feasibility of a program like this, or the cost. Would this have been the moral answer? In the end, December 1941 wasnt too far away and, in the meantime, the United States was drawing closer to war with the lend-lease program. Second, is this really comparable to the situation today? When we say, Syrians, were are really speaking of three groups of people: those in refuge camps, in stable but unpleasant living situations; those in rebel- or government-occupied territory, facing various kinds of persecution there; and those in active war zones. Now, as I said, I cant tell you any longer which of these three groups Kristof was referring to, but lets address these three: Those in refugee camps are not the new Anne Franks they dont like their present living situations, and understandably so, but the biggest need, and the best way to help the most of these individuals, is not refugee resettlement, but directing more financial resources to those refugee camps. After all, 10,000 Syrians in the United States is a drop in the bucket compared to the 60 million refugees and internally displaced folk worldwide. (Which I also wrote about back last November: So what about the other 59,400,000?) With respect to those in active war zones, well, I dont see how refugee resettlement is an answer here. Its a frickin war. If we want to let the multiple parties fight it out amongst themselves, then there will inevitably be pictures of injured children coming our way. If we want to put a stop to the war, we have to make up our minds to do so, and act with more resolve than at present. And we have to ask the question: whats our ultimate goal? Is it to bring the rebels to victory? Thats not working out too well, both militarily, and because were discovering that were doing a sucky job of picking rebels who themselves would govern justly. Or is it just to stop the war, because life under Assad was, in the end, better than life in a war zone, or a lifetime in a refugee camp? (Again, prior post: Should we give up on Aleppo?) And, if so, should we just let Russia have free rein to prop up Assad? but no matter the answer to these questions, deciding to resettle more refugees wouldnt help a single soul now trapped in Aleppo. Third, well, actually, come to think of it, theres another reason why none of these are new Anne Franks theyre victims of war, not of a genocide campaign. Or, rather, the religious minorities (Christians, Yazdis, etc.) in Syria and Iraq have pretty much been forgotten about, all the more so now that the refugee-resettlement debate has been cast in terms of whether youre an Islamophobe or not. What happened to the religious minorities Im not sure, as there has not been a drop of news coverage in a long time; some time ago I remember reading that they werent eligible for resettlement because, being persecuted by Muslims in refugee camps, they avoided them entirely, and thus were not registered as official refugees. I dont quite know what to make of it, but the debate about Muslim refugees seems to have erased the religious minorities entirely. So, the bottom line is this: no, we are not killing Anne Frank all over again, but, on the other hand, there is no simple bottom line, either. image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASyrian_refugee_camp_on_theTurkish_border.jpg; By Voice of America News: Henry Ridgwell on the Turkish border [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Patna: Police in Patna on Monday nabbed seven criminals who had been running a loot and robbery ring targeting unsuspecting victims and stealing their motorcycles and other personal belongings. Acting on a tip-off, a police team raided a house in Shastri Nagar and arrested Amar Kumar, the kingpin, and six of his associates. Police also recovered two pistols, four live bullets, two stolen motorcycles, several cell phones, and itching powder to render their victims helpless before stealing their valuables. Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) said the gang was active in Danapur, Shastri Nagar, and Kotwali area where they would spray itching powder on their intended victims and then rob them of their belongings including their vehicles. The gang would then take out the license tag from the motorcycles and replace them with fake ones, the SSP said adding the vehicles were then sold in Hajipur, Muzaffarpur, and other towns. Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was the object of ridicule on the social media on Monday after he announced Rs. 5 lakh each to the three army jawans from Bihar who were among the 18 soldiers killed in the latest act of aggression by terrorists with the support of Pakistan in Uri near Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Slamming Kumar for spending more money on his travel to different states to promote prohibition than the meager sum being paid to the family of the jawans who gave their lives fighting for the nation, activists on social media said that while Jharkhand had announced Rs. 10 lakh for each slain soldier from the state and Uttar Pradesh government announcing Rs. 20 lakh for the martyrs from its state, it was an insult to the Bihari soldiers' sacrifice by offering them only Rs. 5 lakh each. "The soldiers don't need your 'bheekh'," wrote one on the social media. "You spent more on celebrating the release of Shahabuddin. Why give anything to the soldiers? You need the money more than the family members of the slain jawans so just keep it," wrote another. "If these soldiers had been the party members of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) or Janata Dal U, you would have given them at least Rs. 1 crore each," wrote another irate Bihari on Facebook. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Patna on Monday took out a rally condemning the assault on Indian soldiers. "Revenge must be taken for the deaths of our jawans," they said. Later in the evening a candle march was taken out by the members of the Akhil Bharatiya Apradh Virodhi Morcha at Kargil Chowk to pray for the ultimate sacrifice by the brave soldiers. Also, BJP activists burn Pakistani flags to condemn the killing of the Indian jawans. The Chief Minister earlier expressed his grief over the death of 18 soldiers calling them 'real patriots' whose sacrifices, he said, would never be forgotten. Kumar also directed the district administration to organize the last rites of three martyrs with will police honors. Patna: It took a massive outrage on social media to shame the Nitish administration into raising the compensatory amount to the three slain Indian army soldiers from the initial offer of Rs. 5 lakh each to Rs. 11 lakh. After being ridiculed and excoriated by the netizens for its stinginess in honoring the martyrs, the Nitish-led Grand Alliance government in Bihar on Tuesday announced its decision to up the compensation money for the families of Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi of Gaya, Ashok Kumar Singh of Bhojpur, and Rakesh Singh of Kaimur who died during a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) in the state of Jammu and Kashmir last Sunday. As reported, the Jharkhand government had announced Rs. 10 lakh for the families of soldiers who belonged to the state. Maharashtra government had pledged to give Rs. 15 lakh to the martyrs while the Uttar Pradesh government had announced Rs. 20 lakh for each slain soldiers from the state. Though Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav were the first to politicize the Uri tragedy by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the soldiers' deaths; they, along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, determined Rs. 5 lakh sufficient for the widows and family members of the martyrs thus sparking an outrage on social media like Facebook and Twitter where enraged Indians slammed the state government for the 'pittance' to those who gave their lives protecting the nation from the enemies. Earlier, Sangeeta Devi, the widow of Ashok Kumar Singh of Bhojpur, refused to accept Rs. 5 lakh from the government saying her husband 'was not an alcoholic who died of over-drinking while laying in a gutter'. "They can keep the money as we don't need 'bheekh' (handout) from them," she told the press. Meanwhile, all three martyrs from Bihar were consigned to flames in their respective villages. Thousands of people in Gaya watched the body of Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi come out of the army plane and joined the procession to the crematorium where his body was consigned to flame by his two-year old son amidst full military honors. Similar site was seen in Buxar and Piro where Rakesh Singh and Ashok Kumar Singh were cremated respectively. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. President Rouhani visits Havana, urges enhanced Iran-Cuba trade ties 09/20/16 Source: Press TV (photos by Ahmad Moeinijam, Islamic Republic News Agency) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stressed the need for the promotion of all-out relations between the Islamic Republic and Cuba, particularly trade ties, following a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers. Rouhani arrived in Havana on Monday September 19, 2016 and was officially welcomed by President Raul Castro at Havana's Palace of the Revolution. President Rouhani (R) was officially welcomed by President Raul Castro. "The goal of some powerful countries to resort to pressure and sanctions against independent states is to maintain their monopoly over cutting-edge and important technologies," President Rouhani said in a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro in Havana on Monday. "We are delighted that, with the resistance of the Iranian nation, the way was paved for developing countries" to gain access to new technologies, the president said. He underlined the need for cooperation among independent states in the field of science and technology, noting that Tehran and Havana must uplift the level of their technological cooperation, namely in the areas of nano- and biotechnology. He called on the Iran-Cuba economic commission to follow up on the previously-singed bilateral agreements to deepen mutual economic relations. "Cuba has always been a close friend of Iran in international organizations, and this friendship and unity between the two countries, which serve the interests of both nations, should continue on international and regional matters," Rouhani said. Rouhani further said that Iran and Cuba share common viewpoints concerning regional and international issues. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro Havana, Cuba.- September 19, 2016. Castro, for his part, said he was glad that President Rouhani was visiting Cuba, stating that the Latin American country "will proudly be a steady partner of Iran" and that "nobody can stop the advancement of Cuba-Iran relations." He further underlined the need for the promotion of Cuba-Iran relations in all areas. President Rouhani meets Fidel Castro President Rouhani also met with the president's older brother and predecessor Fidel. According to the Communist Party newspaper Granma, they discussed importance of food production in a world "threatened by climate change, the incessant growth of the global population, and the dangers to the preservation of peace." "Fidel and Rouhani concluded the friendly meeting with the most sincere desires for collaboration between the peoples of Iran and Cuba," the paper wrote. President Rouhani (L) is meets Fidel Castro (R) in his house in Havana, on September 19, 2016. After his one-day stay in Cuba, the Iranian president will travel to New York, the United States, to deliver a speech at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. IRAN: On Hunger Strike, Health of Imprisoned Music Distributors Deteriorates 09/20/16 By Seyed Hossein Mousavian and Sina Toossi (source: LobeLog) Saudi ambassador to Iran Abdolrahma Bin Gharman al-Shahri meets Iranian FM Javad Zarif in 2014. (photo by Amin Hosroshahi, ISNA) In January, Saudi Arabia severed formal diplomatic ties with Iran after a row over its execution of a prominent Shia cleric ended with angry protestors attacking its Tehran embassy. Diplomacy has since been replaced by an ever-escalating war of words, and tensions have reached an all-time high. Under pragmatist president Hassan Rouhani, Iran has for its part sought to foster dialogue on multiple occasions. Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif initiated meetings with his Saudi counterpart at venues like the UN General Assembly, attended the funeral of the late King Abdullah, and repeatedly dispatched envoys for talks with Saudi officials. Once our Saudi friends are ready to engage in serious dialogue, they will find Iran to be ... ready, Zarif proclaimed in late 2015. His efforts have thus far been met with a muted Saudi response. Instead, King Salman bin Abdulazizs Saudi Arabia has elected to pursue overt hostility. Among the kingdoms provocations have been lending support to notorious Iranian terrorist groups like the MEK and expending considerable resources to persuade the GCC, Arab League, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation to adopt anti-Iranian stances. The most recent Saudi-Iran spat to dominate global headlines stems from last years Hajj stampede, which resulted in a death toll the Saudis have obfuscated but Western sources have estimated at over 2,400 and Iran at roughly 4,700. It marked the latest in a long line of Hajj accidents under Saudi supervision. According to The New York Times, Saudi authorities triggered the stampede by spontaneously blocking access to a key road near an Iranian encampment. A plurality of the fatalities were Iranians. At the time, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei emphasized Iran was exercising self-restraint in accordance with Islamic ethics but cautioned it was nearing its limits. The succeeding year would prove to break this patience. Because of Saudi rulers oppressive behavior towards Gods guests, the world of Islam must fundamentally reconsider the management of the two holy places and hajj, Ayatollah Khamenei declared on the stampedes anniversary. Even the usually measured Javad Zarif recently stated that the al-Saud ruling family has turned into a ruthless and illogical regime. Saudi Fears At security conferences with many Saudis in the past two years, one of the authors, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, has consistently heard the same grievances. Iran, Saudis believe, has after three decades of sanctions and pressure still gained the upper hand over its neighbors. With traditional Arab powers like Egypt and Iraq either in domestic disarray or aligned with Iran, Saudi Arabia feels that it is the last Arab country standing in the way of total Iranian regional dominance. It is understandable for Saudi leaders to feel vulnerable. Saudi Arabia is a young state that by itself is not capable of competing with Iran, given its population of roughly 20 million native citizens, upwards of 15 percent of whom are Shia Muslims that face routine discrimination. As an absolute monarchy, it also faces the triple threat of Sunni extremism, mainstream Islamist opposition, and calls for liberal democratic reform. Less discussed but also pertinent are the sharp regional and tribal fissures lurking just underneath the surface of Saudi society. To bolster its regional position, Saudi Arabia has relied on its partnership with the United States. Over the past several decades, the US has effectively underwritten Saudi Arabias ability to exert power and influence in the region. Thus, what frightens the kingdom more than anything, and the prime reason for its opposition to the Iranian nuclear negotiations and much of President Obamas Middle East policies, is the prospect of US engagement with Iran coupled with broader US disengagement from the Middle East. The nature of Saudi provocations against Iran today suggests that it is bent on stoking regional tensions to keep the US embroiled in the region on its behalf. As President Obama has said, U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia seek to exploit American muscle for their own narrow and sectarian ends. A Realistic Peace Predicated on Mutual Acceptance Saudi leaders must understand that Iran, regardless of its government, will always play a major regional role. This is primarily due to its structural characteristics, its strategic location and size, its demographics and natural resources, and a millennia-spanning history of unbroken statehood. Today, Iran is a nation of 80 million, endowed with the worlds largest combined oil and natural gas reserves, an increasingly diversified economy, self-reliance in key economic and security matters, and a highly educated population. Saudi leaders have two choices before them. The first is to continue down their current path of pursuing aggressive, unilateralist foreign policies and preconditioning dialogue on quixotic notions of Iran having zero role in its neighborhood. This approach has been exemplified by the Saudis bombing Yemen with impunity, crushing pro-democracy protests in Bahrain, refusing to recognize the post-war democratic Iraqi government for six years, aiding and abetting terrorism (as attested by both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump), and countering the Arab Spring revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, to name but a few destabilizing policies. Of course, Saudi efforts to export its intolerant state ideology of Wahhabism and the disastrous effects this has had on the Muslim world have been well documented, most recently by Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif in a New York Times op-ed highlighting the global danger of this creed. In taking this path, Saudi rulers would be wise to consider that for years the US, the sole global superpower, attempted a similar approach of altering Middle Eastern politics to align with its preferences through military intervention, only to meet failure and sow further destabilization. Given Saudi Arabias mounting economic and political woes, it is already bleeding while trying to make Iran bleed. However, an alternative approach exists, predicated on abandoning self-defeating zero-sum mindsets and recognizing legitimate regional security threats and interests. Only then can Riyadh and Tehran begin to view their respective capabilities as assets and move towards establishing a credible, sustainable equilibrium that bolsters regional peace and security. Irans president has already demonstrated his readiness for such dialogue. The onus is now on Saudi Arabia. About the authors: Seyed Hossein Mousavian is a Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy Specialist at Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and author of Iran and the United States: An Insiders view on the Failed Past and the Road to Peace. Sina Toossiis a Senior Research Specialist at Princeton Universitys Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Iran Sentences Lebanese IT Expert To 10 Years In Prison 09/20/16 Source: RFE/RL A Lebanese information-technology (IT) expert detained in Iran for more than a year has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $4.2 million, his supporters say. Nizar Zakka, a Washington resident, was detained in September 2015 in Tehran after attending a government-organized conference on entrepreneurship and employment, where he was a panelist. Nizar Zakka Iran's state-controlled television and hard-line media outlets have accused Zakka of having links to the U.S. military and intelligence services. In a September 19 statement e-mailed to RFE/RL, Jason Poblete, a U.S. lawyer representing Zakka, said a revolutionary court had issued a 60-page verdict and sentence. "This is but another example of the Iranian regime's targeting of Americans to extract concessions from the U.S.," the statement said. It added that Zakka "is innocent and is being used as political pawn." Zakka is the general secretary of the Arab Communications and Information Technology organization, which advocates for Internet development in the Middle East. In the past months, several dual nationals, including Iranian-Americans, have been detained in Iran in what appears to be a crackdown on warming ties with the West following last year's nuclear agreement. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against alleged "infiltration" attempts by the West. With reporting by AP Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org Journalist With Reformist Daily Arrested In Iran 09/20/16 Source: RFE/RL A journalist with Iran's reformist Sharq daily has been arrested in Tehran. Sadra Mohaqeq was arrested on September 19 at his home in the Iranian capital, reports said. The reason for his arrest is not clear. Sadra Mohaqeq's profile photo from twitter Mohaqeq was also arrested in 2013 in a crackdown on pro-reform media. The semi-official Mehr news agency reported that Mohaqeq was arrested by a "security body." In April, four journalists arrested in November 2015 were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison for "colluding" with foreign governments and acting against "national security". Media watchdogs say journalists in Iran have to work in a climate of fear and censorship. Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org Iran's exports to EU rise despite hurdles 09/20/16 Source: Press TV Official figures show Iran's non-oil exports to Europe are increasing in what is interpreted as a sign of growing interest of European consumers in Iranian products. Figures released by Iran's Customs Administration show that the value of the country's non-oil exports to Europe stood at $643 million over a period of five months starting March 20, 2016. This shows an increase of 21 percent compared to the same period last year when the country was still under a series of US-engineered economic sanctions, IRNA reported. Iran's biggest European importer has been identified as Italy which imported $261 million over the period. Next key importers have been Spain and Germany. Italy imported around 16 percent more non-oil goods from Iran over the period compared to last year. Spain's imports from Iran increased by about 26 percent and Germany's imports rose by a meager 4.5 percent. Iran's Customs Administration further announced that the total value of Iran's non-oil exports over the same period under study increased by 10 percent year-on-year. The value of the exports, it said, stood at $19 billion while imports stood at about $17 billion. Both figures, the Administration said, were lower than those for the last year. Officials in Tehran had earlier complained that European banks are still refusing to provide services to Iranian merchants that want to export goods to Europe even now that sanctions against the country have been lifted. Fariborz Karimaei, the deputy head of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation of Iran, warned that this is already threatening export activities of key industries like the petrochemical companies. Analysts have already emphasized that the banks remain wary of the impacts of the remaining American sanctions against Iran, specifically those that address banking transactions with the country. Reports earlier said they want a promise that the US will not prosecute or punish them for transactions involving Iran - a step the US has so far been reluctant to take. In May, US Secretary of State John Kerry told a meeting of top EU bankers that they will not be penalized for conducting or facilitating business with Iran. However, European banks have already emphasized that Kerry's assurances are not enough and a series of confusions that remain over transactions with Iran need to be cleared by Washington. The best 2-in-1 laptop 2022: our picks of the best convertible laptops These are the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy right now Tesla Motors is considered one of the most cybersecurity-conscious car manufacturers in the worldamong other things, it has a bug bounty program. But that doesnt mean the software in its cars is free of security flaws. Researchers from Chinese technology company Tencent found a series of vulnerabilities that, when combined, allowed them to remotely take over a Tesla Model S car and control its sunroof, central display, door locks and even the braking system. The attack allowed the researchers to access the cars controller area network (CAN) bus, which lets the vehicles specialized computers communicate with each other. As far as we know, this is the first case of remote attack which compromises CAN Bus to achieve remote controls on Tesla cars, the researchers from Tencents Keen Security Lab said in a blog post Monday. We have verified the attack vector on multiple varieties of Tesla Model S. It is reasonable to assume that other Tesla models are affected. The blog post is accompanied by a demonstration video in which the researchers show what they can achieve through their attack, which works either while the car is parked or being driven. First, while the car was parked, the researchers used a laptop to remotely open its sunroof, activate the steering light, reposition the drivers seat, take over the dashboard and central display and unlock the car. In a second demonstration, they turned on the windshield wipers while the car was being driven at low speed in a parking lot for demonstration purposes. They also showed that they can open the trunk and fold the side-view mirror when the driver is trying to change lanes. While these operations can be distracting to the driver in certain situations, causing a safety risk, the most dangerous thing they were able to do was to engage the cars braking from 12 miles away. Such an attack, performed against a car being driven at high speed on a highway, could result in a serious rear-end collision. The researchers reported all of the vulnerabilities through Teslas bug bounty program, and the company is working on patches. Fortunately, Tesla cars can receive firmware updates remotely and Tesla car owners are advised to make sure that their vehicles are always running the latest software version. Car hacking has become a hot topic in recent years among security researchers, regulators and car manufacturers themselves. As cars become more interconnected, the ways in which they can be remotely hacked will only increase, so its important that the computers handling critical safety features are isolated and protected. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. IoT is complex, fast-growing and often intertwined with systems that govern things like water and power. That makes IoT security a critical requirement, but its one thats not necessarily well understood. The Industrial Internet Consortium, a group that includes some of the biggest players in the internet of things, took action on Monday to clear the air. It rolled out the IISF (Industrial Internet Security Framework), a set of best practices to help developers and users assess risks and defend against them. Like other IIC projects, the security framework is also an attempt to build a consensus among companies building and using IoT. In this case, the group has laid out a systematic way to implement security in IoT and a common language for talking about it. The framework document, available free of charge, goes into technical detail about recommended implementations, though it stops short of recommending specific products. The long-term goal is to make sure security is an integral part of every IoT system and implementation. IIC is well positioned to get industry to agree on ways of doing things. It was formed more than two years ago by Cisco Systems, General Electric, AT&T, Intel and IBM. The authors of the security framework came from some of those companies, plus Fujitsu, Infineon, Schneider Electric and other vendors and universities. The group has said its not a standards body but wants to identify the requirements for standards. It also compiles best practices in various areas and builds testbeds to show how technologies can be implemented. Security is the latest and possibly the most talked-about area IIC has weighed in on. The level of security found in the consumer Internet just wont do for the industrial internet, IIC Executive Director Richard Soley said in a press release. Immature security is the biggest thing delaying adoption of industrial IoT, said Jesus Molina, co-chair of IICs security working group, in an interview. Components commonly used in enterprise IT security, like identity and root of trust, dont really exist yet in IoT, he said. There are several components to making anything in IoT trustworthy, the framework says: safety, reliability, resilience, security and privacy. These issues come up because industrial IoT connects so many components, including things like sensors and actuators at the edge of an enterprise, that didnt exist or werent connected to the internet up until now. Those edge connections can open up dangerous vulnerabilities, because theyre often designed to carry some of the most sensitive information in an organization. For example, predictive maintenance, a common goal of IoT implementations, works by collecting data about how well equipment is working. Knowing this helps companies replace worn-out gear before it breaks, but in the wrong hands, that data could help attackers or competitors. The framework prescribes best practices in four areas: endpoints, communications, monitoring and configuration. Theyre addressed to component builders, system builders and users. IIC plans to use the best practices in testbed projects. IIC will work with governments to help solve the problem of IoT security, but it doesnt plan to rely on laws to make vendors and enterprises use the framework. Instead, the group will form a number of alliances to help build consensus. On Wednesday, IIC will meet with backers of the Industry 4.0 initiative, and its also working with the World Economic Forum. The rumors that Comcast could be your next wireless carrier are set to come true in 2017. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts confirmed the company plans to roll out an MVNO-based (mobile virtual network operator) service by mid-2017. Roberts made the remarks during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference on Tuesday. When the service rolls out it will be similar to Googles Project Fi. Comcast will rely first and foremost on its far-flung network of public Wi-Fi hotspots, which currently number around 15 million across the U.S. When a Comcast wireless customer cant use Wi-Fi the phones will use Verizons network to stay connected. Comcast was part of a consortium of cable companies that sold their wireless spectrum to Verizon in 2011. As part of the deal, the cable companies got the right to resell wireless service on Verizons network. In late 2015, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said during an earnings call that some unnamed cable companies wanted to start reselling Verizon service per the 2011 agreement. Bloomberg later reported the interested party was Comcast. On Tuesday, Roberts only said that Comcast wanted to launch the service next year, and that it will be led by Greg Butz who was tapped to head up Comcast Mobile in July. Details such as the monthly subscription cost or whether the new service will require a Comcast cable subscription were not announced. The story behind the story: This would be the second time Comcast tries to get into the wireless game. Back in 2007, Comcast and other cable companies offered package deals that included Sprint wireless service under the Pivot banner. That effort ended within a year of rolling out. This time around, however, Comcast has more control over the product and is using a novel approach that may appeal to budget-conscious customers in urban areas. Comcast isnt the only cable provider to offer a Wi-Fi-centric wireless service. In 2015, Cablevision rolled out a service called Freewheel for subscribers and non-subscribers alike. A bill prompted by the conviction of a Riverside boy who shot his father to death in 2011 would prohibit police officers from interrogating any minor who has not first spoken with a lawyer. Senate Bill 1052 was delivered to Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 8 and would become state law if he signs the legislation. The lawyer would be required to make sure the minor understands his or her Miranda rights against self-incrimination and the potential consequences of waiving them. Elizabeth Calvin, an attorney with Human Rights Watch who has led the support for the bill, says the developing science of child and adolescent development clearly shows that children are not always able to understand the gravity of waiving their rights during an interrogation. Theres a growing recognition that our law has not caught up with science, Calvin said. Children have less of a capacity than adults to peer into the future and understand the ramifications of an action, and adolescents are still learning how to make those calculations. Several advocacy organizations began pushing for this change to Miranda rights in the wake of the Riverside case. The boy is not being identified by The Press-Enterprise because of his age. His father was Jeff Hall, a leader of a local chapter of a neo-Nazi group called the National Socialist Movement. Hall had physically and emotionally abused the boy and threatened to burn down the house while the family slept, according to statements the boy made to police. The boy had learning and behavioral difficulties, according to court records. In 2013, the boy was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to seven years in juvenile prison. Because no lawyer was present when police interrogated the boy, the case sparked a legal appeal to the state Supreme Court. In a 4-3 decision, that court denied the boys petition for review, leading Human Rights Watch, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and the Juvenile Law Center to file petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. The court has not yet decided whether to review it. The issues surround the boys answers to questions by Riverside police detectives. When he was asked what You have the right to remain silent mean, he answered that he thought it meant he had the right to stay calm, according to court records. He had difficulty forming answers to other questions about his understanding of his rights, records say. The boys stepmother was with him at the time and encouraged him to answer questions. But his defense attorneys have raised doubts about her impartiality: The boy told investigators months after his arrest that she told him to shoot his father. She denied it, and prosecutors discounted his claim. A QUESTION OF COMPREHENSION Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine School of Law who has followed the case, said he feels the California court missed an opportunity to decide the age at which a child should be able to speak to a police officer without a lawyer or another friendly adult, such as a parent. You dont let a 10-year-old make any legal decision, let alone one with potentially enormous consequences in waiving a constitutional right, Chemerinsky said. Advocates for SB 1052 suggest that the constitutional rights enshrined in the Miranda warnings are applied to youth with little consideration about how developmentally different they are from their adult counterparts. Research also suggests that children are more likely to be susceptible to coercion by adults, increasing the potential for false confessions. Tim Curry, director of training and technical assistance at the National Juvenile Defender Center, points to several studies that describe difficulties faced by children and youth in comprehending their Miranda rights. Curry says that many children are not able to understand what the right to remain silent means. SB 1052 has drawn opposition from groups that represent district attorneys and law enforcement officials across the state. According to Cory Salzillo, the legislative director of the California State Sheriffs Association, case law has made it clear that the court needs to take some special steps when a young person is being interrogated. But a new law mandating increased contact with defense lawyers would mean increased costs to law enforcement agencies, he said. And the bill could have a chilling effect on the justice system by blocking or weakening voluntary confessions made by juveniles, according to Salzillo. Staff writer Brian Rokos contributed to this report. The Chronicle of Social Change is a news publication dedicated to solution-based news coverage of child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and educational issues faced by vulnerable children. Contact the writer: brokos@scng.com or 951-368-9569 The manager of a small Texas city is set to be hired to be appointed the new city manager in Beaumont on Tuesday, Sept. 20. It is being recommended that Todd Parton, city manager in Kerrville, be hired to become the scandal-ridden citys first permanent manager in more than one year. Parton would replace Richard Warne, who has been interim manager since May. He followed Elizabeth Gibbs, who was named the interim leader when Alan Kapanicas was put on leave in June 2015 before retiring. Kapanicas is among seven former city officials charged with misappropriating some $43 million. If approved by the City Council, Parton would sign a five-year contract with a stating annual salary of $229,000. He would begin Oct. 31. Parton is expected to be at the meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center, 550 E. 6th St. Contact the writer: 951-368-9086 or cshultz@scng.com Recurring terrorist attacks on U.S. soil along with racially and culturally divisive rhetoric on the campaign trail has fueled a 78 percent increase in hate crimes against American Muslims in 2015, a level unsurpassed since 9/11, according to a study by Cal State San Bernardino. Additionally, hate crimes against Arabs increased 219 percent, while hate crimes against blacks, Latinos, Jews, and the LGBT community showed only minor increases or decreases by between one and five percent, with one exception: transgender people. Hate crimes against that group increased by 40 percent in 2015, according to the study by Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardinos Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. The study is based on data gathered from law enforcement agencies in 20 states, representing 53.5 percent of the nations population. http://cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js Last years increase was so precipitous, that even if no other anti-Muslim hate crimes are recorded in the remaining unanalyzed states, 2015s partial numerical total would still be the highest since 2001 and the second highest on record, according to the study, which projected total hate crimes nationwide in 2015 to be 260. In 2001, there were 481 anti-Muslim hate crimes, and most of those crimes occurred following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon, according to the study. Following the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others, there were eight hate crimes reported in the U.S. from Dec. 2 through Dec. 6. And from Dec. 7 through Dec. 11, following presidential candidate Donald Trumps announcement proposing to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., there were 15 more hate crimes reported nationwide, Levin said. We cant say that an increase in hate crime is cause by rhetoric, but it certainly warrants further study and caution in how we conduct our sociopolitical discourse, Levin said Monday, Sept. 19, in a telephone interview. On Dec. 13, 11 days after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, vandals struck the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus-Salaam Mosque in Hawthorne, leaving a plastic grenade inside and the walls outside scrawled with graffiti, prompting an investigation by the FBI. We do tend to see a spike in those types of crimes following an (terrorist) attack. Thats not uncommon, said spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. Following the Dec. 2 attack, we absolutely received many calls about incidents in Southern California. She said anyone who believes they are the victim of a hate crime should report it to the FBI. The FBIs annual report on hate crimes in the U.S. is due out in November, Eimiller said. Levin said every terrorist attack is different, and not all are followed by significant spikes in hate crimes like what was seen in the wake of the Paris attacks in November and San Bernardino in December. What fuels such incidents, said Levin, is the prevalence of fear-based negative stereotypes, jihadist extremist rhetoric, and a socio-political movement that gels and coalesces, particularly around the defined leadership that is promoting it, with the Donald Trump campaign being an example. The study shows statements by political leaders can be followed by distinct changes in hate crimes, said Kevin Grisham, who worked on the study and is the assistant director of research for the San Bernardino campus center. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has been busy this year due to increased hate crimes against American Muslims and the divisive language of the Trump campaign, said Ojaala Ahmad, spokeswoman for CAIR-LA. CAIR-LA has been holding town hall meetings, visiting schools and inviting members of the community to visit its roughly 80 mosques across Southern California, engaging in a public outreach campaign to help eliminate public fear of Muslims and stereotypes, Ahmad said. Its definitely forced us to take a very proactive approach, Ahmad said. Most recently, CAIR-LA has been focusing on the November presidential election and voter outreach, Ahmad said. She likens Trumps Muslim immigrant proposal to the internment of Japanese Americans in the U.S. during World War II. They were just seen as the community that needs to be isolated and not included in the American mainstream society, Ahmad said. When we hear Donald Trump talk about these types of proposals, it brings back that type of imagery or that sense of wanting to go backwards in our history and repeat the mistakes we have made in the past. Contact the writer: jnelson@scng.com, @SBCountyNow on Twitter A Riverside County Superior Court jury is deliberating whether the house manager of a chemical dependency detox home is criminally negligent of dependent adult abuse in the death of a client less than a day after he arrived at the Murrieta home in 2010. The trial of Kristofer Michael McCausland is the first of two trials in the death of Gary Benefield, 53, of Show Low, Ariz., which is being prosecuted by the state Attorney Generals Office. McCausland, other employees and three corporate entities were charged in July 2015 with second-degree murder, but defense attorneys in March persuaded Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elaine M. Kiefer to drop that charge, leaving the dependent adult abuse charge. Attorneys for the facility said it was the first time a California corporation had been charged with murder. McCausland, 33, of Menifee, is being tried separately from the other defendants. McCausland was described in court as a Salvation Army rehab program graduate who worked the $8-an-hour job at the facility on Iron Gate Lane for a month. The jury listened to nine days of testimony before hearing both sides present closing arguments Monday, Sept. 19, at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley. Deputy Attorney General Joel Samuels, of the states Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, called witnesses, including the administrator who dispensed training and policy manuals to new employees; coworkers familiar with the July 2010 incident; and a list of investigators and medical professionals. Benefields death certificate issued by the Riverside County Coroners Office states he died of natural causes, hypertensive cardiac arrest. Samuels called witnesses, including another pathologist, who suggested the drugs given to Benefield in the detox regime may have been a contributing factor to his death. Benefield had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive lung disease, took prescription narcotics and was supposed to use supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day, according to testimony. In his closing argument, Samuels said McCausland was dispensing medical services when he should not have been. He said facility rules required McCausland to check on Benefield during the night but he did not and told an investigator, It happens sometimes, I just slept through it. Benefield was found dead the next morning. One of McCauslands attorneys, Thomas Bienert Jr., told jurors in his closing arguments that McCausland, never did anything on purpose to hurt Benefield. He said McCausland gave Benefield detox medications that he had been told to administer as part of the facilitys detox protocols, did not have to clients medical history and the client on admissions paperwork did not spell out his medical conditions nor need for supplemental oxygen. Trial for the other defendants is scheduled to start Oct. 13. They are James Andrew Fent, former company president; Jerrod Menz, former chief executive; and three corporate entities: A Better Tomorrow Treatment Center, Forterus Inc., and Forterus Health Care Services. Charges were dropped earlier against employees Tami Dawn Scarcella and Mignon Dean. Contact the writer: 951-368-9075 or gwesson@scng.com Southern California home sales were up 8 percent in August compared to July, with the median price for the six-county area holding steady at $465,000, real estate analysis group CoreLogic reported Monday, Sept. 19. The report looked at Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties, where a total of 23,278 new or resold houses and condo sales were recorded during the month. Year-over-year, sales were up 9.5 percent. Individual August median prices ranged from $649,000 for Orange County to $275,000 for San Bernardino County. Riverside Countys median was $337,500. The median sale price for all of Southern California has risen year over year for 53 consecutive months. The big picture is that the housing market continues to edge backward toward normalcy in the wake of the worst housing bust in modern history, CoreLogic research analyst Andrew LePage said in a statement. While inventories are low, many of the residual marks of home sales following the Great Recession are fading, LePage said. The share of homes sold to investors and cash buyers is the lowest in years, closer to historical averages, and this summer the distressed sales share of total sales (5.2 percent in August) has been the lowest since spring 2007, he said. In San Bernardino County, the percentage of price increase for median home prices year-over-year was the lowest of the six counties, at 1.9 percent. For August compared to July, San Bernardino Countys median price dropped 3.5 percent. The month-to-month can really be up and down and not mean a whole lot, LePage said in a telephone interview. I would hesitate to call it a trend. He said it would take a few months of numbers to determine that, and San Bernardinos year-over-year numbers have been going up in previous months. LePage said one months data can be skewed by a market mix of more lower-cost than higher-cost home sales. Other points from the August report: The higher August numbers were likely affected by more business days to record sales last month than in July. Homebuyers in Southern California took out 6,200 home equity lines of credit in August. Riverside and San Bernardino counties continue to have the regions highest percentage of sales secured by Federal Housing Administration loans, 31.1 percent and 35.2 percent, respectively. Contact the writer: rdeatley@scng.com or 951-368-9573 Deputies arrested a man Sunday, Sept. 18, after his toddler grandson suffered severe burns from boiling water. Shortly after 11:30 Sunday morning, deputies were called to San Antonio Regional Hospital to investigate a report of child abuse, according to a sheriffs news release. Jerry Ortiz Villareal, 45, of Rancho Cucamonga brought the boy to the hospital with severe burns covering a large portion of his body. Villareal allegedly claimed the boy was burned several days before but the man never sought medical treatment for the 2-year-old, the dispatch states. Without medical attention, the boys injuries became more severe, so doctors decided to airlift the toddler to a burn unit in Northern California, where hes listed in critical condition. Villareal was arrested and booked into West Valley Detention Center for suspicion of child abuse. Hes being held without bail. An efficient urban bus transportation system that runs on the principle of prepaid payment is soon to be introduced in Accra. For starters, the dedicated public transport scheduled bus service christened Ayaalolo, would run Accra-Amasaman- Accra for 16 hours every day, and would be automated to validate boarding and disembarkation of passengers through a smart payment card system. That smart payment card system, which would enhance operations, verifies passengers boarding the bus, the length of journey made, and charges accordingly on exit from the bus. The Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE), managers of the service in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, during an exhibition in Accra, expects that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, would radically improve public transportation in Accra. Mr Samson Gyamera, the Chief Executive Officer of GAPTE, said the service, which would commence next month, October 2016, would revolutionalize the urban road transport sector. He announced that the high occupancy buses, which are to be operated on dedicated lanes in the Accra metropolis, would enhance timely cost effective, efficient and comfortable travel for commuters. According to Mr Gyamera, the new transport service system, modeled on the current trotro service, but enhanced with quality vehicles, is aimed at encouraging commuters to leave their vehicles at home and use public transport to reduce vehicular congestions in the city and its attendant loss of man hours. He said that owing to dedicated facilities and certain engineering improvements on the routes of the BRT, and mechanisms that would reduce travel time. The company expects the commuting public to have confidence in this mode of transport, Mr Gyamera said. The project, according to the CEO, has three other routes- Mallam- Kaneshie-Tudu Corridor; Adenta/Legon- Tudu Route and Ashaiman-Tema- Teshie-Accra Route. Mr Gyamera said there is a control room at the Achimota Terminal of the BRT, where the buses are monitored in real time, to ensure that the buses meet the scheduled times. To make sure that passengers are safe and travel in comfort, the buses are fitted with state of the art safety devices as well as wi-fi and USB mobile phone charging points to enhance their travelling experience. About 28 buses are to be operational on the Amasaman- Circle- Accra- Route. The pilot is expected to start with 28 buses, which will eventually be scaled up to a total of 245 buses when all four corridors become active. He dispelled any conflicts with the MMT and other transport unions explaining that the BRT is collaboration between the MMDAs and the transport unions. GAPTE, he said, is supposed to be a transport planning, network development and public transport regulator on behalf of the assemblies. The Local Government Act actually mandates the assemblies to regulate public transport within their jurisdiction; what this means is that they have the ability to set the rules for public transportation, the CEO said. 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 Phase one of the 200-bed Kumawu District Hospital is expected to be completed by close of the year. Works being done under this phase, include an out-patients department (OPD), two operating theatres, intensive care unit, medical, accident and emergency wards and blood bank. Added to these, are radiology and dental units, records office, public health and maintenance units. Mr. Vincent Djan, an Engineer of Euroget, contractors awarded the job, told the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. John Alexander Ackon, during an inspection tour of the project that, they were within schedule. The facility is one of such nine hospital projects being constructed across the country by the government to improve access to quality healthcare. Work on the on the two-year project started in February, last year. He indicated that the phase two, would involve construction of accommodation for staff, mortuary, hospital stores, waste disposal, conference and training facilities, kitchen, laundry, pharmacy and dispensary. Mr. Ackon underlined the governments determination to bring development to the people by way of the provision of the needed socio-economic infrastructure. He urged the contractors to ensure quality job delivery, saying, there should be value for money. 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 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. A couple who were married 59 years died last month holding hands in their shared hospital room. Don and Margaret Livengood, ages 84 and 80, charmed the workers at Carolinas Healthcare NorthEast, so someone pulled strings to let the ailing husband and wife share their last days together in the same room. Nurses positioned the couple's beds to face each other, so that they were holding hands as Margaret passed just before 8am on August 19. That afternoon at 5.19pm, her husband followed her in death, telling his children and grandchildren before he died that he was looking forward to joining his wife in heaven. 'When we get to heaven, we can walk in together, just like we're getting married again. Another honeymoon,' Don said, according to his daughter Pattie Livengood Beaver, who spoke with People. Beaver and her husband moved in with her parents last year, when both became sick. Her father had pulmonary fibrosis and bilateral pneumonia when he died, while her mother was diagnosed with cancer in May and had several other serious health issues. Don could barely breathe at the end of his life, but his wife assured him that the air would be better in heaven. The couple spent the better part of last year in and out of the hospital, and their daughter says that whenever one was left behind at home they were sad. When Don was hospitalized, his wife would sit with him each day from 4am to 8pm or 9pm. Beaver says she drove her parents to the hospital to be admitted together on August 8, not knowing it would be the last time. Family members believe the couple held out so that their grandson Brandon, his wife Jerrica and their two children could make it for one last visit. The family is stationed in Italy and nearly missed a connection from Detroit to Charlotte, but were allowed to go through the pilot's security line and made the flight. They arrived at the hospital just 12 hours before Margaret died. Don and Margaret both grew up in Rowan County, North Carolina, and met while working at the Stanback Company, which makes headache powders and chapstick. Don joined the company after a stint in the Navy, while Margaret was hired as a secretary. 'According to Daddy, he saw this pretty new little secretary, and he told the other guys, "I'm going to date her,"' Beaver said, according to the Salisbury Post. Source: Dailymail.co.uk Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former Trade and Industry Minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, is urging Ghanaians to vote out the National Democratic Congress (NDC) out of office for gross mismanagement of the economy. The NDC, he explained, has taken the country backwards in terms of its developmental course with key sectors such as energy and health in tatters. Dr. Apraku stated the NDC has eroded all the gains made by the Kufuor administration and that the revenues from the oil exploration are also being wasted by the NDC government on frivolous expenditures. He said the NPP during its eight-year reign was able to achieve a lot for the country without proceeds from oil exploration because the party had experienced men and women with the requisite skills to address the challenges facing the country then thereby propelling the country unto higher pedestal. Speaking at the campaign launch of the Cape Coast North Parliamentary Candidate Barbara Asher Ayisi, Dr Konadu urged Ghanaians to vote back the NPP into office as the party has the right human resource base and policies to turn around the dwindling fortunes of the country to make life easy for all. The NDC, he told NPP supporters, has taken the country backwards and if not stopped will plunge the country into the abyss, resulting in untold hardship on Ghanaians. Source: starr FM 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 New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday punched holes into the 2016 manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) launched in the Brong-Ahafo regional capital, Sunyani, over the weekend. For the NPP, it is nothing worth banking hopes on and that it is full of grandiose promises to Ghanaians regarding what the NDC would do if re-elected. At a press conference in Accra yesterday, Policy Advisor and Chairman of the NPPs 2016 manifesto committee, Boakye Agyarko said after critically analyzing the NDC manifesto, one could only conclude that the future under another Mahama term would indeed be bleak, and that from their own resource allocation for the next four years, the likely scenario is that we are not going to have any money to pay salaries next year. President Mahama said during the manifesto launch that we still have more roads to construct, more houses to build, more food to produce, additional educational and health facilities to provide and most importantly, more jobs to create. Broken Promises Mr Boakye Agyarko wondered why the president would take empty pride in his achievements for the past four years when incidents of broken promises, corruption, mismanagement of the economy and high unemployment were rife. For these, the NPP strong man noted, John Mahama is a president who is so out-of-touch with the problems of the average Ghanaian that he sees his non-performance in these sectors as a success. Mr Agyarko focused his lenses on the four thematic areas around which the NDC manifesto was prepared in assessing the credibility of the presidents intentions, which are Putting People First, Building A Strong Economy For Job Creation, Expanding Infrastructure For Accelerated Development and Advancing Transparent and Accountable Governance. Question Marks On President Mahama and the NDCs promise to put people first as contained in their manifesto, the Policy Advisor had this to say, In todays Ghana, with so much suffering and hardship, nothing shows that John Mahama has put Ghanaians first. That, he said, was due to the fact that after all today, they [Ghanaians] pay more for their electricity than their rent. They bear testimony to how four years of Dumsor has destroyed their small businesses; Ghanas young people have lived the nightmare of searching for non-existent jobs, a situation that has led to nearly half of that population being jobless. For him therefore, It cannot be disputed that President Mahama has made Ghanaians poorer. He said the evidence is that the prices of everyday items have skyrocketed under John Mahama. The price of a gallon of petrol has gone from GH3 to GH16; bread has moved from GH2 to GH7; milk from GH1 to GH3; kenkey from 30 pesewas to GH2; fish from 50 pesewas to GH2; sachet water from 5 pesewas to 20 pesewas, and a bag of cement from GH12 to GH32. Even though President Mahama wants Ghanaians to believe that if re-elected, he would ensure equitable development for all our citizens, Agyarko, who managed the NPPs campaign in 2012, insisted, The reality, however, is starkly different. Even members of his own party realise that the Presidents Better Ghana Agenda has been for the benefit of only his family and friends. Lies On the NDCs promise to build a strong economy for job creation, Mr Agyarko quoted a portion of the NDCs manifesto which claims, The Youth Employment Agency is offering employment to over 100,000 youth, saying This is a clever way to hide the fact that the Mahama government has not been able to hit even its modest target of creating 100,000 jobs by the end of this year. He referred to the Youth Enterprise Agency (YEA) which came to replace the GYEEDA, and said it has become a vehicle to loot over GH1 billion of taxpayers money. The NPPs National Youth Employment Programme, which became GYEEDA under President Mills, was launched on October 3rd 2006. The pilot project which ushered it in had by this time employed nearly 33,000 youth in community education and agriculture. By the time the NPP left office on January 7, 2009, 110,000 young people were employed under the scheme. In under two years with the right policies in place, a positive change was made, he revealed. Comparing the two, he emphasized that Immediately the NDC took office, they created a horde of unemployed youth by laying off all these 110,000 young people previously employed. He thus insisted, What the NPP achieved in under two years, the NDC has been unable to achieve in 8 years; it is not surprising that their greatest achievement in this sector has been the creation of ingenious schemes to facilitate the stealing of over one billion Ghana cedis from the sector and the sharing of this loot amongst themselves and their cronies. Inflated Project Costs Tackling the NDCs promise to expand infrastructure for accelerated development as captured in its manifesto, the NPP guru asked President Mahama and his government to let Ghanaians know what the NDC has got to show for the billions of dollars they borrowed in their (Ghanaians) name. The NPP believes Ghana could and would develop three times as fast, if Ghanaians get rid of President Mahama and the NDC this December because according to Agyarko, who is also a former vice president of the Bank of New York, Today under Mahama, Ghana is spending $1.4 million per km to asphalt roads, against the African average of $600,000. He noted, While, all this incompetence and corruption is going on, our neighbour Burkina Faso, which is drier than Ghana, through various irrigation schemes is growing big, juicy, delicious strawberries for export and processing strawberries into jam. Meanwhile, he noted that Here in Ghana, we are subjected to leaders who know how to fly akomfem to Burkina Faso, but do not believe the NPP can provide irrigation to help our poor farmers in the North through its One Village: One Dam solution. For lack of vision, Ghanaians suffer! Corruption On President Mahamas promise to advance transparent and accountable governance when re-elected, Mr Agyarko could not but ask rhetorically, How can Ghanaians expect a vice president, John Mahama, who was investigated by his boss, President John Atta Mills, over allegations of corruption, be expected to have the moral authority and desire to fight corruption when he is now the boss? He again asked, How can we expect a president who admits to accepting a $100,000 gift from a foreign contractor, who was awarded a government contract through the efforts of the president, to have the courage and desire to stop his ministers and other officials from dipping their hands into the state coffers? How can we expect a president who has spent four years to protect his friends who were found to have allegedly stolen public funds through instruments such as GYEEDA and SADA, to allow any case of corruption to be prosecuted? For him, When it comes to corruption, President John Mahama sees no wrong, hears no wrong and speaks against no wrong. To him that is just the way it is. Need For Change We want Ghanaians to think about this: if this has been his attitude in his first full term as President, what then would his actions be if re-elected for his last and final term? What then would restrain President John Mahama and his family of corrupt cronies in his last term from pillaging the national coffers? Let us not make any mistake about it. John Mahama for another four years, unchecked by the threat of losing another presidential election, is an exceptionally frightening prospect. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has explained that the NDC as a social democratic party always models its manifesto along the lines of its political philosophy and does not copy blindly from any party. He, therefore, said the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was not consistent and comfortable with its own philosophy of capitalism and trying to veer off into social democratic tendencies hence, the confusion and accusation that the NDC was stealing the contents in their manifesto. Mr Asiedu Nketia, who was addressing party supporters at the launch of the partys manifesto at the Coronation Park in Sunyani last Saturday, stated the reason some NPP members believed their manifesto had been copied was because the NPP was not consistent with its capitalist ideology which was the basis of its constitution. Explaining the two ideologies, the general secretary said with the NDCs socialism policies, the party believed that the socially excluded and the poor must always be supported to realise their dreams and also have the muscle to contribute their quota to national development. He said the party did not believe that the poor should be left on their own but more needed to be taken from the rich and the well-to-do in society to support the poor because they could not be left alone to fend for themselves. He indicated that the NPPs ideology was that both the poor and the rich must be left to fend for themselves in a world of the survival of the fittest but surprisingly, the NPP had abandoned its philosophy and pursuing that of the NDC. Stolen manifesto Mr Asiedu Nketia wondered why a political party seeking the mandate of the people to rule could not safely keep its own manifesto to the extent that it was claiming that another political party had copied aspects of its manifesto. He likened the situation where the NPP had abandoned its ideology to a train that had derailed and moved into the rails of an incoming train. Sunyani etymology Mr Asiedu Nketia explained that the choice of Sunyani as the venue for the launch of the partys manifesto was to ensure that the NPP, which has the elephant as its symbol, was defeated in the December 7 election. Mr Asiedu Nketiah, who hails from the Brong Ahafo Region, explained that the word Sunyani was from two Twi words Osono dwaye to wit a place where elephants were slaughtered. He said it was those two Twi words that had been corrupted to Sunyani and that the NDC decided on the regional capital to symbolically ensure that the NPP was defeated in the December polls. National chairman The National Chairman of the party, Mr Kofi Portuphy said the unity of the NDC was crucial and commended members of the party for their unity, adding that Ghanaians would not hand over the administration of the country into the hands of NPP, led by Nana Akufo-Addo, who was very divisive. He urged the members of the NDC not to be complacent but work hard to ensure that on the election day, every person was brought out to vote for the party by helping the sick, the aged and all to cast their vote. He also indicated that the party would move from polling station to polling station to explain the just-launched manifesto for the people of Ghana to appreciate what the party had in store for them in its next administration. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Tema-based musician Nana Boroo has reacted to Joe Fraziers claim that he is not relevant in the music industry after Ghanaians lost interest in Azonto music, the type of music that shot him, Nana Boro to fame. The musician in a chat with KMJ on Hitz FM has vowed to stop music entirely if the veteran rapper gets another hit song. Nana Boroo said Joe Fraziers claim that he is not relevant in the music industry because he is azonto artiste and azonto is out of the system is baseless. According to him, he still earns cash from his old songs. Nana Boroo who feels disrespected said he expected such comments from artistes like Obrafour, Okyeame Kwame who are old but still relevant in the music industry but not Joe Frazier who had a hit song many years ago and is still struggling to be listed among top artistes in the country. He advised the Shee Shee hitmaker to think about how he can revamp his career but not waste his time of jabbing his fellows. If you are telling me Im azonto artiste that is why Im not relevant then you have no fact. Even my one hit song Aha ye de is evergreen song. The song is like five years now and Im still chopping from it so what is Joe Frazier or whoever he calls himself saying? The last time I heard of him was that shee shee song and all respected him as a big brother but you cant throw jabs at anybody if you dont have facts. That song has taken me to places I never thought of and I can choose not to do any song again but I wont be hungry. Maybe he wants fame that is why he is doing that. I feel disrespected because if it were to be Obrafour and Okyeame Kwame who are old but still relevant I would be cool but looking at him, he is kind of weak in the system. Instead of him thinking of how he can get a hit song, he is using his precious time to say these things. I can bet with him, if he gets any hit song, I will stop music. angry Nana Boroo said. Source: Zionfelix.net 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 Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney nee Alamuddin is officially taking terrorist group ISIS to court. Its been announced this morning that she will be taking on Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize winner and survivor of ISIS sex slavery, as a client. Murad will act as a voice for the 5000 Yidizi people who were the victims of genocide at the hands of ISIS in Northern Iraq. Murad, who is 23-years-old, was sold as a sex slave to an ISIS commander. She endured sexual, mental and physical abuse at the hands of the group and Clooney says she is still receiving threats to this day. The news of Clooney taking on the case was reported on The Today Show in the US, with Clooney saying to host Cynthia McFadden, [Nadia] has said, They abused me to a time until I fell unconscious. She was burned with cigarettes, she just endured the most brutal acts known to humanity. Murad and Clooney also met with representatives from the United Nations, where Clooney delivered this heartbreaking line: Clooney said she was ashamed that girls like Nadia could have their bodies sold and used as battlefields. I wish I could say that I was proud to be here, but Im not. Im ashamed as a human being that we ignore their cries for help. In June, Murad gave an interview to The New York Times, where she said that she wanted to be the voice of the thousands of Yazidi victims. She also said that Clooney has been her main source of support. Murad told the NY Times that Clooney did not talk to me as a well-known world figure that people would love to take a photo with; she talked to me as a sister and guardian. She has immense power that made me proud of being a woman. Clooney said on The Today Show that she had to discuss whether to take the case with her husband, actor George Clooney, due to the immense risk involved. This is no joke; this is ISIS. They have sent [Nadia] really specific threats saying, We will get you back, we will do everything to you. I met her, and I just thought, I cant walk away. [George] met Nadia, too, and I think he was moved. He understands, I mean, this is my work. Such a bad ass. Seriously, how does someone even become this bad ass? Its so magnificent. But thats not the extent of the badassery. During this mornings interview, McFadden said to Clooney, ISIS needs to be bombed out of existence. But Amal retorted: Its not enough. You cant kill an idea that way. I think one of the ways to take action is to expose their brutality and their corruption, and partly you can do that through trials. Christ, the woman is so powerful. Source: Washington Times. Photo: Matthew Eisman / Getty. Malcolm Turnbull, who is currently in New York City at a special summit on the refugee crisis, has confirmed that Australias humanitarian intake will be set permanently at approximately 19,000 a year which now includes a contingent of refugees from Central America. The crisis in Central America doesnt get as much airplay especially in Australia thanks to the overwhelming horror currently transpiring in Syria and surrounds, but its a pretty big deal: hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from the violence-stricken countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Turnbull, who has spent the summit somewhat on the defensive regarding Australias punitive border protection policies, has been arguing that nations in Europe and beyond ought to adopt our border regime so that their populations will accept higher refugee intake. Australians support these actions because they have confidence that our migration system is well managed. This confidence is a key pillar on which our successful multicultural society is built (but) allow public trust to erode and the mutual trust that binds us will similarly falter. As leaders, we must always choose laws and policies that develop strength and unity over weakness and division. Without aggressive border measures, Turnbull said, you dont have the public license to have a generous humanitarian program. The Prime Minister also announced a $130 million commitment towards providing aid to displaced people across the world, with focus on bolstering migration cash-strapped migration agencies. The figure of 18,750 will be above our skilled migration intake, and it does not include the special intake of 12,000 Syrian refugees which Tony Abbott announced but has not yet been implemented in any broad way. Abbott announced the increase of the figure from 13,750, but did not say it would be permanent. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald. Photo: Getty Images. CONTENT WARNING: This story contains descriptions of incidents of sexual assault. Please be wary of this if you choose to continue. A landmark survey is currently being conducted about rape and sexual assault in universities in Australia, and Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs has voiced her shock at initial findings. The survey, which has not yet been released in its entirety, included 40,000 Aussie students at 39 different universities around the country. It was actioned after a National Union of Students survey found that 72.5% of students had experienced some form of sexual harassment (not always on campus). Its being billed as the first ever comprehensive study of sexual harassment and assault at unis, and has the support of all vice-chancellors. Since the survey began two weeks ago, nearly 400 submissions have been filed by students and staff, with reports of sexual abuse and assault reported at 35 of the 39 universities involved. Triggs spoke about accounts including women waking up to find men having sex with them, as well as one account of a woman leaving a party with friends but ending up being raped in a van in a car park. A PhD students account said a supervisor would constantly make comments about sex and masturbation, and would often find excuses for the student to come over to his desk to look at photographs of himself. A female lecturer gave an account of students attempting to photograph her genitalia when she wore a dress one day the students then posted the images to the internet. She said she did not report these incidents because she felt like it would tarnish her reputation more than the students, that she would become an administrative burden. Triggs also spoke of the relatively high percentage reports from racial and sexual minorities reports from LGBTQIA students currently stands at around 19%, while 13% of the reports came from international students: I have been shocked by the relatively high number of young international students and a disproportionately high number of LGBTI students who have reported assault. The Human Rights Commissioner also spoke of the fact that majority of these reports have previously gone unreported: Almost all submissions have begun with the phrase I have not reported this, but. This suggests these assaults are seriously under-reported and once students knew they could come to us it was like a dam bursting. The survey is commissioned by Universities Australia, and will be managed by the Human Rights Commission and presented with recommendations to vice-chancellors next year. Gillian Triggs will present initial findings to the Australian National University today. Source: SMH. Photo: ABC. A man suspected of involvement in a series of bombings in New York and New Jersey over the weekend including one that injured 29 people in Manhattan has been arrested after a shootout with cops on the streets of Linden, New Jersey. Mayor: Suspect Ahmad Rahami sustained shots and 2 officers also shot during shootout https://t.co/8lu7CJOCJh https://t.co/tMdknMQmvM CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) September 19, 2016 Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old naturalized US citizen born in Afghanistan, had been the subject of a manhunt after he became the primary suspect in the bombings. An emergency system was used to send a short to the phones of people in the area, encouraging them to keep an eye out. deputizing everyone with an iphone in the middle of rush hour does not seem like the responsible way to do this pic.twitter.com/ZTGZ6ksIyO ????? (@NJDG) September 19, 2016 He was seen within a few hours by the owner of a New Jersey bar who observed him sleeping in the hallway of his establishment. One of our police officers went to investigate, to wake him up, and realised he was the suspect that has been sought, said Linden mayor Derek Armstead in a press conference. Within moments the suspect fired on him and thank god he [the police officer] had his vest on I think that saved his life. An investigation into Rahamis possible connections to terror groups are underway, though police do not believe there is a cell operating in the area, and Rahami had not been on their radar prior. The New York Times reports that has been jailed before on a weapons and aggravated assault charge, and spent a day in jail in February 2012 for violating a restraining order. The search for the suspect intensified after unexploded bombs were found in the vicinity of a train station in New Jersey. They followed the Manhattan explosion and a further detonation on the site of a planned charity run in NJ. A man named Ryan McCann, who knew Rahami from when he worked the counter at his familys fried chicken restaurant in New Jersey, told the New York Post that he is surprised. Hes a very friendly guy, very Americanised. You would never expect anything like this. Its terrifying because hes been hiding in plain sight, McCann said. All this guy ever talks about is his cars. He loves fixing cars up and making them fast. All I ever heard him talk about was Honda Civics, Honda Accords, maybe an Acura. He would soup them up. The police investigation continues. Source: New York Times. Photo: ABC. Spare a thought for the public relations department at Wrigley Americas, who are currently pulling an all-nighter trying to deal with the shitstorm inflicted upon them by one Donald Trump Jr and his quite terrible candy/refugee analogy that was so thin Lays could sell it in bags. Earlier this morning Trump the Junior decided to give his hot take on the whole Syrian Refugee crisis by comparing living, breathing human beings to a bowl of poisoned Skittles. This image says it all. Lets end the politically correct agenda that doesnt put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 Yeah. The Seinfeld throwing his hands up and leaving the theatre GIF of Twitter posts. And though loathe as we all are to entertain the musings of this clearly insane person, comment must be sought from all parties involved. Seth Abramovitch of The Hollywood Reporter managed to get the definitive response from Skittles via a lovely, if not utterly exasperated-sounding PR rep for the company by the name of Denise Young. In simple terms, its as quick and vicious a washing-of-the-hands as youre ever likely to see from a corporate brand. Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing. YOWZA. And if, for whatever reason, that response needs any further clarification, allow us to re-interpret it through the only medium we truly know inside-and-out: Bastardised Simpsons quotes and shitposting: Donald, Skittles are a family candy. Happy families. Maybe racist people eat Skittles, we dont know. Frankly, we dont want to know. Its a market we can do without. Photos: Bill Clark, Alex Wong/Getty. It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Real Housewives series is the most colossally batshit show on television, and that Real Housewives of Melbourne is absolutely the best instalment. Im telling you this not as a matter of opinion, but as scientific fact. Even American critics concede this: I empathize with Bernie bc my presidential platform (Real Housewives of Melbourne = best franchise) is also too revolutionary for America Caity Weaver (@caityweaver) July 31, 2016 Well, it has competition from across the pond: Real Housewives of Auckland is currently embroiled in a scandal thanks to the fact that one of the titular rich housewives called another rich housewife who is black the N-word. Youd think that maybe you wouldnt do that on TV, but there you go. Things work differently over in New Zealand. Julia Sloane, while off-camera, called out to fellow star Gilda Kirkpatrick: Gilda! Dont let Michelle be your boat n****** She was referring to co-star Michelle Blanchard, who is black. Uh. She tried to clarify in a later onscreen interview, dropping what is perhaps the worst excuse for a racial slur ever uttered in human history. Michelle was helping Gilda on the sunlounger when I made a terrible joke, Sloane said, according to NZ site The Spinoff. I said something to Gilda about Michelle not being her boat n*****, but it came out wrong. Its an old boating term. I should never have said it. An old boating term. Thats my new excuse for anything offensive I say off the cuff. Ah, you wouldnt know why I just said that slur, because unlike me, you are not a steamboat captain in Americas antebellum South. For the record, Blanchard didnt accept that. I know a lot of boating people and they do not use that term, she said. A representative for the show told New Zealands Herald apologised for the deeply regrettable incident, and The Guardian reports that MediaWorks, the company who owns channel Bravo, is braced for complaints to New Zealands Human Rights Commission. Cmon. Source: The Guardian. Photo: MediaWorks / Real Housewives of Auckland. The concept of teleportation alone is very cool. How many times have you wished you could teleport your buckled self home after a big night instead of waiting for the abysmal nightrider? Id hazard a guess at many. WELL BEAM ME THE FUCK UP, SCOTTY, COS SCIENTISTS HAVE JUST MADE A HUGE STEP FORWARD IN THE FIELD. YIEWWWWW But before you start planning your instantaneous trip to Europe, we should probably tell you that in this instance, a huge step is still nowhere near that kind of capability. The separate teams, located in the cities of Hefei in China and Calgary in Canada, have successfully teleported matter to a new location using fibre-optic communications networks. Granted, the matter is simply photons of light, which has been done before, but the breakthroughs in the details, friends. The ability to transport information like the quantum state of an atom was first demonstrated in1997, which includes the energy, spin, motion, magnetic field and other physical properties of the atom in question. This study, however, shows that the process is technologically viable through mainstream communications networks. SENDIN SHIT THROUGH YA PHONE LINES, M8. This non-ideal environment made it a particularly impressive feat, says Dr Ben Buchler, Associate Professor of the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at the Australian National University. People have known how to do this experiment since the early 2000s, but until these papers it hasnt been performed in fibre communication networks, in situ, in cities, he said. The Chinese team were able to teleport single photons through the communications network across 7km at a speed of two photons per hour. The Canadians kicked that shit up a notch, teleporting at 17 photons per minute, but across a shorter distance of 6.2km. Dr Buchler says this kind of teleportation is part of the protocol people imagine will be able to extend the range of quantum key distribution, which is a technique used to send encrypted messages. While were still a long way from teleporting your belted face home from the club at 3am, this has been hailed as a huge breakthrough for quantum technologies and communications networks like quantum internet and improved online security. Source: ABC.com.au. Photo: The Simpsons. Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt US actress Angelina Jolie, left, Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, accompanied by her partner and US actor Brad Pitt pose for the photographers as they arrive at the 'End Sexual Violence in Conflict' summit in London, Friday, June 13, 2014. The Summit welcomes governments from over 100 countries, over 900 experts, NGOs, Faith leaders, and representatives from international organisations across the world. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (Lefteris Pitarakis) Summer 2016: First Hiddleswift, then Brangelina. OK, they aren't really parallel relationships. Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston existed for a hot minute, while Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were setting Hollywood personal and philanthropic standards for 12 years. Jolie filed divorce papers on Monday citing irreconcilable differences, according to TMZ. She's seeking physical custody of the children and asking the judge to allow Pitt visitation. She isn't seeking shared physical custody, solely shared legal custody. The date of separation is listed as Sept. 15, 2016, and the couple married in August 2014 after a decade together. Rumors of divorce have been swirling for months and involved stars like Marion Cotillard and Gwyneth Paltrow. But sources told TMZ (and TMZ is reporting emphatically) that no third person was involved, and the decision was made solely over Pitt's parenting skills. The couple has six children: Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Pax Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Knox Jolie-Pitt and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt. In June, Jolie spoke with Vanity Fair about parenting and her children. ""I suppose that just means you don't know who your children are until they show you who they are and they are just becoming whoever they want to be," she told Vanity Fair. The family also modeled in Vogue last last year. (And here's a stunning photo series from W in 2005.) It was the second marriage for Pitt, 52, who had previously been married to Jennifer Aniston. It was the third for Jolie, 41, who had been married to Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller. Pitt proposed in 2012, citing pressure from the children. They got together after filming "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." judge-gavel-promo.jpg (Stock image) RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Elected officials may open public meetings by praying according to their chosen religion as long as they don't pressure observers to join in, a divided federal appeals court ruled Monday. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 in deciding that the Rowan County commission had a constitutional right to open meetings with prayers. The prayers included almost exclusively Christian references and the commission's five members invited audience members to stand and participate. The court -- which decides constitutional disputes involving Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina -- said prayers opening meetings of legislative bodies are as old as the country and aren't limited to neutral religious statements or references to a generic God. As long as the board's five members didn't proselytize or disparage religious beliefs, they were constitutionally protected, the court ruled. "Not only are the legislators themselves the intended 'congregation' for legislative prayer, but the practice carries special meaning to the thousands of state and local legislators who are citizen representatives," Judge G. Steven Agee wrote in the court's opinion. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that it is appropriate for local clergy to deliver predominantly Christian prayers at town meetings in Greece, New York. Different in the Rowan County case was that the prayers were offered by the commissioners themselves. The court also had to determine whether their invitation for the audience to join in prayer should be seen as coercive. "Adults are not presumed susceptible to religious indoctrination or pressure simply from speech they would rather not hear. Thus, there is limited risk that disenchanted listeners would be affected by mere contact with lawmaker-led legislative prayer," Agee wrote. "The Board's legislative prayer practice amounts to nothing more than an individual commissioner leading a prayer of his or her own choosing." The American Civil Liberties Union sued Rowan County commissioners in 2013 because none of the prayers starting more than 140 meetings over a 5 1/2-year span mentioned a religion other than Christianity. The said Monday it would ask for a review of the case by all 15 judges on the appeals court. In a strongly worded dissent, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, said the case captures the reason why the country's Founding Fathers wrote the separation of church and state into the Constitution. "When the state's representatives so emphatically evoke a single religion in nearly every prayer over a period of many years, that faith comes to be perceived as the one true faith, not merely of individual prayer-givers, but of government itself," wrote Wilkinson, who was nominated to the court by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. "When a seat of government begins to resemble a house of worship, the values of religious observance are put at risk, and the danger of religious division rises accordingly." George HW Bush Former President George H.W. Bush will vote for Hillary Clinton, according to a report. (Associated Press) According to a Kennedy, a Bush is voting for a Clinton. Former Republican President George H.W. Bush will vote for a Democrat in November, Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend said on Facebook. Hartington Kennedy Townsend, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, on Monday posted a Facebook photo of her shaking hands with the 92-year-old former president. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" she wrote with the post, according to Politico. Politico later confirmed that during their meeting in Maine, Bush told Hartington Kennedy Townsend he was voting for the Democratic presidential nominee. However, Bush's spokesman Jim McGrath told Politico in an email, "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim." None of the Bushes attended the Republican National Convention in July, and numerous former Bush staffers have publicly said they will not support GOP nominee Donald Trump. A Tulsa, Oklahoma, police chief is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate after an unarmed black man was shot by police. The graphic video above shows Terence Crutcher, 40, with his hands up in the air, walking away from officers toward his disabled vehicle. A voice on the video says, "That looks like a bad dude too. He might be on something." Crutcher then falls to ground. One officer used a stun gun, and the fatal shot was fired by a white female officer, Betty Shelby. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan during a press conference asked the U.S. Justice Department for an investigation. "I'm going to tell you right now that there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect's vehicle," Jordan said. "I want to assure our community, and I want to assure all of you and people across the nation who are going to be looking at this, we will achieve justice." "I would like to see us be a better city than some of the other cities we've seen," Jordan said. "I hope some of my performance in the past has shown you we will do the right thing." Crutcher's family is demanding to know what happened and asks for charges to be filed against Shelby. "We ask for facts, we ask for answers, and we clearly got it through the video and we are devastated," said Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher. "The entire family is devastated." "That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College," she said, playing off the words in the video. "He just wanted to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God." Four people have been charged in connection to the heroin deaths of two Lebanon County men and local officials hope to prosecute more people for providing fatal batches of the drug. Edwin Rohney Mowrer, Jose Enrique Gonzalez, Mollie Anne Mavretic, and Junior Estevez face felony charges of drug delivery resulting in the deaths of two men in the past 13 months. Officials announced the charges Tuesday during a news conference at state police barracks in Jonestown. Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold said the county, state and nation are in crisis related to heroin deaths, especially with the added risk of the drug cut with fentanyl. "We realize we cannot prosecute our way out of the heroin problem that we have," Arnold said, noting the need for education, treatment and prevention as the issue becomes even more prevalent. Though the crisis continues to worse, Arnold took an optimistic tone, pointing to increased awareness and vigilance in fighting the spread of heroin. "People are trying to come together to combat problem," Arnold said. *** Mowrer and Gonzalez are charged in the death of Robert Marshall, 24, of Jackson Township on Aug. 15, 2015. An autopsy revealed Marshall died of acute morphine toxicity. The following is an account of the the state police investigation detailed by Trooper Norbert Brennan in charging documents: Marshall's wife, Maggie Oberholtzer, found him unconscious in a bathroom at the couple's home and called for help. Marshall was taken to Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for treatment, where he died Aug. 20, 2015. Investigators found several empty light blue heroin packets with the stamp "True Religion," a torn plastic bag and a used syringe. Police interviewed Olberholtzer on the day of the overdose, who pointed out the caller identification of the home phone and two phone numbers that could be related to Marshall's overdose. One of those phone numbers belonged to Mowrer, to whom Marshall had sold a truck to for $400 the day before. Mowrer called Marshall's home during her interview with Brennan, and Brennan answered the phone with Olberholtzer's permission. Mowrer explained the circumstances of the drug deal and vehicle sale, adding that he last saw Marshall around 9 p.m. Aug, 14, 2015. Oberholtzer told Brennan her husband appeared to be under the influence of heroin after seeing Mowrer. She noted that she saw blue wax paper in the toilet before the couple went to bed, telling Marshall he couldn't flush the paper down the toilet. "I didn't really think anything of the blue paper until I saw it in the bathroom today," Olberholtzer told Brennan. Around 10:30 a.m. the next day, Oberholtzer told Brennan she took Marshall to the bathroom, where he got sick and had to go to the bathroom. During an interview June 28, 2016, Mowrer admitted to selling Marshall a bundle of heroin in exchange for $400 and Marshall's pickup truck. "I asked him how much money he wanted and he said 500 bucks or four and a bundle," Mowrer told police. Mowrer also told police he got the heroin from Jose Gonzalez. During an interview with police on July 20, Gonzalez admitted to selling Mowrer heroin. Gonzalez said he typically would sell Mowrer three or four bundles at a time, noting that his bags were always stamped and double sealed in a clear plastic bag. "I didn't know Mowrer was selling," Gonzalez told police. "He was coming to me for his own personal use." *** Mavretic and Estevez are charged in connection with the death of Dylan Yiengst, 24, of Union Township on Jan. 1. An autopsy revealed Yiengst died of fentanyl toxicity. The following is an account of the the state police investigation detailed by Trooper Norbert Brennan in charging documents: Yiengst was found dead in his bed by his nephew. Police found several empty light blue heroin packets and a used syringe after searching his room. Through speaking with his relatives, police determined Yiengst did not have a cellphone and would contact people through Facebook messenger. Using Facebook, authorities were able to determine Yiengst arranged drug transactions with a man named "Vic," later identified as Junior Estevez. From February to August, Estevez sold heroin to undercover troopers from the vice unit. Estevez ultimately was arrested after a sale Aug. 16. Estevez told investigators he sold the fatal heroin that killed Yiengst to Mavretic on Dec. 31, 2015, after she contacted him to arrange the deal. Mavretic was interviewed Aug. 31, confirming that she arranged the deal with Estevez. Yiengst and Travis Mohn picked up Mavretic and the group met with Estevez in Lebanon to make complete the buy. *** All four are in custody for their roles in the deaths. Arnold said the goal is to prosecute those responsible whether they are higher-level dealers like Gonzalez and Estevez, a rising dealer like Mowrer or a user who helped set up a deal, as in the case of Mavretic. Arnold said authorities are investigating whether the dealers are responsible for any other deaths. Arnold noted the difficulty in making such cases, pointing to the number of heroin deaths in the past two years and comparing that to the amount of arrests for drug deals resulting in death. He said authorities will continue to pursue charges against dealers in such instances, even if people do still put their lives in danger by doing heroin. "At a minimum, it removes four dealers off of the streets." handgun.jpg Jimmy Santos was convicted of third-degree murder for the shooting death of a drug customer who used fake cash. Even though he didn't fire the fatal shot, a Philadelphia drug dealer is responsible for the killing of a customer who was gunned down for using fake money, a state Superior Court panel has ruled. So Jimmy Santos, 32, must keep serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence on his third-degree murder conviction for the death of addict Abba Abukanan, Judge Victor P. Stabile concluded in a state court opinion issued this week. Santos' journey to jail began on Oct. 25, 2012 when Abukanan tried to use bogus cash to buy drugs from Santos and another dealer, William Colon, at Fifth and Cornwall streets in Philadelphia. The dealers chased Abukanan off the block and told him not to come back. When Abukanan came back that same day to again try to buy drugs, Santos and Colon started shooting, court records show. Police said Santos shot Abukanan in the wrist and thigh before his gun jammed. Colon then shot Abukanan in the back of the head, killing him. The same jury that convicted Santos of third-degree murder convicted Colon, 33, of first-degree murder. Colon is serving a life prison sentence. On appeal to the state court, Santos claimed his murder conviction is unjustified because the bullets he fired at Abukanan weren't fatal. Not so, Stabile found. Because he participated in the shooting spree that led to Abukanan's death, Santos is responsible for the killing under the legal theory of accomplice liability, the state judge concluded. Santos' "actions were part of the same criminal episode in which he worked in concert with Colon to shoot and ultimately kill the victim," Stabile wrote. "The fact that (Santos) did not deliver the fatal shot does not absolve (Santos) from culpability." The Philadelphia district attorney's office has approved former Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski for acceptance into a program that likely would allow him to clear recent theft charges from his record. Koplinski appeared in Philadelphia Municipal Court Monday, only to have his preliminary hearing continued for a second time. However, court records show the DA's office has approved Koplinski for acceptance into the state's Advanced Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, which often gives first-time offenders a chance to avoid criminal records, jail time and big fines. Koplinski likely will learn the terms and conditions of his ARD approval when he is due to appear in court again on Oct. 12, said his attorney, Brian McQuillan. Koplinski is accused of using a stolen press pass to enter a media center set up at the Democratic National Convention Center in Philadelphia in late July. Because it is an ongoing case, a spokesman for the DA's office refused comment for this story. Koplinski, 47, allegedly stole the pass at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where the staunch Democrat surprisingly was spotted selling Donald Trump paraphernalia. The attorney/political strategist said he was hawking the merchandise in exchange for a pass to get into the convention. At the DNC, he used the stolen press credential to take parking passes and food vouchers early on July 25, just before the convention kicked off, the DA's office claims. The DA's office previously said it has surveillance footage that caught Koplinski in the act. The office refused to provide a copy of the footage to PennLive. McQuillan formally asked the DA's office to consider accepting Koplinski into the ARD program during an Aug. 8 hearing. Koplinski, a council member for 8 years who lost a run for lieutenant governor in 2014, also was charged with driving under a suspended license in April and pleaded guilty to failing to report earned income taxes in 2009. DAUPHIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE.jpg Dauphin County Courthouse (Matt Miller, PennLive) Although his family insisted he is innocent, a Dauphin County judge sent a Middletown-area man to prison Tuesday afternoon on his convictions for molesting an 8-year-old girl he was baby-sitting. President Judge Richard A. Lewis imposed that 9- to 23-month county prison term, to be followed by 2 years of probation, three months after a jury convicted Rodney L. Moore on charges of corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and indecent assault. Moore, 55, was arrested by state police in late 2013 based on the girl's claims that he had fondled her twice in 2010. Public Defender Petra Gross called a parade of family members to speak to the judge during Moore's sentencing hearing. All said they don't believe he is guilty. Some insisted the girl lied about being abused. Moore's wife read a letter from their adopted 12-year-old son. "My dad is the best," the boy wrote. "Please don't send my dad to jail." The boy added that he can't understand how the jury "convicted my dad of something he didn't do." Moore's brother, Todd, contended that his sibling is the victim of false allegations that have "destroyed a good man's life." Moore told Lewis he was ready to endure whatever punishment he received. "I'm asking please, though, not to be taken from my family and my home," Moore said. "I'll give you my word, judge, you'll never see me in this courtroom again." Gross asked for a sentence of house arrest and probation. When Moore and his family finished talking, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Jason called the victim's mother to address the judge. She said she had planned to remain silent, but couldn't do so in light of the comments from Moore's kin. The mother said she is sorry for Moore's family, but "my daughter has been though hell...because of what he did to her." "I want him punished for what he did to my 8-year-old," she added. Jason asked for a prison term. "There is quite a lot of pain and hurt on both sides," Lewis observed as he prepared to pass sentence. He said he understands the position of Moore's family, but added that the victim's testimony at trial was "very believable." Moore will have to register with state police as a sex offender for the rest of his life. MORE CRIME NEWS: WILLIAMSPORT -- Attempted homicide and other charges have been dismissed against a man with ties to Dauphin County and he has been ordered released from jail. In an opinion made public Monday, Lycoming County Judge Marc Lovecchio ruled the continued detention of William Michael Blackwell would be illegal and improper. William Blackwell Blackwell, 31, who was accused of firing three shots into a car near a Williamsport intersection last Oct. 29, wounding the driver, had contested the sufficiency of the evidence presented against him at his preliminary hearing. Lovecchio noted that although the victim identified the shooter from a photo array, that person did not appear at the preliminary hearing and told city police he would not cooperate. A warrant was issued for the victim's arrest as a material witness but the individual has not been located, the judge noted. District Judge Christian D. Frey held Blackwell for court over a defense objection that testimony at the preliminary hearing was hearsay. Although the opinion does not identify the victim, arrest documents state the driver of the car who was wounded was Antwan M. McClain. McClain told police, a car cut him off and pulled alongside of him, according to the arrest affidavit. When he saw the driver point a handgun at him, he said, he attempted to drive off, but three shots were fired one of which struck him in the left shoulder. He drove himself to Williamsport Regional Medical Center. Blackwell was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, illegal possession of a firearm due to a conviction, possessing a firearm without a license, possession of an instrument of crime, propulsion of missiles into an occupied vehicle and recklessly endangering another person. He was arrested in Philadelphia in February and had been held without bail since. Blackwell is a native of Middletown but said at his arraignment he has lived in Williamsport most of his life. Court documents state Middletown police in 2010 charged him with drugs and weapons counts, but those were dismissed after a pre-trial defense suppression motion was granted. Blackwell has convictions in Lycoming County and was on parole at the time of the shooting in a 2011 assault by prisoner case. First Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Osokow said the charges could be refiled if McClain is located but there could be a speedy trial issue. 2-arrested-after-17500-heroin-bags-found-in-PA-home.PNG Who says nosy neighbors aren't a good thing? Now, 17,500 heroin bags are off the Pa. streets. And two residents of the home where the drugs were found -- Sonnie Watts, 42, and Jessica Wainwright, 36 - have been arrested and charged in the case. (screen shot/TribLive.com) Who says nosy neighbors aren't a good thing? After all, it was complaints from neighbors in western Pennsylvania that led to police seizing 17,500 stamp bags of heroin from a Pittsburgh home, landing two people in jail. TribLive.com reports that those neighbor complaints caused Pittsburgh Police Department's narcotics unit to search the home Sunday, turning up the 17,500 stamp bags, a 9mm pistol and "a large sum of cash," according to a police spokeswoman. Arrested in the raid were residents of the home, Sonnie Watts, 42, and Jessica Wainwright, 36, the website reports, adding: Both were charged with possession with intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance. Watts was also charged with a firearm violation. Meanwhile, the street value of the heroin was estimated at $175,000. But because of those nosy neighbors, those drugs are now off of the street. MORE PA. BUZZ: Nothing was found after police searched Eastern York Middle School due to a bomb threat Tuesday afternoon. The school was evacuated just before noon after a written bomb threat was discovered, East York School District said in a statement sent to parents during the incident. Lower Windsor Township police responded to the school at 12:46 p.m. Several regional police departments brought bomb-sniffing K-9s to the building to assist with the search. An investigation continues, police said. The middle school will be open until 6 p.m. so students can pick up their belongings. Middle school students do not have to worry about homework Tuesday night, and there will be no quizzes or tests Wednesday, the district said. It's rare to see a Republican politician face a big crowd and plead for help for people who are off somewhere getting high. Yet it happened Tuesday as a group of state lawmakers promised an all-out, bipartisan effort aimed at the escalating heroin and painkiller addiction epidemic that's killing ten people per day in Pennsylvania. It was made by Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Luzerne County, a co-chair of the PA Heroin, Opioid Prevention and Education Caucus -- the "Hope" causus -- formed earlier this year in response to the crisis. Causus members were at the center of a rally at the Capitol on Tuesday that included lawmakers, recovering addicts, parents of addicts, and representatives of the treatment industry, and which several observers said was among the biggest Capitol rallies in years. HOPE causus members stated their support for the idea that addiction is an illness that should be addressed just as vigorously as a disease such as diabetes, and that most addicts would rather be clean and will recover with sufficient help. "We can't let it go on like this. We have to do something about it," said Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat who received a warm reception from Republicans including Kaufer. Wolf and lawmakers later this year will hold a joint session to devise ways to address the crisis. With support from Republicans, Wolf had previously planned to hold a rare special session focusing solely on the crisis. But he recently decided the joint session would be better because it offers a streamlined route for approving legislation and an opportunity to act more quickly. Lawmakers expect to consider a range of measures, including expanding the availability of residential treatment as well as a newer form of treatment that uses medications including suboxone to manage the craving for opioids, and making sure health insurers provide the same level and duration of treatment for substance abuse as for physical illness. Another proposal would limit the length of prescriptions written by ER doctors, and yet another would require insurers that cover opioids to also cover a new, more expensive form said to be abuse-resistant. Rep. Mike Sturla said it would be a huge failure if any lawmaker attending the rally later turned around and opposed solutions, and urged Pennsylvania residents to "hold our feet to the fire" in delivering the promised bi-partisan effort and solutions. Speakers at the rally were flanked by three large quilts containing names and photos of young Pennsylvanians lost to the epidemic, which typically begins with addiction to a prescription painkiller such as OxyContin or Vicodin and leads to addiction to heroin, which has become historically cheap and and prevalent. Nick Labar, a 24-year-old Northampton County native, said he became addicted after being given opioid painkillers following a broken leg at age 14. He said he was in and out of treatment centers 14 times before he finally got clean three years ago, and now he wants to assure other young people that it's possible to break free of the addiction. Speakers touted things Pennsylvania has already been done to address the crisis, including: providing funding for 45 "centers of excellence" around the state that will provide a range of supports for addicts; expanding the Medicaid program, which covers drug treatment, to include tens of thousands more people; and recently launching an electronic database that will allow doctors to identify patients who "pill shop" to obtain drugs from multiple doctors. The opioid addiction epidemic, which is raging all over the United States, is blamed in large part on drug manufactures that heavily marketed painkillers while downplaying their addictiveness, as well as on ill-informed prescribing on the part of doctors. State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a Republican from Bucks County, received loud applause when he called for a lawsuit against drugmakers to "make them clean up the mess they created." We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form This image provided by the Syrian anti-government group Aleppo 24 news, shows a vest of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent hanging on a damaged vehicle, in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. A U.N. humanitarian aid convoy in Syria was hit by airstrikes Monday as the Syrian military declared that a U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed, and U.N. officials reported many dead and seriously wounded. (Aleppo 24 news via AP) A police officer ties tape around the First American Fried Chicken restaurant, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. The Elizabeth establishment and the apartment above are tied to Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was arrested as a suspect in the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) FILE --This March 6, 2013 handout file image provided by the Friends of Nizar Zakka, shows Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese technology expert and advocate for Internet freedom, delivering a speech during the MENA ICT Forum conference in Jordan. Supporters of Zakka, a U.S. permanent resident, detained for a year in Iran over spying allegations say he's been sentenced to 10 years in prison and given a $4.2 million fine. The sentence for Zakka, who advocates for Internet freedom, comes ahead of Iranian officials attending the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York. (Courtesy of Friends of Nizar Zakka group via AP, File) Pete Buttigieg visits Charlevoix to support Democratic candidates In a show of support for the local slate of Democratic candidates, Pete Buttigieg made an appearance at the Charlevoix Public Library on Saturday. Lagniappe Kevin Ramnarine: Dealing with the natural gas supply problem in Trinidad and Tobago BG (now Shell), a company that once easily produced one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, now struggles to produce 0.7 billion cubic feet per day. The Prime Minister addressed the nation last Sunday on a range of issues. The press release that announced the address to the nation didn't say much. This led to speculation on social media as to what the content could be. When all was said and done the Prime Minister really didn't tell us anything new. The PM dwelled a lot on energy. He repeated that oil production was in decline (as it has been for the last 10 years) and that natural gas production is in decline (as it has been for the past six years). The natural gas shortage has been with us since late 2010. Considering the first seven months of 2016, the actual supply is 3.2 billion cubic feet per day compared to the contracted natural gas demand of 3.9 billion cubic feet per day. This means that we have a contractual shortfall of about 22 per cent. When I became Minister of Energy in mid-2011 the shortage was already in motion. Managing that shortage was the biggest challenge of my four-plus years as Minister of Energy. The root cause was a period of underinvestment in the previous decade, a fact which can be proven statistically. There was also a lengthy period of maintenance by BPTT which was a response to the April 2010 Macondo oil spill. However, something had to be done to deal with the situation of the shortage. There was no quick fix. The only solution was to increase natural gas production. This meant that the companies that were already here had to drill more which meant they had to increase investments. Investment requires a return on capital (ROC) and the companies were no longer getting the returns they needed in T&T. To incentivise the companies to invest the former Government passed into law a range of fiscal incentives over four years. This policy worked as it led to an upsurge in investments and drilling. One of these incentives included restructured capital allowances for development and exploration drilling. These restructured capital allowances and other incentives led to investments such as the BP Juniper project and the EOG Sercan project. These projects together with the Trinidad Regional Onshore Compression or TROC will bring an additional one billion cubic feet of natural gas into supply at various times in 2017. This represents a 31 per cent over current gas supply rates. I have already written that these three natural gas projects will end the recession in 2017. Their full benefit will be felt in 2018. The PM made passing reference to this when he said, While there are some activities afoot to raise the 2016 figures going forward the overall trend is downwards and troubling. The genesis of these activities was incentives and policies that were enacted between 2011 and 2014. In understanding the story of the natural gas shortage we must discuss Starfish. This was a natural gas development by BG which was supposed to produce 225 million cubic feet of natural gas per day by mid-2015 from three wells. However, it went badly and ended up producing nothing (zero). This has hurt the two companies involved and has hurt its customer (the NGC) and by extension the country. Starfish today holds the title of most expensive failure in the history of T&T's oil and gas business. As a consequence, BG (now Shell), a company that once easily produced one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, now struggles to produce 0.7 billion cubic feet per day. The PM also spoke of agreements with Venezuela. We have been working on Loran Manatee for over a decade. I don't think that this can be counted on as a solution on the immediate horizon. There is a lot of natural gas in Loran Manatee (10 trillion cubic feet) and coming to the end of my tenure, the Venezuelans indicated that they were prepared to monetise their portion of the Loran Manatee gas in T&T. This is a shift in their position from previous years that came about through a lot of strategic diplomacy. The other Venezuela related project is Dragon which was the subject of an MOU a few months ago. There are some questions that arise. The first is what infrastructure would be required to get that gas to T&T? If the gas is wet there would issues around liquids management. The second is what will be the cost of that infrastructure and who will pay for it? The third is, who will buy the gas from Venezuela (I assume the NGC or an affiliate) and at what price and in what quantity? There are a lot of questions here. The bigger issue moving forward is how to sustain the increase in gas supply that will commence next year. Part of the answer is in the much referenced Natural Gas Master plan which was presented to me in September 2015. There is also the issue of demand management. In that regard, the closure of the Mittal plant was really a blessing in disguise. Another key resides in the country's fiscal regime which will need further adjustment to continue to attract investment as it has done from 2011 to 2015. After all is said and done, the companies that can help T&T out of this problem in the shortest time are the four natural gas producers who are already here. Government needs to listen to them and understand their challenges. Relationships, respect and trust are important. Kevin Ramnarine is the former Minister of Energy of Trinidad and Tobago. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views. Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by Trinidad Guardian ; on Sept. 13, 2016. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers. All comments posted and published on Petroleumworld, do not reflect either for or against the opinion expressed in the comment as an endorsement of Petroleumworld. All comments expressed are private comments and do not necessary reflect the view of this website. 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Any question or suggestions, please write to: editor@petroleumworld.com Best Viewed with IE 5.01+ Windows NT 4.0, '95, '98,ME,XP, Vista, Windows 7,8 +/ 800x600 pixels China's trader signed an agreement to operate Curacao oil refinery ORANJESTAD, Aruba Petroleumworld.com 09 20 2016 The government of Curacao has signed a preliminary agreement with China's Guangdong Zhenrong Energy to operate the aging Isla refinery and invest some $10 billion in upgrading the facility, according to an agreement made public on Monday. Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has for decades operated the refinery, which opened in 1918, under a lease agreement. But the cash-poor PDVSA has been reluctant to invest some $1.5 billion that Curacao authorities requested several years back to modernize the 335,000-barrels-per-day facility. "Unfortunately, all the government's efforts to reach a new contract with Venezuela did not yield positive results," Curacao Prime Minister Bernard Whiteman said in a video posted on the government's website on Monday. "Curacao could not wait any longer; we had to look at other alternatives." He added that Guangdong Zhenrong would "finance, modernize and operate the refinery, the storage terminal and dock." Guangdong Zhenrong, a state-controlled commodities trader, will also assist in modernizing the water and electricity plants as well as aid in the construction of a new gas terminal, he said. The memorandum of understanding between the two parties lays out a two-month timeframe for negotiations with the possibility for a two-month extension. PDVSA and Guangdong Zhenrong did not respond to emails seeking comment. Located just 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of Venezuela, the Isla refinery is a strategic facility for PDVSA to store and ship Venezuelan oil destined for the Asian market. China in the last decade has become one of the top buyers of Venezuelan crude and fuel through an oil-for-loans financing agreement. Unlike many facilities in Venezuela, terminals at Isla and neighboring Bullenbaai can receive large tankers, such as Very Large Crude Carriers that can transport up to 2 million barrels of oil to China. The current lease agreement with PDVSA stipulates that if neither party ends the agreement two years before its expiration, it is automatically renewed for another 10 years. The current lease expires on Dec. 31, 2019. Residents of Curacao, an autonomous country within the kingdom of the Netherlands, have for years complained that Isla's emissions cause health problems and insist the facility needs investment to reduce its environmental impact. Guangdong Zhenrong is 44.3 percent owned by Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, one of China's top four state petroleum traders. This year it won approval from Myanmar authorities to build a $3 billion refinery in the Southeast Asian country in partnership with local parties including the Energy Ministry. Petrobras may cut output, investment in 2017-21 plan RIO DE JANEIRO Petroleumworld.com 09 20 2016 Brazil's heavily indebted state-led oil company Petrobras will likely cut planned investment by about a sixth and its 2020 output goal by 14 percent under a five-year strategic plan scheduled for release Tuesday before markets open, according to analysts. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, is expected to announce a 2017-2021 capital budget of $82.7 billion, or an average of $16.6 billion a year, according to the average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Reuters. That would be Petrobras' smallest five-year capital budget since 2006 and 16 percent less than the Rio de Janeiro-based company's 2015-2019 plan revised in January. The cuts would be part of Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente's fight to curb the company's nearly $125 billion of debt, the largest of any company in the global oil industry, and focus spending on crude oil exploration and production needed to pay for it. Parente's efforts are complicated by oil prices at some of their lowest levels in a decade, a corruption scandal that has undermined investor confidence and huge losses on money-losing refineries and domestic fuel subsidies. Petrobras said on Monday, as its board of directors discussed the plan, that it would unveil the program's details at meetings with employees, the press and investors on Tuesday. "This plan is very important for setting expectations at a company that has consistently missed expectations," said Luana Siegfried, oil and gas analyst with Raymond James in Houston. "The company will have to cut enough to show it's being realistic, but not so much that its future output falls too far." When combined with a promise to sell $15 billion of oilfields, pipelines and other assets by year-end and $43 billion through 2018, Parente said he hoped the plan would focus cash on the company's portfolio of giant offshore oil discoveries south of Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras' controlling shareholder, the Brazilian government, is also counting on those fields to kick-start Brazil's recession-mired economy. Petrobras is responsible for about 10 percent of Brazil's gross domestic product. The plan will also show how far Parente, appointed by new President Michel Temer, is prepared to go to at the company to reverse the policies of former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, removed from office for breaking budget laws in August. A former Petrobras board chairwoman, she built up Petrobras during a commodities boom only to see her plans unravel along with nearly $250 billion of shareholder value. "The new five-year business plan is the most important trigger in the short term," said Diego Mendes, analyst at Banco Itau BBA in Sao Paulo in a note to clients. "If the plan is sufficiently robust it will help sustain the positive dynamic for Petrobras shares." Petrobras' preferred shares, its most traded class of stock, have risen 96 percent so far this year. LOWER OUTPUT Lower spending, though, will also cut future crude output in Brazil to about 2.32 million barrels a day (bpd), according to the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Reuters. That is 14 percent below the company's current 2020 outlook of 2.70 million bpd. In 2012, before the corruption scandal, cash crunch and oil price plunge, Petrobras said it planned to produce 4.9 million bpd in Brazil in 2020. At the time Petrobras was investing more than $45 billion a year. Some analysts also expect Petrobras' to cut asset sale plans after success in refinancing short-term debt and after a strengthening Brazilian currency reduced the company's debt costs, most of which are in dollars. "It is our view that they would likely lower (asset sale) goals as the urgency for selling assets has decreased," Mendes said a note to clients. At least 153 people have been killed and 133 others injured in a deadly stampede in Seoul's Itaewon district as huge crowds of partygoers, many in their 20s, converged in the enter... No, that's not a time machine - it's the data gathering unit for a prototype brake power meter. The prototype is a clunky, overbuilt affair, but that's only because... ...the focus was on gathering data, not on looks or counting grams. How Does It Work? Matt Miller holds version 2.0 of the brake power meter, a much, much sleeker design when compared to that first prototype. Photo: Massey University Matt Miller, a PhD candidate at Massey University in New Zealand, and Dr. Phil Fink, have created a new device that's designed to measure how hard and how often a rider is braking over the course of a ride. Why is this important? Well, think about it what's the easiest way to go faster? That's right, don't use your brakes. The trouble is, that's easier said than done, especially without being able to figure out exactly where you're braking too much or too little. Miller and the rest of the team working on this project hope that their brake power meter can help make it easier to perfect braking technique, whether that's in order to win on a particular track, or to improve a rider's skills.Ideally, the data will be able to be displayed in conjunction with helmet cam footage that's gathered at the same time, allowing a rider to see exactly how much power they were applying to the brakes in each section of trail. Imagine pre-riding an enduro or downhill course and then being able to go over the footage later that day to figure out exactly where you could let off the brakes. According to Miller, they've found that braking harder, but less often, leads to faster lap times than more constant, lighter braking, but until now it's been difficult to gather data to prove that theory.The first generation of the brake power meter looks like something that Doc Brown could have dreamed up in, with an almost comically large data collection unit mounted to the handlebars. It's an exercise in Kiwi ingenuity as Miller put it, a way to test the concept before worrying about things like weight and appearance. On the prototype the front and rear brake calipers are mounted to brackets that allow the caliper to move slightly during braking in order to determine the torque that's being generated. Taking that torque number and multiplying it by the wheel's velocity allows for the amount of watts being generated to be determined. One obstacle that arose was measuring power when the rear wheel was skidding and no longer turning, but Miller said they should be able to overcome that by developing an equation that factors in the velocity of the front wheel.During testing, which took place on trail bikes, the highest number measured was 10,000 watts, but Miller expects that they'll find even higher numbers once they start getting elite-level downhill racers on the device.Miller also had the second generation of the device on hand, a drastically smaller unit that relies on a strain gauge and an accelerometer encased in carbon fiber and mounted directy to the rotor. The goal is to have the final version available by the middle of next year; a small power meter company called ZWatt will be helping Miller and company with taking the project from the laboratory to the market. No final price has been determined, but it's expected to be in the range of what a typical power meter costs, although the caveat is that two units will be required, one for each wheel. Smith Optics Smith Optics asked Aaron Gwin to help create this signature Squad Goggle. Gwin wanted to tap into his SoCal lifestyle by giving a nod to the old school surf and skate art that is synonymous with the area. He had his buddy and artist Tagger come on board to do the design and this is the finished product. The goggles retail for $80.00 USD and will be available this November. The Highwire is a new addition to Smith Optics' lifestyle line. They feature a ChromaPop lens, and retail for $89.00 USD, which some folks seem pretty happy about. Smith are also now making their ChromaPop lenses available in their Performance line of glasses. ChromaPop is designed to enhance the color and clarity of what you see around you, which might sound trippy seeing as we're in Las Vegas, but these lenses are fully legal for recreational use. The PivLok Arena, the Arena Max and the PivLok Asana will now be available in six different lenses and tints and will retail for $179.00 USD Primal Wear are probably better known for the type of riding gear that's a little closer fitting than what you see here, but the Colorado company have a new women's kit coming next year which includes the Alpine Camo jersey and shorts. Otso Bikes Their Voytek was on display at the demo bedazzled by a color coordinated blue anodized Woolf Tooth Components kit. The Voytek features a tuning chip which allows the rider to adjust the chainstay length between 430mm and 450mm to best suit your local terrain and trail conditions. Looks like Wolf Tooth have been working on a new dropper remote lever, but they weren't willing to say anything to us about it, other than to wait for more news later in the week. Sweet Protection The Bushwacker (front) helmet gets a few minor updates for 2017 including improved ventilation, a reduced weight, and an adjustable visor. There are three models available ranging from between $219 and $319 USD. The Dissenter helmet is a new all-mountain addition to the line that will be at a more affordable price point, with a non MIPS version available for $149 and a MIPS version for $189. Sweet Protection offers three models of their Bearsuit Knee pads. From left to right is the Pro, Light and the Guard that offer different levels of functionality and protection. The Bearsuit Elbow guards also come in two different models to suit your riding needs. Here's a little slice of the men's line - The Hunter Enduro shorts, the Chikamin Jersey and the El Enduro shorts. New for 2017 are the Hunter Women's Enduro shorts which come with front ventilation seams, and front pockets, and are designed to articulate with women's bodies. You might think these shorts are pink, but alas, you are mistaken for they are in fact 'Rubus Red'. Also pictured here are the women's Chiwaukum jersey and the long sleeved Badlands merino wool jersey. The Norwegians like to be prepared for the wet and the Mudride shorts and Delerious jacket are Sweet Protection's answer to problematic precipitation. If you happen to be headed to the outdoor demo visit the Camlebak booth to hand in your old bladder for recycling and take yourself home a brand spanking new Crux reservoir. Ryders Eyewear Ryders Eyewear are launching into a whole new lens and price point world next season with their Fire Lens series. The new lens features their NXT anti-fog system, a photochromatic and color boosting lens and feature an MLB mirror which is said to let UV light through to the photochromatic layer. If that all sounds like a mouthful then it's probably best to try one of the four new styles out and see what you think for yourself. The series will be available in Spring 2017 and will range from $219 - $239 USD. Chloe is wearing the women's Katja model. Sarah Magee and Chris Stewart from Petawawa, Ontario, chose today to get married at the Outdoor Demo. They both love mountain biking and were going to be visiting Las Vegas anyway, so they thought, why not? Why not indeed. Congratulations to you both! Minneapolis-based Wolf Tooth Components branched out into the bike brand business just last month with the launch of Otso Cycles. The company started the line-up with their Voytek hardtail that can convert between 27.5+, 29+ or fat bike set-ups.Sweet Protection has had minimal distribution in Noth America up until now. The Norwegian-based company first started out making helmets back in 1997, and has since expanded into mtb, paddleboarding, ski and snowboard outerwear and protection, and they are planning on planning on making a big push out this way in 2017. Sweet Protection tout themselves as a premium brand, so expect to see price tags that match that statement. In return for your dollar, we're told to expect some of that high quality technical wear the Scandinavians have become quite well known for. We took a look at some of the line-up which you will begin to see available around March next year. Rachel Byus: Pivot Cycles Pivot's Switchblade is built around a 135-millimeter-travel carbon chassis and a 150-millimeter fork, and it is convertible between 27.5-Plus and 29-inch wheels. The Firebird is Pivot's latest offering, with a 170-millimeter-travel rear suspension and aggressive, rider-forward geometry. I asked Rachel about rider profiles: who was showing up for the plus bikes and who was asking for big-travel enduro machines? "Switchblades were going out mostly with 30 to 40-year-olds. About half of them were regular guys, and the others were the good riders who already knew their suspension, setup, and air-pressure settings. We had a lot of women interested in the Switchblades too - the extra small has been out all day." Pivot Switchblade set up with 29-inch wheels. Max Commencal: Commencal Bikes Steve Domahidy with his Skeptic Ti hardtail. Steve Domahidy: Viral Bikes Christy Cook waits for Cannondale's Kevin Costz to prepare her Bad Habit Plus bike. Christy Cook and Kevin Costz: Cannondale's Bad Habit The bicycle industry, as a whole, is not that intelligent. - Troy Rarick Troy Rarick, founder of the Over the Edge retail chain and the Fruita Fat Tire Festival. Paul Cusick: 100% No question: Pivot Cycles was winning Dirt Demo. Long lines formed in front of their demo tent and the moment a bike was returned, it was whisked away by the next rider in line. Pivot's Rachel Byus was coordinating the hand-offs, so I figured she would be the one who could best tell me what models were trending at Bootleg Canyon."The Switchblades with the Plus wheels are non-stop. The second one rolls in, it rolls back out. The same with the new Firebirds."What is the general consensus on wheel size?"Everyone seems to be far more open to 27-Plus than they were three months ago."Who are the Firebird riders?"Younger, good looking guys. (laughs) Most are asking about reach and top tube measurements. We tell them up front that the Firebird is a big bike, so most of them aren't sizing up to large and extra-large frame sizes. The only Firebird that is hanging on the rack right now is the extra large one."Founder and namesake, Max Commencal has etched out a reputation among some of the sport's best bike-handlers for his sharp-performing downhill and all-mountain ranges. Commencal was not hosting a demo fleet at Dirt Demo, which gave the chief some time to ride his competitor's machines. Max caught up with me riding an e-bike, of all things, so I asked him if Commencal has plans to enter that market."We will have a Meta AM 4 e-bike soon. In Europe, they are fifty percent of sales."I told Max that I thought e-bikes were a separate category from mountain bikes and that I predicted that motor and battery technology, not frame and suspension design, would be its driving force. I asked him if bike makers were developing a market that they would eventually lose to motor makers or manufacturers outside the bike industry?"Yes, there is always that possibility, but we have to look ahead, to visualize what future bikes will be to avoid that. We have to make money to survive, and to do the things that we like - to keep ahead and not just stay at one place, or to just disappear."Co-founder of Niner Bikes, Steve Domahidy is no stranger to bucking trends. His latest venture, Viral Bikes, blends the traditional titanium hardtail, with modernized geometry, plus-sized tires, a Gates Carbon cog-belt drive, and the German-made Pinion P1.12 geared transmission. Our conversation centered on the difficulty of marketing new, or different looking technology."You can develop a new concept that in all or most respects, is much better than anything that is out there, but if customers don't accept it, nothing you say or do will matter."I thought he was referring to the Pinion gearbox and cog-belt drive, but Steve reminded me that both of those technologies have been time proven and, to a large degree, have been accepted by bike makers, at least at the upper end of the price range."I would love to make a linkage fork. I think that the Girvin fork was in many ways, a superior design than the telescopic fork is. It can be made stiffer, lighter, simpler to build, and there is less friction than a telescoping fork. I believe that it has more potential. I would love to develop one, but the problem is that when people think of a suspension fork, they see a telescopic fork - even an inverted one makes people go, 'Woah! What is going on here?' It's that perception that makes a linkage fork an impossibility."Cannondale's demo fleet was also in demand at Bootleg Canyon. I poked my head into their tent to ask which bikes in their range were the most requested. "Habits," said Cannondale's Kevin Costz, who was preparing their newest edition to that range: the Bad Habit 27.5-inch Plus model. Christy Cook was being fitted for one, so while she was a prisoner of Cannondale, I asked her about the decision to go with over-sized tires."I was told by my husband that they would roll easier over stuff."Have you ridden a Plus bike before?"This is my first time, but my husband has been riding a Plus bike for about a year."What are you riding now?""A Trigger 275."What level would you consider your ability? Where do you do most of your riding?"Intermediate. I live in Utah, so there are good trails everywhere. We ride a lot in Hurricane."Paul Cusick is the sales manager at 100% - a leading motorcycle accessory maker that has been carefully entering the mountain bike realm. They began with goggles, followed by gloves, and more recently, their Aircraft helmet range and a selection of performance eye-wear. Interbike 2016 marks the debut of a small, but well-designed clothing range that 100% plans to gradually expand upon. We spoke about the perceived health of the mountain bike market, and Cusick had a surprisingly optimistic take on it."I think that mountain bikes are doing pretty well right now. People are becoming wary of riding the road. With all the cars and people texting, it is getting more and more dangerous. I think more people are discovering that they like riding where it is not life-threatening, where you can enjoy the experience of being outdoors and away from all that craziness. Plus, mountain bikes are so easy to ride now. With longer travel suspension, anyone can ride trails like a pro." . Somewhere in Kobe, Japan, a man named Shoichiro Irimajiri is sitting quietly with a satisfied smile on his face and the sort of grin that says I told you so! Not only is he the man behind the legendary Honda CBX Six Cylinder that now commands premium prices by collectors hes also responsible for the CX500, once derided as the Plastic Maggot its now the base of some of the very best custom motorcycles built to date. It seems even the good folks in the Honda marketing department knew it might be a while for the potential of the CX to catch on. First into the Future! was their pitch, but after years as a lowly commuter bike some are taking the Honda to the levels it always deserved. One such company is BBCR Engineering and their latest ride, a 1978 Honda CX500 known as BBCR507, shows the enormous potential thats always lurked under the maggots skin. Head Honcho at BBCR is fabricator extraordinaire Andrei who originally hails from the small European Republic of Moldova. We dont have the same amount of bikes or capabilities to get them. So I first started riding a Honda CBR600, went to a CBR1000 and thats how I fell in love with Honda bikes. But five years ago on his first trip to the USA he discovered the Cafe Racer scene and now with a shop in Southern Chicago, life has never been the same. Just in the past two years, on top of the fabrication work, parts and kits he makes for the CX500, seven of the nine custom bikes hes built have been CX500s as well. Having mainly focussed on Bobber styled bikes with his CX builds in the past, the customer who came forward to request BBCR507 gave Andrei artistic license to create something special and immediately the focus was turned to a Cafe Racer with plenty of modern sportsbike appeal. It all starts with a machine from the first year of production, a 1978 Deluxe, and before he gets started its back to a bare frame. The entire rear subframe, including the rear fuel tank support is cut off and thus the journey to a mono-shock ride commences as the supports for the standard twin shocks are part of the factory subframe. The back bone then has to be neatly ground back removing the factory mounting tabs and the lower frame tubes are welded over for an exceptionally neat finish. One of the things BBCR does is machine beautiful Aluminium parts and all the factory rubber and plastic frame plugs have been replaced with BBCR originals that give a big dollar look to the commuter bike. Then to make the big change over to a frame capable of running a mono-shock setup Andrei bolted to the frame one of his own CNC alloy subframes that brilliantly incorporates the rear tank mount, seat mount and top shock mount all in one neatly fabricated piece. With the idea to go for sportsbike looks new tank mounts were fabricated and welded to the backbone before everything was given a coat of pearl black paint. The body work could then commence with the factory Deluxe tank being body worked back to arrow straight proportions and given a Northern Tank liner treatment. To complement the tank and give a different look to the usual bobber seats that Andrei fits to his CX builds he handcrafted the new Cafe Racer tail-piece from fiberglass that with its curvaceous lines and smooth edges brilliantly offsets the big Deluxe tank. The single colour and no graphics might be a rare sight these days but on BBCR507 it looks a treat and the hue comes from the Jeep catalogue, the blue tinged grey is known as Anvil and looks as tough as nails in the flesh. To give the bike a classy final finish the seat is classic black with piping separating the perforated stitched leather from the smooth finished hide. The rest of the body work is kept minimal; a stainless steel front fender is supported by round stainless mounts, torched to bring out their brilliant gold. While out back the fender/number plate holder is another touch of Andreis ingenious design skills with the wrap around item mounted off the rear drive housing. But what really gives that modern sportsbike feel is the suspension and brake package and it is dominated by the 2014 Yamaha R6 Gold inverted forks. To make these work with the decades older Honda frame a custom BBCR stem was machined and so too a set of aluminium stoppers. While the Yamaha also lends its power packed 4 piston calipers, 310mm twin discs and lightweight five spoked wheel that is shod with a Michelin Pilot Power 120/70-17. Out the back the standard shaft drive swingarm remains in place but has been smoothed of its shock mount on the left side and a new mount that Andrei fabricates welded into place in a more standardised mono-shock arrangement. The shock itself is from a Ducati Monster with an upgraded Ohlins spring thats painted in the same black as the engine and frame. A chunky Michelin Commander in a 130 section wraps around the stock rear wheel but what will really excite the CX fans are the rearsets. Starting with Kawasaki CNC aluminium units they were modified to fit, before Andrei fabricated linkages to match the notoriously difficult to work with CX500 shifter and rear brake. Its this level of detail and workmanship that will have many pouring over BBCR507, analysing how Andrei overcomes many of the obstacles the CX throws up and the engine is yet another example. Just from the visual stand point the engine coated in high temp 2k primer and clearcoat with the base the same pearl black as the frame and wheels looks incredible. There are polished edges everywhere you look and CX650 valve covers are given the same polished lines to match. Inside the all-important triple bypass has been taken care of with a new cam chain, mechanical seal and a Ricks stator, all part of the vital maintenance work needed on a CX500 when the engines out. Feeding the beast is a new set of carbs that replace the factory Keihins, mounted on custom intakes are a pair of Murrays Mikuni carbs breathing through twin pod filters. There are BBCRs own machined aluminium plug covers, dipstick, coolant plug, engraved engine plates and fin polished oil filter housing. But what really steals the show is Andreis unique exhaust design complete with perfect welds at every spot; the two into one system finishing under the engine with a one-off collector box with twin outlets. Everything that controls the party is just as impressive and it starts with a turn of the key in the machined alloy barrel that lets the hidden in a box Ballistic 8 cell battery know its time to play. Incorporated into the triple trees stem is a push button start with the top tree machined to take a Cognito Moto GPS speedometer as well as neutral and oil pressure lights. Of course the stock R6 Clip-ons were swapped for CNC machined items and you guessed it, CNCd brake and clutch levers. The R6 switchblocks do remain however and Andrei has neatly wired these into the stock connectors that feed the LED fork mounted turn signals at the front and LED tail light/turn signal combo at the rear. The stock flasher would have these things going ballistic so in its place is the absolutely tiny Motogadget m-Flash digital relay. Lighting the way is a Bikemaster LED H4 headlight that is held in place by CNC aluminium headlight mounts, with the final piece to the puzzle a Ignitech CDI computer. Not wanting to leave any part of the build anything but up to the highest of standards Andrei took the time to replace every exterior engine bolt with stainless steel items. With the drastically reduced weight and extra power to send to that new Michelin at the back the clutch has also been upgraded for a bullet proof driveline with a Barnett Performance clutch and springs feeding the ever reliable shaft drive. And before it was off to meet its new owner Andrei also fabd up an alloy side standard and rear brake bar that look a mile better than the stock items and left raw give a great contrast to the back paint. Speaking of that owner I just delivered it last night and the owner was as happy as a kid can be! Thats makes me extra pleased with the result! enthused Andrei who despite doing this incredible level of work every day at BBCR gets his biggest thrill from seeing another Plastic Maggot embrace its new alter ego and give a huge smile to another satisfied customer. [BBCR Engineering: Web Facebook Instagram | Photos by Andrei Bustiuc] The Planetary Societyled by my colleague Jason Davisis on a quest to better understand the impact of NASAs big new rocket program, the Space Launch System (SLS), on major human spaceflight centers and their surrounding communities. Billions of dollars have been spent every year on this rocket since 2012, but NASA has yet to fly it. Whats been happening in the meantime? Jasons ongoing reporting series, Horizon Goal, aims to find out. The SLS program was born in political tumult early on in President Obamas administration and has remained divisive within the space community ever since. There were reasons to be weary of the SLS. Its spiritual predecessors, the Ares I and V rockets, had fallen behind in their schedule and ballooned in cost. The program was essentially created by Congress via the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. The SLS uses old-school contracting methods in a time where new entrants like SpaceX were defining a new way forward for creating access to space. But something interesting has happened since the SLS program began five years ago: the SLS has failed to fail. It is the first human-rated rocket system to pass a Critical Design Review since the Space Shuttle. Its budget, while very large, is not consuming NASA from within. Congress has provided new money and consistent political support. And while it certainly puts the squeeze on other programs (notably Commercial Crew), it has yet to crowd them out altogether. Somehow, within an unprecedented handicap of developing a new rocket within a relatively flat budget, the SLS is progressing steadily toward its goal of a 2018 launch. But, as they say, past returns are no indication of future performance. And a lot yet needs to happen before the program is considered a success. Integrationbringing all of the disparate pieces of ground systems, the rocket, and Oriontends to be the riskiest period of a programs development, and were heading into that over the next few years. A Presidential transition is around the corner which could destabilize NASAs direction and existing programs. Projections of ongoing costs and launch frequencies plague the program. Success is far from certain. Despite this uncertainty, what we can say is that something rare is happening at NASAs human spaceflight centers. The last time NASA underwent such a dramatic change was four decades ago during the transition from Apollo to Shuttle. Decisions and infrastructure investments made then echoed for nearly two generations. We are likely to see something similar with the SLS and Orion. A suspect in a series of stabbing attacks at a St. Cloud, MN, shopping mall Saturday night was killed inside the mall by an off-duty officer, according to St. Cloud police. In a media briefing after midnight Sunday, St. Cloud police chief William Blair Anderson said an off-duty officer from another jurisdiction confronted and killed the suspect. He said the suspect who was dressed in a private security uniform reportedly asked at least one victim whether they were Muslim before assaulting them, and referred to Allah during the attacks, reports the Star Tribune. Anderson declined to call the stabbing a terrorist attack, saying the motive for the attacks isn't known yet. "We will be diligent and get to the bottom of this," Anderson said, adding that St. Cloud Police had prior contact with the suspect, but only related to traffic stops. "It's an awful day," Anderson said, adding that St. Cloud "won't be the same" after the attack. Related: 8 Stabbed in Minnesota Mall Attack, Suspect Killed Sgt. Demetrick Pennie of the Dallas Police Department is suing Black Lives Matter and others for inciting violence against officers. (Photo: Fox News screen shot) A Dallas police sergeant has filed a federal lawsuit against Black Lives Matter leaders, President Obama, George Soros and others for allegedly inciting racial violence against law enforcement. Sgt. Demetrick Pennie, president of the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation and a 17-year law enforcement veteran, filed the amended complaint in federal court Friday seeking between $500 million and $1.5 billion, the Dallas Morning News reported. The defendants named in the class-action suit also included Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, Al Sharpton and the National Action Network, Malik Zulu Shabazz and the New Black Panther Party. The lawsuit said the defendants stoked a race war and repeatedly incited their supporters and others to engage in threats and attacks against police officers, the Washington Times reports. Some, like Rev. Beth Wendl of Brookhaven Christian Church, performed well, holding steady (and holding the trigger) when the man in the truck produced just a cellphone, or when the man in the alley turned around with nothing but a flashlight. Others, like Pastor Dennis Meredith of Atlanta's Tabernacle Baptist Church, "shot everybody." Then there was Rev. Markel Hutchins, who was given a tougher scenario an armed man dangling a baby over the edge of a bridge. "Of course y'all would give me that one," the civil rights activist joked after, it turns out, waiting too long to shoot. The Monday afternoon "training" at the Duluth Police Department which gave clergy members from across metro Atlanta a crack at the same state-of-the-art, "shoot or don't shoot" simulator many real-life officers train with was part of a new initiative called "One Congregation One Precinct." It's intended to strengthen bonds between law enforcement and the communities they serve by assigning individual officers to specific congregations and opening the lines of communication, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Fifteen clergy members participated. Seven metro Atlanta counties and three faiths Christianity, Islam and Judaism were represented. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Last week, Donald Trump suggested that members of the Secret Service who are tasked with protecting Hillary Clinton should disarm and then lets see what happens to her. To anyone not blindly supporting Trump, this is clearly an encouragement of violence against the Democratic nominee. Its not even the first time Trump has done so. In August, the Republican nominee suggested that second amendment people could take up arms against Clinton if she is elected president and decides to fulfill her responsibility of appointing Supreme Court justices. Though the media has pretty much brushed Trumps latest incitement of violence under the rug, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren isnt letting the Republican nominee off the hook so fast. On Mondays edition of MSNBCs All In with Chris Hayes, Warren blasted Trumps dangerous rhetoric, saying it disqualifies him from being president. .@SenWarren on Trumps comments about disarming the secret service What kind of a human being are we talking about? #inners Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 20, 2016 Warren said: This is Donald Trump saying, Hey, theres another way to deal here. Again, this goes back to this question of what kind of a human being are we talking about? So, hes losing to Hillary Clinton and his answer is to say somebody should get out there and do violence? Look, I get it, campaigns are a time of heated rhetoric, people can get excited, they can overreach, they can say things they dont mean. But Donald Trump has now done this twice and hes been called out for it both times. And when you do it twice, it seems to me pretty clear what your motivation is here. So I think its just one more example of why Donald Trump not only shouldnt be president but is truly disqualified to be president. In any other election year with any other presidential candidate, Donald Trumps repeated calls for violence against his opponent would be on the front page of every newspaper for weeks. Instead, he calls for Clinton opponents to violently rebel against her not once but twice and it doesnt get more than a day or two of coverage. Apparently, Trump implying that Clinton should be assassinated isnt as bad as Clintons largely accurate assertion that a good portion of those supporting Trumps candidacy are deplorable bigots, because it was the latter comment that got the most negative media attention. Hopefully, more members of the press and more Democratic leaders continue to hold Trumps feet to the fire, like Warren did, about this inflammatory rhetoric that doesnt just make Americas political environment more toxic but also encourages those on the fringes to actually think violence is an appropriate means of expressing political beliefs. I understand that Donald Trumps bar is about as low as possible, but that doesnt mean he should so easily get away with things that no other political figure ever would. Kudos to Elizabeth Warren for not letting Trump get away with it. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Trump supporters point to a handful of recent national and swing state polls that show a tightening race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as evidence that they have the momentum in the presidential race. A new poll out of the Keystone State this weekend shows that their supposed momentum may have just ran into a blue, Pennsylvania-sized wall. According to a Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll released on Saturday, Clinton is leading Trump in a head-to-head match-up in the must-win state by 9 points 47 to 38 percent. In a contest that includes third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, the Democratic nominees advantage is still a commanding eight points 40 to 32 percent. The bottom line is that Trump may have improved in other states, like Ohio and Iowa, but Clintons built-in Electoral College advantage continues to give her a cushion. In other words, she had given herself enough breathing room to withstand a week of bad media coverage. The poll out of Pennsylvania, a state that Trump likely needs to win to become president especially given that he is underperforming in key battleground states like Virginia, New Hampshire, and Colorado only underscores this electoral advantage for Democrats. Trump can carry Iowa, Ohio and even Florida (although a poll out Monday showed him losing to Clinton by a point in the Sunshine State), where his numbers have shown the most improvement recently, and still lose the presidency because, as of today, Clinton is ahead in states that total 273 electoral votes enough to give her the White House. The GOP rightly admits that their best (some would say only) chance of recapturing the White House this year is by picking off Pennsylvania, a state that has been carried by a Democrat in every election since 1988. Without the states 20 electoral votes, Trumps path to 270 is daunting, to say the least. The latest poll out of Pennsylvania suggests that their hope of stealing the Keystone State is fading with 50 days until Election Day. It appears the blue wall is still alive and well for Democrats. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print On Wednesday, Donald Trump is going to attend an event Wednesday, the Midwest Values and Vision Pastors Leadership Conference, in Ohio hosted by Pastor Frank Amedia. This is the guy who, reports Right Wing Watch, once claimed to have single-handedly stopped a tsunami, has called AIDS a disease that comes because of unnatural sex that can be avoided by those who choose a wholesome life, and said that hes ready to be thrown into a furnace in protest of LGBT equality. Oh dear. Thats enough hyperbole for even Donald Trump. Given Trumps own record on treatment of women in his life, and remarks he has made about other women, they should be along famously. Among those attending will be Michael Cohen, who heads Trumps bizarrely-named National Diversity Coalition, and who said last year that spousal rape doesnt exist: understand that by the very definition, you cant rape your spouse. It is true. You cannot rape your spouse. And theres very clear case law. Actually, this is not true. Marital rape, since 1993, is illegal in all 50 states. Conservative Christians claim 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 settles the issue, obligating the wife to submit to sex. The Bible, however, is not the law of the land, no matter how much the Religious Right might wish it to be. Remember, Trump has said he wants to be a president for all Americans. Well, those who pass his ideological purity test, at any rate. Excluded, apparently, will be Muslims and blacks and Hispanics, and clearly, women. According to Right Wing Watchs Miranda Blue, Amedia sent out an invitation to the September 21 event on Saturday, writing, I am honored to co-host with Rev. Darrell Scott this important convocation of Pastors and Leaders in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, September 21 to meet with Donald Trump in an intimate setting. I am extending an invitation to you and your pastors and leaders to be our special guests. According to the invitation circulated by Amedia, the events primary host will be pro-Trump Cleveland pastor Darrell Scott and will also feature Michael Cohen, the head of Trumps National Diversity Coalition, who told a reporter last year that spousal rape doesnt exist. Along with claiming to have stopped a tsunami from hitting Hawaii, Amedia has called AIDS a disease that comes because of unnatural sex that can be avoided by those who choose a wholesome life and said that hes ready to be thrown into a furnace in protest of LGBT equality. In June, Amedia insisted that Trump had been raised up by God to help pave the way for the Second Coming. It doesnt matter whether Donald Trump actually believes any of the nonsense these people spout. The mere fact of his attendance represents tacit approval of their message of hate and exclusion. As a matter of fact, there will be some Fox News whitesplaining going on too, as it has been reported that the meeting will precede a town hall meeting on African-American concerns that will be aired that evening by Fox News Sean Hannity. Because who better to explain the needs of black Americans than Sean Hannity? Clearly, what Trump says is true about his message is entirely at odds with his actual message. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) went off during a Senate Banking Committee hearing into the fraud at Wells Fargo and demonstrated why she is Americas most valuable Senator as she was able to explain how Wells Fargo executives lined their pockets while screwing the little guy. Video of Warren: .@SenWarren to #WellsFargo CEO after second round of questions: "Wall Street won't change until we make it change." pic.twitter.com/tcdM3JLF5V CSPAN (@cspan) September 20, 2016 During the second round of questioning at the Senate Banking Committee hearing into the fraud at Wells Fargo, Sen. Warren explained how the executives at the big bank got richer while screwing over the little guy. During the second round of questioning of Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf Warren said: You accepted all along as this fraud built up, this massive fraud. You accepted all of the performance bonuses based on the cross selling that is at the heart of this. You watched your own stock go up by more than two hundred million dollars based in part on exactly this massive fraud. You got out, and you pumped it to Wall Street, and you said to Wall Street, Hey, we are dong such a great job cross-selling here at Wells Fargo, you should tell everybody to buy our stock. And now you turn around and say I shall remain passive and simply accept what Wells Fargo wants to do. You know, in 2008, Wall Street promised change, but it looks like it is business as usual. A giant bank cheats the little guys, and the executives line their own pockets. Mr. Stumpf, you make it clear that Wall Street wont change until we make it change. There are many great Senators and Representatives who look out for the interests of the American people, but none of them possess the type depth of knowledge and expertise about banking and the financial system that allows Sen. Elizabeth Warren to defend the interests of ordinary Americans. In our current times of great concentrations of wealth at the top and Citizens United-fueled corporate influence of our elections, a true expert and champion like Elizabeth Warren is needed now more than ever. No one can hold Wall Street and the Big Banks accountable like Sen. Warren, and its the reason why she is the most valuable Senator in the US Senate. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print It is being reported that former Republican President George H.W. Bushs decision to support Hillary Clinton days before the first presidential debate couldnt have come at a worse possible time for the GOP nominee. CNN is confirming earlier reports about Bush voting for Clinton: Former President George H.W. Bush told a room of roughly 40 people Monday that he would vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to sources close to Bush an extraordinary rebuke of his own partys nominee. Representatives of the Bush family are declining to publicly acknowledge the former presidents decision. But sources close to Bush tell CNN that he shared his plans with board members of the bipartisan Points of Light Foundation during what he believed was a private gathering Monday in Kennebunkport, Maine. At a time when the Republican Party is desperately trying to make Donald Trump appear to be presidential, the decision of one of the two living former Republican presidents to vote for his opponent is devastating. Trump supporters will try to minimize the political value of George H.W. Bushs decision to vote for Hillary Clinton, but the consequences of the former presidents choice are best understood by considering how Republicans would react if Barack Obama or Jimmy Carter announced that they were supporting Trump over Clinton. Former President Bushs decision to vote for Clinton sends a loud message to voters about Donald Trumps fitness for office. Bush 41 isnt supporting Clinton because they agree on policy. His support is most likely based on the fact that Donald Trump isnt fit or qualified to be president. If a former president from his own party doesnt trust Trump in the White House, it sends a strong signal that voters shouldnt either. The little bounce that Trump got in the polls last week is showing signs of evaporating, as questions about his qualifications for the presidency are being pushed front and center before the first presidential debate. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Trumps dances with birthers are not going over well in Florida, as Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 5 points in the Sunshine State. According to a new Monmouth University poll of Florida: Among Florida voters likely to participate in Novembers presidential election, 46% currently support Clinton and 41% back Trump. Another 6% intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 1% support Green Party candidate Jill Stein, with 5% who are undecided. . Most Florida voters (75%) have heard about Trumps recent admission that Barack Obama was born in the United States, but they doubt the GOP nominees sincerity. Only 24% think that Trump actually believes Obama is a natural born citizen, while the majority (54%) say Trump only made the statement for political reasons. Trump also implicated Hillary Clinton in starting the birther controversy back in 2008. More Florida voters do not believe she had a role in it (47%) than say she did (35%). While most voters (76%) say this recent flap will have no impact on their vote, 18% say Trumps statement makes them less likely to vote for him and just 4% say it makes them more likely. Republican officials reportedly pressured Trump into saying that President Obama was born in the United States, but voters dont believe that Trumps statement was sincere. Florida voters arent buying Trumps claim that Hillary Clinton started the birther controversy, and by bringing it up, the Republican nominee has lost some support with voters in the state. What is striking about the Florida poll is how little the core of the election in the state has changed. Hillary Clintons advantage with non-white voters (69%-16%) and Trumps lead with white voters (53%-35%) have remained at nearly the same levels that they were measured at last month. The media huffing and puffing about momentum and shifts have buried the fact that fundamentally this presidential election remains unchanged. Voters are locked in, which means that 2016 is a base election, and right now, in Florida, Hillary Clintons base is bigger than Donald Trumps. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print When asked how Trumps plan to profile immigrants would work, Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence gave an answer that was both incredibly dumb and dangerous to the country. Video: On @MSNBC just now, @KellyO RE: profiling: How would that work? Mike Pence: "It's all about common sense" https://t.co/wCqrhwy4WJ Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) September 20, 2016 NBC Newss Kelly ODonnell asked Pence how Trumps plan to profile immigrants would work. Pence answered: Well, I think its all about common sense. Donald Trump and I talk to law enforcement officers every day on the campaign trail, and Im proud that my running mate and I have been endorsed by the largest police officers union in the United States, three hundred and thirty thousand strong, Fraternal Order of Police, but talking with law enforcement officers, theyll tell you that today they feel like they operate in an environment of political correctness where they cant use common sense to target their resources and target their energies against individuals who would be most likely a potential threat to our families and the safety of our communities. ODonnell asked Pence if profiling can violate rights. He answered, Well, of course, it can, and then talked more about the importance of common sense. Pence never answered the question about how Trumps plan to profile immigrants would work. His answer was some idiotic nonsense about political correctness and common sense. The Republican Party was the party of individual liberty, but under Donald Trump, the common sense of the president overrides the constitutional rights and protections of the American people. Gov. Pences answer wasnt just idiotic. Pence expressed a form of idiocy that presents a danger to fundamental individual rights that are the backbone of the republic. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print President Obama has threatened to veto a House Republican bill that would have made it easy for health and safety regulations to be delayed. In other words, the President is promising to veto a bill that could endanger every person in America. The President issued his veto threat in a Statement Of Administration Policy: The Administration is committed to ensuring that the regulatory process remains efficient and effective, and is tailored to further statutory goals in the most cost-effective manner. H.R. 3438 would promote unwarranted litigation, introduce harmful delay, and, in many cases, thwart implementation of statutory mandates and execution of duly enacted laws. The legislation also would increase business uncertainty and undermine much-needed protections for the American public, including critical rules that provide financial reform and protect public health, food safety, and the environment. For these reasons, the Administration strongly opposes H.R. 3438. The Unnecessary Delay of Rules Act would delay the implementation of high-impact rules until all legal challenges are fully exhausted or, if there is no legal challenge, until the end of a statutorily prescribed period. H.R. 3438 would require this delay of all rules without consideration of the merits of the challenge or the consequences of delay. These high-impact rules already must adhere to the particular requirements of the statute that the agency is implementing as well as the requirements of other Federal statutes and the Constitution. Indeed, in many cases, the Congress has mandated that the agency issue the particular rule. The agency also must comply with the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.). When issuing a major rule, an agency also must perform analyses of benefits and costs that typically are required by one or more statutes (such as the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, and the Paperwork Reduction Act), as well as by Executive Order 12866. Furthermore, courts already have the discretion to delay rules on a case-by-case basis. Thus, the Unnecessary Delay of Rules Act is entirely unnecessary and would promote litigation designed only to delay rule implementation. Given the extensive existing statutory framework already governing agency rules, the additional delays created by H.R. 3438 would needlessly endanger the welfare of the American public, while providing no benefit and creating a powerful incentive for litigation with little to no merit. If the President were presented with H.R. 3438, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill. Like the vast majority of House Republican legislation, this bill puts corporate profits ahead of the American people. The bill would allow anyone who wants to delay the implementation of any health or safety regulation to do so by requesting a judicial review. Regulations for safe food, medication, clean air, and water could all be delayed by a simple judicial review request. The Republican Party is trying to take the United States back to the early 20th Century. Obamas veto message is a reminder of why elections matter. If elected president, Donald Trump has vowed to get rid of health and safety regulations. No matter who wins the election, the House is likely to be still controlled by Republicans. As Obama has demonstrated time and again, a Democratic president is the last line of defense against the dangerous Republican agenda. Vote like your life depends on it in November, because judging from the legislation coming out of the Republican-run House, it just might. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print A Kennedy outs a Bush who favors a Clinton, reads the Politico lede. Rather than vote for Donald Trump, former President George H.W. Bush is voting for Hillary Clinton, according to Kathleen Hartington, who confirmed this to Politico. Former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend is the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy. On Monday she posted a picture of herself next to George H.W. Bush, with the status update, The President told me hes voting for Hillary!! Politico later confirmed this with her in a phone interview. The picture has been widely shared by the media, but is not currently visible to the public on her Facebook page: Bush spokesman Jim McGrath did not confirm nor deny the claim, according to CNN Tuesday morning. Aversion to Trump style bullying and name calling isnt new to George H. W. Bush, who resigned from the NRA on May 3, 1995 after Wayne LaPierre attacked federal agents as jack-booted thugs. The former President wrote in part: I was outraged when, even in the wake of the Oklahoma City tragedy, Mr. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of N.R.A., defended his attack on federal agents as jack-booted thugs. To attack Secret Service agents or A.T.F. people or any government law enforcement people as wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms wanting to attack law abiding citizens is a vicious slander on good people. The Bushes have displayed disdain for Donald Trump, perhaps based on decades of melodrama between the parties, as the Washington Post put it. Theres also the matter of Trumps vicious, childish attacks on Jeb Bush, and then there is the matter of Donald Trumps general demeanor. This is not a man who attracts people of character or people who value tradition, knowledge, civility, the three branches of government, or the hierarchy of power. Among many establishment Republicans, Donald Trump is basically the rude, crude boor your sister brings home for Christmas and everyone tries to tolerate for a day, but turns up their noses in disgust and contempt as soon as hes moved on to the next mark. No one expected her to marry him. And then she did. This is significant not only because there isnt a former president openly supporting Donald Trump, whereas Hillary Clinton has the wildly popular current President Barack Obama and her husband, former President Bill Clinton campaigning for her, but also because the Bush family is a Republican dynasty. They represent establishment Republican power. The shift of power to the Sarah Palin wing of the Republican Party was thought to be a one-off, but heres know-nothing, violence-inciting, Putin puppet Donald Trump eight years later. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print During his campaign, the combination of Mr. Trumps actions and unconstitutional policy proposals amount to a declaration of war on several sections of the constitution. Trump policies that gut the first amendment alone are enough to warn us that Trumps proposals violate core American values. The most recent is his repeated call for ideological testing of immigrants or as he calls it, extreme vetting. Trump first introduced his extreme vetting policy, during a Youngstown speech in August. During an interview with Rachel Maddow during the same time period, Trumps campaign manager acknowledged that ideological testing is unconstitutional. Transcript exerpt via The Washington Post. (The transcript of the interview in its entirety can be read here.) MADDOW: Let me ask one more specific on that. Theres this one from the Ohio speech, the terrorism speech, which I thought was just a fascinating turn, and it was on this issue of extreme vetting. What hes describing as extreme vetting for people who want to emigrate to this country. And what he said was, in the Cold War, we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. What is that about? Whats the Cold War precedent for this extreme vetting that hes talking about? CONWAY: Hes basically saying, this is not the first time the country has done this, or that it has been done. That weve done this before, but for some reason, weve become lax. We dont do it. MADDOW: When did we do it before? CONWAY: Well, hes just saying, theres a Cold War precedent. And MADDOW: But what is the Cold War precedent? CONWAY: For vetting. And hes saying that in this case, its that we past is not necessarily prologue, but that when you are talking about vetting, people shouldnt comment like, oh, my God, thats a new situation. What if we did vet people based on their ties to terrorism, if we did that a little bit better? I mean, is anybody arguing that were not letting people in the country right now who do have ties to terrorists? MADDOW: The Cold War precedent for what hes talking about was an ideological vetting. Hes saying we want ideological vetting of people. That did exist in the Cold War, in the early 50s, it was called the McCarran Act, which Im sure you know. CONWAY: Sure. MADDOW: And Truman vetoed it and then Congress was able to pass it some other way. But what survived very famously was thrown out by the United States Supreme Court because it was ruled to be unconstitutional. So there is a Cold War precedent for ideological vetting of immigrants. In that case, it was to stop communist front groups. But it didnt pass constitutional muster, and weve never had anything like that since that ever has passed constitutional muster. So what hes asking for is a new extreme vetting system, which has previously been tried and ruled unconstitutional and we abandoned it half a century ago. CONWAY: Sixty-some years ago, right? MADDOW: Yes. So thats a hard case so I want the pivot on substance to happen too. I really do. But the substance CONWAY: Like four issues a week now though that hes talking about. He really doesnt (CROSSTALK) MADDOW: But he has to make sense. He has to make sense when he makes these policy pivots in order for them to be successful. CONWAY: Well, it sounds like you disagree with the policy, and thats fine. And (CROSSTALK) MADDOW: No, you cant have a McCarran Act now, its unconstitutional. CONWAY: But thats my point too. People can look at it and say, this is ridiculous, thats unconstitutional, you cant have that, or they can say, that may work, and Id like to hear more about it. Indeed, the Supreme Court held that ideological tests of people entering the United States is unconstitutional in Kleindienst v. Mandel 408 U.S. 753 (1972) The question is whether 212(a)(28)(D) and (G)(v) and 212(d)(3)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 66 Stat. 182, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(28)(D) and (G)(v) and 1182(d)(3)(A), providing that certain aliens shall be ineligible to receive visas and shall be excluded from admission into the United States unless the Attorney General, in his discretion, upon recommendation by the Secretary of State or a consular officer, waives inadmissibility and approves temporary admission, are unconstitutional as applied here in that they deprive American citizens of freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. Trumps attacks on press freedom attack a core principle of the America envisioned by the Founding Fathers. James Madison famously said: A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. The combination of Trumps desire to loosen libel laws, his sort of temporary bans on media outlets because they asked questions he didnt like and his call for arresting the media for inciting violence, should be a wake up call to Americans who value the fundamental principles on which America was built. As Sarah Jones observed, the first amendments protection of speech and expression is central to our political system. Aside from policies contradicting free speech and press freedom, Trumps rhetoric indicates his views on religious freedom. This is not limited to his from his ever evolving proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country. Trump intends to track American Muslims and have databases on them solely based on the fact that they are Muslim. Trump reinforced this on Monday, in response to the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are. Theyre afraid to do anything about it because they dont want to be accused of profiling, Donald Trump told Fox & Friends Monday morning. You know, in Israel they profile. Theyve done an unbelievable job, as good as you can do. Trumps disregard for the separation of church and state is reflected in his promise to repeal the ban on tax exempt churches endorsing candidates. The first thing we have to do is give our churches their voice back its been taken away, Trump said to cheers and applause, joking I figure its the only way Im getting to heaven. Trump has declared war on core principles in the Constitution with his actions, his policy proposals and his rhetoric. Portfolio English Edition's premium content is available only for subscribers Learn about the hottest news of the day, along with immediate follow-up analyses and 1000's of exclusive articles with full access to the premium content. Register and apply for a 14 days free trial period. Public radio legend Garrison Keillor will be in Rochester Saturday to headline a fundraiser for the Minnesota House DFL Caucus. The retired host of "A Prairie Home Companion" will headline the fundraiser at the Rochester Marriott, 101 First Ave. SW. The event begins at 5 p.m. and will feature music from the Nodding Wild Onions. There's no set cost for the fundraiser, but a donation of at least $50 per person is suggested. Keillor has done fundraisers to support local DFL groups in the past, including a 2013 event to support Olmsted County Democrats and a 2012 appearance for the Fillmore County DFL. Keillor also recently penned a column in support of Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. Dear Answer Man, I noticed they've removed all the LP tanks north of the John Hardy barbecue on U.S. 52, by Seventh Street Northwest. Do you know what's planned there? Of course I do -- I'm the Answer Man. That's to be the new home of Bowman's Safe & Lock as well as Bowman Door Solutions.Both will do business under a new parent company , BDS Contract Door & Hardware Co.,at the new location, says Seth Brown, of BDS. They're planning a 22,000-square-foot building just uphill from the jojos, pulled pork and root beer at John Hardy's Bar-B-Q . The LP tanks have been removed and the site is being cleared, as of late August. Seth says the company bought the land from a New York investor for $850,000. He didn't have an estimate on the project's total cost, but he said two other parcels will be offered for development toward the south end of the site. The company has 14 employees and "we're slated for a six-month build," Seth told one of my I-Team members this morning. My perspicacious reader is correct that Bowman's is currently several blocks east of there on Seventh Street. ADVERTISEMENT Dear Answer Man, I heard that Xcel will be replacing streetlights with LED lights in hundreds of towns around the state. Will any towns in our area be affected? -- Zumbro Zim Yes, but not this year. Xcel Energy plans to replace 90,000 streetlights in about 350 cities, at no cost to city residents, by late 2018. They're starting in the Alexandria and St. Cloud areas this fall, then will do some Twin Cities suburbs by November. "It looks like we'll be getting to Southeast and Southwest Minnesota in 2017 and 2018," says Xcel spokesman Matt Lindstrom. They'll convert existing Xcel-owned street lights from "cobra head-style," high-pressure sodium bulbs to more energy-efficient fixtures that use light-emitting diodes. LED fixtures use about 40-60 percent less electricity than sodium bulbs and have a longer life, which means less maintenance and fewer replacements. The new fixtures are expected to lower power costs for the cities by about 4-7 percent annually. Xcel plans to replace all 300,000 of its company-owned streetlights eventually. Area cities that will get some LED TLC include Altura, Bellechester, Byron, Cannon Falls, Claremont, Dennison, Dakota, Dodge Center, Dresbach, Dundas, Elba, Frontenac, Goodhue, Goodview, Hammond, Hayfield, Hokah, Kasson, Kellogg, La Crescent, Mantorville, Mazeppa, Millville, Minneiska, Minnesota City, Nerstrand, Nodine, Pine Island, Randolph, Reads Landing, Rollingstone, Red Wing, Wabasha, Wacouta, Waltham, Wanamingo, West Concord, Winona, Zumbro Falls and Zumbrota. Here's another Xcel-related question, about the CapX2020 project: Dear Answer Man, what's the average height of the CapX2020 towers along Highway 52? -- Rick Kinzer They vary from 75 to 100 feet, and just to head off the other question that always comes up regarding CapX towers -- yes, they're supposed to look rusty. As an Xcel spokesman told me last year , that patina of rust actually seals the steel and prevents further corrosion. A project aimed at making sure Rochester International Airport doesn't lose its international status is set to take off thanks to a $7.3 million federal grant. Members of Minnesota's congressional delegation announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation had awarded the funds to the airport. Those dollars will go toward a $12 million project to expand the airport's customs facility. "Rochester is a destination city for people all over the world, including those traveling to and from our world-class Mayo Clinic. Today's investment will help make a smoother, safer trip through the Rochester airport for international travelers," said Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Joining Klobuchar in announcing the grant were U.S. Sen. Al Franken and 1st District Rep. Tim Walz. Rochester officials welcomed the funding news. "That's great news. It was one of the legs of funding that we needed to make this project a go, so we're very excited about that," said John Reed, the airport's executive director. ADVERTISEMENT No longer Rochester International Airport? Efforts to get the project funded came amid a threat from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the airport could lose its international status. The agency notified the airport in 2012 that its customs facility did not meet federal standards. In October, the agency ramped up the pressure warning it could close the airport's customs office after giving 120-days notice. As part of the airport project, the 450-square-foot customs space would be expanded to 20,000-square-feet and moved to the main terminal. Upgrades would include segregated and secure inspection rooms, lockup facilities for detained passengers and segregated and secure luggage and cargo inspection areas. Project nearly grounded At one point, the project appeared to be in jeopardy due to legislative gridlock in St. Paul. The city of Rochester had requested $5 million from the state to help with the customs upgrade. The project appeared well positioned to get the money, securing a spot in a $1 billion public works bill. But that bill failed to pass in the final minutes of the regular legislative session. Months of negotiations between DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders over a potential special session have gone nowhere. Rather than let the project die, Rochester officials looked for ways to trim the project's cost. City council members also agreed to boost city funding for the project from $2.8 million to $3.8 million. Ultimately, the cost of the project dropped from an estimated $15 million to $12 million. The Minnesota Department of Transportation's Office of Aeronautics and Aviation also agreed to chip in $790,000 toward the project. But the final piece of the funding puzzle was the federal money. A $3 million annual impact ADVERTISEMENT Reed said moving ahead on the project was critical to ensure international travelers could still land at the airport. Those visitors spend an estimated $3 million annually in the region. "Good access to Rochester and southeast Minnesota is critical to business that is conducted in the region. And without U.S. customs here, international travelers would not be able to enter the U.S.," he said. Rep. Nels Pierson, R-Rochester, sponsored a bill to fund the international airport. He said he is very disappointed that a special session has not been called to pass the public works bill. Nonetheless, he said he will make the case that the state should cover the extra $1 million that the city of Rochester agreed to pay so the project could move ahead. "It's not just a Rochester investment. I think it's even more than a regional investment. It's a statewide investment that we have multiple international airports in our state," Pierson said. Rochester City Council President Randy Staver said he is grateful for the federal funding. He said city official's decision to divert another $1 million to the airport project meant other needed infrastructure projects couldn't get done, including needed road and utility improvements. He said the city will continue its push to get state funding to help with the cost of the airport. Staver said the city may also ask for additional dollars to help with other critical infrastructure needs. He added, "We would still look to our legislators to hopefully follow through on what was received as a very valid bonding request." Rochester's $110 million question was answered at about 1 a.m. today the proposed 13-story Alatus apartments and commercial project near Saint Marys Hospital took a major step forward after months of intense debate. The Rochester City Council gave the Alatus project preliminary plan approval on a 4-3 vote after hours of public testimony. There was little disagreement during the discussion at the council meeting and in previous public forums that the proposed project offered a compelling vision for high-density residential development and commercial space in Rochester. But concerns remained that the site, at the corner of Second Street Southwest and between 14th and 15th avenues, may not be suited to the scale of the building. At the conclusion of the council's deliberations, the Twin Cities-based developers had done enough to mitigate traffic concerns and ease the building's transition to a historic neighborhood to earn at least the approval to proceed. The project will now continue into the final plan approval process with two more public hearings, the first at the City Planning and Zoning Commission and the second in a return to the city council. "There's a little bit of, I think, fear mongering that has been going on out there that this is the domino that's going to tip and destroy the neighborhood," said council member Michael Wojcik, who represents the proposed building site and surrounding neighborhoods. "And I think that the opposite is actually true. ADVERTISEMENT "This is restoring a lot of the lots that are in disrepair, particularly on 14th, with construction and style that, per square foot, is a lot higher in value than the current, surrounding neighborhood. I think that adds value to the neighborhood," Wojcik said. Wojcik pressed staff members from the Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department for details on each of the approval criteria for Alatus's restricted development preliminary plan application. Even with those answers, Wojcik encouraged and asked for further review of the project, with the added expertise of the University of Minnesota Metropolitan Design Center, the entity that has drafted Destination Medical Center design guidelines for the city. When the council discussion appeared to have stalled, Wojcik pressed forward with a motion for approval. Council member Sandra Means seconded the motion. Council President Randy Staver and council member Ed Hruska joined Wojcik and Means in supporting the project. Council members Mark Bilderback, Nick Campion and Mark Hickey voted against the action, each citing concerns with the height of the proposed development. "They've certainly addressed a lot of my concerns with the parking (and) the set-backs," Hickey said. "No one disputes it's a terrific looking project. If this was eight or nine stories I think it'd be a slam dunk, but I'm having a hard time with the height." Neighbors shared the concern for the building's height, in addition to concerns for the traffic added by the 347 residential units, 21,000 feet of commercial space and 560-space parking facility. "Very simply, the massive 13-story luxury apartment tower dwarfs our neighborhood," said Kevin Lund, a Folwell neighborhood resident and Olmsted County District Court judge. "It unequivocally casts an unacceptable shadow over our neighborhood. There is no conceivable placement of a 13-story tower compatible with the Folwell neighborhood." Lund was one of about 10 citizens to speak in the public hearing. Just one, Jesse Welsh, offered support for the project. Don Nordine submitted a written letter of support for the project. Nordine was formerly the Folwell Neighborhood Association president but resigned his duties during the course of discussions on the Alatus project over the past several months. ADVERTISEMENT Citizens pointed out language in both the city's Second Street Corridor Plan and the draft DMC Design Guidelines that called for a six-story cap on building heights in the Second Street corridor. The height guideline might not have been as certain as some Rochester residents had thought. Terry Spaeth, city director of redevelopment, said continued conversations with the DMC guidelines' authors had found acceptable exceptions to that recommendation. "The consensus is that taller buildings are deemed to be appropriate outside the downtown core within the DMC district in certain instances, an example being Second Street," Spaeth said. "Being a transit corridor, it provides an opportunity for a higher density of development and provides for a critical mass that can utilize the improved transportation opportunities in the future." The development team of Twin Cities-based real estate developer Alatus, with local partners Ed Pompeian and Nick Pompeian, had also offered several modifications to the original building design. The design had reduced its parking stalls from 883 to 560 by eliminating contract parking and had increased its landscaping and set-backs from roads and neighboring houses to ease the transition from the development to the neighborhood, said Trace Jacques, an architect with partner firm ESG. "It's a 100-year project of very high quality," Jacques said. "This is actually a very representative project of the highest quality." The project cost in a previous meeting was estimated at $110 million. If approved the project would take roughly 18 months to build, concluding around the third quarter of 2018, according to Chris Osmundson of Alatus. The knife attack in St. Cloud and the bombings in New York and New Jersey have once again rattled a country that needed little reason to believe it's a target for terrorism. Almost immediately, the events were labeled as "potential acts of terror," and ISIS -related media claimed responsibility for the Minnesota attack. Floating in the morass of chaos, fear and bloodshed was another description: Muslim . Guled Ahmed has another word for it: Sad. "I'm feeling so sad," he said Monday as he wiped down tables at Nile Restaurant, a Rochester eatery he owns. ADVERTISEMENT "This is not what it's supposed to be," Ahmed said. "These people are not Muslim. When I see it's (blamed on) Muslims, I think, 'oh, no.' My religion doesn't allow you to kill people; it tells you to make friends, be nice, help each other. I'm so sorry about everybody who was wounded." Here in Rochester, he said, "Everybody is so nice. They sit here and eat together, Christians and Muslims together." Regina Mustafa, founder of Community Interfaith Dialogue on Islam , agrees. "I know I receive far more support, even during these hard times, than hostility from my non-Muslim neighbors. We commune to reach out to our neighbors and I continue my work because it is so important and needed, for my children and for all of our children. "The events in St. Cloud are extremely disheartening and frustrating," she said. "The Muslim community is a victim, as well as those poor souls who suffered injuries at the hands of this madman. I can say I am relieved that no one was seriously injured in this cowardly and hateful act." The violence committed supposedly in the name of Islam "is very hard to comprehend," said Mohamud Nur, a native of Somalia who runs an accounting business in Rochester. "The reason we came here was for the peace, for a place to grow," he said. "Those who are violent have no clue; they're misleading people" about the tenets of Islam. The people in the U.S. are considered their neighbors, who hold a special status in Islam, said Nur, who came to Rochester in 1999. Muslims are encouraged to treat their hosts gently, gratefully, whether the neighbors are Muslim or not. The majority of the violence, he said, is committed by young people, who are "not mature enough to understand it." ADVERTISEMENT In the days following acts of terrorism committed by radicals, Nur, 43, said, "I'm sure there's a lot of people who look at me (with suspicion). Some people have an understanding of Islam, some don't; they assume everybody from that (Middle East) area is a troublemaker." It's a problem, he said, compounded by the media. "They can say it's terroristic acts, but don't dig deeper, into religion," Nur said. "When you link the act to the person's religion, it creates a different action. Imagine if those connections existed to the (Aurora, Colo.) theater shooting , to the shooting in the church , to Columbine , to Sandy Hook . Do we blame their religion? "There are countless incidents" of violence, he said, "but it's that person alone. It never went to the religion they belonged to. It's really unfortunate that we have no control over other people's actions." Mohamed Nur, a Rochester realtor, has been in the U.S. for about 35 years, 13 in Rochester. Members of ISIS, he said, are committing acts of terror to discredit the Muslims here. One of the keys to stopping them, Nur said, is parent involvement. "The parents should bond with their children," he said. "They should know who they associate with, the websites they're on... Now we have to check over our shoulders; if we see anything that looks like IS or radicalism, we should call law enforcement. The only remedy is to work with law enforcement. ADVERTISEMENT "Thank god nobody died. Thank god," Nur said, shaking his head. "This is mutual suffering. We're Muslim Americans we suffer with them." In an emotionally wrought address to media, lay organizations and members of the clergy, Rev. Jeff San Nicolas read from a statement in which he reiterated the archdioceses opposition to the passage of Bill 326-33. "The Archdiocese of Agana is not seeking to protect child sexual abusers of any kind, it simply desires for the people of God to be well informed about the true effects of Bill 326-33," he said. Bill 326-33 would remove the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits involving accusations of child sex abuse. The bill passed with an unanimous vote by the legislature and is now awaiting the governor's signature by Friday. If the governor does not either sign or veto the bill by then, it would lapse into law. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Speaker Judi Won Pat said in comments released to the Post that all bills vetoed by the governor would be placed on the session agenda scheduled for Oct. 17 and that in the event of an override vote, she would vote in favor of its passing. Citing the inevitability of bankruptcy as the main reason for the governor to not sign the bill into law, San Nicolas stated the archdiocese would have to make sizable sacrifices in order to sustain the work of their charitable programs. "People of God, senators and governor: please consider carefully all the motivations behind this bill," he concluded. "The church desires for you to do what is right for the victims of abuse, but please safeguard the innocent people and services this bill could harm." San Nicolas refused to take questions following his statement. Catholic lay organizations present at the press conference commented on San Nicolas' statement. "I'm glad he said what he said about the negative influence of the NCW," said Andrew Camacho, vice-president of the group Concerned Catholics of Guam. Responding to the claims that bankruptcy would irreparably harm the church, Camacho said the faithful would rebuild the church. "The main focus of CCOG is taking care of the victims," he said. Camacho continued to say that if the church did indeed lose everything as a result of the onslaught of litigation from child sex abuse victims, parishioners would step in to rebuild it. "Let it happen," he said. "We will rebuild a pure church, but we do not want to support a corrupt church we refuse to do that." Calling the shots In addition, San Nicolas took steps in addressing calls for transparency regarding the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona. "Now we know that Cardinal Filoni is calling the shots," former senator Bob Klitzkie said in an interview after the press conference. Klitzkie's response was in reference to some of the comments that San Nicolas read prefacing talks concerning Bill 326. San Nicolas shared documentation with the media regarding communications between himself and the acting rector of RMS, Msgr. David Quitugua. According to San Nicolas, the lay organization known as the Laity Forward Movement contacted Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai and requested permission for a small group to enter the RMS property for a guided tour and to inspect certain documents associated with the property's legal ownership. "Knowing the history between the LFM and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, I, as the delegate to the Apostolic Administrator, sought to personally mediate the visit so that it may be a breakthrough for dialogue and mutual understanding," San Nicolas said. His efforts were eventually quashed, he stated, as later correspondence between himself and Msgr. Quitugua proved ineffectual. Writing to Rev. San Nicolas, Quitugua said, "This is to inform you that His Eminence, Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, has been made aware of the preannounced 'visit' of the LFM to the seminary. Cardinal Filoni's instruction is that no such 'visit' can be made to the seminary ... without expressed and written permission granted by the proper ecclesiastical authority." San Nicolas stated that after contemplation, he had initially decided that he, as the delegate to the apostolic administrator, was in fact the "proper ecclesiastical authority" and decided to inform the seminary of his intent to visit RMS with several laity. In response, documents show Quitugua responding with the following: "Sincerely, it is my hope that this visit is not an attempt to circumvent Cardinal Filoni's authority over this matter involving the LFM." In the end, the LFM was unable to gain access to the seminary and were turned away from a locked gate, said Lou Kliztkie of LFM. "The intent of Msgr. Davids letter was now clear to me. Neither I nor Archbishop Hon is the church authority over decision making regarding the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, even over simple matters such as who can visit," San Nicolas read. "Cardinal Filoni is in charge." Following the press conference, San Nicolas released the seminary visitation report in opposition to orders from his superiors. Neocatechumenal Way "If the Neocatechumanal Way is to minister to our faithful let it happen organically, not through force and manipulation," San Nicolas said during the address. San Nicolas expanded on the role NCW has played in recent divisions among Guam's Catholic faithful. The NCW is a subset of the Catholic faith that many so-called traditional Catholics have long since voiced concerns about. Namely that it disseminates ideologies not in line with Catholicism. "I am hopeful that the strings disproportionately empowering the national and international leadership of the Neocatecumenal Way to interfere with our local church affairs will be cut," San Nicolas said. In a letter addressed to members of the 33rd Guam Legislature, Tim Rohr offered an "apology" to the senators for statements allegedly made by Rev. Jeff San Nicolas. "We believe that the legislators in passing the bill ... did not understand that the bill threatens the very existence of our parishes, schools and social agencies," read a statement attributed to San Nicolas. The letter referenced the statement circulated to Guam clergy on behalf of Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, intended to be read at Sunday Mass asking parishioners to sign a petition urging the governor to veto Bill 326-33. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. The bill, which passed with a unanimous vote on Sept. 12 and now awaits the governor's signature, would remove the statute of limitations on civil suits involving accusations of child sex abuse. Rohr expressed his strong disagreement with Hons message and told senators in his missive that he received another document that was allegedly circulated along with Hons original decree. Titled Script to Introduce the Letter from Archbishop Hon, the second message is, according to Rohr, thought to originate from Rev. Jeff San Nicolas given his position as delegate to the administrator during Hons absence. 'Calling on the governor' The secondary message continued to point out that while child sex abuse is heinous and worthy of outrage, the potential danger it puts the church in is unfair. But simply opening up the church to total liability for the actions of abuser priests, some of whom have not resided on Guam for decades, is not the way, the message read. Were calling on the governor to veto the bill and for our elected leaders to revisit the bill and let everyone in the community participate in drafting a new bill that will lift the statute of limitations on suing abusers without endangering all the services that are so vital to all the people who we serve. Rohr concluded his messaged with a reiterated "apology" to senators on behalf of San Nicolas. To say that you did not understand what you were doing when you voted for the bill is beyond comprehension, and we are horribly ashamed by Fr. San Nicolas' assessment of your decision knowing how tough your decision really was, he wrote. Congressional candidate Jim Moylan will not let truth or distortions stop him from saying anything to get elected. It is up to political analy Read morePolitical ploys at the last part of election? Forced landing on motorway in Southern France A light aircraft made a forced landing on the A8 motorway in the Var, France this morning after having taken off from Aerodrome Cuers Pierrefeu. The instructor and two students on board walked away uninjured.The reg is not visible but it may be Robin DR400-120 F-GLDP ? New footage confirms the reg.I hope he paid his road toll! It started with a request from a boss to Dean Foust, director of executive communications at UPS. The global transportation and logistics company had a blog, but traffic was low. Study it and figure out what to do with it, Fousts boss said. Foust, who spent 23 years as a reporter and bureau chief for BusinessWeek, concluded that most of the stories interested neither customers nor the ideal target audience of decision-making executives. It was written by us and about us, and the result was, the only people who read it was us, Foust says. I came back with a proposal that we blow it up and replace it with something different. What emerged from the rubble was Longitudes, UPS content marketing website that is helping reposition the company from a package delivery service to a partner youd invite to the executive suite to help plan logistics. The blog is drawing praise in the industry. Capterra, a logistics company, recently ranked Longitudes one of the 11 best resources in the industry. Peering into the future Clients come to agencies teams to grab the attention of their audienceand its up to us to deliver. Doing that means using any resource we can to gain an edge. Consumer desires shift constantly, and what mattered yesterday may not matter today (or tomorrow.) Relying on any intelligence thats not obtained real-time is taking a risk. Heres how social monitoring software can be the best tool you have, as shown in a recent campaign for Georgia Aquarium. Crafting a new campaign We started by trying to understand what visitors love about the aquarium, looking to pinpoint an element that emotionally resonated with them. To generate ideas, we asked ourselves several questions. What do people like at the aquariummanta rays, dolphins, penguins? Why do they visitis it for fun, education or both? Is our audience families with young children? Those are all logical assumptions, but consumers arent grabbed by generalities. Guinness Nigeria Plc on Tuesday announced a financial result of N102 billion revenue for the period ended June 30, 2016, resulting in an overall Loss After Tax of N2 billion when compared to the same period last year. Peter Ndegwa, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, said the combination of a tough economic environment and challenges with naira devaluation had a significant impact on the companys overall performance. Our performance this year was impacted by two major factors, one being the very tough economic challenges around consumer spending, driving consumer preferences towards value brands across the sector, the other, and more significant factor being the effect of FX policy and the devaluation of the Naira, said Mr. Ndegwa. When you take out the impact of the latter, our underlying performance for the year was broadly in line with the prior year in spite of the pressure on the top line. This years report was the companys first set of results combining sales from both beer as well as International Premium Spirits (IPS) like Johnnie Walker and Baileys, following its acquisition of distribution rights from its parent company, Diageo, in January this year. Babatunde Savage, Chairman, Guinness Nigeria Plc, said despite the continuing deterioration in the operating environment, the Board was pleased with the growth with the Guinness FES and Malta Guinness brands. We now have a strong participation in the growing value segment of the market through Satzenbrau and Dubic, said Mr. Savage. We have also started to see early signs that our decisions to acquire the distribution rights in Nigeria to the International Premium Spirits brands of Diageo and to invest in local capacity for spirits manufacturing are the right ones for the business. In January 2016, Guinness Nigeria acquired the distribution rights for Diageo, its parent companys International Premium Spirits (IPS) like Johnnie Walker, Ciroc and Baileys in Nigeria. Also, within the financial year, the company acquired the rights to distribute brands from Indias United Spirits Ltd (USL) for brands like McDowells whisky. Guinness also announced an investment of 12 million into its Benin plant for the manufacture of mainstream spirits, locally produced spirits that are offered at a lower price point when compared to imported spirits. Following the acquisition of distribution rights for IPS and USL brands, we are the first and only total beverage alcohol (TBA) business in Nigeria offering the widest range of drinks from adult premium non-alcoholic drinks (APNADS) to lager, stout, mainstream spirits and IPS, Mr. Ndegwa said. This puts us in a great position to continue to offer consumers quality brands, giving them a choice at every category and price point. Additionally, innovation continues to be a strong platform for us, we have a highly successful track record with about 60 percent of our beer and non-alcoholic business now comprised of innovation products launched in the past four years. So innovation continues to be one of our competitive advantages in this market and we have a strong innovation pipeline into F18. The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, on Tuesday frowned on proposals by some prominent Nigerians for the federal government to sell the multi-billion dollar Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, to raise funds to reflate the economy. With the countrys economy officially in recession, government has been considering several options to fuel a speedy recovery. A ministerial retreat convened last week recommended an ambitious fiscal stimulus plan involving the generation and injection of massive foreign capital, estimated at between $10 and $15 billion (about N4.72 trillion) into the economy to help the recovery process. The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, said one of the ways to fund the plan would be through sale of some national asset to raise needed capital for infrastructure development. To add his voice in the search for solution to the economic crisis, Chairman, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, proposed the immediate sale of Nigeria LNG, along with other dormant government assets. The proceeds would be invested in the economy. The only way for us to get out of this recession is to make sure we move into action quickly; by diversifying the economy quickly. If I had challenges in my company, I would not hesitate to sell assets to remain afloat, to get to the better times. It doesnt make any sense for me to keep any assets and then suffocate the whole organisation. We have a lot of assets to sell. We can sell part of the joint ventures, or part of the shares. My suggestion before was that they should even sell 100 percent of NLNG. I dont think government should be in any business of investing in sectors like LNG, Mr. Dangote told CNBC Africa. Mr. Dangote had said sale of Nigeria LNG could fetch the country between $12 billion and $15 billion, to be invested in the economy to boost development and build national reserves. Senate President, Bukola Saraki, equally spoke in the same vein, urging government to dispose the multi-billion dollar gas facility established to help harness for economic value the countrys huge natural gas reserves. Mr. Saraki said selling the 30 metric tons per annum production capacity plant, along with other national asset, could help raise the capital required to develop the basic infrastructure to bail out the country from recession. The seven-production-train NLNG is reputed to possess the capacity to produce 22 million tons per annum (MPTA) of LNG, and 5 MPTA of natural gas liquids (NGLs) and condensate) from 3.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (BCF/d) of natural gas feed-stock. Mr. Saraki, who was addressing senators on resumption from recess on Tuesday, said he was throwing his full weight behind the proposal to sell off NLNG and other asset to finance the countrys economic recovery. But, acting Chairman of RMAFC, Shettima Gana, told government it would be unwise to accede to such proposals. Citing the Nigerias oil and gas industry 2013 Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) audit and financial report, the Commission said about $12.9 billion was received by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from the Nigeria LNG operations over an eight-year period. The report had revealed the money was not remitted into the Federation Account, against only $1.289 billion paid as dividends for 2013. It is the considered view of the Commission that Nigerias assets like NLNG and other strategic national resources should not be sold to meet short-term financial obligation. the commission said. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, was the first to propose disposal of part of government equity holding in some national assets to raise about $10 billion funding for infrastructure development. Rather than accept the proposal, the Commission said in the alternative, it was strongly in support of borrowing from international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others. The revenue from these assets could be used to amortize the loans over an agreed period, it argued. It should be noted that after the amortization of the loans, those assets would still be owned by the Federation in addition to their regular dividends and revenue. The Commission said rather than selling off such vital asset generating huge funds for the federation, wealthy Nigerians, like Dangote, should be encouraged to set up their own LNG projects, considering the huge reserves of natural gas in the country. With Nigerians grappling with the painful reality of the countrys economy in recession, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has opted to retain all fiscal policy instruments unchanged from the previous month. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the bank said at the end of its meeting in Abuja, that the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which sets the lending rate for banks and businesses for a period, would remain at 14 per cent. Equally, the committee said Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), which establishes the specified minimum fraction of customers total deposits commercial banks could hold as reserves either in cash or deposits with the CBN, would be left at 22.5 per cent. The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said at the end of the meeting that the liquidity ratio was left by the MPC at 30 per cent, with the symmetric window kept at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR. Although the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the economy had slipped into recession after a contraction to minus 2.37 per cent in the second quarter of the year, Mr. Emefiele said he remained optimistic about prospects of a quick recovery. Today, I am optimistic (of an early recovery), because between July and now, we have seen inflow of foreign exchange above $1 billion into the economy used by manufacturers to procure raw materials. Those who said they were closing, would begin to produce and employ people; improve productivity, he said. The CBN governor said the decision to retain policy instruments at previous months rate was to continue its tightening of the monetary policy. On measures to reduce the spread between official and parallel market exchange rate, Mr. Emefiele frowned on the attention accorded the parallel market, which he described as a shallow market that should not control more than five per cent, maximum 10 per cent of the market. We cannot allow a situation where the tail should wag the dog. The dog must wag the tail. That means, it is unfair that when one wants to determine the value of the countrys currency, one would decide to use a rate in a market considered shallow as basis for determining the currency value. If you get to Heathrow Airport, you buy dollar at whatever rate the Travellex man sells to you. That does not in any way determine the effective inter-bank rate in the United Kingdom. If one cannot do so in the United Kingdom, why do you want to do so for Nigeria? It is unfair. Its high time we stopped thinking in that direction, the CBN governor said. Mr. Emefiele said the MPC, during the meeting, again renewed its call for urgent complementary fiscal policies to resuscitate production and engineer aggregate consumption. In particular, he said members called for diversification of the economy away from oil into agriculture, manufacturing and services as well as more efforts towards payment of salaries and arrears of public sector employees, particularly in states and local governments to stimulate aggregate consumption, as part of the overall fiscal policy. On the supply side, he said efforts must be intensified at increased capital expenditure to redress infrastructural deficits, improve the business environment and spur growth. In his reaction to the MPC decisions, however, Abuja-based development economist, Odilim Enwegbara, criticized the resolutions saying the situation called for sober reflection. That a country, deep in recession caused mostly by high cost of doing business with one of highest MPRs and CRR among peer economies, has its MPC members behaving as if the economy is in high growth mode, calls for sober reflect, Mr. Enwegbara noted. What it tells us is that the 2007 CBN Act forced on the countrys President is a great fraud that should be stopped. We have come to the point in our monetary policy stance when the Act is now amended urgently. The goal of the amendment is for the Commander-in-Chief of Nigerias economy, who was elected by millions of Nigerians to better their lives and improve the overall economy, should be the one to have the final say about the countrys MPR, CRR and FOREX policy. Mr President should call members of MPC to a closed-door meeting and demand their immediate resignation, Mr. Enwegbara said. The Supreme Court will, Tuesday, deliver judgement on various appeals challenging the election of the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. Two of the appeals were filed by a former Governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada and the former deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, James Faleke. The election was held in November 21, 2015 while the re-run was held on December 5, 2015. The appeal of the candidate of the Labour Party in the election is among those pending in the nations highest court. Mr. Wada, who contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Mr. Faleke had approached the Supreme Court in August challenging Mr. Bellos victory at the Court of Appeal. The appellate court had upheld an earlier judgement in June by the Kogi State Governorship Election Tribunal, which gave victory to the governor. Shortly after the November 21 election, Mr. Faleke approached the tribunal seeking to be declared winner of the poll, which was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The commission had declared Mr. Bello the winner of the re run. But Mr. Faleke argued that following the death of the former candidate of the APC, Abubakar Audu, to whom he was running mate, he ought to be declared winner of the election and sworn in as governor. He faulted the decision of the APC to nominate Mr. Bello as replacement for the late candidate, who had the highest number of votes in the November election. According to him, the election was almost concluded before Mr. Audu died. The tribunal, however, thought otherwise. In the judgement read by its chairman, Justice Halima Mohammed, the tribunal said Mr. Falekes petition lacked merit and therefore threw it out. The tribunal further held that the fact that INEC declared the first election inconclusive meant no winner had emerged. It also said that all votes belonged to political parties and not the candidate who contested on their platforms. It said Mr. Faleke had no locus standi to challenge Mr. Bellos nomination by the APC to replace Mr. Audu as he (Audu) was not the governor-elect. Dissatisfied with the judgement, Mr. Faleke filed a suit at the Court of Appeal. The five-member panel of justices of the appellate court, in a unanimous judgement in August, said Mr. Faleke failed to provide credible evidence of non-qualification against Mr. Bello. Justice Jummai Sankey, who read the judgement, said Mr. Faleke should not have litigated the substitution and replacement of Mr. Audu with Mr. Bello at the tribunal since it was a pre-election matter and therefore an internal affair of the APC. The court, which resolved four out of the six issues for determination in the governors favour, however faulted the tribunal for holding that Mr. Faleke had no locus standi to challenge the election. However, Justice Obande Ogbuniya gave a dissenting judgement in Mr. Wadas appeal. He cancelled Mr. Bellos election, saying the governor was not validly nominated following Mr. Audus death. Mr. Ogbuniya also said Mr. Bello ran the election without a running mate. He therefore ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return given to the governor and conduct fresh election in Kogi State. Mr. Bello, 41, was sworn in as the fourth democratically elected governor of the state in January following his victory at the governorship re run. He polled 247,752 votes to defeat the then incumbent governor, Idris Wada, who got 204,877 votes. The governors inauguration on January 27, though colourful, was historical and unique. Mr. Bello was sworn in without a deputy. Mr. Faleke, who was presumed to be his running mate during the re-run had shunned the ceremony, thereby throwing up legal concerns about the exercise and his mandate. Indeed, it was the first time a governor would be inaugurated without a deputy in Nigerias political history. Mr. Bellos emergence as governor of the 25 year old state was also significant in other ways. He is the first person from a minority ethnic group to be elected governor of the state. Mr. Bello belongs to the Ebira ethnic group in the Central senatorial district of the state. The former governors, namely Abubakar Audu, Ibrahim Idris and Mr. Wada, all hail from the majority Igala ethnic group in the Kogi East senatorial District. The Okun Yoruba in the western senatorial district from where Mr. Faleke hails, is yet to produce a governor. Should Tuesdays judgement of the Supreme Court be decide in favour of the governor, he would emerge as one of the governors to fight a prolonged legal battle to keep his mandate. He has been entangled in legal battles in the last eight months that he has been at the helm of the affairs of the north central state. Far more important is that Mr. Bello would rule the state without distractions, at least from the judicial angle. The governor is still facing stern battle from the organized labour for non-payment of salaries. But should Mr. Bello lose the case, it would not only be a setback for him politically, but also for his Ebira ethnic group, which had battled in the last 25 years to produce the governor. Already, the police, apart from banning public processions and rallies in Kogi State, have deployed its officials to all parts of the state to prevent breakdown of law and order. The Nigerian Army says six people were killed on Monday in Borno in an attack by Boko Haram terrorists. The acting Director of Army Public Relations, Sani Usman, said the incident happened when the militants ambushed troops escorting commercial vehicles from Damboa to Maiduguri, at Sanda general area. According to him, three soldiers, who sustained injuries during incident had been evacuated to Maiduguri. Consequently, another robust patrol team has been despatched to reinforce the troops, clear the general area and pursue the terrorists, Mr. Usman said in a statement. This unfortunate incident has brought to the fore the need for more vigilance and cooperation amongst all. We would like to assure the public that we would not allow this isolated incident to thwart the peace and security commuters enjoy along the route and all other opened routes in the North East, he said. Mr. Usman said troops were going after the attackers and would not relent until they were apprehended or killed. Additional security measures have also been put in place to avert reoccurrence, he said. Meanwhile, Mr. Usman said the reported attack near Chibok, did not take place close to a church. What happened was that two persons were murdered at Kwamjilari village, which is over 30 kilometres from Chibok, and very close to Sambisa forest, by suspected remnants of Boko Haram terrorists looking for food. We wish to reiterate that they werent killed outside or near a church as being rumoured. The people from the said village are all in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Chibok. Those who went back to the village without authorisation were moved back to Chibok two weeks ago. Those killed went back on their own contrary to security advice, he said. He said a patrol team was sent from Chibok to the village this morning, adding that adequate measures would be taken to ensure no one goes back to the village for now. (NAN) The Supreme Court will in the next few hours determine the fate of the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello. While there are five appeals against the Court of Appeal rulings, in summary, the Supreme Court will decide if Mr. Bello should continue as Kogi governor or vacate office. One of those appeals is by the immediate past governor of the state and candidate of the opposition PDP, Idris Wada. Another is by James Faleke who was the deputy governorship candidate to late Abubakar Audu who died before the final announcement of results by the electoral commission, INEC. While the ruling APC replaced late Mr. Audu with Mr. Bello, Mr. Faleke believes he should have automatically become the partys governorship candidate and eventual governor after the death of his principal Whatever verdict by the Supreme Court today will be the final decision on the controversy that has lingered for several months. LIVE UPDATES Supporters of the various parties to the case are already in court, many of them from Kogi State. Many of the supporters arrived Abuja on Monday, an aide to Mr. Bello said. Parties in the suit have mentioned appearances to the court. Wale Olanikpekun is representing Mr. Faleke while Alex Izinyon represents INEC. Joseph Daudu represents Yahaya Bello while the representative of the Labour party is yet to be mentioned. All the lawyers mentioned so far are Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Another Senior Advocate, Akin Olujinmi, also represents INEC. Justice Sylvester Ngwata leads six other justices of the Supreme Court to decide the case. Alex Izinyon, INEC counsel, said he notes the peculiarity of the case. He asks the court to take cognisance of Section 141 of the Electoral Act to determine if Mr. Faleke has taken full part in the election. He says the section deals in full participation of the candidate. Mr. Iziyon says votes cast cannot be inherited. After the submissions of Mr. Izinyon, Joseph Daudu, counsel to Governor Bello said the application should be dismissed. He said the three grounds mentioned by Mr. Izinyon, that Mr. Bello was not elected by majority of voters, that he was not qualified to have emerged candidate, and that the electoral procedure was not followed have not been proven by Mr. Izinyon. Alex Izinyon had stated in his closing statement that He (Mr. Bello) was a stranger who suddenly got automatic ticket; thats why he needs to be removed. Mr. Daudu argues that APC and the candidate it chooses has the right to inherit all what was owned by late Mr. Audu. Even his wife, he adds jokingly. Mr. Daudu says it is the election tribunal that has the right to decide whether a person has participated in an election or not. Mr. Daudu says Section 221 of the constitution allows that it is the political party that contests elections. It was one and the same election. The election of November 21 was only declared inconclusive and then concluded on December 5, Mr. Daudu, Governor Bellos counsel says. The beneficiary of the votes in both elections are Yahaya Bello, Mr. Daudu tells the court. Akin Olujinmi representing APC says Section 33 of the Electoral Act allows a party to substitute a dead candidate. When asked by one of the judges to explain what he understands by a candidate, Mr. Olujinmi said: My lord, candidate is a candidate causing laughter in the court room. Alex Izinyon takes the floor again. He says the court should adopt his previous arguments asking for the sack of Yahaya Bello. He argues that Section 141 of the Electoral Act should be tied to Section 138 of the same Act. Mr. Izinyon said court records show that Mr. Faleke remained the deputy governorship candidate of the APC. The party and the candidate are inseparable as far as both of them are alive, he said. Chris Uche, representing Idris Wada, said the law states that nobody other than a political party should canvass votes for a candidate. Mr. Uche argued that the Supreme Court never allowed a party to appoint another person to represent a dead candidate. He said a candidate can only be regarded as having participated in an election if he takes full part in the entire process. The PDP candidates counsel said the problem his client has is that the substitution did not take place before the entire election. When asked whether candidates vote as individuals or candidates, Mr. Uche said voters also look out for a candidate. A party needs a candidate to conduct an election. The party cannot just bring a person to come and inherit the votes of another person, Mr. Uche told the court. After the argument of Chris Uche, Mr. Wadas counsel, the court has gone on recess. The recess is over and the judges are back. The court sitting continues A woman bangs the door several times in an attempt to enter the court after the door was closed by security officials. The presiding judge asks that everyone be allowed in so that there will be silence. A party to the matter, the Africa Democratic Party, through its lawyer, Maduabuchi Oba, said the law allows that a person who emerged winner must have participated in all elections in the whole of Kogi Votes cast are not APC votes but the peoples votes for APC. So, after the substitution, they should have started afresh, Mr. Oba said. On the importance of a candidate, Mr. Oba says without Muhammadu Buhari, the APC would not have won the presidency. Joseph Daudu takes the floor again after Mr. Obas submission. Mr. Daudu says no matter how juicy the arguments of counsel are, the law supersedes arguments. Sulaiman Islam, counsel to the Labour Party, is introducing a new motion to the court. He said the motion was filed on August 16. He asks the court to allow the new motion. The Labour Party lawyer said the main grounds of arguments raised by his counsel was neglected at the lower court. The presiding judge, Justice Sylvester, asked the Labour Party lawyer if he appealed the order of the lower court. He answered in the negative. The court held that since he did not appeal the ruling, he was deemed to have accepted the decision of the lower court. The Labour Party candidate said he did appeal but did not do so immediately. Ayotunde Ogunleye, a counsel to APC, said grounds 1 to 4 of the the appellants appeal were made after the time the law allows for such motions to be filed. Mr. Ogunleye said grounds 5 to 22 are direct appeals against the tribunal. He said the appellants did not make any appeal at the lower court, they only came to the Supreme Court to contest the tribunals decision. Mr. Ogunleye said substitution has already been decided by Section 177 of the constitution. He said previous court rulings have shown that votes belong to political parties. No contrary decision has been made to set aside that decision. The APC won on November 21, and the APC concluded its winning on December 5, he said. The presiding judge drew INEC lawyers attention to an issue. He asked that the lawyer clarifies the seeming controversy about the place of INEC as a party to the matter. He noted that the two lower courts had in their rulings removed INEC from being a party to the matter. The judge then asked why INEC appeared before the Apex court as a party without deciding to appeal the judgement first. The court has gone on another recess. No reason was given for this recess. The Court also dismissed the appeals challenging INECs decision to return Mr. Bello. The court also dismissed the application by the Africa Democratic Congress challenging the qualification of Mr. Bello. A similar application by the Labour Party was also struck out. Some attendees at the court, obviously unhappy about the election are seen walking out. The court session comes to an end. Thank you for following our live update. Editors Note In the live blog we ran on Tuesdays Supreme Courts session on the Kogi governorship appeal, we erroneously attributed the following statements to the counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Alex Izinyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. *Alex Izinyon, INEC counsel, said he notes the peculiarity of the case. He asks the court to take cognisance of Section 141 of the Electoral Act to determine if Mr. Faleke has taken full part in the election. He says the section deals in full participation of the candidate. *Alex Izinyon had stated in his closing statement that He (Mr. Bello) was a stranger who suddenly got automatic ticket; thats why he needs to be removed. *Alex Izinyon takes the floor again. He says the court should adopt his previous arguments asking for the sack of Yahaya Bello. *He argues that Section 141 of the Electoral Act should be tied to Section 138 of the same Act. We have since clarified that the statements were not made by Mr. Izinyon but by Chris Uche, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and counsel to ex-Governor Idris Wada. Similarly, the statement When asked by one of the judges to explain what he understands by a candidate, Mr. Olujinmi said: My lord, candidate is a candidate causing laughter in the court room. We also clarified that it was not Akin Olujimi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was the counsel to the All Progressives Congress, APC, that responded to the question but one of the justices of the Supreme Court who responded to his colleague. We regret the embarrassment this mix-ups caused Messrs. Izinyon and Olujimi. The All Progressives Congress has been advised to ask governments it controls to generate more revenue by increasing taxes on wealthy persons in the country. The advice was given on Monday by the country director of Plant International, Hussain Abdul, at a workshop in Jos, Plateau State, for secretaries to governments of states governed by the party. Mr. Abdul, who was the lead resource person at the workshop, said Nigerians living in luxury should be taxed heavily as a means of recovering money to end the recession. He warned Nigerians to prepare for more hard times, as the economic downturn could take a long time to be reversed. Nobody should think that we can get out of this recession without taking hard decisions, those living luxury life need to be taxed heavily. How can someone who drives expensive car, on a 500 millimetre Nigerian road pay nothing? Just as the President once said, abnormal challenges need urgent solution, that is what is expected of every Nigerian, he said. He however advised those in government to ensure that the masses do not suffer unnecessary hardships. Whatever it will take to ensure that the poor have access to food, good health and education of their children should be done; that is the only way we can have productive society, he stressed. At the forum, the Director General of Progressive Governors Forum, Salisu Lukman, also advised President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC federal government to take hard decisions to end the economic recession. Mr. Lukman called on government at the federal and state levels to seek alternative sources of revenue to reduce hardship in the country. According to him, Nigeria is in economic recession due to overdependence on one source of revenue. In his address, the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, who was represented by his deputy, Sonni Tyoden, appealed to the workshop to proffer possible solutions to the present economic problem of the country. The directors two-day technical committee workshop, tagged Policy design session, holds at the Silk Hotel, Jos and ends Tuesday. The American University of Nigeria president and members of the Adamawa Peace Initiative (API) met with members of the U.S. Congress and government officials to discuss the precarious situation in Nigerias northeast. The delegation was in Washington, DC last week at the invitation of members of the House of Representatives Black Caucus, including Sheila Jackson Lee, Karen Bass and Frederica Wilson. University and API officials also met with Congressman Steve Chabot. The Universitys President Margee Ensign said that while members of Congress are well aware of the Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists, there is less awareness about the immediate and long-term humanitarian and other needs of the region, especially food security. We came to Washington to share the story of people who have suffered a lot and will need help from the international community to rebuild their lives, Ms. Ensign said. The people we met are very interested in the model and the programs weve developed to feed displaced people, promote food security, prevent young people from joining radical groups, and educating out of school children. Congresswoman Bass welcomed the group telling them one of the main reasons she serves in Congress is to help Africa, especially Nigeria, thrive. Americans, she said, tend to see a continent when they think about Africa, not individual countries that have very different needs and contributions to make. An official representing the main U.S. development assistance agency praised the work of the University, saying that what has been accomplished is magical. He said his agency is especially pleased with the support provided to a University pilot program that teaches reading and writing to more than 20,000 out-of-school children using tablet computers and radio broadcasts. The U.S. government has so far provided more humanitarian assistance to Nigeria than any other country. Dr. Ensign was interviewed about the visit by National Public Radio. She was also asked to brief staff members of both U.S. presidential candidates as they prepare their positions on U.S. foreign policy. Joining Dr. Ensign in Washington were AUN-API members Dauda Bello, Turai Abdulkadir and Stephen Ransomall from Yola, Adamawa state. In addition to private meetings, the delegation made a formal public presentation, which included members of Congress and former U.S: Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell, who praised Nigerians energy and entrepreneurial spirit. Despite the current challenges, he said, the long-term odds are in Nigerias favour. Gov. Yahaya Bella of Kogi on Tuesday said his victory at the Supreme Court was a big honour to democracy in Nigeria. In a statement shortly after the court affirmed him as elected governor of Kogi, he said the judgment would remain a watershed in the annals of electoral jurisprudence and constitutional law in the country. It is a long walk to victory which will reshape the nations constitution. I am humbled and magnanimous in victory; it is a long walk to victory. The victory belongs to all Kogi people who believe in transforming Kogi State from a potentially great state to a really great state, the governor said. In the statement signed his Chief Press Secretary, Kingsley Fanwo, Mr. Bello advised his supporters to guide against wild jubilation but to use the occasion for sober reflections. He said he would pursue his cardinal goals of improving education, healthcare, infrastructural development as well as raising the capacity of the citizens to reinvigorate the states economy. Mr. Bello commended the judiciary for rising to the occasion by standing firm with what is true and just. In its reaction, the state chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), in a statement in Lokoja, described the judgment as a victory for the rule of law. The chairman of the group in the state, Taufiq Isa, commended the justices of the Supreme Court for the judgment, saying it had finally settled the contention over the governorship position. We are calling on stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to come together and join hands with the administration of Gov. Yahaya Bello in the interest of the development of Kogi, he said. Contacted on the judgment, Jacob Edi, Media Officer to former Gov. Idris Wada, said his principal had no comment on it. According to him, Mr. Wada was yet to get the details of the Supreme Court decision and will want to tarry a while before making any pronouncement. NAN reports that the atmosphere of Lokoja before and after the judgment remained peaceful as residents went about their normal activities. Security personnel had prior to the judgment been deployed to strategic locations in the city to forestall any possible breakdown of law and order. Heavily armed anti-riot policemen moved about in patrol vans while security was beefed up in and around the Government House and other important public facilities. The police had on Friday banned all public processions, celebration and unauthorised gatherings in the state as part of measures to prevent lawlessness in anticipation of the Supreme Court judgment. (NAN) The Federal Government says the implementation of the national reorientation campaign Change Begins with Me started from the leadership, contrary to the position of some critics. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made this known on Tuesday in Abuja when he received a delegation of National Council of Womens Societies, NCWS. He said people have criticised the campaign. Some have said that the campaign ought to start from the top. We completely agree with them, but their criticism is because they did not understood the campaign. The campaign actually started from the top, because we are doing what we are preaching. This is the least ostentatious cabinet you can ever have. We are all living and showing good examples we obey traffic rules, we queue up at public places and get to work early and close late. The minister also faulted the position of some critics of the campaign who said it was ill-timed because of the state of the economy. He added that some people said that we should wait for the economy to improve before we start the campaign, but we say no, for two reasons: If only those before us have launched the campaign, we will not be where we are today. If the campaign had sunk in, there will be no embezzlement, no corruption and no impunity. You cannot say, as a mother, that because you are poor, you will allow your daughter to go out from morning till midnight without correcting her. Though we are facing difficulties now, we still have to tell Nigerians the need to do the right things. Mr. Mohammed said that the campaign was not meant to put any burden on Nigerians but only to ask them to do the right things. He added that part of the campaign was for Nigerians to embrace and buy made in Nigeria products to improve the economy and create jobs. The minister assured that the campaign would be successful and appreciated the NCWS for its willingness to partner with government. Earlier, the President of the Council, Gloria Shoda, had told the minister that NCWS would partner with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to drive the campaign. She urged the minister to direct NOA at the federal and state levels to co-opt members of the Council during the advocacy campaign. (NAN) The Police in Abia have arrested a 28-year-old man, who claimed to be a native doctor, for allegedly being in possession of some human parts. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Leye Oyebade, told journalists in Umuahia on Tuesday that the suspect was arrested for unlawful possession of a human skull and bone. Mr. Oyebade said the suspect was arrested in his home in Olokoro, Umuahia South Local Government Area of the state, following a tip-off from members of the public. He said that the man could not give cogent account of how he acquired the items, when he was interrogated by the police. Mr. Oyebade alleged that the skull and bone were suspected to be those of a murdered victim. The suspect, however, denied the allegation, saying that the items were handed over to him by his late uncle, who was also a native doctor. It was my people that reported me to the police because I use the skull and bone to perform magic. Anytime I touch somebody, his manhood will disappear once I have the items on me, he said. The suspect, who also claimed to be a mason, said that the police succeeded in arresting me because the charm travelled when they raided my house. He described his arrest by the police as unlawful and demanded that he should be released and allowed to go home in peace. According to him, there is no law that allows the police to arrest native doctors. The police boss also said that another suspect was arrested during a raid of Cemetery Market in Aba for producing fake gin and other drinks. He said that man was arrested in his factory at the market, while producing the fake products. He said that 24 bottles of St. Remy, five cartons of Schnapps, empty schnapps raps, and two bottles of 501 hot drinks were recovered from the factory during the raid. The suspect, however, denied the allegation by the police that he was into the production of fake gin and other drinks. He told journalists that he neither owned a shop nor factory in the market. I only came there to buy perfume because that is where you can get original perfumes at affordable price, unknown to me that the police were raiding the market. While I was walking along the Business Line unsuspectingly, a policeman ordered me to enter a shop where ladies hair attachments were sold, saying that I was under arrest, he said. He denied ownership of the items allegedly recovered from him, saying that he knew nothing about them. The suspect said that he was arrested on Saturday and later taken to Umuahia in handcuffs, describing his arrest and detention as great injustice. Mr. Oyebade said that the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation. (NAN) Nigerians on Twitter set the micro-blogging platform alight Monday after a London-based woman magnified the significance of international exposure as a requisite feature for those seeking to help end Nigerias social and economic crisis and steer her towards a sustainable development. Tola Sarumi, a Lagos-born lawyer and music reviewer who lived in the United Kingdom for years, came under immediate backlash after suggesting that Nigerians who have lived abroad are better positioned to proffer solutions to the countrys multifaceted dilemma. Nigerians, you people need to let us whove lived in a working system take charge of that country. International exposure is a prerequisite, Ms. Sarumi (@AfroVII) tweeted Monday afternoon. Nigerians, you people need to let us whove lived in a working system take charge of that country. International exposure is a prerequisite. T. Rankin (@AfroVII) September 19, 2016 Although she didnt define what it takes number of years, countries visited or assignments to be considered an internationally exposed person, Ms. Sarumi, nonetheless, said she was convinced that the future of Nigeria lies in the content of her repatriates. It was not immediately clear what informed Ms. Sarumis assertion, but some of her critics said it was not unconnected with growing concerns about the state of the nation under a government she supports. Nigerias economy plunged into recession last month, after months of negative economic growth. Several persons have raised concerns about the dangers of leaving the countrys expanding youth population without means of livelihood for too long. But for critics who unleashed their fury against her, the premise of Ms. Sarumis tweet and her support for the Buhari administration trumped all else. The respondents slammed Ms. Sarumi for allegedly proposing an idea at odds with reality. One of the early replies came from Ayobami Agboola (@dondekojo) who said Ms. Sarumi appeared lost on the irony in her proposal that it would be difficult to proffer solutions to problems one did not actually experience. The Irony in the statement You cant change Nigeria if you dont live abroad is that Ayobami (@dondekojo) September 19, 2016 The Irony in the statement: You cant change Nigeria if you dont live abroad is that it can also be said that you cannot understand the problems if you dont live in rural Nigeria, Mr. Agboola said. The conundrum. It can also be said that you cannot understand the Problems if you dont live in Rural Nigeria. The conundrum. Ayobami (@dondekojo) September 19, 2016 Abang Mercy (@AbangMercy), a social media enthusiast and blogger, said Ms. Sarumi should take a cue from other African countries where leaders are said to be making progress without prior international exposure. This makes no sense. (People like) Paul Kagame (are) fixing their country, they stayed in Rwanda and Uganda all their lives. Although social and economic living conditions of people in Rwanda witnessed improvement under Mr. Kagame, human rights standards are said to have fallen. This makes no sense. The Paul Kagames fixing their country stayed in Rwanda and Uganda all their lives https://t.co/SJ4OldpPsA Khaleesi!!! (@AbangMercy) September 19, 2016 But in the middle of the attacks were some individuals who validated Ms. Sarumis position, and she was quick to retweet them. I still dont see anything wrong with what @AfroVII said today. People just became emotional and totally went off in a different direction, a respondent said. Another user who came in support of Ms. Sarumi said: 70% of Nigerians who have made a global impact in their fields have some form of international exposure. The dispassionate feedbacks suggest that international exposure is a contentious issue, but how critical is it in the age of Internet? Chris Ngwodo, a foreign policy analyst and capacity development expert, said exposure is a disposition of the mind, not geographical location. I dont believe exposure is synonymous with going abroad, Mr. Ngwodo said. Its like saying going to school is synonymous with education, but we all know thats not the case. An individual learning and reading is exposing himself. Reading and broadening your knowledge base will give you a powerful edge in understanding issues no matter where you may live. Mr. Ngwodo told PREMIUM TIMES there was a better chance for learning in developing countries where facilities for knowledge production were readily available, but even this has been eliminated by the Internet. You can be here and take a course in Canada and you might even do better than those in Canada if you study well. Mr. Ngwodo said the idea that one only needs to travel to the Westor other advanced parts of the world without empirical knowledge is a dangerous mindset. What those arguing for someone to travel first before taking leadership role dont understand is that they are setting themselves up for failure by rendering their minds immune to necessary exposure, Mr. Ngwodo said. If you think you need to be in the UK or Canada before you can have exposure then youll travel there and close your mind rather than exposing yourself to a new way of seeing things by reading and exploring history. The debate continued on Twitter Tuesday morning, where many were still tweeting about Nigerians who have made significant impact in their respective professions without schooling of living abroad. But Ms. Sarumi said she remained convinced that residing overseas offers the best experience needed to move Nigeria forward; while acknowledging that she was offering her view from a privileged position. Im convinced that theres no way a Nigerian who hasnt lived and worked in the first world can change that country, Ms. Sarumi said. Im very elitist (when) it comes to change in Naija! In fact, Id hire from Loyala and other schools (even) if almost exclusively. Rival groups of the All Progressives Congress Senate Caucus held a meeting Monday night at the Maitama, Abuja residence of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his spokesperson said. The meeting marked the first time Mr. Saraki would host a united APC caucus since the Senate was inaugurated in June 2015. Following Mr. Sarakis emergence against the wish of the APC leadership, senators on the platform of the ruling party were polarised along the lines of loyalty and opposition to the former Kwara Governor. But at Mondays meeting, the two factions held what can be called a successful unity caucus meeting in which members forgot their differences and discussed issues affecting Nigeria, the federal legislature and the fortune of their party, a statement by Mr. Sarakis spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said. Mr. Olaniyonu said the meeting had in attendance over 50 Senators. The meeting was held preparatory to the resumption of the Red Chamber of the federal legislature today, Tuesday and took place about the same time the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators also had their own caucus meeting at another venue under the leadership of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. What surprised many was the convivial atmosphere as senators discussed freely and after the meeting exchanged jokes and engaged in banters and back-slapping, he said. During the meeting, Mr. Olaniyonu continued, the APC senators discussed the proposed debate on the economic recession which will be spear-headed by Mr. Saraki during Tuesdays plenary and agreed that members should take leadership in the efforts to find solution to the economic crisis. He added, The senators also noted that by the end of next year, election issues will be very dominant in the polity and that there was need for the Senate to fast-track debates and passage of key bills before the time when partisan engagements will divert the attention of senators. They agreed that they should persuade their colleagues to always endeavour to be prompt at plenary so that sitting would always commence early and that the Senate should engage with the executive on the implementation of constituency projects as a way of spreading federal presence to the nooks and crannies of the country. The senators also discussed ways to manage the image and public perception of the National Assembly, he said. They resolve to fast-track the passage of bills, motions, public hearings, oversight, committee work and other legislative activities so as to ensure the Senate achieves more before its tenure will expire. The meeting may have created a new chapter in the relationship between APC senators. The ruling party has a majority of 60 Senators in the 109-member chamber. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has directed passengers not to turn on or charge their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices on board aircraft following recent incidents and concerns raised by its manufacturers. The aviation regulatory body gave the directive in a statement signed by its General Manager, Public Relations, Sam Adurogboye, which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday. It warned that the phones must not be stowed away in any checked-in baggage. NCAA is appealing to the passengers responsibilities in relation to ensuring safety and security of air transportation. Importantly, all airlines are hereby advised to emphasise the prohibition of this devices on board during passenger briefings by the cabin crew. Similarly, all those responsible for searching or screening checked-in baggage are expected to intensify the procedures to identify possible checked-in Samsung Galaxy Note 7, it said. The NCAA reminded travellers that Samsung had recalled over 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 devices due to several reported cases of overheating and outright explosion. According to the statement, investigation traced these problems to charging and the company is limiting battery charging on Galaxy Note 7 devices to prevent inferno. NCAA therefore calls on all passengers and airline operators to ensure total adherence to this directive as safety and security of air transportation is paramount to the authority, it said. The nations regulatory body said it had also sent a letter with reference NCAA/DOT/ALL OPS/VOL.1/00716 to all airlines and all other stakeholders for strict compliance. (NAN) The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) has described as ridiculous, the reason given by the federal government for the continued detention of its leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, told journalists in New York that Mr. Zakzaky was being detained because the government was still studying the report of the Judicial Commission of inquiry set up by Kaduna State government into the killings of Shiites last December in Zaria. But in a statement on Sunday by its spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa, the sect said Mr. Onyeama did not state the truth on the issue. It said the government was unjustifiably holding Mr. Zakzaky hostage, despite atrocities committed by the army on his family and members of the sect. The spokesman said the Zaria incident has dented the human rights image of Nigerias government before the international community. Mr. Musa said the IMN leader was abducted and illegally detained without charges for over nine months in contravention of the Nigerian constitution and violation of the detainees fundamental human rights. We believe his illegal detention has nothing to do with the Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI). He is not being detained by the JCI nor is he detained on its recommendation. In fact the JCI had to extend its period of sitting to seek ways for Mr. Zakzakys legal team to meet with him in detention. In fact, the JCI was even inaugurated while the Sheikh was already in detention, Mr. Musa said. According to the sects spokesman, Mr. Zakzakys detention was neither discussed by the JCI during its sessions nor did it bother to make any issue of it. Sheikh Zakzaky is being detained by the presidency under the Department of State Service (DSS) and not by the JCI, he said. Mr. Musa said the DSS told the court that the Sheikh was under protective custody, and with his consent after refusing to allow his lawyers to receive regular briefs from him. Even though this statement is a blatant lie by those holding the Sheikh hostage, why didnt the (Foreign Minister) echo it to the worlds press? The DSS told this to the court to dismiss the saying that the revered leader is being detained illegally without any charges. If his detention had anything to do with the JCI, the DSS would have told that to the court. But it didnt because his detention had nothing to do with the JCI. If Sheikh Zakzaky is released now, will that tamper with their study of JCI report? We believe it will not. It will only show the world their intent in doing justice in the case of Zaria massacre. Mr. Musa reiterated the IMN demand for the unconditional release of Sheikh Zakzaky, his wife Malama Zeenah Ibrahim, the 200 IMN members detained in Kaduna Prisons and the hundreds missing, who we believe are being detained by military authorities secretly since the Zaria massacre. A Nigerian journalist, Ahmad Salkida, on Tuesday accused the Nigerian government of rendering him homeless, saying he felt duped into speaking well of the government after he was declared wanted by the Army. I was made to say all was well, Mr. Salkida said on Twitter moments ago. I thought they were going to undo what they have done, but its clear the plot is to ruin my life completely. Mr. Salkida was among those declared wanted by the Nigerian Army on August 14 over alleged ties to the extremist Boko Haram sect. He returned to Nigeria on September 5 and was immediately taken into custody by the State Security Service. Two days later, Mr. Salkida came out to debunk reports that he was arrested. Contrary to reports, I was not arrested. I had very engaging conversations with officers. The atmosphere was mutually respectful, Mr. Salkida said in a September 7 tweet. The discussions opened useful insights that are benefiting to both sides on the discussion table. I wish to thank most especially family. The Nigerian government and security agencies did not issue any statement about Mr. Salkidas arrest, but the military had said in August that the journalist and his two colleagues were never declared wanted. Instead, the Defence Headquarters said they were invited to help with the war against Boko Haram. But Mr. Salkida, in his tweets, said the Nigerian government ruined his life by declaring him wanted while performing his legitimate duties as a journalist. My life is ruined, Mr. Salkida said. I have been rendered homeless. I have been told that I have NO rights at all, my family is scared. My crime is journalism. I have been silent. I have given leaders the benefit of doubt, but now it is time to fight back while I can. My life is in danger! What kind of government will declare a citizen wanted for doing nothing but journalism, ruined my life and that of my family. Government just said it was a misunderstanding, but to hell with you, you are on your own. What kind of government will do this to a harmless patriotic citizen. Mr. Salkidas comment elicited mostly sympathetic reactions from Nigerians. A human rights activist and social critic, Kayode Ogundamisi, said Mr. Salkida committed a big mistake when he came out to cover up for government. We all knew it was highly unlikely that the Nigerian security agencies or soldiers, for that matter, would treat someone theyve been looking for in such a nice manner as painted by Mr. Salkida after his release, Mr. Ogundamisi said. Even if he were, he shouldnt have come out in that blistering way. I have not seen a naive action of such a scale in a long time. Mr. Ogundamisi said Mr. Salkida was now trapped in the country and at risk of being abducted by Boko Haram, or even face worse ordeals. Lets face it, this gentleman came to Nigerian on an emergency travel certificate, Mr. Ogundamisi said. Not only would it be very difficult for him to travel out of the country again to meet his family, he would also have to start spending his days watching his back because Boko Haram would most likely be on his trail. Mr. Ogundamisi implored the Nigerian government, and President Buhari in particular, to honour all assurances they gave Mr. Salkida and ensure his safety since he was not charged to court after turning himself in. President Buhari must understand that this case is not about Nigeria or Africa but of press freedom across the world because it is now clear that the government has no case against him, Mr. Ogundamisi said. Before him is an opportunity to show the world that he cherishes human rights and press freedom by honouring any kind of agreement or guarantees they gave Mr. Salkida while in their custody. Mr. Salkida did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES email seeking clarification about the government agency he entered into agreement with. Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES request for comments. The State Security Service has not named a new spokesman since its former one retired a year ago. The Police Command in Katsina on Tuesday said that it had arrested a 60-year-old domestic worker serving former first lady, Turai Yaradua, over missing goods worth N91 million. The police Commissioner in the state, Usman Abdullahi, disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Katsina. The police has arrested Alhaji Yusuf Sarkin-gida after a formal complaint by Hajiya Turai Yaradua to the Police two weeks ago. The suspect is the custodian of all the keys and property of Hajiya Turai Yaradua for the past forty years. There are 37 boxes in the custody of the suspect, but only 27 boxes are in the store. The several items in the 27 boxes are completely missing and the suspect has failed to give full explanation on the goods and items in the boxes, he said. The Commissioner said the suspect had been serving the Late Umar Yaradua family for the past 40 years even before her husband became the governor and later the president of Nigeria. Mr. Abdullahi said the suspect was in police custody, where he was assisting them to conduct intensive investigation on the missing items. When contacted, the spokesperson of Sarkin-gidas family, Mohammed Yusuf, said their father was innocent of the charge leveled against him. He said the arrest and detention of their father before the Eld-el-Kabir celebration had thrown the family into confusion. He appealed to human rights organisations to come to the rescue of their father. (NAN) The Federal Government has commenced shortlisting candidates for the 500,000 jobs it promised. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said this on Wednesday in Abuja when a delegation of the National Council for Womens Societies (NCWS) paid him a courtesy visit in his office. Mr. Mohammed said applications were being received and the government had started processing them for the recruitment. The process for the recruitment has started. About 1.2 million people applied and they classified them into categories including agriculture support officers, teachers, technical officers and so on, he said. The minister also said that the payment of N5, 000 conditional cash transfer promised by the government would begin before the end of the month. He said the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, had earlier announced this. Mr. Mohammed reaffirmed the commitment of the government to improve the well-being and standard of living of the citizens. We are very concerned about the welfare of Nigerians and we are not sleeping; we are working day and night to ensure that the country retraces its step. Many of our critics have been unfair to us because many of them know that we did not invent the problems we are facing today. This is time to join hands together to support the government to move the nation forward, he said. The National President of NCWS, Gloria Shoda, expressed confidence in the resolve of the government to implement programmes for the advancement of girls and women in the society. She drew the attention of government to its promise of providing free maternal and children health care and implementation of the National Gender Policy. Shoda also appealed to government to consider scholarship for girls pursuing medical courses in the universities to address maternal and child mortality. (NAN) Former chairman of House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, was missing from plenary when the House returned from eight-week recess on Tuesday. Expectations that the House would move to address the budget padding scandal raised by Mr. Jibrin were left hanging. Mr. Jibrin, the lawmaker at the centre of the controversy, was in the National Assembly, but confined himself to his office where he spoke to reporters on the crisis enveloping the House. Mr. Jibrin said the APC Northwest Caucus in the House met on Monday night during which Mr. Dogara allegedly sought forgiveness. Taking you through what transpired at the meeting, the Speaker came and everybody was shocked. I too was shocked when I saw him seated there, but we kept quiet to hear what he had to say, he said. And what he did, personally was very shocking to me. The first thing he did was to beg. He started by begging, that we should forgive him for the offences he has committed and other members of the body of principal officers that were accused of budget padding. And he begged for whatever offence that he committed, that we should please forgive him, he said. Mr. Jibrin claimed the speaker admitted that he and the other accused members of the body of principal officers took a N40 billion based on tradition. Then he went on to the allegation of N40 billion the only allegation out of the 20 that were raised against him by saying that its a tradition. And immediately he said its a tradition, Hon. Aliyu Madaki got up and interjected by saying that Mr. Speaker, if you say it is a tradition, does it make it right that you take such an amount without approval from the House? What sort of tradition is that that you would take N40billion out of 100 billion meant for the entire members; and you call it tradition? So in this instance, its fine that he wants to go with tradition. But when it comes to handling the issue of allegations in line with precedence, he would not want to follow the tradition. So after the begging by trying to get members to see reasons with him and all, the message was that everything should be covered. So the right thing for anybody to do in a situation like this and by laid down precedence is that if a presiding officer of the House is accused by anybody with evidence, he must step down for at least two weeks for a Speaker pro-tempo who would now set up an independent committee that will investigate it because the Speaker cannot investigate himself. And if the committee comes back with its report and theres nothing against the Speaker, he would go back to his seat. But if hes indicted, he loses his seat. It was on that basis that we went for the meeting. I would say that we were lured into that meeting. We werent expecting to see the Speaker, Mr. Jibrin disclosed. Mr. Jibrin also said that the Caucus passed a vote of no confidence on the chief Whip, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, daring him to prove him wrong by calling and presiding over the Caucus meeting. And one of the consensus we reached there was that we from the Northwest no longer have confidence in Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, to lead the zonal caucus. All members of the caucus agreed that he should step down as the Whip. So thats the clear message from the Northwest caucus. And if he doubts it, I give him 24 hours, or even one week to call caucus meeting and preside over it if he can. Its a challenge, he added. Meanwhile, the House leadership through its spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas, denied Mr. Jibrins statement that Mr. Dogara went to the meeting to beg. Mr. Namdas, who was accompanied by nine members from the northwest zone and four others from Gombe, Bauchi and Nasarawa State, respectively, said: The Speaker as a matter of convention decided to meet with all the zonal caucuses before the resumption from recess. So that we can discuss the way forward for our country. It is also not true that the members of the Northwest caucus passed a vote no confidence on the chief Whip. In fact, the chief Whip was present at the hallowed chamber today. He was the person who organised the meeting of the Northwest zonal caucus. So he couldnt have been the leader and yet somebody would come and tell you something else, he said. Asked if the lawmakers among whom were members from Gombe, Bauchi, and Nasarawa were there to speak in respect of Mr. Jibrins statement, Mr. Namdas said those from Northwest were there to represent the caucus without however clarifying under what guise the rebuttal was being made. Mr. Namdas said the only truth in Mr. Jibrins statement was that he participated in the caucus meeting. Mr. Dogara presided over the plenary and later adjourned in honour of a lawmaker from Lagos who died in August. On Thursday, September 22, two U.S. experts on African affairs will present the seventh Atiku Centre Lecture at the American University of Nigeria in Yola. The Americans, Carl LeVan and Matthew T. Page, are authorities whose views on Nigeria are highly sought. The duo will speak on Improving U.S. Anticorruption Policy in Nigeria, the subject of a recent brief authored by Mr. Page, who is a former International Affairs Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the co-author of another seminal book, Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know, due to be released next year from Oxford University Press. Mr. Page has deployed his in-depth knowledge of African and Nigerian affairs to the benefit of the intelligence community, senior policymakers, and the U.S. Marine Corps. Inaugurated in 2014, the Atiku Centre for Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development coordinates and drives the AUN mission as a development university. The Center, named after the Universitys founder and former Nigerian Vice President, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, is tasked with identifying and coordinating AUNs development projects. Through the lecture series, it generates fresh ideas and perspectives and thus sets the agenda on development issues. An Assistant Professor in the School of International Service at American University, Washington DC, Mr. LeVan has taught courses on African politics, comparative political institutions, and political theory at the undergraduate, Masters, and doctorate levels. In 2015, he published Dictators and Democracy in African Development: the Political Economy of Good Governance in Nigeria. In 2000, Mr. LeVan was the first director of the National Democratic Institutes legislative training program in Abuja. Later he was a Visiting Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Ibadan, teaching a course on comparative federalism. As the debate rages on the way forward for Nigeria, the American University of Nigeria, via the Atiku Centre, is taking the lead in finding practical development solutions in the Northeast region and Nigeria. The Nigeria Labour Congress in Kano has warned the state government against carrying out a policy to redeploy some workers in the state and slash their salaries. The state government had issued a circular to move non-professional cadre of workers from the health sector and tertiary institutions, a move that will remove the affected workers from the professional salary scheme. The circular was issued through the state Head of Service, Auwalu Naiya, and Commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba. However, the labour union in a statement by the state Chairman, Kabiru Minjibir, and Secretary, Auwalu Yakasai, said the move would lead to animosity between civil servants and the state government. Our attention has been drawn to a letter written to the governor by the Commissioner for Information advising the government to review the salary of workers in health sector and tertiary institutions in the name of curtailing government expenditure and improving revenue generation, the labour leaders said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. We are concerned that such anti-Labour proposal, which we view as fire from friendly quarters, is uncalled for at this critical time of economic recession, which (has) resulted in already reducing salary of workers by half by market forces. But Mr. Naiya has reacted to the NLC position with a statement that the new policy only deployed those affected to their rightful places. He said an approval has been granted to deploy the workers to MDAs where their cadres belong for proper human resource data records. He said the policy was to ensure transparency and equity, and was in line with reforms in salary administration in the state. The Head of Service added that those affected are administrative officers, executive officers, confidential secretaries, computer assistants and data processing assistants who were deployed from health sector to his office. But the NLC said the policy did not take into account the current hardship being experienced by workers and pensioners. We wonder how the sponsors of this ill-advised concept failed to realize that the salary being paid to the targeted group of workers is enshrined by various laws establishing the boards and institutions in which they were employed to work. We equally wonder why innocent workers would be victimized unnecessarily all in the name of generating revenue. The NLC then appealed to the governor to reverse the policy so as to avoid animosity and conflict between government and workers in the state. The union commended the patience and maturity exhibited by affected workers on the issue and appealed to them to remain calm. As the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress reviews the report of its appeal committee on the September 3 Ondo governorship primary, the party hierarchy is split between those in support of the reports recommendations and those opposed to them. PREMIUM TIMES learnt on Tuesday that although the appeals committee recommended a rerun of the exercise, the NWC prefers a minority report submitted by one committee member. A source said the party was torn between those loyal to a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, and the partys leadership. While the first group supports the recommendation of repeating the exercise, the latter backs the minority report upholding the election. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) won the polls to emerge the governorship candidate, but appeals from three of the aspirants, Robert Ajayi Borroffice, Olusegun Abraham and Olusola Oke, challenged the outcome of the election. There were also three complaints from the Chairman of Ondo Central APC, Adegboyega Adedipe, his Ondo East counterpart, Akintunde Temitope, and Toyin Ajinde, a delegate. The committee, led by Hellen Bendega, recommended that a rerun be held immediately before the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC). The appeals committee held that despite substantial compliance with rules during the primary, there were serious and weighty irregularities that could not be ignored. In view of the change mantra of this administration, it is pertinent that the party blazes the trail by refusing to condone a less than perfect exercise, the report stated. We, therefore, formally submit our recommendations for the National Working Committee (NWC) to use its discretionary powers in line with the APC constitution and the Electoral Act to arrive at a final decision. The irregularities, according to the panel include the use of a delegates not approved for the primary and the voting of unofficial delegates at the exercise. The panel suggested that the partys national leadership should revert to the earlier delegates list, which was distributed to aspirants in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), shortly before the controversial primary. According to the committee, a final and properly harmonised list acceptable to all contenders should be compiled, adding that the delegates list should be released, not on the eve of the primary, but much earlier to give sufficient time for the take-off of elections and avoid being used in favour of any aspirant. A source said there was a minority report by one of the three-member committee, and that one recommends that the appeals be struck out and the election upheld. The report accused the Chairman and the secretary of collecting bribes before reaching the conclusion of cancellation, the source said. So, the contentions are as a result of the panels refusal to invite the NWC which produced the delegates list used for the primary. It has also been contended that the panel also failed to invite the committee that conducted the primary before reaching its conclusion on the primary, the source said. About 22 aspirants participated in the primary conducted at the Dome, Akure, which was conducted by the committee led by Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru. In Ondo State, it is a bag of mixed feelings, as there is confusion after reports in the media reported that the election had been canceled. The Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Adesanya, said the election had not been cancelled because the decision was yet to be taken by the NWC. According to him, although the appeal panel recommended a cancellation, the NWC was sitting over the matter. He said only a final decision of the NWC expected later in the day would establish the facts of the matter. But Olusola Oke, one of the governorship aspirants, commended the recommendation of the panel, saying there was no way the committee would have ignored the obvious irregularities in the election. His spokesman, Rotimi Ogunleye, told PREMIUM TIMES that although the NWC was still to come out with a final decision on the matter, a cancelation was the only way out. The Lagos State Government has called for caution by all parties as it relates to the interpretation of the Appeal Court ruling over the use of hijab by female Muslim students in the States public primary and secondary schools, advising that the relative religious peace enjoyed in the State should not be sacrificed on the altar of religion. A statement issued on Tuesday by the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, stated that it was misleading and an attempt to misrepresent the general public that the right to wear hijab has been granted in Lagos State-owned public schools when the appeal process has not been exhausted. The statement emphasized that while it is an indisputable fact that the Court of Appeal in its judgment of 21st July, 2016 upturned the judgment of the High Court of Lagos State, which had inter alia ruled that the use of hijab is not part of the school uniform in public primary and secondary schools in Lagos State and the rights of the Applicants under Sections 38 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended has not been violated, the State Government had since appealed the ruling of the Appeal Court to the Supreme Court. According to the statement It is not in dispute that the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division on 21st of July, 2016 upturned the judgment of the High Court of Lagos State which had inter alia ruled that the use of hijab is not part of school uniform in public primary and secondary school in Lagos State and the rights of the Applicants under Sections 38 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended has not been violated. Just as the Applicants counsel exercised the constitutional right of appeal by appealing against the judgment, the state government has also appealed against the judgment of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court, the statement concluded. The statement added that it was the position of the State Government that the issues that arose from the judgment of the Court of Appeal touches on the interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution and it is for the purposes of clarity that the Notice of Appeal together with the Motion on Notice for injunction pending appeal were served on the counsel to the applicants. It therefore enjoined all those involved to allow the legal process to take its course on the matter and await the determination of the appeal lodged at the Supreme Court emphasizing that it was in the best interest of all parties and jurisprudence that the matter be given final interpretation by the Supreme Court. The State Government however acknowledged the position of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria and other segments of the Muslim community while urging understanding and restraint on their part, pending a final determination of the matter in the Supreme Court. No fewer than 30 political parties have nominated candidates to contest the governorship election in Ondo State coming up November 26, 2016. This was made known in Akure on Tuesday by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Olusegun Agbaje, at a press conference marking the start of campaign activities ahead of the election. Mr. Agbaje said all the 30 political parties had concluded their primaries in a peaceful manner. The parties are All Progressives Congress, (APC); Social Democratic Party,(SDP); Peoples Democratic Party(PDP); African People Alliance, (APA); Peoples Redemption Party,(PRP); Alliance for Democracy, (AD); Labour Party,(LP); Citizens Popular Party,(CPP); Peoples Party of Nigeria(PPN); Democratic Peoples Party,(DPP); Democratic Peoples Congress,(DPC) and New Nigeria Peoples Party,(NNPP). Others include Hope Democratic Party,(HDP); National Unity Party,(NUP); Better Nigeria Progressive Party,(BNPP); Young Democratic Party,(YDP); Accord,(A); All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA); Progressives Peoples Alliance(PPA); African Democratic Congress,(ADC); Action Alliance,(AA); Unity Party of Nigeria,(UPN) and KOWA Party(KP). Peoples for Democratic Change(PDC); Independent Democrats,(ID); Allied Congress Party of Nigeria(ACPN); National Conscience Party(NCP); United Democratic Party,(UDP), United Progressives Party,(UPP) and Advanced Congress of Democrats,(ACD), were also listed. Mr. Agbaje urged the parties to continue in their orderly conduct in the build up to the election. Going by the scheduled election timetable, party campaigns for the election have taken off and open politicking is gathering momentum, he said. On this note, I wish to appeal to the political parties and politicians/contestants to exercise restraint in their pronouncements and avoid getting involved in verbal wars and inflammatory comments capable of igniting political tension and provoking rancour that could threaten the peace currently being enjoyed in the state. He said the parties should improve their standards of campaigns and should be violence-free. According to Mr. Agbaje, the issue of inconclusive elections, which is not new in Nigeria, is due largely to violence, non-use of smart card readers and over-voting. He said INEC would not deliberately scuttle an election and make it inconclusive after making the usual perfect preparations, considering the stress experienced by members of staff, coupled with the huge financial resources expended. Meanwhile, a total of 331,075 PVCs are awaiting collection at the various collection centres in the state. Mr. Agbaje said the number was out of a total of 1,531,771 received in the state, after a total of 1,200,693 PVCs were collected by their owners. As we speak, preparations for the smooth conduct of the election are ongoing as various stakeholders are already getting their acts together in readiness to play their roles in this very important election, he added. The Nigeria Customs Service on Tuesday said it confiscated substandard anti-malaria drugs and antibiotics, valued at N20million. The drugs were being smuggled into the country through the Nigeria/Benin Republic border at idiroko in Ogun State. The Area Controller of the Ogun State Command of the service, Multafu Waindu, said 500 bags of smuggled rice were also seized. The fake drugs were on onward transportation into the country to be sold in the open market. Mr. Waindu, who later handed over the confiscated drugs to the representative of National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, said the command would not relent in its efforts to curtail smuggling activities in the state. The officer in charge, Port Inspection Directorate of NAFDAC in Idiroko, Datol Andrew, said the confiscation has saved over a million Nigerians from falling victim to fake drugs use. Mr. Andrew, however, expressed his disappointment that the importer of the drugs was not nabbed to serve as a deterrent to others who engage in such act. He said the agency would continue to work in partnership with the Customs to ensure illicit drugs and food items were prevented from finding their way into the country. On the seized rice, the Customs chief the seizure was a fallout of raids by operatives of the command on an illegal warehouse at Okere Creek near Bawe Gbo, in Ipokia Local Government area of the state. Mr. Waindu said his officers, acting on a tip-off, invaded the warehouse and seized the rice with duty value of N5.1 million. He said all the seized items were deposited at the Customs premises at Idiroko. The European Union needs to undergo major changes to become more friendly to its citizens, Polish President Andrzej Duda said in New York on Monday. Taking questions from the media after a meeting with American business and opinion leaders, the Polish president said that the EU was in need for change to become "a looser confederation of states preserving national sovereignty." He also remarked that the EU required significant changes because "instead of bringing freedom, it brings oppression" to its citizens. According to Duda, the EU "unnecessarily multiplies prohibitions created by bureaucracy." Duda also argued that Poland was firmly rooted in Europe and that Polish people were more Euroenthusiastic than citizens in Western European countries. "We remember the days when Poland was a closed country, when there was no freedom," he said. "So my generation understands that the European Union means freedom, including the freedom of movement, the freedom of choosing your place of work and so on. That is why support for our membership in the EU is still enormous." He added, however, that the model of European integration promoted by EU leaders and the strongest European countries was counterproductive. "The EU should be a union of free nations and equal states. This is the key to ensuring that the Europe of the future will be more attractive," he said. For this to happen, "what is needed is the recognition of mutual interests and arguments" of all countries, he said. Meanwhile at the moment EU policy is dictated by major superpowers. This could lead to a new "concert of powers" in Europe as was the case in the 19th and early 20th centuries when two world wars occurred, Duda cautioned. The president also commented on the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, which he said has been partly defused through an agreement with Turkey and joint action to control the external borders of the EU. He also noted that refugees arriving in Europe from the Middle East and North Africa "are not just refugees, but also economic immigrants." (PAP) Pobierz zdjecie Przeczytaj o zasadach pobierania zdjec President of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Andrzej Duda. (photo by Andrzej Hrechorowicz / KPRP) (1) Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, At the outset I wish to congratulate the Chairman of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, Mr. Peter Thomson, on his election to this honorable function. I wish to assure you, Sir, about my countrys full support for the measures you will take. At the same time, I wish to express my warm gratitude to Mr. Mogens Lykketoft for his active chairmanship over the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly. Distinguished Delegates! Sustainable Development, human rights protection as well as peace and security these are the goals pursued by the United Nations (Organization) whose achievement has been mankinds yearning. By adopting in the previous year the Agenda 2030 and the new Sustainable Development Goals we demonstrated that we are capable of acting as an international community and attain success, as well as confront new ambitious goals. Ladies and Gentlemen, Today I wish to address three foundations of sustainable development, without whose achievement it will never be possible to attain sustainable development as such. It is my profound conviction that these are the rules with which each of us should identify if we care for human happiness and successful progress of our nations. These three rules, the free foundations of sustainable development are: RESPONSIBILITY, SOILIDARITY and JUSTICE. RESPONSIBILITY arises from our obligation to take care of the heritage that we are going to leave to our children and grandchildren. How we are going to be remembered by them and what they are going to write about us in history books. Responsibility is underpinned by the conviction that history does neither begin nor end here and now but is a succession of generations, destinies and commitments. Responsibility understood this way pertains nowadays especially to social issues and natural environment. Responsible development is a development which cares for the appropriate continuity to be preserved between generations: past, contemporary and future. As in an Olympic relay, of key importance is the smooth passing the baton when one approaches the changeover box. On many occasions has history illustrated what happens if this historical continuity is interrupted, when rapidly people want to build while destroying what our antecedents have left, against their believes and their sense of rightness, when order gives in to chaos which destroys social bonds, and only arouses fear and anxiety. When respect for tradition is absent and social engineering is used instead, development is not possible, let alone sustainable development. Progress that does not create but destroys things is in fact a regression. It is FAMILY which is the basic form of human community which harmoniously links together the successions of generations. That is why solicitude for its durability and welfare is so crucially significant. Human rights are also rights of a family. Their attainment involves active support to multi-generation society, and the main instrument of the latter is a pro-family policy. I am proud to ascertain that the authorities of the Republic of Poland are now carrying out an ambitious program for improving living conditions of children in Polish families. The groundwork underpinning any development is creation of appropriate conditions for the conception of new life. The second challenge to sustainable development, one which also calls for responsible policies, is care for natural environment. The implementation of Agenda 2030 will not be possible without stemming the degradation of nature, an effort to be taken on with determination and consistency. We were recalled of the fact by Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato si : The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. The immensity of challenges that we are facing can be best illustrated by the fact that at the recent geology congress, scholars came to the conclusion that a new geological epoch may be now described: Anthropocene, as they decided to term it. For the very first time in the history of the Earth, this epoch has not been determined by geological activity but rather by human activity. We realize what grave environmental consequences changes in the natural environment produce. Their social, economic and political ramifications are equally important. Already now can we ask ourselves a question: are with threatened with climate wars? This is precisely why only global actions undertaken in concord by all states may bring about an improvement in the condition of nature on our Earth/ planet. Last year in Paris we jointly demonstrated that we are capable to take on responsible decisions by means of adopting a new climate agreement. The Republic of Poland was an active participant to those negotiations. I wish to inform you, Ladies and Gentlemen, about the fact that Poland has initiated the process of ratification of the Paris Agreement and the Doha amendments. As President of the Republic of Poland I attach a lot of importance to its possibly speediest conclusion in line with the provisions of our constitution. Responsibility for the natural environment involves more than mere prevention of climate change. In line with the spirit of Agenda 2030, it also includes protection of water and soil or fighting desertification. Responsible development requires a balanced approach. Therefore, natural environment should be viewed from three perspectives: of water, soil and air. If it is to be sustainable, development must also take into account the specificity of individual countries, their economic structures and employment in particular. Honorable Delegates, The second pillar of sustainable development is SOLIDARITY. This concept is particularly close to the Polish people who led by the social movement bearing this name carried out a peaceful political transformation a quarter of a century ago, rejecting the system founded on lie and enslavement. What has given the Polish Solidarity its durable foundations to rely on, was a community of sensitivity to the misfortune of other people and respect to any man, regardless of his or her origin or financial situation. Today, the Republic of Poland implements the principle of solidarity on two planes: domestic and global. Solidarity is a development undertaken in the name of welfare of all social groups, and not only those strongest and most influential ones. The politics run in the spirit of solidarity is politics that cares for the weaker and does not give in to the stronger ones. That is why it must rely on solidarity between employers and employees, solidarity between regions more developed and less developed. Finally, the most fundamental solidarity is a solidarity of those who have the sense of attainment with those who struggle to survive each and every day. Ladies and Gentlemen, Only a development model founded on solidarity shall be capable of producing a system in which man: his needs and aspirations, are in its center. The system which affords equal opportunities to all and allows to tap the potential represented by those who have been so far functioning in social exclusion. It is the concept of development founded on Solidarity that lies at the foundations of policies pursued by Polands present government. In line with its tenets, what should improve the quality of life of all citizens, is the measures taken up by the government, and not only macroeconomic indices, which not often enough translate to the advancement of the former. We do not want to be captives to economic dogmas. We want solutions which allow to actively involve all social groups in development processes. Giving them equal opportunity to benefit from economic growth. Such solutions will produce expected outcomes of restraining the areas of exclusion and poverty and of levelling out social inequalities. Our policy is thus consistent with the ambitious vision on whose implementation we jointly decided adopting Agenda 2030 one year ago. I think the time has come to start a global coalition of states for solidarity-based development of societies. Solidarity in international relations is first and foremost humanitarian and development aid in all territories affected by military conflicts, economic crises or natural disasters. The unprecedented scale of migration flows in contemporary world, the phenomenon which we now need confront head-on, is a reminder thereof. Our shared grand responsibility is to start action to stem real roots of poverty and to guarantee to everyone the right to live in his or her home country. Poland has been watching with anxiety and concern the growing numbers of people affected by conflicts, especially in Syria and in Ukraine. Guided by our sense of solidarity, we have increased our humanitarian and development aid in the Middle East region and to the East. In our efforts to build peace and sustainable development we set great store by education of children and young people. My country has been and will continue to be an active advocate of solidarity in the international arena. Honorable Delegates, He third pillar of sustainable development is JUSTICE. A just and equitable order as an order in which the sustainable development model can be delivered, is founded on observance of HUMAND RIGHTS and LAW OF NATIONS. Individual freedom, dignity of human person and inviolability of his or her life, as well as freedom of conscience and religion these are constituents of the catalogue of inalienable human rights which nowadays call for particular protection. There are by far too many sites world-wide where freedom is constrained by an oppressive political system; where human dignity is violated, and also mans most fundamental right: the right to life is encroached upon. What raises our fundamental objection is that there are so many sites world-wide where people die because of religion they profess; for their faith which is solely the question of their conscience. We cannot stay mute in the face of suffering of Christians, murdered in the name of religious fanaticism. The world must react to the phenomenon of religion-based genocide. That is why Poland welcomed with particular satisfaction the fact that protection of human rights has been placed so high among the priorities of the new development agenda. We have jointly reaffirmed a global agreement as to the interdependence that exists between development and human rights and freedoms. Only respect of human rights, not only the political ones but also social, economic and cultural, allows to fully harness human potential, and eventually, to the implementation of sustainable development model. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that all human rights are derived from the most fundamental one: the right to life. Ladies and Gentlemen, Our endeavors to build the world as a better place to live will be futile if we are not capable of safeguarding the absolute primacy of international law in relations among states. Last year, in this very room I spoke about the need to ground international relations on law. I went on to emphasize that all states are equally obligated to carry out their international commitments, and that any actions violating provisions of international law, among them political sovereignty and territorial integrity in particular, should be categorically denounced by the global community. Today, I wish to reiterate in most clear terms: we must abide by the rules which is expressed by a Roman paremia: Ex injuria jus non oritur law is not born from lawlessness. None aggressor has right to the territory occupied by him. We reject the system in which it is politics of force and aggression that predetermines destinies of nations. Peace and security are two fundamental preconditions for achievement of sustainable development. The effectiveness of global action in this regard shall depend on international solidarity and concerted action between our states. In the meantime, any act of aggression which encroaches on international commitments undermines mutual trust among states and societies. It undermines the order which was so strenuously built in the wake of World War 2. That is why it is so crucially important to make sure that the policy of force would each time meet with a decisive opposition of the international community. In order for the law to be effective, any violation thereof must trigger off execution of consequent measures. I also wish to highlight the fact that realization of the principle of justice in international relations is equally endangered if we decide to base them on the division of spheres of influence among superpowers. As a result, proxy wars break out, respect for the subjective status of weaker states disappears and freedom of states and nations are encroached upon. Let us recall that any instance of peace made at the expense of someone elses freedom can hardly ever last and is never equitable. Honorable Delegates, This year, my country has been host of two events that restore faith in the power of international cooperation among states and nations. The Summit Meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in July testified to NATOs unity in the effort to build peace and freedom in the transatlantic space. It was an expression of responsibility felt by NATO countries which concluded an agreement leading to heightened security in the European continent. The outcomes of the Warsaw Summit are an expression of allied solidarity and respect for independence of free nations, i.e. the values which underpin equitable international order. Soon after the NATO Summit, in my home town of Cracow the International Youth Day was hosted during which young people from all over the world met with Pope Francis. These days were a celebration time of joy, friendship and love. The young people gathered in Poland have shown us that the road to peace originates in human solidarity founded on preoccupation for another man, regardless of origin or religion. Ladies and Gentlemen, Responsibility, solidarity and justice: these are the pillars on which Poland would like to build international community for sustainable development of free nations and equal states. Thank you very much. ATLANTIC CITY People increasingly want more from the Atlantic City Free Public Library. Borrowing, computer sessions and requests for help are all up substantially from years ago. But the library is like this cash-strapped city. The money is drying up. Funding was nearly halved in two years as the citys value declined. More decreases in funding will result in future service cuts. The library held a community meeting last month and will hold more to plan for how to use available funds. This is the most challenging financial climate we have experienced in the past 30 years, library director Maureen Sherr Frank said. Atlantic City's library of comics: Wednesday Morning Quarterback What if I told you there was a place where you could read hundreds of comics and graphic novels for free? And as the library is experiencing cutbacks in money and personnel, people are using it more. In 2005, the library recorded 335,000 visits, 151,000 items borrowed, 37,000 public computer sessions and 33,000 requests for information. Last year, the library logged 530,000 visits, 290,000 items borrowed, 89,000 public computer sessions and 72,000 requests for information. New Jersey laws provide a minimum level of funding for library services based on the equalized valuation of the towns they serve, Frank said. The citys valuation has plunged from $20.5 billion in 2008 to about $6.6 billion today. As a result, the librarys funding has dropped because the city is receiving less in taxes, Frank said. In just two years, library funding has dropped by 45 percent. In 2014, library funding was $5.03 million. This year, the library is operating on $2.8 million of municipal funding. There is a concern that the funding declines will continue if values decrease more and with the implementation of the PILOT legislation. That legislation, passed by state lawmakers in May as part of the Atlantic City rescue package, bars casinos from appealing property taxes by allowing them to make fixed payments in lieu of taxes for 10 years. As a result, Frank said the library would not receive casino tax dollars during that time. CRDA approves former Revel Casino plan ATLANTIC CITY The Casino Reinvestment Development Authoritys board of directors approved But state Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, a sponsor of the legislation, said it was his understanding that the library would still receive money even though it is not specifically spelled out in the measure, as with the school district and Atlantic County. The city workforce has been reduced from 1,255 to 894 during the past two years. Library staffing also has been reduced since 2014. Due to layoffs, resignations and retirements, library staffing has been reduced from 47 to 26 employees. The budget decreased by $2 million, which was done through both salaries and across-the-board cuts. Staff reductions have resulted in fewer hours of operation at the main library on North Tennessee Avenue and the Richmond Avenue branch on Ventnor Avenue. Such cutbacks limit community access to computers and resources, Frank said. Richmond Avenue used to be open eight hours a day, five days a week. Now, it is open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays, which means a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. worker cant use it. The main library is no longer open on Sundays. It used to be open as late as 8 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays. Now, the latest it stays open is 6:30 p.m., and that is only Tuesdays through Thursdays. Tawane Corbin, 36, of Atlantic City, recently visited the library with her son, Mahkai Corbin, a first-grader at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School Complex. Corbins future Monday visits will be focused on learning for her son, while Friday visits will be for learning and fun. He does puzzles well. He is good at drawing and coloring, said Corbin, who added the library is within walking distance of her home. I come and use the computer. I print things out. I come and get DVDs for them (her children) and books and movies for myself. Don't call it Revel anymore, call it "TEN" ATLANTIC CITY On a scale of one to 10, Glenn Straub and the rest of his management team at A public forum was held last month to gather information about community needs and priorities, Frank said. Comments at the forum confirmed the importance of services for children, of providing information and workshops for lifelong learning, of supporting members seeking to obtain employment and maintaining the Atlantic City Heritage Collections, Frank said. The need to continue the librarys free training sessions, which include job-skills sessions, English as a second language and literacy workshops, as well as providing access to books, DVDs and electronic resources, were all priorities, Frank said. Contact: 609-272-7202 Twitter @ACPressJackson PLEASANTVILLE The new F.W. Webb location has two main customer entrances. One is a showroom full of faucets and sinks and showers for homeowners. The other opens into a counter just in front of a warehouse stocked with boxes and bins full of 13,000 products for contractors in specialties from plumbing and commercial refrigeration to thermoplastic piping. Those doors on separate sides sum up the twin business lines for Webb, which was founded 150 years ago in Boston and has been expanding steadily south in recent years. The company bought its first South Jersey location last year a long-established business, Grant Supply, on Delilah Road at the western edge of Pleasantville. And Grant in turn bought out the existing Taylor Supply, which dates back more than 40 years in the building thats now the southern edge of the growing Webb locations. It started its New Jersey expansion by buying Bergen Industrial Supply in that county in 2013. In 2015, the company bought out two Grant Supply locations, the other one in North Brunswick, Middlesex County. And earlier in 2016, Webb bought a company called Lincoln Supply in Trenton. At the Pleasantville business, Warren White has been there for 37 years, working for three different companies by continuing to show up at the same building. Diana McNierney has spent 20 years on Delilah Road, but worked for 15 years before that for Seashore Supply, another plumbing-supply house in Atlantic City. McNierney, who works in sales, says shes still dealing today with contractors she knew back in her Atlantic City days. And Scott Cohen, a Webb sales manager, says the new owners are so concerned with keeping up relationships with old customers that some contractors are allowed to go back into the warehouse themselves and pick out what they need. They know where everything is, Cohen explains. Cory Smith, the store manager, gives a rough estimate that Webb has 13,000 different products in stock in Pleasantville at any given time although it has many more individual items than that in the 20,000-square-foot building. It has 13 employees in Pleasantville, slightly more than Grant Supply did, Smith says. He and Cohen led a quick tour of that behind the door stuff Monday, breezing past enough boxed-up faucets, toilets, water heaters and more to plumb, heat and cool a small city. A bit earlier, another Delilah Road veteran, Phil Lewis, also gave a few points of interest in the homeowner-oriented showroom that he manages. They include a new American Standard display wall, which stands opposite of some of that companys high-end toilets, among them a VorMax model that retails for $499 and gives the best-looking rinse youll ever see, as Smith puts it when he opens the hood. But, Lewis adds, his turf is headed for a makeover of its own. Were looking to update the showroom, he says, remembering that the last one was about eight years ago, which in a very trend-conscious business means that its time for a change. Webb now has more than 90 locations in nine states New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, along with the six New England states and 2,000 employees. The private company is now owned by the third generation of the family of Roger Pope, who bought F.W. Webb in 1933. Contact: 609-272-7237 SOMERS POINT Molly Sands had a full day of work ahead of her when she arrived at Shore Medical Center on a recent Wednesday morning. She spent some time in the lobby, greeting several hospital staff members and people coming and going from the building, before making her way to the pediatric wing. There, 16-year-old Justine Chishko, of Egg Harbor Township, lay in a hospital bed after an accident. Molly, taking her therapy responsibilities seriously, jumped on the bed and licked the young high school students face until she laughed. Molly, at 35 years old (in dog years), is an American pit bull and certified visiting therapy dog at the hospital. For the past several years, she and trainer Len Sands have been cheering up patients and trying to change the stigma around untraditional therapy dog breeds. Weve made more than 300 therapy visits and nobody has ever said anything about her kind of breed, Sands said. Shes always been so sweet, even when I walked up to her where I found her on the streets in Arizona. Shes always been so lovable. For young readers, dogs are all ears and wagging tails Kids and dogs. They go together like ... well, like kids and dogs. So when you bring them to Sands and his wife live in Egg Harbor Township during the summer and in Arizona the rest of the year. They raised their family here in New Jersey, and when Sands retired in 2007, they moved out west. It was out there that he found a malnourished, flea-infested Molly out on a road that he was biking. He came back with a car, took the dog to a local veterinarian, got her cleaned up and brought her home. Sands decided that because he and his wife are older and pit bulls are large dogs, they would only be able to keep Molly if she could be trained, which turned out to be the case. A neighbor actually asked, Have you considered training her for pet therapy? Sands said, I didnt even know what pet therapy even was. Now, years later, Sands is a therapy dog team evaluator and instructor. Not only does he bring Molly to visit patients at Shore Medical, he also certifies other therapy dogs. Not all dogs have the right temperament to do the job, especially in a hospital, he said. Molly and Sands made their way upstairs to the hospitals infusion services department. Paris Branda, of Wildwood Crest, has been coming in for monthly treatments for three years. The highlight of his visits is when he sees Molly. I love her. Such a great dog, he said as Molly lay at his feet and turned over to get her belly rubbed. Who would think that a pit bull would do this? Brandas wife, Peggy, fed Molly some bits of carrot, the dogs favorite treat. The couple brought carrots to their visit because they knew Molly would be there. Sands told them Molly would be back for a visit in November, and the couple said they would make sure they saw her that month. Some breeds are more commonly used as therapy dogs, Sands said. Typical therapy breeds include golden retrievers, doodles, Labradors, yorkies, toy poodles, shih tzus and other small dogs. Among them is Baci, a Chihuahua. When Marie Buonanno, of Margate, saw that her little dog had a calm temperament, she quickly thought about including Baci in her volunteer work at Shore Medical. Its so fun, especially for patients in beds or in wheelchairs who can sit and play with Baci. He loves it, she said. Hes so small that its easy for him to get in and out of beds with patients. A lot of people have dogs of their own and miss them, so this cheers them up. Buonanno knows what its like to be hospitalized. She lost part of her leg below the knee and has lived as an amputee for several years. Her volunteer work at the hospital was inspired by her own hospital stay, and she said its only gotten better since she started bringing Baci. Most hospitals or health care centers limit themselves to one therapy dog, Sands said, in order to avoid conflict among the dogs. At Shore, when Molly isnt visiting patients over the winter, Baci makes her rounds. Buonanno brought Baci to visit Debbie Rimer, of Margate, in her room at the hospital that morning. Rimer said after all the tests and procedures, having a small dog to cuddle with for a few moments is the highlight of her day. You can forget about your problems, Rimer said. I think that every hospital should have a dog, because its like medicine. Theres nothing better. Contact: 609-272-7022 Twitter @ACPressNLeonard A South Jersey family that had been using unconventional methods to find a kidney donor succeeded in their search, but not in the way they expected. Joyce Deal, of Glassboro, received her new kidney on Sunday through a clinical trial at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. The program, called the THINKER Study, is a trial program sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania in which Hepatitis C-positive kidneys are transplanted into Hepatitis C-negative individuals. According to Clinicaltrials.gov, the study began in May of 2016. Within the trial, 10 individuals would receive the transplants and would receive 12 weeks worth of a medicine called Zepatier. "She's one of 10 people trying this," said Joyce's husband, Frank. "She feels great. They family is doing great. When we last talked, we thought she would be on the (transplant) list for 5 to 8 years. It's a weight you don't have to carry anymore." The last time the Press talked with Deal and her family in Mays Landing, she had been waiting on a kidney transplant list for 18 months. Months before that, doctors found that one of Deal's kidneys was nonfunctioning, and the other ran at 15 percent. Deal's husband and her son, Nathaniel, put messages on the backs of their cars. Frank's read, "MY WIFE NEEDS A KIDNEY (A-) PLEASE CALL 609-477-1124" denoting Joyce's blood type. The Deal family ended up getting contacted by Fox News. Frank Deal said it was someone from the channel who told the family to call Penn Medicine about the trial. "People hear Hep C, and they think, 'No, no, no, I don't want that,' but it's a treatable disease," he said. His wife will have a pill regimen to follow, as anyone who goes under an organ transplant would, Deal said. "It's better than having dialysis three times a week," he added. CAPE MAY City Council needs more time to consider a $369,000 draft settlement with a former police officer who accused the city of discriminating against him based on his sexual orientation, City Attorney Anthony Monzo said Wednesday. Steven Pascal claimed in a 2013 lawsuit that Capt. Rob Sheehan and the Police Department created a hostile, anti-gay work environment and unjustly fired him three years ago. Council was scheduled to vote Tuesday night on whether to approve the payment to Pascal, but Monzo said no vote took place during the meeting, which stretched late into the night. Police chiefs demotion big topic at Cape May candidates forum CAPE MAY The controversial demotion of a popular police chief has been hanging over this q A decision on the draft settlement may take a little more time because the citys insurer, the Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund, would not pick up the full payment, he said. The city would have to pay $50,000 of the total, according to the proposed settlement. It will probably be brought up again, Monzo said, but he couldnt say whether it would be a topic at next months meeting. The proposed settlement would not include an admission of guilt by either Cape May or Sheehan, whos suing the city in a separate case to get his job back as chief. Sheehans attorney, John Grady, said there was no evidence that Sheehan did anything wrong, adding that Sheehan will not be paying anything toward the settlement. City Manager Bruce MacLeod said he wanted to wait until the settlement was finalized to comment further. Pascal said in his suit that he was harassed by members of the public with anti-gay slurs. Two residents of Cape May who had harassed Pascal for months once threatened to snap his neck in a dark alley, according to court filings. Cape May council replaces Sheehan as police chief CAPE MAY City Council in a split vote on Monday appointed 25-year veteran Detective Sgt. A These incidents were witnessed by other officers and brought to the attention of Sheehan and then-Chief Diane Sorantino, the lawsuit states. No action was taken against the hecklers, and Sheehan opened a bogus Internal Affairs investigation, Pascal claims in the suit. Pascal was fired after the investigation, which involved a probe into how he handled a traffic stop in 2012. Contact: 609-272-7411 Twitter @ACPressTomczuk A postal carrier who worked in Cape May County was sentenced to a year in prison Tuesday for his role in a scheme to steal $200,000 in blank money orders, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Jonel Normil, 26, of Little Egg Harbor Township, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to embezzle money orders from post offices in Cape May Court House and Stone Harbor. Little Egg Harbor man admits role in scheme to steal and cash postal service money orders A Little Egg Harbor man has admitted to his role in a plot to steal and convert hundreds of U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo sentenced Normil to 12 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. In court papers, Normil admitted to stealing hundreds of U.S. Postal Service money orders that he gave to conspirators who deposited them in banks in New Jersey, New York and Georgia. The investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Service and the Office of the Inspector General. The U.S. Attorneys Office said video surveillance captured Normil taking 15 blank money orders in May 2015. The investigation determined 279 blank postal money orders were stolen from the Stone Harbor Post Office between February and May 2015 and 173 of them, valued at $167,000, were deposited or cashed. Normil was ordered to return $181,183 he stole in the scheme. Contact: 609-463-6712 Twitter @ACPressMiller We have a few more warm days with elevated humidity to close out summer 2016, but by the end of this weekend, youll be reaching for heavier clothes. Were looking at highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s Wednesday through Friday. A weak area of high pressure will sit over New Jersey with the remnant of Julia just to our south. Eventually that will fizzle out and absorb into the northern stream of upper-level energy meaning the end of that storm. Karl then enters the Bermuda Triangle, possibly as a hurricane, before turning back out to sea, away from the East Coast. Karls East Coast impact should be just strong rip currents along the shore and possibly a small surfers paradise of slightly higher waves. It would be a much larger surfers paradise if Karl tracked closer to the coast, but at least rough ocean surf is possible. Behind Karl is Lisa, which just formed. Lisa should stay well out to sea, east of Bermuda. Other than that, it appears we will escape the peak of hurricane season. But we should not let our guard down until the official end of hurricane season Nov. 30, especially with such an active first half. Karl should safely turn back out to sea by Friday, coinciding with the end of our warm, humid late-summer weather. Saturday should be a day of transition as high pressure drops out of Canada over the Great Lakes. This should grant us the coldest air mass on this side of summer yet. Temperatures should noticeably drop Saturday night and such conditions should persist well into next week. Sunday and Monday highs will struggle to get out of the 60s. Overnight lows should at least drop into the 50s with the 40s possible inland. We might warm up a bit mid-next week, but another shot of even cooler weather is showing on model guidance for next Thursday-forward. So enjoy these last few days of what many call local summer. This could be the last time you see a noticeably warm and humid air mass over our region. As always, it was an honor and pleasure to fill in for Dan Skeldon. He will be back starting Thursday. Follow Jonathan on Twitter @myWeatherNJ and on Facebook at WeatherNJ. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. The Wylie family invited guests and volunteers into their new Mays Landing home during the weekend to celebrate. The occasion brought matriarch Karen Wilson-Wylie to tears. Its wonderful to share your dream with people because you never know that other people can be inspired by what you went through, she said Sunday. Thanks to Habitat for Humanity of Atlantic County, Wilson-Wylie and her husband, Tony Wylie, were able to purchase their first house and make a permanent home for their three children: Anthony, 20; Tyler, 17; and Jordan, 8. Habitat for Humanity has been helping families build and purchase affordable homes since 1976. Locally, the need for housing remains high, but with a large inventory of existing homes, the Cape May and Atlantic county affiliates are looking toward rehabilitations for future projects. The model of what Habitat does is changing a bit in Atlantic County, because why build if we have these homes available? said Carol Schwartz, executive director for the Atlantic County chapter. Were trying to look at how we can successfully do that. Schwartz said Atlantic County has such a high rate of foreclosures that the organization has to consider them as an alternative to building new. I mean were the highest in the nation. If were going to be getting houses, our plan would be to rehab them and put families in them, she said. Use what you have. Restores help ensure funding for local Habitat affiliates The Atlantic and Cape May County affiliates of Habitat for Humanity are two of the last in t Shawn Lockyear, executive director for the Cape May County affiliate, said Habitat for Humanity International, the parent organization, offers a lot of flexibility to its affiliates to do what works best in their community. I know that thats been huge down in Habitats in Florida, Lockyear said of rehabilitation projects. Its a great way to approach whats going on down here with real estate. She said Cape May County hasnt been involved with any renovations yet but has moved a home that was donated from Ocean City to Middle Township. It was in perfect shape, and it was very similar to the houses we were building, Lockyear said. Atlantic County also recently moved a home from Longport to the West Atlantic City section of Egg Harbor Township. They are currently renovating a home on Ohio Avenue in Atlantic City that was donated to the organization. We do rehabs now because thats where everything is going, Schwartz said. We were rehabbing the house in Atlantic City on Ohio Avenue, and thats going to be used for Sandy families. The families who need a transition home while they are renovating homes damaged during Hurricane Sandy will be able to use the property, she said. How much are homes selling for near you? Transactions are from county property records. Settlement dates are listed; deed filings may Lockyear said one of the big challenges to doing renovations is volunteer expectations. People think they are going to be building a house from scratch, she said. She added that renovations are much trickier than new construction because there are a lot of variables once walls start coming down. Its not as easy to manage, Lockyear said. Schwartz said the Atlantic County affiliate has been offered homes in Atlantic City, some of which are in flood zones and need to be lifted. She said another problem is homes in towns with high taxes. Our families cant afford those real estate taxes, she said. Whether building or renovating, Schwartz said the goal of Habitat for Humanity remains the same. Habitat is about building communities and homes and hope, she said. The Wylie family benefited from that goal this summer. Karen Wilson-Wylie and her family were living in a two-bedroom apartment until the end of June. They officially moved into their three-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom home on Matisse Drive on July 1, she said. Wylie-Wilson said debt from student loans had held her and her husband back from being able to afford to buy a place of their own. A former coworker at Atlantic Cape Community College, who also purchased a home through Habitat for Humanity, told her how to apply last year. She went online to check it out on her lunch break, she said. It was the last day they were accepting applications, she said, so she drove down to the office in Egg Harbor City and filled out an application that day. Seated before a scripture she affixed to the wall in her living room, Wylie-Wilson brimmed with joy. On affordable housing, it's towns' math vs. advocates OCEAN CITY A recent ruling on state affordable housing obligations is casting doubt on the It was like bursting a bubble. It was the greatest feeling ever, she said of when she was able to move her family in. Blessings, blessings, blessings to be able to own a home and to be able to give your kids a place to call home. Contact: 609-272-7251 Twitter @clairelowe The Atlantic and Cape May County affiliates of Habitat for Humanity are two of the last in the state without stores to aid in funding for future projects. But not for long. Both branches are actively working to open up what Habitat calls a Restore. Its a place that we take in donations of furniture, appliances and building equipment and supplies, said Carol Schwartz, executive director for Atlantic County Habitat for Humanity. You can come there and purchase and the money goes back to build more homes. Habitat for Humanity gets into the rehab business The Wylie family invited guests and volunteers into their new Mays Landing home during the weekend to celebrate. The occasion brought matriarc The Restore works as a thrift store for larger items. They do not accept mattresses, clothing or home decorations. Atlantic Countys Restore will open up this winter at the former General Floor at 2733 Fire Road in Egg Harbor Township. Cape May County Habitat for Humanity is currently negotiating for a space in Middle Township, said Executive Director Shawn Lockyear. Lockyear said her goal is to be open in the spring of 2017. Its a big investment to do the build out, but its really the way Habitat affiliates all over the country support themselves, she said. Lockyear said there are more than 850 Restores in the United States which generate about $400 million a year for Habitat affiliates. Its become basically the single biggest source of unrestricted funds for affiliates, she said. Funds are important for the organization because while the land is donated and much of the building work is done with volunteers, supplies and administration cost money. Schwartz said that, locally, homes cost about $100,000 to build. The Atlantic County affiliate has recently partnered with the Atlantic County Improvement Authority to obtain funding, she said. Theres so many people that needs homes. We, as a small affiliate, would love to build more and thats why were doing the Restore. We need the funding, she said. Lockyear said it wouldnt be hard to fill a store. We get calls every single day from people that want to give us stuff. The brand is so well known and theres so much stuff that had been going into the landfills, Lockyear said. The land for Habitat for Humanity homes is often donated, either by a town or a private owner or developer. For the Cape May County affiliate, Middle Township has been actively donating land as a way to fulfill its Council on Affordable Housing obligation. Since 2012, eight Habitat homes have been built in the Whitesboro section. Lockyear said they are continuing to try and expand to other areas. In June, they presented a plan for COAH-eligible housing on a vacant lot in Ocean City, which is owned by the city. Lockyear said the city had reach out to Habitat initially, but residents in the area didnt want to see the lot developed. People get used to having it vacant and there was a lot of opposition to sort of taking away what the neighbors considered to be their open space, she said. Were still hopeful that we can do something with Ocean City. In Atlantic County, private developer Ryan Homes donated two lots in a Mays Landing development to the local affiliate. The second home was completed this summer. On Sunday, Hamilton Township Mayor Roger Silva told Schwartz that the township is ready to donate a lot on Beacon Avenue. Schwartz said she is eager to expand, which the Restore would help with. Most of our building at one point was centralized around Atlantic City and Pleasantville, but we want to branch out because its Atlantic County and theres people all over the county that need homes, she said. Contact: 609-272-7251 The state will help police departments buy 1,000 more body cameras this year. The Attorney Generals Office on Tuesday said it will distribute $550,000 so departments can purchase cameras. Last year the department distributed $2.5 million to buy 5,000 cameras. Officers wear the cameras on their uniform to record public interactions and calls for service. The grants have quadrupled the number of police departments using body cameras in New Jersey from 50 in 2014 to more than 200 this year. Even so, a minority of the states 500 law-enforcement agencies use them. Police in New Jersey are embracing this technology as a way to build public trust through accountability, while also protecting and assisting officers in their difficult and dangerous jobs, Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement. Locally, numerous departments use the cameras, including Atlantic City, Lower Township and Wildwood. The state also equipped New Jersey State Police with cameras last year using property forfeiture funds. Police departments are recognizing that for a small investment they can equip an officer with what amounts to an unbiased witness to every critical action that officer takes, Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig said in a statement. The state will award the grants to departments based on population and crime rate, among other factors. The state also will give preference to departments that do not yet have body cameras. The state drafted rules for using body cameras last year that encourage officers to inform people they are being recorded when an officer responds to a persons home or interviews the victim of a crime. The state said body cameras are required to be used in a dozen circumstances, including when officers make a traffic stop or arrest, interview a witness while investigating a crime, interrogate or transport a suspect or conduct a search. The state also imposes rules about the circumstances under which an officer can turn off the camera and still others for recording in settings such as schools, daycare centers, churches and health care facilities. The state also has rules about data storage and retention. But the state Attorney Generals Office does not consider these recordings to be a public record. It leaves the public release of recordings to the discretion of the county prosecutor in cases where the release of the video outweighs the law enforcement interest in maintaining confidentiality. But the courts can compel the release of body-camera footage. Contact: 609-463-6712 Twitter @ACPressMiller Ahmad Khan Rahamis father told police his son was a terrorist two years before he was arrested in connection with the bombings set off throughout New York and New Jersey, according to two senior law enforcement officials. The New York Times reported the comment prompted a review by federal agents. Rahami was arrested after a domestic dispute in 2014, accused of stabbing his brother, when his father made the statement to New Jersey police about his son being a terrorist. Officials told the New York Times that the tip was passed on to the Joint Terrorism Task Force by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Newark. The officers opened an assessment, interviewing the father, who recanted saying he made the comment out of anger. Also on Tuesday, another official told the New York Times that Rahami was found with a notebook containing writings indicating jihadist causes. After Rahami was captured Monday morning, investigators are looking into what motivated or led him to plant bombs in Manhattan and on the Jersey Shore, as well as whether there were other people helping him. Even as he barnstorms the state gathering support for his proposal to dramatically alter the method by which state aid to school districts is calculated, Gov. Chris Christie - seasoned pol that he is - understands that the Legislature will not accept the plan prior to his leaving office in January 2018. For some reason, Christie waited until more than 80 percent of his term elapsed before seizing on an idea that had surfaced periodically for several years to allocate an identical sum of aid per pupil to every school district, regardless of size, economic circumstance or ability to provide adequate support on their own. The governor's plan would simply divide the total amount of state aid by the number of pupils in the public schools, arriving at a figure of $6,599 per student. The reaction was predictable: Suburban districts by and large embraced it because it would be a windfall and, per the governor's calculations, result in dramatic reductions in property taxes, while urban communities expressed outrage over the potentially massive loss of aid which would require unbearable increases in local taxes or unconscionable cuts in staff and essential services. Stripped of its rhetoric about property tax relief, critics vilified the plan as pitting poor communities against their wealthier neighbors, producing an enormous disparity in educational quality and opportunity. In pitching his plan at town hall forums, Christie has touched the property tax burden nerve, arguing that more than three-quarters of the state's municipalities would experience tax reductions, some as great as $3,000 a year, under his recommended formula. In a state in which the average property tax bill is $8,358 a year, the governor's siren song is enticing, indeed. However, for school districts in places like Newark, Trenton and Paterson, for instance, the plan would be an unmitigated disaster. The potential loss of tens of millions of dollars in state aid would, local officials claim, devastate their schools, inflict unwarranted and unfair punishment on children, and drive already struggling parents over a fiscal cliff. Christie, of course, knows full well the Legislature will not consider his proposal (it's already been declared dead on arrival by the leadership), but by elevating the issue to such a high profile, he has touched on a larger issue - the need for a full throated debate over the current system of aid to education. Over the years, the system has been amended, modified, tweaked and fine-tuned, all with the purported goal of instilling greater fairness and equal treatment in it. Christie and others as well argue the desired results have not been achieved, that while spending has increased relentlessly, graduation rates and test scores in districts receiving the bulk of the state aid have remained disappointingly static or fallen. His program - radical as it is - may turn out to be a starting point for a debate over how to overcome the obstacles these districts confront, aside from simply pouring more money into them. The time may have arrived for re-thinking and re-defining the state's role in supporting local schools. It is beyond dispute, obviously, that money - substantial sums of money - is crucial in assuring equal access to quality education. But, beyond writing checks every year, there is a need for a review of the relationship between state government and local districts, one that scrutinizes regulations and state mandates, for instance, to determine their impact not only on funding but on whether they actually contribute to a betterment of educational programs. It is time to rise above parochial concerns and pressures and concentrate on government's responsibility to educate youngsters, prepare them for college and eventually taking their place in a rapidly changing world. If Christie's proposal for change brings about an objective, unbiased and far-reaching examination of public education in New Jersey, it will have been more than worth the controversy, contention and argument it's produced. Perhaps, with an eye on his legacy, that was his intention in the first place. Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. 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. Drives advancement of fleet performance management solutions with GreenRoad, and offers enhanced augmented reality service solutions with Fieldbit BURLINGTON, Massachusetts, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On a mission to extend the definition of field service management, ClickSoftware, the leading provider of field service management software, announced two strategic technology partnerships expected to bring new capabilities to its cloud-based Service Edge platform. Service-first businesses have reached a tipping point as the customer demand for fast, friendly, proactive, real-time communication now has to happen without increasing cost or sacrificing quality. These partnerships help ClickSoftware's customers do just that. They can improve the reach of seasoned technicians beyond their geographic location to improve service outcomes, and reduce traffic incidents that can interfere with timely completion of service work. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160803/395427LOGO Partnering with GreenRoad will enable ClickSoftware to help customers prioritize fleet safety, at the individual vehicle level, by tracking over 150 safety, geographic and behavioral factors with analysis and reporting happening in real time. Fieldbit's service-centric augmented reality solution enables experienced engineers to support field technicians with real-time collaboration without the need to travel. "Our close relationships with customers helped us identify the most powerful ways to extend the definition of field service, and reshape the expectations for robust field service management solutions," said ClickSoftware CEO Tom Heiser. "With the addition of GreenRoad's fleet management and safety tools and FieldBit's augmented reality capabilities, ClickSoftware's customers can better meet the evolving expectations of their customers." Fieldbit's hands-free, real-time augmented reality (AR) visual collaboration solution empowers service organizations' field workforce and end users to restore equipment uptime faster than ever before, by enabling on-site engineers to collaborate with service center experts on complex machinery fixes. Fieldbit's proprietary out-of-the-box, enterprise class solution combines live video streaming, commercially available smart glasses, and cloud computing to create one shared view of equipment. This shared view can be augmented with superimposed graphic and video annotations delivered in real time, helping the on-site engineer to effortlessly zero in on what needs to be fixed and how. The benefits are increased productivity for end users, and complete knowledge capture of service procedures to help field service companies overcome the challenges of an aging workforce, a shortage in trained professionals, and increasing MRO complexity. "The field service industry has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of AR solutions," said Evyatar Meiron, CEO of Fieldbit. "We are delighted to be able to add value to ClickSoftware customers by delivering a faster, more effective field service once the workforce arrives on site. The new partnership will also enable ClickSoftware to optimize the deployment of field service teams, for the benefit of end customers." GreenRoad is a global leader in fleet performance management solutions, helping organizations achieve greater productivity and improved safety and performance through real-time actionable data. GreenRoad's advanced technology and analytics help organizations of all types improve driver safety, increase operational efficiencies, and maintain corporate and regulatory compliance while reducing overall risk. GreenRoad engages drivers directly to generate meaningful, lasting change through real-time, in-vehicle feedback and highly effective change management methodology. "We are delighted to partner with ClickSoftware as they have a sterling reputation as the most reliable and effective field service management solution available for organizations worldwide," commented GreenRoad CEO, Zeev Braude. "At a time when field service organizations are being asked to optimize their operations even further, while keeping a keen eye on overall safety of the employees, we see the combination of ClickSoftware and GreenRoad as a great resource to tackle this ever present and growing challenge." About ClickSoftware ClickSoftware is defining field service engagement, empowering the world's most customer-centric and demanding organizations to optimize the full potential of every service interaction. With ClickSoftware, field service becomes the new competitive lever to drive differentiation and business value. The Click Field Service Edge Platform arms field service leaders with the smartest technologies, a limitless technology-forward platform, and the knowledge gained from a global community of best practices. Exclusively focused on field service since creating the market, ClickSoftware has managed billions of service engagements and is relied upon by nearly a million field service professionals every day. The company is the recognized market and technology leader by analyst firms including Gartner, IDC and Frost & Sullivan. ClickSoftware is the field service solution of choice for Salesforce, SAP and top systems integrators. More than 350 global enterprises across 20+ industries tap into ClickSoftware for the world's smartest thinking in field service. ClickSoftware: the field service leader. For more information, please visit http://www.clicksoftware.com. Follow us on Twitter. Related Links http://www.clicksoftware.com SOURCE ClickSoftware - Independent survey of patient groups rates ConvaTec #1 overall for corporate reputation in the Medical Device industry - ConvaTec U.S. subsidiary company 180 Medical receives Better Business Bureau recognition and named to Best Places to Work list by employees LUXEMBOURG, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ConvaTec, a leading global medical technology company, has the best corporate reputation in the medical device industry, according to a global survey of patient groups released today by Patient View, an independent UK-based research organization. In addition, ConvaTec U.S. subsidiary 180 Medical has received the Torch Award for Ethics from the Better Business Bureau of Central Oklahoma, and named one of the Best Places to Work in Oklahoma by OKC.biz for the seventh year. ConvaTec has the overall top position in the Patient View survey, which was conducted with 582 patient advocacy groups from June-August 2016, and was rated number one in three of the seven categories used to measure corporate reputation. Overall, the company topped the list of 33 medical device companies, including Boston Scientific (second), Novo Nordisk (third), Coloplast (fourth), and Hollister (fifth). "At ConvaTec, we exist to improve the lives of the people we touch," said Symeria Hudson, President, Global Franchises and Innovation, ConvaTec. "These recognitions, coming from people who use and depend on our products and services every day, and from the community in which we live and work, mean a lot to everyone at ConvaTec and 180 Medical." "Across all of our franchises ostomy care, advanced wound care, continence and critical care, and infusion devices we are committed to helping people with chronic health conditions live the life they want, and giving them more mobility, confidence and freedom." "Patients are at the center of everything we do and, as the landscape of healthcare continues to evolve, now more than ever people with stomas and chronic conditions are beginning to demand more control over their condition and seeking more meaningful answers. At ConvaTec, we want to help drive this new attitude of empowerment as the future of care in the areas we serve." The Corporate Reputation of the Medical Device Industry, 2015-2016 The Perspective of 582 Patient Groups The Patient View survey, now in its fifth year, examines the reputation of the medical devices industry as a whole and provides individual ratings for medical device companies. This year's survey was conducted with 582 patient groups, covering a wide range of specialties, from 62 countries. Patient groups were asked to rate 33 companies across seven indicators of corporate reputation: Whether the company has an effective patient-centred strategy The quality of information the company provides to patients The company's record on patient safety The usefulness to patients of the company's products The company's record of transparency with external stakeholders Whether the company acts with integrity The effectiveness of the company's patient group relations The 33 companies analyzed in the 2015-16 survey were: 3M Healthcare I Abbott Laboratories I Alcon I B. Braun Melsungen AG I Bausch + Lomb I Baxter International I BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) I Biotronik International I Boston Scientific I Coloplast A/S I ConvaTec I Dansac I Fresenius Medical Care I GE Healthcare I Hartmann Group I Hitachi I Hollister I Invacare I Johnson & Johnson I Medtronic I Molnlycke Health Care I Novo Nordisk A/S I Olympus Medical Business I Omron I Ortho Clinical Diagnostics I Philips Healthcare I Roche Diagnostics I Sanofi I Siemens Healthcare I Smith & Nephew I St Jude Medical I Stryker I Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation For more information about the Patient View survey, visit www.patient-view.com For more information about ConvaTec, visit www.convatec.com About ConvaTec ConvaTec is a global medical products and technologies company focused on therapies for the management of chronic conditions, with leading market positions in advanced wound care, ostomy care, continence and critical care, and infusion devices. ConvaTec's products provide a range of clinical and economic benefits including infection prevention, protection of at-risk skin, improved patient outcomes and reduced total cost of care. The company is owned by Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Partners. 2016 ConvaTec Inc. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. AP-016921-MM Contact: Punnie Donohue ConvaTec punnie.donohue@convatec.com Related Links http://www.convatec.com SOURCE ConvaTec LANZHOU, Chine, le 20 septembre 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Des delegations de 85 pays, cinq organisations internationales et 66 institutions etrangeres participeront a la Silk Road International Cultural Expo (Exposition culturelle internationale de la Route de la soie) dans la ville de Dunhuang, situee dans la province de Gansu, dans le nord-ouest de la Chine, a partir de mardi. Selon le directeur adjoint de l'exposition, Liang Yanshun, une conference au sommet, cinq sous-forums et cinq forums speciaux se tiendront pendant les deux jours de l'evenement a venir avec des suggestions constructives sur l'echange culturel et la cooperation intergouvernementale. Une exposition de plus 8000 exposants sera consacree aux realisations culturelles de plus de 60 pays le long de la Ceinture et de la Route. L'exposition est l'unique festival culturel international specifiquement consacre aux pays de la Ceinture et de la Route. La province de Gansu prevoit de signer 10 accords avec les pays et organisations internationales participants, ainsi que pres de 90 accords de cooperation culturelle d'un montant superieur a 100 milliards de yuans (15 milliards USD). Liens vers les images jointes : http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=276305 http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=276306 Related Links http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=276306 SOURCE Publicity Team of the Executive Committee for the Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo LONDON and MEXICO CITY, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Drayson Technologies expands operations, open ing a new sales office in Mexico City The new office will make the company's full suite of technologies and products available across the entire Latin American market Drayson Technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) platform company, is today announcing an expansion of its operations to Latin America with the opening of a new sales office in Mexico City. The expansion will see the company's full suite of technologies and products made commercially available across Latin America, with commercial deals in the region soon to be announced. The opening of the office is a natural next step for Drayson Technologies due to regional links through Co-founder, Dr Manuel Pinuela. A Mexican citizen, Pinuela began his academic and business career in Mexico before moving to the U.K. to study for his PhD which was part funded by the Mexican government. It was here he subsequently met Lord Drayson and co-founded the business. Lord Paul Drayson, Chairman and CEO, Drayson Technologies, said: "I am delighted with the strong level of interest in the Company's products that we are experiencing in the Latin American market which reflects the region's dynamism and enthusiasm for innovation. It is fantastic to work alongside Dr Pinuela and to see him bring his inventions home." Dr Manuel Pinuela, CTO and Managing Director Latin America, Drayson Technologies, said: "The technology market in Latin America is expanding rapidly. We're proud to introduce our innovative IoT solutions to the region. We have already identified applications for our products across smart city, agricultural, health, and transport areas as we bring wireless charging and machine learning to businesses and government in Latin America." The Internet of Things is the interconnection of physical devices, such as sensors, enabled with network connectivity to collect and exchange data. The vast amounts of data that IoT networks are collecting has made energy consumption a mission critical consideration for companies looking to implement them. Drayson Technologies has developed technology solutions that enable the energy-efficient and cost-effective development and operation of IoT networks. A central point of focus for Drayson Technologies will be on deploying its air pollution monitoring network, CleanSpace. A number of major cities in Latin America suffer from air pollution; Mexico City raised an air pollution alert in March this year in response to its worst air quality in over a decade[1]. CleanSpace uses a machine-learning network of connected smart sensors to create an advanced map of air pollution. This map enables people to "see the air they breathe" on a street-by-street level, helping enterprises and municipalities in Mexico and other major cities in Latin America improve air quality and make their cities smarter. Drayson Technologies plans to implement its solutions across vital Latin American industries such as agriculture. Aura, an IoT network developed by Drayson Technologies, uses sensors to measure temperature, humidity and pollution conditions to automatically optimise greenhouse conditions on a large scale, helping farmers to maximise plant and crop yield. With agriculture accounting for 3.71 per cent of Mexican GDP[2], the potential benefit of IoT solutions like Aura is significant. About Drayson Technologies Drayson Technologies Limited is an internet of things (IoT) platform company headquartered in London, UK. It has developed proprietary wireless charging technology and machine learning software to create smart sensor networks that generate actionable insights to improve people's lives and deliver value to business customers. For more information on Drayson Technologies please visit: http://www.draysontechnologies.com [1] Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-pollution-idUSKCN0WH06M [2] World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?locations=MX Press Contact drayson@eulogy.co.uk +44-(0)203-077-2000 SOURCE Drayson Technologies LONDON, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At a special meeting in Budapest on September 9th, European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, Energy Commissioner, Miguel Arias Canete, and Energy Ministers from 12 EU and Energy Community countries in Central and South Eastern Europe, gathered to share updates on the progress of the European Commission Initiative on Central and South-Eastern European Gas Connectivity (CESEC). During this prestigious gathering, the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria (BRUA) Connecting Europe Facility Grant agreement of 179 million was signed. In addition, the relevant Government representatives and Transmission System Operators (TSOs) from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary signed joint statements on cooperation for gas projects along the "Vertical Corridor" spanning their territories. Furthermore, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the TSOs from Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece on reverse flows on the Trans Balkan Pipeline (TBP) crowned a productive day for European natural gas stakeholders. Meanwhile, in Paris on September 14th, Alexey Miller, Chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee led a delegation from the world's largest gas producer to hold talks with his counterpart, Jean-Bernard Levy, Chairman and CEO of EDF as well as Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ENGIE. Gazprom and EDF focused talks on creating new routes for Russian gas exports to Europe in the light of the resumed TurkStream project with Turkey's BOTAS. There is little doubt that the race to secure market share for the future of European gas supply is significantly increasing. Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman, Gazprom will deliver a keynote address to the 31st European Autumn Gas Conference (EAGC) this November 14-16 in The Hague focusing on Russian proximity and pricing. Joining Mr. Medvedev at the EAGC's World Forum venue will be Marjan van Loon, President-Director, Shell Netherlands as well as senior executives from Statoil, ENGIE, Uniper, RWE, BP, WINGAS GmbH, Cheniere, GasTerra, Total, Iberdrola, Gasunie, ACER, KVGN, Nord Stream-2 and others to debate the critical natural gas issues for Europe in a post COP-21 world. This November's EAGC will provide Europe's premier meeting platform to engage in high-level business networking and knowledge-sharing for gas traders, operators, TSOs, regulators, analysts and consultants in shaping Europe's energy future. Comprehensive updates can be found at: http://www.theeagc.com SOURCE European Autumn Gas Conference (EAGC) SEOUL, South Korea, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- InMobi, a global mobile advertising and discovery platform, announced today that it is launching a mobile remarketing platform, powered by Miip, in South Korea. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150914/266030LOGO ) M-commerce sales in South Korea already account for 50% of overall retail e-commerce sales. Projected to grow to $29 billion over the next 3 years, m-commerce in the country is growing at a CAGR of 26.5%, higher than both e-commerce and retail. InMobi's remarketing solution, powered by Miip, will serve as a catalyst for online retailers to maximize revenues in this vibrant mobile commerce market. Miip includes a series of innovations around ad experiences and targeting to improve user experience and ROI for advertisers. The remarketing platform helps advertisers activate users to make their first purchase, re-target existing users to drive incremental sales and re-activate dormant users. Unlike other solutions, InMobi's Software Development Kit (SDK) is also directly integrated with 30,000+ mobile apps that enable creative control to deliver a compelling storefront-like experience to users through engaging ads. InMobi's remarketing platform has already delivered results exceeding industry benchmarks, for the biggest e-commerce companies globally, including Myntra and PayTM in India, and Nuomi in China. Organizations have seen up to 7% of mobile sales being driven through InMobi's remarketing platform and an ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) of 7. Commenting on the launch of the remarketing platform in South Korea, Jayesh Easwaramony, VP and GM of APAC, Middle East and Africa at at InMobi said, "The remarketing platform will be critical in enabling e-commerce businesses in South Korea to extend beyond driving brand awareness and app installs, to increasing sales and transactions through mobile advertising. InMobi, with its reach of 28 mn unique users, and unique mobile-first advantage will serve as a catalyst for online retailers to scale their mobile revenues." For more information on the remarketing platform, click here. About InMobi InMobi enables consumers to discover new products and services by providing contextual and personalized ad experiences on mobile devices. Through its revolutionary advertising and discovery platform, app developers, merchants and brands can engage mobile consumers globally. Recognized by Fast Company as one amongst the Most Innovative Companies in the world for 2016, InMobi reaches over 1.5+ billion unique mobile devices worldwide. Media Contacts: Supriya Goswami InMobi +91-9845384141 pr@inmobi.com SOURCE InMobi ARLINGTON, Virginia, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In advance of the 70th Congress of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) in Madrid, Bloomberg BNA is spotlighting its focus on EU state aid cases at the conference, taking place 25-30 September at the Feria de Madrid North Convention and Congress Centre. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120110/DC33627LOGO "In the wake of the European Commission's recent ruling against Apple, Inc., transfer pricing issues remain front and center as the Commission continues its aggressive probe into multinationals' tax agreements with several EU member states," said Lisa Fitzpatrick, Vice President and General Manager, Bloomberg BNA Tax & Accounting. "As a premier provider of international tax research, we are uniquely positioned to assemble this distinguished panel of experts to discuss the latest developments in a number of cases that have the potential to dramatically impact transfer pricing planning." On Tuesday, 27 September from 16:00 to 17:15, Bloomberg BNA will convene a panel of experts with diverse perspectives representing the European Commission, the U.S. Treasury and law firms in EU countries with outstanding state aid cases to shed light on this volatile issue. Panelists include: Karl Soukup , Director, Directorate General Competition, European Commission , Director, Directorate General Competition, European Commission Robert Stack , Deputy Assistant Secretary (International Tax Affairs), U.S. Department of Treasury , Deputy Assistant Secretary (International Tax Affairs), U.S. Department of Treasury Joe Duffy , Partner, Matheson, Dublin , Partner, Matheson, Pascal Faes, Esq. , Tax Partner, NautaDutilh, Brussels , Tax Partner, NautaDutilh, Jacques Malherbe , Liedekerke, Brussels , Liedekerke, Peter Moons, Esq. , Partner, Loyens & Loeff, Luxembourg , Partner, Loyens & Loeff, Kevin Bell , Senior Reporter, Bloomberg BNA (moderator) Bloomberg BNA will also be hosting a special reception to honor its network of Tax Management Portfolio authors and contributors from across the globe. The event takes place at the Hotel Ritz on Monday, 26 September from 17:30 - 20:15. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with prominent thought leaders in tax and share perspectives on key international tax issues. Bloomberg BNA, a Gold Sponsor of the Congress, is exhibiting at the event and will be showcasing its Premier International Tax Library. This comprehensive research solution features content developed by leading in-country experts, including the Tax Management Portfolios, BEPS Tracker, practice tools, primary source materials, and essential news and analysis of current issues. About Bloomberg BNA Bloomberg BNA provides legal, tax and compliance professionals with critical information, practical guidance and workflow solutions. We leverage leading technology and a global network of experts to deliver a unique combination of news and authoritative analysis, comprehensive research solutions, innovative practice tools, and proprietary business data and analytics. Bloomberg BNA is wholly-owned by Bloomberg L.P., the global business, financial information and news leader. For more information, visit www.bna.com. Related Links http://www.bna.com SOURCE Bloomberg BNA BOSTON and TELTOW, Germany, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology to be demonstrated through live virtual research at Kantar Retail booth Kantar Retail, the global retail and shopper specialist, has teamed up with innovators in eye tracking SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), to create a virtual shopping experience that provides precise shopper data in a fully controlled environment. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409692 ) The technology, which utilizes the top-selling Samsung Gear VR head-mounted display (HMD) modified with SMI's eye tracking platform to give real-time information about a shopper's visual attention in a virtual store, will be introduced at the Kantar Retail booth, #601, during the Path to Purchase Expo in Chicago, September 20th through the 22nd. Immersive Eye Tracking reveals new insights as to how consumers react to signage, displays, products and packaging. This behavioural information can be used to optimize marketing campaigns, product launches, category reviews or merchandising solutions. From the eye-tracking for market research perspective, VR adds a new dimension to shopper studies - total 360 immersion. Such immersive environments are easily manipulated and can be perfectly replicated anywhere in the world. Earlier in 2016 in London, SMI and Kantar trialed the eye tracking HMD using a virtual fast food environment with encouraging results. Kantar Retail will showcase the technology's capability through live demos at their booth. Participants will be moved through the virtual store with instructions to find a target product on the shelf display. At the end of P2PX 2016, SMI will aggregate and process the data accumulated during the event with Kantar Retail analyzing and interpreting the research for publication. About Kantar Retail We are the retail and shopper specialists. We are a leading retail and shopper insight, consulting and analytics and technology business and part of Kantar, the data investment management division of WPP. We work with leading brand manufacturers and retailers to help them sell more effectively and profitably. At Kantar Retail, we track and forecast over 1,000 retailers, globally and have purchase data on over 200 million shoppers. Amongst our market leading reports are the annual PoweRanking survey and the Digital Power Study. Kantar Retail works with over 400 clients and has 26 offices in 15 markets around the globe. For further information, please visit http://www.kantarretail.com, or find us on Twitter and LinkedIn. About SMI SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) has been a world leader in eye tracking technology for 25 years, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking systems for scientists and professionals, as well as OEM and medical solutions for a wide range of applications. Find out more at http://www.smivision.com. Follow @SMIeyetracking on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter. Contact for Kantar Retail media queries in the U.S.: William Daddi Daddi Brand Communications Office: +1-646-370-1341 E-mail: Bill@DaddiBrand.com Contact for Kantar Retail media queries in Europe: Victoria Bradshaw Global Communications Manager Office: +44-(0)1372-825-391 E-mail: victoria.bradshaw@kantarretail.com Contact for SMI: SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI) Tim Stott +49-(0)162-271-61-66 tim.stott@smi.de SOURCE SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI) Political engagement must be renewed, says global organization GAZIANTEP, Turkey, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the deaths of aid workers in an air strike Monday on a United Nations/Red Crescent convoy, the global organization Mercy Corps confirms that it will continue to deliver lifesaving aid in the war-torn country. All Mercy Corps team members in Syria are safe and accounted for, and Mercy Corps continues to provide critical services. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110818/DC54665LOGO-a "We are shocked, horrified and deeply saddened at the unnecessary loss of life. When something like this happens, we of course take stock and ensure that we are not unduly putting our staff, partners or the people we are helping in harm's way," says Dominic Graham, Syria Response Director for Mercy Corps. "But the need is much too great for us even to consider stopping." Mercy Corps calls for all parties to the conflict to guarantee the safety of aid workers and civilians, and for the international community to redouble their efforts to end the bloody conflict. "Despite setbacks, political engagement and effort must be renewed so that humanitarian needs are recognized and prioritized by all parties to the conflict," says Graham. "We must have safe, unfettered access to help alleviate the suffering of the tens of thousands of innocent men, woman and children who are trapped in the crossfires." Mercy Corps has the largest NGO aid operation in Syria, reaching some 680,000 people each month. Join us and support Mercy Corps' work in Syria and elsewhere in the world. Related Links http://www.mercycorps.org SOURCE Mercy Corps Comprehensive Sea/Air/Land Freight and Logistics Solutions Offered Across South Africa from Durban Headquarters DURBAN, South Africa, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- OL International Holdings LLC (OL International) today announced the launch of Oceanwide Logistics SA (Pty) Ltd (OL South Africa) with the opening of its newest office in Umhlanga, Durban. OL South Africa joins the company's growing global NVOCC network of 19 offices and more than 120 agents worldwide, many of which are part of the Oceanwide Logistics Global Network. This integrated network allows OL International to deliver powerful and seamless service to and from South Africa and ports around the world. OL South Africa will be led by Managing Director Bruce Stephenson, a 30-plus-year industry veteran who previously led sales, marketing, trade lane development, and procurement efforts for OL agents in South Africa. A fixture in the industry, in the late 1980s he was a member of the team that launched Hellmann Worldwide Logistics in South Africa, and at the age of 34 was named Managing Director of Translogic Shipping, then the nation's largest agent through the port of Durban. "We are thrilled to be able to leverage the full power of the Oceanwide Logistics Global Network to deliver for our clients across all air and ocean ports in South Africa," said Mr. Stephenson. "In a world where peak efficiency and accuracy are critical components of success, we are proud that industry-leading features like Track & Trace and EDI-fed reporting directly from carriers will keep clients updated in real-time. Advanced technology combined with decades of local logistical expertise make for a powerful package that we are very excited about." "Opening a company office to manage all of South Africa is a strategic part of OL International's global expansion," stated Alan Baer President of OL International. "The Port of Durban is the busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa, and the 4th largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere. It acts as an essential gateway for 'South-South' trade, and connects Asia, Europe, and the Americas, as well as trade between East and West Africa." Mr. Stephenson and his team have built a track record of applying fresh thinking to overcome challenges and deliver superior service. Their ability to develop innovative solutions to any challenge has won the appreciation and loyalty of clients. Shippers are encouraged to contact the Durban headquarters to learn more about our services at +27 (0) 87 357 9000 or southafrica@oceanwidelogistics.com. About OL International Holdings LLC: OL International Holdings LLC is a non-asset-based international logistics company headquartered in Westbury, New York. Serving primarily as a Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC), the Company provides sophisticated ocean, land, and air freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and warehouse solutions. The Company operates through a network of company offices and 120 independent, agent-owned offices worldwide. OL International is a member of the Oceanwide Logistics Global Network. For more information about OL International please visit: www.oliholdings.com Media Contact: David Kaiyalethe +1 917 826 2824 david@askcomms.com Related Links http://www.oliholdings.com SOURCE OL International Holdings LLC LONDON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- AvantCredit announced today, that with effect from 5th September, it is now fully authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA is the conduct regulator for 56,000 financial services firms and financial markets in the UK and the prudential regulator for over 24,000 of those firms. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160913/407278LOGO AvantCredit have operated in the UK since October 2013 and has issued more than 70,000 loans to date, totaling nearly 200 million. The full authorisation covers all of AvantCredit's credit and lending operations and includes permissions for credit broking, debt collection and debt administration. Raj Singh, Managing Director of AvantCredit said: "Full authorisation from the FCA is a significant step forward as we enter our next phase of growth. The customer is our number one priority and AvantCredit will always uphold the highest of standards and consumer protection policies. We are proud to be one of the first companies providing better access to affordable credit for middle-income consumers to receive this distinction." AvantCredit offer unsecured personal loans ranging from 1,000-20,000 with loan terms ranging from 12 to 48 months. Customers apply online and may receive a credit decision within seconds, with funding available as soon as the same business day. The FCA authorisation is the latest in a recent string of milestones for AvantCredit. Earlier this year the company secured 130 million GBP in debt financing from a number of financial institutions, bringing the total UK debt funding to over 300 million. AvantCredit also announced two non-executive appointments to its UK board of directors, including H. Eugene Lockhart, former Global President and CEO of MasterCard, and John Uphoff, former head of Global Collections, HSBC Retail Banking. Founded in 2012, Avant currently operates in the United States and United Kingdom. Globally, more than 2.6 billion in loans have been issued through the Avant platform, serving more than 500,000 customers. About AvantCredit AvantCredit are a technology lending platform lowering the costs and barriers of borrowing for consumers. Through the use of big data and machine-learning algorithms, the company offers a customised approach to credit options. Globally, AvantCredit has secured approximately 450 million in equity funding, 1.3 billion in debt funding and issued more than 500,000 loans. AvantCredit are fully authorised by the FCA and focused on continuing to scale the UK operations. For more information, please visit www.avantcredit.co.uk. Media Contact: Carolyn Blackman Gasbarra AvantCredit +1-312-763-7510 carolyn.blackman@avant.com Related Links http://www.avantcredit.co.uk SOURCE AvantCredit ALBANY, New York, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The global market for prepacked chromatography columns market is immensely consolidated, with the top two players accounting for a 78% share in the market in 2015. Of these, GE Healthcare has been the clear leader, dominating over more than half the prepacked chromatography market that year. Repligen, on the other hand, has been gaining momentum over the years, giving its competitor a run for its money by focusing mainly on single-use or disposable manufacturing facilities. The opportunity in the global prepacked chromatography columns market is anticipated to rise US$1.6 bn in 2015 to be worth US$3.3 bn by 2024. If these values hold true, the market is estimated to register a CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period. Transparency Market Research has found that some of the smaller players have been emphasizing on strategies such as competitive pricing, offering customized products, engaging in symbiotic alliances, and expanding their product portfolio to gain a share in the global prepacked chromatography columns market. For instance, in May 2016, Agilent Technologies launched the Agilent 1260 Infinity II liquid chromatography system so as to reduce its operational costs, improve overall usability, and strengthen its position in the global market. Browse market research report on Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/prepacked-chromatography-columns-market.html Growing Usage of Prepacked Chromatography Columns in Sample Preparation Based on product type, the prepacked chromatography columns market is led by the >1L segment, which accounted for a share of just short of 50% in 2015. This segment is also anticipated to expand at a pace greater than the other segments, reporting a CAGR of 8.7% from 2016 to 2024. By technique, hydrophobic stationary phase chromatography held a major share in the prepacked chromatography columns market, with multimodal chromatography expanding at the fastest pace. On the basis of application, the sample preparation segment accounted for the leading share in the market while protein purification is forecast to report a high growth rate. Based on end use, the prepacked chromatography columns market was dominated by pharmaceutical biotechnology, and analytical laboratories are anticipated to emerge as the most lucrative end-use segment. Request a Free PDF Brochure with Report Analysis: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6014 Geographically, North America accounted for a major share of 33.9% in the global prepacked chromatography columns market in 2015. Retaining its lead throughout the forecast period, the demand for chromatographic techniques is anticipated to rise in the region. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is poised to grow at an impressive 10.2% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. Wide Range of Application of Prepacked Chromatography Columns a Major Growth Driver "Prepacked chromatography columns are well suited for various industries for the separation as well as detection of organic molecules and components," the lead analyst notes. As a result, these columns play a significant role in the production of biopharmaceutical products. Prepacked chromatography columns are also used in industries such as biotechnology, food and beverages, agriculture, chemicals, research, and forensics. This wide range of application is a key factor boosting the global market. "The number of monoclonal antibodies used in clinical trials and those approved for various therapeutic applications has significantly increased in recent years," the TMR analyst states. This growing need for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies has also supported the prepacked chromatography columns market. In contrast, the economic slowdown in several countries over the past decade has had a considerable impact on government budgets and funding when it comes to research within the healthcare sector. This has adversely impacted the global market for prepacked chromatography columns market. Moreover, the high prices of columns and limitations resulting from clogging and fouling act as deterrents to the market. This review is based on the findings of a TMR report titled "Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market: (Product Type - 1-100 ml, 100-1000 ml, and >1L; Technique - Hydrophobic Stationary Phase, Ion Exchange Chromatography, Affinity Chromatography, Multimodal Chromatography, Gel Filtration, and Others; Application Type - Sample Preparation, Resin Screening, Protein Purification, Anion and Cation Exchange, and Desalting; End-user - Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Food and Beverage, Agriculture and Environmental, Nutraceutical, Academics and Research, and Analytical Laboratories) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024." Browse Regional Press Release on Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market: http://www.europlat.org/prepacked-chromatography-columns-market.htm Global Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market, by Product Type 1-100 ml 100-1000 ml >1L Global Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market, by Technique Hydrophobic Stationary Phase Ion Exchange Chromatography Affinity Chromatography Multimodal Chromatography Gel Filtration Others Global Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market, by Application Sample Preparation Resin Screening Protein Purification Anion and Cation exchange Desalting Global Prepacked Chromatography Columns Market, by End User Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Food and Beverage Agriculture and Environmental Nutraceuticals Academics and Research Analytical Laboratories Browse Related Research Reports: Metabolomics Market: By Technique & Application (Gas Chromatography, Capillary Electrophoresis, High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Mass Spectrometry, Drug Assessment, Biomarker Discovery, Nutrigenomics, Clinical Toxicology) - Global Forecast - 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/metabolomics-market.html Sample Preparation Market: By Technique & Product (Technique Solid Phase Extraction, Liquid-liquid Extraction, Protein Precipitation; Product - Sample Preparation Instruments, Consumables, Sample Preparation Kits, Accessories; End-user - Pharmaceutical Industries, Biotechnology, Diagnostic Laboratories, Academic Institutes; Application - Genomics, Proteomics, Epigenomics, Transcriptomics, Metabolomics) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample-preparation-market.html About Us: Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S. based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMR's global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations. US Office Contact Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Blog: http://www.tmrblog.com/ SOURCE Transparency Market Research JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fractal Analytics (http://www.fractalanalytics.com), a leading global provider of analytics, will host its fourth Annual Client Advisory Board (CAB) event on September 28-29 in Chicago. CAB is a cross-industry, cross-functional event to share insights and learning between CAB members and Fractal that facilitate enhanced data-driven decisions and institutionalize enterprise-wide adoption of analytics. This year's CAB will feature keynotes from prominent deep learning scholar Li Deng, Chief Scientist of AI, Microsoft, and renowned law scholar, author and behavioral economist, Professor Cass Sunstein of Harvard University. #CAB2016 is a private event by special invitation. CAB attendees are C-level to Global Directors in marketing, data science, analytics, technology and business across consumer goods, retail, healthcare, financial services, insurance, technology and media among Fractal's Fortune 500 clients. Learn more about #CAB2016. "Our mission is to 'Power every human decision in the enterprises we serve', and CAB is the perfect platform for all participants to share, learn, and steer the direction of the analytics industry," said Pranay Agrawal, Co-founder and Chief Client Officer. #CAB2016 will comprise keynotes, a panel and workshops collaboratively led by CAB members and Fractal thought leaders. The sessions are designed to further the development and adoption of advanced analytics and with a focus on emerging artificial intelligence (AI). The two-day event will cover: - Key trends in the opportunities and impact of analytics and AI, and how they are transforming our world across industry sectors - Shared perspectives on the key drivers of analytics success that can shift organizations from gut decisions to algorithms to drive faster, more accurate and more effective decisions - Key considerations when building an analytics roadmap and adoption plan Find more about CAB, and follow #CAB2016 to gain insights from the experts on trends in analytics and artificial intelligence. About Fractal Analytics Fractal is a strategic analytics partner to some of the most admired Fortune 500 companies globally and helps them gain competitive advantage through deep understanding of consumers and better data driven decisions. Fractal has offices across 12 global locations, including the United States, UK and India and has been named a 'Cool Vendor in Analytics' and a 'Vendor to Watch' by research advisor Gartner. Fractal is privately held with investors including Khazanah and TA Associates. SOURCE Fractal Analytics ALCESTER, England, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanta Dialysis Technologies Ltd ("Quanta" or the "Company"), a medical device company providing innovative haemodialysis solutions for the clinic and the home, today announces that it will present a poster at a moderated session on Friday 23 October at 11:30am-12:30pm at the 10th International Congress of the International Society of Haemodialysis (ISHD). The Congress will be held from Thursday 22nd to Saturday 24th September, 2016, at the Palais des congres de Marrakech, Marrakech. The poster will report on the results of the first 255 treatments completed using SC+ at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London; and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. The study, designed as an anonymised open-label, single-arm, pilot study was conducted with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) subjects receiving regular haemodialysis. A total of 43 subjects with a mean age of 62 were evaluated on a volunteer basis and each dialysis therapy was performed at an outpatient clinic. Clinical performance of SC+ was assessed by StdKt/V and URR for the study population and usability feedback was collected from nurse operators and study subjects post treatment. SC+ performed consistently across the 255 treatments, with results demonstrating the safety and performance of SC+ as a novel HD system with acceptable clinical and technical performance in the dialysed ESRD subject population. There was no measured loss of therapy time, UF performance was acceptable, no significant usability issues were noted and there were no safety issues or device-related adverse events to report. These results demonstrate that patients dialysed with SC+ achieve adequate clearance using standard treatment regimens traditionally used in-centre. The study is ongoing. The details of the poster at ISHD are as follows: Title: Assessment of the safety, efficacy and usability of the Quanta SC+ haemodialysis system Authors: Dr Charlotte Bebb, Dr Cormac Breen, Dr Clara Day, John E. Milad, Peter Hoyer, Andrew Gardner, Dr Paul May and Dr Hardip Nagra The full poster can be viewed online here: http://www.quantafs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SC-01161-Rev-A-Quanta-Poster-For-ISHD-Marrakech-2016.pdf Quanta will be showcasing its high performance, compact, easy-to-use, haemodialysis system, SC+, which empowers patients through patient led care. It offers clinical efficacy and high flow rates comparable to conventional devices and is compatible with traditional treatment regimens used in-centre. It has been designed to bring flexibility to the dialysis community by allowing a greater choice in treatment frequency and location for dialysis patients. Organized for the first time in Africa, this ISHD International Congress will not only provide a high-level scientific program on the most recent aspects in the field of haemodialysis but also allow for sharing experiences between colleagues from around the world. This meeting has the ambition to focus on scientific, practical and socio-economic challenges across diverse regions, to address the Congress theme: "For a comprehensive, equitable and sustainable access to kidney disease care". There will also be many CNE sessions and workshops for nephrologists and nurses. If you would like to arrange a meeting at the conference with Quanta, please contact enquiries@quantadt.com. About SC+ SC+ supports patients across the continuum of care from the clinic to the home. It is the only high performance, compact, easy-to-use, haemodialysis system. SC+ offers clinical efficacy and high flow rates comparable to conventional devices and is compatible with traditional treatment regimens used in-centre. The technology behind SC+ is based on an innovative and unique design that incorporates all fluid management activities onto a single-use disposable cartridge. This cartridge-based design approach is intended to reduce downtime, simplify treatment complexity and reduce the risk of contamination. SC+ has regulatory approval in Europe (CE mark) and is currently being used to treat patients in the UK. About Quanta Quanta aims to improve the lives of dialysis patients by providing advanced haemodialysis solutions for use in the clinic and the home. Quanta's lead product SC+ is the only high performance, compact, easy-to-use haemodialysis system which empowers patients through patient led care. Quanta, based in Alcester, UK, was founded in 2008 and has attracted funding from a group of leading investors including: NBGI Ventures, Wellington Partners, Seroba, b-to-v Partners, ALIAD, Seventure Partners and Kuwait Life Sciences Company, as well as IMI plc. For more information please visit: http://www.quantadt.com. For more information about Quanta, please contact: Quanta John E. Milad, Chief Executive Officer T: +44(0)1789-400043 E: enquiries@quantadt.com Consilium Strategic Communications Julia Wilson / Matthew Neal / Lindsey Neville T: +44(0)203-709-5708 E: quanta@consilium-comms.com SOURCE Quanta PARIS, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- - Sylpheo acquisition enables Renault-Nissan to accelerate its connectivity and mobility technology capabilities - 40 engineers and consultants will bring their development expertise to the Alliance The Renault-Nissan Alliance is acquiring the French software-development company Sylpheo to accelerate the expansion of its connected vehicle and mobility services programs. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140130/666713-a ) The acquisition was announced today by Ogi Redzic, Alliance Senior Vice President of Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services. "The Sylpheo team of software developers and cloud engineers joining the Alliance will have a unique opportunity to work on our next generation of connected cars and other advanced technologies," Redzic said. "They will be playing a critical role in this new era of tremendous change for the global auto industry." The Alliance will launch more than 10 vehicles with autonomous drive technology by 2020. Widespread connected car technology will improve the ownership experience, enable the Alliance to offer innovative new services to customers, and drive increased business efficiency. This acquisition is the Alliance's latest step toward accelerating that development. Following Redzic's appointment in January to lead the mobility and connectivity services team, the world's fourth largest car group launched a recruitment campaign to hire 300 technology experts. "Sylpheo's team of 40 engineers and consultants will bring software development and cloud engineering expertise to the organization. The technology they will help develop will mean better products and services for our customers and efficiency for our business. The acquisition of Sylpheo is just one of many steps Renault-Nissan Alliance is taking to ensure its continued innovation leadership in the automotive industry," Redzic added. The acquisition reflects Renault-Nissan's ongoing commitment toward creating an automotive future with zero emissions and zero fatalities. Whether it is electric vehicles, autonomous drive or connectivity services, the Alliance strategy is to incorporate advanced technology on mass market vehicles at affordable prices. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. For the entire Press release please click here: http://www.media.blog.alliance-renault-nissan.com/news/5990 MEDIA CONTACTS Blanca Garcia Renault-Nissan Alliance Tel: +33(6)10-90-06-49 blanca.garcia@renault-nissan.com SOURCE Renault-Nissan Alliance MILAN, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Zambon SpA, the pharmaceutical company of the group Zambon, has appointed Roberto Tascione as new CEO to drive the business on a global scale. Tascione, 54 years, has a long experience in the pharmaceutical sector and started his career at Bristol Myers Squibb Italy, before leading the Primary Care and OTC divisions of Schering Plough. From 2009 to 2014 he was CEO of Gilead Italy and on May 2014 he returned to Bristol Myers Squibb as President and Chief Executive Officer Italy. Tascione also served on the General Council of Confindustria and was member of Farmindustria Board and the Committee for the Ethical Code. "Zambon is a leading Italian excellence, with a strong tradition and a strong international outlook dating back to the '50s," said Tascione . " I am very proud to drive the company in this new stage of growth, look at new business opportunities and strengthen our international network." Elena Zambon, President of Zambon Spa, commented "I believe that a company with 110 years of history needs to rethink its role in providing innovative therapeutic solutions to patients. We are sure that Roberto Tascione with his long-standing experience in this sector will help us reach important goals. With him we share the vision of an Open Company model that puts great attention to the development of internal talent in order for them to become agents of change." About Zambon Zambon is an Italian family business operating in the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals for 110 years with more than 2,800 employees in 19 countries in 3 continents, Europe, America and Asia. In 2015 the Group reported revenues for 670 million Euro, with 566.9 million Euro resulting from the pharmaceutical business. Founded in 1906 in Vicenza, Zambon has earned over the years a strong international reputation thanks to its high quality products and services. Zambon is well-established in 3 therapeutic areas: respiratory, pain and woman care in addition to orphan drugs such as cystic fibrosis and treatments for Parkinson's Disease in the Central Nervous System. Zambon manufacturing is done in Italy, Switzerland, France, Brazil and China and its products are commercialized in 84 countries. For more information: http://www.zambongroup.com. Luca Primavera - CCO Phone: +39-02-66524491 Mobile: +39-335-7247417 Email: luca.primavera@zambongroup.com Milva Naguib - Media Relations Phone: +39-02-66524095 Mobile: +39-3459215675 Email: milva.naguib@zambongroup.com SOURCE Zambon MAIDENHEAD, England, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Toy experts at Britain's biggest toy store, have unveiled their very own list of 14 Superstars, which are expected to dominate kids' Christmas lists this year - and it's going to be a hard-fought battle between tech toys versus popular collectibles and characters. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160916/408728 ) The must-have Superstars guide, has been published by Toys"R"Us, and includes everything from a 20 Shopkins Truck to a 200 Robotic Dog called Chip. Some of the country's most popular toy superstars are expected to be snapped up by consumers over the next 14 weeks with sales peaking as the Toys "R" Us Christmas catalogue is launched in November. LEGO, Nerf, Shopkins and Num Noms have all been listed, along with pre-school favourites Thomas the Tank and Paw Patrol. The most popular movie character this Christmas is expected to be Hug Time Poppy Doll from the movie Trolls but the Minions have shown up in the list with their version of Pie Face which proved to be a massive YouTube phenomenon last year. Already, the giant toy retailer ehas confirmed that Christmas is well underway as hundreds of customers have taken advantage of the store's 'Take Time To Pay' service, allowing them to order their favourite toys now with a no hassle, no credit check payment plan that will help them spread the cost of Christmas over a 12 week period. This year's tech favourites include Chip the Robot Dog and Furby Connect, although the most expensive toys featured on the list, these toys allow kids to bring physical play from the digital dimension and offer interaction, whereas the least expensive comes in the form of a SelfieMic, a selfie stick and microphone combined that will no doubt become the family favourite over the Christmas holidays as a dedicated 'app' connects tunes via a smartphone (not included). Mike Coogan, Marketing & eCommerce Director for Toys"R"Us, U.K. said, "Parents have a great selection of toys to choose from this year, Tech toys is likely to take the lead but we also have one of our longest standing classic brands with 2 toys listed in our guide - LEGO has evolved with kids, and their ability to offer role play construction associated with popular TV has been epic. Overall, we're thrilled with the diverse offering we're able to provide our customers. At Toys"R"Us, we want to make shopping as easy and simple as possible, it's a fun season and we're already experiencing parents taking full advantage of shopping early in store, online, mobile and through our click and collect service." (in alphabetical order) Toys "R" Us Must-Have Christmas Toys Chip Robot Dog Furby Connect LEGO Friends Party Shop LEGO Ninjago Samurai X Cave Chaos Minions Pie Face: Coming Soon Nerf Tri Strike Num Noms Glossy Lip Gloss Truck Paw Patrol Air Patroller Selfie Mic Shopkins Shoppies Smoothie Truck Star Wars Spinning Lightsaber Thomas Sky High Bridge Set Toys 'R' Us Unicorn Trolls Hug Time Poppy: Coming Soon *Take Time to Pay enables customer to pay a 20% deposit and pay the remaining balance over a 4, 8, or 12 week period. Toys "R" Us will set aside the order until final payment is made SOURCE Toys R Us VILNIUS, Lithuania, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to finance experts, Lithuania has the attributes to become a new hub for investments from financial technology (FinTech) companies, due to its excellent communications and information infrastructure, as well as specialists with novel ideas. On 6 October 2016 the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Lithuania and the City of London Corporation are holding a conference on FinTech for policy developers, regulators, academics and business representatives from the finance sector, plus anyone else interested in the development of the industry. The conference's organisers expect that the event will serve as a platform for the discussion of global FinTech trends. It will also be a great opportunity to consider recent proposals designed to promote the development of the FinTech sector in Lithuania, which have been drafted by the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the Bank of Lithuania. Finance Minister Rasa Budbergyte believes Lithuania has the right conditions to develop a thriving FinTech sector because its people and businesses are adaptable and innovative, and have the enthusiasm to implement new ideas. "We must create the conditions which would promote the establishment of new FinTech companies in Lithuania," urged the Minister. "The development of these state-of-the-art services in Lithuania would not only provide jobs for highly skilled employees, but would also grant access to alternative funding to small and medium-sized businesses. We hope that the conference will be a perfect opportunity to share information and experience before submitting proposals to the Government." Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, believes regulators also have an important role to play in creating the right conditions for innovation in the finance sector. "The rapid changes in the finance sector show that, in order to maintain a competitive and open-to-innovation jurisdiction, regulators need to keep pace with the market," he commented. "This includes the removal of obstacles which were necessary in the past but no longer fit with the present situation, as well as the improvement of infrastructure and the preparation of an appropriate regulatory environment for the finance sector. We have been focusing on these directions for some time already, and hope that the combined effort of all state institutions will speed up these necessary changes," concluded Mr Vasiliauskas. The upcoming conference is a valuable opportunity to hear the insights and suggestions of market representatives and academics with a view to helping Lithuania become a more attractive base for innovative financial technology companies. The conference will take place on 6 October 2016 in Barclays Vilnius Rise (Gyneju g. 14, Vilnius).Please find more information here. Live streaming of the conference will also be available. Public Relations Office Finance Ministry +370-5-239-01-87 vrs@finmin.lt http://www.Finmin.lrv.lt Public Relations Division Communication Department +370-5-268-00-71 Lietuvos Bankas media@lb.lt http://www.lb.lt SOURCE Invest Lithuania DUBLIN, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Vetronics Market by Application (Defense and Homeland Security), Vehicle Type (Main Battle Tank, Light Protected Vehicle, Amphibious Armored Vehicle), Subsystem (Communication, Navigation, C3 Systems, Power Systems) - Global Forecasts to 2021" report to their offering. The vetronics market is projected to grow from USD 2.85 Billion in 2016 to USD 3.51 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 4.30% during the forecast period Various factors, such as network centric warfare, situational awareness, embedded technology system commonality, and shift towards COTS enabled improved SWaP specifications are expected to drive the vetronics market during the forecast period. This market has witnessed substantial growth in recent years. Based on application, the vetronics market has been segmented into defense and homeland security. The defense segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the vetronics market in 2016. The growth of this segment can be attributed to rise in defense spending, especially of emerging economies, such as India and China. Based on vehicle type, the vetronics market has been segmented into main battle tank, light protected vehicles, amphibious armored vehicles, mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and others, which includes military robots, tactical tanks, among others. The light protected vehicles segment is expected grow at the highest rate due to increase in demand for technologically advanced vehicles. Based on subsystem, the vetronics market is segmented into communication & navigation, observation & display systems, C3 systems, weapons control systems, sensor & control systems, vehicle protection systems, and power systems. The observation & display systems segment is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. Factors fueling the growth of this segment include increased demand for technologically advanced cameras as well as rise in demand for computerized systems for effective surveillance. Some of the factors, such as defense budget cuts are expected to restrict the growth of this market. Major players in the vetronics market are Thales Group (U.S.), Raytheon Company (U.S.), Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.), SAAB Group (Sweden), General Dynamics Corporation (U.S.), Curtiss Wright Corporation (U.S.), Elbit Systems (Israel), Leonardo-Finmeccanica SPA (Italy), Harris Corporation (U.S.), Rheinmetall AG (Germany), BAE Systems (U.K.), among others. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Market Overview 6 Industry Trends 7 Vetronics Market, By Application 8 Vetronics Market, By Vehicle Type 9 Vetronics Market, By Subsystem 10 Geographic Analysis 11 Competitive Landscape 12 Company Profiles For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8gk9bp/vetronics_market Related Topics: Tanks and Armored Vehicles Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com SOURCE Research and Markets ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Challenges still exist, but cybersecurity is becoming part of the fabric of government operations, according to the recently-released "2016 Deloitte-National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Cybersecurity Study." Despite an increase in the governor-level awareness of cybersecurity, the most significant challenge for state chief information security officers (CISOs) in 2016 remains a lack of sufficient funding. Most states' cybersecurity budgets are hovering between zero and 2 percent of their overall information technology budget. "There continues to be challenges with proper funding and finding qualified talent, but the good news is that we are seeing positive indications that state CISOs and CIOs are having an impact as communication and collaboration among government is increasing," said Darryl Ackley, NASCIO president and cabinet secretary and CIO for the New Mexico Department of Information Technology. "The survey results spell out a clear message for CISOs: State leaders are paying attention. Take advantage of this focus to make substantial progress," said Srini Subramanian, principal, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and state government cyber risk services leader. "Those CISOs who are able to harness this attention and build stronger relationships with business executives and state legislators have an opportunity to garner more resources and support for their initiatives." Subramanian continued, "For the first time, all respondents report having an enterprise-level CISO position. The CISO role itself has become more consistent in terms of functions and responsibilities. CISOs are also focusing their energies more on what they can control." Key takeaways from the 2016 survey: Governor-level awareness is on the rise. The survey results indicate that governors and other state officials are receiving more frequent updates from CIOs/CISOs. Despite an increase of reporting, a confidence gap still exists between IT and the business, emphasizing the need for better communication of cyber risks. The survey results indicate that governors and other state officials are receiving more frequent updates from CIOs/CISOs. Despite an increase of reporting, a confidence gap still exists between IT and the business, emphasizing the need for better communication of cyber risks. Cybersecurity is becoming part of the fabric of government operations. The state government CISO role has become more consistent in terms of functions and responsibilities. Top three cybersecurity initiatives in 2016 include training and awareness, monitoring/security operations centers, and strategy. The state government CISO role has become more consistent in terms of functions and responsibilities. Top three cybersecurity initiatives in 2016 include training and awareness, monitoring/security operations centers, and strategy. A formal cybersecurity strategy and better communications lead to greater command of resources . States taking a proactive approach to strategy setting and communication are more likely to see improvements in funding and access to talent. Survey shows 16 out of 33 states with an approved strategy reported they had an increase in budget. . States taking a proactive approach to strategy setting and communication are more likely to see improvements in funding and access to talent. Survey shows 16 out of 33 states with an approved strategy reported they had an increase in budget. There is a need to rethink talent strategies. The nature of what states have to offer workers has changed. States are pointing to job stability and the opportunity to "give back and make an impact" as compelling reasons to consider state employment. These along with a rich training and development are becoming the basis to recruit millennial talent. To read the survey, visit www.NASCIO.org/stateofcyber. About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500 companies and 47 US states. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets and inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence. Deloitte's Center for Government Insights produces groundbreaking research to help government solve its most complex problems. Deloitte's Secure.Vigilant.Resilient. cyber risk programs focus on aligning security investments with risk priorities, establishing improved threat awareness and visibility, and strengthening the ability of organizations to thrive in the face of cyber incidents. http://www.deloitte.com/us/state About NASCIO The National Association of State Chief Information Officers is the premier network and resource for state CIOs and a leading advocate for technology policy at all levels of government. NASCIO represents state chief information officers and information technology executives from the states, territories, and the District of Columbia. For more information about NASCIO visit www.nascio.org. As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte & Touche LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160614/379251LOGO SOURCE Deloitte Related Links http://www.deloitte.com/us LISLE, Ill., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS), the only national not-for-profit insurance advisory organization governed by its members, announced today that Marias Technology has joined AAIS as an Alliance Partner and will begin offering its insurance-technology services to AAIS member companies effective September 26. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409580 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409583 Christopher Haines Truman Esmond Marias Technology is a provider of software testing, project management, integrations, implementation, and hosting services. Their staff members had experience working in insurance carriers and agencies before joining Marias. "Marias was selected to become an Alliance Partner because of their experience with policy administration support within the P/C industry, their history of success, and their knowledge of our products. They will provide effective, affordable support for our customers to adopt and implement AAIS programs, seamlessly," said Truman Esmond, VP of Member Engagement and Technology for AAIS. Insurance carriers of all sizes need to make multi-million dollar investments in policy administration systems in order to retain competitive advantage. According to Novarica's US P&C Policy Administration Systems Projects report, "All of insurers' core business issuesspeed-to-market, distributor service, efficiency, and data analyticseventually come back to core policy administration systems." In studies by both Novarica and PWC, correct policy administration can mean success or failure for insurers. PWC's report states, "Approximately 30% of policy administration projects succeed, 50% are challenged, and 20% fail." (www.pwc.com). Since 2008, Marias Technology has enjoyed steady growth due to its testing and integration expertise, as well as its ability to translate complex, important rating and loss cost data into IT language with ease. Key assets to the Marias implementations are flexible responsiveness, flexible pricing, security, and domain expertise. "We are very excited about this partnership with AAIS," said R. Christopher Haines, EVP and COO of Marias Technology. "We welcome the opportunity to help members by managing the IT portion of the implementation of their products, simplifying complex technology and information, and helping to reduce their stress." The AAISalliance is a program of AAIS developed to help member insurance companies compete in the market. It allows individual AAIS member companies to access affiliate partner services with the purchasing power of our collective membership. Through the AAISdirect portal, insurers can purchase services from vendors at reduced rates. Both AAIS (booth #410) and Marias Technology (booth #317) will be available to discuss these new offerings at the NAMIC Annual Convention in Vancouver, September 26 27. Email [email protected] to schedule a consultation. About AAIS Established in 1931, AAIS continues to serve the Property & Casualty insurance industry as the only national not-for-profit advisory organization governed by its member companies. AAIS offers innovative products including standardized policy forms, program rules, and loss costs for rate making for 34 lines of business, industry leadership in research and data development, and unrivaled customer service, value, and efficiency. Over 700 insurance carriers, including most of the largest national carriers, rely on AAIS. For more information, contact Melanie Howard through Email. About Marias Technology Marias Technology, headquartered in Covington, Ohio, offers insurance technology services to property/casualty insurance companies. Services range from system testing and implementation, to software hosting and management services, as well as IT management on-demand. For more information, please visit www.mariastechnology.com, Email [email protected], or call 866-611-2212. Media Contacts: AAIS Melanie Howard, Director of Communications Email; (630) 457-3217 MARIAS TECHNOLOGY JoAnna Bennett O'Brien Communications Group, LLC Email;(860) 333-5009 SOURCE AAIS WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AARP today released the 2016 Longevity Economy report, an in-depth look at how our nation's population of 111 million 50-plus consumers impacts the economy. According to the report, the 50-plus age groups generates $7.6 trillion in economic activity (a $500 billion increase from 2013), including $5 trillion in consumer spending by people 50-plus. This increase reflects the shifting demographic and spending patterns of this group due to longer life spans and prolonged employment. The 50-plus cohort represents a powerful force that drives economic activity and the growth of this age group has a vast impact on the nation's products and services. According to the report, members of the Longevity Economy are staying employed longer and making contributions within the workforce. In addition, the economic activity that comprises the Longevity Economy generates $1.8 trillion in federal, state and local taxes. As older people extend their work lives, they are fueling economic growth past the traditional retirement age as well as combatting myths about how aging affects the economy. "As the 50-plus demographic continues to grow, the market opportunities are too large to ignore," said Jody Holtzman, senior vice president of market innovation, AARP and Co-Founder, Longevity Network. "With those in the 'longevity economy' wanting to maintain independence, employment and health for as long as possible, opportunities abound for companies to develop products and services to meet the demand. This report offers a strong roadmap for companies to address the needs of the 50-plus population." Additional key findings from the report include: America's Longevity Economy is Becoming More Diverse : By 2050, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other non-white groups will make up 45 percent of the 50-plus population, compared with 26 percent in 2015. This will influence the types of goods and services that the 50-plus population consumes and invests in. : By 2050, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other non-white groups will make up 45 percent of the 50-plus population, compared with 26 percent in 2015. This will influence the types of goods and services that the 50-plus population consumes and invests in. 50-plus Workers are a Contributing Force in the Workplace and Have High Rates of Entrepreneurship: People 50-plus are staying employed for longer, earning wages, spending more money, generating tax revenue, and producing economic value for an extended period of time. Those aged 55-64 have had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity in the US over the last 10 years and one in three businesses in the US in that timeframe was started by an entrepreneur aged 50 or older. People 50-plus are staying employed for longer, earning wages, spending more money, generating tax revenue, and producing economic value for an extended period of time. Those aged 55-64 have had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity in the US over the last 10 years and one in three businesses in the US in that timeframe was started by an entrepreneur aged 50 or older. Compelling findings regarding 50-plus Workers and Productivity : There's a long-held myth about increasing age and decreasing productivity that perhaps older workers are not as quick, agile or capable as their younger counterparts. While this may hold true in a few specific occupations, data suggest that the worker productivity does not diminish with age. In many cases, productivity may actually increaseeven at advanced ages. The reason: Older workers tend to be active in industries that are more knowledge-intensive and less physically demanding. Workers who remain in the labor force in such roles and sectors therefore tend to be more highly educated and productive than their younger counterparts. : There's a long-held myth about increasing age and decreasing productivity that perhaps older workers are not as quick, agile or capable as their younger counterparts. While this may hold true in a few specific occupations, data suggest that the worker productivity does not diminish with age. In many cases, productivity may actually increaseeven at advanced ages. The reason: Older workers tend to be active in industries that are more knowledge-intensive and less physically demanding. Workers who remain in the labor force in such roles and sectors therefore tend to be more highly educated and productive than their younger counterparts. The Longevity Economy Supports Job Sustainability: In 2015 alone, spending by people aged 50 and over in the U.S. supported more than 89.4 million jobs and more than $4.7 trillion in the nation's labor income 61 percent of all U.S. jobs and 43 percent of labor income was related to this groups' spending, affecting health services, education and other industries. In 2015 alone, spending by people aged 50 and over in the U.S. supported more than 89.4 million jobs and more than in the nation's labor income 61 percent of all U.S. jobs and 43 percent of labor income was related to this groups' spending, affecting health services, education and other industries. Motivation of the 50-plus Influences Business Technology: The 50-plus population has a strong desire to maintain independence and stay active while aging, resulting in businesses developing new technologies such as remote monitoring, smartphone apps and ambient computing that cater to them. The 50-plus population has a strong desire to maintain independence and stay active while aging, resulting in businesses developing new technologies such as remote monitoring, smartphone apps and ambient computing that cater to them. 50-plus Population is Philanthropic and Charitable: Baby Boomers are found to donate at a larger rate than younger generations, with 80 percent of those 65-plus giving to charity in 2015. Boomers also spend more time volunteering individuals 55-64 spend 128 hours per year while those 65-plus spend 133 hours per year. In addition, 83 percent of US household wealth is held by those over 50 years old. The report highlights the fact that the Longevity Economy is redefining economic lines in successfully changing the face of the workforce, helping advance technology and breaking through the traditional perceptions of what it means to age. For more information about The Longevity Economy, visit: http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/home-and-family/personal-technology/2016/09/2016-Longevity-Economy-AARP.pdf About AARP AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into "Real Possibilities" by changing the way America defines aging. With staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and promote the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare security, financial security, and personal fulfillment. AARP also advocates for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world's largest circulation magazine, AARP The Magazine, and AARP Bulletin. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @aarp on Twitter. About the Longevity Network The Longevity Network, founded by AARP and UnitedHealthcare with the goal of driving innovation and improving the quality of people's lives as they age, is a first of its kind site dedicated solely to sharing information and resources for health tech entrepreneurs and investors seeking to take advantage of the vast and growing 50-plus marketplace. Because of the tremendous opportunities for new products and services in areas ranging from physical fitness to care navigation, vital sign monitoring, and medication management, it is more important than ever for health innovators to have a strategy for engaging the 50+ audience. More information is at http://www.longevitynetwork.org. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070209/NYF043LOGO SOURCE AARP Related Links http://www.aarp.org MONUMENT, Colo., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Advisors Asset Management (AAM) announced today that the global investment manager Cohen & Steers has become the Portfolio Consultant to several AAM unit investment trusts (UITs), all of which will be co-branded. Under the agreement, AAM is the product sponsor and distributor, while Cohen & Steers will be the Portfolio Consultant to these AAM UITs. This agreement broadens the scope of the existing partnership between AAM and Cohen & Steers. In 2015, Cohen & Steers became the Portfolio Consultant to AAM's Midstream & Energy MLP Income Closed-End Portfolio UITs. "This agreement marks an important milestone in our strategic partnership with Cohen & Steers," said AAM Chief Executive Officer Scott Colyer. "We are thrilled to partner with a first-in-class global asset management firm to provide advisors and their clients with access to distinct investment expertise as they look to build diversified investment portfolios. We look forward to growing our relationship with Cohen & Steers and to all the possibilities ahead." "AAM's large distribution team and nationwide advisor relationships provide us with a valuable network to reach financial advisors," said Cohen & Steers Executive Vice President David Edlin. "Both of our firms have benefited from this partnership and we look forward to building on this solid foundation." About Advisors Asset Management For more than 35 years, AAM has been a trusted resource for financial advisors and broker/dealers. It offers access to UITs (unit investment trusts), open- and closed-end mutual funds, separately managed accounts (SMAs), structured products and the fixed income markets, as well as portfolio analytics. For more information, visit www.aamlive.com. About Cohen & Steers Cohen & Steers is a global investment manager specializing in liquid real assets, including real estate securities, listed infrastructure, commodities and natural resource equities, as well as preferred securities and other income solutions. Founded in 1986, the firm is headquartered in New York City, with offices in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seattle. Unit Investment Trusts (UITs) are sold only by prospectus. You should consider the trust's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact your financial professional or visit Advisors Asset Management online at www.aamlive.com/uit to obtain a prospectus, which contains this and other financial information about the trust. Read it carefully before you invest or send any money. As with any investment, investors may lose money by investing in UITs and the trust may not perform as well as expected. Investing in UITs is a long-term strategy and investors should consider their ability to invest in successive trusts, if available. Investors also should consult a tax professional regarding the tax implications associated with investing in UITs. Securities offered through your financial professional. Advisors Asset Management, Inc. (AAM) is a SEC registered investment advisor and member FINRA/SIPC. | 18925 Base Camp Road | Monument, CO 80132 | www.aamlive.com CRN 2016-0916-5544 R CONTACT: Michael Chiong JConnelly (646) 922-7764 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120105/NY30043LOGO SOURCE Advisors Asset Management Related Links http://www.aamlive.com NAPLES, Fla., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ALA Services LLC (ALA) announced on Sept. 1, 2016 that they have successfully completed the acquisition of Adaptive Computing Enterprises, a private company previously backed by tier one Investors including Boston-based Tudor Ventures, EPIC Ventures out of Salt Lake City, Utah and Intel Capital, which operates internationally. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409562LOGO ALA, which is an enterprise software investment company, brings with it the experience of software industry veteran Arthur Allen, founder and former CEO of ASG Software Solutions, and his longstanding team of seasoned professionals in the software, financial, and legal industries. The ALA team has a wealth of experience in understanding software platforms used for intelligent decisions in distributed computing environments and with this acquisition, they can now leverage that knowledge to enhance Adaptive Computing's ability to automate intelligent decisions in the workload and resource orchestration software market. "With Adaptive Computing we have a platform which can automate the decision processes that save customers tens of thousands to even millions of dollars as they implement their software-defined infrastructures." Arthur Allen, Founder & CEO, ALA Services LLC ALA operates on a corporate shared-services model that will provide added marketing, sales, financial and legal value added services to Adaptive Computing. ALA is currently beginning a new round of technology investments and has as its objective to acquire and grow its combined portfolio of companies to more than a half a billion in annual revenues. ALA is actively negotiating M&A opportunities in the mature software technology space and the acquired companies will remain separate entities under the ALA umbrella. "We look forward to accelerating our business and improving value to our customers by combining ALA's expertise with Adaptive Computing's leading technology and great position within the market." Marty Smuin, CEO of Adaptive Computing Enterprises, Inc. Adaptive Computing's Workload and Resource Orchestration software platform, Moab, is a world leader in dynamically optimizing large-scale computing environments. Moab intelligently places and schedules workloads and adapts resources to optimize application performance, increase system utilization, and achieve organizational objectives. Moab's unique intelligent and predictive capabilities evaluate the impact of future orchestration decisions across diverse workload domains (HPC, HTC, Big Data, Grid Computing, SOA, Data Centers, Cloud Brokerage, Workload Management, Enterprise Automation, Workflow Management, Server Consolidation, and Cloud VMs); thereby optimizing cost reduction and speeding product delivery. Media Inquiries: Sue DeGram Director of Marketing, ALA Services +1 239.330.6123 [email protected] www.alanaples.com Sales Inquiries: Marty Smuin CEO, Adaptive Computing +1 801.341.4606 Direct +1 925.895.2015 Cell [email protected] www.adaptivecomputing.com This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE ALA Services LLC CHICAGO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Albridge, an affiliate of Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, today announced the winners of the 2016 Albridge Data Excellence Awards. The inaugural Data Excellence Awards recognize the Albridge clients who are at the forefront of driving meaningful data quality improvements in the broker-dealer industry, and who have made outstanding contributions to the Albridge Data Quality Forum community. The Albridge Data Quality Forum is comprised of operations and technology professionals from broker-dealers, custodians and product companies. The Forum participants meet regularly with the goal of advancing industry data quality practices through discussion of key issues and by sharing best practices. Albridge recognized 23 financial institutions as recipients of the 2016 Albridge Data Excellence Award. Special recognition was given to financial services firm Baird, who was honored with the 2016 Data Excellence Champion Award, for the firm's dedication and commitment to Data Excellence in support of the best advisor and investor experience. In addition, individual recognition was given to Heather Barnett of Cambridge Investment Research and Doree Sargent of Lincoln Financial Group for their individual efforts in driving meaningful change across the industry specifically collaborating with product companies to improve the client experience. "The key to the advisor-investor relationship is trust. To build this trust, advisors and investors must be confident in the data they use to make investment decisions. The award recipients have been relentless in their effort to provide advisors and investors with data integrity and data of the highest quality," said Greg Borgman, director of data management at Albridge. "The award also recognizes the significant contributions they made to the Albridge Data Quality Forum, helping to drive industry-wide improvements for the benefit of all investors. We thank and congratulate the recipients, and look forward to helping them continue their pursuit of data excellence." "We are honored to receive this distinguished award from Albridge," said Ryan Burwell, director of private wealth management technology strategy at Baird, "Providing our advisors with data of the highest-quality is just as important as ensuring that they are well-equipped to serve as strong, reliable financial partners to those who entrust their capital to us." The awards were presented this week at the 2016 Albridge Forum in Chicago. Albridge aggregates data for over 48 million accounts at over 180 financial institutions for over 60,000 advisors. The Albridge Financial Data Network processes over 10 billion financial data records per month from more than 90 data sources and 650 product companies offering a breadth of coverage unmatched in the industry. About Albridge Albridge, an affiliate of Pershing LLC, is a leading provider of enterprise data management solutions that deliver a single view of an investor's broad range of assets. Our proprietary technology consolidates and reconciles client account and transaction data from hundreds of data sources representing banking, brokerage, insurance, retirement, managed accounts and more. Albridge processes this cleansed data and uses it to power a variety of downstream technology solutions, including performance reporting, sales practice monitoring, data warehousing, business intelligence, imaging and workflow. Albridge provides the foundation for financial organizations to leverage a single source of information to power a number of mission critical technology applications. Additional information is available at albridge.com. About Pershing Pershing and its affiliates provide global financial business solutions to advisors, asset managers, broker-dealers, family offices, registered investment advisor firms and wealth managers. A financial services firm located in 23 offices worldwide, Pershing provides business-to-business solutions to clients representing 6 million active investor accounts on the U.S. platform. Pershing affiliates are members of every major U.S. securities exchange, and its international affiliates are members of the Deutsche Borse, Australian Stock Exchange, Irish Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. Pershing LLC (member FINRA/NYSE/SIPC) is a BNY Mellon company. Additional information is available on pershing.com, or follow us on Twitter @Pershing. About BNY Mellon BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of June 30, 2016, BNY Mellon had $29.5 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.7 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news. Contact: Paul Patella +1 201 413 3609 [email protected] SOURCE BNY Mellon Related Links http://www.bnymellon.com VANCOUVER, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI) (OTCQB: LIACF) (Frankfurt: 5LA; WKN: A2AHEL) ("American Lithium" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that, further to its release of September 6th, the Company has now started sonic drilling at the 7,840 acre/3,172 ha. North Playa zone of its Fish Lake Valley project, located in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The drill program is designed to collect information on aquifer characteristics and lithium values in aquifer brines in order to support development of the Company's lithium resources. The Company will utilize a sonic drill which is unique in that it can both take continuous samples of drill core while also being able to sample subsurface water in intersected aquifers and pump test these same aquifers. This unique ability will allow the Company to derive more information from the program than either an RD or diamond drill program. The sonic drill can effectively sample sediments and test aquifers to a depth of 150m (500'). The Company recently completed a grid sampling project at the Fish Lake Valley North Playa project area where one-metre deep brine samples were collected over a 300 metre grid area. "We are excited to now be drilling the North Playa area. The North Playa has historically produced good lithium results from both surface testing and the deeper (15 meter) direct push programs. We will now be able to test to see if those results continue to a depth of 150 to 200 meters." commented Michael Kobler, Executive Director and COO of American Lithium. Michael Collins, P.Geo. is the Company's designated Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. About American Lithium Corp. American Lithium Corp. is actively engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of lithium deposits within mining-friendly jurisdictions throughout the Americas. American Lithium holds options to acquire Nevada lithium brine claims totaling 22,332 acres (9,038 ha), including 18,552 contiguous acres (7,508 ha) in Fish Lake Valley, Esmeralda County; 2,240 acre (907 ha) San Emidio Project in Washoe County; and the 1,540 acre (623 ha) Clayton-Valley-1 Project. The Company's Fish Lake Valley lithium brine properties are located approximately 38 kilometers from Albemarle's Silver Peak, the largest lithium operation in the U.S., approximately 3.5 hours from the Tesla Gigafactory. American Lithium is listed on the TSXV under the trading symbol "Li". On behalf of the Board, American Lithium Corp. Karl Kottmeier President and Chief Executive Officer Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking statements Statements in this release that are forward-looking information are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by American Lithium management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include those described under the heading "Risks Factors" in American Lithium's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. SOURCE American Lithium Corp Related Links www.americanlithiumcorp.com PLANO, Texas, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Epsilon, an Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) company, today announced that it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Amica Mutual Insurance Company, a national writer of auto, home, marine and umbrella insurance. Epsilon will oversee email marketing strategy and execution, with a focus on engaging customers and driving customer acquisition and retention. Founded in 1907 and based in Lincoln, R.I., Amica is the oldest mutual insurer of automobiles in the United States and a top 25 provider in automobile and home insurance products. Privately owned, Amica employs more than 3,400 people in 44 offices across the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, Epsilon will oversee all aspects of Amica's permission-based email marketing, including creative, strategy and analytics and deploying communications to over one million customers and prospects through Epsilon's proprietary Agility Harmony platform. The campaigns will focus on customer acquisition and retention, building loyalty and cross-selling of insurance products. The Epsilon team will work with Amica to improve its contact strategy and introduce real-time, transactional and personalized communications to better engage customers. "Epsilon is a next-generation, strategic partner, equipped to help us evolve our marketing and our business through their channel expertise, knowledge of our target market and deep understanding of the insurance industry," said Craig Phelps, senior assistant vice president and marketing director at Amica. "We've set the bar high for customer experience across all parts of our business, and are eager to expand our customer-centric approach to digital marketing efforts." "Amica has made customer service its top priority since it opened its doors more than a century ago, and its employees continue to build strong relationships with policyholders every day," said Bryan Kennedy, chief executive officer, Epsilon/Conversant. "We're excited to help the company enhance these relationships through personalized, innovative marketing communications and a modern approach to customer engagement." About Amica Insurance Amica Mutual Insurance Co., the nation's oldest mutual insurer of automobiles, was founded in 1907. The company, based in Lincoln, Rhode Island, is a national writer of auto, home, marine and umbrella insurance. Life coverage is available through Amica Life Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary. Amica employs more than 3,400 people in 44 offices across the country. For more information, visit Amica.com. About Epsilon Epsilon is a global leader in creating connections between people and brands. An all-encompassing global marketing company, we harness the power of rich data, groundbreaking technologies, engaging creative and transformative ideas to get the results our clients require. Recognized by Ad Age as the #1 World's Largest CRM/Direct Marketing Network, #1 Largest U.S. Agency from All Disciplines and #1 Largest U.S. Mobile Marketing Agency, Epsilon employs over 7,000 associates in 70 offices worldwide. Epsilon is an Alliance Data company. For more information, visit www.epsilon.com, follow us on Twitter @EpsilonMktg or call 1.800.309.0505. About Alliance Data Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) is a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions serving large, consumer-based industries. The Company creates and deploys customized solutions, enhancing the critical customer marketing experience; the result is measurably changing consumer behavior while driving business growth and profitability for some of today's most recognizable brands. Alliance Data helps its clients create and increase customer loyalty through solutions that engage millions of customers each day across multiple touch points using traditional, digital, mobile and emerging technologies. An S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company headquartered in Plano, Texas, Alliance Data consists of three businesses that together employ more than 16,000 associates at approximately 100 locations worldwide. Alliance Data's Card Services business is a leading provider of marketing-driven branded credit card programs. Epsilon is a leading provider of multichannel, data-driven technologies and marketing services, and also includes Conversant, a leader in personalized digital marketing. LoyaltyOne owns and operates the AIR MILES Reward Program, Canada's premier coalition loyalty program, and Netherlands-based BrandLoyalty, a global provider of tailor-made loyalty programs for grocers. Follow Alliance Data on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. Forward Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements give our expectations or forecasts of future events and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "project," "plan," "likely," "may," "should" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. We believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking statements, however, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, and no assurances can be given that our expectations will prove to have been correct. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, factors set forth in the Risk Factors section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year, which may be updated in Item 1A of, or elsewhere in, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed for periods subsequent to such Form 10-K. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation, other than as required by applicable law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events, anticipated or unanticipated circumstances or otherwise. Contact: Alliance Data Epsilon Tiffany Louder Investor Relations Britta Petersen Media Alliance Data 773-796-5434 214.494.3048 [email protected] [email protected] Shelley Whiddon Media 214.494.3811 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20051024/ADSLOGO SOURCE Alliance Data Systems Corporation Related Links http://www.alliancedata.com MIAMI, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Chef-driven restaurants in Florida are increasingly turning to foreign capital to fund the expansion of their concepts. Chefs and restaurant operators are tapping foreign investors to invest $500,000 in exchange for U.S. residency under the EB-5 Investor Visa Program. Restaurants are highly popular with EB-5 investors because they create a significant number of jobs, the main requirement to obtain residency for the investors and their families, said Roger A. Bernstein, co-owner of American Life Investment LLC regional center. Mr. Bernstein is rebranding ALI as "EB-5 for Florida Regional Center" to expand its focus to include chef-driven restaurants and small- to mid-size projects across Florida. EB-5 for Florida Regional Center is currently raising capital for two successful and popular restaurant brands in South Florida: Tap 42 (http://www.tap42eb5.com/) and Meat Market Steakhouse (https://meatmarketeb5.com/) For information on EB-5 for Florida Regional Center visit https://eb5forflorida.com or contact +1 (305) 455-3217 "There are many investors who prefer smaller projects that can be completed relatively fast," said Bernstein, who is a veteran immigration attorney in Miami. "Also, it is easier for them to understand how a chef-driven concept will create jobs, pay them interest on their loan, pay them back their investment and get their family the green card." Latin American investors are increasingly applying for EB-5 visas and investing in restaurants ran by experience operators as a means to obtain their green card. Since 2008, the number of EB-5 investors from Venezuela has jumped 93.6 %, from Mexico 85.5 % and from Brazil 82.3 %. Miami Beach-based Meat Market is an example of a chef-driven concept that has attracted those investors to help fund the opening of its Palm Beach restaurant in 2014. "In less than two years, investors are on their way to obtaining conditional residency, more than sufficient jobs have already been created and the investors are on track to have their capital returned by year five," said David Tornek, co-owner of Meat Market now expanding across Florida. EB-5 for Florida Regional Center is raising up to $10 million to bring Meat Market to Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and downtown Miami. The regional center is also raising $10 million to bring Tap 42 to Midtown Miami, West Palm Beach, Miami Beach, and Aventura. SOURCE EB-5 for Florida Regional Center BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat, a family owned vacation rental company located in historic Anna Maria Island, Florida, is offering a taste of Old Florida for those looking for a relaxing vacation markedly different from many vacation properties in the state. Beautiful homes owned by Anna Maria Island-residents and husband and wife team, Ben and Keren ten Haaf, offer guests outstanding comfort and relaxation while experiencing the natural beauty of the island. With 15 separate properties to choose from on Anna Maria Island, Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat can help guests create the perfect Florida vacation that offers the ambience and opulence that defines an old school Florida experience. The experience of working with Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is enhanced by the fact that all of these properties are owned by the ten Haaf family, who are dedicated to sharing the traditions and charm of Anna Maria Island with each and every guest that stays at one of their locations. "From the beginning, our plan for Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is to give our guests a great experience every time they stay with us," said Ben ten Haaf. "By managing a small number of family owned rental properties, we are able to make decisions solely with our guests in mind." The innovative approach of owning the Lizzie Lu's properties allows the ten Haaf family to include mobile technology as a component of their guest offerings. With a free mobile app, guests can receive local information directly on their mobile devices while also being able to request needs for their visit. "Being able to use the technology on our app means guests can check in on their own schedule when they arrive on Anna Maria Island, as well as offering easy access to our team in the event that they need anything on the property," said Keren ten Haaf. "As residents of the island, we can offer insights that aren't always available when you are staying with other companies in Florida. Our devotion to the Old Florida Heritage traditions of Anna Maria Island means that we greet our guests personally during their visit, because it is very important to Ben and myself that we make a personal connection with everyone that stays with us!" One of the most important aspects of staying with Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is to create the Old Florida feel of Anna Maria Island. Harkening back to the 1940s and 50s, the vacation homes that are offered allow families the opportunity to explore local beaches where children can run free to play in the water, dig for clams and oysters and stay in the small, ground floor homes that allow for tranquil ocean breezes to gently lull you to sleep each evening. The quiet atmosphere and casual dress that defines Anna Maria Island, along with a slower pace that places a premium on recreating the Old Florida lifestyle, is a defining point for the quintessential Florida experience from generations ago. The vacation rental properties that are a part of Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat feature modern appliances and amenities to offer the comfort of today with an old world charm. Owners Ben and Keren ten Haaf have completed extensive renovations and updates to their rental homes, adding outstanding, modern conveniences to the interiors to ensure that guests are completely comfortable during their stay. Defining the Anna Maria Island experience is The Sand Castle, one of the oldest homes on the Island. Dating to 1924, The Sand Castle takes visitors back to a time on Anna Maria Island where nights were spent on the front porch, enjoying the cool sea breezes. Complete with the original spiral staircase located in turret. The Sand Castle is a renovated marvel, providing a unique perspective at what life looked like on Anna Maria Island almost a century ago. The special care in the renovation process taken by Ben and Keren speaks to their love and appreciation of the old Anna Maria spirit and is a proud inclusion to Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat properties. About Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat The plan for Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is to give guests a great experience every time they stay with us. By managing a small number of family owned rental properties, we are able to make decisions with you in mind well maintained, meticulously clean, and stocked with everything our guests might need. You can expect the same clean, well furnished, resort like atmosphere in any of our vacation properties as we are able to monitor all the properties and ensure they stay in great shape. For more information about Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat, please visit our website at https://www.amivacationrental.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Ripley Ripley PR 865-977-1973 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409350LOGO SOURCE Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat Related Links https://www.amivacationrental.com SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Apttus, the category-defining Quote-to-Cash solution provider, today showcased numerous features and best practices that make it the go-to choice for Healthcare and Life Sciences-focused organizations. These new, industry-specific features empower healthcare and life sciences (HLS) organizations to evolve their business and remain agile in today's customer-centric landscape, even in heavily regulated environments. The Apttus Intelligent Cloud, spanning CPQ, Contract Management, E-Commerce and Revenue Management, powers these processes across any industry. Apttus solutions optimize pricing, contracting and channel revenue processes across the healthcare landscape with powerful tools for biopharma and medical technology (life sciences) manufacturers, health payers and providers. This results in shared outcomes driving customer satisfaction, pricing accuracy and eliminating contract revenue leakage and compliance risk that otherwise multiplies cost across the value chain. Apttus' HLS customers can immediately benefit from Apttus Quote-to-Cash for healthcare and life sciences: Medical Technology, Device, and Diagnostics companies empower sellers to maximize performance against performance-based contracts while enabling new outcomes-based capabilities in pricing and contracting discussions. Apttus and Deloitte's joint Med Device Connect solution is built on the Apttus Intelligent Cloud and connects every aspect of the Offer to Contract to Renewal process. Apttus customers gain competitive leadership from highly differentiated solutions including the ability to empower customers and channels with intelligence-driven contracting and pricing strategies, eligibility-driven E-Commerce and Partner Commerce while gaining efficiency across the entire customer life cycle. Health Payers develop and offer competitive, but compliant health insurance products configured to the needs of small and large markets alike. Powerful rules-based tools for plan definition and pricing as well as intake management, broker portals and quoting, criteria-based rating, proposal and contract generation drive profitable books of business while supporting downstream revenue processes such as policy admin, premium billing and renewals. Biopharma manufacturers, industry partners such as clinical research organizations (CRO) and wholesalers gain the power of a single contracting system of record spanning the development of complex multi-site, multi-product proposals across procurement and sales organizations. By enabling a highly streamlined and collaborative experience for procurement, legal, sales and sales operations personnel across internal and external organizations, companies ensure maximum performance across supplier relationships & purchasing contracts alike maximizing the power of partners and revenue-impacting trade practices such as channel discounts, rebates, fees, chargebacks and commissions. Healthcare provider organizations and networks maximize their ability to provide world-class provider coverage and service to different demographics and geographies ensuring customer satisfaction and maximizing revenue potential of their network strategy. Provider contract lifecycle enables networks to identify, assess and onboard health service providers and practitioners using self-service portals & wizards, manage scoring & credentialing workflows, generate contracted fee schedules and obligations and drive provider obligations & compliance over the lifecycle of the engagement. The result is satisfied health partners and world class coverage. Apttus solutions, with their depth of feature functionality and ability to handle deep complexity, are ideally suited to the requirements of Healthcare and Life Sciences organizations of every variety, including hospitals, insurers, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, and clinical trials organizations. Apttus is the only QTC provider that has a decade-long track record of supporting customers across the complex industry value chain. Customers in this field include leading HLS providers around the globe, and are showcased in case studies for Aesynt, IMS Health, GE Healthcare, and Olympus Medical. For more information on Apttus' industry-specific capabilities, visit its Healthcare and Life Sciences pages. "Our Medical Device clients are seeking an agile, flexible and scalable platform to improve sales revenue and customer experience, which also addresses challenges, including new regulations," said Tina Phillips, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Deloitte Digital's Apttus practice leader. "The Med Device Connect solution is designed to drive revenue growth, improve coordination across different business groups to sell more to the same account, reduce operating cost and improve employee productivity." "Apttus brings over a decade of experience within this industry to the table, and understands that HLS organizations are under more pressure than ever to focus on outcomes, not processes," said Gopkiran Rao, Vice President of Vertical Markets at Apttus. "Success requires more speed, flexibility, and agility than ever before, and the features we've highlighted here allow our customers to become undisputed industry leaders." About Apttus Apttus, the category-defining Quote-to-Cash software company, drives the vital business process between the buyer's interest in a purchase and the realization of revenue. Utilizing a patented combination of SaaS-based applications, the Apttus Intelligent Cloud maximizes the entire revenue operation by driving behavior and providing prescriptive data to company decision-makers. Apttus offers enhanced Configure Price Quote (CPQ), E-Commerce, Contract Management, Renewals and Revenue Management solutions on the world's most trusted cloud platforms, including Salesforce and Microsoft Azure. Apttus is based in San Mateo, California, with additional offices located across the globe. For more information visit: apttus.com. Media Contact: Alex Cohen [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151207/293789LOGO SOURCE Apttus Related Links http://www.apttus.com LONDON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Military vehicles require robust capabilities to overcome threats from both internal damages and external sources. The deployment of military troops in extreme environmental scenarios has led to the investments in improving the vehicle competencies in terms of technology. Various rugged systems and devices are constantly being integrated in the military vehicles worldwide specific to different regional applications. Moreover, the development of landmines and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which pose major challenges to military vehicles, have amplified the concerns to protect the soldiers' lives in the battleground. These factors boost the demand for armored vehicles from the military organizations globally. Additionally, the advent of technology and improvement of multirole vehicles have also influenced the demand for armored vehicles among various law enforcement agencies worldwide. Considering the aforementioned factors, the global armored vehicles market is estimated to be growing at a significant pace. Furthermore, the security challenges across the globe have lead to the generation of demand for armored commercial vehicles from civilians. The market for commercial armored vehicles is currently growing at a steady pace, however, it is expected to undergo a substantial boost during the forecast period and lead to the expansion of the overall armored vehicles market. This factor is estimated to develop new opportunities for the global armored vehicles manufacturers. On the contrary, the market for armored vehicles encounters major hindrances such as lack of standardized regulatory norms in Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of World (RoW). However, the impact of this restraint is analyzed to contract over the forecast period as the governments in different countries are gradually establishing regulations for armored vehicle manufacturing in all applications sectors namely, military, law enforcement and commercial. In this report on the global armored vehicles, the market has been segmented based on technology, type and geography. The study highlights current market trends and provides the market size of 2014 and forecast from 2015 to 2023. The report covers the current market scenario for armored vehicle and highlights future trends that could affect the demand for the same. The global armored vehicles market is analyzed to observe a steady growth from 2015to2023 at a decent CAGR. Based on geography, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. On the basis of segmentation by type, the market has been categorized into light protected vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, main battle tanks, armored amphibious vehicles, mine resistance ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles and others. Additionally, the market has been segmented on the basis of technology which includes active protection system, inter operable communication, modular ballistic armor, electric armor, situational awareness, active mine protection and vehicle information integration. In addition to the market size of 2014, the forecasted market values from 2015 to 2023 have been provided in the report. The report includes, analysis of macro and micro economic factors driving and restraining the growth of the global armored vehicles market. Moreover, the market attractiveness analysis provided in the report, highlights the major areas for future investments in the global armored vehicles industry. The report is intended to help armored vehicles suppliers and original equipment manufacturers in understanding the current and upcoming opportunities in the global armored vehicles market and formulating their business strategies accordingly. In addition, the report is expected to benefit the governments, military organizations and other buyer communities. This study includes the profiles of 10 major players in the global armored vehicle market and the strategies adopted by them to sustain in the competition. The key participants in the global armored vehicles market include Oshkosh Corporation, BAE Systems plc, Rheinmetall Defence, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Elbit Systems Ltd., The Raytheon Company, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG, General Dynamics Corporation, INKAS Armored Vehicle Manufacturing, International Armored Group and STREIT Group among others. Global Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By Technology Active Protection System Inter Operable Communication Modular Ballistic Armor Electric Armor Situational Awareness System Active Mine Protection Vehicle Information Integration Global Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By Type Light Protected Vehicles Infantry Fighting Vehicles Armored Personnel Carriers Armored Amphibious Vehicles Main Battle Tanks Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles Others Global Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By Application Military Law Enforcement Commercial Global Armored Vehicle Market, 2015 2023: By Geography North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Russia U.K. France Germany Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) China India Japan Rest of APAC Rest of the World (RoW) Middle East and Africa (MEA) Saudi Arabia UAE Israel South Africa Rest of MEA South America Brazil Rest of South America Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4155651/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com MEXICO CITY, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Atento S.A. (NYSE: ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services (CRM/BPO) in Latin America, and one of the three top providers worldwide, has named Marcelo Geraldi Velloso VP of Business at Atento Mexico. Marcelo will lead the banking and financial services, telecoms and multi-sector business divisions at Atento Mexico. Marcelo has more than 20 years of professional experience at large consumer companies in Latin America and, in particular, the banking and financial services sector. Before joining Atento, he served as Executive Director, Retail Bank & Wealth Management at HSBC Mexico and was responsible for managing more than 11,000 people and 1,000 branches across the country. Previously, Marcelo held leadership positions at HSBC, including Latin America Regional Head of Sales, Executive Director Retail Bank & Wealth Management for Panama, Marketing and Customer Relations Management Director for the entire HSBC Group in Brazil, and Marketing and HSBC Retail Sector Products Director in Brazil. Marcelo has also held management positions in marketing and product management for Gillette in Brazil and Latin America. Miguel Matey, Managing Director of Atento Mexico and the North Region commented, "Marcelo brings to our operations in Mexico a wealth of experience in customer relations intensive industries such as consumer goods, banking and financial services. His joining our company reflects Atento's constant commitment to working with the best talent to provide value to our customers." Marcelo Geraldi Velloso said, "I feel very proud to join Atento, the leading CRM BPO company in Latin America. I look forward to contributing to the great value Atento offers to its clients in an area with such strategic importance as customer experience management." Marcelo holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and a General Management Certificate from Harvard University. About Atento Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top three providers globally, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 14 countries where it employs more than 150,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atentos shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2015, Atento was named one of the Worlds 25 Best Multinational Workplaces by Great Place to Work for a third consecutive year. For more information visit www.atento.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150506/214260LOGO SOURCE Atento S.A. Related Links http://www.atento.com DENVER, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- August home sales increased 5.8% over a year ago, reversing July's decline of 8.8%. At the same time, the median price climbed 5.1% as steady monthly increases continued. August sales were up year-over-year in 41 of the 53 U.S. metro areas analyzed in the RE/MAX National Housing Report. Twelve metro areas posted double-digit increases, including major markets along the east coast from Washington, D.C. to Charlotte, N.C. So far in 2016, seven of the eight months have seen year-over-year sales increases nationally. The August Median Sales Price climbed 5.1% to $225,900 from $215,000 seen in August last year. From January through August, the average year-over-year Median Sales Price increase was 3.9%. Three Florida metro areas were among the seven posting double-digit increases. Only four markets, including two in the Northeast, saw price declines. Inventory remained tight in August, averaging a 3.4 months supply. While 6 months is considered a balanced market, 23 of the 53 markets surveyed by RE/MAX reported less than half of that. In fact, seven cities had less than 2 months of inventory, including four on the West Coast. For this month's housing report infographic, visit http://rem.ax/2cYFT50. "August's nearly 6% sales increase over last year is providing a strong finish for the summer home selling and buying season. While July saw a decline, August built upon the trends in the spring and early summer. Coupled with moderating price increases, the sales growth we're seeing represents a market that's very sustainable," said Dave Liniger, RE/MAX CEO, Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder. Closed Transactions Year-over-year change In the 53 metro areas surveyed in August, the average number of home sales increased by 5.8% compared to one year ago, and was 2.8% higher than the previous month. To date in 2016, August was the seventh month with a year-over-year increase in sales. This month, 41 markets experienced an increase in sales with 12 markets seeing double-digit-increases in sales year-over-year. Those markets include Raleigh & Durham, N.C. +14.5%, Charlotte, N.C. +13.6%, Boise, ID +13.5%, Washington, D.C. +12.7%, Richmond, VA +12.6%, Providence, RI +12.5% and Phoenix, AZ +12.3%. Median Sales Price Median of 53 metro median prices In August, the median of all 53 metro Median Sales Prices was $225,900, up slightly at 0.4% from July 2016 and up 5.1% from August 2015. This 5.1% year-over-year rise is noticeably less than the 7.5% increases seen in August over the past two years. Additionally, of the 53 metro areas surveyed in August, only four had a year-over-year drop in Median Sales Price. The remaining 49 metros reported higher prices than one year ago, with seven rising by double-digit percentages, including Tampa, FL +15.5%, Orlando, FL +14.1%, Charlotte, N.C. +11.8%, Denver, CO +11.7%, Miami, FL +11.6%, Portland, OR +11.5% and Dallas/Fort Worth, TX +10.4%. Days on Market Average of 53 metro areas The average Days on Market for homes sold in August was 54, up one day from the average in July 2016, and down five days from August 2015. August becomes the 41st consecutive month with a Days on Market average of 80 or less. The two markets with the lowest Days on Market are Denver and Omaha at 24. The highest Days on Market averages continue to be in Augusta, ME at 135, and Des Moines, IA at 93. Days on Market is the number of days between when a home is first listed in an MLS and a sales contract is signed. Months Supply of Inventory Average of 53 metro areas The number of homes for sale in August was down 4.2% from July, and down 16.6% from August 2015. Based on the rate of home sales in August, the Months Supply of Inventory was 3.4, which is similar to both last month and last year at 3.5 and 4.1 respectively. A 6.0 month supply indicates a market balanced equally between buyers and sellers. This month, 23 of the 53 metro areas had less than half of what is considered a balanced inventory supply. The markets with the lowest Months Supply of Inventory are Denver, CO 1.4, San Francisco, CA 1.4, Seattle, WA 1.5, and Boston, MA 1.6. Contact For specific data in this report or to request an interview, please contact [email protected]. About the RE/MAX Network: RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. Over 100,000 agents provide RE/MAX a global reach of over 100 countries and territories. Nobody sells more real estate than RE/MAX, when measured by residential transaction sides. RE/MAX, LLC, one of the world's leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RMCO, LLC, which is controlled and managed by RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RMAX). With a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work, RE/MAX is proud to have raised more than $150 million for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other charities. For more information about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit www.remax.com. For the latest news about RE/MAX, please visit www.remax.com/newsroom. Description The RE/MAX National Housing Report is distributed each month on or about the 15th. The first Report was distributed in August 2008. The Report is based on MLS data in approximately 53 metropolitan areas, includes all residential property types, and is not annualized. For maximum representation, many of the largest metro areas in the country are represented, and an attempt is made to include at least one metro from each state. Metro area definitions include the specific counties established by the U.S. Government's Office of Management and Budget, with some exceptions. Definitions Transactions are the total number of closed residential transactions during the given month. Months Supply of Inventory is the total number of residential properties listed for sale at the end of the month (current inventory) divided by the number of sales contracts signed (pended) during the month. Where "pended" data is unavailable, this calculation is made using closed transactions. Days on Market is the number of days that pass from the time a property is listed until the property goes under contract for all residential properties sold during the month. Median Sales Price is the median of the median sales prices in each of the metro areas included in the survey. MLS data is provided by contracted data aggregators, RE/MAX brokerages and regional offices. While MLS data is believed to be accurate, it cannot be guaranteed. MLS data is constantly being updated, making any analysis a snapshot at a particular time. Every month the RE/MAX National Housing Report re-calculates the previous period's data to ensure accuracy over time. All raw data remains the intellectual property of each local MLS organization. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130930/LA87949LOGO SOURCE RE/MAX, LLC Related Links http://www.remax.com "Stacy's Pita Chips are a pantry staple, but people don't realize they can also be a great culinary inspiration," said Acheson. "We're breaking from convention to show how a snack can be gourmet and regionally inspired, while also being simple to prepare and free from elaborate instructions or hard-to-find ingredients. No matter your cooking acumen or how short you are on time, with Stacy's, you'll have a delicious result every time." Stacy's, a supporting sponsor of Taste America, and Chef Acheson are making sure anyone can create delicious snack recipes from a list of ingredients you can count on one hand. A recent survey from Stacy's1 found that nearly two-thirds of women (64 percent) say a recipe must have fewer than five ingredients or they're hesitant to make it. That is why each recipe, inspired by the 10 cities on the James Beard Foundation's 2016 Taste America tour, features easy-to-use, interesting ingredients Americans can find at home or at a local grocery store. The Stacy's survey found more than 50 percent of women prefer to make snacks that require little or no prep-time using ingredients they already have in their kitchen or pantry1. Stacy's will now help women nationwide do just that with easy-to-make recipes that will be unveiled during the national tour, providing a first-hand, no-stress gourmet experience. "We know that our consumers are pressed for time, but still want to create delicious snacks that feel like a culinary adventure. Stacy's is demonstrating how they can have both by being the ideal snack pairing for the ingredients already found in their kitchen," said Katie Ceclan, senior director of marketing, Stacy's Snacks. "We are proud to partner with Chef Acheson, who created an artful collection of fuss-free snacks featuring Stacy's." For the 2016 Taste America tour, Chef Acheson created a New York City white pizza-inspired snack using ricotta, fresh thyme and arugula to pay homage to one of the best food destinations in the world. Served atop Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips, Acheson's NYC-Style Pita Chips with Herbed Ricotta and Arugula are made with simple ingredients that can be easily found at most supermarkets. Additional recipes can be found at StacysSnacks.com all have simple instructions to help any home cook impress, not stress. "We believe in fostering a delicious dialogue about America's culinary landscape," said Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation. "Chef Acheson's one-of-a-kind creations using Stacy's Snacks embrace the culture and flair of each region of the country, while inspiring Americans of all cooking skill levels to find culinary success." About the "Taste America" Tour Premium tastings from the kitchens of Chef Acheson and several top regional chefs will be available at all Taste America tour stops. Details of the dates, locations and chefs participating in James Beard Foundation's Taste America are: Sept. 23-24 Los Angeles : All-Star Scott Conant * with Local Star chef Curtis Stone Phoenix : All-Star Amanda Freitag * with Local Star chef Christopher Gross * Sept. 30-Oct. 1 Kansas City : All-Star Gavin Kaysen * with Local Star chef Colby Garrelts * New Orleans : All-Star Alex Guarnaschelli * with Local Star chef Justin Devillier * Oct. 14-15 Chicago : All-Star Missy Robbins *** with Local Star chef Jimmy Bannos, Jr. * Oct. 21-22 Portland, OR : All-Star Stephanie Izard * with Local Star chef Greg Higgins * Oct. 28-29 Twin Cities : All-Star Jose Garces * with Local Star chef Thomas Boemer *** Boston : All-Star John Besh * with Local Star chef Ana Sortun * Nov. 4-5 Charleston : All-Star Dan Barber * with Local Star chef Sean Brock * San Francisco : All-Star Anita Lo ** with Local Star chef Charles Phan * Designations are as follows: *James Beard Award Winner **James Beard Award Nominee ***James Beard Award Semifinalist About Stacy's Snacks Stacy's Snacks is one of the many brands that makes up Frito-Lay North America, the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. In addition to Frito-Lay, PepsiCo business units include Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, Gatorade and Tropicana. Learn more about the Stacy's brand online: www.stacyssnacks.com and www.facebook.com/stacyspitachips. About PepsiCo PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $63 billion in net revenue in 2015, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose our goal to deliver top-tier financial performance while creating sustainable growth and shareholder value. In practice, Performance with Purpose means providing a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; finding innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment and reduce our operating costs; providing a safe and inclusive workplace for our employees globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities where we operate. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. Follow PepsiCo: Twitter (@PepsiCo) Facebook PepsiCo Blogs PepsiCo Press Releases PepsiCo Multimedia PepsiCo Videos 1 The survey was conducted online August 1-3, 2016 among 1,046 adult American by The Futures Company on behalf of Stacy's Snacks. Media Contact Kimberly Scott (972) 334-5098 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409586 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409598LOGO SOURCE Stacys Snacks Related Links http://www.stacyssnacks.com/ NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This Future Market Insights report examines the 'Global Breast Pumps Market' for the period 20162026. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates, trends, drivers, restraints, volume and value forecasts and opportunities for manufacturers operating in the global breast pumps market. Global demand for breast pumps is increasing as a result of rapid adoption of new technologies, increasing women workforce and popularity of human milk banks. Markets in developed economies are witnessing increasing demand for breast pumps products due to an increasing number of women joining the workforce. Adoption of breast pumps is projected to increase at a rate of 5% over the forecast period. The trend is expected to boost overall demand for breast pumps such as electric breast pumps and manual breast pumps during the forecast period. To understand and assess the opportunities in this market, the report is categorically split into four sections, namely market analysis by product type, technology type, application type and region. The report analyses the global breast pumps market in terms of market value (US$ Mn). The report starts with an overview of the breast pumps market and its usage in various applications globally. In the same section, FMI covers the breast pumps market performance in terms of revenue. This section includes FMI's analyses of key trends, drivers and restraints from the supply and demand perspective. The next section of the report analyses the market is based on product type and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. Product types covered in the report include: Closed System Breast Pumps Market Open System Breast Pumps Market The next section of the report analyses the market based on technology type segments and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. The technology type segments covered in the report include: Electric Breast Pumps Single Electric Breast Pumps Double electric Breast Pumps Manual Breast Pumps The next section of the report analyses the market based on application type segments and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. The application type segments covered in the report include: Personal Hospitals Furthermore, the report analyses the market based on regions and presents the forecast in terms of value for the next ten years. Regions covered in the report include: North America Latin America Western Europe Eastern Europe Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Middle East & Africa (MEA) Japan The forecast presented for the market assesses the total revenue generated in the breast pumps market. When developing the forecast, the starting point involves sizing the current market, which forms the basis for the forecast of how the market is anticipated to take shape in the near future. Given the characteristics of market, we triangulated the outcome based on different analysis of the supply side, demand side and GDP growth rate. However, quantifying the market across aforementioned segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalising them after the forecast has been completed. In addition, we have taken into consideration the year-on-year growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right growth opportunities in the global breast pumps market. As previously highlighted, the global breast pumps market is split into various categories based on region, product type, technology type and application type. All these segments or categories have been analyzed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand the individual segments' relative contribution to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for identification of various key trends in the global breast pumps market. Another key feature of this report is the analysis of the breast pumps market by region and product type segments, technology type and application type segments; and the market revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales perspective in the global breast pumps market. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03884068-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) today announced that it will introduce the next generation of its off-the-road (OTR) tire and rim management software, TreadStat. The performance tracking solution has been enhanced to include several new features that support the evolving needs of the global OTR industry. The TreadStat system from Bridgestone uses industry-relevant analytics to help customers manage the lifecycle cost of their tires for increased efficiency and profitability. The TreadStat tool features a new, innovative user interface that increases productivity through customizable dashboards that deliver rich analytics directly to users' computers, tablets or smartphones anywhere in the world. Global efficiency is increased by technology improvements such as additional multilingual support, convenient application program interfaces, instantaneous data conversion and integration with the B-TAG tire pressure and temperature management system from Bridgestone. Advanced analytics also help operations of any size or location maximize tire usage, manage inventory, improve safety and minimize expenses. "The next-generation TreadStat tool is an innovative tire performance management solution that uses integrated technology to serve global businesses of any size," said Taylor Cole, president, Commercial Off-the-Road, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. "Having a complete and real-time view of every tire's status can reduce one of a fleet's largest annual operating expenses, tire and rim management, to significantly increase the bottom line. With TreadStat, Bridgestone is setting the global standard for OTR tire tracking." Forecasting, work scheduling and budgeting also are improved by the data-driven analytics platform. Bridgestone has enhanced the TreadStat tool to be accessible on mobile devices and tablets through the TreadStat Mobile Inspection app. The app ensures vital details are accessible on any device across the globe, and allows users to quickly and easily: Conduct vehicle inspections online or offline, saving time, eliminating paper and improving productivity. Conveniently note critical exceptions requiring immediate action and share data via email to reduce operating costs. Manage a global operation via one system to unify data-driven tire and rim management decisions for increased efficiency. Bridgestone will debut the next-generation TreadStat system at the MINExpo 2016 international conference September 26-28 in Las Vegas. Next generation TreadStat will be available in January 2017 to help fleet managers of OTR businesses worldwide save time and increase productivity. To learn more about the TreadStat software platform from Bridgestone, visit www.commercial.bridgestone.com. About Bridgestone Americas, Inc.: Nashville, Tennessee-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM) is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest tire and rubber company. BSAM and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the Western Hemisphere and produce air springs, roofing materials, and industrial fibers and textiles. The BSAM family of companies also operates the world's largest chain of automotive tire and service centers. Guided by its One Team, One Planet message, the company is dedicated to achieving a positive environmental impact in all of the communities it calls home. SOURCE Bridgestone Americas, Inc. Related Links http://www.bridgestoneamericas.com OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Brita, the nation's largest water filtration brand, is joining UC Berkeley in a combined effort to increase campus sustainability efforts while offering students and the broader campus community healthier beverage choices. The 10-year, $4 million partnership will focus on championing and extending the campus' innovative "Refills not Landfills" program. The program, launched as part of the University of California system's plan to achieve zero waste by 2020, is an effort to encourage students and the campus community to drink from reusable containers. The partnership is a first of its kind for Brita. Brita has previously been involved in promoting sustainability on campuses through a partnership with the nonprofit REVERB and its Campus Consciousness Tour, but this relationship marks the first time Brita has worked with a specific university on a sustainability and student health program. Additionally, this is the fourth campus-wide partnership through UC Berkeley's University Partnership Program (UPP), which works collectively across the university to develop comprehensive relationships that align with university's mission and values. "The UC Berkeley Brita partnership provides meaningful engagement opportunities with our campus community throughout the academic year," said Solly Fulp, executive director of University Business Partnerships & Services. "The dynamics of a local relationship with Brita creates exceptional possibilities that prioritize health, wellness and sustainability with our students, faculty, staff and alumni." Brita will provide the campus with complimentary Brita products such as reusable bottles, as well as significant sponsorship to campus groups that support campus sustainability goals and champion healthy living. Brita products will also be sold at a variety of campus outlets. "This is the kind of partnership that gets us excited," said Ed Huber, general manager of Brita. "The students and administrators at UC Berkeley have set out, with no prompting from Brita, to cut back on bottled water waste and encourage healthier beverage choices. The fact that the Brita brand can play an important role in advancing a goal like this is exciting and a bit humbling and speaks to the shared values between our two organizations. If, together, we can make the students and campus a little healthier, we'll have accomplished something really important." The partnership kicks off with the start of the 2016-2017 academic year. Details of the partnership include: Monetary support to eight campus departments and organizations each year. Brita product donations to campus every year, including distribution of Brita products in every university owned residence hall. Support of the Refills not Landfills program. Replacement of outdated water refill stations, as well as installation of new stations in high-need, high-traffic campus buildings. Brita products sold at the ASUC Student Union, Cal Dining locations, Recreation Center and other campus locations. Establishment of an on-campus Brita filter-recycling program with Cal Zero Waste. "Cal Zero Waste is truly excited to partner with Brita in helping our campus advance our innovative "Refills not Landfills" program," said Lin King, manager of Cal Zero Waste. "Their contribution will make an incredible impact in reducing the use of plastic bottles and help our campus reach our UC zero waste by 2020 goal." About Brita Brita markets a variety of products, including water pitchers, faucet filters and bottles, that make it easy to get healthier, great tasting water from any tap. Brita products are marketed by The Clorox Company. The Oakland, Calif.-based Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a leading multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products with about 7,700 employees worldwide and fiscal year 2015 sales of $5.7 billion. For more information, visit www.brita.com. About University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley is the world's premier public university dedicated to excellence in teaching, research and public service. This longstanding mission has led to the university's distinguished record of Nobel-level scholarship, constant innovation, a concern for the betterment of our world, and consistently high rankings of its schools and departments. The campus offers superior, high-value education for extraordinarily talented students from all walks of life, operational excellence, and a commitment to the competitiveness and prosperity of California, the nation, and the world. The University Partnership Program (UPP) builds meaningful, university-wide relationships with business partners by collaborating across units to create partnership opportunities that align with Berkeley's values and mission of teaching, research and public service. For more information, visit upp.berkeley.edu. For more information, contact: David Kargas Amber Hopkins Brita University of California, Berkeley [email protected] [email protected] 510-517-3084 510-631-8726 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160226/338221LOGO SOURCE Brita Related Links http://upp.berkeley.edu PUNE, India, September 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Butyl Rubber Industry Report 2016 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Butyl Rubber industry. The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Butyl Rubber industry analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status. Complete report on Butyl Rubber industry spread across 127 pages, profiling 08 companies and supported with tables and figures is now available at http://www.deepresearchreports.com/215358.html . Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins. The report focuses on Global major leading Butyl Rubber Industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Butyl Rubber industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered. With the list of tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market. Butyl Rubber Industry Key Manufacturers are ExxonMobil, Lanxess, PJSC NizhneKamskneftekhim, JSR, Sibur, Sinopec, Cenway and Heyun Group. Few Points from Table of Contents 1 Industry Overview of Butyl Rubber 2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Butyl Rubber 3 Global Butyl Rubber Sales, Sales Price and Market Size (Volume and Value) 2010-2015 Analysis 4 North America Butyl Rubber Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis 5 Europe Butyl Rubber Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis 6 China Butyl Rubber Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis 7 Asia (excluding China) Butyl Rubber Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis 8 Global and Major Regions 2016-2021 Butyl Rubber Sales Price and Market Size (Volume and Value) Forecast 9 Major Companies Analysis of Butyl Rubber 10 Global Butyl Rubber Production Analysis 11 Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Butyl Rubber 12 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Butyl Rubber 13 Conclusion of the Global Butyl Rubber Consumption 2016 Market Research Report Buy a copy of this report @ http://www.deepresearchreports.com/contacts/purchase.php?name=215358 . Some of the tables and figures provided in Global Butyl Rubber Market Report 2016 research report include: Table Global Capacity (Unit) of Butyl Rubber by Types 2011-2016 Figure Global Capacity Market Share of Butyl Rubber by Types in 2011 Figure Global Capacity Market Share of Butyl Rubber by Types in 2015 Table Global Production (Unit) of Butyl Rubber by Types 2011-2016 Figure Global Production Market Share of Butyl Rubber by Types in 2011 Figure Global Production Market Share of Butyl Rubber by Types in 2015 Table Global Revenue (M USD) of Butyl Rubber by Types 2011-2016 Figure Global Revenue Market Share of Butyl Rubber by Types in 2011 Figure Global Revenue Market Share of Butyl Rubber by Types in 2015 Table Global and Major Manufacturers Capacity (Unit) of Butyl Rubber 2011-2016 Table Global Capacity Market Share of Butyl Rubber Major Manufacturers 2011-2016 Figure Global Capacity Market Share of Butyl Rubber Major Manufacturers in 2011 Figure Global Capacity Market Share of Butyl Rubber Major Manufacturers in 2015 Table Global and Major Manufacturers Production (Unit) of Butyl Rubber 2011-2016 Table Global Production Market Share of Butyl Rubber Major Manufacturers 2011-2016 Figure Global Production Market Share of Butyl Rubber Major Manufacturers in 2011 Figure Global Production Market Share of Butyl Rubber Major Manufacturers in 2015 Table Global and Major Manufacturers Revenue (M USD) of Butyl Rubber 2011-2016 Explore more reports on the Plastics market at http://www.deepresearchreports.com/cat/plastics-market-research.html . Another research titled "2016 Market Research Report on United States Butyl Rubber Industry" is spread across 133 pages and profiles 08 companies of the Plastics industry that provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Butyl Rubber market analysis is provided for the United States markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis and key regions development status. The report focuses on United States major leading industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity production, price, cost, production value and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Butyl Rubber industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered. Companies profiled this research includes ExxonMobil, Lanxess, PJSC NizhneKamskneftekhim, JSR, Sibur, Sinopec, Cenway and Heyun Group. The United States Butyl Rubber Industry 2016 Market Research Report is available at http://www.deepresearchreports.com/166046.html . With 147 tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market. About Us: Deep Research Reports is digital database of syndicated market reports for global and China industries. These reports offer competitive intelligence data for companies in varied market segments and for decision makers at multiple levels in these organizations. We provide 24/7 online and offline support to our customers Contact: Ritesh Tiwari + 1 888 391 5441 [email protected] UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar Pune - 411013 Maharashtra, India SOURCE Deep Research Reports ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Expanding its already significant global presence, Cajun Global LLC, franchisor of Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken, hit a milestone by opening its 500th international restaurant. On Sept. 20, Select Group, franchisee for Texas Chicken in Singapore, opened the 500th international location at Resort World Sentosa. Texas Chicken first entered the Singapore market under the leadership of Vincent Tan, the Founder and Managing Director of Select Group, who has held the franchise for Texas Chicken Singapore since 2010. To date there are 13 Texas Chicken restaurants in Singapore. The renowned chicken chain first entered the international market in 1979 with Church's Chicken in Vancouver, Canada. Today the Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken brands operate in 24 countries throughout the Americas, the Middle East, Black Sea Basin, and Asia-Pacific, the fastest growing region. "We are excited to continue our global expansion of the Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken brands, and our 500th opening is a testament to our ability to do just that," said Tony Moralejo, Executive Vice President of International Business and Global Development at Texas Chicken/Church's Chicken. "We have a proven expansion strategy of identifying the best franchisees and selecting the best markets for growth, and we pride ourselves on serving the best fried chicken and biscuits in the world. We congratulate Vincent Tan on his continued success and thank him for being one of the early pioneers who has led Texas Chicken's success in the Asia-Pacific region." While Cajun Global's largest and most established market is the Americas, Asia has quickly expanded from a one-country business in Indonesia to eight countries, with the most aggressive growth in the Malaysia and Thailand markets. Texas Chicken entered the Malaysia market in 2013 and has experienced rapid growth and acceptance in the region. The brand is preparing for the opening of its 30th restaurant in Malaysia and has plans to open a new restaurant every four-to-six weeks. The most recent expansion for the Texas Chicken brand in the Asia-Pacific region was Thailand in November 2015, opening six Texas Chicken restaurants in less than a year. "International expansion is key to strengthening the Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken brands as household names overseas, and we've had great success in making this a reality," Moralejo stated. "Aggressive growth, building an emotional connection with our guests and serving best-in-class fried chicken and biscuits are key driving forces behind the successful international expansion of our brands." In 2016, Cajun Global will open Texas Chicken restaurants in four new countries Laos, Pakistan, Oman and Bahrain and plans to open 65 new international restaurants in 2017. With the number of new country commitments, the brand is on track to open 100 international restaurants annually starting in 2018 and will continue extensive growth for years to come. About Texas Chicken / Church's Chicken Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken, along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside of the Americas, is one of the largest quick service chicken restaurant chains in the world. The brands specialize in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken have more than 1,650 locations in 25 countries and global markets and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken. Contact: Nicole Brandfon [email protected] 866.252.1750 x129 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409697LOGO SOURCE Cajun Global LLC Related Links http://www.churchs.com MIAMI, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) has scheduled a conference call with analysts for 10:00 a.m. (EDT); 3:00 p.m. (BST), Monday, September 26, 2016, to discuss the company's third quarter financial results which are expected to be released that morning. A simulcast of the call will be available via the company's Web sites at www.carnivalcorp.com and www.carnivalplc.com. SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc Related Links http://www.carnivalcorp.com MIAMI, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second consecutive year, Carnival Cruise Line has been named Most Trusted Cruise Line in America by Reader's Digest. The award is based on a poll of more than 5,000 Americans nationwide who were asked to rate products they trust across 40 different categories in areas such as quality, value, and reliability. Carnival received more votes than any other cruise line. The awards are featured in the October issue of Reader's Digest. Carnival continues to enhance its onboard offerings, building upon its brand promise of providing fun, memorable vacations at a great value while keeping up with consumer trends and exceeding the expectations of its guests. Earlier this year marked the debut of the line's newest, largest and most innovative ship, Carnival Vista, which offers such groundbreaking features as the SkyRide aerial attraction, the first IMAX Theatre at sea, the RedFrog Pub & Brewery that includes the line's first on-board brewery and the fleet's largest water park highlighted by the 455-foot-long Kaleid-o-Slide. Carnival has also expanded upon its exclusive partnerships with Food Network star Guy Fieri with plans to roll out the new Guy's Pig & Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse on several ships and Dr. Seuss Enterprises, serving as the Official Seagoing Headquarters for The Cat in the Hat's presidential campaign, part of the fleetwide Seuss at Sea program. Carnival is also a major supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, raising more than $10 million for the hospital since launching its Care to Play: Carnival for St. Jude Kids program in 2010. As part of its Honor. Family. Fun. program honoring Operation Homefront, an organization that assists military families, Carnival will be hosting an exclusive shipboard concert for military families by seven-time Grammy Award-winning country music superstar Carrie Underwood aboard the new Carnival Vista when it makes its U.S. arrival in November. The Carnival Journeys enrichment series is also expanding with more than 20 voyages visiting spectacular ports throughout Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and other destinations. "Vacations are more important than ever and as America's Cruise Line we consider it an honor that our guests entrust us with their well-deserved vacations year after year," said Christine Duffy, Carnival's president. "Being named America's Most Trusted Cruise Line by the readers of Reader's Digest for two years running is a testament to our focus on providing our guests with unforgettable vacations as well as the incredible effort put forth by our team members, both on board and ashore," she added. A full list of Reader's Digest Most Trusted Brands is available at www.rd.com/trust. Additional information and reservations on Carnival's cruises are available by contacting any travel agent, calling 1-800-CARNIVAL or visiting www.carnival.com. Carnival can also be found on: Twitter: www.twitter.com/carnivalcruise Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/carnival YouTube: www.youtube.com/carnival Instagram: www.instagram.com/carnival Journalists also can visit Carnival's media site, www.carnival-news.com or follow the line's PR department on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CarnivalPR. About Carnival Cruise Line Carnival, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line" with 25 ships operating three- to 16-day voyages to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, New England, Bermuda, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The company currently has the 133,500-ton Carnival Horizon set to debut in 2018, along with two 180,000-ton ships scheduled to enter service in 2020 and 2022. SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line Related Links http://www.carnivalcorp.com ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Carvel America's Freshest Ice Cream, has announced a significant expansion initiative across New Jersey, with plans to open up to 20 additional locations in the coming years. The iconic ice cream brand, which currently operates 51 franchised New Jersey locations, is looking to attract qualified franchisees across the state. "We have an extremely loyal customer base in the tristate area, and New Jersey represents an important region for us," said Scott Colwell, President of Carvel. "We're looking forward to finding qualified franchisees who will contribute to the record growth and momentum Carvel is experiencing." Carvel is searching for highly motivated people who are looking for a stable business to build and who would like to own a Carvel franchise. Interested candidates are invited to attend a Discovery Day event on Tuesday, October 4th at the Saddle Brook Marriott at 138 New Pehle Ave. in Saddle Brook from 6:30 8:30 p.m. to learn more about the franchise opportunity and meet one-on-one with company executives. To register for the event, please visit http://conta.cc/2c8xyG8. "The fact that Carvel continues to grow in the face of the ever-changing frozen treat industry speaks volumes to the passion that consumers and franchisees have for the brand," said Colwell. Carvel experienced a record increase in same-store sales growth in 2015 and is in the midst of an ongoing roll-out of its new shoppe design. The Carvel that many consumers grew up with now has a more contemporary look with wood-finished floors, vibrant colors, digital menu boards and new brand imagery. The new retail layout is designed to enhance the guest experience and spur a new wave of growth for Carvel. The total initial investment for a full-service Carvel shoppe ranges from approximately $250,000 to $380,000 and varies based on location, square footage and equipment package. Full-service Carvel shoppes typically range in size from 800 to 1,600 square feet. As the first retail ice cream franchise operation in the country, Carvel has become one of the most recognized names in ice cream. Since it began in 1934, Carvel has expanded its menu to include an extensive line of hand-dipped and soft ice cream, take-home novelty treats, and premium ice cream cakes. Carvel currently operates over 400 franchise and foodservice locations worldwide and has been ranked in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 and The Franchise Times' Top 200+ lists. For more information, visit www.carvelfranchising.com About Carvel Ice Cream The United States' first retail ice cream franchise, Carvel Ice Cream, has become one of the best-loved and most recognized names in its industry. The company is a leading provider of premium soft ice cream and hand dipped ice cream products, as well as uniquely shaped ice cream cakes, including its signature Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss cakes. Atlanta-based Carvel currently operates over 400 franchised and food service locations. Visit www.carvel.com for more information, follow us on Twitter @CarvelIceCream or become a fan at http://facebook.com/CarvelIceCream Media Contact Pat Burek Finn Partners for Carvel [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160711/388482LOGO SOURCE Carvel Ice Cream Related Links http://www.carvel.com LAS VEGAS, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- (SGIA EXPO, BOOTH #3031) - ChromaLuxe today announced a major advancement in photographic printing technology, color brilliance, d-max, print longevity, and surface physical durability with a WIR Display Permanence Rating of 65 years for its ChromaLuxe aluminum sublimation photo panels when printed with Epson UltraChrome DS inks, and 64 years when printed with Sawgrass Sublijet-HD Pro Photo XF inks. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409183 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409184LOGO Widely recognized as the world's leading independent print permanence testing laboratory, WIR conducted comprehensive, multi-factor print permanence tests on ChromaLuxe. Although the 4-color Epson and 8-color Sawgrass inks have different dye formulations, and distinctly different individual ink fade patterns, both brands of inks proved to be well matched to the latest ChromaLuxe sublimation coating formulations, and both have achieved almost identical WIR Display Permanence Ratings. With unprecedented resistance to surface abrasion, high humidity, atmospheric ozone, and contact with water, ChromaLuxe prints, available in sizes up to 4x8 feet, can be safely displayed without the need for framing under glass or acrylic, face-mounting, or surface laminating. When displayed, unframed prints made with the latest generation of ChromaLuxe aluminum photo panels are far more stable and longer lasting than Kodak Endura or other current silver-halide papers, including silver-halide prints framed under UV-absorbing acrylic or glass or when face-mounted to UV-absorbing acrylic. "From the beginning, ChromaLuxe has committed substantial resources to research and development for our sublimation photo panels with the goal of constantly improving the image quality and permanence, d-max, and printing consistency. We are committed to providing the most advanced photographic sublimation print media for the most demanding photographers," said Kristina Lowe, Director of Marketing. "Working with leading sublimation ink suppliers and other industry partners, genuine ChromaLuxe prints now offer photographers an unmatched combination of display permanence, physical surface durability, and color brilliance." According to Henry Wilhelm, Director of Research at WIR, "Very complex interactions take place between sublimation inks and the ink receptive polymer coatings of dye sublimation prints, both during the short, high-heat image transfer step involved in making the prints and, very gradually over time, during the long-term display and storage of the prints. What a print looks like when it emerges from the heat press tells you nothing at all about how long it will last. You can consider permanence or the lack thereof to be the invisible factor in sublimation printing." "In terms of how long your prints will last, sublimation on metal photo panels is a new and rapidly advancing technology, and all aluminum photo panels frequently referred to in the marketplace simply as 'Metal Prints' are by no means the same," Wilhelm said. "If your lab is using untested products, both you and your customers are flying blind." About ChromaLuxe ChromaLuxe is the global manufacturer of premium print media, supplying high quality blank substrates for a variety of applications that require superb image quality and durability. All coatings and substrates are made in the USA with manufacturing and fabrication done in Louisville, KY. With additional locations in Belgium and Australia, ChromaLuxe serves its global customer base and provides products to more than 80 countries. To learn more about ChromaLuxe, please visit: ChromaLuxe.com. Connect with ChromaLuxe on Facebook (facebook.com/realchromaluxe), Instagram (instagram.com/realchromaluxe) and Twitter (twitter.com/realChromaLuxe). Contact: Alesha Yaney ChromaLuxe 502-855-3227 Email SOURCE ChromaLuxe Related Links http://ChromaLuxe.com MIAMI, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CITIVA, in collaboration with the University of West Indies, Mona announced today they are donating the first cannabis-based medicine extracted from their well-researched, high-CBD cannabis strain, to be used in a ground-breaking study in Jamaica that will examine its effect on children with Epilepsy. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160915/408540 Medically indicated strain of cannabis growing at CITIVA's R&D facility on the campus of UWI-MONA in Kingston, Jamaica The specialized, therapeutic, High-CBD strain, which was bred and cultivated by CITIVA at their horticulture center on the MONA campus was safely and successfully extracted into oil by Epican at their 5000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art facility in Kingston. Epican, a Jamaican-owned and operated company is partnering with the Scientific Research Council with focus on large scale, CO2 extraction of phytocannabinoids and terpenes from the cannabis plant for medicinal purposes. Epican's extraction equipment is supplied through a relationship with MetaCan, a US company, with over a decade of experience in developing novel and proprietary extraction technologies specifically for the cannabis industry. "As Jamaica moves forward to embrace the cannabis industry, we are pleased and honored to provide to CITIVA the most advanced technological extraction of phytocannabinoids, to ensure and guarantee that their finished products are accurately dosed, and of the highest standards of quality and purity," said Karibe McKenzie, Founder and CEO of Epican. Both companies have been engaged in local collaborative research agreements and are working toward the advancement of science, research, development and marketing of effective cannabis-based products for a wide variety of health conditions. CITIVA's donation of medically-indicated products is set to be the first of many of their products that will be used in future studies in collaboration with UWI. "CITIVA is proud of the development of our facility on the Mona Campus of UWI. The concept of medical cannabis has been in Jamaica for centuries. This is the beginning of a partnership that we hope will create hundreds of jobs, crucial medications for the sick and disabled, and a dynamic new industry," said Kim Volman, CEO of CITIVA. In July, CITIVA launched the world's first university-based facility dedicated to medical marijuana research at UWI. Their focus is on advancing the study of marijuana and its efficacy in the field of medicine. Their first harvest, grown at this facility, is indicated for study in the treatments of Type II Diabetes and Epilepsy. "The University of the West Indies is proud to announce that our partnership with CITIVA is beginning to bear fruit. CITIVA has begun construction of a world leading medical cannabis research center in the medical sciences building on the Mona Campus. UWI plans to work closely with CITIVA on critical research that will benefit both the healthcare system and the people and economy of Jamaica," said Professor Archibald McDonald, the Deputy Principal of the University of the West Indies at Mona. About Epican Epican is an industry leader in the development of advanced super and sub-critical CO2 extraction technologies for phytocannabinoids, terpenes and cannabis-based phytonutrients. Through collaborations and partnerships, they are advancing the scientific research, education, legal reform, manufacturing, distribution and access to cannabis-based products in Jamaica and other countries. About MetaCan MetaCan, a minority shareholder in Epican, is a global leader in the medical cannabis industry, helping to elevate awareness of the scientific validation and efficacy of the miraculous cannabis plant, by conducting clinical research, enriching the human experience through creation and marketing of consumer brands across multiple distribution platforms, and developing and licensing proprietary extraction technologies that create value-added collaborations. About CITIVA CITIVA is a cannabis research and product development company based in New York, with a research and product development center located on the Mona campus of UWI. CITIVA specializes in advanced research of cannabis, and in creating medications with individualized cannabinoid ratios designed to treat specific diseases and conditions. For further information and/or to request interviews, please contact: Epican Richard Watson Marketing Manager 876-452-9569 [email protected] Metacan Margie Adelman Chief Marketing Officer 1.916.220.3500 [email protected] CITIVA Amy Holdener Director of Marketing and Communications 1.561.352.0342 [email protected] Related Files Citiva and UWI From Partnership.pdf Related Images image1.jpg image2.jpg Related Links Learn More About CITIVA and Their Products Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLU4EisZtrY This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE CITIVA Related Links http://citiva.com ClassDojo was recognized for Class Story and School Story: a simple way for all teachers, students, and parents to communicate and share moments from the classroom. The "Stories" are accessible as an instantly updated stream of photos and videos which can be seen on any mobile device or desktop. "What we've heard from parents and teachers is the ability to connect and share special classroom moments has made them feel like more of a team than ever before. And that those few seconds it takes to send a picture from class can lead to hours of conversation at home," said Monica Harvancik, designer at ClassDojo. "The design of Class Story and School Story was done to make this connection as seamless as possible. We couldn't be more excited to be recognized by Fast Company, as we keep working on ways to give teachers, parents, and students the power to create incredible classrooms." All finalists are highlighted on the FastCoDesign.com website and in the October issue of the print magazine, which hits newsstands September 20, 2016. For more information on ClassDojo, please visit https://www.classdojo.com/press/. About ClassDojo ClassDojo's mission is to give teachers, parents, and students the power to create incredible classrooms. Founded in 2011 and based in San Francisco, California, ClassDojo is a classroom communication app that helps students build social-emotional skills while creating a simple way for teachers, parents, and students to share what's happening during the school day through photos, videos, and messages. Today, over 2 in 3 schools in the U.S., as well as a further 180 countries, have joined ClassDojo. To learn more, visit: https://www.classdojo.com/ or Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. About Fast Company Fast Company is one of the world's leading business media brands, with an editorial focus on creativity and innovation in technology, ethical economics, leadership, and design. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc. and can be found online at fastcompany.com. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409600 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160127/326817LOGO SOURCE ClassDojo Related Links http://www.classdojo.com SAN DIEGO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudnine Realtime, an industry leading cloud solutions provider, today announced Josh Clark as company President. Current President and CEO Robert Chandler, will transition to Founder and CEO. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160916/408891 After careful analysis of the changing nature of the industry and the trends moving forward, Cloudnine Realtime is pleased to have an innovative leader like Josh to lead the company through its next season. Since joining Cloudnine as Senior Vice President in 2015, Clark has led a new management team to revolutionize the Cloudnine experience for staff and users alike. "Since bringing Josh on last fall, Cloudnine has enjoyed an unprecedented season of healthy growth. He is an extraordinary leader. It is time to fully empower him with the operations of the company." Said Robert, "In addition, positioning Josh as President will allow me to drive our vision for the future. I'm excited to focus on my role as Founder and CEO." About Josh A family man, living in Southern California, with his wife and five children, Josh possesses a depth of experience helping organizations increase their clarity, impact, and health. An empowering leader, Josh helps his team develop their strengths and positions them for maximum impact. Moving Forward "We believe that cloud hosting technology is no longer an innovative idea, but an adoption that is critical to the continued success of businesses everywhere," said Josh. "The advances in cloud technology can be overwhelming to business owners and managers. It's our privilege to make the power of the cloud accessible to the SMB market." About Cloudnine Realtime Cloudnine Realtime, headquartered in San Diego, CA, is an accredited, managed service provider delivering custom cloud solutions for anytime, anywhere access. An Inc. 5000 company for three years running, Cloudnine is honored to have been voted "Best Hosting Company" by the CPA Practice Advisor Readers' Choice Award 5 years in a row. Cloudnine is recognized as an industry leader because it builds its services and processes around the customer experience, always seeking top satisfaction. For more information, please visit http://www.cloudninerealtime.com Related Links Cloudnine Realtime Case Studies This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com. SOURCE Cloudnine Realtime Related Links https://www.cloudninerealtime.com/ GLENVIEW, Ill., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Combined Insurance, a leading provider of individual supplemental accident, disability, health, and life insurance products, and a Chubb company, celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with the expansion of its market presence in some of the areas with the largest Spanish-speaking populations in the nation. Last year, the company announced the New Latino Zone that includes Puerto Rico, Florida, Illinois, Texas, California, and Arizona. This year, the company grew to nearly 250 bilingual sales professionals who work one-on-one with Spanish-speaking customers in their communities. By early 2017, Combined Insurance plans to expand to 400 bilingual sales professionals in the Latino Zone. In addition, to support this growth, bilingual corporate hires have increased33 percent of corporate employees hired so far in 2016, located at the corporate offices in Glenview and Chicago, Ill., are bilingual in English and Spanish. The Latino Zone is led by three Regional Directors, two of whom were recently promotedMiguel Cruz and Modesto Flores. Miguel Cruz, Regional Director, U.S. Sales, began his career with Combined Insurance in 2013 where he grew the sales market in Florida to more than 150 sales professionals in just three years. Cruz said the Florida market represents a blend of cultures with sales professionals from Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, and more. "We had a dream to build a Latino salesforce at Combined Insurance. With more than 55 million Hispanics and Latinos living in the United States, our goal was to create an opportunity for Latinos who want a professional career," said Cruz. "Our sales agents and managers in Florida represent a blend of many backgroundsthis is a great time to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and continue recognizing their accomplishments and contributions to our organization." The Latino market expansion continues with the states of California and Texas led by Modesto Flores, Regional Director, U.S. Sales. Flores has been in the insurance industry for 17 years, specializing in life insurance. "We are proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and honor those who have made great strides to make our company a welcoming and inclusive employer for all Hispanics and Latinos," said Flores. "Combined Insurance has created an opportunity for Spanish-speaking individuals who want to help members of their communities and provide them with valuable services in the language they prefer." At a recent employee Town Hall at Combined Insurance, President Brad Bennett and Chief Agency Officer Doug Abercrombie publicly affirmed their commitment to the Latino initiative to expand the hiring of bilingual sales agents and serve Latino/bilingual customers. Combined Insurance has an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau and an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating by A.M. Best, one of the world's top insurance rating firms. The company has also been recognized for six consecutive years on Ward's 50 Top Performing Health-Life Insurance Companies list. Most recently, Combined Insurance was recognized as a Top Diversity Employer by Hispanic Network Magazine for the second consecutive year. Visit the careers page on the Combined Insurance website at https://www.combinedinsurance.com/us-en/Careers/index.aspx. About Combined Insurance Combined Insurance Company of America (Chicago, IL) is a leading provider of individual supplemental accident, disability, health and life insurance products and a Chubb company. With a tradition of more than 90 years of success, Combined Insurance is one of Ward's Top 50 Performing Life-Health Insurance Companies and was named the number one Military Friendly Employer by G.I. Jobs magazine in 2015 and 2016. Combined Insurance is committed to making the world of supplemental insurance easy to understand. For more information about Combined Insurance products, career opportunities or to contact a local sales agent, call 1-800-490-1322 or visit www.combinedinsurance.com. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CombinedIns Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CombinedInsuranceUnitedStates Connect with us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/combined-insurance View our videos on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CombinedInsuranceUSA Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/combinedinsurance Read more on our blog, Supplementally Speaking: www.combinedinsurance.com/blog About the New Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: new.chubb.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160126/325926LOGO SOURCE Combined Insurance Related Links http://www.combinedinsurance.com IRVINE, Calif.,, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Conexant Systems, Inc., a leading provider of audio and voice technology solutions that enable a more natural user experience, has been named a finalist in the Consumer Devices & Software category of the Orange County Technology Alliance annual High-Tech Innovation Awards for its RoomAware Optimizer. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner on October 6, 2016 at the Westin South Coast Plaza. RoomAware Optimizer is part of Conexant's AudioSmart product portfolio. Conexant has leveraged its audio capturing algorithms to sense the context of the product and its surroundings to automatically optimize the end user experience. With this technology embedded in TVs, consumers can easily enhance their TV's audio experience by using the microphone built in to their TV's remote control to capture and analyze the acoustics of the surrounding room. The remote control then sends the room's acoustic data to the TV for automatic adjustment. No professional audio tuning required. Audio is a critical component of, and often sets the tone for, the entire television viewing experience. With RoomAware Optimizer, TVs deliver an optimized, distortion-free listening experience from their internal speakers. "For a perfectly well-rounded TV experience a TV should be able to recreate sound as brilliantly as it can picture," said Saleel Awsare, President of Conexant. "However, while picture quality seems to only get better as time goes on, the thinning form factor of today's TVs makes them difficult to tune for ideal audio performance. We designed our RoomAware Optimizer to take the guesswork out of tuning a TV's audio system to sound its very best. We are thrilled that the OC Tech Alliance sees the value this solution offers by naming it a finalist for this year's High-Tech Innovation Awards." RoomAware Optimizer has been adopted by LG Electronics for its 2016 lineup of OLED and UHD TVs equipped with the Magic Remote. LG calls the feature "Magic Sound Tuning." RoomAware Optimizer is one of the many features offered by Conexant's AudioSmart technology. Conexant's AudioSmart technologies can also be utilized for acoustic echo cancellation and noise reduction, and can be utilized to maximize far-field speech recognition performance and accuracy, as well as enabling audio barge-in capabilities on today's voice-enabled CE devices. "Every year, it seems that technologies created by Orange County based companies get exponentially more exciting," said Peter Craig, CEO, OC Tech Alliance. "The RoomAware Optimizer component of Conexant's AudioSmart software exemplifies the dedication to pushing the limits of possible shown by technology companies of the region. We congratulate Conexant for being selected as a finalist of this year's High-Tech Innovation Awards." Now in its 23rd year, the High-Tech Innovation Awards is Southern California's premier awards program celebrating the achievements made among the region's technology industry. The OC Tech Alliance honors local companies, individuals and products that drive innovation in Orange County. For a complete list of the High-Tech Innovation Awards finalists, visit http://www.octechalliance.com/high-tech-innovation-awards-2016-finalists/ To learn more, please visit www.conexant.com, follow them on LinkedIn, like them on Facebook, and view their videos on YouTube. About Conexant: Conexant Systems, Inc. is the CE industry's go-to source for hardware and software solutions that offer unrivaled performance for audio and voice applications. The company combines its significant IP portfolio in DSP, analog and mixed signal technology with embedded software to enrich and expand audio and voice capabilities of products across nearly every vertical of the CE space. Founded in 1999, Conexant is a privately-held fabless semiconductor and audio technology engineering company headquartered in Irvine, California with offices and design centers worldwide. About Orange County Technology Alliance Orange County Technology Alliance is a 501(c)6 nonprofit trade association committed to fast-forwarding the local innovation economy. It is the successor organization to the Orange County Council of TechAmerica and AeA. It is the only technology association addressing the needs of small-to-midsize technology companies and their leaders based in Orange County, California. The alliance serves members through local networking, professional development, state and federal advocacy, savings on business services and industry recognition. To learn more about membership, contact OC Tech Alliance at [email protected] or www.octechalliance.com. Follow alliance activities on Twitter at www.twitter.com/octechalliance. SOURCE Conexant Systems, Inc. Related Links http://www.conexant.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Politicians and the media who cover them don't always get along, but tomorrow night Sept. 21 at the National Press Club it will be all fun and games as lawmakers and reporters square off in the hilarious Politicians vs. Press Spelling Bee. The event, sponsored by education technology leader Blackboard, Inc., is a continuation of a tradition started back in 1913, when the National Press Club held a spelling bee pitting elected officials against news reporters. President Woodrow Wilson and members of his Cabinet were among the 1,000 people who attended the inaugural event. More recently, 2013 champion Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) leveraged his Press Club Spelling Bee victory into a 2016 vice presidential nomination. 2015 victor Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) will be back to defend his title this year against fellow lawmakers and a rejuvenated Washington press corps that is seeking its first ever victory in the history of the event (view video highlights). Representing the Politicians Team are 2015 Champion Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill), Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif), Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla) and Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA). Representing the Press Team are 2015 runner-up Karoun Demirjian (The Washington Post), Clinton Yates (ESPN's "The Undefeated"), Carrie Budoff Brown (POLITICO), Angela Greiling Keane (Bloomberg), Emmarie Huetteman (The New York Times), Carrie Johnson (NPR), Art Swift (Gallup) and Rod Kuckro (E&E News). The Bee will be officiated by Dr. Jacques Bailly, the Scripps National Spelling Bee's official pronouncer and 1980 winner of the competition. 2016 co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Jairam Hathwar of Painted Post, New York, and Nihar Janga of Austin, Texas will serve as guest judges for the event. Tickets for the event are available online at https://www.press.org/spelling-bee. All proceeds from the event will benefit the National Press Club Journalism Institute which provides training, resources, education and career development programs to media and communications professionals, awards scholarships to the next generation of journalists and continually recognizes excellence in journalism and advocates for press freedom worldwide. Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 or Thomas Burr, 202-662-7517, for the National Press Club. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080917/NPCLOGO SOURCE National Press Club Related Links http://www.press.org DENVER, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ClickFox, the Journey Company, and ConVista, an international leader in digital customer engagement and IT consulting, have announced an agreement to deliver to the insurance industry a first-of-its-kind Advanced Customer Journey Analytics solution. Customer Journey Analytics quantifies the efficiency and effectiveness of an insurance company's actual agent, broker, prospect and policyholder's journeys. The power of Customer Journey Analytics is that it looks at data as a story by connecting every event a customer experiences to reveal the full experience from the customer's perspective, including all of the actual data of an insurance company. This connected and contextualized Journey Dataset produced by ClickFox, allows deep analysis to obtain targeted insights into process design, process improvement, technology system design while obtaining quantified insight into cost reduction, satisfaction and revenue growth opportunities. ClickFox has had success helping companies with a wide-array of business use cases in several industries, including Financial Services, Energy Providers, Wireless Carriers and Insurance. Many of the use cases ClickFox has been used to solve are ripe opportunities for Insurers, such as: Digital Containment, CSAT/NPS Improvement, and Complaint reduction. "Clients obtain insights in agent attrition, policyholder churn, web to call center leakage and more," said Jonathan Kalman, Chief Digital Transformation Officer. "Digital Customer Engagement Transformation begins with Customer Journey Analytics," continued Jonathan Kalman, "and once an insurance company has this information, they are able to know precisely which processes and which systems need to be changed when transforming their underlying front office systems." "ClickFox chooses partnership opportunities very carefully and is excited to align with a firm with the knowledge and Insurance industry expertise that ConVista possesses," said Damon Wild, ClickFox SVP of Sales. "The combination of ClickFox's powerful journey analytics capabilities coupled with ConVista's deep industry acumen creates a compelling go to market opportunity for the Insurance sector." About ClickFox ClickFox is the creator of the journey data standard and the only specialized journey solution certified on Hadoop. With over a decade of expertise monetizing the world's largest customer interaction sources, they have proven success transforming big data into connected, dynamic journeys delivering billions in incremental revenue, operational efficiencies and c-sat improvements to our clients. Learn more at: clickfox.com. Like us on social media @ClickFox. About ConVista ConVista has its global headquarters in Cologne, Germany, with US operations in Philadelphia, PA. Since 1999, ConVista has combined business consulting with extensive technical and methodological expertise. ConVista supports its customer within the entire value chain of our competence centers. Recently, ConVista has developed a leading digital customer engagement practice specifically for the needs of the insurance industry. SOURCE ClickFox, Inc. Related Links http://www.clickfox.com NORTHVALE, N.J., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Craftmaster Hardware, LLC, a wholesale distributor of the world's most recognizable brands of commercial door hardware, detention hardware and locksmith supplies has recently launched its new, updated website. This newly designed website offers customers quick and easy access to thousands of door hardware products from brands such as Corbin Russwin, Stanley Best, Kaba Access, Yale, Sargent, Master Lock, LCN, Schlage, Von Duprin, Southern Folger and many others. The new B2B E-Commerce solution has a clean, uncluttered design, rich content and improved functionality offering Craftmaster customers an easy, logical product search and shopping experience. Customers can take advantage of the Live Chat functionality where the experienced and skilled Craftmaster customer service team can assure error-free product selection and solutions to customer issues and problems. The new website is live and located at www.craftmasterhardware.com. "We are excited about our new website and the opportunity to offer our customers a best in class website for accessing the highest quality products in the door hardware industry," said Craftmaster CEO Tim Grogan. "We continue our effort to offer high tech solutions with the high touch service that has differentiated Craftmaster for years". Enhancements and updates to the new website will continue on a regular basis and customers should look forward to new tools and helpful resources that will be added in the coming weeks and month. About Craftmaster Hardware Craftmaster Hardware, LLC is a distributor of commercial door hardware headquartered in Northvale, New Jersey primarily serving the Institutional Locksmith market. Craftmaster Hardware's history dates back to its founding in 1951. To learn more, please visit us at www.craftmasterhardware.com. Contact: Dan Donohue, Director of Sales and Marketing Phone: 1-201-768-0808 Email: [email protected] Related Files Craftmaster_Hardware_Press_Release-New_Website_for_Security_Industry-NewsWire.pdf Related Images image1.png image2.png This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com. SOURCE Craftmaster Hardware LLC DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CompTIA and its philanthropic arm, Creating IT Futures Foundation, earned two 2016 ASAE Power of A Awards: a Gold for its IT-Ready career program and a Silver for its Dream IT Program. "Congratulations to Creating IT Futures and CompTIA for their hard work and for helping to make the world a better place," said Sharon J. Swan, FASAE, CAE, Chief Executive Officer of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and chair of the Power of A Awards Judging Committee. "Their initiative exemplifies how associations are a positive force in our everyday lives not just to the profession or industry they represent, but to society at large." Offered free of charge by experienced information technology (IT) instructors in a classroom setting, IT-Ready teaches skills that equip adult learners for beginning careers in the IT industry such as building a computer from parts, installing software, troubleshooting problems, and setting up and managing networks. Students also learn softer professional skills such as communication, customer service and job interviewing techniques. With 10 locations, more than 1,000 students have participated in the IT-Ready program since 2012. "Creating IT Futures has committed to putting 5,000 new workers into IT careers by 2018. We're continually in discussions with workforce investment boards, local governments, and other non-profits to expand IT-Ready into more cities," said Charles Eaton, CEO, Creating IT Futures Foundation. "Nearly 95 percent of graduates earn their CompTIA A+ certification and 80 percent move into paid IT roles with area companies. We're creating more than the opportunity for a job, but instead a life-long career full of upward mobility and self-sustaining income." One of CompTIA's volunteer group communities, Advancing Women in IT (AWIT), developed an evangelism platform called DreamIT to show how the many IT career opportunities there are for available to women. In 2014, the community launched two websites linked to the Dream IT initiative - a Career Resource Center, which features a robust collection of career information and resources, all aimed at delivering the message to women and girls that IT is a great place to work; and Dream IT, which contains ready-made presentation materials that can be used by anyone interested in spreading the message about the opportunities in the IT workforce for women and girls. "Dream IT resources are designed to raise awareness among students especially girls that their interests and strengths can translate into a rewarding career in the technology field. The materials are ready-made for use by any classroom teacher, career counselor, community group or social organization," said Nancy Hammervik, senior vice president, industry relations, CompTIA. "This August our members and staff surpassed the goal to reach 10,000 women and girls about the opportunities in the IT industry." ASAE's Power of A (association) Awards, the association industry's highest honor, recognize the association community's valuable contributions on the local, national and global levels. The Power of A Awards reward outstanding accomplishments of associations and industry professionals for their efforts to enrich lives, create a competitive workforce, prepare society for the future, drive innovation and make a better world. For more information about IT-Ready, go to www.ITready.com. For more information about the DreamIT program, go to https://www.comptia.org/AWITcareers and https://www.comptia.org/DreamIT Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140416/75669 SOURCE Creating IT Futures Foundation ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta-based dcBLOX Inc., a data center services company that employs a proprietary modular enclosure technology, secured more than $15 million in funding from Atalaya Capital Management LP. dcBLOX will use the funds to update its existing site in the Brookhaven area of Atlanta, and to open a new multi-tenant data center in Chattanooga, Tenn. by Q4 2016. The company plans to target data center markets in secondary cities for future locations. "We are excited to offer our uniquely flexible data centers that can support high-power colocation requirements up to 30kW or more per rack cabinet," said dcBLOX Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jake Ring. "Both our Atlanta and new Chattanooga facilities are very efficient, yet can support power densities needed for Hyper-converged or High-Performance Compute architectures such as Hadoop clusters." Ring continued, "Our Chattanooga and Atlanta sites are connected through our private optical transit network at 100Gbps, scalable to 17.6Tbps, so we can quickly backup and recover client data synchronously. Customers no longer have to wait hours for Disaster Recovery, but can access their data through our high bandwidth network in minutes if not seconds." Ring and Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Joshua Reyneveld started dcBLOX in 2014 to bring to the retail data center market the proprietary modular technology and years of experience in facility and next-gen networks developed by Myoonet, Inc. Reyneveld is the chief executive officer of Myoonet, dcBLOX's exclusive provider of data center design, development and network architecture. "The dcBLOX management team has been involved in the data center market for decades, building some of the largest and most technically advanced data centers for leading Enterprise IT firms," said Reyneveld. "With our next-generation facility and network infrastructure, we can provide services unmatched by any other provider in flexibility, security, and reliability, up to 99.999%, far beyond what others can deliver," he explained. "We are deploying our OpenStack cloud with integrated SDN that on our network can support synchronous replication of customer data and applications all at greater reliability and better value than other providers." About dcBLOX Founded in 2014, dcBLOX is an Atlanta-based data center provider utilizing a proprietary enclosure technology that allows for more flexible, efficient, and cost effective infrastructure. The company provides virtual and standard colocation, and network connectivity services through its high bandwidth private optical network. Comprehensive one-stop service offerings include highly-reliable and secure OpenStack cloud solutions, Managed Services including DRaaS, Backup, and Storage, and professional IT services. For more information, visit dcBLOX.com. About Atalaya Capital Management Atalaya is a privately held, SEC-registered, alternative investment advisory firm. Atalaya focuses on making opportunistic credit and special situations investments, primarily via three principal strategies corporate, real estate and specialty finance. Founded in 2006, Atalaya is headquartered in New York City. Media Contacts: For dcBLOX: Joellyn Sargent 770.335.5244 [email protected] For Atalaya: Adam Nadborny 212.201-1910 [email protected] SOURCE dcBLOX Inc. Related Links http://www.dcBLOX.com KOTOR, MONTENEGRO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In the days prior to the Jewish New Year, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has entered into a unique partnership with the Montenegrin NGO Dukley European Arts Community (DEAC). This comes on the heels of a June reception in Jerusalem celebrating the 10th anniversary of Montenegrin independence and a successful summer tourism season of direct flights shuttling Israeli tourists to the Adriatic Riviera. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409838 At the historic Jugooceanija Building in Kotor, over 100 dignitaries from around the world gathered tonight to welcome two award-winning Israeli artists Shirley Siegel andShuruq Egbariah. One Jewish and one Arab, these two "citizen ambassadors" are tasked by the Israeli government with the same unique mission demonstrating the power of art to bring people and cultures together. The night marks the first time in history that Israeli food was served in Montenegro and signals rapidly deepening ties. Before Ministers, Ambassadors, civic, religious and business leaders, Neil Emilfarb, founder of the Dukley European Arts Community opened the reception, "Art is the universal language and it plays a unique role in bringing peoples and cultures together. Montenegro is a short flight from Israel and has never had an incident of Anti-Semitism." Emilfarb was one of the first Jewish emigres from the USSR to New England leaving Tashkent, USSR in 1979 to settle in Hartford. Having lived the American dream, he has spent the last eight years residing in Montenegro. In Budva, Montenegro, Neil has been active in the tourism industry constructing multi-million euro seaside resorts. Rising to be the largest American investor in the region, he has been the leading advocate of Montenegrin NATO integration. In October 2014, for example, he coordinated with the US Embassy to host Senator Chris Murphy for high level discussions centered on NATO enlargement and the power of commercial diplomacy. In less than two years, the Dukley European Arts Community (DEAC) has begun to positively transform the cultural infrastructure of Montenegro. Utilizing artists from across Europe, DEAC has enhanced Montenegrin theaters, universities, galleries and municipalities. Additionally, DEAC has prolonged the tourism season critical for the Montenegrin economy - with innovative cultural programming and arts festivals in the spring and autumn. Gallery and studio space for visiting international artists comprise the heart of DEAC and are located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kotor. DEAC was launched by Emilfarb as a way for his company, Stratex Group, to give back to the people of Montenegro and to push the limits of 21st Century cultural diplomacy. Similar to Montenegro, Israel is blessed with incredible natural beauty and has always been situated at the crossroads of cultures and civilizations. It is from this diversity and this history that these artists will find their muse. Through innovative cultural diplomacy over an intense two week residency, these dynamic artists aim to bring the people of Montenegro and Israel closer together. To Coordinate Interviews in Montenegrin, Hebrew or English with the Artists or Neil Emilfarb: Milena Spahic, +382 69 170007, [email protected] Ari Mittleman, +1-202-744-7170, [email protected] Related Images image1.jpg image2.png image3.png Related Links Dukley European Art Community (DEAC) Stratex This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE Dukley European Arts Community (DEAC) Related Links http://dukleyart.me NEW DELHI, India, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta ID Inc., a leader in consumer-grade iris scanning technology for mobile devices, announced today that it has been awarded certification for its ActiveIRIS technology by STQC, Ministry of Communication and IT, Government of India. Delta ID has licensed ActiveIRIS technology to Samsung for integration into Samsung mobile devices. The two companies have collaborated to integrate this technology in the Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris, India's first mobile device with iris scanner for Aadhaar (India's biometrics based resident authentication system). Delta ID's ActiveIRIS technology combines its patented hardware design and advanced software algorithm to bring iris scanning and recognition to mobile devices that is fast and easy to use for consumers, and simple and inexpensive for mobile OEMs to integrate. Delta ID was the first company to bring iris scanning and recognition technology to market in collaboration with Fujitsu and NTT DOCOMO in the F-04G smartphone in May 2015. Since then the company has launched its ActiveIRIS technology in multiple mobile devices from Fujitsu, Samsung and other major OEMs. The Aadhaar system in India now has more than 1 billion residents enrolled. It is extensively used by the government and private enterprises in India to authenticate residents, and verify their personal information such as name, address etc. (electronic-Know-Your-Customer or eKYC). The iris has already proven to be a more secure and reliable modality to identify and authenticate people. The iris works across a broader population, and unlike fingerprints, the iris being a protected organ - remains unaffected by external conditions. The integration of iris technology in mobile devices is expected to further expedite the use of Aadhaar across many more services from both the government and private enterprises. "I believe we are at that the cusp of a major change in how biometrics, particularly, iris scanning will play in enabling access to a variety of services we use via our smartphones and tablets," said Dr. Salil Prabhakar, president and CEO of Delta ID Inc., "It has been a privilege to work with the Samsung team on the integration of our iris technology to bring India's first Aadhaar enabled mobile device to market. We are confident the citizens of India will find it easy and convenient to use for Aadhaar authentication and eKYC applications." About Delta ID Delta ID was founded in 2011 with the mission to bring secure and convenient biometric authentication to mass market computing devices. Delta ID's ActiveIRIS technology includes patented hardware design and software to enable iris recognition using simple hardware that can be easily integrated in mobile and PC devices. Delta ID is based in Newark, California and backed by Intel Capital and other strategic investors. For more information, please visit http://www.deltaid.com. SOURCE Delta ID Inc. Related Links http://www.deltaid.com SAN DIEGO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dermata Therapeutics, LLC, a biotechnology company developing innovative medical dermatology products for dermatologists and their patients, today announced the appointment of Wendell Wierenga, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors. Dr. Wierenga joins Dermata's Board of Directors with broad R&D experience in all therapeutic categories in both small and large companies, extensive Board and leadership experience and a diverse functional background in Chemistry, Biology, Medicine, Analytical Science and Formulation Sciences. Over the course of his career, he has been involved in over 70 INDs, 15 NDAs, 16 marketed products and been awarded 30 patents. "We are very excited to have Wendell be part of our Board of Directors. I have worked with Wendell for many years and believe he will be an invaluable asset in helping with the development of our programs from his years of experience in biotech," said Gerry Proehl, President, CEO and Director of Dermata. In his most recent position, Dr. Wierenga served as Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Santarus, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company in San Diego, CA that was acquired by Salix Pharmaceuticals in January 2014 for $2.6 billion. Prior to joining Santarus, he held the position of Executive Vice President, Research and Development at both Ambit Biosciences and Neurocrine Biosciences. Before joining Neurocrine, Dr. Wierenga served as CEO of Syrrx, Inc., a private biotech company who was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceuticals in 2005. Dr. Wierenga earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University and his B.A. from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Cytokinetics, Ocera Therapeutics, and SRI Int'l and most recently was on the Board of Directors for Anacor Pharmaceuticals and XenoPort, Inc. prior to their sales to Pfizer and Arbor Pharmaceuticals, respectively. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Concert Pharmaceuticals, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and aTyr Pharma, Inc. About Dermata: Dermata is a development-stage biotechnology company focused on making major advancements in the treatment of serious diseases treated by dermatologists. Dermata has a team of experienced individuals who are currently focused on progressing four programs for the treatment of acne rosacea, acne vulgaris, atopic dermatitis and ocular rosacea. To learn more about Dermata and its pipeline of treatments, please visit www.dermatarx.com. CONTACT: Dermata Contact Gerald Proehl President and CEO 858.223.0888 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160512/367116LOGO SOURCE Dermata Therapeutics, LLC Related Links http://www.dermatarx.com "DTE's partnership with the Public Lighting Department and Detroit schools is an example of our commitment to providing reliable, cost-effective service to all of our customers and positively impact the communities where we live and work," said Robert Richard, senior vice president of DTE Energy's Major Enterprise Projects. "Our employees take pride in providing exceptional customer service to improve the quality of life and safety for our customers -- and their school children." When Detroit Public Lighting Department customers became DTE customers in July 2014, DTE partnered with the PLD to improve energy reliability in the schools and respond to power outages in minutes, rather than days. Crews were tasked with trimming trees on school property when it was discovered that overgrown vegetation was a significant contributing factor to power failures. DTE Energy continues work to convert an additional 80 to 90 Detroit schools to its grid. Since DTE began providing service to Detroit schools, the improvements have been impactful: In 2013-2014, all Detroit schools, including the Detroit Public School Community District (DPSCD), parochial, private, charter and Education Achievement Authority schools reported a total of 184 school closings as a result of power outages. schools, including the Detroit Public School Community District (DPSCD), parochial, private, charter and Education Achievement Authority schools reported a total of 184 school closings as a result of power outages. In 2013-2014, DPSCD alone, which serves 50 percent of Detroit's students, reported 86 days during which at least one school was closed due to an electrical outage. These closures equated to 14,000 hours of lost school time for DPSCD students. students, reported 86 days during which at least one school was closed due to an electrical outage. These closures equated to 14,000 hours of lost school time for DPSCD students. In 2014-2015, Detroit schools experienced 191 outages and 44 school closings. schools experienced 191 outages and 44 school closings. In 2015-2016, there were 31 outages, with only two school closings reported due to power failure. According to DPSCD, before the grid conversion project began, schools such as Fisher Magnet Upper Academy (15491 Maddelein Street), Mann Learning Community (19625 Elmira Street) and Schulze Academy for Technology and Arts (10700 Santa Maria Street) experienced some of the most severe interruptions in power with frequent closures that lasted for days, often damaging critical equipment. Brown outs were almost a daily occurrence in some schools, causing lights to flicker and dim, disrupting classrooms and impacting the students' ability to focus and learn. DTE worked with DPSCD to prioritize schools by need and make significant improvements. "Increased power reliability and reduced power outages have helped create an environment that is more conducive to learning for our students," said Emile Lauzzana, director of energy and sustainability for Detroit Public Schools Community District. "Overall, teachers and students feel a new sense of safety and security in the building and parents have confidence that when they drop their child off in the morning, they will not be getting a call to come pick their child up again in the middle of the day because of a power failure." The conversion project impacts a total of 115 business customers and institutions. Cobo Hall, Coleman A. Young International Airport, Detroit Receiving Hospital, Wayne State University, Belle Isle, and city government buildings will also benefit from the grid conversion project. "Over the last 50 years, Detroit's electric infrastructure had dilapidated to a point where it was not realistic to rebuild it internally," said Beau Taylor, public sector administrator at PLD. "We looked for a partner to improve PLD's service while we transitioned our customers to a new grid and DTE Energy was a natural fit. We've worked together for the last five years to develop solutions for the delivery of power to our customers and they are very excited to see this transition take place." About DTE Energy DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan and a natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in Michigan. The DTE Energy portfolio includes non-utility energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage, and energy marketing and trading. Information about DTE Energy is available at dteenergy.com, twitter.com/dte_energy and facebook.com/dteenergy. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409512 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140924/148236 SOURCE DTE Energy Related Links http://www.dteenergy.com ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Duo Security, a cloud-based Trusted Access provider protecting the world's largest and fastest-growing companies, today announced that it's helping thousands of Microsoft customers migrate workloads to the public cloud. Gartner estimates that the forecast for Cloud application services (SaaS) is forecast to grow 20.3 percent in 2016, to $37.7 billion.* Much of this growth is driven by organizations moving on-premises Microsoft services to the cloud. Duo currently protects more than 8,000 Microsoft customers with its trusted access platform, with the most common workloads being email, Windows servers, remote desktops, and directory services. Read more at http://duo.sc/msftcloud Today, one out of every five corporate employees use Office 365* but a move to Office 365 can be complex causing many organizations to migrate incrementally. As such, these organizations need to secure both their on-premises and cloud email infrastructure simultaneously. Thousands of organizations rely on Duo to secure access to both on-premises and cloud email environments. Organizations are also taking advantage of public cloud platforms for other Microsoft services, such as Windows servers and virtual desktop infrastructures. Today's companies use a combination of Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and other remote access services (RD Gateway, RD Web) to provide access to Windows servers and other business applications. Protecting access to remote Windows sessions, regardless of where it's hosted, is critical to security. Over 7,000 companies use Duo to protect on-premises and cloud-based Windows servers and virtual desktop infrastructures. Finally, many companies are utilizing cloud-based Azure Active Directory to connect with popular cloud applications and improve availability of their directory infrastructure. They also leverage Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) to federate identities between multiple applications and Active Directory instances. Duo quickly integrates with both on-premises and cloud-based Active Directory and ADFS to enforce role-based policies for user access and authentication into any application. "One of the biggest reasons we moved to Microsoft Office 365 was to leverage the cloud-based email system," said Chris Allamon, Vice President of Information Technology at Level One Bank. "After we converted our email system over, we gained some other benefits by also looking into SharePoint in the cloud. We use Duo single-sign-on with Microsoft Office 365." To see a demo of how Duo can protect Microsoft services, visit Duo at Microsoft Ignite hosted at the Georgia World Congress Center, booth #859. In addition Duo also announced the launch of their new single sign-on (http://duo.sc/ssopr) offering this week, meaning that in addition to Office 365 and other Microsoft applications, companies can provide a consistent and intuitive experience to access any other cloud application such as Salesforce, Box, Expensify, Slack and more. About Duo Security Duo Security is a cloud-based trusted access provider protecting the world's fastest-growing companies and thousands of organizations worldwide, including Dresser-Rand Group, Etsy, NASA, Facebook, K-Swiss, Paramount Pictures, Random House, SuddenLink, Toyota, Twitter, Yelp, Zillow, and more. Duo Security's innovative and easy-to-use technology can be quickly deployed to protect users, data, and applications from breaches, credential theft and account takeover. Duo Security is backed by Benchmark, Google Ventures, Radar Partners, Redpoint Ventures and True Ventures. Try it for free at www.duo.com. *http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3188817 *https://www.skyhighnetworks.com/cloud-security-blog/7-charts-reveal-the-meteoric-rise-of-office-365/ SOURCE Duo Security Related Links http://www.duo.com CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EdX, the leading nonprofit online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT, today launched 19 MicroMasters programs, a new category of Master's-level online education, originally pioneered by MIT, to bridge the knowledge gap between higher education and the workplace. The modular programs, which offer a credential with a pathway to credit, provide high-quality education from top universities to help learners launch or advance their career, or follow a path to an accelerated Master's degree. The MicroMasters initiative marks the next evolution in edX's mission to expand access to high-quality, career-relevant education at a fraction of the price. MicroMasters programs from 14 universities including MIT and now Columbia University, University of Michigan, Thunderbird School of Global Management, a unit of the Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and more, enable learners to begin advanced education in an affordable and flexible manner. Offered in subjects ranging from artificial intelligence to project management and supply chain management, MicroMasters courses are created by esteemed edX university partners, valued by top companies and linked to specific career outcomes. Industry and learner demand drove the development of MicroMasters, a program which was originally conceived by MIT and offered on edX as a pilot MicroMasters in Supply Chain Management a field experiencing a worldwide talent shortage. While developing the new MicroMasters programs, edX consulted with industry leadership to understand their challenges, both in hiring and developing a smarter, more capable workforce. "The workplace is changing more rapidly today than ever before and employers are in need of highly-developed talent. Meanwhile, college graduates want to advance professionally, but are realizing they do not have the career-relevant skills that the modern workplace demands. EdX recognizes this mismatch between business and education for learners, employees and employers," said Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX and MIT professor. "The MicroMasters initiative provides the next level of innovation in learning to address this skills gap by creating a bridge between higher education and industry to create a skillful, successful 21st-century workforce." Companies are looking for ways to provide their employees with deep, in-demand learning that will help them advance in rapidly growing fields, such as User Experience (UX) design, sustainable energy technology and operations. EdX discovered individuals have the same needs; an edX survey of online learners revealed a demand for a series of rich and rigorous courses informed by today's job market. Learners want flexible, affordable, real-time knowledge and skills that fit their lifestyles and prepare them for a specific in-demand job or career. "WalMart is always looking to hire the most talented associates in the world, and completing online courses like the MITx MicroMasters credential in Supply Chain Management is a powerful way for people to learn the important skills required to be successful," Chris Sultemeier, EVP of Logistics, Walmart U.S. "Everything I'm learning I can apply to a future job," said Maria Barba, an edX learner currently enrolled in the MITx Supply Chain Management MicroMasters. A MicroMasters certificate is comparable to a significant portion, in most cases a quarter or a half, of a traditional Master's degree, and is a valuable standalone credential that will help learners advance their careers. In addition, it offers a new path to an accelerated graduate degree. Learners who excel in the MicroMasters courses, successfully earning the credential, may then apply to a full Master's program; for those who are accepted either at the university offering the MicroMasters program or another university that acknowledges the MicroMasters certificate the digital credential will count as credit toward a portion of the degree, resulting in an accelerated program. Moreover, MicroMasters offers "inverted admissions," where learners can prove their abilities via online courses and universities have more data to inform admissions decisions. "We are proud to have been a pioneer for higher education's next step in engaging learners worldwide. MIT recognizes that not all high-potential Master's candidates can afford to spend a year or more on campus. As part of our mission to attract the best talent, we understand the importance of providing multiple pathways to degree programs," said Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning, MIT. "MicroMasters broadens our admissions pool, and also allows learners to demonstrate their abilities through a series of online courses. All who pass earn a credential valued by the marketplace; those who excel may apply and complete their Master's with an additional semester's residence." "As Michigan continues to innovate and expand the conceptions of the public research university we're extremely enthusiastic about the three MicroMasters we are launching and the pathways we'll create for global lifelong learners," said Martha Pollack, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan. Pearson, the world's education company, with over 35,000 employees in more than 70 countries, will also collaborate with edX to support the newly launched MicroMasters programs. Learners around the world will have the opportunity to take MicroMasters courses at local Pearson learning centers, which offer regional, in-person support, access to dedicated cohorts and additional learning resources. This blended learning experience has the potential to help students complete and thrive in online programs in places where online education is less established. EdX co-founding partner Harvard looks forward to offering a MicroMasters program in the future. And, other partner universities are considering launching additional MicroMasters programs over the coming year. For more information and a complete list of MicroMasters course offerings, visit www.edx.org/micromasters. Full List of Institutions and MicroMasters Programs: United States Columbia University (ColumbiaX) Artificial Intelligence Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MITx) Supply Chain Management Rochester Institute of Technology (RITx) Project Management Thunderbird School of Global Management, a unit of the Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise (ThunderbirdX) International Business Management University of Michigan (MichiganX) User Experience (UX) Research and Design Leading Educational Innovation and Improvement Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research International Australian National University (ANUx) Evidence-Based Management Curtin University (CurtinX) Human Rights Galileo University (GalileoX) e-Learning: crea actividades y contenidos para la ensenanza virtual (offered in Spanish) Professional Android Developer The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPolyUx) International Hospitality Management Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMBx) Business Management Entrepreneurship Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPValenciaX) Liderazgo y trabajo en equipo en grupos de mejora continua (offered in Spanish) Universite catholique de Louvain (LouvainX) Management (offered in French) International Law The University of Queensland, Australia (UQx) Leadership in Global Development Wageningen University (WageningenX) Biobased Sciences for Sustainability About edX EdX is a nonprofit, open-source learning destination offering online courses from more than 100 member institutions, composed of both leading global universities and colleges, and a diverse group of prominent organizations from around the world. Founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and based in Cambridge, MA, USA, edX is focused on transforming online and classroom learning through groundbreaking methodologies, game-like educational experiences and cutting-edge research on an open-source platform. Contact Rachel Lapal Director of Communications, edX Email: [email protected] Phone: 617-324-7072 SOURCE EdX Related Links https://www.edx.org WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose presented today the first four of eight awards recognizing key Members of Congress for their tireless work to stop the opioid misuse, addiction and overdose epidemic. These Congressional leaders are the authors, co-authors and co-sponsors of critical legislation, including the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act (TREAT) and the Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Expansion and Modernization Act, among others. The week of September 18 through September 24, 2016 was recently recognized as Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week by President Obama. Addiction is a chronic disease that too often goes untreated. More than half of Americans (56 percent) say that they or someone they know has misused, been addicted to, or died from prescription pain medications, according to a recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. When patients can't access treatment and recovery support services, addiction can lead to disability or premature death. The Coalition will present the final four awards tomorrow; the Members of Congress receiving awards for their leadership and commitment to ending the opioid epidemic are: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) (R-NH) Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN) (R-IN) Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) (D-MA) House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) (R-OH) Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) (D-NY) House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) (R-MI) Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) "We want to recognize the considerable effort undertaken by Congress, and these members in particular, to address the opioid misuse and overdose epidemic," said R. Corey Waller, MD, DFASAM, Chair of the American Society of Addiction Medicine's Legislative Advocacy Committee. "As a Coalition, we remain committed to carrying this work forward to help communities in desperate need of a solution to this public health crisis." When Congress passed CARA in July, it represented a major public health milestone. This is the first time in decades that new legislation aimed at preventing and treating opioid misuse, addiction and overdose and supporting people in recovery was signed by the President. As passed, the bill authorizes, but does not fund, prevention, treatment, recovery and criminal justice programs and reforms. "CARA must be funded for it to have a significant impact on the opioid epidemic, and additional funds are needed to expand access to treatment and recovery programs," said Michael Miller, Chapter Coordinator, Young People In Recovery. "A minimum of $500 million in funding is needed this year alone to curb both the opioid epidemic and opioid overdoses." According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of death from opioid-related overdose has quadrupled since 2000. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, surpassing even traffic fatalities. And emergency room visits linked to misuse of prescription opioids are up by more than 50 percent since 2004. For more information about the Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose, please visit http://www.stopopioidoverdose.org/. About the Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose The Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose is an organization of more than 40 local, regional and national groups that are committed to advancing meaningful legislative and regulatory policies in response to the opioid epidemic. The Coalition seeks to address the U.S. opioid epidemic by engaging policy makers, public health leaders, chronic pain and addiction specialists, individuals in and seeking recovery and family members, so that legislation and policies get the support and funding needed. Financial support for the Coalition is provided by the following: Adapt Pharma, The American Society of Addiction Medicine, CleanSlate Centers, Indivior, Kaleo, Merck and Proove. SOURCE Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose Related Links http://www.stopopioidoverdose.org ST. LOUIS, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case of Edward Blackorby v. BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) on September 21, in an important case under the employee protection provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act. (FRSA). In June of 2015, a unanimous Federal Jury found that BNSF retaliated against Mr. Blackorby for reporting a work related injury following a trial in Kansas City, Missouri before District Judge Stephen R. Bough. The jury awarded compensatory damages to Mr. Blackorby and BNSF was also ordered to pay his attorney fees and the costs of bringing the suit. The St. Louis based Eighth Circuit will now consider BNSF's appeal of that verdict. Mr. Blackorby was represented at trial, and also on appeal, by Jeff Dingwall of San Diego, California, Kiel Garella of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Erica Mynarich of Springfield, Missouri. Additionally, the United States Department of Labor has appeared in the case in support of Mr. Blackorby, urging the appellate court to uphold the jury verdict. The case will be argued to a three-judge panel. "This case will go a long way toward defining the Federal protections afforded men and women who are injured in one of the most dangerous occupations in our country. We believe strongly in the sanctity of jury verdicts and look forward to presenting our case to the esteemed panel," said Jeff Dingwall. "At the heart of this appeal is the right of American workers to be free from workplace retaliation," said Kiel Garella. "Mr. Blackorby bravely took a stand against one of the nation's largest railroads and prevailed at trial. We are proud to continue this fight with him and are grateful that the Department of Labor has joined us in the effort." Jeff Dingwall of Eight & Sand in San Diego, CA and Kiel Garella of Garella Law, P.C. in Charlotte, NC are nationally recognized for their work representing men and women across the country that have been injured or killed by railroads. Erica Mynarich of Carver, Cantin, & Mynarich in Springfield, MO is an award-winning trial lawyer focusing primarily on Federal civil rights litigation and criminal defense throughout Missouri. SOURCE Garella Law Related Links http://www.gljustice.com DALLAS, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EnTouch Controls, the market leader of facility asset and energy intelligence, announced today its participation in REVTECH'S Tech Trends in Restaurant & Retail on September 28, 2016 at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center in Dallas, Texas. Greg Fasullo, EnTouch CEO, will host a session from 11:45 a.m. 12:45 p.m. CDT covering "Retail Technology and the Customer Experience" with a panel of industry experts from some of the nation's largest restaurant and retail chains. Panel members to include: Neal Yanofsky , Chairman, Cheddars Casual Cafe & Snap Kitchen , Chairman, Cheddars Casual Cafe & Snap Kitchen Chris Cook , Former Founder & CEO, Sleep Experts' , Former Founder & CEO, Sleep Experts' Charlie Larkin , Senior Director, GameStop Institute , Senior Director, GameStop Institute Mahesh Sadarangani , Senior Vice President of Strategy, CEC Entertainment The panel discussion will explore the shifting business model in retail markets and the technology required for exceptional customer service. Topics to include digital trends and best practices in restaurants and retail, leveraging the IoT to combat rising labor costs, real-time data and analytics for increased operational efficiencies, and the rise of the omni-channel sales model and millennials. "This will be exciting to hear the executive's perspectives on ways technology can enhance the customer experience," said David Matthews, Managing Director, REVTECH. To register for the event visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fall-tech-trends-in-restaurant-retail-tickets-26885545390. Please enter code: RETAILVIP16. About EnTouch EnTouch is a technology company that leverages facility asset and energy intelligence solutions to accurately assess and control energy consumption and expenditure. The company's award winning EnTouch 360 platform provides a dedicated team of energy experts who utilize leading-edge software, best-in-class hardware and predictive or "targeted" analytics to improve operational efficiencies, significantly reduce energy consumption and maximize energy savings. Nationally recognized for its ongoing commitment to sustainability and innovative internet of things (IoT) approach, EnTouch supports over 4000 locations in diverse industries including retail, restaurant, grocery, commercial real estate, healthcare and hospitality. For more information, visit entouchcontrols.com. For press and media inquiries contact Samantha Foley at 214-263-3547 or [email protected]. About REVTECH Accelerators REVTECH is a venture accelerator seed fund dedicated to identifying and developing the best early-stage, high-growth ventures focused on tech and product innovation for restaurant, retail, and hospitality. The program aims to facilitate the technological evolution of the restaurant and retail industry by attracting, mentoring, and connecting experienced entrepreneurs with viable products to talent, customers, and investors. Established in 2012, REVTECH and its mentor driven, 14-week accelerator program has fostered success through engagement at inception and continued growth for an ever-present retail industry in Dallas. For more information, go to www.revtechaccelerator.com. SOURCE EnTouch Related Links http://www.entouchcontrols.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Commerce Department's Counselor to Secretary Penny Pritzker, with the Delegated Duties of Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Justin Antonipillai will address the Wolfram Data Summit at the Hyatt Regency Fairfax, Va. Antonipillai's speech is entitled "Making Our Data Your Data." This is a high-level gathering of innovators in data science, creators of connected devices, and leaders of major data repositories. Title: Wolfram Data Summit 2016 Date and Time: Wednesday, September 21, Noon Location: Hyatt Regency, Fairfax, Va. RSVP: Please email Press Secretary Rebecca Gale at [email protected] for additional information The mission of the Economics and Statistics Administration is to provide high-quality economic analysis and foster the missions of the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Join us on the web at www.esa.gov; find us on Facebook, and on Twitter @ESAJustinA. Sign up to receive the latest economic indicators: https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USESAEI/subscriber/new/ CONTACT: Rebecca Gale 202-482-5632 SOURCE Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce Related Links http://www.esa.gov LONDON, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The global exoskeleton market is expected to reach USD 3.3 billion by 2025, according to a new report published by Grand View Research. Key factors driving the market expansion include the increasing number of U.S. FDA products, growing demand for exoskeletons in rehabilitation, assisted walking, military applications, and industrial applications. The market is evolving rapidly due to the increasing adoption of exoskeleton technology in the developed regions. The growing geriatric population coupled with increasing number of people suffering with paraplegia, tetraplegia, and other spinal cord injuries are major factors boosting the usage rates of exoskeletons. The exoskeleton market has gained high momentum after the launch of products such as ReWalk bionic suit, Ekso GT exoskeleton. Moreover, with the U.S. FDA approving the Parker Indego, commercialization of exoskeleton devices is expected to increase significantly over the next few years. In the U.S., the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and National Institute of Health (NIH) have significantly contributed toward technology development, research funding, and commercialization of these devices. For instance, in 2014, Ekso Bionics received a P20 Exploratory Grant from the NIH to continue the development of an exoskeleton prototype for children. In October, 2015, Parker Hannifin Corporation announced that it had agreed to supply Indego exoskeleton for a 4-year multicenter study for the Department of Defense, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. In the EU, the Robo-Mate project, which comprises of 12 partners from 7 European nations, has received a total funding of Euro 4.5 million by the 7th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development of the European Union. Furthermore, classification of Cyberdyne HAL exoskeleton as medical device in the EU and Japan has reinforced the growth prospects and improved the reimbursement scenario. Further Key Findings from the Study Suggest: The data published by the International Federation of Robotics suggests that in 2014, nearly 272 exoskeletons were sold commercially, and this number is anticipated to grow rapidly over the next few years. In 2015, the healthcare segment accounted for the maximum revenue share of 54.1%. The use of exoskeletons for rehabilitation and assisted living services is a key factor driving the segments growth. However, the industrial segment is expected to emerge as the fastest growing with a high CAGR of 58.8%. Increasing age of workforce coupled with growing healthcare disorders are expected to boost the use of automation and drive the sales of exoskeletons over the forecast period. In 2015, North America was a clear leader with a revenue share of 49.8%. The research on exoskeletons was primarily initiated with the USD 50 million funding received from DARPA, and subsequent grants from NIH and NASA have contributed to the development of a strong ecosystem for the proliferation of exoskeleton technology. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs had issued a national coverage policy for ReWalk robotic exoskeleton systems for eligible veterans with spinal cord injury. This policy is expected to significantly benefit the veterans and propel the usage rates over the forecast period Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region with a CAGR of 57.4% during the forecast period. The growing geriatric population in Japan and China, increase in the spinal cord injuries, and growing industrialization in this region are expected promote the utilization of exoskeletons for healthcare and industrial applications. The exoskeleton market is presently dominated by few key participants such as ReWalk, Ekso Bionics, Cyberdyne, and Lockheed Martin. Some of the new players include Rex Bionics, Hocoma, Panasonic- ActiveLink and Parker Hannifin Corporation. Introduction of low cost exoskeletons is expected to increase the competition and is also expected to benefit several patients over the forecast period Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4144378/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com HOUSTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Altus Health, a Houston-based network of physicians specializing in quality patient care, today announced plans to convert its current healthcare facility in Southwest Houston into a state-of-the-art specialty surgical hospital. Opening in first quarter 2017 and located at the intersection of the Sam Houston Tollway and Westpark Tollway, the facility will nearly double in size, spanning more than 31,000 square feet. The hospital will be equipped with the newest technologies to meet the growing healthcare needs for the area. "Altus Health has been a proud member of the Southwest Houston community since 2004, and we constantly look for ways to make a positive difference in the area," said Taseer Badar, CEO of Altus Health. "Building on the great success and patient satisfaction of our Altus Baytown Hospital, we decided to bring this model of patient-focused hospital care to Houston with the expansion of our current clinic." "With a full-scale specialty hospital, we can offer shorter wait times than larger hospital systems while still providing the most innovative technology and personalized care to our patients in the area," said Dr. Shah Saddiqi, M.D. FRCS, FACS, Altus Hospital. "The new hospital gives residents in Houston, Sugar Land, Missouri City, Cinco Ranch and other neighboring communities a choice in where they receive their surgical care." Following the $10 million expansion, the hospital will feature 10 private inpatient rooms, three new hospital-sized operating rooms and a special procedure room. The facility will also feature completely redesigned pre-op and post-op areas to provide a comfortable experience for patients. Altus Health expects to add up to 15 new jobs with a team of Post-Surgical Unit (PSU) nursing staff to care for patients after surgery. Service at the new hospital will include Altus LapBand; Altus Orthopedic and Spine Center; Altus Pain Center; ear, nose and throat surgery; eye surgery; gastroenterology; general surgery; gynecologic surgery; lab services; neurosurgery; physical therapy; plastic surgery; podiatry; primary care; and urology. As a physician-owned hospital, Altus Health will provide operational support to medical staff, which will in turn allow them to focus on driving the quality of patient care. "Because of the ramifications of the of the state of healthcare in the U.S., physician empowerment is going away," said Raza Pasha, M.D., founding partner of Altus Health. "We are working hand-in-hand with our physician partners to develop a hospital that brings specialists and primary care together, while providing freedom, control and innovative support systems for the physicians. This hospital will be home for physicians that simply want to focus on what they do best provide quality surgery and care for their patients." Located at 9901 Town Park Drive, Houston, TX 77036, the hospital will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and staffed with board-certified physicians and nurses trained in the latest surgical techniques and procedures. The expansion was designed by architects at Hashmet Wali & Associates, Inc. and constructed by ZT Construction. About Altus Health: Established in 2004, Altus Health System is an integrated network of physicians, care centers and services dedicated to providing the highest quality, affordable patient care. Altus Health is currently comprised of more than 1,600 physicians with operations that include a surgical hospital, surgical centers, cancer centers, imaging centers, sleep centers, hospices and four freestanding emergency centers. For more information about Altus Health and our services, please visit www.altushealthsystem.com. Media Contact: Sally Ramsay Pierpont Communications [email protected] 713-627-2223 SOURCE Altus Health Related Links http://www.altushealthsystem.com GENEVA, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Friends of Gilgit Baltistan, an international organization set up by a few Members of the European Parliament, held a seminar on September 19, 2016 on the sidelines of the 33rd UNHRC session in Geneva, on the exploitative nature of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan Administered Kashmir. The speakers included Alberto Cirio, Member of the European Parliament, Paulo Casaca, Executive Director, South Asia Democratic Forum, Junaid Qureshi, prominent Kashmiri human rights leader and Mehran Marri, Baloch Representative to the UN. Paulo Casaca moderated the seminar. During his speech, Paulo Casaca mentioned that though the CPEC has been termed by Pakistani leaders as a game changer time and again, they had glossed over and failed to acknowledge the negative impacts of the project. He opined that though the government harped on the expected economic benefits of the CPEC, little attention was given to the fact that the CPEC would fail to provide economic benefits, including jobs, to the locals and instead only enrich a few. The CPEC, he stated, had become more of a project championed by the Pakistani government and its military to divert attention from all the failures of the civilian government in all other areas including human rights. Later, responding to an intervention, Casaca stated that the most worrying factors with regard to Pakistan was its support to cross border terrorism and there was an immediate need for this to stop as otherwise it would impact the security of not only South Asia but also the world. In his speech, Alberto Cirio, MEP, highlighted the lack of economic and social benefits to the people of Gilgit Baltistan from the CPEC. Giving the example of earlier Chinese investments in the Karakoram Highway and Gwadar Port, he stated that neither of these investments had benefitted the local people and it was important that the Pakistan government realized that the local population had basic rights on the natural resources of their area. In his presentation, Junaid Qureshi raised the issue of the illegal nature of the CPEC as it passed through disputed territory. He expressed strong reservations about the large Chinese investment in Gilgit Baltistan, which he said was a part of the undivided State of Jammu and Kashmir. He opined that China, by investing in projects in this disputed area, was also becoming one of the players in the dispute, which was not acceptable to the people of Kashmir. He concluded that it was necessary for Kashmiris to be masters of their own land. In response to a comment on recent human rights violations in Indian Kashmir, he said that while in India people were free to express opposition to policies, in Pakistan leaders like Arif Shahid were being shot dead by the State machinery. Mehran Marri described the CPEC as an illegal project and expressed concern that China's interest in pursuing the CPEC was not just economic but also to increase its military footprint in Pakistan, and especially in Gwadar Port in Balochistan. He added that the Chinese need for security for its personnel along the CPEC had further jeopardized the Baloch rights and also facilitated the deployment of Chinese military personnel in the area. All the speakers who spoke at this event, emphasized the disputed nature of Gilgit Baltistan, through which the CPEC would be traversing. SOURCE Friends of Gilgit Baltistan ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Intrinio, based in St. Petersburg, FL, launched the Intrinio Fintech Marketplace this week with the goal of making financial data more affordable and easier to use for developers. Intrinio's mission is to help investors save money and make time by making financial data affordable and easy to access, and their new platform is positioned to do just that. CEO Rachel Carpenter believes this platform will lead to the development of a new generation of financial tools: Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409737 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409738LOGO "Developers looking to build FinTech applications face two major hurdles," says Carpenter. "First, traditional data providers are used to selling to massive institutions that have no other choices about where to buy their data- this leads to prices that keep most developers out of the market. Second, developers need financial data that is easy to use, data they can easily integrate into their apps. The Intrinio Fintech Marketplace clears both of these hurdles." Developers who visit the company's website, www.intrinio.com, can choose from a variety of data feeds including real time stock prices, FDIC bank data, and fundamental 10Q/10K statements for use in their applications. The data feeds can be accessed in API format and are priced to be disruptively affordable with minimal restrictions and self-service signup. Investors can browse the applications developers have built and sign up for data plans to power those applications. "Intrinio has been successful at using machine learning and rules based algorithms to automate the data collection and cleansing process," said Joey French, President of Intrinio. "Now we are creating a platform where other data providers can give options to Intrinio's community of developers. Data providers who share our belief - that efficient data needs developers to be valuable - can get their data in front of developers, and developers can select the data feeds they need to make their applications purr." Intrinio has a backlog of data providers looking to add their data feeds to the marketplace, and exponential user growth is driving an explosion of financial analysis applications built on the platform. Key features of the new marketplace include instant chat support for all users, industry leading flexibility for redistribution, and multiple data feeds and applications available for free use. Developers building qualifying applications can take advantage of the Intrinio Developer Program, which includes 6 months of free access. "Coming into work each day is a blast because every week we are seeing new developers building cutting edge applications," said Conor Farley, Director of Business Development. "I talk to customers combining financial data with cutting edge technology like the blockchain and machine learning, and watching our platform bring those tools to market in days rather than years is a thrill." For further information contact: Rachel Carpenter 727-308-0366 Email SOURCE Intrinio Related Links http://www.intrinio.com CHICAGO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute (UEI) and Network for College Success launched the To&Through Campaign and a first-of-its-kind, publically available online data tool designed to help give every Chicago Public Schools (CPS) student who wants to earn a college degree the opportunity and support to achieve their goal. Across America, the vast majority of high school students aspire to earn a bachelor's degree, yet only 22 percent are projected to earn a bachelor's degree within 10 years of finishing high school. In Chicago, 76 percent of CPS freshmen aspire to earn a bachelor's degree, but only 18 percent are projected to do so within 10 years of starting high school. Addressing these immense gaps is the mission of The To&Through Campaigna partnership between the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute and Network for College Success to provide all stakeholders in education with actionable research, data, and resources designed to move more students to and through high school and college. In December of 2014, To&Through brought together the Chicago education community to mark the district's attainment on key milestones, including rising high school and college graduation rates. On September 20, the To&Through Campaign launch event will mark the beginning of an effort to make To&Through Project research, data, and resources accessible to all in a position to help propel more youth to and through high school and college, from school leaders and partners, to community leaders and families. "In Chicago we have clearly seen that when good, actionable evidence is in the hands of practitioners, parents, and policymakers we can dramatically improve outcomes for young people," said UEI Chairman Tim Knowles. "The launch of the To&Through campaign makes essential data and tools available to all education stakeholders in Chicagoand creates a model for the nationas we aim to propel thousands more students to and through college." Helping more students earn college degrees isn't just an individual issue; it's a social imperative. Research continues to show people who finish college are healthier, wealthier, and happier: less likely to commit crimes, face financial hardship, or suffer from illness, and more likely to volunteer, vote, engage in their communities, and even live longer. Equal Access to Education Attainment Data Historically, data on the milestones that matter most for students' high school and college success has not been widely accessible or centralized. The To&Through online tool will make data on the milestones that research shows matter most for students' high school and college successFreshman On Track, high school graduation, college enrollment, college persistence, and college graduationavailable to a broad range of education stakeholders in one, online hub for the first time. Aggregating information spanning over more than a decade, the To&Through online tool also links CPS high schools to college outcomes for the first time, providing the full picture of CPS students' educational progress, from the middle grades through college graduation. District and school leaders, school partners, families, and policymakers will be able to use the tool to: Examine patterns of educational attainment among different student subgroups, including students of different races, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, and academic achievement records See how individual high schools are doing on a particular milestone along the path to and through college, and how different schools compare to similar schools as well as the district as a whole See what colleges and universities students from CPS schools are choosing, and what the graduation rates of those institutions are The tool will live on To&Through's new websitea repository for a broad range of free resources school leaders, school partners, and families can use to help more students realize their college aspirations, including: "To&Through In Action" profiles, which highlight strategies schools are using to improve high school and college attainment; infographics that illuminate key research findings; "mythbusters" that debunk common misconceptions about what matters most for high school and college success; and a Freshman On Track toolkit that equips schools with ample resources to better support students through their critical first year of high school. To&Through Training Ongoing training on how to use research and data to improve student outcomes is another key To&Through pillar. The University of Chicago's Network for College Success works with Chicago Public Schools to provide quarterly trainings for every network chief, high school principal, and high school leadership team on how to use data on key student attainment milestones to identify where students struggle, and develop strategies for moving more students to and through high school and college. A model that brings it all together Building on a close collaboration with CPS and other education stakeholders, the To&Through project provides a model for districts around the country aiming to move more students to and through high school and college. It provides a broad range of education stakeholders with research, data, and training to accelerate progress in our schools. For example, Chicago's George Washington High School began the 2012-13 school year with a college enrollment rate well below the CPS average, so set out to establish a stronger college-going culture. Working with the Network for College Success, the school's leadership created a post-secondary leadership team (PLT), and also recruited every teacher in the building to take a more active role in discussing college choice with their students. The PLT recruits teachers to host one-on-one and small group conferences where they engage students of all grade levels in conversations about planning for college and career. Teachers are equipped with data and knowledge to develop their capacity to be quality advisers, helping take on a task traditionally owned solely by the counseling department. The school also focused on improving communication with families, and created alerts for students with GPAs below 3.0, a key threshold for admission to somewhat selective colleges. Washington's college enrollment rates have increased dramatically, from 35 percent in 2012-13 to 59 percent in 2014-15. Though To&Through is a Chicago-based campaign, the aspiration-attainment gap exists nationwide. The vast majority of high school students in America aspire to earn a bachelor's degree, yet less than one in three succeed. This is a national issue that To&Through is proactively tackling on a local level, with the ultimate goal of changing the odds and propelling more of the city's, and the nation's, youth to and through high school and college. "Chicagowith the right research, data, and traininghas moved thousands more students to and through high school and college. As a nation, we can move millions," said former United States Secretary of Education and current Managing Partner of the Emerson Collective, Arne Duncan. The To&Through Project is a partnership among the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute and Network for College Success that brings together expertise across the key domains of research, data, and training resources. The Urban Education Institute's UChicago Consortium has conducted more than two decades of research on Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to discover what matters most for school improvement and student success, providing the insight and knowledge that ground The To&Through Project. UChicago Impact, the Urban Education Institute's not-for-profit LLC, designed the To&Through online tool and partners with districts and schools across the country to provide other empirically based tools and support services that foster reliably excellent schooling. UChicago Impact currently works in more than 4,500 schools across 60 major cities in 33 states and reaches more than 2.8 million students nationwide. The Network for College Success (NCS) at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration designs and provides training and support resources to help build schools leaders' capacity to use research and data to improve student outcomes. The To&Through Project has also benefited from ongoing collaboration with CPS and other education stakeholders. CONTACT Lucinda Fickel [email protected] (773) 610-8959 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409498LOGO SOURCE The To&Through Project Related Links https://toandthrough.uchicago.edu Five patients with serious Buerger's disease were treated by adult stem cell therapy without charge as Stemcell Life Foundation supported their medical fees. All five patients presented their own restoration case and Dr. Nishihara (Director of a Kobe Nishihara hospital) explained each step of treatment as well as successful cases with actual medical records of five patients with serious Buerger's disease. Moreover, Dr. Nishihara compared each patient's treatment with before or after circumstances and the results showed the effectiveness of Vascostem; an autologous adipose tissue derived stem cells culture medium Lee, Sunghee, President of Buerger's disease Association said, "We are not asking for medical insurance or any other exceptional support for this therapy. If the result of clinical trial shows the safety of this treatment, there will be another treatment option for this painful disease. Of course this has to be done with doctor's prescription and the will of the patient." Below is each patient's successful treatment case. According to Lee, Sangyoung (68), "Due to serious pain, I could not live life without crutches for the last 30 years. People said there are medications available for Buerger's disease. However, none of them are cures for Buerger's disease and they never proven to be effective. Meanwhile, I tried adult stemcell therapy as my last hope and surprisingly, there was a big improvement. Now, I have stopped using the drugs I have used for years to treat the pain. Patients have the option to be treated by Vascostem and this has to be done in Korea!" Nam, Hyunwoo (45), "After treated by adult stemcell therapy, I reduced the amount of narcotic analgesic and the pain was reduced dramatically. Also, if I could be able to get adult stem cell therapy before the amputation of limbs, it would help to prevents from the necrosis or metastasis and I would at least avoid my current circumstances." Lee, Kyumjun (Born in 1992) had pain in his feet and calves when he walked and pain on toenail due to necrosis. Narrowed blood vessels in his hands and feet gave him discomfort, but after adult stem cell therapy, there was a huge improvement in his symptoms which has led to an increase in how long the patient can walk. (10minutes 30minutes) Lee, Namhyung (Born in 1949) had a lower extremity arterial bypass surgery on his right foot and lower extremity balloon angioplasty on his left foot. However, he had pain again in his left leg and underwent adult stemcell therapy while preparing for another bypass surgery. Mr.Lee had CT scans in Dec. 2014 (before stemcell therapy) and Aug. 2016 (after stemcell therapy) and it shows regeneration of blood vessels, resulting in great improvements on his symptoms. Lee, Sunghee, President of Buerger's disease Association who was treated in Japan said, "Due to serious pain, I could not sleep well over 30 years. I even took more than 30~40 pain relief pills a day, then went to emergency room for doctor's prescription for pain relief. However, after being treated by adult stem cell therapy things have been changed a lot. So far, I took three stem cell injections, and now I am able to walk long distances and the pain has been reduced as well. For instance, I was not able to walk more than 200m, however last March; I went to hiking to Mungyeongsaejae. People are surprised since I was unable to in the past". R-Japan and Nishihara clinic has been approved by Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to apply Vascostem to patients with serious Buerger's disease. Ra, Jeong Chan (Chairman of Stemcell Life Foundation) who leads the developments and free medical care application of Vascostem said, "There is a movement to reorganize regulations in Korea and we hope to cure not only Buerger's disease but also other diseases such as, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and Alzheimer's disease. We will work closely with the authorities concerned and put all the efforts on actualization of adult stem cell treatments." Stemcell Life Foundation was founded to help disadvantaged who suffers with rare incurable disease by supporting medical expenses. Also, the Foundation has plans to expand their business by doing research and development of stem cell applications. Contact: Julia Woo Cell Number: +81-75-662-7171 Email: [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409654 SOURCE R-Japan Co.,Ltd. NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Frank + Oak, North America's fastest growing lifestyle brand today launched its first-ever womenswear line. The inaugural fall collection, which includes tees, sweaters, blouses, skirts, dresses, pants, outerwear and accessories designed for female silhouettes, is now available online only. "This first collection is a tribute to the strong, entrepreneurial, creative and independent women in our lives," says Ethan Song, CEO and Co-Founder of Frank + Oak. "After years of having female customers who incorporated our menswear into their wardrobes, we wanted to honour them by creating a collection that draws inspiration from their lives and style, but was just for them." The addition of womenswear marks the brand's continued dedication to providing considered style and a memorable shopping experience. The collection's aesthetic remains true to Frank + Oak, which has built a reputation as the brand for creative and entrepreneurial Millennials. It features clean silhouettes with thoughtful details and an effortless approach, demonstrating an urban sensibility through uncompromising versatility. The line also brings the brand back to its e-commerce roots, with the initial collection offered primarily online. Shoppers will get the opportunity to see the pieces up close and shop the collection through a series of pop-up events in major cities including Montreal, Toronto and New York. The Frank + Oak Women pop-up locations will be disclosed seven days prior. The collection features elevated basics and standout pieces available at affordable price points. Highlights of the collection include the Cotton Boy Crewneck Tee ($22), an assortment of Lurex Socks ($12), the Lofty Merino Wool Crewneck Pullover ($75), the Raglan Fleece Dress ($75), the Oversized Oxford Shirt ($55), High Waist 90's Ankle Jean ($95), the Bomber ($145) and the Leather Crossbody Bag ($255). Additional styles will be added through the month of October and a holiday collection will be launched early November. In celebration of the pioneering and entrepreneurial women that inspired the collection, Frank + Oak has also launched a series of short films that highlight the achievements of women in the community. The first video of the series features Jennifer Puno, a young and creative female entrepreneur from LA who co-founded Map (Instagram @madewithmap), an online platform that celebrates people and their journeys by mapping the world with photos. Earlier this summer, she also launched I Love Creatives, a digital classifieds website connecting talented individuals in the creative community. Her video is now available to view at https://www.frankandoak.com/notes/introducing-frank-oak-women-5450. Additional videos featuring other inspiring females will be released in the coming month. To purchase or view the collection in its entirety, visit frankandoak.com/women. Frank + Oak is offering free shipping on all online orders of pieces from the womenswear collection until October 15 in Canada and the US. Download high-res off-figure images of the collection at https://flic.kr/s/aHskJcr3RP Website: FrankandOak.com/Women Twitter: @FrankandOak Instagram: @FrankandOak Hashtag: #FrankandOakWomen ABOUT FRANK + OAK Offering style and advice for the moments that matter, Frank + Oak is a destination for customers who want to live and dress well. By coupling considered product design with advice through immersive digital, in-store and content experiences, Frank + Oak has transcended its role as a retailer and is redefining the shopping experience. Constantly evolving and looking towards to the future, Frank + Oak offers premium design and world class customer service to its growing ranks of 2.5 million members. You can experience the Frank + Oak brand through frankandoak.com, shipping to over 40 countries worldwide and 15 Frank + Oak stores across North America. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409547LOGO SOURCE Frank + Oak Related Links https://www.frankandoak.com All over the world, destructive ideologies based on cultural, religious, and ideological stereotypes are hampering development, dialogue, and understanding of the world around us. Generation Global believes that education is one of the most effective instruments in countering these ideologies. With Generation Global's complimentary platform and curriculum, American students learn alongside students from around the world. Learning from (and teaching) their peers from different cultures allows students to develop the skills they need to navigate diversity and have meaningful dialogue with people of different cultures. Since 2008, Generation Global's safe, secure, and monitored web-based platform has helped more than 200,000 students in 20 countries around the world engage in meaningful dialogue and connect with peers through online conversations and facilitated videoconferences. Connecting with students from different countries gives young people the skills of global citizenship, and encourages the next generation to be accepting and at ease with cultural differences. "We are proud of this success so far. But we recognize that as the nature of the challenge evolves, so must we," said Dr. Ian Jamison, head of education and training for Generation Global. "Unfortunately, extremism is growing around the world. It uses new ways to spread its message of hate, including using technology to enable this spread. Globalization and technological change present exciting new opportunities to educate students in schools and provide tools to teach a new generation of global citizens." Generation Global's classroom resources can be integrated into any lesson but fit especially well into those focused on diverse cultures like history, geography, and social studies. Resource-filled toolkits not only educate students about the difficult issues facing our nation and the world today, but foster critical thinking, effective dialogue skills, and intercultural knowledge to help students better understand and respect one another. Using the online learning community, teachers can group their students into structured conversations with other young people around the world, creating a safe and monitored environment that encourages open dialogue. Teachers can take their class around the world in an afternoon through online videoconferences facilitated and arranged by the Generation Global team. Interacting directly with their peers, students are empowered to ask and answer questions about culture, identity, values, and beliefs. Generation Global's classroom resources prepare students before and after videoconferences by focusing on critical thinking skills and how to engage in meaningful discussion. This careful preparation guides students to learn the skills they need to express themselves in a respectful and open-minded way. Generation Global offers additional support for teachers, including training with diversity experts, access to 24-hour help desks, and an intuitive toolset used to prepare and evaluate students on their performance. Generation Global is accessible on any device, including mobile phones, iPads, and Chromebooks. About Generation Global Generation Global is a pioneering global education program for 12-17 year olds. By providing global learning and dialogue opportunities, it helps young people to be resolute in the face of narratives that may feed into the development of violent extremist ideologies. We want to ensure that our program is a catalyst for genuine behavioral and attitudinal change. Devised by an international group of educational experts, advisers, and religious leaders, the program provides opportunities for students to put critical thinking skills into practice through facilitated dialogue. Generation Global is an initiative of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which provides practical support to help prevent religious conflict and extremism. For more information, please visit Generation.Global Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409731 SOURCE Generation Global Related Links http://generation.global SZEKESFEHERVAR, Hungary, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hanon Systems Hungary Kft., an affiliate of Hanon Systems (KS: 018880), is celebrating 25 years producing thermal and energy management solutions for the automotive sector. Located in the city of Szekesfehervar, in central Hungary, the operation formed in 1991 to supply automotive components to Ford Motor Co. In 2000, it became part of Visteon Corp.; and in 2013, Visteon integrated its climate business with long-time joint venture partner, Halla Climate Control, forming Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp. (HVCC). The Hungarian legal entity name was changed in 2015 shortly after Visteon sold its majority ownership interest in HVCC to an affiliate of Hahn & Company, and Hankook Tire Co. Ltd., and the parent company changed its name to Hanon Systems. "It gives me great pride to celebrate this important milestone with our employees and valued business partners," said In-Young Lee, president and chief executive officer of Hanon Systems. "The commitment and support of the local Hungarian people and community is what has helped fuel the plant's growth over the past 25 years, and we look forward to future success." The facility currently includes approximately 39,400 square meters (428,000 square feet) of manufacturing space. Products include compressors, air conditioning lines, thermal and emissions products, fuel and diesel delivery modules, fuel pumps and regulators for vehicle manufacturers. "This milestone is a testament to the many achievements made by Hanon Systems Hungary over the past quarter century," said Min Sung, lead for Hanon's compressor product group. "The team's commitment to operational excellence has enabled the successful expansion of this plant's compressor production to support the growing need of global automakers." Hanon Systems manufactures three types of compressors: fixed, variable and electric for hybrid and full-electric vehicles. Its innovative variable swashplate compressor is uniquely designed to vary the duty cycle and automatically adjusts the displacement to match the cooling demand. Hanon's portfolio of variable swashplate compressors are designed to fit most passenger vehicles and are capable of reducing power consumption compared to fixed compressors, which translates into improved fuel economy. Available electronic control of displacement provides consistent discharge air temperature in all operating conditions to meet consumer demand for improved cabin cooling. About Hanon Systems Hanon Systems is a full-line supplier of automotive thermal management solutions. Products include heating ventilation and air conditioning; compressors; powertrain cooling; fluid transport; and electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicle thermal systems. With 40 manufacturing sites supported by four global technical centres in 19 countries, the company employs more than 15,500 people. To learn more, visit hanonsystems.com. SOURCE Hanon Systems Related Links http://www.hanonsystems.com ST. LOUIS, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Heffernan Foundation, the charitable giving program for Heffernan Insurance Brokers, announced today that its Wines of the World fundraising event in the St. Louis, Missouri area raised over $5,000 to provide support to local nonprofits. The event was held on August 18, 2016 in the Heffernan Insurance Brokers Missouri office and attended by over 80 guests. Veritas Gateway to Food and Wine served wines and cheeses from Italy, Spain, France, and Napa, CA as guests learned about the Heffernan Foundation's efforts in local communities. Event sponsors included Patriot National Insurance Group, The Hanover Insurance Group, Assurant Employee Benefits, Sunnyhill, Inc.a Missouri-based nonprofit Heffernan employees regularly volunteer withAnthem Inc., Missouri Employers Mutual, Aetna, The Medicine Shoppe, The Hartford, ePlata, Janet Mcafee Real Estate, Standard Insurance Company, and private sponsors. The day after hosting the event, Heffernan employees cooked food for families staying at HavenHouse St. Louis, a hospital hospitality house that provides the comfort of a home and community support to patients and their families who travel to St. Louis for medical care. About Heffernan Foundation Heffernan Foundation's mission is to serve nonprofits that provide direct support and services to local communities in the areas of shelter, food, education and the preservation of the environment. Heffernan Foundation is the charitable giving program of Heffernan Insurance Brokers, headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., and with offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Orange County, CA; Portland, OR; St. Louis, MO and New York, NY. Employee-owned, the company has been among the Top Greater Bay Area Philanthropists since 2003, donating more than 13 percent of profits to charity in 2015. For more information, visit www.heffernanfoundation.com or call 925.295.2575. License #0564249 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150511/215225LOGO SOURCE Heffernan Insurance Brokers Related Links http://www.heffernanfoundation.com "I'm honored to be among the just 100 people receiving this amazing and ultra-limited backpack," said Matthew Chevallard, President and Creative Director of Del Toro Shoes and 2016 #Heineken100 recipient. "I will take my 'traveling shoe salesman' role across the globe with the #Heineken100 TUMI accessories. The backpack is the modern briefcase and its versatility allows me to function in the best possible way." The first #Heineken100 release, a Miami-inspired TUMI tote with signature Heineken-green detailing, debuted in August. The third and final product, inspired by the global citizens of Amsterdam, will be revealed next month. "Our goal is to not only create the best product with the best brands in the world, but to create something functional," said Coltrane Curtis, Founder and Managing Partner of Team Epiphany, the marketing agency that birthed the #Heineken100 program. "Functionality and utility are inherently at the epicenter of what luxury is." Selected for both a defined aesthetic vision and sphere of active cultural influence, #Heineken100 partners have included Public School, Garrett Leight, retailer Union Los Angeles, Parabellum Mark McNairy, retailer KITH and Neighborhood Japan, among others. Watch the #Heineken100 hashtag for more information. About HEINEKEN USA HEINEKEN USA Inc., the nation's leading upscale beer importer, is a subsidiary of HEINEKEN NV, the world's most international brewer. Core brands imported into the U.S. are Heineken, the world's most international premium beer brand, the Dos Equis franchise, the Tecate franchise and Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders. HEINEKEN USA also imports Amstel Light, Newcastle Brown Ale, Red Stripe, Sol, Indio, Carta Blanca and Bohemia brands. For the latest information on our company and brands, follow us on Twitter @HeinekenUSACorp, or visit HEINEKENUSA.com. About TUMI Since 1975, TUMI has been creating world-class business and travel essentials, designed to upgrade, uncomplicate, and beautify all aspects of life on the move. Blending flawless functionality with a spirit of ingenuity, we're committed to empowering journeys as a lifelong partner to movers and makers in pursuit of their passions. Designed in America, for Global Citizens everywhere. The brand is sold in over 350 stores from New York to Paris to London and Tokyo, as well as the world's top department and specialty stores and travel retail in more than 75 countries. For more about TUMI, visit www.TUMI.com, www.facebook.com/TUMItravel, www.twitter.com/TUMItravel. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409789 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409790 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160801/394489LOGO SOURCE HEINEKEN USA Inc. Related Links http://www.HEINEKENUSA.com LONDON, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the continued interest of our subscribers, the Hellenic Asset Development Fund is the winner of the Global National Foreign Direct Investment Program (FDI) Award. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/825314-a ) (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/825314 ) Criteria were: National Economic Development Strategy, National Foreign Direct Investment Campaign, New Employment Opportunities, Privatisation Program Credibility, National Value Creation and Corporate Governance. The European Magazine continued to acknowledge businesses that enable and boost the economy in a variety of sectors, such as FDI, Energy, Technology, Banking and Finance regional development in areas such as Europe, Latin America, Africa, MENA, Asia and Central Eastern Europe. A selection of organisations have been recognised for progress, competitiveness and for outstanding performance in their respective fields. HRADF's Chairman, Mr. Stergios Pitsiorlas commented on the award-winning: "The international recognition of HRADF by the distinguished journal "The European" with "Global National FDI Program" Award for 2016 is a great honor for the Fund and its' executives. The international financial community recognizes, in the most tangible way, our country's efforts to enter growth, levered by means of the privatization program adopted by HRADF, while implementing the government's decisions. The said awarding evidences that Greece's commitment to regain its' international credibility already has visible results, via comprehensive strategy to attract direct foreign investments." Recipients of the The European Magazine Business Awards 2016 were scrupulously selected based on thorough interviews specially designed according to subscribers' feedback. The response and the nominations The European has received are fully driven by business professionals. Organisations are nominated according to their performance, product offerings, innovative business solutions, work environment / values and marketing strategies. The European is a subscription-only Business Publication of global distribution. It is primarily distributed to the business or personal address of the subscriber - individuals at Director level or C-suite executives. This represents 46% of entire distribution; 39% of copies are distributed via major airport lounges and Eurostar lounges at Kings Cross St. Pancras and Ebsfleet 19% are for trade fairs globally. The readership is in excess of 140,000 with 34,152 paying subscribers and with readership of 100,000. Contact: Angelos Tsigkopoulos - Tsigkos Head of Business Development 28 Beaufort Court, Admirals Way Canary Wharf London, E14 9XL, UK T: +44 207 033 5340 M: +44 (0) 7934 583 515 SOURCE Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund MUSCATINE, Iowa, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI) will host its quarterly conference call for investors to discuss third quarter fiscal 2016 results on: Thursday, October 20, 2016 11:00 a.m. Eastern 10:00 a.m. Central 8:00 a.m. Pacific To participate in the call, please dial: 1-877-512-9166 (Toll-free) Conference ID: 78965544 Assistance is available throughout the teleconference meeting. Press *0 to request Operator Assistance. A live webcast of the call will be available on HNI Corporation's website at http://www.hnicorp.com (under Investors News Releases and Events). A replay of the webcast will be made available at the website address above and a replay of the call will be available from Thursday, October 20, 2016, 12:30 p.m. (Central) through Thursday, October 27, 2016, 10:59 p.m. (Central). To access a replay of the call, please dial 1-855-859-2056 or 1-404-537-3406 Conference ID: 78965544. HNI Corporation plans to release its third quarter fiscal 2016 results on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 after market close. If you have any questions, please contact HNI Corporation's Investor Relations Department at [email protected] About HNI Corporation HNI Corporation is a NYSE traded company (ticker symbol: HNI) providing products and solutions for the home and workplace environments. HNI is a leading global provider and designer of office furniture and the nation's leading manufacturer and marketer of hearth products. We sell the broadest and deepest selection of quality office furniture solutions available to meet the needs of every customer through an extensive portfolio of well-known and trusted brands. Our hearth products are the strongest, most respected brands in the industry and include a full array of gas, electric, wood and biomass burning fireplaces, inserts, stoves, facings and accessories. More information can be found on the Corporation's website at www.hnicorp.com . For Information Contact: Kurt A. Tjaden, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (563) 272-7400 Jack Herring, Manager, Investor Relations (563) 506-9783 SOURCE HNI Corporation Related Links http://www.hnicorp.com PLYMOUTH, Mass., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hollywood Public Relations, a boutique PR and communications firm specializing in consumer products and business services, today announces the expansion of its consumer client portfolio with the addition of Samsonite and Fine Cooking magazine. The agency has also hired consumer and tech public relations practitioner, Kristen Venuto, as senior account executive. Samsonite is the worldwide leader in superior travel bags, luggage, and accessories combining notable style with the latest design technology and the utmost attention to quality and durability. For more than 100 years, Samsonite has leveraged its rich design heritage to create unparalleled products that fulfill the on-the-go lifestyle needs of the business professional. Hollywood Public Relations is supporting the launch of Samsonite's new STRYDE Glider Cases featuring StrideAlign technology that redefines the physics of luggage maneuverability. Fine Cooking is a publication and online destination focused on the best kitchen-tested recipes, videos, healthy meals, party menus and cooking techniques from top cooks and the Fine Cooking Test Kitchen. The partnership with Hollywood Public Relations largely focuses on social positioning, developing campaign strategies, and providing general, best practices for each of the publication's social platforms. Adding to its growing team, Hollywood Public Relations welcomes new senior account executive, Kristen Venuto. Venuto is an agency veteran whose career spans nine years at top Boston PR firms including InkHouse, 451 Marketing and Cone Communications. Venuto is a results-driven media maven with experience pitching both B2B and B2C clients in the tech, food, apparel, footwear and pet industries. In her new role, she'll be supporting consumer accounts through media relations, social media, strategic planning and new business. "This is a really exciting time for us," said Darlene Hollywood, principal, Hollywood Public Relations. "Not only are we adding to our consumer client roster with two well-known names, but we're also adding to our growing staff, which is now 13 strong. Kristen has the knowledge and skills to really help us continue our growth in the consumer space." Hollywood Public Relations Hollywood Public Relations is a boutique PR and communications agency servicing a consumer goods and business services clientele. Hollywood Public Relations fuses traditional PR programming with social networking to deliver communication campaigns that impact consumer perception with measurable results. For more information, visit www.hollywoodpr.net and our blog, Backstage. We're also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. CONTACT: Brooks Wallace Hollywood Public Relations (774) 773-9571 [email protected] SOURCE Hollywood Public Relations Related Links http://www.hollywoodpr.net HOUSTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperdynamics Corporation (OTCQX: HDYN) today announced several additions to its management team designed to position the Company for its upcoming drilling program. Sergei Alexeev has joined Hyperdynamics as Vice President-Commercial Development on a consulting basis and will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer in January. has joined Hyperdynamics as Vice President-Commercial Development on a consulting basis and will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer in January. David Gullickson has joined the Company as Vice President-Finance and Treasurer. has joined the Company as Vice President-Finance and Treasurer. Forrest Estep has joined Hyperdynamics as Vice President-Operations. has joined Hyperdynamics as Vice President-Operations. Randy Ditmore of Houston Drilling Management has been engaged by the Company as consulting Drilling Manager, reporting to Mr. Estep. Alexeev, Gullickson and Estep will report to Ray Leonard, Hyperdynamics President and Chief Executive Officer. "With the recent amendment of our Production Sharing Agreement that extended our exploration rights in Guinea for another year and with the settlement of litigation with our former partners that restored 100% ownership of our concession area to Hyperdynamics, our focus now is to rebuild a core management team to develop a drilling plan for the Fatala well scheduled for next year and identify sources of capital and/or new farm-in partners to help us drill this very high-potential, deepwater oil prospect," Mr. Leonard said. "These executives bring extensive international oil exploration and production and offshore operations experience as well as connections to capital markets and financial expertise to Hyperdynamics," he added. Mr. Alexeev most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for Soyuzneftegaz, a Russian oil and gas company, and earlier was the First Vice-President for Rosneft, Russia's largest oil and gas producer, in charge of Economics, Finance and Business Development. He also has extensive experience in banking and finance, mergers and acquisitions and international negotiations. Mr. Alexeev holds a Diploma in International Financial Relations from the Moscow Institute of International Relations and a Master's degree in International Economics (MSc.Ec.) from the London School of Economics. Mr. Gullickson joined Hyperdynamics from the Tatum consultancy, where he served numerous energy client companies over the last 10 years in a variety of senior management roles, including interim CEO, CFO, Controller and Treasurer. Earlier, he held executive positions with Precision Tube, Tejas Power, Corporate Solutions Corporation and Buttes Gas and Oil. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Master of Professional Accounting degree from The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Estep has more than 30 years of drilling, completions and production experience. Most recently he served as Vice President-Drilling and Completions for Afren Resources, leading exploration and development drilling activities in multiple locations in Africa and the Middle East. He also has held senior positions overseeing deepwater drilling projects with Anadarko Petroleum, Repsol Services, Transocean Offshore, Conoco and Amoco. Mr. Estep holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University. Mr. Ditmore has over 35 years of experience in production, drilling and completion engineering, working in numerous onshore U.S. basins, the Gulf of Mexico Shelf and Deepwater, the North Sea, Caspian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. He is seconded to Hyperdynamics from Houston Drilling Management and previously worked with Noble Energy and Amoco. About Hyperdynamics Hyperdynamics is an emerging independent oil and gas exploration company that is exploring for oil and gas offshore the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. To find out more, visit our website at www.hyperdynamics.com. Contacts: Ray Leonard President and Chief Executive Officer 713-353-9445 Anne Pearson / Jack Lascar Dennard-Lascar Associates 713-529-6600 SOURCE Hyperdynamics Related Links http://www.hyperdynamics.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW) and Washington, DC-area Hyundai dealers will present Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center with a $250,000 Scholar Grant to be used to improve care and increase treatment options for kids with cancer. Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center was one of 24 recipients across the country selected by a rigorous scientific review panel to receive this highly competitive Hyundai Scholar Grant. The $250,000 Scholar Grant will be presented at Georgetown University Hospital, Medical and Dental Building, 3900 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 on Wednesday, September 21 at 1:00pm at a Handprint Ceremony during which the handprints of local Washington, DC-area brave young cancer patients will be captured on a white 2016 Hyundai Tucson the Hyundai Hope On Wheels hero vehicle to commemorate their fight against the disease. The ceremony will also feature*: Dr. Michael B. Atkins , Deputy Director, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Dr. Aykut Uren , Professor, Molecular Oncology, Georgetown University Pediatric cancer survivor and 2016 HHOW National Youth Ambassador, Ryan Darby (age 13) Tim Turbyfield , Senior Manager, Regional Merchandising, Hyundai Motor America Dave Zuchowski , President and CEO, Hyundai Motor America Kevin Reilly , Owner, Alexandria Hyundai *ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW AND PHOTO/B-ROLL OPPORTUNITIES* "Our mission at Hyundai Hope On Wheels is clear: End Childhood Cancer," said Dave Zuchowski, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "These individual awards to hospitals and organizations across the country are pivotal to ending childhood cancer. Although there remains a lot more work to be done, the innovation that comes from this research will ultimately help us find a cure. To all the kids, families and cancer researchers fighting this terrible disease you are not alone and we remain committed to this important cause." About the Hyundai Hope On Wheels Scholar Grants and Handprint Ceremonies The Scholar Senior Research Grants will fund childhood research projects designed to improve the treatment and quality of life for children with cancer. The ultimate goal of the Scholar Senior Research Grant program is to find cures for childhood cancers once and for all. This year alone, HHOW will award more than $13 million in new pediatric cancer grants. Since 1998, the program has funded $115 million in research to Children's Oncology Group (COG) member institutions nationwide. The program also creates awareness about the importance of the disease, which is the leading cause of death by disease in children in the United States (source). Attendees at the various ceremonies will include HHOW's two national youth ambassadors and pediatric cancer survivors, Hannah Adams and Ryan Darby, who will deliver a message of hope to children's cancer hospitals. Hannah, now 13 years old, was only five years old when she was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Wilms tumor that enveloped her kidney. Since her recovery, she has pursued her love of dancing and singing to help uplift and encourage other children and families through their fight. Thirteen-year-old Ryan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia six years ago, and since his recovery, he has shared his story and words of encouragement with children and families across the country. Watch Hannah and Ryan's story at www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org 2016 National Call To Action: Give Hope A Hand In addition to funding a multitude of research projects this September, HHOW is encouraging the public to contribute to the fight against childhood cancer in a personal way. The journey begins with one simple request: Give Hope A Hand. We invite visitors to the newly refreshed website at hyundaihopeonwheels.org, to tell how they will use their hands in the fight against pediatric cancer. Once there visitors can Learn + Care + Do + Give = Hope. There are a number of additional engaging, interactive ways the public can get involved and use their hands for good. HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest nonprofit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 830 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $115 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure. To learn more about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org or follow us on social media at www.facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, www.twitter.com/hopeonwheels, and www.youtube.com/hopeonwheels. HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide. Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com and our blog at www.hyundailikesunday.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140319/LA86658LOGO SOURCE Hyundai Hope On Wheels FALLS CHURCH, Va., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW) and Falls Church-area Hyundai dealers will present Inova Children's Hospital with a $50,000 Impact Grant to be used to improve care and increase treatment options for kids with cancer. Inova Children's Hospital was chosen because of its proven track record of caring for children with pediatric cancer, and is one of 21 recipients across the country to receive a 2016 Hyundai Impact Grant from Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW). The $50,000 Impact Grant will be presented at Inova Children's Hospital, 3300 Gallows Rd, Falls Church, VA 22042, tomorrow, Wednesday, September 21 at 9:30am at a Handprint Ceremony during which the handprints of local Falls Church-area brave young cancer patients will be captured on a white 2016 Hyundai Tucson the Hyundai Hope On Wheels hero vehicle to commemorate their fight against the disease. The ceremony will also feature*: Erin Hodson , Vice President, Inova Children's Hospital Dr. Christopher Lawlor , Chief Pediatric Oncologist, Inova Children's Hospital Pediatric cancer survivor and 2016 HHOW National Youth Ambassador, Ryan Darby (age 13) Tim Turbyfield , Senior Manager, Regional Merchandising, Hyundai Motor America Kevin Reilly , Owner, Alexandria Hyundai *ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW AND PHOTO/B-ROLL OPPORTUNITIES* "Our mission at Hyundai Hope On Wheels is clear: End Childhood Cancer," said Dave Zuchowski, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "These individual awards to hospitals and organizations across the country are pivotal to ending childhood cancer. Although there remains a lot more work to be done, the innovation that comes from this research will ultimately help us find a cure. To all the kids, families and cancer researchers fighting this terrible disease you are not alone and we remain committed to this important cause." About the Hyundai Hope On Wheels Impact Grants and Handprint Ceremonies The Impact Grant supports the programmatic needs of pediatric oncology. The grant may also be used to support direct patient assistance programs, such as enrichment programs, play room/teen center equipment, family on-site support, educational initiatives, or other efforts to improve care and cure for kids fighting cancer. This year alone, HHOW will award more than $13 million in new pediatric cancer grants. Since 1998, the program has funded $115 million in research to Children's Oncology Group (COG) member institutions nationwide. The program also creates awareness about the importance of the disease, which is the leading cause of death by disease in children in the United States (source). Attendees at the various ceremonies will include HHOW's two national youth ambassadors and pediatric cancer survivors, Hannah Adams and Ryan Darby, who will deliver a message of hope to children's cancer hospitals. Hannah, now 13 years old, was only five years old when she was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Wilms tumor that enveloped her kidney. Since her recovery, she has pursued her love of dancing and singing to help uplift and encourage other children and families through their fight. Thirteen-year-old Ryan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia six years ago, and since his recovery, he has shared his story and words of encouragement with children and families across the country. Watch Hannah and Ryan's story at www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org 2016 National Call To Action: Give Hope A Hand In addition to funding a multitude of research projects this September, HHOW is encouraging the public to contribute to the fight against childhood cancer in a personal way. The journey begins with one simple request: Give Hope A Hand. We invite visitors to the newly refreshed website at www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org, to tell how they will use their hands in the fight against pediatric cancer. Once there visitors can Learn + Care + Do + Give = Hope. There are a number of additional engaging, interactive ways the public can get involved and use their hands for good. HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest nonprofit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 830 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $115 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure. To learn more about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org or follow us on social media at www.facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, www.twitter.com/hopeonwheels, and www.youtube.com/hopeonwheels. HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide. Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com and our blog at www.hyundailikesunday.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140319/LA86658LOGO SOURCE Hyundai Hope On Wheels Related Links http://www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org BALTIMORE, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW) and Baltimore-area Hyundai dealers will present the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Division of Pediatric Oncology with a $50,000 Impact Grant to be used to improve care and increase treatment options for kids with cancer. Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Division of Pediatric Oncology was chosen because of its proven track record of caring for children with pediatric cancer, and is one of 21 recipients across the country to receive a 2016 Hyundai Impact Grant from Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW). The $50,000 Impact Grant will be presented at The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children's Center (1800 Orleans Street, 11th Floor Great Room in the Children's Center, Baltimore, Maryland 21287) tomorrow, Wednesday, September 21 at 2:00 PM at a Handprint Ceremony during which the handprints of local Baltimore-area brave young cancer patients will be captured on a white 2016 Hyundai Tucson the Hyundai Hope On Wheels hero vehicle to commemorate their fight against the disease. The ceremony will also feature*: Donald Small , M.D., Ph.D., Director, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Division of Pediatric Oncology , M.D., Ph.D., Director, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Division of Pediatric Oncology Riley Marshall (age 10) , Patient, Johns Hopkins Division of Pediatric Oncology , Patient, Johns Hopkins Division of Pediatric Oncology John Szymanski , Regional Sales Manager, Hyundai Motor America , Regional Sales Manager, Hyundai Motor America Tommy Thompson , Dealer Principal, Thompson Hyundai , Dealer Principal, Thompson Hyundai Hannah Adams (age 13) , Pediatric cancer survivor and 2016 HHOW National Youth Ambassador , Pediatric cancer survivor and 2016 HHOW National Youth Ambassador Handprint Ceremony: Baltimore -area children affected by cancer will capture their handprints on a white 2016 Hyundai Tucson *ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW AND PHOTO/B-ROLL OPPORTUNITIES* "Our mission at Hyundai Hope On Wheels is clear: End Childhood Cancer," said Dave Zuchowski, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "These individual awards to hospitals and organizations across the country are pivotal to ending childhood cancer. Although there remains a lot more work to be done, the innovation that comes from this research will ultimately help us find a cure. To all the kids, families and cancer researchers fighting this terrible disease you are not alone and we remain committed to this important cause." About the Hyundai Hope On Wheels Impact Grants and Handprint Ceremonies The Impact Grant supports the programmatic needs of pediatric oncology. The grant may also be used to support direct patient assistance programs, such as enrichment programs, play room/teen center equipment, family on-site support, educational initiatives, or other efforts to improve care and cure for kids fighting cancer. This year alone, HHOW will award more than $13 million in new pediatric cancer grants. Since 1998, the program has funded $115 million in research to Children's Oncology Group (COG) member institutions nationwide. The program also creates awareness about the importance of the disease, which is the leading cause of death by disease in children in the United States (source). Attendees at the various ceremonies will include HHOW's two national youth ambassadors and pediatric cancer survivors, Hannah Adams and Ryan Darby, who will deliver a message of hope to children's cancer hospitals. Hannah, now 13 years old, was only five years old when she was diagnosed with a Stage 3 Wilms tumor that enveloped her kidney. Since her recovery, she has pursued her love of dancing and singing to help uplift and encourage other children and families through their fight. Thirteen-year-old Ryan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia six years ago, and since his recovery, he has shared his story and words of encouragement with children and families across the country. Watch Hannah and Ryan's story at www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org 2016 National Call To Action: Give Hope A Hand In addition to funding a multitude of research projects this September, HHOW is encouraging the public to contribute to the fight against childhood cancer in a personal way. The journey begins with one simple request: Give Hope A Hand. We invite visitors to the newly refreshed website at hyundaihopeonwheels.org, to tell how they will use their hands in the fight against pediatric cancer. Once there visitors can Learn + Care + Do + Give = Hope. There are a number of additional engaging, interactive ways the public can get involved and use their hands for good. HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest nonprofit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 830 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $115 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure. To learn more about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org or follow us on social media at www.facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, www.twitter.com/hopeonwheels, and www.youtube.com/hopeonwheels. HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide. Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com and our blog at www.hyundailikesunday.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140319/LA86658LOGO SOURCE Hyundai Hope On Wheels Related Links http://www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, September 23, Hyundai Hope On Wheels (HHOW) will announce the winners of its annual Hyundai Scholar and Young Investigator Awards. Thirty-four researchers will receive a combined $7.5 million to continue research and study for pediatric cancer research. This announcement builds upon HHOW's major milestone of reaching $115 million in grants to pediatric cancer research since 1998. At the press conference, Hyundai Hope On Wheels will thank the many stakeholders that have made it possible for the organization to reach this first milestone in their fight to end childhood cancer. HHOW will also announce its plans to continue funding pediatric cancer research with a goal to award an additional $100 million to pediatric cancer research in the United States. "We are proud to continue to fight to end childhood cancer," said Dave Zuchowski, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "While much has been achieved, there remains a lot more work to be done. As we look to the next five years, we are committed to funding the amazing work that's being done by the individuals, hospitals and organizations across the country, who are so pivotal to finding a cure. To all the kids, families and cancer researchers fighting this terrible disease you are not alone and Hyundai remains committed to this important cause." The press conference will take place Friday, September 23, at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Room HVC201, from 8:00 9:00 a.m. and will feature several members of Congress, whose support is critical in the fight to end childhood cancer, as well as His Excellency Ahn Ho-young, the Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea. Specifically, the press conference will feature: His Excellency Ahn Ho-young, Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD 8) Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA 3) Rep. Shelia Jackson-Lee (D-TX 18) Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX 10) Dr. David Poplack , Director, Texas Children's Cancer Center, Texas Children's Hospital HHOW National Youth Ambassadors, Hannah Adam (FL) and Ryan Darby (MD), both 13 year old cancer survivors Mr. Dave Zuchowski , President and CEO, Hyundai Motor America Mr. Scott Stark , Chairman, Hyundai Hope On Wheels Board Mr. Zafar Brooks , Executive Director, Hyundai Hope On Wheels The HHOW press conference will be held prior to the House Childhood Cancer Caucus media event, also located at the Capital Visitor Center, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Bringing together policymakers, members of Congress, the advocacy community and families, Hope On Wheels is engaging a range of stakeholders in our mutual goal to end childhood cancer. 2016 National Call To Action: Give Hope A Hand As September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, HHOW has been raising awareness by giving a multitude of research grants during the month. Specifically, HHOW will award 34 pediatric cancer research grants, totaling $7.5 million, to help researchers across the country get closer to the goal of ending childhood cancer. Exciting research projects are being funded on some of the latest and cutting edge science, such as immunotherapy, DNA sequencing and novel therapies. In addition to funding research, HHOW is encouraging the public to contribute to the fight against childhood cancer in a personal way. The journey begins with one simple request: Give Hope A Hand. We invite visitors to the newly refreshed website at hyundaihopeonwheels.org, to tell how they will use their hands in the fight against pediatric cancer. Once there visitors can Learn + Care + Do + Give = Hope. There are a number of additional engaging, interactive ways the public can get involved and use their hands for good. HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest nonprofit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 830 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $115 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure. To learn more about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org or follow us on social media at www.facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, www.twitter.com/hopeonwheels, and www.youtube.com/hopeonwheels. HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide. Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com and our blog at www.hyundailikesunday.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140319/LA86658LOGO SOURCE Hyundai Hope On Wheels Related Links http://hyundaihopeonwheels.org PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Moyer Foundation, a national nonprofit supporting programs that help children and families affected by grief and addiction, announced a three-year, $1.2 million grant from Indivior Inc. to support its Camp Mariposa initiative. "Addiction is a devastating disease impacting millions of people and their families, especially children. Navigating the difficult challenges of a family member's substance use disorder is a critical and growing need in the U.S.," said Mary FitzGerald, chief executive officer of The Moyer Foundation. "We are appreciative to Indivior for their significant commitment to help support and expand our addiction prevention services and life-changing Camp Mariposa initiative, including a new camp in West Virginia next year." The Moyer Foundation's Camp Mariposa initiative is a national addiction prevention and mentoring program for youth impacted by substance use disorder in their families provided to those in need at no cost. Children ages 9-12 attend weekend camps multiple times a year. In addition, educational and support activities are offered to campers, teens, and their families throughout the year. Camp Mariposa gives youth the knowledge, coping skills and confidence to prevent them from developing an addiction of their own. Led by mental health professionals and trained mentors, Camp Mariposa provides a safe, fun and supportive environment critical to helping break the cycle of intergenerational addiction. "We are very pleased to be partnering with The Moyer Foundation. There is an incredibly strong alignment between our two organizations' commitments to make a measurable difference in the lives of everyone impacted by addiction," said Shaun Thaxter, CEO, Indivior. "The Moyer Foundation's Camp Mariposa initiative offers help and hope to families and communities, both of which are critical to break the intergenerational cycle of addiction and help solve the addiction crisis in our nation." Currently, Camp Mariposa camps are in 11 locations in the U.S., hosting approximately 1,200 campers in 2016. Indivior's grant funding will allow The Moyer Foundation to: Strengthen, grow and expand its current addiction prevention resources and services by supporting existing and new Camp Mariposa sites with the most recent location added in partnership with Community Connections to serve the rural area of Princeton, West Virginia , to be launched in early 2017; , to be launched in early 2017; Improve infrastructure to provide the highest quality mentoring and addiction prevention programming as well as ensure best practices across the Camp Mariposa partner network; and, Form strategic industry partnerships to accelerate awareness and further reduce the stigma associated with addiction. In addition, Indivior has extended its support for Camp Mariposa through employee volunteerism programs. This year, Indivior employees collected and donated more than 3,000 hygiene supplies for campers at Camp Mariposa's 11 locations nationwide. As the opioid epidemic strengthens its grip in the U.S., particularly in the Appalachian Region, there is an increased need for prevention programs like Camp Mariposa in states such as West Virginia. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2014 the state of West Virginia had the highest drug overdose rate in the U.S.1 at more than double the national average. In 2015, West Virginia had the highest reported rate of overdose deaths for youth ages 12-25.2 Camp Mariposa educates youth about the disease of addiction and strives to intervene before a problem develops, which can prove vital to delay the age of first use and in turn, reduce the risk for future addiction issues. September is National Recovery Month Indivior and The Moyer Foundation are committed to increasing awareness and reducing stigma around substance use disorders and support Recovery Month, sponsored each year in September by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMSHA). According to SAMHSA, 8.3 million children in the U.S. live in a home with a parent in need of treatment for alcohol and/or drug dependency. In addition, children living with an addicted family member are four times more likely3 than their peers to become alcohol dependent themselves. For more information about Recovery Month, "Join the Voices of Recovery: Our Families, Our Stories, Our Recovery," please visit www.recoverymonth.gov/home. About The Moyer Foundation The Moyer Foundation is a public, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to provide comfort, hope and healing to children and families affected by grief and addiction. Founded in 2000 by MLB pitcher Jamie Moyer and his wife Karen, The Moyer Foundation supports thousands of children and families each year through its free signature programs and services. Camp Erin is the largest national bereavement program for children and teens grieving the death of someone significant in their lives. Camp Mariposa is an addiction prevention and mentoring program for youth impacted by the substance abuse of a family member. The Moyer Foundation Resource Center extends the Foundation's continuum of care by providing robust online resources and personalized support for families experiencing grief or addiction. For more information, please visit www.moyerfoundation.org. About Camp Mariposa Please see Fact Sheet below. About Indivior Indivior is a global specialty pharmaceutical company with a 20-year legacy of leadership in patient advocacy, health policy and evidence-based best practice models that have revolutionized modern addiction treatment. Indivior is dedicated to transforming addiction from a global human crisis to a recognized and treated chronic disease. Building on its robust, global opioid dependence portfolio, Indivior has a strong pipeline of product candidates designed to both expand treatments in opioid dependence and address other chronic diseases of addiction including alcohol use disorder, cocaine intoxication and schizophrenia. Headquartered in the United States in Richmond, VA, Indivior employs more than 900 individuals globally and its portfolio is available in over 40 countries worldwide. Its name is a fusion of the words individual and endeavor and its logo radiates the company's patient-centered holistic focus on expanding access to high-quality treatment services for addiction worldwide. For more information, please visit www.Indivior.com. CAMP MARIPOSA FACT SHEET ABOUT CAMP MARIPOSA Created by The Moyer Foundation in 2007, Camp Mariposa is a mentoring and addiction prevention program for youth impacted by the substance use disorder of a family member. The primary goal of Camp Mariposa is to give youth the knowledge, coping skills and confidence to help break the intergenerational cycle of addiction. Youth who attend have the opportunity to build relationships with their peers facing similar situations as well as mentors to further reduce feelings of isolation and guilt. Free weekend camp sessions, held six times a year, are offered for youth ages 9-12 and participants are encouraged to attend multiple times throughout the year. In addition, educational and mentoring activities are offered during noncamp months for campers, alumni, and their families. The Moyer Foundation partners with accredited mental health and youth serving organizations to deliver the Camp Mariposa program alongside professionally trained mentors. Camp Mariposa currently offers over 60 weekend camps at 11 locations around the country including Los Angeles and San Diego, CA ; Washington, D.C. ; Sarasota and St. Petersburg, FL ; South Bend, IN ; Eastern Kentucky ; New Orleans, LA ; Nashua, NH ; Philadelphia, PA ; and Seattle, WA. WHO WE SERVE To date, 900 unduplicated children have benefited from Camp Mariposa, attending free weekend camp sessions more than 3,700 times. For approximately 85% of the campers, one or both parents are dependent on drugs or alcohol. Almost 75% of the campers are considered low-income. About 25% of campers are in foster or kinship care. Approximately 20% of our campers are children from military families. THE NEED In 2014, there were 21.5 million Americans living with a substance use disorder. 4 (SAMHSA) (SAMHSA) In 2005, more than 9.2 million children in the U.S. were living with a parent or other adult who used illegal drugs. 5 (CASA Columbia) (CASA Columbia) Children impacted by a family member's addiction are at far greater risk than their peers to suffer from depression and anxiety as well as health and learning challenges. 6 (CASA Columbia) (CASA Columbia) In 2013, there were over 2.8 million new users of illicit drugs. Over half (54.1%) were under 18 years of age. (SAMHSA's NSDUH Survey) For more information on The Moyer Foundation and Camp Mariposa, please visit www.moyerfoundation.org. REFERENCES 1http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html 2http://tfah.org/reports/youthsubstancemisuse2015/ 3http://www.nacoa.net/impfacts.htm 4http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2014/NSDUH-FRR1-2014.pdf 5https://www.centeronaddiction.org/sites/default/files/Family-matters-substance-abuse-and-the-american-family_0.pdf 6https://www.centeronaddiction.org/sites/default/files/Family-matters-substance-abuse-and-the-american-family_0.pdf SOURCE The Moyer Foundation Related Links http://www.moyerfoundation.org LONDON, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This research study analyzes the industrial boilers market in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The market has been segmented on the basis of capacity and geography. For the research, 2014 has been taken as the base year, while all forecasts have been given for the period from 2015 to 2023. Market data for all the segments has been provided at the regional and state level from 2015 to 2023. The report provides a broad competitive analysis of companies engaged in the industrial boilers business. The report also includes the key market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities affecting the industrial boilers market. These market dynamics were analyzed in detail and are illustrated in the report with the help of supporting graphs and tables. The report also provides a comprehensive industry analysis of industrial boilers with the help of Porter's Five Forces model. This analysis helps in understanding the five major forces that affect the market structure and profitability of the U.S industrial boilers market. The forces analyzed are bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and degree of competition. The high-level analysis in the report provides detailed insights into the industrial boilers business in the U.S. There are currently numerous drivers of the market. One of the most prominent drivers is the stringent regulations for emission control. Market attractiveness analysis was carried out for the industrial boilers market on the basis of revenue realization and industrial growth. Market attractiveness was estimated on the basis of common parameters that directly impact the market in different regions. The industrial boilers market was analyzed across eight regions: South Atlantic(Delaware, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia), West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas), West North Central(Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota), Pacific States(Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington), Mountain States (Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming), North East(Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania), East North Central(Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin), and East South Central(Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee). These regions are further segmented by states and capacity of installed industrial boilers in the U.S. Capacity ranging from (0 to 300 BHP and 301- 600 BHP) has been provided for each states and region. Regional data has been provided for each sub-segment of the industrial boilers market. Key players in the industrial boilers market include Fulton Boiler Works, Inc., Hurst Boiler & Welding Company, Inc., Columbia Boiler Company, Superior Boiler Works, Inc., and Le Groupe Simoneau Inc. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial details, business strategies, and recent developments. U.S Industrial Boilers Market: By Region South Atlantic West North Central West South Central Pacific States Mountain States North East East North Central East South Central U.S Industrial Boilers Market: By Capacity Upto 300 BHP 10-150 BHP 151-300 BHP 300600 BHP Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3999647/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com BERLIN and DRESDEN, Germany, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dresden benefits from a unique combination of material know-how and software expertise. The current key players not only provide component security in international rail transport, but also develop intelligent solutions for the traffic of the future. The international transport industry is currently meeting in Berlin. The leading trade fair InnoTrans brings together transport companies, manufacturers of transport technology, academics and infrastructure experts. Many representatives from the regional capital Dresden also attend. "Dresden may not be the first city you think of in connection with transport technology - but the city is an important player on the technology map", says Dr. Robert Franke, Head of the Office for Business Development in the regional capital Dresden. "Future transport engineers and traffic planners study at the Faculty of Transportation Science "Friedrich List" at Dresden University of Technology, the experts based there are in demand for railway line planning on an international level. With IMA Dresden, we have a global market leader for materials testing on our doorstep and on the interface between industry and university, young companies like INAVET GmbH are emerging, producing technology that pushes forward efficient driver assistance systems and intelligent rail transport." Full version: http://bit.ly/2cLt6j3 Dresden: City of Excellence. Nine reasons for this excellent business and research location: invest.dresden.de If you have any questions, please contact: Media Agency WeichertMehner, Franziska Ilbring, tel. +49-351-50140200, [email protected] SOURCE State Capital of Dresden The Italian company, brought to the Americas in 2010 with the help of Mario Batali, Lidia and Joe Bastianich and Adam and Alex Saper, is partnering with the Selfridges Group and Terroni Restaurants for its entrance to Canada, leveraging local expertise to develop a truly distinct Toronto Eataly experience. Eataly is known for its unique offering customers can shop for high quality products reflecting the biodiversity of Italy, eat at one of the many restaurants and counters, and learn about the stories behind those products all within the same marketplace. Eataly is not a chain, it's a family, and each location is distinct and highlights the city and people who reside there. Commenting on the expansion into Canada, Eataly Founder Oscar Farinetti said: "Eataly Toronto will be spectacular. Firstly, the city of Toronto values high quality food. And we do too. Secondly this will be our first Canadian location, and with every first in a new market comes something full of excitement and adrenaline. Lastly, and above all, we are entering the market with people we fully trust and we share the same passions with. We can't wait to get to work and start this partnership!" The launch of Eataly Toronto is part of a larger transformation of the Manulife Centre, which together with Holt Renfrew, reinforces Bloor and Yorkville as the ultimate destination for Toronto shoppers and food lovers. (External renderings attached are an artistic impression and are subject to change without notice.). About Eataly Created by Oscar Farinetti, and brought to the Americas with the help of partners Mario Batali, Lidia and Joe Bastianich and Adam and Alex Saper, Eataly is the largest Italian marketplace in the world. From the opening of the first location in Turin in 2007, Eataly's philosophy has spread to the rest of the world: "Shop, Eat, and Learn." The marketplace offers a place where it is possible to discover high-quality food and drink at accessible prices. Consumers can experiment with new combinations of flavors at the various restaurants throughout the marketplace and shop for products, before learning more about the Mediterranean culture with educational courses on food, wine, and nutrition. Eataly already has nearly 30 locations in Italy, Japan, Dubai, Turkey, Brazil, and the United States. About Selfridges Group Selfridges Group provides leading luxury shopping experiences for millions of customers through iconic, innovative and inspiring retail destinations. The Group consists of Brown Thomas in Ireland, Holt Renfrew in Canada, Selfridges in the UK and de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands. About Terroni Restaurants Founded in 1992 by Cosimo Mammoliti, the first Terroni opened on Toronto's Queen Street West as an authentic Italian coffee bar which also sold food staples from southern Italy. The Terroni philosophy has remained consistent to the original idea of utilizing only the finest quality ingredients in creating restaurants true to generations of Italian tradition and culture. The core business now includes seven restaurants in Toronto and Los Angeles along with two Sud Forno Italian bakeries. The Terroni passion for quality and devotion to traditional Italian culture extends into the Cavinona Wine Agency that hand selects Italian wines exclusively for the Terroni family of restaurants. About Manulife Real Estate Manulife has been investing in and managing direct core and core-plus real estate for more than 80 years. Operating as John Hancock Real Estate in the U.S. and Manulife Real Estate elsewhere, we proudly invest, own, develop and asset manage commercial real estate in major metropolitan cities across the globe. We leverage our fully integrated in-house capabilities to best serve our customers and investors while generating value for our stakeholders. Manulife Real Estate is the global real estate arm of Manulife and is a unit of Manulife Asset Management Private Markets where we extend our unique asset management capabilities for the benefit of institutional investors. As at June 30, 2016, the Manulife Real Estate portfolio totaled more than 62 million square feet with an AUM market value of C$19.8 billion (US$15.2 billion). Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409884 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409885LOGO SOURCE Eataly CHICAGO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- JBT Corporation (NYSE: JBT), a global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food & beverage industry, announced today that Jason T. Clayton will be joining JBT as its Executive Vice President, Human Resources effective September 28 in connection with the planned retirement of Mark K. Montague, JBT's current Executive Vice President, Human Resources. Montague will remain with JBT through early 2017 to ensure a smooth transition. "One of the keys to the success of JBT's Next Level strategy and growth plan is the ability to develop our people and recruit leading outside talent," said Tom Giacomini, JBT's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "As such, Jason's leadership experience in talent management will be a critical asset to JBT. Moreover, his enthusiasm, along with his experience operating in global environments, conducting due diligence and integrating acquisitions, makes him a strong addition to the company's executive team." Clayton has 16 years of industrial experience and a broad HR background, including leadership roles in talent acquisition and management, and compensation. Clayton joins JBT from Signode Industrial Group, an industrial packaging company, where he served as Vice President, Human Resources. Previously, he was Vice President, Human Resources, with IDEX Corporation. Clayton has also held HR management roles with Pepsi and Newell Rubbermaid. "I want to thank Mark for his contribution to JBT's success," added Giacomini. "Mark has been a valuable member of the JBT executive team since 2008. He has provided leadership in building the One JBT culture, with a single set of valuesintegrity, accountability, relentless improvement and teamworkand a common set of tools focused on operational excellence and growth. Mark was also a great resource during the integration of our new executive team and my transition to CEO." JBT Corporation (NYSE: JBT) is a leading global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food & beverage industry with focus on proteins, liquid foods and automated system solutions. JBT designs, produces and services sophisticated products and systems for multinational and regional customers through its FoodTech segment. JBT also sells critical equipment and services to domestic and international air transportation customers through its AeroTech segment. JBT Corporation employs approximately 4,200 people worldwide and operates sales, service, manufacturing and sourcing operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, please visit www.jbtcorporation.com. SOURCE JBT Corporation Related Links http://www.jbtcorporation.com CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Jobcase, Inc., the only social media platform dedicated to empowering America's workforce, today announced their west coast expansion into the SOMA area of San Francisco at 156, 2nd street. Meydad Marzan, lead UX designer, moved from the Cambridge headquarters to open the presence and he will be joined by recent enterprise sales hire, Ryan Field, formerly of LinkedIn. Field was motivated to open the inaugural SOMA office because the opportunity "offers proven enterprise products that are next-generation thinking and are a true win-win for both employer and employee alike." Field enthusiastically added, "I know that employers will love this evolution for the majority of their workforce as much as they love LinkedIn for their professional reach." The new enterprise-focused San Francisco office will continue to champion the StreetSmarts product that is proven in the marketplace. Jacquese Brown of The Home Depot, a current client believes, "Jobcase has been an amazing platform to work with. It's allowed us to directly connect with the people who we know are looking for positions in a specific area. At the local store level, Jobcase delivered proven metrics of success, resulting in highly relevant candidates and amazing new hires." Fred Goff, CEO of Jobcase, said "We are humbled by incredible growth this past year. Empowering America's workforce increasingly is leading to disrupting traditional HR and talent acquisition practices." Jobcase is proving disruptive by removing paywalls for access to members so companies no longer need to pay to discover and contact talent. Goff added, "People should not have their information held ransom for potential employers to find. Jobcase is open- access. This allows companies to reallocate precious HR dollars to where they will make more impact such as promoting their local talent brands and investing in data science driven insights." Jobcase's StreetSmarts product does both. Jobcase is now growing Enterprise Solutions Sales on both coasts. The SOMA office will be working in coordination with Amanda Williamson and Kara Duncan, formerly of Indeed, and the rest of the Enterprise team in Cambridge. Both the SOMA and Cambridge teams are hiring more enterprise solutions experts as they look forward to building upon successes with current clients so that all employers can benefit from connecting to a community of over 60 million Jobcasers. About Jobcase Jobcase is the only social media site dedicated to empowering America's workforce. Jobcase provides one place to manage all things work-related, especially access to the knowledge, connections and wisdom of 60 million other Jobcasers. Jobcase is an industry affiliated partner of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, CSAIL, and Jobcase technology powers over 100 job sites in the Jobcase Network that collectively serve about 2 million visitors a day. For more information on Jobcase, visit www.jobcase.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160526/372679LOGO SOURCE Jobcase Related Links http://www.jobcase.com NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced a new five-year commitment to help advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to help improve the health and well-being of men, women and children around the world. Johnson & Johnson is dedicating its expertise and innovations to ignite global partnerships and catalyze efforts through a variety of new implementation plans, targets and metrics. The announcement comes along with an expanded commitment by Johnson & Johnson to further strengthen the resilience of refugee and displaced children and their families in Syria and its neighboring countries where the need is greatest. "Johnson & Johnson is committed to creating greater access to quality health care across the globe," said Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky. "Beyond developing medicines, equipment and vaccines, we're in communities helping expectant mothers take better care of themselves and their babies during pregnancy. We're training nurses and doctors to identify and treat diseases, and also funding medical research. We're proud to take a leading role with the world community in this effort, which will go a long way toward creating a healthier society." PLEDGE TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS Johnson & Johnson announced its pledge of support of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals at an event hosted Monday in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly in New York entitled "A Roadmap to Advance Human Health." Johnson & Johnson convened more than 150 key thought leaders in global health and development to explore the importance of an integrated, multi-sector approach to improve the course of human health. This commitment to advance the Sustainable Development Goals focuses on five key areas where Johnson & Johnson can optimize its diverse expertise, capabilities, collaborations and resources to make scalable and sustainable impact in promotion and advancement of the health workforce, women's and children's health, ensuring access to essential surgeries, environmental health and global disease challenges. The initial five-year phase of this commitment will include work to specifically ensure: 175 million individuals will benefit from Johnson & Johnson solutions that prevent, control and eliminate global diseases. 650,000 health workers will receive development and training from us and our partners to enable delivery of better quality health care. 50 million people will have access to safe, essential and timely surgical care. 60 million women and children will receive support and tools to enable a healthy future. The one billion people we touch every day who inspire our action will benefit from our improvements to the sustainability of our business, products and solutions. Johnson & Johnson will work with partners across its global network to implement the plans to meet these targets over the next five years. The commitment further aims to mobilize and inspire our employees, consumers, partners and communities across the world to improve health globally. These efforts will build on the success of the Company's previous commitment to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and Every Woman, Every Child which has helped improve the lives of more than 400 million people from 2010 to 2015 by working on the front lines of care with numerous partner organizations. These include Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, CARE, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, mothers2mothers, Save the Children, The Task Force for Global Health, UNICEF, and the United Nations Population Fund. The Johnson & Johnson commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and continued efforts toward greater world health and well-being also will be spotlighted at the fifth Global Citizen Festival on September 24 in New York City's Central Park. Visit http://www.abetter2030.jnj.com/ for more information on the Johnson & Johnson commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. AID FOR REFUGEES Johnson & Johnson has been helping to improve the lives of refugees around the world by addressing immediate humanitarian needs such as access to quality health care and clean water. The Company's support focuses on the sustainable long-term recovery of impacted communities, and is grounded in educational programming and community-building initiatives for displaced families. Today in New York, Mr. Gorsky participated in The White House Leaders' Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis. Hosted by United States President Barack Obama, this CEO roundtable meeting aimed to galvanize significant new commitments to increase funding of international organizations leading humanitarian efforts and appeals to help refugees find safe resettlement opportunities through legal pathways and to increase refugees' transitions to self-reliance through education and employment opportunities. At Tuesday's meeting, Johnson & Johnson announced another expansion in its support for the Syrian refugee crisis. The Company committed an additional $1 million to support "resilience activities" to be partly managed in collaboration with global partner, Save the Children on the ground in Syria and neighboring countries. Resilience activities include programs that support educational and life skills for children, mental health (psychosocial) support for children and families to help them heal from traumatic events, and the building resiliency of adult care-givers through community-building initiatives and programs for parents. This expanded commitment builds on a $1.75 million commitment made in November 2015 to support the humanitarian needs of refugee children and families in neighboring country Lebanon along the transition routes into Europe. Johnson & Johnson's summit participation comes on the heels of Stories of Human Kind, an awareness campaign launched with Save the Children on Facebook. The multimedia project depicts the struggles of refugee families through a series of short films called "Searching for Home." The project documents stories from the Tempelhof Airport Refugee Camp as families work to navigate a new reality and attempt to normalize their lives. Stories of Human Kind expands on the long-standing partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Save the Children, and the ongoing work to support refugee children and their families through quality medical care, educational programming, community-building activities, access to food and clean water and advocacy for the establishment of child protection standards. To view the Stories of Human Kind videos, visit https://www.facebook.com/jnj/. ABOUT JOHNSON & JOHNSON Caring for the world, one person at a timeinspires and unites the people of Johnson & Johnson. We embrace research and science - bringing innovative ideas, products and services to advance the health and well-being of people. Our approximately 126,500 employees at more than 250 Johnson & Johnson operating companies work with partners in health care to touch the lives of over a billion people every day, throughout the world. ABOUT SAVE THE CHILDREN Save the Children gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We invest in childhood every day, in times of crisis and for our future. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160831/403394LOGO SOURCE Johnson & Johnson Related Links http://www.jnj.com ST. LOUIS, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- KnowledgeLake, Inc. and parent company Fujitsu will join forces during the sold-out Microsoft Ignite Conference from September 26-30 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. The company will showcase its innovative Microsoft-centric solutions and services to over 20,000 IT professionals, enterprise developers and decision makers who will be in attendance. "We know the attendees of Microsoft Ignite will be looking for both Microsoft and partners in the Microsoft ecosystem to help them with digital transformation," said KnowledgeLake Chief Operating Officer, Bernie Schweiss. "We wanted to collaborate with innovative organizations such as Fujitsu and Metalogix, because we believe we offer a more comprehensive, compelling digitalization story together." Throughout the conference, KnowledgeLake and Fujitsu will showcase the capabilities of market-leading Fujitsu hardware in tandem with the KnowledgeLake document imaging software solutions which enhance Microsoft SharePoint and utilize Microsoft Azure in booth #533. Russ Houberg, a KnowledgeLake Senior Technical Architect and Migration Specialist, will be at Metalogix's booth, #645, from 1-6 p.m., Tuesday, September 27 to meet with attendees. Houberg's expertise lies in large scale SharePoint architecture, high-volume document migration, and SharePoint Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions. "Metalogix moves, manages and protects the content that lives within and around SharePoint and Office 365 collaboration environments," said Mike Lees, Metalogix Chief Marketing Officer. "KnowledgeLake and Metalogix both bring strong Microsoft expertise to the table, resulting in innovating solutions that can greatly benefit SharePoint deployments." Attendees interested in discussing their unique document processing challenges and learning more about KnowledgeLake's technology offerings can reserve a time with a solutions expert. Contact Jennifer Birdsell at [email protected] to schedule a session. KnowledgeLake and Metalogix will also co-sponsor MetaFest from 6:30- 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 28 in the Centennial Park District. The event will include food, drinks, live music from several bands, a VIP section, and giveaways. Registration for MetaFest can be found here. Microsoft Ignite is designed for the brightest minds in information technology. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will kick off the event to discuss the company's important announcements, product launches and provide a vision for the future. Top innovators from all enterprise solutions will be on hand at the conference and is a vital conference for any Microsoft user to attend to stay up-to-date on the latest strategies and offerings within the Microsoft ecosystem. About KnowledgeLake KnowledgeLake has been helping organizations better manage critical information since 1999. Thousands of companies worldwide trust our Enterprise Content Management (ECM) consultants to provide content management and process automation expertise while delivering solutions that make business content easy to find and work with. KnowledgeLake offers a full spectrum of service offerings for cloud-based and on-premises scanning and content management solutions utilizing Gartner and Forrester recognized platforms. With an award-winning Microsoft-centric technology focus, we can ensure compatibility, ease of use, and the lowest overall cost. We're optimizing the business world by amplifying productivity, eliminating paper, streamlining document processing and automating business-critical operations. Learn more at www.knowledgelake.com. Fujitsu, the Fujitsu logo, KnowledgeLake and "shaping tomorrow with you" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, SharePoint and Azure are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Metalogix is a trademark or registered trademark of Metalogix International GmbH in the United States and other countries. Twitter is a trademark or registered trademark of Twitter, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Facebook is a trademark or registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. in the United States and other countries. YouTube is a trademark or registered trademark of Google Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE KnowledgeLake PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) today announced that it received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Tablets, 2 mg/0.5 mg and 8 mg/2 mg, the therapeutic equivalent to the reference listed drug, Suboxone Sublingual Tablets, 2 mg/0.5 mg and 8 mg/2 mg. According to IMS, total U.S. sales in 2015 of Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Tablets, 2 mg/0.5 mg and 8 mg/2 mg, at Average Wholesale Price (AWP) were approximately $270 million. "Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Tablets, a Class III drug, is an important medication for the treatment of opioid addiction," said Arthur Bedrosian, chief executive officer of Lannett. "This product represents another approval received from our wholly owned subsidiary, Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals." The product received FDA approval under an approved Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), known as the Buprenorphine-containing Transmucosal products for Opioid Dependence (BTOD) REMS program, and will be distributed in accordance with FDA and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulations governing the handling of CIII controlled substances. About Lannett Company, Inc.: Lannett Company, founded in 1942, develops, manufactures, packages, markets and distributes generic pharmaceutical products for a wide range of medical indications. For more information, visit the company's website at www.lannett.com. This news release contains certain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events or future business performance. Any such statement, including, but not limited to, successfully commercializing Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Tablets, 2 mg/0.5 mg and 8 mg/2 mg, whether expressed or implied, is subject to market and other conditions, and subject to risks and uncertainties which can cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors which include, but are not limited to, the risk factors discussed in the Company's Form 10-K and other documents filed with the SEC from time to time, including the prospectus supplement related to the proposed offering to be filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Contact: Robert Jaffe Robert Jaffe Co., LLC (424) 288-4098 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150417/199461LOGO SOURCE Lannett Company, Inc. Related Links http://www.lannett.com "It's vital that the parking industry meet the future of technology, transportation and talent in a changing global marketplace, said Lazowski. "To be successful parking professionals, managers and leaders need relevant tools and best practices. The launch of NPA University, The Parking Venture Forum and skill certificates all signal the Board's strategic commitment to parking education at all levels within the industry." "Alan's leadership and entrepreneurship will continue to foster the strong knowledge networks that connect parking peers across sectors. His focus on the information imperative of NPA research and development of a strong advocacy platform, signal NPA's growth and focus on the thought leadership," said NPA President Christine Banning, MA, CAE Lazowski co-founded LAZ Parking in 1981 while attending the University of Connecticut. Since then, LAZ Parking has grown into a national hospitality parking company with revenue in excess of $1 billion and more than 10,000 employees. The son of Holocaust survivors, Lazowski believes that he has "an obligation to give back." He's a well-respected philanthropist, and has given his time and money to various charitable efforts. In 2009, he started the LAZ Parking Charitable Foundation. He is also the founding Chair of Voices of Hope, an organization that collects, categorizes and shares the experiences of Holocaust survivors for the benefit of future generations. He serves as a member of the United States Holocaust Museum Council appointed by President Obama. Lazowski is the recipient of numerous professional awards, including the Thomas and Bette Wolff Family Entrepreneurship Award from the University of Connecticut, the NAACP Civil Rights Award, the Anti-Defamation League's Torch of Liberty Award, the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hartford Business Journal. Lazowski has also received an Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Hartford. In addition to serving as chairman of the NPA board, Lazowski also serves on the boards of the Goodwin College Foundation, the Bushnell Theater, the Greater Hartford Jewish Federation, the Hebrew Home and Hospital, the Anti-Defamation League, The Jordan Porco Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Hartford Economic Development Corporation and the Chabad House of Greater Hartford. About NPA: The National Parking Association, established in 1951, is the voice of the $28 billion parking & industry composed of private parking owners and public parking operators that together employ more than 143,000 people. NPA is the premier association for parking owners & leadersproviding research, advocacy, and education and credentialing. Visit NPA at WeAreParking.org. Contact: Christina Garneski, CAE 202.296.4336 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409624 SOURCE National Parking Association Related Links http://www.npapark.org HOUSTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. based R&D tax credit consulting firm, Braithwaite Global Inc. (BGI), announced today its partnership with top French research tax incentives and innovation funding company, ACIES Consulting Group. The resulting entity will be called ABGI, with the combined forces creating a company that delivers maximum value for clients, enormous opportunities for employees and an international foundation better positioned to support client growth. The merger with ACIES Consulting Group, based in Lyon, France, is projected to increase BGI's global share in the international research tax incentive market. Under ABGI, the combined firm will include 200+ employees serving more than 2,500 clients across the globe. "In an evolving, and perhaps uncertain, tax landscape triggered by the BEPS initiative, our multinational clients have a need for a single source option for international R&D tax incentive specialists. They want our specialists to have the ability to optimize and deploy their expertise in a comprehensive and coherent manner, reflective of the value created with their global R&D investments, and ultimately, their intangible assets," says BGI CEO Serge DE BLOIS. With over 30 years of outstanding notoriety in the U.S. and Europe, the combination of the two companies is considered a global win for multinational companies that demand outstanding specialty services. "The merger with ACIES allows us to extend our practice synergies deeper into the European market for our multinational clients in a BEPS coherent way," says Todd Sutherland, Vice President of BGI Operations. "And on the domestic side, we are committed to expanding our space into the middle market." The integration of both companies will take place over the next several months with immediate focus on investments in U.S. practice talent and business acquisition. "Our goal is rapid growth," says Bruno De Mortiere, CEO of ACIES Consulting Group and ABGI Group. "A recruiting campaign is underway to maximize the potential of this new market force. The complementary skills of ACIES Consulting Group and BGI in their respective markets will enable us to explore deeper on incentives for innovation between Europe, North America and soon, South America." About ACIES Consulting Group ACIES Consulting Group is a tax specialty and research funding consulting company. The firm, started in 1990, has 100 employees in France, offices in Paris and Lyon and has its network (CARLACIES) enabling it to intervene in all of Europe. About BGI For over 32 years, Braithwaite Global Inc. (BGI) has been a leading service provider for R&D tax incentives worldwide. With its U.S. practice headquartered in Houston, the company considers itself a relationship based professional service firm. Its business model is designed for cultivating long-term relationships with innovative multinational organizations. BGI's services range from strategic planning or one-day tutorials to large-scale studies for multinational companies. BGI has strong collaborative relationships with their international colleagues, allowing them to act as a preferred global provider for multinational clients interested in reducing their global effective tax rate through multi-jurisdictional R&D incentives. If you would like more information about this release, please contact Megan Ledford at (888) 802-5999 ext. 574 or email at [email protected]. Media Contact: Danielle Urban Phone: 512-448-4950 Email: [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409565LOGO SOURCE Braithwaite Global Inc. NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Likeable Media, the leading content-as-a-service and social media marketing agency, today announced VP, Managing Director Rachel Hadley was promoted to president. Hadley will be responsible for expanding the core leadership team, running the day-to-day operations and implementing growth strategies that support the vision set by Likeable Media founders, Dave and Carrie Kerpen. "Rachel's experience in taking a strategic vision and executing it flawlessly has been instrumental in Likeable Media exceeding its growth projections for the past two years. Her proven track record and leadership skills are exactly what the organization needs to push forward to the next level," said Carrie Kerpen, Likeable Media CEO. Hadley's focus on providing outstanding service and results to Likeable Media clients, along with her recruitment, professional development and retention of key staff, has helped to grow industry-leading clients including FOCUS Brands, Bimbo Bakeries USA and Century 21. Hadley built her marketing career in both agency and corporate settings. She has a proven track record with consumer brands and business-to-business companies. Prior to joining Likeable Media, Hadley led corporate communications for Cinnabon, a global franchisor and retail brand licensor. Prior to Cinnabon, she supervised the Weber Shandwick Worldwide business-to-business client base in Atlanta. Hadley holds a master's degree in mass communication from the University of Georgia and an undergraduate degree in public relations from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. About Likeable Media: Founded in 2007, Likeable Media was one of the first social media agencies. Their approach turns the agency model on its head, offering strategic content creation and distribution through an innovative model known as Content-as-a-Service. For more information on Likeable Media, visit www.likeable.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409868LOGO SOURCE Likeable Media Related Links http://www.likeable.com NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Oreal USA today announced it will exceed its carbon emission reduction goals and build two large-scale solar projects at the company's manufacturing facilities in North Little Rock, Arkansas and Florence, Kentucky as part of its global sustainability strategy Sharing Beauty with All. The two projects among the largest in each state represent an acceleration of the company's original goals to reduce its CO2 emissions by 60 percent from its 2005 baseline. L'Oreal USA will achieve an 80 percent reduction, and plans to achieve 100 percent renewable electricity for its manufacturing in the United States through the projects and the purchase of additional, locally-sourced renewable energy certificates (RECs). The project in Florence will be the largest commercial solar array in Kentucky and the project in North Little Rock will be the third largest commercial array in Arkansas. "Reducing our CO2 emissions by 80% and achieving 100% renewable electricity for our U.S. manufacturing is a major milestone for L'Oreal USA," said Frederic Roze, CEO of L'Oreal Americas. "The achievement is a testament to our passionate, creative and innovative teams who have pushed us to go beyond our original ambitions. We are committed to being a sustainability leader in the United States and are proud of the progress we have made." The Florence plant, in partnership with Scenic Hill Solar, will house the largest commercial solar array in Kentucky at 1.5 MW. Construction of the Florence project will start in late 2016 and will consist of approximately 5,000 solar panels. The array is projected to cut CO2 emissions in Kentucky by approximately 1,195 metric tons per year, equivalent to eliminating over 2.8 million miles traveled by passenger cars per year, according to EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. The 687,000 sq. ft. plant, where haircare products are made for the Garnier, L'Oreal Paris, Matrix, and Redken brands, is the company's largest manufacturing site in the U.S. and its largest worldwide by tonnage of products produced. L'Oreal USA has been operational in Kentucky for more than 25 years and now has over 400 employees. "With this project, our facility becomes an emblem of sustainable manufacturing," said Eric Wolff, L'Oreal's Florence Plant Manager. "We're proud to be leading the way for commercial renewable energies in Kentucky." The North Little Rock plant, also in partnership with Scenic Hill Solar, will house a 1.2 MW array that will be the third largest commercial solar array and the fourth largest solar project in Arkansas. The 4,000 solar panel installation in North Little Rock is scheduled to be operational by mid-2017 and will reduce carbon emissions in Arkansas by 1,326 metric tons per year, equivalent to eliminating nearly 3.2 million miles traveled by passenger cars per year, according to EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. L'Oreal first installed a solar array at its North Little Rock plant in 2012, which now supplies the equivalent of 100 percent of its outdoor lighting needs (18,000 kWh/year). The 446,691 sq. ft. factory has operated in the state for over four decades, and is home to cosmetics production for brands including Maybelline, L'Oreal Paris, Essie and Lancome. L'Oreal is the fourth largest industrial employer in the Greater Little Rock area and this plant has nearly 500 employees. "We are very excited to continue on our site's sustainability journey," said Eric Fox, L'Oreal's North Little Rock Plant Manager. "This next phase of our on-site solar installation not only paves the way for expanded low-carbon manufacturing, but also can serve as a catalyst for continued investment in renewable energy technology in the Natural State." "We are delighted to partner with L'Oreal, a demonstrated sustainability leader, and help them to simultaneously meet their bold goals for clean, renewable energy and reduce their electricity costs," said Bill Halter, CEO of Scenic Hill Solar. "We commend L'Oreal on their continued global leadership in sustainability and are honored to partner with them." Nationwide, L'Oreal USA has been a long-time leader in solar energy, having been named as one of the top 25 companies for U.S. solar capacity by the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA). The company's commitment to solar began in 2011 with an installation at its Piscataway, New Jersey manufacturing facility. With today's announcement, L'Oreal USA will now boast 16 solar installations across the country generating a total of 13.5 MW of energy. In addition, L'Oreal USA has been an Energy Star Partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 1996 and recently joined the EPA's Green Power Partnership. The company was awarded the "Star of Energy Efficiency" award by the Alliance to Save Energy in 2015, and became a member of the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings, Better Plants Partnership that same year. The company was also a signee of the White House American Business Act on Climate Pledge in 2015 and the CERES Climate Declaration in 2013. For more information on the L'Oreal USA's sustainability program and its Sharing Beauty with All objectives, commitments and achievements, please visit www.sharingbeautywithall.com. About L'Oreal USA L'Oreal USA is the largest subsidiary of the L'Oreal Group, the world's leading beauty company. L'Oreal USA manages a portfolio of more than 30 iconic beauty brands, including Garnier, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Kerastase, Lancome, La Roche-Posay, L'Oreal Paris and Yves Saint Laurent Beaute. L'Oreal USA also serves as the international hub for the product development and marketing strategy for L'Oreal's 15 American brands: Baxter of California, Carol's Daughter, Clarisonic, Dermablend, Essie, Kiehl's, Matrix, Maybelline New York, Mizani, NYX Professional Makeup, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Redken, Softsheen-Carson, SkinCeuticals and Urban Decay. Generating more than $6 billion in sales annually, L'Oreal USA is committed to growth through sustainable innovation, driven by the company's Sharing Beauty with All ambition for sustainable development across the Group's value chain. The company is headquartered in New York City, employs more than 10,000 people, and operates administrative, research, manufacturing and distribution facilities across 13 states, including Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Washington. For more information, visit www.lorealusa.com or follow on Twitter @LOrealUSA. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121002/MM85457LOGO SOURCE L'Oreal USA Related Links http://www.lorealusa.com PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MARS DRINKS, a 100 percent workplace focused division of Mars, Incorporated, today revealed a fresh new look and a more sustainable design for its single-serve packaging called Freshpacks with a 31 percent carbon footprint reduction. "Our single most important sustainability priority over the next five years is solving the waste challenge for workplaces around the world that choose MARS DRINKS," said Xavier Unkovic, global president, MARS DRINKS. "Our new packaging represents meaningful progress toward our goal of becoming the most sustainable workplace drinks solution by 2020." Now available in North America, the packaging's 31 percent reduced carbon footprint is based on data from an independent "Life Cycle Assessment" that analyzed the environmental impact of the packaging across all stages of production from raw material extraction through distribution. MARS DRINKS commissioned WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, Montreal, one of the world's leading engineering firms, to conduct the assessment according to international standards (ISO 14044:2006 Life Cycle Assessment). "Increasingly, people at work want to know they have chosen a sustainable workplace drinks solution," said Samantha Veide, global director, corporate sustainable solutions, MARS DRINKS. "Customers have told us their number one sustainability issue when it comes to workplace drinks solutions is solving the packaging challenge. That's why we placed such a priority on rethinking our Freshpack design." MARS DRINKS considered "upstream" environmental factors in creating the new design. As part of that approach, the company re-examined the whole Freshpack production process and identified the raw material extraction of aluminum was the most significant contributor to the carbon footprint of the raw materials in our pack. By removing aluminum, MARS DRINKS reduced emissions from the raw material extraction by 40 percent. The new packaging maintains its predecessor's benefits, including proprietary brewing technology to preserve freshness and eliminate flavor cross-over from one drink to the next. MARS DRINKS will also continue its Recycle Your Freshpacks program, offering North American customers an easy way to divert 100 percent of Freshpacks from landfills. "The new Freshpack is just the latest step in our ongoing journey to resolve the waste challenge for our customers," said Veide, who added MARS DRINKS is committed to ongoing innovation to further limit the impact of single-serve waste as they move towards achieving their 2020 sustainability goals. MARS DRINKS produces the new packaging for the North American market at its West Chester, Pa. factory. MARS, Incorporated invested in a wind farm in Texas, which generates the equivalent amount of energy required to power all of MARS, Incorporated's operations in the U.S., including the MARS DRINKS West Chester, Pa. campus. Guided by the sustainability commitments of its parent company, Mars, Incorporated, MARS DRINKS is focusing its 2016-2020 sustainability initiatives in three areas: sustainable agriculture, sustainable operations, and sustainable solutions. The company will continue to incorporate sustainability at every stage of its value chain, from the raw materials purchased, to the factories where products are made, to the consumables and technologies they deliver, to the world's workplaces. For more information about MARS DRINKS' 2016-2020 sustainability strategy, and to download the full review, visit www.marsdrinks.com/sustainability. ABOUT MARS DRINKS MARS DRINKS creates great tasting moments at work by being at the center of workplace engagement, collaboration, productivity, and well-being. Throughout North America, Europe and Asia, MARS DRINKS supports businesses who want to provide great working environments for their people. Part of Mars, Incorporated, MARS DRINKS focuses its energy and resources on the workplace, with the belief that people are the most important asset to any business. In 1973, MARS DRINKS introduced KLIX, the first-ever fully automatic in-cup drinks vending machine that serves large manufacturing channels across Europe. In 1984, MARS DRINKS pioneered the single serve hot drinks category, introducing FLAVIA, the first system for making hot drinks using fresh ground coffee and leaf teas sealed in individual servings. Through its ALTERRA Coffee Roasters coffees, THE BRIGHT TEA CO. teas, and DOVE Hot Chocolate, MARS DRINKS creates more than 1 billion great tasting moments at work! Find MARS DRINKS online at www.marsdrinks.com. ABOUT MARS, INCORPORATED Mars, Incorporated is a private, family-owned business with more than a century of history and some of the best-loved brands in the world including M&M'S, PEDIGREE, DOUBLEMINT and UNCLE BEN'S. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars has more than $35 billion in sales from six diverse business segments: Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience. More than 80,000 Associates across 78 countries are united by the company's Five Principles: Quality, Efficiency, Responsibility, Mutuality and Freedom and strive every day to create relationships with stakeholders that deliver growth we are proud of as a company. Mars, Incorporated is proud to have been ranked 85th in the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list, compiled by the Great Place to Work Institute, for the third consecutive year. SOURCE MARS DRINKS Related Links https://www.marsdrinks.com SAN DIEGO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mast Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MSTX), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, clinical-stage therapies for sickle cell disease and heart failure, today reported top-line results from EPIC, a Phase 3 clinical study of its investigational new drug vepoloxamer (also known as MST-188) for the treatment of individuals with sickle cell disease experiencing vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC). The study did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint of demonstrating a statistically significant reduction in the mean duration of VOC (82 hours in the vepoloxamer group compared to 78 hours in the placebo group in the intent-to-treat population (p=0.09)). There were no statistically significant differences between treatment groups in the intent-to-treat population across the two secondary efficacy endpoints, rate of re-hospitalization for VOC and the occurrence of acute chest syndrome. Consistent with previously conducted studies, vepoloxamer was generally well tolerated with no statistically significant differences in treatment-related serious adverse events in the vepoloxamer group compared to the placebo group. No deaths occurred on the study. "We are exceedingly disappointed with these top-line results. While clearly not the outcome we wanted, we believe the insights and data from the largest placebo-controlled clinical trial ever completed in sickle cell disease will substantially advance the understanding of vaso-occlusive crisis and the still maturing clinical science necessary to support the development of new therapeutics for this debilitating disease," stated Brian M. Culley, the Company's Chief Executive Officer. "We wish to reiterate our sincere appreciation for all of the patients, caregivers, and others who aided us in conducting this informative study." "These analyses are limited to just top-line data, so in the coming weeks the Company intends to review the full data set from EPIC. In addition, we plan to perform an interim analysis of the ongoing heart failure trial of vepoloxamer. However, based on the data we've seen to date, we expect we will terminate all clinical development of vepoloxamer. Consequently, while we evaluate our options, we intend to significantly and immediately reduce our operating expenses and continue our efforts with AIR001, our lead asset in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which currently is the subject of a 100-patient phase 2 study expected to complete enrollment by the end of 2017," continued Mr. Culley. Investor Conference Call The Company will hold a conference call tomorrow, September 21, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. ET / 5:00 a.m. PT to discuss the Phase 3 results. Interested parties may access the conference call by dialing (855) 239-3120 from the U.S., (855) 669-9657 from Canada, and (412) 542-4127 from outside the U.S. and should request the Mast Therapeutics, Inc. Call. A live webcast of the conference call will be available online from the Investors section of Mast's website at http://www.masttherapeutics.com/investors/events/. Replays of the webcast will be available on the Company's website for 30 days and a telephone replay will be available through September 28, 2016 by dialing (877) 344-7529 from the U.S., (855) 669-9658 from Canada, and (412) 317-0088 from elsewhere outside the U.S. and entering replay access code 10093117. About the EPIC Study The EPIC study was a randomized, double-blind, two-arm, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 clinical trial of vepoloxamer in individuals with sickle cell disease hospitalized for acute pain typical of vaso-occlusive crisis who required treatment with parenteral opioid analgesia. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of vepoloxamer in reducing the duration of vaso-occlusive crisis, with the duration of crisis measured from the time of randomization to the time at which the patient received the last dose of parenteral opioid analgesia for the treatment of vaso-occlusive crisis prior to hospital discharge. Vepoloxamer or placebo (0.45% saline) was administered intravenously as a 1 hour loading dose infusion (100 mg/kg), immediately followed by a continuous maintenance infusion (30 mg/kg/hr) for at least 12 hours and up to 48 hours. Randomization was stratified by age (4 to <16 years or 16 to 65 years), use of hydroxyurea (yes or no), and pain score (measured using the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale at time of randomization: <8 or 8). The study was 90% powered to detect a 17% (16-hour) difference in treatment arms, with a statistical significance level of p=0.05 (assuming an average crisis duration of 96 hours in the control arm and a coefficient of variation > 50%). Secondary efficacy endpoints were to compare the rates of re-hospitalization for vaso-occlusive crisis within 14 days of initial hospital discharge and the occurrence of acute chest syndrome within 120 hours of randomization between the treatment and control groups. A total of 388 patients, ages four to 46, were randomized in EPIC. More than 75 study sites in 14 countries participated. The average age was 15 years. Patients under age 18 accounted for approximately 71% of total subjects. Approximately 61% of patients were concurrently on hydroxyurea therapy. About Sickle Cell Disease and Vaso-Occlusive Crisis Sickle cell disease is a chronic, genetic blood disorder that affects millions worldwide and an estimated 100,000 people in the United States, where it is classified as a rare, or orphan, disease. The hallmark of sickle cell disease is vaso-occlusive crisis, which results from obstruction of blood vessels by sickled red blood cells causing tissue ischemia and injury. Vaso-occlusions can occur everywhere blood flows and lead to an accumulating disease burden in every organ system with the ultimate loss of vital organ function and significantly reduced lifespan. Vaso-occlusive crisis is also characterized by intense and debilitating pain which can last for days and even weeks. There are between 80,000 to 100,000 hospitalizations annually in the U.S. related to vaso-occlusive crisis and no FDA approved treatment to shorten its duration or reduce the risk of ischemic injury related to crisis. About Mast Therapeutics Mast Therapeutics, Inc. is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California. The Company is developing two clinical-stage investigational new drugs for serious or life-threatening diseases and conditions. Vepoloxamer, the Company's lead product candidate, is in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of vaso-occlusive crisis in patients with sickle cell disease and in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of patients with heart failure. Enrollment in the Company's Phase 2 study of vepoloxamer in patients with chronic heart failure is ongoing. AIR001, the Company's second product candidate, is in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Enrollment in Phase 2 studies of AIR001 in patients with HFpEF are ongoing, including a 100-patient, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 study in patients with HFpEF being conducted by the Heart Failure Clinical Research Network. More information can be found on the Company's web site at www.masttherapeutics.com. Mast Therapeutics and the corporate logo are trademarks of Mast Therapeutics, Inc. Forward Looking Statements Mast Therapeutics cautions you that statements in this press release and statements made during the conference call to be held on September 21, 2016 that are not a description of historical fact are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words referencing future events or circumstances such as "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," and "will," among others. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include statements relating to the Company's development plans for its product candidates, the Company's business plans and objectives, and its anticipated results of operations, financial condition and funding needs. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results because they involve the Company's beliefs and assumptions based on currently available information and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual performance and results to differ materially from expectations indicated by the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause actual performance or results to differ include, without limitation: the Company's need for additional funding to continue to operate as a going concern; risks associated with the Company's ability to manage operating expenses and obtain additional capital as needed; uncertainty related to the Company's ability to remain in compliance with the terms and conditions under its debt facility and risk that, in addition to the $10 million prepayment required within three days of announcement of negative EPIC results, the Company may be required to repay its remaining outstanding debt obligations on an accelerated basis and/or at a time that could be detrimental to the Company's financial condition, operations and/or business strategy; the impact of significant redutions in the Company's operations on its ability to develop its product candidates or maintain compliance with laws and regulations relating to public companies; completion of a more detailed analysis of EPIC data and announcement of additional data from the study; uncertainties inherent in the conduct of clinical studies and the risk that the Company's product candidates may not demonstrate adequate safety, efficacy or tolerability in one or more clinical studies; the potential for the Company to significantly delay, reduce or discontinue current and/or planned development activities or sell or license its assets at inopportune times if it is unable to raise sufficient additional capital as needed; that the Company is not the sponsor of the ongoing Phase 2 clinical studies of AIR001 and has no control over the conduct of those studies, including whether they will be completed on anticipated timelines, or at all; the Company's dependence on third parties to assist with important aspects of development of the Company's product candidates, including the conduct of its clinical studies, the manufacture and supply of its clinical trial material and, if approved, commercial product, and the conduct of regulatory activities, including preparation of new drug applications, and the risk that such third parties may fail to perform as expected leading to delays in product candidate development, regulatory approval, commercial launch and/or inability to meet future market demand for any approved products; the risk that vepoloxamer may not realize commercial success even if it receives regulatory approval, and that the Company may never achieve profitability; the risk that the Company is not able to obtain and maintain effective patent coverage or other market exclusivity protections for its products, if approved, or that the use or manufacture of the Company's products may infringe the proprietary rights of others; and other risks and uncertainties more fully described in the Company's press releases and periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available at www.sec.gov. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date when made. Mast Therapeutics does not intend to revise or update any forward-looking statement set forth in this press release or made during its September 21, 2016 conference call to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof, except as may be required by law. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120612/LA22456LOGO-a SOURCE Mast Therapeutics, Inc. Related Links http://www.masttherapeutics.com NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to the attack on the aid convoy near Aleppo, Syria, Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children US, issued the following statement today: "Today is a very dark day for agencies working on the relief effort in Syria. There can be no excuse for repeatedly bombing a UN and SARC aid convoy and warehouses, killing and injuring Syrian humanitarians who are trying to help people in the midst of a brutal conflict. "The consequences of last night's attack are far-reaching. Aid convoys have been suspended across the country, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without food, medicine and clean water. There are parts of the country, particularly around Damascus, where families are living under siege and are entirely dependent on UN aid that will now not arrive unless urgent action is taken. "In Aleppo, doctors and ambulance workers have told Save the Children this morning that the bombing has been relentless and they were overwhelmed with casualties through the night. After a brief respite during the cessation of hostilities, humanitarian staff reported air strikes, barrel bombs and heavy artillery fire in civilian areas. An aid worker in East Aleppo said the hospitals are full, ambulances have broken down and children are getting sick from the lack of food. "There are thousands of human tragedies behind the statistics in Syria. A teacher we work with in Madaya told us yesterday she has meningitis, part of a deadly outbreak in the town. She had pinned her hopes on an aid delivery due to arrive today, the first one since April, with food and medicine. That convoy has now been indefinitely delayed, leaving children in Madaya hungry, sick and trapped. It's a story that is being repeated across Syria. "Today in New York, President Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are hosting a summit to bring together world leaders to take action to address the global refugee crisis. A vital part of this is ending the bloodshed and suffering inside Syria once and for all, and after so many broken promises this is a prime opportunity to take action. Despite the huge challenges, we cannot give up on trying to secure peace for Syria's children. "The first step must be to get the ceasefire reinstated, with a focus this time on getting access for humanitarian relief to all areas. Going forward, we need to see an end to the culture of impunity that allows hospitals, schools and aid convoys to be bombed. Too many brave Syrians have lost their lives trying to help others. Save the Children supports the UN's call for an investigation into last night's attack attacks on humanitarians and civilian infrastructure have characterised this conflict to devastating effect. "Today's Leaders' Summit must act to help those children and families who have managed to flee such desperate suffering and address the global refugee crisis. Save the Children is calling for world leaders to make political and financial commitments to ensure that no refugee child is out of school for more than one month, and to guarantee that all children forced to flee their homes have access to education, protection, healthcare, nutrition and shelter throughout their journey. Wealthy countries need to do much more to increase resettlement of refugees and ensure safe pathways to refuge." For interview requests please contact: Negin Janati at [email protected], 203.212.0044 SOURCE Save the Children Related Links http://www.savethechildren.org SANTIAGO, Chile, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecela (http://ecelaspanish.com) recently conducted a survey of premed students across the U.S., which showed consensus around a number of political and social ideas. Sixty-four percent of respondents agree that fluency in Spanish is an ethical responsibility for healthcare workers going forward. Ecela's Spanish and Medicine study abroad program (https://ecelaspanish.com/spanish-medicine-cusco-peru-summer-2017/) is a proven way to meet that responsibility, while also creating a lifetime's worth of memories. Ecela pre-med students volunteer alongside working health care professionals Ecela Spanish Small Classes "As a future member of the healthcare community, I believe that healthcare providers should do all that they can for anyone and everyone that they can, regardless of citizenship status," said Alexis Adrian Sanchez, a biochemistry and Spanish student at Portland State University. "Learning Spanish would break barriers. As American citizens, we shouldn't make immigrants feel ashamed that they can only speak Spanish." "Healthcare is a privilege in an unsettling number of places even here in America," added premed student Michael Ehrman. "Health is a basic human right and should be accessible to every human, no matter how they identify themselves." Despite their sincere belief in the importance of the Spanish language in their careers, relatively few premed students follow through on that belief in the form of dedicated coursework. This begs the question: "Why not?" There are numerous answers, many of them are not unique to premed studies. First, many college students in demanding programs report being too busy to pursue additional electives, especially when they're not directly related to their field of study. Students understandably must prioritize, and the near-term value of faster matriculation often outweighs the long-term benefits of fluency in Spanish. More importantly, institutional language classes are far from perfect, emphasizing memorization and quizzes. Fluency requires immersion. One-hour sessions three times a week can't provide that experience. Ecela President Ken Graham has witnessed how demographics are influencing hiring practices. "Increasingly, clinics and hospitals are more likely to hire a candidate with language competency than hiring an additional translator," he explains. "Premed students now understand that Spanish fluency is not simply a resume line, but also an indispensable skill." The Ecela Spanish language-learning program is a solution to all of the major problems with traditional language instruction. The program is fully immersive: students attend school in one more locations in South America, experiencing a new language and culture firsthand. Class sizes are small, and students have the option of living with a host family to maximize their exposure to the language as it's used in daily life. Ecela's Spanish and Medicine program offers an experience tailored to the needs of future doctors. Students will spend time shadowing local doctors in a clinical setting, as well as listening in on discussions of critical cases. Some classroom time will also be set aside for medical role-playing in Spanish and technical vocabulary. "This is a no-fail way to learn Spanish," adds Ingraham, "and the 'return on investment' is enormous. Our past students have nothing but praise for the program. Many return in later years to increase their skills, meet new people and see new places." About Ecela Ecela (http://ecelaspanish.com) is a Spanish language-learning program with six sites in Peru, Chile and Argentina. Thousands of students from across the globe have taken advantage of the small classes and affordable tuition to learn Spanish while enjoying everything the local culture has to offer. Contact: Ken Ingraham (+1) 347-329-5506 Email Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409444 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409443 SOURCE Ecela Related Links http://ecelaspanish.com "Our congratulations to the 2016 TC 100 honorees," said Nicole Henderson, Editor in Chief, Talkin' Cloud . "In this year's list we wanted to go back to our roots and recognize CSPs in all that they do to help customers meet business objectives. With a heavy weighting on recurring cloud revenues, the Talkin' Cloud team pored through the applications to select 100 of the top performing CSPs. "Part of the allure of cloud initially was the fact that it was just so easy to use -- all you really needed was a credit card to spin up a new cloud server, and you could take your pick from a number of vendors," Henderson said. "Of course, we know now that cloud is much more complicated than that, and requires a lot of extra management, provisioning, and support in order to work at an optimal level and truly solve business challenges. That's where cloud services providers come in." "As one of the first cloud service providers in the space, Infinitely Virtual has grown through a relentless dedication to our customers, particularly those small and midsize businesses for whom a sound technology infrastructure is itself an agent for growth," said Adam Stern, founder and CEO, Infinitely Virtual. "We're gratified that the Talkin' Cloud 100 has recognized our progress in the market, and we will continue to champion those in the SMB segment and beyond who want to get off the IT rollercoaster that tired cycle of hardware acquisition and depreciation in favor of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the cloud." The Talkin' Cloud 100 list is based on data from Talkin' Cloud's online survey, conducted January through May 2016. The Talkin' Cloud 100 list recognizes top cloud service providers based on such metrics as annual cloud services revenue growth (both in actual dollars and in percentage growth rates), and input from Penton Technology's Channel editors. Talkin' Cloud, produced by Penton, is the go-to resource for CSPs, VARs and MSPs profiting from cloud computing. Talkin' Cloud features news, research, Channel Expert Hour Webcasts, FastChat videos and more. It is the first online media destination for channel partners working in the cloud. The full report is available by visiting http://www.talkincloud.com/tc100. About Infinitely Virtual Infinitely Virtual is a leading provider of high quality and affordable Cloud Server technology, capable of delivering services to any type of business, via terminal servers, SharePoint servers and SQL servers all based on Cloud Servers. Named to the Talkin' Cloud 100 as one of the industry's premier hosting providers, Infinitely Virtual has earned the highest rating of "Enterprise-Ready" in Skyhigh Networks' CloudTrust Program for four of its offerings -- Cloud Server Hosting, InfiniteVault, InfiniteProtect and Virtual Terminal Server. The company recently took the #1 spot in HostReview's Ranking of VPS hosting providers. Infinitely Virtual was established as a subsidiary of Altay Corporation, and through this partnership, the company provides customers with expert 247 technical support. More information about Infinitely Virtual can be found at: http://www.infinitelyvirtual.com, @iv_cloudhosting, or call 866-257-8455. About Penton's channel brands Penton's channel brands (www.penton.com), define emerging IT markets and disrupt established IT markets. The brands' channel-centric online communities include MSPmentor (www.MSPmentor.net), The VAR Guy (www.TheVARguy.com), Talkin' Cloud (www.TalkinCloud.com) and the WHIR (http://www.thewhir.com). About Penton Penton drives performance for more than eighteen million professionals each and every day. They rely on us to deliver: Insights, information, data & workflow tools to inform critical business decisions; networking & community to engage them with industry peers & partners; and marketing services to advance their business performance & deliver ROI. Penton is a growth company with a track-record of strong performance and success and is backed by its co-owners: MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com. Contacts: Infinitely Virtual: Ken Greenberg Edge Communications, Inc. 323-469-3397 [email protected] Penton: Nicole Henderson Editor in Chief, Talkin' Cloud [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409571 SOURCE Infinitely Virtual Related Links http://www.infinitelyvirtual.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media accreditation now is open, with new launch dates, for the next NASA-contracted cargo resupply flight launching from Virginia to the International Space Station. Orbital ATK is targeting no earlier than Oct. 9-13 for the launch of its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. A more specific date will be identified after completion of final operational milestones and technical reviews. Launch times range from 10:47 p.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 9 to 9:13 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13. International media without U.S. citizenship must have previously applied for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities at Wallops. The application deadline is Friday, Sept. 30 for media who are U.S. citizens. Media should send their accreditation request to Keith Koehler at [email protected]. For questions about accreditation or additional information, contact Koehler by email or at 757-824-1579. This will be the sixth planned cargo resupply mission by Orbital ATK under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company and the fourth launch from Virginia. Cargo resupply by U.S. companies enables a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations aboard the world's only microgravity laboratory. Get more information about Orbital ATK, its Antares rocket and the Cygnus cargo spacecraft at: http://www.nasa.gov/orbital For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Parking Association announces the launch of NPA University, an online hub for access parking industry education and best practices. This launch marks the beginning of a three-year initiative of expand executive, management and parking professional education across all sectors of the parking industry. NPA Board Chair Alan Lazowski said, "NPA's fundamental mission is to help parking professionals be the best in their field and represent the ethics, skills and capabilities that serve our parkers and communities with a focus on excellence and ambassador services." NPA University will feature executive forums and symposiums, as well as specialty conferences and the NPA Convention & Expo. NPA University will also serve as an online learning center that is available 24/7 with webinars, online courses, summits. With the launch of NPA University, NPA now offers a Human Resource Certificate Program for parking professionals. NPA is also bringing online a series of online courses on human resources, ethics, corporate compliance, conflict of interest and data security. "NPA University marks the beginning of a unified approach to parking education from the parking professional to the manager and leader. Whether in person or online, NPA is focusing on brining relevant, real-time parking knowledge, skills, case studies and credentialing to aid commercial and public parking professionals in leading and managing their assets and operations," said NPA President Christine Banning, MA, CAE For more information about NPA University, go to WeAreParking.org/NPAUniversity. About NPA: The National Parking Association, established in 1951, is the voice of the $28 billion parking & industry composed of private parking owners and public parking operators that together employ more than 143,000 people. NPA is the premier association for parking owners & leadersproviding research, advocacy, and education and credentialing. Visit NPA at WeAreParking.org. National Parking Association 1112 16th Street NW, Suite 840 Washington, DC 20036 WeAreParking.org Contact: Christina Garneski, CAE 202.296.4336 [email protected] SOURCE National Parking Association Related Links http://WeAreParking.org DENVER, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ALPS, a subsidiary of DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE: DST) providing products and services to the financial services industry, today announced that Ned Burke, Chief Executive Officer of ALPS Holdings, Inc. has been selected as the winner of NICSA's 2016 NOVA Award for Strategic Leadership. The NOVA Award recognizes the industry's leading executive who has a strong record of career and industry achievements. The annual award celebrates industry visionaries who demonstrate the highest level of business acumen, have the ability to anticipate trends, drive success for organizations and lead by example. Under Mr. Burke's leadership, ALPS has evolved into a turnkey service provider for the investment management industry offering compliance, fund accounting, fund administration, legal administration, tax, and transfer agency services to open- and closed-end funds, ETFs, hedge funds and interval funds. Today, ALPS Advisors manages and distributes more than $15 billion in propriety investment products. Over the last five years, under Mr. Burke's leadership, ALPS Fund Services has grown its assets under administration 175 percent, doubled the number of funds it services and added more than 200 new clients. "Success in the financial services industry requires that you be ready to evolve with the changing marketplace. ALPS Holdings' success over the last several years proves that philosophy, and I am extremely honored to be recognized by NICSA," said Mr. Burke. "This honor would not be possible without the hard work of all of our employees as they play an integral role in meeting the needs of our clients." This year's awards presentation took place September 19th at NICSA's 2016 Awards Luncheon, held at the Revere Hotel in Boston. For more information on ALPS' best-in-class industry products and services, visit alpsinc.com/information-technology.php. About ALPS Through its subsidiary companies, ALPS Holdings, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative investment products and customized servicing solutions to the financial services industry. Founded in 1985, Denver-based ALPS delivers its asset management and asset servicing solutions through offices in Boston, Golden, New York, Seattle, and Toronto. ALPS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kansas City-based DST Systems, Inc. For more information about ALPS and its services, visit www.alpsinc.com. Information about ALPS products is available at www.alpsfunds.com. About DST DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE: DST) is a leading provider of specialized technology, strategic advisory, and business operations outsourcing to the financial and healthcare industries. We enable clients to transform complexity into strategic advantage by helping them continually stay ahead of and capitalize on ever-changing customer, business and regulatory requirements in the world's most demanding industries. For more information, visit the DST website at www.dstsystems.com. Media Contact: Laura M. Parsons DST Global Public Relations +1 816 843 9087 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151109/285295LOGO SOURCE DST Systems, Inc. Related Links http://www.dstsystems.com BOSTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Professional networking doesn't need to be an awkward, buttoned up, hyper-formal event. Professional networking can be as easy as swiping right. Valor Connect is a new mobile app applying the same principles of the most successful dating apps -- the swipe feature from Tinder, the compatibility algorithms from eHarmony -- to make finding and connecting with professionals you don't yet know, but probably should, easier and more efficient than ever before. Valor Connect is the ideal networking solution for whatever your goals are: Consultants looking for business, Recruiters looking for candidates, Job seekers looking for opportunities, Students looking for mentors, Entrepreneurs looking for partners. Professionals looking to find industry experts Individuals trying to expand their horizons Who you know often matters more than what you know -- it's true. That's precisely why networking is so crucial in building a career. But there's an inherent problem with this system: the traditional networking process is awkward, time-consuming, and inefficient. People often fall short of their full potential because they can't find the RIGHT people to connect with to locate the RIGHT opportunities for them. Networking at events is particularly challenging, and meeting interesting people is often a crapshoot. This is particularly true for recent college graduates where underemployment is a widespread problem -- over 50% of college graduates are underemployed in their first job out of school. This is one of Valor Connects' primary target: university career centers looking to help their student and alumni leverage the school's network. Students know that alumni are a great source of opportunity, but they don't naturally know how to network with them, and the process is daunting. The Valor Connect app removes most of the effort and presents networking in a way students are very familiar with: dating apps. In addition to general networking users and students, another primary market for Valor Connect is event planners connecting people before, during and after events. Valor Connect provides an enhanced way for attendees to make valuable connections while they are there, while also helping event organizers obtain potent metrics to really understand and know their attendees goals and interests. Whether you are trying to identify the right people at an event, find an alumni mentor, or network with people in your organization, Valor Connect has made the process of finding inspiring people incredibly simple: Log in with your LinkedIn or Facebook account. Tap your professional and personal interests from a wall of tags. Sit back and let our algorithm do all the work for you Review your new curated stack of profile cards each day -- swipe right if you agree that they'd be a good person to meet, left if not. Once both parties swipe yes, start messaging your new connection in-app. At first glance, it may seem like Valor Connect is going head-to-head against LinkedIn, but the two actually form a symbiotic relationship. Valor Connect is not a competitor to LinkedIn; Valor Connect is a precursor to LinkedIn. LinkedIn is useful for storing your existing professional connections. The process is typically: meet someone in person at an event, through a connection, etc., and then connect on LinkedIn. The process on Valor is the opposite: meet on Valor, then connect in person at an event, conference, over the phone, email etc., and ultimately connect on LinkedIn. Meet on Valor, then connect on LinkedIn. Valor Connect was developed by Andy Fine, a young power-networker out of Goldman Sachs. At a networking event in the fall of 2014, he found himself in a room with 250 people. Out of all those potential game-changing connections, he ended up running into 5 attorneys in a row. Great people, but just not what he needed at the moment. Those conversations ended up being wasted time for both parties. Later on that night, he thought back on this frustrating experience and started to draw connections to the dating industry, which has made it so easy to not only meet new people, but the RIGHT people. "Valor Connect is all about connecting with people you don't know but you probably should," Fine said. "With Valor Connect, you can go on and swipe, and you can connect and be talking to someone in an instant. We're all busy people -- and Valor is designed to minimize effort while maximizing results." Andy is a lifelong entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was 14 and grew it to include several employees over the next four years. He sold the company to a competitor before leaving for college at Bucknell where he studied management, economics, and philosophy. To learn more about Valor Connect and to download the iOS or Android app, visit valorapp.com. For more information about this story, contact: Jake Howe, VP of Partnerships Valor App [email protected] (857) 244-0278 SOURCE Valor App Related Links http://www.valorapp.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nevada Energy Metals Inc. "the Company", TSX-V: BFF (OTCQB: SSMLF) (Frankfurt: A2AFBV) is pleased to report that American Lithium Corp (TSX-V: LI), the Optionee of the Company's Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project "the Project", has advised the Company that the BLM has approved a Notice of Intent describing proposed locations for up to 6 sonic drill holes on the property. Sonic drilling is capable of reaching a depth of 500 feet and is used for determining the characteristics and orientation of subsurface playa sediments. The ultimate goal of this program is to confirm the presence of a fine grained green sand and silt logged as volcanic ash in previous drilling on the property. This horizon is thought to be correlative to the Main Ash Aquifer on the adjacent Albermare/Rockwood lithium producing property. (ref. Geology and Conceptual Modeling of the Silver Peak Geothermal Prospect, Esmeralda County, Nevada; Jeffrey B. Hulen, PG, 2008) American Lithium Corp. holds the right to acquire up to a 70% interest in and to the Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project by making staged cash payments in the amount of USD$275,000, issuing 1,200,000 million common shares of American Lithium Corp in three tranches and incurring USD$1,000,000 in exploration expenses on or before the third anniversary date of the agreement. Rick Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Nevada Energy Metals, commented: "We are delighted to have American Lithium Corp. as our partner with which to advance the Clayton Valley BFF-1 property. The Project covers an area similar to the structural and geologic settings at Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium-brine operation, the border of which, lies only two hundred meters to the south east. We look forward to an exciting exploration program in the months ahead." About the Clayton Valley Project: The Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project is an early-stage lithium brine prospect in Esmeralda County, Nevada. A total of 77 placer claims encompassing an area of approximately 623 ha (1,540 acres) on the north-western side of the original Clayton Valley playa. The property position covers an inferred graben bounded by the Silver Peak Range front on the west and by an outlier of Paleozoic rocks known as Goat Island on the east. The exploration concept is that the graben is a sub-basin of the larger Clayton Valley basin and may represent a secondary trap for lithium brines within the greater system. The Clayton Valley BFF-1 NI 43-101 Technical Report by Alan Morris, CPG, QP, states " The property has strong potential to host lithium brine deposits in favorable geologic horizons within the basin fill. Another possible target is lithium enriched clay within the fill package and potentially in previous high stands of the playa." (April, 2016) Geologic and geophysical mapping conducted for geothermal exploration and documented by Hulen (2008) indicates previously unrecognized, deep graben lying between the Silver Peak range front and outcrops of Paleozoic rocks at Goat Island and Alcatraz Island. This area was their target zone for a deep circulating geothermal system they hoped to exploit for geothermal power. This graben is the main target for lithium brine as it may represent a separate sub-basin in Clayton Valley that holds brines not subject to pumping by production wells on the east side of the main valley. Exposed mineralization is confined to salt crust on the playa surface and other locations in the valley. Western Geothermal Partners drilled a 120 meter (400 foot) geothermal gradient test well in 2006 on what is now the Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project. Bottom hole temperature was 50C (122F) which showed moderate potential for geothermal power. Of significance, the well encountered a 25-foot-thick zone of volcanic ash reportedly similar to the Main Ash Aquifer in the Clayton Valley lithium operation. The presence of any felsic ash in this hole is significant in light of that, it is the presumed source for at least some of the lithium in the brines (Price et al, 2000). Qualified Person: The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Alan Morris CPG, Elko, Nevada. About Nevada Energy Metals: http://nevadaenergymetals.com/ Nevada Energy Metals Inc. is a well funded Canadian based exploration company who's primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's main exploration focus is directed at lithium brine targets located in the mining friendly state of Nevada. The Company has 100% ownership in 77 claims in Clayton Valley, only 250m from Rockwood Lithium, the only brine based lithium producer in North America. Nevada Energy Metals has also acquired, 100 claims (Teels Marsh West) covering 2000 acres (809 hectares) at Teels Marsh, Mineral County, Nevada, a prospective lithium exploration project, 100% owned without any royalties; the San Emidio Desert Lithium Project, consisting of 155 claims (approximately 3,100 acres/1255 hectares) in Washoe County, Nevada; the Alkali Lake Project in Esmeralda county, is a 60% earn in option agreement from Dajin Resources Corp, where near surface lithium values have been confirmed; the Dixie Valley Project consisting of 911 claims covering 73.6 square kilometers/28.4 square miles (7,363 hectares/18,194 acres) of salt marsh playa. Of the seven characteristics favourable for the formation of a lithium brine deposit as outlined in the U.S. Geological Survey deposit model, all seven are found in Dixie Valley. The lithium deposit model for Dixie Valley is a Clayton Valley-style brine deposit. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Rick Wilson, President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the contents of this release. Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information: The information discussed in this press release may include "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included herein concerning, among other things, planned capital expenditures, future cash flows and borrowings, pursuit of potential acquisition opportunities, our financial position, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations, are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "may," "expect," "estimate," "project," "plan," "believe," "intend," "achievable," "anticipate," "will," "continue," "potential," "should," "could," and similar terms and phrases. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, they do involve certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties and are not (and should not be considered to be) guarantees of future performance. It is important that each person reviewing this release understand the significant risks attendant to the operations of the Company. Nevada Energy Metals Inc. disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement made herein. Contact 1220-789 West Pender St Vancouver, BC, V6C 1H2 +1-604-428-5690 nevadaenergymetals.com [email protected] SOURCE Nevada Energy Metals Inc. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fueled by technology that has made entrepreneurship easier than ever, a strong desire for autonomy, and start-up role models such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, the two book-end generations of global workers Millennials and Baby Boomers are driving a surge in the number of professionals looking to create their own business or be self-employed, according to a new global survey commissioned by GoDaddy. GoDaddy Global Survey Infographic The research found that 36 percent of people plan to either start a small business or be self-employed within the next 10 years. This is especially true of Millennials, with 50 percent saying they plan to be entrepreneurial during the same time period. In fact, 24 percent of Millennials started their current business while they were still in school. That makes them six times more likely to pursue entrepreneurship as a career than their Baby Boomer counterparts were in the 1960s and 1970s. "We're entering a Golden Age for entrepreneurs across the world. The combination of accessible technology, cultural acceptance of startups, and the desire for more flexibility in our lives, is causing people to pursue their true career passions at a rate never seen before in history," said GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving. "The sheer volume of emerging entrepreneurs speaks to a fundamental shift in our society toward ownership and controlling one's fate." Conducted by Morar Consulting and Vrge Analytics, the research surveyed 7,291 professionals, including 2,707 current small business owners or self-employed individuals, in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Avoiding the Corporate 9-to-5 The survey found that autonomy is the #1 driver in becoming an entrepreneur. People want the ability to work when they want, where they want, and how they want. Flexibility (41 percent) trumped money (17 percent) and not worrying about corporate layoffs (17 percent) by a wide margin. In the United States, 70 percent of those who have participated in the Gig/Sharing economy (e.g., a driver for Uber or Lyft) say the main reason they do so is because of the flexibility, followed by money (30 percent). Technology Eliminates Jobs, Creates Growth As more people have become comfortable using new technology (cloud-based tools, social media, mobile apps) this decade, they are applying it to their entrepreneurial ambitions. 81 percent of those surveyed said that technology made starting a business easier, and more than half (56 percent) prefer the "do it yourself" model for handling their tech needs. 58 percent said websites and social media are the most attractive channels to customers. Respondents are also aware that technology can put pressure on their jobs, leading to a potential reduction of hours and layoffs. 30 percent of respondents said the introduction of new technologies over the last 3-5 years has negatively reduced their work hours. 10 percent of respondents said new technologies helped lead to layoffs. The loss of jobs is a contributing factor leading many workers to take the small business plunge: 18 percent of small business owners said they started their venture after losing their job. Overall, the global research painted a picture of our oldest and youngest generations of workers looking to seize the initiative and control their destiny: 36 percent of professionals plan to either start a small business or be self-employed over the next 10 years. Including those who plan to moonlight with full-time jobs, that number jumps to an eye-opening 45 percent. Millennials are taking the plunge and starting new ventures at a pace never seen before, with 50 percent indicating they intend to start a new business or become self-employed in the coming decade. In the United States alone, that means 37.7 million new entrepreneurs in the workforce. alone, that means 37.7 million new entrepreneurs in the workforce. Baby Boomers intend to pursue their passions during their Golden Years 21 percent plan to start their own venture or moonlight within the next 10 years. In the United States , that equates to more than 15.7 million new entrepreneurs. , that equates to more than 15.7 million new entrepreneurs. 13 percent of Millennials said they were laid off because of new technologies. 36 percent of Millennials said the introduction of new technologies reduced their work hours. 7 percent of Baby Boomers said they were laid off because of new technologies. 25 percent of Baby Boomers said the introduction of new technologies reduced their work hours. Many would-be entrepreneurs in the United States point to their parents (39 percent) and Mark Zuckerberg (27 percent) as role models. But Zuckerberg (40 percent) clearly tops parents (30 percent) among Millennials. Just over one percent looked up to socialite Kim Kardashian's method of building a brand. point to their parents (39 percent) and (27 percent) as role models. But Zuckerberg (40 percent) clearly tops parents (30 percent) among Millennials. Just over one percent looked up to socialite method of building a brand. Entrepreneurs demonstrate a no-fear attitude. 59 percent of entrepreneurs would try again if their current venture failed. They say grit and determination (76 percent) are more important than having a great idea (53 percent). Presidential candidates take note: In the U.S., 60 percent want government to do more to promote small business and entrepreneurs vs. 24 percent who say government should stay out of business all together The global survey of 7,291 respondents was conducted from August 11-August 21, 2016 in eleven countries. The full Global Entrepreneur Survey 2016 can be downloaded at GoDaddy.com. About GoDaddy GoDaddy powers the world's largest cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures. With more than 14 million customers worldwide and more than 63 million domain names under management, GoDaddy is the place people come to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers and manage their work. Our mission is to give our customers the tools, insights and the people to transform their ideas and personal initiative into success. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409393-INFO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150330/195302LOGO SOURCE GoDaddy Inc. Related Links http://www.GoDaddy.com NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General Assembly today, UN Women unveiled the first-ever HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 University Parity Report. In the groundbreaking report, 10 leading global universities lay out concrete commitments and begin charting their progress toward achieving gender parity. Launched in 2015, the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 is an initiative that convenes ten Heads of State, ten global CEOs and ten University Presidents to fast-track gender equality in boardrooms, classrooms and world capitals. The group of 10 IMPACT universities span across eight countries on five continents: Georgetown University, USA; Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), France; Nagoya University, Japan; Stony Brook University, USA; the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; the University of Leicester, UK; University of Oxford, UK; the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil; the University of Waterloo, Canada; and the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. With more than half of the world's population under 30 and university graduation rates rising, universities have an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference. This report highlights three important critical imbalances that universities can address: 1) the ratio of men to women represented in university faculty and senior administrative positions; 2) the fields of study selected by young women versus young men; and 3) the number of female students at universities compared to their equal access to academic and professional career tracks. "Each generation of university students that emerges from these formative years of education is a new chance for the world to make progress," said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. "Now that our IMPACT Champions are leading such well targeted initiatives to tackle current barriers to gender equality, we can look to these cadres of HeForShe graduates, and the changing profiles of academia, with renewed hope." The launch of today's report marks the completion of the first year in the IMPACT 10x10x10 initiative for participating universities. In the report, University HeForShe IMPACT Champions present transparent baseline figures on the representation of women across their student and faculty populations against which future progress will be measured and published on an annual basis. This dataset refers to women at undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as faculty and senior leadership roles. In total, the ten universities have committed to monitoring their progress on 30 commitments. 70% of IMPACT Champions have committed to closing the gender gap in administration; 40% have committed to closing the gender gap in academia; 30% have committed to creating centers of excellence in gender equality; and 40% have committed to ending violence on campus. "Sustainable development is not possible and peace will not be lasting, without empowering every girl and woman," said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO. "I see the face of the new global agenda as that of a 12-year-old girl, in school, not forced into marriage or work. It is the face of a 20-year-old woman, at university, creating and sharing knowledge. This is the importance of the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 Initiative." UN Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson, who launched the HeForShe movement in 2014, and took part in the report launch said that, "A good university is like a tiny utopia it's a miniature model of how the whole of society could look. All our IMPACT Champions have chosen to make gender parity a central part of the way they educate their students." An evening reception to mark the release of the report and the second year anniversary of HeForShe, will be held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York later in the day. The event will be co-hosted by three IMPACT 10x10x10 Champions: His Excellency Sauli Niinisto, President of Finland; Bob Moritz, Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited; and Samuel L. Stanley Jr, President of Stony Brook University. This special event will bring together Heads of State IMPACT Champions, University IMPACT Champions, corporate IMPACT Champions as well as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson, activists and other HeForShe Celebrity Champions. At the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, the Corporate HeForShe IMPACT Champions unveiled the inaugural Corporate HeForShe Parity Report. The Corporate Parity Report provided unprecedented disclosure of workforce gender diversity figures, including details on leadership roles and board membership, to inspire global companies to monitor commitments and take action. HeForShe IMPACT University Special Announcement on Gender-based Violence on Campus September 20th, 2016 Gender-based violence remains a serious challenge to campus security and educational opportunity for students across the world. One in three women worldwide is known to experience some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Many more victims remain silent due to shame, guilt, or fear. Men and boys are also the victims of physical and sexual violence, and are statistically less probable to report an assault to authorities. In some countries, the incidence of assault and violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer students is estimated to be higher. Ten global academic institutions from the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 initiative have now initiated programmes of action agreed with the United Nations as part of the broader HeForShe programme; including ground-breaking commitments to tackling gender-based violence on their campuses. Spanning 8 countries on 5 continents, reaching more than 700,000 students and with 40,000 faculty members, the ten IMPACT Universities are positioned to be powerful catalysts for change. The universities taking part in the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 programme are Georgetown University, University of Hong Kong, University of Leicester, Nagoya University, University of Oxford, University of Sao Paulo, Sciences Po, Stony Brook University, University of Waterloo, and University of the Witwatersrand. IMPACT Universities will work together to: Institutionalize zero-tolerance policies on sexual assault; Provide campus-wide training and briefings for all faculty, administration, and students; Transform student ideas into action through HeForShe Global 'Ideathons' Under the HeForShe programme, additional specific commitments and targets are agreed with each university, providing models of highly practical change in a global context. IMPACT Universities recognize that practical solutions to gender-based violence on campus are strengthened by collaboration with their students. A pioneering initiative to end gender-based violence includes the launch of annual HeForShe Ideathons over the next three years on IMPACT University campuses, which enables students to explore and devise solutions through collaboration and facilitation. Across all IMPACT Universities, tackling gender-based violence is regarded as an absolute priority. Charting a path for other universities to follow, the models under creation at IMPACT universities are central to the global campaign to eradicate gender-based violence. University IMPACT Champions: John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University "Georgetown University is proud to support the HeForShe work to empower women and girls and to create conditions for equality, human dignity, and flourishing worldwide." Peter Mathieson, President & Vice Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong "We need culture change, system change, sustainable long-term policy change and the shared commitment to truly make a difference. I will continue to do my best to contribute." Paul Boyle, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester "Our launch event, marking the inaugural HeForShe #GetFree University Tour in September was a great start. We were delighted to welcome the UN Women team, Rt Honorable Nicky Morgan Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Equalities, 500 staff and students, around 1000 HeForShe commitments from students in 2 days, and 21 of our academics exhibiting their gender related research. We also proudly presented our unique launch 'We are HeForShe' video http://www2.le.ac.uk/institution/heforshe" Seiichi Matsuo, President of Nagoya University "I am fully committed to and excited about bringing about social change toward gender equality at every level, and look forward to working together with UN Women and other IMPACT Champion universities, government, and industrial leaders toward this important end." Stephen Goss, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University "Oxford is a collegiate university, consisting of the central University and 38 self-governing colleges. It is one of the world's oldest universities, but is also an international institution and consistently appears among the top three universities in the world, as measured by its peers. Oxford had 22,348 students as of December 2014, of which 45% are female. Oxford has over 11,000 members of staff. 27% percent of academic staff are female, as are 45% of researchers a combined total of 40%. 22% percent of Professorial staff are female." Marco Antonio Zago, President of the University of Sao Paulo (USP) "The University of Sao Paulo is a powerful instrument to develop long-term transformative changes of behaviors to address social issues such as violence against women and all types of discrimination." Frederic Mion, President of Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris (Sciences Po University) "The fact that our gender equality action plan is supported by HeForShe makes it much easier to promote this message within all decision-making spheres and, consequently, to get our projects up and running faster." Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., President of Stony Brook University "In our role as a HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 University Champion, we will confront them [gender equality issues] as an institution, taking the lead for lasting change. It is the willingness to address [gender equality] questions and improve ourselves in the process that will create that change." Feridun Hamdullahpur, President & Vice Chancellor of the University of Waterloo "I am proud that Waterloo is taking the lead for Canada's university sector in the global HeForShe effort. [] We need to deliberately create clear paths for women to pursue studies in fields like Computer Science, Engineering and Math so we can overcome social barriers that have no place in a 21st century innovation university." Adam Habib, Principal & Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand "It is a fight to ensure that the role of men in ending gender-based harm is as active participants and not passive observers; it is to ensure that patriarchy and inequality are uprooted; and to ensure that those who benefit from inequitable hierarchies are an equal part of their deconstruction. It is a fight that universities generally, and Wits University specifically, must be part of." ABOUT UN WOMEN UN Women is the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. For more information, visit www.unwomen.org. UN Women, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, New York. Tel: +1 646 781-4400. Fax: +1 646 781-4496. ABOUT HeForShe Created by UN Women, the HeForShe solidarity movement for gender equality provides a systematic approach and targeted platform on which men and boys can engage and become change agents towards the achievement of gender equality. HeForShe invites men and boys to build on the work of the women's movement as equal partners, crafting and implementing a shared vision of gender equality that will benefit all of humanity. For more information, visit http://www.heforshe.org/en ABOUT HeForShe IMPACT CHAMPIONS IMPACT 10x10x10 engages key decision makers at governments, corporations and universities around the world to drive change from the top. IMPACT Champions make gender equality an institutional priority, committing to real change within and beyond each of their organizations. Each IMPACT Champion implements the HeForShe IMPACT framework and develops three bold, game-changing commitments to advance and ultimately achieve gender equality for all. Measurement and transparency will be at the heart of these commitments, so successful initiatives can serve as models for the political, corporate and academic world. For more information, visit http://www.heforshe.org/impact Media contact: Abigail Somma Phone and email: 646.781.4588 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409883 SOURCE UN Women VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For many retirement-oriented investors, developing and overseeing a retirement spending strategy can be a complex undertaking, further complicated by increasing life expectancies, disappearing sources of guaranteed income, and historically low yields on bonds. In a new paper, "From assets to income: A goals-based approach to retirement spending," Vanguard researchers provide a framework to help investors turn an investment portfolio into a sustainable and consistent source of income. Vanguard's approach has three components: Developing a prudent spending rule. Vanguard researchers advocate for tailoring spending to a retiree's unique goals using a "dynamic spending" rule under which annual spending is allowed to fluctuate based on market performance, but "smoothed" by applying an annual ceiling and floor to the amount. Vanguard researchers advocate for tailoring spending to a retiree's unique goals using a "dynamic spending" rule under which annual spending is allowed to fluctuate based on market performance, but "smoothed" by applying an annual ceiling and floor to the amount. Maintaining a broadly diversified retirement portfolio. Vanguard researchers recommend building a balanced, diversified investment portfolio that focuses on total return rather than income. Vanguard researchers recommend building a balanced, diversified investment portfolio that focuses on total return rather than income. Implementing tax-efficient withdrawal strategies. With many investors holding taxable, tax- deferred, and tax-free accounts, Vanguard researchers suggest a withdrawal order strategy designed to minimize taxes, as well as to potentially increase the spending amount and a portfolio's longevity. "The stakes in retirement are high, and the impact of suboptimal decisions can be severe, particularly taking into account the unknowns, such as market returns, life span, and health issues. Vanguard's framework can help investors negotiate the inevitable trade-offs between spending sustainability and stability," said Colleen Jaconetti, CPA, CFP, a senior investment strategist at Vanguard and co-author of the paper. About Vanguard Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies. As of August 31, 2016, Vanguard managed more than $3.8 trillion in global assets. The firm, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, offers more than 350 funds to its more than 20 million investors worldwide. For more information, visit vanguard.com. All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150225/177983LOGO SOURCE Vanguard Related Links http://www.vanguard.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to the AARP Long-Term Care Options Program from New York Life, AARP members can now receive personalized guidance from a specially-trained licensed New York Life agent who can help them develop a plan for many of their long-term care needs. In fact, since the program launched at the end of March, New York Life has received more than 50,000 inquiries from those interested in learning more about long-term care funding solutions. "Through the Long-Term Care Options Program from New York Life, AARP members now have access to agents who provide guidance about protecting assets and family members, if in need of long-term care," said Larry Flanagan, President and CEO, AARP Services Inc. "This benefit allows members to prepare for the many uncertainties that accompany longer life-spans." Though most Americans do not believe they will need long-term care, in reality, 70 percent of those turning age 65 will use some form of long-term care during their lives. Coverage can benefit families who want to protect their loved ones, lifestyle and assets; retirees and pre-retirees who want to preserve the money they have saved; and individuals who may not have someone to care for them, or significant assets to pay for the costs. "AARP members have long counted on sound advice and outstanding customer service when they work with New York Life, and we are pleased to be building on that track record with long-term care options," said Don Salama, senior vice president, New York Life. "The program is off to a great start proving that New York Life and AARP together are trusted sources for Americans seeking financial protection." AARP Long-Term Care Options Program from New York Life can be found at the AARP Member Advantages website, AARPadvantages.com. AARP Member Advantages is a collection of products, services and discounts from third party companies available to AARP members. ABOUT NEW YORK LIFE New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States* and one of the largest life insurers in the world. New York Life has the highest possible financial strength ratings currently awarded to any life insurer from all four of the major credit rating agencies: A.M. Best (A++), Fitch (AAA), Moody's Investors Service (Aaa), Standard & Poor's (AA+).** Headquartered in New York City, New York Life's family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investments*** provides institutional asset management. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as retail mutual funds. Please visit New York Life's website at www.newyorklife.com for more information. ABOUT AARP AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million that helps people turn their goals and dreams into 'Real Possibilities' by changing the way America defines aging. With staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and promote the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare security, financial security and personal fulfillment. AARP also advocates for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the world's largest circulation magazine, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @aarp and our CEO @JoAnn_Jenkins on Twitter. ABOUT AARP SERVICES INC. AARP Services Inc., founded in 1999, is a wholly-owned taxable subsidiary of AARP. AARP Services manages the provider relationships for and performs quality control oversight of the wide range of products and services that carry the AARP name and are made available by independent providers as benefits to AARP's millions of members. The provider offers currently span health products, financial products, travel and leisure products, and life event services. Specific products include Medicare supplemental insurance; credit cards, auto and home, mobile home and motorcycle insurance, life insurance and annuities; member discounts on rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and lodging; special offers on technology and gifts; pharmacy services and legal services. AARP Services also engages in new product development activities for AARP and provides certain consulting services to outside companies. *Based on revenue as reported by "Fortune 500 ranked within Industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual)," Fortune magazine, 6/17/16. For methodology, please see http://fortune.com/fortune500/ **Individual independent rating agency commentary as of 8/09/16 ***New York Life Investments is a service mark used by New York Life Investment Management Holdings LLC and its subsidiary, New York Life Investment Management LLC. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409748LOGO SOURCE AARP Services Inc. The Cranberry Classroom will immerse visitors in a live lesson plan that focuses on the cranberry's farm to table journey. Led by multi-generational cranberry grower-owners and their families, the classroom brings the history, heritage, agriculture and harvest of America's favorite fruit to life through four interactive stations, including an immersive 360-degree virtual harvest. "The cranberry is unique from its taste to health to how it's incorporated into family meals and traditions," said Kristen Borsari, Ocean Spray's Vice President of North America Marketing. "We're excited to bring the vibrancy of the cranberry's rich history and heritage to life through experiential events like the bog display and Cranberry Classroom, as well as its breathtaking beauty through a virtual experience like The Most Beautiful Harvest." Exhibit Details for Visitors Where: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, between 49th and 50th Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues, New York, NY When: The Cranberry Classroom will be open to the public Sept. 22 from 12:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Features: Multi-generational cranberry grower-owners and their families will bring the history and heritage of America's favorite fruit to passers-by through four interactive stations around the bog including a 360-degree virtual harvest experience, bog terrarium and interactive history station. Sharing: Ocean Spray is encouraging visitors to share photos and videos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with #CranberryClassroom and on Snapchat. To learn more about Ocean Spray, the cooperative and the bog display in Rockefeller Center, head to www.OceanSpray.com or visit us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. For more information about Rockefeller Center, visit www.rockefellercenter.com or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. About Ocean Spray Ocean Spray is a vibrant agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry and grapefruit growers in the United States, Canada and Chile who have helped preserve the family farming way of life for generations. Formed in 1930, Ocean Spray is now the world's leading producer of cranberry juices, juice drinks and dried cranberries and is the best-selling brand in the North American bottled juice category. The cooperative's cranberries are currently featured in more than a thousand great-tasting, good-for-you products in over 100 countries worldwide. With more than 2,000 employees and nearly 20 cranberry receiving and processing facilities, Ocean Spray is committed to managing our business in a way that respects our communities, employees and the environment. For more information visit: www.oceanspray.com or www.oceanspray.coop. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409773 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150714/236260LOGO SOURCE Ocean Spray Related Links http://www.oceanspray.com Prior to taking the leadership role at Mission Hill Family Estate, Ian was the Estate Director of Cloudy Bay Vineyards, which is part of the LVMH Group. With his team there he delivered 8 consecutive years of creatively fueled growth for the iconic New Zealand winery. As well as reinforcing a meticulous focus on wine quality and style evolution during his tenure, Ian led Cloudy Bay's development as a next generation luxury wine brand, inspired by the simple pleasures and natural riches of its New Zealand provenance. Von Mandl observed: "Many years ago on a fly fishing trip to New Zealand, I visited Cloudy Bay winery and stayed in its then humble guest house, the Shack. I recall not only being impressed by the wines but by the way a newcomer like New Zealand was making its mark in the world of wine. Having seen the progression of Cloudy Bay globally under Ian's leadership, I felt like he was the right person to take Mission Hill to the next level with me. I am a great believer in our distinctive and unique Okanagan Valley wines and I am personally looking forward to Ian bringing his experience in building a New World region and an iconic brand and taking them to the world stage." When asked about the motivations for his move to Mission Hill, Morden said: "It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with the visionary Anthony von Mandl and the Mission Hill team. Anthony understands wine and his broader vision goes beyond that. The landscape, distinctive wines and people of the Okanagan have inspired me in a similarly primal way to when I first set foot in Marlborough. Canada fills the senses. It is like New Zealand in panorama the mountains are higher, the lakes are larger and the climate is more extreme. This is a landscape of imposing proportions and my experience in places like Central Otago is that great wines are often born of this kind of adversity. My first taste of a fine Canadian Pinot Noir was one of those 'discovery moments' of my wine career. It was a Mission Hill wine at the Cloudy Bay 2012 international benchmark tasting. The Okanagan climate delivers the kind of fresh, vibrant wine styles that resonate with modern palates and cuisine. This is the New New World of wine operating at the avant-garde, working with a great group of like-minded people, which is personally where I want to be. I'm delighted to be in Canada, and with some major US markets on our doorstep and the Pacific Northwest's natural pivot towards Northern Asia, I sense enormous potential ahead." Morden also assumes responsibility for the von Mandl Family's extensive Sebastian Farms vineyard estates which grow up to 95% of Mission Hill's grapes, are leaders in viticulture research in the Okanagan Valley, and are focused on "cultivating excellence." Ian takes up his new Mission Hill role from mid-September 2016. About Mission Hill Family Estate Since 1981 Mission Hill Family Estate has pioneered British Columbia's Okanagan Valley as a premium wine making region. The iconic winery is known for its international award-winning wines and dramatic architecture including a 12 story bell tower and cellars blasted into volcanic rock, set against a backdrop of majestic mountains, scenic lakes and the geometric beauty of the vineyards that define the valley. Darryl Brooker, originally from Australia, leads the Mission Hill winemaking team in the pursuit of making wines that reflect the numerous distinctive terroirs and climate zones found in the Okanagan Valley. Mission Hill's elegant and internationally acclaimed wine portfolio celebrates the unique and diverse micro-climates of perhaps the world's most exciting emerging wine region. Sustainability and harnessing climate change is key to the family's approach in farming with the von Mandl family's European heritage evident in their artisanal approach to winemaking, and total commitment and passion to excellence. Conde Nast Traveler has described Mission Hill as 'The Gold Standard of Wineries'. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409901 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409900 SOURCE Mission Hill Family Estate LIVONIA, Mich., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Olga's Kitchen, an iconic metro Detroit brand born from the success of its signature, grilled-to-order, secret recipe Olga Bread, recently unveiled a new logo and restaurant design, with its Monroe, MI location being the first to receive the new look. A revamped website is to follow later this year. Purchased by TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants in late 2015, all Olga's Kitchen locations will be renovated over the next four years, with plans to open eight to ten new restaurants during that same time period. "The core of Olga's Kitchen is strong, and we feel this brand deserves better and more," said Mark Schostak, executive chairman of Livonia-based TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants (TSFR) and owner of Olga's Kitchen. "This new logo, website, and restaurant design will be the inspiration for all of our marketing and advertising efforts moving forward." The Sussman Agency, located in Southfield, Mich., is the agency of record for TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants and, alongside Northville, Mich.-based design firm Martone Design Studio, is leading the way for the new look and feel of the iconic Olga's Kitchen brand. For more information on Olga's Kitchen, please visit www.olgas.com. About Olga's Kitchen Founded in 1970 by Olga Loizon, Olga's Kitchen is known for its signature, grilled-to-order secret recipe Olga Bread. Serving nearly 20,000 pieces of its Olga Bread every day across its 25 restaurants, Olga's Kitchen has solidified its reputation as the leader in the casual family dining restaurant industry, with a focus on delivering a positively unique and consistent culinary experience. From its Olga Bread to The Original Olga and Olga's Snackers, Olga's Kitchen has an unmatched standard for delighting its loyal guests with menu items infused with bold flavors, made-to-order from high-quality ingredients. For more information, visit www.olgas.com. About TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants Livonia, Mich.-based TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants is a family-owned restaurant group with an expansive portfolio of casual dining, quick service and family dining restaurants throughout the state of Michigan. With a commitment to quality operations, TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants is an industry leader in attracting, developing and retaining the most talented work force that proudly delights its guests and sets an unmatched standard of excellence. For the past three decades, TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants has expanded its restaurant catalog to include 66 Applebee's restaurants, 25 Olga's Kitchen restaurants, five MOD Pizza restaurants, and four Del Taco restaurants. For more information, visit www.teamschostak.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409876LOGO SOURCE Olgas Kitchen Related Links http://www.olgas.com SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle OpenWorld -- Oracle Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Larry Ellison today demonstrated that Amazon databases are 20 years behind the latest release of the Oracle Database in the Cloud. In his keynote presentation at Oracle OpenWorld 2016 in San Francisco's Moscone Center, Ellison shared detailed analysis that showed that Oracle Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) is up to 105X faster for Analytics workloads, 35X faster for online transaction processing (OLTP), and 1000+X faster for mixed workloads than Amazon DBaaS. Ellison also showed that the Oracle Cloud is optimized for running Oracle Database while Amazon Web Services (AWS) is not. An Oracle Database running on the Oracle Cloud is up to 24X faster than an Oracle Database running on AWS. "Oracle's new technologies will drive the Cloud databases and infrastructure of the future," said Ellison. "Amazon are decades behind in every database area that matters, and their systems are more closed than mainframe computers." Ellison also announced the availability of Oracle Database 12c Release 2 in the Oracle Cloud with the launch of the new Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service. This service provides the full enterprise edition of the Oracle Database running on the database-optimized Exadata infrastructure. Starting at just $175 per month, Ellison showed this Cloud service is lower cost than similar offerings from Amazon. With the launch of Oracle Database 12c Release 2 in the Cloud first, Oracle has demonstrated that the Oracle Cloud is the most optimized, complete and integrated Cloud for Oracle Database. The latest release provides organizations of all sizes with access to the world's fastest, most scalable and reliable database technology in a cost-effective and open Cloud environment. In addition, the world's #1 database includes a series of innovations that add state-of-the-art technology while preserving customer investments and supporting their transition to the Cloud. Ellison shared detailed analysis during his keynote that showed how the new Oracle DBaaS delivers unparalleled performance for analytics, OLTP and mixed database workloads. In a direct comparison between Oracle DBaaS and Amazon databases, Ellison shared the following analysis: Oracle Cloud Database is dramatically faster than Amazon Cloud Databases Oracle Cloud is up to 105X faster for analytics than Amazon Redshift Oracle Cloud is up to 35X faster for OLTP than Amazon Aurora Amazon is 20 years behind Oracle in database technology Amazon Aurora is missing critical OLTP features that Oracle shipped 20 years ago, including scalable read-write clusters, parallel SQL and the ability to replicate encrypted databases Amazon Redshift is missing critical analytics features that Oracle shipped 20 years ago, including table partitioning, materialized views, support for rich data types and sophisticated query optimization Amazon databases do not support mixed workloads Oracle runs analytics workloads 1000+ times faster than Amazon Aurora Oracle runs OLTP workloads 1000+ times faster than Amazon Redshift Amazon databases are more closed than IBM Mainframe databases, and are not compatible with on-premise enterprise database applications Amazon Aurora, Amazon Redshift and Amazon DynamoDB only run on AWS With AWS, organizations can't use dev/test for on-premises, can't use disaster protection for on-premises, management is incompatible with on-premises Amazon databases are not compatible with existing enterprise database applications such as Oracle, DB2, SQL Server and Teradata and force organizations to throw away decades of on-premises investments Ellison also demonstrated that AWS is not optimized for the Oracle Database: Oracle Database is up to 24X faster for analytics on the Oracle Cloud Platform than on Amazon Web Services Oracle Database is up to 8X faster for OLTP on the Oracle Cloud Platform than on Amazon Web Services AWS has limited storage performance: Amazon Elastic Block Storage limited to 48,000 IOPs/nodes, which is 8X slower than Oracle Cloud; Amazon Elastic Block Storage limited to 800 MB/sec/node, which is 19X slower than Oracle Cloud AWS cannot scale-out Oracle across nodes: AWS provides no support for Oracle Real Application Clusters Oracle is the only vendor with true workload portability across on-premises and Cloud deployments. This helps ensure customers can continue to leverage their existing investment, keep costs down and easily benefit from the efficiency of Cloud. With proven continuous innovations and industry-leading performance across the entire platform from infrastructure to database, including support for mixed workloads, Oracle Data Management Cloud is the leader today and in the future. About Oracle Oracle offers a comprehensive and fully integrated stack of Cloud applications and platform services. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), visit www.oracle.com. About Oracle OpenWorld Oracle OpenWorld, the industry's most important business and technology conference for the past 20 years, hosts tens of thousands of in-person attendees as well as millions online. Dedicated to helping businesses leverage Cloud for their innovation and growth, the conference delivers deep insight into industry trends and breakthroughs driven by technology. Designed for attendees who want to connect, learn, explore and be inspired, Oracle OpenWorld offers more than 2,200 educational sessions led by more than 2,000 customers and partners sharing their experiences, first hand. With hundreds of demos and hands-on labs, plus exhibitions from more than 400 partners and customers from around the world, Oracle OpenWorld has become a showcase for leading cloud technologies, from Cloud Applications to Cloud Platform and Infrastructure. Oracle OpenWorld 2016 is being held September 18 September 22 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information; to register; or to watch Oracle OpenWorld keynotes, sessions, and more, visit www.oracle.com/openworld. Join the Oracle OpenWorld discussion on Twitter. About JavaOne The JavaOne conference brings together Java experts and enthusiasts for an extraordinary week of learning and networking focused entirely on all things Java. With more than 440 sessions covering topics that span the breadth of the Java universe, keynotes from foremost Java visionaries, tutorials, and expert-led hands-on learning opportunities, JavaOne is the world's most important event for the Java community. Join the JavaOne discussion on Twitter. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Safe Harbor The following is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation. SOURCE Oracle Related Links http://www.oracle.com NEW YORK, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Increasing land area under organic cultivation, rising use of bio fertilizers and implementation of favorable policies for increasing production of organic products to drive India organic food market through 2021 New Age TechSci Research Logo (PRNewsFoto/New Age TechSci Research) According to TechSci Research report, "India Organic Food Market By Product Type, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021", India organic food market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 25% during 2016-2021, due to increasing use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides in non-organic products that lead to various health issues such as cancer, obesity and birth defects. Consumers are opting for organic food products, on account of growing health consciousness. Moreover, the government is making efforts to increase adoption of organic food, by the way of launching various policies and expanding land area under organic cultivation over the next five years. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 ) Browse 20 market data Tables and 19 Figures spread through 119 Pages and an in-depth TOC on "India Organic Food Market" https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/india-organic-food-market-by-product-type-organic-pulses-food-grains-organic-processed-food-organic-fruits-vegetables-organic-dairy-products-and-others-competition-forecast-and-opportunities-2011-2021/778.html Organic pulses and food grains dominated demand for organic food in the country in 2015 and the segment is anticipated to continue dominating the market through 2021. The westerns states in the country dominated the demand for organic food on account of high disposable income and changing lifestyle. However, other states in the country are also anticipated to contribute to the growth of the organic food market in the country, on account of increasing population of high net worth individuals which has already crossed 236 thousand in 2015. Few of the leading players operating in organic food market in India includes Organic India, Conscious Food, EcoFarms India, Morarka Organic Foods and Sresta Natural Bio products. Figure: India Percentage of HNWI ' s Consuming Organic Food, By City, 2014-2015 Cities Percentage of HNWI Mumbai 65% Delhi-NCR 61% Bangalore 58% Ahmedabad 55% Hyderabad 52% Chandigarh 51% Indore 50% Source: ASSOCHAM Download Sample Report @ https://www.techsciresearch.com/sample-report.aspx?cid=778 Customers can also request for 10% free customization on this report. "India is a country with high agricultural biodiversity and favorable agro-climatic conditions, which are conducive for organic agriculture. A number of farmers are adopting organic agricultural practices in order to get better monetary yields from their output. Moreover, Indian organic food manufacturers have been focusing on improving quality of organic food over the last few years which is anticipated to strengthen consumers' trust in organic food products in the country. In addition, the leading players in the market are also using various media platforms to popularize organic food products in the country and this is anticipated to propel demand for organic food products in the coming years.", said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm. "India Organic Food Market By Product Type, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021" has evaluated the future growth potential of India organic food market and provides statistics and information on market structure, size, share, forecast and future growth potential of organic food market in India. The report is intended to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyses emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in the India organic food market. Browse Related Reports Germany Organic Food Market By Type (Organic Meat, Poultry and Dairy Products, Organic Fruits and Vegetables, Organic Processed Food, Organic Bread and Bakery Products, etc.), Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021 http://www.techsciresearch.com/report/germany-organic-food-market-by-type-organic-meat-poultry-and-dairy-products-organic-fruits-and-vegetables-organic-processed-food-organic-bread-and-bakery-products-etc-competition-forecast-and-opportunities-2011-2021/678.html Global Organic Food Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020 http://www.techsciresearch.com/report/global-organic-food-market-forecast-and-opportunities-2020/450.html India Foodtech Market By Operation Type (Food Aggregators & Restaurant Based), By Source of Order (Web Vs Mobile App), By Payment Method (Cash on Delivery, Mobile Wallet, etc.), Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021 https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/india-foodtech-market-by-operation-type-food-aggregators-restaurant-based-by-source-of-order-web-vs-mobile-app-by-payment-method-cash-on-delivery-mobile-wallet-etc-competition-forecast-and-opportunities-2011-2021/626.html About TechSci Research TechSci Research is a leading global market research firm publishing premium market research reports. Serving 700 global clients with more than 600 premium market research studies, TechSci Research is serving clients across 11 different industrial verticals. TechSci Research specializes in research based consulting assignments in high growth and emerging markets, leading technologies and niche applications. Our workforce of more than 100 fulltime Analysts and Consultants employing innovative research solutions and tracking global and country specific high growth markets helps TechSci clients to lead rather than follow market trends. Contact Mr. Ken Mathews 708 Third Avenue, Manhattan, NY, New York - 10017 Tel: +1-646-360-1656 Email: [email protected] Connect with us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/TechSciResearch Connect with us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/techsci-research SOURCE TechSci Research SEATTLE, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Otono Networks and Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) will team up at the Competitive Carriers Association's 2016 Annual Convention to announce a partnership to offer advanced eSIM enablement and management services in the global market for device connectivity. With the first eSIM-enabled wearables coming to the North American market, there is both an opportunity and a challenge for the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to manage. The MNOs have an opportunity to offer additional connections to their existing consumer base with the freedom eSIM technologies offer. While adding more devices to the family share plan benefits the market, activating these devices requires technology investments. G&D anticipates several eSIM-enabled consumer devices launching in the North American market in 2017 - starting with companion devices such as smart watches. While the market in Asia has already launched mobile devices with eSIM technology, the expectation is to see eSIM-enabled devices in North America by 2018 in a larger scale. By 2020, a hundred million smart phones are projected to be eSIM-enabled, and the GSMA predicts over 10 billion mobile connected devices by the end of the same year. This rapid growth will be seen across a variety of industries, including consumer devices (wearables, tablets, smart phones), connected cars, Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M). Mobile Carriers worldwide will benefit from the Otono and G&D partnership, which pairs the G&D AirOn Platform with the Otono Platform to create a seamless user journey: eSIM activation to launch eSIM-enabled products quickly and easily. This will allow Operators to offer electronic vouchers such that their customers can remotely add companion devices without the need to visit a Point of Sale location to scan a physical voucher. The Otono Platform is a robust and flexible global connectivity solution, focused on the enablement of wireless services for any device. The platform is both carrier- and device-agnostic, designed to meet the connectivity requirements of any MNO and integrate with any platform or technology standard. Otono handles the carrier integration, eSIM provisioning and management. "We can help MNOs launch an eSIM-enabled product in under four months at a fraction of the cost," says Emir Aboulhosn, CEO and Founder of Otono. "The Otono Platform was architected with flexibility and scalability in mind, and together with G&D, we can help mobile carriers be fast to market with any eSIM product." G&D launched the first commercial eSIM management solution and continues to onboard leading mobile network operators, and G&D's AirOn supports the Remote SIM Provisioning specification for consumer devices and M2M set by the GSMA. AirOn is a comprehensive system that efficiently and securely activates, manages, and updates SIMs and devices Over-the-Air (OTA). When users of a mobile-enabled device request eSIM activation, AirOn securely transfers an operator profile through the connected network. G&D's extensive experience in OTA systems and mobile security solutions ensures that communication and device identification will be secure. "We are excited to work with Otono to make the user journey as straight forward and convenient as possible for the consumers and the carriers that serve them," says John Gillespie, Sr. Vice President of G&D's North American Telecommunication Industries business. "At the end of the day, carriers want to enable consumer choice and adoption of new technologies. Our objective is to make it as easy as possible for them to securely activate the growing number of connected devices on the market." About Otono Otono Networks, Inc. is an emerging global technology based telecom with multiple carrier-supported networks out of Vancouver, Canada. Otono's platform is primarily focused on flexible, global connectivity and mobile enablement solutions using both traditional SIM and eSIM technologies, allowing easier and faster network integration. Otono is the parent company of several mobile services, including Roam Mobility for USA, Roam Mobility for Canada, ZIP SIM, and AlwaysOnline Wireless. For more information about Otono, visit www.otono.com. About G&D Giesecke & Devrient is a leading international technology provider headquartered in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1852, the Group has a workforce of 11,379 employees and generated sales of approximately EUR 2 billion in the 2015 fiscal year. 58 subsidiaries and joint ventures in 31 countries ensure customer proximity worldwide. G&D develops, produces, and distributes products and solutions in the payment, secure communication, and identity management sectors. G&D is a technology leader in these markets and holds a strong competitive position. The Group's customer base mainly comprises central and commercial banks, mobile network operators, business enterprises, governments, and public authorities. For more information, please visit: www.gi-de.com. SOURCE Giesecke & Devrient Related Links http://www.gi-de.com DENVER, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- World Trade Center Denver (WTC Denver) and its development partner Formativ have selected OZ Architecture to design the Denver campus. The partners chose a site in the vibrant River North (RiNo) neighborhood specifically for its close proximity to the new 38th and Blake Commuter Rail station, a critical stop between downtown and Denver International Airport. WTC Denver will serve as an economic development engine providing an accessible, welcoming destination where new ideas will be forged, art and culture will be celebrated, businesses will grow and innovations will be shared. The project includes the WTC Denver offices, new and established businesses, creative workspaces, conference facilities, hotel and globally inspired retail and restaurants. An interconnecting series of art-filled outdoor public spaces unifies these various components. In an effort to capitalize on the collaborative nature of the project, OZ is conducting a series of idea-generating planning sessions that engage the business and design community both locally and internationally. "Unlike many of the world's nearly 300 World Trade Centers that are iconic skyscrapers designed with a singular focus, WTC Denver creates an engaging, inclusive campus that embodies Colorado's collaborative spirit, entrepreneurial heritage, hospitable climate and resultant outdoor lifestyle," said Sean Campbell, founder and CEO of Formativ. "Ultimately the architectural design seeks to capitalize on these unique Colorado aspects by fostering connections, both internally within the complex and externally to the RiNo neighborhood," said Rick Petersen, OZ principal. Conceptual renderings of WTC Denver are available here: The WTC Denver campus is expected to break ground in 2017, with phase one completed in 2019. Landscape architecture design will be provided by Design Workshop. Andrew Feinstein from EXDO Properties is a development partner and a land owner in the project. For leasing information please contact Tom Lee of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank at [email protected] or Drew McManus of Cushman & Wakefield at [email protected] or visit http://www.wtcdenver.org/futureWTC/Tenant. To learn more about WTC Denver, please visit http://www.wtcdenver.org. About OZ Architecture Headquartered in the dynamic RiNo district of Denver, and with studios in Boulder and Colorado Springs, OZ Architecture has been creating innovative yet timeless architecture around the world since 1964. The OZ team includes over 150 design professionals whose broad range of expertise and passions create an unparalleled diversity of project types for a firm of its size. The firm is recognized for designing award-winning projects that make a positive and lasting contribution to the community. For more information, visit www.ozarch.com. SOURCE OZ Architecture Related Links http://www.ozarch.com The activity was organized by People's Daily Online, huanqiu.com and the Publicity Department of the CPC Leshan Municipal Committee and sponsored by People's Daily Online (Sichuan) and the Publicity Department of the CPC Emeishan Municipal Committee. Reporters from over 20 domestic and foreign media outlets flocked here to share the unique tourism resources in Leshan City and Emeishan City, Buddhism, tea culture and martial arts. People's Daily Online, a national key news website and the first central Internet media listed in China, along with huanqiu.com, which possesses great international influence, promotes Chinese traditional culture by showcasing Mt.Emei. In the future, both parties will fully utilize media resources and strength and conduct joint efforts to highlight the uniqueness of Chinese culture so as to share the well-told story with Chinese characteristics. As a national key scenic spot and one of the four Buddhist holy mountains in China, Mt. Emei is listed as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site. During the three-day tour, reporters visited the Golden Summit on Mt. Emei and experienced a martial arts performance in the Great Buddha Temple and appreciated the Leshan Giant Buddha. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is erected on the Golden Summit of Mt Emei at an altitude of 3,079 meters. The colossal gilded bronze Buddha is 48 meters high while it weights 660 tons with granite cravings on its exterior. The colossal statue in Leshan City depicts a seated Maitreya Buddha with its height of 71 meters, and it's the largest stone-carved Buddha statue in the world. The Buddha project was initiated in 713 A.D. and accomplished in 803 A.D. Journalists from overseas also experienced Chinese martial arts in person and imitated all the motions. The foreign reporters were amazed by the spectacles and unique culture in Leshan- Emeishan City, and wee ready to share the unique tourism resources and culture here with the rest of world and encourage people around the world to see for themselves. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409696 SOURCE People's Daily Online (Sichuan); Huanqiu.com DILLSBURG, Pa. and KORBACH, Germany, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A Pennsylvania pet product company announces it has partnered with one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of agricultural products. Animent, the company that makes the American-made animal enrichment product, ScratchnAll, has joined forces with Horizont Group. Headquartered in Germany, Horizont supplies European countries with everything from electric fences to a comprehensive range of livestock equipment and equestrian products. ScratchnAll is a safe, durable, self-grooming scratcher pad made for a variety of animals; large and small. The U.S. and European-patented pads, which are suitable for domestic, barnyard and zoo animals, are uniquely designed to be used separately, or they can be interlocked to create surfaces in any size or shape. They easily bend to fit around corners. A growing list of animals enjoy the pads; donkeys, horses, cats, cows, lynx, pigs, deer, dogs, goats, rabbits, sheep, a long-horned steer, and a camel. "We think ScratchnAll will fit well into our product range and help to round off our range of products for horses and farm animals," Nora Koehne, Horizont's product manager for livestock products, said. "Our commitment is to provide high-quality, technically-advanced products to suit the needs of our customerswhatever their requirements." Horizont is a family business celebrating its 70th birthday. The company only sells to dealers, and has daughter companies located in France, Great Britain, Poland, Slovenia, and Denmark. ScratchnAll is available through the company's website and in select retailers throughout Europe. In Germany, Horizont has a nearest store locator tool on its website, www.horizont.com. Additionally, ScratchnAll has become an approved supplier for Mid-States Dist. https://msdist.com/ with nearly 800 stores located throughout the Midwest and Canada. ScratchnAll was invented in 2008 by senior entrepreneur Cynthia Garry. Garry came up with the idea for her invention when she noticed her horse was straddling on 3 legs trying to scratch under his chin. She wanted something they could use to scratch on without getting hurt. "An assortment of animals in the United States have used this product for 8 years now," Garry said. "I am absolutely thrilled ScratchnAll will now be available at retailers throughout much of Europe and America." More information about ScratchnAll can be found on the company's website, www.scratchnall.com or by calling 1-888-972-7282 (1-888-9-SCRATCH). About ScratchnAll ScratchnAll was founded in 2008 by Cynthia Garry of Dillsburg, PA with the goal of helping all animals. Garry is also a StartupNation Home-Based 100 competition award-winning business owner. To date, over 27,000 have been sold. Made in USA. PRLog ID: www.prlog.org/12587718 SOURCE ScratchnAll Related Links http://www.scratchnall.com JERUSALEM, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- While the condition of Shimon Peres, Former President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate remained "grave but stable" on Tuesday, a week after suffering a major stroke, Pope Francis was among the many from around the world sending prayers and heartfelt wishes for his speedy recovery. Pope Francis wrote a personal letter to Mr. Peres this week saying he had "prayed for strength for the family and for a full recovery." Former Israeli President Shimon Peres, International Chairman of the Friends of Zion (FOZ) Museum in Jerusalem, activating a historical figure on the largest interactive mural in Israel, located at the museum, honoring non-Jews who support Israel and the Zionist vision. "The Pope held a special prayer for Peres along with Rabbi Abraham Skorka of Argentina. They prayed together and asked to convey their warm well-wishes and prayers for a speedy and full recovery." said Peres' office. Shimon Peres, who is the International Chairman of the Friends of Zion (FOZ) Museum in Jerusalem, was accompanied by the museum's founder, Dr. Mike Evans, on his June visit to Pope Francis at the Vatican. Dr. Evans remarked, "I join Pope Francis' call to prayer for the health of our friend Shimon Peres." Formidable figures from around the world have also expressed their wishes for Shimon Peres' good health, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian President Vladimir Putin, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and celebrity Barbra Streisand. US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also wrote to wish Peres a "swift recovery". "You are among the last of a generation of leaders who fought for the right of the Jewish people to shape their own destiny and your legacy stands tall," Trump wrote to Peres, according to a statement from Peres' office. During his last visit to the Pope at the Vatican, President Peres briefly discussed, among other topics, the prevention of hate-related crimes committed by terrorists in the name of religion. The two vowed to continue their collaboration to end bloodshed and promote peace, in particular within Israel and Palestine. Pope Francis hugged Mr. Peres before saying goodbye and wishing him well, according to reports. In September 2014, Mr. Peres met with Pope Francis at the Vatican for a "long meeting" by papal standards, of 45 minutes to discuss world peace a priority shared by the two respected leaders. In May of the same year, The Pope met Shimon Peres during his first visit to the Holy Land. At that time, President Peres thanked the pontiff for his unrelenting stance against anti-Semitism. While in Israel, Pope Francis invited President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas to "join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace." That prayer visit took place at the Pope's Vatican home two weeks later. The Friends of Zion (FOZ) Museum opened in Jerusalem one year ago with the vision of serving as a bridge, enabling people from around the world to join the scores of people throughout history who have supported the people, the promise and the State of Israel. Friends of Zion Museum, 20 Yosef Rivlin Street, Jerusalem. A reservation is recommended for museum visits: website: www.fozmuseum.com, email: [email protected], or phone: +972-2-532-9400. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409307 Media contact: PR360 Ltd., [email protected], Tel: +972-3-544-9494, Fax: +972-3-546-6117 SOURCE The Friends of Zion Museum Related Links http://www.fozmuseum.com DENVER, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- TelePacific Communications, a premier integrated managed services provider headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, announced that it completed the acquisition of DSCI, a leading provider of enterprise grade unified communications, managed IT, and connectivity services. The transaction rewrites the managed services provider (MSP) category by bringing leading-edge unified communications, managed IT, connectivity, cloud and continuity services together in a single provider. DSCI will operate as a TelePacific company, integrated fully into the company's strategic set of offerings. DSCI will operate under its own name as a TelePacific company and will remain under the leadership of its senior management team with headquarters in Waltham, MA. The two companies are privately held and terms of the agreement were not released. With this acquisition, TelePacific immediately evolves from a regional provider to a true national provider with network reach and offices coast-to-coast. DSCI's award-winning UCx unified communications solution and ITx managed IT services are expected to drive accelerated sales for the managed services segment that comprise more than 50 percent of TelePacific's business. When joined with TelePacific's next generation Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technology that can deliver those services and more anywhere that there's a broadband connection, this combination sets the bar for success in the integrated MSP space. DSCI's award-winning UCx unified communications solutions and ITx managed IT services are now an integral part of TelePacific's deep set of offerings for business customers. "This is a transformational acquisition that opens up literally unbounded opportunities for both TelePacific and DSCI now that we're a single company," said Dick Jalkut, President and CEO of TelePacific. "Over the past months as we've worked to integrate our offerings, people and resources together preparing for this day, it's become ever more clear to us that this was a compelling match of values and visions, as much as it was of complementary technologies. Adding UCx and ITx to TelePacific opens up the entire country for us and DSCI fits as if it were custom-designed to propel our growth together." Q Advisors, a leading global TMT investment banking boutique with unparalleled expertise in the cloud communications space, acted as exclusive financial advisor to TelePacific in connection with the DSCI acquisition. The firm also served as the placement agent on the related debt financing. "TelePacific has been aggressively growing its cloud and managed service business and wanted to rapidly accelerate that growth through acquisition. After interviewing a number of banks we selected Q Advisors to assist the TelePacific team. They had the reputation of being the market leader in this space and did not disappoint. From top-to-bottom their team understood the hosted UC and managed services sector, knew all the players and brought us a number of great opportunities. Q Advisors listened to our team and understood how important fit and culture are to TelePacific. Their idea of a combination with DSCI was a perfect fit from a culture, product and financial standpoint. The team worked with us every step of the way from negotiating the M&A deal to finding a supportive group of lenders to assist with the transaction. We are excited to combine with DSCI and look forward to working with Q Advisors on future transactions," said Dick Jalkut, Chief Executive Officer, TelePacific Corp. Financing was provided by Brightwood Loan Services LLC, Tennenbaum Capital Partners and Carlyle GMS Finance, Inc. About Q Advisors LLC Q Advisors LLC is a world-class global boutique investment bank formed in 2001 serving public and private companies, PE firms, entrepreneurs and large multi-nationals in the telecom, media, and technology (TMT) sectors. The firm has extensive, global reach, while also providing the personalized service of a boutique advisory firm. Thanks to our partners and senior staff, who come from leading investment banks and operating companies, we leverage extensive industry knowledge and analytical insights to help our clients achieve successful M&A and capital markets transactions. www.qllc.com SOURCE Q Advisors ALCESTER, England, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanta Dialysis Technologies Ltd ("Quanta" or the "Company"), a medical device company providing innovative haemodialysis solutions for the clinic and the home, today announces that it will present a poster at a moderated session on Friday 23 October at 11:30am-12:30pm at the 10th International Congress of the International Society of Haemodialysis (ISHD). The Congress will be held from Thursday 22nd to Saturday 24th September, 2016, at the Palais des congres de Marrakech, Marrakech. The poster will report on the results of the first 255 treatments completed using SC+ at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London; and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. The study, designed as an anonymised open-label, single-arm, pilot study was conducted with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) subjects receiving regular haemodialysis. A total of 43 subjects with a mean age of 62 were evaluated on a volunteer basis and each dialysis therapy was performed at an outpatient clinic. Clinical performance of SC+ was assessed by StdKt/V and URR for the study population and usability feedback was collected from nurse operators and study subjects post treatment. SC+ performed consistently across the 255 treatments, with results demonstrating the safety and performance of SC+ as a novel HD system with acceptable clinical and technical performance in the dialysed ESRD subject population. There was no measured loss of therapy time, UF performance was acceptable, no significant usability issues were noted and there were no safety issues or device-related adverse events to report. These results demonstrate that patients dialysed with SC+ achieve adequate clearance using standard treatment regimens traditionally used in-centre. The study is ongoing. The details of the poster at ISHD are as follows: Title: Assessment of the safety, efficacy and usability of the Quanta SC+ haemodialysis system Authors: Dr Charlotte Bebb, Dr Cormac Breen, Dr Clara Day, John E. Milad, Peter Hoyer, Andrew Gardner, Dr Paul May and Dr Hardip Nagra The full poster can be viewed online here: http://www.quantafs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SC-01161-Rev-A-Quanta-Poster-For-ISHD-Marrakech-2016.pdf Quanta will be showcasing its high performance, compact, easy-to-use, haemodialysis system, SC+, which empowers patients through patient led care. It offers clinical efficacy and high flow rates comparable to conventional devices and is compatible with traditional treatment regimens used in-centre. It has been designed to bring flexibility to the dialysis community by allowing a greater choice in treatment frequency and location for dialysis patients. Organized for the first time in Africa, this ISHD International Congress will not only provide a high-level scientific program on the most recent aspects in the field of haemodialysis but also allow for sharing experiences between colleagues from around the world. This meeting has the ambition to focus on scientific, practical and socio-economic challenges across diverse regions, to address the Congress theme: "For a comprehensive, equitable and sustainable access to kidney disease care". There will also be many CNE sessions and workshops for nephrologists and nurses. If you would like to arrange a meeting at the conference with Quanta, please contact [email protected]. About SC+ SC+ supports patients across the continuum of care from the clinic to the home. It is the only high performance, compact, easy-to-use, haemodialysis system. SC+ offers clinical efficacy and high flow rates comparable to conventional devices and is compatible with traditional treatment regimens used in-centre. The technology behind SC+ is based on an innovative and unique design that incorporates all fluid management activities onto a single-use disposable cartridge. This cartridge-based design approach is intended to reduce downtime, simplify treatment complexity and reduce the risk of contamination. SC+ has regulatory approval in Europe (CE mark) and is currently being used to treat patients in the UK. About Quanta Quanta aims to improve the lives of dialysis patients by providing advanced haemodialysis solutions for use in the clinic and the home. Quanta's lead product SC+ is the only high performance, compact, easy-to-use haemodialysis system which empowers patients through patient led care. Quanta, based in Alcester, UK, was founded in 2008 and has attracted funding from a group of leading investors including: NBGI Ventures, Wellington Partners, Seroba, b-to-v Partners, ALIAD, Seventure Partners and Kuwait Life Sciences Company, as well as IMI plc. For more information please visit: http://www.quantadt.com. For more information about Quanta, please contact: Quanta John E. Milad, Chief Executive Officer T: +44(0)1789-400043 E: [email protected] Consilium Strategic Communications Julia Wilson / Matthew Neal / Lindsey Neville T: +44(0)203-709-5708 E: [email protected] SOURCE Quanta The Spaceport America Drone Summit , November 11-13, 2016 features four main areas of activity: FPV (First Person View) Drone Racing, R/C Fixed Wing Aircraft Demos, Drone Workshops and an Aerial Cinematography Challenge. The horizontal launch area will be converted into the "Gateway to Space Drone Village" for the duration of the summit, where spectators and participants can enjoy an excellent view of the races and demos as well as live music, and delicious food and beverages provided by local vendors. Vendors from the drone industry will also be on hand with their latest offerings on display. Registration is open now for pilots, workshop participants and spectators. All pilots must have registered their drone with the FAA at https://registermyuas.faa.gov and be current members of the AMA www.modelaircraft.org/joinama to race or fly at the summit. The AMA is the official sanctioning body of the Spaceport America Drone Summit 2016. "This is a first-of-its-kind of event at Spaceport America designed to bring drone enthusiasts from the film industry, FPV racing circuit, drone manufacturing and regulating bodies together for an amazing three days." said Tammara Anderton, Vice President Business Development Spaceport America. "We are very fortunate to have such enthusiastic and expert partners in the New Mexico Filmmakers Give Back, the International Cinematographers Guild and the AMA Academy of Model Aeronautics." "NMFGB are honored to be a part of this great event and the NM Film Annual Film & Media Industry Conference in Albuquerque that is being held in conjunction with it. New Mexico will truly be 'Film Central' in November," said Jon Hendry, Member of the Board, New Mexico Film Makers Give Back. "The international Cinematographers Guild is pleased to be a supporter of Spaceport America, New Mexico Filmmakers Give Back and the AMA in Spaceport America's first drone event," says ICG Business Representative Michael Chambliss. "Drones are a transformative technology with broad commercial applications as well as being off-the-hook fun for hobbyists and racers. Our expert members believe that it's vitally important for everyone who flies drones, professional and amateur alike, to attend events like this as part of learning how to fly safely and responsibly." The AMA has designed three exciting race types with thousands of dollars in prize money: R/C Fixed Wing Demos Spaceport America's two mile long spaceway will host the R/C Fixed Wing Airplane Demonstrations, where experienced radio controlled airplane pilots will be flying and showcasing their aircraft of all types. There will be scale aircraft replicas of WWI and WWII war birds, extreme acrobatic airplanes and more. Some airplanes will have 8 to 10 foot wingspans! The demonstrations are open to all participants and spectators and will begin on Saturday, November 12 from 10:00am until 5:00pm and again on Sunday, November 13 from 10:00am until 12:00pm. Aerial Cinematography Challenge The Aerial Cinematography Challenge is composed of three phases: Practice Day (optional on Friday, November 11 from 9:00am until 5:00pm), Camera Day and Judgment Day. The contest will take place on Saturday, November 12 from 9:00am until 5:00pm and is designed to resemble the challenges and scenarios found on a live motion picture set. With specific targets and a storyboard that the 'director' wants to see take life. The participant will help the director realize his/her vision. In addition to capturing the shot, participants will be evaluated on safety, and how they conduct themselves 'on-set'. The Aerial Cinematography Challenge will culminate with judging and an awards party on Sunday, November 13. Workshop sessions featuring the following speakers will be available on Friday and Saturday from 9:15am until 5:15pm: Colin Guin, President, Hangar Technology, former CRO of 3D Robotics, former CEO of DJI NA Topic: Drone Technology from Hobbyist to Professional Chad Budreau, AMA Government Relations Director Topic: Know Before You Fly & The Future of Drones Luke T. Davis, Co-founder of Flytcam Motion Pictures Topic: Flying for Hollywood Challenges and Opportunities FAA's Safety Team (FAASTeam) Topic: Federal Aviation Regulations Part 107 Enjoy the sizzle reel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW2uYVquFDI Check out the amazing - Gateway to Space Drone Village, speakers and schedule here: http://spaceportamericadronesummit.com/schedule/ Drone Race Tracks, Cinematographers Challenge and R/C Fixed Wing Demo info here: http://spaceportamericadronesummit.com/racetrack-rules/ Become a Sponsor or Vendor here: http://spaceportamericadronesummit.com/sponsors/ BOOK your tickets here: http://spaceportamericadronesummit.com/registration/ Travel and accommodation info here: http://spaceportamericadronesummit.com/about/ Engage here: @SA_DroneSummit https://twitter.com/SA_DroneSummit https://www.facebook.com/spaceportamericadronesummit/ https://www.instagram.com/SA_DroneSummit/ About The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG 600) The International Cinematographers Guild represents the most talented camera professionals and publicists in the world. The technicians and artisans in our union are the creators of the visual images on the big screen, the television screen and our computer screen. Visit https://www.icg600.com/ for more information. About The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) The Academy of Model Aeronautics, founded in 1936, continues to be devoted to national airspace safety. It serves as the nation's collective voice for approximately 190,000 modelers in 2,400 clubs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Headquartered in Muncie, Indiana, the AMA is a membership organization representing those who fly model aircraft for recreation and educational purposes. For more information, visit www.modelaircraft.org. About New Mexico Filmmakers Give Back (NMFGB) New Mexico Filmmakers Give Back (NMFGB) is a non-profit organization dedicated to acknowledging the faith the citizens of New Mexico have in our state film programs - which provide sustainable, long-term, well paying jobs and benefits for New Mexicans. NMFGB strives to give back by supporting community building events and organizations throughout the state of New Mexico. Visit https://www.facebook.com/NMFilmmakersGiveBack/ for more information. About Spaceport America Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world. The FAA-licensed launch complex, situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, boasts 6,000 square miles of restricted airspace, low population density, a 12,000-foot spaceway, and 340+ days of sunshine and low humidity. Some of the most respected companies in the commercial space industry are customers at Spaceport America: Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, UP Aerospace and EXOS. Visit http://spaceportamerica.com and http://gatewaytospace.com for more information. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409866LOGO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150513/215683LOGO SOURCE Spaceport America Related Links http://spaceportamerica.com NEW CANAAN, Conn., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Reimagine Holdings Group, a holding company focused on growing consumer insights and marketing services companies, announced that it has received equity financing from BV Investment Partners. The new equity funding, combined with existing debt capacity, gives Reimagine over $100 million of capital to deploy against its growth plans. Founded in 2011, Reimagine will utilize the new financing to expand their growing portfolio of companies that currently includes Critical Mix, UBMobile, PureSpectrum, Earningstation, iGain and PopResearch. Co-founder and Managing Partner, John Almeida, commented, "The Insights industry is undergoing a significant transformation. We have a world-class team of industry executives at Reimagine, led by Hugh Davis and Keith Price, and bring operating, strategic and transaction expertise to our group of portfolio companies. We have demonstrated success in building great businesses. Our new capital partner gives us access to additional funding and we are excited to scale our activities more aggressively." "Reimagine wants to partner with companies that are redefining the industry," said Hugh Davis, Co-CEO of Critical Mix, and Co-founder, Managing Partner at Reimagine. "The collaboration, support and entrepreneurial spirit among our portfolio companies provides unique opportunities for cross-selling, product development and innovative growth strategies," Davis added. Reimagine is flexible in its investment approach and targets established and emerging companies that offer operational synergies with its existing portfolio. Reimagine strives to partner with existing management to add value through our deep operational, strategic and transaction expertise, as well as our ability to deploy capital to fuel rapid growth. Target verticals include data collection, survey software, data analytics and visualization, mobile and geo-location. About Reimagine Holdings Group Reimagine Holdings Group is redefining the consumer insights industry by acquiring and investing in growth-oriented, technology-enabled service companies. With over $100 million of acquisition capacity, Reimagine is building a portfolio of companies and brands to help customers around the world efficiently create and transform data into business intelligence in order to facilitate faster and smarter business decisions. In collaboration with its portfolio management teams, Reimagine provides industry, operating, product development and transaction expertise to its group of companies. For more information, please visit www.reimagine.com. About BV BV Investment Partners is currently investing its eighth private equity fund. The firm is one of the oldest and most experienced sector-focused private equity firms in North America. Since its founding in 1983, the firm has invested over $2.9 billion in 87 companies, actively targeting investments in the business services and information technology services industries. For more information, please visit www.bvlp.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409490LOGO SOURCE Reimagine Holdings Group Related Links http://www.reimagine.com PUNE, India, September 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Residue Testing Market, by type (Pesticides, toxins, heavy metals, allergens), technology (chromatography, spectroscopy, Immunoassay), food tested (Meat & Poultry, Dairy products, processed food, Fruits & vegetables, cereals) - Global Forecast to 2021", the market is projected to reach USD 4.41 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2016. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 73 market data Tables and 62 Figures spread through 181 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Residue Testing Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/residue-testing-market-148633500.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The market is driven by increase in outbreaks of chemical contamination in food processing industries, growth in allergic reactions among consumers, global movement of organic revolution, implementation of food safety regulations, and international trade of food materials. The pesticide residues segment was the largest in the Residue Testing Market for food safety in 2015 The market for testing for pesticide residue, among other residues, was the largest in 2015. Pesticide use is highly regulated in the European Union and the Americas; residue levels are therefore under strict control. However, the situation in a developing country may be quite different; DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), is banned in the U.S., but is used in other countries, such as India. Therefore, it has become increasingly necessary for food manufacturers and government authorities to make sure that imported foods should comply with their permitted MRLs (maximum residue levels). The chromatography segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR by 2021 Chromatography techniques that are used to test for residues in food are projected to form the fastest-growing segment in the Residue Testing Market, from 2016 to 2021. There are four main types of chromatography techniques used in residue testing, namely, HPLC (high pressure liquid chromatography), GC (gas chromatography), LC (liquid chromatography), and MS (mass spectrometry). These methods are used in the detection of contaminants, which include pathogens, food allergens, pesticide residues, toxins, and heavy metals. The vital benefits of these methods for the detection of contaminants include speed, simplicity of operation, efficient analysis, and minimal labor for sample preparation. Most pesticide residue and allergen detection procedures involve separation using GC, HPLC, or LC. Make an Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=148633500 China is the fastest-growing country in Residue Testing Market The Chinese Residue Testing Market is projected to be the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific region. The growth would be driven by the increase in the number of food safety regulations. China exports a significant amount of its agricultural food to the European countries. In the recent years, residues such as melamine and pesticides were observed in the food chain, which posed a health hazard in China. The government, thus imposed stringent regulations, further driving the Residue Testing Market This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios of leading companies. It includes the profiles of leading companies such as SGS S.A. (Switzerland), Intertek Group plc. (U.K.), Silliker Inc. (U.S.), Bureau Veritas S.A. (France), and Eurofins Scientific (Luxembourg). The other players who are active in the industry are ALS Limited (Australia), AsureQuality Laboratories (New Zealand), and Microbac Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.). Browse related reports: Food Safety Testing Market by Contaminant (Pathogens, Pesticides, GMOs, and Toxins), Food Tested (Meat & Poultry, Dairy Product, Processed Food, and Fruits & Vegetables), Technology (Traditional and Rapid), and by Region - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/food-safety-365.html Food Pathogen Testing Market by Type (E.coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria), Technology (Traditional, Rapid), Food Type (Meat & poultry, Dairy, Processed food, Fruits & Vegetables, Cereals & Grains), & by Region - Global Forecasts to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/food-pathogen-testing-market-202386163.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle WA 98101, United States Tel : 1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/agriculture-industry Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets CHICAGO, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rise Interactive, an award-winning digital marketing agency, today announced a partnership with unbundled, a creative company specializing in branding and "The Big Idea." The partnership will combine unbundled's powerful creative offerings with Rise's data-driven approach to strengthen their marketing strategy and customer experience capabilities. Unbundled, founded by Cheryl Berman, former Leo Burnett North America chairman and chief creative officer, takes a multi-sensory approach to help clients creatively brand their identities and products. She held Leo's original job and was the first woman ever elected to their board of directors. She has personally worked on award-winning and highly successful "big ideas" for such notable brands as McDonalds, Disney, Hallmark, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, and ConAgra. Earlier this year, Cheryl Berman was appointed to Rise's advisory board. "Our companies share a common vision of helping clients create more meaningful connections with customers through creative thinking, design, and data-driven insights," said Jon Morris, founder and CEO of Rise Interactive. "Since becoming a board member, Cheryl has already made a positive impact on our company and clients. So, formally joining forces with her firm just makes sense." Rise's customer experience practice focuses on creative design, web and mobile development, and content marketing. By bringing together a diverse team of strategists, analysts, and designers, Rise can plan, produce, and optimize the creative components needed to make meaningful connections with customers. The agency's data-informed-design approach to the customer experiences process is set up to delight customers along every stage of the digital journey. Unbundled's unique approach to branding, created by longtime advertising executive, Berman, combined with Rise's data-driven customer experience capabilities will enable the two companies to complement each other and function together to turn "big ideas" into measurable actions and confirmed success for clients. Through the partnership, the two companies will go beyond the traditional approach to marketing and prove the value of their creative branding efforts with a data and analytics focus. "I'm looking forward to working with an agency so focused on innovation and a strong commitment to client success. I believe Rise is the place where 'big ideas' will get activated in the best possible way. The personality and culture at Rise are similar to what I felt at Leo Burnett almost two decades ago when it was a privately held company," Berman added. "Compared to the bureaucratic world of holding companies today and the shrinking of iconic agencies, Rise is a breath of fresh air representing the real future of marketing." About Rise Rise Interactive is a digital marketing agency specializing in media, analytics, and customer experience. The agency's proprietary Interactive Investment Management approach uniquely helps clients see, shape, and act on opportunities that others cannot. Rise is a strategic partner, helping leading brands like ULTA Beauty, PANDORA, Atkins Nutritionals, and others make smarter marketing investment decisions and create more relevant experiences for their customers. For more information, visit www.riseinteractive.com or follow the company on Twitter @riseinteractive. About unbundled Unbundled is a no frills low overhead creative company specializing in high quality strategic and creative expertise. It starts with branding to create that perfectly differentiated place a brand can live. From there unbundled moves to "The Big Idea" and creative content, giving brands the power to leapfrog competitors. For more information, visit www.unbundledcreative.com. Contact: Sherry Spengel Rise Interactive [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140129/CG54889LOGO SOURCE Rise Interactive Related Links http://www.riseinteractive.com ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rubicon Genomics, Inc. today announced an agreement with Curio Genomics to co-market its ultra-fast bioinformatics software package for use with Rubicon's new ThruPLEX Tag-seq Kits. ThruPLEX Tag-seq creates molecularly tagged and sample indexed libraries for sequencing on Illumina NGS platforms using cell-free or fragmented double-stranded DNA. By eliminating library and sequencing amplification errors, ThruPLEX Tag-seq enables detection of low-frequency alleles with greater confidence. "We're delighted to partner with Curio Genomics to further expand the unique capabilities of our ThruPLEX Tag-seq Kits for the accurate detection of low frequency genetic alterations," said James Koziarz, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Rubicon. "Curio's proprietary bioinformatics platform provides unprecedented speed along with a host of user-friendly capabilities that our customers will find very valuable with challenging samples such as liquid biopsies." Rubicon is hosting a ThruPLEX Tag-seq Launch Party at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) Precision Health Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday, September 23, 2016 at 6:00 pm in the Terrazzo Salon & Patio. Rubicon Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer John Langmore, PhD, will give a short presentation on ThruPLEX Tag-seq. Curio software will be demonstrated by Curio Genomics' Partner Shawn Quinn. To attend this invitation-only event, contact: [email protected], In addition, Rubicon has two presentations in the AGBT Precision Health poster session to be held September 23, 2016 from 1:30 pm-3:00 pm: Rubicon Senior Director of Bioinformatics Matthew Carroll will present, "NGS libraries from cell-free DNA containing molecular tags prepared with ThruPLEX technology improve ability to detect rare alleles." will present, "NGS libraries from cell-free DNA containing molecular tags prepared with ThruPLEX technology improve ability to detect rare alleles." Sage Science Chief Scientific Officer Chris Boles , PhD, will present, "Efficient generation of cfDNA libraries that are highly enriched in short fragments." Rubicon personnel will be available to discuss the company's entire portfolio of DNA library preparation products at Booth #4. ThruPLEX proprietary stem-loop adapters provide unique molecular tags to label individual fragments, allowing computational reduction of the false positive rate resulting in high specificity and sensitivity for base calling in rare allele detection. ThruPLEX Tag-seq libraries can be enriched using commercially-available or custom-designed capture panels from leading providers and can be used with DNA from liquid biopsy, fresh tissue or FFPE samples. Researchers can choose the Curio Genomics cloud-based bioinformatics software or an open-source tool for data processing. For more information about Rubicon and its products, visit rubicongenomics.com. About Curio Genomics Curio Genomics' proprietary parallelized bioinformatics platform enables unprecedented data processing speed. Intuitive and easy to use interfaces allow researchers to ask simple and complex questions simultaneously as the data is being processed, providing extensive analytic versatility and power. This unique approach also allows complex questions to be asked across multiple samples and data sets, making it possible to share, query, annotate and comment on data in real time, empowering collaboration and distributed research. For information about Curio Genomics' bioinformatics tools, visit www.curiogenomics.com About Rubicon Genomics Rubicon Genomics is a privately-held company located in Ann Arbor, Michigan that develops innovative, high quality, nucleic acid library preparation and companion products to enable easy, reliable and highly sensitive analysis of DNA samples for research applications. Rubicon is committed to teamwork and continuous improvement to provide excellence to our customers, shareholders and employees. For more information, visit rubicongenomics.com . Contacts: Media Rubicon Genomics Barbara Lindheim Jamie Wibbenmeyer, PhD BLL Partners, LLC Business Development (212) 584-2276 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Rubicon Genomics, Inc. Related Links http://rubicongenomics.com In today's current professional and organizational landscape, it is harder for large corporations to create disruptive breakthroughs. To succeed, corporations must re-think and then re-invent their corporate innovation model, replacing outdated models of product development. This requires a new corporate culture, organizational structure, and incentive model. Most importantly, implementing an innovation paradigm requires understanding the differences between executing the existing business model, extending the business model and searching for and disrupting the business model. "The new Mini-MBA: Innovation for Corporate Enterprises meets a tremendous and growing need, offering a structured and proven method for individuals and organizations to learn how to create innovation models, frameworks, strategies, and cultures to promote innovation," said program faculty member Mukesh Patel. Attendees will be exposed to an accelerated, interactive, and fun learning experience based on extensive input and research from industry experts with proven success in corporate innovation. Some of these curriculum topics include Corporate Culture, Extraordinary Leadership, Engaging Millenials, and Corporate Social Responsibility. "Participants will learn the keys to successful design thinking, crowdsourcing, talent engagement, innovation and disruption modeling, intrapreneurial insights, creative ideation, work spaces that promote innovation, and growth hacking," Patel said. Mini-MBA: Innovation for Corporate Enterprises is intended for employees at all levels of an organization, whether looking to cultivate innovation in their teams, or sell innovation to management. "This is a perfect learning opportunity for anybody seeking to encourage innovation from the top down or bottom up and to unleash the innovative and creative potential of teams and companies," Patel said. Program Manager Jennie Fine said the new Mini-MBA: Innovation for Corporate Enterprises is a logical addition to a portfolio of certificate programs offered in a variety of contemporary business practices and theories. "The Mini-MBA model pioneered by Rutgers has proven itself an effective format for professional learning, and innovation is the hottest new need in the workplace," she said. At the conclusion of this accelerated certificate program, participants will leave with actionable skills that are required to carry out an innovation strategy within their organization. They will gain a solid foundation of core concepts to build upon returning to work. Apply today for the November 7 11 Mini-MBA: Innovation for Corporate Enterprises accelerated certificate course. Prospective participants are encouraged to contact Jennie Fine, program manager, with any questions about the program or application. She can be contacted by email: [email protected] or by phone: 848-445-9418. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160916/408737 SOURCE Rutgers Business School Related Links http://www.business.rutgers.edu BOSTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sappi North America, a leading producer and supplier of diversified paper and packaging products, today announced the eight grant recipients of its 17th annual Ideas that Matter program, where financial support is given to designer applicants who create and implement print projects for social impact. This year's eight winning projects highlight how designers can use the power of paper and print for social impact. The winning projects were chosen for the effective way they address pressing social issues including rural healthcare and pharmaceutical misuse, literacy, childhood development and the importance of play, education and leadership in war-challenged international communities, girls and youth development and traumatic health issues for children and their families. Since 1999, as an integral part of Sappi's corporate social responsibility platform, the Ideas that Matter grant program has funded over 500 nonprofit projects and has contributed more than $13 million to a wide range of causes that use design as a positive force in society. The program is open to North American designers who have partnered with a nonprofit organization and developed a communication campaign that is ready for implementation. "For nearly two decades, Ideas that Matter has been a cornerstone in Sappi North America's corporate responsibility efforts. We truly believe in the role design can play in helping to solve complex social issues. And, by supporting the work of designers who are developing print communications for causes, we know that Ideas that Matter is an important participant in the design for social good movement," said Patti Groh, Marketing Communications Director, Sappi North America. "This year's grant recipients truly see the potential global impact of their work and we could not be more excited to see these projects come to fruition." The 2016 Ideas that Matter Recipients: Designer, Firm Project Title Project Description Nonprofit to Benefit from The Grant Sam Aquillano--Design Museum Foundation Extraordinary Playscapes Playground Passports, outdoor kiosks, a website, and a catalog will be created to amplify the reach of a national traveling exhibition on the design and importance of imaginative outdoor play. Design Museum Foundation Brian Dempsey--The Blank Page SOLA Case Statement and Website A printed case statement and redesigned website will feature the work of illustrators depicting life at SOLAwhere girls in Afghanistan can receive quality education in a safe and healthy environment. SOLA School of Leadership, Afghanistan Graphic Design MFA Program at MICA The Growing Girls Project Growing Girls Project-- laying the foundation for a lifetime of sexual and reproductive health by supporting young girls in Baltimore with innovative puberty educational tools. Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion at Johns Hopkins Piedad Rivandeneira- Felicidad All America: We See Changemakers Everywhere A print publication that will feature outstanding, inspirational stories about social innovators from all corners of the U.S., and from all groups, showcasing the changemaking energy in this country for Ashoka's initiative All America. Ashoka Susan Verba and Sarah Perrault, Center for Design in the Public Interest (DiPi) at the University of California, Davis The Pain Project: Creating Tools for Shared Decision-Making A 5-component tool kit will improve patient/provider communication about chronic pain treatment options by empowering a shared decision-making process. Hill County Health and Wellness Center Sunra ThompsonArt Director at McSweeney's The 826 Anthology of Student Writing A compiled anthology of student work from each of 826's seven chapters. 826 National is a network of nonprofit organizations dedicated to inspiring students to cultivate their writing skillsencouraging them to share their voices, explore creativity and imagine a brighter future. 826 National Mai Kobori, Eulani Labay, Amy Findeiss--Parsons the New School for Design Blank Plate Trainer's Playbook The Blank Plate Trainer's Playbook is a toolkit and workbook that incorporates Blank Plate's 10-week culinary design curriculum, empowering community leaders to become facilitators. The Point CDC/Various NYCEDC sites Alvin OeiArtCenter College of Design, Designmatters The Healing Tree: The Safe Nino's Project A storybook, patient passport and environmental graphic system to guide children and their families through burn treatment plans in Latin America COANIQUEM BCF, The Burned Children Foundation For more information about Sappi's 2016 Ideas that Matter grant recipients in North America, please visit our website. The Call for Entries for next year's Ideas that Matter program will be announced in the Spring of 2017. Selection Criteria Ideas that Matter proposals are evaluated on creativity, plans for implementation and potential impact by an independent panel of judges who are selected annually and are recognized for their commitment to design for social impact. The 2016 judges were: Sarah Brooks, Director, Insight & Design, Customer Experience Office at Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C.; Vicky Jones, Vice President, Brand Strategy & Creative at Phase 3 Marketing and Communications in Atlanta; Andrew Shea, Principal at MANY, a multidisciplinary design studio in New York, and; Christopher Simmons, Principal and Creative Director of the noted San Francisco design office, MINE. About Sappi North America Sappi North America, headquartered in Boston, is a market leader in converting wood fiber into superior products that customers demand worldwide. The success of our four diversified businesses high quality Coated Printing Papers, Specialised Cellulose, Release Papers and Specialty Packaging is driven by strong customer relationships, best-in-class people and advantaged assets, products and services. Our high quality Coated Printing Papers, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are the key platform for premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. We are a leading manufacturer of Specialised Cellulose used in a wide range of products, including textile fibers and household goods, and one of the world's leading suppliers of Release Papers with our Ultracast, PolyEX, Classics and Neoterix lines for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries. Our Specialty Packaging products, such as LusterPrint and LusterCote, represent an important asset in the food packaging and labeling industries. Customers rely on Sappi for high technical, operational and market expertise; products and services delivered with consistently high quality and reliability; and, state-of-the-art and cost-competitive assets and innovative spirit. Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 13,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi at: www.sappi.com/na. SOURCE Sappi North America Related Links http://www.na.sappi.com/home ELKHART, Ind., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 19, 2016, Skyline Corporation (NYSE-MKT: SKY) held its Annual Meeting of Shareholders at which the following matters were submitted to a vote of the security holders: 1. Election of Directors for a One Year Term Election of Directors Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld Shares Not Voted Arthur J. Decio 5,595,631 689,597 2,106,016 John C. Firth 5,931,158 354,070 2,106,016 Richard W. Florea 5,930,762 354,466 2,106,016 Jerry Hammes 5,593,088 692,140 2,106,016 William H. Lawson 5,592,244 692,984 2,106,016 David T. Link 5,592,236 692,992 2,106,016 John W. Rosenthal Sr. 5,745,562 539,666 2,106,016 Samuel S. Thompson 5,750,997 534,231 2,106,016 2. Ratification of the Appointment of Crowe Horwath LLP as Independent Accounting Firm for fiscal year 2017 Votes For Votes Against Votes Abstain Shares Not Voted 7,149,391 146,881 56,913 1,038,059 3. Advisory vote on the compensation of Named Executive Officers for fiscal year 2016 Votes For Votes Against Votes Abstain Shares Not Voted 5,868,625 348,989 67,614 2,106,016 Following the meeting, the Board of Directors elected the following persons as Officers of the Corporation to serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors until the next annual meeting of the Board of Directors or until their successors are elected and qualify: Richard W. Florea President and Chief Executive Officer Jon S. Pilarski Vice President, Finance & Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey A. Newport Senior Vice President of Operations Terrence M. Decio Vice President, Marketing & Sales Martin R. Fransted Controller & Secretary Robert C. Davis Vice President, Manufacturing SOURCE Skyline Corporation Related Links http://www.skylinecorp.com Investors bet $7.3b on No 1 port in Australia Updated: 2016-09-20 07:59 (China Daily) A group of global investors including QIC Ltd agreed to pay A$9.7 billion ($7.3 billion) to run Australia's busiest maritime hub for 50 years, betting on steady income from the port's daily stream of containers and new cars. QIC teamed up with Australia's sovereign wealth fund the Future Fund, Global Infrastructure Partners and Canadian pension manager Omers to run the Port of Melbourne, the group said in a statement on Monday. The port handles about 2.6 million containers annually and more than 1,000 vehicles a day. The bid topped the Victoria state government's estimate of A$7 billion. Across Australia, state-run asset sales are fetching higher-than-expected prices as yield-hungry fund managers search for recurring revenue from infrastructure businesses. "To say that this is a good day, and that it was a pleasant surprise, I think would be a minor understatement," state Treasurer Tim Pallas told reporters in Melbourne. "We have maximized the value for the taxpayer." The purchase of Port of Melbourne is a bet on maritime trade to and from Australia even after the collapse of Hanjin Shipping Co, the South Korean container line that sought bankruptcy protection last month. In Australia, regional governments are selling assets to help fund new roads, rail and other projects. Victoria, the nation's second-largest state economy, will use the funds to build a new underground rail tunnel and remove 50 rail level crossings. WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media Advisory. WHAT: The unveiling to the general public, for the first time in history, one of 18 treaties negotiated between the United States and the American Indian Nations in California during the Gold Rush that were secretly and unanimously unratified by the U.S. Senate, leaving American Indians in California without land to live on or legal rights to protect them, and led to their ethnic cleansing. WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 22 9:30 a.m.10:30 a.m. WHERE: The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian 4th and Independence Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. Fourth Floor, at the entrance of the critically-acclaimed exhibition, "Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations" WHO: Remarks by, and interview opportunities with: Kevin Gover, Museum Director, Smithsonian Institution Jeff Grubbe, Chairman, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Mark Macarro, Chairman, Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians William Satti, Chief of Staff, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Joseph D. Hamilton, Chairman, Ramona Band of Cahuilla BACKGROUND The Treaty of Temecula is one of 18 treaties negotiated between the United States and American Indian Nations in California and submitted to the United States Senate on June 1, 1852 by President Millard Fillmore. Unbeknownst to the American Indian signatories, the U.S. Senate rejected the treaties and ordered them to be held in secrecy for over fifty years. In the meantime, Native Americans in California were forced off their national lands and made homeless without any local, state or federal legal recourse. Vulnerable to abuse and subjugation at the hands of white settlers, state and local militias, and undefended by United States armed forces, it led to an ethnic cleansing in which the American Indian population in California plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000 between 1846 and 1870. The 1880 U.S. Census recorded only 16,277 American Indians in California, a 90% decrease in their population at the onset of the Gold Rush. Representatives from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, San Manuel Band of Missions Indians and Ramona Band of Cahuilla, four of the American Indian Nations affected by the treaty, will be present to witness the installation of the original document more than 150 years after it was secretly rejected by the U.S. Senate. Treaty K will be in the exhibition "Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations," which opened on Sept. 21, 2014 and will stay open through Spring 2020. The full text of the treaty is available on the Nation to Nation project website. The National Museum of the American Indian is committed to advancing knowledge and understanding of the Native cultures of the Western Hemispherepast, present and futurethrough partnership with Native people and others. For additional information about the National Museum of the American Indian, visit AmericanIndian.si.edu. Follow the museum via social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Press Contact: Eileen Maxwell, Director of Public Affairs, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, [email protected], 202-633-6615; cell 202-436-6805 SOURCE Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Related Links http://www.americanindian.si.edu/ DUBLIN, Ohio, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Socius, an award-winning business technology and consulting company, announces participation in the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program as a Tier 1 CSP Partner with a newly branded practice area, the Socius One Cloud. Through the Socius One Cloud, Socius will continue to offer private hosting environments along with expanded offerings for public and hybrid cloud hosting environments built on the Microsoft Azure platform. In addition, Socius will leverage the CSP program to offer Office 365 licensing and implementation services in conjunction with other Microsoft solutions, including the full portfolio of Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM systems and Business Intelligence solutions. As a Tier 1 CSP Partner, Socius helps customers and affiliated resellers with consolidated license billing, onboarding assistance, Level 1 support, and customer lifecycle management, among other benefits. With the company's newly branded Socius One Cloud offering, Socius can transition its clients' current Office 365 licenses from other reseller programs, like Microsoft's Open, EA and Advisor programs, to the Socius license agreement. "By participating in the CSP program we are able to focus more of our attention on our clients' business needs and less of our time on managing multiple vendors," said Lance Knepper, Socius One Cloud's Practice Area Director. "The same benefit applies to our clients. They are able to save time and streamline their vendor management by having all of their Microsoft licenses managed under the Socius One Cloud." "Over the last year, we have seen growth across all practice lines, and in particular, the Socius One Cloud," added Jeff Geisler, Socius' Chief Executive Officer. "Through Socius One Cloud, we offer comprehensive, future-forward solutions that make it easy for our clients take advantage of the Microsoft productivity and business management tools that aid in their digital transformation." "The proliferation of the cloud is probably the biggest technology advancement we've seen in some time, and it will have the broadest impact on both business and individual users," Geisler explained. "From a business perspective, it may seem that the cloud is just a new way to purchase software or access data, but to really make the cloud reach its total potential you need to think in broader terms not just licensing, but about security and how to utilize your staffing more effectively. Then you can focus your resources on more strategic initiatives for your businesses." Socius has been providing Office 365 to clients through its Socius One Cloud practice since 2011. Through the CSP program, Socius can align clients' Office 365 licenses with those of other Socius solutions, serving as a single cloud license vendor for business needs, including finance, operations, sales and marketing, analytics, collaboration, and productivity. To learn more about how Socius can help businesses leverage technology with the Socius One Cloud, visitwww.socius1.com/solutions/the-socius-cloud. About Socius: Socius (www.socius1.com) is a strategic business consulting partner that provides comprehensive business management solutions to help companies leverage technology to fuel their growth and profitability and compete more successfully in today's economy. As a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, Microsoft Dynamics Master VAR, a Sage Authorized Partner, and the largest NetSuite Partner in Ohio, Socius represents the most trusted accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence and analytics technologies on the market. Backed by over 30 years of award-winning experience, Socius proudly serves clients throughout the country from its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and its 28 additional locations. For more information, contact: Erin Paulson, Marketing Manager 614-798-0770 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354341LOGO SOURCE Socius Related Links http://www.socius1.com Reaffirming Sony's commitment to produce industry leading A-mount cameras, the impressive new camera combines the best of many of their latest digital imaging innovations including a new Hybrid Phase Detection AF system with exclusive Sony A-mount features such as Translucent Mirror Technology. The result is a supremely specified, professional level camera that will be appealing to a variety of professional and enthusiast photographers. "We are continuing to innovate with each new camera body, lens and accessory that we bring to market, offering compelling choices to both existing and prospective users of the Sony system," said Neal Manowitz, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Sony Electronics. "With the 99 II, we're delivering an industry-leading level of performance to A-mount owners and enthusiasts. Its powerful combination of speed and resolution is simply unmatched in today's market." Redefining Autofocus and Speed The new 99 II camera is Sony's first full-frame camera to feature the acclaimed 4D FOCUS system, bringing a supreme level of AF performance to Sony's A-mount line-up. The Hybrid Phase Detection AF system is enabled by combining a precision 79-point3 dedicated phase detection AF sensor with 399 focal plane phase detection AF points4 to produce a 79 hybrid cross AF point1 array. This enables incredibly precise autofocus performance and advanced subject tracking of any high-speed moving objects across the frame. In addition Translucent Mirror Technology, with no moving mirror, ensures steady, continuous AF operation and live image preview during both still image and video shooting. The precision AF system also performs exceptionally in low-light conditions, as it will function properly in brightness levels as low as EV-45 and in dark locations where most other cameras struggle. In addition to its advanced autofocusing, the 99 II has been designed to allow for high resolution, continuous shooting at high frame rates. The camera features a new front-end LSI that works with the image sensor, BIONZ X image processing engine and a newly designed shutter unit to enable continuous shooting at impressive speeds of up to 12fps2 with AF/AE tracking6. Thanks to a large buffer, these shots can be viewed immediately after shooting, even when in high-speed continuous shooting mode. Additionally, if these high-speed shots are being taken indoors under artificial lighting, the camera can automatically detect flicker and time the shutter accordingly to minimize its effect on the resulting images7. The new 99 II also has the ability to deliver continuous live shooting at up to 8 fps8 with AF/AE tracking and minimal display lag thanks to overall improvements in the EVF algorithm. This offers photographers a shooting experience that closely mimics that of an optical viewfinder, while still offering all of the benefits of an electronic viewfinder including a live preview of exposure, white balance and several other camera settings. This continuous live view shooting can be set in 3 stages to match a variety of subjects: 8 fps, 6 fps and 4 fps. Pixel Power The back-illuminated full-frame 42.4MP9 Exmor R CMOS sensor in the new 99 II model features a gapless-on-chip design that allows for fast readout of large volumes of data and maximizes light gathering ability. The net result is very high sensitivity with low noise, wide dynamic range and 42.4MP resolution across an ISO range of 100-25600, expandable to ISO 50 102,40010. The new camera has also been designed without an optical low-pass filter, ensuring that all of the finest natural details and textures can be captured with unprecedented depth and realism. Both compressed and uncompressed RAW files are readily available based on user preferences. 5-axis SteadyShot INSIDE Image Stabilization Sony has designed a new in-body 5 axis image stabilization system for A-mount cameras that debuts for the first time in the 99 II model. Having proven to be incredibly popular in the 7 II series of cameras, this five axis system effectively detects and compensates for movement in all axes including X and Y, pitch and yaw and camera roll, and ensures that all captured content is crisp and blur-free. The new stabilization system provides a shutter speed advantage of 4.5 steps11, ensuring the full potential of the 42.4MP sensor can be realized. Also, with a simple half press of the shutter button, the effect of this the image stabilization can be monitored in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen, allowing framing and focus to be accurately checked and continually monitored. Improved design and operability Based upon feedback from professional users, the design of new 99 II has noticeably evolved compared to its predecessor. The new model is 8% smaller than the original 99 and features a newly designed grip, magnesium alloy body, dual SD card slots12 and dust and moisture resistance13. The 99 II also features a new shutter unit that has an estimated life of more than 300,000 operations14, as well as an XGA OLED Tru-finder with a ZEISS T* Coating that offers a powerful 0.78x magnification and delivers outstanding clarify from corner to corner. The viewfinder also has a fluorine coating on the outer lens to prevent fingerprints, dust, water, oil and dirt from sticking, ensuring a clear view. The silent Multi Controller introduced in the original 99 has been improved as well, as it now offers a click-stop ON/OFF switch in addition to allowing control of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, AF area, AF mode and other settings. The 99 II also offers location data acquisition via a Bluetooth15 connection to a compatible mobile device and an updated menu structure to deliver a smoother navigational experience. Movie Magic For the first time in a Sony A-mount camera, the 99 II has the ability to record 4K video internally16 with full pixel readout and no pixel binning17 through usage of the professional friendly XAVC S format. The camera is capable of recording high quality footage at 100Mbps for 4K recording, and utilizing the full width of the large, full-frame image sensor in doing so. It also offers a new 'Slow and Quick' mode18 (S&Q) that supports both slow motion and quick motion. In this mode, frame rates from 1 fps to 120 fps can be selected in 8 steps for up to 60x quick motion and 5x slow motion recording19. A host of other features for professional movie production workflow are also included in the 99 II such as picture profiles, time code and clean HDMI output as well as gamma assist for real time S-Log monitoring and a zebra mode for easier exposure adjustment. S-Log3 and S-Log2 gamma are both included as well. Pricing and Availability The Sony 99 II full-frame interchangeable lens camera will ship this November to authorized Sony retailers throughout North America and will be sold for about $3,200 US and $4,000 CA. For a more detailed outline of the new 99 II interchangeable lens camera including product specifications, please visit its dedicated product page on Sony.com at the following link Sony 99 II homepage. There is also a variety of content on the Sony Camera Channel on YouTube and the Sony Photo Gallery. A variety of exclusive stories and exciting new content shot with Sony products can be found at www.alphauniverse.com, Sony's community site built to educate, inspire and showcase all fans and customers of the Sony brand. Please follow #SonyAlpha on twitter and visit @SonyAlpha on Instagram for all of the latest camera news and content direct from Sony. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409187 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140206/LA60150LOGO SOURCE Sony Electronics LAS VEGAS, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2016 Stansberry Conference held this week in Las Vegas included an overview of "Finding Yield: Why Artificial Intelligence is Your Portfolio's Needle in the Haystack" presented by Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Mediatrix Capital Michael S. Young. Each year, the event hosts more than 500 attendees and 2,000 live streaming attendees. The presentation included an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for investors. Finding yield is harder than ever in today's dynamic business climate and fund managers that use sophisticated software programs with a defined set of rules for placing trades are able to generate profits at a speed and frequency that is impossible for a human trader. AI rules are based on mathematical models that optimize timing, price, quantity and risk. The algorithms sort through multiple market conditions and multiple inputs at one time in a fraction of a second and are able to analyze multiple calculations at one time. Based on this precise information and once specific rules are met, the algorithms execute instantly. These same programs are able to execute entries into and out of multiple assets at prices that are moving too fast for human beings to complete by clicking a mouse. Importantly, artificial intelligence-based investing eliminates the emotional dynamic that may hinder trading. Algorithms are able to make extremely complex decisions with no emotional component whatsoever and rely only on mathematical facts. They take advantage of opportunities humans would have missed simply due to the timing constraints of analysis and mental decision making and are therefore able to enter the markets at an extremely high speed for risk and reward management. As an example, Mediatrix Capital makes complex and profitable decisions based on nine algorithms that have specific hedging and correlated counter positions to track changes in market direction. Multiple strategies maximize returns and are completely unbiased to market direction. Importantly, the algorithms are separated onto different VPN servers so the brokers and liquidity providers have no ability to write or program a combative algorithm. Young's presentation encouraged investors to invest with firms that employ a military style defensive strategy for growth maximization and drawdown minimization. Mediatrix Capital's systems are defensive in that they are unbiased to market direction, look at all angles of equity risk and are programmed to defend against unforeseen negative influences such as economic news, world events, or market manipulation. "There is no perfect investment solution, however the use of multiple quantitative and AI-based strategies to systematically trade multiple assets allows us to consistently have an edge. When one strategy is not performing, one or two others are and the overall is a positive. Mediatrix Capital's institutional systems trade 30 currencies and four spot metals with average use of equity less than 15 percent. Our investors have benefitted from 33 straight months of gains," Young explained. For further information, visit http://www.mediatrixcapital.com or call 1-800-905-1006. About Mediatrix Capital Mediatrix Capital, Inc. provides Managed Account services for an elite clientele seeking to benefit from trading the Foreign Exchange Market. The founding partners of Mediatrix Capital are respected traders and published FX Spot and FX OTC Options strategists with a track record of exceptional operations, trade management, technology/algorithm development, risk mitigation, and overall funds management. The firm uses a very sophisticated suite of algorithmic technology and artificial intelligence to achieve exceptional results while more importantly managing the downside risk of trading. The firm offers qualified investors access to one of the finest high rate investment funds available anywhere in the world with 100% transparency, 100% liquidity and world class, dependable monthly returns that most firms only hope for in any single year's time. About Stansberry Research Stansberry Research is one of the leading independent financial research firms in the world, delivering unbiased investment intelligence to self-directed investors seeking an edge in a wide variety of sectors. Stansberry Research employs over 12 analysts and researchers, including former hedge fund managers and buy-side analysts who publish proprietary insights to over 500,000 paying subscribers in over 120 countries worldwide. The goal of the Stansberry Conference Series is to present fantastic speakers who deliver brilliant ideas that can actually change your life. Our events are held in world-class locations where like-minded individuals can interact with one another and learn about innovative and inspiring ideas. Disclaimer In no event should the content of this material be construed as an advertisement, express or an implied promise, guarantee or implication by or from Mediatrix Capital Inc. (MC) or any of its partner or subsidiary companies. This is not an attempt to sell or solicit any security and should not be taken as such. The content of this document is for informational purposes only. Potential Accredited Investors are advised to carefully read the Disclosure Documents to determine whether a managed investment in MC is consistent with their financial situations and investment objectives. Past results are no guarantee of future performance. Mediatrix Capital is a foreign corporation based in Sandyport Bahamas, and does not operate within the United States. Contact: Mediatrix Capital, Inc. Suite 115 Lagoon Court West Bay Street Sandyport, Bahamas 1-800-905-1006 http://www.mediatrixcapital.com SOURCE Mediatrix Capital, Inc. RONKONKOMA, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SUNation today earned a prestigious 2016 HIA-LI Business Achievement Award. The 22nd Annual Business Achievement Awards were presented by HIA-LI, the recognized voice for business on Long Island, to recognize the best and brightest companies in the region. SUNation Solar Systems, Long Island's Fastest Growing Solar Provider with over 2,000 residential, commercial and municipal installations, was recognized in the Small Business category for a variety of factors, including positive employer/employee relations, increased revenue and profitability and its commitment to the growth and improvement of the Long Island business community. SUNation received the award during a gala event held today at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY attended by hundreds of local business and legislative leaders. "SUNation is honored to be recognized among so many well-run Long Island organizations this year. Our passion and focus is on providing the best customer service possible and that starts with our terrific sales, engineering, processing and installation teams. This award is a tribute to the strong relationships between employees and customers who make up the SUNation Family," says Scott Maskin, SUNation Solar Systems co-founder and CEO. "HIA-LI is pleased to recognize SUNation this year for its many achievements in industry leadership, creativity, successful business operations, corporate vision, and other intangible but vital characteristics required for developing and growing a winning organization," says Terri Alessi-Miceli, President of HIA-LI. SUNation has been selected by businesses, homeowners and municipalities across Long Island who are taking control of their energy futures by owning their solar systems to produce clean, affordable power from the Sun. Residential and commercial building owners have realized significant energy cost savings, enabling them to reinvest their money in their families or businesses. In choosing finalists and recipients, the HIA-LI award selection committee considered multiple factors, including: Positive employer/employee relations Commitment to the growth or betterment of the Long Island business community business community Revenue and profitability trends over the last three years Three- to five-year vision for the company's future Additional criteria that were considered include: Recent outstanding accomplishments Technical innovation or innovative processes Expansion into new markets Industry leadership Overcoming adversity About HIA-LI HIA-LI helps Long Island businesses prosper. For over 30 years, we have been the recognized voice for business on Long Island and a powerful force and economic engine for regional development. We provide a forum for business leaders to network, problem solve and obtain advice on critical issues facing their businesses. Our member companies represent tens of thousands of business professionals. We're headquartered in and support one of the largest industrial parks in the United States. HIA-LI programs and events promote strategic partnerships, targeted networking, information sharing and business advocacy. Members benefit from our committees, educational programs, career resources, research capabilities, mentoring opportunities and business advisory services. For more information, visit http://www.hia-li.org or call 631-543-5355. About SUNation Solar Systems SUNation Solar Systems is a full-service solar installation provider based in Ronkonkoma, NY. With unmatched attention to detail and dedication to a high standard of quality of work, the company has built a strong reputation since its origin in 2003, and has installed over 2,000 residential, commercial and municipal systems in the region to date. The solar company gives back to its community through many charitable efforts as part of its not-for-profit corporation SUNation Cares. SUNation Solar Systems Chief Executive Officer Scott Maskin also serves on the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County, and is a dedicated supporter of Last Chance Animal Rescue. For more information on SUNation Solar Systems, visit http://sunationsolarsystems.com/. Media Contacts Jessica Bailis [email protected] SUNation Lisa Hazen [email protected] 631-239-6335 x103 Communication Strategy Group for SUNation Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160914/407627LOGO SOURCE SUNation Solar Systems Related Links http://sunationsolarsystems.com SANTA CLARA, Calif., September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- To Showcase 'Tavant Manufacturing Analytics' and 'Tavant Warranty On-Demand' Platforms Tavant Technologies logo (PRNewsFoto/Tavant Technologies) Tavant Technologies, a leading global provider of warranty management and warranty on-demand software, today announced that it will be the platinum sponsor and exhibitor at the Third Annual GWSCA Conference 2016, to be held at the Palmer House Hotel, Chicago from September 21 to 23. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150306/732869 ) Rohit Lohan and Ashu Kohli, from the Tavant Warranty team, will deliver presentations to address key industry issues. Apart from its cloud and custom application development capabilities, Tavant Technologies will also showcase Tavant Manufacturing Analytics Platform (TMAP) - helping customers with real-time decisions on fraudulent claims, statistical approach for pricing extended warranties, automating claim decision making and leveraging IOT data to improve operational efficiency, such as auto-scheduling of preventive maintenance. "Tavant Technologies has leveraged its industry knowledge and expertise to arrive at solutions that help reduce warranty costs, speed up recovery, enhance forecasting and predict fraud claims," said Vibhor Mishra, Head of Marketing for Tavant Technologies. "This conference gives us a great opportunity to interact with warranty management and service contracts professionals from leading organizations and showcase our innovative solutions." Get an opportunity to meet and learn from Tavant Warranty experts at exhibit #9, The Palmer House Hilton Hotel, 17 East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL. About Tavant Technologies Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Tavant Technologies is a specialized software solutions and services provider that provides impactful results to its customers across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Founded in 2000, the company employs over 1800 people and is a recognized top employer. Tavant is the world leader in providing Warranty Management Solutions. The company offers 'Tavant Warranty' - a globally leading, complete service lifecycle - on premise warranty management software and, 'Tavant Warranty On-Demand', The only 100% native warranty management system on Salesforce. Find Tavant Technologies on LinkedIn and Twitter. Media Contact: Vibhor Mishra Tavant Technologies Inc. +1 (408) 519-5400 [email protected] http://www.tavant.com SOURCE Tavant Technologies AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of state and regional economic developers from across Texas will be in Chicago this week on a business development mission aimed at recruiting jobs and capital investment to the Lone Star State. Organized by the Texas Economic Development Corporation in partnership with the Office of Governor Greg Abbott, the two-day trip is designed to carry the message that Texas is "Wide Open for Business" to corporate executives, site selectors and others involved in expanding and relocating businesses. The Texas delegation includes executives from American Electric Power, BNSF Railway, Center Point Energy and Oncor and economic development leaders from 10/35 Economic Development Alliance, Brownsville Economic Development Corporation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Greater Houston Partnership, McKinney Economic Development Corporation and Schertz Economic Development Corporation. "Chicago and the Midwest are strategic business attraction areas for Texas with a wealth of companies that can benefit from our state's advantageous business climate," said Tracye McDaniel, President and CEO of Texas Economic Development Corporation and TexasOne, its privately funded non-profit marketing arm. "Through proactive outreach to targeted decision makers, we aim to keep the wave of companies coming to Texas." "Texas is the best state for business in the nation bar none," said Bryan Daniel, Executive Director for the Governor's Office of Economic Development and Tourism. "Our goal is to make sure that message is heard loud and clear by the C-suite in the Windy City." Numerous companies headquartered in the Chicago region have existing operations in Texas, including Accenture, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Boeing, Thyssenkrupp America, Motorola Mobility and Wilson Sporting Goods. In June 2016, W. W. Grainger opened a new sales facility in San Antonio in a project expected to create at least 200 new jobs and $3.9 million in capital investment. A Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant offer of $975,000 was extended to the company. Recently ranked by Chief Executive magazine as the top state for business for the 12th year in a row, Texas offers the second largest civilian workforce in America, first-rate educational institutions and world-class infrastructure that enables companies to operate profitably on a global scale. With no corporate or personal income tax, Texas has one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation and also competes with aggressive incentives, including the TEF, Texas Enterprise Zone, Skills Development Fund and additional incentives offered at the local level. The Chicago business recruitment mission includes a reception for corporate executives, an international roundtable with consulates and investment promotion agencies responsible for foreign trade and investment and a panel discussion, luncheon and meetings with site selection consultants, who are estimated to impact 40% of all of corporate relocations and expansions involving 100 or more jobs. About Texas Economic Development Corporation and TexasOne Texas Economic Development Corporation is an independently funded and operated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, whose mission is dedicated to economic development, business recruitment and job creation in the State of Texas. TexasOne is a public-private partnership of the Texas Economic Development Corporation, which coordinates efforts with the Office of the Governor to market Texas globally as a premier business destination. For more information about Texas Economic Development Corporation and TexasOne, visit www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com. SOURCE Texas Economic Development Corporation Related Links http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ALS Association is pleased to announce MT Pharma America's sponsorship of the Walk to Defeat ALS , an initiative with over 170 events held every year in communities nationwide. The Walk to Defeat ALS helps to support care service programs, cutting-edge research, and nationwide advocacy efforts for people with ALS and their families. This sponsorship marks the single largest corporate contribution to this important annual event this year. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, people with ALS lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which often leads to total paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. For unknown reasons, veterans are twice as likely to develop ALS as the general population. There is no cure, and only one drug modestly extends survival by only a few months. "We are incredibly grateful for this generous gift from MT Pharma America, which will help further our efforts to educate communities about ALS and to generate support to defeat it," said Barbara J. Newhouse, president and CEO. The Walk to Defeat ALS brings hope to those living with ALS and a chance for individuals with the disease and their families and friends to spend a day with others in the ALS community. People participate in the Walks to honor or remember a loved one with the disease, to show their support for the cause, or to walk as a member of a corporate team. "We recognize the challenges that people with ALS and their families face and are proud to support the Association in its work to increase awareness and funding at a national and local level," said Atsushi Fujimoto, president, MT Pharma America. "We believe that by working together, we can discover and deliver innovative solutions that address the many needs of people living with ALS today." To learn more about the Walk to Defeat ALS, please visit www.WalktoDefeatALS.org. "Our collaboration with The ALS Association is built on shared beliefs that while we search for the treatment of tomorrow, families need help with vital care services today," said Mary Kay Turner, senior director of advocacy and communications, MT Pharma America. "Helping to make life better for families is integral to our corporate mission and we are committed to working together with the community to accomplish this goal." About MT Pharma America Based in Jersey City, New Jersey, MT Pharma America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTPC's 100 percent owned U.S. holding company, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Holdings America, Inc. MT Pharma America is dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that address the unmet medical needs of patients in the United States. It was established by MTPC to commercialize approved pharmaceutical products in the U.S. with plans to expand its product line through collaborations with partners. For more information, go to www.mt-pharma-america.com. About The ALS Association The ALS Association is the only national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease on every front. By leading the way in global research, providing assistance for people with ALS through a nationwide network of chapters, coordinating multidisciplinary care through certified clinical care centers, and fostering government partnerships, The Association builds hope and enhances quality of life while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure. For more information about The ALS Association, visit our website at www.alsa.org. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131211/MM32178LOGO SOURCE The ALS Association Related Links http://www.alsa.org ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced The Clearing House, a national payments system operator for the U.S. banking industry, has selected IBM to help deliver a new real-time payments system due to roll out in 2017. Set to transform domestic digital transactions, the real-time payments system (RTP) is designed to enable consumers and businesses across the U.S. to send and receive payments instantaneously. IBM joins VocaLink, the international payments systems provider previously selected by The Clearing House, to build the first-of-its-kind payments system in the U.S. After evaluating various hardware technology infrastructures on which to run the VocaLink solution, The Clearing House selected an IBM POWER8-based system infrastructure running Linux and AIX operating systems as the hosting platform. Responsible for clearing nearly $2 trillion in payments per day, The Clearing House will utilize the unique capabilities of the POWER8 architecture to efficiently process millions of bank payments settled daily, in real-time, in a security-rich environment. The ubiquitous system is expected to help reduce and eliminate payment delays and give receivers of financial payments immediate access to funds and support complex business payment services including electronic invoicing, rich remittance data and confirmation of delivery. The Clearing House plans to launch the new system with major U.S. banks in 2017. RTP is designed to support thousands of simultaneous transactions per second, processing payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Once implemented, RTP will provide a hub that is accessible to all financial institutions and allow customers to use their existing accounts at financial institutions to send and receive payments. "The real-time payments solution we're building marks an important milestone for the U.S. banking industry, a revolution in the payments market that brings a new level of service to businesses and consumers," said Tom Statnick, Chief Information Officer, The Clearing House. "To support our real-time initiative, it was crucial we had the right technology infrastructure in place. With IBM Power Systems running Linux and AIX as our base infrastructure, we have the security, availability and resilience required for this industry-changing undertaking." Prior to building the custom solution for The Clearing House, IBM and VocaLink ran an extensive set of performance and resiliency tests of the payments service on a set of enterprise-class Power Systems. The IBM POWER8-based infrastructure supported a sustained 2,500 transactions per second a record result for the VocaLink application. VocaLink previously offered its real-time banking solutions on x86-based infrastructure. "Our collaboration with IBM, and expansion of our solution onto the Power platform, will transform the amount and speed of data and result in the delivery of a payments solution currently unimagined in the U.S.," said George Evers, Director of Immediate Payment Solutions, VocaLink. "Together, we will transform payments to offer consumers and businesses the capability for an immediate and convenient payment option." "The Clearing House is combining digital intelligence with digital delivery to benefit banking customers across the country in new and meaningful ways," said Doug Balog, General Manager, POWER, IBM Systems. "As the growth of data, mobile engagement and cloud computing continues to present business opportunities to all industries, information technology infrastructure continues to play an increasingly important role." Also supporting the initiative to digitally transform payments transactions in the U.S. and to complement the new payments system under development by The Clearing House, IBM will offer expanded payment capabilities within its Financial Transaction Manager (FTM) portfolio. FTM, which runs on multiple platforms including IBM Power and z Systems, can help commercial banks rapidly connect to and enable new services using real-time payments. About The Clearing House The Clearing House is a banking association and payments company that is owned by the largest commercial banks and dates back to 1853. The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C. owns and operates core payments system infrastructure in the United States and is currently working to modernize that infrastructure by building a new, ubiquitous, real-time payment system. The Payments Company is the only private-sector ACH and wire operator in the United States, clearing and settling nearly $2 trillion in U.S. dollar payments each day, representing half of all commercial ACH and wire volume. Its affiliate, The Clearing House Association L.L.C., is a nonpartisan organization that engages in research, analysis, advocacy and litigation focused on financial regulation that supports a safe, sound and competitive banking system. To learn more, go to www.theclearinghouse.org. About VocaLink VocaLink is a global payments partner to banks, corporates and governments. VocaLink designs, builds and operates world-class platforms that make it easier for people to make payments confidently and securely. In the UK, VocaLink processes over 90% of salaries, more than 70% of household bills and almost all state benefits. VocaLink's high availability, resilient payment systems power the Faster Payments Service on behalf of the Faster Payments Scheme, the Account Switching platform, Bacs and the Direct Debit Scheme. VocaLink also connects the world's busiest network of over 70,000 ATMs through the LINK scheme. Last year VocaLink processed over 11 billion transactions with a value of 6 trillion - powering economies and empowering people. For payment news and insight to to http://connect.vocalink.com/. About IBM To learn more about IBM Power Systems, visit www.ibm.com/power or the IBM Systems blog. Media Contacts IBM Kristin Bryson / Samantha Mayowa +1 (203) 241-9190 / +1 (401) 419-9569 [email protected] / [email protected] The Clearing House Sean Oblack +1 (202) 649-4629 [email protected] VocaLink David Daniel/Ellie Fixter +44 (0) 203 8184 508 / +44 (0) 20 3818 4944 [email protected] / [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO SOURCE IBM Related Links http://www.ibm.com ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At its August 2016 meeting, the Commission on Dental Accreditation ("CODA") granted Initial Accreditation to the Georgia School of Orthodontics ("GSO"), a new program in orthodontic education that aims to improve both orthodontic education opportunities in the state as well as provide expansive community access to care. CODA Initial Accreditation was the final step needed before the GSO welcomed its inaugural class and commenced classes in August. The Georgia School of Orthodontics will operate a state-of-the-art orthodontic clinic, providing treatment for kids, teens and adults at significantly reduced costs. The clinic is staffed by highly qualified orthodontic faculty, including Board Certified Orthodontists, and the 18 licensed dentists enrolled in the residency program. "CODA's decision to grant us Initial Accreditation was a critical step in our ability to fulfill our mission of educating dentists to become orthodontists, while providing affordable care to an underserved population," said Dr. Pramod Sinha, Program Director. The 36-month residency program has developed stringent education and admission standards in accordance with the CODA's accreditation requirements. The GSO standards include: Clearly stated goals and objectives that address raising the quality of education, patient care, research and service. Requiring a Board Certified Program Director to administer the residency program. Providing exceptional institutional facilities and resources to offer the best educational and patient experiences. Providing special knowledge and skills in orthodontics beyond the D.D.S., D.M.D. or Continuing Education training. The school provides cutting edge technology and equipment for students and patients. GSO is the first orthodontic school in the nation to have the CS3600 3D intraoral scanner. The 3D intraoral scanner allows for virtual treatment planning capability with greater accuracy and speed, and eliminates plaster impressions. This technology is used in conjunction with the Juell 3D Flash OC, which has 3D printing capabilities to construct retainers and study models. About Georgia School of Orthodontics Based in Atlanta, Ga., the Georgia School of Orthodontics (GSO) will offer an advanced specialty education program in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics. The 36-month residency program is structured to provide collaborative and evidence-based learning for residents while providing quality orthodontic care to patients in the school's clinics. GSO's mission is to educate outstanding dentists to be proficient in the clinical specialty of orthodontics while providing affordable care to an underserved population. GSO faculty and staff is dedicated to diversity in both education and practice. The program is sponsored by Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center and is a division of its Department of Dentistry. GSO has received initial accreditation through the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). For more information, visit www.gaorthodontics.org or call (770) 351-7737. About The Commission on Dental Accreditation The Commission on Dental Accreditation is the national accrediting agency for dentistry recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The accreditation process ensures that educational programs meet specific national standards, with a goal of continuous program improvement. The Commission on Dental Accreditation can be contacted at (312) 440-4653 or at 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. Further detailed information concerning the accreditation process can be obtained from the CODA at http://www.ada.org/en/coda. SOURCE Georgia School of Orthodontics Related Links http://www.gaorthodontics.org Rocket maker aims high with lofty output targets Updated: 2016-09-20 08:07 By MA SI/ZHAO LEI/JING SHUIYU(China Daily) People line up to examine a replica of the Tiangong-2 space laboratory at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing on Sunday.CHEN XIAOGEN/CHINA DAILY China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp aims to "double or even triple" its annual production capacity by 2025 while without adding new employeesas the State-owned satellite and rocket maker ratchets up efforts to achieve smart and flexible manufacturingits chief engineer said. CASC Chief Engineer Yang Haicheng told China Daily that in the next five to 10 years the aerospace industry would see huge demand for rockets and satellites. "If the annual orders triple from 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) to 300 billion yuan, it is impossible for us to triple the amount of employees," he said on the sidelines of a manufacturing forum in Beijing on Friday. "Instead, we must rely on smart manufacturing to accomplish these tasks." The Beijing-based company currently has about 180,000 employees, nearly 100,000 of which are researchers and engineers, which has laid down a solid foundation for high-tech manufacturing, Yang added. CASC is responsible for making China's satellites, missiles, carrier rockets, space station and other aerospace equipment. In 2015, it recorded an annual revenue of $30.5 billion, the 12.5 percent year-on-year rise catapulting its ranking on the Fortune 500 list to 344th from 437th the previous year. The production capacity target is part of a broader plan that the Beijing-based group is working on to coordinate its operations with the country's Made in China 2025 initiative, which aims to promote high-end manufacturing in factories nationwide, Yang said "We also want to shorten the production cycle. In the past, it took three to four years to develop a satellite. Now we are working hard to shorten the process to one year, or even to several months or several days in times of war," he added. The chief engineer said the aerospace industry involved the most sophisticated and complicated design and production process, which the company wanted to simplify by putting all of it online. "We are eyeing a transition from total self-reliance to building an open platform where we will seek resources and partnership from other international players," Yang added. "We will focus not only on design and production but also on operations and services." Wang Ya'nan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said China's aerospace industry had entered a rapid growth stage that required space enterprises to undertake more innovation in terms of research, development and production techniques. "The government has placed high importance on the space-based information system, deep-space and lunar exploration program and manned space activities. It is also boosting the commercial space sector to compete with other space powers such as the United States," he said. Jing Shuiyu contributed to this story. Contact the writers at masi@chinadaily.com.cn and zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn LONDON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Did you know? - InGen is the leading independent distributor of in-vitro diagnostics in France. - With 13 offices and a team of 250 employees, Vienna, Austria headquartered, Biomedica Medizinprodukte GmbH & Co KG is a leading distributor of in-vitro diagnostics in Central and Eastern Europe. - MD Doctors Direct GmbH is dedicated to bringing a large selection of innovative, high quality laboratory and near-patient testing products to their diverse clientele in Switzerland. - Cruinn Diagnostics Limited is a leading Irish distributor whose product portfolio covers a wide range of in-vitro diagnostics including clinical chemistry, immunoassay, haematology, microbiology, autoimmune serology and recently the introduction of real time molecular diagnostics. - Axon Lab AG collaborates with reputable international supply partners in selling innovative medical diagnostics to clinics, doctors and the research sector in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Croatia. These are just a tiny sample of the 1,000's of facts to be found in 'The Top 100 Distributors Of IVD Reagents, Instruments & Accessories In Europe'. This unique and comprehensive report profiles the top 100 distributors of IVD reagents, instruments, and accessories in Europe. These companies partner with leading manufacturers and sell their products to hospitals and laboratories right across Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Profile information for each company in 'The Top 100 Distributors Of IVD Reagents, Instruments & Accessories In Europe' typically includes: - Company Contact Information - Address, Telephone and Fax Numbers, Email and Website Addresses - Key Company Decision Makers - From CEO and Main Board, to Key Senior Managers - Specialised fields such as Company Description, Ownership, Manufacturers Represented, Countries Served, Year Established and Number of Employees. Report Target Market: 1) Manufacturers This report is perfect for manufacturers of IVD products who wish to identify all the leading distributors for their products in Europe. 2) Distributors Usage: competitive analysis and strategic partner/alliance identification. 3) IVD Associations 'The Top 100 Distributors Of IVD Reagents, Instruments & Accessories In Europe' is ideal for IVD associations to identify new member companies. Note: This major new report looks at all 100 of the top distributors of IVD reagents, instruments, and accessories in Europe - companies like: - Launch Diagnostics Limited - founded in 1990, the Kent, United Kingdom company is one of the major independent distributors in the United Kingdom, providing high quality diagnostic kits and laboratory instrumentation from world leading manufacturers to the Health Services of the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and Ireland. The Company represents Arkray, Arlington Scientific, BioSystems, Cepheid, Corgenix, Devyser, Diamedix, DiaSorin, Diazyme, Dynex Technologies, EntroGen, EuroClone Diagnostica, Fast Track Diagnostics, Focus Diagnostics, Fujirebio Diagnostics, Humasis, InterLab, IVD Research Inc, Liofilchem, Meridian Bioscience, MKL Diagnostics, Novatec Immuno-Diagnostic, Orgentec Diagnostika, Savyon Diagnostics, Stratec Biomedical, Institut Virion\Serion and Wiener Lab Group. Launch Diagnostics is a member of the British In-Vitro Diagnostics Association and is led by John Twycross, Owner and Managing Director. - Rafer, S.L. - With headquarters in Zaragoza, Spain and eight offices across the Iberian peninsula, Rafer S.L. has almost fifty years' experience marketing reagents and instrumentation from well-known international companies such as Asuragen, Inc., Diaxonhit Group, FAR Diagnostics, Luminex Corporation, Wako Diagnostics and VIRO-IMMUN Labor-Diagnostika GmbH. It has 40 employees. - Triolab AS - Broendby, Denmark headquartered Triolab AS offers an extensive product range from point-of-care testing to full automation of clinical laboratories in the fields of coagulation, haematology, clinical chemistry, transfusion and transplantation diagnostics, molecular diagnostics and microbiology. Due to its extensive product range and vast experience in the field of clinical diagnostics, Triolab AS has customers in all healthcare segments, from small clinical laboratories to large laboratory centres and hospital departments. The Company has sister companies in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Together they are one of the leading diagnostic suppliers in the Nordic area. Triolab AS is part of the Swedish Addtech Group and is led by Finn Ulbk Andersen, Managing Director. Report data field structure is as follows: - Company Name - Address - Telephone - Fax - Email - Website - Parent Company Name - Year Established - Number of Employees - Key Executives - Company Description - Manufacturers Represented - Countries Served - Location Status - Ownership Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3496079/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At midnight on Sept. 30, the federal government is giving up internet stewardship to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The internet will be governed by a "multi-stakeholder" model, including businesses, individuals, and foreign governments. According to internet expert Lee Romanov, this means China or Russia could control what you upload, and the information you search for. The big questions are, why is President Obama giving up internet control during this critical election period? Why are so many Americans unaware of this, and not allowed to weigh in on an issue that dramatically impacts their lives? Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409380 Romanov has run online businesses since 1994 and reports, "I've never seen this level of censorship online, except in China!" Because many election issues are not being reported by the mainstream media, the internet is where people go to for this information. Romanov reports "Online reporters are having their freedom of speech shut down through censorship by online news outlets and large content providers," adding, "There's no guarantee of online freedom of speech, privacy, or security written into this transfer." Romanov pioneered the transparency of insurance rate online, saving drivers thousands of dollars. She spent years fighting the insurance industry on this, and fears similar consumer information will be the next thing deleted from the internet as companies begin a "Pay-to-Play" model with ICANN. Invite this information expert to discuss: Who's behind this effort leading to more online censorship? What online news censorship is YouTube doing? How are cable news networks controlling the information Americans get? What's the Huffington Post done to delete news important to the election? What role has Google played in this censorship? Here's a video of Ted Cruz urging Obama to STOP with his agenda of giving away the Internet on Sept. 30th, 2016: http://www.incomeactivator.com/48980/As-Of-Sept-30-Your-Freedom-Of-Speech-Online-Is-Gone.htm CREDENTIALS: Lee Romanov is the president of IncomeActivator.com. Her previous internet business was purchased by media giant Torstar. She had a TV talk show on CP 24, was a journalist for the Globe and Mail, and Toronto Star. She ran for mayor of Toronto in the last election, against Rob Ford, who denied smoking crack cocaine while in office; his drug use was later confirmed by a video uploaded online. She knows how important internet free speech is for politics and business. Romanov's been featured on numerous media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, BBC, CBC, FOX, CTV, and radio stations internationally. CONTACT: Lee Romanov (949) 877-0173, Email; www.IncomeActivator.com SOURCE Lee Romanov NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "How I Got Here," a podcast hosted by Tim Barnicle and Harry Hill, launches today on the PodcastOne network. Each hour-long episode explores the success and missteps of today's most notable trailblazers. The new show's first two episodes feature iconic on-air personalities and journalists Tom Brokaw and Larry King, respectively. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409479 In the inaugural episode, subscribers will learn what Brokaw's college buddies meant when they told him, "You're a puzzle to us. You're so much fun and obviously smart, but your GPA is below a 2.0." Listen as Brokaw explains how he went from being "off the rails" to the influencer and thought leader he is today. "Certainly my parents...were astonished. [It was the early 1960's, and] I went from making $5,200 a year in Omaha to $13K a year in Atlanta, to making $30K a year in Los Angeles in a matter of 14 months," Brokaw tells Barnicle and Hill." In episode two, Larry King discusses being on welfare as a kid in New York City and about the moment he was named "Larry King" on his first ever radio broadcast. "I'm about to go on the air and the general manager calls me in and he says, 'Good Luck! What's your name going to be? Zeiger is too ethnic and people won't know how to spell it.' He had the paper open and there was an ad for "King's Wholesale Liquors" and he said 'How about Larry King?' I said, 'Okay, sounds all right.' I legally changed it a year later." Hill describes the inception of "How I Got Here" saying, "Tim and I had talked about doing something creative together for a while, and as we turned towards our post-college plans, "How I Got Here" became a fun and challenging first step. We all hear "success" stories but now it's our turn to get out in the world and make a lasting impression. The question became--no, really, how do people do it?" According to Barnicle, "The guest list is a diverse mix of very interesting people. We conducted interviews all over the country, in places such as Boston, NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Now we are in the studio and have been picked up by a major platform. "How I Got Here" is quickly becoming the story of how WE got here. It's a turn we could not have anticipated when we started this journey." Barnicle and Hill are recent college graduates ready to make it in the real world. They decided to seek life advice from noteworthy influencers in an effort to sort out their own fledgling careers. Not only do they gain advice and feedback from the likes of Brokaw, and King but also Pulitzer Prize winners, former White House staffers, Peabody Award recipients and others who got lucky or really knew what they were doing. "How I Got Here" is available on the PodcastOne platform, the nation's leading advertiser-supported podcast network. The on-demand audio destination is home to "The Adam Carolla Show," "The Chive Podcast," "The Rich Eisen Show" and "The BIG Podcast with Shaquille O'Neal." PodcastOne has a diversified catalogue of 200 popular shows and it is quickly growing. "How I Got Here" will air weekly on Tuesday's and is available for download and subscription via PodcastOne and on iTunes. About "How I Got Here" "How I Got Here" is a weekly podcast hosted by Tim Barnicle and Harry Hill. Subscribers get an up close and off-the-cuff look at how celebrities and media gurus, thought leaders and Pulitzer Prize winners have navigated their varied career paths. Recent Georgetown graduates Barnicle and Hill, employ a conversational format to their show as they sit down with guests to discuss life and how they ended up where they are today. For more information, please visit the show's website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Related Links Podcast Website iTunes This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com SOURCE How I Got Here Podcast ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2016 Atlanta Metro Export Challenge, a JPMorgan Chase-powered grant program created to help businesses begin or expand their exporting programs, today announced its top three winners. Narrowed down from five finalists, the three winners received a combined $35,000 in additional grants to grow their export strategies. Leading global supplier of aftermarket aviation parts Aventure Aviation took the first place prize of $20,000, which will go toward expanding the brand into new markets such as China and Ireland. Pure Air Filtration won $10,000 as the second place winner and intends to use the funds to grow its filtration technology manufacturing and services in Europe. United Sciences, a 3D scanning technology and services company, received $5,000 as the third place winner, which will further assist the company in engaging with its overseas customers. An initial pool of 35 grant recipients, who each received $5,000, was ultimately narrowed down to five finalists after a judging round in a "Shark Tank"-style pitch competition. The public was then invited to participate in the process during an online voting phase from Aug. 22 through Sept. 14. The top three winners were selected through a combination of the judges' decisions and the public voting, then were announced at a luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel in midtown Atlanta. "Ninety-five percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States, so we must encourage local businesses to sell internationally" said Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC). "We're excited to watch these winners utilize their grant funds to make more meaningful worldwide connections. Their success in the international marketplace will ultimately enhance our city's economy and global presence." "Over the past decade, Atlanta has climbed to 64th from 71st amongst the Top 100 U.S. metros for exports. In fact, export businesses can now be found in every single metro Atlanta county and in more than 80 percent of Georgia's 159 counties," said Dwayne C. Meeks, UPS South Atlantic district president and Atlanta Metro Export Plan (MEP) chairman. "For companies that may be considering Atlanta for an expansion or relocation, this competition, along with the Atlanta Metro Export Plan (MEP) demonstrates that our regions is serious about using our tools, resources and network to further our economy through exports." Launched in January, the Atlanta Metro Export Challenge is a key component of the Atlanta MEP, which aims to increase global trade in the region. The Atlanta MEP is being implemented by MAC, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the City of Atlanta, working in partnership with several other regional and local economic development agencies as well as public and private organizations. The MEP is a product of Atlanta's participation in the Global Cities Initiative ("GCI"), a joint project of The Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase that aims to help leaders in U.S. metropolitan areas reorient their economics toward greater engagement in world markets. For more information about the Atlanta MEP and the region's export initiatives, visit www.atlantaexportportal.com. About the Metro Atlanta Chamber The Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) serves as a catalyst for a more prosperous and vibrant region. To advance economic growth and improve metro Atlanta's quality of place, MAC is focused on starting, growing and recruiting companies to the 29-county metro Atlanta region. The Chamber is also focused on growing the region's innovation economy by promoting and strengthening connections to drive Atlanta's innovation and entrepreneurial culture. MAC is committed to being an active voice for the business community, serving as an advocate for a competitive business climate and telling Atlanta's story. For more information, visit www.metroatlantachamber.com SOURCE The Metro Atlanta Chamber Related Links http://www.metroatlantachamber.com NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, President Obama will host the Leaders' Summit on Refugees in the wake of the UN General Assembly, where he will present the White House call-to-action for private sector engagement on the global refugee crisis. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409723 There are more than 65 million displaced people in the world today, the highest number on record since the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began collecting statistics. More than 21 million of these people have crossed international borders in search of safety and are registered as refugees. The despair that drives these people to flee their homes is heartbreaking, but their resilience is awe inspiring. Refugees are a valuable untapped resource and, if given the opportunity, can thrive and contribute wherever they reside. A crisis of this scale, however, requires more than government action. For this reason TransparentBusiness is proud to join with President Obama in to draw on our unique expertise, resources and entrepreneurial spirit to help refugees regain control over their lives and integrate into their new communities. TransparentBusiness has committed to this Initiative one million dollars worth of technology for providing refugees with remote employment opportunities. "TransparentBusiness helps participating corporations to hire qualified refugees regardless of their location, to monitor, coordinate and pay their work with ease, thus creating many additional employment opportunities to refugees," said Silvina Moschini, President of TransparentBusiness. Designated by Citigroup as the "Top People Management Solution," TransparentBusiness.com platform allows for easy monitoring and coordination of geographically distributed workforce and provides real-time information on the cost and status of all tasks and projects. Other contributors to the Initiative include Accenture, Airbnb, Citigroup, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Google, HP, IBM, IKEA, Johnson&Johnson, LinkedIn, MasterCard, Microsoft, Pearson, SAP, Twitter, Uber, UPS and Western Union. For additional information, contact: Maricruz Tabbia at (415) 483-7975 or email. SOURCE TransparentBusiness We welcome you to learn more about The Geistlich Guarantee by visiting Guarantee.Geistlich-na.com or emailing us at [email protected] . The Geistlich Guarantee is all about trust a trust in our products, process, people and most of all for the patients. "The Geistlich Guarantee assures our customers that we stand behind our science, quality and products, and provides confidence that they can trust us in the care of their patients." Greg Bosch CEO, Geistlich Pharma North America, Inc. Geistlich Biomaterials provides high quality, scientifically validated biomaterials that meet ever expanding clinical demands. With over 1,000 publications and 30 years of clinical success, the Geistlich biomaterial product line has a reputation built on experience. By maintaining strict control over every aspect of our single source manufacturing process, uniform quality standards are met at each stage of production. The Geistlich Guarantee is anchored by this process and gives you added assurance with clear and consistent guarantee guidelines. After 163 years, passion and commitment is firmly in our culture. At every level of our family-owned organization, you'll find people who have made regenerative discovery and creation their life's work. "On behalf of the Geistlich family and all of our employees, I want you to know that your trust is by far our greatest asset. In every Geistlich product, you'll find the passion and commitment of our people." Andreas Geistlich Trust in all we do and trust us for your patients. About Geistlich Pharma North America, Inc. Geistlich Pharma North America continues to lead dental regeneration with its expanding family of predictable and proven biomaterials, including bone substitutes Geistlich Bio-Oss and Geistlich Bio-Oss Collagen, a resorbable bilayer collagen membrane, Geistlich Bio-Gide, a soft-tissue regeneration collagen matrix, Geistlich Mucograft, and introducing, Geistlich Mucograft Seal, a 3D collagen matrix designed for soft-tissue regeneration around an implant or prosthetic. With over 160 years of Swiss tradition, Geistlich Biomaterials has been a trusted partner for dental regenerative solutions based upon continuous innovation, scientific collaboration, and a commitment to successful outcomes. 1 iData Research Inc., US Dental Bone Graft Substitutes and other Biomaterials Market, 2013 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409323 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160201/328491LOGO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409324LOGO SOURCE Geistlich Pharma North America, Inc. Related Links http://www.geistlich-na.com MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ProQuest is teaming with Oxford University Press to make thousands of ebooks available on University Press Scholarship Online platform (UPSO) via the OASIS system. A groundbreaking online library, UPSO grants access to more than 20,000 monographs in subjects covering almost every area of academia. With an ever-growing family of publishers including Oxford University Press, University of Chicago Press, Stanford University Press and Edinburgh University Press contributing their outstanding scholarly lists to the platform, UPSO library is an essential resource, built around high-quality, peer-reviewed academic books. This agreement expands the rich selection of ebook platforms already represented via the OASIS system. "We built Oxford Scholarship Online and partnered with many of the world's finest and most respected university presses on UPSO to help users better discover and make connections among the content of these high-quality monographs," said Rebecca Seger, Senior Director of Institutional Sales at Oxford University Press. "By collaborating with ProQuest, we are further ensuring that quality scholarship is easily acquired by our mutual library customers and continues to help the monograph thrive in a digital environment." Seger calls the partnership "a leap forward for ProQuest customers," adding, "we could not be more thrilled that OASIS users are now able to more easily acquire digital UPSO content. We completely recognize the benefit of the suite of services provided by ProQuest. They are crucially important to libraries." The OASIS search, selection and acquisition system allows customers to select ebooks according to their platform preferences, and uses the broadest print and electronic books database for academic libraries in the industry. It provides access and end-to-end acquisition workflow support to the market's largest selection of ebooks (more than 1.7 million titles) via the Ebook Central, EBL, ebrary, MyiLibrary and EBSCO books platforms. OASIS customers benefit from advanced search and selection capabilities and one consolidated interface for ordering, invoicing and reporting. Via UPSO in the OASIS system, libraries can find multidisciplinary research materials, including more than 20,000 titles in 31 subject areas spanning the humanities, arts, social sciences, sciences, medicine and law. "We aim to continually broaden and enrich our customers' options by making OASIS a gateway to books from any platform or publisher. Partnering with Oxford University Press to offer UPSO's top-of-line scholarly content to OASIS users is right in line with that goal," said Kevin Sayar, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ProQuest Books. "We look forward to developing more relationships like this to provide choices that best suit our customers' needs." About Oxford University Press (http://www.oup.com) Oxford University Press (OUP) is a division of Oxford University and is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. The Global Academic Publishing program spans the entire academic and higher education spectrum, including a wide array of scholarly and general interest books, journals, and online products. OUP's primary mission is to support Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. The Press takes pride in this mission, which allows it to enable, support, and facilitate research and scholarship around the globe. About ProQuest (http://www.proquest.com) ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the company's products are a gateway to the world's knowledge including dissertations, governmental and cultural archives, news, historical collections, and ebooks. ProQuest technologies serve users across the critical points in research, helping them discover, access, share, create, and manage information. The company's cloud-based technologies offer flexible solutions for librarians, students and researchers through the ProQuest, Alexander Street, Bowker, Dialog, Ex Libris and SIPX businesses and notable research tools such as the RefWorks citation and reference management platform, the Pivot research development tool and the Ebook Central, ebrary, EBL and MyiLibrary ebook platforms. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with offices around the world. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120620/DE27948LOGO-a SOURCE ProQuest Related Links http://www.proquest.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- USA for UNHCR the UN Refugee Agency is proud to join with President Obama at the White House announcement of commitments from more than 50 companies that responded to President Obama's Call to Action, which asked U.S. businesses to make new, measurable and significant commitments that will have a durable impact on refugees residing in countries on the frontlines of the global refugee crisis and in countries of resettlement, such as the United States. These commitments will provide support for refugees, increase employment opportunities, facilitate refugee children and young adults' education and increase humanitarian financing, strengthening infrastructure and access to resources needed for refugees to become self-reliant. To facilitate these private sector commitments in response to the Call to Action, the White House created the Partnership for Refugees, an initiative established through collaboration between the State Department and USA for UNHCR, with significant support from Accenture Federal Services. The Partnership for Refugees provided guidance to American companies that wished to take action and has helped to ensure that their pledges are sustainable and responsive to refugees' needs. "The current refugee crisis unprecedented in scale since the end of WWII has been met with a wave of private sector commitments and leadership to address the needs of the more than 65 million people displaced by war, violence and persecution", said Anne-Marie Grey, Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR. "Today's announcement of new corporate commitments shows the power of private sector ingenuity, innovation and investments in creating durable solutions to this global crisis." A number of existing USA for UNHCR partners count themselves among those standing with the Administration in responding to the Call to Action, including: Accenture, Airbnb, Autodesk, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, UP, and Western Union. You can view a list of all companies and their detailed commitments here. Added Grey: "Beyond the vital role of government, a crisis of this scale requires innovative private sector philanthropic investments and partnerships. As the only U.S.-based organization authorized to raise awareness and resources and advocate on behalf of UNHCR, we are well-positioned to catalyze private sector engagement to help refugees survive, recover and build a better future. Together, we can give refugees the hope they deserve, restore their dignity and help them rebuild their lives so that they once again become productive and active global citizens." CONTACT: For more information or interviews, contact Sarah Temple, Interim Director, Communications, at [email protected] or 604-366-6031. About USA for UNHCR USA for UNHCR helps and protects refugees and people displaced by violence, conflict and persecution. Supporting UNHCR the UN Refugee Agency and its partners, we provide lifesaving essentials including shelter, water, food, safety and protection. Around the world, we help refugees survive, recover and build a better future. Established by concerned American citizens, USA for UNHCR is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409755LOGO SOURCE USA for UNHCR Related Links http://www.unrefugees.org SARASOTA, Fla., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- USA GROUPS, Inc., one of the premier privately owned communications infrastructure companies in the southeastern U.S., today announced that industry veteran Lance Craft, former Vice President of Sales of Dali Wireless, will join USA GROUPS as its Chief Operating Officer of the DAS and Small Cells Group, USA CRAN. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409296 Lance Craft "We looked closely at the quality of leadership Lance has shown in his tenure in the industry, as well as the strong relationships with key wireless operator and OEM leaders, and it made sound business sense to bring Lance into our growing company," said James Goff, Chairman and CEO of USA GROUPS. "This new leadership avails us of a top-tier senior executive in Lance Craft, whose reputation in the industry is excellent. It also adds an influx of new business opportunities." "It's rarely an easy decision to make a significant change as an executive in the wireless infrastructure industry, but when a company with the reputation of USA GROUPS looked to combine interests, it presented a very compelling opportunity," said Lance Craft. "It's very motivating to join a team that has been providing industry-leading wireless and fiber infrastructure services for the better part of 58 years throughout the United States. I am excited to help drive the small cell and DAS infrastructure services division for both outdoor and indoor opportunities." In carrying out his new responsibilities, Craft will be based out of USA GROUP's Regional office in Houston, Texas, in addition to operating out of their headquarters in Sarasota, Florida. About Lance Craft Lance Craft has over 25 years of experience in senior leadership positions in wireless telecommunications infrastructure design, development and project management at throughout the United States. Lance's extensive experience includes American Tower, Powerwave, Verizon Wireless and most recently the past 3 years as Vice President of Sales at Dali Wireless. He has held various regional and national positions all within the wireless infrastructure industry. Lance earned his B.A. in Business Administration at Eureka College. About USA GROUPS, Inc. USA GROUPS, Inc. develops, engineers, owns, operates and manages communications infrastructure facilities for the wireless and fiber industries. USA GROUPS distributed antenna system (DAS) and small cells division specializes in the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of dedicated and shared wireless infrastructure solutions that enhance the quality and capacity of wireless voice and data services in commercial, public facilities and complex environments. USA GROUPS fiber division specializes in the design, installation, operation and maintenance of dedicated and shared fiber and conduit system infrastructure. The company has delivered communications infrastructure and services for the past 58 years to some of the largest customers in the world. Twitter Tags: #darkfiber #IaaS #datacenter #cloud @USAFIBER #tower #engineering #telecom #newhire #smallcell #DAS #wireless #wifi @USAGROUPS Contact: Katie Kinnetz (800) 541-2170 http://www.usa-groups.com SOURCE USA GROUPS, Inc. Related Links http://www.usa-groups.com SANTA ROSA, Calif., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Terry Wheatley, Global Executive Vice-President, Sales & Marketing for Vintage Wine Estates, has been named one of 2016's Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink by Fortune and Food & Wine Magazines. The honor recognizes women world-wide who have made significant contributions to the food and beverage industry. "Terry was recognized for not only innovation and creativity but her longstanding advocacy and mentorship of women in the wine industry, values we as a company fully support," explained Vintage Wine Estates President and CEO Pat Roney. Wheatley was appointed to her Vintage Wine Estates role when her successful wine sales and marketing company, Canopy Management, was acquired in July 2014. Founded in 2007 by long-time vintner Pat Roney and several partners with deep roots in the luxury food and wine industry, Vintage Wine Estates has become known for its highly focused growth strategy. Pat Roney and team seek out heritage wineries and brands with a goal of revitalization, growth and sustainability over the long term as demonstrated by the acquisition of wine icons Clos Pegase and Swanson Vineyards in Napa Valley and Viansa and B.R. Cohn Winery in Sonoma. In addition, the company develops popular mass market retail brands, using an incubator approach to original brand creation, testing, sales and marketing and social media called the Wine Sisterhood "It is a privilege to be in the company of these inspirational women in food and wine and I am honored to be recognized," comments Wheatley. "But it's not about meit's about we. I am thrilled to work with a team at Vintage Wine Estates who supports women's leadership and allows creativity and innovation to thrive." Women currently hold a majority of seats on the Senior Leadership Committee and are well-represented at the Director and manager level across all functions at Vintage Wine Estates. "Research suggests that companies with female in leadership positions are more productive and profitable," explained Roney. "The talents and expertise of our entire team truly complement each other, and I believe the result is one of the most nimble and dynamic business cultures in the wine industry." About Vintage Wine Estates Vintage Wine Estates is a privately held wine company owned by a group of vintner families with deep roots in the wine business. The families own a collection of winery estates and brands including Clos Pegase Winery, Cosentino Winery, Girard Winery, B.R. Cohn Winery, Swanson Vineyards, Viansa Sonoma, Windsor Vineyards, Cartlidge & Browne, Sonoma Coast Vineyards, Middle Sister, Tall Dark Stranger, Pro-mis-Q-ous, Monogamy, Girl & Dragon, Purple Cowboy and a number of exclusive wine brands. An industry leader across all sales channels and dedicated to providing wine consumers with a range of wines from $10 to $100 dollars and at many price points in between, Vintage Wine Estates produces outstanding wines from Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and other premium California winegrowing regions. Vintage Wine Estates is a company that respects all the ways wine is purchasedat wineries, at retail, on the telephone, on television, on the Internet and by mail. www.vintagewineestates.com For more information contact: Mary Ann Vangrin, [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409937LOGO SOURCE Vintage Wine Estates Related Links http://www.vintagewineestates.com Chinese lingerie brand makes global market debut at London Fashion Week Updated: 2016-09-20 08:51 (Xinhua) Models present AtoG Lingerie, luxury custom-made undergarments, at the Fashion Scout during the London Fashion Week on Sunday. AtoG is a leading tailor-made lingerie brand founded by Zhou Yingying from China.HAN YAN/XINHUA Chinese lingerie brand AtoG Lingerie, in collaboration with Annderstand, launched on Sunday four luxury custom-made undergarments at Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week, becoming China's first underwear brand to appear at international fashion shows twice in one year. The latest works by designer Yu Ge have a sense of fusion, beauty and uniqueness in cutting-edge style. She has previously worked as a ready-to-wear buyer for luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci in their retail and merchandising departments. Fashion Scout, the international showcase for fashion pioneers, is the United Kingdom's largest independent showcase for emerging and established design talent during London Fashion Week. Many talented designers made their careers by presenting their brands at Fashion Scout, including Peter Pilotto and David Koma. Alongside British designers, it also provides a platform for international designers such as Yu to demonstrate their talents. Fashion Scout Director Martyn Roberts said he had witnessed many good works by Chinese designers during these years. He said he believes that AtoG's undergarments are very unique and creative, showing a new level of Chinese design. AtoG is a leading tailor-made lingerie brand founded by Zhou Yingying from China. In February, AtoG launched five custom-made luxury undergarments with Vivienne Hu during 2016 New York Fashion Week, becoming China's first lingerie brand that participates in the "Big Four" fashion weeks. Zhou said that she brought AtoG to London Fashion Week to let the world know the creativity of Chinese design. She hoped that AtoG Lingerie would mark a revolutionary progress in the traditional undergarment making industry by realizing its "custom-made line with volume production capacity" pattern. AtoG's pioneer concept "matching underwear like matching glasses" aims to be a professional breast steward by making the most suitable bras, and creating a one-stop breast care service through combining customized undergarments with professional breast care, she said. London Fashion Week is a clothing trade show held in London twice each year, in February and September. It is one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks, along with those of the New York, Milan and Paris. ABU DHABI and DUBAI, UAE, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspiring mountaineer, Danah Al Ali celebrates the end of an incredible journey to Chamonix, the Alps Danah Al Ali during one of her recent mountain climbing expeditions. (PRNewsFoto/DarkMatter) DarkMatter, an international cyber security firm headquartered in the UAE, recently sponsored a young Emirati adventurer and mountain climber to train in the French Alps, ahead of her making a bold attempt to conquer the formidable Mount Everest in 2017. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409776 ) Danah Al Ali's inspirational journey, which is highly admired by DarkMatter given the overarching themes of sacrifice, determination, and an intrepid sense of exploration and adventure, saw her recently complete technical mountaineering training in Chamonix, the highest summit in the Alps. During her expedition, Al Ali gained technical experience in walking in crampons on glaciers, snow and rocks; use of ice-axes, and gained invaluable rock-climbing experience. She was also exposed to safety instructions in preparation for her planned journey to Everest. Faisal Al Bannai, DarkMatter Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are moved by Danah Al Ali and her passion for trekking and pushing boundaries. Being bold, passionate, and meticulous in preparation are values that resonate with DarkMatter, and we congratulate her on this latest accomplishment and wish her every success in her future pursuit to scale Mount Everest." Al Ali's impressive training course is not the first time she has been held up as a national role model, given her previous impressive physical endeavours. These have included scaling Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa at 5,895m; climbing Mount Elbrus, part of the Caucasus Mountains in Southern Russia and the highest peak in Europe at 5,642m; and reaching Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal at 5,335m. Al Ali's interest in trekking and mountain climbing was first fully realised in 2013, when with the support of her family, she trained for her first expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Looking to fully maximise this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Al Ali also used her adventure in Africa to fund-raise for a family through the Red Crescent. In 2014, Al Ali was part of a technical mountaineering course in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, a resort area near the intersection of France, Switzerland and Italy, while last year she hiked up Mount Elbrus. About DarkMatter DarkMatter is transforming the cyber security landscape by providing a complete range of state-of-the-art services and solutions to government and commercial clients. Its end-to-end expertise extends to: Governance, Risk and Compliance We work with public and private entities in all verticals to audit and assess their performance against regulatory standards, helping identify gaps and meet obligations. Cyber Network Defence Our elite team of cyber experts, engaged across all competencies and functions, tasked with identifying and responding to the most advanced threats, threat actors, and cyber attacks. Managed Security Services We offer a remote monitoring remediation and resolution service that puts the full capabilities and resources of the DarkMatter organisation at the service of our MSS teams. Whether you need a SOC built and operated from scratch or you need assistance in upgrading what you currently have in place, DarkMatter can provide assistance. Public Key Infrastructure DarkMatter's Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) provides consulting to governments on the establishment of national root certificates of trust for countries. This places us in a unique position to understand not only the regulatory environment, but also the broader PKI environment, local players and Certification Authority entities. We also are the only full-service Certification Authority and PKI consultant to be headquartered in the region, and one of only a few to be located outside of North America. Secure Communications DarkMatter's Secure Communications Suite protects fixed and mobile voice, video, chat, email, file sharing, data communication, as well as device management across various platforms and operating systems. Infrastructure and System Integration This area underpins our professional services offering for governments and corporations, providing applications, services and solutions that ensure our clients remain at the forefront of cyber security. Smart Solutions We offer a comprehensive security suite of services comprising elements of protection for both homes and businesses: The Connected and Secure Home & Office; Technical Surveillance and Countermeasures; Mobile Peace of Mind; and Trusted Hardware supply. Staffed by global experts and headquartered in the UAE, DarkMatter provides peace of mind through consulting and project implementations that are scalable to clients of any size and that address any domain of cyber security threat or risk. The firm also works with leading global companies operating in the field of electronic and cyber security. DarkMatter's vision is to protect the future by securing its technologies. Agile and innovative, DarkMatter takes a comprehensive approach to helping its clients navigate the complex and ever-evolving world of threat and risk mitigation strategies, tools, policies and systems. http://www.darkmatter.ae SOURCE DarkMatter Sinopec plant in Zhenhai eyes big role Updated: 2016-09-20 09:11 By Lyu Chang(China Daily) A worker handles an oil container at the Zhenhai refinery in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. The refinery plans big investments before 2018 in restructuring and upgrading its oil businesses.HU QINGMING/CHINA DAILY Refinery plans to invest 16.9 billion yuan before 2018 to restructure and upgrade its oil refining business Zhenhai Refining& Chemical Co, Sinopec's largest refining unit, plans to build itself into a world-class crude processing base, as it benefits from the refining business amid the biggest crude price slump in a generation. "If we want to play on a global stage, we should build ourselves into a world-class business. This means that we need a larger capacity for high-quality products," said Zhang Yuming, general manager of the Zhenhai refinery. Located in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, the Zhenhai refinery is the most profitable company under Sinopec, the world's biggest refiner. Last year, the company said its profit almost tripled compared with the previous year, but did not reveal further details about the figure. Zhang said the company is expected to invest about 16.9 billion yuan ($2.53 billion) before 2018 in restructuring and upgrading its refined oil businesses. The investment came as a slump in crude prices benefits fuel producers such as Sinopec. Sinopec announced its first-half profit of 19.9 billion yuan, down 21.3 percent year-on-year, according to a recent filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The other oil major PetroChina Co, the listed arm of China National PetroleumCorp, saw its net income drop to 531 million yuan in the first half, a 98 percent decline. Lin Boqiang, director of the Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said the downward trend in oil prices is likely to prevail for a while, so a bigger exposure to the refining business will put Sinopec in a good position to weather the losses caused by the worst turmoil in the oil industry. Sinopec processed 115.9 million metric tons of crude into fuel in the first half of the year. That's roughly equal to almost 4.67 million barrels a day, according to Bloomberg calculations. Sinopec will raise refining output in the second half of the year to 120 million tons, up 3.5 percent from the first six months, the company said. Sinopec cut capital expenditure in the first half of the year by more than 40 percent from the same period in 2015 to 13.5 billion yuan. Siemens sees possible upside to full-year earnings Updated: 2016-09-20 10:06 (China Daily) Siemens AG Chief Executive Officer Joe Kaeser said Europe's biggest engineering company may beat its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending this month while the longer-term outlook is clouded by political concerns. "This year we're going to be fine with our guidance - maybe even some upside to it in a well-working environment," Kaeser said in an interview in Buenos Aires, where he attended a government forum. "Next year is a new game," the CEO said. "What I am most concerned about next year is the increasing geopolitical instability, which in a capital goods environment is not exactly helpful." Siemens has raised its financial target twice this year, most recently saying last month that it expects earnings per share of between 6.50 euros ($7.25) and 6.70 euros. Analysts are expecting the top end of that range, according to the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Kaeser's optimism since the start of 2016 was at first greeted with surprise because of a slowdown in China and continued lower energy prices. His almost two-and-a-half-year tenure has been marked by large acquisitions to boost the energy division, which has pulled in big orders for power projects. The shares have gained 17 percent this year, compared with a 2.9 percent fall on the DAX Index. The CEO said that he is "very satisfied" with his team and that the Munich-based company has been outperforming competitors. Siemens' guidance for the current financial year also includes "moderate" revenue growth, net of currency effects, and orders accelerating with a book-to-bill ratio "clearly" above 1. The company reported higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on Aug 4 with a jump in large orders for power-generating equipment. Siemens is scheduled to report full-year earnings on Nov 10. Among the geopolitical uncertainties that could lead customers to hold back on investment, Kaeser cited instability in the Middle East, the United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union and the forthcoming elections in the United States. "I'm not so much concerned about our ability to perform and not so much concerned about our competitive strength," he said. "But the geopolitical environment is not exactly encouraging our customers to go the next level. So that is a sticky point for 2017." The US election campaign "polarizes society and of course the industry", he said. "There are a lot of questions on how much of what some candidates are saying is actually coming." Bloomberg 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 New Delhi, Sep 15 : State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has signed definitive agreements with Russian state-run oil major Rosneft OAO to purchase additional 11 per cent stake in JSC Vankorneft. "The daily production from the field is around 421,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil on an average and together with the earlier acquisition of 15 per cent, ONGC Videsh's share of daily oil production from Vankor will be about 110,000 bpd," ONGC said in a statement here. "Vankor -- that operates the Vankor oil and gas fields in Siberia -- is Rosneft's second-largest field by production and accounts for 4 per cent of Russia's production," it said. The definitive agreement was signed in Moscow on September 14 by ONGC's overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd's (OVL) Chief Executive Officer Narendra K. Verma and Chairman Igor Sechin of the Rosneft board of directors, ONGC said. The deal is expected to receive approvals from the boards of the companies as well as the Indian and Russian governments by the end of 2016, it added. Once the transaction is completed, OVL will have 26 per cent stake in JSC Vankorneft, along with the 15 per cent acquired in May 2016. According to ONGC, the acquisition of this extra 11 per cent would add about 30 per cent to OVL's existing production, and about 2.2 million tonnes of oil and 1 billion cubic metres of gas annually, the statement said. Following his Russia visit in June, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had announced here that a consortium of Indian oil companies led by ONGC Videsh was considering purchase of a part of the $11 billion stake that Russia was selling in Rosneft. "OVL is the company heading the discussions now. Others may join later," he had said. Russia plans to sell 19.5 per cent stake in Rosneft as part of a wider privatisation plan for 2016. In May, Rosneft completed the sale of 15 per cent stake in its Vankor oilfield OVL for $1.268 billion. It has also signed an agreement in March to sell another 23.9 per cent in Vankor to a consortium of Oil India, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum for another $2 billion. Rosneft had also signed the preliminary agreement to sell this additional 11 per cent stake in Vankor to OVL. "When all these transactions close, Indian companies will have nearly 50 per cent stake in Vankor," Pradhan had said. He also said India plans to invest in the Yamal mega project of Russian natural gas major Gazprom. New Delhi, Sep 15 : The Delhi government on Thursday urged union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to call a meeting of health ministers of Delhi and neighbouring states to review healthcare facilities. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain made the appeal as many of the dengue and chikungunya patients come to Delhi hospitals from other states. In a letter to Nadda, Jain said the Delhi government was making best efforts to coordinate with the union health ministry and its hospitals to tackle the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya. "Many of the patients coming to Delhi hospitals are from neighbouring states in the NCR. They rush to Delhi hospitals apparently due to lack of proper healthcare facilities in their states," the minister said. He said this put pressure on the medical infrastructure in Delhi, particularly in government hospitals. "It is, therefore, requested that a meeting may be convened inviting the health ministers of the NCR region to review the state-wise action required to augment healthcare facilities for effective tackling of the issue," Jain added. Earlier, Jain praised doctors in Delhi government hospitals and said that many beds were vacant at many government hospitals even now. "We are ready to treat all the patients. People should not panic as chikungunya doesn't kill," he said, adding that some patients may however have other complications too. According to municipal corporation data, the number of dengue, chikungunya and malaria infection in Delhi stood at 1,158, 1,057 and 21 respectively. According to the civic bodies, the highest dengue cases were reported in 2015 when 15,876 people were infected by the vector-borne disease and 60 people died. New Delhi, Sep 16 : The scripts of Adil Hussain-starrers "Sunrise" and "Parched" have been archived at the library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Delhi-based actor tweeted on Friday: "Two film's 'Sunrise' and 'Parched' scripts, that I am a part of, are archived at the Oscar library." He also shared a copy of the letter from Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Margaret Herrick Library is a non-circulating reference and research collection devoted to the history and development of the motion picture as an art form and an industry. Established in 1928 and now located in Beverly Hills, the library is open to the public and is used year-round by students, scholars, historians and industry professionals. "Sunrise", directed by Partho Sen-Gupta, is the story of Inspector Joshi, a grieving father, searching for his daughter Aruna, who was kidnapped years ago at the age of six. In his despair, life converges with a recurring dream in which Joshi pursues a shadowy figure who leads him to 'Paradise', a night-club where teenage girls dance to a leering crowd. He is convinced he will find Aruna there and vows to bring her back to Leela, his broken wife. As for "Parched", its producer Ajay Devgn says the Leena Yadav directorial highlights issues like the dowry system, physical violence, forced marriages, rape and mental cruelty against women. New Delhi, Sep 16 : Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Friday said the ministry will support the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi in tackling the rising cases of dengue and chikungunya. "Have assured all support to the Delhi government and the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in tackling the rising cases of dengue and chikungunya. The issue of helping with the bed strength in the central government hospitals was also discussed," said Nadda. The Minister said they have adequate strength of beds in central government hospitals and measures will be taken to enhance the numbers. He said there is no shortage of doctors, paramedical staff, drugs, testing kits or labs for treatment of the patients. Nadda, who met Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain and spoke to the health ministers of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh over phone, said that adequate number of fever clinics are operating in the central government hospitals for treating the patients. "There is a need to maintain hygiene and cleanliness in the surroundings. It needs to be ensured that the environment is not collecting water which could be vector breeding grounds. Importance of community participation to prevent vector breeding needs to be emphasised," said Nadda. Delhi has so far witnessed deaths of 32 patients who were suffering from vector borne chikungunya and dengue. Ahmedabad, Sep 16 : The Union Human Resources Development Ministry is considering introducing reservation for faculty positions at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here on Friday that the ministry would shortly hold talks with the chiefs of the prestigious B-schools in this regard. The Chairmen and Directors of IIMs will first meet at IIM-Shillong on September 20 to discuss the matter. The minister was at IIM-Ahmedabad to interact with faculty members and students. At present, there is no quota for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in teaching jobs at IIMs, all set up by the government. All IIMs are registered societies governed by their respective Board of Governors. Javadekar said he was reviewing the existing reservation system for faculty posts in other premier educational institutes like IITs and NITs. "I recently held meetings of Councils of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) in Delhi to discuss this issue," he said. He went on, "I also plan to hold such meetings with National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and central universities. I am conducting a review of all institutes and existing system (for faculty reservation), and government rules pertaining to reservation and related provisions under Constitution." He said a Bill, which aims to provide IIMs more autonomy in their governance and allow them to offer degree courses, is currently at "proposal" stage. "The IIM Bill will provide more autonomy to the IIMs, and allow them to offer degree courses, which they cannot do now because of their status as a society. We will amend existing laws like we did for IITs and NITs to allow them to offer degree courses," he said. "The new Bill is at proposal stage. It will be taken up by different ministries which will offer their recommendations. It will then go to the Cabinet, and then to Parliament," Javadekar said. "What our government intends is to allow more autonomy to the IIMs and other higher educational institutes so that they grow on the basis of their quality," he said. Javadekar said the government was working for improving the quality of education. "Our aim is to promote education and make it accessible to all. From KG to PG, 27 crore students are taking education. Our aim is to improve the quality of education." The government is in dialogue with stakeholders to frame an "effective (education) policy", he said. Los Angeles, Sep 18 : Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra is likely to join Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston to present a trophy at the forthcoming 68th Emmy Awards. In a photograph that has surfaced online, Priyanka can be seen sharing a light moment with the "Thor" star outside the Microsoft Theater here. Priyanka can be seen wearing an off-shoulder white top and blue denims in the image, while Hiddleston is sporting a dark blue T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Priyanka, who found fame in the West after starring in the popular American TV series "Quantico", took to Instagram to share a blurry image from the rehearsals of the award ceremony, which will take place on Sunday evening here. "Rehearsals. Emmys with PC. Keep guessing. By the way, the blur is the point," she wrote alongside the image. Apart from the image, a lot of fans commented on the post guessing that the person standing next to the "Bajirao Mastani" star is none other than Hiddleston. Priyanka had earlier given a sneak peek into the dress that she will be sporting at the Emmys. The photograph, she shared on the image sharing site, shows a red costume. "What am I gonna wear tomorrow. Emmys with PC. Decisions," she wrote alongside the photograph. Apart from Priyanka, other presenters include Aziz Ansari, Anthony Anderson, Larry David, James Corden, Kristen Bell, Michael Weatherly and Taraji P. Henson. Earlier this year, Priyanka made her debut at Oscars by presenting the award for Best Film Editing. She will also make her Hollywood debut in a negative role in "Baywatch" -- the big screen version of the globally popular TV series -- also featuring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Kathmandu, Sep 18 : Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', who returned home after a four-day visit to India on Sunday, said his visit to the neighbouring country was successful and fruitful. Speaking to reporters at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu upon arrival from India, he said the visit has created mutual trust and confidence in bilateral ties. "Our ties and partnership with India will not affect our bilateral ties with China," said the Prime Minister asserting that his visit has taken Nepal-India ties to new heights. "Dynamics of our relations with India and China are different, so our ties with India would not create distance with China," he said at a time when his government is being seen as having a "Delhi tilt". "Characteristics of our relations with India and China are different. Relations with one side will not affect the other side," he said when asked about Nepal's ties with China. Prachanda said Nepal has maintained balanced and nuanced relations with both neighbours. "The aim of my visit was to create an environment for sub-regional cooperation which India is also pursuing," he said. Asserting that India has put the overall issues of Nepal in priority and has given special attention to mutual interests and concerns, Prachanda said works related to common interests and welfare would be carried out together. He said the incumbent government in Nepal was committed to taking the country down the path of economic prosperity, and added that the Indian government was ready to support it in harnessing hydropower, creating physical infrastructure and developing the tourism sector in Nepal. Prachanda shared that important deliberations were held and views exchanged during his meetings in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, industrialists and media persons. JD.com builds up high-end image Updated: 2016-09-20 16:55 By CECILY LIU(China Daily UK) Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com showcased a collection of six luxury Chinese fashion brands during London Fashion Week on Monday in an attempt to advance its image from a regular e-commerce platform toward a high-end quality fashion marketplace. The show, co-hosted with luxury Chinese brand Eve Group, showcased fashion from Eve de Cina, Kevin Kelly, Ne Tiger, By Creations, HMR and X Lando, which each feature Chinese designers and strong Chinese cultural elements. Eve de Cina focuses on Chinese craftsmanship with images and colors that frequently occur in traditional Chinese painting. Ne Tiger is well known for its Chinese-influenced evening gowns and wedding dresses, and HMR is a jewelry brand with shapes and designs resembling scenes and settings from popular Chinese poetry. JD.com announced at the show the launch of a new virtual fitting room, in partnership with Eve Group, that allows Chinese customers to buy made-to-measure clothes from the brands showcased in London. The platform will generate images based on the measurements of customers in an attempt to reach beyond the limitations of typical e-commerce platforms. Xin Lijun, president of JD.com's apparel and home furnishing business unit, said the initiative is part of the company's strategy to provide customers with a premium shopping experience. "As recently as a few years ago, Chinese shoppers were less discerning about fashion, but today, if you want to be serious about selling fashion in China, you'd better be ahead of the curve and that's what we're doing," Xin said. The virtual fitting room experience is currently only available in China. Xia Hua, chairman of Eve Group, said the 3D fitting room allows the company to tailor high-end, made-to-measure products. "Our root is in Chinese culture, so we are taking the art of Chinese craftsmanship and integrating our modern designs and services," said Xia, who founded the Eve Group 22 years ago. Olive Hou, founder of the marketing agency Olive's Choice Creative in London, said JD.com's hosting of a fashion show advances its role from an e-commerce platform to a curator. Paris/New Delhi, Sep 19 : France has condemned the "terrible terrorist" attack on an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir and said Paris remains on New Delhi's side in the fight against terrorism. France also said it "recalls the importance it attaches to bringing calm and the peaceful settlement of disputes in the region of Kashmir". In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said: "France most firmly condemns the terrible terrorist attack perpetrated on 18 September against an Indian army camp in the region of Kashmir. It conveys its condolences to the families of the 17 Indian soldiers killed in this attack. "France remains at India's side in the combat against terrorism. It calls on every State to fight effectively against terrorist groups operating on their territory or from their territory against other countries. "France also recalls the importance it attaches to bringing calm and the peaceful settlement of disputes in the region of Kashmir." At least 17 Indian army soldiers were killed in a fidayeen attack on an army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday morning. Los Angeles, Sep 19 : Popular fantasy show "Game Of Thrones" and American series "The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story" won key honours at the 68th annual Emmy Primetime Awards on Sunday night. "Game Of Thrones" (GOT), an adaptation of "A Song of Ice and Fire", George R.R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, won three honours at the award including the Best Drama Series for the second year in a row, as listed at emmys.com official website. The other two awards for 'GOT' are Writing for a Drama Series and Directing for a Drama Series. "The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story", which is the dramatic retelling of the infamous O J Simpsons murder trial, was honoured for its writing and captured several acting awards including Actor in a Mini-Series or Movie, Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie, Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and Writing for a Mini-Series or Movie. "Veep" won the award for Outstanding Comedy Series and its lead actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus bagged the Best Actress in a Comedy Series. But the major surprises came for two first-time winners: "Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany" received the Emmy for outstanding actress in a drama, while "Mr. Robot" star Rami Malek was named best lead actor in a drama. Actress Courtney B Vance won the Best Actor in Limited Series or Movie while Sarah Paulson bagged won best actress. The best supporting actor honour went to Sterling K Brown at the gala night, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Rami Malek of "Mr Robot" and Tatiana Maslany of "Orphan Black" were named Best Actor and Best Actress in a Drama Series, respectively. The award gala also honoured Indian-origin actor-writer-director Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, who received the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy series honour for "Master of None." Ben Mendelsohn of "Bloodline" and Maggie Smith of "Downton Abbey" cornered the Best Supporting Actor and Actress award in the Best Drama Series at the award gala. While "Baskets" actor Louie Anderson and Kate McKinnon of "Saturday Night Live" won the Best Supporting Actor and Actress Award respectively. New Delhi : It was raining heavily last monsoon when Heerabai's youngest child, Seshkumari, 4, collapsed with a fever. The family could only watch helplessly as her temperature soared and she turned delirious late night. The nearest primary health centre for Pachkol, Heerabai's village in Chhindwara district in south-west Madhya Pradesh, is 25 km away. And every monsoon, the swollen Bhagbhel river floods the road linking the village to the health centre. If you fall sick, said residents, you have very little hope of finding any medical help. "My daughter couldn't even recognise us as the fever got worse at two in the morning," recalled Heerabai, 30, lean and noticeably weak. That morning, she lost her daughter. Heerabai and her three surviving children belong to Bhariya community, classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). Her tragedy is the consequence of a 44 per cent shortfall in the healthcare infrastructure in the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh. This is despite the fact that, last year, the state government had left in hand Rs 4,000 crore allocated for tribal welfare. IndiaSpend's investigations, through a series of right-to-information (RTI) requests, reveal that over the last 35 years, Rs 2.8 lakh crore ($42.6 billion) set aside to improve the lives of scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) by way of measures like mid-day meals, scholarships and crop insurance was simply not spent. NITI Aayog, which monitors these funds, verified the figures calculated by IndiaSpend. However, CEO Amitabh Kant distanced the organisation from the issue of inadequate fund utilisation. "We are just (the) monitoring agency for the funds and it's the states and ministries that have to spend more. But we will step up the monitoring and the present government is working on it," he told IndiaSpend. The unspent amount -- either lapsed or given back to the Centre -- is eight times larger than India's agriculture budget, enough to fund India's rural road construction projects for the next 15 years, and larger than the gross domestic product of Serbia, Nepal or Jordan. If India were to distribute the Rs 2.8 lakh crore among all of India's 250 million STs and SCs, each would get Rs 11,289. The unspent Rs 2.8 lakh crore falls under two funds: Tribal Sub Plan (TSP), started in 1974-75, and Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP), begun in 1979-80, to channelise funds from general budgets to STs and SCs. As per guidelines, a part of the budget -- proportionate to at least the population of SCs and STs -- at both central and state levels is to be set aside for these marginalised sections. The current population of SCs and STs in India is 16.6 per cent and 8.6 per cent. So, 16.6 per cent and 8.6 per cent of the Union budget should be allocated to SCSP and TSP, respectively. The same applies to the states too. Not just that, each ministry, whether state or central, has to keep aside the same percentage of their total funds for SCSP and TSP to carry out individual, family or habitat development works and welfare schemes for SCs and STs. For instance, the Human Resource Development Ministry has to set apart funds under the two strategies for building schools, providing nutritious meals and scholarships and other similar measures for SCs and STs. Similarly, the Agriculture Ministry has to set aside funds for providing subsidised seeds and fertilisers and crop insurance to SC and ST farmers. The funds are "non-lapsable" as per the guidelines issued in 2006 and 2014 by the erstwhile Planning Commission, now NITI Aayog. But low spending has crippled the effort. Records show that no matter which party is in power, SCs and STs rarely benefit from these funds. While Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab top the list for SCSP funds remaining unspent for 2005-14, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh lead in TSP. Also, the percentage of unspent amount is alarmingly high. For instance, it is as high as 61 per cent or Rs 4,643 crore for Telangana in 2014-15. The real unspent amount will be even higher, because data on expenditure are not available for many years with the various governments. P.S. Krishnan, a bespectacled 83-year-old retired IAS officer and former Secretary to the Government of India, was the man behind the introduction of SCSP in 1980. He spoke animatedly about how former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi cut through red-tape by issuing a letter to roll out the strategy. Krishnan's face darkened as he talked of its tardy implementation. "Politicians and bureaucrats have always remained apathetic to the most backward classes -- dalits and adivasis," he said. In the letter announcing SCSP in 1980, Indira Gandhi wrote: "While they constitute 15 per cent of the total population of the country, their proportion is much larger in the poverty groups of the country, most of the SCs are below the poverty line." Thirty-six years on, the situation has not changed much. Adivasis and dalits still matter the least when it comes to the provision of even basic facilities like household ownership, electricity, latrines and water connections. Where they do figure prominently are in statistics relating to child mortality, school dropouts and extreme poverty. For instance, the child mortality rate among STs (35.8) is almost double in comparison to all social groups (18.4). In the house next to Heera's two-room tenement, an electric bulb hangs from the roof, but it's filled with kerosene. It has a wick instead of a filament. Actually, Pachkol, with all its woes, is marginally better off than Jad, a village about a three-hour trek away. It has no electricity, water supply or roads. How do the villagers travel? "We ride her and even take the ill to hospital on her," says teenager Sriram, pointing to Kalli, his bay mare. Jad also has rusty electric poles, over a decade old. They stand without any wiring, an election promise that was never fulfilled. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has not changed the 35-year pattern of neglecting to spend the funds. As per the guidelines, the funds that remain unspent at the end of a financial year are supposed to be transferred to a non-lapsable central pool to be used later. But that, actually, is not what happens. "The concept of transfer of unutilised TSP funds to NLCPTF (central pool of TSP funds) remained a non-starter," the Comptroller and Auditor General had noted in a 2015 audit report of TSP funds. A senior NITI Aayog official, who spoke to IndiaSpend on condition of anonymity, confirmed that unspent funds are being "lapsed", not carried forward to the next year as per rules. "The committee is informed that there has been 'poor utilisation' of the allocated funds for welfare of SCs and STs," says NITI Aayog in its latest guidelines to the states. In January 2016, with only three months left for the financial year to end, the Karnataka Chief Minister warned officials of strict action against some departments for keeping the expenditure as low as "0.87 per cent". Outside Heera's home, a group of villagers had gathered. They were reluctant to speak up about their lives. One man, however, disagreed with the silence: "We need to talk about our problems; only then, they will be solved." (In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Nikhil M. Babu is a Delhi-based independent journalist. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)with IndiaSpend) Seoul, Sep 19 : South Korea and the US are slated to conduct a joint aerial exercise in October that will focus on striking North Korea's nuclear facilities, military officials said on Monday. The simulated strikes will be carried out during the advanced Red Flag exercise to be held at Eielson air force base in Alaska from October 3-21, Yonhap News Agency reported. The move is aimed at improving the South Korean air forces' combat capabilities amid evolving nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. "The drill will be held with the scenario of a sudden missile attack from North Korea. It is also designed to practise striking the North's nuclear and other core military facilities," a military official said. South Korea plans to send six F-15Ks and two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to Red Flag this year. "F-15Ks are expected to carry out a mission to strike the North's nuclear facility in Yeongbyeon, more than 100 km north of the country's capital city of Pyongyang, with GBU-31JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) guided bombs," he said. Earlier this month, North Korea said it "successfully" conducted a nuclear test -- its fifth and the "most powerful" test so far. Pyongyang has conducted a series of ballistic missile launches since top North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gave an order on March 15 to test a nuclear warhead and ballistic rockets capable of carrying the warhead "in a short time". North Korea is banned by UN sanctions from any tests of nuclear or missile technology. Since their inception in 1975, the Red Flag exercises have served as the pinnacle of air-to-air combat training for airmen. The purpose is to give pilots from the US, Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and other allies an opportunity to practise and refine their skills for real combat situations. New Delhi, Sep 19 : A 20-year-old soldier injured in the Uri terror attack died of injuries in a Delhi hospital on Monday, taking the toll to 18, officials said. The soldier, identified as K.V. Janardan from Maharashtra, died at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, a hospital official told IANS over phone. "He lost his battle with life at 11.30 a.m. this morning," the official said. Janardan, a resident of Purad village from Yamatval district in Maharashtra, is survived by his wife Sneha Vikas. Janardan was among three soldiers flown to Delhi for treatment following injuries sustained in Sunday's fidayeen attack in an army base camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi, Sep 19 : A man threw ink on Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia outside Lt Governor Najeeb Jung's office on Monday in what the AAP alleged was a planned attack. Sisodia was speaking with journalists after meeting Jung when the man, identified as Brijesh Shukla, sneaked up and quickly threw the ink from a bottle he was holding. The ink scattered mostly on Sisodia's left arm and a part of his face, taking the Deputy Chief Minister by surprise. When reporters asked the attacker the reason for the ink attack, he responded: "People are dying in Delhi and you (Sisodia) prefer to go on a foreign (Finland) jaunt." Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister, went to Finland to study the country's highly acclaimed educational system. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders expressed surprise that no policeman was present at the site at the time of the ink attack. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's media adviser Nagendar Sharma sought to know how the ink attacker knew that Sisodia would meet Jung. "Why anger is not directed at BJP's MCD? Why no ink is thrown at BJP's MCD mayors and councillors?" Sharma asked in a tweet. Later, in another tweet, Sharma said: "Ink attack against Sisodia was planned Sunday night. Messages were sent to media from mobile 98103 60022 in advance." Shukla was said to be a resident of Karawal Nagar in north-east Delhi. Sisodia said later that while his government was working on ways to improve the health and education sectors, the BJP and Congress continued to indulge in "cheap politics" with ink attacks. AAP leader Dilip Pandey blamed Jung for the incident. "Wah LG Sa'ab. You have already unleashed the ACB, CBI and police on us, now you have started getting ink thrown (on our leaders) through your goons," he tweeted. Another AAP leader, Kumar Vishwas, a long-time friend of Sisodia, remarked sarcastically that this was perhaps the "fake nationalists'" way of avenging the Sunday terror attack in Kashmir. Jung on Friday sent a fax to Sisodia in Finland and asked him to return immediately owing to the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya in the capital, but the AAP leader returned only as scheduled on Sunday. Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra said the ink attacker, Shukla, had in 2003 contested assembly elections in Delhi as an independent and also had a criminal record. New York/Islamabad, Sep 19 : Pakistan is all geared to prominently raise the issue of alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President of 'Azad Kashmir' Masood Khan arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly session. While Sharif is to address the UNGA, focusing on Kashmir, Khan is to address a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Contact Group on Kashmir being held at the UN headquarters on Monday. Sharif is likely to devote a large part of his address to the UN General Assembly for "exposing Indian human rights abuses in occupied Kashmir", said Dawn. He will also urge the world body to intervene to enforce UN resolutions for a plebiscite in Kashmir. President of 'Azad Jammu and Kashmir', Khan said he would apprise OIC Contact Group that "Indian administered Kashmir is passing through one of its worst crisis in history" - referring to the unrest in Kashmir valley that has seen 90 people killed in clashes. Meanwhile, at the 17th Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit held in Margarita Island in Venezuela, Pakistan targetted India for "human rights violation" in Kashmir. Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, addressing the NAM summit said there can be no peace in South Asia unless the Kashmir issue is resolved according to the wishes of Kashmiri people. Highlighting Pakistan's campaign against terrorism and its "success" in tackling this menace, he mentioned that Pakistan is ready to share its counter terrorism experience with other NAM countries. On Sunday, a hotline was set up by Islamabad between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, following the attack on an army base in Kashmir. The hotline was set up on India's request on Sunday, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), adding that the situation on the Line of Control (LoC) was discussed during the telephone conversation, Geo news reported. Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan has nothing to do with the Uri incident, adding that Pakistan only extended moral support to Kashmiris. Suspected fidayeen attacked an army camp in Uri near the border with Pakistan on Sunday, killing 17 soldiers and injuring 30 others. Four fidayeen -- suicide bombers -- were gunned down. Kolkata, Sep 19 : Disgruntled with the authorities for denying them a full-scale Durga Puja celebration, the sex workers of Sonagachi, considered Asia's largest red-light area, have decided to discontinue the event. "For years we were trying to get permission to organise a Durga Puja just as the rest of the city: With a marquee and big idol. But despite repeated appeals, our wish has not been granted. There will be no Durga Puja this year," Bharati Dey of Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Samiti (DMSS), a sex workers' collective, told IANS. The sex workers had organised their own Durga Puja, with a budget of Rs 2 lakh, for the first time in 2013 following a Calcutta High Court directive. In 2015, the court permitted the community to take on rent a community hall for organising the Puja. "We don't want to go to the court again and again. If people can organise Kali Puja and other rituals in the area without any obstruction, then why can't we?" "The room, in which the celebration was held, is very small and there is no proper arrangement to ensure fire safety. If something catches fire during the rituals, then everything will be destroyed," Dey said. Dey was attending a regional consultation on fourth draft version of the Trafficking of Persons Bill, 2016, organised by CREA, Lawyers Collective and Centre for Advocacy and Research. Sonagachi is estimated to house more than 7,000 sex workers. Instead of collecting donations from the community for the puja, Dey said, the leftovers of last year's funds will be offered to the state government for flood relief in north Bengal. "Whatever little was left from last year's collected amount, will be donated for flood relief in north Bengal," added Dey. Ranchi, Sep 19 : The Jharkhand government on Monday announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the two soldiers from the state killed in a militant attack on an army camp in Uri of Jammu and Kashmir. The two army men who belonged to Jharkhand -- Jawra Munda of Khunti district and Nayman Kujur of Gumla district -- were among 18 soldiers who lost their lives. A press release of Jharkhand says that their last rites would be conducted with state honours. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has condemned the killing of the army soldiers. Washington, Sep 20 : Hillary Clinton cast herself as the only presidential candidate who has fought terrorism and slammed Donald Trump's response to the incidents in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota over the weekend as "demagogic." In a news conference on the tarmac of Westchester County Airport on Monday, the Democratic presidential nominee said she has been "part of the hard decision to take terrorists off the battlefield," and contrasted her steadiness to what she called Trump's "irresponsible, reckless rhetoric", CNN reported. "It is like so much else he says: It is not grounded in fact, it is meant to make some kind of demagogic point," Clinton said. "I am prepared to, ready to actually take on those challenges, not engage in a lot of irresponsible, reckless rhetoric." An explosive device went off in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan over the weekend, once again thrusting the politics of terror into the center of the 2016 election. Clinton and Trump initially responded to the incident in contrasting styles: Trump was quick to announce that a bomb had gone off in New York, even before there was much information about the incident; Clinton, meanwhile, urged caution, and the importance of waiting to draw conclusions until more information was available. Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said that the Clinton campaign accused the Republican nominee of treason and criticized her previous stances on the war in Iraq. "If Clinton really wants to find the real cause of IS, she needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror," Miller said. In her news conference on Monday, Clinton also warned against the instinct to villainize entire groups of people based on religion. Asked about Ahmad Khan Rahami -- in custody following a police shootout after he was allegedly seen on video near the bombing -- and whether his Afghan descent will help Trump politically, Clinton said: "There are millions of law-abiding, peaceful Muslim Americans." "That is why I have been very clear. We are going after the bad guys and we are going to get them, but we are not going to go after an entire religion and give ISIS exactly what it is wanting," Clinton said. Clinton's news conference offered no new policies to fight terror. She argued, as she has before, that the United States needs to invest more in intelligence to combat lone wolf attacks. The former secretary of state also called on tech companies in Silicon Valley to "give us the tools and lead us to those who are attempting to promote attacks like we have seen." Clinton has given speeches on defeating terror multiple times throughout the 2016 campaign, including policy-focused addresses in Minneapolis and New York earlier this year. Walker feted as mainland's first Master of Wine Updated: 2016-09-20 08:06 By Mike Peters(China Daily) The country's wine industry and media gathered in Beijing last week to celebrate with Fongyee Walker, who has become the Chinese mainland's first Master of Wine resident. Walker is co-founder and managing director of Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting. The Master of Wine qualification is set and assessed by the UK-based Institute of Masters of Wine, established in 1955. Candidates must pass rigorous theory and practical tastings examinations as well as do a research paper. While studying for the certification, Walker has worked across China as a high-profile wine educator, presenter and consultant. She spearheads teaching for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, especially the WSET's flagship diploma qualification, and is a well-known Mandarin-speaking opinion leader in the Chinese wine scene. She also serves as a guest international judge for such shows as the Royal Melbourne Wine Show, AWOCA (Wines of Chile) and the Old Mutual Trophy South Africa, the institute notes on its website, adding: "She was a significant contributor to the award-winning documentary film Red Obsession and has appeared as a commentator on Chinese wine on CNN. She has written columns for Decanter magazine and The World of Fine Wine, and she reviews wines for RVF China and Wine in China. On Sept 5, Walker passed all the requirements for the Master of Wine. For the final stage of her studies, Walker wrote her research paper on vine burial and sustainability in Chinese viticulture in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Hebei province. Vineyards in northern and western China must bury their grapevines in winter to protect them from freezing temperatures. The vines are carefully dug up again each spring. Walker serves as wine consultant to Air New Zealand and is co-chair of Shanghai's Wine 100 competition. She also chooses the wines for China's first subscription-based wine club service, Signature Wine. "I am so honored to be the first MW resident in China," Walker said at the announcement ceremony at Beijing's TRB-Copper restaurant. "I hope to take every opportunity to share my knowledge with others. Together we can improve and drive forward the development of Chinese wine and the Chinese wine market." The Master of Wine qualification is offered only by the Institute of Masters of Wine. To be eligible, the institute says, candidates must have been admitted as Master of Wine students and must complete three stages. The first-stage assessment exams as well as attendance at seminars in Europe, the United States or Australia allow continuation to the second-stage exams (five theory exams and three tasting exams). Candidates who have passed these examinations may then proceed to complete a research paper relating to the world of wine. Candidates who successfully complete this third stage may then be admitted as members of the Institute of Masters of Wine. There are currently 354 Masters of Wine in the world, in 28 countries and regions. Walker lived in Hong Kong and Vancouver as a child. She began to study wine while reading classical Chinese at Cambridge, and became captain of the University Blind Wine Tasting Team, leading them to victory in 2004. In 2007, she moved to Beijing, and founded the Dragon Phoenix consultancy with Edward Ragg. "I'm really lucky that I grew up on several continents and had a family who ate everything from chicken's feet to meatloaf," she told Wine-Searcher in a 2012 interview. "I grew up having my palate excited. That's what living is about: exploring the world. I can't understand people who drink only one wine or eat the same food all the time." michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 09/20/2016 page19) Lesbos (Greece), Sep 20 : At least 4,000 migrants were evacuated from the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after a large fire destroyed tents and prefabricated homes, the media reported. No injuries have been reported and some migrants have now been allowed to return to the camp, BBC reported. Police are still investigating whether the fire was deliberate, but an aid worker says it started after a food dispute. There are some 5,600 refugees currently in Lesbos, according to the UN, but the island only has capacity for 3,600. The fire destroyed 30 per cent of the camp, according to Aris Vlashopoulos, an aid worker with the Swiss charity SAO. "People are returning to the camp now as I can see. But the biggest number of the refugees are already on the streets, sleeping outside," he added. According to Greek state news agency ANA, a brawl started on Monday after a rumour that refugees would be deported to Turkey en masse. Many on the island are afraid of being returned to Turkey or their home countries, correspondents say. The situation on Lesbos is exacerbated as many refugees land there and are held on the island until their asylum claim is fully processed. Those granted asylum are permitted to journey to the Greek mainland, while others are turned back. The procedure is part of the EU-Turkey deal brokered in March, in which the EU pledged to work towards visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Europe's Schengen zone in exchange for Ankara's assistance in curbing migrants crossing to the Greek islands. United Nations, Sep 20 : The United Nations special envoy to Syria has voiced anger over the airstrike that hit an aid convoy of UN in the Syrian province of Aleppo. UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura said: "Our outrage at this attack is enormous ... the convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians," Press TV reported. On Monday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that at least 18 of 31 trucks in the convoy were hit while parked outside a Syrian Arab Red Crescent center in the province's Urm al-Kubra region. "We understand a convoy has been hit. We are trying to get more information." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims the attack was carried out by Syrian or Russian jets, and that 12 Red Crescent drivers were killed in the attack. New York, Sep 20 : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has urged the US to help resolve issues between Islamabad and New Delhi. Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st UN General Assembly session, Dawn online reported. "Pakistan has always fought terrorism as a moral obligation. I have always reached out to neighbouring countries for regional peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "I still remember (former) president (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." "I expect the US administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help resolve issues between Pakistan and India," the Prime Minister added. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry were also present in the meeting. Sharif emphasised that strong relations between Pakistan and the US remained a mutual desire and this partnership was critical to ensuring regional peace and stability. The Prime Minister arrived in New York on Sunday. He is scheduled to address the session on Wednesday where he would specifically focus on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He will also hold bilateral meetings with President of Iran, Prime Ministers of Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Nepal, Romania and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Manila, Sep 20 : The Philippine government was already looking into the unlawful killings in the wake of the war against illegal drugs started by President Rodrigo Duterte, a senior government official said. Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar on Monday was responding to a resolution issued by the European Union expressing concern on the spate of killings involving drug suspects, Xinhua news agency reported. "Extra-judicial killing is not a policy of this administration. We will never condone any unlawful killings," he said. The call of the European Parliament to launch an immediate investigation is already being addressed as President Duterte has already instructed authorities to look into these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice, Andanar explained. As to the specific, comprehensive policies and programs in compliance with human rights, he said plans for the construction of drug rehabilitation centres were now underway. He noted that at least four rehabilitation centres will be built this year, two in Luzon, one in the Visayas, and one in Mindanao. Since Duterte assumed office on June 30, over 700,000 drug users and pushers have surrendered to authorities while more than 3,000 drug suspects were killed. The President has also sought for six-month extension to end illegal drug problem in the country from his initial target of three to six months. Chennai, Sep 20 : Suriya-starrer Tamil actioner "S3", the third part in the "Singam" franchise, is finally slated for worldwide theatrical release on December 16, the makers announced. In an official poster, it has been confirmed that the film will hit the screens on December 16. Directed by Hari, the film will mark the return of Suriya as a khaki-donning hero and will see him operate on an international mission. Popular Television actor Thakur Anoop Singh is being introduced as the antagonist, while Shruti Haasan and Anushka Shetty are playing the leading ladies. The film, which will be dubbed in Telugu and released along with its Tamil version, has music by Harris Jayaraj. New York, Sep 20 : Two Indians and one Indian-American are among the 17 people appointed as the inaugural class of UN Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals. They were chosen for their leadership and contribution to end poverty, fight against inequality and injustice, and tackling climate change by 2030. Ankit Kawatra, Founder and Chairman of Feeding India -- an organisation that addresses food wastage and hunger, and Trisha Shetty, Founder and CEO of 'SheSays' -- a platform to educate, rehabilitate and empower women to take direct action against sexual assault in India, are among those selected. An Indian-American scientist and innovator Karan Jerath, 19, who designed the path-breaking device that shuts down undersea spills has also found place amongst the UN Young Leaders for SDGs. UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, said: "We are proud to announce this group of young global citizens who are already transforming their communities," at the Social Good Summit in New York on Monday. "The selection process was an important reminder of the great potential and talent of so many young people around the world, who are making immense contributions to peace, development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals," he added. "I am pleased to join in welcoming the inaugural class of UN Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement delivered by Alhendawi. "These 17 young change-makers are a testament to the ingenuity of youth and I congratulate them for their exceptional leadership and demonstrated commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals," he added. Selected from over 18,000 nominations from 186 different countries, these leaders, aged 19-30 years, come from diverse backgrounds and will support efforts to engage young people in the realisation of the SDGs and will have opportunities to engage in the UN and its partner-led projects. New Delhi, Sep 20 : The BJP has sought an apology from Congress President Sonia Gandhi over an application moved by party leader Sajjan Kumar in the Delhi High Court to transfer a case against him relating to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as one of the judges on the bench hearing the case is a Sikh. "Sajjan Kumar is a senior Congress leader and he could not have moved this application of distrust against a Sikh judge without party's consent. Hence, the Congress party should appologise to the Sikh community or expel Sajjan Kumar from the party," BJP National Secretary Sardar R.P. Singh said. Although the High Court dismissed Kumar's application, the fact remains that Sajjan Kumar distrusts Sikhs as a community, Singh said. Patna, Sep 20 : Following criticism on social media for announcing a Rs 5 lakh each compensation for the three martyred soldiers in the Uri attack, the Bihar government on Tuesday raised the compensation to Rs 11 lakh, officials said. "Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered to increase the compensation from earlier announced Rs 5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh each for the kin of the three soldiers from the state, who lost their lives in the terror attack on Sunday," said an official. Meanwhile, the bodies of the soldiers -- Sepoy Rakesh Singh of Kaimur district, Naik S.K. Vidyarthi from Gaya and Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh from Bhojpur district -- reached their villages on Tuesday. Thousands of people thronged for last glimpses of their 'heros'. As per the state government's decision, the last rites of the martyred soldiers would be performed with full state honours. All the three soldiers were from 6th Battalion of the Bihar Regiment. Manila, Sep 20 : The daughter of a flamboyant British baron was shot to death in Quezon city amid a brutal crackdown against drugs in the Philippines, media reported. The 45-year-old Maria Aurora Moynihan was shot five times in the chest and was dumped on a street in Manila on September 10 though her name was not on their "watchlist", Stuff news quoted the Quezon police as saying. Filipino-British Moynihan was the daughter of Baron Antony Moynihan, an international figure implicated in the infamous 1988 arrest of convicted British drug smuggler and author Howard Marks. Baron Moynihan, who ran brothels and was linked to drug trafficking, was accused of fraud in Britain and fled to the Philippines in the 1960s and died here in 1991. Her attackers left a cardboard sign leaning against her, which allegedly said "Drug pusher to the celebrities". She had been accused of involvement in the drug business and was on bail on a suspected possession charge, the Guardian reported. The killing appears to be the latest casualty in a government-led move to eradicate drugs and combat crime in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte has led a campaign to kill drug dealers and users, sparking widespread human rights' concerns. Since Duterte assumed office on June 30, over 700,000 drug users and pushers have surrendered to authorities while more than 3,000 drug suspects have been killed. The President has also sought a six-month extension to end the illegal drugs problem in the country from his initial target of three to six months. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of Sunday's terror strike at an army camp in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead. This is the third security review meeting Singh has chaired since the Uri attack and the situation in the border areas of Punjab and Gujarat was also discussed, officials said. Besides National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other senior Home Ministry officials, the meeting was also attended by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar. The presence of the Foreign Secretary was explained in the context of the move by India to launch a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan at global fora, starting with the upcoming UN General Assembly. A high-level meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had authorised the diplomatic offensive, backed by clear proof of Pakistan Army backing to the four terrorists who mounted the early morning attack on the Uri camp. Rajnath Singh was briefed on Tuesday by Doval and others, including officials from the Defence Ministry, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies, on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the Line of Control (LoC). The Home Minister suggested that all necessary steps be taken to check infiltration along the LoC and the border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Gujarat. Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Tuesday was in Srinagar to assess the ground situation and interact with civil and security officials in the state. Mehrishi will also call on state Governor N.N. Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during his visit. Eighteen soldiers were killed and 30 injured when four terrorists attacked the administrative base camp of an infantry battalion in the highly fortified Uri town of Baramulla district on Sunday. India has blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack. The group, which has not claimed responsibility, was also accused of mounting the January attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot that left seven soldiers dead. Briefing reporters on Monday, Director General Military Operation (DGMO), Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, had said the Indian Army, reserves the right to respond to the terror strike "at a place and time of our choosing", adding that "we have the desired capability to reply to such a blatant act of violence in a manner as deemed appropriate by us". Chinese to bid for National Grid gas pipeline Updated: 2016-09-20 17:42 By ANGUS McNEICE(China Daily UK) Chinese firms are reportedly among potential bidders to acquire a stake in UK utility National Grid's gas pipeline network. [Photo/Agencies] A group of Chinese investors is to bid at auction for UK utility company National Grid's gas pipeline network. The network is valued at an estimated 11 billion pounds($14.3 billion) and serves 10.9 million homes and businesses across Britain. According to media reports, the consortium involves Fosun and China Gas, who will compete with rival bidders, including two other groups led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Australian bank Macquarie. Bids are due by the end of the month and must meet a minimum requirement of comprising 51 percent of the new company. National Grid will remain as a minority shareholder. A National Grid spokesman declined to identify the Chinese investors. The two Chinese companies had made no comment on the issue by press time. National Grid announced plans to sell a majority stake in November last year in a sale to be handled by Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Robey Warshaw. Reports of the Chinese interest come just a week after British Prime Minister Theresa May disclosed plans to tighten regulation on foreign involvement in UK infrastructure development. Last week, after unexpectedly withholding government consent in July, May gave approval for Hinkley Point C, a new 18 billion pound nuclear power station project to be built in southwest England by French energy company EDF with investment of 6 billion pounds from China General Nuclear Corp. Greg Clark,UK secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, said after the decision was announced that "Having thoroughly reviewed the proposal for Hinkley Point C, we will introduce a series of measures to enhance security and will ensure Hinkley cannot change hands without the government's agreement." The measures will also apply to future nuclear projects, and changes of ownership for other large infrastructure projects, such as the National Grid sale, will face increased scrutiny. Sean Kemp, National Grid's UK head of media relations, said in a statement:"We will not speculate on the identity of potential bidders. The new owner will operate under the relevant requirements." London, Sep 20 : Dismissing threats by European Union (EU) nations to veto Brexit negotiations, British Prime Minister Theresa May has declared that "the 27 will sign up to a deal with us", the media reported. May said other nations would accept an agreement with Britain after the Slovakian Prime minister said four central European countries were willing to block talks unless their citizens retained their right to work in the UK, the Guardian reported. Robert Fico last week said Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary would be "uncompromising" during talks and were ready to veto arrangements "unless we feel a guarantee that these people are equal". However, May rejected such warnings when asked whether it would really be possible to secure the agreement of all other member states for Brexit and trade talks. "The 27 will sign up to a deal with us," she asserted on Monday night, adding: "We will be negotiating with them. And A we will be ambitious in what we want to see for the UK. A good deal for the UK can also be a good deal for the other member states because I believe in good trading relations and I have said I want the UK to be a global leader in free trade." Although the main Brexit negotiations were separate from trade talks, EU countries have made it clear that the UK will have to sign up to some degree of free movement if it wants access to the single market. May has said there must be controls on free movement as a priority in negotiations, but left the door open for EU citizens to be able to work and travel in the UK on preferential terms. May made the remarks before she left for New York to attend the ongoing 71st session of the UN General Assembly. She is being accompanied by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Priti Patel, International Development Secretary. Mumbai, Sep 20 : Actor Mahaakshay Chakraborty, best known by his nickname Mimoh, has returned from the US after getting training in dance and martial arts techniques for over a month. Mahaakshay, son of veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, says he loves to dance and has also been practicing martial arts for years now. "It's been so much fun being in the US and learning dance and martial arts techniques there which I did not know about," Mahaakshay said in a statement. "I have also visited an acting academy there to improve my comic timing. It was an overwhelming experience for me. I am back in the city now. This visit was truly enlightening and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My passion for acting has only grown and it's been an absolute pleasure, and one of my life's most memorable trips," added the 32-year-old, who has appeared in films like "Jimmy," "Haunted 3D" and "Ishqedarriyaan". Mahaakshay said he had enrolled himself at the International Dance Academy at Hollywood. "When I went there on day one to the beginner's class, the instructor saw my moves and told me to train at the advance level. I'm also part of the CrossFit society and the big UFC Gym from where all the leading UFC fighters come," Mahaakshay said. "Besides that, I'm also doing a two-month comedy improvement workshop at the Upright Citizens Brigade which has been founded by Amy Poehler and many other comedians have come out from it," he added. New Delhi, Sep 20 : A father-son duo and one of their close relatives were brutally murdered and two others injured while they were asleep at their house in east Delhi, police said on Tuesday. Ram Kishan, in his late 50s, his son Raju and Ram Kishan's son-in-law Kishan Pal died of injuries inflicted with blunt weapons on Monday night. Tarun, 25, and Vineet, 14 were injured. According to police, the five were sleeping on the roof of their two-storey house in Nand Nagari while the female members of the family were sleeping downstairs. "All five were attacked with a wooden log or iron rod on their heads," a senior police officer told IANS. "Tarun is critical but Vineet is out of danger," the officer added. The officer said it was early to comment on the motive behind the murder. "We have taken a person in custody and are questioning him." The officer said there was no evidence of forced entry into the house. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Junaid Ahmad has taken over as the World Bank's new Country Director for India, replacing Onno Ruhl, who completed his four-year term, an official statement said here on Tuesday. Ahmad, a Bangladeshi national, was formerly the Chief of Staff to World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. "India's recent growth and development has been one of the most significant achievements of our time. With historic changes unfolding and new opportunities emerging, Junaid will bring to this key position strategic leadership along with considerable experience of working in both India and South Asia to support this transformation," Kim said. Ahmad joined the World Bank in 1991 as a young professional. Later he worked in the World Bank on infrastructure development in Africa and Eastern Europe. He has since held several management positions, leading the bank's programme in diverse regions, including Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in India and South Asia. London, Sep 20 : Maggie Smith, known as the doyenne of acting in Britain, has responded to Jimmy Kimmel's joke that he wouldn't be passing on her Emmy Award after she missed the annual event. Kimmel hosted the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Smith, a nine-time Emmy nominated actress and four-time recipient, was honoured with the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Award for her role in "Downton Abbey". She previously won Emmys for the role in 2011 and 2012. But before presenters Minnie Driver and Michael Weatherly could accept the award on Smith's behalf, Kimmel intercepted the trophy and told Smith to retrieve it herself. "No, no, no, no, no. We're not mailing this award to her. Maggie, if you want this it'll be in the lost and found," said Kimmel. Smith put out a statement formally accepting her award, reports mirror.co.uk. "I was very astonished and pleased to win the award. I feel the Emmys has been overly generous to me," Smith said via the Masterpiece PBS Twitter account. "If Mr. Kimmel could please direct me to the lost and found office, I will try and be on the next flight," the actress wrote, undersigning the note as "Old Maggie". The host, who is known for his show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" - which currently airs in India on Star World and Star World HD - was applauded for his hosting gig. Latest updates on International Emmy Awards 2019 Bhubaneswar, Sep 20 : India on Tuesday successfully test-fired the Barak-8 long-range surface-to-air nuclear-capable ballistic missile, jointly developed with Israel, from a defence test facility off the Odisha coast. The missile was successfully launched at around 10.15 a.m. from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) launch pad at Chandipur in Balasore district, said a defence official. President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful launch. "Congratulations DRDO on the successful test-firing of Indo-Israeli surface-to-air missile Barak-8 from Odisha today (Tuesday)," a tweet on his official Twitter handle said. The DRDO is planning some more tests shortly, the official said. The advanced missile has been designed and developed by the DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries and Israel's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure. The Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) has the ability to hit targets within radii of 70 km to 90 km. It is designed to defend against any airborne threat, apart from aircraft and helicopters, and can also intercept supersonic aircraft and missiles. The missile weighs around 2.7 tonnes and is 4.5 metres in length. The district administration had temporarily shifted over 3,500 people living within a 2.5 km radius of the test facility. Barak-8 is based on the original Barak-1 missile but has a more advanced target-seeker. The radar system provides 360-degree coverage and the missile can take down an incoming missile as close as 500 meters away from a ship. Each Barak system, which includes missile container, radar, computers and installation, costs about $24 million. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Japan and Germany on Tuesday joined the international community in condemning Sunday's cross-border terror attack from Pakistan on an army base at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 18 Indian soldiers. "The government of Japan strongly condemns the terrorist attack on the Indian base in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, and extends its sincere condolences," Tokyo said in a statement,according to a tweet by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup. "Japan condemns terrorism in all forms regardless of its purposes and strongly reiterates that no act of terrorism can be justified," it said. "Japan expresses its solidarity with India in its fight against terrorism." In its statement, Germany said that it stood "firmly on the side of India in the fight against terrorism". "Every country has the responsibility to take decisive action against terrorism, which emanates from its own territory," it stated. India has blamed the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack in Uri. New York, Sep 20 : New York bombings suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, an Afghanistan-born American, had travelled multiple times to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was even married to a Pakistani woman, investigations have revealed. Rahami, 28, travelled to Quetta in Pakistan, which is said to be a stronghold of Islamic extremists, as well as to Kandahar in Afghanistan, reported UK daily Independent. On his visit to Quetta in July 2011, he married a Pakistani woman. Two years later, he made another trip to Pakistan along with his brother, Mohammad, and stayed there for a year, Independent reported. He stayed with his family members, who were refugees, in Quetta. He was questioned every time he returned to the United States, as is standard procedure, but was not on the radar as someone who might have been radicalised. According to Rahami's neighbours in New Jersey, his behaviour had changed after he returned from his trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Flee Jones, who claimed to have known Rahami since they were teenagers, told reporters that he became more religious, started growing a beard and dressed differently after he returned from Afghanistan in 2014. Rahami was taken into custody on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey and has been charged with murder. He is suspected of Saturday's bombings in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, and is believed to be connected to pipe bombs found Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey, CNN quoted sources as saying. Rahami was born in Afghanistan and came to the United States along with his father in 1995, seeking asylum. He became a citizen of the United States in 2011. He is now in custody. The New York City Police Department had earlier on Monday released a photograph of Rahami as the suspect in the Manhattan explosion incident, that left 29 people injured. Manila, Sep 20 : A Saudi Arabian passenger plane, with 300 persons on-board, triggered fears of a hijack today in Manila after mistakenly making a distress call. The plane, which landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport here, was held in isolation, media reported. Before landing, the plane's pilots reportedly told the Manila control tower that the plane was "under threat" and asked for emergency assistance, saying emergency 4 -- a code that could mean possible hijacking in airline jargon, Xinhua news agency reported. The alarm followed the pilot having reportedly pressed a hijack "panic button" twice. According to CNN Philippines, the control tower received a warning 32 kms before flight landed that it was under threat. The passengers of Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV 872, which took off from Jeddah shortly before midnight, later went through security checks as a matter of routine. Most of the passengers on the flight are believed to have been returning from the annual Hajj pilgrimage. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday advised against irresponsible statements over the central government's actions in the wake of the terror strike at an army camp in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead. "We must understand people's emotions and should not go on commenting everywhere. This is not a joke. It's a very serious matter," Rijiju told the media. "So many people have lost their lives, people's hearts are filled with emotions. In such a situation, every one expects us to take action," he said, adding that it is not necessary to make an announcement before any action is taken. TV talking heads and many on social media have been advocating strong retaliation against Pakistan. Rijiju refused to comment any further, saying the government will take action only after probing the issue completely. Eighteen soldiers were killed and 30 injured when four terrorists attacked the administrative base camp of an infantry battalion in the highly fortified Uri town of Baramulla district on Sunday. India has blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group for the attack. The group, which has not claimed responsibility, was also accused of mounting the January 2 attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot that left seven soldiers dead. Is the new needleless flu vaccine the beginning of airborne vaccination? In our societys quest to fool our children into believing that life is a risk-free, pain-free endeavor where they are never supposed to experience anything bad, the latest development in the charade is the needle-free vaccine. As bad as forced vaccination is, we apparently make it worse for our children when we expose them to a little temporary pain. But for the coming flu season anyway, kids will still get to experience a little bit of real life: Pediatricians, as well as vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have rejected FluMist, the first nasal spray influenza vaccine, ostensibly because it has proven regularly ineffective at preventing the flu. As reported by NBC News, new research appears to show that actual flu shots provided significantly better protection in recent years when compared to the nasal spray vaccine, says Dr. Henry Bernstein of Cohens Childrens Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York. Bernstein is one of the physicians who issued a statement on flu vaccines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP. He went on to tell the news network that while parents want their kids to be protected against influenza and still have the choice of avoiding an injection, I think that people recognize that flu vaccine is the best preventative measure that we have to offer flu protection. But is that really true? Or is there a different agenda other than over-protecting our kids at work here? Some believe that aerial spraying of vaccines is the eventual goal. For its part, FluMist maker AstraZeneca defended its product and claimed that it was very effective, according to European studies. Also, the drug maker said, a Canadian study affirmed that aerosol versions of flu vaccine were effective when used on 52 Hutterite colonies in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Proving aerosol vaccinations effective at delivering the proper dosage of a live virus is not something out of a science fiction movie plot. Its a real concept, and it was recently approved for deployment in Australia, according to one report. And The Liberty Beacon has also reported on the aerial vaccination concept, which is steadily progressing and is being tested via the release of chemtrails. As noted by Global Research, a Canadian think tank, aerial spraying of a chemical aimed at eliminating Zika virus-carrying mosquitoes has already been approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though there was no prior evidence to suggest that the chemical would be effective. In addition, the CDC published a proposed rule in mid-August that, if implemented, would grant the government authority (unto itself) to forcibly vaccinate Americans who have been forcibly quarantined as a way to control communicable diseases. While the method of vaccination was not specifically mentioned, the fact that the government and private industry are working together to perfect an aerosol version should give every freedom-loving citizen pause. Sources: NBCNews.com Annals.org PreventDisease.com GeoengineeringWatch.org GlobalResearch.ca Regulations.gov Nairobi, Sep 20 : In a case of hospital cruelty, the body of a teenager who died of kidney failure was being held by a Nairobi hospital for seven months due to unpaid bills. The Nairobi Women's Hospital is holding the body of Beretta Reri, an orphan, until the family pays hospital bills amounting to about $25,000. Caren Achieng, Reri's grandmother, says she has done all in her power to raise the money including begging but could not raise the amount. Johnson Mwithi, Nairobi Women's Hospital's Chief Officer of Business Development, said the hospital reviews each of their debtors on their own merit and if the debtor is unable to pay, they classify it as bad debt and write it off, Daily Nation reported. Mwithi said that in Reri's case, the hospital has been "handling several stakeholders who have been exploring different ways of offsetting the bill and are not at that point of declaring this a bad debt". Achieng took in the late teen in 2005, after her mother died of throat cancer and lives with her other daughter who has five children. Reri died in February 2016 of kidney failure. Oslo, Sep 20 : A Norwegian editor who successfully took on Facebook over its censorship of the famous "napalm girl" photograph has challenged Mark Zuckerberg to publicly face up to his responsibility as one of the worlds most powerful people. Espen Egil Hansen, whose newspaper Aftenposten helped force the social media site to back down in it decision to remove "The Terror of War" image from Facebook versions of its articles, accused Zuckerberg of ducking the debate. The Pulitzer prize-winning image was originally taken by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, and shows a naked nine-year-old Kim PhAc fleeing from a napalm bombing along with other children during the Vietnam War in 1972. He branded Facebook a "frenemy of the people" because of the way it dominates the internet. The company has relied instead on anonymous quotes released by a Swedish PR firm, Hansen told the Guardian on Tuesday. Hansen urged Zuckerberg to stop hiding behind the company's powerful algorithms and personally engage in this issue. He added that Zuckerberg's passive approach so far was "bad for democracy" and could be bad for the social media giant in the long run. "Zuckerberg is de facto the most powerful editor-in-chief on the globe. His influence is greater than all the Rupert Murdochs of this world could dream about A We have now arrived at the point where Facebook, by controlling what they show to more than 1 billion people every day, has aggregated so much editorial power that Zuckerberg must acknowledge his responsibility and take part in the discussion," Hansen said. The image, along with six more, was posted on Facebook by Norwegian writer Tom Egeland in a discussion of photographs that changed the history of warfare. Nagpur, Sep 20 : Two Indian Army men from the Vidarbha region in eastern Maharashtra, who were among the 18 soldiers killed in the Uri terror strike, were cremated with full military honours in their native villages in Amravati and Yavatmal districts on Tuesday afternoon. While Vikas Janardhan Kudmethe hailed from Purad village of Yavatmal, Punjab Janrao Uike was from Nandgaon-Khandeshwar in Amravati. Their bodies were brought by flight to Nagpur early on Tuesday and later kept for thousands of people to pay their last respects to the departed heroes. Later, the funeral corteges were taken in solemn processions to their respective villages where many thousands awaited with teary eyes received them amdist cries of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Vikas Kudmethe Amar Rahe", and "Punjab Uike Amar Rahe" respectively. Uike, 26 is survived his his father Janrao who served the army for 34 years before retiring from the Nagpur Ordnance Factory last year, his mother Bebitai, a brother and a sister whose husband Gajanan Kirapte is in the Border Security Force. His uncle Narayan had retired from the army last year. However, Uike's decision to join the army was opposed by his family, but he insisted and finally he joined the defence forces in 2009 after keeping it a secret from them. It was only after he was posted with the Bihar Regiment that the family learnt of his move and they accepted it. Incidentally, years ago when Janrao was posted in Punjab, Uike was born there so his family named him 'Punjab', said his grieving mother Bebitai. Last week, he had spoken with his family members and informed them that he had been transferred to Uri barely a fortnight ago. He was planning to get engaged around Diwali and marry later for which the entire family was very excited. Kudmethe, 27, of Amravati had joined the army five years ago and was married two years back. He is survived by his parents who work as labourers, his wife, an eight-month old daughter, and a sister who is married. His parents recalled how, during his last vacation at home two months ago, Kudmethe was eagerly looking forward to coming home for the first birthday celebrations of his daughter later this year. Hundreds of villagers of Nandgaon-Khandeshwar came out to support the family ever since the news of his killing reached here late on Sunday. At the funerals in Amravati and Yavatmal, a large of civil and military officials, elected representatives and local villagers were present to bid a final farewell to the two heroes. London, Sep 20 : Catastrophic nuclear accidents like Chernobyl disaster in the US that took place in 1986 and the more recent Japan's Fukushima disasters in 2011 may not be relics of the past. But the risk of such disasters are still more likely to occur once or twice per century, a study has warned. The study found that while nuclear accidents have substantially decreased in frequency, this has been accomplished by the suppression of moderate-to-large events. The researchers estimated that Fukushima and Chernobyl-scale disasters are still more likely than not once or twice per century, and that accidents like 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island in the US are more likely than not to occur every 10-20 years. For the study, a team of international risk experts analysed more than 200 nuclear accidents -- the biggest-ever analysis of nuclear accidents -- which provided a grim assessment of the risk estimated by the nuclear industry. The "flawed and woefully incomplete" public data from the nuclear industry is leading to an over-confident attitude to risk, the researchers warned. "We have found that the risk level for nuclear power is extremely high," said lead author Spencer Wheatley, Professor at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. "The next nuclear accident may be much sooner or more severe than the public realises," added Benjamin Sovacool, Professor at the University of Sussex in Britain. Further, the standard methodology used by the International Atomic Energy Agency to predict accidents and incidents -- particularly when focusing on consequences of extreme events -- is also problematic, the researchers said. The study, which put fresh pressure on the nuclear industry to be more transparent with data on incidents, also called for a fundamental rethink of how accidents are rated, arguing that the current method (the discrete seven-point International Nuclear Event Scale or INES) is highly imprecise, poorly defined, and often inconsistent. For example, the Fukushima accident and the Chernobyl accident are rated 7 -- the maximum severity level -- on the INES scale. However, Fukushima alone would need a score of between 10 and 11 to represent the true magnitude of consequences, the researchers said. To remove a possibility of such disasters would likely require enormous changes to the current fleet of reactors, which is predominantly second-generation technology, Wheatley noted. But, "even if we introduce new nuclear technology, as long as older facilities remain operational -- likely, given recent trends to extend permits and relicense existing reactors -- their risks, and the aggregate risk of operating the global nuclear fleet, remain," Sovacool said. The results were published in the journals Energy Research & Social Scienceand Risk Analysis. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Underlining the perception that it will not be business as usual with Pakistan after Sunday's Uri terror attack, Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Ramrao Bhamre said India has "changed its policy" towards its western neighbour. He also said Pakistan will be given a "stern message" in the wake of the terror attack that left 18 Indian soldiers dead and 30 injured. "I can assure the nation that the culprits will not be spared, we have made it clear that they will be given a befitting reply," Bhamre said in an interview to IANS, adding that an appropriate response was being discussed at a "very high level". "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also made it clear that it was a heinous crime and that the perpetrators will not go unpunished," he added. "Pakistan has a history of fomenting trouble in Jammu and Kashmir... In spite of this, we tried to resolve the issue peacefully, but we have realised that Pakistan is not sincere towards peace... We (Government of India) have changed our policy," said Bhamre. Bhamre, who described the September 18 attack as a "cowardly act", noted that the government has already initiated moves to convince the international community to "isolate" Islamabad diplomatically on the issue of terrorism, adding the "message to Islamabad should go from the global community". "Sushmaji (External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj) is likely to raise the issue in the UN General Assembly," he added. "Even the United States some time ago agreed that Pakistan is a haven for terrorism. If this is so why not isolate it? That's our policy today after the Uri attack. So, why not give a stern message to Pakistan," Bhamre told IANS. The US last month said that it had consistently raised its concerns at the highest level of government in Pakistan on the need to deny safe haven to extremists. Bhamre admitted there is a lot of "anguish" in the country over the dastardly terror strike which the Army has blamed on the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit. (Nirendra Dev can be contacted at nirendra.n@ians.in) Shillong, Sep 20 : Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday asked the Directors and Chairmen of 20 Indian Institutes of Management to submit plans for expansion of their intake capacity from 10,000 to 20,000 students. Javadekar's instruction came during his meeting with the Directors and Chairman of the B-schools, which was held at the Indian Institute Management-Shillong campus on Tuesday morning. "We have decided to increase the intake capacity of students from 10,000 to 20,000 so that more students will get opportunity to take part in these best institutes. All (IIM) Directors have also narrated how they are ready for how much expansion and if there are problems they will mention it and submit action plans on expansion of students intake," Javadekar told journalists. Apart from increasing the B-schools' intake capacity, the minister said, "The IIMs have also decided to expand (the number of) doctoral programmes (PhD programmes) to address the shortage of faculty through creating quality PhDs." "We also discussed how to expand PhD programmes by offering IIM scholars more fellowships. As in Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) Council, we have decided to give Prime Minister Research Fellowship. We will also take government's approval for Prime Minister's scholarship for the best of the best PhD scholars in IIMs. But the final decision will be taken by the cabinet," he stated. On Prime Minister Research Fellowship for IIT scholars, Javadekar said, "The IITs already have their own funding. Therefore, we also want to provide these benefits for IIM scholars, and necessary sanction will be given to this soon." Javadekar said the IIMs would also participate in the new initiative of the government to make 20 world-class universities/institutes. "The government will create world-class institutes -- ten in government sector and ten in private sector. Therefore, the IIMs should also prepare themselves because these world-class institutes will be decided finally by challenge mode," he said. Asked whether any of the proposed world-class universities/institutes will be established in the northeastern states, the Union Minister said, "As I said, everybody will participate... As you know, after Modi became Prime Minister, the whole focus on northeast has increased not only in academic but in every sector. Therefore, this programme will be finalised and declared soon after cabinet approval." The minister said that the IIMs will create content for the online course 'SWAYAM' also. On the shortage of teaching faculty in the IIMs, Javadekar said, "Unlike in the IITs where we have 30 per cent shortage of teachers, in IIMs it is not much. However, we have also discussed this in our meeting how to inculcate teachership in students, how to promote doctoral research programmes, how to expand it, and how to bring the best of Indian students studying abroad as faculty, which will also be worked out." Asked if the government plans to have reservation for the Scvhedueld Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Othwer Backward Castes in teaching jobs at IIMs, all set up by the government, Javadekar said, "I do not know who started all this. It's already in the Constitution, no one can bypass the Constitution. So reservation is already there." Denying that educational institutions have turned into "hotbed of politics" in India bringing down the quality of education, Javadekar said that the main focus of students is still academics. "That is why we started national ranking framework which is appreciated and this time will be expanded. So it is evaluating the institutes correctly so that a good national ranking framework (is developed) and we have brought our own national ranking framework and more importantly, we have found out that even in world/international ranking there is weightage of perception, (which) is nearly 40 per cent, perception about the institutes," he said. He said the government has also decided to start an outreach programmes with alumni and Indian diaspora for their active participation, and to bring more foreign students/foreign faculties, more exchanges between India and foreign countries which would help in creating right perception about the Indian institutes and then we will get right place in international ranking also. On disturbance in universities campuses, Javadekar said, "I think the collective wisdom will prevail ultimately. The campuses that used to get disturbed over the years are now more disciplined. I believe that collective wisdom prevails." Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston New York/New Delhi, Sep 20 : Indian media was not allowed to attend a press briefing addressed by Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in New York, and an Indian journalist of NDTV news channel was asked to leave the room -- an apparent outcome of the simmering bilateral relations. "Iss Indian ko nikalo (remove this Indian)," were the words directed at Namrata Brar, a journalist with NDTV, and she was asked to leave the room at the Roosevelt Hotel on Monday, where the Pakistan Foreign Secretary was to address the media on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, NDTV reported. No Indian was allowed to attend the briefing, the news channel reported. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also avoided Indian journalists during his trip to New York to attend the UN meet. Bilateral tensions between the two countries has escalated over the Kashmir issue, especially with Pakistan seen to openly back the separatist-fuelled unrest in the valley and raising the issue of alleged human rights violations at the international fora. The incident also comes after Sunday's terror attack on the Uri army base camp in Jammu and Kashmir which claimed the lives of 18 soldiers. Kolkata, Sep 20 : The Ministry of Coal on Monday formed a five-member committee to "chalk out a tentative policy on the disposal of washery rejects" and requested the panel to submit its report within 15 days. "It has been decided to constitute a committee to analyse the comments/suggestions furnished by stakeholders on the draft policy formulated by Ministry of Coal for disposal of washery rejects and thereafter chalk out a tentative policy on the disposal of washery rejects," the notification said. The panel will be headed by Chairman and Managing Director of Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDI) and the other four members are two directors (Technical and Marketing) of Coal India Ltd (CIL), director of Coal Controller and director (Technical) of the ministry. According to the notification, the group has been given a task to list out amendments in the draft policy formulated by the ministry vis-a-vis the comments furnished by stakeholders. It will also analyse the acceptability of the suggestions of stakeholders and point out the reasons for acceptance or rejection of the comments. The tentative policy is expected to maintain a "harmonious balance between the draft policy formulated by MoC and comments/suggestion given by stakeholders". Islamabad, Sep 20 : Ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's address at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly on September 26, overseas Pakistanis are planning to protest against the alleged "brutalities" by Indian security forces in Kashmir. As Pakistan lobbies for the support of the international community on the Kashmir issue -- the main agenda of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's speech at the UNGA on Wednesday -- Kashmiris from across the border will protest to "express their solidarity" with people of the valley, said Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, former Prime Minister of Pakistan-held Kashmir. "India has been committing grave human rights violations in Kashmir for 72 days and killing innocent Kashmiri women and children. Kashmiris from all over the world would unmask Indian brutality before the world community," Dawn online quoted Mahmood as telling the media. According to him, permission for the protest had already been sought. "We are also trying to stage a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in Canada or Canadian parliament in protest against human rights violations in Kashmir," he said. According to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader, Sharif's address at the UNGA would be an exercise in futility. "Kashmiris want him to truly represent sentiments of 200 million Pakistanis and Kashmiris instead of delivering a formal speech." Mahmood also criticised Sharif for what he called his decision to send some members of the National Assembly for "joyrides" abroad in the name of projecting the Kashmir cause. While the premier is set to highlight the Kashmir issue on Wednesday, India is preparing to raise the September 18 attack by four terrorists -- suspected to be from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group -- at the Uri Army camp which left 18 soldiers dead and over 30 injured. Chandigarh, Sep 20 : At least six children were killed and 20 injured when a school bus fell into a drain near Punjab's Amritsar town on Tuesday, police said. The children were students of M.K.D. DAV Public School in Neshta village near Attari, located close to the India-Pakistan border. Five of the 11 children who were taken to a private hospital in Chheharta were declared brought dead, Deputy Superintendent of Police Amandeep Kaur told reporters. She said the others have been admitted to the hospital's Intensive Care Unit. One more child died in another hospital. Around 40 students, a majority of them in the age group of seven to 12 years, were returning to their homes from the school in the bus. Eyewitnesses told the police that the bus got stuck on the bridge over the drain. As the driver tried to manoeuver it, the bus skidded off the road and hung precariously for a few minutes before falling into the drain, said an eyewitness. Locals said the administration had a tough time in extracting the victims from the bus, though villagers started the rescue operations before the authorities could reach the spot. Srinagar, Sep 20 : Ten infiltrating militants were killed and an army soldier critically injured in two gunfights in north Kashmir's Baramulla and Kupwara districts on Tuesday. Defence sources said 10 infiltrating militants were killed in an ongoing operation on the Line of Control (LoC) in Lachipora area in Uri sector where a group of 15 heavily armed militants tried to enter the Indian side, during a ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army. "Lachipora operation against the infiltrating terrorists is still on," a defence source said. The area on the LoC where the infiltrating militants were challenged by the army is barely six km from the army camp that was attacked by four suicide guerrillas on Sunday morning in the garrison town of Uri. Eighteen soldiers were killed and 30 others injured in the Uri attack. All the four fidayeen attackers were also killed. In the other operation, a group of heavily armed militants was challenged by the security forces in Nowgam area of Kupwara district near the LoC, police sources said. "When challenged, the group of heavily armed militants fired at the security forces, triggering an encounter in which one army soldier was critically injured. "The encounter is still going on in the area. There are five to six militants engaged in the encounter by the security forces in Nowgam area," a police source said. The latest infiltration bid comes as New Delhi and Islamabad are locked in a bitter diplomatic war of words following the Uri terror attack, which India has blamed on militants from Pakistan. Pakistan has denied the allegations even as India claimed to have clinching evidence to support its claims. The Indian Army has said it has recovered arms, ammunition and food and medicine packets with Pakistani markings during the combing operations at the military base in Uri. India also claimed that the four attackers gunned down during the two-and-half hours of gunfight were foreigners. According to the Indian Army, infiltration attempts from across the border with Pakistan have increased this year in comparison with the past three to four years. In 2016 so far, the Indian Army has foiled n 18 infiltration bids from across the border. Some 110 militants were killed and 31 of them were gunned down near the LoC. The army said it was a "desperate attempt" by Pakistan to create "disturbance and foment unrest" in India. Kolkata, Sep 20 : Objecting to a section in the draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention and Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016, representatives of sex workers' collectives from east India on Tuesday asserted that many are involved in the business "voluntarily" and do not want to be "rescued". At least 80 representatives of sex workers' collectives from Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha shared their views on the bill, the fourth draft version of which has been put forth by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development. "There are many sex workers who are involved in sex work voluntarily and many of them do not want to be 'rescued'. There is no need to treat sex workers like criminals," representatives of the collectives said in a statement. One particular section of the draft legislation gives police officials the power to carry out a search without any warrant, they said, referring to chapter four, under Section 23 (2), of the bill. Further, they demanded the choice for rehabilitation and medical examination should rest with the "victim" of trafficking. "Everything, including medical examination or rehabilitation, should be based on voluntary choices of the victim," said Geetarani Dutta, General Secretary, All India Network of Sex Workers (AINSW), Odisha. Such anti-trafficking efforts should also include representatives of community-based organisations, including labour organisations or sex workers' organisations, Dutta said. "Though we understand that the purpose of this bill is to prevent all forms of human trafficking, it is equally important to know that all sex workers are not trafficked. In fact, as community-based organisations working for sex workers, we not only promote health seeking behaviour among sex workers but also have formed a self-regulatory board to avoid any minor trafficking," said Kusum, President of AINSW. The representatives on Monday attended a regional consultation on the fourth draft version of the Trafficking of Persons Bill, 2016, organised by CREA, Lawyers Collective and Centre for Advocacy and Research. Oklahoma (Us), Sep 20 : Oklahoma police department have released a video showing a 40-year-old black man with his hands raised above his head just before being fatally shot by a white police officer. Terence Crutcher, was first tasered by officer Tyler Turnbough and then shot dead by officer Betty Shelby during an encounter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at around 7.40 p.m. on Friday. The police officers were responding to reports of an abandoned vehicle blocking a road. Police originally claimed that Crutcher was not cooperating with officers when they arrived and would not raise his hands in the air when instructed to, the Independent reported. However, in the video, Crutcher can be seen raising his arms in the air in the middle of the street. He stood beside his driver's side window as several police officers stood behind him with their weapons raised. Tulsa's police chief, Chuck Jordan, said at a news conference on Monday that Crutcher was unarmed and did not have a weapon in his vehicle. "I'm going to tell you right now that there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect's vehicle," Jordan said. He assured people that justice will be achieved. Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, said the family demands to know what happened and wants charges pressed against Police Officer Betty Shelby, who shot and killed Crutcher, USA Today reported. "When unarmed people of colour break down on the side of the road, we're not treated as citizens needing help, we are treated as criminals, as suspects," Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney, told The Post. On September 15, 13-year-old African-American teen Tyre King, was fatally shot by a police officer who had brandished a firearm which was later determined to be an air gun. New Delhi, Sep 20 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the centrale and Delhi governments to take effective steps to ensure that the dengue and chikungunya patients are not denied treatment or admission in any of the hospitals in the national capital. A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Jusice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal also asked the Centre and the Delhi government to increase the strength of doctors, nurses and other staff in hospitals here. "The government of India as well as government of NCT of Delhi should take effective steps to ensure that the dengue patients are not denied treatment/admission in any of the hospital (government/Private) of Delhi," the court said in its order. "Further steps should be taken to increase the strength of doctors, nurses, other staff by engaging retired personnel, if so required to meet the exigencies. Assistance of NGOs who are involved in such activities may also be taken," it said. The court's direction came on a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Shahid Ali, who accused the governments and the three municipal corporations of not acting vigilantly and responsibly in tackling mosquito-borne diseases. The court also directed civic agencies to take appropriate steps for periodical visits of the houses, more particularly of those located in slum areas, for prevention of mosquito breeding by adopting the necessary anti-mosquito measures such as fogging operations and insecticides spraying. The central and Delhi governments and civic bodies shall "conduct awareness campaigns and advertise through various modes viz. hoardings, television, newspapers, radio etc. to make the public aware of the life threatening disease", said the bench. Earlier, the Delhi government told the court that less number of dengue and chikungunya cases were reported in the national capital this year as compared to last year. Paris, Sep 20 : Eight individuals were arrested in southern France with presumed links to the Nice terror attack in which a truck driver ran over and killed 86 persons on July 14, media reported on Tuesday. The eight new suspects were arrested in Alpes-Maritimes region and were Tunisian and French nationals who had contact with the driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the reports, all the suspects were placed into custody. Bouhlel, 31, rammed a heavy truck into a crowd of revellers gathered along the promenade in Nice to watch fireworks marking Bastille Day. At least five persons, aged between 22 and 40, have already been under formal investigation and were accused of helping the attacker. The Islamic State militant group has claimed the attack, saying Bouhlel was one of its "soldiers". Mumbai, Sep 20 : Amidst all negative criticism for Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif for winning the 'Smita Patil Memorial Award', ace actress Juhi Chawla on Tuesday stood by her, saying the 'Baar Baar Dekho' star deserves an award. Both the actresses graced the Priyadarshni Academy's 32nd Anniversary Global Awards function in Mumbai on Monday. While Katrina received the 'Smita Patil Memorial Award' for her outstanding contribution in Bollywood, Juhi was the recipient of the 'Priyadarshni Academy's 32nd Anniversary Global Awards'. "I think our memory is very short. Just a few years ago, I remember Katrina Kaif was in a row. She had about 10 super-duper hit films to her credit. I think she deserves an award. She is very beautiful and a committed actress," the 48-year-old actress told the media. Earlier, another talented actor Swara Bhaskar also lauded Katrina for winning the award. Hitting back at the critics, the 'Nil Battey Sannata' actress wrote in her column: "Whether or not Katrina Kaif is a good actor notwithstanding, there is no denying that she is a hugely hard-working, disciplined and diligent person. It reflects in her work." "Any artist of any field will tell you that hard work is something to be respected," she added. Katrina, 33, who has worked in well-received films like "New York", "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani", "Raajneeti", "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" and "Dhoom 3", ensured that she will keep her sincerity towards her work intact. "I believe the most important thing in art is truth. And I promise my attempt to be truthful and sincere to the craft which has largely given me the purpose of my life over the last 15 years." "The one thing I do hope is that I continue to entertain the audience who have given me so much love and support. I hope I can make them proud of me," she said while addressing the media at the event. On the work front, the "Namastey London" actress is filming for Anurag Basu's comedy-mystery film "Jagga Jasoos" with Ranbir Kapoor. Katrina has also confirmed to reprise the role of "Zoya" in Ali Abbas Zafar's "Tiger Zinda Hai", the sequel of the 2012 film "Ek Tha Tiger" opposite Salman Khan. Moscow, Sep 20 : Nearly 70 nations are working in Russia in the area of innovation and scientific cooperation and it is important for the country to attract international investors in this sector, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday. "Between 60 to 70 countries are working in Russia in the area of innovation and scientific cooperation. It is important for countries, be it China, Brazil, the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, or others, to communicate and jointly work on challenges in the field of innovation," Medvedev said in his address at the opening ceremony here of a global conference under the auspices of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP). The Spain-headquartered IASP is the largest worldwide network of science parks and areas of innovation, uniting technology parks, business incubators and institutions, and it has a Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). "We see the leaders of the global innovative community gathered here. A science park is actually a number of related services and these communications are getting increasingly international," Medvedev said. "Knowledge is required from different disciplines, not every startup has the capacity to acquire on their own all these various essential knowledge," he added. The Russian capital is hosting the four-day 33rd annual IASP Conference for the first time, following its selection as the venue after a global competition. Over 1,500 participants from around 70 countries are participating, including technopark representatives from Russia, the US, Spain, Britain, Brazil, South Korea, China, Sweden, among others. The theme of IASP 2016 is "The Global Mind: Linking Innovation Communities for Internationalization, Sustainability and Growth". The IASP's mandate is to contribute to global economic development through innovation, entrepreneurship, and the transfer of knowledge and technology. Russia's biggest innovation fund, the Skolkovo Foundation, is the local organiser of the conference here. Falling global prices of oil that is a major Russian resource, has made it imperative for the government to accelerate the country's transformation from a resource-intensive to an innovation-based economy. Oil prices fell by more than two-thirds -- from over $100 a barrel to under $30 -- between June 2014 and January 2016. Prices have recovered somewhat this year, rising to nearly $50 in May, before dropping to just over $40 a barrel in recent weeks. The Russian economy is deep into a recession with the GDP in decline for the sixth consecutive quarter. It is also estimated that the $72 million National Wealth Fund, built up when oil prices were high, could be depleted in 2017-2019. Created in 2010 by the Russian government, the Skolkovo Foundation runs the Skolkovo City here which houses an innovation centre comprising over 1,500 companies and start-ups, a Technopark and a new university established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The resident companies in the Startup Village conduct research in diverse fields ranging from information technology and robotics, space, energy-efficiency technologies and new materials. "The cumulative revenue of Skolkovo's start-ups through January 2016 reached $1.6 billion. They brought in more than $350 million in investment, creating 18,000 jobs and filing over 1,900 patent applications along the way," Skolkovo said in a release here. IASP President Jean-Francois Balducci told IANS on the sidelines of the event, that they were bringing the conference to Moscow for the first time because of Russia's reputation as a leader in the field of science and technology and the fact that these disciplines are flourishing in Russia. "Science parks and innovative development zones are growing rapidly in Russia. We are a global network and Internationalism is a philosophy with us," he said. Asked about the recent trends in reverse globalisation as seen in Britain voting to leave the EU, Balducci said: "Things like Brexit should encourage us scientists to be more proactive in countering such trends. IASP doesn't believe in such trends. Progress is only possible if innovation is shared." (Biswajit Choudhury is attending the conference at the invitation of the Skolkovo Foundation. He can be reached at biswajit.c@ians.in) New Delhi, Sep 20 : There has been a four-point decline in the Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) during 2013-14, said Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Tuesday. "Recent data from the Registrar General of India (RGI) for the Sample Registration Survey (SRS) for the year 2014 indicates 8.16 per cent decline in under-five mortality (during 2013-2014) as compared to 5.76 per cent decline during 2012-2013," said Nadda addressing media at the Health Ministry here. "Focussed, committed and targeted interventions of the government have borne positive fruits in 2014. The Under-5 Child Mortality has fallen by a significant four points during 2013-14," Nadda said. According to the Health Ministry, the U5MR in 2014 was 45 compared to U5MR in 2013, which stood at 49 indicating a 4 point decline. "While the decline between 2012-13 was by three points ( it was 52 in 2012 and 49 in 2013). This implies that about 1.26 lakh additional under-five deaths have been averted in 2014," said Nadda, adding that India is set to achieve MDG4 target of under-five mortality of 42 per 1000 live births in 2015 considering the significant progress in 2014. Nadda said that the significant point decline in the U5MR has been recorded in 15 states -- Assam (7), UP (7), Rajasthan (6), Chattisgarh (4), Delhi (5), Gujarat (4), Haryana(5), Odisha (6), Himachal Pradesh (5), Jammu and Kashmir (5), Jharkhand (4), Karnataka (4), Madhya Pradesh (4), Punjab (4) and West Bengal (5). The data from the ministry also revealed that 16 out of 20 states have shown a decline of more than and equal to 3 points. "Moreover, the rural urban differential in under-five mortality is reduced to 23 points in comparison to 26 points in 2013 indicating good progress in rural areas.The success has been possible due to dedicated efforts during the neonatal period through establishment of special new-born care units (SNCU), systematic home visits by ASHA workers," said Nadda. New Delhi, Sep 20 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu every day till September 27, overriding the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's order of 3,000 cusecs. The bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, giving the direction to Karnataka, also directed the central government to constitute a Cauvery Management Board in four weeks' time and report to the court with notification of it being set up. The order for releasing 6,000 cusecs is double the 3,000 cusecs ordered by the Cauvery Supervisory Committee (CSC), but half of the 12,000 cusecs the court had ordered on September 12 for Karnataka to release till September 20. The matter will come up for further hearing on September 27. Before the court could pass the order, senior counsel Fali Nariman made an impassioned plea not to ask Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu as it needed water for drinking purposes. He said Tamil Nadu could not ask for irrigation purposes the water Karnataka needed for drinking in Bengaluru and other places. "Now we have to supply (to Tamil Nadu) from our drinking water. I can't give any water. You issue an order. It will have its consequences," Nariman told the court, pointing to the agitation that had engulfed both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu recently. "I need water for my Samba crop from the South-West monsoon as I get my water from North-East monsoon in October only. I need water before October 15," senior counsel Shekhar Nahade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the bench. Making light of Karnataka's argument that Tamil Nadu should take whatever has been given to it and the rest would be provided after the end of the monsoon based on calculation of deficit rainfall, Naphade said, "It is like telling a camel that you consume (water) now, and the rest (would get it) at the end." Taking exception to Karnataka's argument on the consequences of the court's order, senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi said: "I don't know on what basis they are saying so (on being deprived of drinking water). It is some kind of terror. You are carrying on street war in the court." Not missing the obvious threat behind the word "consequences", the court recalled in its order about obligation of people to obey its order and reminded the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments of their constitutional obligation to see that law and order prevails. Noting that it has not been disputed by all the concerned that Cauvery Management Board (CMB) has to constituted, Justice Misra said: "It is the duty of the Central government to constitute the CMB under the award by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. You are bound to do it. You have not constituted it so far. You did not constitute it." As Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand defended inaction on the part of the government, saying that the Cauvery award was under challenge before the apex court, the bench said: "We did not stay it (the award). You constitute the CMB. If they (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) challenge it, (then) we will see." In an order passed after over two hour long hearing, the court permitted both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu -- who had said that they were aggrieved by the Supervisory Committee (CSC) order of September 19 -- to file their objections before the Committee within three days time. Karnataka said that the CSC while directing it to release 3,000 cusecs of water every day to Tamil Nadu hasn't given any reasons, and from the tenor of the order it appears as if it is the view expressed by the Chairman. The court noted that Tamil Nadu was aggrieved on the quantum of water that CSC has asked Karnataka to release to Tamil Nadu. New Delhi, Sep 20 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the central government's response on the plea by Italian marine Massimilano Latorre seeking permission to continue to stay in his country - a relief that has already been granted to his colleague Salvatore Girone - in wake of international arbitration. Both Chief Master Sergeant Latorre and Sergeant Major Girone are accused of killing two fishermen in February 2012 off the Kerala coast allegedly mistaking them to be pirates. Latorre had moved the top court seeking parity with his colleague Girone who has already returned home on May 26 following the top court's order. Giving the government a week's time to submit its response, the bench of Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Amitava Roy said that they would consider Latorre's plea on September 28. Latorre, who is already in Italy on the grounds of his treatment, sees his last extension of time for remain there end on September 30. Girone was allowed to go back after the Indian government did not object to the Italian government's plea that he may be allowed to return as international arbitration on the jurisdiction to try both would take some time before their actual trial could commence. The top court had allowed Girone to return to Italy in the wake of April 29 order of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) asking both India and Italy to cooperate for Girone's return till arbitration proceedings before it are ongoing. The international arbitral tribunal has been established under Annex VII of the United Nation Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for adjudicating on the dispute between India and Italy over their jurisdiction to try the two marines. Bhubaneswar, Sep 20 : The monsoon session of the Odisha Assembly is set to begin on a stormy note on Wednesday with the opposition parties -- the Congress and the BJP -- preparing to step up attack on the ruling BJD on the floor of the house. On the other hand, the ruling party said it is ready to discuss any issue brought by the opposition parties. The opposition parties have decided to raise Kandhamal encounter, Nagada malnutrition death, Dana Majhi case, shortage of doctors, farmers' plight among other issues. "The party would raise several issues during the monsoon session. The state government has completely failed to provide basic facilities to the people," said Leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra. The Congress on Wednesday held its legislature party meeting to prepare the strategies for the session. BJP President Basant Panda said the party would raise several issues including killing of innocent tribals in Kandhamal, Nagada malnutrition and other issues. Meanwhile, the legislature party of the Biju Janata Dal held a meeting on Tuesday to prepare to counter the Opposition. "We shall take several issues on the floor of the house including Mahanadi water issue, Polavaram project issue and cutting of central fund by the government of India," said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. New Delhi, Sep 20 : In an effort to free the national capital from mosquito menace and to keep a check on the spread of vector borne diseases such as chikungunya and dengue, the Delhi government will carry out a fogging drive here for a month beginning from Thursday. Announcing a comprehensive drive, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said the government will supplement the efforts of the civic bodies in carrying out the steps for prevention of vector borne diseases. "First phase of the fogging will begin from Thursday with 100 machines and from September 26 the drive will be in full swing with 600 machines taken up. It will be done in every street of the city on alternate days," Sisodia told the media here. "Though this is the work of the municipal authorities but seeing the seriousness of the situation we have decided to supplement the MCDs' work for this month-long drive. It is expected to substantially reduce the possibility of vector borne diseases," he said. Sisodia appealed to the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi to support the Aam Aadmi Party government's effort to eliminate mosquitoes. "We appeal to the MCDs to perform their work and we shall do our duty. We do not wish to get into why the primary duty of prevention of vector borne diseases and cleaning of garbage did not take place despite all funds having been released before time and repeated meetings," Sisodia said. He also appealed to the civic corporations to ensure cleanliness of the "Dhalaaos (garbage dump)" which were often overflowing, with garbage not being cleared regularly. The minister urged the MCDs to ensure that silt from the sewers was removed immediately after cleaning. "The cleanliness drive should be conducted in tandem with the fogging drive and all efforts must be made to curb the rising number of mosquito borne diseases," Sisodia added. Delhi has so far witnessed over 30 deaths from vector borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya. Los Angeles, Sep 20 : One of Hollywood's highest profile marriages has come to an end, after actress Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from husband Brad Pitt, CNN reported. Jolie filed for divorce on Monday citing irreconcilable differences. She is seeking physical custody of their six kids, suggesting that Pitt get visitation rights. Jolie did not seek spousal support, E! Online added. Jolie and Pitt got together in 2004 after starring in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and secretly got married in 2014 in a chapel at ChAteau Miraval in the village of Correns, France. Jolie adopted daughter Zahara from Ethiopia, and in early 2006 she announced that she and Pitt were expecting a baby. Shortly thereafter, Pitt was granted the right to legally adopt Maddox and Zahara. Their daughter Shiloh was born in May 2006, and son Pax was adopted from Vietnam in March 2007. Jolie gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox in July 2008. The couple announced their engagement in 2012. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Accusing India of "double standards" on terrorism, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti "is a terrorist" and India should not give him asylum. General (retd) Musharraf's remarks came amid reports that Bugti has formally sought political asylum in India, and New Delhi is willing to grant it. "He (Bugti) is a terrorist. India should not give him asylum," Musharraf told CNN-News18 channel from London. The former Pakistani military dictator accused India of adopting double standards on terrorism. "You (India) cannot say your terrorist is a terrorist but our terrorist is not a terrorist," he said. Musharraf also denied Pakistan Army's role in the Uri army camp attack on Sunday, and warned of consequences in case of any militray strike against Pakistan. "The persons talking about military retaliation, including your DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) and your Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) should understand the consequences," the former Pakistan Army chief, who assumed power in a coup against the then Prtime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said. "If you strike at the time and place of your choosing, we will strike back at the time and place of our choosing as well. It does not stop at your action; what will follow should also be considered," he added. Quizzed about the equipment used by Pakistan military as well as weapons found on Uri attackers, Musharraf said these could be procured anywhere in the world and do not qualify as evidence of Pakistan's involvement. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Asserting that India as a nation stands united, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called for isolating Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism. "India and Pakistan are neighbours and should live peacefully. But they (Pakistan) have made terrorism their state policy. This is unacceptable. Pakistan should be isolated," Naidu said. Naidu stressed that despite stray incidents between different communities in India, the Indian society was united due to a common culture. "Hamara sabka poorvaj ek hai (Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikh all have common ancestry)," the minister said at a function here to formally rename Paryavaran Bhavan as 'Deendayal Antyodaya Bhavan'. Naidu, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, said that the word nation does not denote only the soil but also its people. Hence, nationalism means all people -- irrespective of their religion, caste, language or region -- should be united, the minister said. "A terrorist is a terrorist, a corrupt (person) corrupt -- they have no religion," he said. New Jersey, Sep 20 : A fast-food restaurant run by the family of New York bombings suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami has been flooded with negative reviews and Islamophobic messages ever since Rahami was identified by the police, UK daily Independent has reported. The restaurant named 'First American Fried Chicken' is run by Rahami's father at the ground floor of their residence in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and has employed Rahami and some of his brothers. According to neighbours, the restaurant was "always" a nuisance and the city had to pass an ordinance to force it to close down early, The New York Times quoted Mayor J. Christian Bollwage of Elizabeth as saying. In the hours following the identification of Rahami as a bombing suspect, a stream of negative reviews starting pouring from across the United States on the Yelp review page of the restaurant, which, so far, had quite a positive rating. Some messages were crass or tasteless, "others openly Islamophobic", reported Independent. While one reviewer from Louisiana called the Rahamis "Filthy Mohammedan Savages", another advised people not to spend their money on businesses that hate America. "I hope your son gets water-boarded," read another review. Till Monday morning, the restaurant had an average rating of 4.67 stars from three reviews. In a few hours, the rating plunged to below two stars. Meanwhile, people living in the neighbourhood complained that the restaurant drew unruly crowds as the restaurant stayed open all night. One of the neighbours complained of often finding the restaurant customers "loitering" in his yard and "urinating" in his driveway. The City Council passed an ordinance to force it to close at 10 p.m, the New York Times quoted the mayor as saying. However, the Rahami family sued the city of Elizabeth for "discrimination" on account of his "ethnicity", the mayor said. Ahmad Rahami was born in Afghanistan and came to the United States along with his father in 1995, seeking asylum. He became a citizen of the United States in 2011. The New York City Police Department had earlier on Monday released a photograph of Rahami as the suspect in the Manhattan explosion incident, that left 29 people injured. Rahami was taken into custody on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. Hyderabad, Sep 20 : Two more public-sector banks have come forward to extend loan of Rs 4,270 crore for Mission Bhagiratha, the flagship programme of Telangana government to provide drinking water to every household in the state. While Bank of India will provide Rs 2,270 crore, Union Bank of India agreed to extend an assistance of Rs 2,000 crore. The officials of the two banks conveyed this on Tuesday to S. P. Singh, Special Secretary, Panchayat Raj and Managing Director, Mission Bhagiratha. The loan is in addition to Rs 6,750 crore which seven banks have already agreed to extend for the project. Last month, a consortium of seven banks headed by Andhra Bank had announced that it will extend the loan. During the meeting with officials of Bank of India and Union Bank of India, Singh explained the salient features of the programme and said extending loans for the scheme will amount to capital investment. He said the government will stand guarantee for the loans. Bank of India's Telangana zonal manager Vishwanath said the bank would be honoured to partner with the state for the project as it is aimed at ensuring supply of safe drinking water, which is the basic right of the people. Union Bank of India's Hyderabad regional manager Venkatesh said the programme was becoming a role model for the whole country. He said the bank on its own decided to provide Rs 2,000 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month formally launched Mission Bagiratha, which is estimated to cost Rs 40,000 crore Durban, Sep 20 : Indian Naval ships Kolkata, Trikand, and Aditya arrived at Durban on Tuesday, for a three day visit, an official statement said. The statement issued by Indian Navy called is a demonstration of India's "commitment to its ties with South Africa and to maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region". The ships are part of the Indian Navy's Western Fleet based at Mumbai under the Western Naval Command and are on a two month long deployment to the Western Indian Ocean. Guided missile destroyer INS Kolkata is commanded by Captain Rahul Vilas Gokhale, Talwar-class guided missile frigate INS Trikand is commanded by Captain Arjun Dev Nair and replenishment and repair ship INS Aditya is commanded by Captain Vidyanshu Srivastava. During the visit, the warships will have professional interactions with the South African Naval Forces for enhancing co-operation and sharing the nuances of naval operations including combating maritime threats of terrorism and piracy. Calls on senior government and military authorities, training and technical cooperation measures with their South African counterparts, sporting and cultural interactions, aimed at strengthening ties and mutual understanding between the two forces, are also planned. The last visit by an Indian Naval ship to South Africa was in November 2014, when Indian Naval Ship Teg made port call at Simon's Town and Cape Town as part of Exercise IBSAMAR, a trilateral maritime exercise involving navies of Brazil, India and South Africa. The South African Navy also participated in International Fleet Review hosted by India in February 2016 and was represented by SAN ship Spioenkop. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Britain, Bangladesh and Armenia on Tuesday joined the international community in condemning Sunday's cross-border terror attack from Pakistan on an Indian army base at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that left 18 soldiers dead. "The UK condemn all forms of terrorism, and stands shoulder to shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism and in bringing perpetrators to justice," Britain said in its statement, according to a tweet by Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup In its statement, Bangladesh said that it strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations. "In line with its 'zero tolerance' policy against terrorism and violent extremism, Bangladesh firmly stands beside India at the this difficult hour," the statement from Dhaka said. "As a close friend and neighbour, we would continue to work together in our common endeavour the eradicate the menace of cross-border terrorism from this region and beyond," it added. In its statement, the Causasian nation of Armenia said: "We strongly condemn terrorist attack in Kashmir and express deep condolences to families of killed and friendly people of India." New Delhi, Sep 20 : A review meeting on Tuesday convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the wake of Uri terror attack is learnt to have discussed expected efforts by Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir problem using Kashmiri diaspora. At the meeting attended among others by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and other senior officials from Home and Defence Ministries, it was felt that Pakistan would try to "tap" Kashmiris and the Kashmiri diaspora in the US and other European countries and "mobilise them" to rake up Kashmir issue across the globe. Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and bordering areas in Punjab and Gujarat in the wake of Sunday's terror strike at an army camp in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead. The Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has been blamed for the act. This was the third security review meeting he has chaired since the Uri attack and the situation in the border areas since Sunday, officials said. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security is slated for Wednesday and the Uri attack is expected to come up for discussions. The presence of Jaishankar in Tuesday's review meeting was explained in the context of the move by India to launch a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan at global fora, starting with the upcoming UN General Assembly. The Ministry of External Affairs is learnt to be enlisting support of SAARC members like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for the same at the regional level. A high-level meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday had authorised the diplomatic offensive. Rajnath Singh was briefed at the meeting by Doval and others, including officials from the Defence Ministry, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies, on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the Line of Control (LoC). The Home Minister suggested that all necessary steps be taken to check infiltration along the LoC and the border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Gujarat. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also reviewed the ground situation in Srinagar and interacted with civil and security officials in the state. Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters on Tuesday that all necessary security-related and diplomatic actions against Pakistan and terror elements "will be taken after due consideration of all matters". Asked whether India was considering strike against terrorist camps based in Pakistan, he said no such strategic actions are taken after making announcements. New Delhi, Sep 20 : Indian Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has called for greater agricultural ties with Israel, an official said here on Tuesday. Singh, who is leading a four-member delegation on a three-day visit to Israel, made these remarks in interaction with his Israeli counterpart Uri Ariel and other Israeli representatives on Monday. Ariel also "concurred" that the potential between the two countries in agriculture was untapped. During his interaction, Singh also focused on aquaculture and research collaboration. He also mentioned that there was potential for further collaboration in areas such as dairy farming. New Delhi : Rome, Sep 20 (AKI) Italian police in the northern city of Brescia on Tuesday arrested 99 people in an operation that smashed a major Greek-Albanian cartel supplying Italian mafia organisations with drugs. Finance police seized some five tonnes of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and hashish in raids, as well as assets worth over a million euros including cash, vehicles and boats. Five crime gangs were targeted in the operation and four of the suspects were detained in Greece, Belgium and Albania on European arrest warrants, police said. The drugs were smuggled in to Italy from Spain and the Netherlands aboard food trucks operated by road haulage firms set up by the drug traffickers in Belgium, Greece and Bulgaria, according to police. Marijuana grown in Albania reached the Italian coast on speedboats or fishing vessels and was delivered around the country by large camper vans and orange trucks, said police. Albanian mobsters sold their narcotics to Italian clans with links to the Naples mafia or Camorra, to the Sacra Corona Unita in the Puglia region and to the Calabrian mafia or 'Ndrangheta, according to Italian officials. The probe began in 2012 when investigators monitored the illegal drugs market in Brescia. New Delhi, Sep 20 : The Maldives, Mongolia and South Korea on Tuesday joined the international community in condemning Sunday's cross-border terror attack from Pakistan on an army base at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that left 18 Indian soldiers dead. "The government of Maldives condemns in the strongest terms, the terrorist attack on the army base in in Uri, Kashmir, India," a statement issued from Male said, according to a tweet by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup. "Terrorism is a threat to regional and international peace, security and democracy," it stated. "The Maldives has always condemned international terrorism, especially those originating from outside, defeating and eliminating which requires international collabortion and cooperation in good faith." In a statement from Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian government expressed "deep regret" that armed terrorists brutally attacked the military complex in Uri and army personnel were killed and injured. "While extending condolences to the victims and their families, Mongolia firmly stands that the terrorist attack must not be disruption of efforts for strengthening the regional stability and mutual understanding in the region." A statement from Seoul said that South Korea extended its deepest condolences and sympathy to the innocent victims of the terrorist attack and their bereavedd families. "It is the firm position of the government the Republic of Korea that terrorism is a crime against humanity that cannot be justified under any circumstances," it said. "The RoK government will continue to take part in the efforts of the international community to eradicate terrorism," it added. Los Angeles, Sep 21 : One of Hollywood's highest profile marriages has come to an end, after actress Angelina Jolie sought to divorce husband Brad Pitt, who said he was "saddened" but the well-being of their kids matter the most now. Angelina filed for divorce from the actor, 52, on Monday after just two years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. She also released a statement addressing the divorce. "This decision was made for the health of the family," her attorney said. "She will not be commenting at this time, and asks that the family be given their privacy during this difficult time." Breaking his silence, Brad said the well-being of their kids "matter the most now". "I am very saddened by this but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids," Pitt said in a statement released to PEOPLE magazine. "I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time." According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Jolie has asked for physical custody of the couple's shared six children - Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox - and is requesting that Pitt be granted visitation rights. "Both Brad and Angelina care very much about their kids and there is sadness on both sides," a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE. Another source close to the couple told PEOPLE: "The divorce is a complete shock. They have definitely spent more time apart this year, but it's still a shock. They just celebrated their wedding anniversary together." What's not to love? The video display is big, bright, it pops, and there are so many incredible things we can do now. Colorado Time Systems (CTS), a PlayCore company, is pleased to announce the completed installation of a brand new 8mm SMD video display in the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center at Miami University in Oxford, OH. The video display is one of the largest in the nations collegiate aquatic centers, measuring an impressive 47.9 ft wide x 12.8 ft high (14.6m x 3.9m) We installed our old Colorado Time Systems video display back in 2002, said John Mihevic, Aquatic Director. Although the display still ran, it was time for us to upgrade to newer technology. We have worked with CTS for years and their staff has always been extremely responsive and helped us through any issues that we have had. It was the obvious choice to stay with them to complete this upgrade. When asked what he liked best about the new board, John replied Whats not to love? Its big, bright, it pops, and there are so many incredible things that we can do now. As an example, we now have the ability to display complete information for two pool racing, as well as diving and swimming simultaneously. Colorado Time Systems values our relationship with Miami University and their staff, said Rick Connell, Vice President and General Manager. It is really excited to see the installation complete at this impressive facility. About Colorado Time Systems (CTS): Colorado Time Systems, a PlayCore company, has established a reputation for precision and innovation in swim timing equipment. Since 1972, premier aquatic facilities have chosen Colorado Time Systems for platinum quality timing, scoring and display systems. Learn more at http://www.coloradotime.com. About PlayCore: PlayCore helps build stronger communities around the world by advancing play through research, programs, and partnerships. They infuse this learning into their complete family of brands. PlayCore combines best in class planning and education programs with the most comprehensive array of recreation products available to create solutions that match the unique needs of each community they serve. Learn more at http://www.playcore.com. IDSA.org/2016Medical It's an exciting time to be a designer in healthcare; our profession will play a pivotal role. The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA)'s third annual Medical Design Conference: From Volume to Value will be held Nov. 11-12, 2016 at the new University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Centers Mission Bay Conference Center. The design industry and the frontlines of the medical field are teaming up to provide insights into delivering improved healthcare value. Registration is open online at IDSA.org/2016Medical through Nov. 7; then, onsite. Significant challenges face both the design and medical fields as they each work to address needed improvements in healthcare value. Improving quality of care while lowering costs seems contradictory and to date has been unattainable. Valuable takeaways from the conference include: Actionable new perspectives and methodologies to impact work on building and strengthening successful design for healthcare. An understanding of considerations unique to designing in healthcare and how they can be addressed. Insights on the need for collaboration between the design and healthcare fields, including challenges and successful models. Jointly chaired by Bill Evans, IDSA, senior vice president of innovation, Bridge Design, a Ximedica company, and Aenor Sawyer, MD, of UCSFs Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the co-hosted IDSA Medical Design Conference 2016 will combine insights from the design and healthcare disciplines to facilitate the care transformations sought by all stakeholdersfrom patients to providers to payers. Attendees will better understand each others perspectives and how everyone can pull together to address major issues in healthcare that can be impacted by design. It's an exciting time to be a designer in healthcare; our profession will play a pivotal role, says Evans. We are poised to use design to improve physical devices and to impact the digital, services and delivery ecosystems that surround such devices as we embrace the connected health revolution sweeping through our industry. The design and medical professions can collaborate on one of the most pertinent conversations today, as the dialogue shifts from driving more use and better usability of the products and experiences designedto how to create more meaningful, broader solutions to truly transform the healthcare system From Volume to Value. Recognizing that no one entitypatient, provider, payer or innovatorcan address the complete value loop, the IDSA Medical Design Conference will draw representatives from the entire ecosystem to foster relevant dialogue and shared learnings, Evans explains. Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, of Neuroscape, is scheduled to deliver an inspirational keynote presentation. His groundbreaking discoveries in neuroscience, profiled in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and on NBC, CNN, PBS and NPR, exemplify the power of cross-sector initiatives by combining design, healthcare, technology and research. Speakers are set from LUNAR of McKinsey & Company; IDEO; Johnson & Johnson; Cedars-Sinai; BlackHagen Design; AppliedVR; Center for Care Innovations; Metaphase; Cannuflow; Halyard Health; HomeHero; HS Design; JeffDESIGN; Medtronic; NEA Healthcare Team; PurpleBinder; RubiconMD; St. Michael's Hospital; 3rd Stone Design; Stryker; Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals; Transcendent Endeavors; West County Health Centers; Ximedica; and more. Experts from UCSF; Stanford University; Auburn University; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Cincinnati; University of Toronto; and other leading higher education institutions also will take the stage. Trending topics range from robotic-assisted surgery, doctor-designer relationships and global health product design to the healthcare business environment, medical technologies, biodesign innovation and more, along with thought-provoking, interactive panels such as "The Future of Devices is not Devices," "Designers on the Future of Design in Healthcare" and "Designing a Culture of Safety." Sponsors, media partners and exhibitors include Johnson & Johnson; Stryker; Ximedica; Agora; AllJack; BlackHagen Design; Core77; Freetech Plastics; KeyShot; Society of Plastics Engineers; and Ray Products. For information on more opportunities, contact KatrinaK(at)idsa.org. To schedule media interviews, contact media(at)idsa.org. Arrive early and stay late to explore stunning San Francisco. Follow the journey with #IDSAMedical @IDSA on Twitter; Industrial Designers Society of America on Facebook and LinkedIn; and @IDSAdesign on Instagram. Founded in 1965, the nonprofit IDSA is one of the oldest and largest membership associations for industrial design professionals with thousands of members in dozens of Student Chapters, Professional Chapters and Special Interest Sections in the United States and internationally. IDSA sponsors the annual International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), the worlds most prestigious and rigorous design competition. The Society hosts events including an annual International Design Conference, five District Design Conferences and a Medical Design Conference, bringing together some of the biggest names and brightest minds in industrial design and related fields. Global outreach includes designUpdate and designBytes e-newsletters; INNOVATIONIDSAs flagship publicationa highly regarded magazine within the profession; and the Yearbook of Design Excellence, featuring IDEA, IDSA Award and Student Merit Award winners. IDSA Ambassadors support and promote industrial design with research and thought leadership such as INsights. For more information, log on to IDSA.org. LVI People in the San Joaquin Valley want to see more clearly, and we cant wait to help them do just that. The LASIK Vision Institute (LVI) announced today the opening of a new laser eye surgery center in Stockton, California. This new center will provide the same quality laser vision correction for which all LVI facilities are known for. The Stockton center will be the ninth LVI LASIK office in California. The LASIK Vision Institute offers state-of-the-art technology and highly qualified, independent surgeons to ensure the best possible outcome for each patient. LVI is equipped to correct most common vision problems, including nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, for those who are eligible. Offering a variety of FDA-approved services and procedures at affordable rates, LVI has performed over 1.1 million LASIK eye surgeries, helping people across the United States get more out of life with clearer vision. We are extremely happy to open our newest laser eye surgery center in Stockton, California, said LVI CEO Ben Cook. People in the San Joaquin Valley want to see more clearly, and we cant wait to help them do just that. The Stockton LASIK Center will be located at 2575 Grand Canal Blvd. Suite 101 Stockton, CA 95207and will serve surrounding communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Patients interested in learning more about LVIs services and benefits are encouraged to schedule a free, no-obligation evaluation. About The LASIK Vision Institute The top national provider of laser eye surgery, The LASIK Vision Institute (LVI) operates a growing nationwide network. The company utilizes safe, FDA-approved, advanced LASIK technology. LVIs highly skilled LASIK surgeons have performed more than one million procedures. For more information, visit The LASIK Vision Institute. Answer Health on Demand Today Answer Health on Demand, http://www.AHonDemand.com, formerly MiDirectCare, launches with an expanded suite of online services focused on expanding convenient, affordable access to health care in Michigan. Answer Health on Demand is an online health care solution where patients suffering from common conditions can immediately see a certified provider live via secure two-way video from a smartphone, tablet or personal computer. Adding to the excitement, we now offer comprehensive clinical services from independent practices collaborating on one platform. Online urgent care is available 24/7 and patients can see a doctor from the convenience of their home, office or even on vacation. These visits are $45 and are covered by most Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Priority Health insurance plans. The Answer Health on Demand app is available for Apple and Android devices and can be downloaded for free in Google Play and Apple stores, or by accessing http://www.AHonDemand.com. Answer Health on Demand was formed as a joint venture between Emergency Care Specialists and Answer Health in July 2016. Services will include primary care, behavioral health, specialty care such as orthopedics and pediatrics, and wellness programming. The service is powered by American Well, a leading national telehealth technology and services company. We created our telemedicine service to give community members access to high quality care and direction, along with improved convenience and affordability. John Deveau, DO, MPH, Medical Director Emergency Care Specialists, P.C. and Answer Health on Demand At Answer Health, we believe that a diverse community is a healthy community and we think this is true for our health care industry as well. Patients are best served by local, independent physicians who collaborate with each other and larger health systems. Khan Nedd, MD, Chief Executive Officer Answer Health ECS is innovative in their approach to collaborating with organizations like Answer Health and American Well to make care easier to access and more affordable for the patients they serve, deepening their connection to their local communities. We are proud to be their telehealth partner of choice and help power this new, comprehensive patient service. -Danielle Russella, President, Client Solutions, American Well Answer Health on Demand features: Connect easily over the web via PC, tablet or smartphone from anywhere Live face to face visits scheduled or on-demand Specially-trained, board certified physicians Urgent, primary, and specialty care clinicians Secure, HIPAA-compliant video Intuitive, easy to use website and app About Emergency Care Specialists Emergency Care Specialists, P.C. (ECS), headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the largest physician owned and physician governed emergency medicine practice in West Michigan. Established in 1984, ECS has been a leader and innovator in emergency medicine for over thirty years and is one of the largest providers of Emergency Medicine including observation, sedation, and toxicology services in the the Midwest. ECS physicians staff emergency departments throughout West Michigan and treat over 325,000 patients annually. ECS also participates in the education and training of Emergency Medicine residents in one of the oldest and most respected programs in the nation. About Answer Health Answer Health (AH) is a new Clinically Integrated Organization formed by independent physicians from across several existing physician organizations in West Michigan. It was formed to support the efforts of independent physician practices to provide exceptional care enhanced quality at reduced cost with high patient and provider satisfaction and greater value to purchasers and the community. About American Well American Well transforms healthcare delivery through telehealth. We make online doctor visits accessible to everyone for one-off care issues like colds or infections, and chronic condition management, such as diabetes or depression. We deliver healthcare into peoples homes and workplaces through our work with top health plans, health systems and employers, as well as our telehealth app, Amwell. American Well and Amwell are registered trademarks or trademarks of American Well Corporation in the United States and other countries. If you would like more information on Answer Health on Demand, or to schedule an appearance or interview, please contact Karen Bigelow at 720-237-7358 or KBigelow(at)AHonDemand(dot)com. Please visit http://www.AHonDemand.com for more information. The unique peer-to-peer program is taught by high school age Ideal Student Credit Union employees to high school age students, and features the building blocks of personal finance.. Ideal Credit Union is committed to financial literacy and to helping youth develop lifelong skills for managing their money. - Ideal CU President/CEO Brian Sherrick. Ideal Credit Union has been honored with a 2016 Desjardins Youth Financial Literacy Award for its Money Talks Financial Literacy program. The unique peer-to-peer program is taught by high school age Ideal Student Credit Union employees to high school age students, and features the building blocks of personal finance: budgeting, savings and investments, credit, and money management tools. Ideal Credit Union's winning entry now moves to the national competition, where it will compete with financial education projects from credit unions in other states. This is the second time the Money Talks program has earned Youth Desjardin honors. Ideal Credit Union is committed to financial literacy and to helping youth develop lifelong skills for managing their money, said Ideal CU President/CEO Brian Sherrick. The overall program objective is to provide the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being. Sponsored by the Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), the Desjardin award recognizes leadership within the credit union movement on behalf of youth financial literacy. The award is named in honor of Alphonse Desjardins, the founder of the North American credit union movement, and an ardent believer in the value of teaching children to save, and he promoted the idea of in-school savings programs. Ideal CU has operated a student-run branch since January 2013 at Tartan High School in Oakdale, MN. Located in the DECA school store, the Ideal Student Credit Union is an innovative approach in business education, teaching students the basic principles and practices of the Financial Services Industry. The Money Talks educational series, developed in partnership with Tartan DECA students and school leaders, is held several times throughout the school year. Approximately 300 students have been through the Money Talks financial literacy program since its inception in 2013. Participants earn a $100 cash stipend for completing the course and passing the Im Financially Ready exam. To-date Ideal CU has awarded over $30,000 to students completing this program. Ideal CU offers a suite of student financial products to help youth build their financial future, including Free Student Checking, a Student Savers CD and a unique Credit Builder loan to help establish that all-important credit rating. Founded in 1926, Ideal Credit Union is a member owned financial institution that specializes in providing excellent member service, great rates and convenience. Ideal CU offers a complete range of services, including a full suite of electronic banking products, savings, checking, loans, mortgage products and title services, exclusive VIP member payback, business services, investment services and more. Visit idealcu.com for details and locations. Bayshore Solutions is committed to backing the marketing and website strategies we recommend with highly competent and effective expertise, Bayshore Solutions has earned the distinction of being the #1 ranked solutions partner by nopCommerce open-source e-commerce content management system (CMS). NopCommerce awards an objective requirements-based system for demonstrating technical mastery and successful deployment performance of the website shopping cart and CMS platform. NopCommerce developer certification requires passing rigorous examinations to prove fluency and expertise in the platform. Bayshore Solutions has invested in the competency of its development team with seven fully nopCommerce certified developers on staff. NopCommerce further evaluates solutions partners proof of performance through successfully deployed websites using the platform. Bayshore Solutions is a Gold Solutions Partner, the highest partner level achievable, with 19 nopCommerce showcase websites and more currently in development. These accomplishments and credentials have placed Bayshore Solutions at the #1 rank of nopCommerce Solutions Partners in the world. Bayshore Solutions process analyzes the specific use-case needs of client website projects and recommends the best technology to fit the requirements and drive desired results for each client. When this analysis indicates a recommendation for a specific CMS, such as nopCommerce, the digital agency positions itself to implement the recommendation with proven and certified expertise. Bayshore Solutions is committed to backing the marketing and website strategies we recommend with highly competent and effective expertise, said Kevin Hourigan, President and CEO of Bayshore Solutions. Our development team invests the time and education to ensure that our expertise is current. We are truly honored to see the result of our commitment in this #1 ranking worldwide of nopCommerce Solutions Partners. Learn more about Bayshore Solutions nopCommerce Gold Solutions Partner capabilities, articles, and case studies here. ABOUT BAYSHORE SOLUTIONS Digital marketing agency, Bayshore Solutions, offers award-winning capabilities for custom web design, website development, e-commerce, and digital advertising. Founded in 1996, the website design and digital marketing company is celebrating 20 years of delivering digital results to over 2,200 clients in 54 countries. Headquartered in Tampa Florida, the firm has offices in Denver, Colorado and Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Bayshore Solutions integrates technology and marketing services to ensure measurable results for customers. # # # The Board of Trustees of the Ohio State Bar Foundation have selected Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A. attorney Josh Strickland to receive the Foundation's District 18 Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 and Under. This award is presented annually to attorneys, 40 years of age or younger, who contribute substantial time and effort in service to a local social service, or a local civic, artistic or cultural organization. The service must be outside the recipients' practice area and must be given without compensation. The award will be presented at the OSBA District 18 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, October 26 at Avalon Inn in Warren, Ohio. Josh serves as President of the Lake County Historical Society, is on the Board of Trustees of AmSpirit, the Lake County Development Council and the Painesville United Methodist Church. From 2012 until just this year he was on the board of FUEL (Future Emerging Leaders of Lake County). Josh practices primarily in the firms business transactional department and the firms commercial and residential real estate department. He focuses his practice in the areas of general business including formation, mergers and acquisitions, financing, employee relations, commercial transactions, intellectual property, construction development, and sales. His residential and commercial real estate practice includes sales, leasing, zoning, land use, oil and gas, environmental law and real estate, eminent domain and taxation. Josh also represents both Indian tribes and developers throughout Indian Country in various types of commercial transactions including commercial development, alternative energy, oil and gas, and gaming. On a side note, Josh is an avid Science Fiction fan, which was cultivated by his mother who also shared the same interest. In addition to seeing all the Star Wars movies multiple times, he has a limited edition Darth Vadar light saber adorning his office. It's the exact size and dimension as the original used in the movies. Josh is married to Maria and has two children. Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A. is the largest law firm in Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula Counties, Ohio with additional offices in downtown Cleveland. Serving the community for over 50 years, Dworken & Bernstein and its 30 lawyers and staff of 35 offers a full range of legal services for businesses, individuals, and families. Further information about Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A. can be found at http://www.dworkenlaw.com or Ohio Lawyers Give Back at http://www.ohiolawyersgiveback.org. Im looking forward to bringing my aggressive practice model from the city to the suburbs and using technology to create an advanced way of handling personal injury cases. Gardi & Haught, Ltd., a law firm based in Schaumburg, IL, is welcoming attorney Parag Bhosale to its team. He will be handling personal injury, malpractice cases and workers compensation claims. Bhosale has more than a decade of experience and most recently served as the head of the workers compensation department at Chicago-based Parente & Norem, P.C. before joining Gardi & Haught. Parag brings a new facet to our extensive legal team. Workers compensation is an area of law which is specialized and not everyone can do it, says Hiten Gardi, partner at Gardi & Haught. Bhosale not only has the experience, but his knowledge in this area is unparalleled. Throughout his legal career, Bhosale has fought for the rights of those wrongfully injured at work through the negligence of others. He has more than 30 trial verdicts and has argued cases in Federal Court as well as the 1st and 2nd District Appellate Courts of Illinois. He has also worked at Sklare Law Group as a trial attorney who dealt with cases of automobile negligence, premises liability and wrongful death, and at Steven D. Gertler & Associates, Ltd. as a trial attorney handling cases in automobile subrogation, insurance defense, and creditors rights. Im looking forward to bringing my aggressive practice model from the city to the suburbs and using technology to create an advanced way of handling personal injury cases, said Bhosale. We will work closely with medical providers to make sure our clients get the best possible care while maximizing their recovery. Bhosale has been practicing law since 2002, after receiving his J.D. from the University of Miami, where he graduated cum laude. Bhosale studied Evidence and Comparative Criminal Law at University College of London, and received his B.A. from Washington University where he studied Political Science and Business. He is also fluent in Spanish and recently moved from downtown Chicago to Rolling Meadows with his wife and child. Bhosale routinely lectures before other attorneys, physicians and nurses at continuing education seminars and meetings. He is also a volunteer instructor, teaching elementary school students through the Constitutional Rights Foundations Lawyers in the Classroom program. He is the vice president of membership of the South Asian Bar Association. About Gardi & Haught, Ltd. Gardi & Haught, Ltd., is a law firm concentrating in real estate law, litigation, immigration, divorce, estate planning and corporate law. Founded by Hiten R. Gardi and Thomas E. Haught in 2003, the firm is located at 939 N. Plum Grove Rd., Ste. C, Schaumburg, IL. For more information, call 847-944-9400 or visit http://www.gardilaw.com. ### Infocyte, a provider of hunt technology that eradicates malware and persistent threats, announced today that it has signed a partnership agreement with Atlanta based security services provider Cybriant. As a partner, Cybriant will utilize Infocyte HUNT to provide Compromise Assessments for customers, as well as resell the threat hunting technology. Jeff Uhlich, CEO at Cybriant said, We are very excited about our partnership with Infocyte. At Cybriant we advocate proactive defense strategies and tactics, and we seek to make enterprise grade cyber security services accessible to Mid-Market companies. The Infocyte Hunt technology enables us to satisfy both those criteria. Infocyte HUNT is designed specifically to detect if malware is present on network endpoints. It scans and detects the post-intrusion activity, active or dormant, of attackers who have successfully evaded an organizations real-time defenses and established a beachhead within the network. It reduces the breach detection gap - the time that exists between infection and discovery - denying attackers the ability to persist, restoring trust in a networks health. We look forward to working with Cybriant to bring Infocytes innovative threat hunting solution to their customers, said Infocyte president and COO, Kurt A. Mueffelmann. Through Compromise Assessments performed with Infocyte HUNT, Cybriant can provide their customers with the confidence that malware and persistent threats have been identified and remediated much faster than assessments performed with other technologies. Cybriant delivers a comprehensive and customizable set of strategic and adaptive cyber security services to their clients to address the entire security landscape. These services include assessment and planning, testing and hunting, SIEM management and security monitoring, perimeter and endpoint protection, and secure cloud networking. About Infocyte, Inc. Developed by former US Air Force cybersecurity officers, Infocytes hunt technology fills a void left by today's real-time detection solutions. By focusing on the post-compromise activity of persistent attackers and insider threats, Infocytes unique approach to security helps organizations defend their networks and critical information. For more information go to http://www.infocyte.com or follow us on @InfocyteInc. About Cybriant Cybriant (http://www.cybriant.com) serves customers in securing and supporting their technology, data, and corporate assets in a manner which facilities their business mission. Cybriant provides a comprehensive and customizable set of strategic and adaptive cyber security services which address the entire security landscape. These services include assessment and planning, testing and hunting, SIEM management and security monitoring, perimeter and endpoint protection, and secure cloud networking. Cybriant also delivers support services for the secure maintenance, relocation, and disposition of physical and data assets, making enterprise grade cyber security services accessible to the Mid Market and beyond. Cleverkid rain capes from Providence Designed in Providence, the colorful new ponchos offer the same attention to detail that has appeal to adult people around the world. Cleverhood today confirmed reports that kids have been spotted playing in the rain. The outdoor activity, in inclement weather, was in fact a semi-controlled experiment by the Rhode Island Company with the distinctive outerwear. All kids were reported to be dry and happy. The children were in fact sporting new Cleverkid rain capes. Designed in Providence and made in nearby Fall River, the colorful ponchos offer the same attention to detail that has appealed to adult people around the world. These Cleverhood rain capes are easy to operate and now enable everyone of various shapes and sizes to experience the rain first-hand. Studies have shown that kids like going outdoors. It seems that the natural environment lends itself to playing of some form. It can begin spontaneously or as a reaction to the stimuli of other kids, pets, a swing, a bug or even a puddle. The new Cleverkids are designed to ensure that rain does not always mean its time to come inside. Kids are natural pluviophiles (rain lovers) and were hoping that our five years experience will convince them were serious about playing in the rain, said Susan Mocarski, Cleverhood founder and CEO. Weve explained to the kids that our capes are carefully crafted by experienced garment workers in nearby Fall River. That gets a good giggle, which tells us they appreciate our efforts. Like all Cleverhood rain capes, the Cleverkids are unisex, reflective and great for walking, bike riding, or otherwise playing in the rain. They all come with a hood and a handy mesh bag for portability. There are currently two sizes for kids and three color styles. Theres a blue Electric Gingham that has interwoven reflective thread. Its made from recycled poly. There is also the Devo Yellow and Cielo Blue that feature reflective accents, with Ripstop fabric. Cleverhoods original line-up of US-made rainwear is used by people all over the world. The eponymously named Cleverhoods have a distinctive style and a number of special features like interwoven reflective thread, magnetic arm closures and thumploops for bike commuting in the rain. Cleverhood has received recognition from Rhode Island Monthly, Forbes (Best Holiday Gifts for Cyclists), The Guardian, and Vice Magazine, which claimed we freaked them out. Based in Providence, Cleverhood LLC, is a small business that produces a special brand of outerwear that reflects an affirmation of American ingenuity, local places and solid reliability. Catch us on Instagram @Cleverhood on Twitter @cleverhoods, Facebook or Cleverhood.com. Were so grateful to be receiving The Walmart State Giving Award, as it will help us continue to deliver our research-validated career training programs to 160 local young adults each year, said Cathy Doyle, Executive Director of Year Up Providence. Recognizing Year Ups innovative, proven approach to providing low-income young adults with in-demand skills and a pathway to professional careers and higher education, the Walmart Foundation announced today that Year Up Providence will receive a State Giving Award of $25,000. "Walmart is proud to support Year Up Providence and the essential skills they provide to young adults in the community," said Chris Buchanan Walmart Director of Public Affairs & State and Local Government Relations. "It is programs like Year Up that help young people get a leg up and reach their full potential." The Walmart Foundations State Giving Program plays an essential role in the Foundations mission to create opportunities so people can live better. Were so grateful to be receiving The Walmart State Giving Award, as it will help us continue to deliver our research-validated career training programs to 160 local young adults each year, said Cathy Doyle, Executive Director of Year Up Providence. The majority of the funding will be allocated to student stipends, which allow our students to earn while they learn and spend less time juggling part-time jobs and other external responsibilities. With a weekly stipend, students can focus on their Year Up coursework and professional development. This focus is what leads to ultimate success in retention and employment outcomes at the end of the program. Year Up Providence is a nonprofit workforce development program that provides urban young adults with six months of technical and professional training in areas such as IT, business operations, and healthcare operations, followed by a six-month internship at top companies like Hasbro, Fidelity Investments, and Providence Equity Partners. Since its launch in 2005, Year Up Providence has helped more than 1,000 young adults (ages 18-24, without college degrees) gain in-demand technical and professional skills. More than 90 percent of Year Up Providence graduates are employed or attending college full-time within four months of completing the yearlong program, with an average starting salary of $36,000/year. Learn more about Year Up Providence by following us on Twitter @YearUpPVD and on Facebook. About Year Up Inc. Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Year Up achieves this mission through a high support, high expectation model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, internships and college credits. Its holistic approach focuses on students' professional and personal development to place these young adults on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. Year Up currently serves more than 3,000 students a year at sites in Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Jacksonville, the National Capital Region, New York City, Philadelphia, Providence, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay Area, and South Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.yearup.org or http://www.youtube.com/yearupinc. About Philanthropy at Walmart By using our strengths to help others, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation create opportunities for people to live better every day. We have stores in 28 countries, employing more than 2.2 million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. We are helping people live better by accelerating upward job mobility and economic development for the retail workforce; addressing hunger and making healthier, more sustainably-grown food a reality; and building strong communities where we operate and inspiring our associates to give back. Whether it is helping to lead the fight against hunger in the United States with $2 billion in cash and in-kind donations or supporting Womens Economic Empowerment through a series of grants totaling $10 million to the Women in Factories training program in Bangladesh, China, India and Central America, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are not only working to tackle key social issues, we are also collaborating with others to inspire solutions for long-lasting systemic change. To learn more about Walmarts giving, visit http://www.foundation.walmart.com. Chicago area gourmet retailer Jill Foucre has received an Entrepreneurial Excellence award for Marche (http://www.marche496.com), a cheese shop she owns in downtown Glen Ellyn. The Daily Herald Business Ledger hosts the annual awards program, now in its 17th year, to recognize Chicago area entrepreneurs in seven categories. Foucre won in the early stage category, having opened Marche in late 2015 with her husband, Bob Bye. This is the second Business Ledger Entrepreneurial Excellence award presented to Foucre. In 2014, she was recognized in the innovation category for the cooking store Marcels Culinary Experience (http://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com), which she opened in 2011 on the same block as Marche. That same year, Marcels was named U.S. Kitchenware Retailer of the Year by industry trade magazine The Gourmet Retailer. The idea for Marche came after Marcels customers expressed interest in cheese and other perishable items that could be combined with Marcels specialty foods to create family meals, or use for entertaining, Foucre says. When a nearby retailer decided to close her business and sell the building on a busy corner just three doors from Marcels Foucre seized the opportunity to move forward with plans for Marche. The store also sells charcuterie, cheese boards, picnic boxes to go, wine, beer and complimentary items. It offers outdoor seating during the summer, plus catering, on-site classes and private events year-round. Chicagoland turophiles (cheese connoisseurs) seek out Marche for its evolving collection of fine cheeses from around the world, and cheese lovers nationwide enjoy its gift boxes and Culture Club subscription series. Since opening the businesses, the former healthcare insurance executive has made dozens of charitable donations of merchandise, classes and gift cards to schools, churches and other not-for-profits, many in the Glen Ellyn area. Shes currently president of the Alliance of Downtown Glen Ellyn; has been a keynote speaker at the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) Fox Valley Chapter Small Business Forum; and is a sought-after resource for others considering new business opportunities, giving freely of her time and talents to other would-be entrepreneurs. Foucre and 22 other local entrepreneurs were honored at a reception Sept. 15 in Naperville. Profiles of all award winners are scheduled to appear in the Oct. 17 issue of the Business Ledger. About Marche Marche is a cheese shop in downtown Glen Ellyn, Ill., that also sells charcuterie, cheese boards, wine, beer and complementary items. It offers catering, on-site classes and private events. Marche is owned by former healthcare insurance executive Jill Foucre and her husband Bob Bye, who in 2011 opened award-winning gourmet retail store/cooking school Marcels Culinary Experience on the same block. Partnering with Rev1 Ventures on The Life Sciences Fund enables us to support innovative and promising research that will literally impact childrens lives all around the world. Today, Rev1Ventures, the seed-stage venture fund that combines investment capital and strategic services, and Nationwide Childrens Hospital, one of Americas largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare systems, launched the Life Sciences Fund to support the growth and development of research-based healthcare spinouts from The Research Institute at Nationwide Childrens. The fund is a boon for the region, as the joint resources from the two Columbus leaders, as well as support from Ohio Third Frontier, will provide healthcare startups with access to research facilities, business expertise and the funds to put it all together. Columbus has become the number one city for scaling startups because of the robust infrastructure and the regions dedication to fostering business growth, said Tom Walker, CEO of Rev1 Ventures. We are excited to support every type of entrepreneur and by partnering with Nationwide Childrens, we have a unique opportunity to facilitate powerful and life-changing advancements in healthcare. This is not the first time these two companies have joined forces - Rev1 and Nationwide Childrens first teamed up in 2014 with an investment by Rev1 in Nationwide Childrens spinout Milo Biotechnology, a company that delivers a new gene-based therapy to treat the muscle atrophy commonly associated with muscular dystrophies. Milo Biotechnology has experienced explosive growth and also announced today that it has secured additional funding to support its multi-center pivotal clinical trials, which could begin in 2017. The $5.5 million fund Rev1 NCH Fund I is supported by the Ohio Third Frontier Pre-Seed/Seed Plus Fund Capitalization Program, which provided a $2.75 million loan to the fund. Rev1 also is an investor in the fund. We are proud of and energized by the scientists and ground-breaking research coming from The Research Institute here at Nationwide Childrens, said Tim Robinson, executive vice president and chief financial and administrative officer at Nationwide Childrens Hospital. Partnering with Rev1 Ventures on The Life Sciences Fund enables us to support innovative and promising research that will literally impact childrens lives all around the world. Both Rev1 Ventures and Nationwide Childrens Hospital have been instrumental in our early and sustained success, so it only makes sense that the two would collaborate again to help more healthcare entrepreneurs, said Al Hawkins, founder and CEO of Milo Biotechnology. Its a great time to build a life science company in Central Ohio. About Rev1 Ventures Rev1 is a seed-stage venture fund that combines investment capital and strategic services to help entrepreneurs build products people want and companies that succeed. Our seasoned, data-driven team delivers early market validation for startups, helping them lay the foundation for scalable growth with the skills to evolve their product, sell to customers, and build the right team. Rev1 manages a continuum of investment support from corporate, community, and innovation partners, as well as the Ohio Third Frontier. For more information, visit http://www.rev1ventures.com. About Nationwide Childrens Hospital Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Reports 2016-17 list of Americas Best Childrens Hospitals, Nationwide Childrens Hospital is one of Americas largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare systems providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children and adolescents, as well as adult patients with congenital disease. Nationwide Childrens has a staff of more than 11,000 providing state-of-the-art pediatric care during more than 1.2 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Childrens physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at Nationwide Childrens Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded freestanding pediatric research facilities. Nationwide Childrens remains true to the original mission since its founding in 1892 of providing care regardless of a familys ability to pay. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org. San Francisco, Calif - [September 16, 2016] - Spire was awarded a contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of the government's Commercial Weather Data Pilot. Under this pilot program, Spire will provide GPS Radio Occultation (GPS-RO), a critical weather data type, to NOAA for evaluation. The data evaluation process is a necessary first step before any future procurement of commercially-provided weather data for operational use in NOAA's weather forecast. "By initiating and evolving a constructive dialogue, and launching real satellites that collect real weather data, we have helped NOAA establish the foundation of a vibrant public-private partnership," explained Antoine de Chassy, VP of Business Development. "We applaud NOAA's efforts in running an efficient and transparent process, and we look forward to proving ourselves as a trusted provider of environmental information to the US Government." Spire operates a growing constellation of multi-sensor nanosatellites that collect global GPS-RO weather data. That data, collected using signals from global positioning satellites, is widely used in global weather forecasts. It provides critical measurements of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and moisture that reduces forecast error and bias in weather models. Weather and climate are truly global issues. Todays weather in Southeast Asia can affect weather in the US within a week. Having reliable, global, and accurate weather data has an incredible impact on our economies and lives said Spire CEO, Peter Platzer. GPS-RO is a proven technology, and this contract allows Spire to show NOAA its commitment to an efficient and productive public-private partnership. Studies from the leading weather research centers in the US and Europe have shown the value that greater volumes of GPS-RO will have a significant positive impact on weather model accuracy. Spire intends for its data to complement the data provided by existing government-owned satellites, to realize a common goal of more accurate weather forecasts for the benefit and safety of businesses and society. About Spire Spire Global, Inc. is a leading player in the nanosatellite sector, building the worlds most advanced, constantly refreshed constellation. In an industry that is used to measuring development periods in years, Spire has accelerated timelines to a period of just weeks. Spires solutions offer organizations insights into weather & climate, shipping & supply chain and maritime domain awareness. This network of nanosatellites senses the of the planet inaccessible to most current systems which rely largely on land-based remote sensing. To learn more, visit: http://www.spire.com RideGuru Compares Multiple Rideshare Fares Our mission is to bring transparency to the market by providing useful tools and informative resources, and through connecting people with rideshare experts Travelers rejoice! The ability to easily compare ridehail options such as Uber and Lyft is now available. Unleashed, LLC, the Boston-based technology company best known for TaxiFareFinder, officially released their newest site and initiative, RideGuru. RideGuru brings transparency to the rideshare and ridehail markets, something many riders and drivers have been seeking. RideGurus primary feature is its comparison fare calculator. When to and from locations are entered, RideGuru will calculate and display fare estimates for a multitude of ride options, enabling comparison shopping for the end users. It is able to provide estimates for all possible rideshare and taxi options for a given trip, complete with a breakdown of the potential fares. Each estimate gets a fare card, and users can narrow down the cards by using filters, e.g. specifying the number of passengers, selecting luxury vs. economy experience, etc. There are other calculators in the market that have attempted to provide similar comparative information, but they are being shut down by Uber and Lyft for violating their API terms of service. RideGuru is different. Using the same trusted technology and algorithm that the company created for TaxiFareFinder.com, RideGuru can derive fare estimates without the use of external APIs. This means that it is not reliant on rideshare companies providing the estimates. To provide accurate and trustworthy fares, RideGuru keeps a database of thousands of rates, and the algorithm is continuously optimized by real fares provided by users and drivers. This ensures RideGurus estimates are as accurate as possible. Ippei Takahashi, the CEO/President of Unleashed, LLC, states, The innovation that rideshare and ridehail companies brought to the market is very impressive. While many welcome its emergence, it is also disruptive in a way, as it forced fast transitions to the market and left a lot of uncertainty and confusion among the consumers. For example, the fare and payout structures can be complex, and the rules and regulations can be vague. Our mission is to bring transparency to the market by providing useful tools and informative resources, and through connecting people with rideshare experts. RideGuru is truly making waves as the Expedia of ride-hailing services. It supports a vast number of major rideshare companies, such as Uber, Lyft, Curb, Ola, Didi Kauidi, taxis and more, and the list extends across over 70 countries. In order to provide unfiltered information and industry knowledge to the public, RideGuru is hosting a Q&A platform called, Ask a Guru. Rideshare consumers will be connected with industry experts and questions will be answered by real insiders, such as drivers, travel authorities, and representatives from service providers. RideGuru has partnered with Harry Campbell, also known as The Rideshare Guy who will be directly interacting with the visitors. Harry is eager to spread his expertise through RideGuru, stating, My goal is to answer any question you might have about the world of rideshare. Whether you're an experienced veteran of Uber or just heard about it for the first time today, I'm here to help! Furthermore, once a user finds their desired ride, they can simply sign up and/or hail the car straight from the site for most of the ridehail services. The user, if interested, can also view the driver take-home pay as a part of the fare breakdown. This feature gives the public an idea of how much is going to the driver and how much is going to the ridehail companies. RideGuru strives to become a community and platform for all information pertaining to the ridehailing industry. With todays release of its fare calculator as well as the Ask a Guru forum, RideGuru will start equipping the public with all the information they need to navigate this innovative but often confusing market. About Unleashed, LLC Unleashed, LLC is a Boston-based technology company that specializes in creating websites and smartphone applications to provide users with the information they need for daily decisions. The company is best known for creating the popular travel site TaxiFareFinder.com in 2007. Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts We are proud to recognize these innovative Massachusetts employers for their outstanding wellness programs. The Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts (WWCMA) has announced the winners of its WorkWell Massachusetts Awards program aimed to recognize Massachusetts employers for their exemplary work in worksite health promotion. Winners will be recognized at WWCMAs Fifth Annual Worksite Wellness Conference being held today at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The WorkWell Massachusetts Award program criteria is based on the following: 1. The HERO Employee Health Management (EHM) Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer a tool designed to help organizations learn about best practices, discover opportunities to improve their programs, and measure progress over time. 2. Applicants are asked to provide details on their strategic planning and organizational support, program design and implementation, participant engagement, and measurement and evaluation process. Employers are eligible to earn a Gold, Silver, or Bronze award. WWCMA appointed a Peer Review committee of independent industry experts to review the applications and designate the award winners and categories. The 2016 WorkWell Massachusetts Award winners include: Gold Berkshire Health Systems Silver A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies athenahealth, Inc. Borislow Insurance Cambridge Health Alliance Kronos Incorporated Lowell General Hospital OMAM, Inc. Pegasystems Signature Healthcare TripAdvisor Wright-Pierce Bronze Alkermes Babson College Endurance International Group Flexcon Industries Forrester Research Onyx Specialty Papers, Inc. Sturtevant, Inc. Tocci Building Companies We are proud to recognize these innovative Massachusetts employers for their outstanding wellness programs, states Kristie Howard, WWCMA Board of Directors Co-Chair. The WorkWell Massachusetts Award is an important program put forth to honor the work being done by employers in our state to improve the health and vitality of our communities. We are very proud of this years winners and their incredible programs designed to improve employee health and well-being, states Archana Kansagra, WWCMA Board of Directors Awards & Recognition Committee Chair. We know there are many organizations in Massachusetts we know there are many other employers committed to creating healthy workplaces that did not apply and encourage them to apply in 2017. Applications will be accepted for the 2017 WorkWell Massachusetts Award Program in Spring 2017. Those interested in becoming a Peer Reviewer can apply here. About WWCMA: The Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts (WWCMA) is the preeminent, independent, and objective resource for health promotion in the workplace. A 501c3 not-for-profit member organization, WWCMA champions wellness programs that help employers encourage healthy employees, healthy families, and healthy communities across the Commonwealth. The council offers innovative wellness best practice programs, training, and events along with insightful resources and tools to help educate and advance Massachusetts organizations and their corporate wellness teams. Visit us at wwcma.org and follow us @WorkWellMass. ADVOCATE, the largest 100% radiology, revenue cycle management (RCM) company in the nation, will once again be demonstrating their industry leading solutions at the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) Fall Conference. The conference is to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Hyatt Regency Hotel from September 25-27th, 2016. Once there, leaders in radiology throughout the nation will have a chance to learn about the latest topics affecting radiology business and network with peers. This will be the final Fall Educational Conference, as the RBMA is switching to an annual conference in 2017, called Paradigm. During this two and a half day event, attendees will get the opportunity to hear about ADVOCATEs innovative RCM solution that consistently collects more revenue from insurance companies and an increasingly complex healthcare system. ADVOCATE is the largest 100% radiology billing company in the industry and offers radiologists a fully integrated billing service that maximizes the revenue cycle of their practices and provides unmatched business information. In addition, ADVOCATE will give attendees an opportunity to stop by Booth #311 for a change to win a new Amazon Echo Speaker. What: ADVOCATE to Exhibit Industry-Leading RCM Solutions at RBMA Fall Educational Conference. Where: Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Louisiana Booth Number: 311 When: September 25th 27th, 2016 ADVOCATE is very much looking forward to this years Fall Educational Conference. Attending these RBMA events has been extremely beneficial to our team and we are expecting to learn a great deal, said Kirk Reinitz, President/CEO of ADVOCATE. About ADVOCATE ADVOCATE is the leading radiology reimbursement services company that offers a complete and integrated approach to business issues. ADVOCATE operates nationwide with clients in all 50 states providing our unique Experience Based Technology (EBT) suite of services to thousands of radiologists. With our seasoned staff of professionals, we focus on addressing the unique needs of todays practicing radiology physicians. With proven management, business processes and advanced technology to support our operations, ADVOCATE has the people and infrastructure to manage the business of radiology effectively and efficiently. With over 20 years of radiology billing experience, and proven measurable results, ADVOCATE works as a trusted and stable business partner to provide clients with a reliable, trouble-free implementation, increased cash flow, training, and support. For ADVOCATE inquiries contact: Paulo E. Santos, Chief Business Development Officer 303-517-3210 paulo(dot)santos(at)radadvocate(dot)com Official Coupon Code She exemplified something that many students wrote about in their essays the idea of thinking globally, but acting locally. Last Thursday evening, Antonella Pisani, CEO of Official Coupon Code called Kankan Ndoye with the news that she beat out nearly 7,000 students to win a $3,000 scholarship to continue the pursuit of her medical science degree at Bay Path University. Applicants were asked to answer 3 of 4 essay questions covering topics including their volunteer activities, most inspirational teachers, desire to travel and their favorite quotes. An infographic highlighting the top 10 quotes the applicants cited may be found here. Pisani said, We had some incredible candidates including those who have worked globally and domestically to build wells, repair houses, feed the hungry and improve life for less fortunate kids. I read applications from someone who had volunteered in Pakistani orphanages, someone with cerebral palsy who was volunteering with Best Buddies stories that were amazing and gave me a lot of hope for the future. While many of the applicants were traditional students, we also saw some who were going back to school as non-traditional students, including one who was returning after 12 years. Some applicants were first generation Americans, others had overcome serious medical issues and several had once been homeless. It was inspiring to read these stories and very difficult to pick just one winner. Ndoye was selected for her contributions at the Wanskuck library in Rhode Island over a three year period, where she exposed kids to math and science, and in her third year was funded by the Otto H. York Foundation to create a beginners Sociology class to teach children about current events, cultural change and traditions throughout across Mexican, Middle Eastern, Japanese and Ukrainian cultures. In her essay, she wrote, I am proud to be a part of a community that gives underprivileged children the opportunity to learn and explore outside the realms of their school and home The most valuable asset that I have and will continue to have in my lifetime is my knowledge and education, but it is useless unless I share it with others. We loved the cause that Kankan was working to address teaching underprivileged kids about different cultures and the world around them. Her dedication to this cause over an extended period of time showed that it was something that she was extremely passionate about and she exemplified something that many students wrote about in their essays the idea of thinking globally, but acting locally. Travel is a passion of mine and I think its admirable that she was focused on inspiring young minds to consider the possibility of exploring these countries as they get older, said Pisani. Of winning the scholarship, Kankan said, With this scholarship, I am one step closer to my dream of becoming a medical doctor. I am honored to have received this award, which will allow me to further my education. In the future, I would like to honor students who seek to continue their education but lack the financial abilities, just as Official Coupon Code has done for me. On the call informing her of the award, she said that she had applied for 100 scholarships this summer in the hopes of winning one. In her application she recognized Sharon Kozlowski of Classical High School as the teacher who most inspired her in and that she will always be grateful for her patience, advice and wisdom. Pisani, CEO, along with Scott Laverty, CIO of Shane Co., a friend and advisor, selected Ndoye as the winner. Of the winning application, Laverty said, Ms. Ndoye epitomized what we were looking for in a winner - someone committed to a focused cause over a prolonged period of time. I loved her passion for ensuring that children in her community had the opportunity to learn more about the world and cultures around them. Millennials seem to be taking a bad rap of late, but after personally reading more than 1,000 applications, I am heartened by the knowledge that there is a large group of college students already having a positive impact on the world and acting as strong leaders. The 2017-2018 scholarship application period is now open, with a winner to be selected next summer. Details are available online at https://www.officialcouponcode.com/scholarships/ To learn more or to book an interview, please contact Antonella Pisani at 1-202-838-7283 or media(at)officialcouponcode(dot)com. About Official Coupon Code Founded in February 2016, Official Coupon Code is setting out to simplify and improve the customer experience for online deal seekers and retailers alike. The site has a focus on only official, authorized coupons & codes from major retailers and printable grocery store coupons, with an initial launch in the US and Canada. Official Coupon Code was founded by Antonella Pisani, who previously held VP roles at Fossil, JCPenney, Guitar Center and Proflowers. The company is headquartered in Denver, CO and is part of Eyeful Media LLC. The 1st Annual "Kids Music Day" will be celebrated on Friday October 7th, 2016. On this special day, the organization Keep Music Alive is partnering with Music Schools across the nation to help promote the importance of including music in our childrens education. Activities being planned by the music schools include open houses, student performances/recitals and musical instrument donation drives in their respective communities. To date, nearly 40 schools have signed up to participate in Kids Music Day, in states ranging from New York to California and everywhere in between. Vincent James, co-founder of Keep Music Alive and Kids Music Day says We recognize that so many public schools across the country are cutting or reducing their music and arts programs. Research has shown how critical music and art education are to developing our childrens minds and character. Our mission is to spotlight musical programs, wherever possible, to help raise awareness of how valuable music really is to our children and our collective future. Keep Music Alive is an organization dedicated to promoting the value of music: educationally, therapeutically and overall making us a happier society. They have published the book 88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life, featuring over 150 inspirational music stories from musicians, music teachers and music fans from around the world, including a number of celebrities. 50% of all proceeds from 88+ Ways Music are donated to organizations that provide musical instruments and instruction to schools and communities in need. Current benefactors are Guitars in the Classroom, Spirit of Harmony and the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation. For more information on Kids Music Day and Keep Music Alive, please visit http://www.KeepMusicAlive.org , http://www.KidsMusicDay.org or contact Vincent James (610) 874-6312 Vincent@KeepMusicAlive.org. **Music Schools Participating in Kids Music Day (updated 9/18/16)** CALIFORNIA - Burbank Music Lessons, Cheryl Teach Music, Golden Oak Music Lessons, Roseville Piano & Music School, The Music Globe, Yucaipa Music CONNECTICUT- School of Rock Madison MARYLAND - Bach to Rock Gaithersburg, Baltimore School for the Arts, Jordan Kitts Music School, Maryland Conservatory of Music, Maryland String Academy, The Music Workshop, Victor Litz Music MASSACHUSETTS North End Music & Performing Arts Center, Sharon Music Academy MINNESOTA - School of Rock Eden Prairie NEW YORK - Further Music, Music Makers NY, New York Guitar Academy, New York Ukulele School, Opportunity Music Project, Turtle Bay Music School NORTH CAROLINA - Music Academy of NC TENNESSEE School of Rock Knoxville TEXAS - Conservatory of Music at North Katy, School of Rock Cypress, School of Rock Flower Mound VIRGINIA - Bach to Rock McLean, Bach to Rock Bristow, Harmonia School of Music & Art, Jordan Kitts Fairfax, Life Power Music Mentoring, Music Tree School for Music WASHINGTON, DC - DC Guitar Lessons, Songbird Music On-demand and unified messaging for service professionals Our goal is to connect service professionals and small enterprises with customers and leads on all channels as one. Past News Releases RSS With users on messaging apps surpassing that of social networks, messaging is looking to be a substantial channel to which customers connect with brands and businesses. However having customers on different messaging platforms presents a hassle to businesses trying to manage it all. With Rapidfys Live Chat, chats from visitors to the service professionals website, Facebook page or the Rapidfy platform can be answered and managed in one single mobile app, at no extra cost to service professionals hosting on the Rapidfy platform. Integration with more messaging platforms are under development. Photo: Rapidfy unified messaging platform link here With the rise of messaging apps, conversational commerce is becoming increasingly important in customer to business communication. Rapidfy offers artificial intelligence powered chatbots for select industries to reduce human agent workload by automating as much of the customer support workflow as is possible. Alternatively Rapidfy offers customer support outsourcing where chatbots would be unsuitable. Both these services will be offered to service professionals at a very affordable cost. These features expands on Rapidfys portfolio of services provided by its platform to customers and service professionals which include the on-demand matching system, in-app and web chat, location based business directory and job browser. These services are available on its website, iOS app and Android app. The Rapidfy matching system lets customers make a request for services that they need on the web portal or mobile app. These requests are sent to nearby service professionals with the right skills as a group broadcast. Interested service professionals can then respond to that request with quotes or chat with the customer to get additional information. Although Rapidfy automatically sends job requests that the system considers is relevant to a service professional, they can also pick and choose jobs that they feel they can do with the job browser. Requirement details, budget and location are listed for the service professionals to review before picking up the job. Rapidfys business directory gives customers a more convenient method of discovering available service professionals around their location. Customers can pick and choose who they would like to hire by browsing and searching nearby service professionals for something they need done. Customers can then talk directly to the service professional with the app and even on the web portal. The Rapidfy platform automatically publishes information of service professionals hosting on the Rapidfy platform in their web based business directory. This allows service professionals that don't have a website to show up on search engines like google when a customer performs a search. A Make Request feature also allows potential customers to request for a quote from the service professional instantly within the business directory. About Rapidfy Rapidfy is an on-demand platform with a majority of service professionals coming from United States, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. It provides multi-channel matching services for customers and service professionals while a customized enterprise version is available on a SAAS and partnership model via its sister company Rapid Assign. Visit them on https://rapidfy.com. These companies showed a deep dedication to community engagement and an impressive commitment to continuous innovation, said Nihat Arkan, Chief Executive Officer of 1WorldSync Berlin - September 20, 2016 - 1WorldSync, the leading global multi-enterprise product information network, announces today the recipients of the 2016 1WorldSync Power of 1 Awards during the 1WorldSync European Annual User Group held in Berlin. Recipients of the 1Community and Innovation Awards were chosen for displaying exceptional leadership and innovation to drive advancement in sharing authentic, trusted product content. The Power of 1 Awards honor organizations that have made a significant impact in transforming their product information and digital content practices to address the ever-growing need to deliver a consistent experience for consumers. These organizations were also recognized for globally managing comprehensive product content, while ensuring transparency and compliance with regulatory requirements. Dr. Oetker, Edeka, Henkel, Markant, Metro, Nestle Deutschland AG and Procter & Gamble received the 1Community Award, which recognizes companies that have shown strong leadership in the community by driving strategic initiatives that deliver value and measurable benefits for industry trading partners. These companies have been dedicated members of the steering committee representing the German fast moving consumers goods (FMCG) community in planning and executing a successful cutover of the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) to Major Release 3 (MjR3). The 1Community Award recipients were key players and critical contributors to the GDSN MjR3 implementation for the German FMCG Community, said Stefan Schweikart, Chief Information Officer of 1WorldSync. These companies volunteered to participate as thought leaders for all aspects of the MjR3 project as well as early adopters in the testing process. Engagement by individuals at these companies helped to ensure a successful MjR3 cutover for the German GDSN community. The Innovation Award was presented to Hilcona AG, the market leader for fresh convenience in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Hilcona AG was recognized for successfully leveraging end-to-end testing during MjR3 implementation and improving their product information management process to optimize the delivery of products and product information to customers and consumers. These companies showed a deep dedication to community engagement and impressive commitment to continuous innovation, said Nihat Arkan, Chief Executive Officer of 1WorldSync. Were excited to present them with these awards on behalf of the 1WorldSync community and would like to congratulate them on their achievements. About 1WorldSync 1WorldSync is the leading multi-enterprise product information network, helping more than 23,000 global brands and their trading partners in 60 countries share authentic, trusted content with customers and consumers, empowering them to make the right choices, purchases, health and lifestyle decisions. Through its solutions, technology platform and expert services, 1WorldSync provides solutions that meet the diverse needs of its customers. For more information, please visit http://www.1worldsync.com These awards are a testament to SensorInsights commitment to IoT innovation by solving business problems involving sensor monitoring and reporting vital data for businesses, government and cities around the globe. SensorInsight, a leading Internet of Things (IoT) solution provider, announced today that was named a Silver Award winner in the Golden Bridge Awards for its real-time monitoring and data analytics software offering industry packs for agriculture, energy and utilities, environmental monitoring, manufacturing and transportation. Its an honor to be named a winner by Golden Bridge Awards for this esteemed industry and peer recognition, said Joey Bernal, co-founder and President of SensorInsight. These awards are a testament to SensorInsights commitment to IoT innovation by solving business problems involving sensor monitoring and reporting vital data for businesses, government and cities around the globe. The coveted annual Golden Bridge Awards program encompasses the worlds best in organizational performance, innovations, products and services, executives and management teams, women in business and the professions, innovations, best deployments, product management, public relations, marketing, corporate communications, international business, and customer satisfaction programs from every major industry in the world. Businesses today require more insight into day-to-day operations than ever before. There's a definite need for analytic software tailored to specific industries as companies grow more and more sophisticated in their real-time monitoring and data analytics requirements, Bernal said. SensorInsight bridges the gap between data silos to harness and visualize all of a company's instrumented systems and applications, providing a comprehensive view across the entire operation. Specifically designed for industry applications, SensorInsight provides a homogenous layer above operational systems, allowing users to react and discover new insights. SensorInsight makes it easy to get the complete picture, fast. If you would like more information on this award winning service offering, or to schedule a demo with one of our data experts, you may do so by clicking on this link. About the Golden Bridge Awards The Golden Bridge Awards are an annual industry and peers recognition program honoring best companies in every major industry from large to small and new start-ups in North America, Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin-America, Best New Products and Services, Best Innovations, Management and Teams, Women in Business and the Professions, Case Studies, Customer Satisfaction, and PR and Marketing Campaigns from all over the world. Learn more about The Golden Bridge Awards at http://www.goldenbridgeawards.com About SensorInsight Headquartered in Houston, Texas, SensorInsight is a company that creates and markets an Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) platform designed to provide insight across specific domains, including energy and utilities, transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, and smarter cities. The platform works by providing deep analytics and complete access to an organization's existing data systems in real-time. SensorInsight industry packs provide tailored domain specific reports, alerts and analysis based on common issues for a particular industry. Stay in Touch We have some exciting news around the corner, and invite you to stay in touch with us by subscribing to the SensorInsight blog to hear from us first. You can also like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @SensorInsight and on LinkedIn. See It. Report It. Fix It! Giving employees the power to report concerns and issues really contributes to building a safe environment, and ultimately makes everyone feel safer. WorkplaceAware, an app and web-based safety and operations reporting solution, has dramatically increased the number of near miss and safety issue reports submitted by employees at workplaces like Rehrig Pacific Company, a large scale injection molding company and Paperworks Industries, a full-service packaging provider. Paperworks Industries reports a 300 percent increase in hazard reporting over using paper reports. Both companies report the app proves effective at reducing accidents and creating a culture in which everyone feels responsible for maintaining a safer workplace. The more eyes looking at safety, the better off you are, states Jon Harley, C I & Safety Manager, Rehrig Pacific. WorkplaceAware is a great tool for eliminating hazards in the workplace. Our employees use it 24/7 and its helped us avoid situations in which someone couldve been hurt. Since July 2015, weve resolved 1,400 safety concerns, most of them submitted by our employees through WorkplaceAware. Weve never seen anything like the app. Its one of the best things to happen in manufacturing safety in 15 years. Initially, Rehrig Pacific used WorkplaceAware as a pilot program in one department. The company opened usage to the entire facility in order to receive, track, manage and resolve safety issues. A picture is worth a thousand words. Whether its an unstable stack of products, an oil spill on the floor or other type of hazard, employees simply snap a photo on their smartphone and submit it through the app, anonymously if they want, explains Harley. Depending on the category the report falls under, the right facility or operations staff is instantly alerted. Managers can track each report through the system and export data for performance review and accountability evaluation. Employees can follow up on their reports and where they fall in line for transparency. WorkplaceAware is key to how we track safety-related reports. It is our method for keeping records of near misses. Its reporting capability keeps submissions tracked and organized in the eight categories we established, ranging from housekeeping to electrical, etc., says Harley. Employees download the WorkplaceAware app, available for Android and iOS, to their smartphones. From the app, they report safety, near miss and operations issues in real-time, along with geo-tagged photos for precise location. WorkplaceAware has changed our culture. By putting this solution in employees hands, were far more likely to receive safety reports than if we still did it the old way with paper reports. And even though we maintain a strict No Phones policy on the floor, weve seen how the benefits outweigh the risks of opening this technology to our employees, explains Harley. Paperworks Industries uses WorkplaceAware in three plants, and sees a sharp rise in reports and response time. The company uses the app and web dashboard in auditing, first aid assistance and achieving world-class status as a Carolina Star site. As an auditing tool, WorkplaceAware satisfies some regulatory mandates we have. The app documents the time and date an issue was reported and handled, which serves as proof for third-party audits. Were training our supervisors to use it to take pictures of what OSHA inspectors take pictures of and take another when an action item is complete. We established 30 to 40 categories in our WorkplaceAware system, and OSHA is one of them, explains Bryan Webb, EHS Manager, Paperworks Industries. Paperworks Industries relies on the app to help employees adhere to the companys first aid policy. Responders log photos of where an accident occurred so that it can be reviewed and ensure procedures, such as for blood borne pathogens, are followed. Since Paperworks Industries has a No Phones policy, employees point out issues to supervisors who snap a photo or fill out the information and categorize it. Employees are given safety tickets which go into a drawing for prizes each month. Even going through a supervisor, WorkplaceAware is still far more efficient and time saving than the pen-to-paper method. We still have paper options and boxes for those who want to report anonymously, explains Webb. Its a great tool that I really need, and costs less than one stitch an employee received post-accident a few years ago before we implemented WorkplaceAware, states Webb. Ken Mazon, Senior Applications Specialist for WorkplaceAware states, Giving employees the power to report concerns and issues really contributes to building a safe environment, and ultimately makes everyone feel safer. We developed WorkplaceAware as a solution to the safety issues companies face today from both the employee and administrative sides. About WorkplaceAware WorkplaceAware, developed by Kansas City-based Mobile Innovations, LLC, meets safety and facilities managers needs. The apps developers worked with a number of construction companies, utility companies, public works departments and manufacturers from around the country to create a next generation solution that is intuitive to how people work today. WorkplaceAwares developers listen to clients input and add innovative new features that benefit companies by making their workplaces safer and more efficient, so employees can go home safely to their families every night. To Schedule A Demonstration Introducing MAP RCS It is no secret that healthcare costs are rising. Providers need to be assured they are compliant and optimizing their reimbursements in order to deliver the highest quality care, Jacob Levenson, CEO, MAP. MAP Health Management, LLC., introduced today a wholly owned subsidiary, MAP Revenue Cycle Solutions (MAP RCS), a strategic move that positions the company to better serve its rapidly growing client base. MAP RCS will benefit from a specific focus on revenue cycle management with the resources and high-end data security of its large, well-established parent company. The need for maximizing reimbursements while minimizing expenses is critical in todays shifting healthcare paradigm a shift that demands the transition from pay-for-service to pay-for-performance models. By delivering efficient and effective revenue cycle management to its clients, MAP has experienced phenomenal growth; this growth is fueling the ability to serve more clients in greater capacities. MAP RCS will be located in a new and altogether separate Austin-based location and will continue to conduct operations from an expanding branch office located in Palm Beach, Florida. With the expansion, Terry Partida has been promoted to President of MAP RCS, and will oversee all operations including leading the teams that specialize in services such as Provider Enrollment, Benefit Investigation, Charge Entry, Claims and Collections Management, Rejection and Denial Management, Customized Reporting, and Consulting. In support of MAP RCS, Brandon Greenberg has been promoted to Vice President of MAP RCS and Business Development, and will be responsible for leading the growing sales team. It is no secret that healthcare costs are rising. Providers need to be assured they are compliant and optimizing their reimbursements in order to deliver the highest quality care, commented Jacob Levenson, MAPs Chief Executive Officer. Establishing MAP RCS is a comprehensive win-win: We have a wholly owned subsidiary whose primary concentration is revenue cycle management with clients who are secure knowing they will have every possible resource to adapt to the evolving environment. We are excited about this proactive and positive step. About MAP Health Management, LLC MAP Health Management is the nations leader in the provision of a comprehensive, accessible technology platform designed to improve treatment outcomes for patients treated for addictions and other behavioral health illnesses. MAP provides telehealth services, extended treatment support programs, and revenue cycle management to nationally recognized addiction treatment providers and behavioral health professionals committed to measuring and demonstrating outcomes data. MAPs dedicated teams of research analysts, clinical directors, recovery advocates, technology professionals, and billing experts strive to improve patient outcomes, empower treatment providers with data, reduce expenses, and drive facility revenue. For more information, go to http://www.ThisisMAP.com. StartPage.com allows users to surf the web with complete privacy. Every human being on the planet owes a great debt to Edward Snowden for his bravery in exposing illegal government surveillance. Private search engine StartPage.com is showcasing an early premiere of the Snowden movie in Vienna, Austria, tonight. This European initiative follows a partnership with Fathom Events where StartPage helped promote the special one-night event Snowden Live in 750+ theaters across the U.S. on September 14. For the Austria event, the highly-anticipated movie Snowden will be shown at the Artis International Cineplexx in Vienna. A panel discussion will immediately follow and features well-known privacy and government representatives, including Ulrike Lunacek, Vice President of the EU Parliament. Every human being on the planet owes a great debt to Edward Snowden for his bravery in exposing illegal government surveillance, said Robert Beens, CEO of StartPage. We are proud to play a part in bringing his story and privacy message to the world. Though the movie Snowden is a political thriller, it also raises awareness of the government surveillance Edward Snowden risked his life to expose, said Beens: You may walk into the theater not sure about whether Edward Snowden is a hero, but when you walk out, youll be convinced that he is. About StartPage StartPage is the world's first and most trusted private search engine. StartPage is based in Europe, outside the reach of U.S. data collection mandates, has been third-party certified, and offers a free proxy service with every search. For more information, please visit https://www.StartPage.com The egg donation program at San Diego Fertility Center is supervised by some of the worlds top fertility specialists, and our donor team treats parents and donors with professionalism, respect and kindness. San Diego Fertility Center (SDFC) is proud to announce the new home of its egg donation program, EggDonors.com. Formerly Eggdonor4u.com, the website has been rebranded and redesigned for the convenience of both prospective parents and egg donor candidates. The new mobile/responsive design and distinctive web address provide increased visibility and accessibly to one of the most prominent in-house, physician-owned egg donor programs in the world. The egg donation program at San Diego Fertility Center is supervised by some of the worlds top fertility specialists, and our donor team treats parents and donors with professionalism, respect and kindness, explains Jenna Lake, the Egg Donation & Gestational Surrogacy Director at SDFC. The launch of EggDonors.com will help support the practices growing patient-base who seek third-party reproductive services to build their families. The new EggDonors.com is designed to accommodate an increasing number of site visitors using smartphones and tablets to become an egg donor or find an egg donor. The website features a convenient, secure and user-friendly search interface that allows intended parents to select a donor that best fits the needs of their family. Egg donor candidates will also find an updated application that is easy to complete on any connected device. The Egg Donor IVF Success Guarantee Plan is one of the distinguishing benefits of the SDFC Egg Donor Program. Patients who select a guarantee plan are reimbursed up to 100 percent of the cycle fee if their egg donor cycle is not successful. The plans provide one, all-inclusive fee for treatment, including donor screening and coordination, donor/recipient monitoring office visits, ultrasound, egg retrieval and embryo transfer. With greater visibility, enhanced functionality and financial flexibility, EggDonors.com will reach a broader group of future parents and egg donor candidates. The San Diego Fertility Center egg donor team has expanded to accommodate a growing number of local and international clients, including LGBT families who require the help of an egg donor to realize their dreams of having a baby. We're steadfast in our commitment to provide the most compassionate and professional third party reproductive care available to couples and individuals considering egg donation, says Dr. Susanna J. Park. About San Diego Fertility Center Due to exceptional care and patient outcomes, San Diego Fertility Center is recognized as one of the top fertility clinics worldwide for fertility treatment, including IVF, egg donation and surrogacy. With three fertility centers located in Southern California, one of the most desirable vacation destinations in the United States, the SDFC Egg Donor Agency welcomes patients exploring fertility tourism and fertility travel from across the globe. For more information about San Diego Fertility Centers egg donation program visit: https://www.eggdonors.com/. The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) and the Rainforest Alliance announced today a newly revised certification standard, which encompasses existing best practices and recent innovations in sustainable agriculture. Built around the guiding principles of effective farm planning and management, protection of biodiversity and natural resources, and improved livelihoods, the 2017 SAN Standard is designed to enable more producers to embark and then continually progress on their journey toward sustainable farming. The 2017 SAN Standard aims to support farmers in advancing sustainable livelihoods, improving farm productivity, and becoming more resilient to climate change. Changes of note include the following: Climate-smart agricultural practices are built into the standard to help farmers address climate change risks. By emphasizing soil conservation, water-use efficiency and the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems, farmers can reduce negative effects of extreme or erratic weather, especially irregular rainfall, changing temperatures, and related increased pest and disease attacks. These same practices also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. A key goal of the 2017 SAN Standard is to reduce forest conversion for agriculture, the leading cause of deforestation, especially in the tropics. Forest protection is mandatory for Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. The standard prohibits conversion of natural ecosystems after 2014, protecting both primary and secondary forests, as well as ecosystems such as wetlands and natural grasslands. Further, no destruction of ecosystems designated as High Conservation Value may have taken place after November 2005. One important innovation in the 2017 SAN Standard is its Continuous Improvement Framework. This framework defines three performance levels and requires time-bound investments and improvements related to water quality, waste management, soil conservation, working conditions, living wages, and other key elements of sustainability. Stricter requirements related to human rights issues cover worker housing, sanitation, and safety, as well as rigorous gender and child labor protections. The 2017 SAN Standard also includes mandatory requirements for farms to have effective ways for employees to make complaints and file grievances. The 2017 SAN Standard includes a substantially more rigorous framework for integrated pest management and the safe use of pesticides. The 2017 SAN Lists for Pesticide Management prohibits the use of 150 substances in alignment with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food & Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) parameters. The document also includes 170 additional substances which are permitted only under rigorous controls that help reduce negative impacts on human health, aquatic life, and wildlife, including pollinators. These 170 substances can be applied only under strict safety measures, such as restricting aerial fumigation in order to avoid contamination of natural ecosystems and to protect workers and bystanders, according to several conditions within the standard. The Rainforest Alliance helped convene the Sustainable Agriculture Network in 1998. During its joint history, the SAN and the Rainforest Alliance have certified more than one million small, medium, and large farms and farming cooperatives. Today about 3.5 million hectares (8.6 million acres) of farmland, growing 100 crops across 42 countries, are certified. I have always believed that if we want to protect the worlds forests, we must strengthen our commitment to work with the worlds farmers, said Nigel Sizer, the Rainforest Alliances recently appointed president. The 2017 SAN Standard honors that commitment. This standard aims to further our work in climate-smart agriculture and advances our mission to keep forests standing and communities thriving. The 2017 SAN Standard results from an extensive revision process involving multiple stakeholders such as farmers, NGOs, companies, scientific and technical experts; a series of open public consultations; and field-testing in key regions. The new standard was developed according to the Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards of the ISEAL Alliance, the global association for sustainability standards whose mission is to strengthen sustainability standards for the benefit of people and the environment. Andre de Freitas, executive director of SAN said, One of the most exciting aspects of the 2017 SAN Standard is that it combines a very high level and ambitious standard covering human rights, environmental, and production issues with a scaled implementation approach designed to make it more accessible to the many farmers in the world who are still in the early steps in their journey towards sustainability. The 2017 SAN Standard is now available at http://san.ag/web/2017standard/ and will come into force from July 1st 2017 onwards. About The Rainforest Alliance The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization that has worked for nearly 30 years around the world to conserve forests and natural resources while advancing sustainable livelihoods. The Rainforest Alliance collaborates with foresters, farmers, businesses and workers to build healthy communities, protect habitat, and rebalance the Earth, working towards the vision of a world where planet and people prosper together. To learn more, visit http://www.rainforest-alliance.org. About The Sustainable Agriculture Network The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) is a coalition of non-profit conservation organizations in America, Africa and Europe promoting the environmental and social sustainability of agricultural activities through the development of standards for best practices, certification and training for rural farmers around the world. For more information, visit http://www.san.ag Pittsburgh-based American Textile Company, a leading provider of innovative sleep solutions since 1925, today announced an expansion of operations with the addition of new facilities in Dallas, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah. The new facilities add capacity and distribution capabilities to support increasing demand for American Textile Company products sold under bedding brands including AllerEase and Sealy found at retailers nationwide, as well as online. There are two major trends driving this expansion, said Lance Ruttenberg, American Textile Company President and CEO. First, weve seen continuous growth in our business over the last decade. Second, we need to get products to our customers and end consumers with increasing speed, which requires ongoing investment in our supply chain. We are strategically expanding operations to meet these demands, building upon previous facility expansions across North America, Asia and Central America. American Textile Company employs over 1,000 people worldwide and expects to bring 50 new jobs to Dallas and Salt Lake City over the next few years. The new Dallas facility provides nearly twice the amount of space and capacity as the former Dallas location. The new Salt Lake City facility increases space and capacity by approximately 70 percent. Adding facilities of this scale will have a long-term, positive impact on the manufacturing economies of Dallas and Salt Lake City, said Ruttenberg. It also enhances our ability to service our customers and manage inventory through peak seasons, while reducing shipping times and distance. The growing demand for innovative and specialized sleep solutions is a key component of American Textile Companys growth and will be on display at the New York Home & Textiles Market in New York City from September 19 - 22. # # # About American Textile Company Based near Pittsburgh, PA, American Textile Company is one of the largest bedding manufacturers in the country and a leading provider of innovative sleep solutions sold under AllerEase, Sealy, EvenTemp and private label brands. Family-owned and operated for more than 90 years, its mattress and pillow protectors, pillows, comforters, mattress pads, sheets and blankets are sold in over 40,000 stores, catalogs and online retailers across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Visit http://americantextile.com/ for more information. CONTACT: AlexaRae Antekeier Finn Partners on behalf of American Textile Company (312) 329-3913 alexarae.antekeier(at)finnpartners(dot)com Presto Media Logo There's a disconnect between digital media marketers and digital media content creators. We have used our extensive experiences in digital content to fix that disconnect with quality content that is both engaging and inexpensive for our clients. Presto Media, a specialized digital media marketplace, has secured a seed funding round that values the company at $1.25 million. The finance round was led by local Bloomington-Normal investor and business operations specialist Michael Straza and his company Straza Consulting. Straza has joined the company as a managing partner and will serve as Chief Operating Officer for the startup digital media marketplace. As a seasoned entrepreneur and consultant, Straza says hes worked with many startups, so he knows a gem when he sees it: The team at Presto Media impressed me from our first meeting, with its solid vision, innovative solutions, and experienced people. Im thrilled to invest and make this company a great success. The companys platform was built by software developer Patrick Fitzsimmons, creator of the Stallion.io framework, and the founding engineer at HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales software company that is valued at $2 billion. We started Presto Media when we discovered the disconnect between digital media marketers, and digital media content creators. Theres an art to engaging content, and we used our extensive experiences in digital media to build a marketplace that breeds quality content that is both engaging and surprisingly inexpensive for our clients, Presto Media CEO and Co-Founder Dave Polykoff says. The Presto Platform launched September 1, 2016, with more than a dozen digital publishing and digital media marketing partners. After 90 days in private beta, the company is now accepting new partners to join its platform. We plan to use our new infusion of cash to hire a Chief Content Officer, add new features to our state-of-the-art digital media management software, and increase our in-house digital marketing initiatives, says CMO and Co-Founder James Kosur. Presto Media is headquartered in Bloomington, Ill., with offices in Philadelphia, Penn., and Madison, Wisc. You can learn more about Presto Media at http://Presto.Media. Eating Recovery Center Eating Recovery Center, San Antonio (ERC, San Antonio), a trusted provider of comprehensive treatment for eating disorders, announced today the addition of Carolyn Jones to its clinical leadership team. Having previously served as ERCs Director of Nursing, Jones will serve as Senior Clinical Manager joining ERC, San Antonios existing multidisciplinary team of experts. Carolyn Jones, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Registered Nurse (RN), returns to ERC after developing the centers nursing department and serving as the Director of Nursing from 2008-2013. In between, she developed an outpatient eating disorder private practice in Denver. Jones holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a Master of Science in Counselor Education. Jones is also a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) and a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Nurse (CEDRN) with more than 24 years of experience. She is a past president of the Denver Metro Chapter of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp), an iaedp-approved supervisor, and sits on the national certification committee for iaedp. As Jones joins the ERC, San Antonio team, Dr. Susan Mengden will step down from her role as Executive Director. Dr. Mengden, licensed clinical psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS), helped found ERC, San Antonio in 2007. She will continue a working relationship with ERC, San Antonio as she reenters private practice. Carolyn Jones brings an extensive background and thought-leadership to treating eating disorders and mental health issues from her previous nursing, psychotherapy, and director roles, including her prior experience with ERC, says Stephen Fahey, Chief Operating Officer at Eating Recovery Center. Her commitment, insight, and perspective align with ERCs values, ensuring our patients and their families receive the best treatment and care for their eating disorder. For additional information about ERC San Antonio or for a free, confidential assessment with a Masters-level clinician, call (210) 920-7752, email info(at)ercsanantonio(dot)com, or visit http://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com. About Eating Recovery Center Eating Recovery Center (ERC) is the only national, vertically integrated, health care system dedicated to the treatment of serious eating and related disorders at any stage of the illness. ERC offers best-in-class treatment programs for all patients, no matter their age or gender, struggling from: anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, eating and weight disorder, unspecified eating disorders, as well as comorbid, co-occurring and dual diagnoses. Led by the worlds leading experts in eating disorder treatment, ERC provides a full spectrum of eating disorder recovery services through an unmatched network of multiple locations across seven states. The annual Chef's Legacy fundraiser honors the memory of Chef Craig Rutman, the first director of Monroes culinary arts program. Monroe College, a national leader in educating urban and international students, hosted The Monroe Foundations 11th annual "Chef's Legacy" fundraising event last night. The food and wine event, which each year raises scholarship funds for academic programs supported by The Monroe Foundation, was held at Monroe's Culinary Arts Center in New Rochelle. It was hosted by Frank Costantino, dean of Monroes School of Hospitality Management and its Culinary Institute of New York. The menu was prepared by culinary arts students and program alumni, with service provided by those in the hospitality management program. The annual Chef's Legacy fundraiser honors the memory of Chef Craig Rutman, the first director of Monroes culinary arts program. The Monroe Foundation established the Rutman Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor Chef Rutmans work to increase students access to real world educational opportunities, such as those offered through the culinary study abroad program he launched shortly before his untimely passing in 2005. More than $80,000 was raised at last year's event. A portion of those proceeds provided tuition assistance to eight Monroe College culinary arts students that departed on September 10th for a semester abroad in Italy. Several students from last years study abroad class spoke to attendees about their experience in Italy and their success after graduation. They also helped current students prepare the food as a way of saying thank you for the opportunities they were afforded through the generosity of the Rutman Memorial Scholarship Fund. This years event highlighted the flavors of Italian comfort foods, including an antipasto table, stone hearth-baked pizzette, pasta, and risotto. Approximately 225 guests attended, including local residents, government leaders, business partners, and the regional culinary community, as well as College faculty and staff. "We were delighted once again by the strong community support at last nights event, which honored the legacy of Chef Craig Rutman, a remarkable chef and passionate educator whose tireless dedication to students was an inspiration to all who met him, said Stephen Jerome, president of Monroe College. We look forward to the annual Chefs Legacy event each fall, and I thank all who attended for helping fund the academic dreams of so many deserving students. Prior to joining Monroe in 2003, Chef Craig Rutman taught baking courses at the New York City Technical College in Brooklyn. In 1997, he opened his own restaurant, Bissaleh, a Mediterranean eatery in Brooklyn. Previously, he worked as a pastry chef at An American Place, as well as NYC's renowned Sarabeth's restaurant. He began his career as a line cook at the River Cafe in Brooklyn, where he was soon promoted to pastry chef. He studied culinary arts at Sullivan County Community College in New York. To make a donation to the scholarship fund or learn more about The Monroe Foundation, please contact Kathy Murphy at kmurphy(at)monroecollege(dot)edu or call 646-393-8254. The Culinary Institute of New York (CINY) at Monroe College is an award-winning, nationally recognized culinary institute that provides students with a combination of theoretical education and hands-on experience in culinary arts, pastry arts, and hospitality management. With access to state-of-the-art instructional facilities designed to simulate the kitchens of restaurants, hotels and large production operations, students receive personal instruction and mentorship from a faculty of ACF-certified chefs and experienced industry professionals who are committed to their success. CINY has been ranked one of the top 10 culinary schools in the Northeastern U.S. and in the top 20 nationwide. In the few years since its founding in 2009, the program has produced award-winning culinary teams, students, faculty and staff, as well as a critically acclaimed student-run restaurant, The Dining Lab, which was deemed a "training ground for students" by The Wall Street Journal and "the little kitchen that could" by The New York Times. Its culinary competition team was named New York State Champions for two years running and has won more than 600 ACF medals. More information, including admissions criteria, is available online. ABOUT THE MONROE FOUNDATION The Monroe Foundation was established in 1993 to assist deserving individuals in the pursuit of higher education at the institution of their choice and to advance other educational purposes. The Monroe Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that grants scholarships to students enrolled in institutions of higher education to help defray the cost of tuition and to participate in educational enrichment activities. Grants are also provided to other worthy educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations. ABOUT MONROE COLLEGE Founded in 1933, New York-based Monroe College is a nationally ranked private institution of higher learning with a real-world learning approach that prioritizes hands-on academic experiences, practical and relevant academic programs, flexible learning schedules, best-in-class instructional technologies, and committed and engaged faculty to ensure that students are well positioned for career success upon graduation. Monroe is among the leading higher education institutions in the country for graduating minority students. Monroe College offers Certificate, Associate, Bachelors, and Masters degree programs. It has campuses in the Bronx, New Rochelle, as well as in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia, with programs offered through its Schools of Criminal Justice, Information Technology, Nursing, Education, Business & Accounting, Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts, and Allied Health, as well as through its liberal arts and continuing education programs, and its King Graduate School. For more information and admissions criteria, please visit http://www.monroecollege.edu. Neuro Advance will bring together a mix of stellar scientists, entrepreneurs and company creators to talk about the advancing frontier of neuroscience research and catalysts to progress for patients. It will be an exciting day! Leading CEOs, CSOs, CMOs and heads of neuroscience from top biopharmaceutical companies in the neuroscience and pain management space will join prominent academics and key investors for Neuro Advance Boston on October 5, 2016 at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Neuro Advance Boston focuses on the latest developments and opportunities in neuroscience. The agenda meeting features luminaries in neuroscience research and development, as well as executives of leading neuro companies who will explore the most relevant issues facing neuroscience and biotechnology today. Panel topics include Novel Approaches to Alzheimers Disease, Advances in Orphan Diseases, Progress in Neurogaming, Genetics of Neurology & Psychiatry, Investor Perspectives on Neuroscience Drug Development and more. As our scientific understanding of neuroscience grows, events such as Neuro Advance Boston become powerful forums for discussion and collaboration with the goal of advancing patient care., says Cynthia Schwalm, EVP of Commercial Operations-North America, IPSEN. Deborah Dunsire, CEO of Southern Cross Biotech Consulting and former CEO of Forum Pharmaceuticals continues, Advances in the treatment of Neurological and psychiatric diseases have lagged other areas, but recently there is a resurgence in promising approaches to some of the most difficult to treat diseases. Neuro Advance will bring together a mix of stellar scientists, entrepreneurs and company creators to talk about the advancing frontier of neuroscience research and catalysts to progress for patients. It will be an exciting day! Additional conference speakers include: PJ Anand (CEO, Alcyone Lifesciences), Richard Brudnick (SVP, Corporate Development, Biogen), Belen Carrillo-Rivas (Global Clinical Submission Lead, Pfizer), David Elmaleh (Scientific Founder and Chairman, AZTherapies), Liam Ratcliffe (Managing Director, New Leaf Venture Partners), Cameron Wheeler (Principal, Deerfield Management), Charles Stacey (President and CEO, Accera), Robert Silverman (Head of Externalized Drug Discovery Partnering, Roche), Charles Stacey (President and CEO, Accera), Liam Ratcliffe (Managing Director, New Leaf Venture Partners), David Elmaleh (Scientific Founder and Chairman, AZTherapies), Belen Carrillo-Rivas (Global Clinical Submission Lead, Pfizer), Peter Bergethon (Interim Chief Science Officer-Neuroscience and Pain Research Unit, Pfizer), PJ Anand (CEO, Alcyone Lifesciences), Thomas Wessel (CMO, Flex Pharma), and other prominent industry leaders. For more information or to register for the conference, visit: http://bbbiotechconference.com/conference-agenda.php?id=41 ABOUT THE BOSTON BIOTECH CONFERENCES The Boston Biotech Conferences (BBC)s mission is to build a vibrant community of biopharma leaders, which will help to drive biopharma innovation in biotech, by convening leaders across industry and academia. The conferences are exclusive, thought-leader forums for senior biopharma executives. Each conference is highly interactive and co-hosted by healthcare industry leaders to foster discussions and facilitate information-sharing, networking, and corporate development within the biopharma community. The meetings are invitation-only, off-the-record forums that bring together the past, present, and future leaders in the healthcare community to network, exchange ideas and share insights into the industry's challenges and opportunities. For more information or to register, visit http://www.bbbiotechconference.com. CR November 2016 Issue The same technology that has brought about so much convenience and connectivity can also pose a threat to consumers' safety, privacy, and financial security. Our digitally connected world provides consumers with opportunities to be engaged with global communities, be educated and entertained, and shop with ease. But those opportunities carry some risks, tooof intrusions, and threats from criminals. To help consumers stay safe online, Consumer Reports worked with dozens of security experts to put together an extensive guide covering everything from passwords for laptops and smartphones to ways to keep web-connected devices from leaking private data. How to Protect Your Privacy is the cover package in the November issue of Consumer Reports, which also introduces CRs new identity and logo, as well as a fresh, more intuitive rating system designed for the digital age. The new brand identity represents the change underway at CR as the organization executes on its vision to create a marketplace that listens to, responds to, and prizes the voices of consumers by putting their needs first. The November issue hits newsstands on Tuesday, September 27, and is available now online at http://www.ConsumerReports.org. The reports publication signals the start of CRs effort to aggressively delve into the world of data privacy--and push for stronger privacy and security protections in products and services in the marketplace. Consumer Reports recognizes privacy and data security as among the most important consumer issues of the 21st century. Individuals health and financial information is increasingly stored online, as are photos and communications with friends and family. At the same time, software is now becoming a core part of products that may not appear to be digitally connected: cars, door locks, thermostats, wristwatches, and more. The same technology that has brought about so much convenience and connectivity can also pose a threat to consumers safety, privacy, and financial security, said Marta L. Tellado, President and CEO of Consumer Reports. We are aggressively working alongside the brightest minds in the field to develop methods for testing the privacy and security of smart products and connected services--we know that, in order to remain a trusted partner to consumers in the digital age, we have to go beyond testing the hardware. We have to test the software, too. The past two years have been marked by news reports on data breaches, photo-hacking scandals, compromised home security cameras, ransomware attacks, and more. The package in the November issue is designed to make consumers more aware of what they can do to protect their own data privacy. Consumers dont need to follow every piece of guidance, but each one is quick, easy, and can help improve a readers privacy and security. The package leads off with an essay by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Julia Angwin, who shares the path she took in learning to protect her own privacy. Among the security experts who contributed tips for the story are: Lorrie Cranor, chief technologist, Federal Trade Commission; Mark Surman, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation; Dan Guido, CEO of Trail of Bits, a digital security firm; Nathan White, senior legislative manager at Access Now, a digital and human-rights organization; Jeremiah Grossman, chief of security at SentinelOne, a digital-security company; and Cory Doctorow, digital-privacy activist, co-editor of Boing Boing, and author of many books, most recently In Real Life, a graphic novel. A nationally representative survey of 1,012 adults conducted by Consumer Reports illustrates that consumers are already taking some simple steps to protect themselves against hackersbut more needs to be done. The story notes that more than 900 million records have been compromised from more than 5,000 data breaches made public since 2005, according to the nonprofit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. According to CRs survey, 28 percent of respondents said they cover the webcams to help foil hackers. Forty-five percent said they backup their computers, 62 percent said they use two-factor authentication, 75 percent said they set a smartphone screen lock, and 86 percent protect their home WiFi with a password. Consumer Reports strives to make its own privacy policies clear, concise, and actionable. CR listens to its customers, and takes the safety of their data very seriously. In its business relationships with digital companies such as Google and other third parties, CR follows best practices and strives to always act responsibly. CRs ultimate goal is for its practices to reflect the ideal marketplace it wants to achieve. While the organization isnt there yet, it will continue to innovate and champion on behalf of consumers. Further, CR believes that consumers personal information has tremendous value, and consumers should be able to exercise choice and control over the use of their data. When it comes to the sharing of information, consumers and companies should have a fair and open exchange, where the benefits and obligations are clear and meaningful to the consumer. Heres a look at five of the 66 expert tips compiled by Consumer Reports: Be Password Loyal: People tell you to change passwords regularly. Dont, unless theres a good reason, such as responding to a data breach. Switch often and youll probably end up using weak options. Stop ID Theft after a Death: Identity theft affects 2.5 million estates every year, according to the IRS. If a loved one has died, send a copy of the death certificate to the IRS (the funeral home may help with that). Also, cancel any drivers license, and notify credit agencies, banks, insurance firms, and financial institutions. Shut Down Webcam Creeps: Malicious actors have repeatedly proven that they can turn on a laptops camera without the users knowledge. The simplest solution? Do what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and FBI Director James Comey doput a piece of tape or a Post-it note over it. Hackers havent yet cracked the adhesive code. Just Fake It: Toymakers are rolling out connected kids productsincluding tablets and talking dollsand asking families to divulge personal information to register them. But that essentially provides marketers and potential hackers with details about your children. So consider providing fake information. Encrypt Your Computer Files: You can encrypt your whole machine or just sensitive files. To encrypt specific files on a Mac, use the Disk Utility. Windows 10 Home users can download a free app such as GPG4win (aka Gnu Privacy Guard). More information about data privacy including the full list of tips on how consumers can protect themselves, can be found in How to Protect Your Privacy featured at http://www.ConsumerReports.org and in the November 2016 issue of Consumer Reports magazine. About Consumer Reports Consumer Reports is the worlds largest and most trusted nonprofit consumer organization, working to improve the lives of consumers by driving marketplace change. Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has achieved substantial gains for consumers on food and product safety, financial reform, health reform, and many other issues. The organization has advanced important policies to prohibit predatory lending practices, combat dangerous toxins in food, and cut hospital-acquired infections. Consumer Reports tests and rates thousands of products and services in its 50-plus labs, state-of-the-art auto test center, and consumer research center. It also works to enact pro-consumer laws and regulations in Washington, D.C., in statehouses, and in the marketplace. An independent nonprofit, Consumer Reports accepts no advertising, payment, or other support from the companies that create the products it evaluates. ___________ NOVEMBER 2016 2016 Consumer Reports. The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it may not be used for advertising or promotional purposes. Consumer Reports is an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. We accept no advertising and pay for all the products we test. We are not beholden to any commercial interest. Our income is derived from the sale of Consumer Reports, ConsumerReports.org and our other publications and information products, services, fees, and noncommercial contributions and grants. Our Ratings and reports are intended solely for the use of our readers. Neither the Ratings nor the reports may be used in advertising or for any other commercial purpose without our permission. Consumer Reports will take all steps open to it to prevent commercial use of its materials, its name, or the name of Consumer Reports. We are looking forward to engaging with the industry and sharing this exciting new solution, demonstrating how it will benefit our customers, and how it differentiates itself from the competition. PRECO Electronics, the global leader in heavy-duty vehicle collision mitigation, today announced its participation at MINExpo 2016 in Las Vegas September 26-28. PRECO will be unveiling new technology that will help mining companies reduce the incidence of blind zone related accidents and the costs associated with these collisions. PRECO has been supporting safety programs of mining companies for over 40 years, and is excited to coincide the release of their newest technology with the opening of MINExpo on Monday, September 26, 2016. With a rapidly expanding worldwide customer base across multiple heavy-duty industries, PRECOs growing presence within the mining industry is changing the collision mitigation market, helping mining operations save lives and protect property. PRECO continues to be the leader in mining industry object detection, helping companies throughout the world reduce costly accidents. MINExpo is an important event for PRECO, giving us the opportunity to demonstrate our dedication to providing customers with the most flexible and reliable object detection solutions available today, said Doug Whitfield, director of marketing at PRECO. We are looking forward to engaging with the industry and sharing this exciting new solution, demonstrating how it will benefit our customers, and how it differentiates itself from the competition. PRECO has been testing their new solution with OEM partners and mining customers over the past year in anticipation for this release, and are looking forward to demonstrating the products capabilities at MINExpo booth #8085 next week. About PRECO Electronics PRECO is the global leader of collision mitigation solutions for heavy-duty equipment industries. PRECO believes that those responsible for heavy-duty equipment operations have a desire to keep the people and property around them safe and free from harm. We design, engineer and manufacture collision mitigation technology optimized for heavy-duty equipment. Our safety products have survived the industrys most rigorous testing for unstoppable performance in the harshest working conditions imaginable, so operators and fleets can perform with greater confidence and peace of mind. Established in 1947, PRECO has been providing safety solutions to heavy-duty industries for almost 70 years. Learn more at http://www.PRECO.com and follow us on Twitter @PrecoElec. Working with Buena Vista Winery and Jean-Charles has been one of the most memorable experiences Ive had in winemaking. Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurants, a leader in modern casual dining is known for their award winning wines and home of the largest wine club in America. Today, they are excited to announce their latest collaboration with Buena Vista, Californias oldest winery and one of the first new world wineries in the country. The yearlong project comes at a momentous time for Coopers Hawk as they celebrate their 200,000 wine club member milestone this month. The partnership between the wineries produced the 11th Anniversary Coopers Hawk Collaboration wine, which celebrates the combined innovation of two wineries both committed to bringing a dynamic energy to the wine industry. Jean-Charles Boisset, President of Buena Vista Winery, best known for his familys deep roots in crafting European wine, embodies the best of old and new world wine. Tim McEnery, CEO and founder of Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurants, is the face of a new generation of wine enthusiasts. Together, they crafted a wine that honors Californias tradition of bold, full-bodied wines. Collaboration is a rich, deep wine loaded with aromas of blackberry, blueberry, cherry, plum and baking spices. It has firm and well-rounded tannins and an exceptionally long finish that can stand up to any beef dish. Although balanced to drink now, this blend will age well for another four to six years. Coopers Hawk will bottle 15k cases of wine as their 11th Anniversary Wine of the Month this October. Tim McEnery shared, Working with Buena Vista Winery and Jean-Charles has been one of the most memorable experiences Ive had in winemaking. The historical significance of Buena Vista and its 150 year-old tradition is awe-inspiring. Im honored to be able to bottle the experience and share it with our Wine Club. The Club has helped chart our course in winemaking, and I am confident that our members will embrace the addition of a classic California wine. Buena Vista Winery was founded in 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy upon realizing the great potential in Sonoma for world-class wine. He went on to create the first gravity flow winery, excavated the first wine cave and brought in over 200 different varietals from Europe in an effort to create the best wine. From then, he began to call himself The Count of Buena Vista to celebrate his commitment to California wine. In 2011, Buena Vista became part of the Boisset Collection, a producer and importer of fine wines based in Burgundy, France. President, Jean-Charles Boisset was touched by the historical importance of Buena Vista and Californias wine region and has continued to uphold the vision that Count Agoston Haraszthy shared some 150 years ago. Jean-Charles has been recognized for his outstanding contribution to the wine community and has received honors from The French America Foundation, Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Meiningers, Decanter Magazine and more. Jean-Charles Boisset was quoted, "Collaboration is what makes the wine world vibrate and brings a transcendental vision to people's emotional style, taste and senses. Bringing history and the future together allowed us to re-imagine the wine world. Im incredibly grateful to Tim and his team, who added another dimension of imagination and inspiration to Buena Vistas style. The influence and joy shared in crafting this wine will certainly be enjoyed by the Coopers Hawk Wine Club. This wine is about power and a vortex of energy that has never been felt before. Together we toast to the future of Tim and his team at Cooper's Hawk and to collaboration at large." The collaboration between Coopers Hawk and Buena Vista will be celebrated on Tuesday, September 27 at Danada House in Wheaton, Illinois from 6:30-9:30pm. Coopers Hawk wine club members will enjoy an inspired menu compliments of Coopers Hawk Chef Matt McMillin served alongside thoughtful pairings from both wineries. The evening will feature a few surprises including a fireside chat with Coopers Hawk Founder Tim McEnery and Buena Vista President Jean-Charles Boisset. Both will share personal stories about their adventures in wine making and experience working together. Each guest will leave with a bottle of wine signed by both McEnery and Boisset. ABOUT BUENA VISTA WINERY Buena Vista Winery is Californias first premium winery; it was founded in 1857 by Hungarian immigrant Agoston Haraszthy, the self-proclaimed Count of Buena Vista. Possessing a deep regard for the significance of Buena Vistas place in California wine history, Jean-Charles Boisset purchased Buena Vista in April 2011 and added the winery to the Boisset Collection. Today, Boisset has returned Buena Vista Winery to its original glory with the complete restoration and re-opening of the historic property. The wines are achieving new heights under Winemaker Brian Maloney and Consulting Winemaker David Ramey. Buena Vista Winery is located at 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.buenavistawinery.com. ABOUT COOPERS HAWK WINERY & RESTAURANTS Coopers Hawk is a unique combination of restaurant, winery, Napa-style tasting room, and artisanal retail market. The concept partners with some of the best grape growers in the world to craft the Coopers Hawk wine collection, winner of nearly 400 awards. Coopers Hawk is home to the countrys largest Wine Club, a member club offering exclusive wines, events, and privileges. Helmed by CEO/Founder Tim McEnery, Coopers Hawk was first opened in Orland Park, Illinois in 2005. Operations have since expanded to 24 locations throughout Illinois, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and Wisconsin, with five additional units slated for construction through 2017. A brighter future of health care requires a shared vision and clinicians who have been trained to work together in order to promote and restore the health of our people. Citing a mission to transform health care by bringing together practitioners from diverse clinical backgrounds such as medical doctors, chiropractic physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and doctors of traditional oriental medicine, the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine (AIHM) formed the first interprofessional fellowship fifteen months ago. The ambitious vision brought together world-class faculty, including Neil Mann, PhD, Brad Jacobs, MD, Lise Alschuler, ND, Gerry Curatola, DDS, and dozens of others for curriculum development. To support extraordinary clinicians working with underserved communities and to achieve the programs directive of professional diversity through scholarships, the Academy sought philanthropic investment. This August, because of donor support, AIHM launched the second full interprofessional class with over 50 percent of the Fellows securing scholarships, an unprecedented figure. AIHM Education Director, Tieraona Low Dog, MD, issued the following statement thanking donors: A brighter future of health care requires a shared vision and clinicians who have been trained to work together in order to promote and restore the health of our people. Through rigorous interprofessional training, AIHM Fellows are setting a new standard of care and are positioned to transform their practices, communities and ultimately, the broader healthcare system. We believe that every community deserves access to integrative health and medicine and practitioners who listen and connect the dots. They deserve clinicians who know how to work in partnership and with a team. "Scholarships are the mechanism by which we can attract the highest caliber of practitioners to our program and the Academy can ensure greater access to integrative health and medicine. Our scholarships are merit-based with special consideration for those working in underserved areas and facilitate representation from diverse professions. "Thanks to the remarkable generosity of our donors and corporate supporters, the gift of interprofessional training will impact the lives of our recipients and the thousands of individuals and families they serve each year in their communities. The Academy extends special congratulations to three AIHM Fellows who reached a distinguished level of achievement with named scholarships: 1. Denise Spector, NP, Natural Partners Scholarship Winner 2. Kimberly Douglas, MD, Integrative Therapeutics Scholarship Winner 3. Winnie Reeve, FNP, AIHM Director's Scholarship The AIHM Scholarship program awards funds each fall and spring term. The August 2016 awards were made possible by the generous support from AIHM Founding Fellowship Supporters, including the Simms Mann Family Foundation, the Westreich Foundation, the MIRAGLO Foundation, Integrative Therapeutics and the Taylor Family Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and Natural Partners. Dr. Victoria Mann Simms, Founder and President of the Simms/Mann Family Foundation says, As longtime supporters of integrative health and medicine, we see interprofessional education as a critical pathway to change. The AIHM Fellowship is leading the way and we are excited to invest in scholarships to ensure that the very best practitioners from diverse disciplines come together to learn and train in community. This, we believe, is how transformation happens, when all healing traditions have a seat at the table. New scholarships are available for the next AIHM Fellowship class, which begins February 2017. For more information on the AIHM Fellowship, scholarships, or creating a named award, please contact the AIHM Fellowship team at fellowship(at)aihm(dot)org or (858) 240-9033 x 1000. AIHM staff is available for interviews related to the movement of integrative health and medicine and how it seeks to transform the current healthcare landscape. Contact us at press(at)aihm(dot)org and/or consider attending the AIHM Annual Conference the week of Oct. 30 Nov. 3, 2016 in San Diego, CA. Water Life Science advocate Sharon Kleyne, host of The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water radio program, followed up on her support of the clear water-ravaged city of Flint, Michigan by calling on Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and other presidential candidates to support new water research and advanced water technology to revive Flint and prevent future water disasters. When Donald Trump pointed out that we used to buy cars in Flint and avoided drinking the water in Mexico, but now we buy cars in Mexico and cant drink Flint river water, he gave us all a wake-up call, said Kleyne. Now all the candidates need to gather at the river and come up with comprehensive water plans, Kleyne continued. Water research should be the number one priority of infrastructure planning throughout the U.S., and really, all over the world, Kleyne added. With the Flint water crisis calling ever greater attention to the global water crisis, Kleyne believes that candidates entering the presidential election cycles home stretch will strive to trump one another as they develop their own comprehensive water plans. They have to focus on water, Kleyne said, before they do anything else. Kleyne pointed out that water is already the number one investment in the world. Kleyne, the founder of Bio-Logic Aqua Research Water Life Science who also discovered a rare Trade Secret tissue culture grade water in Oregon, explained how water vapor in the air makes life possible on earth. If we destroy the water vapor in the air, Kleyne warned, we will not be able to live because we are mostly water. Kleyne went on the explain how the eye lens is 99 percent water; the brain is 80-85 percent water; the lungs and liver are 70-80 percent water; the blood is 50 percent water; even the bones are 20 percent water. We are fluid. Kleyne said. Everything around us is made of water. Hope doesnt keep us alive; the atmospheric water vapor does that. Kleynes clarion call for water research, which received a boost from Trumps visit to Flint, is rapidly swelling, finding supportive scientists and entrepreneurs around the world. As more and more people become educated about water, Kleyne said, we get closer to and closer to deeper water research and comprehensive, long-term water plans and goals. We must do this to product our precious water resources, and our political leaders should lead the way. LSM Graduation 2016 Students from all over the world arrived in London for the sole reason of attending their graduation ceremony. We wanted the ceremony to be one that they will remember for years to come. The 13th and 14th of September marked the days when London School of Marketing held its annual graduation ceremony in London, United Kingdom. The school which has been operating in the education industry since 2007, is partnered with Anglia Ruskin University to offer students from around the globe the opportunity to gain British qualifications at the comfort of their own home. The London School of Marketing Graduation ceremony is quite a remarkable occasion as it is an event where students from numerous nationalities meet in London to celebrate their educational accomplishments. Therefore, the LSM management decided that a conventional graduation would not do the event justice. The school known for its unorthodox approaches in the educational industry, held a truly unique graduation ceremony where students felt less restricted with the usual, rigid graduation formalities and provided more opportunity for the graduates to enjoy their big day with friends and family. Gimhani Gunasinghe, Head of the Marketing and Corporate Reputation at LSM stated the following, An unconventional graduation ceremony means more fun and more memories. These students have worked hard for their degrees and a graduation ceremony should allow them the opportunity to enjoy it with their loved ones! Firstly, a landmark location in London, the iconic O2 arena, was selected as the venue for the graduation ceremony. On the much awaited day, graduates, family and friends all donned their Sunday best and arrived at the arena with their faces beaming with pride and happiness. The ceremonies allowed students to receive their awards up on the graduation stage from the Pro Vice Chancellor (Partnerships) of Anglia Ruskin University, in the presence of their friends and family. The graduates were given plenty of time on stage to enjoy and treasure the moment, giving their loved ones ample time to snap away numerous pictures that would soon be framed and held on their walls at home. Soon after the graduates received their awards, they had the opportunity to leave the hall and start celebrating with their friends and family. The atmosphere outside the graduation stage was enthralling! Warm hugs, laughter and happy chatter filled the halls. After having their refreshments, graduates and guests dispersed to take their photographs with the official photographer for the event, Ede and Ravenscroft. In addition, a photo booth with various props were open for graduates, allowing them to take fun-filled photographs with their loved ones and in addition to the usual, formal photographs taken on graduation day. The times are changing, stated Anton Dominque, the CMO of London School of Marketing. The secret behind the events success is that we were able to adjust to the needs of the graduates. Students from all over the world arrived in London for the sole reason of attending their graduation ceremony. We wanted the ceremony to be one that they will remember for years to come. The event which played host to a total of 850 graduates and 1500 guests was truly an event to remember. Syed Kabir, valedictorian for the graduation ceremony this year stated the following, The graduation ceremony was everything we hoped for and more. A graduation ceremony is a milestone for all us graduates and LSM provided us the opportunity to celebrate in a truly memorable manner! Stay tuned to LSMs Facebook and YouTube pages for more pictures and videos for its 2016 graduation ceremony. London School of Marketing delivers accredited marketing and business qualifications, and offers professional courses from recognised professional bodies such as CIM, EduQual and academic qualifications on Marketing, Business, Finance, Law and HRM from Anglia Ruskin University and The University of Northampton. Based in Central London, they are a QAA approved institution. The school also has offices in Sri Lanka, a network of Local Access Points (LAPs), and online programmes of learning. Glossary Cover A home purchase is widely recognized as the most significant financial transaction most people will make in their lives. For individuals who either prefer to speak Spanish or only speak Spanish, this already complex transaction can become overwhelming. Today the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), released an English-Spanish Glossary of Real Estate Industry Terms during its 2016 National Convention and Latin Music Festival at the JW Marriott-LA Live. Unlike other glossaries, the English-Spanish Glossary of Real Estate Industry Terms provides both the technical translation for each term and colloquial terminology which are most often used by customers and practitioners. A home purchase is widely recognized as the most significant financial transaction most people will make in their lives. For individuals who either prefer to speak Spanish or only speak Spanish, this already complex transaction can become overwhelming, says NAHREP President Joseph Nery. This glossary is intended to be a guide to corporations, practitioners and governments looking to create Spanish Language resources for their clients and the general public. In a recent NAHREP survey, top producing Latino agents and loan officers indicated that 40 percent of their transactions make use of Spanish at some point in the transaction, and as much as 25 percent of all transactions utilize Spanish exclusively as the means of communication with their clients. In an already complex and increasingly regulated environment, NAHREP responded to the need to provide guidance and consistency on Spanish-neutral translations of the words and phrases used most frequently over the course of a real estate transaction. For more information and/or to download a FREE copy of the glossary, visit http://www.nahrep.org/glossary. About NAHREP The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, a nonprofit 501(c) 6 trade association, is dedicated to advancing sustainable homeownership among Latinos by educating and empowering the real estate professionals who serve them. NAHREP is the premier trade organization for Hispanics and has more than 26,000 members in 48 states and 55 affiliate chapters. For more information, please visit http://www.NAHREP.com. Press Contacts: Jason Riveiro NAHREP jriveiro(at)nahrep(dot)org (513) 482-1814 Mike Murray Director of Communications Strategic Vantage MikeMurray(at)StrategicVantage(dot)com (240) 498-0863 InnovMetric Software Inc., the leading provider of universal 3D metrology software solutions, proudly announces the launch of PolyWorks Turkiye, a joint venture created with local business partners to market the PolyWorks Universal 3D Metrology Software Platform to Turkeys manufacturing industry, particularly in the automotive sector. The automotive industry has a strong foothold in Turkeys economy, with the presence of thirteen global car manufacturers who export nearly $20 billion worth of motor vehicles and components yearly. InnovMetric already has a base of PolyWorks users in these production plants, and the next strategic step is to reinforce our presence in the region to fully take advantage of this growing industry, said Marc Soucy, President of InnovMetric. To achieve this goal, InnovMetric Software Inc. has decided to form a joint venture with its Turkish partners, Dr. Ayduygu Sevinc (Ph.D.) and Gokhan Odabas, who combine an excellent knowledge of the local manufacturing industries with solid expertise in 3D metrology. PolyWorks Turkiye will provide technical support, training, and sales assistance to InnovMetric's metrology hardware partners located in Turkey. In addition, PolyWorks Turkiye will market PolyWorks to VIP accounts in the regions various manufacturing industries that want to standardize their metrology operations on a single software platform. PolyWorks Turkiye will also supply high-end services to PolyWorks customers, including metrology process consulting and software customization through macro programming. Industrial manufacturing customers in Turkey are very enthusiastic about the power, robustness, ease of use, and flexibility of the PolyWorks universal metrology platform. We are very proud to partner with InnovMetric to further develop PolyWorks business in this market, said Mr. Sevinc and Mr. Odabas, who look forward to a very successful first year at the head of PolyWorks Turkiye. PolyWorks Turkiye started its operations on July 01, 2016. About InnovMetric Software Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Quebec, QC, Canada, with subsidiaries worldwide, InnovMetric Software Inc. is the leading provider of universal 3D metrology software solutions. The worlds largest industrial manufacturing organizations (Toyota, GM, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW, Daimler, Ford, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney, Boeing, Embraer, Bombardier, Apple, and many more) trust InnovMetrics PolyWorks software solutions and associated technical services to maximize the benefits of 3D measurement technologies for their engineering and manufacturing applications. With its subsidiaries and joint ventures, InnovMetric has more than 250 employees in 12 countries: Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, India, Thailand, China, and Japan. For more information about InnovMetric Software, please visit: http://www.innovmetric.com. On Friday, September 9, 2016, Greenberg Traurig, LLPs Boston office sponsored and hosted the launch of Healthcare Drinks Boston Chapter, which featured the timely discussion, China-U.S. Cross Border Deal Making in Life Sciences. Dr. Fang Xie, co-leader of Greenberg Traurigs Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry Group of the global Life Sciences & Medical Technology Group, moderated the panel, which featured: Dr. John Lu, President and CEO of Vcanbio Centre for Translational Biotechnology; Dr. Wei Li, Founding Partner of WuXi Healthcare Ventures; and Mark Charest, Ph.D., Portfolio Manager, Phenomic Capital. Topics included an overview of representative types of cross-border deals, the deal-making process, recent trends in life sciences deals, and challenges and opportunities in U.S.-China cross-border transactions. The panel discussion was followed by a networking reception attended by local biotech executives and investors. Healthcare Drinks provides a platform for all sectors of management in the health care industry to meet, exchange ideas and socialize in a casual yet professional, educational and supportive atmosphere. Its members include executives from medical device, pharmaceutical, biotech, hospitals and e-health firms, as well as doctors and management from hospitals and clinics. Healthcare Drinks has chapters in Beijing, Hong Kong, Melbourne, San Francisco, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taipei, Twin Cities and most recently, Boston. About Greenberg Traurigs Life Sciences & Medical Technology Group Greenberg Traurigs Life Sciences & Medical Technology Group advises clients ranging from startups to large multinational public companies to leading research institutions. The groups attorneys work closely with clients, providing innovative legal counsel to help them achieve their objectives from discovery through commercialization and product marketing. As part of the group, the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry Group focuses on advising clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 2,000 attorneys serving clients from 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm is No. 1 on the 2015 Law360 Most Charitable Firms list, second largest in the U.S. on the 2016 Law360 400, Top 20 on the 2015 Am Law Global 100, and among the 2015 BTI Brand Elite. More information at: http://www.gtlaw.com. Four Greater Hartford business leaders will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards during the Hartford Business Journals Lifetime Achievement Awards, November 2 from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at The Bond Ballroom in Hartford. We are honored to bring together these four outstanding individuals for a morning of celebration and learning, said Joe Zwiebel, president and publisher of the Hartford Business Journal. These successful professionals are exemplary business leaders and we thank them for their contributions to the Greater Hartford business community. The 2016 Lifetime Achievement Awards winners are: John Lundgren; Stanley Black & Decker Chandler Howard; Liberty Bank Walter Harrison; University of Hartford Jeffrey Glazer; Insurity Inc. Richard Sugarman, President of Hartford Promise, will moderate the winners panel discussion. Admission to the event is $75/ticket and $700 for a table of 10. To register or for more information, contact Kaleigh Hickey; khickey(at)hartfordbusiness(dot)com; 860-236-9998 ext. 137, or register online at http://www.hartfordbusiness.com. The Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented by Hartford Business Journal and sponsored by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (presenting sponsor) and The Pita Group (event sponsor). Event Partners include, The Bond Ballroom, J. Fiereck Photography, The Perfect Promotion, Local Stage Productions, Merritt Graphics and Co-Communications, Marketing & Public Relations. ### About Hartford Business Journal Hartford Business Journal is the only audited weekly, subscription-based business publication in Connecticut. Whether its market trends, the latest merger news or an update on state government, this award-winning weekly is the must read for area business leaders. Hartford Business Journal has a total readership of 31,000 affluent and educated business decision makers in the 61 towns that make up Metro Hartford. For more information, please visit http://www.hartfordbusiness.com or call 860.236.9998. GO Virginia is a bipartisan initiative adopted by the Virginia General Assembly and Governor Terry McAuliffe to encourage greater collaboration. A steering committee, comprised of top Northern Virginia business, education and economic development leaders, has been formed to develop the Regional Council. This Council will identify, review and propose local projects that will compete with other regions of the state for funds from the GO Virginia economic development program. An initiative of the Coalition of Northern Virginia Chambers, the Steering Committee has the task of identifying candidates to serve on the GO Virginia Regional Council for Northern Virginia and to initiate the development of a regional economic development strategy. GO Virginia is a bipartisan initiative adopted by the Virginia General Assembly and Governor Terry McAuliffe to encourage greater collaboration amongst the Commonwealths localities, higher education and private sector partners on projects that create jobs and spur economic growth. At their first meeting, Steering Committee members named Matt McQueen, of Northrop Grumman, and Kerry Donley, of John Marshall Bank, the committees Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively. Alongside Kerry, I am proud to help lead this important effort to develop the strongest possible GO Virginia Regional Council for Northern Virginia," said McQueen. "By encouraging greater collaboration and less parochialism, this groundbreaking initiative will change the paradigm for economic development in Virginia. Along with my fellow Steering Committee members, I am excited to be a part of that change." On behalf of the Coalition of Northern Virginia Chambers, I want to thank these business leaders for investing their time and expertise in this Steering Committee. The Governor and General Assembly have demonstrated tremendous confidence in the ability of Virginias regions to create the partnerships and spirit of collaboration needed to drive our economy forward. Northern Virginias chambers of commerce are fully committed to that goal and to GO Virginias success, said Mark Ingrao, President & CEO of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. For more information, interested parties are invited to contact: Mark Ingrao President & CEO Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce (703) 707-9045 Tony Howard President & CEO Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce (571) 209-9020 Sennheiser, a leading provider of premium headset and speakerphone solutions, today announced the interoperability of their products with innovaphone AG, the professional corporate communications specialist from Sindelfingen, Germany. The entire range of innovaphone IP telephones is, without exception, compatible with Sennheisers headsets and speakerphones. The successful completion of the interoperability testing marks the launch of a strategic partnership between the two companies within Unified Communications. Following the successful completion of comprehensive interoperability testing, innovaphone is now a Sennheiser Strategic Partner for Unified Communications. The combination of innovaphone IP112, IP222 and IP232 IP telephones with Sennheisers wired and wireless USB headset and speakerphone series will convince even the most demanding professional users with a first class audio experience. Furthermore, the two manufactures offer compatible DECT solutions. As of software version V12r2, innovaphone Software Phone supports Sennheiser headsets and speakerphones with full call control interoperability. Sennheiser products are also supported by innovaphone in real time applications over WebRTC using innovaphone myPBX web client (audio only). Konstantin Kruse, Director International Sales at innovaphone explains, Unified Communications solutions are no longer a niche product, we can no longer imagine professional corporate communications without them. Sennheiser is specialized in wireless and wired headsets and speakerphones for UC environments and supplies cutting-edge audio solutions on a global scale. This cooperation allows us to approach the European UC market with innovative solutions that perfectly complement the innovaphone PBX. innovaphone has a long track record of introducing state-of-the art solutions for IP telephony and Unified Communication. The standard integration of the latest WebRTC technology in the innovaphone PBX is a good example, said Andreas Bach, President at Sennheiser Communications A/S. We are pleased to announce this partnership and to ensure a premium user experience for our mutual customers. About Sennheiser Audio specialist Sennheiser is one of the world's leading manufacturers of headphones, microphones and wireless transmission systems. Based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, Sennheiser operates its own production facilities in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is active in more than 50 countries. With 19 sales subsidiaries and long-established trading partners, the company supplies innovative products and cutting-edge audio solutions that are optimally tailored to its customers' needs. Sennheiser is a family owned company that was founded in 1945 and which today has 2,750 employees around the world that share a passion for audio technology. Since 2013, Sennheiser has been managed by Daniel Sennheiser and Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, the third generation of the family to run the company. As part of the Sennheiser Group, the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S is specialized in wireless and wired headsets and speakerphones for contact centers, offices and Unified Communications environments as well as headsets for gaming and mobile devices. In 2015, the Sennheiser Group had sales totaling 682 million. http://www.sennheiser.com About innovaphone AG innovaphone AG has been playing a decisive role in the development of IP telephony ever since the company was founded in 1997. The companys entrepreneurial spirit and development work are characterised by the emphasis placed on the guiding concepts of achieving long-term value, producing durable products, reliability and sustainability. The technology company with approximately 90 employees is financed entirely with private funds. All innovaphone products come from the innovaphone Development department in Germany. Company headquarters are based in Sindelfingen, further company sites include Austria and Italy. Under the name of innovaphone PBX, innovaphone offers a complete IP telephony and Unified Communications solution suitable for companies of any size with any profile. "We are now one step closer to adding an additional 1,200 permanent supportive housing units for Los Angeles homeless veteran population." - Dan Garcia, Vets Advocacy's Executive Director Vets Advocacy issued the following statement after the United States Senate passed H.R. 5936, West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016. We are extremely grateful that Congress has passed legislation that will put months of hard work into action, said Dan Garcia, Vets Advocacys Executive Director. Stakeholders from all over Los Angeles County provided input into the West LA VA draft master plan that can now move into the execution phase with passage of the bill. We are now one step closer to adding an additional 1,200 permanent supportive housing units for Los Angeles homeless veteran population. I applaud House Veteran Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, Senator Johnny Isackson, Congressman Ted Lieu and Senator Dianne Feinsteins commitment to restoring West LA VA to its historic purpose, added retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Vets Advocacy Board Member. With the Presidents signature VA will have all the legal tools necessary to turn the tide of veteran homelessness in Los Angeles once and for all. Last week the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5936, the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016. The bill authorizes the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to use enhanced use lease agreements on the 388 acre West LA VA campus. Enhanced use leases are a necessary component of the West LA VA draft master plan approved by VA Secretary Bob McDonald on January 28, 2016. The plan will add at least 1,200 units to Los Angeles Countys estimated shortage of 15,341 permanent supportive housing units. When fully implemented the West LA VA draft master plan could potentially add as many as 4,000 veteran housing units determined by future need assessments. About Vets Advocacy Vets Advocacy is a privately funded, non-profit advocacy organization facilitating revitalization of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus as a condition of the Valentini v Shinseki settlement. Contact Anthony Allman Director of Outreach Office: 424-348-0083 Email: anthony(at)veteranadvocate(dot)org Rigaku Corporation is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the 24th Croatian-Slovenian Crystallographic Meeting (CSCM24). The conference is taking place September 21st to September 25th, 2016 at the Bluesun Hotel Elaphusa in the resort town of Bol, on the island of Brac, Croatia. The meeting is organized jointly by the Croatian Crystallographic Association and the Slovenian Crystallographic Society, under the auspices of the Department of Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Sciences of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU). Rigaku Oxford Diffraction, representing its diverse lines of single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrumentation, will conduct an oral presentation, Advances in Crystallography on Thursday, September 22. About Rigaku Oxford Diffraction (ROD) ROD was formed as the global single crystal business unit of Rigaku Corporation after the acquisition of the former Oxford Diffraction organization from Agilent Technologies in 2015. ROD is a leader in the field of single crystal analysis, both in the field of chemical crystallography as well as well as macromolecular crystallography. Formed in 1951, Rigaku Corporation is a leading analytical instrumentation company based out of Tokyo, Japan About Rigaku Since its inception in Japan in 1951, Rigaku has been at the forefront of analytical and industrial instrumentation technology. Rigaku and its subsidiaries form a global group focused on general-purpose analytical instrumentation and the life sciences. With hundreds of major innovations to their credit, Rigaku companies are world leaders in X-ray spectrometry, diffraction, and optics, as well as small molecule and protein crystallography and semiconductor metrology. Today, Rigaku employs over 1,400 people in the manufacturing and support of its analytical equipment, which is used in more than 90 countries around the world supporting research, development, and quality assurance activities. Throughout the world, Rigaku continuously promotes partnerships, dialog, and innovation within the global scientific and industrial communities. For further information, contact: Michael Nelson Rigaku Global Marketing Group tel: +1. 512-225-1796 michael.nelson(at)rigaku(dot)com The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) will host its 10th annual AMIA Policy Invitational (API2016) September 21-22 on Completing the Evidence Cycle: Reimagining the Research-Practice Relationship in a Post-Meaningful Use Era. The nations biomedical and health informatics professionals will also participate in a workshop co-hosted with the North American Center for the Study of Ethics and Health IT, including international and national experts to explore the ethical aspects of our ever-evolving and modernizing healthcare ecosystem. The theme of this years Invitational looks at the possibilities and the pitfalls of reaching near universal adoption of EHRs in U.S. healthcare, and how this paradigm requires a re-examination of how clinical practice interacts with clinical research and vice versa. API2016 will feature three keynote speakers, including: Robert M. Califf, MD, Commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration; Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, PhD, Director of the National Library of Medicine; and Andrew B. Bindman, MD, Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality For the last decade, the AMIA Policy Invitational has served as a unique platform to inform legislative, regulatory and policy development, said AMIA President & CEO Douglas B. Fridsma MD, PhD, FACMI. This years topic will be incredibly impactful for efforts like the Precision Medicine and Cancer Moonshot Initiatives. The increasing overlap between clinical research and practice necessitates a broad discussion of how we can leverage point-of-care activities and systems to improve clinical research, accelerate biomedical discovery and improve the health of individuals and populations. Attendees will participate in multi-stakeholder breakout sessions where they will engage with their peers in facilitated discussions meant to develop concrete, actionable recommendations on the topics of Nodes: Evidence Generation at the Local Level, Networks: Clinical Research Across Organizations, and Sustainability: Maintaining a National Research Ecosystem. Given the ascendance of a new Administration and 115th Congress in 2017, recommendations developed through API2016 will develop solutions-oriented ideas to the fast-moving legislative and regulatory environment in Washington, D.C. and beyond. The science and application of informatics will be central to the next generation of care delivery and research, said AMIA Board Chair and Medical Director of IT Services at the University of Washingtons UW Medicine, Thomas H. Payne, MD, PhD, FACMI. In order to capitalize on the era of big data, we must have policies that encourage better data sharing for research, reward quality care for patients and enable a learning health system locally and nationally. ### AMIA, the leading professional association for informatics professionals, is the center of action for 5,000 informatics professionals from more than 65 countries. As the voice of the nations top biomedical and health informatics professionals, AMIA and its members play a leading role in assessing the effect of health innovations on health policy, and advancing the field of informatics. AMIA actively supports five domains in informatics: translational bioinformatics, clinical research informatics, clinical informatics, consumer health informatics, and public health informatics. Panel Discussion at the 4th Annual Cardio Symposium The fact that cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent stem cells recapitulate many key characteristics of cardiac physiology makes them an extremely powerful tool for a broad spectrum of in vitro studies. One such application involves using human induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) to screen molecules for cardiotoxicity at early stages in the drug discovery/development pipeline, thereby reducing the costs and risks associated with bringing a drug to market. Another key application is using patient-derived hiPSC-CMs to model diverse cardiomyopathies; this facilitates characterization of their molecular etiologies and screening for therapeutic interventions. This past weekend ACEA Biosciences hosted the 4th Annual Cardio Symposium as a forum to promote scientific exchange and collaboration amongst scientists working at the forefront of cardiac safety assessment and cardiovascular disease model research. 70+ experts from industry, academia, and government labs gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver (Canada) to share their findings. Dr. Jason Maynes (Director of Research and Staff Anesthesiologist at The Hospital of Sick Children, Canada) and Dr. Farah Sheikh (Professor of Medicine at UC San Diego) both demonstrated the use of hiPSC-CMs in conjunction with ACEAs xCELLigence RTCA CardioECR instrument to simultaneously characterize contractility and integrated ion channel activity. By this approach, the Maynes group has discovered novel therapeutics for heart failure, while the Sheikh group has studied cardiomyocyte cell lines derived from genetically, biochemically and physiologically characterized patients afflicted by right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). In the realm of in vitro toxicity testing, speakers from both government and pharmaceutical companies showcased their cardiac toxicity screening data, and concluded that by coupling xCELLigence with other technologies in screening hiPSC-CMs they are capable of flagging clinically unsafe compounds and providing predictable clinical outcomes. Cell quality control and the processes necessary for producing hiPSC-CMs of mature phenotype were also a heated topic of discussion at the symposium. More than 20 members from the Japanese Safety Pharmacology Society (JSPS) and the Japan iPS Cardiac Safety Assessment (JiCSA) initiative were in attendance. Among them, Dr. Kohei Sawada (President of the JSPS) gave a talk about assessing drug-induced Torsade de Pointes risk. Dr. Yuko Sekino (National Institute of Health Sciences, Japan) described Japans current strategies for using hiPSC-CMs in safety pharmacology studies. For a complete list of speakers and talk titles from the symposium, view the complete program. The themes from ACEAs Cardio Symposium will carry into Safety Pharmacology Society meeting taking place this week in Vancouver. There will be 2 talks and 10 posters citing xCELLigence Cardio and CardioECR technology. In addition, ACEA will host a workshop (with the following 2 talks) from 6:00-7:00 PM on Tuesday September 20 to highlight the utility of the robust pacing function of CardioECR System. Impact of Electrical Pacing on Cardiomyocyte Contractility and its Implications for Safety Assessment Xiaoyu Zhang, Ph.D. (Research Scientist at ACEA Biosciences) Pacing of Human iPSC Cardiomyocytes as a Useful Tool in Cardiovascular Safety Assessment Hong Shi, M.D. (Senior Research Scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb) Download the summary and agenda of these activities here. About xCELLigence and the Cardio ECR Instrument ACEAs xCELLigence Real Time Cell Analysis (RTCA) instruments utilize gold microelectrodes embedded in the bottom of microtiter wells to non-invasively monitor the status of adherent cells using the principle of cellular impedance. In short, cells act as insulators impeding the flow of an alternating microampere electric current between electrodes. This impedance signal is measured automatically, at an interval defined by the user, and provides an extremely sensitive readout of cell number, cell size/shape, and cell-substrate attachment strength. Unique amongst the xCELLigence line of instruments, the Cardio ECR model combines real-time impedance recording with field potential measurement and a pacing function to provide a view of cardiomyocyte health at an unprecedented level of detail. Learn more about the xCELLigence Cardio ECR instrument, and how it is revolutionizing cellular cardiology research. About ACEA Biosciences Founded in 2002, ACEA Biosciences is a pioneer in the development and commercialization of high performance, cutting edge cell analysis platforms for life science research. ACEAs xCELLigence impedance-based, label-free, real-time cell analysis instruments and NovoCyte flow cytometer are used in pre-clinical drug discovery and development, toxicology, safety pharmacology, and basic academic research. More than 2,000 instruments have been placed globally, leading to >1,200 peer reviewed publications. For more information visit http://www.aceabio.com. For further information please contact: ACEA Biosciences, Inc. Dr. Jeff Xue Phone: 1-858-724-0928, x3075 email: jxue(at)aceabio(dot)com Acuity Business Solutions (a division of Stambaugh Ness Business Solutions) announces their Gold-level sponsorship of the Deltek Insight conference to be held on November 14-18 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland (Washington, DC metro area). Insight is the premier event for project-based businesses to learn how to grow their business, improve performance, effectively manage projects and maximize their product and service investments. Stambaugh Ness Business Solutions Managing Partner Steven Hake commented, Sponsoring Deltek Insight provides us with an opportunity to connect with project-based firms and demonstrate how Vision products and solutions can be used to win business, deliver projects, and manage their organization more efficiently. Additionally, our team enjoys having the chance to meet with our clients in an environment filled with action-oriented sessions by top notch presenters. In addition to being a Gold sponsor, Acuity Business Solutions' Senior Deltek Vision Consultants Barbara Bunting, and Jeff Stanley as well as Director of Consulting, Melissa Garner will showcase their industry knowledge and Deltek experience as featured speakers at this years conference presenting a total of five sessions. Barbara Bunting, Sr. Consultant will present: Putting Workflows to Work for you Tools for Beginners (VI-55) - This session is the perfect stepping stone to streamlining processes and maximizing efficiency for workflow beginners. The Forgotten Features of Vision (VI-58) - In this session, Barbara will re-acquaint users with features that will help streamline daily processes and enhance efficiencies. Customer Spotlight: Empowering PMs through Project Set Up (VI-09) co-presented with Senate Engineering Company's Accounting Manager, Gary Ross - This session will highlight Senate Engineering Company's ability to successfully leverage user-defined fields, workflows, and email alerts to streamline processes. Jeff Stanley, Sr. Consultant will present: Extending Workflow with Simple SQL for the Non-Programmer (VI-30) - Deltek Vision users will explore how to utilize the power of Vision workflows beyond the basic functions by using simple SQL functions. Melissa Garner, Director of Consulting, will present: To Unpost or Not Unpost What Really Happens? (VI-28) - During this session, Melissa helps Deltek Vision users understand the consequences and dos and donts of unposting, and alternative processes for making corrections. About Acuity Business Solutions Acuity Business Solutions is a Deltek reseller, implementer, and consulting partner. The Acuity team has three decades of industry knowledge, best practices, and hands-on experience with Deltek products. Acuity provides sales consulting, support, training, and customization services for Deltek products. Acuity also offers value added services such as users group meetings, free product and business management webinars, special events, and lunch and learns to ensure its clients have access to the information they need to be successful and get the most out of their Deltek technology investment. http://www.acuitybusiness.com About SNBS SNBS, an affiliate of Stambaugh Ness CPAs, serves clients in more than 40 states. The company is a Deltek Vision Premier Partner and Microsoft Partner offering technology solutions that encompass, Network Support and Outsourced IT, and many cloud-based solutions. http://www.stambaughness.com About Deltek Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for government contractors, professional services firms and other project-based businesses. For decades, we have delivered actionable insight that empowers our customers to unlock their business potential. 22,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek to research and identify opportunities, win new business, recruit and develop talent, optimize resources, streamline operations and deliver more profitable projects. Deltek Know more. Do more. http://www.deltek.com Cedar Ridge Fire Table The table fits both the industrial and shabby-chic farmhouse trends that are gaining popularity in both the indoor and outdoor casual furniture industries. The Outdoor GreatRoom Company is excited to introduce the newly designed Cedar Ridge Fire Table. The Cedar Ridge Fire Table was designed after overwhelming popularity of the Pine Ridge collection. The star of the table is the Washed Cedar Supercast top and features a stunning 12x42 stainless steel burner. The base is made of a composite decking that is both durable and stylish. The table fits both the industrial and shabby-chic farmhouse trends that are gaining popularity in both the indoor and outdoor casual furniture industries. The table conceals a 20 lb. LP tank in the base or can be hooked up to natural gas. The Cedar Ridge Fire Table will be on display this week at the Casual Furniture and Accessories Market in Chicago, IL. FEATURES: Includes clear fire glass and matching Supercast burner cover, optional glass guard and vinyl cover sold separately Burner produces up to 90,000 BTUs Made in USA UL Listed burner for safety ABOUT THE OUTDOOR GREATROOM COMPANY The Outdoor GreatRoom Company (OGC) manufactures unique, upscale products with design appeal for indoor and outdoor living spaces. Products include gas fire pits and gas fire tables, pergolas, outdoor kitchen islands, outdoor gas fireplaces, indoor electric fireplaces, grills, outdoor patio furniture and accessories. Visit http://www.outdoorrooms.com for more information. We wanted someone who was at the higher end of the market Australian printing firm Dashing is broadening its retail services to digital signage and interactive solutions in a new partnership developed with the cloud-based content management provider, ComQi, Inc. Adopting ComQis core EnGage software platform enables Sydney-based Dashing to formally and fully expand its range of services to deliver and support networked, interactive and IoT-centric digital signage displays for its many top retail customers. Dashing is technically a ComQi reseller in the new agreement, but CEO Mike Palmer sees the relationship as much more of a full partnership. Dashings move into digital is a logical, evolutionary step for a company that has grown rapidly to now offer a diverse set of wide format, full color capabilities that are used to make visual statements in retail and other business settings. Dashing has grown six-fold in just four years, and now has over 150 staff. Already digitally-savvy because of some parallel online capabilities offered under Dashings roof, the company started looking for a suitable content management platform in 2015. We wanted someone who was at the higher end of the market, explains Palmer. There are a number of digital signage companies that deliver low-end market positions, but that was certainly not what we were after. Palmer says his management team canvassed and interviewed several vendors, but was impressed with ComQis executive team and client base, and decided to invest in a due diligence phase. We had two senior technical guys from our company fly to North America for a week, spending time in New York and in Toronto, and their brief was to assess ComQis technology. They came back raving about the technology and the technical team that ComQi had in Toronto, and about the platform that underlies their offering, says Palmer It was particularly gratifying that there was a meeting of the minds to jointly do some things together in the future, from a technical viewpoint. Stuart Armstrong, President of the Americas for ComQi, says the partnership is a natural fit, given ComQis primary focus on the retail sector and several clients shared with Dashing Together, we bring the domain intelligence of being able to know what those clients want and need. Because as you know, theres a lot of folks saying, Well Id like to utilize digital signage, but I dont know how its going to be most effective for increasing traffic, increasing conversion, loyalty, driving sales. Being able to consolidate clients in such a way that they feel comfortable, with it giving them a return, is very helpful in the sales process, says Armstrong. ComQis EnGage CMS is specifically designed to support and leverage the rapidly-emerging implications and possibilities of smart retail environments. EnGages Smart Hub media players can drive regular and interactive content to screens, kiosks and video walls, but the players and central server can also connect the information steadily generated by retail technologies like beacons, RFID, NFC, ePOS, and other IoT devices. EnGage and Smart Hubs provide the sorts of insights and content triggers that make a difference on the sales floor for retail customers. Dashings go-to-market strategy is a turnkey solution which leverages the creative and technical skills it already has in-house, running ComQi solutions largely on behalf of clients. We think the model will be that we will manage it for them, says Palmer. A lot of these big retailers are looking to reduce their supply list and their in-house resources. If they can bill a single supplier particularly an existing supplier like us - and we can manage it all for them, thats the solution they seek, to allow them to focus on the critical aspects of their business. Armstrong sees an opportunity for Dashing to be much more than a pure reseller for ComQi because of the developer access ComQi provides, and its extensible, Internet of Things-centered platform design. As they get more input on what clients are looking for, and as their technical people are digging into the platform, learning more about the EnGage system, we plan to join on developing capabilities with them, says Armstrong, taking that input to develop new enhancements, not just for the platform, but extending it into other areas, as we look at mobile applications and the use of tablets in empowering the sales associates; enhancing fitting room environments. All of those things are possible in how we work with good partners. To manage the expansion into digital signage solutions, Dashing is consolidating staff in a single North Sydney office block, and adding both a technical lab and showroom-demo area at reception. To people who are getting out of the lift, the first thing they will see now is a video wall, says Palmer. About Dashing Dashing is a 100% Australian-owned business with over 30 years experience operating in the Sydney market as a design and print house. The company has grown to become a full service business, offering design, print and technology solutions to primarily the multi-site retail and franchises industries. About ComQi ComQi is a global leader providing a cloud-based Shopper Engagement Technology that influences consumers at the point of decision, in-venue, using all digital touch-points: digital signage, mobile, video, touch, web, and social networks. ComQi is a global company headquartered in New York with offices in Toronto, and London with over 16 years of expertise and an installed base across every continent. We exist to build the greatest digital products to impact the lives of those who interact with them." At Nolte, making technology meaningful, together has always been our purpose and we are now capturing that in an explicit way. A decade ago, Jeffrey Nolte founded Moxie, a design and development agency. During the past two years, Moxie has drastically changed as an organization. A new vision for the company has emerged, equating to a global rebrand and an all around evolved approach. On September 15th 2016, Moxie has officially been retired, and Nolte has been named as the agencys new brand and vision. Noltes core vision states, Nolte creates meaningful digital products and experiences for the worlds leading businesses, brands, and innovators. Noltes CEO, Jeffrey Nolte, believes, The only way to really stand behind your work is to publicly put your name on it--and own it! Nolte continues, Were passionate about the work we do, and Im proud of what this company has become, which is what made me finally decide on Nolte as our new name. Making Technology Meaningful, Together. From today, Making Technology Meaningful, Together, will serve as both Noltes purpose and its tagline, becoming central to its brand. Noltes CEO and Founder says, At Nolte, making technology meaningful, together, has always been our purpose, and we are now capturing that in an explicit way. We know that making technology meaningful, together, is an ambitious objective, but it is an incredibly important aspiration and will be front and center of everything we do as an organization. New Team & New Location Nolte has taken this as an opportunity to expand digital product development productivity and outreach by moving office locations. On September 1st, Nolte moved to the border of ChinaTown and Little Italy--a ten minute walk from Noltes previous location on Broadway and Houston. Additionally, Nolte now has roughly twenty team members and is consistently growing. The makeup is spread across nine countries and fourteen cities. Nolte is no longer limited to local resources and now empowered to hire the most qualified talent, regardless of location. Currently, one third of the Nolte team is working out of the New York office. ABOUT NOLTE We create and maintain digital products--everything from apps, to services, to business tools. We ensure the entire process, from ideation to strategy, then design and development, feels cohesive and collaborative. Nolte exists because of our team members, who transformed their passions into careers. We believe meaningful technology is born when passionate teams create in tandem with committed clientele. Our clients visions empower us to use our skills and build the future--together. Their wins are our wins. We are proud that our collaboration with DuPont has enabled us to adapt this high performance resin to an exciting new application. The combination of flexibility and coloration makes this new type of mascara brush a trendy must-have. Past News Releases RSS In GOLDEA The Roman Night,... DuPont Announces 2017 Packaging... DuPont Introduces One-Step Molding... DuPont Performance Materials (DPM) announces that DuPont Hytrel TPC-ET thermoplastic elastomer, has been selected for the production of an innovative mascara brush. This is the latest initiative in a long-standing and successful collaboration between DPM and SIMP. Based in France, SIMP is an SME with a global footprint thanks to its expertise of injection technique. It is accountable for 35% of the markets plastic applicators, which are used by major cosmetics brands around the world. The composure of strength, flexibility and mechanical resistance makes DuPonts Hytrel TPC-ET thermoplastic elastomer compatible by design with make-up products. In response to an increasing market demand for strong compatibility of substance and shape, DuPont and SIMP have found a perfect balance between performance attributes and technical requirements, thanks to Hytrel. We are very excited to see that the flexibility and versatility of Hytrel supports the design of innovative and attractive products with specially engineered shapes provided by SIMP. - Alexandra Fabbro, Business development leader EMEA, DuPont. Hytrel is a single-material solution for parts that previously required multiple composite assemblies. Due to its excellent crossover properties and flex fatigue resistance, it can be used for a wide spectrum of different applications. When combining its implementation performance with the appropriate tools, this unique thermoplastic polymer becomes particularly suitable for the creation of an injected mascara brush. We are proud that our collaboration with DuPont has enabled us to adapt this high performance resin to an exciting new application. The combination of flexibility and coloration makes this new type of mascara brush a trendy must-have. This joint endeavour fuels our passion for innovation even more. - Eric de Bardonneche, Sales and R&D manager, SIMP. The collaboration between DuPont and SIMP is based on a common desire to develop exciting cosmetic solutions and cater to new market trends. Hytrel has been the main ingredient for this collaboration for ten years. This new mascara brush is just one example of how high performance solutions directly cater to the end-users comfort. It demonstrates DuPonts commitment to biobased polymers, reducing use of fossil fuels without compromising the performance of the material. *** DuPont Performance Materials (DPM) is a leading innovator of thermoplastics, elastomers, renewably-sourced polymers, high-performance parts and shapes, as well as resins that act as adhesives, sealants, and modifiers. DPM supports a globally linked network of regional application development experts who work with customers throughout the value chain to develop innovative solutions in automotive, packaging, construction, consumer goods, electrical/electronics and other industries. For additional information about DuPont Performance Materials, visit plastics.dupont.com. DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com. SIMP is a leader in the creation, development and manufacturing of applicators and wipers in cosmetics. SIMP is a major French industrial player and their expertise of injection technique is recognised by leading cosmetics brands worldwide. SIMP has 20 patents in the field of cosmetic application and is accountable for 35% of the global production of applicators for mascara, eyelash and eyebrow. With its two production sites in France and Mexico, SIMP exports 70% of its products. (Left to right) Robert Meyer, Kelly Pearson and Asa Sherwood. Photo: Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago Together, FirstService Residential and NHS are building stronger homeowners and stronger neighborhoods in the Chicago area. FirstService Residential, Chicagolands most experienced property management company, donated the proceeds from its fifth annual Vendor Exposition to Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago (NHS). During the August 2016 expo, the company welcomed condominium, townhome and homeowner association Board members to meet with product and service providers, property management leaders and industry experts. Robert Meyer and Asa Sherwood of FirstService Residential presented a check for $10,143.27 to Kelly Pearson of NHS. Community is at the core of everything we do, said Asa Sherwood, president, FirstService Residential in Illinois. We are delighted to support Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, whose values of strengthening neighborhoods and improving peoples lives align with FirstService Residentials. NHS of Chicago is so grateful for the longtime support and partnership of FirstService Residential. FirstService Residentials support helps NHS provide affordable resources to help Chicago-area families buy, fix and keep their homes, said Pearson. Together, FirstService Residential and NHS are building stronger homeowners and stronger neighborhoods in the Chicago area. About FirstService Residential FirstService Residential is recognized as Illinois leading and most experienced full-service community association management firm. For over 65 years, FirstService Residential has continued to provide the best-in-class community management solutions and genuinely helpful service to its more than 150 communities and 50,000 residents throughout Chicagoland. FirstService Residential is North America's largest manager of residential communities and the preferred partner of HOAs, community associations and strata corporations in the U.S. and Canada. FirstService Residential's managed communities include low-, mid- and high-rise condominiums and cooperatives, single-family homes, master-planned, lifestyle and active adult communities, and rental and commercial properties. With an unmatched combination of deep industry experience, local market expertise and personalized attention, FirstService Residential delivers proven solutions and exceptional service that add value, enhance lifestyles and make a difference, every day, for every resident and community it manages. FirstService Residential is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, a North American leader in the property services sector. For more information, visit http://www.fsresidential.com. ### GLOWBIOTICS MD Probiotics have been hailed as one of the best beauty breakthroughs by the American Academy of Dermatology for their profound effects on the skin. Just like probiotics rebuild immunity on the inside, their skin-enhancing molecules boost immunity on the outside, targeting each layer of the skin for the highest levels of prevention, repair and protection. Over the years, mybody has gained a cult following of skin-savvy consumers, and is currently carried in over 1,000 doctors offices across the country and internationally. As the industry has evolved, so has the mybody brand and the questions about the relevance of its name. In an effort to listen to their loyal fans, the decision was made to rebrand and rename the probiotic skincare range. As of September 2016, mybody changed its name to GLOWBIOTICS MD. The decision to make the change came about after the successful launch of the GLOWBIOTICS franchise featuring their highly-coveted Probiotic Instant Resurfacing Pads and Probiotic HydraGlow Cream Oil. It was our best launch in the history of the company and I knew we were on to something that both doctors and patients would be excited about. We realized the name mybody didnt properly reflect what our cutting-edge skincare products can do for your skin. As the pioneer of medical-grade topical probiotic solutions, we wanted our name to accurately represent our unique formulas and complexes that were created specifically to address and improve a variety of skin concerns that result in a glowing, youthful complexion, says Christine Watson, Founder and CEO of GLOWBIOTICS MD. We feel as though our new name now accurately represents what our probiotic formulas do. Current fans, including physicians and their patients, can still find their favorite skincare products from the brand because their revolutionary and effective formulations will stay the same, just the packaging and the logo will be getting a bit of a facelift. The items are now available for sale in physician offices worldwide and online at http://www.GlowbioticsMD.com About GLOWBIOTICS MD GLOWBIOTICS MD bridges the gap between science backed skincare and skincare with an incredibly high safety profile. Harnessing the power of immune boosting probiotics that work in concert with targeted bio-actives to support cellular regeneration without irritation, GLOWBIOTICS MD products re-awaken youthful processes within the skin that slow down with age. GLOWBIOTICS MD effectively treats all skin types, conditions and concerns with synergistic systems that begin to immediately turn around the pathways to unhealthy skin. Designed for all skin types and skin concerns, GLOWBIOTICS MD is the professional skin care line that is revolutionizing skin health in a dramatic way. They are a cruelty-free company that strives to source responsibly to create products that are free of any known phthalates, sulfates, FD&C dyes, parabens and mineral oil. The company also donates 1% of sales to mental health charities, as they not only want people to look good, but also feel good from the inside out. Richard Greenberg, President, ISSA Los Angeles I am truly honored to receive this award and hope to set a good example to the rest of my peers in the industry. Los Angeles, CA September 20, 2016 The Los Angeles Chapter of the Information Systems Security Information (ISSA-LA) is pleased to recognize Richard Greenberg, an ISSA Fellow and the chapters president, for his recent induction in ISSA Internationals Honor Roll. Greenberg will formally receive the award during the ISSA International conference scheduled to take place November 2-3, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. The ISSA International Honor Roll is a lifetime achievement award recognizing an individual's sustained contributions to the information security community, the advancement of the association, and enhancement of the professionalism of the membership. Greenbergs actions as the Los Angeles Chapter president, and LA Chapter president of OWASP, exemplify this recognition in every way imaginable. "To make the ISSA Honor Roll is one of the most prestigious awards to be granted to a very small amount of deserving members each year; those who have truly served above and beyond to give back to the information security community through their service and leadership in ISSA, said Andrea Hoy, President, ISSA International. In the case of Richard Greenberg, I have personally seen his selfless dedication to working with while always giving credit to fellow members; growing attendance, gaining sponsorship, promoting collaboration, and creating the program for the annual ISSA LA Security Summit (reaching ~800 attendees this year). In order to be inducted in the honor roll, Greenberg must have met the following minimum requirements: A tenure of 10 years or more as an information security practitioner A minimum of 7 years of ISSA membership Served in a leadership role within the association Be recognized within the security community as a contributor and a leader Always striving to ensure positive alliances/partnerships with local HTCIA, ISACA, OWASP, law enforcement, and Cloud Security Alliance organizations as well as volunteering at the international level on critical infrastructure all speaks volumes to the exemplary contributions Richard has made and continues to make for ISSA, added Hoy. A maximum of 7 honorees are inducted annually, and this year only one additional member was inducted alongside Richard Greenberg: Joel Weise, ISSA Fellow and Editorial Chair for the ISSA Journal. As a great believer in collaboration, I have always strived to bring the InfoSec community in SoCal together, said Greenberg. As the president of ISSA-LA, I take great pride in our association, including the great speakers we bring to our meetings, the educational events, the joint meetings we have with other Security organizations, and our awesome yearly Security Summit. By supporting a strong community with excellent networking opportunities, we provide a fertile environment where colleagues can share critical ideas and solutions to issues many are experiencing, as well as build the bonds of lasting friendship. We have a strong Board of Directors in Los Angeles who deserve a big shout out from me without whose help I would not have been recognized. I am truly honored to receive this award and hope to set a good example to the rest of my peers in the industry. Participation has always been a key to success for the ISSAs Los Angeles chapter. To give recognition to what this award stands for, in addition to the national recognition Greenberg will receive by ISSA International, the ISSA-LA board of directors would like to invite the InfoSec community to attend one or more of the upcoming ISSA-LA meetings to collectively congratulate him on his achievement. The meetings for the remainder of 2016 are scheduled as follows: October Lunch Meeting October 19 @ 11:30 am - 1:45 pm Taix French Country Cuisine, 1911 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026 November Lunch Meeting November 16 @ 11:30 am - 1:45 pm Taix French Country Cuisine, 1911 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90026 December Holiday Dinner Party (Joint Meeting With OWASP LA) December 21 @ 6:15 pm - 9:00 pm Microsoft Technology Center, 13031 W Jefferson Blvd Suite 200, Playa Vista, CA 90094 About Information Systems Security Association (ISSA): The Information Systems Security Association is a not-for-profit, international organization of information security professionals and practitioners. It provides educational forums, publications and peer interaction opportunities that enhance the knowledge, skill and professional growth of its members. The primary goal of ISSA is to promote management practices that will ensure availability, integrity and confidentiality of information resources. For more information about the Los Angeles chapter of ISSA, please visit: http://www.issa-la.org. Join the movement today! For more information about the ISSA International conference, watch the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOufCWXn6rU LAD Solutions has recently announced that the company has been listed in 50 Most Admired Companies of the Year 2016 by Silicon Review. The Silicon Review is an online and print community for business and technology professionals to express their thoughts and ideas. These community members include some of the top technology leaders from CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, IT managers, to IT professionals. The Silicon Review covers 9 technology communities, including software, IT services, cloud, mobile, big data, security, telecommunications, hot start-ups and the best companies to work for. The community is used as a platform for technology professionals to learn about the tech industry and share their experiences. Ali Pourvasei is the VP of Client Relations, as well as, one of the founders of LAD Solutions. With a featured article in The Silicon Review, Mr. Pourvasei thanked The Silicon Review for acknowledging LAD Solutions in the 50 Most Admired Companies of the Year 2016, as well as, gave some insight into the direction that LAD Solutions will take in the future. LAD Solutions currently offers search engine optimization, pay-per-click management, web design & development, Google Penalty removal, online reputation management services, local search optimization and small business consulting. The company also prides itself on providing professional and affordable services to help their clients to increase their brands and followers. We are implementing new sales strategies to get our company brand more recognizable. In the future, we want to expand our social media management into its own division in order to reach clients who are not looking for SEO services but can benefit from social media marketing." said Mr. Pourvasei. Along with LAD Solution's two other founders, Lakshmi Kodali and David Barkhordari, Ali Pourvasei has over 20 years of combined search engine marketing experience. The founders originally met when they attended an Internet Marketing Seminar together. LAD Solutions was then founded in 2009. LAD Solutions is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and also has an overseas office, which is headed by Lakshmi Kodali. The 50 Most Admired Companies of the Year 2016 list is currently available for review on The Silicon Review website. To learn more about this special recognition, LAD Solutions has requested that journalists contact, LAD Solutions directly at 323.588.3034 or via their website contact us page. About LAD Solutions: LAD Solutions is a leading provider of SEO and PPC management services to local businesses in the Los Angeles area and companies nationwide. The company was founded by SEO experts, Lakshmi Kodali, Ali Pourvasei, and David Barkhordari, in order to address the online marketing needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Their marketing plans are designed to assist businesses in building their online brands, finding brand advocates and increasing their customer bases through online marketing. To learn more about the comprehensive online marketing services provided by LAD Solutions, visit http://www.ladsolutions.com. The new official Live Life Every Day logo! Our goal is to build a brand that is fun, yet empowering. We now make a product that makes you feel good, both on the inside and out, while supporting our environment and local economy. Live Life Every Day, an inspirational and eco-friendly clothing brand, was created to inspire the world to never take life for granted and to take advantage of every opportunity that life throws at you. Founded by New Jersey resident Jason Rivera in 2010, when he was only 22 years old, the brands motto Do what you gotta do. Live Life Every Day, still holds strong as the company celebrates its sixth anniversary this year. In honor of this anniversary, Live Life Every Day is taking a step in a new direction to help spread its message. Since day one, the brand has not only been dedicated to helping its fellow man but also dedicated to helping its environment. In its continued efforts to be eco-friendly, all Live Life Every Day t-shirts will now be printed on a super-soft 70% Bamboo and 30% Organic Cotton blend tee. Bamboo is not only one of the worlds most sustainable resources, but it is also an ultra-premium eco-friendly material. Additionally, all new t-shirts will be made in the U.S.A. and printed using water based inks. The brand also uses 100% Recycled Paper for all its supplemental materials including letters, hang-tags and other promotional items. To further help spread its message, Live Life Every Day recently unveiled a new logo. A light blue palm tree emblazoned with a handwritten Live Life Every Day and Do what you gotta do will now serve as the companys official logo. With hard work and help from our loyal fans, the light blue palm tree will become a symbol of happiness and positivity, and of course, a symbol of Live Life Every Day, said the brands Founder, Rivera. Our goal is to build a brand that is fun, yet empowering. We now make a product that makes you feel good, both on the inside and out, while supporting our environment and local economy, added Rivera. A new logo tee is now available on the brands website. Live Life Every Day will continue to donate $1 from every t-shirt sold to The National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This is a cause near and dear to Riveras heart as his mother has lived with M.S. for over 20 years. A graduate of Lehigh University, Founder Jason Rivera spent a year after graduation searching for a career that would make him truly happy. Always a positive person, Rivera wanted to help the world as much as possible while still being able to enjoy life. Living by the motto, Live every day like its your last because one day, it will be, it was only natural for him to found Live Life Every Day. Six years later, Live Life Every Day continues to inspire the world through its inspirational blog and additional products available on the brands website. They say only those who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones who can actually do it, says Rivera. Well, Im crazy enough. The world needs Live Life Every Day. Carol L. Alter, MD Mindoula is a first-mover in the virtual delivery of Collaborative Care, at a time when our nation is recognizing the power of this evidence-based intervention to help primary care physicians provide patients with the behavioral healthcare they need ... Mindoula Health, a technology-enabled case management company at the forefront of the behavioral healthcare transformation, today announced that Carol L. Alter, MD, is joining the Mindoula senior leadership team as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Alter is one of the nations leading mental health policy and psychosomatic medicine psychiatrists, and will lead Mindoulas Collaborative Care initiative and related efforts to deliver innovative commercial solutions for solving the problems of Americas broken behavioral healthcare system. Dr. Alter has over twenty-five years of experience in diverse settings including clinical practice, research, administration, healthcare delivery, and the pharmaceutical industry, with a focus on psychiatric care of patients with medical illness. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, monographs, and book chapters related to psychosomatic medicine and access to psychiatric care. As Director of Psychosomatic Medicine, Policy and Community Outreach and Associate Professor in the Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry, she led a model Collaborative Care program in the Montgomery Cares safety-net clinics, which is now available to over 20,000 Montgomery Cares patients. She also authored a report, funded by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which examined the financial issues related to implementation of Collaborative Care for the District of Columbia, served as Medical Director for Policy & Advocacy at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and founded a policy-action organization, Treatment Effectiveness Now, focused on issues of access to care for patients with co-occurring mental and physical disorders. Dr. Alter has been a leader in numerous national organizations including the American Psychiatric Association, the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, and the American Psychosocial Oncology Society. She played a key role in the development and implementation of the 2007 Institute of Medicine report, Cancer Care for the Whole Patient, and was a founder of the Alliance for Quality Psychosocial Cancer Care, a consortium of over 30 professional and patient advocacy organizations focusing on implementation of the report. We are honored that one of the nations thought leaders behind the development, testing, and implementation of Collaborative Care, and a trusted advisor to Mindoula for more than three years, will be joining our team as Chief Medical Officer, and will be leading our Collaborative Care efforts, and helping us work with primary care practices, hospital and health systems, and payers to improve behavioral healthcare in America, said Steve Sidel, Founder & CEO of Mindoula. We have been pilot testing our virtual Collaborative Care program for more than a year, with promising success in helping primary care physicians effectively treat behavioral health conditions in the primary care setting. Were thrilled to have a top clinical and business leader like Dr. Alter lead this important initiative, and help us significantly expand access to behavioral health treatment and 24/7 virtual support to individuals needing help in overcoming their behavioral health challenges. Mindoula is a first-mover in the virtual delivery of Collaborative Care, at a time when our nation is recognizing the power of this evidence-based intervention to help primary care physicians provide patients with the behavioral healthcare they need in the primary care setting, said Dr. Carol Alter. I couldnt be happier that Mindoula has tapped me to lead its Collaborative Care efforts. Were at an exciting moment in behavioral healthcare, in which we can begin to solve the very significant problems of lack of access, poor quality care, and ineffective coordination between the medical and behavioral systems for individuals with behavioral health conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and substance use disorders. Mindoulas market-tested virtual Collaborative Care program addresses the enormous need for effective, scalable solutions to the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders that are responsible for nearly twenty-five percent of all worldwide disability and substantial increases in overall healthcare costs. Dr. Alter received her medical degree from George Washington University in 1985 and did her psychiatric training at Mayo Clinic, Cornell University Medical College, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She has been an Advisor to Mindoula since its founding in July of 2013. Currently Senior Director, Medical Policy and Quality at AstraZeneca, Dr. Alter will be leaving AstraZeneca to join Mindoula as CMO. About Mindoula Mindoula Health is a technology-enabled case management company headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, that provides 24/7 virtual and in-person support to individuals and families facing behavioral health challenges. Its proprietary telehealth platform which includes a HIPAA compliant mobile engagement app, proprietary psychometrics, predictive analytics, and collaborative care software, enables its team of case managers and peer support specialists to deliver market leading behavioral health outcome improvements and reduce healthcare costs. A leader in the areas of case management, collaborative care, and behavioral health population management, Mindoula is at the forefront of the transformation of behavioral healthcare. Making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals takes many of us working together to make a difference and EdCast has been a key partner in all of our efforts states Chandrika Bahadur, President of the SDSN Association, which hosts the SDG Academy. EdCast, the multiple industry-award winning platform for informal and formal learning for Fortune 500 enterprises and organizations is honored to continue their partnership with the SDSN by providing them their knowledge network to share education and collaborate on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In addition, the SDG Academy is committed to creating and curating the highest quality educational content on the Sustainable Development Goals for their entire community. This community is led by world renowned experts, open to the public, and available globally on the EdCast online learning portal. The SDG Academy has created 7 full-length courses and 2 mini-courses since it launched in 2014, and has had over 100,000 enrollments from students and learners all over the world. The SDG Academy will launch a full program on Sustainable Development comprising 17 online courses corresponding to all of the SDGs. Their goal is to reach 1 million students by 2020 through its education initiatives. The faculty of the SDG Academy is comprised of global experts on sustainable development like Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on SDG and Director of the SDSN, Prof. Johan Rockstrom, Dr. Srinath K. Reddy and Professor Paul Collier. All its courses can be accessed at http://www.sdgacademy.org. Our partnership with EdCast and the dedicated support of their founder and CEO, Karl Mehta, provides an integral part of the solutions we are working toward by allowing for critical information and courses to be accessed online, anywhere in the world, states Chandrika Bahadur, President of the SDSN Association, which hosts the SDG Academy. Making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals takes many of us working together to make a difference and EdCast has been a key partner in all of our efforts. EdCast is a fast growing social learning and knowledge networking platform that offers microlearning, live streaming video, curated expert content and other forms of formal and informal learning in an intuitive, private network for an organization. EdCast is helping organizations turn knowledge into better performance. A key point that distinguishes EdCast as a leader in online learning is the ability to designate internal experts so valuable experiential knowledge is stored and shared within organizations like the SDSN Association. The SDG Academy delivered by EdCast is a technology partnership between EdCast and EdX, the open-source learning platform founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. EdX is proud to be a part of the solution provided by EdCast to support the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, says Lee Rubenstein, Head of Business Development for EdX. Its a privilege to support a mission that will positively impact the lives of the global community. Congratulations! Karl Mehta, Founder and CEO of EdCast and winner of the 2016 NOVUS Award issued by the UN for his work with the Sustainable Development Goals states, The work being done by Jeffrey Sachs and his amazing team is making a real difference in changing the world for the better. I am deeply committed to advancing EdCasts relationship with the SDG Academy by providing the right online learning and knowledge sharing tools to incorporate support from around the world. Prior to September 2016, SDG Academy was called SDSNedu. About SDSN Association The mission of the SDSN Association is to support the mandate of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). The SDSN was launched in 2012 at the behest of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to mobilize research, academia, the private sector and civil society to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Following the adoption of the SDGs in September 2015, the SDSN supports the implementation of the SDG at local, national, and global scales, and aims to accelerate joint learning and to help overcome the compartmentalization of technical and policy work by promoting integrated approaches to the interconnected economic, social, and environmental challenges confronting the world. For the full list of programs of the SDSN, please visit unsdsn.org. About EdCast EdCast turns knowledge into performance by powering informal and formal learning initiatives with industry-leading social, mobile and cloud-based technology for institutions, enterprises, governments and nonprofits of all sizes to enable millions to become lifelong learners. EdCast establishes knowledge networks built to inspire, empower and educate individuals, teams and organizations with personalized curated content, microlearning insights (SmartBitesTM), and easy-to-use live streaming video. It provides direct access to internal and external industry-specific experts to capture experiential knowledge to benefit everyone. The EdCast executive team has a track record of building large-scale transformational technology; all are passionate about the global impact of mobile and online knowledge-sharing. EdCast is based in Mountain View, CA, in the heart of Silicon Valley, with offices worldwide. Learn more about EdCast at: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube Iceland waterfall Now that fall has officially arrived, attention has quickly turned from beach getaways and barbecues to holiday travel planning and hot destinations for the New Year. The team at Stride Travel, the largest search and reviews site for tours & adventure experiences, has provided some insights into the top trending adventure tour destinations for 2017. According to Stride, the most popular destinations include some classic countries, such as Peru and Thailand, as well as some up and coming spots like Cuba and Romania. Overall, interest remains high in Central/South America, despite concerns around the Zika virus, as well as Southeast Asia and parts of southern Europe. Top 7 Adventure Tour Destinations for 2017 1. Cuba There is no place as hot as Cuba right now. Americans are finally discovering what Europeans and Canadians have known for years - that Cuba is blessed with amazing architecture, friendly locals, and beautiful, empty national parks, all within an hour flight from Miami. Venture out to one of the many protected open spaces in Cuba, like Topes de Collantes National Park or the Zapata Peninsula, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve featuring thousands of unique bird species. While independent travel to Cuba is now allowed (with some restrictions), a tour is recommended as Cubas tourism infrastructure is still developing. 2. Romania Romania might be famous for being home to Dracula, but theres nothing scary about this gem of a country, located in southeastern Europe. After exploring the streets of Brasov, a charming medieval town in the heart of Transylvania, head to the Carpathian mountains for a dose of outdoor adventure sports, including hiking and rafting. Planning to visit during winter? Romania boasts dozens of ski resorts with reliable snow. 3. Belize Belize has been a "go to" destination for years among American retirees looking to settle down in a friendly and warm country close to home. But dont wait for retirement to take advantage of Belizes world-class snorkeling and scuba diving. A guided tour will ensure access to the top snorkeling and diving spots like the Lighthouse Reef atoll, home to the famous Blue Hole. A tour guide will also provide local insights and historical context when visiting places like the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich and Caracol. 4. Machu Picchu, Peru There are few moments as spectacular as walking through Machu Picchus Sun Gate at sunrise. The Inca Trail is the classic trekking route, which requires a guide and is best arranged months ahead of time, as permits sell out fast. Other good options exist like the Salkantay route, which snakes through the Andes and is less crowded than the Inca Trail. A tour operator can also help arrange visits to local indigenous communities scattered throughout the Sacred Valley and is a must-see on any visit to Peru. 5. Iceland Iceland has recently emerged as one of the most popular adventure tour destinations in the world, with a prime location just a short hop across the Atlantic from the US East Coast and a few hours flight from Western Europe. Iceland is a nature lovers paradise - join a tour to see the major sights, like the Skogafoss waterfall, Snfellsnes National Park, and yes, the Blue Lagoon. Winter travel is also very popular, with the Northern Lights putting on a magnificent spectacle. 6. Thailand Thailand really has something for everyone - blissful beaches in the south, bustling Bangkok, and Buddhist temples everywhere. Ideally, two or three weeks are needed to see, and taste, it all! Aside from the busy capital of Bangkok, Thailand offers escapes to nature in the mountains around Chiang Mai, where hiking and mountain biking are popular activities. Local secret: schedule a visit to tour Friends of the Asian Elephant in Lampang, to see first-hand the amazing work they are doing to rehabilitate injured elephants. 7. Greece From incredible ancient sites like The Acropolis and Epidaurus to the stunning blue waters off Santorini, an adventure tour to Greece includes all of the classics. Theres no place like Greece for sailing - head out to sea and enjoy a view of the famous Greek islands from the water. Greece is also a relatively inexpensive destination compared to other European countries. Find and compare detailed tour itineraries from over 400 travel providers, including trusted traveler reviews, for these destinations and hundreds more on StrideTravel.com. Note: Top destinations derived from search and page view data on Stride Travel. About Stride Travel Stride enables travelers of all stripes to authentically explore the world at their pace. It is the first meta search site for all professionally planned, experiential travel - tours, adventure trip packages, small ship and river cruises, and self-guided active vacations. Stride makes it easy to find and compare the most comprehensive variety of trips to every continent from over 400 leading and local travel companies. With trusted user reviews on thousands of itineraries and companies, travelers can pick their perfect trip with confidence. Stride is based in San Francisco, CA with staff and Destination Experts around the globe. Stride Travel | Find Trips That Move You 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. Cookies What are cookies ? How do we use cookies? How to control cookies? Managing cookies in your browser see what cookies you have got and delete them on an individual basis block third party cookies block cookies from particular sites block all cookies from being set delete all cookies when you close your browser X A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. 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News From Bulgaria Bulgaria to Pay Atomstroyexport with Funds from the Fiscal Reserve Deputy finance minister Marinela Petrova said that the finance sources for NEKs debt to Atomstroyexport were two the bank system buffer on one hand and on another, the loan from the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund AUTHOR: publics.bg kenteegardin, flickr.com Bulgaria will pay Russian company Atomstroyexport with funds from its fiscal reserve, notably with funds within the BGN 2 bn buffer secured before the bank stress tests which were carried out in the spring of 2016. This was made clear during the joint meeting of the parliamentary committees for finance and energy on Tuesday which discussed a draft law forged earlier in the day. The new act would allow Bulgarias power incumbent NEK (National Electricity Company) to obtain state-aid in order to pay Atomstroyexport for the equipment produced for the cancelled Belene NPP project. Deputy finance minister Marinela Petrova said that the finance sources for NEKs debt to Atomstroyexport were two the bank system buffer on one hand and on another, the loan from the Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund. The latter was used to guarantee bank deposits following the Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) bankruptcy and is expected to be recovered earlier than initially expected. A temporary decrease in the fiscal reserve is thus to be expected after NEK pays its debt. Deputy-minister Petrova said that the payment of the amount exceeding EUR 620 m would not be carried out with funds from the fiscal surplus, thus not changing the budget balance. There will be no change in the net government debt, Petrova said, adding that the budget would be revised by the end of the year. Three years after entering into an innovative partnership with Wattpad that allows writers to circumvent the slush pile by submitting queries to Sourcebooks via hashtag on the social media writing platform, executives at the Chicagoland company report that the collaboration has exceeded their expectations. Its been so successful, in fact, that Sourcebooks is expanding beyond the YA fiction genre and collaborating with Wattpad to acquire and promote romance authors as well. Toronto-based Wattpad, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, boasts 45 million members to date who read and/or write 300+ million original stories in 50+ languages. About 90% of Wattpads members are between the ages of 13 and 30, and 90% of them access Wattpad via mobile devices, providing feedback to writers throughout the creative process. Stating that Wattpad does not enter into many partnerships with other organizations although publishers and agents have long sought entree Ashleigh Gardner, head of partnerships at Wattpad Studios, echoed the sentiments expressed by Sourcebooks executives concerning the relationship between the two companies. Sourcebooks has been fantastic to work with, Gardner said, noting that the arrangement has demonstrated that Wattpad writers can succeed on their merits in the marketplace, beyond a closeknit community of readers. Wattpad members will follow their favorite writers everywhere, she said. To date, Sourcebooks has received more than 1,000 submissions from writers affiliated with Wattpad, and has published via its Sourcebooks Fire YA imprint seven novels by four authors discovered through this collaboration. Ten more projects by six authors acquired through Wattpad are moving through the publishing pipeline within the next three years, including A.V. Geigers debut novel, Follow Me Back, the first volume in a romance thriller trilogy. The book is scheduled for 2017; French and Italian rights have already been sold. On the romance side, Sourcebooks has to date acquired one series scheduled for release under its Casablanca romance imprint and made an offer on another, also intended for Casablanca. Sourcebooks publisher Dominique Raccah attributes the companys appeal to Wattpads members to its flexibility as well as to a receptivity to learning the mores of the platform. For instance, even after a Wattpad writers work has been edited and published by Sourcebooks, often with additional content, the original version posted on Wattpad remains available with free access to it. We did it the way Wattpad was recommending, Raccah recalled of the decision to maintain both the Wattpad version of Sourcebook releases and the subsequent edition. Wattpad talked to us [and] said you want to give back to the community, not take away from it. Due to the non-competitive nature of the platform, this arrangement has not had a negative impact on sales, according to Sourcebooks editorial director Todd Stocke. He described sales of the Sourcebook editions of tales originally posted on Wattpad as robust, with a quarter-million copies sold to date of Sourcebooks Wattpad-affiliated titles. Natasha Prestons mystery thriller The Cellar (2014) was the first Wattpad-originated title to land on the New York Times YA paperback bestseller list; Sourcebooks has since published Prestons Awake and The Cabin, which has just released with a 100,000-copy first printing. Sourcebooks has done a great job of fostering community, Gardner said, praising the company for understanding that Wattpad submissions are not just a manuscript, but a community, and that its important to Wattpad members to maintain a sense of contributing to each others writing processes. Wattpad writers tapped by Sourcebooks also have had to learn to be flexible and patient, particularly in adapting to the editing and production schedule that is part of Sourcebooks traditional publishing program. Theyre not used to waiting for a long time to get feedback, Raccah noted. Its a different kind of writing and it can be challenging for them. [Were] changing their writing process. Sourcebooks is also promoting young authors theyre already published by encouraging them to post new content on Wattpad to build up their audiences in that community. Its a marketing strategy that has worked well for Miranda Kenneally, C.J. Lyons, and Zoraida Cordova. Stocke noted that Cordovas signings of ARCs of her fantasy adventure, Labryinth Lost (Sept.), at this years BEA and BookCon attracted huge crowds. The lines for her signings were among the longest weve had, Stocke said. Shed met a lot of people through Wattpad and she did a lot of stuff with We Need Diverse Books. Its been interesting: authors are coming, and theyre staying, and theyre growing, Raccah said. Stocke added, Sourcebooks is in it for the long haul, because were in it with these writers. Its mind-boggling, these 18-year-old writers with tremendous chops. Were looking to build their careers. Amazon Books preps to debut outside of Boston; Curious George takes on a developer in Cambridge, Mass.; a long-time bookstore co-op in Wisconsin weighs its options; and more. Campaign Launched to Save the Curious George Store: Named for the curious monkey immortalized by Cantabrigians Margret and H.L. Rey, the Worlds Only Curious George Store in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass., is in danger of closing due to developers plans for its building. Adam and Jamie Hirsch, the bookstores owners, are fighting back with a petition on Change.org. Theyre hoping to get at least 5,000 signatures. Amazon Hiring for Bookstore in Boston Suburbs: Based on job postings on its website, Amazon has targeted Legacy Place, a mall in Dedham, Mass., for an upcoming Amazon bookstore. It has opened two stores to dateone in Seattle and one in San Diego. Additional stores have been confirmed for Portland, Ore., and Chicago. Boston Named Best City for Book Lovers: According to SmartAsset.com the Hub City beat out Cleveland, Ann Arbor, and Denver for bookstores, book clubs, and libraries per 10,000 residents. Rainbow Bookstore Faces Closure: The 27-year-old Madison, Wisc., bookstore collective is facing financial woes. While it tries to determine the next step, it is holding meetings and has marked all store items off at least 50% to boost business. The bookstore is built around books that challenge the status quo. Over 1,900 people traveled to the Big Easy September 15-18 for the 47th Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, an annual gathering of crime fictions fans and authors, making it the largest Bouchercon ever. The festive New Orleans setting permeated convention, co-chaired this year by Heather Graham and Connie Perry, from Thursdays Opening Ceremonies, where the various Guests of Honor were escorted in on elaborate Mardi Gras parade-style floats to writers rocking out at New Orleanss nearby House of Blues. This year, Bouchercon welcomed Harlan Coben as the American Guest of Honor; fellow author Michael Connelly interviewed him. David Morrell was honored as the Lifetime Achievement recipient and interviewed by Lee Child. R.L. Stine, who thrilled (and chilled) attendees both young and old(er), was the Bouchercon Kids Guest of Honor; Heather Graham interviewed Stine. Scottish author Craig Robertson was the International Rising Star Guest of Honor, and was interviewed by fellow Scot Catriona McPherson. Julie Smith was honored as Local Legend for her New Orleans-based series and interviewed by Ace Atkins. Harley Jane Kozak and Alexandra Sokoloff presided as Toastmasters and had their own interview over the weekend with Gary Phillips. Legends in the crime fiction community Jon and Ruth Jordan, founders of Crimespree magazine, were honored as Bouchercons Fan Guests of Honor and interviewed by Charles and Caroline Todd. Thursday nights opening ceremonies, in addition to the mini parade, also served as the first of two awards presentations, in keeping with Bouchercon traditions, with the winners of the Macavity and the Barry Awards announced. Voted on by readers of Mystery Readers International, the Macavity Awards went to Lou Berneys The Long and Faraway Gone for Best Mystery Novel (Berney swept the awards, winning everything for which he was nominated); Glen Eric Hamiltons Past Crimes for Best First Novel; Martin Edwardss The Golden Age of Murder for Best Critical/Biographical; Megan Abbotts The Little Men, a Bibliomystery from Mysterious Press for Best Short Story; and Susanna Calkins The Masque of a Murderer for the Sue Federer Historical Mystery Award. The Barry Awards, voted on by readers of Deadly Pleasures magazine, included repeat winner Berney for Best Paperback; Taylor Stevenss The Mask for Best Thriller; Ausma Zehanat Khans The Unquiet Dead for Best First Novel; and C.J. Boxs Badlands for Best Novel. The Anthony Awards, voted on by Bouchercon attendees, were presented on Friday night at the nearby Orpheum Theater to a packed house. Joelle Charbonneaus Need won Best YA; Art Taylor, a double nominee, won Best Anthology for his Murder Under the Oaks, and Megan Abbott repeated her short story victory with The Little Men. The audiobook of Louise Pennys The Nature of the Beast won Best Audiobook, while Val McDermids Forensics won for Best Critical or Nonfiction. Completing his sweep, Berney picked up the award for Best Paperback Original, and Glen Eric Hamiltons Past Crimes won again for Best First Novel. The big award of the night, Best Novel, went to Chris Holm and The Killing Kind. Holm summed up the crime fiction community best when he told the audience that, its a hell of a thing to realize youve found your tribe. Despite the pull of nearby Bourbon Street and the French Quarter in general, panel attendance was high throughout the conference, with fans flocking to see authors discuss craft, trends, and even what they read themselves. The conference heads north next year, to Toronto. Hinkley C decision heralds UK nuclear renaissance The UK governments much delayed decision to proceed with the countrys first nuclear power station in a generation has been welcomed by IChemE. The agreement, which is still to be confirmed in an exchange of letters between the government and EDF, will give a green light to the construction of a new 3.2GW power station at Hinkley point in Somerset, UK. The 20bn project is based around two pressurised water reactors designed by Areva and will create 25,000 jobs across the nuclear supply chain during the construction phase. Following a review by new UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, additional contract terms have been stipulated. The new clauses are designed to enhance security and ensure that the power station cannot change hands without the UK governments agreement. In future, operators of nuclear sites, including EDF, will be mandated to give notice of any proposed change of ownership to the Office of Nuclear Development. This will provide a window for further scrutiny by the UK government and the potential for a veto to be applied where ministers believe that national security may be compromised. IChemE's Nuclear Technology Special Interest Group Chair, Lisa Hughes, said: "UK government approval for this crucial energy project is great news. Nuclear power is a key reliable base load component of a balanced, low carbon energy mix. Chemical engineers are ready to support the delivery of Hinkley C, and the proposed developments by NUGEN and Horizon." IChemEs director of communication, Andrew Furlong said: Modern economies need a balanced portfolio of electricity generation and chemical engineers play a central role in the design and operation of power plants, including nuclear, gas and renewables. We have the capability to deliver safe and sustainable energy solutions, but market confidence is essential otherwise nothing gets done. Hinkley C will ultimately supply 7% of the nations electricity needs. This decision could herald the UKs long awaited nuclear renaissance and sends a powerful signal about the governments commitment to nuclear power subject to adequate safeguards being in place. The hard work can now begin on design, procurement and construction. Lessons will be learned from EDFs experiences in France and Finland. IChemE will work with the nuclear industry to deliver the education, training and skills that are needed to support a complex supply chain that will to create thousands of jobs, including many roles for skilled chemical and process engineers. The announcement will help to get UKs carbon reduction strategy back on track. Alongside renewables and other emerging energy technologies, as discussed at the IChemE Energy Centres Low Carbon Summit on Friday 9 September 2016, the low-carbon baseload electricity generated at Hinkley C is expected to make a vital contribution to the UKs Fifth Carbon Budget. This commits the UK to a largely decarbonised electricity supply by 2030. IChemE also believes that the decision is good news for the nuclear industry more widely. A total of 16GW is now planned, or in the pipeline, including the Hitachi-Horizon proposal for three advanced boiling water reactors at Oldbury on the River Severn and Wylfa on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, and the NuGen proposal to build three pressurised water reactors near Sellafield in Cumbria. Blackhawk Bank & Trust senior vice president Heidi Huiskamp Collins will serve as the honorary chair for the NAMIWalk on Saturday at Modern Woodmen Park, in Davenport. The Rock Island woman has a masters degree, and serves on several charitable boards. She also navigates serious mental health conditions, including bipolar and obsessive compulsive disorders. More than 60 walk teams and 1,300 people are expected participate in the 5K walk that raises funds for free family programs offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness Greater Mississippi Valley, organizers said, in a news release. Ms. Huiskamp Collins will walk with her husband, Steve Collins, as well as her fellow members of the Rock Island Kiwanis club, and St. Pius X Catholic Church. From some of her earliest childhood memories, Ms. Huiskamp Collins said she understood she was not as happy as others were. By the time she learned to read and write in first grade, her condition manifested itself in terms of a chalkboard in her head, according to the release. I would go about my day, and Id hear conversations or something on the TV or radio. I would spell something out on that chalkboard repeatedly. It was very distracting, she said. Ms. Huiskamp Collins said that she is an introvert, so she has to "stretch" herself for this role. "The thought about speaking out about dark times and something so personal was frightening, she said. I felt moved that it was the right thing to do, though to show more than our immediate community that you can be successful and smart and accomplish great things even though you have a mental health condition. There are so many misconceptions about living with a mental illness, and I really feel compelled to dispel those. As she spoke up over the summer months, Ms. Huiskamp Collins said the response from the Quad-Cities and beyond has been overwhelmingly positive. Ive been blessed in ways I could not have predicted. A number of business and community contacts have reached out with their own stories of courage," she said. "Serious mental health conditions touch so many families. I think Ive opened a door to allow others to speak up. Ms. Huiskamp Collins helped found the Quad Cities Eating Disorders support group after navigating her own eating disorder and losing her best friend, Amy Helpenstell, in 2003 to complications from anorexia. She serves on the board of directors of the Amy Helpenstell Foundation, the executive committee of the board of directors at the Two Rivers YMCA, and the audit and finance committee for Friendship Manor. NAMI Greater Mississippi Valley is an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which provides free education and support programs to individuals and families living with a serious mental health condition, the release states. NAMI GMV serves residents in Rock Island, Mercer and Henry Counties in Illinois, and Scott, Muscatine and Clinton Counties in Iowa. For more information, visit namigmv.org. Hasan Edmonds, 23, the former soldier, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 30 years in prison. His cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 30, received a 21-year prison sentence. The sentences matched what prosecutors asked for the men, both residents of suburban Aurora. Hasan Edmonds devised a plan to travel to the Middle East while Jonas Edmonds attacked the National Guard armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, according to prosecutors. The goal, prosecutors say, was to kill as many as 150 people at the facility. Jonas Edmonds said he dropped Hasan Edmonds at the airport to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. But Jonas Edmonds denied he would have attacked the military armory. "The person they're trying to make me into, I'm not that person," Edmonds told U.S. District Judge John Lee. Defense attorney James Graham told the judge that Edmonds was a heavy smoker of marijuana and was boastful, but had no weapons and never would have gone through with the attack. It was a characterization that was dismissed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, who noted as he held up a duffel bag filled with National Guard uniforms that Edmonds planned to don the uniform to help him blend in and gain access to the armory for the attack. "Thank God the FBI was there to stop him," Jonas said. After dropping his cousin off at Chicago's Midway International Airport on March 25, 2015, Jonas Edmonds went to his cousin's home and collected the uniforms, according to prosecutors. Hasan Edmonds, filings say, instructed Jonas to kill high-ranking officers first. Agents arrested Hasan Edmonds at the airport and detained Jonas Edmonds at his home shortly thereafter. Under plea agreements, Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Jonas Edmonds pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and lying to federal agents. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Gov. Bruce Rauner pledged Monday to continue rooting out improper patronage hiring at the same time his lawyers were attempting to block a federal court monitor's expanded review of all state administration jobs. The Republican again trumpeted getting rid of the clout-packed "staff assistant" position at the Illinois Department of Transportation - the remaining 29 were fired last week - as a "small step in the right direction." Yet, Rauner says a review of all state positions by a special master - appointed in 2014 to investigate the scandal, in which the staff assistant posts were improperly handed out as political favors - is premature, too costly and duplicative of the work his administration wants the Office of the Executive Inspector General to do. "We want to expand the work of the executive inspector general, continuing to look in every department for positions that should not be in existence and for the existence of people who were hired ... for patronage or political reasons, not to provide high-quality government services," he said. In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Rauner's administration argues that the state has already paid $800,000 to the special master; expanding her workload would come at a much steeper cost. Nonetheless, he told reporters Monday he supports a $600,000 expansion of that office and its newly created Hiring and Employment Monitoring unit. The unit has been established within the existing short-term budget, said David Morrison, spokesman for Inspector General Maggie Hickey, who was nominated by Rauner and affirmed by the Senate, but acts independently of the governor. The venture capitalist took office in January 2015, just months after the executive inspector general concluded in a review that for more than a decade, Democratic Govs. Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn hired hundreds of people for ostensibly sensitive, policymaking IDOT positions that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled may be filled based on political loyalty. Those people ended up answering phones and mowing grass, duties the high court ruled should be doled out strictly on merit. It prompted Michael Shakman, a Chicago-based anti-patronage activist who won a 1972 federal court decree governing political hiring in Cook County, to persuade the judge in that case to appoint a special master to review IDOT. In August, Shakman asked for expanded power to develop a statewide, comprehensive list of jobs for which politics may be considered. The Rauner administration countered Monday that a statewide special master expansion is premature, would unnecessarily complicate the government's attempts to reform hiring, would cost the cash-strapped state too much and duplicate the Hiring and Employment Monitoring unit's work. If the court broadens special master Noelle Brennan's purview beyond IDOT, her payment would "increase exponentially," the court filing said, "from one agency and 5,000 employees to 51 agencies and 50,000 employees." Steve Brown, spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago, said House Democrats are willing to discuss a deeper review. "We're always worried about people not doing a day's work for a day's pay," he said. Officials of the Henry County Soil and Water Conservation District are joining other districts in checking in with their legislators on what they thought they were voting on in the partial-year budget recently approved. Chairman Jerry Snodgrass said the effort began after one of his counterparts talked to his legislator, who thought a $5 million appropriation was entirely for the resource conservationists in the state's 97 SWCDs. Instead, the districts have learned from the governor's budget office that $2.8 million is for farmers' conservation practices and only $2.1 million is for salaries, which comes to $20,000 per district. You can't hire anybody on that, said Mr. Snodgrass. Henry County's resource conservationist quit last year because the district couldn't guarantee his salary. There is still one office worker for the county as well as federal employees working out of the Cambridge office. Mr. Snodgrass said they are hoping for change if enough legislators say they were under the impression the entire $5 million was for staff. It's really disheartening for us as board members, he said. One project the SWCD was hoping to undertake was producers' control over fertilizer application. The federal Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy is aiming for a 20 percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus by 2025 and more by 2035 to reduce the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Snodgrass wants to see the program remain voluntary, which may depend on educational efforts. The SWCD resource conservationist would have worked on that. He said Friday that Henry County has started asking other SWCDs about sharing a resource conservationist. MOLINE Moline Rotary Club members will sponsor a free ice cream social 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday to showcase and dedicate the Rotary Plaza in downtown Moline. A dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting by Mayor Scott Raes is planned at 5:30 p.m. The club staged a $50,000 fundraising campaign to build the landscaped plaza, complete with decorative metal benches and concrete walkways, to celebrate the club's 100th anniversary. It shares the north side of the block occupied by the Moline Police headquarters and acts as a quiet oasis for people working or traveling through downtown. There's plenty of off-street parking adjoining and across the street from the plaza. "We created a public space to spotlight Moline Rotary's century of involvement in support of multiple community activities," said Deni McCarter, who chaired the plaza project during her term as president of the 110-member service club. Moline Rotary sponsors literacy programs, help for grade and high school students, scholarships, mittens and hats for children, cash donations to local organizations and Rotary International charitable programs worldwide. Moline Rotarians also provide scores of volunteers for events such as the John Deere Classic, community cleanup projects and the Salvation Army's holiday red kettle drives. Thursday's ice cream social along 6th Avenue between 16th and 17th streets will include free Whitey's ice cream, popcorn and hot chocolate; music by the Moline High School Jazz Ensemble 4:30-5:30 p.m.; police and firefighter vehicles and equipment; and appearances by Rascal the River Bandit and Pete the Purple Bull. "We hope adults and families will join us to see Rotary Plaza, enjoy some refreshments and learn what Moline Rotary members do for our community," said Tim Smith, Moline Rotary president. "It will be a great event." MILAN Village trustees on Monday learned that illegal dumping has become a big problem at a popular fishing location between Milan and Rock Island, and new measures will be taken to prevent it. Milan Village Administrator Steve Seiver said there has been an increase in dumping on Vandruff Island just off of U.S. 67 on the riverfront. He said he plans to add more signage to deter people from leaving their trash but added he is "not optimistic that it will work." "You know you're doing something you shouldn't," Mr. Seiver said of those illegal dumping items in the area. The next steps will include more police patrols and, possibly, a motion-activated camera. Board members say there used to be more police presence in the area and that they hope additional police presence, if necessary, will deter people from leaving their trash. On Monday, trustees also: Discussed shelters at Camden Park with a lack of parking or water problems. Trustee Jim Flannery said he will explore what can be done. In the meantime, at least one shelter will be first-come, first-served rather than by reservation. Discussed enforcing parking ordinances after Mayor Duane Dawson and others noted more people parking in their front yards Approved semi-monthly and miscellaneous bills totaling $67,621.83. Republicans in Congressional District 17 have selected Wayne Saline, of Rio, as a presidential elector for the Electoral College if Donald Trump receives the most presidential votes in Illinois on Nov. 8. Mr. Saline is farm manager for Saline Farms Inc. The former Knox County Republican Party chairman and 11-year member of the Knox County Board lost a primary bid this spring to run for the Illinois House of Representatives' 74th District currently held by Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson. Illinois' Electoral College members are scheduled to meet Dec. 19 in Springfield to cast their votes for president and vice president. The electoral votes of all states will be counted Jan. 6, 2017, in a joint session of Congress, with the results announced by the President of the Senate. In August, Congressional District 17 Democrats selected Don Johnston, of Moline, as a presidential elector for the Electoral College should Hillary Clinton receive the most presidential votes in Illinois on Nov. 8. GENESEO The Sierra Club usually makes its fall outing to see trees, Jerry Neff told the 20 people gathered Sunday at the Geneseo's renewable energy facility south of Interstate 80. We know what they (trees) look like in advance, said Mr. Neff, a delegate to the Iowa Sierra Club's quarterly state meetings and other conferences. "But this looked interesting. Lewis Opsal, Geneseo's director of electrical operations, led Sunday's tour. He said the city had a target of getting 14 percent of its electricity through its two seven-year-old wind turbines and its five-acre, 4,228-panel solar farm situated at I-80. Since the solar farm came online in August 2015, the city's received between 13 and 14 percent from the combined facility. And that's with all the rain days we had," he said. "We had a lot of rain this year." Mr. Opsal said there had been 10 long-eared brown bats killed by the wind turbines since 2009. Yeah, if something flies in them, they're going to get hit, he said. Mr. Opsal said Geneseo was the first U.S. city to put up Vensys wind turbines, the No. 1 turbine sold in the world last year. The city hopes to get 30 years out of the turbines, Mr. Opsal said, adding the rotor assemblies would be replaced after that. Turbines have 168 eight-inch bolts at the base and sequentially fewer as the circumference narrows; they are torqued twice a year. For blade inspections, drones now do in 20 minutes what would have taken two to two-and-a-half days manually. He noted 150 tons can come to a complete stop in one revolution. Most towns don't have the space for turbines that are supposed to be 1,000 feet apart, he said. Geneseo's are 950 feet apart. If the city had four more, he said, it could save $2.1 million in fuel costs. "These things are rock-solid, he said of the turbines. Nighttime illumination of the towers also can change colors. Right now, they are lit in gold for Autism Month. The solar farm features Illinois-made solar panels from Rockford, Mr. Ospal said, The racking system was made in Mascoutah, and a local contractor, J.F. Edwards, installed it. Mr. Opsal said the solar farm was very low-maintenance. Panels may degrade to 80 percent efficiency in 25 years, he said, at which point the city may either coast along with them or change them out. He also said the 36 electrical inverters wear out after 15 years, but there may be no cost there. They've never charged anybody to replace one, he said. But while Mr. Opsal said renewable energy sources are great, they aren't reliable year-round, with another energy source needed for the city's baseline load. Geneseo participates in the MISO regional transmission market, buying energy 24 hours in advance or generating it from the city's own diesel/natural gas plant. He also said Geneseo city has part ownership in a coal-fired power plant in Louisa, Iowa. Acknowledging his audience, he said durea is added to the exhaust of the city's diesel engine so emissions are 96 percent clean. All other units have catalytic converters, so we don't pollute, he said. Mr. Opsal also said Geneseo has helped residents identify energy-suckers when they think their electric bills are wrong. Residents have later recalled hosting big parties, he said, and the city has refrigerators and porch heaters with problems. Every meter in the city of Geneseo is read every two minutes, he said. He also said solar farm outputs are listed on the city's website, cityofgeneseo.com, with the wind readings scheduled to be added within two months. The 20-member group several wearing green Sierra Club backpacks hiked around Geneseo's solar panels for more than an hour. Toward the end of the tour, the club's program chairman Kristen Bergren asked members to contact lawmakers seeking support of the Clean Jobs bill. The goals of Senate Bill 1485 and House Bill 2607 are to lower electricity costs, meet and exceed proposed EPA carbon pollution goals, and leave Illinois a better place for our children and grandchildren. BETTENDORF Cars pulled over on either side of Spruce Hills Drive on Monday afternoon as people paused to watch the demolition of the historic Bettendorf Lodge begin. "It's appropriate we're wearing dark suits. This is somewhat of a funeral here," said Jim Russell, president and CEO of Russell Companies, the construction company that bought the hotel and is planning to redevelop the site. The mood was one of fondness and regret as community members gathered at a Monday ceremony marking the end of the building originally called Jumer's Castle Lodge. Former Jumer's employee Daniel Connors expressed his sadness to see the hotel go. "I worked for Jumer's for 36 years," Mr. Connors said. "This was an icon and a place to be in the Quad Cities." Built in 1970 by James Jumer, the Peoria hotelier and restaurateur who later launched the Casino Rock Island, the hotel and its distinctive center tower instantly became a Quad-Cities landmark. After Mr. Jumer encountered financial problems in the late 1990s, the Lodge and four other of his hotels were sold as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. The new owner, Platinum Hospitality Group (PHG) of Dubuque, invested $1 million in refurbishing work in the building. However, by 2014, the Lodge required major updates. Then-general manager Ray Stoddard was working with a developer to carry out an $18 million remodeling project and reopen as a Hilton DoubleTree hotel. The plan never came to fruition. The Lodge closed its doors to the public in August 2015, never to open again. City building and fire inspectors had found 222 violations that May, and the hotel could no longer keep up with the ever-growing list of problems. "(The Lodge) was an iconic property for years," Bettendorf mayor Bob Gallagher said during the demolition ceremony. "Unfortunately, it fell into such disrepair that it's time for a new project here on this site." Mr. Russell didn't mention what specific plans he has for the roughly 10 acres of land to be available when the demolition is completed, but said there is "a lot of interest and planning going on." "I can say with a lot of confidence that we'll be breaking ground on a project next year," Mr. Russell said. SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez stepped up pressure on lawmakers Tuesday to consider reinstating the death penalty by promising to add the issue to a legislative agenda for a pending special session that was aimed solely at fixing the state's budget shortfall. The second-term Republican governor and former district attorney said that she wants the death penalty as an option for convicted killers of police, children and corrections officers. New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009 before Martinez took office by replacing provisions for lethal injection with a sentence of life in prison without parole. The move by Martinez seeks a rare reversal even as capital punishment has fallen out of favor in many states. It could compel local lawmakers to take a public stand on capital punishment ahead of November elections for the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives and Democrat-dominated state Senate. "Cop killers and child murderers deserve the ultimate punishment," Martinez said in a written statement. "If you kill an officer, you deserve the death penalty. If you kill a child, you deserve the death penalty. It's time we say enough is enough." Martinez unsuccessfully backed legislation to reinstate the death penalty shortly after taking office in 2011, when Democrats held a majority in both chambers of the Legislature. Her push to restore capital punishment follows the killings in southern New Mexico of two police officers in separate shootings in August and September by wanted fugitives, plus last month's horrific sexual assault, killing and dismemberment of 10-year-old girl Victoria Martens in Albuquerque. The death penalty legislation backed by Martinez is being sponsored by Republican state lawmakers representing home districts of the girl and slain police officer Jose Chavez, gunned down by a fugitive from Ohio in the southern village of Hatch. "It is something that rocked the community I represent," Rep. Monica Youngblood of Albuquerque said of Victoria's killing. "I vowed to do whatever I could to make sure that she gets justice." The effort to reinstate New Mexico's death penalty was quickly condemned by opponents who labeled it as political opportunism designed to unseat vulnerable Democrats or shortcut a substantive debate on capital punishment. "I think the polling probably shows that they have the option to use this politically," said Democratic Rep. Gail Chasey, an Albuquerque attorney who works on child neglect cases. "The governor cannot be serious about this really being the answer to these problems." New Mexico executed nine men starting in 1933 until more than seven decades later when it abolished the death penalty. The state's most recent execution in 2001 of child-killer Terry Clark was its first since 1960. Clark raped and murdered a 9-year-old girl in 1986 a year after he was convicted of raping another young girl. Former Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, cited flaws in how the death penalty was applied when he signed the legislation that abolished it saying the criminal justice system must be perfect to be used to put someone to death. New Mexico still has two inmates on death row. Timothy Allen and Robert Fry were convicted and sentenced to death for murders committed years before the 2009 repeal. Capital punishment currently is authorized in 30 states. States including Illinois, Connecticut and Maryland abolished the death penalty through legislation after New Mexico. Last month, Delaware's Supreme Court declared the state's death penalty law unconstitutional. Amber Widgery, a death penalty policy specialist at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said no state has enacted a law to reinstate capital punishment after a legislative repeal over the last 40 years. "I haven't seen a reinstatement bill get traction in recent memory," she said. Under an unusual petition drive, Nebraska voters will decide in November whether to override last year's abolition of the death penalty by the state's Republican-controlled Legislature. ESTERO, Fla. (AP) Hillary Clinton is accusing Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps the Islamic State group and other militants recruit new fighters. Trump is insisting the U.S. should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As Trump supporters at a packed rally in Florida shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point." Clinton and her team see her experience and what they say is her steady judgment as key selling points for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama at that moment. But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close U.S. borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid. On Monday, he called for tougher policing, including profiling foreigners who look like they could have connections to terrorism or certain Middle Eastern nations. "This isn't just a matter of terrorism, this is also really a question of quality of life," he said. "We want to make sure we're only admitting people into our country who love our country." Pointing to her Monday morning comment that Trump's words give "aid and comfort" to Islamic extremists, his campaign said Clinton was accusing him of treason, going beyond the bounds of acceptable campaigning and trying to change the subject from her own failures. She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with ISIS, are rooting for Trump to win the White House. She said, "We're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them, but we're not going to go after an entire religion." Trump agreed terrorists have a preference: They "want her so badly to be our president." Clinton met late Monday with the leaders of Egypt, Ukraine and Japan in New York City, where they gathered for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Trump has tried to appear more statesmanlike as the November election approaches. Still, he suggested it's fine if some world leaders feel uneasy about him. "Well, maybe that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Right now the world has no respect for our country, they have no respect for our president, whatsoever," he said in an interview on Fox News. Anadolu Agency said the two were detained in Sanliurfa province together with their suicide vests and explosives. There was no immediate information on their nationalities. The arrests came a day after Istanbul police detained some 40 foreign nationals suspected of links to IS in simultaneous raids in the city's Fatih neighborhood. Those detained included nationals from Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, Anadolu reported, adding that some of them had traveled to conflict zones in Syria several times. Turkey has suffered a wave of suicide bomb attacks blamed on IS since last year that have killed more than 200 people. Turkey last month sent tanks and troops into northern Syria to clear a border area of IS militants. The State Department said it was prepared to extend the cease-fire window in the hopes that if it held, the U.S. and Russia could then turn to their planned military cooperation against the Islamic State militants and al-Qaida-linked groups in Syria. The latest developments placed added importance on a meeting Tuesday of the International Syria Support Group, or ISSG, which is comprised of countries with a stake in the conflict and endorsed the truce, to be led by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "Well, the Syrians didn't make the deal," Kerry told reporters in New York. "The Russians made the agreement. So we need to see what the Russians say; but the point, the important thing is the Russians need to control (Syrian President Bashar) Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing including of humanitarian convoys. So let's wait and see, collect the facts. We need to see where we are, and then we'll make a judgment. But we don't have all the facts at this point." State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. is ready to work with Russia to strengthen the terms of the cease-fire agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid. But he added that Russia must clarify its position on the status of the truce. Russia took the side of the Syrian government, blaming the rebels for violating the truce. Russia's Foreign Ministry said the failure of Syrian rebels to adhere to the truce "threatens the cease-fire and U.S.-Russian agreements." The ministry statement came after the Russian military said that continuing rebel violations made it "meaningless" for the Syrian army to respect the deal. The Syrian military said earlier Monday that the cease-fire had expired. Kirby noted that the cease-fire arrangement was agreed to by the United States and Russia, which is responsible for the compliance of the Assad government. "We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities, while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance," Kirby's statement said. "We will be consulting with our Russian counterparts to continue to urge them to use their influence on Assad to these ends." While acknowledging numerous violations, Kirby said the truce, which took effect last Monday, had been responsible for "a measure of reduced violence." However, he also repeated calls for the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid to Aleppo and other besieged communities. Such deliveries began only on Monday and were available only in limited areas, he said. France's foreign minister criticized both the United States and Russia for the cease-fire pact that excluded the international community, saying it must have wide support if it's going to be implemented. Jean-Marc Ayrault, whose country is a member of the ISSG, said the agreement is "particularly weak" as events have demonstrated. But he told reporters that "it must remain a glimmer of hope," because it's the only basis on which the international community can work to halt the fighting. Earlier, Kerry expressed hope that the cease-fire could still hold even after the Syrian military's announcement, and he took aim at Russia for not doing enough to pressure Assad's government to comply. "It would be good if they didn't talk first to the press but if they talked to the people who are actually negotiating this," he told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. "As I said yesterday, (it's) time to end the grandstanding and time to do the real work of delivering on the humanitarian goods that are necessary for access." Kerry expressed frustration with the touch-and-go cease-fire. "We have not had seven days of calm and of delivery of humanitarian goods," Kerry said. Those seven days of calm and aid deliveries were required before the U.S. and Russia could embark on a plan to cooperate in targeting the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates working in Syria. The Syrian military said in a statement Monday that "armed terrorist groups" repeatedly violated the cease-fire and took advantage of the truce to mobilize and arm themselves while attacking government-held areas. The statement said the rebels wasted a "real chance" to stop the bloodshed. He said U.S. and Russian officials were meeting in Geneva to try to sort out aid deliveries to Aleppo and other besieged communities. American officials said, however, that conditions were still not right for U.S.-Russian military cooperation. A Syrian activist group said 92 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the cease-fire. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 29 children and teenagers were among those killed, as well as 17 women. The figure does not include dozens of Syrian soldiers and Islamic State militants killed in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, the Observatory said Monday. A mistaken air raid by the U.S.-led coalition also killed 62 Syrian soldiers. The opposition reported 254 violations by government forces and their allies since the truce started on Sept. 12 and a senior Syrian opposition official declared the cease-fire "clinically dead." Syrian state media said there were 32 violations by rebels on Sunday alone. CALDCs Halloween Celebration A Real Treat! The Central Astoria LDCs 7th annual Batty Over Halloween Celebration held on Sunday, October 23rd was a real treat for everyone who came out. Despite... Meng Brings NASA Astronaut To Queens On October 17, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) brought NASA astronaut Dr. Jonny Kim to Queens where he met and spoke with students at Francis... Celebrating Columbus The Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Queens (FIAO) held their annual Columbus Day parade in Astoria, on Saturday, October 8, during Italian Heritage Month. The... G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now! A group of environmental organisations and activists filed a petition with the Tribunal claiming an environmental impact assessment had not been carried out for the 120km Nairobi Naivasha section which is part of the second phase of the 489km Nairobi - Malaba railway project. This is the second time in less than two months that work has been suspended on this section which is contracted to China Road and Bridge Corporation. In August Mr Irungu Nyakera, principal secretary in the Ministry of Transport, stopped the project claiming the government had not yet approved the route for the new line, which is being financed by Exim Bank of China. The Tribunal directs that all activities relating to the project in question must be stopped until the appeal is heard and determined by the Tribunal, the Tribunal said in an order issued on September 19. Environment principal secretary of the Ministry of Environment Mr Charles Sunkuli, the director-general of the National Environmental Management Authority Mr Geoffrey Wahungu, and the Kenya Railways Corporation managing director Mr Atanas Maina have been directed to respond to the application within 21 days. The environmental groups led by the Kenya Coalition for Wildlife Conservation and Management, claim that Kenya Railways Corporation and China Road and Bridge Corporation have illegally commenced tunnelling of some sections of the route and approved the construction of the railway through Nairobi National Park and densely-populated areas in Kajiado County near Nairobi. We want to see more people travelling by train and more companies sending their goods by rail, Bulc said. But I still feel there is too big a gap between our citizens and your customers. There are too many services which no longer exist. The Fourth Railway Package is the single biggest achievement this year, Bulc continued. I am sure we will see the adoption of the market pillar by the end of the year. We saw the adoption of the technical pillar earlier this year, and I expect the European Agency for Railways to become a one-stop-shop for train certification. There will be a massive simplification with the elimination of red tape. We have already abolished 11,000 unique national rules. Bulc said she wants to the railway industry to embrace innovation and technology, and she noted that some companies are very active in digitisation. We must think about digitisation on a European scale and not at the national level because national markets are too small to build digitalisation. Referring to the Shift2Rail research initiative, Bulc foresees it leading to new system-wide solutions. It will enable us to use our money wisely and help to maintain the sectors competitiveness not just in Europe but worldwide. Bulc reminded delegates that rail is the main beneficiary of the EUs Connecting Europe Facility, but pointed out it is a drop in the ocean compared with what is needed. She said there are trillions of euros waiting to be used for good projects. Bulc said 500bn will be available up to 2020 for green and cross-border projects. Bulc is also very keen to move forward on integrated ticketing. I want to launch single ticketing for Erasmus students as a trial, she said. GE Transportation, in collaboration with Intel Corp., introduced a superbrain platform solution for locomotives that transforms them into mobile data headquarters, helping make trains smarter and faster. GE says its best-in-class embedded solution, unveiled Sept. 19, improves operations, fuel efficiency, horsepower and emissions, and enhances a locomotives tractive effort. The GoLINC system, which GE describes as network, communication and application management platform capable of turning any locomotive into a mobile data center, features the 6th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. GoLINC interfaces with both on-board and off-board GE and third-party systems to create a Predix-edge-enabled device. Its the brain of the train on more than 6,000 locomotives today, GE said. The new offering aims to improve data management and video analytics on the locomotive, and enables the creation and deployment of future technologies into the GoLINC platform. Our partnership delivers the most advanced connectivity across the rail industry to create a smarter rail ecosystem, said GE Transportation President and CEO Jamie Miller. It enables operators to transfer data, host applications and interface with third-party systems, and can boost operational productivity. This platform enhancement to the GoLINC mobile data center saves time and lowers costs by reducing the amount of data transferred over cellular connections, and will enable the rail industry to perform at its best, said Intel General Manager, Global Transportation Val Stoyanov. We look forward to continued collaboration with GE Transportation. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed three new executives to its North American rail transit and transportation and infrastructure businesses. Yassmin Gramian has been named Northeast Business Development Director for the Transportation and Infrastructure sector at WSP | PB. She is based in Philadelphia. Gramian has more than 30 years of experience in operations, business development and client services, as well as project management and structural engineering. As a project manager and structural engineer, she has focused on transportation and infrastructure projects throughout Pennsylvania. Prior to joining WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, she was a senior vice president with responsibility for Pennsylvania operations at global architecture, civil engineering and construction management firm HNTB. Gramian earned masters and bachelors degrees in civil engineering from the University of Michigan. She serves on the boards of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania, and the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association. Dale A. Brown has been appointed Assistant Vice President, Transit and Rail Systems in the Atlanta office. In his new position, he leads a team of systems and specialty engineers to address the project, safety and asset accountability requirements of North American transit and rail agencies. He also supports the development of business process improvements for the integration of transit and ITS (intelligent transportation systems). Brown has more than 30 years of experience implementing systems engineering practices for complex rail and manufactured systems, including design and delivery of embedded control for specialty equipment and military and rail vehicles throughout North America, South America and Europe. Prior to joining WSP | PB, he was systems engineering director for the transit and rail practice of Atkins, a diversified international design, engineering and project management firm. A licensed professional engineer in Ontario, Canada, Brown earned a masters degree in engineering/business administration and a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the University of Western Ontario. Among his professional affiliations, he serves as co-chair of the transportation working group of the International Council on Systems Engineering and is an active participant on the APTA systems engineering subcommittee. Pamela Townsend has been appointed Senior Vice President and Southeast Region Business Manager for the transportation and infrastructure sector. She is responsible for strategic business development, client service delivery and financial performance, and is based in the Raleigh, N.C., office. Townsend has more than 30 years of diversified leadership experience, including program and project management experience with federal, state and local governments, as well as commercial and industrial clients throughout the Southeast. Prior to joining WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, she was a senior vice president of Dewberry, a consulting engineering firm with strategic planning and growth responsibilities for all market sectors in the Southeast. She also held several positions over 24 years with AECOM and Earth Tech (which AECOM acquired in 2009), including senior vice president and southern states district general manager. A licensed professional engineer in several states, Townsend earned bachelors and masters degrees in civil engineering from North Carolina State University. She is the current chair of the joint American Council of Engineering Companies/PENC political action committee. She also serves on the North Carolina State University College of Engineering Foundation Board. Townsend has served the State of North Carolina in many ways, including appointment to the Joint Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission to Study the States Building and Infrastructure Needs. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK Since Silk Road (the first cryptomarket) was put under the spotlight in 2011, the role these online market places play in global illegal trade has become hotly debated. No scarcity exists of claims, predictions, hypotheses and speculations, with some arguing that this online industry will only become darker and bigger. The UN recognized the dark web in its 2016 World Drug Report as an issue that raises concerns in terms of the potential to attract new populations of users by facilitating access to drugs in both developed and developing countries. It seems clear that certain drug dealers have successfully created business models for the online trade of illicit substances. The German police, for example, seized 320 kilos of drugs when it arrested Shiny Flakes, a 20-year-old cryptomarket drug dealer whose profits were estimated at 1 million euros for the six months prior to his arrest. Cryptomarkets allow drug dealers to tap into additional revenue streams, reducing many of the risks associated with offline markets (e.g. violence) while also introducing new risks (e.g. postal interception, scams). However, the claim that the online drugs trade is having a substantial impact on global drug markets remains untested. With this in mind, RAND Europe, in collaboration with the Universities of Montreal and Manchester, looked at the role of the Internet, particularly cryptomarkets that exist on the dark web, in facilitating the trade of illicit drugs. By 2016 around 50 cryptomarkets and vendor shops appeared active on the hidden web. Clearly, these cryptomarkets continue a steady trade. The FBI took down Silk Road in 2013, and its creator was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. But that didn't curb the online drugs trade. Within weeks, Silk Road's place was filled by a copycat, and by 2016 around 50 cryptomarkets and vendor shops appeared active on the hidden web. Our web-scraping and analysis of cryptomarket data from January 2016 suggests that the number of advertisements for illicit drugs on these market places has seen a six-fold increase since September 2013. And the results also show drug transactions have tripled and monthly revenues have doubled. But how global is this trade? We find that cryptomarkets still tend to be dominated by vendors from the US, the UK, Australia, and a few other countries (see figure below). As vendors tend to indicate where they will be shipping their merchandise from, this information can be used as a proxy for vendor location. Drug vendors operating from the United States have the highest market share of drugs sold on cryptomarkets (35.9 percent of total drug revenues), followed by the UK (16.1 percent) and Australia (10.6 percent). Cryptomarkets offer potential customer outlets for vendors who are closely located to source regions. Our data suggests, however, that very few vendors operate from emerging economies, such as Southern Asia (heroin), Latin America (cannabis, cocaine), northern Africa (cannabis resin), or China (synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances). While it is difficult to derive information about buyer locations, sellers usually indicate the countries or continents they are willing to ship their products to. By analyzing these potential shipping routes, we found that North America and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) were the two most common destinations vendors are willing to ship to. Europe came in third. The most common routes for drugs were those within North America, Europe, and Oceania. It was difficult to estimate the share of drug shipping routes precisely, as incomplete or unknown routes account for more than one-third of all drug revenues. However, these figures seem to suggest that the majority of drugs bought on cryptomarkets are shipped domestically, or at least intra-continentally, rather than between continents. This finding is interesting because it challenges the convention that cryptomarkets facilitate the globalization of drug retail markets. Countries such as Australia and the US have implemented strict monitoring of internationally shipped parcels, which explains the reluctance of vendors to ship across international borders. Contrast that to the limited or lack of monitoring of domestically shipped postal packages. With American buyers able to source cannabis, for example, from Colorado and Washington, where the drug has been legalized, why risk purchase from abroad? The Netherlands seems to be an anomaly when it comes to domestic drug sales. Intelligence from law enforcement suggests that domestic drugs sales from Dutch vendors are relatively small. This may be linked to the country's small population, but it could also be a result of the crucial role the country plays in the European drug markets. The Netherlands is the main producer of MDMA, ecstasy, and herbal cannabis and a key distribution hub for cannabis resin and cocaine in Europe. The 225 vendors operating from the Netherlands generated $1.1 million in drug revenues per month and ranked fifth, after the US, UK, Australia, and Germany. Dutch vendors have by far the largest revenues per capita and this figure could be underestimated. Interviewees and qualitative analyses of the products listed for sale suggest that Dutch vendors were traveling to neighboring countries to ship illicit drugs from cryptomarkets in attempts to evade the stringent monitoring of postal packages from the Netherlands. Dutch vendors dominated global sales of MDMA and ecstasy on cryptomarkets with 23 percent of overall revenues for these substances. Dutch vendors dominated global sales of MDMA and ecstasy on cryptomarkets with 23 percent of overall revenues for these substances. Three quarters of all Dutch revenues from illicit drugs sold on cryptomarkets were from two drug categories ecstasy-type drugs and stimulants. This specialization likely reflects the Netherlands' role in the production of these drug types, making vendor access to these substances relatively easy and also profitable given its location in the supply chain. As prices for MDMA and ecstasy in countries like Australia are considerably higher than in the Netherlands sometimes even tenfold overseas transactions for these substances may be worth the risk of interception. Such differences do not exist for cannabis, which is also produced locally in Australia and the US. This may explain why Dutch vendors only had a 2 percent share of global cannabis revenues. The specialization also reflects the interconnection of physical and virtual drug distribution channels. Dutch vendors appear to be sourcing their drugs locally since their online activities are similar to those of offline drug dealers. The full impact of the dark web on the illicit drugs trade remains inconclusive. But being able to web-scrape and analyze data from cryptomarkets has tremendously improved understanding of these markets. Vendors in the Netherlands appear to be developing a fairly successful international trade of ecstasy-type drugs and stimulants from cryptomarkets, but it appears that most countries are selling illicit drugs within domestic borders. In essence, cryptomarkets have grown at a fairly decent rate since 2013, but their global impact could be overstated for now. Stijn Hoorens is an associate director at RAND Europe, and David Decary-Hetu is an assistant professor at the School of Criminology at the University of Montreal. They are co-authors of the study Internet-facilitated drugs trade: An analysis of the size, scope and the role of the Netherlands. This commentary originally appeared on VentureBeat on September 17, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. The Digital TV & Video: Network and OTT Strategies 2016-2021 report found that SVOD providers can expect to see substantial returns on their expansion and growth strategies, as more countries and markets move to this method of video consumption, in a continual move away from linear, scheduled TV.The analyst calculates that revenues from services, such as Netflix and Amazon, are set to more than double from $14.6 billion this year, to $34.6 billion in 2021. It adds that the SVOD leader now sees US subscriber numbers level with leading network providers DirecTV and Comcast which boast 47 million and 47.7 million users respectively. Total TV and video data usage are projected to grow more than five-fold from 2016 to 2021, as uptake of 4KTV increases download sizes while combined 4K SVOD and TVOD revenues including pay-per-view and download-to-own will likely grow to account for 13% of total over-the-top (OTT) revenues by 2021.The report also offers evidence that the pay-TV industry is fighting back through so-called skinny bundles, after a period of losing considerable share to online video alternatives. Yet more interestingly it provides some evidence of emerging threats to the dominance of Netflix. It notes that despite rapid global expansion Netflixs international subscriber growth lacks pace and that quarterly results suggested underwhelming growth prospects for subscriber numbers. Juniper also warns that Netflixs expansion has resulted in price increases and that the beneficiaries may ultimately be the providers rivals if the competitor price differential becomes too great.Whilst Netflix has expanded its coverage globally, the test will be whether it can meet its original content production costs, as well as provide quality content to consumers, explained report author Lauren Foye. It is believed that US rival Hulu is now close to offering the same amount of content as Netflix, and others are pushing new models - such as Amazons monthly subscriptions to Prime video, and YouTube Red subscriptions for exclusive content. Comcast is set to roll an invite-only beta version of its Netflix integration to users across the country. The Comcast Labs section of the X1 user interface will host Netflix Beta. X1 customers will receive a communication from Comcast when theyve been added to the Beta Program, so they can opt-in via Comcast Labs, go to the Netflix app and log in with their credentials or sign-up for Netflix directly through X1 The goal is to allow X1 and Netflix customers to watch live, on-demand, DVR and Netflix programming all from the same place, with integrated voice control, universal search, natural language processing, IP stream processing and a cloud-based infrastructure.In a blog post , Comcast noted that the Netflix Beta Program has been a major effort for teams at both companies, so were rolling out a beta to ensure it works smoothly before we formally launch it to millions of X1 customers later this year. UK-based indie Woodcut Media has agreed a deal with pay-TV giant Skys free-to-air channel Pick to produce two new crime documentary series, Britains Most Evil Killers and Worlds Most Evil Killers. The deal was brokered by acquisitions executive Charlie Charalambous for Pick, and both series will be distributed internationally by Keshet International. The Britains 12x60 and Worlds 8x60 series are scheduled to premiere on Pick in early 2017 and will examine some of the most dangerous and prolific murderers in the UK and worldwide, uncovering what drove them to commit their crimes. The programmes are based on a series of interviews including authentic first-hand accounts, expert views from leading criminologists, crime journalists and psychologists, archive footage and stylised reconstruction.True Crime is one of Woodcuts key areas of expertise, and the genre continues to generate substantial interest worldwide, said Kate Beal, CEO, Woodcut Media. We are delighted to announce our first deal with Pick, and look forward to delivering gripping series that highlight why these killers became so famous nationally and internationally.Pick is committed to showing great crime television, with Real Life Emergency programming as one of our core strands, added Stephen Ladlow, director of Pick and Challenge . We are therefore delighted to have worked with Woodcut Media to bring two first-class True Crime shows to the channel, with Britains and the Worlds Most Evil Killers headlining in a key Thursday night slot next year. Russian Supreme Court upholds opposition-minded Petrozavodsk ex-mayors dismissal MOSCOW, September 20 (RAPSI) Russias Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by former opposition-minded mayor of Petrozavodsk, Galina Shirshina, against her resignation, according to records published on the courts website. On December 25, 2015, legislators of the Petrozavodsk City Council voted for resignation of Shirshina. Two weeks before her dismissal she received a note from a group of MPs listing alleged evidence that she did not fulfill her mayoral duties. Shirshina appealed her dismissal in the Petrozavodsk City Court and the Supreme Court of Karelia but had no success. In July, she lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court of Russia. In October 2013, Shirshina, with the help of opposition party Yabloko, was elected mayor of Petrozavodsk with 41.9% of votes in her favor. Aum Shinrikyo banned in Russia as terrorist organization MOSCOW, September 20 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Aum Shinrikyo a terrorist organization and banned its activity in Russia, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. The court thus granted a motion filed by the Prosecutor Generals Office demanding to put an official ban on the organization. The hearing was held behind closed doors. In April, Russian investigators launched a case over illegal activities of the organization. According to Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, searches were conducted in Moscow and St. Petersburg in order to identify individuals who could be involved in the sect activities and to find literature, documents and other evidentiary items that are germane to the case. Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) was set up in 1987 by Chizuo Matsumoto (aka Shoko Asahara). It combined Buddhist and Hindu meditation practices and apocalyptic teachings and was believed to have between 30,000 and 50,000 followers, with more than 10,000 members in Russia, where Aum was engaged in missionary activity and economic enterprise. The sect was banned worldwide in 1995, with Russia leading the crackdown. In 1994, Aum Shinrikyo members dispersed sarin gas in Matsumoto, Nagano, killing seven people. After the March '95 attack on Tokyo, police arrested about 30 of the sect leaders, some of whom, including Shoko Asahara, were sentenced to death. Now operating under the name of Aleph, the cult is still in business and is believed to have between 1,000 and 2,000 members in Japan. Egyptian plane crash case victims claim against insurer adjourned until Oct.18 MOSCOW, September 20 (RAPSI) The Basmanny District Court of Moscow has postponed the hearing of a lawsuit filed a victim in the case over Airbus A321 plane crash in Egypt against VTB-Strahovanie insurance company until October 18, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. The claim was lodged by a woman whose daughter died in the plane crash. She is seeking full payment of compensation from the insurer. The hearing was adjourned because the court is waiting for documents on inheritance case. Claims under the lawsuit are based on the subject matter of overall contract insurance contract concluded by the plaintiff with VTB-Strahovanie. According to the plaintiffs lawyers, the claims amount reaches about $105,000. Lawyer Igor Trunov said that the insurance company had refused to pay the compensation to the victim. The insurers representative in turn insists that the woman has not fulfilled an obligatory out-of-court procedure; in particular she has not provided eligibility for payment of compensation, has not confirmed that she is a beneficiary heir or heir-by-will, has not submitted confirmation of damage and has not confirmed presence of luggage, its quantity or value. The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, crashed into a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on October 31 leaving 224 people dead. The airliner was flying from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg in Russia. The Federal Security Service (FSB) chief, Alexander Bortnikov earlier said that a terrorist attack was the cause of the plane crash. A militant group linked to Islamic State said in a statement that it had brought down the plane in response to Russian airstrikes in Syria. Government commission approves bills on status of convicted mothers in Russian prisons MOSCOW, September 20 (RAPSI) The Government Commission for Legislative Drafting Activities has approved bills aimed to improve the status of convicted mothers in Russian prisons, the Cabinets official website announced on Tuesday. Currently, courts may set aside a real prison sentence for expectant mothers, women who have children aged up to 14 years and single dads, until their child reaches the age of 14. Under the bills, courts would be entitled to delay service of sentence not only at the stage of its execution but at the stage of delivering judgment. Bills would also allow transfer of convicted pregnant women only if there is a corresponding medical report and in the company of a healthcare worker if it is necessary. Draft laws also propose to accord certain convicts permission to live and work outside of a penal colony under surveillance of its administration six months before the end of the term. Moreover, convicted women, who have a child aged up to 14 years or a disabled child, as well as single fathers would gain the right to four meetings with their children per year outside the territory of prison. This right would not apply to people convicted of crimes against minors. Russian Supreme Court chairman believes creation of juvenile courts is necessary MOSCOW, September 20 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) All-Russian Congress of Judges may consider the establishment of special juvenile courts, which are going to review cases involving minors in Russia, by the end of 2016, the chairman of the Russian Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev told journalists on Tuesday. "The issue of juvenile justice may be discussed at the All-Russian Congress of Judges. There are proponents of specialization, and then there are opponents. There are certain opinions to the different aspects, which are offered to enter into the juvenile justice system. In general, I think that if not now, then in the near future such specialization is needed," - RIA Novosti reported, citing Lebedev. He also noted that such specialization, although in a limited fashion, has always existed in the Soviet era, when criminal cases against minors were reviewed by special, well-experienced judges, who took into account the specifics of juvenile psychology. Juvenile courts review criminal, civil and administrative cases, which involve minors as one of the sides. At this years Insurtech Connect conference, Insider Engage spoke to Pranav Pasricha, Swiss Re's global head property and casualty solutions, Reinsurance, to discuss why the protection gap is the biggest challenge the reinsurance industry faces today and how Swiss Re is using technology to support clients to respond to new and emerging threats. Some day, the pro-Brexit voters of Britain may be sorry that they rejected the European Union. They will experience the terrible fragmentation that Canada is now suffering, as we try to coax all the 28 European parliaments to vote for the ... DR Congo's Interior Ministry reports that 14 civilians were killed as well as three policemen. One was reportedly "burned alive" during protests against President Joseph Kabila's failure to schedule elections. According to Interior Minister Evariste Boshab, "14 civilians involved in looting" and three police officers were killed and one of the police officers was "burnt alive." News videos from the scene show protestors clashing with security forces and at least one protestor being carried away after gun shots are heard. The heavy clashes erupted in the capital ahead of a planned mass opposition rally. The protesters were marching against President Joseph Kabila's perceived bid to extend his mandate. There has been growing local and international pressure on Kabila to step down when his term legally ends in December. Opposition supporters have accused the sitting president of wanting to extend his rule by not holding elections originally scheduled for November as required by the constitution. His supporters deny this charge. Georges Kapiamba, director of the local NGO - Congolese Association for Access to Justice - said that demonstrations also took place in other parts of the country, including Goma, Bukavu, and Beni. Dozens of people died in similar protests against Kabila last year. "I have seen offices of President Kabila's party as well as offices of other political parties allied to the president's coalition burnt down," said Patrice Chitera, DW's correspondent in Kinshasa. Sanctions considered European nations will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions on the Democratic Republic of Congo, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Monday in New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. "It's a question we will discuss [among] Europeans, but the situation is extremely worrying and very dangerous," said Ayrault. A senior US State Department official said last week that the United States would consider additional targeted sanctions against individuals who seek to undermine Congo's democratic institutions and the election process. "We're ready to consider targeted sanctions under those circumstances. It is something we're exploring and looking at," the official said. According to the State Department official, Washington made it clear to Congo's leaders that the election process had to be inclusive and that they had to abide by the constitution and agreements among political parties. Kabila to stay? Phil Clark, a political scientist at SOAS University of London, does not see a circumstance whereby President Kabila will step down or move to schedule elections in the country in the coming months although the constitution bars him from running for a third term. "It is looking increasingly unlikely that a new leader will take control of the Democratic Republic of Congo," said Clark. "All of Kabila's moves over the past few months have suggested that he is doing everything he can to remain in power." Instead, Clark thinks that Kabila will continue to crack down on the opposition and move to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third term which could lead to more violence. Joseph Kabila took over as president of the DRC after his father was killed by one of his body guards in 2001. His father, Laurent Kabila, became president of the DRC after overthrowing Mobuto Sese Seko in 1997. The DRC has never had a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. "There is a real concern in the Congo that this situation could continue to get drastically out of hand," said Clark. World leaders are converging on New York City for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, which is set to officially begin Sept. 20. The following are the key players and bilateral meetings we will be watching this week: Russian President Vladimir Putin is skipping the summit so he can oversee the results of the Sept. 18 parliamentary elections and prepare for a budget battle in the Kremlin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will instead be the main Russian player to watch in New York. Last week, Moscow was busy setting the next stage for its broader negotiation with the West in implementing cease-fires in Syria and Ukraine, two theaters that require Russian collaboration for de-escalation. However, the Syrian cease-fire has effectively collapsed, and the Ukrainian cease-fire remains on shaky ground. Lavrov is nonetheless expected to advance the dialogue with the West to exchange cooperation in Syria and Ukraine for concessions, such as easing sanctions when the Europeans vote on trade restrictions on Russia early next year. Specifically, Lavrov will be holding meetings throughout the General Assembly with representatives from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom and will likely press his Western counterparts to persuade Kiev to deliver on political concessions in eastern Ukraine. Meetings between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as between Poroshenko and U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, both scheduled for Sept. 21, will therefore be important to watch. Poroshenko, for his part, will try to persuade the West to maintain pressure on Russia in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, particularly through sanctions. (Poroshenko already met with the French and German foreign ministers in Kiev recently.) A possible meeting between Poroshenko and U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland could also provide clues on the status of this negotiation. Obama, British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Francois Hollande and Lavrov are scheduled to meet Sept. 21 to discuss Syria. This meeting is supposed to focus on the progress, or lack thereof, of the current cease-fire so far. On Sept. 20, Obama will present to the assembly a new U.S. plan to resettle more than 100,000 refugees, 40,000 of whom are from the Middle East and South Asia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meanwhile tout the efforts his country has made to manage the migrant situation in Syria and will try to lobby for greater international support for its plans to create a safe zone in northern Syria. With or without international endorsement, the Turkish military is forging southward to the strategic city of al-Bab, relying on close coordination with the U.S. military to mitigate any potential clash with Russia on the battlefield. The General Assembly will offer an opportunity for several world leaders to get a sense of the policies the winner of the U.S. presidential election may enact. Leaders from the Asia-Pacific region are particularly uncertain over just how committed Washington will be to security and trade in the region. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet with Clinton on Sept. 19, likely looking for any assurances he can get that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not be fundamentally renegotiated before it moves ahead for ratification in the Japanese legislature. (Vietnam has already decided to delay ratification.) The United States and Japan will discuss greater security cooperation in the South China Sea and potential Chinese responses to it. After all, Japan recently pledged to participate in U.S. exercises in the South China Sea, and it is watching carefully for any Chinese provocations in the East China Sea as a result. North Korea will be on the agenda, too, as Pyongyang continues to accelerate its nuclear program, driving tighter U.S.-Japanese-South Korean security integration. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will represent Beijing at the summit and will meet with Obama on Sept. 19. The United States has sought tougher measures on North Korea, including unilateral sanctions, but Beijing is concerned that such measures would only make it more difficult to engage Pyongyang diplomatically. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, meanwhile, arrived in New York on Sept. 18 and held talks with his counterparts from the United States and South Korea. The three parties discussed ways to strengthen their respective sanctions against North Korea and agreed for early adoption for U.N. Security Council resolution on additional sanctions. At a bilateral meeting, Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se also discussed the issue of comfort women, a key sticking point that has hampered closer cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo. Kishida will meet officials from G-7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States) on the sidelines of U.N. meetings to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile developments. Kishida is also seeking talks with his peers from Brazil, India and Germany on Sept. 21 The foreign ministers of the six world powers (the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States) will discuss the Iran nuclear agreement on Sept. 22 with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and, possibly, President Hassan Rouhani. It has already been determined that both sides are upholding the technical requirements of the deal. The primary concern for Iranian officials is performing for a domestic audience that is unhappy with the amount of economic progress that has been made since sanctions were lifted in accordance with the agreement. Consequently, some pushback against the United States is to be expected. When Rouhani addresses the General Assembly he will be playing primarily to his domestic audience, which is why an unconfirmed meeting with Obama would bolster Rouhani's image at home, even if nothing substantial results from it. It is only a matter of months before Rouhani is up for re-election, and the determining factor is the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal and the benefits evident to all Iranians. Meanwhile, U.S. election rhetoric surrounding the Iranian nuclear issue and calls by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump to renegotiate the deal and take a harder line against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy provocations in the Strait of Hormuz is empowering Iran's own hard-liners. On Sept. 22, there will be a side meeting between foreign ministers on devising the optimal international response to Libya's political and security crisis. But this meeting is less important than meetings in Cairo that have sought to determine the structure of potential leadership councils. Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Faiz Serraj is attending the General Assembly and is seeking to gather as much international support for the unity government as possible. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is speaking in support of resolving the political crises in Libya and Yemen as well, but Egypt's support for Khalifa Hifter reveals that Egypt (as well as the United Arab Emirates) prefers the former general's Libyan National Army to confront Islamist militias in the North African country. India and Pakistan will also be worth observing during the General Assembly meeting. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif scheduled to speak Sept. 21 plans on drawing attention to the self-determination movement in India-administered Kashmir following months of deadly protests in the capital of Srinagar. Sharif's task will be complicated by a terrorist attack that took place Sept. 18, when four militants allegedly from Pakistan killed 18 Indian soldiers in an army base in the border town of Uri. India immediately accused Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism, and it is likely that the Indian delegation will press this point during the meeting, though Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend. Finally, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will host a gathering on Sept. 21 to encourage ratification of the Paris climate agreement. The United States and China have already ratified it, bringing the agreement much closer to the threshold for emissions, but 55 countries still need to sign on, meaning this meeting could determine whether or not the deal will go through by the end of 2016. However, if India does not send a representative, it would be notable because the country is one of the largest emitters (and the flag-bearer of developing countries) that has not ratified the agreement. While ratifying the agreement by the end of 2016 would reveal global opinion on climate change, the pact is still limited in its ability to alter policy. Instead, financial support and technological advances making alternative technologies more economically competitive will be required to reduce emissions. 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 Property details: Hello Today We Have For Auction REICHWEIN RANCHES @ CUMBRA VISTA FILING 2 TRACT # 20. It is 39.54 acres and is set back off of Sioux Rd one tract for those not wanting to be right on the Cty Rd. Filing 2 tracts will be accessed off of Sioux Rd, which runs North and South. WE DO ACCEPT 1031 EXCHANGES FOR ALL OF OUR LAND. The entire Cumbra Vista Subdivision is perimeter fenced. The land has Beautiful Mountain Views of both the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the East and Mt. Blanca to the North. It ... Price: $ 230 Seller State of Residence: Colorado City: San Luis Type: Recreational, Acreage Zoning: Residential Zip/Postal Code: 81152 Location: 811**, San Luis, Colorado You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 81152 , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Posted by Adam on at 12:26 AM CST 3 New Moving-Parts Models Blast Off for 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' Revell Expands Top-Selling SnapTite 'Build & Play' Line with New Models for Ages 8+ ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL (September 16, 2016) Lighted cockpits! Audible firepower! Movable wings, gun turrets and more! Revell's innovative snap-together, lights-and-sound plastic model kits are returning with three new model kit vehicles from a galaxy far, far away in anticipation of the December release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Designed for ages 8 and up, the kit series includes a new Rebel ship that will make its debut in the upcoming film as well as a classic Imperial cruiser and a four-legged Imperial walker all ready for build. The new plastic model kits are the latest to be released since Revell introduced the Star Wars themed SnapTite Build and Play products a year ago to coincide with the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Those four initial kits earned NPD Group's #1-selling ranking in the model category in 2015 based on consumer purchase data. Like their predecessors, the three newest plastic model kits deliver hyper-realistic replicas of each vehicle that also include moving parts, interior lights, and battle action sounds that bring each model to life. The pre-decorated parts permanently snap together with no need for glue, paint or tools. The lineup includes: Revell Star Wars SnapTite Build & Play Rebel U-wing Fighter (MSRP $19.99) - a model kit replica of a sleek new troop transport/gunship that will be unveiled in Rogue One. The 35-piece plastic model kit features a lighted cockpit that reveals Rebel soldiers ready for combat, rotating wings that can switch between two flying modes, removable landing gear, and battle action sound effects that let kids imaginations soar. Revell Star Wars SnapTite Build & Play Imperial Star Destroyer (MSRP $29.99) a plastic model version of the signature vessel of the Imperial fleet introduced in Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. The model kit has 46 parts, is an impressive 15.75 long when assembled, and includes features like light-up engines and movable gun turrets as well as audible engine vibrations and turbolaser fire. Revell Star Wars SnapTite Build & Play Imperial AT-ACT Cargo Walker (MSRP $19.99) the newest iteration of the four-legged All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) first seen in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The 45-piece plastic model kit produces a walker with a positionable head, shoulders and knees as well as movable guns, an illuminated command cockpit, and both walking and battle action sounds. The model kits take up to an estimated 60 minutes to assemble, keep kids engaged for hours after the last piece is clicked into place, and utilize ABS plastic that provides durability, easy assembly, exceptional detail and interactive capabilities. All models were designed with the same computer data used to create the movie props, resulting in strikingly accurate facsimiles of the vehicles that moviegoers experience on the big screen. The three plastic model new kits are available on September 30 at Toys R Us, Target and Hobby Lobby stores and online at Amazon. Batteries are included. About Revell Inc. Revell has been a worldwide leader in scale plastic model kits since 1945. Today, Revell offers more than 7,000 different accurately detailed cars, trucks, ships, aircraft, spacecraft and more scale plastic model kits. The company is a subsidiary of Hobbico, Inc. one of the largest designer, manufacturer and distributor of radio control and model hobby products in the world. For more information, visit www.revell.com. Three new model kits from Revell will be available on September 30, and you can find out more about the Rebel U-wing Fighter, Imperial Star Destroyer and Imperial AT-ACT Cargo Walker in the following press release. The Young Democrats of UGA hosted former state senator and 2014 gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter on campus Thursday night to speak about some of the issues of the current political season. Whether you support Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, this is an election where stating who you will be supporting on Nov. 8 is quickly followed by a play-by-play of whatever cringe-inducing thing your candidate for leader of the free world has said or done on the race to the White House. SHARE An undated photo provided by G.P. Putnam's Sons shows the cover of Best.State.Ever., by Dave Barry. (Courtesy of G.P. Putnams Sons via AP) By WILL LESTER, Associated Press "Best. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends his Homeland" (G.P. Putnam's Sons), by Dave Barry Humorist Dave Barry has made a career of writing about the wackier aspects of life, and especially many offbeat aspects of living in Florida. His latest book is a step toward repaying that debt after a career of feasting off the absurdities of life in the Sunshine State. As Barry puts it: "If states were characters on 'Seinfeld,' Florida would be Kramer: Every time it appears, the audience automatically laughs, knowing it's going to do some idiot thing." Barry's theory on when Florida became a national laughingstock (developed with no research whatsoever, according to Barry) is that it came at the time of the 2000 presidential election, which remained in limbo for weeks as the lead changed hands between George W. Bush and Al Gore during a recount under a relentless media spotlight. As Barry describes it: "This gruesomely unflattering coverage ran nonstop, day after hellish day. It finally ended when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 7-2 decision, that Florida should be given back to Spain." Chances are certain that a more thorough examination of Florida's history of zany behavior would show it goes back much further. But the popularity of nonstop cable news and now social media has made it much easier to keep track of Florida's nutty antics. Barry notes the popular Twitter account "Florida Man, which consists entirely of links to news items about Florida men doing stupid things." He offers the theory on why there are "so many stupid people in Florida" a a state surrounded on three sides by water. "People come down here all the time. Most of them, sooner or later, decide to leave, but the stupid ones can't figure out how to do this. So they remain, and in time are issued ballots," he writes. He recounts some of the weirder Florida stories, including the case of the woman who crashed her car on the Overseas Highway to Key West a few years ago when driving while she was shaving her privates. She had her ex-husband steering while she shaved her "bikini area." This arrangement ended when the daring couple's car collided with a car in front of them slowing down to make a turn, causing minor injuries. Barry chronicles a series of laugh-out-loud examples of Florida insanity, then shifts to a distinctly different mood, sentimental and almost melancholy a taking a longer look at various locations that offer a glimpse of the unique flavors of Florida. This portion of the book feels more like a leisurely drive on Florida backroads with Barry as tour guide to see attractions dating from an earlier time a a reminder of Florida's charm. Those stops include classic Florida roadside tourist attractions like Weeki Wachee, the City of Mermaids, as well as Spongeorama and the ghost town of Cassadaga, nicknamed the "Psychic Capital of the World." Barry provides history and introduces colorful characters from each. He includes a section on Key West, "the most flamboyant, decadent, debauched and pungent place in Florida." Perhaps the most memorable side trip is his trek into the Everglades in search of "the skunk ape," Florida's version of Bigfoot. "It is said to walk erect, like a man, but its body is covered with hair, like an ape, or the cast of Duck Dynasty," he writes of the elusive skunk ape. His search takes him to the "Skunk-Ape Research Headquarters," which looks suspiciously like a palm-fronded Tiki bar in a campground in the town of Ochopee, which also has a restaurant and a post office. He tells of meeting Dave Shealy, the 50-something Glades resident who created the "Skunk-Ape Research Headquarters" and never tires of regaling visitors with stories of various skunk ape sightings and the latest on "skunk ape research." "For the record," Barry writes, "I don't think the skunk ape is real." But he admires Shealy's efforts to preserve the legend. "... I think he's a survivor. I actually think he's done a pretty wonderful thing, out there in the swamp, keeping Ochopee on the map," Barry writes. He acknowledges the Skunk-Ape facility, like many memorable sights in Florida, will eventually fade at some point to "just another ghost attraction." As Barry was driving back along the spectacular Overseas Highway from his "research" trip to Key West, he reflected on how he feels about the state that helped feed a steady stream of material for his successful career as a humorist: "I love this crazy state," he writes. His book seemed like an attempt to capture distinctive parts of Florida that are gradually disappearing. ___ Will Lester, a political writer for The Associated Press in Florida and Washington for a dozen years, is now a desk editor in the AP's Washington bureau. SHARE By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press "The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life" (Viking), by John le Carre Of stories to dine out on, David Cornwell has an abundance. Or should we say John le Carre has? Cornwell's pen name overshadows the title on the cover of this, his first memoir, "The Pigeon Tunnel." The name "John le Carre" attracts the audience, but it's David Cornwell confiding in us here, as if over dinner, then chatting long into the evening over snifters of brandy, or, as he unspools memories of Russia, glasses of vodka. He is nearing his 85th birthday, so he reflects on his brief stint as a British spy during the Cold War and long career as a revered espionage novelist who does his own fieldwork. Fans of le Carre's fiction will use this as a code book where they will match up characters from "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," ''The Little Drummer Girl" and other titles to the real people who inspired them. To research the Palestine-Israel conflict for "Drummer Girl," for example, Cornwell works his way into the world of Palestinian liberation fighters and eventually wins an audience with Yasser Arafat. He interviews a Russian mafia boss to gather material for "Our Kind of Traitor." For "The Mission Song," he seeks out warlords in east Congo. Film offers came early, so there are actors and directors to befriend. When hard-drinking Richard Burton, cast as the hard-drinking lead in "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," the 1965 film adaptation of le Carre's early best-seller, needs a pal to keep him steady, it is Cornwell whom director Martin Ritt summons to the set. Sober-minded Alec Guinness, who plays George Smiley in two BBC miniseries versions of le Carre novels, encounters an actor showing up drunk and "the poor man might as well have gone to sleep on sentry duty," Cornwell recalls. But Guinness' anger gives way "to an almost desperate kindliness." When Sydney Pollack, Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick call, Cornwell jets off to discuss impossible projects. "One day, I trust, it will be recognized that the best films of my work were the ones that were never made," he laments. The title "The Pigeon Tunnel" comes from a much earlier memory. His conman father (the inspiration for le Carre's autobiographical novel, "A Perfect Spy") has taken him on a gambling spree in Monte Carlo, Monaco. At a sporting club, the teenager David sees "well-lunched sporting gentlemen" shooting pigeons. He learns the surviving birds fly back to their home on the casino roof where they are doomed to be trapped in the tunnels that lead them again into shotgun fire. It's a troubling image. Does it haunt him into his 80s because he's trapped by his own inherited nature? His father, Ronnie, looms, at last fully formed, in "Son of the Author's Father," a chapter saved for late in the book. Roguish Ronnie cheats, lies, runs cons, sends others to prison for his crimes, beds women, goes to prison himself and still manages to send his sons to the best schools. Later in life, Ronnie takes advantage of his son's fame whenever he can. In these pages, Cornwell becomes one of his most fascinating characters a the son who learns to dissemble at his father's knee, joins the British intelligence service and rounds out his life creating false worlds as a novelist. "Sometimes I walk round him, sometimes he's the mountain I still have to climb," he writes of Ronnie. We listen and nod, sipping with pleasure, intoxicated by his words. ___ Online: www.johnlecarre.com/ FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2013 file photo, an Air China's Boeing 777 jet, top, taxis to a gate after landing at Beijing International Airport in Beijing, China. Air China said Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, that it had removed copies of its inflight magazine containing an article telling visitors to take precautions when visiting areas of London with large ethnic-minority populations. The state-owned airline, China's flag carrier, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the September issue of "Wings of China" used "inappropriate" language and that the article didn't represent the airline's views. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan, File) SHARE By LOUISE WATT, Associated Press BEIJING (AP) Chinese flag-carrier Air China said Thursday that it had removed copies of its inflight magazine containing an article criticized as racist for telling visitors to take precautions when visiting areas of London with large ethnic-minority populations. The state-owned airline said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the September issue of "Wings of China" used "inappropriate" language and that the article didn't represent the airline's views. "After discovering this problem, Air China immediately removed this magazine from all flights and demanded that the publishers of 'Wings of China' seriously learn from this lesson, strengthen their content review and avoid making similar mistakes," the airline said. It also forwarded an email from the magazine's publisher apologizing to Air China and saying the fault lay with an "editing mistake." The original article in English read: "London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people." It also advised tourists not to go out alone at night, and for women not to travel alone. British lawmaker Vivendra Sharma, who represents a diverse London district, said Wednesday that he had written to China's ambassador to Britain to demand an apology for the "blatantly untrue and racist statements." In the apology to Air China, China Aviation Media Co. Ltd. said the article ran "counter to our original intention to promote the beautiful scenes of London." "It has brought about misunderstanding from some media outlets and readers and also a huge negative impact on your company's business operations and image. We deeply apologize for that," its statement read. It's not the first time Chinese businesses have been criticized for being tone-deaf over issues of race and ethnicity. Earlier this year, a Chinese laundry detergent maker apologized "for the harm caused to the African people" over its TV advertisement that showed a black man being stuffed into a washing machine and coming out a fair-skinned Asian man. Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd. Co. said it strongly condemned racial discrimination but blamed foreign media for playing up the controversy. The examples highlight how companies and much of the population in China remain somewhat oblivious to racial sensitivities, partly a result of China's overwhelming ethnic homogeneity and a relative lack of contact with foreigners until recent years that has allowed stereotypes to persist. Asked about the magazine's London travel advice, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded that the government only issues tourist alerts to people "travelling to high risk areas like war zones." The Chinese government "resolutely opposes all forms of racial discrimination," she said. SHARE By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight A 51-year-old Dorris man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a Mount Shasta area man, the Siskiyou County District Attorney's Office announced Monday. Raymond Clark Romani, who entered his plea on Thursday in Siskiyou County Superior Court in Yreka, is to be sentenced on Oct. 13 to 15 years to life in prison, prosecutors said. "I'm sorry the gentleman passed away," Romani said during his court appearance, prosecutors said. His victim, Roger Napolitano, 63, died March 17 at Mercy Medical Center in Redding after being in a coma for nearly month following the Feb. 22 attack, prosecutors said. He died of pneumonia after suffering a severe concussion and traumatic brain injury. Romani was initially charged with assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder, but was charged with murder after Napolitano died. Prosecutors said Romani is accused of stomping and kicking Napolitano in a wooded area near Berry Street in Mount Shasta. Witnesses reported hearing loud yelling and saw a man later identified as Romani repeatedly kicking and stomping something on the ground, prosecutors said. Those witnesses ran to the area and found Napolitano on the ground, bloody and unconscious. Prosecutors said Mount Shasta police officer Frank Goulart later caught Romani after a foot chase and struggle. A subsequent DNA test found Napolitano's blood on Romani's clothing. Napolitano, who was "warmly known" by the community, never regained consciousness, prosecutors said. Jim Schultz/Record Searchlight Anthony Harrison Baxter, who was in Shasta County Superior Court Monday, is weighing a plea bargain offer that would send him to prison for the rest of his life. SHARE By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight Facing the possibility of the death penalty, a 39-year-old man accused of stabbing an Anderson couple to death with a butter knife in January is mulling over a plea bargain offer that would send him to prison for the rest of his life. Anthony Harrison Baxter, who made a brief appearance Monday in Shasta County Superior Court, is due back Oct. 3 to made a decision on the deal. It would include no possibility of parole. "If he takes the offer, he would avoid the (potential) death penalty," defense attorney Joe Ahart said following Baxter's court appearance. Deputy District Attorney Brandon Storment said Baxter made a counter-offer calling for a 50-year-to-life prison sentence, which was rejected. Baxter has admitted to law enforcement officers and others that he killed the couple. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Michael Helsby, 57, and his girlfriend, Georgia Engelhaupt, 61. Baxter, who has an extensive criminal history and history of violence, has said he killed Helsby and Engelhaupt because they "disrespected" the mother of his 6-year-old daughter. That woman, as well as her sister, lived with the Anderson couple. But Baxter told police he believed Helsby and Engelhaupt had threatened to evict them. Baxter told Anderson police he went to the couple's Manter Drive apartment building around 10 p.m. on Jan. 12 and found Helsby and Engelhaupt asleep on the couch. He said he choked Helsby but let go when Engelhaupt began to wake up. Baxter said he then placed her in a chokehold for about five minutes until her body went "limp," police said. He told police he then grabbed a nearby glass bottle and hit Helsby twice in the head before grabbing a butter knife and stabbing both victims in their chests, according to a police report. Afterward, he allegedly told police, he went outside and stole the victims' car and dropped the knife down a storm drain. The knife has not been recovered. In addition to the murders, Baxter is accused of attacking and trying to kill fellow Shasta County Jail inmate Gary Jamie Cushman. According to a sheriff's investigative report, Cushman, who was later sentenced to nearly three years in prison in a felony drug case, required four stitches on his face. He initially declined to press criminal charges against Baxter but changed his mind two days later. SHARE Fees waived at forest facilities The U.S. Forest Service is waiving camping, parking and boat launch fees at numerous North State facilities Saturday for Public Lands Day. Fees for boat launching and picnicking around Lake Shasta and Trinity Lake are waived Saturday. The free-use areas around Lake Shasta include Bailey Cove Day Use Area, Antlers Boat Ramp, Centimudi Boat Ramp, Jones Valley Boat Ramp, Packers Bay Boat Ramp and Sugarloaf Boat Ramp. Free-use areas at Trinity Lake include Minersville Boat Ramp, Pine Cove Boat Ramp and Pine Cove Picnic Area near Lewiston. Camping fee waivers in the Trinity River area include Big Flat, Burnt Ranch, Hayden Flat campground and Pigeon Point campground. Fee waivers for camping in the Hayfork and Platina areas include Basin Gulch, Hell Gate and Forest Glen. In the McCloud area, fees are waived for McCloud Reservoir Boat Ramp. For further information, call 226-2322. Caltrans works on Highways 36 and 299 California Department of Transportation officials want motorists to be aware of highway work in Trinity County this week. Crews will be doing road work on Highway 299 in the area of downtown Weaverville starting Friday. Crews will also be working on Highway 36 near Peanut beginning Tuesday, from one-tenth of a mile north of Dobbins Gulch Bridge. Motorists can expect delays of up to 20 minutes, Caltrans officials said. Dry conditions persist in forest State officials are urging deer hunters to be aware of dry and dangerous fire conditions due to the ongoing drought. Rifle hunting season opened Sept. in many areas of the state, but other deer hunting zones open this Saturday, including D3-D5, D8-D-10 and X8 and X10. Some hunting areas may be closed due to wildfires burning. Information on forest closures can be found at the following links: www.wildlife.ca.gov/hunting/area-alerts; www.fire.ca.gov/general/firemaps.php; inciweb.nwcg.gov/closures. Joe Szydlowski/Record Searchlight Awet Kidane (left), director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, speaks about medical marijuana industry licenses at a workshop at the Redding Library on Monday as Grace Person, a meeting facilitator, writes down concerns about licenses across all industry sectors. SHARE By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight For the second time in less than a week, state regulators visited Redding to gather ideas on possible rules for the medical marijuana industry. "None of this is final by any means," said An-Chi Tsou, a senior policy analyst with the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation. That agency joined with the state's new Office of Medical Cannabis Safety to put on a workshop at the Redding Library on Monday afternoon and evening to gather input on regulations it is hashing out, as well as ideas for other aspects or issues they should be examining, said Lori Ajax, chief of the bureau. It is the first of seven forums around the state the agencies will hold before they begin crafting the specific rules and requirements. While many of those are still proposals, Ajax and others did cover key parts of the new industry and the regulators who will police it. Here are a few take-aways from the meeting: Local control The new rules came about because of a package of bills referred to as the Medical Marijuana Regulatory and Safety Act, or MMRSA (MIR-sah) as its often called. MMRSA creates three agencies charged with licensing and tracking medical marijuana operations from cultivation to dispensaries, Ajax said. Her agency will handle licenses for all but the commercial cultivators and manufacturers. Each of those licenses is in flux, she said. But there are some common rules, and No. 1 is local control: All operations must have the approval of their local municipality, Tsou said. In addition, the agencies are trying to simplify the application process by having similar requirements across all licenses, Ajax said. Larry Lees, Shasta County's executive officer, visited the forum because he wanted to hear the public's feedback about 60 people attended. He said the state agencies gave a good presentation and hit on some good topics. "From what they said, I had no red flags," he said after pointing out they didn't get into too many specifics. Other Authorization But there is a question mark: MMRSA requires approval from a local agency or "other authorization," Tsou said. Lees said he'd have to know what that entails before he could evaluate it. "I don't know what that means. I don't know how they define it, and I don't think they do (either)," he said. They don't. "No one knows what 'other authorization' means," Tsou said. The agency will have to figure that out as the rulesmaking process proceeds. Proposition 64 Monday's meeting focused on the medical marijuana community and industry, but in November voters will decide on Proposition 64, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults and establish a regulatory structure similar to yet distinct from MMRSA. Polls have consistently shown it passing. If it passes, Ajax's bureau would decide if and when to allow current medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana. But, she said, her agency is focused on medical marijuana and their mammoth task of regulating an industry used to 20 years operating as a gray market. Should Proposition 64 pass, the agency will examine its responsibilities under the measure then, she said. Priorities, people Among the rules already set by MMRSA is a grandfather clause: Dispensaries who were "in good standing" with their local government at the beginning of 2016 get priorities for licenses. To prove they're in good standing, they need a letter from their municipality confirming that, Tsou said. Those with a criminal past can also apply, but they'll be subject to additional scrutiny to examine their rehabilitation, the nature of their crimes and other criteria, she said. Regulators haven't yet determined how many licenses will be made available, Tsou said. What do locals think? Gina Munday, owner of The Green Heart dispensary in Mount Shasta, said she drove down from her Siskiyou County home to find out more about the regulations, especially for dispensaries, cultivation and transportation. She said she's wondering about the intersection of federal and state law, considering how much land is federal property. Lisa Wright, 53, drove from the Weaverville area with her son, John Wright, 19, to learn about the new regulations. Lisa Wright said she is part of an informal collective to connect patients in Trinity County. The small group sessions brought out a lot of common ground, she said. "What we found is in other groups (we saw that) the same issues were brought up," she said. John Wright said he was interested in the distribution, or wholesale, licenses. He said the required lab testing will improve the quality for patients. Munday, who used to own a dispensary in Anderson before the city prohibited them, said there's plenty of potential for jobs and revenue in Shasta County. "Our local cities and counties are so far behind," she said. "Shasta Lake made more than $300,000 (in marijuana tax revenue)." For more information, including whom to contact with additional comments, visit http://bit.ly/2d72I70. A draft set of regulations should be available by late spring, with licenses to be issued in January 2018, Ajax said. Plenty of negatives have emerged from the ongoing presidential campaign: open bigotry has become more acceptable than it's been for decades, foul language is more fashionable and so are pantsuits, and much more. But one big positive also stands out. As now written, the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement is probably dead. And the way it's now written is the only version that counts for now, because sometime in the next few months, Congress must vote it up or down no amendments allowed. Unless it's voted on in the December "lame duck" session of Congress where the votes of folks voted out in November still count this pet agreement of President Obama's is virtually dead. The booing the treaty got whenever mentioned at both Democratic and Republican national conventions last summer gave some notion how unpopular this agreement has become. It may be safe for folks departing Congress to vote for it, but not anyone who hopes for re-election two years from now after some TPP provisions would begin to bite. Yes, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at one time supported it. She says she took another look and now wants it defeated. The flip-flop, she says, stemmed from a more detailed reading of the treaty. It also came after a hot campaign by Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders that made the TPP a major negative talking point. Meanwhile, Republican nominee Donald Trump denounced the treaty as "insanity," adding that it greatly favors China even though China is not a party to it. So this agreement is almost certainly a campaign casualty, a big change from when its passage was rated as very likely. Its demise will be well deserved, for TPP whose text was secret through years of haggling among 12 nations (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the U.S.) has virtually all the negatives of the North American Free Trade Agreement, better known as NAFTA, while adding no discernible new advantages for America. Not only would this agreement likely send many thousands of American jobs abroad, just as labor leaders and Trump contend NAFTA has done, but like that treaty, it includes a key feature infringing mightily on America's very sovereignty. This takes the form of an international tribunal of lawyers from a variety of countries that's empowered to override some laws of member countries and even to overrule the U.S. Supreme Court. That has happened before in cases involving everything from dolphin-safe tuna fishing off Southern California to this state's rules on gasoline additives, and it's happening right now, with Canadian lawyers using NAFTA to challenge Obama's right to cancel the once-planned Keystone XL pipeline project because denying the project could cost jobs in Canada. That claim might be correct. But denial of the project also might prevent huge oil spills in pristine countryside and forests, not to mention spoilage of vital farmland. Even if the Canadian oil industry is right about lost jobs and even if there would be few or no negative Keystone consequences in this country, the very fact that another country can go outside the U.S. legal system with impunity on an issue vital to many Americans is just plain wrong. And by itself enough to merit killing the new treaty. But just because this agreement should be voted down in its present form doesn't mean it must stay dead. The same negotiators who met secretly for almost five years to produce the present text now know what Americans dislike about their work product. They can rewrite it to leave American sovereignty intact. They can make it more protective of American workers and their jobs. And then bring it back for another vote. For some kind of treaty among the 12 nations in on this one or at least most of them might be an effective counter to China's increasing trade power in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. While opposition to the current treaty resonates with working class voters eagerly courted by Clinton and Trump, an improved agreement might actually help them. And that might be enough to gain back both Republican and Democratic votes in Congress lost to the presidential politics of 2016. Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. SHARE Those who have lived in Redding for many years are acutely aware of some of the negative changes that have occurred in our town during the past decade. The combination of Prop. 47, AB 109, meth and heroin use, declining tax revenues caused by the Great Recession, and decreases in state funding for vital programs have all severely impacted the agencies whose mission is to ensure public safety. The passage of Measures D and E this November will greatly contribute to restoring citizen safety and quality of life. How much will Measure D cost? The extra half-cent sales tax will add a mere nickel to a $10 taxable purchase, and because food, prescription drugs, rent/mortgage payments, insurance payments, utilities and medical devices and services are exempt from sales tax, the average Redding household will see a monthly cost increase of less than $4.25 per month. Single retirees will likely pay less than an additional $1.50 per month. What do Redding residents receive in return? The projected $11 million in annual revenue will provide: 1. Seed money for a much-needed sobering center, which will decrease the burden on the jail and the emergency rooms of our two hospitals that have long struggled in treating individuals with problems of drug and alcohol intoxication. 2. $1 million to match Shasta County's $1 million for a mental health crisis stabilization unit. 3. Funding through 2019 for additional out-of-county jail space to house the repeat offenders now subject to the infamous "catch and release" because of our woefully inadequate number of jail beds. 4. Funding for the Redding Fire Department to provide increased staffing and conversion of all city of Redding fire stations from two-person engine companies to the national standard of three-person engine companies. 5. Funding for the Sheriff's Office to create and staff additional jail space to house offenders now booked and released through the jail's "revolving door." Ensuring that those arrested for criminal acts are held accountable will compel many offenders to take advantage of rehab programs, which will improve their lives and assist them in becoming productive members of society. 6. Funding to restore a portion of the 26 percent reduction in sworn police officers and community service officers that has occurred since 2008. Anderson Police Chief Michael Johnson attributes his city's significant reduction in crime to an increase in staffing and pro-active policing made possible by Anderson's passage of its own half-cent sales tax measure in 2014. Here in Redding, with over 600 arrests since its inception at the beginning of this year, Redding Police Department's Neighborhood Policing Unit demonstrates what pro-active policing can accomplish, but without revenue from Measure D, it will be disbanded next July. And with increased RPD staffing from Measure D, officer response times will be reduced considerably. Measure D will provide the funds to address Redding's public safety problems, and Measure E will ensure that the funds are spent as intended by the voters. The Citizens' Advisory Committee and the annual audit of revenues and expenditures by the Pun Group CPAs will provide the transparency voters require. These measures will provide a great benefit to Redding residents at a very minimal cost. On Nov. 8, please vote yes on Measures D and E. Richard Christoph lives in Redding. The latest trigger has been Future group's buyout talk with the retail unit of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidus family-owned Heritage Foods Future group founder and chief executive officer Kishore Biyani is looking to consolidate Indian retail with acquisitions in food and grocery businesses, say industry sources. The latest trigger has been Future group's buyout talk with the retail unit of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidus family-owned Heritage Foods. In fact, Heritage Foods told the BSE in a filing on Monday that the company was in talks with Future group for a possible business association. This follows the buzz that he is in talks with Aditya Birla Group to merge or buy out Aditya Birla Retail. With sales, margins and profitability panning out, investors and promoters of retail chains are realising that they have invested for long and not made good returns. He is presenting a good opportunity for them to sell out, saying he is the last man standing, said Raman Mangalorkar, chief executive of data analytics firm Atom Data Lab and former head of consumer and retail practice for Asia-Pacific at AT Kearney, a global management consultant. Besides Aditya Birla Retail, Tata-led Star Bazaar, Raheja-owned Hypercity, Spencer's Retail are yet to break even. Mangalorkar says that by buying out chains, Biyani is increasing his scale and size, which is essential for negotiating with suppliers and property developers and managing logistics and supply chain costs. Future Retail, the groups flagship company, runs about 700 stores across 13 million sq ft. Biyani has bought out Niligiris and merged Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Retail with itself in recent years to strengthen his position in northern and southern parts of India. He is looking to buy whoever is reasonably priced, Mangalorkar said. Kishore Biyani could not be contacted for comments. Susil Dungarwal, founder at mall management firm Beyond Squarefeet, says the improved scale will boost Futures margins significantly. With higher volumes, he can negotiate better with suppliers. Even a one per cent higher margin can boost his profitability, he said. Biyani has sold off his fashion chain Pantaloons four years ago to Aditya Birla Group as well as stakes in a couple of fashion brands such as Biba and AND to pare debt in the group. At the same time, he picked up stake in brands such as Giovani and set up fast fashion chain Cover Story to bolster his presence in the fashion segment. Recently, Biyani said the group was shutting its ambitious assisted e-commerce venture Big Bazaar Direct as they found it to be unviable to run the business. Debunking the logic that e-commerce would be a viable business without the humongous rental, staff and inventory costs, Biyani said customer acquisition and fulfilment costs would add up to 50 per cent of total costs of doing an e-commerce business while in physical retail, these would be only 25 per cent. We are happy with old-fashioned physical retail. There are profits to be made. Our business (brick-and-mortar) has arrived. Theirs (e-commerce) is yet to arrive, he said. In the past two years, Infosys has seen exits in Sanjay Jalona, Michael Reh, Samson David, Manish Tandon, Ronald Hafner and Anup Uppadhayay The exit of Sanjay Purohit, the seventh key executive to quit Infosys, shows the challenges its first non-founder chief executive Vishal Sikka is facing. Sikka, a former board member at business software company SAP AG, has been trying to push the Indian IT services firm to shift its business model from a people-dependent one to higher productive mix of software and people. Infosys had tried a similar path in the past, when the last of the co-founder S D Shibulal as its chief executive pushed the Infosys 3.0 model, but with little success. This had led to a lot of dissatisfaction in the leadership that brought its founder N R Narayana Murthy back at the helm. After Murthy shaped things up at Infosys, he brought in Sikka to lead Infosys to the future. Even today, Infosys is considered an outsourcing shop that can cut IT costs for global firms by moving work offshore than helping them strategically on their technology road map. This has been worrying Sikka, too. In the past two years, he has brought in new measures such as design thinking and zero distance by putting project managers to pitch how they cut time, saved costs and improved productivity for clients. He also has put in efforts to automate routine work - repeated work that requires less experienced staff - and reduce hiring of fresh engineers. The DNA of a product person and a IT services person is different. It is unfair to put them on the same room and expect results, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, founder and chief executive of Greyhound Research, an IT and telecom research and advisory. Sikka is a brilliant person. He comes from a product background and has never had sales experience. In IT services, you need a different skill. He is finding it tough to fit. Sikka has made public his disappointment of cutting revenue forecast and has shuffled people in key roles. At least seven key executives including Purohit, who was moved from heading the consulting arm in July, have quit. It includes executives such as Michael Reh, who was brought in from SAP by Sikka to head next-generation products and solutions unit EdgeVerve. By and large, the conversations that we have are these IT-oriented kind of conversations that are largely cost- and RFP (request for protocol)-driven. I have accepted this and we are transforming in this segment, too, but that is one source of unhappiness for me. I wish that we had the ability to have a much more strategic conversations, we have started that but still at a relatively small number of clients, Sikka had said last month. Infosys has struggled to elevate itself to consult chief executives of global companies that would fetch long-term high-margin contracts. The Bengaluru-based software behemoth had in the past set up a consulting subsidiary and acquired Zurich-based Lodestone that had expertise in SAP consulting, but seen key consultants exit eventually. In the past two years, Infosys has seen exits in Sanjay Jalona, Michael Reh, Samson David, Manish Tandon, Ronald Hafner and Anup Uppadhayay. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters Each city will receive Central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore over the three subsequent financial years Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi along with holy cities of Amritsar and Ajmer has made it to the list of 27 smart cities announced on Tuesday. Under the Smart City Mission, the government aims to have 100 smart cities by 2022. Sixty have been chosen so far, including 20 in January and 13 in May this year. The remaining will be picked by 2018. The residents of the cities which are selected under the mission, will enjoy uninterrupted power and water supply, Internet connectivity, e-governance along with quality infrastructure. "I am happy to inform that the transformational Smart City Plan is running ahead of schedule. In the latest round of selection, we have shortlisted 27 cities under this plan," Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in New Delhi. For these 27 cities, the proposed investment will be Rs 66,883 crore (Rs 668.83 billion), he said. With this new batch of 27 cities, the mission has spread to 27 states and only nine states are left out. In this round of competition, Nagaland and Sikkim have made it to the implementation stage of the mission. In the latest round of selection, five cities are from Maharashtra, four each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, three from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, two each from Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Nagaland and Sikkim. Amritsar scored the highest marks while almost half of the shortlisted cities are from NDA-ruled states. Under the mission, each city will receive central assistance of Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) in the first year and Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) over the three subsequent financial years. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters Promises have been made in the past about cleaning up bank boards, revamping processes, purging vested interests. How far away is that Promised Land? It would turn out to be the last day at Yogakshema, the curvaceous Nariman Point central office, for Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) chief S K Roy. Hundreds of miles away in the quaint educational hub of Manipal, some 1,077 shareholders of Syndicate Bank had gathered for an extraordinary general meeting. On the agenda was the election of a shareholder director. Non-promoter shareholders were to cast their vote as two candidates were in the fray. First was S Rajagopalan, a professor at IIIT Bangalore, who had extensive experience of working with technology and innovation systems within and outside government organisations. He was the chief executive officer of the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology from 1982 to 1993 and was involved in managing innovations that addressed the problems of Karnataka, according to his official profile. Second was Sunil Vashisht, a Delhi-based chartered accountant. One of his public profiles said he was the national co-convenor of the Commerce Cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has been active and zealous in promoting the ideology and principles of the BJP ever since his early childhood. In view of his dedication and efforts for the party while holding several important positions and his outstanding performance, he has been entrusted with the responsibility of co-convener at Commerce Cell. BJP publications dating back to 2010-11 confirm this. Though officially these cells stand dissolved, the BJPs website continues to refer to him as convenor of the CA Cell. No prizes for guessing who won. Vashisht won with 80.01 million votes against 20.05 million votes polled in favour of Rajagopalan. Of the votes polled in Vashishts favour, 79.84 million came from one public institution. The only shareholder who had that many votes was LIC. Though LIC held 101.98 million shares, its voting power was restricted to 10 per cent. The total outstanding shares in Syndicate Bank were 798,499,537, 10 per cent of which translates to 79.84 million. The story does not end there. In October, when Vashisht contested for the shareholder-director position, he lost to Mumbai-based Kamal Kishore Singhal, a chartered accountant who had a long association with LIC. According to Bloomberg data, he is chief risk officer of LIC. What has changed between then and now? Why was Vashisht shunned last year and preferred this year? What are the parameters that LIC takes into account before backing a candidate? Does it get calls from North Block? Did the best candidate win? It would be helpful for all stakeholders, including policyholders, shareholders and the public, if there is more transparency in the voting policy of LIC. LIC did not respond to an email seeking comments. At the individual bank level, it is a mockery of the framework as the government already exercises complete control over appointment of top management and government nominee directors. By having an indirect say on shareholder directors through LIC, it is monopolising even this space. For the institutions that polled 19.93 million votes in favour of the losing candidate, this eyewash would have been frustrating. Vashisht is not the first BJP member to have got into a banks board. In July 2015, BJPs Punjab unit vice-president Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina got elected as a shareholder-director of the Punjab National Bank. There is BJP flavour in the government nominee route too. Three months back, Gopal Krishna Agarwal was appointed as non-executive part-time director of the Bank of Baroda. He is a national spokesperson and member of the BJP national executive. While the performance of these individuals would speak for themselves, the troubled history and legacy of chartered accountant directors who are close to the ruling party cannot be forgotten easily. Promises have been made in the past about cleaning up bank boards, revamping processes, purging vested interests. How far away is that Promised Land? Or was it another jhumla? Photograph: Reuters It is willing to let go of its budgetary independence and restructure its companies in order to make itself more viable commercially and less important politically, says Jyoti Mukul. If the government decides to merge the Railway Budget with the General Budget, create a holding company for Railways public sector units and carry on with off-budget revisions in freight and passenger fares, the policy paradigm within which the Indian Railways functions will completely change in less than six months. Since the British days, the Railways has been treated as an autonomous entity within the government. After these changes, a good measure of the decision-making will move to the ministry of finance. It will be a merger of convenience for the government if it continues to seek dividend from the Railways and keeps the borrowings off its books since they are technically raised by Indian Railway Finance Corporation, or IRFC, and not by the government directly. A changed landscape for the Railways M erger of Railway Budget with General Budget S eparate Railway Budget started in 1924 R ailway finances were separated on recommendation of the William Acworth committee T hrough merger, the govt wants to de-politise the presentation of Railway Budget Railway PSUs under a holding company M ove to make all PSUs subsidiaries of a single company P roceeds from disinvestment of equity in PSUs to go to the holding company F unds raised through sell-off to be ploughed back into railway development T aking tariff powers out of budget-making B oth freight and passenger tariffs are revised outside the budget M ove will ensure commercial rather than political considerations go into tariff fixation A railway regulator to be given the tariff approval power There is a view that the Railways should not be asked to pay over Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in annual dividend to the government after the merger of the two budgets. No other government department pays interest in the form of dividend on the gross budgetary support. The government earns dividend only on PSU equity. There was no level playing field for the railways, since the government invested in other transport infrastructure without expecting any returns on the grounds that they do not make money, says Shanti Narain, former member traffic, Railway Board. The logic behind separate budgets, says Narain, was to allow the Railways to fund its own expansion, but the exercise got mired in politics. The entire process became something artificial and the flexibility was circumcised because it needed to be approved by Parliament. Why merge The proposal for merger of budgets came out of the NITI Aayog, but faced protest from the railway bureaucracy. Later, however, the railways itself forwarded it to the Prime Ministers Office. R Sivadasan, former financial commissioner, Railway Board, says the reason the British separated Railway finances from the governments budget is because investors in the Railways had to be given interest on their investment. This system continued even after Independence. The government never put a single paisa in the form of gross budgetary support or subsidy without earning dividend on it for perpetuity. Exceptions were made only for strategically important railway lines for which the government did not charge interest on its grants. A relief from dividend payment could mean savings equivalent to 35 per cent of the Rs 28,450 crore additional burden that the Railways will have to bear because of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. The merger may, however, not mean that the Railways no longer has to meet its expenses out of its own earnings. The ways and means of railway business will not change. The only difference will be that everything related to the railways was earlier being read in Parliament by the railway minister and now it will be read by the finance minister. All other things will not change, says Sivadasan. He, however, agrees the merger will bring an end to the autonomy that the railways has enjoyed so far. A holding firm for PSUs The railways autonomy also reflects in the fact that none of its PSUs, barring Container Corporation of India, has made it to the governments disinvestment list. Whether it was the first National Democratic Alliance government or the United Progressive Alliance government, each time the department of divestment in the ministry of finance tried to sell part of the governments equity in these companies, successive railway ministers rejected the idea. The railway ministry under Suresh Prabhu seems agreeable to disinvestment provided the funds are ploughed back into developing railway infrastructure. So a holding company is proposed to be created for 13 PSUs except IRFC. The government equity in these companies will be held indirectly through the holding company. The holding company can earn out of selling equity in any of these companies and use the funds for further development of rail infrastructure. For the government to earn revenue through divestment, it will have to divest equity in the holding company just as it currently does in Coal India. Besides directing disinvestment proceeds, such a structure will not be of much consequence. In fact, the government may end up creating an unwieldy structure for companies that are in unrelated businesses. Railway PSUs range from consultancy, engineering and construction companies (RITES and Ircon) to catering and ticketing company (IRCTC) to optic fibre company (RailTel). All these companies are not in the core business of running trains but have been profitable in their own areas. Freedom of fixing tariffs In January 2013, barely a month-and-a-half before the Railway Budget was to be presented, then minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in the UPA government decided to go for an across the board increase in railway passenger fares after 10 years. This was the first time freight rates were increased during the UPA rule, and it was made possible because Bansal was a Congress minister and not from an alliance partner of the government. Earlier, Trinamool Congress Dinesh Trivedi had tried increasing the fares but ended up annoying his party boss, Mamata Banerjee. The decisions was not just rolled back but Trivedi also had to leave the ministry. To Bansals credit, the Railway Budget 2013-14 also introduced the fuel adjustment component (FAC)-linked tariff revision, bi-annually in sync with movement in fuel costs in either direction. The concept in the case of freight tariffs was brought in the budget itself. Six months later in October 2016, FAC was introduced for passenger fares, too. Later, it was during the tenure of Mallikarjun Kharge that dynamic pricing for some train services were introduced. Prabhus recent decisions to increase freight tariff and introduce demand-driven dynamic pricing in premium trains were steps in a direction thrown open by Bansal three years ago, when he took out fare revisions out of the budget announcements. Though dynamic pricing in Duronto, Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains has been criticised(monopoly players are capitalising on demand shortage), it has primarily been done for meeting a revenue shortfall. The Railways revenues were 12.65 per cent lower than its budgetary target of Rs 73,713 crore for April-August 2016. Its gross earnings declined 5 per cent to Rs 64,387 crore in the five-month period compared with the same period of the previous year. The goal of all these moves is to create a more commercially-orientated transport behemoth. From being one of the most sort after portfolio, the Indian Railways could become politically less attractive if the government goes ahead with these changes. At the same time, altering the way the Railways functions could be a precursor for its corporatisation. Photographs: Arko Datta/Reuters, Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters, Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters and Jayanta Shaw/Reuters. 'Politics and religion can be a combustive combination, but this once I am pleased that Pinarayi Vijayan made an issue of a rather innocuous tweet by Amit Shah.' 'It provided the perfect excuse to seek respite from political pronouncements and take (temporary) refuge in the classics,' says T V R Shenoy. Where did Mahabali reign before he left this world? The contrived, utterly idiotic controversy over a tweet by Amit Shah set me wondering. The only possible response thrown up by research is: Mahabali did not rule from Kerala. Before we get to that, let me touch upon Pinarayi Vijayan's supposed indignation. It might suit the chief minister of Kerala to pretend that he, an activist for a party whose credo is atheism, has suddenly developed the most sincere respect for Hindu tradition. He may even want us to believe that in all his 71 years he never came upon the link between Mahabali and Vamana. He may even be so ignorant of Hindi that he believes the samast deshavaasiyon in Amit Shah's tweet -- Samast deshvaasiyon ko Vaman Jayanti ki haardik shubhkaamaayein! -- to indicate Keralites alone. But there is absolutely no reason for us to take any of these absurdities for anything but rich comedy. And so to Mahabali and, by extension, Vamana. The tale of Vamana goes back to the Rig Veda, specifically the 18th verse of the 22nd hymn of the first Mandala: 'Trini padaa vi chakrame vishnurgopaa adaabhyah ato dharmaani dhaarayan.' ('Vishnu, the Guardian, whom none can deceive, made three steps, establishing the rightful decrees.') The problem with Rig Vedic verses is that they are hymns meant to be chanted at sacrifices. There is no context, no clue as to the tales that inspired the poets. Here, there is no mention of the Daityas, nothing to say what Vishnu's three steps might be. Some effort at fleshing out the stories behind the hymns is given in later texts such as the Shatapatha Brahmana. Think of a Satya-Narayana Vrat, where the officiating priest recites the legends as well as performing the rituals, and you get the idea. The second AdhyayaM (chapter) in the first Kanda (book) of the Shatapatha Brahmana says the Asuras once set about dividing the world after defeating the Devas. The gods asked for a share, and the Asuras grudgingly responded that they could have as much as the 'dwarf' -- meaning Vishnu -- could encompass. This introduces some new motifs -- the rivalry between the Devas and the Asuras, Vishnu as a dwarf ('vamana'), and an element of trickery. But there is still no mention of Bali, leave alone of Kerala. The first reference to the king comes in the Ramayana. Vishwamitra, having asked Dasharatha for the services of Rama and Lakshmana, tells the two princes why he had chosen to live in Siddhashram. It was, he explains, the very place where Lord Vishnu had meditated as Vamana, and the sage, very succinctly, recounts the story of Bali. Wherever it might be, Siddhashram was nowhere near Kerala. The Ramayana makes it clear that it was below the confluence of the Sarayu and the Ganga. For those unfamiliar with the geography of North India, we are talking about Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, at a stretch northern Madhya Pradesh or Jharkhand. The earliest indication of the scene of the action comes in the 8th Skandha (canto) of the Bhagavata Purana. It says that Bali's sacrifice was conducted by sages of the Bhrigu clan at a place called Bhrigukacchaka on the north bank of the Narmada. Bhrigukacchaka is a real place, in Gujarat, currently called Broach. Again, there is no mention of Kerala. In other words, the oldest Sanskrit texts simply do not speak of any connection between Mahabali and my state. So we turn to something slightly closer home, from Sanskrit to Tamil, whose oldest known specimens are the Sangam literature. Kerala is not linked, as far as I know, to Mahabali although the Sangam-era authors were aware of the tale. For instance, the poet Nappoothanar, in his work Mullaipattu says the clouds that sipped water from the ocean now rise above even the mountains 'like Thirumal, who protects the earth with discus and conch, towered as water was poured in his hands.' One of the best-known works of that era is the Shilappadikaram, the tale of the ankle bracelet. In its 11th canto, Kadukankadai, the doomed pair Kannagi and Kovalan stop to ask for directions to Madurai; the priest who guides them then goes off to worship 'the Lord who crossed the universe in but three steps.' I mention the Shilappadikaram because it was written by the Chera prince Ilango Adigal, whose brother Shengottuvan, appears in the epic as the king who built the first temple for Kannagi. Ilango Adigal was obviously familiar with the story of Vamana and he goes on at length about the greatness of the Chera realm (Kerala) but never connects the two. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but the silence of the Sangam poets strongly suggests that the tales connecting Mahabali and Kerala are of a (relatively) late origin. Going strictly by tradition it is impossible that Mahabali ever reigned in Kerala. Vamana, as Amit Shah's tweet stated, was Lord Vishnu's 5th incarnation; the 6th was Parashurama -- and it is he who supposedly created Kerala. Having defeated the Kshatriyas 21 times, Parashurama gave away the land he conquered to the sage Kashyapa. Kashyapa then quickly forbade the warrior-sage from spending a single night on the territory that he had just relinquished; Parashurama hurled his axe southward, and the sea retreated, creating the entire west coast of India, including Kerala. The transaction between Parshurama and Kashyapa reputedly took place at Bhrigukacchaka. There is an element of irony here. As Vamana, Mahavishnu had tricked Bali -- Kashyapa's great-great grandson through Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada, and Virochana --m into parting with his kingdom. Now it was Kashyapa's turn to take gentle revenge on the god by turfing out his 6th avatar. Logically, it is impossible for Bali, a contemporary of Lord Vishnu's 5th incarnation, to reign from a land created by Parashurama, the 6th incarnation. Of course, that seeming inconsistency is easily explained. Mahabali supposedly returns to see his subjects (or their descendants), not his land, and those people could have migrated to Kerala from other points long after he himself was exiled. There are others parts of India that lay claim to pieces of the tale. Uttarakhand boasts of a shrine named Triyuginarayan, over 6,000 feet up in the Himalayas, where Aditi reputedly performed penance to obtain Lord Vishnu as a son. At the other end of India from Kerala, the people of Assam insist that Bana, son of Bali, ruled from Sonitpur (modern Tezpur). Karnataka and Maharashtra too mark the day of Bali's annual return, calling it 'Bali Pratipada' (Marathi) or 'Bali Padyami' (Kannada), but they do so on the day after Deepavali. (By the way, 'Vaman Jayanti' is indeed marked in parts of North India, but always one day before Thiruonam. Amit Shah, who tweeted appropriate greetings on both days, was correct.) One must also wonder if Mahabali is worth recalling as any sort of ideal monarch. He was undoubtedly a great bhakta and a great conqueror, but he was also, no two ways about it, a ruler who spurned good advice (from his guru, Shukra), whose ego made him prize his own reputation above his duties to his people, and who ultimately led his subjects to their doom. Of course, those qualities do make Mahabali the archetype of the Indian politician... Politics and religion can be a combustive combination, but this once I am pleased that Pinarayi Vijayan made an issue of a rather innocuous tweet by Amit Shah. It provided the perfect excuse to seek respite from political pronouncements and take (temporary) refuge in the classics under the guise of research. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has backed Pakistan and called on India to immediately cease "atrocities" in Kashmir and peacefully settle the issue in accordance with wishes of Kashmiri people and the UNSC resolutions. OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani on Monday expressed concern over the situation in Kashmir and called for an immediate cessation of atrocities by India, urging the Indian government for peaceful settlement of the dispute "in accordance with wishes of Kashmiri people and the UNSC resolutions". The OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organisation after United Nations with a membership of 57 states spread over four continents. According to the OIC, it is the collective voice of the Muslim world and ensures that the interests of Muslims worldwide are protected. Expressing their solidarity with the Kashmiri people, the OIC group "reaffirmed their resolve to remain the voice of the Kashmiris' at the international stage." Madani's remarks came after Pakistan Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz addressed a meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir. Aziz referred to the killing of "youth leader" Burhan Wani and the use of pellet guns by Indian forces against Kashmiri protesters following his death. Wani was killed by security forces on July 8. Aziz said such measures cannot break the spirit of the Kashmiri people and their legitimate struggle for self-determination. "Underscoring that the Kashmir dispute remains central to lasting peace and stability in South Asia, the Adviser regretted that India had failed to reciprocate Pakistan's proposal of meaningful engagement for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," according to a statement by the OIC contact group. The OIC remarks came on the day Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gave the green signal to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping. According to sources, India is to present all actionable evidence against Pakistan if required at international bodies. IMAGE: OIC secretary general Iyad Ameen Madani. Photograph: Reuters Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from Wednesday till September 27, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while raising the quantum the fixed by the Supervisory Committee by 3,000 cusecs. The apex court also gave liberty to both states to file objections against the directions of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Monday, asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and 30. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board, as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in its award. It also directed the Centre to produce before it on the next date of hearing, the notification indicating that the CWMB has been constituted and said, if required, further direction can be passed by the apex court to the CWMB. How long will the two states keep fighting? This dispute is there from 1894. Cauvery Water Management Board is an expert body and it needs to be constituted. Just because the problem had not arisen earlier doesn't mean that the problem will never arise in future, the bench told Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for Centre. The apex court took note of the fact that no consensus was reached among the states before the Supervisory Committee and Union Water Resources Secretary and Chairman of the Committee Shashi Shekhar used his power to ask Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu. Senior advocate and noted jurist Fali S Nariman, appearing for Karnataka, opposed the supervisory committee order and said the state was aggrieved by the order. "We cannot give water to Tamil Nadu from our drinking water supply," Nariman said while opposing any interim arrangement for release of Cauvery water. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, also opposed the directions, saying the supervisory committee has not considered all aspects while passing the order. He said the committee had failed to consider the fact that it was a rain deficient year and the quantum of water to be released has to be done proportionally. "We need water here and now otherwise our Samba crops which are planted in August-September and harvested in December will be destroyed," Naphade said. During the nearly two-hour hearing, both states strongly argued their case, with Karnataka saying it will be difficult to release water to Tamil Nadu for irrigation purposes by cutting drinking water supply to Bengaluru. Tamil Nadu on other hand said it was fallacy on part of Karnataka that it does not want to accept that it was not a normal year and there was 46 per cent deficient rainfall. Nariman urged the bench to either refer back the matter to the Supervisory Committee for proper consideration of all facts or let Tamil Nadu file a petition raising objection to the committees decision, which was a 'pro tem' (temporary) arrangement till the CWMB was constituted. He said as per the CWDT award, Karnataka was asked to release 192 TMC of Cauvery water every year but the monthly release of water was tentative depending on various factors. The senior lawyer further said if Karnataka was asked to supply more water to Tamil Nadu, it will have serious consequences. Naphade contended that Tamil Nadu needed water before October 15 or the Samba crop in the state will be affected and said there cant be a camel-like approach that you consume water now and use it later. The Supervisory Committee doesnt know its job. We are aggrieved by the order of the committee. There has to be seasonal allocation, he said. To this, the bench said you (Karnataka) are aggrieved by Supervisory Committees order which has suggested some figure and they (Tamil Nadu) are aggrieved. We are also aggrieved. Centre has not constituted the board which should have been constituted and a regulatory committee should have been constituted under the board for effective implementation of tribunals award. The apex court said it is not disputed by anyone that the board has to be constituted and it is the duty of the Centre to see that Cauvery Water Management Board is constituted within a stipulated time and, till then, some interim arrangement can be made. Nariman vehemently opposed the view of the court about an interim management, and said it will be a wrong order. I have practiced in this court for long. No one is as much senior as me in this court. It will be an erroneous order if any pro tem arrangement is made. To this, the court said when there is an award, there is monthly allocation of water. There is a perception, and the possibility of reduction and adjustment is always there. That there should not be any pro tem arrangement does not impress us. Whatever you (Nariman) have to say, you can. We will record it but we will go by the jurisdiction as per law. We will record your opposition. On September 12, the apex court had asked both the states to ensure that law and order prevails. It had modified its earlier order on sharing of Cauvery water and directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs instead of 15,000 cusecs per day till September 20 to Tamil Nadu. The apex court bench was also critical of the language used in the plea of Karnataka seeking to keep in abeyance the September 5 order asking it to release 15,000 cusecs water per day to Tamil Nadu. IMAGE: Kannadigas stage a protest against releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in Chikmagalur, Karnataka. Photograph: PTI Photo Barely two days after the terror attack in Uri, two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir on Tuesday but they were foiled by the Army in an encounter in which 10 terrorists and a jawan were killed, even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions. As the government mulled various options on Indias response to the cross-border terror attack on Sunday in which 18 jawans were killed, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security has been convened on Wednesday. Two infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control have been foiled in Uri and Nowgam sectors today (on Tuesday). At both places the operations are in progress, an army spokesman said in Srinagar. The spokesman refused to comment on the number of terrorists killed in the ongoing operations so far, saying details will be made public in due course. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi, however, said that 10 terrorists were killed in the encounter with the army in the Uri sector. The bodies have not yet been recovered, they added. The sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting in Delhi with top officials, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. Separately, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues. On the ceasefire violation incident, an army official in Srinagar said the firing from across the LoC took place between 1.10 pm and 1.30 pm. However, there was no damage in the incident, he said. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon, the official said in Srinagar. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. The infiltration bids and the ceasefire violation came two days after four terrorists of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad stormed an army base in Uri Sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four terrorists were also killed. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. At the meeting convened by Rajnath Singh, Doval and top officials of the ministries of Home and Defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed him on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the LoC, official sources said. The presence of the Foreign Secretary at the meeting is significant as government plans to launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. IMAGE: Army in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI In a bid to galvanise its air defence capabilities, India on Tuesday successfully test fired a new, long range surface-to-air missile jointly developed with Israel from a defence base off Odisha coast. The long range missile, a product of a joint venture between India and Israel, was test launched from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur near Odisha at around 10.13 hours, a Defence Research & Development Organisation official said. The trial was successful and some more rounds of test are expected to be conducted shortly, the DRDO scientist said. "Apart from the missile, the system includes a Multi Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile," the official said, adding the missile along with MF-STAR would provide the users the capability to neutralise any aerial threats. Earlier, between June 30 and July 1, 2016 three consecutive test firing of the medium range surface to air missile, jointly developed by India and Israel were conducted from the DRDO base at Chandipur. The missile guided by armoured seeker had successfully hit the last minute manoeuvring target. Indian Navy had also successfully test launched the long range surface to air missile (LR-SAM). The test was undertaken on the Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata on December 30, 2015. These missiles would be inducted in all the three services after trials were completed. Many Indian industries like BEL, L&T, BDL, and TATA group of companies besides other private industries have contributed to the development of a number of subsystems which have been put into use in this flight test, the official said. As a safety measure, Balasore district administration in consultation with the defence officials had temporarily shifted 3,652 persons residing within 2.5 km radius of the launch pad No.3 of the ITR at Chandipur to nearby temporary shelter centres this morning to ensure a safe launch of the missile, a district revenue official said. Fishermen engaged in fishing along the Bay of Bengal in three coastal districts of Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapada were asked not to venture into the sea during the time of the test launch. Image Courtesy: DRDO He was not comfortable with the bahubali politician's presence in Siwan after his release. M I Khan reports from Patna The additional district judge in Siwan, who awarded a life sentence to former Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and his three accomplices last year, in connection with the brutal murder of two brothers by pouring acid in 2004, has been transferred to a court in Patna following his request. According to reliable sources in the Patna high court, Judge Ajay Kumar Srivastava had requested the high court to transfer him outside Siwan soon after Shahabuddin was granted bail. Following Judge Srivastava's request, the high court transferred him to Patna. Judge Srivastava was transferred before completing his three-year tenure in a district court. In December 2015, Judge Srivastava found Shahabuddin and three of his henchmen guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 364A (kidnapping for ransom, etc), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. According to the prosecution, Chandrashekhar Prasad's sons were abducted from their home at Goshala road in Siwan by Rajkumar Sah, Sheikh Aslam and Arif Hussain on August 16, 2004 and were taken to Pratappur village where acid was poured on Girish and Satish, resulting in their deaths. A third son, Rajeev Raushan, managed to escape. His brothers' bodies could not be recovered. Their mother Kalawati Devi lodged a first information report, accusing Shahabuddin's henchmen of murdering her sons. Shahabuddin's name cropped up during the investigation and he was made an accused for hatching the conspiracy to kidnap the three brothers. Raushan appeared in court s an eyewitness, but he was murdered by unidentified assailants on June 16, 2015. Shahabuddin was released from Bhagalpur jail on September 10 after spending 11 years in prison. He has represented Siwan in the Lok Sabha four times -- from 1996 to 2009 -- as a member of Lalu Prasad's RJD. After his conviction he could not contest the Parliamentary elections in 2009 and 2014. IMAGE: Former RJD MP Shahabuddin was granted bail on September 7. Photograph: PTI Photo An overwhelming 83 per cent Indians believe that using military might is the best way to respond to Pakistan-sponsored terror. In the Rediff.com poll (left) we had asked whether, "a military option the right answer to the Uri attack?" Respondents voted overwhelming for the use of might, with just 16 per cent of voters saying, attacking Pakistan was not the answer to the Uri terror attack. This ties in what the Indian Army said on Monday, a day after 18 jawans were killed in Uri by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed. The Army on Monday said it reserves the right to respond to any cross-border terror attack 'at the time and place of our own choosing'. The incident has sparked calls across the country for exercising military options. United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked nations engaged in "proxy wars" to end them, warning that if communities are not allowed to co-exist, the "embers of extremism will continue to burn" causing sufferings to countless human beings and export of extremism overseas. In his eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as the US President, Obama admitted that the extremist and sectarian violence destabilising the Middle East and spreading elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed." "No external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long," Obama told the world leaders gathered in Geneva for the 71st UN General Assembly session. "Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer and extremism will continue to be exported overseas," he warned. "Across-the-regions conflicts, we have to insist that all parties recognise a common humanity and the nations end proxy wars that fuel disorders," he said. India accuses Pakistan of waging a proxy war by supporting, arming and training militant groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayiba who launch cross border attacks. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed by heavily armed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militants who stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Obama's remarks a day after his Secretary of State John Kerry asked Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using his country's territory as safe havens. In his speech, Obama recounted the progress made in the last eight years of his presidency and said "from the depths of the greatest financial crisis of our times we coordinated a response to avoid further catastrophe and return the global economy to growth." "We have taken away terrorist safe havens, strengthened the non-proliferation regime, resolved the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba...and we welcome a democratically elected leader of Myanmar to this Assembly," he said. Obama said that the international community must reject any forms of fundamentalism, racism or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity. "Instead we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings," he said. He said the collapse of colonialism and communism has allowed more people than ever before to live with the freedom to choose their leaders. "Despite the real and troubling areas where freedom appears in retreat, the fact remains that the number of democracies around the world has nearly doubled in the last 25 years," he said. The US President accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of trying to recover power through force. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force, Asian powers debate competing claims of history. There is no easy answer to resolving all these social forces," he said. "If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbours, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervour for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure," he said. Obama said that in the South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarisation of a few rocks and reefs. "We are all stakeholders in this international system, and it calls upon all of us to invest in the success of institutions to which we belong. And the good news is, is that many nations have shown what kind of progress is possible when we make those commitments," he said. Obama urged the world leaders to bring the Paris climate change deal into force as soon as possible, saying "If we don't act boldly, the bill that could come due will be mass migrations and cities submerged and nations displaced and food supplies decimated and conflicted born of despair." On the Syrian crisis, Obama insisted that diplomacy is the only way to end the brutal five-year conflict. "There's no ultimate military victory to be won, we're going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence," he said. He also called for the international community to step up aid for refugees, saying "We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home." On North Korea's recent move to test nuclear bomb, Obama said such steps "endangers all of us" and any country that endangers global security must face consequences. "Those nations with these weapons, like the United States, have a unique responsibility to pursue the path of reducing our stockpiles, and reaffirming basic norms like the commitment to never test them again," he added. IMAGE: US President Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters An emotional farewell was given to the valiant army jawans who lost their lives in the Uri attack, as their last rites were performed in their respective native villages with full military and state honours. IMAGE: Army and police personnel giving gun salute to Sepoy Panjab allias Vikas Uike in Nandgaon in Amravati district of Maharashtra. All Photographs: PTI Photo From Maharashtra: Sandip Somnath Thok, 24, from Nashik district; Chandrakant Shankar Galande from Satara; Vikas Janardhan Kulmethe, 27, from Yavatmal district and Panjab alias Vikas Janrao Uike, 26, from Amravati lost their lives in the terror attack on Sunday. Amid slogans in his praise by thousands of emotional villagers and family members, the mortal remains of Thok were consigned to flames at his native Khadangli village in Nashik district. The body of Thok, who is survived by parents, elder brother Yogesh and two married sisters, was brought to OjharAirport in Nashik district in an IAF plane from Srinagar and then taken to his native village on Monday night. A procession was also taken out in the village as state Rural Development Minister Dadaji Bhuse, District Collector Radhakrishnan B, Sub-Divisional Officer Mahesh Patil, Tehsildar Manoj Khairnar and others paid rich tributes to the martyr. The jawan was bid farewell amid chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Sandeep Thok amar rahein by grief-stricken villagers as his mortal remains were cremated late on Monday night with full military honours. IMAGE: Nisha Galande, wife of Lance Naik Chandrakant Shankar Galande cries after his body arrived at Jashi Village for cremation in Satara, Maharashtra. Galandes body was brought to his native Jashi village in Satara on Tuesday morning where his last rites were performed with full military honours. Thousands of villagers and teary-eyed family members gathered at the site to pay their last respects. A large procession was carried out by villagers. Satara Guardian Minister Vijay Shivtare, Maharashtra Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister Girish Bapat, and several others paid tributes to the jawan. Galande had joined the Army in 2004 as soon as he completed his education. He is survived by his wife, two sons, parents and two brothers. His parents, while talking to reporters on Monday, had demanded stern action against Pakistan. IMAGE: Major Balbir paying tribute to Sep Vikas Janardan Kulmethe of Yawatmal at Kamptee Cantonment in Nagpur. Bodies of Kulmethe and Uike were flown to Nagpur airport. While Kulmethes body was brought to Nagpur on Monday night, Uikes mortal remains were brought there on Tuesday morning. After the Army officials paid homage to the two martyrs on Tuesday morning, their bodies were taken to their native places. Kulmethes body reached his native Purad village in Wani at about 2.15 pm and was received by Union Minister Hansraj Ahir. The body was then kept at his house for the public to pay their last respects. An emotional farewell was given to Kulmethe, where thousands turned up. The entire tehsil observed bandh for the day. Vikas, who joined the army in 2008 and was transferred to the camp at Uri six months ago, got married two years back. He is survived by his wife Sneha, 23, a four-month-old daughter, a younger brother and parents. Mortal remains of Uike from Nandgaon Khandeshwar town in Amravati district, were consigned to flames on Tuesday afternoon. His family members and villagers could not hold back tears as his elder brother lit the funeral pyre amid the gun salute and full state honours. IMAGE: Wailing wife and children of jawan Rajesh Kumar during his funeral in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. Before the body was brought to the town, residents burnt the effigy of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in protest. When the van carrying Uikes body reached the home town, his family members broke down, even as slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Shahid Vikas amar rahe rent the air. The market remained closed on Tuesday while thousands lined the road to bid adieu to Uike. He had joined the Bihar Battalion of the army at Chandrapur in 2009, served at Assam and West Bengal, before being posted at Jammu and Kashmir three months ago. He left behind parents, a brother and a married sister. His father Janrao had earlier said that they were planning to marry him off soon. We had planned to solemnize the engagement on Diwali but all our plans have been shattered, he had said. IMAGE: Congress leader Sachin Pilot paying tribute to Hav Nimb Singh Rawat during his cremation in Rajwa village of Rajsamand. In Rajasthan, the mortal remains of Havaldar N S Rawat were consigned to flames with full military honour in his native village in Rajsamand district. There was hardly a dry eye when Rawats five-year-old son, Chandan Singh, lit the funeral pyre with the soldiers daughters standing nearby. A large number of people from the jawans village and adjacent areas gathered at the funeral site in Rajwa to pay homage to him. Udaipur IG Anand Srivastava and Collector Archana Singh also paid tributes to the soldier. The gun salute was given to him by police and 6 Rajputana Rifles during the wreathe laying ceremony at the cremation ground. The mortal remains of Havaldar Rawat were on Monday received by the local army unit, his family members and representatives of the civil administration in Udaipur. Rawat is survived by wife Rodi Devi, four daughters -- Payal, Deepa, Lata, Asha and son Chandan. IMAGE: People and Army Jawans carry the body of Sepoy Jawra Munda at Khunti, Jharkhand. In Jharkhand, state funeral was accorded to martyrs Nayaman Kujur of Gumla and Javra Munda of Khunti. A candlelight march was taken out in the memory of the slain jawans. Captain Vijendra Singh represented the Sikh Regiment as the last bugle sounded the post at Uru village in Gumla district where Kujurs funeral was held. Jharkhand Revenue and Land Reforms Minister Amar Bauri, MLA Shiv Shankar Oraon, Central Reserve Police Force Commandant V P Singh, Deputy Commandant Vishal Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Sarvan Sahay and several other officials and civilians were present. Munda was also accorded state funeral in the neighbouring Khunti district in the presence of Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Nilkant Singh Munda, Additional Director General of Police Rezi Dungdung, MLA Poulis Surin, Deputy Commissioner Chandrasekhar, Superintendent of Police Anis Gupta and several others as the last bugle sounded the post. IMAGE: Family members of Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh mourn during his funeral in Bhojpur district of Bihar. In Bihar, saluting bravery of the three martyred soldiers -- S K Vidyarthi from Gaya, Rakesh Singh from Kaimur and Ashok Kumar Singh from Ara in Bhojpur district -- Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced to accord full state honour to the three martyred soldiers of the Bihar regiment. Three ministers attended the funeral ceremony of the as many martyred at different places. The Nitish Kumar cabinet also announced to enhance ex gratia amount to Rs 11 lakh each to the kin of the three martyrs. IMAGE: Family members mourn during the funeral of Havildar Ravi Paul at his native village Sarwa in Samba, Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu and Samba districts bid a tearful adieu to the two braveheart jawans Subedar Karnail Singh and Havaldar Ravi Paul of 10 Dogra, who were cremated with full military honours in their native hamlets of Shibu Chak (Tehsil Bishnah) of Jammu district and Ramgarh village of Samba district. IMAGE: Women wail during the funeral of Subedar Karnail Singh at Shibu Chak village in Arnia in Jammu. The wreath-laying of the two jawans was done by Kavinder Gupta, speaker J&K legislative assembly, ministers Bali Bhagat, Zulfkar Ali, Chander Parkash Ganga, Jugal Kishore MP, and MLAs Sat Sharma, Rajesh Gupta. After final bugle and gun salutes by Army, the duo was cremated amid presence of the family, top officials and huge number of people. IMAGE: Family members of Sepoy Gangadhar Dolui break down as his body arrives in Howrah. In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the government said it would offer jobs and financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the two jawans Gangadhar Dolui and Biswajit Ghorai. IMAGE: Army jawans carry the body of Sep B Ghorai at NSCBI Airport in Kolkata. Photograph: Ashok Bhaumik/PTI Photo "Generally the Centre does it... Weve done it for CRPFs in the past. On humanitarian ground, we will offer jobs of home guards to someone in the family and Rs two lakh each to the families of the two jawans as special cases," Banerjee told reporters at state secretariat Nabanna. IMAGE: Army jawans carry the coffin of jawan Rajesh Kumar in Ballia. Two of her cabinet ministers -- Arup Roy and Rajiv Banerjee -- were present at Doluis residence in Howrah districts Jagatballavpur, she said. Light a candle for the Uri attack martyrs From captivating photos of Northern Lights, sparkling galaxies, the man on the moon and more, photos taken by the winners of the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 competition are an absolute treat. Run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the competition -- now in its eighth year -- received an unprecedented 4,500 entries from over 80 countries. The winning images are on display in a free exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London from September 17 until June 28, 2017. Heres a special collection of some of the award winning photos. (Please click on the photos to view hi-resolution images) >> Overall winner Bailys Beads, Yu Jun The Bailys beads effect is a feature of total solar eclipses. As the Moon passes the Sun during a solar eclipse, the rugged lunar limb allows beads of sunlight to shine through in some places, and not in others. I took a series of photos of the total solar eclipse of 2016, in Luwuk Indonesia, and stacked them with software to show the Bailys beads. Photograph: Yu Jun/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Aurorae, winner Twilight Aurora, Gyorgy Soponyai On the evening of the total solar eclipse in 20 March 2015, the people of Spitsbergen were treated to a second natural lightshow in the form of the Aurora Borealis. At the time the photograph was taken the Sun was shining 9 degrees below the horizon, meaning it was evening nautical twilight on the shore of Greenland Sea. The Adventtoppen Mountain, standing at 2,579 ft tall, towers over the orange-hued expanse in the foreground, as the Northern Lights gambol across the night sky. Photograph: Gyorgy Soponyai/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Aurorae, runner-up Black and White Aurora, Kolbein Svensson An unusual view of the aurora, simply in black and white, that turns the expectations of aurora photography on its head. The removal of the vivid colours so commonly associated with the Northern Lights emphasises the fluidity of the aurora and the stark contrast it forms against the night sky. Photograph: Kolbein Svensson/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Best newcomer Large Magellanic Cloud, Carlos Fairbairn The Milky Ways satellite galaxy and close neighbour, the Large Magellanic Cloud, showcasing stars of all ages lying within its 14,000 lightyear diametre. The Large Magellanic Cloud can sometimes even be seen with the naked eye from the southern hemisphere, but resembles a faint cloud rather than a huge galaxy. Photograph: Carlos Fairbairn/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Galaxies, winner M94: Deep Space Halo, Nicolas Outters Discovered in 1781, Messier 94, or M94, is a distant spiral galaxy lying approximately 16 million lightyears away from our planet, that is notable for its two-ringed structure. At the centre of the structure the shimmering pinks of the inner ring show the hectic star forming activity leading to its sometimes being referred to as a starburst ring. The photographer has also captured the often unseen galactic halo of M94 made up of stars, hot gases and dark matter. Photograph: Nicolas Outters/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Galaxies, runner-up Towards the Small Magellanic Cloud, Ignacio Diaz Bobillo One of the Milky Ways closet neighbours, the Small Magellanic Cloud, is seen on the left hand side of the image in a flurry of blues and pinks that illustrate the several hundred million stars contained within the dwarf galaxy. The globular cluster, 47 Tucanae, is seen glowing a vibrant orange, in the upper right corner of the photograph. Photograph: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Our Moon, winner From Maurolycus to Moretus, Jordi Delpeix Borrell An incredibly close-up view of the roughhewn lunar landscape littered with craters and craterlets largely forged by impacts from meteors and asteroids. Photograph: Jordi Delpeix Borrell/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Our Moon, highly commended Moonrise at the Pier, Sergio Garcia The Full Moon glows a soothing yellow as it rises over the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier in Texas, USA, almost appearing to hitch a ride on the ferris wheel. Photograph: Sergio Garcia/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Our Sun, runner up Sun Flower Corona, Catalin Beldea and Alson Wong A composite of 12 images taken during the total solar eclipse on 9 March 2016 from TidoreIsland in Eastern Indonesia. Resembling tentacles, the blistering solar coronal structures reach out from the Suns surface with an average temperature of between one and three million kelvin. In this striking image, the features on the Moons face are also visible, but not because of the light from the Sun. The Moon is in fact illuminated by the sunlight reflected from our very own planet in a phenomenon known as Earthshine. The pink glow at the top left of the Moon comes from a solar prominence. Photograph: Catalin Beldea and Alson Wong/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> People & Space, winner City Lights, Wing Ka Ho Star trails depicting the movement of the Earth, gently arc over the towering buildings peppered with neon signs and light pipes in the bustling Quarry Bay of Hong Kong. The light pollution in Hong Kong means that only a few stars are generally visible in the night sky, but this photograph shows that despite this you can still engage in some stargazing wherever you are in the world. Photograph: Wing Ka Ho/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> People & Space, runner up Man on the Moon, Dani Caxete A stargazer perches on the mountain known as Pena Munana in Madrid, Spain basking in the warm glow of the rising full Moon. Photograph: Dani Caxete/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> People & Space, highly commended A Wise Son Makes a Glad Father, Robin Stuart The touching scene of a Maasai warrior bestowing his knowledge of the stars on his son as they gaze up at the Milky Way. The Maasai tribe use the stars to navigate across the east African plains in order to find new grazing grounds for their livestock. Photograph: Robin Stuart/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Planets, Comets & Asteroids, winner Serene Saturn, Damian Peach The second largest planet in our solar system, the gas giant Saturn, imaged on March 18, 2016. The photograph clearly depicts the planets famed rings in great detail with striking contrast between each of them. Storms are visible across the face of the planet, as well as the astronomical mystery that is the hexagon at Saturns north pole. Photograph: Damian Peach/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Skyscapes, winner Binary Haze, Ainsley Bennett A misty morning in October on the Isle of Wight is the setting for this image resembling an eerie scene from a science fiction film. The obscuring weather actually accentuated the brightness of Venus and the crescent Moon and transformed them to appear as glowing orbs floating over the Ashey countryside. Photograph: Ainsley Bennett/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Skyscapes, highly commended Geminids over the LAMOST Telescope, Yu Jun Meteors blaze across the night sky as the Geminids reached their peak on 14th December 2015 in the Hebei Province, China. Over 100 meteors are featured soaring over the Guoshoujing LAMOST telescope of the National Astronomical Observatories of China in this composite image. Photograph: Yu Jun/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Young astronomy photographer, winner Lunar Reversal, Brendan Devine A truly innovative image of the Moon that has been inverted to bring out the intricate details of the rugged, lunar landscape that we often miss in more traditional shots of our natural satellite. Photograph: Brendan Devine/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 >> Young astronomy photographer, runner up What the City Does Not Show You, Jasmin Villalobos A man stands on a hill on Canyon Lake, Arizona, silhouetted against a night sky that fades from the moody, blue light pollution seen on the right hand side to the darkness that hangs over the desert. Photograph: Jasmin Villalobos/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Meenkashi Lekhi has proposed to New Delhi Municipal Council to rename Race Course Road, on which the Prime Minister's official residence is located, as Ekatma Marg based on the philosophy of her party's ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay. She said that the existing name, Race Course Road, "does not match with Indian culture". Upadhyay is remembered by his followers for his concept of 'antyodaya' (serving the last man in the queue) and 'ekatma' (integral humanism). Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off Upadhyay's 100th birth anniversary celebrations on September 25. Lekhi, who is a member of NDMC, said in her proposal to the civic body that as the residence of the Prime Minister is situated on Race Course Road, the new name - Ekatma Marg - would remind every PM about the last person of the society. "The nation is celebrating the birth centenary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay this year. To take the philosophy of 'Ekatma' to the mind of the public at large, and as the name of the road, viz 'Race Course Road', on which residence of Prime Minister of India is situated does not match with Indian culture... "(Lekhi) has, therefore, requested to rename Race Course Road under the NDMC area as Ekatma Marg so that this name would remind every Prime Minister about the last person of the society throughout life," stated an agenda of the council meeting of NDMC, which is likely to take a decision in this regard on Wednesday. Lekhi, who is an MP from New Delhi, also cited the past cases of renaming of roads which fall under NDMC in her proposal submitted to the civic body on September 9. Race Course Road was named after the Delhi race course, part of Delhi Race Club, established in 1940. Top BJP leaders have often lamented that Upadhyay, whose death during a train journey in 1968 is shrouded in mystery, did not get the due recognition among the political stalwarts of modern India. In August last year, Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens' Delhi had been renamed as Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Road in honour of the late President. NDMC had taken the decision after East Delhi BJP MP Maheish Girri proposed the move to "correct the mistakes made in our history". Image: Video grab of BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi In a first, authorities in the United States used a cellphone alert to ask millions of New Yorkers to help nab a 28-year-old naturalised American citizen of Afghan descent wanted for the weekend bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey. IMAGE: Ahmad Khan Rahami was taken to the hospital after he was injured during a shootout with New York Police officials. Photograph: Reuters The nation's Wireless Emergency Alerts system was deployed, believed for the first time ever to issue an alert relating to a terror investigation, very different from the usual weather or abducted children advisory. Cellphones blared with the cacophonous tone of an emergency alert on Monday around 8am and its content caught New Yorkers by surprise. IMAGE: The message people received alerting them about Rahami. The alert, received by millions on their phones nearly at the same time, was an electronic "wanted poster" which read "WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen". The electronic wanted alert meant the citizens in homes, subways, sidewalks and offices across New York were now part of a massive drive to nab the person wanted for placing bombs, including a pressure cooker that did not detonate, on the busy and crowded streets of Manhattan on a Saturday evening. Rahami was captured just hours after the alert went out, taken into custody following a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. Alerts are usually sent across phone networks warning city residents about extreme weather conditions such as tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons, the 'AMBER Alerts' asking for public help in most serious child-abduction cases and alerts by the President during a national emergency. WEA messages include a special tone and vibration, both repeated twice. Just before the alert, the FBI, New York Police Department and other law enforcement agencies had issued a nation-wide alert asking for help in locating Rahami. "Rahami is wanted for questioning in connection with an explosion that occurred on September 17 at approximately 8:30 pm in the vicinity of 135 West 23rd Street, New York. "Rahami is a 28-year-old United States citizen of Afghan descent born on January 23, 1988, in Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He is about 5' 6" tall and weighs approximately 200 pounds (90 kg). Rahami has brown hair, brown eyes, and brown facial hair," the information released across social media said. A spokesman for the State Police was quoted as saying in the New York Times that the decision to release the message came from the authorities in New York City. The daily said in New York City, the alerts have been used eight times since 2012: three times during Hurricane Sandy, once to alert a travel ban during a 2015 winter storm and twice during the Chelsea bombing. Terming the Supreme Courts order directing Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till September 27 as unimplementable, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called for a cabinet and an all-party meeting on Wednesday to chalk out the next step. ....the Supreme Court has passed an order, since we do not have water. It is very difficult to implement it. It is an unimplementable order, he told reporters in Bengaluru. Siddaramaiah said Karnataka had placed certain facts based on ground reality before the Cauvery Supervisory Committee but it still passed an order directing the state to release 3,000 cusecs per day between September 21 and 30. Noting the committee was constituted by the apex court only, he said it had given a direction on September 5 to Tamil Nadu to approach the committee and also asked Karnataka to file a response to the neighbouring states plea. Despite all this, the Supreme Court has passed an order on Tuesday, he said. Siddaramaiah appealed to public to maintain peace, while assuring that the government is committed to protect the interest of the state and its people and farmers. There is a cabinet meeting tomorrow, we will discuss. We are waiting for the copy of the order of the Supreme Court. The (state) cabinet will take a view. Meanwhile, we will consult legal experts also, he said. I have also called an all-party meeting tomorrow (Wednesday). In that meeting, we will discuss the pros and cons of this order. After taking views and opinion of leaders from all parties we will proceed, he added. Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from Wednesday till September 27, the Supreme Court said today while raising the quantum fixed by the Supervisory Committee yesterday by 3000 cusecs. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit has also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award. Apparently keeping in mind last weeks widespread violence over the Cauvery issue in Bengaluru, Siddarmaiah said, I appeal to the people, especially to people from Cauvery basin to maintain peace; they should not get carried away by emotions. The government is committed to protecting the interest of the state, its people and its farmers. Every one should cooperate... Soon after the Supreme Court's order, the chief minister held meetings with senior state ministers and officials. A Sikh bar owner in the United States is being hailed as a hero for helping capture the 28-year old Afghan-American wanted for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. Harinder Bains, the owner of a bar in Linden found Ahmad Khan Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his bar on Monday. Bains said he was watching news on TV on his laptop from another business across the street. At first, he thought he was some "drunk guy" resting in the vestibule, but then recognised Rahami and called police. "I am just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do. Cops are the real heroes, law enforcement are the real heroes," Bains told. When officers responded, Rahami pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking an officer in the chest. A foot chase ensued, during which Rahami shot at a police car, causing a bullet to graze another office in the face. The chase ended when Rahami was shot multiple times. He was taken to a hospital for surgery. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said. Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra said that Bains "dared to honour his Oath of Citizenship to protect & defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic -- and it turns out that the Chelsea Pressure Cooker Bomber suspect, a naturalised citizen, is caught by another immigrant, an Indian-American Hero-Sikh." IMAGE: Policemen place in an ambulance a man they identified as Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is wanted for questioning in connection with an explosion in New York City, in Linden, New Jersey, in this still image taken from video September 19, 2016. Photograph: Anthony Genaro/Reuters In a statement, the National Sikh Campaign said this was brave and courageous act by Bains. "A Sikh helps police get to the terrorist involved in New York and New Jersey bombing over the weekend," it said. "He heroically helped save many innocent lives and yet gave credit to law enforcement officers. Harinder Bains certainly did what every responsible citizen in America ought to do. Brave and courageous act!" said the National Sikh Campaign. The panel headed by Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave has agreed to submerge more than 100 sq km of Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, reports Nitin Sethi. The Ken-Betwa river linking project has got the approval of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife. The panel headed by Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave has agreed to submerge about 100 sq km of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh -- one of the countrys prime tiger habitats -- for the project. In a meeting on August 23, the standing committee chaired by Dave cleared the project after some deliberations. Business Standard reviewed the minutes of the meeting, which are yet to be made public. Immediately after taking charge as environment minister and well before the project had got mandatory clearances, Dave had repeatedly said India should go ahead with at least one inter-linking of river project to assess its consequences. Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, too, had threatened to go on hunger strike if the project did not get approval soon. Projects that specifically eat into tiger habitats need a positive recommendation from the National Tiger Conservation Authority on the basis of which the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife accords the wildlife clearance. Minutes of the meeting show the group contended with and rejected the idea of bringing down the reservoir levels to protect some wildlife areas. The meeting of ministry experts and others concluded that bringing down the reservoir level by even 10 metres would reduce the reservoir storage capacity by 32 per cent. The minutes note that 100 sq km of the Panna Tiger Reserve would be lost 'directly' by the project. This includes 50 sq km or about 10 per cent of the critical tiger habitat. The tiger authority has recommended that other nearby tiger-bearing areas be classified as tiger reserve to compensate for the loss. These include Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, Rani Durgavati Wildlife Sanctuary (both in Madhya Pradesh) and Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh. The minutes note, "The effort to integrate the three wildlife sanctuaries within the Panna Tiger Reserve will be undertaken simultaneously and the management objective of these areas will be in the context of treatment of the area as a part of tiger landscape." One of the non-government wildlife experts on the National Board for Wildlife, R Sukumar, had earlier expressed his concerns about the "impact of the project, in view of its huge submergence, habitat loss and impact on Gharial Sanctuary, among others", show records of the ministry. Subsequently, Sukumar was asked to be on an expert sub-committee to carry out a specific assessment of the project along with a retired forest officer, H S Singh, and other government officials. The records of the August meeting of the standing committee show that both Sukumar and Singh did not attend the standing committee discussions that cleared the Ken-Betwa linking of rivers. Lebanon Needs Help to Cope With Huge Refugee Influx Publisher International Crisis Group (ICG) Author Sahar Atrache Publication Date 19 September 2016 Cite as International Crisis Group (ICG), Lebanon Needs Help to Cope With Huge Refugee Influx, 19 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e124534.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Lebanon hosts some 1.5 million Syrian refugees, more refugees per capita than anywhere in the world. International support is needed to keep this fragile country from reaching the breaking point. Lebanon, a small country whose population hovered around four million, has gained an astounding million and a half more residents in under four years, mostly refugees from neighbouring Syria. By contrast, the U.S. government proudly announced that it reached its target this year of granting asylum to 10,000 Syrians to be settled in a population of more than 320 million in the face of opposition from citizens worried about a flood of refugees and migrants. Any serious attempt to deal with the global refugee crisis should acknowledge these startling disparities. The UN and U.S. are hosting back-to-back summit meetings on the refugee emergency on 19-20 September in New York, but advocates are pessimistic that the discussions will result in more equitable resettlement among the world's richest countries or adequate support to front-line states. To frame an international response commensurate with the Syrian catastrophe, it is vital to understand what is happening in a front-line state like Lebanon. As the Syrian war escalated, Syrians began fleeing primarily to neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Lebanon, in particular, received the swiftest and largest refugee influx in its history. Around one million are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while an additional 500,000 unregistered refugees, migrant workers and wealthier Syrians have melted into the local population. Such a sudden influx would pose a big challenge to any country, but Lebanon is without an effective government or significant resources, and has historically been unstable. Its resilience so far in the face of this shockwave is therefore remarkable. Yet the inflow has exposed a series of worrying fault lines. The state's endemic dysfunction is glaring: Syrian refugees arrived in a country sunk in a deep malaise. In recent years, Lebanese politicians have been unable to agree on electing a president or holding parliamentary elections, or even on a policy to collect garbage from city streets, whose pungent smell wafted through the capital last year. In view of such a dismal state of affairs, seeing the government implement a policy to address the refugee crisis would have been nothing less than a miracle. Beirut's default response of inaction has had serious consequences. In the absence of official camps established specifically for refugees, the majority of Syrians have sought shelter in Lebanon's most deprived areas. This has put new strains on places that already lacked infrastructure and whose population was already struggling. Gradually, and not surprisingly, host communities have become resentful toward the refugees. In turn, many Lebanese officials have used the refugee issue to deflect criticism for the state's failings, further feeding tensions. Changing demographic realities are another source of concern. The arrival of refugees who are, for the most part Sunni Muslims, has alarmed Christians, Shias and Druze eager to preserve a delicate sectarian balance in a multiconfessional political system. Even Lebanese Sunnis, however, share their compatriots' concerns about an enduring refugee presence. The refugee crisis has produced an uncommon consensus among Lebanon's communities: everyone blames the Syrians for the country's many ills. Add to this Lebanon's history with Palestinian refugees, estimated at 300,000 to 400,000 and mostly living in camps created after 1948. What was envisioned as short-term refuge turned into a seemingly permanent exile for these Palestinians, whose militarisation became a major trigger for the civil war a generation ago. As the Syrian war continues without an immediate end in sight, there are concerns that Syrian refugees may likewise become a long-term presence. The spectre of renewed conflict has led the Lebanese authorities to adopt a heavy-handed security approach toward the refugees. They have repeatedly raided whatever encampments exist and arrested hundreds of men. Moreover, they have allowed local councils to impose discriminatory measures, such as night-time curfews, on Syrians. Lebanon needs help to cope with the refugee crisis, both to aid Syrian refugees and to preserve the unity of the state. What refugees need most immediately is an easing of visa requirements to regularise their status. The international community should focus on long-term development projects that would benefit both Syrians and deprived host communities. Moreover, it should condition any security assistance to the army and police the only functioning parts of the state on the conduct of these forces toward the refugees in a manner consistent with international law and human rights standards. If the world stands by as Lebanon dissolves under the extraordinary burden it has shouldered with remarkable magnanimity, we may be confronted with a much greater international refugee crisis as well as new rounds of violence, which in turn will generate more refugees. Opening of the High-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants. Remarks by Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. New York, 19 September 2016 Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Filippo Grandi Publication Date 19 September 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Opening of the High-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants. Remarks by Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. New York, 19 September 2016, 19 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e12bbf4.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Ladies and gentlemen, Listening to refugees is a sobering experience. Last week, the number of refugees uprooted from South Sudan - in less than three years - surpassed the one million mark. I met some of them three weeks ago. They told me a harrowing story of loss - of family, of home, of homeland, of hope. I heard similar stories in many other countries I visited this year. This Summit could not be more urgent. It is important that we talk about both refugees and migrants. There are many common features that we must join forces in tackling. But refugees have - and must retain - a distinct status, because conflict and persecution mean they cannot go home. And with more than 65 million people forcibly displaced globally - as refugees or within their own countries - it's time to recognize that we cannot go on as before. Today we have an extraordinary opportunity to change gear. Addressing forced displacement is a humanitarian challenge, but it requires global solutions engaging a full range of instruments and actors in the political, security, humanitarian and development spheres. So far, so good - but this has been said before. What's different now? The difference is that the New York Declaration marks a political commitment of unprecedented force and resonance. It fills what has been a perennial gap in the international protection system - that of truly sharing responsibility for refugees, in the spirit of the United Nations Charter. And the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, which is part of the Declaration and which you are asking UNHCR to help develop and initiate, for the first time - and this is very important - sets out a blueprint to make this happen. In emergencies, in protracted crises, in our search for solutions, we must now become able to trigger the engagement of a much broader range of actors, through predictable - and this is the key word - predictable, cooperative arrangements, activated even before a crisis hits. This can be done. In Uganda - for example - the government maintains an open door policy, which I saw myself just a few days ago, and has mobilized a broad range of partners and institutions in an innovative response centered on education and livelihoods, including for host communities. And this is key - earlier, stronger engagement by development partners and international financial institutions - as just explained by the President of the World Bank - is a fundamental game changer. And there is immense potential in the role of the private sector. For all this to work, we are looking at you - for political engagement, for funding, for technical support, for concrete acts in support of host countries - that bear the greatest responsibility - and in pursuit of solutions. The world - shocked by images of people fleeing in huge numbers and dying at sea - does not want our intentions to remain on paper. It demands practical action and results, so that forced displacement can be managed in a principled manner, and resolved with courage and vision. I pledge to work with you to achieve this. Thank you. Syria: UN relief chief 'disappointed' that aid workers still unable to safely access eastern Aleppo Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 19 September 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Syria: UN relief chief 'disappointed' that aid workers still unable to safely access eastern Aleppo, 19 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e1307940d.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 19 September 2016 - Expressing disappointment that humanitarian actors have not been able to reach eastern Aleppo in Syria, the United Nations humanitarian chief urged all parties to the conflict to facilitate regular and sustained access to the besieged and hard-to-reach areas across the country. I am pained and disappointed that a UN convoy has yet to cross into Syria from Turkey, and safely reach eastern Aleppo, said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien in a statement issued today by his office (OCHA). The people of Syria have suffered long enough. Millions of Syrian civilians continue to face horrific deprivation and violence, especially those trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, he added. According to the statement, the 20-truck UN convoy would have been the first of two that would have carried flour and other food supplies, enough to feed some 185,000 people in Aleppo for one month. It added that some 275,000 people remain trapped in the city without food, water, proper shelter or medical care. Noting that humanitarian actors have not been able to reach eastern Aleppo since clashes in early July between the Government of Syria forces and non-state armed groups started, Mr. O'Brien, who is also the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, called on all parties to the conflict to facilitate regular and sustained access to those needing urgent support across the country, through both cross-line and cross-border routes. The United Nations continues to call for unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to the millions of Syrian men, women and children in hard-to-reach and besieged locations, he said. Further stressing that humanitarian aid must remain neutral, impartial and free of political and military agendas, he noted: The UN and our partners remain ready to meet people's needs regardless of who or where people are. Libya: UN and partners launch appeal for urgent life-saving assistance in a complex emergency Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 19 September 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Libya: UN and partners launch appeal for urgent life-saving assistance in a complex emergency, 19 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e130e340d.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 19 September 2016 - The United Nations and humanitarian agencies in Libya today issued an urgent appeal for $10.7 million to meet life-saving emergency assistance for close to 80,000 people located within the Libyan city of Sirte until the end of the year. According to a news release issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN and its partners in Libya are preparing a response to a new complex and acute humanitarian situation with shifting needs of the target population in Sirte, which sits on Libya's southern coast. "We have tailored our response to meet the increasing needs of the people requiring protection, psychosocial support, mine action, health and food aid," said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya, Ali Al-Za'tari. "We need to scale up assistance and we urgently need additional resources. I urge donors to act now to support the people of Sirte at this time of greatest need," he added. According to the agency, the complex and acute humanitarian situation has developed in Sirte city as people have been returning back to the city but at the same time, new displacement has been triggered due to military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da'esh) terrorist group. "Those who fled the area report severe shortages of food and medicines, looting and confiscations by ISIL terrorists, and serious rights violations, including public beheadings, 'crucifixions' on scaffolding and abductions," noted the news release. The release further said that the humanitarian community in the country expects that people will continue to return, and that the number is likely to increase once the Government of National Accord forces announce military success. They anticipate that by the end of the year, some 79,400 people will be residing in Sirte municipality and certain districts of the city, although much of the city itself will likely remain inaccessible for several months. The Sirt Flash Appeal covers the needs for four months, from September throughout December 2016. DR Congo: Ban condemns deadly clashes between protestors and security forces in capital Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 19 September 2016 Related Document(s) Security Council resolution 2277 (2016) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) until 31 Mar. 2017] Cite as UN News Service, DR Congo: Ban condemns deadly clashes between protestors and security forces in capital, 19 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e131934.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. United Nations Secretary-General today expressed deep concern about the violent clashes between protestors and security forces in Kinshasa, and several other locations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "He condemns the violence that has already led to the death of at least 17 people, including three police officers in the capital," according to to a statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson in New York. The Secretary-General in his statement urged all concerned political leaders and their supporters to refrain from any further violence that could exacerbate the situation. "He calls on the Congolese authorities to ensure that the national security forces exercise maximum restraint in their response to protests," the statement said, adding that the UN chief also called on all political leaders to address their differences peacefully and through dialogue, in line with Security Council resolution 2277 (2016). Mr. Ban's call follows similar concern was expressed over the weekend by the UN Mission in the DRC, known by the French acronym MONUSCO, which noted that 16 civil society activists of the Union of Congolese Youth for Change were arrested on 15 and 16 September in Kinshasa while holding an activity on electoral civic education. The arrests were conducted by ANR and PNC officers. The mission recalled that the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights enshrined in the Congolese constitution. Maman Sambo Sidikou, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of MONUSCO, called upon all actors in the political process to "abide by the tenets of the Constitution, including peaceful freedom of expression," whether politicians, civil society activists or media organizations. UN mission in Central African Republic condemns attack on villages, reinforces presence in affected areas Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 19 September 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN mission in Central African Republic condemns attack on villages, reinforces presence in affected areas, 19 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e132b440e.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 19 September 2016 - Condemning recent violence in Ndomete and Kaga Bandoro in Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the country (MINUSCA) called on local communities to remain calm and underlined its right to take appropriate measures to prevent destabilization of the situation. "[We call] on Kaga Bandoro's communities to remain calm and affirm [our] right to take appropriate measures to prevent destabilization of the situation, protect civilians in line with [our] mandate, and ensure the country's territorial integrity," the Mission said in a news release issued on Saturday. According to the news release, clashes broke out on 16 September between anti-Balaka and ex- Seleka groups in Ndomete and Kaga Bandoro, leaving at least six civilians dead and many, including an aid worker injured. UN staff premises were also looted in Kaga Bandoro, the release noted. In response to the situation, the Mission said that it has reinforced its military presence in the affected areas and deployed UN peacekeepers to strengthen the security situation. It also said that is also deploying a human rights team from capital Bangui to assess the situation. MINUSCA further noted that continues to monitor the situation and remains in contact with national and local authorities to stop the violence. More than three years of civil war and sectarian violence have displaced thousands of people in the CAR amid continuing clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian. Thailand: Another human rights activist is unjustly targeted Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 20 September 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Thailand: Another human rights activist is unjustly targeted, 20 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e133184.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Reacting to the Bangkok South Criminal Court's guilty verdict against Andy Hall, a British migrant rights worker, Amnesty International said: "Today's verdict is an appalling end to a trial that never should have started. Thailand needs to take seriously its obligation to protect human rights activists rather than allowing its legal system to be hijacked by companies seeking to silence those exposing abusive practices," said Champa Patel, Amnesty International's Senior Research Adviser for South East Asia and the Pacific. "Sadly, the case against Andy Hall is just the one of many in which human rights defenders face criminal defamation charges for their crucial work supporting vulnerable individuals and communities. Criminal defamation provisions are being used to silence people who do a public service by uncovering injustice. Thailand's authorities need to take a hard look at the ways in which the legal system often undermines justice instead of promoting it." Background Andy Hall was found guilty by the Bangkok South Criminal Court today for criminal defamation charges brought against him by the Natural Fruit Company Ltd. The company was the subject of a 2013 report that Andy Hall worked on for the civil society group Finnwatch while researching abuses against migrant workers in Thailand. Andy Hall was fined 150 000 Baht and received a three-year sentence. His sentence was suspended for two years, and he will not serve time in prison unless he breaks the terms of his probation. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Georgian Muslims Demand Recognition Publisher Institute for War and Peace Reporting Author Luka Pertaya Publication Date 16 September 2016 Citation / Document Symbol CRS 825 Cite as Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Georgian Muslims Demand Recognition, 16 September 2016, CRS 825, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e134804.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. The Muslim community in Georgias Black Sea resort of Batumi had been asking the authorities to build a second mosque for many years, but to no avail. The citys only mosque, Orta Djame, was built in 1886 and accommodates over 1,500 believers. But still, during Friday prayers an overspill of hundreds was forced to congregate outside. Frustrated over a perceived lack of interest from the state, a group of Muslims decided to take matters into their own hands. A group founded in January had within a month had collected 12,000 signatures in support of building a new mosque in Batumi, Georgias second largest city and capital of the countrys southwestern Adjara Autonomous Republic. The signatures were then forwarded to the president, prime minister and other senior officials. A dedicated fund was also created, and on September 7 the group purchased a plot of land. They are now awaiting permission to start building a new mosque. Community members say that the issue reflects wider concerns over the status of Muslims in this predominately Orthodox Christian country. According to the Mufti of Georgia, Beglar Kamashidze, the necessity of building a mosque had been under discussion for more than 15 years. "The faithful should have a place so they can pray under a roof," he said. "This topic has long gone beyond the question of the construction of the mosque as a place of worship," Tariel Nakaidze, a member of the initiative group and chairman of the Union of Georgian Muslims, told IWPR. "Ignoring the demands of the Muslims for years is already a measurement of democracy in the country," he said. According to the 2014 census, every ninth person out of Georgia's population of 3.7 million is a Muslim. In Adjara, an area of the country occupied by the Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 19th century, the vast majority of Muslims are ethnic Georgians whose ancestors converted to Islam during that time. But while the overall population of Adjara decreased from 376,000 in 2002 to 334,000 in 2014, the number of Muslims living there has increased. In 2002 they made up 30 per cent of the population, which by 2014 had grown to 40 per cent. When fundraising for the Batumi mosque began, the Mufti met with Archil Khabadze, then head of Adjaras local government. Khabadze promised that he would consult with Georgias Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili about the construction of the mosque and their petition would be answered without fail. However, Khabadze later resigned on July 6, and the issue has remained unsolved. "This is a good demonstration of the indifference of the state," Nakaidze said. In 2014, the previous Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili created the State Agency for Religious Affairs for the purpose of better communicating with religious organisations and providing them with assistance. According to the agencys chairman, Zaza Vashakmadze, the petition is under consideration. "Georgia is a democratic, free country, and everyone has the freedom to express his opinion. It is another matter how the state conducts itself or what resources and possibilities it has at its disposal to respond to these demands," said Vashakmadze about the prospects of the appeal. Georgian law does not directly obligate the state to provide places for worship for religious groups, but the community had argued that because of discrimination and exclusion, government support would be an important symbolic step. UNEVEN FUNDING Many in the Muslim community claim the authorities have failed to treat all religious institutions equally. This has alienated the Muslim community and exacerbated tensions with the country's Christians. Experts warn of a danger of encouraging radicalisation, which has already manifested itself in other parts of Georgia, such as in the adjacent region of Guria as well as in Kvemo Kartli and in the Pankisi Gorge in the Kakheti region, where many Muslims also reside. "Muslims need an economic and social environment in which they can develop," said Tamta Mikeladze, civil and political rights programme director at the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) in Tbilisi. "Based on the fact that they do not succeed in Georgia, they go mainly to Turkey. Then they return to Georgia with a good education, but they are not given space to develop," she continued, adding that this did not encourage integration. NGOs have also accused the Georgian state of selectively financing religious groups. According to a joint study by the Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI) and EMC, the Orthodox Church in Georgia received a total of 28 million lari (12.1 million US dollars) from the state in 2013. All other religious minorities received a total of four million lari (1.7 million dollars). The 2015 report of the Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili, Georgias official ombudsman, stated that the unfair distribution of funding to religious groups was an ongoing problem. "The state cannot ensure the full use of religious freedoms to the religious minorities and is unable to develop a results-oriented strategy against containing hate crime and systemic discrimination, to respond effectively to a specific crime, faithfulness to religious neutrality and the principles of secularism," the report read. According to TDI director Eka Chitanava, the Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church wields significant influence and the state does not want to offend the countrys dominant religious group. "That is why this subject is politically important and is more than issuing a permit for the construction of a religious building," she said. Chitanava noted a previous proposal in 2012 in which discussions about Turkey building a mosque on the Georgian side of the border for the Batumi residents led to political controversy. "The Patriarchate has never had a problem with the construction of a church in any area of any city in Georgia. But for the Muslim congregation, the largest minority religious group, in second place in Georgia, obstacles have been created regarding the construction of the mosque. This is, of course, a restriction of the freedom of religion," she concluded. COMMUNITY TENSIONS NGO activists say that Muslim communities in Georgia are subject to frequent discrimination. Tamta Mikeladze from the EMC noted several incidents in recent years. (See also Concerns over Anti-Muslim Discrimination in Georgia). For example, in 2013, protests broke out in the village of Chela in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region in the south after a newly-built minaret was demolished by local Christians. (See also Toppled Minaret Provokes Passions in Georgia). In 2014, in Kobuleti in Adjara, a pigs head was nailed to the door of a recently-established Muslim school. According to Chitanava of TDI, the most recent conflict took place in the village of Adigeni in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region in early March. Adigenis only cemetery had been used solely by Christians. That meant that Muslims, who cannot bury their dead in the same cemetery as people of other religions, had to inter relatives in a nearby village instead. When the State Agency for Religious Affairs suggested the Muslim community apply to the local government for territory for a new cemetery, local Orthodox Christians protested. This led to a two-day standoff. In the end, Muslims and Christians agreed to share the cemetery, but only after adding a dividing line in the middle. Soon after this resolution, the death of an 18-year-old girl brought the people of the village together, according to local newspaper Samkhretis Karibche. On the day of the funeral, local Muslims and Christians both went to the family of the deceased to express their condolences, the newspaper reported. Each performed their own religious funeral rituals. Luka Pertaia is an IWPR trained journalist and currently works for the Georgian online newspaper Netgazeti. Copyright notice: Institute for War & Peace Reporting Nazarbayev Shakes up Government Amid Weak Economy and Worries of Insecurity Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author George Voloshin Publication Date 19 September 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 150 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Nazarbayev Shakes up Government Amid Weak Economy and Worries of Insecurity, 19 September 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 150, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e135d54.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Link to original story on Jamestown website Following a month of lull in August, when the parliament was in recess and the majority of cabinet ministers took a short break from meetings and press briefings, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev opened the fall's joint session of the Mazhilis and the Senate (lower and upper chambers of parliament, respectively) with a forceful reminder of the challenges the country was facing. In his hour-long address to legislators, the head of state stressed that, unlike in previous years, the first priority of the government would be to combat terrorism and religious extremism. The state would take these steps via enhanced law enforcement and through the adoption of new antiterrorism legislation, he declared (Akorda.kz, Inform.kz, September 1). In June 2016, Kazakhstan witnessed a series of coordinated attacks on National Security Committee (KNB) and police officials in the western city of Aktobe, close to the border with Russia. Twenty-five died (including 18 attackers) and 22 were wounded in the incident. The next month, a lone wolf fired shots at police patrols in the former capital of Almaty, killing eight people and wounding several others. The KNB and the Ministry of Interior moved into high gear and carried out antiterrorism operations across the country during August. Two extremist cells were successfully dismantled in the provinces of West Kazakhstan and Aktobe, leading to the arrest of 10 and 11 individuals, respectively (Tengrinews.kz, June 6; Forbes.kz, July 18; Newskaz.ru, August 31). Additionally, a group of four extremists-three Kazakhstani nationals and their ringleader from neighboring Kyrgyzstan-were earlier identified by the security services in Almaty Oblast. The men had reportedly been planning to conduct unprecedented bomb attacks against unspecified civilian and military targets in the country. The now-former head of the KNB, Vladimir Zhumakanov, told the media, on August 29, that the four suspects were sympathizers of the prohibited Salafi movement, which preaches extreme religious conservatism and can have links to violent radicalism (Kursiv.kz, Kapital.kz, August 18; Inform.kz, August 29). A subsequent press release by the KNB further stated that those above had intended to stage 9/11-styled attacks on a massive scale, namely by using a hijacked airplane from the regional airport of Taldykorgan. While no other information has been made public so far, it is clear that Kazakhstan is currently facing the hardest test of its domestic stability since 1991. In reaction to the growing threat of radical Islam, on September 8 Nazarbayev made a highly unanticipated decision to name Prime Minister Karim Massimov head of the KNB. Massimov has served as head of government since April 2014, after already leading the cabinet of ministers between 2007 and 2012. His predecessor at the KNB, Lieutenant-General Zhumakanov, was recently appointed chairman of the National Security Council, a purely consultative body within the presidential administration (Total.kz, September 13; RBC, September 8). Massimov's new job unambiguously reflects Nazarbayev's personal trust in him at a time when Kazakhstan is struggling to cope with the rise of violent extremism amid the weak economy and unending speculation about the future presidential succession. Yet, the domestic socio-economic situation remains by far the number one priority, largely because Kazakhstan correlates insufficient or nonexistent economic growth with a growth in radicalism. The government expects a particularly modest 0.1 percent uptick in GDP this year. As long as the price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, stays at its current level of around $50 per barrel, the Kazakhstani authorities will undoubtedly have to wage active campaigns on two key fronts: saving the economy from collapse and precluding further radicalization of the country's most vulnerable citizens (RIA Novosti, May 23; Matrica.kz, July 12). The new prime minister is Massimov's heretofore first deputy, 52-year-old Bakytzhan Sagintayev, who had previously served, since 2013, as regional development minister until this cabinet position was abrogated by the August 2014 administrative reforms. Albeit self-effacing and not much different in style from his former boss, Sagintayev is keen on reviving growth by all means and has already publicly warned the other cabinet members that they will have to "deliver" or resign. In a likely bid to show his personal attachment to cost-saving, the new head of government has gone so far as to ban all foreign travel by ministers until 2017, except if they are accompanying the president (Ktk.kz, September 9; Government.kz, September 13). Aside from a few new appointments, Sagintayev's cabinet differs little from that under Karim Massimov. Former Defense Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov is now the first deputy prime minister and has been succeeded by career military man Saken Zhasuzakov. Justice Minister Berik Imashev, who happens to be the father-in-law of Nazarbayev's elder grandson, Nurali Aliyev, has become the chair of the Central Election Commission. His successor is the former deputy head of the presidential administration, Marat Beketayev. Meanwhile, the president's elder daughter and Nurali's mother, Dariga, relinquished her duties as deputy prime minister in charge of social issues and was appointed to the Senate, where she could potentially take the speaker's seat, thus becoming first in line of succession to her 76-year-old father (Tengrinews.kz, Nur.kz, September 13-12). Lastly, President Nazarbayev scrapped the Ministry of Civil Service, whose head, Talgat Donakov, has hence moved to the presidential administration. Moreover, the head of state created the Ministry of Religious Affairs, to be headed by Nurlan Yermekbayev, the former chair of the National Security Council and a fluent Mandarin Chinese-speaker (Akorda.kz, September 13). Together with a renewed focus on more efficient economic policy, the government seems genuinely interested in not only assuring internal security but also exerting control over various faiths, ultimately with an eye to clamping down on radical sects. In the long run, if the current structure of government holds, KNB chief Massimov, Prime Minister Sagintayev, some of his influential deputies like Tasmagambetov and, of course, Dariga Nazarbayeva could all play crucial roles in the opening of a post-Nazarbayev era. Copyright notice: 2010 The Jamestown Foundation Russian Elections Overshadowed by Rampant Corruption Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Pavel K. Baev Publication Date 19 September 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 150 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Russian Elections Overshadowed by Rampant Corruption, 19 September 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 150, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e136d54.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Link to original story on Jamestown website Last Sunday (September 18), Russians went to the polls to elect the seventh State Duma in the post-Soviet history of their state. It is extremely difficult to say how many of them actually cast ballots because the official preliminary data on voter participation (47.8 percent, according to the Central Electoral Commission) is distorted by widespread and well-organized fraud that secured a confident victory for the United Russia party (TV Rain, Deutsche Welle, September 19). Pre-election opinion polls had registered a steady decline in popular support for this pseudo-party, which primarily unites the ruling bureaucracy. Moreover, surveys revealed that voters have little trust in the parliament as a state institution (Forbes.ru, September 5). The authorities invested remarkably little effort in boosting the popularity of "their" party; they sought instead to make the whole election campaign as dull and low on political content as possible (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 15). President Vladimir Putin held one evening meeting with the leadership of United Russia earlier this month and issued one short statement on the eve of the elections, but he devoted most of his time to foreign policy matters (Kremlin.ru, September 15; Vedomosti, September 1). This deliberate demotivation was aimed not only at facilitating the manipulation of the results, but alsoand primarilyit was designed to ensure political apathy among the electorate because any mobilization could backfire and supply a trigger for protests. Sociological research shows that only 10 percent of Russians express a willingness to participate in any protests. But popular discontent appeared even lower during the elections of December 2011, and yet those did produce mass demonstrations in Moscowso the authorities are not taking any chances this year (Levada.ru, September 16). The disunited liberal opposition sought to make maximum use of the limited opportunities available to its candidates, arguing that every vote cast against the "party of power" counts toward a meaningful challenge that cannot be erased by falsifications, while abstention plays into fraudsters' hands (Slon.ru, September 15; Ezhednevny Zhurnal, September 16). The new Duma may end up having a longer mandate than the life-cycle of the present regime, so it could become a key institution in the coming political crises (Novaya Gazeta, September 16). What makes such forecasts plausible is the chain of revelations of spectacular corruption in various branches of power. Even Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, formally the leader of United Russia, had to issue denials of his ownership of a secret dacha erected for him by friendly oligarchs on the banks of the Volga River (Navalny.com, September 15). First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov had to explain the use of a private jet to transport his pets to dog shows; and Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft and Putin's close friend, complained in court about media attacks on his palaces and yachts built for his young wife (Moscow Echo, September 16). The most astounding exposures, however, came from an official investigation into corruption at the Ministry of Interior. Specifically, Colonel Mikhail Zakharchenko, appointed just two years ago to head Department T of the ministry's Main Directorate for Economic Security and Countering Corruption, was found with $150 million in cash and 300 million euros in foreign bank accounts (Rosbalt.ru, September 14). The shocking scale of this embezzlement, even by Russian standards, points not so much to a vast network of corruption but rather to the unprecedented intensity of squabbles between competing racketeering and money-laundering government agencies for dwindling resources (Navalny.com, September 14). In the words of Yekaterina Shulman, one of the sharpest Moscow analysts, it is the wars between competing clans in "power structures" that now constitute the main content of political processes in Russia (Moscow Echo, September 14). The leading driver and the apparent victor in these wars is the Federal Security Service (FSB), which executed the above-mentioned operation against the interior ministry, as well as the attack on the Investigations Committee, leading to the resignation of its chairman, Aleksandr Bastrykin, despite his personal ties with Putin (RBC, September 14). In late July, the FSB effectively decapitated the Federal Tax Service, making its director, Andrei Belyaninov, also a long-time Putin loyalist, instantly famous when all TV channels aired the search of his house. The footage showcased numerous shoeboxes stacked with hundred-dollar bills (Novaya Gazeta, July 28). This multi-clan feud for controlling cash flows, camouflaged as a struggle against corruption, makes it possible for Putin to proceed with a massive elite reshuffling (Gazeta.ru, September 16). In the run-up to the elections, he sacrificed at least half a dozen old "comrades" who had become costly liabilities in the increasingly tight economic situation (Newsru,com, August 15). In parallel, high-profile investigations were launched against the business empires of several renowned "oligarchs," for instance Victor Vekselberg, with the obvious aim of extracting hefty ransoms for the detained "hostages" (RBC, September 13). Neither the attempts to curtail the predatory appetites of over-grown law enforcement bureaucracies, nor the crude pressure put on business interests that lack political protection at the highest level can resolve the basic problem of shrinking incomes and irreducible expenditures in the federal budget (Polit.ru, September 13). This problem came to the fore in the government meeting on the key parameters of the 2025 Armament Program, which Putin called last week. And no amount of shouting could reconcile the "diametrically opposed" positions of the expansionist Ministry of Defense and stingy Ministry of Finance (Kommersant, September 17). The struggle against Russian-style corruption pursues the poorly compatible parallel aims of disciplining the state bureaucracy and placating public opinion. In reality, it only stimulates the enforcers of various ranks to accumulate as much cash as possible, all the while irritating the public, anxious about falling incomes and insecure jobs, with scandalous revelations of government officials' ill-gotten gains (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 16). Similarly, the manipulations of the elections were aimed at producing an entirely controllable parliament and at releasing some of the accumulated discontent. But the legitimacy of United Russia as the "ruling" party has actually sunk to a new low, and the public's dissatisfaction with the corrupt workings of the political system remains undiminished. Unlike in December 2011, discontented Muscovites are not going to take to the streets after this weekend's stolen elections, but a different set of unexpected consequences is in the makingparticularly, as the lack of any positive perspective in the regime's survival strategy becomes obvious. It is impossible to predict what new scandals and destabilizing developments emerge in the months ahead. But clearly, neither the self-serving political class nor the predatory police appear up to the task of protecting the enervated Putinist regime. Copyright notice: 2010 The Jamestown Foundation Over 300,000 refugees and migrants cross Med so far in 2016 Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Jonathan Clayton Publication Date 20 September 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Over 300,000 refugees and migrants cross Med so far in 2016, 20 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57e143884.html [accessed 30 October 2022] Over 300,000 refugees and migrants have made the dangerous Mediterranean sea crossing so far this year, according to figures released by UNCR, the UN Refugee Agency today. "This is considerably lower than the 520,000 registered sea arrivals during the first nine months of 2015, but higher than the 216,054 arrivals during the whole of 2014," UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told a press briefing in Geneva. He added that there were important differences between the two main countries of arrival, Greece and Italy. Overall however it remains a deadly route. Despite the number of crossings this year being 42 per cent lower than during the same period last year, the number of people reported dead or missing so far this year (3,211) is only 15 per cent lower than the total number of casualties for the whole of 2015 (3,771). "At this rate, 2016 will be the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea," Spindler warned. He explained that a detailed analysis of the figures showed that arrivals in Italy this year followed the same pattern as last year, with 130,411 refugees and migrants entering in 2016, compared with 132,071 during the first nine months of last year. "In both years, arrivals increased during May and peaked in July. However, more people arriving in Italy are staying there. As of today, asylum claims have more than doubled in Italy, in comparison to the same period last year," he added. Over 158,000 people are currently accommodated in reception facilities in Italy. In contrast, though he said Greece saw a massive rise in the number of arrivals by sea last year, with 385,069 by the end of September. The surge began in August, with 107,843 arrivals, and peaked in October, with highest number of arrivals (211,663). "This year, there has been a sharp drop from 67,415 arrivals during the month of January to just over 2,000 so far this month, bringing the total this year to 165,750, a 57 per cent drop from the 385,069 arrivals registered in Greece during the first nine months of last year," Spindler said. The main nationalities arriving in Greece are Syria (48 per cent) and Afghanistan (25 per cent) with Iraq, Pakistan and Iran largely accounting for the balance. Those reaching Italy come primarily from Africa (Nigeria 20 per cent, Eritrea 12 per cent, Gambia/ Guinea/Sudan/Ivory Coast 7 per cent each). In the Mediterranean as a whole, five nationalities - Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria and Eritrea - account for 68 per cent of all arrivals. This situation highlights the urgent need for States to increase pathways for admission of refugees, such as resettlement, private sponsorship, family reunification and student scholarship schemes, among others, so they do not have to resort to dangerous journeys and the use of smugglers. At the same time, the plan agreed by the European Union (EU) and Member States a year ago to relocate 160,000 asylum-seekers mainly from Greece and Italy to other European countries need to be fully implemented. So far, less than 5,000 asylum-seekers have been relocated from Greece (3,791) and Italy (1,156) - a mere three per cent of the original target. "We have been calling on EU Member States to increase pledges, including for unaccompanied and separated children, speed up the registration and transfers of candidates, and for more nationalities fleeing war and persecution to have access to the scheme," Spindler explained. Meanwhile, in a separate development a fire broke out at the Moria reception centre on the Greek island of Lesvos on Monday evening following clashes between residents. A large number of refugees and migrants were forced to leave the government-run site. Some 4,400 people were accommodated in the facility at the time. Around 95 unaccompanied children were transferred to the Pikpa reception site nearby. Based on initial reports, the fire did not cause any casualties but at least 30 people are reported to have light injuries and have been taken to hospital. Over 50 UNHCR Refugee Housing Units, accommodating some 800 people, were completely destroyed. There were other material damages to the site, including the destruction of tents. UNHCR is present in Moria and the other reception centres on the Greek islands. "We have a team assessing the damage and will put up family tents today as an emergency accommodation measure for those affected. Non-governmental organizations will provide tents, mattresses, blankets and water," Spindler declared. Poor living conditions, combined with a prevailing feeling of uncertainty, regularly fuel despair and frustration among asylum-seekers in Greece. On islands like Lesvos, the capacities for hosting refugees and migrants are overstretched. Lesvos hosts over 5,300 people and has a capacity of only 3,500. To reduce tension and overcrowding, UNHCR is working with the authorities and calls for the urgent transfer of unaccompanied and separated children, one of the most vulnerable groups, to the mainland, shorter waiting periods for asylum claims, particularly on the islands, faster registration and processing of cases for all nationalities and speedier return of those who are not in need of international protection. Shania Twain coming to Indianapolis on first tour in nearly five years The ancient Eastern practice of yoga is drawing more attention from Western medicine. September has been designated Yoga Awareness Month by the National Institutes of Health, and one of its member organizations, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, recently published research noting yoga's ability to help with several common maladies, especially lower back pain. That comes as no surprise to local yoga instructors Camie Garvey and Clarissa Pyeatt. Garvey, owner of Abilene Yoga House, said she began practicing yoga seven years ago and can testify to its health benefits. 'I was morbidly obese,' she said. 'I've lost 170 pounds.' Pyeatt described herself as someone who 'walked through' exercise equipment before discovering yoga five years ago. The traveling instructor who said her husband calls it 'Yoga on the Go,' said she has lost 30 pounds. According to the NCCIH, recent studies suggest that yoga is beneficial in helping people with lower back pain manage their pain and increase mobility. One NCCIH-funded study involved 90 people with lower back pain. After six months, the participants who practiced Iyengar yoga, a yoga style common in the U.S. that emphasizes poses and breathing, had far better results in dealing with disability, pain and depression than the other participants. Another NCCIH study, involving 228 participants, contrasted the results of yoga, conventional stretching and a self-care book. The findings suggested that yoga and stretching were more effective than the book. Another study, involving 313 adults with chronic or recurring low-back pain, suggested that 12 weekly yoga classes resulted in better function than usual medical care. According to the studies, practicing yoga or other forms of regular exercise may reduce stress, lower one's heart rate and blood pressure, help relieve anxiety and depression, and improve strength, flexibility and quality of life. What makes yoga different, Garvey said, is the connection yoga makes with all parts of a person's life: physical, mental and spiritual. 'I think what makes yoga work is that deep breathing,' she said. 'That connection to heart/mind ... I think that's a really cool thing. You start with meditation and you move through the whole body.' With a variety of yoga forms and techniques, people of all ages can benefit from the practice, said Pyeatt, who teaches four classes at nursing homes. One of her students is 104. Pyeatt said she has learned, however, that labels are important when working with people of a certain age. 'We don't call it yoga,' she said of her nursing home sessions. 'We call it chair stretching.' Some people have expressed concern that yoga might conflict with their faith, she said. Both Pyeatt and Garvey said that although yoga started in India with the Hindu religion, there is nothing in it that contradicts any Christian tenet. 'They feel like they're going to be worshipping Buddha,' Pyeatt said. 'If anything, it's going to give you practices to help meditate.' Garvey said she thinks it would be difficult to get the full advantage of yoga without a religious foundation. 'Yoga is a God-based practice,' she said. 'It's hard to practice yoga without believing in God.' Some people use yoga as their sole form of exercise, while others use it to complement other workouts. 'That's describing my husband and me,' Pyeatt said. 'It's about the only exercise I do, but my husband uses it when he's preparing for something. He doesn't especially like yoga, but he knows its good for his muscles.' How best to practice yoga depends on the individual, said Jackie Beth Shilcutt, who began practicing yoga in 2004 and has been instructing for the past eight years. 'Yoga can be a stand-alone practice or it can be a good cross-training regimen,' Shilcutt said. Pyeatt said many competitive athletes use yoga as part of their training. She said she worked with the Hardin-Simmons University track team last year and that yoga can help lengthen an athlete's stride. Shilcutt said she came to yoga to help her as an athlete. 'I came from a dance background,' she said. 'I was looking for the flexibility and balance. The meditation was nice for me before I went into something else.' When selecting a yoga instructor, Garvey suggested considering one registered with the Yoga Alliance, and Pyeatt suggested looking at the hours of instruction an instructor has amassed. Beyond that, Garvey said, people should look for an instructor who 'resonates with them.' Carl and Pixie Christensen started with a list of more than 600 historic churches, before narrowing it down to 65 that made the final cut in their new book, 'Lone Star Steeples: Historic Places of Worship in Texas.' The Christensens, of Llano, kicked off the first Lunch at the Library program Monday as part of the 16th annual West Texas Book Festival. 'Based on historical markers, the character of the church and the architectural detail, we were able to narrow the list from 600 to 200 extremely impressive churches,' said Carl Christensen. 'From there, we chose 65 to be in this book, and ended up with enough for a second and third edition.' 'Lone Star Steeples' captures the historically significant structures in watercolor illustrations painted by Carl Christensen, a design architect along with brief summaries of each church. 'The journey behind 'Lone Star Steeples' crisscrossed the state along back roads, farm roads, and state highways,' said Pixie Christensen. 'In these journeys and in the stories that were told, certain patterns began to emerge most notably, the people's recognition of the church as their cultural foundation, their moral foundation and their social center.' Glenn Dromgoole, owner of Texas Star Trading Co. and chairman of the book festival, said the festival aims to accomplish several things, among them attracting and recognizing authors, publishers and readers from around Texas. 'This event, which is presented by the Friends of the Abilene Public Library, also recognizes local and area authors,' Dromgoole said. 'We also want to increase awareness and support for library programs, and raise funds to benefit the library.' Carl Christensen told the audience gathered for lunch Monday that the churches in their book 'range from stately edifices of brick and stone located in urban centers to more humble wood-frame chapels in rural surroundings. The houses of faith shown in these pages have one important trait in common: they have all served as centers of cultural identity, spiritual comfort, and public service to the communities in which they arose.' If you go What: West Texas Book Festival When: Through Saturday Tuesday's events Lunch at the Library: Featuring Glen Sample Ely, author of 'The Texas Frontier & the Butterfield Overland Mail, 1858-1861,' noon at the downtown library. Free. Lunch available for $5 Abilene Author Showcase: Featuring local authors who have had books published in the last year, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the downtown library. Books available for sale. Tony Fernandez grew up in Cuba hearing about and seeing for himself how God works in mysterious ways. So, he wasn't totally surprised to see the Cuban government growing increasingly more open to religion, which took a back seat after the revolution that ended in 1959 and put Fidel Castro in power. Recently, the government even has grown fond of the efforts of Christians in the country, such as serving breakfast for workers. 'That's something the government looks on favorably,' Fernandez said through an interpreter, Timothy Archer, coordinator of Spanish-speaking ministries for the Herald of Truth, based in Abilene. Fernandez is in Abilene to speak at Summit, the annual lectureship at Abilene Christian University. In Cuba, Fernandez is a representative for Herald of Truth, minister of Versalles Church of Christ in Matanzas, and also is a professional bass violinist. With Archer's help, Fernandez led a class Monday, titled, 'God's Kingdom Breaking Out in Cuba.' Part 2 will begin at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Room 130 of the Biblical Studies Building at ACU. Fernandez was born in 1973. He was an only child living in a tiny apartment with his mother and father. Before the revolution, his father owned a business and also was an evangelist. Fernandez said he recalled hearing his father talk about the church the family attended before the revolution and wondered why he couldn't go to church. He learned about the struggles the family had and how, under a communist government, they couldn't practice their religion like they wanted. But Fernandez also heard a positive story. His family was preparing to leave for Miami with other Cubans in 1960, when the elder Fernandez stopped and asked a question. 'Who is going to stay and preach in this country?' he asked. He realized he was the one to stay. Tony Fernandez said he remembered seeing his father watching the streets from a window, worried that soldiers would be coming. The family persevered and young Tony chose to follow in his father's footsteps. Today, life is much easier for evangelists in the country. Fernandez and others have started about 40 house churches in towns along the roads leading out of his hometown of Matanzas. 'There is nothing impossible in God,' he said. Since 1993, when Fernandez turned 20, he has been traveling to other countries as a professional musician, in addition to his other work. Many times musicians decide to stay in those countries. 'I would always come back,' Fernandez said, remembering the question his father had asked about who would be left to preach in Cuba. Since the 1990s, relations between the government and religion have eased, although they are far from perfect. Before Fernandez could leave the country to come to Abilene last week, he had to spend 45 minutes answering questions from government officials. Two years ago, President Obama announced a historic shift in relations between Cuba and the United States. Since then, some noticeable changes have occurred, like traveling to and from the country. Even though Fernandez still had to answer questions and book his travel through a charter service in Cuba, just the opposite is true traveling into the country. Archer, who travels frequently to Cuba to work with Fernandez and the Herald of Truth, said he now can book his travel online. Previously, he had to go through a charter service like that required in Cuba. Since 2006, Fernandez and others have been working diligently to restore the church in Cuba to its pre-revolution status. He is seeing that happen as the number of house churches along the roads continues to grow. His own church in Versalles, near Matanzas, has room for 300 people. It has been hard work, but Fernandez learned a valuable lesson by watching and listening to his father. 'When we take the first step in the Lord,' he said, 'God blesses us.' IF YOU GO What: Summit 2016 Where: Abilene Christian University Theme: 'Love God. Love Your Neighbor' Tuesday 11 a.m. theme speakers: Ali Kaiser of Itu, Brazil, and Derran Reese, in charge of global ministries at Highland Church of Christ, 'Love Your Neighbor on the Street,' Moody Coliseum Tuesday 7 p.m. theme speaker: Monte Cox, dean of the College of Bible and Ministry at Harding University and preaching minister for The Downtown Church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas, 'Love All Your Neighbors,' Cullen Auditorium Admission: Classes and lectures are free; meals for purchase; vendors will set up in McGlothlin Campus Center and the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building to sell books and other items. A new line of convenience stores is hitting the market, with the first now open. Topline stores, the first in the nation under that name, will have three locations in Abilene and one in Eastland, with an eye toward future expansion, owner Sam Lawson said. He recently purchased the four locations that previously offered Shell products. The three stores in Abilene will be located at Rebecca Lane and Ridgemont; Antilley Road and U.S. Highways 83/84 (across from Abilene Regional Medical Center); and South First Street and Sayles Boulevard. The Eastland store is at Interstate 20 and State Highway 6. The Rebecca Lane store opened for business Thursday after remodeling. Some work remains to be done on the car wash section, but fuel pumps and the store are in operation. Each of the locations will continue to have gasoline pumps, with each switching brands from Shell to Texaco. The Antilley Road store will be expanded, Lawson said. The existing store will remain open while the new one is built, then part of it will be demolished with the rest being used for storage. Lawson expected the new store to be in operation approximately 45 days after the start of construction. The Burger King at that location will remain unchanged and its operation should not be affected, he said. Remodeling of the Sayles Boulevard store should start sometime during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday period. The Eastland location will be the last to be redone. Lawson said the switch to the Texaco brand was a sound business decision for this part of the state. He has received negative feedback from longtime Shell cardholders, but will make the switch to Texaco as simple as possible for anyone wishing to change brands. Expansion to locations in other West Texas cities is part of Lawson's long-range plan, but nothing is definite at this time. Brokers are on the lookout, and some prospects are emerging. Nothing will happen on that front for the time being, he said, indicating he is focused on preparing the first four locations. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... Senior member of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party Son Chhay speaks to supporters during the general election campaign in Phnom Penh, July 14, 2013 Opposition lawmakers are offering Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen an olive branch as the Cambodia National Rescue Party plans to end its four-month-long parliamentary boycott. On Tuesday, senior CNRP lawmaker Son Chhay said the partys lawmakers would return to the National Assembly in an effort to end the countrys political crisis. Prime Minister Hun Sen has recently indicated that he prefers dialogue to the threat of mass demonstrations, Son Chhay said. That is a favorable indication. It is just about time to end our differences in a way that does not make any party look bad. While Son Chhay said CNRP lawmakers will resume their duties in the National Assembly, the party doesnt appear to be entirely ready to bury the hatchet as they intend to launch an attempt to remove some of Hun Sens ministers. Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party holds 68 seats in the National Assembly, while the CNRP holds 55 seats. Son Chhay said that a proposal to remove a minister requires 30 votes, and they plan on attempting to remove Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng because they say he isnt up to the task. The health minister will be questioned, and if we are not satisfied with his answers we will vote to remove him, he said. If our proposal is not successful, our message will be conveyed so that health issues are better addressed. Son Chhay said the CNRPs decision to end the boycott is an effort to reopen a dialog with Hun Sen and the CPP. But the move comes as authorities are still holding several opposition lawmakers and anti-government activists in prison. Son Chhays announcement came during a visit with opposition lawmakers Um Sam An and Senator Hong Sok Hour and other activists who are being held in Cambodias notorious Prey Sar prison. Hun Sens Day of Peace Message While Son Chhay was meeting with colleagues in Prey Sar, the prime minister was extolling the virtues of peace and his 31-year reign over the country in a public letter commemorating the International Day of Peace on Wednesday. We should resort to a culture of non-violence, exercise the utmost restraint, appreciate mutual understanding, maintain public order, respect the law and engage in solving any problems by peaceful means, he wrote. Hun Sens public letter may celebrate a day of peace, but his words earlier in the week hinted at something darker. On Monday he threatened to crack down on demonstrators and ruled out any negotiations while the CNRP was threatening to stage a mass protest in coming weeks. You can never threaten us with the demonstrations. Let me make it clear that it is not going to work that way, he said. Dont even think about it. If I ever enter into such negotiations I will be nothing short of a dog. In remarks at National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh, he threatened to retaliate. I will issue orders for counter demonstrations everywhere you start them. You enjoy the right to demonstrate, he said. Why shouldnt we reserve our right to retaliate? Reported by Vuthy Tha and Nareth Muong for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. Asia markets were mixed on Tuesday, with traders likely taking to the sidelines to await Wednesday's closely watched monetary policy decisions due in the U.S. and Japan. Stocks in Japan ended mixed, after the market was closed on Monday for a public holiday. The main Nikkei 225 (Nihon Keizai Shinbun: .N225) index closed down 27.14 points, or 0.16 percent, at 16,492.15. The Topix (Exchange:.SPTPXN) index closed up 5.47 points, or 0.42 percent, at 1,316.97. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi (Korea Stock Exchange: .KS11) climbed 9.93 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,025.71. In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 (^AXJO) finished up 8.8 points, or 0.17 percent, at 5,303.60, with most sectors gaining. The energy sector, however, bucked the trend to close down 0.93 percent. The securities market Down Under suffered technical glitches on Monday that first delayed the open, then in the afternoon suspended trade for the rest of the session. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: .HSI) was nearly flat at 23,543.36. Chinese mainland markets also closed nearly flat, with the Shanghai (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) composite at 3,023.30, while the Shenzhen (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJSZ) composite was at 2,000.06. Analysts attributed the modest market movements to the anticipation surrounding the monetary policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8301.T-JP) (BOJ), both due Wednesday. "Trading ranges on international markets have narrowed over the past couple of sessions," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a morning note. "Markets appear to have arrived at a level that reflects the consensus view of the balance between risk and reward," he said, adding markets were likely to remain relatively inactive in the lead up to the central banks' policy decisions on Wednesday. Brokerage firm IG's chief market strategist, Chris Weston, agreed. "As one can imagine, no one is prepared to take on too much risk," he said in a Tuesday note. Story continues In the currency market, the dollar (New York Board of Trade (Futures): =USD) index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, traded at 95.634 as of 3:14 p.m. HK/SIN, slipping from levels above 96.00 touched on Friday. The Japanese yen (:OSEJPY=) strengthened to 101.66 against the dollar Tuesday afternoon local time, compared with levels above 102.00 last week. "We have had a quiet start to what should be a very busy week in the foreign exchange market," Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, said in a early morning note. "While investors are biding time ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve announcement, they are also weary of holding dollars given the unlikely chance of a rate hike this week," said Lien, adding that if the BOJ was to cut rates deeper into negative territory, that could see the yen fall sharply. Oil prices climbed on Monday, likely helped by a relatively weaker dollar. But prices pulled back on Tuesday and by the afternoon Asia time, U.S. crude futures traded down 0.65 percent at $43.02 a barrel, after finishing up 0.6 percent in the U.S. session. Global benchmark Brent was down 0.52 percent at $45.71, following a 0.4 percent overnight gain. OPEC oil producers were set to meet informally next week and the last few weeks saw increased volatility in oil prices amid speculation of a supply freeze deal. But analysts now reckon such a deal would likely not be forthcoming. "We expect this to be another 'false dawn,' with no change from the Saudi policy of maintaining market share," said Patrick Dennis from Oxford Economics. "There remains a lack of trust and discipline within OPEC as well as weak barriers to entry, while Saudi aims conflict with any meaningful deal," added Dennis. In company news, shares of troubled Japanese airbag maker Takata (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 7312.T-JP) tumbled 11.58 percent following a Bloomberg News report that cited people familiar with the matter as saying some of the company's bidders were considering the possibility of some form of bankruptcy proceedings for Takata. The company has been caught up in one of the biggest ever recalls in the automotive industry over faulty airbags. The session in Asia followed a nearly flat close in U.S. equities on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) fell 3.63 points, or 0.02 percent, to 18,120.17. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed flat at 2,139.12, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) fell 9.54 points, or 0.18 percent, to end at 5,235.03. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan have detained four people who campaigned for the election of an independent candidate to the local People's Congress, rights activists said on Tuesday. Guan Guilin, Yu Cheng, Zhang Shixiang, and Hu Shuangqing were taken away on Monday by state security police after they accompanied Guan to register as a candidate in forthcoming elections for the Qidong county People's Congress, Hunan rights activist Ou Biaofeng told RFA. "They were detained yesterday by state security police from Qidong county, who gave the reason for arrest as 'disrupting an election'," Ou said. "Guan asked some of his friends from Hengyang to go with him to register, and all four of them were detained there," he said, adding that another associate of Guan's was visited by government officials in his home district of Shigu, and warned not to get involved with his bid for candidacy. He said the four have been incommunicado since their detention. "I tried calling them yesterday but nobody picked up, and this morning all of their phones were switched off," Ou said. "Guan Guilin's mother went down to the police station today, but they haven't been released yet." China's electoral guidelines state that candidates may put themselves forward if they receive recommendations from at least 10 local voters in direct elections to district and township level People's Congresses. But powerful vested interests mean that the majority of local "elections" are a fait accompli, while independent candidates are frequently targeted for persecution, harassment, and detention. 'No such thing' State media have previously warned that there is "no such thing" as a candidate independent of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Apart from a token group of "democratic parties" that never oppose or criticize the ruling party, opposition political parties are banned in China, and those who set them up are frequently handed lengthy jail terms. Earlier this month, would-be independent candidate Yang Tingjian vowed to run in forthcoming elections to his local People's Congress in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi, in spite of official threats and periods of detention. And in the northern city of Tianjin, left-wing activist and independent election hopeful Wang Zhongxiang announced his intention to stand, in spite of being targeted by the authorities in previous elections. "I started taking part in elections back in 2006, and then again in 2010 and 2012," Wang told RFA. "I managed to get nominated twice, but I was never confirmed as a candidate at the election committee stage." "By the third time, I didn't even get that far, because that time they refused to even give me a registration form," he said. "We are supposed to make ourselves known to the election committee, but they wouldn't tell me where the committee was located." "All the candidates are picked behind closed doors, and if you try to stand as an independent, they see that as a form of opposition," Wang added. Corrupted votes Overall, there are five levels of hierarchy in the People's Congress system, with the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing at the top. Every three to five years, China "elects" more than two million lawmakers at the county and township levels across the country to local-level People's Congresses in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships. Political activists have told RFA in previous interviews that local officials typically use intimidation and detention, tampering with physical ballot boxes, and paying for extra votes to maintain their grip on the outcome. Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. Thousands of people took to the streets of Qiqihar in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang on Tuesday in a second day of protests over a planned copper smelting plant near their homes. Video of the protests obtained by RFA showed a large crowd outside a government building as loudspeakers called on the crowd to disperse, as well as ranks of police in full riot gear lining streets and cordoning off a railway station. Residents of Qiqihar's Fulaerji district are angry that the government has given the go-ahead to the Zijin Mining Co. to build the 100,000 tonne-capacity plant in the district. "Everyone here is against this plant," a protester surnamed Yang said on Tuesday. "The pollution from such plants is really heavy, and I think the people of Fulaerji district are right to come out in protest." "Even if there are no accidents, of course building a mining-related project in Fulaerji is going to have a negative impact on the people who live here," she said. She said the protests were sparked by an online video of government officials signing a formal contract with Zijin Mining Co. "But this only came out because somebody leaked it online, and not because the government had used formal channels to inform people," Yang said. Town already suffers A second protester who gave only her surname Yi said that even state media had criticized Zijin's environmental record, and that the town already suffers enough from pollution. "We already have an old industrial district here, which already produces some pretty serious pollution," Yi said. "Now they want to build this copper smelting plant here, and our national CCTV has reported on Zijin Mining, saying that one of their copper smelting plants far fall below standard in terms of environmental pollution, with all kinds of poisonous chemicals leaking out." Others hit out at a lack of transparency around the project. "Firstly, they want to build this factory but local people don't know about it, because they don't announce it openly," another protester surnamed Hu said. "And now the government isn't even dealing with public opposition; they just keep pointing out its benefits," she said. And a local resident surnamed Cai said that while such a plant may bring economic benefits to the town, the risk to health isn't worth taking. "If there's a risk to future generations, then we'll still oppose it," she said. An employee who answered the phone at the Fulaerji district police department declined to comment on the protests. Risks to health And an official who answered the phone at the district government offices said all the protesters had now left the area. "They've all gone now," the official said. "There were never [more than 1,000] in the first place." Battery makers and smelting plants have been blamed for a wave of lead poisoning cases affecting thousands of children across China in recent years, sometimes sparking violent protests. Activists say China has an exemplary set of environmental protection laws, but that environmental officials lack the power to impose it on powerful vested interests at local level. Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie. A senior Lao officials request to villagers and others affected by land grabs to bring their cases to government attention for redress is being met with suspicion, with civil society workers voicing doubts that much will now change. We realize that the public has been very critical of our handling of land issues, Anothai Chanthalangsy, deputy director of the Land Department of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said in a Laopost newswire on Sept. 15. And we have seen that some of these cases have become controversial, he added. Land policy and management in Laos is often poorly understood, Anothai said, But on the other hand, some land officials abuse their powers in situations involving conflicts of interest. To solve these problems, we are asking the public and other departments to help by watching and monitoring these corrupt officials. Please inform us of any corrupt behavior you see by contacting our ministry, our department, or provincial authorities respectively by telephone or letter, Anothai said. Civil society workers inside and outside the one-party communist state say however that government invitations to the public to complain are nothing new. I have seen the government welcome public comments and complaints for many years, but so far there has been no strong mechanism in the government or national assembly to create solutions, one CSO worker in Laos told RFAs Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity. Villagers whose land was seized years ago have still not been compensated, the worker said. They have submitted their complaints to the prime ministers office and to the national assembly for many years, but I havent seen any land-conflict cases resolved in practice, he said. Leaders, officials go free Speaking separately, Vanida S. Thepsouvanhchairwoman of the Paris-based Lao Movement for Human Rightssaid that land issues in Laos have always been linked with corruption. To this day, only unimportant public servants have been arrested for corruption, while everyone in the country knows that many high-level leaders and officials who are deeply involved in corruption are left unaffected and remain above all kinds of investigation. The governments commitment to end corruption, illegal logging, large-scale land leasing and concessions, and land grabs still needs to be proved and implemented at all levels, she said. Laos cannot advance without transparent governance, the rule of law, freedom of expression, and a real space for civil society. Laoss Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has estimated that government officials have given more than one million hectares of the countrys total land area of 23.7 million hectares (58.6 million acres) as concessions to foreign investors, excluding land for mining and hydropower projects. Some local residents who oppose land grabs or the appropriation of public property to turn over to foreign and domestic companies have refused to speak out publicly because they fear retribution. In June 2015, a government employee in Luang Prabang province was detained for posting online a confidential document about a land concession granted to Chinese investors seeking to develop an area around the Khouangxi waterfalls, a popular tourist attraction. Reported and translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh for RFAs Lao Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. Migrant rights defender Andy Hall speaks to reporters at the Bangkok South Criminal Court after he was convicted of criminally defaming a Thai pineapple processing company, Sept. 20, 2016. A veteran campaigner for migrant-worker rights in Thailand said Tuesday he would appeal his conviction by a Bangkok court on charges that he criminally defamed a Thai pineapple processing company through an online report alleging workplace violations at its factory. The Bangkok South Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced labor activist Briton Andy Hall to three years in prison and fined him 150,000 baht [U.S. $4,316], after finding him guilty of defaming the Natural Fruit Co. and violating Thailands Computer Crimes Act. I/my legal team will appeal todays decision in line with Thai justice system. Still fully confident our team/I will receive justice in end, Hall said via Twitter. The firm sued Hall for defamation over the online publication of a survey that he had helped put together. For the survey, he interviewed workers at the firms plant in southern Thailand about labor conditions at the factory, which employs 800 people who are mostly from Myanmar. The court handed him a four-year sentence, but reduced it to a three-year sentence along with the stipulation that he could begin serving his term in two years, his lawyer said. I respect the courts decision, but am rather shocked and confused with the verdict [that] I was guilty of defamation [under] the Computer Crimes Act, Hall told reporters outside the courthouse. Just involved in research Hall undertook the research for Finnwatch, and Tuesday reiterated that he was merely relaying the information he had collected for the Finland-based NGO that advocates global corporate responsibility. In 2013, Finnwatch posted its report on the internet based on Halls work. In fact, I did not put the data online myself. I was just involved in research for report, Hall said. According to the survey, workers at the plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan province complained that Natural Fruit violated Thai labor law through paying them salaries that were below minimum wage, not giving them sick and holiday leave, and employing children, among other allegations. In its findings, the court noted that Hall failed to provide evidence that he had interviewed employees at the factory by entering tape recordings of those conversations into the courts record. Wirach Piyapornphaiboon, the companys owner and president, said the court had vindicated the Natural Fruit Co. through its verdict against Hall. This is proof that we did not do that [violate labor rights]. Today, I am thankful to the court for justice, he told reporters. The court proved that he violated my rights, and, no matter who you are, you will not stand above Thailands sovereignty, Wirach said, adding that his company had lost 100 million baht (U.S. $2.8 million) in revenue as a result of publicity around the Finnwatch survey. A distinctly chilling effect The courts decision, however, represents a blow to the rights of more than 3 million migrants who work in Thailand, representatives of Finnwatch and international human rights organizations said. We are shocked by todays verdict. The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it. Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights, Finnwatch Executive Director Sonja Vartiala said. This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand. We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling, she added. The U.N.s human rights office for Southeast Asia also weighed in about Tuesdays verdict. Just a day after world leaders committed to a landmark U.N. declaration to strengthen the positive contributions made by migrants to economic and social development in their host countries, this court decision is very disturbing, said Laurent Meillan, the acting regional representative of the Office for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Instead of prosecuting Mr. Hall, it would have been more appropriate to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the serious allegations raised in the Finnwatch report. Earlier this week, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement voicing concern about Halls trial. Andy Hall coordinated important research about abuses of workers rights in Thailand and he should never have been prosecuted for his actions, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. Whatever the verdict, the long and intensive court fight has had a distinctly chilling effect on other activists pressing for the protection of workers rights in Thai companies, many of which export their products to foreign consumers. Reported by Nontarat Phaicharoen for BenarNews Two Tibetan monks linked to a 2015 self-immolation protest in northwestern Chinas Gansu province have been handed prison terms of a year-and-a-half each in a secret trial, Tibetan sources say. Jinpa Gyatso and Kelsang Monlam, both monks at the Labrang monastery, were sentenced on Sept. 12 by a court in Sangchu (in Chinese, Xiahe) county, a Tibetan living in the area told RFAs Tibetan Service. They were suspected of involvement in the self-immolation of Sangye Tso on May 27, 2015, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Jinpa Gyatso was detained in June 2015 in Sangchu countys main town, and Monlam was taken from his room in handcuffs that same month, the source said, adding, Their parents and relatives were not informed of the charges made against them. Two other monks were taken into custody at about the same time, but were released after being held and questioned for several days, he said. Jinpa Gyatso comes from Bora town in Sangchu county, and Monlam comes from Chone [Zhuoni] county, he said. Sangye Tso, aged about 36, set herself ablaze outside Chone county police headquarters in the early hours of May 27, 2015 in a challenge to Chinese rule in Tibetan areas, sources in exile told RFA in earlier reports, citing local contacts. Tso, whose charred body was quickly removed from the protest site by authorities, was survived by her husband Tamdrin Wangyal and by a son named Tsering Dondrub and a daughter named Khatso, sources said. Information, images shared Separately, the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy confirmed the sentences, saying that Gyatso, aged about 39, and Monlam, 37, had been convicted of sharing online information and images related to Tsos protest. Both Jinpa and Kelsang are being held at Menkar Prison in Sangchu County, TCHRD said. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijings rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. A total of 145 Tibetans living in China have now set themselves ablaze in self-immolations since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009, with most protests featuring calls for Tibetan freedom and the Dalai Lamas return from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959. Reported by Lhuboom for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. More than 100 petitioners march in Hanoi to protest the seizure of their land by local authorities, Jan. 12, 2016. A court in Hanoi sentenced a land rights activist to nearly two years in prison on Tuesday for her role in protesting government-sanctioned evictions that are being used to clear the way for commercial real estate developments in Vietnam. Can Thi Theu was convicted of causing public disorder and sentenced to 20 months in prison for demonstrations in June that targeted the government for land that was seized in the Duong Noi area on the outskirts of Hanoi, one of her attorneys, Nguyen Kha Thanh, told RFAs Vietnamese Service. The police have to protect the peoples right to petition, but in this case they used plainclothes policemen to arrest and load the petitioners on buses, said Ha Huy Son, another member of Theus defense team. Theu was arrested by the Hanoi police on June 10 when she and more than 50 other demonstrators gathered at the Ministry of the Environment to tender petitions seeking a solution to the land conflict in Duong Noi village, where her family lives. It was the second time Theu was convicted for her role in land-grab protests. In 2014 she was sentenced to 15 months in jail for a similar protest. Vietnam has been experiencing a development boom that is pushing small landholders aside in favor of more lucrative real estate projects. One of the dan oan While all land in Vietnam is held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of snatching valuable plots and paying far too little in compensation to their residents. Land confiscation and abuse of rights is a serious problem in Vietnam, so much so that there is a new term in Vietnamese for those losing land to various public and private projects sponsored by the government: Dan oan, literally citizen suffering injustice, said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch deputy director, Asia division. Public protests are illegal in Vietnam, but the land grabs have gotten so out of hand that people risk imprisonment to protest the seizures. Tuesday brought a replay of earlier land protests, as eyewitnesses told RFA that 200 people were demonstrating outside the Hanoi courthouse. We are currently sitting outside, a farmer from Duong Noi told RFA during the trial. There are many policemen around here. They have surrounded us. Another witness told RFA the demonstrators held banners saying arresting innocent people is a crime, and freedom for Can Thi Theu. Police speak into their loudspeakers, telling us to move away, that witness said. Farmers from other places like Hai Duong, Thanh Oai and Van Giang are also here. Policemen and their villains The governments reaction was also no different than before, as police rounded up the protestors and loaded them onto buses, and arrested activist Thao Teresa, said Theus son Trinh Ba Phoung. The government mobilized a lot of policemen to stop us from going to the court, he told RFA. This is a serious violation of human rights. We ask international human rights organizations to witness todays trial because this is an act of violence stemming from police. He added: They crack down on us, and surround us when we hold a peaceful protest. We have to cope with the violence from the policemen and their villains. Theus conviction comes at a time when Vietnam's human rights record is under new scrutiny. While the country has been pursuing closer ties with the West, particularly the U.S. and the European Union, it has shown little desire to curb authorities appetite for jailing and intimidating activists, bloggers and dissidents. Human Rights Watchs Robertson said Theus conviction is another example of Vietnams systematic denial of the right of peaceful protest. "Can Thi Theu is yet another victim of Vietnam's kangaroo courts, where guilt and prison sentences are determined by the ruling party, and there is no respect for fair trial standards or justice, Robertson said. People like Can Thi Theu don't originally choose to become land rights activists, but when they are facing loss of land and livelihood, there is no choice, he added. If there was any justice in Vietnam, Thi Theu would be working on her farm in peace, instead of heading to prison after an unjust trial. Reported by Mac Lam for RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. A Lebanese information technology expert detained in Iran for more than a year has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and given a $4.2 million fine, his U.S. lawyer told RFE/RL on September 20. Nizar Zakka, 49, a resident of Washington, D.C., and a U.S. green card holder, had earlier announced his sentence, according to e-mails sent by his supporters, but there was no official confirmation. Zakka was detained in September 2015 in Tehran after attending a government-organized conference on entrepreneurship and employment in which he was a panelist. Jason Poblete, a U.S. lawyer representing Zakka, said in a telephone interview that a revolutionary court in Iran had issued a 60-page verdict and sentence, although he said he had not yet seen a copy of the indictment or the verdict. He said he had been informed about his client's sentencing through Zakkas lawyer in Tehran. We need to review that before giving the exact details, Poblete said, adding that Zakka was innocent and is being used as political pawn. Iranian authorities have not commented on Zakka's sentence and state-controlled media have not covered the case. But the country's state-controlled television and hard-line media outlets have previously accused Zakka of having links to the U.S. military and intelligence services. It is unclear if the charges against Zakka are related to those claims. "We consider him a hostage being held by the Iranian government and we've been asking our State Department and we will continue to ask our State Department to intervene in the matter to facilitate his unconditional release," Poblete said. The U.S. State Department, in a September 20 statement, said it was troubled by the news of Zakka's sentencing and demanded his release, according to AP. "We reaffirm our calls on Iran to respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, cease any arbitrary or politically motivated detentions and ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings in all criminal prosecutions," the news agency quoted the statement as saying. Poblete said Zakka's lawyer in Iran would appeal the sentence. "He's going to pursue any process available to him under that judicial system. I use that term somewhat loosely because there is not rule of law there and our client is being subjected to a lawless process," Poblete said. Zakka is the general secretary of the Arab Communications and Information Technology organization, which advocates for Internet development in the Middle East. Poblete says his client's arrest is a warning to all of those wanting to engage with the Islamic republic or do business in the country. "Nizars case is a lesson for anyone, any Westerner, any individual going to Iran to engage in civil society or business, that just because youre there at their invitation does not mean that youre going to be treated with respect, he said. Poblete said Zakka has been informed of the prison sentence and that he remains mentally focused and determined to maintain his innocence against all charges. In recent months, several dual nationals, including Iranian-Americans, have been detained in Iran in the wake of the 2015 agreement between world powers and the Islamic republic to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The reported arrests by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) follow warnings by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of alleged "infiltration" attempts by the West. GYUMRI, Armenia -- A son of an opposition candidate for the post of mayor of Armenia's second-largest city has been found dead. The body of Arshak Grigorian, a son of Vardevan Grigorian of the Flourishing Armenia opposition party, was found with a gunshot wound to the head on September 20. Doctors at the Gyumri Medical Center, where the body was brought, pronounced the man dead. It is not clear if Arshak Grigorian committed suicide or was killed. Police did not give any comments, saying that the investigations are under way. Vardevan Grigorian is a former rector of the Gyumri Pedagogical University. He is running for the post of mayor of Gyumri in elections scheduled for October 2. With reporting by Interfax Fikret Abdic is back. After serving two-thirds of a 15-year sentence in a Croatian prison for war crimes he was convicted of committing during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Abdic has returned to the scene of those crimes. He is running for mayor of Velika Kladusa in an October 2 election. Abdic remains a brand name in this region in Bosnia's extreme northwestern corner: He was a controversial socialist businessman before the war. In 1990, he was briefly elected a member of the Bosnian Presidency. During the war, he was a collaborator of both Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. Now Abdic, who will be 77 when the election is held, is trying to make the jump from prison cell to political office. His daughter Elvira Abdic-Jelenovic, meanwhile, is running for a post in the Velika Kladusa municipal government. Abdic was born in 1939 in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During the communist period, he made his reputation during the 1970s and 1980s running an extremely successful food conglomerate called Agrokomerc. The company was the engine of the entire region's economy at that time. Agrokomerc's success was partly due to the patronage of high-ranking Bosnian politician Hamdija Pozderac. That connection contributed to Abdic's rise -- but it was also the cause of his downfall. When Milosevic wanted to change Yugoslavia's constitution and strip the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina of their autonomy, Pozderac opposed him. Abdic and Agrokomerc became the center of a corruption scandal and a lengthy and highly publicized court case in 1987. Abdic was accused of "undermining the economic system of Yugoslavia." Both he and Pozderac were the target of relentless media attacks. Pozderac was forced to resign and died in 1988. Many still believe the entire case was politically motivated, engineered by Milosevic supporters to bring down Pozderac by targeting his protege, Abdic. Milosevic subsequently changed the constitution, and Kosovo and Vojvodina were both declared integral parts of Serbia. In 1993, with war raging across Bosnia, Abdic made a bid to carve out his own fiefdom by proclaiming the Velika Kladusa region's autonomy. He entered into an alliance with Croatian President Tudjman, only to later turn against the Croats and make a deal with what was left of the Yugoslav Army. In his last act of the war, he turned his forces against the Bosnian Army. Although himself a Bosniak, Abdic accepted arms and ammunition from Belgrade to wage war against the Bosnian Army's 5th Corps. A tragic civil war -- a war within a war -- ensued in the Bihac pocket. Many families in Velika Kladusa had one son in Abdic's armed units and another serving with the Bosnian Army. Abdic was later convicted of running detention centers in which at least 5,000 of his opponents were imprisoned, and many of them tortured. Reopening Old Wounds Nonetheless, there are no legal obstacles to prevent him from running for mayor now. Rifat Dolic, a former close associate of Abdic's and leader of the Democratic People's Alliance, is concerned that Abdic's election will reopen war wounds. "If someone with so much baggage related to the war -- and so clearly arrogant, vain, and prone to intrigue -- is running for local office and at the same time wants his daughter in the same municipal office, I can only feel sorry for him and his supporters," Dolic told RFE/RL in Sarajevo. "[Abdic] belongs to the past -- and what kind of past that is is a matter of opinion," Dolic concluded. Dolic still has great respect for Abdic's achievements in running Agrokomerc. And nostalgia for that time of prosperity and rapid development is the dominant emotion among Abdic's supporters. However, many cannot forget his actions during the war, his opportunism, or his divisiveness. "If elected, Abdic will make the divisions among people in this region deeper," Dolic said. "He will push our municipality toward isolation. We will become like a medieval township." "We seem to have a special moral code here in Bosnia -- one ethnic group's heroes are another's war criminals," analyst Ivana Maric told RFE/RL in an interview. "Our system of values is broken." Ramo Hindic, a local expert and publicist, also suggested Abdic's run could reignite tension. "The most painful thing here in Kladusa is that our wartime wounds have yet to heal completely. Every now and then someone picks at them, adds salt," he said. "The process of reconciliation, which was a local initiative coordinated through civic associations, has made some progress, and we were on the point of signing a memorandum on mutual understanding and reconciliation. However, all that has been put on hold now, or has come to a halt." Sarajevo professor Esad Bajtal is not surprised by Abdic's candidacy -- and won't be surprised if he wins. Bajtal said that the old Agrokomerc boss always had his supporters in Velika Kladusa, and while he may not be to everyone's taste, given his controversial background, Abdic has the law on his side. But while that may be Bosnia's current reality, he said, it has to change. "In order to avoid these situations in the future, the state has to take the appropriate legislative steps and clear up all political, moral, and other concerns raised by Abdic's candidacy," Bajtal said. His remarks suggest that Bosnia should have a law against convicted war criminals running for public office -- or its bloody recent past will continue to haunt the country's politics. The amount of cash held overseas by U.S. firms has risen to $2.5 trillion, according to new research by independent advisory firm Capital Economics, which suggests it's very unlikely to be ever repatriated. "This vast pile of foreign cash could provide a substantial boost to GDP (gross domestic product) if it was ever brought home. But the chances of this happening under the current tax system are very low," Andrew Hunter, a U.S. economist at the firm, said in a new note on Monday. Two years ago, the company estimated that the stock of earnings held abroad by U.S. corporations had increased six-fold over the previous decade, to a total of $2.1 trillion. It now states that it had risen to $2.5 trillion by the end of last year. This news research comes on the back of a new ruling by European Union authorities, which ruled that Ireland must claw back billions in unpaid taxes from U.S. tech giant Apple. The decision has caused shockwaves in the business world with questions being raised over the future of multinationals in Europe and international taxation rules. Apple (AAPL)'s Chief Executive Tim Cook said earlier this month that the company expects to repatriate billions of dollars of global profits to the United States next year, without specifying exactly how much would be returned. Apple had been found to be holding over $181 billion in accumulated profits offshore, accord to Reuters who cited a study published last year by two left-leaning nonprofit groups. Capital Economics estimate that Apple now has $91.5 billion of earnings permanently reinvested overseas, but said that it is not the biggest holder. General Electric (GE) and Microsoft (MSFT) have more than $100 billion each, it said. Both companies were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. "The U.S. requires firms to pay the full 35 percent corporate tax rate the highest in the developed world on all worldwide income, but only if those funds are repatriated. This gives firms a clear incentive to keep earnings overseas," Hunter said in the note. "That said, the prospect of a deal being agreed to reform the corporate tax system is no longer as remote as it once was," he added, referring to the campaign promises of both presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The Iraqi military has launched an operation to retake a northern town from Islamic State (IS) fighters ahead of preparations to begin an offensive on IS-held Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. The Iraqi Army and tribal-led forces on September 20 pushed toward Shirqat, in Saladin Province, 260 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. Shirqat has been held by IS forces since mid-2014 when the Islamist group swept over much of north and western Iraq. Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led air strikes have been steadily retaking small towns and villages from IS fighters this year, including the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. "The operation to liberate Shirqat started at 5:30 a.m. (local time) from several directions...with the support of coalition forces," Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool said. Colonel Muhammad al-Assadi, an Iraqi security spokesman, said Iraqi troops have retaken villages around Shirqat and are about five kilometers from the town. Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the U.S.-led operation against IS, said coalition forces had carried out 19 air strikes over the past two weeks to enable Iraqi forces to move on Shirqat. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has pledged to retake Mosul this year, and Iraqi commanders have said an attack on the city could take place in late October. Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and Al-Jazeera Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev, who is being examined by doctors for potential heart problems, is not expected to return to work before October 1, his office says. Atambaev, 60, is currently staying at a hotel in Istanbul, a September 20 statement said, adding that his hospitalization "is not being discussed." Separately, Atambayev's chief of staff, Farid Niyazov, described the Kyrgyz leader's condition as satisfactory. On September 19, Atambaev's press service announced that the president had canceled a trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly after suffering "chest pains" during the flight. It said that "according to the doctors' preliminary conclusion" Atambaev was found to have symptoms of heart problems. Atambaev has led the country since 2011. Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is the sixth annual Lovie Award bronze winner in the category Website/News. RFE/RLs responsive website was nominated along with The Guardian, Vice News and RT in the pan-European competition recognizing outstanding media created for the web. RFE/RLs responsive website, which supports 26 languages and is used by audiences in 23 countries where independent media is either banned or not fully established, was recognized for its eye-catching design and easy navigation. The award is a special honor, since this years Lovie Awards were the biggest and most competitive yet, with over 1,500 submissions from 40 countries. In 2015, a video documentary from RFE/RLs Russian Service about refugees on both sides of the fighting in eastern Ukraine took the bronze in the Internet Video: Documentary category. In 2014, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service's video "Bird's-eye View of Euromaidan Protests in Kyiv" won a bronze Lovie award in the category of Internet Video: Events and Live Broadcasting, and the Peoples Lovie award. The Lovie Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) and is the leading European award honoring excellence on the Internet. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the world faces the most dangerous decade since World War II and predicted that the historical period of the West's "undivided dominance over world affairs" is coming to an end. Speaking on October 27 at a conference of international policy experts in Moscow, Putin said the decade ahead is "probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important...since the end of World War II." Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. Putin laid the blame for the situation at the feet of Western countries, which he said have cast aside the norms of international affairs in order to maintain dominance and hold down countries they see as "second-class civilizations." The Russian leader also said he had no regrets about sending troops into Ukraine and sought to explain the conflict as part of the efforts by Western countries to secure their global domination. Putin claimed in his speech to the Valdai Discussion Club, a think tank, that the West had helped incite the conflict and also seeks to stoke a crisis over Taiwan in an attempt to enforce global dominance. Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, triggering the biggest military conflict in Europe since World War II and driving relations with Western countries that back Ukraine and its drive to be part of the European Union and NATO to their lowest depths since the Cold War. Putin cast the conflict in Ukraine as a battle between the West and Russia for the fate of the second-largest Eastern Slav country. It is partly a "civil war," he said, as Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Kyiv has flatly rejected both of those ideas. The goal of what Russia refers to as a "special military operation" is to take the eastern Donbas region, Putin said, adding that in his view the region would "not have survived" on its own had Russia not intervened militarily in Ukraine. WATCH: A local official told Russian conscripts "You are not cannon fodder" in a video published online recently. The men responded by angrily shouting that, actually, that's exactly what they are. But the war has gone far beyond the Donbas region, with Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and other nonmilitary structures, killing tens of thousands of Ukrainians across the country. Putin used the speech largely to rail against the West, saying it has nothing to offer to the world "except its own domination," and the goal of globalization "is neocolonialism to dominate the world." He said Russia is only trying to defend its right to exist in the face these Western efforts. Putin also asserted that more and more nations refuse to follow Washington's demands and Russia will never accept the West's attempts to dominate the world. Citing gay pride parades and the acceptance of transgender people in Western countries, Putin also defended "traditional values" and said "nobody can dictate to our people how to develop and what society we should build." He also said Russia has never considered the West an enemy and has many things in common with it but will continue to oppose the diktat of Western neoliberal elites. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Putin's speech presented no new ideas. "We don't believe that Mr. Putin's strategic goals have changed here. He doesn't want Ukraine to exist as a sovereign, independent nation state," Kirby said. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Putin's speech can be described as "for Freud," referring to psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud. "The person who invaded a foreign country, annexed its land, and committed genocide accuses others of violating international law and the sovereignty of other countries? One truth: The person who started a wind will get a storm. The storm is coming," he said on Twitter. Answering questions from journalists after his speech, Putin reiterated the Kremlin's assertion that Ukraine plans to use a so-called dirty bomb on its own territory. The claim has been dismissed as false by Ukraine and its allies, who say Russia may have raised the matter because it plans to use such a bomb in Ukraine as a pretext for escalation. "It was me who ordered [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu to inform by phone all his colleagues about it," Putin said, adding that Russia does not need to use dirty bombs in Ukraine. Putin also said he supported plans by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit Ukraine's nuclear power plants for inspections. "It must be done as soon and as openly as possible because we know that Kyiv authorities are now working to cover up such [dirty-bomb attack] preparations," Putin said, without giving any exact information proving the claim. Ukraine invited IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear facilities after the Kremlin made its unsubstantiated claim about the preparation of a dirty bomb -- which would use the explosion of a conventional warhead to spread radioactive material or chemicals over a wide area. Ukraine said it would welcome inspections because it had "nothing to hide." According to Putin, Russia has never talked about the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine despite his own promise to defend Russian territory with any means at our disposal" and saying his words were "not a bluff." "We see no need for [using nuclear weapons in Ukraine]," Putin told reporters. "There is no sense for that, neither political, nor military." India says its soldiers have exchanged fire with Pakistani troops across the disputed border in Kashmir. The Indian military said Pakistani troops fired on September 20 at its position near the town of Uri in Indian-administered Kashmir, violating a 2003 cease-fire between the nuclear-armed rivals. "Our forces retaliated and the exchange of fire continued for about an hour," army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said. Separately, Kalia was quoted as saying troops in the same area blocked an attempt by up to 12 terrorists to cross the de factor border from Pakistan. A number of infiltrators were reported killed. The incidents come two days after 18 Indian soldiers and four attackers were killed in an assault against an army base in Uri. New Delhi blamed the attack on the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the disputed Himalayan territory in its entirety and have fought two wars over it. Based on reporting by AFP and AP The Russian Supreme Court has branded the Japanese doomsday cult group Aum Shinrikyo a terrorist organization. The Moscow court banned the infamous group on September 20. Aum Shinrikyo was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. It was banned in many countries after its members carried out a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. Asahara and 12 followers have been sentenced to death for the attack and a string of other crimes, including murder. In the early 1990s, Asahara visited Russia and was greeted in Moscow as a VIP guest. He met with Moscow officials, Russian political and religious figures, and conducted a series of lectures at Moscow's leading universities. The sect advertised heavily across Russia in the years before the sarin attack, with Asahara paying nearly $1 million for a daily one-hour radio program and 30-minute television program propagating the cult's teachings in Russia. His sect was officially registered at Russia's Justice Ministry at the time. In March, Montenegro deported 43 Russian citizens suspected of being members of Aum Shinrikyo, to Russia. Based on reporting by Rapsinews and TASS When liberal rights activist Ella Pamfilova was named to head Russias election commission in March, she promised to clean house and oversee transparent, democratic elections. We will change a lot, and radically, in the way the Central Election Commission operates. A lot and radically -- this is something I can promise you, she said at the time. However, a statistical analysis of the official preliminary results of the countrys September 18 State Duma elections points to a familiar story: massive fraud in favor of the ruling United Russia party comparable to what independent analysts found in 2007 and 2011. The results of the current Duma elections were falsified on the same level as the Duma and presidential elections of 2011, 2008, and 2007, the most falsified elections in post-Soviet history, as far as we can tell, physicist and data analyst Sergei Shpilkin told RFE/RLs Russian Service. By my estimate, the scope of the falsification in favor of United Russia in these elections amounted to approximately 12 million votes. According to the CECs preliminary results, official turnout for the election was 48 percent, and United Russia polled 54.2 percent of the party-list vote -- about 28,272,000 votes. That total gave United Russia 140 of the 225 party-list seats available in the Duma. In addition, United Russia candidates won 203 of the 225 contests in single-mandate districts, giving the party an expected total of 343 deputies in the 450-seat house. Shpilkin, who in 2012 won the independent PolitProsvet award for political analysis for his statistical work on the 2011 vote, posted his examination of the latest election on his blog on September 19. Using data from the Central Election Commissions website, Shpilkin organized all 95,800 polling stations on a graph according to the turnout that they reported. In fair elections, the graph would form a bell curve, with its peak indicating the average turnout for the entire election. Reading from left to right, Shpilkins graph shows a relatively normal bell curve that peaks at about 36 percent turnout and then, as it moves right, shows a jagged curve that dips unevenly and then begins rising again, as vast numbers of polling stations begin reporting turnouts of 70 percent or more. Moreover, Shpilkin shows that almost all extra votes from polling stations reporting higher-than-average turnout went to United Russia. That is, a party such as ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovskys LDPR received virtually the same number of votes from polling stations reporting a turnout of 95 percent as it did from stations reporting turnouts of 65 percent. United Russia, by contrast, received about four times as many at the 95 percent stations. The easiest form of falsification in terms of cost and intellectual effort on the part of the falsifiers is simply to add votes in favor of the desired party or candidate, Shpilkin explained. But adding votes means that the turnout changes in an upward direction from the typical distribution. ... A peculiar characteristic of these elections is that we dont see the transfer of votes from one party to another. Perhaps this is a sign of the good influence of Ella Pamfilova. In addition, Shpilkins graph is spiked because there were an improbable number of polling stations at the high end of the turnout scale reporting round-number turnouts ending in 5 or 0, such as 75, 80, or 85 percent. This is a phenomenon Shpilkin and other analysts noted in previous elections and dubbed Churovs saw, after former CEC head Vladimir Churov. In 2008, Shpilkin estimated that United Russia actually won 277 seats in the Duma instead of the constitutional majority of 315 that it was awarded. This time around, it is somewhat more difficult to tell how the alleged falsification might have influenced the results because half of the Duma was elected from single-mandate districts, from which United Russia got a majority of its deputies. Shpilkin estimates United Russia actually got about 40 percent of the party-list vote, which would have reduced its party-list seats from 140 to around 110. But, with a projected 343 deputies in the new parliament, United Russia once again has enough votes to unilaterally alter the constitution. Although Pamfilova has promised to investigate reports of fraud and election officials have already annulled results in at least three polling stations, she maintains that there was no systematic falsification and that the vote was legitimate. On September 20, Russias Prosecutor-Generals Office denied there were any significant violations during the voting and said the number of complaints was significantly lower than for previous elections. But videos recorded by official cameras from several polling stations seem to tell a different story. In almost all of them, local election officials can be seen working as teams to apparently stuff ballot boxes and prevent outsiders from observing their actions. WATCH: Apparent Violations Spotted During Russian Elections Pamfilova has said that such videos do not constitute proof of fraud and, Shpilkin recalls, courts rejected dozens of fraud cases based on similar videos in 2012. Shpilkin hopes his analysis will help Pamfilova come to grips with what he sees as massive fraud embedded in Russias election system from the ground up. I am not entirely sure that Ella Pamfilova has a good understanding of the actions of the heads of polling stations on the ground, how they compile their protocols, how they fill in the data and submit it to their regional election commissions, Shpilkin said. Moreover, she most likely does not understand how the results are aggregated and how many votes were added in for those 96,000 polling stations. Shpilkin emphasizes that his analysis does not mean that the genuine opposition parties that did not get seats in the Duma would have, if not for the alleged falsification. It is possible that some changes might have been seen on the local level in places like Moscow and St. Petersburg on the level of single-mandate districts, he said. But on the level of federal party lists, the position of the opposition looks entirely hopeless. Russia says the Syria cease-fire can only resume if attacks against government forces stop. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 20 that hope for a renewal of the cease-fire was for now "very weak." "The conditions are very simple," Peskov added. "The shooting needs to stop and the terrorists need to stop attacking Syrian troops." "And of course it wouldn't hurt if our American colleagues didn't accidentally bomb the Syrians," he also said, referring to a U.S.-led coalition strike last week that killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers. Peskovs comments come as the International Syria Support Group, comprised of countries supporting opposing sides in the conflict, gathered in New York. On his way into the meeting, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said world powers must look to see if there is a way back to negotiations on a truce "or if this has already become hopeless." On September 19, Syria's military declared a one-week truce brokered by the United States and Russia over, with Washington and Moscow blaming each other for not doing enough to fulfill the deal. Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters Prosecutors in Tajikistan have called for lengthy prison sentences for two human rights lawyers in the Central Asian country, the latest in the series of government moves that have drawn international condemnation. Prosecutor Rustam Takdirzoda accused the lawyers -- Buzurgmehr Yorovand Nuriddin Mahkamov -- of inciting ethnic enmity, among other charges, and asked a Dushanbe court to sentence them to 25 and 23 years in prison, respectively. "How is it possible that two well-known lawyers have been turned into two extremists?" their defense counsel, Muazzama Kodirova, told RFE/RLs Tajik Service. The charges appear to stem from Yorovs legal work for 13 members and leaders of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikstan (HNIT). The party was once a significant player in Tajik politics, born out of an agreement reached to end civil war in the 1990s. But the party was declared an extremist organization last year, under President Emomali Rahmon, and outlawed, as Rahmons government has moved to tighten control over civil society and impose new restrictions on independent religious groups. Dozens of party members have been arrested. Yorov and Mahkamov are among at least five right lawyers who have been targeted by authorities for their legal work, prompting Human Rights Watch and others groups to call for their immediate and unconditional release. Earlier this month, HNIT leader Muhiddin Kabiri was added to Interpols wanted list at Dushanbe's request. With reporting by RFE/RL's Tajik Service ON MY MIND Mikhail Zelensky's report in Slon.ru (featured below) is worth a read. Zelensky uses statistical modeling to show that as much as 45 percent of the votes United Russia received may have been falsified. If this is correct -- and it certainly fits with the reports of ballot stuffing, protocol falsification, and carousel voting that circulated Sunday -- then it suggests that United Russia not only didn't receive a super-majority, it didn't even receive a simple majority. It suggests that turnout was even lower than the dismal (by Russian standards) 47.8 percent that was reported. It suggests that despite Vladimir Putin's sky-high approval ratings, the regime as a whole has exhausted its public support. It explains why the Kremlin felt the need to effectively muzzle Russia's only independent pollster, the Levada Center, weeks before the elections. And the lack of public protest of what appears to have been a rigged election shows that Russian society is opting out of the process and has resigned itself to this new reality. IN THE NEWS Yevhen Zhylin, the founder of the pro-Russian militant group Oplot and who was wanted for terrorism by Ukraine, has been shot dead in a Moscow suburb. Ukraine says it has detained a 25-year-old Uzbek national on suspicion of spying for Russia. Russia says Syrian government troops, supported by Russian air forces, have repelled an offensive by "terrorists" on the northern fringes of Syria's largest city of Aleppo. The United States says it is prepared to extend a cease-fire in Syria despite violations but called on Russia to clarify a statement by the Syrian Army that the truce was over. A court in Siberia has banned one of Russia's most popular LGBT news sites, BlueSystem.ru, without warning. Members of the Russian dissident art collective Voina have been detained in Prague and face extradition to Russia. WHAT I'M READING The New KGB Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russia's security service with the Institute of International Relations in Prague, has a piece on the European Council on Foreign Relations' website looking at the prospects and implications of Russia creating a new Ministry of State Security. "If true, this would be a serious shift in policy, reflecting a dawning awareness on Putins part that his old strategies for governing Russia are looking increasingly ineffective," Galeotti writes. Meanwhile, in an informative piece in Slon.ru, historian Boris Sokolov reminds us that throughout Soviet and Russian history, massive reorganizations of the security services have been the norm. The Power Couple Ellie Geranmayeh and Kadri Liik have a new report out for the European Council on Foreign Relations: The new power couple: Russia and Iran in the Middle East "Iran-Russia relations have reached an unprecedented peak, fueled by military cooperation in Syria, a shared vision of the global order, and mutual criticism of Western policy in the Middle East," Geranmayeh and Liik write. "Tehran is a useful ally to Moscow in a highly unstable region, but it is just one thread in Moscows patchwork of important relationships that need careful balancing." More Elections Postmortems Mikhail Zelensky, Slon.ru's senior editor, has a piece using statistical models to suggest that nearly half of United Russia's vote total may have been falsified. Also in Slon, Zelensky looks at what United Russia will be able to do with its new super-majority. Political analyst Georgy Bovt has a piece in Gazeta.ru on the death of mass political parties in Russia. Mikhail Kaluzhsky, Maxim Edwards, and Thomas Rowley have a piece in OpenDemocracy arguing that Russia's State Duma elections "hint at the next stage of regime mobilization." Requiem For A Cease-Fire In his column for Bloomberg, political commentator Leonid Bershidsky explains why Putin may not really want a Syria deal. "What looked like a promising U.S.-Russian deal in Syria has collapsed amid mutual recriminations. Throughout the failed truce, Russia behaved as though it didn't attach much value to it, and it probably doesn't want an agreement with the U.S. to stick just yet," Bershidsky writes. SRP Podcast: The American Mission To Save Russia The new SRB Podcast, hosted by Sean Guillory of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies, looks at U.S. efforts to assist Russia throughout history. Sean's guest is Rutgers University historian David Foglesong, author of the book The American Mission And The Evil Empire and the recently published article The Perils Of Prophecy: American Predictions About Russia's Future Since 1881. Ukraine says it has detained a 25-year-old Uzbek national on suspicion of spying for Russia. The State Border Guard Service (DPS) says the suspect was detained at a border checkpoint on September 19 while entering Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region from Russia. The DPS said border guards found a camera hidden in a button on the suspect's clothes as well as video- and audio-recording devices in his pockets. The Uzbek citizen, whose name was not disclosed, told border guards that he received the devices from Russian officials after he was detained in Russia for staying in the country illegally. The suspect was handed over to Ukraine's Security Service for further investigations. Based on reporting by 112.ua and Ua.today The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has branded Russia's parliamentary elections illegitimate. In a resolution passed by 264 votes in favor on September 20, the lawmakers said they do not recognize the legitimacy of the elections because they were also held in the forcibly annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea -- the first time since Moscow's takeover of the territory in March 2014. The lawmakers also urged the international community to follow their example. The September 18 vote strengthened the ruling United Russia party's grip on the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Based on reporting by Interfax and TASS 5 Ukrainian artist Daria Marchenko gives the final touches to her work The Heart Of War in her studio in Kyiv. Cartridge casings from different caliber weapons from the eastern Ukrainian conflict zone were used to create the work. (epa/Roman Pilipey) Alphabet Inc. GOOGL is already a major subject of scrutiny in Europe and it appears that the matter has started to spread across Asia as well. Indonesias tax agency is reportedly planning to bill the company for five years of back taxes and associated fines. Whats the Probe All About? The local tax office believes that PT Google Indonesia has paid less than 0.1% of the total accumulated taxes as of 2015. It decided to raid the companys regional headquarters in Singapore, Google Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. after it refused to be audited in June. According to the head of the tax offices special cases unit, Muhammad Haniv, a team of four tax investigators went to Google's office in Indonesia on Monday and discussed the alleged back taxes and audit of tax compliance records. Haniv said that if Google is found to have broken the rules, it might have to pay four times the tax it owes. In response, a Google Indonesia spokesman stated that the company cooperates with the government and has paid all applicable taxes in Indonesia. Google Out of Favor with European Authorities over Taxes In January, Google reached an agreement with U.K. tax officials to pay nearly $190 million in British back taxes and make changes in the style of calculating its UK tax bill. The UK settlement was followed by further investigation. Officials raided Googles French headquarters in May searching for evidence of "aggravated tax fraud" and money laundering as Google paid just $1.76 billion as back taxes there. ALPHABET INC-A Price ALPHABET INC-A Price | ALPHABET INC-A Quote Our Take Google is embroiled in a legal battle across practically all continents. Apart from being a huge drain on resources, these have earned for it a bad name on privacy concerns, anti-competitive concerns, patent infringements and what have you. The good news is that the company has had extraordinary success in the courtroom and with government officials around the world. Its streak of good luck can change at any time and so investors remain wary. Story continues Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider Currently, Alphabet is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. Better-ranked stocks in the in the broader technology sector include Facebook, Inc. FB, Yirendai Ltd. YRD and LinkedIn Corporation LNKD, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report FACEBOOK INC-A (FB): Free Stock Analysis Report LINKEDIN CORP-A (LNKD): Free Stock Analysis Report ALPHABET INC-A (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report YIRENDAI LTD (YRD): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The letter from prison in an awkward script landed in the hands of Richmond Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer Thursday afternoon. She read it silently to herself from the bench. Excuse my grammar, a note says on the cover. It closes, Sincerely a Mothers Plea. The contents revealed a lurid past of heroin addiction and murder. It spoke of losses and of a son 15 and a daughter 12 whose father was murdered. I saw firsthand the misery, suffering, and pain they endured as a result of my actions pain they continue to endure, the letter read. I do not want the same long term fate for my precious grandchildren. The letter was from Bessie Virginia Hope, a prison inmate at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women who is now 52 and serving life plus 20 years for stabbing to death with a fillet knife Joseph E. Jones III, the father of Hopes daughter, in October 1995. High on heroin and Wild Irish Rose, Hope was a $300-a-day addict and in a heated argument stabbed Jones seven times. In the letter, Hope begs for mercy for the little girl who suffered from the loss of her father. That little girl was standing before Spencer Thursday afternoon, a month from her 32nd birthday. Jodi J. Hope was wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and a deputy brought her into the courtroom wearing handcuffs. Her lawyer, Sherri Thaxton, spoke of the womans three young children, of her years of struggle to restore family values, of the Easter egg hunts, the Christmas decorations and her devotion to family. But a jury in April after a five-day trial found that Jodi Hope was a killer, a woman who under the pretense of protecting her boyfriend rushed from her nursing job to Southside Plaza in South Richmond and ended up shooting two men, one fatally, in a hail of gunfire. Antonio Harris died; his brother was injured in the arm. A jury convicted Hope of two weapons charges, second-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding. Hope stood before Spencer yesterday as Thaxton described a woman whose life was dedicated to family but who had barely survived a childhood marked by her fathers murder, her mothers heroin addiction and a string of temporary homes. Bored into her mind were her mothers words: I just murdered your father. She thought she was going to lose her family forever again, Thaxton told Spencer, summing up the Southside Plaza uproar. When it came time for Hope to speak, she said: I am the backbone of my family. Now they have lost me. She begged the judge to let me see my kids again one day. Spencer followed the jurys recommendation, sending Hope to prison for 48 years. The judge said simply that neither the murder of Hopes father nor her mothers plea could justify her conduct. A Chesterfield County man has been arrested in connection with a shooting over the weekend that police said stemmed from a drug deal. About 1:20 a.m. Sunday, Chesterfield police received a call from a man driving in the 6400 block of Iron Bridge Road who said he had been shot. Emergency communications personnel directed the man to pull off the roadway, and officers and emergency personnel were dispatched to help him, police said. The victim was taken to Chippenham Hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said. Danny Hinton Jr., 19, of the 6300 block of Cakebread Court in Chesterfield was arrested Monday and charged with aggravated malicious wounding, robbery, shooting at an occupied vehicle, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and grand larceny in connection with the shooting, police said. Richmond police are continuing to search for the culprits who spray-painted a building in Shockoe Bottom early Wednesday morning. The man who captured video footage of men spray-painting graffiti onto the brick building said it happened shortly before 2:30 a.m. and that he has seen similar graffiti markings elsewhere in the Shockoe Bottom area, which he suspects might be tied to the same group of men. It wasnt just us that night, said Bryan Brodie, who lives in an apartment across from the building that was vandalized Wednesday. I know somebody will recognize these guys. ... I would love to see them prosecuted, Brodie said. Brodie said he had installed surveillance cameras at his apartment building at 1912 E. Main St. after reports of shoplifting nearby. After seeing graffiti on the nearby 1908 E. Main St. building, he checked surveillance footage, which showed the culprits in the act. That surveillance footage, turned over to Richmond police detectives, shows six men approach the building at 1908 E. Main as at least some of the men then began spray-painting the building. Brodie said it is more than 100 years old and is being renovated into commercial and residential property. Richmond police spokesman James Mercante said detectives are continuing to investigate. Detectives take these incidents of vandalism very seriously, and they remind everyone that damage of $1,000 or more can result in a felony charge, Mercante said Monday. Virginia Commonwealth University police are looking for man who grabbed a woman's buttocks Monday on the school's Monroe Park campus. According to an alert sent to students and staff, the suspect grabbed the victim's buttocks shortly before noon on Goshen Street. The suspect is described as a tall, slim, black male in his 20s. He was last seen shirtless and carrying a white t-shirt over his head, and was wearing dark-colored shorts, a white belt, and black and white sneakers. Police have increased patrols in the area. Seth Fleming, accused of killing two friends after driving a pickup truck into a tree in Hanover County in April, has been indicted by a grand jury on two counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to the Hanover County Sheriffs Office. Dylan Ballard, 17, and Elliot Hinton, 22, both of Mechanicsville, died at the scene of the crash. Four others in the extended-cab 2001 Dodge Ram pickup, which was full of beer cans, survived with injuries. Authorities have not said whether Fleming, who was an 18-year-old senior at Lee-Davis High School at the time, had been drinking or smoking marijuana. Authorities also have not specified whether Fleming was tested for alcohol in his blood. About 10:30 p.m. on April 23, the truck was traveling east on Cold Harbor Road in Mechanicsville when it went off the left side of the road while rounding a curve and hit a tree head-on, not far from Cold Harbor National Cemetery, according to authorities. The truck had beer cans inside, smelled of alcohol, and one of the passengers said all the passengers had been drinking and smoking marijuana, according to an affidavit for a search warrant to inspect the truck filed in Hanover County Circuit Court. Even in April, the sheriffs office considered the deaths part of an involuntary manslaughter investigation, according to a search warrant affidavit. Five of the six people who were in the truck were students at Lee-Davis High or had graduated in the past few years. Some community members said the six friends had attended a NASCAR race at Richmond International Raceway that day. Ballard was a Lee-Davis senior, and Hinton was a 2011 graduate. Thomas B. Lumpkin, of Aylett, told sheriffs deputy Travis S. Powell that the passengers had been drinking and smoking marijuana at a pond prior to the fatal crash, court records state. In the affidavit, Powell said he saw a large amount of beer cans in the truck when he responded to the crash, while the first deputy on the scene, Justin Hall, noted the strong smell of alcohol about the person of Mr. Fleming. Investigators seized a glass smoking device from the truck, a portion of the middle front seat belt, a speedometer instrument panel, a bottle of air freshener spray, and a bottle of eye drops, according to a court document. The deaths prompted community outreach that included fundraising efforts for the families of those killed in the crash. A Henrico County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to the second-degree murder of 12-year-old Amiya Moses, who was playing outside a North Richmond apartment when she was caught in the crossfire between feuding neighbors. Shaquille D. Maxwell, 20, of the 700 block of Windomere Avenue, also pleaded guilty in Richmond Circuit Court to use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting into an occupied dwelling and possession of a firearm by a felon. Sentencing will be scheduled for a later date. Hes the second of three defendants to be prosecuted in Amiyas December death. A fourth shooter has yet to be identified. Another defendant, Davarn M. Hancock, 22, of the 4800 block of Burnt Oak Drive in Chesterfield County, was sentenced Monday to 28 years in prison for first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and shooting into an occupied dwelling. A judge had found him guilty in July. Amiya was playing outside a friends home in the 4900 block of Old Brook Road on Dec. 19. At about 9:30 p.m., shots rang out across Watkins Street; Amiya ducked for cover but was shot in the back. She died after being taken to a hospital. The sixth-grader at Henderson Middle School had celebrated her birthday just two weeks earlier. Prosecutors said they dont know who fired the fatal shot but added that since Maxwell, Hancock, Dwight Q. Jackson and a fourth man were working together, theyre all culpable. Two days earlier, there had been a fight in the street between a group living in the Watkins Street apartments and a group living in the Old Brook Road apartments. Witnesses testified at Hancocks trial that Amiya and several other neighborhood girls were caught in the middle of it. By Sam Rasoul and Jeremy Gruber The great experiment that is our democracy is faltering. A flawed presidential primary season has led to a general election season that only continues to perpetuate the very worst of political instincts. Meanwhile, Congress and many of our state legislatures remain mired in gridlock. Our elected representatives, most of whom originally ran for office to improve their communities, find themselves forced into partisan arenas. Experts, and even many reformers, are pointing the finger at the American people as the cause that somehow weve become less civil, more polarized, less able to come together as Americans. We dont buy it. Get a diverse group of Americans together in ones living room today and more often than not, engaging conversations develop and points of connection emerge. Honest disagreements dont prevent cooperation and inclusion. Why has that stopped happening in the halls of our government? Because the current structure of our elections actually incentivizes partisanship and divisiveness. Less than 5 percent of voters are deciding who represents 100 percent of their district or state. In order to be elected and remain in office, our leaders are forced to play to narrow party bases that actually represent very few of us. Just this year, 26.3 million independent voters, including almost half of all millennial voters, were barred from voting because of closed presidential primaries. Thats almost as many voters as voted for our two current general election candidates! It doesnt have to be this way. Eighty years ago, Nebraskans were faced with an even worse political and social unrest that was gripping their state and the country as a whole. They came together Republicans, Democrats and independents alike to fundamentally change how they were represented by eliminating private party primary elections. There is no longer a Democratic primary and a Republican primary. There is a public primary. It is open to all voters, and open to all candidates. The highest vote-getters go on to compete in the November election. The result has completely changed how politics in the state of Nebraska is conducted. Today, Nebraska voters are empowered with the knowledge that candidates must reach out to a broad range of constituents in order to be elected and must be responsive to them to stay in office. There are few safe seats, even in districts with high populations of one party. Imagine a liberal or conservative district where two Democrats or two Republicans are going at each other in the general election due to having a public primary where the top candidates advanced. Thats true choice, not the manufactured choice with a candidate who has no chance of election. Now independent and minority party voters in that district will feel as though their voice does matter in the general election, as the candidate who reaches out to all the voters, not simply the partisan few, will carry the day. Although the Nebraska legislature is 71 percent Republican, only eight members regularly vote the party line. Elected officials are generally free from the type of strong-arm partisan politics that pervade the rest of the country and can define for themselves what it means to be conservative or progressive. As a result, a political culture has emerged that embraces debate and new ideas. Committee leadership posts are determined by merit, not by party standing, and every bill gets a fair and open hearing. Diverse coalitions form issue by issue across party lines and the legislative agenda is highly productive. This session alone, the legislature voted to pass immigration reforms and raise the gas tax to fund improvements to aging infrastructure. Last year in Virginia, 93 percent of primary races for state legislative office fielded candidates who ran unopposed, and every member of the state legislature was re-elected in the general election: the worst record for competitive elections in the entire country. While most are likely doing a fine job, a 100 percent re-election rate in the general election is not the responsiveness to the people our Founding Fathers imagined. Coupled with redistricting reform, a true public primary or top-two primary not only improves our democracy but can help to encourage competition for office and cooperation in Richmond. For the first time in history, a plurality of Americans 43 percent are refusing to join either political party; 50 percent of millennials now identify as independent, according to Pew Research. Knowing this, and with laws making it difficult in Virginia for third parties to organize, the political system is built to drive away the voters of tomorrow. Eighty years ago Nebraskans stood up and demanded change. Its time for all of us to join them. Lets build a political culture that can meet the very real 21st-century challenges we face. Lets build a government that truly is by and for the people. Four hundred years ago, 150 years before the founding of the U.S., the commonwealth of Virginia itself was just a startup. Today, Governor McAuliffe; the firm I run, Village Capital; and a bipartisan group of elected officials, business leaders, and partners across the state are stopping in Richmond on a bus tour across the commonwealth to celebrate the next generation of Virginias entrepreneurs. What is the Virginia Velocity Tour, and why are we taking a bus around Virginia supporting startups? Entrepreneurs create the future economy. According to the Kauffman Foundation, nearly 100 percent of the net new jobs created in the U.S. over the past 30 years are from startups. The largest employer in Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, was a startup in 1819. The largest private-sector employer in Richmond, Capital One, was a startup just 20 years ago. Entrepreneurs will create the jobs of the future. And entrepreneurs have the opportunity to solve problems we all care about. Whether its better-functioning schools, a healthier food system, or an energy system that powers us sustainably into the future, innovators across Virginia are inventing the future today. But most startups dont have a shot. Take Jerry Nemorin, who founded LendStreet in Charlottesville. Jerry is helping families facing crushing debt consolidate and refinance medical, student and credit card loans giving families in trouble a new start. When he started his company, he struggled to raise money. He fell victim to what investors call pattern recognition. Investors like to back who theyve seen before, and as Nemorin said, When it comes to pattern recognition, as a black guy, in central Virginia, solving a problem for poor people, I was 0 for 3! Nemorins story isnt an outlier: 78 percent of startup investment in the country goes to three states New York, Massachusetts, and California; less than 5 percent of startup investment goes to women; and less than 1 percent of startup investment goes to people of color. Virginia startups receive less than 1 percent of startup investment in the country. Nemorin ultimately moved LendStreet to San Francisco, where he thought he would have a better shot at success and hes raised $40 million, and is now helping hundreds of people (mostly Californians) get out of debt. While thats great news for Nemorin, not all entrepreneurs have the opportunity to move nor should they have to. The Virginia Velocity Tour is an effort to change the narrative. Well highlight and support five communities, and 30 entrepreneurs, who are building the future of Virginias economy. The weeklong effort will connect leaders within communities across the commonwealth, and help startup founders build the relationships they need to grow. Virginia will also be funding five companies with a total of $125,000 in equity-free grants in a public pitch competition to give startups a shot in the arm. In Richmond, well be highlighting the regions growing manufacturing industry as well as its creative side. Historically a major hub of manufacturing and shipping, from tobacco to ammunition, Richmond today is known for its young and innovative entrepreneurial scene. This year 29 Richmond companies made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies, led by superfood bar manufacturer Health Warrior. Top marketing firms like The Martin Agency, Brandito and 903 Creative feed off the creative energy from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond, helping young entrepreneurs find a national and global market. Incubators and accelerators like The Annex and Lighthouse Labs help early-stage ventures along the way. When the bus pulls out of Richmond Tuesday night, one startup will have a $25,000 shot in the arm. But were excited to change the larger narrative that great entrepreneurs dont need to move to San Francisco to have a shot; they can build their businesses here, and in the commonwealth. We dont have to copy Silicon Valley we have everything we need to build the great businesses of the future. LYNNFIELD, MA--(Marketwired - Sep 20, 2016) - American Power Group Corporation (OTCQB: APGI) announced today that its subsidiary, American Power Group, Inc. ("APG"), has entered an Authorized Dealer Agreement and a Certified Installer Agreement with Cullen Diesel Power Ltd. to introduce APG's Turbocharged Natural Gas V5000 Dual Fuel Systems to British Columbia. The first APG dual fuel order for ten systems will be installed on conversions for Clark Freightways from Coquitlam, British Columbia and funded through a local natural gas conversion incentive program. Shipment of the initial ten APG systems is scheduled for September 2016. Cullen Diesel Power Ltd. and its subsidiaries will manage all aspects of the APG V5000 Dual Fuel dual fuel conversions in British Columbia. Cullen Diesel Power can trace its heritage back to the 1920s as one of the first General Motors diesel distributors in North America. In 1974, it changed its name to Cullen Detroit Diesel-Allison Limited and has evolved through several organizational changes to become Cullen Diesel Power Ltd. today under the guidance of Allan Cullen. Clark Freightways: Established in 1957, Clark Freightways ("Clark") has a long and proud history which includes refrigerated and frozen LTL, general freight, truck load, and dedicated transportation logistics services. The Clark management team are leaders in green initiatives and are committed to reducing their carbon footprint through continual research, investment, and implementation of fuel conservation and emission reduction solutions. Lyle Jensen, American Power Group Corporation's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We look forward to working with Cullen Diesel Power and Clark Freightways and fully support the various incentive programs to open up the British Columbia market to the economic and environmental benefits of APG's Turbocharged Natural Gas Dual Fuel Technology. There are reported to be over 50,000 registered Class 8 trucks in BC and many are heavy-haul high horsepower route profiles which only have dual fuel natural gas technology as a solution in order to retain the required power and torque performance. This pilot program is a 'win-win' scenario for the fleet owners and citizens of British Columbia." About American Power Group Corporation American Power Group's subsidiary, American Power Group, Inc., provides cost effective products and services that promote the economic and environmental benefits of our alternative fuel and emission reduction technologies. Our patented Turbocharged Natural Gas Dual Fuel Conversion Technology is a unique non-invasive software driven solution that converts existing vehicular and stationary diesel engines to run concurrently on diesel and various forms of natural gas including compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, conditioned well-head/ditch gas or bio-methane gas with the flexibility to return to 100% diesel fuel operation to avoid any natural gas range anxiety. Depending on the fuel source and operating profile, our EPA and CARB approved dual fuel conversions seamlessly displace 45% - 65% of diesel fuel with cleaner burning natural gas resulting in measurable reductions in nitrous oxides (NOx) and other diesel-related emissions. Through our Trident Associated Gas Capture and Recovery Technology, we provide oil and gas producers a flare capture service solution for associated gases produced at their remote and stranded well sites. These producers are under tightening regulatory pressure to capture and liquefy the flared gases at their remote and stranded well sites or face significant oil output reductions. With our proprietary Flare to Fuel process technology we can convert these captured gases into natural gas liquids ("NGL") which can be sold as heating fluids, emulsifiers, or be further processed by refiners. Given pending federal methane capture regulations, we anticipate our next generation NGL processing systems will have the capability to convert the residual flared methane into pipeline quality natural gas that can be sold for a variety of dedicated and dual fuel vehicular, stationary, industrial and household uses. See additional information at: www. americanpowergroupinc.com Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Opinions With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements and opinions, including, but not limited to, statements relating to new markets, development and introduction of new products, and financial and operating projections. These forward-looking statements and opinions are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein, and cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially from such forward-looking statements and opinions. These risk factors include, but are not limited to, the fact that, our dual fuel conversion business has lost money in the last seven consecutive fiscal years and our flare gas capture and recovery business has yet to generate measurable revenues, the risk that we may require additional financing to grow our business, the fact that we rely on third parties to manufacture, distribute and install our products, we may encounter difficulties or delays in developing or introducing new products and keeping them on the market, we may encounter lack of product demand and market acceptance for current and future products, we may encounter adverse events economic conditions, we operate in a competitive market and may experience pricing and other competitive pressures, we are dependent on governmental regulations with respect to emissions, including whether EPA approval will be obtained for future products and additional applications, the risk that we may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights, factors affecting the Company's future income and resulting ability to utilize its NOLs, the fact that our stock is thinly traded and our stock price may be volatile, the fact that we have preferred stock outstanding with substantial preferences over our common stock, the fact that the conversion of the preferred stock and the exercise of stock options and warrants will cause dilution to our shareholders, the fact that we incur substantial costs to operate as a public reporting company and other factors that are detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2015 and the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and opinions, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements and opinions that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search? Search for: Search Debbie Garrett and Judy Austin were the recipients of the Buchanan Town Council Award presented at its meeting Sept. 12. Garrett and Austin were honored for their contributions at Buchanan Elementary School and service to the Buchanan community and its residents. Garrett was educated in the Botetourt County school system, graduating from James River High School in 1985. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in early and middle education 1989 and a masters degree in educational leadership in 1993, both from Radford University, she had a special desire and interest to give back to her community. Her career as an educator has spanned a total of 28 years, and this is her 25th anniversary as an employee in Botetourt County. In 2015, Buchanan Elementary was honored by receiving the Title I award from the Virginia Board of Education under Debbies leadership. Buchanan Elementary was only one of 46 schools across the commonwealth of Virginia to receive the award and the first school in Botetourt County to achieve this honor. Austin, also educated in Botetourt County, is a 1962 graduate of James River High School. She began her career at Buchanan Elementary School in January 1978 and has positively impacted the lives of over 1,000 local parents and children over the past 38 years. She worked in the cafeteria for 13 years from 1978 to 1991. She transitioned to school secretary in 1991 and has served under three school principals: Bill Watson, Carol Wickersham and Debbie Garrett. Austin has won second place in the Best of Botetourt for the best school staff member category on two occasions. This current academic year marks her 25th anniversary as secretary of Buchanan Elementary School. Submitted by Michelle Crook RICHMOND The Virginia State Police is experiencing a severe manpower shortage, creating policing deficits on state roadways that officials say make highway safety unsustainable in the long term. In the first nine months of 2016, 103 sworn employees and 76 civilian employees have left the department. There are currently 116 sworn officer vacancies in the field, according to a Sept. 16 memo by Col. Steven Flaherty, which was distributed to Virginia State Police employees last Friday and obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The majority of those leaving are doing so to seek better-paying employment in other local, state and federal agencies, Flaherty writes, adding that applications to join the VSP have decreased 48.5 percent since February. VSPs starting salary of $36,207 for troopers is among the lower police employment wages in the commonwealth. The department has 44 troopers in training for a seven-month-long academy class that is set to graduate Nov. 4. The next class, which has 60 students, isnt scheduled to graduate for another six months. Even though they are not in service, the troopers in training are not counted as vacancies, meaning that for practical purposes, the department is 220 troopers short. Flahertys memo noted that the manpower crisis has been exacerbated by news that state revenue shortfalls would prevent 3 percent pay raises for state employees originally included in Virginias biennial budget. In the week following Gov. Terry McAuliffes announcement, 11 troopers gave notice to leave the department. In the Richmond area, state police have lost 11 troopers from the 40-man allotment for Area 8, which covers the interstate highway system that runs through the city of Richmond and Henrico County, according to another internal memo addressing manpower shortages written by Area 8 Commander 1st Sgt. John Rehme. The number has been further reduced to 23 troopers through special assignments inside and outside of the department, and military leave. Factoring days off, sick leave and mandatory training, staffing in the area frequently dips below the safe and acceptable minimum, of 18 troopers that Rehme believes is necessary for each 24-hour period. Adequate staffing, he writes, does not happen now and has not happened in a long time I dont sleep well. Sleep might not come for a while. Flaherty said the next recruiting class, set to begin in March 2017, may be delayed due to budget cuts. We know that you have been asked to do more with less for too long and the resulting consequences are a stark reality being experienced across every section of the department, Flaherty states in the memo. Flaherty noted that applications for positions in law enforcement are trending downward nationally, but the state police, which currently have 2,818 sworn and 848 civilian positions, is having a hard time attracting candidates given the low starting salary. Starting pay in the Henrico County Police Department is $43,892; the Hanover County Sheriffs Office pays $41,719 and the Hopewell Police Department pays $41,017. In Norfolk, starting officers make $41,168, while in Fairfax County, salaries start at $50,263. The Chesterfield County Sheriffs Office, which oversees the county jail, pays $36,500, while in Southwest Virginia, the Wytheville Police Department pays $34,716. Our troopers are taking up collections for other troopers who cannot afford to buy their own lunch, one commander wrote to another VSP official in an email. They are risking their lives every day and cannot afford to eat. What does that say? Like other state government agencies, the Virginia State Police has not been immune to budget cuts and reductions. Since 2006, the department has experienced a $94.2 million reduction in general fund budget resources, according to figures provided by the department. Budget reductions currently under consideration will cut an additional $13.1 million. Flahertys memo encourages VSP employees to communicate with their state senators and delegates. I wish there was a quick and simple solution to resolve these very serious circumstances, he writes, noting earlier in the memo that VSP executive staff has been discussing compensation with governors office and members of the General Assembly. The governors office and state legislative leaders have been trying to navigate the pitfalls of reduced revenue and budget promises. McAuliffes office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. But the leading Republican in the General Assembly expressed concern over how acute the situation has become. Im grateful for the hardworking men and women of the Virginia State Police and the agencys unwavering commitment to the safety of our commonwealth, said Speaker of the House Bill Howell, R-Stafford. We are aware of the fundamental challenges we face with our state workforce and we are working to address those long term, but this a more immediate concern that needs attention, Howell said, calling a daily manpower shortage in the department very troubling. More than 6 in 10 Americans (65 percent) think climate change is a problem that the U.S. government needs to address. But when it comes to actually funding solutions to the problem, were divided. Thats according to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, the agencies that recently conducted a new survey on Americans views on energy and climate change. Although the majority of Americans are on the same page when it comes to acknowledging climate change, they dont agree on how much money they are willing to pay to address the problem. When asked how much theyd be willing to pay to confront the changes also called global warming, respondents said: Zero : A whopping 42 percent of Americans said theyre unwilling to even pay a monthly $1 fee on their electric bill to fight climate change. $20 : About 29 percent of Americans said they would pony up $20 a month. $50 : About 1 in 5 Americans said theyd pay $50 per month to help combat climate change. Political party affiliation is closely correlated with how willing Americans are to acknowledge global warming as a fact. And party affiliation also is associated with how much money theyre willing to personally spend to fight global warming. Despite this division, some experts say its encouraging that a large percentage of Americans would pay to fight climate change. Michael Greenstone, director of EPIC at the University of Chicago, says in a press release: These findings confirm that there is a shift underway in how concerned all Americans are about climate change. It is becoming clear that people are seeing more and more that it is worthwhile to invest some money today to help reduce the odds of the worst climate damages. Watch the video of Americans Divided About Paying to Stop Climate Change on MoneyTalksNews.com. How much money are you willing to pay to help fight global warming? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page. Story continues This article was originally published on MoneyTalksNews.com as 'Americans Divided About Paying to Stop Climate Change'. More from Money Talks News Susan Allender Hagedorn, 69, passed away surrounded by her family on Friday, September 16th, 2016, despite heroic efforts by the ER doctors and nurses at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Sue was born on October 8, 1946 in Lake Forest, Illinois to John Scott Allender and Agnes "Connie" (Dobbins) Allender.Sue graduated from Bridgewater College in 1968 with a degree in English, and soon after married Charles Hagedorn III on August 30th, 1969. She then went on to graduate from Iowa State University in 1974 with a Master of Arts in Science and Technology, and a PhD in 2001 from Virginia Tech in Science and Technology Studies. Sue was an English instructor at Virginia Tech for 23 years where she formed lifelong relationships with many fellow teachers and influenced the lives of thousands of students who attended her courses in technical writing, literature and the environment, and her passion science fiction. Sue also conducted research on the impact of science on society, where she published technical papers, chapters in research books, gave talks at conferences, and was active in professional societies.Sue and Charles enjoyed travel and often combined work trips with vacation and these led to a life of often wild and crazy adventures in China, the Czech Republic, England, Scotland, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Canada, and countless trips around the United States. There were only a few states that Sue and Charles never visited, but their favorites were Hawaii, Alaska, Colorado, and the highlands of SW Virginia, where they built their retirement home. Sue was an avid quilter, seamstress, and collector of all things fabric. Her greatest single joy was her family and she relished the times spent with daughters, sons-in-law, and granddaughters.Sue was predeceased by her parents and is survived by her loving husband of 47 years, Charles; daughters, Sarah (Jason) Bowman and granddaughter Abagail, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Rosa (Jake) Criggedorn and granddaughter Ripley, of Wahiawa, Hawaii; and two brothers, Jack Allender of Orlando, Fla., and Jeff Allender of North Augusta, Ga.Sue joined the Church of the Brethren denomination at marriage and she embodied their principles of living simply, peacefully, and being together.Friends and family are invited to a viewing on Wednesday September 21st, 2016 at 6 to 8 p.m. at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive SW, Blacksburg VA, 24060. A service and burial will follow on Thursday, September 22, 2016, at 11 a.m. at the Beaver Creek Church of the Brethren, 409 Ridgeview Rd., Floyd VA, 24091.Donations may be made in her name to the Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley (www.lvnrv.org). "All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."- Gandalf the Grey.Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg. raider b21 NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland America's newest stealth bomber, the B-21, finally has a name: Raider. Announced at the annual Air Force Association's conference, Northrop Grumman's B-21 is named after famed World War II air commander Gen. James Doolittle's group. The name for the next-generation bomber was announced by retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the last surviving member of the "Doolittle raid," one of the most risky missions in US military history. The Air Force is set to buy 100 new bombers from Northrop Grumman, the same manufacturer of the iconic B-2 Spirit. Earlier this year, the Air Force received more than 4,600 entries during a naming contest for the aircraft. NOW WATCH: America's B-2 stealth bomber is unlike any military aircraft in the world More From Business Insider LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Angola's sovereign wealth fund has started investing in local state-owned farms to make them commercially viable for producing and exporting soft commodities, the fund's chairman Jose Filomeno dos Santos said on Monday. The fund, known by its Portuguese acronym FSDEA, has recently secured a concession of seven large farms in the country covering some 72,000 hectares, it said in a statement on its first quarter investment update. "We have to add new management to each of the farms, determine which crops will be produced, expand irrigation systems - basically making them as efficient as possible so they can produce competitively and allow us to have products that can compete within Angola and even outside," dos Santos told Reuters in a telephone interview. The farms, which currently produce oil seeds, grains and meat, should yield a return on investment of 8 percent or more over 10 years on an annualized basis, dos Santos said. "Soft commodity prices are recovering, and that reflects how the world is: a growing middle class ... that creates additional demand. We will look at those aspects when we decide which crops to choose." While the FSDEA investment relates to domestic farmland, some sovereign funds have purchased agri-businesses overseas, while many Gulf investors have snapped up African farmland in order to secure access to food production. Angola aims to model the FSDEA on sovereign wealth funds such as Singapore's Temasek, which took over a number of assets such as the city state's port - one of the largest in the world - that were previously held by the government. "We are getting a wider pool of assets that were once state-owned transferred to the sovereign wealth fund for commercial management and which are very interesting because they can generate a lot of revenue but also because they can help the country in its social and economical development," dos Santos said. The FSDEA expects to take over more such state-owned assets by year-end, he added, but declined to give details. Story continues The fund had $4.56 billion under management at the end of the first quarter of 2016, according to the statement. FSDEA had $2.7 billion of its portfolio allocated for investments in private equity - unlisted securities and debt - in infrastructure, real estate, agriculture, timber, healthcare, mining and mezzanine capital, at the end of the period. (Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f215360%2fgettyimages-489916510 Apple says it is fixing a big hole in its clean energy strategy by partnering with its far-flung manufacturers to reduce carbon emissions from factories. The California tech giant already powers nearly all its data centers, offices and retail stores worldwide with renewable energy sources. But the third-party suppliers of Apple's iPhone glass covers, antennae bands and other key parts continue to rely on electricity from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal. SEE ALSO: How Apple is taking the tech worlds love affair with renewables to a new level Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, announced a handful of initiatives on Monday that will see Apple's manufacturers invest in wind and solar projects and energy-efficiency upgrades. "We are firm believers that everybody has a responsibility to address climate change," Jackson said in an address at the launch event for the 2016 Climate Week in New York City. "We're also bringing key suppliers along on this journey with us." About 77 percent of Apple's total carbon dioxide emissions come from the company's global supply chain, including mainly companies and manufacturing sites that Apple neither owns nor directly operates, said Jackson, who was head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013. This reliance on other, dirtier operations to help supply Apple's products is one of the last major hurdles the company faces in its race to be completely-powered by renewable energy. Story continues "So Apple can say, if you're using iTunes, that's from 100 percent renewable electricity, but they can't necessarily say the same for your Macbook Air," Emily Farnworth of The Climate Group, the non-profit organization running Climate Week, told Mashable on the sidelines of the conference. Cleaning the supply chain The sun rises above Tata Steel's Scunthorpe Plant in England. Image: LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP/Getty Images Jackson said Apple is working with its global suppliers to install more than 4 gigawatts of new clean energy including 2 gigawatts in China by 2020. She also announced that Solvay Specialty Polymers, which makes the antenna bands used in iPhones, has committed to using 100 percent renewable energy to power its Apple-related operations by 2018. The new pledge involves 14 manufacturing facilities in eight countries: China, India, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and the United States. Catcher Technology, one of Apple's main suppliers for aluminum iPhone casings, similarly pledged to use 100 percent renewable energy for its Apple-related production within two years. Those announcements build on past commitments from other Apple suppliers like Foxconn, which recently agreed to install 400 megawatts of solar power to power its iPhone final production facility in Zhengzhou, China. -A Chinese employee walks past a billboard of Foxconn outside a building of Foxconn Technology Group in Shanghai, China, in July 2016. Image: Bai kelin/Imaginechina All told, Apple's supply chain is on track to use 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours per year of clean energy to manufacture Apple products by 2018, Jackson said. That amount of electricity is about the same that a million Chinese households consume in a year. "These acts of leadership by our suppliers are so important, because they demonstrate that the large manufacturers do value where their energy comes from and are increasingly demanding greater amounts of clean energy worldwide," Jackson said in the Climate Week address. For non-energy and mining companies like Apple, supply chain emissions can contribute four times the amount of emissions from direct operations, according to CDP, a climate advocacy group in London. The CDP is slated to launch a first-ever ranking in January that will measure how large global corporations manage climate change risks in their supply chains. Getting to 100 percent renewables Apple is also working toward an earlier goal to power 100 percent of its direct operations using renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. Last year, the Silicon Valley behemoth used about 93 percent solar, wind and other clean energy sources to power its data centers, retail stores and offices worldwide, Jackson said. SunPower Station in Sichuan province, southwest China, June 2015. The solar power station is among Apple's first major clean energy developments in China. Image: Jie Zhao/Corbis via Getty Images On Monday, Apple formally joined the RE100 campaign, an initiative led by the Climate Group to commit major companies to completely ditch fossil fuels in their operations. Other tech giants such as Google and Microsoft have already joined the campaign. Farnworth, who directs the RE100 campaign for The Climate Group, said Apple's participation also shows how the company is using its ubiquitous brand to influence global discussions on climate change policy. Apple's commitment on Monday signals to policymakers that "their actions are serious, and that companies really do want better, clean energy," Farnworth said. Utho Capital, which organises the annual Zimbabwe Mining Indaba, has postponed this years gathering to next year due to the current economic conditions in the southern African country. The event had been set for 12-14 October in the capital, Harare. Based on various consultations with our major sponsors and all the relevant mining stakeholders and as well as taking into consideration the current economic situation in Zimbabwe - we are, unfortunately not hosting the Zimbabwe Mining Indaba, an official told Rough & Polished last week. However, we look forward to hosting it next year Chatham House, a leading independent think-tank close to the British establishment, said in a report that Zimbabwe was currently burdened with a $10,8 billion debt that had almost crippled both public and private sector as revenue continues to decline on the back of massive company closures. Finance and economic development minister Patrick Chinamasa recently revised the countrys 2016 projected economic growth rate to 1,2 percent from the initial projection of 2,7 percent. The country, which had previously shown potential as a major diamond producer in the world, produced only 972 765 carats in the first six months of the year against a target of 6 million carats. "The relatively low output levels, against a target of 6 million carats, is attributed to the lack of adequate capital on the part of operating companies under Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company as well as reluctance by previous companies to merge into the newly formed company," said Chinamasa. However, the countrys mining sector was projected to register a modest recovery growth of 13,2 percent this year, largely driven by the anticipated growth in gold, platinum group of metals and nickel. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished AMTRAK Amtrak has chosen Hill International and CH2M to provide program management support services for its Gateway Program in the Northeast Corridor. Both firms will guide Amtrak as it works the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), New Jersey Transit, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the states of New York and New Jersey to get the program underway. Hill International says its initial three-year contract with Amtrak is worth an estimated value of $10 million. We are very excited to be involved in helping Amtrak to manage this critically-needed infrastructure program, said John Milano, P.E., senior vice president and Northeast Regional Manager for Hills Project Management Group. Tom Donahue, CH2Ms director of Transit & Rail, also noted the pride he felt in the companys selection to join Amtraks program management consultant team. This is a great win for our firms and shows that Hill International and CH2M bring North Americas strongest team of implementation strategy and program management professionals to Amtrak, Donahue said. We understand the urgency for this program to meet the critical needs of the Northeast Corridor, and we look forward to working collaboratively with Amtrak to facilitate and optimize its passenger services. The Gateway Program proposes strategic rail infrastructure enhancements that aim to improve services in the region and double the number of passenger trains running under the Hudson River. Officials say the program is expected to increase track, tunnel, bridge and station capacity, eventually creating four mainline tracks between Newark, New Jersey and Penn Station in New York City. The program is also expected to entail the installation of a new two-track tunnel under the Hudson River. Also outlined in the program are updates to infrastructure, such as the electrical system that supplies power to about 450 weekday trains using this section of the Northeast Corridor. Plans are also in place to renovate damaged portions of the 100-year-old North River Tunnel, which has seen severe water damage from storms. GREX Georgetown Rail Equipments (GREX) Aurora Xi has been recognized as the only rail industry finalist for two R&D 100 Awards, which some call the Oscars of invention. The awards recognize the 100 most innovative technologies and services introduced within the year. Representatives say the winners will be named Nov. 3 at a black-tie ceremony to be hosted in Maryland. The Aurora Xi is one of 52 finalists in the R&D 100 Special Recognition category and one of 194 in the general R&D 100 awards category. Aurora Xi is a product that we at GREX are incredibly proud of because it helps railroads stay safe and compliant today while allowing them to conserve capital for tomorrow, said Greg Grissom, chief operating officer at GREX. Were honored that it has been named a finalist in the prestigious R&D 100 Awards. The company says its Aurora Xi expands on its previous model of the patented Aurora track inspection technology. The technology, meant to ensure track safety, inspects track surfaces to highlight potential concerns and safety risks. The Aurora Xi uses backscatter x-ray technology to look inside track components to reveal everything from the depth of cracks to hollow spots in ties, the company says. For more than 50 years, the R&D 100 Awards have celebrated top-notch design, innovation, research and more. An independent panel comprised of about 50 judgesmembers of various industrieschooses the finalists each year, representatives say. By becoming an R&D 100 Award Finalist, these companies are being recognized for their excellent contributions to advancing science and technology, Bea Riemschneider, editorial director of the ABM Science Group, R&D Magazine, said in a press release. They should be very proud, indeed, of their notable R&D achievements and the teams that are responsible for these new products. The Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on September 6, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. At the meeting, the RBA decided to keep the benchmark rate unchanged at a record low of 1.50 percent. Australia also will see Q2 numbers for house prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.0 percent on quarter and 5.2 percent on year. That follows the 0.2 percent quarterly decline and the 6.8 percent yearly gain in the three months prior. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. Canadian stocks eked out modest gains Monday, with gauges of most sectors in the green ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve monetary policy decision in the US. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 45.54 points, or 0.32 percent, 14,496.23. Energy stocks crept higher amid reports that OPEC and Iran will curb output in order to stabilize the market. "We had a long bilateral meeting with [Iran's president Hassan] Rouhani. We're close to a deal between OPEC producer countries and non-OPEC," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told a news conference at the end of a a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. October WTI oil settled at $43.30/bbl on Nymex, up 27 cents, or 0.6%. The leader of Canadian union Unifor reportedly said thousands of factory employees will strike at two General Motors Co. plants if the sides miss a Monday night deadline for a new contract. Progress has reportedly been made towards a deal. Meanwhile, TMX Group (TMX.TO) said it had not been removed from the S&P/TSX Index. Publisher Torstar Corp agreed to sell the former printing plant of the Toronto Star for about C$54.3 million. Shares rose 3 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Estonia's producer prices continued to decline in August, and at faster pace than in the previous month, figures from Statistics Estonia showed Tuesday. The producer price index fell 1.3 percent year-over-year in August, following a 1.0 percent drop in July. The fall in August was largely caused by a 13.9 percent slump in the price index of mining and quarrying, followed by electricity, gas steam and air conditioning supply with 12.8 percent decrease. On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent in August. Data also showed that import prices dipped 2.8 percent annually in August and it dropped 0.6 percent from the preceding month. At the same time, export prices rose 0.3 percent each yearly and monthly in August. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. The Hillary Clinton Campaign Monday released a new TV and digital ad underscoring what's at stake for Latino families across the country. The Campaign said the new ad,"Families Together," highlights the stark contrast between Clinton's lifelong record of fighting for families and children and Donald Trump's reckless plans to tear millions of families apart through a "deportation force." The ad underscores that the choice in this election could not be clearer for the Latino community-while Trump is promising to deport 16 million people from US, Clinton will do everything she can to keep families together. "Families Together" is airing in Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump met with visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in New York on Monday. El-Sisi is in the city to attend the U.N. General Assembly, which begins Tuesday. The Trump Campaign said Trump and President el-Sisi discussed the strategic bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Egypt, focusing on political, military and economic cooperation between the two countries. Trump's senior advisors, Senator Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, also attended the meeting. During the meeting, Trump expressed his recognition of Egypt's close relationship with Israel on countering terrorism, the campaign said. The real estate highlighted how Egypt and the U.S. share a common enemy and the importance of working together in defeating radical Islamic terrorism, not only politically and militarily, but also addressing the ideology. Trump said that if he were fortunate enough to win the election in November, he would invite el-Sisi on an official visit to the U.S. and would be honored to visit Egypt and the Egyptian people. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton also met with el-Sisi on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, with the meetings attracting some criticism due to the Egyptian President's alleged human rights abuses. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt has selected the topics for next Monday's first presidential debate, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Monday. A statement from the CPD said the topics for the debate include "America's Direction," "Achieving Prosperity," and "Securing America." The CPD noted the topics will not necessarily be brought up in that order and are subject to possible changes because of news developments. The first head-to-head matchup between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is scheduled for September 26th at Hofstra University in New York. The debate, which is scheduled to begin at 9 pm ET, will be divided into six segments of about 15 minutes each. Two 15-minute segments will focus on each of the topics selected by Holt. Trump recently told Bill O'Reilly of Fox News that he has respect for Holt but criticized the presidential debates as "a phony system," claiming all of the moderators are Democrats. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News AAA said it has found no benefit to using premium gasoline in a vehicle that only requires regular-grade fuel. The motoring and leisure travel company cautioned that premium gasoline is only higher octane, not higher quality. AAA said its research found that American drivers wasted more than $2.1 billion in the last twelve months by using premium-grade gasoline in vehicles designed to run on regular fuel. In the last twelve months, 16.5 million U.S. drivers have unnecessarily used premium fuel in their vehicles despite the vehicle manufacturer's recommendation. AAA conducted a comprehensive fuel evaluation to determine what benefits the practice offers to consumers, but found no benefits. Premium blends cost more than regular. "Drivers see the 'premium' name at the pump and may assume the fuel is better for their vehicle. AAA cautions drivers that premium gasoline is higher octane, not higher quality, and urges drivers to follow the owner's manual recommendations for their vehicle's fuel," John Nielsen, AAA's managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair, said. According to AAA, seventy percent of U.S. drivers currently own a vehicle that requires regular gasoline, while only 16 percent drive vehicles that require premium fuel. The remaining 14 percent own a vehicle that requires mid-grade gasoline or uses an alternative energy source. AAA researchers partnered with the Automobile Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center to test 87-octane (regular) and 93-octane (premium) gasoline in vehicles equipped with a V-8, V-6 or I4 engine designed to operate on regular-grade fuel. To evaluate the effects of using a higher-octane fuel when it is not required by the manufacturer, each vehicle was tested on a dynamometer. A dynamometer is essentially a treadmill for cars that is designed to measure horsepower, fuel and tailpipe emissions when using both fuel types and a variety of driving conditions. The laboratory testing found no significant increases in any tested category, indicating the practice of using premium gasoline when it is not required for the vehicle does not offer any advantage, AAA noted. "Drivers looking to upgrade to a higher quality fuel for their vehicle should save their money and select a TOP TIER gasoline, not a higher-octane one," Nielsen said. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News - By Alberto Abaterusso During the Denver Gold Forum, Kelvin Dushnisky, Barrick Gold Corporation's (ABX) president, provided an update on Veladero mine in Argentina that was halted on Sept. 8 due to cyanide spilling out from a damaged pipe by a large block of ice that rolled down a valley slope. Dushinsky said that the gold mine could resume operations in the next two weeks, depending on the reparation work through which the miner is trying to raise the height of the berm that surrounds the leach pad where gold is processed. Source: http://wiki.biomine.skelleftea.se/wiki/ The solution containing cyanide leaked outside the processing area but did not reach any water diversion channels or watercourses, so the incident did not pose any threat to employees, communities or the environment. Unfortunately, this type of incident is common in the area. As a matter of fact, the area had experienced three cyanide leaks in 2011-12 and another one in September 2015 for which Barrick was fined 145.7 million pesos ($9.82 million) last March by Argentina's San Juan province for mining code breaches that led to the spill. However, all the cyanide leaks never represented a potential risk to the environment and were always reported duly to the competent local authorities. Barrick does not anticipate any material impact of the cyanide spill incident to Veladero's operating guidance. Gold production is expected to be 580,000 ounces to 640,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $790 to $860 per ounce. Investors hope that Barrick will resume production at Veladero as soon as possible, since the Argentinean mine is one of its five core mines together with Lagunas Norte in Peru, Pueblo Viejo in Dominican Republic, and Goldstrike and Cortez in the U.S. From its core mines in the Americas, Barrick expects to produce approximately 70% of 2016 production at AISC of $650-700 per ounce and the world's biggest gold producer is determined to lower the overall AISC to the target of less than $700 per ounce by 2019. Story continues Source Concerning Cortez, a 3.75% net value royalty that covers a significant area of the Nevadan gold mine has been acquired by Royal Gold Inc. (RGLD) from a private party seller and for a consideration of $70 million. The transaction includes the Crossroads deposit. Barrick continues with its strategy to reduce debt, hoping to find cash from the divestment of noncore assets. One of these noncore assets is the Kalgoorlie super pit mine in Australia. From the sale of its 50% stake in the Australian mine, Barrick expects to fetch as much as $1 billion. But even if the miner will not be able to divest the noncore assets, it will go on with its debt reduction target anyway with cash from operations and cash on hand. The Canadian gold producer has plenty of cash and equivalents ($2.4 billion as of second quarter 2016) that could be used to cut its overall debt to $5 billion in 2017, together with incoming free cash flow. Barrick targets to reduce the debt by $2 billion by year-end, Dushnisky said at the Denver Gold Forum. As of June 30, the total long-term debt amounted to approximately $8.8 billion, but it must be said that about 57% of it does not mature before 2033. If Barrick sells its 50% stake in the Kalgoorlie super pit mine in Australia and its 64% stake in African unit Acacia Mining, the miner will lower costs further, considering that the mines in Australia and Africa contribute to the overall production of gold at an AISC that is approximately 14% and 25%, respectively, higher than the average item. The lower AISC per ounce that Barrick expects to sustain at Kalgoorlie (350,000-365,000 ounces of gold at all-in sustaining costs of $670-$700 per ounce) is a clear sign that the company is going to divest its 50% stake in the asset located in Australia. The company is also considering selling its 50% stake in Zaldivar, the copper mine in Chile, and the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, even though their divestment is not a priority at least until the Canadian miner has not received an interesting proposal. If the sale of its 64% stake in Acacia, 50% stake in Zaldivar and the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia become reality, it will improve the company's risk profile and further strengthen the balance sheet. The strengthening of the balance sheet through the divestment of high cost assets is a strategy that Barrick has successfully pursued since 2015, when the miner was able to reach the 23% reduction in total debt target with the sale of Bald Mountain and 50% of Round Mountain. Disclosure: I have no positions in Barrick Gold Corporation. Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. (Adds context, more details on spill) By Nicole Mordant DENVER, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold's Veladero gold mine in Argentina, one of its five core mines, could resume operations in the next two weeks, Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky said in an interview on Monday. "I am hopeful that it could be up and going in that kind of two-week window depending on how the reparation work goes," Dushnisky said. Barrick Gold said on Thursday that mine operations were temporarily suspended by the government after a "small quantity" of processing solution containing cyanide leaked outside a processing area. This is the second cyanide spill in just over a year at Veladero. Barrick was fined nearly $10 million by authorities in the Argentinian province of San Juan for last year's leak, which was caused by a defective valve. In the most recent leak, the solution flowed over a berm, or raised bank, surrounding the leach pad where gold is processed, after a pipe was damaged on Sept. 8 by a large block of ice that rolled down a valley slope. As part of the repair work, Barrick, the world's biggest gold producer, will raise the height of the berm, Dushnisky said on the sidelines of the Denver Gold Forum. The restart will be subject to the provincial government inspecting the work. The government has been "very responsive" in the past, Dushnisky said. Barrick has not publicly released figures on the volume of the latest spill. Presuming the repair work is finished within two weeks, "we don't anticipate any material impact to the project guidance," he said. Barrick forecasts Veladero will produce between 580,000 ounces and 640,000 ounces of gold this year. Barrick has had no discussions with regulators yet about any fines for the latest spill. Veladero's executive general manager Rick Baker has stepped down since the spill but is still employed by Barrick. Barrick's shares ended Monday's session down 0.74 percent at C$22.71, while the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index was up 0.76 percent. (Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Denver; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Phil Berlowitz) Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... By SA Commercial Prop News The reappointed CEO of JSE-listed Hyprop, Pieter Prinsloo, has been asked to steer a mamoth R20bn retail-focused property fund. The reappointed CEO of JSE-listed Hyprop, Pieter Prinsloo, has been asked to steer a mamoth R20bn retail-focused property fund. Pieter Prinsloo is probably the last person one would expect to trawl a chic fashion mall like Hyde Park, a favoured hangout of Johannesburgs uber-wealthy. Hes not a keen shopper and he cares little for designer brands. Yet luxury malls are where the recently reappointed CEO of JSE-listed Hyprop Investments feels most in his element. Spotting redevelopment opportunities, negotiating lease agreements and improving tenant mix, layout and design to unlock value for shareholders is what I love about the retail property business, says Prinsloo. The unassuming quantity surveyor from Pretoria is back at the Hyprop helm after an absence of just more than two years. Prinsloo (46) was asked to return to steer what will soon become a mammoth R20bn retail-focused property fund with the takeover of Attfunds R9bn shopping centre portfolio. The deal, which will position Hyprop as one of SAs biggest mall owners, should become effective on August 1. Hyprop director and industry veteran Marc Wainer believes theres no better man for the job than Prinsloo. We like his no-nonsense, hands-on approach. Besides, Hyprop flourished under Prinsloos previous seven-year tenure as CEO, when the stock consistently outperformed the market both in income and capital growth. He resigned as Hyprop CEO in February 2009 to head his own private development company. But Prinsloo says he couldnt resist the challenge to help bed down the Attfund takeover. He will no doubt have his work cut out for him. Attfund brings 11 new buildings to the mix, increasing Hyprops portfolio to 22. Apart from Hyde Park, the existing portfolio includes the Mall of Rosebank and The Glen in Johannesburg, as well as Canal Walk in Cape Town. Fortunately, our business strategies are similar so the integration shouldnt be too cumbersome. But Prinsloo concedes the Attfund portfolio needs some tweaking. Though flagship centres such as Clearwater Mall on the West Rand and Woodlands Boulevard in Pretoria should enhance existing income streams from the outset, Prinsloo says Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre in Bellville, Cape Town, will have to be redeveloped. The open-air format isnt suited to Cape Towns unpredictable weather patterns and the tenant mix competes with nearby Tyger Valley. Prinsloo will also sell the three office blocks inherited from Attfund in line with Hyprops focus on regional and super-regional malls exceeding 30000m The long-awaited redevelopment of the Mall of Rosebank is another big challenge that Prinsloo will tackle over the coming months. The malls expansion from the current 37000m to 60000m should be complete by mid2013. Who will fill the additional space? Prinsloo says theres plenty of demand from local retailers. Moreover, overseas retailers, including the likes of Spanish fashion brand Zara, the UKs Topshop, Cotton On from Australia and Burger King, are also keen to expand their footprints to SA. By SA Commercial Prop News Pivotal Property Fund MD, Jackie van Niekerk said the listing will provide the company with access to equity funding to continue pursuing both development and acquisition growth opportunities. Pivotal Property Fund, whose portfolio valued in excess of R9.2 billion, today said it was going ahead with its intended listing on the JSE Securities Exchange in December. The company will undertake an equity capital raising of about R1 billion in a pre-listing private placement. The proceeds will be partly used to finance the R1.5bn acquisition of the Alice Lane development from Standard Bank and to reduce debt. The counters market capitalisation is expected to be around R4.8 billion. The listing will provide the company with access to equity funding to continue pursuing both development and acquisition growth opportunities while also providing investors with access to an A-grade portfolio, says Pivotal Managing Director, Jackie van Niekerk. Established in 2005 by property developer Abland and its partners, Pivotal's portfolio comprise 33 retail and office properties, strategic land holdings near various Gautrain stations in Johannesburg and Pretoria, and an extensive development pipeline. The portfolio includes, Centurion Lifestyle Centre, a 40% stake in Cradlestone Mall, the Wonderboom Junction shopping centre, Goldfields Mall, Ballyoaks Office Park, Stoneridge Office Park and several nearby office buildings in Modderfontein. Pivotal achieved growth in net asset value per share of 45% for its financial year ended 28 February 2014, and has delivered a compounded annual growth rate in net asset value per share of 24% since 2009. The company is internally managed with Van Niekerk leading the team since 2009. She is joined by Suckerman and Executive Director, Dave Savage, of Abland who has a career spanning more than 25 years. Savage is also a co-founder of Pivotal. The team also comprise eight non-executive directors, of which five are independent. Tom Wixley, Marc Wainer, Thando Sishuba, Tony Dixon, Chris Ewing, Abland co-founder Thys Neser, Stewart Shaw-Taylor and Angus Mackay are among the other non-executive directors. Pivotal will become the new property company to list this year, shortly after the JSE entry of Delta International Property, Equites Property Fund, Freedom Property Fund, Visual International Holdings, Safari Investments and Atlantic Leaf Properties. Analyst Comment Stanlib Head of listed property funds, Keillen Ndlovu says the listing of Pivotal Property Fund has been talked about for a while and its finally happening. "A listing of a portfolio with its critical mass and calibre is hard to come by," he said. Ndlovu says the Fund has the benefit of being able to access strategic land and property assets from Standard Bank. In addition, it is able to access a strong pipeline from Abland, who are astute office developers. "Pivotal will follow Attacqs investment philosophy and focus on capital growth. It seems like the market is starting to have an appetite for development funds as compared to the traditional REIT funds," concludes Ndlovu. A first-of-its-kind journey along India and Pakistan border What binds the two most talked about nations - India and Pakistan together? What makes the Bill Clinton told CNBC on Tuesday that activist investors, rather than trade deals, are partially at fault for U.S. corporations moving operations out into Mexico. GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump has called for "economic independence" and blamed globalization for "totally" wiping out the American middle class. Trump has previously called NAFTA "the worst trade deal in history" and blamed Bill and Hillary Clinton for endorsing it. In the interview with CNBC, Clinton responded that American corporate culture, law and practice have contributed to companies moving operations across the border. He said "activists investors who demand a profit in a year and a day and a management who are paid by that" are to blame. "That's not NAFTA. That's not running a stakeholder society. We need to go from a shareholder or at least a top shareholder to a stakeholder society as we once were. We need the incentives to do that and if we do that, we'll make better decisions," the former president said in the exclusive interview from the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York. America "will have to trade some because we're only 4 percent of the world's people and we like having 20 percent of the world's income," he said. He added that the U.S. just has to make the "right kind of trade deals." "If you enforce the trade deals and you do it right, they can be positive," he said. In order to keep jobs in the United States, Clinton called for more tax credits and incentives to encourage investment in areas where "there's been trade dislocation or the economy's moved away or they're too far away, like Native American reservations with no gambling." "America would feel much more comfortable in trading if we thought everybody is going to be taken care of," he said. "We have done a poor job of dealing with the people who got the short end of the stick and we've got to do better." Clinton also spoke about the Federal Reserve and plans to reorganize the foundation if his wife is elected president. Story continues More From CNBC Cameroonian displaced women at a food distribution center in Koza, in the extreme northern province, west of the Nigerian border, on September 14, 2016 (AFP Photo/Reinnier Kaze) Koza (Cameroun) (AFP) - "Boko Haram butchered nine people in front of me. That day I decided to leave my village," says Rachel Daviguidam, still devastated by the carnage she witnessed in September 2015. One year on and this 30-year-old Cameroonian is still unable to get the images out of her mind. And this mother of seven cannot see herself returning to her village of Golvadi in Cameroon's Far North, an area that has suffered multiple attacks by Boko Haram jihadists based just across the border in Nigeria. Over the past year, Daviguidam and her husband and children have been living in Koza, a small town surrounded by mountains about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Maroua, capital of the Far North region. Around 200,000 Cameroonians from the region have fled their villages in fear of the violence carried out by militants from Boko Haram, who last year pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Jihadists in this region kill, they torch entire villages, they loot and they steal livestock. Sitting on the ground in Koza's stadium, this young mother cradles her youngest, who is just three months old, occasionally breastfeeding him. Around her sit other displaced families. - 'Life became intolerable' - Nearby, hundreds of people are waiting in line to receive food handouts from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Over the past 15 months, the ICRC has organised food deliveries in Koza in a bid to combat malnutrition, says Ibrahim Dit Falke, a local who works for the organisation. "Each household receives a package of 50 kilos (110 pounds) of rice, 25 kilos of maize flour, 25 kilos of black-eyed peas, 10 litres (20 pints) of oil, a kilo of salt and 12 kilos of enriched flour," he says. In this area where many of the displaced have gathered, there have been numerous cases of malnutrition, some of them severe. "We are in an area dominated by farming and agriculture, where most households make their living through agriculture," Dit Falke says. Story continues "When you cut a household off from its fields, you cut it off from its livelihood." As the food is handed out, Daviguidam, who comes from a Christian family, recounts her story. "Life there became intolerable," she says. "For three months, they would come to my house and flog me and my children," she explains. "They said we were pagans. "They demanded that we convert to Islam but we didn't want to." If at the start, the Nigerian jihadists were only targeting Christians, they soon stopped making any distinction between Christians and Muslims, she says, as she gets up to go and collect her food package from a Red Cross volunteer. - 'I can't cope' - "I am happy to receive this gift," smiles another woman, Veved Nadama carrying a sack of rice on her head, as two other women help her carry the rest of the supplies. For the past two years, this 25-year-old has lived in Koza since she fled the border town of Kerawa, which is home to 50,000 people and has been regularly targeted by Boko Haram. "When they killed two pupils in the village, my husband and I decided to leave," says the mother of two. "There was shooting all the time. We weren't able to sleep in our home, we preferred to hide in the bush." Another of the displaced, Yauba Sumbi, says he's grateful for the sense of security in Koza, but like many others, he is haunted by what he witnessed. "I am traumatised. I saw dead people, people with their throats cut," he says. "I can't cope anymore." He fled the border town of Amchide in 2014 with his wife but only two of his children. "On the day we left, our neighbourhood was stormed by Boko Haram and there was shooting. We walked for three days and three nights through the bush" to reach Koza. While part of the family managed to escape, he has had no news about his five other children who were unable to get out. "I don't know if they are alive or dead, if they are in Nigeria or Cameroon," he says. "God only knows." $25K in Gannett Foundation grants go to central Kansas organizations Four local organizations are receiving a total of $25,000 as the Gannett Foundation invests in community-building initiatives in north-central Kansas. By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Brazilian airlines are up in arms over a decision by Brazil's tax authority to list Ireland as a tax haven, which means about 1 billion reais ($306 million) in new taxes on aircraft leases for carriers struggling to regain profitability. "The impact is brutal," said Eduardo Sanovicz, head of Brazilian airline association ABEAR, who will meet on Tuesday with tax authorities in Brasilia to try to reverse the surprise tax decision taken without consulting the airline industry. Sanovicz said 60 percent of the 520 aircraft flying commercially in Brazil are leased from companies registered in Ireland, where they enjoy favorable tax rules. Brazil's tax authority announced on Thursday it was adding Ireland, Austria, Curacao and Saint Martin to its list of countries denominated as tax havens. Companies based there will have to start paying a 25 percent tax rate on transactions with Brazilian companies, costing airlines about 1 billion reais ($306 million) on leasing contracts that are signed for up to 10 years, Sanovicz said by telephone. Shares of carrier Gol Linhas Aereas SA fell 12 percent last week on the decision. Brazilian airlines are reeling from high jet fuel costs and the drop in demand for air travel due to Brazil's two-year recession, and say they have no room to pass additional taxes along to ticket prices. The companies complain jet fuel accounts for 37 percent of airfares compared to an average 27 percent worldwide, mainly due to the ICMS sales tax collected by Brazilian states. The world's second largest mining company, Brazilian iron ore giant Vale SA, will also be affected by Brazil's listing of Austria as a tax haven, adding to its woes resulting from low iron prices that are down 50 percent since 2014. Vale owns Salzburg, Austria-based subsidiary Vale International Holdings GMBH, which is used as a holding company for various international assets. Vale and other Brazilian companies have used holding companies in countries such as Austria with low corporate taxes to reduce their tax burden on overseas assets and subsidiaries. Brazil's JBS SA, the world's largest meatpacker, is also considering a planned global reorganization, basing the headquarters of a new company in Ireland and listing its shares in New York. ($1 = 3.27 Brazilian reais) (Additional reporting by Jeb Blount in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Paul Simao) In promoting Samoa as the ultimate tourism destination, we agree we all have a role to play. A key part of that is to listen for tips and pieces of valuable and constructive advice to help us move forward. In other words, if we want more tourists to come to Samoa, we should listen to what they have to say. The reason is pretty simple. They are tourists, they know best and we want them to keep coming back. Which means that if they tell us we need to improve the way we do certain things, we should. That brings us to a wonderful letter we received from the email last week. Written by Dr. Bill Hamblin, of New Zealand, it contained a number of great constructive feedbacks ought to be taken seriously. For instance, he identified an issue weve been talking about for years with the disappearing of traditional landmark structures from town. The old trees that lined Beach Road have not been replaced and, as such, much of the natural beauty and charm of Apia has been lost. The shady street is no more and has been replaced with glass shop fronts that are typical of rushed development in the Pacific, he writes. On the streets of Apia, he identified another issue. It involves the heavy presence of L.T.A and Police officers. This instills a feeling of disquiet in tourist and local drivers alike who seem to be randomly picked off as they turn left on red lights, the letter says. The presence of police and L.T.A. is a complete overkill and a waste of resources and is simply off-putting to tourists who want to relax. Police could be better utilised chasing drug suppliers, attending to domestic violence matters and guarding the jail. Well we couldnt agree more. As a matter of fact, we didnt need a tourist to tell us about this. We see it everyday. Its mind boggling why sometimes there are two or three Police officers at one set of traffic lights. Is that really necessary? Dont they have better things to do? Lastly, the letter writer referred to what he described as a chicken and egg situation regarding flights to Samoa and the question of whether more tourists will come if there are more flights. One option to address this issue is the P.N.G. solution where charter flights are organised and aircraft filled for low cost package holidays e.g. Cairns to Milne Bay and East New Britain, he wrote. If Samoa wants to tap into the Chinese or Japanese tourist market then it needs to get tour operators to Samoa to sample the delights and get direct charter flights organised. No tourist is going to fly to Australia from China or Japan and then on to Samoa via the Pacific milk run through New Zealand or alternatively wait till Saturday in Brisbane to catch a direct flight to Apia. I raise the issue of total holiday cost as Samoa is surprisingly not a low cost destination for the middle-aged visitor like myself. Sure you can stay in a fale, which is a good adventure for the young at low cost. But I am past lying on mats on the floor. The old bones need something that is softer. Hotel accommodation is comparatively more expensive than Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu. Added to that cost is the high cost of car hire in Samoa. The cost is over 2.5 times higher than Brisbane for example and the quality of vehicles while improving is still generally poor. Cost of car hire approximates the cost of accommodation for a holiday in Samoa. Car hire costs need to be reduced. As explained air fares from China or Japan are also prohibitive. I suggest that the Samoa Tourism Authority needs to be a bit more inventive in its marketing strategy and undertake a cost analysis to ensure that Samoa rates favourably against other Pacific destinations and put strategies in place to address issues where Samoa is at a disadvantage. The above is provided as constructive comment on Samoan development and hopefully will assist planners. The matters are small but the impact could be considerable. In any case nothing will deter me from recommending Samoa as a holiday destination. Thank you Dr. Hamblin. Rest assured that your valuable feedback and the fact you have taken the time to recommend a number of ways this country can help herself - is appreciated. With this years Teuila Festival still fresh on our memories, its important for us as a country to take a long, hard look at ourselves to find out what we need to do to help develop tourism. After all, tourism is not just about the Samoa Tourism Authority (S.T.A) and the government. Its about attracting those tourist dollars so that everyone can share the benefits. What we need to remember is that for many of these tourists, just getting to Samoa is already expensive enough. We want these tourists to spread the good word to their friends, families and everyone they come in contact with. As a country banking on tourism as the mainstay of the economy, we want to make them feel so happy about their experience in Samoa they will find it difficult not to tell others. We believe there is no better way to promote a destination than through word of mouth. You can spend millions on advertising campaigns and youll probably get some results. But happy tourists going back to their countries with happy memories about a place can go a long way to attract many more. Whats good about word of mouth promotion is that its proven experience and it costs us nothing. Its not that simple though. The catch is that we have to do everything thats possible to ensure their time in Samoa is enjoyable. And that requires a community effort where everyone has a role to play. Re: Syrian truce receives new blows Very clear now that the U.S. is not going to give up on its designs for regime change in Damascus. It just violated a truce and bombed the Syrian army, murdering 62 soldiers and wounding more than a hundred others, thereby allowing the terrorists to regain vital territory. It simply doesnt get any more blatant than that. Of course, they claimed it was a mistake, just like they did last time when they killed a whole bunch of civilians, but if the worlds major super power is really that incompetent, then we are all in extremely grave danger, surely. Fact is they were never invited there in the first place. They invited themselves and claimed they were fighting I.S.I.S., the name attributed to the Wahhabi terrorists they themselves armed and supplied in the first place. For fully a generation after WWII America made war on East Asia in the name of fighting communism. The next generation witnessed the war on Central America, also based on that false premise. And for the past generation they have been waging war on the Middle East, destroying one nation after another - Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. Theyre using drones in Pakistan and Somalia, supporting Saudi as it bombs schools, hospitals and weddings in Yemen, and financing Israel as it continues its ethnic cleansing of the native population. Meanwhile the Western media ignores much of this and points the finger at Putin or whoever as a diversion, because it thinks that we are really, really stupid. Mustafa Kemal Kerisiano Fale, from the village of Leulumoega-uta is sick and tired of the governments broken promises. Aged 64, Kerisiano and his familys only struggle is having no water pipes in his village despite the numerous requests to the government. We have no running water in our villages, he told the Village Voice. We are lucky that we fixed up that car over there so we can fetch water from houses far down the road because before, we had to walk. We have lived on this land for 40 years and we have always had this problem. Back then I would really feel sorry for my children who did most of the work in fetching water. We send so many requests to our constituencys member of parliament and all he keeps saying is that the water will come. He hasnt done anything; even when it comes to our road light, he hasnt done anything and there are many young people who have to make their way to school before the sun comes up; its dark and dangerous. The way I see it, its better to just let them (government) be because its giving me a headache. According to Kerisiano, the only thing the government does for his family and fellow villagers is bringing papers to sign with no help following. When our village sends the government requests to bring a water pipes out here they just come around and make us all sign things, he said. Thats all we get from them, papers to sign. We dont know where all our requests are going. We have a water tank here from the Red Cross but thats the funny thing. The water tanks were given to someone to distribute and they came and sold it for $300 each. The distributer did a business with the donations but we had no choice but to buy it because we really needed a water tank. We have been living on that water tank for three years now. Despite all the promises made during the elections, not a single one has been followed through with. The thing is, our member of parliament made many promises and when the election ended, so did their willingness to help, Kerisiano said. No one in this house works and I have one more girl in university. I am getting old but I work hard in the plantation to provide for my family. To be honest I am tired of plantation work so I just work enough to give my family some food. Even with children residing in New Zealand, Kerisiano dreads asking them for help. I have children in New Zealand, who I ask for help when we are desperate, he said. But I hate having to ask them for money; so this household tries its best to provide for ourselves. Another issue Kerisiano has is the street lights not working. This poses a big threat for his daughter who makes her way to school in the dark before sunrise. Aside from the water, the people who deal with the street lights also give us trouble, he said. They too just come and make us sign over and over again and yet they do nothing. Its dangerous for girls to go to school early because its dark without those street lights working. Maybe I should just go look for another government to go to. We were tricked into paying some money to the E.P.C. workers once. They came and told us that they brought a light bulb but we have to pay them $60 to install it on the street light but we noticed that it was already used. So we dont know if they went and took it from another street light because that used bulb broke not long after. We paid the $60 for it because we were desperate and concerned about the safety of the young ones in the house. Bridging Digital Divides is the focus of the Regional Radio-Communication Seminar (R.R.C.S.) for Asia and the Pacific held at the Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi Building. More than sixty participants from around the Asia Pacific region are discussing several topics including spectrum management and regulations, universal broadband service and other technological challenges. The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai said the meeting is critical for the region. He said it is clear the Pacific region is lagging behind in the digital age and it is not acceptable. This is why such meetings are important. For Samoa, the Minister said the government has already started working towards addressing the problem through several initiatives. Those initiatives include the migration from analog to digital TV expected to be finished by 2017 and a new submarine cable in the pipeline that will greatly increase internet and data accessibility. This seminar is very important as it brings together the major regional stakeholders to prepare the future key spectrum management decisions about the adoption and deployment of these technologies, said the Minister. In addition this will be an opportunity for our regional stakeholders to network with each other and build relationships that will be crucial to our region achieving its digital goals. Regulator, Unutoa Auelua Fonoti said the meeting is the first of its kind to be held in Samoa. Other regions like Europe and Caribbean are also hosting similar seminars. Unutoa said the gathering is an opportunity for radio stations in the country to learn and share their experience with other participants. It is also a platform to advocate for governments push for digital television by 2017. One of the problems for the digital initiative is the expensive cost of T.V. According to Unutoa it will take some time for the people to adjust to the new change and every change comes with costs. An option she suggested is for users to continue to use their analogue T.V. and buying a set up box device to hook on their T.V. which is cheaper. Participants will be engaged in training providing hands-on experience of I.T.U notification procedures and other technical tools. They will also learn about best practices regarding spectrum management and the current regulatory framework for international frequency management. The seminar continues today with participants discussing terrestrial services. A church Minister who lost a lawsuit he filed against several members of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoas Elders Committee is appealing the Courts decision. Rev. Kerita Reupena represented by lawyer Lealiifano Dr. Iopu Tanielu filed an application to appeal the Chief Justices decision on the matter in the Supreme Court yesterday. On behalf of his senior Leuluaialii Olinda Woodroffe, Lealiifano told the Court he seeks leave to appeal the judgment by the Chief Justice. Lawyer for the Elders Committee, Semi Leung Wai asked for the matter to be adjourned so he could file a response. Mr. Leung Wai said the application is seeking to re-hear the case involving the Elders Committee and the plaintiff. Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai granted an adjournment to allow for the respondents to respond to the application from plaintiff. In May this year, Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiavaasue Falefatu Sapolu ruled against Rev. Reupenas claim and dismissed the case. The Chief Justice also dismissed an interim injunction that was granted in May 2015 which allows the church to appoint someone else to take over duties of Rev. Reupena. Rev. Reupena initially filed the lawsuit against the committee after they stripped him of his senior positions in the church including that of being the Director of the Queensland District. The Office of the Attorney General has asked the Supreme Court for an interim order on who should prosecute the Director of the National Prosecution Office, Mauga Precious Chang. Suspended and facing charges of negligent driving causing injury and dangerous driving, the application from the Office of the Attorney General filed yesterday follows an interesting twist last week where two senior lawyers turned up as prosecutors in the District Court. One was former Attorney General, Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu and the other was New Zealand-based lawyer, Satiu Simativa Perese. The decision was then made to refer the matter to the Supreme Court. With Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai presiding, lawyer, Helene Wallwork-Lamb appeared on behalf of the Attorney Generals Office yesterday. Muriel Lui appeared on behalf of the National Prosecution Office. Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu was also present. Mrs. Wallwork-Lamb told the Court she had filed an application for an interim order on who would prosecute and she had already served both counsels. She added she was ready to proceed but she had not heard from the other counsels. Taulapapa confirmed she had received the application. However, she said there was no returning date on the file and she did not expect the matter to be heard yesterday. Ms. Lui on the other hand informed the Court she needs two weeks to file a response. Mrs. Wallwork-Lamb had no objections. She, however, reminded that the matter must be determined soon as it would directly affect criminal proceedings against Mauga in the District Court. She said it is important for both counsels to file a response quickly because the District Court is set to resume on Friday. She added the issue before the Court is the ability of the Public Prosecutor to delegate the prosecutors powers to any person outside of the office. Justice Lesatele told Taulapapa and Ms. Lui to file their responses in relation to the application by 29 September 2016. WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. government has mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud who had pending deportation orders, according to an internal Homeland Security audit released Monday. The Homeland Security Department's inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birthdates to apply for citizenship with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and such discrepancies weren't caught because their fingerprints were missing from government databases. DHS said in an emailed statement that an initial review of these cases suggest that some of the individuals may have ultimately qualified for citizenship, and that the lack of digital fingerprint records does not necessarily mean they committed fraud. The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but Inspector General John Roth's auditors said they were all from "special interest countries" those that present a national security concern for the United States or neighboring countries with high rates of immigration fraud. The report did not identify those countries. DHS said the findings reflect what has long been a problem for immigration officials old paper-based records containing fingerprint information that can't be searched electronically. DHS says immigration officials are in the process of uploading these files and that officials will review "every file" identified as a case of possible fraud. Roth's report said fingerprints are missing from federal databases for as many as 315,000 immigrants with final deportation orders or who are fugitive criminals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not reviewed about 148,000 of those immigrants' files to add fingerprints to the digital record. The gap was created because older, paper records were never added to fingerprint databases created by both the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service and the FBI in the 1990s. ICE, the DHS agency responsible for finding and deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, didn't consistently add digital fingerprint records of immigrants whom agents encountered until 2010. The government has known about the information gap and its impact on naturalization decisions since at least 2008 when a Customs and Border Protection official identified 206 immigrants who used a different name or other biographical information to gain citizenship or other immigration benefits, though few cases have been investigated. Roth's report said federal prosecutors have accepted two criminal cases that led to the immigrants being stripped of their citizenship. But prosecutors declined another 26 cases. ICE is investigating 32 other cases after closing 90 investigations. ICE officials told auditors that the agency hadn't pursued many of these cases in the past because federal prosecutors "generally did not accept immigration benefits fraud cases." ICE said the Justice Department has now agreed to focus on cases involving people who have acquired security clearances, jobs of public trust or other security credentials. Several members of Congress criticized the Obama administration Monday in the wake of Roth's report, though the report suggests that the gaps extend several years earlier than the Obama administration. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul said ICE should quickly investigate all of the cases at issue and ensure that all immigration fingerprint records are digitized in short order. Mistakenly awarding citizenship to someone ordered deported can have serious consequences because U.S. citizens can typically apply for and receive security clearances or take security-sensitive jobs. At least three of the immigrants-turned-citizens were able to acquire aviation or transportation worker credentials, granting them access to secure areas in airports or maritime facilities and vessels. Their credentials were revoked after they were identified as having been granted citizenship improperly, Roth said in his report. A fourth person is now a law enforcement officer. Roth recommended that all of the outstanding cases be reviewed and fingerprints in those cases be added to the government's database and that immigration enforcement officials create a system to evaluate each of the cases of immigrants who were improperly granted citizenship. DHS officials agreed with the recommendations and said the agency is working to implement the changes. UNITED NATIONS (AP) World leaders on Monday approved a declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane response to the refugee crisis that has strained resources and sparked divisions from Africa to Europe. The issue of what to do about the world's 65.3 million displaced people took center stage at the U.N. General Assembly with leaders from the 193 member states taking part in the first-ever summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. Advocacy groups worried that the New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees an outcome document which contains no concrete commitments and is not legally binding falls short of what is needed, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, himself a refugee during the Korean War, hailed it as historic. "Today's summit represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility," Ban said. Around the world, there are currently about 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million migrants, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. The agency defines refugees as people forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution, while migrants choose to move in search of a better life. Philippe Bolopion, deputy director of global advocacy for Human Rights Watch, said the international community still had a long way to go in dealing with the crisis. "I would say if you measure this document by what is at stake here, it certainly falls short of the mark. We're facing an historic crisis and the response is not historic," Bolopion said on the sidelines of the meeting. He added that in many areas refugee protections were backsliding with a growing number of countries trying to turn back refugees in violation of international law. "Is the outcome document up to the challenge? No, unquestionably it's not. Does that mean the summit is pointless? No, because it's precisely at moments like this that you need to regroup," Bolopion added. The declaration seeks to standardize responses to refugee situations and provide better education prospects for the children who make up over half of the world's refugees. It also looks to improve working opportunities for refugees who are now spending nearly 20 years in exile on average. There are also plans for a campaign to combat xenophobia. All of this may prove an uphill struggle at a time when refugees and migrants have become a divisive issue in Europe and the United States. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said xenophobia has been a major factor contributing to the failure of the international response thus far. "Defenders of what is right and good are being outflanked in too many countries by race-baiting bigots, who seek to gain, or retain, power by wielding prejudice and deceit, at the expense of those most vulnerable," Zeid told the meeting. Several countries shot down an earlier draft of the declaration that called on nations to resettle 10 percent of the refugee population each year, something that has led several human rights groups to criticize the document as a missed opportunity. The U.S. and a number of other countries also objected to language in the original draft that said children should never be detained, so the agreement now says children should seldom, if ever, be detained. Zeid praised the political consensus reached in approving the declaration, but warned against self-congratulation. "The bitter truth is this summit was called because we have been largely failing. Failing the long-suffering people of Syria, in not ending the war in its infancy. Failing others in now chronic conflict zones, for the same reason. Failing millions of migrants who deserve far more than lives marked by cradle-to-grave indignity and desperation," said Zeid. More concrete progress is expected at a follow-up summit on Tuesday called by President Barack Obama, where at least 45 countries are expected to make pledges that are in line with U.S. goals of increasing humanitarian aid by $3 billion, doubling resettlement and increasing access to education for 1 million youngsters and access to employment for another million of the displaced. NEW YORK (AP) President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi put the Islamic State group on notice Monday that they plan to recapture the city of Mosul within months. If successful, the operation could mark a major turning point in the campaign to defeat the extremist group. Neither leader glossed over the immense difficulty of the battle ahead as they met in New York on the sidelines of a U.N. summit. Still, Obama said he and Abadi were confident that Iraq's military and the U.S.-led coalition could make progress in Mosul "fairly rapidly," adding that he was hoping for progress by year-end. "This is going to be hard. It's going to be challenging. It will require resources," Obama said. But he professed confidence that more territory can be wrested from the militants, in part because he said "the Iraqi forces are getting more confident." Abadi, speaking in English, echoed Obama's timeline for retaking Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the IS stronghold in Iraq. He called the group a "huge threat" to Iraq's stability. "We hope within the next few months we're going to kick Daesh out of Mosul," Abadi said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. He added: "They must be crushed on the ground." The aggressive timeline reflects Obama's hopes of notching another major victory against IS before he leaves office in January and hands the conflict off to his successor. Donald Trump and other Republicans have blamed Obama's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq for fueling the extremist group's formation and its growth into the world's most serious terrorist threat. For both leaders, moving quickly to retake Mosul is part of a strategy to sustain the momentum that Iraq and its partners have finally built up after years of struggled. In neighboring Syria, the chaotic civil war continues to plague the fight against IS, but in Iraq, the extremists have lost half the territory they once held, according to the U.S. Some 1 million people could be displaced by the battle in Mosul, U.S. and U.N. officials say. Washington considers the Iraqi government's handling of the displacement to be a major test case for reconciliation in Iraq, given the blend of sectarian groups with an interest in the northern city's future. The president also met Monday with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and raised money in private for Senate Democrats, a day after holding another fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. The Democratic presidential nominee was holding her own program of meetings with foreign leaders attending the U.N. summit as she works to portray herself as more presidential than Republican Donald Trump. Obama also spoke with Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta by phone in lieu of a face-to-face meeting. The White House said they discussed climate change, the refugee crisis and the fight against the east Africa-based militant group al-Shabab. BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) Boko Haram insurgents launched three attacks within hours in northeast Nigeria, beheading a village chief and his son, ambushing a convoy under military escort, and gunning down eight Christians returning from a Sunday church service, witnesses and the army spokesman said Monday. On Monday, the Musllim extremist insurgents shot and killed six civilians and wounded three soldiers traveling in a convoy, army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman said. It happened on the highway about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Maiduguri, the biggest city in the northeast and birthplace of Boko Haram. Extremists came to the village of Tallari before dawn Monday, beheaded village chief Ba' Lawan and his son and then set their homes and others on fire, spokesman Abbas Gavi of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, a self-defense force, said. Then they opened fire on fleeing villagers, killing two people and injuring others, he said. On Sunday, insurgents on motorbikes gunned down people returning home from a church in Kwamjilari village, killing eight, according to survivors who fled to the town of Chibok. Tallari also is near Chibok, the town from which the extremists kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls in April 2014. Dozens escaped on their own but 217 girls remain missing. Boko Haram has said it will swap the girls for detained extremists but the government says negotiations have faltered as the insurgent group suffers a leadership struggle. The seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people, driven some 2.6 million from their homes and spread to neighboring countries. The insurgency has created what the United Nations is calling famine-like conditions that are killing children and starving some 2 million Nigerians still trapped in northeast areas by Boko Haram. Most of the refugees are subsistence farmers who have been unable to farm for years now. Still, attacks have become fewer and less deadly with Nigeria's military saying they have the extremists on the run. Even suicide bombings have become rare, President Muhammadu Buhari said Monday at a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Re: Family takes govt to Court I am thankful and grateful to this gentleman Lawyer, Mulitalo, for stepping up to the plate to render much needed help to Sogi and its people, Pro bono. Sogi and Samoa are indebted to your compassion and humanity, Sir. Thank you. Needless to say, I am apprehensive about the chance of a win, knowing who we are going up against. An extensive pool of legal minds are needed to help Lawyer Mulitalo, hence I plea with some of our best legal professional minds out there, advocates of human rights, justice and a win for Sogi, to step in and help Lawyer Pau Tafaogalupe Mulitalo, win this one. A win, which can send a loud and clear message to the dictators of Samoa, that enough is enough. What say you? Will you step in with your expertise for a chance of winning this very important case? A victory for Sogi is a victory for Samoa. Faafetai tele. Asipau Pamela Tafua McMoore Pacific languages are threatened and cultures are being raided and even stolen by foreign interests. Thats what Dr. Cresantia Frances Koya Vakauta, Associate Dean Research and Internationalization from the University of the South Pacific Suva Fiji, told the Pacific Islands University Research Network (P.I.U.R.N) conference at the National University of Samoa (N.U.S) yesterday. At least 50% of the worlds languages are at risk and about 90% of the languages may be replaced by dominant languages by the end of the 21st Century, she said. Internal forces including a communitys negative attitude towards its own language. The state of pacific languages in New Zealand matters because of the large numbers of Pacific people residing there. The 2006 NZ census showed an estimated 91% of all Niueans live in NZ, as do, 73% of all Cook Islanders, 44% of Tongans and 74% of Samoans, Dr. Vakauta said. Ten years ago many Islanders could not speak their languages according to Dr. Vakauta. Her findings led to the call for Pacific Languages Week, now an established annual event, and the Pacific Languages Commission in NZ. In 2006 alone, the NZ government devoted about NZ$600,000 to the preservation of Pacific Island Languages, Dr. Vakauta said. Despite these efforts, she said that the 2013 Census data on Pasifika communities showed all Pacific languages spoken by NZ born populations continued to decline. Dr. Vakauta explained that Pacific Universities should priortise cultural heritage and sustainability through knowledge and research on contextualized learning experiences in particular Pacific pedagogies. Encourage focused research and research funding for culture, the arts and languages, she said. Contributing to policy and legislature particularly in the areas of national language, Cultural and Educational policies. Knowledge creation and sharing to often academic research only resides in technical reports, academic papers in international journals and publications, or in University library collections. A lot of that has been done is not widely accessible or presented in easy to consume, non academic or technical language. We could also engage more purpose fully with cultural communities and art practitioners. Supporting the development and use of Pacific research methodologies. Some students ask if they could present their thesis in language at USP we continue this discussion and would support this where possible, Dr. Vakauta added. Publication in language/billingual texts is another area that universities could support. Courses and Programs on specific areas such as Basic linguistic and pedagogical training. A language revitalization is currently underway in the Cook islands between USP and government, but this has problems, Dr. Vakauta said. One issue raised was that while NZ efforts are commendable, they focus on conversational Cook Island Maori while the national interest is in safeguarding the depth and proficiency of the full language, said Dr. Vakauta. Other areas that could be supported through integration of courses and programs included Pacific Literatures, Pacific Art and Culture, Heritage Management, Cultural Statistics, and Heritage & Contemporary Arts. But Pacific images, motifs, and culture were being appropriated and copyrighted by overseas interests, and even clever Islands companies, depriving local artists of not only incomes but aspects of their culture as well, she said. A controversy over the re-branding of Air Fiji, using local Masi artistic designs initially sought through a competition, could prevent those artists even using their own designs. Investment is key and there will need to be national support to ensure continued viability of Islands linguistic and artistic offerings, Dr. Vakauta said. The Pacific Future we seek is one in which we will grow a movement of Pacific Island thinkers, researchers, leaders who are agents of change and who will continue to hold the land and our people, firmly and safely in their care, she concluded. Both Katalina and Julie are media and journalism students at N.U.S. A request to have a $1 million tala lawsuit against the suspended Commissioner of Police, Fuiavailiili Egon Keil and others adjourned indefinitely has been opposed by the plaintiffs lawyer. Lawyer Seuamuli Sarona Ponifasio, who is representing Suitupe Misa, told the Supreme Court on Monday she opposes to the application made by Attorney Generals lawyer, Sefo Jnr Ainuu. She asked the Court for an adjournment to allow her to file a response to the application. Presiding Supreme Court Judge, Justice Lesatele Rapi Vaai granted the request and adjourned the matter until 17 October 2016. The matter was adjourned from the previous mention in August where Mr. Ainuu asked for an adjournment. At the time, Mr. Ainuu pointed out there are criminal charges against the Commissioner of Police which should be dealt with first. It is in our view that it is prejudice to criminal proceedings, he told the Court. We ask that the criminal proceedings be completed before we can assess the civil matter. But Seuamuli argued that if that was the position of the Attorney Generals Office, they have to establish that there will be a risk of the case being prejudice with the criminal proceedings. They havent substantiated that and they seemed to assume the details of the charge. Mr. Misa is suing the Police Commissioner, the Minister of Police, Sala Fata Pinati and the Ministry of Police for $1million tala. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police has been charged by the National Prosecution Office pending criminal proceedings in relations to the unlawful arrest of Mr. Misa at the Fugalei market. His lawyer has asked the Court for the charges to be dropped. KINSHASA, Congo (AP) More than 44 people have been killed in Congo in two days of street clashes between security forces and protesters angered over a delayed presidential election, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher said Tuesday. Police said more than 100 people have been arrested in the unrest. Thousands took to the streets of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, on Monday to oppose an election delay which they call an effort by President Joseph Kabila to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate in late December. A high court has determined Kabila can stay in office until a new leader is elected. The electoral commission has filed for a delay in elections that were scheduled for November, saying voter registration lists will not be ready. Gunshots could be heard Tuesday in Kinshasa as tensions rose. Burnt-out cars smoldered in nearly empty streets. "Leave and let us choose who we want to lead us," Kinshasa resident Jeanne Mongo said. "Obama is leaving power, his mandate is coming to an end and he is leaving voluntarily. Why can't he (Kabila) follow Obama's example and cede his position to a woman?" Human Rights Watch received credible reports from witnesses that security forces have killed at least 37 civilians, said senior Africa researcher Ida Sawyer. "Most were killed when the security forces fired on crowds of protesters. Others were killed when the security forces burned down opposition party headquarters last night," she said in an email. Protesters killed at least six police officers and a supporter of Kabila's party, Sawyer said, adding that demonstrators also burned and looted several shops and police stations. Police spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu said that more than 113 people were arrested in connection with Monday's events, and will be brought to justice. The U.N. human rights office noted reports of "excessive use of force" by both security forces and demonstrators. Both sides denied responsibility for the violence. An organizer of the opposition protests, Joseph Olengankoy, earlier had put the toll at more than 25 people killed. Interior minister Evariste Boshab had said 17 were killed, including at least three police officers. At least two people were killed after attacks on the headquarters of five opposition parties late Monday, the U.N. and an opposition party said. Bruno Tshibala, spokesman for the largest opposition party, said five people were wounded in raids on four party headquarters. "We will seek international justice," he said. Congo's government spokesman, Lambert Mende, condemned the burning of opposition party buildings as well as attacks on other buildings, including two ruling party buildings and a school, by opposition protesters. Mende called on Congolese to regain their composure and let justice do its work. "The government can only condemn this mob justice mentality," he said. Kabila, who came to power after his father's assassination in 2001, has yet to announce whether he will pursue another term in office, though the constitution prohibits it. The violence comes amid growing fears that the election delay could lead to prolonged unrest in Congo, a nation as vast in size as Western Europe. The mineral-rich but largely impoverished country suffered back-to-back civil wars until 2003, and previous instability has drawn in armies from neighboring countries. Appeals for calm and restraint have been launched by the United Nations, Belgium, the U.S., France and the European Union, which also have called for a rapid organization of presidential elections. San Diego cybersecurity start-up CyberFlow Analytics, which developed machine learning algorithms to spot malware creeping around in corporate networks, has been acquired by Webroot for an undisclosed price. The buyout, announced Monday, boosts the cyberanalytics capabilities of Colorado-based Webroot which makes anti-virus software for computers and provides threat intelligence services to customers ranging from Cisco to Palo Alto Networks. Webroot already has a machine-learning cyber research lab in San Diego that employs about 60 workers. It was established when Webroot bought local threat intelligence firm BrightCloud six years ago. Nine CyberFlow employees will move to Webroots facility. Advertisement We acquired BrightCloud in 2010 and it was a small team at the time, said Chad Bacher, a senior vice president at Webroot. But we have been investing a lot in that team. They are our technology hub for machine learning and threat intelligence. With the buyout of CyberFlow, Webroot gains technology to monitor whats going inside of networks a backstop that increasingly important as more network connected Internet of Things devices expand the attack surface for cybercriminals. We have been very strong as far as that north-south traffic in concerned -- things that are coming in or going out of the network, said Bacher. We have not had offerings to provide visibility for that east-west traffic the stuff that is going device to device within the network. Founded in 2012, CyberFlow makes software designed to uncover cyber threats that sneak past an organizations firewalls and other defenses at the network edge. It develops algorithms that learn the digital traffic patterns on an organizations computer networks. Once CyberFlow learns what normal traffic looks like a process that can take a few days to a month its ready to flag odd communication patterns as potential cyber threats. Today, one of the only things attackers cant find out about your network is whats normal, said Dick Williams, chief executive of Webroot. This solution can identify and alert on potentially malicious activity that deviates from normal traffic in milliseconds. Hossein Eslambolchi, former chief technology officer of AT&T, co-founded CyberFlow with Tom Caldwell. It raised $4.2 million in venture capital and has customers in banking, government and defense sectors. CyberFlow was one of four cybersecurity start-ups that the city of San Diego tapped for its test-bed program for new security technologies. Last year, CyberFlow won the grand prize in the 2015 Cisco Innovation Grand Challenge contest. San Diego has a rich history in analytics which to date have been used mostly to spot credit card fraud. Now the technology is being applied to cybersecurity. The two companies began talking after CyberFlow chose Webroot to provide it with threat intelligence services to help it identify when unusual network traffic is a cyberthreat and when it is harmless. Threat Intelligence is basically databases of known malware, attack techniques, indicators, exploits, vulnerabilities and other cybersecurity threats red flags. Its adversarial analytics. You have bad guys, even in fraud, who as soon as they think you are catching them, they will change their tactics, said Caldwell, CyberFlows co-founder. We are looking to make (Webroots San Diego lab) an engineering center of excellence for cyberanalytics. mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 The 6-year-old Plaza de Panama plan to get cars out of the center of Balboa Park faces a potential 88 percent cost increase that could take the bottom line from $40 million to as much as $75 million. The City Council voted 8-1 Monday to spend up to $1 million to finalize design details and generate new cost estimates. The results are expected in November. Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs proposed in 2010 removing cars and parking from the center of the park and building a bypass bridge off the Cabrillo Bridge that would lead to an 800-space garage south of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. The council approved the project in 2012 but then it had to overcome legal challenges. Advertisement A 2-acre park would be built on the garage roof, parking would be removed from the Plaza de California in front, as it has already been done in the Plaza de Panama in front of the San Diego Museum of Art. The Esplanade leading from El Prado to the organ pavilion would be closed to traffic and landscaping and other features added. Katherine Johnston, the mayors director of public infrastructure, said the increased cost was due to various building code changes, such as storm-water control, higher wages required for city projects and a more competitive bidding environment. The Plaza de Panama plan will make Balboa Park safer, easier to get to and give us even more breathtaking sights to enjoy, Johnston told the council. But numerous speakers raised objections they lodged in 2012 that the plan would introduce paid parking into the park for the first time and harm the historic look of the west entrance to the parks cultural center by virtue of whats called Centennial Bridge a nod to the 2015 centennial of the parks Panama-California Exposition and its architectural heritage. This plan is absurd, said David Lundin, president and founder of the Balboa Park Heritage Association. Its built on a foundation of made-up facts and its a wholly inappropriate design. Johnston said Jacobs Plaza de Panama Committee, which he chairs, is pledging to cover any city costs that would be capped at $45 million and paid back from parking revenues from the new garage at the citys general fund. The committee has spent $14 million so far, including legal and planning costs, and is committing another $2.5 million to complete design documents. The committee previously pledged to raise $26 million to match the citys original pledge, also $14 million, for the garage. The committees new commitment would take it to $30 million if $75 million is the ultimate cost. Jim Kidrick, who heads the San Diego & Air Space Museum and chairs the Balboa Park United support group for the Jacobs plan, said the higher cost borne by the city likely reflects added costs for the garage and some of the linking roadways and landscaping, which Jacobs committee had previously indicated it would cover. Were united in our support, Kidrick told the council. It incentivizes philanthropists to invest in the park and community as a whole. Plan defenders said parking remains a problem and they discounted the visual impact the new bypass bridge might have. However, Councilman David Alvarez, echoing arguments from plan opponent Bruce Coons from the Save Our Heritage Organisation, asked city staff to update the San Diego Zoos earlier promenade plan. Approved about 10 years ago, it would add hundreds more spaces in an underground garage along Park Boulevard and allow the zoo to expand onto its present lot. Johnston said a 2011 estimate put that project at $215 million with no financial plan yet adopted for its implementation. Various park institution leaders urged the council to move forward with the plan, including Museum of Man CEO MIka Parzen, who said he witnesses a daily game of Frogger in the Plaza de California, as visitors barely avoid getting hit by motorists who are equally distracted by looking up at the California Tower. Peter Ellsworth, president of Legler Foundation which is supporting the plan, said approval will signal more than just the another step on the way to implementing the Jacobs vision of a car-free park center. Its a once in a life time opportunity to prove by this example that this citys philanthropic community and all the stakeholders can work together to finally actually get something done in Balboa Park, he said. As a funder its clear to me that proving that this model works is essential if we hope to engage in widespread support to address this and other parks needs in the future. Council President Sherri Lightner cast the only no vote, saying new parking garages would not further the citys climate action plan and a more innovative approach would be encourage experiments in driverless car services such as Uber. RELATED roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley CITY COUNCILS CARLSBAD The Carlsbad City Council is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Council Chambers, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive, when it will hear a staff presentation on the status of the Climate Action Plan implementation, and approve $1,946,133 in funding for the NextGen Regional Communications System. The Carlsbad Housing Commission will discuss an update to the citys housing element at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive. The housing element is a state-required plan to ensure the city can meet future housing needs, including a variety of housing types, densities and options for low-income residents and those with special needs. Public input is welcome. No action will be taken at the meeting, which will follow a workshop format. Advertisement DEL MAR The Del Mar City Council is scheduled to meet in special closed session to discuss potential litigation at 5 p.m. Monday in Suite 100 (the former Pilates studio) at 2010 Jimmy Durante Blvd. The council will meet in regular session at 6 p.m. to discuss broadcasting additional upcoming Ad-Hoc Design Review Process Citizen Advisory Committee meetings; discuss proposed changes to parking code requirements; and decide whether to allow short-term vacation rentals through regulation or to prohibit short-term rentals. The council will also hear a report on potential illegal voter registration. To celebrate the next step of the construction of the Del Mar Civic Center (City Hall/Town Hall), the city of Del Mar will host a groundbreaking ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Monday at 1050 Camino Del Mar. Light refreshments will be served. Visit www.delmar.ca.us/cityhall or contact Administrative Services Director Ashley Jones at (858) 755-9313, ext. 1155. ENCINITAS The Encinitas City Council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Council Chambers, 505 S. Vulcan Ave., to hear a report on an Emergency Coastal Development Permit issued by the Planning and Building Department to authorize a temporary trailer housing an emergency generator; to execute Memorandums of Understanding between the city and major special events such as the Surfing Madonna Oceans Project and Cardiff Kook Run; and to discuss the possible distribution of educational information and materials related to the Housing Element Update (Measure T). ESCONDIDO Escondido residents are invited to a town hall meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Council Chambers, 201 N. Broadway. Town hall meetings are an opportunity for residents and businesses to discuss community issues in a less formal environment than regular council meetings. The meeting will start with a brief city update, followed by a question-and-answer period on any topic relating to local government. City staff will follow up on issues not addressed during the meeting. The meeting will also be videotaped and rebroadcast at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 and 26 on Cox Ch.19 and AT&T U-Verse Ch. 99. OCEANSIDE The Oceanside City Council will meet at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in Council Chambers, 300 N. Coast Highway, to discuss labor negotiations, litigation and property negotiations. In open session at 5 p.m., the council will authorize release of community SDG&E data to participate in a feasibility study for a Community Choice Aggregation (energy) Program. The council will also hold public hearings on whether to allow addition of rooftop decks on a condominium at 514 Morse St., and on an ordinance to amend zoning in regard to adult-oriented and tattoo establishments. The council will also consider a resolution opposing Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Initiative. POWAY The Poway City Council is scheduled to meet in special closed session to discuss litigation at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Council Chambers, 13325 Civic Center Drive. In open session at 7 p.m., the council will consider granting a variance for a home in the 13000 block of Frame Road to pave more than half of the front yard, and will consider an appeal allowing a mural at Wrench on Wheels, 12555 Poway Road, to remain. The council will also discuss the expansion of a Cox Communications facility at 14016 Midland Road, and hold a workshop on a potential partnership with the YMCA. SCHOOL DISTRICTS ESCONDIDO The Escondido Union School District board is scheduled to meet in closed session at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the district office, 2310 Aldergrove Ave., to discuss litigation and personnel matters. In regular session at 7 p.m., the board will hear updates on the districts Proposition E bond program and on the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) activities. FALLBROOK The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District board is scheduled to meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. Monday in Room 106 of the district office, 321 N. Iowa St., to discuss litigation. In open session at 6 p.m., the board will consider various contracts with outside agencies for services to special-needs students, and review revised board policies on the Local Control and Accountability Plan, Chronic Absence and Truancy, Immunizations, Student Use of Technology and Education for English Learners. RAMONA The Ramona Unified School District board is scheduled to meet in closed session at 6 p.m. Thursday at the district office, 720 Ninth St., to discuss personnel, litigation and labor negotiations. In open session at 7 p.m., the board will hear a presentation on the 2016 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress; will certify the sufficiency of instructional materials, as required by the state; will hear a presentation on a utility conservation proposal; and consider authorizing a request for proposal to sell roughly 40 acres of vacant land on San Vicente Road near Hanson Lane. SAN MARCOS The San Marcos Unified School District board is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Media Center of the North County Regional Education Center, 255 Pico Ave., when it will discuss supporting Proposition 55: The California Childrens Education and Health Care Protection Act of 2016; various resolutions dealing with the sale of $7,485,000 in special tax refunding bonds; and authorization to seek bids to upgrade technology at Carrillo Elementary, Richland Elementary, San Elijo Middle, Woodland Park Middle and Twin Oaks High schools. laura.groch@sduniontribune.com Students at the Wits Universityb in Johannesburg protest against fees increases which they say are hitting people from black communities hardest (AFP Photo/John Wessels) Johannesburg (AFP) - South African students and campus security guards clashed in Johannesburg on Tuesday, hurling rocks at each other as demonstrations over higher fees turned violent. Unrest has hit many South African universities over the past year, as students protest fee increases that they say force poorer, often black, pupils out of education. Students and guards battled outside the Great Hall auditorium at Wits University in Johannesburg, leaving many of the building's windows broken and the ground littered with rocks before police moved in to break up the fighting. "The students wanted to gather, and we were denied entry (to the Great Hall), that is when things turned violent," student Sizwe Mangena, 20, told AFP. "Things started to fly, everyone running for cover. It was like a scene from the townships during apartheid. "Our demand is simply that we want free education. Our parents can't afford to pay." Earlier police fired stun grenades to clear a main road in Johannesburg, and students blockaded campus entrances and disrupted classes. Tuesday's protests came a day after the government said that next year's fee hikes would be capped at eight percent. Protests were also held at campuses in Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfontein. The government said it would cover the increase for students from families earning less than 600,000 rand ($43,000, 39,000 euros) a year, but student activists have demanded free education for all. "About 200 students in roving groups are moving from campus-to-campus disrupting classes... and intimidating students," Wits, one of the country's most prestigious universities, said in a statement on Tuesday morning. "We are deploying security and the police. Students will be arrested if they do not comply with police orders." TV footage showed stun grenades being fired to clear a major road in Johannesburg, while local media said that 31 people who had been arrested for blocking a campus entrance, were released with a warning. Story continues - 'Disturbing images' - Student medics at Wits told AFP that they had treated at least 20 injured people. "I'm very disturbed about this because... as much as students have the right to protest, there is no basis for this protest here," Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande told 702 radio. "I don't like to see the sight of police in our universities. It's not good." Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of major protests which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016. Throughout this year, there has been sporadic unrest which has seen accommodation buildings and libraries set alight, and in May, an auditorium at Johannesburg University was firebombed. The issue of education fees has ignited widespread frustration over a lack of opportunities for young people, worsened by a weakening economy and high unemployment. The University of Free State closed its Bloemfontein campus Tuesday, while classes and lectures were also abandoned at the University of Cape Town. "Burning schools, libraries and university buildings means burning the future," President Jacob Zuma said after campus riots earlier this year. The Pacific Arts Movement (Pac-Arts), one of the largest media arts organizations in North America focusing on Asian American and Asian international cinema, has appointed Kent Lee as its new executive director. Lee takes over the position previously occupied by former KGTV broadcast journalist Lee Ann Kim, who founded the nonprofit in 2000 and retired from the organization in April. Pac-Arts is best known for presenting the annual Spring Showcase of Asian Cinema and the San Diego Asian Film Festival. It has grown from a volunteer-driven project to an organization that includes five full-time employees serving more than 30,000 people annually through its festivals, film screenings and educational programs. Advertisement I applaud Kent Lee, Kim said. He is passionate about our mission, and in any nonprofit arts organization in San Diego, you need a leader with deep roots in the community. Kent has served in both Asian and non-Asian organizations for the past decade. I think hes a great choice in building upon what we created and taking it into the next era. Lees career choices have focused on community involvement. For nine years, he served as director of development and marketing for the Boy Scouts of America, San Diego-Imperial Council. Lee also serves on the boards and committees of numerous civic organizations, including the Asian Business Association, Mira Mesa Community Planning Group, International Deaf Education Advocacy & Leadership, and Alpha Phi Omega, a collegiate community service organization. Lee began his involvement with Pac-Arts in 2010 as a volunteer for special events. In 2014, he joined the board of directors and earlier this year Lee served as board chairman. He said he continues to be impressed with the unique way the mission of Pac-Arts inspires a movement of compassion. As the nonprofits executive director, he will oversee staff and operations and work to develop community engagement programs. I think the work I did as a volunteer for Pac-Arts and within the community as a whole helped in terms of making me a good candidate for the position, Lee said. Asian film is something we present but I think our audience is everyone. My vision is to find ways to further engage people. Ultimately the goal is to bring people together. Pac-Arts will introduce the 2016 San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) lineup at its Chew The Scene event, with food and drink tastings, on Oct. 11 at Brick in Liberty Station. Two toddlers who wandered from their great-grandmothers home through an open garage door died Monday after they were found unconscious in a neighbors swimming pool, according to police. The 2-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy were reported missing at about 10:56 a.m. after their great-grandmother could not find them, Fresno Police Lt. Joe Gomez said. The children were identified as 2-year-old Elizabeth Thao and 3-year-old Jayce Thao, according to the Fresno County Sheriff-Coroners Office. Advertisement The siblings father had left them in the womans care that morning, he said. The children were apparently left in a room that had access to a garage door, which was left open. The toddlers left the residence in the 5200 block of East Heaton Avenue sometime between 8 and 10 a.m., according to authorities No one noticed until it was too late, Gomez said. When officers arrived at the scene, they began searching the neighborhood for the missing children. As police combed the block, an officer contacted a next door neighbor and asked if he could search her backyard for the boy and girl. He began walking through the side yard toward the backyard when he heard the neighbor screaming. The neighbor found the children unresponsive in her backyard pool. Officers immediately removed the children from the pool and began performing CPR. The children were not breathing and had no pulse, Gomez said. The siblings were taken to an area hospital, where they were declared dead. Their names have not been released. Detectives are investigating the drowning, but Gomez said at this early stage of the investigation, this appears to be an extremely unfortunate tragic accident. Officers, he said, are devastated. A chaplain offered support to any officers who needed to talk about the accident, Gomez said. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Long Beach police to release video in mysterious August slayings of mother, 4-year-old daughter After boys death, L.A. County supervisors to consider reevaluating tool that calculates child abuse risk A mystery for police after 19-year-old Marine is shot in South L.A.: Hes fighting for his life UPDATES: Sept. 20, 9:25 a.m.: This article has been updated with the childrens identities. This article was originally published at on Sept. 19 at 2:55 p.m. Police are looking for a man who tried to kidnap a 9-year-old boy who was standing outside his elementary school last week waiting for his mother to pick him up. The boy was outside La Primaria Elementary School in El Monte at 2 p.m. Thursday when the man walked up to him, the El Monte Police Department said Monday. The man spoke to the boy and then grabbed his wrist, police said. Advertisement He tried to pull the boy away, but the child broke free, according the police department. The unidentified man ran east on Ramona Boulevard and out of sight. The boy, who suffered a scratch on his arm, provided police with a detailed description. Police think the man is a transient who frequents the 605 Freeway and San Gabriel Reservoir at Ramona Boulevard. The boy described his attacker as a man in his 30s with a shaved head and brown eyes. He is 6 feet 2 to 6 feet 3, 180 pounds with acne scars on his cheeks. He has a dragon tattoo on the back of his head, a skull tattoo on his upper chest and the name Maria on the left side of his neck. Anyone with information is urged to the call the police department at (626) 580-2100 or (626) 580-2114, or email details to tips@empd.org. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Three more Bay Area law enforcement officers charged in sex crimes scandal Camp Pendleton Marine dies three days after he was mysteriously shot and left for dead in South L.A. After 10-year search, FBI learns convicted fraudster had quiet life as consultant in Los Angeles but hes still at large A 19-year-old Marine from Camp Pendleton who was shot this weekend while visiting friends and family in South Los Angeles died Monday night, coroners officials said. Carlos Segovia died at 8 p.m. at California Hospital Medical Center, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner. Segovia had been hospitalized in grave condition since the weekend. He was found at 11:35 p.m. Friday slumped over and unconscious in a Dodge Charger in the 2100 block of 31st Street, according to Capt. Peter Whittingham of the Los Angeles Police Department. Advertisement The Marine left the military base near San Diego on Friday. He had just visited his girlfriend that night and was preparing to drive to the home of Claudia Perez, a family friend, when he was struck by gunfire. Perez said Segovia was like her child, and he usually stayed at her home when he visited the area. He texted my son that he was bringing pizza home, she said. He never made it. Friends and family will hold a vigil for Segovia at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the site of the shooting, police said. No suspect has been identified in the shooting. Police said Segovia has no connections to gangs or other activity that would seem to make him a likely target of gun violence. Whittingham said the shooting is absolutely a mystery. Like so many cases in South L.A., we have nothing to go on at this point, he said. Segovia, who was born in El Salvador, came to the U.S. with his mother. Both are U.S. citizens, Perez said. After graduating high school, Segovia joined the Marines about six months ago. The U.S. Marine Corps identified him as Carlos Segovia Lopez, who held the rank of lance corporal. His current assignment was at the student reconnaissance training company. He earned the National Defense Service Medal and certificate of commendation. A U.S. Marine Corps training command said in a statement that his death weighed heavily on everyones hearts. The overwhelming support and prayers we witnessed in support of this young man are a testament to the mighty son, friend and warrior that he was, the training command said. Although we grieve the loss of one of our own, we will continue to stand with and support Carlos loved ones as they work through this tragedy. In a very short time, LCpl Segovialopez deeply impacted those who came to know him and his unselfish and honorable legacy will live on in our Corps. Once a Marine, always a Marine. He was best known around his community for his volunteering and service work. Segovia led a youth group called Teen Project, which aimed to motivate high school students to finish school, and he worked at LA on Cloud 9, which provides services to homeless people and to animals, Perez said. He once served as junior counselor for USC Troy Camp, a group that mentors children in South Los Angeles. We are heartbroken over this tragedy, LA on Cloud 9 said. We were fortunate to witness Carlos become a fine young man who graduated from the Marine camp earlier this year and started his service with the U.S. Marines. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. matt.hamilton@latimes.com Twitter: @MattHjourno ALSO Man tries to abduct 9-year-old boy outside El Monte elementary school After 10-year search, FBI learns convicted fraudster had quiet life as consultant in Los Angeles but hes still at large Long Beach police release video of person of interest in mysterious August slayings of mother, daughter UPDATES: 3:15 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from the U.S. Marine Corps Training Command. 9:40 a.m.: This article was updated with details about Carlos Segovias U.S. Marine Corps record. This article was originally published at 7:50 a.m. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday that he was tapping a Long Beach petroleum engineer to oversee oil and gas operations in the city, filling a job that had not been held full time for decades. Garcetti and his staff praised Uduak-Joe Ntuk, newly chosen as petroleum administrator, as an expert with technical knowledge who could also engage with the community. Ntuk has the skills and background to work with our residents, industry and regulators to help manage oil and gas activities in our neighborhoods, and play a role in steering L.A. toward a cleaner, more sustainable future, Garcetti said in a statement. Advertisement Ntuk has been employed by the city of Long Beach as a petroleum engineering associate, helping to oversee an oil field operated by the city. He worked previously for the petroleum giant Chevron in the San Joaquin Valley. The Long Beach native has also volunteered with a nonprofit formed by former Vice President Al Gore to spotlight the problem of climate change and pursued fellowships in sustainability with the London Business School and the nonprofit Green for All. I will focus on doing everything we can to protect the health and safety of L.A.s communities, while taking a measured approach to the many complex issues raised by fossil fuel extraction in a large city, Ntuk said in a statement released by Garcetti. Matt Petersen, chief sustainability officer for Garcetti, called Ntuk a fairly unique candidate with oil and gas expertise. It was also important to the mayor and the Board of Public Works to find someone familiar with working with the community, Petersen said. Beyond his engineering work, Ntuk has also been active in Democratic politics in Southern California: He ran unsuccessfully for the Long Beach Unified school board two years ago and served as president of the Long Beach Democratic Club in recent years. He also garnered attention at the California Democratic Convention in Anaheim last year, after he recorded a politically damaging video of U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez imitating a Native American war cry. The hire had been closely watched by environmental activists with the STAND-L.A. Coalition, who complained that a City Council vote to specifically find someone with experience or credentials in the oil and gas field would result in candidates skewed toward the industry. Richard Parks, president of the nonprofit Redeemer Community Partnership, said he didnt immediately see a public health perspective reflected in Ntuks credentials. I personally dont know him but it appears that they have turned to someone with strong ties to the industry, Parks said, citing the fact that Ntuk had previously worked for Chevron. Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Assn., said the industry group was pleased that the city hired an administrator with technical expertise. The group had earlier encouraged L.A. to hire a qualified technical professional with experience in oil and gas production. For decades, city codes have laid out a long list of duties for the petroleum administrator, who is supposed to coordinate all matters tied to oil and gas production across Los Angeles. But over time, the job had been reduced to an off-and-on duty performed by a city analyst. The absence of an active, involved petroleum administrator had become a bone of contention with environmental and neighborhood activists, who argue that government agencies that regulate oil and gas drilling have neglected to coordinate to protect neighbors living near urban wells. For instance, complaints about foul odors and nosebleeds near a South L.A. drilling site piled up for years before the problems grabbed headlines and AllenCo Energy Inc. agreed to suspend operations. The company has paid millions for fines and upgrades since and, under a court injunction won by City Atty. Mike Feuer, can reopen only after meeting new restrictions. Activists argue that regulators were too slow to respond to the problems, especially since L.A. had imposed conditions decades earlier that were supposed to stop odors and other hazards from bothering neighbors. The risks of oil and gas operations again drew attention after a massive gas leak just north of the city prodded thousands of people out of their homes in Porter Ranch. That debacle along with a string of disputes over oil extraction in South L.A. neighborhoods and a lawsuit accusing the city of rubber-stamping drilling plans has ramped up pressure on city officials to tighten municipal oversight over oil and gas operations. In February, City Council President Herb Wesson proposed that the city immediately fill the job, saying the city needed a more proactive approach. In an interview, Ntuk said he would serve as a single point of contact for community stakeholders. He and other city officials said he would also make recommendations to city leaders on petroleum issues, assess if drilling sites are complying with local, state and federal laws, and coordinate with other city departments to address concerns about existing sites. Ntuk is expected to start work in early October, overseeing the newly created Office of Petroleum and Natural Gas Administration and Safety within the Board of Public Works. His anticipated salary is roughly $133,500 annually. emily.alpert@latimes.com Twitter: @LATimesEmily ALSO Beloved San Francisco political activist Rose Pak dies at 68 UC Berkeley reinstates controversial course on history of Palestine A mystery for police after 19-year-old Marine is shot in South L.A.: Hes fighting for his life UPDATES: 5:05 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Ntuks expected salary. 2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional reaction. This article was originally posted at 1:55 p.m. A Pomona man will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his girlfriend and cutting out her heart and one of her lungs in a motel bathroom, prosecutors said Monday. Alexander Anthony Clever, 28, pleaded no contest earlier this year to first-degree murder in the gruesome killing of his 35-year-old girlfriend, Yvette Silva. He also admitted to special circumstances of mayhem and torture in his plea, officials said. On Nov. 29, 2014, Clever and Silva, along with two other people, went to a Pomona motel. Clever and Silva went into a bathroom and argued, prosecutors said. Advertisement The other people tried to intervene after they heard muffled screaming and saw Clever choking Silva. They tried to free Silva, who was unconscious, then went to get help, prosecutors added. Police found Silva in the shower with her heart and her right lung cut out. She was alive when her lung was removed from her body, according to prosecutors. Two days later, Clever was arrested outside of his house. He had a knife that later tested positive for Silvas DNA, according to the district attorneys office. Staff writer Jerome Campbell contributed to this report. Joseph.serna@latimes.com For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter. ALSO No one noticed until it was too late: Fresno toddlers drown in neighbors swimming pool Brass plumbing fixture flies off Caltrans truck and kills driver on Bay Area highway Long Beach police to release video in mysterious August slayings of mother, 4-year-old daughter A 19-year-old San Jose State University student drowned in Sequoia National Park over the weekend while hiking and swimming with a group of fellow students and staff members, the university said Monday. William Billy Nguyen, a second-year kinesiology student from San Jose, was traveling as part of San Jose States Outdoor Adventures recreation program, San Jose State President Mary A. Papazian said in a statement that was sent to students, faculty and staff on Monday. Nguyen and other members of the group were swimming in Eagle Lake on Saturday afternoon when he reportedly struggled and sank beneath the waters surface, Papazian wrote. The group tried unsuccessfully to rescue him. Advertisement Just after 3 p.m., park dispatchers received a notification from a satellite GPS device operated by someone within the group that there had been an apparent drowning in the lake, which sits at about 10,000-feet elevation in the southern portion of the park, the National Park Service said in a statement. Three rangers trekked a 3.5-mile, 2,500-foot elevation-gain trail to Eagle Lake, and a helicopter was deployed, according to the park service. Rescuers were unable to find Nguyen that night. His body was recovered Sunday by rangers in snorkel gear, flown out of the park by helicopter and transferred to the Tulare County Coroners Office. At least 16 members of the park staff assisted with search and recovery operations, officials said. Papazian said she and other staff members and counselors met the traveling party on campus Sunday evening. As one would imagine, she wrote, they have been badly shaken by this tragedy. I assured them that the SJSU community is and will be here for them. Nguyen was a student assistant for Outdoor Adventures, a program that offers day-long and overnight experiences for San Jose State students, faculty and staff, including hiking, mountain biking and kayaking trips. Nguyen had completed a training course last year and was among five staff members on the Sequoia National Park trip, Papazian said. He has been described to me as someone who, while sometimes reserved, loved group activities and wanted to inspire others to join in and be active, Papazian said. Papazian has spoken with Nguyens mother, she wrote, and is heartbroken for his family. The university is offering counseling services for anyone who might need them, she wrote. The incident remains under investigation, according to the National Park Service. In May, the body of a 53-year-old male hiker in Sequoia National Park was found by swift-water rescuers at the base of a waterfall after a group of hikers he had passed earlier on a trail spotted two water bottle lids at the top of the waterfall, according to the National Park Service. The man appeared to have run out of water and was tired while trying to reach his potential campsite. While his death was water-related, he appeared to have initially fallen, officials said. hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson ALSO Man who cut out girlfriends heart and lung in motel bathroom sentenced to life without parole Brass plumbing fixture flies off Caltrans truck and kills driver on Bay Area highway After boys death, L.A. County supervisors to consider reevaluating tool that calculates child abuse risk One pilot was killed and another injured when a U-2 spy plane crashed in Northern California shortly after takeoff Tuesday morning, according to a U.S. Air Force official. The pilots ejected shortly after takeoff from Beale Air Force Base and moments before the aircraft crashed into a rural area north of Sacramento, according to the Air Force. Initially, the Air Force reported the crew members had safely ejected and were awaiting recovery. Advertisement Almost four hours after the crash, however, air combat command tweeted, There is no official confirmation of status of U-2 pilots. Shortly before 1 p.m., Sgt. Charity Barrett of Beale Air Force Base confirmed one pilots death. The extent of injuries suffered by the second pilot was unclear. Theres always inherent dangers in an ejection. The technology is fantastic, but its not foolproof, Col. Larry Broadwell, the base commander, said at an afternoon news conference. I would match the safety and maintenance record of the U-2 with any of the apparatus the Air Force flies. The crash occurred about 9 a.m., and the pilots were participating in a training mission, according to the Air Force. Everything about the flight today was routine nothing out of the ordinary as I was told, Broadwell said. The single-engine, high-altitude surveillance jet is from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base and was assigned to the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron. Photographs from the scene showed the tail of the aircraft sticking out of a scorched hillside with wreckage scattered around it. According to the base website, the wing is responsible for providing ... timely, reliable, high-quality, high-altitude reconnaissance products. The wing is equipped with U-2 planes as well as RQ-4 and MC-12 reconnaissance aircraft. The last time a U-2 Dragon Lady crashed in the area was Aug. 7, 1996, in Oroville. The spy plane crashed into a parking lot outside the offices of the Oroville Mercury Register, killing the pilot and a woman on the ground. Capt. Randy Roby, an instructor assigned to Beale Air Force Base, was piloting the plane over the city on a routine mission when it burst into flames, then crashed. Jerri Vering of Oroville was leaving the newspapers office when the planes wreckage hit and killed her. The Beale air base is home to Americas fleet of high-altitude spy planes, and its motto is emblazoned on signs: In God We Trust. All Others We Monitor. The U-2 flies to 70,000 feet higher than any other U.S. military aircraft. Its also among the oldest. The spy plane was first designed during the Eisenhower administration to breach the Iron Curtain and, as engineers said, snap picture postcards for Ike of hidden military strongholds in the Soviet Union. There have been 33 updated versions of the jet that still flies today. The U-2 is perhaps best known for the plane that was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960 and the subsequent capture of pilot Francis Gary Powers. He was traded for a Soviet spy nearly two years later, but the embarrassing incident convinced U.S. officials that manned spy planes posed too many risks. The military now relies more heavily on drones for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering. The U-2 is set to be retired by 2019. Times staff writer W.J. Hennigan contributed to this article. The article will be updated as new information becomes available. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Mother of woman who died after being found unconscious in LAPD jail files legal claim Wildfire near Vandenberg Air Force Base swells to over 10,000 acres; Soberanes fire sets cost record Camp Pendleton Marine dies three days after he was mysteriously shot and left for dead in South L.A. UPDATES: 4:25 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the base commander about the aircraft and training mission. 12:55 p.m.: This article was updated with an official confirming the death of a pilot. 12:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information on the pilots condition. 12:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information on the aircrafts unit and timing of the crash. 11:25 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the air base and aircraft. 11:05 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the crash. This article was originally published at 10:40 a.m. UC Berkeley senior Paul Hadweh designed a course on the history of Palestine in order to spark discussion about his familys homeland under Israeli occupation. I wanted to create a space where we can read, think and speak critically about the question of Palestine, Hadweh said. But the one-credit, student-led offering which aimed to analyze Palestine through the lens of settler colonialism was suspended last week after just one class following a storm of criticism that it fostered anti-Semitism and indoctrinated students against the Jewish state. Advertisement According to an Israeli TV station, the Assn. of University Heads in Israel had covertly tried to stop the course. Administrators said the reason for pulling the plug was procedural that proper approval had not been obtained. Then campus officials reversed gears Monday, reinstating the course after students, faculty, free-speech advocates and Palestinian rights groups issued letters and circulated petitions denouncing the suspension as a violation of academic freedom. Among them, the 26 enrolled students from diverse racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds called it an act of discrimination against students who wanted to debate and discuss this contentious issue in a spirit of genuine sincerity, mutual respect and open-minded curiosity. The universitys ethnic studies department has revised the original course description and syllabus, according to a letter issued Monday by Carla Hesse, executive dean of the College of Letters and Sciences and dean of the social sciences division. But a comparison of the curriculum plans showed only minor changes, most notably in the wording of the course description as questions to be explored rather than statements of what would be studied. Hadweh called the revisions he made in consultation with ethnic studies faculty members cosmetic. There were no substantive changes, said Hadweh, 22, who is majoring in peace and conflict studies. It was not the revisions that allowed the course to get approved, it was the pressure from people across the globe who were appalled that this public institution would so severely infringe upon the principles of academic freedom. Pro-Israel groups said Monday that they remained troubled about the course. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a UC Santa Cruz professor and director of the Amcha Initiative, which fights anti-Semitism on campuses, said the reading list remained biased against Israel. The readings, without exception, present a very negative view of Israel, she said. That really should raise eyebrows in scholarly circles. Other critics said the focus on decolonizing was akin to calling for the elimination of the Jewish state a stance defined as anti-Semitic by the U.S. State Department. Hadweh said, however, that the Palestine experience would be compared to the colonization of indigenous people in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, with inquiry over how to create justice and equality for all. In the letter to faculty members, Hesse said the revisions addressed three concerns she had expressed to the courses student facilitator, faculty sponsor and the ethnic studies chair. She did not mention Hadweh by name. One was whether the offering had a particular political agenda structured into its framing and weekly assignments in such a way as to limit open inquiry of the issues, thus violating UC rules against political indoctrination and partisanship. Hesse also said she also asked them to assess whether the courses stated objective to explore the possibilities of a decolonized Palestine potentially violated UC policy against crossing over the line from teaching to political advocacy. And, she said, she discussed whether the course by focusing exclusively on Palestine was appropriate for an ethnic studies rather than a regional studies class. Hesse on Monday said she fully supports and defends the principles and policies of our campus that protect the academic freedom of all members of our community, but suspended the course because neither she nor the ethnic studies department chair had been formally notified of the class offering or seen the syllabus. As dean, she added, she reviews courses but does not approve the academic content. I did not request or require any revisions of the content of the course, she wrote in the letter to all department chairs of the social sciences division and the Academic Senates divisional council. Hadweh said he was stunned that a one-credit, student-led course would create an international furor, but was gratified by the outcome. Its inspiring to see how truly faculty at the university and around the world really cherish the principle of academic freedom and did not allow the administration to get away with allowing outside pressure to dictate what can and cant be spoken about on campus, he said. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe ALSO Beloved San Francisco political activist Rose Pak dies at 68 Central California wildfire swells to 4,500 acres at Vandenberg Air Force Base Brass plumbing fixture flies off Caltrans truck and kills driver on Bay Area highway UPDATES: 6:55 p.m.: This article was updated with a response from UC Berkeley student Paul Hadweh and critics of the course. This article was originally published at 12:10 p.m. The last of Aubrey McClendon's wine collection sold for $8.4 million over the weekend, topping expectations and showing the quality, and quantity, of the late oil tycoon's wine cellar. All 1,057 lots of McClendon's wine were sold by Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. More than 1,000 bidders from 17 countries took part in the Chicago auction, with many bidding online, according to Hart Davis. The sale was expected to fetch between $5.1 million and $7.7 million. McClendon had already sold a large part of his collection over the years through several multimillion-dollar auctions. Between 2009 and 2013, Sotheby's sold more than $55 million of McClendon's wines, including a 2009 sale of 9,000 bottles. All told, McClendon and his estate raked in more than $63 million from wine sales. McClendon focused mainly on the highest quality Bordeauxs. But he also dabbled in Burgundys and top-quality California wines, including Harlan and Screaming Eagle. McClendon favored giant or "large-format" bottles like magnums, Jeroboams and Imperials, which he famously liked to share with business associates and friends. The top lot sold over the weekend was a case of three double magnums of 1989 Chateau Petrus that went for $65,725. Two lots, each including three double magnums of 1989 Chateau Haut-Brion (said to be McClendon's favorite), went for $35,850 each. Bottles of Mouton Rothschild, Margaux, Cheval Blanc and Latour also sold well. McClendon, the charismatic co-founder of Chesapeake Energy (CHK), died in a car crash in March, hours after being indicted on federal charges of bid rigging . According to Bloomberg, Saturday's auction was held the day after the deadline to file what were expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars in claims against McClendon's estate. Rep. Duncan Hunter says he doesnt want a new federal policy to stop companies from donating tobacco products specifically cigars to members of the military. In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, Hunter, R-Alpine, said he wants new administration rules clarified to better explain if tobacco manufacturers and distributors can make such donations. Tobacco manufacturers and distributors have long taken part in a time-honored tradition of donating tobacco products to service members, often while deployed. These donations routinely improve morale and service to relieve stress, said Hunter, a Marine reservist. Advertisement It would be unacceptable for the FDA to prohibit the distribution of tobacco products to service members who are fighting to protect those very rights that may now be restricted, Hunter wrote in the Thursday letter. Hunters letter was sent the same day a series of new FDA regulations took effect, including one that bars tobacco companies from giving away their products or face fines. According to various reports, some manufacturers are interpreting this provision as not only a ban on free samples, but on charitable donations as well. The Tampa Bay Times reported that some cigar brands, like Thompson Cigar Co. and J.C. Newman, said theyll no longer give their wares to service members. Hunter, an artillery officer with three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he used tobacco in combat zones, despite the health risks. You, or anyone else there who doesnt care to go fight, or wants me to do it for you, I get to smoke cigars, he said. Tobacco helps service members calm their nerves, relax, and function better in high-stress situations, he said. Why put me under undue stress? he said. And he said hes not concerned about the potentially deadly health problems that tobacco use causes, or the cost of caring for veterans with tobacco-related diseases. I dont care. When it comes to guys overseas fighting, I dont care, he said. The military removed cigarettes from field rations more than 40 years ago and its been over six decades since the first surgeon general warning appeared on cigarettes. The Defense Department has long tried to get service members to kick their nicotine habits. In 2010 the Navy banned smoking on submarines but still allowed sailors to chew smokeless tobacco in the silent service, and continues to keep the smoking lamp lit on all other ships. Two years ago the military considered a ban on the sale of tobacco products on bases and ships, but did not put one into place. Through this, as a component of comprehensive wellness programs, the military has tried to get service members and their families to stop using tobacco and has offered cessation programs, including nicotine gum, patches and other products. Despite official efforts, tobacco use in the military is commonplace. According to one Defense Department report, 24 percent of active-duty military use tobacco, compared to 19 percent of civilians. Of the four branches, Marines are the biggest smokers, with 30.8 percent of the service using cigarettes. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report between 2007 and 2010, 29 percent of male veterans ages 25 to 64 smoked, compared to 24 percent of nonveterans. Tobacco use, the military says, not only creates long-term health problems, but makes deployed forces weaker. In 2014, Dr. Jonathan Woodson, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said that tobacco use affects dental readiness and limits the departments ability to deploy. Additionally, an estimated 171,000 service members who currently use tobacco are likely to die early because of their tobacco habit, he said. Another Defense Department study found that tobacco-related health expenses also costs the military $1.6 billion per year, just under the cost of a new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. Tobacco, inclusive of cigars, has a long and storied history in the military, from Gen. Douglas MacArthurs corncob pipe to Lucky Strike cigarettes in World War II-era rations and medicinal uses in field medicine. Care packages to service members who deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq were no stranger to tobacco products, and charities often send bulk shipments of cigars as morale boosters. Hunter said he used tobacco during his three combat deployments, but he now sticks to vaping with e-cigarette products except for the occasional cigar for special occasions. More than 25 years of lawsuits, court rulings, aborted sales and property transfers over the landmark Mt. Soledad cross in La Jolla have finally come to an end, closing one of the longest legal battles over religious symbols on public property in the country. On Wednesday the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-page ruling ordering the end to the latest round of appeals and dismissal of the case, because the central issue a religious symbol standing on government property was moot. Thats because in July 2015 the Mount Soledad Memorial Association agreed to purchase the cross and the land beneath it for $1.4 million from the Department of Defense. While that was seen as the beginning of the end, the plaintiffs in the suit who were seeking removal of the cross needed time to review the terms of the sale and work out other details. Advertisement It took more than a year for that to be worked out, lawyers for the Defense Department said in a motion filed Aug. 25. A settlement agreement resolves all remaining issues, including attorneys fees, arising from the federal governments acquisition, ownership and 2015 disposition of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial, they wrote. The short motions and brief order from the court mark a muted end to a legal battle initiated in 1989, involving both the city of San Diego and then the federal government. The case traveled several times up and down the federal courts, including two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue was always the same: opponents said that the cross on public property violated the prohibition in state and federal constitutions prohibiting the government from endorsing one religion over another. Supporters countered the cross had been a longstanding landmark and ultimately argued it was a secular sign of service and sacrifice by military veterans. Courts consistently sided with opponents of the display. But that didnt temper the passions of people on both sides of the issue as the case played out in what appeared to be an endless series of court hearing over the years. I think this now resolves the case, said David Loy, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, which has long fought alongside other plaintiffs opposed to the presence of the cross. The government doesnt own the cross or the land underneath it any more, Loy said. The government is no longer in the business of endorsing religion. The cross site, with a panoramic view of the city, was on land owned by the city of San Diego for decades. The city was the first defendant in the initial suit filed by Vietnam War veteran and atheist Philip K. Paulson in 1989. U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Thompson ruled in 1991 that the cross, which is 29 feet tall and stands on a base that lifts it to a height of 43 feet, was unconstitutional and had to be moved off public land. That triggered rounds of appeals and two attempts by the city to sell the property. Both were blocked by federal courts, which ruled that various terms of the sales violated the constitution because they gave a preference to buyers who planned to keep it as a religious symbol. By 2006 the city was under pressure, facing the spectre of a daily $5,000 fine from the courts if it did not abide by the 1991 ruling ordering the cross off public land. At that time the U.S. Congress stepped in at the urging of local legislators and took the property by eminent domain, handing it to the Defense Department for use as a war memorial. That move then triggered a second round of lawsuits, this time with the federal government as defendant. A group called Jewish War Veterans sued, as did veteran Steve Trunk, replacing Paulson after his death in 2006. In 2008, cross supporters got a victory when U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns in San Diego ruled that the cross was not a religious symbol, but one of service and sacrifice. That ruling was appealed and in 2011 the 9th Circuit again ruled in favor of opponents, overturning Burns ruling and concluding the cross was a distinctively Christian symbol and could not remain on public land. That ruling was under appeal when in 2015 the sale of the property to the private Mount Soledad Memorial Association went through. Lou Scanlon, president of the group, said Thursday ending the case was welcome. Its a pleasure to be able to operate without the cloud of litigation hovering over the monument, he said. Jim McElroy, the lawyer for Trunk who has been involved in the case for two decades, said it the long battle was worth it. From our perspective I think I can say that after 25 years we finally got the message through, that a 40-foot, 20-ton ubiquitous symbol of Christianity on public property is not constitutional, he said. A cross in some form had stood on the site since 1913, and had long been the site of sunrise Easter services since the 1950s. After the litigation began in 1989, the base of the cross filled in with plaques commemorating services of veterans. A condition of the sale to the association requires that the site be maintained as a veterans memorial in perpetuity. PREVIOUS As the war on drugs has caused a spike in arrests and incarceration, one group has become incarcerated at higher rates than ever before: Women. A report published by the Vera Institute of Justice details the unique struggles of women in the correctional system. Advertisement In 1960, 11 percent of those jailed were women. By 2014, that proportion increased to 26 percent. Most research on the incarcerated presumes that they are men, Vera contends, leaving women poorly served. As with any minority group, institutions may fail to adequately prepare for the needs of that population. Given that incarcerated women are already likely to be disenfranchised, prison may be an even more traumatic and devastating experience for them than for men. Even though the number of women incarcerated has increased from the past, there are still considerably more male inmates. Proportionately, the ratio of men to women is the same in California as it is in the nation. However, the prison population is dropping, due to the prison realignment that started in 2011. The effort diverted low-level offenders from being sent to crowded California prisons, in order to keep the most dangerous people incarcerated. Women were affected significantly by that policy change. In the past decade, the number of women incarcerated decreased by more than 50 percent, with the most significant drops occurring after the state changes. Like men in jail, they are disproportionately people of color, overwhelmingly poor and low-income, survivors of violence and trauma, and have high rates of physical and mental illness and substance use, the report writes. Nearly 80 percent of women in jails are mothers, but unlike incarcerated men, they are, by and large, single parents, solely responsible for their young children. Having fewer women in prison and jails may make the situation worse for them, because with a smaller population, institutions may be less likely to meet certain needs of women, including: Menstrual hygiene products Contraception Abortion services Gynecology Data collection on women in prison is scant at best. Vera used available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources, but the data collected isnt comprehensive. It doesnt provide a way to cross-check gender, race and other identifying factors, which could be used to help craft better policy to serve the needs of the incarcerated. Most women in jails are also mothers. Vera estimates that 79 percent have young children and roughly 5 percent are pregnant while incarcerated. Given that many come from communities blighted by high rates of poverty, crime, and low educational attainment, even a short stay in jail may do more than temporarily break up their families, the report says. Vera explains that the standard jail policies fail to recognize the needs of many women, especially those that have experienced trauma. Searches, restraint and surveillance have detrimental effects on women who may have been the victims of partner or sexual violence. The Prison Rape Elimination Act requires prisons and jails to assess the risk of someone being assaulted, but because of the fewer women in jails, the most frequent action is solitary confinement. For fear of being isolated, some may choose to not disclose trauma. Undergoing all-body search for contraband or being supervised by male staff while showering, dressing, or using the bathroom, for example, can trigger painful memories and physical and emotional symptoms of PTSD, Vera wrote. The Poway school board has hired a national search firm to seek a replacement for former Superintendent John Collins. Collins, who started with the Poway Unified School District in 1989, was ousted in July following an audit that found he received what auditors described as more than $345,000 in unauthorized payments. The district is suing Collins to recoup those funds. Last week the Poway school board hired Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to conduct the search for Collins replacement. The district agreed to pay an all-inclusive fee of $32,800 for the service, which includes travel, printing and advertising costs. Advertisement The board chose Ray and Associates from among six proposals at costs ranging from $28,000 to $37,944. The company cited examples of other California school districts where it has recruited superintendents, including in San Ysidro, Pasadena, Oakland and Sacramento. In its proposal, the firm laid out a timeline that showed the job could be filled by years end. The company said it would begin recruiting potential candidates this week, and wrap up final interviews with the top candidates on Dec. 12. The proposal also described the steps the firm takes to vet candidates, including a background search that confirms listed references, and checks of professional contacts, current and past work relationships and social media feeds. We not only vet candidates extensively in their professional career, but it is also important for us to be familiar with their personal life, as that can have an impact in their profession, the proposal stated. Before his firing, Collins was the highest paid superintendent in the county, earning $308,900 per year, with total compensation of $457,347 including extra pay, benefits and retirement. He was fired after an audit conducted by VLS Forensic Services laid out ways in which Collins allegedly augmented his already exceptional salary by collecting unauthorized vacation payouts, taking off-the-books vacation days, receiving unearned pay raises and accruing longevity pay far in excess of what his contract allowed. deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com education-schools-poway-superintendent-search education, schools, poway, poway unified school district, poway superintendent, john collins, unauthorized pay Poway school district hired a national search firm to seek a replacement for ousted Superintendent John Collins. This week the Poway Unified School Board hired the firm Ray and Associates, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to conduct a national search for a new superintendent. They agreed to pay an all-inclusive fee of $32,800 for the service, which includes travel, printing and advertising costs. Poway hires search firm for new schools supe For 10 months, Jon Rebman roamed the wilds of Baja on a kind of botanical treasure hunt for plants that hadnt been seen in a century. He found 50 rare plants that may have been collected once in history, a hundred years ago on the Baja Peninsula, said Rebman, curator of botany for the San Diego Natural History Museum. Rebman sought the missing species as part of an exhaustive effort to catalog the plants in the region. The results will be published in a few weeks in a 350-page tome listing everything known to grow in Baja. On Tuesday, Rebman will talk about his research and the expedition, as part of the museums NATtalks lecture series. Advertisement The project started in the museums herbarium, a carefully preserved collection of a quarter of a million botanical specimens. Rebman, his staff and volunteers combed through those specimens to develop a definitive list of the plants of Baja Among the plants they knew from the region, they found examples of species they hadnt seen before. In fact, they were pretty sure no one had seen these unknown plants in a very long time. By putting that huge publication together of everything we know about the plants of Baja California, a lot of things turned up that we didnt know were in Baja, Rebman said. I ended up going to La Paz, (Mexico) to look for these lost species. The Natural History Museum focuses on the evolution and diversity of southern California and the peninsula of Baja California, and its scientists have explored the region extensively. In 2014, a group of museum researchers joined Mexican colleagues for a two-week trek through the Sierra de las Cacachilas, a small, remote mountain range near La Paz Last year, Rebman took that a step further and moved to La Paz for 10 months, making frequent trips through surrounding forests and mountains to collect specimens and pursue the lost plants. On one of those hikes, he explored the Sierra El Taste, a lush forest with an unusual mix of trees. The area is beautiful, stunning, tropical deciduous forest, he said. It has oaks everywhere, but between the oaks are palms. Its oak-palm forest. There he found Sabazia purpusii, a small, purple blossom in the sunflower family that grows only in those mountains, and had not been collected since 1901. Other treks took him to the Sierra de la Giganta region, where vast autumnal lakes fill with rainfall in the fall, but fade to dry basins in other seasons. When the lakes recede, rare flowers bloom, including a small, spiky white flower, the Trichocoronis wrightii var. Wigginsii We hiked around for two days and didnt find it, Rebman said. All of a sudden we found a population of 13 plants. And thats it. It is a cute little species. Rebman said hes unsure whether those 13 flowers are the last remaining blossoms of the ephemeral flower. If so, theyre at dire risk from the sheep, goats and cattle that graze the basin. Unfortunately, it seems to come off of the autumnal lake to flower, and anything that comes up is being eaten by the livestock, he said. So Im really worried about the future of this species. By documenting rare plants with photos and specimens, Rebman hopes to confirm their location and conservation status. Eventually that could lead to research on their possible uses. These are very, very rare things; we dont know if theyre extinct or not, he said. We dont know if theyll exist in the future. We have no idea if these have any benefit to humanity None of that has ever been looked at. Rebman will deliver his lecture on the lost plants of Baja at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, at the San Diego Natural History Museum. The NATtalks lectures are $9 for members and $12 for non-members. The museums lecture series will continue on Tuesday, October 18, with Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer, by Peter Marra, head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, who will discuss the impacts of domesticated cats on wildlife and the environment. And on Tuesday, Nov. 15, the museum will host Deep Life: The Hunt for the Hidden Biology of Earth, Mars, and Beyond, by Tullis C. Onstott, professor of geosciences at Princeton University, who will tell tale of finding life in some of the most extreme conditions on Earth, and what those discoveries mean about life on other planets. Mexican Independence Day was a special celebration, indeed, for one local family. They are descendants of Col. Esteban Cantu Jimenez ,who oversaw the opening of the first school in northern Baja exactly 100 years ago Friday. He was territorial governor of northern Baja California from 1915-1920 and served as a senator in the 1950s. Advertisement The first school building in the capital of Mexicali, where Cantu also had his government office, still exists today as a cultural center. Cantus five grandchildren, Bridget, Candace, Celeste, Stephen and Valerie, and their families, were invited to Mexicali Friday evening for the unveiling of a larger-than-life bronze statue of their grandfather in front of the building. Bridget Cantu Wear, an Old Globe Theatre executive, is married to Byron Wear, a San Diego City Council member from 1995-2002. Candace lives in Redlands, Celeste in Temecula, Stephen in Bonita and Valerie and their mother, Lois, in Imperial Valley. Valerie Cantu Claverie assumed the family historian role. She recalls her grandfather, who died in 1966 when she was a young girl, as living very, very modestly. He had a simple house and slept on a military cot. He had a lifelong commitment to education. He was always teaching us, reciting something. she said. We were always learning. Test of strength: Kristin Rhodes can take her place as the fourth strongest woman in the world. The Spring Valley housewife, mom and child care provider went up against the top 11 female strength athletes Saturday in England. While she dominated two of the five muscle-popping competitions, Rhodes, 41, fell out of first place in the three other events, ending up fourth overall. Dont count her out, though. Rhodes, who muscled her way to the strongest woman in America six times, can overhead axle press more than 250 pounds and dead-lift 520 pounds. She is dedicated to strength training and will surely continue her quest to be the best. Dead or alive: Actor Richard Dreyfuss can identify with author Mark Twains comment: The report of my death was an exaggeration. Although Twains exact words have been the subject of controversy, his point has not. In the wake of Sunday nights Emmy Awards on ABC, the Twittersphere was abuzz with rumors of the San Diego residents death. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (notice the different last name spelling) had sadly announced the passing Friday of her father, to whom she dedicated her award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series. Her fathers name is Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, not Richard Dreyfuss. Nevertheless, her comment quickly launched a social network tsunami of misinformation. That prompted talk show host Kelly Ripa to discredit the rumor yesterday morning on Live With Kelly, which also airs on ABC. Dreyfuss, the actor, seemed to take the mix-up in stride, posting online: Im actually not Julia Louis-Dreyfus father. But I really appreciate all the concerned tweets. diane.bell@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1598 Twitter: dianebellSD Facebook: dianebell.news A fashion show, a hackathon, an environmental fair, a foodie fest, a binational mixology competition, a foot race, dozens of workshops and a series of keynote speakers are on the program for this years Tijuana Innovadora, a biennial event that aims to highlight the citys potential and promote closer ties to San Diego. Held for the fourth time since 2010, Tijuana Innovadora will stretch for eight days, November 3-10. For the first time, the main venue is being moved from the citys Rio Zone to the World Trade Center in eastern Tijuana. A look at Tijuana Innovadora 2014. Organizers say the central theme of this years conference will be the creative industries, including culinary arts, fashion, video gaming, cinema and architectural design. What we want to bring out is the theme of the creative industries and their importance to our region, said Laura Araujo, director of binational affairs for Tijuana Innovadora. Its a new area where we can bring our communities together. Tijuana Innovadora was first staged in 2010, as the city was struggling to emerge from rising unemployment and drug-related violence. Spearheading the initial effort were businessman Jose Galicot, maquiladora executive Alejandro Bustamante and the late marketing specialist, Tomas Perrin. Advertisement From the beginning, Tijuana Innovadora has been a wide-ranging event featuring many themes and high-profile speakers. Funding for this year is about $600,000, said Galicot, who is Tijuana Innovadoras president a fraction of the $5 million in funding raised for the initial event, whose speakers included Mexicos then-president, Felipe Calderon, and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. This years scheduled speakers include Jose Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; Enrique Graue, chancellor of the National Autonomous University of Mexico; and Alfonso Arau, Mexican actor and director. sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble A fire that sparked in a Tierrasanta condominium Sunday night caused $300,000 in damage and displaced two adults, a San Diego fire official said. Firefighters got to the complex on Camino Playa Cancun about 9:20 p.m. and saw smoke billowing from a second-story window. Crews were able to contain the fire to a bedroom, said San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson. It took about 20 minutes to douse the flames. Advertisement A hallway was damaged by smoke and the ceiling under the charred bedroom was soaked by water. The fire didnt spread to adjacent units, Swanson said. A couple was was home when the fire sparked, and managed to escape with their two pets. The fire was accidental, investigators determined. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com Police found blood and shell casings but no victim after what may have been a shootout in East Village early Tuesday. Officers pursued and stopped an SUV on Interstate 5 near Palm Avenue, detaining the driver and passenger for questioning. It wasnt immediately clear whether the two were witnesses in the shooting, San Diego police The sound of gunfire was reported at 15th and Market streets about 2:50 a.m., police Sgt. Lisa McKean said. Advertisement While officers headed there to investigate, a police lieutenant who heard the gunshots saw a silver Nissan SUV speeding away. He and other officers went in pursuit on the freeway, heading south. The driver hit 100 mph before stopping, McKean said. The driver was arrested on a misdemeanor reckless driving charge but his female passenger was released, McKean said. A trail of drops of blood and shell casings apparently from different guns, were found near 15th Street and Island Avenue. Hours later, no victim had been found on the streets or at any hospital, police said. Scores of homeless people congregate and sleep, many in tents, in the area near shelters and soup kitchens. The county will spray for mosquitoes in a small section of San Diegos Skyline neighborhood Wednesday after finding the species that can carry Zika virus near the home of a resident who returned infected after overseas travel. It will be the countys fifth such neighborhood spraying since Aug. 19 when the department used insecticide foggers to attack Aedes mosquitoes found near the home of a resident who showed Zika-like symptoms but who was later found to be uninfected. Spraying for mosquitoes after travel-related Zika case Wednesdays spraying will occur in an area bordered by Noeline Place, Parkbrook Way, Parkbrook Street and Parkbrook Place. Spraying is intended to kill adult mosquitoes living in the area and keep them from biting anyone with a Zika infection. Once a mosquito has ingested human blood that contains the virus, it can spread the infection to other people in the area with every subsequent bite, a pattern that epidemiologists call local transmission. To kill adult mosquitoes the countys workers use backpack-mounted equipment that emits a fog made up of microscopic water droplets that contain Pyrenone 25-5, a pesticide that is considered less harmful than other well-known chemicals like malathion. Still, the chemical can be harmful to animals and insects, especially bees. Advertisement The county recommends bringing pets indoors, closing doors and windows, ornamental fish ponds and bee hives. Outdoor activity can resume 30 minutes after spraying is complete. All fruits and vegetables should be washed before consumption. So far, all Zika-related spraying activities have occurred in the central part of San Diego. In addition to Skyline and South Park, crews have also worked in Mount Hope, Normal Heights and Grant Hill. The county reminds residents to eliminate any sources of standing water on their properties, no matter how small, to keep the Aedes mosquitoes that carry Zika from breeding. For more information, call vector control at (858) 694-2888. @paulsisson;paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com Colonial Pipeline said Tuesday it expects to restore service to its leaking pipeline Wednesday, which would bring some much needed fuel to the Southeast, where gas prices have been spiking. Colonial's Line 1, which takes fuel from Gulf Coast refineries across the South and up to the mid-Atlantic region, has been down since Sept. 9 when a leak was discovered in Alabama. The company said it plans to test a 500-foot bypass section, and if it is ready for operation, it anticipates it will be connected to Line 1 and operating Wednesday. Colonial said it should take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal. "As such, some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions. Colonial continues to move as much gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal," the company said. Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, estimated it may take until October for the logistics to return to normal. "The lack of Gulf Coast gasoline coming north has manifested itself from Alabama to Virginia, a lot less when you get to other points, like Delaware and New Jersey," he said. He said while RBOB gasoline futures were plunging Tuesday, wholesalers were still seeing prices of 40 cents to 50 cents above futures prices. RBOB futures for October fell 4.7 percent to $1.39 per gallon. "I still think there's going to be drama in the downstream market with no gasoline or ridiculous prices. Let's hope Colonial gets that pipeline restarted because we really need it," said Kloza. Gas prices continued rising at the pump overnight, and shortages became more apparent in the 11th day of the outage Tuesday. Drivers in Georgia are seeing some of the biggest increases statewide. Prices at the pump in Georgia jumped to an average $2.36 per gallon, a hike of 5 cents since Monday for unleaded gasoline, now up 23 cent per gallon since Friday. Experts believe the price hikes will get worse before they get better even if the pipeline is fixed this week. Story continues "It's still going to be a mess in most of the those states, I think through September," Kloza said. In North Carolina, the price is now $2.19 per gallon, a 6-cent jump since Sunday, and in South Carolina, prices are up at $2.08 per gallon, a jump of 15 cents since Friday. The worst hit states are in the Southeast, but Delaware saw an overnight price jump of 3 cents per gallon, and gasoline Tuesday was 10 cents more expensive than last week at an average $2.18 per gallon. New plans for National Citys Historic Marina Gateway District are moving forward after the City Council voted this month to continue with a development proposal for two parcels on the citys west side. The Sycuan Tribal Development Corporation is negotiating with the city to build retail and dining on the east, and a hotel on the west. The project is north of the Best Western hotel. The Marina District serves as a gateway to National City historic sites and the future expansion of Pier32 Marina and Pepper Park. Advertisement The Port of San Diego has been working with National City as well as businesses and community stakeholders on a plan to find the right balance of land use between maritime, commercial recreation and public access. Parcels A and B are integral to that balance. Theyre the gateway to the commercial portion of the plans property that the city owns, said Deputy City Manager Brad Raulston. Were layering on the existing plan and continuing the improve the area. Sycuans proposal for Parcel A includes highway amenities such as a gas station, retail and dining options. The gas station could have access for large RVs and semi-trucks. Plans for Parcel B includes a 5-story hotel with 80 to 120 guestrooms with a rooftop terrace. Its bottom floor amenities extend to the adjacent pedestrian plaza, which serves as a gateway to the existing Historic Train Depot Museum and rail yard. It also would have a new restaurant with an outdoor terrace, additional parking and a separated bike path that runs through the plaza and continues along West 23rd Street. The path would provide a missing link on the Bayshore Bikeway, a 24-mile bicycle route around the San Diego Bay. The city is hoping to see this come to fruition within the next five years. Glenn Quiroga with Sycuan Tribal Development Corporation, told council members during the Sept. 6 meeting, that it wants to create something that generates a wow from the public and others. Thats our whole concept, to create something new so people from National City and all over San Diego would like to come down and check it out, he said. Were just trying to go outside the box, creating new activity for the area. One of those potential ideas is tying a future restaurant in with the historic railroad. A majority of council members suggested any food establishments offer healthy options. Specifically councilwomen Alejandra Sotelo-Solis and Mona Rios recommended Tender Greens, Luna Grill or True Food Kitchen instead of traditional fast food. Councilman Mendivil agreed with their sentiments. National City Mayor Ron Morrison was against putting in a gas station and fast food restaurants for convenience sake. This is our once in a lifetime shot to have that wow type of spot and go to with the thing that is the most convenient...to me I think is a lost opportunity, he said. One of the desires has always been for there to be a nice, quality restaurant. We dont have one. This is probably the one key site that could really draw something. Next steps include city staff members working with Sycuan to complete a project application that includes traffic analysis and other development details so environmental impacts can be analyzed. A teachers union campaign organization was fined nearly $1,500 last week by the Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to report some of its spending in the time allowed. The Chula Vista Educators Political Action Committee was formed in 2014 to support Chula Vista Elementary school board candidates Eduardo Reyes, Leslie Bunker and Barbara Majchrzak. The fine of $1,446 was the result of a complaint that was made last March against the group and trustees Reyes, Bunker and Francisco Tamayo by Chula Vista resident Larry Breitfelder-Navas and San Diego political consultant Kenneth Moser. Advertisement Its unfortunate that its not a larger amount to be more of a disincentive, Breitfelder-Navas said. But its not a perfect world. I go one victory at a time. The decision from the FPPC found the PAC in violation of a 24-hour reporting requirement related to campaign spending. The complaint alleged the board members and the PAC did not file campaign finance reports on time. It also accused the PAC of possibly breaking rules related to campaign spending and said the group appears to have intentionally failed to disclose over $25,000 of independent expenditures presumably on behalf of these same candidates ... The FPPC found no evidence of intent to conceal the violations, according to the ruling. The PAC was penalized for late filing during two reporting periods just ahead of the November election. The spending totaled slightly more than $25,000. None of the school board members named in the complaint were cited in the ruling. Read the FPPC ruling Reyes had called the complaint dirty politics. It came at a time when he was campaigning to be elected to the new District 4 seat on the Chula Vista City Council. Mike Diaz and Rudy Ramirez are on the November ballot in that contest. The decision by the states political watchdog panel was made through its Streamlined Program, which FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga said is set up to take care of relatively lower level violations. Commissioners approved the penalty by consent at the Sept. 15 meeting in Sacramento. Follow me @HuardSDUT ALSO: Complaint alleges school board campaign violations Congresswoman and U.S. Senate candidate Loretta Sanchez called Thursday for a federal takeover of the criminal investigation into the California Public Utilities Commission from her political rival, Attorney General Kamala Harris. Sanchez, an Orange County Democrat who is trailing Harris in most polls, said instead of protecting Southern California and its residents, Harris is defending a plan to bury 3 million pounds of radioactive waste from the failed San Onofre nuclear plant on the San Diego County coastline for decades to come. Advertisement She would rather protect her cronies than the people of California, Sanchez said. Shes done nothing, basically, and the consumers have been left holding the bag. The plant closed prematurely in January 2012, and the utilities commissions administration of $4.7 billion in shutdown costs has played into Harris investigation of backchannel dealings with energy company executives. Sanchez claimed that Harris has conflicts of interest in investigating state regulators while representing state officials in lawsuits over public records. The Harris campaign issued a statement saying Sanchez was misleading voters. Rep. Sanchez today is embarking on a deeply dishonest and negative campaign, falsely attacking and politicizing an ongoing criminal investigation, spokesman Nathan Click wrote. Its what Californians have come to expect from Sanchez, who has been repeatedly criticized for her divisive attacks against Muslims, Native Americans and even President Obama. The Attorney Generals Office has rejected the idea of a conflict between the criminal case and civil litigation. The investigation remains open and active and the office does not comment on ongoing cases, a spokesman said. Harris, the former San Francisco district attorney, has served at least six search warrants at commission headquarters and utility offices in the past two years. Harris, who is representing Brown in a lawsuit seeking access to his offices utilities-related emails, accepted the governors endorsement for Senate in May. Sanchez issued her call for federal intervention at the law office of San Diego attorneys Michael Aguirre and Maria Severson, who are suing for state emails regarding the San Onofre issue and other matters. They are also suing to overturn the utilities commissions settlement of San Onofre costs and a plan to store waste on the coast. A community engagement panel set up by Edison to respond to the plant closure will meet Sept. 15 in Oceanside. Among other things, the committee will discuss the spent-fuel storage issue. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the QLN Conference Center, 1938 Avenida Del Oro. RELATED Traffickers looking to smuggle drugs into the United States could literally launch narcotics over the border using a van found by police that had been outfitted with a cannon. Federal Mexican authorities discovered the vehicle last week parked on a street in Agua Prieta, which is located just across the U.S./Mexico border from Douglas, Ariz. The black van had a hole cut in its roof to accommodate a 10-foot long cannon that was rigged with an air compressor. A gasoline engine and an air storage tank were also found. Officials referred to the device as a homemade bazooka in a press release. Advertisement The vehicle, which had been reported stolen in July, had no license plates and its doors were open. Authorities said it was likely used to hurl contraband to someone waiting on the other side. U.S. Border Patrol agent Vicente Paco told the Associated Press that a drug-shooting cannon is capable of shooting packages of drugs weighing as much as 60 pounds. The devices are not unheard of, but they are rare, he said. Its more common for smugglers to toss smaller bundles of drugs over the fence, usually into a pre-determined backyard. Heavy equipment has also been used to hoist trucks full of marijuana over the barrier which in some parts of Arizona can be 26-feet high. The agent also said that traffickers have used wooded catapults to launch narcotics. Besides cannons and catapults and the more typical tunnels, aircraft and boats, smugglers have also used homemade submarines, drones, and ramps built over fences to smuggle drugs. Officials have also found contraband hidden in food, gas tanks, wheelchairs, and even one case in which cocaine was surgically implanted into a womans breasts. Suspected smugglers attempted to drive a Jeep Cherokee over the 14 feet high U.S.-Mexico border fence in Yuma, Arizona. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection/AP ) 619-293-1710 debbi.baker@sduniontribune.com twitter.com/Debbi_Baker Yelp officials stepped in after hateful and profanity-laced reviews started to pile up on the page of the fried chicken restaurant connected to the man suspected in the New York bombing. Visitors to the page of the First American Fried Chicken restaurant in New Jersey, which is owned by the family of suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, will find a warning Tuesday that says the company is conducting a cleanup process and that posts may be removed. While we dont take a stand one way or the other when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewers personal consumer experience with the business, the advisory said. Advertisement The chicken shack, which was raided by the FBI and has not reopened, had positive reviews on Monday, according to the New York Daily News, but that changed soon after Rahami was arrested after a shootout with police. Despite the warning, several of the posts remain on the site. Heres just a sample. If you are a Filthy Mohammedan savage, then by all means stop back by and enjoy their cockroach-laden Halal food, which means the animal has been ritually tortured before processing because Satan/Allah commands it. They have a chicken coup out back where chickens were seen wearing berkas and listening to audio version of Koran while ingesting poison before they head off to the infidels dinner tables. Vote me useful if you agree we should elect Donald Trump, reinstate torture for terrorists and send every Muslim family in this country packing to whence they came. All I know is you camel jockeys need to go back home. The average American is getting fed up with this garbage. The liberal news will lead you to believe youre safe here to do what you wish. But just underneath that garbage youll see your time is coming. Allah is a joke! Youre a joke! Islam is rancid and like the garbage we are going to throw it out. I hope your son gets water boarded. Usually the fruit doesnt fall too far from the tree. Please do us a favor and leave this country. But not everyone took the felt the same. Personally, this family deserves a lot of credit, wrote one person. Starting a business in America isnt easy - but theyve done it. And theyve picked up what a lot of Americans want. Its savvy. I support this family fully. You cant be responsible for what your family members do. We all have black sheep in our family. Its love the makes the world go round. Patience, tolerance and compassion. Live and let live. These reviews are the most UnAmerican shyt I continue to witness in this racially charged political climate. This family SHOULD NOT be indicted based on the actions of one. Hell, if I were judged by the actions of my siblings, Id be nowhere. Thanks YELP for your loyalty to businesses and your integrity to this community. Another post, from a man who identified himself as a Camp Pendleton Marine, read in part: Hearts and minds ladies and gents. My fellow service members did not sacrifice their lives and did not go into combat zones just to see my fellow American citizens tear some parents that are already victims themselves of the terrorist act with vicious comments by other fellow Americans. He wrote in the lengthy post that he was not condoning terrorist acts of radicalized Muslims but he also could not condone the hatred. And if you guys want to shame me call me anti-American for my strong beliefs of anti-prejudice, freedom and lawful justice so be it. I will stand steadfast with my words, my soul and heart of a warrior that was forged through deep empathy, humility, love for life, experience in a combat environment and training and good upbringing through my Marine Corps infantry years. If a Marine Corps infantry veteran who was trained to be the tip of the spear in fighting can have sympathy for they are also victims of these savages, these monsters of human beings. I would expect citizens of this nation to do so. You can read his post, and all the others, here. 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of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Drug addiction should be treated as an illness, not a crime, said this doctor, who in 1956 offered a bold minority report on what he called the so-called drug menace. Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join What is a proper reaction to reports, in the 1940s and 50s, that imply the existence of 4 million drug addicts in the U.S.? One reaction the one ultimately chosen the federal and state governments was to pass stricter new laws and regulations that sought out those involved with both using and selling drugs and locked them up, away from civilized society. Another way, the one championed by Dr. Laurence Kolb of the U.S. Public Health Service, was to check those numbers and find out if the problem was really so widespread. To be sure, there was a narcotics problem. At the end of the 19th century, opium and its derivatives like heroin, morphine, and laudanum had found their unregulated way into hundreds of over-the-counter pain relievers for everything from teething to arthritis. People were becoming addicted, and doctors were starting to notice. In 1914, the Harrison Act limited access to opiates and cocaine. Clinics were set up to help the addicted under the care of professional supervision. But over the next 10 years, most of those clinics closed as political positioning and journalistic sensationalism shifted public opinion away from helping addicts and toward criminalizing them. New laws and their interpretations meant that addicts seeking medical help were more likely to face conviction than convalescence. Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today Amid the hysteria, in 1924, Dr. Kolb published his report for what would become the National Institute for Public Health, estimating that addicts in the United States never exceeded 246,000. Drug addiction was a problem, yes, but not as great a problem as headlines led people to believe. Whats more, Kolb argued, our reaction to the drug problem was wrong-headed. In 1956, Dr. Kolb wrote Lets Stop This Narcotics Hysteria! for the Post. In the 32 years since his original report, our approach to drug addiction hadnt changed much. In this article, he argues for a more enlightened view, showing how treating all drug addicts as criminals makes little sense medically, economically, or socially. He also offers an alternative. Today, the so-called war on drugs continues, and the outlook doesnt seem much different. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, nearly half of federal prison inmates are there for drug violations. A Justice Policy Institute study has shown that treating a drug addict costs, on average, $20,000 less per year than imprisonment. Given the cost of incarceration, punishment instead treatment is not simply shortsighted and vengeful, but its also impractical. Lets Stop This Narcotics Hysteria! By Laurence Kolb, M.D. Excerpted from an article originally published on July 28, 1956 Many years ago, when I was a stripling, I sat listening to a group of elderly men gossiping in a country store. They were denouncing the evils of cigarette smoking, a vice that was just coming in. This store had on its shelves a jar of eating opium, and a carton of laudanum vials 10 percent opium. A respected woman in the neighborhood often came in to buy laudanum. She was a good housekeeper and the mother of two fine sons. Everybody was sorry about her laudanum habit, but no one viewed her as a sinner or a menace to the community. We had not yet heard the word addict, with its sinister, modern connotations. Since those days, public opinion has done a complete about-face. The sin of smoking cigarettes, in 50 years time, has become a socially acceptable habit, while drug addiction has been promoted by hysterical propaganda to the status of a great national menace. As an example, one prominent official has said that illegal heroin traffic is more vicious than arson, burglary, kidnapping, or rape, and should entail harsher penalties. Last May 31st, the United States Senate went even further, in passing the Narcotic Control Act of 1956. In this measure, third-offense trafficking in heroin becomes the moral equivalent of murder and treason; death is the extreme penalty, If the jury in its discretion shall so direct, for buyer and seller alike, whether addicted or not. In my opinion, the lawmakers completely missed the point. For drug addiction is neither menace nor mortal sin, but a health problem indeed, a minor health problem when compared with such killers as alcoholism, heart disease, and cancer. I make that statement with deep conviction. My work has included the psychiatric examination and general treatment of several thousand addicts. I know their habit is a viciously enslaving one, and we should not relax for a moment our efforts to stop its spread and ultimately to stamp it out completely. But our enforcement agencies seem to have forgotten that the addict is a sick person who needs medical help rather than longer jail sentences or the electric chair. He needs help which the present Narcotics Bureau regulations make it very difficult for doctors to give him. Moreover, no distinction has been made, in the punishment of violators, between the nonaddicted peddler who perpetuates the illicit traffic solely for his own profit and the addict who sells small amounts to keep himself supplied with a drug on which he has become physically and psychologically dependent. The Council of the American Psychiatric Association, in a public statement issued after the Senate passed its bill, declared that this and a companion measure introduced in the House, represent backward steps in attacking this national problem. The association, after listing some of the points I have just made, concludes by remarking that additional legislation concerning drug addiction should be directed to making further medical progress possible, rather than discouraging it. The legislative proposals now under consideration would undermine the progress that has been made and impede further progress. Thus, they are not in the public interest. I was launched in this field of medicine in 1923, when the United States Public Health Service assigned me to study drug addiction at what is now the National Institute of Public Health. In 1935, I opened the services hospital for treatment of addicts at Lexington, Kentucky. Three years later I became Chief of the Division of Mental Hygiene, overseeing administration of the Lexington hospital and a similar institution at Fort Worth, Texas. And after retiring from the service in 1944, I continued to be active in psychiatry. So I know a great deal about addiction, and how perverse our attitude toward it has become. Most addiction arises from misuse of marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, opium, or opiums important preparations and derivatives eating opium, smoking opium, laudanum, morphine, and heroin. Alcohol is a yardstick with which to measure the harm done by other drugs. There are 4,500,000 alcoholics in this country, and about 700,000 of them are compulsive drinkers who are on skid road or headed for it gripped like opium addicts by psychological forces they cannot control. Until recent times, millions of people in Asia and Africa were habitual users of opium. Dr. C.S. Mei, a physician and Chinese government official, told me in 1937 that there were about 15,000,000 opium smokers in China. He was interested in the anti-opium campaign because the slavish habit was lowering users diligence and industry. But he remarked that opium smoking had little or no effect on health and no effect whatsoever on crime. Addiction is far less common among Western peoples, chiefly because of our preference for alcohol. At the highest point of drug addiction in the United States, 189099, when all kinds of opiates could be bought as freely as candy or potatoes, there was only one opium addict for every 300 of the population. Today we have about 60,000 addicts in the United States that is, about one in 2,800 of the population. About 50,000 of them are addicted to opiates, mostly heroin, about 5,000 to opium-like synthetic drugs, and about 5,000 to marijuana. Cocaine, once widely used, has practically disappeared from the scene. Lawmakers may feel that addicts as well as sellers deserve death, but few doctors would agree. I have in mind particularly a report issued in June 1955 by a group of prominent New York physicians, appointed by The New York Academy of Medicine to study the addiction problem. The gist of their report is that drug addiction is not a crime, but an illness, and that the emphasis should be placed on rehabilitation of addicts, instead of on punishment. This committee deplores the fact that addicts are forced into crime by unwise suppressive methods. It recommends that, under controlled conditions, certain morphine and heroin addicts be given the drug they need while being prepared for treatment. For certain incurable cases, the committee advocates giving the needed opiate indefinitely at specially regulated clinics, although many physicians oppose using clinics in this way. My own proposal, which I shall go into later, would be to have such cases evaluated by doctors appointed for their competence in this field. The New York committee also recommends counseling services for patients after withdrawal treatment, to help them resist the temptation to return to the drug when stress situations arise. A key fact to bear in mind is that the man addicted to an opiate becomes dependent on frequent regular doses to maintain normal body functions and comfort. If the drug is abruptly withheld he becomes intensely ill. In rare cases he may even collapse and die. I once saw a woman who had come here from abroad, where she had been taking eight grains of morphine daily. Cut off from her supply, she got into an American hospital where suppression of the drug menace was more important than the relief of pain. She died in two days, due to sudden stoppage of the drug. There was nothing in the law to forbid giving this woman morphine to relieve her suffering, but propaganda about drugs had clouded the judgment of someone in authority. The effect of opiates on the general health of addicts is not definitely known. There is a lack of positive evidence that a regularly maintained opium habit shortens life, but it probably does so, especially when large doses of morphine or heroin are used. The few reports that indicate harm are based on death statistics of groups of addicts, mostly opium smokers, many of whom started using the drug to ease already existing illness. Addicts in American jails undoubtedly have a high death rate. Some are repeatedly ill due to many periods of forced abstinence. Others, unable to buy enough food after paying for needed drugs, arrive at the prison gates half starved and a prey to infections. In the 1920s, the average American addict was taking six grains of morphine or heroin daily. It was impossible to find harmful effects among those who got their dose regularly. I have known a healthy, alert 81-year-old woman who had taken three grains of morphine daily for 65 years. The well-fed opiate addict who regularly gets sustaining doses is not emaciated or pale, nor does he have pinpoint pupils, as is popularly supposed. He cannot be recognized as an addict on sight. Cocaine is another story. It is fortunate that cocaine addiction is seldom seen nowadays, for excessive use of this drug causes emaciation, anxiety, convulsions, and insanity. Neither cocaine nor marijuana has the merit of making some neurotic people more efficient, as is the case with opiates. And the use of marijuana or cocaine can be discontinued abruptly without bringing on uncomfortable or dangerous withdrawal symptoms. When cocaine is suddenly denied a large user, he simply goes into a deep and very prolonged sleep. Therefore, there is no reason why any cocaine or marijuana user should be allowed to have his drug, even for a short time. In an earlier period, opiates could be bought anywhere in America without restriction, and many people became addicted. Still, they worked about as well as other people and gave no one trouble. Only the physicians were concerned. They saw that the cocaine user and 60-grains-a-day morphine addict were injuring their health. More important, they saw thousands of unhappy opium eaters, opium smokers, and laudanum, morphine, and heroin users seeking relief from slavery, and often failing to get it. Distressed by the evil, physicians advocated laws to prohibit the sale of opiates without prescription. By 1912, every state except one had laws regulating in some way the prescribing or sale of opiates and cocaine. As a result, the number of addicts fell from 1 in 300 of the population during the decade 189099, to 1 in 325 during the next decade. And after 1909, a ban on smoking opium caused a further decline in addiction. Until 1915, however, addicts who needed opiates to continue their work in comfort could get their supplies legally without much trouble or expense. Then the Harrison Act became effective. This important federal law had both good and bad effects. Unable to get opiates, hundreds of addicts were cured by deprivation. These were mostly normal or near-normal people who were not seriously gripped by the psychological forces which hinder treatment of neurotic addicts and drunkards. The bad effect came through unwise enforcement of the law. Physicians thought they could still prescribe opiates to addicts who really needed them for the preservation of health or to support the artificial emotional stability which enabled so many addicts to earn their livings. However, physicians prescribing for such people wound up in the penitentiary. Inability to get opiates brought illness to many hard-working citizens, and illness cost them their jobs. Some of them committed petty crimes to procure narcotics. To remedy the situation, narcotic clinics were established throughout the country, where addicts could get needed drugs. Practically all of these clinics were forced to close by 1923. They had not been well run, but the chief reason for closing them was that addiction had become a crime, by legal definition. The arrests of physicians, some of which were justifiable, and the sending of hundreds of addicts to prison, brought about a perversion of common sense unequaled in American history. Uncritical observers concluded that opium caused crime. The sight of so many law-abiding citizens applying to the clinics for help, instead of arousing public sympathy, was interpreted as evidence of moral deterioration, calling for increased penalties. The stereotype of the heroin maniac was born. The number of addicts continued to decline. In 1924, the United States Public Health Service reported there were only 110,000 of them. By 1925, however, propaganda had led people to believe that there were 4,000,000 addicts in the country, and our fancied heroin menace was in full swing. An ex-congressman appeared before the Senate Committee on Printing in 1924 to urge publication of 50,000,000 copies of an article entitled The Peril of Narcotics A Warning to The People of America. He wanted a copy in every home. Among other strange things, the article warned parents not to allow their children to eat away from home. If they did, it was said, some other child a heroin maniac might inject the drug into an innocent-looking titbit; whereupon the child eating it might instantly become an addict and join in a campaign to promote heroin addiction among other children. A Public Health Service physician persuaded the committee that this was nonsense, but propaganda about the heroin menace continued. It was said that thousands of school children in New York were heroin addicts. An investigation was made, and in 1927 Dr. Carlton Simon, Deputy Police Commissioner in charge of the Narcotics Bureau, stated that a thorough survey had failed to reveal one case of heroin addiction among 1,000,000 New York City school children. When American physicians advocated laws regulating narcotics, they had in mind the kind of laws in force in most Western European countries. What our physicians did not foresee was that they would be bound by police interpretations of the regulations; and that doctors who did not accept police views might be tricked into giving an opiate to an informer, who pretended to need it for pain or disease. Conviction meant that the physician went to prison. Europeans regulate narcotics, as we do, but they are not alarmed by addiction, as we so obviously are. They have never lost sight of the fact that, as a great English physician wrote in the 17th century, Opium soothes, alcohol maddens. In 1954, England controlled the illegal-narcotic traffic with the conviction of only 214 persons, 74 for opiate violations, 140 for violations involving marijuana. In the same year 12,346 persons were convicted in the United States for similar offenses. Allowing for differences in population, we had about 14 times more convictions than the English. Prison sentences meted out here ran into thousands of years a fact that zealots boast about. In England, light sentences sufficed to discourage illegal traffic 28 days to 12 months for opiate offenses, 1 day to 3 years for marijuana violations. Englands sensible, effective policy is in sharp contrast with what goes on in the United States. I became well acquainted at the hospital in Lexington with a paralyzed, bedridden man who had been sentenced to four years for a narcotic violation. Just how he could be a menace to society was never clear to me. In Europe he would have been allowed to live out his last days in comfort. Only in the United States must addicts suffer and die or deteriorate in prison. Unreflecting and sometimes unscrupulous people and newspapers too have contributed to the hysteria about drug addiction. News items reporting the seizure of dope frequently exaggerate the contrabands value. One $3,000,000 seizure of heroin which made headlines was actually only enough to last seven six-grains-a-day addicts for a year. To justify the $3,000,000 figure, heroin would have to bring $196 a grain. Some addicts do spend from $5 to $10 a day on the habit, but few can afford it; hence the sickness and stealing. Distorted news has prepared the public to support extreme measures to suppress imagined evils. When legislators undertook last spring to do something about the so-called drug menace, federal law provided two years in prison for a first-time narcotic-law offender. The minimum for a second offense was five years, and for a third, 10 years, with no probation or suspension of sentence for repeaters. The Narcotic Control Act of 1956 proposed increasing penalties for heroin trafficking to a minimum of 5 years for the first offense, 10 years for the second offense, life imprisonment or death for the third offense. What happens under such laws? In one case, under the old law, a man was given 10 years for possessing three narcotic tablets. Another man was given 10 years for forging three narcotic prescriptions no sale was involved. And another 10-year sentence was imposed on a man for selling two marijuana cigarettes, which are just about equal in intoxicating effect to two drinks of whisky. Extremists have gone on to demand the death penalty. They would do away with suspended sentences, time off for good behavior, the necessity for a warrant before search. They want wire tapping legalized in suspected narcotic cases, and they would make the securing of bond more difficult. Existing measures and those which are advocated defy common sense and violate sound principles of justice and penology. There is nothing about the nature of drug addicts to justify such penalties. They only make it difficult to rehabilitate offenders who could be helped by a sound approach which would take into account both the offense and the psychological disorders of the offender. Drug addiction is an important problem which demands the attention of health and enforcement officials. However, the most essential need now is to cure the United States of its hysteria, so that the problem can be dealt with rationally. A major move in the right direction would be to stop the false propaganda about the nature of drug addiction and present it for what it is a health problem which needs some police measures for adequate control. Our approach so far has produced tragedy, disease, and crime. The opinion of informed physicians should take precedence over that of law-enforcement officers, who, in this country, are too often carried away by enthusiasm for putting people in prison, and who deceive themselves as well as the public about the nature and seriousness of drug addiction. We need an increase in treatment facilities and recognition that some opium addicts, having reached the stage they have, should be given opiates for their own welfare and for the public welfare too. Mandatory minimum sentences should be abolished, so that judges and probation and parole officers can do what in their judgment is best for the rehabilitation of offenders. Medical opinion should have controlling force in a revamped policy. This is not to say that every physician should be authorized to prescribe opiates to addicts without restrictions. Some would be dishonest, others would be indifferent to consequences. Neither should the old type of clinic be re-established. A workable solution would be to have the medical societies or health departments appoint competent physicians to decide which patients should be carried on an opiate while being prepared for treatment and which ones should be given opiates indefinitely. Physicians would report individual cases to local medical groups for decision. And that decision should never be subject to revision by a nonmedical prosecuting agency. The details of a scheme of operation should be worked out by a committee of physicians and law-enforcement officers, with the physicians predominant in authority. The various states could make a start by revising their laws to conform to actual health and penological needs. The medical profession could help by giving legislators facts on which to take action. It should be stressed that it is easy to cure psychologically normal addicts who have no painful disease. Even the mildly neurotic addict is fairly easy to cure. Severe withdrawal symptoms pass within five days, although for several months there are minor physical changes that the patient may not feel or even know about, but which increase the likelihood of his relapse. The reason for the apparently large relapse rate among addicts is that a difficult group remains to be dealt with after the cured cases have been dismissed. The most difficult cases, perhaps, are neurotic addicts who suffer from migraine or asthma. Neurotics who have a painful disease are liable to have a psychic return of pain when their drug is withdrawn. When several treatments fail, such persons should be allowed to have the drug they need. Thomas Jefferson, distressed over the ravages of alcohol, once said that a great many people spent most of their time talking politics, avoiding work, and drinking whisky. One wonders what he would say today if some muddled citizen warned him that opiates were rotting the moral fiber of our people. I suspect that he would advise his informant to take care, in walking down the street, lest he stumble over one of our 4,500,000 alcoholics and break a leg. For a modern look at the problems of opium addiction, read The Drug Epidemic That Is Killing Our Children, from our September/October 2016 issue. Overland Park, KS -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/20/2016 -- Akshay Anand, Karats CEO, discusses volunteering for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and the roles that CASA volunteers have to serve. Akshay's business 'Karats' is a premier jewelry and watch retailer in Kansas City. As a successful business owner, Akshay commits himself to serving the community and frequently participates in philanthropic activities. CASA is an organization whose mission is to empower neglected and abused children with a volunteer's voice in court by finding a safe and permanent home for every child. It was founded in 1977, after Seattle Superior Court Judge David Soukup conceived the idea of appointing volunteers to voice out the best interests of these children in court. 50 citizens responded after he made a request for volunteers, and this became the start of the CASA movement. In 1985, Johnson County CASA became a project of the Tenth Judicial District of Kansas and the National Council of Jewish Women. The project's purpose was to alleviate the overloaded court system by advocating for neglected or abused children in court. The organization started recruiting and training community volunteers to serve the best interests of these children, and this legacy continues in the present. CASA volunteers serve an important role by monitoring the children's situation and reporting findings to the court. Every year, CASA volunteers within Wyandotte and Johnson Counties dedicate over 15,000 hours to these children, with each hour focused on the goal of giving every child a chance at happiness as well as the stability that all children need in order to thrive. CASA volunteers are all specially-trained citizens who have received 30 hours of official training before they are assigned a case. The training program's curriculum combines in-person and online delivery of information. The training covers five sessions, and each session has about 3 hours of self-guided work that must be completed online before the volunteer attends a 3-hour in-person classroom session. Volunteers are educated on a variety of topics, such as an overview of courtroom procedure from judges, attorneys and social workers, symptoms and effects of neglect and abuse, early childhood development, and cultural diversity. A CASA volunteer's main responsibility is to meet with the child or a sibling group regularly to develop a relationship with the child and determine his or her needs. Volunteers also need to meet with other people who have information about the child, such as parents, foster parents, counselors, social workers, and teachers. They need to review all records pertaining to the child, and submit a written report to the judge before each court hearing that has information about the childhelping the judge make a better, more informed decision about the child's future. Believing that these children deserve a bright future, Akshay is encouraging citizens to volunteer for CASA and help neglected or abused children find happiness. To learn more about Akshay, visit http://akshayandyanand.tumblr.com/ Source: http://newswire.net/newsroom/pr/00093402-akshay-anand-karats-owner-discusses-volunteering-for-casa.html About Akshay Anand Akshay Anand of Karats is a successful business owner. Karats is a premier jewelry and watch retailer in Kansas City and is a 6th generation family business that Akshay inherited from his family. He brings an extensive experience in jewelry buying as well as diamond grading to the business, and has forged various successful partnerships with other businesses using his comprehensive understanding of market factors in the jewelry industry. Contact: Akshay Anand Address: 8651 West 135th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66223, United States Phone: 913-239-0735 Email: info@karats.us Website: http://akshayandyanand.me/ According to new research, American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) have remained virtually untouched by evolutionary change for at least 8 million years up to 6 million years older than previously thought. If we could step back in time 8 million years, youd basically see the same animal crawling around then as you would see today in the Southeast, said lead researcher Dr. Evan Whiting, from the University of Minnesota. Even 30 million years ago, they didnt look much different, he added. We were surprised to find fossil alligators from this deep in time that actually belong to the living species, rather than an extinct one. He and his colleagues describe the alligator as a survivor, withstanding sea-level fluctuations and extreme changes in climate that would have caused some less-adaptive animals to rapidly change or go extinct. The scientists began re-thinking the alligators evolutionary history after Dr. Whiting examined an ancient alligator skull, originally thought to be an extinct species, unearthed in Marion County, Florida, and found it to be virtually identical to the iconic modern species. They compared the ancient skull with dozens of other fossils and modern skeletons to look at the whole genus and trace major changes, or the lack thereof, in alligator morphology. The authors also studied the carbon and oxygen compositions of the teeth of both ancient alligators and the 20- to 25-foot extinct crocodile Gavialosuchus americanus that once dominated the Florida coastline and died out about 5 million years ago for unknown reasons. The presence of alligator and Gavialosuchus fossils at several localities in north Florida suggest the two species may have coexisted in places near the coast, Dr. Whiting said. Analysis of the teeth suggests, however, that Gavialosuchus americanus was a marine reptile, which sought its prey in ocean waters, while alligators tended to hunt in freshwater and on land. That doesnt mean alligators werent occasionally eaten by the marine crocs, though. The gators we see today do not really compete with anything, but millions of years ago it was not only competing with another type of crocodilian, it was competing with a much larger one, said co-author Dr. David Steadman, from the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida (UF). The presence of the ancient crocodile in Florida may have helped keep the alligators in freshwater habitats, though it appears alligators have always been most comfortable in freshwater. While modern alligators do look prehistoric as they bake on sandbars along the Suwannee River or stroll down sidewalks on the UF campus, they are not somehow immune to evolution, the researchers said. On the contrary, they are the result of an incredibly ancient evolutionary line. The group they belong to, Crocodylia, has been around for at least 84 million years and has diverse ancestors dating as far back as the Triassic, more than 200 million years ago. The scientists reported their results in a pair of papers in the Journal of Herpetology and the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. _____ Evan T. Whiting et al. 2016. Cranial Polymorphism and Systematics of Miocene and Living Alligator in North America. Journal of Herpetology 50 (2): 306-315; doi: 10.1670/15-023 Evan T. Whiting et al. 2016. Paleoecology of Miocene crocodylians in Florida: Insights from stable isotope analysis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 451: 23-34; doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.03.009 This article is based on a press-release from the University of Florida. According to a new study published today in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, smoking leaves historical footprint on the human genome in the form of DNA methylation (a process in which molecules are added to sections of DNA sequences). Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, despite a decline in smoking in many countries as a result of smoking cessation campaigns and legislative action. Even decades after stopping, former smokers are at long-term risk of developing diseases including some cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and stroke. While the molecular mechanisms responsible for these long-term effects remain poorly understood, previous studies linking DNA methylation sites to genes involved with coronary heart disease and pulmonary disease suggest it may play an important role. A team of scientists headed Stephanie London, deputy chief of the Epidemiology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, conducted a meta-analysis of DNA methylation sites across the human genome using blood samples taken from nearly 16,000 participants from 16 groups of the CHARGE Consortium. The researchers compared DNA methylation sites in current and former smokers to those who never smoked, and found that: (i) smoking-associated DNA methylation sites were associated with more than 7,000 genes, or one-third of known human genes; (ii) for people who stopped smoking, the majority of DNA methylation sites returned to levels seen in never smokers within five years of quitting smoking; (iii) however, some DNA methylation sites persisted even after 30 years of quitting; (iv) the most statistically significant methylation sites were linked to genes enriched for association with numerous diseases caused by cigarette smoking, such as cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers. Dr. London and co-authors suggest that some of these long-lasting methylation sites may be marking genes potentially important for former smokers who are still at increased risk of developing certain diseases. The discovery of smoking-related DNA methylation sites raises the possibility of developing biomarkers to evaluate a patients smoking history, as well as potentially developing new treatments targeted toward these methylation sites. These results are important because methylation, as one of the mechanisms of the regulation of gene expression, affects what genes are turned on, which has implications for the development of smoking-related diseases, Dr. London said. Equally important is our finding that even after someone stops smoking, we still see the effects of smoking on their DNA. Our study has found compelling evidence that smoking has a long-lasting impact on our molecular machinery, an impact that can last more than 30 years, said first author Dr. Roby Joehanes, of Harvard Medical School. The encouraging news is that once you stop smoking, the majority of DNA methylation signals return to never smoker levels after five years, which means your body is trying to heal itself of the harmful impacts of tobacco smoking. _____ Roby Joehanes et al. Epigenetic Signatures of Cigarette Smoking. Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, published online September 20, 2016; doi: 10.1161/circgenetics.116.001506 This article is based on a press-release issued by the American Heart Association. San Francisco based Ride-hailing service Lyft's co-founder and President John Zimmer believes that self-driving cars will form the majority of all its rides within the next five years. Zimmer also added that personal car ownership will vanish as autonomous rides will offer a much cheaper way to travel than having to own an automobile. In quite a long essay post on Medium titled "The Third Transportation Revolution: Lyft's Vision for the Next Ten Years and Beyond," Zimmer has articulated the future of transportation and also outlined his company's aim and vision for the next 10 years. In the coming five years a totally self-directed fleet of cars will offer most of the Lyft rides across the country, Zimmer wrote in the post. He also added that the starting versions of these autonomous vehicles are already working in San Francisco as well as Phoenix. Though Zimmer did not give details about how the company wants to achieve that in just a few years, he did outline phases when self-driving vehicles will progressively become more and more technically advanced. By the end of 2017, he believes that semi-autonomous cars will already be available for Lyft users but with restrictions. By mid 2018, cars should be able to navigate on any route but again with a restriction of a speed of 25 miles per hour. By 2022, he predicts that Lyft will offer fully autonomous rides for its users. Zimmer anticipates that personal ownership of cars is also going to be a thing of the past by the beginning of 2025, especially in the urban areas of United States as more people will opt for ride sharing on autonomous vehicles. "Car ownership is a burden that costs an average American $9,000 each year.... Every year, more people are concluding that living without a car is more affordable. And when it comes to networked autonomous vehicles, most of the city-dwellers will definitely stop using a personal car," Zimmer wrote. His comments come in the midst of the commencement of multiple self-driving initiatives and enhancements in the autonomous driving technology. Uber's self-driving taxi network has already begun offering rides to its first passengers inside Pittsburgh. Ford CEO Mark Fields had also earlier revealed that the company too plans to bring its own autonomous car in the market by 2025. Lyft and General Motors had earlier this year formed a partnership so as to develop and enhance autonomous vehicles. GM invested a whopping $500m (383m) for this collaboration in the ride-hailing company. A fatal tick-borne disease, known as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has now spread in Western Europe for the first time. The said disease is deadly for about 30 percent of those who obtain it. It was reported that there were two who have been infected. The first one to be affected by the said disease was a 62-year old hiker. He caught the virus while walking in the Avila region and was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, he died after spreading the infection to a 50-year old healthcare worker, who is under recovery at the moment, according to New Scientist. A fatal tick-borne disease is now spreading in western Europe - ScienceAlert: A https://t.co/tjmGp0SpFV #MedicBoard pic.twitter.com/ivY2CWpzVh Tropical Med Board (@mb_TropicalMed) September 20, 2016 The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warns the travelers, hikers, hospital staff and agricultural workers to keep away from ticks and potentially infected animals around Western Europe. Herve Zeller from ECDC said that they targeting risk exposure groups like livestock farmers and hunters who are always into contact with animals. He further said that they can be in contact with ticks, and by quashing them it can allow the virus through their skin. When humans have the CCHF infection, it causes vomiting, severe fever, black stool and nose bleeds. There is about 30 percent of those with CCHF infection will be dead within two weeks. No vaccine for the said infection is available now. It was reported that there were 20 people died from CCHF infection in Pakistan, according to Science Alert. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a prevalent tick-borne disease in Africa, Middle East, the Balkans, and Asia. It is spread by Hyalomma tick that lives on livestock. The illness could proliferate with the tick bites or be in contact with infected people or animals. It has a mortality rate of 10 to 40 percent for severely infected humans. If you're suffering from type 2 diabetes, then it's probably time to tie the knot. Not only are spouses great for companionship but also, a new research suggests that married people who suffer from diabetes are less overweight than of those who are single. Is it because of their spouse? A team of researchers led by Dr. Yoshinobu Kondo and colleagues at Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine and Chigasaki Municipal Hospital, studied the medical records involving over 270 patients suffering from type 2 diabetes from 2010-2016. The patients include 90 single (46 men and 44 women) and 180 (109 men and 71 women) living with their spouses. Meanwhile, the same researchers discover that diabetic men who live with their spouses are less likely to undergo metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of related factors that includes high blood sugar and high blood pressure which could lead to heart diseases and even stroke. In line with this, the patient's body mass index was carefully studied and results showed that married people had a lower body mass index (24.5) compared to those who are single (26.5). Thus, married people also revealed that they have lower levels of HbA1c or the measurement of blood sugar control (7.3 percent versus 7 percent, respectively) which lower numbers are better results. For metabolic syndrome, married people has 54 percent while single people has 68 percent, according to Health Day. To conclude, the studies resulted that married men have a 58 percent lower risk of metabolic syndrome compared with single. However in the case of women, there was no evidence of any connection while, there were no serious differences in the aspect of weight for both genders. The results were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Munich, Germany but it was not yet published, reported by Medical Daily. Related results according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was an increase in the number of adults having diabetes in the United States. Ages between 19 and 79 were newly diagnosed with diabetes which tripled the numbers form 493,000 in 1980 to more than 1.4 million in the year 2014. A few days ago, the die-hard enthusiasts of astrology were caught by surprise. NASA's announcement about there being a 13th constellation that has been ignored in the zodiac left whole of the internet in a state of Panic. The capricious turn of events surfaced and recommended that everything that impassioned zodiac sign enthusiasts believed in has been changed. NASA's announcement was made earlier in January but has somehow got viral now. With the addition of this new 13th constellation with the 12 we already know, there has been a shift in the calendar between Scorpio and Sagittarius. The good news however, just came out again surprising those enthusiasts who believe that the stars will protect them from unwanted surprises. Was it All a Rumor? Dwayne Brown, NASA spokesman recently confirmed that this rumor isn't totally true. Our astrological signs have not changed and also this isn't the only time that such rumors have surfaced with such ferocity. According to the myth-breaker site Snopes.com, threads for such a topic even date back to 2002! According to NASA, the earth has shifted from its positioning from what it held about 3,000 years ago, the current zodiac signs also may not precisely match up with their months, but it's the same as it has ever been. They never exactly did match up. "We didn't change any of the Zodiac signs, we just did the calculations," Brown stated in an email to Gizmodo. So what do we infer from all of this? Well if you follow NASA, they'd suggest you to trust your own instincts and enjoy the starry sky the way it looks. These Star signs were assigned by the Babylonians about 3,000 years ago. According to NASA's report, The 13th constellation, Ophiucus must have been purposefully excluded as it didn't match with the 12-months calendar. That was all working perfectly, but now there's been a change Earth's North Pole doesn't point quite in the same direction it used to. For most people, puberty is considered a milestone which highlights the physical development that will mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. Normally, children go through puberty in their early teens. However, today, about one in every 5,000 children suffer from a rare condition called precocious puberty or early puberty as young as 2 years old and unfortunately the situation gets worse each day. So every parent has been struggling to have answers to the question about what precocious puberty is. Basically, precocious puberty is a medical condition that causes an early release of hormones from the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus of the brain which is responsible for stimulating estrogen production that causes puberty to start before it's supposed to. According to independent.co.uk, this can happen to children as young as two years old, but the upper age for which the condition may be diagnosed has not been defined. Experts also said that it is usually diagnosed before the age of eight in boys and nine in girls. They have also mentioned that there are various signs of precocious puberty like breast development, rapid height growth, menstruation, acne, enlarged testicles or penis, or pubic or underarm hair. However, the condition is more difficult to detect than often thought of. Deccan Chronicle reported that Paul Kaplowitz, a doctor at the Children's National Medical Centre in Washington DC, has explained that only one in 10 children ever referred to him with signs of early puberty actually had the condition. Dr. Kaplowitz also explained that children can have isolated breast development and pubic hair without other symptoms. This may show that they are not signs of normal puberty, but just normal variations. Charlene Denton, a British woman whose daughter started puberty at the age of two, told how she discovered the signs of her child's condition. "Just after her second birthday, she started developing little breast buds. At first, the doctor reassured us that she was absolutely fine and there was nothing wrong with her. But then she started developing a second breast bud, so we took her back and had all sorts of tests done to diagnose her with precocious puberty," she said. "We were completely shocked. We'd never heard about it," she added. However, the treatment for precocious puberty can also depend on the cause. According to a report by Zee News, about 90 percent of girls and 50 percent of boys suffering from this rare condition could not identify any underlying cause. This is referred to by health experts as 'idiopathic precocious puberty'. However, when the cause is identified, it is usually either an abnormality in the brain or a problem such as a tumor or genetic abnormality in the ovaries, testes or adrenal glands, causing overproduction of sex hormones. Experts have also named obesity as one of the factors that can contribute to undergo early puberty. The increase in the level of child obesity related to the data that suggests the average age of puberty in the USA and Europe has been earlier compared to before. This may be because when there are more fat cells in the body, more estrogen storage can be found. Meanwhile, the ultimate goal of the treatment is to make sure the child will have a normal growth as an adult because the condition can hinder their growth. Also, it is important to note that in cases where there is an absence of the underlying cause, the condition can be most likely be treated with medication that usually includes monthly injections that will delay any further development. Surface Pro fans and tech enthusiasts have been eagerly waiting for Microsoft to reveal at least something about the highly anticipated Microsoft Surface Pro 5 release date, specs and prices. But, unfortunately, there's no words from the software giant yet. However, going by current reports, it is rumored that the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will get unveiled in October this year and roll out will happen in 2017. According to The Bitbag, Microsoft is already offering Surface Pro 4 at a discounted price. The price of the Surface Pro 5 predecessor, which used to be $999, has been brought down to $849. Usually, price cuts are offered when new device iterations are ready for launch. In this case, the device which is almost ready to set sail is the Microsoft Surface Pro 5. It is also rumored that Microsoft has set an October release date for the Surface Pro 5 to compete with Apple's Macbook Pro 2016, which is also expected to get released around the same time. Talking about Microsoft Surface Pro 5 specs, the Surface Pro 4 successor is expected to come equipped with superior hardware components and impressive features. The next gen laptop/tablet hybrid is rumored to feature Intel's latest 7th generation Kaby Lake processing chip which is believed to double the efficiency of the device. The upcoming Microsoft hybrid laptop is expected to come preloaded with Windows 10 Professional Redstone 2 operating system, a 4K Ultra HD display, AMD or Nvidia Pascal GPU, 16 GB of RAM, a 16MP rear camera, an 8MP front camera, a Surface Pen and Thunderbolt 3. Reports are that the Surface Pen will get a major design overhaul with the stylus to come bundled with a rechargeable battery unit onboard. It is rumored that the laptop-tablet hybrid will get rolled out in 2K and 4K display models. As far as Microsoft Surface Pro 5 price is concerned, the tablet is expected to cost $899 for the base model and $1,599 for the high end model. Readers are advised to take the information with a grain of salt as nothing yet have been announced by the makers. Stay tuned to SWR for more updates and latest news on Microsoft Surface Pro 5 release date, specs and price details. FLORENCE, S.C. Darcy Craven, the chief executive officer of Carolinas Hospital System, is heading north. Craven joined the hospital as chief operating officer in 2011 and was promoted to CEO in 2012. He will resign effective Oct. 7, the hospital announced Tuesday afternoon. He has accepted a position with a hospital in Buffalo, New York. Thank you to our physicians, nurses and other caregivers for their support that has helped grow our hospital in service and quality, Craven said in a prepared statement. My wife and I also will miss the Florence community that has been our home for the last four years. Through a spokesman, the hospital said Craven was unavailable for further comment. Gosh, I hate to lose him, said Dr. Eddie Floyd, who is chairman of the hospitals board of trustees. Even though I understand Im kind of mad with him. I really, really am going to miss him. Floyd said Craven got along with everybody. He was a friend to everybody. He ran a tough shop but was a friend and fair to everybody and did a really good job, Floyd said. Floyd said the hospital will look for a very similar person, to take over, but its just going to be hard to replace him. Its always hard to bring in somebody totally new," Floyd said. "It takes a while to get adjusted. Cravens year as chief operating officer gave him a little seasoning before he took the top role, Floyd said. So it was much easier for him, he said. I dont know if we have anybody that can take his place here. Well have to think about it a little more. Finding the right person is more important than finding a quick replacement, he said. Craven, who hails from Canada, will be much closer to home, Floyd pointed out. Hes probably used to the cold weather, Floyd added. Cravens departure comes on the heels of an announcement last week that the hospital part of Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health System had joined the Mayo Clinic Care Network in a first for the state of South Carolina. During that Sept. 14 press conference, Craven said the clinically significant collaboration would pair health care providers in Florence with the resources of the most respected, recognized health care system in the world the Mayo Clinic. While lauding the clinical quality, patient service and the hospitals financial strength, Craven gave much of the credit to the 1,700-plus employees, 300 physicians and strong community support. Tuesdays prepared statement noted that Cravens contributions improved the quality of care and access to services during his tenure, include many accreditations and the recruitments of new physicians in the areas of cardiology, pulmonology and orthopedics. Board member Jean Leatherman called Craven a consensus builder for both the hospital and board of trustees. She also said he worked hard to make Carolinas a high-quality facility, as evidenced by the collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. Darcy and his wife, Tracey, epitomize wellness, she said, and contributed greatly to the community in that regard. We will certainly miss their involvement in the community and miss him being our leader at Carolinas Hospital System, she added. The White Cliffs of Dover, the steep, chalky cliffs that fringe England's southeastern coastline, formed about 100 million years ago thanks to a "Goldilocks" set of ocean conditions, new research suggests. What's more, a massive new set of cliffs could be forming right now in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica as tiny algae shed their calcium-laden shells. However, depositing enough of that mineral, called calcite, to form similar cliffs could take millions of years. "While we don't have the great cliffs of the Southern Ocean, there is solid evidence that the calcite is making it to the seafloor," William Balch, a biological oceanographer at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine, and lead author of the new study, said in a statement. [Photos: The Strangest Places on Earth] White cliff formation The White Cliffs of Dover, which overlook the English Channel, formed from the chalky detritus of single-celled algae called coccolithopohores. Looked at under a microscope, coccolithopores form a kaleidoscope-like set of intricate, interlocking shapes, thanks to outer shells made up of overlapping wheel-like plates of calcite. When the coccolithophores die, their calcite plates sink to ocean depths, accumulating in heaps on the seafloor. Over millions of years, the shells were squashed as more shells accumulated, the heaps rose, and the cliffs of Dover eventually emerged from the sea. While researchers already knew that England's iconic cliffs formed about 100 million years ago, they didn't know exactly what caused the prolonged coccolithophore bloom in the first place. Shimmering belt of water To answer that question, the team decided to analyze coccolithophores in their natural habitat. They traveled to the remote reaches of the Southern Ocean, where a ring of blinding-bright blue and green water pops out in satellite imagery. This shiny circle of water forms the Calcite Belt, and it gets its brilliant shimmer because the water is teeming with tiny coccolithophores whose chalky armor reflects sunlight, brightening the water's hue. Story continues "If you take the Earth and look at it upside down, it looks like a bullseye," Marlon Lewis, an oceanographer at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia who was not involved with the study, said in a statement. The team then did a detailed analysis of the water conditions that allow the Calcite Belt to thrive. It turned out that coccolithophores bloomed when conditions simultaneously allowed them to grow quickly, while starving out ecosystem competitors such as diatoms, another type of algae. For instance, coccolithophores bloomed with high nitrate levels, while iron levels had to be too low for diatoms to bloom but high enough for coccolithophore needs. Since diatoms use silicate, the coccolithophores did best when silicate concentrations were low, preventing their competitors from thriving, the researchers reported Aug. 10 in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles. The coccolithophores also seemed to do well at the nexus of ocean currents, where upwelling brings nutrients and minerals from the deep. "These regions can be oases of fertilizer coming up to the surface for these plants," Balch said. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Sitting along the side of the road on the outskirts of Darlington is the Moose Lodge 595. Most of you are probably aware of the lodge, as its been there since 1966. It is just one of the roughly 2,400 lodges throughout the United States and Canada. Within this fraternal organization, the Loyal Order of Moose, is the Women of the Moose. Working quietly behind the scenes is a small group of women doing an exceptional job of being involved in the community. Their numbers are low, but as one of the members has said, we make a big difference. Currently, out of a membership of 77, there are 8-10 active ladies going above and beyond with their generosity and devotion to those that can use a little help. Can you picture $40,000 in manufacturer coupons? Yes, $40,000! That was just one years work for one of these ladies, and so far this year the total is $63,700. Members of the lodge bring in fliers and expired coupons for her to work with. She then clips, sorts, totals and mails them to our military families in Okinawa, Japan. She began doing this in 2012. She has received thank-you notes and letters from many appreciative military families overseas, making the effort worthwhile. These hard-working ladies now are making fleece blankets for area adult care facilities. They plan to make at least 40 blankets that will be delivered before Christmas. The women get together at the lodge, spread the material out on the larger tables and start cutting and tying. Friendship and laughter seem to make the work easier. At Christmas, Santa and Mrs. Claus (fully dressed for the part) visit the McLeod Childrens Hospital with sacks of toys for the children of all ages who have to spend their holiday in the hospital. Several times a year the SPCA comes to pick up various pet supplies donated by Moose Lodge members, including boxes of pet food, blankets, dog beds, etc. Other organizations, such as the Durant Center for Abused Women and Children, The Kids Closet and the Veterans Center in Myrtle Bach, have been recipients of the items and money these ladies have collected. From pets to kids, veterans to the elderly, and other groups in need, many people have seen the benefits of this small group of seemingly tireless women in the Darlington Lodge on U.S. 52, Gov. Williams Highway, just outside of Darlington. Yes, these dedicated ladies are only a few, but they do make a big difference. JUDY GOLDSMITH Darlington (Adds China comment) CAIRO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Egypt will start talks with China over a $2 billion loan next week and plans to issue international bonds in October or November, Deputy Finance Minister for Treasury Mohamed Meait said on Monday. The Egyptian government approved the potential sale of $3 billion to $5 billion of international bonds in August and engaged JPMorgan, Citi, BNP Paribas, and Natixis to act as lead managers. Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kojak said earlier Egypt was in talks with China over a loan but gave no further details. "All the details are with the central bank," he said. International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr meanwhile told the state news agency on Monday that Egypt is in talks with China over a loan of $4 billion. Of that, $1 billion would be used to support foreign reserves, with $3 billion allocated for developmental projects, Nasr said. Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund over a $12 billion loan programme but must secure another $5 billion-$6 billion in bilateral financing to secure the IMF board's approval. CHINESE STATEMENT An IMF official said last week that the Fund had held "very productive discussions" with authorities in China and Saudi Arabia about their contributing to that bilateral financing. Asked about a potential loan deal, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the two sides were in talks on a currency swap, but did not elaborate. "China and Egypt's central banks are in discussions about a local currency swap and have made some initial progress. But they have not decided on the specific scale of the swap," ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a regular briefing. It is unclear if the currency swap talks were related to talks on loans. China's central bank did not immediately respond to a Reuters question on the matter. Egypt has struggled to revive its economy since a popular uprising in 2011 that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak but drove away tourists and foreign investors, the country's major sources of foreign currency. Reserves have tumbled from $36 billion in 2011 to around $16.56 billion at the end of August, equivalent to just over three months' worth of imports. (Writing by Asma Alsharif; Additional reporting by Sue-Lin Wong and Michael Martina in Beijing; Editing by Catherine Evans and Richard Borsuk) Already reeling from the impact of overcapacity in the containership market the news that a South Korean judge said Hanjin will cancel all its chartered-in vessels to owners will be very unwelcome indeed. Charterers are already out of pocket on unpaid bills Seaspan Corp which played hard ball with Hanjin in rate cut discussions before the Korean line filed for receivership had $11.6m outstanding on 30 June on three vessels. Meanwhile US-listed Danaos Corp has revealed a $560m exposure to Hanjin with three 10,100 teu vessels built in 2011 and five 3,400 teu vessels built in 2010 and 2011. The high charter rates obtained on long term fixtures concluded with Hanjin before the 2008 financial crisis, and during the short term recovery of 2010-2011, will be impossible to match in todays de- pressed market, but acceptable figures might still be achievable for the most sought after units while LCS (large containerships) and classic panamax units will face rock-bottom charter rates, Alphaliner commented in a report last week. Read all the background to the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy on our timeline The Dubai-headquartered global terminal operator unveiled the service combining the existing CMA CGM NEMO (North European Mediterranean Oceania) and Hapag Lloyds EAX (Europe, Australia Express) services Tuesday. In addition to port calls at four Australian cities, the service will provide London Gateway with more direct links between Singapore, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Malta and Italy. The full NEMO/EAX service loop into the UK from Australia comprises Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide (Australia), Singapore, Port Klang (Malaysia), Chennai (India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Cochin (India), Damietta (Egypt), Malta, Salerno (Italy) and London Gateway. Outbound from the UK the loop calls at Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Hamburg, Le Havre, Fos Sur Mer (France), Genoa (Italy), Damietta, Pointe Des Galets (Reunion) and Fremantle. In addition to becoming the only UK port to provide direct services to Australia, the new service is poised to enhance London Gateways connection to the Mediterranean and open up new markets for customers at the DP World port and adjacent logistics park, James Leeson, the ports commercial chief said. Were delighted to add the NEMO/EAX service to our portfolio, Leeson said. This is testament to the excellent service the port is offering. Unmatched weather reliability, consistent truck turnaround times, high ship-side productivity and superb customer service are all combining to provide customers with a reliable, safe and fast service. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames, London Gateway combines a deep-sea port and logistics park with consent for more than 9 million sq ft of industrial and logistics space. DP World London Gateway has good access to road and rail connections along with quick and reliable truck turnaround times, so we are confident this service will be providing operational efficiencies from the start, said Cameron Bowie, UK md at Hapag Lloyd. CMA CGMs 5,782 teu Rossini is the first vessel scheduled to call at DP World London Gateway on the service in January, the French container lines UK ceo Rob Waterman has confirmed. CMA CGM has been constantly innovating to offer its clients new sea, land and logistics solutions in the UK and worldwide. The collaboration with DP World London Gateway Port will give our customers excellent service levels and we are pleased to offer this new port of call, Waterman said. BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation on Monday into a new Polish progressive tax on the retail sector and ordered its suspension until the investigation is concluded. The injunction on the collection of the tax means less revenue to the Polish budget, which is already under strain because of a series of government moves, notably monthly child-support payouts. "The Commission has concerns that the progressive rates based on turnover give companies with a low turnover a selective advantage over their competitors in breach of EU state aid rules," the EU executive arm said in a statement. The investigation concerns a tax adopted by Poland in July 2016, which applies to companies that operate in Poland and are active in the retail sale of goods. The tax entered into force on September 1, 2016, and no payments are due yet. Under the tax, companies in the retail sector would pay a monthly tax based on their turnover. Companies with a monthly turnover below 17 million zlotys (3.3 million) would not pay any tax at all, those with turnover between 17 million zlotys and 170 million zlotys a month would pay 0.8 percent and those above 170 million zlotys would pay 1.4 percent. "The Commission does not question Poland's right to decide on its taxation levels or the purpose of different taxes and levies. However, the tax system should respect EU law, including state aid rules, and should not unduly favour a particular type of company, for example companies with lower turnover," it said. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2016-188 The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $4 million to a whistleblower whose original information alerted the agency to a fraud. The SECs whistleblower program has awarded more than $111 million to 34 whistleblowers since its inception in 2011. Our program continues to incentivize whistleblowers to come forward with solid information that helps us bring violators to justice before more wrongdoing can occur, said Jane Norberg, Acting Chief of the SECs Office of the Whistleblower. By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblowers identity. Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with unique and useful information that leads to a successful enforcement action. Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million. All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. For more information about the SECs whistleblower program and how to report a tip: www.sec.gov/whistleblower The oldest case of acute decompensated heart failure has been found in 3,500-year-old mummified remains, a research team announced at the international congress of Egyptology in Florence. Consisting of just a head and canopic jars containing internal organs, the remains were found in a plundered tomb by the Italian Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli in 1904 in the Valley of the Queens, Luxor, and are now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Turin. They belong to an Egyptian dignitary named Nebiri, a "Chief of Stables" who lived under the reign of 18th Dynasty pharaoh Thutmoses III (1479-1424 BC). Photos: Mummies' Faces, Hairdos, Revealed in 3D "The head is almost completely unwrapped, but in a good state of preservation. Since the canopic jar inscribed for Hapy, the guardian of the lungs, is partially broken, we were allowed direct access for sampling," Raffaella Bianucci, an anthropologist in the legal medicine section at the University of Turin, told Discovery News. She investigated the mummified remains with researchers from the Universities of Turin, Munich and York. Detailing the findings at the conference, Bianucci reported that Nebiri was middle aged - 45 to 60 years old - when he died and that he was affected by a severe periodontal disease with massive abscesses, as revealed by Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) and three dimensional skull reconstruction. The scans showed there was a partial attempt at excerebration (removal of the brain), but a considerable amount of dehydrated brain tissue is still preserved. Linen is packed in the inner skull, eyes, nose, ears, mouth and even fill the cheeks. Photos: Signs of Incest in Famous Mummies The researchers also detected evidence of calcification in the right internal carotid artery, consistent with a mild atherosclerosis. "We saw only a tiny fleck of calcium. Since the rest of the corpse is missing, it is impossible to establish whether there was calcification in other artery walls," she added. Most interestingly, the histology of the lung performed by Andreas Nerlich, professor at the department of pathology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, revealed the presence of "heart failure" cells. A pulmonary edema, which is fluid accumulation in the lungs's air sacs, was also identified. "When the heart is not able to pump efficiently, blood can back up into the veins that take it through the lungs. As the pressure increases, fluid is pushed into the air spaces in the lungs," Bianucci explained. Ancient Egyptians Forced Open Mouths During Mummification Since histochemical staining ruled out other possible diseases including tuberculosis, granulomas and acid-fast bacilli indicating mycobacterial infections, the researchers concluded that Nebiri possibly died from acute decompensation of chronic left-sided heart failure, which is a frequent consequence of chronic heart disease. "Our finding represents the oldest evidence for chronic heart failure in mummified remains," Bianucci said. Valvular disease, ischemia, metabolic disorders of the heart muscle, or chronic hypertension are among the causes for the disorder. In Nebiri's case, the researchers believe chronic hypertension is the best candidate. Currently, over 20 million people worldwide, mainly over 65, are affected by chronic heart failure. Weird Facts About King Tut and His Mummy "A systematic analysis of canopic jar content could help establish whether the disease was more frequent in our ancestors or its prevalence increased in modern times," Bianucci said. The elaborate mummification technique played a crucial role in diagnosing the cause of death, according to the researchers. "The level of preservation is outstanding and easily equals the standard seen with royals of the time," Egyptologist Joann Fletcher, professor at the University of York's Department of Archaeology, told Discovery News. Iceman Mummy 20 Yrs On: Mysteries Remain Chemical analysis of the compounds used to treat Nebiri's corpse revealed a relatively high quality of mummification. "It was a complex mixture of an animal fat or plant oil, a balsam/aromatic plant, and non-native conifer resin and pistacia resin. The last three ingredients contain strongly antibacterial compounds, so would certainly have helped preserve his body and lungs," Stephen Buckley, an archaeological chemist at the University of York in England, told Discovery News. Current research is now focusing on Nebiri's facial reconstruction, which is being carried out by Tobias Houlton and Christopher Rynn from the University of Dundee, UK. New close-up photos of Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, show its mysterious and massive dunes in more detail than ever before. NASA's Cassini orbiter obtained these images when it flew by Titan for the 122nd time on July 25, 2016. The spacecraft was just 607 miles (976 kilometers) above the alien moon's southern hemisphere, according to NASA officials. RELATED: Sands of Time Move Slowly on Saturn Moon Titan The new images include an area called the "Shangri-La Sand Sea," a large dark region with hundreds of long and linear sand dunes. A part of this region had been imaged before, but the new image covers more ground and in greater detail. You can see new video of Titan's 'Shangri-La Sand Sea' by NASA here. Another image reveals the never-before-seen "Xanadu annex," which lies just south of Xanadu, a region with an Earth-like landscape first imaged by Cassini in 1994. [Amazing Photos: Titan, Saturn's Largest Moon] Because Titan's atmosphere is thick and hazy, its surface is not easily visible with ordinary cameras. But Cassini comes equipped with a special radar instrument that allows it to see through the obstructing fog by beaming radio waves down to the surface. WATCH VIDEO: Can a Moon Be Older Than Its Planet? The historic Belgian brewery De Halve Maan in Bruges faced a difficult choice: find a better way to transport beer though narrow, winding cobblestone streets or move operations out of town. Leaving was hardly an option since it would mean the beer could no longer carry the "made in Bruges" designation. So the owner came up with a crazy idea to pipe the tasty brew underground. De Halve Maan, or the Half-Moon, has been led by the Maes family since it first opened in 1856. The historic brewery, which the Guardian reported has rooms dating back to the 16th Century, normally uses trucks to transport its popular beer to a bottling plant about two miles away. In recent years, increasing demand created unsustainable pressure on the tankers. RELATED: Australian Town Is Underground: Photos One day, De Halve Maan owner and managing director Xavier Vanneste -- who is also Veronique Maes' son -- saw workers installing broadband cables and had a wild thought: Why not create an underground beer pipeline? Although there were many doubters, Vanneste plowed ahead. Careful planning required four years while the installation took less than four months, according to NPR. "We want to brew every single liter here...right where it has been brewed for so many centuries, just as Trappist beer is brewed in the abbey or champagne is brewed in the Champagne area," Vanneste told the Guardian. City officials weighed the pros and cons before granting De Halve Maan permission to lay the pipes under medieval streets, the first time they had done something like this for a private company. Vanneste collaborated with a local professor as well as oil and gas experts. The project relied on the famous canals for moving large equipment and utilized computer-guided drills to minimize digging. De Halve Maan's beer pipeline goes into operation this month. RELATED: Edible Boat Powered by Booze All in all, the project ended up costing about $4.5 million, but the brewery's successful crowdfunding campaign raised nearly $380,000 of that, NPR reported. Each gold membership level funder who gave nearly $8,400 receive Brugse Zot Blond bottles every day for life. Now that's some liquid gold. via the Guardian WATCH VIDEO: BEER: Healthier Than Running!! Photo: The fury of an avalanche in the French Alps was captured in 2007. Credit: Scientif38 via Wikimedia Commons Snow-covered mountains are beautiful to look at and fun to ski or snowboard. But when snow becomes unstable, it can crash down a mountainside with frightening, lethal fury. About 30 people die each year in avalanches in the French Alps, and 42 were killed and 60 injured when a wall of snow descended upon a resort hotel back in 1970. And they don't just happen in Europe either. Earlier this year, in various parts of the western U.S., 10 people died in avalanches during a single 10-day period. WATCH: What Causes Avalanches? But now, engineers and scientists from several British universities have devised a new, radar-based imaging system that can see inside of snow banks and produce 3-D images of how snow moves deep inside them. While the technology isn't yet capable of forecasting avalanches, the researchers say that it will make computer modeling of avalanches more accurate and eventually could aid in devising more resilient defenses for towns, buildings, roads and railways. "It's not possible to predict precisely when avalanches will happen, but our radar imaging system aids understanding of how they behave when they do occur," said University College London professor Paul Brennan, the project's leader, in a press release. RELATED: Alps Avalanche Kills Five French Legionnaires "By penetrating the powder cloud, it can observe the nature and direction of the flow of the 90 percent of snow that would otherwise remain invisible," he said. The system uses an antenna to transmit radio waves and a receiver array to capture them as they reflect back from the snow. The power and wavelength of the radio waves maximize their ability to penetrate into the snow as it moves. It has a 30-degree field of view, providing full coverage of an avalanche track. The scientists say that it offers greater sensitivity and higher resolution images than any other similar system previously developed. The team, from University College London, Durham University and Sheffield University, worked in close collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research. RELATED: Deadliest Avalanche Spots in the World As this 2012 CBC article details, avalanches occur when a layer or layers of snow become disturbed, leading the top layer to become unstable. They can be set off by a variety of triggers, ranging from additional snowfall to a sudden, warming wind. CBC says the folk belief that avalanches can be triggered by the human voice pretty much has been disproved. SEE PHOTOS: This Week's Must-See Planet Pics style="text-align: left;">Whakaari, also known as White Island, is an active stratovolcano, situated 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the North Island of New Zealand in the Bay of Plenty. Whakaari is New Zealand's most active volcano, and has been built up by continuous eruptions over the past 150,000 years. The island is approximately 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) in diameter and rises to a height of 1,053 feet (321 meters) above sea level. style="text-align: left;">via Daily Overview, satellite imagery courtesy of Digital Globe style="text-align: left;">The Northeast is suffering its worse drought in a decade, according to NASA. A high-pressure ridge has stalled over the Southeast, pushing storms farther north than usual. It's left much of New York and New England with far less rain than usual. style="text-align: left;">August 2016 satellite photos show a rift on the glacier in Antarctica called Larsen C is much longer than previously thought. The rift could lead to a collapse similar to the one that occurred to the Larsen B ice shelf. "We don't know yet what will happen here," said Ala Khazendar of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the NASA Earth Observatory site. style="text-align: left;">Lombard Street runs from east to west in San Francisco. With eight hairpin turns dispersed over a one-block section in the Russian Hill neighborhood, Lombard is often referred to as "the most crooked street in the world." style="text-align: left;">via Daily Overview, satellite imagery courtesy of Digital Globe style="text-align: left;">Glacial melting and flooding occurs every year by the Skafta River in Iceland. As the water travels down towards the North Atlantic Ocean, incredible patterns are created on the hillsides. Rising lava, steam vents, or newly opened hot springs can all cause this rapid ice melt, leading to a sizable release of water that picks up sediment as it flows down from the glaciers. style="text-align: left;">via Daily Overview, satellite imagery courtesy of Digital Globe style="text-align: left;">The Daldykan River in Siberia turned red in early September, apparently from pollution. style="text-align: left;">Sadly, it isn't the first time that the river has turned red. A user on the Russian social media site VK.com posted similar pictures back in 2014. style="text-align: left;">Credit: Association of Indigenous Peoples of Taimyr, via Facebook style="text-align: left;">Scientists have discovered an entirely new genus of bacteria living in hydraulic fracking wells, part of a thriving ecosystem of microorganisms that contains at least 31 different species. style="text-align: left;">Credit: Michael Wilkins, courtesy Ohio State University Small aquatic animals known as water bears can survive near complete desiccation and other extreme states, and now researchers have identified a unique protein that makes such feats possible. Since the protein, reported in the journal Nature Communications, protects human cells from damage, it could lead to new medical treatments. At the very least, its discovery helps explain how water bears, also known as tardigrades, are among the world's most durable creatures. RELATED: Frozen Animal Brought Back to Life After 30 Years Watch how this water bear dries to a crisp before before being brought back to life with a drop of water: "The dehydrated tardigrades withstand a wide range of physical extremes that normally disallow survival of most organisms, such as extreme temperatures, high pressure, immersion in organic solvent, exposure to high dose irradiation and even direct exposure to open space," wrote lead author Takuma Hashimoto of The University of Tokyo and colleagues. "Space" refers to the vacuum of outer space, so even NASA is interested in water bears because they suggest that life could be possible in the extreme conditions of other planets. To determine why water bears are near indestructible, Hashimoto and his team conducted a genetic analysis on one of the most stress tolerant tardigrade species: Ramazzottius varieornatus. It is the toughest of the tough in the animal kingdom. The researchers identified a unique water bear protein that suppresses X-ray induced damage by about 40 percent in human cultured cells. It also made human cells more tolerant of radiation. Those findings open up a whole new line of research on the water bears' proteins , which could prove to be very beneficial to humans. RELATED: Does This Strange Animal Have Alien DNA? The research also presents the first ever genome sequence for an "extremotolerant" tardigrade. As that descriptor indicates, these animals can again survive almost anything. It is especially impressive that they can live through being dried to a crisp. Novelty aquarium pets known as Sea Monkeys, which are actually brine shrimp, have a similar ability. When desiccated, these brine shrimp go into a different state of being called cryptobiosis or anhydrobiosis. It's a condition of apparent lifelessness that allows survival, even when the temporary water pools in which the brine shrimp live in the wild dry up. Microscopic water bears live in almost every place on Earth. They can be found in leaf litter and soil, beaches, dunes, fresh and salt water, and even in the slimy film of water that collects on lichens and mosses. A water bear walking on moss: Water bears can also survive under conditions of very high pressure. For example, they have no problem withstanding six times the pressure of the deepest part of the ocean. They can be placed in boiling alcohol and come out just fine. Being frozen in a block of ice poses no problem for water bears. They can alsowithstand levels of X-ray radiation that are 1,000 times the lethal human dose. At the root of many of these abilities is the water bears' ability to survive oxidative stress. This is a disturbance to the balance between the production of reactive oxygen molecules (free radicals) and antioxidant defenses. Learning more about how they avoid extreme stress could lead to important medical discoveries. The newfound protein is just a start. SEE PHOTOS: Royal Society's Top Animal Photos: style="text-align: left;">Photographer Imre Potyo captured this image of Danube mayflies engaged in a courtship dance. The photo is the overall winner of the Royal Society competition. "At the beginning, females and males fly above the water surface where they copulate," Potyo said. "After that the females begin their upstream-directed compensatory flight, which ends when they deposit their eggs onto the water surface. This shot captures the fantastic energy and chaos of the mayflies' dance and the mood of the night time too." style="text-align: left;">Credit: Imre Potyo, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">The winner of the Ecology and Environmental Science category is this photo of a solitary juvenile clown fish (Amphiprion bicinctus) seeking shelter in a bleached bubble-tip anemone in the Red Sea. The photo was snapped following a global bleaching event that has decimated coral reefs worldwide this year. "The lone fish seems like a timely analogy for a generation that may grow up in a bleak future," said photographer Tane Sinclair-Taylor, "without the colorful and diverse coral reefs that we have today." style="text-align: left;">Credit: Tane Sinclair-Taylor, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">The winner of the Micro-Imaging category is this photo of an activated carbon grain, which looks like an alien landscape. Photographer Maria Carbajo Sanchez magnified the grain 5,000 times with an electron microscope to obtain such a close-up view of the tiny object. The source of the carbon was a nutshell. style="text-align: left;">Credit: Maria Carbajo Sanchez, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">An eagle ray swimming over the reef with its prey was the subject of the Evolutionary Biology category winner. "Eagle rays have evolved very long tails, but this is the longest that I have ever seen," said photographer Nick Robertson-Brown. style="text-align: left;">Credit: Nick Robertson-Brown, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">Shooting from the inside of a large mammal carcass with the help of a long trigger wire, photographer Jonathan Diaz-Marba captured the moment when a griffon vulture searched inside the dead animal's ribcage. The photo is a runner up in the Behavior category. "My fear was that these huge birds could vandalize the expensive photographic equipment, but I had to take the risk," Diaz-Marba said. style="text-align: left;">The birds nest in colonies on cliffs undisturbed by humans, and they fly over huge open areas searching for food. "I chose an area with many magpies, whose presence gives the vultures a good cue of where to feed," he said. style="text-align: left;">Credit: Jonathan Diaz-Marba, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">This image of a trainworm (Myrianida pinnigera) took runner up in the Evolutionary Biology category. "Its front end, the trainworm's engine, is followed by a row of carriages called 'stolons' that increase in size towards the worm's tail end," said Frederik Pleijel, who took the photo. "The carriages are the worm's swimming sexual organs." style="text-align: left;">"When the trainworm is mature, the last carriage in the train lets go and detaches," he said. "It swims up the water column to reproduce." style="text-align: left;">Credit: Frederik Pleijel, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">Photographer Tegwen Gadais captured "Gentoo penguins seemingly 'decorating' their nest with guano" in this photo, taken on the island of South Georgia in the southern Pacific. style="text-align: left;">"Once the eggs have been laid, each parent will take turns incubating them, relieving themselves by lifting their tails away from the nest and creating the long streaks seen in the picture," Gadais said. style="text-align: left;">The photo was a runner up in the Ecology and Environmental Science category. rel="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">Credit: Tegwen Gadais style="text-align: left;">A runner up in the Micro-Imaging category, this photo shows an African house snake (Boaedon fuliginosus) one day after its mother laid her eggs. Photographer Tyler Square noticed that many of the features at this early developmental stage, such as muscle segments and a chambered heart, are shared with other animals. style="text-align: left;">Credit: Tyler Square, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">Looking more like jellyfish or subjects of an Andy Warhol painting, the objects in this special commendation photo are actually carbon nanotubes grown in a pillar formation. "The metal disks that make up the jellyfish bodies are made by 'sputtering' charged aluminum and iron ions onto a surface to deposit a thin film of the metals," said photographer Clare Collins. style="text-align: left;">Credit: Clare Collins, Royal Society style="text-align: left;">A special commendation went to this human-like photo of Japanese macaques huddling to stay warm during the winter. "When they huddle in these small groups it's called in Japanese saru-dango; saru means 'monkey' and dango is a skewer of Japanese sweet dumpling made from rice flour," photographer Alexandre Bonnefoy said. "These groups are composed only of members of the same family." style="text-align: left;">"This behavior is not observed everywhere in Japan, but only in (a) few groups," he said. "It's a cultural behavior peculiar to the monkeys in Shodoshima and in Nagano, where this photo was taken, where there is a hot spring which the monkeys bathe in." style="text-align: left;">Credit: Alexandre Bonnefoy style="text-align: left;">A special commendation also went to this photo of colorful butterflies gathering on the head of a caiman. "A number of minerals are a scarce resource throughout Amazonia," said Mark Cowan, who took the photo. The behavior allows insects like butterflies to have access to salt, even if it is on the head of a large predatory reptile. style="text-align: left;">"This particular phenomenon where butterflies and bees congregate on the heads and around the eyes of caimans and turtles has been documented before," he added, "but what is unique here is the simultaneous number of butterfly species and the way in which each species is associated with its own kind." style="text-align: left;">Credit: Mark Cowan, Royal Society In 2015, more than 50 countries endorsed the international Safe Schools Declaration, which aims to reduce the impact of armed conflict on educational systems. It's a desperately needed initiative. According to Human Rights Watch, schools in at least 26 armed conflicts across four continents have been used for military purposes over the last decade. Trace Dominguez has the story in today's Seeker Daily report. Schools and children are supposed to be protected under existing laws of war and international human rights accords. The 1949 Geneva Convention established rules that occupying powers must "facilitate the proper working of [educational facilities]" and even provide education for children who are displaced because of war. Additional protocols were added in 1977. But violations of these laws have been tragically frequent. For instance, the Sudanese government has bombed as many as 20 schools in their military campaign against rebel forces in civilian areas since 2011. As of 2012, just 12 percent of Somali boys and 8 percent of girls were enrolled in secondary school. RELATED: What Is Somaliland And Should It Be Its Own Country? Why do armed forces target schools? Sometimes the reasons are simply practical or strategic. Although international law heavily restricts military use of schools, it does not specifically outlaw the practice. As a result, schools in Somalia are regularly used as bases by both rebels and state security forces. Sometimes the reasons are ideological. Certain opposition groups in Somalis are known to target schools because they represents the very institutions they oppose, like government-sponsored education for girls. Clashes between the militant group Al-Shabaab and government-backed opposition forces have led to thousands of student and faculty casualties. Many students who have not been killed or coerced into the insurgency have been forced to flee after their school was attacked or occupied. It doesn't just happen in undeveloped countries, either. In the Ukraine, more than 250 schools have been closed because of conflict between government forces and Russian-backed militants. In 2015, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2225, which exhorts governments to take concrete measures to deter the use of schools by armed forces. Unfortunately, history suggests that international humanitarian laws are not effective in keeping school and students safe during wartime. -- Glenn McDonald Learn More: Human Rights Watch: Sudan: Bombing Campaign's Heavy Toll on Children Huffington Post: UN Calls for Schools to be 'Out of Bounds' in War Zones Amid Rising Attacks CNN: One Year After Garissa, Schools are Recruiting Grounds for Extremists JOINT STATEMENT Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon, Senator Francis Pangilinan, Senator Bam Aquino, and Senator Risa Hontiveros We are deeply saddened by the events that transpired yesterday. Elementary courtesy dictates that we as members of the majority bloc of the Senate should have been consulted. The concerns of our colleagues could have been addressed if there was an opportunity for a dialogue. No consultation or dialogue took place. We recognize the removal of Senator Leila De Lima as chair of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights as a political reality. Having said that, our alliance with the majority has always been based on the reforms that we believe will propel our nation to greater economic, political and social heights. We will continue to pursue these agenda. As long as we believe that these reforms can be achieved, we will remain with the majority. Coming from the events that transpired yesterday, we must remain vigilant and continue to assert the independence of the Senate. JV EJERCITO: PALACE DID NOT HAVE A HAND ON DE LIMA'S OUSTER Senator JV Ejercito today said Malacanang did not have a hand on the Senate's decision to remove Senator Leila De Lima as Chairperson of the Committee on Justice. Ejercito, who is one of the sixteen senators who voted in favor of the committee's vacancy of chairmanship and membership, said it had been a difficult decision since it involved a colleague. "It was the Senate's collective decision. We members of the majority are concerned of the effects of the continuous efforts to destroy President Rodrigo Duterte. It is dragging the whole country down, as evidenced by the international media's portrayal of the Philippines at present. It is also dividing our people," the senator said explaining his vote. Ejercito explained that his vote was also for the people to give chance for the Duterte administration. "They've only been in office for 3 months. Any uprising or upheaval will not benefit the country at this point in time. We have had 2 EDSA revolts, and it did not help improve our our situation," he said. Hontiveros meets workers, pledges to push for anti-contractualization law PASAY CITY - "We must stop the exploitation of workers". This was the statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday as she met with the participants of the Anti-ENDO Caravan organized by the NAGKAISA labor coalition, Partido Manggagawa (PM) and the Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA). In the meet-up at the Senate stop of the said caravan yesterday, the Senator pledged to push for the passage of an anti-contractualization law that will provide "work with dignity to our workers". Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 217 or the Security of Tenure Bill to protect workers from unscrupulous and discriminatory contracting and sub-contracting. The Senator also welcomed the directive of the current administration "to end endo". Endo is the colloquial term for "end of contract", a system by enterprises and employers that contract workers to 4-6 months in order to avoid regularizing workers and providing them social security benefits. "We must fight for regular and decent jobs. It is time for a strong policy that will protect our workers from contractualization and other schemes that continue to deprive them of their full benefits, Senator Hontiveros concluded. Press Release September 20, 2016 Legarda Supports Improvement of Government's Communication Agencies Senator Loren Legarda today said the government should upgrade facilities and improve standards of agencies under the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) to ensure that it provides the people with reliable, balanced, and up-to-date news and information about the government and its activities. "Communication is very important for government. The PCOO and all agencies under it should be managed as avenues to communicate to our people its policies, programs, projects and activities and at the same time be a reliable platform to raise their issues and concerns," said Legarda. During the Senate hearing for the proposed 2017 budget of the PCOO and its attached agencies, the Senator expressed her support to the improvement of services and facilities of agencies under PCOO such as the government's broadcast arm--the People's Television Network, Inc. (PTNI) and the Bureau of Broadcast Services (BBS) or Radyo ng Bayan--as well as the government newswire, the Philippines News Agency (PNA). In line with this, Legarda has filed Senate Bill No. 913 that would establish the People's Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), which will replace PTNI. The PBC will be granted both television and radio broadcasting rights. "Under this measure, the proposed PBC will have its own charter to ensure its editorial independence and complete control over programming and content. It is envisioned to air radio and television programs distinct from those presently shown in commercial television stations," she explained. "The rapidly evolving media landscape, together with the need for a reinvigorated government-owned broadcast station, necessitates the creation of the People's Broadcasting Corporation, which should serve as a vital tool for participative democracy and effective government information dissemination," Legarda concluded. A woman holds her smart phone, which displays the Google home page, in this picture illustration taken February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/Illustration/File Photo By Gayatri Suroyo and Eveline Danubrata JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to pursue Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google for five years of back taxes, and the search giant could face a bill of more than $400 million for 2015 alone if it is found to have avoided payments, a senior tax official said. Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax office's special cases branch, told Reuters its investigators went to Google's local office in Indonesia on Monday. The tax office alleges PT Google Indonesia paid less than 0.1 percent of the total income and value-added taxes it owed last year. Asked to respond to Haniv's comments, Google Indonesia reiterated a statement made last week in which it said it continues to cooperate with local authorities and has paid all applicable taxes. The move comes at a time when Indonesia is eager to ramp up tax collection to narrow its budget deficit and fund an ambitious infrastructure program. Other governments around the world are also seeking to clamp down on what they see as egregious corporate tax avoidance. Haniv added that the tax office planned to pursue other internet firms for back taxes. If found guilty, Google may have to pay fines of up to four times the amount it owed, bringing the maximum tax bill to 5.5 trillion rupiah ($418 million) for 2015, Haniv said. He declined to provide an estimate for the five-year period. Most of its revenue generated in the country is booked at Google's Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Google Asia Pacific declined to be audited in June, prompting the tax office to escalate the case into a criminal one, he said. "Google's argument is that they just did tax planning," Haniv said. "Tax planning is legal, but aggressive tax planning - to the extent that the country where the revenue is made does not get anything - is not legal." The tax office will summon directors from Google Indonesia who also hold positions at Google Asia Pacific, Haniv said, adding that it is working with the Indonesian police. Story continues Globally, it is rare for a state investigation of corporate tax structures to be escalated into a criminal case. GOVERNMENTS HITTING BACK Indonesia's move to pursue Google shows that the international tax tide might be turning, said Crawford Spence, a professor of accounting at Warwick Business School in Britain. "In recent decades multinationals have scoured the globe looking for low tax jurisdictions, effectively engaging in rate-shopping as part of tax minimization strategies," Spence wrote in an email. "Now, with initiatives at the transnational level...countries are starting to develop the confidence to hit back." In January, Google agreed to pay 130 million pounds ($185 million) in back taxes to settle a probe by Britain's tax authority, which had challenged the company's low tax returns for the years since 2005. The Indonesia case is unlikely to be resolved soon as it normally takes at least three years for a court to make a decision on a tax-related criminal case, said Yustinus Prastowo, executive director of the Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis. Haniv said the tax office is planning to chase back taxes from other companies that deliver content through the internet (over-the-top service providers) in Indonesia. The Indonesian communication and information ministry is working on a new regulation for OTT providers, and the tax office has proposed that a company with a "network presence" in Indonesia should also be subject to taxation. Total advertising revenue for the industry is estimated at $830 million a year, with Google and Facebook Inc (FB.O) accounting for around 70 percent of that, according to Haniv. A joint study by Google and Singapore state investor Temasek released earlier this year, however, estimated the size of Indonesia's digital advertising market at $300 million for 2015. ($1 = 13,155.00 rupiah) (Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo and Eveline Danubrata; Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Alexander Smith) Press Release September 20, 2016 ON THE ALLEGED SHARON CUNETA CONCERT AT THE NEW BILIBID PRISON On July 10, 2012, Sharon went to the New Bilibid Prison for the taping of her talk show, "Kasama mo Kapatid," which had an episode featuring the life of inmates. She sang four songs for the closing portion, which is the customary format of the show. She sang "Maging Sino Ka Man," "Tubig at Langis," "Kahit Konting Pagtingin," and "Kahit Maputi Na ang Buhok Ko" but only to support RockEd's outreach program for prisoners. However, if people who heard the testimony at the House this morning are interested, my wife will have a special concert on October 15 and 22, 8 p.m. at the Theatre at Solaire. We are sure that this concert will be livelier and more enjoyable than the outreach program in Bilibid. Press Release September 20, 2016 Recto files 'one time, big time' tax amnesty bill Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto has filed a bill seeking a general tax amnesty aimed at expanding the tax base by luring untaxed individuals or those with outstanding liabilities to settle these without fear of being slapped with criminal charges. In Senate Bill No. 920, Recto said an amnesty can be prelude to the tax reform the Duterte administration is set to pursue "as it will give taxpayers with arrears an opportunity to come up with a clean slate and begin paying the correct taxes." Recto said a "tax forgiveness program" would allow many people to surface and put their tax papers in order "without fear of prosecution." "These law-abiding citizens would have stepped forward a long time ago if not for complexity of the current tax system," Recto said, specifically referring to "small businessmen and self-employed professionals" who find the bureaucratic hurdle "too high, too often or too costly" to comply with. Another thing which is dissuading these hardworking individuals is the worry that their voluntary offer to settle past dues, instead of being met with understanding, will be reciprocated with severe penalties, Recto said. "The provision for immunity from civil, criminal and administrative penalties to be granted to erring taxpayers will encourage those operating in the underground economy to legitimize their business operations," Recto stressed in the bill's explanatory note. Under Recto's proposal, the tax amnesty will cover all national internal revenue taxes for the taxable year 2015 and prior years, "with or without tax assessments." The amnesty, however, will not cover those with pending cases involving "unexplained or unlawfully acquired wealth," or under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Persons charged with violating the Anti-Money Laundering Law will also not be allowed to apply for amnesty. Also in the negative list are "withholding agents with respect to their withholding tax liability, those with pending cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, and tax cases subject to final and executory judgement by the courts." Those with pending criminal cases for tax evasion and other criminal offenses under certain sections of the tax code, and the felonies of frauds, illegal exactions and transactions, and malversation of public funds and property are also banned from seeking amnesty. Under SB 920, "any person, natural or juridical, who wishes to avail himself of the tax amnesty shall file with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) a notice and Tax Amnesty Return accompanied by a Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) as of December 31, 2015." The tax due shall then be based on the net worth - assets minus liabilities - declared in the SALN. For individuals, "whether resident or nonresident citizens, including resident or nonresident aliens, trusts and estates, "the tax shall be five percent of the net worth but not less than P50,000." The rates of corporations are based on the subscribed capital. To cite an example in the proposed brackets, a corporation with at least P50 million subscribed capital will pay five percent of its net worth or P500,000, whichever amount is higher. Assets in the SALN cover those "within or without the Philippines, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, whether or not used in trade or business. " Existing liabilities, on the other hand, pertain to obligations which "are legitimate and enforceable, secured or unsecured, whether or not incurred in trade or business." Recto also included a section stating the "presumption of correctness of the SALN," with the latter considered as true and correct except where the amount of declared net worth is understated to the extent of 30 percent." But such proceedings to establish under-declaration, Recto said, "must be initiated within one year following the date of the filing of the Tax Amnesty Return." Any person who willfully understates his net worth by at least 30% shall, upon conviction, be subject to the penalties of perjury under the Revised Penal Code. "The willful failure to declare any property in the SALN or in the Tax Amnesty Return shall be deemed a prima facie evidence of fraud and shall constitute a ground upon which attachment of such property may be issued in favor of the BIR to answer for the satisfaction of any judgment that may be acquired against the declarant," reads a provision in Recto's bill. Once a general amnesty is declared, the grant of tax amnesty, in whatever manner and form, shall not be allowed. The moratorium applies, according to Recto's bill, to any administrative tax amnesty by the BIR. "This is a 'one time, big time' amnesty. Those in arrears should not miss this bus," he said. A SALN approach, Recto said, will greatly contribute to the government's effort to organize taxpayers' records and information. "By creating a large database of taxpayers, this proposed measure could greatly help the government in its effort to prevent money laundering in the country," the senator added. Statement on the reorganization of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights "I am one with our people who want to see a Senate doing its job. We need impartial chairmen who conduct public hearings efficiently and fairly.People want results. "I am disappointed at seeing the Senate investigations being used to push other people's political agenda. In my five years as a civilian, I watched how Senate proceedings often descended into grandstanding and become tools for demolition jobs." "As legislators,we should be productive and proactive rather than destructive. People demand results from the hearings and inquiries like developmental laws. Right now, we are hearing the national budget which by itself demands our close attention. Our offices must be used in delivering change that we promised will happen in the first year of this new administration. We should deal with horrible traffic, poverty eradication, jobs generation, improving education, stopping the spread of illegal drugs and criminality, instead of focusing on narrow ambitions. Let us avoid using the Senate for grandstanding. I respect the power and prerogative of the Senate to investigate, but, once someone's political agenda is involved, the whole process is derailed and public interest is forgotten. If some persons want to expose certain issues about the President, their proper recourse is to impeach him. File an impeachment case. If they have an axe to grind against President Duterte, they should file a case against him instead of transforming Senate inquiries into political circus." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Oakland would require pot entrepreneurs to hand over business money and control in exchange for an operating permit, under a proposal by three City Council members who want local government to benefit from Californias multibillion-dollar marijuana industry. But the move would not be legal, according to state Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, the lawmaker who was lead author of the states marijuana regulations, which were signed into law a year ago. Thats not stopping council members Desley Brooks, Larry Reid and Noel Gallo from pushing their plan to force cannabis businesses to give the city one-quarter of their ownership and at least one seat on their boards of directors in exchange for an operating permit. Such permits are required under the state Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act that established regulations for marijuana businesses as the state heads toward legalization of recreational pot. Well be able to use a resource that generates millions of dollars, Gallo said, explaining his support for the proposal that would amend Oaklands cannabis laws. The plan is to be discussed by the City Councils Public Safety Committee next week. Ill be able to get specific services that I need in East Oakland. If I were to rely on the general budget, I would never get them. Gallo, Brooks and Reid say their proposal would generate revenue for the city to fund district activities, community beautification and loans for aspiring business owners who the council members say were hurt by the U.S. war on drugs. Additionally, the city would dole out some of the new revenue to three community job-training programs that are run by politically connected people. One of them, the Hispanic Engineers, Builders & Contractors of California, has no website or state records, and is run by a childhood friend of Gallos. Santiago Mejia/Special to The Chronicle The friend, Rafael Zamora, said he is in the process of solidifying the groups nonprofit status. In a memo sent Friday to the Public Safety Committee, the council members say they came up with the proposal to ensure equity and fairness in a burgeoning cannabis industry. Brooks, who according to Gallo was the proposals main author, has previously claimed that systemic racism gives some cannabis operators a head start, while others are shut out. In addition to requiring pot businesses to share revenue, the proposal would require business permits to be given to pot entrepreneurs who have lived in Oakland for at least five years. Brooks and Reid did not return phone calls on Monday. Bonta said the proposal raises legal concerns. The idea of a transfer of 25 percent ownership and one seat on the board raises significant concerns about prohibited taking and about whether this is an appropriate use of eminent domain, Bonta told The Chronicle on Monday. If the city is an owner, its also a regulator. So its regulating itself. Bonta also noted that state laws prohibit public entities, like cities, from having a stake in businesses, both nonprofit and for profit. Under current state law, all marijuana businesses are categorized as nonprofits, but Bonta has been working to change that. This year, he pushed a bill that would have allowed for-profit cannabis businesses to obtain permits, but it stalled in the Senate right before the end of the legislative session. Bonta said the council members proposal would also run afoul of state laws that restrict the type of licenses a single entity can hold. Under state regulations, for example, anyone holding a distributors license can only be a distributor. So the proposal could potentially mean that Oakland would hold dozens of licenses in all sectors of the industry, which would be illegal. Oakland attorney Robert Selna, who is helping clients with cannabis permit applications in Oakland and other cities, said it would be highly unusual for a city to require that it participate in a business in exchange for a permit. Such arrangements might occur between a city and a low-income-housing developer, Selna said, but in that case, the city would be providing a public benefit in return. Selna said the proposal raises other concerns, in that it would interfere with cannabis companies business practices and put them at a competitive disadvantage. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Daniel Grace, head of the East Oakland cultivation facility Dark Heart Nursery, said he is already looking to move to another city or county that is doing something more workable. This is a gut punch, said Grace, who for several years has paid 5 percent of his gross receipts to the city, as required by a voter-approved city ordinance. For us, this legislation feels like were being punished for being good actors, he said. It would break the cannabis industry in Oakland, not just for now, but forever. Lanese Martin, co-chair of the Oakland Diversity and Equity Cannabis Coalition an advocacy group that looks out for women, immigrants and people of color working in the marijuana industry said that while she disagrees with the proposed rules, she supports the council members idea of creating a loan fund for entrepreneurs living in areas with high marijuana-arrest rates. The proposal would allocate 42 percent of the citys future proceeds to these equity applicants. But Martin said the loans to help these applicants should come from taxes the city collects, not revenue it pulls in by being a part owner in many businesses. I think reparations are important, she said. But if (the council members) think these (rules) are addressing that, theyre not. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan A San Jose State University student drowned during a school hiking trip to Sequoia National Park over the weekend, officials said Monday. William Billy Nguyen, 19, was a sophomore majoring in kinesiology and a member of the schools Outdoor Adventures recreation program, university officials said. Nguyen and a group of students were swimming in Eagle Lake when Nguyen reportedly sank below the waters surface, officials said. Students and staff on the trip were unable to rescue him, said Mary Papazian, president of San Jose State University. He has been described to me as someone who, while sometimes reserved, loved group activities and wanted to inspire others to join in and be active, Papazian said in a statement. His interests included fitness and outdoor activities. He enjoyed working out and getting others to do the same. Park dispatchers received an SOS text message about 3 p.m. on Saturday indicating that someone had drowned in the lake, said Zach Behrens, spokesman for the National Park Service. Behrens said three park rangers immediately responded Eagle Lake, which is at the 2,500-foot elevation level, and that a reconnaissance helicopter was deployed to the area. Nguyens body was not recovered until Sunday after 16 members of the park staff search the waters for him. The incident remains under investigation and the Tulare County Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Our students and staff acted with remarkable courage, composure and thoughtfulness, Papazian said. On behalf of the entire university community, I want them to know how proud we are of them. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani A San Francisco woman who was paralyzed when she was hit by a falling tree limb in Washington Square Park has filed a claim against the city for negligence. Emma Zhou, 36, was watching her daughters play in the parks playground before a dentist appointment last month when she was hit by a 100-pound branch that splintered off a Canary Island pine tree. She sustained a brain injury and severed spinal cord, and is now paralyzed below the waist. Neighbors of the nondescript, neatly painted, corrugated-steel warehouse probably have no idea whats going on inside the South of Market building. And thats exactly how the buildings operators want to keep it. Nothing from the outside hints that the structure houses hundreds of herbaceous cannabis plants, kept at a balmy 80 degrees with lighting manipulated to fool the plants into flowering and to control their size. On the prairies, good fences make good neighbors. In the city, carbon-filter ventilation systems do the same for grow houses. There hasnt been a single complaint against any location, and thats a testament to the good neighbors, the responsible tenants we are able to be, said Aaron Flynn, head of the San Francisco chapter of the California Growers Association, which represents cannabis growers, and owner of this particular grow house. When people think of cannabis cultivation, they generally think of rural, outdoor operations in Northern California counties like Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity. Those counties, collectively known as the Emerald Triangle, boast the largest cannabis production in the country. But a sizable yet unknown amount of cultivation happens in San Francisco, as well as other urban and suburban cores throughout the state, tucked away in houses, light-industrial buildings or even backyards. The bulk of the citys operations are concentrated in the southeast quadrant, with a green-tinged triangle emerging in the more industrialized South of Market, Dogpatch and Bayview neighborhoods. While San Francisco has taken a relatively tolerant approach to urban grow houses, other jurisdictions have organized police raids and are openly hostile to them. The confusion over how to handle them is underscored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration decision on Thursday to keep marijuana classified as a dangerous drug with no currently accepted medical use. Still, more than half the states have legalized its use in some form, and California is easing an industry that has long tried to hide in the shadows into the light of regulation. Last fall, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a package of bills, known as the Medical Marijuana or Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, into law. The act creates a framework to regulate virtually every aspect of the medical marijuana industry, which has been operating in a gray area of the law for almost 20 years since California voters passed a ballot measure allowing doctors to prescribe weed for their patients. With Proposition 64, a state measure to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana, on the November ballot, the need to regulate these businesses has become more urgent. The industry represents a potential windfall in local tax revenue, as well as a source of jobs. The legal U.S. cannabis industry, estimated at $5.4 billion last year, is expected to grow 25 percent to reach $6.7 billion, according to a report by ArcView Market Research. The firm estimates Californias $2.7 billion medicinal marijuana market will remain the largest in the country through 2020, though it may dip slightly if recreational use is legalized. Under the new state law, the jurisdiction where the operation resides needs to figure out before 2018 how to give its stamp of approval to these businesses before the owners can go to the state to be licensed. Failing that, the state will set local regulations by default. We want to make sure our local small businesses are protected and are able to succeed, said San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, who called for San Franciscos first hearing to revamp its regulations, held last month before the boards land use and transportation committee. Local regulations could help thwart Big Tobacco, he said. We want to make sure the industry doesnt get taken over by the Philip Morrises of this world, Wiener said. Michael Macor/The Chronicle San Francisco isnt the first city or county to go through the process. In January, Humboldt County became the first in the state to create a local permitting process. Since then, more than 20 counties and cities have followed, including Oakland, Yolo County, Santa Rosa and Richmond. San Franciscos permitting process, which is expected to take more than six months to create, will replace a murky, informal process cobbled together to oversee the citys cannabis industry over the past five years. While city officials wont even hazard a guess at how many cultivators exist within city limits, they do know that 18 growers are registered with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the de facto regulatory agency for the citys medical cannabis industry, which also includes 28 licensed retail dispensaries. Public health officials know whos on the list and where they are located, but the growers are kept anonymous. This informal approval process is yet another sign that the industry still resides in a legal gray area. Theres no rule right now that says you have to let us know about all your grows. But it pushes it more into the legal spotlight, said Douglas Obana, the citys inspector for the Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program. Growers on the citys list have shown they meet such requirements as zoning and building inspection laws, are located at least 600 feet away from any schools, and sell their product only to licensed medical cannabis dispensaries. If San Francisco police or federal agents were to decide to raid the site, public health officials could intervene on the growers behalf. Cultivators who arent on the citys list will be eligible to apply for a city permit to operate, but Obana says being on the citys list of known growers offers an advantage. The ones that will be first in line are the ones already associated with us, he said. The cloak-and-dagger atmosphere surrounding the industry appears to have as much to do with security these operations can produce millions of dollars of product per year as it does with the desire to fly under the radar and avoid the kind of scrutiny that could disrupt operations. If I were a grower who had not gone through the (citys) approval process, I would be a little nervous, said Terrance Alan, who is chairman of the San Francisco Cannabis State Legalization Task Force and has helped the local cannabis industry work with the city to develop the new guidelines. But Alan said that doesnt mean unapproved growers wont get permits. If people can afford to run a good business and be a good neighbor, they should have the opportunity to operate just like anyone else, he said. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Alex Zavell, senior regulatory analyst for Oakland cannabis attorney Robert Raich, helped the city of Oakland create its permitting process, which the City Council approved in May. He expressed confidence in San Franciscos ability to do the same. Im optimistic San Francisco values its position as a leader in medical cannabis policy and sees value in having its present cannabis operations have a pathway to licensure, Zavell said. Still, Oakland is grappling with some unresolved issues affecting the ordinance. While the city has not started accepting applications under the ordinance, it plans to start doing so soon. Flynn, of the California Growers Association, is eager to work with San Francisco officials to go beyond the dont ask, dont tell approach. The 35-year-old former Marine sergeant, who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2000 to 2004, said he wants cannabis growers to fall under the same rules as other light industrial businesses in the city. As we work with the city to draft this ordinance thats going to regulate this type of activity, we want to make sure that these are reasonable regulations that are put in place, said Flynn, whose operations are in the final stages of being added to the Department of Public Healths list. We just want to be treated like any other analogous business in the city. One midsize San Francisco cultivator, who spoke to The Chronicle on condition of anonymity, said he is wary about the unknowns in the citys pending process, including the fees and costs associated with upgrading the grow houses to code. Rent is not cheap in San Francisco. If I have to shut down for six months to a year, Im looking at $100,000 in overhead (rent) I could potentially lose if I dont get permitted, he said, adding that he also has seven employees to consider. Although he has been operating in the city for four years, he said hes not on the citys informal list. He didnt know it existed until a few months ago. But the grower, who also works at a medical-device company, said he supports legitimizing the industry he hopes will become his full-time career. Im all for getting us permitted and paying taxes, he said. Were just hoping its a smooth transition. Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vcolliver@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @vcolliver Three more officers were charged Monday with crimes ranging from having sex with a minor to obstructing justice in connection with the wide-ranging scandal involving a sexually exploited teenager that has roiled police departments throughout the Bay Area over the past year. According to papers filed in Alameda County Superior Court, Oakland police Officer Brian Bunton warned the teenager, who now goes by the name Jasmine, in March that a sting was about to occur on hooker-heavy International Boulevard in Oakland. Bunton, 40, who went by the name Superman on the Internet, then received sex in exchange for his warning, the charges allege. Bunton is also accused of encouraging Jasmine to work as a prostitute and telling her she needed a better manager when she told him she was not making as much money as she wanted. Fellow Oakland police Officer Giovanni Loverde, 33, is accused of receiving oral sex from Jasmine near Lake Merritt in July 2015. And former Contra Costa County Sheriffs Deputy Ricardo Perez, 28, is charged with having sexual intercourse with Jasmine around June or July 2015 while parked near Fish Ranch Road in the Oakland hills. Jasmine, who has also used the name Celeste Guap, is 19 but was younger than the legal consent age of 18 when all of the alleged offenses occurred. The charges follow those filed Friday against an Oakland police sergeant and a former Livermore police officer accusing them of also having sex with Jasmine. The teenager has told The Chronicle she had sex with about 29 officers in the Bay Area over the past two years, and earlier this month the Alameda County district attorneys office said it would file charges against seven officers from three different departments. Mondays charges mean there are still counts left to be lodged against two Oakland police officers. Those should be coming soon, said district attorney spokeswoman Rebecca Richardson. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Were going through systematically and filing as we go, she said. Bunton faces one felony count of obstructing justice and one misdemeanor count of prostitution. He is to be arraigned on Friday. Loverde is charged with one felony count of sex with a minor and one misdemeanor count of lewd conduct in public. Perez faces a felony count of oral copulation with a minor and two misdemeanor counts of lewd conduct in public. Both are to be arraigned Sept. 30. Calls to attorneys for the three defendants were not returned. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The last thing Canadian backpacker Audrey Carey did before she was fatally shot in the head last year in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park was thank the three young drifters accused in her killing for being her friend, according to court testimony Tuesday. The account of Careys final moments emerged during a preliminary hearing in Marin County Superior Court for 19-year-old Lila Scott Alligood and her boyfriend, 24-year-old Morrison Haze Lampley. Each is charged with double murder in a case that stunned the Bay Area with its senselessness. The two are accused of killing Carey, 23, whose body was found Oct. 3 during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, as well as Steve Carter, a 67-year-old tantra instructor who was gunned down two days later on a popular trail northwest of Fairfax. Judge Kelly Vieira Simmons must decide after the hearing whether to send the defendants to a jury trial. A third suspect, Sean Michael Angold, 25, pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder in connection to Carters death, while agreeing to testify against Lampley and Alligood. Taking the witness stand Tuesday was Marin County sheriffs Detective Scott Buer, who recounted an interview conducted with Alligoods former cellmate at the county lockup in San Rafael. The cellmate, Pamela Bullock, said Alligood had referred to Carey who was on her first solo backpacking trip as the bitch and had explained that the three befriended her shortly before killing her for her modest belongings. While Carey was thanking them for being her friends, Buer said Bullock told him, Alligood already had her wallet. All of a sudden, Lampley jumps up and shoots her and there is blood ... all over, Buer testified. Two days later, Carter, a respected tantra teacher, purportedly crossed paths with the drifters and was shot multiple times on a scenic fire trail in the Loma Alta Open Space Preserve near Fairfax. Carter was clutching the leash of his Doberman pinscher, which was also shot but survived. According to Buer, Alligood told Bullock, The old man needed to die. Buer said Alligood told him after her arrest that Angold had pulled the trigger, not Lampley, her longtime boyfriend. Later, she admitted to investigators that Lampley shot Carter, Buer said. She stated that she was protecting Lampley and that she loved him and that he was the only thing she had left, Buer said. Buer said Alligood tried to enlist Bullock in a mission after the cellmates release, contacting a bum in San Francisco and paying him to say Angold was the shooter. Attorneys for Lampley and Alligood have sought to blame Angold for the killings. Through their questioning of Buer, they established that Angold had smoked methamphetamine from a glass pipe he shared with the accused couple. The couple hooked up with Angold in San Francisco before the slayings after hitchhiking along Highway 1 from San Diego, according to testimony. Residents in San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury neighborhood have said that in the weeks before the killings, the three camped out in Buena Vista Park, blending in with the areas transient population. There they developed a reputation for erratic behavior and meth use. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. After Carters killing, all three were arrested outside a soup kitchen in Portland, Ore., after authorities tracked them with the GPS in Carters stolen station wagon. The three defendants had the Smith & Wesson handgun used in both slayings, as well as Careys passport, airline tickets and camping gear, police said. The gun had allegedly been stolen from a car at San Franciscos Fishermans Wharf on Oct. 1. Chief Deputy Public Defender David Brown, who is representing Lampley, sought Tuesday to highlight inconsistencies in Alligoods statements. Amy Morton, who is representing Alligood, questioned Bullocks motivations for coming forward. Bullock, who was serving time for vehicle theft, contacted law enforcement in a bid to get out of jail early and seek custody of her daughter. Im fighting for time, Morton said Bullock wrote to investigators. Help me so I can help you guys. As Tuesdays hearing went on, Alligood appeared teary-eyed as Lampley showed little emotion. They face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Under his plea deal, Angold faces up to 15 years to life in prison. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo When chef Prem Tamang was 14, he left his village in northern Nepal and went to work on the mountain. In the 1980s, the trekking industry in the Himalayas was still gearing up, but Tamang found enough work up there to be a porter, then a cook and, finally, a guide. When Nepalese political tensions in the mid-90s affected American tourism there, Tamang emigrated to the United States and relied on the cooking skills hed acquired in the mountains to work in Indian restaurant kitchens throughout the Bay Area. In 2003, he landed at Bernal Heights Little Nepal, a restaurant owned by his friend Ramesh Lama. Together they ran a successful neighborhood business, beloved by Bernal locals for its momos and creamy cashew chicken curry. Lama died in 2010, and Tamang drifted for a few years. He opened a Nepalese restaurant in Petaluma, went back to Little Nepal for a stretch, and looked around for a new San Francisco kitchen to showcase his cooking. Finally, last fall, he was eating at Chans Cuisine, at Mission and Cortland, and found that its owner was looking to get out of the business. Tamang, 58, took on the lease and opened the 28-seat Cuisine of Nepal in April. The neighborhood fans that hes cultivated over the past decade have followed him down the hill. Theyre drawn there in part by the excellent kukhurako ledo, that cashew chicken curry, with its fire-broiled chicken bits bathed in a subtle tomato-based sauce made creamy with ground cashews in lieu of too much actual cream. Sopped up with buttery, garlicky naan, its quickly become one of the culinary treasures of that stretch of Mission. Nepalese food is less reliant on butter, ghee and cream than Indian cooking, Tamang explains. As such, he tries to be judicious with his use of those ingredients even when hes making Indian dishes like palak paneer, which he knows that the neighborhood wants alongside Nepali classics. (They also offer a brisk takeout and delivery business.) He prides himself on grinding spices every day and skipping shortcuts like subbing frozen spinach for fresh baby leaves. But he also ensures that he makes dishes from his hometown, like butternut squash and pumpkin curries, which have a subtle heat that rounds out the gourds sweetness. He puts mustard greens braised in curry, another childhood favorite, on the menu whenever he can find the leafy greens. He also applied his heritage to the juicy, gingery momos, that essential Nepalese dumpling with a skin a little thicker than a gyoza. While items like the cashew curry are superlative, the rest of the menu is about on par with a great neighborhood takeout place: nothing life-changing, but also as good or better as it needs to be to fulfill weeknight delivery or a wallet-friendly night out. There are plenty of meaty sizzling platters, like poleko khasi, tender hunks of lamb that have been marinated in olive oil and yogurt, as well as vegetarian dishes like jhol, a mild dahl-like lentil soup, and chana saag, spinach and chickpeas. All of the entrees can be upgraded to a combo with rice, garlic or plain naan, and dahl and vegetable curry for a few extra dollars. Cuisine of Nepal is a narrow sliver of a restaurant, although its made more cheery than claustrophobic with orange walls and the warmth of the greeting from Tamang, who says hes just happy to be here at this juncture of his life. On occasion, it seems as if hes having trouble believing that hes come into such good fortune. He and his wife own a house in San Mateo and have raised two sons, now at university a constant source of pride for their father, who didnt even go to high school. More than that, he still has American friends who date back to his Himalayan guide days. One of them, now 97, stopped by Cuisine of Nepal for lunch the other week. Tamang was touched by the visit. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Im so proud of my life, he says. And so grateful for the help from all the friendships. Anna Roth is a freelance writer in San Francisco. E-mail: food@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annaroth What: Chicken cashew curry ($15.99), Himalayan momo ($6.99), butternut squash curry ($15.99), sizzling lamb platter ($16.99) Where: Cuisine of Nepal, 3486B Mission St. (at Cortland Avenue), S.F. (415) 647-2222. www.cuisineofnepal.com When: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 4:30-10:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday When this newspaper was being read in San Francisco, a second disaster hit Mexico. The Chronicles front page from Sept. 20, 1985, covers the magnitude 8.0 quake that struck Mexico City a day before a magnitude 7.5 aftershock did even more damage. A mighty earthquake rumbled through central Mexico yesterday, crumbling high-rise buildings, igniting fires and leaving thousands of casualties in its wake, the story read. Early in the morning, this city of 18 million looked as if it had been hit by bombs. At least 5,000 people died in the destruction, and more than 400 buildings collapsed. The damage was exacerbated because Mexico City sits on what was once a large lakebed and much of the construction was weak by todays standards. An eerie glow filled the air as lightning etched the skies and dozens of fires burned in the streets below, read The Chronicles story by Gary E. Swan and Francisco Garcia. Mexican armed forces estimates put the number of dead at 400, but the toll is expected to rise as rescue workers pull bodies from the mountains of concrete rubble. Oh God! cried the huge headline on a Mexico City newspaper that somehow managed to publish, using words that would be repeated over and over as the rescue crews dug frantically through debris. A day later, the magnitude 7.5 quake would strike, causing even more death and destruction. In April the following year, a magnitude 7.0 temblor would hit the rebuilding metropolis. See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspapers history. Chronicle Covers highlights one classic Chronicle newspaper page from our archive for 366 days. Library director Bill Van Niekerken and producers Kimberly Chua, Michelle Devera and Jillian Sullivan contributed to the project. Tim O'Rourke is the executive producer of SFChronicle.com. Email: torourke@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TimothyORourke More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond. (Click to enlarge) Rose Pak could be hard edged, tough talking and ready to take on anyone who crossed her, friends included at times. When she savored a cigar and the smoke curled up under appraising eyes, it was a warning sign of her coiled strength. She was a City Hall powerhouse, though she never held office, served on a commission or commanded a political club. Her strength came from connections and a willingness to speak bluntly about what matters most: the interests of her Chinatown neighborhood, which felt walled off from decision making. The results were an ever-changing mix. She backed a failed waterfront condo project because it could spin off subsidies for below-market units elsewhere. She arm-twisted donations for a hospital rebuild thats now finishing up. A multibillion-dollar subway project now burrowing under Chinatown might as well be named after her. Hers was never a left-versus-right political dynamic. It didnt much matter who the ally of the moment was. It was all about what she thought the neighborhood needed. She fought with nearly every mayor in the past 40 years, though she could turn around and become an ally the next instant. The one constant: She wasnt afraid to wield her power like a blowtorch. One of her proudest moments was ushering in San Franciscos first Asian American mayor. She eagerly pushed interim Mayor Ed Lee to dump his pledge to serve only temporarily as a fill-in leader. Pak persuaded him to Run Ed Run for a full term that he won. Then she crossed Lee by rejecting the mayors pick for a district taking in Chinatown and backed Aaron Peskin, who won. Extreme power may be corrupting, but in Paks case theres no evidence. She lived simply and alone, an almost monkish existence in a city that glows with wealth. Still, she enjoyed her public stature, grabbing the microphone at the Chinese New Year Parade to offer acid comments as each float and arm-waving political figure passed the grandstand from where she looked down. For over a year she battled renal failure and had a kidney transplant in China. When she returned here in May, she was greeted at the airport with lion dancers, the mayor and a half dozen other electeds. Even with shaky health, she commanded respect and a motorcade back to town. Pak had no use for polls, publicists and collegial networking, and was the polar opposite of conventional decision-making. Her monolingual neighborhood with its crowded streets, struggling businesses and scarce housing needed answers, not drawn out studies. Her all-elbows style went directly to the decision point without any delays. With any powerful figures passing, the inevitable question is who might fill the vacuum. Thats not likely to happen anytime soon. Pak required neither a mentor nor a successor. She was her own distinct creation. On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold hearings on the Wells Fargo fraud scandal, giving Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., an opportunity to rip into the bank. But Americans deserve to see prosecutions, and lots of them not political grandstanding. Since 2011, thousands of Wells Fargo employees pursued compensation incentives by secretly opening millions of bank and credit card accounts using customer names and signatures without authorization. Debit cards and PINs were activated without consent. In some cases, employees conjured phony email addresses to enroll their victims in online-banking services. Some clients suffered major hits to their credit scores and may spend years repairing the damage. The fraud was so common that employees had a name for it: sandbagging. Wells Fargo fired 5,300 employees involved in the scandal and refunded $2.6 million in customer fees associated with the unauthorized accounts. These are necessary first steps, but far from sufficient. What occurred was large-scale criminal fraud, not simply aggressive sales tactics. Unfortunately, government agencies have responded by demanding their piece of the action, not by prosecuting wrongdoers. On Sept. 8, Wells Fargo was fined $100 million by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, $35 million by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and $50 million by the city and county of Los Angeles. This $185 million amounts to three days of profit for the mega-bank. But unless guilty people are held personally accountable for their criminal behavior, the wheels of justice will have yet to turn. Wells Fargo employees committed fraud, and it is law enforcements responsibility to bring them to justice. Thousands broke the law because crooked businesspeople have little to fear. White-collar criminal convictions by the U.S. Department of Justice fell to a 20-year low in 2015. Past criminal activity by banks Standard Chartered, HSBC, Barclays and Credit Suisse resulted in fines, but not one individual spent a day in jail for those crimes. Fines were paid, shareholders took their hit, the government took its cut, but the guilty spent not one day in jail. The government has failed to protect Americans from fraudsters, and this pattern created a conducive environment for abuses at Wells Fargo. Markets reacted quickly after the news broke, hammering the banks share price and pushing its market value below that of rival JPMorgan Chase. Now the government must do its job by punishing those who defrauded customers and investors, instead of simply taking a cut of the profits. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said he is ready to share Wells Fargos story at the Senate hearing. Perhaps its time for him to share a prison cell, too. Americans deserve to see thorough investigations, indictments, convictions and real jail time for business criminals, not merely fines and political posturing. Wall Street fraud should be taken as seriously as Main Street theft. Justice demands that law enforcement step up and do its job to protect the innocent. Sir Derek Jacobi has performed the part of Angelo, the lecherous, duplicitous deputy in Shakespeares Measure for Measure, only once before. In 1958. He was 19 at the time; this was for a youth theater production in Edinburgh. I think I was pretty terrible, Jacobi remembers, speaking over the phone from a chateau in southwest France that he shares with his partner and artistic collaborator, Richard Clifford. This week, in Napa County, Jacobi has a chance to redeem himself, Clifford jokes. Napa Valley Shakespeare, a 2-year-old company, partnered with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., to produce the world premiere of Measure + Dido, which Clifford adapted from Measure for Measure and Henry Purcells opera Dido and Aeneas. The piece combines actors narration and music from the early-music ensemble Folger Consort. Clifford both directs and reads as the Duke, alongside Jacobis Angelo. Jacobi, of course, has no need for redemption of any kind. Since his breakout role in BBCs I, Claudius in 1976, he has gone on to become one of the greatest living actors in the English-speaking world. In Hamlet, hes given an unhinged Danish prince and, years later, a spent, sympathetic Claudius. Hes been a menacing chorus in Henry V and an insistent yet withdrawn and erratic Alan Turing in Breaking the Code, among many other acclaimed performances. ITV More recently, hes starred with Sir Ian McKellen in ITVs Vicious, as the more effeminate and doddering member of an elderly gay couple who butter each other up by tearing each other down. Not anymore, though. Weve done an hour-long special for Christmas, says Jacobi, but thats it. The two old gays have stopped bitching at each other. But at age 77, hes still working steadily, at times outlasting younger performers. In his recent three-month performance as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet in the West End, he says he fell over once and bruised a rib, but got up and kept going. The male lead fared less well and so did his first replacement. The first Romeo (Richard Madden) hurt himself very badly jogging, Jacobi says. The second Romeo (Tom Hanson) hurt himself practicing the sword fight. And the third Romeo (Freddie Fox) was lovely. For Jacobi and Clifford, performing any work of Shakespeare is freighted with academic baggage. As Anti-Stratfordians, they question the authorship of of Shakespeares plays, doubting that the Stratford man as they call the man most think of as Shakespeare had the knowledge of power, power from the point of view of courtiers, courts, Jacobi says, to write so many plays that are steeped in aristocracy. The pair caution that theyre not scholars and that theyre very grateful to have been immersed in Shakespeares plays throughout their careers. Yet, Jacobi continues, using Measure for Measure as an example, it of course is all about the duke and the wielding of power and how all that is connected with a particular way of life and a particular society. Entwined in that there are extremely fascinating and dramatic characters, as well as interplay between the sexes and the overhanging, constant threat of death. The subtlety of it and the sophistication of the writing dont fit with what we know from the man from Stratford. When Jacobi performs Shakespeare, whether thats the man from Stratford or someone else, and whether hes doing a reading, as with Measure + Dido, or a full production, his approach is similar. Shakespeare, he says, is complicated for the actors; its complicated for the audience. The actors job is to make it as accessible as possible, to make it sound as if this is how you speak, this is how you think. It must come across as spoken thought, not as something that has been written down 400 years ago and so must be offered reverently, as if youre reading a biblical text, he adds. Its got to be alive, and to make it alive, you have to have a great deal of attitude towards it, because the audience might not necessarily understand each particular word. As much as Jacobi relishes his career performing in Shakespeares courts, a coming project hes especially looking forward to is the fourth season of PBS The Last Tango in Halifax, about a heterosexual couple who find love in their 70s. I love playing, and rarely get the chance to play, an ordinary bloke, Jacobi says. Im usually Shakespeare, Im usually posh, Im usually classic. Suddenly, somebody bless them decided to offer me just an ordinary fellow, which is the character I play, and I love it because Im ordinary. If that self-characterization sounds dubious, Clifford is also skeptical. Jacobi, he says, is never ordinary. Even his ordinary is extra-. Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak Measure + Dido: 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. Napa Valley Performing Arts Center, 100 California Drive, Yountville; 7-10 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25. Weill Hall, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University, 1801 E Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. $35-$125. www.napashakes.org This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Even in politically deep-blue California, an increasing number of voters have an unfavorable impression of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Clinton still holds a 17-point lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump in California, according to a Field/IGS Poll of likely voters released Tuesday but thats down from a 24-point advantage in July. Theres still little chance of Clinton losing a state that hasnt backed a Republican presidential nominee since 1988. But the new poll is a concern for her campaign all the same, because its evidence that her recent slippage in the polls is so broad-based that it extends even to her strongholds and a state where she has raised millions of dollars at fundraisers. A majority of those surveyed now view Clinton unfavorably, and what the pollsters called a very large proportion of the states electorate 41 percent have a very unfavorable opinion of her. Shes totally lost whatever benefit (in the polls) she had from the convention, said Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. Much of the medias focus over the past three weeks has been on Clinton, and you can see that she has not held up well in the national polls. And now youre seeing the same thing in California. The pollsters were taking their survey during an especially bad stretch for Clinton, Sept. 7 through Sept. 13. Toward the end of that period, Clinton said half of Trumps followers could be put in the basket of deplorables racists, sexists, homophobes and xenophobes. Then she nearly collapsed after a Sept. 11 memorial service, and her campaign revealed afterward that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia. A few days before the pollsters were in the field, the FBI released an 11-page summary of its interview of Clinton as part of its investigation into her use of a private email service for government documents. The bureau also revealed a 47-page overview of how it came to its conclusion that Clinton and her State Department staff had been extremely careless, though not criminally negligent, in their handling of classified information. The drumbeat of the email stuff goes on, said Jack Citrin, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, which conducted the survey with Field and YouGov of 1,426 likely voters. The survey results reflect how Clinton has this image of being slippery, unforthcoming, Citrin said. Whats not so clear, he said, is how much Trump has improved his standing among voters. Not only does Trump trail Clinton in the latest poll she has 50 percent to his 33 percent but 69 percent of the surveys voters hold at least an unfavorable view of the GOP nominee and 56 percent of them have a very unfavorable opinion of him. Clinton leads Trump across all demographic categories except voters over 65 years old, those with a high school education or less, and born-again Christians. Another sign of Clintons vulnerability is the level of support for Jill Stein. The Green Party nominee, who pulled 0.6 percent of the state vote in 2012, is at 6 percent in the new survey. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, who won 1.1 percent four years ago, is at 5 percent though thats half of what he was pulling in July. Support for Stein and Johnson is strongest among voters ages 30 to 39 part of the Millennial demographic that preferred Clintons opponent during the Democratic primaries, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Both Stein and Johnson each score 13 percent among those who state no party preference, compared with 38 percent for Clinton and 24 percent for Trump. Citrin said Stein and Johnson are pulling a decent number in California, with Stein in particular drawing more supporters from Clinton. The strength of those third-party candidates represents a dissatisfaction in the major-party candidates, Citrin said. Their challenge will be holding on to their momentum through the next seven weeks. Last week, the Commission on Presidential Debates did not invite Stein or Johnson to the first presidential debate, Monday at Hofstra University in New York, because they were not polling at 15 percent or better. As the Nov. 8 election nears, Citrin said, Stein and Johnson will have to contend with the tendency of voters to avoid third-party candidates if they dont think their vote matters. Clinton acknowledged her challenges in reaching Millennial voters Monday during a speech at Temple University in Philadelphia, saying, Even if youre totally opposed to Donald Trump, you may still have some questions about me. I get that. And I want to do my best to answer those questions. The survey did include good news for Clinton: President Obama has a 58 percent approval rating among California voters, and that reflected glow will shine on Clinton for as long as Obama continues campaigning for her. Obamas popularity will help Clinton, Citrin said. The more hes out there, the better it is for her. The Field/IGS Poll did not supply a margin of error. Opt-in polls such as the online survey do not lend themselves to the calculation of sampling error as easily as traditional telephone surveys, DiCamillo said. Joe Garofoli is the San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A day after Rose Paks death, as Chinatown residents mourned the unlikely power broker known as Auntie Rose, the question in San Francisco political circles became: What now? Its a tremendous loss of civic leadership both for Chinatown and San Francisco, said Gordon Chin, former executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center. It would be a mistake for folks to look for who is going to be the next Rose Pak. You cannot replace Rose, but other leadership can rise up. Pak was a political leader who never held elected office yet made key alliances with community and business organizations, fostered young politicians and community leaders, and helped make many a career for those currently in power. She was neither a moderate nor a progressive; she was a practical deal maker whose primary interest lay in helping the Chinese community. When she returned from China in May after undergoing a kidney transplant, she was greeted by a 300-person welcoming committee that included Mayor Ed Lee and former Mayors Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom, Supervisors David Campos and Jane Kim, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera. And they were among the many who knew that if they crossed her they could expect a fight. Rose Pak was playing 10 games of three-dimensional chess simultaneously, said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, sometimes an opponent and sometimes an ally of Paks for two decades. In the short term, Pak was concerned about getting Kim elected to the state Senate, helping Supervisor Norman Yee get re-elected and supporting school board member Sandra Lee Fewers campaign for District One supervisor, Chin said. Kims race against fellow Supervisor Scott Wiener was at the top of that list. Chin dismissed the idea that Paks death would hurt their chances in the election. Quite the contrary, he said. Their supporters are going to have additional resolve emboldened by the spirit of Rose Pak. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle But Paks death may delay two of her priorities: stopping Union Square merchants efforts to turn lower Stockton Street into a pedestrian walkway and getting the Ping Yuen public housing complex in Chinatown rebuilt. She had also let it be known that she wanted Deputy Chief Garret Tom to become the next police chief. Such causes might have been fanciful had anyone else championed them. But Pak had the proven capacity to mobilize merchants and residents to her side. She also had the relationships at City Hall to make her voice heard. I have not really seen someone who can go into room 200, whoever the mayor was, and work with the mayor to make sure resources are adequately distributed not just to our community, but all the communities, said Anni Chung president of Self-Help for the Elderly and co-chair of API Council, which advocates for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The full political impact of Paks death will take time to sort out. For politicians in City Hall, Pak was the gauge of the community, the person you called to make sure your plan wasnt going to encounter resistance. She is someone you always want to check in with, said Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who said he spoke with Pak almost weekly. And she had her way of sending messages to the friends or the family. So even though you checked in with people, everybody always wanted to know what she thought. Nuru said he didnt know who would fill that void. Is there going to be a vacuum? In the immediate (future), sure, said Malcolm Yeung, deputy director of Chinatown Community Development Center. Yeung said he believes plenty of folks will step up to take Paks place. But, he said, no one else will be able to cultivate leaders like she did. Yeung and Kim are two such young mentees. So is Cindy Wu, also a deputy director of the Chinatown Community Development Center. In July, Wu was elected chairwoman of San Franciscos Democratic County Central Committee. Paks power didnt depend solely on her ability to help people win elections. She also had the ability to make allies out of enemies and vice versa. She helped put people in power but was a fierce opponent when they frustrated her including Lee, a man she helped get elected, later called her biggest disappointment, and then defended again when there was talk of recalling him. Rose was able to check the political power of folks she didnt feel were doing the right thing for the community because of her boldness and willingness to put herself forward and, frankly, take the hits that came on the back end, Yeung said. Its time now for other folks to play that role. But its a hard role to play, not only on a professional level but on a personal level. Pak, a onetime reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, also knew how to use the media. Her fallout with Lee stemmed from his decision not to appoint Wu to fill a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors. Instead, Lee appointed North Beach community activist Julie Christensen. Pak said Lee had turned his back on the Chinese community. Pak went to work immediately to undermine Christensen. When the novice politician made an impolitic reference in her inaugural speech to helping lower class families stay in their homes, Pak exploited the comment in the Chinese press. She said it showed Christensen believed Chinese people were low class although the supervisor was referring to San Francisco families in general. Pak then lambasted Christensen for referring to the Stockton Tunnel as a wormhole that connects Union Square and Chinatown. Pak said that showed Christensen believed Chinese people were no better than worms. In both instances, the two main Chinese newspapers picked up on Paks claims and repeated them multiple times. That negative press created an opportunity for Peskin to pick up much-needed votes in the Chinese community when he ran against Christensen. Peskin won that 2015 election, handing the progressives a majority on the Board of Supervisors and putting the mayor on the defensive. She was a fearless person and refused to take no for an answer, said political consultant Eric Jaye, who was sometimes on the same side as Pak and sometimes not. She succeeded again and again because she refused to accept defeat. Even when she was defeated, she was not deterred and continued to organize and agitate. On Monday, a day after her death, Lee said: Anybody that suggests that she can be replaced doesnt even know who Rose is. I'm sure the administration is both sad and breathing a sigh of relief, Peskin said. Chronicle staff writer Kimberly Veklerov contributed to this report. Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen Services for Pak Wake: A public wake will run from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Green Street Mortuary, 649 Green St., San Francisco. Funeral: 10 a.m. Saturday at Old St. Marys Cathedral, 660 California St. Open to public, but seating will be reserved for family and friends. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Hangar One released Fog Point earlier this year a vodka supposedly made with San Francisco Bay fog I mentally filed it under the stunty and dubious category. Also in that category: Ivanabitchs menthol-cigarette-flavored vodka, UVs Sriracha vodka, Oddkas electricity-flavored vodka. (I still have a lot of questions about that last one.) But Hangar One, based in Alameda, is ours and its possible, I now see, that a region whose residents have given its condensed water vapor a human name (Karl the Fog) might be more receptive of fog-related gimmicks than Id initially assumed. This citys embrace of Fog Point vodka became exceedingly clear when, two weeks ago, Epic Steak introduced the Fog Point Martini to its menu. The price: $43. Hold on. Forty-three dollars? For a martini? Even in a town where a one-bedroom in a sinking tower will cost you nearly $4 million, thats an expensive drink. The Fog Point joins a new movement of shockingly priced martinis around San Francisco, heralded by Wildhawks $25 version and Black Cats $23 one the former ostensibly justified by its supersize serving, the latter by an accompaniment of pickled vegetables. The luxury of the Fog Point Martini, meanwhile, comes entirely from Hangar Ones Fog Point vodka itself, a bottle of which costs $125 retail. (The cocktail contains 3 ounces of vodka; Epic also offers a 1-ounce pour of the vodka, straight, for $23.) When I go to Epic to taste the Fog Point Martini, I encounter a bartender who seems a little incredulous herself. I ask her, before ordering: Does the spirit really taste like fog? She gives me a look, as if to ask, What kind of sucker are you? It tastes like vodka to me. Has Epic been selling a lot of Fog Point Martinis? Well, in the two weeks its been on the menu, weve already gone through a bottle, the bartender responds. So theyve sold at least eight. She recommends going sans vermouth, and informs me theyre out of blue-cheese-stuffed olives. OK, so the martini is no longer quite a martini. (Maybe it never was: A true martini is made with gin.) The vodka arrives in all its naked, foggy glory, a frosty glass of chilled Fog Point adorned with nothing but ice shards. Despite not being gin, there is something distinctly botanical about Fog Point vodka. Its fragrant (for vodka), with a sweet aroma that suggests a dewy flower petal. Faintly, I can smell rose, verbena. On the palate, its round, delicate, clean. Its glassy texture builds to a chalkiness on the finish, giving the impression of minerality. Does Karl deserve credit for that? Fog Point vodka is diluted with fog-derived water, but its distilled from wine. Specifically, from Bonny Doons 2012 Le Cigare Blanc, a blend of Picpoul, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc grapes from Arroyo Seco AVA in Monterey County. Its a beautiful wine, and aptly from a vineyard called Beeswax; it tastes chalky, floral, delicate, fresh. The vodka has a lot of grape characteristics, says Caley Shoemaker, Hangar Ones head distiller, about Fog Point. I agree. As for the fogs contributions, she finds that the water adds salinity and earthiness. The impetus for creating Fog Point, says Shoemaker, was Hangar Ones desire to find alternative sources for water in a time of drought. I moved to California from Colorado three years ago and didnt realize how terrible the drought was until I started talking to farmers, she says. Like farming, vodka distillation requires a lot of H2O: An 80-proof vodka is 60 percent water. The obvious alternative water source in these parched parts? Fog harvesting, apparently. Hangar One commissioned FogQuest, a Canadian nonprofit that helps developing communities harvest fog for water, to set up fog-catching stations at Sutro Tower, the Outer Sunset, the Berkeley hills and El Sobrante. FogQuests fog catchers are remarkably low-tech: Theyre polyethylene- or polypropylene-derived mesh nets, suspended on wooden poles, that resemble gray striped flags from a distance. When fog rolls in, water droplets collect on the mesh and drip into a gutter, which can then direct the flow into a vessel. Its a slow drip one fog catcher typically collects half a liter to a liter of water per day. To make the 2,500 bottles of Fog Point required about six months of fog collection. What does the fog water taste like, fresh off the mesh? It reminds me of standing next to a stream smelling stones on a warm day, says Shoemaker though, to be fair, the water is never tasted quite fresh off the mesh, where its full of pinecones and rocks and other Bay Area flora. It gets filtered and boiled before its safe to drink. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Even though my recent trip to Epic was on a sunny day as I sat at the outdoor bar on the Embarcadero, overlooking the Bay Bridge, there was nary a cloud in the sky I easily summoned, for the sake of tasting the Fog Point Martini, the full evocative power of San Francisco fog. We all know what fog smells like. It smells like more than just water in fact, it smells like more than most vodkas. Its fresh, maybe smoky, often sweet, grassy, marine-salty. Shoemakers river-stone image resonates. Does the Fog Point Martini taste like fog? I dont think so. Does it taste like the 2012 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Blanc? Not quite. But those ingredients share with their product an evocation of something delicate, fresh, floral, sweetish. Whether you should pay $43 for a martini or, in my case, for a chilled glass of vodka at Epic Steak is a different question. To my bartenders credit, she did belatedly provide me with an olive skewer, and obliged my request to add a little vermouth; in the end, I was drinking a vodka martini. I still thought the Fog Point vodka tasted like good vodka, delicate, expressive, lacking the brashness of lesser versions. Hangar Ones standard vodka, too, is made with California wine grapes, in addition to Midwestern grains. At Epic, a 1-ounce pour is $11. Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob What: Fog Point Martini ($43) Where: Epic Steak, 369 The Embarcadero, S.F. www.epicsteak.com (415) 369-9955 When: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, to 10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, to 9:30 p.m. Sunday. A San Jose State University student drowned during a school hiking trip to Sequoia National Park over the weekend, officials said Monday. William Billy Nguyen, 19, was a sophomore majoring in kinesiology and a member of the schools Outdoor Adventures recreation program, university officials said. Nguyen and a group of students were swimming in Eagle Lake when Nguyen reportedly sank below the waters surface, officials said. Students and staff on the trip were unable to rescue him, said Mary Papazian, president of San Jose State University. He has been described to me as someone who, while sometimes reserved, loved group activities and wanted to inspire others to join in and be active, Papazian said in a statement. His interests included fitness and outdoor activities. He enjoyed working out and getting others to do the same. Park dispatchers received an SOS text message about 3 p.m. on Saturday indicating that someone had drowned in the lake, said Zach Behrens, spokesman for the National Park Service. Behrens said three park rangers immediately responded Eagle Lake, which is at the 2,500-foot elevation level, and that a reconnaissance helicopter was deployed to the area. Nguyens body was not recovered until Sunday after 16 members of the park staff search the waters for him. The incident remains under investigation and the Tulare County Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Our students and staff acted with remarkable courage, composure and thoughtfulness, Papazian said. On behalf of the entire university community, I want them to know how proud we are of them. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani San Francisco can prevent telecommunications companies from installing wireless antennas on utility poles that are so unsightly they would diminish the citys beauty, a state appeals court says. A city ordinance regulating where antennas can be installed was challenged by wireless providers led by T-Mobile West, which said it conflicted with a state law allowing telecoms to install roadside equipment that does not incommode the public use of the roads. The wireless companies argued that incommode meant blocking access and that because their antennas did not do that, the city had no right to ban them. But the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said incommode has a broader meaning than just blocking access, leaving local governments free to prohibit installations that could disturb or discomfort the public. Public use of the right of way is not limited to travel, Justice Terence Bruiniers said in a 3-0 ruling issued Thursday. He said cities in California have the power to adopt ordinances for aesthetic reasons. San Francisco requires telecoms to obtain a city permit before installing large antennas and related equipment on their roadside poles. A January 2011 ordinance included statements by the Board of Supervisors that San Francisco is widely recognized to be one of the worlds most beautiful cities, that the citys beauty attracts tourists and businesses, and that regulation would prevent installations whose appearance or location will diminish the citys beauty. The ordinance does not apply to utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric Co. or video providers like Comcast. The ruling upheld a decision by Superior Court Judge James McBride, who rejected the companies arguments after a nonjury trial in 2014. At the time, the city had received nearly 200 applications for permits under the ordinance and had denied only three, said Deputy City Attorney Erin Bernstein. She said the companies had generally gone along with regulators criteria for installations that suited their surroundings, especially in scenic and historic areas. This ordinance is working, creating an environment where wireless companies and the city have to work together to preserve the aesthetics of the city that we all value, Bernstein said. The companies lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. They could ask the state Supreme Court to review the ruling. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate One Air Force pilot was killed and another was injured Tuesday morning when a U-2 spy plane they were flying crashed in Sutter County during a routine exercise, military officials said. Officials at Beale Air Force Base east of Marysville (Yuba County) said the two-seat training plane went down about 9 a.m., shortly after taking off from the base. Both pilots ejected from the aircraft before the fiery crash, which sparked a blaze that consumed a little more than 250 acres of vegetation, authorities said. The identities of the pilots were not released Tuesday, nor was the cause of the crash. The plane was in the middle of a training mission, said Brooke Brzozowske, a spokeswoman for the Air Force. Everything about the flight today was routine, Col. Larry Broadwell, commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at the base, said at a news conference. The U-2 went down near West Butte and Pass roads in the Sutter Buttes, a remote area of volcanic domes formed about 1.5 million years ago. The crash site is about 50 miles north of Sacramento. Initial reports from the militarys Air Combat Command indicated the pilots landed safely, but officials at Beale Air Force Base later released a statement confirming that one pilot died in the incident and the other on board was injured. The plane was part of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, the militarys oldest flying unit. One person on board was an instructor and the other a student, Broadwell said. He did not say which of the two flew the plane or which one died. Ejection seat technology is wonderful, but certainly not foolproof, Broadwell said. Were focused on the families, making sure they get the support they need. Twenty fire engines, one air tanker and a helicopter were used to put out the wildland fire sparked by the crash. It was fully extinguished just before 1 p.m., said Chuck Smith, a spokesman for Sutter County. Video footage taken by a witness and provided to KCRA shows the plane flipping as it tumbles to the ground with two white objects, presumably parachutes, overhead. Pass Road, the only public roadway through the buttes, will be closed for several days as military officials investigate the crash, Smith said. The last U-2 plane that crashed out of Beale was in 1996, when the aircraft landed in a busy commercial area of Oroville, killing the pilot and a person on the ground. U-2s can reach speeds in excess of 400 mph and fly as high as 70,000 feet, or more than 13 miles. The military uses them to collect imagery and signals for intelligence analysts. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov Number of the day 13,000 Thats how many people are staying in Airbnb sites during this weeks Oracle OpenWorld conference. The number booking short-term rentals is up 40 percent from last year, the company said. The average cost of an Airbnb listing during the week is $183 per night. Facebook deplores Deplorable After Hillary Clinton said you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables, some Donald Trump supporters decided to have a little fun on Facebook, putting deplorable in their profile names. But CNNMoney reported that the Menlo Park social network wasnt having any of it, telling people that their real names are required by the terms of service. So unless youre willing to change your real name to, say, Deplorable Moon Unit Zappa, you just might be out of luck. Indie Games Festival To give a boost to independent game developers, and maybe find some fun games, Google Play is hosting an Indie Games Festival Saturday at the Terra Gallery in San Francisco. Googles blog says about 30 top developers will show off their best games, letting people try them out and vote for their favorites. Admission is free for the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techbriefing The San Francisco judge hearing the case of an African American man charged with battery and resisting arrest in connection with a confrontation with BART police is refusing to let defense lawyers ask prospective jurors about the Black Lives Matter movement or Oscar Grant, a black man shot to death by a white BART police officer. Public Defender Jeff Adachi cited Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullos rulings in arguing that she is biased and asking her to remove herself from the case. Massullos pretrial rulings and comments demonstrate her lack of knowledge about or sensitivity to the issue of race relations and excessive force by police, Adachi said last week in a request that Massullo step down from the case of Michael Smith. If she declines to do so, another San Francisco judge will decide whether she should remain on the case. A spokesman for District Attorney George Gascon, whose attorneys are prosecuting Smith, declined to comment. Prosecutors can file arguments supporting Massullo if the judge denies that she was biased. Smith, 22, was arrested July 29 by BART officers at Embarcadero Station who were responding to a report that an armed man had tried to rob a passenger on a train. Cell-phone footage taken by bystanders appeared to show an officer punching Smith while he was in handcuffs and lying on the station platform. Prosecutors have said police body cameras showed Smith kicking and spitting at BART officers. Adachi said that Smith, who was unarmed, had not tried to rob anyone and that another passenger concocted the story after insulting Smiths pregnant girlfriend on the train. Smith is charged with battery on four BART officers one white, one Latino, one Asian American and one black and with resisting arrest. Adachi said he plans to offer an unusual though not unprecedented defense: that Smith had the right to defend himself because he thought the officers were using excessive force. Trial judges for new cases are chosen at random. Adachi removed Judge Gail Dekreon, who was initially assigned to Smiths case, a right that each side can exercise once. The case was then reassigned to Massullo, a former federal prosecutor and deputy city attorney appointed to the bench by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. Adachi said Massullo repeatedly ruled against the defense during a three-day hearing last week, barring the defense from offering trial testimony by other train passengers and an expert witness, and laughing and looking at the clock while Adachi was arguing his case. He said he had told the judge he planned to ask prospective jurors if they knew about Grant, who was shot to death on New Years Day 2009 while lying face-down on the platform at Fruitvale Station in Oakland. Johannes Mehserle, a BART police officer, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by a jury that credited his testimony that he thought he was firing his Taser stun gun. Massullo replied, I dont want any mention of Oscar Grant, Adachi said. He said the judge had also told him, in response to another request, that he could not ask the jurors about Black Lives Matter or issues of police brutality. I dont want you to psychoanalyze the jury, he quoted the judge as saying. Adachi said the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1981 that jurors could be asked about racial bias if the circumstances of the case showed a reasonable possibility that racial prejudice would influence the jury, particularly in cases where a defendant is accused of a violent crime against members of another racial or ethnic group. Possible racial bias is a big issue in this case, Adachi said. They got a report of a young African American man, and immediately they used extreme force against him. ... Its very similar to what happened in the Oscar Grant case, where you had a man who was taken down in handcuffs. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - September 20, 2016) - Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC PINK: MJNA) announced today that it was the focus of a Mexico Forbes article that discusses the company's pioneering role in expanding access to medical cannabinoid products to people across Latin America, including bringing the first legal cannabis products to Mexico, Brazil and Paraguay. The Sept. 19 Mexico Forbes article titled, "Cotiza en los mercados y quiere vender medicina de marihuana en Mexico," describes how Medical Marijuana, Inc. has been instrumental in the acceptance and legalization of medical marijuana products across Latin America. The article also discusses the market potential for cannabis in the region, including a potential $2 billion opportunity in revenue for Medical Marijuana, Inc. in Mexico alone, according to the Company's Chief Executive Officer Dr. Stuart Titus. "We are always excited when a major news outlet tells the story of the positive effects of medical cannabinoid products," said Dr. Titus. "News stories like these bring us one step closer to helping those who suffer with chronic conditions like epilepsy. For instance, there are currently no effective medical treatments to address seizure disorders in patients who suffer with the refractory form of epilepsy, a patient group that represents a growing portion of the overall epilepsy patient population." Dr. Titus added: "We're seeing a real shift in the way the cannabis plant is being viewed across the globe, including the extracts from the less controversial non-psychoactive hemp plant. Latin America is certainly progressively leading the way in allowing certain cannabis/hemp/CBD products via doctor prescription. We believe hemp CBD will show confirmed medical benefit with future research initiatives; and that hemp will provide future GDP-boosting economic benefits once this region realizes the potential for overall sustainable and renewable industrial application." About Medical Marijuana, Inc. Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally-friendly, economically sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit www.medicalmarijuanainc.com. To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s video statement, click here. Shareholders are also encouraged to visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. Shop for discounted products. FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Medical Marijuana, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) DISCLOSURE These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. LEGAL DISCLOSURE Medical Marijuana Inc. does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act (US.CSA). These companies do grow, sell, and distribute hemp-based products and are involved with the federally legal distribution of medical marijuana-based products within certain international markets. Cannabidiol is a natural constituent of hemp oil. What's the trick to getting your kid into a public school in San Francisco? That's easy. Don't get your heart set on the most popular school that's at the top of every parent's list. Last year, Clarendon had roughly 94 applicants for each available spot (when seats taken by siblings who get top priority are excluded). That's a 1 percent acceptance rate, making SF's most-desired public school harder to get into than Stanford and Harvard. These highly sought-after schools, which also include Peabody, West Portal and Lawton, are often referred to as "rock star schools." Your odds will shoot up if you focus on up-and-coming schools that are less-requested and not being touted by all the moms and dads around the park swings. While Clarendon had 1,624 total applicants, Bryant had only 149. The real trick is identifying which of the less-popular schools are emerging with growing PTAs, strong leadership, improving test scores, exciting new programs. We reached out to the San Francisco Unified School District to help us identify those off-the-radar schools, and they provided us with the list above. The list includes 14 hidden gems and the qualities and programs that are putting these schools on the map. Here's the thing: Scoring a spot at these schools might be easy this year, but in two years, getting in could be difficult. San Francisco's public school process is notoriously unnerving, especially for parents looking for kindergarten. The district uses what it calls a "student assignment system" that allows parents to apply to any school in the district regardless of where they live. Parents can list as many schools as they like on their application and students are placed in their highest ranked choice as long as there are openings. When there are more requests than seats, a series of tiebreakers come into play. You're given priority if you have a sibling at the school or live within that school's attendance area. Last year, 85 percent of families got one of their choices (though keep in mind that some parents are listing 20-plus schools with no intention of sending their child to anything beyond No. 10), and the remaining 15 percent were placed at a school not on their list. Those families who don't like their assignments can continue to play the lottery, and I found myself in that situation eight years ago when I was applying to kindergarten for my daughter. We struck out and didn't receive an assignment at any of our choices in round 1, 2 and 3. Over the summer, we still had no idea where our daughter would be going to kindergarten. I started touring lesser-known schools and stumbled upon Jose Ortega Elementary School, which was in its second year of offering a Mandarin immersion program. We were impressed by the principal, who had started at the school as a special ed teacher and knew every student by name. There were plenty of openings and we took a chance on a school with a PTA that had raised only $9,000 in the past school year. Two years later, the PTA was bringing in well over $50,000 and getting into the Mandarin program was difficult. My up-and-coming school had become a rock star. Geraldine Walther, the revered principal violist of the San Francisco Symphony for 30 years until she left in 2005 to assume the viola chair in the renowned Takacs Quartet, was on the phone from Singapore, where the quartet played the first of several all-Beethoven concerts in Asia before returning stateside for a major undertaking: performing the complete cycle, over six concerts, of all 16 Beethoven string quartets. After the University of Michigan, the quartet hits UC Berkeley on Oct. 15 for the first of three intensive residencies spread over three weekends in the fall, winter and spring. The foursome will play all the quartets and participate in Cal Performances-sponsored symposia, open rehearsals and master classes delving into the music and the historical and social contexts in which the quartets were created and consumed and are continually made contemporary. Theyre just great masterpieces, says Walther of the Beethoven quartets, which the Takacs was celebrated for playing, and won Grammy Awards for, before she joined the group. Each time we come to them, we find something new, continued Walther, who performed the full cycle with her three colleagues seven or eight years ago. Were looking for new things; maybe we can find a better way to bring something out that nobody was thinking of yesterday. We try something new to make it better, more interesting, fresh. The programming for the Cal Performances series draws its themes from the new book by the quartets first violinist, Edward Dusinberre, Beethoven for a Later Age: Living With the String Quartets, which explores the history of the quartets and how the Takacs works through and interprets them. The immersive Oct. 15-16 program is called Making and Remaking the Beethoven Quartets. In March, the focus will be technology and When Old Media Were New Media. In April, the talk turns to Beethoven: Religion and Politics. At each concert, the quartet will perform a mix of early, middle and late-period Beethoven. This is Beethovens journey, says Walther, 66, who lives near Boulder, Colo., where the quartet, formed in Hungary in 75, has been based at the University of Colorado for many years. You hear the young, optimist Beethoven, coming away from Mozart and Haydn and throwing in these wild ideas nobody ever did before my goodness, he just goes his own way. You have the stormy middle quartets, which are full of passion, and then the late quartets, which have that as well as introspection, and resignation, resignation at the end of a life. Walther, who still misses her friends in the Bay Area and is stoked to be coming back here for these meaty programs, tries to stay open and receptive to my colleagues, listening to what theyre doing today. Because the guys I work with dont play the same way every day. They really change it up. You gotta stay on your toes to respond. After hanging up the phone, Walther planned to practice Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Opus 131 Beethovens last large-scale work and his favorite among the late quartets because its technically very demanding, she says, and I wouldnt want to get it good enough just to play it the same way. I really want to play as freely as possible, because thats when the exciting stuff happens. For more information, go to www.calperformances.org. Outside Lands turns 10 Fans of the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park may want to mark Aug. 11-13 on their 2017 calendars: Those are the dates for the 10th anniversary edition of the far-ranging festival, which this past summer showcased everyone from Radiohead and Duran Duran to Chance the Rapper and t he Claypool Lennon Delirium. The lineup for Outside Lands 2017 has not yet been announced. For more information, go to www.sfoutsidelands.com Singing girls The Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus uncorks its four-concert season Oct. 29 at Herbst Theatre, joined by mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin and members of Magik*Magik Orchestra for a love-laced program, including Holsts Seven Part Songs, Janaceks The Wolfs Trail, Milhauds Devant sa Main Nue, New York avant-gardist John Zorns Colombina and a piece Rubin composed. Later concerts feature such guest artists as composer-bagpiper Matthew Welch, organist Paul Vasile and the Trinity Youth Chorus of New York. For more information, go to www.sfgirlschorus.org. Trans-world music Aspada, a global-minded Bay Area quartet whose members come from India (percussionist V. Selvaganesh), Egypt (pianist Osam Ezzeldin), the U.S. (saxophonist-composer George Brooks) and German-Liberian ancestry (bassist Kai Eckhardt), will feature the hot classical Indian vocalist Mahesh Kale at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley next Thursday, Sept. 29. In addition to his musical skills, the Indian born-and-raised Kale, who now lives here, has a masters degree in engineering management from Santa Clara University. For more information, go to www.thefreight.org. Jesse Hamlin is a Bay Area journalist and former San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. UNITED NATIONS World leaders gathered at the United Nations pledged Tuesday to take in 360,000 refugees next year, President Obama said, roughly doubling the previous years allowance in a bid to mitigate the worst refugee crisis since World War II. The United States said 52 countries taking part in a U.S.-led summit were stepping up to accelerate resettlement and boost financial support for refugees. The White House did not release a full list of participating countries or a breakdown of their pledges, making Obamas boast of major headway impossible to confirm. Obama, in an emotional event designed to invoke empathy for the plight of refugees, called it a crisis of epic proportions that tested both the international order and the worlds humanity. He drew a parallel to the Holocaust, calling the U.S. move to turn away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany a stain on Americas collective conscience. I believe history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment, Obama said. The commitments announced Tuesday fell far short of what aid groups say is needed to address the crisis. Some 65 million people around the world have fled their homes because of war or persecution or to seek a better life, including about 21.3 million considered refugees by the U.N. Refugee Agency. Millions of Palestinian refugees are registered with the U.N. The key driver of the modern crisis has been Syrias long-running civil war, though large numbers have also fled instability in Iraq and Afghanistan. In an oblique reference to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has suggested temporarily banning Muslim immigrants, Obama said buying into the notion that Muslim immigrants pose an inherent risk would reinforce terrorists propaganda. He said that would send the message that countries like the U.S. were somehow opposed to Islam. Last week, the White House announced that the U.S. would resettle 110,000 refugees in the coming year, a 30 percent increase over the 85,000 allowed in this year. Obama called on wealthier nations to step up, adding that we all have to do more. The U.S. said countries taking part were also pledging to increase humanitarian aid by $3 billion. China said it was pledging $300 million, while the United Kingdom said it would resettle 20,000 and provide almost $2 billion in aid a roughly 10 percent bump. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The last thing Canadian backpacker Audrey Carey did before she was fatally shot in the head last year in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park was thank the three young drifters accused in her killing for being her friend, according to court testimony Tuesday. The account of Careys final moments emerged during a preliminary hearing in Marin County Superior Court for 19-year-old Lila Scott Alligood and her boyfriend, 24-year-old Morrison Haze Lampley. Each is charged with double murder in a case that stunned the Bay Area with its senselessness. The two are accused of killing Carey, 23, whose body was found Oct. 3 during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, as well as Steve Carter, a 67-year-old tantra instructor who was gunned down two days later on a popular trail northwest of Fairfax. Judge Kelly Vieira Simmons must decide after the hearing whether to send the defendants to a jury trial. A third suspect, Sean Michael Angold, 25, pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder in connection to Carters death, while agreeing to testify against Lampley and Alligood. Taking the witness stand Tuesday was Marin County sheriffs Detective Scott Buer, who recounted an interview conducted with Alligoods former cellmate at the county lockup in San Rafael. The cellmate, Pamela Bullock, said Alligood had referred to Carey who was on her first solo backpacking trip as the bitch and had explained that the three befriended her shortly before killing her for her modest belongings. While Carey was thanking them for being her friends, Buer said Bullock told him, Alligood already had her wallet. All of a sudden, Lampley jumps up and shoots her and there is blood ... all over, Buer testified. Two days later, Carter, a respected tantra teacher, purportedly crossed paths with the drifters and was shot multiple times on a scenic fire trail in the Loma Alta Open Space Preserve near Fairfax. Carter was clutching the leash of his Doberman pinscher, which was also shot but survived. According to Buer, Alligood told Bullock, The old man needed to die. Buer said Alligood told him after her arrest that Angold had pulled the trigger, not Lampley, her longtime boyfriend. Later, she admitted to investigators that Lampley shot Carter, Buer said. She stated that she was protecting Lampley and that she loved him and that he was the only thing she had left, Buer said. Buer said Alligood tried to enlist Bullock in a mission after the cellmates release, contacting a bum in San Francisco and paying him to say Angold was the shooter. Attorneys for Lampley and Alligood have sought to blame Angold for the killings. Through their questioning of Buer, they established that Angold had smoked methamphetamine from a glass pipe he shared with the accused couple. The couple hooked up with Angold in San Francisco before the slayings after hitchhiking along Highway 1 from San Diego, according to testimony. Residents in San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury neighborhood have said that in the weeks before the killings, the three camped out in Buena Vista Park, blending in with the areas transient population. There they developed a reputation for erratic behavior and meth use. After Carters killing, all three were arrested outside a soup kitchen in Portland, Ore., after authorities tracked them with the GPS in Carters stolen station wagon. The three defendants had the Smith & Wesson handgun used in both slayings, as well as Careys passport, airline tickets and camping gear, police said. The gun had allegedly been stolen from a car at San Franciscos Fishermans Wharf on Oct. 1. Chief Deputy Public Defender David Brown, who is representing Lampley, sought Tuesday to highlight inconsistencies in Alligoods statements. Amy Morton, who is representing Alligood, questioned Bullocks motivations for coming forward. Bullock, who was serving time for vehicle theft, contacted law enforcement in a bid to get out of jail early and seek custody of her daughter. Im fighting for time, Morton said Bullock wrote to investigators. Help me so I can help you guys. As Tuesdays hearing went on, Alligood appeared teary-eyed as Lampley showed little emotion. They face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Under his plea deal, Angold faces up to 15 years to life in prison. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sep 16, 2016) - Gem International Resources Inc. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:GI) reports that its operating partner Global Gems International Limited ("Global") has engaged Dr. Ian Ransome as a technical consultant for the work programs on the 3,000 sq. km. Dala alluvial diamond mining license in Lunda Sul Province, Angola. Dr. Ransome has over 20 years of African operating experience in a number of commodities, and extensive operating, management, and consulting experience in diamond related projects in Angola and several other African countries. His past work has included kimberlite and alluvial diamond deposit exploration, evaluation and mining. His skill sets include familiarity with numerous types of diamond exploration evaluation and production techniques. He is multilingual and he will be an important addition to Global's operating team at Dala. About Dala Dala is located in the heart of a highly prospective and productive diamond region of Angola, only 20 kilometres south of the world-class Catoca diamond mine, the world's fourth largest, and immediately adjacent to the regional centre of Saurimo. Dala is an early stage project with excellent potential for the discovery and development of both alluvial and kimberlite deposits. Two of the area's most productive alluvial diamond hosting rivers, Luachimo and Tchicapa flow northward through the license with over 100 km of combined drainage length, and there are numerous areas of currently active artisanal diamond production along these drainages and their tributaries. Denis Hayes the Company's CEO stated: "We are delighted to learn that Global has added Dr. Ransome to their team. We are looking forward to working with him to develop the diamond potential of Dala in the coming months." On behalf of the Board of Gem International Resources Inc. Denis Hayes, CEO & Director Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Forward-Looking Statements Information set forth in this news release involves forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, financings, equipment commissioning processes and other transactions being pursued, and all such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although the Company believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and, accordingly, undue reliance should not be put on such forward-looking statements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein. In February 1926, the United States was in the middle of Prohibition. But that month the San Francisco Chronicle opted to run ex-President George Washington's homebrew recipe on the front page. The 18th Amendment was not popular in San Francisco or in many other major cities but a bold decision by the Chronicle's editors to publish the story was reflective of the city's broader sentiment toward the law. The article that incorporates the recipe is newsy, mostly. In a pronounced position with a bolded headline, an Associated Press writer reports on a "face-the-facts" conference between the Anti-Saloon League and the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (held the day before), and documents a reading-aloud of Washington's beer recipe by a "prominent wet leader": Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your Taste Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 Gall. into a Cooler put in 3 Gallons Molasses while the Beer is scalding hot or rather drain the molasses into the Cooler. Strain the Beer on it while boiling hot let this stand til it is little more than Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold cover it over with a Blanket. Let it work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask. leave the Bung open til it is almost done working Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed. "It was probably an act of defiance," says Dr. Ted Glasser, a professor in Stanford University's Department of Communications. "[The article was] understood in the context of the rising unpopularity of the 18th Amendment, and justified in part by what's known today as the 'record privilege,' the widely accepted argument that the press cannot be held accountable for republishing what's already a matter of public record." The recipe in real life Unfortunately for those who tried to give the recipe a shot, Washington's molasses-heavy ingredients would likely not have resulted in a drink very reminiscent of the tastier beers of today, especially if attempted by an inexperienced brewer. "I imagine the flavor of Washington's beer would be like a dark bran bread with a little molasses drizzled on it," says Chris Cohen, San Francisco Homebrewers Guild Founder and owner of Old Devil Moon bar. "You can mash most any grain, but you rarely hear of homebrewers or pros using bran these days." Dr. John Nerone, a professor of Communications and newspaper expert at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, would agree, noting that "someone who had the right equipment, including the 30-gallon barrel, could have used this recipe to make a really sweet porter or stout." But though Washington's recipe could have provided crafty San Franciscans with the knowledge to cook up their own homemade brews, there are certain issues with it. For one, sugar was much more widely favored than molasses by the 1920s, and finding a pot large enough to hold 30 gallons likely wasn't an easy task for a city local either. Nerone also doubts that the recipe would have been as useful and easy to understand as it may seem now. "It wouldn't have been much use for someone who didn't already know how to make beer, so I read the recipe as rhetorical, not practical," he notes. Nerone, however, doesn't dismiss the idea that the article might have been published on the front page for a reason. "If it were practical," he adds, "it would have been wet Republicans, first, and then the Associated Press who would have schemed it up, with the Chronicle [running the story] as, like, an accessory after the fact." Prohibition in the city Prohibition in San Francisco, like in other American port cities, was considered merely "a rumor," with the city "wide open" to receive bootleg liquor and to harbor the production of homemade wine. Even before the Chronicle ran Washington's molasses beer recipe, it ran a full-page feature in July 1922 on "trick receptacles in which to 'bring your own'" rum and other drinks about town in secret. Images on the page displayed young women who could carry "their own [flasks], not exactly on the hip, but about the knee," and wondered, "What agent would dare search [her] even if he suspected? Nerone also notes that the Chronicle might have run the flask article as well as Washington's recipe because the topics would have been of interest to "wet" San Franciscans. "[The recipe] would have appealed because it pushed a political movement that the paper supported," he says. "Objectivity was not yet a sacred principle." Whether any 1920s San Franciscans actually attempted to use Washington's instructions is a mystery, but in any case, the rebellious sentiment was there. In an article that ran on January 4, 1920 (just a couple weeks before Congress ratified the 18th Amendment), an outspoken man named J.F. Ramage of Stockton was interviewed by the Chronicle about the new legislation. "To summarize the effect of the 18th Amendment it is to create a despotism with the seat of power in Congress," Ramage said. "Never was there a greater scheme devised by men to control the business of a nation." Ramage was not alone in his sentiment; many people in the Bay Area (and apparently, as far away as Stockton) didn't have much respect for the law. Six or so months after Ramage uttered these words, the Democratic Party held the 1920 national convention in San Francisco, and then-mayor Sunny Jim Rolph "furnished every delegate with a bottle of whiskey delivered to their hotel rooms by respectable ladies of the city." San Francisco leaders, editors, and citizens might have always disagreed on a lot of things, but to this day, one important thing has always united them: alcohol. Alyssa Pereira is a staff writer for SFGATE. Follow her here on Twitter. By Holger Hansen and Caroline Copley WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Germany appeared set on Monday to back an ambitious trade accord between the European Union and Canada after the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in the ruling coalition, overcame left-wing resistance to the deal within his party. The SPD decision paves the way for EU member states to approve the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) next month before Brussels signs the accord with Ottawa on Oct. 27. Left-wing SPD members had argued that CETA would undermine workers' rights and environmental standards, but party leader Sigmar Gabriel said it represented the EU's best chance to shape globalisation in the interests of ordinary people. "It's a really good day for the SPD but especially for the implementation of rules for globalisation," Gabriel told a news conference after two thirds of delegates at an SPD congress backed a compromise deal over CETA. "Until now globalisation only served economic interests. Now we are finally beginning to take the interests of people and citizens into consideration." Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor and economy minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative-led coalition, has staked his political future on securing SPD backing for CETA. Failure at Monday's congress, held in the carmaking city of Wolfsburg in northern Germany, would have likely scuppered Gabriel's chances of standing as the SPD candidate for chancellor in national elections due in October 2017. This might have unleashed a damaging power struggle within the SPD at a time when it is badly trailing Merkel's conservatives in opinion polls. The coalition's popularity has also suffered following Merkel's decision last year to open Germany's borders to more than one million migrants. "CLARIFICATIONS" The compromise forged to win over left-wing critics in the SPD envisages allowing the European Parliament to launch a consultation process before a decision is taken on what parts of CETA should be applied provisionally. Story continues CETA aims to eliminate tariffs on 98 percent of goods immediately and also encompasses regulatory cooperation, shipping, sustainable development and access to government tenders. It will still require the approval of the European Parliament before taking effect, prior to ratifications by national parliaments which could take five years or more. In a joint statement, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Canada's Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said they were committed to making "formal clarifications" on parts of the accord where there are still concerns. This includes areas such as the delivery of public services, labour rights, environmental protection and an investment dispute settlement mechanism. SPD critics of CETA see it as a blueprint for a parallel trade deal the EU is trying to negotiate with the United States, which is known as TTIP. Around 180,000 people took part in rallies on Saturday in seven German cities against both trade deals, police said. (Reporting by Holger Hansen and Caroline Copley; Editing by Gareth Jones) For almost $4,000 a month, you too can live like one of Mexicos most infamous drug leaders. The house of Ignacio Nacho Coronel Villarreal, who was one of the four leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel before he died in 2010, is for rent in Zapopan, located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, El Blog del Narco reported Monday. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle The Mayors Office of Housing has said it would delay the lottery for an affordable senior apartment complex in the Western Addition because it is hopeful that a federal ruling will give the city more flexibility in setting aside units for current neighborhood residents. The move means that 6,000 applicants for the Willie B. Kennedy senior housing complex on Turk Street will likely have to wait a week or 10 days to find out if they were lucky enough to land one of the 98 units in the building. The lottery was scheduled to happen on Wednesday. Applicants were notified of the delay at 5 p.m. Monday. 1 Errant bombing: An Afghan official says at least eight police officers were killed in two U.S. air strikes in southern Uruzgan province in what was apparently a friendly-fire incident. Rahimullah Khan, a provincial commander, said the first strike killed one policeman at a checkpoint outside the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, while the second, which struck the same area, killed seven others. The strikes took place Sunday in an area where the Taliban have been advancing in recent weeks. A U.S. military spokesman confirmed U.S. forces carried out an air strike. But Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland said he did not have any further information on the casualties. 2 Drug war: A Philippine senator who led an investigation into the presidents bloody antidrug campaign was ousted Monday from the justice committee in a vote that human rights advocates said could derail accountability in the crackdown. President Rodrigo Dutertes allies led the vote that removed Sen. Leila de Lima from the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which has spearheaded an inquiry into the widespread killings of drug suspects that have alarmed rights groups. More than 3,000 drug suspects have died in the crackdown since Duterte assumed the presidency on June 30. The Senate is showing greater interest in covering up allegations of state-sanctioned murder than in exposing them, said Human Rights Watch. HONG KONG The death threats began arriving soon after pro-democracy candidate and environmentalist Eddie Chu won a stunning Hong Kong legislative election victory earlier this month. Middlemen, whom Chu wont name so as not to jeopardize a police investigation, outlined the assassins recruitment, what he would be paid and when the hit would come. Chu, whose shoestring-budget campaign won more votes than any other candidate in the Sept. 4 election, says the threats stem from his campaign promise to smash collusion between the government, real estate developers, triad criminal syndicates and rural kingpins who benefit from suburban redevelopment projects at the expense of ordinary villagers. All of these people are working with the Beijing government to destroy the rural areas of Hong Kong, Chu said at an outdoor cafe at the city government headquarters complex. Two plainclothes police officers kept watch nearby. A former British colony that now is a specially administered city under Chinese rule, Hong Kong is best known for its neon-lit skyscrapers. But beyond Kowloons fringe of rugged peaks lie the New Territories: 86 percent of the citys land area. Powerful vested interests supported by Beijing control the vast swath of farmland and old villages outside the space-starved citys downtown core. Increasingly, such areas are being razed to make way for new public housing estates to accommodate an expanding population. Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, the city has remained mostly peaceful and calm, despite massive, nonviolent pro-democracy protests two years ago. After the threats, Chu moved his family out of their home and sought police protection while he prepares for his new role as a lawmaker in Hong Kong's semi-democratic Legislative Council. Its not a bad thing to face this kind of challenge just after the election, he said. It's a very good reminder to me and my team that we are stepping into a dangerous area. He believes there's more political violence to come. KINSHASA, Congo More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday. Hundreds took to the streets of Congos capital, Kinshasa, on Monday to oppose an election delay that they call an effort by President Joseph Kabila to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate in late December. A high court has determined Kabila can stay in office until a new leader is elected. The electoral commission has filed for a delay in elections that were scheduled for November, saying voter registration lists will not be ready. Gunshots could be heard Tuesday in Kinshasa as tensions rose. The U.N. human rights office noted reports of excessive use of force by both security forces and demonstrators. Both sides denied responsibility for the violence. More than 25 people have been killed, said Joseph Olengankoy, an organizer of Mondays protests. Interior minister Evariste Boshab has said 17 were killed, including at least three police officers. At least two people were killed after attacks on the headquarters of five opposition parties late Monday, the U.N. and an opposition party said. Bruno Tshibala, spokesman for the largest opposition party, said five were wounded in raids on four party headquarters. We will seek international justice, he said. Congos government spokesman, Lambert Mende, condemned the burning of opposition party buildings as well as attacks on other buildings, including two ruling party buildings and a school, by opposition protesters. Mende called on Congolese to regain their composure and let justice do its work. The government can only condemn this mob justice mentality, he said. Kabila, who came to power after his fathers assassination in 2001, has yet to announce whether he will pursue another term in office, though the constitution prohibits it. The violence comes amid growing fears that the election delay could lead to prolonged unrest in Congo, a nation as vast in size as Western Europe. The mineral-rich but largely impoverished country suffered back-to-back civil wars until 2003, and previous instability has drawn in armies from neighboring countries. Appeals for calm and restraint have been launched by the United Nations, Belgium, the U.S., France and the European Union, which also have called for a rapid organization of presidential elections. You may have heard about a movement called "Take Back the Co-op" and you may have been asked to sign a petition calling for a special membership meeting for La Montanita Co-op. If you haven't already signed it, I hope you'll read this before you do. This is just my opinion, but I am the person this newspaper pays to write an opinion column about food, something I've been doing for newspapers since 1999. I'm also a member of the Co-op who's been shopping there for more than 20 years. So I want to see it succeed. If 1,600 people sign the petition, the group will be able to call the meeting, at which they intend to vote out the entire current board and elect their own slate of candidates; fire the general manager, consultants who have worked with the co-op for decades and other employees; get rid of all conventional produce (except local, pesticide-free produce). They also want to dilute the power of the board and require members to vote on a wide array of decisions that have been delegated to the board and general manager as the co-op has grown from a group of friends to five stores, 17,000 member families and a statewide distribution network for local farmers. If this effort succeeds it will gut the co-op of its institutional memory and leadership and hand that power over to a small group of members who have the luxury of time to spend on it. It will reverse more than 15 years of the co-op's efforts to lower prices and expand access to people of all socio-economic brackets. It may very well destroy La Montanita and the important infrastructure it has built to support access to affordable local, organic agriculture across New Mexico. Ask yourself: Do you see evidence that the co-op has diverged so far from what it has always been and what you want it to be that it should be completely destroyed and rebuilt? The co-op is in the middle of a long period of adjustment to an environment in which it is no longer unique in offering organic food. It is a national model for the distribution of locally grown food. And its doors have stayed open, despite massive competition in the natural foods market, because board members and general managers have taken a creative and careful approach to growth and cutting costs. And now, just as it celebrates its 40th birthday, the co-op is being attacked by a small group of people who insist that the co-op be responsive to them as individuals and to reflect their specific set of priorities instead of the broad values that have guided the membership for decades. Demanding a return to democratic rule means the co-op will be controlled by a small group of unelected people who will have great power only because they have a surplus of time. Removing the current leadership structure means reversing the co-op's progress on making groceries less expensive, which means rejecting access by anyone not rich enough to be able to spend whatever they want on food. I interviewed Dorothy Finnigan and Django Zeaman, two of the co-founders of "Take Back the Co-op" and its designated spokespeople. They told me they were originally motivated when the co-op added the "Clean 15," 15 fruits and vegetables with the lowest pesticide levels. How many of you are able to find and afford exclusively organic produce? Most of us buy some conventional produce because we have toor we choose to. "Conventional produce gives people more choices, a bigger assortment and a lower price point," says Robin Seydel, who has been involved with La Montanita for more than 30 years, first as a volunteer and now as the newsletter manager and membership coordinator. "There are too many people who can't afford quality food," she says. Seydel understands the group's concerns but she does not support the petition. Petition organizers are also deeply suspicious of National Cooperative Grocers, a co-op of co-ops that has negotiated a national contract with UNFI (United National Foods), the company that distributes a lot of the stuff you buy: Organic Valley milk, Bob's Red Mill grains, Annie's Cheddar Bunnies etc. Membership in NCG also makes your food cheaper. Members of this group have demanded the closure of the co-op location that opened in 2013 on Albuquerque's West side. It's not making money, but the co-op's primary driving force is not turning a profitit's providing access to healthy food and the cooperative model as broadly as possible. The Rio Grande store in Albuquerque didn't turn a profit for three years after it opened and the Wild Sage Co-op in Gallup wasn't profitable for seven years. The West side store still has time to turn around and co-op General Manager Dennis Hanley should be given more time to do it. La Montanita has been fortunate to have hired managers with professional experience in running grocery stores. That's a good thing. "People don't understand the incredible impact we've had for over 200 producers through the local distribution centerand it was these outside general managers who did that," says Martha Whitman who started as a volunteer and then managed the Nob Hill store for a short time in 1987. Whitman has been involved with the co-op ever since, including spending 10 years on the board of directors. With 30 years of dedication to the co-op, she's the "outside consultant" this group wants fired. Finnigan and Zeaman, who moved to Santa Fe four years ago, told me: "This is a story about personal and corporate greed." They believe that Whitman and Hanley are making changes to the co-op for their own personal enrichment and that the current board is made up of people who have been "duped and hoodwinked" by outside corporate interests. But there is no evidence for this. Robin Seydel, Martha Whitman and many others have kicked their own asses to make this co-op the success that it is. They helped build this thing, they've kept it going and they're willing to keep doing it so you and I don't have to. These are not people you need to take the co-op back from. The board needs to be more transparent and more communicative with members. And members need to remember the cooperative part of co-op. If you really believe in affordable access to high-quality local and organic food then co-op is the best friend you have. Work with it, not against it. Santa Fe Reporter The New Zealand Superannuation Fund delivered a lower return in its latest financial year, dragged down by negative returns from global equities. The fund reported a 1.89 percent return after costs and before tax for the year ended June 30, down from a 14.6 percent return the previous year, according to its latest annual report. The fund, which will help pre-fund national superannuation payments from 2032, finished the June year valued at $30.1 billion, up $560 million from the previous year. Chair Catherine Savage said the result was robust given the low growth and volatile environment. Global equity markets experienced negative returns through the year, with the MSCI developed markets and emerging markets indices returning a combined negative 1.88 percent. The fund outperformed its passive reference portfolio benchmark by half a percentage point, or $155 million, during the year, primarily due to a strong performance by active investments in timber and infrastructure. The funds single largest investment, a 42 percent stake in forestry business Kaingaroa Timberlands, increased in value by $82 million to $1.49 billion. Savage said the fund managers board remained focused on the long-term, weighting the fund towards growth assets such as global and New Zealand shares and private investments in businesses, including early stage companies. Not every investment would prove successful and the funds returns will dip from time to time, she said. While these assets can lead to short-term volatility in returns, our emphasis on growth is appropriate given the funds long-term horizon and ability to diversify, she said. Chief executive Adrian Orr said despite recent fund returns of 3.7 percent in July and 1.2 percent in August, the global investment environment remains challenging with slow economic growth. "Overall investment returns are likely to be volatile and on a law trajectory for some time," he said. Theres an abundance of capital worldwide looking for investment opportunities which means asset valuations are fully priced, Orr said. We are having to work harder to find attractive investment opportunities. Its listed equity holdings for the June financial year show New Zealand stock investments total just under $1.5 billion, compared to $2 billion the previous financial year. Since inception, the Super Fund has returned 9.72 percent per annum as at Aug. 31. BusinessDesk.co.nz 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: SKO - FY23 Interim Results Announcement Date - 23 November 2022 Downer awarded $490 million road maintenance contract SKC - 2022 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS AND TRADING UPDATE TCL - Result of AGM TradeWindow secures U.S. footprint with FoodChain ID October 28th Morning Report October 25th Morning Report Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct MCY - Quarterly Operational Update Dairy product prices rose at the Global Dairy Trade auction, though gains fell short of expectations as whole milk powder prices unexpectedly moved lower. The GDT price index rose 1.7 percent to US$2,975, up from US$2,920 at the previous auction two weeks ago. Some 35,086 tonnes of product was sold, down from 36,748 tonnes at the previous auction. Whole milk powder slipped 0.2 percent to US$2,782 a tonne. Futures traders had anticipated an increase of more than 11 percent, AgriHQ dairy analyst Amy Van Ossenbruggen said in a note before the auction. "Volumes of whole milk powder on offer are as forecast at this event, at 19,250 tonnes; however, forecast volumes over the coming months have decreased from earlier forecasts, according to Van Ossenbruggen. On Tuesday, Dairy Crest Group, a UK milk processor, said it expects an increase in milk prices to hurt butter volumes and margins in the second half of the year. The company said it had increased the milk price it pays to farmers by 12 percent. At the latest GDT auction, butter milk powder jumped 7 percent to US$2,276 a tonne, while anhydrous milk fat climbed 4.6 percent to US$4,998 a tonne. Lactose rose 3.7 percent to US$815 a tonne, butter increased 3.6 percent to US$3,892 a tonne, while skim milk powder added 3 percent to US$2,293 a tonne. Cheddar advanced 2.2 percent to US$3,518 a tonne, and rennet casein gained 2 percent to US$6,893 a tonne. The New Zealand dollar last traded at 73.22 US cents at about 11.59am in New York, compared with 72.93 US cents at 5pm in Wellington the previous day. There were 129 winning bidders out of 175 participating at the 13-round auction. The number of qualified bidders rose to 616, up from 613 at the previous auction. BusinessDesk.co.nz 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: SKO - FY23 Interim Results Announcement Date - 23 November 2022 Downer awarded $490 million road maintenance contract SKC - 2022 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS AND TRADING UPDATE TCL - Result of AGM TradeWindow secures U.S. footprint with FoodChain ID October 28th Morning Report October 25th Morning Report Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct MCY - Quarterly Operational Update The auditors of Veritas Investments, the NZX-listed owner of the Mad Butcher franchise and Nosh Food Market outlets, have qualified their opinion on its financial accounts for the year ended June 30. PwC says Veritas's investment in the Nosh food supermarkets is carried at $4.6 million in the consolidated statement of financial position, but, "we were unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support the carrying amount of that operating unit." Veritas's directors justified the figure saying the group has prepared a discounted cash flow to identify the value of Nosh as a franchise model and, "this shows a recoverable amount in excess of the carrying value at June 30, 2016." The key assumptions used include cumulative growth in sales of 15 percent over three years and cumulative gross margin improvement of 3.5 percent over the same period. The directors added that while the board had adopted reasonable assumptions in preparing the model, "Nosh faces uncertain market conditions that make it difficult to predict future profitability. It is possible that changes in these assumptions would cause the carrying value to exceed the recoverable value." The company spent $335,615 on audit fees in the year, a figure which included an extra $108,965 related to "understanding and analysis of historical and projected financial information, as well as the group's improvement plans." The audit fee for 2015 was $157,500. In its unaudited results published last month, the Auckland-based company described the performance of the Nosh food market as "disappointing." There are eight stores in the gourmet food chain, six in Auckland, one in Matakana and one in Mount Maunganui but full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were a loss of $1.88 million, widening from $1.19 million the previous year. Veritas told investors it was making a substantial effort to "focus on gross margins, stock levels and operational improvements to bring the business back to profitability." In April, the company announced plans to franchise the existing stores and is currently working through a short-list of potential operators. The unaudited results also revealed that directors had had to weigh up whether the business was still a going concern. Veritas agreed on a deal with its banker, ANZ New Zealand, to reduce its debt repayments and reschedule its debt on Sept. 9. The audited accounts published on Sept. 20, show Veritas directors can now only issue dividends with the approval of ANZ. The directors have also agreed to prepare a plan to "address the group's capital structure" by Feb. 28, 2017. Veritas shares were unchanged at 21 cents and have fallen 56 percent this year. BusinessDesk.co.nz 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: SKO - FY23 Interim Results Announcement Date - 23 November 2022 Downer awarded $490 million road maintenance contract SKC - 2022 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS AND TRADING UPDATE TCL - Result of AGM TradeWindow secures U.S. footprint with FoodChain ID October 28th Morning Report October 25th Morning Report Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct MCY - Quarterly Operational Update The government has given the green light for China's Shanghai Maling Aquarius to acquire half of Silver Fern Farms, New Zealand's biggest meat company, with ministers satisfied it will deliver "substantial and identifiable benefit". Land Information Minister Louise Upston and Associate Finance Minister Paula Bennett today approved the long-delayed deal on the recommendation of the Overseas Investment Office, they said in a statement. The ministers received the recommendation earlier this month and had until Sept. 30 to meet the terms of the deal. "The investment will put the company in a better financial position and allow it to increase its exports," Upston said. "New Zealand shareholders will continue to have 50 percent ownership of Silver Fern Farms, while benefiting from the injection of funds from the new investor." Upston and Bennett turned down an application last year by Chinese investor Shanghai Pengxin to buy the iconic Lochinver Station, a central North Island property. Overseas Investment Office approval for the $261 million deal was first sought in October last year, and had been slated to go unconditional by June 30, but delays in the approval process saw the companies agree to a revised date of Sept. 30. The deal would enable Silver Fern to repay its debt, removing a threat from its banking syndicate to withdraw support. It would also enable it to tap Shanghai Maling's supply chain and parent Bright Food's wholesale and retail networks to distribute into China. The deal attracted opposition from some of the cooperative's shareholders who forced a second special meeting and gained political backing from NZ First leader Winston Peters, though directors said the vote wasn't binding and wouldn't change their mind. Silver Fern Farm shareholders reaffirmed their support for the sale at a meeting last month, which was called by a group of farmer-shareholders opposed to the deal. The OIO decision summary said the deal will enable Silver Fern to expand its presence in China, with Shanghai Maling assisting it "with product development, market research, Government approvals and access to relevant e-commerce sites and 2,000 retail stores over a period of three years." Silver Fern will tailor beef and lamb products for the Chinese consumer that are locally processed and packaged. BusinessDesk.co.nz 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: Now is the time to reassess your investments Now is the time to reassess your investments Fonterra looking to lift China's importance in new strategy A2, Synlait shares climb as takeover bid revives optimism about Chinese appetite for milk Service sector activity eases in August but still expanding Lumpy imports drive bigger July trade deficit than expected Nimbys, carparks and the status quo under threat as govt tells big cities: grow up and out Dairy manufacturers got better prices in June quarter Orr defends RBNZ rate cut, says monetary policy looks ahead, not behind RBNZ's Orr says investors need to put their money to work (This 15th September story corrects official's name throughout to Haniv) By Gayatri Suroyo JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's tax office will investigate Alphabet Inc's Google for suspected unpaid taxes from billions of dollars worth of advertising revenue, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday. Muhammad Haniv, head of the specials cases branch in the tax office, said Google's refusal to cooperate after it was sent a letter in April requesting to be allowed to examine the company's tax reports had raised suspicions. He told a news conference that the probe would not be launched until the end of the month at the earliest. PT Google Indonesia, incorporated in 2011, said it was complying with the government. "We continue to cooperate fully with local authorities and pay all applicable taxes," a Google Indonesia spokesman said in an emailed response to questions. The government had also asked to examine the tax reports of the Indonesian offices of three other U.S. Internet based companies - Yahoo , Twitter and Facebook . Those three companies have complied, officials said. Yahoo and Google have formed Indonesian limited liability companies, while Twitter and Facebook operate branches of their Asia-Pacific offices in Indonesia. The government believes these companies owe income and value added tax on billions of dollars of revenue they generate from advertising in Indonesia, the tax office said. Haniv said Google's Indonesian entity was only allocated around 4 percent of the total revenues generated from the country, and it was this amount that was taxed, which he described as too small and "unfair". The communications ministry had estimated the value of digital advertising in Indonesia at about $800 million last year. The ministry said all of it was untaxed. There was no immediate explanation for the wide discrepancy of the two agencies' estimates for digital advertising revenue. Indonesia is facing a sizeable revenue shortfall this year as the resource-rich country can no longer rely on commodity-related income. In a separate development, the tax office said it is checking whether Ford Motor Co had avoided paying appropriate taxes, after a local newspaper reported that the U.S. car maker modified imported Everest model vehicles sold in Indonesia to pay a lower tax rate. If the car maker is proven to have caused state losses, it may have to pay back taxes of up to four times the amount it owed, according to Indonesian law. "We have always strictly complied with all Indonesia government regulations and policy, including all import-related tax and customs requirements, related to each of our Ford vehicles officially marketed and sold in the country," a Ford spokesman said. Ford announced in January it is closing all operations in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, where it held less than a 1 percent market share. (Additional reporting by Eveline Danubrata; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Alexander Smith) * Iran seen buying 112 jets from Airbus, down from 118 * Due to delays in U.S. licences * Iran seen buying 108 aircraft from Boeing vs 109 before (Adds quotes, details) By Tim Hepher TEHRAN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Iran has reduced the number of airplanes it plans to buy from Airbus by six amid delays in U.S. regulatory approvals, and may knock one plane off a similar deal for more than 100 with Boeing, an Iranian official told Reuters. Iran announced plans in January to buy 118 jets worth $27 billion at list prices from Europe's Airbus but has complained about unexpected delays in receiving U.S. licences, which are needed due to the large number of U.S.-supplied parts. The country's deputy transport minister told a conference on Monday there were signs the U.S. Treasury would release the crucial licences by the end of this month. But speaking again on Tuesday, he stepped up criticism of what Iran sees as unfair delays in unblocking the deal, which is part of efforts to rebuild Iran's elderly fleet that were built into a pact between Tehran and world powers to lift most Western sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear activities. "There are six fewer aircraft. These are the ones that were due to be delivered in 2016," the Iranian official told Reuters, speaking on the sidelines of the CAPA Iran Aviation Finance Summit in Tehran. The deal to be finalised with Airbus in coming weeks could therefore be for 112 aircraft instead of 118, he said. On paper, these include 12 of Airbus's A380 superjumbos but Iran has not yet decided whether to take the double-decker jets, and has an option to convert them to smaller models, he said. Reuters first reported in June that Iran was having second thoughts about taking the world's largest passenger plane. The latest move takes further shine off the deal signed in Paris during a visit by Iranian President Abbas Rouhani, but Western officials say it still represents a promising symbol of a new political and economic relationship with Iran. Story continues Boeing, which has also agreed to provide jets to Iran as it emerges from sanctions, may see its deal clipped by one jet to 108 aircraft instead of 109, the Iranian official said. Boeing said in June it had provisionally agreed to sell 80 planes directly to IranAir and to oversee the lease of a further 29. The Iranian official did not say whether the cancelled aircraft would come from the column of direct purchases or leases, nor whether it had been cut for the same reason as Airbus, but Boeing is also on the waiting list for licences. Both planemakers said they do not comment on discussions with airlines and would only act within U.S. regulations. Speaking at the CAPA conference, Western envoys sought to allay Iranian concerns over the delays in approving the airplane deals. They expressed optimism the deals would go ahead and reiterated their commitment to last year's nuclear deal. Unpicking years of sanctions is a complex task, complicated further in Washington by the fact that U.S. primary sanctions remain in effect, French Ambassador Francois Senemaud said. One person familiar with the process said the U.S. Treasury was moving ahead in its discussions and a licence decision, initially on the Airbus side of the deal, could come in weeks. Others have suggested the politically sensitive decision on whether to supply Western jets, opposed by many Republicans, could slip beyond November's U.S. presidential election. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by William Maclean and Mark Potter) (Adds quotes, details) By Tim Hepher TEHRAN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Iran urged the United States on Sunday to remove remaining obstacles to buying passenger planes following the lifting of international sanctions and it spread out the welcome mat to foreign investors as it seeks to boost its aviation sector. Iran provisionally agreed earlier this year to buy over 200 jets worth $50 billion at list prices from Airbus and Boeing under an agreement between Tehran and world powers to ease sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear activities. Both deals hinge on a longer-than-expected process of winning U.S. Treasury approval, which is needed because of the high proportion of U.S. parts in virtually all modern jetliners, including those made by Europe's Airbus. There have also been delays in getting European banks to finance the deals because of restrictions over the use of U.S. dollars and concerns over legal risks if sanctions are re-imposed. Roads and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi told an aviation conference that Iran was complying with its obligations and continued to negotiate with other planemakers. "We are negotiating with all those big names. ... There are a lot of obstacles but I am sure that because we have respected all the international rules and regulations, all those problems are going to be resolved," he told the CAPA Aviation Finance Summit, the second large gathering of aviation leaders in Tehran since sanctions were lifted in January. Critics in the U.S. Congress argue that Iran could use passenger jets for military purposes such as transporting fighters to battle U.S. troops or allies in Syria or transfer the aircraft to airlines still under U.S. sanctions. U.S. critics of the nuclear deal also say it could allow Iran to skirt remaining sanctions by transferring jets acquired by national carrier IranAir to airlines that remain on a U.S. blacklist, such as the country's largest carrier, Mahan Air. Story continues In an interview with Reuters, Akhoundi dismissed the concerns. "We are committed to any contract that we sign," he said. CLOSE TO FINALISING AIRBUS DEAL He also told a news conference that the Tehran event, attended by dozens of foreign firms, proved aviation was international in scope and "the U.S. government cannot stand against it," according to a translation of his remarks. The U.S. House of Representatives passed two amendments in July that would stop the aircraft sales, although to become law, they need to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama. Iran estimates it will need at least 400 aircraft to renew and expand its fleet, including some 250 in the next 10 years. It is close to finalising its deal to buy over 100 Airbus jets, subject to the granting of U.S. licences, Akhoundi said. "Yes, we are in agreement with them. We are discussing," he said. Iran previously held out against finalising the deal as long as questions remained over U.S. approval, but now appears ready to sign a conditional contract, industry sources said. Iran is also negotiating with Brazilian jetmaker Embraer , a senior Iranian official said. It is in negotiations with the rail-making unit of Canada's Bombardier , although not with its aircraft unit, he told Reuters. Iran is dangling the prospect of significant business for Western companies including nationwide airport expansion as it emerges from decades of sanctions, although such deals face domestic criticism from conservatives opposed to Iran's greater openness under pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani. Akhoundi urged investors attending the conference to invest in Iran's airports, which are operating beyond capacity. "They are all ready to attract investors, who are welcome to invest in any part," he told the conference at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport, which plans a $2.8 billion expansion. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Peter Cooney) Jack Welch, the former GE chief and longtime Republican supporter, told CNBC on Tuesday he's voting for Donald Trump because he likes the real estate mogul's policies on tax reform, government regulations and national security more than those of Hillary Clinton . Welch was late to the Trump camp, first supporting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz , who failed to secure the GOP presidential nomination. In a "Squawk Box" interview, Welch provided a detailed argument for Trump's policies. "I have no ax to grind with the Clintons. ... I'm supporting an agenda. It's Donald Trump's agenda, and I'm for it," he said. "I like starting here, and fighting like hell for it, because I know it will grow the economy 4 percent-plus." On taxes, Welch said Trump's federal corporate tax cut from 35 percent to 15 percent would be better for the economy. "I want a strong economy that creates jobs," he said, comparing the Democratic presidency of Jimmy Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan. "I saw the incredible surge" under Reagan. On regulation, Welch said he favors Trump's stance on reviewing or repealing a host of government regulations, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act. Clinton's plan on regulations would be "Obama plus," he said, adding the U.S. is being "drown in regulation and you haven't seen anything yet." Welch, a senior advisor at private equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice, said he sees regulations hurting business. On energy, the Jack Welch Management Institute executive chairman said he likes Trump's support of fracking and the Keystone pipeline. On the environment, Welch said supports Trump's plans to reform the EPA and modify the climate change agreement reached in Paris. "The EPA is out of control," he said. On national security, Welch said Trump has a more aggressive stance than Clinton's Obama-like mentality. Welch also feels Trump's immigration and strict border ideas would keep Americans safer. "I like restricting [immigrants] until they know who they are," he added. Story continues On the military, Trump needs to explain who he's going to pay for the buildup and modernization he wants, Welch said. On education, Welch said Trump supports expanded choice, while accusing Clinton of being "beholden to the unions." On entitlements, Welch said Trump calls for no changes in Medicare, while looking to repeal and reform Obamacare. Clinton supports adding the so-called "public option" government-run health insurance offerings to Obamacare. On appointments, Welch said Trump will nominate conservatives to the Supreme Court, bring fresh and board experience to his Cabinet and put "reformers" in regulatory positions. Welch acknowledges Trump may not get everything he wants from Congress. "I like him negotiating from these positions a lot more than the Democratic candidate negotiating because she's negotiating from Obama plus." In an appearance Thursday at the Economics Club of New York, Trump said his economic plan, including tax cuts, would average 3.5 percent growth and create a total of 25 million new jobs. He also said the U.S. should strive grow at a 4 percent rate. On the other side , Oxford Economics said if Trump were able to implement all of his proposed policies, they would undermine global economic growth and knock 5 percent, or as much as $1 trillion, off where U.S. gross domestic product would otherwise be in 2021. More From CNBC obama.JPG President Barack Obama addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. The president warned that the forces of globalization have exposed "deep fault lines" across the globe, calling for a "course correction" to ensure that nations and their peoples don't retreat into a more sharply divided world. (Associated Press) UNITED NATIONS -- President Barack Obama conceded Tuesday that the United States and other world powers have limited ability to solve the most profound challenges facing the world, while calling for a "course correction" for globalization to ensure that nations don't retreat into a more sharply divided world. Obama, in his final speech to the U.N. General Assembly, acknowledged that the extremist and sectarian violence wreaking havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed." Still, he stuck faithfully to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria's civil war and other conflicts. "If we are honest, we know that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long," Obama said. "Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer." In a less-than-subtle jab at Donald Trump, the Republican running to replace him, Obama said, "The world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent (extremism) from affecting our own societies." The president was unabashed in his critique of Russia as he laid out his diagnosis of the world's ills. Obama's longstanding differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his actions in Ukraine have accompanied intense disagreement over Syria's future and a series of failed attempts by Russia and the U.S. to resolve the civil war there together. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. The tough talk about Russia illustrated how little progress has been made in reconciling the diverging interests among the two powers that has allowed the Syria crisis to continue to fester. A year ago, Obama stood at the same podium and declared anew that Syrian President Bashar Assad must leave power, while Putin gave a dueling speech warning it would be a mistake to abandon Assad. In the year since, Moscow's leverage in the conflict has strengthened significantly. Russia's military intervention in Syria has helped bolster Assad's standing without pulling it into the military "quagmire" that Obama had predicted. Obama sought to use his last appearance before the global body to define how his leadership had put the world on a better trajectory over the last eight years. At the heart of that approach, Obama said, is the notion that the biggest conflicts are best solved when nations cooperate rather than tackle them individually. It's a theme that Democrat Hillary Clinton has put at the forefront of her campaign for president, casting herself as the natural continuation of Obama's legacy. In another apparent reference to Trump, Obama bemoaned how terrorist networks had spread their ideology on social media, spurring anger toward "innocent immigrants and Muslims." Obama lamented that the world has become safer and more prosperous at the same time that nations are struggling with a devastating refugee crisis, terrorism and a breakdown in basic order in the Middle East. He said governing had become more difficult as people lose faith in public institutions and tensions among nations spiral out of control more rapidly. "This is the paradox that defines the world today," Obama said. "We must go forward, and not backward." The president cited his administration's outreach to former adversaries Cuba and Myanmar as key examples of progress, along with global cooperation to cut emissions blamed for global warming. At the same time, he said he sought not to "whitewash" challenges across the globe, some of which he attributed to deepening anxieties about the profound shifts inflicted by technology and growing international interdependence. "In order to move forward though, we do have to acknowledge that the existing path to global integration requires a course correction," Obama said. good dunkin.png An off-duty New York State court officer shot and killed a man who allegedly attempted to rob him with a B.B. gun Sunday night. (Staten Island Advance/Google Maps) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- An off-duty court officer had every right to shoot a man who allegedly attempted to rob him with a B.B. gun Sunday night in Jamaica, said Dennis Quirk, president of New York State Court Officers Association. "If someone is pointing a gun at you, you don't know if it's a real gun or a B.B. gun, all you know is there's a gun pointed at you," Quirk said. Police said the suspect, described to be in his 20s, drew a firearm and demanded the officer's gun and money. Quirk added more detail to the incident in a telephone interview Monday. He said the 50-year-old officer, whose day job is at Richmond County State Supreme Court, had gotten off a night shift with Allied Security when the suspect approached him from behind outside a Dunkin Donuts on Merrick Boulevard. A struggle ensued, at which point the officer drew his gun and shot the suspect three times, said Quirk, who added the officer was "very upset (that) the guy ended up dying." The suspect, who police had yet to identify Monday, was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The officer was taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Long Island, for chest pains. He was in stable condition Monday. Quirk said the officer and his family received counseling on behalf of the union and around-the-clock police protection at the hospital. "Our agency is very supportive of court officers who are off-duty when they've taken proper action," he said. An NYPD spokesman said Monday that the investigation is ongoing, and was uncertain if charges would be filed. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Prosecutors charged the suspect in two bombings in New York and New Jersey with five counts of attempted murder Monday evening, according to a media release from the Union County prosecutor's office. Ahmad Khan Rahami was apprehended in Linden, N.J. after being wounded in a gun battle that began after he was found sleeping in a bar's doorway. The attempted murder charges are in relation to his gun battle with police in Union County. He was also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. At approximately 10:30 a.m. on Monday morning, a uniformed Linden police officer approached a man later identified as Rahami outside the bar Rahami immediately produced a handgun and shot the officer in the torso, striking him in his protective vest. Federal charges were still pending Monday evening. "We are not rushing against each other to bring charges," U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara said. "We have all been racing together to try and catch the perpetrator here, and that's now been done." He added that his office would be working with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey to put together a case that was as thorough as possible. Authorities said two officers were injured in the shootout with the Afghan immigrant, but that their injuries were not considered life-threatening. Bail for Rahami was set at $5.2 million by state Superior Court Judge Regina Caulfield. From Raw to the New Yorker, Art Spiegelman has changed the way people think and critics write about cartooning. A 1992 Pulitzer winner for Maus, his graphic novel series on the Holocaust, and later the artist of "In the Shadow of No Towers," Spiegelman will deliver the Frances Steloff Lecture at Skidmore on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium. The event will begin with his receiving an honorary doctorate of humane letters and will end with a Q&A and a book-signing of his most recent works. Detail from a Spiegelman meta-cartoon Detail from a Spiegelman meta-cartoon His lecture, titled "What the %@&*! Happened to Comics?" will explore evolving perceptions of comics as a literary medium. Although they have often been disdained by academics and other literati, they can be eloquent and powerful, Spiegelman argues, in part because "comics echo the way the brain works. People think in iconographic images . . . and bursts of language, not in paragraphs." Starting his career by cartooning for Topps bubblegum cards, he became a key figure in the 1970s comics subculture and founded the influential avant-garde comics magazine Raw. During the 1980s he drew on his father's concentration-camp experiences to create his acclaimed Maus, an unflinchingly horrifying and humorous book that portrays Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. Maus II later continued the story of his parents in the United States, and his Metamaus won the 2011 National Jewish Book Award. Photo by Enno Kapitza--Agentur Focus Photo by Enno Kapitza--Agentur Focus For 10 years Spiegelman served as an artist for the New Yorker magazine, creating dozens of sometimes controversial covers. After 9/11 he created a cycle of broadsheet pages, "In the Shadow of No Towers," which was serialized in the London Review of Books and elsewhere before its release as a book in the U.S. He and his wife publish the Toon Books early readers and co-edited A Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics.Retrospective exhibitions of his work have been held recently at major museums from Paris and Cologne to Los Angeles. His multimedia Wordless, on the history of the graphic novel, premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2013 and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2014. In 2015 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The annual Steloff Lecture, endowed in 1967, honors the late Saratoga native Frances Steloff, who founded New York City's legendary Gotham Book Mart and acquired a vast collection of literary memorabilia, much of which she donated to Skidmore College. A man walks in front of the Monte dei Paschi bank in Siena, central Italy, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi By Valentina Za MILAN (Reuters) - Fears over the feasibility of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's (BMPS.MI) rescue plan hit its share and bond prices on Tuesday, highlighting the challenges faced by Chief Executive Marco Morelli on his first day in the job as head of Italy's third-largest bank. Political instability ahead of a referendum vote on constitutional reforms and a banking system weakened by a deep recession have put Italy back at the forefront of market concerns over the euro zone. Shares in Monte dei Paschi, which plans to raise 5 billion euros (4.31 billion pounds) in new equity capital while selling 28 billion euros (24.15 billion pounds) worth of bad loans at a deep discount, were down 5.5 percent at 0.189 euros by 1444 GMT. The share price has fallen nearly 25 percent since the unexpected resignation of CEO Fabrizio Viola on Sept. 8 added to uncertainty over the lender's future. The stock is down 85 percent so far this year. "Investors are increasingly aware that the plan carries significant execution risks," Fidentiis Equities analyst Fabrizio Bernardi said. Morelli, the former head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Italy, met with trade unions after taking office on Tuesday. Monte dei Paschi needs more capital after European industry-wide stress tests in July found it to be the weakest bank in Europe. But with investors wary of backing its third recapitalisation in as many years, the privately-backed rescue plan is seen as having only a slim chance of success. "Concerns have centred on whether such a large capital increase for a bank with market value of 586 million euros is even possible," Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) analysts said in a note downgrading the bank's subordinated bonds to "underweight." The yield on Monte dei Paschi's Sept. 2020 subordinated bond rose by 2.2 percentage points on Tuesday to 18.9 percent, its highest since January. To avoid hitting investors and denting their confidence in Italian banks generally, which together hold 360 billion euros of problematic loans, the Rome government has pushed for a fully private solution for Monte dei Paschi's problems. Story continues Due to new European Union rules, public support would require first inflicting losses on holders of the bank's shares and bonds. But to cut the amount of capital to be raised on the market, Monte dei Paschi is considering converting some subordinated debt into equity, sources have told Reuters. "We are now anticipating liability management of sub, with some risk it could be coercive," BAML said. (Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Greg Mahlich) By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree 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:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/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. 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David Edwards, a case manager with Inanna, will lose his job when the community housing, disability and mental health support service shuts its doors in three weeks. Inanna case manager David Edwards is speaking out about the problems the community housing organisation faces as it is forced to close. Credit:Elesa Kurtz But he said problems with the organisation's financial management should have been picked up earlier after they missed deadline after deadline for filing mandatory financial reports. "All of this could have been saved a long time ago. They did the wrong thing, it should have been investigated and then the organisation could have continued," Mr Edwards said. Virgin Australia will reinstate direct flights from Melbourne to Los Angeles next year, three years after it abandoned the popular route. Starting in April 2017, Virgin will fly Boeing 777-300ERs between Melbourne and LA five days a week, the airline announced on Tuesday. The flight path from Melbourne to America's second-largest city is currently dominated by Qantas and United Airlines, which each fly daily, after Virgin axed the route in 2014. "The United States is a key market for Virgin Australia and this enables us to service Los Angeles from the three biggest gateways in Australia Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney," Virgin chief executive John Borghetti said in a statement. The banks will introduce new hiring standards for financial advisers as they seek to weed out 'bad apples' and head off criticism ahead of a parliamentary grilling. The Australian Bankers' Association said new hiring 'protocols' will help banks employ "only competent and ethical financial advisers" and weed out bad apples by asking certain questions during the hiring process. The Australian Bankers' Association says new hiring 'protocols' will help banks employ "only competent and ethical financial advisers" and weed out bad apples. Credit:Louie Douvis But victims of bad advice and consumer groups say the move fails to address systemic problems failing the banks following scandals. The big four banks will face questioning by the House of Representatives standing committee on economics next month over how they balance the needs of customers, shareholders and the broader community. In what has been a good year for emerging markets equities and exchange traded funds, some frontier markets are being left behind. What is even more concerning about that trend is that many frontier markets are major oil producers and Brent oil, the international crude benchmark, is one of this years best-performing asset classes. The Global X Nigeria Index ETF (NGE) is a prime example of single-country frontier markets ETF tracking a major oil-producing country that is struggling this year. Year-to-date, the lone ETF dedicated to Nigerian stocks is down nearly 33%. SEE MORE: High Volume Sell-Off in Nigeria ETF On Friday, Nigerian equities and bonds were dealt another blow when Standard & Poors downgraded the countrys sovereign credit rating deeper into junk status. S&P lowered Nigerias rating one level to B, five levels below investment grade and in line with Kyrgyzstan and Angola. The outlook was changed from negative to stable, reports Bloomberg. Nigeria is Africas largest oil producer, the continents biggest country by population, its second-largest economy behind South Africa and a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Earlier this year, the Nigerian central bank abandoned its currency peg, which many blamed for the weakened economy. Trending on ETF Trends FDRR: A Timely New Dividend ETF Another Drag on Staples ETFs Tech ETFs are Credible Dividend Plays Gold Miners ETFs Could Rebound With Some Fed Help CrowdInvest ETF Will Close Market observers have been calling for the central bank to devalue the naira currency in light of plunging oil prices. Meanwhile, investment in Nigeria has fallen off as foreign investors were deterred by capital controls needed to defend the nairas peg while domestic businesses struggled to import materials. Since NGE does not hedge its currency exposure, a depreciating naira would mean returns are lowered when converted back into U.S. dollar terms. SEE MORE: Nigeria ETF Tumbles Story continues Nigerias economy has weakened more than we expected owing to a marked contraction in oil production, a restrictive foreign exchange policy and delayed fiscal stimulus, Bloomberg reported, citing an emailed statement from S&P. Some oil market participants believe the recent price recovery was not fueled by fundamental factors but more of a result to short-covering and speculation over potential production freezes among Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers. OPEC has kept up production to pressure high-cost rivals, such as the developing U.S. shale oil producers. The International Energy Agency expects it will take several years before OPEC can effectively price out high-cost producers. For more information on Nigeria, visit our Nigeria category. Global X Nigeria Index ETF China is shaping up as favourite to fall victim to a major banking crisis, according to a dire and frightening warning from the Bank for International Settlements.The scale of China's debt is enough to create major markets shock around the world. Such an event would put Australia's economy directly in the firing line. Making this view all the more formidable is the fact that the Bank for International Settlements which looks after the world's central banks and makes the rules on the strength of banks, has based its concerns on a fairly straightforward measure of the country's debt relative to the size of the economy. Thus there are two problems. The first is that the economy's growth is slowing and the related problem is that the government has taken on debt in order to stimulate it. Chinese have become addicted to debt and weaning off this stimulus will be painful. Charter Hall Group is to seed a new wholesale retail partnership with the superfund MTAA with the $197 million acquisition of the Campbelltown Mall, Sydney from the Perron Group on a market capitalisation rate of 6 per cent. It reflects Charter Hall's intention to focus on larger convenience-based non-discretionary centres in high growth regions. The Perron Group has sold the Campbelltown Mall for $197 million in an off market deal to Charter Hall and MTAA Super. Credit:Urban Angles Charter Hall will manage the partnership, to be known as the Charter Hall Prime Retail Fund (CPRF), and the group has committed to co-invest $46 million towards the acquisition of the property, being an initial 38 per cent investment with initial gearing at 45 per cent. According to Charter Hall Group's chief executive David Harrison, this investment is expected to fall toward the targeted 10 per cent level as new equity is invested in CPRF, which he expects to grow as capital is attracted to the opportunities secured. My newer friends may be surprised to learn that John Howard was my hero growing up. What Bob Menzies was to Howard, he was to me. Howard was a family man. A values man. Values were big for me as a kid. My parents were all about them. And it was all we talked about at school. Howard was, at times, opposed to politicians spruiking values. In his 1997 Australia Day speech he was sure that "the beliefs that we have about what it is to be an Australian are not things that can be imposed from above by political leaders of any persuasion". John Howard's autobiography is "possibly the dullest book about an Australian PM in history". Credit:Andrew Meares But his government gave us the National Framework for Values Education, rolled out into schools around the country. Extensive consultation came up with nine values: care and compassion, doing your best, fair go, freedom, honesty and trustworthiness, integrity, respect, responsibility, understanding, tolerance and inclusion. In the spirit of values education my primary school's mantra was, "we all have the right to feel safe and happy". A right, not to pursue happiness, but to feel it surely David Leyonhjelm's nightmare. In a conservative school this must have been radical. But adults manage to agree on collective values remarkably easily, so long as they only apply to children. Few could have predicted Ian Turbott would grow up to become a successful sportsman, a decorated military officer, a long-time serving colonial civil servant, a governor, successful businessman and Australian father of the year. Ian Graham Turbott, the son of Thomas Turbott, country headmaster, and a farmer's daughter, Eva (nee Graham), was born in Whangarei, north of Auckland, in1922. Sir Ian Turbott with Queen Elizabeth ll in Grenada. His mother passed away two years later, and Aunt Essie would take over the role of surrogate mother. Ian showed early promise as the dux of his first school, Stanley Bay Primary School, and intended to follow his father's footsteps as a teacher. He had enrolled for an arts degree at Auckland University and the teachers' training college where, in addition to qualifying with a teachers' certificate, he also established a reputation as a first-class athlete. There were several unusual touches at the service for Frances Sutherland, a genuine Melbourne original. In keeping with her unconventional character, one eulogy began with a string of expletives; Feeling Good by Nina Simone was played and nobody wore black. Frances psychologist, activist, poet and notable contributor to disability services has died aged 69. Her working life was spent in disability and aged care services, although she also had a prodigious creative life that encompassed acting, comedy, photography and writing, principally poetry. Frances Sutherland had a strong passion for social justice. Tall and striking, she dressed in a kaleidoscope of colours, sporting two-tone red hair and an abundance of jewellery. She was a gregarious person who was great fun to be around. Her many friends came from every aspect of her life, with bonds forged and kept for more than 50 years. Frances was born in Sydney, the first of four children to Bob and Norma Sutherland. An excellent student, she finished high school in 1963 and in the following year began a Bachelor of Arts at Sydney University. Studies in psychology and anthropology led to her first degree, followed by a Masters of Psychology, attained in 1969. In the eight weeks since Four Corners' Australia's Shame program went to air, my office has been inundated with emails, calls and letters. Most of these were messages of support for Jake Roper, Dylan Voller and all the other boys who were abused in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre. My office recently collated 30 pages of these letters and mailed them to Dylan, who is still incarcerated in Darwin's adult prison. We hope that the letters remind Dylan that although it may not seem like it from within his concrete cell Australia does have the capacity to care for youth in prison. Dylan has told me that he hopes something comes out of what he went though: that some change will come out of it. In the letters to our office, apart from the messages of care and support, Australians had a recurring question: how can we stop this happening again? The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children will inquire into what went wrong in the Northern Territory, and importantly who is responsible. Heads should roll. But there also needs to be a positive focus for the future of youth justice in Australia. One laudable approach is justice reinvestment. Justice reinvestment is an approach to justice that aims to address crime before it happens by treating the underlying causes of crime. If you prevent crime from happening in the first place, then you don't need to spend excessive amounts of money on imprisonment. The "reinvestment" part of justice reinvestment means that the money you save on prisons is directed back into the community, to be spent on family support and community services (for example, drug and alcohol diversion, mental health facilities, educational support). Twenty years ago this week Darwin man Bob Dent became the first person in the world to receive a legal, lethal voluntary injection under the Northern Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act. The act was a carefully drafted piece of legislation that allowed a terminally ill person, of sound mind, to ask a doctor for help to die. As the first law of its kind, it had no benchmarks to go by. Could children ask for euthanasia? The question was not even on the radar. New York: Australia's humanitarian refugee intake will be set permanently at almost 19,000 per year and will now include a component of Central Americans under a series of pledges offered by Malcolm Turnbull in New York overnight. At Barack Obama's invitation-only special summit on the refugee crisis, the Prime Minister has also stumped up fresh cash. A new commitment of $130 million will go towards providing aid to displaced persons across the world, as well as more resources for migration agencies facing funding uncertainty. . Under his new formula, Australia's slated increase in the regular humanitarian intake from 13,750 to 18,750 has been effectively made permanent, over and above the skilled migration intake and irrespective of Australia's special intake of 12,000 refugees from the Syrian and Iraq humanitarian crisis. Tony Abbott originally announced the increase but never promised it would be permanent. Malcolm Turnbull has enlisted key American political figures including the billionaire former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, in his charm offensive aimed at saving the giant Trans-Pacific Partnership trade liberalisation pact. But he acknowledged that advocates of globalisation were in retreat, having often failed to make the benefits of free trade and foreign investment tangible for those communities most immediately affected by the "offshoring" of jobs. Ahead of this week's United Nations General Assembly and a series of special summits on refugees and humanitarian issues, Mr Turnbull has continued to apply pressure on the US urging leaders to remember America's core values of free trade and economic openness rather than lurch back into dangerous protectionism. Mr Turnbull said ratifying the TPP was about much more than economics and trade, calling it a "critically important political statement" and the economic dimension of the Obama administration's Asia-Pacific pivot. Stuff-up or conspiracy? Stephen Conroy says one should always assume the former, although he has done little to quell the conspiracy theorists regarding his own mysterious resignation. The outgoing Labor senator gave his first interview since quietly tabling his resignation speech last week, appearing on Andrew Bolt's program on Sky News on Tuesday evening. He reiterated his reason for biting the dust - to spend more time with his family and children - and warned young political wannabes that he could no longer recommend a career in politics. "If a young person, 25, walked up to me today and said 'Look, I really loved your career, I've really admired what you've done in politics, I really want to go into politics,' I'm not sure I could put my hand on my heart any more and say 'Hey, look, go for it, go for it like I did,' " Senator Conroy said. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten had defended Labor's refusal to declare a final position on the government's same-sex marriage plebiscite until October. While the opposition has strongly foreshadowed it will vote down the controversial proposal, citing the $170 million cost and impacts on LGBT people, it will not confirm its stance before the next parliamentary sitting week. In a press conference on Tuesday after a community forum on marriage, Mr Shorten was questioned over the strategy which keeps the policy in limbo. The Opposition Leader rejected that he was delaying a decision amid "emotional torment" and running a narrow consultation process within his own party and community groups opposed to the plebiscite. This odd arrangement is sparking speculation the United States might resettle the asylum seekers housed in detention camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, given Australia is adamant they will never set foot on Australian soil. [ Michael Gordon/The Age ] Malcolm Turnbull has solidified an increase in Australia's intake of refugees from 13,750 to 18,750 and will accept central American refugees from camps in Costa Rica. [ Mark Kenny/Fairfax ] UNGA week is up and running. Barack Obama gave his last address as US President. Next time it will either be Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton leading the free world. Obama called on nations to integrate and stare down the rising tide of divisive, isolationist sentiment. [CNN] Significantly, he attacked Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on the international stage. [Politico] Both Obama and departing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon spoke on Syria. The UNSG condemned the attack on the Red Cross aid convoy which killed 20 people and launched an attack on the Syrian government for killing the most civilians in the war. Russia denies it or Syria was responsible. [Al Jazeera] The UN has suspended all aid convoys while US Secretary of State John Kerry insists the ceasefire is not dead yet. [BBC] It's an oft-asked Melbourne question: can Chadstone get any bigger? The answer is yes. And by 2020 you will also be able to sleep there, with plans well advanced to build a hotel at the shopping centre. On Tuesday, a sneak peek of the first stage of a $660 million expansion revealed a 31-metre-high atrium at the northern end, which will be home to the new flagship Hoyts cinemas and premium dining. A range of more than 100 retailers, as well as some existing tenants taking new space, will open on October 13. If they take their case to the Valuer-General in NSW they can face a financial hit of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Your rights For those living under the cloud of compulsory acquisition what can be done? Manisha Blencowe, property acquisition lawyer, Slater and Gordon, says once a government decides to compulsorily acquire a property there is little the owner can do about it. Notices are served on property owners and when a notice is published in the government gazette, the property belongs to the government. The process can be initiated by Commonwealth, State or Territory governments, or a local government authority. The entire property may be acquired or just part of it. What follows is a process of negotiating compensation for the loss suffered. This includes compensation for the market value of the property. "Beyond market value the other categories of compensation for losses that people suffer include what are called disturbance losses," says Blencowe. "They are the losses that people suffer as a consequence of the property being taken from you and the need to replace that property so things like stamp duty, transfer fees, conveyancing costs, removal costs." People can also claim professional expenses: lawyers, valuers and other professional advisers that they consult because of the acquisition. "Those costs are generally recovered in full from the acquiring authority." Be aware, though, some categories of compensation vary from state to state. For instance, in Victoria the compensation for the emotional impact of having your property taken from you is called solatium. It can be up to 10 per cent of the market value of the property. "The amount that you're entitled to varies depending on the circumstances of your connection to that property," says Blencowe. In NSW, however, the entitlement is a lump sum payment of about $25,000. "So it's clearly nowhere near the 10 per cent of the market value of a property which can be claimed in Victoria." Blencowe recommends getting legal advice early, ideally as soon as you're notified your property might be compulsorily acquired or when a public acquisition overlay is placed on the property. "The way in which acquisitions take place and compensation entitlements are triggered varies in different states," says Blencowe. "In some cases, in NSW, it's very common for the authorities to really jump the gun and acquire properties before the planning approvals are even in place whereas in Victoria it's more common for there to be a planning process which is well-advanced and plans approved before the acquisitions take place." Once the process starts to unfold there are timelines for the authority to make an offer of compensation and the property owner to respond. "You only get one chance at that response and it's important that the response is based on the right valuation evidence and claims all of the entitlements that you have." It can make a significant difference, Blencowe adds. "If someone has been living in a property for a very long period of time and has an extensive history with the property they are likely to get a very high allowance for solatium whereas the government's offer will quite often be quite measly." The legislation also requires that the land is valued based on its highest and best use. For instance, if someone owns a small cottage on a large piece of land, the value could be far higher if it was sold to a developer. If the property owner thinks the value is unfair they can choose to have it determined by a court or tribunal. Kim Sun was one of the North Strathfield home-owners affected by WestConnex compulsory acquisitions. By October 2015, the offer from the acquiring authority, Roads and Maritime Services, (RMS) was still about $200,000 below what his valuer said was the $1.65 million market value of his property. "We negotiated for about two years and then I just gave up negotiating with RMS and went to the Valuer-General," he says. "He was the one that gave us the final agreement of $100,000 below market value and I ended up having to pay $25,000 in solicitor's fees as well." They have bought another house. "It's on a very busy road. Ours was in a cul-de-sac. I've moved to a smaller place, further out in Enfield. It's on a smaller block of land, further away from the station and I had to pay on top of that an extra $30,000 from what they gave me." His son also had to change schools. "I found out that certain people in the service were calling my GP and specialist and putting pressure on them. "They'd ask why my doctors kept signing off on my leave, asking what I'd been telling my GP and what I looked like when I showed up for my appointments," Mr McCormack said. "I was just constantly pressured immense pressure from all angles," he said. Mr McCormack - now a delegate with the Australian Paramedics Association - says this harassing behaviour has been allowed to fester in the service, exacerbating the all too common mental health problems among his colleagues. Claims pressure breeds bullying and mental distress NSW Ambulance is facing renewed claims of endemic bullying and harassment from paramedics still working within their ranks who say the toxic culture has not been quashed despite numerous inquiries and calls for help. But the service has rejected the suggestion it has not taken steps to address the culture problems and mental distress among its staff, with the new chief executive making mental health and wellbeing a key focus of his tenure. A number of paramedics agreed to speak to Fairfax Media on condition of anonymity, fearing their harassment would intensify if they were known to have spoken publicly. They described ongoing bullying and the lack of support they were given as they battled the severe mental toll of their work. One veteran paramedic said he was left "mentally destroyed" after years of targeted bullying by managers to the point of contemplating suicide, believing that a coronial report was the only way his harassers would be properly investigated. Some staunchly believed there would be no meaningful change until the old guard of "dinosaurs" in management who are used to making militant demands are moved on. Several female paramedics described a "boys' club" that tolerated aggression, misogynistic behaviour and humiliating pranks. Fairfax Media has decided not to provide specific detail so as not to identify the female paramedics involved. "Things were so much better before 1979" - referring to the year the first female paramedic joined the service - was a verbal put-down recounted to Fairfax Media by several paramedics. "The culture of management relies on intimidation and threats," said Dan McPhee, a paramedic for almost a decade in the Hunter New England area. Answering an endless procession of phone calls from distressed paramedics has become a second fulltime job over the past few months since the station officer since he became one of the APA's delegate support contacts. "There are attempts [to change the culture] but it has not filtered down to management in my area," he said. Pregnant paramedics in the Hunter New England area reported being the victims of harassment and "schoolyard" bullying when they have requested maternity leave and alternate duties during their final trimester, Mr McPhee said. "They will be stood over and feel intimidated. Their careers have been threatened," he said. Their pregnancies were used to apportion blame when rosters were changed to accommodate their alternate duties, Mr McPhee said. "They are constantly reminded and made to feel guilty about the impact their pregnancy and their time away from work has on their colleagues," he said. Mr McPhee said much of the harassment stemmed from the pressure management was under to meet unrealistic targets amid an ongoing shortage of paramedics. "We are simply so under-resourced and understaffed that we can't even tolerate a single female paramedic from a rural ambulance roster being absent, and they apply a lot of guilt and pressure to try and stop that from happening," he said. 'This needs to stop now' And endemic culture of bullying and harassment was entrenched across the state, said APA president Steve Pearce. "We've had two parliamentary inquiries over the last 10 years and the assertions were given that this culture would be stamped out. It certainly hasn't been," Mr Pearce said. Australian Paramedic Association NSW president Steve Pearce said NSW Ambulance had failed to take complaints seriously. Credit:Colin Cosier "This needs to stop. It needs to be immediately arrested for the good of paramedics." Mr Pearce said managers were not taking complaints seriously, or trivialising serious bullying allegations by treating them as interpersonal workplace issues. "It really is affecting paramedics and their mental health at a time where they have never been under so much pressure on a day to day basis being so under resourced," Mr Pearce said. "They end up taking workers compensation ... and then they are subject to a lack of support [and] often times criticised for not coming back quick enough," he said. "They are already vulnerable and then to find when they are looking for help about what to do next and not getting any support at all or indeed getting harassed about coming back to work they suffer more," he said. "They have done all they can they are still not getting any assistance and response from an organisation saying really value paramedics and staff wellness and we want to build resilience and assistance for mental health it's just not transferring to the front line," he said. A 2015 NSW Health survey of more than 1800 paramedics found 74 per cent said they were treated with respect by their line manager, but only 41 per cent said their workplace had a positive culture, and just 26 per cent said their was a positive relationship between senior management and staff. A changing of the guard at NSW Ambulance "We have so much more work to do," said NSW Ambulance chief executive Dominic Morgan, who made the mental health and wellbeing of staff a top priority when he took the job in early 2016. "I could not hand on heart say that we've solved the problem [of harassment] ... I think any big and complex organisation would have to acknowledge that they could not say [with absolute certainty] bad things did not happen in pockets of their organisation," he said. NSW Ambulance Chief Executive Dominic Morgan But the state's chief paramedic did not believe a toxic culture of bullying and harassment was endemic or statewide. "In terms of do I think there are examples of this happening? Highly likely. Do I think it is a massive issue? I think it's probably somewhere between the two," Mr Morgan said. Nor does he believe understaffing is the source of the problem: "I don't know that there is a definitive link between it", he said. "I've got to do the best with the resourcing we've got it goes back to culture." Mr Morgan said there were lingering perceptions from years past that NSW Ambulance would not act on complaints or take claims seriously. He said his office had consistently written to staff asking victims to come forward and detail specific incidences of harassment. "We've said if you're worried about confidentiality just bring it to me, or professional standards, or outside agencies, ombudsman, HCCC, take it to police so they can investigate," he said. Over the past six months he was aware of only one former paramedic who had taken up the offer, despite relentless reports to the APA and social media posts detailing claims of ongoing and historic bullying in the service. "We carry culture forward. Some paramedics may have given up hope that something would be done about it," he said. "Even if there's one case where someone is getting those signals we need to change that, because it's not okay." A professional standards unit had been established to investigate issues of harassment, Mr Morgan said, but punitive action was not the answer to a complex problem. "There are always two sides to a story sometimes bad behaviours in the workplace can actually be symptomatic of a problem in someone's life," he said. Over the 20 misconduct cases investigated by NSW Ambulance between November 2015 and Sep 2016, 17 lead to disciplinary action. Mr Morgan said the nature of their work meant first responders were at greater risk of developing mental health issues including depression, anxiety and PTSD than the general community. NSW Ambulance was working to provide paramedics with support and build resilience before these disorders developed, Mr Morgan said. He said the service had also enacted a suite of initiatives aimed to addressed mental health and wellbeing issues among its staff, including integrating several departments, including worker's compensation officers, professional standards, workplace strategy to treat paramedics like people, instead of compo claims, Mr Morgan said. Loading Other action included: The Baird government has won a smattering of victories in its legal battles with a number of Sydney and NSW councils facing forced amalgamations. Justice Tim Moore of the Land and Environment Court dismissed proceedings brought by Hunters Hill, Lane Cove, Ku-ring-gai and Shellharbour councils in judgments handed down on Tuesday. The decisions remove obstacles in the way of the government's proposed amalgamations of those councils with their neighbours. But Justice Moore found "defects" in reports prepared by delegates into the proposed mergers of local governments involving Mosman, North Sydney and Strathfield councils. Updated May 7, 2018 Editor's note: Yamur Sadiqi was acquitted on all six charges in the NSW District Court on April 18, 2018 An Uber driver has been charged with sexually assaulting a passenger during a trip home on Sydney's north shore. The 30-year-old driver Yamur Sadiqi allegedly picked up a 26-year-old woman in West Pennant Hills at 11pm on Saturday. During the drive, he allegedly pulled over in Carlingford and assaulted her in the passenger seat before taking her home. Commuters lined up in droves in anticipation of the opening of Sydney's new Wynyard Walk on Tuesday, hoping to catch a glimpse of history as they snapped pictures on their phones. And as soon as Premier Mike Baird and Transport Minister Andrew Constance had cut the ribbon, the crowd poured through the entrance of the 180-metre pedestrian tunnel linking Wynyard Station to Barangaroo. About 23,000 workers are eventually expected to be based at the fast-growing precinct on the western edge of Sydney's CBD, while a further 30,000 people are forecast to visit each day. For them, the new tunnel will halve the time it takes to walk from the train station to Barangaroo - it will take about six minutes. Four years in the making, the nine-metre wide tunnel can handle about 20,000 people an hour, and features escalators, stairs and lifts. Three members of a Brisbane family died in a car crash shortly after arriving in New Zealand on Monday. The family of five had recently picked up a Nissan rental car from Auckland Airport when the vehicle crossed the centre line and smashed into a truck in Huntly, about an hour south of Auckland, on Monday afternoon, according to stuff.co.nz. The crash killed two boys, 12 and 14, and a man, 54. A woman and a girl survived the crash. This is not a story for the faint-hearted. Male redback spiders are typically eaten after mating with the much larger female: just one shot at passing on their DNA. However, a new study shows that male redbacks have developed an evolutionary trick to mate more than once. And it isn't pretty reading. Daniela Biaggio at the University of Toronto and Iara Sandomirsky at the Ben-Gurion University found that male redbacks will often first mate with immature females in what is referred to as a "fitness-enhancing tactic" to increase their paternity. "In the wake of the Arab Spring, the internet has often been portrayed as a 'liberation technology,'" the study authors wrote. "Specifically, it has been argued that the internet fosters transparency and accountability of non-democratic governments." In some ways, the internet has opened educational and political opportunities to people who otherwise have limited access to resources. Once-inaccessible documents can now be found with a click or a tap; individuals with common cause can find one another online and foster political movements. Current events seem to back up that idea, the scientists noted. The findings published in the Journal of Peace Research show that internet access, like other valuable resources, can be controlled politically and distributed unfairly. The internet may be a great source of empowerment for the disenfranchised - if they're allowed to have it. A new study that examined the internet access of excluded ethnic groups within countries found that groups subjected to political exclusion were significantly less likely to have internet access. But this idea assumes that those marginalised people, those who might stand to benefit the most from internet access, are getting that access in the first place. The scientists wondered if, within nations, the politically marginalised groups could be getting left behind. "Research in political science (including mine) now looks increasingly at the more pernicious effects, such as government censorship and online propaganda," said lead author Nils Weidmann, a political science professor at the University of Konstanz in Germany. There are two main ways this might happen, he explained. Ethnic groups who hold political power might push for economic and technological improvements in their home regions, at the expense of others. But governments might also be actively preventing certain communities from getting access to this technology in order to prevent those groups from mobilising politically. "In most developing countries, governments are the major, if not the only, provider of telecommunication services," the study authors wrote. "At the same time, in many of these countries, politics operates along ethnic lines, so that one or more groups hold political power at the expense of other, marginalised ones. This allows internet technology to be implemented in a way that benefits certain groups while neglecting others." To find out if this was the case, the researchers looked to the Ethnic Power Relations database, which logs politically relevant groups and their access to state power from 1946 to 2005. This includes both the groups that have wielded power and those that have found themselves subject to it. Two Chinese lions shook and weaved in the middle of the stage, accompanied by crashing cymbals, a large drum and a gong. Well-dressed dignitaries watched on, while nearby a few cows grazed quietly by large hay bales. To the right of the stage, the "Pirate Ship" stood quiet, waiting for its first cargo of teenagers for the day. Lions perform on stage to welcome Chinese guests to the Royal Melbourne Show. Credit:Vince Caligiuri On day four of the Royal Melbourne Show Chinese dancing, music, business and culture ran headlong into the local show culture of showbags, farm animals, crowds and amusement rides. In what is believed to be a first for the Royal Melbourne Show, a whole pavilion has been dedicated to showcasing another nation. Colin Barnett conceded his leadership style could be perceived as "abrupt", vowed to be more inclusive, and predicted the 2017 state election was a 50-50 contest after an attempted spill against the WA premier came to nothing on Tuesday morning. The spill motion, moved by Murray Cowper, was designed to give former transport minister Dean Nalder the chance to challenge Mr Barnett for the leadership in a party room vote. But it never got that far, as the motion was defeated 31-15, leaving Mr Nalder to tell the media he was done with trying to further his leadership ambitions. Mr Barnett told reporters the spill vote, which took place without discussion, had paved the way for a full and frank conversation among MPs, which he described as "healthy" and which took into account his leadership style. Police say the Australian-made ferry that exploded in Bali on Thursday, killing two and injuring 18 others, was owned by an Indonesian man despite the Gili Cat website claiming the company was "Australian owned and managed". No suspects have been named thus far over the explosion on Gili Cat 2, a fast boat that travelled between Bali and the Gili islands, just after 9.30am on September 15. Police investigators examine the Gili Cat 2 boat following an explosion while it was en route to the nearby island of Lombok. Credit:AP However, police have ruled out foul play, saying the explosion, which caused some horrific injuries, was caused by leaked fuel. According to the Gili Cat website, which has now been taken down, the company was "Australian owned and managed and we use Australian-made boats". "You can't get any safer than that!" it said. Peter Scully is facing child sex abuse and human trafficking charges. Credit:Kate Geraghty In it, the baby girl is tied by her feet upside down while she is sexually assaulted.The girlfriend also allegedly bashed the baby,who survived and has been returned to the care of her parents, but remains deeply traumatized and becomes hysterical when memory of her abuse is triggered. Prosecutors will allege another 11-year-old girl whose body was found in a shallow grave under a house rented by Scully was repeatedly sexually abused by him and then strangled. A police officer stands on the overpass connecting two malls in Cagayan De Oro where two of Peter Scully's victims were allegedly groomed by his girlfriend. Credit:Kate Geraghty Eight other girl victims aged up to 13 at the time of the alleged offences are being held in witness protection while Scully pleads not guilty in court hearings that are expected to take years to be completed in the Philippines' log-jammed judicial system. Scully has decided to contest the charges - putting his alleged victims through the ordeal of testifying in court - despite repeatedly telling Philippine media last year he was "remorseful" for what he had done to children. People ride past the Cagayan De Oro City Jail where Australian man Peter Scully is being held. Credit:Kate Geraghty Wearing a yellow prison T-shirt and runners, Scully looked tense and ignored questions from Fairfax Media as he was led into a special court set up in Cagayan de Oro's city hall on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege that Scully was the white male person, whose face was pixilated or hidden, captured in videos forcing children to commit depraved acts. Many of the investigators, journalists and officials who have watched the videos have been brought to tears. A section of one of the prosecutors documents regarding Australian man Peter Scully. Credit:Kate Geraghty "They were the most devastating thing I have ever seen," said Ruby Malanog, who is one of two lawyers prosecuting Scully. "I cried when I was watching them ... in fact I feel like crying just now while talking about it," she said. "It was hard to believe what I was seeing ... that somebody could do those things to children." Peter Scully inside the Cagayan De Oro court handcuffed to another inmate on his first day of his trial. Credit:Kate Geraghty On the eve of Tuesday's hearing Mr Umpa, the chief prosecutor of northern Mindanao region, called for the reintroduction of the death penalty in the Philippines so that Scully, a Melbourne businessman, could be executed. "If I had my choice it would be death for Scully. I want it to happen," Mr Umpa told Fairfax Media in Cagayan de Oro, a city of one million people where Scully allegedly lured impoverished children from shopping malls. "We have to send a strong message to others that if they come to the Philippines and torture and abuse our children in this way they will be investigated with the full force of the law and executed," he said. Mr Umpa said unless the death penalty was reintroduced prosecutors would push in the first hearings for Scully to be given the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for human trafficking and 10 years for each of the five sexual abuse charges, meaning Scully could be jailed for up to 100 years. But under current Philippine procedures, he would be released after serving 30 years and then deported to Australia. "We don't believe this is sufficient for these crimes that were committed," Mr Umpa said. Scully showed no emotion and looked away when Fairfax Media told him about the call which came only days after tough-talking Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte reiterated that he wants the death penalty returned for "heinous" crimes, including rape and murder. The country abolished it in 2006 following fierce opposition from the Catholic church, the religion of 80 per cent of Filipinos. Mr Duterte, who was swept into office at May elections pledging to wipe out crime, has overseen a bloody crackdown on illegal drug pushers that has left more than 3500 Filipinos dead. Scully, who arrived in the Philippines in 2011 after fleeing fraud and deception charges in Melbourne, has been portraying himself as victim while on remand in Cagayan de Oro City jail, telling his lawyers that he was sexually abused by a priest when he was growing up in Victoria. He was arrested last year on human trafficking charges. Jail warden Ferdiand Pontillo told Fairfax Media that Scully complains about conditions in a chronically overcrowded facility, wanting to be pampered with luxury food and a mobile telephone so he can make international calls. "He wants the same conditions as there are in Australian jails but this is not Australia," he said. Scully refused to comment to Fairfax Media at the jail built to accommodate 350 prisoners, but which now has 1840. Scully's sister , who lives in Australia, has complained to the jail about the conditions he is being held under. The first six charges that Scully will face relate to the alleged abduction and sexual abuse of two teenage girls in Cagayan de Oro in September 2014. Prosecutors will allege the girls were lured to a house on the promise of food by one of Scully's girlfriends where they were given alcohol before they were raped by Scully and forced to commit sex acts in front of cameras. New York: US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's fifth nuclear test, the White House said. China and the United States are also targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party cadre, that the Obama administration thinks has a role in assisting North Korea's nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. South Korean protesters during a rally denouncing the latest North Korea's nuclear test. Credit:AP UN diplomats say the two countries have started discussions on a possible UN sanctions resolution in response to the nuclear test earlier this month, but Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against North Korea. Obama met Li on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. Donald Trump Jr. is facing intense backlash on social media after he posted a message on Twitter Monday night that compared Syrian refugees to a bowl of Skittles sprinkled with a few that "would kill you." Mr Trump, a top adviser in his father's presidential campaign, appeared to suggest that the nation was faced with a blind selection process in which a few potentially poisoned pieces would be lurking among the thousands of Syrians fleeing a brutal five-year-old civil war. The post said: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." And Donald Trump Jr. wrote on the post: "This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first." The post, shared widely on Twitter, drew swift condemnation and comparisons to white supremacist memes. Social media users shared images of bombing victims in the region, including Omran Daqneesh, the bloodstained, dust-coated boy who was shown sitting in an ambulance after an airstrike and who became a symbol of the suffering in Aleppo, Syria. Former US president George W. Bush snr plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to a member of another famous political family, the Kennedys. A report by Politico said that Bush, 92, had intended to stay silent on the White House race between Clinton and Donald Trump, but that on Monday, former Maryland lieutenant governor and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, said in a Facebook post that former Republican president told her he's voting for Clinton. George W. Bush with his father, George H.W. Bush in 2009. Credit:AP She is reported as having posted a photo with the former president to Facebook, captioned: "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!". Later, in an telephone interview with Politico, Townsend said she met with the former president in Maine on Monday, where she said he had told her he was voting for a Democrat. "That's what he said," she told Politico. Checkmate in the news again in negative light Suspect released by Judge of Instruction but remains a suspect. PHILIPSBURG:--- A long-time security guard working for Checkmate Security was in police custody over the weekend after he was caught on camera stealing envelopes from the Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) and pushing it in his crotch. According to a well-placed source, the security guard identified as Eli Harrison from Jamaica unit 19 went away sometime last week while the management of PSS was investigating the disappearance of USD 80,000.00 that went missing sometime in the month of July. It is also believed that the theft was an inside job and police are busy investigating. The source said while the known security guard was away on vacation for a few days, PSS installed new cameras, and upon his return to the job he was not aware that PSS management installed new cameras, therefore the uniformed thief went to the back of the post office and was pushing envelopes into his crotch. Police were called to the scene and they conducted a body search of the security guard who has been working at the Post Office for the past 6 years and they indeed found envelopes in his crotch. So far it is not clear if the investigation into the disappearance of the USD 80,000.00 has any relation to Eli Harrison since there are now two complaints filed by PSS, one against Harrison on Friday and one relating to the missing funds. Chairman of PSS board Stuart Johnson confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation regarding the disappearance of USD 80,000.00. Johnson also admitted that the Checkmate Security Guard that has keys to the building was arrested on Friday when he was caught on camera placing envelopes in his crotch. Johnson said based on the briefing he got from the interim manager of PSS, he was told that the security guard was caught with mails from the registered services, he said he could not correlate whether or not the security guard is involved in the stealing of the missing cash, neither he cannot understand why a security guard would steal registered mail. All I can tell you is what I am told by the interim manager and I am now awaiting a full report from management of PSS. In invited comment from spokesman from the Prosecutor Office Gino Bernadina states that E.H. was arrested on Friday September 16 on suspicions of theft. The arrest was based on a complaint filed by the post office. The Prosecutor ordered his detention for two days. After that the Prosecutor ordered his prolonged detention for another 8 days. On Monday the suspect appeared in front of the judge of instruction who reviewed his arrest and detention. The judge decided to suspend his detention. E.H. remains a suspect. The investigation continues. AgreeYa to Unveil Latest QuickApps for SharePoint and Office 365 at Microsoft Ignite 2016 FOLSOM, CA (Marketwired) 09/19/16 , a global provider of software, solutions and services for businesses across industries, is set to exhibit its technological innovations at this years Microsoft Ignite Conference, which will take place in Atlanta, Ga. from September 26-30. During the five-day event, touted as the technology conference of the year, AgreeYa, will highlight among other offerings its latest, out-of-the-box software designed to simplify and accelerate customizing SharePoint without coding. In taking on this DELL-created software, AgreeYa is once again reinforcing itself as a true industry game-changer by further customizing the ways in which businesses all over the world communicate, solve problems and increase efficiency. With key enhancements of compatible with Microsoft SharePoint 2010, 2013 and 2016, tech-savvy professionals have the ability to unleash SharePoints full potential through enabling the creation of applications that dont require complex coding, and can be easily supported, maintained and upgraded at a relatively low cost ensuring long-term value and return on investment. Edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint Inside the Browser in qListView Export Child List data to .xlsx Format in qExcelViewer Add Lookup Value in qListForm Select Users from People Picker Control in qListForm Support Parent-Child Entry in qListForm and qSILisView Bolster Support for Rating Type Column in qListForm In the modern, 24/7 era of digital technology and globalization, convenience and efficiency are more important than ever for businesses to keep their competitive edge, says Ajay Kaul, managing partner of AgreeYa Solutions. QuickApps was designed to provide a faster and easier way for any company or organization to build custom applications in SharePoint. We look forward to sharing this breakthrough software at this years highly anticipated conference. AgreeYa experts will be onsite at the conference to demonstrate a variety of the companys software and solutions which include SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud) solutions and its newly acquired software test automation tool, a simple, unified and reliable solution for cross devices and platform test automation thats helping organizations deliver quality software on time and within budget while reducing the time to market. Benefits of BeatBlip include up to 50 percent reduction in test cycle time, measurable saving in testing costs, improved test coverage and more. AgreeYa will be located at booth #566. To schedule a meeting with AgreeYa experts at Microsoft Ignite, please click . AgreeYa is a global provider of software, solutions, and services focused on deploying business-driven, technology-enabled solutions that create next-generation competitive advantages for customers. Headquartered in Folsom, Calif., AgreeYa employs more than 1,400 professionals across its 15 offices in eight countries. Over the last 17 years, AgreeYa has worked with 200+ organizations ranging from public sector, Fortune 100 firms to small and large businesses across industries. AgreeYas software portfolio includes (award winning suite of SharePoint web parts and pre-built templates), (software test automation solution), (comprehensive end-to-end case management solution for collections agencies and law firms), (intranet and enterprise social collaboration), (desktop-on-cloud), (unified enterprise collaboration and communication suite for mobile) and (single window collaboration and communication solution on mobile for 21st century learning). As part of its solutions and services offerings, AgreeYa provides portal, content management, and collaboration on SharePoint/Office 365, cloud and infrastructure, enterprise mobility, business intelligence and big data analytics, product engineering, application development and management, independent software testing, and staffing (IT and risk/compliance/AML) solutions. For more information, visit . Leslie Licano Beyond Fifteen Communications, Inc. 949.733.8679 T5 Data Centers Completes Equity Recapitalization of T5@Dallas and T5@Portland ATLANTA, GA (Marketwired) 09/19/16 T5 Data Centers (T5 or the Company), innovators in providing state-of-the-art, customizable and highly reliable computing support environments, today announced the completion of an equity recapitalization of T5@Dallas and T5@Portland facilities with an investment from ICONIQ Capital, LLC (ICONIQ Capital). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Located in the key Dallas and Portland metropolitan areas, both properties are 100% leased and will continue to be operated and managed by T5. The properties will remain under the T5 brand as part of the Companys portfolio of nine data centers across a nationwide footprint and T5 will continue to hold a meaningful ownership stake in the properties. We are excited to begin this strategic relationship with ICONIQ, commented Pete Marin, President & Chief Executive Officer for T5. The recapitalization of equity at T5@Dallas and T5@ Portland marks an important milestone for the Company and demonstrates our ability to attract the highest caliber capital partners as we continue to grow our portfolio of top tier data centers nationwide. The T5 team has an exceptional track record operating world class data centers and servicing blue chip customers with their strategically located industry leading facilities, said John Sauter, Managing Director of Real Estate at ICONIQ Capital. We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest in these premier assets and we look forward to partnering with T5 to meet the critical demand needs of the Dallas and Portland areas that are being driven by new and emerging technologies and the ubiquity of cloud-based connectivity. Cushman & Wakefield and Moelis & Company LLC acted as financial advisors to T5 in connection with the transaction. CIT Bank, N.A. agented a credit facility and HFF advised on the debt placement for ICONIQ Capital. T5 Data Centers is a leading national data center owner and operator, committed to delivering customizable, scalable data centers that provide an always on computing environment to power mission critical business applications. T5 Data Centers provides enterprise colocation data center services to organizations across North America using proven, best-in-class technology and techniques to design and develop facilities that deliver the lowest possible total cost of operations for its clients. T5 currently has business-critical data center facilities in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Portland with new projects announced in New York, and Colorado. All of T5s data center projects are purpose-built facilities featuring robust design, redundant and reliable power and telecommunications, and have 24-hour staff to support mission-critical computing applications. ICONIQ Capital is a global multi-family office and merchant bank for a core group of influential families. The firm provides a full spectrum of investment advisory services, serving as a thought partner and trusted advisor to its client base. For more information, visit . Contact: Aaron Wangenheim T5 Data Centers (415) 292-7700 First-half 2016 results . Improvement in key profitability indicators Balanced growth in Licenses and Services businesses A strong increase in new business and a high level of repeat business Continued integration of acquisitions, to strengthen the overall Immersive Virtual Engineering approach to the product full lifecycle Alain de Rouvray, ESI Group?s Chairman and CEO, comments: The very solid performance over the period, as measured by our economic indicators, clearly and again illustrates the market relevance of our unique strategic positioning based on Immersive Virtual Engineering (IVE1) of the full lifecycle of industrial products. At IVE?s core are our Virtual Prototyping and Virtual Reality integrated solutions which are now being extended to include ?Big Data?, ?Machine Learning? and ?IoT2?. Leveraging our recent acquisitions our proven Physics based modelling may now be coupled with the end-to-end management of the product full lifecycle, i.e. from design and development (traditional ?CAD-CAE-PLM3?) to performance in operation, a critical step towards aided and autonomous products (the new disruptive ?PPL4?). During this first semester Licenses sales experienced solid growth, in particular with new business and high level of repeat business. In parallel the significant progression in high valued-added services demonstrates the specific need to support industrialists, adapted to their maturity level in transition to IVE. The continued improvement of our profitability indicators confirms that our continuously monitored discipline of execution allows us to combine the dynamics of profitable and sustainable growth with high level of investments. In this demanding global context and accounting for the renewed challenges of the timely integration of our several recent acquisitions, we expect our dynamic sales trend to continue with solid, diversified and balanced growth.? First-half 2016 revenue: sustained and balanced growth H1 2016 Total revenue Revenue for the first half was ?56.0 million, an increase of +15.7% at current rates. Revenue from acquisitions was ?3.1 million, primarily from the business activities of ESI ITI GmbH which was consolidated on January 6, 2016. The positive exchange impact over the period was moderate at ?0.7 million. It was tied to the net strengthening of the Japanese yen compared to the euro, that more than compensated the unfavorable change in other currencies, primarily the Korean won, the Indian rupee, the US dollar and the pound sterling. The product mix remained stable with Licensing accounting for 71.8% of total revenue compared to 71.7% for the same period of the previous fiscal year. H1 2016 Licenses Revenue generated by the Licenses business grew strongly at +15.7% at current exchange rates (?cer?) compared to the first half of the previous fiscal year, notably sustained by strong performance in Asia. New business grew significantly, up +24.5% (+11.1% in organic terms) and confirmed the momentum seen during 2016 first quarter. Recurring growth in the installed base was up +14.4% at current rates (+8.6% in organic terms). It was particularly dynamic following positive performance in the first half of 2015 (+26.9% at current rates). The rate of repeat business therefore remained high at 91.8%. H1 2016 Services Revenue growth in Services was up +15.4%, spurred by ongoing strategic development in high added value engineering studies, the core of our innovative business and an essential competitive advantage, which grew by +18.2%. This trend was particularly apparent in Japan and is supported and accentuated by our recent acquisitions. It also confirms the relevance of our business model which promotes robust growth in Licensing fostered by a solid Services business that supports and sustains the innovative and functional value of our proposed solutions. H1 2016 geographical mix The geographical distribution of total revenues over the period reflects the stronger trend in the Licenses business in Asia (which represented 45.6% versus last year?s 41.1% at current exchange rates) in comparison with the Americas (now 16.5% vs last year?s 20.4%) and Europe (stable at 38.0% vs last year?s 38.5%). Revenue from the BRIC regions grew by +8.9% to end the period at 11.2% of the total revenue (vs last year?s 12.2%), negatively affected by the difficult regional economic context. First-Half 2016 results: a continued improvement in profitability Increase in H1 gross margin Gross Margin increased significantly reaching 69.8% of revenue versus 66.7% in the first half of 2015. The growth was sustained by steady improvements in the gross margins of both Licensing and Services activities, the latter benefiting from the added focus on high value engineering studies and advanced innovative projects. Operations cost control and ongoing investments Over the period, the cost of Sales and Marketing (S&M) and General and Administrative costs (G&A) increased globally by +6.4%, compared to the revenue growth of +15.7%. These costs represent respectively 33.8 % and 16.0 % of total revenues, a 432 basis points drop from the previous semester. This development reflects a continuous cost control discipline during the period. In line with our strategy based on technology innovation, R&D investments increased by +11.7% at current exchange rates. R&D expenses reached ?15.5 million (excluding the French Research Tax Credit, CIR) and accounted for 38.7% of Licenses revenue over the period, a 140 basis points drop from the previous semester. This high first semester relative rate needs to be put into perspective given the strong seasonality of the licenses business. The continuous investment was for existing technologies as well as for the latest external growth activities. The total amount of R&D posted to the P&L income statement after taking the CIR and capitalization of development costs into account was ?13.1 million at current exchange rates, up +33.0% compared to the first half of 2015, notably due to the lesser impact of organic R&D, and to the increased release of new software versions. Marked improvement in EBITDA and operational profitability EBITDA increased significantly to -?0.3 million, up +?2.2 million compared to the first half of 2015. This performance was nevertheless impacted by the lower capitalization of R&D costs. Core Operating Profit (ROC) was -?1.8 million, with a -3.3% to the revenue margin, a marked improvement over the previous year. EBIT was -?2.8 million, that is, a margin of -5.1% on revenue, also up considerably compared to the first half of 2015. The increase is more limited than for EBITDA and ROC, primarily consequent to non-recurring costs linked to amortization of the intangible assets of ESI ITI GmbH. Attributable net profit/loss was -?3.5 million, that is, a net margin of -6.2% on revenue. It consists primarily of tax income of +?1.4 million and financial loss of -?1.6 million. The latter was impacted by the negative revaluation of certain foreign currency hedging tools, especially following the strong Yen increase in the six months period. A robust financial structure The cash available at closing was ?19.3 million compared to ?10.0 million on July 31, 2015. Net debt was ?23.7 million on July 31, 2016 while gearing (ratio of net debt to equity) was 26.7% as a result of recent acquisitions. Extension of the IVE offering and disruptive transition from ?PLM? to ?PPL? ESIs Immersive Virtual Engineering (IVE) solution offering for the full development and fabrication of industrial products is already significantly challenging the traditional PLM market. The solution is based on the creation of a reliable ?physics based? Virtual Prototype, manufactured, assembled and articulated component by component, and animated at the product ?system? level by the multiple connections, (e.g.: mechanical, hydraulic, electro-magnetic, etc.) that model component interactions within the operational and functional full product system. This extremely effective Virtual Prototyping approach is further enhanced by our unique Virtual Reality (VR) solution (IC-IDO) which allows users to share across distributed interdisciplinary teams worldwide and in real time their intended product as in real life, in an immersive 3D-4D environment, to enhance, facilitate and accelerate the decisionmaking process throughout the product development phase. However, to this date not much if anything is available to anticipate, improve and control what happens to the product after rolling off of the assembly line to be handed out to users??like us? ! This is where ESI?s next generation extended IVE approach comes in, and inaugurates the new era of ?Product Performance Lifecycle? (PPL), where the new product is further experienced and managed in the Virtual PPL space in its predicted and observed real life operational context. With this objective in mind and leveraging several years of carefully planned recent acquisitions, our proven IVE solutions are now solidly positioned to be extended to include the best promises of the Information and Communication Technologies (?ICT?5), which are poised to dramatically transform all industries towards the new paradigms of: ?Smart Factory?, Industry 4.0, Horizon 2020 etc., namely incorporating the exponential technologies of: ?Big Data?, ?Machine Learning?, ?Cloud mobility? and ?IoT?. This highly promising and transformational approach carried by our IVE and PPL strategies, is a source of considerable added value and benefits for most industries. It leads to a complete control of the product full lifecycle, including the basic phases of design and development of standard PLM while adding the disruptive virtual modeling of product performance in real life operation, connected or not, and addressing predictive maintenance through the full service life of the product. This unique value proposition, incorporating many disruptive innovations, comes from an original and distinctive technology growth strategy, pursued for a very long time by ESI and across multiple international partnerships and highly innovative co-creation industrial projects, to firmly position the Group to address the whole manufacturing and operational lifecycle of the product. This new PPL approach builds on the ability of ESIs IVE solutions, on the one hand, to combine and ?articulate? detailed 3D (spaced)-4D (time-dependent) level models, and on the other hand to integrate and ?animate? condensed and simplified 0D-1D level system models representing the complexity of the full product in real life operation. This highly innovative multi-level modeling opens the way to the development of smart products with increasing degrees of autonomy, expected to exploit the exponential growth of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and to derive huge benefits from Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, the Cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT). In this respect ESI Group recently took a highly relevant initiative when it shared its complete, transformational endeavor to connect its Virtual Prototyping expertise with the demand for controlled operational performance of autonomous and interconnected industrial products. Concurrently ESI is also making significant efforts to accelerate the commercial deployment of its IVE/PPL transformational approach and to target the very extensive and rapidly expanding community of professionals involved in product manufacturing and industrial processes for connected (or not) innovative and ?smart? products. For added momentum, ESI is also strengthening its global ecosystem, with, for example, the recent signature of a new strategic partnership with the Chinese ICT global leader ?Huawei?. The two companies are consolidating their collaboration in the fields of High Performance Computing (HPC) and Cloud flexibility to provide innovative solutions for industrial manufacturing, in China, Europe and the rest of the world. 5 ICT : Information and Communication Technologies For more ESI news, visit: www.esi-group.com/press Avalara Selected as Finalist for 2016 NC Tech Awards Posted by Publisher ERP, Internet DURHAM, NC (Marketwired) 09/20/16 Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, has been selected as a finalist for the mid-sized company of the year award. The NC Tech Awards is North Carolinas only statewide technology awards program, recognizing companies and individuals who have characterized excellence, innovation and leadership, presented by the . Before Avalara, tax automation was limited to enterprise customers that could afford large, on-premise installations and expensive hardware and software systems. Most small and medium-sized businesses had no choice but to manually manage their transactional tax compliance. Avalara addressed this huge unmet need and changed the nature of transactional tax automation forever by delivering the first SaaS-based sales tax solution for businesses of all sizes; one that took hours (or even minutes) to deploy vs. months. Since 1995, the NC Tech Awards have honored companies for outstanding achievement in the tech sector and use of technology. As a finalist in this years awards, Avalara has distinguished itself as one of the states technology leaders, stated Brooks Raiford, NCTAs President and CEO. A review committee comprised of non-profit, media, education, and technology leaders representing various regions of the state selected this years finalists. The awards process culminates with the NC Tech Awards Gala on November 10, 2016 at the Raleigh Convention Center where hundreds of leaders from across the state will gather to celebrate the tech sector and honor the winners and finalists in each category. Its an honor for Avalara to be recognized as an NC Tech Awards finalist alongside so many outstanding companies, said Matt Tormollen, Avalaras EVP/GM of Excise, CertCapture, and Communication. Since 2013, our operations in the Raleigh-Durham region have played a critical role in providing solutions designed to effectively and affordably manage the complicated and burdensome tax compliance obligations imposed by state, local, and other taxing authorities in the US and internationally. The North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) is a not-for-profit, membership-driven trade association and the primary voice of the technology industry in North Carolina. NCTA is the intersection of leadership and technology, fueling the growth of North Carolina through Executive Engagement, Public Affairs, and a Knowledge Workforce. For more information, visit our website at . Avalara helps businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with transactional taxes, including VAT, sales and use, excise, communications, and other tax types. We deliver comprehensive, automated, cloud-based solutions that are fast, accurate, and easy to use. Avalaras Compliance Cloud platform helps customers manage complicated and burdensome tax compliance obligations imposed by state, local, and other taxing authorities throughout the world. Avalara offers hundreds of pre-built connectors into leading accounting, ERP, ecommerce and other business applications. Each year, the company processes billions of tax transactions for customers and users, files hundreds of thousands of tax compliance documents and tax returns, and manages millions of exemption certificates and other compliance related documents. A privately held company, Avalaras venture capital investors include Sageview Capital, Battery Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Technology Crossover Ventures, Arthur Ventures, and other institutional and individual investors. Avalaras headquarters are in Seattle, WA and it has offices across the U.S. and Brighton and London, England; Brussels, Belgium; and Pune, India. More information at: Image Available: Embedded Video Available: Jordan Wise Communications Coordinator 919-890-0776 Sheri Renner Director of Corporate Communications 206-769-1780 UltraSoC supports RISC-V: the Linux of the semiconductor industry Posted by Publisher Semiconductors CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, 20th September 2016 UltraSoC, the leading provider of semiconductor IP for on-chip analytics, performance optimization and hardware-based security, today announced that it will provide support within its universal system-on-chip (SoC) debug solution for products based on the RISC-V open-source instruction architecture (ISA). The company also lent its support to the RISC-V Foundation, the non-profit corporation that directs the development and drives the adoption of the RISC-V ISA, which many observers believe will evolve to be the Linux of the semiconductor industry. RISC-V was originally designed to support computer architecture research and education, but as concern has grown in the industry about the increasing dominance of one or two proprietary microprocessor architectures, the RISC-V ISA has aroused interest as a potential open architecture for commercial use. A strong development and debug infrastructure is essential to the success of any chip architecture, and UltraSoCs vendor-neutral, partnership-based approach perfectly complements the RISC-V open ISA principles. RISC-V has attracted the interest of leaders like Google and HP, said David Kanter of The Microprocessor Report. The open-source nature of RISC-V is novel, and gives many companies a new opportunity to innovate with specialized hardware components for emerging applications. As with any processor architecture, the RISC-V ISA needs many complementary software and hardware elements to create a full solution. Advanced, vendor-neutral development, debug and analytics support is essential. As such, the participation of specialist firms like UltraSoC is an important step for the RISC-V community. We are delighted to welcome UltraSoC to the RISC-V community, said Rick OConnor, Executive Director of the RISC-V Foundation. With the Foundation we are building a complete eco-system: end users, processor architects, tools vendors and supporting components. UltraSoCs debug and development tools will be a great addition to the community. UltraSoCs silicon IP and software tools will provide the RISC-V community with secure, independent on-chip capabilities that non-intrusively monitor and analyze the devices internal behavior. These powerful features speed development and reduce risk for chip designers both pre- and post-silicon. They ease the often complex task of writing and debugging software for complex devices, and allow robust hardware-based security features that can detect unexpected behavior caused by bugs or by malicious interference (Bare Metal Security). UltraSoC is compatible with open-source design automation tools such as GDB, as well as a wide variety of commercial third-party products from leaders such as Lauterbach and Teledyne LeCroy. Were delighted to be able to support RISC-V, and were committed to doing whatever we can to make it a success, said Rupert Baines, UltraSoC CEO. Our stance is vendor neutral and ecosystem based. We aim to create a universal development and debug infrastructure in which designers can freely choose the best architecture for the job and mix and match their own IP with in-house blocks to create uniquely differentiated products. I believe our approach is an excellent fit with the aims and aspirations of the RISC-V movement. Did you know that Cincinnati has nine sister cities across the world?From youth ambassador and teacher exchange programs to swapping economic, medical, art and culinary ideas, Cincinnati is able to both share and learn from others.Last week, Cincinnati and Nancy, France , which is located in the northeastern region of the country, celebrated 25 years of partnership.One way that partnership is highlighted is through the Place de Cincinnati, described by President of the Cincinnati-Nancy France Sister City Association Carla Walker as a bricks and mortar manifestation of the friendship, and a model for what municipal cooperation between sister cities can look like.Its located at the center of an urban renewal project in Nancy, and is the product of a collaborative effort between Cincinnati Parks and Nancy municipal departments.Anyone walking through the plaza or living in that area becomes familiar with Cincinnati, Walker says.And French delegates who convened in Cincinnati last week took ideas for best practice with them to Nancy, as they toured local hospitals and met with representatives from local colleges.Cincinnati has gained a municipal partner with which we can share, learn and explore ways of addressing challenges, Walker says. We've gained invaluable friendships at all levels throughout our community, including but not limited to educators, entrepreneurs, artisans, healthcare professionals and the public sector. We've offered the same in return. Like and follow the Cincinnati-Nancy France Sister City Association on Facebook Get involved by becoming a member, and help to create future projects, build connections and learn more about Nancy, France. Contact the nonprofit if you are interested. Membership is only $10. Learn more about other Cincinnati Sister Cities Fayna and Antons dream was to get married by the sea. They were looking for a place with gorgeous cliff views, palm trees and good weather on a dream island. I mean, we can all identify with that wish, right? Well, Faye and Anton made that dream a reality in the Canary Islands - take a look at their beautiful wedding below. Since they first got together, Fayna and Anton have felt closely bound to Lanzarote, so there was no other choice when it came to deciding where to marry. Their story dates back to 1999 when they both decided to set out on an adventure to Groningen, the Netherlands. Fayna had family residing in Lanzarote and so they frequently visited the gorgeous island. For them, it's their private piece of paradise where they feel at home: they love the tranquil beaches and the cooling sea breeze that flows through the palm trees. For them, every corner brings back perfect memories. If you can handle the jealousy, just take a look at some of the couple's wedding photos. You couldn't ask for a more idyllic location: Boda en Canarias Your browser cannot play this video. video by Cristina Garcia-Adan Ready to organise their wedding, Fayna and Anton made the decision to enter our competition at siquieroislascanarias.com, where we were giving away the chance to win a fairytale wedding. In exchange, all they needed to do was activate a virtual wedding signature book where friends of the participating couples had to tell us exactly why that couple deserved their dream day. There was no doubt - these two dreamboats were our chosen couple, and their love for the Canary Islands was overwhelming. They received a whopping 300 comments from their friends and family keen to tell us why they felt Fayna and Anton were the perfect couple for this comp. One of the conditions for winning was to obtain the largest number of signatures, and these two were the outright winners. It was much more than just a competition - it was the dream start to their perfect life together. They chose Lanzarote as one of their first trips as a couple. After the birth of their daughters, they continued making family trips to the Canary Islands, and now have sealed their love in the same place where they had already made so many memories: For me travelling to Lanzarote is like coming home. The island has a special charm that I really love. Anton and I decided to call our eldest daughter Yaiza, to have the island ever-present, Fayna told us. Furthermore, Faynas grandfather has a street named after him in Arrecife, commemorating his work on the island. The waves, the breeze, the sand and the sunset make the Canary Islands the most romantic scenario to say 'I do'. Plus, unlike unpredictable ol' England, you're almost guaranteed to come away with some stunning pictures of a gloriously sunny day with your loved ones. Just check out Anton and Fayna's snaps - you can't get a more gorgeous scene than that, right? If you're worried that planning a wedding abroad is stressful, don't panic - that stress is taken off your shoulders by the island's many hotels and wedding planners who offer comprehensive packages, working with you to ensure your wedding is everything you wished for. If that wasn't enough to convince you, the fact your guests can top up their tans before the big day and guaranteed good weather may just do the trick. If you want more inspiration for your dream day, visit siquieroislascanarias.com - you'll find plenty of interesting ideas and suggestions to take note of in your wedding planner. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up for the latest news on climate change and how you can help Every year, the time comes when the people of Somerset need to be aware of Asian hornets. The insect has been spotted around the South West and with a couple close to Somerset. Defra is taking major action to tackle the insects, which pose a real threat to our native species of bees, and the Government body says it has been planning for this for a number of years as the insect's population across Europe and even the Channel Islands has grown since the early 2000s. READ MORE: Jellyfish washed up on Somerset beaches - what you should do if you get stung But what do you need to know? The Great British Non-native Species Website, affiliated with Defra, issued a 'species alert' in 2018 that warned people that the insects had been spotted around the Westcountry. It said: "Vespa velutina, also known as the Asian hornet is an invasive non-native species from Asia. It arrived in France in 2004 where it spread rapidly. "As a highly effective predator of insects, including honey bees and other beneficial species, it can cause significant losses to bee colonies, and potentially other native species. "The National Bee Unit has confirmed a sighting of the Asian hornet in the Tetbury area of Gloucestershire in September 2016 - the first time the hornet has been discovered in the UK. "The places it is most likely to be found are in southern parts of England or goods among which it could be accidentally imported (such as soil with imported pot plants, cut flowers, fruit and timber). "Active months between April and November (peak August/September). Inactive over the winter." Warnings in Somerset were also given in 2020 in a bid to defend the county's bee population from the hornets, whose sting can be fatal and their arrival decimate native pollinators. The British Beekeeping Association has also dubbed September 6-10 this year as 'Asian Hornet Week 2021' in a bid to help spread awareness of the insects and the damage they can cause. It said: "We are asking everyone to be vigilant in looking out for this alien species, the Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina. This hornet could decimate our pollinators including our honey bees, it is important to have everyone actively looking for it." So here is everything you need to know about Asian hornets, how to recognise them and what to do about them. What should I do if I come across an Asian Hornet? Stay away from their nests to avoid group attack, they do not generally sting without provocation. Don't run. They can fly faster than you can run and are intrigued by moving targets and consider running a provocation. Crouch low to the ground, stop moving and try to cover your head. Giant hornets are excited by bright colours so wear brown or black. They are drawn to perfume and aftershave. They're also agitated by the smell of alcohol. Sightings should be sent with a photograph and location details to alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk Do not under any circumstances disturb or provoke an active hornets' nest The cost of eradication on private land will be met by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, who can be contacted through Defra on the Defra Rural Services Helpline on 03000 200 301. The Helpline is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. There is an out of hours facility on the same number for reporting suspicion of disease in animals. You can also email apha.corporatecorrespondence@apha.gsi.gov.uk. For Wales, contact 0300 303 8268. What does it look like? Distinctive hornet, smaller than our native European Hornet species. A key feature is the almost entirely dark abdomen, except for the 4th segment which is yellow. Bright yellow tips to legs (native hornet dark) Entirely brown or black thorax (native hornet more orange) Workers can be up to 25mm in length. Makes very large nests Most likely to be confused with European Hornet. Less likely to be confused with queen Median Wasp. Main difference between European Hornet and Asian Hornet is the latter is slightly smaller, has characteristic yellow legs, a dark velvety thorax and a dark abdomen with a distinctive yellow band on the fourth segment. Asian Hornets are never active at night whereas European Hornets may be. Median Wasp queen is smaller, has some yellow on the thorax (unlike Asian Hornet) and lacks the characteristic feet and abdomen of Asian Hornet. Asian Hornet Not easily confused with any other species. Dark brown or black velvety body. Looking for today's top stories in one place? Sign up for our newsletter here. Where would I see one? Most likely to be seen close to bee hives - bee keepers should be alert. Active from February to November in suburban areas in the south of England and Wales, or around major ports. Habitat: Nests usually high in trees and man-made structures, sometimes closer to the ground; hunts honey bees, other insects and also feeds on fruit and flowers. What else do I need to know? Introduced to France in 2004 where it has spread rapidly. High possibility of introduction through, for example, soil associated with imported plants, cut flowers, fruit, garden items (furniture, plant pots), freight containers, or in/on untreated timber. The possibility that it could fly across the Channel has not been ruled out. A highly aggressive predator of native insects. Poses a significant threat to honey bees and other pollinators. Poses no more risk to humans than the native European Hornet, which can kill only when a person suffers Anaphylaxis - a severe allergic reaction - to a sting. Want our best stories with fewer ads and alerts when the biggest news stories drop? Download our app on iPhone or Android. 5 seats up for election on St. Joseph County Council, majority at stake Five of the nine seats on the St. Joseph County Council are up for election By Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC members may call an extraordinary meeting to discuss oil prices if they reach consensus at an informal gathering in Algiers this month, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said during a visit to Algeria, the country's state news agency APS reported on Sunday. Barkindo said he was optimistic about the meeting in Algeria on Sept. 26-28. He has previously said discussions in Algiers will be consultations and no major decisions will be made during talks with OPEC and non-OPEC producers. "The informal gathering was proposed as a move to having an extraordinary meeting with the aim of taking decisions to stabilize the market," Barkindo said. Algeria's Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa last week said there was a consensus among OPEC and non-OPEC members about the need to stabilize the oil market, and has been pushing for a price around $50 to $60 a barrel. "Algeria has a proposal for participants in the Algiers meeting. Consultations with our partners show there is a consensus around the need to stabilize the market. That is already a positive," Bouterfa said. The secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has said the group is not seeking a definite price range for oil but stability for the market. Russia, Iran and other major oil producers are due to take part in the Algiers meeting. Several OPEC producers have called for an output freeze to rein in an oil glut that triggered a price collapse in the last two years, hitting the revenues of major producers. Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia agreed this month to cooperate in oil markets, saying they could limit future output. (This version of the story changes the source of second quote to minister) (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Susan Fenton and Dale Hudson) Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea WASHINGTON Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said he would donate his $250,000 winnings from the Heinlein Prize for commercial space achievements to the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. While Bezos had been announced as the third winner of the prize in June, he was formally given the award, established in the name of the late science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Sept. 14. Bezos was recognized for developing launch vehicles and rocket engines that could lead to greater reusability in space transportation. In a short speech and subsequent question-and-answer session, Bezos said he would donate the money to the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. SEDS is a non-profit organization aims to help young people participate in space exploration efforts. Bezos, who was an early member of the Princeton chapter of the group in the early 1980s, said he hoped the organization "would continue to do great work." One of SEDS' founders, Peter Diamandis, won the inaugural Heinlein Prize in 2006 for his efforts in establishing the X Prize, which is aimed at stimulating the development of the commercial suborbital reusable launch vehicle. "Books have always meant a lot to me, but not as much as they meant to you," Diamonds joked with Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com who is now thought to be worth more than $60 billion. Bezos is the founder of commercial space company Blue Origin, which is testing its New Shepard reusable suborbital vehicle and is developing its BE-3 and BE-4 rocket engines. He announced Sept. 1 that the Kent, Washington company also is developing a family of orbital rockets it's calling New Glenn. SpaceX founder Elon Musk also won the award in 2011 for his development of the now-retired Falcon 1. When asked about a perceived competition with Blue Origin and SpaceX, Bezos said, "Great industries are never made from single companies. There is room in space for a lot of winners." This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. Neil deGrasse Tyson with his daughter Miranda Tyson, who is now much older than the skeptical kindergartener Tyson described her as, at the 2016 Primetime Creative Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California. It's A-OK to captivate your child with the story of the tooth fairy, right? Nope, not if it entails telling a big, fat whopper, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson told "The Late Late Show with James Corden" early Thursday morning (Sept. 15). "We're not going to lie to them," Tyson said to Corden. "The universe is amazing enough that you don't have to invent stuff just to keep kids entertained." [Easy Answers to the Top 5 Science Questions Kids Ask] But is that the right way to handle the tooth fairy story? Live Science asked three experts to share their views. Though these experts said they all admired the tack Tyson took, they also noted that there's no one way to address the famous fairy. Fairy skeptic During the show, Corden asked Tyson whether his scientific training ever found its way into his home life. Turns out it has: When the scientist's daughter, Miranda, lost her first tooth, in kindergarten, Tyson and his wife told the girl that they had heard that if you put a tooth under a pillow, the tooth fairy visits. Then, they surreptitiously swapped the tooth for money after Miranda went to sleep. The next morning, Miranda excitedly showed them the prize. That's when they put on their skeptics' hats. "We said, 'How do you know it was the tooth fairy?'" Tyson said. "She said, 'Oh no, I don't know. I just know that there's money here.'" Miranda needed more proof, so she set up fairy booby traps, but they didn't work, Tyson said. Then Miranda told her friends, who suspected, as many little kids do, that the fairy was actually their parents. The children agreed that whoever lost a tooth at school next would neglect to tell her parents, but would still hide that tooth under her pillow to see whether the fairy would come. When that day came, the kids waited with suspense. But the tooth stayed a tooth. Tyson said his daughter's experiment made him proud, and he added that he wasn't concerned that his daughter was missing out on the tooth fairy experience. Children use their imaginations all of the time for instance, when they play make-believe with toys, Tyson said. "They can use their imagination for things where imagination belongs, but not [on] some hoax perpetrated by adults on children," Tyson said. Critical thinking There's no evidence that telling children that the tooth fairy exists is harmful, and many children have pleasant memories of the tale, said Gail Heyman, a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego. However, Tyson's approach is creative because it encourages critical thinking, Heyman said. "I really like Tysons approach, and part of the reason I like it is because I am a researcher and I highly value critical thinking," Heyman said. "Based on what we know about developmental psychology, taking this kind of approach will help children learn to think for themselves." [11 Facts Every Parent Should Know About Their Baby's Brain] She noted, however, that not all parents value critical thinking at this age. "It certainly can make parenting more challenging, because children who think critically are especially likely to question what their parents tell them," Heyman said. Heyman said that when she had children, she told them "we were going to play tooth fairy and made it clear that it was a pretend game," she said. "I didn't want them to miss out on the fun, but I also didn't want to lie to them." Likewise, Paul Harris, a professor of education at Harvard University, applauded Tyson for encouraging critical thought, but also found it "provocative." "I wonder if he also encourages children to test out the efficacy of prayer in the same way and how the audience would react if he did so," Harris said. But most parents don't teach their kids to question the tooth fairy, the experts said. Instead, "in certain families, people go a good distance, meaning they really put in a good effort, to protect a child's misconception," said Melissa Koenig, an associate professor at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. However, there are actually myriad factors that influence a child's belief in mythical beings. In a 2004 study in the journal Developmental Science, researchers made up a new fantastical entity: "the candy witch." Older preschoolers who were "visited" by the candy witch, meaning their parents stealthily swapped some of their Halloween candy for a toy, were more likely to believe in her than those who were not visited, the researchers found. Also, children who were more inclined toward fantasy, and who believed in other fantastical beings, such as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, were more likely to believe in the witch. "If you've been perpetuating the Santa Claus myth since birth at Christmastime, that correlation [in the study] suggests that you're making the tooth fairy myth, which comes a little later, a little more believable," said Koenig, who was not involved in the study. Original article on Live Science. Pluto and its largest moon Charon are classified as a binary system because the central point of their orbits lies beyond Pluto's surface. Astronomers may have found the first binary planets ever observed beyond our solar system. The two objects straddle the dividing line between gas giants and odd "failed stars" known as brown dwarfs in terms of mass, researchers said. The newfound bodies are also similar to each other in size and age. "They're probably brother and sister," Daniella Gagliuffi told Space.com. Gagliuffi, a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, found the objects amid a cloud of stars about 65 light-years from Earth. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets] "It's a little incestuous," said Gagliuffi, who presented her research at the American Astronomical Society's summer meeting in San Diego in June. The pair lie within a dense cluster of stars that would normally be expected to strip objects away from one another. However, observations suggest that the two objects are so close that interactions with other stars would instead push them closer together, Gagliuffi said. Planets or failed stars? Galaxies are filled with stars, but they also include faint drifting objects with characteristics that make their status debatable. Such objects can be classified either as planets or as failed stars, given a blurry dividing line between the two. That's the case for the two objects Gagliuffi identified in a search for failed stars known as brown dwarfs. Gagliuffi sought brown dwarfs that could help her probe the lower boundary of what makes a star. Unlike stars, brown dwarfs fail to fuse "normal" hydrogen in their interior. But these odd objects are apparently capable of fusing deuterium, or "heavy" hydrogen, a feat that kicks in when a body is around 13 times as massive as Jupiter. The newfound pair weigh in at roughly 15 and 14 times the mass of Jupiter. But the error bars associated with those estimates are wide enough that they may actually be in the planetary range. "Their mass is straddling the deuterium-burning limit," Gagliuffi said. So, the twins could be a pair of planets dancing around a central point of mass (in which case they would be the history-making exoplanet binary), but they could also be a pair of brown dwarfs, or a brown dwarf hosting a massive gas giant planet. To complicate the matter, both brown dwarfs and young gas giants produce light so weak that it is difficult to study their composition or differentiate them from one another. And massive young planets produce heat from within, slowly cooling over their lifetimes. Gagliuffi's studies show the pair are between 200 million and 300 million years old young enough to confuse the issue. A rare find Pairs of brown dwarfs are abundant throughout the Milky Way galaxy, but young binaries are not so common, Gagliuffi said. If the siblings turn out to be failed stars, they could provide intriguing insights into their family's formation history. Binary worlds also are thought to be rare. Our solar system is considered by some to host one pair of planets. The dwarf planet Pluto and its largest moon Charon orbit a point of mass outside the boundaries of each, making Pluto-Charon a binary system. Astronomers have yet to confirm the existence of any binary exoplanets. The newfound twin worlds drift through what Gagliuffi calls "a whole zoo of different stars," only about 926 million miles (1.49 billion kilometers) apart. While that sounds like an enormous distance it is 10 times the distance between the Earth and the sun, after all it's actually extremely close for worlds from two different systems. She and her colleagues think it's unlikely that the pair are just drifting close to one another by chance. "Given that they're so close, it's extremely likely that they're bound," Gagliuffi said. It's possible that the pair is connected to a third, more distant star that they orbit together. No such star has been identified, but many binary systems are actually triples, and Gagliuffi will look for a parent star as she continues this work. Of course, the pair may also be drifting alone without adult supervision. Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect that 926 million miles is 1.49 billion kilometers, not 1.49 trillion kilometers as previously stated. Follow Nola Taylor Redd on Twitter @NolaTRedd or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. The Gulfstream IV carrying NASA's PRISM instrument that is being used by NASA's CORAL mission to study the status of coral reefs. NASA has turned one of its aerial instruments toward Australia's Great Barrier Reef, in an effort to study the destruction of this natural wonder and other coral reefs around the world. The agency's aptly titled CORAL mission (short for COral Reef Airborne Laboratory) will study four major coral-reef systems using data gathered by an instrument mounted in the belly of an airplane. The CORAL team set up camp in Australia earlier this month, and after some bad-weather days, the first science flights over the Great Barrier Reef took place Sept. 9, a NASA representative told Space.com. [Images: Colorful Corals of the Deep Barrier Reef] A depiction of how the PRISM instrument will be used by the CORAL mission to take data on coral reefs from the air. (Image credit: NASA/CORAL) Changing oceans The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of about 133,000 square miles (344,400 square kilometers), and is the largest structure on Earth made by living organisms, according to a statement from NASA. But this natural wonder, like many other coral reefs around the world, is showing serious signs of decline. As corals die, they are replaced with flat beds of algae and sand; this is a natural occurrence, but typically new corals also appear to replace the old ones. Instead, coral reefs are "degrading at alarming rates due to human-induced factors and global change," thestatement said. Efforts to assess the damage are sparse, and data sets that do exist aren't uniform, making it hard to see the bigger picture. "Virtually all reef assessments to date rely on in-water survey techniques that are laborious, expensive and limited in spatial scope," Eric Hochberg, CORAL principal investigator, said in the statement. "Very little of Earth's reef area has been directly surveyed." Hochberg, an associate professor at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), said scientists also need to build models that can help scientists predict how these reefs will react to "the full range of biological and environmental factors that affect them." To that end, Hochberg said CORAL addresses "an urgent need in the face of ongoing worldwide reef degradation." The CORAL mission will include some in-water data collection, but that will mainly be used to validate the data taken aerially with the Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRISM). The instrument is built into a modified Gulfstream IV aircraft, built by Tempus Solutions. The plane is about the size of a small commercial aircraft. Other Gulfstream IV's have been modified by NOAA and used to study hurricanes and cyclones. The PRISM instrument collects sunlight reflected off the reefs "in the specific regions of the electromagnetic spectrum important to coral reef scientists," according to the statement. The data will be analyzed "against data for 10 key biological and environmental factors affecting coral reef ecosystems, acquired from pre-existing data sources." The CORAL team will continue to collect data on the Great Barrier Reef through the end of October. Later this year, the program will move to study reefs around the Hawaiian Islands; in the spring of 2017, the mission will take aerial observations of the reefs around two island archipelagos east of the Philippines: the Mariana Islands and Palau. From that comprehensive data set, scientists will be able to search for widespread trends between the state of coral reefs, and the factors (both natural and human-produced) that affect their health. Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Israeli security forces stand guard at the entrance of the West Bank village of Bani Naim, east of Hebron, on September 20, 2016 (AFP Photo/Hazem Bader) Hebron (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A Palestinian teenager tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday before being shot dead, officials said, the latest death in a flare-up of violence. An Israeli army statement said the assailant attempted to stab the soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Bani Naim. "Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death," it said. The Palestinian health ministry identified the alleged assailant as Issa Tarayra, 16, from Bani Naim. Tuesday's incident was the ninth since Friday, coming after Palestinians wrapped up the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha and as Israel tightened security ahead of major Jewish holidays in October. The upsurge has shattered several weeks of relative calm. The recent attacks have mostly taken place in and around Hebron in the occupied West Bank and in annexed east Jerusalem. Hebron also saw clashes between stone-throwing youths and Israeli soldiers later on Tuesday. There was also a confrontation between a Palestinian man and Israeli soldiers who were stopping and checking cars. The argument degenerated into scuffles and pushing back and forth. Soldiers were seen beating the man before arresting him, according to footage recorded by an AFP video journalist. Some Palestinians in the area described the man as mentally challenged. Contacted by AFP, an Israeli military spokesman said he would look into it and had no immediate comment. Meanwhile, an Israeli policewoman stabbed outside Jerusalem's Old City on Monday was in serious condition in intensive care. - 'Copycat effect'? - After that attack, which also left another police officer with moderate wounds, Israeli authorities closed Palestinian shops in the area. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the closures were ordered so officers could search the area, but some shopkeepers questioned whether it was punishment for the stabbing. Story continues The assailant in that case was shot and seriously wounded. Surveillance video showed him approaching the officers from behind before stabbing them. The Israeli army called the recent escalation of violence "further testament to the ongoing influence of incitement on the Palestinian street and social media networks". An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was the possibility of a "copycat effect" of one attack influencing another. The official said tensions may also be rising because of Palestinian "online incitement" against Jewish visits to the Old City's ultra-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound which are expected to increase during next month's holidays. The compound is the third holiest site for Muslims and the most sacred for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians fearing that Israel will eventually seek to assert further control over it. Since October, 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with the Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest. Astronauts who flew on the first two space shuttle missions, Dick Truly, Joe Engle and Bob Crippen, celebrated their historic flights' 35th anniversaries at a Sept. 17, 2016 gala in Houston. Also pictured, STS-1 and STS-2 capcom Dan Brandenstein (at right). HOUSTON NASA's first space shuttle launch, 35 years ago, demonstrated that a winged orbiter could lift off like a rocket and land like an airplane, able to fly again. For the two astronauts who flew on that second mission the world's first launch of a "used" orbital spacecraft that maiden mission, crewed by John Young and Bob Crippen, also cleared a large hurdle for the space shuttle flights that followed, beginning with their own. "It was a great confidence builder that Crip and John flew it through ascent, got it on orbit, performed the mission and got it back on the ground. That was a big, big confidence builder," Joe Engle, STS-2 mission commander, remarked at a gala celebrating the 35th anniversaries of the first two space shuttle missions on Saturday (Sept. 17). [NASA's First Space Shuttle Flight: STS-1 (Photos)] "Here was a brand new vehicle, [that weighed] a couple of hundred thousand pounds at landing. [It] had never been through ascent or been through entry, and they did it. That took a load off the remaining shuttle missions, specifically STS-2," added Richard "Dick" Truly, who piloted the orbiter Columbia on that second flight. Engle and Truly joined Crippen at Space Center Houston, where hundreds turned out to celebrate the crewmembers' contributions to history. The dinner benefited the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which to date has awarded more than $4 million to more than 400 college students excelling in science, technology and engineering degrees. Moonwalker, rocket plane pilot and MOL men "John Young was the chief of the Astronaut Office, he had flown twice on Gemini, twice on Apollo, including walking on the moon on Apollo 16, so I thought well, I know I did and I think a lot of other people did that John was going to be the guy to command that first flight," said Crippen of the crew selection for STS-1. Young was unable to attend Saturday's celebration. Crippen and Truly came to NASA from the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) after that secret space station program was canceled without ever flying in 1969. Crippen, unlike Truly, had applied to join the MOL corps of astronauts. "Richard never applied to be an astronaut, at all," Crippen said. "When he was at test pilot school, Chuck Yeager and some [other officials] decided that these are the people we ought to have on the MOL program. They didn't ask them, they just assumed they'd want to go. So, he [Truly] did." "I am the only person who has flown [in space] that never applied," Truly affirmed. Engle arrived at NASA having already flown to space on a rocket-powered winged airplane. As an Air Force test pilot, he flew 16 suborbital flights on board the X-15 rocket plane between 1963 and 1965. On three flights, Engle exceeded 50 miles (80 km), earning him Air Force astronaut wings. "I was thrilled then, and I am thrilled to this day, that I got assigned with Joe Henry Engle to fly the [prototype orbiter] Enterprise off the top of the 747 [Shuttle Carrier Aircraft] and then backed up John and Crip. Then Joe and I flew on STS-2," said Truly. [8 Surprising Space Shuttle Facts] Taking control of the space shuttle "It had wings [and] it was going to have a stick and rudder pedals. Of course pilots really love stick and rudder pedals because it gives them something to do with their hands and feet," joked Engle while speaking of the development of the shuttle. "But initially it wasn't quite like that. Here at Johnson Space Center, for example, we were told, 'Yeah, you can have a stick to hold onto, but it won't be hooked up to anything." NASA did not have the funds set aside to develop a new control system for the orbiter. So instead, they suggested the pilots could use the equipment that had already flown and been certified for use in space the Apollo attitude and translation control handles. But the moon capsule did not have wings and splashed down, rather than glided to a landing. "They [the Apollo handles] were not built to fly airplanes," recalled Engle. "They had very high break-out forces. You had to push relatively hard to get any type of a signal to the computer to make the airplane change attitude." "It took a while to convince people that we just could not land an airplane like that. So a lot of the airplane systems had to be developed because the shuttle wasn't really an airplane, but you had to go through the airplane part of the shuttle to get it on the ground, the part where everybody could see you come back and land." "And that was the important part," Engle said to laughter. Even with a proper set of controls though, the shuttle flew like no other winged craft, so Engle, Truly, Crippen and the other pilots had to learn how to fly the orbiter. "You would make an input into the system and sometimes there was a significant delay between the airplane doing what you wanted it to do, up to a full second," said Engle. "In the landing portion of the flight, where your gains are very high and the pilot-to-airplane loop gets very tight, one second is just intolerable, unless you have had some very good disciplinary training." "It was like riding a horse," he continued. "It was like riding a very high-spirited black stallion, if you will. Some horses you have really got to jerk on the reigns to get them to go where you want them to go. Some, if you do that, well, you might as well figure out how soft the ground is... because that is where you're going to be." "And that is the way the shuttle was, you just had to learn how to communicate with it. You were not communicating with it, you were communicating with the computers, which in turn told the airplane what to do," Engle described. Dick Truly and Joe Engle, who flew together on STS-2, reunite with STS-1 pilot Bob Crippen and ascent capcom Dan Brandenstein at an Astronaut Scholarship Foundation gala celebrating the missions' 35th anniversary, Sept. 17, 2016 in Houston. (Image credit: collectSPACE.com) 'Very unspacey' The space shuttle was the first crewed launch vehicle to fly with astronauts on its first flight. Proposals were put forth at NASA as to whether to modify the vehicle so it could fly autonomously, but Young and Crippen insisted otherwise. "John and I lobbied very hard that we thought the mission would have a better chance of success if we were aboard. Thank goodness that was the decision that prevailed," said Crippen. The STS-1 crew launched on the space shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on a two day and six hour mission that put the space transportation system through its paces. "When it lifted off, it was an exciting moment in my life, as well as in everyone else's who worked on the program," said Crippen, adding that his favorite memories of the flight were, "like John says, 'the parts between the take-off and landing.'" [Space Shuttle's Maiden Launch and Landing (Video)] For Engle and Truly, their STS-2 launch on Nov. 12, 1981, was immediately memorable for the noise it made. "We launched and went through the vibrations of launch, which was very impressive," stated Engle. "And very loud and noisy very unspacey, by the way it was like an old pickup truck with a lot of loose tools in the back." "As soon as we lifted off, I didn't think they had screwed all of the things down," Truly remarked. "I never heard such a rattling in all my life." Engle's and Truly's mission had been planned to last twice as long as Young's and Crippen's, but a failed fuel cell cut their mission short. "We flew almost exactly the same duration on board STS-2 as STS-1," said Truly. "But we had five days of potatoes to put in a 2.5-day sack. I went through the flight plan after the mission and I figured that we got maybe two, two-and-and-half hours' sleep." In addition to proving the shuttle was reusable, the STS-2 crew was also the first power the Canadarm robotic arm in Columbia's payload bay. World's greatest flying machine The space shuttle Columbia went on to fly 26 more times, out of the 135 missions of the 30-year program. Columbia and its STS-107 crew waslost in flight in February 2003 in the second accident involving a shuttle orbiter. The remaining space shuttle fleet was retired in 2011 after the assembly of the International Space Station. Today, the shuttle orbiters Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis, as well as the prototype Enterprise, are displayed in museums as NASA pursues a return to capsules to take its astronauts to and from the space station and to destinations beyond low Earth orbit. The space shuttle was originally envisioned as the vehicle that would reduce the cost of spaceflight, making missions routine a never realized hope and plan that, according to Truly, troubled NASA over the course of the program. "If you remember, it was going to be easy, it was going to be fairly cheap, it was going to fly 60 times a year," Truly stated. "Even though the people at Johnson Space Center and at the other contractors very quickly realized it was not going to do those things, that early selling job haunted us throughout the program." "It is still, to me, the world's greatest flying machine," Truly said to applause. Star-studded celebration Crippen, Engle and Truly delivered their remarks as part of a discussion with astronaut Dan Brandenstein, who served as the ascent capsule communicator (CapCom) for STS-1 and STS-2 before he went on to launch on four missions of his own, including commanding the first flight of the shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Brandenstein now serves as the chairman of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Among the 230 guests who joined in the celebration were other members of the STS-1 and STS-2 teams, including veteran flight director and shuttle program manager Glynn Lunney, controllers Marianne Dyson, James Oberg and Bill Moon, and crew trainer Stokes McMillan. Michael Griffin, former NASA Administrator, also attended. Other astronauts attending the gala included Apollo 7 pilot Walt Cunningham and shuttle veterans Bonnie Dunbar, Bill Thornton, Scott Parazynski and Eileen Collins. collectSPACE.com was proud to be the media sponsor for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation STS-1 and STS-2 35th anniversary celebration. See more photos from the STS-1 and STS-2 35th anniversary celebration at collectSPACE. Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2016 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved. Evidence suggests that microbes existed on Earth as far back as 3.7 billion years ago, a billion years after the planet formed. Animal remains, however, don't appear in the fossil record until 600 million years ago during the Ediacaran period, though there are indirect signs that animal life may have gotten started much earlier. Scientists are attempting to put a date on the earliest lifeforms in the kingdom of Animalia, but without an actual cast of a body they've had to rely on the credibility of "trace" fossils to show signs of an animal's presence in the form of footprints, scratches, feeding marks or burrows. Some scientists claim to have found trace fossils made by animals more than a billion years ago, raising controversy over whether animal life could have existed this early. There are also trace fossils from the Ediacaran Period and soft bodied animals were known to exist during this period, so understanding the tracks they made is important for studying the early animals. Giulio Mariotti, an oceanographer from Louisiana State University, and colleagues, examined supposed animal trace fossils from the Ediacaran Period, and found that it is possible that some of them could be microbial in origin. The results, which were recently published in a paper entitled "Microbial Origin of Early Animal Trace Fossils" in the Journal of Sedimentary Research, raise questions about the reliability of trace fossils as evidence for early animal life. [Alien Life, Landscapes and the Art of Space (Gallery)] The research was funded by the Exobiology & Evolutionary Biology element of the NASA Astrobiology Program. Ancient microbial mats Many of the Ediacaran animal trace fossils are found within "wrinkle" structures, small ridges and pits interpreted as evidence of ancient microbial mats. Microbial mats are comprised of layers of microorganisms, and fossilized mats are among the earliest clear signs of microbial life. Microbial mats were widespread in the Precambrian, the period before animal life became extremely common and diverse. But the mats were no longer able to flourish in certain marine areas when grazing animals became more abundant because the animals destroyed the structures. Mariotti and colleagues devised an experiment to try to create trails of grooves and pits similar to the trace fossils. They did this by moving microbial aggregates across sand at the bottom of a tank of water by creating waves in the water. Microbial aggregates are small cluster of microbes which are larger than sand but less dense. This low density enables them to be moved across the sand at the bottom of the tank by very low energy waves. Trace fossils, such as this one caused by a trilobite, are trails or footprints left behind by an animal. The trilobite moved from right to left and then partially buried itself, leaving an impression. Not all trace fossils are as easily identifiable, particularly ones of early life. (Image credit: Stefano Novello) The use of low energy waves is important as waves with higher energy would also erase the trail left in the sand. A wide variety of trails were produced by the aggregates depending on the wave conditions and the size of the aggregate. Some of these trails were strikingly similar to those that are currently deemed to be Ediacaran trace fossils, meaning that it is possible that some trace fossils are actually not fossils at all and are instead caused by the movement of microbial aggregates. However, not only did the trails produced by the wave tank experiment replicate the supposed animal traces, the experiment also produced a wrinkle structure in the sand. The aggregates caused the wrinkle structure when they were smaller than the amplitude of the wave, where as the trails were formed when the aggregates were larger than the wave amplitude. This research does not necessarily mean that all early trace fossils were caused by microbial aggregates, however it does put forward a plausible alternative explanation for those that occur alongside wrinkle structures. Therefore, possible trace fossils from the Ediacaran period or earlier should be looked upon with skepticism until it is possible to rule out microbial aggregates as a cause of the grooves and pits in the rock. [Life on Mars: Exploration & Evidence] The images on the left show Ediacaran trace fossils, and the images on the right show the trails produced in the wave tank with the microbial aggregates. The white scale bar is 1 centimeter. (Image credit: SEPM/Journal of Sedimentary Research. Used with permission) Trails caused by aggregates and those caused by animals can be distinguished in some cases if certain distinctive features exist. For example an animal trail can be "self avoiding," meaning that the animal didn't cross back over its own trail as it had already searched for food in that location. Unfortunately, most of the more distinctive signs of animal activity are rare until the very end of the Ediacaran period. It is much easier to distinguish younger trace fossils from aggregate trails. "There is much more evidence that recent tracks were formed by animals," explains Mariotti. Trace fossils created in the time since the Ediacaran are more complex because they are three-dimensional, meaning that they go into the sediments such as a tunnel, and cannot be reproduced with the moving aggregates. "It is easier to challenge old trails because they have less ancillary information associated with them," said Mariotti. The formation and evolution of Earth's earliest life is crucial in order to inform us of what types of life might exist on other planets. To do this, we need concrete evidence of what the earliest animals on Earth were like. Mariotti and his team plan to perform further experiments to examine the geometry of aggregate trails and how well animal trails are preserved in sediments that have an abundance of microbes compared to sediments with no microbes. They hope that these experiments will help distinguish real animal fossils from the aggregate trails, and therefore further our understanding of the earliest animal life on Earth. This story was provided by Astrobiology Magazine, a web-based publication sponsored by the NASA astrobiology program. Follow Space.com @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. 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ZUG, SWITZERLAND--(Marketwired - Sep 20, 2016) - Panex Resources Inc. (the "Company," or "Panex") (OTC PINK:DBGF) is pleased to announce that it has commenced drilling on the highly prospective Matala Gold Project in the South Kivu Province, DRC. The Matala Gold Project is located at the southwestern end of the world renowned Twangiza-Namoya Gold corridor where Banro Corporation has defined to date, more than 17 Million Ounces ("Moz") of gold resources from four deposits adjacent to the Matala project area. The main drill target, Kanana, located within the Matala Gold Project, has the same geological setting as Banro's 8.6Moz Twangiza and 5.6Moz Lugushwa gold deposits. Drill hole KANDD001 shown in Figure 1 has been drilled to a depth 72m and has a planned depth of 300m. The current hole is targeting the fold hinge zone of a major antiform defined from airborne geophysics and mapping with an associated soil anomaly which extends over 3,000m and has a width of >600m. Hole KANDD001 is targeting the highest grade portion of the gold in soil anomaly as shown in Figure 1. The first batch of drill samples are expected to be sent to ALS Chemex laboratory in Johannesburg before the end of September with first results expected before end October. To view Figure 1: Three km gold in soil anomaly at Kanana, Matala Project, showing trench results and location of drill hole KAN001, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/dbgf-figure1.pdf. Matala Gold Project The Matala Gold Project comprises 14 exploration permits for 1,967sqkm on the north-western edge of the Kibaran Belt, an intracontinental mobile belt located between the Congo and Tanzania cratons. The Kibaran belt and adjacent Tanzanian Craton host more than 70Moz of gold resources, currently being mined by Banro, AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick and Barra, and is well renowned as a world class gold province. Panex's initial focus will be to drill the high priority Kanana Prospect where channel sampling has identified high grade gold mineralisation along the fold axis of a major antiform, similar to that which hosts both the Twangiza and Lugushwa deposits. Story continues Historic channel sampling across a 3,000M long gold-in-soil anomaly shown in Figure 1 at Kanana returned a number of significant results including: 17m @ 2.51g/t Au 6m @ 2.55g/t Au 12m @ 3.03g/t Au 6m @ 4.37g/t Au 2m @ 12.95g/t Au To view Figure 2. Matala Gold Project licences in red and location and Banro Corporation's gold deposits, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/dbgf-figure2.pdf. Panex has contracted International Drilling Services SARL from Goma, DRC, to drill 5 diamond drill holes for 1,500m aimed at testing the mineralised fold axis over 1,100m of strike. The drill collars are positioned approximately 400m apart over the highest grade portion of the gold-in-soil and channel sampling anomaly. Holes will be drilled at -50 degrees towards the southwest across the fold axis of the northwest trending Kanana anticline. Drilling is expected to intercept multiple zones of high-grade gold mineralised quartz veins, several metres wide, surrounded by broader, low to moderate grade disseminated sulphide quartz stock work zones tens of metres wide, across the fold axis. Project Background Historic exploration across the Matala Project undertaken by Afrimines in 2010, identified numerous geochemical anomalies (5 gold, 1 tin) which formed the basis of follow-up regional exploration undertaken by Regal Resources Ltd (RER.AX) between 2011 and 2014 (in a joint venture with Afrimines). Regal's exploration focused on the two highest priority targets, Ngoy and Matala, with 51 holes drilled at Ngoy for 8,768m of diamond core and a JORC 2012 compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of 2 million tonnes ("Mt") at 3.3g/t gold ("Au") for 213,000oz Au, estimated by CSA Global, Perth, Western Australia. Exploration at the Matala Project consisted of soil, rock chip, geological mapping and channel sampling. Kanana was advanced to the drilling stage following the delineation of a 3,000m long gold-in-soil anomaly (>100ppb Au) and in-situ, high-grade channel sample results, coinciding with the fold axis of a positively identified anticline. The anticline is interpreted to outcrop in the southeast and to gently plunge towards the northwest. Regal withdrew from the joint venture in 2015 to focus on a copper project in the Katanga Province in DRC. The highly prospective Kanana Prospect has not yet been drill tested. Two styles on mineralisation have been identified at Kanana from historical channel sampling and geological mapping, both being associated with intense silica alteration. These are: brecciated, ferruginous quartz veining <10cm up to 5m wide containing <1% pyrite. The veins are generally aligned to sediment layering and foliation in outcrop (quartz vein-hosted gold mineralisation). strongly silicified, foliated, schists containing 1 to 5% pyrite commonly containing bedding parallel quartz veins 1mm to 5mm thick (disseminated and stock work vein-hosted gold mineralisation). The potential of known gold mineral occurrences within the remainder of the Matala Gold Project, including the mineral resource at Ngoy, will be further evaluated should results from the initial drilling at Kanana confirm the potential for discovery of significant gold mineralisation. ON BEHALF OF PANEX Mark Gasson, Chief Executive Officer QUALIFIED PERSON Mr. M. R. Gasson (BSc Hons (Geology)) is a Competent Person who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects. Mr Gasson is CEO of Panex Resources Inc and consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears in this news release. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains statements that plan for or anticipate the future, called "forward-looking statements." In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of those terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include, but are not limited to, statements about: our market opportunity; revenue generation; our strategies; competition; expected activities and expenditures as we pursue our business plan; the adequacy of our available cash resources; our ability to acquire properties on commercially viable terms; challenges to our title to our properties; operating or technical difficulties in connection with our exploration and development activities; currency fluctuations; fluctuating market prices for precious and base metals; the speculative nature of precious and base metals exploration and development activities; environmental risks and hazards; governmental regulations; and conduct of operations in politically and economically less developed areas of the world. Many of these contingencies and uncertainties can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Specific reference is made to our most recent annual report on Form 10KSB and other filings made by us with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for more detailed discussions of the contingencies and uncertainties enumerated above and the factors underlying the forward-looking statements. These reports and filings may be inspected and copied at the Public Reference Room maintained by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You can obtain information about operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable laws. This press release is for informational purposes only and is not and should not be construed as an offer to solicit, buy, or sell any security. CUSIP No. 69841J 106 Codeine is not safe for kids, according to health experts. This week, the American Academy of Pediatrics, also known as AAP, published a report in the journal Pediatrics, which warned parents about the usage of codeine. Codeine is an opiate that is used to treat pain and is found in cough and diarrhea medicines. The American Academy of Pediatrics noted that children are also often given codeine after surgical procedures such as tonsil and adenoid removal. According to Dr. Joseph Tobias, chief of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and the author of the report, it is time for others in his profession to recognize the fact that codeine is not safe for kids. Dr. Tobias is calling on pediatrics nationwide to stop giving children codeine. In his report, the medical expert said that for many years pediatricians opted to give kids codeine because they believed it was safer than all other narcotics. Tobias said that studies have shown that no two children process codeine the same way. While some kids handle codeine well, others have difficulties processing, and it is converted by the liver into morphine, which can lead to death. Tobias explained: Now, lo and behold, were learning that due to this genetic variation its a very dangerous medication. Children who rapidly metabolize codeine into an overdose of morphine can experience severely slowed breathing rates, and may even stop breathing and die. It is hard to know which child can break down the drug and which one can not. In 2013, three children died after receiving codeine either in a cough suppressant or after surgery. Between 2007 and 2011, over 800,000 children under the age of 11 were prescribed codeine. The report revealed that while many health experts have expressed concerns regarding codeine for years, no measures have been taken to remove it from pharmacies. The drug is still available without a prescription in over-the-counter cough formulas from outpatient pharmacies in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said codeine is too unpredictable, and doctors should opt for oxycodone, fentanyl or Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen) to control severe pain, instead of codeine. Glatter said: While the number of fatalities and cases of respiratory depression are small compared to the number of doses administered over many decades of use, its important we still draw attention to the fact that codeine is not an ideal medicine to treat pain. Dr. Amy Sniderman, a pediatrician with the Cleveland Clinic, added: Theyre a little more predictable. You could start with a small dose and see how a child reacts to it, and be comfortable that you can predict how the child is going to respond to it. A large group of pediatricians has taken the decision to stop prescribing codeine to their young patients. According to Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan, Terrence Crutcher, a father and music lover, who was shot and killed by a police officer, was unarmed and had his hands up. In a press conference held on Monday, Tulsas police chief shared with the public three camera footages that showed what happened when two police officers approached Crutcher. On September 16, Crutchers car stalled on 36th Street North and Lewis Avenue in Tulsa. As officers Betty Shelby and Tyler Turnbough were responding to another call, they spotted Crutcher on the side of the road. It was previously claimed that Crutcher was shot and killed because he refused to obey the officers orders. It was also reported that Crutcher was carrying a weapon. However, videos from the officers and a police helicopter showed another side of the story. Shelbys husband, a Tulsa police officer, was in the rotorcraft at the time of the shooting. The three videos showed that Crutcher walked with his hands up to his SUV. Crutcher placed both hands on the vehicle, and four officers walked towards him with either guns or Tasers, pointed directly at him. An officer at the beginning of the video can be heard saying: He is still walking not following commands. Another officer said: Time for a Taser, I think. The first officer responded: Ive got a feeling thats about to happen. The other officer said: That looks like a bad dude, too. Officer Turnbough first tasered Crutcher, and he was shot once by Officer Shelby. Crutcher was taken to the hospital where he died. Shelby and Turnbough have been placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting. It is not known if either officer has been the subject of any complaints. At the press conference, Chief Jordan said he found the video very disturbing very difficult to watch. He told reporters that no gun was found on Crutcher or in his vehicle. He said: We saw that Terence did not have any weapon, It will come out, I will make this promise to you: We will achieve justice in this case. Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, who represents the Crutcher family, stated in a separate news conference: We saw that Terence did not have any weapon. Terence did not make any sudden movements. We saw that Terence was not being belligerent. U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams said the Department of Justice would conduct an independent civil rights investigation into the shooting. He shared: The Justice Department is committed to investigating allegations of force by law enforcement officers and will devote whatever resources are necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated. Crutchers twin sister, Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, told reporters that the family is devastated. She explained: We just want answers, we want to know what happened, theres a lot of speculation, but there is one thing, one fact that I do know is that my brother was unarmed. Im just devastated.You all want to know who that big bad dude was? That big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father. That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all his flaws every week. That big bad dude, that is who he was. Terence Crutcher, 40, a father of four, was driving home after attending a class at Tulsa Community College, where he had been studying music appreciation. Public records show that Crutcher pleaded no contest in 1996 to carrying a concealed weapon and resisting an officer and was given a six-month suspended sentence and had several traffic violations. Crutchers pastor, Terry Shannon, said he was very active in the church and is urging the community to protest in a peaceful manner. Terence Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany speaks about her brother's death. Says That "big bad dudes" life mattered. @KJRH2HD pic.twitter.com/gajPSiPHdI Corley Peel (@CorleyPeel_KJRH) September 19, 2016 Algeria, September 20, 2016 (SPS) - the Algerian National Reform Movement (Islah Mouvement ) denounced on Tuesday the ongoing violations against Saharawi people rights and Moroccan occupation daily aggression ,expressing total solidarity with the Sahrawi people. Islah Mouvement said in a statement that "the excessive use of repression and force against Sahrawi human rights activists as well as against journalists and foreign activists is the approach of every hateful occupation and this way will be defeated by the legitimate demands for ending the occupation and the self-determination of the Saharawi people. " Algerian Movement also hailed the steadfastness of the Sahrawis in the occupied territories and refugee camps, calling on them "to continue and activate all means of steadfastness and resistance against the occupation." The said party requested the Algerian diplomacy to redouble its efforts by international bodies and regional organizations, and push further to the holding of referendum of self-determination as soon as possible to the decolonization of the last colony in Africa." SPS 125/090/TRA WESTPORT Nearly one in five Connecticut high school students are disengaged or disconnected from school, according to a study released Monday. The report, financed by Barbara Dalio and the Dalio Foundation of Westport, delves into where these 39,000 students live and when they start to check out academically but stops short of offering solutions. Instead, the report suggests ways for schools and agencies to start a statewide conversation on how to make schools more engaging. The decision to not offer solutions is deliberate and meant to encourage innovation, according to Dalio, who in a written statement said she proposes creation of the Connecticut Opportunity Project. The project would offer grants to encourage passionate individuals, non-profit organizations and others to work on solutions. There is no set budget; that will depend on the quality of the responses, a foundation spokesman said. Connecticuts youth have tremendous potential, and teachers and principals work tirelessly every day to support them, Dalio said. What would it take to help disengaged and disconnected youth graduate from high school ready for the future? Dalios husband, Ray, runs Bridgewater Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund. Barbara Dalio leads the familys foundation work in public education. In March, when there was a nationwide effort to fully fund every teacher request on the site DonnorsChoose.org, Dalio contributed $450,000, funding all 386 teacher projects in Connecticut on the site at the time. More Information Untapped potential If the state cut the number of disengaged and disconnected students by half: 2,000 more high school students would graduate each year. State graduation rate increases 94%. 8,000 more young people ages 18-35 would find employment. Youth unemployment rate reduced 16%. Over time, 4,000 fewer people would end up incarcerated. Annual savings for the state: $200M Untapped Potential According to a report on student engagement, if the state reduced the number of disengaged and disconnected students in half, it would have: 2,000 more high school graduates a year, increasing the state graduation rate to 94 percent. 8,000 more young people aged 18-35 would find employment, reducing the youth unemployment rate by 16 percent Over time, 4,000 fewer people would end up incarcerated. That could save the state $200 million annually. See More Collapse For this project, she commissioned Parthenon-EY, a global consulting firm that has done similar work in other parts of the country. The firm spent 10 months visiting 150 people statewide. They also spent time in eight urban districts, including Norwalk and Stamford, but said their findings are statewide in nature. Those who are disconnected were defined as no longer being in school even though they did not graduate or age out. It defines disengaged students as those who are still in school, but by virtue of poor attendance, behavior or academics, are not connected to their education. Often there is more than one factor in play. In 2014-15, the report finds 39,000 disengaged and disconnected high school students statewide some 22 percent of public high school enrollment. That includes 25,000 students still enrolled in school and 14,000 who dropped out. Nearly all the states school districts have at least one disengaged or disconnected student, but 33 districts had 250 or more such students. The statistics also show that 78 percent of disengaged and disconnected youth are low income and 36 percent are minority males. According to the report, disengagement is not a sudden event, but rather a process that sometimes starts before high school. Some 41 percent of disengaged high schools were showing signs in eighth grade. Mobility switching frequently between schools was also seen as a red flag. Once disengagement happens, its hard to turn it around, but the report cites several districts including East Hartford and Meriden that have some luck reconnecting students. East Hartford High, according to the report, runs its ninth grade almost as a separate school and pays extra attention to struggling students. It makes Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell want to go there to see what those schools are doing to re-engage students. The volume of it is what I found most surprising, Wentzell said Monday of the report. I expected wed be looking at a few thousand kids. It turns out its one in five of our kids ... It made the urgency greater for me. Districts across the state have long tried to tackle the issue of disengaged students through mentoring programs, alternative schools, and other programs to help reach students who feel disconnected to their learning. The data, Wentzell said, is telling a story some might otherwise overlook. Wentzell said she has yet to meet with Dalio but is interested in finding out more about her project. Norwalk Schools Superintendent Steven Adamowski said his district participated in the study and said it will help raise awareness and motivate action. There are two findings that reinforce and expand our knowledge and awareness, Adamowski said. One is the finding that the seeds of disengagement are sown in the middle grades. The other, he added, is the determinative effect of the ninth grade experience in fostering re-engagement. There are significant implications for school design and practice in both findings that need to be addressed and vetted. I think that is the purpose of the design competition in the next phase, he said. F or a long time, Sir Philip Hampton has talked the talk when it comes to putting brilliant women into top roles in the boardroom. Today, he has walked the walk. Selecting the excellent Emma Walmsley to the top job at one of Britains highest-profile companies sends a clear message to other boards that there is no reason not to follow his equality mantra. Not only does the appointment state to the world that GSK is a modern organisation, it will also inspire women throughout the business to aim for the very top. That said, the task facing Walmsley is immense, amid recent shareholder unrest about GSKs performance and demands for it to be broken up. Her elevation from the consumer side of the business above Abbas Hussein from pharmaceuticals may trigger talk that she will focus on splitting off the products shes championed like Sensodyne from medicines. She is, after all, a marketer, not a scientist. The statement to the Stock Exchange this morning suggests shell do no such thing. Now she must make a concerted effort to meet her investors and explain why not, or todays shares fall will continue. Top 10 shareholder Neil Woodford wanted an outsider to take over and split up the business. Agitators like him dont give up easily, no matter whose name is on the chief executives door. Turkey gets a basting Not content with the inquiry into BHS, Frank Field has reopened his corporate Turkey of the Year contest and alighted on Bernard Matthews pension fund. The not-so-bootiful poultry producer is to collapse into a pre-pack administration and re-emerge from the ashes in a sale to food tycoon Ranjit Boparan. The plan hatched by Bernard Matthews private equity owner Rutland and Boparan is for the pension to be dumped into the Pension Protection Fund, with Boparan buying the business liability-free and Rutland walking away. For Bernard Matthews staff yet to retire, that means a 10% cut on their future pension payouts. Frank Field perhaps feels hes heard all this before with Sir Philip Green and is now demanding an investigation. There are echoes of BHS: Rutland Partners exit through a pre-pack isnt a million miles from big Phils sale of BHS for a pound. And BHS pensioners could still end up in the PPF. The similarities shouldnt come as a surprise, because Greens behaviour over BHS was not that different from many private-equity deals. For decades PE funds have been buying firms, moving them offshore and loading them up with debt while they extract cash. When it goes wrong, they find the cheapest way out of their liabilities, leaving the PPF bearing the scars. F rench designer Vanessa Seward has unveiled plans to set up shop in Britain, starting by injecting some Parisian glamour into Notting Hill. Founded in 2014, her eponymous label counts former French first lady Carla Bruni and American model Karlie Kloss among its fans. The firm, advised by property agents CBRE and Orme Retail, is to open its first UK standalone store at 42 Ledbury Road next month, the Standard can reveal. It also plans four more stores in London over the next three years. The designer behind 930 (800) Cherry dresses and 690 Calie boots currently only has concessions in British stores such as Fenwicks Bond Street branch. Sewards shop will join French peers Maje and The Kooples in Notting Hill. CBRE surveyor Sahar Rezazadeh said the deal highlights Londons continued attraction for global brands. The letting will help ease fears that Brexit could weaken the UKs image as a destination for tourists and shoppers. O f the Remain campaigners few were louder than the London arts lobby. The luvvies letter dripped with 250 gilded Cumberbatches, Stoppards, Bonham Carters, Knightleys, Duffys and Pullmans. They were joined by Beckinsale, Rowling, Lineker, Uncle Tom Cobley and all. Ninety-six per cent of the creative industries, they cried, were for Remain. To them has been added the name of the departing director of the V&A, the German Martin Roth. The actors claim their work would never have happened without vital EU funding. It included Slumdog Millionaire, The Iron Lady and The Kings Speech. Outside the EU, they warned, London would be an outsider shouting from the wings. As for Roth, he says Brexit has changed the terms and conditions under which he works. He is leaving to fight the new nationalism across Europe. It is not clear how. I was mystified by this. A sure way to alienate an already sceptical public is for a group of high-earning celebrities to wail that their taxpayer subsidies are at risk. Most of the big names are as popular, if not more so, outside the EU in the wider English-speaking world. What is their problem with Brexit? London is a capital of world, not continental, culture. It is open to America, Russia and Asia as much as to Europe. It is as big in the arts as in finance and will continue to be so. Give or take a few subsidies, the EU has little or nothing to do with the case. Though I backed Remain I could see no purpose in exaggerating the consequences of Brexit before the vote or after. So-called Project Fear was a marketing disaster. Like the luvvies letter it looked like the establishment defending its own. Offered the opportunity to give power and privilege a punch on the nose Britains voters gratefully accepted. As for the arts, I have more faith in the independent vitality of Londons culture than the luvvies or Roth. If it really needs Brussels to prop it up, heaven help it. Mercifully it does not. Londons creatives might have done better to stop for a moment and ask why Brexit showed provincial Britain to be so at odds with the capital. Could it be resentment at Londons elite being so besotted with the glamour of abroad as to ignore its domestic hinterland? Could it be resentment at Londons snout being so deep in the public-spending trough? David Camerons government tipped cash into the capitals railways, schools, hospitals, sport and arts. The bias was most blatant in the arts. National museums were given grants and budget assurances by George Osborne so they could continue expanding and not charging. The British Museum boasts that in two years it has advanced to second only to the Louvre in admissions, above even New Yorks Met. The league table is of course false, since no one knows what would happen to London admissions if they were not free, courtesy of the British taxpayer, unlike museums abroad. No such indulgence is shown to Britains provincial museums, where cuts in local budgets over the past six years have been devastating. Newcastle almost had to end all its local spending on the arts. According to the Museums Association, 44 galleries and museums have closed outside London in the past five years. In Lancashire the council slashed its museum budget from 1.3 million to 100,000. Closures are imminent in Derby, Kirklees, Leicester and Durham. Twelve per cent of previously free museums now charge for entry. Even the Tate in St Ives charges. In London, toffs and tourists get into their Tate for free. Any honest museums champion must find this metropolitan bias indefensible and London can hardly complain when the victims retaliate. Whatever its rights and wrongs, Brexit sentiment was clearly driven by antagonism to Londons privileged status. If Roth and the arts establishment had wanted to help Remain they should have been as inclusive and outward-looking to the rest of Britain as they claim they are towards Europe. Actors should be performing elsewhere in England rather than complain of ill-informed and stupid provincials. The vaults of London museums creak with hoarded treasures that belong to the nation and should long ago have been released for the nation to see out of town. Roths V&A is on roll of blockbuster exhibitions and has prospered under his leadership. But it is now proposing an extravaganza of an extension on the Olympic site at Stratford, where it will join a ballet theatre, a fashion college and the massively subsidised West Ham stadium. Anything London wants it seems London must get. These places should be built in Manchester or Leeds or Newcastle. Those who worry at Europes emerging nationalism should look to its prime cause: anger and jealousy at the cosmopolitan elite of big money and high culture in capital cities. This is not income inequality but regional inequality. I visited most English cities during the referendum debate and the sentiment was overwhelming. This week Roths V&A has opened a dazzling exhibition, You Say You Want a Revolution: Records and Rebels 1966-1970, on the counter-culture of the Sixties. It depicts an uprising against conventional politics, taste and opinion, a burst of outrage, a shake-up of the system. It broke down established taboos and demanded a daring radicalism. Brexit confronts the establishment with just such a counter-culture. The old guard has experienced a political Woodstock. The outsiders have risen in revolt against the risk-averse insiders. The fusty old Remainers should recognise the challenge. They should visit Roths exhibition, snap their chains and join the new. Top designers and brands today hailed the success of London Fashion Week saying it proved the capital is an international hub for creativity and business. Leading industry figures including designer Henry Holland, photographer Greg Williams and labels DAKS and Joseph marked the end of the event today by taking part in a behind-the-scenes film backing the #LondonisOpen campaign. Alexandra Shulman, editor-in-chief of British Vogue, said: "London Fashion Week is a terrific illustration of how well the city operates. We have great fashion houses at all ends of the market, unrivalled creativity, an efficient and inspiring infrastructure and the interest of the world. Fashion is an international world and we welcome everybody and the skills they bring to us." Central Saint Martins, Models1, stylist and journalist Martha Ward and Nicholas Kirkwood, a shoe designer, are also among those to have thrown their support behind the campaign to promote the capital as an open and international city following the vote to leave the European Union. London Fashion Week SS17 - trend round-up 1 /17 London Fashion Week SS17 - trend round-up Make do and mend Christopher Kane Catwalking.com Rural Britannia Burberry Trouser Suits Roksanda Catwalking.com Gingham House of Holland Punk pastels Preen Plexiglass Mary Katrantzou Cold shouder 2.0 Erdem Catwalking.com Belted bombers Versus Versace Catwalking.com Statement sleeves J.W.Anderson Zebra Print Unique Hello sunshine Emilia Wickstead Power puffs Simone Rocha Catwalking.com School stripes Mulberry Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, said: "London is a fantastic city, it is a fashion, business and cultural capital and is open for business." "London has the strength of being a multi-cultural city with a strong sense of community and the fashion industry epitomises London entrepreneurial, international, creative. London Fashion Week is the perfect opportunity to tell the world that we are open for business and celebrate the success of our creative global businesses." Dylan Jones, editor of British GQ and chairman of London Fashion Week Mens, said: "London is the most dynamic city in the world today. Sure, it has always been an international hub, always been at the centre of things, but it has never sizzled like it sizzles today." "In the 21st century London has become the most powerful, the most dynamic, the most culturally focused city-state on earth. No other city comes close. Not New York. Not Paris. Not Shanghai. Not Hong Kong." The organisers of the event told how it had attracted more international interest than any previous fashion week. Mayor Sadiq Khan, said: "There was a fantastic range of designers and talent on the schedule this season, highlighting the very best the industry has to offer - from big brands to independent retailers. The London fashion scene has never been more diverse." If there is ever any doubt that London is still the capital of creativity, the biannual London Fashion Week showcase confirms that the sentiment is still absolutely true. This season was no different, with fashion fans dressing up for the occasion in their masses. One woman who certainly stood out from the crowd was Shepherd's Bush resident Olivia Davies, who arrived in a multicoloured oversized bomber jacket with yellow fur lining by Tash Yates with an equally bold Dolce & Gabbana dress beneath. Adding unusual accessories, Davies paired the look with a medical boot and rubber glove head-piece. London Fashion Week SS17 - trend round-up 1 /17 London Fashion Week SS17 - trend round-up Make do and mend Christopher Kane Catwalking.com Rural Britannia Burberry Trouser Suits Roksanda Catwalking.com Gingham House of Holland Punk pastels Preen Plexiglass Mary Katrantzou Cold shouder 2.0 Erdem Catwalking.com Belted bombers Versus Versace Catwalking.com Statement sleeves J.W.Anderson Zebra Print Unique Hello sunshine Emilia Wickstead Power puffs Simone Rocha Catwalking.com School stripes Mulberry Joining her in the bold stakes on the streets of London was Natalia Homolog from Slovakia, who wore a pink and white fringed bomber with monochrome striped trousers and fuschia boots. Plumping for a slightly more understated look was Rebecca O'Donnell, who wore a loose white mini dress from Zara with Mango platform shoes, a Michael Kors bag and a hat from Camden. Several fashion week attendees - including Kala from India, Wallace Blythe from London and Anne-Sophie Cochevelou from France - took their creativity further by designing and creating their own outfits. London Fashion Week street style Review at a glance W hat does a dance about OCD look like? In this case, like little else you've seen. Part Bob Fosse's deviant jazz, part Paris is Burning catwalk, part techno-folk dance. L-E-V's OCD Love is full of contradictions: a Dionysian dancefloor with a stark and severe aesthetic; movement of precise, pernickety technicality that's somehow seriously sexy (in a non-vanilla way). Whatever it is, it's hugely striking and shows a strong choreographic signature from Israeli creators Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, both virtually unknown here but given the main stage at Sadler's Wells for two nights to show us their thang. With the help of Israeli techno producer Ori Licktik, it's a strange and distinctive world they create, dramatic strings swelling as six thoroughbred bodies stalk the half-lit stage, splaying and displaying themselves in gnarly poses. There's some ritual repetition, hands clasped to face or throat a nod to the work's inspiration, the poem OCD by Neil Hilborn. This piece doesn't have the bald emotional impact or human connection of Hilborn's poem, and it wouldn't be a lie to say that even at just 55 minutes long, there are moments that stall, but you can forgive them when some of the movement is so incredible. One scene has two men flexing torsos with the force and fight of krump but the light-footedness of ballet, heels raised up on demi-pointe. Choreographer Eyal rewrites forms into remarkable hybrids with startling originality. A name worth taking note of. Ends tonight, Sadler's Wells; sadlerswells.com Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout T he art of correspondence might have moved on from wax seals and airmail envelopes to expressing an entire years round-robin update in a series of emojis but London is still hung up on good, old-fashioned letters. The hit show Letters Live is back with a new set of heartbreaking, snarky, ruthless and joy-filled letters read by another star-studded line-up. Previous performers have included Tom Hiddleston and Jude Law. In March the sold out Letters Live event, which saw the likes of Dominic West, Riz Ahmed and Olivia Colman deliver readings of famous letters, meant that for a few days the Freemasons Hall had the most A-list stage door in the West End. This time audiences will be treated to readings from Lily Cole, Sophie Dahl, Jamie Cullum and Michael Palin alongside returning favourites John Bishop and Sanjeev Bhaskar. The event is again raising funds for several charity partners this time First Story, The Ministry of Stories and Help Refugees. Running for five nights at Freemasons Hall from October 4-8, audiences will again book tickets without knowing exactly who the line-up will be. It could be that youre wiping away tears as Carey Mulligan reads letters from real-life Suffragettes, smirking at Olivia Colmans delivery of Tina Feys address to online trolls, Dear Internet, or trying to keep a straight face as Peter Capaldi indulges in a bit of 1675-era swearing. Arts picks of the week: 19th-25th September 1 /7 Arts picks of the week: 19th-25th September Radio 3: Sound Frontiers It may seem that Radio 3 is just an unquestionable fact of the universe since the beginning of time, but its actually only been around for 70 years. Theyre having some big style celebrations at the Southbank Centre for the next two weeks, including broadcasts and performances with a specially built pop-up studio. Many happy returns. September 23 - October 7; southbankcentre.co.uk The Libertine He might have made his name on stage with the History Boys, but its not until now that Dominic Cooper makes his West End debut. He stars in The Libertine, the life story of lovable rogue and poet the Earl of Rochester, previously played by Johnny Depp in the film version. Prepare for debauchery. From September 22, Theatre Royal Haymarket; trh.co.uk Alastair Muir Pilgrims at The Yard Pilgrims is a play about climbing mountains thats just been to the seaside - now its coming to Hackney Wick. It received glowing reviews from HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh, where it has just premiered; EV Crowes Brenda did the same last year and it was a corker. Add to that the fact Cook won the 2013 George Devine Award, this play about masculinity, love and leaving ones mark is not one to miss. Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy The Royal Academy throw their doors open to their big autumn show, exploring the movement that epitomised 1950s New York. This watershed moment of artists expressing themselves in bold, intense and confident new ways changed the world of art, and visitors will have the chance to see work by Pollock, Rothko and the rest of their pals. September 24 - January 2; royalacademy.org.uk The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016 Calm Down Dear Festival at Camden People's Theatre Camden Peoples Theatres feminist festival returns for the fourth year, this time with added penises. Theyve made men and feminism their central theme, because the patriarchy hurts everyone after all. Edinburgh hit Blush will open the festival, exploring the impact of revenge porn, and theres an intimate one-on-one show about pubes, as well as an audiowalk inspired by the Feminist Library. Camden People's Theatre, September 19 - October 9; cptheatre.co.uk The Other Richard The Head Wrap Diaries The Head Wrap Diaries is an interactive dance theatre production with a lot to say, talking about community, femininity and friendship - as well as, of course, hair. Vicki Igbokwe and Uchenna Dances choreography blends a number of styles with African and contemporary dance, and you can see it at The Place this week. September 19 & 20, The Place; theplace.org.uk Foteini Christofilopolou Last chance to see: Yerma Youll have to beg for a ticket to this one, but the mild discomfort and embarrassment will be worth it. Its one of the most brilliant plays of the year, with Australian director Simon Stone taking Lorcas classic about a woman driven mad by her infertility, and making it new. Our critic Henry Hitchings gave it five stars, describing Billie Pipers performance as devastatingly good. Go, quick! Finishes at the Young Vic on September 24; youngvic.org Johan Persson Inspired by the books Letters of Note by Shaun Usher and To the Letter by Simon Garfield, the event celebrates the juicy titbits and revelations that are usually only divulged in letters not usually intended for public consumption. Its thanks to letters that we know that David Bowie thought his hair looked a little bit yellow on the US version of his Fame cover or the input that Gene Wilder had on his costume for Willy Wonka: The hat is terrific, but making it two inches shorter would make it more special. And even with a list of performers as stellar as this, there is always room for a few last-minute surprises. In March, during post-Star Wars hysteria, Oscar Isaac walked on stage to read a very revealing note penned by Sir Alec Guinness, who wasnt really enjoying his time on the set of the first Star Wars movie in 1977, branding the dialogue rubbish. @littlewondering Tickets available from Ticketmaster and details at letterslive.com Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout A filmmaker and actress is up for a 50,000 prize after making her first feature film which she wrote, starred in and directed while she was eight months pregnant. Alice Lowe said her film Prevenge, about a heavily pregnant serial killer, was a deliberate baby-shaped hand grenade that I wanted to throw into the industry. The actress, 39, whose daughter Della was born after filming finished, had already appeared in Ben Wheatleys 2012 black comedy Sightseers as a woman who embarks on a killing spree with her lover during a caravanning holiday. She said: I want to make sci-fi, period drama, comedy, art. I dont see any limits. Too often I feel women become the midwives of creativity. I want to birth my own films. And Ive only just started. If I can do this while pregnant, then a hell of a lot more women should have the chance to direct Lowe said part of her inspiration was to respond to the theory that there are fewer female directors because of the pressure of combining a career and a family. She said: If we exclude certain voices because we cant accommodate mothers in the film industry, were missing out on a whole chunk of societys perspective. The film is very personal to me, but I am very happy that it opens up a bigger issue of women in film. It was a matter of proof for me: if I can do this while pregnant, then a hell of a lot more women should be getting a chance at directing and multi-tasking, as we are renowned for. Lowe, who was born in Coventry, has also backed the Raising Films campaign to improve working conditions for parents in the industry. It was co-founded by another of the shortlisted filmmakers, Hope Dickson Leach, who is nominated for her movie The Levelling. The shortlist is completed by Paul Anton Smiths montage of cinema history, Have You Seen My Movie?, and former London Film Academy student Joseph Adesunloyes White Colour Black, about a young photographer working in the capital. The director of the BFI Film Fund, Ben Roberts, said: All four filmmakers are on very different paths in terms of their filmmaking each has already developed an enviable confidence and style and this bursary would greatly benefit any of them. Clare Stewart, director of the BFI London Film Festival, at which all four films will be shown, said they gave full expression to the breadth and diversity of British independent filmmaking. The bursary, formally known as the IWC Filmmaker Bursary Award after the Swiss watch manufacturers which fund it, will be awarded at a gala dinner on October 4. @RobDexES Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout I dont want to be known as the Jewish MP, says Ruth Smeeth, East End accent still audible from a childhood in London. I am an MP who happens to be Jewish. One of the things that makes me most angry about this whole thing is that Ive ended up as the Jewish MP. Worse: a victim and a target. I should be the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, a hard-working, lifelong member of the Labour Party. She describes herself as a Labour, socialist, Jewish, woman in that order. Actually, British first: British, Labour, socialist, Jewish, woman. Smeeth, 37, is the MP who walked out of the launch of the Chakrabarti report, an inquiry into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, after being harassed by a member of Momentum, the activist group behind Jeremy Corbyn. Since then she has been called a yid c*** (among other racial slurs), a CIA/ MI5/Mossad informant, a dyke, and a f***ing traitor. In all shes experienced more than 25,000 incidents of abuse, much of it racial. As a result two people are being investigated by counter-terrorism police one of whom penned a 1,000-word essay on how he would kill her. Given her previous work with Hope Against Hate, an anti-racism charity, I initially assumed [the author] was from the far-Right. And then someone rang to inform me it was a Corbynista. Chakrabartis report (and the subsequent abuse it generated) is to be debated by Labours National Executive Committee today. It states: A political home, like a domestic one, should be a place where you feel comfortable and safe even and especially when things are more difficult on the outside. And yet because of threats from her own party, Smeeth now has security organised by the parliamentary authority and police. She cant give exact details but says she wont be going to Labour conference alone on Sunday. Dianne Abbott- anti-Semitism is smear campaign against Labour I am still going I cant let the intimidators win. Do I think it will be pleasant? No. Do I think there will be a lot of anger? Probably. But Im sensible about what Im doing, how Ill be, and what Ill do, and I wont be by myself. We meet at her office in Stoke-on-Trent, decorated with photographs of former Labour Prime Ministers and historical campaign posters. Smeeth is tall with a big laugh. Smeeth puts puts Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns behaviour down to a shambolic lack of organisation rather than anything sinister / Getty Images She might wear a gold Star of David under the neckline of her dress, but I dont talk about Israel or Palestine. This [abuse] is not about anything Ive said on Middle-East politics. I dont participate. She describes herself as culturally Jewish her husband is Irish Catholic. Her political concerns reflect her immediate constituency, one of the poorest in the country. If anything, the furore over her religion distracts from more pressing issues. There were rare flashes of anti-Semitism under Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, but not like this. Ive never seen anti-Semitism in Labour on this scale. There were one or two incidents before and the reason why they were so shocking is that there were only one or two. Now the sheer volume of it has made it normal. Labour senior MPs' resignations (and one sacking) 1 /46 Labour senior MPs' resignations (and one sacking) Hilary Benn, shadow Foreign Secretary - sacked Neil Hall/Reuters Lord Falconer, shadow Justice Secretary - resigned Jonathan Brady/PA Gloria De Piero, shadow Minister for Young People and Vote Registration - resigned AFP/Getty Images Heidi Alexander, shadow Secretary for Health - resigned Gareth Fuller/PA Lilian Greenwood, shadow Transport Secretary - resigned AFP/Getty Images Vernon Coaker, shadow Northern Ireland Secretary - resigned Jonathan Brady/PA Yvonne Fovargue, Yvonne Fovargue, shadow Business - resigned Neil Coyle, parliamentary aide to Chris Bryant - resigned AFP/Getty Images Seema Malhotra, shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury - resigned Lauren Hurley/PA Alex Cunningham, shadow Natural Environment - resigned Kerry McCarthy, shadow Secretary of State for the Environment - resigned Gareth Fuller/PA Wayne David, shadow Cabinet Office, Scotland and Justice - resigned www.waynedavid.co.uk Diana Johnson, shadow Foreign Minister -resigned John Stillwell/PA Steve Reed, shadow Local Government - resigned Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Anna Turley, shadow Minister for Civil society - resigned Ian Forsyth/Getty Images Karl Turner, shadow Attorney General - resigned John Stillwell/PA Ian Murray, shadow Scottish Secretary - resigned Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Lucy Powell, shadow Education Minister - resigned Jonathan Brady/PA Chris Bryant, shadow Leader of the House of Commons - resigned Jonathan Brady/PA Toby Perkins, shadow Armed Forces Minister - resigned John Stillwell/PA Stephen Kinnock, parliamentary private secretary to Angela Eagle - resigned Stefan Rousseau/PA Jess Phillips, parliamentary private secretary to Lucy Powell - resigned PA Angela Eagle, shadow First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills - resigned Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images Lisa Nandy, shadow Energy Secretary - resigned Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images Owen Smith, shadow Work and Pensions - resigned AFP/Getty Images Nia Griffith, shadow Secretary of State for Wales - resigned Rex Jenny Chapman, shadow Education - resigned www.jennychapman.co.uk Roberta Blackman-Wood, shadow Housing and Communities and Local Government Shadow Minister for Housing John Healey Susan Elan Jones, shadow Wales Office minister Sharon Hodgson, shadow minister for children Melanie Onn, shadow deputy leader of the Commons Kate Green, shadow equalities minister Thangam Debbonaire, shadow culture minister Jack Dromey DM pics She lists MPs who have received abuse generally, from Angela Eagle to Mary Creagh, who had a brick thrown through her Wakefield constituency office last week. Neil Coyle had death threats when his wife was eight months pregnant. Ian Murray had threats shouted outside his office when he was in parliament but his staff were there. Stella Creasy has had tons, as has Jess Phillips. There are so many its becoming normal. And thats difficult. Ive just named half a dozen MPs without trying. Its the opposite of what we promised after Jo Cox was murdered. Could she imagine this happening to Conservatives? The Tories care more about power than ideology, she says, so they would squish it really quickly. They wouldnt let it get in the way of them running the country. Smeeth has raised the issue of racism with Jeremy Corbyn privately on numerous occasions from December 2015. Each time, the same answer: I am anti-racist therefore its not a problem. She rolls her eyes. It wasnt even acknowledged. Until it was a rolling news story after Ken [Livingstone made comments about Hitler supporting Zionism], he ignored it, yes. Her verbal evidence was taken by Chakrabarti and I am cited in the report. Not by name, but there are very few female Jewish MPs Luciana Berger, Louise Ellman and me. And because of this she was invited to the inquiry launch. It took place on June 30, a fortnight after Jo Coxs murder, a week after Brexit and the same week we had passed a vote of no confidence in Jeremy and I had resigned. The atmosphere was strange: at least half the room didnt know why they were there, just that it was a Jeremy event. Leaflets were distributed attacking the report as unfounded and unnecessary. I said to a friend: This feels horrible. It was moody. It shouldnt have been. Mark Wadsworth, a Momentum activist, began handing out press releases calling for de-selection of certain Labour MPs (including Smeeth). I asked for one. He refused. Someone said: Its a Jewish event, shes a Jewish MP, give her a copy. He went: Whats her name? I said: Darlin, my names Ruth Smeeth. He wrote it down. Three journalists offered her their copies. She took the closest from Kate McCann of The Daily Telegraph. McCann then tweeted that Labour MPs at a Labour event were getting abuse from Momentum. In the Q&A Jeremy said again that he didnt believe in abuse of any form. And then Shami allowed Wadsworth to speak. He said, Ruth Smeeth is working hand- in-hand with the Right-wing media to attack Jeremy. So I shouted, How dare you? The audience started shouting at me at the launch of an inquiry into how we treat Jews in the Labour Party! Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth recently left an anti-semitism event in tears Jeremy said nothing. So I walked out. If one of my councillors was being shouted at I would have stopped it. You get involved, especially if like Jeremy you are standing next to a sign which says: Standing up and not standing by at an anti-Semitism event. While the incident looped on the news, Smeeth waited for a call from Corbyn, from his office, from the front bench, from someone, anyone. Silence. So she issued a statement saying Labour was no longer a safe space for British Jews. Corbyns office manager called and said Jeremy would be in touch that evening. But the phone call never came. In fact he wasnt in touch for 10 days, and only then called 45 minutes before giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee. When his office did finally arrange a meeting (at 9am one Wednesday in London). I was there. Jeremy wasnt. His team said, Jeremy understood that the meeting hadnt been confirmed, so he didnt turn up. More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review Mostly she puts Corbyns behaviour down to a shambolic lack of organisation rather than anything sinister. Ive spent a lot of time with Jeremy, she says. The disconnect between the Jeremy I know and the Jeremy who his supporters think he is and what they are prepared to do in his name or for him because they think that is what he wants is huge. My biggest issue is that he knows its happening and that its still happening. His words about unity are fine until his surrogates go out and say things like people will get whats coming to them, or de-selections are acceptable. If he has surrogates attacking parts of Labour that have supported the party for decades and decades, then hes got a problem and weve all got a problem. She says many of the surrogates are clear and upfront about who they are. Others remain anonymous. Its rarely your own constituents they are disgusted and appalled by such behaviour shes been sent flowers, pottery and letters of support they are also getting fed up with me being called The Jewish MP. What should Corbyn do? If Jeremy highlighted three or four really offensive comments done in his name because they have his twibbon and said, This is the sort of thing I believe is beyond the pale, that would be good. Name and shame, make it clear they dont speak for him. Many have concerns about the virulent militancy within Momentum, set up following Corbyns election as leader to harness the enthusiasm of his grassroots supporters. Smeeth says there are some good people but that shes wary of the long-term aspirations of some of their leadership, including those who have yet to vote Labour in a general election. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn at a recent anti-semitism inquiry / Getty Images The problem is that theyve been abysmal about racism. And this talk of de-selection is attacking colleagues instead of Tories. Id like an alternative government. Momentum is a hindrance to that. Its disgraceful. Are they a cult around Corbyn? Its something weird. There was a Jeremy for leader phone bank here on the same day as a local by-election. They were calling Labour members rather than helping get the vote out. Their priority is not the Labour Party. Its not fighting the Tories. Their priorities are skewed. Smeeth was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of an east London Jewish girl and a rugged Scottish trade unionist. An only child, her father left when she was three. And when he left, he left. She doesnt believe he is still alive. But my mum is my heroine. Her maternal family arrived in London having escaped Tsarist pogroms in the 1890s. One of her grandfathers set up aJewish trade union branch for carpentry. My grandmother was literate and wrote complaint letters for all the old dears on the council estate. It was a version of councillor surgeries. My favourite story was when Sainsburys changed the cap colour of semi-skimmed milk and all the old dears were very angry. My grandmother co-ordinated a joint letter to say theyve all brought the wrong milk and its cost them a fortune. They then moved to Bristol, where her mother worked full-time as the deputy general secretary of the union Amicus. I used to earn my pocket money as a kid delivering leaflets for the Labour Party. I door-knocked for the first time in the 1992 election. Id have been 12. Today many of her constituents are not Corbyn fans. They dont think he can represent the country. They dont like his past relationship with the IRA. She says they find it offensive when Jeremy with his middle-class upbringing says he doesnt consider himself wealthy. He earns 130,000 a year. My constituents are doing well if they earn 10 per cent of that, she says. Perhaps its easy to be an ideological purist if you can afford to live under the Tories. My constituents cant. Follow Charlotte Edwardes on Twitter: @chedwardes P olice have been given extra powers to disperse teenagers in south east London after a huge fight involving more than 100 schoolchildren. Violence flared in Northumberland Heath near Erith yesterday evening, with witnesses claiming scores of youths, some armed with knives and bats, took part in a mass brawl. Shocking footage emerged from the fighting, appearing to show children in school uniform beating each other with sticks while a woman tried to stop them. Today, police said the trouble, which affected five different areas and saw two teens aged 15 and 19 injured, may have started in the Bexley Broadway shopping area at 4.30pm. Seven people aged from 15 to 21 have been arrested over the violence, which police confirmed involved more than 100 youths. Video: The footage shows a woman trying to intervene. And today, Bexley Police were given authorisation to disperse and ban troublemakers from Bexleyheath town centre and Northumberland Heath over the next 48 hours. Officers will also be out on patrol in the area to provide reassurance to worried residents, with school visits also stepped up. Appealing for more information today, police revealed they had received more than 40 calls from frightened residents and, although every available local officer had been sent to help, not everyone had been responded to. Borough Commander of Bexley, Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe, said: "This incident was a large scale fight in a public area and would have been shocking to anyone who witnessed it. "The safety of young people in our borough and the wider community is paramount. We are actively investigating what happened and take matters like this extremely seriously. "There will be extra patrols in the borough to provide reassurance in the community. Speaking about the carnage yesterday, one witness told the Standard: It was just scary. It was school kids, basically, all in their uniforms, with hoods up and lots with their faces covered up. Some had knives and bats and who knows what. Anyone with information can call Bexley police on 020 8284 9146, the police non-emergency line on 101 or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111. A builder who became so obsessed with a teenage coffee shop worker he gave her engraved gifts has been handed a five-year restraining order. The 49-year-old started stalking the 17-year-old girl after noticing her on the street near the building site he worked at on Queen Victoria Street. Sergio De Sousa Da Encarnacao started following the teenager to-and-from work, learning her public transport routines off by heart and offering her unwanted gifts engraved with her name. He was also seen lingering on the street where she lived. After stalking the teenager for five months, De Sousa was arrested by an undercover police officer in May as he tried to follow the victim. He denied the offence but was found guilty by a jury and received a five year restraining order as well as a one-year community order. He has now been banned from entering any of the coffee shops owned by the victims employers in the UK. Detective Sergeant Richard Butcher said: We hope this case serves as a warning to people that this kind of behaviour is absolutely unacceptable. We would encourage anyone experiencing behaviour which they feel amounts to stalking to report it to us we take all reports seriously and your information can help us stop it happening again. A man has been charged with the murder of a mother-of-nine and her nephew after they were shot dead in north west London. Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo, 21, and his aunt, Annie Besala Ekofo, were shot dead in her home on Elmhurst Crescent in Finchley in the early hours of Thursday morning. Obina Ezeoke, 24, of no fixed address has been charged with charged with two counts of murder following the shooting. Police launched an investigation after they were called to reports of a man and woman suffering from gunshot wounds. East Finchley Shooting 1 /17 East Finchley Shooting Family members outside flats in in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London where Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, where found dead with gunshot wounds Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Family members outside flats in in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London where Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, were found dead with gunshot wounds. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Family members outside flats in in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London where Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, were found dead with gunshot wounds. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Family members outside flats in in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London where Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, were found dead with gunshot wounds. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Family members outside flats in in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London where Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, were found dead with gunshot wounds. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Family members outside flats in in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London where Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, where found dead with gunshot wounds. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Family members outside flats in in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London where Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, were found dead with gunshot wounds. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA The bodies of Anny Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bevely, 21, are removed from flats in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London after they were found dead with gunshot wounds. Victim Bervil Ekofo pictured with his mother Maymie Botamba. PA Distraught onlookers at the scene in East Finchley. Lucy Young Shooting: Police at the scene of the incident on Elmhurst Crescent. @miliremersaro Forensics attend the scene at Elmhurst Crescent. Lucy Young The flats in Elmshurst Crescent in East Finchley, north London. Francesca Gosling/PA Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Ezeoke was charged on Tuesday night and is due to appear in custody at Hendon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday . Another 20-year-old man who was arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning has been released on bail until a date in late October. Mr Kalikaka-Ekofos mother Maymie Botaba Chantelle paid tribute to her son, who was studying psychology at the University of West London. She said: His character and soul was beyond comparison, and it goes without a doubt that he will be truly and deeply missed by his family. A statement released by Mrs Besala Ekofos family described the mother of nine as the glue that kept everyone together and a comforting voice in the hardest situations. Four other people, including a child, were also in the house when the pair were gunned down but were not hurt. A police officer who was one of the first on the scene of the London bombings has been sacked from the Met after crashing his car into a telegraph pole while drunk. PC Spencer Garland, 38, a former soldier, was more than double the drink drive limit when he crashed his Mini Countryman car in Maidstone, Kent in February. He was charged with drink driving and disqualified for 18 months and fined after he pleaded guilty to the offence in March. The officer, based in Redbridge borough, has now been dismissed from the Met for discreditable conduct. A police misconduct hearing heard how the officer was one of the first on the scene of the Tavistock Square bomb attack in 2005 in which 13 people were killed and attended to the dead and dying. The former officer also saw action in Bosnia, Kosova and Northern Ireland and had recently been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. Fellow Redbridge officer PC Michael Neill, who represented PC Garland at the hearing, said he had been traumatised by events he witnessed during his time in the army and as a police officer. PC Neill said: PC Garland self-declared his problem with alcohol in December 2015 and it is believed to be linked to his PTSD and depression. The PTSD is thought to have been caused by the horrific sights he was exposed during his time in the armed forces having witnessed various genocides. He was also one of the first on the scene of the Tavistock Square bombing during the 7/7 attacks and attended to the dead and dying. In the run up to the offence his wife was diagnosed with cancer for the second time and his six-year-old son was also very unwell and needed surgery. These factors combined caused him to start drinking, he was in a very bad place mentally. During the hearing at the Empress State Building in West Brompton, Pc Garland apologised for the embarrassment caused to my family, the Metropolitan Police Service and myself. According to Police Oracle, he added: I was very unwell at the time I have since sought treatment and I am recovering well. Assistant Commissioner Helen King, who chaired the hearing, said: I have huge personal sympathy for PC Garlands medical and personal circumstances but my conclusion is that he is to be dismissed immediately without notice. Drink driving brings discredit on the police service as a whole because public confidence depends on police officers demonstrating the highest standards of personal and professional behaviour. A man and woman from London accused of possessing terrorist propaganda have been charged with terror offences. The woman, from St Johns Wood, is accused of encouraging terrorism after allegedly circulating a propaganda magazine. Ayfer Yildiz, 45, is said to have distributed two editions of a magazine named Yuruyus in January, which glorifies acts of terrorism in Turkey. Anti-terror police have charged her with two counts of using the magazine to encourage others to plan or carry out a terror attack. The man, 50-year-old Alaettin Kalender from Hackney, was charged with possessing information useful for terrorists. The pair were arrested following a counter terrorism operation by the Metropolitan Police, but Scotland Yard confirmed the charges do not relate to Syria. Both have been released on bail and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on October 4. M et officers who shot a man dead when he opened his front door have been quizzed about why they did not warn him they were armed in an investigation into his death. James Fox, who was known to have a history of mental illness, was shot five times by officers who believed he was carrying a gun at his flat in Enfield. Armed police attended the flat after reports that that 43-year-old had pointed a gun at a childs head. When the flat was searched an air pistol was found. At an inquest into Mr Foxs death, officers were asked why, when keys were heard opening the front door, they did not shout a warning instead moving into a new position and opening fire. An officer at the front of the operation described the coroners court the fast-moving sequence of events as the door was unexpectedly "flung open". The officer told North London Coroner's Court: "I think that it would be safe to say if there is movement of some sort then we need to be plugged in on the major point of the threat." Coroner Andrew Walker then asked: "What about shouting a warning in these circumstances, when Mr Fox was known to be suffering from mental health issues?" The officer replied: "I accept there was an opportunity. It wasn't taken because the situation developed so quickly and I was focused in on containing the threat, but I accept that it was a possibility." "It was one fluid, active action. You could argue there was time, but the most pressing thing was to get into position, so that was my number one aim at that point - to protect the public and prevent any potential armed suspect getting out into the public area." Video footage played in court showed officers around the door followed by the sound of gunfire and the words "shots fired, man down, head shot". Operational firearms commander Pc Richard Prior said he did not explicitly raise contingency plans with his team once inside the building because it would have been "common sense" to an experienced officer, and an in-depth briefing had already taken place. Owen Greenhall, representing the Fox family, suggested to him: "You did not formulate a plan, did you?" He replied: "Yes: containment, phone call - they were all contingencies that we had in place." Mr Greenhall continued: "Was there anything that dealt with a confrontation with Mr Fox?" Pc Prior replied: "No, because that's just common sense. "I wouldn't need to say to someone: 'If he comes to you, do this, do that.' It is ingrained into them. "It is not for me to instruct the people at the front to give an individual warning," he added. The inquest continues. Additional reporting from the Press Association. A teenage thug brandishing a can of RedBull tried to rob a petrol station by hitting the shop worker over the head with his fizzy drink. The teenager was caught on CCTV jumping over the counter of the east London shop clutching the can of caffeine drink. He tackles the man standing behind the till and appears to use the drink to try to hit him over the head before demanding cash. The suspect is then seen attempting to open the safe, but fled empty handed when he failed to do so. Police have released the CCTV of the attempted robbery in Dagenham in a bid to catch the suspect, believed to be in his late-teens. A police spokesman said: Officers in Barking and Dagenham are appealing for assistance to trace a man in connection with an attempted robbery. Police were called at approximately 7:30pm on Friday September 2 September to reports of an attempted robbery at a petrol station in Wood Lane, Dagenham. The suspect is a white man of slim build, aged in his late teens with blond hair. He is wearing a black 'Raiders' cap and a black bag. The man jumped over the counter and demanded cash but fled empty handed when he was challenged by staff. There were no reports of any injuries. Anyone who recognises this man or who has information that could assist the investigation is asked to call police via 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. A renowned conservationist was part of a 60 million tax dodge through projects tackling climate change and the spread of HIV, a court heard. Professor Ian Swingland, who was given an OBE in 2007, allegedly helped investors avoid tax on 170 million of income during the three-year scam. Swingland, 69, founded the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology in 1989 at the University of Kent, which is now a world-leading research facility into biodiversity, communities and sustainable development. He is on trial at Southwark crown court with Anthony Blakey, 65, John Banyard, 67, Martin King, 54, and Andrew Bascombe, 58, accused of operating a series of dishonest tax schemes between 2005 and 2008. Prosecutor Julian Christopher QC said: They were opportunities to invest in research designed to counteract the effects of climate change and to find a cure for HIV. They were designed to be attractive to people who had a large amount of income that they would rather not pay tax on. Blakey, Bascombe, King and Banyard were all involved in film financing as a way of reducing tax bills, the court heard. Swingland is said to have joined them when they switched to eco-projects. It is alleged they ran the scam by trading carbon credits, so the money would be invested in research into re-forestation, said Mr Christopher. But nothing like the amount said to be going into research was spent. Bascombe, of East Putney, Banyard, of Horsham, Blakey, of Littlehampton, and King, of Beckenham, each deny two counts of cheating the public revenue. Blakey and King also deny one count of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. Swingland, of Canterbury, Kent, denies one count of each charge. The trial continues. S upermarkets are increasingly conscious of the food they waste but they need help to redistribute it. Thats where The Felix Project comes in... We waste 10 million tonnes of fresh produce as a nation every year enough to fill 10 Wembley Stadiums to the brim yet an estimated 400,000 Londoners suffer severe food poverty. How do we reconcile the contradiction of colossal food excess co-existing with such scarcity? The maths tells what a missed opportunity this is. If UK supermarkets, for example, were to double the food they donate to charity to 16,000 tonnes still a tiny proportion of the perfectly good food they throw away that would provide 732,000 meals countrywide every week for a year and go some way to ameliorating food poverty in the capital. Yesterday we exposed for the first time how the top 10 supermarkets rank when it comes to donating their unsold fresh food to charities helping the poor, with 3 per cent donated and the rest dumped to make animal feed or sent to anaerobic digestion plants to be turned into energy or fertiliser. Supermarkets and food suppliers are increasingly aware of how obscene their waste is and many say they are keen to do the right thing. But they also say that logistics are tight and they need help. Sainsburys has told us: Our aim is to redistribute as close to 100 per cent of our edible food surplus as possible, but we cannot do it on our own. We need more charities to partner with us and importantly we need them to be able to pick up from the back of our stores reliably and regularly. All supermarkets face this dilemma. Helping hand: One of the Felix Project's vans arrives at London charity St Mungo's. / Matt Writtle We think we can help. Today we launch Food for London, a new Evening Standard campaign that seeks to harness the capitals food surplus to tackle food poverty, transforming an environmental problem into a social solution. The concept is breathtakingly simple. For supermarkets to get surplus food still within its use-by or best-before date from the back of their stores to local charities that feed the needy requires will and planning but above all it requires a dependable middle man. Earlier this year, a gutsy start-up charity, The Felix Project, was founded to fulfil that brief. It was set up by Evening Standard chairman Justin Byam Shaw and his wife Jane in memory of their teenage son Felix, whose life was tragically cut short in 2014. They hired a depot in Park Royal, employed a project manager, installed a walk-in chiller and bought two delivery vans. On the side of each van, they wrote: Good food for good causes. Inspiration: The Felix Project was named after Felix Byam Shaw, who tragically died aged 14 The Felix Project does what it says on the van. It picks up unsold fresh produce for free from supermarkets and food suppliers and delivers at no cost to a burgeoning network of charities that prepare meals for the most destitute and socially isolated Londoners. It is a lean and plucky operation. With only two full-time employees, assisted by 21 volunteers, it already supplies 23 charities bringing food to more than 500 struggling Londoners each week. Its a moveable feast, though not as Hemingway might have imagined it, and with a heft that can be calibrated in tonnes. Yet Felixs real cargo is the happiness it bring to Londons neediest. The sit-down meals these charities prepare from the Felix delivery are about more than food they offer community, conviviality and conversation to people who have fallen on hard times. The Evening Standard is going to help Felix expand its network into a London-wide operation. Special delivery: Anne Elkins, manager at The Felix Project / Alex Lentati / Evening Standard Sarah Sands, editor of the Evening Standard, said: Its an incredibly ambitious and exciting challenge in the tradition of this papers pioneering campaigning journalism for social change. We will help Felix get more funding, more vans, more employees, more volunteers and crucially unearth more suppliers to redistribute food to deliver to yet more charities, thereby reaching more hungry Londoners. Food for London What is the aim? To redistribute surplus fresh food to tackle food poverty. What are we doing? We are backing the scale-up of our flagship charity, The Felix Project, which collects surplus produce from food suppliers and delivers it at no cost to a range of charities that provide meals or snacks for those in need, including the homeless, the elderly and those with mental health issues. What is The Felix Project? Founded by Evening Standard chairman Justin Byam Shaw and his wife Jane in memory of their son Felix, this start-up operates two vans from a depot in Park Royal, west London. It has two full-time employees and 21 volunteers, collects food from 12 suppliers including Waitrose, Sainsburys, Booker, Makro, Daylesford and Costco and delivers to 23 charities. The scale-up The Felix Project plans to roll out its operation across the capital. Funds raised will be used to buy more vans, open new depots, employ staff and recruit volunteers. Match-funding pledge The Felix Byam Shaw Foundation has committed to match-fund all money raised by our campaign for The Felix Project with up to 750,000. To get the ball rolling, we have put together a 100,000 package backed by 50,000 from the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund and matched by 50,000 from the Felix Byam Shaw Foundation. With this, Felix will be able to expand its fleet or open a second depot, whichever is most effective in getting more food from more supermarkets to more charities. In the coming days we hope to announce further funding. The Felix Byam Shaw Foundation has pledged to match all the funds we raise during the campaign for The Felix Project with up to 750,000. Of course, there are other charities operating in this middle man space such as FareShare, Community Shop, FoodCycle and City Harvest and over the coming weeks we will highlight some of their work. FareShare is by far the largest. Last year it redistributed 9,070 tonnes of food to 2,489 charities, more than doubling the 4,200 tonnes it achieved three years ago. However FareShare charges charities to deliver food, whereas Felix will be a free drop-off service. Also, FareShares bounty came either from food manufacturers or the regional depots that supermarkets use to supply their retail stores hardly any of it came from the back of the stores themselves. A report by the government-backed food waste charity Wrap said the vast majority of retail redistribution potential is thought to be at store level which is where Felix has positioned itself. The Felix Project needs your help The Felix Project is looking for more: Food Suppliers including supermarkets, wholesalers and other food outlets to donate surplus produce. Charities which provide meals/snacks for those in need and could benefit from a free, regular supply of fresh food. Volunteers to drive Felix vans, help with deliveries and collections, or in the warehouse. Email Daisy@TheFelixProject.org indicating in the subject line if you can help as a food supplier, charity or volunteer. FareShare chief executive Lindsay Boswell backed the Standards campaign. Weve barely scraped the surface on this, he said. Food waste is too big to be dealt with by one organisation. I welcome the intervention of Felix. The attitude of some top supermarkets is hugely improved to what it was 18 months ago, but there is a long way to go. The Standard can bring real energy to this and make sure nobody gets off the hook. The timing of this campaign could not be better. In the coming weeks, we will expand our coverage to other groups using ingenious methods to tackle food waste and food poverty. We will look at how the authorities could act and we will address food waste in the home, which is where seven million of the total 10 million tonnes is wasted. And we will continue to pressurise food outlets to be more transparent, to publish their waste data, and most importantly to incorporate surplus food donation to charities into their core business plan rather than treating it as an afterthought. The hungry can be fed. It is time for the food super-powers to step up to the plate. N urses and midwives are facing "deep cuts" to essential funding for training, a new report has revealed. In some parts of the UK, funding for on-going education throughout nurse and midwifes careers will be cut by 45 per cent. The Royal College of Midwives said the cuts could impact the safety of patients but Health Education England has labelled the report misleading. The report was published for health education authority Council of Deans and Health. It details that continued professional development funding for nurses and midwifes will be significantly reduced this year. RCM director of midwifery Louise Silverton said the cuts were particularly disturbing because the key to improving productivity in the NHS is through valuing and engaging the existing workforce. She added: This also comes at a time when the NHS and the Government want to adapt services, for example to promote more midwife-led care. To cut money for workforce development and training seems very short sighted indeed. But Rob Smith, director of strategy and planning at Health Education England, said the report was a misleading portrayal of the extent of Health Education England's involvement in Continuing Professional Development, which is primarily an employer responsibility. He said: "HEE does not, and never has had a specific allocation for general CPD for the NHS workforce. The report also fails to recognise the far greater investment that all NHS employers make in the development of their own staff. "We have previously made clear that our Spending Review allocation represented a good settlement for HEE, allowing us to fund additional clinical undergraduates this year and prioritise additional investment in the future workforce as this is HEE's primary remit. A Russian man has volunteered to be the worlds first patient to receive a head transplant. Terminally ill Valery Spiridonov said he wanted to undergo the pioneering procedure, carried out by Italian neurosurgeon Professor Sergio Canavero, as early as next year to help him live an independent life. The 31-year-old computer scientist suffers from Werdnig Hoffman disease, a muscle wasting condition that has left him wheelchair-bound as well as suffering difficulty with breathing, swallowing and chewing. He appeared before Good Morning Britain today to say he wanted the operation which would see his head removed and placed on a healthy body. The ground-breaking procedure is said to cost 10 million and will take 150 medical staff around 36 hours to complete. It has never been carried out on humans before with limited success on animals. Mr Spiridonov said: I thought that if this technology could improve and could be done safe enough to make these transplants on humans, it will make sense and of course we should evolve this procedure and make it happen. "My current condition is pretty heavy. I cannot take care of myself, I cannot walk, I need constant assistance. My motivation is about improving my life conditions and to get to the stage where I will be able to take care of myself and be independent of other people." GMB presenter Charlotte Hawkins explained medics would freeze the head and body to preserve brain cells before the neck is cut to allow tubes connecting the key arteries to be fitted. She carried on by saying the head would then be moved on to the spinal cord using a type of glue before a race against time to reattach the remaining muscles and organs. Professor Canavero said there was a 90 per cent chance Mr Spiridonov would survive the operation but admitted he could die. He said Mr Spiridonov would be kept in an induced coma for up to a month to allow his body to repair itself while he would regain the ability to walk within a year. The ground-breaking operation has sparked concerns from medical experts such as Dr Hilary Jones who was also on the show. He said he feared the donor body could reject the head but his suggestion was dismissed by the professor who said via video from Italy: This doctor doesn't know what he's talking about. It's going to work." A ngry commuters described travel hell, madness and mayhem at Finsbury Park Tube station this morning after it was forced to shut amid overcrowding. A key entrance and exit to the station on Wells Terrace, closed in July ahead of a major revamp which will be unveiled in 2019. But this morning passengers called the situation an absolute joke as they waited outside the choked-up station for up to around half an hour. Transport bosses told people to go to "other nearby stations" in an effort to ease the overcrowding. Melissa Mannion said on Twitter: Stay away from Finsbury Park station this morning if you can. Absolutely mental crowds for the underground; rail dealing with the overflow. 'Mayhem': Finsbury Park station was closed because of overcrowding. / Bryan Davey. Adam Dreyfus-Gibson called it "commuting hell". Others complained it is not the first time the station has become overcrowded since the Wells Terrace entrance was closed. 25 minute wait: The station was closed because of overcrowding. / Lewis Catlow Commuter Lewis Catlow, 23, of St Thomas's Road, said he waited for 25 minutes outside the station this morning. He told the Standard: "Couldn't hear the announcements because I was too far away - once I got in the Victoria line southbound platform and train was almost empty." Rob Dutton told the Standard: "The queue to get into the station was about 15 to 20 minutes. Train was only half full when arrived." Peter Wasson said it was the "second day of this in a row" while Twitter user Danielle wrote: Finsbury Park is an absolute joke in the morning. 4 days out of the last 7 it's been like this at peak time. Martin Rowse said: "Since the other entrance to Finsbury Park closed often a huge queue outside without any discernable line problems. What's the plan?" Duncan Gates, tweeted TfL and said: "I can report some impact on service since you closed the second entrance at Finsbury Park." Inside: Queues inside Finsbury Park station. / Lauren French. But he added: "It should be said that the frontline TfL staff are doing a great job in spite of this." A Transport for London spokesman said there are no other delays on the Victoria line so the assumption is the Wells Terrace entrance closure is to blame. But later TfL said the problems were instead due to a "defective train" at Walthamstow at 7.10am. Southbound trains were full so controls were put in place between 7.55am and 8.55am to stop people coming onto the platform, the spokesman said. TfL apologised to anyone whose journey was affected. In a release sent out earlier this year, TfL revealed the entrance closure "is the latest step in a comprehensive upgrade of the station that will introduce step-free access by 2018, increase capacity and make journeys quicker and more pleasant". T he mother of a boy stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack today called on teenagers to put down the knife and spare other parents the same horrors. Jessica Plummer, 46, said she had been destroyed by the murder of her son Shaquan, 17, who was killed as he attempted to leave a house party. She spoke as she was reunited with the doctor from Londons Air Ambulance who performed open-heart surgery on her son. Ms Plummer, who has since set up the Shaquan Sammy-Plummer Foundation, said: What I want to do is try to save a life by encouraging children to put down the knife. Dont put your parents through the same as me. In January last year, as Shaquan tried to leave a party in Winchmore Hill, he was hunted down and stabbed in the chest by host Jemal Williams, 20, to teach him a lesson. Victim: Shaquan Sammy-Plummer Williams had demanded Shaquan, a smart, ambitious pupil at La Swap sixth-form college in Camden, hand over a bag of snacks before he left. After the stabbing, an ambulance taking Shaquan to the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel was intercepted by an air ambulance fast-response car. Surgeon Tom Konig, aided by paramedics Shaun Rock and David Gordedo, opened the boys chest and held his heart as they tried to bring him back to life. Ms Plummer has since given 1,000 to the air ambulance and pledged half of all proceeds from her charity. She plans to work with the St Giless Trust and Barts Health NHS Trust to turn teenagers away from knife crime. She said Shaquan, her second child, would have been starting his second year at university today. Her other children, Andre, 17, and Shantel, 21, are struggling to deal with his death. Im still waiting for my son to walk through the door, she said. Im expecting him to come every day. I would give anything to have him back. Every day I will open the door and go outside and look for him. She cannot leave home without a badge bearing his photograph. Its like he is with me all the time, she said. I feel naked without it. Williams, a habitual carrier of knives, was sentenced in April at the Old Bailey to a minimum of 24 years. The judge said he had shown not a shred of remorse and the police said Shaquans death was a meaningless tragedy. Ms Plummer said of the killer: Im not blaming anyone, but he has to face responsibility for what he did. He took my sons life for no reason. He is still living life. All I have is a cemetery. Police investigating the murder faced a wall of silence. Ms Plummer, of Finsbury Park, told parents: You need not cover for your children. If they are doing wrong, you need to speak out. Mr Konig, a trauma surgeon based at the Royal London, said 30 per cent of its cases involved knife crime. You get a call in the middle of the night, you come in and you sort it out, he said. You have just got to keep going. He told Ms Plummer: Sadly you are not the first and you will not be the last. Mr Rock, a specialist paramedic at London Ambulance Service, said air ambulance medics were literally doing open-heart surgery in the street. He added: Its almost like battlefield medicine. I was the incident officer at the Damilola Taylor stabbing in Peckham [in 2000]. I thought, That has got to be the first and last, but the city is destroying its potential with the loss of these young men. S adiq Khan today called for London to get New York-style powers over taxes and public services as he arrived back home after his five-day North American tour. The Mayor urged the Government to devolve more responsibility to City Hall over areas including transport, health and criminal justice. Mr Khan, who met his New York counterpart Bill de Blasio during his visit, said ministers should also consider handing over more financial autonomy to help boost jobs and growth. He believes more devolution to the capital would also boost growth elsewhere and said: When London succeeds, the rest of Britain succeeds. Mr Khan has seen up close how New Yorks city chiefs control around 53 billion a year, more than three times the size of Londons 16.3 billion budget. Both cities have responsibility for housing, transport and policing but New York has power over education, skills, healthcare and social service systems too. The American mayor also has tax-raising powers, including on personal income, property, alcohol, tobacco and share transfers, while his British counterpart is only given a share of council tax. Mr Khan and his team are in detailed talks with the Government, led by the Treasury, on what extra powers could be devolved to the capital. City Hall is hoping to kick off with streamlined planning powers, more money for housing and potentially beefed-up criminal justice powers. There are also discussions taking place about how the Mayor could have more strategic control over business rates under government plans to devolve them to local councils in their entirety. New York and Chicago, which Mr Khan also visited, control around half of the funds raised by businesses and residents, compared with seven per cent by City Hall and the councils combined. The Mayors wish list also includes more power over skills, suburban rail services and aspects of the NHS. He has already reconvened the London Finance Commission to draw up proposals to take to ministers. Mr Khan said: Ive seen first-hand that mayors in cities like New York, Chicago and Montreal are able to make huge improvements to the lives of the people they represent, because they have more control over services in their city. Londons population is the same size as Wales and Scotland combined, but we have far less control over how our capital is run. London needs that control so that we can protect jobs and growth and make it a better city to live in for all Londoners.@PippaCrerar P ulitzer-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks says Hillary Clinton will face the same stupid questions over her ability to be president because she is a woman as Barack Obama did because of his race. The American dramatist hopes Mrs Clinton triumphs over Donald Trump, but fears that as a pioneer she will face hostility and unfair criticism. Parks, 53, was the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama for her 2001 play Topdog/Underdog. Her newest work, Father Comes Home From The Wars, is set in the US Civil War and explores the legacy of slavery. Stupid questions: Parks said Clinton faces the same questions that Obama did about his race / Helen Murray It was nominated for a Pulitzer and has its UK premiere at the Royal Court this week, and will then run until October 22. Parks said ex-president George W Bush made it look like anyone could do it". "And people wouldnt dare speak against the office of the president. Then Obama got elected and they started saying such evil things. It wasnt racism... it was stupid. Questioning his ability, whether he is an American, his faith, whether he was fit to serve. "He was the first one to have to answer questions nobody has had to answer before. She added: God willing Hillary will be the next president. No candidate, no person is perfect, but she is the best person for the job. "I think she will do a great job, but she will have to endure stupid questions. Its not just the US. The world has a woman problem. L ib-Dem leader Tim Farron today sought to rally millions of people to step up the fight against Brexit as he declared: I want my country back. Brazenly making a grab for the catchphrase so successfully used by Nigel Farage in the EU referendum debate, he warned against a hard Brexit, with Britain plunging out of the single market. A Brexit that means that the Conservative Party no longer supports the free market, no longer supports business, no longer understands the need for calm economic pragmatism but instead pursues the nationalist protectionist fantasies of the Brexit fundamentalists who have won the day, he was set to tell delegates at the Lib-Dem annual rally in Brighton. But we will not let Nigel Farages vision for Britain win. To coin a phrase, I want my country back. In his keynote speech Mr Farron stuck by his flagship policy of calling for a second referendum. If we trusted the people to vote for our departure, then we must trust the people to vote for our destination, he was due to add. But splits have emerged within his party, with former Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable urging it to focus more on the need to strike a good Brexit deal rather than a second plebiscite. I do think its seriously disrespectful and politically utterly counterproductive to say: Sorry, guys, you got it wrong lets try again, he said. Mr Farron is understood to have spoken to Sir Vince by phone yesterday over his comments and to have said if he had concerns he could have raised them with him privately. The Lib-Dem leader was also expected to signal a move towards adopting a Blairite Third Way in the centre ground of British politics. He was due to suggest Mr Blairs premiership needed to be re-appraised and that although the Labour prime minister was wrong on the Iraq war, he was right on other issues such as tax credits. This stance may irk some Lib-Dem activists, given their strong opposition to Mr Blair over the Iraq war. With Labour expected to re-elect Jeremy Corbyn as leader, Mr Farron appealed directly to the partys centrist supporters to switch to the Lib-Dems, though he was set to admit it was a big ask. Mr Farron also pledged to raise taxes if necessary to meet the growing costs of the NHS and social care, particularly for the elderly. On education, he called for the end of SATs tests in primary schools.@nicholascecil A n irate husband and wife staged a dramatic protest on Beijing's airport runway to stop a plane from taking off after they arrived too late to board. Pictures show a woman standing underneath the Air China jet with a black suitcase as the bizarre demo delayed the Shanghai-bound flight for 20 minutes. The protest came after the couple arrived too late to board the flight on Saturday morning due to personal reasons, according to the Beijing Youth Daily. The couple reportedly knocked down several airline employees to run along the gangway leading to the plane after the gate was shut. Bizarre: The demonstration meant the flight was delayed by 20 minutes After cabin crew refused to let the pair board the flight, the wife apparently told ground staff they would not leave the runway unless allowed to take their seats. One witness told the newspaper: When two police officers tried to approach the woman she became really emotional and started crying and waving her arms. The plane eventually departed after the husband reportedly dragged his wife into a police car. The newspaper reported the couple were placed in administrative detention for five days by airport police. M icrosoft has pledged to solve cancer in the next 10 years. The US technology giant has assembled a team including biologists, programmers and engineers to tackle the disease as if it were a computer bug in a dramatic new approach. The company said ground-breaking computer science could be used to reprogramme diseased cells back to a healthy state, which could eliminate cancer within a decade. Microsoft opened its first wet laboratory in the summer to allow its scientists to test its findings as it starts detailed analysis of the internal workings of cell networks. The company said it hoped to develop computers from DNA which are capable to identify and destroy cancerous cells. Chris Bishop, laboratory director at Microsoft Research, said it was a natural area for Microsoft to explore given its expertise in computer science. He told the Telegraph: Its not just an analogy, its a deep mathematical insight. Biology and computing are disciplines which seem like chalk and cheese but which have very deep connections on the most fundamental level. Andrew Philips, head of the group, told the newspaper: Its long term, but I think it will be technically possible in five to 10 years time to put in a smart molecular system that can detect disease. Dr Jasmin Fisher, senior researcher and an associate professor at Cambridge University, added: If we are able to control and regulate cancer then it becomes like any chronic disease and then the problem is solved. I think for some of the cancers five years, but definitely within a decade. Then we will probably have a century free of cancer." A n unarmed black pastor was tasered and then shot dead by police while he held both hands in the air after his car broke down. Police officer Betty Shelby opened fire on Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after he had been tasered by another officer. She fired once. The victim was rushed to hospital but later died from his injuries. Police were initially called to deal with Mr Crutchers broken down SUV around 7.40pm on Friday. They claimed he refused to raise his hands and reached inside the vehicle. But dashcam footage released by Tulsa Police Department clearly shows the pastor walking round the back of his car with his hands in the air. Footage taken from a police helicopter which shows the same from above also confirms this, as well as an officer saying: Hes got his hands up there for her now. This guy is still walking and following commands. The moment before Officer Shelby opens fire / Tulsa Police Department via AP Mr Crutcher was then tasered by an officer, and fatally shot by Officer Shelby, although this is not clear from the footage. Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan confirmed in a press conference on Monday that Mr Crutcher was unarmed and did not have a weapon inside his vehicle. He described footage of the shooting as very disturbing, very difficult to watch. He added: I want to assure our community and I want to assure all of you and people across the nation watching this, we will achieve justice. A criminal investigation into the shooting has been opened by the police department and the federal Justice Department has opened a separate civil rights investigation. Officer Shelby gave a statement to homicide detectives yesterday and has been placed on paid administrative lead, according to a police spokesman. Paid leave: Officer Shelby gave her statement yesterday / Tulsa Police Department via AP Mr Crutchers family members have appealed for any protests held in his name to be peaceful while calling for a thorough investigation. Family attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said: We saw that Terence did not have any weapon. Terence did not make any sudden movements. We saw that Terence was not being belligerent. The Tulsa shooting comes after mass protests over black men being shot by police in Minnesota, Louisiana and Florida. W ork has started to build a 2 million, 13ft-high concrete wall at Calais to stop migrants jumping aboard lorries bound for Britain. The 2 million barrier, to be paid for by British taxpayers, will stretch for nearly a mile along each side of the motorway in northern France in a bid to cut down on stowaways. The busy road leads to the port and is bordered by the so-called Jungle camp in Calais. Migrants in the camp have been seen throwing objects at traffic in a bid to slow vehicles and jump on board. New photos taken this week show workers digging the foundations of the wall and pouring the first layers of concrete into a trench alongside the motorway. 13ft high: The first layers on concrete are poured. / AFP/Getty Images The plan to build the massive barrier was announced earlier this month after local workers including lorry drivers, farmers and police officers blockaded the motorway in protest at the camp. It will replace fencing along the road which has so far failed to stop stowaways smuggling into the vehicles. Taxpayer-funded: The 2 million wall is part of a 17 million package with the French. / AFP/Getty Images Charities in Calais said since August the squalid camp has become home to nearly 1,000 more people, bringing the total to more than 10,000 as the crisis shows no sign of easing. It is mainly home to people fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East and Africa. Speaking when the plan was announced, Britains immigration minister Robert Goodwill said the wall would stem the flow of migrants into the UK and keep drivers safe. Motorway: The road leads to the port of Calais, where lorries are transported to Britain. / AFP/Getty Images He said he wanted to reduce the current net long-term migration figure of 327,000 to the tens of thousands. 'The security that we are putting in at the port is being stepped up with better equipment," he said. "We are going to start building this big new wall very soon as part of the 17million package we are doing with the French. "There is still more to do. We have also invested in space for 200 lorries at Calais so that they have somewhere safe to wait." J im Carrey has released an emotional statement after being sued by the estranged husband of his late girlfriend. The Hollywood A-lister, whose girlfriend Cathriona White died of an overdose last year, has said that Mark Burtons lawsuit is a heartless attempt to exploit him . In a statement, the actor said: What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world. "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. He added: Cat's troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone's control. I really hope someday soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace. Burton, who was previously married to the 30-year-old, has alleged that the Mask actor used his immense wealth and celebrity status to obtain prescription drugs for his girlfriend under a false name. The lawsuit, filed by Burton, states that bottles of pills including Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet, that killed White, bore the name Arthur King, which he alleges is Carreys pseudonym. The lawsuit states: This is a case about Jim Carrey using his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case, deadly, controlled substances. It goes on to state that Carey took steps to conceal and obfuscate his involvement and culpability in Ms White's untimely and tragic death. Irish born White died from a multiple drug overdose just a few days after splitting from Carey in September 2015. J ustin Bieber and Sofia Richie have reportedly split up after just a few months together. The pair, who recently returned from a holiday to Mexico, are thought to have called time on their short-lived romance. According to reports, the former couple were never officially together and have drifted apart after returning to Los Angeles. A source told E! News: They were never officially together, but more casual hanging out and having fun. It was super-hot and heavy, and because Justin doesn't want a relationship right now, he wanted to cool things down. The insider added: it wasn't an intentional cool-of. It just sort of happened on its own." Bieber and Richie were friends before striking up a romance just a couple of months ago, going public on Instagram. The Canadian pop star was then forced to delete his account after receiving abuse from fans over the fledgling relationship. Speaking to Billboard, 18-year-old Richie recently said: We have a special relationship. Justin is very easy to talk to, and that's hard to find with people in Los Angeles. The teenager, who has become the focus of more media attention since the romance, isnt fazed my being in the spotlight after learning from sister Nicole Richie. I remember the paparazzi and the s*** people would say to Nicole, and she wouldn't respond, she said. "I'm going to be real with you: It. Doesn't. Bother. Me As long as I'm happy. Sofia Richie - style file 1 /49 Sofia Richie - style file September 23, 2017 With Scott Disick on Miami Beach Rex April 9, 2008 With her father Lionel Richie an sister Nicole at ASCAP's 25th Annual Pop Music Awards Stephen Shugerman/Getty August 22, 2009 With Lionel at the Official Launch Of New Disney & Muppet Myzos Kristian Dowling/Getty September 27, 2012 At Teen Vogue's 10th Anniversary young Hollywood party Jason Merritt/Getty May 24, 2013 At Electric Run in LA with Pia Mia Jim Smeal/BEI/Rex July 15, 2013 At LAX Airport Broadimage/Rex October 20, 213 Shopping in California with Kylie Jenner Press Group/Rex April 12, 2014 At Desert Gold at Ace Hotel & Swim Club for a Marc by Marc Jacobs event Rachel Murray/Getty September 6, 2014 At the Christian Siriano SS15 during New York Fashion Week Cindy Ord/Getty October 2, 2014 At a Michael Kors event in celebration of 'Young Hollywood' book launch Broadimage/Rex February 15, 2015 At the DKNY AW15 show during New York Fashion Week Michael Loccisano/Getty February 16, 2015 At the alice + olivia AW15 show during New York Fashion Week Rob Kim/Getty February 16, 2015 At the Tommy Hilfiger AW15 show during New York Fashion Week Will Ragozzino/BFAnyc.com/Rex February 17, 2015 At the Rachel Zoe AW15 show during New York Fashion Week Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty February 17, 2015 At the Marc By Marc Jacobs AW15 show during New York Fashion Week Astrid Stawiarz/Getty March 4, 2015 At the H&M AW15 show during Paris Fashion Week Pascal Le Segretain/Getty March 5, 2015 At Paris Fashion Week Silvia Olsen/Rex May 4, 2015 Out and about in New York Broadimage/Rex September 14, 2015 Out and about in New York Curtis Means/ACE Pictures/Rex September 15, 2015 Out and about in New York Startraks Photo/Rex September 17, 2015 Arriving at Soho Trump Hotel Startraks Photo/Rex February 11, 2016 Walking the runway at The American Heart Association's Go Red For Women Red Dress Collection Frazer Harrison/Getty February 12, 2016 At the Fenty Puma by Rihanna AW16 show during New York Fashion Week Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty March 16, 2016 Out and about in New York Broadimage/Rex May 2, 2016 At the Balmain and Olivier Rousteing event after the Met Gala Nicholas Hunt/Getty May 2, 2016 Departing the Bowery Hotel Paul Zimmerman/Getty May 5, 2016 Out and about in La for lunch at Fred Segal Broadimage/Rex August 13, 2016 With Justin Bieber in Tokyo Masatoshi Okauchi/Rex September 8, 2017 At the Monse fashion show during New York Fashion Week Getty Images For NYFW: The Shows September 15, 2016 At the Audi Celebrates The 68th Emmys Getty Images for Audi October 24, 2016 At the 2nd InStyle awards AFP/Getty Images February 8, 2017 At the Tommy Hilfiger Spring 2017 Women's Runway Show Getty Images February 11, 2017 At the Alexander Wang show during New York Fashion Week Getty Images March 8, 2017 At the DL1961 campaign launch Getty Images for DL1961 May 1, 2017 At the Met Gala Getty Images For Entertainment Weekly May 25, 2017 At the amfAR's 24th Cinema Against AIDS Gala during Cannes Film Festival AFP/Getty Images September 7, 2017 At the Kith Sport fashion show during New York Fashion Week Getty Images Follow @StandardEnts for more entertainment news. W hen a TV series is revived after over a decade on air, theres often a struggle to live up to viewers expectation. But by all accounts, the return of ITVs Cold Feet has been a major success so far. Some viewers are even calling the third instalment of the long-awaited sixth series the best episode ever, thanks in particular to one scene that brought both laughs and tears. As creator Mike Bullen had previously suggested, the new episodes have been tackling the topic of male depression through Petes character. Things took a particularly dark turn when Pete attempted to euthanise a care home patient by smothering him with a pillow. Pensioner Harry asked Pete to kill him and while he obliged, his attempt was unsuccessful, leading to a darkly comic argument between the two. The balance of comedy and drama was hailed as genius by one viewer, while Gaby Roslin said she was either smiling or crying for the entire episode. The shows return has brought back the original cast of the Nineties comedy-drama, including James Nesbitt and Hermione Norris, for a six-episode run. Cold Feet 2016 1 /8 Cold Feet 2016 The gang's all here Cold Feet is back with the original cast for Series 6 ITV James Nesbitt as Adam Williams ITV John Thomson and Fay Ripley as Pete and Jenny Gifford ITV Hermione Norris as Karen Marsden ITV Robert Bathurst as David Marsden ITV Ceallach Spellman as Matthew Williams ITV Actor Robert Bathurst, who plays David Marsden in the show, has hinted that there could be more on the way. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: "They will see how things run - but it's certainly looking good. "People seem to be enjoying it. "We are optioned for another one but there's no commitment to that." ITV, Monday, 9pm U niversity Challenge fans have found a new favourite in the form of the intense new contestant Eric Monkman. Becoming an instant Twitter sensation, the Canadian, who is studying Economics at Wolfson, Cambridge was lauded for his passionate answers to Jeremy Paxmans questions on Monday nights show. After a rather exuberant introduction, Monkman proceeded to deliver each answer with impressive levels of enthusiasm. First question and Monkman already great value. #UniversityChallenge, wrote one viewer on Twitter just minutes into the episode. I like how Monkman gives all his answers as if talking to a slightly deaf elderly relative #UniversityChallenge, wrote another. Monkmania seemed to build as the show progressed, with one viewer writing: Monkman is potentially my favourite tv personality ever #monkman #wolfson #UniversityChallenge. I can't remember what life was like before Monkman, wrote another. Loading.... Loading.... Others saw potential for more Monkman on our screens, writing: we need Monkman on the next Big Brother or Love Island or oh God just something. FIRST DATES. YES. FIRST DATES. MONKMAN, destroyer of WORLDS knows the ANSWER, has no INSIDE VOICE and he wants you to KNOW THAT. #UniversityChallenge, posted someone else. Even host Paxman couldnt help giving a hint of a smile when he shouted out Stephen at the top of his voice after one question. Move over, Oscar Powell. Best TV dramas 2016 1 /38 Best TV dramas 2016 The Missing The addictive and twisty second series of the BBC's crime anthology series BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky Dark Angel Joanne Froggatt stared as Victorian mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton in this ITV drama ITV Close to the Enemy Stephen Poliakoff's post-war drama thriller BBC/Little Island Pictures Ordinary Lies The BBC anthology drama returns with more twisted tales BBC/Red Productions/Adrian Rogers The Night Of Riz Ahmed stars in HBO's critically acclaimed crime mini-series HBO Cold Feet The classic ITV comedy-drama returns - and it's just as good as it ever was ITV Victoria ITV have given Poldark some stiff competition with this period drama about a young Queen Victoria ITV Poldark The BBC's hit drama returns with more brooding, and less naked scything BBC/Robert Viglasky One of Us The BBC kept everyone guessing with this claustrophobic four-part whodunit Ripper Street The fan-favourite Victorian police drama returned for Series 4 BBC/Tiger Aspect 2016/Bernard Walsh The Secret Agent Toby Jones led the cast in the BBC's Joseph Conrad adaptation BBC/World Productions/Mark Mainz/Matt Burlem The Living and the Dead The BBC's gothic romance debuted in full on iPlayer BBC Preacher AMC's adaptation of Garth Ennis' cult comic book is available week-by-week on Amazon Prime Amazon / AMC Versailles A raunchy royal romp around the court of King Louis XIV, spicing up Wednesdays on BBC Two Canal +/ BBC Locked Up The Spanish prison drama came to the UK thanks to Channel 4's Walter Presents series Channel 4 / Global Series Peaky Blinders The Birmingham-set gangster thriller was more popular than ever in its third series BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky The A Word The BBC gave us a nuanced and emotional take on autism BBC/Fifty Fathoms Marcella Anna Friel stars in ITV's British take on the Scandi-noir thriller ITV Grantchester James Norton is back as the crime-solving vicar ITV / Lovely Day Stag The comedy-thriller from the team behind The Wrong Mans is both hilarious and chilling BBC/Des Willie/Hal Shinnie/Matt Burlem Vinyl Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger present a glossy drama about the Seventies music industry HBO American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson Cuba Gooding Jr leads an all-star cast in a dramatic re-telling of the 'trial of century' BBC/Fox Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire returned as Sgt Catherine Cawood for a second series of the gritty crime thriller BBC/Red Productions/Ben Blackall The X Files Mulder and Scully return for a brand new set of mysteries War and Peace The BBC's epic adaptation of the Russian literary classic BBC/Mitch Jenkins Call the Midwife The BBC period drama moved into the Sixties for Series 5 BBC/Neal Street Productions/Sophie Mutevelian Dickensian Charles Dickens' most famous characters collide in this historical soap BBC Jericho ITV's British western set in the wilds of Yorkshire Silent Witness The hugely popular detective drama returns for a 19th series Follow @StandardEnts for more entertainment news. 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As supplies dwindle, those in the industry are urging residents to maintain normalcy. Supply is tight right now and will continue to remain tight until the pipeline is repaired, said Matthew Redmond, president of Statesvilles Raymer Oil. It would be a great help if people wouldnt panic and continue normal buying behaviors. The panic has really made the shortage worse. The shortage is the result of a leak in the Colonial Pipeline discovered Sept. 9 which has spilled an estimated 250,000 gallons. Despite prices reaching $2.25 a gallon locally -- the highest the area has seen since June, according to GasBuddy -- residents are lining up at the pumps, leaving some stations facing an outage. The North Carolina price gouging law is in effect, according to the N.C. Attorney Generals Office. More than 400 complaints were filed as of midday Monday. Residents can file complaints online at ncdoj.gov. Harsh Patel, manager of the Citgo on Garner Bagnal Boulevard, said Monday the recent glut of gas purchases has left his store without regular unleaded gas. "All we've got is premium for now," he said. "We don't know when we'll get the regular. We've been out since Saturday. People just drive away when they see were out. Rickie Wilkinson of Rickie's One-Stop on Davie Avenue said he expects his pumps to be dry in the coming days. "I'll be running out after awhile," he said. "I called my supplier today and they said if I did get a load, it would only be a half a load. Redmond said his main goal as a distributor is to keep customers in supply. Weve not been affected any differently than other distributors in the Southeast, Redmond said. Our job is to keep as many people in product. We have to divide up what scarce number of gallons we do have. Wilkinson said the shortage forced him to raise his prices nearly 10 cents. The prices didnt go up as much as I thought they would, but I might have to go up even more when I do get a load, he said. Statesville resident Duran Allison pumped gas Monday at the Mobil station on Landson Drive. He thinks people are overreacting to the shortage. It hasnt really impacted me, Allison said. Im only getting gas because I need it. This has happened before, and it probably wont be the last time it happens. Wilkinson echoed Allisons thoughts, saying the biggest issue is people filling their tanks when they dont need to. The news got a hold of it and then everyone went crazy, Wilkinson said. I knew the pipeline had busted before anyone started talking about it, but now everyone is filling up, he said. Theyve brought five-gallon cans and 55-gallon cans. People are trying to fill up when they shouldn't. People should drive like they normally drive. According to a press release issued by AAA Carolinas on Monday, prices should decline once the pipeline issue is resolved and the less expensive winter blend of gasoline is produced. Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency over the weekend due to the gas shortage, eliminating registration requirements and size and weight restrictions for transport vehicles. North Carolina is one of six states to declare a state of emergency, joining Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. On September 20, Shanghai-based Chinese steelmaker Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.(Baosteel) announced that its controlling shareholder Baosteel Group plans to voluntarily transfer respective 403,439,717 shares in Baosteel to China Chengtong Holdings Group Ltd.(Chengtong Group) and China Reform Holdings Corporation Ltd.( China Reform Holdings). Accordingly, after the transfer of the shares, Baosteel Group will hold 12,323,385,833 shares in Baosteel, while Chengtong Group and China Reform Holdings will hold respective 403,439,717 shares in Baosteel, accounting for 74.84 percent, 2.45 percent and 2.45 percent of the total equity of the company in question, respectively. Australian iron ore development company BC Iron has announced that Australia s Department of Mines and Petroleum has approved the companys Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan for the Buckland mine project in Pilbara, which provides approval to commence development and operation of the Bungaroo South mine. The approved plan also includes approximately 105 kilometer of private road from the Bungaroo South mine area to the North West Coastal Highway. Meanwhile, BC Iron shipped 1.4 million wet metric ton of iron ore from its Iron Valley project during the first two months of the financial year 2016-17, which is above the companys expectation of 1.0-1.2 million wmt. Accordingly, the company generated an EBITDA of $3.5 million. According to BC Iron , Iron Valley project is on track to achieve BC Iron s EBITDA guidance of $6-16 million for the current fiscal year. Tuesday, 20 September 2016 23:39:23 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo The Chilean government extended for two more months an existing provisional, ad valorem duty already applied to the imports of Mexican rebar , at the same time it reduced the provisional antidumping (AD) tariff from 13.1 percent to 11 percent effective September 17, according to a resolution published at the nations official gazette, Diario Oficial. The decision followed a recommendation on September 12, 2016, by the nations price distortion commission, CNDP. The products subject to the 11 percent provisional, ad valorem tariff currently fall under the following HTS codes 7213.1000, 7214.2000, 7227.9000 and 7228.3000. In August this year, China s raw iron ore production amounted to 115.069 million mt, down 3.3 percent year on year, as announced by China s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Germany-based plantmaker SMS Group has announced that it will supply a new high-speed wire rod mill to China -based Ningxia Iron & Steel in Zhongwei City to expand Ningxia Iron & Steels product portfolio and increase its capacity. The new mill will be designed to produce 600,000 mt of wire rod per year. Commissioning of the mill is scheduled for 2017. Tuesday, 20 September 2016 10:55:12 (GMT+3) | Istanbul According to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), in July this year Turkey 's pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) exports amounted to 5,447 mt, decreasing by 38.7 percent compared to the previous month and down 44 percent year on year, while the revenue from these exports totaled $5.26 million, down 38.3 percent month on month and falling 39 percent compared to the same month of 2015. During the first seven months of the current year, Turkey s PPGI exports decreased by 36.6 percent to 43,157 mt, while the revenue from these exports amounted to $37.8 million, down 38.9 percent, both year on year. Bulgaria was Turkey 's leading PPGI export destination in the January-July period, with imports of 6,850 mt of PPGI from Turkey . In the given period, Bulgaria was followed by Libya and Algeria, with Libyas PPGI imports from Turkey amounting to 3,746 mt, while Algeria received 2,837 mt of PPGI from Turkey in this period. Turkey 's main PPGI export destinations in the January-July period: Country Amount (mt) Jan-Jul 2016 Jan- Jul 2015 Y-o-y change (%) July 2016 July 2015 Y-o-y change (%) Bulgaria 6,850 6,586 4.01 1,058 1,018 3.93 Libya 3,746 3,328 12.56 635 168 277.98 Algeria 2,837 894 217.34 121 142 -14.79 Romania 2,552 2,749 -7.17 403 766 -47.39 Bosnia-Herzegovina 2,405 2,563 -6.16 122 731 -83.31 Georgia 2,142 4,337 -50.61 200 1,428 -85.99 The above prices, which are on actual weight basis, exclude VAT and are on ex-works basis. The offers may differ depending on buyers and order sizes. Although trading activity in the local Turkish wire rod market was expected to recover slightly after the Feast of Sacrifice holiday, demand has showed no recovery yet and it is still at weak levels. Despite the softening of domestic rebar prices after the Feast of Sacrifice holiday, after remaining stable since the beginning of September and despite the weakness of wire rod demand, domestic wire rod prices in Turkey have remained stable during the past two weeks, due to the tightness of supplies resulting from the ongoing maintenance work of a wire rod producers production line in Marmara region and since a steel producer in Iskenderun region will start maintenance work on its production line on October. Tuesday, 20 September 2016 18:38:58 (GMT+3) | San Diego Presently, active offers of scrap from West Canada for HMS I/II 80:20 are $205-210/mt CFR China. From the US West coast offers to Taiwan for the same grade are heard at $197-205/mt CFR. This translates to approximately $185-$193/mt FAS (free alongside ship) from the Los Angeles area. Prices tumbled on the West coast also post the US September buy cycle results that cut deeper into the East Coast and Midwest than expected. In early September, West coast containerized HMS I/II 80:20 was at $207-210/mt CFR Taiwan, for example. Glimpses of hope are showing for the West coast HMS I/II 80:20 scrap market, though, as containerized scrap import deals increased to $210-214/mt CFR Taiwan port and $210-220 CFR Indian port at the end of last week. These are reported prices paid by Taiwan and India for non-US imported scrap. West coast market sources close to SteelOrbis note, however, that US pricing is highly competitive at the moment and may be able to attract additional containerized scrap market deals from these countries as exporters do not have to compete with regional steelmakers for material. The US has lost scrap export market share over the last year due to the appreciation of the dollar. With the present dampened pricing, US exporters hope to regain some of that ground in the Asian markets. Price for CFR Taiwan is believed to have risen as a result of mills uncertainty around scrap supply, even though their domestic situation for finished long products remains uncertain. On the other hand, price for CFR India is believed to have increased from $208-210/mt the previous week due to a strengthening domestic steel market. Meanwhile in the Caribbean, SteelOrbis has received confirmation of a deal done this week from the Dominican Republic to South Korea for HMS I/II 80:20 at $205/mt CFR. By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Bloomsdale will probably host a major fireworks display. The pyrotechnics will not take place until 2024, however. During the Oct. 12 board of aldermen meeting, Kevin Wehner and city officials again discussed the possibility of a July 4 fireworks display at the youth soccer fields on land leased by the city Romania can speed up its economic growth, but in order to secure its long-term sustainability its growth should not count on more tax and monetary incentives, but on structural reforms and, implicitly, on increased labour productivity, the only way leading to truly sustainable gains in the living standards, according to Governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu. "We are finding ourselves in one of the most favourable macroeconomic positions in our post-Communist journey. And yet, we should not rest on our laurels and neglect what we have to do. We should be concerned about consolidating what we have achieved, instead of weakening it. (...) It does matter how fast you grow, but it is equally important how," Isarescu told an economic conference in Bucharest on Tuesday. He added that daring policies can provide short-term benefits, but in the long run they can trigger imbalances. "A higher economic growth is achievable, but in order to be sustainable it should be the result of actions on economic potentials, but such potential is negatively affected by sluggish public investment and structural reforms, and priority action should be done in these two areas," said Isarescu. He also mentioned the problem facing Romania with European funds, which absorption rate he says is far from satisfactory. "Precisely such blockages substantially hinder economic growth potentials. And providing additional tax or monetary incentives instead of conducting structural reforms is not the best choice in the medium and long run," warned Isarescu. Among the necessary reforms, Isarescu mentioned increasing competition in key economic sectors, such as energy and transport, warning about eligible workforce, including in the education system, and about the need for the development of a quality transportation infrastructure. Isarescu said these reforms are important because they secure sustainability for economic growth, and it is equally important that they overstretch electoral cycles. Isarescu added that even the experience of countries at a more advanced stage in gapping the differences separating them from developed economies has led to the conclusion that the convergence process has one constant trait, namely increased labour productivity. "Actions to this end are essential to the progress of economic convergence because that would allow the quicker growth that we all want, as well as the pay rises that we all want more than economic growth. That way truly sustainable gains in living standards are possible," he said. Isarescu added that although at first sight gains in labour productivity depend solely on companies, they still require a concerted effort of the business environment and the government in support of productive investment. AGERPRES The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) on Tuesday delayed for 27 October the ruling on the objection regarding provisions in Romania's Civil Code that do not recognise same-sex marriages, filed in a process by Relu Adrian Coman, Robert Clabourn Hamilton and the ACCEPT Association. "We have decided to address this case on 27 October so we could study the files (...) that present a novelty, a complexity, we must see very carefully the case file the court has sent to us, to read all interventions made by various agencies and NGOs. (...) It is not that simple to decide on a cause bearing a very important media impact and a novelty character, not only to Romania," the CCR president, Valer Dorneanu said. He added that all sides in the file will be summoned to the CCR, the parents of a person in the case, living in the USA, included. "The rescheduling cannot be done but under such circumstances. Nothing has changed, on the contrary. We feel like we need to deepen some verifications and most of all our own conclusions," added Dorneanu, after the sitting. On July 20, CCR postponed a ruling on the matter, arguing that it needs to scrutinise all the files submitted for the case. The constitutionality objection refers to Article 277 (2) and (4) in the Civil Code. Article 277: Interdiction or equating of forms of living together with marriage : "(2) Same sex marriage contracted abroad whether between Romanian citizens or by foreign citizens is not recognised in Romania. (...) (4) Legal provisions regarding free movement in the territory of Romania of citizens from the EU member states and the European Economic Area, are valid." Relu Adrian Coman claimed that by non-recognising in Romania his marriage to Robert Clabourn Hamilton, that has taken place in Belgium in 2010, he could not benefit from a right to residence, according to Agerpres. Romania supports Macedonia's European, Euro-Atlantic perspectives, said on Tuesday the secretary of state for strategic affairs, Dan Neculaescu in a meeting with the Deputy of the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Macedonian Government, Ilija Isajlovski on a visit to Bucharest. According to a press release sent by the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) to Agerpres, the agenda included an analysis of the bilateral relations, as well as a swap of opinions on the regional evolutions. Dan Neculaescu emphasised the good premises of the cooperation between the two countries, within the multi-formats included, and the importance Romania is giving to the role of the Republic of Macedonia in the Western Balkans. In this respect, he expressed support for the European and the Euro-Atlantic perspectives of the Republic of Macedonia, says the MAE release. The two officials have also agreed upon concrete measures to revive the sectoral bilateral cooperation agreements. Were also tackled topics on the transports' inter-connectivity, the boosting of the economic, commercial exchanges' growth, and the identification of new forms of collaboration to include the contribution of the business communities of the two countries. Likewise, an exchange of assessments took place regarding the regional security situation, in particular on the grounds of the proximity evolutions, the MAE release adds. The ambassador of the United Kingdom to Romania, Paul Brummel stated on Tuesday that Romania made great efforts to fight corruption, but work is still to be done in order to finalize the reforms lagging from the last years. The ambassador said that Romania joined the European Union with the promise to fighting for a cleaner, less corrupt society. He added that the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) reflects that, stressing out during the event organized by Member of European Parliament Monica Macovei dedicated to anti-corruption thematic in the private sector, that Romania committed to reform the judicial system, to fight corruption at all levels and to establish an Integrity Agency. The British Ambassador added that a significant step is represented by the adoption of the National Anti-corruption Strategy for the next four years by the Bucharest Executive, a document that focuses on a higher transparency and measures in order to grow the public institution's integrity, but also to give more attention to the education in the anti-corruption spirit. He added that the UK encourages the Romanian authorities to debate and endorse the most efficient ways to prevent and fight corruption. The ambassador also mentioned that he is convinced that the UK is and can be in the future a friend and a reliable partner of Romania to progress in the direction wanted by the citizens. The debate was attended by the Minister of Justice Raluca Pruna, the United States Ambassador in Bucharest Hans Klemm, foreign experts in the fight against corruption, NGOs officials and British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce (BRCC) representatives. Agerpres With Bayer's proposed $66 billion purchase of Monsanto Co., the company that invented aspirin is poised to take on one of the world's biggest corporate headaches. A potential cure: dropping the Monsanto name. The German drug and chemical conglomerate is considering that move to avoid sullying its reputation, according to people familiar with internal discussions at Bayer who asked not to be named because the talks are private. No decision has been made, and Bayer's managers will have some time to think: thanks to antitrust reviews in some 30 jurisdictions worldwide, the purchase isn't likely to be completed before late 2017. Even if the deal goes through as proposed, merging the two companies into the world's top maker of seeds and crop chemicals will be a challenge. Bayer will need to integrate a company known for making the herbicide Agent Orange for use in the Vietnam War and tangling with environmental groups over genetically-modified crops. One possibility would be to market Monsanto products such as seed corn and Roundup herbicide under the Bayer CropScience name, said Joachim Kregel, who represents independent investors at the German shareholder association SdK. Bayer, after all, brought aspirin to market in 1899, and in May it topped a ranking of the world's most reputable pharmaceutical brands from the Reputation Institute, a marketing consultancy. "If anyone can do it, it's Bayer," Kregel said. In an interview with Bloomberg TV last week, Monsanto Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant signaled he's open to a change. "I've been very flexible," Grant said after the deal was announced on Sept. 14. "The key is less about the name and more about the products developed." In fact, Monsanto last year signaled a willingness to abandon its corporate name during its unsuccessful bid to acquire Swiss rival Syngenta. In a letter to Syngenta shareholders, Grant wrote: We would also propose a new name for the combined company to reflect its unique global nature. The name Monsanto has been part of the St. Louis business community since 1901. At a question-and-answer session with Grant, Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann said there's an opportunity for the companies to jointly "get beyond this image and reputation thing" by building on the trust Bayer enjoys in Europe. Environmentalists have campaigned against the deal since talks were first disclosed in May, with celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo and Bianca Jagger tweeting in opposition. Opponents have argued that combining the companies will drive up prices for farmers and increase the spread of genetically modified seeds. Bayer and Monsanto counter that combining will leave them better able to research new products to help farmers produce more food. U.S. regulators say food from genetically engineered plants is as safe as that from non-genetically engineered sources. The European Union also has approved GMO products for sale. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is taking its first look at the mergers at a hearing Tuesday. The proposed purchase comes after a pending deal between Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. and China National Chemical Corp.'s planned takeover of Syngenta AG. Also on Tuesday, Bayer will host analysts and investors at a meeting scheduled before the deal was closed. On Wednesday, Germany's Green Party plans to raise antitrust and reputation concerns over the Bayer-Monsanto deal at a session of parliament in Berlin. Bayer is no stranger to public-relations challenges. In 2011, the company paid $750 million to settle lawsuits that claimed a strain of its genetically modified rice had tainted other crops; Bayer said that it had acted responsibly in handling the biotech rice but wanted to resolve the litigation so it could move forward. Environmentalists have called on it to stop selling any GM seeds. Further back in its corporate history, the company was a Nazi contractor and used forced labor. The Monsanto deal will give Bayer the opportunity to redeem a tarnished brand and highlight the benefits of the company's products, said Marc Tuengler, chief of DSW, a German association that advises small investors on proxy votes. "With the right signals, the right decisions, Bayer can show what will be changed," Tuengler said. "Monsanto has a better chance of improving its reputation under Bayer's roof." With assistance from Jeffrey McCracken, David McLaughlin and Lydia Mulvany of Bloomberg. The Post-Dispatch contributed. Tony Tersigni, CEO of the nations largest nonprofit health system, is setting out to make Ascension a household name across the United States. Despite its size and influence, few consumers know Ascension by name even in the St. Louis area where the Catholic health system is based and employs nearly 1,000 individuals. Thats why Ascension is launching a major rebranding campaign, starting Tuesday, that will eventually place the Ascension name on thousands of its health care facilities. Were positioning ourselves to let the world know that we are a national system, Tersigni said in an interview last Wednesday. Tersigni, a veteran health care exec, has led Ascension since 2004. The Edmundson-based health system already is a formidable player in the industry with 141 hospitals across 24 states and the District of Columbia, plus more than 2,500 sites of care and 30 facilities for seniors. Ascension has unrivaled size and scale in the industry, Standard & Poors rating agency said in an April report. As Ascension has grown to become a behemoth in the industry by acquiring health systems and hospitals over the years, it typically leaves the original hospital or facility name intact. That practice will end, starting in Michigan and Wisconsin, where Ascension operates 29 hospitals and numerous other outpatient facilities. Ascension says rebranding the facilities will make it easier for patients to identify the range of services the system provides. And it will also amplify Ascensions voice when it comes to advocacy and legislative issues, executives told the Post-Dispatch. The move mirrors a strategy other smaller health care systems have used locally. In 2014, for example, Creve Coeur-based SSM Health began adding its name to all of its hospitals and facilities across four states of operation. We were coming together to improve our efficiency as an organization and to better share best practices and better coordinate care, John Nguyen, vice president of marketing and communications for SSM said of the name change. By coming together under a single name it helps us tell our story better, he said. Chesterfield-based Mercy did the same in 2011. It changed St. Johns Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur to Mercy Hospital St. Louis, a change that was replicated throughout its multiple states of operation. Despite the name change, many locals still call the Creve Coeur hospital St. Johns. But the new approach to standardizing operations and aligning under one name will likely generate cost-savings, said Kevin Holloran, an analyst for Standard & Poors. More variability means more excess cost and not as high quality, Holloran said of the health care industry. Ascension has already consolidated services lines, has centralized operations and executes well across its markets, the April Standard & Poors report said. Jim Fisher, a marketing professor at St. Louis Universitys John Cook School of Business, said its now necessary to build brand recognition, especially as nontraditional outlets start to provide basic health care services like CVS and Walgreens. And both of those big-box retailers have a long history of successfully targeting consumers and building loyalty, Fisher said. As more consumers are on the hook for high deductibles, theyre more sensitive when making decisions about where to seek care. Its one reason why health care organizations have started efforts to target consumers more directly, Fisher said. The health system will take the next 12 to 18 months to change facility names, websites, emails and launch new advertising. Ascension does not own hospitals in the St. Louis area, but it operates two area senior care facilities, Sherbrooke Village in unincorporated St. Louis County and Lansdowne Village in St. Louis. WASHINGTON Bayers pending $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto got a going-over at a Senate hearing probing concentration in the seed and farm chemical industries, with officials of the companies saying it would allow them to spend more on research and that mergers and acquisitions are necessary in a stressed farm economy. Some senators and antitrust activists werent buying it, portraying the Bayer-Monsanto deal, which was announced Sept. 14, as a continuation of mega-mergers that could diminish competition and raise prices for farmers and consumers. Two big deals affecting agriculture already are underway. Dow Chemical and DuPont, which are moving ahead with an all-stock merger valued at about $130 billion, plan to spin off their seed and crop chemical business into a separate company. And Chinese state-owned chemical giant ChemChina is proceeding with a $43 billion takeover of Swiss pesticide and seeds company Syngenta. The bottom line is that our industry is undergoing a healthy and sorely needed transformation, Robert Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Creve Coeur-based Monsanto, told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. He called it a healthy disruption. Monsanto is a perfect match to Bayers agricultural business, combining complementary skills with limited geographic overlap, Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP, told the committee. But National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson pointed out that with the downturn of the agricultural economy, the entire agriculture sector is engaged in rapid consolidation a trend he described as troubling. If all three pending deals close, three companies would account for nearly 80 percent of U.S. corn seed sales and nearly 70 percent of the global pesticide market, he said, resulting in fewer choices for farmers, higher prices and less innovation, he said. Any arguments that integration is an efficiency should be viewed with skepticism, added Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pointed out that the acquisitions come after corn prices fell from $7 a bushel in 2012 to under $3, and that overall farm income this year is expected to be well below record highs of recent years. He said that there is a lot of interest in how these transactions will recalibrate the seed and chemical world, and whether theyll pass regulatory muster. I am afraid this consolidation wave may have become a tsunami, he said. Monsantos Fraley said that the consolidations are necessary to respond to that lower purchasing power by farmers, as companies that supply them seed, fertilizer and pesticides seek ways to reduce overlap and inefficiencies and pivot to more research and development. Fraley argued that licensing to smaller companies has enhanced market competition. Fraley reiterated assertions that Bayer would have its North American headquarters and research concentration in St. Louis. But senators were unable to pin down either Fraley or Bayers Blome on what that might mean long-term for jobs if and when the deal goes through. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said he was worried that the Monsanto-Bayer deal puts 70 percent of seed for cotton grown in the southeastern U.S. under one company. He also said purchase by a German company could lower the U.S. tax bill currently paid by Monsanto. Blome and Fraley said taxes were not a motivator for the deal. He said Germany, where Bayer is headquartered, is not considered a tax haven. Heather Bresch will face the proverbial lash from Congress on Wednesday over the escalating cost of Mylan NV's EpiPen. Her boss won't. Robert J. Coury acquired the rights to sell the emergency allergy antidote in 2007 when he was Mylan's chief executive officer. At the time, the EpiPen cost about $50 a shot. When Coury stepped down as CEO and became the company's executive chairman in 2011, the price was about $90, according to SSR Health. Now, it's sold in a two-pack for $600 and, thanks to federal legislation, it's required in many schools. Though Coury's role has evolved he hasn't been CEO for five years and in June had his title changed to chairman from executive chairman he still oversees company strategy, said Nina Devlin, a Mylan spokeswoman. "He's probably more involved than most CEOs, given his history,'' said Ronny Gal, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "He's always been a kind of hands-on kind of guy." It's probably best for Mylan that its current CEO, rather than Coury, is the company's public face on Capitol Hill. Bresch, 47, the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, knows the corridors of power. Coury, on the other hand, loves to agitate. At a 2013 health-care conference hosted by Goldman Sachs, he expressed his weariness with hypothetical questions by invoking an older woman's hypothetical private parts. "I get a little tired of the 'if,' '' he said. "If your aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle, right?" Through Devlin, Coury declined to be interviewed. He has yet to comment publicly on the controversy surrounding EpiPen, which administers $1 of epinephrine and accounts for 40 percent of Mylan's profit. _________ Coury, 55, piloted Mylan's growth from a regional drug manufacturer to today's global generics behemoth with $9.4 billion in sales last year. As Mylan CEO, he oversaw nine acquisitions and another 11 after becoming executive chairman. Coury orchestrated the 2015 acquisition of Abbott Laboratories' generics business, which allowed Mylan to move its corporate address to the Netherlands to reduce its tax rate. When President Barack Obama questioned so-called inversions by U.S. companies, Coury fired back with a defense in a USA Today op-ed. "All of our major competitors were either founded outside of the U.S. or have recently inverted, and benefit from more attractive tax structures," Coury wrote. "This significant competitive disadvantage could put our corporation, and all of our high-quality U.S. jobs, at risk." Coury is known for clashing with investors and competing executives, most notably during merger-and-acquisition battles with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Perrigo. "He'll drop an f-bomb to a female audience in a heartbeat,'' former Mylan executive Richard Moldin said in an interview. "He'll rant and rave." Moldin said Coury was able to rally shareholders but conceded the CEO's plain-spokenness grew too frustrating, and said he quit in 2001 after the two clashed. "Robert is a very self-focused individual,'' Moldin said. "He's probably the main reason I left the company." To appease critics of the EpiPen, Mylan has announced plans for a generic alternative and promised to increase rebates. The company also sent Bresch on a charm offensive. She's familiar to many lawmakers, and it's unclear how intense a grilling she'll receive when she testifies to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "There is justified outrage from families and schools across the country struggling to afford the high cost of EpiPens," committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and ranking member Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, said in a joint statement released last week. _________ Coury grew up in a crowded household in the blue-collar Brookline neighborhood of Pittsburgh, earning an engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1984. He sold insurance, did estate planning and opened his own consulting firm. In the mid-90s, connections on Mylan's board helped earn him a contract to improve company benefits. He became a financial adviser to the board and senior management. In 2002, he was named CEO. Three years later came his first public spat when billionaire investor Carl Icahn argued that Coury's $4 billion offer for King Pharmaceuticals was too high. Coury was forced to abandon the takeover and instead found himself fending off Icahn's unsolicited $5.4 billion bid for Mylan. King was later acquired by Pfizer, whose Meridian Medical Technologies subsidies makes the EpiPen in St. Louis County. Icahn didn't respond to requests for comment. Mylan's 280,000-square-foot operations hub in Canonsburg, about 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, is named the Robert J. Coury Global Center. Last year, Coury received $62.4 million in take-home pay, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. And he hasn't been shy about availing himself of the perks that come with the success of a company whose stock has nearly tripled since he took over in 2002. His contract allows him to use the company's jets for personal travel, and he logged $2 million in aviation expenses from 2010 to 2013. Some flights were used to shuttle to and from performances of his son, Tino, 28, whose 2010 electro-pop single, "Diary," reached No. 11 on Billboard's Dance Club chart, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Mylan's contracts with Mr. Coury for more than a decade have authorized his use of the corporate aircraft for both business and personal reasons," said Devlin, the spokeswoman. _________ In 2007, Mylan acquired the exclusive right to distribute the EpiPen from Merck KGaA. After Bresch became CEO, it ramped up marketing, expanded its sales force by 40 percent and lobbied Congress so that school districts across the country were required to stock EpiPens. It also partnered with the Clinton Global Initiative by promising to cut prices of its HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries. Coury stood on stage with former President Bill Clinton during the announcement. Hillary Clinton has been critical of EpiPen pricing. After acquiring EpiPen, when Coury was CEO Mylan raise the product's price by 10 percent on three occasions over a 15-month period. By 2011, the EpiPen was being sold only as a two-pack and its market share soared to 98 percent. Coury brushed off pricing concerns at a conference in 2012, telling analysts the high cost enabled the company to expand access. This year, members of Congress have been so outraged by the price increases that they're hauling Bresch into a hearing. David Maris, an analyst for Wells Fargo Securities, said he was surprised the congressional panel hasn't also asked Coury to testify. Yet even Coury's critics contend that the drugmaker isn't doing anything extraordinary. "Mylan is just trying to take advantage of a situation that's purely a marketplace play," said Moldin, the former company executive. "We work in a capitalistic society. If there's an opportunity, great, but I don't think they've done anything with the EpiPen that warrants the amount of attention they're getting." With assistance from Cynthia Koons. A logo for oil giant Total is seen at a petrol station in London February 12, 2008. REUTERS/Stephen Hird/File Photo By Bate Felix PARIS (Reuters) - Oil and gas giant Total could start the second phase of its Incahuasi gas project in Bolivia as early as 2017 if the right market conditions and incentives for investments are in place, the company's director for the Americas said on Friday. The $1.2 billion Incahuasi gas and condensate project which will officially be inaugurated on Friday, began production at three wells in August. Total aims to ramp output to more than 7 million cubic meters of gas per day by the end of September, about 10 percent of Bolivian production, from 5.2 million as soon as a compressor is added to increase pressure, Michel Hourcard told Reuters. He added that good quality condensate - the liquid byproduct of gas that can be made into motor fuels - was also being shipped from Incahuasi, helping to generate cash. "We are preparing assessment for phase two of the project. We have said that we will carefully monitor the performance of the field. Depending on the market and conditions in Bolivia, we will be ready to launch phase two in early 2017," he said. Hourcard said Total was hoping to get the same conditions that enabled it to control costs and complete phase one within budget in the prolonged low oil price environment that has seen companies slash investments and suspend projects. "There is no magic recipe. There is no hope for projects if we cannot control costs in everything especially with oil below $50 per barrel," he said. The Bolivian government of President Evo Morales has said Total has committed about $800 million for phase two. Incahuasi is expected to reassure the market over the Andean nation's ability to meet both export and internal gas demand. The project is operated by Total which owns 50 percent, alongside partners Gazprom with 20 percent, Tecpetrol with 20 percent, and YPFB Chaco with 10 percent. Hourcard said about 90 percent of the gas from Incahuasi was destined for export, mostly to Argentina and Brazil via a 100 kilometre pipeline. Story continues ARGENTINA GAS DEBATE Hourcard said that Total and other companies were in talks with the government in Buenos Aires to bring more projects on stream but that will depend on the price of gas. This has become a hot political issue and Argentina's Supreme Court ruled in August that the government must hold public hearings before reducing home heating gas subsidies. Hourcard said Argentina was in need of gas despite its vast resources, including the Vaca Muerta shale reserves which are considered the world's second-largest after the United States. "The need for Argentina to develop its own gas resources does not wipe out the need for additional gas from the outside, and a stable source of gas from Bolivia to Argentina is something that is solid and we are happy to have found Incahuasi which will help stabilise the market," Hourcard said. (Additional reporting by Daniel Ramos in La Paz and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Andrew Callus and Alexander Smith) Nurses and hospital executives at St. Louis University Hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a contract covering about 660 nurses through 2018. Voting on the proposed contract begins Wednesday and is expected to conclude Saturday, according to internal documents distributed to the nurses. Creve Coeur-based SSM Health acquired the 365-bed academic hospital last year, and this was the first time the hospital system engaged in labor negotiations with National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, which represents SLUH nurses. The union also represents nurses at Des Peres Hospital, which is still owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. They are currently in negotiations, according to the union. SSM Health said in a statement it was pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the NNOC but declined to comment on contract details. According to a union document circulated to employees, the agreement provides for a 2.5 percent wage increase each year on June 15 through 2018. The contract will also ensure that nurses wages are brought up to the appropriate step on the wage grid. The grid reflects the years of experience the nurses have accumulated. For example, a nurse with two years experience is on Step 2 of the wage grid. The new contract also has provisions that are aimed at staffing levels, workplace violence and education on various issues. Nurses are allotted eight hours off after working an on-call shift. Mandatory overtime is prohibited and nurses cannot be required to continue working until all cases are completed if their scheduled shift has ended. A psychiatric tech will be on staff from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day of the week, and a group will be formed to regularly advise and make recommendations regarding safety and security issues. SSM has agreed to increase its employer contribution to retirement plans. Other provisions in the contract ensure nurses will have access to the same discounted tuition programs offered to all SSM employees. And it also provides up to $7,500 to new parents after incurring adoption costs. WASHINGTON The CEO of Wells Fargo faced accusations of fraud and calls for his resignation Tuesday from harshly critical senators at a hearing over allegations that bank employees opened millions of accounts customers didnt know about to meet sales quotas. Members of the Senate Banking Committee showed bipartisan outrage over the long-running conduct, unsatisfied by Chief Executive John Stumpfs show of contrition. Stumpf said he was deeply sorry that the bank failed to meet its responsibility to customers and didnt act sooner to stem this unacceptable activity. He promised to assist affected customers. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., flatly told Stumpf he should step down. You squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers, she said. You should resign. You should give back the money you took while the scam was going on. Warren, one of the fiercest critics of Wall Street, also advocated for a criminal investigation by the Justice Department and securities regulators. Stumpf, a 34-year veteran of Wells Fargo and CEO since 2007, earned $19.3 million last year. The bank does have in place provisions its board could implement to claim back executive compensation. Wells Fargo sales employees, trying to meet targets that called for every customer to have eight products with the bank, opened more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts, regulators said last week in levying a $185 million fine. Money in customers accounts was said to have been moved to these new accounts without their permission. Debit cards were issued and activated, as well as PINs created, without telling customers. In some cases, bank employees even created fake email addresses to sign up customers for online banking services, the regulators said. Wells Fargo has long been known in the banking industry for its aggressive sales goals. Stumpf bristled at Warrens suggestion that the sales practices were a scam. He defended the cross-selling of products trying to draw customers into taking on more as deepening relationships. The senators also challenged assertions that Stumpf and other Wells Fargo senior executives didnt become aware of the problems until 2013 when the sales misconduct was reported by The Los Angeles Times. The practices apparently began at least in 2009. Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail banking business, announced in July that she would retire from the bank this year. She is expected to leave with as much as $125 million in salary, stock options and other compensation. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said it would be malpractice if the bank didnt institute the compensation clawbacks, and Stumpf said the board has the tools to hold senior leadership accountable, including himself and Tolstedt. Questioned again by Warren, Stumpf said the bank had not considered firing her. Peppered with criticism for nearly three hours, Stumpf appeared taken aback by the intensity of the verbal lashing. At one point he stumbled a bit over his words. It struck me that he was berated in a way that shook him a bit, said Chris Kotowski, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. That contrasted with Stumpfs usual poised, deliberate manner when speaking in other venues, he noted. Under the settlement with regulators, Wells Fargo neither admitted nor denied the allegations. It later said it plans to eliminate the sales targets by Jan. 1. Some 5,300 Wells Fargo employees have been fired. Stumpf said those fired included bankers, bank managers, managers of managers, and even an area president. They ranged in pay from about $35,000 to $65,000. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Dive into hometown history With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy The house at 12918 Weber Hill Road in Sunset Hills stands as a monument to everything that is wrong with flooding policy in St. Louis, in Missouri, in the nation. Christmas lights still dangle from the gutters and windows. A Dumpster sits in the yard. Nobody lives there. This is where Steve and Emilie Hayes used to live. They were chased out by rising water last Dec. 30, when heavy rains rendered the banks of the Meramec River and many of its tributaries virtually helpless. The Hayeses house had flooded before, but never like this, with water rising nearly to its roof, overtopping two walls of sandbags set up to protect it from nearby Tributary B. Since then, the Hayeses have lived with family members as they try to deal with insurance, city officials and state emergency management representatives. They received a flood insurance settlement, but it wasnt enough to build a new house. They cant live on Weber Hill anymore unless the property undergoes extensive and expensive flood protection measures. And the State Emergency Management Agency has refused to buy them out and condemn and bulldoze the property. So there it sits. Its almost like when someone passes away and they ate breakfast and the dishes are still on the table, Emilie says. Life just stopped. This is what happens after the floodwater recedes. It is what is happening in Baton Rouge, La., on a massive scale, after that citys historic flood. Thousands of people have been pushed from their homes, and the process and expense of rebuilding will leave many of them out in the cold. Costs in Baton Rouge already are estimated to top $10 billion. For states such as Louisiana and Missouri this is a predicament that in the era of climate change is only going to get worse. According to research compiled by the Pew Charitable Trusts Flood Prepared Communities program, 33 federal disasters or emergencies have been declared in Missouri from 2000 to 2015 related to flooding or severe storms, with the federal government providing more than $870 million in aid. The problem is exacerbated when communities dont take flood preparation seriously, or, when they do, they dont communicate with their neighbors about what theyve done. In December, for instance, Washington University geology professor Bob Criss suggested the flooding in St. Louis was hitting areas that hadnt been affected by previous seasonal flooding because the old 100-year, and 500-year flood maps were obsolete. Criss has long argued that because of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers structures on the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers, for instance, and other levees built in the region to promote development, floodwater cant help but rise faster and higher than previously. Then, this spring, Criss discovered another problem. He began to suspect the Valley Park levee built to protect that St. Louis County city from frequent flooding of the Meramec was too high. A study commissioned by the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance found that it is. The corps disputes the numbers in the study, a point Criss finds dripping with irony. So, according to the corps, the official base flood numbers are right when they want me to be wrong, but wrong when they want to build an oversized levee, he said. For people such as Criss, and the researchers at Pew, floods in the Midwest are going to become more and more disastrous catching people such as the Hayes family in the rising water until the region and the nation pay more attention to flood preparation and planning. We see a lot of building in places that shouldnt be building, says Phyllis Cuttino, Pews director for Flood Prepared Communities. Pew researchers hope that their work will help guide Congress as it rewrites the law that governs the National Flood Insurance Program. It must be re-authorized by September 2017 or it goes away. Cuttino hopes Congress follows the spirit of an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2015 which required that federally funded building projects must take flood risks into consideration and be built to a higher standard. She also hopes the law reduces the millions of dollars paid out each year in flood insurance claims for buildings that are repetitive losses. The system, she says, needs better incentives for less construction in flood plains and areas with nearby levees. In Sunset Hills, Steve and Emilie Hayes still dont have a place to live nine months after the most recent local flood. Yet just a few miles away, the Maryland Heights City Council is considering handing out tax incentives to billionaire Stan Kroenke so he can build a retail playground in an area that was once the regions most fertile farmland. Flooding is a shared responsibility, Cuttino says. UPDATED at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday with additional details from court records ST. LOUIS A St. Louis woman and her boyfriend have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child after a 5-year-old boy found a loaded handgun and shot himself. A bullet hit the boy in the abdomen Sept. 10. He survived but suffered serious injuries, police say. His name has not been released. Brittany Ciara Harris, 24, and Demetrius Terron Dennis, 25, both of the 2800 block of Stoddard Street, were each charged Friday. Harris is being held on $10,000 bail. Dennis also faces a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. His bail was set at $40,000, cash-only. The unlawful possession is because Dennis had a felony conviction from 2011 for stealing a motor vehicle in St. Louis County. According to court documents, the 5-year-old boy found a gun inside the home on Stoddard at about 7 a.m. on Sept. 10. The .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun belonged to Dennis, police say. It was not kept in a secure lockbox. Instead, the boy found the loaded handgun beneath a bed. Harris told police she knew Dennis kept it there. The mother and boyfriend apparently tried to mislead police early on by telling officers that the child was playing outside when they heard a gunshot and found him injured. But police said Harris later admitted that the child was shot inside the home with Dennis' gun. At first, police thought the boy may have been shot by a 4-year-old child who was also in the home. Now, authorities believe the 5-year-old boy shot himself. Police say the victim was in a hospital and was stable. They have not released his name or medical condition. First-degree endangering the welfare of a child is a felony punishable in Missouri by up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The firearms possession charge against Dennis carries the same punishment. Kim Bell of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed to this report. PULASKI COUNTY One of two inmates who escaped the Pulaski County jail in south-central Missouri Sunday morning was arrested in an area home Monday night. James R. Sherrell, 32, was arrested without incident in a house off Highway U about five miles west of Crocker, Mo., according to the Pulaski County Sheriff's office. Officials did not say if the house was otherwise occupied. Sherrell was being held in the jail in Waynesville, Mo., on suspicion of drug possession and interfering with an arrest. The Springfield News-Leader reports Sherell and Dustin Richardson, 27, escaped from the jail early Sunday. Richardson was being held on suspicion of first-degree child molestation. Sheriff Ron Long said in a release that the inmates requested a medical check, then stole the jailer's keys and fled. The jailer was not injured. Police were searching Monday night for Richardson and a woman accused of helping the two men escape. Marlee N. Davy, 21, of Lebanon, Mo., led a sheriff's deputy on a high-speed chase Sunday after Sherell and Richardson were seen in her car, Long said in a release. The deputy pursued Davy for about fifteen minutes until his tire blew out. The pursuit started in Crocker and ended in south Miller County. Davy and the two men made numerous attempts to injure the pursuing deputy during the pursuit, according to Long. Davy and Richardson were last seen north of Richland, Mo., in a red Chevy Suburban SUV. The Missouri Highway Patrol was assisting Pulaski deputies in the search Monday night. Officials ask anyone with information on the whereabouts of Davy and Richardson to call 911 or contact the Pulaski County Sheriff's office at 573-774-6196. Meanwhile Monday, a Pulaski County jailer was accused of having a sexual relationship with Richardson. The Springfield News-Leader reports that Angelica Black, 22, was charged Sunday with sexual contact with a prisoner by a jail employee. Authorities say Black was working at the Pulaski County lockup when she had a relationship with Richardson. Black as of Monday had not been accused of assisting in the escape. Online court records did not show whether she has an attorney. ST. LOUIS A child molester, whose sexually violent predator case caught the attention of a state appeals court, is headed back to a controversial Missouri facility he fought to leave. Last week, a second Jackson County jury decided that Lester Bradley, 59, is indeed a sexually violent predator and should be left in the care and treatment of the Missouri Department of Mental Health. That means hell be indefinitely committed again as a patient at Sex Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment Services, or SORTS, which has secure facilities in Fulton and Farmington. Until recently, amid an ongoing federal class-action lawsuit levied against SORTS and state officials, only a few patients have been conditionally released under strict rules. SORTS patients have already served prison sentences for heinous crimes; they are held in anticipation of what they might do. Bradley was the subject of an extensive report in the Post-Dispatch about Missouris civil commitment process when he first landed at SORTS in 2013. He refused to participate in treatment and claimed he didnt belong there. A state appeals court agreed in 2014 that an assessment by a panel of experts should have been allowed as evidence in his first trial. The multidisciplinary panel of mental health and criminal justice professionals had unanimously agreed that Bradley did not meet Missouris definition of a sexually violent predator. But during his first civil commitment trial, the state attorney generals office blocked the report, arguing that the information was inadmissible per state statute. A probate judge agreed. Because the court erred in determining that the assessment was inadmissible we reverse the probate courts judgment and remand for further proceedings, Western District appeals court judge Karen King Mitchell wrote in her 3-0 opinion. In 2014, Bradley was transferred from SORTS to the Jackson County Detention Center to await a new trial, held last week. A ruling was made Sept. 15, according to a copy of the judgment signed by Jackson County Circuit Judge Mark Styles. Bradley, who was represented by a public defender, testified in the trial last week. It seems like I lost a son, Bradleys mother, Dorothy Burns, said by telephone from Texas. Hell be there from now on and wont be in our life. Bradley has served time for various offenses. In 1997, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for abusing his 12-year-old stepdaughter for two months. He pleaded guilty to statutory sodomy and child molestation. After violating the terms of his parole for being alone with a 10-year-old girl, he was flagged at the end of his prison sentence for potentially fitting the criteria of a sexually violent predator. The jury in his first civil commitment trial eventually affirmed that decision, which is common. Though Bradley appealed that case on several counts, appeals judges agreed with only one claim: that the probate court abused its discretion for excluding the multidisciplinary panels assessment of his files as evidence. The multidisciplinary panel, which essentially said Bradley didnt need to be committed, was partly made up of experts from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, which oversees the SORTS program. The jury last week didnt agree with their opinion. A federal class-action lawsuit that claimed SORTS treatment was a sham recently prevailed at trial in St. Louis. U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig made her ruling in favor of the plaintiffs dozens of sexually violent predators from the bench on Sept. 11, 2015. Meanwhile, its been a struggle to come up with an agreeable solution. Plaintiffs and attorneys have become divided over suggested changes to SORTS treatment and guidelines. A hearing is scheduled Oct. 20 in Fleissigs courtroom to determine if the proposed settlement agreement is fair and adequate. EAST ST. LOUIS A man formerly from East Carondelet, in St. Clair County, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges and admitted downloading and sharing child pornography, prosecutors said. Richard Lee Doerr III, 29, was caught after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Tumblr about someone who had uploaded images that appeared to be child porn, prosecutors said. Investigators tracked the images to Doerr, who admitted downloading, possessing and sharing child porn, they said. SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 20, 2016) - Trifacta, the global leader in data wrangling, today announced the release of Trifacta v4. The latest release expands upon Trifacta's award-winning approach to data wrangling, with capabilities specifically designed to work for more users, more diverse data sources and within more cloud environments. "We're seeing tremendous demand for solutions that can put data preparation capabilities into the hands of business users, where the requirements and desires of analytic outcomes are best understood. Trifacta has established itself in the fast-growing self-service data preparation market and is continuing to build meaningful differentiation into their product as evidenced by the v4 release. Making the process of data wrangling easier and faster for a wider set of sources and deployment environments is critical to enterprise adoption," said Stewart Bond, research director, IDC. Trifacta v4 features the general availability of Builder, a new menu-driven workflow to guide users through data wrangling steps. The latest release includes the general availability of the Photon Compute Engine, improving the scale of data that users are able to wrangle on-the-fly, directly within the Trifacta application. Photon provides an optimized engine for datasets that do not require parallel processing within Trifacta's Intelligent Execution architecture. The v4 release also expands support for customers deploying Trifacta in cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure, while extending the ability of users to directly connect to a variety of enterprise data sources, including Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and Teradata. "At Nordea Bank, we are constantly striving to improve the timeliness, accuracy and level of trust in our data to internal and external stakeholders. Trifacta v4 will enable us to involve our business subject matter experts more efficiently than ever before. This has allowed us to fundamentally reduce time to market and cost of managing data while demonstrably increasing the quality of our data products," said Alasdair Anderson, executive vice president of data engineering, Nordea Bank. What's New in Trifacta v4: Enhanced User Experience A core focus area of the v4 release is to enrich Trifacta's unique data wrangling user experience by offering a new workflow for building data preparation steps. The addition of Builder to the Trifacta interface augments the ability of users to wrangle data without the need to utilize scripts. Builder is designed to guide users through complex data wrangling tasks, providing greater ease-of-use whether simply selecting a suggested transform or using drop-down menu options to build wrangling steps from scratch. With Builder, the process of preparing data is dramatically simplified by intelligently breaking down the steps of each wrangling task to enhance how non-technical users handle common and complex data. "At Sanofi, a key corporate strategy is improving our processing of data across technical groups to provide more concise treatment, improve operational efficiency and reduce security risks. Trifacta is a core part of our success because it gives the Infrastructure Management Team the ability to manage large, diverse data sets and wrangle them into the formats we need for analysis. We're excited about the release of v4 and especially how Builder will enable a broader set of users within Sanofi to intuitively prepare data in a simple, guided workflow. We hope to see more groups and departments use Trifacta moving forward for their data wrangling as we move to make it a service on our data analytics platforms," said Jason Stoute, senior manager of infrastructure architecture, Sanofi. The v4 release also expands upon Trifacta's blend of data visualization and machine learning to guide users through common data wrangling tasks. With pattern profiling, users visualize common and anomalous text patterns that are automatically detected within each column. The addition of fuzzy join allows users to blend together disparate data sources with similar values but non-exact matches. v4 also features the debut of column lineage, a breakthrough visual technique to expose the lineage of how each attribute or column within a dataset originated. With operationalization, v4 allows end users to set and manage end-to-end data wrangling workflows in a completely self-service process. Improved Performance & Scale The latest version delivers greater performance and scale for working with data directly within the Trifacta application, and an optimized in-memory data processing engine for data sets that do not require parallel processing. The general availability of the Photon Compute Engine enables users to wrangle a 100x larger volume of data on-the-fly, directly within the application, while still maintaining the fluid experience and immediate feedback, both of which are core to Trifacta's user experience. For files, Photon enables users to transform entire data sets completely on-the-fly within the application, and also integrates seamlessly with Trifacta's Intelligent Execution architecture, complementing existing data processing engines Spark and MapReduce. Photon was specifically built to underpin Trifacta and provides unmatched performance and scale for data wrangling use cases when compared to other interactive computing engines. As part of v4, Trifacta has also enhanced support for executing transformations at scale, leveraging the Spark data processing framework by adding support for Spark 2.0. "As an analyst, I spend much of my time exploring and refining data sets, running analysis, and examining the outcome to find the best solution to the business problem in front of me. The workflow is extremely important to my process. Delays and interruption can lead to hours of lost time on a project. With Trifacta, the data wrangling process is seamless, making it much easier for me to be productive and efficient. The addition of Photon improves upon what is already a great user experience by allowing us to interactively work with greater volumes of data while maintaining the same fluid workflow," said Mike Riegling, supply chain data analyst, PepsiCo. Extended Cloud Deployment and Data Source Connectivity With v4, customers benefit from expanded support for deploying Trifacta in the cloud through integrations with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure. For Amazon Web Services, Trifacta provides integration with Amazon S3 and Redshift as input and output sources and deployment on EC2. Trifacta v4 also supports the Google Cloud Platform ecosystem with support for Google Cloud Storage and BigQuery as input and output sources, data processing via Google Dataflow and deployment on Google Compute Engine. The Microsoft Azure cloud platform is also supported in v4. Trifacta adds support for deployment on Microsoft Azure HDI and can integrate data from Azure Blob Storage. "We're seeing tremendous growth in the enterprise adoption of Microsoft Azure for critical analytics and business intelligence processes. A challenge customers mention to us is the need for a more effective process for cleaning and joining together diverse data. With Trifacta's added support and integration with Microsoft Azure Storage and Microsoft HDInsight as part of their v4 release, customers will now be able to accelerate these analytics processes with an industry-leading data wrangling solution for the cloud," said Tiffany Wissner, head of big data marketing, Microsoft. Trifacta has also expanded support for creating live connections to common relational sources such as Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and Teradata. Unlike approaches that force customers to make copies of data prior to preparation, Trifacta creates a live connection, streaming in live data from external sources to incorporate directly into the wrangling process. v4 also includes the initial release of Trifacta's connectivity API giving customers and partners the ability to seamlessly integrate Trifacta with external data and services. "Trifacta v4 represents our most significant release since the launch of the company. From the beginning, our goal has been to provide a self-service data preparation solution that helps customers connect their big data strategy to business value. As the leader in data wrangling, we're excited about the innovations v4 will deliver to the more than 3,500 companies using our products today," said Adam Wilson, CEO, Trifacta. To meet Trifacta team members and see a live demo of the v4 release, visit Trifacta at Strata + Hadoop World in New York at booth 539 from September 26-29, 2016. To learn more about Trifacta v4, register for Trifacta's upcoming webinar to hear product management present an in-depth review and live demo of the v4 release. Additional Resources Trifacta at Strata + Hadoop World NYC 2016: https://www.trifacta.com/strata-nyc-2016/ Read the blog on the v4 launch: https://www.trifacta.com/blog/our-most-significant-release-yet-for-any-user-any-data-and-any-cloud Learn more about Trifacta: http://www.trifacta.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trifacta Become a fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Trifacta Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/trifacta About Trifacta Trifacta, the global leader in data wrangling software, significantly enhances the value of an enterprise's big data by enabling users to easily transform and enrich raw, complex data into clean and structured formats for analysis with self-service data preparation. Leveraging decades of innovative work in human-computer interaction, scalable data management and machine learning, Trifacta's unique technology creates a partnership between user and machine, with each side learning from the other and becoming smarter with experience. Trifacta is backed by Accel Partners, Cathay Innovation, Greylock Partners and Ignition Partners. SHREWSBURY Inside his office at the Cardinal Rigali Center, Kurt Nelson produced a chart that showed last years and this years enrollment in the regions 140 Catholic schools. The 4 percent decline isnt enough to cause alarm, said Nelson, the superintendent of Catholic education for the St. Louis Archdiocese. Days after the decision was announced to close John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Manchester, Nelson said he doesnt expect more school closure announcements this year. What happened at Kennedy is a very unique situation, he said. Its not like this is part of a master plan. Catholic schools in the archdiocese have collectively lost about 12,500 students this past decade a drop attributed to fewer Catholic families and fewer baptisms and exacerbated by the Great Recession. That enrollment drop has led to a number of closures. This year, 37,515 children are enrolled in preschool through 12th grade in the archdiocese. Since 2011, the Catholic Education Office has made a concerted effort to improve its schools and recruit more students to fill empty seats by supporting innovation and raising more scholarship funds. Those efforts have paid off at some schools, such as St. Margaret of Scotland School in St. Louis where new classroom space opened last fall and enrollment is up 8 percent this year. Enrollment is also up at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic School in Brentwood, Cardinal Ritter College Prep in St. Louis and Trinity Catholic High School in north St. Louis County. At Kennedy, rumors had swirled for years that the school would close. But parents and alumni kept working to improve it. About two years ago, they raised about $250,000 to renovate the science lab. It wasnt that long ago they put in the new scoreboard, said Joe Holden, who graduated from the school 35 years ago and sent his two children there. The closure was expected but crushing, he said. The buildings and real estate division of the archdiocese has begun the process of trying to figure out what to do with the school once students finish the year, Nelson said. Students with scholarships will be able to use them at other Catholic schools. Kennedy opened in 1968, when west St. Louis County was growing and parish schools were enrolling more and more children. But now, there arent enough Catholic families living in that part of the county to sustain a high school, a news release from the archdiocese said. Enrollment is 191 students this year, down from 333 just three years ago. This years freshman class has just 33. The plunge in enrollment at Kennedy accounts for half of the combined enrollment loss at the 26 other Catholic high schools this past year. Nelson emphasized that enrollment is stable in many schools. Parents, when they feel like something might not be stable, they look for other opportunities, he said. In September, Nelson joined Catholic school leaders from many U.S. cities and signed a letter in a national Jesuit publication expressing confidence that Catholic schools are rising to numerous changing demographics. In the St. Louis area, the archdiocese distributed about $1.8 million in scholarships to about 1,100 students in 124 schools. It is also offering grants to schools to improve access to STREAM education short for science, technology, religion, engineering, art and math. Its not just enrollment that Nelson is concerned about. Its also improving academics, retaining the Catholic identity and working to serve more families through the expansion of preschool and special education. More than 70 percent of Catholic schools now offer preschool, Nelson said. Ten schools have centers and classrooms for children with special needs. The challenge is getting the word out, Nelson said. The past 200 years have been shaped so much by Catholic education, he said. We want to continue that. JEFFERSON CITY Responding to an ad featuring Jason Kander assembling an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle blindfolded, a new commercial from incumbent U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt retorts: "When it comes to the U.S. Senate, Missouri voters know what's important." The commercial is also the Blunt campaign's latest reminding Missouri voters of his challenger's support for Hillary Clinton. Kander, a war veteran serving as Missouri Secretary of State, used his unusual ad to argue that a candidate can be pro-Second Amendment while still supporting background checks and certain restrictions. The commercial has received national attention. Blunt's follow-up, called "Only One," features eight other video clips of people assembling firearms alongside Kander's, some also blindfolded, including one man putting together the weapon while hanging upside down. "Some people can put together a gun blindfolded. Some can do it really fast. Some really, really fast," a narrator recites over the clips. "Some do it upside down and blindfolded. But only one of these is a Hillary Clinton national campaign chairman." The commercial goes on to slam Kander for his F rating from the National Rifle Association, which has endorsed Blunt, and for his support of amnesty for illegal immigrants. It's not the first time the Blunt campaign has paired Kander with Clinton and her policies. One released last week, called "Clear Choice," says Kander would vote for Clinton's liberal nominees to the Supreme Court, warning "Missouri can't risk "Clinton/Kander." Another, called "Right Direction," says Clinton and Kander would "continue the same failed policies," including expanding Obamacare. The new ads follow announcements last week that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee would spend another $3.5 million to help Kander defeat Blunt. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has responded with a $270,000 initial pro-Blunt TV ad buy in the St. Louis media market and promised there will be more, an NRSC spokesman confirmed to the Post-Dispatch on Monday. WASHINGTON Florissant mail carrier Michael Murphy, who in 2014 rescued women in two cars from a man wielding a cinder block, will be among eight honored Wednesday for saving lives or helping people on their routes. Murphy, of Troy, Ill., will be named the Central Region Hero of the Year by the National Association of Letter Carriers at a luncheon here. The NALC said, Murphy, a Marine Corps veteran and Navy reservist, tackled a cinder block-wielding man attacking women in two cars. According to the citation, Murphy was first alerted to a young girl screaming, "somebody help my mommy," when he walked out of a bread store after delivering mail on Oct. 29, 2014. He saw a man going from car to car trying to break windows, perhaps to snatch purses, then preparing to attack a woman who fell while attempting to flee. "He was yelling and cussing," said Murphy. "He really frightened them." As the attacker was preparing to strike the woman who fell, Murphy told the award givers that he "grabbed him by his arm and picked him up by his legs and slammed him to the ground." After "we tussled a little bit," police came and took the man into custody, he said. "When I saw this, I just thought about my mom and sister," Murphy said, telling the NALC he didn't consider himself a hero. "If you are conscious and mindful, then you help someone." Murphy belongs to Hazelwood Branch 5847 of the letter carriers' union and has carried mail for 18 years. The honorees represent thousands of letter carriers who not only deliver the mail to 155 million households and businesses across the country six or even seven days a week, but often assist in situations involving car crashes, fires, crimes or health crises or otherwise improve the quality of life in the communities they serve, the letter carriers' union said in announcing its winners. National Hero of the Year is mail carrier Mark Pizzo of Snellville, Ga., who saved a girl by fighting with a pit bull that had her head in its jaws. Other regional winners rescued residents from a burning home, stopped an assault and robbery, or aided children with disabilities or families struggling with substance abuse. JEFFERSON CITY A Cole County Circuit Court judge is expected to decide this week if a proposal to legalize medical marijuana can go before voters in November. Backed by the nonprofit New Approach Missouri, the measure would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to treat patients with certain conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimers and post-traumatic stress disorder. Election authorities in a district encompassing Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Louis counties invalidated 10,700 signatures collected for the petition, leaving the campaign 2,000 shy of the required 32,337 they needed for that district. Supporters of the effort say the sheer number of signatures tossed out was cause for concern, questioning if overworked or inexperienced staffers made a mistake. The first day of court proceedings centered largely around the process for getting a citizen initiative on the ballot, which involves gathering a required number of signatures for a petition that will allow voters to weigh in on changes to the state constitution. Theyre often a last resort for citizens who are frustrated with political leaders or for those who support causes they cant get lawmakers to support. In this case, GOP supermajorities in the state legislature have largely rejected attempts to decriminalize marijuana or legalize it for medicinal purposes. For example, a much stricter effort failed in the Missouri House last session, when lawmakers rejected a plan that would have allowed terminally ill patients to use the drug to relieve pain. Signatures must come from registered voters, who fill out forms based on what county in Missouri theyre registered to vote in. Local election authorities are tasked with matching up the signatures on petitions with signatures in their own records. Witnesses who helped gather or verify signatures on behalf of New Approach testified Monday that voters often dont know what county theyre registered in. Sometimes, they argued, errors are made simply because supporters dont understand the process of a ballot initiative. But that doesn't always mean those signatures should be tossed. Theres not a huge level of knowledge about this among the voting public, said New Approach campaign manager John Payne, who testified Monday that backers estimate more than 2,000 signatures were not counted but should have been. Attorneys from both sides questioned Payne about individual signatures and the logistics of gathering them. Payne explained other reasons why a signature on a petition might not match the Secretary of States records inclement weather could have caused a voter to rush while signing, for example. And many supporters of medical marijuana have nervous and muscular degenerative diseases that may make signing their names more difficult, he said. The issue must be resolved by September 27 if the proposal has a chance to get on the ballot for the general election on Nov. 8. Supporters speaking outside the courthouse before the trial began included war veterans, cancer survivors, and the mother of a boy with epilepsy and cerebral palsy, all of whom said the drug could provide relief for millions of Missourians. New Approach President Lee Winters pointed to polling that showed wide support of the initiative, saying state prosecutors were wrong to try to keep it off the ballot. It is significant and far overreach for an elected public official to be using public funds to disenfranchise Missouri voters on this issue, Winters said. New Approach Missouri also argues that taxing marijuana at 4 percent under the proposal would generate $20 million to be put toward Missouri veterans health care. Should a court rule in the group's favor and the measure wins enough votes Nov. 8, Missouri could become the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana. A smartphone app could be on the way that will allow St. Louis area passengers to hail taxis the same way they summon an Uber car. The St. Louis Metropolitan Taxicab Commission on Tuesday unanimously voted to proceed with plans for a single app that would link all the licensed cabs in St. Louis and St. Louis County. With a tap on their phone, passengers would be able to choose the closest cab or a particular cab company. The move comes at a time when traditional cab companies are struggling to be competitive against companies such as UberX, an app-based ride-hailing service in which drivers use their own cars to ferry passengers, heralded for its convenience. Making hailing cabs more convenient benefits the taxi industry and the community, said Ron Klein, the taxi commissions director. People want to be able to press on their smartphone and request a ride. And most times, they dont care who it is as long as somebody gets there quickly to pick them up, Klein said. All new cab companies already are required to have an app, and existing companies must have an app by next year. Many local cab companies including Laclede Cab Co., St. Louis County Cab and Yellow Cab as well as ABC and Checker Cab have been using their own apps for a while. But theres no app that allows someone here to summon the closest cab, something that other cities including Houston, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles have. The taxi commission is expected to vote at its October meeting on a request for proposals for an app design, and all cabs in St. Louis and St. Louis County would be mandated to link to the app. Tom Reeves, the commissions chairman, said its hoped that the app would be able to be used in other cities, and not just in the St. Louis area, for the ease of travelers. Ride-hailing has had a contentious entry into the St. Louis market UberX has been working in violation of local vehicle-for-hire laws for one year. The taxi commission voted on Sept. 18, 2015, to allow ride-hailing services, but it required drivers to be fingerprinted and possess a Class E Missouri commercial drivers license, also known as a chauffeurs license. Those terms are dictated by a state law specific to St. Louis and St. Louis County. That same day, Uber launched UberX, even though drivers had not met the requirements set by the taxi commission, and the company filed a federal lawsuit against the commission alleging anti-competitive practices in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. UberX has operated in defiance of commission regulations since then. On Oct. 5, the commission filed its own suit seeking to have Uber barred from operating. A hearing is set for next month. (c) 2016, The Washington Post. Stacy Koltiska said that she will never forget the look in the little boy's eyes. As an elementary school lunchroom staffer, her job was to work the register for the children when they paid for their meals. But the boy had a negative balance on his account, and a new policy in the Canon-McMillan, Pa., school district this year prevents cafeteria workers from serving a hot meal to students who owe more than $25. Koltiska said she had to follow the policy and was ordered to refuse the boy his hot meal because he couldn't pay for it. "As a Christian, I have an issue with this," said Koltiska, of Canonsburg, Pa. "It's sinful and shameful is what it is." Rather than continue to enforce the policy at Wylandville Elementary School in Eighty Four, Pa., Koltiska tendered her resignation last week. Koltiska said in an interview that she had worked for the school district for two years. She said she was stunned by the new policy, which began this fall. Students who were refused the hot meal instead got a sandwich made of two slices of wheat bread and a single, cold slice of "government cheese," Koltiska said. The contents of the hot lunch, such as chicken nuggets or corn dog bites, were thrown away, Koltiska said, even though parents would still be charged the full regular price of $2.05 for the meal. Koltiska said that she resigned out of a moral obligation. "God is love, and we should love one another and be kind," Koltiska said. "There's enough wealth in this world that no child should go hungry, especially in school. To me this is just wrong." The Canon-McMillan school district's superintendent, Matthew Daniels, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. He told Action News 4 WTAE that the policy has cut down on the number of parents who don't keep current on their lunch accounts, and that the policy does not target those who qualify for financial assistance. "There has never been the intent with the adoption of this policy to shame or embarrass a child," he told Action News 4, noting that more than 300 families owed the district between $60,000 and $100,000 annually before the policy was put in place; now there are 70 families who owe the district a total of $20,000. Koltiska said that she knows what it's like to feel hunger. She grew up north of Pittsburgh and survived on food stamps and free lunches at school. "I know the shame I felt, and it was of no fault of my own," Koltiska said, noting that when she was young, she got a job reading out bingo numbers and saved up enough money for a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. "I thought if I could dress like the other kids then they wouldn't know I was poor," she said. Since resigning, Koltiska said that she has received messages of support from inmates in a nearby prison who want to donate their food to the schoolchildren and a nun who told Koltiska that she started a revolution "with a cheese sandwich." Koltiska said she believes the school administration made a mistake with the new policy. "They're suits at a board meeting," she said. "They are not the ones facing a child and looking them in the eye and taking their food away." Last month, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy took an unprecedented step in addressing the opioid epidemic. In a letter addressed to every physician in America, he urged doctors to educate themselves, screen patients and destigmatize addiction. Meanwhile, in West Virginia, 29 people touched by the epidemic sued physicians, pharmacists and drug distributors for profiting from the opioid crisis at the expense of vulnerable patients. These efforts highlight physicians roles in the opioid epidemic but inadequately address the systemic issues that created this growing social problem. A broader perspective highlights three interrelated challenges: incomplete understandings of the opioid epidemic, limited medical approaches to pain management, and constrained treatment approaches due to health care financing. The contemporary opioid epidemic emerged from the confluence of three interrelated problems: pain, addiction and diversion. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. The growth of the pain management movement in the 1980s and 1990s paired with the Food and Drug Administrations approval of slow-release OxyContin in 1995 created new opportunities for pain relief while simulataneously attracting illicit drug users who were drawn to the drugs purity and high doses. This fueled rates of iatrogenic (or physician-caused) addiction because of the over-prescription of narcotics and recreational addiction due to drug users seeking new highs. Addressing pain, addiction and diversion requires a coordinated effort between health care providers, mental health specialists and law enforcement, but these groups are currently heavily siloed and unevenly funded, leaving gaps in both treatment and enforcement. Lack of training and lack of time compromise physicians capacity to treat pain. Most physicians receive little to no formal training on pain management, and pain diagnosis is subjective and dependent on patient self-report, leaving physicians ill-equipped to differentiate between pain patients, addicted patients and drug diverters. Even those physicians who receive adequate training face challenges due to limited time with patients. Today, the average doctors appointment lasts 13-16 minutes insufficient time to address the psychological and physiological issues underlying chronic, intractable, non-cancer pain. Incorporating pain treatment into medical education and funding health care to lengthen provider-patient interaction would enable physicians to deploy non-opioid pain strategies. To effectively manage pain, we must look beyond the traditional health care system toward contemporary and alternative medicine. Manipulative therapies such as physical therapy, chiropractic and rolfing show promise for addressing the fundamental causes of pain rather than masking them as opioids do. However, these therapies receive scant insurance coverage, preventing even the most knowledgeable physicians from making these referrals. This is especially true for poor patients on Medicaid for whom drug treatment is often the only covered option. Public and private insurance should cover effective alternative treatments. Fighting a growing and constantly changing opioid epidemic requires more than simply enlisting physicians to engage in more effective opioid prescribing. It requires a coordinated approach that spans health care, law enforcement and mental health while simultaneously tackling pain, addiction and diversion. Dr. Murthys call to action is a laudable effort to mobilize physicians, but his approach would have the greatest impact if it were paired with a systemic, multifield approach. Elizabeth Chiarello is a professor of sociology at St. Louis University, where she works as a medical sociologist and socio-legal scholar. The earth shook late Friday in the 78th District as Democratic primary voters ousted incumbent Penny Hubbard from the Missouri House seat she has occupied since 2010. At least part of a family political dynasty has been dislodged, and more well-deserved shakeups could soon be in the offing. The 3-to-1 margin of victory in a court-ordered revote by challenger Bruce Franks Jr., a political newcomer who turns 32 this week, suggests a new political reality: At least some city voters have had it with machine-style politics. Franks supporters braved heavy rain to declare their opposition to the Hubbard familys tactics. The Hubbard machine seemed to cough and sputter to a halt when absentee ballots were removed as the apparent fuel for election manipulation. The bravery and tenacity of Franks and his attorney, David Roland, are responsible for exposing voting irregularities that factored into Penny Hubbards Aug. 2 primary victory. St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison upheld their challenge on Sept. 3; 11 days later, the Eastern Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling. Hubbards husband, Rodney Hubbard Sr., is the 5th Ward committeeman. Their daughter, Tammika, is 5th Ward alderman. Their son, former state Rep. Rodney Hubbard Jr., is a lobbyist whose own political and contracting work has drawn scrutiny. Roland has examined voting patterns over multiple election cycles and demonstrated that absentee voting spikes disproportionately in elections where a Hubbard is on the ballot. Absentee votes tend to skew abnormally toward the Hubbard candidate. Rodney Hubbard Sr. wields extraordinary influence as manager and principal officer of the Carr Square Tenant Management Corp., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. One of the 78th Districts 20 voting precincts is inside the Carr Square complex. That landlord-voter pressure point must be eliminated. As the Post-Dispatchs Doug Moore and Stephen Deere have reported, numerous irregularities appear rooted in systematic harvesting of absentee ballots among Hubbards tenants, some of whom were coaxed into voting absentee and others who had not consented to ballots being cast in their name. A court is now reviewing similar irregularities in the August committeeman race that Rodney Hubbard Sr. won against challenger Rasheen Aldridge. Like Franks, Aldridge won a majority of votes cast at the polls, but the absentee count swayed the result to Hubbard Sr. Critics, most notably U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., contend that Fridays revote constituted voter suppression and disenfranchisement. Nice try, but such arguments dont stand up to scrutiny. Voters with legitimate reasons to cast absentee ballots have not been deprived of their rights. The only people who deserve suppression and disenfranchisement are the candidates who abuse the absentee-voting process for the sake of political advantage. On Friday, voters told one such candidate to pack her bags. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy STRATFORD-upon-Avon Boat Club won the Upton Plate in a beginners regatta at Upton Rowing Club last weekend. Stratford entered two crews among the 12 entries for the event, held in excellent conditions. The clubs A team beat hosts Upton in the final to claim glory. Stratford B also put up a good show, narrowly losing out in their quarter-final. All eight rowers have arrived at the club through British Rowings popular Explore Rowing course at Stratford. This years autumn courses are well underway and more are planned for next spring. Needham & Company analyst, Sean Hannan, reiterated his Buy rating on shares of Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) but is cautious going into JBL's F4Q report. Shares of JBL have recovered in recent weeks as the iPhone 7 launch is underway and news of initial orders has been encouraging. The analyst stated "We acknowledge we're on record with a conservative model for F17. We believe EMS is doing generally OK, with AAPL the big wild card. However, we are cautious as we believe the possibility for some element of a strategic pivot in F17 remains". No change to the price target of $23. For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Jabil Circuit click here. For more ratings news on Jabil Circuit click here. Shares of Jabil Circuit closed at $23.14 yesterday. United Parcel Services Inc. UPS recently announced its entry into Asias 3D printing industry with a new factory to be set up by its partner Fast Radius at a UPS facility in Singapore. The 3D printing factory will be strategically connected to United Parcels delivery network to facilitate quick delivery of the orders placed. The company will also form an Advanced Solutions team in Asia to set up a Centre of Excellence to develop supply chain solutions and promote 3D printing. The Managing Director of United Parcel in Singapore, Michelle Ho, highlighted that the country was chosen for the companys 3D venture into Asia due to its innovation-driven economy. The company had divulged its expansion plans at a press conference attended by representatives from Fast Radius, SAP and Singapores Economic Development Board (EDB). Notably, United Parcel and SAP had announced a co-innovation deal this May. Under this agreement, SAPs wide supply chain and internet of things (IoT) solutions is to be integrated with the additive manufacturing and logistics network of United Parcel. Highlights of 3D Printing Service 3D Printing is considered to be one of the major technological revolutions of recent times. Use of 3D printing can help businesses reduce inventory for slow moving parts, curtail transportation and production costs, customize goods and lower prototyping and initial manufacturing costs, and receive high-quality prototypes quickly. The CEO of Fast Radius, Rick Smith, mentioned that the Wohlers Report 2016 estimates 3D printing industry to grow to $26.5 billion in 2021 from $5.2 billion in 2015. Companies have been actively pursuing and combining their services to adopt this new technology as it redefines manufacturing across multiple industries. United Parcel believes that its 3D Printing service in Asia, along with its robust logistics network, will strengthen the continents position as a manufacturing hub. The service is expected to help customers increase their operational efficiency with additive manufacturing. The company plans to create an intricate supply network to ensure quick delivery of products. Customers will be able to place orders on Fast Radius website or at the factory located at UPS House in Singapore once it becomes functional. Orders will be directed by Fast Radius to the best manufacturing locations in Singapore or the U.S., as deemed necessary. Some orders which can even be shipped on the same day. Story continues We expect this new service to significantly boost the companys presence in 3D manufacturing space and boost its top-line growth in the future. United Parcel is renowned for providing the best services to customers with a constant focus on innovation and service enhancements. Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider United Parcel currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock from the wider transportation sector is Copa Holdings SA CPA with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Some other well-ranked stocks in the sector include Air Transport Services Group ATSG and SkyWest Inc. SKYW. Both these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report COPA HLDGS SA-A (CPA): Free Stock Analysis Report SKYWEST INC (SKYW): Free Stock Analysis Report UTD PARCEL SRVC (UPS): Free Stock Analysis Report AIR TRANSPT SVC (ATSG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC members could decide to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss oil prices immediately after an informal gathering in Algiers next week, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said on Tuesday. Bouterfa told local radio he was optimistic that participants would reach a consensus on how to stabilize the oil markets at the Algiers meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers on Sept. 26-28. "Oil ministers may decide to hold an extraordinary meeting immediately," he said. Algeria has been pushing for oil to be stabilized at around $60 a barrel. Bouterfa has traveled to Qatar, Iran and Russia to lobby for action to steady the market. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were trading at about $45 per barrel on Tuesday. On a visit to Algiers over the weekend, Mohammed Barkindo, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said an extraordinary meeting could happen if the Algeria conference produced a consensus. He has said the Algiers meeting was for consultations and not decision-making. (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Dale Hudson) Mast Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE: MSTX) reported top-line results from EPIC, a Phase 3 clinical study of its investigational new drug vepoloxamer (also known as MST-188) for the treatment of individuals with sickle cell disease experiencing vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC). The study did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint of demonstrating a statistically significant reduction in the mean duration of VOC (82 hours in the vepoloxamer group compared to 78 hours in the placebo group in the intent-to-treat population (p=0.09)). There were no statistically significant differences between treatment groups in the intent-to-treat population across the two secondary efficacy endpoints, rate of re-hospitalization for VOC and the occurrence of acute chest syndrome. Consistent with previously conducted studies, vepoloxamer was generally well tolerated with no statistically significant differences in treatment-related serious adverse events in the vepoloxamer group compared to the placebo group. No deaths occurred on the study. "We are exceedingly disappointed with these top-line results. While clearly not the outcome we wanted, we believe the insights and data from the largest placebo-controlled clinical trial ever completed in sickle cell disease will substantially advance the understanding of vaso-occlusive crisis and the still maturing clinical science necessary to support the development of new therapeutics for this debilitating disease," stated Brian M. Culley, the Company's Chief Executive Officer. "We wish to reiterate our sincere appreciation for all of the patients, caregivers, and others who aided us in conducting this informative study." "These analyses are limited to just top-line data, so in the coming weeks the Company intends to review the full data set from EPIC. In addition, we plan to perform an interim analysis of the ongoing heart failure trial of vepoloxamer. However, based on the data we've seen to date, we expect we will terminate all clinical development of vepoloxamer. Consequently, while we evaluate our options, we intend to significantly and immediately reduce our operating expenses and continue our efforts with AIR001, our lead asset in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which currently is the subject of a 100-patient phase 2 study expected to complete enrollment by the end of 2017," continued Mr. Culley. Investor Conference Call The Company will hold a conference call tomorrow, September 21, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. ET / 5:00 a.m. PT to discuss the Phase 3 results. Interested parties may access the conference call by dialing (855) 239-3120 from the U.S., (855) 669-9657 from Canada, and (412) 542-4127 from outside the U.S. and should request the Mast Therapeutics, Inc. Call. A live webcast of the conference call will be available online from the Investors section of Mast's website at http://www.masttherapeutics.com/investors/events/. Replays of the webcast will be available on the Company's website for 30 days and a telephone replay will be available through September 28, 2016 by dialing (877) 344-7529 from the U.S., (855) 669-9658 from Canada, and (412) 317-0088 from elsewhere outside the U.S. and entering replay access code 10093117. PolyMet Mining Corp. (NYSE: PLM) announced that it intends to offer 13,333,333 Units (the "Units"), at a price of US$0.75 per Unit for gross proceeds of US$10,000,000 in a private transaction that is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended (the "Offering"). Each Unit will consist of one common share (a "Common Share") and one half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant a "Warrant"), exercisable for one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") for US$1.00 per Warrant Share for a period beginning 6 months following the issue date and ending 60 months after the issue date, subject to acceleration in certain circumstances. The underwriter for the Offering has agreed to purchase 10,000,000 Units for US$7,500,000 on a bought deal basis and PolyMet has received additional direct interest for 3,333,333 Units for US$2,500,000. The underwriter and the Company may sell additional Units on the same terms. As agreed under previous financing arrangements, one shareholder of PolyMet has the right to maintain its pro rata share of the total number of Units sold. The Offering is expected to close on or about October 18, 2016 and is subject to PolyMet receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a four month hold period in Canada. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering primarily to advance its NorthMet Project, for working capital, and general corporate purposes. The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and any applicable state securities laws, or compliance with an exemption therefrom. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This notice is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. WARSAW (Reuters) - Netflix Inc is expanding its Polish service to include more content subtitled or dubbed in Polish and plans to produce local shows before the end of the decade as the U.S. service seeks more subscribers away from its home market. Netflix, which first launched in Poland in January, said on Tuesday that 80 percent of its streamed content available in central and eastern Europe's most populous country now has Polish subtitles or lectors. Founded nearly 20 years ago, the distributor of popular series such as House of Cards and Narcos is boosting its subscriber base by expanding throughout the world to offset slower growth in its U.S. home market. Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said Netflix also planned to produce content in Poland in a push to promote local movies that may be of interest to a global audience. "A show that is interesting to Canadians, Norwegians, that shows human things," Hastings told reporters after the official launch of the Polish Netflix version, adding that local production could be about Polish history, for example. Asked if local production could be launched before the end of the decade, Hastings said, "If I look at other markets it has been three years, so hopefully before then". Netflix started streaming TV in the United States nearly a decade ago and has now launched in almost every country but it faces the task of adapting the service to different markets and cultures as competitors rush in. In Poland, for example, Netflix is up against two local services as well as HBO GO. "I watch a lot of Netflix movies without subtitles already, but the introduction of the Polish version will definitely broaden their viewers' base in Poland," said Jacek Sledzinski, a 42-year-old lawyer from Warsaw. Hastings also said Netflix had made no progress in its plan to enter the potentially lucrative Chinese market as it still needs a government license. Content providers in the world's most populous country face stringent regulations and censorship challenges. "We are continuing to work on it. Same (problem) as it has always been - government permissions, we have to get a specific licence in China," Hastings said, adding that he could not give a specific time for when Netflix might get permission. (Reporting by Marcin Goclowski; editing by David Clarke) TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- Electrovaya Inc. (TSX: EFL) (OTCQX: EFLVF) is pleased to announce it has signed a Service Agreement with a NYSE Fortune 1000 OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for the design, development and manufacture of battery modules for a range of the OEM's electro-mobility products. The project commences immediately and will progress through 2017 with large volume commercial production starting in late 2017. The initial Purchase Order for the development contract has been received by Electrovaya. This is the second NYSE listed Fortune 1000 Company that has chosen to work with Electrovaya's batteries. Electrovaya's technology and products are uniquely suited to this speciality subsector in electric-mobility, as it meets two of the critical performance parameters needed from Lithium-Ion batteries. They are; to achieve the highest level of safety and highest cycle life, both uniquely available from Electrovaya. "This represents an exciting new application based around our Lithium-ion cell and module products," said Dr. Rajshekar Das Gupta, VP, Business Development Electrovaya. "This Service Agreement takes us into a new business sector, where there is a need for rapid transformation from diesel or lead acid powered products to Lithium-ion battery power. We are especially pleased to work with the US based global leader in this sector," added Dr. Das Gupta. About Electrovaya Inc. Electrovaya Inc. (TSX: EFL) (OTCQX: EFLVF) designs, develops and manufactures proprietary Lithium Ion Super Polymer batteries, battery systems, and battery-related products for energy storage, clean electric transportation and other specialized applications. Electrovaya, through its fully owned subsidiary, Litarion GmbH, also produces cells, electrodes and SEPARION ceramic separators and has manufacturing capacity of about 500MWh/annum. Electrovaya is a technology focused company with extensive patents and other Intellectual Property. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Electrovaya has production facilities in Canada and Germany with customers around the globe. To learn more about how Electrovaya and Litarion is powering mobility and energy storage, please explore www.electrovaya.com, www.litarion.com and www.separion.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to, among other things, revenue forecasts, technology development progress, plans for shipment using the Company's technology, production plans, the Company's markets, objectives, goals, strategies, intentions, beliefs, expectations and estimates, and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "would", "likely", "possible", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "objective" and "continue" (or the negative thereof) and words and expressions of similar import. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions (including but not limited to currency rates and creditworthiness of customers); Company liquidity and capital resources, including the availability of additional capital resources to fund its activities; level of competition; changes in laws and regulations; legal and regulatory proceedings; the ability to adapt products and services to the changing market; the ability to attract and retain key executives; and the ability to execute strategic plans. Additional information about material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements may be found in the Company's most recent annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis under "Risk and Uncertainties" as well as in other public disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Source: Electrovaya LAS VEGAS, NV -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- Enriched with fresh market research indicating strong demand, Freedom Leaf Inc. (OTC PINK: FRLF) said its Lady Cannabis" beauty, skin care brand offering 100% USA-grown hemp/cannabidiol, (CBD), is nearing a release in the first quarter of 2017. The Lady Cannabis brand embodies the essence of Mother Nature with exclusive formulations of anti-wrinkle creams and serums and focus groups for the product line that has revealed high scores from both males and females attracted to its youth-promoting properties and other health attributes. In the latest product milestones, Lady Cannabis has developed and trademarked the phrases "Hemp Inspired"" and "Divinely Designed" to boost the brand. The slogan "Mother Nature's Finest" reflects the product's Full Spectrum extraction process from an FDA approved and all detectable THC is removed, but a range of CBD properties remains. "The majority of CBD used for cannabis-based skin products is imported from other countries, which lack the transparency and quality standards found in the United States," said Clifford Perry, Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Leaf Inc. "Lady Cannabis has selected fully integrated suppliers that control the process from seed to end product." The extraction technology used to create the product line's CBD ingredients ensures that it will contain Zero THC. But the CBD and hemp oil created from this proprietary extraction process is rich in phytocannabinoids and lab tested for potency. Whole plant extractions typically include CBD, Terpenes, and more than 400 trace compounds, which interact synergistically to create an "entourage effect" that magnifies the therapeutic benefits of the plant's individual components. "The medicinal impact of the whole plant is greater than the sum of its parts," Perry said. Lady Cannabis will be using an Affiliate Marketing Strategy for direct-to-customer distribution of the products through a marketing software platform. Affiliated marketers will be paid through a commission tracking function included in the technology. A deep level of brand loyalty will be achieved through a system of referrals and rewards. CBD's potential as a potential treatment for arthritis, diabetes, alcoholism, MS, chronic pain, schizophrenia, PTSD, depression and other maladies is becoming more widely known. CBD has demonstrable neuroprotective and neurogenic effects, and its anti-cancer properties are currently being investigated at several academic research centers in the United States and around the world. For more information on The Biology and Potential Therapeutic Effects of Cannabidiol, read the paper-presented to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) June 15, 2015 by Nora D. Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/biology-potential-therapeutic-effects-cannabidiol Freedom Leaf Inc., "The Marijuana Legalization Company"," is a fully reporting and audited, publicly traded company trading under the symbol (OTC PINK: FRLF). Freedom Leaf Inc. is one of the leading go-to resources in the cannabis, medical marijuana, and industrial hemp industry. It is involved in merger and acquisitions in the marijuana industry, including incubation/acceleration of new marijuana-related companies and spin offs. In addition, the company's flagship publication, Freedom Leaf Magazine, The Good News in Marijuana Reform, produces a portfolio of news, print and digital media, websites, and web advertising, for the ever-changing industry. Freedom Leaf, Inc. does not handle, grow, sell, or disperse marijuana or related products. Safe Harbor Statement: This update includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as Freedom Leaf Inc. or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "foresees," "forecasts," "estimates" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements herein that describe the Company's business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statement. CONTACT: Raymond Medeiros Business Development Director Phone: 415-601-1974 [email protected] Freedom Leaf Inc. 3571 East Sunset Road Las Vegas, Nevada 89120 Source: Freedom Leaf, Inc. Seasoned Investor Brings Two Decades of Experience in Region As Firm Seeks to Expand Scope of Investments and Create More Cross-Border Opportunities HONG KONG & BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KKR today announced the appointment of Paul Yang, current President and CEO of China Development Financial Corporation (CDFC) as Head of Greater China, effective January 2017. The appointment follows KKRs recent announcement that it would expand its Asia-Pacific leadership team with the addition of senior investment talent in China, Singapore and Korea. In particular, Zhen Ji recently joined as a Managing Director of KKR China from CITIC Capital. The team build-out prepares KKR for its next decade of investing in Asia-Pacific. Paul Yang brings 20 years of investment experience to KKR. He is well versed in private equity, venture capital, corporate and commercial banking, and he has a proven ability to effect M&A and lead a multibillion-dollar enterprise throughout Greater China, said Joseph Y. Bae, Managing Partner of KKR Asia. As we head into our next decade of investing in China, we plan to continue to expand our scope of investments to include more mid-cap buyouts, cross-border deals and opportunities related to the domestic consolidation there, as well as in continuing to participate in growth-oriented investments. As President and CEO of CDFC, one of the oldest and largest regional merchant banking groups in Asia with over $20 billion in assets, Mr. Yang supervised the groups significant investments and led a team of 7,000 people across its operations in Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, and Jakarta. Having joined CDFC in 2005 as its Chief Investment Officer and head of its private equity business, he was promoted to his current role in 2011. During his tenure, Mr. Yang successfully restructured its then-proprietary private equity operation into a fast-growing asset management franchise and is credited with completing a series of strategic acquisitions in banking and securities that has transformed CDFC. Chinas macroeconomic development has been robust the past few years, said Ming Lu, Member of KKR and Head of KKR Asia Private Equity. I look forward to working with Paul Yang, Zhen Ji, and the KKR China team to continue accelerating the build-out of our business in China. By leveraging the current challenges and opportunities in China, we will continue to grow our business and rely on our core investment and operational capabilities to create value hand-in-hand with enterprises under the new team structure. Mr. Yang will join as a Member of KKR and Head of Greater China. David Liu, KKR Member, former Co-Head of KKR Asia Private Equity and Head of Greater China, and KKR Member Julian Wolhardt will leave KKR at the end of this year and will transition to being KKR Advisors. Based in Hong Kong, Mr. Yang will lead the team and business development in Greater China, chief of which will involve leading a team of over 20 professionals in the Beijing office as the firm continues building its China business. KKR launched its operations in Asia in 2005 and now has seven offices across the region. In China, KKR has led a series of landmark private equity deals in areas such as food safety, environmental services, financial services, healthcare and education. In keeping with the changing market environment, KKR has been expanding its investment scope to include cross-border M&A and state-owned enterprise restructurings. We are extremely proud to have contributed to building a leading Asian private equity platform over the last 10 years and achieved remarkable results. While we will be leaving to form our own investment firm, Julian and I will continue to have deep and strong ties with KKR and the team in China. We look forward to finding opportunities to work in partnership with Paul, Zhen Ji and KKR in the future," said David Liu. Since entering Asia in 2005, KKR has completed over 60 private equity transactions across the region with a cumulative investment of over $10 billion. KKR's current flagship $6 billion Asian Fund II, the largest private equity fund raised in Asia, is generating strong returns for investors. About KKR KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages investments across multiple asset classes including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit and hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation at the asset level. KKR invests its own capital alongside its partners' capital and brings opportunities to others through its capital markets business. References to KKR's investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005733/en/ Media: KKR Anita Davis or Steven Okun [email protected] Source: KKR & Co. L.P. WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media accreditation now is open, with new launch dates, for the next NASA-contracted cargo resupply flight launching from Virginia to the International Space Station. Orbital ATK is targeting no earlier than Oct. 9-13 for the launch of its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. A more specific date will be identified after completion of final operational milestones and technical reviews. Launch times range from 10:47 p.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 9 to 9:13 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13. International media without U.S. citizenship must have previously applied for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities at Wallops. The application deadline is Friday, Sept. 30 for media who are U.S. citizens. Media should send their accreditation request to Keith Koehler at [email protected]. For questions about accreditation or additional information, contact Koehler by email or at 757-824-1579. This will be the sixth planned cargo resupply mission by Orbital ATK under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company and the fourth launch from Virginia. Cargo resupply by U.S. companies enables a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations aboard the world's only microgravity laboratory. Get more information about Orbital ATK, its Antares rocket and the Cygnus cargo spacecraft at: http://www.nasa.gov/orbital For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-opens-media-accreditation-new-target-dates-set-for-orbital-atk-resupply-launch-from-virginia-300331452.html SOURCE NASA PASCAGOULA, Miss., Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE: HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division raised $13,000 Saturday for Special Olympics of Mississippi at the company's fifth annual "5K on the Causeway" held on Singing River Island. Ingalls, along with, Interactive Health, is proud to support Special Olympics of Mississippi, and we are especially proud of the annual 5K on the Causeway, said Edmond Hughes, vice president of human resources. The 5K gives us an opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause while promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness for our employees and the local community. Ingalls also donated $5,000 in May to athletes at the 2016 Special Olympics of Mississippi Summer Games held earlier this year at Keesler Air Force base. Many of the employees start training weeks in advance to get ready for this event every year, said Program Manager for Interactive Health, Joni Goodman. Over the past five years weve seen increased participation and dedication to this event, and it has become a special race for a worthy cause. Its wonderful to see so many folks devoted to a great cause. More than 740 runners participated in the 2016 race. This years top male runner was Josh Becker, and the top female runner was Ingalls employee Amanda Whitaker. Each 5K winner received a medal hand designed by Special Olympics athletes. After the race, Gulf Coast families stayed on Singing River Island for activities inside the kids area, live music and free food provided by local vendors. Also this year, a fun run was added for Special Olympics athletes. A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=57e185fd2cfac22919510b5e Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of engineering, manufacturing and management services to the nuclear energy, oil and gas markets. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 35,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries Source: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- First to fully leverage digital insights to optimize physical world transactions, Plexure -- formerly known as VMob -- today announced that it has appointed Andrew Dalziel, a finance and accounting specialist with nearly 20 years of experience, as chief financial officer (CFO). In this role, he leverages his experience leading financial operations for numerous high-growth companies to drive Plexure's continued success as it bring its solutions to more businesses across the U.S. and beyond. "Having worked with Andrew previously when he served as our acting CFO last year, it is clear that he has the financial skill set, practical know-how and hands-on experience needed to support our next stage of growth," said Scott Bradley, founder and CEO of Plexure. "I am thrilled to welcome him back to Plexure; his experience will be crucial as we scale our company and attract new business from companies looking to transform how they engage customers and enhance the entire shopping experience." By analyzing purchases and contextual data collected from websites, mobile devices, point of sale and connected in-store technology, Plexure helps companies tailor their messaging to individual customers, generating higher average transaction values and building customer loyalty. As Plexure continues to revolutionize how stores leverage customer information to turn online interactions into in-store visits, the company has achieved significant momentum, with many leading U.S. brands adopting its innovative solutions. With Dalziel now in the CFO role, the company has the expert financial leadership to help manage its ongoing growth and continued expansion. Dalziel joins Plexure having led financial operations for several high-growth companies. His previous roles include serving as CFO of CricHQ, financial controller for Z Energy, head of International Finance for Telecom New Zealand, financial controller for Barclays and senior tax consultant for PwC. Throughout these positions, Dalziel has developed a proven ability to translate strategy into action and drive change in organizations, while providing accounting and tax expertise, negotiating international sales contracts and raising capital. In addition to his professional experience, Dalziel earned a bachelor's degree in commerce and law from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. "Plexure is leading the charge for a new era of customer interaction, introducing the solutions that take into account purchase history, location and even the weather to deliver relevant, targeted promotions," said Dalziel. "I am excited to join the company as CFO and help Plexure capitalize on new growth opportunities in the U.S. and expand to new markets as we continue to revolutionize an industry." About Plexure Plexure uses digital insight to optimize transactions in the physical world. As Internet of Things (IoT) technology and connected devices enable multiple touch points in real time to reach customers, Plexure helps businesses understand the vast amount of customer data available and enable the delivery of targeted, personalized experiences. With a singular focus on improving real-world business transactions, Plexure is used by prominent global brands including McDonald's, 7-Eleven, Exxon, Anheuser Busch and IKEA to drive and convert in-store visits to in-store sales. Learn more about Plexure: Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter Source: Plexure ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2016 Atlanta Metro Export Challenge, a JPMorgan Chase-powered grant program created to help businesses begin or expand their exporting programs, today announced its top three winners. Narrowed down from five finalists, the three winners received a combined $35,000 in additional grants to grow their export strategies. Leading global supplier of aftermarket aviation parts Aventure Aviation took the first place prize of $20,000, which will go toward expanding the brand into new markets such as China and Ireland. Pure Air Filtration won $10,000 as the second place winner and intends to use the funds to grow its filtration technology manufacturing and services in Europe. United Sciences, a 3D scanning technology and services company, received $5,000 as the third place winner, which will further assist the company in engaging with its overseas customers. An initial pool of 35 grant recipients, who each received $5,000, was ultimately narrowed down to five finalists after a judging round in a "Shark Tank"-style pitch competition. The public was then invited to participate in the process during an online voting phase from Aug. 22 through Sept. 14. The top three winners were selected through a combination of the judges' decisions and the public voting, then were announced at a luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel in midtown Atlanta. "Ninety-five percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States, so we must encourage local businesses to sell internationally" said Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC). "We're excited to watch these winners utilize their grant funds to make more meaningful worldwide connections. Their success in the international marketplace will ultimately enhance our city's economy and global presence." "Over the past decade, Atlanta has climbed to 64th from 71st amongst the Top 100 U.S. metros for exports. In fact, export businesses can now be found in every single metro Atlanta county and in more than 80 percent of Georgia's 159 counties," said Dwayne C. Meeks, UPS South Atlantic district president and Atlanta Metro Export Plan (MEP) chairman. "For companies that may be considering Atlanta for an expansion or relocation, this competition, along with the Atlanta Metro Export Plan (MEP) demonstrates that our regions is serious about using our tools, resources and network to further our economy through exports." Launched in January, the Atlanta Metro Export Challenge is a key component of the Atlanta MEP, which aims to increase global trade in the region. The Atlanta MEP is being implemented by MAC, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the City of Atlanta, working in partnership with several other regional and local economic development agencies as well as public and private organizations. The MEP is a product of Atlanta's participation in the Global Cities Initiative ("GCI"), a joint project of The Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase that aims to help leaders in U.S. metropolitan areas reorient their economics toward greater engagement in world markets. For more information about the Atlanta MEP and the region's export initiatives, visit www.atlantaexportportal.com. About the Metro Atlanta Chamber The Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) serves as a catalyst for a more prosperous and vibrant region. To advance economic growth and improve metro Atlanta's quality of place, MAC is focused on starting, growing and recruiting companies to the 29-county metro Atlanta region. The Chamber is also focused on growing the region's innovation economy by promoting and strengthening connections to drive Atlanta's innovation and entrepreneurial culture. MAC is committed to being an active voice for the business community, serving as an advocate for a competitive business climate and telling Atlanta's story. For more information, visit www.metroatlantachamber.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-three-winners-announced-in-2016-atlanta-metro-export-challenge-300331200.html SOURCE The Metro Atlanta Chamber LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tod Marks, Executive Director of Market Centre Sales, Unified Grocers, will be a featured speaker at the upcoming California Grocers Association (CGA) Strategic Conference 2016 (Sept. 25 27) in Palm Springs, Calif. Marks will discuss Merchandising Health and Wellness in an educational session scheduled for Monday, Sept. 26 from 7 to 8:30 a.m. at the Palm Springs Renaissance Convention Center. Tod Marks, Executive Director of Market Centre Sales, Unified Grocers The whiteboard session will explore ways for retailers from all store formats to capture sales in the growing Health, Beauty and Wellness (HBW) category. Retailers will learn how they can use market insights and their suppliers expertise to select products which have attributes that will resonate with shoppers and address their price concerns. The discussion will also cover the benefits of integrating HBW products into traditional store sets, and merchandising strategies that will call attention to them and make shopper education easy and effective. Marks said, By arming independent retailers with information and resources for successfully incorporating GM/HBW items into their overall product mix, were seeing them win back their share of this growing market from the big chains and reinvigorate both their HBW and conventional product sales. Shoppers like it too because theyre able to get everything they need in one stop. Marks is a 35 year veteran of the grocery industry. He started in the business working for a local family-owned IGA grocery store and continued his career advancement with companies such as Fleming and Tree of Life, holding a variety of positions in sales, marketing and procurement. He joined Unified Grocers in 2007 and has been promoted to positions of increasing responsibility. He is currently responsible for Unifieds Market Centre sales and national business. Market Centre is the specialty, natural, ethnic and GM/HBW division of Unified Grocers. About Unified Grocers, Inc.Founded in 1922, Unified Grocers is a retailer-owned wholesale grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the western United States. Unified and its subsidiaries, which generated approximately $4 billion in sales during fiscal year 2015, offer independent retailers all the resources they need to compete in the supermarket industry. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c2d0162a-be1b-434d-b644-2d74732b13c4 Contact: Paul Dingsdale, Director of Communications (323) 881-4150 [email protected] Source: Unified Grocers SAO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Virtus BR Partners (Virtus), a leading independent Brazilian financial advisory firm with extensive experience in stressed and distressed private credit opportunities in Brazil, is pleased to announce the establishment of a strategic relationship with Oaktree Capital Management L.P. managed funds (Oaktree) to pursue investment opportunities in Brazil and throughout Latin America, utilizing Virtuss local experience and Oaktrees investment expertise. Oaktree, formed in 1995 and headquartered in Los Angeles, is a leading global alternative investment management firm with expertise in credit strategies and over $98 billion in AUM. Eleazar de Carvalho Filho, founding partner and CEO of Virtus, and Julio Herrera, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Oaktrees Emerging Markets Opportunities and Emerging Markets Debt Total Return strategies, will oversee the relationship. During his over-thirty-year career, Mr. Carvalho Filho has served as CEO of both government and international financial institutions in Brazil, and has sat on several boards of directors of publicly listed companies in Brazil and abroad. We are excited to enter into this relationship with Oaktree at this important juncture in Brazils economy. The opportunities in the coming years are significant, and investors will benefit from the combined experience of our teams, said Mr. Carvalho Filho. During his over-twenty-year career in distressed emerging market investing, Mr. Herrera has played a leading role in many of the largest debt restructurings in the emerging markets, particularly in Latin America, Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe. We believe this formal relationship with Virtus will augment Oaktrees local transaction structuring, informational and analytic capabilities, said Mr. Herrera. We are thrilled about this opportunity to expand our capacity throughout Latin America and specifically in the dynamic, rapidly evolving Brazilian market. Tighter credit conditions should create opportunities for long-term value investors with extensive experience in distressed credit investment. About Virtus Virtus BR Partners has a dedicated local Brazilian team of ten investment professionals with expertise in sourcing, structuring and executing complex transactions in Brazil, including debt restructurings, mergers and acquisitions and project finance. The firm is currently involved in some of the largest ongoing debt restructurings in Brazil, including engagements with large Brazilian infrastructure conglomerates and is active in many key industries, including power, gas and water utilities, infrastructure, agribusiness, retail and real estate. For additional information, please visit Virtuss website at http://www.virtusbr.com. About Oaktree Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $98 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2016. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in distressed debt, corporate debt (including high yield debt and senior loans), control investing, convertible securities, real estate and listed equities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the firm has over 900 employees and offices in 18 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit Oaktrees website at http://www.oaktreecapital.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005590/en/ Virtus BR Partners Assessoria Corporativa Ltda. (Virtus) Marcia Esposito, +55 11 3576-1500 [email protected] Source: Oaktree Capital Management L.P. The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pictured at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger By Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS (Reuters) - OPEC members may call an extraordinary meeting to discuss oil prices if they reach consensus at an informal gathering in Algiers this month, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said during a visit to Algeria, the country's state news agency APS reported on Sunday. Barkindo said he was optimistic about the meeting in Algeria on Sept. 26-28. He has previously said discussions in Algiers will be consultations and no major decisions will be made during talks with OPEC and non-OPEC producers. "The informal gathering was proposed as a move to having an extraordinary meeting with the aim of taking decisions to stabilize the market," Barkindo said. Algeria's Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa last week said there was a consensus among OPEC and non-OPEC members about the need to stabilize the oil market, and has been pushing for a price around $50 to $60 a barrel. "Algeria has a proposal for participants in the Algiers meeting. Consultations with our partners show there is a consensus around the need to stabilize the market. That is already a positive," Bouterfa said. The secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has said the group is not seeking a definite price range for oil but stability for the market. Russia, Iran and other major oil producers are due to take part in the Algiers meeting. Several OPEC producers have called for an output freeze to rein in an oil glut that triggered a price collapse in the last two years, hitting the revenues of major producers. Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia agreed this month to cooperate in oil markets, saying they could limit future output. (This version of the story changes the source of second quote to minister) (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Susan Fenton and Dale Hudson) UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): September 15, 2016 NUCOR CORPORATION (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter) Delaware 1-4119 13-1860817 (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 1915 Rexford Road, Charlotte, North Carolina 28211 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) Registrants telephone number, including area code: (704) 366-7000 N/A (Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report) Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions: Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Item 5.03 Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year. On September 15, 2016, the Board of Directors of Nucor Corporation (the Company) approved certain amendments to the Companys Bylaws (as amended, the Bylaws), effective immediately, to (i) clarify the date requirements for advance notice of business proposals or director nominees in Article II, Section 3 and Article III, Section 1; (ii) expand in Article II, Section 3 and Article III, Section 1 the advance notice disclosure required for proposing stockholders and director nominees nominated by stockholders relating to any relationships or agreements such persons have regarding the Company and its securities as well as an agreement by such director nominees to continually update such disclosure and comply with all governance codes of the Company applicable to all directors; and (iii) make certain ministerial, clarifying and conforming changes. The foregoing description is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Companys Bylaws, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.1 and incorporated herein by reference. Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits. (d) Exhibits 3.1 Bylaws of Nucor Corporation, as amended and restated. SIGNATURE Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. NUCOR CORPORATION Date: September 20, 2016 By: /s/ James D. Frias James D. Frias Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Executive Vice President INDEX TO EXHIBITS Exhibit No. Description 3.1 Bylaws of Nucor Corporation, as amended and restated. Exhibit 3.1 NUCOR CORPORATION BYLAWS As Amended and Restated September 15, 2016 NUCOR CORPORATION BYLAWS As Amended and Restated September 15, 2016 CONTENTS PAGE ARTICLE I OFFICES 1 ARTICLE II MEETINGS OF STOCKHOLDERS 1 ARTICLE III DIRECTORS 7 ARTICLE IV NOTICES OF STOCKHOLDERS MEETINGS, RECORD DATES AND WAIVER 15 ARTICLE V OFFICERS 18 ARTICLE VI CERTIFICATES OF STOCK 21 ARTICLE VII GENERAL PROVISIONS 23 ARTICLE VIII AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS 25 ARTICLE I OFFICES Section 1. The corporations registered office in the State of Delaware shall be in the City of Wilmington, County of New Castle. Section 2. The corporation may also have offices at such other places, within and without the State of Delaware, as the board of directors may, from time to time, determine, or the business of the corporation may require. ARTICLE II MEETINGS OF STOCKHOLDERS Section 1. All meetings of the stockholders for the election of directors shall be held at such place, within or without the State of Delaware, as may be fixed, from time to time, by the board of directors. Meetings of stockholders for any other purpose may be held at such time or place, within or without the State of Delaware, as shall be stated in the notice of the meeting or in a waiver of notice thereof. Section 2. Annual meetings of stockholders for the election of directors shall be held on such date and at such time, within thirteen months after the corporations last annual meeting of stockholders, as shall be designated by the board of directors. At each annual meeting of stockholders, the stockholders shall elect directors and transact such other business (other than director nominations, which are subject to the requirements of Section 1(b) of Article III) as may be properly brought before the meeting in accordance with Section 3 below. Section 3. Only proposals that are submitted in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 3 of Article II may be presented for consideration by stockholders of the corporation at any annual or special meeting of stockholders. Proposals may be presented for consideration by the stockholders of the corporation at an annual or special meeting of stockholders (x) by or at the direction of the board of directors, or (y) by any stockholder of the corporation who is a stockholder of record at the time of giving of notice provided for in this Section 3, who shall be entitled to vote for such proposal at the meeting and remains so through the meeting and who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 3. For the avoidance of doubt, the foregoing clause (y) shall be the exclusive means for a stockholder to present proposals (except proposals submitted in accordance with the eligibility and procedural requirements of Rule 14a-8 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and included in the corporations proxy statement) for consideration by the corporations stockholders at any annual or special meeting of stockholders. In order to be considered by the stockholders of the corporation at any annual or special meeting of stockholders, a stockholders proposal must be a proper matter for stockholder consideration at such meeting and must be made pursuant to timely notice in writing to the secretary of the corporation, as provided by this Section 3. To be timely, a stockholders notice of any proposal to be presented by a stockholder at any annual meeting of stockholders shall be delivered in writing to the secretary of the corporation at the principal executive office of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 120th calendar day before the first anniversary of the preceding years annual meeting of stockholders nor earlier than the close of business on the 150th calendar day before the first anniversary of the preceding years annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 calendar days before or more than 60 calendar days after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so delivered not earlier than the close of business on the 120th calendar day prior to the date of such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th calendar day prior to the date of such annual meeting or, if the first public announcement of the date of such annual meeting is less than 100 calendar days prior to the date of such annual meeting, the close of business on the tenth calendar day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the corporation. In no event shall any adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting or the announcement thereof commence a new time period for the delivery of a stockholders notice under this Section 3. To be timely, a stockholders notice of any proposal to be presented by a stockholder at any special meeting of stockholders shall be delivered in writing to the secretary of the corporation not earlier than the close of business on the 150th calendar day before the date of the special meeting nor later than the later of the close of business on the 120th calendar day before the date of the special meeting or the close of business on the tenth day following the day on which public announcement of the date 2 of the special meeting was first made by the corporation. In no event shall any adjournment or postponement of a special meeting or the announcement thereof commence a new time period for the delivery of a stockholders notice under this Section 3. To be in proper form, a stockholders notice of any proposal to be presented at any stockholders meeting shall include: (i) the text of the proposal to be presented, (ii) a brief written statement of the reasons for such stockholders support of the proposal, (iii) the name and address, as they appear on the corporations books, of the proposing stockholder and the name and address of any Stockholder Associated Person (defined below) covered by clauses (iv), (vi) and (vii) below, (iv) (A) the class or series and number of shares or other securities of the corporation which are directly or indirectly owned of record or beneficially by such stockholder or by any Stockholder Associated Person, (B) any proxy, arrangement, understanding or relationship pursuant to which such stockholder or Stockholder Associated Person has a right to vote any shares of any security of the Corporation, and (C) any derivative positions held of record or beneficially by the stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person related to, or the value of which is derived in whole or in part from, the value of any class of the corporations shares or other securities and whether and the extent to which any hedging or other transaction or series of transactions has been entered into by or on behalf of, or any other agreement, arrangement or understanding has been made, the effect or intent of which is to mitigate loss to, or to manage the risk or benefit from share price changes for, or to increase or decrease the voting power of, such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person with respect to the corporations shares or other securities, (v) a representation that such stockholder or Stockholder Associated Person is entitled to vote at such meeting and intends to remain as such, and intends to appear in person or by proxy to present the proposal at such meeting, (vi) a detailed description of any material interest of such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person in the proposal, including a description of all agreements, arrangements and understandings between or among any of the stockholder, any Stockholder Associated Person and any other person (name such person or persons) in connection with the proposal of such business, (vii) any performance related-fee (other than an asset-based fee) that such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person is entitled to receive, either directly or indirectly, based on any increase or decrease in the value of shares of the Corporation or any derivative positions related to, or the value of which is derived in whole or in part from, the value of any class of the Corporations shares or other securities (viii) any 3 other information regarding such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person or such proposal that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with a contested solicitation of proxies pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, if Section 14 were applicable, and (ix) a statement whether either such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person will deliver a proxy statement and form of proxy to holders of at least the percentage of the corporations voting shares required under applicable law to carry the proposal and/or otherwise solicit proxies in support of such proposal. The chairman of the meeting shall determine and declare to the meeting whether a proposal was made in accordance with the foregoing procedure, and if he should determine that it was not so made, he shall so declare to the meeting and such proposal shall be disregarded. No business proposed to be brought by a stockholder may be brought before the meeting if such stockholder or a Stockholder Associated Person, as applicable, takes any action contrary to the representations made pursuant to the provisions of this Section 3 applicable to such business or if the notice of the proposal applicable to such business contains an untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The chairman of the meeting shall, if the facts warrant, determine and declare at the meeting that such business was not properly brought before the meeting and in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3, and, if the chairman of the meeting should so determine, he shall so declare at the meeting that any such business not properly brought before the meeting shall not be conducted. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 3, a stockholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) with respect to the matters set forth in this Section 3; provided, however, that any references herein to the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder are not intended to and shall not limit any requirements applicable to stockholder proposals pursuant to this Section 3. Nothing in this Section 3 shall be deemed to affect any rights of the corporations stockholders to request inclusion of proposals in the corporations proxy statement pursuant to the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the Exchange Act. 4 Stockholder Associated Person of any stockholder means (A) any person controlling, directly or indirectly, or acting in concert with, such stockholder, (B) any beneficial owner of shares of stock of the corporation owned of record or beneficially by such stockholder and (C) any person controlling, controlled by or under common control with such Stockholder Associated Person. Section 4. Whenever stockholders are required or permitted to take any action at a meeting, a notice of the meeting shall be given in accordance with Article IV of these bylaws stating the place, date and time of the meeting, the means of remote communications, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such meeting, the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, if such date is different from the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, and, in the case of a special meeting, the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called. Except as otherwise provided in the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL), the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, such notice shall be given not less than 10 nor more than 60 calendar days before the date of the meeting to each stockholder entitled to vote at such meeting as of the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting. Section 5. The corporation shall prepare and make, or have prepared and made, at least 10 calendar days before each meeting of stockholders, a complete list of the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting; provided, however, if the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote is less than 10 calendar days before the meeting date, the list shall reflect the stockholders entitled to vote as of the tenth calendar day before the meeting date. The stockholder list shall be arranged in alphabetical order, showing the address of and the number of shares registered in the name of each stockholder. Such list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder upon reasonable notice to the corporation for any purpose germane to the meeting for a period of at least 10 calendar days prior to the meeting during ordinary business hours at the corporations principal place of business. Such list shall also be produced and kept at the time and place of the meeting during the whole time thereof, and may be examined by any stockholder who is present. Such list shall presumptively determine the identity of the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting and the number of shares held by each of them. 5 Section 6. Special meetings of the stockholders for any purpose or purposes may be called by the chairman of the board and shall be called by the chairman of the board or secretary at the request in writing of a majority of the board of directors. Such request shall state the purpose or purposes of the proposed meeting. Business transacted at any special meeting of stockholders shall be limited to the purposes stated in the notice of the meeting. Section 7. The holders of a majority of the stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote thereat, present in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum at all meetings of the stockholders for the transaction of business, except as otherwise provided by law or by the certificate of incorporation. If, however, such quorum shall not be present or represented by proxy at any meeting of the stockholders, the chairman of the meeting shall have power to adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting or as may be required by law, until a quorum shall be present or represented by proxy. At such adjourned meeting at which a quorum shall be present or represented by proxy, any business may be transacted which might have been transacted at the meeting as originally notified. Section 8. When a quorum is present at any meeting of stockholders, the vote of the holders of a majority of the stock having voting power, present in person or represented by proxy, shall decide any question brought before the meeting, unless the question is one upon which, by express provision of law or of the certificate of incorporation or of these bylaws, a different vote is required, in which case such express provision shall govern and control the decision of such question. Section 9. Except as otherwise provided by applicable law or in the certificate of incorporation, each stockholder shall have one vote for each share of stock having voting power, registered in the stockholders name on the stock books of the corporation as of the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting. At all elections of directors, each stockholder of the corporation having voting power shall have the right of cumulative voting as provided in the certificate of incorporation. 6 Section 10. At any meeting of the stockholders, every stockholder having the right to vote shall be entitled to vote in person, or by proxy appointed (i) by an instrument in writing subscribed by such stockholder or (ii) by a transmission permitted by law filed in accordance with the procedure established for the meeting, but no such proxy shall be voted or acted upon after three years from its date, unless the proxy provides for a longer period. The revocability of a proxy that states on its face that it is irrevocable shall be governed by the provisions of Section 212 of the DGCL. A written proxy may be in the form of a telegram, cablegram or other means of electronic transmission that sets forth or is submitted with information from which it can be determined that the telegram, cablegram or other means of electronic transmission was authorized by the person having the right to vote at the meeting. Section 11. Before any meeting of stockholders, the corporation shall appoint an inspector or inspectors of election to act at the meeting or its adjournment and make a written report thereof. The inspector or inspectors of election shall have the duties and powers prescribed or authorized, as the case may be, in Section 231 of the DGCL. Section 12. At any meeting of stockholders, the chairman of the meeting shall have the power to adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting or as may be required by law. At such adjourned meeting, any business may be transacted which might have been transacted at the meeting as originally notified. ARTICLE III DIRECTORS Section 1. (a) The number of directors which shall constitute the whole board of directors shall be not less than three nor more than eleven, the precise number to be determined from time to time by resolution of the board of directors. No reduction of the authorized number of directors shall have the effect of removing any director before that directors term of office shall expire. Directors shall be elected at the annual meeting of stockholders, pursuant to Article VII of the certificate of incorporation, except as provided in Section 2 of this Article III. All directors shall be elected for terms expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders. Each director shall hold office until such directors successor is elected and qualified or until such directors earlier death, resignation or removal. 7 (b) Only persons who are nominated in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 1(b) of Article III shall be eligible for election as directors at the annual meeting of stockholders. Nominations of persons for election to the board of directors may be made at a meeting of stockholders (x) by or at the direction of the board of directors, (y) by any nominating committee of or person appointed by the board of directors, or (z) by any stockholder of the corporation who is a stockholder of record at the time of giving of notice provided for in this Section 1(b), who shall be entitled to vote for the election of directors at the meeting and remains as such through the meeting and who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 1(b). Nominations made by any stockholder shall be made only pursuant to timely notice in writing to the secretary of the corporation, as provided by this Section 1(b). To be timely, a stockholders notice shall be delivered to, or mailed and received at, the principal executive offices of the corporation not later than the close of business on the 120th calendar day before the first anniversary of the preceding years annual meeting of stockholders nor earlier than the close of business on the 150th calendar day before the first anniversary of the preceding years annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event that the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 calendar days before or more than 60 calendar days after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so delivered, or mailed and received, not earlier than the close of business on the 120th calendar day prior to the date of such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th calendar day prior to the date of such annual meeting or, if the first public announcement of the date of such annual meeting is less than 100 calendar days prior to the date of such annual meeting, the tenth calendar day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the corporation. In no event shall any adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting or the announcement thereof commence a new time period for the delivery of a stockholders notice under this Section 1(b). Such stockholders notice shall set forth (a) as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election or reelection as a director, (i) the name, age, business address and residence address of such person, (ii) the background and qualification of such person, including without limitation, the principal 8 occupation or employment of such person, (iii) (A) the class or series and number of shares or other securities of the corporation which are directly or indirectly owned of record or beneficially by such person and any Stockholder Associated Person and (B) any derivative positions held of record or beneficially by such person related to, or the value of which is derived in whole or in part from, the value of any class of the corporations shares or other securities and whether and the extent to which any hedging or other transaction or series of transactions has been entered into by or on behalf of, or any other agreement, arrangement or understanding has been made, the effect or intent of which is to mitigate loss to, or to manage the risk or benefit from share price changes for, or to increase or decrease the voting power of, such person with respect to the corporations shares or other securities, (iv) a written statement executed by the person (A) acknowledging that as a director of the corporation, the nominee will owe a fiduciary duty under Delaware law with respect to the corporation and its stockholders, (B) disclosing whether such person or any Stockholder Associated Person is a party to an agreement, arrangement or understanding with, or has given any commitment or assurance to, any person or entity as to how such person, if elected as a director of the corporation, will act or vote on any issue or question, (C) disclosing whether such person or any Stockholder Associated Person is a party to an agreement, arrangement or understanding with any person or entity other than the corporation with respect to any direct or indirect compensation, reimbursement or indemnification in connection with such persons service or action as a director of the corporation, (D) agreeing to update continually the accuracy of the information required by the immediately preceding clauses (B) and (C) for as long as such person is a nominee or a director of the corporation and (E) agreeing if elected as a director of the corporation to comply with all applicable codes of ethics and conduct, corporate governance, conflict of interest, confidentiality and stock ownership and trading policies and guidelines of the corporation applicable to directors, and (v) any other information regarding such person that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with a contested solicitation of proxies for the election of directors pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, if Section 14 were applicable (including without limitation such persons (A) written consent to being named in the corporations proxy statement as a nominee and to serving as a director if elected and (B) agreement to provide information that the board of directors requests to determine whether such person qualifies as an independent director 9 under applicable rules, regulations and guidelines); and (b) as to the stockholder giving the notice (i) the name and address, as they appear on the corporations books, of such stockholder and the name and address of any Stockholder Associated Person covered by clauses (ii) or (iii) below, (ii) (A) the class or series and number of shares or other securities of the corporation which are owned directly or indirectly of record or beneficially by such stockholder or by any Stockholder Associated Person and (B) any derivative positions held of record or beneficially by the stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person related to, or the value of which is derived in whole or in part from, the value of any class of the corporations shares or other securities and whether and the extent to which any hedging or other transaction or series of transactions has been entered into by or on behalf of, or any other agreement, arrangement or understanding has been made, the effect or intent of which is to mitigate loss to, or to manage the risk or benefit from share price changes for, or to increase or decrease the voting power of, such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person with respect to the corporations shares or other securities, (iii) any other information regarding such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with a contested solicitation of proxies pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, if Section 14 were applicable, and (iv) a written statement whether either such stockholder or any Stockholder Associated Person will deliver a proxy statement and form of proxy to holders of the corporations voting shares. At the request of the board of directors, any person nominated by the board of directors, or by any nominating committee of or a person appointed by the board of directors, for election as a director shall furnish to the secretary of the corporation that information required to be set forth in a stockholders notice of nomination which pertains to the nominee. The chairman of the meeting shall, if the facts warrant, determine and declare at the meeting that a nomination was not made in accordance with the procedures prescribed by this Section 1(b), and, if he should so determine and declare, such nomination shall be disregarded. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 1(b), a stockholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the SEC with respect to the matters set forth in this Section 1(b); provided, however, that any references herein to the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder are not intended to and shall not limit any requirements applicable to 10 stockholder nominations pursuant to this Section 1(b). Nothing in this Section 1(b) shall be deemed to affect any rights of the corporations stockholders to request inclusion of nominees in the corporations proxy statement pursuant to the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the Exchange Act. Section 2. Vacancies, and newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors, may be filled by a majority of the directors then in office, though less than a quorum. Thereafter, the directors so chosen shall hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders, and until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified, or until death, resignation or removal. Section 3. The business of the corporation shall be managed by its board of directors, which may exercise all such powers of the corporation and do all such lawful acts and things as are not by law or by the certificate of incorporation or by these bylaws directed or required to be exercised or done by the stockholders. Section 4 . The board of directors, at its first meeting after each annual meeting of stockholders, shall elect a chairman of the board and, in its discretion, one or more vice chairmen of the board from among the directors. The chairman of the board and any vice chairman of the board may be either a director who is an executive officer of the corporation or a director who is not employed by the corporation and the board shall designate at the time of election whether the chairman and any vice chairman shall serve in an executive or non-executive capacity. The compensation of the chairman of the board and any vice chairman shall be fixed by the board of directors. Section 5. The chairman and any vice chairman of the board of directors shall hold office until their respective successors shall be duly chosen and qualified, or until death, resignation or removal. The chairman and any vice chairman of the board of directors may be removed at any time by the affirmative vote of a majority of the board of directors. 11 THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Section 6. The chairman of the board shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the stockholders and of the board of directors, and, subject to the power and authority of the board of directors, shall see that all orders and resolutions of the board of directors are carried into effect. The chairman of the board shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors may, from time to time, prescribe. THE VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Section 7. If the board of directors has elected one or more vice chairmen of the board pursuant to Section 4 above, the vice chairman of the board, or if there be more than one, the vice chairmen of the board, in the order determined by the board of directors, shall, in the absence or disability of the chairman of the board, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the chairman of the board, and shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors may, from time to time, prescribe. MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Section 8. The board of directors of the corporation may hold meetings, both regular and special, within or outside the State of Delaware. Unless otherwise restricted by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, members of the board of directors, or any committee designated by the board of directors, may participate in a meeting of the board of directors, or any committee thereof, by means of conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other, and such participation in a meeting shall constitute presence in person at the meeting. Section 9. The first meeting of each newly elected board of directors shall be held immediately following the annual meeting of stockholders, and no notice of such first meeting shall be necessary to the newly elected directors in order legally to constitute such first meeting, provided a quorum shall be present. 12 Section 10. Regular meetings of the board of directors may be held without notice at such time and at such place as shall, from time to time, be determined by the board of directors. Section 11. Special meetings of the board of directors for any purpose or purposes may be called at any time by the chairman of the board, or by the Secretary at the request of a majority of the directors, on two calendar days notice to each director, either personally, by mail, courier, electronic mail, telephone or telefax directed to each director at that directors address, electronic mail address, telephone number or telefax number, as the case may be, as given to the secretary of the corporation by such director, at such times and places as the chairman of the board or the secretary shall designate. Whenever there shall be a Lead Director appointed as provided for in the Corporate Governance Principles adopted by the board of directors, special meetings of the directors who are independent directors under the Corporate Governance Standards of the New York Stock Exchange may be called by the Lead Director for any purpose or purposes at any time in accordance with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 11 for calling special meetings of the board of directors. Section 12. At all meetings of the board of directors, a majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and the act of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of the board of directors, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by law or by the certificate of incorporation. If a quorum shall not be present at any meeting of the board of directors, the directors present thereat may adjourn the meeting, from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum shall be present. Section 13. Unless otherwise restricted by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the board of directors, or of any committee thereof, may be taken without a meeting, if all members of the board of directors or of such committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing or by electronic transmission and the writing or writings or electronic transmission or transmissions are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the board of directors or of such committee. Such filing shall be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form. 13 COMMITTEES OF DIRECTORS Section 14. The board of directors may, by resolution passed by a majority of the whole board of directors, designate one or more committees, each committee to consist of one or more of the directors of the corporation, which, to the extent provided in the resolution or in a committee charter approved by the board of directors and as allowed by law, shall have and may exercise the powers of the board of directors in the management of the business and affairs of the corporation. Such committee or committees shall have such name or names as may be determined from time to time by resolution adopted by the board of directors and shall, to the extent required by the Corporate Governance Standards of the New York Stock Exchange, be constituted in accordance with, and have such duties and powers as shall be required by such Corporate Governance Standards. Section 15. At all meetings of any committee of the board of directors, at least 50% of the directors comprising any such committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and the act of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which there is a quorum shall be the act of such committee, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by law or by the certificate of incorporation. If a quorum shall not be present at any meeting of any committee of the board of directors, the directors present thereat may adjourn the meeting, from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum shall be present. A meeting of a committee at which a quorum is initially present may continue to transact business notwithstanding the withdrawal of directors serving on the committee, if any action taken is approved by at least a majority of the required quorum for the committee meeting. Section 16. Each committee shall keep regular minutes of its meetings and report the same to the board of directors, when requested or required. 14 COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS Section 17. Unless otherwise restricted by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, the board of directors shall have the authority to fix the compensation of directors, including but not limited to additional compensation for directors who serve as committee chairs or as Lead Director. The directors shall be reimbursed for their expenses, if any, in connection with their attendance at each meeting of the board of directors or committee thereof. ARTICLE IV NOTICES OF STOCKHOLDERS MEETINGS, RECORD DATES AND WAIVER Section 1. Notice of any meeting of stockholders, if mailed, is given when deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid, directed to the stockholder at such stockholders address as it appears on the corporations records. An affidavit of the secretary or an assistant secretary of the corporation or of the transfer agent or other agent of the corporation that the notice has been given shall, in the absence of fraud, be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. Section 2. In order that the corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to notice of any meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof, the board of directors may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the board of directors and which record date shall not be more than 60 nor less than 10 calendar days before the date of such meeting. If the board of directors so fixes a record date, such date shall also be the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting unless the board of directors determines, at the time it fixes such record date, that a later date on or before the date of the meeting shall be the date for making such determination. If no record date is fixed by the board of directors, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the day next preceding the day on which notice is given, or, if notice is waived, at the close of business on the day next preceding the day on which the meeting is held. 15 A determination of stockholders of record entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall apply to any adjournment of the meeting; provided, however, that the board of directors may fix a new record date for determination of stockholders entitled to vote at the adjourned meeting, and in such case shall also fix as the record date for stockholders entitled to notice of such adjourned meeting the same or an earlier date as that fixed for determination of stockholders entitled to vote in accordance with the provisions of Section 213 of the DGCL and this Section 2 at the adjourned meeting. Section 3. In order that the corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting, the board of directors may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted, and which record date shall be not more than 10 calendar days after the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted. Any person seeking to have the stockholders authorize or take corporate action by written consent without a meeting shall deliver in writing to the secretary of the corporation a notice requesting that a record date be fixed for such purpose. Such notice must contain the information set forth in this Section 3. The board of directors shall have until the end of the tenth day after receipt of such notice to determine in good faith the validity of the notice, and, if appropriate, adopt a resolution fixing the record date for such purpose. If the corporation shall have received a valid notice to fix a record date for such purpose and the board of directors shall have failed to fix a record date for such purpose before the end of the tenth day after receipt of such notice, the record date shall be the day on which the first written consent is delivered to the corporation in the manner prescribed by applicable Delaware law; except that, if prior action by the board of directors is required under the provisions of Delaware law, the record date shall be at the close of business on the day on which the board of directors adopts the resolution taking such prior action. Any stockholders notice required by this Section 3 shall be valid and effective only if delivered to the secretary of the corporation and only if it sets forth (a) as to any action (other than the nomination of any person for election or reelection as a director of the corporation) that the stockholder proposes to take by consent, a description of such action (and, if such action includes a proposal to amend either the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, the text of the proposed amendment), a brief statement of the reasons for such stockholders proposal for 16 taking such action, and other information required by Section 3(iii), (iv), (vi), (vii) and (viii) of Article II; and (b) as to the nomination of any person for election or reelection as a director of the corporation that the stockholder proposes to take by consent, the information set forth in Section 1(b)(a) and Section 1(b)(b) of Article III. The corporation may require the stockholder requesting a record date for proposed stockholder action by consent to furnish additional information to the extent it may reasonably be required to determine the validity of the request for a record date. Section 4. In order that the corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to receive payment of any dividend or other distribution or allotment of any rights or the stockholders entitled to exercise any rights in respect of any change, conversion or exchange of stock, or for the purpose of any other lawful action, the board of directors may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted, and which record date shall be not more than 60 calendar days prior to such action. If no record date is fixed, the record date for determining stockholders for any such purpose shall be at the close of business on the day on which the board of directors adopts the resolution relating thereto. Section 5. Whenever notice is required to be given to stockholders, directors or other persons under any provision of the DGCL, the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, a written waiver, signed by the person entitled to notice, or a waiver by electronic transmission by the person entitled to notice, whether before or after the time of the event for which notice is to be given, shall be deemed equivalent to notice. Attendance of a person at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except when the person attends a meeting for the express purpose of objecting at the beginning of the meeting, to the transaction of any business because the meeting is not lawfully called or convened. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any regular or special meeting of the stockholders or the board of directors, as the case may be, need be specified in any written waiver of notice or any waiver by electronic transmission unless so required by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws. 17 ARTICLE V OFFICERS Section 1. The officers of the corporation shall be elected by the board of directors and shall consist of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), a Chief Financial Officer (CFO), one or more presidents, one or more vice presidents (any one or more of whom may be designated by the board of directors as a senior or executive vice president), a treasurer, a secretary and such other officers as may be appointed from time to time by the board of directors. Two or more offices may be held by the same person. The board of directors may in its discretion designate one of the presidents or one of the vice presidents as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the corporation. The CEO may appoint one or more assistant treasurers and assistant secretaries as the CEO deems necessary or appropriate. Section 2. The compensation of the CEO shall be fixed by a compensation committee of the board of directors constituted in accordance with the Corporate Governance Standards of the New York Stock Exchange. The compensation of the CFO, the president(s), the vice president(s), the treasurer, the secretary shall be fixed by the board of directors upon the recommendation of such compensation committee. Section 3. The officers of the corporation shall hold office until their successors shall be duly chosen and qualified, or until death, resignation or removal. Any officer elected by the board of directors may be removed at any time by the affirmative vote of a majority of the board of directors. Such removal shall be without prejudice to the contractual rights of such officer, if any, with the corporation. Any officer may resign at any time by giving written notice to the corporation. Unless otherwise specified in the notice of resignation, the acceptance of the resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective. Any resignation is without prejudice to the rights, if any, of the corporation under any contract to which the officer is a party. THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) Section 4. Subject to the provisions of these bylaws and to the direction of the board of directors, the CEO of the corporation shall have the responsibility for the general management and control of the business and affairs of the corporation and shall perform all duties and have all 18 powers that are commonly incident to the office of chief executive or that are delegated to the CEO by the board of directors. Together with the CFO, the CEO shall (A) be responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f)) for the corporation and (B) sign the certifications required to be included as exhibits to the corporations periodic and annual reports to the SEC pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14. The CEO shall have power to sign all stock certificates, contracts and other instruments of the corporation that are authorized and shall have general supervision and direction of all of the duties, employees and agents of the corporation. If the CEO is not also serving as the chairman of the board of directors, the CEO shall in the absence or disability of both the chairman of the board and any vice chairman of the board, perform the duties of the chairman of the board. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO) Section 5. The CFO of the corporation shall have the responsibility for maintaining the financial records of the corporation and shall render from time to time an account of the results of operation and financial condition of the corporation. Together with the CEO, the CFO shall (A) be responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f)) for the corporation and (B) sign the certifications required to be included as exhibits to the corporations periodic and annual reports to the SEC pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14. The CFO shall also perform such other duties as the board of directors may from time to time prescribe. THE PRESIDENTS Section 6. The president, or if there be more than one, the presidents, in the order determined by the board of directors, shall, in the absence or disability of the CEO, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the CEO, and shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors may, from time to time, prescribe. 19 THE VICE PRESIDENTS Section 7. The vice president, or if there be more than one, the vice presidents, in the order determined by the board of directors, shall, in the absence or disability of the president, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the president, and shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors or the CEO may, from time to time, prescribe. THE TREASURER Section 8. The treasurer shall have custody of the corporations funds and securities, and shall keep, or have kept, accounts of receipts and disbursements in books and records of the corporation, and shall deposit, or have deposited, moneys and securities in the name and to the credit of the corporation in appropriate depositories. The treasurer shall disburse, or have disbursed, the funds of the corporation for appropriate corporate purposes and with appropriate documentation, and shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors may, from time to time, prescribe. THE ASSISTANT TREASURERS Section 9. The assistant treasurer, or if there be more than one, the assistant treasurers, in the order determined by the board of directors, shall, in the absence or disability of the treasurer, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the treasurer, and shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors may, from time to time, prescribe. THE SECRETARY Section 10. The secretary shall attend all meetings of the board of directors and all meetings of the stockholders, and shall record the proceedings of all meetings of the board of 20 directors and all meetings of the stockholders, and shall perform like duties for the committees of the board of directors, when required or requested. The secretary shall give, or cause to be given, notice of all special meetings of the board of directors and all meetings of the stockholders, and shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors may, from to time, prescribe. The secretary shall keep, or have kept, in custody the seal of the corporation and affix, or have affixed, the same to any instrument requiring it and, when so affixed, it shall be attested by the secretarys signature. THE ASSISTANT SECRETARIES Section 11. The assistant secretary, or if there be more than one, the assistant secretaries, in the order determined by the board of directors, shall, in the absence or disability of the secretary, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the secretary, and shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the board of directors may, from time to time, prescribe. ARTICLE VI CERTIFICATES OF STOCK Section 1. The shares of stock of the corporation shall be represented by a certificate, unless and until the board of directors of the corporation adopts a resolution permitting shares to be uncertificated. Notwithstanding the adoption of any such resolution providing for uncertificated shares, every holder of stock in the corporation theretofore represented by certificates and, upon request, every holder of uncertificated shares, shall be entitled to have a certificate, signed by, or in the name of the corporation by, the chairman of the board or a vice chairman of the board, the president (or CEO) or any vice president, and the treasurer (or CFO) or an assistant treasurer or the secretary or an assistant secretary of the corporation, representing the number of shares owned by the stockholder in the corporation and registered in certificate form. Any or all of the signatures on the certificate may be a facsimile. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed, or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon, a certificate has ceased to be such officer, transfer agent or registrar of the corporation, whether because of death, resignation or otherwise, before such certificate has been delivered by the corporation, such certificate may be issued and delivered by the corporation with the same effect as if he or she were such officer, transfer agent or registrar at the date of issue. 21 Section 2. If the corporation is authorized to issue more than one class of stock or more than one series of any class, then the powers, the designations, the preferences, and the relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights will be set forth in full or summarized on the face or back of the certificate that the corporation will issue to represent such class or series of stock; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided in Section 202 of the DGCL, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, there may be set forth on the face or back of the certificate that the corporation will issue to represent such class or series of stock a statement that the corporation will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the powers, the designations, the preferences, and the relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights. Section 3. The corporation may issue, or have issued, a new certificate or certificates of stock in place of any certificate or certificates theretofore issued by the corporation alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed, upon the making of an affidavit of that fact by the owner of the certificate or certificates of stock alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed, or by the owners legal representative. When authorizing such issue of a new certificate or certificates, the corporation may, in its discretion and as a condition precedent to the issuance thereof, require that the owner of such allegedly lost, stolen or destroyed certificate or certificates, or the owners legal representative, give to the corporation a bond sufficient to indemnify the corporation against any claim that may be made against the corporation with respect to the certificate or certificates alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed. TRANSFERS OF STOCK CERTIFICATES AND UNCERTIFICATED SHARES Section 4. Transfers of stock of the corporation shall be made on the books of the corporation in the manner prescribed by applicable law and these bylaws. In the case of 22 certificated shares of stock, transfers shall be made only by the person named in the certificate or by such persons attorney lawfully constituted in writing and only upon the surrender to the corporation, or to the transfer agent of the corporation, of a validly outstanding certificate therefor, properly endorsed for transfer or accompanied by proper evidence of succession, assignment or authority to transfer, and payment of all necessary transfer taxes; provided, however, that such surrender and endorsement, compliance or payment of taxes shall not be required in any case in which the officers of the corporation shall determine to waive such requirement. In the case of uncertificated shares of stock, transfers shall be made upon receipt of proper transfer instructions from the registered holder of the shares or by such persons attorney lawfully constituted in writing, and upon payment of all necessary transfer taxes and compliance with appropriate procedures for transferring shares in uncertificated form. With respect to certificated shares of stock, every certificate exchanged, returned or surrendered to the corporation shall be marked cancelled, with the date of cancellation, by the secretary or an assistant secretary of the corporation or the corporations transfer agent. No transfer of stock shall be valid as against the corporation for any purpose until it shall have been entered in the stock records of the corporation or the corporations transfer agent. ARTICLE VII GENERAL PROVISIONS DIVIDENDS Section 1. Dividends upon the capital stock of the corporation, subject to the provisions, if any, of the certificate of incorporation, may be declared by the board of directors at any regular or special meeting of the board of directors, pursuant to law. Dividends may be paid in cash, in property, or in shares of the capital stock, subject to the provisions, if any, of the certificate of incorporation. Before payment of any dividend, there may be set aside, out of any funds of the corporation available for dividends, such sum or sums as the board of directors, from time to time, in its absolute discretion, believes appropriate. 23 REGISTERED STOCKHOLDERS Section 2. The corporation shall be entitled to recognize the exclusive right of a person registered on the corporations stock books as the owner of shares to receive dividends and to vote as such owner, and shall not be bound to recognize any equitable or other claim to, or interest in, such shares on the part of any other person, whether or not it shall have express or other notice thereof, except as otherwise provided by the laws of the State of Delaware. SURVIVAL OF INDEMNIFICATION RIGHTS Section 3. The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses conferred by Article VIII of the certificate of incorporation of the corporation shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person. Any amendment, alteration or repeal of Article VIII of the certificate of incorporation shall not adversely affect any right or protection thereunder of any person in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to such amendment, alteration or repeal. FISCAL YEAR Section 4. The fiscal year of the corporation shall be the calendar year, unless otherwise fixed by resolution of the board of directors. SEAL Section 5. The corporate seal shall have inscribed thereon the name of the corporation, the year of its incorporation and the state in which incorporated. The seal may be used by causing it, or a facsimile thereof, to be impressed or affixed or in another manner reproduced. 24 CONSTRUCTION OF BYLAWS Section 6. Unless the context requires otherwise, the general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions in the DGCL shall govern the construction of these bylaws. Without limiting the generality of this provision, the singular number includes the plural, the plural number includes the singular, and the term person includes both an entity and a natural person. All references in these bylaws to rules or regulations issued under the Exchange Act shall mean the then-current and effective rules or regulations promulgated by the SEC under the Exchange Act, and shall include with respect to any specified rule or regulation, any similar or successor rule or regulation that is then-current and effective. ARTICLE VIII AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS Section 1. These bylaws may be amended, altered or repealed as follows: (a) at any regular or special meeting of the board of directors, but only if notice of such amendment, alteration or repeal is contained in the notice of such special meeting, or (b) at any annual meeting of stockholders, by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least seventy percent (70%) of each class of stock outstanding and entitled to vote at such annual meeting of stockholders, or (c) at any special meeting of stockholders, by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least seventy percent (70%) of each class of stock outstanding and entitled to vote at such special meeting of stockholders if notice of such amendment, alteration or repeal is contained in the notice of such special meeting. * * * 25 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant To Section 13 Or 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): September 20, 2016 (September 13, 2016) V.F. Corporation (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter) Pennsylvania 1-5256 23-1180120 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 105 Corporate Center Boulevard Greensboro, North Carolina 27408 (Address of principal executive offices) Registrants telephone number, including area code: (336) 424-6000 N/A (Former name or former address, if changed since last report) Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below): Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) Item 8.01 Other Events On September 20, 2016, V.F. Corporation (the Company) closed its sale of 850,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 (the Notes) pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, dated September 13, 2016, among the Company, Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC Bank plc and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. The Notes have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Act), pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-197856) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Act. The net proceeds received by the Company, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company, were approximately 843.5 million. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including repayment of outstanding indebtedness under its existing commercial paper program. The Notes are the unsecured obligations of V.F. Corporation and rank equally with all of its other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness. The Notes were issued pursuant to an Indenture, dated as of October 15, 2007 (the Base Indenture), between the Company and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., formerly known as The Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A., as trustee (the Trustee), as supplemented by the Third Supplemental Indenture, dated as of September 20, 2016, among the Company, the Trustee and The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch, as paying agent (the Supplemental Indenture and, together with the Base Indenture, the Indenture). The Notes will bear interest at a fixed rate of 0.625% per annum. Interest on the Notes is payable annually on each September 20, commencing September 20, 2017. The Notes will mature on September 20, 2023. The Notes are redeemable at the option of the Company. The Indenture also contains certain covenants as set forth in the Indenture and requires the Company to offer to repurchase the Notes upon certain change of control events. The foregoing description of the issuance, sale and terms of the Notes does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Underwriting Agreement, the Base Indenture and the Supplemental Indenture. The Underwriting Agreement and the Supplemental Indenture (including the form of Notes) are attached hereto as Exhibits 1.1, 4.2 and 4.3 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, and the Base Indenture is incorporated herein by reference as Exhibit 4.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K. Opinions of counsel for the Company relating to the validity of the Notes are filed as Exhibits 5.1 and 5.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K. Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits (d) Exhibits The following are furnished as exhibits to this report: 1.1 Underwriting Agreement, dated as of September 13, 2016 among V.F. Corporation, Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC Bank plc and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. 4.1 Indenture, dated as of October 15, 2007, between V.F. Corporation and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Companys Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-146594) and incorporated herein by reference). 4.2 Third Supplemental Indenture, dated as of September 20, 2016, among V.F. Corporation, The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee, and The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch, as paying agent 4.3 Form of 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 (included in Exhibit 4.2). 5.1 Opinion of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP with respect to the Notes. 5.2 Opinion of Laura C. Meagher with respect to certain matters of Pennsylvania law. 23.1 Consent of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1). 23.2 Consent of Laura C. Meagher (included in Exhibit 5.2). SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. V.F. CORPORATION Date: September 20, 2016 By: /s/ Laura C. Meagher Name: Laura C. Meagher Title: Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary EXHIBIT INDEX Exhibit Number Description 1.1 Underwriting Agreement, dated as of September 13, 2016 among V.F. Corporation, Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC Bank plc and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. 4.1 Indenture, dated as of October 15, 2007, between V.F. Corporation and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Companys Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-146594) and incorporated herein by reference). 4.2 Third Supplemental Indenture, dated as of September 20, 2016, among V.F. Corporation, The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee, and The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch, as paying agent 4.3 Form of 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 (included in Exhibit 4.2). 5.1 Opinion of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP with respect to the Notes. 5.2 Opinion of Laura C. Meagher with respect to certain matters of Pennsylvania law. 23.1 Consent of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1). 23.2 Consent of Laura C. Meagher (included in Exhibit 5.2). Exhibit 1.1 V.F. Corporation 850,000,000 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 Underwriting Agreement New York, New York September 13, 2016 To the Representatives named in Schedule I hereto of the several Underwriters named in Schedule II hereto Ladies and Gentlemen: V.F. Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of Pennsylvania (the Company ), proposes to sell to the several underwriters named in Schedule II hereto (the Underwriters ), for whom you (the Representatives ) are acting as representatives, the principal amount of its securities identified in Schedule I hereto (the Securities ), to be issued under an indenture dated October 15, 2007 (together with a supplemental indenture to be dated as of September 20, 2016 with respect to the terms of the Securities, the Indenture ), between the Company and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee (the Trustee ). To the extent there are no additional Underwriters listed on Schedule II other than you, the term Representatives as used herein shall mean you, as Underwriters, and the terms Representatives and Underwriters shall mean either the singular or plural as the context requires. Any reference herein to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 which were filed under the Exchange Act on or before the Effective Date of the Registration Statement or the issue date of the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus, as the case may be; and any reference herein to the terms amend, amendment or supplement with respect to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the filing of any document under the Exchange Act after the Effective Date of the Registration Statement or the issue date of the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus, as the case may be, deemed to be incorporated therein by reference. Certain terms used herein are defined in Section 21 hereof. 1. Representations and Warranties. The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each Underwriter as set forth below in this Section 1. (a) The Company meets the requirements for use of Form S-3 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Act ), and has prepared and filed with the Commission an automatic shelf registration statement, as defined in Rule 405 (the file number of which is set forth in Schedule I hereto) on Form S-3, including a related Base Prospectus, for registration under the Act of the offering and sale of the Securities. Such Registration Statement, including any amendments thereto filed prior to the Execution Time, became effective upon filing. The Company may have filed with the Commission, as part of an amendment to the Registration Statement or pursuant to Rule 424(b), one or more preliminary prospectus supplements relating to the Securities, each of which has previously been furnished to you. The Company will file with the Commission a final prospectus supplement relating to the Securities in accordance with Rule 424(b). As filed, such final prospectus supplement shall contain all information required by the Act and the rules thereunder, and, except to the extent the Representatives shall agree in writing to a modification, shall be in all substantive respects in the form furnished to you prior to the Execution Time or, to the extent not completed at the Execution Time, shall contain only such specific additional information and other changes (beyond that contained in the Base Prospectus and any Preliminary Prospectus) as the Company has advised you, prior to the Execution Time, will be included or made therein. The Registration Statement, at the Execution Time, meets the requirements set forth in Rule 415(a)(1)(x). (b) On each Effective Date, the Registration Statement did, and when the Final Prospectus is first filed in accordance with Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date (as defined herein), the Final Prospectus (and any supplement thereto) will, comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Act, the Exchange Act and the Trust Indenture Act and the respective rules thereunder; on each Effective Date and at the Execution Time, the Registration Statement did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading; on the Effective Date and on the Closing Date the Indenture did or will comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Trust Indenture Act and the rules thereunder; and on the date of any filing pursuant to Rule 424(b) and on the Closing Date, the Final Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided , however , that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to (i) that part of the Registration Statement which shall constitute the Statement of Eligibility (Form T-1) under the Trust Indenture Act of the Trustee or (ii) the information contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement or the Final Prospectus (or any supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for inclusion in the Registration Statement or the Final Prospectus (or any supplement thereto), it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 7(b) hereof. (c) (i) The Disclosure Package and (ii) each electronic road show, when taken together as a whole with the Disclosure Package, does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from the Disclosure Package based upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 7(b) hereof. 2 (d) (i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement, (ii) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act (whether such amendment was by post-effective amendment, incorporated report filed pursuant to Sections 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act or form of prospectus), (iii) at the time the Company or any person acting on its behalf (within the meaning, for this clause only, of Rule 163(c)) made any offer relating to the Securities in reliance on the exemption in Rule 163, and (iv) at the Execution Time (with such date being used as the determination date for purposes of this clause (iv)), the Company was or is (as the case may be) a Well-Known Seasoned Issuer. The Company agrees to pay the fees required by the Commission relating to the Securities within the time required by Rule 456(b)(1) without regard to the proviso therein and otherwise in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r). (e) (i) At the earliest time after the filing of the Registration Statement that the Company or another offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) of the Act) and (ii) as of the Execution Time (with such date being used as the determination date for purposes of this clause (ii)), the Company was not and is not an Ineligible Issuer (as defined in Rule 405), without taking account of any determination by the Commission pursuant to Rule 405 that it is not necessary that the Company be considered an Ineligible Issuer. (f) Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 4(b) hereto does not include any information that conflicts with the information contained in the Registration Statement, including any document incorporated therein by reference and any prospectus supplement deemed to be a part thereof that has not been superseded or modified. The foregoing sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus based upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 7(b) hereof. (g) The Securities and the Indenture conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof contained in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus. (h) The statements (i) in the Base Prospectus under the captions Description of Debt Securities and (ii) in each of the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus under the caption Description of the Notes, in each case insofar as such statements constitute a summary of the legal matters, documents or proceedings referred to therein, fairly present and summarize, in all material respects, the matters referred to therein. (i) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Disclosure Package and Final Prospectus any material loss or interference with its 3 business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and Final Prospectus; and, since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Disclosure Package and Final Prospectus, there has not been any material change in the capital stock or long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, shareholders equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and Final Prospectus. (j) The Company is a corporation duly incorporated and is validly subsisting as a corporation in good standing under the laws of Pennsylvania, with power and authority to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Disclosure Package and Final Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, except in any jurisdiction where such failure would not have a Material Adverse Effect; each material domestic subsidiary of the Company is listed on Schedule V hereto, and each such material domestic subsidiary listed on Schedule V hereto has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation, partnership or limited liability company, as the case may be, in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation or formation; and each subsidiary of the Company not listed on Schedule V is validly existing as a corporation, partnership or limited liability company, as the case may be, in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation or formation, except where such failure, individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. (k) The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable; and all of the issued shares of capital stock, partnership interests and limited liability company interests, as the case may be, of each subsidiary of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable (where applicable) and (except for directors qualifying shares, except as set forth in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, or except as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect) are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims. (l) The Securities have been duly authorized and, when issued and delivered pursuant to this Agreement, will have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered and will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company and entitled to the benefits provided by the Indenture under which they are to be issued, and will be substantially in the form previously delivered to you; on the Closing Date, the Indenture will have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, and on the Closing Date the Indenture will constitute a valid and legally binding instrument, enforceable in accordance with its 4 terms, subject, as to enforcement, to bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance, reorganization and other laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors rights and to general equity principles; and the Securities and the Indenture will conform to the descriptions thereof in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus and will be in substantially the form previously delivered to you. (m) There is no franchise, contract or other document of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement or Final Prospectus, or to be filed as an exhibit thereto, which is not described or filed as required (and the Preliminary Prospectus contains in all material respects the same description of the foregoing matters contained in the Final Prospectus); and the statements in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus under the heading Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences insofar as such statements purport to describe provisions of U.S. federal income tax laws or legal conclusions with respect thereto, accurately and fairly summarize the matters referred to therein in all material respects. (n) The Company and each of its subsidiaries have filed all applicable income, franchise and other tax returns (or obtained extensions with respect to the filing of such returns) and have paid all taxes as currently due through the date hereof, except as may be being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which appropriate reserves have been established or except as disclosed in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus; and the Company has no knowledge of any tax deficiency which has been or might be asserted against the Company or any of its subsidiaries, except, in each case, as would not reasonably be expected to, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. (o) This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company. (p) The Company has been advised by its counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, of the rules and requirements under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the Investment Company Act ). The Company is not, and after receipt of payment for the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as contemplated under the caption Use of Proceeds in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus will not be, required to register as an investment company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. (q) The issue and sale of the Securities and the compliance by the Company with all of the provisions of the Securities, the Indenture and this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated will not (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation or By-laws of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or (iii) result in any violation of any law, statute or any order, rule or 5 regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties, except, in the case of clauses (i) and (iii) above, for any such conflict, breach, violation or default as would not, indirectly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the issue and sale of the Securities by the Company or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture, except for such consents, approvals, authorizations, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters or by the rules and regulations of The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE ). (r) The consolidated historical financial statements and schedules of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries included in the Preliminary Prospectus, the Final Prospectus and the Registration Statement present fairly the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of the dates and for the periods indicated, comply as to form with the applicable accounting requirements of the Act and have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved (except as otherwise noted therein). The summary financial data set forth under the caption Prospectus Supplement SummarySummary Consolidated Historical Financial Data in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus fairly present, on the basis stated in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus, the information included therein. (s) Other than as set forth in the Disclosure Package and Final Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is the subject which would, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the performance of this Agreement or have a Material Adverse Effect; and, to the knowledge of the Company, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others. (t) PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, who have certified certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, are independent public accountants as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder. (u) The Company maintains a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with managements general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with managements general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. The Company and its subsidiaries internal controls over financial reporting are effective and the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any material weakness in their internal controls over financial reporting. 6 (v) The Company and its subsidiaries maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act); such disclosure controls and procedures are effective. (w) The Company and its subsidiaries are (i) in compliance with any and all applicable foreign, federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of human health and safety as such relates to exposure to hazardous or toxic substances, the environment or hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants ( Environmental Laws ), (ii) have received and are in compliance with all permits, licenses or other approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses and (iii) have not received notice of any actual or potential liability under any Environmental Law, except where such non-compliance with Environmental Laws, failure to receive required permits, licenses or other approvals, or liability would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto). Except as set forth in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, none of the Company or its subsidiaries has been named as a potentially responsible party under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, except as would not reasonably be expected to, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. (x) The Company has reasonably concluded that the costs and liabilities associated with the effect of Environmental Laws on the business, operations and properties of the Company and its subsidiaries (including, without limitation, any capital or operating expenditures required for clean-up, closure of properties or compliance with Environmental Laws, or any permit, license or approval, any related constraints on operating activities and any potential liabilities to third parties) would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto). (y) None of the following events has occurred or exists with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries: (i) a failure to fulfill the obligations, if any, under the minimum funding standards of Section 302 of the United States Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ( ERISA ), and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder with respect to a Plan, determined without regard to any waiver of such obligations or extension of any amortization period that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; (ii) an audit or investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or any other federal or state governmental agency or any foreign regulatory agency with respect to the employment or compensation of employees by any of the Company or any of its subsidiaries that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; (iii) any breach of any contractual obligation, or any violation of law or 7 applicable qualification standards, with respect to the employment or compensation of employees by the Company or any of its subsidiaries that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. None of the following events has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries: (i) an increase in the aggregate amount of contributions required to be made to all Plans in the current fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries, as the case may be, compared to the amount of such contributions made in the most recently completed fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries, as the case may be; (ii) an increase in the accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations (within the meaning of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 106) of the Company and its subsidiaries, as the case may be, compared to the amount of such obligations in the most recently completed fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries, as the case may be; (iii) any event or condition giving rise to a liability under Title IV of ERISA; or (iv) the filing of a claim by one or more employees or former employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries related to their employment, in each case where such events under subclauses (i)-(iv) could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. For purposes of this paragraph, the term Plan means a plan (within the meaning of Section 3(3) of ERISA) subject to Title IV of ERISA with respect to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries may have any liability. (z) There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company and any of the Companys directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ), including Section 402 relating to loans and Sections 302 and 906 relating to certifications. (aa) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, nor to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder, or committed an offense under the Bribery Act 2010 of the United Kingdom, or any other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption law (collectively, the Anti-Corruption Laws ) including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any foreign official (as such term is defined in the Anti-Corruption Laws) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Laws; and the Company, its subsidiaries and, to the knowledge of the Company, its affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with the Anti-Corruption Laws and have instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith. (bb) The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in all material respects in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements and the money laundering statutes and the 8 rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the Money Laundering Laws ) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened. (cc) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, nor to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is (a) currently the subject or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. government, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union or Her Majestys Treasury (collectively, Sanctions ); (b) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or target of Sanctions, including, without limitation, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria; or (c) owned or controlled by a target of Sanctions. The Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any person or entity in any manner that will result in a violation by any person of Sanctions. The representation and warranty to be given by the Company pursuant to this clause (cc) shall not be given to UniCredit Bank AG to the extent that the giving of such representation and warranty would result in any violation by UniCredit Bank AG of Section 7 of the German Foreign Trade Ordinance (Auenwirtschaftsverordnung) or any similar applicable anti-boycott law or regulation. (dd) Except as disclosed in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus or in any document incorporated by reference therein, since the end of the Companys most recent audited fiscal year, there has been (i) no material weakness in the Companys internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated) and (ii) no change in the Companys internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Companys internal control over financial reporting. (ee) Except as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries own or possess, license or have other rights to use all patents, trademarks and service marks, trade names, copyrights, inventions, trade secrets, technology, know-how and other intellectual property, and all other registrations and applications to register any of the foregoing (collectively, the Intellectual Property ) material to the conduct of the business of the Company as now conducted or as proposed in the Final Prospectus to be conducted. (ff) Except as set forth in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus, (i) to the Companys knowledge, there is no material infringement by third parties of any such Intellectual Property; (ii) there is no pending or, to the Companys knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the Companys rights in or to any Intellectual Property owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries (the Company-Owned Intellectual Property ), and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim, except such as are not reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect; (iii) to the Companys knowledge, 9 there is no pending or threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity or scope of any Company-Owned Intellectual Property, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim, except such as are not reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect; and (iv) there is no pending or, to the Companys knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others that the Company or any of its subsidiaries infringes or otherwise violates any patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of others, and the Company is unaware of any other fact which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim, except such as are not reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect. Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company and delivered to the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the offering of the Securities shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company, as to matters covered thereby, to each Underwriter. 2. Purchase and Sale. Subject to the terms and conditions and in reliance upon the representations and warranties herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to each Underwriter, and each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at the purchase price set forth in Schedule I hereto the principal amount of the Securities set forth opposite such Underwriters name in Schedule II hereto. 3. Delivery and Payment. Delivery of and payment for the Securities shall be made on the date and at the time specified in Schedule I hereto or at such time on such later date not more than three Business Days after the foregoing date as the Representatives shall designate, which date and time may be postponed by agreement between the Representatives and the Company or as provided in Section 8 hereof (such date and time of delivery and payment for the Securities being herein called the Closing Date ). Delivery of the Securities shall be made to the Representatives for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters against payment by the several Underwriters through the Representatives of the purchase price thereof to or upon the order of the Company by wire transfer payable in same-day funds to an account specified by the Company. Delivery of the Securities shall be made through the facilities of Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. ( Euroclear ) and Clearstream Banking, societe anonyme ( Clearstream ). 4. Agreements. The Company agrees with the several Underwriters that: (a) Prior to the termination of the offering of the Securities, the Company will not file any amendment of the Registration Statement or supplement (including the Final Prospectus or any Preliminary Prospectus) to the Base Prospectus unless the Company has furnished you a copy for your review prior to filing and will not file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which you reasonably object. The Company will cause the Final Prospectus, properly completed, and any supplement thereto to be filed in a form approved by the Representatives with the Commission pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b) within the time period prescribed and will provide evidence satisfactory to the Representatives of such timely filing. The Company will promptly advise the Representatives (i) when the Final Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, shall have been filed (if required) with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b), (ii) 10 when, prior to termination of the offering of the Securities, any amendment to the Registration Statement shall have been filed or become effective, (iii) of any request by the Commission or its staff for any amendment of the Registration Statement, or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, or for any supplement to the Final Prospectus or for any additional information, (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any notice objecting to its use or the institution or threatening of any proceeding for that purpose and (v) of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for sale in any jurisdiction or the institution or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order or the occurrence of any such suspension or objection to the use of the Registration Statement and, upon such issuance, occurrence or notice of objection, to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal of such stop order or relief from such occurrence or objection, including, if necessary, by filing an amendment to the Registration Statement or a new registration statement and using its best efforts to have such amendment or new registration statement declared effective as soon as practicable. (b) The Company will prepare a final term sheet, containing solely a description of final terms of the Securities and the offering thereof, in the form approved by you and substantially in the form attached as Schedule IV hereto and to file such term sheet pursuant to Rule 433(d) within the time required by such Rule. (c) If, at any time prior to the filing of the Final Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b), any event occurs as a result of which the Disclosure Package would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein in the light of the circumstances under which they were made or the circumstances then prevailing not misleading, the Company will (i) notify promptly the Representatives so that any use of the Disclosure Package may cease until it is amended or supplemented; (ii) amend or supplement the Disclosure Package to correct such statement or omission; and (iii) supply any amendment or supplement to you in such quantities as you may reasonably request. (d) If, at any time when a prospectus relating to the Securities is required to be delivered under the Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), any event occurs as a result of which the Final Prospectus as then supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein in the light of the circumstances under which they were made at such time not misleading, or if it shall be necessary to amend the Registration Statement, file a new registration statement or supplement the Final Prospectus to comply with the Act or the Exchange Act or the respective rules thereunder, including in connection with use or delivery of the Final Prospectus, the Company promptly will (i) notify the Representatives of any such event, (ii) prepare and file with the Commission, subject to the second sentence of paragraph (a) of this Section 4, an amendment or supplement or new registration statement which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance, (iii) use its best efforts to have any amendment to the Registration Statement or new registration statement declared effective as soon as practicable in order to avoid any disruption in use of the Final Prospectus and (iv) supply any supplemented Final Prospectus to you in such quantities as you may reasonably request. 11 (e) As soon as practicable, the Company will make generally available to its security holders and to the Representatives an earnings statement or statements of the Company and its subsidiaries which will satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Act and Rule 158. (f) The Company will furnish to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement (including exhibits thereto) and to each other Underwriter a copy of the Registration Statement (without exhibits thereto) and, so long as delivery of a prospectus by an Underwriter or dealer may be required by the Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172), as many copies of each Preliminary Prospectus, the Final Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any supplement thereto as the Representatives may reasonably request. The Company will pay the expenses of printing or other production of all documents relating to the offering. (g) The Company will arrange, if necessary, for the qualification of the Securities for sale under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives may designate and will maintain such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Securities; provided that in no event shall the Company be obligated to qualify to do business in any jurisdiction where it is not now so qualified or to take any action that would subject it to service of process in suits, other than those arising out of the offering or sale of the Securities, in any jurisdiction where it is not now so subject. (h) The Company agrees that, unless it has or shall have obtained the prior written consent of the Representatives, and each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, agrees with the Company that, unless it has or shall have obtained, as the case may be, the prior written consent of the Company, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or that would otherwise constitute a free writing prospectus (as defined in Rule 405) required to be filed by the Company with the Commission or retained by the Company under Rule 433, other than a free writing prospectus containing the information contained in the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 4(b) hereto; provided that the prior written consent of the parties hereto shall be deemed to have been given in respect of the Free Writing Prospectuses included in Schedule III hereto and any electronic road show. Any such free writing prospectus and any such electronic roadshow consented to by the Representatives or the Company is hereinafter referred to as a Permitted Free Writing Prospectus . The Company agrees that (x) it has treated and will treat, as the case may be, each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and (y) it has complied and will comply, as the case may be, with the requirements of Rules 164 and 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including in respect of timely filing with the Commission, legending and record keeping. 12 (i) The Company will not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction which is designed to, or might reasonably be expected to, result in the disposition (whether by actual disposition or effective economic disposition due to cash settlement or otherwise) by the Company or any affiliate of the Company or any person in privity with the Company or any affiliate of the Company), directly or indirectly, including the filing (or participation in the filing) of a registration statement with the Commission in respect of, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act, any debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Company (other than (i) the Securities and (ii) any commercial paper issued in the ordinary course of business) or publicly announce an intention to effect any such transaction, until the Business Day set forth on Schedule I hereto. (j) The Company will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities. (k) The Company agrees to pay the costs and expenses relating to the following matters: (i) the preparation, printing or reproduction and filing with the Commission of the Registration Statement (including financial statements and exhibits thereto), each Preliminary Prospectus, the Final Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and each amendment or supplement to any of them; (ii) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery (including postage, air freight charges and charges for counting and packaging) of such copies of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Final Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and all amendments or supplements to any of them, as may, in each case, be reasonably requested for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities; (iii) the preparation, printing, authentication, issuance and delivery of certificates for the Securities, including any stamp or transfer taxes in connection with the original issuance and sale of the Securities; (iv) the printing (or reproduction) and delivery of this Agreement, any blue sky memorandum and all other agreements or documents printed (or reproduced) and delivered in connection with the offering of the Securities; (v) the registration of the Securities under the Exchange Act and the listing of the Securities on any exchange, including the NYSE; (vi) the filing fees incident to, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters in connection with, the review, if any, by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. of the terms of the sale of the Securities; (vii) any registration or qualification of the Securities for offer and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of the several states (including filing fees and the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters relating to such registration and qualification); (viii) the transportation and other expenses incurred by or on behalf of Company representatives in connection with presentations to prospective purchasers of the Securities; (ix) the fees and expenses of the Companys accountants and the fees and expenses of counsel (including local and special counsel) for the Company; (x) all expenses and application fees incurred in connection with the approval of the Securities for clearance and settlement through Euroclear and Clearstream; and (xi) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder. 13 (l) The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Securities, subject to notice of issuance, to be admitted to the NYSE and admitted to trading on the NYSE within 30 days after the Closing Date. 5. Conditions to the Obligations of the Underwriters. The obligations of the Underwriters to purchase the Securities shall be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company contained herein as of the Execution Time and the Closing Date, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions: (a) The Final Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, shall have been filed in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b); the final term sheet contemplated by Section 4(b) hereto, and any other material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act, shall have been filed with the Commission within the applicable time periods prescribed for such filings by Rule 433; and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or threatened. (b) The Company shall have requested and caused Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Company, to have furnished to the Representatives opinions substantially in the form of Exhibit A and Exhibit B hereto, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representatives. (c) The General Counsel of the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives her opinion substantially in the form of Exhibit C hereto, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representatives. (d) The Representatives shall have received from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, such opinion or opinions, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representatives, with respect to the issuance and sale of the Securities, the Indenture, the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package, the Final Prospectus (together with any supplement thereto) and other related matters as the Representatives may reasonably require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such matters. 14 (e) The Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate of the Company, signed by the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer or a Senior Vice President of the Company and the principal financial or accounting officer of the Company, dated the Closing Date, to the effect that the signers of such certificate have carefully examined the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package, the Final Prospectus and any supplements or amendments thereto, as well as each electronic road show used in connection with the offering of the Securities, and this Agreement and that: (i) the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct on and as of the Closing Date with the same effect as if made on the Closing Date and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Date; (ii) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any notice objecting to its use has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the Companys knowledge, threatened; and (iii) since the date of the most recent financial statements included in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto), there has been no material adverse effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), prospects, earnings, business or properties of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, whether or not arising from transactions in the ordinary course of business, except as set forth in or contemplated in the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus (exclusive of any supplement thereto). (f) On the date of this Agreement and on the Closing Date, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Company, letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof and addressed to the Representatives, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, containing statements and information of the type customarily included in accountants comfort letters to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus; provided that the letter delivered on the Closing Date shall use a cut-off date no more than three business days prior to the Closing Date. (g) Subsequent to the Execution Time, (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded to the Securities or any other debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries by any nationally recognized statistical rating organization, as such term is defined under Section 3(a)(62) of the Exchange Act and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, or has changed its outlook with respect to, its rating of the Securities or of any other debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries (other than an announcement with positive implications of a possible upgrading). (h) Prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives such further information, certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request. (i) The Securities shall be eligible for clearance and settlement through Euroclear and Clearstream. 15 If any of the conditions specified in this Section 5 shall not have been fulfilled when and as provided in this Agreement, or if any of the opinions and certificates mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall not be reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, this Agreement and all obligations of the Underwriters hereunder may be canceled at, or at any time prior to, the Closing Date by the Representatives. Notice of such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or by telephone or facsimile confirmed in writing. The documents required to be delivered by this Section 5 shall be delivered at the office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, at 425 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017, on the Closing Date. 6. Reimbursement of Underwriters Expenses. If the sale of the Securities provided for herein is not consummated because any condition to the obligations of the Underwriters set forth in Section 5 hereof is not satisfied, because of any termination pursuant to Section 10 hereof or because of any refusal, inability or failure on the part of the Company to perform any agreement herein or comply with any provision hereof other than by reason of a default by any of the Underwriters, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters severally through Barclays Bank PLC and HSBC Bank plc on demand for all out-of-pocket expenses (including reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel) that shall have been incurred by them in connection with the proposed purchase and sale of the Securities. 7. Indemnification and Contribution. (a) The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, the directors, officers, employees, affiliates and agents of each Underwriter and each person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act against any and all losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which they or any of them may become subject under the Act, the Exchange Act or other Federal or state statutory law or regulation, at common law or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the registration statement for the registration of the Securities as originally filed or in any amendment thereof, or in the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or any other preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the Securities, the Final Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the information contained in the final term sheet required to be prepared and filed pursuant to Section 4(b) hereto, or in any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and agrees to reimburse each such indemnified party, as incurred, for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating or defending any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; provided , however , that the Company will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon any such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made therein in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for inclusion therein. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have. 16 (b) Each Underwriter severally and not jointly agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who signs the Registration Statement, and each person who controls the Company within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act, to the same extent as the foregoing indemnity from the Company to each Underwriter, but only with reference to written information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company by or on behalf of such Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for inclusion in the documents referred to in the foregoing indemnity; provided , that the Company acknowledges that the only such information provided by any Underwriter consists of the statements set forth (i) in the third paragraph under the caption Underwriting in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus concerning the terms of the offering by the Underwriters, (ii) the sixth and seventh sentences in the twelfth paragraph under the caption Underwriting in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus concerning the making of a market in the Securities and (iii) the thirteenth paragraph under the caption Underwriting in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus concerning possible stabilizing transactions by the Underwriters with respect to the Securities (with respect to themselves only). This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability which any Underwriter may otherwise have. (c) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 7 of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under this Section 7, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; but the failure so to notify the indemnifying party (i) will not relieve it from liability under paragraph (a) or (b) above unless and to the extent it did not otherwise learn of such action and such failure results in the forfeiture by the indemnifying party of substantial rights and defenses and (ii) will not, in any event, relieve the indemnifying party from any obligations to any indemnified party other than the indemnification obligation provided in paragraph (a) or (b) above. The indemnifying party shall be entitled to appoint counsel of the indemnifying partys choice at the indemnifying partys expense to represent the indemnified party in any action for which indemnification is sought (in which case the indemnifying party shall not thereafter be responsible for the fees and expenses of any separate counsel retained by the indemnified party or parties except as set forth below); provided , however , that such counsel shall be satisfactory to the indemnified party. Notwithstanding the indemnifying partys election to appoint counsel to represent the indemnified party in an action, the indemnified party shall have the right to employ separate counsel (including local counsel), and the indemnifying party shall bear the reasonable fees, costs and expenses of such separate counsel if (i) the use of counsel chosen by the indemnifying party to represent the indemnified party would present such counsel with a conflict of interest, (ii) the actual or potential defendants in, or targets of, any such action include both the indemnified party and the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to it and/or other indemnified parties which are different from or additional to those available to the indemnifying party, (iii) the indemnifying party shall not have employed counsel satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party within a reasonable time after notice of the institution of such action or (iv) the indemnifying party shall authorize the indemnified party to employ separate counsel at 17 the expense of the indemnifying party. An indemnifying party will not, without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any pending or threatened claim, action, suit or proceeding in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties to such claim or action) unless such settlement, compromise or consent includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such claim, action, suit or proceeding and does not include any findings of fact or admissions of fault or culpability as to the indemnified party. (d) In the event that the indemnity provided in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section 7 is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party for any reason, the Company and the Underwriters severally agree to contribute to the aggregate losses, claims, damages and liabilities (including legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with investigating or defending the same) (collectively Losses ) to which the Company and one or more of the Underwriters may be subject in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and by the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Securities; provided , however , that in no case shall any Underwriter (except as may be provided in any agreement among underwriters relating to the offering of the Securities) be responsible for any amount in excess of the underwriting discount or commission applicable to the Securities purchased by such Underwriter hereunder. If the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is unavailable for any reason, the Company and the Underwriters severally shall contribute in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such Losses as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. Benefits received by the Company shall be deemed to be equal to the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by it, and benefits received by the Underwriters shall be deemed to be equal to the total underwriting discounts and commissions, in each case as set forth on the cover page of the Final Prospectus. Relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any untrue or any alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information provided by the Company on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution were determined by pro rata allocation or any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph (d), no person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. For purposes of this Section 7, each person who controls an Underwriter within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act and each director, officer, employee and agent of an Underwriter shall have the same rights to contribution as such Underwriter, and each person who controls the Company within the meaning of either the Act or the Exchange Act, each officer of the Company who shall have signed the Registration Statement and each director of the Company shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company, subject in each case to the applicable terms and conditions of this paragraph (d). 18 8. Default by an Underwriter. If any one or more Underwriters shall fail to purchase and pay for any of the Securities agreed to be purchased by such Underwriter or Underwriters hereunder and such failure to purchase shall constitute a default in the performance of its or their obligations under this Agreement, the remaining Underwriters shall be obligated severally to take up and pay for (in the respective proportions which the principal amount of Securities set forth opposite their names in Schedule II hereto bears to the aggregate principal amount of Securities set forth opposite the names of all the remaining Underwriters) the Securities which the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase; provided , however , that in the event that the aggregate principal amount of Securities which the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase shall exceed 10% of the aggregate principal amount of Securities set forth in Schedule II hereto, the remaining Underwriters shall have the right to purchase all, but shall not be under any obligation to purchase any, of the Securities, and if such nondefaulting Underwriters do not purchase all the Securities, this Agreement will terminate without liability to any nondefaulting Underwriter or the Company. In the event of a default by any Underwriter as set forth in this Section 8, the Closing Date shall be postponed for such period, not exceeding five Business Days, as the Representatives shall determine in order that the required changes in the Registration Statement and the Final Prospectus or in any other documents or arrangements may be effected. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall relieve any defaulting Underwriter of its liability, if any, to the Company and any nondefaulting Underwriter for damages occasioned by its default hereunder. For the avoidance of doubt, to the extent an Underwriters obligation to purchase Securities hereunder constitutes a BRRD Liability (as defined below) and such Underwriter does not, on the Closing Date, purchase the full amount of the Securities that it has agreed to purchase hereunder due to the exercise by the Relevant Resolution Authority (as defined below) of its powers under the relevant Bail-in Legislation as set forth in Section 9 with respect to such BRRD Liability, such Underwriter shall be deemed, for all purposes of this Section 8, to have defaulted on its obligation to purchase such Securities that it has agreed to purchase hereunder but has not purchased, and this Section 8 shall remain in full force and effect with respect to the obligations of the other Underwriters. 9. Agreement and Acknowledgement with Respect to the Exercise of the Bail-in Power. (a) Notwithstanding and to the exclusion of any other term of this Agreement or any other agreement, arrangement, or understanding between or among any of the parties to this Agreement, each of the parties to this Agreement acknowledges and accepts that a BRRD Liability arising under this Agreement may be subject to the exercise of Bail-in Powers by the Relevant Resolution Authority, and acknowledges, accepts, and agrees to be bound by: (1) the effect of the exercise of Bail-in Powers by the Relevant Resolution Authority in relation to any BRRD Liability of a BRRD Party (the Relevant BRRD Party ) to the Company under this Agreement, that (without limitation) may include and result in any of the following, or some combination thereof: (i) the reduction of all, or a portion, of the BRRD Liability or outstanding amounts due thereon; 19 (ii) the conversion of all, or a portion, of the BRRD Liability into shares, other securities or other obligations of the Relevant BRRD Party or another person (and the issue to or conferral on the Company of such shares, securities or obligations); (iii) the cancellation of the BRRD Liability; and (iv) the amendment or alteration of any interest, if applicable, thereon or the maturity or the dates on which any payments are due, including by suspending payment for a temporary period; and (2) the variation of the terms of this Agreement, as deemed necessary by the Relevant Resolution Authority, to give effect to the exercise of Bail-in Powers by the Relevant Resolution Authority. (b) For purposes of this Section 9: Bail-in Legislation means in relation to a member state of the European Economic Area which has implemented, or which at any time implements, the BRRD, the relevant implementing law, regulation, rule or requirement as described in the EU Bail-in Legislation Schedule from time to time; Bail-in Powers means any Write-down and Conversion Powers as defined in relation to the relevant Bail-in Legislation; BRRD means Directive 2014/59/EU establishing a framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms; BRRD Liability has the same meaning as in such laws, regulations, rules or requirements implementing the BRRD under the applicable Bail-in Legislation; BRRD Party means each Underwriter that is subject to Bail-in Legislation; EU Bail-in Legislation Schedule means the document described as such, then in effect, and published by the Loan Market Association (or any successor person) from time to time at http://www.lma.eu.com/; and Relevant Resolution Authority means the resolution authority with the ability to exercise any Bail-in Powers in relation to the Relevant BRRD. 10. Termination. This Agreement shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of the Representatives, by notice given to the Company prior to delivery of and payment for the Securities, if at any time prior to such delivery and payment (i) trading in the Companys common stock shall have been suspended by the Commission or the NYSE or trading in securities generally on the NYSE shall have been suspended or limited or minimum 20 prices shall have been established on such exchange, (ii) a banking moratorium shall have been declared either by Federal or New York State authorities or there shall have occurred any material disruption in commercial banking, securities settlement or clearance services in the United States or (iii) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities, declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war, or other calamity or crisis, the effect of which on financial markets is such as to make it, in the sole judgment of the Representatives, impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Securities as contemplated by any Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus (exclusive of any amendment or supplement thereto). 11. Representations and Indemnities to Survive. The respective agreements, representations, warranties, indemnities and other statements of the Company or its officers and of the Underwriters set forth in or made pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or the Company or any of the officers, directors, employees, agents or controlling persons referred to in Section 7 hereof, and will survive delivery of and payment for the Securities. The provisions of Sections 6 and 7 hereof shall survive the termination or cancellation of this Agreement. 12. Notices. All communications hereunder will be in writing and effective only on receipt, and, if sent to the Representatives, will be mailed, delivered or telefaxed to (i) Barclays Bank PLC, at 5 the North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, E14 4BB, London (fax: +44 (0) 207 773 9098) Attention: Debt Syndicate, and (ii) HSBC Bank plc, at 8 Canada Square, London, E14 5HQ (fax: +44 20 7992 4973) , Attention: Transaction Management Group, or, if sent to the Company, will be mailed, delivered or telefaxed to the address of the Company set forth in the Registration Statement, Attention: Corporate Secretary (fax no. (336) 424-7696). 13. Successors. This Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers, directors, employees, agents and controlling persons referred to in Section 7 hereof, and no other person will have any right or obligation hereunder. 14. No Fiduciary Duty. The Company hereby acknowledges that (a) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement is an arms-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters and any affiliate through which it may be acting, on the other, (b) the Underwriters are acting as principal and not as an agent or fiduciary of the Company and (c) the Companys engagement of the Underwriters in connection with the offering and the process leading up to the offering is as independent contractors and not in any other capacity. Furthermore, the Company agrees that it is solely responsible for making its own judgments in connection with the offering (irrespective of whether any of the Underwriters has advised or is currently advising the Company on related or other matters). The Company agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters have rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owe an agency, fiduciary or similar duty to the Company, in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto. 21 15. The execution of this Agreement by all parties will constitute the acceptance by each Underwriter of the International Capital Market Association Agreement Among Managers Version 1 / New York Schedule (the ICMA Agreement ) subject to any amendment notified to the Underwriters in writing at any time prior to the execution of this Agreement. References to the Managers shall be deemed to refer to the Underwriters, references to the Lead Manager shall be deemed to refer to each of the Representatives. As applicable to the Underwriters, Clause 3 of the ICMA Agreement shall be deemed to be deleted in its entirety and replaced with Section 8 of this Agreement. 16. Integration. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company and the Underwriters, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof. 17. Applicable Law. This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York applicable to contracts made and to be performed within the State of New York. 18. Waiver of Jury Trial. The Company hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. 19. Counterparts. This Agreement may be signed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall constitute an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement. 20. Headings. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof. 21. Definitions. The terms that follow, when used in this Agreement, shall have the meanings indicated. Act shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder. Agreement shall mean this Underwriting Agreement. Base Prospectus shall mean the base prospectus referred to in paragraph 1(a) above contained in the Registration Statement at the Execution Time. Business Day shall mean any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions or trust companies are authorized or obligated by law to close in New York City. Commission shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission. Disclosure Package shall mean (i) the Base Prospectus, (ii) the Preliminary Prospectus used most recently prior to the Execution Time, (iii) the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses, if any, identified in Schedule III hereto, (iv) the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 4(b) hereto, if any, and (v) any other Free Writing Prospectus that the parties hereto shall hereafter expressly agree in writing to treat as part of the Disclosure Package. 22 Effective Date shall mean each date and time that the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment or amendments thereto became or becomes effective. Exchange Act shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder. Execution Time shall mean the date and time that this Agreement is executed and delivered by the parties hereto. Final Prospectus shall mean the prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that was first filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) after the Execution Time, together with the Base Prospectus. Free Writing Prospectus shall mean a free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405. Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall mean an issuer free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 433. Material Adverse Effect shall mean any material adverse effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), prospects, earnings, business or properties of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole. Preliminary Prospectus shall mean any preliminary prospectus supplement to the Base Prospectus referred to in paragraph 1(a) above which is used prior to the filing of the Final Prospectus, together with the Base Prospectus. Registration Statement shall mean the registration statement referred to in paragraph 1(a) above, including exhibits and financial statements and any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) and deemed part of such registration statement pursuant to Rule 430B, as amended on each Effective Date and, in the event any post-effective amendment thereto becomes effective prior to the Closing Date, shall also mean such registration statement as so amended. Rule 158 , Rule 163 , Rule 164 , Rule 172 , Rule 405 , Rule 415 , Rule 424 , Rule 430B and Rule 433 refer to such rules under the Act. Trust Indenture Act shall mean the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder. Well-Known Seasoned Issuer shall mean a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405. [Remainder of page intentionally left blank] 23 If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign and return to us the enclosed duplicate hereof, whereupon this letter and your acceptance shall represent a binding agreement among the Company and the several Underwriters. Very truly yours, V.F. Corporation By: /s/ Scott A. Roe Name: Scott A. Roe Title: Vice President and Chief Financial Officer [Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement] The foregoing Agreement is hereby confirmed and accepted as of the date specified in Schedule I hereto. BARCLAYS BANK PLC By: /s/ Soledad Serna Name: Soledad Serna Title: Authorised Attorney V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement HSBC BANK PLC By: /s/ Mary Guo Name: Mary Guo Title: Associate Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES PLC By: /s/ Selma Adhikary Name: Selma Adhikary Title: Executive Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS LIMITED By: /s/ Tim Odell Name: Tim Odell Title: Delegated Signatory V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO By: /s/ Raffael M. Fiumara Name: Raffael Fiumara Title: Vice President V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement ING BANK N.V., BELGIAN BRANCH By: /s/ Francois Opfergelt Name: Francois Opfergelt Title: Managing Director DCM Origination By: /s/ Patrick Wuytens Name: Patrick Wuytens Title: Managing Director, Head High Grade Syndicate V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement MORGAN STANLEY & CO. INTERNATIONAL PLC By: /s/ Delphine Mourot Name: Delphine Mourot Title: Executive Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement BANCO SANTANDER, S.A. By: /s/ A. Veseli Name: A. Veseli Title: E.D. By: /s/ E. Boulderitome Name: E. Boulderitome Title: V.P. V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement BNP PARIBAS By: /s/ Hugh Pryse-Davies Name: Hugh Pryse-Davies Title: Duly Authorised Signatory By: /s/ Benedict Foster Name: Benedict Foster Title: Authorised Signatory V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (EUROPE) LIMITED By: /s/ Richard Johnson Name: Richard Johnson Title: Director By: /s/ Simon Frances Name: Simon Frances Title: Managing Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement MERRILL LYNCH INTERNATIONAL By: /s/ Julien Roman Name: Julien Roman Title: Managing Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement MIZUHO INTERNATIONAL PLC By: /s/ Guy Reid Name: Guy Reid Title: Managing Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement PNC CAPITAL MARKETS LLC By: /s/ Douglas C. Rogers Name: Douglas C. Rogers Title: Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement SUNTRUST ROBINSON HUMPHREY, INC. By: /s/ Robert Nordlinger Name: Robert Nordlinger Title: Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement TD SECURITIES (USA) LLC By: /s/ Elsa Wang Name: Elsa Wang Title: Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement U.S. BANCORP INVESTMENTS, INC. By: /s/ Douglas J. Fink Name: Douglas J. Fink Title: Managing Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement UNICREDIT BANK AG By: /s/ Benjamin Reinl Name: Benjamin Reinl Title: Associate By: /s/ Bianca Bucek Name: Bianca Bucek Title: Associate Director V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement WELLS FARGO SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL LIMITED By: /s/ Petar Gitsoalka Name: Petar Gitsoalka Title: DCM V.F. Corporation - Underwriting Agreement SCHEDULE I Underwriting Agreement dated September 13, 2016 Registration Statement No. 333-197856 Representatives Barclays Bank PLC HSBC Bank plc J.P. Morgan Securities plc Title, Purchase Price and Description of Securities Title and Principal Amount 850,000,000 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 Purchase price (include accrued interest or amortization, if any): 99.404% Sinking fund provisions: None Redemption provisions Redemption at the option of the issuer Other provisions Repurchase for 101% of principal amount upon Change of Control Repurchase Event Closing Date, Time and Location: September 20, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, 425 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Type of Offering: SEC registered Listing: The Company intends to list the Securities on The New York Stock Exchange Date referred to in Section 4(i) after which the Company may offer or sell debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Company without the consent of the Representative(s): Closing Date SCHEDULE II Underwriters Principal Amount of 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 to be purchased Barclays Bank PLC. 238,000,000 HSBC Bank plc 221,000,000 J.P. Morgan Securities plc. 195,500,000 Citigroup Global Markets Limited 25,500,000 Goldman, Sachs & Co. 25,500,000 ING Bank N.V., Belgian Branch 25,500,000 Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc 25,500,000 Banco Santander, S.A. 8,500,000 BNP Paribas 8,500,000 Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited 8,500,000 Merrill Lynch International 8,500,000 Mizuho International plc 8,500,000 PNC Capital Markets LLC 8,500,000 SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. 8,500,000 TD Securities (USA) LLC 8,500,000 U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. 8,500,000 Unicredit Bank AG 8,500,000 Wells Fargo Securities International Limited 8,500,000 Total 850,000,000 SCHEDULE III Schedule of Free Writing Prospectuses included in the Disclosure Package 1. Pricing term sheet, dated September 13, 2016, substantially in the form attached as Schedule IV hereto. SCHEDULE IV V.F. Corporation Final Term Sheet September 13, 2016 [Attached] Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, dated September 13, 2016 Filed pursuant to Rule 433 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended Supplementing the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, dated September 13, 2016 Registration Statement No. 333-197856 V.F. Corporation 850,000,000 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 Pricing Term Sheet Issuer: V.F. Corporation Trade Date: September 13, 2016 Title of Security: 0.625% Senior Notes due 2023 Distribution: SEC Registered Aggregate Principal Amount: 850,000,000 Net Proceeds (before expenses): 844,934,000 Issue Price: 99.904% Maturity Date: September 20, 2023 Coupon: 0.625% Yield to Maturity: 0.639% Benchmark DBR: DBR 2.000% due August, 2023 Benchmark Bund Yield: -0.359% Spread to DBR: +99.8 basis points Mid-Swap Yield: 0.069% Spread to Mid-Swap: +57bps Interest Payment Date: Annually on September 20 each year, beginning on September 20, 2017 Record Date: September 5 of each year Optional Redemption: At any time prior to June 20, 2023 (three months prior to maturity): make-whole redemption based on a discount rate of the applicable Comparable Government Bond Rate plus +15 basis points On or after June 20, 2023 (three months prior to maturity): redemption at par Change of Control Repurchase Event: Puttable at 101% of principal plus accrued and unpaid interest upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event Settlement: September 20, 2016 (T+5) The Issuer expects delivery of the notes will be made against payment therefor on or about September 20, 2016, which is the fifth business day following the date of the pricing of the notes. Under Rule 15c6-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, trades in the secondary market generally are required to settle in three business days unless the parties to that trade expressly agree otherwise. Accordingly, purchasers who wish to trade the notes on the date of pricing of the notes or the next succeeding business day will be required, by virtue of the fact that the notes initially will settle in T+5, to specify an alternative settlement cycle at the time of any such trade to prevent failed settlement and should consult their own advisers. Common Code Number: 149244646 ISIN Number: XS1492446460 CUSIP Number: 918204AW8 Denominations: Denominations of 100,000 and integral multiples of 1,000 in excess thereof Listing: The Issuer intends to apply to list the notes on The New York Stock Exchange. Clearing Systems: Clearstream/Euroclear Joint Book-Running Managers: Barclays Bank PLC HSBC Bank plc J.P. Morgan Securities plc Senior Co-Managers: Citigroup Global Markets Limited Goldman, Sachs & Co. ING Bank N.V., Belgian Branch Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc Co-Managers: Banco Santander, S.A. BNP Paribas Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited Merrill Lynch International Mizuho International plc PNC Capital Markets LLC SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. TD Securities (USA) LLC U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. UniCredit Bank AG Wells Fargo Securities International Limited This communication is intended for the sole use of the person to whom it is provided by us. The Issuer has filed a shelf registration statement (including a prospectus) and a preliminary prospectus supplement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus supplement for this offering, including the documents incorporated by reference therein, the Issuers prospectus in that registration statement and any other documents the Issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Issuer and this offering. You may get these documents for free by searching the SEC online data base (EDGAR) on the SEC web site at http://www.sec.gov . Alternatively, the Issuer, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send you the prospectus supplement and prospectus if you request it by calling Barclays Bank PLC toll-free at 1-888-603-5847, HSBC Bank plc toll-free at 1-866-811-8049, or J.P. Morgan Securities plc if outside the United States, collect on +44-207-134-2468, or if within the United States, collect on 212-834-4533. Any disclaimer or other notice that may appear below is not applicable to this communication and should be disregarded. Such disclaimer or notice was automatically generated as a result of this communication being sent by Bloomberg or another email system. SCHEDULE V Schedule of Material Domestic Subsidiaries and Limited Partnerships of the Company Lee Bell, Inc. (DE) VF Imagewear, Inc. (DE) VF Jeanswear Limited Partnership (DE) VF Outdoor, LLC (DE) VF Services, LLC (DE) VF Sportswear, Inc. (DE) Exhibit 4.2 EXECUTION VERSION V.F. CORPORATION Third Supplemental Indenture Dated as of September 20, 2016 (Third Supplemental to the Indenture Dated as of October 15, 2007) THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., as Trustee THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, LONDON BRANCH, as Paying Agent THIRD SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE, dated as of September 20, 2016 (the Third Supplemental Indenture), among V.F. Corporation, a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (herein called the Company), The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., formerly known as The Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A., a national banking association, as Trustee (herein called the Trustee), and The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch, as Paying Agent (herein called the Paying Agent); RECITALS: WHEREAS, the Company has heretofore executed and delivered to the Trustee an Indenture, dated as of October 15, 2007 (the Base Indenture, and together with this Third Supplemental Indenture, the Indenture), providing for the issuance from time to time of the Companys unsecured debentures, notes or other evidences of indebtedness (herein and therein called the Securities), to be issued in one or more series as provided in the Base Indenture; WHEREAS, Section 9.01 of the Base Indenture permits the Company and the Trustee to enter into an indenture supplemental to the Base Indenture to establish the form and terms of any series of Securities; WHEREAS, Section 2.01 of the Base Indenture permits the form of Securities of any series to be established in an indenture supplemental to the Base Indenture; WHEREAS, Section 3.01 of the Base Indenture permits certain terms of any series of Securities to be established pursuant to an indenture supplemental to the Base Indenture; WHEREAS, pursuant to Sections 2.01 and 3.01 of the Base Indenture, the Company desires to provide for the establishment of a new series of Securities under the Base Indenture, the form and substance of such Securities and the terms, provisions and conditions thereof to be set forth as provided in the Base Indenture and this Third Supplemental Indenture; WHEREAS, all things necessary to make this Third Supplemental Indenture a valid agreement of the Company, in accordance with its terns, have been done; NOW, THEREFORE, THIS THIRD SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE WITNESSETH: For and in consideration of the premises and the purchase of the Securities established by this Third Supplemental Indenture by the Holders thereof (the Noteholders), it is mutually agreed, for the equal and proportionate benefit of all such Noteholders, as follows: ARTICLE 1 D EFINITIONS AND O THER P ROVISIONS OF G ENERAL A PPLICATION Section 1.01. Relation to Base Indenture. This Third Supplemental Indenture constitutes a part of the Base Indenture (the provisions of which, as modified by this Third Supplemental Indenture, shall apply to the Notes) in respect of the Notes but shall not modify, amend or otherwise affect the Base Indenture insofar as it relates to any other series of Securities or modify, amend or otherwise affect in any manner the terms and conditions of the Securities of any other series. Section 1.02. Definitions. For all purposes of this Third Supplemental Indenture, the capitalized terms used herein (i) which are defined in this Section 1.02 have the respective meanings assigned hereto in this Section 1.02 and (ii) which are defined in the Base Indenture (and which are not defined in this Section 1.02) have the respective meanings assigned thereto in the Base Indenture. For all purposes of this Third Supplemental Indenture: (a) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to an Article or Section refers to an Article or Section, as the case may be, of this Third Supplemental Indenture; (b) The words herein, hereof and hereunder and words of similar import refer to this Third Supplemental Indenture as a whole and not to any particular Article, Section or other subdivision; and (c) The definition of Opinion of Counsel in Section 1.01 of the Base Indenture is hereby amended by replacing who shall be acceptable with which opinion shall be acceptable. (d) The terms defined in this Section 1.02(c) have the meanings assigned to them in this Section and include the plural as well as the singular: Additional Amounts shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2.01(l). Applicable Law shall have the meaning set forth in Section 2.02. Below Investment Grade Rating Event means the Notes are rated below Investment Grade by each of the Rating Agencies on any date from the date of the public notice of an arrangement that could result in a Change of Control until the end of the 60-day period following public notice of the occurrence of a Change of Control (which period shall be extended so long as the rating of the Notes is under publicly announced consideration for possible downgrade by any of the Rating Agencies); provided that a Below Investment Grade As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 20, 2016 Registration No. 333-186408 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 POST-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO FORM S-8 REGISTRATION STATEMENT Under The Securities Act of 1933 ASHLAND GLOBAL HOLDINGS INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 81-2587835 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (IRS Employer Identification No.) 50 E. RiverCenter Boulevard Covington, Kentucky 41011 (Address of principal registered offices) (Zip Code) AMENDED AND RESTATED 2011 ASHLAND INC. INCENTIVE PLAN (Full title of the Plan) Peter J. Ganz, Esq. Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary 50 E. RiverCenter Boulevard Covington, Kentucky 41011 (Name and address of agent for service) (859) 815-3333 (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service) Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer and smaller reporting company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one): Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company EXPLANATORY NOTE This Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 (the Amendment) to the registration statement on Form S-8, Registration No. 333-186408 of Ashland Inc., a Kentucky corporation (Predecessor Registrant) relating to 2,000,000 shares of the Predecessor Registrants common stock (the Registration Statement), is being filed pursuant to Rule 414 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) by Ashland Global Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation, as the successor registrant (the Successor Registrant) to the Predecessor Registrant. Such succession has occurred as part of the planned internal reorganization of the Predecessor Registrant by which a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Successor Registrant was merged into the Predecessor Registrant. The merger (the Merger) was effected on September 20, 2016 in accordance with the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 31, 2016 by and between the Predecessor Registrant, the Successor Registrant and Ashland Merger Sub Corp. (the Merger Agreement). As a result of the Merger, the Successor Registrant has become the parent holding company of the Predecessor Registrant. The Merger was approved by the shareholders of the Predecessor Registrant at a special meeting of the Predecessor Registrants shareholders held on September 7, 2016. Pursuant to the Merger, the outstanding shares of the Predecessor Registrants common stock were exchanged on a one-for-one basis for shares of the Successor Registrants common stock. As a result, the shares of common stock of the Successor Registrant were owned, immediately after the Merger, by the Predecessor Registrants shareholders in the same proportion as their ownership of the Predecessor Registrants shares of common stock immediately prior to the Merger. Each person that held rights to purchase or otherwise acquire shares of common stock of the Predecessor Registrant under any stock appreciation right, performance share award, restricted share award, restricted stock unit, common stock unit, deferred stock unit, option or other incentive award or deferral covering shares of the common stock of the Predecessor Registrant, whether vested or not vested, that are outstanding under each equity incentive or deferred compensation plan of the Predecessor Registrant immediately prior to the Merger holds rights to purchase or otherwise acquire a corresponding number of shares of common stock of the Successor Registrant. The Successor Registrant is a publicly traded company with reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act) and is the successor issuer to the Predecessor Registrant pursuant to Rule 12g-3(a) thereunder. The Successor Registrants common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the same ticker symbol formerly used by the Predecessor Registrant, ASH. The Merger did not result in any material changes in the business, offices, assets, liabilities, obligations, net worth, directors, officers or employees of the Successor Registrant as compared to the Predecessor Registrant. The Successor Registrant continues to maintain its principal executive offices at 50 E. RiverCenter Boulevard, Covington, Kentucky 41011. In connection with the Merger, the Successor Registrant assumed the Predecessor Registrants obligations under the Amended and Restated 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan. In accordance with paragraph (d) of Rule 414 under the Securities Act, the Successor Registrant hereby expressly adopts the Registration Statement as its own registration statement except to the extent amended by this Amendment, for all purposes of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. This Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement shall hereafter become effective in accordance with the provisions of Section 8(c) of the Securities Act. PART II Information Required in the Registration Statement Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference The following documents, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) by the Successor Registrant or the Predecessor Registrant are incorporated by reference in this registration statement: (a) The Predecessor Registrants Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on November 20, 2015, which contains audited financial statements for the Predecessor Registrants fiscal year ended September 30, 2015; (b) All other reports filed by the Predecessor Registrant or the Successor Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Predecessor Registrants Annual Report referred to in (a) above; and (c) The Successor Registrants Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation filed on August 3, 2016 as Annex II to the Successor Registrants Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the Certificate), in which are described the terms, rights and provisions applicable to the Successor Registrants outstanding Common Stock. All reports and definitive proxy or information statements filed by Successor Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date hereof and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which de-registers all securities then remaining unsold shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a report furnished on Form 8-K shall not be incorporated by reference herein unless expressly done so. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes hereof to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any subsequently filed document which also is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part hereof. Item 4. Description of Securities Not Applicable. Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel Not Applicable. Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers A. Indemnification The General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the DGCL) provides that a corporation may indemnify any individual made, or threatened to be made, a party to any type of proceeding because he or she is or was an officer, director, employee or agent of the corporation, or was serving at the request of the corporation as an officer, director, employee or agent of another corporation or entity, against expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred in connection with such proceeding if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation or, in the case of a criminal proceeding, he or she had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful. In the case of an action brought by or in the right of the corporation, known as a derivative action, indemnification will be denied if the individual is liable to the corporation, unless otherwise determined by a court. A corporation must indemnify a present or former director or officer who successfully defends himself or herself in a proceeding to which he or she was a party because he or she was a director or officer of the corporation against expenses actually and reasonably incurred by him or her. Expenses incurred by an officer or director, or any employees or agents as deemed appropriate by the board of directors, in defending civil or criminal proceedings may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such proceedings upon receipt of an undertaking to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he or she is not entitled to be indemnified. In general, the Successor Registrants Certificate permits, and Successor Registrants Amended and Restated By-laws (the By-laws) require, such indemnification with respect to directors and officers, to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware or other applicable law. The Successor Registrant is required by its By-laws to advance expenses that will be incurred by a director or officer of the Successor Registrant. B. Limitations on Directors Liability The DGCL permits a corporation to adopt a provision in its certificate of incorporation eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director to the corporation or its shareholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except that such provision may not limit the liability of a director for (i) any breach of the directors duty of loyalty to the corporation or its shareholders, (ii) acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) unlawful payment of dividends or stock purchases or redemptions or (iv) any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. The Successor Registrants Certificate provides that, to the fullest extent that the DGCL or any other law of the State of Delaware permits the limitation or elimination of the liability of directors, no director of the Successor Registrant shall be liable to the Successor Registrant or its shareholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director. C. Contracts The Successor Registrant expects to enter into indemnification agreements with each of its directors that require indemnification to the fullest extent permitted by law (as described above), subject to certain exceptions and limitations. D. Insurance Section 145 of the DGCL permits a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of directors, officers, employees or agents of the corporation, who are or were serving in that capacity, against liability asserted against or incurred in that capacity or arising from that status, whether or not the corporation would have power to indemnify against the same liability. The Successor Registrant expects to purchase insurance substantially concurrently with or shortly after the Merger which insures (subject to certain terms and conditions, exclusions and deductibles) the Successor Registrant against certain costs that it might be required to pay by way of indemnification to directors or officers under the Successor Registrants organizational documents, indemnification agreements or otherwise, and protects individual directors and officers from certain losses for which they might not be indemnified by the Successor Registrant. In addition, the Successor Registrant has purchased insurance that provides liability coverage (subject to certain terms and conditions, exclusion and deductibles) for amounts that the Successor Registrant or the fiduciaries under their employee benefit plans, which may include its respective directors, officers and employees, might be required to pay as a result of a breach of fiduciary duty. Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed Not Applicable. Item 8. Exhibits Exhibit Number Exhibit 2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 31, 2016, by and between Ashland Global Holdings Inc., Ashland Inc. and Ashland Merger Sub Corp. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to the Predecessor Registrants Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 31, 2016 (SEC File No. 001-32532)). 3.1 Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Successor Registrants Form 8-K filed on September 20, 2016 (SEC File No. 001-32532), and incorporated by reference herein). 3.2 Amended and Restated By-laws of Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Successor Registrants Form 8-K filed on September 20, 2016 (SEC File No. 001-32532), and incorporated by reference herein). 4.1 Amendment to 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan (as assumed by Ashland Global Holdings Inc.). 4.2 Amended and Restated 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan (as assumed by Ashland Global Holdings Inc.). 5.1 Opinion and consent of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. 10.1 Assumption Agreement dated September 20, 2016 by and between Ashland Global Holdings Inc. and Ashland Inc. 23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP. 23.2 Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. 23.3 Consent of Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Associates, Inc. 23.4 Consent of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is contained in Exhibit 5.1. 24.1 Power of Attorney. Item 9. Undertakings A. The Successor Registrant hereby undertakes: (1) to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement: (i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act, (ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this registration statement; notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offered range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the Calculation of Registration Fee table in the effective registration statement, and (iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this registration statement or any material change to such information in this registration statement; provided, however, that clauses (1)(i) and (1)(ii) shall not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those clauses is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Successor Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference into this registration statement; (2) that, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof; and (3) to remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the plan. B. The Successor Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Successor Registrants annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in this registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. C. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Successor Registrant pursuant to the indemnification provisions summarized in Item 6 above, or otherwise, the Successor Registrant has been advised that, in the opinion of the Commission, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Successor Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Successor Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Successor Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. SIGNATURES The Successor Registrant has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement No. 333-186408 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Covington, Commonwealth of Kentucky, on September 20, 2016. ASHLAND GLOBAL HOLDINGS INC. By: /s/ Peter J. Ganz Peter J. Ganz Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 has been signed by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated: Signature Title Date * William A. Wulfsohn Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) September 20, 2016 * J. Kevin Willis Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) September 20, 2016 * J. William Heitman Vice President and Controller (Principal Accounting Officer) September 20, 2016 * Brendan M. Cummins Director September 20, 2016 * William G. Dempsey Director September 20, 2016 * Stephen F. Kirk Director September 20, 2016 * Vada O. Manager Director September 20, 2016 * Barry W. Perry Director September 20, 2016 * Mark C. Rohr Director September 20, 2016 * George A. Schaefer, Jr. Director September 20, 2016 * Janice J. Teal Director September 20, 2016 * Michael J. Ward Director September 20, 2016 * The undersigned, by signing his name hereto, executes this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 pursuant to a power of attorney executed by the above-named persons and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an Exhibit to this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1. *By: /s/ Peter J. Ganz Peter J. Ganz Attorney-in-Fact September 20, 2016 EXHIBIT INDEX Exhibit Number Exhibit 2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 31, 2016, by and between Ashland Global Holdings Inc., Ashland Inc. and Ashland Merger Sub Corp. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to the Predecessor Registrants Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 31, 2016 (SEC File No. 001-32532)). 3.1 Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Successor Registrants Form 8-K filed on September 20, 2016 (SEC File No. 001-32532), and incorporated by reference herein). 3.2 Amended and Restated By-laws of Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Successor Registrants Form 8-K filed on September 20, 2016 (SEC File No. 001-32532), and incorporated by reference herein). *4.1 Amendment to 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan (as assumed by Ashland Global Holdings Inc.) *4.2 Amended and Restated 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan (as assumed by Ashland Global Holdings Inc.). *5.1 Opinion and consent of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. *10.1 Assumption Agreement dated September 20, 2016 by and between Ashland Global Holdings Inc. and Ashland Inc. *23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP. *23.2 Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. *23.3 Consent of Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Associates, Inc. *23.4 Consent of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is contained in Exhibit 5.1. *24.1 Power of Attorney. * Filed Herewith. EXHIBIT 4.1 AMENDMENT TO 2011 ASHLAND INC. INCENTIVE PLAN The 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan (the Plan ) is hereby amended, effective as of November 14, 2012 and subject to the approval by the shareholders of the Company, as follows: 1. Section 3(A) of the Plan is hereby amended by (i) deleting the number 2,000,000 and replacing it with the number 4,000,000 and (ii) deleting the second sentence thereof. 2. Section 3 of the Plan is hereby amended by adding the following new Section (C) at the end thereof: (C) Effective with respect to any Awards granted on or after the Companys 2013 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, any shares of Common Stock underlying Restricted Stock Awards, Restricted Stock Unit Awards, Merit Awards, Incentive Awards, Performance Unit Awards and Dividend Equivalents (collectively, Full-Value Awards ) that are issued or delivered under the Plan shall reduce the shares available under Section 3(A) hereof by 2.2 shares for every one share of Common Stock issued or delivered in connection with such Full-Value Award, and any shares covered by an Award, other than a Full-Value Award, shall reduce the shares of Common Stock available under the Plan by one share for every one share of Common Stock issued or delivered under such Award. Any shares of Common Stock that again become available for issuance or delivery pursuant to Section 3(B) of the Plan shall be credited toward the Plan limit as set forth in Section 3(A) hereof in the same manner such shares were originally deducted from the aggregate Plan limit pursuant to this Section 3(C). 3. Section 6(C)(2) of the Plan is hereby amended by adding the following sentence to the end thereof: Notwithstanding anything contained in this Section 6(C)(2) to the contrary, cash dividends or other distributions with respect to Restricted Stock Awards that vest based on the achievement of Performance Goals shall be accumulated until such Award is earned, and the cash dividends or other distributions shall not be paid if the Performance Goals are not satisfied. 4. Section 16(M) of the Plan is hereby amended by adding the following sentence to the end thereof: Notwithstanding anything contained in this Plan to the contrary, dividend equivalents with respect to Restricted Stock Unit Awards, Incentive Awards, Performance Unit Awards and Merit Awards that vest based on the achievement of Performance Goals shall be accumulated until such Award is earned, and the dividend equivalents shall not be paid if the Performance Goals are not satisfied. 5. Section 17 of the Plan is hereby amended by adding the following sentence to the end thereof: No Award may be granted under the Plan after November 14, 2022, or such earlier date as the Board shall determine. The Plan will remain in effect with respect to outstanding Awards until no Awards remain outstanding. 6. Except as explicitly set forth herein, the Plan will remain in full force and effect. ASHLAND INC. By: /S/ SUSAN B. ESLER Susan B. Esler Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer EXHIBIT 4.2 AMENDED AND RESTATED 2011 ASHLAND INC. INCENTIVE PLAN The 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan was approved by the Board of Directors on November 18, 2010, and the shareholders on January 27, 2011. The Amendment to the 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan, which increased the aggregate number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the Plan by 2 million shares and made certain other amendments included therein, was approved by the Board of Directors on November 15, 2012 and by the shareholders on January 31, 2013. SECTION 1. PURPOSE The purpose of the 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan is to promote the interests of Ashland Inc. and its shareholders by providing incentives to its directors, officers and employees. Accordingly, the Company may grant to selected officers and employees Option Awards, Stock Appreciation Rights Awards, Restricted Stock Awards, Restricted Stock Unit Awards, Incentive Awards, Performance Unit Awards and Merit Awards in an effort to attract and retain in its employ qualified individuals and to provide such individuals with incentives to continue service with the Company, devote their best efforts to the Company and improve the Companys economic performance, thus enhancing the value of the Company for the benefit of shareholders. This Plan also provides an incentive for qualified persons, who are not officers or employees of the Company, to serve on the Board of Directors of the Company and to continue to work for the best interests of the Company by rewarding such persons with Restricted Stock Awards, Restricted Stock Unit Awards, Option Awards or Stock Appreciation Rights Awards. SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS Agreement shall mean either: (i) an agreement, either in written or electronic format, entered into by the Company and a Recipient setting forth the terms and provisions applicable to an Award granted under the Plan; or (ii) a statement, either in written or electronic format, issued by the Company to a Recipient describing the terms and provisions of such Award, which need not be signed by the Recipient. Award shall mean an Option Award, a Stock Appreciation Right Award, a Restricted Stock Award, a Restricted Stock Unit Award, an Incentive Award, a Performance Unit Award or a Merit Award, in each case granted under this Plan. Beneficial Ownership and Beneficially Owned shall have the meaning set forth in Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act. Beneficiary shall mean the Person or Persons designated by a Recipient or if no designation has been made, the Person or Persons entitled by will or the laws of descent and distribution to receive the benefits specified under this Plan in the event of a Recipients death. Board shall mean the Board of Directors of the Company or its designee. Change in Control shall be deemed to have occurred if (i) there shall be consummated (A) any consolidation or merger of the Company (a Business Combination), other than a consolidation or merger of the Company into or with a direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, in which the shareholders of the Company own, directly or indirectly, less than 50% of the then outstanding shares of common stock of the Business Combination that are entitled to vote generally for the election of directors of the Business Combination or pursuant to which shares of the Companys Common Stock would be converted into cash, securities or other property, other than a merger of the Company in which the holders of the Companys Common Stock immediately prior to the merger have substantially the same proportionate ownership of common stock of the surviving corporation immediately after the merger, or (B) any sale, lease, exchange or transfer (in one transaction or a series of related transactions) of all or substantially all the assets of the Company, provided, however, that no sale, lease, exchange or other transfer of all or substantially all the assets of the Company shall be deemed to occur unless assets constituting 80% of the total assets of the Company are transferred pursuant to such sale, lease, exchange or other transfer, or (ii) the shareholders of the Company shall approve any plan or proposal for the liquidation or dissolution of the Company, or (iii) any Person shall become the Beneficial Owner of securities of the Company representing 20% or more of the combined voting power of the Companys then outstanding securities ordinarily (and apart from rights accruing in special circumstances) having the right to vote in the election of directors, as a result of a tender or exchange offer, open market purchases, privately-negotiated purchases or otherwise, without the approval of the Board or (iv) at any time during a period of two (2) consecutive years, individuals who at the beginning of such period constituted the Board shall cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority thereof, unless the election or the nomination for election by the Companys shareholders of each new director during such two-year period was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the directors then still in office who were directors at the beginning of such two-year period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Change in Control shall not be deemed to have occurred by virtue of the consummation of any transaction or series of integrated transactions immediately following which the record holders of the Common Stock of the Company immediately prior to such transaction or series of transactions continue to have substantially the same proportionate ownership in an entity which owns all or substantially all of the assets of the Company immediately following such transaction or series of transactions. Code shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time. Committees shall refer to the P&C Committee as it relates to Awards to Participants and to the G&N Committee as it relates to Awards to Outside Directors. Common Stock shall mean the Common Stock of the Company ($.01 par value), subject to adjustment pursuant to Section 14 hereof. Company shall mean Ashland Inc. or any successor thereto. Disability shall mean, (i) in the case of a Participant, when he or she becomes unable to perform the functions required by his or her regular job due to physical or mental illness and, in connection with the grant of an Incentive Stock Option, he or she falls within the meaning of that term as provided in Section 22(e)(3) of the Code; and (ii) in the case of an Outside Director, when he or she is unable to attend to his or her duties and responsibilities as a member of the Board because of incapacity due to physical or mental illness. Dividend Equivalents means the equivalent value (in cash, shares of Common Stock, shares of Restricted Stock or RSUs) of dividends that would otherwise be paid on the shares subject to an Award but that have not been issued or delivered, as described in Section 16(M). Employee shall mean a regular, full-time or part-time employee of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, provided, however, that for purposes of determining whether any individual may be a Participant for purposes of any grant of ISOs, the term Employee shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 3401(c) of the Code. Exercise Price shall mean, with respect to each share of Common Stock subject to an Option or Stock Appreciation Right, the price fixed by the Committees at which such share may be purchased from the Company pursuant to the exercise of such Option or Stock Appreciation Right. -2- Exchange Act shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Fair Market Value shall mean (i) as of any date, the closing sale price per share of Common Stock as reported on the Composite Tape of the New York Stock Exchange, or if there are no sales on such day, on the next preceding trading day during which a sale occurred; (ii) with respect to an exercise of a Stock Appreciation Right, the sale price per share of Common Stock as reported on the Composite Tape of the New York Stock Exchange at the time of such exercise, and (iii) in the absence of such markets for the shares of Common Stock, the Fair Market Value shall be determined by the Committees in good faith (which determination shall, to the extent applicable, be made in a manner that complies with Section 409A of the Code), and such determination shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes. G&N Committee shall mean the Governance and Nominating Committee of the Board, as from time to time constituted, or any successor committee of the Board with similar functions, or its designee. Incentive Award shall mean an Award made pursuant to Section 7 hereof, the payment of which is contingent upon the achievement of the Performance Goals for the particular Performance Period. Incentive Stock Option or ISO shall mean an Option that is intended by the Committees to meet the requirements of Section 422 of the Code or any successor provision. ISO Award shall mean an Award of an Incentive Stock Option pursuant to Section 10 hereof. Merit Award shall mean an Award of Common Stock issued pursuant to Section 9 hereof. Non-Employee Director shall mean a non-employee director within the meaning of applicable regulatory requirements, including those promulgated under Section 16 of the Exchange Act. Nonqualified Stock Option or NQSO shall mean an Option granted pursuant to this Plan which does not qualify as an Incentive Stock Option. NQSO Award shall mean an Award of a Non-Qualified Stock Option pursuant to Section 10 hereof. Option shall mean the right to purchase Common Stock at a price to be specified and upon terms to be designated by the Committees or otherwise determined pursuant to this Plan. The Committees shall designate an Option as a Nonqualified Stock Option or an Incentive Stock Option. Option Award shall mean an Award of an Option pursuant to Section 10 hereof. Outside Director shall mean a director of the Company, who is not also an Employee, who is selected by the G&N Committee to receive an Award under this Plan. P&C Committee shall mean the Personnel and Compensation Committee of the Board, as from time to time constituted, or any successor committee of the Board with similar functions, which shall consist of three or more members, each of whom shall be a Non-Employee Director and an outside director as defined in the regulations issued under Section 162(m) of the Code, or its designee. Participant shall mean an Employee who is selected by the P&C Committee to receive an Award under this Plan. -3- Performance Goals shall mean performance goals as may be established in writing by the P&C Committee. Such goals may be absolute in their terms or measured against or in relation to other companies comparably or otherwise situated. Such performance goals may be particular to a Participant or the Subsidiary, division or other unit in which the Participant works and/or may be based on the performance of the Company generally. The Performance Goals applicable to any Award that is intended to qualify for the performance-based exception from the tax deductibility limitations of Section 162(m) of the Code shall be based on one or more of the following criteria: earnings, stock price, return on equity, return on investment, total return to shareholders, economic profit, debt rating, operating income, cash flows, cost targets, return on assets or margins. Performance Period shall mean the period designated by the P&C Committee during which the Performance Goals shall be measured. Performance Unit Award shall mean an Award made pursuant to Section 8 hereof, the payment of which is contingent upon the achievement of the Performance Goals for the particular Performance Period. Person shall have the meaning given in Section 3(a)(9) of the Exchange Act, as modified and used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) thereof, except that such term shall not include (a) the Company, (b) a trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company, or (c) an underwriter temporarily holding securities pursuant to an offering on behalf of the Company. Personal Representative shall mean the Person or Persons who, upon the Disability or incompetence of a Recipient, shall have acquired on behalf of the Recipient by legal proceeding or otherwise the right to receive the benefits specified in this Plan. Plan shall mean this 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan, as amended. Recipient shall mean a Participant or an Outside Director, as appropriate. Restricted Period shall mean the period during which Restricted Stock or Restricted Stock Units are subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture (based on the passage of time, the achievement of Performance Goals, or upon the occurrence of other events as determined by the Committees, in their discretion). Restricted Stock shall mean those shares of Common Stock issued pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award which are subject to the restrictions, terms, and conditions set forth in the related Agreement or designated by the Committees in accordance with the Plan. Restricted Stock Award shall mean an Award of Restricted Stock pursuant to Section 6 hereof. Restricted Stock Unit(s) or RSUs shall mean units issued pursuant to a Restricted Stock Unit Award which are valued in terms of shares of Common Stock equivalents and are subject to the restrictions, terms, and conditions set forth in the related Agreement or designated by the Committees in accordance with the Plan. Restricted Stock Unit Award or RSU Award shall mean an Award of Restricted Stock Units pursuant to Section 6 hereof. Retirement shall mean, (i) in the case of a Participant, retirement from the employ of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries at any time as described in the Ashland Hercules Pension Plan or in any successor pension plan, as from time to time in effect, and (ii) in the case of an Outside Director, retirement from the Board after the date established by the G&N Committee as the date for mandatory retirement, as from time to time in effect. -4- Stock Appreciation Right or SAR shall mean a right pursuant to a Stock Appreciation Right Award to be paid an amount measured by the appreciation in the Fair Market Value of shares of Common Stock from the date of grant to the time of exercise of the SAR, with payment to be made wholly in cash, wholly in shares of Common Stock or a combination thereof as specified in the Agreement or determined by the Committees. A SAR may be granted only singly and may not be granted in tandem with an Option. Stock Appreciation Right Award or SAR Award shall mean an Award of a Stock Appreciation Right pursuant to Section 10 hereof. Subsidiary shall mean a corporation, company or other entity (i) more than fifty percent (50%) of whose outstanding shares or securities (representing the right to vote for the election of directors or other managing authority) are now or hereafter, owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the Company, or (ii) which does not have outstanding shares or securities (as may be the case in a partnership, limited liability company, joint venture or unincorporated association), but more than fifty percent (50%) of whose ownership interests representing the right generally to make decisions for such other entity is now or hereafter, owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the Company; provided, however, that for purposes of determining whether any person may be a Participant for purposes of any grant of Incentive Stock Options, the term Subsidiary shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 424(f) of the Code, as interpreted by the regulations thereunder and applicable law. Tax Date shall mean the date the withholding tax obligation arises with respect to an Award. SECTION 3. STOCK SUBJECT TO THIS PLAN (A) Subject to adjustment as provided under Section 14 hereof, there will be reserved for issuance under this Plan an aggregate of 4,000,000 shares of Common Stock, any or all of which may be delivered with respect to Stock Appreciation Rights Awards, ISO Awards or NQSO Awards. Subject to adjustment as provided under Section 14 hereof, the following limits shall apply with respect to Awards that are intended to qualify for the performance-based exception from the tax deductibility limitations of Section 162(m) of the Code: (i) the maximum aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be subject to Options or SARs granted in any calendar year to any one Participant shall be 250,000 shares; and (ii) the maximum aggregate number of Restricted Stock Awards and shares of Common Stock issuable or deliverable under Restricted Stock Unit Awards granted in any calendar year to any one Participant shall be 50,000 shares. (B) In the event that any Award is paid solely in cash, no shares shall be deducted from the number of shares available for issuance by reason of such Award. Shares of Common Stock subject to Awards that are forfeited, terminated, canceled or settled without the delivery of Common Stock under the Plan will again be available for Awards under the Plan and credited toward the Plan limit as set forth in Section 3(A) hereof. Notwithstanding any other provision herein, the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be issued under the Plan shall not be increased by: (i) shares of Common Stock tendered in full or partial payment of the Exercise Price of an Option, (ii) shares of Common Stock withheld by the Company or any Subsidiary to satisfy a tax withholding obligation, and (iii) shares of Common Stock that are repurchased by the Company with Option proceeds. Moreover, all shares of Common Stock covered by a SAR, to the extent that it is exercised and settled in shares, and whether or not shares are actually issued or delivered to the Recipient upon exercise of the right, shall be considered issued or delivered pursuant to the Plan for purposes of Section 3(A) hereof. (C) Effective with respect to any Awards granted on or after the Companys 2013 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, any shares of Common Stock underlying Restricted Stock Awards, Restricted Stock Unit -5- Awards, Merit Awards, Incentive Awards, Performance Unit Awards and Dividend Equivalents (collectively, Full-Value Awards ) that are issued or delivered under the Plan shall reduce the shares available under Section 3(A) hereof by 2.2 shares for every one share of Common Stock issued or delivered in connection with such Full-Value Award, and any shares covered by an Award, other than a Full-Value Award, shall reduce the shares of Common Stock available under the Plan by one share for every one share of Common Stock issued or delivered under such Award. Any shares of Common Stock that again become available for issuance or delivery pursuant to Section 3(B) of the Plan shall be credited toward the Plan limit as set forth in Section 3(A) hereof in the same manner such shares were originally deducted from the aggregate Plan limit pursuant to this Section 3(C). SECTION 4. ADMINISTRATION The P&C Committee shall have the exclusive authority to administer this Plan for Participants. The G&N Committee shall have the exclusive authority to administer this Plan for Outside Directors. In addition to any implied powers and duties that may be needed to carry out the provisions hereof, the Committees, acting individually, shall have all the powers vested in them by the terms hereof, including exclusive authority to select the Recipients, to determine the type, size and terms of the Awards to be made to each Recipient, to determine the time when Awards will be granted, and to prescribe the form of the Agreement embodying Awards made under this Plan. The Committees shall be authorized to interpret this Plan and the Awards granted under this Plan, to establish, amend and rescind any rules and regulations relating to this Plan, to make any other determinations which they believe necessary or advisable for the administration hereof, and to correct any defect or supply any omission or reconcile any inconsistency in this Plan or in any Award in the manner and to the extent the Committees deem desirable to carry it into effect. Any decision of the Committees in the administration of this Plan, as described herein, shall be final and conclusive. SECTION 5. ELIGIBILITY Awards may only be granted to Participants and Outside Directors, provided that Outside Directors may not be granted ISOs, Incentive Awards, Performance Awards or Merit Awards. SECTION 6. RESTRICTED STOCK AND RESTRICTED STOCK UNIT (RSU) AWARDS (A) Grant. Any Recipient may receive one or more Restricted Stock Awards or RSU Awards, as the Committees shall from time to time determine. (B) Restricted Periods. (1) Participants . The Restricted Period for each Restricted Stock Award or RSU Award to a Participant shall be set forth in the applicable Agreement. Except as otherwise provided in an Agreement upon a termination of employment or pursuant to Section 12 in the event of a Change in Control, a Restricted Stock Award or RSU Award granted to a Participant shall have a minimum Restricted Period of (i) one year in the case of restrictions that lapse based on the achievement of Performance Goals; and (ii) three years in the case of restrictions that lapse based solely on the passage of time, which period may, at the discretion of the P&C Committee, lapse on a pro-rated, graded, or cliff basis (as specified in the Agreement); provided that in the Committees sole discretion, no more than five percent (5%) of the shares of Common Stock available for issuance as Restricted Stock Awards or pursuant to RSU Awards under the Plan may have a Restricted Period of less than one (1) year. (2) Outside Directors . The Restricted Period for each Restricted Stock Award or RSU Award to -6- an Outside Director shall be set forth in the applicable Agreement; provided that in the Committees sole discretion, no more than five percent (5%) of the shares of Common Stock available for issuance as Restricted Stock Awards or pursuant to RSU Awards under the Plan may have a Restricted Period of less than one (1) year. (3) Termination of Employment or Service . Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement or as determined by the Committees, in the event that a Restricted Stock Award or RSU Award has been made to a Recipient whose employment or service as a director is subsequently terminated for any reason prior to the lapse of all restrictions thereon, such Restricted Stock or RSU shall be forfeited in its entirety by such Recipient. (C) Certain Restricted Stock Award Provisions. (1) Shareholder Rights; Restrictions on Transferability . Upon the granting of a Restricted Stock Award, a Recipient shall be entitled to all rights incident to ownership of Common Stock of the Company with respect to his or her Restricted Stock, including, but not limited to, the right to vote such shares of Restricted Stock and to receive dividends thereon when, as and if paid in cash, shares of Restricted Stock or Dividend Equivalents, as set forth in the applicable Agreement or as determined by the Committees, in their discretion. Each such grant of Restricted Stock may be made without additional consideration or in consideration of a payment by such Recipient that is less than the Fair Market Value per share of Common Stock at the date of grant. Subject to Section 16(B) hereof, Restricted Stock may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged, or otherwise encumbered during a Restricted Period. (2) Certificates; Dividends on Restricted Stock . During the Restricted Period, certificates representing the Restricted Stock shall be registered in the Recipients name and bear a restrictive legend to the effect that ownership of such Restricted Stock, and the enjoyment of all rights appurtenant thereto are subject to the restrictions, terms, and conditions provided in this Plan and the applicable Agreement. Such certificates shall be deposited by the Recipient with the Company, together with stock powers or other instruments of assignment, each endorsed in blank, which will permit transfer to the Company of all or any portion of the Restricted Stock which shall be forfeited in accordance with this Plan and the applicable Agreement. Restricted Stock shall constitute issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock for all corporate purposes, with the exception that: (i) the Recipient will not be entitled to delivery of the stock certificates representing such Restricted Stock until the restrictions applicable thereto shall have expired; (ii) the Company will retain custody of all shares of Restricted Stock issued as a dividend or otherwise with respect to an Award of Restricted Stock (and such issued shares of Restricted Stock shall be subject to the same restrictions, terms and conditions as are applicable to the awarded Restricted Stock) until such time, if ever, as such shares of Restricted Stock shall have become vested, and Restricted Stock shall not bear interest or be segregated in separate accounts; (iii) subject to Section 16(B) hereof, the Recipient may not sell, assign, transfer, pledge, exchange, encumber, or dispose of any Restricted Stock during the Restricted Period; and (iv) unless otherwise determined and directed by the Committees, a breach of any restrictions, terms, or conditions provided in this Plan, the applicable Agreement or established by the Committees with respect to any Restricted Stock will cause a forfeiture of such awarded Restricted Stock (including any Restricted Stock issued as a dividend or otherwise) with respect thereto. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Section 6(C)(2) to the contrary, cash dividends or other distributions with respect to Restricted Stock Awards that vest based on the achievement of Performance Goals shall be accumulated until such Award is earned, and the cash dividends or other distributions shall not be paid if the Performance Goals are not satisfied. (D) Certain Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) Award Provisions. (1) General . Each grant of Restricted Stock Units shall constitute an agreement by the -7- Company to issue or deliver shares of Common Stock or cash to the Recipient following the end of the applicable Restricted Period in consideration of the performance of services. Each such grant of Restricted Stock Units may be made without additional consideration or in consideration of a payment by such Recipient that is less than the Fair Market Value per share of Common Stock at the date of grant. (2) No Shareholder Rights; Dividend Equivalents . A Recipient who receives an RSU Award shall not have any rights as a shareholder with respect to the shares of Common Stock subject to such RSUs until such time, if any, that shares of Common Stock are delivered to a Recipient pursuant to the terms of the applicable Agreement. A Recipient who receives an RSU Award shall have such rights, if any, to Dividend Equivalents as shall be set forth in the applicable Agreement or as determined by the Committees, in their discretion. (3) Payment . Unless otherwise determined by the Committees, each Agreement shall set forth the payment date for the RSU Award, which date shall not be earlier than the end of the applicable Restricted Period. Payment of earned Restricted Stock Units (and Dividend Equivalents, if applicable) may be made in one or more installments and may be made wholly in cash, wholly in shares of Common Stock or a combination thereof as determined by the Committees. SECTION 7. INCENTIVE AWARDS (A) Grant. Any Participant may receive one or more Incentive Awards, as the P&C Committee shall from time to time determine. (B) Terms and Conditions. (1) Performance Goals . No later than 120 days (90 days for those Participants subject to the limitations of Code Section 162(m)) after the commencement of each Performance Period, the P&C Committee shall establish in writing one or more Performance Goals that must be reached by a Participant in order to receive an Incentive Award for such Performance Period. Except with respect to Participants subject to the limitations of Code Section 162(m), the P&C Committee shall have the discretion to later revise the Performance Goals and the amount to be paid out upon the attainment of such goals for any reason including the reflection of promotions, transfers or other changes in a Participants employment so long as such changes are consistent with the Performance Goals established for other Participants in the same or similar positions. Performance Goals established for Participants subject to Code Section 162(m) may only be adjusted to reduce or eliminate the amount of compensation otherwise payable upon attainment of the Performance Goals. (2) Award Limits . The target Incentive Award shall be a fixed percentage of the Participants base salary paid during the year. The maximum aggregate compensation that can be paid pursuant to an Incentive Award granted in any calendar year to any one Participant shall be three million five hundred thousand dollars ($3,500,000) or a number of shares of Common Stock having an aggregate Fair Market Value not in excess of such amount. (C) Payment. Payment of Incentive Awards shall be made on a date or dates fixed by the P&C Committee. Payment may be made in one or more installments and may be made wholly in cash, wholly in shares of Common Stock or a combination thereof as determined by the P&C Committee. Payments shall in all events be made no later than the fifteenth day of the third month following the later of (i) the end of the tax year of the Participant in which the Performance Period ends and (ii) the end of the tax year of the Company in which the Performance Period ends. If payment of an Incentive Award shall be made all or partially in shares of Common Stock, the -8- number of shares of Common Stock to be delivered to a Participant on any payment date shall be determined by dividing (x) the original dollar amount to be paid on the payment date (or the part thereof determined by the P&C Committee to be delivered in shares of such Incentive Award) by (y) the Fair Market Value on the date the Board approves the P&C Committees decision to pay an Incentive Award or such other date as the Board shall determine. (D) Termination. Unless otherwise determined and directed by the P&C Committee, an Incentive Award shall terminate if the Participant does not remain continuously employed and in good standing with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries until the date of payment of such Incentive Award. Unless otherwise determined and directed by the P&C Committee, in the event a Participants employment is terminated because of death, Disability or Retirement, the Participant (or his or her Beneficiaries or estate) shall receive the prorated portion of the payment of an Incentive Award for which the Participant would have otherwise been eligible based upon the portion of the Performance Period during which he or she was so employed so long as the Performance Goals are subsequently achieved. SECTION 8. PERFORMANCE UNIT AWARDS (A) Grant. Any Participant may receive one or more Performance Unit Awards, as the P&C Committee shall from time to time determine. (B) Terms and Conditions. (1) Performance Goals . The Performance Goals and Performance Period applicable to a Performance Unit Award shall be set forth in writing by the P&C Committee no later than 120 days (90 days for those Participants subject to the limitations imposed by Section 162(m) of the Code) after the commencement of the Performance Period. Except with respect to Participants subject to the limitations of Section 162(m) of the Code, the P&C Committee shall have the discretion to later revise the Performance Goals and the amount to be paid out upon the attainment of such goals for any reason including the reflection of promotions, transfers or other changes in a Participants employment so long as such changes are consistent with the Performance Goals established for other Participants in the same or similar positions. Goals established for Participants subject to Section 162(m) of the Code may only be adjusted to reduce or eliminate the amount of compensation otherwise payable upon attainment of the Performance Goals. (2) Award Limits . Each Performance Unit Award shall be established in dollars or shares of Common Stock, or a combination of both, as determined by the P&C Committee. The maximum aggregate compensation that can be paid pursuant to any Performance Unit Awards granted in any calendar year to any one Participant shall be six million dollars ($6,000,000) or a number of shares of Common Stock having an aggregate Fair Market Value not in excess of such amount. In determining the amount of any Performance Unit Award made, in whole or in part, in shares of Common Stock, the value thereof shall be based on the Fair Market Value on the first day of the Performance Period or on such other date as the Board shall determine. (C) Payment. (1) General . Payment with respect to Performance Unit Awards will be made to Participants on a date or dates fixed by the P&C Committee. The amount of such payment shall be determined by the P&C Committee and shall be based on the original amount of such Performance Unit Award (including any Dividend Equivalents with respect thereto) adjusted to reflect the attainment of the Performance Goals during the Performance Period. Payment may be made in one or more installments and may be made wholly in cash, wholly in shares of Common Stock or a combination thereof as determined by the P&C Committee. Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement, payments shall be made no later than the fifteenth day of -9- the third month following the later of (i) the end of the tax year of the Participant in which the Performance Period ends and (ii) the end of the tax year of the Company in which the Performance Period ends. Any payment may be subject to such restrictions and conditions as the P&C Committee may determine. (2) Payment in Common Stock . If payment of a Performance Unit Award established in dollars is to be made in shares of Common Stock or partly in such shares, the number of shares of Common Stock to be delivered to a Participant on any payment date shall be determined by dividing (x) the amount payable by (y) the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock on the date the Board approves the P&C Committees decision to pay the Performance Unit Award or on such other date as the Board shall determine. (3) Payment in Cash . If payment of a Performance Unit Award established in shares of Common Stock is to be made in cash or partly in cash, the amount of cash to be paid to a Participant on any payment date shall be determined by multiplying (x) the number of shares of Common Stock to be paid in cash on such payment date with respect to such Performance Unit Award, by (y) the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock on the date the Board approves the P&C Committees decision to pay the Performance Unit Award or on such other date as the Board shall determine. (D) Termination. Unless otherwise determined and directed by the P&C Committee, a Performance Unit Award (including any Dividend Equivalents with respect thereto) shall terminate for all purposes if the Participant does not remain continuously employed and in good standing with the Company or any of its Subsidiaries until payment of such Performance Unit Award. Unless otherwise determined and directed by the P&C Committee, a Participant (or his or her Beneficiaries or estate) whose employment was terminated because of death, Disability or Retirement will receive a prorated portion of the payment of his or her Performance Unit Award (including any Dividend Equivalents with respect thereto) based upon the portion of the Performance Period during which he or she was so employed so long as the Performance Goals are subsequently achieved. SECTION 9. MERIT AWARDS Any Participant may receive a Merit Award under this Plan for such reasons and in such amounts as the P&C Committee may from time to time determine. SECTION 10. OPTION AND SAR AWARDS (A) Grant. Any Recipient may receive one or more Option or SAR Awards, as the Committees shall from time to time determine. (B) Designation and Price. (1) Any Option granted under this Plan may be granted as an Incentive Stock Option or as a Nonqualified Stock Option as shall be designated by the Committees at the time of the grant of such Option. Only Participants may be granted ISOs. Each Option and SAR shall, at the discretion of the Company and as directed by the Committees, be evidenced by an Agreement, which Agreement shall specify the designation of the Option as an ISO or a NQSO, as the case may be, and shall contain such terms and conditions as the Committees, in their sole discretion, may determine in accordance with this Plan. (2) Every ISO shall provide for a fixed expiration date of not later than ten years from the date such ISO is granted. Every NQSO and SAR shall provide for a fixed expiration date of not later than ten years and one month from the date such NQSO or SAR is granted. (3) The Exercise Price of Common Stock issued pursuant to each Option or SAR shall be fixed -10- by the Committees at the time of the granting of the Option or SAR; provided, however, that such Exercise Price shall in no event ever be less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock on the date such Option or SAR is granted, subject to adjustment as provided in Section 14. (C) Exercise. The Committees may, in their sole discretion, provide for Options or SARs granted under this Plan to be exercisable in whole or in part; provided, however, that no Option or SAR shall be exercisable prior to the first anniversary of the date of its grant, except as provided in Section 12 hereof or as the Committees otherwise determine in accordance with this Plan, and in no case may an Option or SAR be exercised at any time for fewer than 50 shares (or the total remaining shares covered by the Option or SAR if fewer than 50 shares) during the term of the Option or SAR. The specified number of shares of Common Stock will be issued after receipt by the Company of (i) notice from the holder thereof of the exercise of an Option or SAR, and (ii) with respect to Options, payment to the Company (as provided in subsection (D) of this Section) of the Exercise Price for the number of shares with respect to which the Option is exercised. Each such notice and payment shall be delivered or mailed to the Company at such place and in such manner as the Company may designate from time to time. (D) Payment. (1) Options . Except as otherwise provided in this Section 10, the Exercise Price for the Common Stock issuable pursuant to an Option shall be paid in full when the Option is exercised. Subject to such rules as the Committees may impose, the Exercise Price may be paid in whole or in part: (i) in cash; (ii) by tendering (either by actual delivery or attestation) unencumbered shares of Common Stock previously acquired by the Recipient exercising such Option having an aggregate Fair Market Value at the time of exercise equal to the total Exercise Price; (iii) by a combination of such methods of payment; or (iv) by such other consideration as shall constitute lawful consideration for the issuance of Common Stock and approved by the Committees (including, without limitation, effecting a cashless exercise of the Option with a broker). (2) Stock Appreciation Rights . A SAR shall entitle the holder thereof, upon exercise, to surrender the SAR and receive in exchange therefore an amount equal to (A) the excess, if any, of (1) the Fair Market Value of a share of Common Stock at the time the SAR is exercised over (2) the Exercise Price specified in such SAR, (B) multiplied by the number of shares of Common Stock covered by such SAR, or portion thereof, which is so surrendered. Such amount shall be paid to the holder in shares of Common Stock the number of which shall be determined by dividing such amount by the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock at the time the holder makes an effective exercise of the right to receive such amount; provided that the exercise of any SAR may be settled wholly in cash or a combination of cash and shares of Common Stock as set forth in the Agreement or as determined by the Committees. (E) Expiration or Termination of Awards. (1) Participants. (a) Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement or as determined by the P&C Committee, and subject to the provisions of Section 12(D) hereof, every Option and SAR granted to a Participant shall provide that it may not be exercised in whole or in part for a period of one year after the date of granting such Option or SAR (unless otherwise determined by the P&C Committee) and if the employment of the Participant shall terminate prior to the end of such one year period (or such other period determined by the P&C Committee), the Option or SAR granted to such Participant shall immediately terminate. (b) Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement or as determined by the P&C -11- Committee, in the event the Participant dies (i) while employed, (ii) during the periods in which Options or SARs may be exercised by a Participant determined to be Disabled, or (iii) after Retirement, such Option or SAR shall be exercisable, at any time or from time to time, prior to the fixed termination date set forth in the Option or SAR, by the Beneficiaries of the decedent for the number of shares which the Participant could have acquired under the Option or SAR immediately prior to the Participants death. (c) Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement or as determined by the P&C Committee, in the event the employment of any Participant shall cease by reason of Disability, as determined by the P&C Committee at any time during the term of the Option or SAR, such Option or SAR shall be exercisable, at any time or from time to time, prior to the fixed termination date set forth in the Option or SAR, by such Participant or his or her Personal Representative for the number of shares which the Participant could have acquired under the Option or SAR immediately prior to the Participants Disability. The determination by the P&C Committee of any question involving Disability of a Participant shall be conclusive and binding. (d) Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement or as determined by the P&C Committee, in the event the employment of any Participant shall cease by reason of Retirement, such Option or SAR shall be exercisable, at any time or from time to time, prior to the fixed termination date set forth in the Option or SAR, for the number of shares which the Participant could have acquired under the Option or SAR immediately prior to such Retirement. (e) Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, any Option or SAR may, in the discretion of the P&C Committee or as provided in the relevant Agreement, become exercisable, at any time or from time to time, prior to the fixed termination date set forth in the Option or SAR, for the full number of awarded shares or any part thereof, less such number as may have been theretofore acquired under the Option or SAR from and after the time the Participant ceases to be an Employee as a result of the sale or other disposition by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of assets or property (including shares of any Subsidiary) in respect of which such Participant had theretofore been employed or as a result of which such Participants continued employment is no longer required. (f) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this Section 10(E)(1) and Section 12(D) and Section 16(H) hereof, every Option and SAR shall terminate on the earlier to occur of the fixed termination date set forth in the Option or SAR or thirty (30) days after cessation of the Participants employment for any cause in respect of the number of shares of Common Stock which the Participant could have acquired under the Option or SAR immediately prior to such cessation of employment; provided, however, that no Option or SAR may be exercised after the fixed termination date set forth in the Option or SAR. (2) Outside Directors . (a) Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement or as determined by the G&N Committee, and subject to the provisions of Section 12(D) hereof, every Option and SAR granted to an Outside Director shall provide that it may not be exercised in whole or in part for a period of one year after the date of granting such Option or SAR (unless otherwise determined by the G&N Committee) and if the service of the Outside Director shall terminate prior to the end of such one year period (or such other period determined by the G&N Committee), the Option or SAR granted to such Participant shall immediately terminate. (b) Except as otherwise provided in the Agreement or as determined by the G&N Committee, in the event the service of any Outside Director as a director of the Company ceases by reason of Retirement, death or Disability, then any unexercised Options or SARs granted to such Outside Director -12- shall be exercisable, at any time or from time to time, prior to the fixed termination date set forth in the Option or SAR, by such Outside Director, his or her Personal Representative or his or her Beneficiaries for the number of shares which the Outside Director could have acquired under the Option or SAR immediately prior to the Outside Directors Retirement, death or Disability, as applicable. The determination by the G&N Committee of any question involving Disability of an Outside Director shall be conclusive and binding. SECTION 11. CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT Nothing in this Plan, or in any Award granted pursuant to this Plan, shall confer on any individual any right to continue in the employment of, or service to, the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or interfere in any way with the right of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries to terminate the Participants employment at any time. SECTION 12. CHANGE IN CONTROL (A) Restricted Stock and RSU Awards. Upon a Change in Control, there shall be an acceleration of any Restricted Period relating to any Restricted Stock Award or any RSU Award and such Awards shall be free of all other restrictions for the full number of awarded shares or RSUs less such number as may have been theretofore acquired under the Restricted Stock Award or RSU Award. (B) Incentive Awards. Upon a Change in Control, there shall be an acceleration of any Performance Period relating to any Incentive Award, and payment of any Incentive Award shall be made in cash within 30 days after such Change in Control (and in no event later than the fifteenth day of the third month of the last day of the Companys fiscal year in which the Change in Control occurs) based upon achievement of the Performance Goals applicable to such Award up to the date of the Change in Control. Further, the Companys obligation with respect to such Incentive Award shall be assumed, or new obligations substituted therefor, by the acquiring or surviving corporation after such Change in Control. In addition, prior to the date of such Change in Control, the P&C Committee, in its sole judgment, may make adjustments to any Incentive Award as may be appropriate to reflect such Change in Control; provided that, unless otherwise determined by the P&C Committee, any such adjustment that is made with respect to an Incentive Award that is intended to qualify for the performance-based exception from the tax deductibility limitations of Section 162(m) of the Code shall be made at such times and in such manner as will not cause such Incentive Award to fail to qualify under the performance-based exception. (C) Performance Unit Awards. Upon a Change in Control, there shall be an acceleration of any Performance Period relating to any Performance Unit Award, and payment of any Performance Unit Award shall be made in cash within 30 days after such Change in Control (or such other time as required in order to comply with Section 409A of the Code and as set forth in the Agreement) based upon achievement of the Performance Goals applicable to such Performance Unit Award up to the date of the Change in Control. If such Performance Unit Award was established in shares of Common Stock, the amount of cash to be paid to a Participant with respect to the Performance Unit Award shall be determined by multiplying (x) the number of shares of Common Stock relating to such Performance Unit Award, by (y) the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock on the date of the Change in Control. Further, the Companys obligation with respect to such Performance Unit Award shall be assumed, or new obligations substituted therefor, by the acquiring or surviving corporation after such Change in Control. In addition, prior to the date of such Change in Control, the P&C Committee, in its sole judgment, may make adjustments to any Performance Unit Award as may be appropriate to reflect such Change in Control; provided that, unless otherwise determined by the P&C Committee, any such adjustment that is made with respect to a Performance Unit Award that is intended to qualify for the performance-based exception from the tax deductibility limitations of Section 162(m) of the Code shall be made at such times and in such manner as will not cause such Performance Unit Award to fail to qualify under the performance-based exception. -13- (D) Option and SAR Awards. Upon a Change in Control, any Option Award or SAR Award shall become immediately exercisable for the full number of awarded shares or any part thereof, less such numbers as may have been theretofore acquired under the Option Award or SAR Award from and after the date of such Change in Control, unless otherwise provided in the Agreement. (E) Cash-out of Awards. In connection with a Change in Control, the Committees may, in their sole discretion, either by the terms of the Agreement applicable to any Award or by resolution adopted prior to the occurrence of the Change in Control, provide that any outstanding Award (or a portion thereof) shall, upon the occurrence of such Change in Control, be cancelled in exchange for a payment in cash in an amount based on the Fair Market Value of the shares of Common Stock subject to the Award (less any Exercise Price), which amount may be zero (0) if applicable. SECTION 13. WITHHOLDING TAXES Federal, state or local law may require the withholding of taxes applicable to gains resulting from the payment or vesting of an Award. Unless otherwise prohibited by the P&C Committee, the Company may permit or require (subject to such conditions or procedures as may be established by the Committees) any such tax withholding obligation of a Participant to be satisfied by any of the following means, or by a combination of such means: (i) a cash payment from Participant; (ii) withholding from the shares of Common Stock otherwise issuable to the Participant pursuant to the vesting or exercise of an Award a number of shares of Common Stock having a Fair Market Value, as of the Tax Date, which will satisfy the minimum amount of the withholding tax obligation; or (iii) having the Participant deliver to the Company a number of shares of Common Stock having a Fair Market Value as of the Tax Date which will satisfy the minimum amount of the withholding tax obligation arising from the vesting or exercise of an Award. If the payment specified in clause (i) or (iii) of the preceding sentence is not paid by a Participant, the P&C Committee may refuse to issue Common Stock under this Plan. SECTION 14. ADJUSTMENTS UPON CHANGES IN CAPITALIZATION In the event of any change in the outstanding Common Stock of the Company by reason of any stock split, stock dividend, recapitalization, merger, consolidation, reorganization, combination, or exchange of shares, split-up, split-off, spin-off, liquidation or other similar change in capitalization, or any distribution to common stockholders other than normal cash dividends, the number or kind of shares that may be issued under this Plan pursuant to Section 3 hereof and the number or kind of shares subject to, or the price per share under any outstanding Award shall be automatically adjusted so that the proportionate interest of the Recipient shall be maintained as before the occurrence of such event. Such adjustment shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Committees shall not make any adjustment pursuant to this Section 14 that would (i) cause any Option intended to qualify as an ISO to fail to so qualify; (ii) cause an Award that is otherwise exempt from Section 409A of the Code to become subject to Section 409A; or (iii) cause an Award that is subject to Section 409A of the Code to fail to satisfy the requirements of Section 409A. SECTION 15. AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION The Committees may amend, alter or terminate this Plan at any time without the prior approval of the Board; provided, however, that: (i) the Committees may not, without approval by the Board, materially increase the benefits provided to Recipients under this Plan; (ii) any amendment with respect to Restricted Stock Awards or RSU Awards granted to Outside Directors must be approved by the full Board; and (iii) no alteration or amendment that requires shareholder approval in order for the Plan to continue to comply with -14- the New York Stock Exchange rules or any rule promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission or any other securities exchange on which shares of Common Stock are listed or any other applicable laws shall be effective unless such amendment shall be approved by the requisite vote of shareholders of the Company entitled to vote thereon within the time period required under such applicable listing standard or rule. Except for adjustments made pursuant to Section 14 hereof, the Board or the Committees will not, without the further approval of the shareholders of the Company, authorize the amendment of any outstanding Option or SAR to reduce the Exercise Price. No Option or SAR will be cancelled and replaced with Awards having a lower Exercise Price or for another Award, or for cash without further approval of the shareholders of the Company, except as provided in Sections 12 or 14 hereof. Furthermore, no Option or SAR will provide for the payment, at the time of exercise, of a cash bonus or grant or sale of another Award without further approval of the shareholders of the Company. This Section 15 is intended to prohibit the repricing of underwater Options or SARs without shareholder approval and will not be construed to prohibit the adjustments provided for in Sections 12 or 14 hereof. Termination of this Plan shall not affect any Awards made hereunder which are outstanding on the date of termination and such Awards shall continue to be subject to the terms of this Plan notwithstanding its termination. SECTION 16. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS (A) Rights to Awards. No Recipient or other Person shall have any claim or right to be granted an Award under this Plan. (B) Assignment and Transfer. A Recipients rights and interests under this Plan (including any Awards granted hereunder) may not be assigned or transferred in whole or in part, either directly or by operation of law or otherwise (except in the event of a Recipients death, by will or the laws of descent and distribution), including, but not by way of limitation, execution, levy, garnishment, attachment, pledge, bankruptcy or in any other manner, and no such rights or interests of any Recipient in this Plan shall be subject to any obligation or liability of such individual; provided, however, that a Recipients rights and interests under this Plan (including any Awards granted hereunder) may, subject to the discretion and direction of the Committees, be made transferable by such Recipient during his or her lifetime. Except as specified in Section 6 hereof, the holder of an Award shall have none of the rights of a shareholder until the shares subject thereto shall have been registered in the name of the person receiving or person or persons exercising the Award on the transfer books of the Company. (C) Compliance with Legal and Exchange Requirements. The Plan, the granting and exercising of Awards hereunder, the issuance of Common Stock and other interests hereunder, and the other obligations of the Company under the Plan and any Agreement pursuant to the Plan, shall be subject to all applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations, and to such approvals by any regulatory or governmental agency as may be required. The Company or the Committees, in their respective discretion, may postpone the granting and exercising of Awards, the issuance or delivery of Common Stock under any Award or any other action permitted under the Plan to permit the Company, with reasonable diligence, to complete such stock exchange listing or registration or qualification of such Common Stock or other required action under any federal or state law, rule, or regulation and may require any Recipient to make such representations and furnish such information as the Committees may consider appropriate in connection with the issuance or delivery of Common Stock in compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations. The Company shall not be obligated by virtue of any provision of the Plan to recognize the exercise of any Award or to otherwise sell or issue Common Stock in violation of any such laws, rules, or regulations; and any postponement of the exercise or settlement of any Award under this provision shall not extend the term of -15- such Awards, and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries, directors or officers shall have any obligations or liability to any Recipient with respect to any Award (or Common Stock issuable thereunder) that shall lapse because of such postponement. (D) Ratification and Consent. By accepting any Award under this Plan, each Recipient and each Personal Representative or Beneficiary claiming under or through him or her shall be conclusively deemed to have indicated his or her acceptance and ratification of, and consent to, any action taken under this Plan by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, the Board, or the Committees. (E) Additional Compensation. Nothing contained in this Plan shall prevent the Board from adopting other or additional compensation arrangements, subject to shareholder approval if such approval is required. (F) Grant Date. Each Recipient shall be deemed to have been granted any Award on the date the Committees took action to grant such Award under this Plan or such date as the Committees in their sole discretion shall determine at the time such grant is authorized. The grant date shall not be earlier than the date of the resolution and action therein by the Committees. (G) Fractional Shares. No fractional shares shall be issued or delivered pursuant to this Plan or any Award. The Committees shall determine whether cash, other Awards, or other property shall be issued or paid in lieu of fractional shares or whether such fractional shares or any rights thereto shall be forfeited or otherwise eliminated. (H) Forfeiture Provision. Unless the Agreement specifies otherwise, the Committees may, in their discretion, require a Recipient to forfeit all unexercised, unearned, unvested or unpaid Awards if: (1) the Recipient, without written consent of the Company, engages directly or indirectly in any manner or capacity as principal, agent, partner, officer, director, employee or otherwise in any business or activity competitive with the business conducted by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, as determined by the Committees; (2) the Recipient performs any act or engages in any activity that is detrimental to the best interests of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, as determined by the Committees; or (3) the Recipient breaches any agreement or covenant with, or obligation or duty to, the Company or any Subsidiary, including without limitation, any non-competition agreement, non-solicitation agreement, confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement, or assignment of inventions or ownership of works agreement, as determined by the Committees. (I) Severability. The validity, legality, or enforceability of the Plan will not be affected even if one or more of the provisions of this Plan shall be held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any respect. (J) Section 409A. Awards granted under the Plan shall be designed and administered in such a manner that they are either exempt from the application of, or comply with, the requirements of Section 409A of the Code. To the extent that the Committees determine that any award granted under the Plan is subject to Section 409A of the Code, the Agreement shall incorporate the terms and conditions necessary to avoid the imposition of an additional tax under Section 409A of the Code upon a Recipient. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan or any Agreement (unless the Agreement provides otherwise with specific reference to this Section): (i) an Award shall not be granted, deferred, accelerated, extended, paid out, settled, substituted or modified under the Plan in a manner that would result in the imposition of an additional tax under Section 409A of the Code upon a Recipient; and (ii) if an Award is subject to -16- Section 409A of the Code, and if the Recipient holding the Award is a specified employee (as defined in Section 409A of the Code, with such classification to be determined in accordance with the methodology established by the Company), no distribution or payment of any amount under the Award shall be made before a date that is six (6) months following the date of such Recipients separation from service (as defined in Section 409A of the Code) or, if earlier, the date of the Recipients death. Although the Company intends to administer the Plan so that Awards will be exempt from, or will comply with, the requirements of Section 409A of the Code, the Company does not warrant that any Award under the Plan will qualify for favorable tax treatment under Section 409A of the Code or any other provision of federal, state, local, or non-United States law. The Company shall not be liable to any Recipient for any tax, interest, or penalties a Recipient might owe as a result of the grant, holding, vesting, exercise, or payment of any Award under the Plan. (K) Awards to Participants Outside the United States. Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, in order to comply with the laws in other countries in which the Company and its Subsidiaries operate or have Employees, the P&C Committee, in its sole discretion, shall have the power and authority to: (i) determine which Subsidiaries shall be covered by this Plan; (ii) determine which Employees outside the United States are eligible to participate in this Plan; (iii) modify the terms and conditions of any Award granted to Employees outside the United States to comply with applicable foreign laws; (iv) modify exercise procedures and other terms and procedures, to the extent such actions may be necessary or advisable; and (v) take any action, before or after an Award is made, that it deems necessary or advisable to obtain approval or comply with any local government regulatory exemptions, approvals or requirements. Notwithstanding the above, the P&C Committee may not take any actions hereunder, and no Awards shall be granted that would violate any applicable law. (L) Headings. The headings in this Plan are inserted for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation hereof. (M) Dividend Equivalents. At the discretion of the Committees, Awards granted pursuant to the Plan may provide Recipients with the right to receive Dividend Equivalents, which may be paid currently or credited to an account for the Recipients, and may be settled in cash and/or shares of Common Stock, as determined by the Committees in their sole discretion, subject in each case to such terms and conditions as the Committees shall establish. No Dividend Equivalents shall relate to shares underlying an Option or SAR unless such Dividend Equivalent rights are explicitly set forth as a separate arrangement and do not cause any such Option or SAR to be subject to Section 409A of the Code. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Plan to the contrary, Dividend Equivalents with respect to Restricted Stock Unit Awards, Incentive Awards, Performance Unit Awards and Merit Awards that vest based on the achievement of Performance Goals shall be accumulated until such Award is earned, and the Dividend Equivalents shall not be paid if the Performance Goals are not satisfied. (N) Deferrals. Except with respect to Options and SARs, the Committees may permit Recipients to elect to defer the issuance or delivery of shares of Common Stock or the settlement of Awards in cash under the Plan pursuant to such rules, procedures or programs as it may establish for purposes of the Plan. The Committees also may provide that deferred issuances and settlements include the payment or crediting of Dividend Equivalents or interest on the deferral amounts. All elections and deferrals permitted under this provision shall comply with Section 409A of the Code, including setting forth the time and manner of the election (including a compliant time and form of payment), the date on which the election is irrevocable, and whether the election can be changed until the date it is irrevocable. (O) Successors. All obligations of the Company under the Plan and with respect to Awards shall be binding on any successor to the Company, whether the existence of such successor is the result of a direct or -17- indirect purchase, merger, consolidation, or other event, or a sale or disposition of all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the Company and references to the Company herein and in any Agreements shall be deemed to refer to such successors. SECTION 17. EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS PLAN This Plan shall be submitted to the shareholders of the Company for their approval on January 27, 2011, or such other date fixed for the next meeting of shareholders or any adjournment or postponement thereof. This Plan will be effective as of the date of its approval by the shareholders of the Company. No Award may be granted under the Plan after November 14, 2022, or such earlier date as the Board shall determine. The Plan will remain in effect with respect to outstanding Awards until no Awards remain outstanding. SECTION 18. GOVERNING LAW The provisions of this Plan shall be interpreted and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. -18- Exhibit 5.1 [Letterhead of] CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP [New York Office] September 20, 2016 Ashland Global Holdings Inc. Amendment No. 1 on Form S-8 to Registration Statement on Form S-8 (Registration No. 333-186408) Ladies and Gentlemen: We have acted as counsel for Ashland Global Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Company ), in connection with the preparation and filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission ) of the Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-8 (Registration No. 333-186408), as amended (the Registration Statement ), pursuant to Rule 414 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act ), relating to the registration of the offering by the Company of up to 2,000,000 shares of common stock (the Shares ), par value $0.01 per share, issuable pursuant to the Amended and Restated 2011 Ashland Inc. Incentive Plan (the Plan ), which has been assumed by the Company from Ashland Inc., a Kentucky corporation and the Companys predecessor registrant ( Ashland ), pursuant to an assumption agreement by and among the Company and Ashland, dated September 20, 2016. In that connection, we have examined originals, or copies certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of such documents, corporate records and other instruments as we have deemed necessary or appropriate for the purposes of this opinion, including: (a) the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company in effect as of the date hereof; (b) the amended and restated By-laws of the Company in effect as of the date hereof; (c) the Plan; (d) the Registration Statement; and (e) such other documents, corporate records, certificates and other instruments as we have deemed necessary for the expression of the opinions contained herein. We have relied, with respect to certain factual matters, on representations of the Company and documents furnished to us by the Company. We have also assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity and competency of all natural persons, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies. Based on the foregoing and subject to the qualifications set forth herein and subject to compliance with applicable state securities laws, we are of opinion that the Shares, when issued in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Plan, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. We are admitted to practice in the State of New York, and we express no opinion as to matters governed by any laws other than the laws of the State of New York, the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware and the Federal laws of the United States of America. The opinions expressed herein are given as of the date hereof, and we undertake no, and hereby disclaim any, obligation to advise anyone of any change in any matter set forth herein. This opinion is limited to the specific issues addressed herein, and no opinion may be inferred or implied beyond that expressly herein. We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not hereby admit that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the Rules and Regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder. Very truly yours, /s/ Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Ashland Global Holdings Inc. 50 E. RiverCenter Boulevard P.O. Box 391 Covington, Kentucky 41012 Exhibit 10.1 ASSIGNMENT AND ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT THIS ASSIGNMENT AND ASSUMPTION AGREEMENT (this Agreement ) dated as of September 20, 2016, is entered into by and between Ashland Inc., Kentucky corporation ( Ashland or the Assignor ), and Ashland Global Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation ( Ashland Global or the Assignee ). WHEREAS the Board of Directors of Ashland (the Board ) has determined to separate Ashland into two independent, publicly traded companies (the Separation ); WHEREAS in connection with the Separation, the Board has approved a proposal to reorganize Ashland under a new holding company, Ashland Global, to allow Ashland to reincorporate in the State of Delaware and to facilitate the Separation (the Reorganization ); WHEREAS in connection with the Reorganization, Ashland and Ashland Global have executed an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of May 31, 2016 (the Merger Agreement ), by and among Ashland, Ashland Global and Ashland Merger Sub Corp. ( Merger Sub ), pursuant to which Merger Sub merges with and into Ashland, with Ashland surviving as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Ashland Global (the Merger ); WHEREAS the Board has submitted the Merger Agreement to the Ashland shareholders for approval and the Ashland shareholders have approved the Merger and the Merger Agreement at a special meeting of Ashland shareholders held on September 7, 2016; WHEREAS the closing of the Merger will become effective at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the date hereof (the Effective Time ) upon the filing of the Articles of Merger with the Secretary of State of the State of Kentucky; WHEREAS as provided in Sections 2.1 and 2.8 of the Merger Agreement, the Assignor has agreed to transfer, convey and assign to the Assignee, and the Assignee has agreed to accept from the Assignor, all of the Assignors right, title and interest in, to and under each Ashland equity incentive, deferred compensation and other benefit plan and arrangement and the Assignor has agreed to transfer, convey and assign, and the Assignee has agreed to assume, all of the liabilities and obligations of the Assignor under such plans and arrangements, including (i) all unexercised and unexpired options to purchase shares of Ashland common stock and all stock appreciation rights, performance share awards, restricted share awards, restricted stock equivalents, restricted stock units, common stock units, deferred stock units and other incentive awards and deferrals covering shares of Ashland common stock, whether or not vested that are outstanding under each such plan and arrangement as of the Effective Time and (ii) the remaining unallocated reserve of shares of Ashland common stock issuable under each such plan and arrangement; and 1 WHEREAS Ashland and Ashland Global have executed the Waiver to the Merger Agreement dated as of September 20, 2016 (the Waiver ), by and between Ashland and Ashland Global, pursuant to which Ashland and Ashland Global have waived the performance of the actions described under Section 2.8 of the Merger Agreement providing for the assumption of Ashlands other employee benefit plans and arrangements by Ashland Global. NOW, THEREFORE, the parties agree as follows: 1. Assignment and Assumption . Effective as of the Effective Time and notwithstanding the Waiver, the Assignor hereby transfers, conveys and assigns to the Assignee, and the Assignee hereby accepts from the Assignor, all of the Assignors right, title and interest in, to and under the employee benefit plans and arrangements set forth in Schedule 1 attached hereto (the Ashland Plans ), and the Assignor hereby transfers, conveys and assigns to the Assignee, and the Assignee hereby assumes, all of the Assignors liabilities and obligations with respect to the Ashland Plans and any remaining unallocated reserve of shares of Ashland common stock issuable thereunder. 2. Defined Terms . Unless otherwise indicated, capitalized terms used herein without definitions shall have the meanings specified in the Merger Agreement. 3. Merger Agreement . Nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to or shall be construed to supersede, modify, replace, amend, rescind, waive, expand or limit in any way the rights of the parties under, and the terms of, the Merger Agreement (as modified by the Waiver). To the extent that any provision of this Agreement conflicts or is inconsistent with the terms of the Merger Agreement (as modified by the Waiver), the Merger Agreement (as modified by the Waiver) shall govern, including with respect to the enforcement of the rights and obligations of the parties to this Agreement. 4. Headings . The headings in this Agreement are for reference only and shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement. 5. Binding Effect . This Agreement shall be binding upon the parties hereto and shall inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by each of them and their respective Who is online In total there are 12 users online :: 10 registered, 0 hidden and 2 guests (based on users active over the past 60 minutes) Most users ever online was 122 on Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:05 am Registered users: Antonio Giani, Bing [Bot], Eric Sandbo, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, hightinerary, Humphrey, Jauwater, smills64000 Legend: Administrators, Global moderators CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Global oil supply of 94 million barrels per day needs to fall by about a tenth if it is to match consumption, Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said on Monday. Del Pino, whose country is pressing for OPEC and non-OPEC producers to reach a deal to bolster crude prices, said a "fair price" would be around $70 per barrel. "Global production is at 94 million barrels per day, of which we need to go down 9 million barrels per day to sustain the level of consumption," he said in an interview with state oil company PDVSA's internal TV station. Del Pino is also president of PDVSA. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday that OPEC and non-OPEC countries were close to reaching a deal to stabilize oil markets. OPEC members will meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum, which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria from Sept. 26 to 28. Non-OPEC producer Russia is also attending the forum. (Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - September 20, 2016) - Viveve Medical, Inc. ("Viveve") (VIVE), a medical technology company focused on women's health, today announced that Patricia Scheller, chief executive officer, will present at the 2016 Ladenburg Thalmann Healthcare Conference, on Tuesday, September 27th. Ms. Scheller will present an update on global development and commercialization of the Viveve System, the company's lead product for use in the treatment of vaginal laxity. Event: Ladenburg Thalmann 2016 Healthcare Conference Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2016 Time: 9:00-9:25 AM EST Location: St. Germain - Track 3 - Sofitel New York Hotel, 45 W 44th St, NY Ms. Scheller and Scott Durbin, Viveve's chief financial officer, will be meeting with members of the investment community during one-on-one meetings at the conference. The presentation will be available for download on the company's web site at (www.viveve.com). About Viveve Viveve Medical, Inc. is a women's health company passionately committed to advancing new solutions to improve women's overall well-being and quality of life. The company's lead product, the internationally patented Viveve System, is a non-surgical, non-ablative medical device that remodels collagen and restores tissue with only one treatment session. The Viveve System treats the condition of vaginal laxity that can result in decreased physical sensation and sexual satisfaction. Physician surveys indicate that vaginal laxity is the number one post-delivery physical change for women, being more prevalent than weight gain, urinary incontinence or stretch marks. The Viveve Treatment uses patented, reverse-thermal gradient radiofrequency technology to tighten vaginal tissue in one 30-minute out-patient treatment in a physician's office. The Viveve System has received regulatory approval in many countries throughout the world and is available through physician import license in Japan. It is currently not available for sale in the U.S. For more information, please visit Viveve's website at www.viveve.com. Story continues Safe Harbor Statement All statements in this press release that are not based on historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. While management has based any forward-looking statements included in this press release on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, which could cause actual results to materially differ from such statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the fluctuation of global economic conditions, the performance of management and our employees, our ability to obtain financing, competition, general economic conditions and other factors that are detailed in our periodic and current reports available for review at www.sec.gov. Furthermore, we operate in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment where new and unanticipated risks may arise. Accordingly, investors should not place any reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. We disclaim any intention to, and undertake no obligation to, update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which we hereafter become aware. Viveve is a registered trademark of Viveve, Inc. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch West Virginia is accusing Mylan, the maker of the EpiPen, a life-saving autoinjector used to treat severe allergic reactions, of Medicaid fraud. Specifically, it's accusing the company of inflating the price of the EpiPen by 500%. The case was announced by the state's Attorney General, Patrick Morrisey. The price of the EpiPen (now $608 for a two-pack) caused national outrage earlier this year. Mylan purchased the drug back in 2007 when it cost $100. That price increase has angered Washington and sent the company's stock plummeting. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland requested a hearing to be held Wednesday. Mylan's CEO, Heather Bresch, is the daughter of Joe Manchin, the US senator from West Virginia. That hasn't saved her company from scrutiny, and shortly after the EpiPen pricing scandal began Manchin said what she did should be illegal and vowed to support legislation against dramatic price increases. NOW WATCH: Self-made millionaire reveals the biggest money mistake you might be making More From Business Insider Police can now confirm the ages of the three people who died in yesterdays crash in Huntly. A 12-year-old boy, a 14-year-old boy, and a 54-year-old man died at the scene. A target of around 3000 emergency housing places funded per year has been exceeded and Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett is seeking even more places to help house vulnerable New Zealanders. The second round of funding for a share of $33 million announced in Budget 2016, directly targeted at emergency housing, has so far resulted in 51 proposals from 30 providers across the country providing 3032 new and existing emergency places per year. These places will make a huge difference to people in extreme housing need, and the targeted funding the first of its kind by any government means providers can focus on their core work rather than worry about funding, Mrs Bennett says. Its good to see groups put their hands up to use the funding for establishing new emergency housing in their regions, Mrs Bennett says. Taking care of vulnerable people is a community effort. While the Government can provide financial support and other resources, organisations working in the community know their communities best, and we welcome their input. This funding and the new non-recoverable grant for people who require temporary help through motel accommodation are helping more people with immediate housing needs. The more than 3000 places per year is a great start. Nearly 350 places are new and we need to keep the momentum going. I still want to see more new emergency housing places throughout New Zealand and we have a work programme underway to achieve this. Our focus is on delivering safe, warm, permanent housing for those eligible, but there will always be a temporary, emergency need for people who find themselves in unexpected, difficult circumstances, Mrs Bennett says. Increasing emergency housing is part of the Governments comprehensive plan to ensure people in extreme housing need have somewhere safe to stay, help them transition into more permanent accommodation when they are ready and increase the supply of social housing. Source: Office of Paula Bennett. (In Sept. 19 copy, corrects spelling of Kuwaiti European Holding Group in paragraph 1. Also corrects paragraph 6 to say biggest shareholder, not majority) (Reuters) - Financial services company WH Ireland Group Plc said on Monday that Kuwaiti European Holdings Group (KEH) was considering buying a stake in the company, sending its shares up as much as 28.7 percent. KEH was close to announcing an agreement to buy nearly 30 percent of WH Ireland shares, and may consider acquiring the London-listed company entirely, Sky News had reported on Saturday. WH Ireland, which offers private wealth management, wealth planning and corporate broking services, did not provide details of the potential deal in its statement. KEH, an investment company focused on property, health and leisure businesses, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The British stockbroker would not be the first to attract investment from the Middle East. The majority shareholder in WH Ireland's rival Panmure Gordon & Co is Qatari investment bank QInvest, with a 43.43 percent stake, according to Thomson Reuters data. WH Ireland, which has a market capitalisation of 26.9 million pounds as of Friday's close, was fined 1.2 million pounds by Britain's financial regulator in February, for inadequate controls to prevent trading abuses. The Financial Conduct Authority also banned the company from taking on new customers in its corporate broking division until May 4. The division is focused on small- and mid-cap companies. Shares in WH Ireland were up 23.3 percent at 129.99 pence at 0725 GMT. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) To be attributed to Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Newman, Auckland City Police A 17 year-old woman has been arrested and charged this morning with an attack on an elderly woman in Panmure last week. The woman has been charged with aggravated robbery, theft and two charges of unlawfully taking a motor-vehicle, and will appear in the Auckland District Court this afternoon. Two other suspects have been identified. They are currently in CYFS custody on an unrelated matter and we are in the process of making a time to speak with each of them. Both are under the age of 17 and we are therefore limited to any further discussion on this aspect, but we can advise that we are not looking for anyone else in relation to this incident. We have advised the family of the victim of this development a short time ago, and they are understandably relieved to hear this news. I would like to thank the hundreds of people who helped with the Police investigation. The public and media assistance we received has got us to this point. We had dozens of calls with information, as well as many private messages to our Facebook page. Hundreds of people shared the link to the Facebook video, and this in turn ensured that as many people as possible saw the CCTV footage. The enquiry team have worked tirelessly on this case, and joined with officers from across the wider Auckland area. A team of staff had been investigating a series of burglaries that occurred in Onehunga, Mangere and Mt Albert over the weekend of 9/10 September. Yesterday, a series of search warrants were carried out at properties in Otara, Glen Innes, Papatoetoe, Clendon and Point England. As a result, the 17 year-old woman has also been additionally charged with 14 burglaries and an unlawfully getting into a motor-vehicle. A 16 year-old male, and two 18 year-old men have also been arrested and charged with the burglaries. At the search warrant in Pt England, officers also found a quantity of methamphetamine. A 21 year-old man and an 18 year-old woman have also been arrested, and both are charged with possession of methamphetamine for supply. Source: New Zealand Police. There is no reason to delay settlement of five Treaty of Waitangi settlement bills this week, despite the government claiming it will have to because of New Zealand First. Messrs Finlayson and Brownlee should stop their hysterical behaviour the reality is enough MPs will have to be in parliament to pass these bills. Thats the constitutional position, says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters. These bills can all go through on time, but it will require members to be here and not on holiday. When parliament sits, parliamentarians attend. They are making a song and dance about New Zealand First demanding a party vote, so that the vote is recorded in the parliamentary record Hansard. Thats the way parliament operates. If these two ministers think standing up for the rights of parliamentarians is appalling behaviour it explains why the National Party has become so arrogant. This is all the governments making, it tried to rush these bills through via the business committee, when it should have kept to the democratic, standard procedure, says Mr Peters. SOURCE: Office of Winston Peters Thieves who broke into a Papamoa East mans home have taken a piece of his wife after stealing her jewellery in a daylight robbery. Brett Morrisons home on Papamoa Beach Road was broken into sometime between 10am and 11am yesterday. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told CNN on Monday morning that the US was in a "narrative fight" with ISIS. Earnest appeared on the network as authorities in New York and New Jersey investigated bombs found throughout the area over the weekend, including one that injured 29 people when it exploded on Saturday night in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Authorities on Monday morning seemed to be changing their initial assessment that the bombs weren't connected to one another and did not appear to be related to international terrorism. "What I can tell you is that we are, when it comes to ISIL, we are in a fight, a narrative fight with them, a narrative battle," Earnest said, using an alternate name for the terrorist group, which is also known as the Islamic State or Daesh. "And what ISIL wants to do is they want to project that they are an organization that is representing Islam in a fight, in a war against the West and a war against the United States." Earnest continued: "That is a bankrupt, false narrative. It is a mythology. And we have made progress in debunking that mythology." Donald Trump's presidential campaign immediately seized on Earnest's comments to criticize the Obama administration. "When the White House says we are in a 'narrative fight' against ISIS just days after a series of apparent terror attacks on US soil we should all be very concerned," Jason Miller, the communications director for Trump, said in a statement. "For the US troops in Iraq and Syria who are on the frontlines against ISIS, it's a real fight where we've lost real lives." Miller added: "Diminishing the threat the Obama administration has allowed to materialize on its watch puts us all at risk and is another reminder that we need new leadership in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism. Hillary Clinton has backed President Obama's failed ISIS strategy to the hilt, and voters should know whether she too shares the White House's troubling assessment of the situation." Story continues ISIS propaganda often pushes the idea of a final battle between the West and soldiers of Islam, and experts say ISIS seeks to provoke the West into a war with it. NOW WATCH: There's something confusing in the fine print of Donald Trump's new $10 million TV ad More From Business Insider John Stumpf Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before Senate Banking Committee. Strumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) It's looking unlikely that will serve prison time for fraud. Many think bankers should be when they commit fraud. However, the US government rarely pursues those cases, often because , and high level executives people almost never get taken down. Instead, the government defers the charges in lieu of fines and reforms. Is this fair? What do you think? Vote below! PERSPECTIVES Most of the time, banks are able to avoid criminal charges by reaching a settlement with the Department of Justice. Each scandal is different, but they share one commonality, other than the massive sums of money involved: "In all those cases I've listed, not one single individual spent a single day in jail for the criminal activity that justified those monetary penalties," said Jimmy Gurule, a law professor at Notre Dame. And as he pointed out, full-blown investigations have benefits beyond simple punishment and deterrence: Authorities with subpoena powers can uncover important details about exactly who played the biggest roles in orchestrating and perpetuating a pattern of illegal activity, helping regulators and others prevent repeat acts in the future. However, it's not a guarantee that a criminal investigation would lead to jailing executives. [A]s one former government official who had been involved in money-laundering cases told me in 2012, sometimes building a strong case against individuals can be difficult given how big and complicated banks are, and sometimes, even when there is evidence, that evidence points not to the C-suite suits, but middle-manager types. It may be, he explained, that at the start of an investigation, there's an appetite among investigators for convictions, but that a few months or a year in, the government realizes that its most favorable bang-for-the-buck outcome is the announcement of a rich-seeming deferred prosecution deal. Makes you think ... How many people at Wells Fargo are going to jail? Zero. But if you smoke marijuana in this country, you get a criminal record. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 20, 2016 When banks commit fraud, it's not always clear that they've done something illegal. Spending resources to pursue criminal charges, especially when cases tend to drag out, isn't worth it when you can settle and force companies to make the proper reforms. MORE: Iceland is held as an example of a country that got it right by jailing bankers after the financial crisis. However, the country still faces issues of fraud and financial corruption. Sending bankers to jail sent a message, but it's not stopping people from engaging in shady deals. READ: 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 Digital, Inc. property. Join us on Twitter or on , we'd love to hear what you have to say. John Stumpf, Wells Fargo Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before Senate Banking Committee. (Susan Walsh | AP) WASHINGTON (AP) -- The CEO of Wells Fargo apologized before harshly critical senators Tuesday for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts and moved money into them. Chief Executive John Stumpf showed contrition in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, saying he is "deeply sorry" that the bank failed to meet its responsibility to customers and didn't act sooner to stem what he called "this unacceptable activity." He promised that the bank will contact every affected customer. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the panel's chairman, said Wells Fargo had a corporate culture "that drove company 'team members' to fraudulently open millions of accounts using their customers' funds and personal information without their permission." "If there were ever a textbook case where consumers needed protecting, this was it," Shelby said. As part of the sharp questioning, Stumpf was pressed on whether Wells Fargo employees committed fraud, and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said it would be "malpractice" if the bank doesn't institute compensation clawbacks. The bank has in place executive compensation clawback provisions that the board could implement. Stumpf said during the hearing that the company's board "has the tools to hold senior leadership accountable," including himself and Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail banking business. Tolstedt announced in July her retirement from the bank this year. Tolstedt is expected to leave with as much as $125 million in salary, stock options and other compensation. Wells Fargo has long been known for its aggressive sales goals, but the details and the $185 million fine that regulators imposed last week have singed the consumer banking giant's reputation as a well-run, tightly managed company removed from the reckless conduct on Wall Street that stoked the financial crisis. In announcing the fine, regulators said Wells Fargo sales employees opened more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts that may not have been authorized by customers. Money in customers' accounts was said to have been moved to these new accounts without their permission. Debit cards were issued and activated, as well as PINs created, without telling customers. In some cases, bank employees even created fake email addresses to sign up customers for online banking services, the regulators said. The bank sales staff had a goal of getting each customer to have eight different accounts with the bank -- up from the prevailing average of six. Under the settlement, Wells Fargo neither admitted nor denied the allegations. It later said it plans to eliminate the sales targets by Jan. 1. Some 5,300 Wells Fargo employees have been fired. Stumpf offered some detail at the hearing about who was fired, saying "bankers, bank managers, managers of managers, and even an area president." They ranged in pay from about $35,000 to $65,000. The panel also plans to question regulators from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Treasury Department's Office of the Controller of the Currency and the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. Senators are examining their role in the debacle and why the sales practices went on for years before the regulators cracked down. Kristin O'Connell.JPG Kristin O'Connell was 20 years old when she was stabbed to death in Ovid, Seneca County in August 1985. More than 31 years later, her homicide remains unsolved. (Provided) OVID, N.Y. -- On the last night of her life, Kristin O'Connell went for a late-night walk on a Seneca County road. She was not exactly alone. She had left a party at a friend's Ovid home around 11 p.m. on Aug. 14, 1985 to take a walk on County Route 139. Witnesses later saw two men trailing O'Connell as she walked along the road -- staying about 30 feet behind as they followed her. O'Connell was found stabbed to death in a cornfield two days later. More than 31 years later, her murder remains unsolved. The New York State Police asked for help Tuesday solving the murder. A summary of the case was featured in Cold Case Tuesday, an effort by troopers to seek tips and renew public interest in unsolved homicides. O'Connell was more than 1,000 miles from home when she died. The 20-year-old college student was from Burnsville, Minnesota. She was visiting a friend in Ovid on Aug. 14, 1985 when she was killed, troopers said. O'Connell was alone when she left left a gathering at her friend's home around 11 p.m. to walk along County Route 139, troopers said. Witnesses spotted O'Connell talking to a person in a vehicle that had stopped in the roadway around 11:30 p.m., troopers said. Two men were later seen following O'Connell as she walked toward a trailer, witnesses told troopers. Searchers found O'Connell's body two days later in a cornfield off of West Seneca Street, troopers said. According to The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com's archives, the killer repeatedly stabbed O'Connell and slit her throat. Troopers could not immediately be reached for comment. In 2009, troopers described the two males observed following O'Connell as thin young men, according to The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com's archives. One man was about 5 feet 10 inches tall, and the other was about 6 feet tall, troopers said. One had hair that brushed the top of his ears, while the other had shoulder-length hair. The men who followed O'Connell have not been identified, and the vehicle she was spotted near has not been found, troopers said. In the more than three decades since the murder, investigators have chased nearly 2,000 leads, troopers said. O'Connell's mother has joined troopers in pleading with the public for help over the years -- flying from Minnesota to New York in her search for closure and justice. "They have no idea what it's like to lose a child," Phyllis O'Connell said at a 2010 news conference marking the 25th anniversary of her daughter's death. "It's the most devastating thing in the world." Troopers asked anyone with information about the murder to call (585) 398-4100. 0517 RIOT 3.JPG State troopers in riot gear walk south on May 18, 1997, on the northbound lane of Interstate-81 near the Onondaga Nation, where Onondagas, Senecas and other Native Americans were protesting the state collecting sales tax on cigarettes and gas on Indian territory. (Stephen D. Cannerelli | scannerelli@syracuse.com) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Thirteen Native Americans described it as a day of horrific, unjustified beatings by state troopers who interrupted a religious ceremony. A lawyer for the state said the troopers were justified in using force and in breaking up a protest alongside a busy highway to protect the public. Nineteen years after state police responded to a tax protest alongside Interstate-81, some of the 98 protesters finally had their day in court starting today. They gave opening statements in their lawsuit against 52 state troopers over the events of May 18, 1997. "They beat me 55 times" with police batons, said Robert Bucktooth Jr., now 60. He's one of three of the plaintiffs who say troopers used excessive force against them. "I should be dead." Bucktooth picked up one of the troopers that day and threw him to ground, he said. Six other troopers jumped on him and beat him, he said. One of them choked Bucktooth with a nightstick, he said. "I said, 'Why are you doing this to me?'" Bucktooth told the nine-member jury. He wore a T-shirt as he spoke at the podium. It read, "Homeland Security. Fighting Terrorism Since 1492." A lawyer for the state said the evidence will show the troopers were justified in the way they handled Bucktooth and the other protesters. "There's no doubt batons were used," Assistant Attorney General Timothy Mulvey said of Bucktooth's arrest. "Force was used on him because he had wrestled a trooper to the ground and they were trying to separate" Bucktooth and the trooper. The 15 plaintiffs are acting as their own lawyers. One of them wasn't in court. All but one gave an opening statement that U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin limited to five minutes each. Scullin often interrupted the opening statements to get the plaintiff to talk about the evidence and not veer off into speeches. The judge interrupted the lead plaintiff, Andrew Jones, at least three times, each time Jones started talking about what he claims is the illegitimacy of the Onondagas' leaders. "Our rights were violated in many ways by the state police," Jones told the jury. He said the troopers had put duct tape over their name tags so the protesters wouldn't be able to identify them. Other plaintiffs said the troopers had removed the name tags. Troopers arrested 24 people on trespassing and resisting arrest charges. All of the charges were later dropped. The troopers believed public safety was at risk because the protesters had walked onto 81 and were handing out fliers, Mulvey said. A video shows traffic slowed to a stop, he said. "It's obvious that it's not safe to have people standing on the side of the highway handing out fliers," he said. State police supervisors decided that once the protesters entered the highway, there would be no negotiations, Mulvey said. The officers didn't want to simply clear the road, leave the area, and have the protesters blocking traffic again, he said. The troopers started making arrests on the right-of-way along the road because motorists and protesters were in danger, he said. Mulvey acknowledged there was confusion at the scene, partly because a state police bullhorn wasn't working. Seventy-six other protesters settled their lawsuit against the state in June for a total of $2.7 million. That left 16 plaintiffs who wouldn't agree to the settlement. One of those was removed from the case. The remaining plaintiffs told the state they wanted $10 million apiece to settle, according to one of the plaintiffs. The trooper in charge on the day of the protest, then-Maj. James Parmley, was in the courtroom for the opening statements. The second-in-command, then-Capt. George Beach, is expected to testify. He was appointed state police superintendent in June. The trial evidence will start coming in Wednesday morning with the playing of a videotape from the scene. The plaintiffs contend their rights to free speech, assembly and religion were violated when troopers made arrests during a fire ceremony. "The troopers gave us no warning," plaintiff Nikki Jones told jurors. "They came in and they thumped, they clubbed, they beat." The troopers never gave the protesters a warning to disperse from the area, the plaintiffs said. The trial is expected to last about four weeks. Contact John O'Brien anytime | email | Twitter | 315-470-2187 2000 - 2022 24 .- . focus-news.net, () . 24 . 24 . . 24 . pjimage (2).jpg Change is coming to Upstate New York's pumpkin beers in 2016. Ithaca Beer Co. has discontinued its Country Pumpkin, while Saranac has changed its Pumpkin Ale recipe, making it more robust and flavorful. Yes, the pumpkin beers did start to flood the store shelves back in July, an annoying trend that started several years ago. But have you noticed there seems to be less pumpkin beer this year overall? It seems to be true. Brewers, including many in Upstate New York, have either stopped making pumpkin beers or are cutting back production. It's a big change: Pumpkin (or pumpkin-spice) beer was one of the biggest trends in craft beer in the past five years. The change dates back, in part, to the nationwide overproduction of pumpkin beers that reach a peak last fall. Pumpkin beers sat on shelves, and in some cases brewers had to buy it back from their distributors. It was the "Great Pumpkin Debacle of 2015," said Gregg Stacy, director of sales and marketing for Ithaca Beer Co. Ithaca this year discontinued the fall seasonal beer, Country Pumpkin, which it had introduced in 2011. Overproduction is just part of the problem, Stacy said. Ithaca is moving away from seasonals in any case, and is looking for different beers to add to its portfolio. This year, it launched Hellish Lager, a more traditional light-colored German-style beer (such traditional beers may be the "new" trend in craft beer). Hellish Lager is "the anti-pumpkin ale," Stacy said, noting that the pumpkin ale was never a big part of its production in any case. "Pumpkin beer is cute, but it's not really what we do." Change is coming across the spectrum, from the biggest craft brewers to the smallest. Large brewers like Southern Tier in Jamestown (maker of Pumking and Warlock) are cutting back production, according to a story published at forbes.com. That story also noted big pumpkin producers like Harpoon Brewing in Massachussetts and Shipyard Brewing of Maine cut the volume of pumpkin beer they're making this year. Samuel Adams, which had been making two pumpkin beers, cut back to one this year, Forbes reported. In Utica, the relatively large Saranac Brewery (Matt Brewing Co.) still has its Pumpkin Ale for 2016, but tweaked the recipe to make the flavor "more more prominent and robust," according to its digital marketer Anthony Jackson. Smaller breweries Upstate are paying close attention to the market. Cortland Beer Co. plans to make two batches of its Pumpkin Ale this year, but may not do a third, as it did last year. That was one batch too many in 2015, said Cortland Beer president Dan Cleary. Cortland expects to fill its accounts in the immediate Cortland area, but Cleary has found other markets, like Ithaca, have experienced pumpkin beer overload. "I asked an Ithaca account about taking pumpkin this year, and he said, 'naaah.' " Cleary said. In addition to the number of breweries that jumped into the pumpkin market in recent years, the early start in delivery to markets and bars may contribute to the fatigue factor, Cleary said. "Definitely by Thanksgiving, it's dead," Cleary said. "Maybe even earlier." Even a brewery that also operates its own pumpkin patch is cutting back. Critz Farms in Cazenovia is making just a small batch, said owner Matthew Critz. "We heard about the over saturation last year, so we were careful this year," said Critz, who makes hard apple cider and beer at his farm, where he grows everything from apples and pumpkins to Christmas trees and makes maple products. From a famer's perspective, Critz doesn't think the cut back in pumpkin beers will hurt many growers. Most pumpkin beers base their recipes on the spices, and many also use squash instead of actual pumpkin anyway. (The pumpkin or squash adds body to the beer, but not much flavor). "Frankly, our brewery and Empire (Brewing Co. in Syracuse) are some of the only ones that use real pumpkin anyway," Critz said. For those who still crave authentic pumpkin beers, his Critz Farms Pumpkin Ale may fit the bill: It's made with real pumpkins, not over-spiced and the pumpkins are drizzled with Critz maple syrup before they're roasted and added to the brew. "Pumpkin beer became sort of a big marketing thing," Critz said. "We can take it back to being a real farm product." Don Cazentre writes about food, beverages, restaurants and bars for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Contact him by email, on Twitter, at Google+ or via Facebook. Andy Mineo Syracuse native Andy Mineo performs during the Dove Awards Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. (Mark Humphrey | AP) Stranger Things Wiz Khalifa lit up social media Monday with his new "Stranger Things" song. A former Syracuse rapper beat him to the punch more than a week ago -- and did it better. Andy Mineo, a Christian-based hip-hop artist who moved to New York City after graduating from Henninger High School in 2006, debuted "The Upside Down" on Sept. 9 (at "Eleven" p.m.). The Alex Medina-produced track samples the theme song from Netflix's hot new original series "Stranger Things" and has already generated more than 130,000 streams on YouTube and SoundCloud in 10 days. "The Upside Down" refers to an alternate dimension in the '80s-set supernatural thriller starring Winona Ryder as a mom whose son goes missing. Khalifa dropped his own "Stranger Things" song, rapping over a sample of the same theme music created by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon. E. Dan, Big Jerm, and Sayez produced the "See You Again" hitmaker's version featuring J.R. Donato to tease his crew's next Taylor Gang mixtape. Esquire praised Khalifa for being first to capitalize on the pop culture phenomenon, then recanted. Mineo pointed out he had tweeted Khalifa a week ago about his own version of the song, though it's unclear whether Khalifa saw it or came up with his own idea independently. it is! We sampled it for this https://t.co/KIqn1B2g0X Saint Andrew (@AndyMineo) September 11, 2016 "As Twitter has made abundantly clear, Andy Mineo had technically already released a track that sampled the 'Stranger Things' theme, though I had never heard it until today," Esquire's Matt Miller wrote. "It turns out, his is actually far better than Wiz's song." It's the latest praise for Mineo, whose 2013 album "Heroes for Sale" debuted at No. 2 on the iTunes hip-hop charts, ahead of mainstream artists like Macklemore, Tyga and Lil Wayne, and came in at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 album charts. He's made a name for himself with spiritual-themed lyrics and collaborations with the 116 Clique, a popular group of Christian rappers, but doesn't like to define himself as "Christian hip-hop" and told MTV he'd like to work with "Yeezus" himself, Kanye West. The Syracuse native also created a new song for Deaf Awareness Week called "Hear My Heart," dedicated to his sister Grace, who is deaf and uses American Sign Language (ASL). Mineo said he wrote the track as a "public apology" for not learning ASL when she was younger and to bring awareness to the "culturally neglected community." "I wanted a bass line that felt like a heartbeat. I wanted to be able to touch the speakers and feel a clear sense of rhythm. I knew I wanted to sign this song for my sister in video form, but I wanted to do it in a way that could bridge the gap between the Hearing and the Deaf," Mineo said. "I searched YouTube for 'Deaf music videos' and watched them with the sound muted. I noticed that though you could understand the words being signed, the sense of rhythm was lost. That's when I had the idea to create a video where you could see the sounds you couldn't hear. Where you could find the rhythm of the song even when the music was muted. We worked tirelessly on this video for over a year to make sure every sound in the song was translated into a three dimensional object that you could see and experience." 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. Having a tough time coming to terms with the reality of self-driving cars? If so, you probably won't like the fact that autonomous technology will soon be powering watercraft. The Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) recently announced a five-year, 25 million euro (around $28 million) initiative involving researchers from MIT, Delft University of Technology (TUD) and Wageningen University and Research (WUR) that'll explore the use of autonomous boats and other floating robotic vehicles in Amsterdam. Why Amsterdam? As the AMS points out, nearly a fourth of the city is occupied by water. With roughly 60 miles of canals that have been in use since the 17th century, the city serves as an ideal place to conduct the Roboat research program. The initiative will involve watercraft to transport people and goods while simultaneously cleaning the water of pollution. What's more, researchers will look into the possibility of creating floating craft that could, for example, be assembled to create a makeshift bridge or floating stage. Professor Arjan van Timmeren, AMS Institute's Scientific Director, said Roboat offers enormous possibilities as they will also be exploring environmental sensing. They could, for instance, do further research on underwater robots that can detect diseases at an early stage or use Roboats to rid the canals of floating waste and find a more efficient way to handle the 12,000 bicycles that end up in the city's canals each year. The consortium expects to have the first prototype robotic vehicles in Amsterdam canals sometime next year. Olympus, one of the top brands in the micro four-thirds segment, launched its OM-D E-M1 mirrorless camera in the fall of 2013. Ahead of the Photokina 2016 trade show in Cologne, Germany, Olympus announced that its flagship shooter will receive a refresh. The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II features a 20.4-megapixel live MOS sensor and a TruePic VIII processor that dishes out 3.5 times as much processing power compared to its predecessor. With it, the camera is capable of shooting at 18 frames per second with continuous focus enabled and up to 60 frames per second with the focus locked (electronic shutter) - all at full-resolution. The camera utilizes a new 121-point all-cross-type, on-chip phase detection and contrast detection autofocus system. There's also a 50-megapixel high-resolution mode that combines eight shots to generate a single, massive image. This of course is best used when photographing still objects when mounted on a tripod but it's neat nevertheless. The body also has Olympus' excellent five-axis image stabilization system built in which, when combined with a lens equipped with its Sync IS system, is reportedly equivalent to 6.5 shutter speed stops. Other noteworthy features include a 3-inch, articulating touchscreen LCD, a 120 frames per second 2.36M-dot electronic viewfinder, dual SD card slots and Olympus' dust, splash and freeze protection. The battery is also said to last 37 percent longer than before while the charger is 50 percent faster at its job. What's more, the E-M1 Mark II is the first Olympus camera to support 4K video capture (up to 30 frames per second). No word yet on when exactly the OM-D E-M1 Mark II will go on sale nor do we know how much it'll cost. Sony is not the swiftest of OEMs when it comes to updating its smartphones. Nearly a year after the Japan-based company introduced the Xperia C5 Ultra smartphone, it finally pushed out the Android 6.0 Marshmallow software update for the handset in Europe and America. The Xperia C5 Ultra smartphone from Sony came preloaded with Android 5.0 Lollipop and was updated to Android 5.1 Lollipop in January 2016. Eight months after the Xperia C5 Ultra got a taste of the updated OS, it is now receiving an over-the-air (OTA) update, which brings the Sony phablet to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Earlier in October 2015, we reported that Sony had confirmed that select models in its Xperia lineup would jump straight from Android 5.0 Lollipop to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, bypassing Android 5.1.1 Lollipop in the process. One of the five smartphones that was set to benefit from this was none other than the 6-inch Xperia C5 Ultra. The software update for the Xperia C5 Ultra comes close on the heels of the Xperia C4 Dual and Xperia C4 getting updated to Android Marshmallow as well. The current update for the Xperia C5 Ultra is for the regular and dual-SIM variants of the handset. The build of the update for the single-SIM model that bears the model number E5506 is 29.2.A.0.122 and is being pushed out in Latin America. The dual-SIM model E5533 is getting updated to build 29.2.B.0.122 and this is for the Italian variant of the smartphone. For those wondering what benefits they can avail of by upgrading to the latest software update: "New software updates bring you the latest and improved set of features, functions and security enhancements, allowing you to get the most out of your Xperia device. Updating to the latest software will make your device run faster and smoother, and it's also the quickest and easiest way to solve any potential performance issues," asserts Sony Mobile. To refresh your memory, the Xperia C5 Ultra touts a colossal 6-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The Sony phablet is powered by an octa-core Mediatek MT6752 processor clocked at 1.7 GHz and rocks 2 GB of RAM. The Sony phablet also offers support for 16 GB of on-board storage, which is expandable to a maximum of 200 GB thanks to a microSD card. The handset may not be waterproof, but it is scratch-resistant. The device's primary and secondary cameras both have 13 megapixels. It also packs in a 2,390 mAh battery. Thanks to the latest update, Xperia C5 Ultra users will finally be able to enjoy popular Android Marshmallow features such as Doze Mode and Google Now on Tap. Whether the update brings soft charging capabilities to the Xperia C5 Ultra, like it did for some other Sony Xperia devices, is unclear. Since the update is being pushed out in phases it could take a while before it hits your device. Ensure that you have at least 500 MB free memory and 50 percent battery charge before updating your handset. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Nokia researchers have reached internet speeds of up to 1 Terabit per second, which is about 1,000 times faster than the speeds offered by one of the fastest internet service providers in the U.S. Google Fiber offers broadband internet speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second. However, a joint research conducted by Nokia Bell Labs, the Technical University of Munich and Deutsche Telekom T-Labs claims to have achieved broadband speeds of 1 Tbps. To put this in perspective, users will be able to download the entire Game of Thrones series in just one second in HD quality if 1 Tbps broadband internet speed is available. The researchers will be showing off how such high speed is achieved over fiber connection with the help of a technique called Probabilistic Constellation Shaping, or PCS. "To guarantee a high customer experience for future services we need optical transmissions with increased capacities, reach and flexibility over deployed fiber infrastructures. Deutsche Telekom provides a unique network infrastructure to evaluate and demonstrate such highly innovative transmission technologies for example," says Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, Director Technology Telekom Deutschland and CTO Deutsche Telekom. The researchers explain that PCS changes the probability with which constellation points the alphabet of the transmission are used. The researchers say that all the constellation points are traditionally used with the same frequency. However, PCS uses constellation points with less amplitude more frequently than ones with higher amplitude to transmit signals that, on average, are more resilient to noise and other impairments. A spokesperson from Nokia Networks told ZDNet that the testing reached 1 Tbps internet speed on a round trip between the cities of Stuttgart and Darmstadt in Germany. The same speed was also observed between Nuremberg and Stuttgart. The joint research has also recorded internet speeds of 0.8 Tbps between Berlin and Stuttgart. The need for higher speed internet connection has been growing in the last few years. Companies such as Google Fiber are offering 1 Gbps of internet speed, but the connection is available only to a small number of users in limited geographical territories. Google Fiber is deemed one of the fastest internet service providers in the U.S. However, other internet service providers would want to match or exceed the speed offered by Google Fiber. The latest research from Nokia is an indication that faster internet speed is on the way. The research testing results are great news for internet users in the country, but they may have to wait for such speeds to be made available to customers. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the 1 Tbps internet speeds were achieved in "real-world conditions," according to Nokia. Photo: Dennis van Zuijlekom | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Alien hunters claimed to have spotted what appears to be a snake or a worm-like creature slithering between the rocks on planet Mars in a NASA rover photo. Alien hunters said there is sufficient evidence to prove that higher life forms are present on the Red Planet but NASA scientists are denying it. Scientists have explained that a phenomenon known as pareidolia could help explain why people keep finding mysterious objects such as statues, lizards and mermaids in Mars photos. Pareidolia occurs when the brain recognizes a familiar pattern or object even though it is not there. Conspiracy theorists are not fully convinced by this explanation believing that NASA is making a coverup of alien life on Mars. Some, however, believe that the space agency is on its way to making a full disclosure of the truth saying that NASA scientists are likely preparing to make a full disclosure as hinted by the recent announcement of the discovery of flowing liquid water on the Red Planet. UFO chasers believe living creatures thrive on Mars but they are often overlooked despite that they are in plain sight in photos taken by NASA's robotic probes. They explained that one possible reason why it is difficult to spot life forms on the Martian surface is that Martian life comes in forms that are not familiar to humans. The newly found Martian reptile, claimed to be capable of surviving the harsh environment of the Red Planet, is just one of the hundreds of discoveries that UFO enthusiasts claim to have spotted. The find, however, had some conspiracy theorists question the authenticity of NASA's works in Mars. Earlier this month, NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover sent photos of stunning layered rock formations at Mount Sharp's Murray Buttes region. The probe has been gathering data on the surface of Mars and has already gathered evidence that show ancient lakes on the planet would have made it possible for microbes to thrive if Mars hosted life. Some conspiracy theorists, however, think that photos taken in Mars were actually taken on Earth. They raised questions surrounding NASA's Mars missions saying the discovery of Earth-like species in Mars photos provides proof that NASA's rovers are not on the Red Planet but in a secret location here on Earth. "I'll give you a hint, there is no rover on Mars," said conspiracy theorist secureteam10 on YouTube. "These photos are taken in the desert. Likely in Nevada where area 54 is located." 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. General Motors announced that the price of its widely anticipated electric vehicle (EV), the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt, will start at $37,495. That figure is more than the cost of the upcoming Tesla Model 3 EV, which is poised to roll out in 2017. Now, one would probably recall that GM has promised that Bolt's price tag will hover below $30K. The company could be credited for fulfilling this pledge only if a federal tax credit is factored in. The government currently institutes a $7,500 tax credit when consumers purchase an electric vehicle. This means that the Bolt EV will only cost $29,995. Unfortunately, the federal credit only applies to consumers who have paid at least $7,500 income tax. It is also important to note that there are states that offer similar credit incentives such as Colorado and Louisiana. In addition, there is a limit to the number of qualifying vehicles. For example, GM or Tesla could run out of tax credits for reaching the cap. The previously cited price tag is applicable to Bolt's base model, the LT trim. Its higher-end variant will be sold for $40,905. The price difference is attributed to all the bells and whistles that will come with the Premier model such as the 10.2-inch touch screen, heated leather seats, fancier audio system, bigger-capacity battery, more safety features and a 360-degree camera system, among others. Bolt's standard features include a rear camera and a steering wheel paddle, which recharges the battery every time the driver hits the brake. "Value is a hallmark for Chevrolet, and the pricing of the Bolt EV proves we're serious about delivering the first affordable EV with plenty of range for our customers," Alan Batey, president of GM North America, told CNN. The Bolt's slightly higher price tag, especially when compared to the upcoming Tesla competitor, should make sense once consumers find out that it will be the first EV to achieve more than 200-mile range within the EV sold under the $30K price segment. Tech Times earlier reported that, on a full charge, the Bolt is capable of covering up to 238 miles. Tesla's Model 3, on the other hand, will only be able to manage 215 miles. This is a significant 10 percent range difference. Another important factor in this comparison is the fact that Bolt will beat the Model 3 to the market. It will begin rolling out later this year whereas the Tesla EV will only begin production next year. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new study by the American Cancer Society has ruled out concerns that vasectomy causes prostate cancer. In addition to cancer, other dominant concerns related to vasectomy are excessive pain, anxiety about the success rate, workability and anxiety on what would happen to one's sex life after surgery. The new findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, rules out all previously cited correlations and fears that had linked vasectomy with prostate cancer. A previous research by Harvard scientists in 2014 had cited the high risk of prostate cancer in the aftermath of a vasectomy. Next to melanoma, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the United States. For the study, cancer epidemiologist Dr. Eric Jacobs and colleagues at the American Cancer Society examined a vast sample of more than 7,000 cases of prostate cancer deaths. The new review had nearly 10 times more cases to examine than the 2014 study, which looked into 800 prostate cancer deaths. The American Cancer Society researchers also analyzed data from 363,000 men above 40 years old who participated in the Cancer Prevention Study II. Of that number, 42,000 had a vasectomy. The new study focused on 7,400 prostate cancer deaths that took place during the span of the Cancer Prevention Study II, a period of 30 years. None of them gave any lead that vasectomy was a catalyst for cancer. The result annuls the fear that the vasectomy snip is fatal and it may invite cancer of the prostate. Noting that vasectomy is an inexpensive birth control method, Jacobs, the study's lead author, said nobody should be discouraged. "The overall weight of all of the evidence is that vasectomy is unlikely to meaningfully increase risk of any type of prostate cancer," he said. According to medical oncologist Dr. Sumanta Pal, the new study mitigates concerns that vasectomy would trigger the development of prostate cancer and lead to death. Vasectomy is a birth control method practiced by men where the vas deferens, the tubes that sperm pass through from the testicles, are cut, sealed or clamped. As a result, the sperm doesn't mix with semen during sex. The vas deferens tubes are in close proximity to the prostate gland. Hailing the new study, Charlotte Bevan, a professor at Imperial College London, said the big size of the sample strengthens the credibility of the study. At the same time, ignoring the findings of the previous study would be a risk, she said, as the scale of the 2014 study offers good insight. Photo: Aja M Johnson | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. "The Brazilian people will vote for a project through which democracy will win," the Workers' Party leader said. | Read More 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. Last month's devastating floods could mean an uptick in the West Baton Rouge housing market if flood victims look to replant roots on drier land. Housing experts have said there will be population shifts as folks who lost their homes look to buy new ones in neighborhoods that didn't flood, and West Baton Rouge Parish President Riley "Pee Wee" Berthelot said that could likely put his parish on top of a lot of people's lists. "It's no guarantee, but I'm thinking we should," Berthelot said. "There's this perception, when you look at maps showing flooding, that we hardly got hit." Berthelot's executive assistant, Jason Manola, added, "We had some sporadic flooding but nothing like you saw over in other parishes where you could literally paint a brush over entire areas." Only 40 homes in West Baton Rouge sustained flood damage. Berthelot suspects things remained relatively drier on the west side of the Mississippi River because of a good drainage system and its geographic location. "We don't take a lot of water the other parishes do because we're kind of isolated. So water doesn't travel the way it did over in Ascension and Livingston," Berthelot explained. "And any flood water up north from the Pointe Coupee Parish and False River area pretty much dumps into several bayous and big canals, which flushes it out before it hits us." So, could the parish's lucky outcome in the historic floods entice flood-fatigued victims to migrate into West Baton Rouge? Berthelot seems to think so. Parish officials have projected they'll issue about 200 building permits this year for new housing. It'll be the most they've processed since 2006, when West Baton Rouge saw a housing boom following Hurricane Katrina. That year, the parish issued 220 building permits for residential housing, according to a 10-year analysis. On average, the parish issues about 150 permits annually, according to the report. Manola, who also serves as president of the parish's School Board, said the school system has already welcomed about 75 students from neighboring parishes that were hit harder by the floods. "These are mostly kids who are living temporarily with folks over here," he said. "In order for them to enroll, they have to show they have some type of temporary residency here in West Baton Rouge." More rooftops is one thing parish officials have said could lead to the much-needed commercial development West Baton Rouge currently lacks. The parish's economic experts have struggled to attract retail and other high-end commercial entities into the area because not enough people call West Baton Rouge home. The 2015 Census estimate pegs the parish's population at only 25,490, up from the 2010 Census figure of 23,788. The parish's traffic woes don't help, either. "Traffic is becoming our biggest hindrance now," Berthelot said. Any new residential development would only add to the daily congestion commuters traveling across the Interstate 10 Mississippi River Bridge into East Baton Rouge and adjoining parishes face every day during peak travel times. Which is why West Baton Rouge hopes to spend the next 10 years focusing its residential growth in the north end near the Erwinville and Chamberlin area. The parish recently unveiled its 2016 Master Plan for residential and commercial growth over the next 10 years. The plan highlights several "village centers" where parish leaders hope to spark more concentrated residential development. Berthelot said focusing on new subdivision construction in the northern end of the parish wouldn't exacerbate traffic issues since those new residents would likely use the Highway 190 bridge to traverse the Mississippi River. "Right now, everything is just funneling down to the I-10 bridge," he said. "Twenty-five percent of the land south of the Intracoastal Canal holds about 43 percent of our population." Berthelot says families considering a move to West Baton Rouge in the wake of floods are likely people who don't have any ties like schools or jobs looming largely in their decision about where they call home. "I'm expecting us to be in the top 10 percent when it comes to residential growth in the 2020 Census," he said. A Baton Rouge woman who pleaded guilty last year to a second-offense DWI that occurred a decade after she ran over and killed a toddler in a stroller while intoxicated is now free from court supervision, her attorney said Monday. Sheri McElveen, 56, was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison, but state District Judge Tony Marabella gave her credit for both the time she served after her March 2012 arrest and the time she was under a probation officer's supervision. McElveen, who underwent substance abuse treatment following the most recent incident, walked out of the 19th Judicial District Courthouse on Thursday a free woman. "She's just made a complete turnaround," John Calmes, her lawyer, said Monday. "She's a different person." Calmes said be believes her 2012 case was handled properly and fairly. Back in December 2002, a pregnant Rochelle Prestly and her 11-month-old daughter, Taleya, were returning home from a Christmas program at Westdale Elementary when an intoxicated McElveen ran into them on a College Drive sidewalk, authorities said. Taleya, who was in a stroller, was killed. Her mother was injured but survived and later gave birth of a healthy child. McElveen, whose blood-alcohol content was 0.27 percent, did not stop after hitting the woman and her daughter. A motorist noticed a stroller lodged under the bumper of McElveen's car and called 911. He followed her and led officers to her. A blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent is considered presumptive evidence of drunken driving in Louisiana for those 21 and older. McElveen pleaded guilty in 2003 to vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular injuring and hit-and-run driving. She ended up serving a year behind bars and also spent time in a halfway house. She also was on probation for five years. In the 2012 case, State Police said McElveen was drunk when she crashed head-on into a tow truck on Airline Highway near Barringer-Foreman Road on the afternoon of March 6, 2012. McElveen was driving on the wrong side of the road's median. She suffered minor injuries. The truck driver was not hurt. A trooper smelled alcohol on her breath, but McElveen denied she had been drinking, prosecutors said. She refused to submit to a blood sample. Baton Rouge General Medical Center personnel found a bottle of Taaka vodka in her underwear while examining her at the hospital. Leaders of the U.S. Senate and Congress continue to try to work funding for Louisiana's flood recovery into legislation that will prevent a government shutdown, but no deal has been reached as the clock winds down. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said the major sticking point on Tuesday was an effort to also add funding for Flint, Michigan's water crisis to the stop-gap spending legislation, essentially tying its fate to the relief for the catastrophic floods that left 13 people dead and thousands displaced in Louisiana. "The Democrats have been explicit. They want to link Flint to the flood aid," Cassidy said Tuesday evening. So far, Republicans have opposed the Flint funding, Democrats argued. Cassidy said he believes the federal funding to help address Flint's drinking water contamination issue would have a better chance of passing when Congress returns in December for a so-called "lame duck" session after this fall's elections are decided. He said he's been actively working his colleagues to try to uncouple it from flood relief. "Flood funding is still very much in the negotiations," Cassidy said. "People want to move forward on it, there is just no indications yet that the Democrats are ready to even if that means denying relief to flood victims who are still mucking out their homes." The Senate on Tuesday evening voted to advance a "shell" version of a short-term funding bill, but it remains to be seen whether the flood relief funding will make it into the final version. "We are still in discussions on (the stop-gap funding legislation)," U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, told reporters on Tuesday. "I think we are close to finalizing an agreement that we can go to the floor on." McConnell noted that negotiations on the short-term funding measure, formally called a continuing resolution, have "taken a little longer than I anticipated." It must be approved by the end of the month to continue funding government through later this year, when a longer-range funding measure can be crafted. The continuing resolution is seen as the fastest avenue to get that money back to the state, though it could ultimately be delayed until December if an agreement isn't reached in the coming days. "There is bipartisan support in Congress for a flood relief package to assist Louisiana residents," Gov. John Bel Edwards' spokesman Richard Carbo said Tuesday night. "Gov. Edwards is continuing these conversations with members of Congress, including the Louisiana congressional delegation. We're hopeful that assistance will come sooner, rather than later, but are confident that help is on the way for the people impacted by this flooding." Edwards, a Democrat who took office in January, has made two separate trips to Washington to lobby Democratic and Republican leaders of both chambers for the federal flood relief package. He and the state's DC delegation have said they are united in pushing for some funding before Congress recesses later this month. President Barack Obama has come out in favor of a more than $2 billion Louisiana aid package, which would be used for housing and infrastructure needs, among other recovery efforts, including paying down Louisiana's share of costs already taken on. Why Louisiana leaders remain optimistic about federal flood aid chances Louisiana leaders say they remain optimistic that the state is close to securing a federal r But U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer confirmed on Monday that the conflict over funding for Louisiana was linked to funding for Flint's water crisis. Louisiana is not resolved because (Republicans) want to do Louisiana, we want to do Flint, the New York Democrat was quoted as telling Politico and other outlets. They dont want to do Flint. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said that the issue remained unresolved Tuesday afternoon and he feels that there is a pressing need to provide assistance for Flint. "(Republicans) are bound and determined to give nothing zero to the people in Flint," Reid said. "We have been trying to fund Flint for eight months now. They are still drinking water out of bottles, children are still being poisoned and the Republicans have refused to do anything." Cassidy said he is confident that Louisiana will get a flood aid package either before Congress recesses or when it returns in December. He said there is also a chance that it could come partially now, with other parts later. "For folks who are struggling now, the same amount of money has a greater impact now than it does later. That's what I'm stressing to people," he said. Cassidy said he worries that flood victims currently deciding whether to stay and rebuild their homes in Louisiana will tire of waiting before Congress acts. "That's where this can truly have an impact," Cassidy said. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission When it comes to news stories, the Cain family is the gift that keeps on giving. As for family members themselves, well, they just keep on taking. Former Angola warden Burl Cain stepped down last year amid reports that hed entered into improper business deals with friends and relatives of favored inmates. His daughter-in-law Tonia Cain, the former business manager at Avoyelles Correctional Center, is under grand jury investigation for allegedly ordering employees to alter records showing $30,000 was missing from clubs that were supposed to help inmates rehabilitate themselves. And Tania Cains husband, Nate, Burl Cains son and the former warden at the same prison where his wife worked, faces two administrative charges of aggravated malfeasance and a criminal probe into possible theft. According to a search warrant, the couple is suspected of using state funds to purchase personal items such as furniture and firearms supplies. Now comes word that Nate Cain, just 49, has snagged himself a lifetime pension payout of $3,581 a month, whether or not hes convicted of wrongdoing, all because he avoided expected termination by taking early retirement and getting a doctor to declare him disabled. Unlike the nepotism that he clearly milked throughout his career, Cain did not appear to be taking advantage of any special treatment in claiming the disability payments. Officials at the state employees retirement system say he appears to have met the standard criteria. As for his specific ailment, well, his lawyer cited medical privacy and wouldnt say, other than to describe his medical issues as an an ongoing problem in his life. How very generous of Louisiana taxpayers to be there with a solution, particularly after all theyve unwittingly given him to date. As a long-unformed U.S. Senate contest enters the homestretch, its safe to say that weve wandered a very, very long way from where U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, one of 24 candidates, hoped the conversation would be. When youre still trying to make a first impression on voters outside your congressional district, lets just say that its not good thing when your name comes up in a new book about the suspicious deaths of eight prostitutes, released by a major publisher less than two months before Election Day. Its particularly not a good thing when that book is sensationally titled Murder in the Bayou, and it contains a chapter describing how a now-former aide ran the quaintly named hotel, the Boudreaux Inn in Jefferson Davis Parish, where the prostitution ring was centered. And when, by the way, author Ethan Brown quotes unnamed sources alleging that you were a well-regarded client of several prostitutes who were later killed, even as he acknowledges that theres no reason to connect you to any of their deaths. Congressman Charles Boustany blames John Kennedy for spreading prostitute-involved claims U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany on Wednesday blamed State Treasurer John N. Kennedy one of his And its definitely not a good thing when the whole drama takes place in the midst of a campaign to replace someone whose reputation was permanently marred by his own prostitution scandal. So lets make one thing clear: Charles Boustany is not David Vitter. One key difference is that, unlike the retiring senator hes hoping to replace, Boustany didnt build his career as a zero-tolerance scold. Since well before his phone number was discovered in the records of a Washington, D.C. call-girl ring in 2007, Vitter had nurtured a holier-than-thou reputation, particularly on ethics and so-called family values. His 1998 op-ed piece calling then-President Bill Clinton morally unfit to govern, dredged up and widely circulated nine years later, led to inevitable and entirely appropriate charges of hypocrisy. A more important distinction is that, with Vitter, we knew that at least some of the accusations were true. Ever since his own scandal broke and right through his failed run for governor last year, Vitter has pushed back on specific reports involving New Orleans-based prostitutes. But from the day the news came out, it was undeniably clear that hed strayed. And indeed, Vitter refused to answer questions about his involvement with the DC operation, confessed only to having committed a serious sin and, legalities aside, brushed off the very questions hed raised about Clinton and declared it a private matter. But while he was never criminally charged (even though his name did appear on a witness list), Vitter never came out and denied that he had been a client. He couldnt, after having been caught red-handed. Unlike Vitter, Boustany can deny the allegations, which he adamantly does, and which other news outlets, including The Advocate, have not been able to independently confirm. In a recent conference call with reporters, he deemed the books contents despicable lies and complete tabloid nonsense, and sought to shift the spotlight to one of his main rivals, state treasurer and fellow Republican John Kennedy, by accusing Kennedy of spreading the allegations. Indeed, Kennedys campaign manager admitted to sending around a news report about the books contents, and Kennedy himself issued an artfully and widely quoted statement that denied spreading details even as it managed to do just that. +2 John Kennedy wont stop pressing prostitution claims involving Charles Boustany State Treasurer John Kennedy said he wont back off asking about allegations that his oppone I want to be very clear that my campaign played absolutely no role in creating this story alleging Congressman Boustanys sexual relationships with prostitutes that were later murdered, his staffs alleged involvement in running the bar and hotel where this illicit behavior took place, or publishing the book 'Murder in the Bayou' written by Ethan Brown and published by Simon and Schuster, the statement said. Kennedys comment, and the hint of gloating behind it, may well alienate some voters even as it reinforces his opponents troubles, but the fact is Kennedy is not Boustanys main concern here. Hes stuck with the reality that voters may well never learn the underlying truth, and that the suspicion itself could be enough to make voters feel uncomfortable and opt for one of the other many candidates on the November primary ballot. Others may simply ignore the allegations, and its even possible that some will actually feel for the guy, since he has no real way to disprove them. But under any of those scenarios, there really isnt much more Boustany can say, other than to keep on trying to convince them that hed do a good job in the Senate and that he deserves the benefit of the doubt. A heavy-haul truck carrying furniture for south Louisiana flood victims arrived Tuesday in Lafayette, the first of at least eight deliveries from manufacturers across the country that are donating tables, beds and other items lost last month. To receive the aid, victims are required to fill out an application which can be requested by emailing floodaid@voagbr.org and have a FEMA number associated with the mid-August flooding, organizer Rae Gremillion said. "We're trying to make it where people who have been really impacted get something," said Gremillion, who is with the Greater Baton Rouge-Acadiana Volunteers of America. Tens of thousands of Louisianans were flooded from their homes and work places when the skies dumped two to three feet of rain, swelling rivers in southeast, south-central and southwest Louisiana. Many of the victims need furniture but cannot afford to refurnish, Gremillion said. Gremillion said the applications already are pouring in, with the number at 350 and climbing. All applications are due by Oct. 7, and will be screened by VOA staff to determine who gets what furniture. Those selected need to provide transportation and labor to load and haul the goods from a warehouse located at 1811 North University Ave., off Renaud Drive in north Lafayette. "This program is open to anyone in the (Louisiana) community who lost their furniture due to the recent floods, but there is a limited amount of furniture that will be available," Gremillion said. Distribution will start soon. Those selected will be given a pick-up time and date in late September and October, and they will not be able to choose which items they would prefer. The effort was hatched by Baton Rouge native Triche Leander, now a senior vice president at North Carolina furniture maker Caracole. It is being administered by the Acadiana-Baton Rouge branch of Volunteers of America with help from other nonprofits. +5 Contractors and hopeful workers sign up for flood contracts Hundreds of contractors signed up this week to take part in the initial phase of government- Leander said she watched and monitored the mid-August event from afar. "When all the flooding happened, we were following it on social media because we have friends and family in Baton Rouge and in Denham Springs," she said. Then her son traveled to Baton Rouge to help. "He called and said, 'Mom, you have no idea what it's like. This is horrible,'" Leander said. Then a friend from south Louisiana asked on social media if anyone knew anyone in the furniture industry who could help. "She said, 'These people have lost everything,'" Leander said. "I said, 'You know, there is something I can do.'" She discussed what her company could contribute with Caracole chief executive Scott Smith, then asked the whole industry for help in the trade publication Furniture Today. Other manufacturers located in California and Minnesota answered the call, and will send truckloads in the next days and weeks. Leander said that over $1 million in furniture has been pledged, and a financial tally on what the long-haul trucking firms and Lafayette warehouse owner pitched in has not been completed. Gremillion said her organization tried to lock down a warehouse in the Baton Rouge area but could not. "So we decided to take it on here (in Lafayette)." Editor's note: This article was changed on Sept. 21, 2016, to note that the CEO of Caracole is Scott Smith. The ideas had been taking shape around the dinner table, at scheduled meetings or impromptu huddles in the kitchen, even as text messages and food pictures fired off from around the globe. Emeril Lagasse has been thinking about his next New Orleans restaurant for years, and he's been gathering inspiration and field-testing flavors along the way. Meril, which he named for his 11-year-old daughter, will finally open Saturday (Sept. 24). Meril is a chef-driven neighborhood restaurant. It's a departure from the famous chef's high-end dining destinations, and this more casual approach is evident across the operation, from the big bar designed for anytime visits to the menu of small plates and tasting boards built for sharing and sampling. But even before construction was underway on Meril's space in the Warehouse District, a world of possible flavors were sifting down from Lagasse to the chefs tasked with developing the new restaurant. As Lagasse fixated on a new dish or even an individual ingredient, his chefs got to work interpreting them for Merils menu. The result is a mix of comfort food from close to home and far afield, all informed by an adventurous palate and a well-used passport. Freewheeling flavors This takes the shape of pasta and Vietnamese spring rolls, shaved Iberico ham, the pride of Spain, and flatbread with mortadella and chiles cooked in a wood-burning oven. It's Korean short ribs and spicy Mexican corn from the Japanese-style robata grill, and it's made-to-order ice cream produced lickety-split by a specialized Pacojet machine. This is me evolving as a chef, as a restaurateur, Lagasse said during an interview in Merils soon-to-open dining room. Its the things I've learned in my travels, it's the love of my family, the dishes we share together and enjoy. That's what I want to bring to people here. Meril has also been a collaboration, one that shows both the intense focus the chef brings to his projects and the team approach that brings them to life. That explains the turkey necks. Wilfredo "Will" Avelar is chef de cuisine for Meril. The 32-year-old New Orleans native came up through the ranks in Lagasse's company before being tapped to lead Meril's kitchen, and he's spent months on menu development for the new project. His marching orders were to be creative, keep it soulful and get diners craving more. Turkey necks, Avelar decided, had the kind of full-throttle, sauce-on-your-hands appeal to sync with that spirit. He was puzzling over how to personalize the dish when he thought of sofrito, a potent Latin American sauce, and a particular recipe hed picked up from an in-law. He cooked a sample for his boss, Chris Wilson, culinary director for Lagasse's company. Wilson's eyes lit up. With a phone call, Wilson tracked down Lagasse, who was at lunch nearby. Avelar whipped up a fresh batch, ferried it over to Emerils Restaurant and offered Lagasse a taste on the spot. He gave the nod, and just like that, one dish was down, said Avelar. Then it was just 50 to go. The neighborhood niche A new Emeril Lagasse restaurant doesnt come along very often in New Orleans. The last time one debuted locally was 1998, when the chef re-made the old Delmonico on St. Charles Avenue. Meril will be his fourth New Orleans restaurant, along with nine others under his umbrella in Las Vegas, Orlando and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. "It's been a long time since we've opened something new and fresh in New Orleans, so we started thinking outside of how we usually do things, said Lagasse. It was clear that this new restaurant would have to fill a different niche. Emeril's Restaurant, the chef's flagship, is just two blocks away. It is high end in every regard, including a price range where most entrees are over $30. In contrast, no dish on Merils opening menu breaks the $20 mark. About half are under $10, though as small plates it will take a few of these to compose a meal. The casual approach registers in other ways. Emeril's Restaurant has won the Grand Award from Wine Spectator magazine, but its bar stocks just a handful of bottled beers. Meril, meanwhile, is Lagasse's first New Orleans restaurant with draft beer, with 10 taps pouring a list of all-local brews. There are playful touches, like a cotton candy machine in the kitchen and chocolate-dipped waffle cones for the specialty Pacojet ice cream. And there are practical ones too, like outlets lining the bar for diners to recharge phones during a multi-tasking meal. Each part of Meril's plan entailed a decision, and Lagasse was in on just about all of them. That started with architect meetings when Merils building on Girod Street was down to dirt floors. It led to the murals of fish and ducks in flight from artist Landon Lott that now adorn the brick walls. And it even came down to the wood boards and enamel bowls on which Merils food is plated. Lagasse is hands-on, and those hands are restless. People think a guy like Emeril is some restaurant mogul who presses a button and another restaurant opens. But its not like that at all. Its a very long, engaged process, said Wilson. "Eat the world," and bringing it back home For all that Lagasse has tasted and created in his culinary career, the chef still grows downright giddy when some exotic ingredient turns up or an age-old cooking technique is revealed. Thats why the timing of Merils development was so key to how the new restaurant will function and taste. Lagasse recently logged some pretty epic mileage for his new Amazon web series, Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse, which debuted earlier this month. In each episode, he travels with another famous chef to learn a global cuisine on its home turf. As the production schedule progressed, the tenor of Meril menu ideas flowing back to Wilson and Avelar would shift. The phone would ring, and if I knew Emeril was in Cuba with Aaron Sanchez, well, wed be getting a Latin idea, said Wilson. Oh, chef is in Sweden with Marcus Samuelsson? We got an idea for open fire cooking. One find was colatura di alici, a traditional anchovy sauce from Campania that Lagasse first tasted while traveling in Italy for Eat the World with the acclaimed baker Nancy Silverton. At Meril, it imbues a gnocchetti dish with its briny essence. A soup dumpling inspired by Lagasses trip to China with chef Mario Batali is still in development, but it could surface on future menus here. So could plenty of other dishes under this wide-open approach. We stopped trying to put a label on what Meril is, said Avelar. Its not a French restaurant, or a Japanese restaurant or an Italian restaurant. Its an Emeril restaurant. Meril 424 Girod St., 504-526-3745 Opens Sept. 24 Sun.-Thu., 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Harry Morel, a former district attorney for St. Charles Parish, La., arrives with his attorney Ralph Capitelli, right, at Federal Court in New Orleans, Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Designer Yumi Morrissey uses her own photos shot around Canberra to design fabrics for each of her collections, and has previously featured Parliament House, the Civic fountain and autumn leaves . The new fashion collection from local label Zilpah Tart, titled Skyline, features exactly that but with a Canberra twist. A T-shirt dress from Zilpah Tart's latest collection featuring the wind turbine pattern. The full collection will be debuted at Fashfest. Credit:Yumi Morrissey But it doesn't mean our nation's capital can't put on a show in the sky. Canberra's not particularly known for its skyline it doesn't quite have the same glamour as Manhattan or London. This time around, a sunset, wind turbines and the popular balloon festival have made the cut. "The sunset print is actually a photo that I've taken from the front steps of my house [in Flynn], so we have a nice view of the Brindabellas out of my window, and we get amazing sunsets in summer," said Morrissey. "Then the blue wine turbine print, I first tried to go out to Lake George, but it's hard to get a close-up shot there because they're so far away. So I drove out to Crookwell, and they have wind turbines right up close to the road and there's a really good lookout where you can get much closer pictures." For the final photo, Morrissey got up before dawn and attended her first Canberra Balloon Spectacular. She turned the final image, which also features the Telstra Tower and National Museum, into a kaleidoscope pattern for the fabric. The designs will be launched at next week's Fashfest, at one of the Friday night shows on September 30, and will be available online the next day. Canberra's academic community has welcomed a landmark study to determine the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment on campus. The study, commissioned by Universities Australia and undertaken by the Human Rights Commission, will interview thousands of students at 39 institutions with many already reporting allegations of rape and abuse. Canberra's academic community supports a landmark effort to document sexual abuse on campus. Credit:Louie Douvis Students at the Australian National University will be presented with the survey this week with commission president Gillian Triggs to speak at a student-led event on Tuesday night. ANU Pro Vice-Chancellor professor Richard Baker said the university supported the event and had organised support support services for any students who found it distressing. A loophole in taxation law could mean thousands of Canberrans may have been incorrectly charged GST when they bought a unit off the plan. A class action is being mounted against several property developers for the refund of GST included on the purchase price of new residential units in the ACT. The law of supply and demand clearly shows whether consumers' demand has been met. Credit:Glen McCurtayne IMF Bentham confirmed that, along with law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth, it was investigating cases where developers charged buyers GST-inclusive prices, despite advice from the Australian Tax Office that no GST was chargeable because of a quirk in the legislation. The advice related to an obscure ruling from 2010 when the Federal Court found that units constructed on land subject to a long-term lease were not considered "new residences" under the law and therefore should be input taxed. The biggest problem facing ACT education is the ever-widening gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students, according to Trevor Cobbold, the national convenor of Save Our Schools. According to his analysis of NAPLAN data from 2015, indigenous students in Year 9 are about three and a half to four years behind students from high-educated parents across all four domains. Students from low-educated parents are about two to three years behind. Trevor Cobbold, of Save Our Schools, says the biggest problem facing ACT education is inequity, Credit:pennybradfield@gmail.com "I think it is a major concern that we have a high degree of inequity in education in the ACT," Mr Cobbold said. "And by that I mean relatively high proportions of low socio-economic status students and indigenous students not achieving national standards and very large gaps between the average scores of high SES students and low SES students. The lengthy vacancy of Black Mountain Tower's restaurant floor and concerns about refurbishment delays are raising questions about its future as a public venue. The restaurant floor has been closed for more than three years after a legal battle over safety concerns and rundown services ended with a confidential settlement, and with Alto Restaurant closing in February 2013. A image of a fiery sky as the sun sets over the Telstra Tower. Credit:Bremer Sharp It came after the restaurant's owner commissioned a building report that found outdated services posed serious health risks, the revolving floor controls were unsafe and the airconditioning and sewerage pipes were in poor condition. A paper trail shows the building manager was also concerned about the elevator report and that action had been taken on only one recommendation of a 2003 fire engineering analysis and risk assessment by Warrington Fire Research. Former Credit Suisse vice-president Darren Thompson has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of insider trading after his jogging partner was jailed for 17 months. Mr Thompson, 39, of Sydney, is accused of using his senior position at the investment bank to procure trades in seven different Australian listed companies through close friend Michael Hull. Darren Thompson was the vice-president of Credit Suisse Management Australia's investment banking department at the time of the alleged trades, ASIC said. Credit:Bloomberg Mr Hull was sentenced to 17 months in jail in June after pleading guilty to insider trading charges. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges Mr Thompson persuaded Mr Hull to buy shares in several companies based on information he was privy to at the time. The fallout from the ASX's shambolic start to the trading week has deepened with the federal government and market leaders demanding an explanation. Normal trading was restored on Tuesday after a hardware failure one day earlier forced a late start and an early close of business and an inability to open the full market. "It was a very serious issue [Monday] and ASIC will be investigating," federal Treasurer Scott Morrison told 2GB radio. "They'll be doing that review and they'll be reporting back to me on this issue. This was a very unfortunate incident. But we do have a right to be free from discrimination, and it is an important one. Members of the majority might not understand how valuable this right is to minorities, having never truly understood how discrimination can cut to the very core of a person's sense of self. This is why freedom of expression is not absolute anywhere in the world, even where the right is granted to citizens. Speech can wound. Freedom from discrimination is a necessary shield. We don't actually have a comprehensive right to freedom of expression in Australia. In fact Australians don't have many human rights at all. While we've signed on to all of the major international human rights treaties, the absence of human rights legislation means that protections are generally haphazard or non-existent in Australian law. At first blush one is tempted to like the idea of conservatives fighting for the protection of human rights, given it is generally considered the purview of the left. It's great to see that freedom of expression is considered such a priority by some hard right MPs in the new federal Parliament. Twenty senators have signed on with South Australian Liberal Cory Bernardi to amend section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act he thinks the need to protect this right is so urgent that he is willing to break ranks with his own party to do it. So Senator Bernardi and fellow fighters for freedom of expression should step away from section 18C. If they are genuine in their concern about this right they must focus on the way government is preventing free speech about its own activities. Attempts to keep the suffering of asylum seekers and refugees in immigration detention out of the public eye, for example, might be seen as undermining freedom of expression. It is hard to know what is happening, especially in hard-to-reach places like Nauru and Manus Island. A few brave whistleblowers have revealed widespread abuse and despair, and been investigated by the Australian Federal Police and/or lost their jobs as a result. When revelations such as rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of children, women and men have come to light, the government has responded by casting doubt on the veracity of the claims. Instead of investigating the allegations, it investigates the whistleblowers. Dr Peter Young, psychiatrist and former medical director for mental health in immigration detention, became the most senior figure to blow the whistle when he described the treatment of detainees as "torture" in 2014. Two years later, it was revealed that he had been investigated by the AFP for speaking about what he saw, because of "comments attributed to him being highly critical of [the immigration department] and IHMS in their handling of asylum seeker medical care". His phone records were accessed, and AFP files released about their investigation note that, "Dr Young's phone did not identify contact with any media outlets or journalists during the period surrounding the publication of the media articles", indicating they were looking for evidence that he had such contact. That is, they were looking for evidence that Dr Young had been seeking to exercise his right to freedom of expression by publicising what he had seen. If revealed today, the repercussions for Dr Young could be much more severe. The Australian Border Force Act, enacted last year, includes a penalty of a two-year prison term for any worker in immigration detention who reveals what they have seen at work. This penalty could be applied to a worker making similar revelations to Dr Young's, if they were made now. While no one has yet been charged under this law that we know of, it is clear that the threat hangs heavily over a lot of workers. Doctors for Refugees are so concerned about how this could affect their ability as doctors to do their jobs, they have launched a High Court challenge, arguing that the act infringes their constitutional right to communicate. A lot of us need to talk about our work to be able to do it properly. We have ethical obligations to ensure we do our best by our client, and we want to do the best job that we can. If you work in immigration detention, however, asking advice or just sharing gossip could get you two years in gaol. Manus Island is even more clear cut: PNG is closing the camp as being in violation of the national constitution, and Dutton has revealed absolutely no strategy for the men still held there. See, once someone is deemed a refugee, the government has all sorts of legal obligations. The only options Dutton has are 1. voluntary return to country of origin, which none of the men are taking; 2. voluntary settlement on PNG, which neither the men nor the PNG government have any enthusiasm for; or 3. settlement in Australia, which Dutton keeps incorrectly insisting isn't an option. And that's a problem for Pete, since he screwed up the laughably idiotic settlement deal that Scott Morrison set up with Cambodia, where the country took $55 million from Australia, temporarily settled five people (four of whom left), and then said, "thanks for the money, we're not taking any more of your unwanted humans, buh-bye." Maybe Scott spilled champagne on the contract? So you can understand why Dumpling also declared that "who migrates to this country and the circumstances under which they do so has more than an economic impact", since the economic impact of offshore detention has been staggering. Like, around $3 billion a year's worth, which is a lot of staggering. And yet, despite the incredible amount of money the government - and by extension, you - have given Transfield to carry out its stellar work not-preventing rapes, assaults, self-harm and suicide of those ostensibly under its care, it is now getting out of the gulag biz. That's because a hasty rebrand as "Broadspectrum" didn't bolster the company's reputation or stock price and meant it couldn't hold off a hostile takeover by Spanish infrastructure conglomerate Ferrovial. "Mutual obligation can be very successfully applied to greater effect, as we have seen with the obligation to vaccinate children," Mr Porter said on Tuesday. The Social Services Minister, Christian Porter, said the program demonstrated how people's behaviour could be changed with a financial incentive. The Turnbull government is considering linking welfare payments to school attendance based on its highly successful "no jab no play" program. Social Services Minister Christian Porter with his son Lachlan and Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer with her daughter Olivia at the ministerial swearing ceremony in July. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Since the program was introduced, immunisation rates have increased across the board for one, two and five-year-old children. For the first time, five-year-old coverage rates are now over 93 per cent, the highest ever. Mr Porter said that particular program was so successful because it was carefully targeted and based on thorough research. "What I'm proposing, simply, is that there are other areas where if you had the same stringency of design, it's quite possible that you could have also very good results. I must say that one of them, to my way of thinking, is the linking of payments to school attendance," Mr Porter said. "That's been mulled over for a long time but with the sort of data that we've got available, and the ability to track longitudinally success rates on a range of measures, I think these things are worth looking at." The Turnbull government is considering a radical shake-up of Australia's superannuation system that would pit banks and industry funds against each other for the right to manage the deposits of every new entrant for at least two years. The shift, detailed in an issues paper released by the Productivity Commission on Tuesday, would centralise the decision about which default fund new employees were placed into, taking it out of the hands of employers and making it the result of a national tender. Calculations by the Grattan Institute suggest it could slice $1.5 billion per year from the fees charged by default funds and put downward pressure on the fees charged by other funds. Treasurer Scott Morrison has asked the Commission to examine the idea of a formal competitive process, commended by the Murray financial system inquiry as likely to reduce the costs for funds and compliance costs for employers. A wrongful-death lawsuit filed on Monday claims that actor Jim Carrey supplied his late girlfriend with the powerful prescription drugs she used to suicide. Cathriona White, 30, was found dead in a Sherman Oaks, California, residence in September 2015. The lawsuit, filed by her husband, Mark Burton, in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Carrey used a fake name and "his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances." Cathriona White was found dead in her Los Angeles home. Credit:littleirishcat/Instagram Burton, through the lawsuit, also alleges Carrey supplied White with prescription drugs despite knowing she was "prone to depression" and had previously attempted suicide. Representatives for Carrey did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "Cancer," she says. "I'm very sick." Now it's her words that take my breath away. Finally I ask her what has happened and she tells me a jumbled tale of having weird symptoms, ignoring them, thinking they were one thing, and then finding out they were something quite different. Cancer. Lymphoma. The kind she will die from soon if she doesn't start treatment. If anyone should not have to get cancer at this very moment, it is my little sister Maggie. After years of being married to the boy next door, the high school sweetheart, the man who has defined her, my sister is quite suddenly a single woman, unattached, on her own. A woman who created a storybook home is now homeless - house-sitting here for one friend, and there for another. When the going gets tough, we like to dance. I take out my iPhone and for the next 10 minutes as we wait for the stem cell delivery, we dance around the room to Billie Jean. Her college-age children are like planets cut loose from gravity. Is it better for Maggie that our mother died recently and our father a few years previously? That she doesn't have to face their worry about her illness, their judgment about her failed marriage? I feel something pulling at me from across the country, but even more so from deep within. As if there is a buried magnet in my body, quivering to the pull of my sister. What is the deepest part of the body? Is it the blood? The bone? The marrow of the bone? I don't even know what that means: the marrow of the bone. I will find out later. September. Here we are again, in the hospital, ready for the transplant. It has taken Maggie longer to arrive here than we thought it would. Two weeks after my cells were harvested in May, and just a day before she was scheduled for the transplant, the cancer broke through the chemotherapy and began spreading again. Maggie's summer was a haze of full-body radiation and more and stronger chemotherapy - strong enough to assault and destroy all of her bone marrow. Every few weeks she landed back in the hospital with infections and close encounters with the terrifying nearness of death. But eventually the cancer was beaten back and Maggie was free of infection and ready for the transplant. After all the complex treatments she has received, the setup for the transplant seems low-tech, even anticlimactic. Just Maggie, in a bed, hooked up to fluids. The administering doctor explains the procedure. "In a few minutes," the doctor tells Maggie, "your sister's frozen stem cells will be wheeled into the room. We'll thaw them here, in a warm water bath. Once thawed, I'll extract five million of the cells with this." She holds up a large hypodermic needle. "And then I will push them into your vein," she says, examining the central catheter in Maggie's chest. We wait for more information, but the doctor has finished her explanation. "That's it?" I ask. "That's the transplant," she says. "The whole process will take about 15 minutes." "Then what happens?" Maggie asks. "Well, it's really quite miraculous," says the doctor."Once your sister's stem cells enter your bloodstream, they know where to go. They have a chemical homing signal that directs them to the bones. And then, over time, they engraft in your marrow and start to replenish your blood. "You can think of them like salmon that instinctually swim upstream to spawn. Salmon swim for the headwaters. Stem cells swim for the bones. It's as if they remember where they came from and are looking to return home." The doctor sounds like a narrator in a National Geographic film. The doctor leaves to oversee the transport. The band of nurses circles around Maggie in the bed. One who has cared for her during many harrowing stays in the hospital is also with us. "So what really happens?" Maggie asks the nurse. "It's not really as simple as that, is it?" "Well, that is actually what happens," the nurse says. "We'll transfuse you with millions of new stem cells. You may feel a little woozy, maybe a little nauseous. But that will last just for a few minutes. That's it. It takes about 12 to 14 days for the cells to engraft and start producing new blood cells. It's afterwards - over the next months - that you'll have some hurdles to get over." "I don't want to hear about them right now," Maggie says. "Right now I want to dance. Who has music?" "You want to dance?" the nurse asks, regarding the tiny, emaciated, bald woman in the bed. "It's something we do," I say. "When the going gets tough, we like to dance." I take out my iPhone. The only danceable music I have is Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. It will do. And so for the next 10 minutes as we wait for the stem cell delivery, we dance around the room to Billie Jean. Several nurses watch from the doorway. This is probably the first time a patient and her family, all wearing masks and protective clothing, have danced to Michael Jackson while waiting for a bone marrow transplant. Maggie dances like a funky little dervish, somehow managing to look sexy at 41 kilograms. There's a passage in Toni Morrison's book Beloved where Baby Suggs preaches to freed slaves going out into a dangerous world. We have to love ourselves first, she tells her people. You can't count on anyone else if you don't love yourself first. "In this here place, we flesh," she says. "Flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard." She lists all the bodily things they must love: their guts and blood and bones. "The dark, dark liver - love it, love it and the beat and beating heart, love that too. More than eyes or feet. More than lungs that have yet to draw free air. More than your life-holding womb and your life-giving private parts, hear me now, love your heart. For this is the prize." I watch Maggie dancing, dragging the IV pole around the hospital room. What courage she has shown as she's learnt to love herself - body and heart - even in the midst of cancer's assault. She's loved her flesh. Even as it has drooped and burned and ached and aged. Islamic State militants who have enslaved, murdered and raped Yazidi women and children must be brought to justice, no matter the price, international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney said on Monday. Clooney, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, is on a mission to prosecute the Islamist group through the International Criminal Court for their crimes against the Yazidi community. Amal Clooney: "I cannot feel free while thousands of other girls like me are still captive." Credit:Getty Images She announced in June she would represent Yazidi women in Iraq who have been victims of sexual slavery, rape and genocide by Islamic State militants, also known as ISIS. "It's been harrowing to hear the testimony of girls as young as 11 and 12 talk about what's happened to them. And still we haven't been able to do anything about it," she said in an interview with US television broadcaster NBC on Monday. The process for negotiating a new workplace deal for hundreds of public servants at Canberra's Parliament House has collapsed and must begin again, staff have been told. More than 800 workers at the Department of Parliamentary Services, who have been waiting since 2014 for a new enterprise agreement, were told on Monday that their bosses were going back to the drawing board on the bargaining process. Canberra's Department of Parliamentary Services has abandoned its enterprise agreement talks and must begin again. Credit:Karleen Minney The news comes as the building's maintenance workers threaten to walk off the job over what they say is a threat to their working conditions and entitlements. The process at Parliamentary Services is the latest government department to fall victim to the fall-out from the Uniline decision fo the Federal Court which found a failure to comply with a key technical requirement will render the whole bargaining process null and void. The killers sat in a silver Subaru WRX for three and a half hours, waiting for their target in a suburban Sydney street, a court has heard. And when they saw Ali Jammas come out of his Abbotsbury house to collect his wheelie bins, one of them got out of the car and ran towards him. The accused murderer Mahmoud Barakat (second from left) leaves the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday. Credit:Louise Kennerley Mr Jammas was on the phone and dragging the bins up the driveway when six shots rang out in Thorpe Place. Four of the bullets hit Mr Jammas, and he managed to crawl into his house before he collapsed. When Jade Patterson tried to ring her boyfriend during an argument on a Friday afternoon, she says someone else answered the phone. It was one of the men who would allegedly later torture and kill her partner Dane McNeill, 20. Dane McNeill's mother Rebecca McNeill, with his girlfriend Jade Patterson outside court Credit:Ben Rushton "Where's Dane?" she said she asked. Mr McNeill's alleged killer Haysem Charbaji told her he was down the road at a pub. The devastated mother of a man whose body was found on rocks in Sydney's northern beaches at the weekend has pleaded for anyone with information to come forward, saying: "I need more closure on what happened to my boy". Friends and family have paid tribute to Ryan Foster, 26, after the popular Avalon surfer's body was found at the bottom of a cliff at Careel Headland Reserve on Saturday morning. Ryan Foster, 26, is believed to have slipped and fallen to his death on Careel Headland Reserve. Credit:NSW Police A man on a passing boat is understood to have called police about 10.15am to say that he could see someone lying on the rocks about 50 metres away, not moving. When police arrived they discovered Mr Foster's body. Police believe Mr Foster, who was known to his friends as Rizza, may have slipped and accidentally fallen over the cliff top to his death, but the exact circumstances of what happened and what he was doing in the lead-up to that fall are not known, a NSW Police spokeswoman said. Professor David Currow releasing the report at Orange Hospital on Tuesday. Credit:ABC News 24 In August, Professor Currow delivered scathing report into Dr Grygiel's prescribing at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney found St Vincent's Hospital misled the public and the government over the chemotherapy dosing scandal. A senior staff member resigned over the issue. Dozens of previously unidentified patients underdosed by Dr John Grygiel face uncertainty. Credit:Joosep Martinson Dr Grygiel was a fly-in, fly-out medical oncologist in Orange and Bathurst between 1989 and 2012. The inquiry investigated cases of carboplatin dosing between the end of 2010 and March 2013, noting pharmacy records prior to 2010 no longer existed. The inquiry found no evidence of a documented rationale for the dose reductions. Oncologist Dr John Grygiel. During his interview for the inquiry, Dr Grygiel indicated he sought to reduce toxicity in his more frail patients, and that every patient had signed a consent form for chemotherapy. The inquiry found none of these consent forms in the medical records. In one instance, when a pharmacist queried a dose, Dr Grygiel wrote in an email "tell them to mind their own business". But the inquiry was also critical of the WNSWLHD. "[T]his issue should not be characterised only as an issue about an individual's clinician's prescribing," the report read. "It is clear to the inquiry that there are issues relevant to the LHD." Governance issues had allowed the practice to continue, including a lack of escalation processes, the LHD's failure to engage effectively with Dr Grygiel and no evidence of systems to ensure protocols were adhered to. The inquiry did not have access to all the oncologist's prescribing, specifically for the oral prescription chemotherapy drug capecitabine, which is available from community pharmacies. "The problem was because Doctor Grygiel was working as a private doctor with just a room in the hospital he wasn't on the staff and his prescriptions as I understand it went to local pharmacists to be filled," said Health Minister Jillian Skinner on Tuesday. The inquiry planned to analyse PBS data to capture the prescribing information. Professor Currow said the number of patients affected could rise as more records are found. "We expect that that number wil rise but it will rise modestly from here. It's quite possible [it could rise by one third]," he told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. Ms Skinner said NSW Health would implement all 16 recommendations in the report. "The NSW Government will allocate $6 million over three years to roll out new software in public hospitals to ensure chemotherapy prescribed in electronic prescribing systems is delivering evidence-based treatment. This will allow clinical practice to be monitored, with particular emphasis on any changes in the first doses of chemotherapy. "In addition, $1.5 million has been allocated to enhance rural cancer services in Western NSW Local Health District," Mrs Skinner said. The under-treatment of chemotherapy patients in NSW hospitals is the subject to a parliamentary inquiry, amid warnings that improper treatment could be found to extend to hundreds more patients. The state government and Mrs Skinner, had resisted calls for a special commission of inquiry but the upper house agreed in August to instead initiate a select committee to inquire into the treatment of patients of Dr Grygiel and that of another Sydney oncologist, operating at Sutherland and St George Hospitals. Opposition health spokesperson Walt Secord said the report as incomplete. "This report raises more questions than answers and the families of patients in the Central West deserve to know the whole picture not just a part of it," he said. "It beggars belief that in more than a quarter of a century of practice just 28 patients were found to have been affected. Furthermore this report fails to tell us what has happened to those patients." Greens health spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham accused the health minister of downplaying the issue. "At every juncture, this scandal as grown, more patients are impacted and the scope of the investigation has proved to be too narrow," Mr Buckingham said. "The report released today has found serious and alarming clinical governance issues in the NSW Health system, including a failure to keep adequate records and important clinical protocols being ignored. "It is wrong for Minister Skinner to try to wash her hands of the actions of Dr Grygiel simply because he was a private practitioner, when the report makes it crystal clear that this is not just about one bad doctor; it is about the governance of the NSW Health system of which she is in charge," he said in a statement. In a statement via is lawyer, Dr Grygiel said the report confirmed that many medical oncologists depart from the eviQ dosage guidelines in the best interests of their patients, and that some of the guidelines don't reflect current medical practice. Pauline Hanson's claim that Australia is "at risk of being swamped by Muslims" has been recognised by the NSW upper house as causing "deep hurt" and undermining "a harmonious and respectful multicultural society in Australia". The motion, put by the Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi - the first Muslim woman elected to any Australian parliament - also saw the upper house condemn "all forms of bigotry, racism and Islamophobia". The motion was unanimously passed by the Legislative Council on Tuesday. In response, a spokesman said Senator Hanson had no comment but added: "We'll organise some tissues. Whether we gift wrap them or not is another matter". An allegedly unlicensed driver has been charged over a head-on crash that claimed the life of a motorcyclist north of Brisbane. A 43-year-old died when his bike and a car collided along Ann Street at Kallangur about 2.30pm Monday. A police spokesman alleged the white station wagon had crossed to the wrong side of the road and said police would be investigating whether speed was a factor. Police alleged the station wagon went on to crash into a black utility parked in a nearby yard, which was pushed into a fence, causing significant damage. A search and rescue operation has been launched for a young family missing for more than 12 hours after setting out on a boat in the Torres Strait. The five-metre Wahoo vessel left Yam Island about 1.30pm Monday and was expected to arrive at Mabaduan Village, about 70 kilometres away in Papua New Guinea by 4pm. Police are involved in the search for a missing family. The boat never arrived and police started asking around the surrounding islands after being notified late Monday night but hadn't found the vessel. A helicopter and police vessel The Handren was involved in the search overnight, to continue on Tuesday morning. Queensland Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls has deflected criticism from former Liberals heavyweights over scrapping the controversial Strong Choices campaign. It comes after former Victorian Liberal leader Jeff Kennett called the Palaszczuk government "unfit to govern" and said Mr Nicholls' opposition was "weak", "wrong" and "lemming-like" for scrapping the Strong Choices privatisation scheme. Mr Kennett made the comments after the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) was on Monday involved in a successful $9.7 billion bid to acquire a 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne. QIC was acting as part of a consortium comprising the Future Fund, Global Infrastructure Partners and OMERS. A whale has been freed after a rescue mission in Moreton Bay on Tuesday morning. One boat could be seen trying to help the large animal at Shorncliffe, which was reportedly trapped in a net. A media spokeswoman said either the Department of National Parks, Sport and Racing or Environment and Heritage Protection was working to help the whale. About 8.30am, the animal was freed, making its way out to sea, according to traffic reporter Dave Andrews. As founder of a globally minded luxury watch company based in Canberra, Wes Knight knows about the tyranny of distance. "Getting in front of retailers would be easier in a bigger city like Sydney or Melbourne and it forces us to be creative," said Knight, whose company ships to more than 50 countries. Erroyl produces mid-range luxury watches. Knight is leading a growing number of Australian exporters who use social media as a marketing tool, after the company launched in early 2015 with a Kickstarter campaign. According to a new study by DHL, the number of Australian exporters who use social media for marketing has jumped dramatically, from 38 per cent in 2015 to 68 per cent in 2016. A family was forced into hiding for six weeks while police investigated a Melbourne chiropractor who was planning to have one of them kidnapped and killed, a court has heard. Adrian Oorloff, 48, has pleaded guilty to inciting an undercover police officer to kidnap Richard Macko, his fiancee's ex-partner and his former patient. Credit:Scott Barbour Police told Mr Macko and his siblings they had 15 minutes to pack their bags and leave their home last July, the County Court heard at a pre-sentence hearing for Oorloff on Tuesday. They later learnt that Oorloff was under investigation over the kidnapping plot. Prosecutor Amina Bhai said Oorloff had revealed his plans to an undercover police officer posing as a kidnapper for hire. More than 200 tonnes of dirt and rock are at risk of falling over the Great Ocean Road in a landslide, as already saturated parts of Victoria brace for more rain. Authorities are closely monitoring a large crack that has developed in a parcel of land near Paddy's Path, a walking track between Wye River and Separation Creek. About 211 tonnes of earth - 600 cubic metres, or the equivalent of about 180 truckloads - could come crashing down the hillside. Emergency services are assessing whether nearby homes would be affected if this happened. A band of foster parents, already volunteering to care for Perth's most vulnerable children, have banded together to face the loss of a vital donations service and they need help. The 'one-stop-shop' of donated clothing and other basic supplies foster carers turn to in their hours of need has lost its venue after the state association had to move to smaller premises. The store took donations such as clothes, nappies, toys and books, and some larger items such as cots and prams, that foster carers could turn to in a pinch. "We don't always get money for setup, cars, prams basically you have to provide everything," said one single foster mum, who could not be named to protect the identities of her foster children. You have to wonder sometimes about why some of Australia's places were named that way. How does New South Wales resemble the old South Wales? When it came to Western Australia and South Australia, did they just run out of ideas? Australia has some odd places to visit. Credit:ST&G Australia is chock full of odd names and a new map is aiming to, well, put them on the map, especially the naughty sounding ones. The Marvellous Map of Actual Australian Place Names, created by Strumpshaw, Tincleton & Giggleswick (ST&G) shows all of the nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more place names dotted right around Australia, with our state of WA having some of the best: "I'm just a simple person." That was the response from a man being praised for withdrawing enough money from an ATM to allow a homeless stranger to buy herself a plane ticket home to her family in New Zealand. Footage of the random act of kindness, which occurred in Northbridge on Saturday night, has been watched more than 20,000 times since homeless advocate, Siham Carollisen, uploaded the video to her Brothers & Sisters Perth Facebook page. "Tonight on our weekly run through Perth, we were sat with our homeless friend Jess," Ms Carollisen posted. A WA mining company's plan to build a sky-rail to transport iron ore across the Pilbara has been given the green light by the Environmental Protection Authority. The 330 kilometre rail, proposed by Mineral Resources Limited, would run from the Iron Valley project, north-west of Newman, to Port Hedland port. An artist's impression of the proposed sky rail. Credit:Mineral Resources Limited It would be the first of its kind in the Pilbara, and would cross through more than 20 mining tenements - including rail lines owned by Fortescue Metals Group, Roy Hill and BHP Billiton - four native title claims, seven pastoral leases and Crown and state government-managed land. The construction and operation of the bulk ore transportation system rail was proposed under a State Agreement with the Department of State Development. A Salvation Army Major from WA is in critical condition in a South African hospital after being bashed in Malawi. Major Geoff Freind from the Salvo's Western Australia Division was ministering in Malawi when he was attacked on Saturday. Major Geoff Freind pictured with his wife Lyn. Credit:@CitySalvos A post to the Facebook page of City Salvos Church Adelaide is calling for people to pray for Major Freind's recovery. "Please pray for our friend and officer colleague Major Geoff Freind who is in critical condition awaiting surgery in a Johannesburg hospital," the post said. The slides. The monkey bars. The swings and the roundabouts. Most of us had a favourite part of the playground when we were kids: but for children with physical and intellectual disabilities or restrictions, playgrounds can often be places they can't access or embrace. Pia's Place will have large, easy to access swings let all children play with their friends. Credit:Touched By Olivia To change this, there's a growing trend for modern playgrounds to be inclusive spaces where everyone can have fun and enjoy every part of it. This broader thinking is the foundation of Pia's Place, a new project to build a specially designed inclusive playground in Perth's Whiteman Park, a recreation and conservation reserve near the Swan Valley. The day has come for WA's Premier Colin Barnett. Credit:Philip Gostelow He is expected to defeat the challenge from former transport minister D ean Nalder, who is accusing him of erratic and illogical leadership during a period of economic turmoil and job insecurity after the mining boom. Colin Barnett's eight-year tenure as WA premier will be challenged in a spill on Tuesday. Transport minister Dean Nalder is expected to challenge Colin Barnett Credit:Emma Young Mr Cowper wants a leadership change and said in a statement on Monday that it was clear to him Mr Barnett would not honour his previous commitment to step aside if it was in the best interests of the party. The divide within the West Australian Liberal Party's 46 MPs is deepening, with some backbenchers saying they'll vote against Mr Barnett in a spill, but all of his cabinet colleagues have vowed to support him. Mr Barnett's deputy Liza Harvey led the party's remaining ministers as they fronted the media en masse in a show of unity on Monday. "We are mortified at the conduct of Mr Nalder and Mr Simpson, and we all 100 per cent unequivocally support the premier," Ms Harvey said. The world has been waiting for the day the United Nations put forward a plan on how to deal with the year-long global migrant crisis. With bated breath, we all waited for a moral compass, guidance on how to solve the world's worst people displacement since World War II. The day arrived today, but sadly without much of a concrete plan or a binding blueprint. According to the UN, "world leaders came together at the United Nations General Assembly [on Monday evening NY time] to adopt the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which expresses the political will of world leaders to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale". The issue of what to do about the world's 65.3 million displaced people occupied the minds of the 193 state members present, but activists and human rights advocates worry that what they were able to agree on falls short of what is needed. It comes as an Afghan-born Muslim American citizen, Ahmad Khan Rahami, was arrested and charged in connection with the bombs found in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, helping to further fuel the anti-migrant radicalism proposed by US presidential candidate Donald Trump (he is now advocating racial profiling) and making it even more difficult for moderate voices to find their level in the United States and elsewhere. Don't miss that report from our correspondent Josephine Tovey in New York and analysis by our chief correspondent Paul McGeough in Washington. London: The criminal investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has pinpointed the exact launch site of the missile that brought it down, a source close to the investigation says. The Joint Investigation Team, including experts from Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, has gathered evidence of the launch site of a standard that could be presented in a potential criminal trial. The results of their investigation will be made public next Tuesday, first of all to the families and loved ones of the 298 people killed in the July 2014 crash, then in a media conference. The investigators are also expected to identify the weapon used to shoot down the plane - however they are not expected to identify who launched the missile. Monks at the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. Credit:New York Times "We had hit a roadblock in terms of technology until recently," said Damian Evans, the archaeologist who heads the initiative. "The vegetation was obscuring these parts of Angkor and other monumental sites. The lidar allowed us to see through the vegetation." The secrets of an empire Monks at the Angkor Wat temple. Credit:Billy H.C. Kwok/New York Times The result, Evans said, has been an unprecedented new understanding of what the Khmer empire looked like at the apex of its power, with lidar-generated maps revealing an intricate urban landscape stretching across several provinces of modern-day Cambodia, along with a sophisticated network of canals, earthworks and dams the Angkorians used to control the flow of water. "It is pretty amazing," he said. "The larger the temples are, the larger the urban infrastructure around it is likely to be, so they weren't lost, in the sense that we assumed that they must be there. But, of course, that is an entirely different thing from being able to see it in incredible detail and how it works and how it functioned, how it evolved, the morphology of these places." A monk in the region of Angkor. Credit:Billy H.C. Kwok/New York Times The group is using the maps to make more targeted excursions into the field, "ground-truthing" the lidar data to ensure that it is accurate and to determine where digging might be useful. On a recent mission, Mackey barrelled down a freshly paved road in a pickup truck driven by Kong Leaksmy. Although the Khmer empire's great stone monuments have endured for centuries, spawning a $US60-million-a-year tourism industry and preserving information about the dynasty of god-kings who ordered their construction, the stuff of everyday life at Angkor, made from wood, mud, thatch and brick, has long since rotted away in the hot and humid climate. Almost nothing has been known about the lives of those who built the temples and served its rulers who they were, how they lived, what they believed. Lidar laser scans of Beng Mealea, Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, temple cities constructed from the first half of the 12th century to the early 13th century. Credit:Damian Evans/Journal of Archaeological Science via New York Times David Chandler, a professor emeritus at Monash University in Melbourne and a leading historian of Cambodia, said the new lidar data was particularly exciting because it was providing more information than ever about how ordinary people lived in the Khmer empire. Historians had assumed that the residents of Angkor existed "these temples certainly didn't get built by themselves," Chandler said and they had cobbled together some understanding of the area's population through inscriptions, notes from a Chinese diplomat who visited Angkor, and a few other sparse clues. Chandler compares the process to trying to understand American history from a small collection of obituaries and Fourth of July speeches. But with lidar-made maps, people who had spent their lives trying to retrace Angkorian history could actually see for the first time an intricate network of houses, gridded streets, canals, bridges and even mud-and-brick palaces. "People imagined it was a city, but they didn't know how to imagine it, because they didn't know what it looked like, Chandler said. "Now they do." "This is where Angkorian research is going to go from now on: research into the people who built the temples, not the people whom it was built for," he added. "It's putting the population of the city back in view." The Greater Angkor Project, a team from the University of Sydney, has been trying since 2010 to identify and excavate ancient mounds believed to have been households in the Angkor Wat compound. When the team started its research, it spent months simply trying to identify where all the mounds were. But after it received preliminary lidar data in 2012, it realised immediately that the mounds were arranged in a tight grid pattern, indicating houses lined along roads, as in a modern city. "Lidar made everything new and exciting," said Heng Phipal, a Cambodian archaeologist who worked with the project. Unearthing ordinary life Since then, members of the project have used lidar to target areas for deeper excavation, unearthing sandstone from the temples that might have been recycled into floors for city dwellers, and analysing a garbage dump on the Angkor Wat grounds full of burned food remains and broken ceramics. They have found some of the first evidence of what Angkorians ate (rice and pomelo fruit) and how they cooked (in earth pots over fires). And they have come to understand that the gridlike pattern inside Angkor is just part of a much larger urban agglomeration, challenging conventional wisdom that the temple cities were discrete and self-contained. "Previous maps only show us different temples they look like different units, where settlements around them seem to be concentrated around these temples but with lidar we know that is not actually the case," Heng Philpal said. "We know it was all inhabited, and the city is larger than expected." Being able to see the true scope of the city has led to discoveries in other areas, too. Lidar has helped find the giant quarry field where most of the sandstone to build the temples was taken from, and has identified mysterious earthen spirals close to Angkor Wat and a few other temples that might have served aesthetic or religious purposes. At a remote but massive temple called Preah Khan of Kompong Svay, which Khmer King Jayavarman VII used as a base to raise an army against invaders from the east, scholars had worked for more than a decade to determine what lay below the surface, with little success. They ultimately concluded that the area was not thickly settled. But the lidar data revealed a dense cityscape that even included the same spirals seen at Angkor Wat, and helped pinpoint areas for archaeologists to dig that had not been looted. In other cases, what lidar has not found is just as revealing. At the temple Banteay Chhmar, on the Thai border, archaeologists had also struggled to find evidence of settlement. The lidar data confirmed this, leading Evans to conclude that it was not the centre of a city but perhaps a temple or a garrison that saw only waves of temporary settlement. Perhaps most crucially, the long-held narrative of the collapse of Angkor is being recast by lidar evidence. Based on stone inscriptions in the temples, scholars have long believed the empire fell in 1431 after its capital was sacked by an invading Thai army, and the population of the city moved closer to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's current capital. But when these areas were scanned, there was no evidence of an influx of refugees. This suggests that while there might have been a political schism in 1431 that induced members of the royal family to move closer to Phnom Penh, the vast majority of people stayed near Angkor and only gradually moved away. This understanding is unfolding day by day as the research continues. At Site 305, for example, Mackey and Kong Leaksmy uncovered bits of water jars, showing that the area included households, and shards of blue-and-white Chinese tradeware dating from after the 1400s. "This helps feed into the concept that Angkor wasn't really abandoned," Mackey said. "When myth becomes such entrenched history, archaeology is a way of challenging the written record, particularly because history is often written by the powerful who give voice to their own agendas," he said. "But the material remains." To Kong Leaksmy, a recent university graduate who used lidar data to write her thesis on a small temple called Banteay Sra, the takeaway was simpler. Grozny: The leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya has marked his landslide re-election this weekend in a manner that somehow seemed befitting. To no one's surprise, Ramzan Kadyrov was ahead with about 98 per cent of the vote after a partial count of ballots from Sunday's election was announced. Rights groups accuse Mr Kadyrov, in power since 2007, of ruling the Muslim-majority republic with an iron fist as a loyal lieutenant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2011 parliamentary elections, about 99.48 per cent of Chechnya's vote went to Putin's ruling United Russia party. Their relationship is not dissimilar to that of a feudal lord and his vassal. Maybe that's what Mr Kadyrov had in mind when he showed up at a ceremony on the evening of the vote clad in a suit of medieval armour, with a conical helmet, a longsword strapped to his waist and a spear in his hand. IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 19, 2016 -- The current-generation Mazda3 has scored dozens of accolades globally, including being named a Car and Driver 10Best-winner every year since its introduction, landing as a top-three World Car of the Year finalist and being named both as an Automobile Magazine "All-Star" and an ALG Residual Value Award winner. For the 2017 model year, Mazda3 returns refined and repackaged with more standard content, including G-Vectoring Control, a Mazda-exclusive technology that uses the engine to refine steering and handling to match the driver's inputs, and enhanced sound insulation to complement Mazda3's redesigned, upscale interior. Mazda3's trim levels have also been simplified, and those seeking the engagement of driving a car equipped with a manual transmission will be happy to discover that the top-level, stick-shift Mazda3 Grand Touring will now be available with the Premium Package and i-ACTIVSENSE suite of advanced safety technologies. Both were previously reserved for Mazda3 models equipped with the available automatic transmission. "We are more than happy to give our customers what they want with greater availability of the manual transmission," said Robert Davis, senior VP, U.S. Operations, MNAO. "Mazda3 has a nearly 15-percent take rate for its manual transmission, with most of those buyers opting for higher trim levels. Where so many competitors have retreated in the segment, we see an opening to engage those who enjoy the driving experience without compromise." As with last year, Mazda3 comes in Sport, Touring and Grand Touring trim levels. But instead of models being designated as "i" (2.0-liter engine) or "s" (2.5-liter engine), Mazda has simplified the lineup with Sport and Touring models being equipped with the smaller engine and Touring 2.5 and Grand Touring models being equipped with the larger offering. Entry Mazda3 Sport models come equipped with a 155-horsepower SKYACTIV-G 2.0-liter engine, paired with either a SKYACTIV-MT six-speed manual transmission or a SKYACTIV-DRIVE six-speed automatic that is newly standard with a selectable Sport Mode toggle switch that recalibrates the transmission for more spirited driving. Additionally, Sport models come equipped with a new electronic parking brake, power mirrors, variable-intermittent wipers, power windows with a one-touch driver's window, power door locks, remote keyless entry, push-button start, and a seven-inch MAZDA CONNECTTM display that integrates Bluetooth hands-free phone pairing and audio streaming as well as HD Radio, USB audio devices, Pandora, Aha and other functions. MAZDA CONNECTTM can be controlled via steering wheel-mounted buttons, voice commands, touchscreen or via Mazda's Commander control knob. Mazda3 Sport sedan models can be further upgraded with the Preferred Equipment Package, which includes 16-inch alloy wheels, heated side mirrors with integrated turn signal lamps, Advanced Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, rain-sensing wipers, automatic on/off headlights, bright beltline trim, premium cloth-trimmed sport seats and satin trim throughout the interior, among other equipment. These features are not available on five-door Mazda3 Sport models except for the 16-inch alloy wheels, which are standard equipment. Mazda3 Touring sedan and five-door models build upon the Sport with Preferred Equipment Package with a new-design 18-inch wheel package, Smart City Brake Support, dual-zone automatic climate control, Mazda Advanced Keyless Entry, six-way power driver's seat with manual lumbar adjustment, heated leatherette front seats and a leather-wrapped shifter knob and steering wheel. Mazda3 Touring sedan buyers can also opt for more features with the Popular Equipment Package that adds a rear decklid spoiler, shark-fin antenna, BOSE nine-speaker Premium audio system, SiriusXM satellite radio with a four-month subscription, power moonroof, overhead sunglasses holder and illuminated vanity mirrors. Where the five-door model diverges is with the Mazda3 Touring 2.5 model, which comes with the 184-horsepower, SKYACTIV-G 2.5 engine and builds on the Mazda3 Touring model to include a power moonroof, sunglasses holder and illuminated vanity mirrors as well. Five-door models add the BOSE Premium audio system with SiriusXM in the Grand Touring trim level. For both the sedan and five-door, all Mazda3 Grand Touring models come equipped with LED fog lights, an analog tachometer, Active Driving Display head-up display, almond or black perforated leather seats and black metallic trim on the grille and front fascia. Additional features include the Premium Equipment Package that adds self-leveling, bi-LED headlights with Adaptive Front-lighting System; LED combination tail lights; LED daytime running lights; steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters on models equipped with the automatic transmission; navigation; and an auto-dimming mirror with Homelink. Building upon the Premium Equipment Package, buyers can select the i-ACTIVSENSE safety suite that includes High-Beam Control, Lane-Departure Warning, new Lane Keep Assist, Mazda Radar Cruise Control, Smart Brake Support and the new Traffic Sign Recognition system. Lastly, the i-ELOOP regenerative braking system is now a standalone option that only comes with on models with an automatic transmission. MSRP2 for all models is as follows: Sedan Five-door Mazda3 Sport 6MT $17,845 $19,095 Mazda3 Sport 6AT $18,895 $20,145 Sport Preferred Equipment Package $1,000 Mazda3 Touring 6MT $20,445 Mazda3 Touring 6AT $21,495 $22,245 Touring Popular Equipment Package $1,500 Mazda3 Touring 2.5 6MT $22,395 Mazda3 Touring 2.5 6AT $23,445 Mazda3 Grand Touring 6MT $23,145 $23,895 Mazda3 Grand Touring 6AT $24,195 $24,945 Grand Touring Premium Equipment Package $1,600 $1,600 i-ACTIVSENSE Package $1,100 $1,100 i-ELOOP (6AT only) $800 $800 The 2017 Mazda3 arrives at dealers starting this week. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at www.mazdausamedia.com. Automotive Hall Of Fame: Why We Should Move To Downtown Detroit Special To The Auto Channel From Automotive Hall of Fame Our motivation for moving to the Motor City On Thursday, July 21, at our 2016 Induction Ceremony, Automotive Hall of Fame President Bill Chapin made the official announcement that the Automotive Hall of Fame is seeking to move from its present setting in Dearborn, Michigan, to a new location within the city of Detroit. "We feel there is a need to develop a visitor destination downtown that will tell the global stories of automotive innovators Chapin said in an interview with The Detroit Free Press. Though Dearborn has been a more than hospitable home for the Automotive Hall of Fame since our current facility was erected in 1997, the present leadership and the HOFs Board of Directors feel that the time is right for the Hall to move to Detroit to become part of the Citys rebirth. In its 77-year history, the Hall of Fame has never called the Motor City its home. After being established in New York City as The Automotive Old Timers, the organization would later move to Washington D.C. and then Midland, Michigan, on the grounds of Northwood University before moving to Dearborn. While moving downtown will certainly allow the Hall of Fame to better leverage Detroits automotive history and heritage, the presence of the Hall of Fame there will provide the City with a premier automotive attraction for car enthusiasts and tourists, something many feel Detroit should have had a long time ago. Moving to Detroit also provides the Hall of Fame with greater marketability than its present location. Our proximity to the Henry Ford Museum and Ford Motor Companys engineering campus created the perception to many that we are associated those organizations, despite not having any such ties. Moving the Hall of Fame to a setting that is not in such close proximity to any particular manufacturer will help eliminate those false connotations and allow the Hall of Fame to stand on its own. While the process for moving the Hall will certainly be a significant undertaking, we feel that the result of our work will finally put the Hall of Fame where it truly belongs. As of this writing, the Hall of Fame has not set a timetable for its relocation nor has a definite location been designated. Our management and Board of Directors are in the process of determining the size and layout requirements for the Hall of Fames new home and are considering a number of different options. If you would like to assist the Hall of Fame in its relocation, please contact Hall of Fame President Bill Chapin by phone at (313) 240-4000 or by email at BChapin@thedrivingspirit.org. Visit The Automotive Hall of Fame Ford Employees On Pace To Set Inventions Record In 2016 +VIDEO DEARBORN, MI - September 20, 2016: When Doug Martin read about a billboard in Lima, Peru, that turned humidity into drinking water for the local population, an innovative idea struck: What if cars could be a source of water? Condensation from vehicle air conditioners, which usually just drips to the pavement below, could be used in much the same way. Martin worked with colleague John Rollinger to bring the idea to life, creating a prototype system that collects, filters and pumps the condensation directly to a faucet located inside the car. Martin and Rollingers innovation is one of a growing number of inventions created by Ford employees in recent years. The increase in innovation as measured by invention disclosures is expected to reach a company record in 2016, topping last years record of more than 6,000. The number of inventions isnt the only figure increasing at Ford; the number of individual Ford employees creating inventions has reached record levels since the start of 2015, with more than 3,500 first-time inventors submitting new innovations. The significant increase in first-time inventors is a result of our push to drive innovation in all parts of our business, said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, product development, and chief technical officer. At the same time, weve ramped up global innovation challenges, where we seek new ideas company-wide and then coupled with input from employees see how we can further those ideas. Ford innovations highlighted today at the companys annual Further with Ford trends conference include a passenger-centric, remote-control SYNC system that could give ride-sharing passengers control of the infotainment screen; and a transportable device that can move people and objects short distances where cars arent accessible. On-the-go H 2 O Martins idea to turn cars into a source of water boils down to the reality that fresh water is a scarce resource. All that water going to waste should be recovered to serve a purpose, said Martin. The real vision is that this idea could eventually help people who dont have easy access to water, in remote locations such as the Australian Outback, for example. Im trying to make my twin daughters proud, and make the world a better place for them. To test his idea, Martin discovered that a car can produce more than 64 ounces of water per hour, the equivalent of nearly four water bottles. Naturally, this means fewer roadside stops to pick up bottled water on a road trip, a nice convenience, along with fewer plastic bottles filling trash heaps. But the benefits extend much further, potentially curbing the global water crisis, which, according to the World Health Organization, affects one in 10 people and leaves hundreds of millions without clean drinking water. Innovation comes easily to Martin, a Ford powertrain controls engineer who holds roughly 70 auto-related patents. After graduating with bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, he came to work for Ford. Hes been with the company for a combined 22 years. This Ford innovator envisions a day in which people might say, I cant believe we used to waste all that water. Phone as car How can we empower the passenger in a ride-sharing service, who typically has little control over the journey? For Fords Oleg Gusikhin, Omar Makke and Jeff Yeung, the challenge could be easily addressed from their experience working with Ford SYNC. By rethinking mobile connectivity from the passengers perspective, we saw how we can use smartphones to give riders control through SYNC without the need to be directly paired via Bluetooth, said Gusikhin. Ultimately, this thinking spawned a new software invention SYNC Remote Control. With the support of Fords Perry MacNeille and Jack Van Hoecke, the idea evolved in a matter of months into a remote function that allows passengers to control SYNC features like radio and climate settings. When a passenger gets into a ride-sharing car, he or she taps a mobile device that automatically opens an app interface that gives him or her control of the radio and climate. Eventually, any controllable feature, like the passenger seat and more, could be added. It works, because it uses open-source software to connect the riders phone to SYNC through the drivers phone without additional pairing. The software includes a translation feature, for when driver and rider dont speak the same language. The rider simply types what he or she wants to say into the phone, and SYNC conveys it in the language of the driver. These features, which help make the ride more enjoyable, hold immense potential for a future of ride-sharing services especially for fully autonomous vehicles where there is no driver. You dont have to talk long to Gusikhin, Makke, Yeung and the support team to tell theyre as excited as anyone about a future in which the smartphone becomes the main way to not only order, but also manage, your ride. Effectively, your smartphone becomes your car, helping personalize and control your journey in a way thats familiar to you. Carr-E Kilian Vas, a Ford systems engineer in Cologne, Germany, knows that last part of any urban commute can be tricky. Youve just stepped off the train, or drove into and parked in the city, and you still need to walk or bike to your destination. So when Ford issues an innovation challenge for a device to help people handle city life and get around town, the forward-thinking Vas couldnt help but answer. For many, his innovation a four-wheeled electric pedestrian assistant called Carr-E is a welcome alternative to getting around the city. Carr-Es multipurpose functionality separates it from other electric personal transportation devices. In addition to carrying riders, Carr-E can be used to transport heavy objects. Users simply place the object on the device and it will follow an electronic transmitter they keep in their possession. Vas was inspired to create the devices compact, circular design when he noticed the empty space inside the spare wheel well of his car. Commuters can easily store it in a vehicle, then pull it out and use it in places where cars arent permitted or practical. Innovation is really important for me, said Vas, who collaborated with colleagues Daniel Hari and Dr. Uwe Wagner, and worked with designers from Ford of Europe and prototyping specialists from RWTH Aachen University to create Carr-E. I was inspired by Fords expansion into both an auto and a mobility company, as well as our founder Henry Fords dedication to transforming transportation. Vas has been innovating since coming to Ford three years ago with a bachelors degree in automotive engineering and a masters in mechanical engineering, both from the University of Applied Science Dortmund. His first innovation at Ford, a head restraint that folds to allow space for a child seat and has foldable wings for napping, was patented. Ultimately, Vas sees Carr-E as one of many solutions for the advanced transportation ecosystem evolving in city centers globally. Exactly seven weeks remain until Election Day, which means I have 14 columns (perhaps a few more) to do my modest part in stopping Donald Trump from being president. Because thats really all this is about. Its so clear. As clear as cyanide. He cant be president under any circumstances. This should be evident to anyone. I understand that there are conservatives out there who despise Hillary Clinton and the things she stands for, and there are some other folks who want a border wall and a Muslim ban and all the rest, and theyll vote for Trump. Theyre 40 to 45 percent. And there are the Hillary supporters,who dont have to be preached to. But what about the people in the middle? Judging from my Facebook feed and other evidence, there are voters out there, swing voters, who (a) dont like either candidate and (b) therefore dont see much difference. I want to address these next 14 columns, in various forms, to them. You can think (a) all you want. But the key thing here is that (b) doesnt follow from (a). Not even close. One candidate is someone youve seen for 25 years, and you may be tired of her and unenthusiastic about her, and you dont like the way her voice sounds, and you believe shes constantly cutting ethical corners. Or you may think even worse than that. Fine. But you do concede shes intelligent and temperamentally within the normal range of presidential contenders. The other candidate is Well, lets just take two things hes said in the last few days, because these two things, setting aside everything else, the making fun of the disabled reporter, the attacks on the parents of a dead U.S. soldier, are themselves disqualifying for someone who wants to lead a free and democratic society. The first was his assertion that Hillary Clinton was initially behind the lie that Barack Obama wasnt born in America. Trump said this last Friday at a press conferencealong with the claim that he, Trump, put an end to birtherism. Both are monstrous lies. Birtherism did start on the left, as The Daily Beasts John Avlon reported back in 2010, by a renegade Clinton supporter who was a more extreme member of the PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) brigade. But as Avlon notes, she didnt start the crusade until after Clinton had already conceded and endorsed Obama. So theres no way this person had Clintons blessing. PolitiFact asked last fall whether Clinton started the birther movement. They answered it was flat-out false. As for Trumps other claim, that he finished the birther accusations, that was an even bigger lie than the bit about Clinton. He was the most prominent person in America who kept it going for years. Watch this CNN report from a few days ago. He kept doing so well after Obama produced his long-form birth certificate in April 2011. More than a year after that, Trump was tweeting things like: An extremely credible source has called my office and told me that @BarackObamas birth certificate is a fraud. OK, swing voter. This is not oh, they all lie territory. Please examine with me the types of falsehoods. Clintons involve trying to explain away or cover up unflattering revelationsshe used a private email for conveniences sake, notably. That is unless you think she lied about Benghazi, which no one has ever proven she did, and if you believe she lied on that one I doubt youre actually a swing voter. So her prevarications are within the standard political realm. Trumps birther lies are altogether different. Here, he is saying precisely the opposite of the truth, imputing to his opponent the thing he himself didand did in plain view of an entire country country that saw the opposite unfold, if it has the capacity to remember, and a free press that is committed to reminding us. That is not in the normal realm. Thats in the Goebbels realm. Its a 2016 American equivalent of the Czechs are the aggressors in the Sudetenland. And on an issue that injected such poison into the body politic. For years. Total lie. That very credible source in that tweet; think that person even existed? The second thing Trump did in recent days was make his second suggestion that perhaps Hillary Clinton should be shot. You remember the first one, when he said that Second Amendment people might be able to do something to block Clinton from appointing judges who oppose gun rights. Of course he said it was a joke. Other supporters said he meant they must mobilize and vote. But come on. Watch the clip. The way he let it hang there. Its obvious what he meant, and it wasnt that gun enthusiasts should hold bake sales to raise money to promote the right to bear arms. He meant maybe someone should shoot her. Heres how naive I am. I thought at the time that that was so beyond the palea presidential candidate in effect calling for his opponents assassination!that Republicans would finally say, OK, enough, and maybe even force him off the ticket. But of course, the Republicans did what they always do. Oh, he didnt really mean that. Well, what do they have to say now that hes done it again? Last Friday, Trump said that since Clinton opposes unfettered gun rights, maybe her bodyguards should be disarmed and lets see what happens. Pretty unambiguous. Was he suggesting that if their guns are taken away, shellwhat? Catch cold? Only one thing correlates to the removal of guns from some peoples hands, and its that the other people get to use theirs with greater impunity. I dont know, swing voter. Dont you find this uniquely disturbing? And yes, I know, Hillary Clinton said a wildly offensive thing about Obama and RFKs assassination back in 2008. It was indefensible. But heres the difference. Clinton instantly apologized and never said anything like that again. It was out of character for her. For Trump, its completely in character. Its so in character that he said it twice. And if it suits him and he feels like it, hell say it a third and a fourth and a fifth time, and the Republicans say "well, he didnt really mean that," and the media will give those lies equal weight to the quotes that are their opposite. Maybe you dont care enough about Hillary Clintons life to be outraged about this. So think ahead to a Trump presidency. Hes capable of saying something similar about anyone who crosses hima liberal judge, a by-the-book bureaucrat, a left-wing academic, whatever. And then suppose one of his followers actually takes him up on it. Imagine explaining to your kids why the president of the United States incited a murder. And then imagine your kids asking if you voted for him, and you explaining that well, before the election, you just didnt see much difference between the two. Theres a world of difference. One candidate is flawed. Even deeply flawed, if you prefer. The other is psychotic. A close look at most great 20th-century novelists and playwrights will reveal lives, for better or for worse, well lubricated with alcohol. Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, Eugene ONeill, Hunter S. Thompson, Tennessee Williams, Ian Fleming, Dorothy Parker, John Cheever, Charles Bukowski, Sherwood Anderson, Walker Percy, James Baldwin, Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene, Jim Harrison The list goes on and on. Prominent on that roll call is, of course, William Faulkner, who would have turned 119 this weekend. For these legendary writers, it became de rigueur to drink, often to excess. Fitzgerald noted that for the American writer, the hangover became a part of the day as well allowed-for as the Spanish siesta. Yet this afflictioner, conditionamong writers goes back to ancient times. It was the great poet Horace (65-8 B.C.) who observed that, No poems can please nor live long which are written by water-drinkers. Faulkner is one of the greatest writers of this generation, penning such classics as The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Sanctuary, Pylon, Absalom, Absalom!. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 and twice won a Pulitzer Prize, in 1955 for A Fable , and again in 1963 (posthumously) for The Reivers. He was born in New Albany, Mississippi, a small town not far from Oxford, where he lived most of his adult life. Faulkner came to personify the Southern Gothic genre of American letters, adopting that dark, brooding, occasionally disturbing, always complex style, redolent of hoary old oak trees and Spanish moss. His novels and stories were consumed with the ideals, reputations, and legacies of families that were falling apart like the decrepit plantation homes in which they lived. Through them, he came to represent the old-line gentleman of the postCivil War Southern aristocracy. A big part of that persona manifested (again, for better or for worse) in Faulkners relationship with good-old Southern whiskey. In his 1927 New Orleansbased novel Mosquitoes, he throws out a fitting rhetorical question: What is it that makes a man drink whisky on a night like this, anyway? There is no such thing as bad whiskey, Faulkner once reasoned. Some whiskeys just happen to be better than others. But a man shouldnt fool with booze until hes fifty; then hes a damn fool if he doesnt. Indeed, the man loved his whiskey. Too much. It became a muse and a constant writing companion. In 1937, he explained his method to his French translator Maurice Edgar Coindreau: You see, I usually write at night. I always keep my whiskey within reach; so many ideas that I cant remember in the morning pop into my head. To some of his critics (not to mention his rivals), this method was a double-edged sword. During an interview with Hemingway during the mid-1950s, when he was asked if he made himself a pitcher of Martinis before each writing session, Hemingway snorted, Jeezus Christ! Have you ever heard of anyone who drank while he worked? Youre thinking of Faulkner. He does sometimesand I can tell right in the middle of a page when hes had his first one. Faulkner did say that civilization begins with distillation; perhaps his writing sessions did, too. He was known to go on long drinking binges where he would lock himself into, say, a hotel room and drink for days straight. While booze may have been Faulkners inspiration, it surely took a toll on his health and years off his life. During a 1937 visit to the Algonquin Hotel in New York, after a days-long bender, he passed out against a steam radiator and severely burned his back. He took the unfortunate incident with his typical sense of humor. His friend Bennett Cerf, one of the founders of book publisher Random House, chastised him: Bill, arent you ashamed of yourself? You come up here for your first vacation in five years and you spend the whole time in the hospital. Faulkner quietly replied, Bennett, it was my vacation. As a young, undiscovered writer, he lived in the mid-1920s in New Orleans, which was then a mecca for young literary talent, sort of a Montparnasse of the Delta. He and his roommate, William Spratling, lived in the very bohemian French Quarter and mixed bathtub gin with Pernod for their drinking soirees. But Faulkner (famously) was primarily a whiskey drinker, be it a fine aged bourbon or a crude jug of corn moonshine. And he knew where to find it, even on a Sunday in a dry corner of Mississippi. Author Shelby Foote had invited Faulkner to attend an observance of the 90th anniversary of the start of the Civil War battle Shiloh, which neither gentleman wanted to do without liquid courage. Foote was at a loss as to how to get a hold of some whiskey, since it was a Sunday. Faulkner, on the other hand, saw a man getting his shoes shined and reasoned, according to Footes recollection in Conversations with Shelby Foote, that anybody getting his shoes shined on Sunday morning would know where it was. Sure enough, when asked where the town bootlegger could be found the man replied, Well, I was fixing to go out there myself. If you could give me a ride, Ill show you the way. And before too long ol Bill and Shelby had themselves a pint of Old Taylor and some Cokes for chasers. Though he wasnt afraid to drink whiskey straight, Mint Juleps cooled him on notoriously hot Mississippi afternoons. So much so, in fact, that Faulkners recipe for the cocktail resides on a typewritten card, next to his metal julep cup on a shelf in his Oxford home. Quite simply, the card reads His recipe was: whiskey, 1 tsp Sugar, ice, mint served in a metal cup. Faulkner also had a special medicinal drink for colder temps, when he or one of his relatives were under the weather. It seems the authors Hot Toddy, according to his niece Ms. Dean Faulkner Wells book The Great American Writers Cookbook, could cure anything from a bad spill from a horse to a bad cold, from a broken leg to a broken heart. Pappy alone decided when a Hot Toddy was needed, and he administered it to his patient with the best bedside manner of a country doctor. He prepared it in the kitchen in the following way: Take one heavy glass tumbler. Fill approximately half full with Heaven Hill bourbon (the Jack Daniels was reserved for Pappys ailments). Add one tablespoon of sugar. Squeeze 1/2 lemon and drop into glass. Stir until sugar dissolves. Fill glass with boiling water. Serve with potholder to protect patients hands from the hot glass. Pappy always made a small ceremony out of serving his Hot Toddy, bringing it upstairs on a silver tray and admonishing his patient to drink it quickly, before it cooled off. It never failed. While raising your glass this weekend to toast Faulkners birthday, ponder a line from his first novel, Soldiers Pay: What can equal a mothers love? Except a good drink of whiskey. Cheers to that. Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old suspect in the twin bombings in New York City and New Jersey that injured dozens of people this weekend, apparently used cellphones to detonate his homemade bombs. That should worry authorities. Its not hard to convert a cellphone into a remote trigger for an improvised explosive device. But it is hardand illegal in most casesto jam cell signals without inflicting extensive collateral damage that could be even worse than the harm a small IED might cause. Jamming technology generally does not discriminate between desirable and undesirable communications is how the Federal Communications Commission put it in a fact sheet (PDF). Use of cell phone jammers poses an unacceptable risk to public safety. Cellphones are basically just small, sophisticated radios. They convert a radio signal into an electrical current and then process that current into sound. Incorporated into a bomb, a cellphones electrical current is enough to jolt a small detonator charge, which in turn can set off the main explosive. Modifying a cellphone into a trigger is so easy that some DIYers rig up old phones to set off fireworks. All it takes is a phone, five bucks worth of parts, and a few minutes of tinkeringplus, for first-timers, any one of scores of easy-to-follow internet tutorials. Working the trigger is equally simple. Just get a safe distance away from your bomb and dial the number of the phone attached to the detonator. Boom. In theory, its a fairly straightforward process to jam a cell signal and thus prevent a bomb from exploding. Cellular jammersyou can illegally buy them online for a few hundred dollarswork by flooding radio channels with jibberish signals, essentially crowding out the particular signal a cellphone is looking for. But cellular jammersany radio jammers, reallyare fairly indiscriminate. Try to jam one phone or a few phones and, in practice, youll end up wiping out communications across a wide area, potentially causing greater insecurity than youre preventing by blocking a bomb detonation. To be sure, cellphone jamming in a small or fixed area can be useful. Many prisons jam incoming signals. The U.S. Secret Service reportedly possesses jammers that accompany presidential motorcades. The U.S. military equips many of its armored vehicles with radio jammers, creating an electronic bubble in which many remotely triggered bombs wont detonate. More powerful airborne military jammers can sweep away signals underneath the emitting aircraft. But jamming cellular signals across a wider area can be highly problematic. For starters, the most modern cellular services take advantage of whats called frequency-hopping. That is, they can rapidly move signals across different frequencies more or less to avoid overcrowding. This complicates jamming. The more a signal hops, the more frequencies youd have to jam. Consider this scenario. Police get a credible tip that a terrorist is planning to detonate an IED by cellphone somewhere. The cops set up jammers across a range of frequencies all over the city, perhaps for hours. Yes, authorities might stop the bomb from exploding. But theyve also jammed 9-1-1 and many of their own communications. Medical emergencies and crimes in progress could go unanswered. Thousands of crises of a personal nature might go unresolved. Business would suffer hugely. Unable to make plans and connections, untold throngs of commuters could find themselves lost or stranded. The military certainly appreciates this problem. Ground convoys must turn off their jammers when they enter bases, lest they shut down the whole bases communications. Airborne jammers require careful coordination with other forces, as their powerful blocking signals could wipe out friendly troops own radios and phones and potentially scuttle delicate battle plans. The risk of collateral damage is one reason why the federal government bans most cellular jamming. Its illegal to sell a cell-jammer in the United States, so most buyers order theirs online from overseas retailersand usually get away with it. The jamming-ban isnt actually new. The Communications Act of 1934 states that no person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under [the Communications] Act or operated by the United States government (PDF). Jammers cannot be marketed or operated in the United States except in the very limited context of authorized, official use by the federal government, the FCC explained in its fact sheet. In May, the FCC fined a Florida man $48,000 for operating a cell-jammer during his commute to work, apparently in order to prevent other commuters from driving while on their phones and distracted. And in March, Chicago cops arrested a man for jamming cellular calls on his daily train ride. He was disturbed by people talking around him, his attorney said. Legally speaking, the Department of Homeland Security or some other federal agency could authorize cell-jamming in support of local law enforcement. Some police departments have been caught jamming signals without federal approval. Devices called stingrays act as decoy cellular towers. Deployed by police eavesdroppers, stingrays can intercept cellular calls for purposes of gathering evidence. But if a stingray is sucking up cell signals, that means callsincluding, for example, 9-1-1 callsarent reaching actual cellular networks. On that basis and others, Georgetown University professor Laura Moy filed a complaint to the FCC over the Baltimore Police Departments use of stingrays. In a clear violation of law, BPD has no license whatsoever to operate its [cellular-site] simulator equipment on frequency bands that are exclusively licensed to cellular phone carriers in Baltimore, Moy wrote. BPD further violates the Communications Act by willfully interfering with the cellular network through its use of [cell-site] simulator equipment. To be clear, local authorities can skirt the 1934 law by simply asking telecoms to briefly shut down cellular service in a particular area, as city officials in San Francisco did in 2011 as they tried to disrupt a planned protest of a police shooting. Voluntary cellular shutdowns arent necessarily illegal, but like jamming, they do run the risk of interfering with emergency responders, business, and travel. So while cellphones have made it easier for terrorists to set off homemade bombs, cellphone-jamming probably isnt the best tactic for stopping them. It almost hurt to watch. On Tuesday morning, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf plunked down in front of the Senate Banking Committee to spend two hours getting barbecued. His company made international headlines earlier this month when news broke that thousands of its low-level employees had opened up additional accounts for customers, without those customers consentthen charged them fees for the phantom accounts. Hillary Clinton has made it a campaign issue, but her response highlights why some progressives feel so conflicted about the Democratic nominee. Shes far and away preferable to Donald Trump, of course, in their view. But theyre still wishing for moreespecially after watching Elizabeth Warren grill Stumpf on Tuesday. Stumpf initially suggested to The Wall Street Journal that a coterie of rogue employees was responsible for the alleged fraud. But when he appeared before the committee, he said he took responsibility for the scheme. Thats where Warren came in. Have you resigned? she asked. No, I have not, he replied. All right, she continued. Have you returned one nickel of the millions of dollars that you were paid while this scam was going on? He hadnt. Warren proceeded to argue that Stumpf himself profited off the controversial sales tactics Wells Fargo used, that he should resign immediately, and that the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission should both criminally investigate him (You can read a full transcript of the exchange at CNBC). The only way that Wall Street will change is if executives face jail time when they preside over massive frauds, she concluded. We need tough new laws to hold corporate executives personally accountable and we need tough prosecutors who have the courage to go after people at the top. Until then, it will be business as usual. And at giant banks like Wells Fargo that seems to mean cheating as many customers, investors, and employees as they possibly can. So Stumpf had a bad morning, and progressives gunning for tighter regulations on financial markets delighted in Warrens questioning. But theres a hiccup: She made Clinton look, well, a little soft. During the Democratic primaries, Clinton faced harsh criticism from progressives for her close relationships with Wall Street bankersand didnt do herself any favors when she said they just liked her because of 9/11. So on Monday, Clinton wrote an open letter to Wells Fargo customers saying she was deeply disturbed by the news and that she thinks the bank should rescind some of the compensation that executives responsible for the fraud received. That practice is called a clawback, and Clintons letter used that term. And they must face appropriate legal consequences if they break the law, Clinton added. Alexis Goldstein of Americans for Financial Reform said Clintons use of the term clawback is a good sign and that she thinks it may be an endorsement on Clintons part of stricter rules regarding executive pay. The amount of the fine by the three regulators, which is $185 million total, should be paid for out of executive bonuses, specifically Stumpfs and one executive, Carrie Tolstedt, Goldstein added. So she said she appreciates Clintons overtures. But the candidate isnt of one mind with Warren on how the feds should respond to Wells Fargoat least, not according to public statements on the matter. Its obviously encouraging that Hillary Clinton has been speaking out and putting attention on this, said Kurt Walters, who directs the Root Strikers Wall Street reform campaign for the progressive group Demand Progress. But Clinton could go further, he added. Its not a terribly politically difficult move to make, he said. It was a little more tepid than I think a lot of leaders have been. Warrens statement, he added, is much stronger than Clintons, he continued. And criminal investigations matter. A lot of American people are hungry for a much tougher method of enforcement, he said. And Clintons promise of appropriate legal consequences might not cut it. ROME The Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos is a living hell even during the best of times. Last April, on the eve of Pope Franciss historic visit, refugees complained to The Daily Beast through the barbed-wire fence that they had no hot water, no toilets and no information about how long they would have to stay. Many aid agencies long ago abandoned the camp to protest the way the refugees were being treated, which only served to make the conditions worse. On Monday night, around the time diplomats in New York were signing a multi-national declaration to make life better for the worlds 21 million refugees, Morias hell became a literal inferno. More than 4,000 refugees had to flee a fire that swept through the camp and raged late into the night, destroying more than a third of the shelters. The fire allegedly was set during a protest to mark a six-month anniversary of their detention in a camp that was built to house perhaps half the number of people there. Nine migrants and refugees were arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze. Everything changed drastically on Lesbos and many other Greek islands last March when the European Union signed a deal with Turkey to trade illegal migrants or refugees for vetted ones. Since then, almost no ones applications has been processed and the only people who have left the island are those deported back to Turkey. Residents have also been staging protests against the prolonged detention of migrants on their once idyllic resort island. Aid workers are often caught between the angry groups, even though they all wish for the same thingthat the migrants and refugees leave the island soon. Rumors among the refugees that they would all soon be deported en masse fueled the frustration, and a late summer windstorm fed the fire. The International Rescue Committees Greek country director Panos Navrozidis warned that Moria should serve as a stark reminder to world leaders that the system is rife with flawed and deeply questionable policies The systems put in place under the EU-Turkey deal to process their asylum claims and determine their future are opaque and inconsistent. Preferential treatment based on nationality has led to tensions within the community, Navrozidis said in a statement. The new pledge signed at the United Nations in New York promises that by 2018 in the signatories would protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status and work towards ending the practice of detaining children for the purposes of determining their migration status. That would be a very big change indeed from the treatment given today. Promises made a half a world away mean little for the refugees, including thousands of children and unaccompanied minors, stuck in Lesbos and other incarnations of purgatory. Only resolve that translates into action will make their hell go away. What do Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille ONeal, Dave Chappelle, Janet Jackson, and even Donald Trumps BFF Mike Tyson all have in common? Under a President Trump, they would all be stripped of certain constitutional rights. And so would approximately 2 million other African Americans. Why? Because they are Muslims. On Monday, Trump made it clear that we need to start profiling Muslims in America. As he told Fox News, political correctness is holding the police back because they are afraid to do anything about it because they dont want to be accused of profiling. Trump added, You know, in Israel they profile. Theyve done an unbelievable job, as good as you can do. Trump calling for profiling of Muslims shouldnt come as a surprise. In January Trump first raised the issue, stating, We really have to look at profiling. We have to look at it seriously. It appears Trump looked and decided he loves it. That means African Americans, who represent the biggest chunk of Muslim Americans, clocking in at one-third of the 5 million to 7 million Muslims in our country, will be subject to profiling under a President Trump. The timing of this announcement is a tad awkward given Trumps planned Fox News Town Hall on Wednesday at a black church in Cleveland that will focus on core issues and concerns surrounding African-Americans. I dont think supporting profiling millions of African Americans is going to play too well there. Now Trump might try to backpedal, as he has done on so many issues this campaign, and tell us he only wants profiling of Muslims born in foreign countries. Heres the problem with that approach: Omar Mateen, the Pulse nightclub shooter, was born in the United States. Same goes for African American Muslim Elton Simpson, one of the two people who attacked the Draw the Prophet Muhammad contest in Garland, Texas, in 2015. Bottom line is that unless Trump caves into political correctness, he will have to stick to his call to profile every Muslim American. So what will life be like under a President Trump for African American Muslims? Will those currently serving in our military, like U.S. Air Force Col. Nashid Salahuddin and the thousands who are U.S. military veterans, have fewer rights? And what about the nearly 1,000 Muslim Americans now serving in the NYPDwill they be profiled by their fellow police officers? Or will they have to profile themselves?! Who knows? But heres one thing Trump doesnt get. Being free from profilingbe it racial or otherwiseis not about political correctness, its about the rights each of us as Americans are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. And its especially alarming when a politician would even suggest profiling African Americans given the sinister history of how that has been used against the black community. Perhaps President Obama was correct a few days ago when he stated that Trump had missed that whole civics lesson about...Jim Crow. Profilingbe it based on race, religion, or ethnicityis patently wrong for various reasons. First, as Farhana Khera, the executive director of Muslim Advocates, explained, Targeting a group of Americans based on religion is unconstitutional. Specifically it violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures. And it violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which promises all Americans equal protection under the law. A federal judge cited those very provisions of our Constitution in 2013 when ruling the NYPDs stop and frisk program was unconstitutional, because it disproportionately affected blacks and Latinos. And in that case the judge only found that the NYPD practice resulted in a policy of indirect racial profiling. In Trumps case it would be direct and unambiguous profiling. And from a practical matter, profiling doesnt work. We saw that when for six years the NYPD engaged in wholesale surveillance of Muslim Americans in New York City, spying on mosques, schools, restaurants, etc. Want to guess how many leads that turned up? Zero. Yep, zip, nada, as Assistant NYPD Chief Thomas Galati made crystal clear. Indeed, profiling is counterproductive in the fight against radicalization. As numerous counterterrorism experts have told me on my SiriusXM show, the most effective way to counter radicalization is by building bridgesnot wallsbetween law enforcement and the Muslim American community. That leads to a working partnership built on mutual respect, not a dysfunctional, adversarial one laced with mistrust. We need more of the former, not the latter, to keep us all safe. Hillary Clinton made that very point while pushing back against Trumps demonization of Muslims by declaring after the Orlando attack, Millions of peace-loving Muslims live, work and raise their families across America. And they are the most likely to recognize the insidious effects of radicalization before its too late, and the best positioned to help us block it. Clearly, if the police have credible evidence, they should vigilantly pursue it regardless of the religion of those involved. No one is asking for special treatment or to allow political correctness to stop the pursuit of potential threats. But no religious, ethnic, or racial group should have their rights stripped away because a few in that community have commited bad acts. As Khera rightly noted, It betrays our true values as Americans when we give into fear and single out a group of Americans for discrimination based on how they look or how they pray. I doubt this matters to Trump. His call to profile millions of Muslim American including African Americans is nothing more than red meat to his base. To the rest of us its more evidence of why Trump should never be elected president of the United States. Have you seen my show? Im never too hard on anyone. Those were the defensive words of Jimmy Fallon, the newly embattled host of NBCs The Tonight Show, after fielding a barrage of criticism that hed taken it far too easy on guest Donald Trump, recently. Fallon, given the rare opportunity to ask his former network-mate Trump anything he wanted (this is, after all, a candidate whos launched a full-scale assault on the First Amendmentbanning numerous outlets from covering his ralliesand hasnt held a proper press conference since July), opted to play with his hair and yuk it up with the demagogue. From a historical standpoint, the interview drew comparisons to racist presidential hopeful George Wallaces appearance on The Joey Bishop Show in 1967. So on Monday night, Fallon did his best to atone for his screw-up by conducting a similarly delicate chat with Trumps decidedly more qualified opponent, Hillary Clinton. After greeting Clinton by donning a surgical mask and applying hand sanitizer, Fallon first asked about the former secretary of states recent bout of walking pneumoniaone that her opponent and his army of fiercely devoted Twitter eggs seized on and criticized ad nauseam.It was crazy for me, because Im used to just getting up and powering through it, and thats what I thought I could do. It turns out I couldnt, so I took a few days off and actually, I think it was good, Clinton said. I got a chance to reflect on this crazy campaign that were involved in and decided that Im going to talk about what I think needs to happen to help people, and try to stay away from all the negative insult stuff that goes back and forth. Then, guest and comedian addressed the elephant in the room: Fallons softer-than-baby-thighs interview with Trump. This is a really consequential electionjust in case you were wondering, quipped Clinton. When Fallon offered that hed had Trump on the show a few days ago, she added, Oh, I heard that, grin and side-eye included. The two then ran down a bit where Fallon went through made-up items that Trump had left in his dressing room after the showincluding a photo of Putin in a heart frame. The most famous bromance going, joked Clinton. Besides me and Timberlake, Fallon shot back. But Justins worthy of your attention. Last I checked, he hadnt killed off his adversaries, replied Clinton, whom Timberlake and his wife, Jessica Biel, recently hosted at their home for a fundraiserreplacing the headline-grabbing Leonardo DiCaprio. Clinton then removed a bag of literal softballs from the Trump found items stash. He left these for you: softballs, she joked to Fallon. No, that was my gift to him! Fallon added. Ill give them to you later in the interview. Once the pleasantries subsided, Clinton went back on-message, hitting Trump for his recentand incredibly lame and unapologeticadmission that President Obama was born in the United States. This came, of course, after Trump led a racist birther crusade against Obama for five years, while also claiming not only that Clinton started birtherism (a lie), but that hed done the president a favor by badgering him into producing his long-form birth certificate (note: Trump still continued the birtherism until as recently as this year). Your former guest, Donald Trump, has refused to actually admit that President Obama is an Americanborn in Americaand for five years hes been hammering in this so-called birther movement, which I think is so sickening, said Clinton. And then he went after a distinguished federal judge because he was born in Indiana of Mexican heritage, called him a Mexican. He went after the Gold Star family whose son was heroically lost in Iraq because theyre Muslims. You just have to take a deep breath and say to yourself, What kind of country do we really want? and I want a country where barriers are knocked down, and little girls and little boys can feel like they can go as far as their hard work will take them without regard to race, and ethnicity, and gender, and sexual orientation, and all of that. Clinton also touched on another NBC snafu: the networks recent Commander-in-Chief Forum, at which Matt Lauers conducted an accusatory interview with her while glad-handing Trump. After the interview, GOP chairman Reince Priebus criticized Clinton on Twitter for not smiling enoughyou know, that thing out-of-touch, sexist men tell women on the street because they feel theyre entitled to female subservience. Its especially tricky for women. It just is, because theres a lot of serious things, Clinton said of being frequently condemned for coming off too hard or too soft. The other night I was on a show and being asked about ISIS and Iran, and I was serious. These are important issues that the country needs to talk about. And the Republicans were saying, Oh, she looks so serious. Well, you dont talk about ISIS with a big grin on your face! Theyre a barbaric, evil group that we have to defeat and wipe out. But it is a constant balancing act. How do you keep the energy and the positive spirit while taking seriously what you need to? Later on, Clinton focused on Trumps supposed pivot under the guidance of Kellyanne Conway, reading from teleprompters and refusing to field questions from the press, thus holding his crazy in check (except on Twitter, of course). Hes trying to somehow convince people to forget everything hes said and done, and I dont think that hes going to get away with that, said Clinton. Maya Angelou has this great line. I admired her so much and I was fortunate to get to know her. She said, When someone shows you who he is, believe them the first time. Jimmy Kimmel may have hosted the Emmy Awards on Sunday, but it was John Oliver who inherited the crown as late-nights newest king. For the first time in more than a decade, neither Jon Stewart nor Stephen Colbert were on the list of nominees for Outstanding Variety Series. Stewart wasnt eligible because he left The Daily Show in 2015, winning the award 10 straight years before passing the baton to The Colbert Report. With so much late-night competition, Colberts inconsistent first year on Late Show just didnt make the cut. Those vacancies left the lane wide open for Oliver, who received his first nomination and first win for HBOs Last Week Tonight, beating out other newcomers to the category such as the instantly-successful James Corden along with previous nominees like Bill Maher, Jimmy Fallon and Kimmel. Following Kimmels loss on Sunday, his longtime nemesis Matt Damon emerged from the wings to heckle him. This is so humiliating, Damon said, casually munching on an apple. You lost and now you have to stand out here in front of everybody, when you probably just want to curl up and cry. Monday night, it was Olivers turn to gloat about his victory to Kimmels face. And he brought his Emmy with him. Congratulations, Kimmel told him, It pains me to say it, but you definitely deserve it. Oliver returned the favor, saying Kimmel does an excellent job as well. Im just so happy to be nominated with so many other great shows, thats the honor, Oliver added, before Kimmel revealed he was reading from cue cards. After a hug and a break, Oliver admitted that he didnt think he would win the Emmy because Im British, I anticipate disaster every day. He even practiced his What the fuck was that?! face assuming he would lose. When Kimmel noted that its somewhat embarrassing that Americans needed someone like the Last Week Tonight host to come over here and teach us about things like the health care system, Oliver said, Its less than ideal. As for what Brits think about his Emmy win, Oliver told Kimmel, No one knows who I am there. Unlike James Corden, who had a successful career in England, Oliver said, I failed my way to America. Mark Burton wants Jim Carrey to surrender his private jet. The reason why is contained in a nine-page wrongful death lawsuit that Burton, the estranged husband of Carreys late ex-girlfriend Cathriona White, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday (PDF). The suit alleges that the Dumb & Dumber star used his immense wealth and celebrity status to obtain the prescription painkillers that White used to commit suicide by overdose last September and then tried to cover up his complicity in her death by sending a bogus text message to his already-deceased ex-girlfriend pretending as though he had misplaced the drugs. Burton further accuses the Hollywood actor of backing out on a promise to pay for Whites funeral expenses after collecting positive media coverage of himself as a grieving, good guy. Where does Carreys Gulfstream V aircraft come into play? Not only is Burton seeking damages, his complaint states that he intends to proceed with a request for the court to take the plane as part of a prejudgment attachment of Carreys assets in order to provide for satisfaction of the likely significant award. Mark Burtons attorney, Michael Avenatti, told The Daily Beast that Burton would not be speaking to press at this time but hinted at further action against Carrey. We will also be calling on the district attorneys office of Los Angeles to launch an investigation into Mr. Carreys role in connection with the death of Ms. White, Avenatti told The Daily Beast. What a terrible shame, Carrey said in a statement Monday evening. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this mans lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world. I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. Cats troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyones control. I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace. In a statement to the press, Marty Singer, Carrey's attorney, said that the "completely meritless" lawsuit was "an outlandish shakedown" and "an abhorrent money-grab scheme." He also cast doubt on the nature of Burton and White's relationship. "Ms. White was not a U.S. citizen and she faced the return to Ireland when she and Burton married, but during that 'marriage' she lived in California while he lived in Oregon and Utah," Singer wrote. "It is despicable that Burton, who claims to have been Ms. White's husband but never lived with her and did not even reside in the same state she did, now comes forward trying to cash in on her death." Burtons IMDB profile lists him as a 39-year-old boom and camera operator, known for his work on a web series called The Online Gamer. Public records show that he and White, a Hollywood makeup artist from Ireland, were married in Las Vegas in 2013, but the pair had been separated for an unspecified amount of time prior to her September 2015 death. As People noted after Whites suicide, few people, including some relatives, were even aware she had a husband. Not even the gossip rags have been able to uncover much about their marriage. Carrey and the 30-year-old White dated intermittently between 2013 and 2015, but the pair reportedly split days before the latter overdosed in her home. As the New York Daily News reported, she left behind a note that said, Ive spent three days now in disbelief that youre not here. I can go on brokenhearted and try to put the pieces back. I could, I just dont have the will at this time. Her body was found on Sept. 28 near pill bottles bearing the name Arthur King. A toxicology report obtained by the Daily News showed oxycodone and oxymorphone in her system as well as a beta blocker and a sedative. A text message that police found on Whites phone, the Daily News added, revealed that Carrey had asked if she knew where his painkillers he kept under the sink had gone. After Whites death, Carrey released a statement calling her a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled. He served as a pallbearer for her October 2015 funeral in Ireland, and it was widely reported that he had offered to help cover the costs. Burtons lawsuit, however, presents a radically different narrative for the events of last September. His complaint alleges that Jim Carrey is indeed the Arthur King listed on the pill bottles and that he gave White illegally obtained prescriptions despite knowing that she was prone to depression and had previously attempted to take her own life. The complaint also alleges that Carrey had an obsession with controlling and manipulating White, and that he had an assistant track her movements with surveillance cameras that were installed on a home [she] often stayed at. Burton accuses Carreys assistant of knowing that White had not left the house for well over a day sometime after entering it Sept. 24, and of not immediately notifying the authorities despite a conspicuous lack of movement. Then came the text message, which Burton claims was an effort to cover-up his conduct. If Carrey legitimately believed White had taken the drugs from him and she had subsequently gone missing for days with no contact, then why would Carrey not immediately request law enforcement to check on her well-being after she did not return his text? the complaint asks. The complaint concludes by accusing Carrey and his handlers of going out of their way to publicize his supposed generosity around paying for the funeral even though he allegedly never paid a dime of funeral expenses. Burton is asking for damages under the Drug Dealer Liability Act and damages for wrongful death, alleging that Carrey directly and proximately caused White mental and physical distress, which resulted in her untimely death. Update 9/20/16 11:55 AM: This piece was updated to include comment from Carrey's attorney. President Barack Obama has fulfilled a lot of Americans pop culture fantasies over the past eight years. Dancing with Ellen. Driving with Jerry. Hunting with Bear. Now, he can add one more to his presidential bucket list: Traveling with Tony. The eighth season premiere of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, airing this Sunday night, September 25 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN, finds Obama sitting down with the legendary world-traveling foodie in Hanoi, Vietnam, for some bowls of bun cha. The meeting of minds actually occurred back in May during Obamas trip to Southeast Asia and, as Bourdain tweeted at the time, the meal cost just $6. Bourdain, who has called his first trip to Vietnam life-changing, opens the episode with a quote from Graham Greenes The Quiet American: They say whatever youre looking for, you will find here The smell: thats the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. For the host, that smell is a combination of motorbike exhaust and grilled meat. Once you love it, you love it forever, he says of the country. President Obama, who waited until his final year in office to make his first trip to Vietnam, was taking another step on the long path toward normalizing relations between the two countries, as Bourdain says early in the show, pointing out that the people there call what we know as the Vietnam War, the American War. The Obama appearance doesnt come until more than halfway through the episode. Its a typically rain-soaked day in HanoiJust another day in paradise, Bourdain quips. In a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, Bourdain gets patted down by Secret Service before authorities wave the presidential motorcade into the square. Obama gets out of The Beast, holding a black umbrella and waving to the bewildered-looking people lining the street. I love you, Obama! one man yells. The president tells Bourdain that the markets remind him of those he grew up visiting in Jakarta, Indonesia. You would buy pretty much everything in stalls like this, Obama says. I wouldnt mind going there, haggling, and seeing what I can find. One of the most remarkable things about the meal the two men sharebesides its remarkably low costis that barely anyone in the packed hole-in-the-wall restaurant seems to even recognize the president, let alone Bourdain. As they clink Vietnamese beers, Obama tells Bourdain that he doesnt get to sneak out for a beer anymore but occasionally does get to take the first lady for a date night. But they always end up in a private room to avoid gawking onlookers. It takes some skills, by the way, to handle these sticky, cold noodles, Bourdain says in voiceover as Obama puts together his first bite of the delicious-looking soup, hot chiles included. But whatever your opinion of the man, the president has those skills. The pair reminisce about some of their favorite Southeast Asian meals and discuss the rules about ketchup on hot dogs (not acceptable after the age of eight, according to the Chicagoan.) Even if not by name, the idea of Donald Trump inevitably comes up. We seem to be at a point where were turning inwards, I mean were actually talking about building a wall around our country, Bourdain says, commending Obama for his willingness to reach out to countries that dont necessarily agree with America, such as Iran and Cuba. The host says he wishes more Americans could travel to the places he sees, an activity that would be useful at worst and incredibly pleasurable and interesting at best. Alas, we cant all be Anthony Bourdain. It confirms the basic truth that people everywhere are pretty much the same, Obama agrees. The same hopes and dreams. When he sees people like John Kerry or John McCain returning to Vietnam to make peace with their pasts in the country, the president said he is hopeful about the future of the world. Progress is not a straight line, theres going to be moments in any given part of the world where things are terrible, he added. But, having said all that, I think things are going to work out. Maybe its false idealism or wishful thinking, but its the kind of positive message that is too often missing from our hyper-politicized rhetoric these days. In many peoples eyes, Monday was the day that Seth Meyers officially leapfrogged Jimmy Fallon. You see, Fallon, ever the inoffensive showman, conducted a softer-than-baby-thighs interview with Donald Trump earlier this week that drew the ire of the left for humanizing the inhuman, with the former SNLer serving up softball questions and fiddling with the hair of a reality show host turned racist birther turned full-on xenophobe who has come dangerously close to the presidency. The backlash was swift, with many chastising the comedian for abetting a demagoguesomething NBC as a whole, aka Trumps former employer , has done with regularity of late between that SNL hosting gig, Matt Lauers pro-Trump debacle of a Commander-in-Chief Forum, and the Fallon gabfest. Its almost as if the peacock agreed to go easy on Trump as part of his exit agreement after he was fired from overseeing The Celebrity Apprentice and his ridiculous pageants. Well, thank goodness for Seth Meyers. Fallons Late Night replacement has been tough on Trump from the jumphis 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner roast of Trump, to his increasingly agitated face, remains perhaps the best grilling the orange heirs ever receivedand on Monday night, he went in on Trumps five-year birther crusade and this weeks half-hearted admission President Obama was, indeed, born in the U.S. Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it, you know what I mean? President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period, said Trump, following a thirty-minute infomercial for his new hotel. Obama was born in the United States. Period? Fuck you, exclamation point! shouted Meyers. You dont get to peddle racist rhetoric for five years and decide when its over. We decide when its over! And its certainly not over after a thirty-second statement in the middle of a hotel commercial. Obama wasnt born here is your No. 1 hit, he added. Saying you got it from Hillary would be like Springsteen saying he only wrote Born to Run because he heard Bon Jovi say it once. Now, Trump and his campaign surrogatesincluding dopey Chris Christie, spin machine Kellyanne Conway, and othershave been trying to Inception the American public into believing that Trump stopped his racist birther crusade all the way back in 2011, after Obama was harassed into providing his long-form birth certificate. Not so, said Meyers, who then played a montage of clips of Trump questioning Obamas place of birth from 2011-2015. He was still saying the birth certificate could be fake last year! exclaimed Meyers. And by the way, Im not sure the guy who holds fake press conferences, has a fake university, a fake foundation, fake hair, and a fake tan should be the one in charge of deciding whats real. Meyers then ran through a series of Trumps birther tweets from the past five years, including this idiotic gem: Lets just step back here and think about how insane that is, said Meyers. Trump thinks the president orchestrated a plane crash so accurate that it only killed the one person who could prove his birth certificate was a fraud. Yeah, just bang the plane against the mountain and land it safely. 12E. We wanna take out 12E. The bottom line is this: Trump built his career on a racist lie because hes a racist and a liar, and instead of denouncing that lie, the GOP doubled-down on it completely, he continued. And now Trump is trying to trick people once again that he was never really a birther at all, and that it was Hillary Clinton that started it. Yep. Unbelievable. Creating a connection via experiential marketing BRC Imagination Arts creative director Christian Lachel talks about the rise of experiential marketing and why brand homes have become the next big thing in the beverage industry Christian Lachel BRC Imagination Arts Decades of psychology research have shown that experiential purchases bring people more happiness than material purchases, in part because experiences are highly associated with personal identity, interpersonal connection, and social behavior. What does that have to do with beverage marketing? It turns out, quite a lot. With so many notable brands fighting for market share in this industry, its no surprise that rising competition was recently cited as a leading business concern among beverage manufacturers. Meanwhile, consumers face more product choices than ever and have become savvier at tuning out the countless marketing messages they are bombarded with daily. To break through the clutter and forge deeper, lasting connections with consumers, many of the worlds leading beverage companies are increasingly incorporating experiential marketing, such as brand homes, into their brand marketing strategies. Brand homes, such as Heineken Experience, The Guinness Storehouse and the World of Coca-Cola, have the power to turn a brand into a physical destination. When executed well, they involve guests in a multi-sensory and communal storytelling experience. Using an engaging mix of visual storytelling, artfully choreographed soundtracks, intentional aromas, product sampling, and hands-on exhibitions, brand homes can help audiences gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of a brands heritage and values. In addition to being effective platforms for creating deeper customer loyalty and generating word of mouth advocacy, brand homes can also open up significant new revenue streams. Consider the case of the Guinness Storehouse, Europes most popular tourist destination that welcomed 1.5 million visitors in 2015. Following a major renovation in 2011, Guinness Storehouse attendance jumped 35 percent, retail sales per capita went up 26 percent, food and beverage spend increased 47 percent, and overall net profit increased 240 percent. Above all, more than 80 percent of visitors express a greater affinity to the Guinness brand after they visit. Likewise, Heineken has achieved great success through its brand home, which has become one of Amsterdams leading landmarks, attracting 900,000 visitors in 2015. While the citys tourism market grew 19 percent from 2009 to 2014, Heineken Experience attendance climbed 143 percent. Moreover, the destinations popularity has enabled Heineken to raise admission prices by over 60 percent and increase retail sales per capita by 100 percent from 2009 to 2014. Other beverage brands have taken notice. Jameson recently announced an 11 million investment to overhaul its iconic Old Jameson Distillery. The renovation will incorporate immersive experiences that bring the brands story to life. There are three key components behind these brand home success stories, which all major beverage brand executives may wish to consider: Brand homes engage customers longer than traditional advertising. Compared to 30-second television commercials and brief social media interactions, brand homes are uniquely positioned to captivate consumers for two or more hours, on average. At Guinness Storehouse, for example, visitors take their time making their way through seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped like a pint of the legendary beer. They travel on a leisurely multi-sensory journey through Guinness rich history, immersing themselves in the beer brands core values before celebrating over a complimentary pint in the brand homes Gravity Bar. Consumers opt into the experience. Unlike interruptive marketing tactics, consumers choose to visit a brand home and often travel great distances to do so. At a brand home, guests are primed to receive a brands message; theyre genuinely interested in learning about where their favorite products come from. They are inherently social. While brand homes particularly appeal to young consumers and brand enthusiasts who are curious to discover how products are made and what brands are doing to make a difference, they tend to appeal to guests of all ages and brand affinity. Multi-generational friends and family members often participate in brand homes together, which significantly amplifies word of mouth potential. Case in point, after visiting the Heineken Experience and collecting the many emotional souvenirs it has to offer, 94% of guests say they would recommend the experience to a friend. To be clear, brand homes do not replace other marketing tactics; rather we find they play an increasingly integral part in a holistic marketing strategy. As one of the only forms of marketing that can fully engage all five senses, brand homes complement a brands investment in mass media, digital and direct marketing to help turn casual fans into brand advocates. The next 'big thing' in beverage marketing has been around for decades, and the companies that have invested in creating a compelling brand home experience have realized a significant return on investment. From driving authentic connections to developing brand loyalty and creating new streams of revenue, this experiential marketing channel has the potential to turn casual brand fans into lifelong loyalists. 19 September 2016 Redbreast shows sherry influence in new blend To celebrate the sherry influence found throughout the distillery's single pot still irish whiskies, Redbreast has introduced a permanent new expression; Redbreast Lustau. Finished in first-fill sherry butts, the expression is seasoned with oloroso sherry from Bodegas Lustau in Jerez Spain. Matured initially in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso sherry casks, Redbreast Lustau Edition has been finished for one year in prized sherry butts from Bodegas Lustau in Jerez, the sherry capital of the world. The result is a new interpretation of the signature Redbreast character with a distinctive twist; Redbreast Lustau Edition is described as offering a nose of dark fruits, prunes and marzipan, a rich and creamy texture on the palate with iconic Redbreast spices, and a long, sweet finish complemented by notes of Spanish oak and oloroso sherry. Crafted by Midleton head blender, Billy Leighton, Redbreast Lustau Edition is a permanent addition to the Redbreast range. Bottled at 46% ABV and without chill-filtration, Redbreast Lustau Edition is available from this month at the following RRPs; Canada, $90; France, 65; Ireland, 69; and UK, 55. It will also be available in the US from October 1, 2016 at RRP US$69. On the launch of Redbreast Lustau Edition, Leighton comments: With Redbreast Lustau Edition we seized the opportunity to celebrate the iconic sherry influence on the Redbreast range, and to do this we turned to our old friends at Bodegas Lustau to source the finest Oloroso sherry casks in the world. I am honoured to be able to finally reveal Redbreast Lustau Edition to the world as it represents the mutual bond, based on our commitment to excellence in craftsmanship, which we have built over time with Bodegas Lustau. Language is no barrier to this marriage of Spanish and Irish craft, and the result is an exceptional new single pot still Irish whisky that champions the iconic sherry influence of the Redbreast range, and I hope that whisky drinkers the world over enjoy it. Brendan Buckley, global innovation and prestige whisky portfolio director at Irish Distillers, adds: We are delighted to introduce a fifth, permanent expression to the Redbreast range as it demonstrates the appetite among whisky connoisseurs and spirits afficionados alike for new, innovative and diverse Irish whisky offerings. Since we re-launched the brand in 2011, it has gone from strength to strength and we are committed to spreading word of Redbreast around the world as the Irish whisky renaissance continues. Our work on Redbreast is part of a wider commitment from Irish Distillers to lead the revival of the quintessential single pot still irish whisky style and Irish whisky in general, to educate whisky fans about the breadth and quality that the category has to offer. 20 September 2016 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, editorial assistant April 25, 1943 - September 16, 2016 A vibrant woman with a beautiful soul, beloved wife, mother and grandmother Beverly Rose passed away on Friday, September 16, 2016, at age 73. She had put up a courageous fight against Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Born on Easter Sunday in Kearney, New Jersey (on April 25, 1943) to her parents Edward and Irene Ennis, Beverly was raised as an only child in Cedar Grove, NJ. Her father worked as a cashier at Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Agency while her mother was employed in a real estate office and tended the family home. In her youth, Beverly studied ballet, violin and piano and was a cheerleader, synchronized swimmer and lifeguard. She attended College High School in Montclair, NJ, taking the train around the mountain to attend classes with her close-knit school friends. In her teen years, Beverly began studying piano with Werner George Rose. When she turned eighteen, the relationship blossomed into romance and four years later, they married on June 12, 1965. Werner promised her that he would "show her the world," and made good on his promise with a three-month honeymoon in Europe, a trip around the world in 1977, and post-retirement trips to Alaska, Tahiti, New Zealand, Thailand, Norway, and most of the European countries. She particularly enjoyed traveling by cruise ship. In 1966, they moved from the East Coast to Laramie, Wyoming, where they welcomed son George in 1968 and daughter Kristina in 1970. While Beverly initially wished for six children, having George and Kristina helped Beverly realize that two children made a perfect pair. Five decades later, their love remains, celebrated by their two children and three grandchildren. After obtaining a Master's Degree in Education in 1970, Beverly put her family first and stayed home to raise her son and daughter. Once George and Kristina were older, she found a position in the Financial Aid Department at the University of Wyoming. In 1988, Werner and Beverly relocated to Bryan, Texas, where Beverly enjoyed her position in the Texas A&M Scholarships Department. She became active in Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, where she has been a member for 28 years. She was devoted to the church and congregation, singing in the choir, participating in Ruth Circle and the Women's Association, as well as Bible study. Before she became ill, she and her husband were actively involved in the Family Promise program, as well as supporting the Lutheran Treehouse Student Ministry. She was also involved in various community organizations, including playing the violin in the Brazos Valley Symphony, the Red Hat Society, Smith College Alumni Association, her homeowner's association and supporting all of Werner's Rotary Club activities. In addition, Beverly was a 27-year cancer survivor. She loved traveling, shopping, family genealogy, cross-stitch, reading and Sudoku in her leisure time. Beverly had a complex personality: intellectually curious, loving and compassionate, and at times, stubborn when she had cause to be. A woman who appreciated the finer things in life, Beverly adored her family immensely, particularly her grandchildren. The highlights of her last two years were trips with the entire family: an Alaskan cruise in 2015 to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and a trip to Big Sky, Montana in the summer of 2016, where they were joined by their German family as well. Truly, Beverly was well-loved; as such, she will be deeply missed and forever remembered. Beverly is survived by her loving husband, Werner, her children and their families: George & Pamela Rose (of San Antonio, TX) and their children, Eric Matthew and Emily Grace (ages 16 and 13), and Kristina & Louis McComas (of Billings, MT) and their daughter, Lynley Rose (age 10). Beverly was predeceased by her parents. Join us for the Life Celebration of Beverly Rose, beginning with Visitation on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, from 2-4pm and also 6-8pm at Hillier Funeral Home in College Station. Additional visitation (at 9:30am) will be followed by funeral services on Wednesday, September 21st at 10:30am at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. Afterward, a processional will advance to College Station City Cemetery for interment. At Beverly's request and in lieu of flowers, please consider memorial contributions to some of her favorite organizations, such as Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Lutheran Treehouse Student Ministry or a charitable cause close to your own heart. Please visit Beverly's tribute page at www.hillierfuneralhome.com to share memories and stories. Hillary Clinton tells us she is recovering from a mild case of pneumonia, but less than half of American voters believe her belated explanation of why she appeared to faint leaving a 9/11 commemoration. If she wants to understand why, she can find the answer in a children's poem. In his 1907 classic, "Matilda Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death," Hilaire Belloc tells the story of a young girl who "told such Dreadful Lies, It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes." One day Matilda calls in a false alarm to London's fire brigade, and as punishment is left home alone while her aunt goes to the theater: --- That Night a Fire did break out-- You should have heard Matilda Shout! You should have heard her Scream and Bawl, And throw the window up and call To People passing in the Street . . . but all in vain! For every time She shouted "Fire!" They only answered "Little Liar!" And therefore when her Aunt returned, Matilda, and the House, were Burned. --- Today, it is the American people who have been burned, time and again, by Hillary Clinton's dreadful lies. Let's review just a few examples of her serial dishonesty: She lied repeatedly about her emails. She lied when she said she had "turned over everything I was obligated to turn over" (FBI Director James Comey said the FBI "discovered several thousand work-related e-mails that were not among the group of 30,000 e-mails returned by Secretary Clinton to state in 2014"). She lied when she said there was "no classified material" in her private emails . . . that there was nothing "classified at the time" . . . and that there was nothing "marked classified" in her private emails - all of which the FBI director said were untrue. And, to top it all off, she lied about her lies - declaring on national television that "Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people" - a claim The Post's Fact Checker gave "Four Pinocchios." Clinton lied to the American people about Benghazi. At 10:08 p.m. the night of the attack, she issued a statement that blamed the attack on "inflammatory material posted on the Internet" with no mention of terrorism or al-Qaeda. But an hour later, at 11:12 p.m. she emailed her daughter, Chelsea: "Two of our officers were killed in Benghazi by an Al Queda-like [sic] group." The next day in a phone call with the Egyptian prime minister, Clinton said: "We know the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest." Yet two days later, as she welcomed the caskets of the fallen in Dover, Delaware, she blamed that attack on "an awful Internet video that we had nothing to do with." She lied about a trip she made to Bosnia, claiming that she and her team arrived "under sniper fire," skipped the arrival ceremony and "just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." In fact, a video shows her being greeted on the tarmac by Bosnian officials and an 8-year-old Muslim girl, Emina Bicakcic, who read a poem in English and told Clinton, "There is peace now." She lied about her family history. In 2015, she said she could relate to illegal immigrants because "all my grandparents" immigrated to the United States. When BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski pointed out that three of Clinton's four grandparents were born in the United States, a Clinton spokesman said "her grandparents always spoke about the immigrant experience and, as a result she has always thought of them as immigrants." And her dishonesty stretches back decades. As the late, great William Safire pointed out in a 1996 New York Times column, she delivered a "blizzard of lies" as first lady - about Whitewater, the firing of White House travel aides, her representation of a criminal enterprise known as the Madison S&L and how she made a 10,000 percent profit in 1979 commodity trading simply by studying the Wall Street Journal. Even back then, Safire concluded, Clinton was "a congenital liar." Today, the American people agree. A recent NBC News poll found that just 11 percent of Americans say Clinton is honest and trustworthy. To put that in perspective, 14 percent of American voters believe in Bigfoot. In other words, more Americans believe that a large, hairy, hominoid creature inhabits the forest of North America than believe that Hillary Clinton tells the truth. So if Clinton wonders why so many believe she is lying about her health, it is because she has lied so many times, about so many things, that most Americans no longer believe a word she says - even if she's telling the truth. When she opens her mouth, people look at her like Belloc's Matilda and say, "Little Liar." What happens wildlife protection laws don't keep pace with science? You can end up in a bizarre situation where an endangered species ceases to have any legal protection, thanks to an update to its scientific name. This is an unintended consequence of the intersection between advances in taxonomy and genetics, intended to categorise species and biodiversity more precisely, with the objectives of conservationists and wildlife protection authorities. When these two disciplines fall out of synch, newly renamed species can lose their protection. This may sound pedantic, even absurd, and it's clearly against the 'spirit' of policing the illegal wildlife trade. Yet if the accused find themselves on trial for smuggling a species that is no longer specifically named in the legislation charges are brought under, they may get away with it. This is a particular risk for threatened species in China, as detailed in our latest research. The country is a hotspot for the illegal wildlife trade because animals and animal products are used for food and medicine, as objets d'art, or for pets. This trade is run by criminal cartels that are increasingly good at evading detection and punishment by, for instance, smuggling pangolin scales or disguising real elephant tusks within permitted consignments of quality synthetic ivory. China's outdated species names China is especially exposed to taxonomic name changes because its native Protected Species List (PSL) has not been updated since it was first implemented in 1989. Animal science has moved on a great deal in the 27 years since, as new species have been discovered, and old ones have had their family trees or geographic distributions redrawn. Failure to update the names used on China's PSL allows formerly-protected species to slip off, and also causes discrepancies with CITES, the international convention on illegal wildlife trade, and the IUCN Red List, the official register of endangered species. For now, China still brings convictions under old species names, as given on the PSL, but once defence lawyers succeed in setting a precedent that these names are inaccurate (and they are trying) many threatened species will be at risk. At this point, appeals against current prison sentences are to be expected, with some perpetrators exonerated and even eligible for state compensation. Thailand's Administrative Court has ruled that National Park officers did not break the law when they burned the homes of Karen indigenous people in Kaeng Krachan National Park. In May 2011, National Park officers forcibly evicted the Karen and burned about 100 houses and rice barns in Bang Kloy village. In 2014, six of the Karen filed a case against the Department of National Parks and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The Administrative Court dismissed all their demands, except for compensation of Bt10,000 (about US$287) to the six plaintiffs. The Karen had asked for Bt100,000. The Department of National Parks refused to pay the compensation and will appeal the decision, issued on 7th September. Former Kaeng Krachan National Park chief Chaiwat Limlikhitaksorn was responsible for the evictions in 2011. After the Court's ruling, he told The Nation: "Even though the verdict was in favour of the department, we are not satisfied because the court's decision to have us pay compensation to the plaintiffs was based on the wrong information. We will appeal." The Karen will also appeal the decision. Du-u Cheebong, one of the Karen plaintiffs told Forest Peoples Programme: "We also cannot accept simple financial compensation, as money alone will not suffice to compensate for the loss of our ancestral lands, our homes and our way of life. We will appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court." Blind, 105, and ordered to leave his home immediately Ko-i Meemi, one of the Karen plaintiffs, is 105 years old. He told Prachatai that in 2011 armed park officers came to his village to evict Karen villagers from the park area. Then they set their houses on fire. Park officers ordered him to leave his house immediately. He replied that he could not do so because he is blind and has nowhere to go. The armed park officers forcibly detained him and put him in a helicopter. Video: There's more about Ko-i Meemi and the evictions in this 2013 video produced by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact. Disclaimer: The Flavor Bender is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. There are links on this site that can be defined as affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no cost to you) that will help support this website. Get your holiday baking off to an amazing start with these beautifully baked Brown Butter Madeleines with a soft, sponge cake center and crisp, browned edges and a delicious buttery flavor! Here I give them an even more flavorful twist with nutty brown butter and a sweet, tangy passion fruit glaze. If you dont have access to passion fruits, substitute with oranges, tangerines or lemons or leave out the glaze altogether. I have also included a few tips to make sure you get perfectly baked madeleines, every time! I love passion fruit. It grew in abundance in Sri Lanka and I used to love eating that very juicy, very tart, very fragrant fruit out of hand. Recently, I bought a few of these gorgeous fruits online and used them in a couple of great recipes. There were still a few left in the fridge before Mr. K and I went off on a mini-vacation a few weeks ago, and I did NOT want to leave them behind. I wanted to do justice to this fruit which I never get to taste in this part of the US, so I decided to make some easy Brown Butter Madeleines and then dipped them in an amazing Passion Fruit Glaze! Im sure Madeleines need no introduction. If you guys love those little French butter cakes, then youre just like me and everyone else in the world who has ever tasted em! They are known just as much for their unique scalloped shell shape with ridges on one side and a smooth hump on the other, as for their pillowy-soft, light texture in the middle with browned, crisp edges! They are a little similar to genoise sponge but has more butter giving them a beautiful buttery taste as well. And since they are made in that special scallop shell shaped pan, they also get those delightfully crisp edges while still being light as air. To elevate the taste even further, I browned the butter to add another dimension of nutty flavor, turning these into the MOST ADDICTIVE madeleines youll ever have! These soft sponge cakes with those crisp edges are absolutely perfect on their own (maybe with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top?), but of course I couldnt leave well enough alone. So I coated them with this sweet, tangy passion fruit glaze! That combination of buttery and nutty with a little sweet and a lot tangy, makes these brown butter madeleines with passion fruit glaze honestly addictive, and Im not using that word lightly. We literally cannot stop until the whole batch disappears. They are a perfect tea-time snack, or great for the holidays too to serve your guests! And if you dont have access to passion fruits, no worries, just use an orange or lemon or tangerine glaze instead. Or leave out the glaze altogether or simply dust them with some powdered sugar. Here are some tips to make sure your madeleines come out perfect every time. While madeleines are very easy to make, they do require some time, patience and of course the special madeleine pan. Once the batter has been made, it tastes better if you let it rest in the fridge, covered for a few hours (up to overnight, or even upto 2 days). This works out fine because the madeleine pan also needs a little bit of attention to make sure the little sponge cakes dont stick to it. I coat the cavities with TWO thin melted layers of butter (or one thick layer), and a dusting of flour and then let the pan sit in the fridge (overnight) or freezer (for an hour or so). So take your time to do these two things. Sure, it may make you a little restless, but if you want to enjoy the most incredible soft, buttery, sponge cakes aka brown butter madeleines, this is all worth it! Those madeleines will thank you for your patience, and theyll pop right out of the pan when theyre done, all too eager to share with you their silky soft deliciousness! Ha! Which brings me to my last tip. These babies are best eaten fresh, warm, on the same day you make them! You could keep them in the fridge and maybe theyll be OK the next day, but then you start losing that soft center crisp edges contrast which is about half the reason why these brown butter madeleines are so addictive. But one thing I often do is to make a double batch of the batter and then bake one batch (12 madeleines) or as many as I need, and then cover the rest of the dough and keep it in the fridge if I know Ill be using it the next day, or in the freezer if I want to keep it for a few days. This way I can enjoy fresh, warm madeleines every time! Looking for more recipes?Sign up for my free recipe newsletter to get new recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram. 5 from 4 votes Brown Butter Madeleines with Passion fruit Glaze Author: Dini K. Servings: 16 Madeleines Print Ingredients: Brown Butter Madeleines 2 eggs cup brown sugar 125 g / 1 cup AP flour sifted Rind of 1 lemon 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla Pinch of salt 1 stick of butter melted and browned Passion Fruit Glaze 1 cup of sifted confectioner's sugar 3 tbsp passion fruit juice/pulp Instructions: Brown Butter Madeleines Place the butter in a non-stick pan and heat until it melts and turns a golden brown and smells like roasted nuts. Remove from the heat and let it cool. Crack the two eggs into a clean bowl. Add the brown sugar and whisk until the eggs-sugar mix is pale, frothy and thick. Add the salt, lemon rind, lemon juice, vanilla and fold through to mix. Add the sifted flour and fold through until just combined. Add the cooled brown butter and fold through until the butter has mixed well with the batter. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight or up to 2 days). Prepare the madeleine pans (prepare 2 madeleine pans for 1 batch as this makes about 16 madeleines). Melt some butter, and using a pastry brush, brush each cavity thoroughly with a thin layer of melted butter. Keep the tray in the freezer until the butter has hardened. Apply another coat of thin butter and dust the cavities with some flour. Keep the prepared tray in the fridge or freezer to completely set (keep it in the fridge if it's for more than 1 hour). Preheat oven to 375F / 190C. Fill each cavity about of the way with cake batter - about 1 heaped tbsp. Bake in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes, until the edges are a golden brown and the center is puffed up. (the precise time will vary based on your oven temperature). Remove from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. While the cakes are still warm, pop them out of the pan (they should come out easily, but use a spoon to loosen them up gently if needed). Eat while still warm or at room temperature with a dusting of sugar OR with the passion fruit glaze. Passion Fruit Glaze While the brown butter madeleines are baking, whisk the confectioner's sugar and passion fruit pulp together until you have a thick, pourable glaze. Add more passion fruit as required to thin out the glaze, or more confectioner's sugar to thicken the glaze. Dip half of each madeleine in the glaze to coat, and place them on a parchment paper or cooling tray. Eat while warm, or let the glaze set and serve at room temperature. This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators. If you liked this brown butter madeleines with passion fruit glaze recipe, dont forget to subscribe for new (and free) recipes by entering your email address on the side bar (and get all these recipes delivered straight to your inbox), so you dont miss out on a thing. You can find me on FACEBOOK, TWITTER,INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, YOU TUBE and GOOGLE-PLUS too. Ill be sharing my recipe over at FoodieFriDIY | Friday Favorites | Fiesta Fridays | Saucy Saturday Around Burlington: Why 800 hunters descended upon Danville in 1921 It was 1921, and the threat of grey wolves preying on livestock drew hundreds of hunters to the town of Danville, but biologists say there may not have been any wolves at all. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate No sooner had the state Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear the appeal of Connecticuts school funding-and-quality case than a liberal justices recusal from the action changed the tenor of the panel. Justice Andrew J. McDonald, who was Stamfords corporation counsel when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was the citys mayor and a plaintiff in the case, recused himself. Because of his absence, Senior Justice Christine S. Vertefeuille will apparently fill out the seven-member panel, adding a touch of judicial conservatism to the 11-year-old case. Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers recused herself in a 2009 hearing on the issue because her husbands lawfirm was involved in the case. She has not mentioned having any conflict this time around. All things being constant, the recusal of Justice McDonald deprives the panel of a more-liberal vote," said Daniel J. Klau, a Hartford-based constitutional lawyer. It makes the panel more conservative, but whether that translates into a meaningful issue in this particular case, I dont know. If I were the plaintiffs, however, I would be saddened by the loss of Justice McDonald. Rogers stopped the clock on Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawshers 180-day deadline for the state to revamp everything from school-district funding to high school graduation requirements, special education and teacher evaluations. State Attorney General George Jepsen appealed to the high court last week, saying the ruling was an overreach. The plaintiffs, Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, petitioned the court Monday to allow Moukawshers order to play out. But if the Supreme Court took the case, the group asked that it include the question of whether the state provides enough total school funding in its review. The court did accept that appeal as well. Jaclyn Falkowski, a spokesman for the attorney general, said the office hopes for a prompt and full review. We look forward to a fair and definitive resolution of the important issues presented by this case, Falkowski said. David Rosen, a private attorney who is a visiting lecturer at the Yale Law Schools Education Adequacy Project Clinic, which brought the original CCJEF case, said the appeals will give the high court a chance to elaborate on the state Constitutions educational guarantees. The Supreme Court now has a very rich context for defining the contours of the right to an adequate education, Rosen said in a phone interview. The data presented during the 60 days of testimony in Superior Court, including emotional testimony on failing urban schools, should add depth, Rosen said, to the high courts understanding of the issues. The Chief Justice has recognized the importance of this case and has done something that happens very, very rarely, Rosen said of the order for a direct appeal, which bypassed the Appellate Court. So whatever else you can say about this case, you can be sure it is going to receive the Supreme Courts intensive scrutiny. Malloy had not taken a position for or against an appeal. In a written statement, his spokeswoman said the office understands the legal rationale for pursuing an appeal so accepts the attorney generals decision to do so. At the same time, we are steadfast in our commitment to improving outcomes for our students, Meg Green, a Malloy spokeswoman said. We have been presented with an opportunity to seriously address the issue of fair funding in our educational system and we should not wait for the result of a judicial decision to take action. The latest phase of the case focused on six school districts Bridgeport and Danbury among them that suffer from insufficient funding based on the needs of their student populations. In his ruling, Moukawsher ruled that the way the state distributes some $2 billion in school funding is irrational and ordered the state to restructure special education funding, and put teeth into both graduation requirements and teacher evaluations. In his appeal, Jepsen argued that state education policy is determined by the legislative and executive branches, not the courts, and carried out by local school boards and teachers. Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim, a Democrat, called it unfortunate that the state decided to prolong the legal arguments. At the same time, it is appropriate for the State Supreme Court to weigh in on such a fundamental issue of fairness and constitutional rights such as providing adequate education for all Connecticut school children, Ganim said in a written statement. There is precedent in a number of other states for the Supreme Court to address this issue that goes to the heart of the services that government is supposed to be providing its citizens. In Connecticut, what school districts dont get from the state toward education funding must come from property taxes. We simply do not have the taxable property wealth on our own to fund the quality public schools that neighboring suburban communities have gotten used to, Ganim said. State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, a ranking member of the legislatures Education Committee, said with or without a court decision, what she sees as grave deficiencies in education funding need to be rectified. Norwalk and Stamford, and other districts in similar situations, should receive equitable funding, and our smaller towns with high-performing school districts need both more certainty and relief from costly one-size-fits-all mandates, Lavielle said. There is nothing to stop the General Assembly from addressing these specific long-standing matters in the 2017 session. WESTPORT In order to expand its reach, a Westport-based private client group has joined a California financial services company. On Sept. 8, United Capital Financial Advisers, a financial life management firm headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., acquired Westport Resources Management, with assets of around $373 million. Now called Westport Resources, the wealth management companys founder, John Vaccaro, who will be a managing director for United Capital, said the marriage was the result of a long and deliberate search. It was an 18-month process, and I reached out to a number of potential partners who I thought might be a good fit. At the end of the day, the real decision came down to a cultural fit and we share a lot with United Capital, Vaccaro said. I had the opportunity to speak with a number of the managing directors of the (United Capital) offices, and I felt I was speaking to myself when I talked to them. Vaccaro founded Westport Resources Management in 1986. Before that, he worked as the founding administrator of New York Citys 42nd Street Theater Row in an effort to recharge Manhattans theater district. In his 30 years at Westport Resources, Vaccaros company has served over 220 families, towns and nonprofit organizations. Vaccaro said he eventually got to the point where he felt he needed to add another element to help grow his firms abilities, and saw his vision embodied in United Capital. United Capital has about $16.8 billion in assets and has 80 offices across the country. We look forward passionately to moving into the future as a division of United Capital, Vaccaro said. @chrismmarquette/ cmarquette@bcnnew.com NORWALK Amid ongoing moderate drought conditions, two municipal utility companies based in Norwalk are calling on customers to ease up on their water usage. Dominick M. DiGangi, general manager and engineer for the First Taxing District Water Department, said a whole lot more rain will be needed before the district lifts its request that customers voluntarily conserve water. Were asking for voluntary conversation: cut back on watering the lawns and do the best you can, DiGangi said Tuesday. In our reservoirs right now were less than 70 percent of what wed normally have at this time. Fairfield County is currently experiencing moderate drought conditions due to an extended dry spell, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. With a lack of significant rainfall and the Connecticut Department of Public Health advising water conservation, the district is asking its customers to conserve water and reduce non-essential outdoor water use. That means reducing outdoor water use by limiting lawn irrigation to a maximum of twice a week customers can select any two days if they are using an irrigation system or hose-end sprinkler. Use of a hand-held hose for watering is allowed at any time. It is important that all of our customers assist in this voluntary effort to assure that they have the water they need when they need it, said Frank N. Zullo, chairman of the districts Board of Commissioners. The Taxing District also suggested adhering to the following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations: allow grass to grow longer (taller grass is healthier and requires less water); use brooms or blowers instead of water to clean decks, driveways and sidewalks; dont wash cars or boats with a hose; shut off ornamental water displays; do not leave water running while washing hands, shaving, or brushing teeth; take shorter showers; hand wash dishes in a basin, not under running water; and repair leaks in plumbing fixtures. For more tips, visit https://www3.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/simple_steps.html for additional water. South Norwalk Electric and Water took a similar measure last week. Due to a continuing lack of significant beneficial rain, SNEW implemented a drought advisory the first stage of its drought response plan. The municipal utility company strongly requested its customers to conserve water by watering lawns less frequently and allowing grass to grow longer as taller grass requires less water. It also asked customers to refrain from washing vehicles. Those who must are asked to use a bucket of soapy water to wash vehicles and a hose only for rinsing. Indoors, customers are asked to conserve water by checking all toilets for leaks and repair them right away, and to run dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads. SNEWs overall goal is a 10 percent reduction in water use. More conservation tips can be found at swww.snew.org. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK A convicted felon with an extensive criminal history was taken into custody Monday afternoon after police said he was found to be in possession of a loaded handgun and heroin packaged for sale. While investigators with the Norwalk Police Departments Special Services Division were conducting a surveillance operation at Ryan Park, officers said they observed Hopeton "Hot Daddy" Marsh conduct a narcotics transaction. Moments later Marsh entered his vehicle, and upon seeing a marked police cruiser, he attempted to hide in his vehicle before driving away, Lt. James Walsh, a police spokesman, said. A traffic stop was initiated on North Main Street based on the officers earlier observation of the drug transaction and Marshs furtive actions to avoid detection, police said. During the traffic stop, police said that one of the officers observed a bulge at the lower part of Marshs shirt. The officer manipulated the area and felt what appeared to be a knotted bag with something inside. Police said the bag contained a large amount of rice, which is often used to store heroin, along with 16 heroin folds (packets). When searching the interior of the Honda that Marsh was driving, officers located a loaded 9mm pistol with an altered serial number that was concealed inside a scarf.. Marsh, 31, is a six-time convicted felon and is currently on parole. He was charged with criminal possession of a firearm, weapon in a motor vehicle, altering serial number, carrying a pistol without a permit, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of narcotics with intent to sell near a school, third-degree criminal trespass and operating with a suspended license. Marshs prior convictions include narcotics sales in 2011, in which he sold heroin to undercover police officers. At the time of that arrest, Marsh was serving a probation sentence for a 2003 first-degree robbery conviction. During the 2003 incident, Marsh and two other men lured an off-duty U.S. Army soldier behind a building, robbed him and shot him in the knee cap. Marshs bond was set at $100,000, and he was remanded to the custody of Connecticut Parole. llake@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK In a room in City Hall filled with nearly 100 frustrated parents and family members of special education students from Norwalk Public Schools, Lynn Toper stood, introduced herself and spoke. I want to just cut to the chase, she said. We have a lot of work to do. Toper, who started in July as the school districts new chief of specialized learning and student services, held the meeting in City Halls community room Monday evening to communicate her plan for the districts handling of special education a process she compared to turning a very large ship. It is a very large task, Toper said. Is it do-able? Absolutely. Will it happen overnight? No, it will not. Topers appointment comes after years of reported problems with the way the district tends to its special education students. Jeffry Spahr, city attorney and member of Norwalk SPED Partners, recounted the districts rocky past with special education as he opened up the meeting. New approach A review in 2007 raised questions, Spahr said. A Capitol Region Education Council review of the utilization of resources, organization structures and processes within the Special Education Department in 2008 showed no improvement. A second CREC report in 2012 revealed minimal progress. A third CREC report in 2015 found the district worse off than in 2012. Now we are here, in the 2016-17 school year, Spahr said. We now have had significant progress, I believe, and you will hear that today. Spahr said that doesnt mean to forget the past, but to be open to positive change. Dr. Toper is here with her staff and a superintendent who has been on the job for one year, Spahr said. We have to give them a chance to make things right. With a couple months of on the job, Toper has implemented an array of changes. She talked about several new initiatives and changes Monday night, including the new Learners Accelerating and Progressing program at Wolfpit Elementary School, the High Roads program at Norwalk High School, assigning two special education administrators to oversee students with out-of-district placements and the hiring or creation of several other positions. Toper also announced the creation of the Norwalk Parent Advisory Board, to be made up of delegates from Norwalk schools. Overall, she said, most of the problems plaguing Norwalks special education came down to a lack of efficient systems. The systems are not where they should be, Toper said. She said she would continue to put systems into place, using the CREC report as a road map. Happy to lead Parents and family members in attendance seemed impressed, or at least open to Topers plan. However, some questioned how long changes would take, while others worried about them happening too quickly. Turning the ship is going to take a lot of time, but some of our children are running out of time, one mother said. Toper answered with a firm request for the mother to meet with her, one-on-one. I cant do this alone, Toper said. Im happy to lead, but I need people following me. Ive never been a part of anything successful that didnt have the parents on board. Barbara Meyer-Mitchell, a parent of a student with special needs, said a meeting she had with Toper before she met with school administrators to discuss her daughters 504 plan seemed to have helped it go better than years prior. Every one point on my agenda was met, without stress, Meyer-Mitchell said. I think we can do this. Some in room remained uneasy. Still, Toper, who was formerly a principal of Capitol Region Education Council Discovery Academy (a science, technology, engineering and mathematics elementary school) and special education consultant for the Connecticut State Department of Education, was optimistic about the future. This could be the greatest thing I've ever done in my career the culmination of all the experiences I have had, she said. Topers long-term vision for Norwalk Public Schools is to be a spotlight district for the state. After all, she said, We are talking about children, and thats what Im all about. If we are talking about children who arent getting what they need and I could make it better, how could I say no? School district Superintendent Steven Adamowski said he would request another CREC report from the state in two years to check on the districts progress with special education. KSchultz@thehour.com; 203- 354-1049; @kevinedschultz We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. The events of Bernard Schaeffers life in the 1970s and his years since then, all of them behind bars, were examined in great detail during a mitigation hearing Monday at the Hall County Courthouse. Schaeffer was given a life sentence after murdering Donald Beery Jr. of Grand Island in 1977. Beery, killed on his 28th birthday, was the manager of the Ace Hardware Store. Schaeffer, who was 16 at the time, shot Beery 17 times after he and a friend robbed him of the days proceeds from the hardware store. Convicted of first-degree murder, Schaeffer has been in prison since Oct. 3, 1977. Schaeffer, who is now 56, will be resentenced as a result of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case, Miller vs. Alabama. That case struck down laws in 28 states and the federal government that required mandatory, parole-ineligible life sentences for individuals whose homicide offenses occurred before the age of 18. Keeping juveniles in prison for life without any chance of parole, the court said, violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. Schaeffer is represented by Lincoln attorney Jeff Pickens of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy. Pickens is handling a number of such cases around the state. District Court Judge Teresa Luther presided over the hearing, which was attended by close to 30 people who dont want Schaeffer released from prison. At the time of his murder, Donald Beery and his wife, Edith, had three children 5 and younger. The youngest, Mandy, was 9 months old. Edith, now 66, has since remarried. She and her children were at Mondays hearing, along with Beerys three siblings, Denise Pascoe, Carol George and Dick Beery. Relatives traveled from as far away as California and Georgia. The hearing was a continuation of an abbreviated hearing earlier in the summer. Schaeffer spent seven hours on the stand Monday, questioned by Pickens and Deputy Hall County Attorney Sarah Carstensen. Megan Alexander, another deputy county attorney, is also prosecuting the case. As a youngster, Schaeffer was involved in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and took part in activities at the YMCA. His home life was a happy one, he said. But at the invitation of two fellow students, he tried marijuana when he a freshman at Northwest High School. Until they asked him to ride around in their car and get high, those two students had never spoken to Schaeffer. I went from being a pretty good kid to smoking weed and doing hard drugs very quickly, once I was exposed to it, he said. He talked about how his father started having major medical issues beginning in the summer of 1975, when the family was on vacation in Branson, Mo. Prior to Beerys murder, Schaeffer carried out two armed robberies of a gas station. He also burglarized another gas station and helped his friends burglarize that station. He got the idea to rob Ace Hardware one evening when he saw a man exit the store carrying what appeared to be a money bag. That man, whom he didnt know, was Beery. A few weeks later, Schaeffer returned with a friend, George Lanzendorf. They hid under a trailer behind the store. The plan was to render Beery unconscious and take the money. Lanzendorf was going to knock Beery out, but changed his mind. Schaeffer wound up hitting Beery in the forehead with the butt of a semiautomatic handgun. But the blow didnt knock out Beery. He went down to one knee and he came up angry, Schaeffer recalled. The three males got into Schaeffers AMC Javelin, Beery sitting in the front seat. Lanzendorf sat in the back seat, holding the gun on Beery. At that point, Schaeffer did not have any thought of killing Beery, he said. I just remember being extremely scared, he said. They ended up at a sandpit west of Grand Island, where Schaeffer told Beery to get out of the car. In pulling the trigger, Schaeffer used up most of two clips because he didnt know how many times it would take to kill him. Schaeffer was not under the influence of drugs at the time of the murder, but he had smoked marijuana earlier that day, he said. The money bag contained $600, which Schaeffer split with Lanzendorf. Schaeffer had hoped to use the money to buy an ounce of cocaine and a pound of mescaline, which together cost $1,800. Instead, he bought an engine for his car. From 1977 to 1987, Schaeffer was in the Nebraska State Penitentiary. At his request, he was transferred to the South Dakota State Prison for seven years and the North Dakota State Prison for two and a half years, returning to Nebraska in 1996. Hes been at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution since it opened in 2002. Schaeffers father died in 2003, his mother in 2013. He was emotional as he described his mothers visits to the prison. He is currently more honest with his five best friends than he was with her. I didnt share with her what my life in prison was like, he said. When Schaeffer entered prison, drugs, sex and weapons were everywhere, he said. Many men wanted to have sex with him because he was young. After resisting many approaches, Schaeffer finally entered into a sexual relationship with a man in return for his protection from other inmates. Rape was common, and the longer he was in prison the more he realized I was going to be victimized at some point, he said. Because more cameras have been installed in prisons, rape is much less common than it used to be, he said. Over the years in prison, Schaeffer has stabbed two inmates and engaged in a mutual stabbing with another. He used six years in segregation in the 1980s as a time for introspection and education. During that time, he did a lot of reading, he said. He now realizes that what he did to Beery was a terrible thing, he said. He actually directs many prayers to Beery, whom he hopes is in heaven. I like to think he heard what I was saying, he said. In addition to periodic misconduct reports, Schaeffer has been written up three times for drugs during his 39 years of incarceration. The last one was in about 2007. His last use of a drug, marijuana, was in 2010, he said. Mondays hearing was continued until 10 a.m. Nov. 22. Luther will issue sentencing at 1 p.m. Jan. 3. During a break in the hearing, two of Beerys children, Sarah and Mandy, said they dont believe Schaeffer has been rehabilitated. Mandy regretted that the hearing required her mother to relive the events of 1977. It turned my moms life completely upside-down, Sarah said. My dad was the love of her life, Mandy said, adding that her father was the familys sole provider. WASHINGTON Back in the mid-70s, when my oldest son was entering his teenage years and expressing, like many of his friends, an admiration for the Marine Corps, his mother and I attended a formal party that included an early morning breakfast. Seated next to my wife was the distinguished Marine Corps Commandant and Medal of Honor winner Louis H. Wilson Jr. In the midst of a conversation about Scots interest in the Marines, my wife turned to Wilson and politely but firmly asked whether it was Marines policy to encourage the kind of training that had infamously resulted in a young recruits death. The training had involved pugil sticks, poles padded at both ends that were used to school recruits in balance and hand-to-hand combat skills. The young mans death had stirred the ire of millions of Americans because he was mentally challenged and had been literally wacked time and again by his fellow trainees in an attempt to impress their drill instructor, who stood by watching. I cringed at hearing the question in a social setting, but Wilson didnt flinch or seem to take exception. Certainly not, he said, but its a fair question. Nothing like this ever should have occurred and it is my mission that it never does again. The young man should never have been accepted for the Corps in the first place. More importantly, those supervising his training from the top to the bottom were negligent in their duty, and the brutality of the exercise has no place in preparing these youngsters for combat. We mean to train an elite fighting force but not at the expense of common sense and good judgment. Wilson was as good as his word. The Marine Corps banned pugil stick exercises and reformed its recruiting process. It also held those in charge of training to a higher standard. Of course, that wasnt the first time the Corps had faced public scrutiny. Twenty years earlier at the Parris Island military installation in South Carolina, a drunken staff sergeant, Matthew McKeon, had led recruits on a late night march into Ribbon Creek, where six drowned. The incident produced one of the most sensational court martials in military history as the country fumed in outrage. McKeon got off rather lightly after testimony on his behalf by the likes of Lewis B. Chesty Puller, the most decorated Marine in the Corps annals, and the eloquence of his noted civilian defense attorney, Emile Zola Berman. All this has become relevant again, of course, because Marine training is once more under critical scrutiny after the death of a young recruit and the seemingly over-the-top mistreatment of several others by at least one drill instructor at Parris Island. Both heads of overall training at the famous South Carolina base have been suspended from their duties as the investigation continues. The hazing by the enlisted drill instructor reportedly centered around Muslim recruits, who were placed in industrial clothes dryers after gratuitously being accused of harboring terrorist sympathies. One trainee suffered burns on his neck and an arm. The recruit who died allegedly jumped into a 38-foot stairwell after being slapped by his drill instructor. The Marines called it a suicide, but the recruits family has disputed that interpretation. Since the days when the Corps prided itself on having the toughest boot camp training and looked the other way in instances of overzealousness by hard-nosed instructors, strict rules forbidding abuse of recruits, including hands-on discipline, have been in place on paper, at least. Details of the current investigation suggest a different reality. Marines are an elite force, not simply elite troops within a larger body like the Army Rangers or Delta Force or Navy Seals. Their history is resplendent with achievement, and those who have been a part of that never forget it. The groups motto, semper fidelis, meaning always faithful, becomes part of a Marines living code, no matter what else he does. Obviously, Marines training must be special and difficult, and there are bound to be times when things get out of hand. When that occurs, though, those in charge must reinforce to civilians and active duty Marines alike that there is zero tolerance for that kind of behavior, just as Gen. Wilson did to my sons mother so long ago. She went away feeling much better about an institution that has such an important place in preserving our democracy. Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service and a former vice president of Scripps Howard Newspapers. Readers may send him email at: thomassondan@aol.com. Taipei, Sept. 20 (CNA) Forty percent of employees in Taiwan who have a retirement plan would like to retire at the age of 58, but 90 percent have no idea how much money they would need for retirement, according to a recent poll published by PCA Life Assurance Co., Ltd. This letter Im writing to the voters of Nebraska is about the recent article in the paper about marijuana groups beginning petitioning for the 2018 ballot. First of all, Id like to make a comment directly to the Ricketts administration and everybody who comes with him. Most young Nebraskans and minorities see you for what you are a right wing extremist who voted down everything that would help out or benefit a low-income Nebraskan. Second of all, Doug Peterson sounds like some brainwashed baby boomer who is completely out of touch with North Omaha. Last time I checked, this administration is failing our youth and all of their fathers they have locked up in our prisons. Obviously, your way isnt working. The fact is Nebraskas policy on cannabis is actually empowering the criminals and the cartels. A dummy could figure that out. And last but not least, Doug Peterson says legalizing cannabis would send the wrong message to our youth. Let me tell you something, this has nothing to do with our youth. This has to do with corporate America running our government. The pharmaceutical companies, the tobacco companies and the alcohol companies losing out on revenue. The fact is legal cannabis in Colorado has lowered violent crime, increased funding for education, created jobs and home values have risen in Denver the last few years more than anywhere else in the country. Those are the benefits we want here. If the GOP doesnt bend a little, youre going to break. Once forgotten, four Bucks County veterans get final resting place Since 2020, Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck has found final homes for the remains of more than 30 unclaimed dead. Most were military veterans. Kidnapping and abduction charges were filed Monday against Christopher M. Derleth in the case of a missing 13-year-old and her 19-day-old son. Katherine Elizabeth Derleth went missing Sunday morning from their home in rural Edwardsville. Police immediately began searching for Derleths 1997 Mercury Villager with Illinois plates E833210. At a news conference on Monday afternoon, Madison County Sheriff John Lakin said his investigators strongly suspect Derleth is in West Virginia, and he said investigators have joined with West Virginia police to search for him. Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons filed charges against the 39-year-old Derleth for aggravated kidnapping and child abduction. Bond has been set at $200,000. After the charges were filed, authorities issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Derleth, Gibbons said. Gibbons said the child abduction charge stems from a court order out of Bond County that prohibits Christopher Derleth from concealing or detaining Katherine Derleth from her residence. Katherine Derleth was last seen around 9 p.m. on Saturday. She is described as 4-feet 8-inches tall and weighing 95 pounds. Gibbons declined to say who the babys father is. Derleth is described as 6-feet-1-inch tall and weighing 160 pounds. He has brown shoulder-length hair and hazel eyes. The baby, Christopher Ray Derleth, weighed 8 pounds, I oz. at his birth on Sept. 1. Few details about the abduction were released at Mondays news conference. There will be lot of things that we learn moving forward, Gibbons said. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Madison County Sheriffs Office at 618) 692-4433 or 911. Lakin asked that those with additional information about the abduction not post it on Facebook but rather call police. Authorities noted that Christopher Derleth is an avid camper. If the three are indeed together they may be at a rural campground or a low-end hotel/motel, according to the release. A replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall visited Troy last week. The wall was one part of the event, which also featured several exhibits about Vietnam, rides on a UH-1 Huey helicopter, and the Bradley R. Smith run. Jean Myers helped bring the wall to the area. She said she had been planning the event for several months. Last year, 2015, was the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam War being over, she said, but the wall was not available. The wall was available for 2016, she said. Were calling it the Vietnam Experience because we have so many things going on, she said. We thought about doing it in conjunction with the Brad Smith 5K, she said. Smith was an airman from Troy who lost his life in Afghanistan. His parents established a scholarship fund in his name. The run is one of their fundraisers. They thought the wall would be a wonderful compliment to what they do, Myers said. The thing thats really important to remember is that every veteran has their own personal experience, Myers said. We knew that we had the wall. We asked, what else is important to you, what would you like to see, she said. The VFW of Troy sponsored the event. The city of Troy used tourist dollars to support us, Myers said. Businesses and individuals have been very generous, she said. We had between 60 and 70 volunteers to help set the wall up. The wall is 80 percent to scale. At its center, it was eight feet tall. It was created in 2011 and has been updated with the names that have been added since then. Myers said the Agent Orange quilt was important to her. I have a brother who suffers from Agent Orange, she said. Troy is a community that welcomes our military, Myers said. Our proximity to Scott Air Force Base is attractive to service members. We also have a lot of retired military here, she said. This is a way to give back and maybe help them. I hope it provides a kind, compassionate touch for each one of them. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Kidnapping and abduction charges were filed Monday against Christopher M. Derleth in the case of a missing 13-year-old and her 19-day-old son. Katherine Elizabeth Derleth went missing Sunday morning from their home in rural Edwardsville. Police immediately began searching for Derleths 1997 Mercury Villager with Illinois plates E833210. At a news conference on Monday afternoon, Madison County Sheriff John Lakin said his investigators strongly suspect Derleth is in West Virginia, and he said investigators have joined with West Virginia police to search for him. Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons filed charges against the 39-year-old Delerth for aggravated kidnapping and child abduction. Bond has been set at $200,00. After the charges were filed, authorities issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Derleth, Gibbons said. Gibbons said the child abduction charge stems from a court order out of Bond County that prohibits Christopher Derleth from concealing or detaining Katherine Derleth from her residence. Katherine Derleth was last seen around 9 p.m. on Saturday. She is described as 4-feet 8-inches tall and weighing 95 pounds. Gibbons declined to say who the babys father is. Derleth is described as 6-feet-1-inch tall and weighing 160 pounds. He has brown shoulder-length hair and hazel eyes. The baby, Christopher Ray Derleth, weighed 8 pounds, I oz. at his birth on Sept. 1. Few details about the abduction were released at Mondays news conference. There will be lot of things that we learn moving forward, Gibbons said. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Madison County Sheriffs Office at 618) 692-4433 or 911. Lakin asked that those with additional information about the abduction not post it on Facebook but rather call police. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Penny Febriana Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 The Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) recently held a large meeting and exhibition that showed the progressive movement toward the development of the Fintech Ecosystem. Indonesia Fintech Festival and Conference 2016, from Aug. 29th to 30th, can provide a remarkable impact on improving awareness of the people in the Fintech industry. Gaining awareness of Fintech amongst technopreneurs might be an important agenda for OJK and Kadin, as both institutions want to improve financial inclusion by developing a wider variety of forms of Fintech business and enhancing involvement of technopreneurs to broaden the Fintech industry. However, regulatory aspects can also be considered as another approach to broaden and deepen the Fintech industry. Technology startup firms have already changed the way people do business in a massive way. Fintech, highlighted as a form of technology-based business in the financial sector, undeniably disrupts the entire conventional financial services industry with its high level of rigidity. However, Fintech firms still adhere to the same roots as the conventional financial sector as they deliver services that require trust from customers. Under this circumstance, regulation in the Fintech industry is still essential to guide the way technopreneurs develop the Fintech business, assuring that it aligns with customer protection. The process of formulating the regulation has been taking quite a long time since the Indonesia Fintech Association was established in September 2015. Considering Fintech as a game-changing movement for the financial services industry, formulating efficient regulation is indeed really challenging. However, setting up the regulation, not particularly in the Fintech industry but generally in the financial services industry, has never been easy. A review regarding Economic Regulation by D. Parker (2002) explains thoroughly the aspects of efficient regulation, the challenges to formulate efficient regulation and the impact of regulation on business. His review stated that regulation is a complex balancing act between advancing the interests of consumers, competitors and investors, while promoting a wider, public interest agenda. Techno-business will surely impact how the regulation environment should adapt to business. In this kind of dynamic business environment, where government intends to encourage more people to be innovative technopreneurs, the regulation should be built not merely based on consumer interest, but also based on startups business perspectives. To support my opinion, Parker pointed out in his review that the objective of regulation should be to protect the consumer, while providing an environment where the industry can invest with a high degree of confidence that profits legitimately made are not eroded by vexatious regulation. Parker also mentioned of a well-functioning regulatory structure. He noted that such a structure should give regulators a space to use their judgement for discovery and learning as the market changes. But at the same time, a well-functioning regulatory structure avoids high levels of regulatory risk. A new problem might arise as the techno-business environment changes rapidly from time to time. Business demands regulation to be more adaptive. This could possibly increase regulatory risk. Higher regulatory risk leads to higher cost of compliance. Hence, in my opinion, regulators should seek a new ideal approach that can fit and support business to grow, in terms of formulating and delivering the regulation to be implemented efficiently. Following the development of current business trends, the regulatory environment will eventually be incorporated into technological innovation, as the needs for more adaptive and efficient regulation increase. The review from EYs (Ernst and Young) 2015 Global Governance, Risk and Compliance Survey titled Innovating with Regtech, Turning Regulatory Compliance into a Competitive Advantage stated that more stringent requirements within increasingly dense data landscapes and the rapidly evolving Fintech sector have led firms, technology providers and regulators to focus on new technologies to meet regulatory challenges. Further, the review stated the rise of the new form of innovation called Regtech. Particularly in the UK financial services industry, Regtech gains popularity among financial service industry players. Citing EYs review (2015) further, Regtech is defined as the adoption of new technologies to facilitate the delivery of regulatory requirements. Regtech will simplify regulatory compliance in many ways by standardizing the compliance process, continuously seeking solution for more flexible risk management framework, automatically linking controls with risks and deepening data analytics, which will lead into better management information. In other words, Regtech creates a competitive advantage for business by formulating a new form of risk management framework and simpler way of regulatory compliance utilizing technology innovations. Taking the capital market industry as an example, form over substance is still becoming the main issue in regulatory compliance. In the compliance monitoring process, regulators, such as the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), OJK, and the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI), still depend mostly on administrative paper documentations, which can be easily manipulated by exchange members. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, exchange members have to maintain really efficient costs for regulatory compliance moreover under the market downturn scenario. Once exchange members feel that the regulations are already outdated or can no longer support their business, the regulatory compliance will only be a formality. They tend to seek a loophole, and exploit it to relax from regulation. Day-to-day regulatory compliance in the financial services industry is not an easy task. The challenge is not only for firms who become the object of regulation, but also for regulators, in a way of assuring and monitoring that regulation has been implemented as it should be. Perhaps the development of Regtech is not merely seen as disruptive in the regulatory environment, but also as a revolutionary way to create a stronger and more sustained Fintech industry, improving efficiency in the conventional financial services industry as well. __________________________________ The writer is an exchange member of the compliance division at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The views expressed are her own. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Tue, September 20, 2016 Biznet regional sales vice president Endra Leonardy (right) and CitraRaya Jambi associate director Yusanto agree to closer cooperation between the two companies. An MoU signed at InterContinental midPlaza Hotel Jakarta on Wednesday is part of Biznets commitment to expand its network across Indonesia to give more people access to the internet.(-/-) Biznet regional sales vice president Endra Leonardy (right) and CitraRaya Jambi associate director Yusanto agree to closer cooperation between the two companies. An MoU signed at InterContinental midPlaza Hotel Jakarta on Wednesday is part of Biznets commitment to expand its network across Indonesia to give more people access to the internet.(-/-) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) New York, United States Tue, September 20, 2016 Marc Jacobs has apologized for his response to criticism over showcasing his models in dreadlocks during the final day of New York Fashion Week. The white designer was criticized on social media after his mostly white lineup of models was outfitted with rainbow dreadlocks for his Thursday show. Some accused Jacobs of appropriating black culture. (Read also: Bringing Indonesias Muslim fashion to the New York stage) A photo posted by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Sep 15, 2016 at 8:55pm PDT A screengrab shows Jacobs responding to his critics on Instagram by saying it was "funny" that they don't "criticize women of color for straightening their hair." Jacobs also wrote that he doesn't see color or race and that he was "sorry to read that so many people are narrow minded." Jacobs apologized Sunday on Instagram for what he called "the lack of sensitivity unintentionally expressed by my brevity." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Youkyung Lee and Joe McDonald (Associated Press) Seoul Tue, September 20, 2016 Samsung Electronics said Monday that its investigation into the first report of a Galaxy Note 7 fire in China found no battery problem, reducing concerns that its smartphone crisis had expanded to the world's largest mobile phone market. The South Korean tech giant said it was not able to investigate a second reported fire because it could not obtain that phone. The two accounts of Galaxy Note 7 fires appeared on Chinese social media and were widely reported by Chinese and South Korean media, raising alarms because the South Korean tech giant earlier said no Note 7 recall was necessary in China because the phones sold there did not have the battery manufacturing error that caused fires in dozens of phones sold in other countries. Samsung announced the global recall of 2.5 million of its flagship smartphones just two weeks after they were launched. It is struggling to restore consumer trust after 92 reports of Note 7 batteries that overheated or caught fire in the United States, which prompted an official government recall there last week. The company began shipping new Note 7 phones to replace the defective ones this week in South Korea. The Chinese battery supplier for Note 7 phones sold in China said Monday the fires there appeared to be different from those in other countries. "We believe the heat problem comes from outside the battery. A very large likelihood exists that other factors gave rise to the heat problem," Amperex Technology Ltd. said. It gave no indication of what may have caused the problems. Samsung said its investigation suggested external heat had damaged the phone. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency and other South Korean media said it may have been an effort by consumers to tarnish Samsung. Samsung said it tried to obtain the phone involved in the second reported fire, but was not able to, correcting its earlier statement that it was investigating both cases. The Galaxy Note 7 recall has been Samsung Electronics' biggest crisis in recent years. Samsung has faced criticism that it failed to coordinate with government safety regulators and did not give clear information to consumers. Many airlines have banned use of the Note 7, saying it is a flight hazard. (Read also: Samsung phones reportedly catch fire in China) In its initial announcement on Sept. 2, Samsung did not say whether consumers could continue to use the phones without danger. A few days later, it urged them to immediately turn off the phones. And last week, Samsung said it is rolling out a software update to the Note 7 phones that will limit the battery charge to 60 percent but didn't say whether all phones would automatically receive it. In South Korea, mobile carriers said Note 7 owners could begin exchanging their phones starting Monday, but there were few people doing so at a Samsung service center. South Korea's government has not issued an official recall like its counterparts in the U.S. and Canada. Monday is the deadline for consumers in South Korea to get a full refund. The Note 7 debuted to rave reviews in August thanks to its speed, new software features and longer time between charges, which requires a more powerful battery. But shortly after the launch, users began to report fires or explosions, in one case causing a blaze that destroyed an SUV. In the first incident reported in China, a social media user posted messages Sunday saying a friend's Galaxy Note 7 caught fire over the weekend. It included photos of the damaged phone. The user, contacted by phone, told The Associated Press the Note 7 was bought Sept. 1 through the JD.com e-commerce site. The man, who asked not to be identified by name, said the phone started to heat up and vibrate late Saturday night, then exploded and emitted black smoke. A second report on a separate social media account said an owner's phone exploded Sunday while the person was playing a game on it. That account gave no contact information for the user or details of where the person lives but showed photos of the damaged phone and its serial number. The incidents could set back Samsung's effort to stage a comeback in China, where it has slipped to No. 6 in a crowded market behind ambitious local brands, said Nicole Peng of research firm Canalys. Samsung accounted for 8 percent of smartphone sales in China in the three months ending June 30, down slightly from the previous quarter's 9 percent, according to Canalys. Huawei was in first place in both quarters with 16 percent, followed by Vivo and Xiaomi at 13 percent. "This will make it difficult to make it back to the top," Peng said. Samsung Electronics launched the Note 7 phone in China on Sept. 1, after reports began spreading of the phones catching fire in other nations. Samsung's mobile president, Koh Dong-jin, said at the time that sales in China would continue because Note 7 phones sold there use different batteries. Analysts believe Samsung SDI supplied most of the faulty batteries while Note 7 phones in China use batteries made by Amperex, which reportedly also is a main supplier of batteries for Apple's iPhone. Last week, Samsung recalled 1,858 Note 7 phones in China from a different batch that had been distributed before general sales began. The company said the two units involved in the reported fires were not from that batch. ___ McDonald reported from Beijing. AP researcher Henry Hou in Beijing contributed to this report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, September 19 2016 Traditional markets are finding it difficult to sell recently imported sugar and buffalo despite affordable prices presenting a big challenge for the government to market the commodities. The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) has distributed imported sugar and buffalo meat to 41 traditional markets in Greater Jakarta to help stabilize commodity prices. However, Barjudin, a staple food seller at Grogol market, said the price of Rp 12,500 (95 US cent) per kilogram sugar was still not popular with customers as it was not as sweet as the unbranded sugar that he sold at Rp 15,000 per kg. He said he only sold 5 kg per day on average of the whitish Bulog sugar since it arrived at the market on Friday, which compared to daily average sales of 25 kg of the normal, yellowish sugar. Only a few people bought [the new type of sugar], because it is not as sweet as normal sugar. It is good for cookies and cakes sellers, if they want to bake less sweet food, but normal customers dont usually opt for it, he said. Similar to sugar, frozen buffalo meat imported from disease-free regions in India, also saw lukewarm demand on its first days of sale, even though at Rp 65,000 per kg it is cheaper than fresh beef at Rp 90,000 to Rp 120,000 per kg. Arifin Ipong Nasmawi, a meat seller at Grogol market, said he sold 50 kg of buffalo meat, compared to 400 kg of beef on Friday. I think not many people will buy buffalo meat, because Jakartans are still not used to eating buffalo, but today is okay, because fortunately one customer bought in bulk for a wedding party. He bought some 50 kg of it, he said. Nevertheless, Arief Nasrudin, the president director of PD Pasar Jaya, which runs many of Jakartas traditional markets, said he was optimistic that both new products would receive a warmer welcome from the public as time goes by and with the help of good marketing. Earlier this month, Bulog held a buffalo meat cooking event, where people found that the meat tasted just like beef, albeit with a thicker texture. Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said the Trade Ministry was also looking to partner with market operators outside Jakarta to buy staples from Bulog to stabilize prices. The government has imported 10,000 tons of buffalo meat from India and will import 70,000 tons more from there by year-end to reduce beef import dependency on Australia and New Zealand. The ministry is also looking to diversify sugar imports, which currently come mostly from Thailand, and to improve local sugar production through advanced technology and by easing land procurement for new plantations. We cannot depend for imports only on one country, otherwise they dictate the price. We have considered opening imports from other countries, like Brazil, which is experiencing sugar oversupply now, so they can come with a more competitive price, he said. -------------- To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 An anti-corruption activist has suggested that Irman Gusman, a state official named a suspect for allegedly accepting a bribe, step down as a Regional Representatives Council (DPD) speaker. If I were him, I would tender my resignation so that I dont tarnish the institutions image, Adnan Topan Husodo from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said on Monday. Irman was named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Saturday for allegedly accepting a Rp 100 million (US$7,600) bribe in return for recommending to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) that it give a quota on imported sugar to CV Semesta Berjaya led by Xaveriandy Sutanto. It is alleged that Xaveriandy gave the money to Irman on Friday night. Adnan also said that Irman would not be able to exploit his position during the judicial process if he stepped down. Furthermore, Adnan said Irmans case should serve as a wake-up call for the government to create a legal framework to punish those who engage in the corrupt peddling of influence. If there is no money involved in the case, Irman cannot be touched by the law, Adnan noted. He argued that as a DPD speaker, Irman did not have the authority to issue a recommendation to Bulog, and hence, the selling of influence should be regulated. (wnd/dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Dwinad Nusa Sejahtera (DNS), a gold mining firm run by Australian-listed Sumatra Copper and Gold, recently decided to call off its operations in South Sumatra after confronting rampant disturbances from illegal miners. The management claims the prolonged conflict has created doubt about whether the company can make a profitable investment in the province. As we all know, social conflict with illegal miners in the area is a main problem for gold mining firms. Recently, illegal miners created disturbances that made us stop our operations. Were worried about how were going to give yields to our investors, DNS general manager Leonard Manurung said on Monday during an investors forum organized by the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and the National Police. Apart from social conflict, businesspeople also see security issues as factors that discourage the expansion of investment in the country. Violent labor strikes in Batam, Riau Islands, for instance, have hampered the investment climate in the area and a number of foreign firms reportedly pulled out of their investments in Riau Islands due to severe disruptions to their production facilities. BKPM data shows that over 60 projects worth Rp 342 trillion (US$26 billion) had to be delayed over the past few years due to security issues. With this in mind, the BKPM and the National Police are teaming up to tackle the problem. On Monday, the latter passed a working guideline titled Coordination for Protection and Security for Businesses to Support Investment in Indonesia to the BKPM as proof of its commitment to help maintain a healthy investment climate in the country. Coordination between the institutions will take place across the 10 provinces that attracted the largest number of realized investments over the past few years. The regions are Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Riau Islands, East Kalimantan and South Sulawesi. The coordination will allow regional BKPMs as well as industrial estates and local police forces to exchange data and information to solve existing problems as quickly as possible. In following up conflicts involving businesses and illegal miners, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, for example, instructed regional police chiefs to arrest the financiers of the illegal miners, instead of the workers, to deal with the matter effectively. The principle in dealing with these illegal gold miners is how to weaken their financiers, those who pay them. Arresting the miners will only create social conflict, he said. However, the problem is that these financiers have lobbied here and there [with various officials] to gain protection. But we still need to get them, he added. Indonesian Industrial Estate Association (HAKI) general chairman Sanny Iskandar applauded the joint commitment, while acknowledging the possibility of workers strikes over the coming weeks as many regions begin to negotiate new minimum wages. Workers will be forced by certain parties to join in demonstrations to increase their minimum wage to an unreasonable level. We hope the police can intensify supervision in areas where coercion is rampant, he said. BKPM head Thomas Lembong said with stronger cooperation with the police, the board hopes to see the delayed projects begin their operations soon. The BKPM hopes to achieve an investment target of Rp 594.8 trillion this year, Rp 298.1 trillion of which was realized last semester. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has forged collaboration with Citi Indonesia to enhance investment promotion among big global investors, allowing Citi to act as a "liaison officer" to its clients who want to invest in Indonesia. BKPM chairman Thomas Trikasih Lembong said the collaboration with the US-based financial institution was part of strategic measures to connect the agency with foreign investors in terms of consultation and investment activities. "The joint force is important because the big financial institution has thousands of clients," he said after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the deal in Jakarta on Tuesday. This is not the first time that the BKPM has worked with an international bank. In December last year, the agency signed a MoU with Singapore-based United Overseas Bank (UOB) and in February 2009 it signed one with UK-based HSBC. Citi Indonesia CEO Batara Sianturi said the company used to give consultations related to equity, bonds, money market, and investment in the real sector. With the new collaboration, the lender will be more focus on consultation services for those interested in investing in Indonesia. "Globally, Citi is trusted as a credible strategic banking advisor and partner in more than 100 countries, to the extent that 95 percent of the Fortune 100 Companies choose Citi as their preferred banking partner," he said. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java Tue, September 20, 2016 Bogor has been named the best city for attracting repatriated funds from the tax amnesty program in West Java by the Taxation Directorate General West Java III. To date, the city has generated Rp 120.43 billion (US$9.16 million) in redemption fees. Mohammad Isnaeni, the head of the directorate general, said that nationally, the tax amnesty program had collected 55,967 asset declaration letters with redemption fees amounting to Rp 10.34 trillion as of Sept. 14. Meanwhile, the Taxation Directorate General West Java III, which covers Bekasi, Bogor, Depok and Bogor regency, collected 1,763 asset declaration letters with redemption fees amounting to Rp 206.66 billion. Isnaeni said the Rp 120.43 billion in penalties generated by Bogor came from 468 asset declaration letters submitted in the first phase of the tax amnesty program, which began on July 1 and will close at the end of September. Bekasi ranked second by collecting 729 asset declaration letters with redemption fees totaling Rp 48.44 billion. Depok recorded 282 asset declaration letters with Rp 19.16 billion in penalties. Meanwhile, Bogor regency generated Rp 18.64 billion in redemption fees from 282 asset declaration letters. The Taxation Directorate General West Java III has recovered taxes amounting to Rp 8.3 trillion as of Sept. 14, or 50.46 percent of the Rp 16.45 trillion target. Olimpic Group owner AU Bintoro said the biggest obstacle in the implementation of the tax amnesty program was the programs short time-period. Furthermore, he argued that businessmen faced difficulties collecting the money to be repatriated. Even if we have it, its not in the form of cash money. It takes time for us to collect the money, said Bintoro. Ive always wanted to be a good tax payer and I hope I can help develop this city. But please give us more time, said Bintoro, adding that other business players also shared similar concerns. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Tue, September 20, 2016 Minorities are treated like second-class citizens in many corners of the globe. Sexual minorities are among those heavily persecuted in oppressive societies. We would not include Indonesia among them, but it is rapidly getting there. Countries that tend to suffocate their citizens are those that ram selected beliefs and values down peoples throats, and ensure that everyone abides by the rules. Therefore, the oft repeated slogan of respect for diversity is getting increasingly chipped, undermined by many exceptions, including except the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender [LGBT] community. Last week, officials said apps designed for LGBT people would be banned following allegations that some had been used to facilitate child prostitution rings. Images purportedly showing pimps and some of the boys provided for male clientele went viral, and once again we are seeing alarmingly rapid support for a logically flawed and dangerous policy. Instead of cracking down on suspects of child abuse, among the first measures the government comes up with is the banning of apps for the LGBT community because some were allegedly used for child prostitution. Would we call for bans on online transactions because many of the facilities are used for crimes? As an activist has pointed out, no one is calling for the banning of Facebook or Twitter, which have also had accounts suspected of being linked to prostitution rings. Such fallacy is easily accepted by many because of the considerable belief that homosexuality equals pedophilia; the same simplistic assumption that alcoholism leads to rape. There is little demand for research leading to solid policy, as cracking down on perceived sexual deviants is the quick way to save everyone from sin, or so many seem to believe. Apps considered to be designed for the LGBT community are under investigation, a spokesman for the Communications and Information Ministry said, following its request that Google block Grindr, BoyAhoy and Blued because these applications promote the LGBT lifestyle and sexual deviance, the spokesman, Noor Iza, said. We all demand better protection for our children. But we know full well where this is heading that no one can be different and the majority who are normal get to set the rules on what is acceptable and what is not. Many cite religious reasons, but in communist China it was reported on Monday that Chinese advocates for the LGBT community are fighting conversion therapy for sexual minorities treated at a mental hospital. We must therefore admit that our nation, which upholds the tenet of Belief in one God is getting as tyrannical as countries that retain the power to bully citizens, communists or otherwise. Freedom of expression is limited to expressions acceptable to the dominant majority, which a calculating President Joko Jokowi Widodo eyes carefully, with the 2019 elections in the background. Limits on expression should be for hate speech, yet we are seeing the proliferation of hate speech against minorities including the LGBT community. Rather than targeting the victims, it should be the blaring hate speech makers who are persecuted and jailed, in line with our laws touching on hate speech. That our officials pretend to forget our Constitution is the most frightening development here, rather than sexual minorities. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 Only two months since leaving the Jakarta Police as a celebrity officer, current Lampung Police deputy chief Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti has found himself the subject of an internal probe after allegedly assaulting a woman. The alleged assault came into the spotlight last week after a photo of a bruised woman, now known to be Alice Wara, was circulated by a social media account under the name Novena Widjaya. The account also posted a photo of Alice taking a selfie with Krishna. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 China has expressed its interest in bringing its private firms to invest in agriculture in areas in the border region of Kalimantan, a top official said on Monday. "The investment can bring employment to areas bordering with Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines," Indonesias Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said after a meeting with Chinas Deputy Agriculture Minister Zhang Taolin in Jakarta. Indonesia and China are discussing opportunities to increase agricultural trade between their two countries. Amran said border areas in Kalimantan were on the governments development priority list to unlock their economic potential, adding that cattle, sugar and corn were among the commodities expected to be developed together with China. Zhang invited Amran to visit China to discuss the partnership further. "We are interested in what Minister Amran has offered, and we are looking forward to welcoming him in December," Zhang said through an interpreter. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Catherine Luckey and Jill Colvin (Associated Press) Estero, Fla. Tue, September 20, 2016 Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists Monday, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps groups such as ISIS recruit new fighters. Trump showed no sign of changing and insisted the US should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As Trump supporters at a packed rally in Florida shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old US citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point." "I'm the only candidate in this race who's been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield," Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. "I know how to do this." The possibility of a home-grown terrorist plot cast a new shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates' attention from the daily controversies of the campaign and giving them a high-profile opportunity to make their case to undecided voters. Clinton and her team see her experience and what they say is her steady judgment as key selling points for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama at that moment. But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close US borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid. On Monday, he called for tougher policing, including profiling foreigners who look like they could have connections to terrorism or certain Mideastern nations. "This isn't just a matter of terrorism, this is also really a question of quality of life," he said. "We want to make sure we're only admitting people into our country who love our country." Pointing to her Monday morning comment that Trump's words give "aid and comfort" to Islamic extremists, his campaign said Clinton was accusing him of treason, going beyond the bounds of acceptable campaigning and trying to change the subject from her own failures. She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with ISIS, are rooting for Trump to win the White House. She said, "We're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them, but we're not going to go after an entire religion." Trump agreed terrorists have a preference: They "want her so badly to be our president." Clinton briefly turned her focus from national security on Monday, wooing younger voters at a midday rally in Philadelphia. At Temple University, she acknowledged she needs to do more to get millennials on board. "Even if you are totally opposed to Donald Trump, you may still have some questions about me. I get that. And I want to do my best to answer those questions," she told several hundred students gathered in an ornate, wood-paneled lecture hall. This election marks the first presidential campaign where millennials make up the single largest generation among US adults, having surpassed baby boomers during the past four years. The group helped anchor Obama's support, but Clinton has failed to attract them in the same numbers. She was to meet with the leaders of Egypt, Ukraine and Japan late in the day in New York City. The leaders are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump announced plans to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Trump has tried to appear more statesmanlike as the November election approaches. Still, he suggested it's fine if some world leaders feel uneasy about him. "Well, maybe that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Right now the world has no respect for our country, they have no respect for our president, whatsoever," he said in an interview on Fox News. New York officials said Monday the bombings in a Manhattan neighborhood and a New Jersey shore town were looking increasingly like acts of terrorism with a foreign connection. Authorities were also investigating the stabbings of nine people at a Minnesota mall as a possible act of terrorism. (bbn) Associated Press writers Lisa Lerer in Washington and Bill Barrow in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ati Nurbaiti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 Internship opportunities in ASEAN countries are needed to expose students to business in the region, as part of preparations for an integrated ASEAN economy, Malaysias trade and industry minister has said. Mustapa Mohamed said during a visit to Jakarta on Sunday that his ministry had begun facilitating an internship program involving local and multinational companies in Malaysia since last year. Apart from Indonesians, students came from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Their airfares were covered by the companies, he said. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Indonesias external debt amounted to US$324.2 billion in July, a marginal increase from $323.8 billion in the previous month, according to the latest data from Bank Indonesia (BI). The country's external debt is up 6.4 percent from the same period last year. The BI data, released Monday, show a year-on-year (yoy) decline in short-term external debt and an increase in long-term external debt, which accounts for the lions share of total debt. While the foreign indebtedness of private companies decreased from a year ago, public sector external debt soared. BI said it considered the development of external debt in July healthy, but added it would watch out for risks to the national economy. "Looking ahead, Bank Indonesia will continue to monitor the development of external debt, particularly private sector external debt," the release said. The central bank said it was aiming to ensure that the external debt played an optimal role in supporting the financing of development without causing risks to macroeconomic stability. As of July, private sector external debt amounts to $164.5 billion, or 50.7 percent of total external debt, while public sector external debt amounts $159.7 billion, or 49.3 percent of the total. Private foreign debt is concentrated in the financial sector, manufacturing, mining and utilities, which together account for 75.7 percent of the debt. Last year, the external indebtedness of businesses in manufacturing and utilities increased, while that of mining companies and financial institutions decreased. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 A former Chiropractic First patient and the husband of another patient have told The Jakarta Post that as of Monday they had yet to receive refunds after the chiropractic clinics were shut down in January. A Danish man, who wished to remain anonymous, said his wife, 35, had yet to receive a refund from Chiropractic First management as promised. His wife was treated at a Chiropractic First in Grand Indonesia shopping mall in early 2015. My wife paid Rp 22.5 million [US$1,700] for 40 sessions of treatment while she was only treated 12 times before the closure, he said, adding that patients may take the case to court if the management did not provide an immediate response regarding the refunds. Another source who also wished to remain anonymous said via email that he had filled out a refund form from the clinic and had completed other procedures to get a refund. However, Chiropractic First Singapore told him on May 19 that the company had terminated its management contract with PT Chiropractic First Indonesia (CFI), and advised him to contact its former Indonesian partner for information. Both men said CFI initially responded but then they subsequently received no news at all. At the time of publication, CFI representatives had not responded to the Posts inquiries. Chiropractic First clinics were closed by authorities following the death of patient Allya Siska Nadya. Allyas parents blamed the chiropractic clinic for their daughters death because she passed away shortly after being treated at a clinic in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, on Aug. 7. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Gerindra will decide its next move after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) officially declares its governor and deputy governor candidates for the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. Gerindra along with the Kinship Coalition will determine the running mate for its governor candidate Sandiaga Uno after hearing PDI-P's announcement scheduled for Tuesday evening, Gerindra recruitment team chief Syarif said. The Kinship Coalition was established by seven political parties namely the PDI-P, Gerindra, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Democratic Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP) to challenge the nomination of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama. Previously, the PKS said Sandiaga would run with Mardani Ali Sera, PKS member in the election. However, Syarif rebutted the statement, saying that Gerindra was still undecided about the deputy governor candidate. Since the coalition consists of other parties, too, we might choose Mardani, city secretary Saefullah or the governor's assistant for tourism, Sylviana Murni, Syarif said on Tuesday. After deciding Sandiagas mate, the coalition will register the appointed candidates with the Jakarta General Election Commission on Friday at 2 p.m.;, he added. The PDI-P has quit the coalition as it was considering supporting Ahok in the election along with Golkar, Hanura and NasDem, and the coalition is thought to be on the rocks after four parties the PPP, the PKB, the Democratic Party and PAN discussed separately joining forces in endorsing their own candidate.(rin) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati asserted on Tuesday the government would not extend the first period of the tax amnesty program. She was speaking in response to an online petition signed by several parties, which suggested that the government extend the first period of the tax pardon program due to its weak realization. "The implementation of this program is based on a law. A petition cannot annul the law. We will listen and see what will happen on the field," Sri Mulyani said at the State Palace on Tuesday. She referred to Law No.11/2016 on Tax Amnesty, which was approved by the House of Representatives on June 28. Earlier, tax observer Yustinus, who is also the executive director for the Center for Indonesian Taxation Analysis, made a petition posted on change.org, through which he urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to extend the first period of the tax amnesty. The government hopes the first period of the tax amnesty program, which began on July 1 and runs until the end of September, can attract a large number of participants. Its second period is scheduled from Oct. 1 to the end of December. According to the 2016 Tax Amnesty Law, in the first period of the program, participating taxpayers who repatriate and declare their assets will get redemption with a rate of 2 and 4 percent respectively. "With the extension of the first period, taxpayers will have an opportunity to make better preparations to benefit the tax amnesty offered," Yustinus explained in his petition. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 As fires continue to raze forests and peatland in Sumatra and Kalimantan, a wake-up call has come from a group of researchers who estimate that haze produced on the islands potentially caused 100,000 deaths in the region in 2015. The team of public health and atmospheric modelling scientists from Harvard and Columbia universities estimated that 2,200 premature deaths occurred in Singapore, 6,500 in Malaysia and 91,600 in Indonesia due to the haze last year. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 International cooperation based on the principles of burden-sharing and shared responsibility are key factors in addressing the migration issue, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Monday during the first ever summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants at the UN General Assembly in New York. "Burden-sharing and shared responsibility do not necessarily mean an evenly distributed responsibility. However, all parties must be able to contribute," Kalla was quoted in a statement sent by the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. In the summit, attended by world leaders of the UN's 193 member states, Kalla emphasized the importance for the international community to work together more closely to address the various human tragedies experienced by migrants, noting that no country can do it alone. Although Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, Kalla underlined the country's commitment on providing humanitarian assistance for those who have arrived on its shores. Indonesia is traditionally viewed as a transit country for those on their way to final destinations such as Australia. Kalla stressed the importance of a comprehensive approach to address the issue of irregular migration, saying that there is a need to find ways of prevention, as well as addressing the root cause. In his remarks, the Vice President also took the opportunity to convey Indonesia's initiative in handling irregular migration through the leadership role taken in the Bali Process, a regional discussion forum. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has stressed the government's commitment to managing its finances effectively and transparently and to ensure greater accountability. To that end, he said, all government branches had to continuously improve their financial reports. They should not focus on procedures but more on the outcome. This principle should be realized concretely in high-quality and timely financial reports," Jokowi said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. He added that transparency and accountability in state financial reports were a governments moral and constitutional responsibilities toward the people. "That's the essence. We must ensure that every penny of their money is fully used for the benefit of all the people, so that they can directly feel the benefit from their money," he went on. Jokowi further stressed that with a continuous increase in state and regional budgets, all budgetary allocations should be more focused on productive spending to boost the economy of the people through infrastructure development and poverty alleviation. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 Technology, Research and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said on Monday that he planned to develop 100 science parks all over the country in a bid to develop innovation in technology and science. Nasir said that the developments of such parks would be based on local cultures. Currently there are 67 science parks across the archipelago. In Jember, East Java, for example, our [science parks] have discovered an innovative way to produce cacao and coffee, which has inspired other countries to imitate the project. I expect for us to become the worlds largest cacao producer, said Nasir quoted by tribunnews.com. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 As the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) opens registration for aspirants in the 2017 gubernatorial election, political parties have intensified their search for a formidable candidate who could challenge incumbent Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama. As Ahok remains the candidate to beat in the upcoming election, attention has turned to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which controls a majority of seats at the City Council. The PDI-P is expected to decide who it will nominate in the 2017 election during a party meeting on Tuesday. In the past few months, the party has sent mixed signals about whether it would join other political parties that have officially backed Ahoks reelection bid, or endorse popular Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, who is also a party member. Risma previously publicly rejected the PDI-Ps offer and said she was needed more in Surabaya. However, Risma recently hinted that she may take up the offer to run in Jakarta, which could pose a serious threat to Ahoks reelection bid. On Monday, Risma welcomed a group dubbed Karisma an abbreviation of Indonesian words meaning We Want Risma to Go to Jakarta at Surabaya City Hall. During the meeting, Risma said that although she did not want a higher position in government, she could not say no to Gods will. I never dreamed of being a mayor or governor because it carries a very serious responsibility. However, sometimes we cant avoid that, she said. For example, I refused to be Surabaya mayor, but suddenly I was ordered to [participate in the Surabaya election]. PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said on Monday that any candidates nominated by the party would go through an internal selection process. Every stage has been conducted in a very systematic way starting with a screening, political mapping, campaign manager training, witness training and school for regional head candidates, Hasto said in a statement. Both Risma and Ahoks deputy Djarot Saiful Hidayat, also a PDI-P politician, recently undertook training for regional head candidates organized by the partys central board. Ahok turned down an invitation to participate. The PDI-P has come up with three options for the Jakarta gubernatorial election: supporting Ahok in his reelection bid, nominating its own member or supporting a candidate that goes through the partys selection process. Since taking over the administration from then Jakarta governor Joko Jokowi Widodo in November 2014, Ahok has led the city with his signature traits of being bold and brash a style loved by his supporters for bringing about change in the city administration. Having won support from the Golkar Party, NasDem Party and Hanura Party, Ahok looks set to be reelected, but the arrival of Risma could result in a very tight race. The latest poll released by Poltracking Indonesia revealed that Risma could pose a serious threat to Ahok as her electability rating has edged closer to that of Ahok. In a head-to-head scenario of Ahok versus Risma, the survey showed that the governor was favored by 44.10 percent of respondents, while the mayor was favored by 33.85 percent. Other political parties that have also spoken highly of Risma have been waiting to see if the PDI-P gives its support to Risma. The United Development Party (PPP), National Awakening Party (PKB), Democratic Party and National Mandate Party (PAN) are also set to announce a decision on Tuesday. The PPP has said the four parties were likely to form a new axis to challenge Ahok. The Gerindra Party, which previously named Sandiaga Uno as its candidate, now says the businessman will become a second option if it strikes a deal with the PDI-P. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 The debate over a planned election regulation (PKPU) that will allow convicts to run in regional elections has split political parties at the House of Representatives, with five factions pushing to scrap the proposal. The factions ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Democratic Party, National Mandate Party (PAN), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and NasDem party rallied on Monday against the proposal that would give chances for convicts placed in probation to run in regional elections and slammed Rambe Kamarulzaman, the chairman of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, for arbitrarily making a decision on the matter. All of them accused Rambe of to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Jakarta deputy governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat has suggested that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is close to endorsing him and Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama in next years gubernatorial election. PDI-P plans to announce its candidate on Tuesday evening, after holding a meeting at the PDI-P central executive board office on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta to discuss various upcoming regional elections. The party is getting firm to uphold plurality. Im sure Jakarta residents are smart and critical in appointing their leaders, Djarot said at City Hall on Tuesday, referring to racial and religious insults directed at Ahok in connection with the Jakarta election. Djarot said such issues would not disrupt the election next year. He said Jakarta voters were rational and would surely be able to set aside racial and religious sentiment. However, Djarot did not confirm whether PDI-P had decided to support him and Ahok in the election. "I'm also curious about the appointed candidates," he said. Meanwhile, PDI-P vice secretary general Eriko Sotarduga said the party had not made a firm decision on the candidates to be appointed. The party would reveal the names of the appointed candidates after the meeting on Tuesday. Now, we still cant reveal anything, because we havent made a decision, he said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has called on members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group formerly led by Santoso, aka Abu Wardah, who was killed in a shootout in Poso, Central Sulawesi, in July to leave their hideouts and surrender. We hope they can leave their strongholds just like Basri. For what are they carrying out activities harmful both to themselves and society? he said as quoted by Antara news agency on the sidelines of the inauguration of a facility at Said Sukanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, on Tuesday. Tito was referring to the groups second-in-command Basri, alias Bagong. On Monday morning, Operation Tinombala task force personnel and MIT members shot at one another in Tombua plantation areas in Tangkura village, South Poso Pesisir, Central Sulawesi. A terror suspect identified as Adji Pandu Suwotomo, alias Sobron, died in the incident. He previously managed to escape when Tinombala personnel arrested Basri and his wife Nurmi Usman, alias Oma, in a raid on Sept. 14. Tito said Operation Tinombala would continue to pursue Poso terror suspects for the next one-and-a-half months. Operation Tinombala task force commander Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi previously said that only 11 MIT members remained at large. (liz/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 Extensive poverty and air pollution are among obstacles faced by ASEAN to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) one year after being adopted by world leaders. The 17 goals were included in the Transforming Our World: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development document, which was endorsed by world leaders on Sept. 25, 2015. Joseph DCruz, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Asia-Pacific team leader, said on Monday the challenges currently faced by ASEAN that could hinder the achievement of the SDGs, among others, were the large number of poor people in the region and the persistent air pollution challenges, including regional haze. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mark Lynas (The Jakarta Post) Oxford, UK Tue, September 20 2016 For more than a decade controversy has raged in the worlds media about whether genetically engineered crops are dangerous, as many environmentalists have long claimed. Yet away from the headlines, a quiet revolution has been unfolding in Asia. In Bangladesh, thousands of smallholder farmers are engaged in successfully growing the worlds first GM food crop expressly developed for poorer countries. Indonesia is not far behind. Bangladeshs new crop a genetically modified eggplant, called Bt brinjal, which is resistant to insect pests is the GMO that anti-GMO activists dont want you to know about. Opponents of genetic engineering technology insist that GMO crops are unsafe for human consumption and also result in more pesticide use. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Three Indonesian hostages freed by the Abu Sayyaf militant group will go through health and psychological check-ups prior to returning to Indonesia. "In accordance with standard procedures, before returning to their respective families, the three men will go through health examinations and post-trauma healing," the Indonesian Embassy in the Philippines stated in a press release on Tuesday. Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Johny Lumintang was present at the handover of Lorence Koten, 34, Theodoros Kopong , 42 and Emanuel, 40. He has confirmed that the men are in good condition. The families of the sailors, who reside in Bulukumba, East Nusa Tenggara, have been informed of the release, the statement read. The three men were freed by the notorious Philippine Islamist group on Sept. 17 after being taken hostage for 75 days. The men were crewmembers of a Malaysian-flagged fishing boat when they were kidnapped by the militants on July 9 in the Lahat Datu waters in Malaysia. Release efforts were conducted in full cooperation with the Philippine government, the statement further read. Five Indonesian men remain in captivity. The militant group is notorious for extracting ransom payments in return for the lives of hostages. Through the embassy's statement, the Indonesian government has promised that it will continue to try and secure the release of the remaining hostages with the support of the Philippine government. (rin) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten Tue, September 20, 2016 The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), an international network of media assistance groups, is drawing attention to the Indonesian governments policy to restrict foreign journalists from covering Papua. This concern is related to Indonesias appointment as the host country for World Press Freedom Day in 2017. Papua is actually one of the issues that is on the list of issues that could be addressed, in which all access of foreign reporters should be better. Actually, its very interesting that local authorities are more nervous about journalism than authorities at the central government, GFMD chairman Leon Willems said after the opening of the 2016 Jakarta World Forum for Media Development at the Nusantara Multimedia University in South Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday. He said the presence of journalists in a country or area is important to help the public in carrying out social control. In a democratic system, public control through media is a fundamental prerequisite, he went on. Speaking on restrictions for the presence of journalists in a country or area, Willems said: [With such restrictions] you cannot have accountability, you cannot have human rights, press freedom, freedom of expression or citizen rights to express themselves. Willems further said international cooperation and pressures against restrictions of journalists to ruling governments could become an important part of efforts to realize the freedom of the press. He referred to the arrest of Khadija Ismayilova, a Free Europe Radio journalist who also worked for Azerbaijan Liberty Radio. She was arrested by her countrys government in December 2014 for airing corruption-related news involving Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyevs family. Since her release in the middle of 2016, Ismayilova had not been permitted to travel abroad until today. If people are held in custody for their opinion, because they research stories that the government was corrupt or that the government does not respond to the corruption but acts against the messenger, this is where I think the issues of justice for journalists are extremely important. If you encourage journalists, you also encourage human rights, said Willems. In the event, Indonesian Press Council chairman Yoseph Stanley Adi Prasetyo said the organizing of the 2016 Jakarta World Forum for Media Development, which was attended by at least 300 international guests, was a preparation ahead of the celebration of the 2017 World Press Freedom Day. "Journalists from several countries have found its not easy for them to enter Indonesia. If they can now enter countries like Ukraine, Pakistan and Nigeria, which were previously quite restrictive, it shows that Indonesia is currently carrying out open politics, said Stanley. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Sectarianism is worsening ahead of the Jakarta gubernatorial election, where, for the first time in history, a Christian and Chinese-Indonesian candidate has topped many polls as the most electable candidate to lead the capital. Some Islamic groups have tried out various schemes to prevent the reelection of the clear frontrunner, Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, whom they refer to as a kafir (non-believer), including calling on Muslim voters to join together in an alliance to oppose him. They gained momentum on Sunday, when thousands of people gathered at Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta and issued a nine- point accord, known as the Risalah Istiqlal, for Muslim voters. One of the points stipulated in the accord is that it is haram (forbidden by Islamic law) for Muslims to vote for a non-Muslim candidate. Number four, we call on all Muslims to abide by their religious [teachings] by only voting for a Muslim candidate. It is haram to vote for a non-Muslim candidate or abstain from voting, said former National Police chief Gen. (ret.) Dai Bachtiar, said, reading from the accord. Prominent individuals in attendance at the gathering included Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) co-founder Hidayat Nur Wahid and National Mandate Party (PAN) senior politician Amien Rais. Meanwhile, former law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who is likely to contest the election, also joined the event. Abdul Mukti, secretary-general of Muhammadiyah, the countrys second-largest Islamic organization, said the declaration was a political product made by individuals and therefore had no right whatsoever to represent the voice of the Muslim community as a whole. He added, however, that the call to not vote for a non-Muslim candidate did not violate democratic principles. But, in our democracy today, religious sentiments have always been ineffective in influencing voters decisions, Abdul told The Jakarta Post on Monday. Sundays declaration of the Risalah Istiqlal was the culmination of a series of previous attacks, some of them racially charged, against Ahok. On the same occasion, Amien, who has been a consistent critic of Ahok, called the governor the dajjal (Antichrist). Previously, in his Idul Adha sermon in North Jakarta, Amien called on people to vote for a candidate who does not have a penchant for evictions, who does not serve the interests of the capitalists. It is just fine. He is just an old man after all, Ahok said, responding to Amiens attacks on Sunday night. I pity him. He is quite old yet still very emotional. I pray to God he has a long life and good health. There is no need for him to show his temper, Nusron Wahid, head of Ahoks campaign team, said. The use of sectarian issues is unlikely to be successful in changing the opinion of the around 7 million voters in Jakarta, as the number of moderate voters who base their decisions on rational calculations was large, said Jakarta-based pollster Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC). SMRC noted in a survey conducted in June that extreme voters, who strictly based their decision on religious considerations, rather than rational calculations, only accounted for around 12 percent of respondents. These strict religious voters, the survey said, were people who had only obtained a basic education. The survey said that more than 22 percent of Jakarta voters had finished university and around 50 percent were high school graduates. Meanwhile only 13 percent of voters were elementary school graduates and another 13 percent had only finished junior high school. Even if these religious sentiments are continuously voiced, they will likely just influence the 12 percent of people in the extreme camp, SMRC survey program director Sirojudin Abbas told the Post. Sundays declaration might be just the tip of an iceberg of sectarianism in Jakarta. Sectarianism marred the previous Jakarta election in 2012, when current President Joko Jokowi Widodo contested the election with Ahok as his running mate. Some groups at the time doubted that Jokowi was a Muslim, and incorrectly claimed that his mother was a Christian. Despite the steady flow of racial attacks on the pair, the Jokowi-Ahok pair managed to win the 2012 gubernatorial election. (adt) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar Tue, September 20 2016 A Singaporean man has been arrested for allegedly receiving mail packages containing drugs from the Netherlands at a Bali post office. Local police are still hunting down a British man in connection with the case. Although the arrest was made over a week ago, the Bali and Nusa Tenggara Customs and Excise Office only announced the case at a press conference on Monday in Bali. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 Slovakia celebrated its 24th Independence Day in Jakarta with a reception on Monday evening, highlighting the very solid relations it has with Indonesia, especially in bilateral trade. Slovak Ambassador to Indonesia Michal Slivovic said bilateral relationship between Slovakia and Indonesia is very solid. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Penny Febriana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20 2016 The Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) recently held a large meeting and exhibition that showed the progressive movement toward the development of the Fintech Ecosystem. Indonesia Fintech Festival and Conference 2016, from Aug. 29th to 30th, can provide a remarkable impact on improving awareness of the people in the Fintech industry. Gaining awareness of Fintech amongst technopreneurs might be an important agenda for OJK and Kadin, as both institutions want to improve financial inclusion by developing a wider variety of forms of Fintech business and enhancing involvement of technopreneurs to broaden the Fintech industry. However, regulatory aspects can also be considered as another approach to broaden and deepen the Fintech industry. Technology startup firms have already changed the way people do business in a massive way. Fintech, highlighted as a form of technology-based business in the financial sector, undeniably disrupts the entire conventional financial services industry with its high level of rigidity. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, September 20, 2016 Precast concrete producer Waskita Beton Precast has allocated Rp 4 trillion (US$304.18 million) for capital expenditure (capex) to expand its business outside Java up to 2018. The company, which pocketed Rp 5.16 trillion from its official listing on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) on Tuesday, has prepared Rp 1.1 trillion of capex this year, Rp 1.9 trillion next year, and the remaining Rp 1 trillion for 2018. Waskita Beton Precast president director Jarot Subana said Rp 650 billion of the IPO proceeds would be used to build two factories currently being constructed in Palembang, South Sumatra, and Klaten, Central Java, giving the company 10 factories in total. "We want it to be 13 factories in 2018, the next three factories will be built in East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and North Sumatra. Weve already secured land there," he said at the IDX building in Jakarta on Tuesday. With these new factories, he continued, the proportion of sales generated in Java could be reduced from 70 percent to 60 percent in 2018. Around 85 percent of the company's sales come from the firms parent company Waskita Karya. "Weve secured Rp 7 trillion in new contracts, from the 2016 target of Rp 7.6 trillion. But we expect to book Rp 8 trillion by the end of the year and we forecast profits after tax of Rp 620 billion," Jarot said. (ags) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin MICHAEL ASTOR, Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) (Associated Press) United Nations Tue, September 20, 2016 World leaders on Monday approved a declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane response to the refugee crisis that has strained resources and sparked divisions from Africa to Europe. The issue of what to do about the world's 65.3 million displaced people took center stage at the UN General Assembly with leaders from the 193 member states taking part in the first-ever summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. Advocacy groups worried that the New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees an outcome document which contains no concrete commitments and is not legally binding falls short of what is needed, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, himself a refugee during the Korean War, hailed it as historic. "Today's summit represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility," Ban said. Around the world, there are currently about 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million migrants, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The agency defines refugees as people forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution, while migrants choose to move in search of a better life. Philippe Bolopion, deputy director of global advocacy for Human Rights Watch, said the international community still had a long way to go in dealing with the crisis. "I would say if you measure this document by what is at stake here, it certainly falls short of the mark. We're facing an historic crisis and the response is not historic," Bolopion said on the sidelines of the meeting. He added that in many areas refugee protections were backsliding with a growing number of countries trying to turn back refugees in violation of international law. "Is the outcome document up to the challenge? No, unquestionably it's not. Does that mean the summit is pointless? No, because it's precisely at moments like this that you need to regroup," Bolopion added. The declaration seeks to standardize responses to refugee situations and provide better education prospects for the children who make up over half of the world's refugees. It also looks to improve working opportunities for refugees who are now spending nearly 20 years in exile on average. There are also plans for a campaign to combat xenophobia. All of this may prove an uphill struggle at a time when refugees and migrants have become a divisive issue in Europe and the United States. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said xenophobia has been a major factor contributing to the failure of the international response thus far. "Defenders of what is right and good are being outflanked in too many countries by race-baiting bigots, who seek to gain, or retain, power by wielding prejudice and deceit, at the expense of those most vulnerable," Zeid told the meeting. Several countries shot down an earlier draft of the declaration that called on nations to resettle 10 percent of the refugee population each year, something that has led several human rights groups to criticize the document as a missed opportunity. The US and a number of other countries also objected to language in the original draft that said children should never be detained, so the agreement now says children should seldom, if ever, be detained. Zeid praised the political consensus reached in approving the declaration, but warned against self-congratulation. "The bitter truth is this summit was called because we have been largely failing. Failing the long-suffering people of Syria, in not ending the war in its infancy. Failing others in now chronic conflict zones, for the same reason. Failing millions of migrants who deserve far more than lives marked by cradle-to-grave indignity and desperation," said Zeid. More concrete progress is expected at a follow-up summit on Tuesday called by President Barack Obama, where at least 45 countries are expected to make pledges that are in line with US goals of increasing humanitarian aid by $3 billion, doubling resettlement and increasing access to education for 1 million youngsters and access to employment for another million of the displaced. (bbn) The Department of Buildings rarely revokes after hours permits. [The Real Deal] The Kansas Gallery on Rivington Street is closing. [Artforum] Some people are questioning whether business improvement districts have outlived their usefulness. [Crains] L Train angst grips New York. A look at some conventional and unconventional solutions to the looming shutdown of the tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn. [Newsweek] The Lenin statue, which has been perched on top of the Red Square residential complex on East Houston Street since 1994 was removed last night. [EV Grieve] War in the Neighborhood, described as one of the strongest works of graphic non-fiction to date and an engrossing first-hand document of the housing battles of the Lower East Side at the end of the 20th Century, is coming out with a new edition. Theres a crowdfunding campaign to support it. [Comics Beat] Returning San Gennaro to its roots: From the Times Lens blog, photos from Little Italy in the years before The Godfather and The Sopranos. [New York Times] With its rich history of immigration spanning Europe, north Africa and the Levant, Israels culinary heritage has created a must-taste destination for food fanatics the world over. Here are some particular highlights that you would be remiss not to try should you find yourself hungry on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean. 1. Hummus and pita Hummus, msabbaha and zhoug in Jaffas Abu Hassan restaurant (Peter Cary) Put down the cardboard-like substitute youre shovelling into that disguised wallpaper paste in front of you for a moment. The real bread is soft and fluffy, and is always served to the table warm from the oven. The dip itself is impossibly smooth, and comes with an endless variety of toppings depending on the house speciality. Favourite dressings include olive oil, pine nuts, paprika, Zaatar (dried hyssop and sesame), and tahini. Top destinations for your chickpea fix include Jaffas Abu Hassan, Ktse HaNacha just outside of Tiberias and the ever-popular Hummus Said deep in the heart of Akkos souk. Make sure you try the warm, de-constructed variety, msabbaha, for a satisfying chunkier finish. 2. Shawarma Shawarma in Tel Avivs southern Jaffa neighbourhood (Jeff Wilcox/ Flickr Fancy a kebab? Strictly speaking, shawarma refers to something similar to whats commonly called a Doner in the UK, since were more acquainted with the Turkish terminology for rotisserie-cooked deliciousness. Shawarma in Israel is almost universally good, and with vocal and discerning locals about its pretty much guaranteed to be fresh and thoroughly satisfying. Try any variety of fillings on offer, but make room for at least one laffa on your visit the largest and mightiest bread wrapping on offer. 3. Wine Flam winerys veranda overlooking the Judaean Hills (Peter Cary) Those unfamiliar with the regions wines may be surprised to learn that in just 70 years of modern wine-making, Israeli wines have been turning heads from old world producers in western Europe. The notoriously hot and dry conditions to the south tend to produce full-bodied examples of Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet, with a high alcohol content as a result of continuous sun. Israeli ingenuity has measured this against higher climbs in the norths mountainous Golan Heights and Jerusalems Judaean Hills, ensuring a balanced finish. Fine examples of the countrys wineries include Flam, Clos de Gat and Galil Mountain, but keep ordering new examples and asking your waiter for recommendations. 4. Shakshouka Shakshoukas many varieties include the addition of chorizo , yellow pepper and cumin (Gerald Herbert/AP) As variable and almost as argued-over as the nations hummus, the competition for Israels favourite breakfast is fierce. Where hummus was popularised somewhere between Egypt and Lebanon, this spicy tomato and chilli dish with poached eggs originated across the north African peninsula, but is generally credited as being of Tunisian or Moroccan invention. Tel Avivs Cafe Montefiore and Jaffas infamous Dr Shakshouka produce excellent examples, and serve throughout the day. 5. Schnitzel Rosh Pina Shnitzel, Israel (StateofIsrael/ Flickr For some truly inspired home cooking, try to make friends and get yourself invited to dinner when you hear someone mention the word schnitzel in public. Theres no comparison to any shop-bought variety, and Israels method of serving the hearty breadcrumb-fried meat (usually veal or chicken) alongside heaps of creamy mashed potatoes makes it unstoppably moreish long past being full. A tremendous restaurant version is found at Cafe Noir, just off Tel Avivs Rothschild Boulevard. 6. Falafel Falafel in Jerusalems souk market (Peter Cary) Like its meaty street-feast cousin shawarma, falafel is so abundant and competitive in Israels bustling food scene that its hard to find a bad example among its many producers. Falafels origins are, once again, highly contested, but the snack has provided delight to a burgeoning vegan population for its complete lack of animal-based ingredients. Generally formed as a mix of chickpeas, fava beans, coriander and cumin, these crunchy little treats are a world away from the flabby, bhaji-style balls found in European supermarkets. Eat with pita and plenty of tahini, or forgo all sides and enjoy as a satisfying treat as you walk home from a hard day at the beach. 7. Kubbeh Kubbehs many forms may come boiled, fried and raw (George Groutas/ Flickr Immigrants and natives from the eastern Levant (Iraq, Syria and Palestine in particular) have blessed Israel with some of its most desirable feasting options. The bulgur wheat, minced onion and ground beef parcel that is Kubbeh is no exception when it comes to variety, be it the fried rugby-ball-shaped Kibbeh Raas from Nablus, or the raw Kibbeh nayyeh from Lebanon, this beautifully spiced and comforting mezze is dotted around Israels varied landscapes and has many partners across the Arabic world and South America. 8. Spicy sides Fresh and bursting with serious heat (Rony Zmiri/Thinkstock) Brits are fond of their chilli. Israelis and their neighbours share the delight of a fiery meal now and again, but instead of using south Asian influence as its primary source of chilli goodness, the Middle East has its own chilli accompaniments for any hot heads on the prowl. A must for any hummus/shawarma/falafel lunch will be to try the ever-present shipkas (pickled chilli peppers) that adorn the side plates of nearly every restaurant so much more satisfying than the tired, dry affairs back home. Be sure, too, to try every hummus joints zhoug a Yemenite green chilli and lemon dip and the Maghreb Harissa paste that forms a key ingredient in that Shakshuka breakfast youre yearning to try. 9. Kanafeh This traditional Arab dessert is finished with pistacchio and rose water (Alpha/ Flickr For the dessert connoisseurs among us, you may just have heard of this incredible innovation, little known outside the eastern Mediterranean. Essentially, soft white cheese meets pastry and syrup whats not to like? Kanafeh is, however, more delicate than it may sound. If cooked well, the pastry is browned in thin slivers against the subtly sweet cheese below, with rose or orange blossom water dribbled on top in the final stages of cooking. Look for the cafes where everybody is eating the same thing, and order alongside Arabic coffee (simply referred to as black coffee in Israel) for an authentic after-dinner finale. Last year, UCL Cut The Rent The event was billed as a weekend of possibility as it invited students from 25 universities across the country to discuss, network and learn about starting parallel campaigns. Some groups had already made remarkable headway, such as at Sussex, where 1,000 students living on campus have already signed a petition calling for rent caps. The purpose of the weekend was to provide the practical help to capitalise on this enthusiasm. On the Saturday in particular, which was jam-packed with a diverse range of workshops, there was an abundance of advice and resources. Much of the day involved collaborative sessions to develop effective organisation using the UCL campaign as a model. Having an egalitarian, friendly group and utilising resources such as the internet to improve communication are key tactics for drawing in more students. Maintaining a consistent narrative is also important for developing a powerful message. Given the nationalisation of the campaign, there will be further consideration of shaping the movement in order to appeal to a wider range of demographics and political stances. As well as the discursive ones, many of the workshops delved into the exactitudes of organising protests, with sessions on street demonstration tactics, legal negotiations and eviction resistance. A rather entertaining method was taking on the role of the university and imagining how we would end a rent strike in the most evil way possible, in order to learn how to anticipate intimidation tactics. A workshop on media was partially led by an activist-cum-journalist, and an organiser of social media campaign #VentTheRent. Their talks and situation-based exercises covered everything a would-be strike organiser would need to know, from utilising social media, press releases, handling journalist interviews and constructing a narrative. It was clear from workshops such as these that the weekend's organisers had worked hard to have every base covered. That is not to say the weekend was all work and no play. There was exciting action on Friday evening, a party that went on until the early hours of Saturday, and a relaxed, social BBQ on the Sunday. Student-led activism doesnt all have to be the doom and gloom of soaring accommodation prices, and can appeal to the fun-loving, community-building side of student life. This sense of community and support networks was another important focus at the event. A workshop on striker self-care integrated the student mental health crisis into the goals of the campaign and needs of the strikers, particularly combatting the lack of student counsellors and the increasing numbers of students with part-time jobs. Potential solutions involved social reproduction tactics, such as community-led cafes to provide food for busy striker-worker-students. These would also act as safe spaces which could provide mental health support and form legal advice centres. Caucuses (meetings of a sub-group of a political organisation) can be another crucial support system, and the Rent Strike hosted its first women and non-binary caucus on the Sunday. It discussed how such groups can highlight particular issues within the general political movement as well as within the campaign itself. Direct action organised at these meetings can work to improve representation of minorities at demonstrations, and address the disproportionate effect of rising house costs on women and non-binary people. This progressive attitude was notable throughout the weekend, particularly at the workshops Tenants of the World Unite and Striking at the Intersections. The former focused on issues of race and immigration status in light of the refugee crisis. Talks of intersectionality called for all voices to be heard with the organisation of more caucuses for LGBTQA+, BME and disabled groups. An eye-opening talk from Adam, the NUS black officer, highlighted the relation of calls for cheaper student halls and racial gentrification. It is clear that the campaign is working to rebrand itself. This is no longer addressing just the problems of a single set of students, but has become a nationally relevant march against the continued marketisation of higher education. The involvement of Radical Housing Network shows how the student situation is reflecting society, and there were talks of bridging the gap to private accommodation. Rent is everyones problem. The campaign is not just making a noise anymore, but is attempting to change the way university education works, build communities, and respond to the various student crises. It was sometimes referred to as creating a new 2010, and there is a call for sustained political action. So far the agenda has been one of defending education its time to start attacking those who threaten it. 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Andy Hall will appeal the ruling and apply for bail, reported Finnish civil society organisation Finnwatch. The charges Mr Hall was found guilty of related to a Finnwatch report titled Cheap Has a High Price, published in 2013. The report outlined allegations of serious human rights violations at Natural Fruits pineapple processing plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. We are shocked by todays verdict, said Sonja Vartiala, Executive Director of Finnwatch. The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it. Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights, she said in a release issued today. This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand. We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling, Ms Vartiala added. Thailands laws that allow for criminal punishment and even imprisonment for defamation are in clear breach of Thailands international human rights obligations. Instead of allowing companies to take human rights defenders to criminal courts for alleged defamation, Thailand needs to thoroughly follow through on allegations of violations of migrant workers rights. In October 2014, the Prakanong Court in Bangkok dismissed another criminal defamation case brought by Natural Fruit against Andy Hall on the grounds of a flawed prosecution that was in breach of the Thai Criminal Procedure Law. Appeals in this case, submitted by both Natural Fruit and Thailands Attorney General, are currently being considered by Thailands Supreme Court after the Appeals Court threw out an initial appeal in September 2015. In addition to the two criminal cases, Natural Fruit has also filed two civil claims for damages against Andy Hall totalling B400 million (about 10 million euros). These cases have been but on hold until the corresponding criminal cases have been concluded. Community: New Ban Ya school building will boost literacy programme The Good Shepherd charity organisation has announced that they are almost ready to open their new Ban Ya Literacy Centre in Northern Phuket. The centre will help the charity continue its mission of providing education for the children of Burmese migrant workers, equivalent to what they would receive in Myanmar, and to empower them to return to their home country as a productive member of society. Tuesday 20 September 2016, 10:00AM More than 100 children will move to the new Ban Ya Literacy Centre this month. On Monday September 19, we expect to parade 100-plus children, teachers, and others from the old school to the new facility. Father Joseph, Sister Euphrasia, and monks will facilitate a proper opening ceremony. You are welcome to join us, stated a Good Shepherd newsletter. Located in a small village called Baan Ya, the new Literacy Centre is expected to accommodate up to 190 students and is situated adjacent to the Saint Euphrasia Learning Centre, which opened June 2014 with 60 students. The new eight-room building was built by landowner Khun Thanit, with additional funding from a number of individual and club sponsors. A recently awarded grant from Rotary International will provide sufficient funds to raise the level of resources available to support and enhance the literacy programme at the centre. Almost two and a half years ago, 60 students were relocated from the Baan Bang Jo work camp school to the TN Guest House facility in Baan Ya along Rural Road 4024. Today that facility accommodates 100 children with a waiting list of 40. Our landlord, Khun Thanit, generously agreed to build a new, dedicated eight room facility for us to rent, said the newsletter. Good Shepherd is appealing to the public for donations to further complete the fit-out of the new facility and they emphasise that 100 per cent of donations will go directly to the completion of the centre. Donations will help provide a concrete-covered area for dining and learning in the back of the school, CCTV for classroom and building security, a smart TV, new computers, an administrative printer, play area, furnishings, fans and labour. Students from the British International School volunteered to help clean the rooms on September 13 in preparation for the move. Financial donations of any size are gratefully appreciated to help us complete our project list. Cash or goods donations can be made directly at the Good Shepherd Second Hand Store and Thrift Shop. The shop is located in a small business park called Baan Wana, at shop number 96 on the left. Wana Park is on Srisoonthorn Rd, between Heroines Monument and Cherng Talay, and the shop is open from 10am to 2pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. For other donation details see: goodshepherdphuket.com Forensic expert gives details on autopsy report BANGKOK: Celebrity forensic expert Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan yesterday (Sept 19) gave details on her panels findings on Tawatchai Anukul, who died mysteriously while in custody, and said a further probe was needed to clarify other issues. crimedeathhealthpolice By Bangkok Post Tuesday 20 September 2016, 08:57AM Clockwise from top left: Tawatchai Anukul was arrested without resistance in Bangkok, locked up and strangled to death in a jail cell, examined and declared dead at Mongkutwattana General Hospital, and had his hastily arranged cremation halted at the last minute. Always present: DSI director-general, Col Paisit Wongmuang. Photos by Post Today and Tawatchai Kemgumnerd Khunying Porntip is an adviser to a Justice Ministry fact-finding panel tasked with investigating the alleged suicide of the 66-year-old former official attached to the Phuket and Phang Nga land offices. Mr Tawatchai reportedly tried to commit suicide by hanging himself with a pair of socks while being detained on the sixth floor of the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) head office on Chaeng Watthana Rd in the early hours of Aug 30. He died later at nearby Mongkutwattana Hospital. An autopsy report by the Police General Hospital indicated the cause of death was abdominal haemorrhaging and a ruptured liver from being hit by a solid, blunt object. The committees investigation focused mainly on whether Mr Tawatchai had hanged himself or been hanged by his socks on a door hinge of his detention cell and how his liver had been ruptured. Khunying Porntip, a member of the National Reform Steering Assembly, said a ligature mark around Mr Tawatchais neck was not over 0.5 centimetres wide, consistent with the width of the stretched socks. She also said there were no signs of manual strangulation. A medical report and photographs showed broken blood vessels in the whites of his eyes, indicating he was still alive when he hanged himself or was hanged. The police autopsy report indicated his larynx bones were broken. However, Khunying Porntip remained sceptical on this point because the mark appeared lower than the larynx and there was no photographic evidence of the damaged organ. The panel conducted a re-enactment of the hanging of Mr Tawatchai in the DSI detention room using a new pair of socks with similar fabric the dead man had allegedly used and a person of the same height. Dumbells of 40, 60 and 80 kilogrammes were tied to each sock and the panel found the maximum width was not over 0.5cm, matching the mark on Mr Tawatchais neck. Khunying Porntip said the panel concluded that the socks could have created the mark on Mr Tawatchais neck and he could have used them to hang himself with when the door was closed, but whether the socks were put on his neck by someone else had yet to be investigated. The former director-general of the Central Institute of Forensic Science said Mr Tawatchai was taken to Mongkutwattana Hospital at 1am on Aug 30 when he had no pulse. The medical team performed CPR on him countless times and the patient breathed again but remained unconscious. An X-ray image taken at 2:20am showed his ribs were intact but the autopsy report said he had broken ribs in both left and right sides, said Khunying Porntip, adding the inconsistencies would be investigated. As for the ruptured liver, the veteran forensic expert said a medical report and photos provided by Mongkutwattana hospital indicated a large rupture in the middle section of his liver and abdominal bleeding of 1,000cc of blood, but did not specify the time when the injury took place. Medical experts will meet today (Sept 20) to discuss further the cause of his livers injury, she said. Matichon Online reported that Mr Tawatchais liver had been normal when he was X-rayed at the hospital at 2:20am but the rupture was discovered later between 9am and 10am. Read original story here. Is the Phuket Airport bus still running to Patong? The regular bus service from Phuket International Airport to Patong was launched years ago and later extended to pick up and drop off passengers at Kata-Karon, but recently the service has fallen off the radar. Is the Airport-Patong bus still running? If so, what are the latest details? Read on to find out tourismtransportpatong By The Phuket News Tuesday 20 September 2016, 09:26AM The bus service from Phuket Airport to Patong, Kata and Karon is still in operation. QUESTION A couple years ago I was in Phuket and heard that the Provincial Land Transport Office will have buses operating between Phuket International Airport and Patong. I recently visited the island and saw minivans at the airport taking people to Patong, but not buses. Does Phuket have any buses to transport people from the airport to Patong today? - John J, Australia ANSWER We launched the Airport Bus Express to Patong several years ago and later slowly expanded our service to include Kata and Karon. The fare to Patong is currently B150 and to Kata and Karon is B200. Tickets can be bought from the driver. The first bus will be outside the old main passenger terminal at Phuket International Airport at about 7:30am so we can serve passengers arriving on the early flights. The bus will be parked at our bus stop at the northern end of the terminal. Just follow the signs; as you exit the terminal, turn left and walk to the end of the building our bus will be there. Our buses are cream-coloured with blue stripes. There is another bus service called Airport Bus that uses orange buses. These buses go to Phuket Town. If you take this bus, you will need to catch another bus in Phuket Town to take you to Patong. Please note that the bus will depart once it is full. Dont worry, though, as we have buses departing Phuket Airport every hour. If you are in a hurry, it may be best to take a taxi from the airport. We advise the same to people who are carrying a lot of luggage with them. If there are not enough passengers to justify using our full-size bus, we will use a minivan instead. We have three minivans that we use during the low season (May-October) to help reduce the cost of fuel for buses. The first bus will leave the airport at about 8am and last bus departs at 8pm. When you get on the bus, you must tell the driver where your hotel is. The driver will drop you off at your hotel if possible. However, if your hotel is on a steep hill that our bus will not be able to climb, we will ask you to travel in one of our minivans for convenience and safety. Dont worry, the fare is the same. Passengers can get off the bus (or minivan) at several locations en route to Patong, Kata and Karon. However, the bus or van will not pick up any passengers en route. The drop-off locations include Phuket International Airport, Muangmai, Thalang, Heroines Monument, Boat Lagoon, Tesco (bypass road), the See Kor Intersection (near the Caltex petrol station) in Kathu, and at Jungceylon in Patong (bus stops on Phang Muang Sai Kor Rd). In Patong, we use Jungceylon as our main terminal for buses returning to Phuket Airport. If you want to use our service from Kata or Karon, please call us and we will pick you up. Likewise, if you are staying in Patong, just call us and we will pick you up if we can. Unfortunately, our website is no longer operating and our company currently does not have a contact email address, so it is best to contact us directly for the latest information. For more details or to book tickets in advance, or call us at 076-328291 or 084-0652122. Our main office is near the Bangkok Bank branch on Phang Muang Sai Kor Rd in Patong, near Nanai Soi 8, but many foreigners have trouble finding our office, so I strongly recommend you just call us. Nikorn Petcharat, Manager, Airport Express Bus Lax boat safety rules take flak AYUTTHAYA: As rescuers continued to search for missing victims of Sundays (Sept 18) tourist-boat capsize in Ayutthaya, officials have pointed to poor enforcement of laws regulating boat-transport safety and ordered parties concerned to step up safety measures. accidentscrimedisastersmarinetransportweatherpolice By Bangkok Post Tuesday 20 September 2016, 09:42AM Search teams yesterday (Sept 19) recovered seven bodies from the Chao Phraya, most of them between two and five kilometres from the beached and partially sunken boat. Photo: Chanat Katanyu Late yesterday (Sept 19), 20 dead bodies of passengers aboard the tourist boat when it overturned had been found, retrieved and identified. The Marine Department said about 12 people were still missing. Ayutthaya Governor Prayoon Ratanaseree said about 50 people were injured in the accident. More dead bodies of victims, including those of an eight-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, were found yesterday and retrieved two to five kilometres from where the double-decker boat capsized and sank, said officials familiar with the search operation. As of late yesterday, the death toll was 20, but not including those missing. The boat was a part of a procession carrying Muslim pilgrims on their way back from a mosque in Ayutthaya to Nonthaburi, said Nat Chubchai, deputy director-general of the Marine Department. The driver unsuccessfully tried to pass a sand barge and lost control of the boat, resulting in its capsizing and sinking in the Chao Phraya River near Wat Sanam Chai pier, said Mr Nat. Maj Gen Suthi Phungphikul, chief of the Ayutthaya Police, said after being questioned over Sundays incident, that Wirach Chaisirikul, the 67-year-old steering the boat, was charged with recklessness causing peoples deaths, overloading the boat beyond its capacity and sailing the boat without a valid licence. Mr Wirach, who denied steering the boat recklessly, said that as he prepared to overtake the sand barge, the boat lost balance and capsized, adding that the vessel was overloaded with passengers. Thanayuth Tingthong, a six-year-old boy who survived Sundays accident after some bystanders helped lift him and his mother from the water as the boat sank, told reporters they were on the upper deck when the boat tipped over. The boys aunt, who was identified only by her first name of Malee, and who was not on the boat, said the mother has since attended a funeral in which some of Sundays victims were buried. Ms Malee said she was told by some relatives who had survived the incident that the boat was travelling at high speed in torrential rain as it was trying to overtake the sand barge. The boat was then hit by a wave, tipped over and crashed into something that produced a loud noise before sloping to one side and sinking in about one minute, according to Ms Malee. The operation to salvage the boat is expected to be completed by tomorrow (Sept 21), said Mr Nat. A similar incident happened nine years ago involving a group Muslim pilgrims. But luckily then, no one was killed because the boat sank in a shallow river, he said. So, after this incident, [Marine Department] authorities will issue an announcement requiring the organisers of such journeys to request navigation assistance from proper officials, he said. Marine Department authorities have stressed to boat drivers in the past the importance of strictly following safety precautions, and paying attention to maximum loads and speed, he said. However, many boat drivers simply ignore these safety regulations, and most passengers do not pay sufficient attention to the practice of boat-travel safety, Mr Nat said. The department does not have a enough of staff to be deployed to ensure boat transport safety in all areas, he said. Department director-general Sorasak Saensombat said the department is considering issuing a new regulation to require passenger boats with 25 seats or more to install Automatic Identification Systems so that boat drivers behaviour can be fully monitored. This new regulation will apply to passenger boats operating on the Chao Phraya River and Gulf of Thailand routes, he said. The compulsory insurance policy of the boats owner had expired on March 10 and had not been renewed, said Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn, secretary-general of the Office of Insurance Commission. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the Interior Ministry to consider providing financial assistance to the families of the victims as permitted under the ministrys regulations, said government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd. Gen Prayut also told authorities to suspend the operations of the company that owns the boat until it can prove whether Sundays incident was an accident or caused by negligence, said Maj Gen Sansern. The prime minister expressed his condolences to the families who lost loved ones. The National Council for Peace and Order, meanwhile, ordered all agencies concerned to step up measures to prevent boat transport accidents. Read original story here. Price reduced for quick sale Tuesday 20 September 2016, 03:13PM No, not a bar or guesthouse, but a manufacturing business for wooden window blinds. All the machinery and inventory of parts to be up and running in a matter of days. A very successful business in Phuket for over eight years. Price reduced to 2 mil Baht. Owner will partially finance. Storm surf battering erodes more Phuket beaches PHUKET: Officials at Sirinath National Park will rope off sections of Nai Yang Beach that have been washed away by strong waves during the current onslaught of dangerous heavy weather. environmentlandweather By Yutthawat Lekmak Tuesday 20 September 2016, 09:36AM Large sections of Bang Tao Beach have now been washed away by the strong waves over the past few days. Photo: Phuket Lifeguard Service Large sections of Bang Tao Beach have now been washed away by the strong waves over the past few days. Photo: Phuket Lifeguard Service Large sections of Bang Tao Beach have now been washed away by the strong waves over the past few days. Photo: Phuket Lifeguard Service The battering began over a week ago, with large tracts of Nai Yang Beach washed away and trees along the shorefront felled. (See story here.) Sarawut Seesakukam, President of the Mai Khao Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor), explained to The Phuket News that his office was unable to take action on the drastic beach erosion as the section of Nai Yang Beach affected lies within Sirinath National Park. I sent my officials to inspect the damage, but that area belongs to Sirinath National Park. Whatever action is taken must be done with in accordance with their instructions. We cant do it, Mr Sarawut said. Sirinath Park Chief Kitipas Tharapibal told The Phuket News yesterday (Sept 19), We have known about the beach erosion for a while. For now, all we can do is seal off the dangerous areas, which I have ordered my officers to do (today, Sept 20). I have informed the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) about this already. The Phuket DMCR office is in the process of setting up a budget in order to provide a long-term solution to this, he added. Meanwhile, lifeguards have reported heavy similar beach erosion at Bang Tao Beach. Bang Tao beach has suffered damage from the weather over the past few days, The Phuket Lifeguard Club Chief Prathaiyut Chuayuan told The Phuket News. Our lifeguards are keeping an eye on the situation. We have informed the Cherng Talay OrBorTor, but we have yet to see what action they will take, he said. The Phuket News was unsuccessful yesterday and this morning in contacting anyone at the Cherng Talay OrBorTor by phone. Camp offers hands-on experience for students interested in construction Lake Area Tech construction projects are facing material delays. Educating the future workforce is one way to combat industry challenges. Ohio boy, 13, who pulled out BB gun, fatally shot by policeAndrew Welsh-Huggins & Ann Sanner, THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFirst posted: Thursday, September 15, 2016 08:50 AM EDT | Updated: Thursday, September 15, 2016 02:08 PM EDTCOLUMBUS, Ohio An officer responding to a reported armed robbery shot and killed a 13-year-old boy during a chase when the teen pulled from his waistband a BB gun that looked practically identical to a police weapon, authorities said Thursday.Because the officer was white and the boy black, the case has brought inevitable comparisons with the 2014 fatal shooting in Cleveland of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Columbus police are early in their investigation but say the differences in the Wednesday night shooting of Tyree King and the Cleveland case are stark.The only thing similar in nature is the age, race and outcome, said Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner. The facts are not similar, and that must be reiterated.Officers investigating the armed robbery report on Wednesday spotted three males east of downtown Columbus who matched the description of the suspects, authorities said. Two of them ran away when officers tried to speak with them.The police chased the pair into a nearby alley and tried to take them into custody. Thats when Tyree pulled out a gun, and one officer fired his weapon, hitting the boy repeatedly, police said.Tyree died at a childrens hospital. Authorities identified the officer who fired as a nine-year veteran of the force named Bryan Mason.At a news conference Thursday, Police Chief Kim Jacobs displayed a photo of what she called a replica of the BB gun that Tyree had.Our officers carry a gun that looks practically identical to this weapon, she said. As you can see, it looks like a firearm that could kill you.Mason has been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, per department protocol, Jacobs said.An attorney for Tyrees family called for a fair and independent investigation into the boys death.Sean Walton declined to discuss any previous interaction Tyree had with police, but he emphasized that Tyree didnt have any violent criminal history. He said the family believed that Tyree being involved in an armed robbery would be so out of character for him.Tyree played football and was in the young scholars program at school, Walton said. The boy also had a slight build and, if anything, was on the small side for his age, the attorney said.Authorities said it wasnt clear if the shooting was caught on surveillance or cellphone video. Columbus police dont use body cameras.Mayor Andrew Ginther appeared to choke up as he called for the community to come together to help ensure children remain safe. He questioned why an eighth-grader would have a replica of a police firearm.There is something wrong in this country, and it is bringing its epidemic to our city streets, Ginther said. And a 13-year-old is dead in the city of Columbus because of our obsession with guns and violence.Neighbourhood resident Chris Naderer said he was home at the time and heard someone break fencing in his backyard, then saw an officer chasing two young black men and heard several gunshots.I just think it was bad circumstances that he had a gun, Naderer said.Police reviewing evidence from the scene determined the boys firearm was actually a BB gun with an attached laser sight.The male who had been with Tyree was interviewed and released pending further investigation, police said. They provided no further information about him.Police said additional suspects were being sought as the shooting and reported robbery remained under investigation.The police chief said it was too soon to draw comparisons between Tyrees death and the Tamir Rice case.There was no chase in Tamirs case. A caller reported someone pointing a gun at people near a recreation centre, and a rookie officer shot Tamir almost immediately after his police cruiser stopped nearby. The caller had said the person was likely a juvenile and the weapon was probably fake, but the call taker never passed that information to the dispatcher of the responding officers.In that case, the grand jury concluded that the officer and his partner reasonably believed that it was a real gun and that their lives were in danger, prosecutors said.It was indisputable that the boy was drawing the pistol from his waistband when he was shot, Tim McGinty, Cuyahoga County prosecutor, said at the time. He said Tamir was trying to either hand the weapon over to police or show them it wasnt real, but the patrolmen had no way of knowing that.Associated Press reporters Kantele Franko in Columbus and Mark Gillispie in Cleveland contributed to this report. Woman commits suicide after leaked sex tape goes viralBy Brad Hunter , 24 HoursFirst posted: Friday, September 16, 2016 09:21 AM EDT | Updated: Friday, September 16, 2016 02:19 PM EDTA tragic Italian beauty who hanged herself when she couldnt get a raunchy sex video pulled down off a porn site simply gave up on life.Tiziana Cantone, 31, killed herself Wednesday at her aunts home south of Naples in a tragedy that has rocked Italy.But it was Cantone who orchestrated her own demise, Italian newspapers reported.Desperate to make a former boyfriend jealous, she made six different sex tapes sending them to him and some friends. Eventually, the sexxx-rated videos made their way to the web triggering a barrage of mockery.The porn tapes have been viewed more than one million times. Even after she moved to Tuscany to flee the derision, it shadowed her every move."I was fragile and depressed, she told a court. The videos were around 6, and I had sent them myself. "In one video, Cantone tells her lover: "You're filming? Bravo.It became a catchphrase across the country, appearing on T-shirts and elsewhere.Cantone reportedly had woven a series of online sexual relationships on social networks and she admitted she made the sex flicks willingly."It was a game, that got out of hand because those videos were finished on many porn sites, she said.La Republica reported Cantone barricaded herself in her aunts villa because she was terrified of being "recognized and derided" and began suffering from panic attacks.Beside herself, the stunning brunette went to court to have the videos taken down and after an emotionally draining court battle she won the right to be forgotten and a judge ordered the pornos be taken down.But she was ordered to pay a whopping 20,000 euros (C$29,000) in legal costs."Why are these images still there? Why can people still mock and laugh at this young woman who ended her days because of this humiliation that she suffered?" wrote Naples daily Il Mattino.Italian prosecutors in Naples have now launched a criminal investigation. Chief prosecutor Francesco Greco said Friday that the investigation into possible charges of instigating suicide was being co-ordinated with another based on a defamation complaint Cantone brought against four people last October, which was still open when she died.Tiziana Cantone is seen in this undated Instagram photo.'A woman who wants to please men and is not afraid to do so'; Commentators slam sex-tape suicide victimBy Brad Hunter , 24 HoursFirst posted: Monday, September 19, 2016 02:33 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, September 19, 2016 02:46 PM EDTThe beauty who hanged herself after her sex tapes went public has triggered a wave of soul-searching in Italy.Tiziana Cantone, 31, should have been protected by the countrys privacy laws but wasnt, one government official said.Alone, desperate and shamed, Cantone killed herself last week at her aunts villa outside Naples. Cantones downfall began when she made a number of sex tapes in the hope of making her ex-boyfriend jealous.Instead, they ended up on the Internet.The X-rated videos went viral with more than a million hits. Her comment - Youre filming? Bravo - became an Italian catchphrase, even as she hid in shame.The six tapes featured Cantone with other partners and in a threesome.She went to court to have the videos taken down from porn sites -- and lost.But even in death, Italian commentators were still slinging arrows at Cantone. She has the aggressive posture of many girls like her: tall, lean, make-up rimmed, redesigned eyebrows, nose reshaped perhaps, filler in her lips, glossy lipstick ... a bit panther but not vulgar. A woman who wants to please men and is not afraid to do so, an Il Sussidiario writer said.Privacy czar Antonello Soro said the prosecution erred by not considering the porn posting a breach of Cantones privacy. The reason was that she had voluntarily shared her hormone-charged antics.Now, four men are under investigation for allegedly contributing to the raven-haired stunners death.We have to be more aware of the traps we expose ourselves to when we post ever more shots of our private lives on the web, Soro told The Local.Cantones lawyer, Robert Leaf Manzilla, said that while his client was devastated by the verdict, he didnt think shed kill herself.She was upset ... but there were no signals that could portend an end so tragic, he told Today.it.Meanwhile, Cantones tragic demise raises the spectre of another horror unfolding in Italy. A video of a teenage girl being raped in a nightclub was posted online -- by her friends. Missouri Senate candidate assembles gun blindfolded in TV adJim Salter, THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFirst posted: Monday, September 19, 2016 07:47 AM EDT | Updated: Monday, September 19, 2016 07:57 AM EDTST. LOUIS The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri assembles an AR-15 assault rifle blindfolded then dares the incumbent Republican to do the same in a TV ad released Thursday.I approved this message, Jason Kander says, pausing briefly to rack the slide, figuratively placing a round in the chamber, cause Id like to see Sen. Blunt do this.The brazen ad is the latest salvo in a competitive race that could be a factor in determining which party controls the Senate after the November election.Roy Blunt, 66, a seven-term congressman before being elected to the Senate in 2010, is a strong gun rights supporter who has the backing of the National Rifle Association so much so that NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre travelled to Missouri last month on Blunts behalf.Blunt received three student deferments during the Vietnam War and did not serve in the military. Kander, Missouris 35-year-old secretary of state, was an Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan.The 30-second spot shows Kander standing at a table in what looks to be an empty warehouse, talking while he blindly slams together the pieces of the weapon.He mentions attacks by Blunt on the issue of guns and says that while in the Army he learned to respect his rifle. He says that in Afghanistan, he volunteered to ride with a gun in a convoy of unarmed SUVs.He notes his support of Second Amendment rights during his time in the state legislature, along with his belief in background checks so terrorists cant get their hands on one of these.Kanders campaign said the ads are running statewide.Blunt spokesman Tate OConnor said Kander is apparently reacting to an NRA ad highlighting the fact that he was one of the most anti-Second Amendment legislators and was awarded an F for his opposition to Missourians Second Amendment rights.The Kander ad hits two themes that benefit Kander in a Middle America state like Missouri, said Ken Warren, a political scientist at Saint Louis University. It shows he knows his way around guns, and it plays up his military background.Militarism sells in Missouri, Warren said. The appeal is to people who like the patriotism.NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said in a statement that the ad was designed to distract voters from Kanders anti-Second Amendment voting record.It doesnt matter how skilled you are at assembling a rifle when you consistently vote against law-abiding citizens constitutional right to self-defence, Baker said. Voters will not be fooled. Jason Kander is just another politician lying about his record to get elected.Gun rights are a big deal in Missouri, too. State lawmakers on Wednesday were successful in overriding Democratic Gov. Jay Nixons veto of a bill eliminating permit requirements to conceal and carry a firearm.Earlier this year, Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL officer, drew national attention for a TV ad in which he fired an assault rifle into an open field, causing an explosion. Greitens won the Republican primary and will face Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster in November.In this Aug. 12, 2016 file photo, Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, tours the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades training facility in Chesterfield, Mo. On election day a decade ago, Army Lt. Jason Kander was serving as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan. Today, he is touting his military service as a component in his campaign in his run to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt in the November election. (AP Photo/Sid Hastings, File) U.S. mistakenly grants citizenship to at least 858 immigrantsAlicia A. Caldwell, THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFirst posted: Monday, September 19, 2016 10:05 AM EDT | Updated: Monday, September 19, 2016 01:12 PM EDTWASHINGTON The U.S. government has mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud who had pending deportation orders, according to an internal Homeland Security audit released Monday.The Homeland Security Departments inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birthdates to apply for citizenship with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and such discrepancies werent caught because their fingerprints were missing from government databases.DHS said in an emailed statement that an initial review of these cases suggest that some of the individuals may have ultimately qualified for citizenship, and that the lack of digital fingerprint records does not necessarily mean they committed fraud.The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but Inspector General John Roths auditors said they were all from special interest countries those that present a national security concern for the United States or neighbouring countries with high rates of immigration fraud. The report did not identify those countries.DHS said the findings reflect what has long been a problem for immigration officials old paper-based records containing fingerprint information that cant be searched electronically. DHS says immigration officials are in the process of uploading these files and that officials will review every file identified as a case of possible fraud.Roths report said fingerprints are missing from federal databases for as many as 315,000 immigrants with final deportation orders or who are fugitive criminals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not reviewed about 148,000 of those immigrants files to add fingerprints to the digital record.The gap was created because older, paper records were never added to fingerprint databases created by both the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service and the FBI in the 1990s. ICE, the DHS agency responsible for finding and deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, didnt consistently add digital fingerprint records of immigrants whom agents encountered until 2010.The government has known about the information gap and its impact on naturalization decisions since at least 2008 when a Customs and Border Protection official identified 206 immigrants who used a different name or other biographical information to gain citizenship or other immigration benefits, though few cases have been investigated.Roths report said federal prosecutors have accepted two criminal cases that led to the immigrants being stripped of their citizenship. But prosecutors declined another 26 cases. ICE is investigating 32 other cases after closing 90 investigations.ICE officials told auditors that the agency hadnt pursued many of these cases in the past because federal prosecutors generally did not accept immigration benefits fraud cases. ICE said the Justice Department has now agreed to focus on cases involving people who have acquired security clearances, jobs of public trust or other security credentials.Mistakenly awarding citizenship to someone ordered deported can have serious consequences because U.S. citizens can typically apply for and receive security clearances or take security-sensitive jobs.At least three of the immigrants-turned-citizens were able to acquire aviation or transportation worker credentials, granting them access to secure areas in airports or maritime facilities and vessels. Their credentials were revoked after they were identified as having been granted citizenship improperly, Roth said in his report.A fourth person is now a law enforcement officer.Roth recommended that all of the outstanding cases be reviewed and fingerprints in those cases be added to the governments database and that immigration enforcement officials create a system to evaluate each of the cases of immigrants who were improperly granted citizenship. DHS officials agreed with the recommendations and said the agency is working to implement the changes.I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. :shock: Sue and Mark Shaw purchased Higgins Hardware Store Sept. 28, 2015, and theyve spent the last 357 days putting their own mark on the 102-year-old business. Shaws officially opened the store under its new name, Shaws Hardware, Oct. 2. They celebrated a grand opening in April after adding Valspar paint including chalk paint, Cabot stains, wallpaper, special order hardware, 40 feet of nuts and bolts, Milwaukee tools, household items and a craft department to the shop. Theyve enjoyed the challenge of owning their own store and meeting their customers. We love it. Weve met a lot of great people. We feel like were part of the community. Weve developed a lot of good relationships and friendships, Sue said. Sue and Mark purchased the store from Myrna and Jerry Higgins after they saw a for sale sign in its window while dining in downtown Plattsmouth. Both bring an extensive background in remodeling and furnishings to the business. We love anything to do with remodeling, Mark said. Were both familiar with this type of business and we have a lot of product knowledge and home improvement knowledge. In fact, this dynamic duo have restored a 1800s home and built a two-story shop. Sue refinishes furniture and was a furniture buyer for Nebraska Furniture Mart for 20 years. Mark has been in electronics his entire life, Sue said. As planned, they are working on turning the second floor into a design center with multiple wallpaper catalogues and custom upholstery available to order. They have painted some of the displays and showcased the antique scales, tools and irons that came with the purchase of the store. We wanted to make it a fun environment and not just a hardware store. We want it to be a fun place to come to, Sue said. Eye-catching window displays also make this his-and-her hardware store an interest point on Plattsmouths Main Street. Some of the fun this summer was offering free vegetable and grass seed for a donation for Meals on Wheels. In addition to new offerings, the Shaws continue to offer the same services the Higgins were famous for including window, screen and lamp repair; tool, knife and scissor sharpening; pipe threading and cutting; and key cutting. The store also continues to have its original departments: plumbing, electrical, lighting, and household hardware. Sue and Mark are also always on the lookout for new and interesting items to sell at the store at an economical price point. Shaws Hardware Store is located at 433 Main Street, and is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Position No.: 10026375 Vacancy Notice: 018/2016 Reports to: Field Officer Duty Station: Adjumani, Uganda Post Grade: NOA About UNHCR: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. UNHCRs mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Job Summary: The Assistant Field Officer will receive direct guidance from other sections and units relevant to the country/regional programme(s). The jobholder will work closely with a range of local civilian and military authorities and counterparts in NGOs and UN agencies to discuss matters of common interest. UNHCR Manual, programme and protection objectives, Operations Plans, UN and UNHCR financial/budgetary rules and regulations will guide the work of the incumbent Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities: The incumbent will assess the needs of persons of concern in the AoR and formulate project submissions in collaboration with district authorities and implementing partners. Actively promote and monitor the implementation of assistance projects. Report regularly on rate of flow of new arrivals and estimate expected influx based on interviews with persons of concern. Work in liaison with implementing partners, assist with the reception, registration and provision of assistance to persons of concern to UNHCR. Keep track of cases of detention; register applicants for voluntary repatriation and family reunion. Offer support in the preparation of monthly sectoral reports and submit material for preparation of periodic project monitoring reports and year-end reports. Perform any other relevant duties as required. Key Performance Indicators: UNHCR policies, standards and procedures are constantly and coherently applied in the area of responsibility (AoR). The needs of persons of concern in the AoR are assessed and analysed in a Participatory manner using an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective to form a firm basis for planning. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal candidate for the United Nations UNHCR Assistant Field Officer job placement should hold a University degree in Law, Political Sciences or related fields. At least two years of previous relevant work experience. Excellent knowledge of English, Madi, Lugabra and Aringa Excellent communication and negotiation skills. Prior field experience. Computer literacy skills. Knowledge of refugee law is desired Good knowledge of UNHCR programmes. UNHCR Protection Learning Programme. UNHCR Operations Management Learning Programme. Proven ability to work as part of a team but also independently, in a multi-cultural environment. Knowledge of the UN system is desired Ability to work in remote areas How to Apply: All interested Ugandan nationals who wish to join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the aforementioned capacity are encouraged to click on the link below and follow the application instructions after reviewing the job details. th September, 2016 Deadline: 24September, 2016 After launching the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Modi government is focusing on reforming the labor sector in order to make India a global manufacturing hub. The government wants to simplify the labour laws by clubbing together around 40 existing laws into five labour laws. All the wage-related laws will be combined into a wage code and all the industrial relations laws will be put together in an industrial relations code. Besides the Industrial Relations Code Bill and the Wage Code Bill, the government plans to enact Small Factories (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill, the Shops and Establishments (Amendments) Bill and the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Bill. Business leaders had been demanding legislation that would make compliance with the labour laws less stringent. They say that labour laws are restricting full use of the workforce as they allow less flexibility in hiring. They say investors shy away from the country on this account. The Associated Chambers of Commence and Industry (Assocham) has been vocal about rationalising land and labour laws for ease of doing business, apart from tax reforms. But trade unions are opposing the proposed changes saying these bills were prepared without consulting them. The labour ministry says the unions will be consulted before the final proposals are presented before the cabinet. Labour unions are of the view that since more than 90 per cent of the people work in unorganised sectors, these changes will have little impact on the investment climate in the country. Labour laws are not the actual cause of growth constraints. Amending and diluting the labour laws will only lead to massive retrenchments of workers in the organised sector. They say the new law proposes to make it tougher to form unions and scuttle the worker's rights and job security. States like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have taken a lead in formulating laws favouring industrialists. As labour comes under the concurrent list of the Constitution, both the Centre and states are empowered to enact laws. A group of ministers working under finance minister Arun Jaitely held discussions with RSS-affiliate Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) over a 12-point charter of demands of the unions. But the other trade unions went on a strike on September 2, 2016 to protest against the proposed amendments. It will not be easy for the government to the pass the bills in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling coalition is in a minority. Criticising the reforms, the Congress said government is transforming India from a welfare state to a capitalist state. However, Modi is determined to go ahead with the bills aiming to 'Make in India' a success. Karnataka's worst fear came true on Tuesday when the Supreme Court directed the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board within four weeks, while directing Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily from September 21 till September 28. The proposed Board, the state fears, will go beyond necessity and intrudes into States authority sanctioned by the Constitution (entry 17 of State list in 7th schedule of the statute). Once the board is constituted, it will supervise/operate reservoirs and regulate release of water. This, Karnataka, feels will adversely affect the states interests, particularly the supply of drinking water to Bangalore city. On September 19, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee chaired by Union Water Resources secretary Shashi Shekhar had directed Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu from 21st till 30th September 2016. During the meeting, it was also decided that Central Water Commission would draw up a new protocol for online collection of data related to rainfall and flow of water on real time basis which may be shared simultaneously with all the concerned states. The apex court has now ruled that any objections to the supervisory committee order dated 19 September 2016, is to be filed within three days by both parties. Centre has to notify the constitution of the board within four weeks. During the hearing, state counsel Fali S Nariman had urged the court to allow a Special Leave Petition (SLP) and also contended that a temporary release order was not the solution. But to no avail. In February 2013, Karnataka couldnt prevent notification of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunals final award in the gazette. The CMB, the state is convinced, would be detrimental to the interests of the states farmers and wants the Centre to wait till the appeal on the Tribunals final award is decided by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the farmers in the Cauvery belt are distraught and the opposition is demanding an emergency legislature session. Former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy demanded an emergency legislature session be convened. The government should not shy away from opposing the order, as the verdict is inhuman. I had anticipated such a blow and had urged the government to compensate the farmers as the state has failed to ensure water. The Board will be a major setback for the state, he said. Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, a farmer leader rued it was a black day. "SC has set a bad precedence. It is an unscientific decision. We want the CM to go ahead and defy the SC order. He was given the mandate by the people and not by his high command. The government feared contempt of court and complied with all the court orders. We have reached a dead end," said Chandrashekhar. BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa asserted his party was always opposed the formation of the Board. "Today, we are facing this crisis due to the chief minister faltering at every step including offer to release 10,000 cusecs. There is no drinking water and even monsoon has receded and reservoirs have dried up. But CM announced he will give water to TN and also our farmers and cities, which has mislead the Supreme Court. A legislature session should be convened," said Yeddyurappa. Union minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday announced the third list of smart cities. Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi city, which comes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, has made it to the list of 27 smart cities. The new list includes five cities from Maharashtra, four each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Nagaland and Sikkim. The other two cities are from Uttar PradeshAgra and Kanpur.Here is the full list Here is the full list These 27 cities have proposed a total investment of Rs 66,883 crore under respective smart city plans. This includes 42,524 crore in area based development and Rs. 11,379 crore in technology based solutions. As per the Misison guidelines, as many as 40 cities had to be announced during this financial year. As the government had already announced 13 cities in May, a slot of 27 cities remained vacant against which the announcement was made on Tuesday by Naidu. In January, the government had announced a list of 20 cities for partial funding to be developed as smart cities which would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. Each city will receive Central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore over the three subsequent financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre's contribution. The Modi-government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Centre providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years. Pakistan must stop giving a safe haven to terorrists, US Secretary of State John Kerry has told Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while expressing "strong concern" over the attack on the Indian army base in Uri. When they met here on Monday, Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens", State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement on Tuesday. He said that "the Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions." Kerry also "stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs", Kirby said. Their discussions centered on the "strong, long-term bilateral partnership" and how "to build upon the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue," Kirby said. Afghanistan also figured in their talks. Kerry made the remark about Pakistan stopping safe havens for terrorists "while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence", Kirby said. Pakistani media reported that during the meeting Sharif had asked for US help resolve India-Pakistan issues. "I expect the US administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help resolve issues between Pakistan and India," Dawn quoted Sharif as saying. "I still remember (former) president (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." PLATTSMOUTH A former member of the Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department pled guilty to two theft charges in district court Monday morning. Adam L. Copenhaver, 29, appeared in Cass County District Court for plea hearings on two Class I misdemeanor counts of theft by taking-$201-$499. Copenhaver admitted to the charges as part of a plea deal. The state agreed to reduce its original two Class III felony charges of theft-unlawful taking over $1,500 in exchange for the pleas. Deputy County Attorney Colin Palm told the court the state and defense had agreed that Copenhaver would have to pay $3,500 in restitution in order for the plea deal to take effect. Palm said Copenhaver had paid that amount to the victims prior to Mondays hearing. Palm told the court Copenhaver had been a member of the Plattsmouth Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) when the first thefts took place. He said a fellow firefighter had purchased a light bar from Copenhaver in December 2014. The other firefighter discovered Copenhaver had left a receipt from a Des Moines business inside the light bar. The receipt revealed Copenhaver had traded multiple items to the Des Moines business in exchange for the light bar. The fellow firefighter recognized the items as pieces of equipment that could have possibly been owned by the fire department. He then notified fire department leaders about his discovery. Palm said PVFD leaders checked the fire departments inventory soon after. They discovered multiple items were missing from the fire station. The list of items included fire helmets, radios, pagers, pants and suspenders. They estimated the items were worth more than $1,500. Plattsmouth police interviewed Copenhaver and questioned him about the missing items. He told authorities that fire department officials had given him permission to take the items. Police then asked PVFD officials about Copenhavers claim. Fire department leaders said they had not given Copenhaver permission to take anything from the downtown fire station. The other theft case involving Copenhaver took place shortly before the fire department burglaries were discovered. A female victim contacted Plattsmouth police Dec. 9 and said four pieces of jewelry were missing from her Plattsmouth residence. The four rings had an estimated value of $4,200. Palm said the female victim had hired a babysitter on several nights ranging from Nov. 7-Dec. 9. The woman said the female babysitter sometimes came to the house with Copenhaver. He was the babysitters boyfriend at the time. The victim said she believed Copenhaver may have taken the rings while he was at the house. Police soon learned Copenhaver had tried to sell one of the rings on an internet site. They conducted a search warrant at Copenhavers new residence in Farragut, Iowa, and recovered one of the rings there. They learned he had sold another ring to a pawn shop in Lincoln. Copenhaver remains free on bond. The court set a sentencing date of Oct. 24. Five years ago, a pair of Taliban gunmen learned the hard way that thanks to Army-issued protective equipment, you cant keep a good sergeant down. Sgt. Daniel Malm, serving in Afghanistan, had stood up from demonstrating to one of his privates how to properly emplace a claymore mine only to get shot by the enemy in his stomach. His body armor stopped the bullet, but the impact knocked him to his knees. For some reason, my first instinct was to stand back up, Malm recalled a little sheepishly. Then they shot me again. The second round laid me out flat on my back and broke my ribs. Thanks to the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert in his body armor, the bullets were stopped and Malms life was saved. The attackers were not so fortunate, he recalled. One of the other NCOs in my platoon came out and dragged me back into the patrol base. The rest of my guys returned fire, then they used the .50 caliber machine guns and the grenade launchers on the trucks to lay them waste. They didnt have a chance. Malm recounted the incident which took place during a Sept 14, 2011, push to the Arghandab River. His unit, the 4-25 Field Artillery of the 10th Mountain Division, was setting up a temporary base camp during a tough fight to drive the enemy to the other side of the river. As a young E-5, he was teaching a young private how to set up and aim a Claymore mine. When he stood up to allow the soldier to examine the mines alignment, the enemy opened up. I knew almost immediately that I had been shot. By this time we had been in so many firefights, there was no mistaking the familiar sound of the enemys rifles. Despite two direct hits, he was alive, though the cracked ribs did cause him considerable pain. We were kind of laughing about it before I caught the medivac out. I was OK, but I was trying my hardest not to move very much because it was pretty painful after the shock and adrenaline wore off. He got treatment at a hospital at Kandahar Airfield and then was moved to the wounded warrior center. He was able to get on the Internet and let his family, back home in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, know that he had been shot, but was OK. Malms three older brothers were, he says, a little freaked out that their baby brother had been shot twice. I had to assure them a few times that I was completely OK. When Malm managed to get hold of his father a little later, he had to reassure his dad that he was doing fine, thanks to his personal protective equipment. Malm took photos of his battle-damaged damaged ESAPI plate with his phone before turning them in so Army scientists could analyze how the ceramic body armor performed against enemy bullets. I have always been a pretty big advocate of keeping your helmet and plates on, especially the side plates that some choose to go without. So now I keep the photos of my plate on my phone to show people when they want to complain about their protective vests. The plates were photographed, x-rayed and analyzed by technicians in Program Executive Office Soldier (PEO Soldier) based at Fort Belvoir, Va. The organization collects clothing and equipment damaged in combat to learn lessons on how to design and manufacture even more effective personal protective equipment for Soldiers. Building effective personal protection involves the latest scientific advances in materials and industrial process, rigorous testing, and constant Soldier feedback during the development and production phase, said LTC Kathy Brown, Product Manager Soldier Protective Equipment (PdM SPE) which is part of PEO Soldiers Project Manager Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment (PM SPIE). The ultimate tests are incidents like these, where the protective equipment saves a Soldiers life. LTC Brown will return the damaged armor plate to Malm in a short ceremony at Joint Base Lewis McChord where Malm is currently stationed as part of the 110 CBRN Battalion. SGT Malm said experience during two deployments in Iraq and one deployment in Afghanistan led him to trust his personal protective equipment. I now have undeniable proof that they work. Close to the same time I was shot, there was another a pretty big firefight in which the enemy used Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and 7.62 rounds in the attack. Some of my buddies were wounded, but the important thing was that lives were saved by the protective gear. I saw a lot of people with pieces of shrapnel sticking in their helmets and their vests. I am proof that it works. SGT Malm graduated from Plattsmouth High School and is a former resident. The head of the Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah of Shas, HaGaon HaRav Shalom Cohen Shlita, has come out in full backing of Jerusalem Councilman (Shas) Tzvika Cohen. Cohen hold the chareidi education portfolio on the city council and he came under fire from Moshe Gafne during the urgent Bnei Brak kenos held on Sunday evening. Rav Cohen expressed satisfaction with Cohens performance, citing he is genuinely concerned with the well-being of girls and he consults with him before acting. Gafne accused Cohen of acting as if he is baal habayis of chareidi education, adding he is here today and gone tomorrow, leaving Shas officials and Rabbi Cohen with a less than a pleasant feeling regarding the attacks against Tzvika Cohen during the meeting. Shas leader Minister Aryeh Deri also commented on Monday morning, backing Councilman Cohen, explaining he is dedicated and works tirelessly on behalf of the chareidi mosdos in the capital. Deri adds that Councilman Cohen works hard on behalf of everyone, and he simply cannot accept the fact that dozens of Sephardi girls are left without a school. He is our representative and does not act on his own but consults with the head of our Council Chacham Cohen and myself before doing anything. With all due respect to the principals of the schools, we are not looking to become involved but the schools are public, not private, and receive state funds and we are seeing to it that every girl is assigned a school what do they think these are their private schools? With all due respect, these are public schools. The fact remains that while the Ashkenazi chareidim are angered over state involvement in the schools, the Sephardi chareidim are working to use state agencies to compel schools to take the Sephardi girls left without a school, placing Yahadut Hatorah and Shas at odds with one another. In his comments Deri acknowledged that it is true some schools are now facing a crisis of having their budgets cut over their refusal to accept girls but this is a reality that has come about due to continued discrimination. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) HaGaon HaRav Yehoshua Fink is a member of the Education Committee of the Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah and a representative of the Belz Chassidus. He is also the rav of a Bnei Brak beis medrash and one of the participants in the urgent gathering of principals in Bnei Brak on Sunday evening to discuss government involvement in chareidi education. In his address, Rav Fink denied any discrimination, explaining yes, at times a girl is not accepted to a school because she is not suited and this has nothing to do with ones ethnicity. He tells of one girl whose father wears a black yarmulke, continuing to explain that while he claims to know Yiddish, clearly he does not unless he refers to a dialect no one else knows. He explains We stood hear and spoke Yiddish and clearly, the man was clueless. Rabbi Fink drew a comparison to gefilte fish by explaining some like the sweet and other prefer a different taste and this he feels is the situation pertaining to the girls schools, a matter of suitability and not discrimination. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The Jerusalem Municipality is finally taking action against owners of a number of grocery stores that continue to defy the law, operating in Shabbos in downtown Jerusalem. To date, even if the stores were fined, the fines were minimal and it was financially worth the owners while to pay the fine and remain open. The chareidi parties have been trying to turn up the pressure on Mayor Nir Barkats administration to take a more active position regarding enforcement of Shabbos laws to bring an end to the chilul Shabbos. The stores have had warnings issued to them for about a half year and finally, the city has moved ahead with legal action against the stores. One store included in the legal action is Pitzutzit Natali ( ) located at on Rabbi Akiva Street. The indictment cites the store has opened for the last eight consecutive Shabbatot. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Israels National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau has released a renewed travel advisory ahead of the Tishrei Yomim Tovim. Nations appearing on the travel advisory list include Turkey, a once favored vacation venue for Israelis due to its proximity and low prices. We wish to validate the travel warning to Turkey. Attacks there continue even in the face of tourism destinations designed to harm the Turks. Israelis are in Turkey despite travel warnings, and so we again encourage the public to refrain from visiting Turkey and for those there to behave with caution a senior counter-terrorism official stated. The severe warning remains in effect for the Sinai Peninsula, and Israelis are urged to avoid entering that area. The security situation there is serious, the scene of acts of terror. At time the beaches of Taba make a positive impression but there is nothing preventing terrorists from making their way there from northern Sinai to the other side or vice versa. There have been attacks there in the past and the ability for attacks remains even if there is no concrete warning at present the official added. The alert added there are hundreds of thousands of visitors to Turkey and therefore, more difficult to single out Israelis. The same cannot be said for Sinai where Israelis can be more easily detected. Regarding Jordan, there is a lower level warning in place as Israel remains in contact with Jordanian officials as well as operating jointly along the borders. Israel is satisfied with the level of operation of the Jordanians. The senior official is quoted explaining that at present there are no concrete warning of planned attacks during the Tishrei Yomim Tovim anywhere in the world. We remain alert and vigilant the advisory added, but due to fears and suspicions regarding Islamic nations, the bureau continues monitoring areas with high Jewish concentration around the world amid continuous threats of ISIS carrying out acts of terror. The warning also applies to more than a few African nations, nations visited more often by Israeli businesspersons. This includes Kashmir, Lindau Peninsula, Chechnya, S. Thailand, eastern Senegal, Cameroon, Chad and Kenya. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Jerusalem Police Chief Yoram Halevy has ordered blocking Sultan Suleiman Street in the Old City of Jerusalem following the latest stabbing attack near Herods Gate. The businesses along the street will be shut by police as well until the situation is reevaluated. Police are continuing to probe the Monday morning stabbing attack in that area that left two policepersons seriously injured. Sultan Suleiman Street runs the length of the Old City adjacent to Shar Shechem and Herods Gate (Shar Perachim). (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The defense in the manslaughter trial of Sgt. Elor Azariya was smiling as former Chief Pathologist Prof. Yehuda Hiss recently testified that he is absolutely certain the young soldier did not killed the wounded Arab terrorist when he fired at him, stating the terrorist was already dead. Adding to the defenses case was the testimony given on Monday 16 Elul by former Chief of Military Intelligence Uzi Dayan, who told the court that in his opinion, all terrorists must be killed. Dayan was asked to explain, questioned if the actions of Azariya, shooting an already neutralized terrorist violated rules of engagement. He responded When you are operating in Syria you can kill a terrorist anytime. This is part of the mission and you can order a sharpshooter to take someone out even if there is no immediate danger for as long as it furthers the mission. Dayan was treated belligerently by the prosecution, so much so defense counsel Ilan Katz banged his hand on the table, questioning how the court permits the prosecution to address a former Chief of Military Intelligence in such a fashion. Dayan explained that soldiers have committed far worse offenses than Azariya and never faced criminal charges and he is concerned this case is harming the ability of soldiers to defend themselves in the future and this is why he opted to become involved in the case. He added that in this case, the very worst scenario is that the soldier erred during a dangerous situation but his actions should never have led to manslaughter charges. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) MK Moshe Gafne, who chairs the Knesset Finance Committee, has been among the audible voices decrying the ongoing chilul Shabbos by Israel Railways. That said, Gafne on Sunday 15 Elul delayed a vote on allocating NIS 646 million in funding to the railway during a Finance Committee session. Clearly his actions were in response to the chilul Shabbos. While officials in the Transportation Ministry called his decision revenge, Gafne told reporters he is not compelled to discuss every decision he makes. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) [COMMUNICATED CONTENT] After 47 years, OHEL Childrens Home and Family Services has out-grown its administrative offices at 4510 16th Avenue, Brooklyn. The temporary move to downtown Brooklyn at 147 Prince St will largely house Administrative staff as OHEL plans for its move to its new building on Avenue M in Flatbush The Jaffa Family Campus. All OHELs main contact information remain the same. This move will not in any way interrupt the broad range of programs and services provided by OHEL to thousands of people every day throughout New York City and Nassau County. Within Brooklyn itself, OHEL has hundreds of residences, apartment programs, domestic violence shelters, as well as The Marvin Kaylie Tikvah Center at OHEL. OHELs main Long Island office at The Kleinman Family Regional Center will continue to provide outpatient counseling services as well as the Lifetime Care Foundation and The Mel and Phyllis Zachter OHEL Institute for Training. David Mandel, CEO of OHEL comments that The number one focus of OHEL during this transition are the individuals we serve, and we are thankful for the dedication and professionalism shown by our staff during this time. OHELs Annual Gala on Sunday November 20th is themed If OHELs Walls Could Talk, which embraces the diversity of help OHEL provides to the community, and the new walls of The Jaffa Family Campus. The larger new campus in Flatbush will help OHEL meet the ever increasing needs and diversity of services necessitated by the community all provided under one roof. For further details, please visit http://www.ohelfamily.org or call 1800-603-OHEL A federal prosecutor told jurors Monday that a witness will testify that Republican Gov. Chris Christie was told about a plan to close traffic lanes near the George Washington Bridge as the shutdown was happening, a claim he has contested for years. The trial comes three years after gridlock paralyzed a town next to the busy bridge connecting New Jersey to New York City for four days. Prosecutors said Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly, two former Christie allies, had sought political revenge against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. Baroni was a top Christie appointee to Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Kelly was Christies former chief of staff. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna told jurors that David Wildstein, another Port Authority official, will testify he and Baroni made Christie aware of the plan during a 9/11 memorial in New York City in 2013, three days after the gridlock started. The evidence will show that they bragged about the fact that there were traffic problems in Fort Lee and that Mayor Sokolich was not getting his calls returned, Khanna said. Christie has denied knowing about the scheme and wasnt charged in the federal investigation. A message left at his office Monday seeking comment wasnt immediately returned. Baronis attorney told jurors Monday that Wildstein is a twisted, vindictive individual who is a habitual liar. He said Baroni acted in good faith throughout and the lane closures were a legitimate attempt to study traffic patterns at the bridge. Kellys attorney was due to make his opening statement later Monday Christie, an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, conceded last week that the bridge scandal was a factor in GOP nominee Donald Trumps not picking him as a running mate. According to a federal indictment, Kelly and Baroni conspired to reduce access lanes to the bridge in Fort Lee, across the Hudson River from New York City, in September 2013 after the towns Democratic mayor declined to endorse Christies re-election. About 150,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day, making it one of the worlds busiest. They face counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, deprivation of civil rights and misusing an organization receiving federal funds. The organization is the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area bridges, tunnels and transit hubs and where Baroni served as deputy executive director. The most serious charge in the indictment, wire fraud conspiracy, carries a maximum 20-year prison term. Prosecutors are expected to introduce texts and emails showing the defendants joking about the traffic jams even as Sokolich who hadnt been notified ahead of time about the closures called and sent emails seeking help. Theyll also show jurors an email from Kelly to another Port Authority official a month before the traffic jams saying, Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee. That official, Wildstein, pleaded guilty in 2015 and will be the governments key witness. Wildstein is a onetime political blogger and high school classmate of Christies who served as the Port Authoritys director of interstate capital projects, a position created for him.. (AP) Hillary Clinton cast herself Monday as the most qualified to combat terrorism in the U.S. after a weekend of violent attacks in three states. Going after rival Donald Trump, she argued that his anti-Muslim rhetoric is helping Islamic militants, including ISIS, recruit new fighters. The Democratic presidential candidate touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Republican Trump for using the incidents to make some kind of demagogic point. Im the only candidate in this race whos been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield, Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. I have sat at that table in the Situation Room. She added: I know how to do this. New Yorks governor and mayor said Monday that the bombings in a Manhattan neighborhood and a New Jersey shore town are looking increasingly like acts of terrorism with a foreign connection. Authorities are also investigating the stabbings of nine people at a Minnesota mall as a possible act of terrorism. An Afghan immigrant wanted for questioning in the bombings was captured in New Jersey Monday after being wounded in a gun battle with police, authorities said. The violence cast a long shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates attention from the daily controversies of the presidential race. Clinton and her team see her foreign policy experience as a key selling point for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama. But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close U.S. borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid. Knock the hell out of em, Trump told Fox and Friends in a phone interview Monday morning. Were not knocking them, were hitting them once in a while; were hitting them in certain places. Were being very gentle about it. Were going to have to be very tough, Trump told Fox News Channel. He said that U.S. leaders, including Obama, coddle potential terrorists, saying we cant let any more people come into this country amid calls for increased racial profiling. Trump once again took credit for predicting current events, pointing to his Saturday night announcement that a bomb had caused the explosion in New York City. That was less than an hour after the explosion and before authorities had publicly said so. Clinton urged voters not to get diverted and distracted by the kind of campaign rhetoric we hear from the other side. She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with ISIS, are rooting for Trump to win the White House. The Republican has said he would bar immigration from nations with ties to terrorism. Were going after the bad guys and were going to get them, but were not going to go after an entire religion, Clinton said. Clinton briefly turned her focus from national security on Monday, wooing younger voters at a midday rally at a Philadelphia university. Her campaign acknowledges she needs to do more to get millennials on board. Shes scheduled to meet with the leaders of Egypt, Ukraine and Japan late in the day in New York City. The leaders are in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Trump, too, announced plans to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Monday. The events came as both candidates were dealing with missteps. Trump and his allies spent Sunday repeatedly and falsely accusing Clinton of pushing the idea that President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. a conspiracy theory long championed by Trump himself. Clinton, meanwhile, is still facing questions about her health and openness after a video caught her staggering after abruptly leaving a 9/11 ceremony. (AP) Plattsmouth Harvest Festival isn't just about having fun. It also honors the many volunteers who give their time to make the community a better place. This year, Master Sgt. (retired) Michael A. Pauly and his family was honored as the festivals Military Family of the Year. Michael was born in Omaha and moved to Camden, Mo., for a short time before returning to Omaha. He graduated from North High School in 1965 and, while maintaining a full-time job, he attended college classes until joining the U.S. Air Force in 1968. He was stationed in Taiwan, England, Greece, Alaska, Texas and Maryland. He served as an instructor for applied cryptologic sciences. Michael met his wife, Margaret Lynn Ellis while stationed in England. They have been married 43 years. They have three children who are all veterans of the armed services. Michael earned his bachelors degree in political science with a minor in history and English from the University of Maryland. After retiring from the Air Force in 1988 after 20 years of service, he returned to Omaha and attended the University of Nebraska-Omaha earning his bachelors degree in Secondary Education and Mathematics. His degree led him to teaching at Plattsmouth High School (PHS) from 1991-2012 clocking 21 years of teaching service upon his retirement. Michael has been an active member of the American Legion Post 56, where he served as commander and is a member of the 40 & 8 Voiture Locale 1218, in which he served as Chef deGare (commander). Through these veterans groups, Michael has coordinated Memorial Day ceremonies, participated in food drives, delivered food parcels to veterans in need in the greater Plattsmouth community and performed in numerous color guards. Michael still coordinates the annual Veterans Day Celebration at PHS. A Utah state senator who traveled to Iran last week has set off a firestorm there, where hard-liners accuse him of being part of a major Western project to infiltrate the country as authorities imprison others with ties abroad. And that was even before knowing that Sen. Jim Dabakis is gay a crime in Iran that can carry the death penalty. For his part, the Salt Lake City-based art dealer said such cross-cultural exchanges will help relations between Iran and the U.S., which have been tense since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. You dont make peace with your friends, Dabakis told The Associated Press on Monday. Rather than rubbing up against each other in the Strait of Hormuz and having tension because of domestic political affairs in both countries let there be this people-to-people beginning of understanding. Dabakis said he and his partner traveled to Tehran and Isfahan for six days after being invited by the Iranian travel industry. He said he got a visa through the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, which handles Iranian affairs. He added that he listed his occupation on the application as both an art dealer and a state lawmaker in Utahs part-time legislature. Sometimes diplomacy is too important to be left up to the diplomats, Dabakis said. But things have grown rather undiplomatic since Dabakis returned home and gave an interview about his trip to local Salt Lake City television station KUTV . The semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, seized on the interview. It quoted a hard-line lawmaker on Sunday who described Dabakis visit as part of a major Western project to infiltrate into the country. On Monday, the pro-reform newspaper Arman quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, as saying his committee was not told of Dabakis visit. Responding to Dabakis description of being welcomed by average Iranians on his trip, Boroujerdi offered this: Iranians main slogan is Down with the USA, and it shows Iranians do not love Americans. Dabakis said since he traveled as a private individual, he didnt feel like he needed to inform the Ministry of Anything, though he said he felt bad about the growing mess his visit caused. He said a previous visit he made in 2010 caused no problem and he hoped a planned trip in May would still happen. Iran, a nation of 80 million people governed by a democracy overseen by Shiite clerics, isnt a monolith. Many Iranians enjoy aspects of Western culture, seen through illegal satellite dishes or over internet connections that subvert government censorship. But many are still waiting to see any of the benefits of Irans nuclear deal with world powers including the U.S. trickle down to them. A majority of Iranians believe relations with America have not improved since the deal and nearly three-fourths of Iranians hold very unfavorable views of the U.S. government, according to poll results released in July by the University of Marylands Center for International and Security Studies. Meanwhile, tense encounters have increased between Iranian forces and U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf . Irans security services also have arrested dual nationals in the country, accusing them of spying based on secret evidence. Asked about his own chances of being detained on the trip, Dabakis said a person would have to be an idiot not to recognize there is some risk. He also said gay rights issues did not come up on his trip and were not on the agenda. But he stressed his own experience moving to the Soviet Union and brokering art deals and culture exchanges during the fall of Communism. Asked how hed respond to those whod consider him naive for entering the realm of tense international diplomacy, Dabakis offered this: Remember, it was pingpong that broke that wall of tension with the Chinese. (AP) 8:17AM IL: An attempted terrorist stabbing attack occurred minutes ago at the entrance to the village of Banei Naim, located in the S. Hebron Hills region. Bchasdei Hashem according to the preliminary report, the terrorist was detected in time, shot and neutralized. There are no reports of injuries to intended victims. 8:30AM IL: HATZALAH YOSH: The attack occurred at Banei Naim Junction near the Kiryat Arba industrial area. Security forces responded quickly, killing the terrorist. There are no reports of injuries among security officials or civilians Bchasdei Hashem. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) It took James ONeill more than three decades as a cop to ascend to the top of the nations largest police department, but only a little more than day to get his first real test. ONeills first full day as New York Citys police commissioner ended with him racing to the scene of an explosion Saturday in the Manhattans bustling Chelsea neighborhood that injured 29 people. He immediately took charge of the investigation, offering the nation its first, up-close look at his no-nonsense, just-the-facts management style. And less than 40 hours later, a suspect was behind bars, believed to be responsible for the blasts in both New York and earlier in a New Jersey shore town. Its a pretty tough way to start in my new position, ONeill acknowledged Monday at a news conference detailing the capture of 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami. But I was just so proud of what I saw that day, he said. The work that was done together, how it was done, all the agencies, the level of cooperation was impressive. The 58-year-old known to his colleagues as Jimmy Is a measured departure from the media-savvy style of his more political predecessor, William Bratton. In news conferences, ONeill largely deferred to Mayor Bill de Blasio and his department chiefs, stuck mostly to what investigators knew and didnt know, and didnt even change expression, even when talking about the fast, successful arrest. I have to say it was absolutely a seamless transfer of leadership, de Blasio said of the new commissioner. He took over command of the situation on Saturday evening was entirely on top of the action. If ONeill sounds more like a police officer than a bureaucrat, it comes naturally. From his start as a transit patrolman in 1983, he worked his way up through the ranks, most recently serving as the 36,000-officer departments top chief. In fact, taking the civilian commissioners job was the first time in his career that he was no longer required to wear the NYPD uniform. Its just that Ive been wearing this uniform for almost 34 years. Now its really starting to hit me, ONeill told The Associated Press in an interview last week on the eve of his formal, official swearing-in Friday. A public ceremony Monday came just a few minutes before the news conference on Rahamis arrest. The Brooklyn-born ONeill makes no secret of approaching the most powerful job in local law enforcement differently from Bratton, who cultivated an image as a crime-fighting innovator in stints running police departments in Boston, Los Angeles and two times in New York. If you talk to anyone whos ever known me, theyd say were different people, ONeill said of Bratton, who is leaving to work as a private security executive. I think my ways a little different not better, not worse. I dont need a big personality. I just do it one person at a time. Hes also open about a mid-career crisis that had the potential to put him on an early retirement track. It came in 2008, when, as the head of a narcotics unit, he was transferred amid allegations that informants were being paid with drugs instead of cash. Four narcotics investigators ended up facing criminal charges, and hundreds of criminal cases were affected, with prosecutors forced to dismiss charges or vacate convictions. I wasnt happy about it, ONeill said about the situation. But by nature, he couldnt leave. I thought about it, but I love being a cop, he said. I love the NYPD. ONeill continued rising through the ranks until Brattons return, when the new commissioner tapped him as his successor. He concedes the complexities of fighting conventional crime and protecting the city against terrorism are daunting. A wake-up call came when he saw the degree of outrage during protests amid the fallout from a grand jurys decisions not to prosecute in the killings of unarmed black men in New York City and Missouri. Before the wave of outrage, Were we always loved? No, he said. But we were never vilified in that way. The reaction made him more convinced the NYPD needed to push forward with a neighborhood policing program designed to give patrolmen more time to walk around and mix with the communities that they police rather than staying in their cars and only responding to 911 calls. His message at police roll calls was simple: Remember why you became a cop and well get through this. As an insider, ONeill will have police officers trust, said Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association. The benefit of ONeill is that he came up through the ranks, through the precincts. And theres a bond with that that gets formed over time, Mullins said. I think the rank-and-file would like to see him succeed. Some activists, mindful of the NYPDs sometimes-fractious relationships with minority communities, took a cautious approach. Were prepared to hold ONeills feet to the fire, just as we did with Bratton, said Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele, a member of Communities United for Police Reform. (AP) [PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] Leading members of Congress, the New York Assembly and Senate, and the New York City Council, gathered with Jewish communal leaders to launch a coordinated effort to condemn Hamas in all four legislative bodies for withholding the bodies of two dead Israeli soldiers and two additional Israeli civilians being held by Hamas. The event took place on Monday, 16 Elul, at 2:00PM in NYC. The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY), the central coordinating and resource body for the Jewish community in the metropolitan New York area, lead this effort. This is a significant humanitarian effort being initiated from Congress down to the city level to send a clear and direct message to Hamas to return the bodies of these dead soldiers and two living Israel citizens who suffer from mental illness on humanitarian grounds, said JCRC-NY President Charles S. Temel. The two civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al Sayed, both with documented special needs, accidentally crossed into Gaza on their own and were subsequently captured by Hamas and are currently being held without access to medical personnel, international human rights monitors, and communication with their families. The two soldiers, Hadar Goldin HYD, and Oron Shaul HYD were both killed in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza during the summer of 2014. Immediately upon their deaths Hamas terrorist snatched the bodies and only recently publicly acknowledged that the organization was in possession of the remains of the two soldiers. The JCRC is joining forces with political and Jewish communal leaders to bring forward the stories of these four men, each uniquely different, yet equally tragic. Their return is a universal human right which has too long been withheld from their families and loved ones, said Michael S. Miller, executive vice president and CEO of JCRC-NY. Hadar Goldins parents, Dr. Leah and Prof. Simcha, will both attend and speak at the press conference. Oron Shauls mother, Zahava will be standing in solidarity with the press conference from Israel. Shauls father, Herzl Shaul recently passed away in August. http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/458029/bde-mr-herzl-shaul-father-of-fallen-idf-soldier-sgt-oren-shaul.html Our son was killed during the summer of 2014 during a United Nations sponsored ceasefire and since then has been denied the basic human right to the dignity of a proper burial according to our customs, said Leah Goldin, mother of Hadar Goldin. We appreciate the work of the representatives of New York and JCRC-NY for bringing this grave matter of the violation of human rights still being committed against my son and the other hostages of Hamas. The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY) is the central coordinating and resource body for the Jewish community in the metropolitan New York area in the community relations field and is an active force in New York civic and communal life. The JCRC-NYs mission is to build bridges and establish working relationships within our own community, with other ethnic and faith communities, and with public officials and government agencies. These relationships serve to strengthen the communal underpinnings of the metropolitan New York area for the benefit not only of our Jewish community, but of all New Yorkers. For more information, visit: www.jcrcny.org (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) [COMMUNICATED CONTENT] It is September. School is underway for most. But who hasnt heard of children with no school to call their own. Children in Monsey, Lakewood, Five Towns, Brooklyn, Queens. Children all over the tri-state area. And the numbers increase each year just as tuitions increase annually. Child IN-Tuition is here to facilitate the communitys support for children who would otherwise be left with no means of receiving a Jewish education. Todays firm stance by countless Yeshivos to refuse entry when parents cannot manage tuition payments, or even going as far as to expel students innocent of any wrong doing other than having parents fall behind in tuition payments, has created a crisis of overwhelming proportions as staggering numbers of children are finding themselves shut out of school and unable to receive a religious education. Innocent children are forced to bear the brunt of the emotional burden and left feeling like outcasts, unworthy and unaccepted making it no wonder so many take to the street, spurning the lifestyle that has spurned them as irreparable damage is done to the fragile physic of a crushed child denied social acceptance through no fault of his own. Child IN-Tuition tuition assistance is available on a nondiscriminatory basis, the only common denominator being grave financial need for elementary aged children. Special arrangements are made with schools making it possible for every dollar to go further. Please join Child IN-Tuition by becoming a joint sponsor of a child. During the Partners in Pupils opportunity, contributions will be matched up to $25,000, requiring only $1,500 to guarantee a $3,000 scholarship award. All proceeds will go towards meeting critical tuition need. To donate to the children of your community, go to www.childintuition.org. MK Hanin Zoabi is back in the news, not for another anti-Israel act or statement and not for expressing support for Hamas but because she was driving on a suspended license. According to the Ynet report on Tuesday 17 Elul, she was spotted speaking on her mobile phone while operating a vehicle. When police pulled her over, they asked for her license and registration and a computer check revealed her license has been suspended. The incident occurred on Monday on Route 65 (Nachal Iron/Wadi Ara). She told police she was not speaking but simply returning the phone to the charger but police were not buying it. She was issued a summons. The fact that she is a Member of Knesset was also learned after she was placed in custody. Her spokesperson tells a different story than police, insisting her license has not been suspended and remains valid until May 2017. However, she is required to take a refresher classroom course. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) My recent visit to Plattsmouth to attend the Harvest Festival festivities brought more than fun, it also enhanced the appreciation I have always felt for my hometown and the wonderful people who live there. On Sept. 7, I arrived by rental car and my first desire was to look down Main Street. I stood at the corner of Sixth and Main in front of the historical Fitzgerald Hotel and cast my eyes down the old familiar street where I had cruised in earlier times. A pleasant transformation from when I lived in Plattsmouth thirty-three years ago had transpired. Lush green plants and colorful blooms filled beautiful flowerboxes and small leafy trees adorned the sidewalks. At the end of Main Street, a majestic American flag hung American honor and freedom. The view was stunning and picturesque. The Harvest Festival was a motivating factor for my family to combine the festivals festivities with a reunion. Thirty-six relatives from Colorado, Washington, Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Texas and Central Nebraska united in Plattsmouth over the Harvest Festival weekend. For some, it was the first time in ten or more years they had last seen each other. Thank you to the Plattsmouth businesses that welcomed a large group of travelers with kindness and hospitality and served great food. Also, thank you to Denise and Jenny at DCs Waterhole who allowed our Cornhusker family to sit inside its establishment and watch a winning Husker game. Go Big Red! I also attended my 1971 PHS class reunion during the Sept 9 and 10 weekend. Much preparation was exuded by a handful of classmates who made a memorable and meaningful reunion for all members of that wonderful year. On Saturday night, Class of 1971 PHS graduates rode on a float during the grand parade. We shouted, we laughed, we waved and we rang out PHS spirit with cheers and pompoms. The best part of the ride was to see children sitting on the curbs and pavement who smiled back to us with genuine enthusiasm, joy and delight. They will long remember a Plattsmouth tradition that the officers of the Harvest Festival and Plattsmouth community have given them. And, no doubt, they will also remember the parade in which Santa came to town on a warm summer night. Thank you, Plattsmouth, for the opportunity to witness a royal coronation and fabulous festival. Sincerely, Deana (Redden) Veldhuis Like so many members of the Greatest Generation, Orin R. Leslie was no stranger to dangerous situations. In 1944, he served as a radar man aboard the USS Wachapreague in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The largest naval battle in modern history, it was a pivotal moment in General MacArthurs island hopping campaign in the southwest Pacific during World War II. There, and elsewhere in the Pacific, Orins ship provided support to the U.S. Navys famous PT boats, of the kind commanded by then-Lieutenant John F. Kennedy. Due to a bureaucratic oversight, Orin never received the medals he earned for his service in World War II. Despite his impressive combat experience, he returned home with no official recognition from the country he so courageously served. More than 70 years later, his daughter, Janet, who lives in Omaha, was preparing an album honoring her late fathers military service. She had old photos and letters her father had written to her mother while he was at war. But she also felt the medals he earned were an important part of his story. For more than a year, Janet tried to get Orins long overdue honors from the federal government, without success. In June, Janet reached out to my office; by August, she had her dads medals. My diligent staff went to work for Janet and contacted the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), the agency responsible for tracking the service of veterans from all branches of our military. From there, the NPRC Medals Research Team verified Orins service record to determine which honors were his. As it turns out, he had earned quite a few: the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Campaign Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, and several others. Helping Janet honor her dad is just one example of the many ways my office performs important work on behalf of Nebraska families. Through mobile office hours, my staff assists Nebraskans in navigating federal agencies and answers questions about legislation. They provide help in grant applications and give guidance on veterans issues and resources for military families. They also shepherd applicants for nominations to attend our nations military academies. In 2016 alone, my team has held more than 40 mobile office hours events across Nebraska. Through them, we help provide rural Nebraskans with the same representation and access to their U.S. senator that citizens in our bigger cities enjoy. I am proud to provide these services through my office. They are a core part of my role as your U.S. senator. I also see them as a way to keep our government accountable to the people, which is where Americas true greatness and strength has always resided. Orin Leslie is a terrific example of that. Like millions of other young Americans, he answered his countrys call to service in World War II. Unlike General MacArthur or Lieutenant Kennedy, Orins name doesnt appear in the history books. But he does appear in a far more important book, his daughter Janets album. Now, Orins medals will be there too, as a part of his story, and a reminder of his great service. Thank you for taking part in our democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week. Every year before jetting off on their sunshine break to Cyprus, Peter and Julie Haynes made sure they had travel insurance. It was particularly important because Peter has suffered from serious heart conditions. For the past few years they've used a specialist firm, AllClear, because it covers all ages and health problems. Ahead of their most recent trip last October, the couple spent 50 minutes carefully filling in its online forms. Recovery: Peter and Julie Haynes were left 36,000 out of pocket after their insurer AllClear refused to stump up after Peter suffered an heart attack while on holiday in Cyprus Peter, 74, listed how he had suffered from angina, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and had had minor heart surgery. The couple, of Peterborough, Cambs, thought the 180 policy meant they did not have to worry if the worst happened on their ten-day trip. So it was devastating when Peter did have a heart attack in Cyprus and AllClear refused to pay the 36,000 bill for the treatment that saved his life. Despite the Haynes' painstaking precautions, AllClear said it had checked Peter's medical records and found he'd failed to tell the insurer about two aspects of his medical history that had slipped his mind. The couple's story is a stark warning to the millions of over-65s heading abroad this summer. Many believe they have made every effort to get the right travel insurance in place. But a combination of vague policy wording, computerised forms and forgetting an old ailment can leave customers facing huge bills. Peter and Julie, 72, travel to Paphos every year and stay in the same hotel with friends. They've become well- known to the staff and the trip in October started off just as swimmingly as always, with games of bowls in the day and relaxing at local restaurants in the evening. Emergency: Peter needed a triple heart bypass and had to be taken to a hospital 100 miles away from his holiday resort But late on their second night, Peter, a retired engineer, started to feel unwell. 'I was feeling hot and bothered,' he says. 'I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and saw a strange shade of yellow. That's the last thing I remember.' Julie roused the couple's friends, one of whom is a former nurse, and they called an ambulance. At a clinic, a doctor diagnosed Peter as having suffered a heart attack and he was stabilised. But after a few hours doctors decided he needed a triple heart bypass and rushed him to another hospital 100 miles away in Nicosia. To Julie's relief, Peter started to make a recovery after the operation. It was only then that their thoughts turned to the bill. The first complication was that they had been taken to a private hospital. In a public hospital, a large chunk of the fee for emergency treatment would have been covered by the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme, but in a private hospital you're liable for the full cost. Julie was told by medics that everything would be covered by the insurance. But a few days later the staff started pestering Julie for cash. They said AllClear was dragging its feet and at one point a group of men even offered to take her to a cash machine to withdraw money. Not declaring pre-existing conditions on a travel insurance policy can mean it's useless Then, six days after Peter's surgery, Julie received a devastating phone call. AllClear's underwriters had checked Peter's medical records and found he'd missed off two conditions listed in his notes. Ten years earlier, Peter had suffered cramping in his legs after exercise. He was diagnosed with intermittent claudication (a narrowing of the arteries), which was cured by a course of pills. He also had a heart problem called left ventricular failure. Peter can't remember being diagnosed with this condition and thinks it may be related to a stent he had fitted in a minor operation something he did declare. Despite the Haynes' protests, AllClear is refusing to pay a penny towards Peter's treatment. The insurer says that even though he declared four heart and circulatory conditions and answered 15 supplementary questions, its policy makes clear that customers must declare every condition they've suffered. A combination of vague policy wording on travel insurance documents, computerised forms and forgetting an old ailment can leave customers facing huge bills Peter says: 'I really tried hard to fill in the forms honestly. These conditions were bunched in my mind with other heart problems I've suffered over the years. 'If I was in a position to take out travel insurance again, I would ask my GP for a letter that outlines my medical history. I wish I'd spoken to someone at the insurance company, rather than having to do everything online, as perhaps that would have jogged my memory. 'I am, however, incredibly grateful to the staff at the hospitals who saved my life.' Penny O'Nions, a financial adviser who used to work as a doctor, says it is vital to get hold of your medical notes. For a physical copy, you must apply to your GP in writing or email. There may be a fee. Dr O'Nions says: 'If you're in your 70s and have suffered a series of health problems, you may easily forget one or two of them and sometimes patients do not take everything in when a doctor explains a condition.' An AllClear spokesman says: 'While we have every sympathy for Mr and Mrs Haynes, we have been open and transparent in continually warning travellers of the issues of not declaring all of their medical conditions and the costs associated with private medical care in Europe.' The insurer agreed to pay Julie's hotel bills and the couple's flights home. Diners in Scotland are most likely to leave a tip when eating out at a restaurant, new research claims. Just six per cent of those in Scotland would never leave a tip compared to 21 per cent and 15 per cent of diners in the Midlands and the North of England respectively. How much money you leave, and if you leave anything at all, varies depending on where you live in the UK, the study by Hitachi Capital reveals. Tipping trouble: If you leave a cash tip do you know if it'll go to the waiter or the company? While people in Scotland gave the biggest tips and 60 per cent said they leave between 10 and 20 per cent, just 34 per cent of people in Wales and 37 per cent of those in the Midlands would leave a similar amount. When asked if they leave a tip at all, 13 per cent of those in the east of England and 13 per cent of those in Wales admitted to never leaving a tip. The majority of people, if they left anything, were likely to leave a 10 per cent tip. In Scotland 50 per cent left 10 per cent, in London this fell to 48 per cent, in the south of England 43 per cent left this amount while in the north it was 41 per cent. In Wales 23 per cent asked said they would leave less than five per cent compared to 14 per cent of those in the Midlands, 10 per cent in the north of England and 13 per cent in the south. Poll How much do you tip in restaurants? 25 - 30% 20 - 25% 15 - 20% 10 - 15% Under 10% I don't ever tip How much do you tip in restaurants? 25 - 30% 1 votes 20 - 25% 0 votes 15 - 20% 4 votes 10 - 15% 19 votes Under 10% 3 votes I don't ever tip 5 votes Now share your opinion The cut-off point for leaving a tip was 17.5 per cent with the majority of respondents. The only place to leave more than this was in the south of England with one per cent saying they would leave 20 per cent. The most important factor when deciding whether to leave a tip or not was the friendliness of staff which 75 per cent of the 2,009 people asked agreed would determine how much to leave. It was followed by the quality of the food and drink and then the speed of the service. The research also showed that 35 per cent of people are unsure of the difference between tips, gratuities, cover and service charges. When a tip is automatically added onto a bill, 44 per cent said they would be too embarrassed to ask for it to be removed even though legally you don't have to pay it. Diners in Scotland were far more likely to leave a tip than those in the Midlands Gerald Grimes, managing director at Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance, said: 'Restaurants need to make sure that discretionary payments for service are just that voluntary. 'They shouldn't be something that consumers feel obliged to pay. It's interesting to see the regional differences in how people feel about tipping. 'The Scottish tight-fisted stereotype is clearly not accurate with Scots being most likely to leave a substantial 20 per cent tip when eating out, particularly when at an independent restaurant or cafe. 'This is clearly in contrast to Wales, the Midlands and cities in the north such as Manchester and Leeds.' Could you tell the difference between a tip, the gratuity, the cover and the service charge? The question over tipping in restaurants has been hotly debated this year after it was discovered that several leading high street restaurant chains were not letting their staff take home tips left for them. Pizza Express is one of a number of chains under pressure to clean up the way it handles tip payments to staff In August it was reported that Pizza Express, Ask Italian, Zizzi, Prezzo and Giraffe were routinely keeping a share of tips from the waiting staff. The reason given for keeping the tips was to cover administration fees. In response to this, on August 30th the Government launched an investigation into this industry. It is currently consulting on tipping payments to ensure the process is fair and transparent. Strong demand in the UK and Poland helped Kingfisher post a rise in profits, but the group remained cautious on the outlook for France - its most profitable market. Full year pretax profits for Europe's largest home improvement retailer - which owns B&Q and Screwfix in the UK - rose by 10 per cent to 427million, while like-for-like sales grew 3.3 per cent across the company. So far the firm said it believes that there has been no clear evidence of a Brexit-induced slowdown in demand, but in France - where it trades as Castorama - Kingfisher has been hit by industrial action and wet weather. Resilient: Kingfisher said there is 'no evidence' the EU referendum result dented its sales Veronique Laury, Kingfisher's chief executive, said: 'It has been a productive first half. We have delivered a good "business as usual" result with both sales and profit growth. 'In the UK, the EU referendum has created uncertainty for the economic outlook, even though there has been no clear evidence of an impact on demand so far on our businesses. In France we remain cautious on the short term outlook.' The FTSE 100-listed group's shares responded positively to the update, gaining 2.6 per cent, or 9.9p to 386.6p in early morning trading. Kingfisher's sales growth was driven by another strong performance from Screwfix, where comparable sales rocketed 14.7 per cent, while B&Q's like-for-like sales rose 4.6 per cent. In France, however, like for like sales were down 1.6 per cent, which analysts said was a deep concern given that the Gallic side of the business accounts for 40 per cent of total group revenue. George Salmon, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'So far this year, the French businesses have disappointed, but the group's UK performance is strong and momentum is building in other international markets, particularly Poland. 'In the longer term however, it is the relative success of Kingfisher's own DIY improvement plans that will dictate the group's future. 'The 'ONE Kingfisher' plan, to consolidate and unify the product range, should mean that the group can properly leverage its scale and secure better buying terms.' In January, Ms Laury announced a strategy plan to boost Kingfisher's annual profit by 500million from 2021. It will cost 800million over five years to deliver. The plan involves unifying the product offer across the business, improving its ecommerce capabilities and driving efficiencies. Ms Laury said today that the program was on track. The firm also plans to return 600million to shareholders over the next three years through share buybacks. So far it has returned 160million. Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said: 'With a dynamic new CEO in place making long overdue changes to operations, we maintain a "hold" recommendation on the shares due to the good level of cash flow and the potential for the new strategy. Fashion chain French Connection has unveiled another big loss for the first half of this year of 7.9million, although sales at its stores returned to growth. The companys founder and chief executive Stephen Marks admitted that the group's overall performance had been disappointing, but said the retail performance had been particularly pleasing. French Connection's latest results come after Mr Marks confirmed a couple of days ago that he would refuse to sit down with activist investors who had requested a meeting to rethink the groups turnaround plan and had called on him to ditch his dual role as chief executive and chairman. Smile: Drummer Tennessee Thomas, model Poppy Delevingne and model Harley Viera-Newton attend the French Connection Spring/Summer 2015 Collection Preview Party French Connection marked its fourth year in the red with pretax losses of 7.9million for the six months to the end of July, unchanged from the same time last year. Group sales fell by 8.7 per cent to 69million, dragged down by a poor performance in its wholesale division, both in the UK/Europe and in North America. However, like-for-like sales in the UK and Europe - regions which accounted for almost three quarters of group sales last year - rose by 6.5 per cent in the period as shoppers seemed to like French Connections spring collection. Mr Marks, who founded the chain in 1970, has faced pressure from activist investor Gatemore Capital Management, a US hedge fund with an 8 per cent stake in the group. Gatemore wrote to French Connections board in July, asking for a meeting to discuss the companys turnaround plan. It believes the fashion chain should ditch its FCUK logo and accelerate its plans to shut down unprofitable stores. But Mr Marks, as expected, did not make any mention of this issue today, and said that while the overall year results will depend on the key Christmas period, the second half of the year had started well. In the group's interim results statement, he said: Although the overall performance for the first half has been disappointing, the retail result has been particularly pleasing when compared to last year in what has been a difficult retail environment. Performance in wholesale and licensing has been more challenging but we have started to see an improvement recently and expect to see a recovery in the second half. In reaction to the first half results, French Connection shares were down over 8 per cent, or 3.6p, to 40.0p in lunchtime trading. 'Pleasing' retail results: French Connection founder and chief executive Stephen Marks The groups share price has fallen more than 20 per cent since its 2004 highs as the group has struggled in recent years amid strong competition from cheaper high street rivals such as Zara and online firms like ASOS. Andrew Wade, analyst at Numis Securities, said the results from the groups retail division had been encouraging and that the headwinds in the wholesale division were just short-term. Mr Wade said: 'Supported by encouraging current trading, we retain our positive stance, seeing clear improvements being made across the business, particularly in design, and move our recommendation to Buy.' However Freddie George, retail analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, was less optimistic. Our concern is that shareholder value continues to erode, the current restructuring programme is taking the business toward profitability at too slower pace while the cash balance, which offers some support to the share price, further declines, he said. Cardinal Health, Inc. operates as an integrated healthcare services and products company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices, and patients in the home. The company operates in two segments, Pharmaceutical and Medical. The Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded and generic pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and over-the-counter healthcare and consumer products. The segment also provides services to pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers for specialty pharmaceutical products; operates nuclear pharmacies and radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities; repackages generic pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter healthcare products; and offers medication therapy management and patient outcomes services to hospitals, other healthcare providers, and payers, as well as provides pharmacy management services to hospitals. The Medical segment manufactures, sources, and distributes Cardinal Health branded medical, surgical, and laboratory products and devices that include exam and surgical gloves; needles, syringe, and sharps disposals; compressions; incontinences; nutritional delivery products; wound care products; single-use surgical drapes, gowns, and apparels; fluid suction and collection systems; urology products; operating room supply products; and electrode product lines. The segment also distributes a range of national brand products, including medical, surgical, and laboratory products; provides supply chain services and solutions to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, and other healthcare providers; and assembles and sells sterile, and non-sterile procedure kits. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. The following companies are subsidiares of American Tower: 10 Presidential Way Associates LLC, 3267351 Nova Scotia Company, 3286208 Nova Scotia Company, 3298099 Nova Scotia Company, 52 Eighty Partners LLC, 52 Eighty Tower Partners I LLC, ACC Tower Sub LLC, AT Atlantic Holding LLC (1), AT Iberia C.V. (2), AT Kenya C.V., AT Netherlands C.V., AT Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., AT Rhine C.V. (2), AT Sher Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., AT South America C.V., ATC Africa Holding B.V., ATC Africa Shared Services (Pty) Ltd, ATC Antennas Holding LLC, ATC Antennas LLC, ATC Argentina Cooperatief U.A., ATC Argentina Holding LLC, ATC Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ATC Atlantic C.V. (2), ATC Atlantic I B.V. (2), ATC Atlantic II B.V. (3), ATC Atlantic IV B.V. (2), ATC Backhaul LLC, ATC Brasil Servicos de Conectividades Ltda., ATC Brazil Holding LLC, ATC Brazil I LLC, ATC Brazil II LLC, ATC Burkina Faso S.A., ATC CSR Foundation India, ATC Chile Holding LLC, ATC Colombia B.V., ATC Colombia Holding I LLC, ATC Colombia Holding LLC, ATC Colombia I LLC, ATC EH GmbH & Co. KG (2), ATC Ecuador Holding LLC, ATC Edge LLC, ATC Ethiopia Infrastructure Development Private Limited Company, ATC Europe B.V. (2), ATC Europe C.V. (1), ATC Europe Cooperatief U.A. (2), ATC Europe LLC, ATC European Holdings Inc., ATC Fibra de Colombia S.A.S., ATC France Holding II SAS, ATC France Holding SAS, ATC France Reseaux SAS, ATC France SNC, ATC France Services SAS, ATC GP GmbH, ATC Germany Holding I B.V. (3), ATC Germany Holding II B.V., ATC Germany Holdings GmbH, ATC Germany Munich GmbH, ATC Germany Services GmbH, ATC Ghana ServiceCo Limited, ATC Global Employment B.V., ATC Green Grass LLC, ATC Heston B.V., ATC Holding Fibra Mexico S. de R.L. DE C.V., ATC IP LLC, ATC Iberia Holding LLC (3), ATC India Infrastructure Private Limited (1), ATC Indoor DAS Holding LLC, ATC Indoor DAS LLC, ATC International Cooperatief U.A., ATC International Financing B.V., ATC International Financing II B.V., ATC International Financing II Holding LLC, ATC International Holding Corp., ATC Iris I LLC, ATC Kenya Operations Limited, ATC Kenya Services Limited, ATC Latin America S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., ATC MIP III REIT Iron Holdings LLC, ATC Managed Sites Holding LLC, ATC Managed Sites LLC, ATC MexHold LLC, ATC Mexico Holding LLC, ATC Niger Wireless Infrastructure S.A., ATC Nigeria Cooperatief U.A., ATC Nigeria Holding LLC, ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure Limited, ATC On Air + LLC, ATC Operations LLC, ATC Outdoor DAS LLC, ATC Paraguay Holding LLC, ATC Paraguay S.R.L., ATC Peru Holding LLC, ATC Polska sp. z o.o., ATC Ponderosa B-I LLC, ATC Ponderosa B-II LLC, ATC Ponderosa K LLC, ATC Ponderosa K-R LLC, ATC Rhine Holding LLC (3), ATC Scala Operations S.L. (3), ATC Scala Spain Holding S.L. (2), ATC Sequoia LLC, ATC Sitios Infraco S.A.S., ATC Sitios de Argentina S.A., ATC Sitios de Chile S.A., ATC Sitios de Colombia S.A.S., ATC Sitios del Peru S.R.L., ATC South Africa Investment Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, ATC South Africa Services Pty Ltd, ATC South Africa Wireless Infrastructure (Pty) Ltd, ATC South America Holding LLC, ATC South LLC, ATC TRS I LLC, ATC TRS II LLC, ATC TRS III LLC, ATC TRS IV LLC, ATC Tanzania Holding LLC, ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited, ATC Tower (Ghana) LTD, ATC Tower Services LLC, ATC Uganda Limited, ATC Uganda ServiceCo (SMC) Limited, ATC Watertown LLC, ATC WiFi LLC, ATS-Needham LLC, ActiveX Telebroadband Services Private Limited, Adquisiciones y Proyectos Inalambricos S. de R. L. de C.V., Agile Airband Ohio LLC, Agile Connect LLC, Agile IWG Holdings LLC, Agile Network Builders LLC, Agile Networks Indiana LLC, Agile Networks Site Development LLC, Agile Towers LLC, Alternative Networking LLC, American Tower Asset Sub II LLC, American Tower Asset Sub LLC, American Tower Charitable Foundation Inc., American Tower Chile I S.A., American Tower Chile II S.A., American Tower Delaware Corporation, American Tower Depositor Sub LLC, American Tower Espana S.L.U. (3), American Tower Guarantor Sub LLC, American Tower Holding Sub II LLC, American Tower Holding Sub LLC, American Tower IB Participacoes Imobiliarias Ltda., American Tower Inmosites S.L.U., American Tower International Holding I LLC, American Tower International Holding II LLC, American Tower International Inc., American Tower Investments LLC, American Tower LLC, American Tower Latam SLU, American Tower Management LLC, American Tower Peru S.A.C., American Tower Servicios Fibra S. de R.L. de C.V., American Tower T. Torres do Brasil Ltda., American Tower Tanzania Operations Limited, American Tower do Brasil - Cessao de Infraestruturas Ltda., American Tower do Brasil Communicacao Multimidia Ltda., American Towers LLC, Appleseed Holdco LLC, BR Towers, Blue Sky Towers Pty Ltd, Blue Transfer Sociedad Anonima, Broadcast Towers LLC, CNC2 Associates LLC, California Tower Inc., Cell Site NewCo II LLC, Cell Tower Lease Acquisition LLC, Central States Tower Holdings LLC, Colo ATL LLC, Colo Atl, Communications Properties Inc., Comunicaciones y Consumos S.A., Connectivity Infrastructure Services Limited, CoreSite Real Estate 12100 Sunrise Valley Drive L.L.C., CoreSite Real Estate 1656 McCarthy L.P., CoreSite Realty Corporation REIT Qualification Trust, Coresite, DCS Tower Sub LLC, Digital Access Ohio LLC (1), Eaton, Eaton Towers Ghana (M) Limited, Eaton Towers Ghana Limited, Eaton Towers Holdings Limited, Eaton Towers Kenya Limited, Eaton Towers Limited, Eaton Towers Uganda Limited, Essar Telecom Infrastructure, GTP Acquisition Partners I LLC, GTP Acquisition Partners II LLC, GTP Acquisition Partners III LLC, GTP Costa Rica Finance LLC, GTP Infrastructure I LLC, GTP Infrastructure II LLC, GTP Infrastructure III LLC, GTP Investments LLC, GTP LATAM Holdings B.V., GTP LatAm Holdings Cooperatieve U.A., GTP Operations CR S.R.L., GTP South Acquisitions II LLC, GTP Structures I LLC, GTP Structures II LLC, GTP TRS I LLC, GTP Torres CR S.R.L., GTP Towers I LLC, GTP Towers II LLC, GTP Towers III LLC, GTP Towers IV LLC, GTP Towers IX LLC, GTP Towers V LLC, GTP Towers VII LLC, GTP Towers VIII LLC, GTPI HoldCo LLC, Ghana Tower InterCo B.V., Global Tower Assets III LLC, Global Tower Assets LLC, Global Tower Holdings LLC, Global Tower LLC, Global Tower Partners, Global Tower Services LLC, Gondola Tower Holdings LLC, Grain HoldCo LLC, Grain HoldCo Parent LLC, GrainComm I LLC, GrainComm II LLC, GrainComm III LLC, GrainComm LLC, GrainComm Marketing LLC, GrainComm V LLC, Haysville Towers LLC (1), IW Equipment LLC, IWD Equipment LLC, IWG Holdings LLC, IWG II Holdings LLC, IWG II LLC, IWG Towers Assets I LLC, IWG Towers Assets II LLC, IWG-TLA Australia Pty Ltd., IWG-TLA Canada Corp., IWG-TLA Encanto 1 LLC, IWG-TLA Encanto 3 LLC, IWG-TLA Holdings LLC, IWG-TLA Media 2 LLC, IWG-TLA Media LLC, IWG-TLA Telecom LLC, InSite (BCEC) LLC, InSite (MBTA) LLC, InSite Borrower LLC, InSite Co-Issuer Corp., InSite Guarantor LLC, InSite Hawaii LLC, InSite Issuer LLC, InSite Licensing LLC, InSite Tower Services LLC, InSite Towers Development 2 LLC, InSite Towers Development LLC, InSite Towers International 2 LLC, InSite Towers International Development LLC, InSite Towers International LLC, InSite Towers LLC, InSite Towers of Puerto Rico LLC, InSite Wireless Development LLC, InSite Wireless Group, InSite Wireless Group LLC, Invisible IWG Holdings LLC, Invisible Towers LLC, JT Communications LLC, Kirtonkhola Tower Bangladesh Limited (1), LAP Inmobiliaria Limitada, LAP Inmobiliaria S.R.L., LL B Sheet 1 LLC, Lap do Brasil Empreendimentos Imobiliarios Ltda, Lease Advisors-AU PTY LTD, Loxel SAS, MATC Digital S. de R.L. de C.V., MATC Infraestructura S. de R.L. de C.V., MATC Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., MC New Macland Properties LLC, MCSU Properties LLC, MHB Tower Rentals of America LLC, MIP III U.S. Iron LLC, Microwave Inc., Mountain Communications LLC, Municipal Bay LLC, Municipal-Bay Holdings LLC, New Towers LLC, PCS Structures Towers LLC, R-CAL I LLC, RSA Media Inc., Repeater Communications Group I LLC, Repeater Communications Group II LLC, Repeater Communications Group III LLC, Repeater Communications Group IV LLC, Repeater Communications Group LLC, Repeater Communications Group V LLC, Repeater Communications Group VI LLC, Repeater Communications Group of New York LLC, Repeater IWG Holdings LLC, Richland Towers LLC, Signum/IWG Tower Corp., Southeast Network Access Point LLC, SpectraSite Communications, SpectraSite Communications LLC, SpectraSite LLC, T8 Ulysses Site Management LLC, TLA PR-2 LLC, Telecom Lease Advisors Management 2 LLC, Tower Management Inc. (4), Towers of America L.L.L.P., Transcend Infrastructure Holdings Pte. Ltd., Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines) Inc., Turris Sites Development Corp., Turris Sites IWG Corp, Tysons II DAS LLC, U.S. Colo. LLC, UNIsite, Uganda Tower Interco B.V., Ulysses Asset Sub I LLC, Ulysses Asset Sub II LLC, UniSite LLC, UniSite/Omnipoint FL Tower Venture LLC (1), UniSite/Omnipoint NE Tower Venture LLC (1), UniSite/Omnipoint PA Tower Venture LLC (1), and Viom Networks. Read More This is a current list of the top 250 companies by market capitalization on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Learn more . The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is one of the largest, and most recognizable, stock exchanges in the world. The NYSE is in New York City, New York at 11 Wall Street. The NYSE has been in existence since the earliest days of the United States becoming a nation, in 1792 and is primarily made up of blue-chip companies with large market capitalizations. In fact, many of the stocks that make up the Dow Jones Composite Index (i.e. The Dow) are listed on the NYSE. This article gives a brief history of the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, it covers topics such as what kind of stocks trade on the exchange, what are the listing requirements, how trading is performed, and what the daily price movement of the NYSE tells investors about investor sentiment. What Were the Origins of the NYSE? Today, the New York Stock Exchange is known as the center of the financial universe. However, the exchanges origin is far more humble. On May 17, 1792, 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement creating a centralized exchange to help provide order to the securities market in what was still a young nation. The "Buttonwood Agreement comes from the tree of the same name under which the founders signed the agreement. An initial benefit of the exchange was how it removed the need for auctioneers when trading commodities like wheat and tobacco and to set a commission rate. The exchange initially focused on government bonds. However, the exchange had no formal home. Business was usually conducted informally in the local coffeehouses. In 1817, the exchange changed its name to the New York Stock & Exchange Board which later became the New York Stock Exchange. At this time, the exchange adopted a constitution that set the rules for trading. A group of stockbrokers met twice a day at 40 Wall Street to trade 30 stocks and bonds. Over time, the exchange moved became the financial hub of the country and moved to its current location in 1865. What Kind of Stocks Trade on the NYSE? As of June 2022, the NYSE includes approximately 2,400 companies with a market capitalization of over $28.2 trillion. Although the NYSE trades stocks of all market capitalizations, its best known for trading the stocks of large cap companies. These have the benefit of being mature companies in mature industries. And many of these companies reward shareholders with dividends. However, that also means that many of these companies are better suited for value investors as opposed to growth investors. In bear markets this stability can be a benefit for investors as these stocks tend to perform less bad than more volatile stocks. But in a bull market, these stocks are not likely to provide investors with the growth that they look for. An interesting fact about how the NYSE and NASDAQ operate is that the companies with the five largest market caps on the NYSE are also listed on the NASDAQ exchange. What Are the Listing Requirements For the NYSE? The NYSE has strict guidelines that govern the types of companies that can list on the exchange. Here are the major requirements that all companies must meet: The company must have at least 2,200 shareholders The company must trade over 100,000 shares per month The company must have a market valuation of over $100 million The company must generate more than $75 million in annual revenue However, there is at least one advantage of having such stringent requirements. That is the companies that meet the requirements generally find it easier to get more investors funds when they hold their initial public offering (IPO). Once a company begins trading on the NYSE, it must continue to meet these requirements. If it doesnt it can be delisted. In addition to these requirements, the stock must continue to trade above $1. If the price of a stock drops below $1 for more than 29 consecutive trading days, the stock receives an Initial Price Violation Notice. At that point, the company has 10 days to provide the exchange with a plan for bringing their shares above $1. How are Trades Executed on the NYSE? For over a century, the floor of the NYSE was the place for investors to be. This meant trades were conducted by traders who ran buy and sell orders across the trading floor looking to broker a deal for their clients. But with the birth of the NASDAQ exchange in 1971, the New York Stock Exchange began conducting electronic trading. However, the NYSE continues to conduct trades in an auction style. Brokers purchase stocks on behalf of their clients or firms. Every order features a broker who will enter the order electronically and a specialist who serves as the market maker for that stock. The specialist posts bid and ask prices and manages the actual execution of the trades. And there are still a handful of stockbrokers who still traffic buy and sell orders physically on the floor of the exchange. How Does the NYSE Signal Investor Sentiment? Like its counterpart, the NASDAQ, the NYSE measures the risk appetite of investors. When the NYSE is moving higher over a length of time, it signals that a risk on environment. Conversely when the NYSE moves lower over a significant period, it signals that investors are moving to a risk off position. Some Final Thoughts on the NYSE Financial news networks plan their programming schedule around the opening and closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange. Its still considered a distinguished honor when individuals or groups are invited to ring the opening bell. In fact, Warren Buffett is attributed with saying that in the short term, the stock market acts like a voting machine. A fact that many U.S. presidents will attest to. The NYSE is the oldest and most recognizable of all the stock exchanges. It also has the most stringent requirements for inclusion. And those requirements must be maintained even after a stock begins publicly trading on the exchange. Although the NYSE still has a small in-person Trading Floor, much of the trading is done electronically to provide traders with the speed to execute trades. The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Better Financial Services GmbH, Better Payment Germany GmbH, Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., Chapel Funding, China Recovery Fund LLC, Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Cartera de lnmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Impact Investment Fund I. LP., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Limited, DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Jersey) 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 lnteractivos Agrupacicm de lnteres Econemico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB Print GmbH, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services (Jersey) Limited, DB Services Americas. Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB US Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a. r.l., DB Value S.a.r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita SA., DB lmmobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG i.L., DB lo LP, DBAH Capital. LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management 18 Ltd., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a. r.l., DBX Advisers LLC, DEBEKO lmmobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK AS., DI Deutsche lmmobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, 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 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 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 Shanghai Private Equity Fund Management Limited, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anenima lnstitucien Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico. S.A., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank Polska Spelka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Societe per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche Bank. Sociedad Anenima Espanola, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur lmmobilien-Leasing mit beschrenkter Haftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.El r.l., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche India Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a. r.|., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities SA. de C.V.. Casla de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Services (Cl) Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. SA., Deutsche lmmobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsches lnstitut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.l., Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, European Value Added I (Alternate GP.) LLP, Fiduciaria Sant Andrea S.r.l., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., German American Capital Corporation, Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer LandstraBe GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Miesbaden LuisenstraBe/Kirchgasse GbR, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF l Manager S.a.r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I 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 lnkasso GmbH, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo lll Initial GP Limited, MEF I Manager. S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH. Read More Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. It also offers ProxyEdge, an electronic proxy delivery and voting solution; data-driven solutions and an end-to-end platform for content management, composition, and omni-channel distribution of regulatory, marketing, and transactional information, as well as mutual fund trade processing services; data and analytics solutions; solutions for public corporations and mutual funds; SEC filing and capital markets transaction services; registrar, stock transfer, and record-keeping services; and omni-channel customer communications solutions, as well as operates Broadridge Communications Cloud platform that creates, delivers, and manages communications and customer engagement activities. The company's Global Technology and Operations segment provides solutions that automate the front-to-back transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, foreign exchange and exchange-traded derivatives, order capture and execution, trade confirmation, margin, cash management, clearance and settlement, reference data management, reconciliations, securities financing and collateral management, asset servicing, compliance and regulatory reporting, portfolio accounting, and custody-related services. This segment also offers business process outsourcing services; technology solutions, such portfolio management, compliance, fee billing, and operational support solutions; and capital market and wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, New York. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. 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. It also provides credit cards and payments; real estate secured lending, auto finance, and consumer lending services; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, and advice to retail and institutional clients through direct investing, advice-based, and asset management businesses; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking products and services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to corporations, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,061 branches and 3,381 automated teller machines (ATMs) in Canada, and 1,148 stores and 2,701 ATMs in the United States, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. It has a strategic alliance with Canada Post Corporation. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Aviva plc provides various insurance, retirement, investment, and savings products in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and internationally. The company offers life insurance, long-term health and accident insurance, savings, pension, and annuity products, as well as pension fund business and lifetime mortgage products. It also provides insurance cover to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses for risks associated with motor vehicles and medical expenses, as well as property and liability, such as employers' and professional indemnity liabilities. In addition, the company provides investment management services for institutional pension fund mandates; and manages various retail investment products, including investment funds, unit trusts, open-ended investment companies, and individual savings accounts for third-party financial institutions, pension funds, public sector organizations, investment professionals, and private investors. It markets its products through a network of insurance brokers, as well as MyAviva platform. The company was formerly known as CGNU plc and changed its name to Aviva plc in July 2002. Aviva plc was founded in 1696 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. The following companies are subsidiares of Novartis: 1 A Pharma GmbH, Abadia Retuerta S.A, Admune Therapeutics, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications, Advanced Accelerator Applications International SA, Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A., Advanced Accelerator Applications S.r.l., Advanced Accelerator Applications USA Inc., Aeropharm GmbH, Alcon, Alcon Couvreur NV, Amblyotech, Amblyotech Inc., Arctos Medical, Arctos Medical AG, Australia Pty Ltd, Beijing Novartis Pharma Co. Ltd., BioMedical Research Co. Ltd., CELLforCURE, Cadent Therapeutics, Cadent Therapeutics Cambridge, Cellerys, Cellerys AG, CellforCure, Chiron Corporation, Ciba-Geigy Japan Limited, Co. Ltd, CoStim Pharmaceuticals, CoStim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Coalesce Product Development Limited, Corthera, Development Co. Ltd., EBEWE Pharma Ges.m.b.H Nfg. KG, Encore Vision, Endocyte, Endocyte Inc., Eon Labs Inc., Farmanova Saglik Hizmetleri Ltd, Fougera Pharmaceuticals, Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc, Gyroscope Therapeutics, HEXAL AG, Hexal, IDB Holland BV, Iberica S.L.U., Ilaclari Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, JSC Sandoz, Japat AG, Kedalion Therapeutics Inc., Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d., Lek S.A., Manufacturing Pte Ltd , Navigate BioPharma Services Inc, Neutec Pharma Limited, Novartis (Hellas) S.A.C.I., Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Novartis (Taiwan) Co. Ltd, Novartis (Thailand) Limited, Novartis Argentina S.A., Novartis Australia Pty Ltd, Novartis Austria GmbH, Novartis Biociencias S.A., Novartis Biosciences Peru S.A., Novartis Bioventures AG, Novartis Business Services GmbH, Novartis Capital Corporation, Novartis Chile S.A., Novartis Corporation, Novartis Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Novartis Deutschland GmbH, Novartis Ecuador S.A., Novartis Farma S.p.A., Novartis Farma Produtos Farmaceuticos S.A., Novartis Farmaceutica S.A, Novartis Farmaceutica S.A. de C.V., Novartis Finance Corporation, Novartis Finance S.A., Novartis Finance Services Ltd, Novartis Finland Oy Espoo, Novartis Gene Therapies, Novartis Gene Therapies EU Limited, Novartis Gene Therapies Inc., Novartis Grimsby Limited, Novartis Groupe France S.A., Novartis Healthcare A/S, Novartis Healthcare Philippines Inc., Novartis Healthcare Private Limited, Novartis Holding AG, Novartis Hungary Healthcare Limited Liability Company, Novartis India Limited, Novartis Inflammasome Research, Novartis Integrated Services Limited, Novartis International AG, Novartis International Pharmaceutical Investment AG, Novartis Investment Ltd, Novartis Investments S.a r.l., Novartis Ireland Limited, Novartis Israel Ltd, Novartis Korea Ltd., Novartis Middle East FZE, Novartis Netherlands B.V., Novartis Neva LLC, Novartis New Zealand Ltd, Novartis Norge AS, Novartis Ophthalmics AG, Novartis Optogenetics Research Inc., Novartis Overseas Investments AG, Novartis Pharma (Logistics) Inc., Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited, Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Pharma B.V. , Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Novartis Pharma K.K., Novartis Pharma LLC, Novartis Pharma Maroc SA, Novartis Pharma NV, Novartis Pharma Produktions GmbH, Novartis Pharma S.A.E., Novartis Pharma S.A.S., Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, Novartis Pharma Schweizerhalle AG, Novartis Pharma Services AG, Novartis Pharma Services Romania S.R.L., Novartis Pharma Stein AG, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Limited, Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited, Novartis Poland Sp. z o.o., Novartis Portugal S.G.P.S. Lda., Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited, Novartis Saglik Gida ve Tarim Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, Novartis Saudi Ltd., Novartis Securities Investment Ltd, Novartis Services Inc., Novartis Slovakia s.r.o., Novartis South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Novartis Sverige AB, Novartis UK Limited, Novartis US Foundation, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc, Novartis Vietnam Company Limited, Novartis de Colombia S.A., Novartis de Venezuela S.A., Novartis s.r.o., Oriel Therapeutics Inc., PT. Novartis Indonesia, Protez Pharmaceuticals, Pte Ltd, Research Inc, Salutas Pharma GmbH, Sandoz A/S, Sandoz AG, Sandoz B.V., Sandoz Canada Inc., Sandoz Egypt Pharma S.A.E., Sandoz Farmaceutica S.A., Sandoz Farmaceutica Lda., Sandoz GmbH, Sandoz Hungary Limited Liability Company, Sandoz Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Sandoz Inc, Sandoz Industrial Products S.A, Sandoz International GmbH, Sandoz K.K., Sandoz Limited, Sandoz Manufacturing Inc., Sandoz NV, Sandoz Pharma K.K, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals AG, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals d.d., Sandoz Philippines Corporation, Sandoz Polska Sp. z o.o. , Sandoz Private Limited, Sandoz Pty Ltd, Sandoz S.A. de C.V, Sandoz S.A.S., Sandoz S.R.L., Sandoz S.p.A., Sandoz South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Sandoz Ukraine LLC, Sandoz d.o.o. farmaceutska industrija, Sandoz do Brasil Industria Farmaceutica Ltda, Sandoz s.r.o., Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Shanghai Novartis Trading Ltd., Societe par actions SANDOZ, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, The Medicines Company, The Medicines Company, Triangle International Reinsurance Limited, Trinity River Insurance Co Ltd, Vedere Bio, Vedere Bio ll, Xiidra, Ziarco, and Ziarco Group Limited. Read More MSCI Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment decision support tools for the clients to manage their investment processes worldwide. It operates through four segments: Index, Analytics, ESG and Climate, and All Other - Private Assets. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed product creation, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct. The Analytics segment offers risk management, performance attribution and portfolio management content, application, and service that provides an integrated view of risk and return, and an analysis of market, credit, liquidity, and counterparty risk across asset classes; managed services, including consolidation of client portfolio data from various sources, review and reconciliation of input data and results, and customized reporting; and HedgePlatform to measure, evaluate, and monitor the risk of hedge fund investments. The ESG and Climate segment provides products and services that help institutional investors understand how ESG factors impact the long-term risk and return of their portfolio and individual security-level investments; and data, ratings, research, and tools to help investors navigate increasing regulation. The All Other - Private Assets segment includes real estate market and transaction data, benchmarks, return-analytics, climate assessments and market insights for funds, investors, and managers; business intelligence to real estate owners, managers, developers, and brokers; and offers investment decision support tools for private capital. It serves asset owners and managers, financial intermediaries, wealth managers, real estate professionals, and corporates. MSCI Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. owns, manages, and operates senior living communities in the United States. It operates in three segments: Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care, and Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). The Independent Living segment owns or leases communities comprising independent and assisted living units in a single community that are primarily designed for middle to upper income seniors. The Assisted Living and Memory Care segment owns or leases communities consisting of freestanding multi-story communities and freestanding single-story communities, which offer housing and 24-hour assistance with activities of daily living for the Company's residents. This segment also operates memory care communities for residents with Alzheimer's and other dementias. The CCRCs segment owns or leases communities that provides various living arrangements, such as independent and assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing; and services to accommodate various levels of physical ability and healthcare needs. It also manages communities on behalf of others. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned 347 communities, leased 299 communities, and managed 33 communities on behalf of others. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Gina Martinez A car packed with 20-somethings returning home from a party collided with another car in South Ozone Park early Sunday morning, killing one of the partygoers, according to police. The collision occurred Sept. 11 at 4:23 a.m. at the intersection of 120th Street and Linden Boulevard. According to police, an Audi A6 with seven passengers collided with a Honda Civic traveling westbound on Linden Boulevard after the Audi skipped a stop sign. Surveillance footage shows the Audi landing on its roof and several passengers slowly climbing out. Desray Leroy, 23, who was sitting on a friends lap at the time of the accident, suffered serious head trauma, police said. Officials took her to Jamaica Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival, according to police. The driver of the Audi, a 25-year-old male, was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in serious condition, according to police. Three male passengers ages 20, 22 and 23 were taken to New York Hospital in stable condition and the remaining two passengers, a 24 year-old male and 21-year-old female were taken to Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition. The driver of the Honda, 53-year-old Ray Mouton, was taken to Jamaica Hospital with minor injuries. She has been charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, according to police. Somalia\s Islamist militant group al Shabaab attacked a town in a region near Kenya\s border, killing at least seven Somali soldiers, the group and Somali officials said. Al Shabaab, which regularly attacks Somali forces in its campaign to oust Somalia\s Western-backed government, pulled its fighters out of El Wak overnight, residents said on Saturday. "We captured five military vehicles and killed several members of the government forces," al Shabaab\s military operations spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters after the assault was launched on Friday afternoon. Somali Major Mohamed Jimcale told Reuters by telephone from the nearby Somali town of Baardheere that government forces had retreated to another town where there is a base for the African Union\s AMISOM force. "We lost at least 7 soldiers and two vehicles," he said. Accounts and figures given by the officials and al Shabaab often vary. Residents and government troops said al Shabaab had cut offer communications to El Wak before the attack. Al Shabaab fighters often stage raids and then withdraw before government forces have a chance to stage a counter attack. SOURCE: REUTERS Shells and bombs rained down on rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Monday soon after Syria\s army declared an end to a week-long ceasefire agreed between Russia and the United States. Damascus and its ally Moscow blamed rebels for the collapse of the truce, but Washington said the terms had not been met for a key aspect of the deal US-Russia cooperation against jihadists. The US, Russia and other key players are still set to gather Tuesday in New York for talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions. Stakes had been high when the ceasefire began on September 12, with US Secretary of State John Kerry warning at the time that it could be the "last chance" to save the country. But it unravelled about an hour before it had been due to expire on Monday night. An AFP correspondent in Aleppo reported that the northern city was being pummelled. Sirens wailed as ambulances zipped through the eastern rebel-held half of the divided city, the correspondent said, describing the bombardment as "non-stop". The Russian military said jihadists had launched a major attack on a government position on Aleppo\s southwestern outskirts, forcing regime troops to respond. "The attack by the terrorists was proceeded by a massive artillery bombardment from tanks and rocket systems," it said. Syria\s military announced the end to the truce, accusing rebels of more than 300 violations and failing to "commit to a single element" of the US-Russia deal. Kerry reacted testily to the declaration, but implied there was time to save the deal. "It would be good if they didn\t talk first to the press but if they talked to the people who are actually negotiating this," said the top US diplomat. "And I think it\s, as I said yesterday, time to end the grandstanding and time to do the real work of delivering on the humanitarian goods. "So we just began today to see real movement of humanitarian goods, and let\s see where we are. We\re happy to have a conversation with them," he said, of the Russian side. Moscow appeared to bury hopes that the truce would last, however. "Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally," said Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy. Under the agreed ceasefire, fighting was to halt across Syria and humanitarian aid would reach desperate civilians particularly in devastated eastern Aleppo. And if it held, the US was to have set up a joint military cell with Russia to target jihadists. But after four days of relative calm, violence escalated. The ceasefire came under massive strain on Saturday when a US-led coalition strike hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday blasted the air strikes which he said showed world powers supported "terrorist organisations" like IS. "The latest example of this is the flagrant American aggression on one of the Syrian army\s positions in Deir Ezzor," said Assad. His adviser Buthaina Shaaban went further, telling AFP that Damascus believed the raid which killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers had been "intentional". The bloodiest day for civilians was Sunday, when a barrel bomb attack killed 10 in a southern rebel-held town and one woman died in the first raids on Aleppo since the truce started. Violence increased on Monday, with fierce clashes reported east of Damascus and one child killed in regime shelling on the edges of Aleppo. Since September 12, 27 civilians, including nine children, have been killed in areas where the truce had been set to take hold, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Late on Monday night, air strikes hit around 20 humanitarian aid trucks outside a Syrian Arab Red Crescent centre in northern Aleppo province, a monitor said. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties in the attack on the Orum al-Kudra area, said the Observatory. Some aid got through, with the UN saying convoys had reached tens of thousands in rebel-held Talbisseh and another 78,000 people in and around Greater Orum. But convoys to rebel-held districts of Aleppo, besieged by government troops, were still stuck on the border with Turkey. The United States, Russia and other key players in the Syria peace process are to meet Tuesday in New York, said the US State Department. Foreign ministers from the International Syria Support Group comprised of some 20 countries including Saudi Arabia and Turkey would assess the situation, said deputy spokesman Mark Toner. The meeting comes ahead of a UN Security Council session on Syria to be held Wednesday. SOURCE: AFP Vladimir Putin\s political allies won a landslide victory in a parliamentary election in Russia, near final results showed on Monday, paving the way for Putin to run for a fourth term as president in 18 months if, as expected, he chooses to do so. The ruling United Russia party, founded by Putin almost 16 years ago after he first became president, was on track to win 343 seats or 76 percent of 450 available seats in Russia\s Duma, the lower house of parliament, the Central Election Commission said, after 93 percent of ballots had been counted. That is up from 238 seats in the last parliamentary election, in 2011, and would allow United Russia to change the constitution, although Putin can run again under the existing one as he was prime minister between his second and third terms. Liberal opposition parties failed to win any seats, after holding just one before. Not everything went Putin\s way though. Near complete results showed turnout was around 48 percent, down from nearly 60 percent in 2011, suggesting apathy among some Russians and a softening of enthusiasm for the ruling elite. Putin, speaking to United Russia campaign staff a few minutes after polling stations closed on Sunday night, said the win showed voters still trusted the leadership despite an economic slowdown made worse by Western sanctions over Ukraine. "We can say with certainty that the party has achieved a very good result; it\s won," Putin said at the United Russia headquarters, where he arrived together with his ally, Dmitry Medvedev, who is prime minister and the party\s leader. Alluding to the spluttering economy, which is forecast to shrink this year by at least 0.3 percent, Putin said: "We know that life is hard for people, there are lots of problems, lots of unresolved problems. Nevertheless, we have this result." Putin\s aides are likely to use the result as a springboard for his own re-election campaign, though he has not yet confirmed he will seek another term. Other parties trailed far behind United Russia. According to the near complete official vote count, the Communists were on track to come second with 42 seats, the populist LDPR party third with 41, and the left-of-center Just Russia party fourth with 21 seats. All three of those parties tend to vote with United Russia on crunch issues in parliament and avoid direct criticism of Putin. Sergei Neverov, secretary of United Russia\s General Council, hailed the result on Monday as an endorsement of Putin and his policies. "We are grateful to our people for supporting United Russia, a party founded by Vladimir Putin, for backing a course that is being implemented today by our president," Neverov told a news conference. Dmitry Peskov, Putin\s spokesman, told reporters the "overwhelming majority" of voters had come out for Putin, handing him what he called "an impressive vote of confidence." There were some reports of voting irregularities. Reuters reporters at one polling station in the Mordovia region of central Russia witnessed several people casting their ballot, then coming back later and voting again. Election chiefs said were was so far no evidence of large-scale cheating. After the last election, in 2011, anger at ballot-rigging prompted large protests in Moscow, and the Kremlin will be anxious to avoid a repetition of that. Election officials said on Monday that turnout was nearly 48 percent, substantially lower than the 60 percent turnout at the last parliamentary election. There was some evidence of voter apathy during the day on Sunday as people went to polling stations across Russia\s 11 times zones, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea. A taxi driver in Ufa, just over 1,350 km (840 miles) east of Moscow, told a Reuters reporter that voting "was like urinating into a blocked toilet." "Why bother?," said the man, who gave his first name as Ilysh. Commenting on the turnout, Putin, at the United Russia campaign HQ, said it was "not as high as we saw in previous election campaigns, but it is high." The return of an old voting system, under which half, rather than all, deputies were drawn from party lists with the other half decided by people voting for individuals, appeared to benefit United Russia. Near final results showed it won 140 votes under the list system and 203 seats from the constituency system. United Russia benefits from its association with 63-year-old Putin, who after 17 years in power as either president or prime minister, consistently wins an approval rating of around 80 percent in opinion polls. Most voters do not see any viable alternative to Putin and his allies, and they fear a return to the chaos and instability of the 1990s, the period immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, if his rule ends. Many voters are also persuaded by the Kremlin narrative, frequently repeated on state TV, of the West using sanctions to try to wreck the economy in revenge for Moscow\s seizure of Crimea, the Ukrainian region it annexed in 2014. Yevgeny Korsak, a 65-year-old pensioner in the city of Saransk, 600 km (375 miles) south-east of Moscow, said he had voted for United Russia "because it is strong and powerful." Putin has said it is too early to say if he will go for what would be a fourth presidential term in 2018. If he did and won, he would be in power until 2024, longer than Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, the longest-serving Soviet leader aside from Joseph Stalin. Liberal opposition politicians, the only group openly critical of Putin, failed to get over the five percent threshold needed for party representation in the Duma, near final results showed. They also failed to break through in constituency races. SOURCE: REUTERS Hopewell Community Park remains a 'labor of love' for local community The lush green park is a product of the combined efforts of the Hopewell Township community and a symbol of decades of conservation efforts in Beaver County. SHARE Crime Stoppers needs the public's help in solving a robbery that happened about 10:15 p.m. on Aug. 18 at 1007 Covington Street. The victim had just arrived home and was walking up to her house when she was grabbed from behind by a man who pushed her to the ground and stole her purse. The woman suffered an arm injury. The assailant is described as a thin black male, about 5-foot-6, wearing baggy blue jean shorts. Police have little information on the case. Anyone who can help is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 322-9888 or long distance at 1-800-322-9888. Callers don't have to give their names and tips that lead to an arrest and Crime Stoppers board approval could earn a reward up to $1,000. The following is from Wichita County court records: Bail Suspect: Doris Smiley, 57 Charge: theft Offense date: Aug. 6 Bail: $2,500 Suspect: Doris Smiley, 57 Charge: tampering with or fabricating physical evidence Offense date: Aug. 6 Bail: $5,000 Suspect: Benny Ray Wilson, 36 Charge: unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon Offense date: Aug. 6 Bail: $10,000 Suspect: Lisa Baker, 36 Charge: possession of a controlled substance Offense date: Aug. 6 Bail: $2,500 Suspect: Manuel Javier Garcia, 20 Charge: possession of marijuana Offense date: Aug. 7 Bail: $2,500 Suspect: Manuel Javier Garcia, 20 Charge: possession of a controlled substance Offense date: Aug. 7 Bail: $10,000 Suspect: Christopher Hugh Mannery, 59 Charge: possession of marijuana Offense date: Aug. 8 Bail: $5,000 Suspect: Doris Smiley, 57 Charge: theft Offense date: Aug. 6 Bail: $2,500 Suspect: Doris Smiley, 57 Charge: tampering with or fabricating physical evidence Offense date: Aug. 6 Bail: $5,000 SHARE LEFT: Prince is escorted into 30th District Court Monday morning photos by Torin Halsey/Times Record News ABOVE: Benjamin Jerome Prince appeared before 30th District Court Judge Bob Brotherton Monday morning in an effort to overturn his life prison sentence for beating his 23-month-old son to death with a claw hammer. By Times Record News Thirtieth District Court Judge Robert Brotherton on Monday took under advisement an effort by convicted baby-killer Benjamin Prince to appeal his life sentence. Prince argues that an expert witness on his behalf in the trial actually hurt his case. Brotherton has 20 days to return a decision. Public Defender Jim Rasmussen said such moves are common when a convicted murderer faces death or mandatory life imprisonment. The Wichita County District Attorney's Office did not request the death penalty at Prince's trial in June 2012, pointing out the difficulty in getting an execution for someone who had no prior felony convictions. Prince was convicted of killing his 23-month-old son, Trebian, in August 2009 by beating him with a gun and a claw hammer. Prince was also accused of shooting and killing his cousin and wounding Trebian's mother in a rampage in which two older children hid in a closet. Montague County investigators, FBI agents honored for work on Howard case Two veteran law enforcement investigators from Montague County were honored along with two FBI agents with the U.S. Attorneys Award of Excellence. Claire Kowalick/Times Record News The Wichita Falls City Council voted unanimously to approve the annual budget and to keep the tax rate the same as last year. SHARE By Claire Kowalick of the Times Record News The city of Wichita Falls finished its annual budget without a property tax rate increase. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the budget proposed by staff and the city manager. Members also approved a motion by Councilor Tim Ingle to maintain the property tax rate at $0.70598 per $100 assessed value. Due to increases in property values, keeping the same rate will add about $1.5 million in revenue for the city. The final budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 will be $167.7 million, down 3.56 percent from the previous year. A large percent of the savings is from two major projects the public safety radio system and Kemp/Monroe drainage project, which were considered in last year's budget but were not placed on this year's budget. Deputy City Manager Jim Dockery gave an overview of the budget to the council, noting the savings in operations from lower fuel prices and the elimination of 14 positions allowed for a small pay adjustment for the remaining employees. Other savings came from refinancing water/sewer bonds and other financial investments. The city will be able to maintain its step/merit program, giving raises to employees for years of service, and will give a 1.5 percent cost-of-living increase for all city employees. To keep up with rising health insurance costs, 7.5 percent was added to the health/retiree insurance program and a 5.2 percent increase in contributions to the Texas Municipal Retiree program was budgeted. Residents will pay the same water/sewer rates, but wholesale water rates will be decreased 14 percent. Residents will see an increase in the sanitation rate of 5 percent to allow for maintenance and replacement of three sanitation vehicles per year rather than two. Councilors also approved several changes in the fee schedule, including new fire inspection requirements, building permits, vicious animal fees, and parks and recreation fees. Councilor Ingle said it was a difficult budget, but when reality hits, the city just has to take steps to resolve problems. Councilor Tom Quintero said he was taken aback that they could not do more financially for the city employees beyond the small COLA. He said, though, that he will be on the council for at least a couple more years and hopes they can look for ways to give larger raises. "We always brag about how good they are, but we can't do anything for them," Quintero said. He suggested that they could address pay incentives in a different way, such as providing specific raises based on merit rather than sweeping, across-the-board raises. Mayor Glenn Barham said this was his last budget process and one of the hardest. "It's a tiring process starting in March through today. The city's done a great job of holding costs back. We've eliminated positions some were fluff, some were not," he said. Barham lamented they were not able to follow through with their two-year plan to bring city salaries, especially police and fire department employees, up to the state average. While he will not be part of the process next year, Barham said he hopes the city can gain extra revenue sources so they can bring salaries to average or above. Councilor-at-Large Michael Smith said he, too, was disappointed they were not able to carry out the two-year plan for the police and fire salaries. "I will be back next year and I'll support the reality of whatever is needed to get all salaries into the average range, particularly fire and police," Smith said. Smith warned, though, that there will come a time when the needs of citizens will increase and minor cost-of-living raises will not be enough to keep good employees. "As time passes, we just can't keep the same tax rate. The challenge is out there and it will come again," he said. SHARE TRN File photo Margaret Gaitan helps Manual Gonzales pick out a healthy snack at the Wichita Falls Junior League healthy food activities area at the YMCA Healthy Kids event at Kiwanis Park. The YMCA sponsors the annual event to teach children and their families how to have a healthier lifestyle. The question for all Wichitans is how to extend the lessons from such events throughout the year. Wichita County ranks poorly in several health measurements compared to the state and nation. By Bridget Knight of the Times Record News Putting "Wichita Falls" and "Healthiest Cities" in the same sentence might seem laughable to some, here in the land of barbecue and Budweiser. But the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Health District is hoping to make the two synonymous while also developing a framework for cities around the country to follow in their fight against flab, smoking and sedentary lifestyles. The health district has been selected to participate in the nationwide Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge, one of just 50 cities in the nation and only three in Texas. The selection earns the health district $10,000 in seed money to address health challenges of its choosing over a two-year period starting Oct. 1. "Obviously, that's not a lot of money and it's a short time frame," said Will Carter, lead program coordinator for prevention services for the health district. To improve speed, the district's application focused on areas where the district already had a manpower footprint established, such as its existing Tobacco Prevention and Control Commission. That group will be tasked to move into a new area reducing second-hand smoke exposure, especially for children riding in cars. "We'll work on educating parents on the dangers an increase in ear infections and asthma, for example. With a lot of people it's about education; they just don't know," Carter said. The plan's second initiative expanding workplace wellness initiatives will work with businesses that already have wellness programs to find out what is working for them, then use that to make inroads with other businesses. "A lot of employers here are doing a lot of different things," Carter said. "We will be creating a successful model that can be used anywhere." The final piece of the Healthiest Cities program focuses on creating a consolidated school health program involving both students and staff. The premise is that healthier students and teachers will perform better academically, and the health district will be looking at local STAAR test results to measure program effectiveness. Carter admitted that getting buy-in from schools may be the biggest challenge, because of time constraints that have already reduced school emphases on gym classes and free activity time. B ut by creating both wellness programs for staff and students, Carter said, he hopes the program convinces teachers to incorporate health into their classroom lessons by adding up nutrients as part of a math lesson, or looking at calories burned in biology, for example. The need for thrift will also be a challenge, which the district will meet by using social media, enlisting the traditional media and making use of community volunteers wherever possible, Carter said. For a look at the program, go online to healthiestcities.org. Lauren Roberts/Times Record News As a honorary captain Makayla Smith stands in the middle of the field for the coin toss Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at the Rider football game against Amarillo Palo Duro in Memorial Stadium. SHARE Jessica Cartwright, Executive Director NAMI Wichita Falls NAMI of Wichita Falls (a (local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness) shares the sadness of our community over the tragedy that occurred on Sept. 2. We extend our sympathy to the families and friends of Lauren and MaKayla. NAMI Wichita Falls is an organization of individual and families affected by mental illness, and we also recognize the pain experienced by the family of the suspect, Kody Lott. Clear facts in tragedies often emerge slowly. It is especially important not to speculate about diagnoses or rush to judgment about what went wrong. It is important to closely examine each case and determine what contributed to the tragedy. Families and communities want to know how to prevent future tragedies. We need to be a community that is proactive, not reactive; a community that strives to improve the preventive and maintenance standards of mental health diagnoses, treatments, and recovery; a community that sees someone affected by mental illness as a person, not a diagnosis. As a community, we need to focus on the following: Fill the gaps in our community mental health care systems. That includes the promotion and support of crisis services, and partnerships between mental health professionals and first responders. Improve communications between mental health professionals, individuals receiving care, and their families. Mental health privacy is important, but health care privacy laws should not stand in the way of coordinated information and action in a crisis. This is where the maintenance and recovery of mental illness is so important. Talk about it within families as well as with teachers, clergy, students and community leaders. Encourage conversation about mental health, about what we are experiencing and what we can do to help. By doing so, we create and promote space for open, honest dialogue that saves lives. SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The Pink Palace is coming down. Demolition continued Monday at Moore Hall, a former Skidmore College dormitory known as the Pink Palace because of the color of its exterior. New York It took James O'Neill more than three decades as a cop to ascend to the top of the nation's largest police department, but only a little more than a day to get his first real test. O'Neill's first full day as New York City's police commissioner ended with him racing to the scene of an explosion Saturday in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood that injured 29 people. He immediately took charge of the investigation, offering the nation its first, up-close look at his no-nonsense, just-the-facts management style. And less than 40 hours later, a suspect was behind bars, believed to be responsible for the blasts in both New York and earlier in a New Jersey shore town. "It's a pretty tough way to start in my new position," O'Neill acknowledged Monday at a news conference detailing the capture of 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami. "But I was just so proud of what I saw that day," he said. "The work that was done together, how it was done, all the agencies, the level of cooperation was impressive." The 58-year-old known to his colleagues as Jimmy is a measured departure from the media-savvy style of his more political predecessor, William Bratton. In news conferences, O'Neill largely deferred to Mayor Bill de Blasio and his department chiefs, stuck mostly to what investigators knew and didn't know, and didn't even change expression, even when talking about the fast, successful arrest. "I have to say it was absolutely a seamless transfer of leadership," de Blasio said of the new commissioner. "He took over command of the situation on Saturday evening was entirely on top of the action." If O'Neill sounds more like a police officer than a bureaucrat, it comes naturally. From his start as a transit patrolman in 1983, he worked his way up through the ranks, most recently serving as the 36,000-officer department's top chief. In fact, taking the civilian commissioner's job was the first time in his career that he was no longer required to wear the NYPD uniform. "It's just that I've been wearing this uniform for almost 34 years. Now it's really starting to hit me," O'Neill told The Associated Press in an interview last week on the eve of his formal, official swearing-in Friday. A public ceremony Monday came just a few minutes before the news conference on Rahami's arrest. The Brooklyn-born O'Neill makes no secret of approaching the most powerful job in local law enforcement differently from Bratton, who cultivated an image as a crime-fighting innovator in stints running police departments in Boston, Los Angeles and two times in New York. "If you talk to anyone who's ever known me, they'd say we're different people," O'Neill said of Bratton, who is leaving to work as a private security executive. "I think my way's a little different not better, not worse. ... I don't need a big personality. I just do it one person at a time." He's also open about a mid-career crisis that had the potential to put him on an early retirement track. It came in 2008, when, as the head of a narcotics unit, he was transferred amid allegations that informants were being paid with drugs instead of cash. Four narcotics investigators ended up facing criminal charges, and hundreds of criminal cases were affected, with prosecutors forced to dismiss charges or vacate convictions. "I wasn't happy about it," O'Neill said about the situation. But by nature, he couldn't leave. "I thought about it, but I love being a cop," he said. "I love the NYPD." O'Neill continued rising through the ranks until Bratton's return, when the new commissioner tapped him as his successor. Colonie Travelers will have several hundred more spaces available this Thanksgiving at Albany International Airport as officials scramble to keep up with demand. The economy E-lot will have another 275 spaces available by the holiday, which is one of the busiest travel periods of the year, boosting total spaces at the airport to 6,350, airport spokesman Doug Myers said. The airport also has a 1,000-car parking garage on the drawing board, although construction may be dependent on the Albany County Airport Authority landing a $40 million state grant from the Cuomo administration. Airport boardings were up 8 percent in August and are running 9.5 percent ahead of 2015 for the first eight months of 2016, according to airport figures. The gains came as JetBlue entered the Albany market for the first time last December with two daily nonstops, one each to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, and American began service in March to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago with three daily nonstops. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The American and JetBlue flights were supported through an airport incentive program that thus far has paid them a total of $581,000. The incentives expire after one year, but airport CEO John O'Donnell said he believes both carriers intend to continue the service, which he said has been well-received. eanderson@timesunion.com 518-454-5323 I have long been grateful to have David Soares, as Albany County district attorney, concur with us on our calls to improve the state's public defense system. That is why his recent Viewpoint column ("McCoy's comments have consequences") disappointingly missed the mark in its unfounded criticism of County Executive Daniel McCoy. There is, and has been for years, wide disparity between the funding of prosecution and defense. Soares compared existing county budgets for prosecution and public defense and argued implicitly that this disparity is justified, because prosecutors initiate investigations, prepare cases for the grand jury, and also handle the cases of those who can afford lawyers. In arguing that the public defense budget is "staggering," he neglects to mention that public defense providers, not district attorneys, must represent adult respondents in Family Court in child abuse, neglect cases, in family offenses, custody and visitation cases, paternity cases, and child support violations. Prosecutors in these cases are all funded through alternative revenue streams. Public defense providers must handle ordinance violations and Penal Law violations, even when these are prosecuted not by district attorneys, but by town attorneys or special prosecutors. Public defense attorneys, but not prosecutors, handle parole revocation cases and appeals from adverse parole determinations. The state budget supports the parole revocation specialists who prosecute cases defended by county public defense providers; district attorneys are not involved in parole appeals. Soares' budget calculation also failed to include resources outside prosecutors' budgets that are available to them but not to the defense. The Department of Social Services, for example, supports district attorney units that prosecute welfare fraud as well as the wide range of Family Court cases. Local police forces, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and sheriffs' deputies all funded outside the prosecutor's budget investigate the district attorney cases, make arrests and help prepare cases on behalf of prosecutors, while the defense must investigate all charges using investigative resources from within its county budget. The state attorney general helps district attorneys, as well. The prosecutorial assistance of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, the FBI and other inter-agency law enforcement working groups has also been overlooked in Soares' argument. And the availability of the state's criminal history repository to the prosecution as an aid to investigation, but not the defense, was not even mentioned, let alone calculated. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. When all is said and done, the funding of prosecutor offices is accomplished through a variety of county and state sources, through in-kind state-funded assistance (including substantial annual state grants not available to the defense) and by federally funded assistance. These and other state programs, frequently ignored in the analysis of disparity, provide supplemental resources and funding to district attorneys not available for public defense. This measurable disparity, masked though it may sometimes be, is what McCoy referred to when, in calling for a "new model," he urged us "to change the way we think." Jonathan E. Gradess is executive director of the New York State Defenders Association. As an island nation, boats are in our DNA. Even away from the coast, we are never too far from water, be it lakes, canals or rivers. The Bronze age longboat the so called Lurgan Canoe, which measures 14m in length, on display in the National Museum, is carved from a single oak tree and was probably carved for ceremonial use. Also in the museum is a group of gold objects from the Iron Age, the Broighter Hoard which includes a tiny gold boat (7cm), complete with oars and steering rudder. The hoard is likely to have been a votive deposit to the Celtic sea god Manannan mac Lir. These artefacts are a powerful indication of our affinity with boats and water, and a tangible link to our early seafaring ancestors. Boats and the sea are part of us and are a constant reminder not just of our vulnerability but our courage and resilience. The group exhibition currently running in Damer House Gallery entitled 'Bad' brings together six artists working in various media and all dealing with the theme of boats. Each of the pieces on display recall journeys of boats, their cargos and people, personal journeys and journeys of the heart and soul. Boats, ships and the ports they sail from have a particular meaning in Irish memory. They are strong reminders of our emigrant past in a similar way that airplanes and airports may remind us now of our emigrant present. Patricia Hurls Heart in Chest :fuair si bas de chroi briste (she died of a broken heart), refers to her mother who died her father said, of a broken heart after her son left for Canada in 1954 and who did not return in his mothers lifetime. As Patricia says this is surely the history of the world. Patricia McKennas piece Cargo references the opening up of the world through boats, the exchange of objects, ideas, music, language and crops, it could also be a metaphor for the dangerous journeys of migration, which people are undertaking now. Where once our ancestors fled famine in so called coffin ships, now our navy vessels rescue migrants from a different kind of coffin boat. There are references too in this exhibition of personal journeys, journeys of the soul. Therry Rudins tiny boats, isolated as they are under glass domes may refer to the journey of the artist which is at once isolated (the process and creation) and open (the display). FX Murphy wants to create his own nation which he says requires an army but he notes on that on an Island, a navy would be better. His pieces are playful but also very serious in the intent. 'An Idea For A Fireworks Display' are paintings of war boats (the title is self-explanatory) and How goes it with the glorious gods? represents a votive to the sea gods, made with safety matches on driftwood. When you are in a boat your fate is in the lap of the gods and the materials used suggest this vulnerability. Fragility and vulnerability is also something which both Bernadette Burns and Siun Hanrahan express in different ways in their exhibits. Burns who lives and works on Sherkin Island, uses the idea of a boat, a ladder, some cloud to express our human fragility. The boat is a metaphor for the human body, the vessel in which we travel through life, always searching for something higher. The ladder which invites us is a fragile thing, constructed of dreams and of hope Hanrahans work is she says in conversation with the work of Bernadette Burns in the first instance and unfolds as a conversation with the wider exhibition. The boat as metaphor is explored in this exhibition in a variety of ways but what comes across in all the works is that while the human spirit is a fragile thing, it can also be unassailable. This exhibition, which was opened by Helen O Donoghue Senior Curator, Creative Engagement and Learning, IMMA, continues until September 28th, when Damer House Gallery will close for the Winter season. [September 20, 2016] CitySprint Parcels Delivered More Efficiently with Qlik Qlik, a leader in visual analytics, has announced that CitySprint, the UK's leading same-day distribution network, is using the Qlik visual analytics platform to gain a better understanding of its day-to-day business operations and ensure its customers are receiving the best service possible. The company deployed Qlik through Elite Solution Provider, Data Technology, to consolidate operational data from various and disparate streams into a single source. CitySprint is the UK's leading same day courier service, with a network of over 3,000 self-employed couriers and over 40 wholly-owned service centers. The company also develops customized delivery solutions for clients with specific distribution needs, such as fresh-food delivery service, Hello Fresh. Before introducing Qlik, CitySprint was pulling together thousands of reports in spreadsheets for various business operations and individual customers. This was a process that could regularly take weeks to generate and a considerable amount of manpower. As the company's core service is same-day deliveries, CitySprint needed a much faster way of gaining insights from its reports daily and as required by staff to make almost instant and accurate decisions, and provide an informed response to any urgent customer requests. Chris Yates, data and analytics manager at CitySprint explains, "As the leading same-day delivery company, our company culture is all about getting things done as quickly and efficiently as possible. We don't have the luxury of waiting two or three weeks for reports, we need to be able to get back to our customers the same day." Using Qlik, CitySprint is able to consolidate data from multiple systems and open up reporting to more of the business. The company created a single dashboard that includes figures on delivery performance and fiancial KPIs. This has enabled the team to instantly drill down into the data to gain an overview of the client, and view individual transactions and jobs without going through a central port of call. For example, Qlik is the first solution accessed by acquisition project management at the start of each day to track customer activity and delivery performance with up-to-date insight. Now they do not have to wait for a daily or weekly report to understand trading revenue and margin performance by acquisition, and can therefore act quickly to resolve any occurring issues. Qlik is also allowing users to bookmark regular searches for instant access and navigation of information on demand. Martin Poole, head of operations, London at CitySprint adds, "I think Qlik speeds up access to a range of information that previously would have taken much longer to get to. It has been particularly useful with identifying specific accounts which may be dealt with across multiple service centers to measure service performance. Qlik has been one of the most valuable and user-friendly applications that we have deployed for some time." Qlik has also helped CitySprint to improve the quality of its data by spotting anomalies. Yates adds, "Whereas we used to just accept numbers as a given, we're now able to spot trends and variances in the delivery data. This helps us to gain a better understanding of customer behavior, which helps us to understand when and why anomalies are happening. For example, where a courier got held up or had to wait for an extended period time." CitySprint is also using Qlik NPrinting to put together management information packs for clients. Previously the team was pulling data from multiple systems using spreadsheets, which account managers would use to put together PowerPoint presentations. The process was lengthy and took up far too much team resource. Using Qlik, CitySprint is now able to populate an NPrinting document which account managers PDF and take with them to client meetings. This has saved hours of time and has given the company the ability to scale its packs. About CitySprint CitySprint is the UK's largest privately owned same day distribution company and is in the top five same day distribution companies in the world. CitySprint offers an extensive portfolio of services including Same Day Courier, Same Day Logistics, International & UK Overnight courier services. CitySprint has a regional network of 41 service centers across the UK with a fleet of over 3,000 vehicles. CitySprint is backed by leading, independent equity house, Dunedin and by LDC CitySprint's unique national same day delivery network can reach over 88% of mainland UK within 60 minutes (source: Crimson & Co.) Download CitySprint's free app and quote, book and track your courier from the palm of your hand: Google Play / iTunes / Blackberry AppWorld Website: Citysprint.co.uk About Qlik Qlik is the leading visual analytics platform and the pioneer of user-driven business intelligence. Its portfolio of cloud-based and on-premise solutions meets customers' growing needs from reporting and self-service visual analysis to guided, embedded and custom analytics, regardless of where data is located. Customers using Qlik Sense, QlikView and Qlik Cloud, gain meaning out of information from multiple sources, exploring the hidden relationships within data that lead to insights that ignite good ideas. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Qlik does business in more than 100 countries with over 40,000 customers globally. 2016 QlikTech International AB. All rights reserved. Qlik, Qlik Sense, QlikView, QlikTech, Qlik Cloud, Qlik DataMarket, Qlik Analytics Platform, Qlik NPrinting, Qlik Connectors and the QlikTech logos are trademarks of QlikTech International AB which have been registered in multiple countries. Other marks and logos mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005141/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] ConVista Consulting, Inc. and ClickFox, Inc. Create First Advanced Customer Journey Analytics Solution for Insurance DENVER, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ClickFox, the Journey Company, and ConVista, an international leader in digital customer engagement and IT consulting, have announced an agreement to deliver to the insurance industry a first-of-its-kind Advanced Customer Journey Analytics solution. Customer Journey Analytics quantifies the efficiency and effectiveness of an insurance company's actual agent, broker, prospect and policyholder's journeys. The power of Customer Journey Analytics is that it looks at data as a story by connecting every event a customer experiences to reveal the full experience from the customer's perspective, including all of the actual data of an insurance company. This connected and contextualized Journey Dataset produced by ClickFox, allows deep analysis to obtain targeted insights into process design, process improvement, technology system design while obtaining quantified insight into cost reduction, satisfaction and revenue growth opportunities. ClickFox has had success helping companies with a wide-array of business use cases in several industries, including Financial Services, Energy Providers, Wireless Carriers and Insurance. Many of the use cases ClickFox has been used to solve are ripe opportunities for Insurers, such as: Digital Containment, CSAT/NPS Improvement, nd Complaint reduction. "Clients obtain insights in agent attrition, policyholder churn, web to call center leakage and more," said Jonathan Kalman, Chief Digital Transformation Officer. "Digital Customer Engagement Transformation begins with Customer Journey Analytics," continued Jonathan Kalman, "and once an insurance company has this information, they are able to know precisely which processes and which systems need to be changed when transforming their underlying front office systems." "ClickFox chooses partnership opportunities very carefully and is excited to align with a firm with the knowledge and Insurance industry expertise that ConVista possesses," said Damon Wild, ClickFox SVP of Sales. "The combination of ClickFox's powerful journey analytics capabilities coupled with ConVista's deep industry acumen creates a compelling go to market opportunity for the Insurance sector." About ClickFox ClickFox is the creator of the journey data standard and the only specialized journey solution certified on Hadoop. With over a decade of expertise monetizing the world's largest customer interaction sources, they have proven success transforming big data into connected, dynamic journeys delivering billions in incremental revenue, operational efficiencies and c-sat improvements to our clients. Learn more at: clickfox.com. Like us on social media @ClickFox. About ConVista ConVista has its global headquarters in Cologne, Germany, with US operations in Philadelphia, PA. Since 1999, ConVista has combined business consulting with extensive technical and methodological expertise. ConVista supports its customer within the entire value chain of our competence centers. Recently, ConVista has developed a leading digital customer engagement practice specifically for the needs of the insurance industry. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/convista-consulting-inc-and-clickfox-inc-create-first-advanced-customer-journey-analytics-solution-for-insurance-300330286.html SOURCE ClickFox, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] EdX and World's Top Universities Launch MicroMasters Programs: New Master's-Level Credentials to Advance Careers in the Most In-Demand Fields CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EdX, the leading nonprofit online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT, today launched 19 MicroMasters programs, a new category of Master's-level online education, originally pioneered by MIT, to bridge the knowledge gap between higher education and the workplace. The modular programs, which offer a credential with a pathway to credit, provide high-quality education from top universities to help learners launch or advance their career, or follow a path to an accelerated Master's degree. The MicroMasters initiative marks the next evolution in edX's mission to expand access to high-quality, career-relevant education at a fraction of the price. MicroMasters programs from 14 universities including MIT and now Columbia University, University of Michigan, Thunderbird School of Global Management, a unit of the Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and more, enable learners to begin advanced education in an affordable and flexible manner. Offered in subjects ranging from artificial intelligence to project management and supply chain management, MicroMasters courses are created by esteemed edX university partners, valued by top companies and linked to specific career outcomes. Industry and learner demand drove the development of MicroMasters, a program which was originally conceived by MIT and offered on edX as a pilot MicroMasters in Supply Chain Management a field experiencing a worldwide talent shortage. While developing the new MicroMasters programs, edX consulted with industry leadership to understand their challenges, both in hiring and developing a smarter, more capable workforce. "The workplace is changing more rapidly today than ever before and employers are in need of highly-developed talent. Meanwhile, college graduates want to advance professionally, but are realizing they do not have the career-relevant skills that the modern workplace demands. EdX recognizes this mismatch between business and education for learners, employees and employers," said Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX and MIT professor. "The MicroMasters initiative provides the next level of innovation in learning to address this skills gap by creating a bridge between higher education and industry to create a skillful, successful 21st-century workforce." Companies are looking for ways to provide their employees with deep, in-demand learning that will help them advance in rapidly growing fields, such as User Experience (UX) design, sustainable energy technology and operations. EdX discovered individuals have the same needs; an edX survey of online learners revealed a demand for a series of rich and rigorous courses informed by today's job market. Learners want flexible, affordable, real-time knowledge and skills that fit their lifestyles and prepare them fora specific in-demand job or career. "WalMart is always looking to hire the most talented associates in the world, and completing online courses like the MITx MicroMasters credential in Supply Chain Management is a powerful way for people to learn the important skills required to be successful," Chris Sultemeier, EVP of Logistics, Walmart U.S. "Everything I'm learning I can apply to a future job," said Maria Barba, an edX learner currently enrolled in the MITx Supply Chain Management MicroMasters. A MicroMasters certificate is comparable to a significant portion, in most cases a quarter or a half, of a traditional Master's degree, and is a valuable standalone credential that will help learners advance their careers. In addition, it offers a new path to an accelerated graduate degree. Learners who excel in the MicroMasters courses, successfully earning the credential, may then apply to a full Master's program; for those who are accepted either at the university offering the MicroMasters program or another university that acknowledges the MicroMasters certificate the digital credential will count as credit toward a portion of the degree, resulting in an accelerated program. Moreover, MicroMasters offers "inverted admissions," where learners can prove their abilities via online courses and universities have more data to inform admissions decisions. "We are proud to have been a pioneer for higher education's next step in engaging learners worldwide. MIT recognizes that not all high-potential Master's candidates can afford to spend a year or more on campus. As part of our mission to attract the best talent, we understand the importance of providing multiple pathways to degree programs," said Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning, MIT. "MicroMasters broadens our admissions pool, and also allows learners to demonstrate their abilities through a series of online courses. All who pass earn a credential valued by the marketplace; those who excel may apply and complete their Master's with an additional semester's residence." "As Michigan continues to innovate and expand the conceptions of the public research university we're extremely enthusiastic about the three MicroMasters we are launching and the pathways we'll create for global lifelong learners," said Martha Pollack, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan. Pearson, the world's education company, with over 35,000 employees in more than 70 countries, will also collaborate with edX to support the newly launched MicroMasters programs. Learners around the world will have the opportunity to take MicroMasters courses at local Pearson learning centers, which offer regional, in-person support, access to dedicated cohorts and additional learning resources. This blended learning experience has the potential to help students complete and thrive in online programs in places where online education is less established. EdX co-founding partner Harvard looks forward to offering a MicroMasters program in the future. And, other partner universities are considering launching additional MicroMasters programs over the coming year. For more information and a complete list of MicroMasters course offerings, visit www.edx.org/micromasters. Full List of Institutions and MicroMasters Programs: United States Columbia University (ColumbiaX) Artificial Intelligence Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MITx) Supply Chain Management Rochester Institute of Technology (RITx) Project Management Thunderbird School of Global Management, a unit of the Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise (ThunderbirdX) International Business Management University of Michigan (MichiganX) User Experience (UX) Research and Design Leading Educational Innovation and Improvement Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research International Australian National University (ANUx) Evidence-Based Management Curtin University (CurtinX) Human Rights Galileo University (GalileoX) e-Learning: crea actividades y contenidos para la ensenanza virtual (offered in Spanish) Professional Android Developer The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPolyUx) International Hospitality Management Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMBx) Business Management Entrepreneurship Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPValenciaX) Liderazgo y trabajo en equipo en grupos de mejora continua (offered in Spanish) Universite catholique de Louvain (LouvainX) Management (offered in French) International Law The University of Queensland, Australia (UQx) Leadership in Global Development Wageningen University (WageningenX) Biobased Sciences for Sustainability About edX EdX is a nonprofit, open-source learning destination offering online courses from more than 100 member institutions, composed of both leading global universities and colleges, and a diverse group of prominent organizations from around the world. Founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and based in Cambridge, MA, USA, edX is focused on transforming online and classroom learning through groundbreaking methodologies, game-like educational experiences and cutting-edge research on an open-source platform. Contact Rachel Lapal Director of Communications, edX Email: [email protected] Phone: 617-324-7072 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edx-and-worlds-top-universities-launch-micromasters-programs-new-masters-level-credentials-to-advance-careers-in-the-most-in-demand-fields-300330678.html SOURCE EdX [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Farmers Edge Awarded $6.1M Investment from Sustainable Development Technology Canada Farmers Edge, a global leader in precision agriculture and independent data management solutions, announced today that it will receive $6,107,563 million CAD from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) with an additional $12.2 million from internal sources and contributions from consortium partners. Farmers Edge will direct the funding to developing the next generation of its hardware, software and agronomic decision support systems, with an explicit focus on developing the environmental sustainability aspects of the system. "Sustainable Development Technology Canada is proud to support the commercialization of innovative technology from Farmers Edge," said Leah Lawrence, SDTC President and Chief Executive Officer. "This project will create green jobs for the local economy, increase efficiency in the agricultural sector and provide economic and environmental benefits for all Canadians." With the SDTC investment, Farmers Edge, alongside its partners, will develop a comprehensive precision data management platform with the ability to capture, visualize and analyze zone-specific information that incorporates multiple variables that impact crop performance, including: weather, soil processes, disease and pest impacts, as well as the constantly shifting interplay of crop prices with input and equipent costs. With this level of data specificity, Farmers Edge is aiming to reduce nitrous oxide emissions by 10%, improve water use by 20%, and significantly cut phosphorous and nitrogen levels in critical water resources. 2016 has been a pivotal year for Farmers Edge as it expanded its global presence into new states in the U.S. and entered the Brazilian and Australian agriculture markets. The company was recently named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum as well as Canada's Disruptor Innovator of the Year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (News - Alert) (PwC). "At Farmers Edge, we believe that sustainability in agriculture plays an essential role in improving the bottom line and spurring economic growth, while safeguarding future soil, water, and climate health," said Wade Barnes, President and CEO of Farmers Edge. "Working alongside our world-class partners, we're bringing innovative solutions that will assist in addressing global food security, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and support Climate Smart Agriculture to the benefit of the world's large and small holder farmers. We're proud to have a role in such a meaningful goal and give SDTC our sincere thanks for their support." About SDTC Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is an arm's-length foundation created by the Government of Canada to support innovative and entrepreneurial clean technology projects. Our portfolio of companies develop and demonstrate new technologies that address issues related to climate change, air quality, clean water and soil. About Farmers Edge Farmers Edge is a global leader in precision agriculture and independent data management solutions. Leading the development and application of new technologies on the farm since 2005, Farmers Edge is defining the future of agriculture through innovation. For more information on Farmers Edge, please visit: http://www.farmersedge.ca View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005571/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Florida Pilot Julie Wang Completes Record-Setting Solo Around-the-World Flight West Palm Beach-based flight instructor Zheng "Julie" Wang landed her single piston-engine propeller aircraft at Addison Airport in Dallas, returning to the place from which she departed thirty-four days ago, to become the first Chinese person to pilot an aircraft around-the-world solo. Wang also becomes the first Chinese woman - indeed, the first Asian woman - to circumnavigate the globe in an aircraft. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005700/en/ Chief Flight Instructor Julie Wang. (Photo: Business Wire) Wang accomplished the west-bound circumnavigation in 155 hours of flying over 17 days, with just one rest day (in China) after having left the U.S. mainland. Although delays in California installing and obtaining approvals for fuel system modifications that gave the aircraft the range it needed to cross the Pacific left Wang frustrated, she relaxed once she was airborne. "Once I made my first HF radio calls and established contact with the oceanic controllers I felt relaxed and energized. The Monterey coast fell away and an expanse of deep blue ocean opened. The frustration of waiting for the various approvals melted away and I was free to do what I love; flying an airplane and appreciating the incredible vistas changing minute-by-minute before my eyes." "I am totally impressed with Julie's solo flight around the world," said Mr. Wei Chen, a member of the Board of Directors of AOPA China who, in 2011, became the first Chinese citizen to circumnavigate the world in a single engine airplane, "Over 60% of her flight was over the oceans and therefore the challenge and risk were much greater compared to more conventional coastline-based routes. Above all, flying the entire trip solo in a single-engine airplane is the biggest challenge even with all the technology aviation has to offer today. Her flight is historic and inspirational to everyone who loves flying. She is a true aviator!" Chen will award Wang 1,000,000 RMB (about $150,000) on behalf of AOPA and AOPA China for being the first Chinese woman to complete an around-the-world flight. Wang's route tookher from Dallas first to Los Angeles and then Merced, California, where ferry tanks were installed on the aircraft (and all the passenger seating was removed), and then to Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Guam and the Philippines, before landing at Haikou, China. From China, she overflew Vietnam and Laos to land in Pattaya, Thailand, and then overflew Myanmar and Bangladesh, crossing the Bay of Bengal and then the heart of India, to land at Ahmedabad. From India, she flew through the Middle East, landing only in the U.A.E. (Abu Dhabi) but overflying Pakistan, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and then into and across the Mediterranean, landing at Crete and Malta before reaching the Atlantic coast at Lisbon. "I expected the North Atlantic to be dark and nasty compared to the Pacific but the leg to the Azores (Santa Maria Island) and then to Newfoundland (St. Johns) was simply spectacular. Leaving Portugal, the ocean turned a pure deep blue that I had never seen before. Night fell on the way to St Johns and the cloud cover below me was lit by bright moonlight, creating a white carpet to drive on all the way to North America." The relatively smooth journey was not without glitches. On the scheduled day of departure from Merced, the flight computer refused to upload the global navigation database and a full day of troubleshooting ensued. At the Marshall Islands, where there was only 110 gallons of avgas on the entire island, all of it needed to reach Guam, Wang stopped the refueling when she noticed that the avgas fuel was the wrong color. "I saw green fuel going into the ferry tank and avgas is blue. It was 100 octane and not the 100 'low-lead' I was expecting." After several calls and texts to and among support team members, the consensus was that the avgas 100 should be fine but that she should watch the engine performance closely. "I took off the next morning pulling fuel from one of the main tanks containing 100LL and only switched to the 100 octane in cruise flight so that if the engine quit on the 100, I could immediately switch back to the 100LL and make it back to Majuro," Wang said. Upon arriving at St. Johns, Newfoundland, at midnight, Wang was detained by Canadian Customs and Border Security officers on the ramp, who accused her of landing "illegally" in Canada, attempting to "drop in" without prior authorization, despite hours of giving position reports to New York Radio and being cleared to land at St. Johns by controllers at Gander. It turned out that Wang's Canadian handling agent had simply failed to telephone Customs in advance to advise the agents of Wang's arrival. After reviewing Wang's paperwork, the Canada Customs and Border Security officers released her and she departed normally but not without paying an additional $600 charge for calling out the customs agents "after hours." Wang, an Airline Transport Pilot, certified flight instructor, and FAA-designated chief flight instructor for the Part 141 courses offered by Zulutime Pilot at Witham Field in Stuart, Florida, is only the ninth woman to fly solo around the world, with three Americans, three British, a French and an Australian preceding her. A press conference is scheduled to take place this Friday, September 23rd, at 11:00 am in Stuart, Florida at Atlantic Aviation, 2240 SE Witham Field Drive, tel. (772) 781-4720. General Aviation Support Egypt General Aviation Support Egypt "G.A.S.E." is unique in flight support circles as a non-profit organization run by aviation professionals for aviators, concentrating especially on general aviation and adventure flights. G.A.S.E. not only arranges permits, overflight clearances, fuel, handling and accommodations, and assists in route planning, but also ensures that our clients get the best services available at the best prices. Our ethos has helped us create a worldwide network of aviation professionals and enthusiasts who will go out of their way to support our client pilots. We have a long portfolio of successful circumnavigations and have supported many more long distance flights. Web: www.gasupportegypt.com Facebook (News - Alert): www.facebook.com/aviationegypt View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005700/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Ford Encourages Students to Explore STEAM Fields, Providing Inspiration with Girls' Fast Track Races Ford (News - Alert) Motor Company is collaborating with four Girl Scouts Councils - Tropical Florida, Southeastern Michigan, Northeast Texas and Northern New Jersey - on a program that offers avenues for elementary school students to explore STEAM-related fields in science, technology, engineering, arts and math. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006588/en/ Ford Motor Company (News - Alert) is collaborating with four Girl Scouts Councils - Tropical Florida, Southeastern Michigan, Northeast Texas and Northern New Jersey - on a program that offers avenues for elementary school students to explore STEAM-related fields in science, technology, engineering, arts and math. (Photo: Business Wire) Girls' Fast Track Races is providing hands-on experience in vehicle engineering and design to 200 Brownies and 200 Juniors from each of the participating councils. Through the program, young girls are given the opportunity to learn about automotive science and engineering by building their own track race cars. "We believe that all young children have an aptitude for technical subjects - what's often lacking is the encouragement and additional support to succeed," said Tracy Magee, Ford primary brand experiential manager. "Ford is deeply committed to education and through creative programs such as the Girls' Fast Track Races, we hope to spark excitement among the youth and inspire them to pursue future careers in high-tech fields." Ford's newly launched STEAM Experience works with longstanding Ford programs and outside organizations to help unify, shine a light on, and expand opportunities that inspire and enable students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, art and math. It serves as a hub for creativity and learning. Girls' Fast Track Races - one of the many Ford STEAM Experience programs - is designed to provide encouragement and motivation to the four participating councils as they work to buid and race their own cars. Race details are as follows: Southeastern Michigan Council: 11 a.m., Oct. 15, Athletics Center O'Rena, Oakland University Rochester Hills, Michigan Northeast Texas Council: 11 a.m., Oct. 29, Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas Tropical Florida Council: 12 p.m., Nov. 6, Fernandez Family Center, St. Thomas University, Miami Gardens, Florida Northern New Jersey: venue and time to be announced at a later date Ford knows diversity is imperative to future innovations. "As an expert in engineering, Ford has a unique opportunity to bring this fun and educational experience to girls and the youth-at-large," said Magee. Girls' Fast Track Races gives participants the opportunity to connect and compete at the highest level - all while sparking creativity to ensure a brighter future, not just for Ford, but for the entire community. "Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas is excited to team up with Ford Motor Company, to inspire these members who are interested in science, technology, engineering and math," said Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. "Girls need opportunities to expand their realm of what's possible. Through this collaboration, girls will get to explore STEAM concepts and careers as they design, test and race their own cars." Johnette Hardiman, chair of the board of directors, Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida says scouting builds courage, confidence and character. "Our girls want to make the world a better place," she says. Ford's commitment to STEAM education For more than 30 years, Ford Motor Company has inspired young people to seek knowledge, be curious, solve problems and - like Henry Ford himself - make dreams of a better world come true. The company is committed to fostering interest in science, technology, engineering, the arts and math among American youth to help ensure the country can maintain its legacy of innovation and continue to thrive in a global economy. Long established programs like Ford Next Generation Learning and Ford High School Science and Technology Program give students opportunities for hands-on learning and mentorship. New ventures with exceptional organizations, such as FIRST -Robotics, Destination Imagination and Girls Who Code help Ford bring science, technology, engineering, the arts and math to more students in more places. Find out more at www.fordsteamexperience.com About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 203,000 employees and 67 plants worldwide, the company's core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs and electrified vehicles, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. At the same time, Ford aggressively is pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, the company's plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford, its products worldwide or Ford Motor Credit Company, visit www.corporate.ford.com. For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006588/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Global High Temperature Superconducting Wires Market to Exceed USD 3.5 Billion by 2020: Technavio According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global high temperature superconducting (HTS) wires market is expected to grow at a CAGR of close to 5% during the forecast period. This research report titled 'Global High Temperature Superconducting Wires Market 2016-2020' provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes an up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions. Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=52538 Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. The report categorizes the global HTS wires market into three major application segments. They are: Healthcare R&D Electronics Healthcare The global HTS wires market for healthcare expected to reach USD 2.9 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of more than 6% during the forecast period. The number of MRI installations globally is increasing at a rapid pace and will continue to increase during the forecast period at a CAGR of more than 5% during the forecast period. HTS wires have enabled the development of powerful MRI machines and increased the field strength of these equipment from the conventional 1.5T to 3T and even beyond. For example, the Imaging of Neuro Disease Using High Field MR and Contrastophores (INUMAC) project, on completion, will be able to generate 11.75 T, which is almost four times the strength of the magnetic field generated by the latest MRI machines. This project was possible due to the availability of HTS wires and their power to generate high superconducting magnets. About 200 km of HTS wires were ordered for the INUMAC project. Apart from MRI, other healthcare equipment integrating HTS wires are ultra-low field magnetic resonance imaging (ULF-MRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), MSI (News - Alert), MCG, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI). All these are upcoming diagnostic equipment used in the healthcare segment which actively involve the integration of HTS wires for the manufacture of superconducting magnets capable of generating high magnetic fields. According to Navin Rajendra, an industry expert for embedded systems research at Technavio, "The adoption of magnetic field-based diagnostic equipment is the highest in APAC, especially in countries such as China, India, Malaysia, and Japan. The contribution of the healthcare segment is three times more than that of other applications combined in terms of the consumption of HTS and is likely to increase further during the forecast period." R&D The global HTS wires market for R&D was valued at over USD 297 million in 2015 and is expected to decline to 176 million by 2020. Leading companies such as Superconductor Technologies (News - Alert), AMSC, SuperPower, SUNAM, Sumitomo Electric, and Fujikura were investing heavily in the R&D of HTS wires to commercialize them and make them compatible across different applications, especially after the advent of 2G HTS wires in 2006. The main purpose of investment in research and development was to commercialize the wires. As HTS wires have already been adopted in different applications such as healthcare, electronics, transportation, investors are now focusing on reducing the manufacturing cost of HTS wires to increase the adoption of these wires across the globe. Therefore, companies and other research institutions are reducing their investments in the R&D of HTS wires. Thus, the R&D segment will see a sharp decline during the forecast period, and the investments will be directed toward other segments for further adoption and commercialization of HTS wires. Electronics The global HTS wires market for electronics is expected to reach USD 300 million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of close to 6% during the forecast period. The adoption of HTS wires in the electronics segment is high, and this trend will continue during the forecast period. The major devices in the electronics segment that require HTS wires are AC and DC cables; fault-current limiters (FCL); the wind, utility and hydro power generators; and transformers. There are a number of projects being commissioned globally that require HTS wires for the generation of electricity. For instance, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has collaborated with different companies to sponsor projects showcasing the use of HTS cables in order to modernize electricity transmission and distribution systems. Electric utility companies in different cities of the US such as Albany, New York; Columbus, Ohio; and Long Island, New York host these projects. Similar projects are being undertaken in Germany, China, Japan, and South Korea, and more countries are expected to follow the trend during the forecast period. "HTS wires are also being adopted for generating energy from renewable sources such as wind farms and large solar arrays to make energy storage more scalable and efficient via superconducting magnetic energy storage," says Navin. The top vendors highlighted by Technavio's hardware and semiconductor research analysts in this report are: Superconductor Technologies AMSC SuperPower SUNAM Browse Related Reports: Global Superconductor Market 2015-2019 Global Power Cables Market 2016-2020 Global High-voltage Power Cable Market 2015-2019 Do you need a report on a market in a specific geographical cluster or country but can't find what you're looking for? Don't worry, Technavio also takes client requests. Please contact [email protected] with your requirements and our analysts will be happy to create a customized report just for you. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005731/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Hurricane Electric Drives Global IP Connectivity with Newest European Point of Presence in Luxembourg Hurricane Electric, the world's largest IPv6-native Internet backbone, continues to expand its global network with the opening of its latest Point of Presence (PoP) in Luxembourg, located at LuxConnect's DC1.1 data center, 4 Rue Graham Bell 3235 Bettembourg, Luxembourg. This is Hurricane Electric's (News - Alert) first PoP in the Western European country. With one of the most robust economies in the European Union, Luxembourg has become a leader in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) market through innovations in cloud data ownership, data security, and infrastructure deployment regulations. A premier fiber backbone in Luxembourg, LuxConnect has deployed more than 1,000 km of optical fiber cabling throughout the country to redundantly connect all commercial daa centers and create a highly coordinated footprint of diverse routes to neighbouring EU nations. LuxConnect's flagship carrier-neutral DC1.1 data center features redundant 2X (News - Alert) (N+1) UPS systems, 100% renewable energy sources, and multi-tier certifications (Tiers 2, 3, and 4). This latest Point of Presence will offer customers of LuxConnect the opportunity to exchange IP traffic with Hurricane Electric's vast global network. Hurricane Electric has over 17,000 BGP sessions with over 5,700 different networks via more than 145 major exchange points and thousands of customer and private peering ports. The new Luxembourg PoP will also provide access to the company's IPv4 and IPv6 network through 100GE (100 Gigabit Ethernet), 10GE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) and GigE (1 Gigabit Ethernet) ports and as a result, both new and existing customers will be able to experience increased throughput, reduced latency and improved reliability. "We are delighted with our latest move into Western Europe's flourishing telecommunications market," said Mike Leber, President of Hurricane Electric. "Due to its position as a strategic ICT hub and central gateway to Europe, expanding to Luxembourg was the next logical step to meet the rising demand for high-quality IP transit at an affordable cost. With the launch of this new PoP at the Bettembourg ICT Campus, Hurricane Electric will continue to solidify its role as the leading global Internet Backbone." About Hurricane Electric Fremont, California-based Hurricane Electric operates its own global IPv4 and IPv6 network and is considered the largest IPv6 backbone in the world as measured by number of networks connected. Within its global network, Hurricane Electric is connected to 145 major exchange points and exchanges traffic directly with more than 5,700 different networks. Employing a resilient fiber-optic topology, Hurricane Electric has no less than four redundant paths crossing North America, three separate paths between the U.S. and Europe, and rings in Europe and Asia. In addition to its vast global network, Hurricane Electric owns and operates two data centers in Fremont, California, including Fremont 2, its newest 208,000 square foot facility. Hurricane Electric offers IPv4 and IPv6 transit solutions over the same connection at speeds including 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps Ethernet. For more information on Hurricane Electric, please visit http://he.net. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005512/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Merck to Host Investor Teleconference to Discuss ESMO 2016 Highlights Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, will host a teleconference for investors following the presentation of data at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, Oct. 7 - 11. The call will take place on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. CEST (12:30 p.m. EDT). Company executives will provide an overview of data presented and address questions. Investors, journalists, and the general public may access a live audio webcast of the call on Merck's website at http://investors.merck.com/investors/webcasts-and-presentations/default.aspx. A replay will be available at www.merck.com. Institutional investors and analysts can participate in the call b dialing (706) 758-9927 or (877) 381-5782 and using ID code number 84673546. Members of the media are invited to monitor the call by dialing (706) 758-9928 or (800) 399-7917 and using ID code number 84673546. Journalists who wish to ask questions are requested to contact a member of Merck's Media Relations team at the conclusion of the call. About Merck For 125 years, Merck has been a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006050/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Military.com and Veterans Florida team up to support veterans moving to Florida with employment resources MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Military.com and Veterans Florida announced today that they have joined forces to provide employment tools and resources for veterans and transitioning military members who want to live in Florida. Veterans Florida is a non-profit organization funded by the State of Florida to help promote the state as a great place to live for veterans and for those leaving the military. Military.com and its parent company Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW), a global leader in connecting people to job opportunities, will power a Veteran Talent Portal on the Veterans Florida website that features Military.com's award winning Military Skills Translator, and Transition Center. "Many folks leaving the militarywhether it's after a few years or after an entire careerhave to decide where they will end up after their service is completed," said Greg Smith, President of Military.com and a retired Navy admiral. "We are proud to work with Veterans Florida to provide everything a veteran may need to find employment and settle into their civilian life in Florida." The Military Skills Translator leverages Military.com's deep institutional knowledge of military and veteran affairs and Monster's award-winning talent recruitment and management software to provide job seekers with an in-depth, comprehensive, multifaceted picture of how their military service skills can be applied to civilian jobs. Powered by Monster, the tool also links directly to job opportunities that match the veteran's skill set. The Transition Center is designed to be the first place a military member goes to plan their transition. Members simply input their estimated separation date and receive scheduled notifications with checklists to help them prepare for their exit from the military. The checklists not only help to ensure the member is on track for planning for their future, but also to provide valuable information on healthcare, benefits, relocation and job opportunities with potential civilian employers. Transitioning service members looking to relocate to Florida can tap into this tool to plan their journey back to civilian life. "eterans Florida is a non-profit corporation created by the State of Florida to help veterans fully transition to civilian life in the Sunshine State. We connect veterans to employers, grant funds to employers to hire and train veterans, and educate veterans on how to open their own businesses in our state," said Bobby Carbonell, Executive Director of Veterans Florida. Monster and Military.com are leaders in the veteran employment and veteran recruitment and hiring landscape. We are so fortunate to be able to feature the tools and resources they are providing through the Veteran Talent Portal on our site." Many consider Florida to be one of the most veteran friendly states in the nation, with more than 1.5 million veterans choosing to make the state their home. Additionally, Florida is ranked the second "best state for business" and is home to numerous businesses in high-growth fields such as aerospace, manufacturing, logistics, research and development, and technology that are seeking to hire veterans and provide them with the training they need to build a long and fruitful career. The state also offers expedited licensure to veterans in several fields. Additionally, Florida waives out-of-state tuition fees for all honorably discharged veterans through the "Congressman C.W. Bill Young Tuition Waiver Program." This means that if you are a veteran from another state and are accepted into a Florida state college or university, you will qualify for in-state tuition rates, as long as you reside in the state of Florida while pursuing your degree. The state also waives undergraduate tuition for state universities, community colleges, and career and technical schools for recipients of the Purple Heart or combat decorations superior in precedence to the Purple Heart. About Military.com Military.com is the nation's largest military and veteran online news and membership organization serving active duty personnel, reservists, guard members, retirees, veterans, family members, defense workers and those considering military careers. A leader in veteran employment and solutions for companies looking to hire veterans, Military.com offers employment tools, transition assistance, and employer resources as well as military discounts, and information on all of the benefits earned in service. Military.com is a business unit of Monster Worldwide Inc. More information is available at www.military.com. Links: Military.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/Militarydotcom Military.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/MilitaryDotCom Military.com Google+: http://plus.google.com/+MilitaryDotCom Military.com Press Center: http://www.military.com/aboutus/twocolumn/0,15929,Press-Room,00.html Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409513LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/militarycom-and-veterans-florida-team-up-to-support-veterans-moving-to-florida-with-employment-resources-300330817.html SOURCE Military.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Netafim Congratulates Kansas State University (KSU) Agricultural Engineer on Receipt of National Award for Mobile Drip Irrigation Research Netafim USA, the leader in drip irrigation technology, congratulates Kansas State University assistant professor, Isaya Kisekka, on being awarded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) for his innovative research on mobile drip irrigation technology. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006528/en/ Netafim's patented PMDI technology combines the efficiency of surface drip irrigation with the flexibility of center pivot and linear move irrigation systems to deliver water and nutrients directly to the soil area for optimal plant growth. (Photo: Business Wire) As the recipient of the FFAR's New Innovator Award, Kisekka will receive a $300,000 grant to further support his team's important work in researching the implementation of precision mobile drip irrigation (PMDI) technology as a method for improving agricultural irrigation and water management in the water-depleted Ogallala egion. The patented technology of PMDI combines the efficiency of surface drip irrigation with the flexibility of center pivot and linear move irrigation systems to provide growers with a water-efficient irrigation solution for existing and new center pivot applications. Utilizing Netafim's DripNet PC dripline, the driplines are pulled behind the system as the integrated emitters deliver a uniform water pattern across the full length of the irrigated area. PMDI technology provides increased system application efficiency through the slow, methodical release of water and nutrients directly to the soil area for optimal plant growth. "Already in use by many growers in Kansas and across the nation, Netafim's precision mobile drip irrigation technology has huge potential to enable growers with center pivot systems to benefit from the unmatched water-efficiency and uniformity of drip irrigation," said Zeev Barylka, Marketing Director for Netafim USA. "The research conducted by Kisekka and his team at KSU has been instrumental in documenting the benefits of precision mobile drip irrigation and in doing so, helping producers maximize profits while minimizing risks with limited irrigation." Netafim is the exclusive provider of drip irrigation technology for the PMDI system and holds the North American rights to commercialize the system as part of its comprehensive drip irrigation system offering. Netafim's Precision Mobile Drip Irrigation was voted 'People's Choice Winner' at the 2015 Irrigation Show New Product Contest and named one of AgProfessional's Top Products of 2015. Learn more about Netafim's PMDI solution by visiting NetafimUSA.com, on Facebook (News - Alert) at Facebook.com/NetafimUSA, Twitter (News - Alert) @NetafimUSA and on YouTube (News - Alert) at NetafimUSA. ABOUT NETAFIM USA Netafim USA, based in Fresno, Calif., develops and manufactures drip irrigation systems for agriculture, landscape & turf, greenhouse & nursery, mining and wastewater. Netafim offers an extensive range of irrigation solutions including driplines, filters, sprinklers, valves, water meters and automation equipment for complete dripline system installations. For more information go to www.netafimusa.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006528/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] New Mexico Mutual Bolsters Underwriting Insights with Valen Analytics' InsureRight Platform Valen Analytics, a provider of proprietary data, analytics and predictive modeling for P/C insurers, today announces a new customer engagement with New Mexico Mutual, the state's largest writer of workers' compensation insurance. The carrier will utilize the Predict application of Valen's InsureRight Platform, enabling better underwriting performance and efficiency. "As an analytically-driven organization, we are continually looking for ways to improve our underwriting performance and believe the InsureRight Platform will assist our decision-making when it comes to pricing and risk decisions," said Lou Volk, Vice President and Chief Business Offer for New Mexico Mutual. "Valen is a known leader in helping insurers combine predictive analytics with underwriting expertise, and we believe they are the right partner to help us achieve our goals for the continued benefit of our policyholders and agency partners." Valen's custom-built predictive model for New Mexico Mutual is hosted on the InsureRight Platform and powered by Valen's contributory database, which represents the largest and most robust data consortium specifically built for predictive analytics. By providing policy information at the point of decision, underwriters will not only have increased visibility into risks, but also improve their ability to respond to agent requests and service policyholders much faster. "Predictive analytics are imperative to an underwriter's toolkit, and we continually see more carriers recognize its importance for success," said Dax Craig, CEO of Valen Analytics. "We applaud New Mexico Mutual's commitment to agents and policyholders by taking a modern approach to real-time decision support from implementing advanced analytics." More information about the InsureRight Platform can be found online at www.valen.com. About Valen Analytics Valen Analytics is a provider of proprietary data, analytics and predictive modeling for property and casualty insurers. We work with insurers who are actively looking to utilize modern approaches to pricing, risk selection, claims triage, and premium fraud. Our customers are focused on increasing competitive pressures, fighting adverse selection with innovative solutions, and raising awareness for the impending "experience gap" with initiatives such as Insurance Careers Movement. Our customers span many lines of business including Homeowners, Personal Auto, Workers' Compensation, Commercial Auto, Commercial Package, Commercial Property, and BOP. Learn more about Valen at www.valen.com. About New Mexico Mutual New Mexico Mutual is the largest writer of workers' compensation insurance in New Mexico, providing quality, cost-effective workers' compensation insurance to New Mexico businesses. Created in 1991, New Mexico Mutual provides workers' compensation insurance for more than 7,000 New Mexico businesses. The company provides extensive safety services and claims management for its policyholders. For more information, visit www.nmmcc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005013/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Oliver Wyman Joins the White House Call-to-Action for Private Sector Engagement on Global Refugee Crisis Today, Oliver Wyman (News - Alert) announced its participation as a partner in the White House call-to-action for private sector engagement on the global refugee crisis. There are more than 65 million displaced people in the world today, the highest number on record since the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began collecting statistics. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006274/en/ Oliver Wyman Joins the White House Call-to-Action for Private Sector Engagement on Global Refugee Crisis More than 21 million of these people have crossed international borders in search of safety and are registered as refugees. The despair that drives these people to flee their homes is heartbreaking, but their resilience is awe inspiring. Refugees are a valuable untapped resource and, if given the opportunity, can thrive and contribute wherever they reside. A crisis ofthis scale, however, requires more than government action. For this reason Oliver Wyman is proud to join with President Obama to draw on our unique expertise, resources and entrepreneurial spirit to help refugees regain control over their lives and integrate into their new communities. "Oliver Wyman has already hired multiple refugees across Europe fleeing from countries such as Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and we are actively looking to hire more," said John Romeo, Managing Partner for North America, Oliver Wyman. "But no one company or government can handle the enormity of this situation alone and we are proud to partner with the White House and other private sector corporations to help bring significant commitments to refugees." Oliver Wyman has made the following commitments to assist the global refugee crisis: Pursue efforts to recruit qualified candidates from the refugee populations in Europe into Oliver Wyman. Actively tap into the Oliver Wyman network of non-profit and commercial partners in the education, micro-finance, youth- and adult-literacy, and job-readiness spheres to explore solutions for enhancing entrepreneurial activities and developing job-related skills in the refugee populations. Raise the issue of providing employment with clients and provide a central website where clients can access information on organizations that can help them support refugees. About Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in 50+ cities across 26 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm's 4,000 professionals help clients optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter (News - Alert) @OliverWyman. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006274/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] PBTEEN LAUNCHES NEW EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION WITH TEXAS SISTERS AMIE AND JOLIE SIKES OF JUNK GYPSY PBteen, a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) portfolio of brands, debuts its new exclusive collection with Amie Sikes and Jolie Sikes of Junk Gypsy, the sister duo from Texas, known for their free-spirited lifestyle and design philosophy. The Junk Gypsy for PBteen collection is infused with the Junk Gypsies' Southern roots and takes inspiration from their business of transforming roadside finds into unique decor. Available for purchase on PBteen.com today, the adventurous collection of over forty pieces includes bedding, wall decor, decorative accessories, lighting, jewelry and handbags. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005629/en/ Rustic Glam Bedroom by Junk Gypsy for PBteen (Photo: Business Wire) "We have enjoyed working closely with Amie and Jolie and are excited to unveil our third design collaboration, created for those who embrace the same 'dream-big' philosophy as the Junk Gypsies," said Jennifer Keller, executive vice president, PBteen and Pottery Barn Kids. "The new collection is a cozy take on wanderlust design, and we hope our customers will have fun incorporating the eclectic decor as part of their individual style." The Junk Gypsy for PBteen collection showcases two signature bedrooms, each with their own unique theme. Rustic Glam is luxurious yet simple with a neutral color palette of grey, white and tan that is amped up with luxe textures like faux-fur and suede. The free spirited inspiration comes to life through playful decorative accessories including a Winged Mirror, Saddle Up Table Lamp and Round-Up Horseshoe Jewelry Holder. Rustic and rich shades of faux-suede are highlighted in standout furniture pieces such as the show-stopping Saddle Chesterfield Loveseat and the Boot Vanity Stool. The holiday season is cleverly hinted throughout the bedding collection, which includes everything from a Velvet Bohemian Quilt to Sparkle Wings Pillow, all in winter white with silver accents. The second, Sunrise Lodge, brings rich hues of the desert into the bedroom with bold southwestern patterns featured on bedding, wall art and decorative pillows. Unexpected details can be found throughout, including faux-fur on items such as the Wanderer Fur Throw and Wanderer Fur Sleeping Bag, and unique patterns on bedding, like the Cosmic Horses Flannel Sheet Set and Desert Sunset Reversible Duvet. The Junk Gypsy for PBteen collection also features a selection of items that give back. With an purchase from the Wanderer Bag Collection, which includes the Wanderer Duffle, Wanderer Fringe Backpack and Wanderer Fringe Pouch, PBteen will donate 25% of sales to the Wild Horses of America Foundation, an organization that helps provide permanent homes for wild horses and burros that have been removed from public lands. Additionally, they work to reduce the number of horses and burros who are rounded-up from the range. "Working with PBteen for the past few years has been one of the most exciting and creative adventures we've ever been a part of," said Junk Gypsy Co-Founders Amie Sikes and Jolie Sikes. "We've dug deep with this collection and we hope it truly connects to the hearts and souls of kindred spirits across the globe. We hope girls are inspired to dream big and to be trailblazers! We're beyond excited to be donating a portion of the Wanderer Bag Collection proceeds to the Wild Horses of America Foundation, a cause near and dear to our hearts." The exclusive Junk Gypsy for PBteen collection is available for purchase now on PBteen.com and in PBteen stores nationwide beginning October 21st with prices ranging from $19.50 - $1,299. On October 22nd, PBteen stores nationwide will host Junk Gypsy DIY in-store events to celebrate the new collection. For more information, please visit PBteen.com/JunkGypsy and join the conversation on social media @pbteen @junkgypsy #junkgypsy4pbteen. ABOUT JUNK GYPSY In 1998 Texas Sisters, Amie and Jolie Sikes, and their mom Janie, started The JUNK GYPSY Company with a dream, love of the open road and a slight flea market addiction. Staying true to their core values, the Sikes family has built a successful business that beckons on the free spirit and dreamer in everyone. In addition to designing, creating and building merchandise - everything from apparel to jewelry to custom furniture - the family hosts events like the bi-annual Texas cow pasture tradition JUNK-o-Rama Prom, and is called upon to create and transform spaces for country music artists and Hollywood stars. Projects include Miranda Lambert's tour bus, wedding reception and developing her signature logo; Dierks Bentley's Airstream; Billie Joe Armstrong's Airstream from his wife as a 20th wedding anniversary present; Sadie Robertson's Sweet Sixteen party and many other events ranging from backstage lounges to state couture. The JUNK GYPSY Company now includes a television series on Great American Country, titled "JUNK GYPSIES," and several specials including: "Endless Yard Sale" and "Garage Sale Wars" on HGTV. Catch the JUNK GYPSIES every Thursday night on 9/8c on Great American Country. For more information about the JUNK GYPSIES Company and the JUNK GYPSY store in Round Top, Texas please visit www.gypsyville.com. ABOUT PBTEEN PBteen, a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands, launched in 2003 and is the first home retailer to focus exclusively on the teenage market. Designed to fully furnish bedrooms, study and lounge spaces for tweens and teens, PBteen provides fresh, fashionable options to appeal to varying teenage tastes. Categories include: bedding, window treatments, rugs, lighting, gear, decorative accessories, storage and organization solutions, and furniture including beanbag chairs. PBdorm, launched in 2010, is an exclusive collection that offers dorm furniture and essentials. This collection includes XL twin sheets, lighting, seating, storage bins and organization solutions, and other accessories designed to help teens turn their dorm room into their ultimate home away from home. PBteen products are available through direct mail catalogs, e-commerce site PBteen.com and U.S. retail stores. PBteen currently offers international shipping to customers worldwide. PBteen has an active following on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, PBteen ? and its PBteen blog. PBteen is headquartered in San Francisco, California. ABOUT WILLIAMS-SONOMA, INC. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is a specialty retailer of high-quality products for the home. These products, representing eight distinct merchandise strategies - Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm, PBteen, Williams-Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation, and Mark and Graham - are marketed through e-commerce websites, direct mail catalogs and 624 stores. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. currently operates in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, offers international shipping to customers worldwide, and has unaffiliated franchisees that operate stores in the Middle East and the Philippines and stores and e-commerce websites in Mexico. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005629/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Ping4 Awarded U.S. Department of Homeland Security Contract for Alerting First Responders to Rapidly Changing Flood Events Ping4 Inc., creator of smartphone-based emergency alerting applications, announced it has been awarded a development contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. As part of the agreement, Ping4 will deliver a geographically precise communications platform that will enable instant notification to first responders about rapidly changing flood conditions. The solution will make it easy to send location-specific, rich-media alerts to first responders' mobile devices, so they can take immediate actions to reduce flood fatalities and property losses. "After heat, floods are the leading cause of weather fatalities in the United States," said Dan Cotter, Director of the First Responders Group, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, referencing National Weather Service statistics ((http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml). "Last year the National Weather Service reported 176 lives were lost due to floods. We are working with Ping4 to get better flood event information out to our first responders in time to make a difference and reduce the number of lives lost from floods each year. Ping4 brings technology to both geo-target alerts and leverage rich-media that can help make this happen." The Ping4-developed platform will send geo-targeted multimedia alerts that will allow interested parties to make informed decisions during rising water events. By leveraging the location-based features of smart mobile devices through a technology called geofencing, Ping4 will enable alerts to focus on areas as targeted as a single building, a section of a city, a stretch of highway or an area along an irregular border of the river. The rich-media content, which interested parties will receive within seconds, can include any combination of text, images, audio and video, making it much easier to share potentially life-saving information. About Ping4 Inc.: Ping4 is the creator of "ping4alerts!," a leading global mobile public safety application that provides instant, geographically precise messaging to smartphone users. The platform is used by multiple states and municipalities throughout the U.S. and globally and has sent millions of emergency messages to hundreds of thousands of citizens worldwide. Ping4 also sells "nrby," a two-way communications application that enables mobile workforces to crowdsource and share critical information in the field. Ping4 is based in Nashua, New Hampshire with global sales offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Israel and New Zealand. For more information, visit www.ping4.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005412/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Reutlingen University Selects Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE Platform on the Cloud to Prepare Students for Industry 4.0 Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that Reutlingen University in Germany has selected the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to implement teaching, learning and research practices that will help students master Industry 4.0 trends and better prepare for future careers. Reutlingen University deployed the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud for its "Logistics Learning Factory," an on-campus realistic learning and research environment for industrial production processes and logistics concepts. Here, the university's business and engineering students are learning about the convergence of a digital and a real smart factory. First, they can use the platform to virtually develop an intelligent product or product feature and virtually configure a production line. Next, they can engage in the additive manufacturing of the product's parts, its production and assembly in the Logistics Learning Factory's real-world environment. Reutlingen University offers 6,000 students international academic programs with close ties to industry and commerce, and has been top-rated in rankings for many years. It had looked to add applied learning experiences to its Logistics Learning Factory in the context of Industry 4.0, a new era of smart industrial production n which the internet of things, robotics, big data, cyber security and other digital concepts are transforming factories. With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud, students can discover firsthand the product design, digital manufacturing, realistic simulation and collaborative innovation applications used by industrial companies to virtually experience product design, engineering and production. The platform offers easy deployment, maintenance, and secured data access anytime, anywhere. Professors, teachers and students can save time and ease workloads, and teachers can remotely monitor projects, manage idea maturity and assign grades. "We wanted to apply a more holistic approach to advanced industrial engineering lectures and student projects on digital engineering, smart production and logistics, as well as improve collaboration among students," said Professor Vera Hummel, Industrial Engineering, Procurement and Production Logistics, ESB Business School, Reutlingen University. "Dassault Systemes' (News - Alert) 3DEXPERIENCE platform enables us to help students build knowledge and expertise for new industrial processes that future employers will seek. Our special thanks go to CENIT AG, a well-established Dassault Systemes partner, and a couple of Dassault Systemes experts from the Stuttgart office site who advised us very professionally in the implementation decision." "Just as the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud has helped industry transform the way that products are designed and developed, it can also address the needs of universities to transform the teaching, learning and solution development experience," said Philippe Forestier, Executive Vice President, Global Affairs and Communities, Dassault Systemes. "The Logistics Learning Factory at Reutlingen University is the first learning and research environment of a university in Germany to adopt the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to align the skills of future engineers with the latest industry trends." For more information, please visit: academy.3ds.com/en/software/3dexperience-for-academia-on-cloud About Dassault Systemes Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systemes' collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 210,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com. 3DEXPERIENCE, the Compass logo and the 3DS logo, CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, ENOVIA, DELMIA, SIMULIA, GEOVIA, EXALEAD, 3D VIA (News - Alert), BIOVIA, NETVIBES and 3DEXCITE are registered trademarks of Dassault Systemes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006307/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Rivada Networks Announces Appointment of Karen Freitag as Executive Vice President of Sales Rivada Networks is pleased to today announce the appointment of Karen Freitag as the company's new Executive Vice President for Sales. Karen Freitag is an experienced and accomplished sales executive, having previously served as Vice President of Sales for Ericsson (News - Alert), Vice President of Sales and Operations for Nortel, and most recently as President of Sprint Enterprise, Wholesale and Wireline Solutions, where she had full responsibility for Sprint's (News - Alert) Enterprise, Wireline and Wholesale Business Units. In 2015, she was named to the "Influential Women of Wireless" list compiled by wireless industry publication FierceWireless, and was a 2014 finalist for Capacity Magazine's (News - Alert) Executive of the Year Award for Industry Contribution. Karen is active in her community and has received numerous sales, sales management, and civic leadership awards throughout her career. She was voted by her community peers as one of Kansas City's Most Influential Women in the March 2008 Kansas City Business Magazine. Karen was recently appointed to the University of Kansas Business School Advisory Board and is a past Board Member of the American Cancer Society's Chairmen's Circle, Children's Mercy Hospital Hands and Hearts Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity. In addition to her board responsibilities, Karen has been a volunteer at Children's Mercy Hospital Parent to Parent Pediatric Oncology Group and served as Chair of the American Cancer Society's Kansas City Cattle Baron's Ball for 2007 and 2008. Karen earned a Bachelor of Science deree in Marketing and Management from Mid America Nazarene University and an MBA from Baker University. Karen has also completed the Kellogg School of Management Women's Senior Leadership Development Program. Karen joins Rivada at an exciting time for the company, which is a bidder for the FirstNet contract to build out the nationwide public safety broadband network in the United States, and is also actively engaged in opportunities in Mexico and elsewhere. This week, it was announced that Rivada Networks had been named by the State of New Hampshire as their choice to build out that State's emergency broadband network, in the event that it should choose to "opt out" of the FirstNet process. Rivada's Open Access Wireless Market, in combination with its patented Dynamic Spectrum (News - Alert) Arbitrage (DSA) technology, for the first time enables 4G mobile network capacity to be bought and sold in real time and in response to market demand. Commenting on the appointment, Rivada Networks Executive Chairman and Co-CEO Declan Ganley said: "I am beyond delighted to welcome Karen to our team here at Rivada Networks. Her career to date has been a case study in achievement and excellence, and her decision to join us as we move forward with our plan to build out the FirstNet network, and to use our technology to maximise the value of networks in the United States and around the world, is a significant boost to our company." Newly appointed Rivada Executive Vice President of Sales Karen Freitag said: "Rivada Networks is an exciting company equipped with the three things necessary for success: talented people, an incredible product, and an exciting and transformative vision. It made absolute sense for me to join Rivada at this time of growth and expansion, and I look forward with anticipation and confidence to the challenges ahead. I am delighted to be working with a team of seasoned and proven executives, led by Declan Ganley and Joe Euteneuer, and I am thrilled to get started on the important work ahead." About Rivada Networks Rivada Networks is a leading designer, integrator and operator of wireless, interoperable communications networks. Rivada's technology, Dynamic Spectrum Arbitrage-Tiered Priority Access (DSATPA), allows wireless broadband capacity to be dynamically bought and sold in a fully competitive on demand process to competing commercial entities. DSATPA is a game changer for the way in which spectrum is consumed, maximizing the efficiency of radio spectrum bandwidth and unlocking the potential for more extensive, higher capacity broadband networks. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006458/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Russell Reynolds Associates Names Constantine Alexandrakis as New Region Head for the United States Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading global search and leadership advisory firm, today announced that Constantine Alexandrakis has been named Region Head for the United States. In this role, Alexandrakis will be responsible for growing the firm's business in the United States. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005392/en/ Constantine Alexandrakis, Region Head, United States, Russell Reynolds Associates (Photo: Business Wire) Along with Alexandrakis' move to the U.S. Region Head role, Clare Metcalf will assume his previous position as head of the Chicago and Minneapolis offices. "With deep experience advising CEOs and boards at both private and public companies across industries, Constantie is uniquely suited to lead our growth efforts in the United States," stated Clarke Murphy, CEO, Russell Reynolds Associates. "During his 12 years with the firm, Constantine has held a number of leadership roles in our organization. In these roles he has consistently demonstrated our firm's core values as a trusted advisor to our clients in a dynamic and often volatile business environment," added Murphy. Alexandrakis joined Russell Reynolds Associates as a consultant in 2004 and has led the Chicago and Minneapolis offices since 2012 and 2014, respectively. He has served on the firm's Executive Committee since 2015. Alexandrakis will remain located in Chicago and also continue to lead the firm's global Leadership and Succession business. Prior to joining Russell Reynolds Associates, Alexandrakis was vice president of operations at web solutions provider Hostway (News - Alert) Corporation, and a strategy consultant for Towers Perrin. Earlier, Alexandrakis worked as a financial analyst with United Airlines. Alexandrakis is a member of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation Board, a member of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Chicago, a member of the East Bank Club board, and a member of The Executives' Club of Chicago. He is also a member of the Florida Bar. Alexandrakis received his A.B. in economics from Princeton University (cum laude), his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. About Russell Reynolds Associates Russell Reynolds Associates is a global leader in assessment, recruitment and succession planning for boards of directors, chief executive officers and key roles within the C-suite. With more than 370 consultants in 46 offices around the world, we work closely with public, private and nonprofit organizations across all industries and regions. We help our clients build teams of transformational leaders who can meet today's challenges and anticipate the digital, economic, environmental and political trends that are reshaping the global business environment. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005392/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Shopify Partners with Export Development Canada on Shopify Capital Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced that it has entered an agreement with Export Development Canada ("EDC") to insure merchant cash advances offered by Shopify Capital. "Our partnership with EDC supports the continued growth of Shopify Capital," stated Brett O'Grady, Head of Treasury and Risk for Shopify. "Shopify is a dynamic, globally minded Canadian exporter and a national tech champion," said Stephen Callaghan, Regional Vice-President, Ontario, Export Development Canada. "Shopify's innovative services and products make it easier for small Canadian businesses to engage in trade and manage their cash flows." Shopify Capital was launched earlier this year to help entrepreneurs secure financing and accelerate their business growth. Many entrepreneurs and online businesses have a hard time securing financing through traditional sources. Shopify is able to tailor cash advances to a merchant's needs, based on data processed through the Shopify platform. Accessing this financing is designed to be as simple as a few clicks, with money in the merchant's account within a few days of acceptance. As of June 30, Shopify Capital has advanced over $5 million to participating merchants since the program's inception. For more information on Shopify Capital, please visit shopify.com/capital. About Shopify Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 300,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more. About EDC EDC is Canada's trade finance agency, providing financing and insurance solutions locally and around the world to help Canadian companies of any size respond to international business opportunities. As a profitable Crown corporation that operates on commercial principles, EDC works together with private- and public-sector financial institutions to create greater capacity for Canadian companies to engage in trade and investment. For more information about EDC, visit www.edc.ca. SOURCE: Shopify View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005439/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Stark County, Ohio, Selects Tyler Technologies' Modern Appraisal and Taxation Software Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) signed an agreement with Stark County, Ohio, for a state-of-the-art integrated computer-assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) and taxation software solution through Tyler's iasWorld software suite. The agreement includes several add-ons to the iasWorld property appraisal and tax administration software, including iasWorld Inquiry & Appeals to better manage the property appeals process, iasWorld Field Mobile for collecting and reviewing property data in the field, iasWorld Public Access to provide data transparency to taxpayers, and iasWorld SmartFile to capture virtually any type of data electronically. The implementation will include software and hardware installation, system integration, project management, data conversion, on-site training and long-term maintenance. Stark County realized its current system was outdated, and its response time wasn't as ast as it could be. In addition, recent changes in state legislation as outlined in the Ohio Revised Code required a solution that complied with new minimum real estate indexing and taxation standards. Stark County needed a system that could assess and collect taxes quickly and efficiently, and they also wanted a solution with a broad market presence in Ohio. The county selected Tyler to deliver the perfect solution to fit their needs. iasWorld helps to ensure uniformity and fairness in property taxation while providing streamlined taxation and assessment processes. The software has been implemented in 25 states in the U.S., two Canadian provinces and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Stark County is located in northeast Ohio and is the seventh largest county in the state. The county has approximately 375,000 residents and 195,000 real estate parcels. About Tyler Technologies (News - Alert), Inc. Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities, counties, schools and other government entities - to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of their constituents. Tyler's client base includes more than 14,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other international locations. In 2016, Forbes ranked Tyler on their "Most Innovative Growth Companies" list, and it has also named Tyler one of "America's Best Small Companies" eight times. The company has been included six times on the Barron's 400 Index, a measure of the most promising companies in America. More information about Tyler Technologies, headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at www.tylertech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005007/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] TASER CEO and Co-founder Rick Smith to Receive OneNeck IT Solutions Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Governor's Celebration of Innovation The Arizona Technology Council, in conjunction with the Arizona Commerce Authority, today announced that Rick Smith, CEO and co-founder of TASER, will be presented with the OneNeck IT Solutions Lifetime Achievement Award during the 13th annual 2016 Governor's Celebration of Innovation Awards (GCOI) presented by Avnet. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at aztechcouncil.org. This year, the GCOI awards banquet will be held on November 10, 2016 at the Phoenix Convention Center, 100 North Third Street, in the West Building, third floor from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. Every year the GCOI brings together more than 1,000 Arizona business leaders to celebrate the state's technology innovation and leadership. The event will consist of a theatre-style awards program followed by desserts and live music. Before and after the awards will be a Technology Showcase, including finalists, sponsors and partners. "Under Rick Smith's leadership, TASER created a line of products that has saved more than 170,000 lives from death or serious injury," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. "TASER's innovations are essential to the growth of the company, and we applaud their ability to deploy technology to better the lives f citizens and law enforcement across the world." Lifetime Achievement Award winners are chosen by public vote. Smith joins an impressive list of honorees, including Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, 2015 recipient; Pat Sullivan, co-founder and CEO of Ryver, 2014 recipient; Eric and Tim Crown of Insight Enterprises, 2013 recipient; Gary Tooker, former CEO and chairman of Motorola (News - Alert), 2012 recipient; Roy Vallee, former chairman and CEO of Avnet, 2011 recipient; Steve Sanghi, president, CEO and chairman, Microchip Technology 2010 recipient; Craig Barrett former Intel (News - Alert) CEO and chairman, 2009 recipient; and renowned architect Paolo Soleri, 2008 recipient. "Ever since founding our company in a garage here in Arizona back in 1993, it's been a fantastic journey," said Smith. "At TASER, we are passionate about using technology to make the world a safer place. We are grateful to be part of a vibrant and supportive business community as we focus on technologies to help solve some of our most pressing social challenges. I'm honored to receive this prestigious award." Smith's idea for his company began shortly after losing two Chaparral High School friends to an incident involving a firearm. Smith wanted to make an impactful change, so he began researching American gun violence extensively and speaking with European students, while attending graduate school in Belgium, for an outside perspective on the issue. He concluded with the idea for a company which provides non-lethal weapons and technology solutions focused on the law enforcement market, TASER. Smith has turned TASER into a publicly traded company with a billion-dollar market cap, serving more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies in more than 107 countries. Today, the name TASER is synonymous with the Kleenex brand in that when you think about an electric, non-lethal weapon or stun gun, the name TASER comes to mind. The company is also the leader in Axon body worn cameras and safety/security software, which is now outpacing sales booking versus its core TASER Business. "Rick Smith turned his desire to make a difference into a global technology company - that's a truly inspiring story," said Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. "Arizona is fortunate to have such a dynamic leader and a company that continues to advance life-saving innovations right here in our community. Congratulations to Rick on this well-deserved Lifetime Achievement award!" Individual and Corporate Innovator and Pioneer Award winners will also be honored at GCOI. This includes the Future Innovators awards given to Arizona students, the Arizona Teacher of the Year, the Tech Champion Awards given to Arizona legislators, and awards for the Arizona Senator of the Year and Arizona Representative of the Year. About the Arizona Technology Council The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona's premier trade association for science and technology companies. Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Arizona Technology Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together leaders, managers, employees and visionaries to make an impact on the technology industry. These interactions contribute to the Council's culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit www.aztechcouncil.org. About the Arizona Commerce Authority The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona's economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: recruit, grow, create - recruit out-of-state companies to expand their operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to grow their business in Arizona and beyond; and partner with entrepreneurs and companies large and small to create new jobs and businesses in targeted industries. Visit azcommerce.com for more. About Avnet, Inc. From components to cloud and from design to disposal, Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) accelerates the success of customers who build, sell and use technology by providing a comprehensive portfolio of innovative products, services and solutions. Avnet is a global company ranked on the FORTUNE 500 with revenues of $26.2 billion for the fiscal year 2016. For more information, visit www.avnet.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006542/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Turkcell Launches Mobile App for Integration of Syrian Refugees, CEO Speaks at UN Private Sector Forum Turkcell (News - Alert) (NYSE: TKC)(BIST: TCELL) has announced the launching of its mobile application "Merhaba Umut" - "Hello Hope" to facilitate the integration of Syrian refugees living in Turkey. The app has a Turkish language learning component, instant audio translation between Turkish and Arabic, a frequently asked questions section which offers guidance on essential issues like registration and access to services and one-click access to Turkcell's Arabic language call center. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006729/en/ Syrian refugees in Turkish Red Crescent's community center in Sultanbeyli Istanbul trial Turkcell's "Hello Hope" mobile app. (Photo: Business Wire) The app, developed by Turkcell's digital education platform Turkcell Academy, has been one of the highlights of Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu's address to the United Nations Private Sector Forum, held on September 19th on the margins of UN General Assembly. Joining GSMA (News - Alert) Director-General Mats Granryd in explaining how mobile technologies can support sustainable development, Terzioglu focused on Turkcell's work with the Syrian refugee communties in Turkey. Addressing 350 international opinion leaders during the Forum, Terzioglu stated that Turkey has shifted the conversation about Syrian refugees from basic survival to integration a long time ago. "With Syria in ruins, having the chance of a safe and meaningful life now requires a prospect of integration for Syrian refugees. Communication technologies are powerful tools to meet the challenges of integration, including living in a country with a different language, accessing education and having employment prospects," said Terzioglu. "I am proud to note that Turkcell has been a pioneer in mobilizing the power of communication in one of the biggest humanitarian challenges of our time. Our new app 'Hello Hope' will be the basis of our future work to use connectivity to bring essential services to the Syrian community in Turkey." Focusing on integration in the world's top refugee-hosting country With about 3 million Syrian refugees, Turkey is the world's top refugee-hosting country. Serving about 1.2 million Syrian customers, Turkcell is the operator of choice for Syrian refugees. The company operates Turkey's first bilingual call center, serving customers in Arabic language. It has invested heavily in its network both in the urban centers near the border zone, and in refugee camps which host about 10% of the Syrian population living in Turkey. With Turkcell Academy's "Hello Hope" app, Turkcell now takes its services-focused approach to serve a community for which communications technologies have been a lifeline. The app is available on iOS and Android (News - Alert) platforms. ABOUT TURKCELL: Turkcell is a converged telecommunication and technology services provider, founded and headquartered in Turkey. It serves its customers with voice, data, TV and value-added consumer and enterprise services on mobile and fixed networks. Turkcell launched LTE (News - Alert) services in its home country on April 1st, 2016, employing LTE-Advanced and 3 carrier aggregation technologies in 81 cities. In 2G and 3G, Turkcell's population coverage is at 99.80% and 95.14%, respectively, as of June 2016. It offers up to 1 Gbps fiber internet speed with its FTTH services. Turkcell Group companies serve 66.5 million subscribers in 9 countries - Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Northern Cyprus, Germany, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova - as of June 30, 2016. Turkcell Group reported a TRY3.4 billion revenue with total assets of TRY28.6 billion as of June 30, 2016. It has been listed on the NYSE and the BIST since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006729/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] ZipEdTech Recognized as Women Business Enterprise (WBE) by the California Public Utilities Commission LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- E-learning leader ZipEdTech and its online marketplace ZipMart have been certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Under General Order 156, the CPUC requires investor-owned utility companies with gross annual revenues in excess of $25 million (and their regulated subsidiaries) to develop and implement programs that increase partnerships with women and minority owned businesses, as a way to foster diversity and support women- and minority-owned firms. Certifications are granted by The Supplier Clearinghouse, a CPUC-supervised entity whose primary purpose is to audit and verify the status of woman- and minority-owned businesses as well as establish and maintain a database of woman-, minority-, and service disabled veteran-owned businesses that are accessible to CPUC and to participating utilities. With this certification, ZipEdTech and its online marketplace ZipMart will be able to pursue contracts as a WBE business within the public utilities sector. Participating utilities include AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and Southern California Edison. The certificate is # 16000445. "e are proud to be a woman-owned business and are excited at the prospect of working with California utility companies," said co-founder Anna Berger. "It's an honor to be part of the CPUC's efforts to increase opportunities for women and minorities." The certification builds on the company's goal of making a positive impact on businesses and their communities by creating "Training that Matters". ZipEdTech continues to focus on issues of diversity and inclusion, and recently launched through its online marketplace ZipMart a transgender awareness training course aimed at creating a more welcoming culture and limiting potential discrimination claims in workplaces. Oleg Shvarts, ZipEdTech's CEO, said, "ZipMart has long celebrated our female leadership despite being part of the male-dominated tech industry. In addition to creating professional training courses that matter, we're proud to be helping California fulfill its commitment to diversity in the business community by also supporting women- and minority-owned businesses like ours in industries across the state." Inquiries regarding ZipMart and ZipMart courses: Marc Polansky (310) 405-4344 About ZipMart: ZipMart is a centralized marketplace for online education and workforce training. ZipMart partners with respected educators and experts to create practical, engaging and affordable online courses for businesses, professional associations, government entities and non-profit organizations. Through its nationwide network of chambers of commerce and white labelled corporate universities and portals, ZipMart meets the training needs of businesses and organizations of all sizes, as well as the continuing education demands of professionals and front-line workers. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zipedtech-recognized-as-women-business-enterprise-wbe-by-the-california-public-utilities-commission-300330973.html SOURCE ZipMart [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 19, 2016] TimesJobs Study Shows Salary Dissatisfaction Common Across Workforce Generations NEW DELHI, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Over Half of all Employees Feel Dissatisfied With Their Salary A study by TimesJobs reveals that 55% Gen Y and 53% Gen Z employees were disappointed with their first-drawn salaries. Dissatisfaction with salary is not new, however the reasons may have changed with changing aspirations of different generations. "This disappointment with salaries is due to many factors - the lack of a proper benchmark tool is one of the reasons which are not readily acknowledged. However, if you can assess your worth on the basis of what the standard payout is in a particular sector for a particular role, you will be saved of that disappointment when you actually get the job offer," says Vikas Deep Verma, Head of Product and Marketing, TimesJobs. The TimesJobs study based on the first job journey of Gen Z and Gen Y workforce also reveals that Gen Z is quicker in getting their first jobs in comparison to Gen Y. On asking how soon they were able to find their first jobs 49% Gen Z were able to get a job in less than two months while most Gen Y'ers (45%) took three to six months. Nearly 46% Gen Y workers applied to 5-10 jobs before finally getting hired and 52% Gen Z workers applied to 10-15 jobs before ultimately accepting a job offer. This shows that the ability to access opportunities through the largest pool of job listings has increased manifold in the new generation. Another interesting insight is that Gen Z professionals are more aware of their market worth as 58% of them were able to negotiate their salaries before accepting the final job offer. This is a steep increase when compared to 40% of Gen Y'ers who were able to do the same. However, despite being able to get a job offer sooner compared to Gen Y and also being more aggressive on the salary negotiation front, 53% Gen Z workers still claim dissatisfaction from their salaries. Nishikant Gupta, an IT professional with a renowned MNC said, "It has happened many times that I get a job offer and they ask me about my salary expectation and I am clueless. Even when I got what I asked for - it ultimately resulted in dissatisfaction since I had nothing concrete to benchmark my salary expectations on." The general dissatisfaction expressed by working professionals in this study clearly idicate that Nishikant is not alone, there are many candidates like him who are unaware of their true worth. "Being India's most loved CEO - Career Enhancement Officer, TimesJobs recognizes this challenge area and has a salary benchmark tool which gives the industry range of compensation being offered in a specific function and specialization and also analyze it by experience. In addition, with access to the largest collection of jobs in India on TimesJobs, professionals can find the job that fits their expectations perfectly," adds Verma. While salary may not be the only thing a jobseeker values while making a career choice, it is certainly a critical driver. As TimesJobs' study further reveals, 45% Gen Y and 58% Gen Z stuck to their first jobs for 2-3 years and when they left 51% Gen Y and 53% Gen Z opted out for a better package. Interestingly, 50% Gen Y and 43% Gen Z also said they continued in their first jobs, for longer because they were getting good increments. "This study highlights that it boils down to your cash-in-hand component. It is essential to be aware of what must you ask for, at your level, in your function and in your industry to have a good career. It is wise to evaluate your worth in real-time by using the TimesJobs salary benchmark tool so that you know what you must ask in your next job and be happy about it also," advises Verma. This study was conducted by TimesJobs with inputs from over 1000 working professionals across India. About TimesJobs: TimesJobs, a flagship business of Times Business Solutions (TBS), is a platform to help competent professionals make smarter career decisions. With over 25 million registered jobseekers across the board and more than 60 million page views every month, it is fast becoming the most preferred career portal among the candidates. TimesJobs is leading in the recruitment and employment space with its pioneering and dynamic divisions because it successfully meets all the needs of the jobseekers. Its major platforms include: TechGig: India's biggest dais for tech professionals to help them Learn, Showcase and Compete in the IT industry. biggest dais for tech professionals to help them Learn, Showcase and Compete in the IT industry. JobBuzz: A well-known portal that provides information and insights about different companies, job profiles and interview processes. A well-known portal that provides information and insights about different companies, job profiles and interview processes. StepAhead: StepAhead offers Professional Resume writing and distribution services, career astrology, and resume improvement to help jobseekers accelerate their career. Also, TimesJobs has the largest collection of jobs in the market, which ensures that whenever and wherever there is a great opportunity, jobseekers will discover it on the platform. In the recruitment market as well, being the biggest platform for competent professionals who think of their careers first, TimesJobs has become the destination of choice for recruiters who seek to engage with the right talent. Media Contact: Aseem Seth Head of Corporate Communications Times Business Solutions - A Division of Times Internet Ltd. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @aseems Tel: +91-120-663-6338, +91-9910273367 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] New MakerSpace Finds NYU Tandon and Brooklyn in the Thick of the Maker Movement BROOKLYN, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, September 20, the New York University Tandon School of Engineering will cut the ribbon on its new MakerSpace, a collaborative work space and lab that will encourage new kinds of iterative, interdisciplinary teamwork using cutting-edge tools for rapid prototyping and digitally driven production. In addition to numerous 3D printers, laser cutters, vacuum formers, and soldering stations, the bi-level, 10,000-square-foot space includes several pieces of equipment that students do not typically access unless they are in specialized graduate laboratories. The opening is part of the Inauguration Celebration Week (September 19-25) honoring NYU's 16th president, Andrew Hamilton, whose vision for the University includes multidisciplinary, cross-institution initiatives exactly like the MakerSpace, which is available to students from any NYU school. Most of the equipment in the new facility in NYU Tandon's Rogers Hall is simple, easily learned, and suitable for student projects. But with special training, students will have the opportunity to work on commercial-grade machinery seldom available at universities. These machines include: A powerful water-jet cutter, which can be used on reflective and heat-sensitive materials such as copper or aluminum that cannot be machined with lasers A high-speed, high-precision "pick and place" machine, used to place electronic components onto printed circuit boards A micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) unit that will non-destructively image the internal structure of objects on an exceptionally fine scale A plastic injection machine, which will introduce aspiring entrepreneurs to the process of mass manufacturing An electro-dynamic shaker, which tests a product or model under varying conditions of motion, acceleration, and force. The MakerSpace supports NYU Tandon's core mission of placing technology in service to society by encouraging an ethos of invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship in even its youngest students. The facility will provide a stimulating environment for fostering human exchanges and collaborative learning and serve as a focal point for student design projects. It will also provide a point of connection for the broader tech and engineering community of New York City by hosting hackathons, guest lectures, special events, student projects manating from NYU Tandon's Future Labs startup-business incubators, and its Center for K12 STEM Education. Additionally, the space will serve as a hub for NYU Tandon's participation in the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) consortium, which promotes an intensive integrated curriculum that stresses project-based, interdisciplinary study and teamwork. Faculty members from other engineering programs also plan to hold classes in the MakerSpace. "I hope that the MakerSpace will be used by the students to generate many new and creative ideas collaboratively," Dean Katepalli R. Sreenivasan said. "Often, Tandon students would like to test them by building prototypes. The MakerSpace fills this lacuna. Furthermore, I hope that many of our technological ideas will be used for creating something tangible, to further societal good. The new MakerSpace will empower our students to pursue this mission." "The MakerSpace is both a fantastically well-equipped new place for students to transform creative ideas into solid form and an important piece of NYU's exciting future in Brooklyn," said President Hamilton. "The MakerSpace is a symbol of NYU's bold plans for bringing its own unique blend of technology, creativity, and innovation here to Brooklyn, the fast-beating heart of New York's burgeoning tech sector, and our embrace of this great borough." Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and New York Senator Martin J. Golden will participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. At the behest of New York City Council Member Stephen Levin, the New York City Council provided $150,000 for 3D printers, to further innovation and entrepreneurial activities in Brooklyn and the City. "For the future generation's sake, we must continue on the path towards becoming an innovation capital," he said. "Our children are natural-born inventors, and their creativity and ingenuity should be nurtured. NYU's commitment to investing in high-quality, cutting edge design space will not only improve the lives of the individuals involved, but also stands to improve the community at large by encouraging technological problem solving. Our young people are our best investment, and I'm proud to have supported a project that sets an example for institutions around the world." Steve Kuyan, NYU Tandon managing director of incubators and entrepreneurship, said: "Access to prototyping equipment is fundamental to supporting the thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem at NYU Tandon. The close proximity will allow students to go from idea to prototype quicker and with higher frequency." Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Vikram Kapila, who is the academic lead for the Center for K12 Education, said: "NYU Tandon's new MakerSpace will be an unparalleled resource that will enable students to work with cutting-edge rapid prototyping tools to transform their creative imaginations into physical artifacts to test, analyze, and evaluate in real-world conditions. Experience with novel materials, technologies, and creative process will help them understand how to apply their classroom learning to solve real-world engineering challenges. Their experiences will help them visualize pathways to college-level engineering education and careers. MakerSpace activities will also help teachers envision novel ways to address Next Generation Science Standards that explicitly integrate engineering design in K-12 science education. The MakerSpace is part of NYU Tandon's answer to President Barack Obama's call to build a Nation of Makers, empowering its students to create, innovate, tinker, and turn their ideas into reality. But it treats the challenges of ideation and prototyping with an occasional wink. Two giant banners overhang the workspace: "Mr. Edison, please tell me what lab rules you would like me to observe." M.A. Rosenoff "There ain't no rules around here. We are trying to accomplish something." Thomas Edison About the NYU Tandon School of Engineering The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, when the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture as well as the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly) were founded. Their successor institutions merged in January 2014 to create a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention, and entrepreneurship and dedicated to furthering technology in service to society. In addition to its main location in Brooklyn, NYU Tandon collaborates with other schools within the country's largest private research university and is closely connected to engineering programs in NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai. It operates business incubators in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and an award-winning online graduate program. For more information, visit http://engineering.nyu.edu. facebook.com/nyupoly @nyupoly Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409237 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151013/276541LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-makerspace-finds-nyu-tandon-and-brooklyn-in-the-thick-of-the-maker-movement-300330242.html SOURCE NYU Tandon School of Engineering [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Digital Gift Card Innovator Reward Cloud Secures Passion Capital Investment LONDON, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Reward Cloud has confirmed investment financing from Passion Capital to leverage on the company's robust business model and to expand its proposition for the vast opportunities within the digital gift card sector. The Brighton-based company, whose founders Gareth Gillatt and Alex Preece also founded Local Daily Deals which was acquired by MoneySupermarket.com in 2011, has swiftly established itself as a unique and lucrative proposition: a platform for digital gift cards opening up new channels for gift card providers and offering an innovative and efficient service for the reward and recognition market such as employee perks or other incentive programmes. The gift card sector has been subject to a seismic shift due to digital technology, as co-founder Gillatt explains; 'A gift card is no longer just a plastic card you pick up at the supermarket checkout to give to your Mum. It's now a flexible financial tool that can be used across a number of different use cases and industries such as staff rewards, voluntary benefits and customer acquisition or retention.' The investment from Passion Capital validates Reward Cloud's vision and operational success, as Robert Dighero, Passion Capital partner and investor director for the company explains, "Given the size of the gift card market, it's surprising and yet a massive opportunity to provide a platform for real-time and online redemption and processing. The team at Reward Cloud impressed us with their pragmatic and incredibly effective approach and platform delivery. We're looking forward to partnering with them as they scale the business up and also expand internationally." Reward Cloud opens up a world of opportunity to bands, businesses and partners. Integrated directly with all of the major gift card processors, Reward Cloud generates and sends digital gift cards to recipients on demand, instantly. Through one simple API connection, incentive and reward agencies such as corporate HR or consumer products customer service organisations can source on-demand digital gift cards in real-time. No more waiting for a physical delivery, just instant delivery for the purchaser and gratification for the recipient. Reward Cloud also significantly expands sell-through for brand partners by offering an agile interface that opens up a corporate brand or service to a huge new potential audience as well as the opportunity to enter the highly lucrative B2B sector. In addition, Reward Cloud's powerful business intelligence (BI) and analytics suite is populated in real-time with data to better inform stakeholders, offering both brands and partners transparent data and results at the click of a button. Co-founder Preece summarises, "In integrating with all of the retailers' gift card processors, we've saved brands and partners time, money and man hours. Reward Cloud provides a platform which offers smart real-time tools, and provides simple, easy access to our API with analytics, flash sale promotions and tracking all in one interface." Smart. Transparent. Connected. Welcome to Reward Cloud, where brands and agencies achieve more with gift cards, for less. Note to Editors: About Reward Cloud Reward Cloud was founded in 2016 by Gareth Gillatt and Alex Preece. The two were also co-founders in an earlier business which had a successful exit to MoneySupermarket.com. They seized on the opportunity to apply their business acumen and proven operational abilities to the gift card market when it became apparent that it was one of the last sub-sectors of retail and commerce to be digitally-enabled. The company is based in Brighton with a staff of 10 people concentrated on development, sales, marketing and customer development. For more information, see reward.cloud About Passion Capital Passion Capital is the pre-eminent seed-stage VC fund based in London. Founded in 2011 by general partners Eileen Burbidge, Robert Dighero and Stefan Glaenzer, the team invests across all sectors of internet and digital technology an innovation. The firm prides itself on backing the most ambitious and capable founders, and operating with transparency, time efficiency and respect for entrepreneurs. It publishes its standard term sheet and full investment documents on its website, yearly infographics with fully transparent fund data and was the first in the world to publish and use a plain English term sheet. For more information, see: @passioncapital and passioncapital.com For more information, please contact: Gareth Gillatt, Co-founder and CEO, [email protected] Alex Preece, Co-founder and COO, [email protected] +44-(0)333-305-8448 http://www.reward.cloud [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Appsbuyout Acquires Top Android Call Blocker App Appsbuyout (appsbuyout.vc), the destination for successful Android (News - Alert) developers looking to sell their apps, has added Call Blocker to its app stable. A deal to acquire the app, which has a 4.1 rating on Google (News - Alert) Play, was struck with developer Gojan Stojanovic (Serbia). "Call Blocker is a great addition to our Android portfolio," says Claudia Dreier-Poepperl, CEO & founder of Appsbuyout. "It has excellent functionality which really helps give users peace of mind." Call Blocker has a significant user base and sits in Google Play's 1-5-million-install tier. Seller Stojanovic made his first successful app market exit through the deal. "The selling process was very easy," he says. "It was the first time I was looking to sell an app, so I needed guidance. The Appsbuyout team was exceptionally fast and helpful throughout. Their team is very responsive, which really helps develop trust." Appsbuyout is meanwhile continuing to build its portfolio. "We are in ongoing discussions with a umber of owners of mid-tier apps who are looking to cash in on their hard work developing and growing their Android user base," adds Dreier-Poepperl. "We're also actively looking for further investments." Call Blocker is one of the top Google Play apps in its category. It's an effective call blocking app, allowing users to control their privacy and security by easily and effectively managing incoming calls and messages. Users can create Black- and Whitelists and choose to block calls, messages or both. Password protection guarantees on-device privacy. The settings are easy to adjust and users can have several profiles, so they can also deploy the app as a 'do not disturb' feature, temporarily allowing only important calls. Appsbuyout acquires Android apps that are popular with users, recently updated and have at least 50,000 installs of their latest version. The apps do not need to be profitable and since Appsbuyout is not a marketplace, sellers pay no commission. An easy-to-use app valuation tool provides further details for potential sellers at appsbuyout.vc. Full details for Call Blocker can be found on Google Play About Appsbuyout (http://appsbuyout.vc): Appsbuyout is the destination for successful Android developers looking to sell their apps. We buy apps that are popular with users directly from sellers, so there are no fees payable to middlemen. We're proud to hear sellers tell us our process is smooth, friendly and trustworthy. To find out more and get an instant valuation of your app, visit appsbuyout.vc. Appsbuyout is owned and operated by CIAmedia GmbH View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005759/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Upcoming Conference to Boost Lithuania's Growing Global FinTech Profile VILNIUS, Lithuania, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to finance experts, Lithuania has the attributes to become a new hub for investments from financial technology (FinTech) companies, due to its excellent communications and information infrastructure, as well as specialists with novel ideas. On 6 October 2016 the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Lithuania and the City of London Corporation are holding a conference on FinTech for policy developers, regulators, academics and business representatives from the finance sector, plus anyone else interested in the development of the industry. The conference's organisers expect that the event will serve as a platform for the discussion of global FinTech trends. It will also be a great opportunity to consider recent proposals designed to promote the development of the FinTech sector in Lithuania, which have been drafted by the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the Bank of Lithuania. Finance Minister Rasa Budbergyte believes Lithuania has the right conditins to develop a thriving FinTech sector because its people and businesses are adaptable and innovative, and have the enthusiasm to implement new ideas. "We must create the conditions which would promote the establishment of new FinTech companies in Lithuania," urged the Minister. "The development of these state-of-the-art services in Lithuania would not only provide jobs for highly skilled employees, but would also grant access to alternative funding to small and medium-sized businesses. We hope that the conference will be a perfect opportunity to share information and experience before submitting proposals to the Government." Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, believes regulators also have an important role to play in creating the right conditions for innovation in the finance sector. "The rapid changes in the finance sector show that, in order to maintain a competitive and open-to-innovation jurisdiction, regulators need to keep pace with the market," he commented. "This includes the removal of obstacles which were necessary in the past but no longer fit with the present situation, as well as the improvement of infrastructure and the preparation of an appropriate regulatory environment for the finance sector. We have been focusing on these directions for some time already, and hope that the combined effort of all state institutions will speed up these necessary changes," concluded Mr Vasiliauskas. The upcoming conference is a valuable opportunity to hear the insights and suggestions of market representatives and academics with a view to helping Lithuania become a more attractive base for innovative financial technology companies. The conference will take place on 6 October 2016 in Barclays Vilnius Rise (Gyneju g. 14, Vilnius).Please find more information here. Live streaming of the conference will also be available. Public Relations Office Finance Ministry +370-5-239-01-87 [email protected] http://www.Finmin.lrv.lt Public Relations Division Communication Department +370-5-268-00-71 Lietuvos Bankas [email protected] http://www.lb.lt [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Optibus Selected as a 2016 Red Herring Top 100 Asia Winner NETANYA, Israel, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Optibus announced today it had been selected as a 2016 Red Herring Top 100 Asia Winner, a prestigious list honoring the year's most promising private technology ventures from the Asia business region. Red Herring Top 100 Asia enlists the most promising companies, which are selected from approximately 2000 privately financed companies each year. Since 1996, Red Herring editors were among the first to recognize companies such as Google, Facebook, Kakao, Alibaba, Twitter, Rakuten, Salesforce.com, Xiaomi, and YouTube, which would later change the way we live and work. Gady Shlasky, Optibus CEO, commented: "We are very proud to be selected from the thousands of candidate companies all over Asia. Optibus was rated at the top for criteria like: Addressable market size, IP and patents, financing, proof of concept, trailing revenues, and management's expertise. The list of finalists includes some of the best performing and prominent companies of that year, and we are honored to be included i this list." This year's final event took place in Manila, the Philippines, where the finalist companies' CEOs presented their companies in front of a panel of judges and answered questions. "In 2016, selecting the top achievers was difficult as always," said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. "The variety, depth, disruption and traction we saw from the early stage companies to those with significant scale made 2016 a great vintage to judge. As one of the winners, Optibus should be proud of its accomplishment." The 2016 Red Herring Top 100 award is yet another testimonial to Optibus' growth and success. The company, which develops and markets sophisticated optimization solutions for public transportation operators and agencies, recently won major contracts with bus and tram operators in Europe and North America, generating increasing Monthly Recurring Revenues (MRR). Customers who use the Optibize technology experience significant Operating Expenses (OPEX) reduction and improved efficiency by utilizing the drivers and vehicles in the most optimal way. About Optibus Optibus enables a better public transportation system by offering cutting-edge solutions for efficient and real time scheduling and control. Optibus develops and implements the Optibize technology, a super-fast proprietary optimization engine, which powers the first ever real-time interactive scheduling solution for public transportation operators, while saving millions of dollars for bus operators. Optibus' disruptive technology will completely transform public transportation as autonomous buses are introduced, and flexible, on-demand service becomes a reality. For further information please contact: Yossi Aloni VP Marketing and Sales Optibus +972 73 372-9584 Twitter: https://twitter.com/optibushq Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Optibusltd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/optibus-ltd [email protected] SOURCE Optibus [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Amica Mutual Insurance Company Signs New Agreement With Epsilon To Advance Digital Marketing Capabilities PLANO, Texas, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Epsilon, an Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) company, today announced that it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Amica Mutual Insurance Company, a national writer of auto, home, marine and umbrella insurance. Epsilon will oversee email marketing strategy and execution, with a focus on engaging customers and driving customer acquisition and retention. Founded in 1907 and based in Lincoln, R.I., Amica is the oldest mutual insurer of automobiles in the United States and a top 25 provider in automobile and home insurance products. Privately owned, Amica employs more than 3,400 people in 44 offices across the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, Epsilon will oversee all aspects of Amica's permission-based email marketing, including creative, strategy and analytics and deploying communications to over one million customers and prospects through Epsilon's proprietary Agility Harmony platform. The campaigns will focus on customer acquisition and retention, building loyalty and cross-selling of insurance products. The Epsilon team will work with Amica to improve its contact strategy and introduce real-time, transactional and personalized communications to better engage customers. "Epsilon is a next-generation, strategic partner, equipped to help us evolve our marketing and our business through their channel expertise, knowledge of our target market and deep understanding of the insurance industry," said Craig Phelps, senior assistant vice president and marketing director at Amica. "We've set the bar high for customer experience across all parts of our business, and are eager to expand our customer-centric approach to digital marketing efforts." "Amica has made customer service its top priority since it opened its doors more than a century ago, and its employees continue to build strong relationships with policyholders every day," said Bryan Kennedy, chief executive officer, Epsilon/Conversant. "We're excited to help the company enhance these relationships through personalized, innovative marketing communications and a modern approach to customer engagement." About Amica Insurance Amica Mutual Insurance Co., the nation's oldest mutual insurer of automobiles, was founded in 1907. The company, based in Lincoln, Rhode Island, is a national writer of auto, home, marine and umbrella insurance. Life coverage is available through Amica Life Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary. Amica employs more than 3,400 people in 44 offices across the country. For more information, visit Amica.com. About Epsilon Epsilon is a global leader in creating connections between people and brands. An all-encompassing global marketing company, we harness the power of rich data, groundbreaking technologies, engaging creative and transformative ideas to get the results our clients require. Recognized by Ad Age as the #1 World's Largest CRM/Direct Marketing Network, #1 Largest U.S. Agency from All Disciplines and #1 Largest U.S. Mobile Marketing Agency, Epsilon employs over 7,000 associates in 70 offices worldwide. Epsilon is an Alliance Data company. For more information, visit www.epsilon.com, follow us on Twitter @EpsilonMktg or call 1.800.309.0505. About Alliance Data Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) is a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions serving large, consumer-based industries. The Company creates and deploys customized solutions, enhancing the critical customer marketing experience; the result is measurably changing consumer behavior while driving business growth and profitability for some of today's most recognizable brands. Alliance Data helps its clients create and increase customer loyalty through solutions that engage millions of customers each day across multiple touch points using traditional, digital, mobile and emerging technologies. An S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company headquartered in Plano, Texas, Alliance Data consists of three businesses that together employ more than 16,000 associates at approximately 100 locations worldwide. Alliance Data's Card Services business is a leading provider of marketing-driven branded credit card programs. Epsilon is a leading provider of multichannel, data-driven technologies and marketing services, and also includes Conversant, a leader in personalized digital marketing. LoyaltyOne owns and operates the AIR MILES Reward Program, Canada's premier coalition loyalty program, and Netherlands-based BrandLoyalty, a global provider of tailor-made loyalty programs for grocers. Follow Alliance Data on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. Forward Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements give our expectations or forecasts of future events and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "project," "plan," "likely," "may," "should" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. We believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking statements, however, are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, and no assurances can be given that our expectations will prove to have been correct. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, factors set forth in the Risk Factors section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year, which may be updated in Item 1A of, or elsewhere in, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed for periods subsequent to such Form 10-K. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation, other than as required by applicable law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events, anticipated or unanticipated circumstances or otherwise. Contact: Alliance Data Epsilon Tiffany Louder Investor Relations Britta Petersen Media Alliance Data 773-796-5434 214.494.3048 [email protected] [email protected] Shelley Whiddon Media 214.494.3811 [email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20051024/ADSLOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amica-mutual-insurance-company-signs-new-agreement-with-epsilon-to-advance-digital-marketing-capabilities-300330624.html SOURCE Alliance Data Systems Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Huawei NOVA Plus smartphone arrives in Canada, available at Rogers, Virgin Mobile and Fido Latest high end smartphone a 'must-have' device for the fast-paced, camera-ready lifestyle of Canadians TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider and one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers, announced today that the Huawei NOVA Plus, a new smartphone designed to meet the needs of today's most dynamic consumers, will be available in Canada beginning as early as October 18, 2016. "We are pleased to have Rogers, Virgin Mobile and Fido carrying the new Huawei NOVA Plus," said Huawei Canada President Sean Yang. "We continue to see a growing demand for Huawei smartphones in Canada and we are confident the new NOVA Plus will bring Canadians the same high quality features and stylish design that have helped make Huawei one of the world's most popular smartphone brands." Featurng a sleek design, a vivid camera and performance updates for enhanced usability, the Huawei NOVA Plus runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). The NOVA Plus comes with a category-leading 16 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, and allows users to capture the perfect selfie or take thousands of shots on a single charge. The device's ultra-thin industrial design features a curved section of 2.5D glass, which improves scratch resistance, delivers improved touch-screen response and gives the device a refined look. The Huawei NOVA Plus also features a next-gen 3D fingerprint sensor for improved security and convenience. For more information on the Huawei NOVA Plus, please visit www.huawei.ca. About Huawei Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Huawei's 150,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services have been deployed in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than one third of the world's population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees, and was recently name by Interbrand as one of the world's top 100 brands the first Chinese company to receive this recognition. Huawei Canada has been in operation since 2008. Huawei's innovative wireless products and services support many of Canada's leading telecommunications companies, and Huawei's Canada Research Centre in is a national leader in advanced communications technologies. We are proud to be a key part of Canada's ICT Ecosystem. SOURCE Huawei [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Researchers Demonstrate Hyperspectral Imaging for Multiphoton Microscopy Traditionally, the study of diseases at the molecular level has required scientists to extract cells and tissues from animal models and then look for clues in the samples that can determine the mechanisms underlying the disease and driving its progression. According to Chris B. Schaffer, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Cornell University, New York, USA, that is "like a person guessing who is winning a battle based on a single photograph from the warzone." A better way, Schaffer said, is a method known as multiphoton imaging, by which individual cells can be tracked in living tissue using fluorescent labels and their three-dimensional structures visualized in detail while functioning in a natural environment. However, current multiphoton imaging systems can "become confused" when two or more fluorophores (the fluorescent labels) are used together to examine the behavior and interactions of different cell types. Called hyperspectral multiphoton microscopy, a new innovation by Schaffer's lab significantly extends the current capability of this imaging technology by allowing users to see and distinguish more colors of fluorophores at the same time. This new solution to the problem will be presented by the research team at the Frontiers in Optics (FiO) / Laser Science (LS) conference in Rochester, New York, USA on 17-21 October 2016. To use traditional multiphoton microscopy, cells of interest are tagged with a fluorescent dye or genetically encoded fluorescent markers such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) and then hit with a high-power, short-pulse infrared wavelength laser. These fluorophores are excited - and define the cells they tag (News - Alert) - only at the laser focus, where the laser energy is concentrated to create a high intensity. "By scanning the laser focus throughout the sample, a 3-D reconstruction of all labeled cells and tissues is generated," Schaffer said. "These images can be collected rapidly, giving researchers the ability to track single cells in a living system, which is more relevant to understanding human disease than tracking cells in a Petri dish." The problem with many fluorophores, Bares said, is thatthey aren't one distinct color. "A red fluorophore, for example, will emit light across a range of wavelengths, say from 600 to 650 nanometers, so that there's overlap with a red-orange fluorophore emitting light from 580 to 620 nanometers," she explained. "The photodetector used to locate and visualize the target cells has no way to tell which one is the source for a 600-nanometer signal, and that's bad, because the red and red-orange fluorophores may mark cells with very different biological functions." Bares said that in the Cornell hyperspectral technique, the entire visible light spectrum is used to better characterize a sample. "It's similar to a simple multicolor imaging system, the standard red-green-blue, or RGB, signal used in television where an image has three color channels and each pixel gets a value in each of the three channels," she said. "In hyperspectral imaging, we collect the same image over 48 color channels, yielding multiple values for each pixel - and that provides a wealth of data for distinguishing very precisely between fluorophores, and in turn, cells." To enhance its technique even further, the Cornell team used different excitation laser colors. "For example, we eliminate the red versus red-orange overlap problem completely if we collect images first using a laser that only excites red fluorophores and then repeat the process with another laser that only stimulates red-orange labels," Bares said. Schaffer, Bares and their colleagues have demonstrated the capabilities of hyperspectral imaging with a 48-channel multiphoton microscope in a number of samples, including identifying 10 different colors of fluorescent beads in agarose, tracking proteins of interest in living cell cultures by fusing them with fluorescent proteins, and distinguishing between five cell types in the dense cortical tissues of a live mouse brain. With more refinement - such as improving the image analysis algorithms, increasing imaging speed and providing real-time image processing - the researchers believe that their technique has a very promising future. "Having access to a microscope that allows researchers to see and distinguish all of the cells in a tissue volume, as well as determine which interactions between these cells cause disease symptoms, could speed the development and deployment of new therapies," Schaffer said. About the Presentation The presentation, "Hyperspectral Imaging in Live Mouse Cortex Using a 48-Channel Multiphoton Microscope," by A.J. Bares, M.A. Pender, M.A. Mejooli, S. Tilley, K.E. Chen, J. Dong, P.C. Doerschuk and C.B. Schaffer, will take place from 15:45-16:00, Thursday, 20 October 2016, in the Grand Ballroom D, Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside, Rochester, New York, USA. Media Registration: A media room for credentialed press and analysts will be located on-site in the Radisson Hotel. Media interested in attending the event should register on the FiO website media center: Media Center. About FiO/LS Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2016 is The Optical Society's (OSA) 100th Annual Meeting and held together with Laser Science, the 32th annual meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Laser Science (DLS). The two meetings unite the OSA and APS communities for five days of quality, cutting-edge presentations, in-demand invited speakers and a variety of special events spanning a broad range of topics in optics and photonics-the science of light-across the disciplines of physics, biology and chemistry. The exhibit floor will feature leading optics companies, technology products and programs. More information at: FrontiersinOptics.org. About The Optical Society Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and entrepreneurs who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit: osa.org/100. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006232/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Global Distributed Antenna Systems Market to Reach USD 2.2 Billion by 2020: Technavio Technavio analysts forecast the global distributed antenna systems (DAS) market to grow at a CAGR of close to 2% during the forecast period, according to their latest report. The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global DAS market for 2016-2020. The market size is calculated on the basis of revenue generated from the sales of DAS equipment to different application segments. The global DAS market segments include DAS for commercial, medical, public infrastructure, and others. The report also presents a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendors manufacturing DAS components in the Americas, APAC, and EMEA. The global DAS market will be driven by the sales of smartphones and tablets as well as the high growth in cellular data network and services across the globe. Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=52659 Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Technavio hardware and semiconductor analysts highlight the following three factors that are contributing to the growth of the global DAS market: Proliferation of smartphones and tablets Growth in mobile data traffic Emergence of next-generation wireless networks Proliferation of smartphones and tablets According to Navin Rajendra, an industry expert for semiconductor equipment research at Technavio, "The number of smartphones shipped globally in 2015 was close to 1.4 billion while in 2014, a total of almost 1.3 billion smartphones were shipped across the globe. This is a massive growth considering the fact that only 490 million smartphones were shipped globally in 2011. Similarly, tablets have registered a significant growth in their shipments from just around 20 million units in 2010 to more than 206 million in 2015. Tablets and smrtphones, with their increased shipments since the last five years, have created a strong demand for cellular network coverage. This creates the necessity for DAS for supporting strong signal reception for smartphones and tablets, especially indoors. DAS are essentially signal boosters that strengthen the signal reception of cellular operators, removing the dead spots. Although there are other options such as cell repeaters for wireless operators that support network from a single operator. DAS supports multiple operators and are interconnected with a number of other antenna modules, all connected to a central controller. DAS are in-building cell sites that have their own wired backhaul to the operator network. DAS provides voice and data services to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, supporting multiple operators and services such as 2G, 3G, and 4G. Thus, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets will encourage DAS manufacturers to develop high-performance DAS driving the market for DAS in the global space. Growth in mobile data traffic Global mobile traffic data had an average of 3.7 exabytes per month in 2015 while it was 2.1 exabytes per month in 2014. Thus, the global mobile data traffic increased by 74% in 2015. In 2015, 563 million mobile devices were added to the Internet connection, of which smartphones accounted for 90% of the total connections. In 2015, on an average, data use on a smartphone was 929 MB per device per month, whereas data use from the basic-feature cellular phone was 23 MB per device per month. The global mobile data traffic increased by 74% in 2015 when compared with 2014. Indonesia, China, and India led had the highest growth rate, with Indonesia accounting for 129%, China for 111%, and India for 89% of the growth rate. DAS assist in boosting mobile broadband coverage and alleviating pressure on wireless networks by improving reliability in heavily trafficked areas when thousands of people are using their mobile devices. "DAS helps multiply data and voice capacity by boosting the cellular signal. With growth in data center traffic, the market for DAS will also grow during the forecast period," says Navin. Emergence of next-generation wireless networks Due to the increasing popularity of mobile communication devices, the network traffic is increasing exponentially. As a result, there is a continuous global deployment of next-generation wireless networks, such as 3G, 4G, and 5G, that offer wireless connections equivalent to home broadband connections. This, in turn, increases the number of users accessing the Internet from anywhere at any time. With such growing penetration of wireless connectivity, the need for DAS becomes more evident as cellular operators need to ensure strong signal delivery to all the wireless cellular based devices, minimizing the dead spots, especially indoors. As DAS support multiple cellular operators, they are the first option when it comes to offering a robust and cost-effective solution to customers. Thus, the market for DAS will see further improvements during the forecast period by virtue of the emergence of next-generation wireless networks. Browse Related Reports: Global EAS Antennas Market 2016-2020 Global RFID Smart Antenna Market 2016-2020 Global Satellite Ground Station Equipment Market 2016-2020 Do you need a report on a market in a specific geographical cluster or country but can't find what you're looking for? Don't worry, Technavio also takes client requests. Please contact [email protected] your requirements and our analysts will be happy to create a customized report just for you. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005708/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] WISeKey Completes the Acquisition of INSIDE Secure Semiconductor Business and Integrates Vault IC to its Vertical Cybersecurity Platform WISeKey International Holding Ltd ("WISeKey", SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity company announced today that it has concluded the acquisition of the secure Internet of Things ("IoT") integrated circuit solutions and semiconductor business from INSIDE Secure (Euronext Paris: INSD), a leader in embedded security solutions for mobile and connected devices. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006488/en/ WISeKey completes the acquisition of INSIDE Secure semiconductor business (Photo: Business Wire) The acquisition and technology integration of the Vault IC semiconductor business with WISeKey's unique Root of Trust and Identity technology have created the first ever comprehensive trusted end-to-end cybersecurity platform for people and objects (IoT). This vertical integration from Vault IC hardware & software, system certification, provisioning and up to management of services will allow WISeKey to deliver the most secure Platform to its customers. The successful transaction includes the transfer of products, technology, customer agreements, and certain patents from INSIDE Secure to WISeKey including the development and sale of secure integrated circuits designed to secure and power the strongly growing IoT market. Additionally, through this transaction, WISeKey will add a team of 70 people in areas such as R&D, sales, marketing and support to its overall staff amounting to a total of over 140 people, including staff in Switzerland, Vietnam, USA, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, giving WISeKey a global reach. The acquisition allows WISeKey to generate strong sales in new areas such as chip based IoT, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, EMV payment card and secure access to building IT equipment. Of note, the business acquired from INSIDE Secure is expected to generate revenue (pro forma unaudited) of US$34 million in 2016 and generated approximately (pro forma unaudited) US$33 million revenue in 2015. This acquisition, will provide synergistic cross-selling opportunities for the combined company. Specifically: WISeKey will be able to offer its existing platform to over 20 INSIDE Secure clients including world leaders in IT infrastructure, smart metering and identification token technology such as CISCO, Landis + Gir and Gemalto (News - Alert) which are already using the chips to secure their hardware, while the integrated circuit solutions and semiconductor technology acquired from INSIDE Secure will be offered to WISeKey's current clients such as watch manufacturers. WISeKey's recent greements should also drive additional revenue growth for the combined company by integrating the Vault IC solution with SAP's (News - Alert) industry-leading solutions as announced by both companies, reinforcing the current cybersecurity of SAP HANA, and also via the signed partnerships with Microsoft (News - Alert) on CityNext and MasterCard on authentication and payment for wearable devices. WISeKey could generate operational synergies from its expanded offerings and potentially increasing applications in a nascent IoT market via its strategic partnership with CenturyLink (News - Alert). As previously announced, CentruryLink is acting as managed service provider for WISeKey technology in USA and abroad among Nasdaq top 500 companies currently using CenturyLink technologies. "We are thrilled to complete this acquisition. The acquisition of Vault IC is part of the new WISeKey strategy of buying strong and unique technology companies to reinforce its Vertical Cybersecurity Platform and creating strategic partnerships with companies with strong presence in areas such as IoT, cybersecurity, Quantum (News - Alert), AI and Blockchain. WISeKey intends to continue to grow its business through complementary acquisitions and/or partnerships", said Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of WISeKey. INSIDE Secure has received CHF2 million in cash (net of transferred cash) together with a convertible loan note redeemable into WISeKey International Holding Ltd Class B listed shares for an amount of CHF11 million. The convertible loan note would have a 9-month maturity, bear a 2% coupon and could be converted at the option of INSIDE Secure, after a 2-month lock-up period, into freely tradeable Class B shares with a minimum 10% discount on the volume-weighted average quoted price during the 15 trading days prior to the conversion date. WISeKey would have a right to redeem the convertible loan note in cash, and INSIDE Secure may request, 20 days prior to maturity, redemption in cash for up to 30% of the principal amount of the convertible loan note. About INSIDE Secure INSIDE Secure (Euronext Paris - INSD) is at the heart of security solutions for mobile and connected devices, providing software, silicon IP, tools and know-how needed to protect customers' transactions, content, applications, and communications. With its deep security expertise and experience, the company delivers products having advanced and differentiated technical capabilities that span the entire range of security requirement levels to serve the demanding markets of network security, IoT security, content & application protection, mobile payment & banking. INSIDE Secure's technology protects solutions for a broad range of customers including service providers, content distributors, security system integrators, device vendors and semiconductor manufacturers. For more information, visit http://www.insidesecure.com. About WISeKey WISeKey WISeKey International Holding Ltd ("WISeKey", SIX: WIHN) is a leading cybersecurity company and selected as a World Economic Forum Global Growth Company. WISeKey is currently deploying large scale Internet of Things ("IoT") digital identity ecosystems and has become a pioneer of the 4th Industrial Revolution movement launched this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos. WISeKey's Swiss based Cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) integrates wearable technology with secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, and empowers IoT and wearable devices to become secure transactional devices. WISeKey has patented this process in the USA as it is currently used by many IoT providers. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com. Disclaimer: This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006488/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] dcBLOX Inc. Raises $15 Million ATLANTA, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta-based dcBLOX Inc., a data center services company that employs a proprietary modular enclosure technology, secured more than $15 million in funding from Atalaya Capital Management LP. dcBLOX will use the funds to update its existing site in the Brookhaven area of Atlanta, and to open a new multi-tenant data center in Chattanooga, Tenn. by Q4 2016. The company plans to target data center markets in secondary cities for future locations. "We are excited to offer our uniquely flexible data centers that can support high-power colocation requirements up to 30kW or more per rack cabinet," said dcBLOX Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jake Ring. "Both our Atlanta and new Chattanooga facilities are very efficient, yet can support power densities needed for Hyper-converged or High-Performance Compute architectures such as Hadoop clusters." Ring continued, "Our Chattanooga and Atlanta sites are connected through our private optical transit network at 100Gbps, scalable to 17.6Tbps, so we can quickly backup and recover client data synchronously. Customers no longer have to wait hours for Disaster Recovery, but can access their data through our high bandwidth network in minutes if not seconds." Ring and Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Joshua Reyneeld started dcBLOX in 2014 to bring to the retail data center market the proprietary modular technology and years of experience in facility and next-gen networks developed by Myoonet, Inc. Reyneveld is the chief executive officer of Myoonet, dcBLOX's exclusive provider of data center design, development and network architecture. "The dcBLOX management team has been involved in the data center market for decades, building some of the largest and most technically advanced data centers for leading Enterprise IT firms," said Reyneveld. "With our next-generation facility and network infrastructure, we can provide services unmatched by any other provider in flexibility, security, and reliability, up to 99.999%, far beyond what others can deliver," he explained. "We are deploying our OpenStack cloud with integrated SDN that on our network can support synchronous replication of customer data and applications all at greater reliability and better value than other providers." About dcBLOX Founded in 2014, dcBLOX is an Atlanta-based data center provider utilizing a proprietary enclosure technology that allows for more flexible, efficient, and cost effective infrastructure. The company provides virtual and standard colocation, and network connectivity services through its high bandwidth private optical network. Comprehensive one-stop service offerings include highly-reliable and secure OpenStack cloud solutions, Managed Services including DRaaS, Backup, and Storage, and professional IT services. For more information, visit dcBLOX.com. About Atalaya Capital Management Atalaya is a privately held, SEC-registered, alternative investment advisory firm. Atalaya focuses on making opportunistic credit and special situations investments, primarily via three principal strategies corporate, real estate and specialty finance. Founded in 2006, Atalaya is headquartered in New York City. Media Contacts: For dcBLOX: Joellyn Sargent 770.335.5244 [email protected] For Atalaya: Adam Nadborny 212.201-1910 [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dcblox-inc-raises-15-million-300330617.html SOURCE dcBLOX Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Briggs: Elkharts RV workers are only essential until a recession RV sales are great for job security in Elkhart, yet horrible for human bodies. You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). Whether you get the free, Premium, or Ultimate version of Avast Mobile Security, youll get a program with low system overhead during scanning and good protection for less than the others. However, its slow to scan for threats. Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test . Today's best Avast Mobile Security deals (opens in new tab) Avast Mobile Security (opens in new tab) View (opens in new tab) at AVAST Software (opens in new tab) Avast Mobile Security combines good protection for Android devices with a low impact on performance. While the Free version is ad-sponsored and goes beyond the basics, the Premium version adds several goodies and the Ultimate edition puts it all together by adding Avast SecureLine VPN. It is slower than the others to completely scan a device but Avast Mobile Security is one of the best Android antivirus apps you can buy. Our Avast Mobile Security review will help you decide if its worth it and which level of protection you should choose. Avast Mobile Security review: Costs and whats covered Avast Mobile Security Ultimate: Specs URL protection: Yes PUA and malware scanning: Yes Ad blocking: No Remote data wipe: Yes SIM card lock: No VPN/Unlimited use: Yes with Ultimate version Anti-theft: Yes Lost phone locator: Yes PW manager: No Wi-Fi Scanner: Yes Call blocking: No Text blocking: No Guest mode: No App advisor for app stores: No App locking: Yes Photo vault for sensitive images: Yes* Compatibility: Android version/Chromebooks/WearOS Version 5+/N/N Free version/Cost: Yes/Premium: $12 per year/Ultimate: $24 (*up to 10 images for free version; unlimited for paid versions) Avast Mobile Security comes in three flavors that suit different tastes and budgets. It starts with the free app that you pay for by watching ads. In addition to malware scanning, Mobile Security Free adds luxuries like Avasts Photo Vault but only holds 10 images. It also has Hack Alerts to see if your email address or passwords have shown up online and the Malware Force Uninstaller can remove pesky unwanted apps. Avast Mobile Security subscription options: 1 month plan - $0 per month ($0 total cost) (opens in new tab) The first step up is Avasts Mobile Security Premium for $12, which is a bargain compared to the likes of Malwarebytes premium plan. It adds the ability to lock apps, a bottomless Photo Vault for storing encrypted images as well as scam protection that alerts you to dangerous texts, emails and messaging apps. Its anti-theft provisions include the ability to locate a lost or stolen phone. At the top of Avasts Android offerings is Mobile Security Ultimate, which adds unlimited access to the companys SecureLine VPN. On its own, SecureLine VPN costs $90, making Ultimates price of $24 a year a bargain. Theres another entry point to Avast security that might provide better value for large families. The $90 Avast Premium Security package includes protection for 10 PCs, Macs, iOS systems as well as the Premium Android version. Regardless of which version you get, Avast Mobile Security runs on Android version 5 or higher, but lacks WearOS watch or Chromebook support; only Avasts browser-based Web Shield works with Chromebooks . The companys Security & Privacy app for iPhones and iPads includes Network Inspector, Web Shield and Identity Protection. Its Photo Vault can hold 40 images but because of Apples restrictions, theres no malware scanning. Avast Mobile Security review: Malware protection Avast Mobile Security Free compares favorably to competing products, with one exception. Unlike Lookouts free version, Avast Mobile Security Free is ad sponsored and annoying. Still, it provides a good assortment of defenses for absolutely nothing. All Avast Mobile Security apps include the companys Web Shield URL protection that uses a sites reputation to signal a threat. Recent updates have sped it up so that you likely wont notice any slowdown. The Web Shield plug-in works with the Avast Secure Browser, Microsoft Edge and Opera as well as Firefox and UC Browser which were added recently. It lacks the ability to block ads but caught the three malicious sites I tried to load. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The app scans a devices apps and files for signs of an existing infection. Just tap the large Scan button on the interfaces main page and it goes through the system, including any installed microSD cards. Plus, its Smart Scan and App Shield can help keep Potentially Unwanted Apps (PUAs) off your devices. Avast also has a way to remove malware that exploits accessibility permissions called Malware Force Uninstaller. Avast Mobile Security review: Malware detection With perfect scores for two AV-Test reports in a row, Avast Mobile Security is among the most effective at spotting and stopping malware. In the most recent January 2022 survey , Mobile Security not only achieved the top score in attacks (using 2,895 samples) but in the widespread category (with 2,964 samples) as well. It didnt deliver any false positives, putting Avast Mobile Security on par with Bitdefender Mobile Security and Norton 360: Mobile Security and no annoying misidentifications of safe software as dangerous. Both are in a different league compared to Google Play Protect which scored 80.7 percent on new malware and 90.0 percent on older more widespread attacks back in January. When it came to the most recent tests by AV Comparatives , Avast Mobile Security scored 99.6 percent with a single false positive. This is down slightly from its 99.9 percent showing in the previous survey. It was roughly halfway between Bitdefenders perfect 100 percent score (with no false positives) and Malwarebytes at 98.1 percent (with one false positive). Still, all offered more protection compared to Google Play Protect: 81.7 percent success rate and 12 false positives. This only tells part of the story though as Lookout, McAfee and Norton did not participate in either third-party malware evaluation. Avast Mobile Security Free continues to be one of the most thorough free Android security packages with full scanning and a bunch of extras, like App Lock. The paid version yields excellent Scam Protection but it doesnt have an ad blocker . Its Anti-Theft feature can be triggered after a set number of incorrect PIN entries. The device can be locked, located on a map and the phone can sound an annoying alarm. If the phone is not retrievable, its data can be wiped remotely. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Many of these features require using an Avast Account, but one of my favorite features is being discontinued with the next update: the Camera Trap, which remotely snaps a selfie shot of a thief from the phone, will be removed. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) While Mobile Security Free has discontinued its call blocker and lacks a guest mode, you can lock any app. The Mobile Security trio continue to include Network Inspector which warns against unsafe Wi-Fi networks. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Its Web Shield and Scam Protection can help with online hygiene, although using the Ultimate versions VPN can fill in the gaps. Avast SecureLine VPN requires a separate installation and hasnt been fully integrated into the Mobile Security app yet. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) It's active in 34 countries and has 16 servers in the U.S. but only two south of the border (Mexico and Brazil). The VPN can also make a device appear in any of these places to stream geo-blocked content. A recent addition adds the ability to use an Avast account and a paid subscription to stream content securely to an Android smart TV, Nvidia Shield TV or a Xiaomi Mi Box TV. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Using a Galaxy Note 20, it took less than 2 seconds to connect to a local server (oddly named Gotham City). I downloaded at the rate of 165Mbps from my 200Mbps connection, making it one of the most efficient VPNs around. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) While the free version of Mobile Security includes Photo Vault, its restricted to only 10 photos. The paid version offers unlimited encrypted storage locally with no online option. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) There are some useful App Insights optimization tools available that range from freeing up storage to getting rid of junk files to looking at which app is using the most resources. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) It took a single tap to get started and the app found 463MB of wasted space in a minute and removed it all with another tap. Avast Mobile Security review: System impact To gauge how much performance the app and its scanning engine use, I set up a series of tests running Android 12. With the phone plugged in and before Avasts Mobile Security was loaded, I ran the GeekBench 5 Compute benchmark to provide a performance baseline of 3,677. After loading Mobile Security, the benchmark fell to 3,558 and lowered performance potential by 3.2 percent. This is on a par with Norton 360: Mobile Securitys 3.3 percent decline and nearly double the effect that Google Play Protect (1.8 percent) or McAfee Mobile Security (1.8 percent) had. Avast has one of the most efficient scanners around. While running a scan, the GeekBench 5 Compute benchmark score went down a further 0.4 percent for a Regular Scan and 0.7 percent for a Deep Scan, showing a miniscule performance loss. Only Google Protects 0.3 percent drop was better. A Regular scan took 31.4 seconds and looked at 679 files and 480 apps. Thats on par with Bitdefender Mobile Securitys 26.9 seconds but well behind Google Play Protects 5.2 seconds or McAfee Mobile Securitys 8.2 seconds. Avast Mobile Security review: Setup and support Avast has streamlined its installation process since our last review. The 22.2MB setup starts with a slideshow of major features that can be skipped and lets you choose between the free and paid versions which can be paid for with a credit card, PayPal or gift card. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The app then activated itself. From start to finish, it took 5 minutes to get the app and install it. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) A major upside of Avast Mobile Security is that it doesnt require creating an account. You will need one to use some features, like Anti-Theft. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) If youre in a bind, Avasts tech support desk can be called, emailed or reached by using the chat window 24/7. Theres a link from the app to the support desk but the online support pages dont have a specific link for the Android app. Avast Mobile Security review: Interface Other than a new logo, there have been few design changes to Avast Mobile Security. The interface only runs in portrait mode and the main page has a large Scan button and several sub-apps. In addition to making better use of your phones memory you can also clean up junk files, check internet speeds and launch the VPN. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The Scan spot is generally green, but if the app finds anything amiss, an ominous red bar will appear at the top of the page. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Theres access to the Network Inspector to check out local Wi-Fi networks and advise which are potentially dangerous. If youre traveling, it can be set to automatically scan and evaluate all public Wi-Fi networks. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Those who opt for the Ultimate package get Avast SecureLine VPN. If you dig a bit, youll find the VPN servers which can also be assigned automatically. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Further down, you can run a speed test and set up hack alerts to see if your email address or passwords have leaked online. Theres also a place to set up Scam Protection for warning about dangerous emails, text messages and messaging app notes. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Theres a helpful side menu that lists Avast Mobile Securitys features and provides access to the recently added dark mode. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) While the Free version of Mobile Security doesnt allow scan scheduling, both the Premium and Ultimate packages do. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Its easy to schedule scans to run daily or weekly but theres no monthly option. Avast Mobile Security review: Bottom line With the choice of a free ad-supported version as well as upgraded mobile security apps, Avast has something for everyone. It offers good malware protection and very low overhead scanning but can be slow to scan a phone. While Bitdefender Mobile Security offers better protection, Avast Mobile Security has a place for those who are also looking for a VPN in addition to a mobile antivirus. Get it if you can spend $15 per year. Bitdefender Mobile Security is the best all-around Android antivirus app, and its inexpensive price almost makes it a no-brainer. Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test . Today's best Bitdefender Mobile Security deals (opens in new tab) Bitdefender Mobile Security (opens in new tab) $14.99 /year (opens in new tab) View (opens in new tab) at Bitdefender (opens in new tab) Bitdefender Mobile Security: Specs URL protection: Yes PUA and malware scanning: Yes Ad blocking: Yes Remote data wipe: Yes SIM card lock: No VPN/Unlimited use: Yes w/Premium Security plan Anti-theft: Yes Lost phone locator: Yes PW manager: No Wi-Fi Scanner: Yes Call blocking: No Text blocking: No Guest mode: No App advisor for app stores: No App locking: Yes Photo vault for sensitive images: No Compatibility: Android version/Chromebooks/WearOS Version 5+/Y/Y Free version/Cost: $15 per year With everything from web browser warnings to some of the most effective malware scanning around, Bitdefender Mobile Security tops off its Android defenses with extra privacy protection, scam protections and guards against unwanted apps being installed. It may not be the fastest at scanning but Bitdefender Mobile Security can stay half a step ahead of hackers by using a mix of local and cloud-based analysis to find and fix a wide variety of threats while maintaining a minimal effect on the phones performance. With more than 10 million downloads, its not as popular as apps from Norton and McAfee. Still, it garnered a 4.7 rating on the Google Play Store. While you cant get unlimited access to Bitdefenders VPN by getting just the Mobile Security app, it provides nothing short of the best protection at one of the best values in Android security today. Bitdefender Mobile Security review: Costs and whats covered Bitdefender Mobile Security subscription options: Bitdefender Mobile Security for $14.99 per year (opens in new tab) Bitdefenders Android products start with its Antivirus Free for Android app, which can provide basic protection for a phone or tablet. It relies primarily on cloud scanning for its malware protection and has been designed to have a minimal impact on performance and battery life. If thats not enough, Bitdefender offers a 14-day trial of its full Mobile Security app. After the trial, it costs $15 a year, making it one of the least expensive ways to guard an Android device. Using Bitdefender Mobile Security adds website analysis and blocking, Scam Alerts and Account Privacy for seeing if your personal information has shown up on the dark web. On the other hand, access to the companys VPN is limited to 200MB per day; unlimited use costs an extra $30 a year. There are other ways to get the Android Mobile Security app, starting with Bitdefenders cross-platform packages: the $100 Total Security plan covers 10 systems (PCs, Macs, Androids and iPhones and iPads) and the $120 Family Pack covers up to 15 systems; VPN access is limited to 200MB per day. The Premium Security plan takes this a step further with protection for 10 users and unlimited VPN access for up to five users at a time. It costs $160 per year. Theres one more possibility: get a Netgear router that includes the companys Armor security software. In addition to software residing on the router, Armor includes an unlimited license for Bitdefender Total Security. After the initial trial period, it costs $100 a year to renew Armor, making it one of the best deals in security software. All of Bitdefenders subscriptions lack one thing: full identity packages that Norton offers with its LifeLock add-ons. Bitdefenders Digital Identity Protection plan is a step in the right direction and costs an extra $80. It can search the dark web for your personal information but lacks ID insurance and lost funds restoration. The Mobile Security app needs Android version 5 (aka Lollipop) or newer and can protect many but not all Chromebooks as if they were Android systems. Bitdefender Mobile Security is the rare Android security app that focuses on WearOS watches with WearON which in addition to malware protection can sound an alarm if the phone and watch are separated by more than 25 feet. Bitdefenders Mobile Security for iOS is more rudimentary than the Android version, particularly because of Apples restrictions on malware scanning; the app does keep an eye on data flowing to and from a device for threats. It includes website protection, limited VPN access and costs the same $15 a year. Bitdefender Mobile Security review: Malware protection With everything from Web site protection to defenses against phishing and malware, Bitdefender Mobile Security is a one-stop Android safety center. Based on its AutoPilot technology, all major details are left to the app to tune the phones security stance, often reacting faster than any person could to new threats. By pushing much of the analysis and recognition of malware into the cloud, the scanner can track the latest threats while keeping the app slim with low overhead. In addition to stopping unwanted apps from being installed, Bitdefender Mobile Security scans for rogue code in real time. The app cant schedule scans, but it can be set to manually examine a system for viruses and provides excellent feedback on its operations with a list of major malware categories and whether youve picked up any of those infections. The classifications range from malware, ransomware and potentially unwanted apps to adware, monitoring, banking and hidden malware. Each has a quick explanation of how the threat works. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The apps Web Protection can warn against unsafe websites based on a sites reputation for sending malware. Able to block phishing, and crypto-mining scripts, it cant stop ads and trackers, which can be thwarted by using the VPN. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Still, it works from within the app providing compatibility with an excellent variety of browsers. In addition to Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, it works with several more obscure ones like DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Dolphin, Huawei and Brave. It successfully blocked the three malicious sites I tried. Bitdefender Mobile Security review: Malware detection As is the case with its Windows security applications Bitdefender Mobile Security has an enviable streak of perfect results on AV-Tests periodic surveys. Its results in the January - February examination were no different with Mobile Security acing with perfect 100 percent scores in the new and widespread malware categories, which used 2,896 and 2,964 malicious samples. Impressive, yes, but in that shoot-out, Avast, and Norton 360 also left with top scores. Only Google Play Protect missed the mark with a disappointing 80.7 percent score against the latest Android threats and a slightly better, though still unsatisfactory, 90.0 percent result on AV-Tests popular and widespread malware. The good news is that none of the four Android security apps had any false positives. This was followed up with the same perfect results on the July 2021 AV Comparatives test . It had no recorded false positives as well. None of the other three companies that participated in the AV Comparatives Android survey did this well, with Avast dropping to 99.6 percent (with one false positive) and Malwarebytes falling to 98.1 percent (1 false positive). Once again, Google Play Protect trailed by a wide margin with its 81.7 percent showing and 12 false positives. Lookout and McAfee didnt participate in any of the third party evaluations we use, while Norton 360 and McAfee didnt take part in AV Comparatives examinations. This makes the comparisons a little tricky. In addition to the expected security features, Bitdefender Mobile Security has a slew of extras. While it has on-demand scanning for malware, the apps Scam Alert can protect from fraudulent links in your texts and messages for deals that are too good to be true. If you subscribe to the VPN, ad and tracker blocking are thrown in. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Based on artificial intelligence, Scam Alert tries to correlate data from a variety of sources to spot even obscure threats. It tries to reduce the chances that these fraudulent schemes are sent to others. A big help is at the bottom of the Scam Alert page, where theres a series of hints and things to look for in existing scams. Several have images of the actual swindle, making recognition on your phone a snap. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) While others, like McAfee have ditched their anti-theft arsenal, Bitdefender includes the ability to find a lost or stolen phones last known location on a map. It can send a text to the missing device or have it ring very loudly. The shield extends to being able to lock or wipe the system and remotely shoot a selfie picture of the person holding it after too many incorrect PIN attempts. The owner can see the evidence in their Bitdefender Central account. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) While it cant touch Norton 360s LifeLock add-on identity protection plans, the Bitdefender Account Privacy is a nice incremental extra. It can alert you if your email has been involved in any recent data breaches and can help you change your password. The service can monitor up to 10 email accounts on the open and dark web but lacks the ability to check for phone numbers, bank accounts and other personal identifiers that McAfee Dark Web Monitoring can look for. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Bitdefender Mobile Security lacks a password manager. The companys recently revamped Password Manager can consolidate all your login credentials into a super secure password thats automatically entered. It costs $30 a year. The App Lock is for when you need to lend your phone to someone else to make or take calls. Its an easy way to turn off access to any or all of its apps. Its simple to set up App Lock and a PIN code or fingerprint is needed to reopen the software. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) That said, its VPN security is available for most free and paid plans but limited to 200MB per day, while the flagship Premium Security plan includes unlimited access. When the VPN is active, it includes adware and tracker blocking. With 1,300 servers in 30 countries, it has a wide reach for secure communications or watching geo-blocked content. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) It took 6.9 seconds to get online using the VPN and delivered 87.7 Mbps of my offices 200 Mbps broadband connection. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Finally, the apps Reports section is a hidden gem for those curious about cybersecurity and Mobile Securitys actions. It sums up the apps security activities in one place. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The reports are compiled weekly and cover all major security aspects of the app. The daily bar graph of actions is also quite informative. Bitdefender Mobile Security review: System impact To gauge how much of the phones performance the app and its scanning engine took up, I set up a series of tests using my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 running Android 12. With the phone plugged in and before Bitdefender Mobile Security was loaded, I ran the GeekBench 5 Compute benchmark to provide a performance baseline of 3,682. After the Mobile Security app was installed but before any scanning, that baseline dropped by 2.1 percent to 3,604. This passive decline in performance potential is a little lighter than Norton 360: Mobile Securitys 3.3 percent or Malwarebytes Premium + Privacys 2.6 percent. In the area, Google Play Protects 1.8 percent decline tied with McAfee Mobile Security for the least background overhead eaten up by the app. During scanning, the Bitdefender Mobile Security dropped another 1 percent in the GeekBench 5 Compute benchmarks to 3,568. Its not as good as Avast Mobile Security 0.4 percent decline or Google Play Protects 0.3 percent drop in performance. It is a lot better than Lookout Mobile Securitys 3.1 percent decline. At 26.9 seconds to examine the phone, Bitdefender Mobile Securitys scan time was midway between the fastest (Google Play Protect at 5.2 seconds) and the slowest (Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy at 51 seconds). Its important to note that the first scans by Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy and McAfee Mobile security took 4:41 and 2:19 before settling down to more reasonable times. For Bitdefender Mobile Security, its scans were at the same level from the start. Bitdefender Mobile Security review: Setup and support Bitdefenders installation process was simple and quick, starting with a 54MB download. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) After creating an account with Bitdefender, I needed to pay for and activate the product; Bitdefender takes credit cards and Paypal. I also had to give the app access to my phone and was offered an initial scan. It took four minutes to get and load the security app. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) In addition to 24/7 availability for phone calls and emails, Bitdefender support has a handy chat window for assistance. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Theres an app link to the companys list of support topics and access to a huge array of DIY tutorials. These items include FAQs, videos and troubleshooting help. Bitdefender Mobile Security review: Interface With a mild redesign since we last looked at it, Bitdefender Mobile Security is bright, colorful and can only be used in portrait mode. Its also quick and easy to figure out how to get the most out of the app. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Its dashboard page sums up a lot and is easy to understand at a glance. At the top is a green shield with a checkmark to show everything is safe. If there was an attack underway or something needed updating, it would have turned to a red X. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Below are three main sections for Anti-Theft for lost device location, locking and wiping the phone as well as App Lock for turning off access to specific apps. At the bottom is a section for the VPN and a come-on for a fresh installation to load the VPN app. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Along the bottom are a row of four other icons for critical protection. In addition to the Malware scanner and the ability to start a scan, theres a page for Web Protection that provides access to all the different browser add-ons available. Meanwhile, the Scam Alert can be started and shows what its found. Below are a good range of examples of rip-offs to keep an eye out for. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) The More section acts like a master settings section that provides an alternate route into the configuration details. It has links for everything from VPN, Anti-Theft and Account Privacy to App Lock, Reports and Support. Theres also a way to suggest Mobile Security to friends and relatives. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) One of the best online portals in the business, Bitdefender Central provides a place to oversee the companys products. (Image credit: Tom's Guide) I could check how many licenses remain and use them on new systems. It also shows any recent malware threats. Bitdefender Mobile Security review: Bottom line It may not be the most popular Android protection app, but Bitdefender Mobile Security provides nothing short of the best protection available for a phone today. It not only leads in defenses against the worst the web has to offer but its interface is easy to use, and the new privacy and scam guards are ready for just about anything. It falls short by lacking an option to inexpensively add unlimited access to the companys VPN and a full-fledged identity protection offering. Still, at $15 for a year, Bitdefender Mobile Security is the best protection money can buy and deserves to be on your phone. Samsung Galaxy S23 all the rumors so far As good as the Samsung Galaxy S22 is, Samsung could do even better with its next flagship. Here's a look at some of the features we hope make the cut for the Galaxy S23. Self-driving cars two-ton robots moving at high speed are not ready for the road, and won't be for many years. Technology companies such as Google and, especially, Tesla are moving far too fast toward granting robot cars total autonomy, because they're not used to software and sensor problems leading to fatal accidents. (Image credit: Mopic/Shutterstock) The U.S. government yesterday (Sept. 19) made a half-step toward regulating self-driving cars. Most media coverage spun that as an endorsement of the technology, but there's an alternative view: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has accepted autonomous vehicles as inevitable, and is jumping in before more people get killed. Legacy automakers may not be as quick as Tesla to issue security patches for their computerized cars, but at least they deeply understand the risks of taking control away from human drivers, and aren't being so arrogant as to beta-test autonomous vehicles on public roadways. We should look to Detroit and Washington for leadership in this field, not Silicon Valley. MORE: Self-Driving Cars Could Create 'Hell on Earth' "Advanced automated vehicle safety technologies, including fully self-driving cars, may prove to be the greatest personal transportation revolution since the popularization of the personal automobile nearly a century ago," the NHTSA said in the introduction to its Federal Automated Vehicles Policy paper yesterday. "Automated driving innovations could dramatically decrease the number of crashes tied to human choices and behavior." The policy paper lays out voluntary guidelines, not mandatory regulations, and does sound more like an endorsement than a warning. But in the fine print, the message is clear that regulations will come and what those future regulations will look like depends on how well the makers of self-driving cars follow today's guidelines. The paper asks that all companies involved in self-driving cars, from software coders to car builders to sensor makers to taxi-fleet operators, submit safety assessments covering 15 different criteria to the NHTSA four months before road testing begins. Those criteria range from vehicle cybersecurity to post-crash behavior to fallback mechanisms for when self-driving systems fail. Compliance with these guidelines will be easier for Tesla, Google and General Motors than it will be for solo tinkerers like George Hotz, the famous iPhone and PlayStation hacker who is building a self-driving car in his garage. But it will force even the big companies to slow down their aggressive testing of robot cars on public roadways. Far from safe That's a good thing, because right now that on-street beta testing is leading to accidents. The only proven fatal accident involved Joshua Brown, the Ohio man killed in May when his Tesla Model S plowed into the side of a tractor-trailer as the car was speeding on Autopilot. Tesla has publicly stated that Autopilot isn't meant to be a truly autonomous system that would permit the driver to completely relinquish control. Yet the system's name implies exactly that. Brown, who was reportedly watching a movie when his car hit the tractor-trailer, may have taken it a bit too literally. "By marketing their feature as 'Autopilot,' Tesla gives consumers a false sense of security," Consumer Reports executive Laura MacCleery said following Brown's death. "We're deeply concerned that consumers are being sold a pile of promises about unproven technology." That technology can be fooled, as Brown's own death proved. His car's cameras apparently didn't "see" the white trailer in front of the car as an obstacle, possibly because the trailer was hard to distinguish against a bright sky. His car's radar would have picked it up, but the latest version of Autopilot at the time was configured to disregard obstacles detected by radar unless they could be confirmed by cameras. (The next version of Autopilot will give radar equal authority.) It's not just Tesla's sensors that are fallible. At the DEF CON 24 hacking conference in Las Vegas in August, three Chinese researchers showed how easy it was to make fake obstacles appear, and real ones disappear, from the navigation systems of Tesla, Audi, Volkswagen and Ford vehicles. Most of these scenarios involve assisted rather than autonomous driving, and the humans behind the wheel would often be able to stop in time. Autonomous vehicles might not have that fallback option. One of the biggest makers of vehicle camera systems is an Israeli firm called Mobileye, which supplies numerous car makers. But in May, following Brown's crash, Mobileye and Tesla had a falling out. This month, Mobileye's chairman and chief technology officer told Reuters that Tesla was "pushing the envelope" in terms of vehicle safety. The human advantage Let's look at Tesla's and Google's claims that autonomous vehicles are safer than regular cars because there's no factor of human error. That may be true on an empty road with unmoving obstacles. But self-driving cars have to share the road with human drivers, and human drivers seem to hit self-driving cars twice as often as regular vehicles, according to a University of Michigan study in October 2015. An autonomous vehicle in heavy traffic would be a cybernetic grandma. That may be because self-driving cars are too cautious, too observant of the law, and too slow to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. A Google autonomous vehicle was famously rear-ended by a human driver in Mountain View, California because the Google car braked too quickly at a stop sign. (The crash was at a whopping 4 mph.) MORE: Connected Cars: A Guide to New Vehicle Technology You might imagine that caution, lawfulness and moderate speed are good things. But they're not. No one drives 55 on the freeway, and if they do, they'd better be in the slow lane. An autonomous vehicle in heavy, but steady, freeway traffic would be a cybernetic grandma, stuck in the fast lane doing the speed limit and too scared to change lanes even as angry drivers behind it pressed closely to its bumper. Updated software could mitigate that behavior, but you'd have to program the robot car to regularly break the law and that's something no corporation wants to be caught doing. And that rosy scenario is in freeway traffic during clear daylight, possibly the most predictable form of traffic there is. Regular driving involves having to react instantly to darkness, heavy rain, snow, kids following balls out into streets, cyclists and things suddenly falling off trucks. "There's nothing that's even remotely approaching the ability to do that," Steve Shladover, director of the University of California's Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) program, told the CBC in a May 2015 article. "Even the most sophisticated of those test vehicles is far inferior to a novice driver." I just stepped outside to get lunch in midtown Manhattan and watched taxis abruptly change lanes, bicycle deliverymen weave in and out of traffic, and pedestrians stand on the street (not the sidewalk) at corners and then race across the street before the next car comes. New York City drivers know how to drive in such chaotic situations. It'll be a long time before a robot car programmed in suburban California can do that. The 24-inch TN category represents the best possible value in adaptive-refresh gaming monitors. AOCs G2460PF is currently at the pinnacle, which means its the least-expensive solution from a major manufacturer. While some may not be willing to include TN in their tech basket, this monitor looks great when playing even the most demanding gaming titles with motion quality that matches many more-expensive displays. For those on a budget, it merits a serious look. Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test . Introduction There is little doubt that gamers thirst most for performance. The popularity of technologies like G-Sync, FreeSync and fast refresh rates show that in the land of enthusiast computing, motion quality is king. Its coveted more than resolution, image clarity, and even color accuracy. Fortunately that last one is a far less concerning issue, because newer screens stick pretty close to standards right out of the box. Notice that value is not in my list. I am certainly aware of the many reader comments talking about how many gaming monitors are too expensive and that buyers will be waiting for lower prices. That is the focus of todays review. The 24-inch TN category, once dominated by relatively expensive, fast-refresh screens like the Asus VG248QE, has welcomed a new addition: TN-based Freesync displays. These monitors sport 144Hz and adaptive-sync, which is a nearly unbeatable combination. Youd think there would be a great proliferation of such products, but it seems manufacturers are concentrating their efforts more at the high end. Today, however, we have the opportunity to evaluate a low priced screen that offers a good quality FHD-resolution TN panel with 144Hz and FreeSync, and has a street price of just over $200. Its AOCs G2460PF. Specifications AOC hasnt really cut any corners here unless you consider the use of a TN panel a cost reduction measure. Despite the AU Optronics parts old-school tech, it offers quick response times and in our experience looks better off-axis than some other similar displays weve reviewed. The biggest news here is a generously wide FreeSync operating range. Early versions of the G2460PF and its larger brother, the G2770PF, were saddled with a 48Hz lower limit, but new firmware has taken that down to 35Hz and added support for Low Framerate Compensation (LFC). This effectively doubles frames when the action gets slow, which prevents tearing, just like with G-Sync. In practice, an FHD monitor is less likely to drop below 35fps. Other features? Aside from some game-specific picture modes, there isnt anything else to speak of, and thats a good thing. Gamers looking for a budget solution to finish off their rigs may have just found the ideal display. The price is attractive as are the specs. Now its time to see if the image quality is worthy of AOCs performance claims. Lets take a look. Packaging, Physical Layout & Accessories The G2460PF is fairly compact and lightweight and has an efficient carton to match. Its made from thick double corrugate, so it should stand up to the rigors of shipping. The base is the only part that must be attached (using a captive bolt). The upright is already assembled, although it can be removed via four screws to reveal a 100mm VESA mount. Cables are included for IEC power, USB, DisplayPort, and HDMI. The user manual must be downloaded from AOCs website along with support software if desired. None of these are needed for plug-and-play operation however. AOC also includes a cable clip to keep your connections tidy. Product 360 Image 1 of 4 The monitor is simply styled with a mixture of satin and brushed textures molded into high-impact plastic. Its gaming intent is signaled by a single strip of red trim across the bottom of the bezel and a red cable clip on the upright. The FreeSync feature is announced at the panels top left corner. At the bottom left are molded-in icons indicating the locations of the down-facing control buttons. Four keys navigate the OSD while a fifth toggles power. Its not the joystick weve come to know and love from BenQ and Asus screens, but at this price point, buttons arent surprising. The anti-glare layer is aggressive and rejects all but the brightest sunlight. Your rooms overhead fixtures will not be a problem for the G2460PF. We couldnt see any grain or softness in the image. The round base moves with the monitor when turned. A hidden plastic piece with rubber pads remains stationary on your desktop surface. Additional adjustments include 5" of height, a portrait mode, 25 tilt and an owl-like 300 of swivel. The side profile is slim with most internals housed in a central bulge that extends from side to side. On the right are two USB ports of the 2.0 variety. The red one remains active when the monitor is powered down to facilitate charging mobile devices. Around back you can see two small speaker grills that fire their sound into whatever is behind the monitor. Keeping it a few inches out from the wall provides the best fidelity. They arent terribly loud but audio is reasonably clear if lacking in bass or transparency. If you want better results, we suggest the headphone jack on the bottom. The input panel contains one each of DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, and VGA. You can enjoy FreeSync over HDMI at up to 120Hz and DisplayPort up to 144Hz. Both have a lower limit of 35Hz. You can also feed in an analog audio source and plug in your headphones here. MORE: Best Computer Monitors MORE: How To Choose A Monitor MORE: Display Calibration 101 MORE: The Science Behind Tuning Your Monitor MORE: All Monitor Content Homegrown buzz magnet Tash Sultana is absolutely killing it in Europe right now. Her tour may have gotten off to a bumpy start thanks to a mixup with her airline, but if this breathtaking footage shot at a local Dutch radio station is anything to go by, its all smiles at the moment. The triple j Unearthed feature artist recently wrapped a huge, completely sold-out national tour of Australia and her European trek has similarly sold out across the board, with the one-woman-band frequently taking to social media to share footage of at-capacity rooms around Europe. Punters were struggling to get in the door of her packed out BIGSOUND showcase and Tash hit the ground running as soon as she got back to Melbourne, announcing a new six-track EP, scheduled to drop worldwide later this month, and the launch of her own record label, Lonely Lands Records. The EP will include the triple j favourite Notion as well as her brand new single, Jungle. The homemade video for Jungle recently went viral, having accrued over 2 million views and more than 22,000 shares on Facebook in a week. Tash will also be playing Laneway 2017 next January and February. Photo Credit: Ben Houdijk Tash Sultana National Tour Dates Thursday, 15th September 2016 The Borderline, London Saturday, 17th September 2016 7 Layers Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands Sunday, 18th September 2016 Rotown, Rotterdam, Netherlands Thursday, 22nd September 2016 The Northern, Byron Bay Friday, 23rd September 2016 Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane Friday, 30th September 2016 The Corner Hotel, Melbourne Thursday, 6th October 2016 Mojos, Fremantle Friday, 7th October 2016 Settlers Tavern, Margaret River Thursday, 13th October 2016 Bahas Tacos, Rye Friday, 14th October 2016 Torquay Hotel, Torquay Saturday, 15th October 2016 Uni Bar, Adelaide Thursday, 20th October 2016 Newtown Social Club, Sydney Thursday, 27th October 2016 Sooki Lounge, Belgrave Friday, 11th November 2016 Kings Arms, Auckland Loving live music isnt just about attending music festivals and seeing an international artists massive arena show. Even the biggest of big-name headliners started in the trenches, on the sticky carpets and bandrooms of your local bars and pubs which is exactly where you should be if you want to discover your new favourite band or venue. Here are our picks for this weeks best local gigs from Aussie talent from Perth to the East Coast and all for the price of a good meal. Alex Lahey Where: Hotel Steyne, Manly NSW When: 9pm 12am, Friday Sep 23 Why: Following the release of her killer debut record B-Grade University, Alex Lahey is hitting back with her first national tour. The gig is set to be one to remember and with support acts Betty & Oswald, its one you shouldnt miss oh and did we mention that its free? Tickets & Info: Free, more info here. Mall Grab & Christopher Port Where: Ferdydurke, Melbourne VIC When: 9pm 5am, Saturday Sep 22 Why: $10 for a night of quality house and electronica? Yes please! Headlining the night is Mall Grab who is racking up millions of plays online, and joining him is Christopher Port, whose recent EP Vehement was met with plenty of praise as well. You cant really lose! Tickets & Info: $10-15 more info here. Dorsal Fins & Remi DJs Where: Yah Yahs, Melbourne VIC When: 8pm 5am, Saturday Sep 24 Why: Yah Yahs is throwing a pretty great night this Saturday with Dorsal Fins headlining their first Melbourne show with a very late-night appearance from Sydney outfit Straight Arrows, coupled in with a Remi DJ afterparty all for a ridiculously low 10 Dollarydoos. Tickets & Info: $10, Yah Yahs, Melbourne VIC8pm 5am, Saturday Sep 24Yah Yahs is throwing a pretty great nightwith Dorsal Fins headlining their first Melbourne show with a very late-night appearance from Sydney outfit Straight Arrows, coupled in with a Remi DJ afterparty all for a ridiculously low 10 Dollarydoos.: $10, more info here The Cherry Dolls Where: Cherry Bar, Melbourne VIC When: 10pm, Thursday Sep 15 Why: Melbourne rock stalwarts The Cherry Dolls couldnt have found a better spot to launch their second EP, Lone Palm, than Melbournes home of rawk, Cherry Bar. Theyll be backed up by a damn-solid support crew of Jurassic Nark Horace, Bones & BATZ DJs. Lower Spectrum Where: The Bird, Perth WA When: 8pm 11pm, Thursday Sep 22 Why: One of the best electronic talents in the country, LOWER SPECTRUM will be kicking off his national tour, launching his new EP with a hometown show. With music to reflect over with a couple of pints, and plenty more bangers to dance to after said pints, stretch out your weekend by catching this one on Thursday. Tickets & Info: $15, More info here. Marcus Whale Where: Golden Age Cinema & Bar, Sydney NSW When: 9pm 12am, Thursday Sep 22 Why: One of Australias most vital songwriters Marcus Whale is coming at ya this Thursday night with an array of incredible tunes. An intimate night in unique surrounds, its described as dinner and a show without dinner, and sounds like an ideal way to wind down your week before kicking off on a Friday. Hes amazing, and its free its so theres no excuse for missing this one. Tickets & Info: Free, more info here. Crepes & Loose Tooth Where: Karova, Ballarat VIC When: 7 pm 12am, Saturday Sep 24 Why: If youre in Bendigo this weekend, make sure to check out the homegrown talent play their last hometown show of the year. Crepes will be trying out how their new material from their latest record sounds live, and you should definitely be there to hear it. Theyre being supported by Loose Tooth, who are signed to Courtney Barnetts Milk! Records label, so just more reasons to get out of the city. Tickets & Info: more info here. Karova, Ballarat VICIf youre in Bendigo this weekend, make sure to check out the homegrown talent play their last hometown show of the year. Crepes will be trying out how their new material from their latest record sounds live, and you should definitely be there to hear it. Theyre being supported by Loose Tooth, who are signed to Courtney Barnetts Milk! Records label, so just more reasons to get out of the city. Amarillo & Darren Cross Where: Newtown Social Club, Sydney NSW When: 6:30pm 11:30pm, Wednesday Sep 21 Why: If youre not vibing loud sounds but still want to catch some live music this weekend, then this is your gig. Excellent Melbourne folk outfit Amarillo are heading north, to be joined by Gerlings Darren Cross for an unplugged night of folk and folktronica. Tickets & Info: more info here. If youre not vibing loud sounds but still want to catch some live music this weekend, then this is your gig. Excellent Melbourne folk outfit Amarillo are heading north, to be joined by Gerlings Darren Cross for an unplugged night of folk and folktronica. Love Migrate & Baptism Of Uzi Where: The Curtin, Melbourne VIC When: 7:30pm 12am, Thursday Sep 22 Why: Head down to the Deaf Ambitions party this Thursday night for some easy listening indie-rock as Love Migrate take you on an emotional journey to start the weekend. Supported by Baptism of Uzi, who will make sure to get your feet moving, youre getting the best of both worlds and thats before considering Way Dynamic and Emma Russack are playing as well. Tickets & Info: more info here. Gabriella Cohen Where: The Curtin, Melbourne VIC When: 8pm Saturday Sep 24 Why: Also at The Curtin this week, Saturday night sees a night of rock and roll from Gabriella Cohen. Known for singing in The Furrs, Cohen has broken out with her debut solo record, and it rocks. Even better, you get support sets from a great range of emerging talent including Chelsea Bleach, Jarrow and Lalic. Tickets & Info: $15.30, more info here. Image by Kain Balzary Regular Band, Mudshadows & More Where: 4ZZZ Carpark, Brisbane QLD When: 12pm 6pm, Saturday Sep 24 Why: Six hours of live rock music for free? Sign us up! Regular Band will be headlining this carpark gig hosted in front of the 4ZZZ studios. Get ready for head bangin and mosh pitting as these hard hitting Brisbands make some noise. Mudshadows will also be making an appearance, as well as a host of other local talent, so dont miss out. Tickets & Info: more info here. Broadway Sounds, Gonzo Jones & More Where: The Curtin, Melbourne VIC When: 8pm 12am, Friday Sep 23 Why: Melbourne-based psych pop outfit Broadway Sounds have returned home for a minute to play as part of a ripper lineup with good mates and talented acts themselves Donny Benet and Gonzo Jones. Hot on the heels of a successful UK/European tour, including a stop at Glastonbury, this will be Broadway Soundss first headline show on home turf in seven months. Tickets & Info: $12, more info here. Koriko Treehouse Where: Rocket bar, Adelaide SA When: 9pm 5am, Friday Sep 23 Why: Koriko Treehouse couldnt be prouder of their brand new EP and they couldnt be more excited to celebrate its release with you. The Adelaide outfits bag is a catchy brand of indie pop mixed with all of the shimmer of 70s glam. Think Roxy Music meets The Shins and youre in the right ball park. Tickets & Info: $10, more info here. ATLAS (MOVEMENTS I & II) I wrote this song during the making of New Haze and came out the end of the recording process feeling like it didnt quite fit into the realm of the EP but it stood out strongly on its own. Originally two separate ideas that naturally came together into one, elements crossover between the 12 minute length that correlate and reciprocate each other. There is a unique thematic journey of dynamic percussion and transposing melody thats graceful, precise and almost imperceptibly evolving. Im really happy to see it being pressed onto limited 7inch free for my shows coming up soon. MASQUERADE (RIOUX REMIX) Ive been following Erin Riouxs musical movements since his first EP release System Preferences . Its such a strong body of work that encapsulates Riouxs unique style and skill for electronic arrangements. Originally from Detroit and now based in Brooklyn, he has continually released strong cuts that never stray away from experimenting with the abstract. I hit him up at the start of the year to rework Masquerade and he effortlessly turned the track upside down. Keeping with the swinging rhythm of the original, Rioux has upped the tempo and really injected a brilliant depth and elegance to the song that i love. MASQUERADE (SATORI REMIX) Djordje Petrovic (Satori) hails from the Netherlands and has been gaining serious traction across America and Europe with his engaging live sets, playing alongside Acid Pauli and Nicolas Jaar. Satoris ability to blend natural and electronic textures together is quite amazing and he does this brilliantly with his totally different rework of Masquerade. Using live musicians to lay down the foundations of the track, he teases and moves around different elements of the original to full effect, that never feels strained or forced. We had differing ideas on whether to utilize the Monopoly synth solo towards the end, but Satoris masterful touch embeds a unique flavour that makes it sound right at home. DECOMPOSE (LUCIANBLOMKAMP REMIX) Having recently co-headlined a tour with Lucianblomkamp across Australia for our new releases, we teamed up to both remix a track from each others albums. Lucian flips the opening track from my EP and takes it into a chilling and dark territory thats seamless and slick. He stamps his original style on it so well he had been playing it in his live sets and I had no idea until the last show of the tour. Lucians a world class producer and was such a nice guy to tour with. ORACLE (BONUS TRACK) The closing track of the EP, this song was also a BSide to New Haze that stood out on its own and has been finding its way into my live set. I felt this track had such an apocalyptic/riot vibe, i used field recordings of flares going off and rowdy street crowds side chained through the percussion. The main synth line melody was played on a DSI Pro2 with various space echo feedback modulation that gives it a sense of being alive and bit out of control. A nice way to conclude the ep. Tuka has shared the background to his incredible triple j Like A Version cover of Angus & Julia Stones Big Jet Plane during a post on social media in which the Australian emcee reflects on the impact lifes hurdles have had on his creative output. After revealing that hes been busy working on new material with Thundamentals, the Blue Mountains rapper explains that his strongest creative output has always coincided with the toughest times in his personal life, as they have recently. The funny thing is, tbh Ive had one of the roughest years of my life on a personal level This year Ive had some major life changes go down, which really shook me to my core but at the same time Ive had the opportunity to vent it all through this new album, he writes. All the bulls**t that went down really sucked but it was great for my song writing haha! It reminds me of when I was writing Feedback Loop, at the time I was going through a similar situation. Writing all the songs at the same time as dealing with heavy life s**t. It wasnt till after I released Feedback Loop that my career in music really started and people wanted to support me. Before then I was really struggling to get myself out there. Most of my songs just werent really connecting with you. According to Tuka, it was when he decided to give himself more freedom in his songwriting and address real personal issues in his life, such as in his acclaimed Like A Version cover, that people began to take more notice of his music. All the songs that you guys seem to resonate with are songs about real people, situations and experiences that Ive gone through. The tracks that seem to stick around are the ones I wrote while I was going through lifes crap, he adds. When I think about it both of my like a versions Im into you and Big Jet Plane where [sic] written and performed in realtime in that as soon as Id finished writing them they were performed straight away and they were both about real events that had only just happen. According to the rapper, the new Thundamentals material is coming from a similar head space. You can read Tukas entire missive and we highly recommend you do via his official Facebook page right here. If you or someone you know needs personal help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636. Sen. Blunt takes MO SecState challenger Jason Kander to task for his connection to Hillary, NRA gun rating and his stance on illegal immigration.Description: "This latest television ad,reminds Missourians that, while "some people can put together a gun upside down and blindfolded," only one of them is lockstep with Hillary Clinton and out of step with Missouri."An astutely researched play . . . Connecting the Kander campaign with Mexicans is an effective strategy to bring him down.Developing . . . NY Daily News: Kim Kardashian takes out full-page ad to slam Wall Street Journal for printing ad denying Armenian Genocide Historic Kansas City Burnout Aftermath Local Biz Helping Hand School Supplies Shame Show-Me Gun Rights Aftermath Kansas City Winning Amid Shot Season Once again we start this link with a glimpse of the duality of American life on this early Tuesday . . .Also, these are the Kansas City links we're checking right now . . .This is thefor the morning . . . Quite often it seems like there are a lot of folks who don't "get" this bloghave their own silly failed agenda they're trying to pushjust have their own problems they're looking to share on the Internets . . . Either way that's cool because there seems to be enough locals who know that our TKC Blog Community is simply a place to share information, voice strong opinions, celebrate hotties and crack wise about all things Kansas City.We've seen the footage on all kinds of local promo but tonight the track backing the clip is, appropriately, entitled "" and was produced by rising star hip-hop artistHopefully, we'll have more later following this KCMO video voyage through space and time . . . Greek banker Theodoros Pantalakis was selected by the board of Attica Bank to be its new CEO Greek banker Theodoros Pantalakis was selected by the board of Attica Bank to be its new CEO, the bank said in a press release on Monday. During todays meeting, the banks board of directors, upon a proposal of the Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, elected unanimously Mr. Theodoros Pantalakis as a member of the BoD, the bank said. Then the BoD selected unanimously Mr. Panralakis as the banks new CEO. The election closes a key outstanding issue in relation to the banks management which fully complies with the recommendations of the regulators to continue its smooth operation, the bank added. Trading in Attica Bank was suspended last Friday as the issue of its BoD remained unresolved. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report As regards travel services in Greece during July 2016, both receipts and non-residents' arrivals declined by 3.5% and 2% respectively As regards travel services in Greece during July 2016, both receipts and non-residents' arrivals declined by 3.5% and 2% respectively, according to the Bank of Greece. The same data show that in July 2016, the current account showed a surplus of 1.4 billion, down by 1.1 billion year-on-year. This development is mainly attributable to an increase in the deficit of the balance of goods and, to a lesser extent, to a deterioration in the other balances that make up the combined account. The deficit of the balance of goods doubled mainly on account of a significant rise in imports, compared with imports in July 2015, which had registered a sharp drop year-on-year due to the imposition of capital controls. It should be noted that imports in July 2016 remain well below their level in 2013 and 2014. In July 2016, exports declined, mainly due to a fall in the value of oil exports. It should be noted that, although total exports of goods declined by 2.9% at current prices, at constant prices they rose by 6.2%. In addition, exports of goods excluding oil increased by 2.8% at constant prices. The surplus of the services balance declined by 139 million, as a result of lower net travel and other services receipts. By contrast, net transport receipts were higher year-on-year, on account of the improved sea transport balance. As regards travel services in July 2016, both receipts and non-residents' arrivals declined by 3.5% and 2% respectively. In July 2016, the primary and the secondary income accounts showed higher deficits year-on-year. The deterioration in the primary income account is mainly attributable to higher net dividend payments, while the deterioration in the secondary income account results mainly from developments in general government. Current account balance In the January-July 2016 period, the current account balance improved by 306 million year-on-year and showed a deficit of 1.1 billion. This development is attributable to an improvement in the primary and the secondary income accounts, while the balance of goods and services deteriorated. The balance of goods showed an improvement of 653 million, which reflects the improved oil balance owing to lower oil prices and reduced net payments for purchases of ships, as a large part of the relevant transactions are conducted outside the domestic banking system after the imposition of capital controls. The balance of goods excluding oil and ships deteriorated mainly on account of aforementioned developments in July. It should be noted that, at constant prices, total exports of goods grew by 6%, reflecting mainly a rise in the volume of oil exports, while exports of goods excluding oil remained almost unchanged. The surplus of the services balance dropped by 1.6 billion in the January-July 2016 period, due to a significant decline in net transport receipts, which is largely attributable to capital controls. Net travel receipts also recorded a fall. Total non-residents' arrivals increased by 1.1%, while the corresponding receipts declined by 4.8%. These developments were offset to a small extent by an improvement in the other services balance. The primary income account showed a surplus of 930 million, up by 887 million year-on-year. The secondary income account also improved. Capital account In July 2016, the capital account showed a small deficit, against a surplus in July 2015, while in the January-July 2016 period it showed a surplus of 642 million, up by 34 million year-on-year. Combined current and capital account In July 2016, the combined current and capital account (corresponding to the economy's external financing requirements) showed a surplus of 1.4 billion, down by 1.1 billion year-on-year. In the January-July 2016 period, a deficit of 428 million was recorded, down by 340 million year-on-year. Financial account In July 2016, direct investment recorded an increase of 93 million in residents' external assets, which is mainly attributable to an outflow of 100 million due to the participation of OPAP S.A. in the capital increase of OPAP INVESTMENT LTD in Cyprus. Residents' external liabilities (non-residents' direct investment in Greece) recorded a net increase of 30 million, without any notable transactions. Portfolio investment showed an increase of 4.9 billion in residents' net external assets, mainly as a result of a rise of 5.0 billion in residents' holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills. This development was partly offset by a decrease of 156 million in residents' investment in foreign equities. On the liabilities side, a decrease of 2.0 billion was recorded, which reflects a fall in non-residents' holdings of Greek government bonds and Treasury bills. Under other investment, a decline of 3.6 billion in residents' assets is mainly the result of a 2.9 billion decrease in resident credit institutions' and institutional investors' deposit and repo holdings abroad, and of a 609 million drop owing to the statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes. A 2.5 billion rise in liabilities reflects a net increase of 3.3 billion in non' residents' deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included), which was partly offset by a decrease of 789 million owing to the statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes. In the January-July 2016 period, residents' net assets from direct investment abroad declined by 1.6 billion, while the corresponding liabilities, that represent non-residents' direct investment in Greece, increased by 134 million. Under portfolio investment, residents' net external assets registered an increase of 5.2 billion, which is mainly attributable to a rise of 6.5 billion in residents' holdings of foreign bonds and Treasury bills, which was partly offset by a decrease of 1.5 billion in residents' investment in foreign equities. Residents' net external liabilities fell by 2.3 billion, mainly on account of a decline in non-residents' holdings of Greek government bonds and Treasury bills. Under other investment, a decline of 8.8 billion in residents' external assets largely reflects a decrease in resident credit institutions' and institutional investors' deposit and repo holdings abroad, and the statistical adjustment related to the issuance of banknotes (1). On the liabilities side, a drop of 2.0 billion was recorded, which is attributable both to a decrease in non-residents deposit and repo holdings in Greece (the TARGET account included) and to the effect of the statistical adjustment. These developments were partly offset by an increase in the outstanding debt of the public and the private sector to non-residents. At end-July 2016, Greeces reserve assets stood at 6.9 billion, compared with 5.1 billion one year earlier. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report For Greece to enter a path of sustainable growth, its lenders will have to do their duty to restore the viability of its debt, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a speech For Greece to enter a path of sustainable growth, its lenders will have to do their duty to restore the viability of its debt, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a speech at the Concordia Summit in New York on Tuesday evening, noting that given their agreement, that time is now. Tsipras said specific measures for the reduction of Greek debt should be announced by the end of the year to give markets and investors a clear message that Greece is back, the years of the crisis are over. By the end of 2016, the horizon should be clear. Before 2017 which is an election year for many countries, he said, adding this is a necessary condition for Greece to participate in the European Central Banks quantitative easing program and return to the markets in 2017. This is the responsibility of our international creditors. Debt relief will bring the curtain down on a modern Greek tragedy. For this reason, nobody has the right to hesitate or delay, he noted. The premier also referred to the strenuous efforts and decisive steps taken by Greece last year to ensure the internal political and economic stability, adding that this year marks the turn of the economy towards recovery. The Grexit is history, growth is ahead, he told attendants. He then mentioned measures taken by the government to boost growth, citing an investment-friendly institutional environment which will ensure 12 years of stable taxation for investments exceeding 40 million euros. Tsipras said the government has legislated a meritocratic and effective public sector, escaping the practices of the past which favoured clientelism and bureaucratic apathy. Every day we fight against corruption and the interests of the oligarchy which was connected with the old political system and hindered transparency and competition, he stressed. Changing topic, Tsipras said that cooperation in dealing with domestic and international challenges is as important as ever and hailed the strategic importance of the Concordia Summit in this direction. He said this is particularly useful for the European Union, while itself the product of political cooperation has shifted the weight of resolving transnational crises to national governments, at a time when Europe has become the crossroads of three global crises: the migration crisis, security crisis which stretches from North Africa to the Middle East - and the economic crisis. He noted that the management of the financial and economic crisis of 2008 marked a shift in the logic of nationalization of collective problems. A recourse to the logic not in my backyard, where we avoid the necessary reforms to deepen integration in social, economic and financial sectors, is why Europe has not yet recovered from this crisis, he said. To put it another way, Europe, by following a dogmatic austerity agenda on the initiative of the North European creditor countries, has failed in what the United States achieved under a democratic management: to stop the crisis. However, in a broader environment of uncertainty, indecision and turmoil, Greece remains an anchor of geopolitical stability, Tsipras said. And this is a precondition for European stability." Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Greek State Minister Nikos Pappas met in New York with the Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein Greek State Minister Nikos Pappas met in New York with the Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, with whom they discussed energy issues concerning the wider region. They also agreed for the need to promote as soon as possible the gas pipeline projects that will help Greece develop into a regional energy hub. Pappas discussed with Hochstein the Greek governments position that there is now an urgent need for an immediate and definitive settlement of the countrys debt, as it has been agreed and without further delay. He said servicing the countrys debt is very important but should not hinder economic growth. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report The trial for the torching of Marfin Bank and the deaths of three people trapped inside began before an Athens Criminal Court on Monday The trial for the torching of Marfin Bank and the deaths of three people trapped inside began before an Athens Criminal Court on Monday. The tragic incident occurred during a massive anti-austerity protest rally held against the first Greek bailout in May 2010, when protestors in the crowd set fire to a branch of Marfin Bank while people were working inside. The fire spread quickly and three employees, including a pregnant woman, were unable to get out in time. On trial are Theodoros Sipsas, who faces charges for the torching of the bank branch and the three deaths, and Pavlos Andreev, who has been charged with the bombing of the Ianos bookshop. Both deny the charges against them. The trial began with 37 of the 80 witnesses absent. Witnesses that took the stand included family and colleagues of the slain Marfin employees, as well as people who were on the scene. None of them were able to definitively identify the accused as the individuals that set fire to the bank. One witness declined to elaborate on the events of that day, citing fears for his or her safety and referring to a "dialogue that took place at the time, with certain people." The same witness did not recognise the accused. Other witnesses said that the bank branch was attacked by three or more individuals, who were "lithe and quick and not especially heavy." Another witness said he had heard someone shouting "burn them, burn them," but did not see who said it. Another witness, Anastasia Christaki, said the culprits appeared to her to be small and slim youths, rather than men, and that they had their faces covered. The trial wll continue on October 14. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report LItalo Americano, Italys first and only nudist restaurant recently opened its doors near Milan There's a place in Italy where you can stuff yourself silly without the worry of staining that crisp, white shirt, news.com.au reports and adds: "Thats because no dressed diners are admitted. Welcome to LItalo Americano, Italys first and only nudist restaurant that recently opened its doors near Milan. The only rule is: in order to get in and taste divine food you must be totally naked. No shirt, no panties, no boxers, not even a G-string or nipple shield to hide the most intimate body parts. Inside, theres a cool, speak-easy ambience that recalls American 1930s Art Nouveau, with posh white sofas covered in velvet cushions, brick walls ... white plastic tables and red chairs. Posters of The Godfather Posters of The Godfather, gangsters and pin-ups mingle with tiny US flags stuck on the wall. Its nothing too sophisticated, which puts unclothed customers more at ease. The decor is minimal and the black-and-white tablecloths resemble contemporary art sketches. But the restaurant has been set-up in a clever way. Theres a bar for evening drinks, a dining spot which transforms into a disco floor at midnight and a cozy candlelit lounge area for after-dinner relax. You enter and immediately strip naked, which might take some time if youre not a naturist fanatic acquainted with moving around, eating and having a cocktail with just your bracelet or ring on. Clients are led to this undressing room where they leave all their belongings in separate drawers, owner Romeo Natale, who came up with this brilliant idea to revamp the sleepy Milanese suburb of Cerro Maggiore, told news.com.au. Ladies are allowed to take a little clutch for their make-up and the guys a pouch for cash. But thats it. At the entrance youre handed a soft white cotton towel to sit on for hygienic purposes. Total privacy The trickiest part at first is to resist the temptation of letting ones eyes unwillingly fall on the most luring and usually hidden body spots, staring at a pair of white buttocks that have never been kissed by the sun as Martinis and champagne glasses are served at the bar. When youre ready for the night, total privacy is guaranteed. The other cool aspect, apart from dining and drinking fine Italian wine in a state of nature, is being offline. Theres no internet and once inside clients must hand in their iPhones and smartphones (for many people, harder than getting the clothes off). All mobile devices are banned to avoid photographing the oblivious nude guy or girl sitting close by. So forget selfies, tweets, real-time Facebook posts to shock your friends at home and share the magic of the nude meal. The only activities allowed are exercising palates, jaws and stretching waistlines. No touching or making-out, either. The food is a mix of classical American dishes with an Italian twist. There are hamburgers that resemble tomato sauce polpette meat balls and sausages with caramelised onions. Extravagant gourmet dishes are named after popular American mafia bosses. The menu features penne Gambino with vodka, fettuccine spaghetti cooked the Alfred Mineo way with parmesan sauce and Al Capone paccheri short pasta. After dinner the place turns into a nudist disco with live music featuring 70-80s revivals and group dances. With their bellies bloated with food and booze (easy to perceive without the clothes on), the unclad clients get down on the dance floor to burn the calories theyve just piled on, shaking their lower and upper parts in utter freedom and without any kind of constraint. Its awesome, I dont have to waste hours in front of the mirror choosing a dress for the evening as I wont be needing one anyway. I just grab my sweatsuit and gym shoes, says client Claudia Rossi. The nudist restaurant is quite a revolution for Italy. Italy is home to the Vatican and many people still have a narrow Catholic mentality, though more in the south than in the open-minded north of the country. Lights never switched off Naturism is not really a fad over here like in other European countries and there are just a few nudist beaches and resorts scattered across the boot. Ive been going to naturist shores my entire life but have never had the chance to have a meal totally undraped at a real restaurant, sitting normally on a chair at a table with my friends, Luigi Moroni, another frequent client, told news.com.au. It makes me feel free. Italy badly needed a restaurant like this one. But Natale wants to make clear one point: his restaurant is not a sex nor hook-up club. Lights are never switched off, not even when the disco music kicks-off. So forget going there for a hard core soiree or the idea of a potentially kinky date. Dressed bodyguards keep the situation under control, monitoring the dance floor and intervening if the heat turns up. Price differences are part of the screening tactic. Couples and clients with a naturist card pay 50 euros each while singles 100 euros. The double cost is to keep at bay lewd people who come here to flirt and hit on someone. Its a naturist restaurant where people share the pure philosophy and culture of nudism, says Natale, who does not practice it himself but believes everyone must be free to express their own nudity in the best possible way. Especially if this entails treating tastebuds and indulging in fine cocktails." Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades has discussed the latest development in the Cyprus problem talks with Russian Foreign Minister Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades has discussed the latest development in the ongoing Cyprus problem talks and bilateral relations with Russia, during a meeting he had with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Welcoming the President, Lavrov said the two will also be able to see how a number of issues agreed during Anastasiades visit to Moscow are progressing. In remarks, President Anastasiades said the meeting is part of the contacts we are holding at the United Nations to inform on the current state of affairs. At the same time, he added, they examined the prospects and the need to continue with Russias support and contribution in the great effort we are making for a Cyprus solution. He also said that there was complete understanding on Lavrovs part, adding the two also exchanged views on some issues of bilateral interest. Government sources said that these issues include the avoidance of double taxation, judicial contribution and other issues. EU Russia relations Replying to questions by Russian journalists regarding the EU Russia relations, President Anastasiades spoke of the need to normalise them and Cyprus is working towards this. We believe that the Minsk process is the only way. Sanctions do not offer the chance for dialogue and problem resolution. On the contrary, they keep the parties apart, he added. He said that sanctions are imposed on one party which in turn takes counter-measures. Those who pay the price are small member states, the President added. The Cypriot President also met with the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Anastasiades had spoken at the Concordia summit on Monday. The Cyprus problem has also been on the agenda of UK Prime Minister Theresa May and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, as both discussed the ongoing peace talks during their one-on-one meeting earlier on Tuesday. Source: CNA Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report US President Barack Obama addressed issues in the Middle East, the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, and issues in the South China Sea, during his speech at the UN General Assembly US President Barack Obama has addressed issues in the Middle East, the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, and issues in the South China Sea, during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. On the Middle East issue, President Obama has said that both sides would benefit if Israel recognised it cannot permanently occupy Palestinian land and if Palestinian rejected incitement and recognised Israels legitimacy. Obamas efforts to bring about an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement have failed over the nearly eight years he has been in the White House, with the latest push by US Secretary of State John Kerry collapsing in 2014. US officials have held out the possibility Obama could lay out the rough outlines of a deal parameters in diplomatic parlance - after the November 8 presidential election and before he leaves office in January, but many analysts doubt this would have much effect, Reuters reported. Surely Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognise the legitimacy of Israel ...(and if) Israel recognises that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land, Obama said. Russia trying to recover lost glory Speaking at the General Assembly annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations for the last time as president, Obama also said Russia was trying to recover lost glory through force. He warned Russia that if it continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbours, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervour for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure. Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean peninsula in 2014 after months of protests in Kiev ousted pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. Solution in South China Sea would offer greater stability On the international dispute over the South China Sea, Obama said: A peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability then the militarisation of a few rocks and reefs. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which ships carrying about $5 trillion in trade pass every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, which is also believed to be rich in energy resources and fish stocks. In July, an arbitration court in The Hague said Chinas claims to the waterway were invalid, in a case was brought by the Philippines. Beijing has refused to recognise the ruling. Source: Reuters Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report KPMG in Bahrain has announced the opening of its new office at the Bahrain Financial Habour as part of its efforts to address the local business communitys needs. The new office, located close to the Bahrain Investment Center (BIC) in the Harbour Gate Building, is dedicated to providing value-added corporate services to investors and start-ups from the initiation phase until the business is fully operational. KPMG in Bahrains managing partner Jamal Fakhro said: The firm has been serving the local business community for nearly 50 years. Clients success is our main priority and by extending the firms presence in one of the kingdoms busiest business locations, we aim to provide clients with easy access to our services. Starting from today, the new office will house experts from KPMGs corporate services team to help companies through every step of setting up their business in Bahrain. The team based in the new office will also provide clients with assistance and consultancy on articles of association any bylaws, liquidation and deregistration, trademark registration and inheritance services. We invite all clients to visit KPMGs new corporate services office to learn more about the firms capabilities in audit, tax, and advisory, he said. KPMG in Bahrain is a member firm of KPMG international. The firm was established in 1968 as the first national accounting and auditing firm, and it has grown to be one of the largest professional services firms in the country. The firm provides audit, tax and advisory services to a wide array of clients operating in different sectors, utilising the in-depth technical and industry experience of its professional staff. TradeArabia News Service Diyar Al Muharraq, one of the leading urban developers in Bahrain, said 70 per cent of the residential units in the first phase of its Deerat Al Oyoun social housing project has been sold successfully. Located in the heart of Diyar Al Muharraq off Muharraq, the housing community will span across 1.2 million sq m and will comprise an idea residential community with integrated community service centres and green spaces. Its strategic location also places it in close proximity to schools, shopping malls, public beaches, recreational facilities, mosques, medical facilities, and a modern transportation network. The anticipated date for the project's first phase completion is February 2018. Out of a total of 133 housing units for the beneficiaries of Ministry of Housing's 'Mazaya' Scheme, 70 per cent of them have been sold in the first phase fetching nearly BD10 million ($26 million) for the developer. The social housing scheme 'Mazaya' is a housing service represented in the ministry's support offered to the beneficiary to obtain financing from a participating bank for the purpose of purchasing a housing unit, whereby the beneficiary pays back in instalments what represents 25 per cent of his/her monthly income, while the government, through the ministry, is committed to provide its financial support that covers the remaining of the monthly instalments at the financing bank. Commenting on the success, Diyar Al Muharraq CEO Dr Maher Al Shaer said: "We are very pleased to have received such huge turnout on reservations and sales of the first phase of 'Deerat Al Oyoun'." "The project has witnessed a high demand from the second day of Eid Al Adha, with keen citizens willingly lining up to get priority on housing units suitable for them. The management team also took the time to eagerly visit queuing customers to ensure their satisfaction and comfort whilst they waited for sale time," he noted. Benefiting from 'Mazaya' is open to all existing housing applications of any type of housing services or to any citizen, who fulfils the scheme's eligibility conditions. Diyar Al Muharraq is a masterplanned city for the people of Bahrain offering a range of housing options and quality lifestyle. It offers a cohesive mix of residential and commercial properties with a strong line-up of projects aimed at creating a long-term and sophisticated township.-TradeArabia News Service Iran's President Hassan Rouhani met with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on Monday in Havana to reaffirm friendly ties between the two countries and express a commitment to deepening their collaboration, Cuban state media reported. During the visit, Iranian and Cuban officials signed agreements for collaboration in the health, education and science sectors, as well as a memorandum of understanding on banking. Rouhani, who stopped off in the Communist-ruled island on his way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, also met with Raul's predecessor and elder brother, Fidel Castro. They discussed the importance of food production in a world "threatened by climate change, the incessant growth of the global population, and the dangers to the preservation of peace", the Communist Party newspaper Granma wrote. "Fidel and Hassan Rouhani concluded the friendly meeting with the most sincere desires for collaboration between the peoples of Iran and Cuba," the paper wrote. Iran and Cuba have long been friendly, united partly by their respective stand-offs with the United States, although both have seen relations with Washington thaw in recent years. Rouhani's visit comes a month after his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif kicked off a tour of Latin America with a trip to Havana, promising to open a new chapter in bilateral relations. Reuters More than 3,500 refining and petrochemicals industry professionals from over 30 countries will converge in Bahrain for the 10th Middle East Refining & Petrochemicals Conference and Exhibition (Middle East Petrotech 2016) next week. Held under the patronage of Bahrains Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Middle East Petrotech 2016 is the largest gathering of the downstream oil and gas industry in the Middle East. It will be held from September 26 to 29. The bi-annual event, established 20 years ago, incorporates a four-day high level conference organised by a committee of NOCs, IOCs and major service providers spearheaded by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Saudi Aramco, and a parallel three-day exhibition organised by Allworld Exhibitions member Arabian Exhibition Management. The Middle East Petrotech 2016 conference takes place under the theme Teaming Up for Excellence: Industry, Government and Education. In challenging times for the energy sector in light of low oil prices, the Middle East Petrotech 2016 chairman and president and CEO of Kuwait Petroleum International Bakheet Al-Rashidi says the event is a bright spot for the region and the industry alike, and an important opportunity to convene as it looks to the future. The conference theme Teaming Up for Excellence: Industry, Government and Education is focused on the symbiosis between downstream oil professionals, government officials and those active in the education and training fields. Synergy between these sectors will lead to the advancement of the downstream industries through the maximisation and exploration of resources, implementation of best practices and benchmarking utilisation, Al-Rashidi said. Understanding the latest developments and trends in the global economy and future shifts in market dynamics is of vital importance. Top management and economists will discuss possible ways forward in an uncertain world at Middle East Petrotech 2016, he continued. Optimising the best return on assets will also be a focus of the conference, through energy conservation, new tools for the successful completion of projects, operational excellence and encouraging a culture of reliability and efficient turnaround maintenance. Health, Safety and Environment will be showcased in a bid to encourage the creation of a culture of plant safety and environmental practices to help ensure a safer and healthier future for future generations. The conference has secured an impressive line up of speakers, beginning with a pre-conference forum and the conference opening ceremony on September 26 at the Ritz Carlton, Bahrain Hotel & Spa. The pre-conference forum will discuss the vital roles of industry, education and government across three sessions. Invited speakers include: Professor Jean M.J. Frechet, Vice President of Research, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Dr Jawaher Al-Mudhahki, CEO, the Bahrain National Authority for Qualifications & Quality Assurance of Education and Training; Dr Roy Blatchford, advisor on rducation reform, Government of Bahrain; Abdulaziz Al Abdulkarim, VP procurement & supply chain management, Saudi Aramco; Rebecca Liebert, president & CEO, Honeywell UOP; Jean Sentenac, chairman and CEO, Axens; Lord David Howell of Guildford, former UK Minister of Energy and writer on energy issues; and Dr Ihsan A Bu-Hulaiga, principal consultant, Joatha Business Development Consultants. The conference opening ceremony will begin with welcome address from Bahrains Oil Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and the Middle East Petrotech 2016 chairman Bakheet Al-Rashidi. An executive plenary session will follow under theme The Economic Downturn and Its Effect on the Oil Downstream Industry with addresses from Amin H Nasser, president and CEO, Saudi Aramco; Nizar Al-Adsani, CEO, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation; and Prince Faisal Bin Turki, advisor, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. Over the next three days at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre, the conference will feature 63 technical sessions with insights on case studies, best practices and industry advancements across nine distinct tracks: operational excellence, plant reliability & integrity, project challenges, energy management, HSE & risk management, smart plant & technology, market intelligence, catalyst management and people development. Daily keynote sessions led by presidents and CEOs further examining the roles of government, education and industry will also take place. New for 2016, a series of Meet the Experts sessions will provide delegates with the opportunity to meet, consult and learn from recognised authorities on 10 key topics. They include: hydrotreating process, instrumentations and analysers, fired heaters, reforming process, process safety, corrosion, hydrocrackers, rotating equipment, steam traps and FCC. The packed agenda at Middle East Petrotech 2016 also includes two short courses, two workshops and the opportunity to sit a certified maintenance reliability professional (CMRP) exam prior to the conference on September 25. The Middle East Petrotech 2016 exhibition of refining and petrochemicals products and services showcases over 100 companies and runs from september 27 to 29 September at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre. About 6,000 sq m is devoted to the latest technologies, new product launches and best industry services in the refining and petrochemicals industry. Regional giants, including Bapco, Adnoc, KNPC, Petro Rabigh, Saudi Aramco, Sadara Chemical Company, Samref (Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company), Sasref (Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery), Satorp (Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company) and Yasref (Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company) are taking flagship stands. International service industry majors will also have a strong presence at Middle East Petrotech 2016. A host of specialist companies consolidate this line up. - TradeArabia News Service Add Energy, an international energy consultancy provider, has been awarded a contract worth 120,000 ($156,000) with a leading upstream gas operator in Oman. The contract has secured jobs at the companys Aberdeen office and enabled sustainability of its Oman office and in country partnership. The scope of work will see Add Energy provide the plant with equipment specific maintenance strategies and procedures, which will enable maintenance execution and planning to be optimised. The project will be carried out with an aim of reducing equipment downtime, by mitigating failures due to maintenance which is inadequate or without full coverage. Peter Adam, Add Energy managing director, said: We are thrilled to be have been awarded this contract from a world class upstream gas operator in Oman. Having completed previous contracts in the region, the Middle East has always been a focus for Add Energy and we look forward to working closely with our client in the coming months. This contract signifies that while cost cutting continues, operators still need to invest in initiatives that are driven towards efficiency and streamlining operations. The project will be carried out by Add Energys asset and integrity management division in both Aberdeen, UK and Muscat, Oman. Work is due to start in September. TradeArabia News Service NSH, the largest construction company operating in the Middle East, recognised its employees who have completed 30 and 20 years of long-term service at a special event at The Ritz Carlton Bahrain, recently. The company is renowned for its technical expertise and quality of service across all aspects of its operations including building and infrastructure works, oil and gas, petrochemicals, LNG terminals, steel, mining, power and pipeline projects. The event, the company's mega Eid-Onam celebration, was inaugurated by Shaikh Khalifa bin Daij Al Khalifa, the president of HRH the Crown Prince's Court, Bahrain, and Alok Kumar Sinha, the Ambassador of India in Bahrain. NSH managing director and RP Group chairman Dr Ravi Pillai appreciated the achievements of the awardees and thanked the employees for their continued commitment and loyalty to the company, recognising them as the companys most valuable assets. Awards ceremonies will be held in the coming weeks in different GCC countries where the company has its operations. The guests were welcomed by NSH vice-president A Suresh and a vote of thanks was given by Ganesh Ravi Pillai, vice-president RP Group. - TradeArabia News Service Siemens has shipped the first F-class gas turbine for a power project in Bandar Abbas, Iran, only six months after signing an agreement with Mapna Group. This is the first stage of the bilateral contract covering the transfer of know-how for F-class gas turbine technology between Siemens and Iran's Mapna, a statement said. As part of the Bandar Abbas gas-fired power plant, this turbine along with the rest of the equipment which will be provided by Mapna, will help to cover the countrys continuously rising demand for electricity. In March 2016, Siemens concluded a far-reaching agreement with Mapna, Iran's largest power plant EPC contractor, to collaborate on the transfer of know-how for the F-class gas turbine technology to modernise the Iranian power supply system. During the course of this agreement, the two companies also signed a contract that covers not only the two SGT5-4000F gas turbines but also two SGen5-2000H generators and the associated power plant instrumentation and controls. Siemens activities in Iran go back as far as 1868 and involve important infrastructure projects. With the delivery of the first gas turbine to Iran we are renewing our long-term partnership with Mapna with the aim of modernising and expanding the countrys power supply network, emphasized Willi Meixner, CEO of the Siemens Power and Gas Division. We are therefore making an important contribution towards improving energy supplies to the people and to industry in Iran. The Bandar Abbas power plant will have an electrical capacity of approximately 600 megawatts (MW) which will be added to the Iranian power grid. This capacity is sufficient to supply electricity to 150,000 Iranian homes. Mapna plans to expand the facility into a combined-cycle power plant at a later point in time. The Iranian Energy Ministry is planning to build further gas-fired power plants in various locations across the country. They are expected to help cover the demand for electricity, which grows by approximately five percent each year. Iran wants to increase its generation capacities from approximately 74 gigawatts today to a total of 100 Gigawatt over the coming five years. A large portion of the new power plants being built will be fired with natural gas. The country is also planning to significantly expand its energy exports. The agreement between Siemens and the Iranian Mapna Group includes a license for manufacturing F-class gas turbines in Iran. A total of more than 20 gas turbines as well as the associated generators are scheduled to be delivered over the next four to five years. - TradeArabia News Service The cheap package holiday, bucket and spade culture and jetting off for two weeks of sun, sand and souvenirs is on the decline suggests Taleb Al Makhmari, acting director general, Marketing & Media at Ithraa, Omans inward investment and export promotion agency. Today, there is a new type of tourism - one that could be described as deep travel - it is about getting under the skin of a place. Tourists seeking out authenticity, real experiences rather than fake culture packages made for the masses. It is about the appreciation of local distinctiveness, the idiosyncrasies and the detail, the things that make a place unique and special, says Al Makhmari. Tourism is going hyperlocal, he explained. Increasingly, todays tourists are looking for more than just the tick-box attractions, passport stamps and Instagram photos. Theyre after genuine experiences that are memorable, explains Al Makhmari. The demand for hyperlocal tourism activities is on the rise. Whether it is climbing mountains, crossing deserts, sailing, relaxing on a beach or shopping, tourists want an authentic experience. In fact, there is a large number of travelers who are looking for offbeat locations to get the local, unique real-life experience, a market worth around $140 billion globally. Research shows that when tourists are asked to describe their ideal holiday they use words like authentic, discovery as well as relaxing. More and more often, theyre looking to experience distinctive, local culture, too, Al Makhmari pointed out. He went on to say: And its not just about attracting foreign tourists to Oman, our next happy customer could be closer to home. Google data shows that, since 2010, staycation has enjoyed a 58 per cent rise in search frequency - with a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in 2015 alone - and is forecasted to climb. Omans small businesses, particularly those working in the creative industries space, can certainly play a role in helping tourists realise their expectations, as well as supporting the local hotels they stay in and the airlines they travel on, he explained. - TradeArabia News Service Non-stop Flights Continue to Offer Fastest Flying Time to India (TRAVPR.COM) USA - September 19th, 2016 - Air India announced that it will be increasing its non-stop service between San Francisco and Delhi Indias Capital from three to six flights a week, starting November 21, 2016. The Boeing 777-200LR flights will depart every day except Tuesday. The flying time is 16 hours and 15 minutes a full 3 hours faster than any other airline. The non-stop flights depart San Francisco at 10:30 AM and arrive in Delhi at 4:15 PM the next day. Departures from Delhi are at 2:35 AM, and the arrival time in San Francisco is 6:00 AM the same day. For passengers traveling beyond Delhi, Air India also offers the fastest connections from San Francisco to major cities across India, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Amritsar, Hyderabad,Chennai, Pune and more. Like Air Indias non-stop flights from New York, Newark, and Chicago, the San Francisco-Delhi flights feature First, Business, and Economy Class and a choice of Continental or Indian cuisine served in the gracious style that is distinctly Indian. Fueled by the significantly shorter flying time, our non-stop San Francisco-Delhi service was an immediate success when it launched last December, said Ms. Vandana Sharma, Air Indias Regional Manager-Americas. The three additional weekly fights are a response to the steadily increasing popularity of the service and the convenience of our seamless connecting service to all major business and tourism centers across India, many with customs and immigration formalities at the final destination." For more information on Air Indias San Francisco-Delhi service, and reservations, contact your travel agent or call 1-800-223-7776. ### When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. A roundup of state government and Capitol news items of interest for Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016: STUDENT READING SKILLS: Gov. Terry Branstad is embarking on fall reading tour this month to highlight school districts successes in improving third-grade reading skills. Branstad will visit three Iowa school districts in Urbandale, Denison and Keystone this month to learn about how they have improved students reading skills by the end of third grade. The governor says assuring that students read proficiently by the end of third grade has been a top priority of his administration. State funding decisions for the reading initiative going forward are expected to be discussed by the governor and legislators during the upcoming 2017 session. In 2012, the governor proposed and the Iowa Legislature adopted early literacy legislation to identify struggling readers starting in kindergarten and require schools to provide intensive assistance. That legislation also created the Iowa Reading Research Center, which supports improving students reading skills in a variety of ways from conducting research on high-quality literacy instruction to providing other resources for educators as well as for parents to help their children at home: www.iowareadingresearch.org. PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT: Officials from the Iowa Department of Education leaders will hit the road this fall as part of a statewide tour to gather public input as they develop a plan to meet the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. ESSA -- which replaces the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and will be fully implemented starting in the 2017-18 school year -- provides a balance between the role of states and the federal government in accountability for the success of all children. Under the reauthorized law, officials say the federal government sets expectations, and states determine how schools will reach them. Nine public input meetings will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. across Iowa from September through November at the following locations: Johnston, Sept. 26; Council Bluffs, Sept. 27; Elkader, Oct. 11; Sioux City, Oct. 20; Bettendorf, Oct. 25; Storm Lake, Oct. 26; Cedar Rapids, Nov. 2; Ottumwa, Nov. 7; and Cedar Falls, Nov. 9. For more information on Iowas plans to meet the Every Student Succeeds Act, visit https://www.educateiowa.gov/pk-12/every-student-succeeds-act. EPA RESEARCH GRANT: Iowa State University is one of six U.S. universities to receive a federal EPA research grant funding for a project to better quantify the economic values of improved water quality and, in turn, help decision makers consider the benefits of investments in water quality improvement efforts. The Environmental Protection Agency research grant of $800,000 will fund efforts by researchers at the Ames university to quantify the value of water quality improvements in Midwestern ecosystems. The ISU grant is part of a $4.8 million package of grants being issued to six universities across the country. Chemical and microbial contaminants continue to reduce water quality and EPA officials say the research grants will help communities and experts conduct benefit-cost analyses for actions that protect our waterways. The research will also provide a critical link between water quality science and the monetary value of the services that healthy waterways provide, including recreational uses, officials say. HISTORY AWARD: The State Historical Museum of Iowa has received a Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History, which recognizes achievement in preservation and interpretation of state and local history. The association honored the Iowa museums First in the Nation: Shaping Presidential Politics Since 1972 exhibition with an Award of Merit during its 71st Annual Leadership in History Awards banquet and 2016 Annual Meeting in Detroit. In making the award presentation, the association recognized the First in the Nation exhibit for its quality and related programming -- including candidate forums, issue discussions and educational programming and curriculum. The award marks the second year in a row the museum has been honored. OVERTIME RULE: Gov. Terry Branstad said Tuesday he has joined a coalition of 21 states and governors in filing a federal court complaint challenging the U.S. Department of Labors new overtime rule. If implemented, he said, the new rule would more than double the minimum salary overtime threshold for public and private workers without Congressional authorization. He also contends the rule will force many state and local governments to substantially increase their employment costs and services, including educational costs for students and parents. That could mean some governments could be forced to eliminate some services and even lay off employees. The complaint urges the court to prevent the implementation of the new rule before it takes effect Dec. 1. In addition to Iowa, other states and governors who joined this filing include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, according to Branstads office. New Delhi, September 20 French auto major Renault has announced start of exports of its entry-level car Kwid and popular SUV Duster to Nepal from its Indian operations. Renault marked its entry into the Nepal market by associating with one of the largest business groups Vishal Group in sync with its strategy to expand its presence in the SAARC region, the company said. pti WATERLOO The Waterloo police chief will continue in that position as he addresses allegations of racial incidents involving members of the citys police force. Mayor Quentin Hart said Dan Trelka, the citys popular safety services director, will continue serving as police chief despite reports last week that Trelka had been asked to resign. Hart, during a Monday news conference, said he has asked Trelka to focus solely on the police issues over the next year and removed him from his role overseeing Waterloo Fire Rescue. I believe that Dan Trelka is the one that can help us to address the myriad of challenges internally and externally that we face, Hart said. With that said, Chief Trelka and I, through community meetings, outreach, best practices, conversations and a passion for this community have begun a process of a community-wide policing plan that will work toward regaining public trust that has been lost due to some of our shortcomings, Hart said. But this just isnt a plan to hold accountability to our public safety officials, he added. It will also send a message to any perpetrators of senseless violence that takes place in our streets that enough is enough. Neither Hart nor Trelka took questions about the reports Trelka had been asked to resign. Hart repeated his statements that he would not talk about personnel matters. Trelka said he was not quitting and will work with Mayor Hart. Trelka was hired as Waterloos police chief in 2010, and he was appointed to the newly created position of director of public safety in January 2011, which included overseeing fire operations. Hart said Pat Treloar, chief of fire services, would now answer directly to the mayors office. The Waterloo Police Department has been involved in a series of incidents recently that led some to call for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. Incidents included settlements over allegations of improper use of force, recorded remarks an officer made disparaging a black teen killed in 2013, and the release of a video earlier this month showing an officer striking and pulling the hair of a handcuffed black suspect following a chase and crash. Hart acknowledged those incidents shine a bad light on the community, but stood by the Police Department. The (incidents) dont represent City Hall and they dont represent the best of what our brave public safety officers have to represent this community, he said. Tribune News Service Mohali, September 20 A joyride on a car at breakneck speed turned into a tragedy as one person was killed and three others sustained serious injuries when their Maruti Ciaz car overturned and smashed into an electricity pole here today. The incident occurred near TDI City on Airport Road around 2 am. Khag Bahadur, alias Deepak, died on the spot while his friends, Bahadur, alias Badal Rana, Asa Ram, alias Aansu and Raj Bahadur, alias Raj, sustained serious injuries. They were taken to the Civil Hospital, Mohali, and later referred to a government hospital in Chandigarh. According to Mohali SSP GS Bhullar, all victims, in their mid-20s, were from the same village in Nepal and worked as pantry boys. The car belonged to a Mundi Kharar-based construction firm, West Tower Company, and Deepak, who worked there, had brought it for a joyride with his friends, said the SSP, adding that the car was being driven by Badal Rana, while the person who died was sitting on the front seat. After visiting some areas, including Chappar Chhiri, they were heading for Kharar from the Mohali side when the incident occurred, said the SSP. The speedometer key of the car was found stuck at 200 kmph. The car overturned after the driver apparently lost control over it due to high speed while negotiating a turn. After overturning, the car smashed into an electricity pole 100 metres ahead on the other end of the road, said an eyewitness. The impact was so strong that the pole got uprooted. The car was badly damaged and it took some time for rescuers to pull out the passengers from the mangled remains of the vehicle, said an eyewitness, claiming that the police took nearly 20 minutes to reach the spot after being informed. The injured were in a state of shock and one of them fell after being pulled out of the car, said the police. According to one of the victims, the driver was told to slow down the vehicle and the accident occurred the very next moment. The police said it was yet to be ascertained whether the victims were under the influence of liquor, said the police. The condition of all injured is stated to be critical but stable. A case of rash driving and death due to negligence has been registered at the Balongi police station against car driver Badal Rana. Cops took 12 hours to identify victims It took over 12 hours for the police to establish the identity of the victims. Till evening, the investigating officer was not even aware in which hospital the victims were shifted for treatment. Killer stretch The 200-foot-wide Airport Road has virtually turned into a killer stretch with at least 25 persons having lost their lives in accidents in the past one year. Most accidents took place at night due to speeding. Speed, drunken driving and absence of policemen, CCTV cameras and proper signage on crossings and turns are among the major factors behind the fatal accidents on this stretch. Speedometer key shows 200 kmph The speedometer key of the car was found stuck at 200 kmph, the maximum speed limit of the vehicle. According to experts, no vehicle can touch its maximum speed limit. The key may have got stuck at the maximum speed limit due to the strong impact of the accident, said the police. Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 20 Congress volunteers of Amritsar East constituency staged a protest at New Amritsar on GT Road against the cowardly attack by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in which 18 Army men lost their lives. Demonstrators burnt Pakistani flags. They also raised slogans against Pakistan. Addressing the protesters, Congress leader Jasbir Singh Dimpa termed Pakistan a weak nation, which did not have the guts to attack from the front. Pakistan has proved beyond doubt that it is an exporter of terrorism around the world and a thankless nation, which has to depend on the US and other countries to feed its population. Pakistan also sponsors terror activities against these countries, whom it calls friends, he added. Coming down heavily on Narendra Modi, Dimpa asked the Prime Minister to act and show his 56 chest. Modi, instead of acting against Pakistan, is complaining with tears in his eyes to America and the UNO. Modi should take a clue from the strong and decisive leadership of the Congress, which brought Pakistan to its knees in 1948, 1965 and 1971, said Dimpa. Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh (retd) ThRee lazy narratives dominate the conversations about the Indian armed forces. Firstly, the typical separatist talk about the ostensible "policies" of the Indian Army in conflict zones. Secondly, the frequent lament of the Indian masses venting their frustration with the politico-bureaucracy combine to see the armed forces "take over" the reins of the country to "sort out" the problems and lastly, the suspiciously-mystified-awe with which other governmental functionaries abuse the operational efficacy of the Indian armed forces. Indian constitutional mandate has ensured the supremacy of the democratic-civilian rule, even though the state has entrusted the armed forces with a wide and powerful latitude of manpower and weaponry (including nuclear). The sheer physicality and muscularity of the armed forces aside, the delicate national equilibrium of governance is nested and respected with predefined "jurisdictions" afforded to various government agencies. The police and the para-military are entrusted with maintaining internal peace and law and order, while the Indian armed forces are responsible for meeting external threats to the sovereignty of the nation the increasing overlap (only in one direction) is reflective of the invariable necessity of calling in the "last resort", that is the Indian armed forces, to do additional tasks for which they are not fundamentally designed, trained and equipped for (ranging from armed insurgencies to civic disturbances like the Haryana riots). This frequent requisitioning of the Army owing to the sub-optimal performance of the other arms of the executive, coupled with the intrinsic "kinetic" approach (operationally) and "silence" (behaviourally, owing to a sworn institutional code of conduct) is fodder for imagination and creative aspersions. Firstly, the operational deployment of the Indian Army in the hinterland e.g. Jammu and Kashmir Valley is not out of any military doctrine or desire. The process of determining the deployment pattern of the armed forces is exclusively with the elected civilian government of the day, after the other local governmental authorities (who are the real custodians of the constitutional responsibility of controlling the internal situation, for example the police, bureaucracy, state politicians etc.), have thrown in the towel citing inability to control the ground situation, therefore requisitioning the Army. Ascribing a motive in wanting to remain deployed in "internal" matters is factually wrong Indian Army is not like the Pakistani Army that controls all policy matters and voices independent opinions (often contrary to the civilian governmental positions). Indian armed forces would rather concentrate on their real professional task of soldiering at the borders or training at bases, rather than be pulled into a cauldron of politico-bureaucracy mess, like Kashmir. In short, the military has no political "opinions", ambitions or aspirations on say, a political unrest like Kashmir, other than executing the only "opinion" that it respects, the one of the state. It restricts its thinking to the operational tactics, accompanying requirements and subscribes to unprecedented self-policing (the tenets and remedial measures of which are infinitely more stringent, rigorous and permanent than any other judicial system). Specific and isolated incidents of individual culpability does not tantamount to an organisational "opinion", as the predominant instinct and track record of Army's operational conduct is contrary to the one constantly propagated by the separatists. Herein, operational necessities like the AFSPA are not privileges, recreation benefits or any form of tangible or intangible benefits that accrue to any soldier. Importantly, the Army is not trained for mob control or curfew enforcement they are intrinsically trained to engage and destroy by using the military wherewithal in terms of weaponry and instinct (standard infantry training ordains the soldier to charge and stab the dummy enemy with their bayonets). Obviously, certain restraint and circumstantial conduct is implemented to tone down the trained instincts, whilst managing domestic strife, but individual accidents do happen and are not condoned or rewarded, neither are they borne of any organisational intent or opinion. Secondly, the no-nonsense and time-tested record of "nation before self", differentiates the Army soldier from all the rest hence, germinating an overtly simplistic view of suggesting that the armed forces "take over" the country and correct all the prevailing administrative, societal and infrastructural failings. This belies the universal truth of similar experiments across the globe, wherein, the reality is, all progressive nations and societies emerge only with the sustained practice of participative democracy, as opposed to military rules. armed forces are simply not meant to make or implement polices pertaining to things like tribal affairs, agrarian economy or corporate laws the perception of clinical efficiency of the armed forces should not be extended to suggest martial law (the euphoria accompanying the Musharraf coup was soon consumedby yearning for democratic rule in Pakistan, and vice versa now !). Thirdly, the insularity from societal morass, incomparably rigorous training and most importantly, the self-mandated behavioural standards, have honed the Indian armed forces into an extraordinary band of military individuals who can execute the impossible (e.g. Kargil), unfailingly, consistently and silently. No specialised natural disaster force or police commando force can hold a candle to an Army detachment in handling either a natural disaster or man-made disaster. This professionalism owes its efficacy to the disallowance of any political, religious, casteist, regional or any other expression of divineness to infect the day-to-day working tenets. Indeed, there are caste-based regiments but the unique (and often inexplicable) formulas of secularity (one room can be a common temple, gurdwara, mosque and church, to all soldiers in the unit!) and camaraderie of the Indian armed forces personify the idea of "India", in all its glory. The armed forces are brutally effective because they have been kept away from the politicians, bureaucracy and civilian society (iron-clad gates of cantonments host an idyllic of discipline and respect). This very reason for operational efficacy, is sadly also the bane of the current dismay that is seeping in the defence forces as they see their faltering cousins in the other governmental institutions (who have the eye and ear of the political classes), climb the ladders of hierarchy, status and financials, whilst, dumping the flotsam and jetsam of their professional shoddiness in the firm hands of the armed forces to manage. Contrary to Mr Geelani's view, the Indian armed forces have no ulterior motive or "opinion" in Kashmir. To the millions of the armed forces loving Indians the izzat afforded needn't extend to "take over", the armed forces is already carrying the can of multiple failures of the other arms of governance. Lastly, to the other governmental institutions who are wanting to "maintain primacy" (ironically and shockingly, suggested in the Seventh Pay Commission as opposed to the mandated parity) remember, the armed forces is the last bastion of governmental recourse and hope, all these ongoing dilutions, empty condescending voices in the aftermath of Uri and the delays in arming and equipping the forces are not just risking the spirit of the soldier, but also the last hope (that is, the "last resort") of the nation. The writer is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands & Puducherry. Hasan Suroor IN a new book, All the Kremlins Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin, by Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar theres an account of how Putin cut a solitary figure at the G20 summit in Australia in 2014. Shunned by Western leaders, angry over Russian annexation of Crimea, he struggled even to find someone to lunch with. Two years on, despite their continued hostility and a deep economic crisis at home, he has emerged as a significant figure on world stage as a peacemaker or troublemaker, as the New York Times (NYT) put it. In his self-assigned goal to make Russia a great power again, with the ultimate aim of challenging American global domination, he is busy reviving old Soviet-era friendships, mending fences with estranged allies, and forging new alliances. From the Middle East to Asia, an increasingly confident Russia is stepping into the void left by Americas apparent reluctance to assert itself on the international stage, wrote The Times, London, as Russian warships headed for the South China Sea for joint exercises with Beijing, in what is seen in Western capitals as a provocative move. Putins biggest achievement, of course, has been Syria where his surprise and controversial military intervention (only grudgingly accepted by the US) has been a game-changer. If some sort of a resolution to the five-year-old bloody civil war is finally achieved over the next few weeks, it will be a personal triumph for the Russian leader. Syria marks a huge step forward in Russias return to the international diplomacy as a big player after two decades of isolation. One doesnt have to be a Putin apologist to recognise the sheer audacity of his Syrian gamble at a time when other major interventionists Americans, Turks, Iranians seemed helpless against ISIS and its extremist allies, including some so-called moderates bankrolled and armed by Americans. His motives might have been to save his best friend Bashar al-Assad, as alleged by the West, but the move radically transformed the situation on the ground. It tipped the balance against extremist forces, paving the way for a possible end to the so-called mini Third World War. After Syria, Putin is now testing his new assertiveness in arguably the most treacherous minefield of West Asian politics: the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Moscow is preparing ground to host a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to revive the stalled peace process in cold storage since the Washington-brokered talks collapsed two years ago. Nobody is expecting a dramatic breakthrough. What is significant, analysts say, is the very fact of Moscows initiative, considering it had been virtually written out of the script after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It also underlines the Wests waning influence in the region, particularly in relation to the Palestinian issue. Abbas and Netanyahus willingness to accept the Russian offer is a vote of no-confidence in Western leadership. Palestinians were always sceptical of Wests neutrality; now even Israel has fallen out with its old benefactors since Barack Obama finally decided to stop mollycoddling Tel Aviv. Nearer home, Russia is trying to seduce another of disgruntled American allies: Pakistan. The two countries are to hold joint military exercises in a sign of new warmth between former Cold War foes as Pakistans ties with the US come under strain. It is being interpreted as signalling a shift in strategic alliances in the region, with New Delhi getting closer to Washington, and Islamabad drifting towards Moscow. The impact of a new, resurgent Russia is rippling across Asia in a direct challenge to Obamas Pivot to Asia policy which envisages rebalancing Americas strategic interests from Europe and West Asia (Middle East) to East Asia. It has heightened Chinese fears and deepened tensions in the region, especially over the disputed waters in the South China Sea. West has been surprised the word frequently used is stunned by the remarkable rise of Russian power so soon after it was claimed to have been crushed for good, a claim immortalised in Francis Fukuyamas End of History thesis. The ghost of Soviet Russia is back, with Putin threatening to rewrite the global order. The West has responded as it always does when confronted with those it doesnt like: by demonising Putin. He is accused of every conceivable sin from reviving Cold War and collaborating with brutal regimes to creating divisions in Europe, stepping up its spying activities in the West, and intimidating its own neighbours. And portrayed as a threat to Western security and stability: a dangerous and reckless dictator gone amok. The latest is that he is trying to interfere in US presidential elections. It was his men, it is claimed, who hacked Hillary Clintons embarrassing leaked emails. The truth is that the West hates Putins guts in standing up to it indeed paying it in its own coin and often turning the tables on it, as over Ukraine. The Ukrainian crisis was wholly manufactured by the West as part of a grand strategy to raid Russian backyard. NATO and the EU are now virtually on Putins doorsteps; and there is a relentless campaign to infiltrate further and deeper into Russian turf. A milder leader like Dmitry Medvedev might have preferred to avoid confrontation but Putin, a former KGB man with an inflated nationalist ego, relishes a fight. He sees Western attempts to isolate Russia as a national insult and has set out to avenge it. When Obama patronisingly dismissed Russia as a mere regional power in 2014, he was furious and vowed to prove him wrong. Today, as the NYT noted, he has restored Moscow as an indispensable player on world stage, by turns a peacemaker and a troublemaker. Arguably, Putin is not a very nice man but ultimately the test of leadership is whether youre doing the right thing for your country; and whether the vast majority of people approve of your policies. On both counts, Putin scores highly. In the last elections, he got over 63 per cent of the votes cast. Monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, while pointing out irregularities, held that overall the elections had been fair. In last weeks parliamentary elections too, his party won comfortably. His personal ratings remain remarkably high at a time when Western leaders are becoming increasingly unpopular among their own people. At the height of the Cold War, Hollywood gave us a delightful spoof on the reds-under-the-bed communist phobia of the time in The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming. Time for a sequel? The writer is a London-based commentator Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 19 Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal was on Monday questioned for over two hours by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) officials in connection with the allegations of illegal recruitment in the womens panel. A team comprising five ACB officers also handed over a questionnaire to Maliwal seeking her reply to 27 queries within a weeks time. The probe has been initiated on a complaint by former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh, who accused Maliwal of appointing several AAP supporters to plum posts in the commission. According to Singh, recruitment of 85 people whose names were mentioned in the complaint was done without requisite credentials. I have been asked 27 questions and given a weeks time to reply. We have been asked how we did so many appointments to the womens panel. In a way, they are asking how did we manage to do so much work, said Maliwal, who reiterated that the ACB probe is nothing but an attempt to silence the womens panel that has been raising a lot of questions. Stating that she will fully cooperate with the probe agency by providing all documents sought, the DCW chief asserted that all the appointments in her tenure have been made following the due procedure. She also alleged that Singh appointed wives of IAS and IPS officers without giving an advertisement for recruitment as members to the DCW and handled only one case in eight years as against the commission led by her now which has handled 11,500 cases in the last one year. Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 20 Acting on a petition alleging contempt of court in a case about the removal of encroachments, Justice Rajan Gupta of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today summoned Sonepat Deputy Commissioner Rajiv Rattan. He has been directed to remain present in the court along with the record to render assistance on the next date of hearing. He has also been asked to equip himself with necessary instructions from the municipal bodies. The developments took place on a petition alleging contempt of court filed by Om Parkash Khatkar against Rajiv Rattan. The case has its genesis in public interest litigation filed by the petitioners some five years back. Disposing of the petition, a Division Bench of the High Court had asserted that the respondentsreply showed that some civil suits were pending in the civil courts and interim injunctions had been granted in them. We find that it is virtually admitted that the construction of shops exists on the land which forms part of a planned shopping complex and the land is neither owned by the Municipal Council nor any other individualUnder the circumstances, we dispose of this writ petition by issuing directions to the Deputy Commissioner, Sonepat, to remove existing unauthorised constructions qua which there is no interim order passed by the competent civil court, the Bench ruled. The Sonepat Municipal Council was also directed to place before the civil court a copy of the order passed by the HC and the written statements filed in the writ petition in case any civil suit was still pending so that an appropriate order can be passed by the civil courts. Alleging violation of the Division Bench orders, the petitioners vehemently alleged before Justice Guptas Bench that encroachments had not been removed. Taking cognizance of the allegations, Justice Gupta asked counsel for the state to specify the steps taken after the orders were passed for removal of the encroachments. Responding to the query, counsel submitted that he was not having clear instructions. Justice Gupta then summoned the Sonepat DC for assistance. Legal Correspondent Shimla, September 20 The state High Court today directed the Shongtong Karcham Hydel Project Workers Union to call off their strike immediately. Passing this direction, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan also directed the Managing Director, HP Power Corporation, the General Manager, Shongtong Hydel Project and Patel Engineering Limited, to ensure that the benefit of various labour laws and safety measures, including the Provident Fund, were extended and made available within three months to its employees. The court passed this order on a petition filed by the Shongtong Karcham Hydel Project Workers Union. It was alleged in the petition that the 450-MW Shongtong Hydel Project was started by the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation at Powari in Kinnaur district and a large number of workers were engaged in the construction activities of the project. The corporation handed over the work of the project to Patel Engineering Limited, which further engaged various sub-contractors. It was also alleged in the petition that there were consistent and regular violations of various labour laws. There was unrest among the workers that they were not getting their dues. Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, September 20 The state government has decided to adopt a thoroughly professional approach towards its ongoing sterilisation campaign. It will sterilise 80 per cent female monkeys and tattoo them for identification so as to get the desired results. With there being only 40 per cent utilisation of the eight monkey sterilisation centres in the state owing to the shortage of monkey catchers, it has been decided to make full utilisation of the centres which have already sterilised 1.10 lakh simians since the launch of the project. With the professional monkey catchers from Saharanpur preferring to go to Uttarakhand and then come to Himachal, the problem is being faced in getting enough monkeys for sterilisation. A proposal to enhance the present amount of Rs 500 for catching one monkey is likely to be enhanced to lure people to get into the task. Lately, not too many monkey catchers from Saharanpur are coming here due to a similar project being implemented in Uttarakhand so we have decided to train our own staff, said Tarun Kapoor, Principal Secretary, Forests and Environment. Kapoor said the sterilisation programme had given good results, but to make it more effective and scientific, at least 80 per cent of the female monkeys would be sterilised. To enable identification, the monkeys would be tattooed and one troupe would be covered fully. The Forest Department held a meeting here yesterday to get feedback from various sections of society, including farmers, Panchayati Raj representatives, animal right activists and scientists to work out a strategy to get more effective results. It was decided that committees would be set up at the panchayat level to proceed with the scientific culling of monkeys who forayed into fields or inhabited areas causing damage to crops. It has been decided that the panchayat will be the nodal agency and other departments will assist and guide in the culling of monkeys in areas where they have been declared vermin, said Kapoor. They have been declared vermin by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest in 38 tehsils. The eight sterilisation centres functioning in the state are located at Tutikandi (Shimla), Sastar (Hamirpur), Gopalpur (Kangra), Baul (Una), Sarol (Chamba), Sapalar (Mandi), Paonta Sahib (Sirmaur) and Ispur (Una). Monkey Data Year Number 2004 3,17,512 2013 2,26,086 2015 2,07,614 Monkeys sterilised at eight centres 1.10 lakh Vikram Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, September 20 Awarded on many occasions for excellence in the state, the healthcare system, though, has been found lacking in the rural border belt. With Pakistan engaging a proxy war against India by using terrorists, the villages near the international border in three districts of Kathua, Samba and Jammu, are the most neglected pockets as far as the healthcare facilities are concerned. Cross-border firing and shelling have often led to heavy casualties in the border belt due to lack of emergency medical facilities. I have been witness to two such occasions where the border shelling victims were taken to the nearest district hospital at Kathua. One victim had been hit with a shell on the chest while the other had suffered a fracture on his thigh, said Bijay Charak, a social worker at Muthi Khurd, a border village of Kathua. Due to the lack of facilities, they were later referred to Government Medical College (GMC) in Jammu, he added. He said Kathua had seen many infiltration attempts by Pakistani terrorists who have on many occasions either killed or wounded people on the highways. Besides super-specialty doctors and super-specialty hospitals, the border villages need hi-tech ambulances fitted with the state-of-the-art equipment which should reach the patients so that immediate treatment could be provided, said Ram Dhyan Singh, a former sarpanch in Chak Sardah village on the border. However, Chief Medical officer (CMO), Kathua, Dr Rajkumar Bhagat said the district hospitals were well-equipped and had emergency healthcare facilities. We have well-qualified paramedical staff, ambulances and doctors on duty who are expert in dealing with any situation. Qualified surgeons, anaesthesiologists and orthopaedists are available on the spot. They can deal with any emergency situation, said Bhagat . He said only when resuscitation or ventilation was needed, the patient was referred to GMC or outside the state. MASON CITY | A community event to discuss the heroin epidemic in Iowa is 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at The Music Man Square. It is estimated there are more than 100 overdose deaths each day, with more than three out of five overdose deaths involving opioids. Information will be exchanged and strategies discussed to address heroin use. A 45-minute FBI/DEA documentary with first-person accounts by addicts and family members, "Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict," will be shown. The event is sponsored by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern Iowa Heroin Initiative, Mason City Police Department, Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Office, Prairie Ridge Integrated Behavioral Healthcare and Mason City Youth Task Force. M Aamir Khan Tribune News Service Srinagar, September 20 As the unrest continues in the Kashmir valley, the business activities are showing no signs of revival. Instead, they are going from bad to worse. Though shops had started opening in the evening hours before Eid-ul-Azha, marketplaces now wear a deserted look throughout the day. After the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, businesses have mostly remained confined to opening of grocery stores and shops selling other essentials in the wee hours. Before Eid, shops would open in the evenings following a relaxation in the Hurriyat protest calendar. However, the Hurriyat then tightened its last calendar from September 15 to 22, which had no evening relaxation for the business community. As a result, the business community continues to suffer losses for the past two and a half months. We had first hoped that there will be a relaxation in hartal call for at least two full days before Eid but the relaxation remained confined to evenings. Now, there is no relaxation at all and that is making businessmen suffer a lot, said a shopkeeper on Hari Singh High Street who didnt wish to be named. He said small-time shopkeepers and roadside vendors especially those doing business around the city centre were finding it difficult to make ends meet. However, the main traders bodies of the Valley have been extending full support to the protest calendar of the separatists. Mohammad Yasin Khan, who heads the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), an amalgam of various traders bodies, said they would continue to support the decision of people. We (businessmen) are common people first we cannot go outside (the Hurriyat calendar). We have to adhere to the decision of the people, Khan told The Tribune. The KEA had earlier stated that the Kashmir Inc was willing to sacrifice businesses for a Kashmir solution. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries too has already stated that they would be following the Hurriyat calendar besides urging the Centre to hold unconditional talks with all stakeholders to find a permanent solution so that businesses do not take a hit every now and then. Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, September 20 In the eleventh week of the unrest marked by protests, killings of civilians, spells of curfews and an uninterrupted shutdown a feeble movement of traffic was witnessed in Srinagars commercial heartland and phone network was partially restored as the police saw situation improving in the region. The traffic movement, comprising entirely of private cars and motorcycles, was significantly higher as compared to rest of the days of the unrest. However, the public transport continued to remain paralysed as shutdown called by the separatists remained in effect across the Kashmir valley. The markets across the region also continued to remain shut. The movement of the traffic was slightly higher during morning hours and decreased as the day progressed. Much of the traffic movement was concentrated towards the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and its adjoining markets, which also house offices of private companies and banks. There have been no major incidents of protests and stone-throwing in Srinagar over the past few days. The last major protest in the city was on Saturday last week at the funeral of a minor boy, who was hit by pellets. With fewer protests in recent days, the mobile phone communication has also been partially restored in the region. The police on Monday evening announced that the post-paid mobile phone network was restored following an improvement in the situation. The mobile phone network was shut in the run-up to Eid-ul-Azha last week, when the separatists had called for a march towards a local office of United Nations and the state government had anticipated clashes with demonstrators. However, the mobile Internet services and incoming call facility to the pre-paid phone connections continue to remain suspended for the past 11 weeks since the unrest was sparked by the killing of a militant commander. More than 80 civilians have been killed in the unrest so far and several thousand have been injured as the police and paramilitary forces attempted to quell the protests. The separatists, who are steering the unrest, have called for a round-the-clock shutdown until Friday. Ishfaq Tantry Tribune News Service Srinagar, September 20 The flight operations at the Srinagar airport were halted for over half-an-hour on Tuesday after an Indian Air Force Jet over shot the runway. The pilot, however, managed to eject safely, as the jet came to a halt. An official at the airport said during a routine exercise today afternoon, which was underway at the airport, the MiG-21 of the IAF over shot the runway hitting a safety barrier as it attempted to land. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The jet came to the halt after skidding off slightly to one side, the official said, forcing the halt of the flight operations at the airport, which besides the IAF jets, also handles the civilian aircraft. The pilot managed to eject safely. the flight operations at the airport resumed after remaining suspended for over half-an-hour, he said. There was no loss of life and damage to the aircraft, he added. The Srinagar International Airport handles around 560 flights a week. Despite the shutdown and curfew in Kashmir for over past two months, the flight operations at the airport have been running smoothly. Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Uri, September 20 Two days after one of the deadliest militant attacks in Kashmir which left 18 soldiers dead in an Army base in Uri town, the J&K Police today handed over the investigation of the case to the National Investigation Agency. The J&K Police handed over all the documents of the case for further investigations to the NIA team headed by Inspector General rank officer Mukesh Singh. The team is camping in Uri town, where life is limping back to normalcy following the attack on Sunday. The NIA team is being assisted by the J&K Police in its investigation into the attack. It is the first terror case that the agency will look into in the Kashmir region. Sources said that out of the two global positioning system (GPS) sets recovered from the four slain fidayeen of Jaish-e-Mohammad, one device has been sent to National Technical Research Organisation for data analysis. Preliminary probe hints that the four Jaish fidayeen had taken off from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Saturday evening to the Uri sector and they manoeuvred though ravines, gorges and dense forests before launching a pre-dawn attack on the Army base in Uri town of Baramulla district. The other GPS recovered from the encounter site was damaged by the militants, sources said. The investigators are trying to find the exact location form where the LoC was breached, the sources added. Two IGPs, one DIG, about half a dozen SP, DSP rank officials and non-gazzetted officers have arrived in Uri for carrying out investigation into the attack. The sources said the investigators have also sought the details of all the mobile calls made in the Uri from Saturday to Sunday evening to ascertain whether the four fidayeen were in contact with any local, who may have helped them in carrying out the attack. They have already collected DNA samples and fingerprints of the four militants, who were buried late Monday. Meanwhile, normalcy appeared to have returned to Uri town. Since the attack, the town covered from three sides by Pakistan looked deserted but today shops and business establishments opened. Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, September 20 Amid strained relations between India and Pakistan against the backdrop of the Uri terror attack, the trans-Line of Control (LoC) trade between the two hostile countries through the Poonch-Rawalkot route remained normal at Chakkan-da-Bagh in Poonch district today. It followed the normal movement of weekly cross-LoC bus service Rahen Milan between the two sides. On Monday, a bus with eight passengers on board went to Muzaffarabad, across the LoC, from Uri where the terrorists on Sunday had killed 18 Army men in one of the bloodiest attacks in the recent years. The cross-LoC trade remained normal between the two sides. At least 22 vehicles, carrying mangoes, dried dates and other items, entered Poonch from the other side via the Chakkan-da-Bagh point while three vehicles from our side carrying different items went to Rawalkot side, Tanvir Ahmed, Trade Facilitation Officer (TFO), Poonch, told The Tribune. He said there was nothing unusual between the two sides and the trade was being conducted in a hassle-free manner. We cant comment about the fate of trade between two sides in view of the Uri terror attack, the TFO said. The cross-LoC trade between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir had begun on October 10, 2008. The decision to initiate trade was the outcome of a meeting between the then Indian Prime Minister and the Pakistan President in April, 2005. Currently, the two sides trade goods for four days a week from Tuesday to Friday. Pawan Anand, president, Cross-LoC Traders Union, Chakkan-da-Bagh, admitted that there was a strong resentment among the traders over the killing of soldiers in Uri. Insecurity and uncertainty prevail among the traders of both sides following the attack. We have talked to our counterparts on the other side of the LoC and they are also worried about the fate of trade. A huge amount of money (through trading of goods) is at a stake, he said. The union president said any decision at a higher level between the two countries would be acceptable but the strained relations between India and Pakistan, particularly after the Uri terror attack and the Pathankot airbase incident, have fuelled uncertainty among the traders. Pertinently, the pressure is building up on the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to take stern military and diplomatic action against Pakistan following the Uri attack. There is a widespread perception among the people in the state that the Centre could snap all economic and trade ties with Pakistan. The two countries had started the cross-LoC bus services between Srinagar-Muzaffarabad (April, 2005) and Rawalkot-Poonch (June, 2006) as a part of major confidence-building measures (CBMs) to normalise strained relations. The bus crosses the LoC every Monday. Amarjot Kaur Mandeep Kaur Sandhu was 21 when she got married. Only after 11 months of her marriage, she lost her husband in a road accident. With remains of his loving memory, a three-month-old son, and constant nagging of in-laws, this Haryana girl (from Yamunanagar) wielded enormous strength and courage to become the first in her family to go to Los Angeles and represent India at Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup in 2007. She graduated from Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Haryana, to later pursue a two-month-long course in Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yoga Science (BNYS) from Bikram Hot Yoga in Las Vegas and today owns a hot yoga studio in Andheri West, Mumbai where Bollywood celebrities, including Ekta Kapoor, Deepak Tijori, Neetu Chandra, Sudhir Mishra, and Rakhi Sawant add to the list of her students. In Chandigarh, as a part of Himalaya Purifying Face Wash campaign titled My first pimple, Mandeep quashes the idea of embarrassment associated with pimples. Never let the scars hold you back, she says. As she reminisces the past, she explains all that provoked her to become a yoga instructor, and mind you, body issues werent a propellant. As a 22-year-old widow, I was devastated after my husband died in an accident in 2007. My in-laws thought I was a villain of some sort and one year later, I was down in the dump. But that year was also the turning point in my life. Misery can also motivate you. In my case, it took me to yoga as I was already studying it in college, she shares. Soon after she returned from the US, Mandeep clinched a job at True Fitness in 2010. It was, at that time, one of the biggest gyms in Asia and I worked there for a couple of years, but it shut down and I was left with no choice than to do something of my own. Also, I was tired of staying away from my son, who was in Haryana with my mother and I wanted him back, she says. Determined to start a yoga studio of her own, Mandeep shares that she used up her savings and borrowed money to rent out a place on the second floor of the same place where the gym was. We had many celebrities coming to True Fitness, who later joined my yoga class as I would train them at the gym too. I then brought my son here, and now my entire family is settled in Mumbai. I guess good things happen to well-intentioned people, she smiles. Star talk Mandeep talks about her star students and tells us about their choice of asanas. So, heres what the stars say and do at Mandeeps Hot Yoga studio Sudhir Mishra Pet phrase: He always says, Mandeep, tell me what you need me to do today! Works on: Everything, hes open to all kinds of asanas Ekta Kapoor Pet phrase: Sorry I am late today, boss!, and that happens every day. Works on: Ekta loves Utkatasana Neetu Chandra Pet phrase: Mandeep, please kill me in the class today. Works on: Shell stick with the balancing stick. Deepak Tijori Pet phrase: Hes so quiet and calm that he doesnt speak much. Works on: Everything. Rakhi Sawant Pet phrase: Shes always excited and each time she says, I want to practice. Back to back classes today. Works on: Shes a pro at standing bow pulling. amarjot@tribunemail.com Jim Carrey recently released an emotional statement while defending his role in the death of former girlfriend, Cathriona White. The 54-year-old Canadian-American actor has fired back with a powerful statement after being accused by her estranged husband, Mark Burton, of facilitating his ex-girlfriends death. On the same note, Burton has filed a lawsuit against Carrey. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind actor, in his statement, said, I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this mans lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honour against the evil in this world, the actor added. In September 2015, the young girlfriend had died from a drug overdose. Later the same year, the husband allegedly claimed that Carrey had provided the pills that killed her. Cats troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyones control. I really hope someday soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace, the The Mask actor said in his defence. ANI Gurvinder Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 20 After the opening of the customs clearance counter at the Head Post Office, the volume of people turning up to send parcels abroad has increased. Customs clearance officials at the post office said all kinds of parcels were sent by residents, but a large proportion of parcels sent abroad were those containing clothes and medicines. Abhishek Verma, the customs official on duty today, said most of the items being sent abroad were clothes. A substantial proportion of the items included medicines as well, he said. Many people send ayurvedic and homeopathic medicines. My cousin had started ayurvedic treatment for his skin problem during his visit here earlier this year. Ayurvedic medicines are not easily available abroad. So, I sent medicines to Norway almost every month, said Sunil, a city resident. Bachittar Singh, another resident, said he sent homeopathic medicines to Australia. Except Germany, in other countries, homeopathic medicines are not as readily available as in India. So, I send homeopathic medicines regularly to some of my relatives in Australia, he said. Medicines in a majority of developed as well as other countries were not easily available, unless they were prescribed by doctors, another resident sending medicines to Malaysia said: Those on tourist visa have a hard time, if they are consulting doctors here. So, there is no choice but to send medicines abroad, he said. Deepinder Kaur, a resident of Kitchlu Nagar, said she sent medicines to her relatives in Kenya because the medicines were relatively more expensive and not readily available. Another item that is being sent abroad is clothes. The main reason for sending clothes is the price difference and the lack of availability of Indian wear, another resident said. There is a huge price difference when it comes to clothing. Clothes there are more expensive than in India. So, we send clothes to many of our relatives abroad, said Vishal, a resident of BRS Nagar. Bhartendu Sood THOUGH my family is originally from Mahanta Di Dharsal village near Chintpurni in Himachal Pradesh, my ancestors had migrated to Lahore long back for better education and job opportunities. My father was a doctor and had set up a clinic in Lahore itself. After the Partition, instead of moving back to his village, where he would have found himself out of place, he shifted to Shimla and took up a government job. I remember till 1960 we would spend winter in our village to save ourselves from the harsh cold of Shimla. There was no compatibility in the life style of the two places, and spending time in a village that lacked basic facilities was a punishment to my mother, though my father was happy to reconnect with his roots. I was in my early teens, but few incidents remain etched in my memory. Though we would have holidays on account of the winter break in Shimla, my father would put me in a local government school to give me the taste of village education. All students had their heads tonsured, so after reaching the village, the first ritual I had to undergo was getting my head shaved from the local barber. In those days, there was no restriction on corporal punishment, and even in Shimla schools, it was an inseparable part of teaching one which even parents would savour. But in the village school, punishment was even harsher. A teacher, whom the students would call Guruji, would use a long cane to hit on the shaven heads. Somehow, I would be spared. I do not know why. The second incident that I will carry to my grave is the mourning that followed the death of an elderly person, a close relative. For good 13 days, women of the community had to do siyappa beating their chest in rhythm, for at least eight hours a day. Wailing loudly was an essential ritual. Professional mourners were hired who would lament loudly to let the neighbourhood and community know how much they felt the loss. Not only this, a few women would test mourners by cracking jokes. If anyone gave the impression of enjoying the joke, it could make them a subject of taunt the one who is not aggrieved with the loss. Being a close relative, my mother had to be part of mourning for the entire time, and it was nothing short of Kala Pani for her. As time rolled by, my father stopped visiting the village and the house was now in a dilapidated condition. After his death, I thought that my father had great love for his place of birth and I should get the house rebuilt when I am financially sound. I started spending time there to supervise the construction. This gave me an opportunity to visit the school and be part of mourning in a family. Lo! Everything had changed! The school now had lady teachers, or Behenjis, who were interested only in their physical presence. And when it came to mourning, the 13-day siyappa was now a three-day affair, followed by uthala on the fourth day. I wished my mother had survived to see the village of the 21st century, with pucca houses, electricity, tap water, and above all, freedom from siyappa that had been elusive in her time. Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, September 20 Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav lost a bit of his stature as despite describing Amar Singh an outsider, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today appointed him as the partys national general secretary. Not even a party member till recently, Amar Singh was made a Rajya Sabha MP without him formally joining the party. He had been expelled for anti-party activities in 2010. You have been appointed general secretary of the Samajwadi Party. I hope in the coming days you will strengthen the party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Mulayam said in a handwritten letter to Amar. The brief letter in Hindi signed by Mulayam on his Lok Sabha letterhead was sent to the media from state SP chief Shivpal Yadavs official e-mail id. Mulayams decision to add to the standing of Amar Singh making it equal to his bete noire Ramgopal Yadav is likely to cause some unease. During the recent feud in the Yadav family, both Ramgopal and Akhilesh had come out openly against Amar Singh blaming him for precipitating the crisis. Akhilesh had gone on record telling a news channel that he had taken an assurance from father and party patriarch that outsiders (Amar Singh) would not be allowed to interfere in family matters. He had gone to the extent of disclosing during a live news programme that he would not address Amar Singh as an uncle any longer. The reinstatement of Amar Singh a day after the CMs youth brigade was expelled from the party and all resignations of youth members made in solidarity being summarily accepted do not appear to be going in favour of the CM. Still he put up a brave front while speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting today. With uncle Shivpal Yadav by his side, he made an effort to project a united front. Samajwadi parivar jaisa thaa waisa hi hai, hum sab ek hoke 2017 me SP sarkar banaenge (The SP family is the same as it was in the past and we will together fight to regain power in 2017), Akhilesh said. Earlier, Amar had said: Akhilesh is like a son and Mulayam like a brother. Once the public face of the party, Amar was seen as Mulayams closest aide when he had the ear of Netaji. Amar and his close associate Jaya Prada were expelled from the party in February 2010 and he had floated his own party, Rashtriya Lok Manch, in 2011. He fielded a large number of candidates in 2012 Assembly polls but none won. He had joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha poll from Fatehpur Sikri but lost. MASON CITY By 4 p.m. Tuesday, voter turnout in the special City Council election had already surpassed last year's special election turnout. At 4 p.m., a check of the five voting centers showed 2,090 people had voted. In addition, more than 600 cast absentee ballots prior to election day. The election is to fill the vacancy created by the death of at-large Councilman Alex Kuhn on July 15. There are eight candidates in the running. Last year, a special election was held to fill another at-large position that came open when Councilman Scott Tornquist moved out of state. Bill Schickel was the winner. Total turnout in that election was 2,603. Polls are open until 8 p.m.Voters can cast their ballots at any of these voting centers: Highland Golf Course Clubhouse, 944 17 St. N.E. First Presbyterian Church, 100 S. Pierce Ave. First Covenant Church, 411 S. Ohio Ave. Rolling Acres Christian Reform Church, 340 19th St. S.W. Cerro Gordo County Courthouse, 220 N. Washington Ave. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 20 Post-Uri, as India begins the process of isolating Pakistan globally there is some news to cheer. Most of the world stood with India in solidarity in condemning the attack and a few nations went a step further in asking that terrorist outfits based in Pakistan needed to be dealt with by the international community. In New York City, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the 71 session of the United Nations General Assembly and raised the Kashmir issue with him. Kerry, during the meeting, urged Sharif not to let terrorists use Pakistan territory as safe havens, while expressing his concern at the terror strike at the Uri Army base and at the situation in Kashmir. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programmes. Earlier in the day, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called up PM Modi and condemned the cross-border attack in Uri. Ghani also expressed Afghanistans solidarity and support with India for all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism, according to a statement released by the PMO. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena also had a short telephonic conversation with Modi. He strongly condemned the cross-border terrorist attack. The two leaders also spoke of the need for sustained cooperation among countries of the region to end the scourge of terrorism. After the strong message of support from Russia and France earlier, Japan and Germany also stepped forward today in lending their support to India. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, As is often the case, terrorists aim is to escalate the situation; they want to trigger a spiral of violence. We must not give in to this logic, including in conflicts between India and Pakistan. Russia, meanwhile, has come out with one of the strongest statements of support. Condemning the attack, the Russian foreign ministry said, Regarding the Pathankot air base attack in January 2016, we are very concerned about the terrorist attacks near the Line of Control. We are also concerned about the fact that, according to New Delhi, the army base near Uri was attacked from Pakistani territory. Our Correspondent Rajwa (Rajasthan), September 20 There was not a dry eye as Uri terror attack martyr HavIldar Nimb Singh Rawat was cremated with full state honours at his village, Rajwa, in Rajsamand district on his birthday. Rawat was among 18 soldiers killed in a terror attack at an army camp in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, on Sunday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) His seven-year-old son Chandan Singh and brother Rashu Singh lit the pyre amidst chanting of vedic mantras in the presence of 60,000 to 70,000 people today. Rawats mortal remains arrived at Udaipur on Monday evening were kept at Bhim tehsil headquarters overnight. After a 2-km procession in an open vehicle, the body was taken to Rajwa village, 30 km from Bhim. Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed at the village as Rawats four daughters, son, wife Rodi Devi and family elders cried inconsolably. After rituals, the body was moved to the cremation ground. Rajasthan PHED Minister Kiran Maheshwari, PCC president Sachin Pilot, District Collector Archana Singh, IGP Anand Srivastava and Commissioner Bhawani Singh were among others who placed wreaths on the martyr's body. A gun salute by 6 Raj Rifles, police constables and drill of last post was performed to honour the departed soul, according to Defence PRO Lt Col Manish Ojha. Rawat was born on September 20, 1968. His father Krishna Singh was also a soldier and had fought Wold War II, spending five years in a German jail, a family member Nem Jatawat said. R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, September 20 The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Centres response in a week to the plea of Italian marine Massimiliano Latorre, accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast on February 15, 2012, for bail extension till an international tribunal decided the jurisdiction for the trial Indian or international laws. A three-member Bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave said it would consider his plea on September 28 in the light of the governments stand. The other members of the Bench are Justices Kurian Joseph and Amitava Roy. Latorre has pleaded that he be extended the same relief given to co-accused Salvatore Girone, who was allowed by the Supreme Court to go home on May 26, 2016, and stay there till the tribunals decision. The two accused have maintained that they had mistaken the fishermen for sea pirates. The apex court imposed several restrictions on Girone while relaxing his bail terms. Earlier, he was detained at the Italian embassy here. The court had directed the Italian envoy to file a fresh undertaking that he would ensure the return of Girone upon being asked to do so. Already in Italy on medical grounds, Latorre has pleaded that he would accept all the conditions slapped on Girone, including surrender of passport and reporting to the local police station every month on the first Wednesday. Italy has approached the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) pleading that the two accused be tried under international laws, not under Indian jurisdiction. UNCLOS referred the matter to the International Tribunal on Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which opined on April 29 that Girone should be allowed to go home till the jurisdiction was decided. India was bound by ITLOSs advice as New Delhi was a signatory to the UN Convention, the Centre has told the apex court. R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, September 20 The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to set up the Cauvery River Management Board in four weeks and the Karnataka Government to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu every day from tomorrow, till September 28. A Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit pegged Karnatakas liability at 6,000 cusecs, which is half the quantity Karnataka has been releasing since September 12, but double the quantum recommended by the Cauvery Supervisory Committee yesterday. The Bench asked the two state governments to file their objections to the supervisory committees recommendation in three days and slated the next hearing for September 28. During three hours of hearing today, both states rejected the quantum of water proposed by the committee for the lower riparian state of Tamil Nadu. Arguing for Karnataka, senior counsel Fali S Nariman said his client was not in a position to release even a drop of water as doing so would put its farmers and cities such as Bengaluru at peril by depriving them of water for irrigation and drinking. Appearing for Tamil Nadu, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade pleaded that 3,000 cusecs a day was grossly inadequate to save the standing paddy crop in the Cauvery delta. On September 5, the SC had directed Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water a day to Tamil Nadu and subsequently reduced it to 12,000 cusecs. Despite this, large-scale violence broke out in Karnataka and sporadic incidents were reported from Tamil Nadu, prompting the Bench to take a serious view and direct the two states to ensure law and order with a heavy hand. There could be public protests against court orders, but these should be staged peacefully after taking permission from the police. There was no room for any violence to oppose judicial orders and the aggrieved parties could only resort to legally permissible remedies, the Bench had clarified on September 15. Jitendra K Shrivastava Tribune News Service Patna, September 20 The Bihar government on Tuesday announced a compensation of Rs 11 lakh to the next of kin of soldiers killed in the terrorist attack in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each of the bereaved families. After facing severe criticism from different quarters, the state government has enhanced the amount of compensation. The state government gives a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families whose members die in any disaster in Bihar. From Bihar, three soldiers of the Bihar Regiment had been killed; they hailed from Bhojpur, Kaimur and Gaya districts. Mumbai, September 20 An emotional farewell was given to four valiant army jawans from Maharashtra, who lost their lives in the Uri attack, as their last rites were performed in their respective native villages with full military and state honours. Sandip Somnath Thok (24) from Nashik district, Chandrakant Shankar Galande from Satara, Vikas Janardhan Kulmethe (27) from Yavatmal district and Panjab alias Vikas Janrao Uike (26) from Amravati lost their lives in the terror attack on Sunday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Amid slogans in his praise by thousands of emotional villagers and family members, the mortal remains of Army jawan Sandip Thok were consigned to flames at his native Khadangli village in Nashik district. The body of Sandip, who is survived by parents, elder brother Yogesh and two married sisters, was yesterday brought to Ojhar Airport in Nashik district in an IAF plane from Srinagar and then taken to his native village last night. His parents, relatives and villagers broke down on seeing the valiant soldier's body. A procession was also taken out in the village as state Rural Development Minister Dadaji Bhuse, District Collector Radhakrishnan B, Sub-Divisional Officer Mahesh Patil, Tehsildar Manoj Khairnar and others paid rich tributes to the martyr. The jawan was bid farewell amid chants of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Sandeep Thok amar rahein' by grief-stricken villagers as his mortal remains were cremated late last night with full military honours. Galande's body was brought to his native Jashi village in Satara this morning where his last rites were performed with full military honours. Thousands of villagers and teary-eyed family members gathered at the site to pay their last respects. A large procession was carried out by villagers. Satara Guardian Minister Vijay Shivtare, state Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister Girish Bapat, and several others paid tributes to the jawan. Galande had joined the Army in 2004 as soon as he completed his education. He is survived by his wife, two sons, parents and two brothers. His parents, while talking to reporters yesterday, had demanded stern action against Pakistan. Meanwhile, bodies of Vikas Kulmethe and Vikas Uike were flown to Nagpur airport. While Kulmethe's body was brought to Nagpur last night, Uike's mortal remains were brought there this morning. After the Army officials paid homage to the two martyrs this morning, their bodies were taken to their native places. Kulmethe's body reached his native Purad village in Wani at about 2.15 pm and was received by Union Minister Hansraj Ahir. The body was then kept at his house for the public to pay their last respects. An emotional farewell was given to Kulmethe, where thousands turned up. The entire tehsil observed bandh for the day. Vikas, who joined the army in 2008 and was transferred to the camp at Uri six months ago, got married two years back. He is survived by his wife Sneha (23), a four-month-old daughter, a younger brother and parents. Mortal remains of Vikas Uike from Nandgaon Khandeshwar town in Amravati district, were consigned to flames this afternoon. His family members and villagers could not hold back tears as his elder brother lit the funeral pyre amid the gun salute and full state honours. Before the body was brought to the town, residents burnt the effigy of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in protest. When the van carrying Uike's body reached the home town, his family members broke down, even as slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Shahid Vikas Amar Rahe' rent the air. The market remained closed today while thousands lined the road to bid adieu to Uike. He had joined the Bihar Battalion of the army at Chandrapur in 2009, served at Assam and West Bengal, before being posted at Jammu and Kashmir three months ago. He left behind parents, a brother and a married sister. His father Janrao had earlier said that they were planning to marry him off soon. "We had planned to solemnise the engagement on Diwali but all our plans have been shattered," he had said. PTI Washington, September 20 Strongly condemning the terrorist attack on an army camp in North Kashmirs Uri town that killed 18 soldiers, top American lawmakers across the aisle have called for bringing the perpetrators of the crime to justice. I condemn the horrible terror attack against an Indian Army Base in Uri in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in the death of 18 Indian soldiers. The terrorists who perpetrated this cowardly act must be brought to justice, said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, on Monday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) I extend condolences to the family and friends of the soldiers who lost their lives in the attack, Warner said. Republican Senator Tom Cotton said the pre-dawn attack on Indian troops while they slept was a cowardly act, one that deserved the strongest condemnation. I extend my condolences to the Indian government and to the families of the fallen, he said. The US and India share a vital interest in defending our democracies from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Both our nations must commit fully to deepening our security partnership so that radical jihadists are defeated and stability in the region is maintained, Cotton said. I strongly condemn Sundays terrorist attack in India. We will not let these attacks affect our united fight against terrorism, said Congressman Pete Sessions, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules. The Uri attack was a reminder to the democracies the world over that terrorism sought to destroy peace-loving societies everywhere, said Republican Congressman Ted Poe. It is still unclear which terrorist group carried out this cowardly attack, but one thing is certain. This is just the latest consequence of Pakistans longstanding irresponsible policy of supporting and providing operational space for all stripes of jihadi terrorist groups, he said. Pakistans reckless behaviour is a serious security risk to its neighbours and India unfortunately paid the price all too often, he said. Poe is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-Proliferation and Trade. We condemn this tragic attack, as well as Pakistans support for many criminals like the ones who carried it out, and stand firm in our commitment to our friends in India. A threat to democracy in India is a threat to democracy everywhere. And thats just the way it is, Poe said. The Uri terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the threat international terrorism posed, said Congressman Brad Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. I strongly encourage the governments in the region to make every effort to find the terrorists that carried out these attacks and bring them to justice. The US should continue to assist these governments and ensure they can eliminate terrorist threats, Sherman said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in North Kashmirs Uri town on Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Army. PTI PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 20 Seven school children were killed and 20 were injured many gravely after a school bus fell into a drain in Mahawa village near Indo-Pak border on Tuesday afternoon, police said. The children believed to be 30-40 in number were students of MKD DAV Public School in Attaris Neshta village. Eyewitnesses claim the bus hit a wall while crossing a bridge over the drain. The impact caused part of the bus to hang precariously over the drain below, prompting panicked children to rush to the front of the bus.The vehicle hung dangerously for a few minutes before it fell into the water. A farmer grazing his animals nearby was the first to witness the accident and sound an alert, bringing residents from adjoining villages to the site of the accident. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The wounded have been taken to hospitals in Attari and Amritsar. Amritsar Deputy Superintendent of Police Amandeep Kaur said five of 11 children brought to a private hospital in Chheharta were declared brought dead. The others are currently in the hospitals Intensive Care Unit. Another child died in a hospital in Attar while police confirmed another child's death later in the evening. The children who died were between 7 and 12 years. Police said their identities had yet to be established. All children are believed to belong to Dera Tibbi, Jathaul, Mahawa, Nathupura, Jheeta and Hoshiarnagar villages nearby. Three children of a family in Tibbi village were among the dead. Balkar Singh, a resident of Jathaul village, said his two children Jobanjit Singh (16) and Sehajpal Kaur (14) were among those injured in the accident and were currently being treated at the Chheharta hospital. Two other children Abhijot Singh (7) and Gurnoor Singh (5) were also being treated at the same hospital. Rescue operations continued as divers searched the drain for the remaining children. MLA Gulzar Singh Ranike reached the accident site. Meanwhile, police machinery is already drawing criticisms for its tardy pace of action. Residents of the village claim that police reached the accident site an hour late because of shortage of staff. An ambulance from Chabbal arrived after villagers had already taken rescued children to hospitals in their own vehicles. Villagers also claimed that the bridge the bus was passing was narrow and had a broken railing. They said they had asked MLAs and Parliamentarians to widen the bridge but no action had been taken. Bridges on rainwater drainages are the army's control. (With inputs from Charanjit Singh Teja) Syed Ali Ahmed Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 20 Amritsar and Jalandhar have been selected to be developed as smart cities under the Centres flagship scheme. Amritsar got first position in the competition, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said today while announcing the names of the cities selected under the Smart City Mission. The third list under the Smart City Mission also included Prime Minister Narendra Modis Parliamentary constituency Varanasi. A total of 27 cities have been selected in the second round of the competition for financing of their smart city plans. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Naidu said a total investment of Rs 1,44,742 crore has been proposed by 60 cities under smart city plans. Spread over 12 states, the list includes five cities from Maharashtra, four each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Nagaland and Sikkim. The 27 selected cities are Agra, Ajmer, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Gwalior, Hubli-Dharwad, Jalandhar, Kalyan-Dombiwali, Kanpur, Kohima, Kota, Madurai, Mangaluru, Nagpur, Namchi, Nashik, Rourkela, Salem, Shivamogga, Thane, Thanjavur, Tirupati, Tumakuru, Ujjain, Vadodara, Varanasi and Vellore. In the first round, 20 cities were selected during the last financial year. Thirteen cities were chosen under a fast-track competition in July this year. So far, 60 cities out of 98 have been selected for financing their smart city plans. Previous lists: First list | Second list The smart cities would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. Each city will receive Central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore over the three subsequent financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre's contribution. The government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Centre providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years. With agency inputs Syed Ali Ahmed Tribune News service New Delhi, September 20 Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said 54 per cent of the area of Haryana, 50 per cent of Punjab and the entire Himachal Pradesh was earthquake-prone. Naidu said this while releasing the earthquake hazard zoning map here. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Chandigarh falls in the fourth seismic zone. The map was jointly prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC). The minister said that from the map, it could be seen that about 50 per cent area in north Punjab, comprising Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Patiala and Rupnagar districts is zone 4 liable to MSK intensity 8 and about 45 per cent in zone 3 could have intensity 7. The minister said the north and east areas of Haryana, comprising Ambala, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sonepat and Yamunanagar districts, were liable to MSK (Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik) intensity 8 and 34.3 per cent could have intensity 7. An earthquake of M 6.5 occurred in Gurgaon district in 1720; another of M 6.0 in Faridabad district in 1960. Chandigarh was placed in seismic zone 4, which was referred to as the high damage risk zone with probable maximum intensity of MSK 8, the minister said. According to the Earthquake Hazard Zoning Map, the entire state of Himachal Pradesh is prone to severe earthquake hazard. In 1905, an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale had killed 20,000 people in the state. Kangra and Dharmsala were razed to the ground. Sandeep Rawat Tribune News Service Haridwar, September 20 Former Union Minister of State for Railways Satpal Maharaj Rawat today expressed concern over large scale migration from the hilly region of the state, particularly villages near the Line of Actual Control with China. Maharaj spoke to The Tribune on the sidelines of the Sadbhavna Sammellan at the Prem Nagar ashram here today. He said the recent instances of incursion by Chinese army personnel into Barahoti in Chamoli district was the result of large scale migration of villagers from border areas. Earlier no such cases of Chinese intrusions into the Indian territory on the 350 km border that Uttarakhand shares with China. But in the past five years, mass exodus of people from hill districts, particularly border areas and higher reaches, had led to a situation where villages are deserted. Local people were a natural deterrent to Chinese and they provided vital information to the Indian Army about any suspicious movement. Both Union and Uttarakhand governments should focus on this aspect and try to provide infrastructure, facilities and boost agriculture, horticulture and floriculture in border areas, said Maharaj, a two-time MP from Pauri Garhwal district. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching various initiatives such as Swacch Bharat, Namami Gange, Start Up and Make in India. On the ambitious Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line project, he said land acquisition was being done and in the coming years the railway line would be laid that was expected to change the economy of Uttarakhand. Maharaj urged people to sow seeds of love, harmony, peace and brotherhood to eradicate social evils and differences in society. Tribune News Service Dehradun, September 20 Retired defence personnel expressed serious concern over the terrorist attack in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir in which 18 soldiers were killed two days ago. Ex-servicemen said the Indian government should judiciously respond to avoid repeat of such incidents. They said what went wrong in security should be thoroughly examined before jumping to any conclusion. Lt Gen GS Negi (retd) said the Indian Army should potently reply to Pakistan so that such an incident does not repeat. He added the Indian Army had many options to react to the Uri incident, and the best possible reply should be given to terrorists. Gen Negi said a quick retort against the Uri terrorist attack by the Indian Army would boost the morale of the India troops. On the basis of information from different sources, it has now been established that there are many terrorists living in camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and have been continuously infiltrating into Indian territories, he said. Brig KG Behl (retd), patron of the Dehradun Ex-services League (DESL), said the government should avoid a hasty reaction to the Uri incident. He said patrolling should be increased and security measures should be stepped up along Line of Control so that terrorists could not sneak into Indian territory. He said apart from keeping a diplomatic talk option open, the government should respond to this attack. Brig RS Rawat (retd), president, Uttarakhand Ex-services League, said the Indian Army should strictly avoid taking any steps in haste as it would damage further to nation. He said top brass of the Army should deeply analyse on what went wrong before reacting to Uri incident. He said the Indian Army was fully capable of tackling any kind of external aggression or to repulse terrorist attack in any part of India. Col PL Parashar (retd), who had served in the Uri sector in 1968, stressed on the need of tightening security along the LoC to avoid repetition of such incidents in the future. He favoured that the Army should strictly react to this incident after considering every aspect. Parashar said the Indian troops must chase and kill infiltrators if they try to cross over or are seen indulging in such actions to enter India or running back to Pakistan. He said such action would teach Pakistan a lesson and make them stop making efforts for infiltration. Tribune News Service Mussoorie, September 20 A workshop was held under the Climate Adaptive Water Management Plans for Cities in South Asia (CAMPS) project to discuss and find solutions to the drinking water woes of the tourist town of Mussoorie yesterday. Arun Sanon, an activist, said the town had ample water and the shortage was man-made. He said water shortage makes large hotel owners and business houses spend heftily on arranging water through tankers from natural sources. There is ample water in the town. What all we need is adequate management and distribution system, he said. According to Sanon, water supply from Kempty Falls should be arranged before envisaging on long term projects such as drawing water from Yamuna as it would cost more and take a long time. Jal Sansthan Assistant Engineer TS Rawat said the Jal Sansthan was supplying water to every household for two hours daily but the situation worsened during the peak tourist seasons. Arun Sanon said instead of Jal Santhan, hoteliers should install more water tanks for usage during the emergency period. Professor Madhushree Sekher from the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and BB Tiwari, president of the Himalayan Vikas Sansthan, said water cant be supplied for 24 hours but reducing the leakages and streamlining the process through appropriate technology could bring a change. Sanjay Agarwal, secretary of the Mussoorie Hotels Association, said the number of reservoirs should be increased. While water metering may a possible action, water pumping through the springs should be undertaken on an immediate basis. People should be engaged in rain water harvesting, he said. The speakers also stressed on creating awareness on efficient usage of water. They also suggested to undertake a study to know the actual demand and supply of water in the town. Some of them suggested seeking funds from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for maintaining and preserving forests. Dr Vishal Singh, co-ordinator of the CEDAR, Dehradun, said, Based on the suggestions and recommendations, CEDAR will take forward the concept of formulating climate adaptive management plans under this project. A team of researchers from the Centre for Ecology Development and Research (CEDAR), Dehradun; South Asia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), Kathmandu; and Tata Institute of Social Science were also present. The project has been funded by the International Development Research Council (IDRC). New York, September 20 Baloch activists will hold protests outside the UN General Assembly headquarters here on Wednesday during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the General Debate, to highlight "atrocities" and human rights violations by Pakistani forces in Balochistan. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The 'Coalition of American Friends of Balochistan' and Indian-American Organisations said they will hold a "peaceful protest" against Pakistan for "its state sponsored atrocities and terrorism on the people of Balochistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir and minorities". The Baloch National Movement of North America (BNM) said a joint protest of Baloch and Sindhi activists will be held outside the UN headquarters to protest the "ongoing military operations" in Sindh and Balochistan. "Baloch people have welcomed and are grateful for the support extended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at such a critical juncture when our nation is struggling to be free from the illegal military occupation of Pakistan since 1948," BNM said in a statement. Sharif will address the General Debate tomorrow and has said he will raise the Kashmir issue at the UN. The group said that since 2003, more than 20,000 Baloch political activists have gone missing, "illegally abducted" by the Pakistani state security forces and victims of enforced disappearances are being "tortured and executed" in custody. The group also blamed China for joining hands with Pakistan and causing displacement of people living in the tribal and coastal areas with its economic activity. "China is Pakistan's strategic partner in the economic plundering and mass murder of Baloch civilians, particularly in the coastal belt of the Makran region of Balochistan," it said. Strongly criticising the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the group said thousands of Baloch tribal people have been dislocated due to the development of the corridor. PTI Beijing, September 20 A Chinese company under investigation by local police may have aided North Korea's nuclear programme, think tanks in South Korea and the US have said, just days after Pyongyang conducted its fifth nuclear test. Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. Ltd. logged more than $ 530 million in two-way trade with North Korea between 2011 and 2015, the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul and C4ADS in Washington said in a report released on Tuesday. Information in online advertisements and databases show that the company sold pure aluminium ingots, aluminium oxide and other products that could qualify as potential military and nuclear dual use products under US export restrictions, it said. The company, which is based on the North Korean border in Liaoning province's Dandong city, exported around $171 million worth of goods to the North between 2011 and 2015, the report said, adding its imports from the country totalled more than $360 million during the same period. "While no judgement is being made on the final use of these funds, trade at this volume is of particular note," it said. "By one estimate, this amount would have been almost enough to both fund North Korea's uranium enrichment facilities and to design, make, and test its nuclear weapons," it said. Also notable was the company's partnership with the Korea National Insurance Corporation, a government entity that has been described by the European Commission as generating resources that could "contribute to the DPRK's nuclear- related, ballistic missile-related or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes". Liaoning's public security department said in a statement last week that they have placed Dandong Hongxiang and its bosses under investigation for "serious economic crimes involved in trade activities". The company did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. Asked about the investigation during a regular press briefing, China's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that "relevant departments in China are handling and investigating this case", but would not confirm whether there was a connection to Pyongyang's nuclear programme. China is North Korea's key diplomatic protector and provider of trade and aid. But Beijing has been increasingly frustrated by Pyongyang's defiance of international sanctions to press ahead with its nuclear tests. AFP Washington, September 20 The Indian-American community has asked the US Government to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism and impose sanctions on it following the terror attack in Uri that killed 18 soldiers. "Enough is enough. It is time that Pakistan be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism," said Jagdish Sewhani president of American India Public Affairs Committee. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Referring to various unilateral peace initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after coming to power in May 2014, including the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to his swearing in ceremony and Lahore visit last December, Sewhani said Islamabad had interpreted these overtures as India's weakness. "Leaders of Pakistan need to understand the price they might have to pay for their continuing support to terrorist activities in India," Sewhani said, adding that both the Obama administration and the US Congress needed to send a strong message to Pakistan by declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism and impose sanctions on it. "The ability of groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad to operate freely and with impunity in Pakistan are a direct indication of state sponsored terrorism by the country's intelligence services and military apparatus," said Samir Kalra, senior director and Human Rights Fellow at the Hindu American Foundation. The foundation said the attack was allegedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based militant group and a US designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation, believed to receive military and logistical support from the Pakistani Army. "Since 1989, a militant insurgency supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency has left thousands of Hindus dead, and has driven out more than 350,000 people from the Kashmiri Pandit community from the Kashmir Valley," it alleged. "It is time for the US to take a serious look at the foreign military assistance to Pakistan and how those resources are being diverted to cross-border terrorism and other nefarious activities," said Indian National Overseas Congress, USA. "We join the civilised people everywhere in condemning this dastardly attack across the border from Pakistan and offer our condolences and prayers to families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives," said George Abraham, chairman, INOC, USA. "We also call upon Pakistan to stop exporting terrorism and return the region to relative peace and tranquility," Abraham said. Eighteen soldiers were killed and over a dozen others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in North Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Army. PTI Athens, September20 Thousands of people fled a migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday night after fire swept through tents and housing cabins during violence among residents, the police said. The fire was over by mid-day on Tuesday at the Moria camp which houses the 5,700 migrants on the island and many people had returned, though children had been transferred to other facilities, police said. No casualties were reported from the fire and its cause was not clear. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, linked the fire to poor living conditions and a sense of insecurity among many of the residents. Refugees and migrants on Lesbos are stranded there by a European Union deal with Turkey preventing them going beyond the island until their asylum claims have been processed. Those who do not qualify will be deported to Turkey. Tensions have boiled over at overcrowded camps on Greece's islands as the slow processing of asylum requests adds to frustration over tough living conditions. Greek media said the clashes on Monday erupted among residents following a rumour that hundreds of people would be deported. Roland Schoenbauer, UNHCRs spokesman in Greece, said people were sick of waiting in the camps. They don't know when their asylum claims will be processed. Some people feel they dont have enough information, he said. Work was underway on Tuesday to set up new tents, Police Minister Nikos Toskas said. Nine persons were arrested on accusations of damaging property and causing unrest. Reuters Washington, September 20 The father of the Afghan-born man arrested after weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey reported concerns about his son to the FBI in 2014, but officials took no action after reviewing the complaint, the father and law enforcement officials said on Tuesday. US authorities on Tuesday investigated whether Ahmad Khan Rahami, the naturalised American citizen captured on Monday in New Jersey after a shootout with the police, had accomplices in the bombings or if he was radicalised during trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The investigation is active and ongoing, and it is being investigated as an act of terror," US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in Lexington, Kentucky. Rahami was suspected in weekend bombings, including a blast on Saturday night in New York's crowded Chelsea neighborhood that wounded 29 persons, and two in suburban New Jersey, including one earlier on Saturday near a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park that caused no injuries. His father, Mohammad Rahami, briefly emerged on Tuesday from the family's restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, telling reporters, "I called the FBI two years ago." A US law enforcement official confirmed the elder Rahami had twice met with the FBI, first saying that he was worried his son was hanging out with people who might have connections to militants, but two weeks later contending his real concern was that the son was associating with criminals. Reuters Washington, September 20 When Hillary Clinton attended her first major White House meeting on Russia in February 2009, the new secretary of state insisted that she wanted to play a leading role in President Barack Obama's effort to "reset" US relations with Moscow. But while Clinton became implementer-in-chief for one of Obama's signature first-term initiatives, she was consistently more skeptical than most of his top aides about how far Russian leader Vladimir Putin was prepared to go in turning the page, according to current and former US officials. That stance is indicative of how she would go about dealing with Moscow if she is elected US president on November 8, aides to both Clinton and Obama told Reuters. With US relations with Moscow already plumbing post-Cold War lows, the aides and veteran Russia watchers said she would likely take a harder line than Obama or Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has praised Putin as a strong leader. Dealing with Putin, who is flexing his geopolitical muscle from Ukraine to Syria to cyberspace, will be among Clinton's biggest foreign policy challenges -- one made more daunting by the personal bad blood between them. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department aide and now senior Clinton campaign advisor, said Clinton could consider the shipping of lethal arms to Ukraine government forces and the creation of no-fly or safe zones in Syria. Obama has rejected both ideas. While such moves could further stoke tensions and might even face resistance from some U.S. allies, Sullivan said in an interview with Reuters that Clinton could manage ties with Russia effectively because Putin would "respect her as US president, her strength, her clarity, her predictability." According to current and former Clinton advisers, she could consider other policy moves such as stiffer sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and doing more to wean Russia's neighbors off reliance on Moscow's energy supplies. Russia is watching warily. "She is not perceived by many people as the Kremlin's preferred candidate," said Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry. "Many here believe that she would be tougher on Russia than Obama," he said. Clinton's first fence-mending effort in March 2009 was not so much a show of strength than of diplomatic clumsiness. She handed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a red button that was supposed to have the word "reset" on it. Instead, it was labeled with the Russian word meaning "overcharged." Clinton's distrust of Putin deepened, mirrored by his growing list of grievances against her. By the time she prepared to leave the State Department in early 2013, former officials said, she wrote at least two confidential memos to Obama urging a more hard-nosed approach. At the time, many in the president's inner circle were not convinced the reset had run its course, they said. Since Clinton's departure, Putin has reasserted Russia on the world stage, seizing Ukraine's Crimea region and intervening militarily in Syria's civil war. US officials have linked the hacking of Democratic Party computers to the Russian government - which the Kremlin denies. "Not as if she went grumpily" Like most national security policies under Obama, the attempt to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations was managed from the White House by the president himself, along with aides from his 2008 campaign, including Russia specialist Michael McFaul. "No one should pretend that this wasn't an Obama-driven policy," said Philip Gordon, Clinton's top Europe adviser at the State Department. "But it's also not as if she went grumpily to the table and was told by the president 'you're doing it' ...She thought it had logic." McFaul, who later became ambassador to Russia, said in an interview that from the first White House meeting on Russia in early 2009 Clinton was skeptical of the prospects for transforming US-Russian relations in a way that "some of us aspired to back then." Two other officials backed up his account. The first fruits of the reset were promising. Putin had - temporarily, it turned out - stepped down as president, with the younger, reform-minded Dmitry Medvedev in his place. Obama and Medvedev signed a new strategic nuclear arms control pact, cooperated to sanction Iran for its nuclear program and agreed to let US troops and equipment transit Russia to support a American military "surge" in Afghanistan. But after little more than two years, the "reset" ran out of steam. By mid-2011, it was clear that Putin was returning to the presidency. A decade of broadsides Clinton first met Putin at his residence outside Moscow in March 2010. She persuaded him to back tougher UN sanctions on Iran, according to two people with knowledge of the session. In front of the TV cameras, however, Putin railed against US trade and economic policies as Clinton watched. Clinton and Putin have been exchanging broadsides for nearly a decade. Putin, a former KGB agent, "doesn't have a soul," Clinton quipped on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary, riffing off of President George W. Bush's comment seven years earlier that he had looked into Putin's eyes and seen his soul. The Russian leader retorted: "At a minimum, a head of state should have a head." A US official who was involved in Russia policymaking said Clinton sometimes chose her words poorly, inflaming Russian resentment over its perceived post-Cold War humiliation, a nationalist strain that Putin has long used to his advantage. "She played into that," said the official, who requested anonymity. The most serious rift of Clinton's tenure occurred in late 2011, as crowds filled the streets of Russian cities protesting parliamentary elections marred by allegations of voting fraud. Clinton, in a statement approved by the White House, called the election "neither free nor fair." Putin, who was preparing to retake the presidency, accused her of trying to foment a new Russian revolution. A steady slide in contacts between Clinton and the Russian leadership and in overall relations followed. "Secretary Clinton's views on Russia were always a little harder-edged than President Obama's," said John Beyrle, Obama's first ambassador to Moscow. That partly reflected a "splitting up of responsibilities," he said. Obama cooperated with Medvedev; Clinton grappled with Lavrov and Putin. Some Russia watchers say Clinton's record was mixed. "The reset was the right approach," said Thomas Graham, former Russia adviser under Bush's Republican administration. But he faulted Clinton and Obama's team for not doing more to "actively reach out to Putin and open lines of communication." Reuters Estero, September 20 Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving aid and comfort to Islamic terrorists, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps the Islamic State and other militants such as IS recruit new fighters. But Trump hit back, saying his Democratic rival and the Obama administration hadn't done enough to quell the group's rise. Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monster of evil on us and on the world, said Trump at a packed Florida rally, referring to Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. He also insisted the US should use whatever lawful methods are available to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As several Trump supporters shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate bemoaned the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old US citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people, he said. These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make some kind of demagogic point. Im the only candidate in this race who's been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield. AP Geneva/Beirut, September 20 The United Nations suspended all aid shipments into Syria on Tuesday after a attack on a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies, as a week-old US-Russian sponsored ceasefire collapsed in renewed violence. It rowed back from describing an attack on an aid convoy in Syria as air strikes, saying it did not have conclusive evidence about what had happened. The incident, in which 18 trucks from a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed on Monday evening, had looked likely to deal a death blow to a week-old ceasefire. It drew vigorous denunciations from around the world. The UN, Red Cross and the US had all described it as an air strike, implicitly pinning the blame on Russian or Syrian aircraft that fly in the area for breaking the ceasefire with a strike on a humanitarian target. But Russia, which denied its aircraft or those of its Syrian government allies were involved, said on Tuesday it believed the convoy was not struck from the air at all but had caught fire because of some incident on the ground. The Syrian Red Crescent said the head of one of its local offices and around 20 civilians had been killed, although other death tolls differed. After the Russian explanation, the UN put out a revised version of an earlier statement, removing wording on "air strikes" and replacing it with references to unspecified "attacks". UN humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke said the references to air strikes in the original statement, attributed to the top UN humanitarian officials in the region and in Syria, were probably the result of a drafting error. We are not in a position to determine whether these were in fact air strikes. We are in a position to say that the convoy was attacked, he said. Washington said it still believed the attacks were the result of an air strike, which could only have been carried out by Russia or the Syrian military. "For a convoy to be targeted in an air strike is truly outrageous. Again we don't know exactly what happened, were working through it, but we think it was an airstrike, said Brett McGurk, the US presidential envoy to the coalition fighting against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, The attack on Monday evening prompted the UN to suspend all aid shipments into Syria and brought the latest peace efforts to the brink of collapse. Reuters New York, September 20 US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's fifth nuclear test, the White House said. China and the United States are also targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party cadre, that the Obama administration thinks has a role in assisting North Korea's nuclear programme, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. UN diplomats say the two countries have started discussions on a possible UN sanctions resolution in response to the nuclear test earlier this month, but Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against North Korea. Obama met Li on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. "Both leaders condemned North Korea's September 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea," a White House statement said. China is isolated North Korea's most important diplomatic backer and its biggest trading partner. It has been angered by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and signed on to increasingly tough UN sanctions, but it has said it believes such steps are not the ultimate answer and called for a return to talks with North Korea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart last week China opposes "unhelpful" unilateral sanctions on North Korea but will work within the United Nations to formulate a response. Washington has pressed Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea. The United States has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if the country commits to get rid of its nuclear weapons, which Pyongyang has refused to do. Hongxiang probe The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing as early as this week to announce legal action against Chinese firms suspected of providing financial assistance to Pyongyang, the Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the matter. It said DoJ prosecutors visited Beijing twice last month to make their Chinese counterparts aware of alleged criminal activities being committed by Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial. A social media post last week for the police in Liaoning, the northeastern border province of China, said they were investigating the firm's alleged long-term involvement in "serious economic crimes" and that relevant suspects were cooperating. A report by Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul and C4ADS in Washington says it identified more than $500 million in trade from January 2011 to September 2015 between the North and the Liaoning Hongxiang Group, which states on its website that it trades heavily with the North. The figure includes more than $360 million in imports from North Korea by one group company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., an industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler. "While no judgement is being made on the final use of these funds, trade at this volume is of particular note. By one estimate, this amount would have been almost enough to both fund North Korea's uranium enrichment facilities, and to design, make and test its nuclear weapons," the report said. Certain assets related to the company, its founder and top executive Ma Xiaohong, and some of her relatives and associates, have been frozen by Chinese authorities in recent weeks, according to government and corporate filings cited by the Journal. The Asan report said its trading of goods that could qualify as potential military and nuclear dual-use products under US export restrictions were of particular concern. The products have possible use in a nuclear programme, particularly the uranium enrichment programme. The companies identified have had dealings with sanctioned North Korean entities, the report said. Representatives of the US Department of Justice, Chinese Government and Hongxiang Industrial were unavailable for comment. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group is also heavily involved in North Korea-related shipping, with Ma and other people associated with the group owning and operating a combined fleet of 10 ships that regularly sail between the North and China. Ma, who served on Liaoning's People's Congress before resigning at the weekend, is described by Chinese media as the most successful businessperson in Dandong involved in cross-border trade with North Korea. Government records said Ma's investment in Hongxiang was frozen on September 2. Reuters Denise Rondini Earlier this year, independent repair garages and fleets were given access to service information for model year 2010 and later trucks and buses over 10,000 pounds sold in the United States and Canada. Manufacturers had to make available for a fee as-built information that links to the vehicles VIN, and they had to make available the specialty tools needed to fix vehicles. But the memorandum of understanding did not mean that the truck makers had to provide training. We were left with a hole in how to deal with this issue, says Marc Karon, chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network. We now had all this access to technology, but how were we going to be able to use it if nobody was going to teach us? So the CVSN formed an alliance with three companies that provide technician training: ProMech Learning Systems, Service Professionals Inc., and WheelTime University. We decided this needed to be an industry-wide effort, not just for CVSN members, Karon says. The whole industry is suffering from this problem, including dealers in many cases because they are only getting training on their own particular nameplate, yet many dealers are all makes so they dont know how to use software that applies to a truck they are not a franchise of. Mike Compisi, vice president of operations for ProMech Learning, explains, There is a tremendous need for technical training, whether it is related to right to repair, ECM reflashing, etc. If you dont know how to use the tools and complete the repairs, it can be detrimental and ultimately cost the fleet more money. Each training company in the alliance offers different options. Training is available on site, regionally and via the internet. The training is modular and includes beginning courses, ASE certification and things like engine repair procedures and computer diagnostics. We wanted the training to be cost effective, Karon says. It needed to be modular because not everybody in your shop needs to have all of this information. A typical shop has technicians with different skill levels, and you dont need every technician to know how to reflash and ECM; you may only need one or two guys in your shop to actually do that. Compisi says that in some cases online content will be a prerequisite for instructor-led training. While online training is the direction training is going to go, there are certain things you have to have hands on. The online courses are designed to cover some fundamental concepts so when guys come to the class they are not swimming upstream, he says. We are trying to facilitate a broad understanding to diagnose a problem effectively and efficiently, regardless of whether it is a fleet maintenance person or an aftermarket maintenance person, Compisi adds. Karon suggests each shop review the websites of each of the training providers. Do the due diligence; read the material to ensure you get what you want. Ultimately Karon hopes that the whole industry will be upgraded as a result of the alliance. It will upgrade dealers, it will upgrade independent service providers, and it will upgrade fleets. More trucks will get their trucks fixed faster and there will be less downtime. The guy who owns and operates the vehicle is the net winner in this deal. Beer fans can now travel the state and buy beer directly from their favorite Oklahoma breweries. Or they can go to one of these local beer festivals and consolidate the trip to a day. Two beer festivals are planned for the Tulsa area this weekend, with more coming up in the next few weeks. Mark these festivals on your calendar, and make sure to find a designated driver. McNellies Harvest Beer Festival Noon and 5 p.m. Saturday 409 E. First St., outside McNellies in downtown Tulsa Dozens of breweries from around the state and country will be on hand to let fans taste their latest and greatest work outside McNellies. Some of the breweries expected to attend include Marshall Brewing Co., Founders Brewing, Iron Monk Brewing Co., Dead Armadillo and many others. There are two sessions scheduled one at noon and another at 5 p.m. Tickets are $35 for each session and are available online at beerfests.com or at McNellies two locations in Tulsa. Red, White and Brew 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday Main Street between Dallas and College streets, Broken Arrow Downtown Broken Arrows Rose District hosts its second annual Red, White and Brew festival, bringing in dozens of brewers including Broken Arrows newest brewery, Indian Brewing Co. The festival will also feature music, several food trucks and the Green Country Classic Mustang car show. The event is free to attend, with VIP tickets available for $50. Proceeds from the festival go to benefit Soldiers Wish, which grants wishes for military members and their families. The event last year raised $14,000, organizers said. First Draft 5:30-9 p.m. Oct. 14. ONEOK Field, 201 N. Elgin Ave. Sample local, national and international beers in a variety of styles and flavors with a view of Tulsas skyline from the concourse of ONEOK Field. The Tulsa Press Club hosts this event, now in its 12th year. Some of the breweries scheduled to attend include Hanson Brothers Beer, Roughtail Brewing Co., Okie Crowe, Vanessa House Beer Co. and others. Admission starts at $50 and includes food and a First Draft pint glass. VIP and designated driver admission levels are also available. Proceeds from the festival support the Tulsa Press Club in providing scholarships to journalism students. Linde Oktoberfest Tulsa Oct. 20-23 River West Festival Park, 2100 S. Jackson Ave. Beer, and lots of it, flows through Oktoberfest Tulsa each year. And this year, fans of Oklahoma beers can find all their favorites in one place. The OK Hoptoberfest Zelt will be a tent featuring nothing but Okie beers, including Anthem Brewing Co., Renaissance Brewing Co., Nothings Left Brewing Co., COOP Ale Works and 405 Brewing Co. The festival will also include a tent just featuring Marshall Brewing Co., as well as a wide selection of beers from Germany and around the country. Tickets are $7 in advance. Supporters of creating an African-American Affairs Commission will have to wait another 90 days to hear a task forces recommendations, which had been planned to be released Wednesday. A report was due for discussion Wednesday at a Tulsa City Council meeting, but the item was pulled after being posted on the councils agenda, a City Council official confirmed. The task forces findings are now scheduled to be released in 90 days. Mayor Dewey Bartlett appointed the task force to look at whether to add an African-American Affairs Commission following months of political protests. Leading the protests has been Vanessa Hall-Harper, a Tulsa County Health Department official who is running against Jack Henderson for his District 1 City Council seat. Its frustrating, Hall-Harper said. I believe our community has been ignored for so long, and the powers that be know how to ignore us. Hall-Harper had been leading intermittent protests outside council meetings for months before Bartlett created the task force. Bartlett had said he would explore adding an African-American Affairs Commission to the citys roster of other commissions that includes the Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic Affairs Commission and Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission. Henderson said one issue with creating the commission is that the city already had been working to condense the various panels dealing with ethnicity into the Human Rights Commission with other committees working under that commissions umbrella. Hall-Harper, who is Hendersons only opponent in the Nov. 8 general election, said her protests and rallies will continue until an African-American Affairs Commission is created. Were not going anywhere, she said. Were going to stay here and stay in their face and keep fighting until we get what we want. Were going to continue to register people to vote and empower people. Well be scheduling more peaceful protests, because were not going to let this issue disappear. Video released Monday from a Tulsa police helicopter involves the husband and fellow officer of Betty Shelby, who fired the fatal shot Friday evening at Terence Crutcher. David Shelby was the passenger in the helicopter. He and the unidentified pilot tell each other they believe one of the officers on scene will use a Taser. Sgt. Shane Tuell said David Shelbys presence in the area was happenstance and that the helicopter wasnt specifically assigned to a call. Looks like a bad dude, too, according to chatter between the two officers heard on the helicopters video. Could be on something. Tuell said David Shelby wasnt the officer who commented on Crutchers appearance. He also added that the remark wasnt heard by Betty Shelby because it wasnt uttered over radio communications.I know (the officer) wasnt saying it facetiously, Tuell said. (Crutcher) appeared from the helicopter to be much larger than (Betty Shelby). Black Lives Matter stages protest People gathered outside the Tulsa County Courthouse throughout the day Monday to protest the fatal police shooting of Terence Crutcher. Mareo Johnson, pastor at Seeking the Kingdom Ministries, said the local Black Lives Matter group organized the protest. Dozens of protesters joined Johnson outside the courthouse Monday morning, carrying signs and chanting as people passed by while heading to work. They shouted, Hands up. Dont shoot, interchanged with Black Lives Matter and other cries. One woman carried a sign that said, Am I next. Another sign read, I am not a threat. What brought me out here today is because I have a black son, black brothers and a black father who definitely need the support of everyone in the community, including the protection of the police, protester Jaynae Silas said. Silas said the protest was needed to raise awareness that black lives matter; its not just one-sided. During the protest, Johnson stressed that the phrase Black lives matter doesnt mean only black lives should matter, but that they should matter, too. To me, all lives matter, he said. But all lives dont matter to some people.Media and onlookers watched as the crowd grew. The first protesters arrived a little before 7:30 a.m. The group dispersed around 10:30 a.m. but returned at 1 p.m., 30 minutes before the police news conference. As media and authorities gathered inside the police station in the minutes before the conference was set to begin, a small group of protesters waited outside the building. They said they were told only reporters and family could attend. Johnson approached and said he could get the group inside. They then entered the building through a basement door, where an officer waited to guide them into the conference room. Situation a reminder of Eric Harris case Andre Harris has a unique perspective on the situation, given the scandal that erupted after his brother was killed by an undercover Tulsa County reserve deputy a year and a half ago. The fatal shooting of Eric Harris put that reserve, Robert Bates, in a prison cell for second-degree manslaughter and snowballed into the sheriff, Stanley Glanz, resigning and pleading guilty to two misdemeanors. Charges havent been filed against Betty Shelby, and several local officials on Monday spoke publicly of letting the criminal justice process play out. Andre Harris attended the Tulsa Police Department news conference on Monday that addressed the Crutcher killing. Andre Harris told the Tulsa World he believes the Crutcher case absolutely is proceeding as it should, in stark contrast to how the Sheriffs Office reacted to his brothers fatal shooting. Harris acknowledged its a tricky situation because officials may not be able to reveal all details yet but must demonstrate transparency. If you want to show that youre really different than the sheriffs department, youve got to be transparent, youve got to be forthcoming, and just reveal what it is if you have nothing to hide, he said. Public officials weigh in School district leaders spoke out about the death of Terence Crutcher at Monday evenings board of education meeting. Superintendent Deborah Gist said Crutcher was the father of four children who had a loving family who are all left behind in shock and sadness. They include children who attend Tulsa Public Schools and other relatives who are employed in the district, Gist noted. Across Tulsa right now people are wondering: Why? We struggle to make sense of this and we try to imagine what comes next. We know we need change, she said. What makes this particularly difficult is we know this has happened before, both here in Tulsa and across the country. Board President Lana Turner-Addison said she was among north Tulsa leaders shown on Sunday the videos of the police shooting ahead of their public release. She said she had received many calls Monday from fellow Tulsans who are angry about the death she called troubling and disturbing. I believe we as a community need to focus on how we support this family ... and continue to strive to help build a better future for all residents of Tulsa, she said. For me and for many, I know education is the key to what plagues Tulsa. The ACLU of Oklahoma didnt hold back in its harsh assessment of the case. Ryan Kiesel, the groups executive director, said shooting a defenseless black man and shirking their legal and moral obligation to render aid shows how little regard Tulsa police hold for the citys minority communities. Each of the officers present were complicit in the unconscionable, reprehensible, and disgusting killing of this unarmed, defenseless man, by allowing him to bleed to death on the street rather than attempting any immediate medical aid or attention, he said. U.S. Sen. James Lankford issued brief comments, saying he is saddened by Crutchers tragic death and is praying for his family. My thoughts are with the entire Tulsa community and law enforcement during this tough time, Lankford wrote. Im pleased that Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan has expressed a commitment to achieve justice in this case during the ongoing investigation. Corey Jones, Samantha Vicent and Kyle Hinchey contributed to this report. RATING: 2.5 STARS (on a scale of zero to four stars) Chesley Sullenberger, better known to most as Sully, the man most responsible for The Miracle on the Hudson, is a national hero. Clint Eastwoods new film, starring American everyman hero Tom Hanks playing Sully as an American everyman kind of hero, is a beautifully crafted movie. The story has solid details about the events and an appreciation for, more than anything, people who do their jobs to the best of their abilities. More than any other accomplishment, the movie Sully tells us what we already knew: Sully is a hero. Sully did his job that day in January 2009, carefully determining the human factor into his decision-making that with a bird-collision knocking out both jet engines he could not navigate his United Airways flight back to an airport safely. And, of course, that he was taking a risk landing a plane with 155 people on board in the Hudson River. It was an educated risk, based on Sullys 42 years of flight experience, and the fact that all survived is the miracle, and miracles tend to make heroes out of people who are just doing their jobs. Thats pretty much the crux of Eastwoods film, which takes a decidedly simple and sentimental view of how America sees its heroes. But for a film that promised to tell the untold story of that miracle, were still waiting for new developments. Sully is a handsome and conventional film that wants to say nothing more than: Hey, we may be noting the 15th anniversary of the events of 9/11 this weekend, but look at this great story about another plane crash in New York City and how it flipped the script to the side of all things good. And the events are good, but this is Eastwoods least ambitious film in a long time. The same goes for Hanks, who is solid and steely-eyed as Sully, the man who saves the day but doesnt feel like a hero. He plays a man who immediately following the event suffers some nightmares and a healthy amount of self-doubt focused on one question: Did I do the right thing? Sully is human, which we already knew. Hanks is quite good, but hes never challenged to show any other shading of the man, playing him as a dead-serious glacier of a man with the emotions of a statue. Even when calling home to his wife (Laura Linney with nothing to do but hold a cordless phone during the movie), he tells her he has survived and that hes going to be fine. He is as calm as a husband confirming a list of groceries hes going to pick up on the way home. For an actor who seems to be specializing in playing real-life characters, look to Bridge of Spies or Captain Phillips to see a broader range of acting from Hanks, because this is the most vanilla persona hes taken on in years. The only conflict we see in the film is the members of the National Transportation Safety Board tasked with investigating the crash in the river, or as Sully puts it, with backup from his co-pilot (Aaron Eckhart as minimal comic relief) the forced water landing. NTSB members played by Mike OMalley, Anna Gunn and Jamey Sheridan have take-your-turn speaking roles here that straddle the line between antagonism and investigative nature to create some drama, which the film is lacking. Eastwoods movie is most entertaining and informative during a public hearing that shows simulations of what Sully could have done, and what might have happened, under the conditions of that chilly 2009 day. The special effects are solid of the aviation crash scenarios, which are shown multiple times in a minimalist narrative lasting just 96 minutes. While Sullenberger may be just that narrow in showing emotions, Eastwood doesnt help much by limiting the action to the events of the flight and a few days following. Sully is a character study that doesnt tell us much about the character. Other than the fact that he is a hero. Which we already knew. OPENING THIS WEEK The Magnificent Seven, Denzel Washington, PG-13 Storks, animated, PG AT CIRCLE CINEMA Dylan on Film documentaries, Bob Dylan, NR The Hollars, John Krasinski, PG-13 My Blind Brother, Adam Scott, R Unlocking the Cage, documentary, NR Manhattan Short Film Festival, NR NOW SHOWING Movie Rating (on 4 scale) Hell or High Water 3.5 Stars Finding Dory 3.5 Stars Cafe Society 3.5 Stars Equity 3.5 Stars Bridget Joness Baby 3 Stars The Light Between Oceans 3 Stars Ghostbusters 3 Stars Suicide Squad 3 Stars Star Trek Beyond 3 Stars The Legend of Tarzan 3 Stars Central Intelligence 3 Stars Sully 2.5 Stars Florence Foster Jenkins 2.5 Stars Sausage Party 2.5 Stars War Dogs 2.5 Stars Jason Bourne 2.5 Stars The Secret Life of Pets 2.5 Stars Ben-Hur 2 Stars Petes Dragon 2 Stars Complete Unknown 2 Stars Turkish Development Minister Lutfi Elvan said Tuesday that Turkish contractors were keen to bring their experiences to Kuwait's $150 billion mega projects in the next five years. The minister's remarks came at a meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Hind Subaih Barrak Al-Subaih. "Kuwait is planning to complete within a five-year development plan 523 projects that are worth around $150 billion. "We expect Minister Al-Subaih to support Turkish companies so that they can get a bigger share of these upcoming superstructure and infrastructure investment projects, especially the airport and subway projects," he said, adding Turkish contractors had so far completed approximately $6.3 billion projects in Kuwait. Elvan praised Al-Subaih's significant contributions to Turkey-Kuwait relations, and said that the relations between the two ministries would continue to grow. The Turkish minister also appreciated Kuwait's support for the democratically-elected Turkish government and approach against the July 15 thwarted coup in Turkey. "They [Kuwaitis] announced in the very early hours [of the July 15 coup bid] that they stood against the coup attempt and supported the Turkish Government. I hereby would like to thank them again," he said. Elvan was accompanied by a group of prominent Turkish business people on his Kuwait visit, including the chairman of Turkish Exporters Assembly, Mehmet Buyukeksi, chairman of Turkish Contractors Association, Mithat Yenigun and board chairman of Limak Group of Companies, Nihat Ozdemir. Anadolu Agency Iowa Farm Bureau has two options: accept that conservation initiatives are here to stay, or go extinct. The Farm Bureau last week took initial steps toward accepting reality. It no longer directly opposes new state funding for water quality, a problem in Iowa most frequently pinned on farmers. The states most influential agricultural organization hasnt, however, endorsed any way to raise the millions needed to actually fund water scrubbing projects. Change is hard. But the Iowa Soybean Association made the Farm Bureaus old guard look downright out of touch. Last week, that group joined Iowas Water and Land Legacy Coalition, which offers more than some vague almost-support for clean water projects and nutrient reduction programs. The coalition brought forward an idea to fund the projects, taking the shape of a three-eighths-cent sales tax increase. The coalitions pitch already has more support than Gov. Terry Branstads idea to bilk school funding, which went absolutely nowhere this past legislative session. In fact, one form or another is getting kicked around by politicians from all sides of the spectrum. Voters years ago approved the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund, they say. Its the Legislature that failed to fund it. The sales tax hike would only fulfill voters wishes. Sales tax, in one form or another, is shaping up to be the states probable answer to the water question. And then theres the Farm Bureau, caught between some of its most vocal members and a political reality. Conservation is no longer a dirty word and farmers no longer dictate how people interact with their environment. Thats the harsh reality with which the Farm Bureau must come to grips if it intends on surviving well into the 21st century. Its not as if Iowas political landscape shifted without cause. Des Moines Water Works came along. It filed a federal lawsuit against rural drainage districts, potentially seeking millions in lost revenue spent on cleaning ag-polluted water. Just last week, attorneys for the water agency attacked a century of precedents in the state Supreme Court that have historically protected drainage districts. Federal judges are scheduled next summer to hear the agencys argument. Almost universally, state officials want to avoid a federal consent order. They obviously think Des Moines Water Works might win. Otherwise theyd keep ignoring the problem as they have for decades. The state and federal suits could forever reshape Iowas relationship with the intersection between people and the land in Iowa. Its the ultimate outcome of an increasingly scientific, health-conscious population who, for decades, moved away from rural pastures for urban living. Between 2000 and 2010, Iowas four largest, mostly urban counties experienced significant population growth. The vast majority of the rest were either flat or lost population. Census data show that even Iowa, the poster-child for endless fields of corn, isnt immune to the urbanization movement, as once-family farms are bought up by large-scale operations. Fewer farmers equates to an existential threat to the Iowa Farm Bureau. Its options are limited and evolution is the best-case scenario. The Iowa Farm Bureau is an important, fundamental piece of Iowas political stew. But its now threatened with a fate destined to all things incapable of staying current. It, too, should be proposing funding clean water mechanisms. Last week, the Farm Bureau wanted to have it both ways, to send a conciliatory signal to some without enraging others. Water quality concerns are here to stay. Iowa Farm Bureau has little choice but come to grips with reality and start offering solutions. The Quad-City Times, also a Lee Enterprises newspaper Israel continues to occupy Arab lands "against the back drop of the worlds silence", Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani told the UN on Tuesday. Some countries continue to pursue an approach of action beyond the framework of international legitimacy against the back drop of an international negligence of implementing United Nations Security Council resolutions, he said, referring to Israel. Al-Thani, who is in New York as world leaders gather for the 71st session of the General Assembly, said seven decades of Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is still waiting for a just solution, noting the selectivity of the Security Council in addressing the problems. Despite several Security Council resolutions on Israeli settlements, Tel Aviv continues to authorize building settlements on Palestinian territories. Israel seeks to impose a "fait acompli through settlements in the West bank and Jerusalem, according to al-Thani. It is no longer possible to ignore the weakness of the United Nations legal and institutional system, he said. Its inability in many cases to apply standards of justice and fairness to the mechanism of its functioning. Al-Thani also accused Israel of discrimination and racial segregation against Palestinians. Arab people cannot accept any kind of normalization of relations with Israel as Israel proceeds with the occupation practices and before achieving a just solution to the Palestinian cause, he warned. Anadolu Agency President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on world leaders at the United Nations to work towards an immediate political solution to resolve the crisis in Syria. Speaking at the 71st United Nations General Council he said: "We cannot lose more time to realize the political resolution process and end the root of the problem, which is the fighting in Syria, terror and atmosphere of cruelty." Erdogan also voiced his disappointment over Western organizations' and governments' reluctance to help tackle the refugee crisis. Reiterating that Turkey has done its share to help refugees by spending over 25 billion dollars, Erdogan also criticized the UN and EU for not fullfilling their pledges on providing funds for refugees. "Turkey has spent over $25 billion while the United Nation, the platform I am speaking now, only delivered $525 million. There was no support from the European Union and Unicef only sent $178 million and that is it." Erdogan told the Assembly. "The West may not, but we will keep on admitting them [Syrian refugees], because we are human beings," said the president, lashing out at other world leaders. Stating that Syrian people were under the governance of a tyrant, brute and terrorist while also fighting against the relentless attacks of terror organizations, Erdogan said the international community failed to carry out its humanitarian duties in Syria. "Turkey's incursion into northern Syria in early September had led to establishing peace, balance and stability in a region taken over by hopelessness," he also said, stating that the Syrian regime encourages civilians to either surrender or die. "International powers should no longer tolerate it," he said firmly. Turkey's incursion into Syria came after it had called for several years for world powers to help create a "safe zone" along the Syrian border, with the aim of clearing out Daesh and the PKK's Syrian wing the PYD/YPG and of stemming a wave of migration that has caused tension with Europe. He said that Turkey has no interest in Syrian territory, noplans to stay there. ""We respect Syria's territorial integrity. Syria belongs to Syrian people, nobody must have any other plans for it." The president also accused the European Union of not keeping its promises over Turkey's EU membership. Erdogan urges world to act against Gulen movement Erdogan also demanded international action against the leader of FETO terror group Fetullah Gulen, the mastermind of July 15 coup attempt. "I am calling, from this podium, to all our friends, to swiftly take the necessary measures against the Gulenist terrorist group for their own safety and the future of their nations,"he told the UN General Assembly. Gulen's "terrorist network" that threatens the national security of not only Turley but also other countries, he added. "It is evident from our experience that if you do not fight the Gulen network at this stage, it may be too late later." Erdogan also said that he takes pride in Turkish nation for repelling the coup attempt and showing a very noble stance. Source: Daily Sabah Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday urged world leaders to immediately take all necessary steps against the alleged perpetrator of a recent deadly coup attempt in Turkey. Erdogan said the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) was a threat to all nations where they operate. It is evident by experience that if you do not fight against FETO now, tomorrow might be too late, Turkish leader said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly. A fraction within the Turkish Armed Forces linked to U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, attempted to overthrow the government. The July 15 coup followed the governments crackdown on FETOs clandestine operations that had been nested within the state for decades. FETO-linked soldiers killed 241 people and injured 2194 others as well as bombed the parliament, presidential palace and several security units based in Ankara, during the coup attempt. I also would like to state that attributions such as Turkish, Turkey used by this terrorist organization, all the other labels therein and the persons associated with them have no association with Turkey whatsoever, Erdogan said. Erdogan commended his nations determined stance against the bloody coup. I take pride in my nation as my nation defeated this heinous coup attempt by risking their lives. They showed a very noble stance, he said. If I stand here today before you it is thanks to our nations brave stance and noble stance. According to the Turkish president, the failed coup was aimed at the global democracy as well. FETO is infiltrating state institutions, influencing the society and dominating economy under the disguise of education, dialogue, tolerance, non-governmental organization and ostensibly good intentions, he said. The Syrian civil war and refugee crisis was another topic in Erdogan's speech. Approximately 2.7 million refugees are being housed in Turkey and are protected from discrimination, Erdogan said. Turkey will keep on providing all kinds of support for its guests and will work to ameliorate their condition internationally, he said. Erdogan said Turkey ranks number one in the world with a GDP-to-aid ratio, contributing 0.54 percent of its Gross Domestic Product as humanitarian aid. He said Ankara has spent $12 billion on Syrian refugees it hosts within its border, while receiving only about $500,000 in assistance from the international community. International actors, including the EU, are expected to rise to the occasion and meet their responsibilities by contributing more in assistance, financial and otherwise, he said. Barbed wires and high walls will never provide the security you are looking for, he said, urging regional and global leaders to action. We cannot lose any more time in achieving a political settlement to the Syrian conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, he said. "The [Bashar al-Assad] regime is condemning people to famine and suffering, in order to encourage them to surrender or to die, Erdogan said. "The UN and the Security Council should no longer tolerate the regime's policy, he added. He said Ankara had no expectations with regards to the territory of Syria, and attaches great significance to an undivided Syria. Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield on Aug. 24 to reestablish stability and peace to a region in despair, Erdogan said. Supporting moderate opposition fighters against Daesh and terror groups on the border, the operation has converted the border stretch from a belt of terrorism into a belt of peace and propped up the self-confidence of opposition fighters, the president said. Turkish forces and opposition fighters supported by Turkish armor and aircraft wiped out Daesh in the area, and resettled the local inhabitants of Jarabulus and al-Rai, he said. With regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Turkish president called on Israel to respect the sanctity of Temple Mount and stop its violations in the old city in Jerusalem, one of the most important sites in the world for Muslims and Jews alike. Masjid al-Aqsa, the third holiest mosque in Islam, is part of Temple Mount, or al-Haram ash-Sharif. In his remarks, Erdogan also criticized the permanent-member system of the United Nations Security Council. He said the representative nature of the Security Council must be ensured so that the UN system can become much more effective, just and fair. Do not even consider remaining silent, he said, calling on world leaders to be strong in telling the truth and acting upon it. Only then can the world achieve the levels of justice she yearns for, he said. Erdogan also touched on Islamophobia, describing it as an alternative name to racism and discrimination, urging governments to do more to thwart it. Anadolu Agency Turkish Parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman said on Tuesday a Democracy Museum" would be built in the Grand National Assembly bombed during the July 15 coup attempt. Kahraman said in news conference at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul the museum would be built so that "people's efforts to prevent the coup against democracy on July 15 will be never forgotten and democracy will be kept alive". He also confirmed damaged sections of the Turkish parliament had been repaired. Turkeys parliament was bombed by coup plotters during the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO)s coup attempt. The offices of the prime minister and some areas with traces of bomb damage will be preserved. Turkey's government has said the defeated coup, which left over 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network. Gulen is also accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as "the parallel state". Anadolu Agency A UN convoy that was delivering humanitarian aid to nearly 275,000 victims besieged in Aleppo, Syria has been hit, the UN confirmed Monday. There are conflicting reports about casualties as the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed 12 people, including air workers and truck drivers, were killed in the attack. Media reports said eighteen of a total of 31 trucks were struck. One Syrian activist speaking to Anadolu Agecny said at least two people were killed in the attack. Ahmed Nabhan told Anadolu Agency the regime carried out the strike with helicopters that dropped two barrel bombs on 36 trucks belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent. Nabhan said the two truck drivers were killed and 20 trucks were burned after the attack on the convoy that was making a routine delivery from Aleppo to rural rebel-held areas. The convoy was traveling to Orem when it was targeted, spokesperson Farhan Haq told Anadolu Agency. "We don't know yet who is responsible," Haq said. The regime has not made any statement. The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday unilaterally announced the end of a cease-fire -- sponsored by the U.S. and Russia that went into effect Sept. 12. Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity. Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to UN figures. The Syrian Center for Policy Research, an NGO that until recently was based in Damascus, has put the total death toll from conflict at more than 470,000. Anadolu Agency Russias defense ministry on Tuesday denied claims its warplanes and Assad regime forces bombed UN and Syrian Red Crescent humanitarian aid convoys earlier this week. According to a statement from ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov: "Russian and Syrian planes did not carry out any air attack on humanitarian aid convoys belonging to the UN in southwestern Aleppo." Konashenkov said footage from Mondays scene had been "meticulously" examined and concluded there was no sign of ammunition which hit the convoy. However, upon a question from Anadolu Agency, the U.S. State Department said it would stand by previous statements which urged Moscow to fulfill its ceasefire commitments, including getting the Syrian government to permit unimpeded aid access. The department said yesterday that Damascus and Moscow knew the convoys destination and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people, apparently placing the blame for the attack on Russia or Syria. On Monday, a convoy delivering humanitarian aid to nearly 275,000 victims besieged in Aleppo was hit. Amid conflicting reports about casualties, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed 12 people, including aid workers and truck drivers, were killed. Media reports said 18 of a total of 31 trucks were hit. The UN on Tuesday suspended all aid-delivery operations in Syria following Mondays airstrike. As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being, pending further assessment of the security situation, UN spokesman Jens Laerke told a press conference at the UNs office in Geneva on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides issued a joint statement which described the airstrikes as "alarming violations of international humanitarian law". Mogherini and Stylianides called on the Syrian government to end its air campaign against non-terrorist targets in Aleppo, and to allow the immediate and unhindered resumption of humanitarian access to all besieged areas and in particular to the people of Aleppo. Anadolu Agency UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday lashed out at leaders for failure to stop the war machine in Syria. Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians, the UN chief said at the opening of UN General Assembly. Ban stressed that there is no military solution in Syria, noting that many groups have killed many innocent people in the war-torn country but the Syrian regime has been the worst as it continues to barrel bomb civilians and systematically torture thousands of detainees. Powerful patrons that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands, he added. The Secretary General also addressed Tuesdays airstrike on UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy. Ban called it a sickening, savage, and apparently deliberate attack and urged world leaders to hold the perpetrators of the attack accountable for their crime. The UN suspended aid convoys access to Syria after the strike. I appeal to all those with influence to end the fighting and get talks started, he said. The future of Syria should not rest on the fate of a single man. In his last address to the UN General Assembly, the UN chief characterized Israels denial of Palestinian rights as madness. This is madness. Replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation, he said. He noted that the prospects for a two-state solution are being lowered by the day. All the while, the occupation grinds into its 50th year. It pains me that this past decade has been 10 years lost to peace, he said. Ten years lost to illegal settlement expansion. Ten years lost to intra-Palestinian divide, growing polarization and hopelessness. Addressing several other conflicts across the globe from Ukraine to Myanmar, Ban told leaders: Serve your people. Do not subvert democracy; do not pilfer your countrys resources; do not imprison and torture your critics. Leaders from around the world are in New York for 71st session of General Assembly with an emphasis on sustainable global development goals. Anadolu Agency French President Francois Hollande appealed to the United Nations on Tuesday to take action on the Syrian conflict. "The Syrian tragedy will be seen by history as a disgrace for the international community if we do not end it quickly. Aleppo, today, is a martyred city," he told the General Assembly. The Syrian regime and its foreign supporters are responsible for the crisis, Hollande said, and he urged the UN to take immediate action. "The Security Council should meet as soon as possible. It should not be a theater of fools ... a place where each evades their responsibility," he said and laid out a road map for a Syria that includes imposing a cease-fire, sending humanitarian aid to Aleppo and other cities, ensuring political negotiations will resume and punishing the use of chemical weapons. "If we act, there will be more than a solution for Syria, there will be hope for refugees and displaced people," he added. The French president also stressed the need to act against terrorism that France has experienced in high-profile deadly attacks in Paris and Nice. "Terrorism prospers from open conflicts, he said. No country can say that it is immune to terrorism, fundamentalism and radicalism," he added. Hollande said France turns to the UN to eradicate terrorism and asked world leaders to make decisions, instead of "just talking about solidarity" in order to meet the challenges. He also appealed to leaders to speed up and complete the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement drafted last December. "We have no time to lose, he said. "It [the agreement] will only come into force if it is ratified by 55 percent of [175] countries representing 55 percent of green house gas emissions. The U.S. and China, two of the world's largest CO2 emitters, have announced their decision to ratify the deal, while Hollande noted that France will inform the UN on Wednesday that it has completed its ratification procedure. The French president also addressed energy in Africa and development on the continent. As two-thirds of Africans currently do not have access to electricity, Hollande said 10 donors have committed to pledging $10 billion for renewable energy in Africa by 2020, while France has taken on 20 percent, or $2 billion, of the total financing. "Europe has decided on an external investment plan, which might provide $40 billion if member states of the EU would also participate," he added. Anadolu Agency The CEO of Ramps Logistics says he is "really really disappointed" with the Guyana Revenue A Australian TV networks are still programming local drama in head to head battles with Nine confirming it will launch its thriller Hyde & Seek against Sevens The Secret Daughter on Monday October 3rd. The announcement follows recent programming moves that pit Doctor Doctor, The Wrong Girl and Deep Water in Wednesday night timeslots. This comes after a light first half of the year where commercial networks went months without any new Australian drama. On the weekend Seven confirmed its launch date for its 6 part drama The Secret Daughter. Nine has been planning an October launch for some weeks and had presumably been eyeing the same date. While it will launch off the back of The Block, Seven has Secret Daughter following its X Factor launch. Last year network programmers promised they wouldnt be copying one another this year. Matt Nable (Underbelly: Badness, Gallipoli) stars in the gripping new drama series Hyde & Seek which will premiere on Monday, October 3 at 8.45pm on Channel Nine. Joining Nable in an all-star cast are Deborra-lee Furness (Correlli, Jindabyne), Mandy McElhinney (House of Hancock, Love Child), Zoe Ventoura (Packed to the Rafters), Emma Hamilton (The Tudors, Mary: The Making of a Princess), Tai Hara (Home and Away), Claire Lovering (San Andreas), Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (Puberty Blues), Andrew McFarlane (Devils Playground, Love Child), and Aaron Faoso (East West 101). When his best mate and partner is killed in a random attack, Detective Gary Hyde (Matt Nable) vows to bring the killer to justice. Together with his new partner Claire McKenzie (Emma Hamilton), Australian Federal Police boss Jackie Walters (Mandy McElhinney) and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation chiefs (Deborra-lee Furness and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor), Gary uncovers a criminal underbelly of murder and fraud as he is thrust into the secretive world of homeland security. In a world where crime has no borders and everyone has something to hide, Garys wife (Zoe Ventoura) and young children find themselves in the firing line. Nines Heads of Drama, Andy Ryan and Jo Rooney, said: Were thrilled to join forces with Matchbox Pictures and our brilliant cast to bring audiences the most exciting and action-packed drama of 2016. With its ripped-from-the-headlines stories and international locations, Hyde & Seek is must-see crime drama at its most compelling and entertaining. Hyde & Seek is made for the Nine Network by Matchbox Pictures, with producer Stephen Corvini (Schapelle, Devils Dust) and Executive Producer Debbie Lee. Hyde & Seek is a view of some of the timeliest & most engaging stories going on in our world right now and Matchbox Pictures are delighted to have partnered with Channel Nine to bring this series to life, Corvini said. The creators/writers are Gavin Strawhan (Step Dave, Nothing Trivial) and Rachel Lang (Outrageous Fortune, Blue Rose) with writers Niki Aken and Michelle Offen. The series is directed by Peter Andrikidis (Catching Milat, Fat Tony & Co.), David Caesar (Underbelly: Razor, Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries) and Daniel Nettheim (Doctor Who, Ripper Street). 8:45pm Monday October 3rd on Nine. The second season of Ash vs Evil Dead begins on Stan from October 3rd. New episodes will be available every Monday, fast-tracked from the US. Star Bruce Campbell will also be in Australia for a promotional visit in late October. Ash is leaving his beloved Jacksonville and returning to his hometown of Elk Grove, Michigan. There, he confronts Ruby. The former enemies have to form an uneasy alliance as Elk Grove soon becomes the nucleus of evil. Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo star. The legendary Lee Majors joins the cast this year as Ashs father. TEN will offer the first episode of The Wrong Girl on tenplay ahead of its TV broadcast. It will be available for a limited time from 9am Wednesday 21 September prior to its TEN premiere at 8:30pm on Wednesday Sept. 28th. TEN is asking people to sign up for the preview at tenplay. TEN General Manager, Digital, Liz Baldwin, said: The demand for home-grown Australian drama on tenplay is exceptional and were excited to offer our digital audiences a special look at the first episode of The Wrong Girl. Based on the hit book by Zoe Foster Blake, The Wrong Girl follows the life of 29-year-old Lily Woodward, a hot shot producer on the successful breakfast television show The Breakfast Bar. Like everyone, Lily wants a life rich in romance, a dynamic career and a happy family, but getting there is complicated. Joining Jessica is a stellar cast including Craig McLachlan, Kerry Armstrong, Madeleine West, Hamish Blake, Doris Younane, Steve Vizard, Rob Collins, Ian Meadows, Hayley Magnus, Kevin Harrington, Leah Vandenberg, Christie Whelan Browne, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, David Woods and Cecelia Peters. tenplay users can currently watch behind-the-scenes interviews, cast biographies and more by visiting www.tenplay.com.au/thewronggirl. A further special dedicated website for The Wrong Girls morning show, The Breakfast Bar, will feature on tenplay. Full of funny excerpts, bloopers, bonus scenes and exclusive videos, The Breakfast Bar mini-website will launch following the dramas premiere on TEN. Canberras Virginia Haussegger will leave ABC News next month after 15 years fronting the 7pm bulletin. Fairfax reports she will head up a new foundation at the University of Canberras dedicated to increasing the number of female policymakers in government and the public sector. Haussegger has worked in media for 30 years, reporting from the Middle East, Iraq, Europe, Washington and New York, for programs including the Sevens Witness and Nines A Current Affair. While Im chomping at the bit to get into my new role, and it feels like Ive been moving towards this particular role for years, it was a hard decision to leave ABC TV News, mostly because I was there for the set-up and its been a phenomenal 15 years, an extraordinary 15 years, she said. The change weve witnessed in our community and broadly in our nation over that time has been phenomenal and Ive been at the forefront of it every night and its been the greatest privilege of my life. The fact that in 2013 a federal cabinet could be announced with only one woman in it and some 18 or 19 men is quite extraordinary. Thats why we need to focus on this issue a lot more diligently. Her last bulletin is on October 7. Militants launched 22 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbas over the past day. This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center. In particular, terrorists violated ceasefire 10 times in Donetsk direction. The militants shelled Avdiyivka (18km north of Donetsk), Verkhniotoretske (22km north-east of Donetsk), using grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and small arms. Four ceasefire violations were recorded in Luhansk direction. The terrorists shelled Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk), using small arms. In Mariupol direction, eight ceasefire violations were spotted. The militants used grenade launchers and small arms to shell Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk). ish In September, over 2,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have received the status of combatants participating in anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian Defense Ministrys Spokesperson Dmytro Hutsuliak said this at a briefing on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Defense Ministrys decorations were granted to 54 ATO participants in the past week. Over 2,000 people received the combatant status, he said. He also added that 179,787 servicemen got the ATO combatant status since the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation. iy Ukraine is ready to expand a range of agricultural products exported to Palestine and increase the volume of such deliveries, Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Taras Kutovyi has stated at a meeting with Palestinian Agriculture Minister Soufian Sultan, the press service of the Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry reports. Ukraine is ready to increase the volume of the export deliveries of cereals and flour, vegetable oil, meat and dairy products, sugar, confectionery products to Palestine. We are also interested in expanding a range of value-added agricultural exports, including livestock and organic food products, Kutovyi said. In particular, Ukraine is ready to accelerate certification procedures to obtain Israel's permit to carry Ukrainian cattle to Palestine via Israeli sea ports. Kutovyi also supported a proposal to hold a joint Ukrainian-Palestinian business forum. In addition, the parties agreed to deepen cooperation in the area of science. Palestine is ready to adopt the best practices of our scientists in terms of food safety and quality, the ministry's press service added. A reminder that Ukraine's food exports to Palestine came to $13 million in 2015, including sunflower oil ($8 million) and flour deliveries ($4 million). In January-July 2016, Ukraine's exports to Palestine amounted to $6.8 million, which is 24% lower in contrast to the same period last year. Export indices reduced mainly due to a decline in the volume of sunflower oil deliveries. mk The first technical expert meeting related to developing relations between Ukraine and the Hellenic Republic in the marine industry has been held in Athens, where the parties defined the specific areas of cooperation, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reports. Between September 13 and September 14, 2016, the first technical expert meeting related to developing cooperation between Ukraine and the Hellenic Republic was held in the Greek Shipping and Island Policy Ministry (Piraeus). In particular, the parties reached an agreement on mutual support at the level of international marine organizations and European institutions, information exchange and assistance from the Greek side in reforming Ukraine's marine sector, namely port infrastructure, in line with the EU standards, as well as joint development of the technical and economic aspects of ferry crossing between Ukraine and Greece, the report states. The meeting resulted in signing a joint protocol, which outlined the areas of bilateral cooperation in the marine industry ('the road map') and declared the parties' intent to establish the standing commission on marine cooperation between Ukraine and Greece. The next meeting has been scheduled in Ukraine for 2017. mk Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko has announced that the government of Canada has submitted an agreement on a free trade area with Ukraine to its parliament for ratification. "The Canadian government has submitted the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement to Parliament for ratification. This has been done on the first day of Parliament's autumn session," he wrote on Facebook, Unian reports. "Now it is the Ukrainian government's and the Verkhovna Rada's turn. Let me greet everyone who has worked on the agreement and all who can make use of it," the ambassador said. ish Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin during a visit to the US held a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, during which the parties, in particular, discussed the situation of the Crimean Tatars. This has been stated in a statement of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations on Twitter. "Pavlo Klimkin and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed bilateral cooperation, situation in the Middle East and situation of the Crimean Tatars," reads a statement. The foreign minister of Ukraine participates in the high-level meeting of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in the United States. ish Ukrainian MPs have supported a statement by the Verkhovna Rada on Ukraine's non-recognizing the legitimacy of elections to Russia's State Duma of the seventh convocation, their results and legal consequences, and thus, the composition, authority, acts and decisions of the State Duma. A total of 264 MPs voted in favor of a relevant decision, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. According to the Verkhovna Rada's statement, taking into account the unlawful conduct of the elections to the State Duma in temporarily occupied Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the elections to the State Duma of the seventh convocation are the violation of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, basic principles and norms of the international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Budapest memorandum of 1994, the UN General Assembly resolution on Ukraine's territorial integrity 68/262. The Ukrainian parliament calls on the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, the parliaments of foreign states, parliamentary assemblies and international organizations not to recognize the legitimacy of the elections to the State Duma of the seventh convocation, their results and legal consequences, and accordingly, the composition, authority, acts and decisions of the State Duma of the seventh convocation. iy The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania expresses its strong concern over violations, which were committed during the elections to the State Duma, and calls on the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation to immediately look into these violations, as well as to take action against them. This has been stated in a statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania. "Once again we firmly note that we consider the Russian Federations elections to the State Duma in Crimea, which was illegally annexed and occupied at the beginning of 2014, illegal and we shall not recognize these results," reads a statement. "We strongly condemn this and other violations of Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty by the Russian Federation. This is the reason why the European Union and its international partners have imposed restrictive measures against Russia and individual persons," it says. ish On Monday evening, a fire broke out at the Moria reception centre on the Greek island of Lesvos following clashes between residents. A large number of refugees and migrants were forced to leave the government-run site. Some 4,400 people were accommodated in the facility at the time. Around 95 unaccompanied children were transferred to the Pikpa reception site nearby. Based on initial reports, the fire did not cause any casualties but at least 30 people are reported to have light injuries and have been taken to hospital. Over 50 UNHCR Refugee Housing Units, accommodating some 800 people, were completely destroyed. There were other material damages to the site, including the destruction of tents. UNHCR is present in Moria and the other reception centres on the Greek islands. We have a team assessing the damage and will put up family tents today as an emergency accommodation measure for those affected. Non-governmental organizations will provide tents, mattresses, blankets and water. While the cause of the fire has not been determined yet, the incident confirms the critical security situation in Moria and other reception sites. UNHCR has repeatedly been calling upon the security and law enforcement authorities to increase security to protect refugees, migrants, aid workers and civil servants working in these sites. Increasing security would also help decrease fear of insecurity in the Greek population living nearby. Poor living conditions, combined with a prevailing feeling of uncertainty, regularly fuel despair and frustration among asylum-seekers in Greece. On islands like Lesvos, the capacities for hosting refugees and migrants are overstretched. Lesvos hosts over 5,300 people and has a capacity of only 3,500. To reduce tension and overcrowding, UNHCR is working with the authorities and calls for the urgent transfer of unaccompanied and separated children, one of the most vulnerable groups, to the mainland, shorter waiting periods for asylum claims, particularly on the islands, faster registration and processing of cases for all nationalities and speedier return of those who are not in need of international protection. UNHCR will continue to support the authorities to find solutions to the overcrowding. UNHCR staff helps identify, inform and transfer asylum-seekers by ferry and bus to mainland. In the case of unaccompanied children, we are helping to find adequate accommodation so that they can be moved to the mainland. For more information on this topic, please contact: PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iQ Media, the most powerful platform for achieving real-time media measurement and ROI for paid and earned media across television, online, and social, today announced they have been named as one of Pennsylvanias Best Places to Work. The awards program, created in 2000, is one of the first statewide programs of its kind in the country. The program is a public/private partnership between Team Pennsylvania Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Pennsylvania State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Central Penn Business Journal. "We are incredibly proud to have been awarded this prestigious ranking. Our people are our biggest asset, and the key to long-term successso we feel it's essential to provide a collaborative, open and honest culture in which to foster and retain talent," said Kye Strance, CEO of iQ Media. I am incredibly excited to continue building this environment as we experience rapid growth. This survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Pennsylvania, who are benefiting the state's economy and its workforce. Employers are categorized based upon the total number of employees they have in the United States, 25 to 249 employees and 250 or more employees. Companies from across the state entered the two-part process to determine the 100 Best Places to Work in PA. The first part of this process was evaluating each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, philosophies, systems and demographics. This part of the process was worth approximately 25% of the total evaluation. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. This part of the process was worth approximately 75% of the total evaluation. iQ Media will be recognized at the Best Places to Work in PA awards banquet on Thursday, December 1, 2016, at the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, PA. Rankings will be revealed at the ceremony. This is the second time the company has earned a spot on this list, having been previously ranked in 2014. iQ Media, founded in 2010, provides in-depth earned and paid analytics which empowers brands to understand their TV, digital and social brand attribution in real-time. The company has helped hundreds of Fortune 1000 brands and their agencies to transform their once-static video advertising content into interactive, relevant and ROI-driving experiences. The company is backed by investors Edison Partners and GMH. For more information, please visit www.iq.media About iQ Media Through a single platform, iQ media empowers brands to achieve real-time media measurement and ROI, with real-time intelligence for paid, earned and owned media across television, online, brand sponsorships, and social media. We help marketers make smart, forward-thinking decisions about media spend, campaign optimization and marketing investment, while eliminating the lag time between brand exposure and reporting. For more information, please visit www.iq.media About Best Companies Group Best Companies Group (BCG) is dedicated to establishing "Best Places to Work," "Best Companies" and "Best Employers" programs to identify and recognize workplaces that nurture a superior level of employee satisfaction and engagement. BCG researches the dynamics and characteristics of employers in numerous geographic regions and industries, both nationally and internationally, and then produces annual "Best" lists of the organizations that are leading the way in defining the employee experience of the 21st century. The number of refugees and migrants reaching European shores this year passed the 300,000 mark today, UNHCR figures show. This is considerably lower than the 520,000 registered sea arrivals during the first nine months of 2015, but higher than the 216,054 arrivals during the whole of 2014. A closer look at the two main countries of arrival, Greece and Italy, reveals important differences. Arrivals in Italy this year follow the same pattern as last year, with 130,411 refugees and migrants entering in 2016, compared with 132,071 during the first nine months of last year. In both years, arrivals increased during May and peaked in July. However, more people arriving in Italy are staying there. As of today, asylum claims have more than doubled in Italy, in comparison to the same period last year. Over 158,000 people are currently accommodated in reception facilities in Italy. In contrast, Greece saw a massive rise in the number of arrivals by sea last year, with 385,069 by the end of September. The surge began in August, with 107,843 arrivals, and peaked in October, with highest number of arrivals (211,663). This year, there has been a sharp drop from 67,415 arrivals during the month of January to just over 2,000 so far this month, bringing the total this year to 165,750, a 57% drop from the 385,069 arrivals registered in Greece during the first nine months of last year. The main nationalities arriving in Greece (Syria 48%, Afghanistan 25%, Iraq 15%, Pakistan 4% and Iran 3%) are also different from those reaching Italy (Nigeria 20%; Eritrea 12%; Gambia/ Guinea/Sudan/Ivory Coast 7% each). In the Mediterranean as a whole, five nationalities account for 68% of all arrivals (Syria 30%, Afghanistan 16%, Iraq 10%, Nigeria 7%, Eritrea 5%). Despite the number of crossings this year (300,000) being 42 % lower than during the same period last year (520,000), the number of people reported dead or missing so far this year (3,211) is only 15 % lower than the total number of casualties for the whole of 2015 (3,771). At this rate, 2016 will be the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea. This situation highlights the urgent need for States to increase pathways for admission of refugees, such as resettlement, private sponsorship, family reunification and student scholarship schemes, among others, so they do not have to resort to dangerous journeys and the use of smugglers. At the same time, the plan agreed by the European Union (EU) and Member States a year ago to relocate 160,000 asylum-seekers mainly from Greece and Italy to other European countries need to be fully implemented. So far, less than 5,000 asylum-seekers have been relocated from Greece (3,791) and Italy (1,156), which constitutes only 3% of the original target. We have been calling on EU Member States to increase pledges, including for unaccompanied and separated children, speed up the registration and transfers of candidates, and for more nationalities fleeing war and persecution to have access to the scheme. Effective relocation is key to increasing solidarity and responsibility sharing in Europe, and ensuring the better management of movements, including helping to address irregular secondary movement and reliance on smuggler networks. This is particularly vital given the humanitarian situation in Greece, and the increasing number of people staying in Italy and applying for asylum. For more information on this topic, please contact: RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- State Employees Credit Union (SECU), in conjunction with credit unions in North Carolina and South Carolina, is pleased to announce its support of Victory Junctions REACH program. Several members from SECUs area branch management team recently presented Victory Junction representatives with a $125,000 check for the camps outreach program. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/089f13ce-b41a-4f31-9386-36382c02a337 Victory Junction, located in Randleman, North Carolina, has long been supported by SECU and its staff since the Camps inception in June 2004. The Camp provides children with disease, illness or disability the opportunity for life-changing experiences that are exciting, fun and empowering, all in a medically-safe environment at no cost to the camper or their family. In 2011, Victory Junction staff began the REACH program working with pediatric hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses to enhance and support existing patient and family-centered care with specialized camp-style programming. The REACH teams hands-on approach includes room-to-room visits and a camp day, with an activity aimed at meeting each childs needs and abilities. More than 8,000 children have been served by the program, which is primarily supported by credit unions via the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation. In acknowledging SECUs support, Chad Coltrane, Victory Junction President and CEO, stated, Thanks to State Employees Credit Union, staff and members for strengthening Victory Junctions REACH program. REACH allows us to take camp-like experiences to children in hospitals across North and South Carolina. With the support of credit unions, we have seen a 140% increase in the amount of kids served by Victory Junctions program. SECU District Senior Vice President Kendra Adams added, State Employees Credit Union members and staff have been ardent supporters of Victory Junction for many years. Extending that support to the REACH program is a natural fit for the Credit Union, as the outreach program and its mission of serving those in need embodies SECUs Do the Right Thing mission and the credit union industrys People Helping People philosophy. Both Victory Junction and REACH are making a positive difference in the lives of children in both of the Carolinas and we appreciate their efforts! About SECU A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, SECU has been providing employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for 79 years. The Credit Union also offers a diversified line of financial advisory services including retirement and education planning, tax preparation, insurance, trust and estate planning services, and investments through its partners and affiliated entities. SECU serves over 2 million members through 256 branch offices, nearly 1,100 ATMs, 24/7 Member Services via phone and a website, www.ncsecu.org. NEW YORK, 20 September 2016 All those with a conscience must condemn the attack on a humanitarian convoy in Aleppo that killed and injured humanitarian workers. The inter-agency convoy was carrying desperately needed humanitarian supplies for tens of thousands of people in extreme need. Trucks carrying UNICEF health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies were severely damaged in the attack. These supplies were for children who have already suffered more than five years of war. Five years of callous disregard for their lives, their wellbeing, and their future. Our deepest sympathy is with the families of those killed in this heartless attack, and our thoughts are with all those who were injured. These heroes risked their lives and lost their lives working to save others in a human catastrophe that has gone on for far too long, and cost far too many lives. We honor their work best by carrying on. UNICEF remains committed to deliver aid to the more than six million children and their families who are in desperate need of help. We call again on all parties to the conflict to honour their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to facilitate unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to people in desperate need wherever they are in Syria. ### India to give $500,000 to combat terror 29 Oct 2022 | 11:44 AM New Delhi, Oct 29 (UNI) India will make a voluntary contribution of half a million US dollars in the UN Trust Fund for Counter Terrorism this year, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar announced here on Saturday. see more.. Delhi govt approves auto, taxi fares hike 28 Oct 2022 | 10:52 PM New Delhi, Oct 28 (UNI) The auto and Taxi fares in Delhi will soon go up as the Delhi government approved the revised fares. New fares will be notified soon. see more.. Delhi Court to hear Satyendar Jain's bail plea on Nov 5 28 Oct 2022 | 4:55 PM New Delhi, Oct 28 (UNI) A Special Court here fixed as November 5 for hearing further arguments in the bail application of Delhi's Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who is arrested under the provisions of Prevention Money Laundering Act. see more.. SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) today announced that it will host a conference call on October 25, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. ET to discuss third quarter earnings results, which will be released earlier that day, and provide an update on company operations. Persons interested in listening to the presentation live via the internet may log on to Valeros web site at www.valero.com. About Valero Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products and power. Valero subsidiaries employ approximately 10,000 people, and its assets include 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.0 million barrels per day, 11 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.4 billion gallons per year, a 50-megawatt wind farm, and renewable diesel production from a joint venture. Through subsidiaries, Valero owns the general partner of Valero Energy Partners LP (NYSE:VLP), a midstream master limited partnership. Approximately 7,500 outlets carry the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock and Beacon brands in the United States and the Caribbean; Ultramar in Canada; and Texaco in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Valero is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio. Please visit www.valero.com for more information. Contacts Investors: John Locke, Vice President Investor Relations, 210-345-3077 Karen Ngo, Manager Investor Relations, 210-345-4574 Media: Lillian Riojas, Director Media Relations and Communications, 210-345-5002 There have been a string of creepy clown sightings in different parts of the country. One of the most recent sightings is in Georgia Southern University (GSU). USA Today College reported that there were multiple calls made to the GSU Police on Sunday about a potential clown sighting. However, when officers investigated the concerns, there were no witnesses that saw the clowns in person. Apparently, it all started with a picture that circulated on social media three years ago. The George-Anne, Georgia State University's student paper, confirmed that the creepy clown sightings were fake. "Dean of Students released a Campus Alert this morning concerning last night's rumors: "no actual sightings of clowns by witnesses,'" The George-Anne tweeted. "Photo of clown seen on social media is also confirmed as fake: "was taken three years ago and is not associated with Georgia Southern," the publication said in another tweet. According to The New York Times, children from South Carolina told adults that a group of clowns tried to lure them into the cluster of trees back in August. Several residents at an apartment complex also reported that there are people in clown makeup who were terrorizing both children and adults. The children revealed that the clowns offered them money to follow them into the woods. The clowns' house is said to be by the pond. The police, however, did not find evidence of clown paraphernalia at the house. A couple who lives in the Fleetwood Manor complex with their two sons filed the report, BuzzFeed News reported. Donna and James Arnold were told by their sons that there were clowns in the woods and that they were "trying to get us to come out there." In a report by WKYT, creepy clowns have also been spotted at Kentucky. Jamie Hill was able to post a picture on Facebook of a person in a clown costume near the Hal Rogers Parkway. "I was in state of shock. I didn't know what to do. I didn't think anyone would believe me about it," he said. Tel Aviv University has launched an exchange program in an effort to fight racism and prejudice. The program is currently being geared towards elementary school students. Times of Israel reported that researchers at the Tel Aviv University have set up an exchange program for third- and fourth-grade Israeli and Palestinian students to create "sustainable tolerance while combating racism and prejudice." The Extended Class Exchange Program (ECEP) has held bimonthly meetings and classes to the elementary school students. It is unknown whether the program will be implemented on high school or college students. The program allows students of both parties to have direct and structured contact with each other. It is a curriculum that emphasizes on mutual respect and acceptance of the "other." It also provides a skills training that teaches students how to empathize with others, making them more sensitive in understanding other people's thoughts, feelings, desires, motivations and intentions. The ECEP is led by Dr. Rony Berger of the Stress, Crisis and Trauma Program at TAU's Bob Shapell School of Social Work and Dr. Hisham Abu-Raiya, also of the Shapell School. It was held in collaboration with the Arab-Jewish Community Center (AJCC) in Jaffa and the Tel Aviv Municipality as part of efforts to decrease the growing tensions from the continued escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We've taught Israeli Jewish and Israeli Palestinian children to be compassionate and empathetic - not only toward their friends in the program, but also toward people outside the classroom," Berger said. "It's very hard to bring people together technically, logistically and emotionally. People don't want to interact with people they feel uncomfortable around. In this research, we targeted various skills such as perspective-taking, empathy and compassion that can be taught to promote sustainable tolerance." Abu-Raiya noted that the effectiveness of the program was felt 15 months after it ended, according to The Jerusalem Post. "This highlights the 'hate-preventative' potential of the program to prevent stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination than often lead to hostilities between ethnic groups," he said. Tarleton State University in Stephenville witnessed its first incident after a person accidentally fired a gun last week. This comes after the law allowing students 21-years-old and older to carry weapons inside public university buildings was recently approved last Aug. 1. The incident was first reported by the school's student newspaper, JTAC News. It was revealed that a gun was accidentally discharged in Integrity Hall around 6:30 p.m. "Tarleton State University's utmost concern is for the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff, and the university takes every precaution to provide as safe an environment as possible," the school said in a statement. The person who fired the gun unintentionally was a trained License to Carry holder. The person's age and relationship to the university were not revealed. There were no reported injuries and property damage was minimal. According to the Texas Tribune, Texas' campus carry law now allows people with concealed handgun licenses to carry their weapons into most university buildings. Schools were given the liberty to list their exceptions. Some even banned guns in their dormitories. Tarleton State University and all other schools in the Texas A&M University System chose to allow weapons in their dorms. Opponents of the law have expressed their concerns over accidental firings or suicides. BuzzFeed reported that several LGBT students at the University of Houston no longer feel safe to express themselves now that the campus carry law has been implemented. Robyn Foley, a 22-year-old transgender and intersex student majoring in anthropology shared their worries. "I can't correct someone on my pronouns," Foley said, about what appropriate pronouns to use. "I can't stand up for my transgender friends, because if I do and someone gets pissed off all they have to do is pull out a gun." There are exclusion zones stated in the law, which are areas that people can't bring their handguns in. However, the building with the LGBT center, as well as the veteran students' center, is not an exclusion zone, which heightened their concerns about the LGBT community's safety. SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Valero Energy Partners LP (NYSE:VLP) today announced that it will host a conference call on October 27, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss third quarter earnings results, which will be released earlier that day, and provide an update on partnership operations. Persons interested in listening to the presentation live via the internet may log on to Valero Energy Partners web site at www.valeroenergypartners.com. About Valero Energy Partners LP Valero Energy Partners LP is a fee-based master limited partnership formed by Valero Energy Corporation to own, operate, develop and acquire crude oil and refined products pipelines, terminals, and other transportation and logistics assets. With headquarters in San Antonio, the Partnerships assets include crude oil and refined petroleum products pipeline and terminal systems in the Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent regions of the United States that are integral to the operations of 10 of Valeros refineries. Please visit www.valeroenergypartners.com for more information. Contacts Investors: John Locke, Vice President Investor Relations, 210-345-3077 Karen Ngo, Manager Investor Relations, 210-345-4574 Media: Lillian Riojas, Director Media and Communications, 210-345-5002 We studied our practice of using nurse telephone follow-up under physician direction to assess symptom improvement and patient satisfaction. Women were recruited when their clinical care merited nurse telephone follow-up in the opinion of the attending physician. Women specified a preferred telephone number and completed a symptom questionnaire at the time of enrollment. Nursing telephone follow-up was completed at an interval prescribed by the attending physician to answer specified clinical questions. Approximately 3 months after the initial in-office visit, a satisfaction questionnaire and repeat symptom measure were mailed to the subjects. A convenience sample of 83 women was analyzed. Of those, 91.6% were reached by telephone, and 44.9% returned the follow-up questionnaire. Mean (SD) age was 56.8 (16.6) years (range, 20-89 years). Younger women were less likely to be able to be contacted by telephone (P = 0.02) and less likely to return the questionnaire (P = 0.02). Most common diagnoses were overactive bladder and mixed urinary incontinence. Satisfaction rates were high, and level of convenience for patients was high. Women indicated an ease of speaking over the telephone about their condition and confidence in the treatment plan. Satisfaction with telephone follow-up did not significantly differ based on age or diagnosis. Patient satisfaction was high for nurse telephone follow-up to replace in-office visits for selected diagnoses. This care strategy deserves further consideration for reimbursement purposes as health care evolves. Female pelvic medicine & reconstructive surgery. 2016 Sep 16 [Epub ahead of print] Megan O Schimpf, Dee E Fenner, Tovia M Smith, Julie Tucker, Mitchell B Berger From the *University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; and Virginia Women's Center, Richmond, VA. PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27636210 LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UCBA Trade Association (UCBA), the largest trade association of Proposition D compliant medical marijuana dispensaries operating legally within the City of Los Angeles, has submitted to the Los Angeles City Clerk, over 100,000 petitions signed by City of Los Angeles voters to place an ordinance on the March, 2017 LA City Ballot. The ordinance has been drafted in response to the California Legislature passing the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA) which requires any local jurisdiction to explicitly permit or license cannabis activity. After January 1, 2018, the voter approved Proposition D will no longer provide sufficient legal grounds for any cannabis activity to take place in the City unless a new regulatory system is adopted. Jerred Kiloh, the elected President of the UCBA noted that the UCBA recognized the immediate need for the City to re-examine cannabis activity in light of recent changes to California laws. Coming together, we sought input from our members and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, and we worked hard to draft an ordinance that will provide $10,000 per day fines for illegal operators, increase City revenues by including taxes on medical and adult use and give the City council full authority to provide ownership opportunities for economically disadvantaged communities. In addition to creating an annually reviewable cannabis activity permit, the UCBA measure establishes the Los Angeles Department of Medical Marijuana Regulation which will process and issue permits for marijuana sales, cultivation, manufacturing, testing, distribution and transportation all activities permitted under the new state MMRSA. At its core, the new ordinance will provide licenses to pre-existing, legally operating dispensaries while giving the Council flexibility to include other cannabis activity and to increase the number of dispensaries if they so choose. As the only trade association solely representing legally operating dispensaries, we understand there are many who have been operating on the fringe of legality. The industry as a whole is increasing economic benefits for thousands of Angelenos, while serving patients that need safe access. We are confident that this new ordinance will grandfather in existing, legally operating businesses while giving consideration to new cannabis activity as determined by the Citys communities and ultimately the City Council, noted Kiloh. Rick Icaza, President of UFCW Local 770 added: The UFCW has historically fought on the side of social and economic justice for working people across this Country. With this ballot measure, we are confident that the City will be able to ensure that the economics of this burgeoning industry touch each of the diverse communities of Los Angeles and are managed in a way to protect this new field of workers. In 2013, 63% of Los Angeles voters approved Proposition D, which granted a limited immunity to 135 medical marijuana dispensaries. Since the passage of Proposition D, the number of illegal marijuana operations has increased to what some estimate to be over 1,000 shops. Many of the illegal operations are open within close proximity to schools, churches and parks, which is illegal under Proposition D. Additionally, few, if any illegal dispensaries pay state and local sales taxes or City of Los Angeles gross receipts taxes. About the UCBA: UCBA Trade Association (UCBA), a trade association of Proposition D compliant medical marijuana dispensaries operating legally within the City of Los Angeles, has been formed. The associations charter members include over 40 of the 135 legally authorized medical marijuana dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles. For more information, please visit our website at www.ucbatradeassn.com. NSF grant supports UTSAs acquisition of powerful research instrument (Sept. 19, 2016) -- Michael Doyle, The Rita and John Feik Distinguished University Chair in Medicinal Chemistry and professor of chemistry at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), has received a $527,275 grant from the National Science Foundation to support the acquisition of a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. The device, which is several times more powerful than an MRI machine, will support top-tier research across multiple disciplines. Since its emergence in the 1940s, NMR spectroscopy has had a tremendous impact on the chemistry field. This instrument is critical for researchers in all areas of chemistry as well as pharmacology and even some elements of biology, Doyle said. Whereas an electron microscope, like UTSAs own Helenita, can examine atoms at surface level and MRI machines can image the physiological processes of the body, an NMR spectrometer can go several steps further. Its able to examine the inner workings of molecules: the placements of atoms and the connections between them. The machine relies upon a large superconducting magnet cooled by liquid helium to exploit the magnetic properties of an atoms nucleus. The interaction between the massive magnet and the tiny nucleus allows the spectrometer to map where the atoms are in relation to each other. Medical professionals use instrumentation like this for the visualization of organs, Doyle said. Were going to use it for the visualization of the molecules that make up those organs. One of his main motivations for acquiring the spectrometer, he said, was to provide more of the hands-on undergraduate research experience UTSA is known to offer. This is not just a research instrument, Doyle said. This is something that all students should have some experience interacting with. The spectrometer is fully automated and will run 24 hours a day, allowing for high-throughput screening of a number of different compounds, making faster, more thorough research in many different fields available to UTSA faculty and students. Doyle expects the device to arrive in early 2017 and plans to have it up and running within days. ------------------------------- Learn more about the UTSA Department of Chemistry. Learn more about the UTSA College of Sciences. Connect online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Shanghai Normal University Delegation to Visit UW in Exchange Tour Since early 2000, the University of Wyoming and Shanghai Normal University (SHNU), a leading university in the Peoples Republic of China, have had a close student affairs and academic working relationship. This week, UW Student Affairs with the Associated Students of UW (ASUW) will host a 10-member delegation with students, faculty and staff from across the university meeting with the delegation, including UW President Laurie Nichols and Provost Kate Miller. The SHNU delegation will meet Nichols and Miller Thursday, Sept. 22, in the Old Main boardroom. The focus of the visit is to exchange ideas on student learning and success, says Sara Axelson, UW Student Affairs vice president. SHNU Student Affairs colleagues have interned at UW; delegations from SHNU have visited the UW campus; and delegations of UW students, administrators, faculty and staff have visited SHNU, Axelson says. The ongoing relationship has cultivated rich dialogue to better understand student services and student government at both universities. In 2003, a cooperative education programs agreement was first signed, and since then, UW and the Chinese university have shared resources, with UW students and faculty visiting, and students and faculty from the Chinese institution coming to Wyoming in exchange programs. UW has enjoyed a wonderful working partnership with SHNU for more than 15 years, she says. The visit this week will continue to offer educational exchanges and an opportunity for UW students and employees to meet with the delegation. UW currently has a memorandum of agreement in Student Affairs with SHNU and a 4+1 academic program in place in which SHNU students come to UW for a year to earn a second bachelors degree after they finish four years at their home university. The program began in 2009, and 30 students have participated in the program. Some of the students have continued at UW as graduate students, Axelson says. UW has a scholarship for short-term study at Shanghai Normal University. The scholarship allows two UW students in biology and chemistry to participate in summer research at SHNU. SHNU pays all expenses to our students while they are in Shanghai, Axelson says. This is the fourth year of the program, and we have had seven students participate so far. During the past several years with the student affairs and academic agreement in place, both colleges have had mutual visits -- from professors to department heads and deans -- with many UW professors presenting research seminars in Shanghai. Visiting this week from SHNU are: Weihua Ge, Shanghai Normal University vice president of student affairs; Xianghong Zhang, deputy director of International Affairs Office; Lian Zhong, vice dean, College of Information, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering; Qing Xie, College of Life and Environmental Sciences vice dean; Rujing Wei, College of Tourism vice dean; Huijun Zhu, Student Affairs chief director; Xinyuan Fu, Youth League Committee deputy secretary; Pengcheng Wan, Foreign Languages College student; Liu Yang, Business College student; and Yan Zhang, College of Education student. The contingent will meet with UW administrators, deans, department heads, program directors, professors and ASUW leaders. Some also will shadow UW students in a classroom setting. SHNU representatives are scheduled to meet with Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead Wednesday, Sept. 21, in Cheyenne. The Shanghai group then will tour the National Center for Atmospheric Research-Wyoming Supercomputing Center, also in Cheyenne. Also scheduled for the group is a hike and picnic in the Snowy Range, a tour of the UW campus, meetings with UW student leaders, a planetarium show and a UW Cowgirls volleyball match against San Jose State. This weeks visit comes on the heels of eight ASUW student leaders trip last March to SHNU and Shanghai University as part of a leadership exchange program. UW Faculty Members Honored at Pharmacy Association Annual Meeting Joe Steiner Five University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences faculty members recently were honored for their professional achievements at the 99th Wyoming Pharmacy Association (WPhA) Annual Convention. Joe Steiner, UW College of Health Sciences dean, was named Pharmacist of the Year. The award is presented to an individual who has been an advocate of the profession; a supporter of patients, pharmacy legislation and innovative practice; and a community leader. The WPhA selected Steiner because his commitment to and passion for pharmacy and health care cultivate knowledge, values and motivation with all his colleagues. Steiner received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree (1974) from the University of Michigan and then completed a residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center. From 1979-1997, Steiner was professor and director of clinical pharmacy at the UW Family Medicine Residency Program at Casper. He spent the next four years as professor and director of pharmacy practice for the UW School of Pharmacy. In 2001, he accepted the position of dean of the Idaho State University College of Pharmacy. Steiner returned to UW in 2009 to serve as dean of the College of Health Sciences. Throughout his career, Steiner has been a leader in helping advance pharmacy practice in Wyoming. He has been active in state, regional and national pharmacy organizations. Additionally, he was a past president of the Wyoming Society of Health-System Pharmacy (WSHP). Jaime Hornecker, a UW School of Pharmacy clinical associate professor, received the Bowl of Hygeia Award. The honor is given to pharmacists who have shown dedication to their communities and the profession of pharmacy. The WPhA recognized Hornecker for being an advocate for advanced pharmacy practice who provides outstanding education, training and professional service for moving her profession forward. Hornecker is a board certified pharmacotherapy specialist, a certified diabetes educator and a licensed immunizer. She provides clinical services at the UW Family Medicine Residency Program at Casper. She has trained numerous pharmacy residents by directing an ambulatory care-focused program. She has expanded the program from one resident to two, and from one core clinic to multiple sites, including federally qualified health centers. The WPhA presented the Excellence in Innovation Award to Carol Kobulnicky, associate professor of social and administrative pharmacy. The award honors pharmacists who have demonstrated significant innovation in their respective practice, method or service, directly or indirectly, resulting in improved patient care and/or advancement of the profession of pharmacy. The National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations coordinates the award, and Upsher-Smith Laboratories Inc. sponsors it. Kobulnicky is the director of interprofessional education for the UW College of Health Sciences. As such, she gathers cutting-edge practice strategies from around the country and strengthens pharmacy students ability to work with other professionals to maximize health outcomes through medication therapy management. Through her work, she has changed the way students from the health sciences relate with one another by building collaborative relationships that carry over into professional practice. Kobulnickys areas of research include patient self-advocacy and self-monitoring, oncology patient experiences and pharmacy practice innovation. She has written numerous journal articles on patient self-monitoring, among other topics, as well as two book chapters. Two other UW School of Pharmacy faculty members received awards for their leadership service to state organizations. Lanae Fox, a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, received the McKesson Leadership Award for her service as board president of the WPhA. Fox provides clinical services at the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper and teaches courses in pharmacokinetics and therapeutics. UW School of Pharmacy Associate Dean Tonja Woods was honored with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Leadership Award for her contributions to the WSHP. Woods, a clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, is the past president of the WSHP. She practices at Adult & Geriatric Medical Specialties in Laramie, and her teaching assignments include ambulatory care, geriatrics and the role of pharmacists. These awards speak to the quality of our faculty and the influence they have on pharmacy practice in the state, says Kem Krueger, UW School of Pharmacy dean. The fact that the Wyoming Pharmacy Association presented awards to five of our faculty indicates that the relationship between UW and the profession is mutually beneficial. UW Schedules National GEAR UP Activities National GEAR UP Week activities will be organized this week to note the continuing success of the program across the state. Activities are scheduled through Friday, Sept. 23, to note how the program helps students in the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). GEAR UP is a federally funded college access program providing students and families the support and resources they need for college success. GEAR UP Wyoming, based at the University of Wyoming, collaborates with Wyomings seven community colleges to provide services to seventh- through 12th-grade students statewide. Each site will create awareness for the program during National GEAR UP Week through a variety of activities related to this years theme, One in a Million. The GEAR UP program at UW is hosting a dinner and educational workshop for its freshmen students. Additionally, a photo booth headlining the One in a Million theme will be available. GEAR UP students and staff will have their photo booth images posted on social media and in upcoming newsletters. Many of the GEAR UP programs will celebrate the week by recognizing their community partners. This year, we wanted to acknowledge our community partners, while also getting the word out about our program, says Angela Massman, GEAR UP coordinator with Laramie County Community College (LCCC). LCCC GEAR UP students will create posters, which will be displayed at area businesses on easels. Each poster will say proud partner and contain the business logo, as well as the GEAR UP logo. Eastern Wyoming Colleges GEAR UP participants will place blue flags in front of its building to represent all of the GEAR UP students who have been served through the Torrington site. Central Wyoming College will conduct radio interviews and place posters throughout the Riverton school. Since its inception in 1999, GEAR UP has improved educational outcomes for millions of students across the United States. In 2015-16, GEAR UP Wyoming served more than 2,229 students in 113 schools and reached 929 teachers through professional development. GEAR UP Wyoming is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education totaling more than $3.5 million annually, with a matching amount annually provided by in-kind and scholarship contributions. For more information about GEAR UP Wyoming, call (307) 766-6189 or email gearupwy@uwyo.edu. BASEL, Switzerland, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) announced today that Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd. (Basilea) has entered into a license and distribution agreement with Unimedic Pharma AB (Unimedic) for Basilea's antifungal CRESEMBA (isavuconazole) and antibiotic Zevtera (ceftobiprole) in the Nordic countries, including Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and Finland. Under the terms of the agreement, Unimedic is granted an exclusive license to import and commercialize isavuconazole and ceftobiprole in the region. Basilea will be eligible to receive an upfront and sales milestone payments. Basilea will remain the marketing authorization holder and Unimedic will be responsible for commercialization and distribution of isavuconazole and ceftobiprole in these countries. David Veitch, Basilea's Chief Commercial Officer, stated: "We are pleased to have entered into this partnership with Unimedic. The Nordic countries are traditionally early adopters of innovative medicines. Unimedic focuses on hospital anti-infectives and is well positioned for the commercialization of both isavuconazole and ceftobiprole. With this partnership we are further broadening the availability of our products to patients and physicians within Europe." About isavuconazole Isavuconazole is an intravenous (i.v.) and oral azole antifungal and the active agent of the prodrug isavuconazonium sulfate. It is approved in the United States for patients 18 years of age and older in the treatment of invasive aspergillosis and invasive mucormycosis.1 In Europe, isavuconazole received marketing authorization for the treatment of adult patients with invasive aspergillosis and for the treatment of adult patients with mucormycosis for whom amphotericin B is inappropriate.2 Isavuconazole has orphan drug designation for the approved indications in Europe and the US. Basilea commercializes isavuconazole as CRESEMBA in Germany, Italy, the UK and Austria and is seeking national pricing and reimbursement in additional EU countries. In the US, the drug is commercialized by Basilea's license partner Astellas Pharma US. Outside the US and the EU, isavuconazole is currently not approved for commercial use. About invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis Invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis are life-threatening fungal infections that predominantly affect immunocompromised patients, such as patients with cancer. Invasive aspergillosis is known for high morbidity and mortality. Mucormycosis (also known as zygomycosis) is a rapidly progressing and life-threatening invasive fungal infection, known for high morbidity and mortality. About ceftobiprole Ceftobiprole is a broad-spectrum antibiotic from the cephalosporin class for i.v. administration with bactericidal activity against certain Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and susceptible Pseudomonas spp. Ceftobiprole is approved for sale in 13 European countries and several non-European countries for the treatment of adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), excluding ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).3, 4 The drug is currently commercialized in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Switzerland. About hospital-acquired and community-acquired pneumonia Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is one of the most common hospital-acquired infections and has been shown to have among the highest mortality rates of all hospital-acquired infections.5 Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most frequent causes of hospital-acquired pneumonia.6 Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common condition with up to 60% of the patients requiring hospital admission and intravenous antibiotics.7 Prompt empiric intervention with an appropriate broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment is considered a best medical practice. The increasing incidence of bacteria resistant to many established antibiotics is a major concern. About Basilea Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is a biopharmaceutical company developing products that address increasing resistance and non-response to current treatment options in the therapeutic areas of bacterial infections, fungal infections and cancer. The company uses the integrated research, development and commercial operations of its subsidiary Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd. to discover, develop and commercialize innovative pharmaceutical products to meet the medical needs of patients with serious and potentially life-threatening conditions. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Additional information can be found at Basilea's website www.basilea.com. About Unimedic Unimedic Pharma AB is a Swedish based specialty care company, focusing on developing and commercializing specialty care pharmaceuticals mainly in the Nordics but also in other parts of Europe. The company is primarily focused towards Intensive care, Anti-infectives, and the Addiction therapeutic areas. The company is today one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies within the Nordic market and has, over the past three years, increased the turnover from MSEK 100 to MSEK 600. Unimedic Pharma is owned by MedCap AB, listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. Disclaimer This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations +41 61 606 1102 media_relations@basilea.com investor_relations@basilea.com This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. References 1 CRESEMBA US prescribing information [Accessed: September 19, 2016] 2 European Public Assessment Report (EPAR) CRESEMBA: http://www.ema.europa.eu [Accessed: September 19, 2016] 3 UK Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) Zevtera: http://www.mhra.gov.uk/ [Accessed: September 19, 2016] 4 European trade name Zevtera or Mabelio, depending on the country. The drug has received national licenses in 13 European countries for the treatment of adult patients with community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia (CAP, HAP), excluding ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP): Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 5 C. Rotstein et al. Clinical practice guidelines for hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults. Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases & Medical Microbiology 2008 (19), 19-53 6 R. N. Jones. Microbial etiologies of hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2010 (51), S81-S87 7 W. I. Sligl et al. Severe community-acquired pneumonia. Critical Care Clinics 2013 (29), 563-601 Press release (PDF) http://hugin.info/134390/R/2043188/762747.pdf Danish English Aarhus, Denmark, 2016-09-20 07:29 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On 18 August 2016, Vestas initiated a share buy-back programme, ref. Company announcement No. 26/2016. The programme is implemented in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and Council of 16 April 2014 (MAR) (the "Safe Harbour rules). The purpose of the programme is to adjust Vestas capital structure and to meet the obligations arising from share based incentive programmes to employees of Vestas. Under the programme Vestas will buy back shares for an amount up to DKK 2,984 million (approximately EUR 400 million) in the period from 18 August 2016 to 30 December 2016. The following transactions have been made under the programme during the period 13-19 September 2016: Number of shares Weighted average purchase price, DKK Transaction value, DKK 13 September 2016 82,500 549.52 45,335,623 14 September 2016 75,500 549.04 41,452,203 15 September 2016 37,643 547.74 20,618,411 16 September 2016 84,892 547.25 46,457,504 19 September 2016 28,000 553.77 15,505,669 Accumulated under the programme 1,292,266 552.73 714,278,889 Details of all the transactions relating to the share buy-back programme during the period are presented in the attached appendix. Contact details Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Denmark Hans Martin Smith, Senior Vice President, Group Treasury and Investor Relations Tel: +45 9730 8209 Sports Illustrated 2014 Swimsuit Issue cover model Nina Agdal bared her flawless bikini body on Friday, August 15, at Encore Beach Club at Wynn Las Vegas (Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages). Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. The Danish stunner hosted and helped judge the Luli Fama Swimwear Model Search Finals held at the award-winning dayclub. Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. After getting hair and make-up ready at the Claude Baruk Salon at Encore, Nina posed for photos in a Luli Fama multi-string triangle top and strappy Brazilian bottom bikini. Following the model search, she soaked up some rays and the hot pool party scene. Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. Post fun-in-the-sun, Nina and friends dined at the adjacent celebrity hotspot Andreas in Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. The supermodel sampled Executive Chef Joseph Elevados new Ramen Fries, being introduced to Andreas menu next week, served with banana ketchup, spicy relish and tonkatsu aioli sauces. Upon tasting, Nina exclaimed, Oh my, these are amazing! Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. Nina and her table then shared an assortment of sushi and sashimi along with some of Chef Elevados signature Asian dishes before finishing off the night partying at Surrender Nightclub, entertained by Will.i.am who played a DJ set. Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. Photo credit: David Becker/GettyImages. On Friday, Sept. 16, award-winning actor Chris Evans enjoyed a night out in Las Vegas with his friends, taking in the world-famous O by Cirque du Soleil after enjoying dinner on the Las Vegas Strip (Photo credit: Cashman Photography). Famous for his lead roles in several Marvel Comics movies including Captain America and The Avengers, the star arrived at the theater around 9:30 p.m., where he was spotted with his girlfriend and well-known actress Jenny Slate. Having enjoyed the show once before, Evans immediately welcomed the opportunity to meet the cast, taking photos with some of his favorite artists before the show started. After the performance, he praised them for the outstanding display, saying they were blown away by the artists ability to dazzle the audience in, on and above a 1.5 million gallon pool of water. Friday night Rebecca Mader celebrated her birthday at LAVO in Las Vegas (Photo credit: Al Powers/Powers Imagery). Photo credit: Al Powers/Powers Imagery. The actress, best known for her roles on Lost and All My Children, turns 32 on Sunday. Mader was joined by friends for dinner at the Italian eatery, enjoying signature dishes including the Kobe Meatball and Oreo Zeppole for dessert. Photo credit: Al Powers/Powers Imagery. After dinner they made their way up to the nightclub, taking over a table on the dance floor. Mader was surprised by a cake, which she playfully took a bite of, and then danced the night away to the sounds of DJ Politik. Photo credit: Al Powers/Powers Imagery. At TAO, Perez Hilton hosted a celebrity tweet-up. Kat Graham from Vampire Diaries arrived with Hilton, as did his parents. Photo credit: Al Powers/Powers Imagery. After a meal of Wok Sirloin, XO Shrimp and Satay Bass they headed to the nightclub. Perez even took over TAOs Twitter feed for a bit, sending out a photo as he requested songs from DJ Reach. At his request Reach played a remix of Grahams single I Want It All, which club goers loved. Photo credit: Al Powers/Powers Imagery. It was an extravaganza of international superstar DJs and producers last night at Surrender Nightclub at Encore Las Vegas (Photos by Bryan Steffy/WireImage). Photos by Bryan Steffy/WireImage. Scottish sensation Calvin Harris and Dutch Grammy-winning Afrojack turned up the heat on an already white-hot weekend music at the 60,000 square-foot lush oasis reminiscent of an upscale European beach party scene. Surprising the capacity crowd by joining Afrojack in the DJ booth was fellow Dutchman and R3hab, followed by Montreal-born electronic music pioneer, A-Trak. Photos by Bryan Steffy/WireImage. Afrojack, who turns 24 in a few days, was presented with a birthday cake which he took a big bite from before a downing a celebratory slug of Grey Goose from the bottle. Tito Ortiz was also spotted with Jenna Jameson, on hand for the Labor Day Weekend festivities. Photos by Bryan Steffy/WireImage. Photos by Bryan Steffy/WireImage. Photos by Bryan Steffy/WireImage. Photos by Bryan Steffy/WireImage. The Miss USA contestants were spotted soaking up the sun and playing water volleyball at the Beach Club Pool at Flamingo Las Vegas. After a morning of swimming and sunbathing, the ladies headed to Carlosn Charlies for some delicious Mexican fare. They enjoyed lunch, learned how to make guacamole (above) and danced with the Carlosn Charlies staff (Photo credit: Cashman Photo). Photo credit: Miss USA. The 2012 MISS USA Competition will air LIVE on NBC Sunday, June 3 (9 p.m. ET) from Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas at the Theatre for the Performing Arts. Andy Cohen, host of Bravos Watch What Happens: Liveand Giuliana Rancic, co-anchor of E! News, will host the competition. Photo credit: Miss USA. Photo credit: Scott Roeben. Photo credit: Cashman Photo. Photo credit: Cashman Photo. Albany - NY, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research (TMR) has recently published a study on the global market for healthcare mobility solutions and projected it to rise at a remarkable CAGR of 25.50% during the period from 2015 and 2023. The market is likely to increase from a value of US$20.1 bn in 2014 to an estimated value of US$148.6 bn by the end of the forecast period. The research report is titled Healthcare Mobility Solutions (Payers, Providers, and Patients (Individuals)) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023. Mobility in healthcare is defined as the ability to provide medical and healthcare services such as remote monitoring, virtual diagnosis, and telemedicine to patients staying in a remote locations with the help of mobile communication technology. The increasing penetration of mobiles, smartphones, laptops, and tablets across the world has stimulated the trend of mHealth, fueling the demand for healthcare mobility solutions in the global arena. The report evaluates the global healthcare mobility solutions market on the basis of the product and service, the application, the end user, and the regional distribution of this market. Product-wise, the worldwide market has been classified into enterprise mobility platforms, mobile devices, and mobile applications. Browse Market Research Report on Healthcare Mobility Solutions Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/healthcare-mobility-solutions-market.html The mobile devices segment dominated this market in 2014 and is expected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. The mobile applications segment is also expected to witness a high rise at a CAGR 25.80% during the forecast period, states the research study. Application-wise, the market has been categorized into mHealth application and enterprise solutions. The enterprise solutions segment led the overall market in 2014 with a revenue share of 53.1%. However, the rising penetration of mobile devices in the global arena is likely to drive the growth of the mHealth application segment at an exceptional CAGR of 25.60% during the forecast period. By end user, the report classifies the global market into providers, payers, and patients. In 2014, the healthcare service providers segment acquired the leading position in the overall market with a revenue share of 45.4%. However, the patients segment is projected to register the fastest growth at an impressive CAGR of 25.80% over the forecast period. More Healthcare IT Industry Research Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/healthcareit-market-reports-19.html The growing awareness about healthcare among people, together with their rising disposable income and the availability of advanced healthcare devices, is expected to boost this market segment remarkably in the coming years, states the report. On the regional basis, the study has segmented the global healthcare mobility solutions market into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Rest of the World. North America emerged as the largest regional market for healthcare mobility solutions in 2014 and was closely followed by Asia Pacific and Europe. Analysts expect this regional market to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. Asia Pacific is also projected to witness a healthy rise over the next few years, owing to the infrastructural growth in the medical and healthcare industry in this region, notes the study. Cisco Systems Inc., McKesson Corp., Zebra Technologies Corp., AirStrip Technologies Inc., AT&T Inc., Omron Corp., SAP SE, Cerner Corp., Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Oracle Corp. are the major enterprises functional into the global healthcare mobility solutions market, states the research report. Browse Press Release on this report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/healthcare-mobility-solutions-market.htm The global healthcare mobility solutions market is segmented into: By Products and Services Mobile Devices Mobile Applications Enterprise Mobility Platforms By Applications Enterprise Solutions mHealth Applications By End Users Payers Providers Patients (Individuals) By Region North America U.S. Rest of North America Europe EU7 CIS Rest of Europe Asia Pacific Japan China Australasia Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the World Latin America Middle East and Africa Browse Other Research Reports: Personal Mobility Devices Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/personal-mobility-devices-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/personal-mobility-devices-market.html IT-Enabled Healthcare Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/it-enabled-healthcare-market.html About Us: Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S. based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations. By: Dezan Shira & Associates Vietnams Ministry of Trade and Investment has released text from a draft circular which proposes to regulate the import of cars to Vietnam. Coming on the heels of regulatory repeal during the summer aimed at cutting down on barriers to trade and improving conditions for local business, new regulations are being crafted with the hope of toeing the line between safety and competitiveness. Areas Covered by the Proposal The circular, in its current draft form, details changes for the following areas of compliance that companies importing autos must be aware of as they plan for the coming months: technological inspections safety checks quality assurance environmental protection standards To forgo the checks mentioned above and to minimize import compliance costs, those importing to the Vietnamese market will be required to present an the original certificate of quality or a roll-out quality certification. Alternatively, importers unable to provide these details for their goods will be permitted to undergo additional inspections upon entry to Vietnam that will independently verify compliance with vietnamese standards. These are to be carried out by the Vietnam Register (VR) at the cost of the importing party. Implications for Investment and Trade The draft circular, with its stringent quality measures, is in many ways similar to past Circular no.2/2011/TT-BCT. Under this circular, Vietnams regulatory infrastructure heavily favored large auto manufactures, leaving many of Vietnams domestic producers and importers, as well as small and medium sized international players, at a disadvantage. If the current regulations come into effect in their current form, it is likely that the experiences of Circular 20 could be repeated. Key areas of concern which exemplify possible constraints for smaller companies are the issues of inspections and certification. Within the draft, requirements for importing parties to present original certificates of quality or undergo additional inspections presents a significant cost. Although larger companies directly importing to the Vietnamese market will be able to meet these requirements, and thus forgo additional inspections, smaller importers reselling within Vietnam will be forced to undergo additional inspections at their own cost. These added costs will make it difficult to compete on price within the country. As the circular is in the drafting stage, it is likely that additional adjustments will be made. Nonetheless, it will be of critical importance for relevant parties to monitor the situation closely and to consider their operational exposure to possible regulation. For more information on the draft circular or for general assistance in monitoring regulatory developments within Vietnam, please contact vietnam@dezshira.com or visit us online at www.dezshira.com About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email vietnam@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. Annual Audit and Compliance in Vietnam 2016 In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we address pressing changes to audit procedures in 2016, and provide guidance on how to ensure that compliance tasks are completed in an efficient and effective manner. We highlight the continued convergence of VAS with IFRS, discuss the emergence of e-filing, and provide step-by-step instructions on audit and compliance procedures for Foreign Owned Enterprises (FOEs) as well as Representative Offices (ROs). Navigating the Vietnam Supply Chain In this edition of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the advantages of the Vietnamese market over its regional competition and highlight where and how to implement successful investment projects. We examine tariff reduction schedules within the ACFTA and TPP, highlight considerations with regard to rules of origin, and outline the benefits of investing in Vietnams growing economic zones. Finally, we provide expert insight into the issues surrounding the creation of 100 percent Foreign Owned Enterprise in Vietnam. Tax, Accounting and Audit in Vietnam 2016 (2nd Edition) This edition of Tax, Accounting, and Audit in Vietnam, updated for 2016, offers a comprehensive overview of the major taxes foreign investors are likely to encounter when establishing or operating a business in Vietnam, as well as other tax-relevant obligations. This concise, detailed, yet pragmatic guide is ideal for CFOs, compliance officers and heads of accounting who must navigate Vietnams complex tax and accounting landscape in order to effectively manage and strategically plan their Vietnam operations. A medical worker disseminates preventive measures against malaria and the Zika virus for people living and working on the floating Cai Rang Market in the Mekong Deltas Can Tho City. - VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc As of yesterday, seven out of 10 ASEAN countries recorded Zika infections, except for Laos, Brunei and Myanmar. Thailand and Myanmar reported the viral disease in 1954 and 1969, respectively, but it has yet to erupt into outbreak. Since 2012, the number of cases in 13 Thai cities and provinces surged to 314. As many as 12 new cases of Zika were reported in Singapore last weekend, bringing the total number to 381 since the start of the outbreak on August 27, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore. As of last Friday in Viet Nam, three people in HCM City, the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen were found infected with the virus. The Vietnamese health ministry forecast that more infections were likely to be reported in the country in the near future. Speaking at the event, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said Viet Nam has raised public awareness of Zika prevention, especially at international airports and border gates and called for financial aid. Concluding the event, participants issued a joint statement detailing co-operation in increasing monitoring efforts in each country, improving information exchange, surveillance and countermeasures, as well as mosquito control and management of larvae breeding grounds. More action! The HCM City Department of Health is stepping up preventive methods against the spread of the Zika virus after two foreigners tested positive with the virus. One of the foreigners, a German woman who works in the city, tested positive for the virus while she was visiting Japan. A Taiwanese man, who had travelled to Tra Vinh Province, tested positive after returning to Taiwan. The health department told district-level preventive health centres to continue spraying chemicals to destroy mosquitoes and larvae. Areas at high risk should be monitored to minimise the multiplication of mosquitoes. Education on preventive health measures should also be provided for residents, especially pregnant women, the department said. Surveillance of infections has been strengthened as well. The citys 30 hospitals are required to report any incidence of communicable disease, including Zika, to city authorities. According to the department, only 20 per cent of patients infected with the Zika virus have symptoms such as fever. The department said that most patients have had mild cases and have recovered without specific treatment. To deal with the spread of Zika in Singapore, the HCM City International Health Quarantine Centre is inspecting arriving aircrafts from Singapore and spraying pesticide to kill mosquitoes, if necessary, Nguyen Hong Tam, the centres acting director, told Viet Nam News. The centre is screening all arriving passengers for fever at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. When passengers with suspected symptoms are detected, they will be stopped by a health quarantine officer for examination and epidemiological investigation. If there is a strong suspicion of infection, they will be transferred to a hospital for isolation. The quarantine room, nearby areas and means of transport at the airport will be sprayed to prevent the Zika virus from spreading. Warnings and precautions about the Zika virus and preventive methods are being provided to passengers and staff working at the airport. As many as 2,500 passengers from Singapore come to HCM City via the airport every day. Wolbachia bacteria Mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria, which have been intentionally released on Tri Nguyen Island in Khanh Hoa Province since 2013 in an experiment to control dengue fever, could control Zika, according to the Ministry of Health. Wolbachia bacteria can stop the dengue fever virus from replicating inside mosquitoes that transmit the disease. In April, the province recorded one Zika incidence. Since 2013, the island has had only one incidence of dengue fever. The provinces Peoples Committee has approved releasing mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria in four more wards in Nha Trang City. Between 2018 and 2021, mosquitoes with Wolbachia will be released in two or three more provinces to control dengue fever. Albany - NY, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research (TMR) has announced the release of a new report on the global testing, inspection, and certification market. The report examines the historical trajectory of the global market and presents detailed forecasts regarding the market's development from 2016 to 2024. The report examines the competitive dynamics, segmentation, and major drivers and restraints of the global lithium-ion battery market in order to provide a complete overview. The report is titled Testing, Inspection and Certification (T.I.C.) Market (Application - Oil & gas, Aerospace, Food & beverages, Automotive, Automation, Textile) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024 ' and is available for sale on the official website of TMR. According to the report, the global testing, inspection, and certification market is expected to expand at a 5.7% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024. The market, which had a valuation of US$178.65 bn in 2015, is expected to rise to US$285.34 bn by 2024. Stricter Regulations and Rising International Imports and Exports Stimulate Market Growth In the past few years, regulations pertaining to the quality of products and their overall impact on the health of consumers and that of the environment have become increasingly strict across the globe. International imports and exports of products from a number of industries have also significantly increased globally. So as to conform to the diverse quality and safety standards of foreign destinations, the adherence to effective testing, inspection, and certification measures has become critical for product manufacturers. This factor is expected to have a sizeable impact on the overall development of the global market in the next few years. Browse Research Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/testing-inspection-certification-market.html Lack of Internationally Accepted Standards to Hinder Market Growth A number of countries have their own different sets of testing, inspection, and certification guidelines and standards. Regulations and standards are also often different for different product types or industries. The scenario makes the global testing, inspection, and certification market highly diversified. This defeats the whole purpose of having a product certified against a standard, for it may be considered a token of excellent quality in some countries and mean nothing in some other. The pharmaceutical industry is the most obvious sufferer in this regard drug manufacturers cannot develop a single drug that will be readily approved in all the countries it is submitted. Thus, the lack of internationally accepted standards is expected to be a key restraint for the global market for testing, inspection, and certification market in the next few years. Browse the Press Release: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/testing-inspection-certification-market.htm Oil and Gas Industry to Present Most Promising Growth Opportunities On the basis of application, the oil and gas industry emerged as the largest contributor to the overall revenues of the global testing, inspection, and certification market in 2015, accounting for a share of over 35% in the market. Although the segment will continue to remain the dominant end user of testing, inspection, and certification services through 2024 also, it will likely lose its prominence to the food and beverages segment. The testing, inspection, and certification market for the food and beverages industry will expand at a 6.7% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. During the same period, the market for the oil and gas industry will expand at a 5.6% CAGR. The global testing, inspection, and certification market is marked by an intense level of fragmentation, with only one leading firm, SGS Group, accounting for over 10% in the global market in 2015, points TMR in a recent report. The top four vendors in the market, including Bureau Veritas SA, Intertek Group PLC, Dekra SE, and SGS Group, accounted for a collective share of nearly 29%, with a host of small- and mid-sized companies holding the rest in 2015. Get Sample Report Copy or for further inquiries, click here: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=5669 About Us Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. At the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Forum in Russia themed Prospect of Vietnam-Russia Cooperation in the context of Vietnam-Eurasian Free Trade Agreement". During a working session in Moscow on September 19 with Zarubezhneft one of Russias largest oil companies and a long-standing strategic partner of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas (PetroVietnam), Dung hailed expansive cooperation between Zarubezhneft and PetroVietnam over the past years, evidenced by the good performance of the Vietsovpetro and Rusvietpetro joint ventures. He welcomed the signing of an inter-governmental agreement on continued cooperation within the Rusvietpetro framework, and a protocol on supplementing an inter-governmental agreement on continuing collaboration within the Vietsovpetro framework. On September 18, Dung delivered a speech to the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Forum in Russia themed Prospect of Vietnam-Russia Cooperation in the context of Vietnam-Eurasian Free Trade Agreement, saying that the reduction of half of tariffs to 0% and trade facilitation terms would open up chances for Vietnam and member states to promote trade, investment and services. A key message that the Deputy PM sent to the Vietnamese community abroad and in Russia in particular is forming close partnerships with partners at home to generate a collective power, which he said, is a key to tapping to the fullest free trade agreements signed by Vietnam. The government will be responsible for clearing hindrances along the way, he pledged. On September 17, the Deputy PM laid a floral tribute at Ho Chi Minh memorial at a square named after him in Moscow. What opportunities will this Country Planning Framework (CPF) give to investors in Vietnam, in the reform of the countrys energy sector? GGGI will look to work with the private sector throughout the CPF in its role as a key stakeholder in delivering green growth. Specifically, GGGI will develop bankable projects for key green growth infrastructure and will seek finance for Vietnams government from a multitude of sources, such as multilateral development banks, bilateral sources, and private sector financial institutions. One of the main focuses in the CPF is to improve the geothermal, waste-to-energy, and solar sub-sectors in Vietnam, and work on strategic policy advice such as the necessary feed-in tariffs (FiT). Why is this important to Vietnam and foreign investors? FiTs are important to Vietnamese and foreign investors because they are effective as incentives for the development of renewable energy. A recent GGGI report, which looked at China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, showed that though FiTs need to be set high to begin with, but they can quickly be reduced. This can be achieved once investors see there is a solid regulatory environment for them to recoup their investment. New markets are always risky, but once established this risk decreases, potentially very quickly. For example, in India the initial FiT for solar was around $0.16 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2010 but this has already decreased to around $0.075/kWh today. GGGI has a strategy for Vietnam becoming more green while still growing its GDP Photo: Le Toan International organisations have repeatedly warned that Vietnams emissions will continue surging due to its massive reliance on coal. However, it would be quite expensive for Vietnam to develop renewable energy sources. What is your view on this? I feel that Vietnam can implement renewable energy and see an improvement in its overall finances. Firstly, the funds for renewable energy can be provided by the private sector. This means Vietnams government does not have to take on any more public debt to build the necessary infrastructure. Secondly, the true cost of coal-fired power generation hasnt been factored into the price for the electricity generated, in terms of long-term environmental and health impacts. Thirdly, electricity prices in Vietnam are quite low, and this presents a challenge to tackling climate change in two ways; by making renewables seem expensive and by not encouraging the industry to implement energy efficiency measures these are win-wins as they will save the firm money overall, increase economic efficiency, and reduce emissions. We have heard at a recent EuroCham-hosted event in Hanoi that EuroCham members are happy to pay for higher electricity prices and this would stimulate energy efficiency measures. A recent report by EuroCham highlighted the key reasons their members established operations in Vietnam, namely the highly educated local workforce, excellent trade logistics, and access to raw materials not for the low electricity prices. They fully expect electricity prices to rise. A roadmap outlining how much and when prices will increase will allow all power users in Vietnam to plan the implementation of energy efficiency measures. What are the biggest challenges facing Vietnams efforts to pursue green growth? There are two major challenges. Firstly, in terms of access to finance, between 2016-2020, the Ministry of Planning and Investment estimates that achieving national green growth objectives will require an additional $30-40 billion, so how can all development partners work with the government to access the necessary finance to transition to a green growth pathway? The good news is that there are many sources of finance out there and Vietnam has been successful in accessing them. Multilateral development banks such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been helpful in providing this finance. Also important will be the private sector, which is very promising in terms of the scale of financial resources, for example in building a renewable energy infrastructure. The second challenge is translating overarching policies into implementation on the ground. The government has had a number of successes in setting policies and strategies, such as the green growth strategy and action plan, but there is still work that needs to be done in the policy environment supporting implementation on the ground for example to mainstream green growth throughout all relevant policies. *The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international organisation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. GGGI provides research and stakeholder engagement for green growth plans, aiming to replace the more typical paradigm based on industrial development. Many big RoK businesses have made commitments to pour more investment into the city during a visit this month to the RoK by a Vietnamese delegation led by Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Dinh La Thang, the Sai gon Giai phong newspaper reported. The newspaper quoted Vice Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Le Van Khoa, the RoK is at present the citys fourth foreign biggest investor with 1,252 projects with total investment of US$4.3 billion. Bilateral trade in the first eight months of this year was more than US$2.6 billion. The city also welcomed about 240,000 tourists from the northeast Asian country. During meetings with the Vietnamese delegation, Hyosungs Vice President Yoo Sun Hyung revealed that the group plans to pour US$1.12 billion into Vietnam from 2016-2020. The group is eying five potential fields in the city, which are petrochemical technology, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) harbour and storage, electricity, environment and construction. On the occasion, the RoKs biggest low-price retailer, Emart signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to invest in the city to 2020 with total estimated capital of about US$200 million. The company is looking for suitable local partners to expand its business. An MoU on importing and exporting food between the city and the CJ CheilJadang Group, a RoK food company, was also signed. President of Lotte Group, Shin Dong Bin said the group made a phase 1 deposit of 5.5 million USD for its Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project in the city. The group is also interested in the Ben Thanh- Thu Thiem metro route while continuing to expand its existing businesses such as Lotte Mart, fast-food, cinema chains, and home shopping. According to a recent survey of the RoK Institute for Industrial Economics, and Trade, Vietnams capital city of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were ranked first and second in the list of most favourable investment environments in Asia, followed by Indias Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai; Chinas Shanghai, Chengdu and Qingdao; Yangon (Myanmar); and Jakarta (Indonesia). Hoping for a new wave of investment from the RoK, Khoa affirmed Vietnam is applying open- door policies, and the city has created favourable condition for foreign investors. The newspaper also quoted RoK Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn as saying in his meeting with the HCM City delegation that Ho Chi Minh City is a model locality for dynamic development and creativity in the region. He also encouraged RoK enterprises and localities to bolster investment in the city and Vietnam as a whole. The consortium includes CDC International Corporation (CDC) from the Cayman Islands, Singaporean Middle Utilities Company, and Infra Asia Investment Company from Hong Kong, which is Belgian Rent-A-Port 94 per cent-owned company. The consortium will establish a joint venture with a chartered capital of VND1.04 trillion ($46.6 million), 70 per cent of which will be put forward by CDC, while Middle East Utilities and Insfra Asia will contribute 15 per cent each. The Quang Ninh Economic Zone Management Authority is required to grant investment certificates for each of the projects phases to ensure the construction goes according to schedule. The investors will have to write up an environmental impact assessment report to submit to the provincial authority for approval. According to the plan, the investors will build an industrial park and seaport system including 10 wharves and a 1,129-hectare logistics area. The construction will be divided into three phases to be implemented over 50 years. The first phase is expected to kick off in 2017 and be finished in 2021. Once the complex comes into operation, it will function as a high-tech seaport and industrial park area with synchronous infrastructure. It will creates approximately 110,000 jobs for local residents and contribute VND240 billion ($10.7 million) to the provinces budget each year. The complex is expected to reach an average revenue of VND1.019 trillion ($45.6 million) with a net profit of VND389 billion ($17.4 million) per year. The members of the consortium have been present in Vietnam for a long time having developed numerous successful projects in the country, including the 540-hectare Dinh Vu Industrial Park and Haiphong International Gateway Port IP invested by Rent-A-Port, and a trading services and logistics centre gateway port project invested by CDC. Ahmad Khan Rahami, wanted in connection with weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey, being ferried to an ambulance after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey (Photo: WABC) Saturday's bombings, which left 29 people wounded in Manhattan and forced the cancellation of a US Marine Corps race in New Jersey, came on the same day that a Somali-American with possible links to the Islamic State extremist group went on a stabbing rampage in Minnesota, wounding nine people. President Barack Obama, in New York on Monday to attend the UN General Assembly with other world leaders, called on Americans "not to succumb to fear." He stressed that investigators at this point saw no connection between the incidents on the East Coast and the Minnesota stabbings, where police said the assailant made "some references to Allah" in carrying out the attack. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was wounded in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, just four hours after the FBI released a mugshot of him and texted alert messages to millions of people in the greater New York area, describing him as "armed and dangerous." ABC News footage showed the bearded Rahami being stretchered into an ambulance, sporting a bloodied bandage on his right arm and moving his head moments after being taken into custody. Police confirmed his arrest and said two officers had been wounded. Rahami was injured in his leg and was undergoing surgery at hospital, one official said. Born in Afghanistan, he worked at a family restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and is a US citizen. Investigators are focusing on whether he had co-conspirators and his possible motive in allegedly bombing New York's Chelsea neighborhood and detonating a pipe bomb along the route of a US Marine Corps race on the Jersey shore. Another pressure cooker device was found and defused close to the scene of the Manhattan explosion, and five pipe bombs were discovered late Sunday in a trash can at the train station in Elizabeth. These were also defused. NO INDICATION OF NY TERROR CELL Fifteen years after the Sep 11, 2001 attacks, officials say lone-wolf attacks perpetrated by individuals who may be inspired by IS or Al-Qaeda propaganda are the greatest terror threat to the homeland. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that a possible foreign terror connection would now be an "important line of inquiry." "Who was Rahami acting with, if anyone? And if he had co-conspirators, what were their alliances?" he told CNN. Bill Sweeney, a senior FBI official, said he was "ruling nothing out" when asked whether the same suspect was behind the bombs planted in Elizabeth. "I have no indication there is a cell operating in the area or in the city," Sweeney told a news conference in New York. "The fact that he survived is excellent both from an investigative value and from the fact that we didn't lose a life," he added. The New York mayor said authorities were not currently looking for any other suspects in connection with what he called "an act of terror" in Chelsea. Rahami, who has brown hair, brown eyes and a beard, was apparently seen in surveillance footage taken in Chelsea before the bomb went off. CBS television broadcast separate footage that it claimed was Rahami dragging a large bag down a street in Chelsea. US media reported that he had travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan, with The New York Times quoting neighbors as saying he showed signs of radicalisation upon his return. Police said the suspect had not been previously known to law enforcement, except in connection with a domestic complaint which was later dropped. CLINTON, TRUMP WADE IN Little is known about Rahami, other than that his family sued Elizabeth in 2011, accusing the city and local police department of discrimination in forcing them to close their chicken restaurant by 10.00pm. The suit was settled in 2012 in the city's favour, with a ruling that the city could close the restaurant, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage told reporters. The FBI said officers closed in on Rahami after stopping a vehicle in Brooklyn and questioning the passengers, then raiding homes in New Jersey. Although there has been no claim of responsibility for the New York or New Jersey bombs, a militant-linked news agency, Amaq, claimed that an IS "soldier" carried out the Minnesota stabbings. A 22-year-old Somali-American injured nine people in a shopping mall in St Cloud on Saturday before being shot dead by an off-duty police officer. Dahir Ahmed Adan, named as the perpetrator, was a high-achieving student with no known history of violence. His father told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he had "no suspicion" his son had any ties to terrorism. On the election trail, the attacks distilled contrasting approaches from the two candidates, with Democrat Hillary Clinton touting experience and patient determination and Republican Donald Trump demanding radical change. Clinton, whose lead in the polls has dipped, said the United States needed to invest "more time and more resources" in confronting the lone-wolf threat. Trump condemned the Obama administration's "weak" policies in opening the doors to "tens of thousands" of foreign immigrants, predicting more such attacks. "I've been saying you've got to stop it," Trump told Fox News. Vietnam has become a big magnet for Japanese investors. Why is this? Over the past years, Vietnams growth rate has been quite high and stable, at an annual average of 6-8 per cent, and I believe it will continue on this pace for the time to come. Raito has pinned its hopes on Vietnams growth, and has seen that the country is ideal for our investment. The key drivers of the growth include the diligence and good skills of the Vietnamese people. Furthermore, the countrys stable political and social climate is quite favourable for investors. So I think Vietnam can attract more foreign direct investment, especially Japanese investment. What is your assessment about the potential of the construction market in general, and the field of soft soil improvement for urban underground construction and metro line systems in particular? To reach higher growth, Vietnam should speed up the construction of infrastructure to drive manufacturing sectors forward. With the countrys rising population and urbanisation, I think Vietnams demand for construction will greatly increase in the time to come. Like the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City almost all buildings and infrastructural works are constructed on soft soil. This will offer big opportunities to Raito to participate in infrastructure projects in Vietnam. During its 70-year history, Raito has conducted extensive research and developed its technologies for improvement of soft soil and foundation construction. I think these technologies will be quite helpful for the construction of underground railway infrastructure and underground waterworks in Vietnams urban areas. In the future, Vietnams demand for solutions to treat soft soil, such as chemical spraying technology and mortar ejection technology, will greatly increase, as the solutions will help build infrastructure works more quickly and safely. What distinguishes Raitos strengths with those of rivals in Vietnam? What advanced technologies will Raito promote here? Raitos strong points are shown in its great experience and capacity in deploying many kinds of solutions over the past 70 years in Japan. We have many solutions, technologies, and specialised materials used for different purposes in construction, for different soil and geological conditions. We have also conducted research and developed solutions and technologies through it. This has made Raito quite different in the market. Like Japan, Vietnam has many locations with soft soil, which need different treatment technologies. So I think our technologies are quite suitable to Vietnams different geological conditions. We are planning to bring to Vietnam our chemical spraying technology in which we use a substance to condense the surface of concrete our large-diametre cement stake drilling technology, and other foundation improvement technologies as well. This will depend on the markets demand. Why did Raito select FECON to co-operate with? We have worked with many companies in Vietnam, but finally selected FECON to establish this joint venture company. It is because FECONs vision and strategy are close to ours. It has taken nearly four years for Raito and FECON to set up this venture. During this period, the two firms have co-operated in implementing projects and finding the best ways to work together. This has been sound groundwork for the two sides to operate the Raito-FECON Advanced Geotechnical Joint Stock Company (RFI). RFI has chartered capital of $1.4 million, with Raito holding a 51 per cent stake, and FECON (including FECON JSC and FECON Foundation Engineering and Underground Construction JSC) with a 49 per cent stake. Why has Raito chosen this time to establish RFI? Though we knew that the Vietnamese demand for solutions like ours was greatly increasing, we didnt want to hurriedly establish RFI. Instead we thought that the most important thing we could do is to have a full understanding of our partner, so that the joint venture could work well. So we took the time to co-operate in deploying projects before deciding to establish RFI now. With the support of technology from Raito, could RFI become a pioneer in Vietnam? What will RFI do in the time to come? RFI will first engage in works with large-diametre cement stake drilling technology. We will also apply other technologies in urban areas, such as our chemical spraying technology with a substance used to condense the surface of concrete and a technology for improving foundations. We will also introduce solutions for slope protection for roads and waterways in mountainous and hilly areas. File photo of an advertising board concerning the vandalisation of an oil pipeline in the City of Warri in Delta State, Nigeria. (STEFAN HEUNIS/AFP) In an emailed statement, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM) spokesman Aldo Agbalaja said "Opudo strike force, at about 11.30pm on Sunday, September 18, 2016, struck the Afiesere-Ekiugbo delivery line in Ughelli, operated by NPDC/Shoreline." The rebel group hit the same pipeline last Tuesday and vowed to "ground" the Nigerian economy, which is already in recession, in part due to plummeting oil exports as a result of sabotage. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut Nigeria's credit rating last week, saying the "marked contraction" in oil production from an average of 2.1 million barrels per day to 1.7 was hurting its economic prospects. The NDGJM has stepped up its attacks after rival group the Niger Delta Avengers declared a ceasefire in August and entered talks with the Nigerian government. "All agrarian products in the area surrounding the scene of the incident have been damaged as a result of the blast," a resident of the nearby Ekuigbo community, Efemena Akposire, told AFP. A military officer added: "Unlike previous attacks carried out by the group where they hack-sawed the pipelines, dynamite was used in this case." Nigeria's military has boosted its presence in the oil-producing southern swamplands in response to the attacks, raiding suspected militant camps and clamping down on illegal oil refineries. Various rebel groups have complained about poor living conditions in the area, where despite massive oil wealth most people live in poverty without access to basic services such as education and health care. Distrust in the Nigerian security forces is widespread in the region. Last week the NDGJM complained of intimidation and vowed to "match force with the oppressor's brutality". Rebel attacks are not the only crimes plaguing the region: kidnappings for ransom are also common. Nigerian police said on Monday it had rescued 14 local oil workers and their driver after a shoot-out with their kidnappers near the oil hub of Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state. The employees of Nestoil Plc, an oil and gas service firm, were seized on Sep 2 by a gang of men who hijacked their vehicle and fired shots into the air to frighten away bystanders. Rivers police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said none of the oil workers was injured and no ransom was paid. Efforts were being made to track down the kidnappers, he added. Albany - NY, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research (TMR) delivers key insights on the global packaging robot market in its latest report titled Packaging Robot Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024. In terms of value, the global packaging robot market is projected to expand at a CAGR of over 14% during the forecast period (20162024), due to various factors, regarding which TMR offers vital insights in detail in this report. Growth in manufacturing sector coupled with increased demand of goods from consumers impelled industry operators to opt for large scale automation. As a result of this degree of automation in several industries particularly manufacturing facilities engaged consumer products scaled up. In addition, over past four to five years, packaging surfaced as one of the crucial factor for product sales, hence needed focus form goods and product producers. Consequently, an increased deployment of packaging robots experienced across all end use industries. A few of the end use industries approached packaging robot manufacturers with unique specification and functioning of picking, packing and palletizing robots to be deployed in their premise, which catalysed the trend for application specific packaging robots. Additionally, the associated benefits of installing robots in packaging line, such as lowering costs, increasing accuracy, and reduced product damage, is contributing to the growth of global packaging robots market. Nevertheless, sales of packaging robots increasing globally, but the challenge which needs to be addressed by packaging robot manufacturers is the high initial setup cost. Get Sample Report Copy or for further inquiries, click here: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=9836 A large number of plant and facility operators are sceptic of deploying packaging robots due to high initial cost, where Chinese players are capitalizing the opportunity. The published report by TMR details all the issues and challenges encountered by the industry and also offer best practices studies with white spaces (opportunity pockets) in the global packaging robots market. The global packaging robot market in the report is segmented on the basis of application, gripper type and end-use industries. On the basis of application, the global packaging robot market is segmented into picking, packing and palletizing. Packing segment is further sub-segmented in to case packing, tray packing, filling and other applications. Palletizing segment is further sub-segmented in to case palletizing, bag palletizing and de-palletizing. On the basis of gripper type, the global packaging robot market is segmented into claw, clamp, vacuum and other. Among gripper type, vacuum segment projected to be the most attractive segment over the forecast period Browse the Press Release: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/packaging-robot-market.htm On the basis of end-use industries, the global packaging robot market is segmented into food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, tracking and logistics and industrial packaging. Industrial packaging segment is further sub-segmented in to chemicals, electronic devices and others. Regionally, the global packaging robot market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Packaging robots used for packaging operations for electronic components are not consider in the research study. Among applications, packing segment accounts for a major share in the global packaging robot market, while, tray packing and case packing sub-segment in the packing segment is expected to expand at significant CAGR in terms of value over the forecast period. Leading players in global packaging robot market are focused on developing high speed packaging robot and heavy payload robot to cater increasing demand for high speed packaging across end-use industries. Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow at an impressive CAGR over 17% in terms of value over the forecast period. Key players in the global packaging robot market include Fanuc Corporation, Kuka Roboter GmbH, Yaskawa Electric Corporation, ABB Limited, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Bosch Packaging Technology and Schneider Electric SE. About Us Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Photo by Dallas Morning News Gloria Fortner, 13, says she values all of the influences of her parentage. Her father, Bruce Fortner, is a black pastor, and her mother, Florencia Velasco Fortner, is a Mexican immigrant who heads a nonprofit. Nearly half a million US citizens are enrolled in Mexican schools. Many struggle CRAIG RUFFLE While greeting well wishers after arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, President Barack Obama reaches out to Desmond Hatfield-Rudin, 8 months old, of the Brooklyn borough of New York, Sunday. 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. Ocean View, Delaware, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medical Biomimetics Market size is estimated to reach USD 34.4 billion by 2024; as per a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Medical biomimetics is widely gaining popularity as the technology of the future, with increased support in form of funding and collaborations. Various players in the market are collaborating with scientists and designing laboratories to explore novel technologies. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/767 The medical biomimetics industry is also witnessing favorable funding scenario in response to the rising need for research and development of biomimetic technologies. There are government funded research centres that facilitate research in the field of biomimetics. For instance, Biomembrane Plasticity Research Center and BioMimetic Robot Research Center are among those. Apart from this, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) provide funding opportunities to support the development of biomimetic tissue-engineered technologies for the purpose of cancer research. The dominant regional market over the forecast period was North America, followed by Europe with the trend projected to continue over the forecast period due to the rapid adoption of medical biomimetic products, and huge demand for organ transplants such as liver transplant. The countries of China, India, Brazil and Mexico offer good growth opportunities due to increased capacity for healthcare expenditure, rapidly developing medical infrastructure, and huge patient base. In addition, large geriatric population in Japan is should catapult demand for cardiovascular and orthopedic biomimetic products. Various players operating in the medical biomimetics market share include Avinent, BioHorizons IPH, Inc., Biomimetics Technologies, Inc., Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH, Applied Biomimetic A/S, Hstar Technologies Corporation, among others. Browse key industry insights spread across 110 pages with 295 market data tables & 7 figures & charts from the report, Medical Biomimetics Market Size By Product [Cardiovascular, Orthopedic (Prostheses, Exoskeleton), Ophthalmology, Dental), By Application (Plastic Surgery, Wound Healing, Tissue Engineering, Drug Delivery) Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Poland, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Saudi Arabia), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2024 in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/medical-biomimetics-market Key insights from the report include: Global medical biomimetics market size is anticipated to reach USD 34.4 billion by 2024, increasing from USD 21.4 billion in 2015, with forecast projection of 5.5% CAGR from 2016 to 2024. The cardiovascular and orthopedic segments together grabbed a medical biomimetics market share of 69% in 2015, due to the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular, and orthopedic disorders due to rise in aging population. Drug delivery and tissue engineering formed the largest application markets of medical biomimetics in 2015, since various biomimetic scaffold that mimics certain features of the natural ECM such as supporting cell recruiting/seeding, adhesion, proliferation, differentiation are being artificially designed for tissue engineering. North America industry was valued at over USD 10 billion in 2015, accounted for the major regional share. Germany and UK collectively garnered a share of more than 50% in the Europe medical biomimetics market. The industry is marked by high level entry barriers due to strict regulatory guidelines, and high cost of product development as well as research. Moreover, established players collaborate with research organizations to develop new products. With large pool of geriatric population, China, and Japan are the major revenue pockets of the APAC region, while Brazil and Mexico are the revenue puller for LATAM. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/767 Global Market Insights has segmented the medical biomimetics market on the basis of product, application and region: Global Medical Biomimetics Market Product Analysis (Revenue, USD Million; 2012 - 2024) Cardiovascular Orthopedic Prostheses Exoskeleton Ophthalmology Dental Others Global Medical Biomimetics Market Application Analysis (Revenue, USD Million; 2012 - 2024) Plastic Surgery Wound Healing Tissue Engineering Drug Delivery Others Medical Biomimetics Market Regional Analysis (Revenue, USD Million; 2012 - 2024) North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Italy Spain Russia Poland Asia Pacific Japan China India Malaysia Thailand Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina MEA South Africa Saudi Arabia Browse Related Reports: Biosensors Market Size By Technology (Thermal, Electrochemical, Piezoelectric, Optical), By Application [Medical (Cholesterol, Blood Glucose, Blood Gas Analyzer, Pregnancy Testing, Drug Discovery, Infectious Diseases), Food Toxicity, Bioreactor, Agriculture, Environment], By End-User (Home Healthcare, PoC Testing, Food Industry, Research Labs, Security and Biodefense), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, China, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/biosensors-market Biopreservation Market Size By Product (Equipment, Media, Laboratory Information Management System), By Application (Regenerative Medicine, Biobanking, Drug Discovery), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, Japan, China, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2024 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/biopreservation-market About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. The U.S. Somali community was quick to condemn the weekend stabbing attack at a Minnesota Mall in which at least nine people were wounded before a Somali American assailant was killed. The jihadist-linked Amaq news agency said Sunday that he was "a soldier of the Islamic State." The stabbing at St. Cloud shopping mall, north of Minneapolis, took place Saturday evening, coinciding with a blast in New York City. Zlatica Hoke reports that no link has been found between the two incidents. Nourhan Isso's timing was bad. The Syrian student who fled Aleppo crossed the Aegean from the Turkish coast to the nearby Greek island of Chios on March 20 with her mother, hoping they would quickly move on through Europe. But unbeknown to them, the date marked a turning point in Europe's refugee crisis. Under an agreement between the European Union and Turkey, anyone arriving on the Greek islands from Turkey on or after March 20 would be held there and face being returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. Had they travelled a day earlier, their prospects might have been slightly brighter. They could have been among those sent to camps on the mainland, or perhaps one of the hundreds of thousands who managed to cross into central and northern Europe while Balkan borders were still open. Instead, 21-year-old Isso found herself among more than 13,000 people stranded on the Greek islands, facing an uncertain future. About 3,300 are on Chios, where there is provision for just 1,100 spots. They must apply for admissibility to the asylum system in a procedure that can take months, and some refugees there said their second interviews were not scheduled until January 2017. We don't know our future or our life in the future, said Isso, standing outside her tent in Souda camp, a collection of tents and prefabricated huts housing nearly 1,000 people in a moat outside the old city ramparts. If you don't have hope you cannot live. It's death. Isso and her mother, Havin Had Hannad, have applied for admissibility. Isso's 23-year-old brother Ali had made it to Germany earlier and is living in Hamburg, but is sick. Hannad said she has been fast-tracked through the procedure because of her sick son and could travel to Athens and potentially even Germany, but she doesn't want to leave her daughter alone. Isso herself is waiting to hear back on her application after her interview about two months ago. When we go to ask what happens for my case, they say: `you must wait, you must be patient.' It's the same for Afghan teacher Javid Raoufi, who also arrived on Chios on March 20. It is very bad luck for me, said Raoufi, who has been teaching mathematics to refugee children in the camp. Had he arrived the previous day, he says, he could have left the island for Athens. And I don't know, maybe from Athens we can go ... to another country. It is the uncertainty of the waiting that weighs most on many of the refugees, and the camps are rife with rumors. It's like jail here, said Mohamoud Alou, a 29 year-old Syrian Kurd from Damascus who arrived on March 29 with his wife and daughter and has been living in Chios' Vial camp ever since. Many people talk: maybe the boarder will open, maybe we will go, maybe we will stay here in Greece, maybe we will be returned to Turkey. But we don't know what happen to us. As a Kurd, the prospect of being returned to Turkey terrifies him. If I return to Turkey, they'd say I am terrorist, he said. A decades-long conflict between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey has claimed thousands of lives. Hostilities resumed last year after a two-and-a-half year cease-fire. Yet the fate of those migrants who arrived in Greece before March 20 is not all that different. Despite promises by European countries to take in refugees from Greece, only a fraction of promised relocations have taken place. Balkan countries began restricting crossings of their borders in early 2016, and shut them completely in early March, stranding tens of thousands of people in Greece. The border closures also stranded others in various Balkan countries along the route. To date, more than 60,000 refugees and migrants are stuck in Greece, housed in camps across the country as well as in apartments rented by charities or squats organized by volunteers. Plans for a binding EU quota system to share the responsibility of hosting refugees fairly has met resistance from several countries, most notably Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Under an emergency relocation program, nearly 3,000 people have been transferred from Greece to other European countries instead of the 33,000 that should have been relocated by now, said Giorgos Kyritsis, spokesman for the government's crisis committee on migration. In other words a tenth of the figure that was foreseen and for which the European countries and the European Union have committed, Kyritsis said. There are 7,000 people who are ready and waiting for their relocation, so it appears on this issue the other European countries and the entire EU that signed the agreement with Turkey have not fulfilled their obligations, whereas Greece has carried out all its obligations, he added. Ednan Varbori, an Iraqi Kurd, fled his home about eight months ago after it was attacked by Islamic State group fighters. He crossed into Turkey and from there to Chios. After 25 days, he was transferred to Ritsona camp on the mainland as authorities emptied the island camps to make way for those who would arrive from March 20 onward. Services are basic in Ritsona, which consists mainly of tents. But authorities are gradually constructing more permanent wooden structures as winter approaches. And Varbori is grateful he is at least safe. Here we feel we live in peace because there is no terrorist here, he said. But life here is complicated. Varbori applied for asylum in Greece. If someone asks me why you don't want to go to Germany or France or another country, I say all Europe is the same, and if I be in Greece or another country, it's no different, he said. I want to work and have a good life. But his application, like so many others, is dragging. I went to the interview and they were supposed to give me an answer but it has been delayed, Varbori said. Now all he can do is wait. Actually, I'm grateful to everybody who has helped us, and the whole world knows the conditions that we're living in. A big blow was dealt to efforts to bring about peace in Syria when aid trucks trying to reach besieged Aleppo were hit in an airstrike Monday. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States is outraged at the bombing. "The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people," Kirby said in a late Monday statement. The attack almost certainly has destroyed the one-week cease-fire negotiated between the United States and Russia, according to observers. "We don't know if it can be salvaged," a senior U.S. official told reporters Monday evening. "I call on all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law," said U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien. Earlier in the day, the Syrian military declared the cease-fire over, contending U.S.-backed rebels had repeatedly violated it. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said only Washington and Russia, the architects of the latest attempt to halt hostilities in Syria, could declare the cease-fire at an end, not Damascus. "So we need to see what the Russians say, but the point, the important thing, is the Russians need to control [Syrian President] Assad who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys," Kerry said to reporters as he entered a meeting in New York with Saudi officials. Coalition strikes There was never any real cease-fire in place to ascertain success or failure, said former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab, who heads the moderate opposition's negotiating committee. The attempt to keep in place a widespread cessation of hostilities deteriorated quickly after a U.S.-led coalition airstrike Saturday near Deir al-Zor airport that Moscow and Damascus claimed killed dozens of Syrian soldiers. Monitors said subsequent airstrikes, presumably conducted by Syrian or Russian military jets, struck opposition neighborhoods in Aleppo. A member of the U.S. Senate's Intelligence Committee says the cease-fire was bound to fail, as it was too one-sided in favor of Russia and its Syrian ally. "I obviously hoped it would work," Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from the state of Maine, told VOA. "I still don't understand why we're not trying to drop humanitarian supplies and relief to the people in Aleppo and other areas where people literally are starving to death." The nationwide truce in Syria was announced by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on September 10. It went into effect two days later, intended to clear the way for humanitarian aid access. Doomed from start A significant reduction of violence for one week, accompanied by the delivery of aid, was to clear the way for the U.S. and Russian militaries coordinating separate airstrikes against the jihadist Nusra front, as well as the so-called Islamic State group. And when those initial strikes occurred, under the agreement, the Syrian air force was then to cease its attacks. The cease-fire's collapse is "deja vu from the last failed cessation of hostilities experiment this past February," said Jessica Ashooh, deputy director of the Atlantic Council's Middle East Strategy Task Force. "While the goal of trying to pause the fighting for humanitarian deliveries was a worthy one, without any enforcement mechanism, it was doomed from the start." "Opposition forces were rightly skeptical of the arrangement and had little incentive to trust the terms of the cease-fire," she told VOA. "The end result is that the U.S. now has less leverage than ever if it ever had any over the non-extremist opposition fighters on the ground." Ashooh and other analysts predict any future diplomatic efforts will be more difficult, if not impossible, for the remainder of the current American presidential administration unless there is a significant change in policy giving the moderate opposition a reason to cooperate with the United States. They also forecast a quick return to fighting in Syria at peak levels. "As with before this latest short-lived cease-fire, Aleppo will almost certainly prove to be the most intense area of battle, with both sides determined to fight as if it were their last day," Charles Lister, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told VOA. "Yet again, our half-hearted approach to the crisis in Syria has done nothing but provide a brief pause to the fighting, so that all those actors involved can simply start again." Australias Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended his governments tough asylum policies at a United Nations refugee summit in New York. However, activists are demanding that Australia close its controversial migrant camps in the South Pacific. The United Nations General Assembly is looking to find a better way to help more than 65 million people who are displaced around the world. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told delegates his countrys strict border control measures have created an orderly process for accepting asylum seekers. Those who try to reach Australia by sea are taken to processing camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. The government believes the offshore policy has deterred other migrants from making the hazardous sea crossing to Australia from countries such as Indonesia. Turnbull said the strict approach is working. The need to build community support for migration has never been clearer. Australias experience bears this out. Addressing irregular migration through secure borders has been essential in creating the confidence that the government can manage migration in a way that mitigates risk and focuses humanitarian assistance on those who need it most. This has had a direct impact on our ability to provide generous and effective support to refugees, said Turnbull. But critics argue that conditions in the offshore camps in the South Pacific are inhumane and the indefinite detention of some inmates is akin to torture. Graham Thom, Australia refugee coordinator for the international rights group Amnesty International, has traveled to New York to lobby for change to Canberras asylum policies. He wants the camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru to close, and for Australia to be more generous to those fleeing persecution. We need to be getting all of the 12,000 Syrians that we committed to resettle over a year ago to Australia and we need to then up our program from 13,750 to a program closer to thirty [thousand] and that is what we were doing during the boat crisis when there Vietnamese were fleeing in the late 70s, early 80s. This crisis now is worse than any crisis we have ever seen before, said Thom. Australia grants refugee visas to just under 14,000 people each year under various international agreements. Opinion polls suggest that strict border control measures and the offshore processing of asylum seekers have broad public support in Australia, a country where about a quarter of the population was born overseas. The U.S. Senate is taking a closer look Tuesday at a proposed $66 billion merger of American seed and weed-killer company Monsanto and German medicine and farm chemical maker Bayer. The deal would combine two of the six U.S. and European companies that dominate the agrochemical market and would create a global agricultural and chemical giant with a broad array of products. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, has said he's concerned that the consolidation could hurt American farmers who are already worried about rising costs. After months of negotiations, last week Monsanto Co., of St. Louis, Missouri, accepted an offer from Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany. Bayer would pay $57 billion to Monsanto shareholders and assume $9 billion in Monsanto debt. The Senate panel is scheduled to ask questions of those two companies and others at a Tuesday hearing on consolidation and competition in the U.S. seed and agrochemical industry. In a statement prepared for the hearing, Grassley noted low crop prices and higher seed prices, saying farmers are under "tremendous pressure'' as the agriculture economy has slowed in the last couple of years. Grassley said antitrust regulators should closely watch consolidation of the agricultural biotech industry and coordinate oversight between agencies. He said the Federal Trade Commission is currently reviewing another merger between Syngenta AG and the China National Chemical Corp and the Justice Department is looking at the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont. "To me, it looks like this consolidation wave has become a tsunami,'' Grassley said in the prepared remarks. Set to testify are Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience North America, and Robb Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Monsanto. Officials from Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences and DuPont will also be there. Higher yields? Bayer and Monsanto officials have said the merger could help farmers produce higher yields and meet a rising global food demand. Food could be made more affordable and the companies' combined expertise could help farmers limit chemical use and environmental impact, they said. "It's going to take a lot of innovation to ensure that everybody can be fed,'' and the merged company will be able to speed up product improvements to help, Liam Condon of Bayer Crop Science said last week. Bayer and Monsanto both own a variety of well-known products. Bayer sells crop protection chemicals used to kill weeds, insects and plant fungal diseases and also makes popular pharmaceutical products such as Bayer aspirin, Claritin allergy medicine and Alka Seltzer. Bayer also owns Dr. Scholl's foot products and Coppertone sunscreen. Monsanto sells seeds for fruits, vegetables, corn, soybeans, cotton and other crops, plus heavily advertised Roundup weed killer. The company is a leading producer of genetically modified seeds engineered to resist drought and herbicides, among other things. Activists who oppose those so-called genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have created a grassroots effort to vilify the company, even holding marches on city streets to protest Monsanto by name. Bayer and Monsanto executives so far have not said if the Monsanto name will change. They say the combined company's seeds and North American business will still have a headquarters at Monsanto's St. Louis base. There's a whole lot more in British Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to allow a Chinese company to invest in the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant than mere business. Chinese investment is limited to investing funds in the $24 billion project, which will use two French reactors supplied by Electricity de France. But the project could clear the way for Chinese involvement in a more crucial project at Bradwell, east England, which would allow China to export its nuclear technology to the Western world, analysts say. China General Nuclear Corporation, the investor in Hinkley Point, already has signed a pre-feasibility agreement for the Bradwell project. "Hinkley Point C is completely based on French design. It is the Bradwell project that is very important to the Chinese because they might get the opportunity to apply their own technology," Jan Gaspers, head of research for the European China Policy unit at Berlin's Mercator Institute for China Studies, told VOA. Only a few developing countries like Pakistan are using Chinese reactors. These countries are not known to have the kind of strict regulatory control seen in the West. The Bradwell B project could be a game changer. Getting regulatory approval in Britain for its reactors is crucial for China because it can open the doors for Chinese nuclear exports to the West. Hold and release One of May's first acts after taking over as prime minister last July was to halt the $24 billion Hinkley Point project in order to review the security risks involved in the project, which was to be owned jointly by Electricity de France, or EDF, and China General Nuclear Corporation. Within weeks, she reversed the decision after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 nations meeting in Hangzhou. The British government inserted some safety clauses in the contract to ensure that the Chinese company does not gain majority stake, in the event of the EDF pulling out. But there's many a slip between May's lip and China's cup of hope. Britain already is in the midst of fierce debate with critics voicing concern about security issues. Critics question a provision in the contract that provides for a fixed electricity rate for 35 years at a time when energy prices are falling, and are expected to be much lower in the future. Among the British prime minister's close advisers is Nick Timothy, joint Downing Street chief of staff, who earlier worked with May as her adviser in the Home Office. Timothy is known for his extremely critical views on China, which he earlier described as a "hostile state." Security fears "It is believed that the deals could lead to the Chinese designing and constructing a third nuclear reactor at Bradwell in Essex. Security experts reported to be inside as well as outside government are worried that the Chinese could use their role to build weaknesses into computer systems that will allow them to shut down Britain's energy production at will," Timothy wrote in an article published in October 2015. Timothy also said that MI5, the British spy agency, believes that China works "against U.K. interests at home and abroad." He also was critical of Chinese investments in Britain. "But no amount of trade and investment should justify allowing a hostile state easy access to the country's critical national infrastructure," he said. Analysts believe May was seeking Chinese investments because of the urgent need to fill Britain's energy gap, as well as move away from polluting coal-based electricity production. But Britain's security is of critical importance to her. "I think May would make no compromises on the issue of security. She is going to be extremely alert about any increase in Chinese influence in the British nuclear industry," Gaspers said. "There is not much security risk from the technology angle because the Chinese don't own it. The only risk is about the Chinese gaining majority control over Hinkley Point in [the] future." Image booster For Beijing, British approval for the Hinkley Point project is a major image booster, analysts say. Chinese business is seen in the West as an acquirer of property and trader of low-tech, unbranded goods, they point out. "A major Western country accepts to have Chinese involvement on its own territory in a highly strategic industry. This is a highly significant form of cooperation," said David Gosset, founder of the Euro-China Forum and director of the Academia Sinica Europaea at China Europe International Business School. "We are now witnessing the constitution of a new China-EU-U.K. triangle. It is a slow and complex process, but it will be defining the future of the relations between China and Europe." A Chinese conglomerate with extensive North Korean ties is reportedly under investigation by authorities in Beijing and Washington for helping the Kim Jong Un government evade international sanctions and expand its nuclear weapons program. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group operates six companies that allegedly sold North Korea aluminum bars and chemicals that have potential military purposes, 10 ships involved in the Norths banned mineral trade, including coal, and a hotel that allegedly is the headquarters for a group of North Korean cyber hackers. They are actually selling to North Koreans dual use goods which are explicitly forbidden by the United Nations sanctions, said Go Myong-Hyun, a research fellow with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. Shell companies Go Myong-Hyun was one of the authors of a new report called In Chinas Shadow which documents the involvement of the Liaoning Hongxiang Group in illicit North Korean activities along with its top executive, Ma Xiaohong, who is a member of the ruling Communist Party. The Asan Institute for Policy Studies and C4ADS in Washington, an independent analytical group focusing on transnational security issues, developed the report that was released on Monday. Working backwards from the United Nations list of blacklisted individuals and entities, the researchers uncovered unsanctioned Chinese private corporations, like the Liaoning Hongxiang Group, acting as shell companies or facilitators for sanctioned North Korean state enterprises. The scale of Liaoning Hongxiang Group involvement in North Korean trade is estimated to be over $500 million and could provide the Kim Jong Un government access to large amounts of hard currency to fund its nuclear development program One of the Chinese groups subsidiaries, the Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., imports 99 percent of its goods from North Korea. Custom records show that in 2015 the Dandong Hongxiang Company sent two shipments of aluminum oxide worth of a total of $253,219 to North Korea, according to the report. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission lists this chemical compound as a component used to resist corrosion in gas centrifuges during uranium enrichment. The report also documents satellite photos of a conglomerate affiliated ship at a terminal in North Korea where coal and iron is exported, even though the trade in most minerals is banned by the U.N. sanctions imposed in March. There are, however, humanitarian exceptions in the resolution that permit the trade of coal and iron not linked to government organizations. A Liaoning Hongxiang Group affiliate also operates the Chilbosan Hotel in Shenyang in joint venture with a North Korean state enterprise. The hotel, located near the China-North Korean border, has been alleged to be the base of operations for Bureau 121, the Norths growing cyber attack unit. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group has extensive investments in information technology, aerial and satellite imagery, and remote sensing, according to the report. The Chinese conglomerates involvement in North Korea could be just the tip of the iceberg, said Go. I would like to think Chinese authorities are not paying enough attention to what is going on between the Chinese private sector and the North Korean state but if this negligence continues then I think that you can say that they are being purposeful. Investigations According to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday, police in Chinas northeast province of Liaoning are now investigating Hongxiang Industrial for possible involvement in serious economic crimes. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group has done business with at least 15 American firms and exported at least 164 shipments to the U.S., according to the Asan report. The U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors have visited Beijing twice in the last month to discuss possible legal action, including imposing U.S. unilateral sanctions on the organization, according to the Wall Street Journal. Chinese authorities have also reportedly frozen some of the assets of Ma Xiaohong and her relatives. More tests On Monday U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed to increase cooperation to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, although Beijing seems reluctant to support tougher sanctions on Pyongyang. U.S. officials recently reiterated Washingtons openness to dialogue if North Korea is ready to sincerely discuss denuclearization. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un however continues to defy international sanctions by continuing to conduct nuclear and ballistic missiles tests. On Tuesday, North Koreas state media reported Pyongyang has tested a new long-range rocket engine and that Kim has ordered the military to prepare for another satellite launch as soon as possible. While Pyongyang says its two past satellite launches were for peaceful purposes, many analysts believe they were covertly used to conduct long range ballistic missile tests. A human rights group says at least 44 people were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo over two days of violence triggered by protests against President Joseph Kabila. Human Rights Watch says it has received "credible reports" that security forces have killed at least 37 people since the protests began Monday. Ida Sawyer, the group's DRC researcher, told VOA that most were killed when security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters. She said others were killed when armed men burned down the headquarters of several opposition parties. Death toll Human Rights Watch says it also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a supporter of Kabila's party, as well as looted several shops and police stations. Government officials have put the overall death toll at 17, including three policemen and 14 civilians. The opposition accuses Kabila of trying to extend his time in office unconstitutionally by delaying elections. Supporters of the president say officials need more time to organize elections. Kabila's second term is due to expire on December 19. The violence began Monday morning as police prevented protesters from gathering in the capital, Kinshasa. Witnesses say some protesters threw stones and set tires and vehicles on fire, while police fired tear gas and live rounds at the demonstrators. Lambert Mende, a spokesman for the Congolese government, told VOA there was a criminal element within the ranks of the protesters that only wanted to cause trouble. "Everybody has the right to demonstrate," Mende said. "Nobody has the right to kill and loot and destroy property. They came just to loot and destroy and kill. 'Uprising' He said the demonstration wasn't a protest, referring to it instead as an "uprising." He said that some of those participating were paid or provided with drugs to be there. Monday marked the day that Congo's electoral process should have kicked off ahead of November polls. But the electoral commission now says the polls should be delayed until next year to give it more time to compile a new voter list. The United States said it is disappointed that Congo did not announce an election calendar on Monday and said it is deeply alarmed by reports of violence. It threatened to impose additional sanctions on Congolese officials it deems responsible for violence and repression. State Department spokesman John Kirby also said the United States is "outraged and deeply disturbed by the physical obstruction and verbal aggression aimed at U.S. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa Tom Perriello while he was departing from Kinshasa airport on September 18." Kirby said Perriello was in Kinshasa to encourage dialogue on the electoral process and said before he left he was "blocked and verbally threatened" in an area of Kinshasa's airport that is tightly secured by Congolese authorities. President Kabila took power in 2001 after his father was assassinated. He has since won two elections. A smaller Congolese opposition group has been meeting with the government in an attempt to organize a schedule for elections, but the main opposition has refused to participate in the talks. William Clowes contributed to this report from Kinshasa, James Butty from Washington. The United States is holding Russia responsible for an attack on a humanitarian convoy in northern Syria that killed 20 civilians and an official of the Syrian Red Crescent society. Ben Rhodes, a senior White House official, said all evidence shows the aid convoy was targeted by an airstrike, and since rebels in Syria have no air force, the strike could only have been conducted by Syrian government forces or their Russian allies. The deadly airstrike west of Aleppo on Monday also destroyed 100 tons of desperately needed food and medicine. Rhodes, President Barack Obama's deputy national security advisor, spoke to reporters Tuesday evening on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. He noted Russia had pledged to keep its warplanes away from "places where humanitarian aid is flowing." Moscow and Damascus deny they were involved in the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry said the wreckage -- charred remains of 18 large trucks that had been parked close together, ready to distribute supplies -- suggests that a cargo fire caused the damage and fatalities. "We've established it was not a fire," said U.N. humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke in Geneva. Syrias military also denied any of its aircraft was involved in an attack. The convoy's movements were only known by the militants who were in control of the area, said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in Moscow. The attack killed 20 civilians and the head of a local Syrian Red Crescent office, the humanitarian organization said. Obama official: US holds Russia responsible U.N. humanitarian officials temporarily suspended all such relief efforts in Syria, while diplomats in New York tried to salvage the tattered cease-fire. On Tuesday, the 20 member states and organizations of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) met for about an hour in New York and decided to convene again on Friday. They agreed that, despite continued violence, there was still an imperative to pursue a nationwide cessation of hostilities based on the arrangement reached last week in Geneva between the United States and Russia, said State Department spokesman John Kirby. "The cease-fire is not dead," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters as he emerged from the ISSG meeting. Condemn airstrike World leaders condemned the attack in speeches at the General Assembly. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the attack was an outrage. Ban called the humanitarian workers' attackers cowards and said accountability for crimes such as these is essential. Leaders such as French President Francois Hollande blamed Syrias government for the cease-fire's failure. "I say to the Syrian government's foreign backers that they must compel the regime to enforce peace," he said in his address to the world body. "Otherwise, they will bear the responsibility for the splitting up of the country and the chaos." 'Sent a very clear message' The Syrian government sent a very clear message by attacking the aid convoy and bombing Aleppo, Middle East scholar Daniel Serwer from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University told VOA. The Russians don't seem able or willing to restrain [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad. The Americans aren't willing to intervene. After seven days of relative calm and a resumption of critical aid, according to the terms of the cease-fire deal, the United States and Russia were to coordinate separate strikes on Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated rebels. That was viewed as a remarkable diplomatic accomplishment, considering Washington and Moscow have not been allies in any hostilities since World War Two. "Washington and Moscow have different long-term interests in Syria, support different sides of the war, and no longer trust each other based on recent breaches of the Syrian cease-fire and broader disagreements over Ukraine, the Baltic states and cyberattacks, Seth Jones, director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation, told VOA on Tuesday. 'Flagrant aggression' Syrian state media quoted Assad as saying separate airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition that hit Syrian positions near Deir Ezzor on Saturday were a "flagrant aggression" that showed support for terrorists. The airstrikes near Deir Ezzor may have hit a battalion of Syrian prisoners, VOA learned. U.S. officials have said Syrian government prisoners may be fighting for the regime as an alternative to being jailed. The prisoners appeared to have been providing an extra layer of protection outside the perimeter of the Syrian forces. A senior defense official told VOA a brigadier general would begin investigating the strike very soon. The U.S. has expressed condolences for the losses suffered in the strike and is still working to determine what happened. The man thought to be behind a series of bombings and attempted bombings in New York and New Jersey may not have been part of a terror cell, but based on previous investigations chances are good he had some sort of help. "I have no indication there is a cell operating in the area or in the city," FBI New York division assistant director William Sweeney told reporters Tuesday, trying to allay concerns just hours after the suspect, 28-year-old Ahmad Rahami, was taken into custody after a shootout with police. Other law enforcement officials, speaking to VOA prior to the latest attacks on the New York area, have likewise downplayed the notion of full-blown terror cells like those in Europe that carried out the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels operating in the U.S. However, they warn that what does exist can be just as dangerous loosely-knit networks of would-be terrorists who support one another, sometimes over the course of many years, even as many prepare to act alone. It is those types of links that investigators digging into Rahami's background will be searching for as they try to identify what the FBI calls his "path to radicalization." "We will continue to conduct investigative activity to ensure that we completely understand Rahami's social network," Sweeney said. Yet officials say it is worrisome that until now Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had not come to their attention. "This was as out of the blue as it gets," a federal law enforcement official told VOA on condition of anonymity. "Everything about his past, his online presence, his overseas travel will be scrutinized," the official added, saying the investigation is still only in its infancy. Evidence points to help Yet former counterterror operatives say the evidence is already pointing to some sort of help. One such piece of evidence is that Rahami allegedly used two types of bombs, pipe bombs and pressure cooker bombs something they say is unusual for someone who appears, from his lack of success, to be an inexperienced bombmaker. And, they note, even bombing campaigns themselves are rarely an individual act. "Somebody that's making bombs or even dropping off bombs, it's very rare that you're going to do that by yourself," said Mubin Shaikh, a terrorism expert who has previously worked with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. "There's going to be somebody who's supporting you, somebody that you met with that you probably discussed this idea with," he told VOA via Skype. "The way that these things can tentacle out is amazing." Investigators say they will also be taking a very close look at Rahami's past, which includes allegations of domestic violence that were eventually recanted, and travel to Afghanistan to visit relatives. Jump in jihadist activity For now, law enforcement officials say they will be vigilant, but there is no credible threat to lead them to an even higher state of alert. But analysts caution that the bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey, like the recent stabbings at a Minnesota mall which have already been claimed by the Islamic State terror group, are likely not a pure coincidence. "There's been a huge upswell in the urgings for attacks following the death of [Abu Muhammad] al-Adnani, who was the Islamic State number-two man," Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical analysis for the Stratfor intelligence firm, told VOA via Skype. And New York and Minnesota "are areas where we've seen individuals with jihadist tendencies in the past," he added. According to a tally by the George Washington University Program on Extremism, from March 2014 through Monday, the U.S. has arrested 105 individuals on terror-related charges. New York had seen the most arrests with 18. Minnesota was second on the list with 14. Albany - NY, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a recent report published by Transparency Market Research, the Middle East eyewear market is expected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 8.8% over the period between 2015 and 2023 in terms of revenue. The market, which held an opportunity of US$2.75 bn in 2014 is expected to rise to US$5.86 bn by 2023. Volume-wise, the Middle East eyewear market is expected to rise at a 4.8% CAGR over the said period. The eyewear market in Middle East is predominantly driven by the rising prevalence of acute myopia at younger ages, high preference for luxury brands, an enhanced sense of fashion, and the increased demand for contact lenses and planar glasses. The market is also benefitting from the rising population of middle class people in emerging countries across Middle East. This demographic is expected to contribute significantly to the consumption of luxury sunglasses, contact lenses, and other eyewear commodities in the region in the next few years. Rising Prevalence of Acute Myopia and Increased Affordability to Drive Market Products such as daily, weekly, and monthly disposable contact lenses, and frequent renewal of spectacle lenses have come under the realm of purchasing power of the middle class population in emerging countries in the region. The trend is expected to have a major impact of the overall development of the Middle East eyewear market in the next few years. Browse Research Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/middle-east-eyewear-market.html Preference for Corrective Refractive Surgeries to Challenge Middle East Eyewear Market However, the rising popularity of corrective refractive surgeries such as PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) and LASIK (Laser-Assisted in situ Keratomileusis) is expected to have a substantial impact on the overall development of the Middle East eyewear market in the next few years. Mitigating the need for the use of spectacles and contact lenses, rising preference to such surgeries could limit the growth prospects of the market to a certain extent in the next few years. Spectacles to Remain Chief Contributors to Markets Revenues The spectacle segment is presently the leading product variety in the Middle East eyewear market, in terms of both volume as well as overall market valuation. The segment accounted for a volume-wise share of 61% and a valuation-wise share of 75.2% in the overall market in 2014. Geography-wise, the Middle East eyewear market is dominated by UAE. The country accounted for a 38.2% share in the market in terms of overall valuation and a 38.1% in terms of volume in 2014. The strengthening economy and vast demand for luxury sunglasses and spectacles are key to UAEs dominance in the Middle East eyewear market. Browse Research Release: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/middle-east-eyewear-market.htm The highly consolidated Middle East eyewear market marks the dominance of the luxury eyewear maker Luxottica S.p.A., states Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a recent report. The company held more than 40% of the eyewear markets in most countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, which is the largest contributor to the Middle East eyewear markets overall revenues presently. The company has a strong hold on the market and enjoys immense popularity on account of the presence of luxury brands such as Prada, Ray-Ban, and Oakley in its arsenal. The company focuses on further strengthening its grip on the Middle East eyewear market by incorporating innovative product varieties in its offerings and targeting young buyers through e-retail and social media outlets. The rising popularity of contact lenses is a major growth opportunity for other vendors in the Middle East eyewear market, which mostly include international players such as Safilo Group, Essilor International, Johnson and Johnson Vision Care, and Carl Zeiss A.G.Top of Form Get Sample Report Copy or for further inquiries, click here: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=13217 About Us: Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. A Chicago federal judge on Tuesday sentenced an Illinois man to 21 years in prison for plotting to attack a U.S. military facility with his cousin, a former Illinois National Guard soldier. Jonas Edmonds, 30, of Aurora has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. His cousin, former soldier Hasan Edmonds, 23, also of Aurora, is to be sentenced later Tuesday. In court on Tuesday, Jonas Edmonds said he dropped Hasan Edmonds at the airport to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. But Jonas Edmonds denied he would have attacked the military armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. "The person they're trying to make me into, I'm not that person," Jonas Edmonds told U.S. District Judge John Lee. Prosecutors requested a 30-year sentence for Hasan Edmonds and a 21-year prison term for Jonas Edmonds. Hasan Edmonds devised a plan to travel to the Middle East while Jonas Edmonds attacked the National Guard armory in Joliet. The goal, prosecutors say, was to kill as many as 150 people at the facility. After dropping his cousin off at Chicago's Midway International Airport on March 25, 2015, Jonas Edmonds went to his cousin's home and collected National Guard uniforms that he planned to wear as a disguise during the armory attack. Hasan Edmonds, filings say, instructed Jonas to kill high-ranking officers first. Agents arrested Hasan Edmonds at the airport and detained Jonas Edmonds at his home shortly thereafter. Under plea agreements, Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Jonas Edmonds pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and lying to federal agents. Three days after a U.S. airstrike hit a group of people who Russia and Syria say were Syrian troops, there is still little clarity on who they were, and why Russia did not warn the United States that there were Syrian soldiers in the target area. U.S. officials have said that they notified their Russian counterparts before carrying out airstrikes in Deir Ezzor Saturday, which the Russian Defense Ministry says killed 62 Syrian troops. After the attack got under way, a Russian officer called the coalition's air operations center; however, the U.S. official assigned to handle calls from the Russians was not near the phone, and someone else took the call. Col. John Thomas, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said that this first phone conversation was cryptic." We werent exactly sure what they were saying, he said. He told VOA in an interview later that the coalition took a good while before the appropriate U.S. official and his or her Russian source made contact via a second call. "Im not sure how long the delay was or why, Thomas told VOA, but it wasnt immediate. During that call, it became clear that the Russians believed coalition aircraft were hitting Syrian government forces, and the airstrikes were called off in less than five minutes. From start to stop, the coalition strikes in Deir Ezzor Saturday lasted a little less than an hour, Thomas told reporters Tuesday. The U.S. and Australia, whose planes also took part in the strike, have expressed deep regret for any unintentional loss of life of Syrian forces. Thomas said that while Saturdays airstrike was a dynamic strike, or one that requires more immediate responsiveness, it was not rushed. For roughly two full days we were observing this target and believed that we had pretty good intelligence on what we were looking at, he said. Syrian soldiers or prisoners? The latest news on the U.S.-Russian communication comes a day after U.S. officials told VOA the coalition in Deir Ezzor may have struck a battalion of Syrian prisoners who were aligned with Syrian government forces but were in a separate location from the Syrian army. The investigation into the strike is ongoing, but three officials say internal military reporting suggests the people hit in Saturdays strike were not dressed in Syrian military attire and were using technicals - trucks modified with guns strapped on their backs - which are frequently used by Islamic State fighters and different from the tanks used by Syrian government fighters. The officials say Syrian government prisoners may have been fighting for the regime as an alternative to captivity and appeared to be providing an extra layer of protection in an area outside the perimeter of the Syrian forces. U.S. Central Command spokesman Col. John Thomas would not confirm or deny the details provided to VOA, saying only that the U.S. military was looking into several possibilities to see if and how a mistake may have occurred. A brigadier general is being appointed by the U.S. military today or very soon to lead the investigation into the strike, a senior defense official said. On November 8 this year, Americans across the country will vote for president, but the candidate who wins the most votes will not necessarily be the winner. Instead, the U.S. has a complicated system called the Electoral College. In that system, each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia cast votes for the president. Under the Electoral College, not every state is equally important. In the 2016 election as in past elections only a few states will really matter. Not the biggest states. Not the most heavily populated states. The swing states. Swing states vs. safe states In the last four elections, 80 percent of U.S. states selected the presidential candidate from the same political party every time. For example, the majority of voters in the states of Alaska and Idaho consistently voted for the Republican presidential candidate. The majority of voters in the states of Minnesota and New York consistently voted for the Democrat. As a result, the candidates do not usually spend much time or money campaigning in those safe states. Instead, they focus on the swing states, where no one knows which candidate is likely to win. In 2016, the swing states are: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. None is more important than Ohio. That state has voted for every winning presidential candidate since 1964. Of course, most voters will mark ballots in safe states, not swing states. And because all but two states follow a winner-takes-all rule, most states go to the candidate whom the majority of voters choose. For example, a voter in Minnesota could mark a ballot for Republican Donald Trump. But, most other Minnesota voters will probably choose Democrat Hillary Clinton. As a result, all of Minnesotas 10 electoral votes will go to Clinton, and the Republican voters ballot will not really do anything to help Trump. However, the voter's other choices may affect candidates for state and local offices. So it is important that people in safe states vote, too. Are Democrats one swing state away from winning? At this moment in history, the Electoral College system helps the Democrats. That is because states with the largest populations have recently voted for the Democratic presidential candidate. And, the more people a state has, the more votes it gets in the Electoral College. The Washington Post newspaper notes that the Democratic nominee begins at a significant advantage over the Republican one. It says the Democrats have the advantage no matter who the partys candidate is. Consider the numbers. A candidate needs 270 out of 538 Electoral College votes to become president. In the last six presidential elections, the Democratic candidate has won the same 19 states plus Washington, D.C. each time. Those areas together carry 242 Electoral College votes. If Democrat Hillary Clinton can win those areas this year, plus the swing state of Florida, she will earn 271 Electoral College votes one more than she needs to win the presidency. Republican Donald Trump has a harder path to victory. Thirteen states voted for the Republican candidate in each of the last six presidential elections. But many of them are small states. They have a total of only 102 electoral votes. As a result, Donald Trump must not only win those 13 states. He must also win several swing states or even some traditionally Democratic states to reach the 270 electoral votes he needs to win. Will Donald Trump change the map this year? Some Republicans are worried that Trumps path to victory may be even harder than that. The website TheWeek.com noted that Trump may do worse than lose the swing states this year. He may also lose some of the states that Republicans have historically won. Although Trump is very popular with some voters, he is equally unpopular with others. As a result, some voters who usually choose the Republican candidate might vote for the Democrat. The Washington Post newspaper reports that some political experts are preparing to blame Donald Trump if the Republicans fail to win the presidency. But Post writer Chris Cillizza says the Republican Party has a problem that goes deeper than Trump or any one candidate. Cillizza says the real reason may be that the Republican Party has not been able to convince the increasing number of nonwhites in the U.S. to vote for its presidential candidates. He writes: What has become increasingly clear is that any state with a large or growing nonwhite population has become more and more difficult for Republicans to win. This story was originally reported by VOA's Learning English service. Turning a blind eye to climate change will come at a price the world can no longer afford to pay, the director of a documentary produced by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio said on Monday. "We can no longer turn a blind eye to the issue of climate change. We are at a crucial moment where if we don't act now, we will forever pay the price," Fisher Stevens said in a statement. "My hope is that this film provides a global wake-up call about our inevitable fate should we fail to act." The film follows environmental activist DiCaprio and Stevens as they travel from Canada's oil sands to tiny Pacific islands, interviewing world leaders such as the Catholic Church's Pope Francis and U.S. President Barack Obama, climate scientists and academics. DiCaprio's interview subjects discuss and document the negative impacts of industrialization and increasing consumption on the health of the planet. "The fact that we are still debating any of this is just utter insanity to me," DiCaprio told the audience after the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. Oscar-winning DiCaprio said he rushed to release his upcoming climate change documentary ahead of November's U.S. presidential elections to issue a clarion call to American voters in time to influence their decisions. "We cannot afford, at this critical moment in time, to have leaders in office that do not believe in the modern science of climate change," DiCaprio said. On Friday, U.N. officials said at least 20 countries had indicated they would join the Paris climate change agreement at a United Nations event on Sept. 21. This was in addition to the 27 that had already done so, raising hopes the deal will enter into force by the end of 2016. To take effect, the Paris climate agreement needs ratification by at least 55 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, representing at least 55 percent of global emissions. "Before the Flood" will premiere in Europe at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 15 and airs on National Geographic Channel globally on Oct. 30. DiCaprio, who won an Oscar this year for playing a fur trapper battling nature's elements in "The Revenant," was an executive producer on 2014 Oscar-nominated documentary "Virunga," about the threatened gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Efforts to stop immigration and the mix of cultures are bound to fail, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto told a United Nations summit on migrants and refugees on Monday, as his country's northern border has become an issue in the U.S. presidential election campaign. Pena Nieto took a public opinion shellacking for hosting Republican Party candidate Donald Trump on Aug. 31 because Trump has repeatedly vowed to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants and said Mexico would pay for it. "History shows that there are no barriers that can stop either the movement of people or the fusion of cultures," Pena Nieto said in his address to the summit ahead of the U.N. General Assembly. "Neither natural nor artificial barriers hold sway. For every river there has always been a bridge. For every obstacle there has always been a way forward. Movement is an essential part of human existence," he said. Trump has infuriated Mexicans with a series of broadsides against the United States' southern neighbor. "We are a proudly mestizo, multi-cultural and diverse nation," Pena Nieto said, referring to Mexican of mixed descent. "We Mexicans firmly believe that this mestizo fusion is the future and destiny of human kind." Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party candidate in the Nov. 8 election, has accused Trump of embracing a brand of U.S. political conservatism associated with white nationalism and nativism. She has linked Trump's statements about immigration and religion to the rise of a political fringe movement in the U.S. known as the "alternative right", which opposes multiculturalism and immigration. The son of a Chinese billionaire has given his dog eight new iPhones. Wang Sicong, whose father is billionaire Wang Jainlin, gave the phones to his Alaskan malamute, Coco and posted pictures on his Weibo account, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. Each phone cost nearly $1,200 in China. Coco is used to getting extravagant gifts from Wang. In 2015, he posted photos of the dog wearing two Apple watches along with designer wristbands, at a cost of more than $37,000. Wang, who is nicknamed the nations husband because of his status as an eligible bachelor, also courted controversy when he once reportedly said that the only thing that mattered in a potential girlfriend was the size of her breasts. Chinas state run media has blasted Wangin in the past for his ostentatiousness, saying he had "stained the purity of the Chinese (people)" warning other to to emulate his arrogant and coarse celebrity." So-called buxomgate ignited such a furor that Wangs father went on national television to blame his sons behavior on Western schooling. The U.S. government will release new guidelines governing the emerging technology behind driverless cars. Some of the biggest American companies, including Apple, Ford, Google and Uber, are racing to create the next generation of vehicles capable of driving autonomously. But with driverless cars already starting to share the road with human drivers, the regulations around the use of the technology have lagged. The hope is the guidelines, which will be unveiled later Tuesday, will provide a consistent framework to replace the current patchwork of sometimes contradictory regulations that can vary by state. "Possessing the potential to uproot personal mobility as we know it, to make it safer and even more ubiquitous than conventional automobiles and perhaps even more efficient, self-driving cars have become the archetype of our future transportation," wrote Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "Still, important concerns emerge. Will they fully replace the human driver? What ethical judgments will they be called upon to make? What socioeconomic impacts flow from such a dramatic change? Will they disrupt the nature of privacy and security? Many of these larger questions will require longer and more thorough dialogue with government, industry, academia and, most importantly, the public." President Barack Obama weighed in on the governments role in regulating driverless cars in a recent essay. "If a self-driving car isn't safe, we have the authority to pull it off the road," the president wrote in an editorial for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette outlining the policy. "We won't hesitate to protect the American public's safety." Ridesharing service Uber is currently testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh though the cars still have a human driver on hand in case anything goes wrong. "The quickest way to slam the brakes on innovation is for the public to lose confidence in the safety of new technologies," the president wrote, adding that government involvement in the nascent technology would help ensure safety. The guidelines come in the form of a 15-point list in the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy, which outlines how driverless car makers test their vehicles, record crash and other data, provide data protection for users as well as ensuring the cars can handle unforeseen situations. Abiding by the guidelines is voluntary, but developers of the robot cars are expected to accept them as the lobbying group representing Uber, Ford, Google, Lyft and others welcomed the guidelines. "This is an important step forward in establishing the basis of a national framework for the deployment of self-driving vehicles," said David Strickland, a spokesman for the group. Next month, the White House is hosting a summit on driverless cars in Pittsburgh with the hope of hastening the deployment of the autonomous cars. Several companies developing driverless cars are ramping up activity. Ford recently said it would have mass-market robot cars by 2021 and Uber is testing a fleet of self-driving cars. The CEO of the ridesharing company Lyft, writing in a blog post Sunday, said "private car ownership will all but end in major U.S. cities." The resettlement of refugees from Middle Eastern countries, particularly Syria, has been at the center of a heated political debate after President Barack Obama last year pledged to resettle at least 10,000 refugees from the war-torn country in the United States. But refugees from Myanmar, whose leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, visited Washington last week, have quietly outpaced Syrian arrivals in recent years, even as Syria's civil war intensifies, with an increasing number coming from the marginalized Rohingya Muslim community, according to State Department figures. From October 1, 2015, to September 15 of this year, 11,902 Myanmar nationals were resettled in the United States, according to figures from the Refugee Processing Center, operated by the State Department, compared with 11,598 arrivals from Syria over the same period. That was out of a total of nearly 79,600 refugees who arrived in the United States in that period. The largest group, numbering just over 15,000, was from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Arrivals from Syria, where Islamic State and other radical groups are active, are subject to additional screening processes, according to the White House. State Department figures show the number of Rohingya arrivals from Myanmar jumped from just over 650 in fiscal 2014 to 2,573 last year. This year, 2,173 had arrived as of September 15. During a meeting with Suu Kyi in the Oval Office last Wednesday, Obama announced that the United States would remove sanctions originally imposed on the country in 1997, when it was ruled by a military junta that brutally suppressed pro-democracy movements and showed little regard for human rights. The decision raised alarm among rights groups, who are concerned about the plight of the stateless Rohingya among other ethnic minorities. Long-persecuted minority The Rohingya have long been persecuted in Myanmar, where they are viewed largely as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, though many have lived in the country for generations. Increased freedom of speech since the military stepped back from direct rule in 2011 has allowed for the unleashing of long-held anti-Muslim sentiment. Around 125,000 remain confined to temporary camps in Myanmar's Rakhine state following waves of deadly violence in 2012 between Buddhists and Muslims. Most were stripped of their ability to vote in last year's election. Most Rohingya tend to come to the United States after spending years in Muslim-majority Malaysia and being granted refugee status by the United Nations. Nasir Bin Zakaria, who founded the Rohingya Culture Center in Chicago home to one of the largest populations of Rohingya in the United States estimates that there are just over 1,000 Rohingya in the city. He fled Myanmar after being forced to work as a porter when he was 16, he said. Nasir Bin Zakaria said that the ability to move around freely and legally made life in Chicago far better than in Myanmar and Malaysia, but it is not without its own challenges for refugees. The city of 2.7 million is struggling with a surge of killings, with 509 killings this year, according to the Chicago Police Department. Newly arrived children from refugee families, unfamiliar to the United States, are an enticing target for gangs looking to recruit, said Melineh Kano, executive director of RefugeeOne, a resettlement agency in Chicago. "When we are selecting neighborhoods, we have to be very careful about the crime rate and gang recruitment, because the majority of refugees come with kids," she said. "You either join or you get beaten up." After the Orlando, Florida, nightclub shooting in June, many Afghan-Americans distanced themselves from attacker Omar Mateen, the New York-born man whose parents immigrated from Afghanistan in the 1980s. After the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey in which Afghan-born Ahmad Khan Rahami has been implicated, some say they can no longer maintain the fiction that the perpetrator is not one of their own. "We can't just say he's not part of us," said Manizhah Naderi, a community leader and a member of Masjid Dar al-Taqwa, an Afghan-American mosque in Flushing, Queens home to one of the original Afghan immigrant communities in America. "We have to take responsibility somehow that he is an Afghan-American, and how can we make sure that others in the community don't get radicalized." Rahami, 28, was apprehended Monday morning after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey six kilometers from Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he lived and worked at his family-owned First American Fried Chicken restaurant. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Rahami is the only person believed to be involved in the New York and New Jersey blasts. At least 29 people were injured in the New York explosion. Akbar Sherzad, the imam of Masjid Dar al-Taqwa who lives in the nearby town of Somerset, New Jersey, said he talked to several Afghans in New Jersey, and no one in the community seemed to have heard of the Rahamis. Sherzad condemned the bombings, saying they had shaken up the Afghan-American community of greater New York, with an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members. "Now that these incidents have been repeated, I hope we can step up our efforts to engage the families to prevent such incidents in the future," he said in a phone interview. Fighting against radicalization While some Muslim-American youth have become radicalized through their association with mosques, Sherzad said the problem lies outside the community. "Unfortunately, children of families that are distant from their communities and mosques have become victims" of radicalization, he said. "The children make contacts with the [extremist] groups at work or in college without the knowledge of their families." A person at Dar ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth which counts many Afghans among its members said Rahami was not a congregant. The New York Times reported that Rahami became religious after a trip to his native Afghanistan four years ago, and he prayed in the back of his family's store. Imams at Afghan-American mosques in New York and Virginia, with large immigrant communities from Afghanistan, say they run youth engagement programs and warn their congregants during Friday services against extremist encroachments in their midst. "Those individuals that are, unfortunately, brainwashed and radicalized, their families have to be very careful," said Mohammad Nader Hussaini, head of the Mustafa Center, an Afghan-American mosque in Annandale, Virginia. To prevent "such incidents," Imam Sherzad said, the Dar al-Taqwa in New York last year launched monthly "family evenings" where families and youth come to discuss extremism. "We'd listen to them," Sherzad said. "We'd observe them and we'd counsel them lest they become victims of groups that are trying to brainwash them. We tell families to be vigilant about what kind of people their children interact with." Fear of backlash Still, he said, mosques need to do more to rein in radicalization, adding that he plans to convene his mosque's board and meet with other local religious leaders "to do something jointly." Meanwhile, fear of a violent public backlash against the Afghan-American and the larger Muslim community runs high, with imams and community leaders advising members to keep a low profile in the coming days. "We're definitely cautious," Naderi said. "We've told the community to stay cautious, to stay away from the streets for a few days until this dies down." Over the last 10 years, the number of university students seeking help for mental or emotional problems has grown sharply. Experts say millennials might be less able to cope with life stresses than previous generations. The number of students seeking mental health help increased at five times the rate of new students starting college during that time, according to 2015 report from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health. In addition, a 2015 report from the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors found anxiety to be a major problem for students. Nearly half of all students who sought help in recent years said they felt anxious. In other words, the students said they felt unusually worried or afraid. An additional 40 percent of students said they felt depressed. Experts give several explanations for why the number of students seeking help for mental health issues is rising. One reason could simply be a change in American culture. In the United States, people are increasingly comfortable talking about mental health issues and bringing their problems to trained experts. Another reason could be related to the current generation of young people attending universities today. But one reason is surely higher education itself. Ben Locke, executive director at the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, who also serves as the director of counseling and psychological services at Pennsylvania State University, says feeling worried and sad are normal parts of life. But college is a difficult time when students want to make friends, find their identity and succeed academically. "College being a place with high demands, lots of competition and lots of concern about being able to get a good job after college, certainly increases the, the level of stress that students experience," Locke said. Giorgias story Giorgia felt the stress of college life in a very severe way. She began her studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 2010. She wanted very badly to succeed there, but often worried she would fail. Giorgia asked VOA not to share her surname. Even before she went to college, Giorgia worried about things. At age 11, she was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. OCD causes a person to focus intensely on the same thoughts and repeat the same behaviors over and over. At McGill, Giorgia worried about her academic performance. She also worried about what she would do after college. In her third year of school, Giorgia worried so much about her worrying that she began seeing a therapist. Her therapist suggested the medication called Adderall would help Giorgia with her OCD. But as her final year at McGill grew closer, Giorgia only worried more. She stopped eating regularly and did not sleep for weeks at a time. Her medication only made the problems worse. Her mood changed wildly. She also began to believe that her friends as well as complete strangers were watching her. "I was aware that it was crazy. But I also thought there was no other possible way that all these coincidences could be happening," Giorgia said. "And it really freaked me out." Georgia stopped leaving her apartment. And because she lived far from home, her parents did not realize how serious her anxiety was. Jasons story A young man named Jason also shared his story with VOA. Like Giorgia, he did not want to give his surname. Jason is from Bethesda, in the northeastern U.S. state of Maryland. Jason started seeing a therapist when he was seven years old. At that time, his therapist diagnosed him with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. This condition of the brain makes focusing for long periods of time difficult. It also affects a persons ability to think clearly before making decisions. Jason says having ADHD made school difficult for him throughout his life. He adds that he also struggles with depression. His therapist diagnosed him with the condition when he was in high school. Jason completed a two-year associates degree at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, in the spring of 2007. He then began a bachelors degree program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County that fall. But just as he began classes, his life changed in several major ways. His mother and father told him they were separating. Then his grandmother died. Jason tried to stay focused on his studies. But the next year, his parents decided to make their separation permanent and get divorced. A month later, he received more horrible news: his best friend died. Jason says all these things combined proved to be too much for him. Some days he was so sad he could not leave his bed. And then at one point, he considered suicide. "I remember because I was driving home and I said to myself, I wonder what would happen if I just yanked my steering wheel to the left and drove into one of these light poles. And I wonder who would come to my funeral? And I wonder if anyone would care?" As soon as Jason began thinking suicidal thoughts he knew he needed help, which he sought from a therapist. He also decided to stop studying at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2008. Why millennials might face more problems Giorgia and Jason are just two examples of the many students struggling with anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. David Reetz, who directs counseling and psychological services at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York State, has ideas about why young people are having such a hard time. Reetz is also a governing board member of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, a group of over 800 college counseling directors worldwide. He says the current generation of people in their 20s often called millennials cannot cope with problems the same way that other generations did. Millennials are less able solve interpersonal conflict or to accept criticism, he says. These skills, he adds, are abilities that employers like for their workers to have. However, millennials are not to blame, Reetz says. Access to information about both good and bad aspects of life increased greatly over the last 30 years. He believes the parents of millennials caused their children to worry more because they worried more. "I suspect that the parents of millennials parented in a very different way than previous generations. The parents of millennials parented with higher levels of anxiety. The parents of millennials were raised with much more exposure to threats within their communities, throughout the country, even now more internationally." Reetz says parents of millennials spent more time supervising their children than other parents did. As a result, these young people had fewer chances to learn how to take risks or solve conflicts themselves. He adds that social media also has had an influence. Websites such as Facebook and Instagram cause people to compare themselves to others in unfair ways. But Richard McKeon, chief of suicide prevention for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), warns against making claims about how every member of a generation thinks or feels. "There are certainly many changes in terms of the nature of neighborhoods, and communities, and family life and other issues over time that would make it hazardous to generalize about a whole generation of young people," McKeon said. SAMHSA is a federal government agency that studies mental health issues in the U.S. Last June, the agency released a study of over 135,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 25. It found that young people in college are less likely to commit suicide with a plan than those who are not in college. In other words, college students may suffer from mental health issues, but their conditions may not be as severe as those who are not in college. McKeon also notes millennials are not the first generation of young people to face severe mental health issues. In the 1980s and 1990s, the suicide rate among youth in the U.S. reached levels that experts had never seen before. What colleges and universities can do to help All the experts VOA contacted for this story said they are pleased that more young people are seeking help for mental health issues. In fact, Pennsylvania State Universitys Ben Locke says a common concern is that colleges and universities do not have enough resources for students in need. Locke is Penn States counseling services director. But David Reetz at the Rochester Institute of Technology notes that most colleges have experts students can meet with to discuss their problems. Therapy groups are common as well. McKeon of SAMHSA adds that many other student support workers are now being trained to identify signs of mental health issues in students. Giorgia never used the mental health support services McGill University offered. She finished her degree program in 2014 and stopped taking all medication over a year ago. Giorgia says she feels much better, but she wishes she had been more willing to use the services at the school. Jason did not use the mental health services his school offered either. But he did feel that speaking to the leader of the Jewish culture center on his schools campus helped him. Jason decided to return to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2012. He will complete his degree after one final semester this year. The path to improving ones mental health is never easy. But Jason says if students start to feel they have a problem, they should know there is nothing wrong with asking for help. This story was reported by VOA's Learning English service. NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carol Dimopoulos, President, Perillo Learning Journeys, together with Michelle Buttigieg, Malta Tourism Authority Representative, USA, announced the launch of Perillo's Learning Journeys' new Destination Malta Programs. Michelle Muscat, spouse of Malta's Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, was the Guest of Honor at a special reception hosted by Perillo Tours and Malta Tourism Authority on Thursday, September 15, 2016 at the Kimberly Hotel in New York City. More than 40 travel agents and media attended an evening focused on Malta's food, fashion and culture. Malta's celebrated fashion designers, Charles & Ron, were also special guests following their 5th annual runway show at New York Fashion Week. Ambassador Carmelo Iguanez, Malta's Permanent Representative to the United Nations also joined this special evening with Michelle Muscat. In making the announcement, Perillo Learning Journey President Carol Dimopoulos, who recently returned from Malta, said that "Discovering Malta was for me, an amazing learning journey. I had no idea of the diversity of experience in Malta. Malta has it all. Two of our new Malta programs offer our guests opportunities to experience these amazing Learning Journeys for themselves in Malta. One is A Woman's Journey of Wellness, Gastronomy and Culture" and the second is the Malta Explorer: History Culture Gastronomy." Michelle Buttigieg, speaking on behalf of the Malta Tourism Authority, said that "Malta is so pleased that a travel industry Icon, Perillo Tours Brands and Steve Perillo, who knows our region intimately and has so many loyal travelers, has committed to making Destination Malta an important part of Learning Journeys' Mediterranean program." Buttigieg added, "We are confident that with the support of Carol Dimopoulous, her creativity and dedication, Perillo Learning Journeys will generate a large number of new visitors from the US to Malta." About Malta: The sunny islands of Malta, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, are home to a most remarkable concentration of intact built heritage, including the highest density of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in any nation-state anywhere. Valletta built by the proud Knights of St. John is one of the UNESCO sights and the European Capital of Culture for 2018. Malta's patrimony in stone ranges from the oldest free-standing stone architecture in the world, to one of the British Empire's most formidable defensive systems, and includes a rich mix of domestic, religious and military architecture from the ancient, medieval and early modern periods. With superbly sunny weather, attractive beaches, a thriving nightlife and 7,000 years of intriguing history, there is a great deal to see and do. For more information, visit: www.visitmalta.com Photo Attached: From left to right: Charles Borg, Maltese Fashion Designer; Michelle Buttigieg, US Representative Malta Tourism Authority; Michelle Muscat, Spouse of Prime Minister of Malta; Carol Dimopoulos, President of Perillo Learning Journeys; Ron van Maarschalkerweerd, Maltese Fashion Designer About Perillo Learing Journeys Programs to Malta: Learning Journeys offers cutting-edge travel experiences powered by Perillo Tours 72 years of travel planning expertise. More than a traditional vacation, you will acquire, or improve upon your areas of interest such as cooking, health and wellness, culture and more! President Carol Dimopoulos is yoga, wellness and community ambassador and an expert in lifestyle travel to Malta, capturing her discovery in a video series of the destination as a USTOA Modern Day Explorer. Learning Journeys Signature Yoga and Wellness collection to Malta offers the opportunity to reset the mind, body and spirit. From small boutique-style hotels to private villa rentals and luxury resorts, a holistic lifestyle is amplified by yoga, wellness, and spas, temple visits and festivals, healthy food, meditation and giving back. Perillo's Learning Journeys is a member of USTOA, Tourism Cares and an Endorsed Partner of Yoga Alliance. A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=41469 We've all seen the impact that heat waves have on land. The infamous European heat wave of 2003 was responsible for 30,000 deaths caused by high temperatures that soared 20-30 percent above average. Heat waves like the one in Europe and the one in China in 2013 were not only killers, but also caused forest fires and wreaked economic havoc through higher energy costs and agricultural losses. Warm blobs of water In a new paper, environmental physicist Thomas Froelicher from ETH Zurich in Switzerland lays out the case that heat waves in the ocean can be just as deadly, but not as apparent, to those of us stuck on land. NASA has been studying cyclical events like the El Nino phenomenon of the Central Pacific for years. While not a classical heat wave, an El Nino happens when weak trade winds allow warm water to collect in the tropical regions of the Pacific. When this happens, the worldwide effects, according to NASA, are profound: the warm waters are nutrient poor and can devastate fish stocks, the change also causes drought in Indonesia and Australia. Froelicher examined the effects of a similar but unexpected 'blob' of warm water that appeared in the northeastern Pacific Ocean in 2013, and stayed there until 2015. The bubble of warm water was about 3 degrees Celsius above the average and grew to an astonishing 1,600 kilometers in diameter. The results of the warm water were similar to what happens in an El Nino. Fish and zooplankton looking for food began to desert the region in droves, and by 2015 according to NASA, "...record numbers of starving sea lions and fur seals were found stranded on Californias beaches." The blob has since dissipated, but climate scientists continue to keep a close eye on the Northern Pacific. A similar blob of warm water heated up Australia's west coast in the winter of 2010, when temperatures soared as high as 6 degrees Celsius above normal. The effects of that heat wave are still being felt in the region. A 1,000 square kilometer region of kelp forests was destroyed by the high temperatures. The forests still haven't returned and in fact a new ecosystem has taken root in the region that once was dominated by the kelp forests. Is this just natural change? An occasional heat wave is certainly part of nature's plan, and heat waves like the one that made the U.S. depression worse in the 1930s have always been a part of life on planet earth. But one of the demonstrable effects of human impacted climate change is that extreme events like heat waves will become more common and more extreme. For the first time in July, scientists firmly linked the 2003 European heat wave to climate change. Just like on land, Froelicher points out, "marine heatwaves are likely to become more frequent and intense." Put all of this together and Froelicher's paper sounds a warning that extreme heat waves, along with increasing ocean acidification and loss of oxygen, are putting "additional stress on marine organisms and ecosystems." And with this week's announcement from NASA that August and July were the two hottest months ever recorded, that means that we can expect more heat, more extreme events, and more potentially devastating terrestrial and oceanic heat waves. The mood is tense in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, following a day and night of deadly violence involving security forces and anti-government protesters. A human rights group reports more than 40 people have been killed, most of them civilians. There were sporadic clashes between police and groups of young men early Tuesday in some parts of the capital. Unusually for Kinshasa, trucks full of soldiers from the Republican Guard were out on the streets. Heavier violence took place overnight, as armed men set fire to at least five headquarters of opposition parties that helped to organize protests Monday. Several pro-government parties saw their offices burned down during those protests. Felix Tshisekedi, a leading figure in the largest opposition party, the UDPS, spoke to reporters Tuesday as people picked through the remains of his headquarters in Limete, an opposition stronghold. Tshisekedi says commandos from the ruling party camp arrived at 2 a.m. and went to work until 4.30 a.m. They attacked and killed our guards, he says. There are five dead. Tshisekedi went on to say that the DRC is a dictatorship and he says this government deserves the popular revolt that is coming to topple it. He later told VOA by phone that the death toll from the overnight attack has risen to seven and others are still missing. Emery Okundji, a parliamentarian from another party targeted during the night, told VOA that heavily armed men smashed down the door just before 5 a.m. and threw bombs, setting fire to the building. Government spokesman Lambert Mende told VOA by phone that the government has called on the public prosecutor to expand his investigation into Mondays unrest to include the violence overnight. We do not know who is responsible for these attacks, Mende said, but as a government we condemn anyone who takes it upon themselves to seek vengeance. He said the government will wait for the prosecutor to finish the inquiry into who is responsible for the violence. The opposition coalition known as the Rassemblement, or the Assembly, had organized a march Monday to demand that President Joseph Kabila step down in December when his second term ends. The electoral commission has delayed the elections, saying it may need until 2018 to create a new voter roll. The opposition asserts that Kabila simply wants to stay in power. Opposition leaders say security forces obstructed their planned march on Monday, firing tear gas to disperse protesters as they gathered. The government says it had withdrawn authorization for the demonstration after violence from protesters. The interior minister said 17 people were killed three policemen and 14 civilians. But, Human Rights Watch says it has received "credible reports" that security forces have killed at least 37 people since the protests began. The group's DRC researcher, Ida Sawyer, told VOA that most were killed when the security forces fired on crowds of protesters. She says others died when security forces burned down opposition party headquarters. Sawyer says HRW also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a supporter of Kabila's party, and have also burned and looted several shops and police stations. Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes apparent rejection of U.S. military help in patrolling a contested sea and in fighting Muslim rebels may mark just another angry outburst rather than an order to quit cooperation, as Filipinos largely welcome the help despite uncomfortable memories of American colonialism. Duterte, the 71-year-old president known for rash remarks and a personal distrust of the United States, said last week he would not let foreign powers help with patrols of disputed waters near the South China Sea, an apparent slight against a deal reached by his predecessor for U.S. aid. China is the rival maritime claimant. The president had called a day earlier for U.S. military advisers to leave southern Mindanao, an island where Philippine forces are battling Muslim insurgents. But Philippines secretary of foreign affairs Perfecto Yasay said later Duterte would not pull out of any U.S. military aid agreements. Jumped the gun ? Analysts in Manila said Duterte may have just spoken prematurely in both cases. The president is very outspoken and too transparent about his personal feelings and attitudes, and I think that perhaps this particular statement really is just a kind of personal expression at this point, said Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at University of the Philippines. The U.S. Embassy in Manila calls the American alliance with the Philippines among the most enduring and important in the Asia Pacific. It has been a cornerstone of stability for over 70 years, an embassy spokesperson said by e-mail. It is built on shared sacrifices for democracy and human rights and strong people-to-people and societal ties. The embassy declined to comment on Dutertes remarks last week. US forces U.S. forces are helping local units investigate kidnapping threats, do forensic analysis and institutionalize cybercrime investigations, the spokesperson added. Although some Filipinos resent the United States colonial role in the Philippines from 1898 to 1946, most welcome U.S. military aid in the background, Batongbacal said. That means they accept todays sharing of intelligence and technology, just not a U.S. role "as front-line troops fighting with the Philippines on the ground, he said. American forces have helped the Philippines fight rebels in Mindanao for 14 years, aiding in counterterrorism operations. One rebel group, Abu Sayyaf, has fought back against Dutertes effort to crush it. The clashes have caused civilian, rebel and military deaths. Duterte declared a state of lawlessness this month to help coordinate the military with police. Abu Sayyaf is best known outside the Philippines for kidnapping foreign tourists in Mindanao. In April the group beheaded a Canadian hostage. Abu Sayyaf is one of at least four Muslim rebel groups pushing for autonomy in the south. Their conflict with the Philippines government has left about 120,000 people dead over the past half century. Duterte's beef with US Dutertes issue with the United States may stem from an incident in the southern city Davao where he was mayor for 22 years before being elected president May 9. Local media have reported that Duterte was upset in 2002 when an American national with connections to Mindanao rebel groups was hurt in a bomb blast in Davao and quickly taken out of the country by U.S. security forces. Ever since he was mayor he had this personal attitude, said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Philippine advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. He thinks that particular person was spirited away by the FBI and he suspects it has something to do with the bombing, and ever since he has been making those kinds of comments. Two years ago Manila and Washington signed an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that lets U.S. forces rotate in and out of the country and build or operate military facilities. Dutertes rejection last week of these ties may signal that his government is shifting toward China, which recently lost a world court arbitration case over competing maritime claims in the South China Sea. Dutertes predecessor had filed the case. Pope Francis met Tuesday with religious leaders from around the world in the Italian town of Assisi, where he condemned increasingly prevalent religious violence in the world. Francis told the leaders from several religions that there is no God of war, and that it is important they tell their followers to pray for peace. "As we pray today, it would be good if we all felt shame, shame that humans, our brothers and sisters, are capable of doing this, the Catholic leader said. While he acknowledged that Western nations have seen recent attacks against their citizens, he said it is nothing compared to the fighting in the Middle East where day and night, bombs fall. The pope arrived in Assisi Tuesday morning for the World Day of Prayer event and was scheduled to have lunch with 10 war victims before meeting one-on-one with fellow Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist leaders later in the day. All assembled religious leaders will separate to pray on their own before meeting again Tuesday night for a ceremony in Assisis main square where the pope will speak and pray for war victims. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani met with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on Monday in Havana to reaffirm friendly ties between the two countries and express a commitment to deepening their collaboration, Cuban state media reported. During the visit, Iranian and Cuban officials signed agreements for collaboration in the health, education and science sectors, as well as a memorandum of understanding on banking. Rouhani, who stopped off in the Communist-ruled island on his way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, also met with Raul's predecessor and elder brother, Fidel Castro. They discussed the importance of food production in a world "threatened by climate change, the incessant growth of the global population, and the dangers to the preservation of peace", the Communist Party newspaper Granma wrote. "Fidel and Hassan Rouhani concluded the friendly meeting with the most sincere desires for collaboration between the peoples of Iran and Cuba," the paper wrote. Iran and Cuba have long been friendly, united partly by their respective stand offs with the United States, although both have seen relations with Washington thaw in recent years. Rouhani's visit comes a month after his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif kicked off a tour of Latin America with a trip to Havana, promising to open a new chapter in bilateral relations. From pioneering programs in slum housing to mobile phone banking, Santiago and Nairobi are emerging hot spots for business leaders seeking to drive social change, according to a poll of experts on the best countries for social entrepreneurs. Berlin, London and Hong Kong were named as major hot spots for social entrepreneurs in the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of nearly 900 experts in the 45 biggest economies. But, more surprisingly, the capitals of Chile and Kenya were also pinpointed as two of the five most exciting places for business leaders wanting to have a social impact. Stephanie Koczela, co-founder of Nairobi-based Penda Health, a for-profit medical clinic group, said in richer countries, like the United States, people often ignored or dismissed social issues and enterprises but poorer nations saw the impact. "In Nairobi, they want to learn more and help to drive change ... Communities here are invested in social enterprises because they understand that they are striving to make the city a better place," Koczela told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. East Africa is one of the global centers of impact investing - the fledgling market in investing for social good - according to a 2015 report by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). This followed a major success in innovation by Kenya's biggest communications operator, Safaricom, which pioneered a mobile money service called M-Pesa in 2007 that allows Kenyans to pay bills or receive funds on the simplest of mobile phones, giving people a new way of accessing banking. M-Pesa, which swept across the country and has been mimicked across Africa, ignited interest from foreign investors in Kenya as an emerging hub of tech and innovation, entrepreneurs say. "Kenyans are receptive to new ideas, those which want to make a difference. Nairobi is a good city to test innovations," said Kenyan social entrepreneur Fredrick Ouko, the founder of Riziki Source, a mobile phone app for disabled job seekers. With English as its main language and rising numbers of socially-minded university graduates, Nairobi has established itself as a hub for social entrepreneurs. But, like in many other countries, there is no formal recognition for the sector, depriving it of potential investment and incentives like tax breaks, experts said. Access to finance remains the major challenge, according to Ashoka, a global network of social enterprises. "Attracting capital and funding is especially difficult for social entrepreneurs in Nairobi, because investors tend to turn to regular businesses for quicker and bigger returns," said Peris Wakesho, Ashoka's regional director for East Africa. Government support in Chile In Chile, social entrepreneurs also found it hard to access investment but did receive support from the government which has fueled the recent, fast-growing trend in social enterprises in and outside Santiago, experts say. Chile's leading social entrepreneurs say access to government funding, the role of universities, a pool of well-educated Chileans, media interest and good internet connection have all helped make Santiago a hotbed for social entrepreneurs. They said TECHO, a Santiago-based non-profit organization that tackles poverty and housing in slums, played a key role in raising awareness about doing social good after its 1997 set-up. TECHO, with a large network of young volunteers and now one of the largest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Latin America, has served as a platform to launch future leading social entrepreneurs and enterprises. The Thomson Reuters Foundation poll, conducted in partnership with Deutsche Bank, the Global Social Entrepreneurship Network (GSEN) and UnLtd, the foundations for social entrepreneurs, found Chile came fifth in the ranking of nations where conditions favor social entrepreneurs. The poll found Chile was the joint third best with France, behind only South Korea and Singapore, for the country where government policy supports social entrepreneurs. "I'm amazed a lot by how Chile has developed in the last six to 10 years. Just five years ago, most people didn't understand the concept of social entrepreneurship," said Maria Jose Montero, head of Chile's first Impact Investment Fund which raises funds for non-profit and for-profit social enterprises. Santiago hosts the annual International Festival of Social Innovation, now in its fourth year. Government programs offer selected local and foreign entrepreneurs, mainly in the tech business, some equity-free funding, co-working office spaces and mentoring opportunities. Sebastian Salinas, a Chilean social entrepreneur who co-founded Balloon Chile to support and train local entrepreneurs in rural areas to develop their businesses, said government support had been important for the growth of the sector. "You can raise money through central and local government funds and each region in Chile has its own competitions and sources of funding for social entrepreneurship," said Salinas. For the full results of the 2016 poll on the best countries for social entrepreneurs go to poll2016.trust.org. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Monday he would seek a third term, stressing the threat posed by North Korea and the role his inspectors could play in any diplomatic deal with Pyongyang. Yukiya Amano, a 69-year-old career diplomat from Japan, has emphasized that the work of the IAEA - the United Nations nuclear watchdog - is technical, a reference to the more political style of his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei. He was first elected as director general in 2009 with the support of Western powers such as the United States, which had clashed with ElBaradei over Iran's nuclear program. ElBaradei and the IAEA were awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. "A number of countries encouraged me to continue to serve as the director general beyond 2017," Amano told a news conference during a quarterly meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, without specifying which countries. His second four-year term runs until the end of November next year. The IAEA is policing the restrictions placed on Iran's nuclear activities under a deal between Tehran and six major powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - which also lifted sanctions against Iran. While there is no sign those powers oppose a third term for Amano, some diplomats from that group of countries have expressed frustration over what they see as a lack of detail in the IAEA's quarterly reports on Iran's compliance with the deal. Amano is expected to be challenged by an Argentine diplomat, Rafael Grossi, who has chaired the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a club of countries that seeks to prevent nuclear proliferation by restricting exports of sensitive technology. Grossi was not immediately available for comment. Amano's tenure has been marked by the deal between major powers and Iran, reached last year, and by repeated nuclear tests by North Korea, a country that IAEA inspectors have been unable to visit since before Amano's election in 2009. Asked why he wanted a third term, Amano highlighted the Iran deal and North Korea, which he said was "very worrying" and "is a threat to the security of northeast Asia and beyond." "All of this combined means the IAEA is facing huge challenges in the coming years. In order to cope, address these challenges, continuity and unity is very important," he told reporters. The IAEA could also quickly provide inspectors if needed to support any political agreement with North Korea, he said. "The IAEA can play an essential role in the peaceful resolution of (the) North Korea nuclear issue," he said. Will the euro survive the next big crisis? A new report inspired by Jacques Delors, one of the architects of the single currency, says it probably won't and urges policymakers to pursue immediate changes to Europe's troubled monetary union to ward off the inevitable collapse. The report, entitled "Repair and Prepare - Growth and the Euro after Brexit," comes at a time when even the most ardent defenders of the euro are cautioning against closer integration in the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Pressing ahead, they worry, would deepen public resentment towards Europe after years of economic crisis that has pushed up unemployment and sent populist, eurosceptic parties surging in opinion polls. The authors, a group of academics, think tankers and former policymakers from across Europe, acknowledge the obstacles but argue that politicians cannot afford to wait. They have put together a three-pronged plan for shoring up the euro that they believe is politically feasible despite the troubling backdrop. "Reforming the euro might not be popular. But it is essential and urgent: at some point in the future, Europe will be hit by a new economic crisis," the report says. "We do not know whether this will be in six weeks, six months or six years. But in its current set-up the euro is unlikely to survive that coming crisis." In the works since before the Brexit vote in June, the 38-page report was put together by Berlin-based political economy professor Henrik Enderlein and former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, both of the Delors Institute, together with the Bertelsmann Foundation. They worked with former central bankers Joerg Asmussen and Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, the former economics adviser to French President Francois Hollande, Laurence Boone, as well as ex-WTO chief Pascal Lamy and Philippe Maystadt, the former finance minister of Belgium. In a first stage to shore up the single currency, they recommend "quick fixes" that include a reinforcement of the eurozone's rescue mechanism, the ESM, a strengthening of banking union and improved economic policy coordination that does not require changes to the EU treaty. This would be followed by a north-south quid pro quo on structural reforms and investments. In a third stage, the eurozone would move to a more federal structure, with risk and sovereignty sharing. This final stage, the most controversial, could take a decade or more to realize and is described as important but optional. Central to the argument is the view that the European Central Bank has used up virtually all of its ammunition in the past year and that it is now urgent for politicians to act. "The ECB is in a Catch-22 situation," said Enderlein. "If it says that it's out of ammunition, it is weakening its own position. But if it says everything is fine, then governments won't do their part." "Everyone is focused on the latest crises, from refugees to Brexit," added Asmussen. "We want to remind everyone that the monetary union is still incomplete." There are direct links between the al-Qaida terror networks of the last decade, and the Islamic State-linked terror cells in Europe that have carried out a series of attacks in recent months, according to a new report. The study by the London-based analyst group, the Henry Jackson Society, calls for better monitoring of potential recruits to prevent them from being radicalized by convicted terrorists. Henry Ridgwell reports. There are direct links between the al-Qaida terror networks of the last decade, and the Islamic State-linked terror cells in Europe that have carried out a series of attacks in recent months, according to a new report. The study by the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based research institution, looked at the al-Qaida-linked terror networks in Europe in the early 2000s, around the time of the NATO-led invasion of Afghanistan, and the current networks linked to Islamic State that were responsible for the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels. Time and again, the same names appeared. 'Training and grooming' The recidivism of those individuals who had originally been convicted of al-Qaida activism, almost training and grooming those individuals who would go on to be involved in the Paris and Brussels attacks, said Rupert Sutton, co-author of the report. Those individuals included Abdelhamid Abaaoud, chief coordinator of the Paris attacks in November 2015, and Najeem Laachraoui, one of the network's chief bomb makers, who detonated a suicide bomb at Brussels airport in March. They were connected to a number of individuals with previous convictions for al-Qaida activity, and to a cleric called Khalid Zerkani, who acted almost as a father figure to a number of these individuals. He was actually known as 'Papa Noel' [Father Christmas] because he used the proceeds of his petty crime to shower them with gifts and look after them at the same time as radicalizing them, Sutton said. Many of the elder members of former al-Qaida networks had traveled to fight in Afghanistan the previous decade, and passed on their knowledge to embryonic terror cells in Europe as the Syrian civil war became a rallying call for jihadist fighters. Providing them with expertise on bomb-making or network formation, but also providing them with advice on perhaps how to travel to a conflict zone to gain training, how to gain combat experience and how to use those conflict zones as areas in which you can formulate your own ideas and formulate your own attacks," Sutton said. Combat experience He added combat experience appears key, as the most serious Islamic State-linked terror plots in Europe have been planned by European citizens returning from the Syrian frontline, however, those individuals are often beneath intelligence radars. Often these individuals perhaps haven't come into contact with the authorities in the past. So whilst there are direct connections between the two networks, the individuals that are recruited by those veterans perhaps have only come into contact with the police through a record of petty crime," he said. Sutton said former al-Qaida operatives also passed on expertise in how to evade detection on their return to Europe. Perhaps one of the most worrying factors is that a number of these individuals were stopped by police on their returns, showed fake identities and gave fake names, and were able to continue on their journey. The report's authors say the links show the need to improve efforts to challenge radicalization in prisons and develop better ways of preventing offenders from being drawn into terrorism. PASCAGOULA, Miss., Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division raised $13,000 Saturday for Special Olympics of Mississippi at the company's fifth annual "5K on the Causeway" held on Singing River Island. Ingalls, along with, Interactive Health, is proud to support Special Olympics of Mississippi, and we are especially proud of the annual 5K on the Causeway, said Edmond Hughes, vice president of human resources. The 5K gives us an opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause while promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness for our employees and the local community. Ingalls also donated $5,000 in May to athletes at the 2016 Special Olympics of Mississippi Summer Games held earlier this year at Keesler Air Force base. Many of the employees start training weeks in advance to get ready for this event every year, said Program Manager for Interactive Health, Joni Goodman. Over the past five years weve seen increased participation and dedication to this event, and it has become a special race for a worthy cause. Its wonderful to see so many folks devoted to a great cause. More than 740 runners participated in the 2016 race. This years top male runner was Josh Becker, and the top female runner was Ingalls employee Amanda Whitaker. Each 5K winner received a medal hand designed by Special Olympics athletes. After the race, Gulf Coast families stayed on Singing River Island for activities inside the kids area, live music and free food provided by local vendors. Also this year, a fun run was added for Special Olympics athletes. A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=57e185fd2cfac22919510b5e Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of engineering, manufacturing and management services to the nuclear energy, oil and gas markets. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 35,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: The suspect in Saturday night's bombing in New York City that wounded 29 people is in a hospital recovering from bullet wounds after a shootout with police. Prosecutors have charged 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami with five counts of attempted murder stemming from the shootout that wounded two officers. Police arrested Rahami in Linden, New Jersey outside Manhattan hours after police sent out a city-wide bulletin with his picture, saying he was wanted for questioning. A bar owner in Linden called police Monday morning to complain that a man was sleeping in a doorway of his business. Officers recognized the man as Rahami, who opened fire, wounding two policemen before he was injured. None of the wounds are considered life-threatening. The FBI is not saying how they zeroed in on Rahami as the bombing suspect. But investigators reportedly saw him on surveillance video at the bomb site in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, and near a second bomb allegedly left several blocks away. The second explosive was found before it could detonate. Investigators also reportedly found fingerprints on a bomb fragment. Other bombs The FBI wants to question Rahami about another bombing Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, south of New York, that forced the cancellation of a charity road race. No one was injured. Other bombs were found in a garbage can at a train station Sunday morning in Elizabeth, New Jersey. One of the bombs exploded while a robot was trying to disarm it. Again, no one was hurt. Rahami's alleged motive for the bombings is unknown. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Rahami is the only suspect so far. The mayor on Monday said there is every reason to believe the bombings were acts of terrorism, and the FBI is looking for any links to foreign terror groups. Obama: We have to be vigilant Speaking in New York, President Barack Obama said the investigation is moving rapidly and that everyone is working together to get to the bottom of what happened. He said terrorists and extremists want to hurt innocent people, inspire fear and disrupt life. "We have to be vigilant and aggressive, both on preventing senseless acts of violence but also making sure that we find those who carry out such acts and bring them to justice, he said. We all have a role to play as citizens in making sure that we don't succumb to that fear." One New Yorker told VOA that the bombing was unsettling, but not surprising. "There is a security to this city. Sure there are days where I have my doubts about that, but because I do feel this camaraderie in the city, I do feel relatively safe." Suspect called friendly Suspected bomber Rahami was born in Afghanistan and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He and his family run a fried-chicken restaurant in Linden that has a steady number of loyal customers. But it also had trouble with the city of Linden for what neighbors said was round-the-clock noise and crowds at the eatery. Some of the restaurant's customers say they are shocked that Rahami is a suspect, calling him friendly. They say he let local bands practice in the back of the restaurant, and gave them free food. New York City Afghan community leader Masjid Dar al Taqwa condemned the bombings. "Everyone ... is shocked and saddened by what has happened," he told VOA. "They condemn all forms of violence. They just want to live peacefully." Despite Saturday's errant U.S. airstrike that Russia claims killed 62 Syrian troops, the Syrian government is upping the battle against Islamic State fighters in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Soon after the smoke cleared from the U.S. raid over the weekend, at least 1,000 additional Syrian soldiers were deployed to the besieged desert city, which has strategic significance for both the regime and the Islamic State group. Syrian troops counter-attacked Monday and Tuesday at one neighborhood near a mountain area that IS extremists temporarily controlled following the U.S. strike. Social media reports say several IS fighters were killed as the regime regained control of the area. The offensive came as the Syrian government unilaterally ended a truce in the Syria war, even as U.S. and Russian officials sought to keep the truce alive. "Deir Ezzor presents an opportunity for the [Syrian] regime to show its effectiveness after the cease-fire has failed," said Daryous Darwish, a Syrian affairs analyst who lives in exile in France. City under siege Deir Ezzor is a virtual island surrounded by hundreds of square kilometers of desert, not far from the Iraq border. IS has controlled nearly the entire province since mid-2014, except for small pockets of the city that remained in the hands of Syrian government forces. "It is located in the heart of [Islamic State's} so-called caliphate, connecting Syria with Iraq," Darwish said. Due to continued fighting, more than 250,000 residents in different parts of the city have been under siege for months, according to the United Nations and Syrian rights groups. The area sees nearly daily bombardments, both from Russian warplanes supporting the Damascus regime and from planes of the U.S-led coalition targeting IS strongholds. Targeting oil fields IS fighters control most of the oil fields in Deir Ezzor, and oil production has been a major source of revenue for the extremists. U.S.-led airstrikes mainly target the oil facilities and Islamic State's supply routes. "At least 30 percent of oil and natural gas production in Syria comes from Deir Ezzor," said Musallam Talas, a Syrian economist who teaches at the Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey. IS has been increasing its presence in eastern and central Syria, after having been routed from much of northern Syria by Turkey-backed rebels and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. Troops fighting IS expect the next big offensive will try to oust the extremists from their remaining major strongholds in two big cities, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa. Russian airstrikes key Observers say Syrian troops are hampered in their fight against IS because they must travel a long way from government strongholds near Damascus. The Syrian regime said the weekend strike by U.S. jets against Syrian troops was a setback, but that continuing Russian air support for government forces is crucial. "That effectiveness can only occur with surgical Russian airstrikes against [Islamic State]," said analyst Darwish. The Assad government's attempts to expand its holdings in Deir Ezzor are limited, because manpower and supplies must come through the city's embattled airfield, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Many residents in Deir Ezzor have fled IS tyranny to regime-held areas. But aid groups have no access to assist them because of the fighting, the Observatory told VOA. Most people survive on a few rations and some bread provided by the government. "After six days of outage, drinking water is now running again in [government-held] neighborhoods of al-Joura, al-Qusour and al-Mouazafeen," said Deir Ezzor 24, a website that reports news on the city. The maker of Skittles candies on Tuesday objected to a social media post by Donald Trump Jr. in which the Republican presidential hopeful's son compared admitting Syrian refugees to the United States to eating poisoned pieces of the brightly colored, fruit-flavored treats. Candidate Donald Trump has opposed letting Syrian refugees enter, while his Democratic rival in the November 8 election, Hillary Clinton, has supported accepting some of those fleeing the war-torn country. In a post on Twitter on Monday accompanied by an image of the candy, Donald Trump Jr. wrote, "If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." A spokeswoman for Skittles maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. said the company did not feel Trump's analogy was appropriate. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," said spokeswoman Michelle Green, adding that the company would refrain from further comment, "as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." U.S. admission of Syrian refugees has long been a politically sensitive issue, although the country has admitted far fewer than many close allies. Trump has said that violent militants could enter the country posing as refugees. U.S. plan criticized In 2015, Democratic President Barack Obama announced plans to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, sparking fierce criticism, mostly from Republicans who said the plan could put Americans at risk. His administration announced in August that it would meet that goal. The younger Trump's tweet drew return fire from the Clinton campaign and many Twitter users. "Thankful my grandfather was allowed into this country and not compared to a poisonous skittle," Josh Schwerin, a national spokesman for Clinton, posted Monday. Twitter user Neal Rogers on Tuesday, tweeted, "I'd rather die eating a handful of Skittles than live a single day with @realDonaldTrump as president." But Trump adviser Jack Kingston, a former U.S. congressman from Georgia, defended the tweet in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday. "What he was doing was making an illustration. I don't think he was comparing refugees to candy at all," he said, saying some percentage of refugees are going to be "bad actors" without giving specific details. "What we need to do is say: We're going to be humanitarian ... but the reality is we need to make sure, as much as possible, who's coming into America and what are their views on America." Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The hashtag #SkittlesWelcome was trending on Twitter in the United States, as social media users flooded the microblogging site with jokes mocking the tweet. U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have clear differences when it comes to policy proposals, but as the end to the long election process slowly approaches a gap just as wide persists in the finances of their campaigns. Documents filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission showed Clinton raised about $60 million in August compared to $42 million for Trump. Her campaign also outspent Trump's by $20 million. Add up all the monthly reports filed since each became their party's nominee in the race to replace President Barack Obama when his term ends in January, and as of the end of August Clinton had outspent Trump by about $200 million. The gap in their total fundraising was even bigger, with Clinton having raised $386 million to Trump's $170 million. Presidential races in the U.S. are expensive, with campaigns needing to buy lots of television ad time and staff offices across the country. Obama's campaign committee spent $775 million to get him re-elected in 2012, while his challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, spent $460 million. Clinton and Trump attacked each other Tuesday as unfit to lead the U.S. fight against the Islamic State group. Trump said that Clinton "demonstrates a level of ignorance about the terror threat...that is disqualifying for a person seeking the presidency." He told college students at a rally in the mid-Atlantic state of North Carolina, a key election battleground for both candidates, that "when she says my opposition to radical Islamic terror provides aid and comfort to the enemy, we know that Hillary Clinton has once again demonstrated that she's really unfit for office." "Her comments are not only reckless, but beneath the dignity of the office that she seeks," Trump charged. Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state looking to become the country's first female president, alleged Monday that Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric has made him "a recruiting sergeant" for the terrorists. But Trump told his North Carolina supporters, "I'm being tough. How is that a recruiting tool?" Clinton stayed off the campaign trail Tuesday while preparing for next Monday's first debate with Trump. But she spoke with national security advisers to discuss last weekend's bombing in New York, allegedly carried out by a naturalized U.S. citizen of Afghan descent. She said recent violent attacks in the U.S. showed that "to defeat the terrorists, we need experienced, steady leadership." She did not name Trump, but said it was important to not "lose our cool and start ranting and waving our arms." Clinton said it was not the time for "extreme proposals," adding, "that's what the terrorists are aiming for." Clinton lead shrinking Earlier, Trump belittled Clinton's lack of a public appearance Tuesday, saying on his Twitter account, "Hillary Clinton is taking the day off again. She needs the rest. Sleep well Hillary see you at the debate!" Trump and Clinton are locked in a tight contest to become the country's 45th president, to replace President Barack Obama when he leaves office next January. Trump, a one-time television reality show host, has erased most of the 8-percentage-point edge Clinton held over him in early August. An average of national polls compiled by RealClearPolitics shows her currently holding a 1.3-percentage-point lead seven weeks ahead of the November 8 election. The margin of error in polls is typically 3-4 percentage points. Trump and suspects amazing care On Monday, Trump voiced his displeasure with the medical care and legal representation going to the suspect arrested in Saturday's bombing in New York City. Ahmad Khan Rahami was hospitalized after being shot as he tried to evade police in New Jersey, and is being held while he awaits his first court appearance next week. "Now we will give him amazing hospitalization," Trump told supporters in Florida. "He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. And on top of all of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer. His case will go through the various court systems for years and in the end people will forget and his punishment will not be what it once would have been." The U.S. Constitution guarantees defendants the right to legal representation. Trump reiterated his criticism of the U.S. immigration system that he says does not do an adequate job of screening people for security risks. "You can't have vetting if you don't look at ideology. And Hillary Clinton refuses to consider an applicant's world view and thus their likelihood of being recruited into the terror cause at some later date, which is going to happen in many, many cases," Trump said. Skittles controversy One of the candidate's sons, Donald Trump Jr., also drew a big response Monday with a picture he posted on Twitter comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles candy and decrying a "politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first." "If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?" reads the text above a bowl of the candy. Skittles maker Wrigley issued a statement rebuffing the younger Trump's post. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," the company said. Clinton and tough vetting Clinton said Monday she also wants "tough vetting," but said the U.S. is "well-equipped" to keep out potential terrorists. "And we can do so with keeping smart law enforcement, good intelligence, and in concert with our values," she said. "We know that a lot of the rhetoric we've heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS, because they are looking to make this into a war against Islam rather than a war against jihadists," she said, using an acronym for Islamic State. Clinton also said she hopes to utilize experts in the technology hub in California's Silicon Valley to help come up with ways to monitor internet conversations among plotters "to counter terrorism attacks before they occur." Fears are growing in Turkey about rising ethnic tensions between Turks and Kurds. The country is in the midst of a wave of Turkish nationalism in the aftermath of Julys failed coup, at the same time Kurdish rebels of the PKK stepped up their military campaign for autonomy. The dangerous combination of conflicting forces spilled into violence earlier this month in the Black Sea town of Sinop. Scores of Turks, armed with sticks and knives, marched into the towns Kurdish neighborhood, attacking residents and smashing shop windows, toTurkish nationalist chants. The fighting, which saw dozens injured, was so bad security forces were forced to declare a curfew. A media blackout on the story quickly followed. The incident follows a Kurdish builder being burned alive by a fellow worker in Istanbul only days after complaining to his family about being targeted by Turkish nationalists for being a Kurd. Local media also reported a shipbuilder was attacked and hospitalized in Istanbul for reportedly speaking Kurdish on a telephone on the street. Ertugrul Kurkcu, a senior member of parliament with Turkeys main pro-Kurdish party, the HDP, says the attacks are part of an alarming trend caused by the wave of Turkish nationalism being stoked by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AKP. Tayyip Erdogan is calling for total extermination of the PKK, and this is reflected by the AKP media and, if you are a nationalist, the only solution you would believe is to decapitate opposition politicians and the Kurdish activists and this hatred is growing. And this inevitably provokes anger and, in one night, mobs can start lynch attacks across Turkeys western cities in the Kurdish neighborhoods. Kurkcu said. Kurkcu is a deputy for Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, located in the western part of the country. Izmir, like many cities, has a large Kurdish minority, many of whom fled fighting in the countrys war-torn southeast. Izmir is also a traditional bastion of Turkish nationalism and the power base of the secular main opposition Republican Peoples Party. In the aftermath of Julys failed military coup, President Erdogan, who narrowly escaped with his life, has sought to take advantage of the unprecedented cross-party opposition to the coup, by creating a consensus under the Turkish flag. The only strategy is to consolidate this 60 percent Turkish nationalist Sunni alliance, observes political columnist Kadir Gursel of Turkeys Cumhuriyet newspaper. But this is not a wise step; it will engender evil dynamics of polarization, which will fuel more and more conflict and empower separatist sentiments. Many Kurds joined their Turkish brethren and poured onto the streets to oppose the July coup; but, Erdogan, in the aftermath of the coup attempt, excluded the leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP, Selahattin Demirtas, from cross-party talks, calling him a terrorist supporter. Demirtas exclusion was followed by the PKK stepping up its military operations against security forces, killing dozens. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has ruled out any political solution to the decades-long conflict, promising, like all his predecessors for the last three decades, to annihilate the PKK. The cycle of violence is set to escalate further, with Ankara launching a military incursion into Syria, targeting not only Islamic State, but what it claims is the PKKs Syrian affiliate, the YPG. The PKK will step up its attacks inside, warns Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served widely in the region. In Turkey, things can spin out of control, especially in the Southeast. In that case, we won't be back to the peace process. It will be very hard to predict what will happen. As we saw in the Kobani crisis, the politicized Kurdish population in Turkey is very sensitive, says columnist Gursel. In the autumn of 2014, Kurds demonstrated across Turkey in support of Syrian Kurdish fighters defending the town of Kobani, which faced being overrun by Islamic State. To end the unrest, which claimed 31 lives, the government was forced to turn to the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan. In the face of renewed ethnic tensions, Ankara, in a move widely interpreted as a gesture to its Kurdish minority, allowed Ocalan to be visited by his brother, his first visit in more than a year. Pro-Kurdish deputy Kurkcu says both sides need to act and pull back the country from the precipice. Mutual hatred is growing and if things evolve this way, and there is no hope that a common life of different nationalities and ethnicities is possible, in the near future, then the bells of civil war will be ringing. This is a very, very risky situation. Global oil supply of 94 million barrels per day needs to fall by about a tenth if it is to match consumption, Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said Monday. Del Pino, whose country is pressing for OPEC and non-OPEC producers to reach a deal to bolster crude prices, said a "fair price" would be around $70 per barrel. "Global production is at 94 million barrels per day, of which we need to go down 9 million barrels per day to sustain the level of consumption," he said in an interview with state oil company PDVSA's internal TV station. Del Pino is also president of PDVSA. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday that OPEC and non-OPEC countries were close to reaching a deal to stabilize oil markets. OPEC members will meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum, which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria from Sept. 26 to 28. Non-OPEC producer Russia is also attending the forum. A man sought by police in connection with bombings in New York and New Jersey on Saturday is in custody following what has been described as a shootout with police. Law enforcement officials said Ahmad Rahami, 28, was detained in Linden, New Jersey, late Monday morning. WATCH: Related video report by Chris Simkins CNN showed video of a man it said was Rahami, conscious and on a stretcher with what appeared to be a bloodied right shoulder, being loaded into an ambulance. Authorities later said he was undergoing surgery for a leg injury. Two police officers and Rahami sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the shootout, local authorities said. Police were searching for anyone linked to four explosives-related incidents in the last three days, including a blast Saturday night that injured 29 people in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Rahami is the sole person believed to be involved in the New Jersey and New York explosions. "There is no other individual we are looking for at this time," he told reporters at a news conference after Rahami was detained. As local officials have publicly debated for two days how to label the bombings, de Blasio said Monday: "We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror." Local and federal police announced their search for Rahami early Monday. Police say Rahami, a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, was last known to live in Elizabeth, New Jersey, about 6 km from where he was detained in Linden. Local media reports say his family ran a restaurant there on the first floor of their home. The FBI said Rahami is wanted for questioning in the Chelsea explosion, which happened around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, as well as in another bombing hours earlier in Seaside Park, New Jersey, about 135 kilometers south of New York City. Explosives detonated in a trash bin there just before the start of a 5-kilometer foot race. No one was hurt in that blast. The FBI and police in New York have also been searching for possible links between the Saturday blast in Chelsea and another explosive device found a few blocks away that did not detonate. The second device, recovered a short time after the first went off, involved a pressure cooker with a cellphone attached to it. Police safely removed it from the area and said Sunday they blew it up in a controlled explosion. Yet more devices were found late Sunday in a backpack in a trash can at a train station in Elizabeth, located just outside New York. Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said one of the devices exploded as police tried to disarm it with a robot. The incident briefly disrupted train service throughout the region, along one of the country's busiest rail corridors. President Obama speaks about attacks in NY, NJ Speaking from New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, President Barack Obama said investigators have not established any connection between the New York and New Jersey blasts and a mass stabbing in Minnesota on Saturday that injured 9 people. The suspect in that incident was fatally shot by police officers at the scene. Chelsea blast On Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reiterated that the Chelsea bombing was an "act for terrorism," and said there may be a "foreign link," despite his claim Sunday that were was no connection to "international terrorism." Authorities stopped a "vehicle of interest" on a highway in the Brooklyn section of New York late Sunday, and the FBI said it questioned five people inside, but no one had been charged with any crime. All 29 people wounded in the Chelsea blast have been released from the hospital. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump tweeted about the attacks Monday. FBI technicians are examining evidence from both of the New York bombs at a lab near Washington. Tom Sanderson, director of the Transnational Threats Program at the Washington-based Centers for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told VOA he expects investigators will learn a good amount from those tests. "Someone's DNA is going to be on some component of that pressure cooker bomb," Sanderson said. Many questions remain New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio cautioned Sunday a lot of work remains to figure out the motivation behind the bombing. "Was it a political motivation, a personal motivation, what was it? We do not know that yet," he told reporters. New York Governor Cuomo said an extra 1,000 police and National Guard troops would patrol the New York subway system as a precaution during a week that is especially busy for New York, with hundreds of world leaders and dignitaries visiting this week for the U.N. General Assembly. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told VOA that officials assess security needs inside the U.N. complex on a daily basis. "Outside of the gates, we are in the hands of the host country, at the federal and local levels, he said. We appreciate their work and, no doubt, they are doing their utmost to keep everyone safe, he added. VOA reporter Victor Beattie and United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from New York. Several pro-democracy activists, mostly drawn from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, have appeared in court and granted $400 bail each for participating in nationwide protests over the weekend under the banner if the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA), seeking sweeping electoral changes before the 2018 general elections. The activists claim that they were severely beaten up by state security during the nationwide peaceful marches in Harare, Kadoma, Chinhoyi, Gweru, Bulawayo, Gwanda, Mutare and other towns and cities. Attorney Jeremiah Bhamu said the bail is too hefty for the 13 activists who may fail t raise it. Two MDC-T members -Fani Munengami of Glen View and Ronia Bunjira - and several others were granted bail by Mbare magistrate Stan Mambanje. They are accused of staging what the state has called an illegal protest under NERA calling for electoral reforms ahead of the 2018 general polls. Mambanje turned down a request by their attorney to grant them free bail saying NERA is likely to stage more protests in the country. Meanwhile, the National Association of Youth Organizations (NAYO Africa), an umbrella association of 184 youth organizations in Zimbabwe, has condemned what is calls the on-going police brutality and blatant disregard of the supreme law of the country, and its dictates as enshrined in the National Constitution. NAYO Africa said the last few months in Zimbabwe have seen a rise in citizen actions voicing out against corruption, governance related issues, electoral reforms, economic challenges bedeviling the country among other issues, which has attracted severe police reactions. In a statement, NAYO Africa said, Paradoxically, the police under Section 219 of the constitution are compelled to protect and secure the lives of people and property. Their conduct in the recent waves of civic actions have been marked by the use of brutal force such as assaulting demonstrators with button sticks and setting dogs on them, the use of tear gas to disburse protestors among other forms of force. We have noted with concern calls from various senior government officials who have come openly to denounce and threaten citizens engaging in any form of constitutionally guaranteed civic actions this in violation of the National Constitution, a constitution which was borne out of the diverse views and aspirations of the Zimbabwean citizenry. NAYO Africa also noted that they have noted the increasing use of the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) to suppress dissent, even in the face of notices being given and protests cleared by the constitutional court this again in violation of our local laws and international law. "ZRP has invoked statutory instrument 101 of 2016, to ban all demonstrations within central Harare. This has come in the wake of constitutionally guaranteed rights to petition and demonstrate under section 59 of the constitution this defeats the ideals of rule of law and constitutionalism. It said Section 206 of the constitution compels security services to respect fundamental rights and freedoms while Section 210 compels members of the public to report cases of misconduct on the part of police and security services. Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Washington REIT (Washington Real Estate Investment Trust) (NYSE:WRE), a leading owner of commercial and multifamily properties in the Washington, DC area, will announce 3rd Quarter 2016 earnings in a press release to be issued on Thursday, October 27, 2016, after the market close. The Conference Call for 3rd Quarter 2016 earnings is scheduled for Friday, October 28, 2016, at 1:00 P.M. Eastern time. Conference Call access information is as follows: USA Toll Free Number: 877-407-9205 International Toll Number: 201-689-8054 Instant replay of the Conference Call will be available until Friday, November 11, 2016, at 11:59 P.M. Eastern time. Instant replay access information is as follows: USA Toll Free Number: 1-877-660-6853 International Toll Number: 1-201-612-7415 Conference ID: 13627550 The live on-demand webcast of the Conference Call will be available on the investor section of Washington REIT's website at http://www.washreit.com. On-line playback of the webcast will be available for two weeks following the Conference Call. Washington REIT is a self-administered, self-managed, equity real estate investment trust investing in income-producing properties in the greater Washington metro region. Washington REIT owns a diversified portfolio of 51 properties totaling approximately 6.5 million square feet of commercial space and 4,480 residential units, and land held for development. These 51 properties consist of 21 office properties, 16 retail centers and 14 multifamily properties. Washington REIT shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:WRE). For the last fifteen years, a number of experts, bought and paid for by the US Federal government, have been affirming that the collapse of the Twin Towers and Building 7 of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, are attributable to the crash of two commercial airliners into the first two towers. The highly prestigious European Physical Society does not agree. In its magazine European Physics News, it has just published an article by Steven Jones, Robert Korol, Anthony Szamboti and Ted Walter, demonstrating that this was in fact a case of controlled demolition. Hmmmmm. Photo: Daniel Smith/Paramount Pictures Why did Angelina Jolie file for divorce from Brad Pitt? Right now, no ones really sure, but theres a whole lot of speculation. Jolie was fed up with his consumption of weed and an anger problem that became dangerous to their children, alleges TMZ. If you believe tabloids like Star magazine (please dont believe tabloids like Star magazine), the fault lies in everything from an open marriage to the couples innumerable health crises. Then theres Page Six, shooting for the moon with one rumor: Pitt cheated on Angelina Jolie with his Allied co-star Marion Cotillard but also with Russian hookers while boozing it up with coworkers (a source has denied this rumor to People.) Allied, by the way, is an upcoming Robert Zemeckis film about two spies who fall in love (and seem to have a baby, per shots from the set), but soon discover that they may be double-crossing each other. That sounds an awful lot like the plot of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the spy movie that infamously brought together Pitt and Jolie in 2004, stoking rumors of an on-set romance despite Pitts marriage to Jennifer Aniston (Pitt and Aniston later separated and then divorced in 2005, after filming for Mr. and Mrs. Smith wrapped but before the films premiere; by mid-2005, magazines were aglow with rumors and photo shoots of Brangelina). Just as the coverage of Pitts divorce from Aniston and subsequent relationship with Jolie turned Mr. and Mrs. Smith a relatively small spy thriller into the tenth-highest-grossing movie in the U.S. in 2005, the coverage of the Pitt-Jolie breakup will surely change how we all think about Allied, which hits theaters November 23. While audiences mostly ignored the Jolie-directed, Pitt-and-Jolie-starring melodrama By the Sea, a moody, mysterious film thats a whole lot more fascinating in retrospect, theyll likely be more interested in the second spy love-story that allegedly features co-star chemistry intoxicating enough to lead Brad Pitt astray. Heres the trailer for Allied. Get excited to hear every single rumor about the shooting of this film from now until they stop printing OK magazine: The question now is how Paramount, which is distributing the film, will go about promoting the movie. Earlier this month saw the release of a T magazine profile on Pitt by recent Man Booker winner Marlon James, dubbed Five or Six Things I Didnt Know About Brad Pitt (tabloid rumors are, of course, not among those six things). Will the studio be able to push Pitt for more press appearances? Or will his co-star Marion Cotillard, who has a son with her longtime partner, French actor-director Guillaume Canet, have to make the press rounds? This seems even less likely, as Cotillard is a significantly less prominent figure in the U.S., and shes also known to have some unconventional opinions about everything from space exploration to the 9/11 attacks. Allied also stars Lizzy Caplan, Ed Harris, and Matthew Goode, wholl likely be on hand to deliver charming anecdotes about shooting in London and the Canary Islands. In a world where an entire industry has been built around speculating on the intimate details of celebrities personal lives, it seems unlikely now that people will brush off Allied given the rumors. Perhaps the film should just lean in to the coming tabloid storm: The tabloids may not be true, the posters (and now tweets) might say, but heres your chance to speculate. Photo: Kelly Chiello and Photo by Getty Images What broke up Brangelina? According to the most prominent of the storys sources, it was not cheating that tore apart Hollywoods alpha couple, but marijuana specifically, Pitts love of it, which allegedly created what Jolie considered an inappropriate environment for their children. If the rumors are true, this wouldnt be the first time Pitts pot habit has made the news. Over the years, Pitt has discussed his lifelong battle with the demon weed, taking pains to distance himself from his youthful stoner image, with unsuccessful results. Heres a timeline. September 10, 1993 True Romance is released, featuring Pitt as Michael Rapaports couch-dwelling roommate Floyd, whose life is spent watching cartoons through a haze of smoke. Despite Pitts meager screen time, the role enters the stoner canon, and becomes a key component of his star image. (Why do you think his characters are always so hungry?) August 7, 2009 Stopping by Jimmy Kimmel Live, Quentin Tarantino reveals how he got Pitt to sign up for Inglourious Basterds all it took was a visit to Pitts home in France, where the pair discussed the script with the help of some herbal refreshments. Were poppin rose and hes got this really cool Pink Floyd kind of rose, the director recalls. Were knocking it back, and then a smoking apparatus of some sort found its way on the table. It was like a pop can, red with a little silver stripe. When Brad woke up the next day, he was like, Ughhhhhhh. He sees the smoking apparatus and he starts counting the empty bottles of wine. It was six. Tarantino later clarifies that Pitt doesnt smoke weed while hes on set. August 14, 2009 Pitt appears on Real Time With Bill Maher, where the host reminisces about the time Pitt spent an entire party sitting on the floor rolling joints. You rolled these perfect joints, Maher says. The most perfect joint I have ever seen. Like a machine It was better than a cigarette. Pitt accepts the compliments with a chuckle, admitting, Im an artist. Still, he swears he gave up marijuana when he had kids: Im a dad now. You want to be alert. September 15, 2011 In an interview with Parade, Pitt reveals that he spent a dark period in the late 90s wallowing in his own self-hatred, and also roomfuls of marijuana smoke. I started to get sick of myself sitting on a couch, holding a joint, hiding out, he says. It started feeling pathetic. Pitt also raises the possibility that his unhappiness in his marriage to Jennifer Aniston contributed to the problem, a suggestion he quickly apologizes for. January 5, 2012 During the Oscar campaign for Moneyball, Pitt sits down with THR to discuss his life, including more details of his late-90s stoner phase. I was hiding out from the celebrity thing; I was smoking way too much dope; I was sitting on the couch and just turning into a doughnut; and I really got irritated with myself. Fortunately, a trip to Morocco gave him new respect for the depths of human suffering and knocked him out of the depressive phase. I just quit, he says. I stopped grass then I mean, pretty much and decided to get off the couch. (That pretty much is doing a lot of work.) December 20, 2012 Pitt joins John Legend, Russell Simmons, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki in releasing a joint statement applauding president Obamas decision not to contest referenda legalizing recreational marijuana use. The Presidents statement reflects a saner and more sensible drug policy, they write, calling it a much-needed step away from the decades-long failed war on drugs. May 20, 2013 In an Esquire cover story, Pitt discusses the fact that he famously dropped out of college two credits shy of graduation, attributing it to his marijuana habit. All I had to do was write a paper, he says. What kind of guy is that? That guy scares me the guy who always leaves a little on his plate. For a long time, I thought I did too much damage drug damage. Still, he says, around the millennium he made a conscious effort to clean up his act. I got burnt out and felt that I was wasting my opportunity, he explains. It was an epiphany a decision not to squander my opportunities. It was a feeling of get up. Because otherwise, whats the point? (The profile also contains an interesting quote from Andrew Dominik, who directed Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, about Pitt and Jolies house: Theres a breeze blowing through every window. As soon as you walk through the door, you feel stoned.) April 19, 2015 The National Enquirer runs a story on drug-crazed Brads twisted double life. The story inside does not quite live up to the hyperbole: According to the tabloid, Pitt has a secret man-cave in his Airstream trailer, and a source says, Brad will often head there with a buddy, a few joints, some beer and a pack of cigarettes to wind down from the stresses of the day. The source also says that Jolie is furious about the habit: Here she is doing all she can to stay healthy while Brad is puffing his life away. September 19, 2016 Jolie files for divorce from Pitt. A TMZ source says that the marriage ended because she was fed up with Pitts weed habit as well as his drinking, which combined with alleged anger issues created an unsafe environment for the couples children. As Jolies lawyer says, the filing was solely for the health of the family. Photo: E. Charbonneau/Getty Images Jamie Dornan might be swinging his sword around in a movie soon. No, not that one, but in the upcoming Robin Hood: Origins. The Fifty Shades of Grey star is in final talks to join the movie as William Scarlett, Variety reports. For those unfamiliar with the British legend, or cant remember any adorable woodland creature named Will in the Disney flick, Scarlett is a member of Little Johns band of Merry Men. The group of homeless, good-hearted bandits help Robin Hood steal from the rich and give to the poor, and they normalize Robins decision to live in Sherwood Forest instead of just moving to some other town far away from jerks like the Sheriff of Nottingham. In most renditions of the story, Scarlett is usually the handsome, young hot-head of the group sometimes related to Robin, sometimes just a dude hanging out who happens to be good with a knife. Perhaps in this version hell also sport a blindfold and cat-o-nine flogger. The movie also stars Taron Egerton (Robin Hood), Jamie Foxx (Little John), and Eve Hewson (Maid Marian). Days after having Donald Trump on The Tonight Show and being widely jeered for treating him like a normal presidential candidate, rather than like a racist, misogynist, second-coming-of-fill-in-the-blank, last night Jimmy Fallon hosted Americas next-most-unpopular presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. While Fallon didnt tousle Hillarys hair like he did with Trump, he did read her some kid letters, including one with a suggestion to change her hair. The child, whose handwriting was pretty good for a kid, wished to remain anonymous. Hmmm, seems fishy. Donald Trump might have finally backed off the birther movement as of last Friday, but Samantha Bee isnt letting him off the hook anytime soon. In fact, she is adding more hooks and fishing for anyone who has helped normalize Trumps constant stream of xenophobic and sexist commentary to mainstream voters. Served up first at that Long John Silvers of shame is NBC, longtime home of The Celebrity Apprentice, SNL, and, of course, that infamous softball Trump interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. By ignoring that poop, NBC tacitly condoned a race-baiting demagogue, Bee explains. Speaking of bait, Bee is going to need a whole dump truck filled with worms if she plans on catching and frying up everybody responsible for making Trump a viable candidate. Then if he gets elected, Bee can sell the truck and Trump can use it as his official motorcade. Its a win-win! Photo: Focus Features, Long Way Home Productions The Toronto Film Festival can always be counted on to provide some clarity for the rest of the year, and now that its concluded, weve got a strong sense of this falls Oscar contenders, intriguing indies, and outright puzzlements. Which movies earned our superlatives, for better or for worse? Read on and brush up. Hottest Awards Magnet: La La Land Well have plenty more to say in the months to come about the Oscar potential of Damien Chazelles modern musical, but its notable that on the heels of Emma Stones Best Actress win at the Venice Film Festival, La La Land also nabbed Torontos Audience Award, which nearly always goes to a major awards-season player (and sometimes, in the case of 12 Years a Slave and Slumdog Millionaire, can even presage a Best Picture win). No movie is better positioned after the fall film-festival gauntlet than this one. Kyle Buchanan Most Unforgettable: Moonlight This little drama of important scope and enormous depth is the movie I heard most people mention as their Toronto standout, and when they talk about it, its with unequivocal rapture and love. Tracing one boys passage through sexual identity while growing up black and poor in Miami, its not only an intimate trip through lives rarely depicted onscreen, but it also taps into a universal craving for human connection. Though Moonlight isnt topped by big names the director is Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy) and three virtual unknowns play our lead Chiron at different phases of his life it has fast emerged as a dark-horse awards contender thats leaving a trail of bowled-over audiences in its wake. Jada Yuan Biggest Sob-fest: A Monster Calls Did you bring tissues? You might need some, a fellow reporter told me as we walked into A Monster Calls. It was a good warning, because over the next 108 minutes Id burned through the entire wad of napkins Id fetched from the concession stand, while sitting next to a woman whod been conducting the loudest, juiciest nose-blows Ive ever heard, for 30 minutes straight. The premise sounds childish: Based on the award-winning gothic fairy tale by Patrick Ness, it concerns a 12-year-old boy living with his cancer-stricken single mother (Felicity Jones) whos visited by an understanding, tree-shaped monster (voiced and acted by Liam Neeson). Still, its likely to reduce an adult to sobs. A Monster Calls is a beautiful mix of live action, hand-drawn animation, and motion-capture CGI that manages to illustrate the unspeakable, monstrous enormity of loss. JY Emptiest Weapon Worship: The Magnificent Seven and Free Fire Theres nothing much thats animating Antoine Fuquas remake of The Magnificent Seven most of the cast members look bored, including an unusually downcast Denzel Washington except for an onslaught of gun violence so constant that the films PG-13 rating feels totally outrageous. Similarly, plenty of fanboys were turned on by Ben Wheatleys Free Fire, but we found its endlessly extended shootout to be exhausting: Though Brie Larson and her castmates are decked out in 1970s duds, the over-the-top cannon fire from each pistol feels distinctly contemporary and distasteful. Both movies are hollow gun shows and nothing more. KB Cutest, Hands-down: My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea This extremely clever animated film was a shot of pure joy amid TIFFs overwhelming slate of weighty dramas. In what is basically the cartoon version of Deepwater Horizon, careless administrators build a structurally unsound auditorium on top of a small high school that itself dwells on top of a fault line on a cliff overlooking the sea. When the title turns literal, several student outcasts are tasked with trying to save their school and their drowning classmates. Graphic novelist Dash Shaw and his illustrator wife, Jane Samborski, drew this movie in their Brooklyn apartment and then recruited a bunch of lovely Hollywood weirdos including Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, and Reggie Watts to do the voices. It all feels beguilingly homemade, like a bowl of slop from the movies true superhero, Lunch Lady Lorraine. JY Best Scene-stealers, Female: The Women of Nocturnal Animals Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal more than hold their own as the leads of Tom Fords Nocturnal Animals, but one of the primary pleasures of this stylish thriller is how many women traipse in for a delicious scene or two. Andrea Riseborough makes a strong early impression as a wealthy BFF in a marriage of convenience, Laura Linney is a total hoot as the Texas mom from Hell, and by the time Jena Malone shows up as an ostentatiously overdressed art attendant, I could barely contain myself. Id follow any of them into their own stories, but as it is, they smartly leave you wanting more. KB Best Scene-stealer, Male: Hayden Szeto, The Edge of Seventeen Every actor in Kelly Fremon Craigs teen comedy is a total delight, most especially Hailee Steinfeld as a friendless high-schooler cloaked in sarcasm and Woody Harrelson as the teacher offering her a reluctant sounding board. Still, we were most taken with Hayden Szeto, a major find as the Nice Guy Who Liked Our Heroine All Along. Funny, winning, and super-cute, Szeto brings an offbeat comic timing to the role and ought to leap up casting directors lists after the film opens this November. KB Campiest Cajun: John Malkovich, Deepwater Horizon Dont expect much environmental drum-beating from Peter Bergs latest disaster pic about the biggest oil-rig disaster in history: This is the human story of the men and women trapped in that brutal, brutal explosion. But above all, Deepwater Horizon is a glorious chance for John Malkovich to go full ham, as an impatient oil overseer who barks choice lines like No mud, no flow? We gots to go! in an evil Cajun accent. JY Biggest WTF: (Re)Assignment Audiences were scratching their heads and hooting with laughter over this misbegotten Walter Hill thriller where Michelle Rodriguez plays a bearded hit man whos abducted by mad doctor Sigourney Weaver and forced to undergo gender-reassignment surgery. The premise and execution are ludicrous and Hill cant come to a conclusion about how seriously were supposed to take all of this: From scene to scene, Weaver, Rodriguez, and the rest swing from campy derangement to playing-it-straight boredom. KB Most Likely to Make Harvey Weinstein Happy: Lion No synopsis of this epic drama can prepare you for the flood of feelings that come from actually watching it. It just sounds so cheesy: Lion tells the heartbreaking true story of an orphaned Indian boy, Saroo, who uses Google Earth to find his way back home 25 years after hes been adopted by a couple in Australia. Yet somehow director Garth Davis sucks you in from moment one, never once turning a sepia lens on the extreme poverty surrounding Saroo, or the impossibility of his situation. This is the Weinstein Companys big end-of-year play with noteworthy performances from Dev Patel as 20-something Saroo, Nicole Kidman as his adoptive mother, and newcomer Sunny Pawar as the cutest little kid of any festival movie. I went into the theater prepared to be underwhelmed and instead found myself crying or on the verge of crying for two hours straight. JY Most Unpredictable: Colossal Give us the first ten minutes of any movie and we can usually tell you what will happen in the last ten, but Colossal is no formulaic retread. Directed by Nacho Vigolando, it casts Anne Hathaway as a drunk who discovers a special power after returning to her hometown: If she walks through a childrens playground every morning, she can manifest a towering monster on the other side of the planet. What does she do with this information once shes got it, and how do the townies whove befriended her react to that unusual ability? From minute to minute, the movie keeps you guessing. KB Best Aliens: Arrival There are no androids or slimy tentacles bursting out of chests in Denis Villeneuves exploration of what might happen during an alien visitation. Instead, we get something quieter, more realistic, and more mystical. Villeneuves aliens are a bit like giant squids who float in clouds of mist and use complex ink blots to communicate with Amy Adamss linguistics expert. Yet in that absence of auditory information, we get something more intriguing: the sense that these undulating blobs might understand human emotion better than we do. JY Fiercest Femmes: Natalie Portman in Jackie and Lupita Nyongo in Queen of Katwe Forget what you thought you knew about Jackie Kennedy: In Natalie Portmans blazing, balls-out performance, the surefire Oscar contender turns the title character of Jackie into an angry, crafty woman lashing out at her inner circle after the tragic assassination of her husband. Just as formidable is Lupita Nyongo as an overprotective mother in the chess-prodigy story Queen of Katwe: When she issues an order, youd be hard-pressed not to nod and slink off to your room. (Its also a pleasure to see Nyongo in her first live-action starring role since 12 Years a Slave.) KB Most Likely to Make You Want to Punch an Actor: Wakefield, Bleed for This Do you love Bryan Cranston so much youd watch him read a phone book? Well, Wakefield might change your mind. Insufferable from start to finish, its all Cranston all the time, playing a wealthy Westchester lawyer (and irredeemable asshole) who decides to hole up in the attic above his garage instead of going home to his wife (Jennifer Garner) and teenage daughters. Soon, hes living there full-time, spying on his family and eating out of garbage bins, slowly turning feral, and playing the same exact note for 106 straight minutes. At least you have a bit more of a rationale for wanting to punch Miles Teller in Bleed for This: He plays former world-champion boxer Vinny Paz, who overcame a severe spinal injury to fight again. The story is moving enough, and Teller really does give it his all, but at this torpid pace, one can only watch so many montages of Vinny working out and fighting with his annoying family before wanting to throw a left hook just to get it over with. JY Most Hazardous to Your Health: Raw By the time TIFF was over, this intensely graphic French cannibal movie had broken an anecdotal record, set by Eli Roths The Green Inferno, for audience walkouts and retching. At its premiere screening, paramedics had to be called twice to tend to people whod passed out watching a crucial scene where our 16-year-old heroine begins craving the sweet taste of human flesh and gnaws her way through a close relatives appendage. Critics have gone wild for the movie, which is actually a complex coming-of-age story underneath it all. Still, it wouldnt hurt to bring smelling salts and barf bags to the theater. JY Brightest New Ingenue: Florence Pugh, Lady Macbeth Though were already saturated with young starlets in the mold of Alicia Vikander and Jennifer Lawrence, Lady Macbeth makes a compelling argument to admit one more: Florence Pugh, a British actress who was only 19 when she filmed this intense period drama, has the kind of face you cant help but investigate, especially as her mistress of the house engages in foul play thats not directly derived from the Shakespearean classic but would definitely give the Macbeths a run for their money. Pugh is one to watch. KB Most Divisive: Their Finest Vulture Kyle and I walked out of this British war comedy from director Lone Scherfig (An Education) with giant grins on our faces, only to run smack into a bitter war of reviews between outlets who, like us, found it delightful and charming, and others whove declared it wan or just kind of meh. A crowd-pleaser in the vein of British war classic Hope and Glory, with traces of Singing in the Rain (minus the singing), it follows a young scriptwriter (Gemma Atherton) charged with writing the slop womens dialogue for films produced by the British Ministry of Informations Film Division to rev up public morale about WWII. Soon, shes tasked with banging out a full-length feature based on a ginned-up story, starring an arrogant aging actor (Bill Nighy, terrific as always), with a misogynistic prig of a screenwriting partner who of course turns into a swoon-worthy Darcy-ish foil (an utterly charming Sam Claflin). Underneath all that romance-y charm is a touching story of women finding professional fulfillment in a world that only values their achievements because all of Britains young men have been sent off to die. JY Grossest Real-Life Terror: Rats No New Yorker, and pretty much no city dweller, will walk out of the theater feeling anything less than deeply scarred after seeing Morgan Spurlocks new horror documentary. Mimicking the aesthetics of movies like The Exorcist, the film confirms the overwhelming number of rats living in our midst and shows how easily they can destroy us, complete with infrared footage of the teeming insides of sewers, sequences of scientists pulling horrible things out of rat organs, and doomsday narration from a perfectly cranky longtime Brooklyn exterminator, Ed Sheehan. You will never look at garbage or sleep, for that matter the same way again. JY HOUSTON, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evolution Petroleum Corporation (NYSE MKT:EPM) today announced that it will present at the Oil & Gas Investment Symposium hosted by the Independent Petroleum Association of America in San Francisco, to be held at the Palace Hotel on September 26-27, 2016. Randall D. Keys, President and Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to make a presentation on Monday, September 26, 2016 at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time (2:15 p.m. Eastern Time). The presentation will be webcast live over the internet and can be accessed, along with the accompanying slides, from the "Investor Presentations" section of the Company's website at www.EvolutionPetroleum.com on the day of the event. About Evolution Petroleum LAFAYETTE, Ind., Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC), a diversified industrial manufacturer and North Americas leading producer of semi-trailer and liquid transportation systems, has announced a new agreement with EconCore N.V., the technology leader for continuous production of honeycomb sandwich materials, to execute EconCores patented honeycomb core production technology in North America. Wabash National has the exclusive rights to manufacture and sell certain honeycomb sandwich material configurations in the containment and transportation industries in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The honeycomb core technology offers significant material property advantages compared to existing materials, such as weight savings, shear strength and energy absorption. It is already used in numerous industries, including aerospace, automotive, marine, and wind and solar energy industries around the globe. Were exploring a number of applications where we can innovate and use this honeycomb core technology in existing products to significantly reduce weight, thus providing our customers a superior value proposition, explained Brian Bauman, vice president and general manager of Wabash Composites. In addition, this technology allows us to continue to focus on our growth and diversification efforts as we explore new end markets and products. Introduced in 1996, our proprietary DuraPlate composite panel technology set a new standard in the dry van trailer industry, providing durability and an unmatched level of equipment performance, which it continues to do today, Bauman added. The EconCore honeycomb composite is another innovative technology in our portfolio that will enable us to advance product performance for current and future customers. Were excited to partner with Wabash National to introduce this technology to the transportation and containment industries in North America, said Tomasz Czarnecki, technology manager at EconCore. Our extensive experience with honeycomb sandwich materials combined with Wabash Nationals expertise in Lean/Six Sigma continuous manufacturing and industry leadership makes for a great partnership for years to come. EconCore is exhibiting at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) in Anaheim, California, September 2629, 2016. Wabash National representatives are also attending the show. Interested customers are invited to visit booth H48 to learn more, or contact Frank Pendleton, director of sales for Wabash Composites, at frank.pendleton@wabashnational.com. About Wabash National Corporation Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC) is a diversified industrial manufacturer and North Americas leading producer of semi-trailers and liquid transportation systems. Established in 1985 in Lafayette, Indiana, the company manufactures a diverse range of products, including: dry freight and refrigerated trailers, platform trailers, bulk tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, truck-mounted tanks, intermodal equipment, aircraft refueling equipment, structural composite panels and products, trailer aerodynamic solutions, and specialty food grade and pharmaceutical equipment. Its innovative products are sold under the following brand names: Wabash National, Beall, Benson, Brenner Tank, Bulk Tank International, DuraPlate, Extract Technology, Garsite, Progress Tank, Transcraft, Walker Engineered Products, and Walker Transport. Learn more at www.wabashnational.com. Developers of a controversial apartment project in Bosqueville say they may withdraw the rezoning request pending before Waco City Council on Tuesday, but say the project will continue in some form. Brazos River Ventures has applied for a customized zoning called a planned unit development that would allow it to build 216 apartments at the corner of Steinbeck Bend and Rock Creek roads. The request is on the agenda for the councils 6 p.m. business meeting at the Waco Convention Centers Bosque Theater, which follows a 3 p.m. work session. Neighbors and Bosqueville Independent School District officials joined to oppose the rezoning request when it came before the council in July, citing traffic concerns. The council delayed a vote by two months, asking the developer to do a traffic impact analysis in the meantime. But the partnership has decided against doing that analysis, which would cost about $20,000, said J. Kirk Willard, its managing member. The way the city and the council have chosen to request this requires us to risk $20,000 with no assurance of being awarded the rezoning, he said. What Ive indicated to the city is that were unable to spend that without conditional approval at hand. Willard said the partnership may decide instead to develop the property under its existing zoning, which is a mixture of commercial and residential categories. The partnership already has a plan for such a development, which would include a mixture of 156 one- and two-bedroom apartment units and 60 rental houses with three and four bedrooms. He said the plan with the status quo zoning includes a greater number of bedrooms than the requested PUD zoning, and would likely add more children to Bosqueville schools. When Willard made that point at the July meeting, opponents accused him of making a threat, but he said Monday that wasnt his intent. I was just trying to explain the dynamics of the request, he said. We want the PUD, but if were not awarded it, we have to develop it as were entitled to do. He said the revised plan, with one- and two-bedroom apartments, offers a better mix when considering the single-family rent houses the partnership is building on an adjacent property called Mammoth Springs. PUD developments are a specialized zoning category that allow developers and city planners to negotiate standards such as density and design. City planning director Clint Peters said the city usually requires a traffic impact analysis after the council has approved the preliminary plans but before approval of the final plans. However, he said the council is within its rights to demand such a study before approving the preliminary plan. Its completely up to the council, he said. If they want to act on it without a (traffic impact analysis), they can. If the council turns down the application, the partnership can move forward with developing under the existing zoning, but it couldnt reapply for the PUD zoning for another year. Even with the existing zoning, the city would require a traffic impact analysis before issuing a building permit, he said. In other business Tuesday, the council will vote on seeking private proposals to take over janitorial services at city buildings. The competitive sealed proposal process will allow cleaning companies to submit proposals of how they would offer the service, as well as the proposed price. The city currently spends $950,000 a year to clean 26 buildings using 22 paid staff, most of whom have health, vacation and retirement benefits. City Manager Dale Fisseler has estimated that privatization could save the city $294,000 a year. He said the decision to privatize has not been made yet, and the current budget is sufficient to maintain the in-house staff through next September. If the privatization plan goes forward, there would be a transition time of several months, and city officials would try to ensure that the affected employees had jobs at the city or in the private sector. At the 3 p.m. work session, the council will discuss the possibility of a stormwater utility district to pay for drainage improvements through a fee on residents monthly utility bills. The council will follow up with a vote at the business session paying Espey Associates $226,110 on a stormwater utility study. A 27-year-old convicted felon was sentenced Monday to 75 years in prison for his role in a crash that killed a 33-year-old mother of two in March 2013. On Friday, Richard Angel Garcia was convicted of intoxicated manslaughter in the death of Melissa Ann Field. Field was driving west in the 2200 block of Olive Avenue when Garcia, who was driving south in the 3400 block of North 22nd Street, crashed into her vehicle after failing to yield the right of way. Fields was ejected from her vehicle. Sentencing deliberations continued Monday in Wacos 19th State District Court. Prosecutors Amanda Dillon and Michael Jarrett asked jurors to sentence Garcia to life in prison because of his lengthy criminal history in McLennan County. Dillon said Garcia has multiple felony convictions, including for assault and burglary of a habitation. Since he was 13 years old, he has been committing crimes against the community of McLennan County, Dillon said. Police found a small baggie with one-tenth of a gram of methamphetamine in Garcias vehicle. Garcias attorneys, Stan Schweiger and Brittany Lannen, agreed that Fields death was a tragedy, but argued that sentencing Garcia to life in prison would be another life lost because of it. Garcias family previously told the court that they thought Garcia was capable of rehabilitation if he maintained his sobriety, Lannen said. Jurors handed down their sentence after deliberating about an hour and a half. What makes the Bretton Woods Canopy Tour at the Omni Mount Washington Resort the most amazing zipline experience in New England? Its location, location, locationin the breathtaking White Mountains of New Hampshire. Plus, the safety of the course's redundant dual-cable construction, the reassurance and good humor of well-trained Canopy Tour guides, and the impressive fact that this wild sky ride operates winter, spring, summer, and fall: What a way to leaf peep in a state known for impressive fall foliage! There are longer ziplining courses in New Hampshire, but for pure exhilaration and scenic splendor, the Bretton Woods Canopy Tour is your best bet. See what it's like to soar through the treetops of an old-growth forest in this video of the canopy tour experience. Candid Canopy Tour Advice I'll admit: I was the chicken in my ziplining tour group! To make matters worse, I slipped on a loose rock while hiking between ziplines and bloodied and muddied myself. Still, this middle-aged mom was proud that she conquered her nerves and took on this three-and-a-half-hour course, which features two sky bridges, three rappels, and 10 ziplines. The Bretton Woods Canopy Tour's signature zipline, known as the K2, runs 900 feet at a height of 165 feet above the valley floor. If you have a serious fear of heights, this is definitely not an adventure for you. To zipline, you must be at least 12 years old and weigh between 90 and 250 pounds. There are a few other restrictions, but essentially, "Anybody can do it," said Bretton Woods Ski Area Director Chris Ellms. Reservations, which are required, may be made by calling 603-278-4ZIP (4947). A few words of advice: Wear sturdy hiking shoes (or boots in winter): There's more walking between ziplines than you might anticipate. Leave your cell phone behind, but bring a small camera that can be tethered to your harness and tucked inside your shirt or jacket. There's an outhouse halfway through the tour, but be sure to use the restrooms at the Bretton Woods Base Lodge before you depart for ground school. When you reach the Williwaw Racing Zip at the end of the course, tilt your head as far away from the line as you can. Trust your guides. Laugh at their jokes. And, as Ellms reminded group members several times, don't forget to "look around and understand the environment that you're in" as you're hurtling toward the next platform. He confirms the Canopy Tour is "stunning in the fall." More of the Best Ziplines in the New England States Connecticut's Best Zipline: Foxwoods HighFlyer Zipline Why take a gamble when thrills are a sure bet at Foxwoods Resort Casino's HighFlyer Zipline, which made its debut in 2018. Connecticut's longest zipline whisks you nearly a mile at 60-plus mph speed, from the 350-foot casino rooftop to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. Maine's Best Zipline: Adventure Zip Line Tours at Take Flight Book your guided, two-hour tour of the six exhilarating ziplines at this Kittery, Maine, aerial park. The longest "flight" is 400 feet, and there are climbing and bridge-crossing elements that keep things interesting. Then, when you're done, more than 65 other Aerial Adventure Course challenges await. Massachusetts' Best Zipline: Zoar Outdoor Zipline Canopy Tour Brace yourself! The 11 ziplines get faster and faster at this zipline complex high in the trees of Charlemont, Massachusetts. Guides ensure a memorable, three-hour experience that also features two sky bridge crossings and three rappels. Vermont's Best Zipline: Stowe ZipTour Adventure Take off from near the summit of Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield, on a crazy-fast series of ziplines. What makes this adventure extra cool is there are twin lines on each zip span, so you can share the experience side-by-side with your favorite adrenaline junkie. As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary Bretton Woods Canopy Tour admission for the purpose of reviewing the experience. While it has not influenced this review, TripSavvy.com believes in full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. A West man who claimed his ex-girlfriend killed herself was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday in her April 2014 shooting death. Jurors in Wacos 54th State District Court also recommended that Judge Matt Johnson fine David Zahirniak $10,000, the maximum penalty available. Zahirniak, 45, must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison before he can be considered for parole. Jurors convicted Zahirniak on Monday of murder in the death of Caitlyn Reed, the 21-year-old mother of two sons who left her husband for Zahirniak and then found herself caught in a maze of abuse, possessiveness, intimidation and, in the end, death. Zahirniak and his defense team, Alan Bennett and Jessi Freud, painted Reed as a depressed, anxiety-ridden woman who killed herself because she feared losing her children, getting her probation revoked and going back to jail. Prosecution witnesses said she was a devoted mother who would never have killed herself and left her boys behind. Prosecutors Robert Moody and Hilary LaBorde, who both became emotional during their closing summations, told jurors Zahirniak deserves the maximum punishment because the jury heard evidence that he took drugs, sexually and physically abused another girlfriends two children in years past, battered his girlfriends and took Reeds life. Good night. What kind of man does these kinds of things? Moody asked. Im begging yall. Dont give this man another chance to hurt anyone else. LaBorde said after the trial that she is pleased this predator will never harm another woman or child again. The peace they need We hope this gives those impacted by this defendants many crimes the peace they need to mourn and heal, LaBorde said. So many in our law enforcement community worked hard to get justice for Caitlyn and her family countless hours that we were honored to present during this trial. After the judge sentenced Zahirniak, four members of Reeds family took the witness stand to give emotional victim-impact statements. You shot and killed my sister, Caitlyn, Keith Reed said. She was a lot of wonderful things. She brought life to her family, to her friends and to her two sons. She made a lot of people smile. She had a caring heart. She was only 21 years old. In that short time, she did a lot of wonderful things. The thing that hurts the most is the potential she could have had that you took. There were so many things she could have been and done that because of your actions we will never see the fruit of. He said that although it is not unanimous, several members of his family forgive Zahirniak because they feel their faith calls them to do so. Ernestine Goates, Reeds mother-in-law who is helping her son raise the two boys, told Zahirniak he has deprived Reeds sons of growing up with a loving mother. All they have now is scrapbooks filled with pictures of the mother they will never really know, Goates said. She asked Zahirniak how he could have beaten Reed in front of her two sons. She said Reed was looking forward to watching her sons grow and being involved in school functions. The older boy didnt want to make a Mothers Day present at school this year because he said he had no mother to give it to, she said. Caitlyns favorite song was You Are My Sunshine, Goates said. I sing it to the boys most every night. The last line is, Please dont take my sunshine away. Thats exactly what you did. You took away our sunshine. You took those boys sunshine. A contingent of Zahirniaks large family and friends attended the seven-day trial each day. Two of his younger brothers, Mike and Ken Zahirniak, are Central Texas law enforcement officers. This was a terrible tragedy, and my family is extremely sorry for the Reed family on the loss of Caitlyn, Ken Zahirniak said after the trial. This has been a difficult 2 1/2 years for my parents. They lost their home of 40-plus years in the explosion and now have endured this. I have a sister who is mentally ill and suspect my brother (David) is bipolar. I think he started using meth to cope with the highs and lows of being bipolar. I saw him struggling, and instead of helping him, I distanced myself. I treated him more like a stranger than a brother. I will regret that the rest of my life. Our prayers and sympathy go out to Caitlyns family. A McLennan County jury Monday found David Zahirniak guilty of murdering his estranged girlfriend, then learned of allegations he sexually assaulted two children. Zahirniak, 45, spent Monday morning on the stand in 54th State District Court denying he killed his estranged girlfriend, Caitlyn Reed, 21, and insisting that she committed suicide at her rented trailer home near West. Prosecutor Robert Moody told the jury that to believe Zahirniaks story, they would have to believe every other person called to the witness stand lied during the trial. More than 20 people were called to the stand during the weeklong trial, including multiple detectives and investigators. You have to believe every single witness came in here and lied to you. Thats the only way you get to a suicide, Moody said. Everything he testified to is contradicted by somebody else. Prosecutor Hilary LaBorde said defense attorneys want people to think what Zahirniak says is reasonable. The man that calls her a c--- and a whore and a b---- and everything else, she said. McLennan County Sheriffs Office detectives found Reed with a gunshot wound to the chest in a hallway of her home on Tokio Loop on April 6, 2014. Authorities initially thought Reed took her own life, in part because of statements made to them by Zahirniak. LaBorde said she wished this was a case where a medical examiner could state that the shooting was at such a distance that Reed couldnt have done it herself. However, that wasnt the case, and instead Zahirniak changed his story every time he described the events of the day, LaBorde said. Terrible tragedy Defense attorney Alan Bennett said everyone agreed what happened that day was a terrible tragedy. Bennett said there was evidence to support Reed having a history of trying to kill herself and having ample stressors in her life. A lot of times when tragedy strikes, there are no simple answers. There are no easy answers. There are no answers we want to hear, Bennett said. David and Caitlyn had messy lives. Theres no escaping that. Trying to explain Zahirniaks changing accounts of the day of Reeds death, Bennett said Zahirniak is not the brightest man in the world and the events of that day were a shock like he had never experienced, which affected his recollection. Bennett said he didnt have to prove Reed committed suicide, but the evidence shows she had been suicidal. The jury deliberated less than two hours before finding Zahirniak guilty of Reeds murder. Punishment phase During the punishment phase, the jury heard from a registered nurse, who in 2008 as a sexual assault nurse examiner examined a 3-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl. The children were brought in together by their grandmother, Peggy Shepherd testified. The children belonged to one of Zahirniaks former girlfriends, she said. Shepherd detailed the physical examination done to each of the children and noted the possibility the injuries were incurred via sexual assault. In other prosecution testimony, Debra Johnson, Zahirniaks ex-wife, said they were married from 1994 to 2000 and had three children. Johnson said it wasnt long into the marriage that Zahirniak became abusive and possessive. She said he was a different person under the influence of alcohol. It wasnt until the marriage ended that she discovered he was using methamphetamine, she said. Zahirniak served prison time for methamphetamine possession in 2009. Every time he got mad, he would just destroy something, she said. Johnson said she regrets never calling the police to report the incidents. She said there are other women who wouldnt have been in the same position as her had she reported the abuse. The trial enters its seventh day with punishment-phase testimony continuing when it resumes at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Zahirniak faces from five to 99 years or up to life in prison. I teach an MBA course titled The Legal and Ethical Environment of Finance. I fear that I may have to retitle it The Illegal and Unethical Environment of Finance. The finance sector seems to be a cesspool in so many ways. I had no sooner finished reading a horrifying article about Deutsche Banks role in helping Russians funnel money offshore to evade taxes and hide corruption after paying more than $9 billion in fines in recent years for other wrongdoings, when I saw the headline come across the Internet: Wells Fargo Hit Over 1.5 Million Fake Accounts. It seems that Wells Fargo Bank employees some 5,300 of them, at least have been creating fake accounts and applying for credit cards in their customers names without the customers knowledge. This generated fees for Wells Fargo and compensation for the employees, but was rather costly for the banks customers. Wells Fargo was fined $185 million by regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As I teach in my class, it is often in an employees best interest not to do what benefits his or her employer. At some level, many employees may conclude that their own interests would be best served by doing as little as possible to keep their jobs and continue to collect their paychecks. In order to address this conflict, employers often do what Wells Fargo did create incentives in an attempt to align employee interests with the employers interests. Unfortunately, human nature is such that if incentives can be gamed with little chance of detection, they probably will be. The managers at Wells Fargo should have heeded this advice, because the problems it warns of came to fruition at Wells Fargo. According to The New York Times: Wells Fargo is famous for its culture of cross-selling products to customers routinely asking, say, checking-account holders if they would like to take out a credit card. Regulators said the banks employees had been motivated to open the unauthorized accounts by compensation policies that rewarded them for opening new accounts; many current and former Wells employees told regulators they had felt extreme pressure to open as many accounts as possible. This scandal was quite predictable, given human nature and the impact of social and organizational pressures in the workplace. It is well known that one of the most intractable problems in the workplace is to hit the right compensation balance that will encourage hard work and activity that advances the employers goals without creating both the incentive and the opportunity for corrupt behavior that games the incentives. Wells Fargo must go back and try again. It missed rather badly this time, and it missed while recklessly pressuring employees to cross-sell products and services that its customers probably neither wanted nor needed. The bank must also work on its culture. This was clearly a widespread problem and not just 5,300 bad apples. People take their cues as to proper behavior from those around them. Wells Fargo has a lot of places it can start to make improvements. Robert Prentice is chair of the Business, Government and Society Department in the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also faculty director for Ethics Unwrapped, a free educational video program on ethics. A lawyer with a focus on corporate governance, regulatory oversight and ethical decision making, he is an expert on securities fraud, insider trading, the value of securities regulation and the legal liability of accountants. Jailhouse claptrap Were you influenced by the testimony given by the two inmates in the David Zahirniak murder trial? If so, ask yourself what incentives these two received for their testimony. Were they merely influenced by their desire to see justice done? Is their honesty so impeccable that they did not need to pass a lie detector test to verify the accuracy of their incredibly sharp memory of exactly what they heard from a stranger in a jail cell two years ago? Guilty or not, I pray the jurors who had to listen to the claptrap these snitches spouted have enough sense to disregard their testimony in their decision of how to judge this man. Scott Young, Axtell A phrase too far Ill leave it to others to weigh in on the appropriateness of the star(r) routine performed by the Rice Owls band at last weeks game between Baylor and Rice universities. If, however, someone from Rice University did, indeed, utter the phrase may have went too far, I must express my dismay at such travesty. That individual needs to leave the university under cover of darkness, head bowed in shame, never to return. Alternatively, he may stay if he will attend remedial English grammar classes until he knows how to use a participle. Barbara Sullivan, Waco Unnecessary hurdles Regarding the Aug. 7 letter from J. Woychesin arguing for the logic behind voter ID: He states that if you go to the bank, grocery store, department store, etc., to pay with a check or to cash a personal check, then you should not be asked to show a picture ID even if the business doesnt know you. I cannot remember the last time I was asked for ID. I have even left numbers and items off my checks just so they will ask. Even at the bank drive-up, it has to be more than $100 before I must show ID. I do agree everyone should have an ID. The only problem I have is that the state makes it too hard to get an ID even if you have a driver license. Allan Lyman, Speegleville EDITORS NOTE: Finally, a letter-writer who understands the real issue behind legal wrangling over Texas voter ID! God bless America In Mallard Fillmores cartoon world, he could not have said it better when he asked: Is this still America? I often wonder that myself. There is so much childish bickering going on between the two major party nominees. To top all of it off, I was amazed that there was not an American flag at the Democratic National Convention. I have always been proud to be an American, but I am disgusted with all that is going on, including media lies about Trump and then there is the angelic Hillary. What are we doing to ourselves? God bless America: That is what each one who is truly an American should pray each day. Jerry Dodd, Waco We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Dastyari was outrageous. He'd declared that the South China Sea was an "internal matter" for the Beijing government though its claims clash with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan and straddle the world's busiest trade route. Dastyari's position contradicted Labor's and the government's, too. Julie Bishop, on the contrary, has been steely with China. Unrelentingly. "I have very robust discussions with the Chinese," she tells me. "The Chinese tell me that ANZUS is a relic of the Cold War. "I tell them it has its genesis in World War II when the US, Australia and China were all on the same side in resisting Japanese aggression." She clashed notably with Beijing in 2013 when the Chinese government made a unilateral grab for international airspace. Beijing's claimed Air Defence Identification Zone was a direct challenge to the airspace of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Beijing said it reserved the right to shoot down undeclared foreign military aircraft in the zone. Bishop openly criticised the claim as "unhelpful" to stability. For this, she was ambushed and publicly lectured in front of live Chinese TV by Beijing's foreign affairs minister, Wang Yi. It was, said a senior Australian diplomat, Peter Rowe, who was present, the rudest thing he'd seen in 30 years. In Australia, a chorus of China apologists cried woe and predicted dreadful Chinese retaliation. The outcome, of course, is that Bishop was right; the Chinese have never tried to enforce their claimed ADIZ. And the dreadful retaliation? Trade and investment has boomed, China agreed to sweeping concessions in the China Australia Free Trade Agreement, and Beijing has, for the first time, joined military exercises with Australia. We see the same pattern playing out with China's unilateral grab of 90 per cent of the South China Sea. Australia has been firm and principled, and its stance has been vindicated by the independent arbitration panel in The Hague, which found that there was "no legal basis" to Beijing's claims. The Chinese have nonetheless kept up the bluster; Wang Yi criticised Bishop for daring to call on Beijing to respect the decision of The Hague panel. In an exchange that has not been reported previously, Wang told the Australian minister for foreign affairs in a meeting during the ASEAN Regional Forum in July that it had been "unhelpful" for her, in a joint statement with the US and Japan, to call for a de-escalation of tensions in the South China Sea. Bishop replied to Wang that the statement was "entirely consistent with our view about the need to uphold the international rules-based order", she tells me. "It's not a question of being soft or tough on China," she elaborates. "It's a matter of trying to influence China's rise so it's a respected power that's committed to a rules-based international order, the order that's served our region so well for 70 years and has benefited everyone including China." Undaunted by China, Bishop is this week taking blunt truths to the US, and to Donald Trump in particular. Trump represents, potentially, a historic disruption to the stability of the Asia-Pacific. He's said that he's prepared to walk away from the long-standing US alliances with Japan and South Korea, unless they pay more for the US troops based on their soil. Bishop is meeting several of Trump's senior advisers this week to explain why this is a dangerous idea: "If the US were to withdraw from the region," Bishop tells me, "strategic competition would come into play" as countries jostled for advantage as they sought a new order. This would raise the risk of hostilities and war. She mentions China and Japan as leading candidates, but also India, Indonesia, Singapore. A generation of young women is discovering a new way to get buzzed no illicit substances required. Instead, all that's needed is a good pair of clippers and some nerve. "Ever since I shaved my head, I really bloomed," said Alana Derksen, a 22-year-old Toronto resident, whose buzz cut frequently draws admiring comments from her more than 21,000 Instagram followers. "It's given me this confidence I never had." Alana Derksen, 22: "Ever since I shaved my head, I really bloomed." Credit:Erin Baiano/The New York Times Derksen had wanted to shave her head for years but refrained out of fear of how her "conservative" family would react. Then, late one night last summer during a tense trip home, she finally gave in to the impulse, cutting off her hair in her parents' bathroom and using a Bic razor to finish the job. Now, she said, she's so used to her bald head, which she maintains with electric clippers, she has nightmares about her hair growing back. Even her parents have come around on the shorn 'do. Police have located human remains in bushland south of Perth believed to be those of missing Calista pensioner Richard Andrews. Mr Andrews was last seen in August and police have been investigating his disappearance as suspicious. Police located human remains believed to be those of missing Calista pensioner Richard Andrews in North Dandalup on September 20. Credit:@9NewsPerth Nine News reported that detectives questioned a man on Monday night, and later discovered human remains 100 metres from the road in bushland in North Dandalup on Tuesday afternoon. A 53-year-old man was charged with Mr Andrew's murder and interfering with a corpse on Tuesday and will face Rockingham Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Colin Barnett will retain his position as leader of the Liberal Party and premier of WA after attempts at a leadership spill never got off the ground. A spill motion was called by former WA government minister Murray Cowper at Parliament on Tuesday morning, seconded by Ian Britza But the vote swung overwhelmingly against the spill - and in favour of Mr Barnett - with the final tally 31-15. That meant the leadership of the party was not even put to a vote. Mr Cowper, the member for Murray-Wellington, made the announcement on Tuesday following the shock resignations from cabinet of Transport Minister Dean Nalder and Local Government Minister Tony Simpson on Saturday. The father of Ahmad Khan Rahami, who investigators suspect was responsible for the bombings in Chelsea and NJ over the weekend, called police in 2014 to tell them his son was a terrorist. The NY Times reports that Mohammad Rahami made the statement when his son was arrested for allegedly punching his sister and stabbing his brother during a domestic dispute. The father later recanted his statement, Rahami spent three months in jail for the incident, and a grand jury declined to indict him on other charges. NBC reports on what exactly happened: Federal investigators interviewed Mohammad Rahami in 2014 after a neighbor heard the father scream, "You are a terrorist!" at his son, who had just allegedly punched his sister and stabbed his brother in the leg during a fight, senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News. The neighbor called police, and police told counter-terrorism officials, who questioned the father and relatives. The father said he had made the comment out of anger and denied feeling as if his son were a terrorist or in any way radicalized, the officials told NBC News. Mohammad Rahami admitted his son was hanging out with a bad crowd, but described his friends as drinkers and thugs, the officials told NBC News. The FBI interviewed Rahami again later and the father reiterated his statements. The FBI conducted additional interviews and found no indication of terrorism. Mohammad confirmed the report to the press after closing up his Elizabeth, NJ restaurant, First American Fried Chicken: Yes, I called the FBI, he said. Asked whether he thinks his son is a terrorist now, he responded, "No...the FBI know that." Asked by NBC whether he knew what his son was planning, he said, "No. No idea." Rahami's sister, the one he allegedly punched during the 2014 incident, is currently studying at Rutgers, and wrote on Facebook, "I would like people to respect my familys privacy and let us have our peace after this tragic time. I would not like to answer any questions." According to reports, both Rahami's wife, whose name hasn't been released, and his mother left the country for the Middle East shortly before the attacks. Rahami's wife was intercepted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates before she made it to Pakistan, and is being questioned about whether she knew anything about his plans. "We are looking into who may have helped him in training, with money and with other means, a source told the Post, adding that Rahami was not cooperating. "His family is being looked at, too." Cops also say that they recovered a notebook which Rahami had on his person when he was captured Monday. An anonymous official tells the Times that the book contained writings sympathetic to jihadist causes: "In one section of the book, which was pierced by a bullethole and covered in blood, Mr. Rahami wrote of 'killing the kuffar,' or unbeliever," according to the source. Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, and is being held on $5.2 million bail. A naturalized citizen from Afghanistan, he lived in Elizabeth, NJ above his family's fried chicken restaurant (where he also worked). He was known as a "nice guy" who would give free chicken to customers. However, some say that he changed after visiting Afghanistan a few years ago: "Its like he was a completely different person. He got serious and completely closed off." WA Premier Colin Barnett's newly single son Sam has suggested he is dating the Perth mum who made headlines worldwide this week after she posted a sign on her front gate, offering thieves "food, warmth and even friendship" to stop them breaking into cars in her street. Sam De Sillery put the sign on her front gate last week fed up with crooks breaking into her car and those of her neighbours and friends. Sam Barnett says Sam De Sillery took up his dinner invite. The 28-year-old's story went global with media outlets around the world picking up the yarn after it appeared on WAtoday on Sunday. "If it's food that you need, I will feed you. If you need warmth I have rugs, but most of all I can be your friend," she wrote. After months of rumblings and discontent with the WA Liberal party, it looks like Premier Colin Barnett's leadership will finally be tested on Tuesday morning. The last few days have been the most challenging period for Mr Barnett's leadership since he became Premier eight years ago. Two of his ministers quit and a number of MPs have come out of the shadows to declare they no longer have faith in his leadership. The man who has been accused of trying to plot his downfall former transport minister Dean Nalder will see if he has the numbers to oust the premier in a party room meeting today. Soon after the statement was released, Syrian activists reported renewed shelling in rebel-held eastern Aleppo and helicopters overhead. The ceasefire lasted seven days and was meant to allow aid to reach Syrian civilians. But a 40-truck convoy remained stalled at the Turkish border on Monday. At the UN General Assembly in New York, Secretary of State John Kerry did not directly address the Syrian army's statement. Two of the RAAF's planes returning to base after striking a Islamic State Armoured Personnel Carrier in Syria. . Credit:SGT Pete "We have not had seven days of calm and of delivery of humanitarian goods," he told reporters who shouted out a question before he went into a meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. "I think it's, as I said yesterday, time to end the grandstanding and time to do the real work of delivering on the humanitarian goods that are necessary for access," he said. Damaged buildings and rubble line a street in the Syrian city of Homs on Monday. Credit:AP The United Nations said Monday that two convoys from multiple aid agencies reached areas in Homs and Aleppo provinces, bringing food and other supplies to roughly 150,000 people. The convoys originated inside Syria and did not go to the rebel-held part of Aleppo, which has been under siege for more than a month, the UN said. US Secretary of State John Kerry did not directly address the Syrian army's statement. Credit:AP "This would be a very troubling development, if true," David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said of the Syrian military's statement. The humanitarian community "has worked hard to reach people in east Aleppo and other besieged and hard-to reach areas," he said. The delay in aid had frustrated the US-backed opposition, which has criticized the UN for seeking approval from the Syrian government for deliveries. As many as 275,000 people are cut-off from food, water and electricity in eastern Aleppo, UN officials say. The government's move to end the truce, which reduced violence over the past week, confirms "there is no seriousness on the part of the [Syrian government] to commit to the cease-fire," the rebel group Noureddine al-Zinki said in a statement. "They worked on damaging it through violations over the last week, and the prevention of aid from entering Aleppo," the statement said. Brita Haji Hasan, head of the opposition council in Aleppo, said the cease-fire "was born dead." "It was never committed to by Russian forces or [President Bashar al-Assad's] regime," he said. "And this is not the first time a cease-fire has been attempted, only to fail." The UN aid chief decried the logjam over aid, complaining that the Syrian government has not given permission and safety guarantees for the humanitarian mission. "I am pained and disappointed that a United Nations convoy has yet to cross into Syria from Turkey, and safely reach eastern Aleppo," the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, Stephen O'Brien, said in a statement. Failure also would undercut an effort by Washington and Moscow to find some common ground in Syria after being on opposing sides of the conflict. The cease-fire had included provisions for possible US-Russia coordination against militant factions not covered by the pact, including a former al-Qaida group and the Islamic State. Russia backs the Assad government, while the United States supports rebels seeking to oust Assad's regime. At the same time, a US-led military coalition has waged airstrikes against Islamic State strongholds. On Saturday, jets from the alliance, including from Australia, were involved in air strikes which mistakenly fired on Syrian troops in the eastern part of the country, killing more than 80 people and raising tensions with Russia. The Australian Defense Ministry, which is among those contributing to the effort, acknowledged in a statement Sunday that its warplanes had participated in a strike Saturday in Deir al-Zour, the eastern Syrian city where the attack occurred, on a shifting front line between the Syrian army and the Islamic State. Denmark's military has also said that two of its F-16 fighters were involved in the raid. The US-led coalition comprises 67 countries, more than a dozen of which carry out airstrikes against the militants. Patrick Norman Pat Chapman is a 34-year-old, Caucasian male who was last known to be in Piedmont which is near the area of Greenville, Missouri on May 10, 2020. Pat had stayed the night with a friend and his wife at their home. In the early morning when the friend woke to go to work. Pat was gone in his own Burgundy color 1995 Ford Escort. That is the last anyone was known to have seen him. The vehicle was later recovered on May 29, 2020 in Mill Spring, Missouri. Police are looking for a man wanted for forcibly touching a woman on a Queens streetfollowing the incident, he had the gall to blow kisses at her after she boarded a bus. The incident occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 4th, near Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street in Flushing. The NYPD says a 29-year-old woman was boarding a bus when a man "grabbed [her] buttocks... The victim boarded the bus and the suspect remained on the street where he blew kisses at her as the bus left the location." The suspect is described as 30 to 40 years old and 5'4" to 5'5". He was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt, light blue jeans and black sunglasses. Here's footage of him: Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential. If you see or experience sexual misconduct in the subway (this includes seeing a masturbator, being groped, being grinded on, etc.), you can report it to the MTA and police on this website. There's also a place for you to upload photos and/or video. Don't let the perverts win. The NYPD is investigating two assaults on women in Greenpoint last weekone in the early morning hours of September 13th, and a second in the early evening of September 14th. Both incidents took place near McGolrick Park and prompted a cascade of warnings and commentary from local residents on social media, including allegations of rape that an NYPD source said have yet to be confirmed. No suspects have been identified, and the NYPD has not issued a release to the press on either incident. On the morning of September 13th between 2:00 and 2:30 a.m., police believe a 34-year-old woman was assaulted by a group of peopleall males of indeterminate ageon Sutton Street between Nassau and Driggs Avenues. "She sustained cuts and bruises to her neck and hip area," an NYPD source said. "As it stands right now, there is no confirmation as far as a sexual assault." The source added that the victim did not immediately contact police. Officers responded to Beth Israel to question her the next day, after the victim apparently called the Special Victims Unit. He could not immediately confirm if a rape kit had been administered. "It would appear that the bruising and the laceration or cuts that she suffered on the neck or the hip area were consistent with a physical assault and not a slashing or a stabbing," the source added, stressing that the information is preliminary. A message posted on Facebook on the 15th and reposted numerous times since describes the assault as a rape committed by a group of teenagers. It states that the victim was also stabbed in the side of her neck. The author of the post, Bianca Buchanan, told Gothamist that the victim is her friend, and that the two have been in close contact. The victim could not immediately be reached for comment. According to the NYPD source, details pertaining to the case are thin and preliminary. Police have reviewed surveillance footage from the area and have not turned up any footage of the alleged assault, he said. Cops also have yet to track down any potential witnesses. Additionally, police had "some degree of difficulty with the complainant/victim in the incident, as far as conducting a thorough interview." Asked to elaborate, the source said that the victim was allegedly intoxicated at the time of the assault, and did not have a clear account of the events. Buchanan said that she had seen the victim's injuries, and that they were more serious than the police report indicated, including extensive bruising on her thighs and a deep gash on her neck. According to Buchanan, the victim said cops unfairly reprimanded her for going home after the assault rather than going straight to the hospital, and for being intoxicated and walking home alone. Last week Gothamist spoke to Kristine Wilson, 36, a Williamsburg resident who said she was knocked to the ground from behind on September 14th, apparently by a group of teenagers, while walking from her car to an acupuncture appointment on Driggs Avenue near McGolrick Park. "All of a sudden I felt like a car hit me from behind. Just smashed me," Wilson said. "I felt thrust against the wall. I was walking and they pushed me to a wall, and I fell on the ground." Wilson said that she didn't see who hit her, but believes it was multiple people. "I heard a little bit of laughing as they went away," she said. According to Wilson, a man who said he was a bouncer at the Warsaw came up and asked if she was okay. "He said it was teenagers, a group," Wilson said. "He said they just came up behind me and threw me." "I hurt my shoulder, and I have bruises on my left arm and head," she added. "I didn't go to the hospital, but as the days go on I'm feeling more sore." Wilson called 911 from the scene and filed a police report, but said she hadn't gotten any updates as of Monday afternoon. According to the NYPD, Wilson was walking west near 164 Driggs Avenue around 4:40 p.m. that day when an unknown perpetrator "approached from behind and shoved her to the ground." The suspect then fled north on Diamond Street. Police could not confirm the allegations about teenagers, or whether the perpetrator was with a group. Wilson said she was knocked to the ground on Driggs Avenue around 5:00 p.m. on September 14th (Scott Heins / Gothamist) As citizen reports of both attacks circulated last week, many Greenpoint residents speculated that the two attacks were related, and said they believed the perpetrators were a group of teenagers. A community meeting has been scheduled for Thursday evening to discuss the incidents, and "how to proceed in creating a safer neighborhood." (via tipster) "The attackers are apparently a group of teenage males terrorizing the neighborhood," wrote Lilly Frances on the Facebook page North Brooklyn Community. "Let's try to get these scumbags off the streets." Gothamist received numerous tips about the alleged rape, the majority of which traced back to Buchanan's post. Buchanan is "a friend of mine, and she's a friend of the victim," Fox and Fawn co-owner Beverly Ragon told us last week, after her shop posted Buchanan's account. "There's nothing I can say beyond that. The info I have gotten is from her." Local Councilmember Steve Levin commented on the North Greenpoint Community page last week, saying that he had contacted the 94th Precinct upon reading Buchanan's post, reposted by another local resident. Levin said that he confirmed an incident "matching the description" of the one described in the post, adding that the investigation "is not concluded yet so they can't comment on any of the specifics." Reached on Monday, Levin's office declined to comment on the record. According to the NYPD source, not enough evidence has been gathered to determine whether the two assaults might be connected. In the meantime, Wilson said that she is hoping to get in touch with the other victim to compare experiences. "It just seems too coincidental," she said. Orange S.A. provides various fixed telephony and mobile telecommunications, data transmission, and other value-added services to customers, businesses, and other telecommunications operators in France and internationally. It operates through France; Spain and Other European Countries; The Africa and Middle East; Enterprise; International Carriers & Shared Services; and Mobile Financial Services segments. The company offers mobile services, such as voice, SMS, and data; fixed broadband and narrowband services, as well as fixed network business solutions, including voice and data; and convergence packages. It also sells mobile handsets, mobile terminals, broadband equipment, connected devices, and accessories. In addition, the company provides IT and integration services comprising unified communication and collaboration services, such as LAN and telephony, consultancy, integration, and project management; hosting and infrastructure services, including cloud computing; customer relations management and other applications services; security services; and video conferencing, as well as sells related equipment. Further, it offers national and international roaming services; online advertising services; and mobile virtual network operators, network sharing, and mobile financial services, as well as sells equipment to external distributors and brokers. Orange S.A. markets its products and services under the Orange brand. The company was formerly known as France Telecom and changed its name to Orange S.A. in July 2013. Orange S.A. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. Even with 5-0 lead, Verlander can't get 1st World Series win Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 20, 2016 | 11:06 AM | MAYFIELD, KY The Mayfield Police Department will host law enforcement officers from the region for one of the nations most realistic and sophisticated firearms decision-making training systems. Training will be held at 10 am Sept. 27, at the Graves County Health Department, 416 Central Avenue in Mayfield. Specifically, the system will be set up in the old Longfellow School Gym.The TI Firearms System is a computerized system that projects scenarios on to a screen to which officers respond with the appropriate levels of force. Participants are filmed, and provided feedback on their actions to include de-escalation (verbal commands) and proper use of weapons such as batons, TASER, pistols, rifles and shotguns. Scenarios include domestic violence, traffic stops, emotionally disturbed individuals, and more. For us, its safety first, for citizens, officers, and perpetrators. This type of system allows our officers to practice and evaluate their own behaviors under high stress conditions. Said Chief Nathan Kent. Courts have ruled that use of force or response to resistance training is necessary for police officers. This system provides a safe and realistic format for officers to receive training. For more than 11 years, the Kentucky League of Cities Insurance Services (KLCIS) program has provided this response to resistance simulation training to its insured police departments at no cost. KLCIS trains hundreds of officers at nearly 50 locations annually. All trainings are open to area sheriffs departments, Kentucky State Police, Fish & Wildlife officers, and federal agencies that wish to participate. KLCIS (www.klc.org) is Kentuckys largest insurer of cities and municipal agencies. Each year, KLCIS leases new simulators to ensure use of the latest technology and adds 10 new training scenarios to address timely law enforcement challenges. This is one of the best investments we can ever make, said Doug Goforth, KLC Deputy Executive Director of Insurance. Anytime we can improve safety and situational outcomes as well as reduce claims, thats a win for everyone. The Mayfield Police Department will begin the onsite training for area police departments on Wednesday September 28th by appointment. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg resident who sought refuge from genocide in his home country has been sentenced to five years in jail for a violent attack on his now brain-damaged wife. The man, in his mid-50s, faces deportation as a result of his conviction for aggravated assault in the September 2012 beating that left his wife with a permanent brain injury and deformed skull, and his children in the care of Child and Family Services the youngest of whom was two years old at the time. Apparently prompted by the unfounded belief his wife was having an affair with his former employer, the man beat her with a hammer inside their downtown apartment and later told police hed simply arrived home from work to find her in a pool of blood and tried to pin the blame on the man he believed was her lover. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Crown had asked for a nine-year sentence, while the defence wanted no more than four. In handing down the five-year sentence, Justice Shawn Greenberg said she didnt find the man believable and questioned how much of a role cognitive impairment may have played in his actions. A psychological assessment found he was borderline impaired, and, despite having access to an interpreter, may not have understood that he had been convicted of an offence. He showed no signs of post-traumatic stress despite having fled civil war in his native Burundi during which his father and some of his siblings were killed, court heard. He met his wife in a refugee camp in Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they looked out for each other he rescued her from being killed and she hid him when he was wanted, court heard. Later, three of their children died of starvation while living in Africa. It is hard to imagine the impact that spending years in refugee camps would have on ones ability to function normally, the judge said. While I sympathize with (the mans) personal history, I have no information as to how the struggles of his life in Africa may have contributed to his actions in this case, whether it can provide some understanding of the brutal assault on his wife. His wife underwent two surgeries after the attack and still deals with painful headaches. She is under guardianship as a result of the brain injury she suffered and cant look after the couples four children. The judge also pointed to the fact the man showed up drunk on the second day of his trial last fall despite having told his probation officer that he never drank alcohol as evidence hes been less than truthful. Its hard to know how much of what (the man) says can be believed. With credit for time hes already spent in pre-trial custody, he has slightly more than three years of his sentence left to serve. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Pallister government is up against the clock when it comes to a price on carbon. Ahead of Novembers UN climate conference in Morocco and a planned meeting of Canadas premiers, federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told CTVs Question Period Sunday the feds are ready to impose a price on carbon on any province that cant come up with a plan of its own. After 150 days in office, provincial Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox said her government is still at the drawing board when it comes to a made in Manitoba model for carbon pricing. She is not ready to say whether itll be a carbon tax like British Columbias or a cap-and-trade program similar to one in the works by Ontario. Bruce Bumstead / Brandon Sun Files A Brandon fertilizer plant would be subject to carbon-pricing regulations. No, no we havent had those discussions yet, Cox said. Shes also not ready to commit to the former NDP governments ambitious target to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by a third by 2030 or to become a carbon-neutral province by 2080. The Selinger government also committed to a cap-and-trade program that targets large emitters and would ask smaller emitters to enter a carbon-stewardship program. We want to do our part, Cox said, refusing to commit to any of those pledges. Currently, only four provinces have a form of carbon pricing implemented or in the works: British Columbia (a carbon tax), Alberta (a carbon tax coming in 2017), Ontario (cap-and-trade coming in 2017) and Quebec, which adopted a cap-and-trade program in 2014. We will work together to find solutions that are good for Canada and good for Manitoba, Cox said, adding there is an Oct. 3 meeting with the provincial environment ministers in Montreal that will be a jumping off point for their plan. The Pallister government recently hired David McLaughlin, the former chief of staff to former prime minister Brian Mulroney and a leading expert on carbon pricing, as its climate change adviser. McLaughlin is a key appointment in the lead-up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus planned meeting this fall with the premiers to discuss a nation-wide climate plan, which will include carbon pricing. Peter Denton, chair of policy for the Green Action Centre, said a made in Manitoba carbon pricing model has to factor in our two biggest industries for greenhouse gas emissions: transportation and agriculture. Every province has a different footprint, and I think the made in Manitoba version has to reflect what our contribution to the overall greenhouse gases and where they are, Denton said. The fact the provincial government has not announced what they intend to do, I see that as a good sign because it means they are not just making an ideological pronouncement they are being pragmatic. Terry Shaw of the Manitoba Trucking Association said they have a plan in hand for how carbon pricing could work in Manitoba with the trucking industry. Dubbed the greener trucking fuel efficiency initiative, the plan would see anyone who purchases diesel pay a carbon tax. Those dollars would go into a fund people could access on a rebate level to purchase/invest in technologies that would improve fuel efficiency. It would be an extra four cents a litre on diesel fuel, which would bring in about $4 million to the government of Manitoba, Shaw estimated. It is just a question of getting the new government up to speed on a plan, Shaw said. Our preference is a carbon tax, just because it is more transparent. It is easier for us to understand and easier for us to communicate to those we serve and charge. Farmers typically sell their product to an international market, which means unlike other industries they cannot build the carbon price into the product and remain competitive, said Keystone Agricultural Producers climate initiative co-ordinator, Sean Goertzen. If a carbon price is going to cover fuel use on farms and fertilizer which it might, we dont know that yet the systems needs to take into account that farmers cant pass on those costs to consumers the way other businesses can, Goertzen said. Goertzen said he wants to see the revenue raised by a carbon price invested back into farms for initiatives such as carbon sequestering, which removes carbon from the air and stores it in soil to remove carbon dioxide. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, the only other conservative premier in Canada, is vehemently opposed to any form of a carbon tax, arguing it will unfairly hurt Western provinces struggling with falling oil prices. A request for comment from McKenna was not returned. with files from The Canadian Press kristin.annable@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @kristinannable Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. As legal goofs go, Alberta Court of Queens Bench Justice Denny Thomass verdict in the Travis Vader murder trial for the slaying of vanished-without-a-trace retired couple Lyle and Marie McCann was a doozy. Thats not only because Justice Thomass second-degree murder conviction relied on a long-dead provision of Canadas Criminal Code, but also because his trial judgment, the first ever live-streamed from an Alberta courtroom, was ballyhooed as a signal judiciary-media compromise in the campaign to put cameras in courtrooms. This isnt the kind of televised debut the judiciary wanted to see. Amber Bracken / The Canadian Press FILES Travis Vader's lawyer says he's appealing the conviction in the hope of getting an acquittal or a new trial. The judge should have known that Section 230 of the Criminal Code, which makes an accused liable for murder while committing or attempting to commit a roster of other offences, is dead law. The offence was declared unconstitutional due to its breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1990, and, just a year later in another decision, our highest court confirmed it was of no force or effect. As the second-degree murder verdict is based on an unconstitutional law, theres a good chance it will be overturned on appeal. However, Vader may well be found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, based on the trial evidence and judges findings of fact. This kind of judicial error, though perhaps not pardonable, and regrettable for being so public, was almost inevitable. Section 230 is part of Canadas published Criminal Code. Google Canadas Criminal Code and up pops the federal justice departments website. It quickly links you to the Criminal Code, and you can scroll down to find Section 230, Murder in the Commission of Offences, duly codified as part of our criminal law. Except, it isnt. At base, Canadas Criminal Code is just a catalogue, a catalogue of acts the state has determined to be wrong and deserving of punishment. Its also a catalogue of stuff that should no longer be there. Every year, Parliament passes laws that add to, or amend, the codes more than 800 sections, which is what Parliament is supposed to do. However, Parliament has a corresponding duty to repeal outdated, unenforceable and unconstitutional criminal laws. Its failed miserably in that duty. Section 230 is only one of a number of code provisions that have long since been ruled unconstitutional by our highest court due to their violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, yet are still on the books. Abortion is a prime example. Abortion is legal in Canada, but you would never know it from reading our Criminal Code. Section 287 of our code makes abortions illegal, except for hospital committee-certified abortions. But the whole section is a strawman long ago blown away by the Supreme Court. The court found it violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Morgentaler decision. In the mid-1980s, Dr. Henry Morgentaler set up an abortion clinic in Toronto that performed abortions on women who hadnt received certification from a hospital therapeutic abortion committee, as stipulated by the Criminal Code. The charges against him wound their way from the trial and appellate courts and finally to the Supreme Court, which found it an unconstitutional infringement of a womans charter right to security of the person. That was in 1988. Twenty-eight years later, its still in the code. Another example is the crime of anal intercourse, spelled out in Section 159 of the Criminal Code. Though never dealt with by the Supreme Court, two provincial Courts of Appeal (Ontario and Quebec) ruled it unconstitutional in the 1990s. As a result, its an offence universally ignored by police and prosecutors, widely deemed an attempt to wrongly extend the criminal law into a place it has no business being. Still, there it sits, a law that still notionally governs our private lives. You can even flip through our Criminal Code and find other crimes that havent been prosecuted in over a century witchcraft, blasphemy and that would never withstand a Charter challenge. Yet, there they are, published and re-published every year in the annual Criminal Codes carried around daily in Canadian courtrooms by prosecutors, criminal defence counsel and judges. Archaic and unconstitutional sections of the Criminal Code should be repealed. Our criminal law is long overdue for a major overhaul. Parliament and the politicians that populate it have a duty to produce a Code thats reflective of what the law actually is. Ignorance of the law is no excuse is one of the hoariest sayings in our law, but if an experienced senior court judge like Justice Thomas cant figure out what the law is because of a cluttered and clogged-up Criminal Code, how is the average citizen supposed to know what it is? Worse, until the code is cleaned up, were bound to see a repeat of the kind of unfortunate judicial error that surfaced in the Vader verdict. Douglas J. Johnston is a Winnipeg lawyer. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Things could soon change for hundreds of academic workers at the University of Winnipeg. On Wednesday and Thursday, teaching assistants, markers, lab demonstrators and tutors enter into conciliation with the universitys administration. These meetings represent the culmination of many years of hard work and, more recently, the ongoing negotiations of the academic capacity unit a predominantly student workforce that includes employees in these four positions. The Public Service Alliance of Canada, one of Canadas largest public-sector unions, is the bargaining agent for three groups of workers on campus. The union represents the universitys embattled English-language program instructors, who faced immense employment precarity before unionizing. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The University of Winnipeg Instructors, some of whom had been U of W employees for more than a decade, would receive 13-week contracts and not know whether their employment would be renewed after each contract. After supporting the struggle and improving the conditions for these instructors, PSAC joined forces with academic capacity workers. This group has been in negotiations with the university since March 2015 and, after considerable back-and-forth, has become increasingly frustrated with the results. The university, which has long prided itself on progressive values and student-oriented education, has been willing to improve some aspects of current hiring practices (namely job postings). However, it has dug in its heels on other issues of great importance to these employees particularly wages and job security. The university has repeatedly dismissed the valuable contribution academic capacity workers make to the achievement of its mission. This attitude is, of course, most explicit in the funds the university accords to such work. While the university employed 564 workers in one of these positions last year, it only granted them 0.29 per cent of its budget. Perhaps most glaringly, they were paid on average 35 per cent less than workers of the same designation at the University of Manitoba. From the outset, the U of W has declared its unwillingness to depart from the antiquated and unfair elements of its current hiring practices prioritizing favouritism and paternalism over standardization and transparency. This paternalistic attitude has permeated the universitys rhetoric throughout the bargaining process. The university continues to view the work of TAs, markers, lab demonstrators and tutors as an experience rather than as employment. This perspective has driven them to neglect important considerations such as training and orientations while offering contracts to prospective employees that fail even to stipulate the number of hours the job will entail. This paternalistic approach, which views employment as a prize to be awarded rather than the greatly needed source of income it is for many students, reflects a broader failure of the university to recognize or respond to the circumstances of todays students. University education, once a rite of passage for the fortunate few, has increasingly become a necessary step to remain competitive in todays job market. The University of Winnipegs current perspective on its workforce and the positions it has maintained through the course of negotiations demonstrate an institution out of touch with the needs of its students and the economic realities they face today. Unfortunately, the struggles of academic capacity workers at the University of Winnipeg are not unique. There is increasing financial strain placed upon students by rising tuition, increasing levels of student debt and stagnating wages. Many students, who are working hard to make up this shortfall, find themselves and their work undervalued. Much of the work performed by students in society is underpaid and under-regulated, academic as well as in the service sector. In response to the rise in precarious work, campaigns such as the Fight for $15 and Fairness are taking place in workplaces, including university campuses, across Canada. These campaigns are calling for a living wage, one that provides people with the ability to meet their basic needs of food, housing, transportation, education, child care and other costs. They call for a reduction in part-time and contract work, plus paid sick days, improved health and safety protections and greater access to unionization. After pulling themselves from the basement to the bargaining table, academic capacity workers at the University of Winnipeg hope for real change this week. These workers are pressing for a fair collective agreement that recognizes their value and contribution to their workplace and seeks to reduce the precarity of their work. This isnt unreasonable. It is what every one of us deserves. Barret Reiter has been a TA and is a member of the PSAC bargaining team. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A chief statistician who does not direct his own data processing department cannot be sure the reports he issues are accurate. Wayne Smith, Canadas chief statistician, tried to make that simple point to his masters in the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but they didnt get it. They required him to continue using the inefficient and unreliable information technology service of Shared Services Canada. In an email to members of his advisory board, leaked to the Reuters news agency, Mr. Smith said Shared Services Canada, the computer department for the whole government, had been given an effective veto over many of the chief statisticians decisions, including collection, analysis and dissemination of data. SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Canadas former chief statistician Wayne Smith Rather than preside over the decline of a world-leading statistical office, Mr. Smith quit. Mr. Trudeau announced Mr. Smiths departure Friday and appointed Anil Arora in his place. (Mr. Arora was a senior executive at Statistics Canada from 2000 to 2010.) In February, it became clear Shared Services Canada was not equal to the task it had been given. The agency, invented by the former Conservative government to centralize computer services of federal departments, supposedly to save money, has been trying since 2013 to create a single email system for 43 departments and agencies and bring all their data processing into its machinery. Auditor General Michael Ferguson found the centralized operation was providing poor service and likely not reducing expense. At that point, the government should have recognized it was steering its ship onto the rocks. It should have listened more closely to the many arms of government that were asking to be spared from inclusion in the dysfunctional family of Shared Services Canada client agencies. Among others, it should have recognized Mr. Smith had a perfectly valid point. All economic decision-makers in business, government, and universities in Canada and around the world rely on Statistics Canada to tell them, in a timely way, what is happening in the Canadian economy. The same is true in all countries, but in some countries, the statistical reports are torqued to prove what the government of the day wants to prove. That was one reason Greece got into economic trouble 10 years ago. Canada should not even think of following in Greeces footsteps. It should ensure the chief statistician directs his own information technology department and he is not waiting to be informed by the computer geeks in another agency what data he should collect, how it should be analyzed and when and how it should be disseminated. That way lies economic misinformation or even, in the event of data tampering, disinformation. The government should have learned from the debacle of its centralized payroll system that grand schemes to build new digital empires need to be treated with great skepticism. If it is going to persist with the centralized IT project, it should find some modest task Shared Services is likely to complete successfully and build from there. It should certainly not sacrifice the integrity and credibility of Canadas leading economic information source. The Conservative opposition is ill-placed to complain about Liberal mismanagement of Statistics Canada because it lost the previous chief statistician (Munir Sheikh) by ignoring his advice about the long-form census and then misleading Canadians about it. They also started the IT centralization. The Liberals should not mimic the Tories. They should do better. A Winona County grand jury handed down a first-degree murder indictment Tuesday against Kyle Benjamin Allers. Allers, 24, is accused in the May 12 beating and strangulation death of Tasha Lynn Hanson near Lewiston. The grand jury indictment carries the designation that the murder was the culmination of a pattern of domestic abuse; Allers and Hanson were in a relationship, shared a home and had two children, ages 1 and 3, at the time of Hansons death. Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman said that Hanson was the sixth Minnesotan to die of domestic violence in 2016. Thirty-four people died as a result of domestic violence in 2015. According to the criminal complaint filed against Allers in May, Allers admitted to family members he killed Hanson, 24, after the two had gotten into a fight. He concealed the womans body in a wooded area near Lewiston. The investigation began after member of Allers family contacted law enforcement to relay fears that Allers had killed Hanson. According to court documents, Allers had visited family members in the early hours of Thursday, May 12. At that time he told family members he had gotten into a fight with Hanson. He was shaky and asking for help, and when a family member asked about killing Hanson, he repeatedly said, Shes gone, eventually stating, Shes gone forever, according to court documents. A family member went to Allers residence the next day, court documents state, and directly asked if he had killed Hanson. Allers nodded, inferring to his family member that he did kill her. The family member subsequently contacted law enforcement. Allers had discussed disposing of Hansons body with this family member, wanting to find a location where no one else would go, because he was concerned that hunters might find the body, according to court documents. Allers suggested two possible locations and that information was passed along to law enforcement and proved vital to locating Hansons body. In addition to the first-degree murder count, Allers faces two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree manslaughter. He faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted on the first-degree murder charge. Allers made his intitial court appearance Tuesday on the charges named in the indictment. He remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bond. Stephen West didnt do it. In spite of a front-page story in the Sept. 18 edition of the Winona Post, there is no evidence that the Winona Area Public Schools superintendent personally researched, drafted, edited or claimed authorship of a document related to studying and updating the districts technology plan that included references to the work and writing of other school districts. The story stated that West was accused of plagiarizing portions of the districts technology plan last week by a board member, with no attribution as to who claimed that plagiarism took place. The story went on to quote board chair Ben Baratto as saying, Ive been made aware of several examples of what are obvious cases of plagiarism..., but Baratto said Monday that he was only reacting to documents he had been shown, without further investigating their background. An investigation Monday by the Daily News concluded that not only is it deeply questionable that any actual plagiarism occurred, but that there is no evidence that West was involved in, responsible for, or directly participated in the writing of the document thats at the center of the allegations. In question are selections from the districts TL21 technology plan, a state-approved document focused on the use of technology to drive modern learning. The Post based its story on the language of five sections in the plan that are virtually identical to a plan disseminated in September 2014 by the Waltham, Mass., school district. The story also made use of a portion of the plans introductory Letter from the Superintendent, which is also nearly identical to a portion of the Calvin Christian School technology plan published in 2013. However, things are not always as they at first seem. The WAPS TL21 technology plan is the work product of the WAPS District Technology Committee, an official standing school district committee composed of 16 members. That includes members of the districts IT department, district administrators, teachers, community members and a member of the school board. West is an ex-officio member of the committee, as he is of every district committee, meaning he has authority to attend and weigh in only by virtue of his position, and is not asked nor required to attend meetings or be an active participant. School board member Jay Kohner is the boards representative. According to committee minutes, during the time the TL21 plan was being researched, drafted, edited, and approved by the Minnesota Department of Education, from October 2014 to May 2015, work that included the introduction and adoption of the sections in question, West did not attend a single committee meeting or make a presentation or report to the committee. Kelly Halvorsen, WAPS director of teaching and learning and member of the district technology committee, confirmed Monday that the researching, drafting and editing of the TL21 plan was a group endeavor, and that the plan was not in any way the personal work of Stephen West. Furthermore, the public, official committee minutes readily available online shed light on the process used in preparing the TL21 plan and support Wests statements that nothing untoward took place. At a Monday-morning news conference held at the district office, West spoke in detail to the process commonly employed in organizational strategic planning related to developing documents. Among the early phases of developing or revising a plan is a comprehensive literature search, examining and evaluating similar plans developed by similar organizations. The best elements of those plans are often directly incorporated into the organizational plan being developed, a practice West referred to as mixing. This is a common and accepted practice, he said, a statement backed up by reviewing the standard procedures school administrators are taught to utilize during such strategic planning processes. The practice followed in developing Winonas TL21 plan directly included statements and best practices from other documents. The plan was made public by the WAPS committee with the expectation that other district leaders will find the work and use it in their own planning, West said. To that end, district technology staff has posted TL21 on issuu.com, a popular aggregator website that includes dozens of similar plans and other technical documents, readily available for interested researchers and organizations. The May 18, 2016 technology committee minutes support Wests explanation of how the same words appeared in documents drafted by different organizations. The committee minutes note that the 2016-18 plan was ready for submission to the Minnesota Department of Education, meeting all of the departments standards. The plan then specifically goes on to note that Document content was gleaned from other documents that were collaboratively developed for TL21 and other tech projects. Wests position that this practice is common among school administrators across the country was substantively confirmed by, of all research methods, nothing more than a cursory Google search conducted over the course of an afternoon. Using samples of text common to both the Winona and Waltham plans published in the Post, identical passages were found in published, publicly available technology plans for school districts in Macon County, Ala.; Hilliard, Ohio; Andover, Mass.; Hope, Ind.; Waltham, Mass.; and Winona. Furthermore, identical phrasing in all those reports indicate that all of those districts plans drew on information freely offered by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, a Washington D.C. think-tank specializing in education issues. The organization on its website clearly lays out accepted standards for using its content, including that the content remain unchanged and that attribution is given. The language in all of the identical portions of the plans provide that attribution directly in the text of the plans. As to the last piece of content, the Letter from the Superintendent being identical to a document included in the Calvin Christian School technology plan, West said that the document was a direct quote from a colleague that had been inserted into the draft document as a placeholder while the draft was being formatted and readied for submission to the state education department. West said the fact that the Letter from the Superintendent item remained in the final draft and published version of the plan was an inadvertent lapse, and offered his apologies to the community. West described the Post story and any controversy it might generate as a distraction from the good work being done in Winona schools, and the necessary tasks at hand. West said he has no intention of resigning. The possibility had been raised only by school board chair Baratto at the Monday-morning news conference, who in an interview later that day, after being presented with the evidence detailed in this story, said he was re-evaluating that statement and any future actions. I will be here, West said. Ive got work to do. Weve got a referendum we have to pass. On Sunday, a diverse group of people with a common concern will assemble in Helena and walk to raise money for a cause that for many is personal. Some 2,000 people will walk roughly 5 kilometers, a journey that ends with the donations the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Montana needs to help those who call or show up at its office seeking guidance, said Matt Kuntz, the programs executive director. Many of the callers to NAMI say someone at work told me to call you or someone at my church said I should call, Kuntz said. Its a great way for people to potentially save a life with nothing more than knowing who to call. Funds from the donations benefit education and advocacy efforts and are used toward a speaker series at Carroll College. Among other good done through the funding is helping operation of the Our Place Drop-In Center in Helena and the mental health wing at St. Peters Hospital. It also allows us to be really innovative in terms of how we try to improve the mental health treatment system, Kuntz said of what donations from the walk do for Montanans. The walk is NAMIs primary fundraiser and this years goal is $150,000. As of Saturday afternoon, the NAMI walk Facebook page reported that 284 participants had raised more than $131,000. The annual walk that begins at 12:30 p.m. has an 11 a.m. check-in at Memorial Park. Tim and Mary Barnard of Bozeman are among those who believe in the work that NAMI does. This year, they contributed $50,000 to help the organization. A lot of families have issues with mental illness, Tim Barnard said in a telephone interview on Saturday. I think a lot of families, including ours, have been impacted by mental illness. Its definitely a good organization and theres definitely a need for it, he added. This is the 13th year for the walk, Kuntz said and noted its held at a time of the year when school children can be involved and wont conflict with other community events. Its a great way for children to learn about mental illness the first time, in a positive way and have someone be highlighted for how theyve overcome it, he said. He first learned about mental illness while a student at Capital High School. The lessons were preceded by tragedy, he said and explained it seemed like it was always after a suicide, and you were left grappling with the negatives without knowing that people can recover and some of the ways that people can overcome these conditions. As a youth, all you can be is afraid where if kids can come to the walk and learn about the help that is out there, there is hope in a fun an inviting way. Its a great introduction to a tough topic. The children who come will get to hear speakers and see those who provide mental health services to the community, he said. Retired Navy SEAL Scott Hannon is the signature walker for this years event. The best way to break the stigma about mental illness, he continued, is to teach people about brain conditions and how they can be effectively treated. The walk, he added, draws people from across the state who stand up and be a part of the fight against mental illness. Kuntz joined NAMI in June 2008 after his stepbrothers suicide, according to his biography on the organizations website. He began advocating for effective screening and treatment of post-traumatic stress injuries of returning service members, and Senate Bill 711 was the culmination of those efforts. The legislation required multiple, face-to-face mental health screenings throughout Americas fighting force. Kuntz said he worked with then Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., to improve mental health screening for those returning from service. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., attached the bill to the Defense Authorization Act of 2010 and was signed into law on Oct. 8, 2009, the biography noted. Its really neat, the things we can do in Montana and the differences we can make here at the local level, he said. You never know what kind of impacts they can have nationally. Its rewarding for me because I can see the lives that are saved or improved. Ive been doing this for long enough that I can bump into someone at the grocery store and see how much better they are doing. Its hard to explain how powerful it is to see somebody rebuild their life or to have a family member save the life of someone that they care about, he said. Its really incredible to be part of that journey and to be a navigator on that path. Its real lives and its real families, he said. Theres never any doubt about how important and real this is for our communities and our state. The walk is a chance to show support for improving the mental health treatment system in Montana and that participants want to be part of the effort toward improving the lives of families affected by mental illness. Its such a powerful, visual statement, he said of the walk. This is the time to fight mental illness and this is how were building understanding and hope. I think were at an inflection point in history where the science has caught up and helped us to understand some of the challenges of brain conditions and people are realizing this is a powerful health and human rights issue. ITProPortal is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Looking to avoid the potholes that emerged the last time a bypass was built around Baraboo, a task force is working to direct U.S. Highway 12 travelers smoothly into the community. A four-lane bypass running west of town from Ski-Hi Road to Terrytown Road is scheduled for completion next fall. There will be interchanges for travelers to access Baraboo at Sauk County Highway W and state Highway 136. The Baraboo Area Chamber of Commerce has created a task force to ensure motorists using those exits find their way to local attractions and businesses. The task force reported on its progress Tuesday to the Kiwanis Club. We need to figure out how to direct people when they come off the four-lane, said Bobbie Boettcher, a Kiwanian who serves as executive director of the Chamber of Commerce. Local leaders are taking a proactive approach to avoid problems that accompanied the opening of a northern bypass route from Terrytown Road to Lake Delton in 2011. Business owners and elected officials said the installation of signs directing travelers to businesses on the original Highway 12 route renamed Highway BD was rushed. Boettcher said the task force has met monthly with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to coordinate plans and ensure interested local businesses get their logos placed on blue roadside signs near the two local exits. Its really starting to click, she said. Meanwhile, the group is addressing the need for signs within the community that will welcome travelers to Baraboo and help them reach points of interest. The city and town of Baraboo, the village of West Baraboo and business groups are cooperating in this effort. A community development specialist from the University of Wisconsin Extension was brought on board to help with branding. How do we make a unified front to people who enter our beautiful community? Boettcher asked. It works better when you have a whole group of people with the same mindset. The task force has convinced the DOT to direct traffic bound for Rock Springs and North Freedoms Mid-Continent Railway Museum to use the Highway 136 exit, rather than Highway W. Once travelers exit the bypass and find Baraboos western commercial corridor along the original U.S. 12 route which will be renamed Highway 136 it will be the communitys challenge to help them find the restaurant or hotel for which they theyre looking. The task force will seek Department of Tourism grants to help pay for signs. Experts say bypasses tend to diminish traffic past established local businesses, but new traffic patterns also present opportunities. Reduced traffic congestion makes established business districts more attractive to shoppers. Meanwhile, bypass routes create new commercial corridors for businesses catering to highway traffic. For example, Boettcher predicted the Highway 136 exit may revive a once-thriving commercial corner at the intersection of Highways 12 and 33, which is now home to several empty storefronts. When the four-lane opens, that will prompt some movement there, she said. Carol May is being recognized by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for her contributions to health care in Sauk County. The recognition is part of the universitys new ad campaign intended to celebrate the work of Badger alumni across the state. May is Sauk Prairie Healthcares chief financial officer and played a key role in overseeing the building of the hospitals new $75 million facility that opened in 2014. May said her UW-Madison education provided her with a unique perspective that allowed her to effectively communicate with the hospitals financial officers, contractors and builders during the construction of the new hospital. Almost any school can teach you the technical part of it, but UW-Madison allows you to broaden your horizons and interact with a lot of different people, she said. That broad education allows you to think critically and see things beyond your own role. May earned a bachelors degree in accounting and a masters degree in health care finance from UW-Madison in the 1970s. After graduating, she worked for Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis for a few years, and then spent 26 years at Mercy Health System in Janesville, where she finished as corporate controller. At that point in her life, May wanted to be chief financial officer of a smaller hospital with one very important circumstance. At first I said I had to be within two hours of Camp Randall, but then I expanded it to three because I thought I should be more flexible, she said. At a reasonable distance from the stadium, May took the chief financial officer position at Sauk Prairie Healthcare, which allowed her to watch the Badgers and oversee a project to plan, finance and build a new hospital. Not everyone in healthcare gets to build a new facility, May said. I know more about dirt, moving dirt and where dirt gets displaced than I ever thought I would in my lifetime. Advertising blitz The ad campaign, dubbed Project 72, highlights a UW-Madison graduate from each of the states 72 counties. The university rented billboards in all but three counties around the state, each featuring a prominent alumni and the slogan Boundless Together. Vince Sweeny is a spokesperson for the initiative and said the ads are meant to draw attention to the partnership between the university and the state of Wisconsin. We wanted to feature stories of alumni across the state that have had a positive impact in communities in every corner of the state, he said. The campaign is being funded by the Wisconsin Alumni Association and does not use taxpayer or tuition money, according to Sweeny. Since lawmakers cut UW System funding by $250 million in the 2015-2017 state budget, UW-Madison and System leaders have strived to show how UW campuses impact communities and workplaces around the state. But Sweeny said the ad campaign is intended to be more a celebration of the universitys relationship with the state than a response to budget cuts. Were not oblivious to the budgeting situation, but what were trying to talk about is the bigger picture of what this partnership has achieved over 168 years, he said. In 2011, Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature achieved a major victory for the integrity of our states elections by passing Wisconsin Act 23, a common sense measure requiring voters to verify their identity at the polls on Election Day by providing a photo ID. Liberal opponents moved quickly to block the legislation, using an activist court to stall the law in the legal system. Since then, the fight over the legislation has risen through the courts up to the national level where Wisconsin joins a number of other states in the continued fight to protect the integrity of the vote. Despite these various court challenges, voter ID will still be in place for Wisconsins November elections. Some, however, have attempted to capitalize on the turmoil caused by this barrage of legal challenges from leftwing groups. From the national level downward, opponents of voter ID have cited ongoing legal battles as a reason to abandon attempts to keep identification requirements in place. A recent letter to the editor in the Daily Citizen joined this chorus, arguing that Voter ID was a waste of money for Wisconsin, and contending that voter fraud is not a problem that our state faces. This is a routine argument from voter ID opponents, and one that has been refuted time and time again. A cursory search of local news stories demonstrates that Wisconsin is far from immune to attempts of voter fraud. WKOW reported that the Brown County clerks office investigated 6 cases of voter fraud in Aprils primary election.[i] The Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune reported in August that a Dexter man faced voting fraud charges for voting twice.[ii] A 2013 Media Trackers article reported that documents detailed 65 charges of election fraud filed in Milwaukee since 2008.[iii] A 2013 Journal Sentinel article reports that a Milwaukee man plead guilty to five counts of voter fraud.[iv] Local and national news outlets covered the story of a Shorewood man who was charged in 2014 with 13 felony counts of illegal voting.[v] Last year, local media reported on a 51-year-old Horicon man who faced felony charges of election fraud after allegedly voting in two polling locations.[vi] This instance was only discovered after a town of Beaver Dam clerk attempted to register another voter with the same residence and then noticed the discrepancy. According to court records, the defendant was later found guilty after entering a plea of no contest. Oddly, no local paper reported on that. How many similar cases go undetected and unreported? Despite arguments from leftwing opponents, the simple requirement to provide a form of identification is hardly an onerous one. As Americans, we are regularly required to provide a photo ID for countless everyday tasks: driving a car, cashing a check, purchasing alcohol or tobacco, applying for government assistance, opening a bank account, applying for a job, picking up a prescription, or even purchasing cold medicationthe list goes on. Very few of these ordinary actions are as important for Americans as exercising our right to vote, and even one fraudulent ballot cast lessens the value of each citizens legitimate contribution. I am confident that the protracted legal battle over voter identification requirements will prove what my Republican colleagues and I have long argued: this is a constitutional and common sense measure which will protect the integrity of elections in Wisconsin and throughout the country. A valid photo identification will be required in the upcoming November election. To learn more, visit: http://www.bringitwisconsin.com/ Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) represents the 13th Senate District, which covers portions of Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha, Washington, Dane, and Columbia counties. Locally grown apples might not look beautiful this year, but the taste is still very good. Seth Tully, who operates Northwoods Orchard & Farm Market near Mauston, said local growers are encouraging buyers to eat the ugly apples. A hard frost that hit apple trees in late May affected growers across the state. Ive talked to a few orchards and Ive been up to a few from southeastern Wisconsin, up to the Mississippi River Valley, and just about everybody has seen some frost damage and some have seen frost-loss, which there are no apples whatsoever, Tully said. We didnt have any loss on any of the apples that I can tell. Every variety has some frost string on it, but not every apple. Statewide, I think you will see a fairly significant decline in the apple harvest this year. At Northwoods Orchard, some apples grew a yellow discoloration on the skin from temperatures that dipped to 27 degrees for several hours. It created a frost string on the apples that affects the skin, it doesnt affect the flavor or the taste or flesh, Tully said. For markets that sell to wholesale, it could be detrimental, but for retail markets like us, if people are willing to eat the apple, they are fine. That was interesting because it didnt show up right away and theres nothing you can do about it. Despite the late frost, Northwoods still had a strong, healthy crop this season. Harvest at the orchard began in late August and will conclude later this month. Tully said the orchard has about 600 trees spread across six acres. One of the biggest challenges of harvesting is picking the apples when theyre still ripe, which can be a short window of time. Weve had a really good crop this year, Tully said. As far as quantity of apples, were meeting last years amount, if not better. Last years harvest netted more than 70,000 pounds. Tully believes the orchard is on target to exceed that this fall. Tully said the discoloration from the spring frost could affect sales since customers might think the apple is damaged. Tully sells apples in numbered categories based on quality. With the Honey Crisp, the taste is the same, but the skin might be a little tougher, Tully said. We might sell that at a No. 2, which is a reduced price per pound. Its still a really good apple, but you cant really sell it as a No. 1. Northwoods sells 11 varieties of apples. Honey Crisp, due to its sweetness, is a popular snacking apple. Tully said Cortland is also popular, along with Macintosh, which is good for canning and apple sauce. The Spartan variety is also ideal to use in pies. Having a locally grown, fresh product appeals to consumers and is an alternative to purchasing apples in a large supermarket. We try to be as competitive as we can with the price to pay our bills, but youre paying for the fresh apple versus something that may not be fresh and could be coming from New Zealand, Tully said. And we try to do as best we can to support the local community. Youre paying for the best possible product as close to home as possible. Starting this season, Northwoods is letting customers pick their own apples. Tully has seen families come out and enjoy a couple hours exploring the orchard. The orchard is also starting school tours this fall. Thats great, I love to see the school tours, Tully said. For the some of the kids, they may never know where the apple comes from. Last year, we sold a bunch of apples to the Mauston School District. For more information on Northwoods Orchard & Farm Market, call 608-847-7028. The City of Beaver Dams Operations Committee has agreed that painting the downtown water tower is a better option than replacing it, considering the price difference. To paint and repair the existing tower, built in 1936, will cost around $700,000. To replace it on the same site would cost in excess of $2 million. The last paint job, some seven years ago, is not holding up, and corrosion and failing paint need to be addressed sooner rather than later, said utilities director Rob Minnema. Structurally its fine, said Minnema, as long as we maintain it. Could you wait a few years maybe? But the issues that need to be addressed wont get any better. The paint is failing in quite a few areas and there is corrosion on the rods and in other areas. Minnema indicated that the last crew used a paint that while it did not oversprayed quite as much was not the quality that it needed to be. That job did not address the underlying problems of the tower, he said. The new paint and repairs will last approximately 25 years. The committee agreed to recommend the firm of Dixon Engineering of Hales Corners to engineer the project for $37,700. A water rate hike of 30 percent may be shocking, but the water utility needs the money to operate, according to Minema. In a letter to the committee Minnema wrote, The last substantial increase in water (83 percent) took place in 1997 when the new lime softening water treatment plant was completed. We also had an approximate 6 percent water increase in 2005. He added at the meeting, In 20 years obviously expenses increase, and we fall short of cash if the rates stay the same. We need to increase our cash flow. As a result the utility must borrow funds to complete projects and to maintain the plant. The increase will go to the city council in October, and after that must face the Public Service Commission which could take three months to approve it. Customers wouldnt see any changes until about January. Minnema admitted that the increase may seem large, but added that it will mean a $4 per month increase for the average customer, or $12 a quarter. Kris Quandt, the long-term assistant engineer for Logan County, Illinois, was recommended and later approved by the common council, as the new supervisor for the Department of Public Works. Mayor Tom Kennedy indicated that Quandt is highly qualified and was a clear choice during the most recent rounds of interviews. Quandt will start work on Oct. 31. An ordinance was approved to add a four-way stop at the intersection of Grove Street and Gilmore Avenue. The stop will increase safety for pedestrian and motor traffic in the area of Washington School. Contracts were approved for a new boiler at the Department of Public Works Garage for a bid not to exceed nearly $42,000. As $70,000 was budgeted, Kennedy indicated that the cost was well within earlier cost estimates. Rennhack Construction Co. of Reeseville was the sole bidder to complete sidewalk replacement in the city, with those costs to be assessed to individual property owners. Safe Step LLC of Hortonville was approved to complete sidewalk grinding in instances where raised squares may be leveled to accommodate tree roots or other slab heaving. For the second time in a month, the Sauk County Board is slated to consider the appointment of a new supervisor and whether to hold a special election this spring. Included on the board's agenda Tuesday evening is the approval of Sauk County Board Chair Marty Krueger's appointment to fill a vacant supervisor's seat in Reedsburg. Krueger selected Rock Springs Public Library Director Craig Braunschweig to replace Carol Held, who resigned Sept. 1 due to health reasons. Later in the meeting, the board is slated to consider whether to hold a special election in that district in April. District 7 includes wards 1, 2 and 3 in the city of Reedsburg. If both items are approved, Braunschweig would represent the district until the special election, and the winner of that contest would serve out the remaining year of Held's two-year term. I am very community-minded, Braunschewig said about his desire to apply for the appointment. So I wanted to make sure someone got into that position that would help the community. He has been the Rock Springs library director since June, and said his experience in city government has helped prepare him to be a county supervisor. Braunschewig has served on the city of Reedsburgs Historical Preservation Commission and Community Development Authority since 2014. Also a member of the Reedsburg Area Historical Societys Board of Directors since November 2013, Braunschweig has been the boards president since April 2014. Last month, the Sauk County Board approved a special election to replace former District 11 Supervisor Joe Fish, who resigned in July due to health reasons. Until the April election can be held, Kruegers appointee, Reedsburg tax accountant Richard Flint will represent that district. During last month's board meeting, Krueger said he doesn't expect there to be competition for the supervisor seat, and voted against a special election. But prior to a 16-12 vote to approve the election, supporters said the board should give residents the option to run for the vacant seat, rather than prohibit them from doing so because of an assumption that there will be minimal competition. Supervisors will consider Tuesday whether a special election for District 7 should occur at the same time as the one in District 11. Braunschewig said he supports giving district residents the option to select their next representative. I hope its me, he said. But if they decide theres someone better, thats fair game. Deputies' contract The board also is slated to consider a union contract between the county and deputies within the Sauk County Sheriffs Department. Sworn officers were exempt from legislation pushed through by Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the state Legislature that ended collective bargaining for public employees. According to a fiscal note from Sauk County Controller Kerry Beghin, the two-year contract up for approval tonight would give deputies a 1 percent raise for 2016 and a 1.5 percent increase for 2017. The deal would affect the equivalent of 93 full-time positions and increase the cost of those employees by about $181,000 over the two year period. In other business, the board is scheduled to consider the following items: The dissolution of a three-county environmental health consortium due to changes in state law and conflicting member priorities. Amendments to agreements between the county and two entities, WIN and the Baraboo School District, who lease access to the countys high-speed data fiber loop. A new agreement with Merrimac Communications to lease access to the countys high-speed data fiber loop. Approval of dam failure analyses for the Huey Duck Lake Dam and the Lee Lake Dam. A $42,000 agreement with Ganem Consulting LLC to provide planning services for the county as part of its placemaking efforts. A resolution that would allow families visiting the countys nursing home in Reedsburg to possess and consume alcohol within and upon the building and its grounds on a case by case basis. A resolution denying the $4,559 claim of Mike Gustin, whose vehicle allegedly sustained damage due to Sauk County Highway Department road repairs. A resolution to authorize participation in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources County Conservation Grant Program. A $16,455 agreement with MZ Construction Inc. for repair of the White Mound Dam. Approval of a cooperative plan developed by the Great Sauk Trail Commission. Acceptance of a $19,128 bid by DCI Reedsburg LLC to purchase a piece of tax-delinquent property at 401 Clark Street in Reedsburg that was appraised at $18,291. Authorization of a $16,800 contract with Elhert & Associates to complete a security analysis of the countys Historic Courthouse, West Square administration building, Reedsburg Human Services building, and Health Care Center. As far as the courts are concerned, Gruber Automotive belongs to Columbia County. But as far as John Gruber is concerned, hes not budging from his business at 208 E. Edgewater St. unless he gets about twice as much money as the county has paid him and unless he has a place to go. Grubers is the only property alongside the Portage Canal that Columbia County sought, but did not succeed in acquiring, to make way for the construction of a three-story Administration Building on the canals northwest side and a two-story Health and Human Services Building on the canals southeast side. Construction of both structures is well underway, with occupation of both scheduled for mid-year 2017. The Gruber property where John Gruber has operated his auto repair business since 1984 has been designated as the site of a parking lot to serve the Administration Building. The space is not immediately needed for the construction process, but theres a chain-link fence and a few feet of space separating the construction equipment from Grubers shop and retail store. Documents filed in Columbia County Circuit Court indicate that, on Aug. 3, the countys Condemnation Commission awarded Gruber the sum of $140,000 in compensation for his property. Other documents show: The county has paid the $140,000. The county now owns the property, and is directing the inspection of the property for environmental contamination. Gruber may, for now, remain as a tenant with no rental charge for the first month, and a negotiated rental charge after that. The county, under Wisconsin law, has the right to ask the court to order Gruber to vacate the property in 90 days. Gruber said Monday hes not going, because he has no place to go. Available properties for relocation, he said, run about $300,000. Is it fair to ask me to go backwards? To go into debt? he said. Gruber, acting without an attorney, has filed what he refers to as a notice of appeal and jury trial demand. Grubers notice of appeal, dated Aug. 15, also alleges police harassment, and asserts that the Portage Police Department and the Columbia County Sheriffs Office intend a raid using military weapons and armored vehicle to evict Gruber from his property, that would ultimately result in his death or serious injury. Dan Biersdorf, a Minneapolis attorney specializing in eminent domain issues, said he is representing Gruber only in the matter of finding a new location for his business not in any of the allegations that Gruber has made as to the conduct of Columbia County or other government entities. I heard, after the fact, that he was raising these issues, Biersdorf said. Gruber also has sought to stop the construction on the canal-side building project, although construction was in full swing at both buildings on Monday afternoon. Right now, Gruber said, his immediate concern is the safety of his customers in the busy traffic along East Edgewater and East Mullett streets, due to the construction of the county buildings. Grubers case is scheduled for a telephone scheduling conference at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 7 at the Dodge County Justice Facility in Juneau, with Judge Brian Pfitzinger presiding. Luann Braskamp Luann Lu Braskamp, 62, Sister Bay, Wisconsin, died Friday evening, Sept. 16, 2016, at Ministry Door County Medical Center in Sturgeon Bay after battling deteriorating health for several years. Lu was born Sept. 1, 1954, in Waupun, the daughter of Dayton and Mary Vande Zande Braskamp. Lu graduated from Waupun High School in 1972 and then enlisted in the U.S. Army. Following her years with the military she went on to further her education at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, where she received her bachelors degree in drafting. She served with the Army Reserves for 20 years at Fort McCoy as a lab technician. She then moved to Sister Bay where she worked in hospitality in the Door County area. Lu was known for her good sense of humor and was very talented with crafts and sewing. She fulfilled a life-long dream of seeing B.B. King in concert in 2008. Lu is survived by two sisters, Sharon (Ray) Stratton of Beaver Dam, and Mary L. Braskamp of Madison; nephews, Troy Stratton of Beaver Dam, Todd Stratton and his sons, Ryan and Kyle, of Portage, and Duane (Carrie) Braskamp and their children Grant and Kate of rural Fox Lake; as well as friends and extended family. Lu was preceded in death by her parents, Dayton and Mary Braskamp; her brother, Brian Braskamp; two very close childhood friends, Jane Harder Lawrie and Kenny Derksen (her date to the junior prom); and her beloved dog, Mabel. Lus family wishes to thank her Sister Bay neighbors and friends who looked out for her for so many years, including Brian Churchill, an Army buddy from the East Coast, who kept in contact with Lu regularly and the staff at Golden Living Center The Dorchester for their exceptional care. Private graveside services will be held. Lu would request you spend time with friends, have some laughs and enjoy good music. Memorials may be directed to an animal shelter of ones choice. Werner-Harmsen Funeral Home of Waupun and staff are serving the family. Visit www.wernerharmsenfuneralhome.com for more information and to send condolences. Greg Gianforte successfully built and grew a business that employed hundreds of Montanans. Thanks to his hard work and dedication, he proved that a world-class business could be built in Montana. The spark of RightNow Technologies ignited Montanas growing high-tech sector. Many Montanans have benefited directly or indirectly from what RightNow Technologies accomplished here. This is especially true for former RightNow employees like Susan Carstensen. Carstensen served as a CFO while Gianforte served as CEO, and was made rich by the sale of the company. Despite gaining so much from working for Greg Gianforte, she is not endorsing his bid for governor. In fact, as we saw on the pages of this newspaper, she is endorsing the incumbent Governor Steve Bullock, citing political disagreements and claiming, interestingly, that her former boss supports discrimination. Now, Ms. Carstensen is entitled to her opinions and she can share those opinions. However, her claim that Gianforte supports discrimination is actually proven wrong by her own success at RightNow Technologies. Carstensen is a liberal woman with a long record of supporting Democrats. She and Gianforte likely dont agree on many issues. However, he still made Carstensen 2nd in command a RightNow, putting the company finances in her hands. Why? Presumably, because she was the best and most qualified to do the job, and the success of RightNow is a testament to that. Even by Carstensens own account, she had a good working relationship with Gianforte, despite their differences. This really speaks to the character of Greg Gianforte, and its proof that he does not believe in discrimination. RightNow Technologies was a complete meritocracy. People of all different types were hired and promoted only based on their ability to do the job. Contrast this with Governor Bullock. The governor also had female 2nd in command. Despite being nearly universally well liked across the state and a rising star in the Democratic party, Angela McLean was forced out of her position. While neither Bullock nor McLean will say why exactly McLean left her post, this presumably occurred because she and the governor had some disagreements. Emails released to the public show that a strained relationship had developed between the states two highest officers. Unlike Greg Gianforte and Susan Carstensen who worked together successfully despite their disagreements, Bullock pushed McLean out and took actions against her that sound like something out of a high school drama, such as locking the lieutenant governor out of her official Twitter account. The irony here is that the record shows that Greg Gianforte worked better with a liberal woman than Governor Bullock! To really test what type of character people possess, you have to look how they conduct themselves in their personal lives. Governor Bullock and his surrogates can try and claim all they want that Gianforte believes in discrimination or doesnt believe in equality for women. However, his record in business clearly shows these claims to be false. On the other hand, Governor Bullock can talk a good game about non-discrimination and equality for women, but the way he treated his female lieutenant governor paints a far different picture of his character. Joe Dooling is the Lewis and Clark County GOP chair. Hillary Clintons latest health episode is about a lot more than her overall health and whether or not shes healthy enough to serve in the nations highest office. It again exposed her lack of judgment. Clinton has been coughing and hacking her way through the campaign for several months now. After her Labor Day episode, she tried to explain away her coughing fits as allergies, even saying she was allergic to Donald Trump. But on the 15th anniversary of the jihadist terror attacks upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it got worse. Clinton could not finish the program and had to leave. On her way out, video clearly caught the former secretary of state appearing to have passed out and ultimately falling into the arms of Secret Service who assisted her into a van. It had finally become evident that something more is wrong with the presidential candidate. Initially, her staff tried to write it off as nothing more than a slip off the curb. The video was very unconvincing as we saw her initially fall slightly backward. By the end of the day, Clintons doctor announced her patient had pneumonia and had been diagnosed the previous Friday. This is where Clintons judgment comes into play. If we assume the account is accurate, 68-year Clinton ignored her own health. Pneumonia can be very serious, if not fatal, in people over the age of 65. Clintons campaign would have been better served announcing her illness immediately and pulling her off of the trail. While announcing her illness may have been fodder on talk-radio, it would have been a prudent move and most Americans would have considered the decision reasonable. In the end, Clinton decided it was more important to hang out at a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand after getting her diagnosis. Instead, the lady who already has trouble with public trust once again attempted to lie her way into believability. Public trust in Clinton already is nearly non-existent, so adding another lie to the mix isnt a big deal. But you do have to ask yourself, is it really pneumonia? Clintons coughing episodes are documented at TheAmericanMirror.com where videos show her coughing her way through the campaign as far back as Jan. 25. That time she excused herself during a speech at the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines. She has had seven coughing fits prior to her 4-minute episode on Labor Day. Coughing fits like Clintons could be caused by a number of illnesses respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema come to mind in addition to pneumonia. Is it possible she has had pneumonia for the past 8 months? Thats not very likely. The image of her needing assistance while walking isnt new, either. In August, photographs emerged on numerous websites showing she needed help climbing what appear to be seven steps into a building while campaigning in South Carolina. The image of her outreached arms grabbing for support is alarming when you consider shes allegedly a healthy 68-year-old woman running to be President of the United States. It also raises the question as to whether or not she actually was in the bathroom when she failed to report to the debate stage after a commercial break last December. Did she experience a similar episode of light-headedness or did she really become the first candidate to miss her cue while stuck in the ladies room? Clinton first fell on her way to a White House meeting in 2009 when she fractured her elbow. The injury was serious enough it required surgery. The secretary of state was walking to her car inside the dry basement of the State Department. She also fell while boarding a plane in 2011. In January 2013, she had surgery to remove a blood clot that resulted from a concussion she suffered in another fall two weeks prior to that. It was an incident in which she again fainted. She hit her head and the clot was the result of hemorrhaging along the side of her head. The clot was in a vein where blockages often lead to strokes. Its hard to believe this is the same media that mocked Gerald Ford for his pratfalls and Dick Cheney for having congestive heart disease. Instead, in this race, theyve mocked anyone else who questions her health. Its time to question the truth about her health. Maybe just this once, she could come clean about what is really going on with her. Trump plans to attack education, lies about policies Donald Trump refused to release his tax returns, lied that he opposed invading Iraq, that he warned us about Osama bin Laden, and claimed that Trump University received an A rating from the Better Business Bureau when it received a D. He falsely claims that he would save $300 billion in drug costs, a figure that equals 100 percent of all the money spent on prescriptions in 2014. He is anti-Muslim, Catholic, Jew, African-American, Hispanic, immigrant and women. His tax plans favor the rich and penalize the rest of us. He plans to reduce 9 million low-income childrens Title I funding by $15 billion. Five million handicapped would lose $12.7 billion in aid to schools for their education. Federal aid to schools to teach 5 million pupils English would be eliminated. Seven-hundred-fifty thousand students in military and Native American families, and students living on federal property or in United States territories, would lose $1.1 billion per year for their schools. Trumps statements exaggerating danger from terrorists, criminals, non-whites and immigrants paint a false picture of our country. To their discredit, the media repeat his lies instead of correcting them. Richard Bates, Baraboo Everyone is invited to join in on Oct. 1 to walk, run and roll together to raise funds for Easter Seals Wisconsin Camp Wawbeek. The Ken Saville Fall Sprawl 5K Run/5K Walk and Wheel will take place at Camp Wawbeek in Wisconsin Dells. The cross-country course over pavement, gravel and grass, is suitable for both serious runners and for families who prefer to stroll. Along the course, participants will be able to enjoy the beautiful autumn woodlands. Water stations will be fully staffed. Participants in wheelchairs may participate over partially accessible trails. Registration for the race can be done by mail or online at www.firstgiving.com/fallsprawl/2016-ken-saville-fall-sprawl. On-site registration will take place from 8 to 9 a.m. the day of the event. All participants (including children under 10) must check-in the morning of the event. Waiver forms must be signed at check-in, and a parent or legal guardian signature is required for those under 18. All pre-registered participants receive an event T-shirt, refreshments and the opportunity to meet Easter Seals campers -- the people who will benefit from the events proceeds. Awards are given to the top two place finishers in each of the following categories: Mens 5K and Womens 5K. First and second place ribbons are given out in each age group. There will be prizes for top fundraisers, as participants are encouraged to get pledges from friends and family to donate to Easter Seals Wisconsin Camps. This year, there will also be a competition between Camp Wawbeek and Respite Camp with Camp Directors Cyndi Garza and Dan Fourness competing in the 5K run. You can join their teams for the run or donate to their teams on their First Giving Pages to help one of them win the Directors Cup trophy. The 24th annual Pancake Breakfast will take place the following day, Oct. 2, at the Camp Wawbeek Dining Hall from 8 a.m. to noon. For $5, diners can enjoy all the pancakes and sausage they can eat, and support Easter Seals Wisconsin Camps. I found the article describing concern over the travels, and alleged costs of travel accrued by Governor Bullock, to be tiresome. (Gov defends trip to Derby, Sept. 10). We have already read in the IR that the current governor plans his travel in accordance with the precedent established by previous Montana governors. But, during an election year that, obviously, is not enough for those who are convinced that Governor Bullock is bankrupting Montana taxpayers by traveling, willy-nilly, at our expense. I have a suggestion for those who are trying, again-and-again, to make this an issue. They can end this wasteful, indiscriminate traveling by the states governor, by requesting that state legislators introduce a bill that prohibits the governor from traveling out-of-state, for any reason. The legislation would also, effectively, prevent Montanas governor from being active in any organization like the DGA (or the RGA?). The incumbent governor wouldnt dare veto the bill. Why would he, its a choice between staying in Helena, for spring fly-fishing, or going to Kentucky to promote the state of Montana? (My preference would be, stay at home!) Of course, committee review of the proposed legislation may identify problems such as, the new legislation could place the state at a disadvantage for recruiting investment from outside sources. Or, perhaps, the isolation of Montanas governor could lead the United States, and other countries, to wonder where Montana is, or, if it is a desirable place to visit, relocate to, or to choose as a location for a new corporate office? I do hope that the potential legislation is proposed. Then, we can write about important issues during the next election and this problem would be put-to-rest. David Belitsky Helena Surgery can save more lives than some diseases take A Zambian surgeon has driven the adoption of a World Health Organization resolution to make surgery accessible as a component of universal health coverage. Dr Emmanuel M. Makasa delivered the prestigious AJ Orenstein Lecture in the Faculty of Health Sciences and hosted by the Adler Museum of Medicine on 30 August 2016. His lecture, entitled: The cutting edge: Towards universal health coverage and sustainable goals, focused on the need to invest in surgery and anaesthesia as a means to achieving universal health coverage, and his efforts and success in securing a World Health Organisation resolution towards achieving this. The day before the AJ Orenstein Lecture, the Department of Surgery at Wits submitted an article to Lancet Global Health, entitled: The pathway to equitable access to surgical care in South Africa: setting an agenda of research and implementation based on messages from the first National Forum. The National Forum on Surgery and Anaesthesia South Africa (NFSASA) and the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery were launched at the University in December 2015. A surgeon cut out for diplomacy Makasa is an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon. He earned an MBChB and MMed in Orthopaedics and Surgery from the University of Zambia and an MPH in Global Health Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As former Deputy-Director: Emergency Health Services in the Ministry of Health in Zambia, Makasa was tasked with setting up emergency health services in Zambia. We were very under-resourced. We realised the surgical burden of disease is huge, in Zambia and elsewhere, he says. This and his experience as secretary general of the Zambia Medical Association and of the Surgical Society of Zambia respectively equipped him for his ultimate crusade: that of a global health diplomat intent on putting essential surgery and anaesthesia on the universal healthcare agenda. Most global healthcare programmes are specific TB or HIV. Surgery is not a disease but it doesnt support just one thing, it supports everything, says Makasa. Surgery as a primary healthcare imperative In 2010 Makasa began gathering evidence at country level to make a case for surgery as a primary healthcare imperative. This situation analysis was partly in response to Zambias inability to meet the maternal healthcare targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Most mothers were dying because of matters relating to surgery, such as bleeding and post-partum complications, says Makasa. Furthermore, Zambians were dying in road traffic accidents because the emergency response was too slow or hospitals and emergency services only available at tertiary level. Sometimes, in road traffic accidents, if you dont get help in 30 minutes, you die, he says. Although surgery is a high-impact intervention, Makasa found that the capacity to deliver it was limited to predominantly tertiary hospitals, which housed both skills and facilities. In addition, the surgical disease burden would potentially amount to a 1.8% loss in the GDP per annum by 2030. Improve surgery at a district level and productivity will improve. If you invest in surgery, then outputs from other healthcare programmes are more successful, says Makasa. Universal Healthcare and the Sustainable Development Goals In 2011 Makasa took up a post at the United Nations, where he is now Counsellor Health, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zambia to the UN. The Zambian model made a strong case for the role of surgery and anaesthesia in universal healthcare and contributing towards several SDG targets. Surgery is a missing piece, a master piece, of primary healthcare and we have to bring it closer to the people, says Makasa. In his role as global health diplomat, Makasa motivated and orchestrated a place for surgery on world health agendas. He was a member of The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery which published a report: Essential Surgery. The report made a case for surgery and the economics of surgery. The World Bank Group published it in a reference book: Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. These publications systematically assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions that would address the major sources of disease burden in low- and middle-income countries. There are economic benefits to improving surgical and anaesthesia capacity, he says. Makasa subsequently chaired and led the global intergovernmental negotiations that resulted in the adoption of the first ever World Health Organization resolution) on to address: Strengthening emergency and essential surgical care and anaesthesia as a component of universal health coverage. Agenda item 17.1 was tabled at the 68th World Health Assembly on 26 May 2015. WHA68.15, Agenda item 17.1 WHA68.15 is a political commitment to strengthen specific surgery and anaesthesia interventions to attain universal healthcare. These types of surgeries include cataracts, abscess drain, circumcision, hernia, etc. These could be done by a surgeon, a paramedic, or a GP with surgical skills. Its about the service, not the person, says Makasa. Although SDG 3 is the main goal that surgery will address, as it relates to maternal health and child mortality, the resolution also impacts goal 3.6, which relates to deaths from injuries and road traffic accidents. The resolution also addresses aspect of SDGs 1, 2, and 10, which related to alleviating poverty, hunger, and inequality respectively, because people whose lives are saved by surgery are empowered to work and become self-sustaining and productive. SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) is addressed as the resolution on surgery requires the establishment of services and facilities where they are accessible. SDG 19 (partnerships for the goals) requires a strong commitment to global partnerships and cooperation a goal to which WHA68.15 has clearly contributed. Makasas next mission is to ensure that WHA68.15 moves beyond mere political commitment. This requires him to ensure there is a budget line for the implantation of WHA68.15 in the people-centred health service delivery category of the WHOs Programme Budget 20202019. Update from Senior Executive Team Update from the Senior Executive Team on the situation on campus during student protests. Disruptions to some classes We have reports that about 200 students in roving groups are moving from campus to campus disrupting classes in Braamfontein and Parktown and intimidating students. We are deploying security and the police to follow the group and we are monitoring the situation on camera from the Joint Operations Centre. Students will be arrested if they do not comply with police orders. If lectures are disrupted, we ask students and lecturers to leave the venue and then to resume classes once the group has moved on. Remember to do the following: 1. Remain calm and advise your students to do the same. Do not incite, antagonise or provoke persons causing the disruption. 2. If there is any physical threat to students, fellow colleagues or yourself, vacate the room immediately. a)When leaving a venue make sure that it is safe to do so and make your way to a safe area. b) If you are in a multi-level building, briskly follow the escape route direction indicators until you are able to find your way out of the building to a safe area c) Assist visitors, students and disabled persons to leave the occupied/disrupted area d) Call Campus Control and report the incident. 3. If there is no immediate physical threat, ask students to remain seated and call Campus Control. 4. If you are prevented from leaving a building, lecture room, office or any other University area, call Campus Control and await assistance and/or instructions from Campus Control. 5. Campus Control will have personnel dedicated to answering the numbers listed below. They will immediately deploy a rapid response team closest to your area to attend to the incident. 6. Campus Control will summon emergency personnel to the scene as required. 7. Report all incidents to Campus Control in as much detail as possible. 8. Refer any students or staff members who require medical assistance to the Campus Health and Wellness Centre. 9. Please always obey the instructions provided by Campus Control. Should you feel unsafe, threatened or intimidated in any way, or wish to report an incident, please make your way to the nearest Campus Control Office or call the following numbers: Campus Control Emergency Numbers Campus Location Numbers Braamfontein Campus Room 1, Central Block (Great Hall) Main Control Room (CB1) 011 717 4444 / 011 717 6666 Health Sciences Campus, Parktown Control Room 011 717 2222 / 011 717 2232 Education Campus, Parktown Control Room 011 717 3340 Management Campus, Parktown Guard House 011 717 3589 SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAM 20 SEPTEMBER 2016 Insperity, Inc. provides human resources (HR) and business solutions to improve business performance for small and medium-sized businesses. The company offers its HR services through its Workforce Optimization and Workforce Synchronization solutions that include a range of human resources functions, such as payroll and employment administration, employee benefits, workers' compensation, government compliance, performance management, and training and development services. It also provides Insperity Premier, a cloud-based human capital management platform that offers professional employer organization HR outsourcing solutions to its clients; personnel record management services; and employer liability management services, as well as solutions for middle market. In addition, the company offers MarketPlace, an e-commerce portal that offers a range of products and services; and Workforce Acceleration, a human capital management and payroll services solution; time and attendance; performance management; organizational planning; recruiting; employment screening; retirement; and insurance services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated through 85 sales offices in the United States. The company was formerly known as Administaff, Inc. and changed its name to Insperity, Inc. in March 2011. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Kingwood, Texas. BILLINGS Gov. Steve Bullock and his Republican challenger Greg Gianforte offered contrasting views Monday night of Montana's current condition and visions of government's role in its future. In a debate at the Petro Theater on the Montana State University Billings campus, Bullock and Gianforte sparred over leadership qualities and ethics as well as policy views ranging from natural resource development and taxation to civil rights and refugee resettlement. Montana was a gift for me growing up and I want to make sure the next generation has the same opportunities and more that I did, Bullock said in his opening remarks. I dont want to be a state where a small group of people get the rules to benefit them. Gianforte, as he has done throughout his campaign, said his experience in business makes him better suited to lead the state than a career politician. I am running for one reason: to create more high-wage jobs in Montana so our kids dont have to leave, he said, blaming Bullock for the states shrinking economy. Our kids are leaving in large part because we have a failed administration in Helena. Bullock is seeking his second term. He has previously served as the state's attorney general and before that had his own law firm, was executive assistant and acting chief deputy attorney general and legal counsel to his lieutenant governor, Mike Cooney, when Cooney was Secretary of State. Bullocks campaign has focused on creating a plan to pay for infrastructure needs across the state, capitalizing on the state's outdoor recreation economy, early childhood education and closing the wage gap between men and women. Gianforte is a Bozeman businessman who founded RightNow Technologies and sold the customer-service software company to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2011. Along with his family, he runs the states second-largest private foundation, which has contributed millions to groups locally and nationwide. He has campaigned on changing the culture of government to one of customer service, reduced business and personal property taxes,expanded natural resource development, and targeted infrastructure spending. This was the second debate between the candidates. Bullock and Gianforte faced off in June in Big Sky, taking jabs at each other over the economy, education, river access and refugees. Some of those issues resurfaced in Billings before the packed theater crowd of about 400 people holding red Bullock or orange Gianforte signs in their laps. Several questions posed to the candidates asked how they would manage a cloudy state budget picture. State economy According to a July report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Montanas gross domestic product shrank in the last quarter of 2015 and the first of 2016, largely because of declining activity in oil and gas, timber, mining and agriculture, as well as the related transportation of those goods. This summer legislators watched state revenues come in slower than expected, meaning they will start the next session in January with about $100 million less than anticipated. Gianforte said the state must improve the climate for businesses and suggested Bullock had been bought by environmentalists that want to end natural resource development. We need a strong economy so we have a tax base We need an all-of-the-above strategy in the private sector, he said. It includes responsible development of natural resources. The exact people who sued to shut down Colstrip have funded his campaign, the Montana Environmental Information Center and the Sierra Club. Bullock said Gianforte was cherry-picking names from the more than 7,000 Montanans who have contributed to his campaign, including from coal company CEOs. Well continue to work with everybody, he said. Hes continually betting against Montana. Bullock said coal would continue to be a part of Montanas energy economy, even as it faces external market and regulatory pressures, but that the state must diversify. Colstrip and coal The future partial closure of the coal-fired power plant in Colstrip, about 120 miles east of Billings, played a prominent role in the nights debate. The candidates at one point were asked what theyd tell a hypothetical 10-year-old who lived there about his hometowns future. Gianforte said hed tell the child, Dont let anybody tell you anything is impossible. You can prosper in Montana. He added that if he was elected governor he would work to bring ownership in the power plant back to companies in the state. The plants two older units slated for shutdown are owned by Talen Energy, a Pennsylvania company that also operates the plant, and Puget Sound Energy, based in Washington. The newer units are split among Puget, Washington's Avista Corp., PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric, both in Oregon, and NorthWestern Energy. Several large operations in Montana, including a refinery in Billings and the copper mine in Butte, get their electricity from Colstrip. Bullock said coal will continue to be a force in the state. Long-term, coal and other fossil fuels will be part of our energy future, he said, adding that the state must be a driver in exploring carbon capture projects. How we do it is by bringing people together to find solutions. Earlier this month U.S. Department of Energy officials met in Helena to unveil a new white paper stressing the agencys position that coal will continue to necessary to provide reliable power in the U.S. and world and that time and money must be invested in clean coal technologies. The candidates also were asked whether they support suggestions to tap into the principal of the Coal Severance Tax Trust, including for programs to help Colstrip and its residents transition. Interest from the trust funds several state programs in whole or part, but proposals have come forward in several of the last Legislatures to remove some of the $1 billion principal to pay for infrastructure projects, school repairs or other needs. I dont think thats a good idea, Bullock said, suggesting that collaboration with residents and industry leaders could develop a vision for Colstrips future. Gianforte disagreed about use of the trust. I do think we ought to be using some of the coal trust funds, particularly to fund infrastructure, he said. Both Gianforte and Bullock have proposed creating a sub trust of the coal trust funds that could provide a stable source of infrastructure funding, although they differ on how best to set up that fund and what types of projects should be included. While Gianforte has said water, sewer and roads must come first, Bullock has added schools to his list. Several of the states largest communities, most vocally Billings, have urged state leaders to allow local governments to pass an optional sales tax that could fund infrastructure projects. Gianforte said that he generally does not think more taxes are the solution while acknowledging the way we fund local governments is not working. Thats why Im thrilled Lesley Robinson is joining me on my ticket as lieutenant governor, he said, noting she is a Phillips County commissioner. We need to find ways to fund these projects. I dont think you tax your way to prosperity. Bullock said he wants to see a bill on his desk before he decides whether to support a local option tax. Last session, that one didnt even get out of committee, he said. I think they have a lot of work to do before thats even a discussion. Noting that Yellowstone County receives one-sixth of its revenue from the business equipment tax, one moderator asked Gianforte how he would protect local governments in his proposal to eliminate that tax. How do we pay for it? We pay for it by slowing the growth of government, the Republican said. Bullock noted that he had signed bills to reduce the number of people paying the tax and to reduce the rate of it. Nine of the 10 biggest companies that pay that tax are out of state, he said. Thats 50 percent of all business equipment tax collected. ... You dont build our state up by giving tax breaks to out of state corporations and millionaires. Getting personal In the first half of the debate panelist Greg LaMotte asked the candidates if either of them had ever had an extramarital affair. Though the question may seemed out of left field for more casual observers of Montana politics, a copy of questions obtained before the debate provides some context. The issue of the state plane has been raised by Greg Gianforte, it starts, continuing that the Republican-leaning radio station KGVO published a story online saying that at least one person has been on the plane 51 times. The radio station report causes me to ask both of you gentlemen, and (it) cuts to the issue of morality, if youve ever had an extramarital affair? As asked during the debate, LaMotte said people in the state have a strong sense of family values and morality but did not mention the plane. Both candidates said they have not had an affair. Gianforte said he and his wife have been married 28 years and have four children. Families are the bedrock of our society, he said. Bullock said he just celebrated his 17th anniversary with his wife, who he first met in school growing up in Helena and reconnected with 15 years later. They have three children. Neither candidate mentioned the question in the flurry of emails sent out both during and after the debate declaring victory and attacking their opponents on their responses. Both did, however, find opportunities to question the others leadership skills. Leadership skills Gianforte criticized Bullock for failing to provide strong oversight of state agencies. We have dedicated state workers. They are not led well, Gianforte said, repeating a core campaign narrative. It starts with new leadership at the agencies. Bullock was asked about his decision to appoint former U.S. Sen. John Walsh to the seat when it was vacated by Max Baucus, who was named ambassador to China. When Walsh ran for re-election it was discovered he plagiarized his thesis at the U.S Army War College and dropped out of the race, which some say cost Democrats the seat. I respect the service he had to our nation, Bullock said. Gianforte dinged Bullock for having three lieutenant governors in his first term. Lt. Gov. Angela McLean resigned in November amid tensions with Bullocks staff, according to a previous Lee analysis of emails. Gianforte also took the opportunity to hammer home a call to action he made in his opening statement. Citing the recent contract award as well as questions about why Commerce Director Meg OLeary had traveled with Bullock to a Paul McCartney concert on the state plane, Gianforte called for the governor to fire her and appoint new leadership at the agency. Bullock also found opportunities in the debate to question Gianfortes leadership. One moderator asked Gianforte about his familys foundation, which has given tens of millions to Christian missions and faith-based social-service organizations, as well as to Petra Academy in Bozeman, the Christian private school attended by the Gianforte children and where Greg Gianforte serves on the board. The foundation, or Gianforte personally, also has contributed to the Montana Family Foundation and Americans for Prosperity, conservative service and advocacy organizations that have opposed gay marriage and the passage of nondiscrimination ordinances and supported new abortion restrictions. Bullock suggested Montanans civil rights would be endangered if Gianforte is elected. You dont build a better Montana by tearing some people down, he said. Gianforte defended the giving as part of his Christian responsibility to give back. I sort of feel like its an attack on our Christianity and our core base," he said. "Our First Amendment is very clear. It supports freedom of speech and freedom of religion for all Montanans. I would defend that right for every single Montanan. Syrian refugees Candidates also were asked about where they stand on allowing Syrian refugees into the state. Bullock said last November he would not block Syrian refugees. In a flier sent out as the first refugee in decades was arriving in Missoula, Gianforte said he would ban refugees from countries like Iran and Syrian and stop any refugee resettlement until "we know they can be properly vetted." The refugee family moving to Missoula is from the Congo and Gianfortes campaign called the timing a coincidence. We have an obligation to help but it does not include settling them here in Montana, he said. Bullock said Montana wont receive any unvetted refugees. Im not sure my opponent understands the role of government, he said. You have to take responsibility. A third and potentially final gubernatorial debate is scheduled for October 8 in Great Falls. The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Petersburg Products International" LLC, "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, 1837 LLC, Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc., Agile Pursuits Inc., Ambi Pur, Arbora & Ausonia, Arbora & Ausonia S.L.U., Avon - Giorgio Beverly Hills, Billie, Braun GmbH, Braun Shanghai Co. Ltd., Celtic Insurance Company Inc., Charlie Banana USA LLC, Corporativo Procter & Gamble S. de R.L. de C.V., DDFSkincare, Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery Shanghai Co. Ltd., Fameccanica North America Inc., Farmacy Beauty, Fater Central Europe SRL, Fater Eastern Europe LLC, Fater Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Fater S.p.A., Fater Temizlik Urunleri Ltd STI, First Aid Beauty, First Aid Beauty Limited, Folgers Coffee, Fountain Square Music Publishing Co. Inc., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette China Limited, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, 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 Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Shanghai Ltd., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay S.A., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, Inversiones Plaza LLC, LLC "Procter & Gamble - Novomoskovsk", LLC "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", LLC Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, Laboratoire Mediflor S.A.S., Laboratorios Vicks S.L.U., Lamberts Healthcare Ltd., Liberty Street Music Publishing Company Inc., Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones C.A., Merck Consumer Healthcare, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, Native, Nature's Best Health Products Ltd., New Chapter Canada Inc., New Chapter Inc., Nioxin Research Laboratories, Noxell Corporation, OUAI, Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Consumer Health Germany GmbH, P&G Distribution East Africa Limited, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding Inc., P&G Health Austria GmbH & Co. OG, P&G Health France S.A.S., P&G Health Germany GmbH, P&G Healthcare Zhejiang Limited, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Investment Management Ltd., P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G Japan G.K., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G South African Trading Pty. Ltd., P&G-Clairol, PG13 Launchpad Alpha Inc., PG13 Launchpad Beta Inc., PG13 Launchpad Gamma Inc., PGT Healthcare LLP, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Pressbox, 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 Chengdu Ltd., Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble China Ltd., Procter & Gamble China Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, 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 Deutschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distributing Philippines Inc., Procter & Gamble Distribution Company Europe BV, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe LLC, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana S.A.U., Procter & Gamble Far East Inc., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finance U.K. Ltd., 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 Ghana Trading Limited, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Technology Innovation Co. LTD., Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care LLC, Procter & Gamble Health & Beauty Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Belgium BV, Procter & Gamble Health Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Ltd., Procter & Gamble Health Poland Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Hellas Single Member Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holding Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Holdings UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Honduras S de RL, 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 Inc., Procter & Gamble Indochina Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama S. de R.L., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International Sarl, Procter & Gamble Investment Company UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Italia S.p.A., Procter & Gamble Jiangsu Ltd., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea Inc., Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble L&CP Limited, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA Pty Ltd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Tianjin Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Mataro S.L.U., Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, 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 Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Philippines Business Services Inc., Procter & Gamble Philippines Inc., Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo Higiene e Saude S.A., Procter & Gamble Product Supply U.K. Limited, Procter & Gamble Productions Inc., Procter & Gamble RHD Inc., Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services Sarl, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Switzerland SA, Procter & Gamble Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology Beijing Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Trading Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Vietnam Company Limited, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil Ltda., Procter & Gamble do Brazil LLC, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble doo Beograd, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Procter and Gamble Lanka Private Limited, Procter and Gamble SA Pty Ltd., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Recovery Engineering, Redmond Products Inc., Richardson-Vicks, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Riverfront Music Publishing Co. Inc., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Series Acquisition B.V., Seven Seas Limited, Shulton Inc., Snowberry, Snowberry New Zealand Limited, Sunflower Distributing LLC, TAOS - FL LLC, TAOS Retail LLC, THIS IS L, TULA, Tambrands, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving, The Art of Shaving - FL LLC, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Iams Company Inc., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company LLC, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., This is L. Inc., Thomas Hedley Co, US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon Shanghai Academy, VitaminHaus Pty Ltd, Walker & Co. Brands Inc., Walker & Company Brands, Wella AG, Zenlen Inc., Zirh, and iMFLUX Inc.. Read More Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a life sciences company, focuses on the provision of preparedness and response solutions that address accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats (PHTs) in the United States. The company's products address PHTs, which include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives; emerging infectious diseases; travel health; and emerging health crises and acute/emergency care. It offers BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine; Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent to treat botulinum disease; vaccinia immune globulin intravenous that addresses complications from smallpox vaccine; raxibacumab for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax; Anthrasil to for inhalational anthrax; reactive skin decontamination lotion kits; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate. The company also provides NARCAN, a nasal spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vivotif, an oral vaccine for typhoid fever; and Vaxchora, a single-dose oral vaccine to treat cholera. In addition, it is developing AP003, a Naloxone multidose nasal spray; AP007, a sustained release Nalmefene injection for treatment of opioid use disorder; AV7909, an anthrax vaccine; CGRD-001, a pralidoxime chloride/atropine auto-injector; CHIKV VLP, a chikungunya virus VLP vaccine; COVID-HIG for the treatment of SARS-CoV2; EGRD-001, a diazepam auto-injector; SIAN, an antidote for the initial treatment of acute poisoning of cyanide; and UniFlu, a universal influenza vaccine. Further, the company provides contract development and manufacturing services comprising drug substance and product manufacturing, and packaging, as well as technology transfer, process, and analytical development services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells starches and sweeteners for various industries. It operates through four segments: North America; South America; Asia-Pacific; and Europe, Middle East and Africa. The company offers sweetener products comprising glucose syrups, high maltose syrups, high fructose corn syrups, caramel colors, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrins, and glucose syrup solids, as well as food-grade and industrial starches, biomaterials, and nutrition ingredients. It also provides edible corn oil; refined corn oil to packers of cooking oil and to producers of margarine, salad dressings, shortening, mayonnaise, and other foods; and corn gluten feed used as protein feed for chickens, pet food, and aquaculture, as well as fruit and vegetable products, such as concentrates, purees and essences, pulse proteins, and hydrocolloids systems and blends. The company's products are derived primarily from processing corn and other starch-based materials, such as tapioca, potato, and rice. It serves food, beverage, brewing, and animal nutrition industries. The company was formerly known as Corn Products International, Inc. and changed its name to Ingredion Incorporated in June 2012. Ingredion Incorporated was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Westchester, Illinois. Aetna Inc. operates as a health care benefits company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Health Care, Group Insurance, and Large Case Pensions. The Health Care segment offers medical, pharmacy benefit management service, dental, behavioral health, and vision plans on an insured and employer-funded basis. It also provides point-of-service, preferred provider organization, health maintenance organization, and indemnity benefit plans, as well as health savings accounts and consumer-directed health plans. In addition, this segment offers Medicare and Medicaid products and services, as well as other medical products, such as medical management and data analytics services, medical stop loss insurance, workers' compensation administrative services, and products that provide access to its provider networks in select geographies. The Group Insurance segment offers life insurance products, including group term life insurance, voluntary spouse and dependent term life insurance, group universal life insurance, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance; disability insurance products; and long-term care insurance products, which provide the benefits to cover the cost of care in private home settings, adult day care, assisted living, or nursing facilities. The Large Case Pensions segment manages various retirement products comprising pension and annuity products primarily for tax-qualified pension plans. The company provides its products and services to employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups, and expatriates. Aetna Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in Hartford, Connecticut. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells products, solution, and systems that manage and conserve the flow of fluids and energy into, through and out of buildings in the commercial and residential markets in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers residential and commercial flow control products, including backflow preventers, water pressure regulators, temperature and pressure relief valves, and thermostatic mixing valves. It also provides heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and gas products, such as boilers, water heaters, custom heat, and hot water solutions; hydronic and electric heating systems for under-floor radiant applications; custom heat and hot water solutions; hydronic pump groups for boiler manufacturers and alternative energy control packages; and flexible stainless steel connectors for natural and liquid propane gas in commercial food service and residential applications. In addition, the company offers drainage and water re-use products comprising drainage products and engineered rain water harvesting solutions for commercial, industrial, marine, and residential applications; and water quality products that include point-of-use and point-of-entry water filtration, conditioning, and scale prevention systems for commercial and residential applications. Further, it provides smart mixing system under the IntelliStation name. The company sells its products to plumbing, heating, and mechanical wholesale distributors and dealers, as well as original equipment manufacturers, specialty product distributors, do-it-yourself chains, and retail chains; and directly to wholesalers and private label accounts. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts. The following companies are subsidiares of Novo Nordisk A/S: Aldaph SpA, Beijing Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Science & Technology Co. Ltd., CS Solar Fund XIV LLC, Calibrium, Corvidia, Corvidia Therapeutics Inc., Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc., Emisphere Technologies, Emisphere Technologies Inc., MB2 LLC, NNE A/S, Neotope Neuroscience Limited, Novo Nordisk, Novo Nordisk (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Novo Nordisk (Pty) Limited, Novo Nordisk (Shanghai) Pharma Trading Co. Ltd., Novo Nordisk B.V., Novo Nordisk Canada Inc., Novo Nordisk Colombia SAS, Novo Nordisk Comercio Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Novo Nordisk Denmark A/S, Novo Nordisk Egypt LLC, Novo Nordisk Farma OY, Novo Nordisk Farma S.R.L., Novo Nordisk Farma dooel, Novo Nordisk Farmaceutica Limitada, Novo Nordisk Farmaceutica do Brasil Ltda., Novo Nordisk Finance (Netherlands) B.V., Novo Nordisk Health Care AG, Novo Nordisk Hellas Epe., Novo Nordisk Holding Limited, Novo Nordisk Hong Kong Limited, Novo Nordisk Hrvatska d.o.o., Novo Nordisk Hungaria Kft., Novo Nordisk Inc., Novo Nordisk India Holding Pte Ltd., Novo Nordisk India Private Limited, Novo Nordisk Kazakhstan LLP, Novo Nordisk Kenya Ltd., Novo Nordisk Lanka (PVT) Ltd, Novo Nordisk Limited, Novo Nordisk Limited Liability Company, Novo Nordisk Ltd, Novo Nordisk Mexico S.A. de C.V., Novo Nordisk North America Operations A/S, Novo Nordisk Norway AS, Novo Nordisk Panama S.A., Novo Nordisk Pars, Novo Nordisk Peru S.A.C., Novo Nordisk Pharma (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Novo Nordisk Pharma (Private) Limited, Novo Nordisk Pharma (Singapore) Pte Ltd., Novo Nordisk Pharma (Taiwan) Ltd., Novo Nordisk Pharma (Thailand) Ltd., Novo Nordisk Pharma AG, Novo Nordisk Pharma Argentina S.A., Novo Nordisk Pharma EAD, Novo Nordisk Pharma GmbH, Novo Nordisk Pharma Gulf FZE, Novo Nordisk Pharma Inc., Novo Nordisk Pharma Korea Ltd., Novo Nordisk Pharma Limited, Novo Nordisk Pharma Ltd., Novo Nordisk Pharma Operations (Business Area) Sdn Bhd, Novo Nordisk Pharma Operations A/S, Novo Nordisk Pharma S.A., Novo Nordisk Pharma SARL, Novo Nordisk Pharma SAS, Novo Nordisk Pharma Sp.z.o.o., Novo Nordisk Pharma d.o.o., Novo Nordisk Pharma d.o.o. Belgrade (Serbia), Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Industries LP, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Services Sp. z o.o., Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals (Philippines) Inc., Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals A/S, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Pty. Ltd., Novo Nordisk Pharmatech A/S, Novo Nordisk Pharmatech US Inc., Novo Nordisk Production SAS, Novo Nordisk Production Support LLC, Novo Nordisk Producao Farmaceutica do Brasil Ltda., Novo Nordisk Region AAMEO and LATAM A/S, Novo Nordisk Region China A/S, Novo Nordisk Region Europe A/S, Novo Nordisk Region Japan & Korea A/S, Novo Nordisk Research Center Indianapolis Inc., Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle Inc., Novo Nordisk S.P.A., Novo Nordisk Saglik Urunleri Tic. Ltd. Sti., Novo Nordisk Saudi for Trading, Novo Nordisk Scandinavia AB, Novo Nordisk Service Centre (India) Pvt. Ltd., Novo Nordisk Slovakia s.r.o., Novo Nordisk Tunisie SARL, Novo Nordisk US Bio Production Inc., Novo Nordisk US Commercial Holdings Inc., Novo Nordisk US Holdings Inc., Novo Nordisk Ukraine LLC, Novo Nordisk Venezuela Casa de Representacion C.A., Novo Nordisk d.o.o., Novo Nordisk s.r.o., PT. Novo Nordisk Indonesia, S.A. Novo Nordisk Pharma N.V., UAB Novo Nordisk Pharma, Xellia Pharmaceuticals, Ziylo, and Ziylo Limited. Read More First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through three segments: Regional Banking, Specialty Banking, and Corporate. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also underwrites bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities eligible for underwriting by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; and offers advisory services. In addition, it offers various services, such as mortgage banking; title insurance and loan-closing; brokerage; correspondent banking; nationwide check clearing and remittance processing; trust, fiduciary, and agency; equipment finance; and investment and financial advisory services. Further, the company sells mutual fund and retail insurance products; and credit cards. It operates approximately 500 banking offices in 22 states under the First Horizon Bank brand; and 400 banking centers in 12 states under the FHN Financial brand in the United States. The company was formerly known as First Horizon National Corporation and changed its name to First Horizon Corporation in November 2020. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. The following companies are subsidiares of Roper Technologies: AC Analytical Controls B.V., AC Analytical Controls Holding B.V., AC Analytical Controls Services B.V., Abel Pump, Acton Research, Acumen PM LLC, Aderant Canada Company, Aderant Company, Aderant Holdings Inc., Aderant International Holdings LLC, Aderant Legal (UK) Limited, Aderant Legal Holdings (AUS) Pty Ltd, Aderant Legal Holdings (NZ) ULC, Aderant Legal Holdings Inc., Aderant North America Inc., Aderant Parent Holdings Inc., Advanced Sensors Limited, Advanced Sensors Ltd., AiCambridge Ltd., Alpha Holdings of Delaware I LLC, Alpha Holdings of Delaware II LLC, Alpha Technologies B.V., Alpha Technologies GmbH, Alpha Technologies Japan LLC, Alpha Technologies Services LLC, Alpha Technologies U.K., Alpha Technologies s.r.o., Alpha Trust Corporation, Alpha UK Holdings LLC, American LegalNet Inc, Amot Controls Corporation, Amot Controls GmbH, Amot/Metrix Investment Company Inc., Amphire Solutions Inc., Amtech Systems (Hong Kong) Limited, Amtech Systems LLC, Amtech World Corporation, Antek Instruments, Archisnapper BV, Ascension Technology Corporation, Assureweb Limited, Atlantic Health Partners Inc., Atlas Database Software Corp., Avitru, Bellefield Systems, BillBlast, C/S Solutions Inc., CBORD Holdings Corp., CBORD Holdings Corporation, CIVCO Holdings Inc., CIVCO Medical Solutions B.V., Centurion Research Solutions LLC, Chalwyn Limited, Civco Holding Inc., Civco Medical Instruments Co. Inc., Clackamas Pump LLC, CliniSys Group, CliniSys Group Limited, Clinisys Scotland Limited, Clinisys Solutions Limited, Cointec Ingenieros y Consultores S.L., Commerce Pump LLC, Compressor Controls (Beijing) Corporation Ltd., Compressor Controls Corporation B.V., Compressor Controls Corporation Middle East, Compressor Controls Corporation S.r.l., Compressor Controls LLC, Compressor Controls Mauritius Ltd., Compressor Controls Pty Ltd., Compressor Controls Saudi Arabia LLC, ComputerEase Software, ConceptShare, ConstructConnect, ConstructConnect Canada Inc., ConstructConnect Inc., Cornell Pump Company, DAT Solutions LLC, DATSolutions Private Limited, DCMH Group Holdings Inc., DCMH Group Holdings LLC, DCMH Holdings Inc., DI Acquisition Subsidiary Inc., DI Dutch Holdings LLC, DI Hong Kong Limited, Data Innovations, Data Innovations Canada Ltd., Data Innovations Cooperatief U.A., Data Innovations Europe S.A., Data Innovations LLC, Data Innovations Latin America Ltda, Dawning Technologies LLC, Deltek, Deltek Ajera Inc., Deltek Asia Pacific (HK) Limited, Deltek Australia Pty Ltd., Deltek Danmark A/S, Deltek France SAS, Deltek GB Limited, Deltek GmbH, Deltek Inc., Deltek Nederland B.V., Deltek Netherlands B.V., Deltek Norge AS, Deltek Sverige AB, Deltek Systems (Canada) Inc., Deltek Systems (Colorado) Inc., Deltek Systems (Philippines) Ltd., Deltek TNSCore Holdings LLC, Deltek WST LLC, Dominion I Inc., Duncan Technologies, Dynamco Inc., Dynamic Instruments Inc., Dynisco Enterprises GmbH, Dynisco Enterprises LLC, Dynisco Europe GmbH, Dynisco Holding GmbH, Dynisco Instruments LLC, Dynisco Instruments S.a.r.l., Dynisco LLC, Dynisco Parent Inc., Dynisco S.r.l., Dynisco Viatran LLC, Dynisco Viatran (M) Sdn Bhd, Dynisco-Viatran Instrument Sdn Bhd, EPSI, FMS Purchasing & Services Inc., FSI Holdings Inc., FTI Flow Technology Inc., Flow Technology, Fluid Metering, Fluid Metering Inc., Foodlink Holdings Inc., Foodlink Holdings Inc., Foodlink IT India Private Limited, Foundry, Foundry Visionmongers (Ireland) Limited, Freight Market Intelligence Consortium, Gatan, GeneInsight Inc., Getloaded Corporation, HRsmart Canada Inc., HRsmart France SAS, HRsmart Germany GmbH, HRsmart Inc., HRsmart International, HRsmart International Holdings LLC, HRsmart Mexico, HRsmart SA (Pty) Ltd., HRsmart Talent Management Solutions Europe Limited, HRsmart Ventures LLC, Handshake Software Inc., Handshake Software Inc., Hansco Automatisering B.V., Hansen Technologies, Hansen Technologies Corporation, Harbour Holding Corp., Hardy Process Solutions, Horizon Lab Systems LLC, Horizon Software International LLC, IDS, INPUT Inc., IPA Acquisition Subsidiary Inc., ISL Finance SAS, ISL Holding SAS, ISL Scientifique de Laboratorie - ISL S.A.S., Impact Financial Systems, Industrial Products Investment Company, Innovative Product Achievements LLC, Innovative Product Achievements LLC, Inovonics Corporation, Instill Corporation, IntelliTrans Limited, Intellitrans LLC, Intellitrans Sweden AB, JLT Mobile Computers Inc., Job Access LTDA, Laser App Inc., Link Logistics Holding LLC, Loadlink Technologies Corporation, Logitech, Logitech Limited, Lumenera Corporation, MASD, MED Professional Services LLC, MEDTEC Inc., MEDTEC LLC, MHA Long Term Care Network Inc., MHA Long Term Care Services Inc., MIPS Austria GesmbH, MIPS Deutschland GmbH, MIPS France Sarl, MIPS Nederland B.V., MIPS Schweiz AG, MIPS Software Iberica SL, MPR Readers Inc., Managed Health Care Associates Inc., Media Cybernetics L.P., Medical Information Professional Systems NV, Medina Acquisition LLC, Metrix Instrument Co. L.P., NDI Europe GmbH, NDI Holding Corp., Navigator Group Purchasing Inc., Neptune Technology Group (Canada) Co., Neptune Technology Group Holdings Inc., Neptune Technology Group Inc., Neptune Technology Group Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Neptune Technology Group Services Inc., Nippon Roper K.K., Northern Digital Inc., Omega Legal Systems Inc., On Center Software LLC, Onvia Inc., PAC (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PAC Denmark ApS, PAC GmbH, PAC Instruments (Thailand) Company Limited, PAC Instruments Asia PTE. Ltd., PB Bidco Limited, PB Holdco Limited, PB Midco Limited, PB Topco Limited, PGP UK Limited, PMC/Beta, Petroleum Analyzer, Petroleum Analyzer Company L.P., Petrotech, Phase Analyzer Company Ltd., Photometrics, PowerPlan, PowerPlan Canada ULC, PowerPlan Holdings Inc., PowerPlan Inc., PowerPlan Intermediate Holdings Inc., PowerPlan Operations ANZ Pty Ltd, PowerPlan Operations Ltd., Princeton Instruments, Project Aloha Merger Sub Inc., Project Diamond Intermediate Holdings Corporation, Project Torque Intermediate Holdings Inc., Project Viking Holdings Inc., Project Viking Intermediate LLC, QSC 1208 Limited, QSC 1209 Limited, Quantitative Imaging Corporation, RF IDeas, RF IDeas Inc., RI Marketing India Private Limited, RIL Holding Limited, RMT Inc., RT Merger Sub Inc., Rebate Tracking Group LLC, Redlake Imaging Corporation, Resonant Software Inc., Roda Deaco Valve Inc., Roper Acquisitions Holdings Inc., Roper Brasil Comercio E Promocao De Productos E Servicos LTDA, Roper Canada Holdings LP, Roper Canada UK Limited, Roper Denmark UK Limited, Roper EUR Pte. Ltd., Roper Engineering s.r.o., Roper Europe GmbH, Roper GM Denmark Holdings ApS, Roper Germany GmbH, Roper Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Roper Holdings Limited, Roper IH LLC, Roper Industrial Products Investment Company, Roper Industries Denmark ApS, Roper Industries Deutschland GmbH, Roper Industries Inc., Roper Industries Limited, Roper Industries Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Roper Industries Mauritius Ltd., Roper Industries UK Limited, Roper International Holding Inc., Roper International Holding Limited, Roper International Holding SCS, Roper LLC, Roper Luxembourg Finance S.a.r.l., Roper Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Roper Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Roper Middle East Ltd. FZCO, Roper NL1 UK Limited, Roper NL2 UK Limited, Roper Operations Company I LLC, Roper Operations Company II LLC, Roper Pte. Ltd., Roper Pump Company, Roper Scientific B.V., Roper Scientific SAS, Roper Scot LP, Roper Singapore Holding LLC, Roper Southeast Asia LLC, Roper Swiss Finance GmbH, Roper T1 LLC, Roper T1000 Corp., Roper T2 LLC, Roper Tech. Middle East Ltd. FZCO, Roper Technologies (Ireland) Limited, Roper Technologies (Scot) LP, Roper UK Investments Limited, Roper UK Ltd., Roper-Mex L.P., Ropintassco Holdings L.P., SHP Group Holdings Inc., SIRA LLC, Shanghai Roper Industries Trading Co. Ltd., Sinmed Holding International B.V., Societe de Distribution de Logiciels Medicaux, SoftWriters Inc., Softwriters Holdings, Softwriters Holdings Inc., Sohnar Pty Ltd, Star Purchasing Services LLC, Strata Acquisition Subsidiary Inc., Strata Decision Technologies LLC, Strata Decision Technology LLC, Strata Parallel II Inc., Strategic Healthcare Programs Blocker 2 Inc., Strategic Healthcare Programs Blocker LLC, Strategic Healthcare Programs Holdings LLC, Strategic Healthcare Programs Holdings LLC, Strategic Healthcare Programs L.L.C., Struers, Struers (Shanghai) International Trading Ltd., Struers A/S, Struers GmbH, Struers Inc., Struers K.K., Struers Limited, Struers SAS, Sunquest Europe Limited, Sunquest Holdings Inc., Sunquest Information Systems (Europe) Limited, Sunquest Information Systems (India) Private Limited, Sunquest Information Systems (International) Limited, Sunquest Information Systems Inc., Sunquest Information Systems Pty Ltd, TLP Holdings LLC, Team TSI Corporation, Technolog Group Limited, Technolog Holdings Limited, Technolog Holdings Ltd., Technolog Limited, Technolog SARL, The CBORD Group Inc., The Foundry Topco No.2 Limited, The Foundry USCo Inc., The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd., The Tidewater Healthcare Shared Services Group Inc., The Washington Management Group Inc., Torque Acquisition Holdco Inc., Transcore Atlantic Inc., Transcore CNUS Inc., Transcore Holdings Inc., Transcore ITS LLC, Transcore LP, Transcore Nova Scotia Corporation, Transcore Partners LLC, Trinity Integrated Systems Limited, Trinity Integrated Systems Ltd., UHF Purchasing Services LLC, Union Square Software (International) Limited, Union Square Software Inc., Union Square Software Limited, Union Square Software Pty, United Controls Group Inc., Uson L.P., Uson Limited, Utilitec Limited, Utilitec Services Limited, Utility Data Services Limited, Verathon Canada Holdings Inc., Verathon Holdings (Delaware) Inc., Verathon Inc., Verathon Inc., Verathon Medical (Australia) Pty Limited, Verathon Medical (Canada) ULC, Verathon Medical (Europe) B.V., Verathon Medical (France) SARL, Verathon Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Verathon Medical (Japan) K.K., Verathon Medical (UK) Ltd., Vertafore, Vertafore Canada Inc., Vertafore Inc., Vertafore India Private Limited, Viastar Services LP, Viatran Corporation, WELIS, Walter Herzog GmbH, WorkBook APAC Ltd., Workbook Software A/S, Zetec (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zetec Canada Ltd., Zetec France, Zetec Inc., Zetec Korea Inc., Zetec Services Inc., iPipeline, iPipeline (TCP) Limited, iPipeline Canada Inc, iPipeline Co. Ltd., iPipeline Holdings Inc, iPipeline Inc, iPipeline Limited, iSqFt Holdings Inc., iSqFt Parent Corporation, iSqFt Sub Inc., iTradeNetwork Inc., and mySBX Corporation. Read More AmerisourceBergen Corporation sources and distributes pharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. Its Pharmaceutical Distribution segment distributes brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to various healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers. It also provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; and packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers. In addition, this segment distributes plasma and other blood products, injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other specialty products; provides other services primarily to physicians who specialize in various disease states, primarily oncology, as well as to other healthcare providers, including hospitals and dialysis clinics; and offers data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The company's Other segment provides integrated manufacturer services, such as clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support; specialty transportation and logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry; and sells pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and various other products to customers in the companion animal and production animal markets, as well as demand-creating sales force services to manufacturers. AmerisourceBergen Corporation was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, struts/pylons, nacelles, and related engine structural components; and wings and wing components, including flight control surfaces, as well as other structural parts. This segment primarily serves the aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or engine OEMs of large commercial aircraft and/or business/regional jet programs. The Defense & Space segment provides fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures primarily for U.S. Government defense programs, including Boeing P-8, C40, and KC-46 Tanker. This segment also engages in the fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training on fixed wing aircraft aerostructures, missiles, and hypersonics works, such as solid rocket motor throats, nozzles, re-entry vehicle thermal protections systems, forward cockpit and cabin, and fuselage work on rotorcraft aerostructures. The Aftermarket segment offers spare parts and MRO services, repairs for flight control surfaces and nacelles, radome repairs, rotable assets, engineering services, advanced composite repairs, and other repair and overhaul services. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Sierra Space to enhance access to commercial space economy of the future. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. William & Mary announces public polling partnership with TargetSmart Three William & Mary government professors will be working this fall with TargetSmart pollsters Ben Lazarus and Joe Goode to field a series of polls in select 2016 battleground states. The endeavor is the first polling partnership for William & Mary. It is our belief that the synergy created by this collaboration will allow us to better understand this election in crucial swing states, said Ron Rapoport, John Marshall Professor of Government, in a press release. Rapoport, along with his colleagues Jaime Settle and Dan Maliniak is working with TargetSmart both on developing the surveys and analyzing the data. The effort brings together substantial voter data, experienced survey researchers and leading academics in the fields of American politics, public opinion, survey research, and polling to produce research and analysis on some of the most competitive elections this cycle. TargetSmart is a leading provider of voter data, Rapoport noted, adding that merging that data with current survey results is a unique opportunity. By utilizing enhanced voter file data and actual levels of past voter turnout, we will be able to both predict which respondents are most likely to vote, and to simulate results at differing levels of turnout far more accurately than typical web or telephone surveys, he said. TargetSmart CEO and campaign veteran Tom Bonier agreed on the uniqueness of the opportunity. Were incredibly excited to partner with the College of William & Mary to bring academic rigor and perspective to our research, he said in the release. We will be releasing this survey data to the public, backed up by voter file data in an unprecedented way. Each professor brings a different academic focus to the project. Rapoport, who has taught at William & Mary for more than 25 years, specializes in third parties, electoral behavior and survey research. Settle, who directs the universitys Social Networks and Political Psychology (SNaPP) Lab, researches the psychology of the political process and the impact of social networks and social media on political behavior. Maliniak, who also teaches in William & Marys public policy program and received his undergraduate degree at William & Mary in 2006, specializes in international relations, focusing on the way domestic politics can affect foreign economic and environmental policy. TargetSmart, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a provider of political data typically to campaigns. The company has more than 25 years of experience in data management and solutions. The data that will result from this project will not only provide key analysis points on projected voter behavior, but will also provide unique research opportunities for William & Mary students moving forward, noted Settle. One of the best outcomes is for W&M students to be involved with data analysis and interpretation in such a timely project. The analytical and communication skills they will hone are sure to be useful to them for whatever they pursue after their time at W&M, she said. The first TargetSmart/William & Mary survey will occur in Ohio. That project is already underway, with the first poll to be fielded ahead of the first presidential debate. Additional polls are planned in other battleground states ahead of the November presidential election. This story was updated 9/19/16 - Ron Rapoport's expertise was updated from "third pary politics and polling" to "third parties, electoral behavior and survey research." - Ed. W&M Libraries selects new faculty scholar Tack Lecture Ann Marie Stock (right) is pictured with Dana McKelvey 13 (left) following the Tack Lecture delivered by Stock in March 2016. Click here for her discussion on her work connecting with students, W&M Libraries and Cubas film culture. Courtesy photo Cuba Visit Carrie Cooper (right) and Stock (second from left) visit with Silvia Gil, librarian at the Casa de las Americas literary (center) and Ambrosio Fornet, essayist, editor, screenwriter and one of Cuba's leading authorities of the history of book publishing in Cuba. Courtesy photo Photo - of - Hide Caption Ann Marie Stock, professor of Hispanic studies and film and media studies, has been named the inaugural William & Mary Libraries Faculty Scholar. I am delighted to welcome Dr. Stock to our libraries in this newly created position, said Dean of University Libraries Carrie Cooper. Ann Maries work with our librarians, collections and resources has established her as an innovator and leader. She has been a generous collaborator and effective partner. We are very enthusiastic about the possibilities. Stocks connection to W&M Libraries dates back to the beginning of her career at the institution. In her first year on the faculty in 1993, she served as library representative to the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. She then teamed up with the library to acquire materials on Cuban cinema. As a result, W&M has one of the most extensive collections of Cuban film and culture materials in the country. Helping select materials for our collections has provided me with a unique window into the world of academic libraries, said Stock. She credits this insider perspective as inspiration for her ongoing collaborations with librarians in various areas. Since 2009, Stock has been co-teaching with Troy Davis, director of media services for W&M Libraries, a new media workshop designed to foster creativity and connect students with audiovisual artists in Cuba. In the most recent installment this past spring, Stock and Davis along with Jennie Davy, archives specialist, and David Culver '09 led a study trip for 16 students to eastern Cuba a trip that Claire Seaton 18 describes as life changing. For me, the trip was the epitome of the liberal arts experience, connecting my coursework in Spanish, sociology and filmmaking, Seaton said. In this new position, Stock will partner with library colleagues on several initiatives. Principal among them is the creation of a digital archive to inventory and make accessible the Cuban film materials she has been compiling and creating for some 30 years. The first component of this digital humanities project, an online exhibit of Cuban film posters, is underway. The physical exhibit, UnMade in Cuba: Carteles de Cine, is on display in the Botetourt Gallery in Swem through the fall semester. Stock is also tasked with helping the Studio for Teaching and Research take shape. This hub for innovation, to be located adjacent to the Reeder Media Center in Swem, will support faculty collaboration across schools and disciplines, and between librarians and faculty. It will also serve as the home for the Center for the Liberal Arts. Additionally, Stock will facilitate faculty-librarian partnerships and support fundraising efforts, as well as other library initiatives. W&M Libraries is committed to engaging faculty in a variety of ways so as to enhance student learning and strengthen the institution. The creation of this new faculty scholar position constitutes an important next step in our ongoing efforts to inspire, support and connect with our dynamic faculty, said Cooper. She went on to express gratitude to Dean of Arts & Sciences Kate Conley, Provost Michael R. Halleran and generous donors for acknowledging the importance of this position and offering their support. Stock confesses to being thrilled with this new opportunity. She has served in a variety of capacities during her 23 years at W&M as director of both Hispanic studies and film and media studies, associate dean and acting dean of international affairs, director of the Reves Center for International Studies and a leader in developing undergraduate research opportunities in the humanities. I love William & Mary and am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity, Stock said. Its the ideal way for me to contribute to the institution at this time. Its awesome! China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page At 3:55 p.m. Central time, Michael and I, the two dogs, and 200 pounds of our stuff flew from Dallas, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany. Neither of us slept during the flight. With dogs at our feet, we sipped tea and watched movies, patiently waiting for the plane to land. As we flew, I worried. This is the craziest thing I've ever done. How insane are we? Michael has no job, we packed up our dogs, took a fraction of our belongings and left the rest behind, to enter a country we've never seen. But we had to try it. It's just something we set out to do. The dogs behaved brilliantly on the flight. After landing, we took a short bus ride to the area where we went through customs before picking up our luggage. Our dogs, Hugo and Millie, did not go to the bathroom the entire time. Not since leaving Dallas. I don't know about you, but I couldn't do that. We hopped a tiny bus that transported us to our new home: Heidelberg, Germany. We found our hotel and dropped off our luggage, which swallowed up the room. Our first order of business: explore. After all, this was our first glance of Germany and we wanted to experience it immediately, even jet lagged. We headed to the Altstadt, or Old Town, where the bridge crosses the Neckar River. It offers awesome views of the castle and the Hauptstrae the longest pedestrian walkway in the world. Already it has my heart. This pic is unedited. OK?! A bustling atmosphere, full of shops, I can already tell Orsay is going to be my new Forever 21, cafes, cobblestones, and corners filled with history. Michael and I kept pinching each other. Is this even real? We walked up and down the streets, dipping into shops before taking in a breathtaking view of the sunset over the Old Bridge. I ran like the proverbial chicken with my head cut off, trying to snap the views. Michael then reminded me: we live here. I can actually come and take pictures whenever I want. Marveled. That's the word that springs to mind. I am marveled by the beauty. Beyond expectation. But while we're soaking in our new home, we are also keenly aware that we have to hit the pavement to find a place to live, a car to own, and a train ticket to Munich (for Oktoberfest!). Funny/interesting things that have happened so far: Yesterday, Sunday, we needed more dog food (we feed the dogs chicken. Right now we're in a hotel with no refrigerator, so we have to buy it every other day). But all the grocery stores were closed. Apparently, businesses are required by law to be closed on Sundays. Oh. We eat our meals on towels in the hotel room. Our lunch/dinner has mainly consisted of peanut butter and out-of-this-world cherry jelly. I know I'll get sick of it, but it's new and exciting, so I don't really mind. EVERYONE waits to cross the street. Unaware, Michael and I constantly cross the street. All the signs say Bitte Warten, which means please wait. But it's raining and I'm tired or hungry or anxious see everything and, well, NO cars are coming. So I'm going! It's exciting with so many new things to explore, friendly people and temperature that actually feels like fall (unlike in Texas right now.) We are exhausted and still can't believe we actually did this. Is this still real life? Read why we chose to move abroad: The Big Reveal We're Moving to The Biggest Leap Funding gaps remain in decommissioning of East European reactors 20 September 2016 Share The estimated cost of decommissioning Soviet-designed, first-generation nuclear power reactors in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia will be at least 5.7 billion ($6.4 billion), according to the European Court of Auditors. However, it warns this could double if the cost of disposing of high-level radioactive waste is included. The two RBMK units at Lithuania's Ignalina plant (Image: IAE) The European Court of Auditors' mission is to contribute to improving European Union (EU) financial management, promote accountability and transparency, and act as the independent guardian of the financial interests EU citizens. Its role as the EU's independent external auditor is to check that EU funds are correctly accounted for, are raised and spent in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations and have achieved value for money. As part of their accession agreements to become members of the EU, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia agreed to the early closure and subsequent decommissioning of eight Soviet-era "non-upgradeable" reactors. These comprised units 1 to 4 of Bulgaria's Kozloduy plant; units 1 and 2 of the Ignalina plant in Lithuania; and units 1 and 2 of Slovakia's Bohunice V1 plant. These were shut down between 2002 and 2009. In return, the EU agreed to provide financial contributions to the three countries to compensate for the "exceptional social, economic and financial burden" of meeting this demand. Between 1999 and 2020, EU support to Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia for decommissioning those plants will have totalled 2.95 billion - 1.55 billion to Lithuania, 731 million to Bulgaria and 671 million to Slovakia. In addition, in the period up to 2013, the EU provided 890 million for energy projects designed to compensate for the loss of generating capacity in those countries due to the early reactor closures. The European Court of Auditors said today, the gap between decommissioning costs and financing in Lithuania has increased to 1.56 billion since the last audit in 2011, while the financing gaps in Bulgaria and Slovakia are estimated at 28 million and 92 million, respectively. "Member States' co-financing of EU programs remains very limited," the auditors said. "The dedicated EU funding programs for nuclear decommissioning have not created the right incentives for timely and cost-effective decommissioning, with nearly all the key infrastructure projects having experienced delays." While authorities in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia claim the plants have been irreversibly closed, the European Court of Auditors noted, "Not all of the expected outputs used by the European Commission to assess progress towards irreversible closure have been fully met". It says that while decommissioning of such plant components as the turbine halls is well advanced, "critical challenges" remain for work on decommissioning the reactor buildings. There have also been delays in the construction of key infrastructure projects for waste management at the reactor sites. The auditors have recommended the European Commission seeks to increase national co-financing of the decommissioning projects between 2014 and 2020. It also suggests dedicated funding programs for decommissioning in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia should be discontinued after 2020. The auditors also suggest those countries should improve their project management and build up their technical capacity, as well as establishing more complete cost estimates and financing plans for the disposal of used fuel and radioactive waste. They should also improve cooperation between themselves and other EU member states and beyond. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Thailand is a country in Southeastern Asia and borders four other countries, including Myanmar (Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia. It also borders the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Mostly known for its scenic beaches, Thailands mountains are giving tourists more reasons to visit the country. Most of Thailands mountains ranges are situated in the North and Northeastern parts of the country. The country has a mean elevation of 287 meters and the highest point is on Doi inthanon with an elevation of 2,565 meters and the lowest point is on the gulf of Thailand with an elevation of 0 meters. Doi Inthanon Doi Inthanon is Thailands highest mountain, reaching up to an elevation of 2,565 meters. The mountain was previously known as Doi Luang, which means Big Mountain in Thai. The mountain is home to scenic waterfalls in the lower and mid elevations such as the Mae Ya waterfall. The upper elevations of the mountain are characterized by a dense canopy of montane forests, dominated by oaks, tea-trees, and magnolias tree species. The dense canopy facilitates the growth of vegetation such as orchids, lichens, mosses, and ferns. The lower elevations are home to deciduous forests. The entire mountain and surrounding areas, along with their flora and fauna, have been enclosed in the Doi Inthanon National Park. The mountain is home to over 400 bird species, including rare species native only to a few of Thailands mountains. Such birds include the green-tailed sunbird and the ashy-throated warbler. There are gorals, bears, and deer that roam the mountain alongside snakes and other small animals. The Ping River and its tributaries originate from the mountain. The slopes of the mountain, being especially fertile, have been utilized for agricultural uses by the local communities. A tarmacked road was built by the military in the 1970s, which has made tourism activities easier and accessible on the mountain. Doi Pha Hom Pok The Doi Pha Hom Pok is the second highest mountain in Thailand at an elevation of 2,296 meters. The mountain is situated along the Burmese border in Chiang Mai and is enclosed in the Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park. Its name translates to mountain covered by a blanket, to refer to the thick forest visible in its higher elevations. The dense forests surrounding the mountain facilitate a rich undergrowth of ferns, lichens, and mosses. Abundant species of orchids are found on the mountain as well. Mixed deciduous forests are found on the mountain together with dry dipterocarp forests at the lower elevations. There are mammals such as wild boar, macaques, gibbons and barking deer and over 300 bird species. There are also numerous geysers and springs at the foot of the mountain, several of which are major tourist attractions. Waterfalls such as Tat Mok and Bhoo Muan are also attractions on the mountain. Tourism activities on the mountain are well coordinated in a bid to preserve the largely unaltered ecosystem. Doi Chiang Dao Doi Chiang Dao, at an elevation of 2,225 meters, is the third highest peak in Thailand. The mountain is part of the Daen Lao Range of the greater Shan Hills. Regarded to be 250 million years old, the limestone giant rises on the plains where Chiang Dao town is situated. The mountain is a renowned bird watching haven and has some rare species such as the Humes pheasant and Rusty-napped Pitta. The mountain is also home to rare flowers and butterflies. The Chiang Dao National Park hosts the peak and manages all tourism activities in its territory. Various forests types exist in the mountain, which is also home to small numbers of an indigenous hill tribe. Flora and fauna in the mountain remain undisturbed. Phu Soi Dao Phu Soi Dao is the fifth highest peak in Thailand, having an elevation of 2,120 meters. The mountain is part of the Luang Prabang mountain range along the border with Laos. A 5-tier waterfall by the same name on the mountain is undoubtedly one of the main attractions on the peak. The mountain is characterized by virgin forests, mostly pine trees, and numerous rivers and streams. The peak is enclosed in the Phu Soi Dao National Park and supports abundant flower and bird life. Impact on Tourism Other high mountains in Thailand, and their respective elevations, include Khao Kacheu La at 2,152 meters, followed by Phu Khe (2,079 meters), Phu Lo (Doi Lo) (2,077 meters), Doi Mae Tho (Doi Lang Ka) at 2,031 meters, Doi Mae Ya (2,005 meters), and Doi Phong Sa Yan (2,004 meters). Thailands mountains have become increasingly popular tourist destinations due to their unique features. Efforts by the government to develop sustainable tourism infrastructure have facilitated this surge in tourism. Iran is a country at the juncture of Western Asia and the Middle East. Iran borders seven other countries, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkey. It also borders the Gulf of Oman, the Caspian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. The country was known as Persia until 1935. Iran is a multi-ethnic nation with different ethnic groups that includes Persians, Kurds, Lurs, Arabs, Baluchs, Turkmen and Turkic tribes. The country enjoys a mix of cultures borrowed from far and wide. The many languages spoken in Iran have similarities to European and Asian languages. Persian is the largest ethnic group in Iran. The ethnic group makes up more than half of the nations population. Due to Persian dominance, the groups culture has had a significant impact on other cultures in the country. Iran has taken measures to ensure ethnic diversity is maintained. The constitution guarantees the rights of Ethnic minority groups in Iran. According to the law, the minority groups have equal rights with the majority group. Persians Persians and their culture dominate the Iranian population. They are estimated to make up 61% of the population. They occupy major urban areas such as Tehran, Esfahan, Mashhad, Yazd and Shiraz. The official language in Iran is Persian also known as Farsi. It is the first language for Persians, and ethnic minorities use it as a second language. Persians are known to have a rich cultural heritage. Their music, art, and poetry are ranked the best in Iran. Persians hold a majority of government positions. As a result, they influence important government decisions. Most Persians are Shia Muslims, the predominant religious group in Iran. Azerbaijani Azerbaijanis, also known as Azeris, are the second largest ethnic group in Iran, making up an estimated 16% of the total population. They are a Turkic-speaking community found in northwestern Iran close to the border with Azerbaijan. The Azeri language is almost similar to the Turkish language spoken in Turkey. Azeri people have a great deal in common with Persians. Their lifestyles are almost similar. In the cities, Azerbaijani and Persians have considerably intermarried. These people are more integrated into the Iranian society than other ethnic minorities. Azerbaijanis, just as with most Persians, are predominately Shia Muslims. Kurds Kurds are ranked as the third largest ethnic group in Iran. They make up approximately 10% of the population. They occupy both rural and urban areas. Rural Kurds are nomadic pastoralists. The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims. Lurs Lurs form the fourth largest ethnic group in Iran. They constitute 6%of the total population. The majority of the Lurs are pastoral nomads. Lurs who reside in rural areas are governed by tribal elders. They are considered among the fiercest tribe in Iran. Lurs acquired a bad reputation for preying on non-Lur villages. Arabs Arabs are a smaller minority group in Iran at an estimated 2% of the population. They primarily occupy oil rich regions in Iran. Ethnic Arabs complain of discrimination, and neglect by the Iranian government. Ethnic conflicts involving Arabs and government agencies have broken out in recent years. Inter-Ethnic Relations Iran is a diverse nation with many ethnic groups living therein. The largest ethnic group, Persian, has considerable control over the country. Ethnic minorities such as Kurds, Azeris, Lurs, and Arabs are discriminated against by the Iranian government. They live in under-developed areas and do not have access to proper education and healthcare. Due to the unequal treatment of the majority ethnic group and the minority groups, ethnic unrest is common in Iran. Email Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter On average, the premium for being close to a secondary school nationwide is 2.6% or 5,600. The premium is significantly smaller for 1-2 bedroom properties (1.3%) than for 3-5 bedroom properties (above 2%). The premium for being close to a secondary school has fallen since the boom. The premium is far greater for schools with the highest progression rates (4.3%) than for schools where less than half continue on to higher education (0.5%). Sign Up Free | The WPJ Weekly Newsletter Relevant real estate news. Actionable market intelligence. Right to your inbox every week. Go Thank you for your interest! You will now be receiving our Weekly Real Estate Newsletter. Real Estate Listings Showcase According to Daft.ie's latest property report, the Irish pay on average 2.6% more to live close to a secondary school. This translates into a national average of 5,600 (USD $6,273) more to live 100 metres from a post-primary school, compared a similar property 1km away from the same school.The report also examines whether the premium varies around the country. It finds that the premium is largest in Leinster, outside of Dublin, where it stands at 4.7%, compared to 1.6% in Dublin. In Munster, the average premium is 2.5%, while in Connacht-Ulster, it is 0.6%. Reflecting the fact that families requiring larger properties also require access to schools, the premium is bigger for three-, four- and five-bedroom properties (2.2%-2.4%) than it is for 1-2 bedroom properties (1.3%).The report also finds that schools that send a larger fraction of students on to higher education cause a bigger impact on house prices nearby than others. For schools where 80% or more of final-year students progress to higher education, the price premium is 4.3%. This is almost ten times as large as the premium where fewer than 50% of students progress to higher education.Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, Assistant Professor of Economics at Trinity College, Dublin said, "This research uses a host of different datasets and leading methods to investigate how being close to a secondary school affects the price of housing in Ireland. It puts numbers on the common-sense intuition that it costs more to buy a house with good access to schools. It also finds evidence that supports the idea that houses close to better schools enjoy a bigger price premium than others.""In other countries, this link between house prices and schools is the reason that property tax is used to fund schools. While that's not the case yet in Ireland, this shows a different aspect of the benefits that occur from public investment in education." A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took First Minister Unveils Five Year Plan to Take Wales Forward This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Sep 20th, 2016 The First Minister of Wales has today set out his governments five year plan that he says will take Wales forward. His plan outlines how the Welsh Government will deliver in five key areas, including transport, education, environment, health and prosperity. First Minister Carwyn Jones said the Welsh Governments Programme for Government, Taking Wales Forward, makes clear that the governments relentless focus will be on driving improvement in the Welsh economy and public services, delivering a Wales which is prosperous and secure, healthy and active, ambitious and learning, united and connected. Included in the five year plan is the delivery of more and better jobs through a stronger, fairer economy, the improvement and reform of public services and building a united, connected and sustainable Wales. First Minister, Carwyn Jones said: My vision of government is simple enabling people to live healthy and fulfilled lives and make the most of every opportunity, and supporting them when help is needed most. A critical five years lie ahead. The UKs withdrawal from the European Union creates some uncertainty and challenges, but our mandate is clear. The Welsh Governments relentless focus will be on driving improvement in our economy and public services, which are together the bedrock of peoples daily lives. Taking Wales Forward outlines our key priorities for delivering those improvements. They are ambitious measures, aimed at making a difference for everyone, at every stage in their lives. Together we can build a Wales that is more confident, more equal, better skilled and more resilient. As a country we have punched above our weight, and now we are ready to do more. I want to see a Wales which is prosperous and secure, healthy and active, ambitious and learning, united and connected. This is the Wales we are determined to build over the coming five years. The Welsh Governments media release contains a list of key commitments kicking off with a heartwarming positive title copied below: Prosperous and Secure: Driving forward inward investment, innovation and the creation of new jobs by providing more support for businesses, including delivering a tax cut, meaning smaller bills for 70,000 businesses and reducing business rates bills to zero for half of all eligible firms; Removing barriers to employment by creating the most generous childcare offer anywhere in the UK, providing 30 hours free childcare a week for working parents of three and four year olds, 48 weeks of the year. Ensuring prosperity for all by creating a minimum 100,000 high quality, all age apprenticeships, reshape employability support for people to find and get back into work and deliver the Cardiff City Region Deal, develop a similar deal for Swansea and a Growth Deal for North Wales; Deliver an extra 20,000 affordable homes, including 6,000 homes through the Help to Buy scheme; Successful, sustainable rural communities: Work with partners to secure a prosperous future for Welsh agriculture; Environment: Make progress towards our goal of reducing our greenhouse emissions by at least 80% by 2050, invest in the skills required for the green economy, promote green growth and innovation and continue to invest in flood defence work and take further action to better manage water in our environment. Healthy and Active: Improving healthcare services: continuing to improve access to GP surgeries, making it easier to get an appointment, as well as Increase investment in facilities to reduce waiting times and exploit digital technologies to help speed up the diagnosis of illness. Introducing a new treatment fund to give people in Wales fast access to new and innovative treatments and work to end the post-code lottery for drugs and treatments not routinely available on the NHS Investing in our healthcare staff by taking action to attract and train more GPs, nurses and other health professionals across Wales and ensure more nurses, in more settings, through an extended nurse staffing levels law. Prioritise mental health treatment, support, prevention and de-escalation, and increase access to talking therapies. Care and older people: More than double the capital people can keep when entering residential care to 50,000. Ambitious and Learning: Invest an additional 100 million to drive up school standards over the next term, continue to develop a new curriculum and invest nearly 2 billion in new and refurbished schools, community schools and college buildings by 2024; Examine ways of ensuring looked after children enjoy the same life chances as other children and if necessary reform the way they are looked after; Further and higher education: Offer a package of student support that is better than that offered in England, based on the recommendations of the Diamond Review. Transport: Deliver an M4 relief road in south east Wales, and improvements to the A55 in north Wales, the A40 in west Wales and other trunk roads; create a South Wales Metro and advance the development of a North Wales Metro system; and develop a new, not-for-profit, rail franchise from 2018 and deliver a more effective network of bus services once powers have been devolved; Ensuring a fairer society by repealing sections of the UK Governments Trades Union legislation in devolved areas and take further action on the living wage, limit the use of zero hours contracts and tackle other rogue and bad practices; Bring people together digitally by offering fast reliable broadband to every property in Wales; Work with local government to review council tax to make it fairer so that people with low and moderately valued properties pay less than they do now, and to provide funding to put in place a floor for future local government settlements; Continue to invest in encouraging more people to use and speak Welsh in their everyday lives and work towards one million people speaking the language by 2050. Wrexham.com readers can check their eye implant screens or tune their brains to the WelshFi at midday on Monday, 20th September 2021 to see our holographic tick or cross list over the success of the above. That will be followed by the Wrexham v Real Madrid home game viewable in full 3D-100k supervision from the Ken Skates Megadrome on Mold Road at 3pm. Tens of thousands of police and troops were mobilized across the New York metropolitan area Monday in the wake of Saturday nights bombing in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, which injured 29 people. A second explosive device was found four blocks from the first and disarmed without incident. In the first such effort in US history, the New York Police Department effectively commandeered the entire telecommunications network, sending a message to every cellphone in the metropolitan area, to millions of people, with details of the suspect sought for planting the two bombs, Ahmad Khan Rahami. The 28-year-old Afghan-American was arrested Monday morning after a local bar owner in Linden, New Jersey saw him sleeping in a doorway nearby and called police. Rahami was shot several times during what was described by police as an exchange of gunfire, before he was taken into custody. Two policemen were wounded, in addition to Rahami, but no ones wounds were life-threatening, officials said. US counterterrorism agencies told the media that Rahami had not been under surveillance and had no known connections to an overseas terrorist organization, despite having travelled several times to Afghanistan in recent years, as well as to other countries. It is not clear how, given his familys precarious economic circumstances, he was able to do this. Police now claim Rahami was responsible for four bomb-related incidents over the weekend. These include an attempted bombing Saturday morning of a charity 5k run in Seaside, New Jersey, about 80 miles south of New York City; the two bombs in Chelsea, one of which did not explode; and the depositing of five unexploded devices in a trash bin in Elizabeth, where they were found Sunday morning. It is not known whether Rahami had assistance in the attacks, which could have killed dozens of innocent people. The amateurish character of the operationbombs that did not go off, areas targeted without any political or social significance, no attempt to avoid surveillance cameras at the two Chelsea bomb sites, a broad trail of evidence leading directly to the perpetratorsuggest that the bomber was a disoriented individual, not a trained terrorist. Rahami came to the US in 1995, at the age of seven, when his family sought refuge from the civil war raging in Afghanistan between rival US-backed Islamist militias, one of which, the Taliban, took power a year later. The Rahami family appears to have had a difficult struggle as immigrants. They ran a chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a working-class suburb of New York City, in which the father and many of his sons worked side-by-side. The father filed for bankruptcy at least once, and tried to make ends meet by keeping the restaurant open 24 hours a day, unusual for a family-run business. Ahmad Rahami graduated from Edison High School and took classes for two years at a local community college, working towards a degree in criminal justice, but did not graduate. According to friends and acquaintances, he seemed completely Americanized, more interested in cars than religion. After a long trip to Afghanistan in 2012, however, he grew a beard, began wearing more traditional clothing and praying more frequently. Rahami still gave no sign of political or religious radicalization, continuing to work at the family restaurant. He was arrested in 2014 on a domestic violence allegation, but charges were dropped. Other than that, his only recorded encounter with the police involved a traffic ticket. Even ISIS, which has hailed as soldiers such disoriented supporters as the married couple who carried out the workplace massacre in San Bernardino, California, has not made a public claim of responsibility for Rahamis actions, although it did claim credit for the knife attack by a Somali-American man in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Saturday. The difference may be that the St. Cloud attacker was shot to death, while Rahami remains alive and could well supply a different motivation for his alleged actions. At a Monday afternoon press briefing after Rahami had been taken into custody, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared, There is no other individual we are looking for. FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney told the same news conference, I have no indication that theres a cell operating in the area. Nonetheless, de Blasio said that the biggest police-military mobilization in the citys history would continue because of the arrival of dozens of heads of state and other foreign leaders for the United National General Assembly meetings this week. Over 1,000 New York state police and National Guard troops are supplementing the operations of 36,000 NYPD officers, who have been deployed in force throughout the city. You should know you will see a very substantial NYPD presence this weekbigger than ever, de Blasio said. Whatever the connections between the Chelsea bombing and international terrorism, the two major-party candidates for president, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, were quick to seize on the near-tragedy in Manhattan as an opportunity for militaristic posturing and mutual mudslinging. Trump denounced immigrants and immigration as being responsible for the attacks because of stupid leaders who refused to close the borders of the US. In a 30-minute rant Monday morning on Fox & Friends, Trump denounced the modest increase in the number of refugees the Obama administration will admit to US, from 85,000 in the 2016 fiscal year to 110,000 in 2017. Trump rejected the assessment by US counterterrorism agencies that the bombing in New York City was not organized from overseas. I think there is many foreign connections, he said. I think this is one group. You have many, many groups because were allowing these people to come into our country and destroy our country and make it unsafe for people. He also lamented the fact that police were supposedly not allowed to use racial profiling against suspected terrorists. Clinton, for her part, was less strident but equally reactionary. She suggested that Trumps proposed ban on Muslims entering the US undermined US military operations in the Middle East, which depend on the collaboration of Muslim allies like Saudi Arabia. She cited a series of former intelligence and counterterrorism officials who have attacked Trump, and in some cases endorsed her, as a more effective commander-in-chief for American imperialism. Trump was doing the work of ISIS, she said. They are looking to make this into a war against Islam, rather than a war against jihadists, violent terrorists, she claimed, adding, The kinds of rhetoric and language Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries. Both candidates, and the corporate-controlled parties they represent, have no answer to the downward spiral of war and destruction in the Middle East except more war and more destruction, which will inevitably create the conditions for more terrorist attacks within the US, whether by operatives of groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, or disoriented individuals like the would-be Chelsea bomber. Socialist Equality Party (SEP) US presidential candidate Jerry White spoke with autoworkers at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) minivan assembly plant in Windsor, Canada on Monday afternoon. The campaign visit came just hours before the contract expiration for some 23,500 General Motors (GM), Ford and FCA workers at factories across Canada. Canadian workers were surprised to meet a candidate for US president at the plant gates. However, they gave White a warm reception as he explained that the SEP was fighting to unite workers internationally against the global attack on wages and the danger of war. What are you doing here if youre running against Clinton and Trump? one worker asked, but then gave a thumbs-up to White when he said he was fighting to unite workers on both sides of the border in a common struggle to defend jobs and living standards. Despite the repeated claims by the union Unifor that concessionary contracts would save jobs, GM, Ford and Chrysler have halved production in Canada, wiping out thousands of jobs and devastating working-class communities. Once again, however, Unifor President Jerry Dias is offering givebacks, supposedly to keep production from moving south of the border. FCA workers denounced this bankrupt policy. The way the union is now, one worker said, the last three contracts made promises of new vehicles, but the companies pulled back each time and cut jobs anyway. The Windsor minivan plant, originally built in 1929, employs nearly 6,000 workers, including large numbers of younger, lower-paid second-tier workers. FCA, which made $410 million in profits last year, has also made no commitment to keep open its Brampton, Ontario plant, with 3,556 workers. Similar threats have been made by GM to workers at its giant Oshawa plant, outside of Toronto, once the largest assembly complex in North America, turning out more than 900,000 vehicles annually and employing more than 11,000 people. Today there are only 2,400 hourly workers left. Production of the Camaro was shifted to Lansing, Michigan last year. GM closed its Windsor transmission plant in 2010, wiping out 1,400 jobs. If the Ford Windsor and Essex engine plantswhich employ 1,300 workersare to remain open, Unifor would have to agree to a competitive labor agreement that can overcome the challenges of operating in a high-cost country, a Ford of Canada senior executive threatened earlier this year. Having a competitive agreement is the price of entry for consideration for sourcing an investment, the executive said, Were always looking to expand in Canada But we have no product identified for Windsor. Workers must organize an international struggle because the transnational auto giants are pitting workers around the world in a race to the bottom, White explained. Corporate executives like FCA boss Sergio Marchionne have a global strategy. The economic nationalism of the unions, whether Unifor in Canada or the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the United States, serves to divide and weaken the international working class. White explained that the ceaseless promotion of nationalism also played into the hands of the ruling classes as they prepared for new wars over the control of resources, markets and cheap labor. If the companies have an international strategy, a veteran autoworker said, we should have one too. Instead we compete against each other over wages and work standards. And we know how wars work. US and Canadian workers fought joint battles to organize the UAW against the violent resistance of the auto bosses in the 1930s and 1940s. With advent of globalization, however, the nationalist union bureaucracies abandoned any struggle to unify the working class throughout North America as they transformed themselves into arms of corporate management. The Canadian section of the UAW split off in 1985, claiming there was a Canadian road to defending autoworkers. Over the last three decades, Unifor (formerly the Canadian Auto Workers) and the UAW have competed against each other to entice the Detroit Three automakers to locate production in their respective countries by suppressing the opposition of rank-and-file workers to a relentless driving down of labor costs. An entire generation of younger autoworkers have been brought into the plants at substandard wages and benefits and with little or no job security. A younger, second-tier worker told White, We make $20 an hour while the senior workers make $35. Im bringing home $35,000 a year before taxes, and the high-end Pacifica minivans we make sell for $55,000. Whether its Clinton or Trump there in the United States, they are all for the 1 percent, not us. But the rich own the banks and the government, how are we going to take them on and change it? When White asked her who makes all the wealth, she replied, the working class. White then said it was the working class that had to be mobilized independently of all the capitalist parties: the Democrats and Republicans in the US, the Tories, Liberals and New Democrats in the Canada. We have to build a mass political and socialist movement of the working class, White said, to unite workers internationally against war, oppression, inequality. These factories should belong to the working class, not the capitalists. White told workers that last year, autoworkers in the US rebelled against the UAW and defeated the first union-backed national contract in three decades. White denounced the UAW for refusing to pledge not to scab on a strike by Canadian workers and said the SEP was fighting to unify autoworkers in the US, Canada, Mexico and throughout the world against the globally-organized auto giants and the world capitalist system. Like their brothers and sisters in the US, White said, workers in Canada had to form rank-and-file committees take the conduct of the struggle into their own hands and fight to mobilize the broadest support among workers and youth. This meant rejecting the nationalism and pro-capitalist policies of Unifor and their anti-working class alliance with the Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who was given a heros welcome at last months Unifor national convention. Half an hour past the midnight deadline for a strike against General Motors Canada, Unifor President Jerry Dias announced the union had reached a framework for a tentative agreement that would prevent a walkout by nearly 4,000 GM workers. Surrounded by fellow union executives and with a backdrop reading, invest in Canada, Dias said the four-year deal had turned the tide of job cuts in Canada and won tens of millions of dollars in new investments. This included new product commitments, he said, for GMs giant Oshawa plant outside of Toronto, an engine plant in St. Catherines and a parts distribution facility in Woodstock. As every autoworker knows, however, whatever job security promises are made are not worth the paper they are printed on. Unifor and its predecessor, the Canadian Auto Workers, have repeatedly announced such dealsbased on ever-greater concessionsonly to see automotive employment in Canada halved since 2000. At GM alone, the numbers have fallen from 19,000 in 2002 to 3,900. While giving few if any details of the agreementwhich in fact is not a contract but the framework for oneDias did admit that Unifor had given up defined benefit pensions for new hires, an achievement won through generations of struggle by autoworkers. The hated two-tier wage system will also remain in place. The Grow In perioduntil a worker reaches top pay scaleappears to remain at ten years but new hires will start at a slightly higher wage. Dias said some 700 formerly part-time employees would be transitioned to full-time positions but did not say what pay and benefit rate they would receive. He did not mention if GM will still use a third tier supplementary workforce, which currently consists of 500 employees. It is likely that even more local concessions were accepted to save the Oshawa, St. Catherines and Woodstock facilities. Dias boasted, for example, that Unifor had convinced GM to shift some of its engine work from Mexico to the St. Catherines plant. In the past, he said, the auto companies had shifted production from Canada to Mexico to seek lower wages, now, Dias said, Unifor Local 199 had accepted a package that was reversing the trend. Dias also gave no details on plans to offer buyouts to thousands of higher-paid veteran workers in order to make room for new lower-paid workers. He boasted that after the 2012 contractwhich introduced hybrid pensions (part defined benefit, part defined contribution)Ford had hired 2,200 more workers. The elimination of defined benefit pensions is based on a separate deal Unifor cut with GMs CAMI (Canada Automotive Manufacturing Inc.) facility in Ingersoll, Ontario. While claiming that the deal meant there would be no closure of the Oshawa facility in 2019, he added that the Consolidated Linewith some 900-1000 jobswould be closed in 2017 at the plant regardless. Well aware that he will face widespread opposition to the sellout deal from rank-and-file workers, Dias said he did not want to get into any more economics until union officials meet with the membership. The ratification vote is scheduled for Sunday giving workers little or no time to study the details of what he admits is hundreds of pages of a deal that is still not a contract. He nevertheless said the entire bargaining committee had endorsed the package. GM workers voted overwhelmingly to endorse strike action earlier this summer and have repeatedly made clear that as the automakers rake in record profits, they expect improvement to their wages, which have remained frozen for ten years, and working conditions. While counting on Unifor to push through such a rotten deal, General Motors also relied on the United Auto Workers in the United States to undermine the impact of a potential strike. GM plants in the US are reportedly running at 80 percent and could run on increased capacity in case of a strike. Last week UAW leader Dennis Williams bluntly refused to give any assurances that he would not order US workers to take up the slack. For decades, Unifor and its predecessor, the CAW, have worked hand-in-glove with management to ram one concessions contract after another down the throats of autoworkers. Canadian autoworkers have not had a wage rise in a decade and their benefits have been repeatedly curtailed to boost GMs bottom line. This has been the disastrous outcome for autoworkers of CAW/Unifors pro-capitalist and nationalist perspective, which reached its high point in 1985 when the CAW and UAW split along national lines, dividing autoworkers in North America. Over the more than three decades since, management on both sides of the border have exploited these divisions to drive down wages and wrench further concessions from American and Canadian workers with the full collaboration of the union bureaucrats. Dias and his fellow union bureaucrats have no intention of fighting for the interests of rank-and-file members. They represent a privileged section of the middle class whose interests are bound up with protecting their perks and positions on joint company committees and deepening their already cozy relations with the big business political parties, above all the federal Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. Last week, the Liberal government announced it was changing the terms of a low-interest loan programme to provide more handouts to the automakers. The funds will now be offered as grants, a gesture welcomed by Dias as a positive step. Autoworkers at GM and the other Detroit three automakers should recall the treacherous role played by the UAW during last years contract talks in the US. After failing to bully Fiat Chrysler workers into accepting a miserable concessions-laden deal, the UAW refused to call a strike and instead ordered workers to vote on a similar agreement a week later. At GM, despite the opposition of skilled trades workers to the new contract, the UAW rode roughshod over its own constitution to impose the deal. At Ford, those opposed to the new agreement were in the majority until the last day of voting, when amid credible charges of vote rigging, the UAW announced a majority in favour had been achieved thanks to an improbable landslide vote in support of the contract at the last plant. Dias responded to this by praising UAW leader Dennis Williams to the skies as an incredible leader. Canadian autoworkers are increasingly relying on the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter to cut through the double-talk of the union bureaucrats. As one Canadian autoworker remarked last week, This Newsletter is amazing. It articulates what brothers are feeling on the floor when dealing with even the smallest issues. Leadership has been hi-jacked by the hand that feeds them. Self-serving union leaders are disguising their true motivation to take what they can while they can. Its sickened the work force. Solidarity is simply the word of the day. I hope I can share your information with as many brothers and sisters as I can. These messages need to be blasted from the mountain tops for all to hear and understand. If their struggle is not to be defeated, GM autoworkers must act urgently to seize control of the struggle from the union bureaucrats. Independent action committees should be established in the plants to prepare a campaign to defeat the sellout deal and expand the struggle by appealing for support from their colleagues at Ford and Fiat Chrysler, and the thousands of jobs in the auto parts sector reliant on the auto plants. These action committees must seek to coordinate their struggles with autoworkers in the United States, Mexico and internationally, all of whom confront the same ruthless assault on their working conditions by the corporate bosses. Above all, this requires a decisive break from the treacherous nationalist and pro-capitalist politics of Unifor and the union bureaucracy as a whole. We urge autoworkers at GM who agree with this perspective and want to take the struggle forward to contact the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter. Hillary Clinton delivered a speech yesterday at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the hopes of shoring up political support in the face of a sharp drop in the polls among younger voters. Her speech combined demagogy, empty promises and emotional appeals. She attempted to obscure her own pro-business and pro-war record by appealing to identity politics. Above all, a consistent theme throughout her speech featured the desperate attempt to influence young people planning to vote for a third-party candidate by presenting herself as the only alternative to the right-wing politics of billionaire demagogue Donald Trump. Borrowing from the playbook of her defeated challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton made a few passing references to social inequality, a subject that the favorite candidate of Wall Street usually ignores. Its wrong to let income inequality get even worse, she said. We have to make the economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. To do this, she calls for meager proposals of raising the minimum wage (to what amount is not specified) and establishing equal pay between men and women. She attempted to appeal to the anti-war sentiment among young people by portraying Trump as the more bellicose candidate: [I]ts wrong to put a loose cannon in charge who could start another war. We should work with our allies to keep us safe. This statement, however, is also pro-war. The US and its allies are currently building toward a major military clash with Russia and China. Clinton then unveiled a plan for higher education reform which ostensibly would make in-state public universities tuition-free for students from households earning less than $125,000 a year and allow for more lenient conditions on the repayment of student loans. Though the plan will likely cost around $350 billion, the Clinton campaign has not outlined what measures will be taken to finance itsuggesting that her administration would have no real intentions on following through with it. Given that Clinton fully expects the Republican Party to retain control of the House of Representatives, any such plan would be dead on arrival anyway, giving her the necessary excuse for inaction. The plan also includes a measure to introduce tax credits to encourage companies to offer paid apprenticeships. Rather than constituting a progressive feature, this would further entrench the growth of low-paid internships as one of the only options available for young people to start a career. In essence, Clintons jobs program appears indistinguishable from Republican proposals. In an interview on Fox News in late July, Clinton reassured the establishment wing of the Republican Party that such a program was going to be public/private sector. I mean, Im looking for ways to start an infrastructure bank, seed it with federal dollars, but bring in private investors who want to make those commitments. In reality, this means more corporate handouts and the use of American workers as cheap labor. She used the racist and xenophobic language of Trump in an attempt to posture as the progressive alternative in the election at numerous points throughout her speech. At the same time, she was forced to acknowledge her own deep unpopularity among youth: I also know that even if youre totally opposed to Donald Trump, you may still have some questions about me. I get that. And I want to do my best to answer those questions. She then cynically made an appeal to the plight of undocumented immigrants. When I met a terrified little girl in Nevada who burst into tears because she worried her parents would be deported, she said, it hit me right in the gut. I knew how hard-working her parents were. I knew the sacrifices they were making so that she could have a better life. Clintons posturing as a defender of the rights of undocumented immigrants is particularly outrageous. She was a central figure in the Obama administration, which has presided over a mass deportation policy that deported undocumented immigrants at the fastest rate in American history, including tens of thousands of small children. Clinton herself, one might add, is directly responsible for the current instability in Central America. In 2009, Clinton played a central role in the coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, resulting in a brutal crackdown that forced countless thousands of children and adults to flee the country, many to the United States. In her autobiography, she openly boasted of her plan to restore order in Honduras which would render the question of Zelaya moot. In a debate with Sanders last March, Clinton openly defended her record of cracking down on undocumented immigrants and militarizing the US-Mexico border. Well, I think both of us, both Senator Sanders and I, voted numerous times to enhance border security along our border, she said. We increased the number of border security agents. We did vote for money to build a fence And the result is that we have the most secure border weve ever had. During the same debate, she spoke in favor of creating a guest worker program in which immigrant workers would be used as low-wage, second-class citizens within the framework of a legal process. She ended her speech by making a desperate appeal to young voters to line up behind her campaign, while admonishing those who might abstain rather than be forced to choose between the political monsters offered by the two-party system: We need everyone off the sidelines. Not voting is not an option. That just plays into Trumps hands. It really does. Fijis prime minister, former military commander Frank Bainimarama, last week hit out at interference in the countrys domestic affairs by Australia and New Zealand. Bainimarama was responding to comments on the arrest of six leading Fijian opposition figures for criticising the countrys 2013 constitution at a political forum. The police claimed the forum did not have an official permit and breached a public order decree. Bainimarama made the remarks while opening the Joint Fiji-Australia, Fiji-New Zealand business councils meeting at Pacific Harbour, near Suva. After expressing gratitude for New Zealands and Australias continuing trade relations and assistance following Tropical Cyclone Winston, he raised the issue of the arrests: Why is the spotlight being turned on Fiji simply because it insists on its laws being upheld? Why all the unwarranted expressions of concern from foreign governments and organisations? Five opposition figures were detained on the weekend of September 10-11 and kept in custody overnight. They were 1987 coup leader and current head of the SODELPA Party, Sitiveni Rabuka, National Federation Party (NFP) leader Biman Prasad, academic Tupeni Baba, Fiji Council of Trade Unions general secretary Attar Singh, and Jone Dakuvula from the organisation Pacific Dialogue, which called the meeting. Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry, a former prime minister, later handed himself into police. Following the arrests, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he was keeping a watch on the situation and warned the Fiji government against doing anything silly. Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells declared that her country took freedom of assembly and freedom of speech seriously and would also be watching closely. NZ Labour Party foreign affairs spokesman David Shearer said Bainimaramas forthcoming state visit to New Zealand should be quietly put on hold. Bainimarama told the business audience that Key had been disrespectful and condescending. He accused Australia and New Zealand of being hypocritical toward Fiji. We have not lectured to you about the allegations of human rights abuses in your own countries, he said. These include the extreme disadvantage suffered by indigenous people in New Zealand, and Australia, and in the case of Australia, the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers. Bainimarama claimed that it was up to Fijis Director of Public Prosecutions to make a decision on the case and the courts would deal with the issue independently if the DPP decided to prosecute. Bainimarama continued his boycott of the Pacific Islands Forum, which met the same weekend as the arrests. Bainimarama demands the expulsion of Australia and New Zealand from the regional body. Last week Fiji also announced its withdrawal from negotiations for the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (Pacer Plus), citing backtracks on commitments by Australia and New Zealand. In June, Bainimarama lambasted Canberra and Wellington, almost scuttling Keys visit to Suva, the first by a NZ prime minister in 10 years. At the official welcome, Bainimarama reminded Key that he won Fijis 2014 election with an overwhelming majority. It is on that basis I stand before you tonight, he declared. Not as a coup maker or dictator, as some in your country would still have it, but as a properly elected, freely chosen leader of Fiji. The Fiji government still rests directly on the military, which carried through Bainimaramas 2006 coup. The 2014 election, in which Bainimaramas Fiji First Party purportedly won 60 percent of the ballot, was held under conditions of press censorship, military provocations and severe restrictions on opposition parties. The government is anti-working class and authoritarian, ruling largely through fear and intimidation. The Public Order Amendment Decree, under which the opposition figures were detained, was issued in 2012 by the military dictatorship. Government permits are required for any political meeting, and opposition meetings can be deemed threats to public order. It is not yet clear whether charges will be laid against the arrested men, but if they are convicted it could prevent them from contesting the next election. Earlier this year, Bainimaramas government used its numbers in parliament to suspend an opposition MP, the NFPs Roko Tupou Draunidalo, for more than two years after she allegedly called a minister a fool. The NFP last week boycotted the presidents address for the opening of the new term of parliament. The party said the move was in protest over the continuing political persecution and intimidation of the opposition and the draconian muzzling of free expression and assembly in Fiji. Interviewed by Radio NZ on September 13, Chaudhry described Fiji as a dictatorship. The former prime minister said you dont require a permit for forums of that nature where it is not a political meeting. He said the prime minister and the attorney-general had been invited to the forum, but declined to come. We want to live in a free society, not where there are restrictions on free speech, he said. The intervention of Australia and New Zealand, however, has nothing to do with defending democratic rights in Fiji. They have supported coups in Fiji as long as the resulting regime lines up with their neo-colonial interests. Speaking to Radio NZ on September 13, Key did not a actually condemn the arrests, claiming they were legally authorised. The diplomatic strains are a sign of rising geostrategic tensions in the Pacific. At stake are deepening concerns about alleged Chinese influence. After the regional powers imposed sanctions on Fiji following the 2006 coup, Bainimarama turned elsewhere, primarily to China and Russia, for trade, aid and military equipment. Australia and New Zealand remain determined to ensure their dominance in the southwest Pacific as part of Washingtons pivot to Asia and the US-led drive to counter Beijing and prepare for war. On Radio NZ on September 14, Auckland-based strategic analyst Paul Buchanan described Fiji as the tip of a spear of Chinese influence projected into the South Pacific. Chinas presence, facilitated by its growing economic and military association with Fiji, was increasingly assertive. Unless China was pushed back, the South Pacific was going to become like a Chinese lake, supposedly like the South China Sea. In fact the principal aggressor in the Pacific is not Beijing, but US imperialism. US Vice President Joe Biden used his visit to the region in July to restate Washingtons determination to maintain its economic and strategic dominance in the Asia-Pacific. In a thinly veiled warning of reprisals against any country intending to preserve ties with China at the expense of the US, Biden declared: Its never a good bet to bet against the United States. The author also recommends: Pacific forum reveals regional geo-strategic tensions [16 September 2016] The threatened five-day strike against a new contract by junior doctors beginning Monday September 12 was cancelled by the British Medical Association (BMA) within days of it being announced in late August. Junior Doctors Committee chair, Dr. Ellen McCourt, used warnings from NHS Englandwhich oversees day to day running of the National Health Serviceto justify the BMAs capitulation. NHS England have told us that a service under such pressure cannot cope with the notice period for industrial action given. ... Our hospitals are chronically under staffed. Our NHS is desperately underfunded, she stated, pleading for Health Minister Jeremy Hunt to take part in further negotiations. No further action is planned until after the contract is imposed from next month. The World Socialist Web Site warned that the BMAs actions would further embolden the Conservative government in its offensive against the NHS. Its ultimate aim is to complete the privatisation of the NHS, which is hated by the ruling class as a symbol of everything it was forced to grant the working class in Britain in the post-war period. The warning has proved correct. Over the weekend of September 10-11, Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers, an umbrella association for hospital trusts responsible for most of the NHS budget and nearly 1 million employees, appeared in the media calling for a debate on what had to give in the NHS. Hopson said the service was under the greatest pressure for a generation, with 94 percent of hospitals missing the Accident and Emergency standard (seeing 95 percent of patients within four hours) and being 80 percent in financial deficit. While demand and costs increase 4 percent a year, the funding increase will be cut to 1.4 percent next year, to 0.3 percent in 2018 and 0.7 percent in 2019. Hopson explained that services and staff were already being cut and that the NHS cant deliver the governments seven-day working plan. Hopson declared, The NHS must make some quick, clear choices on what gives, however unpalatable these choices may be. The logical areas to examine would be more draconian rationing of access to care; formally relaxing performance targets; shutting services; extending and increasing charges; cutting the number of priorities the NHS is trying to deliver; or more explicitly controlling the size of the NHS workforce. Hopson and the highly paid chiefs of NHS providers have ruthlessly carried out government demands for efficiency savings in many hospitals, severely jeopardising patient safety and care. In 2013, Hopson, as chief of the then Foundation Trust Network (FTN), welcomed that years rotten deal with unions that saw cuts to pay, terms and conditions, while arguing the savings involved were a drop in the ocean. He declared that there was a pressing need for the NHS to start discussing the different ways we could set pay, terms and conditions including looking at whether we should set pay nationally, regionally or trust by trustexactly the same debate as the education service is now having. On Wednesday, September 14, the House of Commons rejected a mealy-mouthed Labour Party motion calling for greater transparency and adequate time for consultation over the governments sustainability and transformation plans (STPs). Aimed at slashing NHS spending by a massive 22 billion, they have been drawn up behind closed doors since December. The plans are due to be published in October and start coming into effect early next year. Little is known about the plans, other than that England has been carved up into 44 local health and care systems. In one case, leaked STPs show that in north-west London 500 hospital beds are to be cut. During the debate on the motion, Health Minister Philip Dunne would only say that the plans involved difficult decisions and tough choices about the future of some services, including the reconfiguration of existing hospital services. On Friday, September 16, it was reported that a new private GP company, Doctaly, aims to roll out its pilot Uber-style GP appointments service across England by 2018. Currently, patients in two London boroughs can book a 15-minute appointment, costing up to 70 depending on the time and day of the week. Doctaly will, of course, not provide emergency treatment or deal with mental health problems and long-term illnesses that cost money and time. Doctaly is able to get a foothold into privatising GP (general practitioner) access because of the escalating crisis in GP services. Reports last week showed that more GP practices are planning to hand back their contracts to NHS England because of financial problems, or what the Royal College of General Practitioners more accurately calls the chronic shortage of doctors. In Essex almost one third of practices have considered this possibility and 41 percent of GPs in the north east were probably or definitely leaving the profession within the next three years, mainly due to stress and long hours. The crisis facing hospitals and GPs is also being experienced by the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which commission their services. Around a quarter of CCGs, twice as many as last year, are predicting deficits for 2016-17. Nine CCGsCoventry and Rugby, Croydon, East Surrey, Enfield, North Somerset, North Tyneside, South Gloucestershire, Vale of York and Walsallare in special measures and under threat of being disbanded. Another 26 CCGs are deemed inadequate. These developments are a stark warning to NHS workers and the entire working class that the government is determined to pursue its austerity agenda. The further decimation of services is inevitable and privatisation will intensify to fill the gaps. There has been no lack of opposition to these plans, as shown in the determined struggle of the junior doctors and other health workers and the numerous campaigns against services closures and downsizing. The governments success has rested on the treacherous role played by the unions and the Labour Party in isolating, fragmenting and dissipating one struggle after another and avoiding a unified offensive. No action whatsoever, let alone a sympathy strike, has been organised in defence of the junior doctors. The Parliamentary Labour Party has refused to officially support the strike, confining itself to criticisms of the government for prolonging the dispute. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is little different, urging Hunt to negotiate collaboratively and constructively. Not once has he called for solidarity action by other health unions, which have stood by even as their own members have suffered years of wage freezes and worsening work conditions and confront the threat of massive reorganisation, further cuts and privatisation. Health workers must wage a political struggle against the government, the media and the state apparatus. Against a ruthless government organically hostile to the principle of public provision of health care, it is fatal to hope that a militant action can be waged through the BMA or the Labour Party. Time and again, they have made it clear they are opposed to such efforts. The Socialist Equality Party has initiated the NHS FightBack campaign, based upon the independent political mobilisation of the working class. It insists: The defence of health care and every other basic social right can be taken forward only through a break from the unions and the Labour Party. Action committees must be formed by patients, hospital staff and the workers and youth whose lives and health are being jeopardised. The problem is not a lack of funds or resources, but the monopoly of wealth by the super-rich. This monopoly can be broken only by a mass movement of the working class to bring down the government and replace it by a workers government based on socialist policies. Such a government would carry through a radical redistribution of wealth in favour of working people, which would include ending the obscenity of medicine-for-profit and restoring the health service as a free, high quality state-run facility for all. At least 35 migrant workers were arrested at the start of July in a series of immigration raids across 15 restaurants of the Byron Hamburgers chain in London. A statement from the Home Office confirmed the arrests of the 35 workers, although witnesses of the event interviewed in the Spanish language El Iberico estimated the figure at closer to 50, with another 150 managing to avoid the raids and who are now allegedly in hiding. The workers, mostly of Brazilian, Albanian, Nepalese or Egyptian origin, were arrested after being called into work by their manager, under the pretext of having to take part in mandatory training activities. However, according to witnesses, within minutes of their arrival immigration officers appeared at the restaurants and proceeded to read out the names of workers who they then arrested and interrogated. Although the government has even now not confirmed the fate of all the arrested migrants, a chef at one of the Byron restaurants interviewed by the Guardian stated that around 20 were taken straight to an immigration holding centre after the raids and 25 workers are known to have already been deported. The ambush met with protests from many workers and youth across the capital. At the beginning of August, the Holborn branch of the restaurant chain was forced to temporarily close after around 200 people protested outside the building, carrying placards and banners denouncing the company. Protesters have also called for the boycott of the chain, and two branches were forced to temporarily close after protesters released hundreds of live insects into the restaurants. According to El Iberico, many Byron workers staged a strike on the day of the raids out of solidarity with their work colleagues who were affected. Despite denying that the supposed training activities were a set-up, Byron confirmed that it facilitated the raids, with a Home Office spokesperson declaring that the raids were intelligence-led and conducted with the full co-operation of the business. As a result, the burger chain will not face any prosecution for illegal employment practices, the Home Office confirmed. In the interview with El Iberico , one worker at Byron who witnessed the event explained that the company undoubtedly knew the migration status of the workers. They described the exploitative conditions that they therefore faced, as management knew that their employees could do little to protest their conditions without risking being reported to the authorities: The bosses know the situation of these people. We work hard and we dont say anything. If we have to do 60 hours a week, well we shut up and we do it. The people at the top of the company know this and so they hire these people. Expressing the precarious situation faced by many undocumented migrant workers across the country, the worker described how migrant workers lived in constant fear of raids by immigration officers, both at work and at home, and stated, In the street and at home we always run the risk of them catching us. This incident is far from unique. Since the raids of Byron restaurants in July, tens or even hundreds of migrant workers have been detained in immigration raids across the country, including the arrest of two Indian men at a construction site in Liverpool in August, as well as the September arrests of four Bangladeshi workers in Wales, and of another two workers, also of Bangladeshi origin, at an Indian restaurant in Scotland. Six of these eight workers are now being held at immigration detention centres awaiting deportation. According to data released in a Freedom of Information request in July 2016, immigration raids have increased by 80 percent over the last five years. In the capital alone, there were 19,853 immigration raids from 2010 to 2015, almost 11 a day. The number of raids in London peaked in 2014, at 4,703 across the year, up from 2,531 in 2010. The figures dropped slightly in 2015, although there were still 4,573 raids. If information and intelligence gathering expeditions are also included in the figuresin addition to raids to arrest and detain migrantsthe number of visits in London rockets up to 12,026 in 2014, or approximately 33 per day. The areas worst affected by these repressive immigration raids were the London postal codes E15 (1,396), E6 (776), E7 (637), SE1 (554) and SE18 (540). These correspond to the boroughs of Newham, Southwark and Greenwich, whose Labour Party-dominated local councils have been determined to step up their vicious attacks on migrant workers. In 2013, Newham Borough Council became the first local authority in Britain to introduce a mandatory licensing scheme for private landlords renting out properties. Although this legal measure is nominally intended to prosecute rogue landlords who let out substandard properties, the people most affected are often migrant workers living in these properties. Last November, Newham Councils housing enforcement team raided a property suspected of being overcrowded, leading to the arrest of two Bangladeshi migrants on suspicion of immigration offences. The property, which hosted five adults and two children, broke health and safety regulations about space and had evidence of bedbugs in the bedrooms. In July, in the London Borough of Brent, housing enforcement officers discovered 17 people living in a three-bedroom terraced house with no hot water or heating. According to Brent Councils Private Housing Services, [O]fficers from Immigration Enforcement were also present to investigate the immigration status of the tenants as legally required. In March, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, police and immigration officers found 70 people living in four severely overcrowded properties. Although figures are not available to assess how often immigration officers are present at housing raids, a Freedom of Information request by the Institute of Race Relations revealed that in 12 of the 20 local authorities that provided data, on at least some visits tenants would have had to answer to the police and/or UKBA [The UK Border Agency]. Landlords are able to terminate a tenancy agreement when their tenants right to remain in the UK finishes, and they are also encouraged to check the immigration status of potential tenants before offering them a tenancy agreement. Conservative Party MP Kris Hopkins stated, No one should be profiting from illegal immigration, and that includes landlords . In reality, rather than being intended to crack down on landlords who profit from illegal migration, housing raids are primarily a repressive measure targeted at poor and ethnic minority communities and aimed at clamping down on the migrants themselves. Unannounced raids are largely ineffective as a tactic to combat bad conditions for which landlords are responsible, as it is unusual for landlords to spend much time in the properties they rent out. If the reason for the raids really were to protect tenants from slum conditions and overcrowding, there would be little reason to conduct surprise visits, as tenants would be unlikely to hide their real living conditions. Tensions between South Asias rival nuclear-armed states, India and Pakistan, are continuing to surge in the wake of the attack that anti-Indian Islamist militants mounted Sunday morning on an Indian military base at Uri, near the Line of Controlthe de facto border between India and Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region. The attack claimed the lives of 18 Indian soldiers and all four assailants. Some 20 other Indian soldiers remain in critical condition as the result of the most deadly attack on Indian troops in Kashmir in more than two decades. Before even so much as a cursory investigation, Indias government blamed Pakistan, whose military-intelligence apparatus has a long history of supporting armed Islamist Kashmiri groups, for the attack. This has precipitated a clamour from Indias political establishment, led by senior figures in the ruling Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), from current and retired military commanders, and from the corporate media for military action against Pakistan. BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav has called on India to abandon strategic restraint and exact retribution: For one tooth, the complete jaw. The opposition Congress Party has joined in, with Congress President Sonia Gandhi declaring, The perpetrators must be severely dealt with along with the forces behind them. According to press reports, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the senior-most members of his government, and the heads of the military and intelligence agencies are now plotting how to punish Pakistan. Cross-border strikes and a cruise missile attack are among the options said to be under consideration. We will avenge the killings of our soldiers, an unnamed top military commander told the Indian Express. But we will do so based on cold-blooded professional military assessment, and a timeline of our own choosing, not one dictated by political imperative or the prime-time news cycle. Pakistan, which has fought three major wars with India since 1947, has long warned that it would view any Indian incursion into Pakistan as tantamount to a declaration of all-out war. Predictably, the Pakistani elite has responded to the war cries emanating from New Delhi with its own barrage of bellicose threats. On Monday, according to a Pakistan military press release, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif pointed to the hostile narrative being propagated by India in a speech to a corps commanders conference and vowed that that Pakistans military is fully prepared to respond to the entire spectrum of direct and indirect threats. Yesterday, the Modi government announced it intends to bring the evidence of Pakistani complicity in the Uri attack before the worlds governments, as part of a push to isolate and sanction Pakistan as a terrorist state. According to reports in the Times of India, Indian Express and other leading dailies, the government and military are deliberating on whether to conduct surgical strikes on the Pakistani bases of anti-Indian Kashmiri groups and on Pakistani army positions used to support the infiltration of insurgents into Indian-administered Kashmir. These reports add that is it a virtual certainty that Indian troops along the Line of Control (LOC) will mount a lengthy campaign of artillery assaults on Pakistani troops positioned near the (LOC) so as to make the adversary bleed. It is also a foregone conclusion that India will intensify its efforts to use the anti-Pakistan insurgency in Balochistan to threaten Pakistan. Last month, Modi launched a diplomatic offensive targeting Pakistans human rights violations in Balochistan, while his government signaled that it wants to give greater political space to Balochi separatists in India. Only a few months before his appointment, Indias National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, publicly called for India to work for Pakistans dismemberment, declaring in a February 2014 speech, You do one more Mumbai [a reference to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack], and you lose Balochistan. Not mentioned in the press coverage, but undoubtedly a key element in the India governments plan of attack is that it intends to exploit the Uri assault to politically legitimise even more brutal repression of the mass protests in Indian-administered Kashmir. Since early July, the Kashmir Valley has been convulsed by demonstrations protesting Indian rule and in particular the massive presence of security forces who act with impunity. In the past 10 weeks, security forces have killed more than 80 people, most of them youth, and injured thousands more. In discussing the options now being considered by Modi and his government, the Indian Express reported that in 2008 following the Mumbai terror attack, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan considered air and missile strikes on Lashkar-e-Taibi camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. However, ultimately the military concluded that they couldnt be certain the strikes would be successful, nor was the army prepared for a brief surgical war. Eight years on, circumstances are different. Rattled by the world economic crisis and the dramatic slowing of Indias growth rate, the Indian bourgeoisie brought Modi and his BJP to power to pursue a more aggressive policy against the working class and more aggressively assert Indias great-power ambitions. The 28-month-old BJP government has integrated India ever-more completely into the USs strategic offensive against China and mounted a drive to assert itself as South Asias regional hegemon. Adding to the explosiveness of the situation is Pakistans sense of its strategic vulnerability. In pursuit of an Indo-US global strategic partnership, Washington has lavished strategic favours on India, including advanced military equipment and negotiating for it a unique status in the world nuclear regulatory regime, enabling it to trade for advanced civilian nuclear equipment and thus concentrate the resources of its indigenous nuclear programme on developing its nuclear arsenal. Pakistan, meanwhile, has been deprived of its Cold War status as the USs principal South Asia ally and has found itself pressured to do even more to support the American occupation of Afghanistan. Islamabad has issued increasingly shrill warnings that the US has overturned the balance of power in South Asia, fueling an arms and nuclear arms race and emboldening India. But all to no avail. Washingtons priority is harnessing India to its drive to isolate, encircle, and prepare for war against China. In response to this fundamental shift in South Asian geo-politics, Islamabad has adopted a military strategy that privileges early use of tactical or battlefield nuclear weapons to offset Indias advantages in conventional forces. It has also sought to strengthen its longstanding strategic alliance with China. From its very origins, Kashmir has been at the center of the reactionary military-strategic conflict between India and Pakistana conflict that has resulted in devastating wars and the massive squandering of resources and that has been used to whip up communalism so as to divide and suppress the working class. The rival states first clashed over Kashmir in 1947-1948 in the immediate aftermath of the communal Partition of the former British Indian Empire into a Muslim-majority Pakistan and a Hindu-majority India. Kashmir was also the principal issue in the 1965 India-Pakistan war and in their 1999 undeclared Kargil war. However the dangers this conflict poses to the working people of South Asia in the twenty-first century are of a qualitatively new character. A war between India and Pakistan would be the first-ever direct conflict between rival nuclear-armed states. Moreover, as the result of the US drive to transform India into a frontline state in its confrontation with China, South Asia has been swept into the maelstrom of great-power conflict. The toxic strategic rivalry between India and Pakistan has become enmeshed with the US-China conflict, meaning that a major clash between South Asias principal powers could rapidly draw Washington and Beijing into the conflict on opposite sides with incalculable consequences for the entire world. As it is, Indian military strategy is premised on the possibility it could have to fight a two-front war, against Pakistan and China simultaneously. NATO will deploy an additional 4,000 soldiers in Poland and the Baltic states in May 2017, with some units sent to Eastern Europe in advance. This was confirmed by a NATO spokesman after the US-led military alliance held consultations in Split, Croatia at the weekend. According to a Wall Street Journal report, about 1,000 American soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment are to be relocated to Poland in April from their German base in Vilseck. The German Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) will take command of a 1000-strong battalion in Lithuania. The UK and Canada will provide about 1,000 soldiers each in Estonia and Latvia. The sending of additional NATO troops to Eastern Europe is part of preparations for war against Moscow laid out in early July at the NATO summit in Warsaw. This includes the establishment of a NATO missile defence system in Romania and Poland and the formation of a 5,000-strong rapid reaction force (Very High Readiness Joint Task ForceVJTF), agreed at the NATO summit in 2014. As the imperialist powers escalate their intervention in the Middle East, and the US-led coalition bombs Syrian government troops, these measures increase the risk of a direct clash with nuclear-armed Russia. Leading NATO generals have left no doubt that the planned deployments are not a routine exercise, but part of a wider NATO military offensive against Russia. The Wall Street Journal quoted the Czech General Petr Pavel, who said: This force is to serve as a deterrent and if necessary as a fighting force. The rules of engagement differ from those of other units in the region, since they are not exclusively about a training presence, he said. Currently, the VJTF is preparing for possible war operations against Russia. Since the beginning of September, 4,000 NATO troops from 14 nations are training for an emergency situation with around 500 vehicles on the military training area at Senne, near Paderborn, as part of the large-scale manoeuvre titled Venerable Gauntlet. In a report titled NATO manoeuvres in the Senne dust, a local journalist from the Lippe Zeitung describes the exercise: High-tech drones circle in the sky, snipers spy out the situation from the thickets, and in the middle of the Senne, a tank guards the area. The sun beats down on the parched grass, when suddenly hell breaks out on the Senne. Artillery fire breaks the silence, explosions hurl sand and pieces of grass several hundred feet into the air, and on the ground, tank tracks roll through the Senne dust. The units, operating under British command, had half a million rounds of ammunition available. From January 2017, the NATO Rapid Reaction Force is to defend the territory of NATO members from any enemies military. One can only assess the full seriousness of the situation by reviewing the circumstances in which the NATO manoeuvres are taking place. At a visit to the Baltic at the end of August, American Vice President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had promised to support the Baltic states in the event of conflict with Russia. At a joint press conference on August 24 in Tallinn, with Estonian premier Taavi Roivas, Merkel said, We are pleased that we can offer mutual support in relation to Air Policing according to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. We have jointly supported the decisions in Warsaw. Germany will be the framework nation in Lithuania. I think that means we are showing that in the NATO alliance we stand up for each other. Just a day before, following a meeting in the Latvian capital Riga with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Biden had assured them, We are committed absolutely, thoroughly, 100 percent to our NATO obligations, including and especially Article 5. The words of Merkel and Biden have far-reaching consequences. Article 5 of the NATO Treaty stipulates, The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all, and that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them will assist the Party or Parties including the use of armed force. To put this plainly: If one of the extreme anti-Russian governments in the Baltics provokes a border conflict with Russia, Washington, Berlin and the other NATO powers are committed to go to war against Moscow. When Biden vowed in Latvia to do this on the United States sacred honour, the WSWS asked: What would a war between the United States and Russia look like? What is the likelihood that such a conflict would entail the use of nuclear arms, given the fact that the US maintains its right to the first strike use of nuclear weapons, and Russia has stated it will respond to incursions into its territory by all means at its disposal, including the use of its nuclear arsenal? How many millions of people in Russia, the US, Europe and beyond will die in such a conflict? Although Western politicians and the military know well that their aggressive actions against the worlds second-largest nuclear power could trigger a nuclear World War III, they are advancing their war plans behind the backs of the population. According to an official report by the Bundeswehr, 25 European army chiefs met last week with representatives of the United States and NATO at the invitation of the German Inspector of the Army, Lieutenant General Jorg Vollmer. They discussed the decisions of the NATO summit in Warsaw and their impact on the various land forces. Other topics discussed included the presence of NATO in the Baltics and in Poland and contingency planning for the southern flank of the Alliance. What is meant by contingency planning can be read in the studies and papers produced by Western think tanks and governments. A study by the Institute for National Strategic Studies states that it believes defence strategists need to refocus on a possible confrontation and a conflict with Moscow. ... This applies to conventional, nuclear and missile forces of NATO. The Civil Defense Guideline, which German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere presented at the end of August in Berlin, calls on the population to prepare for attacks using biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. In a front-page article entitled Errant strike impairs effort to calm Syria, the New York Times Monday provided an unconditional alibi for the air strikes carried out by US and allied warplanes two days earlier that claimed the lives of some 90 Syrian army soldiers, while leaving over 100 more wounded. The United States' accidental bombing of Syrian troops over the weekend has put it on the defensive, undercutting American efforts to reduce violence in the civil war and open paths for humanitarian relief, reads the article. In the second paragraph, readers are told that the mistaken bombing had exposed the White Houses struggle to put together a coherent strategy in a multisided war. And in the fourth paragraph, the article states that the errant bombing had given both the Russians and the Syrian government a propaganda bonanza. How does the Times know that Saturdays bombing of the strategic Syrian army position, overlooking the Deir Ezzor Airport near the Syrian-Iraqi border, was accidental, mistaken and errant? It provides no evidence to support this conclusion, citing neither any investigation nor any new facts gleaned from its own reporting. The air strike was an accident, a mistake and an error because the US government says it was. End of story. That is good enough for the three reporters with bylines on the article. They see no need to include any qualifiers, such as US officials claimed that the bombing was accidental, much less seek out any contrary opinions from those who firmly believe it was not. Nor does the supposed newspaper of record raise the slightest doubt about how the US managed to confuse a military base, which the Syrian army has occupied for years, with an encampment of the Islamic State (ISIS); or, for that matter, why the Pentagons sophisticated military satellites and surveillance drones failed to provide accurate images of the intended target. That ISIS forces were able to use the bombing as air support for their own assault upon, and overrunning of, the Syrian military base is also accepted as merely another accident. The bombing, in which Australian, British and Danish warplanes participated alongside the US Air Force, has served to gravely undermine a week-old cease-fire negotiated by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva. Commenting on this connection, the Times article states: Many American officials believe that the Russians were never serious about the deal that was sealed in Geneva. The officials argue that the Russians were looking for an excuse that would derail it and keep a status quo in which they have more control over events in Syria than any other power, with the possible exception of Iran. If so, the accidental bombing made that process easier. Citing unnamed American officials, the Times floats the perverse thesis that the real significance of an unprovoked attack, which killed and wounded nearly 200 Syrian government soldiers, in a country where US imperialism is carrying out military operations in flagrant violation of international law, is that it provided a pretext for Russia to abrogate a ceasefire agreement that Moscow, itself, had proposed. In other words, whatever evidence to the contrary, it is all Putins fault. The Times article itself suggests a far more plausible explanation for Saturdays bloody events. It notes that the ceasefire deal faced many skeptics in Washington, adding that Chief among them was Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who feared that the accord would reveal too much to the Russians about American targeting intelligence... The article, however, does not indicate the intensity and depth of the Pentagons hostility to the ceasefire. It was not just a matter of Carters skepticism. Top US uniformed commanders openly called into question whether they would abide by an agreement that had been adopted by the president of the United States. Lt. General Jeffrey Harrigian, commander of the US Air Forces Central Command, told the media in respect to the agreement: Im not saying yes or no. It would be premature to say that were going to jump right into it. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of the US Central Command, expressed similar views, declaring, We have to see how this goes first of all ... see what direction it goes ... whether it actually pans out or not, I dont know. Also unreported in the Times article is the fact that on Friday, on the eve of the US bombing, Obama convened a meeting of his security cabinet, including both Kerry and Carter, to discuss the crisis gripping his administration over the Syria ceasefire. Given these facts, the Times parroting of the official US line that the air strike in Deir Ezzor was accidental has the unmistakable characteristics of an alibi and a coverup. The opposition, which borders on insurbordination to the ceasefire within the US military, suggests a more likely scenario: rather than being an accident, the attack was carried out with the deliberate aim of scuttling the agreement, either by the military acting on its own, or following a change in policy reached by the Obama administration, under intense pressure from the US military and intelligence apparatus. The opposition stemmed, in the first instance, from the immediate practical implications of the agreement in Syria. Washington had committed itself to separating the so-called moderate opposition, which it has armed and bankrolled, from the now renamed Al Nusra Front, Al Qaedas longtime affiliate in the country. But this is a virtually impossible task, given the integration of the US-backed militias with the Al Qaeda forces, which form the backbone of the US-orchestrated war for regime change in Syria. More decisively, the predominant layers within the military brass oppose any collaboration with the Russian military because they fear it could compromise US preparations for direct military confrontation with Russia itself, the worlds number two nuclear power. Moreover, the bombing fits a definite agenda, clearly articulated by top figures in the ruling establishment. Just last month, former acting CIA director Michael Morell advocated bombing Syria to scare Assad and make the Russians pay a price, by which he meant killing them. Morell is a prominent supporter of Democrat Hillary Clintons presidential candidacy. On a similar note, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth, a proponent of the human rights pretexts used by US imperialism to justify its interventions in the Middle East, tweeted his approval of the US bombing raid: As US kills 80 Syrian soldiers, is it sending Assad a signal for his deadly intransigence? In evaluating the alibi crafted by the Times in relation to the Syria bombing, it should be recalled that the newspaper provided nearly identical services a year ago, in the aftermath of the October 3, 2015 US airstrike on the Doctors without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. In the face of charges by the MSF and survivors of the attack that this was a deliberate slaughter, the Times, working with US government sources, concocted a story that the mass killing stemmed from mistaken decisions and inadequate intelligence. What the response to the Syria bombing so clearly exposes is the degree to which the Times functions as a propaganda organ of the US government and a leading promoter of its militarist policies. The exposure of the newspapers complicity in foisting onto the American people the illegal war of aggression against Iraq, prepared by the lying reports of its correspondent Judith Miller on non-existent weapons of mass destruction, has done nothing to change this fact. If anything, the correspondence between government policy and Times coverage has only grown more seamless. The concrete nature of this relationship is made evident by a closer examination of the first two bylines on the Times story. The first is that of chief Washington correspondent David E. Sanger. In addition to his 30-year career writing for the Times, Sanger has found time to teach as an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvards Kennedy School of Government, an academy for top political and military officials. The faculty has also included figures now playing a key role in executing US policy in Syria, such as Ashton Carter and Washingtons ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power. Sanger is also a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Strategy Group, think tanks that bring together senior government, military and intelligence officials, along with corporate executives, to discuss US imperialist strategy. The second byline is that of national security correspondent Mark Mazzetti. In 2011, Mazzetti gained some notoriety by secretly leaking a piece on the Osama bin Laden assassination by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd to the CIA, prior to its publication, along with a note reading, this didnt come from me and please delete after you read. See, nothing to worry about! In other words, these are figures completely integrated into the state and trusted defenders of its interests. The conception, dating back to the 18th century bourgeois revolutions, that the press represents a Fourth Estate, functioning as a watchdog, with a critical and adversarial attitude toward the government and its officials, is a dead letter within these circles. Among those presiding over this operation and its steady march to the right is the recently installed editor of the Times editorial page, James Bennet. His connections to the ruling establishment and the top echelons of the Democratic Party include a father who was a former head of USAID, a front for the CIA, and a brother who is the senior senator from Colorado. Under the direction of such figures, the Times has become the premier conduit for US state disinformation and propaganda, and a key ideological instrument in the preparations for world war. Directed by Oliver Stone; co-written by Stone and Kieran Fitzgerald Veteran American filmmaker Oliver Stone, who has been directing since the mid-1980s, has made a movie about National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden. Snowden follows its titular characters evolution from his enlistment in 2004 in the US Army Reserve as a Special Forces candidate, at which time he was a patriot and firm supporter of the war in Iraq, to his decision in 2013 to expose the NSAs illegal efforts at universal surveillance. Stones film is a serious effort and done with integrity. Snowden opened in North America on September 16, and will have been released in some 20 countries by the end of this week. That millions will watch a work offering a generally sympathetic portrait of Snowden, an individual denounced by the US government and media as a traitor, has considerable significance. It speaks to the immense (and growing) divide between official public opinion and the sentiments and opinions of wide layers of the population. Among young people in particular, Snowden is a highly admired figure. The film opens in June 2013 in Hong Kong with the encounter between Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), now in hiding, documentary maker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and radical journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto). They are soon joined by Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) of the Guardian, which is planningwith some reluctanceto publish portions of Snowdens cache of secret NSA documents. Poitras is shooting video for what will become the documentary Citizenfour (2014). The atmosphere inside the luxury Mira Hotel is extremely tense. Snowden has placed pillows against the door, cell phones are stored in the microwave to prevent the NSA or CIA from zeroing in on the meeting place. Snowden begins to educate the journalists and filmmaker about the pervasiveness of NSA spying. As Poitras film recounts, in one of the first emails she received from Snowden, he had informed her that every border you cross, every purchase you make, every call you dial, every cell phone tower you pass, friend you keep, site you visit, and subject line you type is in the hands of a system, whose reach is unlimited but whose safeguards are not. After the Hong Kong sequence, Stones film returns to Snowdens days in the US Army Reserve in Ft. Benning, Georgia. He is still under the influence of the Bush administrations war on terror propaganda. After injuries lead to his discharge from the military, he finds his way to the CIA. He comes under the tutelage of agency instructor and eventual mentor Corbin OBrian (Rhys Ifans). OBrian tells the recruits in their first session that if there is another 9/11, it will be your fault. At the heart of Snowden is the characters eventual enlightenment, and ours, as to the true nature of the various government spy agencies and their programs. OBrian, for example, disabuses Snowden about the situation in the Middle East. The CIA official observes dismissively that in 20 years, Iraq will be a hellhole no one cares about. The central conflict, he asserts, will be with China, Russia and Iran. In the course of various postings in Geneva, Tokyo and Hawaii, during which Snowden works either for the CIA, NSA or as an independent contractor, he becomes increasingly aware of the extent to which the intelligence apparatus is violating Constitutional rights on a gigantic scale. In Geneva, for example, a cynical, knowing colleague, Gabriel Sol (Ben Schnetzer), demonstrates for Snowden what one of the NSAs secret programs, XKeyscore, can do. The latter is essentially an enormously powerful search engine that can circumvent any privacy measures. Asked about the FISA Court [United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court], which theoretically oversees government requests for surveillance warrants against foreign spies, Gabriel dismisses the court as a big-ass rubber stamp. One of the most chilling sequences occurs in Hawaii, at the huge underground NSA complex known as the tunnel, whose specialty is spying on China. An army of technicians and operatives works around the clock with the most sophisticated equipment to monitor Americas economic and military rivals. This is the real face of international terrorism, the US military-intelligence apparatus as it gears up for global war. As OBrian comments at one point, the modern battle field is everywhere. By this point, Snowden is capable of putting in, You didnt tell me we were running a dragnet on the whole world. In Hawaii, where he is living with his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley), Snowden begins to make plans to expose the NSAs secrets before the entire world. It is to Oliver Stones credit that he undertook to make Snowden. He clearly stuck his neck out for this. The director told Variety, We got turned down with a good script, a good cast and a reasonable budget at every major studio. Studio heads said Yes we like it. Well talk about it. Theres no problem here. It goes upstairs, and a few days later nothing comes back. In an interview with Deadline Hollywood, Stone noted that it was difficult these days to make a film that was critical of America. Instead, he went on, weve got bin Laden films [i.e., Zero Dark Thirty ]. I think thats the way its going. Everything, military. Everything, CIA. Look at Homeland. Look at 24. Look at all the Tom Clancy stuff. I want to tell you how hard it was to get this movie made. Stone reportedly traveled to Russia and met with Snowden nine times. Gordon-Levitt (whose grandfather, film director Michael Gordon, was blacklisted in the 1950s) also visited Moscow and spoke with Snowden for several hours. In Snowden, in fact, the actor has gone beyond mere externals. Gordon-Levitt has grasped something essential about Snowdens principled character and the depth of his convictions. In addition, Ifans is especially sinister and Woodley, Schnetzer, Timothy Olyphant (as a CIA operative) and Scott Eastwood (as a mid-level NSA martinet) are also fine. A strength of the film is that it eschews a phony impartiality and tells its story from Snowdens standpoint. Quite rightly, it takes as its premise that his point of viewand growing horroris shared by millions and millions of Americans and others around the globe. Snowden continues to face the collective and potentially murderous hostility of the American state and its hangers-on. The film provides him with something of a voice. In that sense, it is high praise to suggest that Snowden deserves the vile and stupid attacks in the National Review (Home-Grown Sedition) and Slate (The Leaky Myths of Snowden ). As the WSWS noted last week, every member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence signed a letter September 15 to President Barack Obama urging him not to pardon Snowden, claiming that he had caused tremendous damage to national security. Hillary Clinton makes the same argument. In relation to Obama, the movie makes clear that the 2008 election had no impact whatsoever on the NSA spying juggernaut. Snowden comments in one scene, I thought things would get better with [Obama]. Luke Harding, in The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man (one of the two books on which the film bases itself), cites Snowdens comment that shortly after assuming power, he [Obama] closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programmes, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations we see in Guantanamo, where men still sit without charge. Stone, to his credit, told Deadline Hollywood, Whatever they say, Obama has killed a lot of civilians and a lot of innocent people. And they consider him reasonable. Hes launched more drones than Mr. Bush. Hes become the chief murderer. The filmmaker continued, I am concerned [that] theres no anti-war party. Theres no anti-war voice. Democrats and Republicans are pro-war. Stone has also taken considerable pains to make comprehensible, through visual aids and other means, the character and octopus-like reach of the nefarious NSA programs. It should not come as a surprise, however, that Snowden has genuine limitations. One of the questions, and it is a large one, that the film never seriously attempts to answer is: why are they doing all this? Why are the NSA, CIA and the US government as a whole (and other intelligence agencies around the world) involved in programs of total surveillance? Why do they want to know the opinions and habits of every man, woman and child on earth? The unconvincing half-suggestion that this almost limitless spying is merely an overzealous response to the events of September 11, 2001 (see OBrians comment above) is unworthy of serious consideration. First of all, the vast surveillance began decades ago. In fact, the 9/11 attacks merely provided the occasion to put in place plans that had been prepared well in advance (and which also depended on the development of certain technologies). The very universality of the spying speaks to something systemic, to the profound fear felt by every ruling elite for its population at a time of profound economic and social crisis. There are other, related issues. The Snowden-Mills romance is simply overdone and given too much weight in Snowden. No doubt Stone was trying both to humanize his subject in the eyes of the public and to show how much Snowden was prepared to sacrifice when he decided to turn against the intelligence community. Speaking of the future whistleblower at that crucial moment, the director noted, Remember, at that point in time, he was giving her up, too. Lets say you fall for this woman, and shes 10 years in your life. Theyre going to have kids. He makes this decision and couldnt even tell her. Whatever the directors intentions, the relationship too often gets in the way of more intriguing and telling matters. That being said, Stone, co-scenarist Kieran Fitzgerald and the performers have brought to the screen, with some care and commitment, critical elements of Snowdens story. Contained in this drama are some of the great issues of the day: above all, the danger of dictatorship and war. And as for Snowden himself, Stone put it rather well to an interviewer: For a 29-year-old boy to do what he did is pretty remarkable. I never could have done that. I dont think you could have at that age. The agricultural community did not want to see another agribusiness wedding, and as soon as Bayer and Monsanto announced their engagement, farmers were on the front row when the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held a wedding reception. The latest merger of agribusiness titans announced last Wednesday was the years fourth that puts farm income in jeopardy of further declines. Dow and DuPont earlier this year announced their intentions, which combines Dows Agroscience unit with DuPonts Pioneer seeds. After Monsanto failed in its attempt to absorb Syngenta, ChemChina made an outright purchase of the Swiss seed and crop chemical company. In the past week, the headlines focused on Bayer of Germany buying Monsanto, and the merger of Canadian fertilizer companies Agrium and Potash Corp. Farmers, whose income has declined 56 percent in the past three years with more declines forecast this year and next, have been beset with higher crop production costs at times of low commodity prices. Fertilizer is the largest cost, and with the Canadian merger, the combination would control nearly two-thirds of North American potash capacity and nearly one-third of phosphate and nitrogen capacity. While corn and soybean values have retreated more than 50 percent in the past four years, the cost of seed has remained at an all-time high, with little relief seen for the 2017 planting season and none foreseen in the future if six global seed companies become only three by the end of next year as they plan. That is why farmers cheered when their leadership announced they planned to testify at Tuesdays Senate hearing. Committee Chair Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, himself a farmer with his son, said, To me, it looks like this consolidation wave has become a tsunami. After specifying many concerns, Grassley said, Theres a lot of interest in how these transactions will recalibrate the seed and chemical world, and whether theyll pass regulatory muster. Gavel down. After testimony from DuPont, Syngenta, Bayer, and Monsanto, (I am sorry ChemChina declined our invitation to testify, said Grassley), it was the turn of farm organizations to create thunder. Chief economist Bob Young of the American Farm Bureau pointed to the farm income issue saying, This is one of the steepest declines in farm income on record. Let me just say that if this income situation does not turn around in the next year or so, we will have a sector under a great deal of stress when we write the next farm bill. "AFBF is suggesting that the review of these mergers consider not only the market concentration/structure that will result from the individual company actions, but examine the structure of the entire industry in a post-merger environment. CEO Chris Novak of the National Corn Growers, who also represented the American Soybean Association at the hearing, said, If our analysis determines that competition is decreased or costs would be increased significantly, both NCGA and ASA support the principle that the Department of Justice should apply remedies, including divestiture and/or rejection of a merger, should the merger be judged harmful to market competition. Novak said the ChemChina purchase of Syngenta raises issues of China giving preference to Syngenta seed genetics regarding importation of grain, and to retard the approval of genetic traits from other companies, which would create an international trade issue. Added Novak: The speed at which the industry continues to consolidate and the tenuous state of our farm economy dictate that we work diligently to ensure that our farmers will still have access to a range of technologies without suffering higher costs. But where that range of technologies originates is a real concern. If the Bayer/Monsanto and ChemChina/Syngenta mergers occur, then nearly 100 percent of the important crop biotechnology research will be controlled in Germany and China. That will spur a lot of phone calls from one combine cab to another. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who are currently in the US for the UN General Assembly, have joined the push by the Obama administration for the US Congress to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Their comments make clear that the TPP is not simply a trade deal, but is part of President Barack Obamas broader pivot to Asia, aimed at subordinating China to American interests. Bishop spoke to representatives of the US presidential candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, to impress on them the importance of approving the trade and economic pact. Both Clinton and Trump have publicly opposed the TPP, even though in Clintons case she was, as Obamas secretary of state, one of the chief architects of the pivot and the TPP. Speaking last weekend after meeting with Trump and Clinton representatives, Bishop declared: We certainly urge both camps to see this as not only economically important but strategically vital for our region. She warned: Invariably if there is no Trans-Pacific Partnership, we will be looking for other free trade agreements and continuing our quest for a free trade zone in this part of the world, in the Asia Pacific. Bishops comments reflect broader concerns in Asia that Washingtons standing in the region will be substantially undermined if the US Congress fails to ratify the TPP. US allies such as Australian and Japan signed up to the agreement understanding that it was a key component of Obamas efforts to maintain American hegemony in the Asia Pacific. Obama previously underscored its purpose, declaring: The TPP allows Americaand not countries like Chinato write the rules of the road in the 21st century. After protracted negotiations involving the US and 11 other nations, the TPP was finally agreed last October and formally signed in New Zealand in February. At its core, the TPP is a trade and economic agreement between the worlds largest economy, the United States, and third largest, Japan, aimed against the second largest, China, which is not part of the agreement despite being the largest trading partner of many countries involved. While the deal contains some measures to reduce tariffs, the US has been far more concerned to protect the intellectual property rights and thus super-profits of American corporations, and to open up Asian economies to American investment, including by undermining state-owned enterprises. Key investor-state dispute settlement clauses will enable US and other firms to sue member countries for any profits supposedly lost due to government regulations, which could include health and safety measures. Speaking yesterday, Prime Minister Turnbull reinforced Bishops remarks, telling reporters the TPP was a very important statement of Americas strategic commitment to the rule of law in Asia. His comments echo the constant refrain from the Obama administration that China has to abide by the international rules-based orderthat is, the post-war order dominated by the US where Washington sets the rules. Bishops comment that Australia, one of the closest US allies, might be forced to look elsewhere if Congress fails to ratify the TPP is a warning that other Asian allies and partners could do the same. The most obvious alternative is the rival trade agreement being promoted by China, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which aims to include all the TPP countries plus South Korea and India. During a trip to Washington last month, Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged the US to stay engaged and maintain its indispensable role in the Asia Pacific. He warned that ratification of the TPP was regarded in the region as a test for your credibility and seriousness of purpose. He pointed out that Japan, in particular, would begin to make other calculations as to who it could rely upon if the US failed to follow through and ratify the TPP. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday also pressed the US Congress to approve the TPP as soon as possible. Like Turnbull and Bishop, he focussed not only on the supposed economic benefits but added: Success or failure will sway the direction of the global free trade system, and the strategic environment in the Asia Pacific. The remarks of Abe, Turnbull and Bishop coincide with a renewed campaign by the Obama administration to push TPP ratification through the US Congress in the so-called lame-duck session between the presidential election and the inauguration of the next president. Last Friday Obama met with a bipartisan group of business and political leaders, including key Republicans, Ohio Governor John Kasich and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to solicit their support. While the TPP is touted as a free trade agreement, its aim is the formation of a trade bloc excluding China and as such it will heighten the drive to trade and currency war. The repeated references to the TPPs strategic dimension underline the connection to the military build-up by the US and its allies in the Asia Pacific and preparations for war against China. In comments to the Australian Financial Review, Turnbull stressed the very, very significant strategic importance of the TPP. Commerce and trade were as powerful as ships and planes when it came to exerting influence in the Asia Pacific, he said. Turnbull echoed the point made by US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter last year when Carter declared: You may not expect to hear this from a Secretary of Defence but in terms of our rebalance in the broadest sense, passing [the] TPP is as important to me as another aircraft carrier It would help us promote a global order that reflects both our interests and our values. The TPP goes hand-in-hand with the Pentagons military rebalance, which involves the positioning of 60 percent of US aircraft and naval vessels in the Asia Pacific by 2020, along with the restructuring of American bases, new basing agreements with countries like Australia and the Philippines, and strengthened military ties throughout the region. The determination of the Obama administration and US allies to press ahead with the TPP is another warning of the sharpening geo-political tensions and economic rivalry that are plunging the world toward war. Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania is an impoverished borough adjacent to the historic steel-producing city of Pittsburgh. As a result of the collapse of the steel industry, Pittsburgh lost over 50 percent of its population since its peak of 676,000 around 1960. Wilkinsburg likewise has lost about half its population during this period, and lost 18 percent since 2000 alone. About 15,000 remain residents today. Per capita income in Wilkinsburg is just $16,890. The poverty rate is 18.7 percent, and over 30 percent for children. According to Department of Education figures cited in the local media, Wilkinsburg had 174 homeless schoolchildren in 2014. The citys only remaining middle school and high school closed in 2016 due to lack of funding tied to low enrollment. More than 200 remaining students are now sent to Westinghouse High, one of Pittsburghs lowest-performing schools. Niles Niemuth, the Socialist Equality Partys candidate for US vice president, took a campaign team to Wilkinsburg to bring the perspective and program of the SEP to workers and young people there, and to build for an upcoming election meeting in Pittsburgh. Niemuth talked with workers about the social conditions they face, the US elections and the danger of war. Brian, a middle-aged worker who previously worked at the now-closed Wilkinsburg High School, met SEP campaigners outside the Family Dollar store. He said he was very disheartened by the choice we have between Clinton and Trump. Ive been a Democrat all my life, he said, and Ive never missed a vote in my life. But this is a country of 300 million people, and with all the great minds that have come out of this country, this is what weve got to choose from? Im voting this year, but Im not voting for either one of them. The Clintons, theyre for the rich. Disgust with both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump was ubiquitous in Wilkinsburg. Carla, an elder care worker who campaigners met at the bus stop, scowled when campaigners brought up the US presidential elections. I dont like either of them. Karen, a retired telecom worker also waiting for the bus, said, I dont want to vote for any of them. It does not look good at all. Everythings just backward. Niemuth met grocery store manager Jache Dorsey as she was taking her young son for a walk outside the closed high school. Well, Im definitely not voting for Trump, so Ill be voting for Clinton, she said. But when she learned that Niemuth and Jerry White were running as socialists, she wanted to know more about their platform. Jache was very worried about the world that her son would be growing up in. She said of the job situation in Wilkinsburg, Honestly, people here either work fast food, or theyre what I call street pharmacists. People sell drugs. Im afraid for what he [my son] will be doing when he grows up. When Niemuth raised the danger of a major war breaking out after the elections, no matter who wins, Jache said, Its scary. War is not something to look forward to. A laid-off oil worker also walking home past the closed high school told campaigners, Im still fighting to get unemployment after being laid off for three months. The oil companies make millions of dollars every day, and when gas prices get low they just lay people off. On the question of war, he said, Its unnecessary to have war. Whoever gets into office this year, its going to be a trip. Trump? Hell no! With a mouth like his, you know theres going to be a war. Niemuth explained that Hillary Clinton too has all but promised to go to war with Russia if shes elected, boasting in a recent campaign speech that she would immediately review the US nuclear arsenal to prepare to meet future threats, and would respond militarily even to a cyberattack. One retired worker told Niemuth, My son was in the Air Force for 20 years. Ive been down to Walter Reed Hospital [near Washington, D.C.], and Ive seen young men like you with their arms and legs blown off. But the rich dont send their sons to go fight! Today, September 20, at 6p.m., Niles Niemuth will be speaking at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh at 5801 Forbes Avenue. Niemuth and the SEP are building a socialist movement of the working class for social equality and against imperialist war. All those in the Pittsburgh area encouraged to attend the meeting. For more information, see the Facebook Event Page . On Monday, September 19, I filed a lawsuit against the West Virginia Secretary of State, seeking to halt my removal from the ballot in the state House of Delegates race in District 16. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Huntington Division, is coupled with a request for a temporary restraining order against the decision as absentee ballots are prepared this week. Our campaign was informed by the Secretary of States office late on Friday, September 16, that I was being decertified following a state Supreme Court ruling last week. The court ruled that Kanawha County Clerk candidate Erik Wells was ineligible to run as an independent because he was still a registered Democrat at the time of his filing. Moreover, the court ruled that Wells was further disqualified because he did not file a certificate of announcement that he intended to run by the end of Januarynearly 10 months before the election. In its majority opinion, the court extended this requirementrelevant to candidates contesting primary elections for the major partiesto all independent candidates. It was on this justification that my own candidacy was retroactively revoked. This action was undertaken even though I had attained ballot status by meeting all the requirements for independent candidates outlined on the Secretary of States own web site and had been certified to appear on the ballot as a candidate of the Socialist Equality Party. My legal challenge is being filed jointly with Constitution Party presidential candidate Darrell Castle, who is one of 17 independent candidates removed from the ballot statewide. While the Socialist Equality Party has fundamental political differences with the Constitution Party, our case deals with the defense of basic democratic rights. The joint legal complaint states that the West Virginia Supreme Court Ruling and its interpretation by the Secretary of State violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. The complaint explains that both the imposition of the January deadline on independent candidates and the retroactive nature of the application of the rule are patently unconstitutional. The complaint cites the information provided by the Secretary of State to independent, unaffiliated and minor party candidates about the process of becoming a candidate: To become a no party candidate in the General Election, an individual must submit his or her petition signatures, certificate of announcement, and filing fee with the appropriate filing officer by August 1, 2016. Since the Socialist Equality Party is not a recognized party in West Virginia, our campaign completed the necessary requirements for no party candidates, including turning in far more than the number of signatures required, along with certificates of announcement and filing fees to the Secretary of State before August 1. The lawsuit asks the District Court in Huntington to immediately order the state to restore to the ballot all independent candidates who have been disqualified on the basis of the Supreme Court ruling. The decertification of independent campaigns comes very late in the election season, as ballots and voting machines are being prepared. With September 20 as the deadline for candidates seeking write-in status, many of those removed from the ballot are being compelled to file new paperwork and update campaign materials in order to continue as write-in candidates. This is unjust and poses immense difficulties on candidates who already have the least financial resources and political influence. The decision to strike independent candidates from the ballots is a blatant attack on the rights of thousands of West Virginia voters who signed petitions, and the thousands more who are being denied a choice beyond the major parties on the ballot November 8. Bill Friary, a supporter in Huntington, expressed indignation at my removal from the ballot. I want to vote for you, he said. I dont understand why you have been removed. We all ought to have more than two choices. Its very frustrating. Im tired of the parties of war, he added. I want alternative voices and viewpoints. In campaigning in Cabell and Lincoln Counties over the past several months, I have spoken to thousands of residents about the need for a socialist alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. The response was registered in the fact that I collected more than double the number of required signatures and was placed on the ballot. My campaign, like that of the SEPs presidential ticket, was based on three main demands: an end to war; for social equality; and a defense of democratic rights. It is no coincidence that the only socialist campaign in this state has become a spearhead for a defense of democratic rights, in the face of a concerted attack by the capitalist parties, their courts and institutions. Supporters are urged to send messages of support for publication to the SEP at 2016@socialistequality.com or on Naomi Spencers Facebook Page. SPRINGFIELD A federal appeals court has denied requests from David Gill that could have allowed the Bloomington physician to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday declined to reconsider a three-judge panels earlier action blocking Gill from the ballot or to quickly grant him a hearing on his case. After U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough ruled late last month that Gill should appear on the ballot despite not having collected all of the 10,754 signatures he needed on his nominating petitions, the appeals court halted her order. The Illinois State Board of Elections, which had previously certified the ballot with Gills name on it, voted unanimously Monday to formally remove him. Sam Cahnman, the Springfield attorney representing Gill in the case, said theyre still studying the appellate courts order, which he believes may have left the door open for future court action between now and Monday. Ballot access appeals are ordinarily expedited, so treating this as a standard appeal, which would yield a ruling after the election and therefore be moot, would be unusual, Cahnman wrote in an email. Gill, who previously ran for Congress four times as a Democrat, collected nearly 8,500 valid petition signatures. He filed a federal lawsuit challenging the states signature requirement for independent congressional candidates because his would-be opponents, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Democratic challenger Mark Wicklund of Decatur, each had to collect fewer than 740. With Election Day drawing nearer, Gills options may be running out. Local election authorities must have absentee ballots prepared to mail to military and oversees voters by Friday. Gill still could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and overrule the appeals court, an option Cahnman said hes still weighing. Barring that, he has until a week before the election to notify local election authorities in the 13th District, which stretches from Champaign County to the Mississippi River and includes parts of Bloomington, Normal and Decatur, that he wishes to run as a write-in candidate. OCALA, Fla. (AP) - Police say a man fatally shot himself after a standoff with officers in a north Florida library parking lot. The Ocala Star-Banner (http://bit.ly/2cL210T) reports that officers responded to the city's main library branch Monday. Nearby buildings had been locked down following reports of an armed man in a car who was threatening to hurt himself. Ocala police say they tried to communicate with the man, whose identity was not released, but could not reach him. A SWAT team responded and tear gas was administered. Police say two loud pops were heard after that. The man inside the car was taken away by emergency personnel. Police said later he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. ___ Information from: Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner, http://www.starbanner.com/ (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - More than 33,000 Floridians have found jobs using resources from more than 100 career centers across the state. Career-Source North Florida, which serves Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Suwanee, and Taylor counties saw some of the highest growth of job placements for the state. Tallahassee's Career Source Capital Region is also hoping to add more jobs in their sector on Tuesday. They said that they are hosting a retail and hospitality hiring fair at FSU's Turnbull Conference Center. Organizers recommended that attendees bring multiple copies of their resume and dress in interview attire. Over 20 companies will be in attendance and are looking to fill open positions. The doors for the fair open at 9:30 a.m. and it will end at 12:30 p.m. DECATUR The Decatur City Council voted Monday to increase the amount of marijuana that results in a city code violation, a move meant to correspond to changes in state law. Anyone possessing 30 grams or less of cannabis may now receive a city ordinance violation, a civil offense that is handled through the city's administrative court and punishable with fines. Previously, the amount was 2.5 grams or less. Additionally, vehicles will only be impounded when involved in the possession or delivery of more than 10 grams of the substance. City staff recommended the amendments because of changes signed into state law by Gov. Bruce Rauner earlier this year. The Cannabis Control Act made it a civil violation to possess 10 grams or less of cannabis and reduced possession of 10 to 30 grams to a Class B misdemeanor. In response to questions, Decatur Police Chief Jim Getz said he supported the changes, which would give police officers more tools to address cannabis possession. If you have somebody being arrested who's never been arrested before, he's got 10.5 grams of cannabis on him, they may decide to go with the city (ordinance violation) rather than charge him with that criminal portion, Getz said. Council members Jerry Dawson, Chris Funk and Pat McDaniel expressed discomfort with the state's relaxing of rules related to cannabis. Dawson voted present for the possession ordinance change, but supported the amendment to impoundment criteria. We have an epidemic of overdoses with heroin, said Dawson, who is a former Macon County sheriff. I think if you look at the people who are having problems with the harder drugs, most of them are going to tell you they started with marijuana. In other business, the council heard from two people advocating for the inclusion of former Macon County Sheriff Roger Walker Jr. on the Decatur Hall of Fame. Walker, who died in 2012, was the first black sheriff elected in Illinois history and director of the Illinois Department of Corrections from 2003 to 2009. Residents Jim Taylor and Jacob Jenkins, chairman of the Greater Decatur Black Chamber of Commerce, spoke in favor of Walker's inclusion. We are here to make our position known publicly and ask for transparency in this issue, Jenkins said, reading off a list of Walker's accomplishments. The Hall of Fame features 24 Decatur residents who are depicted on plaques in the lobby of the Decatur Civic Center. None were added between 1998 and 2014, when Paul Osborne and Bill Eichenauer were included under the direction of former Mayor Mike McElroy. At one time, Hall of Fame members were chosen by a committee of community members. Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said a similar committee recently has been organized by the Greater Decatur Chamber of Commerce. An application process should be made public in the coming weeks. In the grand scheme of things, it's much better if it comes from a community effort, she said. She and several council members stressed that there were no issues with including Walker on the wall. Of course, there's not opposition, Moore Wolfe said. The guy was a hero. He was larger than life. The council also voted to rezone the former site of Big Creek Riding Center on the city's east side. The site, located at the corner of Illinois 121 and Lost Bridge Road, was redefined to allow for commercial uses. Additionally, the council approved a $13,000 addition to a $30,000 agreement with Carl Walker Inc., to provide additional design services for two downtown parking garages. The scope of work needed to be narrowed after bids came in much higher than expected for work to fix the garages, which date back to 1966, officials said. MIAMI (AP) - Police in Florida are investigating the fatal shootings of two young children on both sides of the state. The shootings occurred Sunday at an apartment complex in Tampa and at a home in Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County. Tampa police said in a news release that a 17-month-old child was shot at the Clipper Bay Apartments about 4:12 p.m. Sunday. The child later died. Investigators were interviewing family members late Sunday and said additional details wouldn't be available until Monday. Riviera Beach police spokeswoman Rose Ann Brown told local news outlets that several people, including the mother, were inside the home Sunday evening when the 4-year-old girl was fatally shot. Brown says investigators questioned several people but that others left immediately after the shooting. No further details were immediately available. (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) - After 3 attacks spanning across two states all involving explosive devices, local law enforcement have teamed up to make sure that the community is protected. The Big Bend Bomb Squad is made up of 5 different agencies in North Florida. They work to dispose of any potentially explosive devices. They are trained at a federal level with over 200 hours of bomb technician classes. That's on top of the 16 hours a month they come together to practice real life situations. It's that collaboration that officials said lets them know that they're prepared for any situation. Recently the Leon County Sheriff's Department added a new robot that lets them examine explosives from a safe distance. COVINGTON, GA (WTXL) - 3 people were killed when a Georgia school bus crashed head-on with a car. Georgia State Patrol said that the accident happened Monday afternoon in Covington, which is about 35 miles southeast of Atlanta. Officers said no children were on the Newton County bus at the time. They also said the bus driver was uninjured, though one adult and two children from the car involved in the crash died on the scene. Another adult and one other child are being treated for their injuries. There is no word on the conditions of the victims. Troopers said that none of the people in the car were wearing seatbelts. DECATUR Steve Givans, 56, of Lincoln, was airlifted to St. John's Hospital in Springfield for treatment of injuries he received after being trapped in a trench for nearly three hours. Decatur Fire Chief Jeff Abbott said his department was dispatched at 7:30 a.m. after reports of a man buried up to his waist in a dirt-filled trench. Givans was an employee of Otto Baum Contractors, preparing a site for the Decatur Sanitary District off of McDonald Ave., south of Hickory Point Mall. According to Otto Baum Contractors division manager Matt Allen, the accident occurred when Givans was walking between two work areas. He stepped into a ground pocket below the excavated area and was swallowed up to his waist. During the fall his leg became pinned behind him. The area was surrounded by loose soil, making the rescue difficult. More than 20 emergency personnel from area departments worked to stabilize the ground before two vacuum trucks were called to extract the debris. As the trucks began sucking up the dirt and water, more debris caved in around him up to his shoulders. The fire department utilized both vacuum trucks at the same time enabling them to pull Givans from the trench. Givans was alert throughout the incident. He was airlifted to St. John's Hospital in Springfield after the rescue, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening. Zach Martin, wife Trish and their four young boys moved from Indiana for his role as the new senior pastor at Mountainview Christian Fellowship in Yakima. (Courtesy photo) YAKIMA, Wash. After Kmart revealed it will be closing its Yakima store later this year, discussion on social media shifted to what could go YAKIMA, Wash. After Kmart revealed it will be closing its Yakima store later this year, discussion on social media shifted to what could go there next. The top choice was clear: WinCo Foods. The Boise-based chain has been a much-desired retailer for the Yakima Valley, partly because of its competitive prices. So what are the area's prospects for a WinCo Foods store? Here's what we know: Winco officially has no public plans to open a store at the moment. Company spokesman Noah Fleisher told me this morning that "I have nothing I can tell you." But its efforts to open a store here have been well-documented. In the 2000s, WinCo Foods purchased the former Country Drive-In at 4309 W. Nob Hill Blvd. Winco eventually sold the property, which is now home to Apple Valley Dental & Braces. Shortly after selling that property, it pursued sites in Union Gap, which brings me to my next point... There have been recent indications that WinCo is still trying. A few months ago, David Spurlock, Union Gap's deputy director of public works and community development, said that he had received inquiries from store representatives regarding any new land use actions needed for property WinCo still owns just south of the corner of Valley Mall Boulevard and Longfibre Road. The retailer purchased the property in 2010, but halted efforts to build a store a year later and put it up for sale. WinCo is likely looking at multiple sites. While there have been inquiries regarding its Union Gap property, that doesn't make it a sure thing that a store would end up there. There has been word that WinCo has looked at the Congdon Property in West Valley, and more than a few readers have quipped that a grocery store slated for the former Mongtomery Ward property (on the Rainier Square shopping center from Hogback Development Co.) looks a lot like a WinCo Foods. And who knows, maybe with Kmart's pending closure, that property could be up for consideration as well. YAKIMA, Wash. -- State Fair Park has taken the next step toward construction of a new commercial kitchen for the Yakima Valley SunDome. DECATUR Scovill Zoo staff are mourning the loss of the zoo's male red panda, who had lived there for most of his eight years. Clay the red panda was found dead in his enclosure by keepers on the morning of Sept. 6. Necropsy results from the University of Illinois veterinary diagnostic lab indicate that he likely suffered from cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that is not uncommon for red pandas. The day before, he was acting fine. He was taking food from the keeper's hand, said zoo director Ken Frye. As far as red panda behaviors go, he was acting like a red panda. Red pandas, whose heart-shaped faces and bushy tails make them resemble orange raccoons, typically live 12 to 14 years in captivity. The zoo's female red panda, 4-year-old Kaydee, is not showing signs of grief, Frye said. Red pandas are generally solitary animals in the wild. However, the loss has been tough for the keepers, Frye said. You do get very attached to the animals, and the keepers get very attached to the animals they take care of, he said. Especially when they're adorable-looking, it's kind of hard not to get attached to them. Frye said the zoo hopes to receive another red panda as a companion for Kaydee. Clay and Kaydee mated and produced two red panda cubs who were born in June 2014. The female cub lived just 12 days, but the male cub, Tusa, survived and went on to the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C., where he still lives. Clay came to Scovill Zoo in 2009 after being born at a zoo in Erie, Pa. He was joined by Kaydee in 2013. His death came just a few weeks before International Red Panda Day, which the zoo celebrated Saturday with stickers, activity books and red panda masks for visitors. The species is classified as endangered, with fewer than 10,000 living in the wild. Scovill Zoo will remain open until Oct. 10, with Boo at the Zoo beginning Oct. 14. Fall hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. A Belgian art dealer has offered a rare Rene Magritte paintingone of the greatest artists of the 20th centuryfor 4.8 million. The painting was a gift to Israel's ambassador to Belgium in the 1960s, Amiel Najar, whose likeness was incorporated into the painting itself. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Amiel Najar was born in Cairo on September 6, 1912; and immigrated to Israel in 1948. That same year, he was hired by the Israeli foreign service and went on to become a senior diplomat, eventually becoming Israel's ambassador to Belgium from 19601968. It was during this period that Najar became friends with Magritte, the prominent surrealist painter. Amiel Najar During his stay in Brussels, in 1965, Najar asked his friend Magritte for a painting for himself. Magritte produced a work called Le Discours de la methode ("discourse on the method," after the famous essay by Descartes). In the painting, Magritte combined the features of Najar in the surreal style he was known for. In 1967, after the death of Magritte, the Najar family sold the painting, and it floated between different art collectors in Europe. Discours de la methode by Rene Magritte Several days ago, an art dealer came to the Israeli embassy in Brussels and informed personnel that the painting would once more be up for sale at a price of 4.8 million . The dealer explained that he informed the embassy because "it is a matter of respect between two countries," and invited an embassy representative to the sale. The dealer also presented a rare photo showing Magritte painting Najar. A terrorist attempting to stab a soldier on Tuesday morning at the checkpoint at the entrance to Bani Na'im, east of Hebron, was shot and killed. No IDF forces were injured. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter A soldier from the 605th Engineering Battalion shot the terrorist, who came at him with a knife drawn. The soldier was able to shoot before the terrorist reached him. It was from Bani Na'im that two terrorists came on Friday to carry out a vehicular attack outside of Kiryat Arba. The city is still under a partial closure as a result. The closure was eased on Sunday, with the roadblocks left only meant to stop vehicles, not pedestrians. The attacker arrived at the checkpoint on foot. The terrorist after he was shot dead. This attack followed a wave of four attacks committed against Israelis on Monday. Following the attempted stabbing attack at the Cave of the Patriarchs on Monday, IDF troops conducted a raid at the Abu Sneineh neighborhood in Hebron. During the raid, the soldiers found commando knives, bullets, lathe used to make weapons, and other military equipment. Three suspects were arrested during the Abu Sneineh raid. Meanwhile, fighters from the Israel Police's Special Patrol Unit raided a house in the village of Qatanna in the Jerusalem area, where they seized weapons, including a handgun stolen from a home in Ra'anana. The forces also seized eight attack dogs that were sent to quarantine. Two suspects were arrested during the Qatanna raid. Two soldiers were lightly wounded from Molotov cocktails thrown at them during a raid at the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem. One of the soldiers was hospitalized at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, suffering from burns. The other suffered from smoke inhalation. Overall, IDF forces arrested 27 suspects in the West Bank overnight. With national security again a major US election issue after bombings in New York and New Jersey, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump sought to burnish their foreign-policy credentials on Monday by meeting world leaders at the United Nations. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter For Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, it was a return to a role she knows well after she served as President Barack Obama's secretary of state for four years. Clinton meets with al-Sisi (R) (Photo: Reuters) Trump, the Republican nominee, is a newcomer to the global stage who is hurriedly trying to play catch-up. In rapid succession, Clinton met briefly with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Trump also met al-Sisi minutes after the Egyptian leader spoke with Clinton in the same Manhattan hotel. The meetings came on a day that started with Clinton suggesting Trumps harsh rhetoric toward Muslims aids ISISs recruiting efforts. Trump pushed back, arguing the United States was less safe as a result of Obama and Clintons policies. Trump (L) sits with al-Sisi (R) (Photo: Reuters) Security questions arose in each of Mondays bilateral sessions, which took place as world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly, with Clinton and Abe discussing concerns over North Korea and maritime issues involving China. Clinton and Trump both spoke with al-Sisi about working more closely with Egypt to combat the threat of ISIS threat. Trumps campaign released a statement saying that Trump "highlighted how Egypt and the US share a common enemy and the importance of working together in defeating radical Islamic terrorism." With Clinton, al-Sisi also discussed his goal of moving Egypt toward "a new civil society, a new modern country that upholds the rule of law and respects human rights and liberties." Clinton and Poroshenko addressed Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. Clinton started the session by saying Ukraine faces very real problems and threats from Russian aggression and that she was anxious to know how we can be supportive. The session also resonated because of Trumps praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month. Trump called Putin a stronger leader than Obama, rattling both Democrats and Republicans in Washington. The evening was not without drama, starting with Clintons motorcade zooming through packed New York streets at rush hour and then quickly rushing from hotel to hotel. Trump also tried to bolster his foreign policy credentials last month when he went to Mexico to meet President Enrique Pena Nieto, but both sides ended up disagreeing about whether who would pay to build a border wall had been discussed. Clinton called that episode an embarrassing international incident. According to a war monitor that either a Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday and killed 12 people, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce brokered by the United States and Russia over. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The United Nations confirmed the convoy was hit but gave no details on who carried out the attack or how many died, as world leaders converged on New York for their annual UN gathering under the shadow of fresh violence in the Syrian civil war. The Syrian town of Aleppo following the air strike X The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the attacks were carried out by either Syrian or Russian aircraft, adding that there had been 35 strikes in and around Aleppo since the truce ended. Children injured in the attack receiving medical treatment Fourteen Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers have been reportedly killed in the attack. However, speaking before the participants in the UN summit, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Elhadj As Sy said the death toll was even higher. A little girl injured by the airstirke UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric added that at least 18 of 31 trucks in a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) convoy were hit along with an SARC warehouse. He said the convoy was delivering aid for 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra in the Aleppo Governorate. A UN aid convoy in Syria (Photo: EPA) UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated many people had been killed or seriously wounded, including SARC volunteers, and that if the "callous attack" was found to be deliberate it amounted to a war crime. Standing in a street in Aleppo, examining the aftermath of the attack (Photo: EPA) "Notification of the convoy ... had been provided to all parties to the conflict and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian," he said in a statement, calling for an immediate, independent investigation. The attack appeared to signal the imminent collapse of the latest effort by the United States and Russia to halt Syria's five and a half year-old civil war. "We don't know if it can be salvaged," said a senior Obama administration official of the effort by the United States and Russia, which back opposite sides in the conflict. "At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage," the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added. Moscow supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with its air force. The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment on the attack. But Syria's army said the seven-day truce period had ended. It accused "terrorist groups," a term the government uses for all insurgents, of exploiting the calm to rearm while violating the ceasefire 300 times, and vowed to "continue fulfilling its national duties in fighting terrorism in order to bring back security and stability". A local resident told Reuters by phone that the trucks were hit by about five missile strikes while parked in a center belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent in Urm al-Kubra, a town near Aleppo. The head of the center and several others were badly injured. Kerrys Gamble The week-old attempt at a ceasefire, negotiated by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, could be the final attempt by US President Barack Obama to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war. Kerry called on Moscow to halt Syrian government airstrikes, including on aid convoys, and indicated that the United States had not received official word from Russia that the ceasefire deal was dead. "The Russians made the agreement. So we need to see what the Russians say," Kerry said before meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in New York. "But the point the important thing is the Russians need to control Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys." The United Nations said that only Washington and Moscow could declare it over, as they were the ones who originally forged the deal. The air strikes appeared particularly heavy in insurgent-held areas west of Aleppo, near the rebel stronghold of Idlib province. And in eastern Aleppo, a resident reached by Reuters said there had been dozens of blasts. "It started with an hour of extremely fierce bombing," said Besher Hawi, the former spokesman for the opposition's Aleppo city council. "Now I can hear the sound of helicopters overhead. The last two were barrel bombs," he said, the sound of an explosion audible in the background. Abu al-Baraa al-Hamawi, a rebel commander, said the most intense bombardments had taken place in areas west of Aleppo, the same area where the aid convoy was hit. "The regime and Russians are taking revenge on all the areas," he said. Russian and US officials met in Geneva on Monday to try to extend the truce, and the International Syria Support Groupthe countries backing the Syria peace processwas scheduled to meet on Tuesday in New York to assess the agreement. Return to the Battlefield But like the Syrian army, the rebels spoke of returning to the battlefield. The coordinator of Syria's main opposition group said on Monday the ceasefire never took hold and called on the world to put an end to the "criminality" of the Syrian government. "There was no ceasefire to begin with for us to say whether it failed or succeeded," Riad Hijab, general coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee, told reporters. The Red Cross said that aid was delivered to the besieged town of Talbiseh in the Homs province on Monday for the first time since July. While its convoy brought in food, water and hygiene supplies for up to 84,000 people, most aid shipments envisaged under the truce have yet to go in. The United Nations said it had received government approval to reach nearly all the besieged and hard-to-reach areas where it sought to bring aid, but access to many areas was still constrained by fighting, insecurity and administrative delays. Already widely violated since it took effect, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russia said jets from the US-led coalition against ISIS killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria. Assad called that incident "flagrant aggression." Washington called it a mistake. The ceasefire is the second negotiated by Washington and Moscow since Russia joined the war in September 2015. But while it led to a significant reduction in fighting at the outset, violence has increased in recent days and aid has mostly failed to arrive. Plans to evacuate several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held district of Homs city have also overshadowed the agreement, with rebels saying it would amount to the government declaring the ceasefire over. The Homs governor said the plan had been postponed from Monday to Tuesday. Washington and Moscow back opposite sides in the war between Assad's government and the insurgents, while both oppose the ISIS. Russia joined the war a year ago on Assad's side, tipping it firmly in his favor. Hillary Clinton is accusing Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps the Islamic State group and other militants recruit new fighters. Trump is insisting the US should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As Trump supporters at a packed rally in Florida shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old US citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacksbombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mallcasting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. report released Tuesday by the BTselem human rights watchdog levelled harsh criticized at IDF prosecutors for allegedly whitewashing criminal actions by IDF troops during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The report, entitled "Whitewashing Procedure: Investigating Alleged Incidents of Protective Edge," criticizes Israeli policies implemented during the conflict, including attack policies on inhabited houses, indiscriminate artillery fire on populated areas and the policy of deliberately destroying homes and agricultural areas. The report was particularly critical of Israel for refusing to allow external investigations into accusations that IDF forces committed war crimes. IDF tanks outside the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge (Photo: EPA) BTselem claimed that there is an inherent conflict of interests when asking the Military Advocate General (MAG) to investigate the accusations. "In cases in which suspected breaches of law relate to orders he personally approved, the MAG would have to order an investigation against himself, or his subordinates," the report said. While noting that the IDF does acknowledge the importance of outside organizations that monitor its actions, Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek criticized the report, calling it "extremely biased and unprofessional." The report ignores a significant amount of information and data published by Israel, or misrepresents it," Brig. Gen. Afek said. "It also indicates a severe lack of understanding of the fighting reality in Gaza and the implementation of the laws of war in this reality. For instance, the report ignored the fact that airstrikes that caused the death of Palestinian civilians, tragic as they were, were a rarity. Most of the IDF airstrikesover 6,000did not hurt civilians. It would be more fitting for BTselem to attempt to infer IDF operational policy from the general context, rather than from the anomalies. Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek (Photo: Zvika Tishler) Operation Protective Edge was launched on July 7, 2014, following weeks of incessant rocket fire from Gaza. Seventy-two were killed on the Israel side, including 67 soldiers. Some 2,200 Palestinians also died during the conflict, with B'Tselem claiming 63 percent of them did not take direct part in hostilities. Israel, meanwhile, claims that of 45 percent of the deceased Palestinians who were positively identified, 36 percent were militants. The BTselem report follows closely on the heels of the MAGs August update on its ongoing investigation, titled "Exceptional Incidents that Allegedly Occurred During Operation Protective Edge." This latest update indicated that military prosecutors had closed over a dozen indictments due to lack of criminal evidence but opened criminal investigations into six other potential cases. Before that update, the MAG reported that out of 360 complaints received, 24 criminal investigations were launched and only one case resulted in three separate indictments for the crime of looting. In its conclusion, the report claims the IDF launched investigations of alleged violations of international laws of war only to avoid the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague. Even though Israel is not a party to the ICC, the Palestinians filed for retroactive jurisdiction which could entitle the court to jurisdiction on Operation Protective Edge if the Hague deems Israel unwilling or unable to prosecute its own alleged war crimes. Michael Bachner contributed to this report. At least 40,000 police officers, backed by thousands of FBI agents, have been on duty at the United Nations Assembly taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York. The summit opened Monday on the heels of Saturdays bombing attack in New York and the capture of a man suspected of being responsible both for the New York attack and a thwarted New Jersey bombing. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter One meeting that is reportedly in the works is between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuwho is due to arrive in Manhattanand Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisiwho is already there. Though both camps have not acknowledged that such a meeting might take place, a top al-Sisi advisor said that The matter is being looked at but has not yet been settled. Al-Sisi (L) and Netanyahu (Photos: Motti Kimchi and Reuters) While US President Barack Obama has been distancing himself from al-Sisi due to severe human rights violations carried out against those in Egypt who oppose al-Sisis rule, the Egyptian president has been receiving attention from both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump , both of whom seemed to want to discuss the US and Egypt jointly fighting global terrorism, while also enhancing their own diplomatic image. Egyptians have expressed mixed reactions to reports over a possible meeting between al-Sisi and Netanyahu. Supporters of such an event stressed that al-Sisi should rid himself of the international pressure put upon him to meet with Netanyahu. Those who oppose such a step toward normalizing ties between Egypt and Israel said that al-Sisi has enough problems at home, and is not looking to exacerbate the criticism aimed at him by having his picture taken with Netanyahu. Two Turkish soldiers were killed by an explosion during the "Euphrates Shield" military operation in northern Syria, security sources said. The explosion reportedly hit an area between Jarablus and al-Rai, with the soldiers wounded in the blast transported to a hospital in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, where they later died. The sources added that a total of 10 soldiers have been killed during the operation. The blast comes after an airstrike by a Russian or Syrian jet hit an aid convoy earlier Tuesday. "Look at this huge 'Adir' radar on the missile boat's deck," says Major-General Ram Rothberg, as we approach the platform at Haifa's military port. "From here, this radar can see missiles launched from Turkey to Syria." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter This enthusiasm and teen spirit repeat themselves when fighters of Shayetet 13, the special operations unit which Rothberg commanded in the past, lead us far out at sea from their boat to the deck of the Navy's newest submarine, INS Rahav , and Rothenberg points at the coastal town of Atlit and says: "The most beautiful place in Israel. Look how pretty, the people, the systems. I get excited seeing this strength." Maj. Gen. Rothberg on Ahi Rahav, one of the submarines the Navy received during his term (Photo: Elad Gershgorn) The sparkle in eyes of the outgoing Navy chief, who will leave office at the end of September, is apparent as we sail to the submarine on the INS Eilat missile boat as well. None of the soldiers we met during the sail appeared tense or intimidated by the general. In other corps, a major-general is considered a type of god, one that soldiers see maybe once during their entire service. Thirty-three years and 10 ranks separate Rothberg and the young soldiers he meets during the sail, talks to and sometimes even laughs with. "That's Ram," one of the junior officers on the ship clarifies. "On the shore, in the base and in the sea, he talks to everyone at eye level, without any distance, sometimes even like a pal. It's a disputable approach, but it's hard not to connect to it." No distance. The general and the young soldiers (Photo: Elad Gershgorn) In a memoir, in his small handwriting and personal approach, Rothberg chose to share with the fighters of the Navy's new submarines, Rahav and Tannin, his experiences from his long journey with them from the Port of Kiel in Germany to the Port of Haifa. On each experience they went through together far out at sea for about three weeks, mostly in deep water, the general signed: "Ram Rothberg, Navy commander." He did not mention his rank. The senior officer, a member of the IDF's General Staff, is far from being a typical general. Until he reached the rank of brigadier-general, he says, he did not pursue a military career and just "went with the flow." The general's personal letter to the submarine fighters In a special Ynet interview, conducted far out at sea, Rothberg reveals that Hezbollah is not just arming itself with advanced Yakhont missiles, and says one military corps alone cannot decide the next war and explains why a Navy chief has never been appointed IDF chief-of-staff. A submarine and infantry brigade working together A small piece of history was made about a month ago in the cooperation between the IDF's Ground Forces and Navy forces: For the first time, a submarine took part in a ground exercise conducted by the Paratroopers Brigade. The brigade's commander, Colonel Nimrod Aloni, advanced with his soldiers near the village of Jisr az-Zarqa, while receiving secret assistance from a submarine commander in deep water, who cleared the ground for the forces to progress, described the developing intelligence picture and more. Despite the submarine's strategic status, the Navy has dropped its ego and in the next war in Lebanon it will provide the Ground Forces with what a senior officer from the Paratroopers Brigade defines as "an advantage over an aerial observation, because unlike a UAV the submarine is stable, doesn't fall down if it runs out of fuel and doesnt move on to other missions. Rothberg with his replacement, Maj. Gen. Eli Sharvit, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office) Outgoing Navy Commander Rothberg, who has led such operational collaborations within his corps as well, including secret operations of submarines with Commando fighters, recounts processes from the beginning of his term: "We were afraid to integrate with everyone. We saw is as a threat to our power building. Here's a confession: We were afraid that the Air Force would take our place in the naval battle. The Air Force was even a red rag as far as we were concerned, because if there is air the sea is probably unnecessary. "When I took office, along with (former Chief of Staff) Benny (Gantz) and (incumbent Chief of Staff) Gadi (Eisenkot), I said we should do things completely differently. We want to prepare to fight on two fronts, with quick portable tools, so we changed the command and control perception. Today, an infantry regiment commander talks to a missile boat commander, a company commander talks to a warship unit's commander. I dont think one corps will decide." Facing Syria, approaching Turkey Many warships, some much bigger than the Navy's missile boats, are currently in the front yard of the IDF's main fighting arena the northern front, facing Syria and Lebanon. In the interview, Rothberg reveals that Navy ships are constantly sailing in international waters opposite Syria and Lebanon. "The Syrian arena attracts all the world powers and fleets. It's a main battle zone which includes the Iranians, the Turks, the Russians, the Americans, the French, the coalition states. We want to strengthen our naval coalitions and we have strengthened our ties with all the relevant countries. From now on, submarines are also taking part in ground exercises (Photo: Elad Gershgorn) "We are present in the arena vis-a-vis Syria and vis-a-vis Lebanon as part of designing a reality in the key arena where the danger will come from. We sail in international waters near Cyprus and Turkey as well. We have to feel the ground intelligence-wise and we talk to other missile boats in NATO language, international codes. The Air Force's coordination mechanism vis-a-vis the Russians operates in the sea as well. We are constantly approaching, but there is no friction." The Navy ships and submarines are not only following politely what is happening on the Lebanese or Syrian shore from an intelligence perspective. "We already offer a response to the Yakhont with our Barak 1 missile, and we will offer a response w3ith the Barak 8 missiles as well," Rothberg states, elaborating on the Yakhont threat, Russian made anti-ship cruise missiles, which are considered the most advanced missiles in the world and are launched from land. Rothberg. 'Operations combining courage and valor' (Photo: Elad Gershgorn) "The Yakhont is a quick, supersonic missile, and the question is where will we find it. Naturally, according to the naval supremacy perception we have developed, we would like to attack the Yakhont before it is launched, and we will therefore use the perception of hunting down the launchers, which comes from the Air Force." According to foreign reports, in the past few years the IDF has attacked advanced arms shipments to Hezbollah from Syria, which included Yakhont missiles. The Sunday Times reported three years ago that an Israeli Dolphin submarine attacked a warehouse in Latakia in which 50 missiles were hidden. 'Attack the enemy at its starting point' But the Yakhont, which can reach a 300-kilometer radius, threatening the Port of Ashdod and the gas rigs, is not the only missile in the Navy's line of fire. According to Rothberg, "The state of Lebanon has become a huge fleet which cannot drown and is constantly armed. The Syrian fleet, with the old Russian ships and the four small Iranian stealth vessels, the size of our Dvora (patrol boat), is no longer relevant. "Hezbollah missiles can be launched at us from northern Syria, and the other way around. Apart from the Yakhont, Syria also has Iranian missiles with a range of 300 kilometers like the Ghadir and a future missile called Qader, which are upgrades of the C-802. This is not a work premise but an understanding that missiles will be fired on us from the northern arena." A Yakhont missile. 'We have a response,' says the outgoing Navy chief In order to reduce Hezbollah's abilities in the third Lebanon war as much as possible, the IDF often operates in the "war between wars." That includes many secret operations to thwart the arming of Hamas and Hezbollah, such as the operation against the KLOS C arms ship two and a half years ago, which Rothberg commanded from far out at sea. "I will modestly say that the 'war between wars' was written about the Navy, due to its versatility and access to all arenas, the understanding that the enemy must be attacked at its starting point, operations that combine courage and valor, planning and decision making on the level of the chief of staff and defense minister. We carry out additional operations like the KLOS C, which was a unique operation against naval smugglings." For every such successful operation, how many smugglings do succeed? "I invest all the resources to ensure that won't happen, and that we will catch everything at its very beginning. I am unaware of any other smugglings, but it's possible that we won't know." During Operation Protective Edge, a Shayetet 13 operation in the northern beach of the Gaza Strip was revealed after fighters were wounded by Hamas fire. Did that operation go wrong? "Complicated operations are under my command, like Operation Hod Vehadar, which I ran from the Ashdod base and the Shayetet commander oversaw on the ground. In such operations you need the strongest chain of command. In the command post I spoke with the forces on the ground, I directed the fire and intelligence and coordinated the guidance and advancement. In my opinion, it was a successful operation which reached all its effects and targets." A dispute in deep water Rothberg, who will be replaced by Eli Sharvit, is considered an officer who does not hesitate to speak his mind even in top forums. Quite a few eyebrows were raised in the IDF when former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided on his appointment. The highly regarded offer carried a stain from 2006, when he was reprimanded by Chief of Staff Dan Halutz for his part in the failure that led to Hezbollah missiles hitting the INS Hanit ship off the shores of Beirut and to the death of four fighters on the ship. At the time, Rothberg served as head of the Naval Intelligence Division. Appointed despite the Ahi Hanit stain (Photo: Elad Gershgorn) Since then, the Navy has undergone a facelift, such as the arrival of the two new submarines from Germany during Rothberg's term. Some in the General Staff raised the initiative to do away with the veteran Dolphin-class submarine (which is considered operationally efficient at least until 2030), upon the planned arrival of the sixth submarine, Ahi Dakar, in 2019. "The submarine can be the eyes of Shayetet 13 and operates as far as the imagination goes," says Rothberg. "The submarine fighters have brought about a breakthrough in the number of operations, and there has not been a single mission they were unable to carry out in the past few years. From a world of DNA which includes total secrecy, the submarines have now moved on to both." So why are there those in the army who want to give up on a submarine which only arrived at the beginning of the previous decade? "It's a decision on a General Staff level, and we will get into it when we get there. The Navy commander will always want more, but there is a decision making process and I will honor every decision. There are operational considerations which I understand. Our next submarines, the seventh to the ninth, will be for 40 years, and the current ones are for 30. As for the agreement with Iran, when you build power you dont look at short ranges of five years but at 15 years and more. There will be changes on the way, and the submarines will be part of it." Rothberg's April Fools' Day Rothberg's sharp sense of humor is one of his distinguishing features, but it has not always made people laugh. At the beginning of his term, Navy fighters were furious after he ordered them to prepare for a training session in Italy for a whole night, and then in the morning they were told that it was an April Fools' prank initiated by the general himself. Since then, he has not been missing out on the annual practical jokes day, but has been keeping a lower profile. Keeps his sense of humor even during operations on enemy territory (Photo: Elad Gershgorn) "It was a light event," he explains. "I don't regret it and I apologized to the people afterward. I told them to take it in the right spirit because it also happens to me at home. "I am in favor of a creative spirit and freedom of action among people, as long as there is no harm to human life, property or dignity. When facing the enemy, one must think in a free, non-fixated manner. In order to lead a team through a battle one cannot just work with orders, but also have an ability to motivate and connect. I remember that after a successful operation in Lebanon, we left the beach and an officer in the force asked me a question. I replied with a good joke, and immediately received sympathy, pride, laughter and strength to move on, because it was a long operations and it can sometimes be broken with the proper humor." An IDF chief from the Navy? Rothberg is married to Michal and has three children. He does not have a computer in his office, apart from an operational screen, "which is closed most of the time." He does have a secret Facebook account under a nickname few people know of. The senior officer, who calls on his colleagues to "peel off layers of ego," does not settle for many conversations almost around the clock with his young subordinates, and also visits youth villages to talk about the Navy. The missile boat unit, which few people wanted to serve in, has become so popular, he says, that every two new recruits compete for an available spot in it. People want personal treatment, not emails, says the general (Photo: Elad Gershgorn) "We must let go of the ranks. They sometimes confuse people or confuse a situation," says the outgoing Navy chief. "I am interested in people and I care about them, so I personally get back to each one. It's a personal code which must not be broken. I am part of the Navy's full fabric. What does a person want? Personal treatment. He wants people to believe in him. "I study the ground with the most important eyes: The eyes of soldiers in compulsory and reserve service, and not through what they want to show generals in briefs or presentations. So I dont work with emails and I prefer interpersonal communication listening to the gesture, to the voice, to the tone. The moment you write an email, it's processed differently. "Commanders in the IDF must understand that our youth is the best, and the question is how should we connect to it, if we remain in the hierarchy of the old generation. I take off all suits and try to teach something complicated: We are commanders in the IDF and educators in the State of Israel. The commander is not the smartest person, and the soldier won't volunteer to do something just because I am responsible for him, give him orders or let him leave for an event, or because of the ranks." In the recent rounds of appointments Navy officers were appointed as brigade and division commanders, but when will we see a chief of staff who comes from the Navy, after already having a chief of staff from the Air Force? "We must wait. Being a chief of staff is a profession. You have to grow into it and be in that place, create a partnership and faith in the road you take." At this point Rothberg hesitates, but then adds: "Other armies have it. If the Navy commander will have added value in the future compared to other candidates, it will happen." MK Hanin Zoabi (Joint List) found herself in another pickle on Monday, while driving near the site of a right-wing protest in the Wadi Ara area, northwest of the Green Line. After being spotted speaking on the phone while driving, Zoabi was asked by a police team to pull over. When the police officers looked at her license, they discovered that she should not have been driving at all, since her license had been revoked. On Tuesday, Zoabi was already seen driven by her assistant to the DMV office. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Zoabis spokesman issued a statement on her behalf, saying, MK Zoabis license was not revoked and is valid until May 2017. She is due to participate in a driving course, which is why her license is currently suspended. He added, She was not talking on the phone but was connecting it to its charger. The officer, however, did not accept this claim and gave her a ticket for speaking on the phone. MK Hanin Zoabi (Photo: Reuters) Known more for her political kerfuffles than any vehicular wrongdoing, Zoabi has participated in a long line of political oppositional behavior, including taking part in the Marmara flotilla, insulting Arab police officers following the murder of Arab teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, and, more recently, inciting a riot of MKs against her in the Knesset, for demanding that Israel apologize to the participants of the flotilla and saying "You murdered nine activists'" when discussing the altercation aboard the flotilla, following the reconcilliation agreement between Israel and Turkey. Zoabi was also suspended from her position as MK in February for visiting the families of terrorists. The Israeli Air Force shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to Hamas on Tuesday morning. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The drone was shot down over the coastline in the Gaza Strip, and the IDF stated that it never penetrated Israeli territory. The military also stated that they had tracked the UAV from the moment that it launched. Israeli fighter jet shoots down Hamas drone X F-16 (Archive photo: Getty Images) An IAF plane shot it down. The IDF commented, "We will not allow a violation of airspace, and we will with determination against any such attempt." The IAF aircraft, which was an F-16, shot down the drone around 10am. It used a missile to take the Hamas UAV out. The number of Somalis who do not have enough to eat has risen to five million, or more than four out of ten people, due to poor rains, the United Nations said on Tuesday, with children at the greatest risk of ill-health and death. The figure has increased by 300,000 since February, it said, amid ongoing conflict between the Islamist militant group al Shabaab and Somalia's African Union-backed government. Tens of thousands of refugees have returned to Somalia this year from the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab, in Kenya as the government pushes ahead with plans to close it by November. Over 300,000 children under five are acutely malnourished and more than 50,000 are severely malnourished, the UN said, appealing for additional funding to support them. Amnon Abramovich, the veteran journalist from Channel 2 News, went to the military court in Jaffa to cover the Elor Azaria trial on Monday and was verbally harassed by those present. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to an eyewitness, one of the protestors outside the courthouse yelled at the journalist, "What did you do in the army? Enemy of Israel!" When he was exiting the scene, a crowd of several dozen gathered around him and the Channel 2 news crew. They yelled at Abramovich, "Traitor!" and "Enemy of Israel!" According to the eyewitness, the police had to intervene to safely escort the journalist to his car. Amnon Abramovich (Photo: Zvika Tishler) The 66-year-old Abramovich served in the 600th Armored Brigade in the Yom Kippur War. He was awarded the Chief of Staff Citation ("Tzalash Ramatkal") for his service then, when, as a tank driver, he was seriously wounded, but continued to operate the tank. Abramovich refused to speak about the incident beyond saying, "I want to thank our excellent boys in the Jaffa police." 1. An inflammable situation: More than 20 years have passed since the Oslo Agreements and the comprehensive economic agreement were signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to an analysis published last weekend by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the gross domestic product per capita in the PA territories grew by 0.1% over this period. In other words, it did not grow at all: The real GDP per capita today is identical to the GDP in 1994. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The IMF economists calculated and found that had the Palestinian economy expanded during that period as it expanded in the two decades between 1967 and 1987, the GDP per capita would be 130% higher than it is today. Instead of $2,700 in terms of purchasing power, the product would be $6,500. That's a huge difference. As a result of the freeze, the gap between the GDP per capita in Israel and in the PA has more than doubled. When the Oslo Agreements were signed, the Israeli GDP per capita was five times the Palestinian GDP per capita. Today it is at least 12 times higher. The Gaza Strip. The Palestinian GDP per capita in the West Bank is 50% higher than it was immediately after the Oslo Agreements, while the GDP per capita in Gaza is 25% lower (Archive photo: Reuters) The gaps expanded despite the loud talk about economic peace, despite the massive aid the Palestinians have received since Oslo and despite the significant improvement in the PA's finances. The IMF and the World Bank are pointing an accusing finger at Israel and emphasizing the obstacles created by Israel to independent Palestinian economic development. That claim is true, but is incomplete. A separate look at the West Bank on the one hand, and the Gaza Strip on the other hand, reveals that the economic development of the two areas was completely different. The Palestinian GDP per capita in the West Bank is 50% higher than it was immediately after the Oslo Agreements, while the GDP per capita in Gaza is 25% lower a result of the failed Hamas rule and the military conflicts with Israel. The required statement from this review is that the binational state being created in practice between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is based on deep and extremely dangerous economic gaps, not just between the Israelis and the Palestinians but also between the Palestinians themselves. It's a powder keg. 2. A confession: There is no other country that has engaged in a profound, painful and comprehensive self-examination over the way it treated Jews during World War II like Poland. And there is no other country whose leaders have expressed such an unequivocal public apology for their people's sins towards the Jews like Poland. Auschwitz. Poland has confessed its sins, in detail and courageously (Photo: AP) I am presenting these facts in response to what my colleague, Yaron London, wrote in his op-ed "Between Warsaw and the Nakba." "We are asking for self-examination, and Poland is refusing," he wrote. His sources misled him: Poland was and still is a champion in self-examination over the treatment of Jews. Poland has confessed its sins, in detail and courageously. More than 1,000 studies, books, articles and speeches by Polish opinion leaders have been dedicated in the past decade to the shameful behavior of the majority of their people towards the persecuted and murdered Jews. The Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw has issued thick volumes of studies and historical analyses on those issues with no intent to cover up. The institute investigated, among other things, the murder of Jews in the town of Jedwabne in occupied Poland in July 1941 and the pogrom against the Jewish residents of Kielce in sovereign Poland in July 1946, and ruled without any hesitation that the blood was shed by Poles. The nationalistic right in Poland, which is now in power, criticizes the previous governments for their "excessive engagement" in the country's responsibility for the fate of the Jews. It plans to pass anti-democratic legislation in the parliament that will make an objective discourse and commemoration very difficult. This must be opposed, but it won't change the fact that other countries in Eastern Europe, whose citizens played an active role in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews, are very far from the Polish national effort to expose the dark stains of its past. In a statistical rarity, the policeman who halted Monday mornings stabbing attack near Herods Gate in Jerusalem had already stopped a terrorist attack in 2005. After being seriously injured during Mondays attack, the policeman nevertheless managed to shoot and severely wound the terrorist. 11 years ago, he lightly injured a terrorist outside the Shalem police station in Jerusalem. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The incident in 2005 involved the terrorist Raed Abu Hamed from the Palestinian city of Bethany, intent on stabbing a soldier and dying a Shahid. When he could not find any soldiers, Abu Hamed arrived at the Shalem police station. Spotting a police officer standing outside the station, Abu Hamed attacked him, cutting his ear and lightly wounding him. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for the attack, but five years into his sentence was found dead in the prison shower. A video of the stabbing attack near Herod's Gate in in Jerusalem (: ) X Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) and Chief of Israel Police Roni Alsheikh visited both wounded police officers on Tuesday. Alsheikh told the policeman, All the Israeli Police force is behind you. Your determination to achieve contact and fight the terrorist until he was neutralized, despite being severely injured, saved your life and probably the life of the policewoman who was with you. He continued by saying, Achieving contact in the face of terrorism is the norm in the police, and this isnt the first time you have acted in this manner. L to R: Gilad Erdan and Roni Alshiekh visit the wounded officer (Photo: Police Spokesperson's Unit) Erdan said, We have amazing police officers and soldiers who protect the citizens of Israel with their very bodies, and I salute them for it. One hundred years of terrorism have not caused us to surrender yet, and we will fight and strike our enemy just like before. The above video from the attack was released Tuesday by the Jerusalem Police. In the video, the terrorist can be seen walking behind the police officers, before coming closer and attacking them. The policeman can then be seen hitting back. The police investigation of the event found that the terrorist, who is in his 20s and resides in east Jerusalem, arrived at Nablus Gate around 7:30 am before spotting the officers, trailing them on their way to Herods Gate and managing to stab them in their upper torsos and neck. President of the United States Barack Obama spoke at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Tuesday, addressing a number of topics, including Israeli-Palestinian relations. "Palestinians must recognize they can't incite against Israelis and Israel has to recognize it can't permanently occupy Palestinians and settle on Palestinian land," Obama said in what is expected to be his last UN speech as a sitting president. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas sent a letter of condolence Monday to the family of Sayid Amro, a Jordanian man who was killed by Israeli Border Police soldiers after attempting a terror stabbing attack in Jerusalem on Friday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Amro's family, which lives in the city of Karak, Jordan, received an official letter from Abbas, which describes Amro as "A martyr who has quenched the land of Palestine with his pure blood." Sayid Amro. Sayid Amro attempts to stab Israelis in Jerusalem X Abbas' letter to the Amro family. The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Israel for Amro's death, saying his killing was "an act of barbarism." Following an incident, Israel presented further video evidence to Jordanian officials showing Amro brandishing two knives and threatening civilians passing by at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City. Fifty-one years after Israeli spy Eli Cohen was executed in Damascus, a Facebook page named 'Syrian art treasures' has published video footage that appears to show the execution, which took place on May 18, 1965. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The video, just under two minutes long, shows the crowd gathering, and Cohen's body being placed in a coffin, which is then placed in a vehicle and driven away. Cohen's widow, Nadia, told Ynet, "I have seen the photos before, but I've only seen this video now. The feeling is hard, painful, and it takes me and the family back to that time period as if Eli's life was ended just now. Seeing the coffin and the body, the masses cheering and the music they composed for this operationit's a feeling of pain and tears." The new footage. X Mrs. Cohen added, "The next few days won't be easy for me. The days are difficult as is. I plead with the people who are in Syria and know what killing is(who are) going through one big pain, (whose) women, children and brothers are being killedfor someone to tell us where the body is and give information. We will be grateful to that person. How painful killing is." The video was published over a week ago on the Facebook page, which tends to publish historical Syrian videos whose origins are unclear. Dr. Yehuda Balanga of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University, an expert on Syria, told Ynet that the video seems entirely authentic to him. Eli Cohen (left) during his trial in Damascus, 1965. (Photo: AFP) "Eli Cohen was a hero on whose myth I grew up as well," Dr. Balanga said. "So far, only photos of the event have been published, not videos. The photos published in 1965 were in the press. We never saw a video. There were books and you could see the photos of the trial and of the execution there, but I don't remember ever seeing something that has to do with the execution and the moments following it." "It's quite amazing that the Syrian authorities kept something of this kind in their archives," he continued, "This really looks like the Martyrs' Square, Marjeh Square in Damascus. That's Eli in the footage and not someone else. If you pause on the picture of Eli Cohen's body, and the writing on it, you see that the writing is authentic and you can compare it to the photos that were published at the time. The date is May 18 1965, and that's the execution date. It says there what his crimes were and what he did." Every day, workers of the Israel Postal Company are swamped with letters arriving from dozens of different countries, as well as those sent by Israeli citizens, which are intended for a particular recipient whose address is not easy to locate. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In English, in Hebrew and in a myriad of other languages, many envelopes bear words To God, To our Holy Father in the heavens, To our father up above, To the Kotel, To the Temple Mount, and the like. Letters to the Kotel The letters are sent to the postal services lost and found department and are kept in a special place. Twice a yearduring the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and before Christmasthe letters are transferred to the Rabbi of the Kotel, Shmuel Rabinowitz, and are then inserted into the crevices of the holy site between the stones. On Monday, the CEO of the Israel Postal Company Dan Goldstein was greeted by hundreds of such letters which he personally delivered to Rabbi Rabinowitz so that he could fulfil the wishes of their authors. According to Goldstein, he delivered letters which were sent from the United States, Holland, France, Britain, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and a number of other countries. With the High Holy Days approaching, the postal service and Rabbi Rabinowitz can expect to be kept busy. Casing honor: 440th Airlift Wing inactivates Members of the 440th Airlift Wing, Airmen from around the country, soldiers and community members gathered yesterday to honor generations of Airmen and pay tribute to the legacy of the Air Force's third oldest unit during its inactivation ceremony Sept.18. Though members of the 440th have been planning and arranging for the closure of the wing's doors for months, little could truly prepare those gathered for the emotional ceremony; the heavy fog of both pride and sadness that would accompany the furling of the 440th AW's flag. "I am honored to have spent my entire career with the 440th Airlift Wing," said Master Sgt. Thomas Yurchak, guideon for the 440th Logistics Readiness Squadron during the ceremony. "To case our flags was of course difficult, but I am filled with pride in the legacy of our wing and thankful that will be here until its very last day." Major General John Stokes, 22nd Air Force commander, officiated the historic inactivation. In his remarks, Stokes celebrated both the history and achievements of the outstanding wing. "To all 440th AW members, past and present, please accept my sincere appreciation for all you've done to accomplish your mission," said Stokes. "Since the 440th was first activated in 1943, you have been in the fight, supporting combatant commanders around the world. You have provided the United States military with operational capability, strategic depth and the capacity to surge quickly when needed. Even though we case your colors today, we can never erase all that you have accomplished in the defense of our nation." In 1944, the first members of the 440th AW prepared for their first operational airdrop at Pope Army Airfield, practicing with actual paratroopers from the 82nd and 17th Airborne Divisions, and other elements of the 18th Airborne Corps. Working together with these organizations, the 440th made history just a few months later, dropping American paratroopers behind the landing beaches of Omaha and Utah in Normandy, France, in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944. Following the formal surrender of the Axis powers in 1945, the 440th AW continued to provide air support for missions around the world, simultaneously moving homes from Minneapolis, to Milwaukee, circling back to its first practice field of Pope Army Airfield for its final chapter in 2007. From June 2007 to September 2016, the 440th AW has continued to honor its history by remaining steadfast in its commitment to service and always being prepared. Flying a fleet of C-130H Hercules aircraft, the 440th AW dropped more than 102,000 paratroopers, carried 3,371,497 pounds of cargo and flew more than 27,000 hours supporting operations such as Coronet Oak, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn, Enduring Freedom, Unified Response and Inherent Resolve. During his final words to his Airmen, Col. Karl Schmitkons, 440th AW commander, discussed his pride in the wing, emphasizing the exceptional character Airmen of the 440th hold. "The wing's accomplishments are a direct reflection of the truly outstanding Airmen that have filled the ranks of the 440th over the years. A wing's designation is really just a number and some letters on a piece of paper on file somewhere. The real wing itself is its Airmen," Schmitkons said. SPRINGFIELD Barring future court action, David Gill will not appear on the Nov. 8 ballot as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District. The Illinois State Board of Elections voted unanimously Monday to remove Gill, a Bloomington physician whos previously run for Congress four times as a Democrat, because he failed to collect the 10,754 signatures he needed on his nominating petitions to earn a spot on the ballot. The move comes less than a month after the elections board certified the ballot with Gills name on it despite his failure to collect enough signatures. When the board met Aug. 26 to certify the ballot, it was under an order from U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough to allow Gills name to appear alongside those of U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Democratic challenger Mark Wicklund of Decatur. After Gill filed a federal lawsuit challenging the signature requirement, Myerscough found that he and his supporters would suffer irreparable harm if he wasnt on the ballot. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Myerscoughs order, pending the outcome of an appeal from the Illinois attorney generals office. Gills attorneys have asked the full 7th Circuit to reconsider, and theyve requested an accelerated appeals process due to the tight time frame. Local election authorities have until Friday to prepare absentee ballots to be mailed to military and overseas voters. As of Monday afternoon, the appeals court had yet to act on the requests from Gills attorneys. In the meantime, a hearing officer for the elections board found that Gill collected even fewer valid signatures than originally thought. An initial review found that Gill and his petition circulators had collected 8,593 valid signatures, but a further examination found more than 100 additional invalid names, general counsel Ken Menzel told board members Monday. Jerry Stocks, the former Macon County Republican Party chairman who filed an objection to Gills petitions, alleges that one circulator submitted a large number of signatures in the same handwriting. Menzel told the board that the hearing officer believed the allegation to be credible, and the board directed staff to refer the matter to local states attorneys for further investigation. Sam Cahnman, a Springfield attorney whos representing Gill, said the candidate never met the circulator who collected the signatures in question, and he argued that there was insufficient evidence to show they were illegitimate. Cahnman said the boards action to remove Gill from the ballot isnt the final word on the subject. If the appellate court wont agree to reconsider the three-judge panels decision, Gill could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. He argues that the signature requirement for independent candidates is unconstitutional because its out of line with the requirements for major party candidates. While Gill had to collect 10,754 signatures, Davis and Wicklund each had to gather fewer than 740. This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company. As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism. We hope you are equally as excited as us. This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers. Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited. In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy. Happy shootin' my friends! Buying Guides: Firearms Firearm Accessories Ammunition Gun Safes Scopes & Optics Hunting Air Rifles Best AR-15 Best AR 15 Scope Best Hunting Rifle Best Gun Safe Best AK 47 Best AR 10 Best Glock Triggers Best Glock Best Home Defense Shotgun New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 79F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. I get asked a lot of questions about property investing. Clients will ask me where to invest, how much they should pay for a property, and what the future holds for the Australian market. But Im surprised more people dont ask me about mistakes. Such as: what are the most common mistakes investors make and how should we avoid them? Property investing is both rewarding and challenging, but there are some mistakes I see being made time and time again. Here are the seven most common errors: BUYING OFF THE PLAN Investors who bought off the plan in our capital cities, hoping to make a quick profit may be in for a rough ride. Plenty of off-the-plan apartments are coming on to the market in the next couple of years and investors will have to wait up to a decade to see any capital or rental growth. Many will lose money on their investment as they find their property will be worth less on completion than their contract price. The main reason buying off the plan is such a bad idea is there is very little opportunity for capital growth. Property investment is all about supply and demand. Off-the-plan projects are everywhere, and buyers have plenty of options to choose from which means you are unlikely to get people fighting for your property when its time to sell. And banks are increasingly unwilling to lend to investors buying in certain inner Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney suburbs where too many apartments are being built. They consider them a risky investment, which should be warning enough. BUYING IN BOOM TOWNS As our coast capital cities have become more expensive many investors have been looking farther afield to buy. The problem is there is very little economic growth, jobs growth population growth and therefore property price growth in most regional locations And towns reliant on one industry, such as mining or manufacturing, are highly volatile. They can be performing exceptionally well one minute and crashing the next. They can take years, sometimes decades, to recover. Investors can lose hundreds of thousands of dollars this way. I read recently of a fully renovated four-bedroom house in Moranbah, in Queensland, that sold for $820,000 at the peak of the coal boom. In November, that house went for $170,000. BECOMING IMPATIENT Property investment can feel a bit like an addiction at certain times. Once you get into the market, you want to keep borrowing to keep on buying. But theres such a thing as moving too quickly. Some investors get their hearts set on achieving a certain size property portfolio by a certain date and nothing will stop them. For example, I want a $5 million property portfolio by the time I am 40. Now, there is nothing wrong with being ambitious, in fact, its to be applauded. But theres such a thing as rushing into purchases too quickly and making mistakes. The more you push the boundaries of what you can borrow the more exposed you will be if life throws you a curve ball. Take your time. Build your portfolio sensibly and slowly, and youre more likely to get past your second property (the point at which many investors stop). Put simply: sometimes its the right time to do nothing! NOT DOING RESEARCH While there are many great property experts who can help you on your investment path, that doesnt mean you can stop paying attention to whats going on in the property market. Some investors think because theyre using the experience and skill of a buyers agent they dont need to do their homework. Thats not true. While I agree you should outsource your property buying to a property professional, I feel its important that you never outsource your education or knowledge. You need a level of insight so you can differentiate the professional who knows what theyre talking about from one who doesnt. Property investment is not for people trying to make a quick buck - nothing in life comes easily. Prepare to research, read expert commentary and track trends. Thats how you become a great investor. PAYING TOO MUCH There is a reason many estate agents love dealing with first homebuyers and novice investors. Its their first time and they dont know how much is too much! Many will pay too much for their first property as they lack the skills to negotiate. Repeat this mantra: asking prices are irrelevant. They indicate what the vendor is hoping for, but they dont indicate the propertys market value. Never pay more than fair market value, and if possible, pay less. Its hard to develop the perspective and knowledge of what a property is worth thats why savvy investors have a buyers agent on their side representing them and levelling the playing field. BUYING FOR RENTAL RETURNS In my mind, residential real estate is a high growth, low yield investment, yet many beginning investors chase yields. Others get caught out being lured by rental guarantees. I would be very careful about a property that offers these kinds of guarantees as it usually indicates an oversupply of the property. If a developer has to offer these kinds of enticements for their properties it usually suggests they arent a great buy. Plus, once the rental guarantee period ends usually a couple of years then the investor is left to try and rent the property out at market value, which is often considerably less than what they were receiving during the guarantee period. So, there are a lot of pitfalls to avoid if you want to be a successful investor. The above is no means a complete list, but its a good start. Avoid making these six mistakes, and you will be clearing from your path the main hurdles investors face. And then the only thing stopping you from being successful is yourself! .......................................................... As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More Dobra, k. Szczecina 900 m2 40 miejsc parkingowych Atut: Dodatkowe dochody z paczkomatow InPostu, a juz niedugo i z myjni samoobsugowej. Tradycyjny zakup nieruchomosci, mozliwosc wykupienia uzytkowania wieczystego. Latest News Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I send my best wishes to the people of Malta as you mark the 52nd anniversary of your nations independence on September 21. "Positioned at the crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, Malta has long been a critical presence in the Mediterranean. The United States deeply values your role in promoting peace and security in the region, and applauds your leadership on refugee issues, particularly in hosting the Valletta Summit on Migration last fall. In the year ahead, we look forward to expanding transatlantic cooperation as you ascend to the presidency of the European Union and to building on the strong trade relationship that our countries share. "Please accept my warmest congratulations as you celebrate this special day." Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - The Yuma County Library District, in collaboration with the Internal Revenue Service, is hosting a series of Small Business Tax Workshops for entrepreneurs, startups, business owners, and anyone interested in the financial aspect of running a business. IRS publications and forms will be provided. Beginning Monday, October 3rd, Certified Public Accountant Helen Greenwell will present four 2-hour workshops on a variety of different tax topics in Room A at the Main Library, 2951 S 21st Drive. Monday, October 3rd 3:00-5:00 p.m. Tax Basics for Small Business This session will cover employer identification numbers, recordkeeping requirements and bookkeeping alternatives, e-filing and paying taxes electronically, and what business structure will work best for you. Monday, October 10th 3:00-5:00 p.m. Filing Business Taxes & Retirement Plans Learn how to calculate net profit and loss, report income and deductions on Schedule C or C-EZ, claim deductions for at-home businesses, and set up retirement plans for you and your employees. Monday, November 7th 3:00-5:00 p.m. Employees & Contract Workers Learn how to determine if you have employees or independent contractors, and what responsibilities come with each kind of worker. Monday, November 14th 3:00-5:00 p.m. Payroll Matters for Small Business This session will cover wages, how to calculate, pay, and report payroll and withheld taxes, unemployment taxes, and how to determine a workers tax status. There is no charge to attend. For more information, contact Andrew Zollman, Business Librarian, at (928) 373-6480 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - On Sunday at 1:15 am a fire was reported in the area of the 1700 block of west 27th Drive. Yuma Fire Department personnel arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from a home located at 2704 South 18th Avenue. Firefighters protected nearby homes and extinguished the fire. The fire was discovered by the homeowner who happened to be awake and found flames coming from the garage. There had been three occupants home at the time of the fire and all were able to safely evacuate. The home sustained heavy damage to the garage and some of the interior living spaces. The home was not able to be reoccupied and the American Red Cross was called to the scene to assist those who were displaced by the fire. Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of this fire. Every year 2000 to 3000 people die in fires here in the United States. It is estimated that half of those that died may have lived, if there had been a working smoke alarm in the home. Most homes these days are equipped with smoke alarms, but due to poor maintenance (often batteries are found to be dead or disconnected) many fail to work properly when a fire occurs. Batteries should be replaced at least once a year and alarms tested monthly (and alarms replaced every 10 years). Combine these tests with doing home fire drills (your kids do them at school and they are just as important at home!) and your children will be more likely to recognize the sound of the alarm and take the proper action in a real emergency. Smoke alarms save lives, and they are some of the cheapest insurance you can buy, but they will do no good if they are not working properly. Sharing is caring! Two weeks ago I was just wrapping up a trip to a place that had only ever existed in my dreams Svalbard. Never heard of it? Dont worry, many people havent. I probably would have either except for the fact that Im a huge nerd. While I wont hold my breath, I hope that at least some of you guys are on the same page as me, and know about Svalbard from the magical, mystical, glorious Golden Compass books from childhood. Yes, I traveled to the ends of the earth because of a kids book I read when I was a teenager. Who wouldnt? Anyways in these books, Svalbard exists as the kingdom of polar bears. And even though its fiction, I realized long ago that its based on a place that actually exists also called Svalbard, which is the real-life kingdom of the polar bears. Except these ones dont talk or wear armor. But close enough. So for the past decade, and I mean DECADE, I have dreamed about seeing the real land of the polar bears. And boom, it finally happened last month with Eclipse Travel. How amazing is it that books and literature, even fiction, can inspire us to go out and have our adventures and see the world? I also just realized I havent blogged in a month. SORRY! Also known as Spitsbergen, Svalbard is just about as far north as north goes. Longyearbyen, the main settlement is located at 78N to me, that is basically the end of the world. Though its surprisingly well connected with the rest of Europe with only 3 hour flights north direct from Oslo. Even though its part of Norway, its also not. I dont understand the logistics of it but you do go through immigration to go to Svalbard. And its some kind of tax haven, which means CHEAP BOOZE! We spent 10 days on the expedition ship MS Ortelius circumnavigating Svalbard at the end of August with Eclipse Travel and I dont say this lightly, it was seriously one of the coolest trips Ive ever done. I was already thinking when I could come back before we even docked back at Longyearbyen. But be warned, polar travel is addicting. Once you get a taste for this epic uninhabited wilderness, you will be hooked. Ive got so many stories to share with you guys but I thought Id first give a little teaser of some of our best photos of the amazing adventures on Svalbard for a week. Enjoy! Have you ever traveled to a place youve read about in a book? Have you heard of Svalbard? Is it on your list? Share in the comments! We got on and off our ship the MS Ortelius via these zodiac boats Exploring the research town of Ny-Alesund the northernmost settlement in the world Spotting polar bears roaming the pack ice in the north of Svalbard I dont think Ive used a telephoto lens more while traveling than on this trip with Canon Australia more about my gear here Even though it was August it snowed a few times on the trip 60% of Svalbard is covered in glaciers Looking out for the most amazing birdlife along these cliffs Icebergs washed up on the beach by the 14th of July Glacier View from the porthole in our room I was in a 4 person girl bunk room and it was so much fun! Reindeer roaming along the tundra One of the many historic trapping huts and cabins around Svalbard The Brasvellbreen glacier the 3rd largest ice cap in the world In Svalbard, its the law to carry a rifle outside of the settlements because of polar bear danger One of the many amazing glacier waterfalls we were lucky enough to witness Even though it was summer, we still have a few subzero days on the ice An arctic fox nabbing a meal One of our last landings and the location where we did a polar plunge The tundra is riddled with bones and antlers Cruising through the pack ice One of the many hikes on a landing The final polar bear we saw on land Many thanks to Eclipse Travel for hosting me in Svalbard like always Im keeping it real all opinions are my own, like you could expect less from me! And many thanks to Eric Supertramp for helping me photograph this magical land! A son of Vardevan Grigoryan, a Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) candidate in the upcoming local elections in Gyumri, died today from a gunshot wound to the head after being rushed to a local hospital. Arshak Grigoryan, 26, was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m. Press reports say local political rivalries stoked the attack against Grigoryan. Vardevan Grigoryan is the previous rector of the Gyumri Teachers' Institute. Photo: Vardevan Grigoryan Kinshasa: The charred remains of three people were visible on Tuesday inside the headquarters of one of Democratic Republic of Congo main opposition parties, which was set on fire overnight after a day of violent protests, a witness said. At least 17 people died on Monday in clashes between security forces and protesters angered by what they say is a bid by President Joseph Kabila to extend his rule over Africa`s top copper producer. Reuters New York: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump used funds from his charitable foundation to pay settlements in legal cases involving his businesses, an apparent violation of laws governing non-profits, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The cases involved a combined $258,000 paid out by the Donald J. Trump Foundation -- a charity almost entirely funded with other people`s money, the newspaper said -- and follow a review of legal documents and the foundation`s tax records. The newspaper carried out a weeks long investigation into the charity`s finances, finding that Trump himself has not contributed a dollar since 2009. The group is funded by donations from third parties instead. One of the group`s suspect payments was a $100,000 donation to a veterans` charity in 2007 as part of a legal settlement with the city of Palm Beach, Florida. Trump had sued the city after it fined him $120,000, or $1,250 per day, for erecting an 80-foot (24-meter) flagpole at his Mar-a-Lago Club that exceeded the maximum 42 feet permitted by local regulations. The Trump Foundation also made transactions that appeared to be exclusively for the benefit of the real estate mogul or his businesses, apparently in violation of regulations governing charities, the Washington Post said. In one case, the charity paid $20,000 in 2007 for a six-foot portrait of Trump, the newspaper reported. "Clearly the Trump Foundation is as much a charitable organization as Trump University is an institute of higher education," said Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the campaign of Trump`s White House rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton. "Once again, Trump has proven himself a fraud who believes the rules don`t apply to him," she said in a statement. "It`s past time for him to release his tax returns to show whether his tax issues extend to his own personal finances." Some Democrats have complained that the media has not sufficiently reported about the Trump Foundation`s suspected wrongdoing, accusing journalists of being lenient in their treatment of the outspoken billionaire. News outlets have also been criticized for being more keen to cover a tweet by Trump`s son comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of colorful Skittles candy. "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful?" he wrote. "That`s our Syria refugee problem." "If you are covering Skittles-gate instead Trump`s illegal use of his foundation, you are probably in journalism for the wrong reasons," tweeted Dan Pfeiffer, a former top advisor to President Barack Obama. Recently members of the "Remembering North Pelham, NY Facebook page debated the origins of an image depicted in a "Real Photo Post Card" (RPPC) printed on AZO paper that is being auctioned on eBay. The post card, the obverse and reverse of which are shown immediately below, is entitled "L. EPPLE NORTH PELHAM N.Y." and shows what appear to be greenhouses adjacent to a lovely shingled cottage with a Ford Model T flatbed truck in front of the cottage. "L. EPPLE NORTH PELHAM N.Y." Obverse of Real Photo Post Card Printed on AZO Paper on Unspecified Date Between 1904 and 1918. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. Reverse of the Post Card. NOTE: the Stamp Box Indicating It Was Printed on AZO Paper. That Stamp Box Has Four Diamonds -- One at Each Corner -- Signifying the RPPC Was Printed Between 1904 and 1918. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. The post card depicts the florist business of Louis Charles Epple in about 1915. He and his wife resided in the shingled cottage adjacent to the greenhouses. According to an obituary of Epple and an article about a fire on the site, the business was located at Seventh Street near Fifth Avenue in the Village of North Pelham for many years. A review of period maps shows that the facility was located on the northeast corner of the intersection of 7th Street and Fifth Avenue, across the street from the Smith Brothers excavation contracting business that once stood adjacent to the Sanborn Map Company building that still stands. Detail from 1914 Bromley Map Showing Epple Home and Florist Facility in Lower Right Corner. G. W., Atlas of Westchester County, N. Y. Pocket, Desk and Automobile Edition, Vol. I, p. 121 (NY, NY: G. W. Bromley & Co. 1914). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. By 1928, Epple seems to have retired from the business and built a small apartment house that he owned and in which he resided at 717 Pelhamdale Avenue (upper Pelhamdale adjacent to Chester Park). Epple seems to have leased the greenhouses at Seventh Street near Fifth Avenue to a business known as the "Pelham Floral Co." On Saturday, August 25, 1928, an arsonist's fire destroyed the vacant shingled cottage adjacent to the greenhouses. A brief news article about the fire suggested that it was one of a handful of recent fires of "incendiary" origins. Louis Charles Epple was born on July 4, 1866, in Geneva Switzerland and came to America as a young man. He was a florist by profession. He settled in Pelham in about 1890 and developed a nursery and florist's business at Seventh Street near Fifth avenue. Epple served as a member off the Volunteer Fire Department of the First Fire District from its inception until the time of his death, a period of 53 years ago. He had served as assistant chief of the department and was treasurer of the Pelham Fireman's Association for 11 years. For half a century he was a member of Liberty Engine and Hose Company, No. 1. Epple was one of a well-known trio of volunteer firemen, known as The Three Musketeers. The other two were Philip Godfrey of Relief Hook & Ladder Co., No. 1, and William Dollny, of the same company who served as treasurer of the First District for many years and is now custodian of the Town Hall. This trio was important to the early development of modern firefighting in North Pelham. Epple retired about 1928 or so and built an apartment house on the brow of the hill at Pelhamdale Avenue north (717 Pelhamdale Avenue), where he lived. He was a resident of Pelham for 55 years. His wife, the former Louise Gauthier, died in 1931. Epple died in his home at 717 Pelhamdale Avenue on Monday, June 25, 1945. He was survived by one daughter, Mrs. Florence Waser, who also resided in the apartments at 717 Pelhamdale Avenue, and by two brothers, Ernest Epple of Yonkers and Frederick Epple of Ridgewood, New Jersey. * * * * * "Vacant House Is Destroyed By Fire ----- Blaze In House Adjoining Greenhouses Believed To Have Been Of Incendiary Origin ----- Another fire believed to be of incendiary origin destroyed an unoccupied house in North Pelham early Saturday. Half filled bottles of benzine and other peculiarities about the blaze lend color to the belief that the fire was purposely started. Police have endeavored to determine who turned in the alarm but have been unsuccessful. The fire destroyed by the house adjoining the green houses of the Pelham Floral Co. on Seventh street. The building is owned by Louis Epple, who leased it to Pelham Floral Co. Firemen of the First Fire District answered the alarm. Chief Joseph Carraher was in command. At the arrival of the firemen the blaze had gained great headway, despite the efforts of the firemen it was impossible to save the building." Source: Vacant House Is Destroyed By Fire -- "MRS. LOUIS EPPLE DIES IN NEW YORK ----- Mrs. Louis Epple, a resident of the Pelhams for 37 years, died at St. Francis Hospital in New York City, Friday following an operation. An internal hemorrhage caused her death. Se was 59 years of age. Funeral services were held Monday morning from the Walter B. Cook Funeral Home in New York and a mass was celebrated at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Epple had made their home in North Pelham for many years, coming here from New York City when this community was known as Pelhamville. Mr. Epple for many years was engaged in the florist business." "Yule Tree Fire Does Damage In Epple Home ----- Smoke Forces Families in Upper Floor To Escape by Ladders ----- PELHAM -- Pelham Manor and North Pelham vied for 'honors' for the first fire of 1940 last night when the two village departments were called out within a few minutes of each other. In North Pelham, a Christmas tree fire thought to have been started by a match spark, did approximately $200 damage in the home of Louis Eppel, 717 Pelhamdale Avenue, according to Chief Louis Edinger. The fire, which occurred at 7:57 P. M., continued for an hour during which time, the Chief reported, several persons on the second floor, although in no danger, were taken down ladders because of the heavy smoke which filled the first floor. Damage was confined to the living room, where the window frames and doors were burned. A blazing couch was thrown out the front window. The Pelham Manor blaze, which was confined to a chimney in the home of Mrs. Margaret White, 626 Esplanade, occurred at 8:10 P.M. There was no damage." Source: Yule Tree Fire Does Damage In Epple Home -- "LOUIS C. EPPLE, 79, FIREMAN FOR 53 YEARS, IS DEAD ----- Had Been Member of Liberty Engine and Hose Co. No. 1 for Many Years His Total Service In the Fire Department Extending for More Than Half a Century. ----- FIREMEN AND MASONS HONOR HIS WORK AT MEMORIAL RITES ----- Had Retired from Business as Florist, but Maintained Interest in Fire Department Matters Until Recent Illness. ----- The oldest volunteer fireman in the Town of Pelham, in point of service, passed away on Monday when Louis Charles Epple, died at his home, 717 Pelhamdale ave- North Pelham following a long illness. Mr. Epple had been a member off the Volunteer Fire Department of the First Fire District since it was instituted 53 years ago. He had served as assistant chief of the department and was treasurer of the Pelham Fireman's Association for 11 years. For half a century he was a member of Liberty Engine and Hose Company, No. 1. He was one of a well-known trio of volunteer firemen, known as The Three Musketeers. The other two were Philip Godfrey of Relief Hook & Ladder Co., No. 1, and William Dollny, of the same company who served as treasurer of the First District for many years and is now custodian of the Town Hall. Mr. Godfrey is hale and hearty and past 80. The combined years of service given to the fire district by these three men are 148 years. If Mr. Epple had lived until next November the total ages of the three men would have been 241 years. Louis Epple was a native of Switzerland. He was born on July 4th, 1866, in Geneva Switzerland and came to America as a young man. He was a florist by profession and after settling in Pelham he conducted a nursery and florist's business at Seventh street near Fifth avenue. He retired about 15 years ago and built an apartment house on the brow of the hill at Pelhamdale avenue North, where he lived. He was a resident of Pelham for 55 years. His wife, the former Louise Gauthier, died in 1931. He is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Florence Waser, who resides at the North Pelham address; two brothers, Ernest of Yonkers and Frederick Epple of Ridgewood, N. J. The Board of Fire Commissioners have ordereed the firehouse at Fifth avenue draped for thirty days in honor of his memory. Firemen of the First Fire District conducted memorial services at the George T. Davis Chapel, New Rochelle, on Wednesday evening. Masonic services, conducted by members of Winyah Lodge F. & A. M. followed. Funeral services will be held this Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock from the Davis Chapel. The Rev. Wallace W. Downes of the Congregational Church of the Pelhams, will officials." Source: LOUIS C. EPPLE, 79, FIREMAN FOR 53 YEARS, IS DEAD -- Had Been Member of Liberty Engine and Hose Co. No. 1 for Many Years His Total Service In the Fire Department Extending for More Than Half a Century -- FIREMEN AND MASONS HONOR HIS WORK AT MEMORIAL RITES -- "Louis Epple's Estate $15,000; Legatees Listed WHITE PLAINS -- Louis Epple, of 717 Pelhamdale Avenue, North Pelham, who died June 25, left an estate of about $15,000, according to the will filed in Surrogate's Court. Beneficiaries include two brothers, Ernest Epple of 8 Harding Avenue, Yonkers, and Fred Epple of Ridgewood, N. J., who receive $500 each; two nieces, Lena Conlon and Elizabeth Weingartner, both of the Bronx, $250 each; two grandchildren, Paul R. Waser and Fleuretta L. Waser, and a son-in-law, Robert E. Waser, all of the North Pelham address, $500 each, and a daughter, Florence R. Waser also of the Pelhamdale Avenue address, who is bequeathed the residue. First Lieutenant Clarence W. Law, of 88 Young Avenue, Pelham, who was killed on Okinawa last April 20, left an estate an estate of $2,000 to his wife, Mrs. Louise R. Law, of the same address. Marie Mueller, of 15 Overhill Place, Yonkers, who died May 16, left an estate of $5,500, one-fifth the residue of which went to each of her four daughters and one son; Grace Langeler, of 448 Highbrook Avenue and Gladys Morgan, of 208 Highbrook Avenue, both of Pelham; Elanor Sorensen of the Yonkers address; Helen E. Hardy, of 5 Franklin Lane, Harrison, and George H. Mueller, of 119 Winifred Avenue Yonkers." Source: Labels: 1915, 1928, 1931, 1940, 1945, 717 Pelhamdale Avenue, Firemen, First Fire District, Florist, Louis C. Epple, Pelhamdale Avenue, Three Musketeers Washington: Donald Trump's eldest son triggered an online storm with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl containing an assortment of tainted and untainted candies. "This image says it all," Donald Trump Jr, 38, wrote yesterday, in a tweet showing a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular, rainbow-colored Skittles candies. Written above the image is: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syria refugee problem." This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 The Twitter post - showing the familiar Trump-Pence 2016 logo with the presidential campaign slogan Make America Great Again! - was met with immediate scorn from users of the popular micro-blogging site. "I'm not even big on Skittles but now I will buy up every single packet," wrote @SarahSahim. "Is Donald Trump's new campaign slogan 'Fear The Rainbow'"? wrote Twitter user @AngrySalmond. Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has sparked waves of criticism with comments on race, immigrants, and refugees, including calling for a ban on Muslim travelers to the United States. Equally controversial was his pronouncement last year that many Mexican immigrants were drug smugglers and rapists. The brash businessman also is strongly opposed to plans by President Barack Obama to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States by the end of this month. Syria is in the grip of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, amid an exodus of more than 4.8 million fleeing the war-torn country. The United States, which has a long tradition of taking in refugees, has been criticized for its slow response to the Syrian crisis. Sanaa: Gunmen posing as security forces on Tuesday detained a US national in the Yemeni capital where he runs an English-language school, witnesses said. A dozen men dressed as members of the Huthi rebels' "national security service" appeared at the Exceed Language Center in the afternoon, according to students. Three of the gunmen, who were masked and brandishing automatic weapons, headed to the principal`s office, before escorting the American to their vehicle. The man who was only identified by his first name, Peter, was taken away to an unknown location. The Exceed Language Center is located Algiers Street in the western part of the Yemeni capital. Its website lists only one staff member with the same given name -- Peter Willems who is identified as the school`s director. His seizure caused panic among the students, one of them said on condition of anonymity. The same source said the gunmen belonged to the "national security service" of the Iran-backed Huthi rebels who overran the Yemeni capital two years ago. They gave no reason for detaining him. Prague: Outspoken Czech President Milos Zeman announced on Tuesday he is backing US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, pitting himself against his country's prime minister who favours Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. "I'd vote for Donald Trump if I were a US citizen," Zeman said, quoted by the Dnes Czech daily. Branded a populist by his critics, the ex-communist leftist Zeman shares Trump's staunch anti-migrant stance and a fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hungary's anti-migrant right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- also a Putin fan -- became the first European leader to endorse Trump, calling him a "better option" for the bloc than Clinton. But in August leftist Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka insisted Clinton was better than Trump for the NATO alliance on security issues as relations between Russia and the West reach their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War. Trump drew the ire of eastern NATO members including Lithuania and Estonia that were ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era by appearing to suggest that he might not protect them from Russian aggression. Trump has also enthusiastically touted his readiness to work with Putin, at one point even describing the Russian strongman as more of a leader than US President Barack Obama. Putin on Saturday offered what appeared to be his strongest support for Trump so far -- without explicitly naming him. "We are carefully watching what is happening in the United States and we, of course, view with sympathy those who publicly state that it is necessary to build a relationship with Russia, on the basis of equality," he told journalists at a televised briefing. Oklahoma: Oklahoma police department have released a video showing a 40-year-old black man with his hands raised above his head just before being fatally shot by a white police officer. Terence Crutcher, was first tasered by officer Tyler Turnbough and then shot dead by officer Betty Shelby during an encounter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at around 7.40 p.m. on Friday. The police officers were responding to reports of an abandoned vehicle blocking a road. Police originally claimed that Crutcher was not cooperating with officers when they arrived and would not raise his hands in the air when instructed to, the Independent reported. However, in the video, Crutcher can be seen raising his arms in the air in the middle of the street. He stood beside his driver's side window as several police officers stood behind him with their weapons raised. Tulsa's police chief, Chuck Jordan, said at a news conference on Monday that Crutcher was unarmed and did not have a weapon in his vehicle. "I'm going to tell you right now that there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect's vehicle," Jordan said. He assured people that justice will be achieved. Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, said the family demands to know what happened and wants charges pressed against Police Officer Betty Shelby, who shot and killed Crutcher, USA Today reported. "When unarmed people of colour break down on the side of the road, we're not treated as citizens needing help, we are treated as criminals, as suspects," Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney, told The Post. On September 15, 13-year-old African-American teen Tyre King, was fatally shot by a police officer who had brandished a firearm which was later determined to be an air gun. New York: Baloch activists will hold protests outside the UN General Assembly headquarters here tomorrow during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the General Debate, to highlight "atrocities" and human rights violations by Pakistani forces in Balochistan. The 'Coalition of American Friends of Balochistan' and Indian-American Organisations said they will hold a "peaceful protest" against Pakistan for "its state sponsored atrocities and terrorism on the people of Balochistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir and minorities". The Baloch National Movement of North America (BNM) said a joint protest of Baloch and Sindhi activists will be held outside the UN headquarters to protest the "ongoing military operations" in Sindh and Balochistan. "Baloch people have welcomed and are grateful for the support extended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at such a critical juncture when our nation is struggling to be free from the illegal military occupation of Pakistan since 1948," BNM said in a statement. Sharif will address the General Debate tomorrow and has said he will raise the Kashmir issue at the UN. The group said that since 2003, more than 20,000 Baloch political activists have gone missing, "illegally abducted" by the Pakistani state security forces and victims of enforced disappearances are being "tortured and executed" in custody. The group also blamed China for joining hands with Pakistan and causing displacement of people living in the tribal and coastal areas with its economic activity. "China is Pakistan's strategic partner in the economic plundering and mass murder of Baloch civilians, particularly in the coastal belt of the Makran region of Balochistan," it said. Strongly criticising the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the group said thousands of Baloch tribal people have been dislocated due to the development of the corridor. New Delhi: Accusing India of "double standards" on terrorism, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti "is a terrorist" and India should not give him asylum. General (retd) Musharraf's remarks came amid reports that Bugti has formally sought political asylum in India, and New Delhi is willing to grant it. "He (Bugti) is a terrorist. India should not give him asylum," Musharraf told CNN-News18 channel. The former Pakistan President accused India of adopting double standards on terrorism. "You (India) cannot say your terrorist is a terrorist but our terrorist is not a terrorist," he said. Musharraf also denied any Pakistan Army role in the Uri attack on Sunday, and warned of consequences in case of any military strike against Pakistan. "You (India) should also be prepared for what would follow (if Indian army strikes)," he said. Kathmandu: Bombs exploded at two schools in the Nepalese capital on Tuesday while suspicious objects were found in five other schools, media reported. Cylinder bombs exploded at the Akash Deep Boarding School and Manakamana Higher Secondary School in Jorpati, Kathmandu, at around 3.45 a.m, Kathmandu police chief Bikram Singh Thapa said. Explosives were also recovered from five other schools in the valley, Kathmandu Post reported. No human casualties have been reported. Nepal Army bomb disposal teams were sent to defuse the explosives. Police has arrested two suspects. Meanwhile, pamphlets of Akhil Rastriya Swatantra Bidhyarthi Kendra and Young Communist Force Nepal have been recovered from the explosion site. Damascus: New bombardments were reported on Tuesday in Syria`s Aleppo city where fighting has erupted in the southwestern districts, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The airstrikes targeted several areas and neighbourhoods in the northern province, but no casualties were reported, EFE news reported. On Monday night, clashes erupted between government forces, backed by the Hezbollah and Islamic factions. The SOHR quoted military sources as saying that the army repelled an attack carried out by "terrorist organiSations" in southwest Aleppo in the vicinity of the 1070 Apartment Project and al-Rashideen. The bombing resumed in Aleppo on Monday, shortly after the military officially declared an end to the week-long truce in Syria. The SOHR reported that at least 38 people were killed in these airstrikes and artillery shelling against the besieged districts of Aleppo. United Nations: Calling for United Nations Human Rights Commission's intervention to stop human right violations in Balochistan, the Baloch Republican Party has accused Pakistan of carrying out a systemic genocide. Abdul Nawaz Bugti, representative of Baloch Republican Party in UNHRC, said, Worsening human rights situation in Balochistan requires immediate attention of HRC. Enforced disappearances and custodial killings of Baloch political activists by Pakistan security forces have intensified in last several weeks, he alleged. Pakistani forces claimed to have arrested over 13000 people from Balochistan since 2015 but not a single case was brought in any court of law, he said, adding, This further exposes the impunity with which the Pakistani forces operate and carry out a systematic genocide in Balochistan. He also alleged the attack helicopters were used by Pakistani forces against Balochi civilians, killing over 100 people including women and children. We welcome the statement by Indian Prime Minister and permanent mission of India to highlight Pakistan atrocities in Balochistan, Bugti said. The Baloch leader called for the council to take immediate measures to stop the systematic genocide of Baloch people by Pakistani state. Geneva: The United Nations has suspended all aid convoy movements in Syria after an air strike hit a 31-truck convoy late on Monday, U.N. humanitarian aid spokesman Jens Laerke said on Tuesday. "As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being pending further assessment of the security sitaution," he told a briefing, adding that the U.N. had recently received permission from the Syrian government to deliver aid to all besieged areas in the country. Abu Dhabi: An Emirati woman has sought leave to have a sex change operation in what would be a first for the United Arab Emirates, newspapers reported today. The application to the court in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi comes after a change in the law took effect earlier this month legalising gender reassignment surgery. Lawyer Ali al-Mansouri told Gulf News the 29-year-old woman always felt strongly that she was not the gender she physically appeared to be. "Ever since she was three, the woman felt instead that she is actually a male. She would have an intense desire to have a male body and to be accepted by others as a male and would feel her true identity is male," he told the paper. He said his client's feeling that her body does not reflect her true gender caused her severe distress, anxiety and depression. "She has been undergoing physical and psychological care since 2012 and a medical commission had recommended that she undergo a sex-change surgery." The court said it would hear the case on September 28. The new Medical Liability Law that came into effect earlier this month allows for sex change operations on medical grounds. "The surgical procedure... Is permitted if it is part of a treatment for gender dysphoria in transgender people, as advised by a medical commission to be set up for this purpose," the law says. Patna: The Bihar government on Tuesday made a strong presentation before a committee constituted by Union Water Resources ministry to show how siltation in Ganga river due to Farakka dam led to rise in water level of the river at several points resulting in flood. Principal Secretary of Bihar Water Resources Department Arun Kumar Singh made a power point presentation before Madhav Chittle committee, an official statement said here. The committee was formed at the initiative of the Bihar government. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had drawn his attention towards siltation triggered by Farakka dam resulting in rise in water level in Ganga and resulting in flood every year. He had urged the PM for a deep study of the situation and formulate a national silt policy. The Bihar government's presentation in national capital was attended by Secretary of Union Water Resources ministry Shashi Sekhar and IIT Delhi Professor A K Gosain. In his presentation, Singh showed how due to siltation caused by Farakka dam resulted in record rise in water level in Ganga at Patna, Hathidah and Bhagalpur this year causing widespread destruction. He demanded decommissioning of Farakka dam due to its bad impact. The officer also made a strong case for formulation of national silt policy. Newly appointed vice president of Bihar State Disaster Management Authority Vyasji was present in the function. Patna: The Nitish Kumar Cabinet on Tuesday announced to enhance ex-gratia amount to Rs 11 lakh each which will be paid to kin of three soldiers, hailing from Bihar and killed in a terror attack on an army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had yesterday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the three soldiers which was enhanced to Rs 11 lakh each today. The decision to scale up ex-gratia amount to Rs 11 lakh each was taken at a meeting of state Cabinet chaired by Kumar. Three martyred soldiers of Bihar are S K Vidyarthi from Gaya, Rakesh Singh from Kaimur and Ashok Kumar Singh from Ara in Bhojpur district. Saluting bravery of the soldiers who were killed in the terror attack at Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, the CM had announced to accord full state honour to the three martyred soldiers of the Bihar regiment. Three ministers attended the funeral ceremony of the as many martyred at different places. In other important decisions, the Bihar cabinet gave its nod for signing of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central Board of Excise And Customs (CBEC), Governmenmt of India, for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), likely to be rolled out from April 1, 2017. "The state cabinet today gave its nod for signing of an MoU between state's Commercial Taxes Department and Central Board of Excise And Customs (CBEC), Ministry of Finance, Governmenmt of India. The decision would help in sharing of data with each other," Cabinet Secretariat Department's Principal Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters in a post cabinet briefing here. Now the MoU will be sent to the Government of India which would approve it, Mehrotra said, adding that Bihar would share various details such as tax collected on items, volume of taxes, number of those under VAT and other tax net in state. The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 2100 crore as subsidy for Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Ltd and its two subsidiary companies - North and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd- on account of making payment for power purchase from NTPC in the current financial year of 2016-17. New Delhi: Women legislators of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung and Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma soon over what they said were "increasing cases of crime against women" in the national capital. Addressing a press conference here, AAP's legislator from Palam constituency Bhavna Gaur said women were not feeling safe while stepping out of their houses in Delhi. "Law and order is at its lowest in Delhi. Women are scared as crimes against them are continuously increasing. Police in Delhi reports to the Home Ministry; so all the women legislators of the party will go and meet Rajnath Singh, Jung and the police commissioner," Gaur said. "This time, we will not seek mere assurances but pitch for a solution to this problem," she added. AAP legislators Rakhi Birla, Alka Lamba and Sarita Singh were also present at the press conference. The decision to meet the Home Minister was taken after a 21-year-old woman was fatally stabbed as many as 22 times in broad daylight on Tuesday morning by a man who claimed to be her jilted lover. Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia lashed out at the Delhi Police, saying its "focus" should be on security of Delhi residents instead of "harassing" AAP lawmakers. "Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-yr-old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizen's security than harassing AAP MLAs," Sisodia tweeted. New Delhi: A 39-year-old garment trader was shot dead by two unidentified bike-borne assailants in Prasad Nagar area of central Delhi this evening. The victim, Pradip Kapoor, who had a garment shop in Karol Bagh, was going back home on his bike when the accused shot him around 8:00 pm, a police officer said. A police team reached the spot after getting a PCR call and rushed Kapoor to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The matter is being probed, police added. New Delhi: In a shocking incident, a 21-year old woman was stabbed 22 times by a jilted lover on Tuesday morning in full public view in north Delhi. The woman, identified as Karuna, a resident of Burari area in north Delhi, later died. She was a teacher at Novel Reaches School, police said. Scooterists and passersby looked on as the accused, identified as Surender Singh, dragged the girl, who fell down as she tried to save herself, and relentlessly attacked her. However, a witness told news agency ANI that he tried to stop people, but nobody was willing to help. He added that after stabbing the girl, the accused started dancing near her body. "The woman was stabbed publicly in Burari area at 9 am by the accused, named Surender Singh, 34, who was known to her. No one came to her rescue," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma told reporters. "He was later chased by the public and beaten up and handed over to police," the officer added. The victim used to learn computer at a training centre owned by the accused and he fell in love with her, police said. The officer said, "The assailant had been troubling the woman since a year or so. The family had lodged a complaint four-five months back and both the families had reached a compromise." Karuna was declared brought dead at a trauma centre in ISBT, police said. "There were 22 stab wounds on the deceased`s body," the officer added. According to police, the assailant owns a shop and his divorce case was going on. Meanwhile, the Centre has sought a report from the Delhi Police over the death of Karuna. "We have sought a fact report from Delhi Police Commissioner over the incident. Whatever happened is very sad," Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told reporters. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has hit out at the Delhi Police, saying the force should "focus" on ensuring security of people rather than "harassing" AAP legislators. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: A combative Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Tuesday dubbed the case filed against her as "false" and said that it's a conspiracy by few people who don't like "questions being asked by us". "DCW is working in Delhi but few people are objecting to it, I don't want to take their names, but they are trying their best to not allow the state government and the Central government to work for the women safety together," Maliwal told reporters after a case was filed against her by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government in an alleged illegal recruitment scam. "It is why an FIR was filed against me. This FIR is farji (false)," Maliwal said. "I want to say that I am a revolutionary and have taken big fights and have also asked tough questions, so I won't fear from such cases," she added. She said that the case was registered against her to create a communication gap. The DCW chief's remarks came in the wake of a case filed against her by the ACB on Monday night on the complaint of Congress leader Barkha Singh Shukla, the former head of the commission. She stressed that the state government and the central government need to work together on the issue of women safety in the national capital. "For the safety of women in Delhi for the first time all the big ministers have come together and I think this is the biggest necessity," Maliwal said, adding, "The state government and the Centre need to work together on the women safety here." "In last one year the DCW worked tirelessly and I think that none of the other commissions in Delhi would have done that much work," she rued. Reacting on the fatal attack on a 21-year-old girl in north Delhi's Burari area, Maliwal said, "It is very shameful that such an act happened in full public (view) in Delhi. One can understand the horrific situation in Delhi." "Earlier a 11-month-old child was raped in Delhi and before that a girl was also burnt alive after she refused to accept the advances of the accused, so this is the reality of Delhi," she added. When asked if it is the failure of the Delhi Police to provide security and safety to the women in the national capital, Maliwal replied, "I am not blaming only one agency, but yes, the Delhi Police should be made accountable for the same also its sources need to be improved." Maliwal said that the Delhi Police has asked for 66,000 police personnel while they have got only 4,000 personnel which needs to be improved to provide safety to the women in the city. She also stressed that such people have no fear of the Delhi Police. Maliwal said, "The police has informed the commission that about 11,000 cases were filed by the women in the national capital, in which very few accused have been punished." New Delhi: The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Tuesday filed an FIR against Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal, a day after grilling her for over two hours in connection with allegations of "illegal" recruitment in the women's panel. The FIR has been filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act. "A case under sections 13(D) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the IPC has been registered against Maliwal," said a senior ACB officer. Responding to the development, Maliwal said she is not scared about the FIR and maintained that she hasn't done anything wrong. "Got to know that an FIR has been registered.I have no reason to be scared as I have not done anything wrong. If we have to change the system we will have to give some sacrifices." "If somebody can prove corruption of a single rupee in my life, I will stop living. I am a follower of Laxmi Bai and Subhash Chandra Bose...I am not going be scared," she said in a series of tweets. A team comprising five ACB officers reached the DCW office at 11 am on Monday. The officers also handed over a questionnaire to Maliwal seeking her reply to 27 queries within a week's time. The ACB has taken up the probe on a complaint by former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh, who alleged that several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters were given plum posts in the women's panel. Singh, in her complaint, listed the names of 85 people who, she claimed, got jobs "without requisite credentials". "I have been asked 27 questions and given a week's time to reply. We have been asked how we did so many appointments to the women's panel. In a way, they are asking how did we manage to do so much work?" Maliwal, the wife of Naveen Jaihind, a close aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, told reporters after her questioning ended. She termed the probe as an "attempt" to "silence" the women's panel that has been raising a lot of questions. "In one year, we have handled 11,500 cases and attended 2.25 lakh calls on helpline number 181. The former DCW chief handled only one case. DCW asks questions whenever a rape is reported. This is disturbing a lot of people. But we will continue to raise questions," she said. The DCW chief said she will answer the questions asked by the ACB within a week and "fully cooperate" with the probe by providing all documents sought by the investigative agency. Maliwal alleged that Singh also appointed members to the panel during her tenure despite handling only one case in eight years. "We followed the due process for appointing members to the panel. While she (Singh) appointed wives of IAS and IPS officers without giving an advertisement for recruitment. We have all the documents and we will give them to the ACB." Maliwal asserted that all the appointments in her tenure have been made following the "due procedure" and nobody was being given any "benefit". Last month, Arvind Kejriwal had asserted that there are numerous decisions of the Aam Aadmi Party government which the importance which Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to be reversed through Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, like the removal of DCW chief Swati Maliwal. He had tweeted that sources have told him that the LG and PMO were hell bent on removing Swati Maliwal 4 doing gud job. Shell be arrested coming week n then removed. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: The man, who was arrested yesterday for throwing ink on Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, has been engaged in a legal tussle with Arvind Kejriwal alleging that the Chief Minister had misled people by saying the municipal corporations were not under his governments control. The man, identified as Brijesh Shukla, had filed a criminal complaint seeking lodging of an FIR against Kejriwal in a Delhi court which has kept the matter for October 18 for hearing further arguments. Shukla, President of Swaraj Janta Party, had claimed in his plea that Kejriwal had come out with full-page advertisement in newspapers in October last saying it was wrong to say that the municipal corporations fell under the Delhi governments jurisdiction. His counsel had earlier argued that public money was wasted for spreading lies and misleading the people. Shukla was on Monday arrested by Delhi Police for throwing ink on Sisodia when he was getting into his car outside LG Office. The resident of Karawal Nagar in North East Delhi had claimed he was angry at the Deputy Chief Minister for his Finland tour at a time when the city was grappling with a health crisis. With ANI inputs New Delhi: The man, who had allegedly thrown ink at Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia outside the Lieutenant Governor's office yesterday, was on Tuesday sent to judicial custody for a day by a Delhi court. Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh remanded 42-year-old Brijesh Shukla in judicial custody till tomorrow when he was produced before the court by police and his counsel moved a bail application. The court also fixed hearing of Shukla's bail plea for tomorrow in which he has claimed that the allegations against him were "false and fabricated" and he had not created any hurdle for public servant in performing duty. The application filed through advocate Rajesh Kumar said his client's custody was no more required as the investigation of police was almost complete and recovery has also been made. Shukla, a resident of Karawal Nagar in north east Delhi and President of Swaraj Janta Party, told the reporters outside the courtroom that he does not regret throwing ink at Sisodia. Shukla, who was arrested yesterday for allegedly thrown copious amount of ink at Sisodia, had then said he was angry with the Deputy CM for his Finland tour at a time when the city was grappling with a health crisis. Shukla has been booked under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC. Police has also alleged that the accused had manhandled the constable on duty. The complaint against Shukla was filed by C Arvind, the secretary of the Deputy Chief Minister. Shukla been actively engaged in protests against the AAP government over various issues and has also filed a complaint in court against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi. New Delhi: Accusing the Delhi government of "working in favour" of radio cab companies, suspended AAP MLA Devinder Sehrawat on Tuesday alleged the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation was not implementing a high court order prohibiting taxi operators from charging passengers more than notified rates. Sehrawat claimed that radio cab operators have earned over Rs 9,239 crore due to surge pricing and it should be refunded to the consumers. A complaint with the National Consumer Commission has also been filed regarding this matter, he said. Clamping down on surge pricing by app-based cab service providers, the Delhi High Court had set August 22 as the deadline after which taxi operators cannot charge passengers more than the government-fixed rates. "The Delhi government is not implementing the high court order to benefit the radio cab companies," Sehrawat alleged. The Bijwasan MLA said collection of even a single paisa more than the fares notified by the state government is illegal under Section 67 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1998. He also demanded that penalty be imposed on radio cab companies. AAP had on September 12 suspended Sehrawat from the primary membership of the party after he accused party men in Punjab of "exploiting women" in return for tickets. The action against Sehrawat came after he also made direct attacks on Kejriwal. Coimbatore: A one-day education expo featuring top American universities will be held here on September 25. The participating universities represent a wide geographic area in the United States and offer a range of academic programs at undergraduate and graduate levels. Students and their parents can get information directly from the representatives of the varisites about various programmes and admission criteria, an official release said. The discussion sessions at the fair will also help students make informed choices about US higher education and about the US student visa application process, it said. Gurgaon: Gau rakshaks or cow saviors in Gurgaon, Haryana, have applied for arms licenses citing security concerns. According to them, an arms license is now a necessity for them as they are facing threats from armed cow smugglers. They say that when they try to stop the cow smugglers at night, they are attacked with arms. The vigilantes claim that they have already been fired upon many times. Head of the Haryana Gau Rakshak group, Dharmendra Yadav, said that cow smugglers work in groups of at least 10 and all of them are usually armed. He said he has already been a victim of attacks from these armed groups thrice and that is why he has applied for an arms license and sought police protection. Vikrant Yadav was one such person who was murdered on August 24, 2013, for following these cow smugglers. Following his death, angry villagers created a ruckus by jamming railway tracks and burning vehicles. In another incident that took place about a month and a half ago, some cow vigilantes were shot at in the Sohna and Pataudi areas. Reports have also surfaced of cow saviors in Gurgaon allegedly targeting migrants and meat sellers over suspicions of them dealing in beef. They, however, admit that certain miscreants are bringing a bad name to the entire community and agreed with Narendra Modi`s remarks, who had said that 70-80 percent of those who consider themselves `gau rakshaks`, are involved in activities which have no place in society and don the mantle of gau rakshaks to hide their evil or nefarious activities. Gurgaon Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar has said that no person can be granted an arms license just on the issue of protecting themselves from cow smugglers. He said inquiries are conducted as to why a person is applying for an arms license and whether he or she will be able to prevent the misuse of the arm, besides other factors. Once there is an all clear on all parameters being met, only then is an arms license is issued.Yadav had applied for the license around a year ago, but is to receive it. He has written to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Khattar for help in this regard. New Delhi: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "strongly condemned" Sunday`s cross-border terror attack in Uri and conveyed his country`s solidarity with India in the fight against terror. "President Ghani strongly condemned the cross-border terror attack and conveyed Afghanistan`s solidarity and support with India against all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism," the Prime Minister`s Office said in a statement. "President Ghani expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers," it said. Modi thanked Ghani for Afghanistan`s support, it added. Ghani was in New Delhi last week during which he held talks with Modi. Aligarh (UP): A Kashmiri student was expelled from the Aligarh Muslim University over an objectionable comment on the Uri attack during a discussion on Facebook. An objectionable comment related to Uri Attack was posted on FB by a Kashmiri student studying in AMU, said Rajesh Pandey, SSP Aligarh After taking cognisance of that, we informed AMU administration asking them to enquire. After a probe, AMU has expelled the student, he said. We have also registered a case in Civil Lines Police Station regarding the same, he added. 18 Indian soldiers were killed in the audacious terror attack on an army camp in Uri, Baramulla. United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday made no reference to Kashmir and the situation in the Valley in his last address despite Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's repeated calls to the world body to help resolve the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. In his final address as the UN chief to the opening session of the General Debate here, Ban touched upon a plethora of global issues including the crisis in Syria, the Palestinian issue, the situation in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, the refugee and migrant movements. He also addressed tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East, the South Sudan tensions, violent extremism and its impact on regions from Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. However, Ban did not make any mention of Kashmir or the tensions in the Valley, that have escalated in the recent months, even as Pakistan made repeated pleas to the UN to help resolve the dispute between India and Pakistan. Kashmir will be the focal point of Sharif's address to the General Assembly tomorrow. Tensions are particularly running high between India and Pakistan in the wake of the attack by heavily-armed militants from Pakistan-based JeM on an army base in Uri on Sunday that killed 18 jawans. Ban's office has repeatedly said that the UN chief's "good offices" are available to help resolve the Kashmir issue, only if both India and Pakistan request for it, a clear message that it is a bilateral issue and should be solved by the two countries. Last month, Sharif had written two letters to Ban asking him to intervene in the Kashmir issue. The letters were among the many that Islamabad had shot off to the UN, calling for the world body to take up the Kashmir issue. However, in his long and final address to the world leaders, Ban did not make one reference to Kashmir while highlighting the issues on the UN agenda. In his address, Ban referred to the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement on climate change, security threats by armed conflicts and its "tragic consequences" which are on brutal display from Yemen to Libya and Iraq, from Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. He also spoke about the conflict in Syria, which "is taking the greatest number of lives and sowing the widest instability". Ban also touched upon the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying "replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation". "In Myanmar, the transition has entered a promising new phase. In Sri Lanka, post-war healing efforts have deepened. In both countries, true reconciliation rests on ensuring that all communities, minorities and majorities alike, are included in building a new union," he said. The second five-year term of Ban is expiring on December 31. Mumbai: France on Tuesday criticised the Uri terrorist attack that claimed lives of 18 soldiers, saying "there are no good terrorists or bad terrorists; there is only bad terrorism". Speaking at a function here, French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said, "My reaction is to tell you how sorry we are, how deeply-touched we are by this attack, this awful terrorist attack. We strongly condemn this attack as we condemn any kind of terrorists attack. There are no good terrorists or bad terrorists. There is only bad terrorism." "We are standing side by side with our Indian friends combating terrorism and pressing on states to make an end to terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism," he added. Meanwhile, barely two days after the terror attack in Uri, army foiled two infiltration bids from across the border in Kashmir on Tuesday, killing some of the terrorists while losing a jawan. The attempts to cross the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri and Nowgam sectors came even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions in Uri sector. An army spokesman said in Srinagar, operations are in progress at both the places, but refused to comment on the number of terrorists killed in the ongoing operations so far. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi, which had initially put the number of terrorists killed at 10, later clarified that the extent of casualties can be ascertained only after the retrieval of the bodies from the dense jungles.As per reports, a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. New Delhi: The mortal remains of 18 brave soldiers who died in Sundays dastardly militant attack in Uri are being taken to their ancestral places for their last rites on Tuesday. They were earlier given an emotional farewell at the army headquarters in Badamibagh by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, senior Army and police officials on Monday. Post the wreath laying ceremony, Mehbooba visited the injured soldiers at the 92 Base Hospital of the Army in Srinagar. Several jawans continue to battle serious injuries. The mortal remains of the martyrs were then transported to their respective hometowns. While two of the soldiers hail from Jammu and Kashmir, rest of them belong to Uttar Pradesh (four), Bihar (three), Maharashtra (three), West Bengal (two), Jharkhand (two) and Rajasthan (one). Four heavily armed militants had stormed a battalion headquarters of the Army in North Kashmirs Uri town in the wee hours Sunday, killing 17 jawans and injuring 19 other personnel. In an encounter, the security forces had neutralised all the four militants within hours. Hailing the martyrs, Prime Minster Modi had strongly taken on the perpetrators of the attack, vowing that those behind the despicable and cowardly act will not go unpunished. In a statement issued on Sunday, President Pranab Mukherjee said that India will not be cowed down by such outrageous attacks and that it will thwart the evil designs of terrorists and their backers. While New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for the terror attack in Uri, Indians from across the world have demanded strong action against Pakistan. The attack deadliest in the history of the Indian Army has also triggered a massive political outrage with several politicians joining the ranks in their criticism of Pak-sponsored terrorist outfits. Here are the LIVE updates:- -Last rites of Lance Naik RK Yadav who lost his life in Uri attack being conducted in Ballia, UP. Balia (UP): Last rites of Lance naik RK Yadav who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/vHvUClcepV ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of sepoy G Dalai, who lost his life in Uri attacks. Balia (UP): Last rites of sepoy G Dalai, who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/Lidaeqd4g3 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -"Poore Pakistan ko goli se uda dena chahiye", says young daughter of slain soldier NS Rawat who lost his life in Uri attack. "Poore Pakistan ko goli se uda dena chahiye", says young daughter of slain soldier NS Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttacks. pic.twitter.com/i2NtOdT86Z ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Locals gather in Rajawa village (Rajasthan) to attend the last rites ceremony of havildar NS Rawat who lost his life in Uri attack. Rajawa village (Rajasthan): Last rites of havildar NS Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttacks. pic.twitter.com/dZDAsANOvm ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of sepoy Javra Munda who lost his life in Uri attack in Khunti, Jharkhand. Khunti (Jharkhand): Last rites of sepoy Javra Munda who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/7PhN85hOTo ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -WATCH: Last rites of havildar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life during Uri attack in Bhojpur. #WATCH Bhojpur, Bihar: Last rites of havIldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life during #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/gRxhiiyV6x ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Havildar Ashok Kumar Singhs son at his last rites ceremony in Bhojpur. Bihar: Havildar Ashok Kumar Singhs son at his last rites ceremony in Bhojpur. pic.twitter.com/UouyHiHVVv ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Locals carry the body of soldier Harender who lost his life in Uri attack to a nearby cremation ground. -Proud daughter of slain Naik SK Vidyarthi says,"mujhe mere papa pe garv hai kyunki mere papa desh ke liye shaheed hui hain." -Proud daughter of slain Naik SK Vidyarthi says,"mujhe mere papa pe garv hai kyunki mere papa desh ke liye shaheed hui hain." Gaya: Proud daughter of slain Naik SK Vidyarthi says,"mujhe mere papa pe garv hai kyunki mere papa desh ke liye shaheed hui hain" #UriAttack pic.twitter.com/4M1zNJyufM ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in Uri attack brought to Satara. His last rites are underway. Maharashtra: Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Satara. Last rites ceremony underway. pic.twitter.com/3BuIaf4Dq3 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of soldier Rajesh Kumar who lost his life in Sunday's terror attack in Uri being held in Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh). Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh): Last rites of soldier Rajesh Kumar who lost his life in #UriAttack (Sep 19) pic.twitter.com/Mtle4L3T9g ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in Uri attack brought to Satara for last rites ceremony. Maharashtra: Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Satara for last rites ceremony. pic.twitter.com/oULnnqq1x6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Mortal remains of Havildar N S Rawat who lost his life in Uri attack being taken to his native village from Bhim in Rajasthan. Rajasthan: Mortal remains of Havildar N S Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttack being taken to his native village from Bhim pic.twitter.com/yQo6eWKdI6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -He always wanted to join army. PM Modi should take some strict action against Pakistan. Dont make fake promises: Villager. -PM ji aisa kaam kare ke Pakistan ko uske kiye ki saza mil jaye, taaki shaheed jawano ki aatma ko shanti mile: Kin of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar. -In UP's Sant Kabir Nagar, family members mourn death of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar who lost his life in Uri attack. Sant Kabir Nagar (UP): Family members mourn death of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack. pic.twitter.com/5WhHg5V5sN ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -If Govt fails to take stern action, I will never let any of my sons to join army again: Father of Naik SK Vidarthi who died in Uri attack. -Mortal remains of Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan who lost his life in Uri attack brought to Nagpur, will now be taken to Yavatmal for last rites. Mortal remains of Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Nagpur, will now be taken to Yavatmal for last rites pic.twitter.com/D4nJfLRJtM ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Gun salutes paid to Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui during his last rite in Howrah today. Gun salutes paid to Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui (who lost his life in #UriAttack) during his last rite in Howrah (early morning visuals) pic.twitter.com/oNA2urObhF ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui who lost his life in Uri attack in Howrah, West Bengal this morning. Howrah (WB): Last rites of Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui who lost his life in #UriAttack (early morning visuals) pic.twitter.com/FBqRYR3YfY ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of Sepoy Harinder Yadav who lost his life in Uri attack was held in Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh) last night. Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh): Last rites of Sepoy Harinder Yadav who lost his life in #UriAttacks (last night visuals) pic.twitter.com/36b6dE1lcu ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -In Agartala, student groups' hold candlelight vigil to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in Uri attack. Agartala (Tripura): Student groups' hold candlelight vigil to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in #UriAttack pic.twitter.com/ZJNoNtm3N6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of martyr sepoy TS Somnath, who lost his life in Uri terror attack, was held in Nashik, Maharashtra late last night. Last rites of martyr sepoy TS Somnath (who lost his life in Uri terror attack) in Nashik (Maharashtra) #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/EX6MJ3dBjr ANI (@ANI_news) September 19, 2016 -Candle light march was held in Bengaluru to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their life in Uri attack. New Delhi: The mortal remains of 18 brave soldiers who died in Sundays dastardly militant attack in Uri are being taken to their ancestral places for their last rites on Tuesday. They were earlier given an emotional farewell at the army headquarters in Badamibagh by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, senior Army and police officials on Monday. Post the wreath laying ceremony, Mehbooba visited the injured soldiers at the 92 Base Hospital of the Army in Srinagar. Several jawans continue to battle serious injuries. The mortal remains of the martyrs were then transported to their respective hometowns. While two of the soldiers hail from Jammu and Kashmir, rest of them belong to Uttar Pradesh (four), Bihar (three), Maharashtra (three), West Bengal (two), Jharkhand (two) and Rajasthan (one). Four heavily armed militants had stormed a battalion headquarters of the Army in North Kashmirs Uri town in the wee hours Sunday, killing 17 jawans and injuring 19 other personnel. In an encounter, the security forces had neutralised all the four militants within hours. Hailing the martyrs, Prime Minster Modi had strongly taken on the perpetrators of the attack, vowing that those behind the despicable and cowardly act will not go unpunished. In a statement issued on Sunday, President Pranab Mukherjee said that India will not be cowed down by such outrageous attacks and that it will thwart the evil designs of terrorists and their backers. While New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for the terror attack in Uri, Indians from across the world have demanded strong action against Pakistan. The attack deadliest in the history of the Indian Army has also triggered a massive political outrage with several politicians joining the ranks in their criticism of Pak-sponsored terrorist outfits. Here are the LIVE updates:- -Last rites of Lance Naik RK Yadav who lost his life in Uri attack being conducted in Ballia, UP. Balia (UP): Last rites of Lance naik RK Yadav who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/vHvUClcepV ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of sepoy G Dalai, who lost his life in Uri attacks. Balia (UP): Last rites of sepoy G Dalai, who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/Lidaeqd4g3 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -"Poore Pakistan ko goli se uda dena chahiye", says young daughter of slain soldier NS Rawat who lost his life in Uri attack. "Poore Pakistan ko goli se uda dena chahiye", says young daughter of slain soldier NS Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttacks. pic.twitter.com/i2NtOdT86Z ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Locals gather in Rajawa village (Rajasthan) to attend the last rites ceremony of havildar NS Rawat who lost his life in Uri attack. Rajawa village (Rajasthan): Last rites of havildar NS Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttacks. pic.twitter.com/dZDAsANOvm ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of sepoy Javra Munda who lost his life in Uri attack in Khunti, Jharkhand. Khunti (Jharkhand): Last rites of sepoy Javra Munda who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/7PhN85hOTo ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -WATCH: Last rites of havildar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life during Uri attack in Bhojpur. #WATCH Bhojpur, Bihar: Last rites of havIldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life during #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/gRxhiiyV6x ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Havildar Ashok Kumar Singhs son at his last rites ceremony in Bhojpur. Bihar: Havildar Ashok Kumar Singhs son at his last rites ceremony in Bhojpur. pic.twitter.com/UouyHiHVVv ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Locals carry the body of soldier Harender who lost his life in Uri attack to a nearby cremation ground. -Proud daughter of slain Naik SK Vidyarthi says,"mujhe mere papa pe garv hai kyunki mere papa desh ke liye shaheed hui hain." -Proud daughter of slain Naik SK Vidyarthi says,"mujhe mere papa pe garv hai kyunki mere papa desh ke liye shaheed hui hain." Gaya: Proud daughter of slain Naik SK Vidyarthi says,"mujhe mere papa pe garv hai kyunki mere papa desh ke liye shaheed hui hain" #UriAttack pic.twitter.com/4M1zNJyufM ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in Uri attack brought to Satara. His last rites are underway. Maharashtra: Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Satara. Last rites ceremony underway. pic.twitter.com/3BuIaf4Dq3 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of soldier Rajesh Kumar who lost his life in Sunday's terror attack in Uri being held in Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh). Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh): Last rites of soldier Rajesh Kumar who lost his life in #UriAttack (Sep 19) pic.twitter.com/Mtle4L3T9g ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in Uri attack brought to Satara for last rites ceremony. Maharashtra: Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Satara for last rites ceremony. pic.twitter.com/oULnnqq1x6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Mortal remains of Havildar N S Rawat who lost his life in Uri attack being taken to his native village from Bhim in Rajasthan. Rajasthan: Mortal remains of Havildar N S Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttack being taken to his native village from Bhim pic.twitter.com/yQo6eWKdI6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -He always wanted to join army. PM Modi should take some strict action against Pakistan. Dont make fake promises: Villager. -PM ji aisa kaam kare ke Pakistan ko uske kiye ki saza mil jaye, taaki shaheed jawano ki aatma ko shanti mile: Kin of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar. -In UP's Sant Kabir Nagar, family members mourn death of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar who lost his life in Uri attack. Sant Kabir Nagar (UP): Family members mourn death of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack. pic.twitter.com/5WhHg5V5sN ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 -If Govt fails to take stern action, I will never let any of my sons to join army again: Father of Naik SK Vidarthi who died in Uri attack. -Mortal remains of Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan who lost his life in Uri attack brought to Nagpur, will now be taken to Yavatmal for last rites. Mortal remains of Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Nagpur, will now be taken to Yavatmal for last rites pic.twitter.com/D4nJfLRJtM ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Gun salutes paid to Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui during his last rite in Howrah today. Gun salutes paid to Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui (who lost his life in #UriAttack) during his last rite in Howrah (early morning visuals) pic.twitter.com/oNA2urObhF ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui who lost his life in Uri attack in Howrah, West Bengal this morning. Howrah (WB): Last rites of Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui who lost his life in #UriAttack (early morning visuals) pic.twitter.com/FBqRYR3YfY ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of Sepoy Harinder Yadav who lost his life in Uri attack was held in Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh) last night. Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh): Last rites of Sepoy Harinder Yadav who lost his life in #UriAttacks (last night visuals) pic.twitter.com/36b6dE1lcu September 20, 2016 -In Agartala, student groups' hold candlelight vigil to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in Uri attack. Agartala (Tripura): Student groups' hold candlelight vigil to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in #UriAttack pic.twitter.com/ZJNoNtm3N6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -Last rites of martyr sepoy TS Somnath, who lost his life in Uri terror attack, was held in Nashik, Maharashtra late last night. Last rites of martyr sepoy TS Somnath (who lost his life in Uri terror attack) in Nashik (Maharashtra) #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/EX6MJ3dBjr September 19, 2016 -Candle light march was held in Bengaluru to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their life in Uri attack. Srinagar: Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will today review the security situation in Kashmir in the backdrop of the deadly terror attack on the army base in Uri on Sunday and the ongoing unrest in the Valley. Mehrishi arrived here early this morning, two days after four Jaish-e-Mohammad militants stormed an army base in Uri sector of Baramulla district, killing 18 soldiers before they were eliminated, officials said here. The Union Home Secretary will hold a security review meeting which will be attended by top officials from various security forces, police and intelligence agencies, the officials said. They said the Uri attack and ongoing unrest in Kashmir, which began a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8, will be the focus of discussions. Mehrishi was scheduled to arrive here yesterday but postponed the visit by one day. New Delhi: Asserting that India as a nation stands united, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called for isolating Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism. "India and Pakistan are neighbours and should live peacefully. But they (Pakistan) have made terrorism their state policy. This is unacceptable. Pakistan should be isolated," Naidu said. Naidu stressed that despite stray incidents between different communities in India, the Indian society was united due to a common culture. "Hamara sabka poorvaj ek hai (Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikh all have common ancestry)," the minister said at a function here to formally rename Paryavaran Bhavan as 'Deendayal Antyodaya Bhavan'. Naidu, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, said that the word nation does not denote only the soil but also its people. Hence, nationalism means all people -- irrespective of their religion, caste, language or region -- should be united, the minister said. "A terrorist is a terrorist, a corrupt (person) corrupt -- they have no religion," he said. New York/New Delhi: Indian media was not allowed to attend a press briefing addressed by Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in New York, and an Indian journalist of NDTV news channel was asked to leave the room -- an apparent outcome of the simmering bilateral relations. "Iss Indian ko nikalo (remove this Indian)," were the words directed at Namrata Brar, a journalist with NDTV, and she was asked to leave the room at the Roosevelt Hotel on Monday, where the Pakistan Foreign Secretary was to address the media on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, NDTV reported. No Indian was allowed to attend the briefing, the news channel reported. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also avoided Indian journalists during his trip to New York to attend the UN meet. Bilateral tensions between the two countries has escalated over the Kashmir issue, especially with Pakistan seen to openly back the separatist-fuelled unrest in the valley and raising the issue of alleged human rights violations at the international fora. The incident also comes after Sunday's terror attack on the Uri army base camp in Jammu and Kashmir which claimed the lives of 18 soldiers. New Delhi: The government has initiated an "intense campaign" to free Waqf properties grabbed by "Waqf mafia" in several states, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday. "A campaign on a war footing has been started to free the Waqf properties from the clutches of mafia across the country so that these properties can be used for the welfare of the Muslim community and ensure their socio-economic and educational empowerment," he said. A one-man 'Board of Adjudication' will be set up, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or retired High Court Chief Justice, to look into complaints regarding Waqf properties, Naqvi said while chairing the 74th meeting of Central Waqf Council here. He said the Centre has taken a serious note of complaints regarding mafia grabbing Waqf properties in some states in connivance with officials of the state Waqf boards. "Encroachment on Waqf properties will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken against encroachers, no matter how powerful they are," said the minister adding that a high-level inquiry has been going on in this connection and strict legal action taken against erring persons soon," said Naqvi. The minister said state Waqf boards have been directed to get online registration of all Waqf properties done by the year-end. There are 31 state Waqf boards with more than 4,27,000 registered Waqf properties across the country. There are many non-registered Waqf properties as well. While the Minority Affairs Ministry has provided financial assistance to the state Waqf boards for online registration of their properties, Naqvi said: "Some states lacked seriousness in implementing the directive." He said that tribunals will also be set up in more states. Currently, three-member tribunals are being established in 15-16 states. Naqvi said his ministry, in cooperation with the state governments, will construct schools, colleges, malls, hospitals, skill development centres etc., the revenue from which will be utilised for educational and other developmental activities pertaining to the Muslim community. "Multipurpose community centres 'Sadbhav Mandap' will also be constructed on Waqf land to be used for conducting marriage ceremonies, exhibitions and also as relief centres during calamity," he added. New Delhi: Judges do not need certificates from anybody, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said while rejecting a PIL seeking setting up of a "public body", independent of the executive and judiciary, to ensure fair appointment of judges in High Courts and the apex court. "We don't need a certificate from anyone on earth," a bench comprising justices Arun K Mishra and UU Lalit said. The observation came when it was alleged that there has been nepotism in the appointment of judges in High Courts and the apex court. The bench disagreed with the plea of National Lawyers' Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms that a body independent of executive and judiciary to select Judges to the higher judiciary was needed, as those talented amongst a vast majority of lawyers were never considered by the collegium for selection as Judges. "We are dismissing it. We see no merit in this petition ...Your ideas may be good or bad, we are not commenting. But what all you are asking cannot be done without quashing certain constitutional provisions," the bench said. When advocates Mathew J Nedumpara and A C Philip, appearing for the lawyers' body, referred to the ongoing vetting by the Centre of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) to govern judges' appointments, the bench said "we will not comment on MoP. Can a proposed MoP be questioned? Let it be crystallised. Let it come out ...Then we will see". The bench said the setting up of such a body would amount to amending the Constitution which cannot be done by the apex court. The lawyers' body has contended that an independent judge selection body was needed to end the alleged control of the "elite section" over judiciary. The selection of kith and kin of serving and former judges and senior advocates as Judges in higher judiciary should and must stop, the lawyers' body said in its plea. The PIL has alleged that the "common deserving lawyers" are usually not considered for appointment as judges in the higher judiciary and only those close to the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts or politicians or big industrial houses got chosen. The PIL has also alleged that the existing system has appointed the "kith and kin of sitting and former Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, their juniors, celebrated lawyers, Chief Ministers, Governors and a few first generation lawyers who are all politically connected or are close to big industrial houses." The plea also said there was no effective mechanism to address complaints of misconduct against judges. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2012 introduced in Parliament, remained in "cold storage" as the judges were not "forthcoming to welcome" it, the PIL has claimed. New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe in the Uri terror attack case and has filed an FIR. A team of NIA sleuths will visit the site of the attack shortly to collect evidence. The investigating agency will also collect DNA samples and finger prints of the slain terrorists. All materials recovered from the killed terrorists including weapons, navigation maps and GPS will be handed over by the Army to the NIA for further investigations. The GPS will be sent to the US to decode the route used by the terrorists to Indian territory. The forensic investigation of the device may also throw light on other aspects of the terror operation. The development comes on a day when Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is in Srinagar to review the security situation in Kashmir. Four Jaish-e-Mohammad militants had stormed an army base in Uri sector of Baramulla district on Sunday, killing 18 soldiers - before they were eliminated. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high-level security review meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir post Uri terror attack.NSA Ajit Doval, Director of Intelligence Bureau, RAW Chief, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, Minister of State in Prime Minister Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh and other senior MHA and MoD officials were in attendance. Yesterday also, the Union Home Minister, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and top security brass of the country had met to review the security situation in the violence-hit state.After giving an assurance of going after the perpetrators of the deadly Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday gave the green signal to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping. Director General of Military operation Lt. Ranbir Singh has said that the four terrorists, who attacked the military base in Jammu and Kashmir`s Uri, belonged to Pakistan`s banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).Meanwhile, the nation is paying an emotional tribute to all the 18 Indian Army bravehearts, who lost their lives in Sunday`s dastardly militant attack in Uri.The mortal remains of all the Uri bravehearts have been taken to their ancestral places for the last rites. With agency inputs Gaya: The deadly terror attack in Uri which claimed the life of 18 Army soldiers threw the entire in shock on a Sunday morning, but no one was more crushed and broken that Naik SK Vidyarthi`s father who is still mourning the loss of his son. An enraged Mathura Yadav has stated that he won`t let any of his sons join the Indian Army if the government does not take stern action against Pakistan, the perpetrator of the dastardly attack. "Pakistan should be given strict punishment. If the government fails to take stern action, I will never let any of my sons join Army again," he told ANI. The distraught yet proud daughter of the slain soldier, Aarti Kumari, said if she gets the opportunity, she would join the Army herself. "I would request the government that if they (Pakistan) attack us once, we should give them a befitting reply. I am proud of my father because he did not die, he sacrificed his life for the nation. I wanted to join IIT, Delhi. Now I don`t know whether it will be possible. If I get the opportunity, I would surely join the Army," she added. Vidyarthi, who joined the Army in 1999, has left behind his wife and four children namely Aarti, Anshu, Anshika, and Aryan. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday announced an ex-gratia of Rs.five lakh to Vidyarthi`s family. Meanwhile, India is to present all actionable evidence against Pakistan if required at international bodies. Evidence of Pakistan`s hand in the Uri attack, including GPS tracker movements that go back to a starting point in Pakistan, Pashto literature, Pakistan Army marked arms will be given to Islamabad at the DGMO level, sources said. According to sources, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will strongly emphasise on Pakistan`s involvement in the attack in her UNGA speech on September 26. This development comes after the Prime Minister yesterday chaired a high-level meeting at his official residence at 7, Race Course Road here. Pakistan has, however, flatly rejected New Delhi`s claims of Islamabad`s involvement in the Uri terror attack, saying it is the latter`s traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil. Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh earlier said that the four terrorists who attacked the military base in Uri belonged to Pakistan`s banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Srinagar: All flights to and from the Srinagar International Airport were suspended on Tuesday morning after an Indian Air Force MIG-21 fighter jet overshot the runway. The pilot, however, managed to eject safely, according to an airport official. "The tyres of an Indian Air Force MIG-21 fighter jet caught fire while landing and the plane skidded off the runway at Srinagar airport today," the official told IANS. The flames were doused by fire tenders, he informed. "The damage to the runway is being assessed before clearance is given to incoming and outgoing civilian flights," he added. New Delhi: In the wake of the cross-border terror attack from Pakistan on the Uri Army base in Jammu and Kashmir that left 18 Indian soldiers dead, the Narendra Modi government is under immense pressure to give a befitting reply to Pakistan. India is weighing its options against Pakistan, with the Army vowing to pick its own "time and place" to retaliate. There is also a pressure within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to "teach a lesson" to Pakistan -- with senior party strategist Ram Madhav demanding "for one tooth, a complete jaw". A video has surfaced on the social media in which a common man is seen appealing to the PM to take action against the neighbouring country. Watch it here: Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Sunday assault, saying India was blaming it even without conducting any investigation. New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri Sector in which 18 Army soldiers were killed. Addressing the mediapersons, Rahul said PM Modi's short-sighted alliance with Peoples Democratic Party has opened space for terrorism in Kashmir. The Gandhi scion hit out at the incumbent government saying, the BJP-led NDA has no strategy in Kashmir and national security cannot be handled like public meets. While referring to Uri teror attack, Rahul said, I condemn what Pakistan has done. However, the space for that has been created by politics that NDA has carried out in Kashmir. Rahul said Congress is ready to help the government in every possible way. Heavily-armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the Indian Army in North Kashmir's Uri town in the wee hours yesterday, killing 18 jawans and injuring 30 other personnel in the attack in which all four terrorists were neutralised. Determined to use a calibrated, multi-layered and strategic response to Uri attack, India is likely to expose Pakistan before the world community by furnishing it with actionable evidence regarding its sponsoring of terrorism and press for isolating the nation. India is also planning to hand over to Pakistan evidence of the four terrorists using Pakistani-marked weapons, food, energy drinks and GPS trackers which they carried to enter Jammu and Kashmir from across the Line of Control. Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh today said Rahul Gandhi is not reluctant to take over as Congress president and his sister Priyanka cannot be forced into active politics, though most of the party workers want her to do so. "He (Rahul) is not reluctant. It's a question of timing. Let him choose his own timing. In politics, timing is important. So, let the leadership decide on its own timing," the party General Secretary told PTI in an interview. "It should happen, but we have to allow him to choose his timing," the two-time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh said when asked if Rahul would be taking over as Congress president this year. "As far as Priyanka Gandhi is concerned, she is not yet in politics...Can't really force her to come into politics, it's her own personal decision and we should respect that," Singh said. Most of the "Congress people" want her to come into politics, and there is no doubt about it, but the actual timing has to be decided by her, not "by us", he said. Asked about his remark that there was a need for a "major surgery" in Congress in the wake of disappointing results in the Assembly polls in four states earlier this year, he said there are "major challenges" in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa, which will go to polls next year. "In the meantime (after he made the suggestion), Congress president fell ill...Unwell. So, changes have to come, there is no doubt about it. Timing has to be decided by Congress president and vice-president. Every one feels that changes have to be made. They are long overdue. Final decision has to be taken by the Congress president," he said. Asked if he was disappointed or frustrated that these changes are not happening at a pace he desired, Singh said there is no frustration in politics. "One has to learn to live in difficult situations. When there are good times, there are bad times also in politics. So, we have to convert the adversity into opportunity. This is an opportunity, this is a period of adversity. We have to redraw our strategy which the Congress party is doing," he said. On the Antony Committee report on 2014 Congress debacle, Singh said the party vice-president had wider consultations, including with state leaders. "All that's ready, it's only a question of setting it (the report) off the ground," he added. New Delhi: A review meeting on Tuesday convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the wake of Uri terror attack is learnt to have discussed expected efforts by Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir problem using Kashmiri diaspora. At the meeting attended among others by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and other senior officials from Home and Defence Ministries, it was felt that Pakistan would try to "tap" Kashmiris and the Kashmiri diaspora in the US and other European countries and "mobilise them" to rake up Kashmir issue across the globe. Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and bordering areas in Punjab and Gujarat in the wake of Sunday's terror strike at an army camp in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead. The Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has been blamed for the act. This was the third security review meeting he has chaired since the Uri attack and the situation in the border areas since Sunday, officials said. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security is slated for Wednesday and the Uri attack is expected to come up for discussions. The presence of Jaishankar in Tuesday's review meeting was explained in the context of the move by India to launch a diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan at global fora, starting with the upcoming UN General Assembly. The Ministry of External Affairs is learnt to be enlisting support of SAARC members like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for the same at the regional level. A high-level meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday had authorised the diplomatic offensive. Rajnath Singh was briefed at the meeting by Doval and others, including officials from the Defence Ministry, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies, on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the Line of Control (LoC). The Home Minister suggested that all necessary steps be taken to check infiltration along the LoC and the border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Gujarat. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also reviewed the ground situation in Srinagar and interacted with civil and security officials in the state. Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters on Tuesday that all necessary security-related and diplomatic actions against Pakistan and terror elements "will be taken after due consideration of all matters". Asked whether India was considering strike against terrorist camps based in Pakistan, he said no such strategic actions are taken after making announcements. New Delhi: The Supreme Court is expected to hear on Tuesday the plea moved by Massimiliano Latorre one of the two Italian marines facing trial in India for killing two Indian fishermen for seeking extension of stay in Italy. Italy has last week made a fresh plea in the Supreme Court for modification of bail conditions of marine Massimiliano Latorre to enable him to stay in Italy till an international tribunal decides on which country has the right to try the case of killing of Indian fishermen. The apex court agreed to hear the plea on Tuesday. Through his plea, Latorre has sought imposition of same bail conditions that were made applicable to marine Salvatore Girone, his co-accused in killing of two fishermen off Kerala coast in 2012. The plea is expected to come for hearing before a bench comprising Justices AR Dave and L Nageswara Rao. A batch of senior lawyers, including K T S Tulsi, had earlier mentioned the matter and sought an urgent hearing on the ground that an earlier apex court order in the matter was valid till September 30 this year. Modify the bail conditions of chief master sergeant Massimiliano Latorre in the same terms as those prescribed for sergeant major Salvator Girone by this courts order dated May 26 this year to enable Latorre to remain in Italy until a final decision by the Annex VIII Arbitral Tribunal on the merits of the case that finds India may exercise jurisdiction over him in respect of the Enrica Lexie incident, the plea said. While relaxing Girones bail conditions on May 26, the apex court had allowed him to go to his country till the jurisdictional issue between India and Italy was decided in an international arbitral tribunal. The apex court had imposed four conditions on Girone including that he has to report to police station in Italy on first Wednesday of every month and the Italian authorities have to inform the Indian Embassy in Rome about it. The second condition was that he will not tamper with any evidence, nor influence any witness in the case. The third condition was that Girone will give an undertaking that he will remain under the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and lastly, if found violating any of the conditions, his bail will be cancelled, the court had said. The marines, who were on board ship Enrica Lexie, are accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast on February 15, 2012. The complaint against the marines was lodged by Freddy, the owner of fishing boat St Antony, in which the two Indian fishermen were killed when the marines opened fire on them allegedly under the misconception that they were pirates. On April 26, the apex court had extended till September 30 the stay of Latorre in Italy after it was informed that the international arbitral proceedings would be completed by December 2018 before International Tribunal for Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Germany. The court had also asked the Italian Embassy here to give an undertaking to abide by the conditions under which Latorre was allowed to leave India. The court had earlier stayed all criminal proceedings, including the trial of the two marines. While allowing the joint request of India and Italy, the apex court had said the proceedings would remain stalled till the jurisdictional issue about which country has the right to conduct trial was decided through international arbitration. The apex court had on August 26, 2015 suspended all court proceedings here in pursuance of an interim order of the ITLOS asking India to maintain status quo in the case. The Indian government had then said a five-member tribunal (ITLOS Annex VII arbitral tribunal) would be set up, probably to decide the issue of jurisdiction. The court, in August last year, had extended the stay of Latorre, who had undergone a heart surgery in Italy, by six months while asking him to file an undertaking that he would abide by its conditions. Latorre, who had also suffered a brain stroke on August 31, 2014, was allowed by the apex court on September 12, 2014 to go to Italy for four months and after that, extensions have been granted to him. With PTI inputs Dhenkanal: At least six persons were electrocuted and over 20 injured when a bus came in contact with a live wire in Odisha's Dhenkanal district on Tuesday. The accident occurred at Sisu Mandir Square in Bhuban in Kamakhyanagar sub-division. The injured were admitted to Bhuban Hospital, of which two were later shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack, Dhenkanal Superintendent of Police Basant Panigrahy said. He said the bus driver had taken a diversion through a field due to a traffic snarl on the main road after an accident. The bus, moving to Kamakhsyanagar from Cuttack, came in contact with an 11-kV overhead sagging wire, said police. Around 45 persons were travelling in the bus. Both the driver and conductor were absconding, police said. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to each of the bereaved families and free treatment to the injured. "It is very tragic," the Chief Minister said. Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das directed authorities to probe the matter. Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited will give Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each deceased, said the minister. New Delhi: Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and condemned the "cross-border terrorist attack" in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. "President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka called up PM Modi a short while ago to strongly condemn the (Sunday's) terror attack in Uri," a Prime Minister's Office statement said here. "President Sirisena also offered condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers," it said. Both the leaders spoke of the need for "sustained cooperation" among the region's countries to end the "scourge of terrorism in the region", the statement said. Eighteen soldiers were killed and 30 injured when four militants said to belong to Jaish-e-Mohammad attacked the administrative base camp of an infantry battalion near Uri town of Baramulla district on Sunday. Agartala (Tripura): Condemning the terror strike on the Army`s Administrative Unit at Uri in which 18 soldiers lost their lives, the students took out a candlelight vigil in Tripura`s Agartala city to offer their tributes to the bravehearts. The students were also joined by their teachers and local journalists during the march, which began from Umakanta mini stadium. Abhijit Bhattacharjee, one of the organizers of the march, condemned the increased terror attacks on Indian soil and laid emphasis on "peace and tolerance" at this point of time to deal with the crisis. "The students have assembled here to express their solidarity with the nation and armed forces while stressing that we are all united at this point of time," he added. Joysree Sinha, one of the protestors, condemned Pakistan`s cowardly act and called for peace in the nation. "What happened is very sad and should not have happened. We all want peace and are living happily in a peaceful nation. This kind of thing should not happen and I condemn this," she added. In one of the worst attacks in recent times, as many as 18 soldiers were killed and over 20 others got injured post the terror strike on an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Baramulla district on Sunday. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh earlier today chaired a high-level security review meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir post the Uri terror attack. NSA Ajit Doval, Director of Intelligence Bureau, RAW Chief, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, Minister of State in Prime Minister Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh and other senior MHA and MoD officials were in attendance. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team has begun its probe into the incident. The team visited the encounter site in Baramulla district yesterday in this regard. Sources said the NIA has filed an FIR in the attack case. The Army will hand over all weapons, GPS, navigation map of terrorists to the NIA for further investigation. This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his key ministers yesterday received counsel against rash military action. Top military commanders warned that Pakistan`s Army had raised its defensive posture along the LoC. Few details emerged from the meeting, but senior government figures pushed back against calls from their ranks for immediate military strikes against Pakistan.Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh yesterday warned Pakistan in the wake of the Uri strike and said India reserves the right to respond to any act of the adversary ."We have the desired capability to reply to such blatant act of violence in a manner as deemed appropriate by us. We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," he told the media in New Delhi. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking an independent panel to select judges for the higher judiciary. Dismissing the plea, a bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said what is being sought would amount to amending the Constitution, and the Supreme Court could not do this. The petition, moved by the National Lawyers Campaign for Judicial Transparency had sought a fair, open and non-discriminatory selection process for the appointment of judges from a wider pool of candidates. The counsel argued that judges' relatives are being inducted into the higher judiciary. At one stage, as the pitch of the argument of the counsel for the petitioner organisation became too high, the bench asked him if he is addressing the court or the gallery at the back of the court room, where the media persons were seated. New Delhi: Russia has called off its joint military exercise with Pakistan after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector. On Monday. Russias move has come as a big diplomatic gain for India. At international level, India has already decided to isolate Pakistan. Russia confirmed its continued support for the Indian governments counter terrorism efforts. The country offered condolences to the families of the victims and wished a rapid recovery to all those injured. The move has come just a day after attack by four armed terrorists at an Army camp in Jammu & Kashmirs Uri district. 18 soldiers of Indian Army martyred in the attack. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan and Russia were scheduled to conduct the Druzhba-2016 tactical exercises from September 24-October 7, 2016, in Rattu and Cherat. Soon after the Islamabad had confirmed about exercise, the Indian External Affairs Ministry (EAM) had sent a letter to Russia in which India said that Moscow should keep New Delhis sensitivity in mind while conducting joint military drills with neighbouring Pakistan. New Delhi: In the wake of Uri attack, VHP chief Pravin Togadia has demanded a concrete and decisive action against Pakistan. VHP chief Pravin Togadia has said that the bodies of terrorists should not be buried but burnt on a heap of garbage in public view. "Dialogue with Pakistan at all levels should be called off while trade agreements, including water treaty should be cancelled," Pravin Togadia demanded. "They (Jihadis) should not be buried after their death but should be burnt on the heap of garbage in proper security and in public view, so that there is no hope for them to reach paradise as they are being preached," the Vishwa Hindu Parishad President said in a statement. Togadia salutes brave soldiers Saluting the brave soldiers who have been sacrificing their lives for India, Togadia said,"Pakistan is behind all such Jihadi attacks, whether on the security forces or on civilians." "Therefore, the government must stop dialogue with Pakistan at all levels, cancel all trade agreements and suspend water treaty by stopping the water," he said. Togadia added that the VHP is confident that the Union government is serious about punishing Pakistan and all those perpetrators, supporters of Jihadi terror. New Delhi: The terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri base, which killed 18 soldiers, has drawn condemnation from around the world. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack. The Narendra Modi government is under huge pressure to teach a lesson to Pakistan in the wake of the cross-border terror attack. India on Monday weighed its options against Pakistan in the wake of the Uri terror attack, with the Army vowing to pick its own "time and place" to retaliate and the political leadership authorising a global diplomatic blitz aimed at isolating Islamabad as a backer of terrorism. This has frightened Pakistan so much that its media is coming up with strange claims. Watch the video here to understand Pakistan's current state of mind: Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has urged the US to help resolve issues between Islamabad and New Delhi. The Pakistani leader is scheduled to address the session on Wednesday where he would specifically focus on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday advised against irresponsible statements over the central government's actions in the wake of the terror strike at an army camp in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead. "We must understand people's emotions and should not go on commenting everywhere. This is not a joke. It's a very serious matter," Rijiju told the media. "So many people have lost their lives, people's hearts are filled with emotions. In such a situation, every one expects us to take action," he said, adding that it is not necessary to make an announcement before any action is taken. TV talking heads and many on social media have been advocating strong retaliation against Pakistan. Rijiju refused to comment any further, saying the government will take action only after probing the issue completely. Eighteen soldiers were killed and 30 injured when four terrorists attacked the administrative base camp of an infantry battalion in the highly fortified Uri town of Baramulla district on Sunday. India has blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group for the attack. The group, which has not claimed responsibility, was also accused of mounting the January 2 attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot that left seven soldiers dead. Nashik (Maharashtra): Indian Army soldier Chandrakant Shankar Galande - who was martyred in a terror attack in Uri on Sunday - was cremated with full military honours here on Tuesday morning, officials said. The body of Galande, 27, reached Satara late on Monday night and was kept at the government hospital till morning as thousands of locals and people from surrounding villages paid their respects. On Tuesday the cortege covered in the tricolor was taken out in a solemn procession through Jashi village amid cries of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Shahid Chandrakant Galande Amar Rahe'. Top civil and military officials, three ministers - Mahadev Jankar, Girish Bapat and Vijay Shivtare - as well as local leaders and commoners laid wreaths and paid homage to the gallant soldier. The village was in mourning since the news of his death broke on Sunday. Galande is survived by his wife Nisha, sons - Shreyas, five, and Jai, three - besides his aged farmer parents and two older brothers, who are also in the armed forces. On Saturday, Galande who had joined the army in 2012, had called Nisha to inform that he would be home for a 10-day holiday to help with the farm work. But the very next day, the family heard the news of the tragedy. "It was my desire that all three sons join the armed forces. They respected my wish. Today, the youngest has been martyred. I am proud that his life is sacrificed for the cause of the nation," a teary-eyed Shankar Galande told mediapersons on Monday. Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has sought a detailed report from the Army on the terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri. As per a report in India Today, Parrikar has requested an explanation as to how terrorists successfully entered the high security battalion headquarters without being spotted. The media house quoted sources as saying that the Parrikar is concerned that despite intelligence inputs how the militants were allowed to enter the base unchallenged. Also, the Army is required to answer as to why unarmed soldiers were housed in tents. They have already filed an initial report on the terror strike. In wee hours on Sunday, four militants of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had stormed Army base in Uri Sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four militants were also killed. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which formally took over the probe into the Uri attack on Tuesday, is seeking to establish the identities of the attackers and also examining the Global Positioning Systems and other evidence recovered from them, said official sources. Informed sources said that the six-member NIA team headed by an Inspector General and a Deputy Inspector General reached Uri town on Monday evening. But the NIA team visited the Uri army camp only on Tuesday. The NIA team, which took over the case from Jammu and Kashmir Police, had registered an FIR late on Monday following orders from the Union Home Ministry. The team has taken charge of the articles recovered from the four suicide attackers who were killed in a gunfight with security forces on Sunday. The items include two Global Positioning Systems (GPS), one of which was charred while the other is intact, according to sources. The team has also photographed the faces of two of the terrorists, the sources said, as per IANS. On the other hand, Western Army Commander Lt Gen Surinder Singh today visited border areas of Jammu region and asked troops to ensure high degree of alertness and operational preparedness. During the visit, he took stock of the security apparatus in the sensitive areas and complimented the forces in successfully maintaining a high state of vigil, a defence spokesman said. The Army Commander reviewed the deployment in the entire region and appreciated efforts being made by all the security agencies to enhance the levels of preparedness, he said. Gen Singh, who took over as General Officer Commanding-in -Chief of Western Command only three days back, emphasized on the need for ensuring high degree of alertness and operational preparedness, the spokesman said, as per PTI. In a related development, two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir today but Army foiled the attempts killing some of the terrorists while losing a jawan. The attempts to cross the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri and Nowgam sectors came even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions in Uri sector. "Two infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control(LoC) have been foiled in Uri and Nowgam sectors today. At both places the operations are in progress," an Army spokesman said in Srinagar. The spokesman refused to comment on the number of militants killed in the ongoing operations so far, saying details will be made public in due course. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi which had initially put the number of terrorists killed at 10 later clarified that the extent of casualties can be ascertained only after the retrieval of the bodies from the dense jungles and that the operations were still underway. The sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. As the government mulled various options on India's response to the cross-border terror attack on Sunday in which 18 jawans were killed, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has been convened tomorrow. (With Agency inputs) New York: US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, as he expressed strong concern over the violence in Kashmir particularly the terror attack on an Indian army base. Kerry met Sharif yesterday on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir and sought American help to resolve the Kashmir issue. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. Later, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence." "The Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions," he said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif asked the "US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India." In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the alleged use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self-determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. Sharif alleged that human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to "ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that "if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu & Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities." New Delhi: India on Monday mooted options against Pakistan in the wake of the Uri terror attack, with the Army vowing to pick its own "time and place" to retaliate and the political leadership authorising a global diplomatic blitz aimed at isolating Islamabad as a backer of terrorism. United States of America, Russia, France, Canada, and Afghanistan are among several other countries which condemned the Uri attack, which claimed the lives of 18 Army personnel, even as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hoped that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. India has blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack. The group, which has not claimed responsibility, was also accused of mounting the January attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot that left seven soldiers dead. Under pressure to give a befitting reply to Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday summoned a meeting of senior ministers and military and security advisers to formulate an appropriate response. Here are the options India can explore in this situation: A covert strike on terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). With the help of Mirage 2000s, Sukhoi 30MKIs and Jaguars, India can go for the option, but the Indian Air Force risks suffering losses. The strike could lead to a full-fledged war between India and Pakistan. Myanmar-like raid by special forces. The Indian Army had launched attacks at two points along the Indo-Myanmar border last year, killing several militants involved in attacks on security forces. The operation was a response to the June 4, 2015, attack on an Indian Army convoy in which 18 soldiers of the 6 Dogra regiment were killed. The option of sending special forces inside Pakistan to attack guerrilla training camps has been weighed by India, but that could go wrong as Pakistan is not Myanmar. Attack Pakistan posts with the help of BrahMos missiles. The option could lead to a bigger conflict. The fact that Pakistan is a nuclear state cannot be underrated. War across border. The Indian forces can use increased artillery and heavy weapons across the Line of Control to inflict damage, however, it won't destroy Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad camps. The Baloch card. India can give Pakistan a dose of its own medicine by intensifying the offensive over Balochistan. Diplomacy at international level. India can go for a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan at major global fora -- including the upcoming UN General Assembly and isolate the nuclear state. Bilateral talks. India can engage in talks with the civilian leadership in Pakistan. But this goes against New Delhis stated line that terror and talks cant go hand in hand. Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Sunday assault, saying India was blaming it even without conducting any investigation. In New Delhi, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters that India was not concerned about Pakistani denials. It is now to be seen how the Modi government responds to the demands of citizens that Pakistan should be taught a lesson this time. Srinagar: Curfew was on Tuesday lifted across Kashmir, except from six police station areas of Srinagar, in view of the improving situation, even as normal life remained disrupted in the Valley for the 74th straight day. A curfew remains in force in five police station areas of downtown (interior city) and Harwan in Srinagar, while the curbs have been lifted from elsewhere in the Valley, a police official said. He said curfew was clamped in Harwan Police Station areas today in view of the fourth day of mourning of a boy killed in security forces' action on Friday. The official said the curbs on the movement of people were lifted, from other areas where curfew was in force yesterday, because of the improving situation. Barring stray incidents of stone pelting in Sopore and Shopian, overall situation remained under control across the Valley yesterday and there was increased traffic and movement of people between various districts and towns of the Valley including in some areas of Srinagar city, the official said. He, however, said that restrictions on the assembly of people under Section 144 CrPc continued to remain in force in the Valley. Meanwhile, normal life continued to remain paralysed in Kashmir for the 74th consecutive day due to restrictions and separatist-sponsored strike. The separatists, who are spearheading the current agitation in the Valley, have extended the protest programme till September 22. They have also asked people to observe today as Women's Day. They have not announced any period of relaxation in the strike for the week. Shops, business establishments, and petrol pumps continued to remain shut, while public transport was off the roads. Schools, colleges, and other educational institutions also continued to remain shut. Postpaid mobile telephony services were restored last night, while the outgoing calls on prepaid numbers continued to remain snapped across the Valley. Mobile Internet services also remained suspended. As many as 81 people, including two cops, have been killed in the unrest that broke out a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir on July 8. Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday took over the investigation into the attack on the Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri town in which 18 soldiers were killed and 30 others injured. The NIA team headed by an Inspector General is camping at Uri town to collect evidence from the site of the attack. The team, which took over the case from the Jammu and Kashmir Police that had registered an FIR into the attack on Sunday, has also taken into its possession various items of investigation recovered from the possession of the four suicide attackers who were killed in a gunfight after they entered the administrative base of an infantry battalion in Uri town. The items taken into possession by the NIA team include two Global Positioning Systems (GPS), one of which was charred in the attack while the other is intact, according to sources. "Pictures of two slain terrorists whose faces can be recognised would be shown to some Jaish terrorists who are in jails to identify the terrorists," said sources, adding that the faces of the other two terrorists were charred beyond recognition. The sources said that the in tact GPS would be examined by experts to ascertain the route taken by the attackers and also to find out if they had any local accomplice who helped them to carry out the attack. "DNA samples of the slain terrorists are also being collected," a source said. New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday accused the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir of undoing the work done by the previous UPA government and said this had led to emboldening of separatists and militants in the valley. The current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coalition has just managed to embolden the separatists, militants and Pakistani groups to disturb Kashmir, Congress leader R.P.N. Singh told reporters here. Separatists, militants and Pakistan didnt have any role and were put into sidelines of Kashmir but after the last elections in the state, the BJP-PDP coalition, which was formed just to grab power, undid all the work that we did, he alleged. In 10 years of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) rule there was relative peace in Jammu and Kashmir and our mantra was development. There was a fillip in tourism, job creations, education etc, which led people of Jammu and Kashmir to have faith in the mainstream of the country, Singh said. The Congress leaders remarks came in the wake of Sundays terror attack on an army camp in Kashmirs Uri sector, in which 18 Indian soldiers were martyred, and ongoing protests in the valley that started after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8. Over 80 people have been killed and thousands have been left injured in clashes between the security forces and protesters since then. Taking a dig at the central government, Singh said, We saw how in this present dispensation things have became worse in Kashmir and stone pelting is back in large scale. Flags of Pakistan and ISIS are being waived in Kashmir, we see separatists, militants and Pakistan stamps in the state while present dispensation could only manage to clamp curfew, the Congress leader added. Singh said that the Congress expresses full solidarity with the central government on any meaningful action which it initiates in the interest of national security. Highlighting the work of the Congress-led UPA government, Singh said, After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the UPA government prepared dossier for the United Nations (UN), the United States (US), and for our allies and as well as for the allies of Pakistan. We showed them through the dossier that state actors and non-state actors in Pakistan are the same people and it perpetrates terror, provides safe haven for terrorists, he added. It is because of that policy of our UPA government that Pakistan didnt dare to attack the very idea of India, he said. Singh asked, Today what is the foreign policy of this country? Our Prime Minister is going there and inviting them over here, talking and non-talking etc, what is this flip-flop policy of India, he wondered. Its high time now that we have a decisive policy which helps in restoring the pride of the nation and making sure that no more jawans of our nation are martyred, borders become secure and theres no easy passage for terrorists, Singh added. Srinagar: Two days after the deadly terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri Sector, Army on Tuesday foiled two major infiltration bids from Pakistan near the Line of Control (LoC). Though reports claimed that 10 terrorists were neutralised, Army sources in the national capital clarified that the extent of casualties can be ascertained only after the retrieval of the bodies from the dense jungles and that the operations were still underway. The sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. The attempts to cross the LoC in Uri and Nowgam sectors came even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions in Uri sector. Unfortunately one jawan was martyred in the Nowgam sector near the LoC in Kupwara. The infiltration attempts came as India and Pakistan are locked in a diplomatic war of words over a deadly unrest in the Kashmir Valley and soon after the Sunday attack on military base close to the de facto border that divides the state between the two neighbours. Defence sources said the infiltration attempt was made under the cover of Pakistani firing as a group of 15 heavily armed militants attempted to cross over to this side of the LoC near Uri, 100 km north of Srinagar. India has blamed Pakistan for Sunday`s assault on Army brigade headquarters in Uri in which four commando-style gunmen killed 18 Indian soldiers, sharply raising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan denies any role in the raid, one of the deadliest in the divided Himalayan region over which India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars. The latest infiltration bids come as India blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed militants for the Uri terror attack. Pakistan has denied the allegations even as India claimed to have clinching evidence to support its claim. The Indian Army has said it has recovered arms, ammunition and food and medicine packets with Pakistani markings during the combing operations at the military base in Uri. According to the Indian Army, infiltration attempts from across the border with Pakistan have increased this year in comparison with the past three to four years. In 2016 so far, the Indian Army has foiled 19 infiltration bids from across the border. The army said it was a "desperate attempt" by Pakistan to create "disturbance and foment unrest" in India. International condemnation of Uri attack continues The world community continued with its condemnation the dastardly Uri attack with Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and many other countries today conveying strong support to India in its fight against terror. Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Mauritius, Bahrain, Qatar, Nepal Mongolia and South Korea also strongly condemned the terror attack in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead and called for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. Rajnath reviews Kashmir situation Home Minister Rajnath Singh today again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with top officials, including NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, in the wake of the terror attack in Uri. Doval and top officials of the ministries of Home and Defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed?Singh on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the Line of Control, official sources said. The presence of the Foreign Secretary in the meeting is significant as government plans to launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. Pak must stop giving safe haven to terrorists, Kerry tells Sharif Pakistan must stop giving a safe haven to terorrists, US Secretary of State John Kerry has told Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while expressing "strong concern" over the attack on the Indian Army base in Uri. When they met here on Monday, Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens", State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement on Tuesday. Mandya: The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear the plea on directions to both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to take preventive measures in connection with a row over sharing of the Cauvery river water. Meanwhile, Section 144 has been imposed in Mandya's Sanjay circle ahead of the apex court's order. Here are the Live updates:- Watch: Pro-Kannada organisations protest by eating mud, in Mandya. -Pro-Kannada organisations protest by eating mud in Mandya. -Pro-Kannada organisations protest in Mandya against SC ruling on Cauvery water sharing. -Locals offer prayers to 'Mother Cauvery' ahead of SC's decision on Cauvery issue. Mandya (Karnataka): Locals offer prayers to 'Mother Cauvery' ahead of SC's decision on #CauveryIssue pic.twitter.com/FPbkn50y3k ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 -The police has also been directed to flag march around sensitive areas and an appeal has been made to pro-Kannada activists and farmers' associations to maintain peace. -He has also directed the police to keep ready fire engines and required emergency forces at sensitive areas around Cauvery belt including Bengaluru. -Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has issued guidelines to the Police, directing them to take precautionary measures. -The apex court later on September 12 reduced the quantity of water to be released from 15,000 cusecs to 12,000 cusecs till September 20. -In response, the apex court pulled up both states, asking the people "to behave", and turned down the plea. -The Karnataka Government later on September 17 filed a plea asking the Supreme Court to modify the order. -However, protests intensified in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu post the apex court's order. -The Supreme Court had earlier on September 5 asked the Karnataka Government to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu on a daily basis for the following 10 days. Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday directed Karnataka to release 6000 cusecs of water daily from tomorrow till September 27 (next date of hearing) to Tamil Nadu. SC has also directed Centre to constitute Cauvery Water Management Board in four weeks On the other hand, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit allowed Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file objections to Cauvery supervisory committee report in three days. "How long will the two states keep fighting? This dispute is there from 1894. Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) is an expert body and it needs to be constituted. Just because the problem had not arisen earlier doesn't mean that the problem will never arise in future," the bench told ASG Pinky Anand, appearing for Centre. What happened in the court Fali Nariman appearing for Karnataka government opposed the supervisory committee order and informed the Supreme Court that they will have to sacrifice their drinking water for irrigation purposes in Tamil Nadu. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, also opposed the directions, saying the supervisory committee has not considered all aspects while passing the order. He said the committee had failed to consider the fact that it was a rain deficient year and the quantum of water to be released has to be done proportionally. The apex court had on September 5 ordered 15,000 cusecs daily for ten days. Later, it modified its order, asking Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs till today (September 20). During the nearly two-hour hearing, both states strongly argued their case, with Karnataka saying it will be difficult to release water to Tamil Nadu for irrigation purposes by cutting drinking water supply to Bengaluru. On its part, Tamil Nadu said it was fallacy on part of Karnataka that it does not want to accept that it was not a normal year and there was 46 percent deficient rainfall. Nariman urged the bench to either refer back the matter to the Supervisory Committee for proper consideration of all facts or let Tamil Nadu file a petition raising objection to the committee's decision, which was a 'pro tem' (temporary) arrangment till the CWMB was constituted. He said as per the CWDT award, Karnataka was asked to release 192 TMC of Cauvery water every year but the monthly release of water was tentative depending on various factors. The senior lawyer further said if Karnataka was asked to supply more water to Tamil Nadu, it will have serious consequences. Naphade contended that Tamil Nadu needed water before October 15 or the Samba crop in the state will be affected and said "there can't be a camel-like approach that you consume water now and use it later". "The Supervisory Committee doesn't know its job. We are aggrieved by the order of the committee. There has to be seasonal allocation," he said. To this, the bench said "you (Karnataka) are aggrieved by Supervisory Committee's order which has suggested some figure and they (Tamil Nadu) are aggrieved. We are also aggrieved. Centre has not constituted the board which should have been constituted and a regulatory committee should have been constituted under the board for effective implementation of tribunal's award". Cauvery Supervisory Committee's order Yesterday, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee in Delhi had ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water per day to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and September 30. The Karnataka government had yesterday termed the committee's order as 'disappointing' and a 'blow'. "The decision of the committee is disappointing to us. The Supervisory committee's decision is another blow to the state," Home Minister G Parameshwara had told reporters. Soon after the development, sporadic protests were reported from different places, especially in Mandya district, the epicentre of the Cauvery agitation, where protesters blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. SC's fresh order unimplementable: Karnataka CM Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah termed apex court's fresh order on release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as 'unimplementable' and called an all party and Cabinet meeting tomorrow to decide the next step, even as prohibitory orders were enforced across Bengaluru. As he faced a fresh challenge on the raging Cauvery row at a time when the protests were abating, Siddaramaiah said SC passed an order, "since we do not have water, it is very difficult to implement it. It is an unimplementable order." Keeping in mind the last week's widespread violence over the Cauvery issue in Bengaluru, Siddarmaiah said, "I appeal to the people, especially to people from Cauvery basin to maintain peace, they should not get carried away by emotions". "Government is committed to protect the interest of the state, its people and its farmers. Every one should cooperate," he added. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place across the state, especially in the Cauvery basin area to ensure there is no repeat of the September 12 like situation, in which violence erupted in the city following reports of of attack on Kannadigas and their properties in Tamil Nadu. "We have made all the necessary arrangements to maintain law and order. I humbly request people to maintain peace," Home Minister G Parameshwara said. TN parties welcome apex court order Meanwhile, political parties in Tamil Nadu welcomed SC's order directing the central government to set up CMB in four weeks time. President of Tamil Nadu All Farmers' Federations, PR Pandian said, "I welcome the verdict whole heartedly, all the farmers are very happy." "We thank Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the legal measures she undertook to secure the apex court verdict," he told PTI,adding the ruling also comes after a slew of protests over several years by Tamil Nadu farmers, supported by all sections of people, political parties and traders. He said farmers are now confident that the Cauvery Board would order release of water to ryots in accordance with the needs and without any political interference. Farmers wing of CPI(M), Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam urged the Centre to implement the order without delay and the state government to make efforts to get additional quantum of water as 6,000 cusecs will not be sufficient. Reacting to the development, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss termed it as 'historic', saying his party has been demanding the setting up of ACMB for the past nine years. In a statement here, Ramadoss said the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) had given its final award on February 5, 2007, but the central government under Congress and the BJP were reluctant to set up the CMB owing to political reasons as both the parties have higher political states in Karnataka, as per IANS. Welcoming the apex court's order, MDMK leader Vaiko said the central government should set up the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority (CWRA). (With Agency inputs) Bengaluru: Karnataka would challenge the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's Monday order to release more water to Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, said state Home Minister G. Parameshwara. "As the committee's order to release 3,000 cusecs daily for 10 days from September 21-30 is disappointing and a blow to our interests, we have decided to challenge it in the Supreme Court on Tuesday," Parameshwara told reporters here. The panel's order comes into force after the state would complete releasing 12,000 cusecs daily on Tuesday as per the apex court's September 12 order, which is a modification of its September 5 directive to release 15,000 cusecs daily for 10 days from September 7. "Our state is repeatedly facing injustice. The chief minister and the cabinet will decide the next course of action after Tuesday's hearing in the apex court. We will plead for relief as we are not in a position to release more water due to distress and have just enough to meet for drinking water till June next," said Paremeshwara. The panel's directive came earlier in the day after the two warring states failed to reach a consensus on the quantum of water to be shared during distress due to deficit rains and lower levels in the four reservoirs across the river basin this year. State water resources department officials, however, said as 3,000-5,000 cusecs flows daily to Biligundlu on the inter-state border where the release is measured, owing to gravity, ground water and downstream, additional water may not have to be released from the depleted reservoirs of Kabini, KRS, Haranghi and Hemavathy. The panel's order sparked protests in the region, especially at Mandya, about 100km from here, by farmers and traders, which led to blocking of vehicular traffic between Bengaluru and Mysuru. "We have intensified security and stepped up vigil to prevent any untoward incident in the wake of the panel's order and the hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday," the minister said after a meeting with the top police brass in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Police also banned sale of liquor and opening of bars, wine shops and pubs on Tuesday in and around the city. Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday sought the intervention of the Centre to bring back 72 Indians, including Keralites, who have been stranded at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. In a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, he said the stranded Indians were now living in labour camps. They were brought from Dubai for an Economic City project. They have not been getting salary for the past one year and are unable to go out of the camp, he said. The workers are also not being provided with food and drinking water at the camps, the Chief Minister said and called for urgent steps to bring them back home safely. Even though they lodged a complaint with the Indian embassy, no steps have been taken, Vijayan added. Amritsar: Seven students were killed and 15 others were left injured after a school bus fell into a canal near Amritsar on Tuesday afternoon. The bus driver, owner and the school management were booked after students and parents alleged that rash driving led to the accident. The van was taking students back home from DAV Public School, Neshta, when the accident occurred 5 km from the school at 1.30pm. According to the police, there was no railing on the narrow bridge from which the bus fell. Also, 35 children were travelling on the vehicle that had a capacity of 20. Most of the children were aged between 7 and 15 years, the police said. Some of the students told the police that the driver, Satnam Singh, was driving rashly and lost control over the bus on a narrow bridge. He fled after the accident, the police said. The Punjab government has announced a compensation of Rs 11 lakh each to the families of the deceased and free treatment for the injured, who were admitted to different hospitals in the area. New Delhi: Six students were killed and 17 others got injured when a school bus, carrying about 33 children, fell into a canal near Attari border in Punjab. The incident took place near Border Out Post (BOP) Mahawa, near Amritsar, at 1 pm. The incident took place when the school bus, carrying 37 students, was passing over a narrow bridge, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harkamalpreet Singh said. "The bus got stuck on the bridge and the driver tried to manoeuvre his way out following which the vehicle overturned in the canal," he said. "Out of 37 students, six were killed and 17 others received minor injuries," the SSP said, adding, the injured have been hospitalised and rest of the students escaped unhurt. The cause of the accident was the narrow bridge near the canal, he said. The bus belongs to DAV Public School and the deceased students were in the age group of 10 and 15 years, police said. (With PTI inputs) Chennai: Political parties in Tamil Nadu welcomed Supreme Court's order on Tuesday directing the central government to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) in four weeks time. The apex court also ordered the central government to report to it with the necessary notification. It also directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu daily till September 27, superseding the order of Cauvery Supervisory Committee to release 3,000 cusecs of water. Reacting to the development, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss termed it as "historic", saying his party has been demanding the setting up of ACMB for the past nine years. In a statement here, Ramadoss said the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) had given its final award on February 5, 2007, but the central government under Congress and the BJP were reluctant to set up the CMB owing to political reasons as both the parties have higher political states in Karnataka. According to him the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government did not notify the Tribunal's final award in the official gazette and later did not set up the CMB. Only after the Supreme Court ordered gazetting of the final award, did the UPA government notified the same on February 19, 2013. Ramadoss urged the central government to take immediate actions to set up the CMB and try not to delay the same. Welcoming the apex court's order, MDMK leader Vaiko said the central government should set up the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority (CWRA). Lucknow: Amid the ongoing war within the Yadav clan, Samajwadi Party state chief Shivpal Yadav on Tuesday asked party leaders to make Mulayam Singh Yadav's rally in Azamgarh next month a success. At a meeting with leaders and MLAs from 15 districts, Shivpal asked them to ensure participation of grassroots-level workers in Mulayam's October 6 rally in Azamgarh, from where the party will flag off its election campaign. "You all should ensure that the booth-level committees are strengthened and made active," he said. Kolkata: Thousands assembled in two villages of West Bengal on Tuesday to bid a tearful adieu to two army jawans from the state who died in the terrorist attack on the Uri camp in Jammu and Kashmir two days back. A large crowd of mourners gathered at the Jamuna Balia village in Howrah district to witness the last rites of Sepoy Gangadhar Dolui. People from all nearby villages turned up at Jamuna Balia where the cortege arrived early on Tuesday morning escorted by army personnel. Amid full state honours, the last rites were performed in the village crematorium. The bugle played the mourning tune, as the army personnel marched slowly and reversed their guns and gave their martyred colleague a gun salute. Dolui's relatives and villagers recalled his love for the Indian army. "It was a dream-come-true for him when he got inducted in the army," said a villager. Heart-rending scenes were seen at Sagar Island, where Sepoy Biswajit Gorai's mortal remains were consigned to flames after a ceremonial gun salute. Earlier the body was brought by an army helicopter. Gorai's grieving mother became unconscious during the ceremony. His father wanted the government to avenge his son's death. "They should treat my son's death as murder," he said. Fire Services Minister Sovon Chatterjee, representing the state government at the funeral, proposed a temporary fire brigade station should be named after Gorai. Beirut: Twelve people were killed in an attack on an aid convoy in Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that 32 civilians had been killed in total across the region. The monitor said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers of trucks died in the Orum al-Kudra area after the Syrian army announced the end of a ceasefire. The attack on the convoy was confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "The situation on the spot is very chaotic and we are deeply shocked that humanitarian workers and missions have yet again suffered from the brutality of this conflict," ICRC spokeswoman Ingy Sedky told AFP. Kinshasa: At least 44 people - including 37 demonstrators and six police officers - have been killed in protests over Congolese President Joseph Kabila`s perceived bid to extend his rule, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. The unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo started on Monday after its election commission decided to try to postpone the next presidential vote, due in November. Kabila`s opponents say the proposed delay is a manoeuvre to keep him in power although ruling party politicians deny this. Kabila is barred constitutionally from running for a third term and his allies say he will respect the constitution. With the disturbances forcing schools to close and halting public transport in the sprawling riverside capital Kinshasa, the United Nations expressed fears the situation could worsen. The United States said Kabila`s government should have taken steps to defuse the violence and that it was prepared to impose sanctions targeting individuals involved in abuses. French President Francoise Hollande blamed Congo authorities and urged them to respect the constitution and hold elections this year. Adding to the mix of disapproval, Congo`s influential Roman Catholic Church suspended its participation in talks over the timetable for the next elections and stressed that Kabila should not be a candidate when they are held. Several people were killed overnight when security forces burned down the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and attacked buildings of other opposition parties, according to Ida Sawyer, an Africa researcher for New York-based HRW. Twenty people were killed in clashes on Monday and another 17 on Tuesday - "most (of them) when security forces fired on crowds of protesters", Sawyer said. "We`ve also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a (ruling party) PPRD supporter and they have also burned and looted several shops and police stations." Interior ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara said the death toll stood at 17 and that Human Rights Watch`s statement was a "typical" exaggeration by the group. The ministry had earlier said three of those killed were policemen. The early hours fire was a criminal act, said opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, a UDPS official and son of veteran opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, who lost to Kabila in a 2011 presidential run-off. "We have on our hands seven dead and two people who were amputated: one at the arm and another at the leg, in the fire at our headquarters in Limete. There are also multiple people wounded at the hospital," Felix Tshisekedi told Reuters. "We won`t live with this barbarity. The people are angry." Government spokesman Lambert Mende condemned the attack on the UDPS premises but denied that security forces were involved. Witnesses said calm returned to central Kinshasa by Tuesday afternoon, though there were reports of clashes in the suburbs. Nearly 200 people were believed to have been arrested by Congo authorities on Monday and the United Nations received reports of excessive use of force by security forces, U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva. Kabila took power in 2001 when his father was assassinated, but must by law step down in December. His opponents fear he may follow the example of leaders in other African countries such as Burundi, Congo Republic and Rwanda and change the constitution to extend his rule. Congo has not experienced a peaceful transition of political power since its independence from Belgium in 1960. Tom Perriello, U.S. Special Envoy for Africa`s Great Lakes region, said Washington would hold all sides accountable for their actions during the latest violence, which prompted Washington to suspend all travel by its officials to Congo. "Unfortunately, the pattern over the last year has been to dramatically reduce that open political space ... We have seen a crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Congolese people," he told a news conference in New York. Amman: Jordanians voted Tuesday in an election that could see opposition Islamists re-emerge as a major parliamentary force in the key Western ally. The focus will be on turnout and the performance of the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of Jordan`s Muslim Brotherhood. Experts expect the party to clinch around 20 seats in the 130-seat parliament, which would make it the largest opposition force. The vote comes as Jordan wrestles with the spillover of wars in neighbouring Syria and Iraq and the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees. The kingdom is a member of the US-led coalition battling jihadists in both neighbouring countries and was the target of a June 21 suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group that killed seven border guards. The interior ministry said 50,000 policemen have been mobilised to ensure security at polling stations. The Phenix Center, a local pollster, has said 42 percent of eligible voters planned not to take part in the election, reflecting a general lack of enthusiasm for a parliament with limited powers to affect government policy. In Jordan, King Abdullah II can appoint and sack military and intelligence chiefs, senior judges and members of parliament`s upper house without government approval. Early turnout was low at polling stations in the capital visited by AFP. Even those who did show up said they were doing so only in the hope that this election would see change. "I`ve been voting for decades and just hope it`ll be different this time round." said Abdessalam Abu al-Haj, 75, after casting his vote in Telaa al-Ali, in the northeast of the capital. Outside the polling station, one of the candidates had pitched a tent where he was serving coffee to voters as they came out. Saja Asaf, a veiled 20-year-old who said she was voting for the first time, said she hoped to see "new faces" in the next parliament. "I hope that the candidate that I voted for will work to secure a better future for young people and especially to find a solution to the unemployment problem. "Most young people can`t find work when they leave university," she said.Unemployment has reached 14 percent, according to official figures, while independent analysts estimate the figure is between 22 and 30 percent, in a country where 70 percent of the population is aged under 30. Polls opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and were scheduled to close at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT). Around 4.1 million voters -- from a population of 6.6 million -- are to pick 130 lawmakers from 1,252 candidates for a four-year mandate. Seats have been set aside for 15 women, nine Christians and three representatives of the Circassian and Chechen minorities. Businessmen and tribal officials loyal to the monarchy are expected to emerge the biggest winners. The country`s highest religious authority, Dar al-Iftaa, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling voting a national and religious duty. It also warned against fraud and vote buying, a common practice in past elections. Jordan`s electoral commission head said the polls would be conducted in accordance with international standards. The polls will be monitored by 14,000 local observers and 676 from abroad, including 66 sent by the European Union. The Islamists boycotted polls in 2010 and 2013 in protest at the electoral system and allegations of fraud. The system gives disproportionate clout to rural districts, which tend to return tribal candidates loyal to the monarchy. The Islamists -- weakened by internal divisions and repression -- announced in June they would take part after the electoral law was amended. The authorities have amended the law to allow political parties to run lists, rather than a "single vote" system that benefited tribal candidates. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Paris: French Presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday that once immigrants are granted citizenship in France they "should live like the French". Speaking at a public meeting in the northern Paris suburb of Franconville, the outspoken former president, who wants to return to the top job in 2017, also denounced "extremist political Islam" whose goal was to "provoke the Republic". "I will be the president of action, I do not accept the 238" victims of attacks in France since January 2015, he added, promising to lead a "merciless war" on Islamist terrorism. "I will not accept the medieval behaviour that wants men to swim in swimsuits while the women are locked up" in burkinis, he added. Denouncing the "tyranny of minorities", Sarkozy said that if he won the 2017 election, he would be "the president of the national community, because in France the only community that matters is the French community." "If you want to become French, you speak French, you live like the French. We will no longer settle for integration that does not work, we will require assimilation. "Once you become French, your ancestors are the Gauls. `I love France, I learned the history of France, I see myself as French`," is what you must say, he added. "If we say we can no longer continue with immigration (...) then it is racist. It`s unbearable," he said. "I want to be the voice of the silent majority," Sarkozy added to applause. The 61-year-old standard-bearer for the centre-right, who was president from 2007-2012, had seen his poll ratings rise recently after taking a hard line on Islam and immigration following a truck massacre in Nice in July which saw 86 people killed. In August he said France had to fight to protect its secular "way of life". npk/frd/mtp/hg Jerusalem: A Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday before being shot dead, the army said, the latest death in a flare-up of violence. "An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab an IDF (Israel Defence Force) soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to (the village of) Bani Naim," a statement said. "Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death." Tuesday`s attack was the ninth since Friday, coming after Palestinians wrapped up the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha and as Israel tightened security ahead of major Jewish holidays in October. The upsurge has shattered several weeks of relative calm. Since October, 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Manila: The Philippine government was already looking into the unlawful killings in the wake of the war against illegal drugs started by President Rodrigo Duterte, a senior government official said. Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar on Monday was responding to a resolution issued by the European Union expressing concern on the spate of killings involving drug suspects, Xinhua news agency reported. "Extra-judicial killing is not a policy of this administration. We will never condone any unlawful killings," he said. The call of the European Parliament to launch an immediate investigation is already being addressed as President Duterte has already instructed authorities to look into these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice, Andanar explained. As to the specific, comprehensive policies and programs in compliance with human rights, he said plans for the construction of drug rehabilitation centres were now underway. He noted that at least four rehabilitation centres will be built this year, two in Luzon, one in the Visayas, and one in Mindanao. Since Duterte assumed office on June 30, over 700,000 drug users and pushers have surrendered to authorities while more than 3,000 drug suspects were killed. The President has also sought for six-month extension to end illegal drug problem in the country from his initial target of three to six months. Washington: When Hillary Clinton attended her first major White House meeting on Russia in February 2009, the new secretary of state insisted that she wanted to play a leading role in President Barack Obamas effort to "reset" US relations with Moscow. But while Clinton became implementer-in-chief for one of Obamas signature first-term initiatives, she was consistently more skeptical than most of his top aides about how far Russian leader Vladimir Putin was prepared to go in turning the page, according to current and former US officials. That stance is indicative of how she would go about dealing with Moscow if she is elected S president on Nov. 8, aides to both Clinton and Obama told Reuters. With US relations with Moscow already plumbing post-Cold War lows, the aides and veteran Russia watchers said she would likely take a harder line than Obama or Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has praised Putin as a strong leader. Dealing with Putin, who is flexing his geopolitical muscle from Ukraine to Syria to cyberspace, will be among Clinton`s biggest foreign policy challenges -- one made more daunting by the personal bad blood between them. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department aide and now senior Clinton campaign advisor, said Clinton could consider the shipping of lethal arms to Ukraine government forces and the creation of no-fly or safe zones in Syria. Obama has rejected both ideas. While such moves could further stoke tensions and might even face resistance from some US allies, Sullivan said in an interview with Reuters that Clinton could manage ties with Russia effectively because Putin would "respect her as US president, her strength, her clarity, her predictability." According to current and former Clinton advisers, she could consider other policy moves such as stiffer sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and doing more to wean Russias neighbors off reliance on Moscows energy supplies. Russia is watching warily. "She is not perceived by many people as the Kremlin`s preferred candidate," said Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry. "Many here believe that she would be tougher on Russia than Obama," he said. Clintons first fence-mending effort in March 2009 was not so much a show of strength than of diplomatic clumsiness. She handed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a red button that was supposed to have the word "reset" on it. Instead, it was labeled with the Russian word meaning "overcharged." Clintons distrust of Putin deepened, mirrored by his growing list of grievances against her. By the time she prepared to leave the State Department in early 2013, former officials said, she wrote at least two confidential memos to Obama urging a more hard-nosed approach. At the time, many in the president`s inner circle were not convinced the reset had run its course, they said. Since Clintons departure, Putin has reasserted Russia on the world stage, seizing Ukraines Crimea region and intervening militarily in Syrias civil war. US officials have linked the hacking of Democratic Party computers to the Russian government which the Kremlin denies. Like most national security policies under Obama, the attempt to "reset" US-Russian relations was managed from the White House by the President himself, along with aides from his 2008 campaign, including Russia specialist Michael McFaul. "No one should pretend that this wasnt an Obama-driven policy," said Philip Gordon, Clinton`s top Europe adviser at the State Department. "But its also not as if she went grumpily to the table and was told by the president `youre doing it` ... She thought it had logic." McFaul, who later became ambassador to Russia, said in an interview that from the first White House meeting on Russia in early 2009 Clinton was skeptical of the prospects for transforming U.S.-Russian reations in a way that "some of us aspired to back then." Two other officials backed up his account. The first fruits of the reset were promising. Putin had - temporarily, it turned out - stepped down as president, with the younger, reform-minded Dmitry Medvedev in his place. Obama and Medvedev signed a new strategic nuclear arms control pact, cooperated to sanction Iran for its nuclear program and agreed to let U.S. troops and equipment transit Russia to support a American military "surge" in Afghanistan. But after little more than two years, the "reset" ran out of steam. By mid-2011, it was clear that Putin was returning to the presidency. Clinton first met Putin at his residence outside Moscow in March 2010. She persuaded him to back tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran, according to two people with knowledge of the session. In front of the TV cameras, however, Putin railed against U.S. trade and economic policies as Clinton watched. Clinton and Putin have been exchanging broadsides for nearly a decade. Putin, a former KGB agent, "doesn`t have a soul," Clinton quipped on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary, riffing off of President George W. Bushs comment seven years earlier that he had looked into Putin`s eyes and seen his soul. The Russian leader retorted: "At a minimum, a head of state should have a head." A U.S. official who was involved in Russia policymaking said Clinton sometimes chose her words poorly, inflaming Russian resentment over its perceived post-Cold War humiliation, a nationalist strain that Putin has long used to his advantage. "She played into that," said the official, who requested anonymity. The most serious rift of Clintons tenure occurred in late 2011, as crowds filled the streets of Russian cities protesting parliamentary elections marred by allegations of voting fraud. Clinton, in a statement approved by the White House, called the election "neither free nor fair." Putin, who was preparing to retake the presidency, accused her of trying to foment a new Russian revolution. A steady slide in contacts between Clinton and the Russian leadership and in overall relations followed. "Secretary Clinton`s views on Russia were always a little harder-edged than President Obama`s," said John Beyrle, Obama`s first ambassador to Moscow. That partly reflected a "splitting up of responsibilities," he said. Obama cooperated with Medvedev; Clinton grappled with Lavrov and Putin. Some Russia watchers say Clinton`s record was mixed. "The reset was the right approach," said Thomas Graham, former Russia adviser under Bushs Republican administration. But he faulted Clinton and Obama`s team for not doing more to "actively reach out to Putin and open lines of communication." Rome/Assisi: There is no "God of war" and religion must not be used to justify violence, Pope Francis said on Tuesday, repeating recent calls for world peace. "The God of war doesn't exist," Francis said during Mass at the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel where he lives. "Those who wage war are evil, they are the Devil, who wants to kill everyone." All religions must be united in the need for peace, Francis said. "We can't close our ears to the cries of our brothers and sisters who are suffering war," he stated, calling war a "disgrace". "War affects everyone because it begins in our hearts," Francis said. "The world is thirsty for peace, " Francis told 500 leaders from nine religions and 12,000 pilgrims, as well as five Nobel peace laureates at the Day of Prayer for Peace in the Umbrian town of Assisi later on Tuesday. Francis on Sunday issued a call for peace in the world and prayers to help bring this about. "Today, more than ever, we need peace in this war which is everywhere in the world. Let us Pray for peace!" Francis said in remarks after his weekly Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square. Envoys to the Vatican this week urged nations to stop the violence afflicting many parts of the world and called for concrete efforts to bring peace. "The international community and those who govern should strive to stem the violence more effectively and to peacefully resolve the conflicts around the world," the envoys said in a statement on Monday. United Nation: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on world leaders at the United Nations to take measures against a U.S.-based cleric's terrorist network that he said threatened their security. "I am calling, from this podium, to all our friends, to swiftly take the necessary measures against the Gulenist terrorist organization for their own safety and the future of their nations," Erdogan said. Turkish authorities have accused Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating Turkey`s failed coup in July. Calling for an immediate political solution to resolve the crisis in Syria, Erdogan said, "Turkey`s incursion into northern Syria in early September had led to establishing peace, balance and stability in a region taken over by hopelessness". The president also accused the European Union of not keeping its promises over Turkey`s EU membership. Geneva/Beirut: The United Nations suspended all aid shipments into Syria on Tuesday after a deadly attack on a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies, while Washington, expressing outrage at the attack, said a week-old ceasefire was not yet dead. The attack, described by the United Nations, Red Cross, Western countries and rescue workers on the ground as an air strike, drew condemnation from much of the world. Russia and the Syrian government denied that their air forces were responsible for destroying a convoy unloading aid. Moscow presented an entirely different explanation, saying it believed the convoy had not been struck from the air at all but had been destroyed by fire, and suggesting that rescue workers who filmed the aftermath were somehow to blame. The Syrian Red Crescent said the head of one of its local offices and "around 20 civilians" were killed. Other death tolls differed. The incident appeared likely to deliver a mortal blow to the ceasefire, the latest attempt to halt a war now in its sixth year, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and made a mockery of all previous peace efforts. Still, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who personally negotiated the truce during months of intensive diplomacy with Russia despite scepticism from other senior figures in the US administration, told reporters, "The ceasefire is not dead." He spoke after emerging alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from a meeting of foreign ministers of 20 countries, gathered to discuss Syria in New York. The United Nations peace envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said the ceasefire was in effect until its co-sponsors Moscow and Washington declared it over, and neither had done so at Tuesday`s meeting. The state department said the ministers agreed at the meeting of the Syria Support Group to continue pursuing the ceasefire under the US-Russian plan. Syria`s army had declared the initial ceasefire period over on Monday, hours before the attack on the convoy. US officials acknowledged there might no longer be any agreement left to salvage. If the truce is abandoned, it would most likely wreck the last hope of any breakthrough on Syria before the administration of President Barack Obama leaves office in January. The ceasefire was meant to halt all fighting and allow aid to reach besieged areas, at a time when pro-government forces, with Russian and Iranian military support, are in their strongest positions for years and civilians in many rebel-held are completely cut off from food and medical supplies. "As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being pending further assessment of the security situation," Jens Laercke, a UN humanitarian aid spokesman, told a briefing. The attack on the convoy of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent destroyed 18 of 31 trucks. "If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targetting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," U.N. aid chief Stephen O`Brien said in a statement. Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called it a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law". Among those killed was the head of the Syrian Red Crescent for the area, Omar Barakat. The team on the ground was "in shock," said ICRC`s Middle East chief, Robert Mardini. Washington was "outraged", said US State Department spokesman John Kirby. "The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people," he said in a statement. The contrast with Moscow`s version of the events shows how difficult it has been for the sponsors of opposing sides to agree on what is taking place on the ground. "We have studied video footage from the scene from so-called `activists` in detail and did not find any evidence that the convoy had been struck by ordnance," Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia`s Defence Ministry said in a statement. "There are no craters and the exterior of the vehicles do not have the kind of damage consistent with blasts caused by bombs dropped from the air." He said the damage to the convoy visible in footage was caused by its cargo catching fire. It had occurred at the same time as militants from the group formerly called the Nusra Front had started a big offensive in nearby Aleppo, he said, appearing to point the finger at rescue workers from a group called the "White Helmets" who filmed the aftermath. "Only representatives of the `White Helmets` organisation close to the Nusra Front who, as always, found themselves at the right time in the right place by chance with their video cameras can answer who did this and why." The United Nations and Red Crescent spoke of relentless air strikes they were powerless to stop. "The UN in Syria was informed of the air strikes as they unfolded," the UN Syria and regional humanitarian coordinators Massimo Diana and Kevin Kennedy said in a joint statement. "Despite our efforts and communications with parties to the conflict, further air strikes continued throughout the night, hampering efforts to reach and attend to the wounded." Hussein Badawi, head of the White Helmets in the town, said he was 100 metres (yards) from the aid depot when the attack took place and was injured by shrapnel in the hand. "There were fires, martyrs, wounded people. We were able to pull out four survivors and five dead bodies at first," Badawi said. "The bombardment was continuous, continuous. The rescue teams weren`t even able to work. Those who arrived in ambulances couldn`t come in." The ceasefire deal was a gamble on unprecedented cooperation between the United States and Russia, despite trust between the two Cold War-era foes being at its lowest point for decades. The deal called for Washington and Moscow, which support opposite sides in the war between Assad`s government and insurgents but are both fighting against Islamic State militants, to eventually share targetting information, the first time they would have fought openly together since World War Two. Following the attack, a senior Obama administration official said of the ceasefire: "We don`t know if it can be salvaged." "At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage," the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added. New York: US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea`s fifth nuclear test, the White House said. China and the United States are also targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party cadre, that the Obama administration thinks has a role in assisting North Korea`s nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. UN diplomats say the two countries have started discussions on a possible UN sanctions resolution in response to the nuclear test earlier this month, but Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against North Korea. Obama met Li on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. "Both leaders condemned North Koreas September 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea," a White House statement said. China is isolated North Korea`s most important diplomatic backer and its biggest trading partner. It has been angered by Pyongyang`s repeated nuclear and missile tests and signed on to increasingly tough UN sanctions, but it has said it believes such steps are not the ultimate answer and called for a return to talks with North Korea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart last week China opposes "unhelpful" unilateral sanctions on North Korea but will work within the United Nations to formulate a response. Washington has pressed Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea. The United States has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if the country commits to get rid of its nuclear weapons, which Pyongyang has refused to do. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing as early as this week to announce legal action against Chinese firms suspected of providing financial assistance to Pyongyang, the Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the matter. It said DoJ prosecutors visited Beijing twice last month to make their Chinese counterparts aware of alleged criminal activities being committed by Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial. (http://on.wsj.com/2cz8iu1) A social media post last week for the police in Liaoning, the northeastern border province of China, said they were investigating the firm`s alleged long-term involvement in "serious economic crimes" and that relevant suspects were cooperating. A report by Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul and C4ADS in Washington says it identified more than $500 million in trade from January 2011 to September 2015 between the North and the Liaoning Hongxiang Group, which states on its website that it trades heavily with the North. The figure includes more than $360 million in imports from North Korea by one group company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., an industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler. While no judgement is being made on the final use of these funds, trade at this volume is of particular note. By one estimate, this amount would have been almost enough to both fund North Koreas uranium enrichment facilities, and to design, make and test its nuclear weapons, the report said. Certain assets related to the company, its founder and top executive Ma Xiaohong, and some of her relatives and associates, have been frozen by Chinese authorities in recent weeks, according to government and corporate filings cited by the Journal. The Asan report said its trading of goods that could qualify as potential military and nuclear dual-use products under U.S. export restrictions were of particular concern. The products have possible use in a nuclear programme, particularly the uranium enrichment programme. The companies identified have had deals with sanctioned North Korean entities, the report said. Representatives of the US Department of Justice, Chinese Government and Hongxiang Industrial were unavailable for comment. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group is also heavily involved in North Korea-related shipping, with Ma and other people associated with the group owning and operating a combined fleet of 10 ships that regularly sail between the North and China. New York: The US has said it will continue to press Pakistan to take "additional steps" to deal with terror groups seeking refuge within its borders, hours after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought American help to resolve bilateral issues between India and Pakistan. Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday and raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir. Sharif's meeting with Kerry was among his first bilaterals in the city on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly and Kashmir featured prominently in the talks. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said at a press briefing just hours after the bilateral meeting between Kerry and Sharif that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. Toner told reporters at the briefing at the New York Foreign Press Centre that US-Pakistan is "obviously a very important relationship. "There's a lot on the bilateral agenda but also on the regional agenda," he said when asked about the Sharif- Kerry meeting. He said the two sides are expected to discuss ongoing efforts by Pakistan at economic reform, "but certainly security will also be on the agenda, and we'll continue to urge Pakistan to take additional steps to deal with all of the terrorist threats that it faces on its own territory but also those groups that ? frankly, that seek refuge or safe refuge within Pakistan's borders and how to deal with those groups in an effective way. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif said, "I still remember President (Bill) Clinton's promise that US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." "I expect US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India," he said. In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the use of force against the people in the region. Greenpeace demonstrators protest against the massive transatlantic CETA trade deal that's due to be signed in October 2016 Less economic growth, job losses, lower wages and tax revenues -- that's what a Canada-EU free trade on the verge of being ratified will bring, according to a new study. The Council of Canadians think tank, which opposes the proposed pact, on Monday highlighted the study by Tufts University researchers Pierre Kohler and Servaas Storm that says the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement "will lead not just to economic losses but also to rising unemployment and inequality." The CETA deal will have, the study added, "negative implications for social cohesion in an already complex and volatile political context." In a joint statement, Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom defended CETA, calling it "a progressive agreement that will set a new standard for international trade." While recognizing that "clarifications are needed to allay (some) concerns," they renewed a commitment to sign the pact, scheduled in October, and implement it in early 2017. The study was published on the eve of large demonstrations against trade liberalization held in Germany last Saturday. According to its authors, the macroeconomic consequences of the planned trade deal between Canada and the 28-nation European Union are significant. By 2023, they warned, CETA will lead to about 230,000 jobs lost, mostly in the EU. They also say CETA proponents have overemphasized the prospect of higher economic growth due to increased trade and investment, noting that those projections rely on full employment and no negative impact on income distribution. Providing alternative projections using the UN Global Policy Model (GPM), the authors suggest implementing CETA would lead to larger government deficits in every EU country as government revenues plunge. It would put downward pressure on wages in both Canada and the EU, resulting in foregone average annual earnings increases of $1,985 in Canada and between $353 and $1,488 in the EU depending on the country, according to the study. Story continues As well, it is expected to divert trade within the EU bloc, benefiting Germany, France and Italy to the detriment of other EU nations. In absolute terms, CETA would slash 0.5 percent off the EU's gross domestic product -- the broad measure of the output of the economy -- and 1.0 percent off Canada's GDP. Among EU nations, Germany's hit, a loss of 0.37 percent, would be relatively mild, compared with France (-0.65 percent) and Italy (-0.78 percent). "That's only the economic part," said Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow. "We haven't begun to quantify the damage to our laws, policies, and democracies through regulatory harmonization and corporate lawsuits challenging our environmental and social standards, not to mention attacks on farmers and municipalities." British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday promoted its consumer healthcare head Emma Walmsley to chief executive, a move which will make her the most powerful woman on the FTSE 100. The 47-year-old, who succeeds outgoing boss Andrew Witty, will become the seventh female chief executive of a group currently listed on London's benchmark shares index. However, GSK's share price finished on a flat note, with analysts noting that some shareholders had wanted an outsider to oversee a radical overhaul of its structure. The incoming CEO, who joined GSK from French cosmetics giant L'Oreal six years ago and has a background in marketing, will take up her new post in late March. "Emma is an outstanding leader with highly valuable experience of building and running major global businesses and a strong track record of delivering growth and driving performance in healthcare," said chairman Philip Hampton in a statement. Witty will meanwhile retire early next year after almost a decade at the helm. There are currently six other female-led companies listed on London's prestigious FTSE 100 index. They include no-frills airline EasyJet and postal operator Royal Mail -- who are headed by Carolyn McCall and Moya Greene respectively. The other four FTSE 100 firms with female bosses are cigarette maker Imperial Brands, home-improvements retailer Kingfisher, leisure group Whitbread and water supplier Severn Trent. Looking ahead, Walmsley said GSK has "the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders" thanks to a rise in "medical innovation and trusted healthcare products". - 'R&D the beating heart' - In an interview posted on the firm's website, the married mother-of-four added that research and developement (R&D) of new products would remain GSK's priority under her stewardship. "R&D is absolutely the beating heart of our company and our success is and will continue to be defined most fundamentally by the strength of our pipeline," she said. Story continues The Oxford University graduate pointed also to challenges that lay ahead for her company and the sector as a whole. "Pricing is a key area of focus, government and household budgets are under pressure, the regulatory environment is extremely tough and unpredictable and of course society wants big business and big pharma to continue to close the trust deficit that has been widening," she said. However, GSK's shares closed almost flat on Tuesday, losing 0.03 percent to 16.45 on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which gained a quarter of a percent in value. "Her appointment is welcome for the diversity it brings to the top of UK business -- but was less well-received by GSK shareholders," noted analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets. "Some more vocal shareholders had wanted an outsider appointed to help push through a change in GSK?s structure, and are selling shares in a show of disappointment." - Rapid consolidation - The global pharmaceutical sector has meanwhile undergone major consolidation in recent years as companies battle competition for generic versions of their drugs. For its part, GSK agreed in 2014 to sell its oncology business to Novartis for $16 billion, while buying the Swiss group's vaccines division in return. The pair also formed a joint venture for consumer health products, headed by Walmsley. Alongside the Novartis deal, the latter part of Witty's tenure was clouded by Chinese authorities fining GSK the equivalent of almost half a billion dollars in 2014 over alleged bribery. The firm's former head of China operations, Mark Reilly, and four other ex-officials were handed suspended prison sentences over the incident. GSK said details of Walmsley's pay package would be disclosed next year. Hampton meanwhile praised Witty for developing "market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare" which provided "excellent platforms" for growth. The drugs company employs around 100,000 people worldwide, of which one-tenth work in R&D. DENVER (Reuters) - Barrick Gold expects to be able to reach its target of reducing debt by $2 billion by year-end even without selling any assets, company President Kelvin Dushnisky said on Monday. "We are confident we will get to our $2 billion mark with or without an asset sale ... presuming gold prices continue to cooperate," Dushnisky said in an interview on the sidelines of the Denver Gold Forum. Gold prices are up 24 percent this year to $1,313 an ounce, boosting miners' cash flow. Barrick, the world's biggest gold miner, has been selling non-core assets to help reduce its heavy debt and said in July it planned to sell its 50 percent stake in the Kalgoorlie mine in Australia. That sales process is "just underway" and could be done by year end but might run into next year, Dushnisky said. "We expect it will be a strong process. There is a lot of interest in the asset," he said. At end-June, Barrick had reduced its debt by $968 million so far this year. It also plans to retire another $273 million of debt in the third quarter, a process that is on track, Dushnisky said. That means the Toronto-based miner needs to cut another $759 million by year-end to meet its $2 billion target. (Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Denver; Editing by Chris Reese and Meredith Mazzilli) By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday it had chosen its head of consumer healthcare, Emma Walmsley, as its new chief executive, after several months reviewing internal and external candidates. She will become the first woman to head a top global pharmaceutical company and will bring the number of female chief executives in Britain's FTSE 100 index to seven. Walmsley, 47, joined Britain's biggest drugmaker in 2010 from LOreal and will replace Andrew Witty, who had previously announced his decision to retire on March 31, 2017. She will join the board from January. The decision will disappoint investors such as Neil Woodford, a top shareholder and a critic of the drugmaker's current structure, who wanted to see an outsider appointed to overhaul the company. However, Walmsley had always been tipped as a strong internal candidate, along with pharmaceuticals boss Abbas Hussain and manufacturing head Roger Connor. Her appointment is likely to be seen as a signal that GSK will retain the consumer business as a core part of its operations, rather than splitting up the company. "Choosing Emma Walmsley suggests a strategy of evolution rather than revolution," Joe Walters, senior portfolio manager at Royal London Asset Management, one of GSKs 30 largest investors, told Reuters. "A big change in the firms corporate structure is less likely, but any worries about a reduction in Glaxos attractive dividend payments should recede." GSK's 5 percent yield is a big lure for investors. A weaker pound after Britain's vote to leave the European Union helped the group's 2016 outlook and also soothed fears of a dividend cut, but there had been speculation that an outside CEO might go on a major buying spree that could crimp payouts. Chairman Philip Hampton said in a statement that GSK had market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare that provided excellent platforms for sustainable, long-term growth. Shares in GSK slipped 0.5 percent by 0940 GMT. BROAD PORTFOLIO At the helm since 2008, Witty has struggled with flagging sales and profits, as well as a damaging corruption scandal in China, although earnings are now improving. Some investors and analysts have questioned his focus on a consumer health business that ranges from headache pills to toothpaste. Other drugmakers have enjoyed better share price performance in recent years by riding a wave of innovation in disease areas such as cancer. GSK has chosen to largely sit out a wave of acquisitions in the pharmaceuticals industry that has seen rivals spending billions of dollars on promising experimental medicines. A $20 billion asset swap with Novartis, completed last year, which involved the exchange of cancer drugs for the Swiss groups consumer health products and vaccines, was a centerpiece of Witty's time in charge. The deal crystallized the company's idea of reducing exposure to premium-priced pharmaceuticals and increasing sales of over-the-counter products, as well as selling more lower-priced medicines in emerging markets. Walmsley has been intimately involved in that strategy as head of consumer healthcare and, like Hampton, she sees the breadth of GSK's portfolio as a key strength. "We have momentum in the group and as the demand for medical innovation and trusted healthcare products continues to rise, we have the opportunity and the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders," she said in the statement. As head of GSK's consumer healthcare operations, Walmsley is responsible for a business with 21,000 employees and annual sales of 6 billion pounds ($7.8 billion), equal to around a quarter of group sales. (Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Sonya Hepinstall and Giles Elgood) CHICAGO (Reuters) - Package delivery company United Parcel Service Inc said on Monday it will expand its 3D printing services to Asia with a new facility in Singapore run by its partner Fast Radius that will open by the end of 2016. UPS rolled out a similar service in May in the United States. The company owns an undisclosed stake in Fast Radius, which has a 3D printing factory at the Atlanta-based package delivery company's hub in Louisville. In the United States, UPS customers can have parts printed at the Fast Radius factory or at one of 60 UPS Stores equipped with 3D printers and then shipped to them. UPS also plans a 3D printing hub in Europe. The company sees 3D printing as a potential threat to its warehousing business where it stores parts for manufacturers, so its strategy is to embrace the new technology and incorporate it into its business model instead. Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing works by laying down successive levels of material, mostly plastics at this point, to create an object. (Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Networking & WIreless U Tennessee Upgrades Outdoor Wi-Fi without Adding Power Lines The University of Tennessee, Knoxville has added more outdoor wireless access points and security cameras without adding new power lines by using a powered fiber cable system. The university had been looking for a way to expand the range of its wireless network and security cameras. After completing a joint trial of CommScope's Powered Fiber Cable System with the company, the university's Office of Information Technology felt confident that the system could "deliver data and power over Ethernet across long distances," said Ben Rayfield, IT specialist at the university, in a prepared statement. According to information from the company, the Powered Fiber Cable System can "deliver power over Ethernet (PoE) at distances of 30 times traditional PoE systems." The system has two main components: a hybrid copper and fiber cable and a PoE extender, a sealed enclosure with one PoE+ output port. Additional components include cable and fiber management, power transmission management, safety and overload protection and a universal power supply. The powered nature of the fiber cable system enabled the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to deploy the new wireless access points and security cameras "without electricians, using a centralized architecture that is concealable in lampposts and existing street works," reducing the time and cost of the implementation, according to a news release. For campuses considering an upgrade or expansion with CommScope's Powered FIber Cable System, the company offers an online PoE Distance and Voltage Calculator tool on its site. TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Zika, dengue, chikungunya: As if there weren't enough mosquito-borne viruses to worry about, researchers say another has been spotted for the first time in Haiti. Blood test results revealed that an 8-year-old boy living in a rural area of the Caribbean country has contracted Mayaro virus. The infection was diagnosed after the boy developed a fever and belly pain, the researchers said. Mayaro virus, which is related to the chikungunya virus, was first detected in Trinidad in 1954. Since then, most reported outbreaks have been limited to the Amazon, according to the University of Florida research team. "While current attention has been focused on the Zika virus, the finding of yet another mosquito-borne virus which may be starting to circulate in the Caribbean is of concern," said Dr. Glenn Morris, director of the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute. "Hopefully we will not see the same massive epidemics that we saw with chikungunya, dengue and now Zika," he said in a university news release. It's unclear if this infection marks the beginning of an unprecedented outbreak in the Caribbean, however. "The virus we detected is genetically different from the ones that have been described recently in Brazil, and we don't know yet if it is unique to Haiti or if it is a recombinant [new] strain from different types of Mayaro viruses," study lead author John Lednicky said in the news release. He is an associate professor of environmental and global health at the university's College of Public Health and Health Professions. The researchers believe that new, potentially harmful viruses may "waiting in the wings" and should be monitored to better manage possible future outbreaks. The findings were published online recently in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information on mosquito-borne diseases. We're sorry, you encountered a page that doesn't exist. Pittsburgh, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Answering demand for innovative marketing solutions, President Bob Rovnanik of JFT Marketing, Inc. today announced the opening of a new office location in Pittsburgh, PA. After more than two years of success working with Fortune 100 companies in the Metro Detroit Area, JFT is excited to tackle the opportunity to provide equally efficient marketing solutions to the Pittsburgh community. For President Bob Rovnanik, who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, the new office will be an exciting homecoming. "We built something really special here in Detroit," said Bob when asked about the new location. "My ultimate dream is to grow the strong organization that has been established back in my hometown of Pittsburgh. I love the city of Pittsburgh, everything about it is special to me, and I cannot wait to bring our brand here." JFT Marketing works with large retail and electronics companies to bring new technology directly to consumers. The still-expanding marketing firm entered 2016 by breaking company records, including record-shattering months of April, May, and June. JFT Marketing is currently comprised of four offices throughout Michigan and one in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. JFT aims to quickly grow their market dominance in Pittsburgh, similar to the presence they hold in the Metro-Detroit Area. Using proven and innovative marketing techniques, the firm plans to expand into offices throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. If you are interested in the opportunity to join JFT Marketing's growing business, please contact HR directly at HR@JFTMarketing.com International TV trade show MIPCOM is expanding to China in 2017 with the aim of fostering content development between Chinese and international production companies. With a summit set for May 2017, MIP China Hangzhou will take place in the same scenic east coast city that hosted the G20 Summit in September 2016. A partnership program will see 40 international TV production and distribution companies meet with 40 senior level Chinese media executives, while a professional training conference runs between May 23 and 25. MIPCOM 2016 kicks off in Cannes, France, October 17-20, while the 2017 MIPTV event takes place in the same city April 3-6. 31.08.2016 New c64-Cases for Christmas 2016 After a pause of several years, fans of classic computers worldwide can look forward to a series of Commodore PCs. The company individual Computers GmbH, based in Germany and well-known in the Retro-Computing community, has licensed the rights of the Commodore trademarks from Polabe Holding N.V. New For Old: c64c-Cases Planned For Autumn 2016 The first newly branded Commodore products are span-new cases for the C64 computer, using the original injection molds back from the days Commodore Business Machines produced the C64c. Thanks to these new cases a C64 computer can finally be refurbished after all these years. Distribution of these cases is exclusively done via the Pixelwizard Retro shop. The Dawn Of A New Commodore Era With these new c64-Cases, the highest quality standards had to be guaranteed, in line with the high expectations of the name Commodore. 2016: New c64-Hardware To Come Back in May 2015, the new main board C64 Reloaded (C64R) was released by hardware designer Jens Schonfeld and this with a huge success. This main board fits in any C64-case and is fully compatible with the original C64 computer. Two new versions of this main board are now being prepared for production. Technical details will be published shortly. Jens Schonfeld, CEO of iComp GmbH, said: When I recieved a C64 computer for my 11th birthday, I wouldn't have dared to dream that I would make my own Commodore products 32 years later! I feel really honored that iComp GmbH is the first company since a long time that has proven capable to fulfill all technical requirements of the licensor. I consider this as an award for the quality of our products. About The C64: The Commodore 64 is considered as the best-selling home computer ever. Approximately up to 30 million units have been sold since its introduction in 1982. Despite its top-notch technical configuration at the time, the computer was received as very affordable. This was the basis of its worldwide success in private households. Based on this huge success in the past, sales of the C64R main board had to be limited because of the enormous demand. The two new Commodore main boards will now finally supplement the demand in the coming months. About individual Computers GmbH: Entrepreneur Jens Schonfeld has been devoted to classic computers since he was a teenager. He has always been a fan of Commodore hardware. Schonfeld has studied computer engineering at RWTH Aachen, Germany. Since 1994, he has been developing circuit boards and accessories for 8- and 16-bit computers, especially for the C64 and Amiga. In addition to own products, iComp GmbH also offers design services for embedded hardware, telecommunication and safety engineering. Press Contact: individual Computers Jens Schonfeld GmbH Im Zemmer 6 52152 Simmerath Fax: +49 (0)241 12088 E-Mail Address: press@icomp.de About Polabe Holding Polabe Holding NV is the owner of the Commodore Trademarks, a globally recognized consumer electronics brand. Polabe Holding NV purchased the Commodore Trademarks from C=Holdings BV in 2014. Polabe NV is situated in Luxemburg. Contact: press@commodorecorp.com 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 State Debate: Three state papers call for action now on state roads; time to patch the potholes, says La Crosse Tribune Scott Walker's anti-union, anti-teacher agenda would be "toast" if Justice David Prosser lost his seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, according to leaked emails, so Walker's allies started raising the specter of voter fraud with no basis in fact when it appeared that Prosser might have lost. PHOTO BY MICHELLE STOCKER A garage fire Monday night in the village of Browntown was a two-fold problem for the resident, after police found a marijuana grow inside the garage. Jeremy Green, 36, was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, the Green County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies and the Browntown Fire Department responded to the fire on Mill Street at about 11 p.m., after getting a report that the outside of the garage was on fire. "While extinguishing the fire, a marijuana grow room and a marijuana plant were found inside the garage," the Sheriff's Office said. Further investigation discovered a dozen marijuana plants, processed pot and drug paraphernalia in the residence. A 23-year-old was bucked from his bicycle after colliding with a police horse Saturday on State Street. Neither the cyclist nor the horse, Ahab, were injured during the collision. However, Madison police urged people to exercise caution around mounted officers, regardless of transportation mode, following the incident. The cyclist was riding hands-free along State Street when he ran into the horses left hip just before 11 p.m. The impact knocked the cyclist off his bike, however, the cyclist was wearing a helmet, police said. Ahab also seemed no worse for the impact following what is believed to be State Streets first bicycle versus horse accident, police spokesman Joel Despain said in a statement. Police did not name the cyclist. A man seen using drugs in his vehicle on Madison's Far East Side tried to drive away from police but crashed into a tree, before officers chased him on foot to make the arrest. The incident happened shortly before 2 p.m. at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison, 4002 Evan Acres Road, Madison police said. Justin Greene, 34, was tentatively charged with eluding, resisting arrest causing injury and numerous drug violations. According to police: Officers went to the casino parking lot after getting a report of a man seen using illegal drugs in his vehicle, with police seeing Greene allegedly in possession of drug paraphernalia. "He attempted to drive away from police and crashed into a tree," said Sgt. Shannon Blackamore. "He then fled on foot and resisted, causing officers to receive minor injuries." Seeking flexibility to respond to community dialog over use of school-based police officers, the Madison School Board has proposed a so-called compromise to city officials that would keep officers in Madisons four main high schools, at least for now. The School Board on Tuesday unveiled a proposal intended to meet the citys demands for contract length but also offer the district an opt-out should officials eventually decide to remove police from schools. Contract length has been the sticking point in negotiations between the city and school district, with the School Board favoring one year and city leaders favoring three. City officials, including Mayor Paul Soglin and Police Chief Mike Koval, have advocated for the longer contract to provide more certainty in budgeting, recruitment and planning. But amid a national conversation over law enforcement tactics, especially during interactions with minorities, opponents have lobbied the School Board to remove police from schools. Heeding those concerns, the School Board has pushed for a one-year deal while an expert hired by the City Council examines Madison Police Departments policies, procedures, training and culture. The latest proposal offers the city its desired three-year deal, but includes what the School Board called a meaningful termination clause responsive to the citys budget and hiring timeline. Under the proposal, either party could cancel the contract for the next calendar year, so long as written notice was provided by July 1 of the preceding year. This compromise would give the city ample time to plan for budget and recruitment, just like it would give the district enough time for similar planning if any changes were to occur, the statement said. Most important, we believe this contract provides us the ability to ensure that the work of our EROs fully aligns with our approach to positive behavior and restorative practice in school. Koval did not immediately return phone calls. City Council President Mike Verveer said, What the School Board is voting on was not negotiated by the city; it was proposed unilaterally by the School Board, Verveer said. My understanding is that the mayor and police chief are not comfortable with the new termination clause language. Soglin declined to comment on the early termination clause except to say, Ive been negotiating labor service and business contracts for 40 years. I have never seen anything where one party in the middle of negotiations simply said, Were adopting a specific contract. Its not a very good faith sign, but we will continue to negotiate. A separate resolution to renew the contract was scheduled for introduction at Tuesday evenings City Council meeting. That resolution does not include contractual language, but was introduced as a mechanism to expedite approvals should a deal be reached, Verveer said. The School Board is scheduled to vote on its proposal during a special meeting Wednesday. The conservative group at the center of Gov. Scott Walkers political operation during the 2011 and 2012 recalls may have flouted IRS rules by providing a private benefit, a former agency administrator said Wednesday. The comments came the same day a Wisconsin group filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service alleging the Wisconsin Club for Growth violated federal law when it operated as a fundraising and campaign hub for Walker and Senate Republicans facing recall. The complaint from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign comes in the wake of a report by the Guardian US, an arm of the British newspaper, which published leaked documents last week providing the clearest picture yet of how the group operated. The Wisconsin Supreme Court last year quashed a secretive John Doe investigation into whether the group violated Wisconsin campaign finance laws. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled Monday to consider whether to hear the case. The state investigation did not involve the question of whether the groups activities violated federal law. Marcus Owens, former director of the IRS exempt organizations division, said in an interview that the facts presented by the Guardian demonstrate pretty unequivocally the Wisconsin Club for Growth was operating for the private benefit of the Republican Party and Scott Walker, which is not appropriate behavior for a 501(c)(4) which has to be operated for a public benefit. Theres a fair body of law thats built up that a 501(c)(4) cant simply have as a significant activity the furtherance of a particular political party or a particular political candidate, Owens said. And thats clearly what happened here with huge sums of money involved. He noted a 1989 case in which the IRS successfully revoked tax-exempt status from a school for training Republican political operatives. Also Bill Clintons Democratic Leadership Council had its tax-exempt status revoked in 2002, though it was not required to pay back taxes because a federal judge found it didnt misrepresent itself when it originally applied to the IRS. The Wisconsin Club for Growth filed as a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) social welfare organization in 2011 and 2012, telling the IRS that it spent $0 for political purposes. Unlike political campaign committees, such groups can accept unlimited donations and do not have to disclose their donors. According to IRS rules, they are allowed to engage in political activity so long as its not their primary focus. Given the intricate, elaborate, and time-consuming work that Wisconsin Club for Growth was doing in 2011 and 2012 to run this secret and coordinated fundraising, strategizing and advertising campaign, it is abundantly clear from the emails released in The Guardian story that engaging in political campaign activity was the primary activity of Wisconsin Club for Growth, in violation of the IRS regulations, the WDC complaint states. In 2014, the liberal Center for Media and Democracy filed a complaint with the IRS leveling similar allegations. That complaint came after court documents from the John Doe case were briefly posted on a federal court website, revealing the investigation found Walker campaign advisers discussing how to use the Club as a hub for raising millions of dollars in undisclosed contributions and disbursing it to dozens of conservative political groups. The status of that complaint is unknown as the IRS does not comment on investigations. The emails released last week include an Aug. 18, 2011, email from top Walker aide Keith Gilkes explaining: Our efforts were run by Wisconsin Club for Growth and operatives RJ Johnson and Deb Jordahl, who coordinated spending through 12 different groups. Most spending by other groups was directly funded by grants from the Club. Also, in a May 4, 2011 email from Walker to Republican strategist Karl Rove, Walker wrote: RJ helps keeps in place a team that is wildly successful in Wisconsin. We are running 9 recall elections and it would be like 9 congressional markets in every market in the state and twin cities. The emails show how Walker raised millions of dollars for the Club by soliciting funds from some of the countrys wealthiest people. Part of the sales pitch was that the source of the funds wouldnt be disclosed. Secret donations came from a lead industry billionaire and mining company that stood to benefit from Republican-backed legislation. Lawyers representing the Club did not respond to a request for comment. In 2014, Club lawyer Andrew Grossman said the Center for Media and Democracy was trying to silence political speech. If they want to waste their money on filing a frivolous complaint for a blip of news coverage, thats their business, Grossman said. The Wisconsin Club for Growth is proud of its record of speaking out on the issues that matter to Wisconsin. In an affidavit included in the recent John Doe leak, Club director Eric OKeefe stated that the Club paid for advertisements that advanced its pro-liberty, fiscal responsibility, pro-Act 10 beliefs during 2011 and 2012. None of the advertisements expressly urged voters to vote for or against any candidate. The IRS declined to comment on the complaint, citing federal law that bars the agency from commenting on individual tax cases. The agencys scrutiny of political activities by tax-exempt groups came under fire a few years ago. After the U.S. Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations to make independent political expenditures, the amount that tax-exempt groups spent on elections surged, leading to calls for IRS intervention. However, tea party groups complained they were being unfairly targeted for political reasons. A May 2013 audit of the IRS found the agency had inappropriately scrutinized certain groups based on their names, rather than suspicion of any wrongdoing. Lloyd Mayer, a Notre Dame Law School professor and expert on nonprofit law, said he doesnt expect the IRS would investigate Wisconsin Club for Growth because of the intense scrutiny the agency has been under since the tea party scandal. Owens, the former IRS administrator, agreed saying, their ability to conduct audits has been generally degraded and they seem to be shying away from these high-profile political examples. Mayer said while the agency might investigate an egregious violation, this case doesnt necessarily rise to that level because the group will argue it wasnt engaging in express advocacy. Mayer also said the group might counter the private benefit argument by noting it hasnt always aligned with Republicans. Dane County is teaming up with UW-Madison to study how and if the implementation of Wisconsins voter ID law affects voters during the first time its used for a presidential election, county officials said in a statement Monday. The County Board approved a contract to provide the university with most of the funds needed for the $44,000 study, which will focus in particular on how minority and student voters could be affected. Emails, phone calls and mailed surveys will be targeted at voters in Dane and Milwaukee counties who didnt vote in the Nov. 8 election. This study will move us past speculation and into hard facts, Sup. Jeff Pertl, the lead sponsor of the study, said in the statement. We need to know if and how voter ID is having an impact, so we can ensure every eligible voter has a chance to cast a ballot. After being passed by Gov. Scott Walker and Republican state lawmakers in 2011, the controversial voter ID requirement has largely been held up in courts since, with the state spring election being the first major election where an ID was required. Emails will be sent to students in Madison and at UW-Milwaukee after the election to ask about their voting experience. Email contacts will be sent immediately following the election, while mailed surveys are set to begin in January. A $2 cash incentive will be available for those who respond to the mailed survey. The Milwaukee County Clerks Office has pledged to provide funds to cover the cost of the study, according to the statement. An initial report on the surveys results is expected in August 2017. The results of the study are aimed at helping clerks identify effective approaches to voter outreach and increase participation in future elections, the statement said. State lawmakers have funded a Bring It to the Ballot campaign to make voters aware of the need to have a valid photo ID, such as a Wisconsin drivers license, U.S. passport or a free voter ID, among other acceptable IDs. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold said Tuesday that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should not be pardoned for leaking classified documents exposing the scope of mass surveillance and data collection by the agency and its counterparts abroad. Also Tuesday, Feingold described as a myth a claim by his opponent, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, that the exit of U.S. troops from Iraq led to the creation of the Islamic State terror group. Feingolds comments came in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Board. Snowden has lived in Russia since 2013, where he was granted asylum shortly after he gave documents to media outlets, including The Guardian and the Washington Post, that showed the NSA and intelligence agencies in other countries were collecting phone, email and other data from hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The disclosure led to international scrutiny of the previously secret surveillance efforts and outrage from many who viewed them as infringing on the privacy of innocent people. Congress later passed a law curtailing bulk data collection by U.S. intelligence agencies. Interest in Snowden has rekindled with the recent release of a movie about him, Snowden. Some, including former President Jimmy Carter, have said Snowden may deserve a presidential pardon for sparking a national debate about the extent of U.S. surveillance powers. Feingold, seen by many as a civil-liberties champion during his three terms in the U.S. Senate, said he disagrees. I think he (Snowden) should face the proper authorities, Feingold said. Im glad we know what he told us. .... But I basically think youve got to acknowledge that people cant be revealing American secrets without any consequence at all. Snowden faces criminal charges in the U.S. for allegedly stealing government property and violating the Espionage Act. Feingold said it may be appropriate for prosecutors to weigh the value of Snowdens disclosures against the fact that he broke the law. Maybe there would be a choice not to prosecute, Feingold said. Feingold became most closely associated with the civil-liberties cause after casting the lone vote in the U.S. Senate against the USA Patriot Act in 2001 a vote for which he has been criticized by Johnson in the current U.S. Senate campaign. One of the provisions of the act of which Feingold was most critical, Section 215, was used to justify some of the mass surveillance efforts exposed by Snowden. A federal judge later ruled it did not authorize surveillance to that extent. Feingold also described as completely counter-factual the Johnson claim that Obamas decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq was a historic blunder that allowed the Islamic State to rise from the ashes. Johnson has made the claim as part of his push for sending U.S. ground troops back into Iraq and into Syria to battle IS. Feingold said that it was the U.S. decision to enter Iraq, which he voted against in the U.S. Senate in 2002, that ultimately enabled the ascent of IS. Feingold said the U.S. made a critical error by imprisoning Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, now the IS leader, together with other extremists during the Iraq War. Al-Baghdadi and all his buddies were thrown into a prison together. That was our stupid mistake. We put them all together, and they created ISIS then, Feingold said. So the idea that somehow this was the result of leaving? Its the result of going there. From the Flint water crisis and Syrian refugees to underserved patients and the opioid abuse epidemic, Epic System Corp.s annual users group meeting Tuesday was infused with a heavy dose of humanitarianism. CEO Judy Faulkner costumed, as is customary, this year as the Mad Hatter to suit the An Adventure in Wonderland theme told some 18,000 attendees that it was mercury poisoning that made the hatter mad. Could the electronic health record have helped? Probably, she said. Faulkner explained that Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, of Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, used Epics electronic medical records last year to help expose unsafe lead levels in children who drank the citys contaminated water. Faulkner told those gathered for the meeting, which started Monday and runs through Thursday at Epics campus in Verona, that Epic is working with the American University of Beirut to put basic health information about Syrian refugees onto thumb drives that the refugees will be able to keep. If they end up, maybe, in another country, theyll be able to share their information, she said. Right now, its very scattered information. Its a real challenge to take care of the refugees. Faulkner said health care systems that provide specialty and inpatient care for federally qualified health centers, also known as community health centers, will now get free licenses and free maintenance for that service. The centers, such as Access Community Health Centers in Madison, get federal grants to primarily serve low-income patients on a sliding fee scale. Other Epic staff, in describing changes planned for MyChart, Epics patient portal, said patients soon will be able to get online estimates of the cost of their care. Theyll be able to apply online for charity care, if needed and available, to help pay their bills. To address the opioid abuse epidemic, Epic president Carl Dvorak said, the company is trying to make it easier for doctors to check Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, which track how often patients get medications. Epic is also looking at including data in the medical chart that could help predict opioid abuse. For example, a patient might click the button on a hospital pain pump 25 times, even though the doctor ordered only nine doses. What does that tell us, in a predictive model, about how they might self-manage opioids at home? Dvorak said. Including such information should help you help the patient the best you can in controlling and managing opioids. The speakers also focused on Epics efforts to enhance interoperability, or the ability of medical record systems to communicate with one another. Epic has been criticized by some competitors and Congress members for impeding interoperability, though Epic says it supports making patient records more exchangeable. Happy Together, Epics initiative to let patients see MyChart information from a variety of providers, should also enable health care systems to better manage large groups of patients as they are increasingly being paid to do, Faulkner said. Epics Cosmos Research Network a group of about a dozen health care organizations around the country, including Johns Hopkins Medicine and Duke University is pooling patient data to better understand and treat conditions such as autism, Alzheimers disease and multiple sclerosis, Faulkner said. Its going to be a huge discovery platform for health care knowledge, she said. Epics customers include nearly 400 health care organizations representing more than half of Americans. With CVS and Walgreens now on Epic, more than 80 percent of retail pharmacies in the country are Epic users. An estimated 9,900 employees and 8,000 customers are attending this weeks meeting, including visitors from 13 countries. The annual meeting has an estimated economic impact in the Madison area of $9.5 million, second only to the World Dairy Expo, according to the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau. West Virginia Legislature Approves State Funds for Flood Assistance Gov. Earl Ray Tomplin had called an extraordinary session to pass the bill that will put $85 million in state money toward recovery costs from the June 23 flood, which affected most of the state's 55 counties. Both houses of the West Virginia Legislature have approved a bill that will put $85 million in state money toward recovery costs from the June 23 flooding that affected most of the state's 55 counties, with Gov. Earl Ray Tomplin thanking the legislators on Monday after summoning them for an extraordinary session to pass the bill. The money covers West Virginia's 25 percent share of expenses incurred as a result of the June 2016 flooding in 12 counties. "I thank the Legislature for promptly approving this funding as West Virginians continue rebuilding after these devastating floods. With state funding now available, we can continue covering our share of costs and working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine whether West Virginia will ultimately qualify for the federal government to cover 90 percent of all disaster-related expenses. The damages of this flooding were far-reaching, and the recovery process will take years. By maximizing federal support and continuing to do our share, we can make that process much smoother for impacted communities, businesses, and families," Tomblin said in a statement. The flooding killed 23 people, destroyed more than 1,400 homes and 50 businesses, and damaged an additional 2,300 homes and 200 businesses. Tomblin said damage to public infrastructure will end up totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Tomblin called the session for Sept. 18 and the legislators worked quickly, with the House of Delegates voting 92-1 for the bill and Senate passage occurring on Monday. Tomblin created RISE West Virginia to assist small businesses affected by the flooding. It is a public-private mini-grant program offering grants up to $10,000 that such businesses can tap to help them recover and reopen; the program is co-sponsored by West Virginia native and Intuit CEO and Chairman Brad Smith and is overseen by the West Virginia Development Office in partnership with the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Tomblin had declared a state of emergency for 44 of the state's 55 counties during the flooding. Shoptalk Launches Shoptalk Europe In Copenhagen 2017! Inaugural Shoptalk Europe to be held on October 9-11, 2017 at The Bella Center in Copenhagen New York, NYSeptember 20, 2016Shoptalk Commerce, the organizer of the groundbreaking U.S. retail and ecommerce eventShoptalktoday announced the launch of Shoptalk Europe. Similar to its U.S. counterpart, Shoptalk Europe focuses on the evolution of how consumers discover, shop and buy, and brings together leaders from established retailers and brands, disruptive startups, leading tech and Internet companies, prolific venture capital investors and other key stakeholders. Encompassing the trends and technologies disrupting retail and ecommerce throughout Europe, Shoptalk Europe will also incorporate important global perspectives. Shoptalk Europe will be held at The Bella Center in Copenhagen on October 9-11, 2017, following the Shoptalk U.S. event, which will take place at the Aria in Las Vegas on March 19-22, 2017. Each event will recur annually, approximately six months apart. The overwhelmingly positive industry-wide reception we continue to receive for Shoptalk demonstrates the demand for an event that brings together the entire commerce ecosystem and resets the conversation to focus on the rapid evolution of todays consumers, said Shoptalk Founder and Chairman Anil D. Aggarwal, a successful serial entrepreneur who sold his latest tech startup to Google and founded Money20/20, the worlds largest consumer payments event, which recently held its own European event. More than 2,000 attendees, including over 250 speakers and 200 CEOs, are expected at Shoptalk Europes inaugural three-day event, which will provide an unprecedented platform for the ecosystem to learn, network, collaborate and evolve. Attendees will range from local and global leaders and startups to high growth companies looking to enter and scale in the European marketplace. Some of the themes that will be covered at Shoptalk Europe include: Retail Experiences of the Future Physical Retail Goes Digital Delivery & Pickup Innovation Investment & Entrepreneurship Disruptive Startups & Pioneering Brands Ecommerce Cross-Border Commerce Marketing Evolution Measurement, Analytics & Insights Culture & Leadership Consumer Behaviour, Expectations & Demographics Regulations & Privacy We are excited to launch Shoptalk Europe in Copenhagen, which is currently one of the hottest European destinations, said Aggarwal. Copenhagen and the Bella Center offer the perfect location for Shoptalk Europe, and provide a convenient environment for learning and collaboration. Copenhagen is an easily accessible city and the Bella Center is located less than 10 minutes from the airport. Attendees can stay at the Bellas onsite hotel or choose from a variety of hotels nearby in every price range. We are very pleased that Shoptalk Europe will be held in Copenhagen, a highly desirable European destination with tradition, history and culture but that is also a catalyst for innovation, said Copenhagen Lord Mayor Mr. Frank Jensen. We look forward to contributing to the ongoing growth and development of the retail and ecommerce ecosystem. Katy Fryatt, who previously launched Money20/20 Europe, which became the regions largest FinTech and payments event in just its first year, has been appointed to oversee the rollout of Shoptalk Europe over the coming several months. Founded by the visionary creators of Money20/20, Shoptalk launched with unprecedented scalemore than 3,100 industry leaders and disrupters, including almost 400 CEOs, attended the inaugural 2016 event in Las Vegas. With over 250 speakers comprised of an unparalleled grouping of the greatest minds shaping commerce, Shoptalk attracts a senior audience with more than 30% C-level executives and an additional 25% EVPs, SVPs and VPs. As part of its growth, Shoptalk recently appointed Sucharita Mulpuru, renowned retail and ecommerce authority and long-time Forrester retail analyst, and announced that it will implement a new onsite networking program for 2017 to connect key industry stakeholders, enabling them to better realize growth opportunities and manage business challenges. A similar networking program will run at Shoptalk Europe under Sucharitas leadership. About Shoptalk Shoptalk organizes the worlds most important events for retail and ecommerce innovation. Held annually in both the U.S. and Europe, Shoptalk events represent unprecedented gatherings of individuals and companies reshaping how consumers discover, shop and buy. Each event provides a platform for large retailers and branded manufacturers, startups, tech companies, investors, media and analysts to learn, network, collaborate and evolve. The next Shoptalk will be held on March 19-22, 2017 at the Aria in Las Vegas, followed by Shoptalk Europe, which will take place on October 9-11, 2017 at The Bella Center in Copenhagen. For more information, visit www.shoptalk.com and www.shoptalkeurope.com. Follow @shoptalk. Like facebook.com/shoptalk. Other Point of Sale News from Pointofsale.com: Law enforcement agencies are advising that Dane County motorists use caution during rush hour as water recedes from a late afternoon deluge Monday. Madison police said a severe thunderstorm that passed through the metro area around 4 p.m. downed power lines and caused flash flooding as storm drains failed to keep up in some areas. Police and trained weather spotters reported hail ranging from 1 to 2 inches across the Madison area. The largest hail was spotted in Middleton, according to reports published on the National Weather Service's website for its Sullivan office. Most of the roadway flooding was concentrated on the city's South and West sides, said Sgt. Eugene Woehrly. The Madison Fire Department reported that three cars attempted to drive through flood waters at the intersection of University Avenue at Rose Place and firefighters assisted one victim out of her passenger window and onto dry land. Neither Madison police nor the Dane County Sheriff's Office reported any crashes resulting from the storm, however, both agencies said they were responding to reports of downed trees and power lines. Lt. Kerry Porter, of the sheriff's office, said a tree knocked down power lines and was blocking east bound lanes on Highway 19 near Highway F, east of Mazomanie. Porter said deputies were also responding to a series of alarms triggered by the storm. "For some reason storms always generates alarms, so we're running from one alarm to another right now," he said. Just before 5 p.m., an Madison Gas & Electric's map showed widespread outages on Madison's West and Southwest sides. The largest outage stretched north along the Verona Road corridor from Raymond Road past the Beltline and into neighborhoods bounded by Nakoma Road and Midvale Boulevard. Two other significant outages hit customers in Middleton and rural Cross Plains, while smaller isolated outages cropped up across the metro area. Brazil's state oil company Petrobras, reeling from a massive corruption scandal and low oil prices, announced Tuesday it will cut investments by 25 percent over the next five years. Investments from 2017 to 2021 are projected at $74.1 billion, the company said, a quarter less than in the previous five-year plan. "In the next couple years, we will concentrate on recovering Petrobras's financial strength," new chief executive Pedro Parente said in a statement. "In the total five-year horizon this plan encompasses, we propose that the company will have been restructured, that it have unquestionable governance and ethical standards." The new business plan is the first released under Parente, who was appointed by new center-right President Michel Temer in June to take over the troubled company. Petrobras has been at the eye of a corruption storm upending Brazilian politics. Corrupt executives allegedly colluded with construction firms to fleece the company of billions of dollars on contracts for big projects. Investigators say much of the dirty cash went to politicians and political parties who helped orchestrate the scheme. The scandal contributed to the downfall of leftist president Dilma Rousseff, who was suspended in May and convicted in an impeachment trial last month on unrelated charges of fudging the government's budget. The scandal is also a threat to Temer, who has had several key allies implicated. - Symbol of Brazil's decline - Petrobras has simultaneously been battered by the plunge in global oil prices from more than $100 a barrel in mid-2014 to around $45 today. The new five-year plan includes an 11-percent cut to operating costs. It also targets an "intense pace" of sell-offs and joint ventures for less-lucrative oil fields, expected to bring in $19.5 billion in the next two years. Petrobras began the sell-offs in July when it announced the $2.5-billion sale of a "pre-salt" field to Norway's Statoil. It was the first time Petrobras agreed to sell a pre-salt field -- massive deep-water oil deposits that are the company's crown jewels but are expensive and technically difficult to reach. The company also said it plans to continue voluntary severance packages that will reduce its payroll by 9,200 workers this year and an estimated 9,700 next year. The announcement comes as it faces a potential strike by workers furious over a pay freeze. Petrobras ended 2015 with losses of $9.6 billion -- its second year in the red, and worst performance since its founding in 1953. It returned to the black in the second quarter this year, posting profits of $106 million. But Petrobras, the largest company in Brazil, has become a symbol of the decline of Latin America's largest economy. After posting strong economic growth during a commodities boom in the 2000s, Brazil is now mired in its worst recession in decades. Its economy is set to contract 3.3 percent this year, before returning to meager growth of 0.5 percent next year, the International Monetary Fund forecast in July. Oil prices dipped Tuesday with analysts expecting volatility in the run-up to a producers' meeting next week, while traders are also awaiting the release of US stockpiles data. Around 1130 GMT, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November was down 48 cents at $45.46 a barrel compared with Monday's close. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October shed 35 cents to $42.95 a barrel. The commodity plunged last week on supply glut worries but bounced slightly Monday after OPEC member Venezuela said a deal to limit output was close. Unrest in key producers Libya and Nigeria also raised the prospect their exports would be hit. Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro said Sunday that participants in producer talks by the 14-nation OPEC cartel and Russia in Algeria from September 26-28 are working on a deal. But some analysts said that in the absence of any firm agreement, prices will continue to swing. "The credibility of bullish production freeze rhetoric from Venezuela is understandably being questioned in the run-up to next week's Algiers meeting, while worries about additional supply (Nigeria, Libya) worsening the global glut add to the mix," noted analysts at traders Accendo Markets. Crude prices have been dogged by a stubborn supply glut since mid-2014, with prices hitting near 13-year lows in February. A previous Saudi-led attempt to freeze output fell apart in April when Iran, which had just emerged from years of Western nuclear-linked sanctions, refused to take part. CMC Markets Singapore analyst Margaret Yang said traders are also "waiting for this week's (US) crude inventory data to find clues of any changes of the supply-demand relationship". The US energy department is due to release the stockpiles figures on Wednesday. "Gains on Monday were wiped out in trading on Tuesday for oil, as many analysts predict a significant increase in US inventories of over two million barrels, which would indicate ongoing global oversupplies," said analyst Bill Hodder at broker Love Energy. "These concerns were backed up by comments from Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, who suggested that global production would need to be reduced by around 10 percent in order to fall back in line with consumption." burs-rfj/bcp/kjm Oil prices stabilized Tuesday in the run-up to a producers meeting next week, while traders were also awaiting the release of US stockpiles data. In New York trade, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October rose 14 cents to $43.44 a barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November lost 13 cents to $45.88 a barrel. Prices were lower in early trade but rebounded later in the day. "We've had Russia saying they would support a production freeze so we saw a quick reverse on prices which rallied until the closing," said Matt Smith of Clipperdata. He also said that swings in the market related to the looming close of the October contract for WTI. "You've got a lot of volatility on the last day because people need to square their books," he said. Russia's comments bolstered hopes that the producer talks by the 14-nation OPEC cartel and Russia in Algeria from September 26-28 could reach a deal that would at least put a floor on crude prices. But some analysts said that in the absence of any firm agreement, prices will continue to swing. "The credibility of bullish production freeze rhetoric from Venezuela is understandably being questioned in the run-up to next week's Algiers meeting, while worries about additional supply (Nigeria, Libya) worsening the global glut add to the mix," noted analysts at traders Accendo Markets. Meanwhile, the US energy department is due to release the stockpiles figures on Wednesday. "Many analysts predict a significant increase in US inventories of over two million barrels, which would indicate ongoing global oversupplies," said analyst Bill Hodder at broker Love Energy. burs-rfj/pmh/dw AFP News Ukraine's maritime grain exports were halted Sunday after Russia suspended its participation in a landmark agreement that allowed the vital shipments, blaming drone attacks on its ships in Crimea. The July deal to unlock grain exports signed between Russia and Ukraine and brokered by Turkey and the UN, is critical to easing the global food crisis caused by the conflict. The agreement had already allowed more than nine million tonnes of Ukrainian grain to be exported and was due to be renewed on November 19. On Saturday, Russia said it was halting its participation after its army accused Kyiv of a "massive" drone attack on its Black Sea fleet, which Ukraine labelled a "false pretext". US President Joe Biden called the move "purely outrageous" while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Moscow was "weaponising food". The centre coordinating the logistics of the deal said in a statement that no traffic was planned for Sunday. "A joint agreement has not been reached at the JCC for the movement of inbound and outbound vessels on 30 October," it said. "There are more than ten vessels both outbound and inbound waiting to enter the corridor." Ukraine and the UN have urged that the agreement remains in force. "I call on all states to demand that Russia stop its hunger games and recommit to fulfilling its obligations," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the Russian move "an absolutely transparent intention of Russia to return the threat of large-scale famine to Africa and Asia". "Just today, more than two million tons of food are in the sea. This means that access to food has actually worsened for more than seven million consumers," he said in his nightly address. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said: "It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that would imperil the Black Sea Grain Initiative which is a critical humanitarian effort". - 'Peddling false claims' - Sevastopol in Moscow-annexed Crimea has been targeted several times in recent months and serves as the headquarters for the Black Sea fleet and a logistical hub for operations in Ukraine. The Russian army claimed to have "destroyed" nine aerial drones and seven maritime ones in an attack on the port early Saturday. "In light of the terrorist act carried out by the Kyiv regime with the participation of British experts against ships of the Black Sea fleet and civilian vessels involved in the security of grain corridors, Russia suspends its participation in the implementation of the agreement on the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports," the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram. Moscow's forces alleged British "specialists", whom they said were based in the southern Ukrainian city of Ochakiv, had helped prepare and train Kyiv to carry out the strike. In a further singling out of the UK -- which Moscow sees as one of the most unfriendly Western countries -- Russia said the same British unit was involved in explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month. Britain strongly rebutted both claims, saying "the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale". Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday Moscow would raise the blasts and the alleged drone attack at the UN Security Council. Moscow's military said ships targeted at their Crimean base were involved in the grain deal. The United Nations Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Amir Abdulla, reported that Russia had notified him earlier Saturday of "its concerns about the safety of movements of merchant vessels" under the agreement. Russia had recently criticised the deal, saying its own grain exports have suffered due to Western sanctions. - 'Massive' attack - Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said Saturday's drone attack was the "most massive" the peninsula had seen. City authorities said the harbour was "temporarily" closed to boats and ferries and urged people "not to panic". Attacks on Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, have increased in recent weeks, as Kyiv presses a counter-offensive in the south to retake territory held by Moscow for months. Moscow-installed authorities in Kherson, just north of Crimea, have vowed to turn the city into a fortress, preparing for an inevitable assault. In early October, Moscow's bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland -- personally inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin in 2018 -- was damaged by a blast that Putin blamed on Ukraine. The Russian fleet stationed in the port had also been attacked by a drone in August. Russia's allegations Saturday came as the Ukrainian army reported fighting in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions in the east, including near Bakhmut -- the only area where Moscow's forces have advanced in recent weeks. Pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside Moscow also announced a new prisoner exchange with Kyiv, saying 50 will return home from each side. bur-gw/bfm/caw/mca-yad/dva The likeness of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte and VP Leni Robredo grown on a rice paddy The likeness of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte and VP Leni Robredo grown on a rice paddy NUEVA ECIJA, Philippines The FutureRice Program, under the Philippine Rice Research Institute, taps agritourism to call for unity among Filipinos in advancing our rice industry and in uplifting the lives of our rice farmers under the new administration. A 1000-square meter rice paddy displays an art work featuring the images of President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo. The paddy art is called Rice Up Pilipinas. The site was launched last September 16 and is open for public viewing daily from 6AM to 6PM. The paddy art used the Korean variety Purple rice with dark purple leaves to show distinction from the regular green-leafed inbred variety NSIC Rc308. The FutureRice Program ICT Specialist Nehemiah L. Caballong created the layout and design using the software Photoshop, guided by the anamorphosis approach which distorts the image to appear clearly from the viewing point. Farm Manager Marian Rikka O. Anora led the manual transplanting of the rice paddy art joined by about thirty farmers from the Genetic Resources Division of PhilRice last August 22. A pattern similar of that for cross-stitch was followed by the group to create the art. FutureRice Program leader Roger Barroga said, We came up with a creative way to call for unity among Filipinos to become partners for change in rice farming. PhilRice is known for its BeRiceponsible and Brown4good campaigns which promotes responsible consumption of rice alongside with its research and development projects aimed to attain food security and help our farmers increase profitability through various programs. We encourage the younger generation to explore rice farming. It is not the same as before. There are new opportunities, technologies, and innovations that we think they will find interesting. They youth is the future of rice. We invite them to come to the farm and have a different rice experience, Barroga said. Story continues We are currently exploring agritourism as a means to attract people to rice farming especially the youth. When they come here, they will see and learn about the latest technologies in rice farming like the use of drone, riding-type mechanical transplanter, clean energy facilities and of course organic rice and the different varieties of rice for different environments. They can also enjoy boating and kayaking, Barroga added. The Rice Up Pilipinas paddy art is the third for the FutureRice Program. It has showcased the image of Dr. Jose Rizal and the popular artists Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards during wet season 2015 and dry season 2016 respectively. FutureRice Program is developing a 5-hectare demonstration site at PhilRice central experiment station which showcases a collection of high-tech farming innovations as well as natural and diversified farming techniques for farmers, students, enthusiasts and stakeholders. The program aims to prepare farmers for future farming scenarios such as the rising price of fossil-based fuel and climate change. Barroga also said that visiting the FutureRice farm is absolutely for free and that everyone is welcome. For more info, visit their Facebook page at Facebook.com/FutureRice or inquire through the PhilRice Text Center 0920-911-1398. (UNTV News and Rescue) The post Images of PH President and VP in rice paddy: A call to unity appeared first on UNTV News. I have learned the hard way not to put my personal life on the Internet. But suffice it to say that, God willing, things should be pretty much back to norm... 2 weeks ago By Stephen Adler and Parisa Hafezi NEW YORK (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and that his activities should be banned around the world. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in Turkey's failed coup in July and Washington has said it will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence, much to the Turkish government's frustration. Erdogan said Washington had "no excuse" for keeping Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who Turkish officials say has built up a network of followers over decades inside the armed forces and civil service to take over Turkey. "If the U.S. is our strategic ally and our NATO partner ... then they should not let a terrorist like Gulen run his organisation," Erdogan said, in an interview on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Erdogan said an initial three months state of emergency, declared in the wake of the coup, could be extended if necessary. Critics say extending the state of emergency will give Erdogan a freer hand to limit or suspend freedoms, to bypass the parliament as well as taking swift measures against his opponents. "It can be extended for three months or one month or even more ... Gulen's people have infiltrated everywhere ... we will continue to identify and arrest the plotters ... extending the state of emergency will help this process," Erdogan said. Authorities have cracked down on schools, media and businesses run by Gulen since the July coup. Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 100,000 soldiers, police and civil servants since the failed coup on suspicion of links to Gulen's network. At least 40,000 have been detained. Some of Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups have accused Erdogan of using the putsch and the purge that has followed to suppress any opposition. Turkey has accused the EU of double standards in criticising the crackdown while showing hesitation in condemning the coup that killed about 240 people. Erdogan said the EU had failed to meet its obligations despite Turkey's decades-long efforts to join the trading bloc. "Turkey has kept its promises regarding the EU membership process ... it is a two-way street and the EU should fulfill its promises ... We have not concluded this process ... we want the EU to be honest about this process," he said. Turkey's ties with the United States also are strained over Washington's support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers a terrorist group. The YPG has been among the most effective partners on the ground in the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State militias. SYRIA WITHOUT ASSAD Turkey is worried that advances by Syrian Kurdish fighters will embolden Kurdish militants in its southeast, where it has been fighting an insurgency for three decades led by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). "Daesh (Islamic State militants) and YPG ... are the main source of threat," he said. Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria on early September, saying it was aimed at driving out Islamic State militants (IS). The Euphrates Shield operation initially targeted IS militias, but most of the focus since has been on checking the advance of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters. "We have been patient... We have not deplored all of our troops to Syria ... with the moderate opposition Jerablus was freed," he said, adding that Turkey supported plans to drive IS out of its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. "But Turkey will not act unilaterally to liberate Raqqa. We will get involved in actions taken by the (U.S.-led) coalition forces," he said. Erdogan said no lasting peace could be achieved in Syria without removal of President Bashar al-Assad from power. Turkey is one of the main supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, and hosts around 2.7 million Syrian refugees. "The future of Syria should be determined by its own people ... Why this killer (Assad) is being backed by some states?," Erdogan said. "Assad cannot be part of any transitional period ... the world should find a solution that does not involve Assad ... Syria's territorial integrity should be respected by other countries." Assad is supported by Russia, Iran and Arab Shi'ite militias, while Sunni rebels seeking to unseat him are backed by Turkey and Gulf Arab states. (Editing by Bill Rigby and Michael Perry) Pertiment Project is an independent skate video project by Brazilian skater Fagner Pereira de Alencar, focusing on five skateboarders and filmed over five years as they travel the world hunting down spots and shredding them. Filmed in 12 different countries and 23 different cities, this looks like it will have you as stoked on the journey as the destination (to rinse a cliche). Check out the teaser below featuring Bruno Mendes, Hudson da Paz, Gabriel Loureiro, Rafael Alves and William Damascena. You can also browse a killer selection of photos taken during their travels here , and keep an eye out for the full length when its done! As part of the release of their second issue, Bristol-based Young Egg Archive interviewed Sidewalk family member and general uber-human Leo Sharp on growing up... Campus Skatepark will be launching a new collaboration deck next Thursday (20th October) at their skatepark in Winterbourne Bristol. Get down for a free skate... The Nine Club With Chris Roberts | Episode 19 Jason Hernandez Jason Hernandez discusses how he first picked up a camera, building iconic DIY skate... Newsletter Terms & Conditions Please enter your email so we can keep you updated with news, features and the latest offers. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. We will never sell your data and you'll only get messages from us and our partners whose products and services we think you'll enjoy. Read our full Privacy Policy as well as Terms & Conditions. AL QUBBAH (Sputnik) The Libyan army allied with the eastern-based administration has handed over the control over northern oil ports to the National Oil Corporation (NOC), the parliament speaker told Sputnik on Tuesday. "The armed forces have implemented all agreements and have actually handed over the control over the ports," Aguila Saleh, the head of the Tobruk-based authority, said. AL QUBAH (Sputnik) Saleh added that the House of Representatives is drafting a letter to the United Nations asking to appoint another special envoy for Libya if Kobler does not change his style of mediation of the national reconciliation. "This man intervenes in everything, but he will be incapable to do any good for Libya," Saleh said. Kobler was appointed to the post of the UN special envoy to Libya in November 2015. Successive changing of the rules, Levi argued, accentuates the "moral hazard" problem, meaning that if a state is afforded the ability to borrow money it will likely fail to resist the temptation. After the IMF announced its decision, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the rules should not be modified "up-to-the-minute" based on political circumstances. Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Fellow Anna Gelpern told Sputnik the situation in principle is not unique, pointing to the 1990s when the IMF allegedly relaxed certain conditions vis-a-vis Russia. Russia reacted to the decision to release aid to Ukraine, however, just as most countries would who were in a similar position, Gelpern explained. "It is par for the course when it comes to protests, though certainly bears putting in context," Gelpern said. Gelpern noted that debtors and creditors should work out their differences through negotiations, but Russia, like any other country, will use the tools they can to gain leverage. Monica Friesen, a resident from the Canadian province of Manitoba, discovered when she turned 30 that her citizenship had been revoked. By the letter of the law, a resident facing this complication must apply to retain their citizenship before the age of 28. If they do not apply, citizenship is automatically revoked. "I don't understand how the government can't inform people," Friesen said. "I think that's totally unfair, especially if you grew up here and you know nothing else," says Funk. Donald Galloway, a University of Victoria law professor, believes that the government should have informed people long ago. Given today's methods of mass communication, he offered, it should be easy. "I think it's quite shocking to live in a country where the government creates these byzantine rules and says 'Well, it's up to you to know the details," he said. Until measures are taken, those whose citizenship is revoked must either immigrate back into the country of their birth, or apply for discretionary citizenship, which the Canadian immigration ministry can legally grant in "extraordinary circumstances." There is no official response yet from immigration Minister John McCallum, however, as to whether the implementation of an arcane and abolished law qualifies as extraordinary.' Of Finland's young people, an entire 21.1 percent were classed as NEET (Neither in employment nor in education or training) in the study that covered all the 35 nations belonging to the OECD. The proportion of idle youngsters has risen sharply in the last ten years, which means that the process started even before the global crisis took a heavy toll on the world economy. In 2005, 12.2 percent of Finland's young men were in the same position. Among the young Finnish women, the proportion of idlers hit 15.4 percent at the end of last year, compared to 13.9 percent a decade earlier, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported. Today, Finland has risen to the sixth place on the OECD list for young people who stand both outside the education system and the labor market. At present, Finland belongs to the same group as Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, where the proportion of NEET young people rose by at least five percent over the last decade. The average figure for NEET youths in OECD member states is 17.0 percent. The proportion of men and women is 18.5 and 15.5 percent respectively. Malmo Insurance Agency is now trying to reclaim 1.7 million SEK (some $200,000) in grants distributed to an immigrant woman despite the fact that she moved back to Algeria years ago, Swedish news outlet Fria Tider reported. The Social Insurance Agency became suspicious of the woman when her children were not present at the start of the 2014 school year. The subsequent investigation shows that both she and her children have been residing in their home country of Algeria for years, after their father was deported in 2003. Despite her absence, the woman continued picking up a fairly generous Swedish benefits cocktail consisting of, among other, parental benefits, child benefits, maintenance support and housing support, Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan reported. When the train staff heard suspicious sounds it was brought to a stop and the young man was arrested by local police. He first tried to escape but failed and hid under the train until he was discovered. It turned out that the man had spent several days at the Italian-Austrian border where he was alone and couldn't get help. The police said that the young man's undertaking was very dangerous and that he could have easily been injured or even killed.The teenager, however, seemed not to be aware of the grave danger he faced. According to police, he was lucky to have been found before something terrible happened. MOSCOW (Sputnik) According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the engine will provide Pyongyang with a capability to launch different kinds of satellites, including the Earth observation satellite at a global level. On September 9, Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test at its northeastern nuclear test site. The nuclear experiment is believed to be the fifth and the largest since North Korea started pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs, drawing condemnation from the international community. ANKARA (Sputnik) Atambayev's press service said earlier in the day the head of state was on a short-term vacation for medical examinations in Turkey and planned to get back to work on October 1. Atambayev's plane landed in Istanbul en route to the UN General Assembly in New York late Monday and the Central Asian leader was hospitalized, according to sources cited by Turkey's Sozcu newspaper. The outlet added that he was scheduled to undergo a detailed medical examination for potential heart problems and would be monitored by doctors. The Haberler news portal, meanwhile, said Atambayev stayed at the Sheraton hotel in the resort town of Cesme west of Izmir. DUBAI (Sputnik) According to earlier media reports, a Saudia flight SVA 872 was isolated at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport after the pilot of the plane said the aircraft was under threat. "The incident in Manila is over. There was a false distress call saying that the flight 872 traveling from Jeddah to Manila was under threat of hijacking," the airline said in statement as quoted by Saudi Arabia's Al-Ekhbariya TV channel. The airlines added that the hijacking alert was lifted. MOSCOW (Sputnik) According to the Dogan News Agency, the explosion occurred in an area between Jarablus and al-Rai. This brings the total number of Turkish military personnel that has been killed in Turkey's operation in Syria to ten. Military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield was launched on August 24 by the Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, to clear the border city of Jarabulus and the surrounding area of Daesh terrorist group. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The strategic bombers are due to arrive at the US Osan Air Base located in the city of Pyeongtaek, 43 miles south of Seoul, this week, the source told the Yonhap News Agency. "They may stay at the US air base for several days for a possible unveiling to the public during the Osan base's opening event this weekend," the source said, as quoted by the media outlet. Earlier on Tuesday, the North Korean state media said that Pyongyang had successfully tested a high-power rocket engine, which would allow Pyongyang boost its capabilities at space exploration. Army sources say that nearly 15 terrorists had infiltrated into Indian territory. The army intensified search operations in the area for others. This comes two days after terrorists killed 18 Indian Army soldiers in an attack on an army base near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The army has also foiled an infiltration attempt in the Uri sector on Tuesday morning. Indias Ministry of Defense said that the infiltration attempts by terrorists have shown a marked increase in comparison to the past 3-4 years. In 2016, there have been 17 infiltration attempts eliminated by the Indian Army along the Line of Control. Of a total of 110 terrorists eliminated in J&K, 31 were killed while attempting to cross the Line of Control. Russian ice cream poised to enter Chinese market after #Putin's gift to Xihttps://t.co/qKtaIAjZ2Z pic.twitter.com/xUN2e1ohRo People's Daily,China (@PDChina) September 12, 2016 The reason for this is the fact that Russian ice cream makers have not only preserved the traditional production technology but also a sense of honor and self-confidence. Marketing of Ice Cream The traditional manufacturing technology ensures a long lasting taste, whereas, honesty and conservative use of ingredients provides for the unadulterated quality of ice cream, according to Peoples Daily. Chinese ice cream retailers did not miss the opportunity to continue the marketing move that was initiated by Putin. They have launched an unusual advertising campaign for Russian ice cream in China. An image of Vladimir Putin, eating an ice cream cone, has appeared on mini-trucks in the Chinese regions of Po Heihe bordering Russias Blagoveshchensk region, reported Amurskaya Pravda. ", " G20 pic.twitter.com/Tpb7357y4U (@dimsmirnov175) September 12, 2016 However, this is not the first time image of Putin that has been used for commercial purposes in China. Images of Putin in Fashion For example, the portrait of the Russian leader was placed on a huge banner in a chocolate store in Harbin. In the city of Changsha, Putin's image was used in a real estate ad, according to the website New News. The Chinese are however, not the first ones to come up with the idea to use Putin's image for commercial purposes. Both Russia and the West both have long used it. For example, during Paris Fashion Week German fashion house Talbot Runhof presented a collection of T-shirts with the image of the Russian president with the background of symbols of the four major cities of the fashion world: Paris, New York, London and Milan. Similarly, Italian company Caviar released a limited edition gold case for an iPhone, decorated with the arms of Russia, Putin's image and quotations from the Russian national anthem. In Russia, following the reunification of Crimea, there was a real commercial boom for images of Putin: there were souvenirs of Vladimir Putin on mugs, his autographs and quotes on various clothing items, watches, cutlery dishes and phone covers. However, the President of the Russian Federation does not approve the use of his image for commercial purposes, according to his spokesman Dmitry Peskov. New Delhi (Sputnik) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing pressure to launch an armed response against terrorist camps across line of control. For the third consecutive day, Indian authorities held a high level meeting in New Delhi and Srinagar. Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar cut short a visit to Vienna to attend one of such high level meeting. Jaishankar was on his way to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Sources close to Home Ministry say that isolating Pakistan at the international level is a completely different than an armed response. Airstrikes on terrorist training camps might prompt further escalation of the conflict without acheiving feasible results. Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in J and K with senior officers of MEA, MoD and MHA. Kuldeep Dhatwalia (@PIBHomeAffairs) 20 2016 . "Naval forces can deliver a retaliatory strike from anywhere in the international waters and from all dimensions of that space (surface, sub-surface and air). Furthermore, by virtue of its inherent attributes of flexibility and poise, naval power can be applied in a restrained or covert manner through surgical or precision strikes to effectively limit its escalation to within the threshold of armed conflict. Hence, the Indian Navy offers a viable option to the political leadership shift from deterrence by denial' to deterrence by punishment,'" Cpt. (Dr.) Gurpreet S Khurana, Executive Director, National Maritime Foundation, suggests. Given these occasions, Japan is sinking deeper in the demographic crisis. According to experts, this situation is fraught with economic collapse. Considering that Japan is the third largest economy in the world and a country with massive debt, the whole picture looks pretty frightening, according to Chief of Demography and Migration of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Ivan Beloborodov. Japan is the oldest state in the world with proportion of citizens in their 60s and older is the highest. This can lead to the collapse of the pension system as well as threatens Japans defense system. And, in fact, it has a negative impact on the Japanese economy, Beloborodov told Sputnik. According to Beloborodov, soon enough Japan will lack human resources, thus robotic machines are their only hope. New Delhi (Sputnik) Maithripala Sirisena called Prime Minister Narendra Modi by phone, strongly condemned the cross border terrorist attack and offered condolences to the families of the victims. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also spoke with Prime Minister Modi and condemned the recent terror attack. President Ghani conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India against all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism. President Ghani expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers. MOSCOW (Sputnik) According to the Fox Illinois broadcaster, the activists, who took to the streets of the city of Springfield on Monday, claimed that the agreement would bring harm to the country, even despite the opportunities it would provide for Illinois' exports. The media outlet added that the protesters also expressed their concerns about the potential detrimental impact of the TPP on the environment, because it could contribute to the spread of fracking activities. In October, 12 countries of the Pacific Rim region, including the United States and Canada, reached an agreement on the TPP trade deal, intended to deregulate trade among the signatories, which together make up some 40 percent of the world economy. The deal has yet to be ratified by the signatory countries. Meanwhile, higher Wall Street stock valuations suggested a boost on the US demand side, yet, the still weak manufacturing and shrinking corporate profits stateside might offset the positive effects. However, as the US dollar has weakened with a September Fed hike the chances fading, and crude oil is positioned for gains through the end of the month. "My bias remains positive as there appears to be more bullish surprises as of late in a time where the market was pretty convinced that it was going to be the opposite," Scott Shelton of the Durham, NC-based energy products brokerage ICAP, said. In London, Brent oil gained 2.1pc, or $0.97, to $46.74/bbl, on Monday, whilst the US WTI brand gained $0.95 in futures trading, or 2.2pc, to $43.98/bbl. US petrol prices, however, retreated, stirring some downward concern on the oil market situation. Petrol fell 0.4pc in futures trading to $1.46 per gallon. The car fuel cheapened because earlier expectations of pipeline disruptions in the southeastern states failed to materialize. Gasoline deliveries have all but halted and inventories at local gasoline racks have quickly been depleting as panicked motorists fill their tanks, leading to gas price spikes, supply outages and headaches, Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy.com said, referring to the recent situation in six southeastern states, heavily reliant on private vehicles for transportation. ROME (Sputnik) Novak told journalists earlier this month that Sefcovic's visit has been tentatively set for October 14. He said the key topics would include Russian-EU energy dialogue and infrastructure for Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe. Sefcovic, speaking at the Future of Energy conference in Rome, said he hoped to discuss with Novak issues that include a trilateral natural gas agreement. He noted that Brussels favors a scenario of signing a gas transit deal between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission same as the agreement reached the previous two winters. The vice-president added that he hoped to discuss transit issues for the period after 2019. BEIJING, (Sputnik) He Zhenwei stressed that the main issues of the upcoming event would be cooperation in the field of production facilities and the implementation the new Silk Road Economic Belt. Between 5,000 and 6,000 participants from over 80 countries and regions are expected to attend the fair. "Russian business delegations will come. The fair will include over 20 Russian regions, the representatives of which will talks about the features of their regions," He Zhenwei said at a press conference. According to the CODA director, China should assess how to increase exports of Russian environmentally friendly products to China and expand trade between the two countries. Thats why the Pentagon was expressing such pessimism about Kerrys diplomatic efforts with Lavrov. The US militarists have a more realistic, if unspoken, awareness of the true criminal nature of the militant groups fighting against the Assad government. Simply because the Pentagon and the CIA have masterminded the proxies, all of which are acting as terrorists, whether they go by the media monikers of moderates or extremists. A second crucial reason for why the US military planners opposed the ceasefire was because they were apprehensive that if the truce failed as it surely would then the failure would demonstrate the fallacy of the official Washington narrative of it only supporting legitimate, moderate, vetted rebels. And, thirdly, if somehow the US and Russian air forces were to get to the stage of carrying out joint strikes against terror units that would be the ultimate anathema for the Pentagon and CIA. In that unlikely event, the Americans would be obliged to disclose to the Russians where their supposed moderate rebels are located. Which, as noted, is a fabrication. What the US and Russia would be targeting are covert American regime-change assets, which is impermissible for Washingtons war planners. The Pentagons misgivings were founded too. From the outset of the ceasefire, all the anti-government militant groups were engaging in breaches. And, glaringly, there was no separation of any of the insurgents, as John Kerry had appealed for. In other words, the American official narrative about the Syrian war was being exposed as a huge lie. And Americas involvement in sponsoring a terrorist front in Syria was becoming transparent. The ceasefire regime was abided by Syria and Russia, but it was the US-backed militants who continued acts of terrorism, preventing, for example, humanitarian access to Aleppo all last week because of shelling and sniping at the Castello Road arterial route. Niklas Hohne, of the New Climate Institute, told Reuters, "It's striking that it's so early, it means a huge change in the whole automobile industry." Some island nations and developing countries asked 1.5 degrees Celsius be marked as an "aspirational goal" as their countries stand to be the most affected by rising sea levels. But accountability, funding and technology issues have lead some experts to doubt the feasibility of the goal. The report stated, "Electric vehicles are still more expensive to purchase than other cars, and policy projections still only see a share of around five percent of electric vehicles in the total European Union, China and U.S. fleets by 2030." At an Earth Day Celebration in New York months after the agreement was settled, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said "The era of consumption without consequences is overWe must intensify efforts to decarbonise our economies. And we must support developing countries in making this transition." BAKU (Sputnik) Azerbaijan expects Armenia to stop the military build-up in its ethnically Armenian breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and to engage in talks in good faith on the issue, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said. "Armenia must realize that relying on the status quo and armed provocations is a grave miscalculation. Azerbaijan expects from Armenia to halt its military build-up in occupied territories, and engage in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith so as to find a political solution to the conflict, which is long overdue. The sooner Armenia withdraws its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the better it is for the regional security," Mammadyarov was quoted as saying by the ministry's press service. The Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, which comprises representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, was set up in 2014 in a bid to promote direct dialogue between Ukraines conflicting parties. The formation of the subgroups on political, economic, humanitarian and security issues was stipulated by the Minsk peace agreements, brokered in February by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. On Sunday, Berliners elected 149 members to the state parliament. Merkel's CDU suffered its worst ever results in the German capital, securing only 18 percent of votes compared to 23.3 percent five years ago. Another party of the ruling coalition the Social Democratic Party (SPD) gained only a slightly better result of 22%, while the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany received 14.6%. "The fact that the Alternative for Germany pushed CDU aside is very serious, it signifies the start of political shifts in Germany, which can have very serious consequences," expert at the Institute of Sociology at the Russian Academy of Science Alexander Galkin told Sputnik. "Now the CDU has suffered another very serious defeat, and this will affect the balance of power in the parliament and, inevitably, the situation in Germany as a whole," he added. Following the election, the German Chancellor admitted that the outcome of the voting has been "very unsatisfactory" and "disappointing." Mikhail Remisov, director of the Institute of National Strategy in Moscow, said that the four battalions NATO plans to station in Poland and the Baltic countries could be easily augmented to larger contingents in the event of a military conflict. The imagined Russian military threat is exactly what the Baltic countries are trying to sell the US and the EU on. As for Russia, it has two things to worry about in relations with the Baltic states the ethnic Russian minority living there and the so-called Kaliningrad transit. The local Russian-speakers have long been integrated into local society and do not want any conflicts, Remizov said. Not so with the Kaliningrad transit, which is fraught with a serious confrontation, he added. The infrastructure now being prepared for the four NATO battalions is meant to keep up the current tensions, but hardly to start any direct military conflict between us, Remizov said in conclusion. The battle groups of the four NATO battalions will be arriving at different times in the first half of 2017. The 1,000-strong US contingent will come from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment based in Vilseck, Germany, and is scheduled to arrive in Poland by April, US officials told the newspaper. Since 2014, NATO has been building up its military presence in Europe, especially in Eastern European countries neighboring Russia, using Moscows alleged interference in the Ukrainian conflict as a pretext. Moscow has repeatedly denied the claims and warned NATO that the military buildup on Russias borders is provocative and threatens the existing strategic balance of power. When asked what she thought about the promise by the Visegrad Four to veto the agreement on Britains exit from the European Union if it limited their citizens right to work in the UK, Constance Le Grip said that the statement by these four EU countries was starkly at variance with the agenda of the Bratislava summit. This is a graphic example of things going awry there, that they have neither a leader, not a political leadership. Europe is a plane without a pilot which is bound to crash, she added. Speaking in Bratislava, French President Francois Hollande warned about the dangers facing the 27-nation bloc. We face either break-up, weakening or we choose the opposite, together giving Europe a purpose," he insisted. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi described the summit as a missed opportunity to discuss the future of the European Union, breathe new vigor into the bloc and to work towards the goals outlined by the European leaders. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, an alleged arson at the Moria reception center forced up to 4,400 people to flee the camp amid protests against overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions at the facilities. "Based on initial reports, the fire [at the reception site on Lesbos] did not cause any casualties but at least 30 people are reported to have light injuries and have been taken to hospital. Over 50 UNHCR Refugee Housing Units, accommodating some 800 people, were completely destroyed," Spindler said during a press briefing. According to Diederich, some former CSU supporters decided to support right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany because they wanted "to protest the coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats" and its politics. "I think this may be the beginning of the end of the great coalition. The former big parties CSU and SPD are so small now that they have to fear for their existence," the expert said. According to exit polls, Christian Democrats or CDU managed to secure just 18% in the Berlin state elections, losing ground to the Social Democrats at 22%. That was CDU's poorest performance in the post-unification period. Meanwhile, the biggest gains were made by Alternative for Germany, which won more than 14% of the votes. That also means that the anti-immigrant party will have seats in ten out of the sixteen regional assemblies. "It is deciding, or it is signing in what perspective, in what manner the Hungarian government should approach the future of Europe, the future of European institutions, the future of decision-making, protocols that have been set in the past couple of years in the heart of Europe. "These issues should be re-addressed and talked about in an open manner and it's completely unacceptable that the policies we have seen for the last couple of years, the stealth mode of decision-making, law-making and regulation is going to continue," he said. Juncker Plans Juncker's original plan was to relocate 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy which had borne the brunt of the massive increase in migrant flows in 2015 to EU member states by mandatory quotas, based on population and GDP, among other things. So for only 5,000 have actually been relocated, because of opposition to the plan. His second grand plan was to negotiate the controversial EU-Turkey migrant deal, under which "irregular migrants" those refused asylum would be returned from Greece to Turkey, in return on a one-for-one basis for Syrian refugees being relocated to member states. Three years late, a US$11.2 billion euro EU loan later from the Troika and a bank deposit seizure program, Eurozone creditors are praising the country's financial turnaround. "The commitment of the authorities and the Cypriot people to the overall program agreements has also been essential to a fiscal performance that has exceeded expectations," a statement from the Eurogroup of finance ministers said. However the speedy access to the island's citizenship in return for million hasn't met the approval of other European MPs. Ana Gomes, the EU parliamentary Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee member called the scheme "outrageous." "I'm really appalled to see that these programs are proliferating, it really is outrageous. Selling passports is unacceptable." One of the reforms needed @Europarl_EN is to stop Cyprus and Malta selling EU passports so rich people can buy EU citizenship. Velvet Russell (@velvetsilk) September 13, 2016 Justifying the program set up to raise money for the country after it was bailed out in 2013; interior minister Socratis Hasikos told the Cypriot parliament that the process had so far raised US$3.3 billion for the country. The new changes to the Citizen Investment Program (CIP), recently approved by Cyprus' parliament, halves the threshold required to buy it to US$ 2.9 million euros. #Cyprus Government has approved revised scheme for #citizenship to non-Cypriot investors. For more information visit https://t.co/RvjEo2j2PN Chrysostomides Law (@ChrysostomidesK) 19 September 2016 A statement from Arton Capital, a global financial advisory firm specializing in citizenship said: "The speed of processing remains one of its unique features, currently unmatched by other EU countries competing to attract foreign direct investments such as Malta, Portugal, Hungary or Bulgaria. The three month waiting time for a passport 'makes it the fastest CIP in Europe.' " Opponents of both TTIP and CETA are taking to the streets, September 20, to protest against the secretive nature of the trade negotiations, which have been dominated by corporate lobbying. TTIP would create the biggest trade deal in the world, but many say it will hand powers to big business. One of the organizers of the demonstration in Brussels, Michel Cermak told Sputnik: "TTIP could destroy up to 600,000 jobs in the whole of Europe and CETA could destroy up to 200,000, so that's already a good reason to oppose them. "Then there's the question about democracy and the fact that the treaties will basically allow giant companies for instance those dealing in tobacco or pesticides, which are heavily regulated to sue our governments for hundreds of millions of dollars. It is not up to big business to dictate our laws and rights." PARIS (Sputnik) According to Nice Matin newspaper, eight people, who had links to attack perpetrator Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel were arrested in Alpes-Maritimes department over the past two days. On July 14, Bouhlel, 31-year-old resident of Tunisian origin, rammed a truck into a large crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the city of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring over 400 more. Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack which was qualified by French President Francois Hollande as a terrorist attack. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On March 14, the Council, following a UN resolution, adopted restrictive measures against members of al-Qaeda, associated individuals and entities. The restrictions were aimed at cutting financial assets of individuals and entities from Daesh and al-Qaeda sanctions list. "On 20 September 2016, the Council adopted a legal framework which, for the first time, will allow the EU to apply sanctions autonomously to ISIL/Da'esh and Al-Qaida and persons and entities associated or supporting them. Until now sanctions could only be applied to persons and entities listed by the United Nations or by EU member states acting individually," press service of the Council said on its website. In May 2015, the Council and the European Parliament introduced regulations to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. Norway was the first among the European countries to extend universal conscription for military service to women. The country's parliament in 2013 voted in favor of the compulsory recruitment of women in the army. Female officers serving at the military base in Rena told the head of the Estonian Ministry of Defense about the gender-neutral service in Norway and changes in public attitudes over the last decade, which led to the introduction of compulsory military service for women. The defense minister said that the consistent and coherent actions of Norway over the past three decades to achieve equality in the integration of women in military national defense are noteworthy. WARSAW (Sputnik) Russia believes that sending an OSCE military policing mission to eastern Ukraine is unrealistic considering the civilian nature of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Russian envoy to OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said Tuesday. "The creation of a military component in future OSCE efforts in eastern Ukraine is a very sensitive subject," Lukashevich told RIA Novosti. "We do not see any prospects for these plans, considering the civilian nature of the organization itself, as well as its special monitoring mission, whose mandate stipulates monitoring of the implementation of the complex of measures adopted by conflicting sides last year and approved at the level of Normandy Four leaders and the UN without any military component," Lukashevich stressed. Jacqui Smith, Britain's former home secretary to Gordon Brown's previous Labour government, argues the case for Britain's criminal justice systems to use more community-based sentencing powers, especially in relation to lowering the costs involved in keeping people in prison. "I can understand victims of crime thinking that a community sentence is a soft response to the loss or injury they've faced. However, new tracking technology gives us the opportunity to get prisoners out during the week, working and earning, as they come towards the end of their sentences or even as an alternative altogether," she wrote in an article for the Radio Times. Adding to the high costs of rising numbers of people being kept in prisons, are the social issues related to the marked deterioration in already-less-than-ideal prison conditions in the UK. The UK charity Samaritans has just called for government action to also tackle sharp rises in the rates of self-harm and suicide in jails in England and Wales. "A number of schemes are in place in court systems that are designed to make a difference in reducing long prison terms, but these are unlikely to affect the issue of prison numbers in any meaningful way. The bigger picture is one where the use of prison has increased to the point that the system simply isn't working and this must be addressed sooner rather than later," Mr. Neilson told Sputnik. A combination of new legislation and a recruitment drive for skilled prison officers could curb some of the many social problems caused by prison overcrowding, but in the meantime, the revolving cycle of crime seems to be behind the rising numbers. Today begins our 3 wk series of commissions exploring privacy, surveillance & prison reform https://t.co/DUZ5epyFOD pic.twitter.com/GpahrdiYTJ NewHive (@NewHive) September 19, 2016 As the current Tory government preoccupies itself with the Brexit agenda and leading opposition MPs in the Labour party are struggling with their own in-house political careers, wider society in Britain is more on its knees than ever with no sense of stability or future direction provided by those said to be in charge. "The problems to be found in overcrowded prisons can be overcome. But it will require imaginative thinking and bold action by the powers that be to stop throwing so many people into these failing institutions. Here they are predominantly swept away into deeper currents of crime and into wider social detriment to themselves due to the inhumane conditions in which they are then kept," Mr. Neilson told Sputnik. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The heads of the UGT and CCOO unions which organized the events, Pepe Alvarez and Ignacio Fernandez Toxo, respectively, participated in a rally outside of the headquarters of the European Commission in Madrid, submitting a letter to institutions head Jean Claude Juncker expressing their concern over impacts of deals on employment, justice and democracy. "There are many reasons to oppose TTIP especially because it is an agreement about which we know nothing, which deprives us of rights, which will make companies impose their laws on us, which threatens the environment, which does not respect democracy because decisions of businesses and special courts will be more important, and which is ultimately against our fundamental rights," Alvarez said, as quoted by the union. In April 2015, Le Pen reiterated his past comments that the Nazi gas chambers were a mere detail of history and his daughter who took over as president of the National Front in 2011 suspended him from the party. Many said she pounced on his comments to suspend him so that he posed no threat to her bid for political power, having moved the party more mainstream. He denounced her and told her to marry so that she could no longer have the family name and said it would be "scandalous" if his daughter won in the 2017 French presidential elections after the way she treated him. Le Pen senior challenged the suspension in the courts and won his case and re-instatement to the party. However, in August 2015 a special meeting of the party expelled him. Marine Le Pen's appointment of Rachline may be seen as an attempt for him to maintain order within the party, while she appeals to a broader audience to gain a greater share of the vote. She suffered a setback in her long term ambitions of becoming France's first female President in the 2017 elections after tactical voting robbed her party of a single win in the regional elections, in December 2015. Despite having won six out of 13 regions in the first round of voting on December 6, Le Pen's party did not manage to win powers in a single region after the second round of voting on December 13 despite winning 6.8 million votes, its largest ever poll rating. TALLINN (Sputnik) In September 2015, the European Commission announced a quota scheme for each EU member state depending on its size, population and social and economic indicators, providing for the resettlement of 160,000 refugees throughout EU countries over the next two years. "Objectively assessing the situation, it is difficult to believe that by the end of the next year the whole European Union and particularly Estonia will manage to resettle the planned number of people," Pevkur said, as quoted by Sputnik Estonia. Under the quota scheme Estonia must accept about 550 refugees by 2017. The country has accepted only 60 people so far, which has triggered concerns of the EU authorities. "I'm more optimistic than I was in the past weeks," he said. Immigration Issue The issue of immigration and introducing controls is a controversial matter in Switzerland, with the 50.3 percent of the population voting in favor of a "stop mass immigration" referendum in 2014, despite the country's major parties rejecting such a call. This means the Swiss government must enact a law on the subject by February 2017. Same was found in Switzerland's anti-immigration referendum. https://t.co/NqzIsEr0oL Daniel Thornton (@DanOnGov) July 8, 2016 Although Switzerland is not an EU member state, the bloc's citizens are free to live and work in Switzerland without specific permission, while it is part of the Schengen passport-free travel zone. With time is running out to try and find a solution, there are fears that Switzerland may be locked out of the European single market if it fails to uphold the basic principle of freedom of movement something it is almost certain to breach if it introduces immigration controls. Switzerland has not been able to regain any sovereignty on immigration + has no financial services agreement: former chair of central bank Janet Royall (@LabourRoyall) September 5, 2016 While the government is working with the EU to try and find a ways to control immigration and remain within the single market, they are under pressure from the anti-immigration Swiss People's Party to introduce significant migration controls on EU citizens. London Watching Developments Closely The negotiations have also taken on greater significance in light of the UK's decision to vote in favor of leaving the EU, with any EU-Swiss deal set to act as a precedent to Britain's negotiations with Brussels. While Juncker acknowledged that had added "another element" to the complicated discussions with Switzerland, he attempted to separate both issues in calling for a unique Swiss option. Just want to point out that Switzerland lost Erasmus rights and research money after an immigration referendum in 2014 #surreyEUref Kundan Sawlani (@KundanSawlani) May 20, 2016 There is a fear in Brussels that if the EU offers Switzerland a favorable deal, then negotiators in London will attempt to do the same thing, which would attract criticism from some member states who have stated that they intend to make Brexit negotiations difficult for the UK. EFTA/EEA member Switzerland is about to jettison free movement and Lichtenstein already has special deal to control immigration #brexit Alan Day (Brexit) (@CoaghUKIP) June 30, 2016 Meanwhile, given the EU's close trading relationship with Switzerland, there are also concerns that Brussels-Bern trade relationship could suffer significantly if the EU maintains a hardline on Swiss demands for immigration controls. Negotiations between the two parties are expected to continue in October. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Moscow is concerned about the future impact of a new Ukrainian law on amnesty which would grant immunity to participants of combat actions in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. "Quite worrisome are the consequences of Kiev's decision to forsake its basic human rights commitments to the Ukrainian people," the ministry said in a commentary related to the 15th report on the human rights situation in Ukraine by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. "We share concerns of experts over the outcome of the new Ukrainian law on amnesty, which envisions granting of immunity to participants of combat operations in eastern Ukraine even if they have been accused of crimes against humanity," the ministry said. BRUSSELS (Sputnik) Organizers estimate that between 10,000 and 15,000 demonstrators gathered in Brussels European Quarter that is home to the European parliament, Commission and EU Council. Local trade unions, environmental groups and Canadian farmers demanded that Europe halt talks with Canada on the CETA deal that seeks to liberalize trade. They argue that it will water down food, environment and job protections. An EU-Canada Summit, scheduled for October 27-28, is expected to see the controversial Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement signed. It will still need to be ratified by some 40 national and regional EU parliaments. It is indeed an interesting study, which allows a new perspective on the presence of Muslim culture in French society, Houari Bouissa, teacher and specialist in Islamic history, told Sputnik. The report French Islam is possible presents Muslim culture in a new light. It reports that 70 percent of Muslims eat only halal meat and two-thirds of Muslim women say that they refuse to wear a hijab. It is possible to combine loyalty to the nation and love to the country and at the same time act as an ordinary French citizen and to adhere to the Islamic spiritual position, Ghaleb Bencheikh, specialist in the Islamic culture, told Sputnik. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The ministry said such policy violated an intergovernmental agreement regarding the burials of victims of wars and repressions of February 22, 1994. "Polands cynical policy against soviet memorial heritage is morally flawed and dishonors, first of all, the authorities that make such decisions. The best reaction to that kind of actions is public contempt for the initiators," the ministry said in a statement. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) Logar added that the ministers would discuss "Brexit and bilateral relations, especially the economic relations between Slovenia and the Russian Federation." "The meeting is to be held tomorrow. Primarily its bilateral relations and relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation," the ambassador said on the sideline of the UN Security Council in New York. The ambassador also said that Slovenia will seek Russias support for its candidate for the UN secretary-general during his meeting with Lavrov. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) A timeline for Pahors visit hasnt been established yet, but we are working through our embassy in Moscow, Slovenias UN ambassador, Andrej Logar, told Sputnik. The date is still open, but there is an official invitation to our president to visit Moscow officially, not as a working [meeting] but as a state visit. We are now deciding on this and we will inform you, Pahor said in response to a question from Sputnik. Pahor also complimented Russian President Vladimir Putin for his visit to NATO member Slovenia in July to attend a World War I memorial event. MOSCOW (Sputnik) France has been tightening security after a spate of attacks by Islamist terrorists claimed hundreds of lives in less than a year. A series of nearly simultaneous bomb and gun attacks in Paris in November 2015 killed 130 people, while a truck attack in Nice on the Bastille Day in July left 86 people dead and prompted France to extend the state of emergency for six months. "Every country is potentially a terrorist target these days," Hollande said. "That is why I expect that the United Nations also takes on its responsibilities." MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, some 4,000 migrants were evacuated from the Moria camp after a fire destroyed tents and shelters where refugees were hosted. Police reportedly said there was "no doubt" that the fire had been set intentionally, adding that the wind contributed to its fast spreading. The fire is said to have been started as a result of different refugee groups' riots and clashes on the island. "After the fire was totally extinguished last night, the refugees began to return to the camp. Until this morning, the majority among them was already back. The camp is in absolute peace and intensive repair works have begun," the Office of the Spokesperson said. According to the office, the population of the camp was evacuated as a preventive measure. Some families were transferred to the Karatepe camp and several unaccompanied minors to the PIKPA facilities. No injuries were officially reported. Those numbers coincide with intensified security at about 75% of Jewish institutions and synagogues, following a series of terror attacks in Europe. Last year's results of the annual poll were more evenly balanced. EJA and RCE officials suggest that the increase is partly due to the flow of refugees into Europe and to the spread of the far-right movement in several European countries. "Currently the focus of the extreme right and their activity is focused on Islamophobia, but testimonies of rabbis and community leaders show a great deal of concern about growing nationalism and xenophobia, also against the Jews of Europe," EJA and RCE General Director Rabbi Menachem Margolin told Jerusalem Post. Margolin called for the EU and regional governments to boost educational efforts in teaching religious and cultural equality. US ground troops have been transported to the Qayara air base, captured by Iraqi forces last month and badly damaged by US airstrikes as joint forces drive Daesh from the area. According to unnamed US defense officials quoted by CNN, "the American forces operating there will mainly provide logistics, supplies and support for the Iraqi offensive on Mosul. The move brings US personnel closer to the battle and ISIS' defensive lines." The base, located some 65 km from the Daesh-controlled Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, will be repaired for the offensive, and provide runways and infrastructure for US air support. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein Members of the Syrian opposition are ready to sit down with representatives of the Bashar Assad government, President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces Anas Abdah told Sputnik. "Of course," Abdah said on Monday when asked if the opposition was ready to return to talks about a political transition with the government in Damascus. "But, as they say in English, it takes two to tango, and unless the regime is willing to participate in these negotiations we cannot achieve anything." Under United Nations auspices, the Syrian government and members of the opposition have made multiple, ultimately unsuccessful attempts to reach an agreement towards a political transition in the country. US Department of State has expressed outrage over attack on humanitarian convoy near Aleppo, Syria. According to the statement, the convoy was following the route known for Syrian as well as Russian authorities. "The United States is outraged by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near Aleppo today The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people The United States will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the Cessation of Hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia," US Department of State spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. The spokesperson also noted that the United States will revise prospects of cooperation with Russia after the attack. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) The attack on a humanitarian convoy while delivering aid in Syrias Aleppo governorate has left "many people" dead, UN Under-Secrtary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien said in a statement Tuesday. "Initial reports indicate that many people have been killed or seriously injured, including SARC volunteers, as a result of these sickening attacks. A SARC warehouse was also hit and a SARC health clinic was also reportedly severely damaged," the statement reads. HMEIMIM (Sputnik) Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham militants, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, have ousted the Syrian government troops and militia forces from a district at the southern outskirts of the Aleppo city, the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation said in statement Tuesday. "As a result of intense fighting, the militants have managed to oust the governmental forces and militia units from the southern outskirts of the Al Shuqayyif district and take under temporary control a 1-km [0.6-mile] section of the Castello Road," the statement reads. Nusra Front terrorists launched on Monday a large-scale offensive on Syrian army positions in south-western outskirts of Aleppo City following a massive artillery shelling. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to hold a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, a Russian Foreign Ministry source said Tuesday. "The meeting with the Syrian foreign minister has been scheduled," the source told reporters. On Monday, Lavrov arrived in New York to participate in 71st session of the UN General Assembly. HMEIMIM (Sputnik) Syrian government troops supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed a leading unit of the Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in Aleppo , the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation said in statement Tuesday. According to the statement, the Syrian government troops on Tuesday night repelled an offensive by Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham militants near military schools and 1070 quarter in Aleppo. "During the counterattack, the Syrian forces supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed the leading Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham unit, including four tanks, three infantry combat vehicles, nine pickup truck with heavy machine guns and up to 100 militants," the statement reads. NEW YORK (Sputnik) On Tuesday, Lavrov is also expected to take part "at a BRICS ministerial meeting and to hold bilateral talks with the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Iraq, Cuba, Costa Rica, president of Cyprus, Secretary General of the Arab League and the chairman of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly," according to the source. The ISSG, co-chaired by Moscow and Washington, was formed in November 2015, shortly after the beginning of the Syria peace talks, as a panel of countries seeking to end bloodshed in Syria. The United Nations General Assembly opened its 71st session on September 13, with an emphasis on ensuring the implementation of the new global development goals, adopted by its 193 member states last year. HMEIMIM (Sputnik) Syrian government troops with Russian Aerospace Forces backing repelled a terrorist attack in the Al-Shqaif district of northern Aleppo, the Russian reconciliation center for the opposing parties said Tuesday. "As a result of heavy fighting, Syrian government forces backed by the Russian Aerospace Forces repelled a terrorist attack in the Al-Shqaif district on the northern outskirts and regained control of the southern outskirts of Al-Shqaif on the morning of September 20," the center said. Earlier, al-Nusra Front terrorists had pushed the army out of the area. CAIRO (Sputnik) Despite the US-Russia deal reached on September 9, fragile nationwide ceasefire in Syria in force since September 12 was undermined by numerous outbreaks of hostilities. On Monday, Damascus announced that the ceasefire was over, adding that the Syrian army did it best to respect the truce. Earlier in the month, Moscow has repeatedly said that the ceasefire regime has been respected only by the Syrian army. "It seems that it is relevant to return to Syria's support group, which also includes the European countries, as well as the regional states in order to attempt to notch up success in the issue, where Washington and Moscow failed, but there is still very little hope," Monzer Akbik told RIA Novosti. He added that tensions between Moscow and Washington resulted in inability to reach a long-term agreement, despite all the diplomatic efforts. TEL AVIV (Sputnik) The assailant "tried to stab a soldier" and was killed following the attempt that took place near the settlement of near Bani Naim, The Times of Israel said citing a statement of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The newspaper added that the Tuesday attack was the ninth in the course of the last week, with the majority of them carried out in Jerusalem and in the vicinity of Hebron. "Residents of Akcakale District are loyal to their motherland and the Turkish people. We are proud of our flag while terrorists are planning to create a state under the US flag in Syria," said head of the Akcakale administration Abdulkehim Aykhan who initiated the idea. Akcakale forms a divided city with Tel Abyad in Syria, maintaining a border crossing. According to Aykhan, the move was in response to PYD forces that raised United States flags in various locations in Tel Abyad last week. GENEVA (Sputnik) On Monday, the OCHA said that the aid convoy crossed the conflict line in the Big Orem area of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Later in the day, UN officials stated that the convoy had been shelled and there were casualties. "They are fully aware of what has happened We are still trying to establish exactly what happened. Both sides have influence on those who have access to these kinds of weapons so we are giving that information to them," Jens Laerke told RIA Novosti. Laerke called for an investigation into the incident. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the aid convoy crossed the conflict line in the Big Orem area of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Later in the day, UN officials stated that the convoy had been shelled and there were casualties. The UN said that it is premature to name the party responsible for the attack. "Around twenty civilians and one SARC staff member were killed, as they were unloading trucks carrying vital humanitarian aid. Much of the aid was destroyed. The attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance," IFRC said in a statement. "Further movements of the convoy were not monitored by the Russian side. Only the militants controlling this area know details of the convoys location," Konashenkov added. The examination of video footage reveals no signs of an ammunition strikes on the convoy, he said. "We have carefully studied videos by so-called activists from the site and found no signs of any ammunition striking the convoy. There are no shell holes, cars' bodies are not damaged and there are no construction faults from the bust wave. All shown on the footage is a direct consequence of the cargo being set on fire. The fire strangely coincided with a major offensive by militants in Aleppo." The ministry emphasized that the perpetrator of the fire, as well as his goal may be known by members of the "White Helmets" organization that has connection to al-Nusra Front terrorists who have "accidentally" been at the right time and in the right place with cameras. According to the official, al-Nusra Front terrorist group carried out an artillery attack on the southwestern suburb of Aleppo using multiple launch rocket systems. The UN said that it is premature to name the party responsible for the attack. BRUSSELS (Sputnik) On Monday, the UN officials said that an aid convoy was bombed near the Syrian city of Aleppo and there were casualties. Earlier on Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that at least one humanitarian worker and around 20 civilians were killed in the attack. "For the EU, access to humanitarian aid is essential for saving lives in Syria. What we saw yesterday is extremely alarming, and we are particularly concerned about reports of raids on humanitarian convoys. The safety and neutrality of humanitarian workers must be preserved at all times in line with the basic principles entrenched in international humanitarian law," Nabila Massrali said at a briefing. She added that the EU foreign policy chief was in direct contact with co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group in New York. The Israeli government has repeatedly accused Hamas, classified by the country as a terrorist group, of attacking Israel from the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip occupied after the 1967 war. Hamas, an Islamist political and militant group, seeks the creation of an independent state of Palestine and wants Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories. Hamas also governs the Gaza Strip independently of the Palestinian Authority. We are gathering information for the 2022 general election. On desktop, click "election information" on the right side of this pag... GENEVA (Sputnik) On Monday, the UN officials said that an aid convoy was hit near the Syrian city of Aleppo and there were casualties. Earlier on Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that at least one humanitarian worker and around 20 civilians were killed in the attack. "We have been forced to suspend all the convoy movements for the time. That does not mean that it is not gonna happen later. But we need to have a proper security assessment of what happened yesterday so that we can take that into account for further planning. But of course, as soon as we can safely proceed, we have convoys ready," Jens Laerke told RIA Novosti. ANKARA (Sputnik) On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarablus and the surrounding area of Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Jarablus had been cleansed of Daesh, and Turkey planned to defeat the jihadists in al-Bab. "This is what we have been asking at every meeting without ground operation, you cannot defeat this bloody terrorist organization [We plan] to make this area, Manbij, a safe zone, and to clean Daesh from this region, al-Bab should be the next target. But Raqqa is the kind of capital of Daesh in Syria, and Mosul is their capital in Iraq, they have to be defeated in those main two cities, as well," Cavusoglu told CNN. Despite evidence from aid workers and human rights organizations accusing the Saudi-led military intervention of targeting civilian areas in Yemen as part of its airstrike campaign, Riyadh has rejected calls for an independent investigation into the claims to be conducted, while allies such as Britain have backed Saudi-led inquiries into the claims. Video shows suffering Saudi-led airstrikes inflict on Yemen civilians. @hrw calls on US Senate to #StopArmingSaudi https://t.co/OZw3OuhMNX Jim Murphy (@jimmurphySF) September 15, 2016 However critics have slammed the Saudi-led investigations as being one-sided and unable to come to an objective outcome. "The national investigation effort has not been able to provide the impartial and wide-ranging inquiry that is required by serious allegations of violations and abuse," UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said in his address to the council last week. Pressure Building for Independent Investigation While it is unknown whether the Dutch intervention will lead to formal calls for an independent inquiry, pressure is building within the international community to press Saudi Arabia about its actions in Yemen. Last month, 11 people were killed and 19 others injured in an airstrike attack on the Abs Rural hospital in Yemen, the fourth such attack on a Medecins Sans Frontieres facility in the past 10 months. Under President Obama's watch we have sold or committed to sell over 100 billion dollars worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Time to stop! Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 20, 2016 Human rights campaigners Amnesty International claimed a US-made bomb was used in the attack, reportedly carried out by Saudi forces. UN estimates suggest that 10,000 people have been killed in the 18-month-long Yemen conflict, with around 3,800 of those being civilians, while many more have displaced from their homes and left in dire need of humanitarian aid. UK Parliament Committee is clear: arms sales to #Saudi-coalition must stop until abuses in #Yemen are investigatedhttps://t.co/RJjBJtkKmX Lotte Leicht (@LotteLeicht1) September 15, 2016 Along with the calls for an independent investigation, pressure is building on Britain and the US to halt the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia, with critics claiming that Washington and London could be complicit in Riyadh's alleged crimes. "The Abs Rural Hospital attack is far from the first Saudi coalition bombardment of a Yemeni hospital it's now long overdue for UK ministers to finally do the right thing and suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia before this carnage gets even worse," Amnesty International UK's Arms Control Director Oliver Sprague said. #Amnesty finds evidence US-made bomb used in attack on MSF hospital by Saudi coalition in #Yemen. Stop these sales! https://t.co/HkXsOgXxZd Amnesty USA MENA (@aiusaMENA) September 19, 2016 "Ministers are always claiming the UK has a 'rigorous' system for assessing the risk of UK arms sales leading to atrocities like this one, so when are they going to prove that by stopping arms to Saudi Arabia? "How many more hospitals have to be bombed before UK ministers finally act?" MOSCOW (Sputnik) In his address to the UN General Assembly, Ban said: "As a friend of both Israeli and Palestinian peoples, it pains me that this past decade has been 10 years lost to peace Ten years lost to intra-Palestinian divide, growing polarization and hopelessness. This is madness. Replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation." MOSCOW (Sputnik) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui discussed the current situation and the future of ceasefire in the war-torn Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. "During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the Middle Eastern significant issues, with a particular focus on the political, military and humanitarian aspects in Syria in the context of the Russia-US agreement, reached on September 9, to maintain the cessation of hostilities as well as to fight against terrorist groups and facilitate the humanitarian access," the ministry said in a statement published on its website. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the aid convoy crossed the conflict line in the Big Orem area of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Later in the day, UN officials stated that the convoy had been attacked and there were casualties. "MSF strongly denounces this attack, another example of the continuous disregard paid to the basic rules of war in the Syrian conflict, and demands that all warring parties involved in the conflict in Syria respect humanitarian workers and civilians, health facilities and civilian infrastructures," the spokesperson for the international medical humanitarian organization said. About 20 civilians were killed in the attack on a humanitarian aid convoy, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement earlier on Tuesday. NEW YORK (Sputnik) On Monday, the Syrian army declared that the ceasefire ended because of numerous violations by the rebels. Over a week of the truce, Syrian opposition attacked some 300 times. The ceasefire is not dead, Kerry said following an ISSG meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. He added that the group will likely meet on Friday on some specific steps that can be taken in Syria. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, an attack on Syrian Red Crescent trucks carrying tonnes of food and medicine for 80,000 people in Aleppo destroyed most of the cargo and killed civilians. "This attack on the humanitarian convoy is a horrible act, a terrorist act that we condemn in the strongest terms," the minister said ahead of a meeting on Syria. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) The Saudi ambassador stressed that leaders should focus on the needs of the Syrian people and put aside political posturing. "We must not let politics between powerful nations or other parties interfere with the humanitarian issue," Abdullah told Sputnik on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. The US-Russian brokered cessation of hostilities agreement for Syria is in jeopardy after a UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy traveling to Aleppo was struck on Monday. As was reported a few days ago in Tell Abyad of al-Hasakah province about 50 US soldiers have arrived in 15 armored cars. They set up a coordination center near the village of Mnbeteh, 2 kilometers from the city center. They put up a US flag marking their center. The area around the center, which is located near the Turkish border, is guarded by soldiers of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The representative of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, in Tell Abyad, Cudiya Kurdo spoke with Sputnik and confirmed the information about the US center in the city. According to an Iraqi News report, the terror group has sold approximately 23 organs taken from their own injured or dead members to a Turkish organ trading organization, the same organization that they are also using to traffic children. "Special medical unit of the organization [ISIS] proceeded to steal human organs for about 23 [Daesh] militants of those who slept in the hospitals of Nineveh," a local source told the outlet. "What has been stolen from those members included the kidneys, intestines and more; they were transferred under tight control to [an] affiliated hospital on the outskirts of the city." Daeshs monthly revenue was said to be around $80 million, until falling to some $56 million in March after losing large areas of territory through bombings and raids. "The United States expects any recipient of US military assistance to use those items in accordance with international law and under the terms and conditions of any US transfer or sale," said a US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, according to the Independent. The official added that the State Department is currently reviewing whether Riyadh improperly used the munition. "If a country is determined to have used US-provided weapons for unauthorized purposes, the US will take appropriate corrective action," the official said. Frustrated by Riyadhs actions in Yemen, the Obama Administration has taken some steps to limit arms sales to the Middle Eastern monarchy. In May, Washington stopped the sale of nearly 400 cluster bombs, following documented use of the weapon in civilian areas. This week, lawmakers also delayed a highly-disputed $1 billion arms deal to Riyadh. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) Russia and the United State continue to influence the situation in Syria despite the shaky ceasefire, Switzerlands President Johann Schneider-Ammann told Sputnik on Tuesday. "Its a very delicate issue, and my disappointment is the peace period didnt last very long but I heard that the two main players, Russia and the US, continue to influence the situation to make sure that it comes to real peace, a real standstill," Schneider-Ammann said. The Swiss president noted that it was "absolutely necessary" to resolve the crisis in the Middle East as a whole. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to Syrias territorial integrity, stressing the military operation in its north only aimed to bring peace to the region. "We have no expectations whatsoever with regards to the territory of Syria. Syria belongs to the Syrian people. Nobody should ever have any plans whatsoever for the Syrian territory," he claimed. Erdogan said Operation Euphrates Shield, which drove Islamic State (Daesh) fighters out of Syrias Jarablus, had been initiated to help Syrian opposition forces. An anonymous military source told the Times of Israel that the drone, shot down around at 10AM local time, did not enter Israeli territory. Hamas has indicated that it is capable of such activities, but has not taken responsibility for the drone, which fell into the Mediterranean Sea. The army stated, "The IDF will not allow any violation of [Israeli] airspace and will act decisively against any such attempt." MOSCOW (Sputnik) Ahead of the ISSG gathering, Lavrov held a separate meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry. "Lavrov emphasized that the United States' fulfillment of its obligations to differentiate the moderate opposition groups and terrorists [in Syria] was a priority, as well as a more active influence of regional sides on the the radical groups," the statement read. According to the Russian ministry, the members of Syria support group meeting also agreed on the need to ensure full implementation of truce in Syria by all conflicting sides. Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed outrage at the "flagrant attempts of some foreign backers of armed rebels and terrorists in Syria" to shift blame on the UN convoy to Moscow and Damascus. "The Russian military personnel in Syria is investigating with the use of means of objective control the circumstances around the attack, which took place on September 19," the ministry said in a statement. "We are stating with all responsibility that neither Russian or Syrian aircraft carried out airstrikes against the UN humanitarian aid convoy in the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo." WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The US and Russian militaries should take steps to stop tensions or they will continue to rise, putting "everyone" at risk, the United States former European combatant-commander Gen. Philip Breedlove told Sputnik. "[I]f we do not do something to stop this ugly competition from continuing, it is going to hurt Europe [and] everyone in the long run," Breedlove said on Monday. Resolving this standoff, Breedlove said, "means building a dependable, consistent trust relationship on both sides." CHOLPON-ATA (Kyrgyzstan), (Sputnik) This years fourth Peace Mission drills are held in Kyrgyzstan from September 15 to September 21, focusing on the SCO forces' command coordination during joint anti-terror operations and enhancing their combat readiness. "It was decided during the meeting of the SCO countries' chiefs of staff that the next meeting, as well as the Peace Mission exercises, will be held in 2018 in Russia," deputy chief of General Staff Sergei Istrakov told reporters. The SCO is a political, economic and military alliance that includes China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan will become full-fledged members of the organization at the 2017 SCO summit in Kazakhstan. NEW DELHI (Sputnik) According to the India TV News broadcaster, the launch was conducted at 10:13 a.m. local time (04:43 GMT) from a test range located at the country's eastern Chandipur village. The missile was fired from a mobile launcher. The media added that more test launches of the Barak 8 would come soon. After 9/11, the US government implemented a program involving the abduction and subsequent torture of terrorist suspects. Reprieve, who work to free Guantanamo prisoners, said that British intel has been involved in the torture of prisoners abroad. "The application for a judicial review alleges there is 'compelling evidence' that 'UK intelligence personnel have been engaged in activities amounting to complicity in torture and that the inevitable inference is that such activities have been in conformity with unlawful promulgated policies and guidance" since at least 2002," a spokesperson from Reprieve said in a interview. Prisoners have suffered being force-fed, there were also allegations of water-boarding, as well as inmates having electric shocks administered. Shaker Aamer, who was released from Guantanamo Bay in 2015, described how he was force-fed and also violently beaten by US officials, and in full view of British agents when he was captured in Afghanistan. On Monday, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that Sweden's awareness of a growing threat from Russia was behind the recent decision to station a permanent garrison on the previously demilitarized Baltic island of Gotland. However, the threat was classified as top secret and was never made public. However, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven subsequently denied suggestions that the increased Russian threat was the contributing factor behind last week's decision to station 150 soldiers on Gotland over a year ahead of the schedule. Earlier, Lofven already had to step forward and dismiss similar allegations of Russia's "aggression" against Sweden in 2015. "I've said it before and it remains unchanged: there is no direct military threat to Sweden," Lofven told news agency TT. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Peace Mission exercises are held for the fourth time, but for the first time in Kyrgyzstan. The active phase of the drills involving Chinese, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian and Tajik troops will run through September 21. "Within the framework of Peace Mission-2016 anti-terror drills of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, a couple of Tu-95MC strategic turboprop missile-carrying bombers will practice an information exchange with the command posts of the CMD, deployed in the areas of the Kyrgyz Republic, where the drills are held," Yaroslav Roshchupkin told reporters. He added that the aircraft would fly from Engels Airbase in Russia's Saratov Region. The debatable acquisition of the 52 F-35 fighter jets has been Norwegian Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Sreide's perpetual aim, which she has been pursuing at the expense of other military branches. According to Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen , which got hold of a classified government analysis, the fighter jets may be used in an attack against targets in Russia. The Norwegian government's plan for the use of F-35s involves three possible scenarios. The first one implies a full-scale conflict with Russia and requires a full fleet of 52 aircraft for attacks inside Russia. In the second scenario, the Air Force should handle a momentary crisis in Norway, with twelve F-35s allocated for NATO operations abroad. The third model deals with operation of combat aircraft in peacetime. In the first scenario, Russian ships and planes are expected to barge into Norwegian territorial waters. The answer from the Norwegian side is to employ all the 52 F-35 fighter aircraft, which are specifically scheduled to be built to avoid detection by radar and thus also evade the long-range Russian air defense missiles. This plan also involves attacking Russian warships and fighters in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, as well as targets in Russia. The scenario goes by the name "collection of power." The Chinese presented a rather large force, including destroyers of projects 052C, 052B, and 054A, as well as frigates and support ships. Reports about how 052D destroyers did not take part in the drills are hardly justified. The reason for that is that these ships were transferred to the Navy only in 2014, with the following ships in the series arriving at the end of 2015 and 2016. Such new technology is rarely sent to international drills because it is difficult for the crew to become acquainted with it in such a short time span, according to the military expert. Hence, it is hardly a matter of distrust between China and Russia. Shortly before the drills, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for China's position in relation to its international arbitration. It should be however, emphasized that the drills were held away from the disputed areas of the South China Sea, off the coast of Guangdong. In the course of these drills, a tendency of improved compatibility was seen between the two countries naval forces. According to Kashin two submarines of PLA Navy were used for practicing various difficult tasks such as anti-submarine defense. Russian and Chinese sailors and marines engaged in joint training on the defense of anchored ships, search and rescue operations, escort of civilian vessels, and the use of air defense systems. In addition, the military forces held rocket and artillery fire drills and staged an operation to simulate the liberation of islands captured by the enemy involving the use of paratroops and marines. Overall, according to Kashin, the drills were an important step in enhancing the capabilities of Russia and China in a joint response to the crises in the world. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The company, doing business as L-3 KEO, was awarded the $20,138,900 contract "for MK 20 Electro-Optical Sensor Systems, radar cross-section kits, engineering support services, and depot spares," the release said. The sensors are a "major component" of the MK 34 systems used by all three of the vessels cited by the Defense Department. Among other applications, the spares will enable check-sighting, identification of counter-battery targets and identification of short-range surface targets, the release stated. The contract includes purchases by Japan (21 percent of the total) under the Pentagons Foreign Military Sales Program the release noted, TOKYO (Sputnik) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton held a meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly's session and expressed their commitment to strengthening the Japan-US strategic alliance. "I would like to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance so it can contribute to the region and the world as an alliance of hope,'" Abe said as quoted by the Kyodo news agency. "It is hard to reach agreements on joint military and political activities when there is no trust. Due to different circumstances, partly linked to Syria, Russian and American militaries do not trust each other. A diplomatic deal will only work if everything has been perfected down to the last detail and there is a clear verification mechanism for every single step. This can replace the lack of trust," he said. John Kerry and his team appear to have been genuinely intent on reaching an agreement with Moscow. This is why they were ostensibly working on devising such a mechanism. "The US military clearly does not share this point of view. US military commanders are not going to adhere to anything and do not trust their Russian counterparts," the analyst added. "I think that the United States is more focused on reducing Russia's influence in Syria than on finding a peaceful way to resolve the conflict" in the war-torn Arab country, General Gamal Mazlum said, referring to the US-led coalition airstrike on the Syrian Arab Army's base in the city of Deir ez-Zor. The United States and Turkey, he added, "are trying to extend their influence in the region to improve their standing during the talks that some say could be held in October." Peskov said militants belonging to the group formerly known as al-Nusra Front launched an offensive across a range of Syrian regions late Monday, forcing government troops to defend themselves. The United States has failed to deliver on its written pledge to separate armed opposition forces from terrorists in Syria, Peskov said. "We understand that such actions threaten the entire process in general, and note with regret that during this period that has already exceeded one week, our US colleagues failed to carry out the disengagement of terrorists from the so-called moderate opposition," Peskov said. US claims of Russia being behind shelling of a UN humanitarian aid convoy on its way to the Syrian city of Aleppo are "mere allegations," Peskov said Tuesday. "I do not think it possible and proper to make any unsubstantiated conclusions. Currently our military is assessing the information about this shelling, and I hope they will receive specific information from primary sources and will be able to make a corresponding statement." MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, Trump held talks with Egypt's leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in New York City on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. "Mr. Trump expressed to President el-Sisi his strong support for Egypts war on terrorism, and how under a Trump Administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead," the statement issued after the meeting between the two sides read. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Moscow insists on disclosing the documents to the public in order to prevent speculations and misinterpretations. The US has not yet decided whether to publish the text of the agreement or not. "As we do not have the consent of our US colleagues to publish, to make the agreements public, I would not like to be the one to begin to disclose it," Peskov said. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The United States, which was responsible for 22 percent of UNESCO's budget, stopped funding after the organization gave Palestine full membership in 2011. "The organization is in a crisis situation now. The Americans, who have stopped paying money and have not even paid for the past period, brought the organization into a very severe crisis. We had to fire some 400 staff members in four years. It is an enormous number for an international organization. Everyone says that we should reduce administrative expenses, but even such expenses have a limit of reduction," Mitrofanova said. The source also noted that the United States "preferred to fully distance itself" from keeping in touch with the Russian Armed Forces, ignoring their inquiries and not answering the phone. Rumors have circulated that the Pentagon was opposed to the deal, particularly the unprecedented level of military cooperation that was expected to follow if the ceasefire held for seven days. Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute for Political and Military Analysis, told Gazeta.ru that he was "genuinely happy" that the Syrian Arab Army ended the ceasefire. "I wish that no ceasefires are announced any longer during the armed fight with global terrorism and that this fight is carried out until the end," he said. "But there are no guarantees that various ceasefires and pauses will not be declared in the future." In August, Marie Krarup caused outrage by stating that the European Union was an existential threat to Denmark and a much bigger problem to tackle than Russia was. Subsequently, Krarup was painted by the Danish media as "Putin's useful idiot" and landed in a bitter dispute with Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen over the country's foreign policy. In her recent blog entry in the Danish newspaper Politiko, Krarup suggested that the EU is badly in need of a sober analysis of Russia and lamented Brussels' inability and unwillingness to look realistically at Russia. Krarup ventured to call Kristian Jensen "a victim of EU propaganda." Er Kristian Jensen offer for EU propaganda? Lav en sober analyse af Rusland. https://t.co/Xt1kmXNq9B Marie Krarup (@MarieKrarup) September 16, 2016 The West's relations with Moscow rapidly deteriorated in light of Crimea's re-unification with Russia. According to Kristian Jensen, Russia must be punished for violating the international legal order. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) US Secretary of State John Kerry and Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif discussed counterterrorism efforts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Department of State spokesperson John Kirby said in a release on Tuesday. "The Secretary reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence," the release stated. The French MP also said that the attack looks like "an operation that the US deliberately carried out to once again weaken [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad. It is a wellknown fact that the Syrian Arab Army has been fighting against the Islamists in this region for some time and today [Syrian servicemen] have become the main victims of US bombing campaigns." The lawmaker noted that we will never know the truth about the attack, whether it was deliberate or unintended. "But, you know, with all the resources that US intelligence services have such errors I think look more like a warning than a mistake," he observed. Obama claimed "Russia trying to recover past glory through force." "Russia continues to interfere in affairs of its neighbors," he continued, warning that Russian borders will become less secure if Moscow continues such a policy. "If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at homebut over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure," Obama stated. Obama also mentioned that disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully. "In the South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs," Obama stated. The US president called for a political solution to the Syrian crisis, emphasizing that "no ultimate military victory will be won in Syria." Obama said that Palestine must recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli state, while Israel has to realize it cannot permanently occupy Palestinian land. "Surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land," Obama stated. North Korea nuclear tests endanger "all of us," Obama said, calling for an international response. Nations around the world that possess nuclear weapons need to commit to both reducing their stockpiles and never test those weapons again, US President Barack Obama said at the UN General Assembly on Monday. "Those nations with these weapons, like the United States, have a unique responsibility to pursue the path of reducing our stockpiles and reaffirming basic norms like the commitment to never test them again," Obama stated. World leaders participate in the morning session of the 71st Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 71) in New York on Tuesday, September 20. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The UN chief said he was deeply concerned over hatred toward refugees and migrants. "Muslims in particular are being targeted by stereotyping and suspicion that have haunting echoes of the dark past," he said, adding the world must now "stand up against lies" and "reject all forms of discrimination." "I say to political leaders and candidates: do not engage in the cynical and dangerous political math that says you add votes by dividing people and multiplying fear," Ban said in New York City. PRAGUE, September 20 (Sputnik) He said that Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, who has been endorsed by the incumbent US president, looked set to continue Barack Obamas policy course toward the Middle East. "With due respect to Barack Obama, his name has been tainted by a series of failures. He plunged the whole Middle East into chaos and left it an open wound that has not been healing well," Zeman said. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) On September 9, Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test at its northeastern nuclear test site. The nuclear experiment is believed to be the fifth and the largest since North Korea started pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "On the Korean Peninsula, the fifth nuclear test by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea has again threatened regional and international security. Meanwhile, the peoples suffering and plight are worsening. I urge the leaders of the DPRK to change course and fulfill their obligations to their own people and to the family of nations," Ban said in his address to the UN General Assembly. North Korea is under pressure from the international community since its January nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch in February, which resulted in tightening sanctions against Pyongyang in the UN Security Council resolution in March. TALLINN (Sputnik) Newly appointed Estonian Foreign Minister Jurgen Ligi expressed readiness to discuss Estonian-Russian relations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, adding that it is necessary to maintain good relations with Russia. "I am ready to meet [with Lavrov], but at high level meetings our relations are frozen largely due to the sanctions, so we have quite a small room for dialogue," Ligi said. Ligi also stressed that Estonia had always stood for the establishment of relations with Russia. The attack took place on September 17 when two F-16 fighter jets and two A-10 ground attack aircraft launched airstrikes against Damascus-led forces besieged by Daesh in a strategically important city of Deir ez-Zor, leaving at least 62 Syrian servicemen killed and more than 100 wounded. The incident marked the first time that the US-led coalition directly attacked Damascus-led forces. Russian envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that the timing of the air raid was "highly suspicious," adding that "some aspects of the situation suggest that it could have well been a provocation." The United States brushed these concerns away, saying only that the attack was unintentional. Saunders called Washington's approach "both narcissistic and impractical." KIEV (Sputnik) The decision was Kiev's response to the participation of its former region of Crimea, which reunified with Russia after a 2014 referendum, in the Russian parliamentary elections. "The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decrees: to denounce the legitimacy of the elections to the 7th State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, its results and judicial consequences as well as lineup, functions, acts of legislation and decisions of the 7th State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation," the decree reads. Dubbing the deal struck by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Syria ten days ago a "capitulation," the journalist called attention to the fact that the Pentagon fiercely opposed the accords. But that's half the trouble. While the US-Russia brokered deal was meant to pave the way for a peaceful settlement in Syria, Washington has failed to pressure the US-backed Syrian rebels into abiding by the agreement. "Within the last 24 hours, 53 cases of ceasefire violations have been registered from the side of illegal armed formations in the provinces of Aleppo (26), Hama (5), Damascus (8), Homs (7), Latakia (5), and Daraa (2)," the Russian Ministry of Defense reported Monday. Furthermore, Syrian rebels refused to withdraw from Castello Road simultaneously with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) last week, threatening to ruin the deal. "This indicates that the United States does not control the situation in Syria and is not ready to take steps to force US-controlled militants to implement a ceasefire," the chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Savchenko, said Saturday. On Sunday Russia's Defense Ministry called upon Washington to exert necessary pressure on the so-called "moderate" opposition in Syria. "We insistently urge Washington to put necessary pressure on the illegal armed groups under its patronage to make them fully comply with the ceasefire conditions. Otherwise, the implementation of the full set of the Russia-US agreements, reached in Geneva on September 9, may be put under threat and it will contradict the interests of the whole international community," the statement read. The Syrian Army has not made significant territorial gains but they are of a great strategic importance. Now, the Alawite region is secured from rebel attacks and the Syrian Army is clearing militants strongholds near Damascus, including in Darayya and Ghouta. The situation is complicated in Aleppo where militants receive support from Turkey. Moreover, Russian warplanes have to support Syrian forces incapable of defending its territory, like it is happening now in northern Hama Province. The author suggested that at the next stage of the Russian operation may involve an extended military presence on the ground, in order to protect strategic areas, including northwestern Latakia, Palmyra and Aleppo. MOSCOW (Sputnik) At Friday's EU Bratislava summit, French President Hollande, whose country after Brexit will become the bloc's top military power along with Germany, reiterated his call on other EU member-states to joined forces for more active defense policy. "Since the Brexit vote, political and economic elites, particularly, in France and Germany are looking for new EU-integration elements. The common security and defense policy seems to be the best answer for a new integration measure. The final goal is an EU Army. However, I doubt that small EU states are interested in this type of military integration. They do not want to serve France's or Germany's interests," lawmaker with Die Linke Alexander Neu said. Last week, Le Figaro reported that French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart Leyen sent a letter to EU leader Federica Mogherini urging her "to take measures in the field of defense of European citizens" and calling for the EU military headquarters, a single EU military budget and a surveillance system. "The Middle East today epitomizes major global trends: international processes becoming more ungovernable, the resurgence of power as a factor in international relations, the greater role played by contingency, the world's periphery and semi-periphery gaining in strength amid a crisis in the concept of the nation state and national identity," the report read. The authors of the report highlighted that "Russia is currently viewed in the region as being the most consistent and effective force fighting Daesh" and expressed their hope that the US and Russia would team up to solve the crisis. The issue of Syria's decentralization has been repeatedly discussed by Western think tanks and senior government officials. "I don't know whether or not Syria and Iraq can be put back together again. There's been so much bloodletting, so much destruction. I question whether we will see, in my lifetime, the creation of a central government in both of those countries that's going to have the ability to govern fairly," CIA Director John Brennan said in early September, as quoted by CNN. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) Russia has repeatedly called on the United States to make the agreement public, but the United States refused to give its consent on the issue, asking Moscow to keep them private. "There was no intrigue here, they said they did not want to make the agreements public, we said that we could not ask the members of the Security Council to approve these agreements without making them public," Churkin told reporters. On September 9, Russia and the United States announced a new peace plan to address the five-year conflict in Syria. The ceasefire stipulated by the agreement came into force on September 12, but the warring sides have since accused each other of numerous violations. WARSAW (Sputnik) The Minsk deal, agreed to settle the Donbas conflict, provides for a sequence of steps on the ceasefire, arms withdrawal and the beginning of a political process. According to Alexander Lukashevich, the deal stipulates that these processes are interrelated and should be implemented concurrently. "Recent attempts by the Ukrainian side and the Western countries to tie the beginning of a political process to a [complete] solution of security problems have absolutely no explanation, no basis agreed between the parties to the conflict," Lukashevich told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights' (ODIHR) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Poland. The envoy recalled that the Ukrainian forces and the volunteer military units had repeatedly violated the security agreements. NEW YORK (Sputnik) Ayrault added that he would reaffirm his initiative while speaking at the UN Security Council meeting on September 21. "I proposed to establish a mechanism to monitor implementation of the [ceasefire] deal so that Russia and the United States are not left alone [in monitoring peace in Syria]," Ayrault told reporters after the meeting of the International Syrian Support Group in New York. Despite the US-Russia deal reached on September 9, fragile nationwide ceasefire in Syria is undermined by numerous outbreaks of hostilities. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Syria has been mired in civil war since March 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and terrorist groups, including Daesh and al-Nusra Front. "I would say to its [Syrian governments] foreign supporters that they need to compel the regimes hand to peace. If not, they will also, alongside the regime, bear responsibility for the division and chaos in Syria," the French leader said. Hollande urged the United Nations and the UN Security Council to take responsibility for the settlement of the long-standing conflict in Syria and the international fight against terrorism. Sponsor of the bill Republican Mike Pompeo wants the Pentagon to be legally bound to submit to Congress an annual report on cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. "This bill directs the Department of Defense to report to Congress annually on cooperation between Iran and Russia and how and to what extent such cooperation affects US national security and strategic interests," according to the Congress website. The report shall include matters relating to a number of Iran-Russia cooperation fields, including the intelligence-sharing center established by Iran, Russia, and Syria in Baghdad, naval cooperation between Iran and Russia, Russian cooperation with Hezbollah in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, as well as overlapping Russia-Iran interests in Latin America. VILNIUS (Sputnik) The decision to recall the attache was coordinated with the country's Foreign Ministry, while the Russian Embassy in Vilnius has also been informed about the move, the statement added, as cited by the media. "The decision to recall the attache was taken due to his request and over the changes to his family status," the statement reads, as quoted by the Delfi media outlet. According to the media outlet, in August, Pikturna married the woman in question, who is a Russian citizen from the Crimea peninsula. She used to have a Ukrainian citizenship but later reportedly obtained a Russian passport. According to the diplomat, the attack cannot be justified as a "mistake." By conducting the airstrike, the Pentagon, which is opposing the Moscow-Washington agreement on Syria, tried to sabotage the deal. "It was also a signal to other regional players to show what kind of 'mistakes' the US could do," he added. "Taking into account my work in Iraq and analysis of the recent developments in Syria, I can say that the airstrike is unlikely to have been done by a mistake," Selcen said. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Russian Foreign Ministry categorically denied on Tuesday any involvement of Russian or Syrian combat aircraft in an recent attack on a UN humanitarian convoy in Syria. On Monday, the UN officials said that an aid convoy came under attack near the Syrian city of Aleppo and there were casualties. Earlier on Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that at least one humanitarian worker and around 20 civilians were killed in the attack. "The Russian military personnel based in Syria is investigating with the use of means of objective control the circumstances around the attack, which took place on September 19," the ministry said in statement. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Switzerlands foreign minister, Didier Burkhalter, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss conditions in Syria and Ukraine during a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Burkhalter told Sputnik. "I already had an opportunity to welcome and to say hello to my colleague Sergei Lavrov [at the United Nations], and it is foreseen that we can have a discussion tomorrow," Burkhalter said Tuesday. "I think it will be very interesting to listen to Russias take, [especially] now with a very difficult situation in Syria," the Swiss diplomat said. "Also Ukraine, possibly with the Russian Federation to influence a possible visit of detainees in Lugansk and Donetsk, for instance, by the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross]." In an interview with Sputnik Deutschland Europhysics News' editors and scientists Victor R. Velasco and Jo Hermans shared their views on the controversial issue. "According to some physicists, in three cases it remained unclear why the steel-framed high-rise buildings collapsed from exposure to high temperatures in a way it occurred [on September 11, 2001]. Several groups of scientists, including those from Purdue University, have carried out a number of rigorous simulations of tower destructions and conducted endurance tests on steel girders exposing them to kerosene fire. These simulations and experiments have brought different results," the scientists told Sputnik. Answering the question on the consistency of the US' official position on the 9/11 tragedy the scientists noted that although they cannot speak for the authors of the study they have no reasons to throw into question Washington's official stance. However, they highlighted, there appear to be gaps in the US' argument. "We hope that the discussion triggered by this article will help to shed some light on these matters in scientific terms. Our personal opinion on the theory is that it is highly unlikely that the WTC towers were destroyed by controlled demolition. However, given the fact that the issue is considered controversial by specialists more competent in this area than we are, we believe that the best and really scientifically correct way to resolve such matters is to publish these opinions. Then an open discussion with due arguments would lead us to truth," Velasco and Hermans emphasized. GENEVA (Sputnik) The UN-Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy traveling to Aleppo province was hit late on Monday. The incident occurring amid strained ceasefire in Syria in force since September 12 wrecked 18 out of 31 trucks with humanitarian aid on board and killed around 20 people, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Following the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it had examined video of the attack and said neither Russian nor Syrian government munitions had hit the aid convoy. Western officials have alleged that Syrias government is responsible for the attack. "If intentional character of such attacks is established, Switzerland reminds that they are war crimes. Such attacks gravely disturb provision of emergency aid both humanitarian and medical, which civilians are in need for, especially in remote regions," the FDFA statement said. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) World leaders at a United Nations summit hosted by the United States vowed to double the number of refugees who are resettled and given a legal path to immigrate into their countries, a joint statement issued by the White House said on Tuesday. Governments participating here today [Tuesday] have come together, with different types of commitments, to approximately double the global number of refugees resettled and afforded other legal channels of admissions and to improve asylum systems, the statement said. Co-hosts of the Leaders Summit on Refugees, which US President Barack Obama presided over, were Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden. The summit took place in conjunction with the UN General Assembly gathering in New York. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) Switzerland would welcome a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the country in the near future, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter told Sputnik on Tuesday. "Lavrov has a standing invitation to Switzerland," Burkhalter stated at the UN General Assembly in New York. "Normally, we find time to arrange for a bilateral [dialogue] in Russia or in Switzerland every year." During Burkhalter's last visit to Moscow in April, the two ministers discussed strategies for increasing cooperation between the countries and promoting political and economic stability. Did the rebel groups use the last few days to regroup and prepare to launch a new offensive? The Russian military says that only the government forces have actually been observing the truce, and the United States killed scores of Syrian government soldiers in an airstrike it claims was a mistake. Ahmad Khan Rahami, the main suspect in the string of bombings in New York and New Jersey, has been captured following a shootout with police. Politicians immediately jumped in following the blasts to make them a campaign issue. What are the consequences when politics and a massive manhunt collide? Becker speaks with John Kiriakou, a former CIA analyst and case officer, and Dr. Douglas Weeks, he is a counter-terrorism expert and Visiting Research Fellow at the London Metropolitan University Donald Trump appears to be surging with new polls suggesting a shift towards him in the electoral map. With Trump and Clinton are tied across many battleground states, could Donald Trump actually become the president? Anoa Changa, host of the weekly progressive talk show The Way with Anoa and contributor to the Benjamin Dixon Show, joins Becker to talk about the Trump surge. Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton pointed to the US bombing campaign against the Islamic State as a strategy to prevent terrorism stateside. And although their statements were more coherent than the GOP nominee, Donald Trump, they still miss the mark on whats actually motivating domestic attacks. Also, DCists Rachel Kurzius stops by to discuss dealings in the nations capital including a number of business that have popped up to cater exclusively to the lazy stoner. We also talk life imitating art as a comedy show about politics picks up an Emmy Award. We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com Todays main stories: International reaction to this year's visit to Cuba by US President, Barack Obama, was naturally viewed as a major step forward in finally laying to rest the remnants of the cold war. That could be about to be undone though, following comments by the Republican candidate for the US Presidency, Donald Trump, made over the weekend. We speak to Kenya C. Dworkin, associate professor of Hispanic Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, and Louis A Perez from the University of North Carolina. Courts in Egypt this week approved an asset freeze of five prominent human rights activists and three non-governmental organisations. This is the latest development in a case that has been ongoing for around five years. Egypt's crackdown on human rights activists and political protests has been widely condemned by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. We speak to Amnestys Egypt Researcher, Nicholas Piachaud. You can find previous editions of World in Focus here. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Russias combined forces destroyed four militant sites and 1,800 pieces of ammunition within a week, the National Guard (Russian Guard) said Tuesday. "Combined forces with Russian Guard units destroyed four bandit infrastructure objects, nine firearms and 1,800 pieces of ammunition in the North Caucasus region over the past week," the federal executive body said. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Rosturism and the Russian Embassy in Iran appealed to the Foreign Ministry with a request to allocate additional personnel to the consulate in Tehran, Safonov said, adding that five new vacancies had been opened at the consulate, but it proved insufficient. "In February, we opened a Visit Russia office in Iran. In 2015, the number of visas issued in Russia doubled, reaching 49,000. This year, we see even more significant growth," Safonov told RIA Novosti. He said that the growth in the number of tourists showed that Russia was very popular with the Iranians, and on the other hand, it was clear that it was necessary to take certain steps to provide for a new visa principle. Archeological team Meotida began excavation back in 2014. Traces of soil formed in ancient times led archeologists to believe that the ancient constructions were at the time abandoned by its inhabitants and remained deserted for some time. Some time later, the houses were destroyed by natural causes. Archeologists also believe that the settlement depopulated due to an unpleasant military-political situation in the region, but this remains just a theory. During the summer expedition, archeologists also explored caves and the outskirts of a mud volcano on the Azov Sea coast in the eastern part of Crimea. Failing to figure out the second digit on the trailers side, they just designated it as Buk 3x2. This time round, Bellingcat experts compared photos of a Buk system made during a June 2014 march by the 53rd antiaircraft brigade across the territory of Russias Belgorod region with that of a Buk made by Paris Match tabloid near Donetsk in Ukraine. They ignored the complete lack of any material proof or eyewitness accounts of a column of Buks or a single such unit having crossed the Ukrainian border. There has been no mention of any Buk with 3x2 on its side found on social networks. Moreover, the famous photo of a Russian Buk, allegedly being moved from Donbass back into Russia, presented by Ukrainian officials was actually made in Donetsk on March 19, 2014. Comparing the dents and scratches visible on the Buks shown in these photos, the Bellingcat specialists missed one important detail proving that the Buk belonging to Russias 53rd antiaircraft brigade and featuring 3x2 on its side, and the one being moved on a trailer in Ukraine, are two different units! The Buk photographed in Belgorod features a drop side on its back, which is totally missing on the trailer carried Buk shown in the photograph made in Ukraine. This means that Bellingcats allegations that the 3x2 (or 332) Buk belonging to Russias 53rd antiaircraft brigade had anything to do with the July 17, 2014 downing of the Malaysian airliner simply hold no water. There were Ukrainian Buks in the area of the MH17 crash Right after the July 17 tragedy, Kiev authorities insisted that there had been no Ukrainian antiaircraft installations in the vicinity of the crash site. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Saturday, a space industry source told RIA Novosti that the launch of Russia's Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft scheduled for September 23 was delayed due to a technical fault involving a short circuit that was revealed during a test. "The Russian side has informed the NASA central office of the preliminary plans to launch the manned Soyuz MS-02 on November 1, Koptev told RIA Novosti. Koptev added that the final decision on the launch date is set to be made by Russia's space agency Roscosmos. Sputnik spoke to leading drug expert, Steve Rolles, who is senior policy analysts at Transform. Mr. Rolles sees, on a frequent basis, the impact this drug is having on people's lives. "Its potency makes illicit use particularly risky, even a small miscalculation with dosage can be fatal. It can however, be used safely in a medical context. Many people use fentanyl skin patches for example. These are safe when used as directed, but not when the fentanyl is extracted and injected as has become a common practice," Mr. Rolles told Sputnik. Today, we are asking the feds to bring in harsher sentences for those moving fentanyl into our communities #ableg https://t.co/nvCwa7aUTq Brian Jean (@BrianJeanWRP) September 16, 2016 "In terms of touching or inhaling, the risk for police is very small, and there's a risk of pandering to media panics. On the other hand they [the police] have to prioritize their safety. Gloves and face-masks for example, are common for dealing with dangerous substances, drug labs and so on." However the fact remains, this drug is a risk and solutions must be put in place to safeguard vulnerable people, according to Mr. Rolles. Opiate users substitute between different opiate drugs depending on what is cheap and available. There has been a switch in the US from diverted prescription opiates to heroin since the prescription regimes were tightened up. A key safety issue with street heroin is its variable potency and how that increases an overdose risk. "This has become a more acute crisis since fentanyl became an increasingly common adulterant in heroin. Again, its potency means that miscalculating dosage and overdosing becomes far more likely. The reason it has become more prevalent is simply a matter of economics diverted or illicit fentanyl is cheaper and more accessible to illicit dealers than imported heroin," Mr. Rolles told Sputnik. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Russia grounded charter flights to Red Sea resort cities after an Airbus A321 plane flying to St. Petersburg crashed soon after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh on October 31. All 224 people aboard died as a result of what was classified by the Russian authorities as a terrorist attack. "In the event of a resumption of charter services with Egypt to the seaside resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada it is possible that up to 500 flights a month could be carried out, which is comparable to the current volume of charter transportation to Turkey," the ATOR stated. Earlier in the day, an informed Egyptian source told RIA Novosti that Egyptian authorities await Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolovs visit as part of the country's delegation between September 26 and September 29. These issues came just three days after the Montgomery underwent a commissioning ceremony in Mobile, Alabama. The ship had to forgo its trip to San Diego and was rerouted to Florida. The Montgomery is the third littoral ship in three weeks to have major engine problems. After several years of official reviews noting failures in the propulsion systems and raising questions about basic functions, the Navy announced in early September that it would amend its methodology for crew rotation and training. Equipment modules and mission swapping will receive less attention as well, though they were originally considered a key attribute of the ships. Naval Surface Force Commander Vice Adm. Tom Rowden stated that "Implementing the approved recommendations from this review and continuing to examine other areas for improvement will better position the LCS program for success both now and in the future." "Unscrambling those eggs may well not be possible." Cruz and Wisconsin Representative Sean Duffy introduced the Protecting Internet Freedom Act, a rider to a spending bill that must be passed by Congress by September 30. "There is a broad range of important questions on both law and policy that remain outstanding with respect to the proposed transfer," reads a letter signed by multiple Republican lawmakers and addressed to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. Despite the outcry from Congressional Republicans, the transition has support from a variety of sectors, including tech giants. In another tweet, Temkin linked to an article written by Amnesty International in support of Snowden. In the piece, Amnesty Internationals Secretary General Salil Shetty said, "Edward Snowden clearly acted in the public interest. He sparked one of the most important debates about government surveillance in decades, and brought about a global movement in defence of privacy in the digital age. Punishing him for this sends out the dangerous message that those who witness human rights violations behind closed doors should not speak out." Temkin, who raised nearly $400,000 for Clintons campaign, partly through an "America Votes with Cards Against Humanity" special edition of his popular card game, commented that he was "proud to join many of my heroes and call for Obama to pardon Snowden." Two months ago US media reported that the Air Force intends to start with a low-cost OA-X to act in support of the A-10 in low-threat environments, later getting an A-X to replace the A-10 Warthog fleet in conducting close air support for more dangerous missions. According to Lt. Gen. James M. "Mike" Holmes, Air Force deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, the projected purchases would not eliminate the Warthog from service. In fact, the retirement of the A-10 program could be moved back from 2022, to a later year, due primarily to fifth-generation fighter high operating costs. In spite of the A-10's robust reputation, Air Force representatives have stated that a new light attack craft is necessary to provide the service with a much less expensive option in their fight against global extremism, a fight that is not expected to end any time soon. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The State Department noted that terrorists formed JAA in 2012 as a subunit of al-Nusra Front terrorist group, currently known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. "As a result of this designation, all property subject to US jurisdiction in which JAA has any interest is blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with JAA," the release stated. In March 2015, JAA carried out two suicide bombing attacks at checkpoints in Idlib. On Monday, Washington police closed Pennsylvania Avenue near the museum-laden National Mall to investigate a suspicious package in the area, but streets were soon reopened The closures follow a series of bomb explosions in the US states of New Jersey and New York on Saturday, and the discovery on Sunday of additional improvised devices. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The New York Attorney Generals Office is probing the alleged misuse of funds by the Trump Foundation, ABC news reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Earlier on Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that Trump used his charitable foundations money to pay legal settlements, which may have violated tax laws in the United States. The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Trumps charity isnt a credible organization. When talking about terrorism, it must be understood what a terrorist seeks to accomplish by their actions. Why, for instance, do Islamic jihadists travel the globe, take advantage of an "open immigration system," and attempt to create chaos among the local populace? Is it far-fetched to opine that terrorists sow chaos in Europe and the US because they want to counter a US-led invasion and continuous military presence in their home country? Or is it easier to believe that a "terrorist" kills people purely out of hatred and bloodlust, and because they are inherently evil? Kiriakou agreed, admitting that the current state of the War on Terror, as waged by the United States, is played by politicians as a "clash of civilizations," a fight of incompatible cultures and religions. But that clash image is far from the truth. "The truth is that we don't live in that neighborhood and eventually we will have to go home," he said. "And the bad guys' know that eventually we are going to go home. So their idea is, as long as it is possible, kill as many people overseas as possible so that American society, the American people change their mind and eventually go home and stay home." There are few "Muslim" terrorists in the United States, he says, and most attacks have been conducted by home-grown far-right or anti-government radicals. Seemingly-normal, radicalized, white Americans are considered to be the main terror threat by law enforcement. "Interestingly enough, if you look into the statistics about who actually engaged in a majority of the attacks in the US since 9/11, it has actually been the far-right," Weeks said. "It is often conveniently left out, and very few people actually know about it, but it's not typically the Muslim terrorists that most in law enforcement are worrying about." It is very difficult, however, to profile an actual home-bred terrorist, both experts state. "A few years ago," said Kiriakou, "the US Senate Foreign Relations committee came up with a report that has been largely overlooked by the press, that [the terrorists] were not foreign-born or US-born children of foreign people, but there are dozens and dozens of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Americans who convert to Islam sometimes in prison and then go to places like Afghanistan or Pakistan or Yemen where they are further radicalized, sometimes they marry the local women, who come back by the US passport." "It's those native-born Americans, if you will, who pose a more dangerous and more immediate threat than foreign nationals," he stated. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage, who played the role of a former US Intelligence official in the recently-released film Snowden, said Tuesday he did not take sides in the case of the famous whistleblower, but wanted to reflect the story that "changed the world." "The Snowden story is something I have been watching closely. It has changed the world, I wanted to reflect that," Cage told reporters. He added that "an actor's job is not to send messages, but to be a mirror, to reflect." Therefore, Cage noted he wanted to tell the story of the whistleblower, but from a neutral position. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Miller added that the decision was especially disturbing following a weekend in which dozens were wounded in Islamist-inspired attacks in the United States. "The decision to honor the wife of a terrorist by Hillary Clintons foundation shows a complete lack of judgment and a callousness that should disqualify her from holding the presidency," Miller stated. Al-Hroub's wife, Hasan, is scheduled to speak at a Tuesday evening event hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative, an arm of the Clinton Foundation, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. MOSCOW (Sputnik) An attempted coup in Turkey in the summer was aimed against democracy in the whole world, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday when addressing the UN General Assembly in New York City. "It should never be forgotten that the failed coup in Turkey was aimed at the global democracy as well. Our nation taught a historical lesson to those intending to plot coup attempts, and became a source of inspiration for all nations committed to the protection of democracy," Erdogan said. An attempted military coup took place in Turkey on July 15. It was suppressed the following day. Turkish authorities have accused US-based dissident cleric Fetullah Gulen of having incited the coup and demanded his extradition. Following the coup, thousands of people, mostly officials, legal and educational workers, were detained or dismissed, commonly over alleged ties to Gulenists. Several blocks around the UN headquarters in New York were surrounded by police and armed special agents as world leaders gathered for the 71st General Assembly meeting. Just a few days ago bomb blasts in New York's Chelsea district and in the Seaside Park neighborhood in New Jersey caused havoc in the region. On Monday police arrested the suspected bomber, a 28-year-old man of Afghan descent named Ahmad Khan Rahami. Now 15 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and eight years after the Democratic Senator from Illinois Barack Obama became President, tensions in the Big Apple, and in the US in general, are high. Traffic jams caused by VIP arrivals and increased security measures were so dire that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was forced to leave his car and walk the remainder of the way to the UN building, following morning talks with US counterpart Secretary of State John Kerry. Manhattan traffic was blocked because of @BarackObama motorcade. #Lavrov decided not to wait in traffic jam & headed to @UN by walking pic.twitter.com/L4XVBsvU1d MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) September 20, 2016 President Obama is one of the few people who was not forced to submit to multiple security screenings on the way to the UN, and there is no such thing as traffic for his motorcade, but he was nonetheless 30 minutes late for his address. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein The United Nations is not prepared to provide long-term aid if the root causes of the migration crisis take a generation to address, the 70th UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Mogens Lykketoft told Sputnik on Tuesday. "We are working to mobilize in each and every nation the understanding that this is a common problem, and if you dont come to attacking the root causes of the problem, they will come to you as a destabilization of the global community," Lykketoft said of the migration crisis. Asked specifically if the United Nations was prepared to wage a humanitarian aid campaign in response to conflicts that have been described as generational, Lykketoft stated bluntly, "No, I do not think the United Nations is up to it." Industry News Accountant Reconsiders Plea in Online Charter School Founder's Tax Fraud An accountant charged with helping the founder and former CEO of Pennsylvanias largest online charter school avoid federal income taxes on more than $8 million siphoned from the school has reconsidered a guilty plea, the accountants defense attorney told the Associated Press Monday. Attorney Stan Levenson previously told the AP that Neil Prence would plead guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit tax fraud. But Prences appearance before a federal judge in Pittsburgh was postponed until Sept. 28 after Levenson said Prence needs additional time to consider the plea. Prence is charged along with Nicholas Trombetta, 61, who pleaded guilty to the fraud last month involving the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School. The Midland-based school more commonly known as PA Cyber accepts public students from districts throughout the state that pay it to educate children. The school had more than 11,000 students when Trombetta was charged three years ago, and still has more than 9,000, according to the AP. Trombetta acknowledged using the schools money to purchase, among other things, a $933,000 condominium in Florida, houses in Ohio for his mother and girlfriend, a $300,000 plane and other personal expenses. Trombetta reportedly stashed most of the money away in retirement, the AP said. Hell be sentenced Dec. 20. Before Mondays hearing, Levenson told the AP that Prence is a well-respected professional with no prior criminal history. He has taken responsibility for his conduct and will be seeking a non-incarceration sentence. Levenson didnt say why Prence decide to reconsider the guilty plea. Industry News ISTE appoints Cheryl Scott Williams Interim CEO The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has appointed Cheryl Scott Williams interim CEO, the trade organization announced Monday. Williams is a nationally recognized leader in education reform, with extensive experience leading nonprofit boards and building successful board-staff relationships. She was most recently the executive director of the Learning First Alliance. She will lead the work of the organization while the ISTE board conducts a search for its next CEO. Cheryl Scott Williams Cheryl brings the experience and leadership capabilities that ISTE needs to guide us through this time of transition, said ISTE Board Chair Kecia Ray in a prepared statement. We look forward to working with her as she collaborates with staff to continue to provide ISTE members with the resources they need to fulfill ISTEs mission and create a world where all learners thrive, achieve and contribute. Williams replaces Brian Lewis, who unexpectedly stepped down as CEO Sept. 10. No reason was given for his departure. Lewis joined ISTE as CEO in June 2012, after 25 years in both public and private sectors. He had previously been the chief strategy officer and interim CEO for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. ISTE is a prominent trade organization, representing some 100,000 education professionals involved in education technology. Its activities include professional development, political advocacy, information dissemination and standards development. The organization publishes digital literacy standards for teachers, students and administrators. It also works to advocate policies to expand the use of technology in schools. ISTE may be best known for its large annual conference it stages every summer, which draws thousands of educators, administrators, companies and press. ISTE organizes hundreds of workshops, panels, lectures, presentations and exhibits for the conference, which was held in Denver at the end of June. ISTE 2017 will be held June 25-28 in San Antonio, TX. Lewis could not be reached for comment. In a statement, Williams said, I look forward to working with the ISTE board and staff during this time of transition. It has been exciting to see how ISTE has grown over the past years and Im anxious to connect with education technology leaders in the field to gather their wisdom as we move forward. A longtime ISTE member, Williams served as ISTE board president from 2002-2004. She is also a past board chair of the Consortium for School Networking, and past board member of the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training. Prior to leading the Learning First Alliance, Williams served as a senior consultant at the American Productivity and Quality Center. She was previously vice president, strategic initiatives, at Teachscape, a San Francisco-based company that designs and delivers online, job-embedded professional development for teachers and principals. In addition, she has served as vice president of education at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and spent 14 years directing the education technology program at the National School Boards Association. Williams began her career in education as an English language arts teacher in Montgomery County, MD, and Fairfax County, VA. She holds both a bachelors and masters degree in English and secondary education from the University of Maryland, College Park. Student Information Systems Elk Grove USD Adopts SIS to Help Meet Mandates and Fulfill District's Vision Elk Grove Unified School District in California plans to implement a new student information system (SIS) with an integrated gradebook, parent and student portals, scheduling capabilities and an online registration system. The district sought out a new SIS in order to comply with "demanding external mandates" and the district's own E4 learning vision of "Every Student, Learning in Every Classroom, in Every Subject, Every Day." Following a vetting process, district leaders selected the Synergy Education Platform from Edupoint Educational Systems based on its ability to meet those requirements, as well as the company's "focus on solutions, implementation and support," according to a news release. "We thoroughly vetted Edupoint and the Synergy solution by contacting numerous other districts using Synergy, and each one had positive feedback about both the product and the company," said Steve Mate, director of technology services administration for Elk Grove USD, in a prepared statement. The underlying technology on which Synergy was built was also a contributing factor in the decision. "Synergy's .NET platform will prove to be a great technology fit and will enable us to customize and integrate with other solutions currently in use districtwide," added Mate. The district plans to implement several components of the Synergy Education Platform, including Synergy SIS, TeacherVUE with Gradebook, the ParentVUE and StudentVUE portals, Master Scheduler Builder, Synergy Online Registration and the Synergy Technology Development Toolkit. The school district will begin converting its student data to the new SIS soon and go live with Synergy in July 2017. STEM Oakland USD Opens New STEM Academy Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in California plans to open its new Computer Science and Technology Academy at Skyline High School. The academy is a six-year early college high school program developed as a public-private partnership between OUSD, SAP, Berkeley City College (BCC) and the Career Ladders Project. Participating students will have the opportunity to develop technical skills and earn professional certifications. SAP will provide students with "employee mentors and workplace learning opportunities within SAP," according to a news release. Those who complete the program successfully will earn both a high school diploma and a technology-focused associate degree from BCC, "free of charge." "Living in the Bay Area, our students know well the opportunity that lies ahead of them with advanced skills in technology," said Antwan Wilson, superintendent of OUSD, in a prepared statement. "The opening of the Computer Science & Technology Academy at Skyline High School creates a critical pathway for our students to reach that opportunity. SAP has funded other six-year early college high school programs, including BTECH in Queens, New York; C-Town Tech in Boston, Massachusetts; and Templeton Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia. OUSD and SAP co-hosted a celebration event at Skyline High School on Friday, September 16, 2016. Attendees included academy students, teachers, family members and SAP employees, as well as Reggie Jackson of the Oakland A's; Venus Johnson, Associate Attorney General of California; and David Silver, Chief of Education for Oakland. Tweakers maakt gebruik van cookies Tweakers plaatst functionele en analytische cookies voor het functioneren van de website en het verbeteren van de website-ervaring. Deze cookies zijn noodzakelijk. Om op Tweakers relevantere advertenties te tonen en om ingesloten content van derden te tonen (bijvoorbeeld video's), vragen we je toestemming. Via ingesloten content kunnen derde partijen diensten leveren en verbeteren, bezoekersstatistieken bijhouden, gepersonaliseerde content tonen, gerichte advertenties tonen en gebruikersprofielen opbouwen. Hiervoor worden apparaatgegevens, IP-adres, geolocatie en surfgedrag vastgelegd. Meer informatie vind je in ons cookiebeleid. LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Benchmark gasoline refining margins in northwest Europe dropped on Tuesday by more than $2 to $11 a barrel as a major pipeline in the U.S. East Coast was set to resume operations. * U.S. gasoline futures plummeted after Colonial Pipeline said the restart for Line 01 is now projected for Wednesday. It will take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal, it said. * Maintenance in Europe and lower refinery gasoline yields in recent weeks have supported refining margins, which are at their highest since February. * Large volumes continued to be exported to Canada, Latin America and West Africa in recent days though the flow to the U.S East Coast has so far remained relatively subdued, traders said. * Strong demand from Latin America, tighter export volumes from the U.S. Gulf Coast and refinery issues on the West Coast further supported the market. * Gasoline shipments via sea into the east coast of the United States rose by about 58 percent in the past week, data from Panjiva shows, as Colonial Pipeline attempts to restart its main gasoline line completely after a leak. * Saudi Arabia's Aramco said on Tuesday it had put out a fire at its Ras Tanura terminal where eight individuals were injured including two Aramco employees. In a statement posted on the company's website, the energy company said the fire had not affected operations. GASOLINE * No barges of benchmark ebob gasoline traded. Offers were seen at $473 a tonne fob ARA. * Some 10,000 tonnes traded earlier in the day at $471-$474 a tonne fob Amsterdam-Rotterdam, compared with $489 a tonne on Monday. BP, Gunvor and Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) sold to Rolympus, Shell and Trafigura. * Rolympus sold to Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) seven barges of premium unleaded gasoline at $481 a tonne fob ARA, down from $504 a tonne the previous session. * The October swap stood at around $451.50 a tonne at the close, down from $468 a tonne. Story continues * Gasoline barge refining margins declined to $11.05 from $13.23 a barrel on Monday. * Brent crude oil futures were up 15 cents at $46.10 a barrel by 1530 GMT. * U.S. October RBOB gasoline futures were down 3.13 percent at 1.3773 a gallon. * The U.S. gasoline crack (RB-CL1=R) was trading at $13.86 a barrel, down from $17.04 a barrel. NAPHTHA (NAF-C-NWE) * Glencore (Frankfurt: 8GC.F - news) sold a cargo to Gunvor at $390 a tonne cif NWE, down from $395.50 tonne. (Reporting by Ron Bousso) The chairman of a powerful parliamentary committee is urging watchdogs to probe a takeover deal that will see the retirement scheme of Bernard Matthews, the turkey producer, being absorbed by an industry-funded lifeboat. Sky News can reveal that Frank Field, the Labour MP who has led demands for Sir Philip Green to plug a vast hole in the BHS pension scheme, is calling on the Pensions Regulator to investigate the circumstances of Bernard Matthews' imminent sale to Ranjit Boparan, the food industry tycoon. A deal known as a pre-pack administration - under which a buyer is lined up to take on a company's assets, but without liabilities such as its pension deficit - is expected to be finalised as soon as Tuesday, according to City sources. It will involve Mr Boparan's private vehicle acquiring the assets of Bernard Matthews, before they are integrated into his broader poultry empire, 2 Sisters Food Group. Deloitte, the administrator, is understood to have struck a deal preserving all 2,000 jobs at the Norfolk-based company. However, the meat producer's pension liabilities will pass to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), meaning that hundreds of current and former employees at Bernard Matthews face having their retirement payments cut. Bernard Matthews' defined benefit scheme is said to have a deficit of approximately 16m and roughly 750 members, although these numbers were not confirmed by either the company or its current owner, Rutland Partners, a private equity investor. Rutland and 2 Sisters both declined to comment. Under PPF rules, existing pensioners would not see their payments change but could see reductions to future increases, while members who are yet to retire will see their payouts discounted by 10%. Speaking to Sky News on Monday evening, Mr Field said: "The new employer must not be allowed to get away with dumping the Bernard Matthews pension scheme into which workers have paid. "The Pensions Regulator needs to act robustly and quickly to stop such activities being mimicked by other asset buyers who wish to dump pension liabilities. Story continues "We cannot have firms changing ownership at the price of pensions being dumped with the Pension Protection Fund - such dumping involves promises being broken, and the cuts in benefit that result." A spokesman for the Pensions Regulator declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Bernard Matthews' impending pre-pack administration, but said further investigations could be warranted when schemes passed to the PPF. "The trustees and/or the PPF may alert us if they become aware of circumstances that merit further consideration of the use of our moral hazard powers and again in those circumstances we may decide to open an investigation," the regulator said. Known for its "Bootiful" advertising catchphrase, Bernard Matthews has been lossmaking for years. One insider said Mr Boparan had proposed a deal to Rutland that would have involved him taking on Bernard Matthews' pension liabilities - thereby preventing the scheme passing to the PPF - but it would have required the current owner writing off millions of pounds in loan notes. That proposal is said to have been unacceptable to Rutland. Bernard Matthews, which was put up for sale in June , is named after its founder, who in 1950 set up the business by buying 20 eggs and a second-hand incubator. He sold the dozen turkeys which hatched to a local farmer for the equivalent of 9 in today's money. The company has grown substantially since then, and now operates across 50 farms and breeds, raises and processes more than seven million turkeys in the UK annually. Its financial fortunes have fluctuated, however, and the company has been dogged by persistent speculation about its future as well as criticism from the likes of Jamie Oliver, about the nutritional content of its Turkey Twizzler products. In July, it announced the sale of its German subsidiary for 14m (12m) in an attempt to reduce debt Last year's accounts show that in the year to 28 June 2015 sales fell to 276.8m from 306.8m during the previous 12 months. It made an operating loss last year of close to 1m, and its directors said that investors including Rutland had injected an additional 10m of funding in August 2015. A PPF spokesman said: "We can't comment on the circumstances of this company. "In the event of an insolvency event at a company with an eligible pension scheme, members can be reassured that we are there to protect them." Financial crises at BHS, Bernard Matthews and Tata Steel (BSE: TATASTEEL.BO - news) have reinforced the PPF's importance as a safety net for members of defined benefit pension schemes. Insiders said that the PPF would announce on Tuesday the appointment of Ian Scott, a former investment strategist at Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and Lehman Brothers, to the new role of head of investment strategy. The PPF now has more than 23bn in invested assets, including holdings in the Thames Tideway Tunnel and the London Gateway port. It is also participating in one of the bids for the Green Investment Bank, which the Government is seeking to privatise. Mr Scott's recruitment comes as the PPF brings a greater share of its investment activity in-house, and will involve him taking a senior role in its asset allocation strategy. The PPF declined to comment on his appointment. BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev canceled a trip to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday after suffering chest pains during the first leg of his flight, his office said. "According to doctors' preliminary conclusion, the head of state has displayed symptoms of heart problems," it said in a statement, adding that he was in Turkey. Atambayev turned 60 last week. "Because of this, President Atambayev will undergo a medical examination and will be under the supervision of doctors for some time," it said. Atambayev, who has run the formerly Soviet Central Asian republic since 2011, had previously displayed no obvious signs of poor health. The mostly Muslim nation of six million has been volatile for over a decade. Violent protests in 2005 and 2010 toppled two successive presidents. Atambayev has pledged to step down when his term ends in December 2017 and not seek re-election. Kyrgyzstan, which hosts a Russian air base, has cultivated close relations with Moscow under Atambayev, whose Social Democratic party is also the leading partner in the ruling parliamentary coalition. Under the Kyrgyz constitution, a president who is unfit to perform his duties may be relieved of the post by parliament, whose speaker becomes acting president. Kyrgyzstan's neighbor Uzbekistan, the region's most populous nation of 32 million, is in the middle of a transition of power after Islam Karimov, its ruler for 27 years, died this month at the age of 78. (Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko; writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Polina Devitt and Tom Heneghan) SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported on Tuesday, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the isolated state. Kim asked that the scientists and engineers make "preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test," the official KCNA news agency said, indicating the North may soon launch another long-range rocket. The test was conducted amid global condemnation of the North's fifth nuclear test this month and a call by the United States, Japan and South Korea this week for greater pressure on Pyongyang over its disregard for United Nations resolutions banning missile and nuclear programs. North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under Kim's direction, including the launch of a satellite in February that was widely seen as a test of long-range ballistic missile technology. "Kim Jong Un ... visited the Sohae Space Centre to guide the ground jet test of a new type high-power engine of a carrier rocket for the geo-stationary satellite," KCNA said. The Sohae centre is the North's newly upgraded rocket station where the February launch of a satellite and other rocket tests have been conducted. "This test is another important development pointing to the first launch of a bigger, better space vehicle to place satellites in higher orbits, which could happen in the not too distant future, said Joel Wit, founder of the 38 North website, which monitors North Korea. A satellite image from Sept. 17 provided to Reuters by Washington-based 38 North showed preparations for an engine test, including a heavy crane over the vertical engine test stand and a shelter that would house the rocket engine. North Korea earlier this month fired three missiles that flew about 1,000 km (600 miles) each and in August tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that international experts said showed considerable progress. It also launched an intermediate-range missile in June that experts said marked a technological advance for the isolated state after several test failures. (Reporting by Jack Kim and James Pearson; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Lincoln Feast) RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has arrested 17 suspected Islamic State sympathisers accused of plotting attacks on religious officials, security forces, civilian districts and economic and military targets, the interior ministry said on Monday. Fourteen of those arrested are Saudi nationals, including one woman, ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki told state television news channel Ekhbariya, which broadcast photographs of the accused. The other three detainees were Yemeni, Egyptian and Palestinian, he said. "The activities of this network went beyond the kingdom's borders to provide technical and media support for Daesh," said Turki, using an Arabic acronym for the Iraq and Syria-based Islamist militant group. The cells had planned attacks on targets including the Shi'ite Imam al-Rida mosque in the eastern Saudi city of al-Ahsa, a public security training facility in Riyadh and an oil pipeline west of the capital city, said Turki. They also conspired to plant an explosive device on the car of an employee of the Ministry of Defence in Riyadh. The arrests followed months of investigation into the network, Turki said, adding that the militants had prepared more than 25,000 kg of adhesive bombs and explosive belts. Authorities also seized pipe bombs, firearms, silencers and cash in excess of 600,000 riyals ($160,000). Local Saudi affiliates of the Islamic State group have carried out several deadly shootings and bombings in the conservative kingdom, many targeting security personnel and Shi'ite mosques. Islamic State is bitterly hostile to the Gulf Arab monarchies and is seen to be trying to stoke Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian confrontation in Arabian peninsula states to destabilise and ultimately overthrow them. (Reporting by Katie Paul and Omar Fahmy, Editing by William Maclean and Gareth Jones) Theresa May has pressed Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani over the case of a British-Iranian woman jailed for allegedly plotting to overthrow the country's government. Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed for five years earlier this month, and the Prime Minister used her first meeting with President Rouhani to push for progress on the case. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead in northwest London, was arrested at Imam Khomeini airport on 3 April as she was flying back home to Britain after visiting family with her two-year-old daughter Gabriella. She is being cared for by her grandparents in Tehran while Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 37, is in Evin prison. Speaking to Sky News before the meeting, her husband Richard Ratcliffe said the situation has been frustrating. Asked what he wanted Mrs May to say to Mr Rouhani, he said: "Just to press personally that this is a real priority for her and for the British Government - that Iran cannot keep taking, in our case, a mother and a baby, and in other cases of British families, taking them hostage while they make a deal." Mr Ratcliffe added: "The Government clearly does things behind the scenes I don't know about - but six months have passed that they've been held there." The meeting between the PM and Mr Rouhani happened on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. A UK Government source said: "When you tend to see the Prime Minister raise these types of issues with leaders, you don't expect an immediate outcome that day but hopefully you can try and unlock some momentum in the system." Mrs May is understood to have raised concerns about the charges and the sentencing. The source indicated future relations with Tehran could be affected by the case, saying: "We think it is important with all the relations we have with countries around the world, that we can engage frankly where there are consular issues that need resolving. Story continues "I think our view is if we are going to have a productive relationship with Iran moving forward, if Iran wants to increase its reputation for working with international partners on things, then we should be able to raise such issues and discuss them while continuing to develop a relationship." Last July, Iran reached a deal with Britain, along with Russia, the US, France, Germany and China which saw international sanctions on the country lifted after it agreed to curb its nuclear programme. The deal placed restrictions of the sort of nuclear reactor it could develop, but did not require it to halt its use of nuclear energy entirely. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced 24 hours after the UK resumed diplomatic relations with Iran. NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's fifth nuclear test, the White House said. U.N. diplomats say China and the United States have started discussions on a possible U.N. sanctions resolution in response to the test earlier this month, but Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against North Korea. Obama met Li on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. "Both leaders condemned North Koreas September 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea," a White House statement said. China is isolated North Korea's most important diplomatic backer and its biggest trading partner. It has been angered by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and signed on to increasingly tough U.N. sanctions, but it has said it believes such steps are not the ultimate answer and called for a return to talks with North Korea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart last week China opposes "unhelpful" unilateral sanctions on North Korea but will work within the United Nations to formulate a necessary response. Washington has pressed Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea. The United States has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if the country commits to get rid of its nuclear weapons, which Pyongyang has refused to do. The White House said Obama and Li also discussed the U.S.-China economic relationship and its importance to the global economy. "The President encouraged China to accelerate its continuing efforts to address industrial excess capacity, foster an environment conducive to innovation, and advance an orderly transition to a market-determined exchange rate," the statement said. It said Obama also urged Beijing to establish a level playing field for all firms to compete fairly in China and that he and Li discussed the importance of achieving progress in negotiation of a U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty and of a World Trade Organization Environmental Goods Agreement. The statement added that the two leaders discussed climate issues and pledged to continue working toward bringing the Paris agreement into force as early as possible and to reach a market-based measure to reduce international aviation emissions. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, David Brunnstrom, Michelle Nichols and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Bill Rigby) Embattled District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said during a Tuesday morning news conference, Im not going to be running for a fifth term for district attorney. My last day in office will be December 31st. The announcement came on the deadline day for candidates seeking to replace her to file with the office of the secretary of state. Brandenburg, 61, a Democrat, the daughter of former District Attorney James Brandenburg, has been in office for 15 years, making her not only the first female district attorney in the 2nd Judicial District, but its longest-serving DA. Pressed on why she was not seeking re-election, she said quite simply, Im tired. Future plans include going into private practice initially, though she didnt rule out seeking another elective office. Im not saying no to anything, she said. In January 2015, she filed murder charges against two officers involved in the March 2014 shooting of homeless camper James Boyd in the Sandia foothills. It was the first time that murder charges had been filed against an Albuquerque police officer for an on-duty shooting since Brandenburg became district attorney in 2001. Attorneys for the officers almost immediately sought to have Brandenburg and her office disqualified because of serious conflicts of interest, such as Deputy District Attorney Deborah DePalo acting as the on-scene adviser from the DAs Office during the Boyd shooting. District Judge Alisa Hadfield eventually ruled to disqualify Brandenburg and her office in favor of a special prosecutor. Brandenburg herself was under suspicion for possible bribery and witness intimidation in connection with an Albuquerque Police Department burglary and larceny investigation involving her troubled 26-year-old son, Justin Koch. APD found probable cause to charge Brandenburg but sent the case to the Attorney Generals Office for review in November. Brandenburg denied any wrongdoing and claimed APD was retaliating for her decision to charge the two officers. Eventually she was cleared by state Attorney General Hector Balderas. Often at odds with the local news media, Brandenburg on Tuesday sounded a conciliatory note. I can think of no greater curse on any public official than not to have a strong media scrutinize everything they do, because that makes us better, she said. It has made me better. Citing accomplishments from her time in office, Brandenburg said she worked with neighborhood associations and police to rid neighborhoods of nuisance buildings where criminal activity had been taking place; started the felony DWI division; and challenged the premise of the Capital Jury Project, which basically said the death penalty is unconstitutional. Three people Tuesday filed as district attorney candidates in the primary election on June 7: Democrat Raul Torrez, a former assistant U.S. attorney for New Mexico, an assistant state attorney general, and an assistant district attorney for the 13th Judicial District in Valencia County; Democrat Ed Perea, a former Albuquerque police commander and a special prosecutor in the 13th Judicial District; and Republican Simon A. Kubiak, an Albuquerque criminal defense attorney focusing on DWI cases. MANILA, Philippines Abu Sayyaf extremists on Saturday freed a Norwegian man kidnapped a year ago in the southern Philippines with two Canadians who were later beheaded and a Filipino woman who has been released by the ransom-seeking militants, officials said. Kjartan Sekkingstad was freed in Patikul town in Sulu province and was eventually secured by rebels from the larger Moro National Liberation Front, which has signed a peace deal with the government and helped negotiate his release, Philippine government officials said. Sekkingstad, held in jungle captivity since being kidnapped last September, was to stay overnight at the house of Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari in Sulu and then be flown to the southern city of Davao on Sunday to meet with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, said Jesus Dureza, who advises Duterte on peace talks with insurgent groups. A plan to fly the freed hostage out of Sulu, a jungle-clad Muslim region about 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila, on Saturday was scrapped because of bad weather, Dureza said. Dureza said that when he spoke on the phone with Sekkingstad, the Norwegian expressed his gratitude to Duterte. It was not immediately clear whether Sekkingstad had been ransomed off. Duterte suggested in a news conference last month that 50 million pesos ($1 million) had been paid to the militants, but that they continued to hold on to him. The military said Saturday that relentless assaults forced the extremists to release the hostage. Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende confirmed Sekkingstads release and said he was in contact with Dureza. Borge said he was told that Sekkingstad would be likely handed over to the Philippine authorities on Sunday. We are following the situation closely and are now working together with the Philippine authorities to bring Sekkingstad to safety, Brende said in a statement. We continue to work on it and we will not rejoice before Sekkingstad is safe and sound with the Philippine authorities. Sekkingstad fell ill while in captivity, according to a Philippine army officer who helped monitor the kidnapping. Under the intense pressure of focused military operations, the terrorist kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf group was constrained to release Sekkingstad, as holding him under custody slows down their continued movement, said military spokesman Col. Edgard Arevalo. Military chief Gen. Ricardo Visaya warned the militants to release their other captives, including a Dutch birdwatcher and Indonesian and Malaysian tugboat crewmen, or suffer annihilation. While Duterte has pursued peace talks with Misuaris group and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, he has ordered the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, a smaller but more brutal band that the president says aims to establish an Islamic state or caliphate. They are no longer hungry for autonomy. They are hungry for a fight to establish a caliphate in Southeast Asia, Duterte told troops on Saturday, although his predecessors have regarded the militants as a loose collective of bandits. Sekkingstad was kidnapped from a marina on southern Samal Island on Sept. 21, 2015, with Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall and Halls Filipino girlfriend, Marites Flor, sparking a massive land and sea search by Philippine forces. The Abu Sayyaf demanded a huge ransom for the release of the foreigners, and released videos in which they threatened the captives in a lush jungle clearing where they displayed Islamic State group-style black flags. Ridsdel was beheaded in April and Hall was decapitated in June after ransom deadlines lapsed. When Flor was freed in June, she recounted in horror how the militants rejoiced while watching the beheadings. Its so painful because I saw them moments before they got beheaded, Flor told reporters in June in Davao, where she was flown to meet then President-elect Duterte. They were watching it and they were happy, she said of the militants, adding that she did not witness the killings. Government forces launched a major offensive against the Abu Sayyaf after the beheadings of the Canadians sparked condemnations from then-Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called on other nations not to pay ransoms if their citizens are abducted to discourage the brutal militants from carrying out more kidnappings. The Abu Sayyaf has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the Philippines for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. Without any known foreign funding, the extremists have relied on ransom kidnappings, extortion and other acts of banditry, and some commanders have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group partly in the hope of obtaining funds. ___ Associated Press writer Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report. Saudi Arabia appears to be using U.S.-supplied white phosphorous munitions in its war in Yemen, based on images and videos posted to social media, raising concerns among human rights groups that the highly incendiary material could be used against civilians. Under U.S. regulations, white phosphorous sold to other countries is to be used only for signaling to other troops and creating smoke screens. When the munition explodes, it releases white phosphorous that automatically ignites in the air and creates a thick white smoke. When used against soldiers or civilians, it can maim and kill by burning to the bone. It is unclear exactly how the Saudis are using the munitions, but the government has already received widespread condemnation for its indiscriminate bombing in civilian areas since its campaign against rebel forces in Yemen began in 2015. U.S. officials confirmed that the American government has supplied the Saudis white phosphorous in the past but declined to say how much had been transferred or when. After reviewing a social media image taken from the battlefield that showed a white phosphorous mortar shell, a U.S. official said it appeared to be American in origin but could not trace it to a particular sale because some of the markings were obscured. The United States expects any recipient of U.S. military assistance to use those items in accordance with international law and under the terms and conditions of any U.S. transfer or sale, said a State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss politically sensitive issues. The official said the department was looking into reports of Saudi forces improperly using U.S.-supplied white phosphorous munitions. If a country is determined to have used U.S.-provided weapons for unauthorized purposes, the U.S. will take appropriate corrective action, the official said. The United States has grown increasingly wary of its material support to the Saudi military. In May, the Obama administration halted the sale of roughly 400 cluster bombs to the Saudis after human rights organizations documented the weapons use in civilian areas. This week, lawmakers on Capitol Hill moved to delay a $1 billion arms deal that would replace some of Saudi Arabias U.S.-supplied tanks that have been damaged in the conflict. Since coming to office in 2009, the Obama administration has facilitated more than $115 billion in 42 different arms sales to Saudi Arabia, more than any other U.S. administration, according to a report in the Security Assistance Monitor. Batches of the equipment are likely to be delivered for years to come. International humanitarian law does not ban the use of white phosphorous outright, but there is a strict requirement that it be used only in areas clearly separated from civilians. Even using it against enemy combatants has raised concerns, given that the munitions can cause particularly horrific injuries. The United States must not provide or sell white phosphorous munitions to Saudi Arabia or any other military that would use them in the Yemen conflict, said Sunjeev Bery, Amnesty Internationals advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa. As a major arms seller to Saudi Arabia, the U.S. risks being complicit in Saudi Arabias likely war crimes in Yemen. A spokesman from the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment for this article. The Saudi government has repeatedly denied claims about unlawful bombings and civilian casualties, pointing to its militarys Western support as validation of its practices. According to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 3,700 civilians have been killed and 2.8 million have been displaced during the now nearly two-year-old war. The United States is concerned by the high number of casualties resulting from this war, the State Department official said. We are prepared to work with the Saudis to deter and confront any external threat to their territorial integrity, and we stand by that assurance. However, that does not mean we refrain from expressing our concerns about the war in Yemen and how it has been waged. The Pentagon provides midair refueling for Saudi aircraft and limited intelligence resources to Saudi forces. In addition to short-term military assistance, the Pentagon and the State Department, as well as other Western countries, have facilitated the sale of billions of dollars worth of arms to the Kingdom, everything from hand grenades to attack helicopters. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Patrick Evans, said that as a matter of policy, the Pentagon office responsible for overseeing foreign military sales does not disclose specific deliverables or the details of the final transfer agreements. The United States has used white phosphorous against fighters, including in 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq, and sporadically in Afghanistan over the course of the war there. In 2009, Israel used the weapon in populated areas in the Gaza Strip. Images on pro-Saudi Twitter and Instagram accounts show that Saudi forces are using several systems for firing white phosphorous munitions, including tank rounds, mortars, howitzers and rifle grenades. Footage and images and social media posts showing the munition indicate that it is being used near the Saudi-Yemen border in Najran province and around the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The most recent footage posted Sept. 9 shows a U.S.-developed M198 155mm Saudi howitzer with the telltale sea-foam green white phosphorous rounds nearby ready to be loaded and fired. Many of the images posted to social media show white phosphorous rounds from a distance, leaving any writing or identifying features blurry or ill-defined. The shells color pattern is the most telling, as the greenish-hue interrupted by yellow bands and red writing is internationally recognized as indicating white phosphorous munitions. The picture reviewed by the U.S. official was first posted in November 2015 on a Saudi Instagram account and shows the shell with the words Martyr Jamil Hadi written on it. The only company with the rights to sell to the U.S. government the white phosphorous round pictured in the image is General Dynamics Ordnance Tactical Systems, according to Marine Corps Systems Command documents distributed in 2015. The shells design is owned by TDA-Armaments of France. Both TDA-Armaments and General Dynamics manufacture the munition, although it is unclear which country manufactured the round pictured. When asked about the image, General Dynamics spokeswoman Laurie VonBrocklin said it wouldnt be appropriate for us to comment and deferred further questions to the Pentagon and the State Department. saudi-yemen ESTERO, Fla. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday asserted that his proposed ideological tests for immigrants would prevent future terrorist attacks in the United States, while also accusing his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, of facilitating the spread of terrorist attacks in the United States through her weakness. These attacks and many others were made possible because of our extremely open immigration system, which fails to properly vet or screen the individuals or families coming into our country, Trump said during a campaign event in Estero, Florida. Attack after attack, from 9/11 to San Bernardino, we have seen how failures to screen who is entering our United States puts all of our citizens, everyone in this room, in danger. Trump said that ideological tests to assess an immigrants world view, which he has proposed before, are an important component of such vetting. The primary suspect in Saturdays New York City and New Jersey bombings, Ahmad Khan Rahami, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, according to the FBI. The Republican nominee lamented that Rahami is likely to receive modern medical treatment and access to a lawyer. Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room, and hell probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is, Trump said. And on top of all of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer. His case will go through the various court systems for years. And in the end, people will forget and his punishment will not be what it once would have been. What a sad situation. Trump last year proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. He has since described the ban in geographic terms, saying Monday that he would restrict immigration from dangerous countries while focusing on the threat of radical Islam. We cannot let this evil continue. Nor can we let the hateful ideology of radical Islam . . . be allowed to reside or spread within our country. Just cant do it, Trump said in Estero. We will not defeat it with closed eyes or silent voices. Anyone who cannot name our enemy is not fit to lead this country. Trump said that Clinton caused the problem, blaming her immigration positions in part. He incorrectly stated that Clinton supports open borders. She very much caused the problem, when you think about it. Her weakness, her ineffectiveness, caused the problem. And now she wants to be president? I dont think so, he said. Hillary Clinton is a weak and ineffective person. And I will tell you, if you choose Donald Trump, these problems are going to go away. Trump said that Clinton refuses to say the words radical Islam,' and is thus unwilling to confront terrorist threats directly. In fact, Hillary Clinton talks tougher about my supporters than she does about Islamic terrorists. She calls the patriotic Americans who support our campaign, many of them cops and soldiers, deplorable and irredeemable and she means it, he told thousands of supporters gathered in Estero. Has she ever talked that way about radical Islam? No. Trump also said the authorities should use whatever lawful methods are available to obtain information from the suspected New York and New Jersey bomber. He called on Congress to pass measures ensuring foreign enemy combatants are treated as such. Trump has in the past voiced support for bringing back waterboarding as an interrogation tactic. The Washington Posts Sean Sullivan contributed to this report from in Washington, D.C. campaign-trump The Monks Corner debut is around the corner. The first taproom from New Mexicos Abbey Brewing Co. will host its grand opening Oct. 5, according to general manager Berkeley T. Merchant. The 73-seat venue is located inside the Imperial Building at 2nd and Silver in Downtown Albuquerque, aka home of the Downtown grocery store. Merchant said the pub will have 20 taps, including some for outside breweries and at least one for cider. It will not serve its own food but will operate in partnership with chef Dennis Apodaca, who is using the neighboring space for his new restaurant, Maya. Abbey, which makes beer at Monastery of Christ in the Desert in Abiquiu and in Moriarty, is known for its Monks Ale. It will join the swell of craft beer producers operating in the heart of Downtown. The Boese Brothers and Sidetrack breweries are headquartered in the area, while Red Door and Duel each have taprooms. The Monks Corner is part of the Imperial Buildings street-level commercial space. In addition to Silver Street Market and Maya, Crackin Crab Seafood Boil and Salon Jerome will also do business there. Virginia Lantis looked out her kitchen window one day and saw her blind, 10-year-old daughter, Christella, speed past on a bicycle. They were living in Apache Canyon, near Santa Fe, at the time. Christellas 12-year-old brother, Christopher decided to teach his little sister how to ride a bike, despite the obvious obstacle. He would stand on one corner and she would go and he would tell her when to stop, Lantis said. Earlier this month, Lantis again watched her daughter do the improbable. Christella Garcia, who now lives in Sacramento, Calif., won a bronze medal at the Rio Paralympics on Sept. 10, beating Deanne Silve de Almeida of Brazil. Lantis, who now lives in Rio Rancho, had wanted to be in Rio de Janeiro to cheer her daughter in person. But a recent heart attack made that impossible. So she secured video on her computer and watched nervously. Oh, my gosh, my stomach, Lantis said. I was trying to help my hita so much. I saw all the others competing at her weight and they were pretty big girls compared to Christella. I thought, She cant move that girl. My stomach was hurting so much trying to help her. Garcia fell behind early in the 70-kilogram bronze medal match, but eventually got her opponent on the ground and finished her. You could see her emotions on her face, Lantis said. She was exhausted from the match. She was happy, she was crying, she was bursting. Oh, my gosh, it made me cry. I cried like a baby because I couldnt be there for my daughter. But what a wonderful thing. The first time Lantis cried over her daughter, Christella was an infant. Days after Christellas birth, Lantis was holding her. Her eyes were rolling up and down real fast, Lantis said. She took Christella to the pediatrician in Santa Fe, who sent them to an eye doctor. He told her Christella was blind and there was nothing to be done. Youll just have to deal with it. Nice bedside manner, Lantis said. When she got home in Apache Canyon, Christellas father was waiting. He was a big, strong man, a paratrooper, Lantis said. But this one thing brought us to our knees. Christella had to be taught how to crawl, how to walk. She attended the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Alamogordo. She once had a job at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo. She worked for a phone company in Rio Rancho. Now she lives and trains in Sacramento, where she is a massage therapist. And she has been all over the world competing. In her 38 years, she has been many more places than I have in my 67, Lantis said. Im glad shes gotten the chance to travel, to meet new people, to be in other countries. Shes a very intelligent woman. I say woman, but to me shell always be my baby. Shes thrilled me to no end. Even when she startled her by riding that bike. She had brothers and a sister who didnt baby her, Lantis said. Its one of the reasons she is strong that way. She learned to defend herself. And now? I dont think theyll try to pin her down anymore, Lantis said. Copyright 2016 Albuquerque Journal A handful of city councilors pushed back late Monday against a critical report issued by the court-appointed monitor overseeing police reform in Albuquerque. They repeatedly pointed out how much theyre paying the monitor James Ginger, a former police officer with a doctorate in public administration and questioned whether hes communicating and meeting often enough with the top executives running Albuquerques police force. What he does is, he throws this bomb, and then hes nowhere to be found, City Councilor Brad Winter said during Mondays council meeting. In a special report issued last week, Ginger described a culture of low accountability within the Albuquerque Police Department and a failure to adequately investigate the use of force by officers. The department, he wrote, often endorses questionable and sometimes unlawful conduct by officers. The council spent nearly an hour Monday questioning Eden about the report. Councilors Ken Sanchez, Trudy Jones and Winter all asked questions that suggested skepticism about Ginger primarily his price tag and communication with the city government. A few councilors bluntly questioned Eden. Why should the City Council or even the citizens of Albuquerque continue to have confidence in the leaders of APD in light of the monitors report? City Council President Dan Lewis asked. Councilor Diane Gibson said the city should take Gingers words to heart. I worry a little bit that were shooting the messenger, she said. The monitor we all agreed on him. I think his job is to point out where were failing more than giving us attaboys. Eden, for his part, assured councilors that he is committed to improving the police department. I can tell you we are 100 percent dedicated to reform, absolutely, he said. Eden said he has had trouble immediately reaching Ginger to set up conference calls and similar meetings. Ginger wasnt present at the council meeting. He reports to the federal court, not the City Council. He and his firm, Public Management Resources Inc. of Pamplico, S.C., are overseeing a series of reforms that Albuquerque police must carry out under a proposed settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. A federal investigation in 2014 found that APD had a pattern of violating peoples rights through the use of force. Albuquerque police have used deadly force in more than 30 on-duty shootings since 2010. Gingers selection as a court-appointed monitor was approved by a federal judge, the U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Albuquerque. His firm has a four-year, $4.4 million contract, city officials said. I know you are, but what am I? Maybe you remember that one from the schoolyard. It was one of those unanswerable taunts Im rubber, youre glue was another widely favored by smart-alecky kids, a bit of verbal judo that took an attackers thrust and turned it back against her. I know you are, but what am I? Most of us outgrew the riposte about the same time we outgrew passing notes in class. Apparently, Donald Trump never did. Far from leaving it behind, he has honed it into a potent political tool perfect for this era of post-factual lassitude and cognitive dissonance. As Campaign 2016 grinds toward a reckoning, we are seeing that tool employed with breathtaking shamelessness. It works like this: Whatever Trump is called or accused of, he turns it back on the accuser. Did you ever see that scene in The Equalizer where a bad guy points a gun at Denzel Washington and, faster than the eye can follow, Denzel snatches the gun and points it back at him? Its something like that, except with words. So the man who claims that hes always opposed the Iraq War (even though he didnt), the man who said the election is rigged, (even though it isnt), the man who told us Barack Obama founded ISIS (even though duh! he didnt), the man whose PolitiFact scorecard rules over 80 percent of his rated statements as half-truths and untruths that man complains that Hillary Clinton is a world-class liar. And the man whose idea of releasing medical information is a brief note from his doctor so loopy, imprecise and filled with wild, extravagant claims (Trump will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency) that one doctor dubs it medically illiterate that man tells us its the mysteries of Hillary Clintons health we ought to be concerned about. And the man who said a judge was unfit to judge because he is of Mexican heritage, the man who wants a ban on Muslim immigration, the man who retweets racists and anti-Semites, the man who is openly beloved by white supremacists to the point that former Klansman David Duke seems about ready to kiss him on the lips that man condemns Hillary Clinton as a bigot. Not to put too fine a point on it, but having Donald Trump lecture you about bigotry, transparency or truth is rather like having Kanye West tell you to stop behaving like a jack s. In psychology, they have this phenomenon called projection. The Cambridge Dictionary of Psychology defines it as a primitive defense mechanism that involves the unconscious warding off of negative experiences or emotions by denying an experience, perceiving it in another person and then seeing that negative experience as being directed back at the projector. Which sounds like what were seeing here, except there is nothing unconscious about it. No, this is calculated, born of a conviction that there really is a sucker born every minute and that an alarming proportion of them vote in American elections. So the challenge here is simple: What will we say in response? How will we answer this insult to intelligence? Or are we too sick of it all to care? One has a sense of an electorate pummeled into emotional submission. Which is hardly surprising. Its been a long, dispiriting campaign largely bereft of ideas, proposals and uplift. But it is important to remember that November will be a moment of truth in more ways than one. Indeed, November will answer a critical question. You say Trump is an ignorant narcissist unfit for the White House? Yes, we know he is. But what are we? Copyright, The Miami Herald; e-mail to lpitts@miamiherald.com. Next weeks presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton could determine the outcome of the election. As polls show Trump leading in some swing states and closing the gap in others, it appears the only burden he must overcome is the one Ronald Reagan shared, looking presidential enough that voters trust him with so much power. The way these debates have usually gone in the past is that the Republican candidate is asked about abortion, gay rights and other social issues and the Democratic candidate is asked about subjects that appeal to a wider range of voters. Lester Holt, the NBC Nightly News anchor, will moderate the first debate. Here are some questions he should ask: For Clinton: You once supported traditional marriage, but now favor same-sex marriage. Polygamists now want to be next in line to receive legal and cultural approval. Do you oppose polygamy, and if so on what basis? If elected president, how would we know you wouldnt change your mind on this issue? Follow-up: What is your standard for defining right from wrong? For Trump: You were pro-choice, you said, until you heard about a baby that was going to be aborted, but wasnt. You called the child a total superstar. Do you have a utilitarian view of human life that a baby is only valuable if it grows up to be a superstar or is every life valuable? For Clinton: You said you would have a bunch of litmus tests for Supreme Court nominees, including requiring potential nominees to have a commitment to preserving a womans right to an abortion. Would you overlook qualified candidates because they oppose abortion? Also for Clinton: You appear to have an interventionist foreign policy record. What is your standard for sending American forces into battle, especially in the Middle East where nothing ever seems to get resolved? Follow-up: In one of your emails you praise Sidney Blumenthals son, Max, for his virulent anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments, favoring the dismantling of the State of Israel. Since Israels enemies have also vowed to destroy the only democracy in the Middle East and one of the United States few allies in the region, as president, would you support the Jewish state or demand that it give up more land to Palestinians when the land it has already relinquished has brought it no closer to peace? For Trump: Many voters are worried about your praise of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who routinely behaves like the KGB agent he once was. Putin has invaded and occupied territories, censored the news and been accused of murdering his opposition. Why do you admire his leadership? Should you become president, what do you think your public praise of Putin will accomplish that will be in Americas interests? Follow-up: Under what circumstances would you use military force against Russia or our enemies in the Middle East? For both candidates: North Korea is developing nuclear weapons that will fit on top of missiles capable of reaching the U.S. Would you authorize a missile defense system able to shoot down North Korean missiles, despite Chinas opposition to such a system? For Clinton: The federal government took in record amounts of tax money in 2015 $3.18 trillion but the debt is approaching $20 trillion, and you want to spend more. Why wont you propose cutting programs that arent working? For Trump: What agencies and programs would you eliminate or reform? Public interest for the debates will be at Super Bowl level. These and similar questions would produce the information undecided voters need to cast their votes wisely. The future of this country hangs in the balance. E-mail: tmseditors@tribune.com; copyright, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Local brewers say a proposed alcohol tax increase could devastate the states growing craft beer industry scene by raising state beer excise tax to the highest rate in the nation more than 2 times the second-highest. It would really just stop (the industry) dead in its tracks and it would probably cause a contraction of the industry, said John Gozigian, executive director of the New Mexico Brewers Guild. The proposal promoted by the group Alcohol Taxes Save Lives and Money calls for an across-the-board increase on alcohol excise tax on the wholesale level, including beer, wine and spirits. The group estimates it would boost state revenues by $154 million annually and help cover some of the public costs associated with excessive drinking, such as related police hours, court services and medical treatment. Even at the higher rate, its a minuscule fraction of what it should be, said the groups director, Peter De Benedittis. The group has asked Gov. Susana Martinez to put the matter on call for a special legislative session, though her spokesman told the Journal earlier this month that she isnt going to raise taxes. Gozigian said members of the Brewers Guild are very concerned about the proposal, which could result in some paying 34 times more in taxes than they do today. Rates vary depending on a brewerys production volume, but New Mexicos microbreweries currently pay 8 cents per gallon in state excise tax for the first 10,000 barrels sold. The proposed hike would raise that to $2.75, the equivalent of 25 cents per drink, according to the Alcohol Taxes group. That means a brewery selling 4,000 barrels a year (or 124,000 gallons) would see its taxes jump from $9,920 to $341,000. Microbreweries pay more if they sell more than 10,000 barrels. The proposal would tax the next 5,000 barrels worth at $2.95 per gallon, up from 28 cents. The beer tax rate for the largest producers would jump to $3.08 per gallon, up from 41 cents. The state has about 60 breweries today, and only a few sell more than 10,000 barrels, Gozigian says. According to a list compiled by the Federation for Tax Administrators, the U.S. median excise tax on beer is 20 cents per gallon. Tennessee has the highest rate, at $1.29 per gallon. Should the state adopt such a tax increase, New Mexico breweries would have to determine how much of the increase they could absorb, but would likely have to pass some of it on to consumers, perhaps pricing themselves out of the market, Gozigian said. Though the increase would affect all beer sold in New Mexico, Gozigian said it might prompt consumers to simply switch to a lower-priced product. People will trade down. If you spend $9 on average per six-pack of beer, youll probably continue to spend $9, he said. Basically, were going to take New Mexico beer out of that purchasers price range and theyll buy beer thats not brewed in New Mexico. Jeff Erway, founder and president of Albuquerques La Cumbre Brewing Co., criticized the proposal in a letter to the editor published in Mondays Journal, calling it neo-Prohibitionist and harmful to the states growing beer, wine and spirits producers. The excise tax on spirits would increase to $7.24 per liter from $1.60. Wine taxes vary depending on the size of the producer. But a small winery would pay $1.79 per liter on its first 80,000 liters, up from the current rate of 10 cents. You will take a local product that is viewed as an affordable luxury and make it unaffordable to our already cash-strapped residents, Erway wrote. Instead of supporting local businesses, the consumer will be economically forced to support the very largest of producers who can afford to keep their prices and margins at rock bottom. Brian Lock of Santa Fe Brewing Co., the states largest craft beer maker, said in an interview that the proposal was absolutely absurd. Lock, who has 55 employees and is in the midst of a multimillion-dollar expansion project at his Santa Fe headquarters, said a tax increase might lead him to pour more resources into out-of-state advertising efforts, and marketing and sales personnel because product sold and shipped out of state is not subject to the excise tax. Then I avoid the excise tax. I would look at heavily investing in employees that are out of state, that live in out-of-state markets to push my brand because its a better use of my resources, he said, noting that states with some of the most mature craft beer scenes have lower beer excise taxes. Colorado and Oregon each check in at 8 cents per gallon, according to the FTA. But De Benedittis argues that the proposed rate is appropriate. He pointed to a report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that shows New Mexico had the nations highest percentage of alcohol-attributable deaths among those ages 20-64 from 2006 to 2010. We have the biggest problem. We need the biggest solution, he said. In response to an attempt by the Attorney Generals Office to remove attorney Lisa Torraco from a court case because of an alleged conflict of interest, Torraco filed a counter-motion to remove the AGs Office, claiming its the agency that has a conflict of interest. Second Judicial District Judge Briana H. Zamora said Monday that she will issue a written ruling by the end of the week on the attorney generals motion to have Torraco removed and will deal with the question of Torracos request to have the AGs Office removed at a later date. Torraco is representing client Tyler Danzer, who was arrested in May 2015 and indicted earlier this year on a charge of child solicitation and tampering with evidence. Danzer is accused of using emails to exchange sexually explicit messages and solicit sex from someone he thought was an underage girl. In reality, investigators were pretending to be the child. Torraco said that she advised her client to close down the account to avoid further unwanted communications with disguised police, she told Zamora. Like in a DWI case, when a client comes to me and hes been arrested for DWI, I tell him dont drink any more alcohol. I have a client, Mr. Danzer, who has been arrested in a case involving the internet, so I tell him to drop the internet. Thats just sound legal advice. In fact, when he was arraigned, he was told he cant get on the internet and that was a condition of his release. Assistant Attorney General Jeres Rael, however, told the court that, by advising her client to delete the email account, Torraco became part of the case, thus creating a conflict of interest because now, instead of just representing Danzer, she could also be called as a witness. Torraco countered that, even when an account is closed, emails can always be retrieved; and, in this case, the police already have those communications. Consequently, there was no destruction of evidence. Torraco, who is also a Republican state senator from Albuquerque, has said that she believes the conflict-of-interest allegation and attempt to remove her is political retribution from Attorney General Hector Balderas, a Democrat. In February, Torraco opposed the appearance of two members of the AGs Office when they came to the Senate floor to serve as expert witnesses during negotiations on a child pornography bill. According to a previously published report attached to the counter-motion and briefly made available to courtroom reporters, Torraco persuaded a majority of senators that the AGs Office had not been helpful in the process of crafting the bill and they voted to oust the AG staffers. In the counter-motion to remove the AGs Office from the Danzer case, Torraco and co-counsel Liane Kerr say the AGs Office is engaged in a retaliatory and deliberate attempt to embarrass and discredit Torraco, who is running for re-election, as well as an attempt to sway the court, potential jurors and the public. Further, it was the state that created a conflict of interest by communicating with the media about its case against Torraco, while at the same time cutting off communication with her, which is a violation of professional and ethical obligations to communicate with all parties. AGs Office spokesman James Hallinan issued a statement following the Monday hearing, saying that protecting young children from rape, exploitation and trafficking is not politics. Additionally, the decision to seek Torracos removal was to protect the defendants right to a fair trial, as well as to preserve the integrity of any trial conviction. WASHINGTON With just four months remaining in Barack Obamas presidency, the White House on Monday stepped up pressure on Congress to expand treatment for opioid addiction and enlisted the mother of a deceased New Mexico teen in the effort. Louella Duran of Albuquerque was one of a dozen parents who met with Obamas drug czar, Michael P. Botticelli, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the White House on Monday to discuss the addiction crisis gripping New Mexico and the rest of the nation. For much of the past decade, New Mexico has been either No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation for drug overdose death rates. On Monday, Obama proclaimed the week Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week. Justice Department and other federal and local officials have planned 250 related events around the country. Duran told the Journal she lost her 19-year-old son, Michael, to an opioid and heroin addiction five years ago. She said Michael first became addicted to prescription drugs, then moved on to heroin and eventually died of a heroin overdose. In a conference call with reporters after the White House meeting, Duran said her family had resources and health insurance, so she was surprised at how difficult it was to find treatment for her son. I found it unfathomable that I could not help my child, who was afflicted by the disease of addiction, she said. Obama wants Congress to approve $1.1 billion in new funding to battle opioid addiction, with a special emphasis on expanding access to treatment in rural areas, boosting the Drug Enforcement Administrations heroin enforcement budget and enhancing prescription drug monitoring programs, among other initiatives. Some commonly abused opioids include illegal heroin and prescription drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl. Congress passed a bill supported by New Mexicos entire congressional delegation in July that aims to expand addiction treatment, but delegation Democrats also contend that the legislation falls short. Representatives for Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Lujan all Democrats said Monday that the New Mexico lawmakers support Obamas $1.1 billion request. A spokeswoman for Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said the congressman supported the bill approved by Congress over the summer and would want to separately consider additional spending requests as part of the appropriations process. Lujan, who represents northern New Mexico, where opioid addiction is especially acute, introduced a bill earlier this year that reflects Obamas $1.1 billion opioid addiction strategy. But the bill has not gained traction in the Republican-controlled House. When Congress passed legislation to address the opioid epidemic it was a step forward, but frankly it was also a missed opportunity, Lujan said in a statement to the Journal on Monday, also emphasizing the need for New Mexicos behavioral health system to bolster its addiction services. After Mondays event, Duran, who works with the New Mexico nonprofit Healing Addiction in Our Community, said shes cautiously optimistic that Congress will respond with additional money to fight the addiction scourge. I truly hope and I hope Im not being naive that this will make a difference, Duran said. SANTA FE State Auditor Tim Keller is urging Gov. Susana Martinez to call legislators back to Santa Fe for a budget-balancing special session soon, saying not doing so could jeopardize the states bond rating and put state officials at risk of breaking a state law that prohibits deficit spending. In response, a spokeswoman for the Martinez administrations central budget agency criticized Keller, claiming the Democratic auditor is trying to make himself relevant by weighing in on the budget situation. Budget negotiations continue with lawmakers in both chambers, and were going to move forward in a cautious, diligent, and responsible way to ensure that we protect New Mexicos taxpayers, said Julia Ruetten, a spokeswoman for the Finance and Administration Department. New Mexico is facing its steepest budget downturn since 2009, as recently released projections showed an estimated budget shortfall of $458 million for the fiscal year that started in July, along with a $131 million deficit for the just-ended budget year. The state has already depleted much of its cash reserves to get through the budget crunch, which is largely caused by a drop in oil and gas prices that led to state tax collections falling far short of what had been expected. In his letter to the governor, Keller said a failure to act quickly could lead to negative audit findings and a diminished state credit rating, along with the potential legal risks. State law bars top budget officials, including the state treasurer, from processing payments if there is not sufficient money in the state coffers to do so, a statute intended to prevent deficit spending. State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg, whos also a Democrat, said Monday that hes aware of the law but does not plan to reject any payments submitted by the executive branch. Meanwhile, Moodys Investor Service, a national credit rating agency, announced last week that it is considering downgrading the states top rating for general obligation bonds due to concerns over a possible structural imbalance in the states current-year budget. The timing of a special session should remain focused on the importance of addressing this imbalance and ensuring our states ability to prevent deficit spending, not the timing of election cycles and other political considerations, Keller wrote in his Sept. 16 letter, referring to the Nov. 8 election. Martinez, a two-term Republican, has indicated she plans to call lawmakers back for a special session, likely sometime this month. Leading legislators and top Governors Office staffers have held budget talks behind closed doors in recent weeks to discuss possible budget-balancing measures, though no agreement has been reached yet. While the governor has said she wants any special session to be a quick affair, shes also indicated that she might add other issues such as increased criminal penalties to the agenda. Associated Press LAS CRUCES A Las Cruces mother convicted in one of New Mexicos most horrific child abuse cases will be released later this month after serving 13 years in prison less than half her sentence. The case, which involved the rape and slaying of a 5-month-old, led to changes in the law that now provides for a mandatory 30 years in prison for child abuse resulting in death. But the law was not in place when Stephanie Rene Lopez was convicted in 2003. She is scheduled to leave prison Sunday, New Mexico Corrections Department officials confirmed. The exact date is subject to change and good time factors into the time served, department spokeswoman Ashley Espinoza said. After being released, Lopez will have to serve two years of parole. Lopez was sentenced to 27 years for negligent child abuse resulting in death and child abuse after her daughter, known as Baby Brianna, died. Briannas father, Andy Walters, and uncle, Steven Lopez, also were convicted in the case, including one charge each of criminal sexual penetration. Walters and Steven Lopez are serving 63 years and 57 years, respectively. Authorities say Brianna, who died in July 2002, had been sexually assaulted and suffered multiple injuries. They included two skull fractures and broken ribs, legs and an arm. Authorities also found more than a dozen human bite marks and bruising. Public outcry over her death led to the change in state law requiring 30 years in prison. Orlando-Antonio Carrillo-Jimenez, spokesman for the Baby Brianna Foundation and Baby Brianna Birthday Committee, told the Las Cruces Sun-News that both groups are saddened by the news of Lopezs release. We know that the laws at the time were not what they are now and that laws cannot be retroactive, Carrillo-Jimenez said in a statement. We have no control over Ms. Lopezs release. Child abuse prevention has been at the forefront recently after the brutal death last month of 10-year-old Victoria Martens. Albuquerque police found the girls dismembered body inside the apartment she shared with her mother. Michelle Martens is accused of standing by while her boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, drugged and raped her daughter. She told police Gonzales cousin, Jessica Kelley, stabbed Victoria before Gonzales choked her, according to a criminal complaint. All three pleaded not guilty Friday to multiple charges, including child abuse resulting in death. Shame on the Hillary-haters! THE DOUBLE STANDARDS being applied to Hillary Clinton are sexist and disgusting. For 30 years, she has been labeled an evil woman who would do anything for power. All of the investigations have been proven baseless, but the media has to be fair and balanced so, when another false accusation is made, it is treated as reality. Most of those investigations were done with tax dollars for political purposes. Even Fox News admitted the Benghazi Committee was a political affair when Republican congressmen admitted they did it to undermine Secretary Clintons political career. She is called a bigot by her opponent and it is reported by the press as if it were true. While she worked with the Childrens Defense Fund to make certain African-American children in the south received an equal education, her opponent was successfully prosecuted for discriminating housing practices. Meanwhile, he (Donald Trump) has consistently demeaned people of color, beginning with his campaign announcement. I wont even address his treatment of President Obama. She is accused of abusing power by somehow giving access to the State Department for people who have given to the Clinton Foundation. Requests from the Clinton Foundation were turned back to the requester asking them to go through regular channels. The Clinton Foundation receives the highest rating from the watchdogs of charitable foundations. Meanwhile, her opponent uses his foundation to make illegal campaign contributions and brags about buying off politicians. Can you imagine the front page outrage if Secretary Clinton refused to pay a group of children who performed for her campaign? Where is the outrage at her opponents behavior? I never thought I would live long enough to see a serious woman presidential candidate. The saddest commentary of all is I am not surprised at the treatment given to her. Shame, America, shame. MARIE L. LOBO Albuquerque We need to learn from history THIS SUMMER, I visited the Reischtag in Berlin accompanied by an elderly German woman whod taught history for years. She could name virtually everyone in the series of photographs portraying the parliaments history from its creation in 1871 through (Adolf) Hitler to the present. Regarding Hitlers takeover, she said repeatedly, I blame the upper classes. They didnt like Hitler, but they supported him because they feared losing their privileges. Though I dont think (Donald) Trump has a planned evil agenda like Hitler, I do see the Republicans as having a choice will they vote for a Democrat, even if it means higher taxes or will they support a man whos clearly unfit to lead our country? ROSEMARY ZIBART Santa Fe Do your research, then vote GARY JOHNSON supporters need to Google Libertarian platform before they vote for him. Legalization of marijuana is a minor part of Libertarianism, a sensible belief, but certainly not the only one to consider when voting for Gary. The Libertarian mantra is Dont worry about me. Ill take care of myself, which sounds fine, but consider some of what it eliminates: the IRS, Social Security, Workmens Compensation, unemployment insurance, Medicare, laws prohibiting discrimination and a myriad of other services and protections to which weve grown accustomed. Please vote, but do your homework first. RICHARD MANN Albuquerque Take a risk or stay the same? HILLARY CLINTON and many of her Democrat Party cohorts seem to be statistics-challenged in regard to their fair share argument. According to the latest data available, as reported by The Tax Foundation, CNBC and others, the top 1 percent of income-earners in America receive 19 percent of the total income earned and pay 38 percent of the income taxes paid. The top 25 percent garner 68 percent of total income and pay 86 percent of the income tax total. In fact, the top 1 percent bear a greater percentage of the total tax burden than the bottom 90 percent. It certainly appears that the wealthy are already paying far more than their fair share. And they are targeting 1 percent to 2 percent of the population. There simply arent enough of those fortunate people to cover our massive federal spending deficits, much less fund any new programs or political promises. Its just simple arithmetic. Once theyve bled all they can get from that group, guess who theyre coming after next. If the purpose is other than to bring down the super achievers and the super fortunate, the notion that the economy can be significantly stimulated by taking more money out of the hands of the very people and businesses that create and sustain jobs is a curious one. Moving money from one segment of the economy to other segments is not growth. Since our founding, the message to Americans has been that, if you work hard and smart, you can be and you can achieve whatever you might dream. Then, when someone goes out and does that and achieves mightily, the message changes to: Whoa, hold on. We didnt mean you could achieve that much. So, does Trump have the economic answers? Our economic challenges run wider than bad trade deals and companies moving operations overseas. But at least his proposed tax policies make more sense in terms of economic growth. Electing a volatile and unknown quantity like (Donald) Trump is indeed risky, but so is continuing down the same progressive path that continually has fallen short of fulfilling its promises to the people. ANDY BOYD Albuquerque We could learn from Johnson MOST PEOPLE THINK that former N.M. Gov. Gary Johnsons run for the presidency is doomed, preposterous, maybe even a waste of time. They do not buy into his claim made here in Albuquerque last month that this election is so crazy that he will actually win. Well, I must admit that I agree that his chances for victory are slim. I do not, however, believe that it is a waste of time. Far from it! The American political scene is desperately in need of a major shake-up. The Libertarians in general and Johnsons campaign in particular are the best vehicle for the job. Johnson would bring fiscal responsibility absent from both the Republicans and Democrats regardless of Republican rhetoric to the contrary. The Republican Party is struggling, attempting to find its way. Donald Trump is a perfect manifestation of that which is worst in the Republican Party. Dont reward the Republicans for their failure in nominating a domineering, uncouth, rude and ludicrous fascist candidate for the most powerful political position on the planet. The Republicans could learn a lot from Johnson. Even if Johnson does not win, they could learn a lot. The Democrats should be equally ashamed of themselves for nominating Hillary. Does anyone actually believe Hillary? Can anyone truly trust her? Are you voting for her just so Trump doesnt win? If we dont become fiscally responsible as a country, we will literally pay for it. Democrats could learn a lot from the Libertarians without betraying their commitment to liberal social issues. Neither Trump nor Hillary are suitable for the office. Both major political parties have failed us. Lets send them a clear message. Please support Johnson for the good of both major political parties and, most especially, for the United States of America. JEREMY MYERS Rio Rancho Liar, lunatic or Libertarian? WE ARE (nearly) $20 trillion in debt. We have endless wars, unrestricted domestic and international illegal spying, collection and storage of classified information on every citizen. We have tripled drone strikes, along with collateral damage. Taxes continue to rise without a balanced budget. Lying and deceitfulness are now qualities one must possess to hold the highest office in the land, and we call this democracy? We deserve better! We have a chance to send our former two-term governor (Gary Johnson) to D.C. to start to fix these issues. It is going to require that adults come to the table and work together on behalf of the people they represent. Governor Johnson has a proven record of doing just that while in office as our governor. The two-party system is broken and needs a handyman to fix it. Its come to this, New Mexico a liar, a lunatic or a Libertarian? The choice is clear. Live free! JASON VAILLANCOURT Albuquerque IT IS GOING to take some revenue measures and spending cuts to achieve a balanced budget for the next fiscal year because of New Mexicos heavy dependency on oil and gas revenue. This market will continue to rise gradually, but is still vulnerable to market volatility. We need some fiscal leadership from the executive and Legislature, not partisan politics! J.V. THIS IS NUTS! If you are unhappy that your employer doesnt give you enough time off, get a job where they pay you not to come to work! J.K.A. THE GENERAL PUBLIC should not have access to AR-15 rifles. Any discussion of safety needs to start with a call to make AR-15s illegal to buy/own. Why isnt this part of the safety issue? As clever as Americans are, why is there ever only one answer? More guns, guns in schools, guns everywhere. A.A. WE ARE semiretired and moving to Albuquerque. We will be working remotely and bringing in money from outside the state. We are looking forward to living out our retirement in this beautiful state of New Mexico! L.B.P. THE ARROGANCE of humans is thinking nature is under their control and not the other way around. K.K. I CANT WAIT to get rid of those pesky trees in the middle of Central Avenue and replace them with some spiffy plastic bus stops like in the video on the Albuquerque Rapid Transit website. Trees are so yesterday! K.S. THOUSANDS OF people are protesting plans to build a new oil pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois. If Albuquerque is going to get ART shoved upon them, then the Indians deserve a pipeline. T.M. LEAVE IT TO the Democrats to destroy one of the few private-sector businesses in the state that is showing growth and promise the beer-brewing industry. A tax of $1.50 per six-pack would probably take most of them out, as we are already one of the most heavily taxed states in the union. R.D.H. TAX HIKES on booze and cigarettes likely wouldnt solve the states entire $589 million budget shortfall. Colorado marijuana sales skyrocket to more than $996 million in 2015! B.F. LAWMAKERS NEED to stop thinking that crime is something that happens to someone else. It plagues the very voters who put them in office. That said, voters need to stop thinking the incumbents are the devil they know and better than some untested candidate. If voters want change, they have to vote for different candidates! D.D. REGARDING THE recent op-ed piece imploring the next president to emphasize education that education must be recognized and be in response to the potential jobs available. What good is an education at any level if what you learned doesnt enable you to get a job and help yourself and others? C.M.T. SUPPOSE, YOU the taxpayer and a few others were paying a mowing crew to mow neighborhood lawns while some neighbors lawns are mowed without paying a cent. Should non-paying neighbors get to choose or vote on the crews government service? Non-paying = illegal immigrants. W.M.C. BULLYING WHY dont schools pay more attention to it? Cyberbullying can happen at home but the bullying going on inside the school needs to be addressed. Suicide is often caused because bullies do the most to hurt both physically and mentally. Schools need to start enforcing rules against bullying immediately. M.N. ITS INFURIATING that everything in New Mexico is being sold to Texas. What the heck? Keep the money and businesses in New Mexico! Stop letting Texas and other states profit off us! K.K. CAR FRIENDLY CHARM thats a new way to describe boarded-up businesses, empty lots, drunks and streetwalkers. The project (ART) is far from perfect, but arguing that we should leave Central the way it is is only plausible if you never look at Central east of Washington or west of the river. D.N. EVERYONE SHOULD visit Meow Wolfs House of Eternal Return if they havent. A.D.T. Its time to declare war on climate change YOUR SEPT.10 editorial (U.S., NM cant afford to keep their futures in the ground') made perfect sense 25 years ago. Actually its closer to 30, because it was in 1988 that NASA climate scientist James Hansen told Congress he was 99 percent certain that the years record temperatures were the result of global warming and that it was time to stop waffling Well, waffle we did, and consequently we find ourselves now facing a global catastrophe the likes of which the human race has never experienced. At this late date our only chance of avoiding the worst is to declare war on climate change, not the metaphorical kind like Nancy Reagans war on drugs, but the real deal like the one we fought and won against fascism 75 years ago. An all of the above strategy may have made sense in 1988. In 2016, its a prescription for failure and this is a war we cant afford to lose. KEVIN BEAN Albuquerque Carbon tax could make a positive impact I FOUND MUCH to like in the Journals Sept. 10 editorial, U.S., NM cant afford to keep their futures in the ground. In particular, the editorial accepts the reality of climate change. In addition, it advocates a gradual shift toward non-polluting fuel sources such as wind, solar and nuclear. The editorial also acknowledges that keeping fossil fuels in the ground will ultimately make sense, but emphasizes the need to protect the resource-extraction part of New Mexicos economy and to insure the smooth functioning of the economy at large, in the nearer term. A group to which I belong, the Citizens Climate Lobby, advocates a gradually phased-in tax on carbon, with tax proceeds distributed directly to all American households. A carbon tax would raise the price of all fossil fuels, but it would probably hit coal much harder than natural gas. Thats because natural gas emits much less carbon per unit of energy created than coal does. A main result of a carbon tax would likely be the continuation of the long-term transition from coal to natural gas as a main source of electricity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, coal created over 50 percent of the nations electricity in 1990, but just 39 percent in 2014. The change was driven both by environmental regulation of coal and by innovation that has made natural gas cheaper. So far the coal-to-natural-gas transition has not caused crises for either the utility industry or its customers. This gives us reason to believe that if the transition were to continue under a phased-in carbon tax, the economy would continue to function well. The Journal is right to be concerned about the prosperity of all segments of our states economy. But given the likelihood that the more natural gas will be pumped and shipped, and the possibility that the states high-tech sector will be leveraged to innovate in sectors like nuclear or higher-tech solar generation, the overall impact of a carbon tax may be more positive than some critics think. RORY HOLSCHER Corrales Library no place for coddling drug users THE PUBLIC LIBRARY system is a wonderful program. However, after reading your Sept. 11 article, Drug users taking advantage of quiet public places, Im very concerned with this new approach of coddling drug users and the homeless. Training library staff on the use of Narcan, a heroin-overdose reviving drug, needle drop boxes and other similar tolerance issues will only encourage more and more drug users to use public libraries for their own needs. I use the public libraries frequently. I often observe homeless people sleeping in the library. To accept and encourage drug users to hang out in these libraries endangers others. I certainly wouldnt let my son or daughter go to a public library without my wife or myself accompanying them to protect them. Lets get back to the foundational purpose of public libraries. Turning them into social encampments is gravely contrary to their function. Anyone acting suspiciously or inappropriately, including sleeping, should be asked to leave the library. Sometimes I have seen these people causing a ruckus in the library and even fighting with police when their forceful ejection is needed. Encouraging them to safely use drugs in the library is just crazy liberalism out of control. DARRYL RICE Albuquerque Berry may one day regret ART project ART MAY BE Mayor (Richard) Berrys ticket to ride out of office and away from future political ambitions. His five-year plan antagonized many citizens. His revelation 15 months ago was immediately questioned and criticized. His ongoing indifference to public concerns and opposition does not bode well for his credibility, transparency or integrity. If the project is completed, it will have hijacked Route 66, cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and shattered the mayors relationship with many business people. As a contractor, he should remember a cardinal rule in construction: Expect the project to cost more and take longer than anticipated. The mayor may rue his decision to drive ART over city resistance. SUSAN MCCANN Placitas ART question on Nov. ballot a good move KUDOS TO THOSE on the Bernalillo County Commission who voted to place on the November ballot the question that will gauge voters support for the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project. The decision by the commission may have the effect of actually saving from defeat other needed and well-thought out projects also on the ballot. Hopefully, the voters will express their strong disapproval of their political leaders for derailing the traditional process of getting voter approval before pursuing a project and shamelessly commencing construction without it, particularly a project of ARTs magnitude. ROBERT E. GURULE Albuquerque Why not raise excise tax on automobiles? ONE AREA OF relatively painless tax increase has not been discussed which would be raising New Mexicos automobile excise tax from the present regional low of 3 percent to at least 5 percent. This would still be below the prevailing gross receipts tax rate in most areas, especially Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It also have the possible effect of spurring auto sales prior to the increase taking affect. Other options might include ending the offset for the excise tax for the value of trade-in cars, as has been done in California. Either option, or both, would certainly be better than adding the gross receipts tax back onto food purchases and would raise a significant amount of tax revenue on relatively rare personal purchases. CRAIG C. KLING Albuquerque Try public humiliation for drug dealers AS A PHARMACIST, I think it totally appropriate that the U.S. Attorney has charged a drug seller with homicide. If I had his power, I would do it too. For tender-hearted folks who think such action is too harsh, would you feel the same way if it were your daughter or son who died? I doubt it. Heres a less harsh action we could take, though. The Pilgrim-era folks used to put transgressors in the stocks and even provide soft tomatoes and such to throw at these enablers. Perhaps public humiliation would work on these thoughtless semi-humans. They dont respect laws and the possibility of providing the means of ending human life. Who knows what will work in this apparently insoluble problem of illegal drug distribution! Its worth a try. MARILYN NOVAK Albuquerque State ineptitude has cost child her life I HAVE had it! I have written in the past about the problem that the state of New Mexico appears to have with computers. Several times a year, we read of a glitch that overpays people for unemployment compensation, or delays checks to employees and other citizens, or makes applying for safety net programs almost unworkable, or some other such nonsense. I have even suggested that the chimpanzees housed in Alamogordo, after having been freed from the clutches of the Coulston Foundation, be hired to run the states computer systems. But now it has turned deadly. Our state governments ineptitude with technology that has been around for about half a century has cost a child her life (Girls killing starts probation review, Sept. 1). By all accounts, she was an exceptional little girl. She would have been an extraordinary woman and a valuable member of our society. But, because our criminal justice system is unable to master the art of the email something at which my friends kindergarten class excels a man who should have been under the watchful eye of a probation officer who might have balked at his living under the same roof as a child was free (allegedly) to have his way with her. Lets all take a deep breath and see if we can fix this. Because, if we cant, then the next computer glitch might just be your child. ADELE E. ZIMMERMANN Embudo Lock up guns so kids cant get them IM THE PARENT of a student at Los Alamos High School. Recently, with no warning, we were told the police department had decided with full approval of the Los Alamos school board to install a cache of AR-15s in the middle and high schools. I understand the fear of school shootings, but in fact teenagers are much more likely to use guns to kill themselves. Suicide is the second-leading cause of teen death in New Mexico, and guns are the preferred method. Accidental shootings are also a far more common cause of death for kids in this state than school shootings. What all these killings have in common is not a lack of AR-15s in our schools, but easy access to guns in the home. Of school shootings perpetrated by minors, more half the shooters obtained the weapon at home. Millions of kids this country live in homes with guns that are unsecured and easily accessible. We all want to keep our kids safer: Lets make smart decisions that actually achieve this end. We should lock up our guns, store the ammo separately and advocate for safe-storage laws that mandate these practices in homes with kids. Adding more guns to our schools is security theater at best and an additional danger at worst. STEPHANIE NAKHLEH Los Alamos NMs not the safest place for retirees AS SOMEONE WHO is approaching a certain age and who could conceivably entertain the thought of retirement in a few years myself, I reacted to the recommendation presented at the recent Jobs Council to market New Mexico as a retirement destination with a certain amount of skepticism. Why? New Mexico is fast becoming an unsafe place in which to work, much less retire. And our Democratic leadership in the state Legislature repeatedly declines the opportunity to take the situation seriously. Year after year they deflect the issue by accusing Republicans of being all crime all the time. Yet crime all the time is becoming the reality here in New Mexico. This hits me personally, because if there were a single dominant reason why I might move my family out of state upon retirement, it would be because of the pervasive culture of crime and bodily harm. More and more of my colleagues are hitting retirement age. Some stay, to be sure. But anecdotally, at least, more and more of them seem to be moving either out of Albuquerque or generally out of state. To be sure, one of the reasons is to be closer to extended family. However, I am increasingly hearing concerns about personal safety as motivations for moving. And these are largely people with relatively good retirement incomes, precisely the kinds of people you would think that state legislative leadership would want to encourage to stay. So if youre not even keeping retirees here because of fears about personal safety, how in the world are you going to market New Mexico as a retirement location to others? So I just have one thing to say to our Democratic legislative leadership. If you dont take the situation seriously and take measurably effective steps to abate the crime problem: if you dont make me and others like me feel not only that the state is a safe place in which to retire, but that you actually care about our safety; if you dont believe that people make relocation decisions based on their perception of personal safety; then you deserve the exodus of retirees that youre going to get. JOHN M. LINEBARGER Albuquerque SANTA FE Gov. Susana Martinez said Tuesday that she will add a proposal to reinstate New Mexicos death penalty for certain violent crimes to the agenda of a special legislative session that could be called as soon as next week. The capital punishment announcement drew immediate criticism from the states Roman Catholic bishops and other opponents of capital punishment, with majority Senate Democrats calling the governors announcement an irresponsible distraction from the states budget crisis. However, proponents of bringing back the death penalty applauded it as timely and needed after a spate of high-profile recent crimes sent shock waves through the state. Debate over the death penalty which was abolished in New Mexico in 2009 and replaced with life in prison without the possibility of parole has reignited in recent weeks after the death of 10-year-old Victoria Martens of Albuquerque, who police say was drugged, raped and killed by three adults, including her mother, and the killings of police officers in Hatch and Alamogordo earlier this year, and of a Rio Rancho and an Albuquerque police officer last year. Martinez, a former prosecutor, said Tuesday that she would push for the death penalty to be available to prosecutors in cases where individuals have been convicted of killing children, law enforcement officers or corrections officers. These are the heroes who protect us, and our most vulnerable who should have had their whole lives ahead of them, Martinez said in a statement. Cop killers and child murderers deserve the ultimate punishment. If you kill an officer, you deserve the death penalty. If you kill a child, you deserve the death penalty. Its time we say enough is enough, the two-term Republican governor added. In addition to the death penalty, Martinez also will add a proposal to expand the states three strikes law for violent felonies to the agenda of the special session, which will focus on plugging a $589 million state budget shortfall for the current and just-ended fiscal years. In response to the governors announcement, Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester called Martinezs proposal to reinstate the death penalty a red herring that will distract lawmakers from the task of finding revenue to pay for needed programs that will benefit children. We need to ask how can we help our children more, and we think thats where the real issue is, Wester said during a news conference in Albuquerque. It appears to me to be politically motivated rather than a look at the issues. Wester added that Pope Francis has called for a worldwide end to capital punishment, saying, It is not the states prerogative to take a life. The death penalty does not end violence, Wester also said. Violence does not end violence. Martinezs decision to add a proposal to reinstate the death penalty for those convicted of killing law enforcement officers and children could increase political tension during the special session. All 112 legislative seats are up for election this year, and control of both legislative chambers is at stake. Addressing the emotionally charged issue during the special session could force lawmakers to vote just weeks before the Nov. 8 election. The death penalty bill will be sponsored by GOP Reps. Monica Youngblood of Albuquerque and Andy Nunez of Hatch. Nunez voted in favor of repealing the death penalty in 2009. Youngblood, whose district encompasses the Albuquerque elementary school that Victoria Martens attended, told the Journal shes heard an outpouring from constituents in favor of bringing back the death penalty. They want to see that those who commit horrific crimes against children and those who ambush police officers pay the ultimate penalty, Youngblood said. She also insisted the death penalty push was not driven by revenge or blood lust, saying, This isnt knee-jerk; this is addressing a problem weve had for multiple years now. However, Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, called Martinezs announcement irresponsible, arguing that new death row cases would lead to increased court costs for taxpayers at a time of plummeting state revenues. He also pointed out that New Mexico could not reimpose the death penalty retroactively, meaning that anyone convicted in connection with the high-profile recent crimes would not be eligible to be put to death. If the vote were to kill Victoria Martens killers, I think we could get in and out (of a special session) in a day, but thats not the vote, Maestas told the Journal . Nationally, theres been a movement away from the death penalty in recent years. Nineteen states, including New Mexico, currently do not have death penalty laws on their books, and four of those states Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland and Nebraska have abolished capital punishment in the past five years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Before abolishing the death penalty, New Mexico had executed just one inmate since 1960. That happened in 2001, when Terry Clark received a lethal injection after being convicted of raping and killing Dena Lynn Gore, a 9-year-old Artesia girl. Journal staff writer Olivier Uyttebrouck contributed to this report. The number of drug overdose deaths declined in 20 of the states 33 counties in 2015, including several counties that perennially have the states highest death rates, health officials said today. But the 2015 overdose death toll rose to 200 in Bernalillo County the states most populous up from 197 deaths in 2014, the New Mexico Department of Health said. The Journal reported in June that the states drug overdose deaths declined by 9 percent in 2015, falling from a record-high 540 deaths in 2014, to 493 last year. New Mexicos drug overdose death rate was the second highest in the nation in 2014. Nationwide drug overdose deaths for 2015 are not available. The number of overdose deaths declined by 10 or more in Sandoval, Valencia and Rio Arriba counties in 2015 compared to 2014. Overdose deaths in Rio Arriba County declined by 30 percent, from 40 deaths in 2015 to 28 deaths in 2015. However, Rio Arriba County had the highest drug overdose death rate in the state, with 81.4 per 100,000 population. Other counties with high overdose death rates include Quay County at 63.1 deaths per 100,000, Grant County at 46.1 per 100,000, and Taos County at 43.6 per 100,000. The statewide drug overdose death rate decreased 7.5 percent in 2015 to 24.8 deaths per 100,000, down from 26.8 in 2014. Were working hard with law enforcement, health care professionals, and community partners throughout the state to fight the devastating impact of drug abuse, Gov. Susana Martinez said in a written statement. While results like these show important progress, we need to continue fighting this issue with coordinated efforts of education, prevention, treatment, and enforcement to help more families protect themselves and their loved ones from the dangers of drug abuse. Although the prescription opioid death rate declined in 2015, the heroin overdose death rate increased. Deaths involving methamphetamine remained at the high levels seen in 2014. While methamphetamine was involved in a smaller percent of deaths than heroin or prescription opioids, deaths involving methamphetamine have tripled since 2006. Tate Jarrow, a West Point graduate and Secret Service special agent, is the winner of the 2016 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal in the Call to Service category for federal employees who are 35-years old or younger. Jarrow, who is being honored with the medal for the critical role he played in two major international cybercrime investigations, spoke with Tom Fox about his commitment to public service, his view on leadership and his experiences with the Secret Service. Tate is one of the pre-eminent cyber investigators in the federal government, Scott Sarafian, a Secret Service assistant to the special agent in charge, told the Partnership for Public Service about his work. He understands the dark web and how money moves. Fox is a guest writer for The Posts On Leadership blog and vice president for leadership and innovation at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Q: What drew you to the Secret Service? A: Ive always been interested in serving our country since I was in high school, which is why I went to West Point and spent five years in the Army. Toward the end of my military service, I looked at the Secret Service because it has a unique mission obviously to protect our leaders and foreign leaders who visit the United States. We also do investigations. The dual mission really appealed to me. Its one of the few places in government that on a day-to-day basis you can really see the direct impact. Its important that my service is worthwhile, that I am accomplishing something and that I can feel good about what Ive done. Q: What are some of the leadership lessons you learned in the military that have carried over to your work at the Secret Service? A: The fundamental leadership lesson I learned is the importance of leading as a friend and being willing to do the hard work that youre asking other people to do. Never ask them to do something that youre not willing to do yourself. Q: What has been you experience working with teams on various assignments and investigations? A: One of the key aspects is understanding what everyones stake is and what your mission is, and then doing your best to align everyones interests to accomplish the overall goal. From an investigative standpoint, I worked with FBI agents on a major international cybercrime case. We had a common vision and a common goal to investigate this crime and hold the people responsible who perpetrated it. Sometimes when dealing with foreign partners, there were cultural, legal and diplomatic factors that had nothing to do with our mission. So the trick was to find the common interest and leverage that to accomplish a common goal. I had to build trust and relationships with the people I was working with. Anything that gets accomplished is always done in teams. No one is on their own doing things and being successful, especially for complicated problems like we face as agents in the Secret Service and in the government. Q: Have you had any unusual experiences as a Secret Service agent? A: The last campaign cycle, I had a temporary assignment for a presidential candidate, who was visiting Nantucket. We worked while the candidate flew to another location. Our job was done, but we were left behind. It was about 10 p.m. There were no hotel rooms, and the ferry that cycled people back to the mainland was not operating. So we coordinated with the Coast Guard to take us back. We were in our stereotypical black suits. We got into a Coast Guard cutter, but because of the size of the boat, we were not able to enter the harbor. So they launched us in a dingy in our suits. We put on lifejackets and helmets and headed to the shore Navy Seal-style in one of those rubber rafts for the last mile or so. That was a pretty cool experience, courtesy of the Coast Guard, and a pretty cool protection assignment. Q:What motivates you on a day-to-day basis? A: I think of my job in terms of mission accomplishment. If I am assigned to work a protection detail and the individual is safe, everything is good. Sometimes with investigations, you arrest somebody and you know youre holding someone accountable for the crime they committed against the United States. But often you have to take the longer view and look at a day and think, I am doing something thats getting me closer to the objective or the mission success. Q: What advice would you give millennials thinking about working for the federal government? A: One of the huge advantages of working in the federal government is that it opens many doors and career paths. The experience you can have at a young age far outpaces the experiences you can have in a private organization. As a 22-year old member of the Army, I was in charge of 40 soldiers. And if you decide you want to go a different direction after working in government, many doors will be open. People recognize the value of government service. Q: How can individuals protect themselves from cybercrime? A: From a cybersecurity perspective, think about your house. If your house has a 10-foot chainlink fence or a home security alarm and your neighbors house doesnt, theyll probably try to rob your neighbor. Cybersecurity is like that. You want to be better than your neighbor. You want to have a better password, you want your Wi-Fi to be password protected. If you think about cybersecurity from that perspective and at least have strong passwords and different passwords for different accounts, you can go a long way in protecting yourself. secretservice-award-repeat There were the homeless men who alerted New Jersey police about a backpack of pipe bombs. There were the random New Yorkers who brought food and coffee to law enforcement staked out at the scene of the New York explosion. Theres the bar owner who realized that the man asleep in his entranceway was the suspected attacker. These are some of the heroes whose stories have emerged since makeshift bombs went off Saturday in the popular Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan and in Seaside Park, New Jersey, during a race for wounded veterans. On Sunday night, a full day after the dual attacks, two homeless men found a backpack and took it. But when they opened it, they saw wires connected to what turned out to be five pipe bombs. They dropped the backpack and immediately went to the police. Mayor Christian Bollwage told NJ Advance Media that they probably saved hundreds of people. Meanwhile, in New York, with police still patrolling the crime scene where 29 people were injured in a bomb blast, random people brought them tokens of appreciation. One act was caught on camera by Knight News, an independent news organization out of the University of Central Florida, and has since been viewed on Facebook more than 17 million times. In the video, a man comes by with bags of pastries and coffee from Starbucks, and hands them over the guardrail to NYPD officers. Then there was Harinder Harry Bains, the Sikh owner of Merdies Tavern in Linden, New Jersey, who found a man sleeping in the doorway of his bar Monday morning. When he tried to rouse him, he thought he may have recognized his face from the news. He told the man he could stay because the bar wasnt opening for another hour, according to the New York Post. Then he called the police, resulting in the capture of Ahmad Khan Rahami. In an interview with NJ Advance Media, Bains denied that his actions were heroic. Its something you never thought would happen in front of you, he told the reporter. It was all surreal, very scary. I did my part: When you see something, say something. Im not a hero, the cops are the hero. But on Facebook, the National Sikh Campaign commended Bains for his actions. Since Sept. 11, 20011, Sikhs have often been targets of hate crimes by people who have mistaken them for Muslims. He heroically helped save many innocent lives and yet gave credit to law enforcement officers, the organization wrote. Harinder Bains certainly did what every responsible citizen in America ought to do. Brave and courageous act! newyork-heroes Albuquerque police had at least three chances to stop and regroup after less lethal attempts failed to get mentally ill transient James Boyd to surrender on March 16, 2014, but instead they moved ahead with a reckless plan that led to Boyds fatal shooting. That was the opinion of police expert Jeff Noble during testimony Tuesday in the second day of the murder trial of two former APD officers charged in Boyds death. The officers through the use of their reckless planning were moving toward and attacking Mr. Boyd, said Noble, a 28-year veteran of two California police departments. He testified there was no immediate threat to justify officers use of deadly force because Boyd though holding knives in each hand never tried to attack police or step toward them. Noble, who studied an APD video of the March 2014 fatal shooting and other materials, said the officers who fired the fatal shots violated their own training. He (Boyd) didnt make any movement to begin an attack on these officers, he testified. There also was no attempt by Boyd, based on the police video, to hurt the police service dog that came toward him twice and backed off. The dog never bit Boyd, who earlier in the nearly four-hour standoff in the Sandias offered the dog a biscuit. Former APD officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez are charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in Boyds death. The prosecutions case against the men continues today in state district court in Albuquerque. Boyd, who had a long history of mental illness, had been living in the foothills for about 30 days. After an initial confrontation with APD Open Space officers because of his illegal campsite, Boyd became combative and police reinforcements were called to arrest him for aggravated assault on the officers. Defense attorneys have maintained that more than three hours into the standoff, Boyd posed a dangerous threat and moved toward or lunged forward at K-9 handler Scott Weimerskirch. To protect his life, the attorneys told the jury Monday, they shot Boyd. Attorney Sam Bregman, who represents Sandy, showed Noble several frames of the well-publicized video of the shooting. He tried to get Noble to concede that the homeless camper moved toward the dog handler just before he was shot. Noble testified he saw some motion on Boyds part, but not the kind of movement Bregman described. Had Boyd lunged or moved toward the dog handler, the officers would have been justified in shooting, he said. Noble agreed Boyd presented a danger and made threats to kill officers many times during the confrontation. He also conceded under cross-examination that Boyd was dangerous and never made any statements about surrendering. Nor did he put his hands up or drop his knives as ordered. But Noble noted that it appeared from the video that Boyd did start turning and looking toward the ground before he was fatally shot. In a second round of questioning by special prosecutor Randi McGinn, Noble said the idea that Boyd took some aggressive action was new to him. The first time I ever heard anybody say there was some kind of step or lunging was here in opening statements, Noble said, referring to the defense attorneys presentations to the jury Monday. Neither Perez nor Sandy mentioned seeing Boyd lunge or move toward the dog handler in statements they gave to APD investigators after the shooting, Noble said. On cross-examination, Noble said that Perez, a SWAT officer who fired the fatal shot, wasnt part of the ad hoc plan that went awry before Boyd was shot. But Noble said Sandy was one of the three officers who devised a take-down plan, which called for using a flash-bang device, then a Taser shotgun, and if that didnt work, the police dog. When those tactics failed, police at that point should have put some distance between themselves and Boyd and come up with a new plan, he said. Instead, they forged ahead. In an unusual move, Weimerskirch, the K-9 handler, followed after his police dog, moving to within 9 feet of Boyd. Thats when Sandy and Perez perceived danger to the officer and fired. But Noble said there needed to be more basis for deadly force than that. Noble said there was a clear dividing line in police training on dealing with armed suspects between someone who was armed and threatening, as Boyd was, and somebody actively engaging in an attack. The dog handlers actions did make the situation more dangerous, but that was a foreseeable problem given the take-down plan and its execution, Noble said. That was the possible consequence that one of the officers would act independently and would cause officers to use force, he said. A Texas boat repairman has been arrested and charged by federal authorities for attempting to purchase dynamite, grenades and wireless transmitters with an intent to burn someones vehicle and apartment to the ground. Federal authorities launched an undercover operation last month to monitor 50-year-old Cary Lee Ogborn, who they believed accessed an underground marketplace for illegal goods and tried to transport explosives for the purpose of injury or destruction of property, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas. Ogborn, who had his initial court appearance on Monday, is due back Wednesday for his probable cause and detention hearing, according to news reports. With terrorism, you dont want to be reactive, FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap told the Houston Chronicle. Our goal is to detect and deter events before they occur. An effective way to do this is through an undercover operation. Federal prosecutors allege that starting in late August, online user boatmanstv went into an underground marketplace called AlphaBay, which uses onion routing, or TOR, to conceal users IP addresses, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. The user, who authorities believe was Ogborn, began communicating with an undercover FBI agent he apparently thought was an online explosives dealer. The user wrote that he wanted to buy a detonator to blow up a five-gallon drum of gasoline. Dont need big explosion, he wrote Aug. 27, according to court records, just need to make sure building 20 ft x 40 ft made of wood burns to the ground. That same day, he explained that he was planning to put explosives under a structure being used as someones apartment and detonate it from a distance. The building like shed or storage, so yes like a house of wood, he wrote, according to court records. I guess I could use 1/4 stick TNT and gas to make sure it burns, or diesel fuel? I may use pressure sprayer to wet down the outside of the building right before I trigger it to help the burn. Dont know exactly whats inside but person using for apartment. Person will not be there when set off. Dont want to kill, just send message. Then at one point, boatmanstv inquired about a grenade, documents show. The idea we have for this person is, while he sleeping we put grenade in back of truck and run to our car 20 to 30 meters away, then the truck blow up, he heres [sic] truck blow up and come outside while he outside we blow up house, he wrote Sept 14. Tell me about the grenade please. How far do we need to be away? What postal carrier for this package? Federal authorities linked Ogborn to a marine repair shop in Houston, where a sign reads, Carys Mobile Marine Services! Home Of Your Mobile Home DR, according to the court documents. Neighbors said Ogborn lives and works at that location. Shawn Weiss, who has a business next door, said he never noticed anything funny about the guy. Hes always open, Weiss told NBC affiliate KPRC. Its always open, the shop door was always open. However, another nearby business owner, Charles Blair, said Ogborn has always given him the creeps. Had no earthly idea the guy was even capable, Blair told CBS affiliate KHOU. Something tells me sometimes to stay away from somebody, and it did, it did 100 percent. Its still unclear who Ogborns intended victim was and what kind of relationship they had. Earlier this month, the FBI agent sent a message to an email address provided by boatmanstv, telling him that the equipment would be sent concealed inside a toy. We make it easy to initiate like we say. All wire connected you just add 2 battery inside car alarm and put detonator inside hole in dynamite, it read, according to court documents. When ready to detonate it just you push car alarm button from key it initiate. Prosecutors said Ogborn agreed to pay $600 for the explosives. The undercover investigation revealed that boatmanstv had previously placed 32 orders, totaling more than $15,000 in Bitcoin, on that underground marketplace. Prosecutors said Ogborn picked up a package Friday that he believed contained the explosives and took it back to the boat repair shop. He was arrested for attempting to transport explosives with the intent that those explosives be used to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or to damage or destroy a vehicle or building, according to the U.S. attorneys office. He appeared Monday in federal court in a wheelchair, complaining that he was injured, but then walked out of the courthouse, Alfredo Perez, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal Service, told the Houston Chronicle. The newspaper reported that, over the years, Ogborn has been in legal trouble for drug possession, driving with a suspended license, auto theft, committing insurance fraud and possessing illegal metal knuckles. If convicted in the most recent crime, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. texas-explosives-repeat The Washington Post reported Monday that Hillary Clintons advisers are worried shes not closing the deal with Hispanic voters, and that it could affect downballot races across the country. As a reporter covering a state with the nations highest percentage of Hispanics, I read the story with obvious interest. Afterward, I touched base with former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez who is a top Clinton fundraiser for his take. First, from the Post article: Lagging support among Hispanic voters for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and congressional candidates in crucial races has stoked deep concern that the party and the presidential campaign are doing too little to galvanize a key constituency. While Clinton holds a significant lead over Republican rival Donald Trump in every poll of Hispanic voters, less clear is whether these voters will turn out in numbers that Democrats are counting on to win. Clinton trails President Obamas 2012 performance in several Latino-rich states, including Florida, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona. In those same states, on which Democrats prospects of retaking the Senate hinge, some down-ballot Democrats remain unknown to many Hispanic voters. That reality has prompted a flurry of criticism of Clintons and the partys Hispanic strategies. Despite a uniquely favorable environment with Trumps repeated attacks on undocumented immigrants, Democrats are increasingly worried that the opportunity is slipping away to meet a long-standing party goal of marshaling the nations growing Hispanic population into a permanent electoral force. The concerns are compounded by Trumps recent surge in several battleground states. Chavez now living in Washington, D.C., raising money for Clinton, working for a tech company and serving on some boards insisted the Clinton campaign has been doing a great job with Hispanic outreach. Ive watched the campaign from the inside as it has ramped up its programs and hiring, Chavez told me in an email. They are remarkably nuanced and fully cognizent of the diversity of the Latino community from state to state. Chavez said the debate about Democrats and Hispanics and campaigning is an old one largely about when and where to launch Spanish-language advertising. As best as I can glean from the article, the debate is an old one about when and to what extent all Spanish ads should go up, the former mayor said. I didnt read the article to say that Hispanic targeted advertising is lacking. In New Mexico, we only started using all Spanish ads about 10 years ago since, like most of the country, Latinos were targeted in English. Indeed, some Hispanics take offense at being spoken to only in Spanish, the suggestion being that were not fluent in English. The article points out that well know soon which strategy is more sound. I think that we may never know whether the all Spanish ads should go up sooner rather than later since it will be difficult to assign a loss or a win to such a narrow slice of a larger strategy about how best to reach small subsets of Latinos. This is particularly true when were trying to determine which modality inspires greater intensity which is the only remaining question among Latinos in this election. Were not going to vote for Trump in any meaningful numbers. Vamos a ver. Then Chavez, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and lost to now-Sen. Tom Udall in the Democratic primary, took a shot at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Ive never felt that the DSCC has done a good job with Hispanics and clearly nothing has changed in that regard, Chavez said. But Chavez showered love on a fellow New Mexican, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan. Lujan is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The DCCC has definitely stepped up its game since Congressman Lujan came onto the scene and Im very proud of him in that and many regards, Chavez said. The Post article quoted Lujan briefly in defense of the Democratic strategy. According to the DCCC, which coordinates House races for Democrats, Spanish-language television and radio ads are on the air in a House race in Texas and another in Florida, with more likely to go up soon. The committees biggest effort this cycle has been to hire local, Spanish-speaking organizers earlier than ever to register and turn out voters in key districts. This is a new approach that we believe will work, said Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), the first Latino chairman of the committee. Meanwhile, the National Republican Congressional Committee took aim at Lujans candidate recruitment today. The NRCC cited a Bloomberg News interview in which Lujan wouldnt say it was likely that Democrats could retake the House. Lujan and Democrats spent the summer insisting that Donald Trump would be a huge detriment to GOP candidates across the country. Lujan stood by that assertion in the Bloomberg interview, but to my ears the congressman didnt sound quite as confident as he did back in May. Lujan couldnt bring himself to echo former Speaker Pelosis bold prediction that the House was within reach, instead sputtering something about a volatile environment, and saying I dont even know that I could describe it as likely or unlikely, an NRCC press release said today. Perhaps Lujan understands that hes going to have some explaining to do in November for the DCCCs utter failure at recruitment in districts across the country, and he doesnt want to raise expectations? DCCC spokeswoman Meredith Kelly disputed the Republicans assertions and said Lujan is not less confident, but saying exactly the same things as he did four months ago. She also pointed out that the GOP is criticizing the Democrats for not focusing on particular districts where they used to have more sway, and are neglecting to mention successful Democratic recruitment is other areas, especially urban districts. Kelly said the battlegrounds have shifted. The DCCC has capitalized on Donald Trumps deep unpopularity and recruited stellar candidates in suburban, diverse, young and well-educated districts that are becoming more Democratic each day, she said. Its too early to predict how many, but Democrats will pick up a significant number of seats and Republicans know it. Meanwhile, the NRCCs decision to completely ignore their recruitment responsibilities, especially in open seats, has yielded fatally flawed candidates and will undoubtedly cost them in November. The anger was palpable Monday night at a meeting for former ITT Tech students sponsored by the New Mexico Attorney Generals office. You have every right to be angry, said Cholla Khoury, director of the offices consumer and environmental protection division. About 120 people showed up to the event, which began with a presentation by three assistant attorneys general and quickly transitioned into a heated question-and-answer session. The for-profit college operator announced earlier this month that it was shuttering all 137 campuses in 39 states, thereby displacing some 40,000 students, including at least 317 in Albuquerque. ITT attributed the closures to an Aug. 25 decision by the U.S. Department of Education that forbade the company from enrolling students who use federal financial aid. It has since filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. ITT has been the subject of several state and federal investigations in recent years for its recruiting and accounting practices. The New Mexico Attorney Generals office has joined other states in filing a lawsuit against the school that has been ongoing for the past two years. At the meeting, the attorneys said students who had their studies interrupted have two choices: apply for one of several loan forgiveness programs, or try to have their course credits transferred to another institution. There are existing processes that allow students to have a fresh start, said Cristina Chavez Reyes, assistant AG. But its very important to thoroughly research the benefits of transferring versus loan forgiveness. Abby Sullivan Engen, also an assistant attorney general, said students looking for loan forgiveness should check out the federal governments closed school discharge program. Individuals who were enrolled within 120 days of the schools closure and did not complete all their coursework could be eligible to have their federal loans canceled, and may be given refunds by the Education Department. Another option is called borrower defense to repayment, which also provides federal loan forgiveness if the student can prove that the educational institution committed fraud or misrepresented their services. Unfortunately, we dont know of any options for discharging private loans, said Engen. At first, the members of the audience vented their frustration at the way their educational plans had been derailed by the closure. Eric Carrion completed his coursework for a bachelors degree in electronic engineering but hadnt officially graduated by the time the school closed. Engen said students who completed their coursework are likely ineligible for the closed school discharge program. I have to start all over, said Carrion. Ive wasted two years where I was working three jobs to get a degree, and what do I have? Nothing. Others said they had been unable to get copies of their transcripts to begin the transfer process to another school, while still others said they would be unable to pursue further opportunities because their financial aid had been maxed out at ITT. One student said the Attorney Generals Office should have done a better job of reaching out to ITT students and the media to warn New Mexicans of the offices investigation. Lawyers are boring, no one wants to cover us, said Reyes, who added that the office had posted information on its website about the lawsuit over the past two years. Fred Bremis, who graduated from ITT with degrees in computer networking and security in 2014, told the Journal theres a downside to the publicity surrounding the schools closure. Im worried about my future, and my future employment, he said. With the way its being portrayed currently, employers may not think you got an education out of ITT. WASHINGTON After a series of Saudi-led airstrikes that reportedly killed and wounded civilians in Yemen, members of both the House and the Senate have introduced legislation to block a $1.15 billion arms sale that would supply the longtime American ally with a fresh contingent of tanks. The new bipartisan resolution, proposed Tuesday by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and co-sponsored by Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., comes a little more than a week after its companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Ky., and Mike Lee, Utah, and Democrats Chris Murphy, Conn., and Al Franken, Minn. The Senate resolution is expected to be voted on Wednesday. The growing opposition to the sale underlines the growing concern in Congress about the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen and how U.S. arms and equipment are being used there. There is overwhelming evidence that the Saudi-led Coalition in Yemen is bombing innocent civilians in Yemen. When hospitals and schools become military targets, this is cause for serious concern, not just for our national security but also for our moral standing around the world, Lieu said in a statement. The United States of America should not be aiding and abetting these atrocities and should immediately halt any activity to sell additional arms to the Saudis. The sale is likely to go through, as there is probably not enough support in Congress to block the deal, which the White House has approved. The deal to send up to 153 M1A1/A2 battle tanks, 33 recovery vehicles and the supporting equipment, including heavy machine guns, smoke grenade launchers, thermal sights and ammo, was approved by the State Department early last month. The tanks are meant to at least partly replace some of the vehicles damaged during fighting in Yemen. Three weeks after the sale was announced, 64 members of Congress wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama asking him to halt the deal in the wake of reported Saudi misconduct in its campaign in Yemen. On Tuesday, when asked about Pauls measure to block the sale, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the senator from Kentucky has a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire Middle East. Since coming to office in 2009, the Obama administration has facilitated more than $100 billion in over 40 arms sales to Saudi Arabia, more than any other administration in history, according to a report in the Security Assistance Monitor. The lawmakers opposition comes after the White House moved to stop the shipment of more than 400 U.S.-built cluster munitions following reports by human rights groups that the bombs had been used in airstrikes that wounded and killed Yemeni civilians. Now in its second year, the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen has been repeatedly criticized for indiscriminately bombing civilian areas. In August, Saudi forces were accused of bombing a school and a hospital within a few days, killing dozens, including children. The Houthis, who overthrew the Yemeni government in 2014 and now control Sanaa, the capital, also are responsible for targeting civilian areas, according to human rights groups. The Washington Posts Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report. saudi-tanks WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. For months, Democrats argued that voters would get serious about the campaign once it reached the fall and would reject Donald Trumps no-holds-barred approach. Theyre still waiting. With fewer than 50 days left, polling shows a tightening national race and most unnerving to Democrats a Trump rise in key battleground states. But as Trumps provocative appeal gains traction, Hillary Clinton is sticking with the traditional playbook: Lots of attack ads, a focus on getting out the vote and intense preparation for next weeks first general election debate. Her approach underscores whats emerged as a central question of the 2016 campaign: Can Clintons play-it-safe political strategy win against a chaos candidate? Even President Barack Obama, who long dismissed the idea of a future Trump administration, has started ringing alarm bells, warning Democratic supporters to expect a tight race that Clinton could possibly lose. Recent polls suggest the Republican may have an edge in Iowa and Ohio and is likely in a close race with Clinton in Florida and North Carolina. This guy is not qualified to be president, Obama told donors at a Manhattan fundraiser on Sunday. This should not be a close election, but it will be. Clintons campaign, Democrats say, has little choice but to stick with its plan. The always-measured Clinton, they argue, cant out-improvise one of the most unpredictable politicians of the modern era. Were going through the roller-coaster rides of campaigns. All she can do is just keep plowing ahead, said Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist who ran Obamas Florida operation in 2008 and advised him four years later. Shes going to win it by grinding it out. Hoping to calm some supporters concerns, Clintons campaign sent out a memo Monday, reminding them that the electoral map favors Democrats. The memo charted various paths to 270 electoral votes and urged backers to channel their worry into volunteering. Battleground states carry that name for a reason: Theyre going to be close, from now until Election Day, wrote campaign manager Robby Mook. But we are going to win them because weve spent the past year building a superior ground game to communicate our message and turn our people out to vote. So instead of worrying, lets just get to work! But Trump, who lacks Clintons organized effort on the ground but regularly fills massive arenas, is far from a standard opponent. In the primary, he knocked off more than a dozen rivals who took a basically standard approach to his unpredictable rhetoric. Everybody in the primary at one point or another tried to take Donald Trump down in the way you take someone down who says absurd things and none of them worked, said Rick Tyler, a former aide to primary rival Sen. Ted Cruz. Shes trying to do more of the same. And more of the same isnt working. Clinton aides see next weeks debate at Hofstra University as a key moment. The Monday night match-up will finally give voters a chance to compare the candidates side-by-side. Clinton must communicate the contrast and choice to voters that are tuning in for the first time, said spokesman Brian Fallon. For his part, Trump has begun taking baby steps toward becoming a slightly more traditional candidate, reading off teleprompters, rolling out policy proposals and making overtures to minorities creating even more uncertainty among Democrats about how hell act on the debate stage. Though aides decline to detail debate preparations, Clinton has built a lot of downtime into her schedule for recent weeks. Then there was the pneumonia episode. She is holding sessions with experienced Democratic debate experts, including Ron Klain, Karen Dunn and Robert Barnett, all of whom advised Obama. One closely held secret: the identity of the person playing Trump in the sessions. In an unpredictable race against an unpredictable candidate, by definition the only thing you can control is what you do, said Mo Elleithee, a former Clinton aide whos now head of the Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service. Theyre focusing on that. While Clinton has been prepping, her team has stuck with its strategy: Define Trump in the summer with a barrage of negative ads. Clinton campaign and allies have spent more than $180 million on TV and radio advertising between mid-June and this week, according to Kantar Medias political ad tracker. Trump and his supporters spent about $40 million in the same time period. Its a strategy that mirrors the one pursued by Obama during his re-election campaign, when his team barraged Mitt Romney through the summer with ads casting him as an out-of-touch plutocrat. But Clinton, with deep unfavorability ratings of her own, is a far different candidate from Obama. Her team is making a renewed push to ensure turnout from groups who supported the president young voters, Latinos and African-Americans. But she acknowledges she has work to do, telling young voters in Philadelphia on Monday she understands they may still have some questions about her. Looking to the debates, Clinton says shes ready for whatever Trump sends her way. I am going to do my very best to communicate as clearly and and fearlessly as I can in the face of the insults and the attacks and the bullying and bigotry that weve seen coming from my opponent, she said on The Steve Harvey Morning Show. I understand its a contact sport. ___ Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz contributed to this report. MINNEAPOLIS The day after a young Somali-American man stabbed 10 people at a central Minnesota mall, pickup trucks were spotted driving through predominantly Somali neighborhoods, honking and waving Confederate flags highlighting the precarious bond between the thousands of Somalis who live in St. Cloud and other city residents. Saturdays attack at Crossroads Center Mall is testing city and community leaders efforts to improve longstanding racial tensions, which flared up a few years ago when Somali-American high school students said they were being harassed and being called terrorists. Its also spawning backlash against Somalis and other Muslims elsewhere in in the state, including south of the Twin Cities, where the owner of a restaurant and ice cream parlor changed his sign out front after Saturdays attack to read Muslims Get Out, saying he wont be peer pressured by the politically correct crowd. Somalis in St. Cloud are trying to square the bright, family-minded Dahir Adan, who went to the mall to buy the new iPhone, with the emotionless man who was killed by an off-duty officer and is the subject of a terrorism investigation. Investigators are poring through witness and victim accounts, video footage and the 20-year-olds electronic devices to piece it together what sparked the attack. An Islamic State-run news agency claimed Adan was a soldier of the Islamic State. St. Clouds police chief has said it seems Adan acted alone. On Tuesday, the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force assumed the lead on the investigation. FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said he could not discuss any investigative details, but that authorities are following up on all leads. Motivation is a big part of this investigation, Loven said. As many as 10,000 Somalis have settled in three counties that compose St. Cloud, a city with about 65,000 people, according to estimates from the state demographer. Smaller Somali populations have settled in rural pockets of Minnesota, while Minneapolis has the states largest Somali population; conflict between those residents and the states majority population seem to occur less frequently than in Minnesotas smaller cities. And aside from the reported Confederate flag situation, St. Cloud has had lasting issues. Last year, some Somali-American students walked out in protest, saying they were being harassed and called members of Islamic State. Complaints of mistreatment at a local high school prompted a federal civil rights investigation in 2011 and, though an agreement resolved that case, the U.S. Department of Education still was monitoring last year. Saturdays stabbing has left local Somalis trying to square the bright, family-minded young man who went to the mall to buy the new iPhone with the emotionless man who stabbed 10 people, reportedly asking some victims whether they were Muslim before stabbing them. St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis called an individual clearly bent on evil. Kleis insisted Tuesday the city is united and said he hasnt heard of any retaliatory incidents since the stabbings. Nor has Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of Council of American-Islamic Relations Minnesota chapter, who said some local Somali-Americans were nervous about being viewed as guilty by association. This is the test that we need to show that this community is stronger and more resilient than what has been reported, Hussein said. ___ Associated Press writer Amy Forliti contributed to this report. DALLAS A man charged in the death of a North Texas college student whose body was found dismembered and burned in a park was the subject of a protective order following complaints of stalking and harassment by a former girlfriend, records show. Charles Dean Bryant, 30, is being held on $1 million bond on a charge of capital murder in the death of 24-year-old Jacqueline Vandagriff. He was released from jail on a stalking charge just days before meeting Vandagriff at a bar Sept. 13. Her body was found the next morning after firefighters extinguished a fire in a Grapevine park. According to an arrest warrant, Vandagriff is seen on a security video meeting Bryant at the bar in Denton, where she attended Texas Womans University. They are later seen going to another bar, then leaving together at about 9:45 p.m. Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling has said that its not known if the two knew each other before meeting at the bar. Cell phone data indicate that early on the morning of Sept. 14, Vandagriffs phone was in the vicinity of Bryants home in Haslet, about 25 miles southwest of Denton, according to the arrest warrant. Video evidence showed Bryant buying a shovel at 4:41 a.m. at a Wal-Mart, and there was evidence at his home that someone had tried to dig a hole in the ground. Officials responding to a fire about 6:30 a.m. found Vandagriffs body in a plastic kiddie pool in a park in Grapevine, located about 20 miles from Haslet. The arrest warrant says a witness saw a man standing over the fire before leaving. Jail records show Bryant was arrested Sept. 7 by University of North Texas police on a stalking charge and posted bond at the Denton County jail on Sept. 9. He was also arrested by UNT police Sept. 6 and released the same day on bond for criminal trespass. According to Denton County court records, the stalking and criminal trespass arrests came after Bryant continued to contact his former girlfriend, despite her desire that he not after she ended their dating relationship Aug. 23. Upon Bryants stalking arrest, a judge issued the emergency protective order. Court records show that on Saturday three days after Vandagriffs body was found his ex-girlfriend told police shed received emails from Bryant saying he missed her and wanted to talk to her. Police on Sunday arrested him, and he was later charged with capital murder. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. Texas Womans University said Vandagriff was a nutrition student there. Eberling said Bryant had worked at the Urban Cowboy Saloon in Fort Worth. The gay dance club said on its Facebook page that he was fired on Sunday for not showing up for his shift. According to the arrest warrant, officials executing a search warrant at Bryants home found Vandagriffs purse in the trash. The document also said the search found a kiddie pool in the backyard that looked similar to the one found with Vandagriffs burning body in it, and saw a patch of dead grass where it appeared a similar pool had been. Bryants roommate told police that there had recently been two kiddie pools in the backyard. Vandagriffs cause of death has not yet been released. ___ Associated Press writer David Warren contributed to this report. SAN DIEGO The number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally has held steady since the Great Recession ended, totaling 11.1 million in 2014, 11.2 million in 2012 and 11.3 million in 2009, according to a study released Tuesday by Pew Research Center (http://pewrsr.ch/2dh78XI ). The population peaked at 12.2 million in 2007. Pew, which reached conclusions by subtracting the estimated number of legal immigrants from census data on the foreign-born, found that, while the overall number dropped a statistically insignificant amount a declining number of Mexicans has had a profound impact in parts of the country. WHERE ARE THEY FROM? The number of Mexicans in the U.S. illegally has dropped sharply since the Great Recession began to 5.8 million in 2014, unchanged from 2012 but down from 6.3 million in 2009 and a peak of 6.9 million in 2007. Last year, Pew said more Mexicans were returning to Mexico than arriving. The drop in Mexicans is nearly offset by an increase in Asians, Africans and Central Americans. The number of Central Americans in the U.S. illegally hit 1.7 million in 2014, up 110,000 from 2009. The number of Asians in the country illegally jumped by about 130,000 during the five-year period to 1.4 million, with notable increases of people from India, China, the Philippines and South Korea. Mexicans still account for 52 percent of people in the U.S. illegally in 2014 down from 56 percent in 2009 but still the largest nationality by far. WHICH STATES ARE SEEING THE BIGGEST CHANGE? The number of people in the U.S. illegally dropped in seven states from 2009 to 2014 due to fewer Mexicans Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and South Carolina. California had the biggest numerical drop, down 190,000 to 2.3 million. The number of immigrants in the country illegally grew in six states during the same period Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. Louisiana saw an increase from Mexico. Increases in the five other states were due to higher numbers from countries other than Mexico. New Jersey and Pennsylvania had the biggest numerical increases, up by 50,000 each. Mexico was still the leading birth country for people in the country illegally in at least 38 states. El Salvador is the leading birth country for those living illegally in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. The Philippines is the leading source in Alaska and Hawaii. Brazil is the top sender for Massachusetts, India in New Hampshire, and Guatemala in Rhode Island. Most people in the country illegally lived in six states California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois in that order. Nevada had the highest share of its population made up of people in the country illegally (7.2 percent), followed by Texas (6.1 percent), California (6 percent) and New Jersey (5.4 percent). HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN HERE? People in the country illegally are more likely to have been here a long time. Thats particularly true in western states with deeply established Mexican populations. The median length of time in the country for those in the U.S. illegally was 13.6 years in 2014, up from 7.1 years in 1995. The median length of time in the U.S. for residents there illegally was 15.6 years in California. Only five states had a median length of stay shorter than 10 years Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri and Ohio. Donald Trumps new proposal for paid maternity leave is vague about who would be eligible, labor-policy experts say, including a provision that could exclude one of the countrys most economically vulnerable groups: single mothers. A document on the Trump campaigns website states that same-sex couples would receive the six weeks of paid leave under the policy only if their marriage is recognized under state law, a provision that could effectively bar any unmarried parent. Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller told The Washington Post that Trumps maternity-leave policy would extend to single mothers. However, he could not explain why a marriage requirement is cited on the campaigns website or why it was mentioned by Ivanka Trump in an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine. We dont have the exact legislation written down, he said. Ivanka Trump, the Republican presidential nominees eldest daughter, noted the rule in the interview last week. She said fathers and parents who adopt would not be eligible for the six weeks of paid leave, and when pressed on why the plan leaves out dads, the 34-year-old mother of three replied, Its meant to benefit, whether its in same-sex marriages as well, to benefit the mother who has given birth to the child if they have legal married status under the tax code. The campaign has credited Ivanka Trump with inspiring and co-designing the proposal, the first of its nature from a top GOP contender for the White House. The plan is discriminating against fathers, fathers and mothers who adopt, LGBT parents and apparently some set of unmarried parents, said Carmel Martin, executive vice president for policy for the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. The Trump campaign has previously addressed the plight of many single mothers. In a Wall Street Journal essay last week, Ivanka Trump acknowledged their uphill battle. The number of households led by single mothers has doubled in the past three decades, she wrote, and the majority of these women work in low-paying jobs without flexibility or benefits. About 9.9 million single mothers with young children live in the United States, according to federal statistics. Nearly a third of those with jobs live in poverty. If Trumps plan rejected single mothers, black families would be especially affected. According to federal data, 70 percent of black children are born to unmarried mothers, a threefold increase since the 1960s and a level relatively unchanged since the 1990s. Some experts said the wording of Trumps policy was too ambiguous to determine who could participate. Michael Tanner, a domestic-policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, said he thinks the Trump campaign has stayed intentionally vague on the details in order to appeal to a larger voting population. I think this is another case where he hasnt really thought out the language theyre using, Tanner said. Theres no legal way to exclude a single mother. Conservative economist Aparna Mathur, who studies tax policy and labor issues at the American Enterprise Institute, said Ivanka Trumps statement didnt clarify the matter. I dont see details about who is left out, who is eligible, she said after reading the Trump campaigns public outline of the policy. The Trump team has said single people and families gay, straight, adoptive and foster would qualify for the tax breaks under Trumps broader child-care plan. The GOP candidate proposes allowing parents to deduct the average cost of their states care from their income taxes. He also wants to extend six weeks of paid leave to new birth mothers, exclusively, through the countrys unemployment insurance program, which currently supplies benefits only to people who have been laid off. The average weekly benefit, it says, would be $300. Trump says he would pay for it by eliminating the systems fraud. trump-maternity DENVER Two U.S. senators said Tuesday they asked for an investigation into a whistleblowers report that an Army veteran killed himself while awaiting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at a U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs clinic in Colorado Springs. Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said they also asked the departments inspector general to investigate whether the whistleblower faced retaliation after reporting his concerns. The inspector generals office is the Veteran Affairs departments internal watchdog. The department will work with the inspector general and the senators to determine what happened, agency spokesman Paul Sherbo said. The senators did not identify the soldier who killed himself but said he was 26 and had served as an Army Ranger. Gardner said he wanted to avoid a repeat of a 2014 scandal over long wait times that veterans endured to get health care, and allegations that some VA officials falsified records to cover up the problem. The scandal led to the ouster of Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Gardner said the whistleblower also reported that the Colorado Springs clinic might have tampered with its wait list records after the veterans death. Seven months ago, the Veteran Affairs inspector general said workers at the Colorado Springs clinic incorrectly reported that some veterans got appointments sooner than they actually did. Investigators did not say whether the records were deliberately falsified. CHICAGO A familiar question that arose after other police shootings now looms over Oklahoma: Will the white officer seen on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man be charged with a crime? Officer Betty Shelby shot Terence Crutcher on Friday just moments after the 40-year-old walked back to his SUV, holding his hands high over his head. Shelbys lawyer said Crutcher ignored officers commands, kept touching his pocket and was reaching through one of the vehicles windows when she fired. A fellow officer drew a stun gun to shock Crutcher. Some answers to common questions about factors that could determine if the officer is charged: ___ Q: DOES IT MATTER WHAT THE OFFICER WAS THINKING? A: Definitely. Any investigators contemplating charges must get inside Shelbys head. When it comes to criminal charges, legal experts said, the most important determination isnt whether the officer was actually in danger in hindsight. Its whether the officer reasonably believed that he or she or fellow officers were in danger in the split second that person chose to shoot. Theres no clear, standard formula to determine if an officers fear was reasonable, said Jeff Cramer, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago. Does the officer have to see a gun or be shot at before they fire? Clearly no, he said. Thats what makes these cases so hard. For an officers actions to qualify for serious charges such as murder under state law, prosecutors would have to demonstrate that Shelby was not just reckless but that she had ill intentions, Cramer said. There has to be a purposefulness to what you did, he said. You have to know something is illegal and you do it anyway. ___ Q: IS THE USE OF A TASER TELLING? A: That a fellow officer used a stun-gun at the same time that Shelby fired could work for and against her. On one hand, it shows she was not alone in perceiving that there was some level of threat. It would be that much harder for an officer to argue his or her fears were legitimate when that officer was the only one to use a weapon. On the other hand, the fact that Shelbys fellow officer used nonlethal force could undermine any assertion that the threat she perceived to her life was clear. Shelby also carried a stun gun, authorities said. ___ Q: DOES VIDEO SHOW CLEARLY WHAT HAPPENED? A: No. The view of the moment Shelby shoots is obscured on a video from one squad cars dashboard camera. Theres some audio, but listeners cannot hear what officers said to Crutcher or what he said to them. After Crutcher falls, a female voice can be heard telling a dispatcher, Shots fired! Theres also footage from a police helicopter overhead, but it does not show the events clearly either. Someone in the helicopter is heard saying before Crutcher falls, Looks like a bad dude. Maybe on something. Authorities said a vial of PCP was found in Crutchers car. ___ Q: WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL STATE CHARGES? A: The onus in Oklahoma is on county district attorneys to decide whether theres sufficient evidence to pursue charges, explains Lee F. Berlin, a Tulsa-based defense lawyer and a former assistant district attorney. If the DA concludes charges are called for, he then asks a judge not a grand jury to rule on whether the prosecution can move forward. The Tulsa county district attorney, Steve Kunzweiler, could cite conflicts of interest and ask for a DA in another county to take over, though Berlin said thats unlikely and, he thought, unnecessary. Kunzweiler, elected in 2014, was the DA when charges were brought against Robert Bates, a reserve deputy later convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting an unarmed man in 2015 in Tulsa when he mistakenly fired his handgun instead of his stun gun. Bates was sentenced in May to four years in prison in the death of Eric Harris. A first-degree murder charge which can carry the death penalty in Oklahoma would seem highly unlikely, no matter what the investigation turns up, Berlin said. Such a charge would require whats known as malice aforethought, meaning Shelby would essentially have had to plan Crutchers killing in advance. A more plausible potential charge, Berlin said, might be second-degree manslaughter, which requires extreme negligence. Such a charge could be filed, for instance, against an officer who grabs and shoots a handgun mistaking it for a stun gun, Berlin said. ___ Q: WHAT ABOUT FEDERAL CHARGES? A: U.S. attorneys could potentially charge Shelby with depriving Crutcher of his constitutional rights by killing him, said Cramer, currently a managing director of investigations at Berkeley Research Group. Federal prosecutors sometimes defer to local prosecutors, giving them first crack at filing charges. But if county prosecutors choose not to charge Shelby and if federal authorities believe that was the wrong call, U.S. prosecutors could step in and pursue charges months or even years from now, Cramer said. The Justice Department is conducting a civil rights investigation separate from the local investigation. Among police charged recently under federal statutes was Michael Slager, a former South Carolina officer who last year fatally shot Walter Scott as he fled from a traffic stop. Scott, a 50-year-old black man, was unarmed. Slager, who is white, was awaiting trial on a state murder charge when he was indicted federally in May for depriving Scott of his rights. That indictment also charged Slager with obstruction of justice and unlawful use of a weapon during the commission of a crime. If convicted on all federal counts, Slager faces up to life in prison. WASHINGTON The head of pharmaceutical company Mylan is defending the cost for life-saving EpiPens and is signaling the company has no plans to lower prices despite a public outcry. Price and access exist in a balance, and we believe we have struck that balance, Heather Bresch says in prepared testimony released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ahead of her Wednesday appearance before the panel. The price of EpiPens has grown to $608 for a two-pack, an increase of more than 500 percent since 2007. Republicans and Democrats have said families struggling to pay for the emergency allergy shots have every right to be outraged by Mylan, a company whose sales are in excess of $11 billion. Bresch says in the testimony that she wishes the company had better anticipated the magnitude and acceleration of the rising prices for some families. We never intended this, she says. But she says investments are necessary to ensure more access for those who need it and the company has made strides to more widely distribute the drug to schools and others. We dont want to go back to a time not that long ago when awareness of anaphylaxis was much lower and epinephrine auto injectors were only available in schools with a prescription for an individual child, she says. Achieving this level of expansion of awareness requires significant investment. House Oversight chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and the panels top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, have said they also want to examine ways to encourage greater competition in the EpiPen market. Our goal is to work together to ensure that critical medications, like the EpiPen, are accessible and affordable for all of our constituents, Chaffetz and Cummings said in a joint statement last week. Bresch has some familiarity with Capitol Hill she is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. But lawmakers so far havent given any deference to her because she is related to a colleague. Several other committees have called for investigations into the matter. EpiPens are used in emergencies to stop potentially fatal allergic reactions to insect bites and stings, and foods like nuts and eggs. People usually keep multiple EpiPens handy at home, school or work, but the syringes, prefilled with the hormone epinephrine, expire after a year. Bresch noted that Mylan has said it will begin selling its generic version for $300 for a pair. That will still bring Mylan tens of millions of dollars while helping it retain market share against current and future brand-name and generic competition. The company has also offered coupon cards and has doubled the limit for eligibility for its patient assistance program. Critics have said the coupons, discount cards and patient assistance programs arent real solutions because many customers wont use them or wont qualify for them. In her testimony, Bresch says she understands there is considerable concern and skepticism about the pricing. She says some think the company makes $600 off each EpiPen, but that is not true. She says the company makes about $50 per pen after rebates, fees, materials and other costs are subtracted. ___ AP Medical Writer Linda A. Johnson and AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this report. Deborah Jin, an American physicist who was one of the worlds foremost experts on how ordinary atoms and molecules change their behavior at extraordinarily low temperatures and who was known for creating what is sometimes called a new state of matter, died Sept. 15 at a hospice center in Boulder, Colorado. She was 47. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where Jin was employed for 20 years, announced the death and said the cause was cancer. She lived in Boulder. A 2003 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, known as the genius award, Jin was a masterfully deft and accomplished experimenter. Using lasers, magnets and vacuum chambers, she trapped and probed tiny bits of matter in realms only infinitesimal fractions of a degree above absolute zero, where all motion is understood to cease. At almost negligible particle densities, and in cold far more frigid than the farthest reaches of space, the rules of physics that govern the everyday world give way to the probabilistic regime of quantum mechanics. There, particles show the characteristics of waves, and uncertainty often replaces the deterministic. It has been described as the world of ultra-cold quantum gases, and Jin received many honors and awards for her explorations in the field. Such work is expected to aid in the development of more practical and effective superconductors, materials that can carry electric currents without resistance. Scientists have also said it also holds promise in creating and improving electronic devices, in devising better sensors and measuring devices, and in quantum computing. It may also lead to advances in understanding the quantum behavior of systems of many particles. A longtime federal employee, Jin worked at JILA, which was once called the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics. It is a joint institute of the University of Colorado and NIST, which is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Specific accomplishments with which Jin was credited included production in 2003 of what scientists describe as the first fermionic condensate. Dubbed a superfluid in recognition of its special properties, the material embodies fermions, atomic and nuclear particles distinguished by what is known as their half-integral spin. (The name can be traced to work carried out by physicist and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi.) The fermionic condensate is kin to Bose-Einstein condensates, which embody bosons, particles with integral spin. The Bose-Einstein condensate was first produced by NIST scientists, and NIST called it the worlds first quantum gas. Both condensates have been called new states of matter. NIST physicist Eric Cornell, one of three scientists who shared the Nobel Prize for their work on the Bose-Einstein condensate, called Jins work in producing the fermionic condensate technologically much more challenging. In addition, of the two condensates, the one credited to her is ultimately more commercially relevant, he said, noting that electrons, the basic particle of electronics, are fermions. Deborah Shiu-lan Jin was born in Stanford, California, on Nov. 15, 1968, and grew up in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, where her father, a physicist, was teaching at a university nearby. Her mother had a masters degree in physics and worked as an engineer, and Dr. Jin noted that while still young, she already felt inclined toward her parentss field. It pretty much rubs off on you, she said. While she was a student at Princeton University, a summer job at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, pretty much settled things, Jin once said. I think I knew from that point on that I was going to be a physicist. She graduated from Princeton in 1990 and obtained a PhD in physics at the University of Chicago in 1995 and then went to JILA as a National Research Council research associate. She joined NIST in 1997 and was also on the physics faculty at the University of Colorado. In addition to the genius award, her honors included the 2014 Isaac Newton Medal from Britains Institute of Physics and the Commerce Department Gold Medal. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Survivors include her husband of 22 years, John Bohn, and a daughter, Jaclyn Bohn, of Boulder; her mother, Shirley Jin, of Boulder; a sister; and a brother. jin-obit NEW YORK This is the third time Kamran Foroughi has flown here from London for the U.N. General Assembly, a private citizen hoping for success where diplomats have failed. Two years ago, he delivered a letter to the Iranian mission pleading for his ailing fathers release from prison. Last year, he managed to attend a dinner for President Hassan Rouhani and handed an aide a second letter. Now, he has another letter asking Rouhani to release Kamal Foroughi, 77, on humanitarian grounds. The British-Iranian dual national has cataracts, spent 18 months in solitary confinement, and is more than halfway through his seven-year sentence on espionage charges. It feels a lot like Groundhog Day to me, Kamran Foroughi said. He has company in his quest. Foroughi came to New York with Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife, Nazanin, also a British-Iranian dual national, was sentenced last month to five years in prison on espionage charges while visiting her parents. Their 2-year-old daughter, Gabriella, has had her passport confiscated. Relatives of several of the other prisoners arrested on what their families and governments consider trumped-up charges are also making public appeals. A growing number of dual nationals, a status Iran does not recognize, have been arrested in recent months by the hard-line Revolutionary Guard Corps in what is likely a message to the moderate Rouhani administration that negotiated the nuclear deal with six global powers, including the United States, and wants to end Irans international isolation. Its a clear attempt to embarrass their own government, said Ratcliffe, who keeps track of his wifes 171 days in captivity on a calendar at home. Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen and State Department subcontractor living in the Washington area, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine, according to his supporters. His sentence has not been officially announced, but state media have called him a spy with links to U.S. intelligence services. Jason Poblete, an Alexandria lawyer representing Zakka, urged Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power to ask Rouhani for Zakkas unconditional release. The same judge, Abolghassem Salavati, presided over the trials of Zakka, Foroughi and Ratcliffe. He is known for handing down harsh sentences in high-profile political cases. He also sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was released along with three other Iranian Americans in a prisoner swap in January when the nuclear deal was implemented. In New York, Ratcliffe and Foroughi met privately with Rezaian and his brother Ali, who actively campaigned for his brothers release. They discussed strategies for publicizing the fate of their loved ones. At least three U.S. citizens with dual nationality are known to be imprisoned in Iran. Siamak Namazi, a prominent Iranian American businessman, and his father, Baquer, also a dual national, are facing espionage charges. Court dates have been set for Baquer and Siamak, and we hope that the judge will show the independence of the judiciary and acquit them of the baseless charges against both of them, said Bijan Khajehpour, a former business partner of Siamak Namazi who intends to come to New York next week to meet with U.N. officials. In addition, Robin Shahini of San Diego was detained in July. And the United States is still looking for information about Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007. Several other Westerners are thought to be held in Iran, including some whose cases have not been made public. Ratcliffe has spoken once with his wife since she was sentenced last week. She was less concerned about her own fate than about that of their daughter. She told me she has missed more than a fifth of Gabriellas life while she has been in prison, he said. Shell never get that time back. iran-1stld-writethru The day after a 70-year-old man was injured in a fight with his nephew last July, he died. Months later detectives with the Albuquerque Police Department continue to investigate Willie Warrens death as a homicide, and no charges have been filed, according to a department spokesman. The case had not been reported to the media prior to last week, when it was included in a list of all homicides. Officer Tanner Tixier did not respond to questions about why police did not disclose information about the case earlier. Tixier said police were called July 22 to an apartment on Montgomery NE, where they found Warren unresponsive. They took him to the hospital, and he died from his injuries. Tixier did not say what those injuries were or what led to the fight. The investigation revealed the day before Willie Warren had been in an altercation with a nephew, Tixier said. Warren was injured during the altercation but refused to go to the hospital. Instead he went to a friends home, and the next day the friend reported he could not wake him up, Tixier said. According to an obituary published in the Journal in early August, Warren had lived in Albuquerque his whole life. Tixier said once detectives finish the investigation they will turn over the case to the District Attorneys Office for review and possible prosecution. He didnt identify any suspects and said if a person is charged more information will be released at that time. PHOENIX A federal judge has entered a $10 million default judgment against a convict who raped an Arizona prison teacher more than two years ago. In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton said Jacob Harvey must pay $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages to the teacher. A magistrate judge recommended the $10 million default judgment last month after Harvey refused to participate by telephone in an April evidentiary hearing. Harvey later asked for a lawyer to defend him against the civil suit filed by the teacher, who was raped inside a prison classroom in January 2014. Bolton denied the request. Harvey is not entitled to appointed counsel in this civil case and even if he were, this request is made over two years after he was served with the summons and complaint, more than one year after his default was entered and five months after he told (the magistrate) he did not want to participate in the hearing to determine damages, Bolton said in her brief order. Harvey was just 20 and serving a 30-year term for rape when he assaulted the teacher. He was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty. The state of Arizona paid the woman a $3 million settlement last December. No guards were nearby and there was no video monitoring of the classroom when the rape occurred. The state has since increased security for teachers and other non-sworn staff members. Harvey reportedly has no money. But he could inherit money or get more from friends or receive cash from his Indian tribe, which owns several Arizona casinos, said Scott Zwillinger, a lawyer for the teacher. We may proceed to tribal court, Zwillinger said. We will explore all our options. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 20.09.2016 - Stepping up international efforts to prevent violent extremism and terrorism was at the heart of Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter's concerns as he participated on Tuesday in the opening of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Mr Burkhalter, who is head of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs, took part in meetings focusing on how to involve women and the private sector in projects in order to give marginalised groups more opportunities with the aim of preventing people deprived of hope from falling into violence and extremism. One of the meetings was also sponsored by Switzerland. To get such projects under way, resources are needed. The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) has therefore launched an appeal for funds to support its activities. GCERF was founded two years ago in Geneva and launched its first projects in Bangladesh, Mali and Nigeria. The fund aims to raise awareness about the importance of fighting violent extremism and to mobilise people by using a preventive approach and providing alternatives. GCERF's first three pilot projects target one million people. In order to monitor these projects and launch new ones in Kosovo, Kenya and Myanmar the organisation is seeking support particularly in the private sector, where it is trying to increase awareness. Switzerland, which was one of the countries that supported the establishment of GCERF, welcomes the implementation of the first projects and will continue to assist the fund. Women also have a key role to play in the flight against violence and terrorism. On the one hand, they are disproportionately affected by terrorist acts; on the other, they have a key role to play in combating the roots of violence. Certain terrorist groups target women for recruitment (some 10% of the roughly 5,000 Western jihadis in Syria are women), which is why it is important to include women in efforts to combat violent extremism and terrorism. At a high-level meeting in New York, Mr Burkhalter restated Switzerland's action plan to combat violent extremism which focuses on three elements: the role of young people, women and International Geneva. The debate on combating terrorism will continue on Wednesday in New York where Mr Burkhalter will be taking part in the 7th Ministerial Plenary Meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF). He will present some of Switzerland's specific activities in this field, such as a project that fosters dialogue between young people and the authorities in a disadvantaged area of Tunis. Switzerland is also involved in reforming certain judicial procedures in Libya in order to curb radicalisation among young people in prison. GCTF members at the ministerial meeting are expected to adopt a series of recommendations including the Neuchatel memorandum on best practice in juvenile justice in the context of the fight against terrorism. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53 Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Ares Management is reportedly seeking to raise more than $45bn for its latest batch of funds. Brazilian airlines are up in arms over a decision by Brazil's tax authority to list Ireland as a tax haven, which means about 1 billion reais in new taxes on aircraft leases for carriers struggling to regain profitability. "The impact is brutal," said Eduardo Sanovicz, head of Brazilian airline association ABEAR, who will meet on Tuesday with tax authorities in Brasilia to try to reverse the surprise tax decision taken without consulting the airline industry. Sanovicz said 60% of the 520 aircraft flying commercially in Brazil are leased from companies registered in Ireland, where they enjoy favorable tax rules. Brazil's tax authority announced on Thursday it was adding Ireland, Austria, Curacao and Saint Martin to its list of countries denominated as tax havens. Companies based there will have to start paying a 25% tax rate on transactions with Brazilian companies, costing airlines about 1 billion reais on leasing contracts that are signed for up to 10 years, Sanovicz said by telephone. Shares of carrier Gol Linhas Aereas SA fell 12% last week on the decision. Brazilian airlines are reeling from high jet fuel costs and the drop in demand for air travel due to Brazil's two-year recession, and say they have no room to pass additional taxes along to ticket prices. The companies complain jet fuel accounts for 37% of airfares compared to an average 27% worldwide, mainly due to the ICMS sales tax collected by Brazilian states. The world's second largest mining company, Brazilian iron ore giant Vale SA, will also be affected by Brazil's listing of Austria as a tax haven, adding to its woes resulting from low iron prices that are down 50% since 2014. Vale owns Salzburg, Austria-based subsidiary Vale International Holdings GMBH, which is used as a holding company for various international assets. Vale and other Brazilian companies have used holding companies in countries such as Austria with low corporate taxes to reduce their tax burden on overseas assets and subsidiaries. Brazil's JBS SA, the world's largest meatpacker, is also considering a planned global reorganization, basing the headquarters of a new company in Ireland and listing its shares in New York. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie About us Modified On Apr 06, 2017 01:24 PM By Alshaar for Renault KWID 2015-2019 The popular Indian small car, Renault Kwid could not salvage itself any pride once again in the latest round of car crash tests conducted recently by the UK-based independent charity, Global National Car Assessment Programme (NCAP). The Honda Mobilio also scored a duck for adult occupation in its basic avatar, but fared better with the dual airbags. After poor results earlier this year, and following Renaults latest set of improvements, the Kwid was assessed again in the frontal impact test as a part of the #SaferCarsForIndia campaign. And the model still offers just one star for adult occupant protection, informed Global NCAP in a press release. The car has been tested in its standard version previously when it managed a paltry zero star rating for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. The latest one, though, equipped with an airbag and a seatbelt pretensioner for the driver, showed high chest deflection and was thus awarded a one star rating in driver seat parameters. Elsewhere, the Honda Mobilio could manage only a zero for adult occupant protection in its most basic variant. But the Japanese carmaker then requested Global NCAP to test the mule that is loaded with dual airbags as the car finally achieved three stars for adult occupant protection. Secretary general of Global NCAP, David Ward was critical of Renault, but praised Honda for the progress that it has made since the previous round of safety tests. Renault has made limited progress, they should be offering their one star car as the standard version not an option. Honda too have shown that with two airbags they can achieve 3 stars. These safety systems should not be options, he said. Recommended Read: Brazil: Renault Kwid To Get 4 Airbags, ABS Renault Kwid To Become Safer Read More on : Renault KWID CDC continues to build US laboratory capacity to rapidly detect Zika virus infection Press Release For Immediate Release: September 20, 2016 Contact: Media Relations (404) 639-3286 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has purchased approximately $2.5 million in laboratory supplies and equipment in August to enhance U.S. laboratory (lab) capacity to test for Zika virus. These purchases help to ensure that states can meet the growing demand for testing and rapid identification of Zika infection, by providing them with materials that allow them to perform testing for Zika virus infection. Relatively few labs in the U.S. are certified to test for Zika. As a result, when samples are collected, they often have to be shipped to a local health department lab for testing. If the local health department lab doesnt currently perform Zika testing, it will coordinate testing and ship the samples to CDC. Depending on the CDC labs workload, processing and reporting time of a result may take 2 to 4 weeks. To help states expand access to Zika testing and reduce the amount of time to receive results, CDC has sent materials to help them expand lab capacity and perform testing to detect both current and recent cases of Zika virus infection. Forty-three states[1]the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and nine Department of Defense (DOD) laboratories have received material that allows them to conduct testing for recent Zika infection using a CDC-developed test called the MAC-ELISA. MAC-ELISA tests are intended for use in detecting antibodies that the body makes to fight a Zika virus infection. These antibodies (in this case, immunoglobulin M, or IgM) appear in the blood of a person infected with Zika virus beginning 4 to 5 days after the start of illness and last for about 12 weeks. Labs in 41 of those states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, along with five DOD labs, have completed the process required to implement the MAC-ELISA assay test. CDC has also sent material to all states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and 16 DOD labs that allows them to use a second CDC-developed Zika test, called the Trioplex rRT-PCR test, which allows doctors to tell if an individual is currently infected with chikungunya, dengue, or Zika using just one test, rather than three separate tests for each virus. Forty-eight states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and 16 DoD labs have completed the process to be able to use that test. This expanded lab capacity allows states to perform testing to detect active Zika virus infection and more rapidly identify cases. In addition to helping states increase their ability to rapidly test for and identify Zika, CDC laboratories in Atlanta, Fort Collins, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, are currently processing a high volume of tests from throughout the United States and U.S. territories. Samples received are prioritized based on pregnancy status and other factors outlined in CDCs testing guidelines. CDC also helps to coordinate a national network of local, state, and federal public health labs called the Laboratory Response Network (LRN). Additional testing capacity is available through the LRN, which has more than 130 member laboratories, representing all 50 states and international locations. [1] As of August 26, 2016: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. ### U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESexternal icon Bill Clinton told CNBC on Tuesday that activist investors, rather than trade deals, are partially at fault for U.S. corporations moving operations out into Mexico. GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump has called for "economic independence" and blamed globalization for "totally" wiping out the American middle class. Trump has previously called NAFTA "the worst trade deal in history" and blamed Bill and Hillary Clinton for endorsing it. In the interview with CNBC, Clinton responded that American corporate culture, law and practice have contributed to companies moving operations across the border. He said "activists investors who demand a profit in a year and a day and a management who are paid by that" are to blame. "That's not NAFTA. That's not running a stakeholder society. We need to go from a shareholder or at least a top shareholder to a stakeholder society as we once were. We need the incentives to do that and if we do that, we'll make better decisions," the former president said in the exclusive interview from the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York. America "will have to trade some because we're only 4 percent of the world's people and we like having 20 percent of the world's income," he said. He added that the U.S. just has to make the "right kind of trade deals." "If you enforce the trade deals and you do it right, they can be positive," he said. In order to keep jobs in the United States, Clinton called for more tax credits and incentives to encourage investment in areas where "there's been trade dislocation or the economy's moved away or they're too far away, like Native American reservations with no gambling." "America would feel much more comfortable in trading if we thought everybody is going to be taken care of," he said. "We have done a poor job of dealing with the people who got the short end of the stick and we've got to do better." Clinton also spoke about the Federal Reserve and plans to reorganize the foundation if his wife is elected president. Experts say there are simple ways people can keep their data away from prying eyes A new analysis of how people are tracked on the internet confirms that wherever you lead, Big Tech will follow and, Big Tech doesnt always ask your permission. According to an analysis by StockApps, the titan of tracking is Google. Out of the five major digital firms Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Apple Google mines the biggest chunk of data on its users at 39 different data points. On top of the company's tracking being considerable, it's also concerning.... In a comprehensive research report, Raddon Financial Group explores the attitudes and behaviors of younger consumers with respect to financial services to help determine how banks and credit unions can best meet the evolving needs of this critical segment. The study compares Millennials behavior and attitudes against those of Gen X and Baby Boomers, with a heavy emphasis on lending. The Pain, Impact and Cost of Student Loans Is Real Today, the amount of student-loan indebtedness carried by US consumers is simply staggering. Raddon says the volume of student loans has skyrocketed since 2004, and is now second only to total home mortgage loan indebtedness. While 15% of all consumers have a student loan, six out of ten of those (57%) are Millennials. In Raddons study, 36% of Millennials said they currently carry student loan debts, creating a tremendous financial burden for them. One-half (52%) feel their student loan debt has prevented- or will prevent them from fulfilling their personal and financial goals e.g., saving for retirement, taking a vacation, investing funds to build personal wealth, purchasing a home, or buying a car. Millennials with student loans are also much less likely to form their own households. Talking Points: Aussie, NZ Dollars rise alongside S&P 500 futures in Asian trade US Housing Starts, Building permits top otherwise quiet calendar Consolidative tone likely to persist ahead of FOMC rate decision The Australian and New Zealand Dollars narrowly outperformed in otherwise quiet overnight trade. The sentiment-linked currencies edged higher alongside S&P 500 futures, hinting at cautiously improving risk appetite as the catalyst behind the move. The Kiwi narrowly led the way higher, perhaps reflecting the currencys yield advantage relative to its Aussie counterpart. A quiet economic calendar in European trading hours is likely to translate into restrained volatility going forward. US Housing Starts and Building Permits figures may generate a bit of activity, but lasting follow-through seems unlikely as traders wait for the FOMC monetary policy announcement to cross the wires before committing to a firm directional bias. Losing money trading in the FX market? This might be why. Asia Session GMT CCY EVENT ACT EXP PREV 23:30 AUD Weekly Consumer Confidence Index (SEP 18) 115.5 - 118.1 01:30 AUD RBA Sept. Meeting Minutes - - - 01:30 AUD House Price Index (QoQ) (2Q) 2.0% 2.8% -0.2% 01:30 AUD House Price Index (YoY) (2Q) 4.1% 5.1% 6.8% European Session GMT CCY EVENT EXP PREV IMPACT 05:45 CHF SECO September 2016 Economic Forecasts - - Medium 06:00 CHF Trade Balance (AUG) - 2.81b Low 06:00 CHF Exports Real (MoM) (AUG) - 5.5% Low 06:00 CHF Imports Real (MoM) (AUG) - 9.2% Low 06:00 EUR German PPI (MoM) (AUG) 0.0% 0.2% Low 06:00 EUR German PPI (YoY) (AUG) -1.6% -2.0% Low 07:00 JPY Convenience Store Sales (YoY) (AUG) - 0.3% Low 09:40 GBP BOE ILTR Operation Results - - Medium 13:10 GBP BOE Exec Director Hauser Speaks in London - - Low 13:50 GBP BOE Bond-Buying Operation Results - - Medium Critical Levels CCY Supp 3 Supp 2 Supp 1 Pivot Point Res 1 Res 2 Res 3 EUR/USD 1.1076 1.1125 1.115 1.1174 1.1199 1.1223 1.1272 GBP/USD 1.2849 1.2944 1.2987 1.3039 1.3082 1.3134 1.3229 --- Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com To receive Ilya's analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE Contact and follow Ilya on Twitter: @IlyaSpivak To receive Tylers analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE Talking Points: The prospects for higher Oil prices appear to be hanging by an increasingly thinner thread. A host of developments would need to arise for the Bull Market that began in Q1 to carry the price back toward ~$60/bbl. First, the US Dollar, which is inversely correlated to the price of Oil would need to move lower in a rather aggressive fashion. While such a move is possible, it would likely require the Federal Reserve to underwhelm the market over the coming meetings in 2016. Currently, a stronger Dollar seems to be the path of least resistance as the markets are pricing in one rate-hike in 2016. Such Dollar implied strength is also seen in the 3M LIBOR rate recently hitting 7-year highs. Should the first domino of a weaker US Dollar develop, we would also need to see the surge in supply reverse or become overtaken by the growth in demand. Naturally, growth in demand for Oil is what many want to see as it would indicator that the forces of economic production are up and running again. However, this has not been the case, and it would seem now that many positive developments would need to arise for this to be the case. Track short-term Crude Oil price levels and patterns with the GSI indicator! Lastly, a move higher appears unlikely if OPEC is unable to reach an agreement to cap production in Algiers next week. The market has been awarding OPEC for rumors of an accord to cap production at current levels, but as weve seen in the past if theyre unable to solidify an agreement, further selling pressure likely will arise. To see where the selling pressure may take us, lets look at the charts. TradingView D1 Crude Oil Price Chart: Head & Shoulders Bullish Pattern Still Validating The chart above shows competing technical stories. As explained earlier, the fundamental pressure appears to be for a push lower, but a reversal of main themes and a price breakout should be on the mind of traders as it could signal a fresh opportunity. Currently, the price of Crude Oil is sitting on the support of a trendline drawn from the February & August low. In addition to the trend line, we see the price is sitting at the base of the Ichimoku Cloud and is at the 61.8% price retracement ( $42.91/bbl) of the August-September price range. If the price can hold the support mentioned above, and move above the higher low, which is the September opening range high at $47.71, we could be on the cusp of a renewed Bull Market. A failure for the price to break above $47.15 would keep us patiently on the bearish side of the Oil market with a keen focus on fundamental stories. Access Our Free Q3 Oil Outlook As Oil's Best Quarter Looks For Confirmation In the last note, we shared about the potential for the head and shoulders breakout, which is a classic bullish price pattern that fails to play out as often as newer traders would hope. The bullish pattern could align with a continuation of the move higher that developed after the extreme low in February. Since February 11, the Oil market has recovered aggressively and is now sitting close to long-term price channel resistance and sitting above the 200-DMA at $40.99/bbl. The 200-DMA also sits very close to the 100% Fibonacci Extention on the move lower, which is at $41.39/bbl. Many eyes are on these levels from an institutional side to see if buyers begin to pour into Crude long positions with stops likely at the August low of $39.17/bbl. Given the recent US Dollar strength, which is emerging against commodity FX like the Canadian Dollar and Emerging Market currencies like the Mexican Peso, we could continue to see a move toward the 200-DMA ($40.99/bbl). A supportive component of US Dollar strength appears to be USD Funding costs on the international interbank stage that are shown with 3M USD LIBOR currently at 7-year highs. Short-term support remains at the September opening range low at $43.02/bbl. A break below there would turn the focus to the 200-DMA. Short-term resistance favors the September opening range high at $47.71/bbl. From a Global Macro perspective, we may continue to see more stories favoring price moving towards support. Key Levels Over the Next 48-hrs of Trading As of Monday, September 19, 2016 T.Y. September 8, 2016--(BRONX, NY) --In research published online today in Science, a team of scientists describe a new therapeutic strategy to target a hidden Achilles' heel shared by all known types of Ebola virus. Two antibodies developed with this strategy blocked the invasion of human cells by all five ebolaviruses, and one of them protected mice exposed to lethal doses of Ebola Zaire and Sudan, the two most dangerous. The team included scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Integrated Biotherapeutics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and The Scripps Research Institute. Ebolaviruses cause a highly fatal disease for which no approved vaccines or treatments are available. About two dozen Ebola outbreaks have been documented since 1976, when infections first occurred in villages along the Ebola River in Africa. The largest outbreak in history--the 2014-2015 Western Africa epidemic--caused more than 11,000 deaths and infected approximately 29,000 people. Monoclonal antibodies, which bind to and neutralize specific pathogens and toxins, have emerged as the most promising treatments for Ebola patients. A critical problem, however, is that most antibody therapies target only one specific ebolavirus. For example, the most promising experimental therapy--ZMappTM, a cocktail of three monoclonal antibodies--is specific for Ebola virus Zaire, and doesn't work against the other two viruses (Sudan and Bundibugyo), which have both caused major outbreaks. The broad-spectrum antibodies developed by the research team represent an important advance against one of the world's most dangerous pathogens. Exploiting Ebola's Achilles' Heel In 2011, a team that included co-senior authors Kartik Chandran, Ph.D. professor of microbiology & immunology at Einstein, and John M. Dye, Ph.D., chief of viral immunology at USAMRIID, discovered that all filoviruses (the family to which ebolaviruses and the more distantly related Marburg virus belong) have an Achilles' heel: To infect and multiply in human cells, they must all bind to a host-cell protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1). But capitalizing on that knowledge required a completely new approach to targeting viruses: exploiting the fact that Ebola and many other viruses must enter host cell compartments called lysosomes. Once safely inside the lysosomes, the viruses transform and expose key portions of their exterior that the research team successfully targeted using monoclonal antibodies. To gain entry to cells, filoviruses bind to the host cell's outer membrane via glycoproteins (proteins to which carbohydrate chains are attached) that bristle from the virus's surface. (See illustration.) A portion of the cell membrane then surrounds the virus and pinches off, eventually developing into a lysosome--a membrane-bound, intracellular compartment filled with enzymes to digest foreign and cellular components. Filoviruses then use the host cells' resources to break out of their lysosomal "prisons" so they can enter the host cell's cytoplasm to multiply. Enzymes in the lysosome slice a "cap" from the virus's glycoproteins, unveiling a site that binds to the NPC1 embedded in the lysosome membrane. NPC1, which normally helps transport cholesterol within the cell, offers Ebola virus its only means of escaping the lysosome and multiplying. By fitting its protein "key" into the NPC1 "lock," the virus fuses itself to the lysosome membrane. (See illustration close-up.) Now the virus can propel its RNA from the lysosome and into the cell's cytoplasm, where it can finally replicate itself. Penetrating an Invisibility Cloak The research team realized that monoclonal antibodies could potentially thwart all filovirus infections by neutralizing the viral protein that binds to NPC1, or by neutralizing NPC1 itself. There was just one problem: Reflecting Ebola's ingenuity, both targets reside only in lysosomes deep within cells--making them invisible to the immune system and shielded from attack by conventional antibodies. Dr. Chandran, Dr. Dye and co-senior author Jonathan R. Lai, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry at Einstein and an expert in engineering antibodies, devised a clever "Trojan Horse" strategy for overcoming the virus's invisibility cloak: Just as the citizens of Troy unwittingly pulled a wooden horse filled with Greek soldiers into their walled city, they tricked the viruses into carrying the means of their own destruction along with them into host cells. To do so, the research team synthesized two types of "bispecific" antibodies, each consisting of two monoclonal antibodies combined into one molecule. One bispecific antibody was devised to neutralize the viral protein that binds to NPC1, the other to target NPC1. Both had one monoclonal antibody in common: antibody FVM09, which binds to the surface glycoproteins of all ebolaviruses while the virus is outside cells, allowing the bispecific antibodies to hitch a ride with the virus into the lysosome. FVM09 was developed by co-senior author M. Javad Aman, Ph.D. at Integrated Biotherapeutics. Once in the lysosome, the bispecific antibodies are released from the viral surface when enzymes in the lysosome slice off the glycoprotein caps--allowing the business ends of the bispecific antibodies to swing into action. One bispecific antibody combined FVM09 with antibody MR72, which was isolated from a human survivor of Marburg virus infection by co-senior author James E. Crowe Jr., M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center. MR72 targets the NPC1-binding viral protein that is unveiled by all filoviruses in lysosomes. The second bispecific antibody links FVM09 to antibody mAb-548, developed at Einstein, which zeroes in on NPC1. With one bispecific antibody targeting the "lock" (NPC1) and the other targeting the "key" (the virus's NPC1-binding protein), both had the potential for preventing Ebola virus from interacting with NPC1 and escaping from the lysosome into the cytoplasm. Putting Antibodies to the Test The researchers then tested their bispecific antibodies against ebolaviruses in the lab. They initially used a harmless virus (vesicular stomatitis virus) that had been genetically engineered to display glycoproteins from all five ebolaviruses on its surface. The researchers incubated the bispecific antibodies with the Ebola-like viruses and then added the mixtures to human cells in tissue culture. Both bispecific antibodies successfully neutralized all five viruses. Work in the high-containment facilities at USAMRIID confirmed that these antibodies also blocked infection by the actual Zaire, Sudan, and Bundibugyo ebolaviruses. Next came studies at USAMRIID to test whether the two bispecific antibodies could protect mice infected with the two most dangerous ebolaviruses, Zaire and Sudan. Researchers, led by Dr. Dye, administered the bispecific antibodies two days after mice were exposed to a lethal dose of virus. The bispecific antibody that targeted the viral binding protein provided good protection to mice exposed to both viruses. As expected, the bispecific antibody that targeted NPC1 did not protect mice. It was designed to bind specifically to human NPC1, which differs slightly in structure from the NPC1 protein found in mice. As a next step, both bispecific antibodies will need to be tested in nonhuman primates, the current gold standard for anti-Ebola therapeutics. ### The paper is titled "A 'Trojan Horse' Bispecific Antibody Strategy for Broad Protection Against Ebolaviruses." In addition to Drs. Chandran, Lai, Dye, Aman and Crowe, contributors include co-first author Anna Wec, M.S., co-first author Elisabeth Nyakatura, Ph.D., Eva Mittler, Ph.D., John Christin, Rohit Jangra, Ph.D., M.V.Sc., and Sushma Bharrhan, Ph.D., all at Einstein; co-first author Andrew Herbert, Ph.D., Ana Kuehne, and Russell Bakken at USAMRIID; Katie Howell, Ph.D., Frederick Holtsberg, Ph.D., and Sergey Shulenin, Ph.D., at Integrated Biotherapeutics, Inc; Andrew Flyak, Ph.D., at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; and Zachary Bornholdt, Ph.D., and Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., at The Scripps Research Institute. This work was supported by three grants from the National Institutes of Health, U19 AI109762, R01 AI088027, and 1R41 AI122403; by Joint Science and Technology Office-Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) award CB04088; and DTRA award HDTRA1-13-C-0015. Jonathan R. Lai, Ph.D., co-senior author: "It's impossible to predict where the next ebolavirus outbreak will occur or which virus will cause it. So the best therapy would be a monoclonal antibody that is active against the glycoproteins of all five ebolaviruses--and until our study, no such antibody had demonstrated the ability to do that. We hope that further testing in nonhuman primates will establish our antibodies as safe and effective for treating those exposed to any ebolavirus." Kartik Chandran, Ph.D., co-senior author: "We would love to extend this approach to Ebola's distant cousin, Marburg virus, to create a true pan-filovirus therapeutic antibody. Furthermore, we hope that our Trojan Horse antibody strategy of targeting viruses in lysosomes might work against other disease-causing viruses like flu, dengue, or Lassa, which, like Ebola, also enter host-cell lysosomes as part of their life cycles." John M. Dye, Ph.D., co-senior author: "Our team of scientists took the 'Trojan Horse' concept from the chalkboard to a product that has the capacity to provide a viable treatment for all filoviruses, both known and emerging. This work highlights the power of governmental, academic and industrial researchers collaborating together to solve a complex and important public health problem." M. Javad Aman, Ph.D., co-senior author: "The success in co-opting the virus itself to dispatch a lethal weapon against ebolaviruses in the lysosomes marks a turning point in development of smart therapeutics against infectious diseases. Similar strategies could be devised against several other viral and bacterial pathogens or toxins that are unleashed inside the lysosomal compartments." James Crowe Jr., M.D., co-senior author: "We were intrigued to find this remarkable naturally occurring antibody that has the capacity to bind to both Marburg and Ebola viruses. The team's feat of delivering the antibody into cells using creative engineering tricks so that it can kill Ebola inside cells is very exciting." About Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nations premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2015-2016 academic year, Einstein is home to 731 M.D. students, 193 Ph.D. students, 106 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 278 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 1,900 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2015, Einstein received $148 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Through its extensive affiliation network involving Montefiore, Jacobi Medical CenterEinsteins founding hospital, and three other hospital systems in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Long Island, Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu, read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and view us on YouTube. About United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases USAMRIID's mission is to provide leading edge medical capabilities to deter and defend against current and emerging biological threat agents. Research conducted at USAMRIID leads to medical solutions--vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and information--that benefit both military personnel and civilians. The Institute plays a key role as the lead military medical research laboratory for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. USAMRIID is a subordinate laboratory of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. For more information, visit http://www.usamriid.army.mil About Integrated Biotherapeutics (IBT) IBT is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery of novel vaccines and therapeutics for emerging infectious diseases with a pipeline that includes promising product candidates for bacterial and viral infections including unique pan-filovirus candidates, vaccines and a variety of other product candidates for emerging viruses. Located in Rockville, Maryland, IBT has a close working relationship with United States Government agencies including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Department of Defense (DOD), United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) as well as many biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and academic laboratories. For more information, visit integratedbiotherapeutics.com. Brown University's Stephen Houston and a team of leading researchers in anthropology and Maya archeology methodically verify the authenticity of the oldest known manuscript in ancient America PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] --The Grolier Codex, an ancient document that is among the rarest books in the world, has been regarded with skepticism since it was reportedly unearthed by looters from a cave in Chiapas, Mexico, in the 1960s. But a meticulous new study of the codex has yielded a startling conclusion: The codex is both genuine and likely the most ancient of all surviving manuscripts from ancient America. Stephen Houston, the Dupee Family Professor of Social Science and co-director of the Program in Early Cultures at Brown University, worked with Michael Coe, professor emeritus of archeology and anthropology at Harvard and leader of the research team, along with Mary Miller of Yale and Karl Taube of the University of California-Riverside. They reviewed "all known research on the manuscript," analyzing it "without regard to the politics, academic and otherwise, that have enveloped the Grolier," the team wrote in its study "The Fourth Maya Codex." The paper, published in the journal Maya Archaeology, fills a special section of the publication and includes a lavish facsimile of the codex. The study, Houston said, "is a confirmation that the manuscript, counter to some claims, is quite real. The manuscript was sitting unremarked in a basement of the National Museum in Mexico City, and its history is cloaked in great drama. It was found in a cave in Mexico, and a wealthy Mexican collector, Josui Sienz, had sent it abroad before its eventual return to the Mexican authorities." Controversial from the outset For years, academics and specialists have argued about the legitimacy of the Grolier Codex, a legacy the authors trace in the paper. Some asserted that it must have been a forgery, speculating that modern forgers had enough knowledge of Maya writing and materials to create a fake codex at the time the Grolier came to light. The codex was reportedly found in the cave with a cache of six other items, including a small wooden mask and a sacrificial knife with a handle shaped like a clenched fist, the authors write. They add that although all the objects found with the codex have been proven authentic, the fact that looters, rather than archeologists, found the artifacts made specialists in the field reluctant to accept that the document was genuine. Some ridiculed as fantastical Sienz's account of being contacted about the codex by two looters who took him--in an airplane whose compass was hidden from view by a cloth--to a remote airstrip near Tortuguero, Mexico, to show him their discovery. And there were questions, the authors note, about Sienz's actions once he possessed the codex. Why did he ship it to the United States, where it was displayed in the spring of 1971 at New York City's Grolier Club, the private club and society of bibliophiles that gives the codex its name, rather than keep it in Mexico? As for the manuscript itself, it differed from authenticated codices in several marked ways, including its relative lack of hieroglyphic text and the prominence of its illustrations. "It became a kind of dogma that this was a fake," Houston continued. "We decided to return and look at it very carefully, to check criticisms one at a time. Now we are issuing a definitive facsimile of the book. There can't be the slightest doubt that the Grolier is genuine." Digging in Houston and his co-authors analyzed the origins of the manuscript, the nature of its style and iconography, the nature and meaning of its Venus tables, scientific data -- including carbon dating -- of the manuscript, and the craftsmanship of the codex, from the way the paper was made to the known practices of Maya painters. Over the course of a 50-page analysis, the authors take up the questions and criticisms leveled by scholars over the last 45 years and describes how the Grolier Codex differs from the three other known ancient Maya manuscripts but nonetheless joins their ranks. Those codices, the Dresden, Madrid and Paris, all named for the cities in which they are now housed, were regarded from the start as genuine, the authors note. All of the codices have calendrical and astronomical elements that track the passage of time via heavenly bodies, assist priests with divination and inform ritualistic practice as well as decisions about such things as when to wage war. Variations among the codices, as well as the assumption that because manuscripts such as the Dresden were authenticated first made them canonical, fed scholars' doubts about the Grolier, according to the study. The Grolier, however, was dated by radiocarbon and predates those codices, according to the authors. The Grolier's composition, from its 13th-century amatl paper, to the thin red sketch lines underlying the paintings and the Maya blue pigments used in them, are fully persuasive, the authors assert. Houston and his coauthors outline what a 20th century forger would have had to know or guess to create the Grolier, and the list is prohibitive: he or she would have to intuit the existence of and then perfectly render deities that had not been discovered in 1964, when any modern forgery would have to have been completed; correctly guess how to create Maya blue, which was not synthesized in a laboratory until Mexican conservation scientists did so in the 1980s; and have a wealth and range of resources at their fingertips that would, in some cases, require knowledge unavailable until recently. Use and appearance of the Grolier Codex The Grolier Codex is a fragment, consisting of 10 painted pages decorated with ritual Maya iconography and a calendar that charts the movement of the planet Venus. Mesoamerican peoples, Houston said, linked the perceived cycles of Venus to particular gods and believed that time was associated with deities. The Venus calendars counted the number of days that lapsed between one heliacal rising of Venus and the next, or days when Venus, the morning star, appeared in the sky before the sun rose. This was important, the authors note, because measuring the planet's cycles could help Maya people create ritual cycles based on astronomical phenomena. The gods depicted in the codex are described by Houston and his colleagues as "workaday gods, deities who must be invoked for the simplest of life's needs: sun, death, K'awiil -- a lordly patron and personified lightning -- even as they carry out the demands of the 'star' we call Venus. Dresden and Madrid both elucidate a wide range of Maya gods, but in Grolier, all is stripped down to fundamentals." The codex is also, according to the paper's authors, not a markedly beautiful book. "In my view, it isn't a high-end production," Houston said, "not one that would be used in the most literate royal court. The book is more closely focused on images and the meanings they convey." The Grolier Codex, the team argues, is also a "predetermined rather than observational" guide, meaning it declares what "should occur rather than what could be seen through the variable cloud cover of eastern Mesoamerica. With its span of 104 years, the Grolier would have been usable for at least three generations of calendar priest or day-keeper," the authors write. That places the Grolier in a different tradition than the Dresden Codex, which is known for its elaborate notations and calculations, and makes the Grolier suitable for a particular kind of readership, one of moderately high literacy. It may also have served an ethnically and linguistically mixed group, in part Maya, in part linked to the Toltec civilization centered on the ancient city of Tula in Central Mexico. Beyond its useful life as a calendar, the Grolier Codex "retained its value as a sacred work, a desirable target for Spanish inquisitors intent on destroying such manuscripts," the authors wrote in the paper. Created around the time when both Chichen Itza in Yucatin and Tula fell into decline, the codex was created by a scribe working in "difficult times," wrote Houston and his co-authors. Despite his circumstances, the scribe "expressed aspects of weaponry with roots in the pre-classic era, simplified and captured Toltec elements that would be deployed by later artists of Oaxaca and Central Mexico" and did so in such a manner that "not a single detail fails to ring true." "A reasoned weighing of evidence leaves only one possible conclusion: four intact Mayan codices survive from the Precolumbian period, and one of them," Houston and his colleagues wrote, "is the Grolier." ### Researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on September 8 show catastrophic declines in wilderness areas around the world over the last 20 years. They demonstrate alarming losses comprising a tenth of global wilderness since the 1990s - an area twice the size of Alaska. The Amazon and Central Africa have been hardest hit. The findings underscore an immediate need for international policies to recognize the value of wilderness and to address the unprecedented threats it faces, the researchers say. "Globally important wilderness areas--despite being strongholds for endangered biodiversity, for buffering and regulating local climates, and for supporting many of the world's most politically and economically marginalized communities--are completely ignored in environmental policy," says James Watson of the University of Queensland in Australia and the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. "International policy mechanisms must recognize the actions needed to maintain wilderness areas before it is too late. We probably have one to two decades to turn this around." Watson says much policy attention has been paid to the loss of species, but comparatively little was known about larger-scale losses of entire ecosystems. To fill that gap in the new study, the researchers mapped wilderness areas around the globe, with "wilderness" being defined as biologically and ecologically intact landscapes free of any significant human disturbance. The researchers then compared their current map of wilderness to one produced by the same means in the early 1990s. Their updated map shows that a total of 30.1 million km2 (more than 20 percent of the world's land area) now remains as wilderness, with the majority being located in North America, North Asia, North Africa, and the Australian continent. However, comparisons between the two maps show that an estimated 3.3 million km2 (almost 10 percent) of wilderness area has been lost in the intervening years. Those losses have occurred primarily in South America, which has experienced a 30 percent wilderness loss, and Africa, which has experienced a 14 percent loss. "The amount of wilderness loss in just two decades is staggering and very saddening," Watson says. "We need to recognize that wilderness is being dramatically lost and that without proactive global interventions we could lose the last jewels in nature's crown. You cannot restore wilderness. Once it is gone, the ecological process that underpin these ecosystems are gone, and it never comes back to the state it was. The only option is to proactively protect what is left." Watson says that the United Nations and others have ignored globally significant wilderness areas in key multilateral environmental agreements, but that has to change. "If we don't act soon, it will be all gone, and this is a disaster for conservation, for climate change, and for some of the most vulnerable human communities on the planet," Watson says. "We have a duty to act for our children and their children." ### Current Biology, Watson et al.: "Catastrophic Declines in Wilderness Areas Undermine Global Environment Targets" http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30993-9 Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. Visit: http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. The deaths of many thousands of elephants at the hands of poachers in recent years has led some to conclude that the ban on ivory established in 1989 should be lifted, allowing for tight regulation of the ivory trade. But, according to a new analysis reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on September 15, there is no way to sustainably harvest ivory. The demand is far too great. "We simply can't lift the ivory ban," says David Lusseau of the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom. "Doing so would have catastrophic consequences for elephant populations across Africa, even those currently well protected in Southern Africa." "But," he adds, "we must also acknowledge that poaching is not going away, and we need mechanisms to address the anticipation of trade which is created every time there is a regional sale of stockpiles or a significant outcry against the trade ban." Prompted by the fact that CITES is now considering the possibility of a legal ivory trade, Lusseau and colleague Phyllis Lee of the University of Stirling, United Kingdom, set out to produce a realistic model defining how much ivory could be sustainably harvested from elephant populations. "Before we can even consider whether we should lift the existing ban on trade in ivory, we need to figure out how much ivory a population of elephants can produce in a sustainable manner," Lee explains. Existing models treat each individual as "average," meaning that they supply an average amount of ivory, she explains. The trouble is that this isn't the way it works. In reality, some elephants supply much greater volumes of ivory than others. Males produce more ivory than females. The amount of ivory also tends to increase as an elephant ages. According to the researchers' calculations, the sustainability space for harvesting ivory is incredibly small. Out of a reference population of 1,360 elephants, only 100 to 150 kilograms (about 220 to 330 pounds) of ivory could be harvested--a level well below the current demand. This means that to maintain a healthy, well-protected, and growing population, "we could take roughly one big male every year," Lusseau says. Then consider that a big male might be 45 to 55 years old. It would take a very long time--two to three generations--to replace those big ivory-bearing males once they were lost. "Once you take the big males out, you then need to take several smaller animals to harvest the same amount of ivory the next year; and so on," Lee adds. And, it gets worse when you consider the insatiable demand for ivory. If only one old male per 1,500 elephants can be harvested sustainably, "then there is simply no way to meet current demand," Lusseau says. The only solution then, they say, is to manage the demand for ivory more effectively. That can't be achieved by selling off stockpiles of ivory, either. "Sales of ivory have been promoted as a source of revenue that could be used for elephant conservation and as a means to satisfy--and thus reduce--demand for ivory, but the opposite has occurred," Lee says. "Poaching has increased! There is no evidence that revenue from past ivory sales made any significant impact on protecting elephant populations in any African country. In fact, the main consequence of prior sales has been to give the impression to consumers that the ivory trade has been, or will be legalized, leading to spiralling demand and greater poaching." Instead, the researchers recommend efforts to develop alternative sources of income for those living with elephants. They say it's also critical to change people's perceptions about buying products containing ivory. "We must show that there is more value to have a live elephant than an ivory ashtray," Lusseau says. The findings come just days before the CITES World Wildlife Conference to be held in Johannesburg. Lusseau says that it is now vital that CITES sends a "clear signal to poachers, traders, and consumers that the ivory trade is 'closed.' Then work can focus on halting the illegal trade, curbing demand, and protecting elephants and their habitats." Lusseau and Lee say that they will continue to improve upon their model by adding in environmental and other factors. They also intend to build on the model to develop a more thorough understanding of the socioeconomic drivers behind the ivory supply chain. ### Current Biology, Lusseau and Lee: "Can We Sustainably Harvest Ivory?" http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31005-3 Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. Visit: http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. For people who enjoy amusement parks, one of the most thrilling sensations comes at the top of a roller coaster, in the split second between the end of the climb and the rush of the descent. Trying to take a picture at exactly the moment that the roller coaster reaches its zenith can be difficult because the drop happens so suddenly. For chemists trying to take pictures of energized molecules, the dilemma is precisely the same, if not trickier. When certain molecules are excited -- like a roller coaster poised at the very top of its run - they often stay in their new state for only an instant before "falling" into a lower energy state. To understand how molecules undergo light-driven chemical transformations, scientists need to be able to follow the atoms and electrons within the energized molecule as it rides on the energy "roller coaster." In a recent study, a team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and the Technical University of Denmark used the ultrafast high-intensity pulsed X-rays produced by the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), a DOE Office of Science User Facility at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, to take molecular snapshots of these molecules. By using the LCLS, the researchers were able to capture atomic and electronic arrangements within the molecule that had lifetimes as short as 50 femtoseconds -- which is about the amount of time it takes light to travel the width of a human hair. "We can see changes in these energized molecules which happen incredibly quickly," said Lin Chen, an Argonne senior chemist and professor of chemistry at Northwestern University who led the research. Chen and her team looked the structure of a metalloporphyrin, a molecule similar to important building blocks for natural and artificial photosynthesis. Metalloporphyrins are of interest to scientists who seek to convert solar energy into fuel by splitting water to generate hydrogen or converting carbon dioxide into sugars or other types of fuels. Specifically, the research team examined how the metalloporphyrin changes after it is excited with a laser. They discovered an extremely short-lived "transient state" that lasted only a few hundred femtoseconds before the molecule relaxed into a lower energy state. "Although we had previously captured the molecular structure of a longer-lived state, the structure of this transient state eluded our detection because its lifetime was too short," Chen said. When the laser pulse hits the molecule, an electron from the outer ring moves into the nickel metal center. This creates a charge imbalance, which in turn creates an instability within the whole molecule. In short order, another electron from the nickel migrates back to the outer ring, and the excited electron falls back into the lower open orbital to take its place. "This first state appears and disappears so quickly, but it's imperative for the development of things like solar fuels," Chen said. "Ideally, we want to find ways to make this state last longer to enable the subsequent chemical processes that may lead to catalysis, but just being able to see that it is there in the first place is important." The challenge, Chen said, is to prolong the lifetime of the excited state through the design of the metalloporphyrin molecule. "From this study, we gained knowledge of which molecular structural element, such as bond length and planarity of the ring, can influence the excited state property," Chen said. "With these results we might be able to design a system to allow us to harvest much of the energy in the excited state." A paper based on the research, "Ultrafast excited state relaxation of a metalloporphyrin revealed by femtosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy," was published in the June 10 online edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. ### The research was funded by the DOE's Office of Science and by the National Institute of Health. Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the Office of Science website. Cambridge, UK, September 2016: A new approach to developing a human vaccine against HIV has been developed by researchers at Kymab, a UK therapeutic antibody platform Company, The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) of San Diego, California, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). HIV is one of the most intransigent targets for vaccine development, and no effective vaccine has been developed in thirty years of global research. The research, which tested the first step in an approach to develop effective vaccines against the range of HIV variants existing worldwide, is published in Science on Thursday 8 September, 2016, and was supported by funding from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and the US National Institutes of Health. The results show that Kymouse, which is a mouse that has been modified to mimic human antibody responses, is an effective platform for discovering and testing possible vaccines and suggest ways in which testing of vaccine candidates can be improved. "We increasingly recognize that traditional vaccine strategies will not be successful against all viruses, especially not HIV," says Dennis Burton, chair of the TSRI Department of Immunology and Microbial Science and scientific director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) Neutralizing Antibody Center (NAC) at TSRI and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery (CHAVI-ID). "Together with the Kymab team, we have taken a novel approach in which have induced human antibodies in Kymouse that are at the beginning of the pathway to protective antibodies and which is a huge boost to our mission to develop an HIV vaccine." The work is based on the observation that a fraction of people who become infected by HIV develop broadly neutralizing antibodies against diverse HIV strains. Such antibodies would be ideal to protect against or possibly treat HIV infection - if a vaccine could be made to elicit them. However, these antibodies originate from a limited number of precursor antibody-producing cells in the body and acquire their unusual and protective properties only during a long course of infection. Moreover, although these cells have been activated when immunizing certain biased animal models, this is the first time it has been achieved through immunization of an immune system, as in the Kymouse, that resembles the human. The researchers injected Kymouse strains with a nanoparticle formed of 60 copies of a small protein that mimics HIV and was designed to bind and stimulate the specific precursor cells for one class of broadly neutralizing antibody. They expected to find just one such precursor cell (among tens of millions of such cells) in each immunized mouse. The research team then looked to see whether or not the mice had mounted an antibody response to this injection. Given the combined challenges of a complex immunogen structure and the rarity of the right antibodies, an effective response against the HIV immunogen was elicited remarkably efficiently. "Our phenomenal results with the teams at TSRI and IAVI came from work at the boundaries of protein engineering, immunology and vaccine technology," explains Professor Allan Bradley, Chief Technical Officer at Kymab and Director Emeritus of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who developed the Kymouse platform. "Using Kymouse, we show how an advanced vaccine candidate can search out the one cell among tens of million antibody-producing cells and make it proliferate. "Kymouse can deliver antibody responses that we need to build effective HIV vaccines." The team validated their antibody response by sequencing genes from more than 10,000 cell samples, and showed that genes from responding mice had the expected sequence for precursors to broadly neutralizing antibodies against the HIV target. "It is a big step forward in this branch of HIV vaccine development," says William Schief, TSRI Professor and Director of Vaccine Design for the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center at TSRI, in whose lab the vaccine nanoparticle was developed. "We have the first proof of principle that this HIV vaccine strategy and our vaccine candidate can work in a human immune system and trigger the first step in the pathway to developing broadly neutralizing and protective antibodies against the virus. "It is the very sort of response we'd want to see as we test components of a future vaccine." HIV has proved an extremely difficult challenge in vaccine development. The new research shows that Kymouse can produce antibodies of the type that could evolve to confer protection, suggests ways in which the immunization regime can be improved and indicates that Kymab's technologies will support and accelerate the search for other, rarer and perhaps even more effective antibodies. "About 35 million people have died of HIV/AIDS and 36 million are currently infected. Although a vaccine is the most likely way to stem this loss, no successful vaccine has been found in more than thirty years of HIV research," says Professor Paul Kellam, Vice President of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines at Kymab. "This is a pressing need and these results show that our Kymouse technologies can serve a vital part in the search for effective vaccines that help to protect against this most challenging disease." "This dramatic proof of concept gives us hope we can find better broadly effective vaccines for HIV and, indeed, for other infections, using the human immune system to help guide us along the best path." ### Notes to Editors Publication Sok D, Briney B, Jardine JJ, Kulp DW et al. (2016) Priming HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody precursors in human Ig loci transgenic mice. This paper will be published online by the journal Science on THURSDAY, 8 September, 2016. Participating Centers Kymab Ltd, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, UK Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA About Kymab Kymab is a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of fully human monoclonal antibody drugs using its proprietary Kymouse antibody platform. Kymouse has been designed to maximize the diversity of human antibodies produced in response to immunization with antigens. Selecting from a broad diversity of fully human antibodies assures the highest probability of finding that rare drug candidate with best-in-class characteristics. The Kymouse naturally matures these molecules to highly potent drugs obviating the need for further time-consuming modifications. Kymab is using the platform for its internal drug discovery programs and in partnership with pharmaceutical companies. Kymab commenced operations in 2010 and has raised over US$120m of equity financing which includes $90m Series B financing. It has an experienced management team with a successful track record in drug discovery and development and has numerous therapeutic antibody programs in immune-oncology, auto-immunity; hematology, infectious disease and other areas. http://www.kymab.com About The Scripps Research Institute The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists--including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academy of Science, Engineering or Medicine--work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. For more information, see http://www.scripps.edu. About International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for use throughout the world. Founded in 1996 and operational in 25 countries, IAVI and its network of collaborators research and develop vaccine candidates. IAVI was founded with the generous support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Starr Foundation, and Until There's A Cure Foundation. Other major supporters include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, The John D. Evans Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the James B. Pendleton Charitable Trust; the Governments of Canada, Denmark, India, Ireland, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the Basque Autonomous Government (Spain), the European Union as well as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and The City of New York, Economic Development Corporation; multilateral organizations such as The World Bank and The OPEC Fund for International Development; corporate donors including BD (Becton, Dickinson & Co.), Bristol-Myers Squibb, Continental Airlines, Google Inc., Pfizer Inc, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; leading AIDS charities such as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS; and many generous individuals from around the world. For more information, see http://www.iavi.org. Contact details For Kymab Don Powell Don Powell Associates Ltd don@donpowellassociates.co.uk +44 (0)778 6858220 +44 (0)1223 515436 Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur and Hollie Vile Hume Brophy +44 (0)207 862 6390 kymab@humebrophy.com For TSRI Madeline McCurry-Schmidt Science Writer The Scripps Research Institute Tel: 858-784-9254 madms@scripps.edu Office of Communications The Scripps Research Institute Tel: +1 858-784-2666 Fax: +1 858-784-8118 press@scripps.edu For IAVI Arne Naveke Executive Director Advocacy, Policy, Communications International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) +1.212.847.1055 (office) +1.646.623.47.85 (mobile) Announced today by the European Research Council (ERC) , Dr Ksenia Krasileva, Group Leader at the Earlham Institute (EI) and The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) has been awarded a 1.5M Starting Grant (over five years) to investigate the immune system of our most important crops. Her research into plants' immune system could create new genetic solutions for protecting plant health and future sustainable crop production. Fungal diseases and highly virulent plant pathogens endanger global production of food crops, considerably reducing yields. They can be fought with fungicides and pesticides, yet these substances are not always safe for humans and the environment. Plants, however, have their own ability to detect and disarm rapidly evolving pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, insects and fungi. Their powerful defence mechanisms rely on a particularly rich arsenal of plant immune receptors. Among these receptors, NLR-IDs are proteins which have proliferated for at least 500 million years and serve as 'baits' for pathogen molecules. Dr Krasileva and her group will investigate how these receptors diversify in maize, rice and wheat. Using this genetic information to help generate new methods to protect plants from pests and disease. Dr Krasileva, said: "We propose to combine powerful next generation sequencing and bioinformatics methods, as well as molecular biology techniques, in order to unravel how the grasses can keep up with ever-persistent diseases, and eventually generate new ways that our most vital crops can withstand them. "Through firstly identifying how plant disease receptors have diversified within the genomes of the grasses, to then unravelling the mechanisms by which they work, we can then use this knowledge and apply engineering to plant breeding - in order to keep our fields healthy and stave off the tide of disease-causing pests that ravage our crop yields and threaten global food security." Plants are not so dissimilar from humans, where they are similarly affected by a range of diseases, parasites and pests. Though they lack white blood cells, plants do have an immune system - which lies coded within DNA, the blueprint of life. Within this blueprint lies information that allows plants to generate receptors that can recognise the patterns produced by pests and disease-causing organisms. Dr Krasileva has already studied the repertoire of disease receptors across 40 types of flowering plant, including novel ways in which they can respond to pests and pathogens that evolve quickly to overcome plant defences in a perpetual evolutionary arms race. One such example is that plants have combined disease receptors with proteins that naturally interact with the molecules secreted by pests, increasing the ability of plants to combat infections. Considering that the grasses, including wheat, rice and maize, are the most abundant crop species globally, it is incredibly important to study how these mechanisms work in such plants. Dr Diane Saunders, Fellow of EI and JIC, will also receive funding from the ERC over the next five years to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving host adaptation of yellow rust on cereal crops and grasses. The European Research Council (ERC) has announced its Starting Grants to 325 early-career researchers throughout Europe. The funding, worth in total 485 million and up to 1.5 million per grant, will enable them to set up their own research teams and pursue ground-breaking ideas. EI are strategically funded by BBSRC and operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation. ### Notes to Editors 1) Dr Krasileva is available for interview. Please let me know on the contact details, below, and I can set something up. For more information, please contact: Hayley London Marketing & Communications Officer, Earlham Institute (EI) +44 (0)1603 450 107 hayley.london@earlham.ac.uk 2) Accompanying images and captions can be accessed by the following dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kyfbud8hm7tmag6/AACwD7U5jv9QLxu7h6LBG3LHa?dl=0 3) About Earlham Institute The Earlham Institute (EI) is a world-class research institute focusing on the development of genomics and computational biology. EI is based within the Norwich Research Park and receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) - 7.4M in 2013/14 - as well as support from other research funders. EI is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from BBSRC. EI operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation. EI offers state of the art DNA sequencing facility, unique by its operation of multiple complementary technologies for data generation. The Institute is a UK hub for innovative Bioinformatics through research, analysis and interpretation of multiple, complex data sets. It hosts one of the largest computing hardware facilities dedicated to life science research in Europe. It is also actively involved in developing novel platforms to provide access to computational tools and processing capacity for multiple academic and industrial users and promoting applications of computational Bioscience. Additionally, the Institute offers a Training programme through courses and workshops, and an Outreach programme targeting schools, teachers and the general public through dialogue and science communication activities. http://www.earlham.ac.uk / @EarlhamInst 4) About The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) is a world-leading research centre focusing on making fundamental discoveries about plants and how they interact with microbes. TSL not only provides fundamental biological insights into plant-pathogen interactions, but is also delivering novel, genomics-based, solutions which will significantly reduce losses from major diseases of food crops, especially in developing countries. TSL is an independent charitable company and receives strategic funding from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation with the balance coming from competitive grants and contracts from a range of public and private bodies, including the European Union (EU), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and commercial and charitable organisations. 5) About BBSRC The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond. Funded by Government, BBSRC invested over 509M in world-class bioscience in 2014-15 and is the leading funder of wheat research in the UK (over 100M investment on UK wheat research in the last 10 years). We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutes 5) For further information about the European Research Council go to: https://erc.europa.eu/ DENVER (Sept 6, 2016) - The Global Down Syndrome Foundation has funded a landmark study led by renowned scientist, Dr. Joaquin Espinosa, Associate Director for Science at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome. The results of the study were published online by eLife, an open-access life sciences and biomedical research journal targeted at the very high end and run by scientists including Nobel Laureate and Editor-in-Chief, Randy Schekman. The journal was established by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust. Dr. Espinosa's paper in eLife, "Trisomy 21 Consistently Activates the Interferon Response", shows the unequivocal impact of trisomy 21 (the triplication of chromosome 21 that causes Down syndrome) on interferon (IFN) signaling. Specifically, cells with trisomy 21 produce high levels of interferon-stimulated genes and lower levels of genes required for protein synthesis. Interferons are molecules produced by cells in response to viral or bacterial infection, and which act on neighboring cells to prevent the spread of the infection, shut down protein synthesis, and activate the immune system. The paper posits that if interferons are constantly activated, then the body is constantly fighting a viral infection even when such infection does not exist; this would likely cause many damaging side-effects. Down syndrome is caused by having three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two, and since four of the six interferon receptors -- the proteins that sense the presence of interferons -- are encoded on chromosome 21, cells with trisomy 21 react more strongly to small amounts of interferons in their microenvironment. Dr. Joaquin Espinosa is enthusiastic about the results of his study, "The constant activation of the Interferon response could explain many aspects of Down syndrome, such as cognitive deficit, stunted growth, increased prevalence of autoimmune disorders, high risk of Alzheimer's disease, and protection against solid tumors." Dr. Kelly Sullivan, lead author of the paper, has already embarked on follow up studies. "The next steps are to fully define the role of the interferon response in the development of Down syndrome using mouse models. The great news is that FDA-approved drugs that block the interferon pathway already exist. Much clinical research will be needed to determine whether those drugs are safe over a long period and have therapeutic benefits for people with Down syndrome," said Sullivan. "In principle, the findings are tremendously exciting and present a novel view of some of the characteristic features associated with trisomy 21," said Christopher Glass, MD, PhD, University of San Diego California School of Medicine, an eLife editor who reviewed Dr. Espinosa's research. Other scientists on the eLife review board were also impressed with the results of Dr. Espinosa's research publicly stating: "These findings have important implications for understanding the basic nature of, and individual variation in, the diverse phenotypes of people with Down syndrome," and "This is clearly an interesting and significant study that provides important new insights into the differences in gene expression in trisomy 21 cells." Dr. Espinosa's research started with a Crnic Grand Challenge Grant organized by the Executive Director of the Crnic Institute, Dr. Tom Blumenthal. "One cannot overemphasize the importance of the funding from the Global Down Syndrome Foundation and the research being conducted at the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome," said Dr. Tom Blumenthal, Executive Director at the Crnic Institute. "Having attracted 30 labs and over 100 scientists, including Dr. Espinosa, we have created an incubator for accelerated research that is already pointing to discoveries that have the potential to enhance the quality of life for people with Down syndrome and millions of typical people as well." ### About the Global Down Syndrome Foundation Global Down Syndrome Foundation is a public nonprofit dedicated to significantly improving the lives of people with Down syndrome through research, medical care, education and advocacy. Global supports two affiliates which together constitute the only academic home in the United States committed solely to research and medical care for people with Down syndrome -- the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the Sie Center for Down Syndrome. Global also publishes Down Syndrome World, a national award-winning quarterly magazine. For more information, visit http://www.globaldownsyndrome.org. Follow Global Down Syndrome Foundation on Facebook & Twitter @GDSFoundation. About the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome The Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome is the first medical and research institute with the mission to provide the best clinical care to people with Down syndrome, and to eradicate the medical and cognitive ill effects associated with the condition. Established in 2008, the Crnic Institute is a partnership between the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the University of Colorado Boulder, and Children's Hospital Colorado. Headquartered on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, the Crnic Institute includes the Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children's Hospital Colorado. It partners both locally and globally to provide life-changing research and medical care for individuals with Down syndrome. The Crnic Institute is made possible by the generous support of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation, and relies on the Global Down Syndrome Foundation for fundraising, education, awareness, and government advocacy. It is a research and medical-based organization without political or religious affiliation or intention. About Down Syndrome Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition, affecting one out of every 691 live births in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average lifespan is 60 years. Down syndrome is caused by the genetic condition known as trisomy 21, whereby a person is born with three copies of chromosome 21. The presence of an extra copy of the chromosome affects human development in many ways, protecting people with Down syndrome from developing some diseases, such as most tumors, while predisposing them to others, such as autoimmune disorders and Alzheimer's disease. The reasons for this different 'disease spectrum' in the population with Down syndrome are unknown. Elucidating the molecular basis of this phenomenon could advance our understanding of many diseases affecting the typical population. MEDIA CONTACT: Taylor Shields Global Down Syndrome Foundation 303 468 4975 office 702 271 1809 cell TShields@GlobalDownSyndrome.org SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Gladstone Senior Investigator Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, was awarded a prestigious multi-year, multi-million dollar grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The award is worth nearly six million dollars in direct costs, which will be administered over the next eight years. Akassoglou, who is also a professor in the department of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, will use the grant to advance her research on the role of the brain's vascular and immune systems in neurological diseases. "I am humbled and honored to receive this award, and I am extremely grateful to NINDS for their continued support of my research," said Akassoglou. "Neurological diseases are a complex problem, and this grant will make it possible for my lab to pursue entirely new solutions for these devastating conditions." The NINDS Research Program Award (R35) provides longer-term support and increased flexibility to exceptional scientists who have a consistent record of high-impact contributions to neuroscience. It promotes ambitious, creative research and offers investigators greater freedom to embark upon research that breaks new ground. Robert Finkelstein, PhD, NINDS associate director for the Division of Extramural Research, stated, "The NINDS Research Program Award is intended to give outstanding investigators more financial stability and reduce the amount of time they spend writing grant applications. Our goal is to allow these researchers to undertake bold, long-range projects and to establish a more stable training environment in their laboratories." "We are excited about the basic scientific discoveries and therapeutic developments this prestigious award will enable, and we are proud of the confidence it reflects in Katerina and our institution," said Lennart Mucke, MD, who directs the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease. Akassoglou's research focuses on the intersection of the brain, immune, and vascular systems. Her lab pioneered the study of blood proteins in neurological diseases, showing that when these proteins leak into the brain, they damage brain cells and activate the brain's immune system, triggering inflammation and neuron death. Akassoglou identified one blood protein in particular, fibrinogen, that is strongly implicated in multiple sclerosis. She thinks fibrinogen could be a therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis and many other neurological diseases. Her lab also discovered that a component of the membrane that envelops the cell nucleus plays a key role in regulating the activity of brain cells. "Katerina's research is opening new avenues to understanding mechanisms of neuroinflammation, with exciting translatable opportunities," said Gladstone President R. Sanders "Sandy" Williams, MD. "This new grant will accelerate her progress. ### About the Gladstone Institutes To ensure our work does the greatest good, the Gladstone Institutes focuses on conditions with profound medical, economic, and social impact--unsolved diseases of the brain, the heart, and the immune system. Affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, Gladstone is an independent, nonprofit life science research organization that uses visionary science and technology to overcome disease. Scientists from the Senckenberg and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation have analysed the genetic relationships of all major populations of giraffe in the wild. The large study on the genetic makeup of giraffe, published today in Current Biology, shows that there are four distinct giraffe species. Until now, only one giraffe species had been recognized. The unexpected results are based on analyses using several nuclear marker genes of more than 100 animals. The new insights are set to improve protection efforts of these endangered animals in Africa. Despite their large size and iconic presence, giraffe have been incompletely explored until now, with many aspects of their biology poorly understood. Latest estimates have revealed that giraffe numbers have plummeted by >35% over the past 30 years down to approximately 100,000 individuals across their range in Africa. Traditionally giraffe are classified as one species with nine subspecies based on coat patterns, ossicone (horn) structure and geographical distribution - now, this view has to be thoroughly revised. "We have studied the genetic relationships of all giraffe subspecies from across the continent. We found, that there are not only one, but at least four genetically highly distinct groups of giraffe, which apparently do not mate with each other in the wild. This we found looking at multiple nuclear genes considered to be representative of the entire genome" says Professor Axel Janke, researcher at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research and Professor at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. "Consequently, giraffe should be recognized as four distinct species despite their similar appearance." The four distinct giraffe species are (1) southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa), comprising two distinct subspecies, Angolan (G. g. angolensis) and South African giraffe (G. g. giraffa), (2) Masai giraffe (G. tippelskirchi), (3) reticulated giraffe (G. reticulata), and (4) northern giraffe (G. camelopardalis), which includes Nubian giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis), West African giraffe (G. c. peralta) and Kordofan giraffe (G. c. antiquorum) as distinct subspecies. The study and new classification is based on more than hundred skin biopsy samples from all previously recognized giraffe subspecies, which were collected by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) and partners over the past decade including in remote areas and civil war zones. These giraffe DNA samples were then analyzed by Janke's research group at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in cooperation with colleagues from the Senckenberg Natural History Collections of Dresden, Germany. The sample set included for the first time the elusive Nubian giraffe, the nominate subspecies (G. c. camelopardalis) - the "camel-leopard" - described by Linnaeus in 1758 on the basis of a 200-year-old record. The large-scale analysis of giraffe DNA also yielded further surprising insights. The formerly recognized subspecies Rothschild's giraffe (G. c. rothschildi) turned out to be genetically identical with Nubian giraffe, and thus should be synonymized with this subspecies. Similarly, the genetic studies supported previous findings by the team that could not differentiate the formerly recognized subspecies Thornicroft's giraffe (G. c. thornicrofti) with Masai giraffe (G. c. tippelskirchi). Additionally, research into the history of the distinct species showed that their last common ancestor lived about 0.4-2.0 million years ago, which yields a rate of speciation that is typical for mammals. "Species conservation is based on understanding the numbers, range and threats to the species. To date, the estimated total number of all giraffe has until now not been considered a particular threat for the species' survival. However, as we now recognize four distinct species as well as some genetically unique subspecies, some of their biodiversity is very much under threat," explains Janke. "In particular, GCF estimates that there are maybe as few as 400 West African giraffe remaining in the wild and restricted to a small communal area in Niger. Although it is not a distinct species, this subspecies is genetically unique and requires increased special protection along with the other distinct species." Dr. Julian Fennessy, first author of the study and Co-Director of GCF adds, "Now that we know that there are four giraffe species, it is even more important and urgent to support governments and other partners across Africa to protect giraffe. We rightly worry about the fate of the African elephant, with an estimated 450,000 in the wild. By contrast, the numbers of three of the four giraffe species are rapidly declining, and two numbering <10,000 individuals in total. I think we should start working together to secure the future of giraffe in Africa and take action before it is too late." ### Scientists from Jerusalem and Duesseldorf have succeeded in generating induced pluripotent stem cells from a rare disorder called Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) and to push these cells to become early neurons, revealing the mechanisms leading to the neurological phenotype observed in these patients. Nijmegen breakage syndrome is a devastating disorder in which the affected children suffer from pronounced microcephaly, cognitive impairments, dwarfism, strong cancer predisposition, and immunodeficiency. The syndrome is caused when a child receives a mutant NBS1 gene from both his parents. It was known that the NBS1 gene is important for the recognition of breaks in the DNA of the child, explaining the cancer predisposition and immunodeficiency of the patients. However, it was not clear how this gene affects the development of the brain and why the affected children suffer from smaller brains. Therefore, the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from patients and the ability to turn them into neurons, as published in the latest issue of the journal Cell Reports, gave scientists the opportunity to study the causes for brain impairment as seen in affected children. Prof. Michal Goldberg and Prof. Nissim Benvenisty from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, together with Prof. James Adjaye from the Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf, in a study led by graduate student Tomer Halevy, succeeded in generating induced pluripotent stem cells from two patients, a boy and a girl, carrying the syndrome, and looked at different characteristic of the cells. Previous studies to understand the disorder were performed on skin cells, and so the causes for the neural pathologies were unknown. Surprisingly, in this study, the investigators found that P53, a gene with a well known role in preventing cancer may also be responsible for the neural phenotype of Nijmegen breakage syndrome. P53 was demonstrated to be a target of the NBS1 gene, and an emerging role for P53 in early neural development has been suggested. In this study, the researchers have found that since NBS1 is missing in patients' neurons P53 cannot work properly, this in turn leads to cancer development but also affects the early development of the nervous system. According to Prof. Goldberg, a researcher from the Department of Genetic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and principal co-author of the study "Induced pluripotent stem cells derived from Nijmegen breakage syndrome patients provide a powerful tool to study different aspects of the disease, mainly the neural phenotype, as we are able to turn these cells into neural cells and study the developmental aspects of the disorder that could not have been studied before. We can now zoom in and detect dysregulated molecular pathways in neuron derived from patient cells and understand how they affect the children with the disorder. Furthermore, since many diseases resulting from mutations in genes that are important for genomic stability show apart from cancer predisposition also neurological phenotypes, our findings may serve as a platform for the study of additional genomic stability syndromes and pave the way for elucidating the crosstalk between genomic stability and neurological impairments". Two great advantages of induced pluripotent cells that carry the disorder have on previously used cells, are their ability to become any cell type that we want to study, and their limitless replication potential. We can thus use these cells to perform drug screenings to test for compounds to correct some of the dysregulated pathways that we discovered to be involved in the development of the syndrome. This will be done in our case on derived neural cells but can be performed on any other cell type depending on the tissue we wish to treat. The cells that were generated and the mechanism underlying the neural phenotype of Nijmegen breakage syndrome, which was discovered in this work will greatly facilitate in the search for a treatment for affected children and also in our understanding of related disorders associated with problems in DNA breaks recognition that have a similar neural phenotype. According to Prof. Adjaye, Director of the Institute for stem cell research and regenerative medicine, the established and additional NBS induced pluripotent stem cell lines will serve as useful in vitro models to study the underlying mechanism(s) linking impaired neurogenesis to microcephaly by establishing NBS-derived brain organoids and comparing these to organoids derived from healthy individuals. ### The research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 684/13) to M.G., and by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 269/12), the Israel Science Foundation-Morasha Foundation (grant number 1252/12), the Rosetrees Trust, and the Azrieli Foundation to N.B. J.A. acknowledges support from the Medical Faculty of the Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Germany Publication: Tomer Halevy,Shira Akov, Martina Bohndorf, Barbara Mlody, James Adjaye, Nissim Benvenisty and. Michal Goldberg (2016). Chromosomal Instability and Molecular Defects in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome Patients. Cell Reports 16, 1-13 (Thursday, 8 September 2016: Oslo) Prisons provide one of the most significant opportunities to drive down the prevalence of hepatitis C, and help reach global WHO elimination goals, says new research presented at the 5th International Symposium on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users today. "On the downside, it is clear that prisons act as incubators of hepatitis C, driving the epidemic both within the prison system and in the community at large," said Professor Andrew Lloyd of the University of New South Wales in Australia who leads hepatitis research in the prison system in that country. "On the plus side, they also offer a unique environment to cure people of the disease and address the risk behaviour that fuels transmission. If we can turn prisons around, and use them to treat hepatitis C rather than facilitate its spread, then we can save lives, reduce the overall burden of disease and take concrete steps towards disease elimination." Hepatitis C - virus which if left untreated can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer - affects approximately 64-103 million people around the world, resulting in around 700 000 deaths per year. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has prioritised the disease, setting ambitious targets to reach elimination by 2030. In high income countries 80% of new infections are in people who use drugs. Prisoners have a particularly high prevalence of hepatitis C with as many as 1 in 6 inmates carrying the disease in parts of Europe and the US, reflecting the fact that imprisonment and injecting drug use are closely linked. This high prevalence means that use of non-sterile injecting equipment whilst in prison carries a high risk of transmission. A new modelling analysis - presented at INHSU 2016 and led by Professor Peter Vickerman at Bristol University's Division of Global Public Health - looked at hepatitis C transmission in scenarios mimicking four global settings: Scotland, Australia, Ukraine and Thailand. It found that prison could contribute massively to overall HCV transmission, whereas introducing prevention programs in prison and amongst individuals transitioning back to the community could significantly reduce these infections. The study is published as part of a recent Lancet-commissioned report on drugs and health. Additional modelling studies in the UK have also shown that treatment with new highly effective therapies could also have a substantial impact, and could be cost-effective if continuity of care is ensured. "It is clear from our modelling that incarceration is a very important driver of HCV transmission in many settings. It is unlikely that it will be controlled without focusing prevention and control measures on incarcerated individuals and those being released from prison," said Professor Vickerman. So far, Australia is one of the only countries to look at the mass scale up of new hepatitis C treatment combined with prevention programs in a prison setting. Health experts at INHSU 2016 say the evidence indicates it is now time for other countries to follow their lead. "The high level of mobility between prison and the community means that the health of prisoners should be a major public-health concern," said President of the International Network of Hepatitis C in Substance Users (INHSU), Associate Professor Jason Grebely, the Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia. "Scaling up harm reduction programs and introducing testing and treatment strategies could potentially reduce and even reverse hepatitis C transmission and help us reach the WHO elimination goals. Yet, screening and treatment for hepatitis C is rarely made available to inmates. If we are serious about treating this disease, we need to seize the opportunity prisons present and make testing, treatment and prevention in this setting a priority." ### ABOUT INHSU 2016 This symposium is the leading international conference focused on the management of hepatitis among substance users. It is organised by the International Network for Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU). The symposium is held biennially and was first held in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2009, Brussels, Belgium, in 2011, Munich, Germany, in 2013 and Sydney, Australia, in 2015. INHSU 2016: NEW RESEARCH ON THE MANAGEMENT OFHEPATITIS C IN PRISONS Absence of NSPs in prisons makes HCV prevention difficult Incarceration may contribute substantially to HCV transmission among PWID High HCV incidence is observed in Australian prisons Risk behaviours for HCV acquisition in the prison are high https://www.eiseverywhere.com/file_uploads/8bad1344dd53d15dcdc5eccd27c85956_170_AlexeiZelenev.pdf INDIANAPOLIS - The OPTIMISTIC study, an innovative program developed and implemented by clinician-researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations of long stay nursing home residents, has been recognized by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society as one of 20 articles published from 2000 to 2015 that have shaped the field of geriatrics -- the medical care of older adults. The aim of OPTIMISTIC -- an acronym for Optimizing Patient Transfers, Impacting Medical quality and Improving Symptoms: Transforming Institutional Care -- is to improve care and communication within nursing facilities and between these facilities and acute-care institutions so problems can be caught and solved, improving quality of care and reducing unnecessary hospital transfers. Earlier detection and prevention are key to OPTIMISTIC. If not addressed and prevented, problems such as medication errors, lack of advance care planning and delayed recognition of changes in medical status could result in health decline and hospitalization of the nursing facility resident. The article honored by the journal, "The Optimizing Patient Transfers, Impacting Medical Quality, and Improving Symptoms: Transforming Institutional Care Approach: Preliminary Data from the Implementation of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Facility Demonstration Project," was published in Jan. 2015 and focuses on the first years of the initial phase of OPTIMISTIC. Throughout the initial phase, nurses stationed at the 19 participating nursing facilities in central Indiana provided direct support to long-stay residents and their families as well as education and training to the facility staff. OPTIMISTIC nurses led care management reviews to optimize chronic disease management, reduce unnecessary medications and clarify goals of care. "OPTIMISTIC is about systems change," noted first author Kathleen T. Unroe, M.D., MHA, Regenstrief Institute investigator, IU Center for Aging Research center scientist and IU School of Medicine assistant professor of medicine. Dr. Unroe is co-director of Phase 1 and director of Phase 2 of OPTIMISTIC. "The recognition of our 2015 OPTIMISTIC study by the leading geriatrics journal is a testament to the hope of leaders in the field that our model will lead to real impact on improving care for nursing home residents." The IU Center for Aging Research and Regenstrief Institute clinician-researchers chose the acronym OPTIMISTIC to set a tone for how they feel about the potential to improve care for frail older adults. Working with their colleagues and community partners, they are providing education and training in real-world environments, developing a new model of care, and putting increased resources into nursing homes, which they hope will result in system change regionally and across the nation. "Long-stay nursing facility residents are high-need and high-risk individuals who, before OPTIMISTIC, received insufficient attention in the research arena and have been overlooked to a great extent by health care reform," said Greg A. Sachs, M.D., project co-director of the first phase of OPTIMISTIC and director of the IU School of Medicine's Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. Dr. Sachs is also a professor of medicine, an IU Center for Aging Research center scientist, a Regenstrief Institute investigator and senior author of the commended study. "With OPTIMISTIC, we work with the residents in the nursing homes where they live to improve many aspects of their lives including chronic disease management -- especially for dementia, which affects about half of long-stay residents -- as well as ensure that the medical care they receive matches the goals of the residents and their families." ### In addition to Dr. Unroe and Dr. Sachs, co-authors of the honored study included Laura R. Holtz, B.S. of the IU Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute; Ellen Miller, Ph.D. of University of Indianapolis; Susan E. Hickman, Ph.D., of the IU School of Nursing; and Greg Arling, Ph.D., formerly with the IU Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute and now with Purdue University School of Nursing. All continue with OPTIMISTIC. OPTIMISTIC is expected to receive more than $30 million of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services funding from the start of the project in 2012 through its projected conclusion in 2020. This includes $16.9 million awarded earlier this year for the second phase of OPTIMISTIC commencing in October. At that time, the 19 central Indiana nursing homes that participated in the project's initial phase will be joined by 25 additional nursing homes from across Indiana. Phase 2 will continue phase 1 clinical interventions in the existing facilities and, additionally, test a new CMS payment model that incentivizes nursing facilities and their medical staffs to provide higher levels of care on site rather than sending residents to the hospital. OPTIMISTIC's goal remains the improvement of the health and health care of long-term nursing home residents and ultimately reduction of potentially avoidable hospital admissions of older adults. OPTIMISTIC is one of 7 demonstration projects nationwide funded by the CMS Innovations Center through the Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents. The authors of "Influence of Studies Published by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: Top 20 Articles from 2000-2015" wrote that selection of a study as one of the top 20 articles was based on study objective, relevance of the findings, and effect on current practice. Infantile hemangiomas (IH) are benign vascular tumors occurring in 4-5% of infants. These tumors resolve spontaneously or in response to propranolol treatment; however, they resemble other vascular anomalies and cannot be definitively diagnosed without biopsy. In this issue of JCI Insight, Jonathan Perkins of University of Washington and colleagues analyzed IH tumor tissue, IH patient plasma, and non-IH vascular anomalies to identify a set of microRNAs that are specific for IH. MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules that do not encode genes, but instead regulate the expression of other genes. The IH-specific set of microRNAs, known as C19MC, was specifically upregulated in IH tumor cells and was also detectable in IH patient plasma. Importantly, circulating C19MC microRNAs decreased in parallel with IH tumor regression, but rebounded with tumor re-growth. These results suggest that plasma C19MC microRNAs could be used to diagnose and monitor IH treatment. Additionally, C19MC microRNAs may be important in IH pathogenesis, as their known targets include genes encoding inhibitors of cell growth and proliferation. TITLE: Endothelial and circulating C19MC microRNAs are biomarkers of infantile hemangioma ### AUTHOR CONTACT: Jonathan Perkins Seattle Children's Research Institute Email: jonathan.perkins@seattlechildrens.org View this article at: http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/88856?key=f843954190c60e07efa9 JCI Insight is the newest publication from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists. JCI Insight is dedicated to publishing a range of translational biomedical research with an emphasis on rigorous experimental methods and data reporting. All articles published in JCI Insight are freely available at the time of publication. For more information about JCI Insight and all of the latest articles go to http://www.insight.jci.org. Metastasis of cancer cells to sites distant from the primary tumor is the leading cause of cancer-related death, and there is growing evidence that platelets aid the dissemination of cancer cells. In this issue of JCI Insight, Pierre Henri Mangin and colleagues at the Etablissement Francais du Sang-Alsace have shown that a molecule expressed on platelets, known as 61 integrin, participates in tumor metastasis by promoting interactions between tumor cells and platelets. Compared to control animals, mice lacking 61 integrin specifically on platelets exhibited decreased lung metastasis after injection of tumor cells intravenously or into the mammary fat pad. Mangin and colleagues determined that the tumor cell protein ADAM9 binds platelet 61 integrin to promote platelet activation and tumor cell extravasation. Importantly, antibody-mediated blockade of 61 integrin inhibited tumor metastasis in murine models of breast cancer and melanoma. These findings suggest that disruption of tumor/platelet interactions could prevent metastasis. TITLE: Platelet integrin 61 controls lung metastasis through direct binding to cancer cell-derived ADAM9 ### AUTHOR CONTACT: Pierre Henri Mangin Universite de Strasbourg, Etablissement Francais du Sang-Alsace (EFS-Alsace) Email: Pierre.Mangin@efs.sante.fr View this article at: http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/88245?key=6dfacd2b29ec14f2ebd8 JCI Insight is the newest publication from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists. JCI Insight is dedicated to publishing a range of translational biomedical research with an emphasis on rigorous experimental methods and data reporting. All articles published in JCI Insight are freely available at the time of publication. For more information about JCI Insight and all of the latest articles go to http://www.insight.jci.org. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by accumulation of thick mucus in the lungs and is associated with a high incidence of bacterial infection. Mutations in the gene encoding CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) underlie the disease. Gene therapy to deliver a normal copy of the CFTR gene has shown promise in both pre-clinical models and clinical trials; however, current gene delivery methods are inefficient and do not result in sustained expression of functional CFTR in the airways. Two studies in this issue of JCI Insight report the development and use of viral vector-based delivery of CFTR in pig models of CF. A team led by Patrick Sinn and Paul McCray Jr. of the University of Iowa developed a lentiviral-based vector that was delivered through the nose to newborn CF pigs. Analysis of these animals revealed evidence of functional CFTR expression in the airways. A second team led by Joseph Zabner of the University of Iowa and David Schaffer of the University of California, Berkeley, generated an adeno-associated virus (AAV) that homes to the pig airway to mediate expression of functional CFTR in the airways of 1 week-old CF pigs. Together, these reports indicate that viral vector-based approaches could potentially improve the effectiveness of CFTR gene therapy. TITLE: Lentiviral-mediated phenotypic correction of cystic fibrosis pigs AUTHOR CONTACT: Paul B. McCray, Jr. The University of Iowa Email: paul-mccray@uiowa.edu Patrick L. Sinn The University of Iowa Email: patrick-sinn@uiowa.edu. View this article at: http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/88730?key=b4689e6b7aedc95452bc TITLE: gene transfer with AAV improves early cystic fibrosis pig phenotypes AUTHOR CONTACT: Joseph Zabner University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Email:joseph-zabner@uiowa.edu David Schaffer University of California, Berkeley Email: schaffer@berkeley.edu. View this article at: http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/88728?key=7e8c808d25cd5e3b5597 ### JCI Insight is the newest publication from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists. JCI Insight is dedicated to publishing a range of translational biomedical research with an emphasis on rigorous experimental methods and data reporting. All articles published in JCI Insight are freely available at the time of publication. For more information about JCI Insight and all of the latest articles go to http://www.insight.jci.org. Public confidence in vaccines varies widely between countries and regions around the world, and the European region is the most sceptical about vaccine safety, according to the largest ever global survey of confidence in vaccines. [1] With recent disease outbreaks triggered by people refusing vaccination, the authors believe the findings provide valuable insights, which could help policymakers identify and address issues. The new study, published in EBioMedicine, is led by researchers from the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, together with co-authors at Imperial College London and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore. Nearly 66,000 people were surveyed across 67 countries to discover their views on whether vaccines are important, safe, effective, and compatible with their religious beliefs. [2] Although overall sentiment towards vaccines was positive across the countries surveyed, the researchers found significant variation in attitudes around the world. The European region had seven of the ten countries in the global sample that were the least confident in vaccine safety (France, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Armenia and Slovenia). France was the country least confident in safety, with 41% of those surveyed disagreeing that vaccines are safe, more than three times the global average of 12%. France was followed by Bosnia & Herzegovina (36%), Russia (28%) and Mongolia (27%), with Greece, Japan and Ukraine not far behind (25%). [3] The Southeast Asian region was most confident in vaccine safety across countries, including Bangladesh (fewer than 1% did not think vaccines are safe), Indonesia (3%) and Thailand (6%). The authors say the negative attitudes in France may come as a result of a number of controversies in the country over the past two decades, including controversy over suspected side effects of the Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines, and hesitancy among a significant proportion of GPs as to the usefulness of some vaccines. Public trust in immunisation is an increasingly important global health issue. Decreases in confidence can lead to people refusing vaccines, which in turn has triggered disease outbreaks such as measles in the US, Europe, Asia, the Pacific and Africa. It has also caused setbacks to the global polio eradication programme. The World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization has called for improved monitoring of vaccine confidence and hesitancy to help prevent these damaging public health consequences. Study lead author, Dr Heidi Larson from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "Our findings give an insight into public opinion about vaccines on an unprecedented scale. It is vital to global public health that we regularly monitor attitudes towards vaccines so that we can quickly identify countries or groups with declining confidence. We can then act swiftly to investigate what is driving the shift in attitudes. This gives us the best chance of preventing possible outbreaks of diseases like measles, polio and meningitis which can cause illness, life-long disability and death. "It's striking that Europe stands out as the region most sceptical about vaccine safety. And, in a world where the internet means beliefs and concerns about vaccines can be shared in an instant, we should not underestimate the influence this can have on other countries around the world." The findings show that many countries (particularly France, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Japan, Iran, Mongolia and Vietnam), display much greater confidence in the importance of vaccines than in their safety. This suggests that people do not necessarily dismiss the value of vaccination even if they have doubts about how safe vaccines are. Dr Larson added: "Our study suggests that the public largely understands the importance of vaccines, but safety is their primary concern. This could reflect a worrying confidence gap and shows that vaccine acceptance is precarious. The findings underline that the scientific and public health community needs to do much better at building public trust in the safety of vaccination." Bangladesh, Iran and Ecuador had the highest proportion of people who agreed that vaccines are important, while Russia, Italy and Azerbaijan reported most scepticism around their importance. Although the researchers found that in some countries particular religious groups were more sceptical of vaccines than others were, no single religion was associated with negative attitudes worldwide. They say this indicates that the impact religion has on attitudes towards vaccines is dependent on the local context, rather than being driven by the religious doctrine itself. Another finding suggested that older people (aged 65 and over) globally had more positive views on vaccines than other age groups. WIN/Gallup International Association collected the data as part of their annual end-of-year survey. Survey responses were either collected through face-to-face interviews, telephone or online, based on phone and internet availability in each country. The researchers note that the findings cannot reveal whether attitudes were related to specific vaccines, or give reasons behind the attitudes expressed. They hope future surveys will provide these insights, and that this study can be used as a baseline to monitor change in attitudes towards vaccines over time. ### Additional key country and regional data available in notes to editors. Notes to editors: * Heidi J Larson, Alexandre de Figueiredo, Zhao Xiahong, William S Schulz, Pierre Verger, Iain G. Johnston, Alex R Cook, Nick S Jones,The State of Vaccine Confidence 2016: Global insights through a 67-country survey, EbioMedicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.08.042 http://www.ebiomedicine.com/article/S2352-3964(16)30398-X [1] World regions are categorised by World Health Organization region according to definitions at http://www.who.int/about/regions/en [2] The WIN/Gallup International Association has been conducting an annual survey since 1977. For this study WIN/Gallup International extended their 14 question survey in 67 countries to include four questions related to attitudes towards vaccines. A total of 65,819 people were interviewed globally, with a sample of around 500 men and 500 women interviewed either face-to-face in each country, via telephone or online. Each respondent was asked to rate - on the five-point Likert scale: strongly agree, tend to agree, do not know, tend to disagree, strongly disagree. Questions were: "vaccines are important for children to have"; "overall I think vaccines are safe"; "overall I think vaccines are effective"; and "vaccines are compatible with my religious beliefs". [3] Figures used based on raw data which includes 'do not know/no response' survey responses (as used in paper abstract). Both raw and normalised data (with 'do not know/no response' responses removed) for each country are available in the Supplementary Materials (Table S1). Key country and regional data Regions ranked by confidence in the safety of vaccines Southeast Asian Region (4.4% of people disagree that vaccines are safe) - most confident African Region (7.4%) American Region (8.3%) Eastern Mediterranean Region (9.4%) Western Pacific Region (15.0%) European Region (15.8%) - least confident Countries most confident in the safety of vaccines Bangladesh (Fewer than 1% of people surveyed disagreed that vaccines are safe) - most confident Saudi Arabia (1%) Argentina (1%) Philippines (2%) Ecuador (3%) Countries least confident in the safety of vaccines France (41% of people surveyed disagreed that vaccines are safe) - least confident Bosnia & Herzegovina (36%) Russia (28%) Mongolia (27%) Greece (25%) [tied with Japan and Ukraine, also 25%] Regions ranked by confidence in the importance of vaccines Southeast Asian Region (2.3% of people disagree that vaccines are important) - most confident Eastern Mediterranean Region (3.4%) African Region (3.5%) American Region (4.0%) Western Pacific Region (6.2%) European Region (7.7% of people disagree that vaccines are important) - least confident Countries most confident in the importance of vaccines Bangladesh (Fewer than 1% of people surveyed disagreed that vaccines are important) - most confident Iran (Fewer than 1%) Ecuador (Fewer than 1%) Philippines (Fewer than 1%) Argentina (Fewer than 1%) Countries least confident in the importance of vaccines Russia (16% of people surveyed disagreed that vaccines are important) - least confident Italy (15%) Azerbaijan (14%) China (14%) Slovenia (13%) About the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health, with more than 4,000 students and 1,000 staff working in over 100 countries. The School is one of the highest-rated research institutions in the UK, and among the world's leading schools in public and global health. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk A new study has estimated, for the first time, the numbers of people with Down syndrome in the U.S., from 1950 until 2010. The total number arrived at by the investigation, which also is the first to break down its findings by ethnic group, is considerably less than previously estimated by several organizations. "Almost every book, web page and research article about Down syndrome begins with what should be a simple fact - the number of people living with the condition in the U.S. - but what we found is that most of those statistics are gross overestimations of the actual data," says Brian Skotko, MD, MPP, of MassGeneral Hospital for Children, co-director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Down Syndrome Program and senior author of the report receiving advance online publication in the journal Genetics in Medicine. "With these new detailed estimates, we hope that policymakers can better appraise the impact of proposed legislation for this population, which has evolving racial and ethnic compositions, and nonprofit groups can better assess how representative their members are of the population at large. We also have established a crucial baseline to establish the effects, if any, of noninvasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome that has become available across the country," he says. Skotko and his co-authors - lead author Gert de Graaf, PhD, Dutch Down Syndrome Foundation, and Frank Buckley, Down Syndrome Education International/USA - have conducted several studies estimating numbers of individuals with Down syndrome nationwide or in areas like the state of Massachusetts and examining the effects of factors such as prenatal testing on total numbers. Other groups have estimated the prevalence of Down syndrome - numbers of individuals with Down syndrome per 10,000 population - at specific points in time, but this is the first to estimate how numbers have changed over a 60-year period. The research team based their estimates on what they believe to be a larger and more accurate set of databases than previous studies have used - covering factors such as the numbers of children born with Down syndrome, how those numbers have been affected by changes in the overall population and by the availability of prenatal testing and elective termination, and how many individuals with the condition have survived to adulthood. The total number they arrived at for 2010 was 206,366 individuals with Down syndrome in the U.S., compared with almost 50,000 in 1950, including both those born in the U.S. and those who moved to the U.S. after being born in other countries. The population prevalence for 2010 was 6.7 per 10,000 for the overall population. Broken down by ethnic and racial groups, the total 2010 estimates were 138,019 non-Hispanic whites, 27,151 non-Hispanic blacks, 32,933 Hispanics, 6,747 Asians/Pacific Islanders, and 1,527 Native Americans/Alaskans. For all ethnic and racial groups, numbers of individuals with Down syndrome were greater in younger age groups, but the growth over the years in the numbers of older individuals with Down syndrome reflects how the condition has changed from what was almost exclusively a childhood disability in the 1950s to one impacting a significant number of adults and older Americans. Skotko explains, "Prior to the 1980s the medical community did not surgically correct the heart defects that were present in up to half the babies with Down syndrome. Now the surgeries are commonplace and ethically required, enabling children who would have died to lead thriving and healthy lives. Our growing understanding of how to treat other frequently co-occurring conditions - such as thyroid disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and leukemia - has also expanded longevity." An assistant professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Skotko adds that their data on the ethnic diversity of the Down syndrome population will be valuable to organizations providing services to individuals with Down syndrome and their families. "Nonprofit support groups can now ask, for example, 'How many non-Hispanic blacks with Down syndrome are in our membership, and are the numbers representative of the local and national populations?' The number of Hispanics with Down syndrome has been growing incrementally, reflecting the growth of that population, while numbers among non-Hispanic whites have been slowing. Now we can begin to ask whether our resources, health care, and support systems are evolving to meet the needs of the changing population." ### Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $800 million and major research centers in HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, photomedicine and transplantation biology. The MGH topped the 2015 Nature Index list of health care organizations publishing in leading scientific journals, earned the prestigious 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. In August 2016 the MGH was once again named to the Honor Roll in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals." Precision time signals sent through the Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronize cellphone calls, time-stamp financial transactions, and support safe travel by aircraft, ship, train and car. What if GPS goes down? The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), which operate U.S. civilian and military time standards, respectively, have worked with two companies--Monroe, Louisiana-based CenturyLink, and Aliso Viejo, California-based Microsemi--to identify a practical backup possibility: Commercial fiber-optic telecommunications networks. In GPS systems, transmissions can be disrupted unintentionally by radio interference or the weather in space, for instance. Various types of intentional interference are possible also. Federal agencies have long recognized the need to back up GPS, a collection of several dozen satellites that has provided users with time and position information since the 1970s. To explore the possibility of using commercial telecom networks as a backup for time services, an ongoing experiment connects the NIST time scales in Boulder, Colorado, with the USNO alternate time scale at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs by means of CenturyLink's fiber-optic cables. The two federal time scales, 150 kilometers apart, are ensembles of clocks that generate versions of the international standard for time, Coordinated Universal Time (known as UTC), in real time. In this experiment, time signals were sent at regular intervals in both directions between the two locations. Researchers measured the differences between the remote (transmitted) and local time. The results, just presented at a conference, showed UTC could be transferred with a stability of under 100 nanoseconds (ns, or billionths of a second)--thus meeting the project's original goal for this metric--as long as the connection remained unbroken. Stability refers to how well the remote and local clocks remain synchronized. Because the signals were forwarded by various pieces of equipment along each path, they experienced significant unequal delays in the two different directions. This reduced overall performance, resulting in an accuracy that did not meet the stated goal of 1 microsecond (millionths of a second).* With the GPS available to calibrate (and thus correct for) the unequal delays, time transfer could be accomplished maintaining that calibration within 100 ns if GPS were to "disappear," the study suggests. "The 100 ns stability level is good enough to meet a new telecommunications standard," said lead author Marc Weiss, a mathematical physicist at NIST. "We'll continue trying to meet the 1 microsecond accuracy level, which is needed by critical infrastructure such as the power industry." The conference paper notes that if the fiber-optic network or its power source went down and had to be re-established, then GPS or some other alternative time reference would be needed to recalibrate the fiber-optic circuit. The authors suggest the fiber network could serve as a partial backup to the GPS, and the GPS could be used for calibration to correct timing delays. Or, to provide a more reliable backup for the GPS, two independent telecom network paths could be used. In the experiment, fiber-optic cables run from NIST and USNO to their respective nearby CenturyLink offices, where the signals are multiplexed into the network on a dedicated wavelength not shared with any other customers. The experiment began in April 2014 and will run through the end of 2016. "It appears that there is at least one commercial transport mechanism that could serve to back up GPS for time transfer at the 100 ns level," the paper concludes. "We have some certainty that similar results will apply if this technique were used as a service across the country." The need for precision timing backup has grown along with the importance of GPS. According to a 2013 study by the Government Accountability Office, "GPS is essential to U.S. national security and is a key component in economic growth, safety, and national critical infrastructure sectors." An inability to mitigate GPS disruptions could result in billions of dollars in economic losses, the study found. ### The NIST research is being carried out under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement among NIST, CenturyLink, and Microsemi, which, in addition to collaborating on the research, is providing equipment that transmits and receives timing signals. The project has been extended to January 2017, with the possibility of testing the technique in a time transfer experiment spanning the nation. Paper: M. Weiss, L. Cosart, J. Hanssen and J. Yao. 2016. "Precision Time Transfer using IEEE 1588 over OTN through a Commercial Optical Telecommunications Network." Paper presented Sept. 7, 2016, at the 2016 International IEEE Symposium on Precision Clock Synchronization for Measurement, Control, and Communication, Stockholm, Sweden. *For detailed definitions of accuracy and stability, see NIST background document A New Era for Atomic Clocks (go to the "Evaluating Atomic Clock Performance" section on page 2). NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the U.S. Southwest and captured infrared data on the clouds associated with former Tropical Cyclone Newton. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument that flies aboard Aqua gathered infrared data of Newton's remnant clouds on Sept. 8 at 4:35 p.m. EDT. The image showed a large area of cold cloud top temperatures near minus 27.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 33.1 degrees Celsius/ 240 Kelvin) over Arizona and New Mexico. Those cold cloud tops were high into the troposphere and the associated storms were generating rainfall over the region. At 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC) on Wednesday, Sept. 7 the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued their final bulletin on Newton. At that time, the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Newton was located over southeastern Arizona near 31.6 degree north latitude and 111.2 degrees west longitude. It was centered about 25 miles (40 km) west-northwest of Nogales, Arizona and 40 miles (65 km) south-southwest of Tucson, Arizona. Maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 35 mph (55 kph) and the post-tropical cyclone was moving toward the north-northeast near 18 mph (30 kph). On Sept. 8, the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) in College Park Maryland said that moisture associated with Newton is expected to spread heavy rain across the desert southwest during the day. The NOAA NWS WPC discussion stated "Arizona and New Mexico have observed several inches of rain from Post-Tropical Cyclone Newton as it tracked northward into the Desert Southwest. This storm has quickly weakened during the overnight hours and is forecast to dissipate this morning. However, tropical moisture associated with its remnants will continue to bring heavy downpours from eastern Arizona into western New Mexico - flash flooding and mud slides are possible." ### Most bivalves live in sand or mud or attached to rock surface. However, a new bivalve species described from Japan lives on a sea cucumber. Ryutaro Goto, postdoctoral fellow in Museum of Zoology and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, and Hiroshi Ishikawa, amateur malacologist in Japan, have their paper, describing the new species, published in the open access journal ZooKeys. The new species, named Borniopsis mortoni (Galeommatoidea), was discovered in mudflats at the mouth of the Souzu River, southwestern Shikoku Island, Japan. This bivalve has tiny brownish shells (up to 4.1 mm in length). The species lives attached by both its foot and byssal threads to the body surface of the earthworm-like sea cucumber Patinapta ooplax (Synaptidae). Individuals of B. mortoni are often found on the same host, yet sometimes there could be more than 10 individuals existing side-by-side. The new species is dedicated to a famous British malacologist Brian Morton, emeritus professor of University of Hong Kong. He has described many interesting Pseudopythina species from mudflats in Hong Kong, now assigned to the genus Borniopsis. Host sea cucumbers burrow in mudflats. Most likely, the B. mortoni bivalve uses the host burrows as shelter from predators. The new species is one of the smallest species in this genus. With the burrow of the host sea cucumber being very narrow, the small body size of B. mortoni is probably a corresponding adaptation. ### Original source: Goto R, Ishikawa H (2016) Borniopsis mortoni sp. n. (Heterodonta, Galeommatoidea, Galeommatidae sensu lato), a new bivalve commensal with a synaptid sea cucumber from Japan. ZooKeys 615: 33-45. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.615.8125 TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2016--Newborn screening is considered to be a "baby's first test." Within the first two days of birth, a baby's heel is pricked to obtain a small amount of blood that is screened for up to dozens of genetic diseases, especially those where early detection and treatment can prevent irreversible damage. However, technological advances have allowed newborn screening to test for hundreds of diseases, including those for which there may be no established treatment, and identify infants that are carriers of genes for certain diseases. A new study published online today in the journal Genetics in Medicine found that parents said they wanted to be given all of that information - not just whether their babies had a treatable condition but whether they were also just the carrier of a gene that could be passed onto their own children. But when they were given their babies' carrier information, many parents didn't use it, or used the information inappropriately, said lead author Dr. Yvonne Bombard, a genomics and health services researcher in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital. Identifying infant carriers through newborn screening is controversial because it goes against international guidelines and it is done without consent - newborn screening is a universal, routine screen that does not typically require explicit consent from parents. However, some say that the identification of infant carriers provides the opportunity to inform parents and infants of future reproductive risks, a position that has been used to justify screening for diseases that are not necessarily treatable. Dr. Bombard's study looked at the reproductive impact of carrier result disclosure through newborn screening, using Cystic Fibrosis as a case example. She found that 92 per cent of parents shared the news with other relatives. But 65 per cent said the news would not influence their family planning decisions. All the mothers said they valued learning their infants' carrier results. Some had carrier testing and shared the results with family. Others did not use the results or used them in unintended ways - such as sharing the news with both sides of the family when only one parent was a carrier. ### About St. Michael's Hospital St. Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, and care of the homeless are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Center, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. Media contact For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Leslie Shepherd Manager, Media Strategy Phone: 416-864-6094 shepherdl@smh.ca St. Michael's Hospital Inspired Care. Inspiring Science. http://www.stmichaelshospital.com Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stmikeshospital LA JOLLA, CA - September 8, 2016 - A series of new studies led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) describe a potential vaccination strategy to jump-start the selection and evolution of broadly effective antibodies to prevent HIV infection. The researchers plan to test this strategy in an upcoming human clinical trial. The new studies, published September 8, 2016, in the journals Cell and Science, showed the immune system can be prompted to mimic and accelerate a rare natural process during which antibodies slowly evolve to become better and better at targeting the constantly mutating HIV virus. "Although we still have a long way to go, we're making really good progress toward a human vaccine," said William Schief, professor at TSRI and director of vaccine design for IAVI's Neutralizing Antibody Center (NAC) at TSRI, whose lab developed many of the vaccine proteins tested in these studies. Schief co-led several of the new studies with TSRI Professor David Nemazee; Dennis Burton, James & Jessie Minor chair of the TSRI Department of Immunology and Microbial Science and scientific director of the IAVI NAC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery (CHAVI-ID); and Ian Wilson, Hansen Professor of Structural Biology and chair of the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at TSRI. Developing a Blueprint A vaccine needs to elicit those rare antibodies, called "broadly neutralizing antibodies" (bnAbs), which fight a wide variety of strains of HIV--and it needs to elicit them quickly. One strategy to accomplish this, which scientists at TSRI have dubbed the "reductionist" strategy, is to find which antibody mutations are most important for making them effective against HIV, then to "prime" the immune system to start making antibody precursors. From there, scientists hope to prompt one important mutation after another with a series of different "booster" shots, deliberately building up a bnAb one step at a time. In a recent study in the journal PLOS Pathogens, the scientists created 3D maps of a structure on HIV known as the CD4 binding site. If antibodies successfully attack this site, scientists believe, most strains of HIV could be crippled. The researchers also created high-resolution maps of bnAbs that could bind to the CD4 binding site. "This is one of the most complete blueprints we've had for this target," said Jean-Philippe Julien, a research associate in Wilson's lab at the time of the study, who served as co-first author of the study with TSRI Research Associate Joseph Jardine, IAVI Research Scientist Devin Sok and Bryan Briney, assistant professor of immunology at TSRI. The scientists then studied stripped-down versions of the bnAbs to see exactly which components were important in targeting the CD4 binding site. With the results from the PLOS Pathogens study, the researchers finally had a guide to which mutations were the most important. They also had a better idea of which antibody-eliciting molecules, called immunogens, could be given in booster shots to trigger the right mutations at the right time. "We're figuring how to boost antibodies to the next step--how to keep walking them along the path to increased breadth and potency after we get them started with a priming shot," said Jardine. Training Promising Antibodies This finding set the stage for the three new studies. For the first one, published in Cell, researchers tested a priming immunogen, followed by a series of booster immunogens from the Schief lab. The immunogens were tested in a mouse model, developed by the Nemazee lab, which was engineered to have the genes (the raw materials) to make antibodies with the right mutations to target the CD4 binding site. The team found that the elicited antibodies more closely resembled mature antibodies. The sequence of immunogens had done their job. "The study showed that the immunogens are working," said Nemazee. "They mutate the antibody-producing B cells in the right direction." "The elicited antibodies share many genetic features with mature bnAbs and have the ability to neutralize one native HIV isolate as well as multiple other HIV isolates that we modified slightly to make them easier to neutralize," added Briney, who served as first author of the study with Sok, Jardine, IAVI and TSRI Staff Scientist Daniel Kulp and TSRI Research Assistant Patrick Skog. "We will probably need additional booster immunogens to elicit antibodies that can broadly neutralize native HIV isolates, but our results suggest we are on the right track." In the second Cell study, led by John R. Mascola at the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center and Frederick W. Alt, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researcher at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, along with TSRI co-authors, took the reductionist approach a step further, showing that it could induce antibodies in mouse models with immune systems that can create an even wider range of antibodies--more similar to the human immune system. Results from the Science study further supported the reductionist vaccine approach. For the study, the researchers took on an even bigger challenge--to "prime" antibodies in a mouse model with a human-like immune system developed by Kymab Ltd, a UK-based company. The Kymab mouse model's more complicated immune system made it more difficult for a vaccine protein to find and activate the "precursor" cells that have potential to produce bnAbs against the CD4 binding site. In fact, the researchers estimated that each Kymab mouse contained only one such precursor cell on average--with some mice containing none--among approximately 75 million antibody-producing cells. Despite this "needle-in-a-haystack" challenge, scientists found that their vaccine priming protein activated the appropriate antibody precursors in one-third to one-half of mice tested, suggesting this feat would also be possible in humans, where the targeted precursor cells are more plentiful. "This seems to be a much higher bar than we will face in humans," Schief said. "The reductionist vaccine approach we're undertaking will hopefully not only lead to an HIV vaccine, but also could potentially be applied to other challenging vaccine targets," said Sok, who served as co-first author of the Science study with Briney, Jardine and Kulp. The researchers also gave credit to their strong international collaboration. "Our phenomenal results with the team at The Scripps Research Institute came from work at the interfaces--and boundaries--of vaccine technology, immunology, protein engineering and structural biology," said Professor Allan Bradley, chief technical officer at Kymab and director emeritus of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. IAVI and partners are planning for a clinical trial for next year to further develop and test whether the reductionist vaccine strategy--starting with activating the right precursors--will work in humans. If successful, the next step will be to test their booster immunogens. ### The first Cell study, "Tailored Immunogens Direct Affinity Maturation Toward HIV Neutralizing Antibodies," included additional authors from the Ragon Institute. The study was supported by the IAVI through the NAC (grant SFP1849); NIAID grants; CHAVI-ID (grants UM1AI100663, P01AI081625 and R01AI073148); the Ragon Institute; and the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation. The second Cell study, "Induction of HIV Neutralizing Antibody Lineages in Mice with Diverse Precursor Repertoires," included additional authors from HHMI; Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School; the NIH's NIAID Vaccine Research Center; Vanderbilt University; Columbia University; the Ragon Institute; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the Duke University School of Medicine. This work was supported by the NIH (grants R01AI077595, AI020047, P01 AI094419, U19AI109632, P01-AI104722; CHAVI-ID (grants 5UM1 AI100645 and 1UM1 AI100663); the intramural research program of the NIAID Vaccine Research Center; the IAVI NAC Center; Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery funding for the IAVI NAC Center; the Ragon Institute and an HHMI Medical Student Fellowship. The Science study, "Priming HIV-1 Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Precursors in Human Ig Loci Transgenic Mice," included additional authors from Kymab Ltd, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Ragon Institute. The study was supported by IAVI, with the generous support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Ragon Institute; the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation; and NIAID (grants P01 AI094419 and CHAVI-ID 1UM1AI100663). See also additional Cell and Immunity studies on HIV/AIDS vaccine work led by TSRI scientists and published on September 8. In a study published online by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Daniel C. Beachler, Ph.D., M.H.S., and Eric A. Engels, M.D., M.P.H., of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md., evaluated the associations of chronic sinusitis with subsequent head and neck cancer in an elderly population. Acute sinusitis is a common inflammatory condition of the sinuses often caused by viral or bacterial infections. The condition is considered chronic when the episode persists longer than 12 weeks. Chronic sinusitis may be involved in the cause of certain head and neck cancers (HNCs), due to immunodeficiency or inflammation. However, the risk of specific HNCs among people with chronic sinusitis is largely unknown. For this study, the researchers used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database and included 483,546 Medicare beneficiaries from SEER areas in a 5 percent random subcohort, and 826,436 from the entire source population who developed cancer (including 21,716 with HNC). Most individuals were female (58 percent), and the average age at entry was 73 years. Chronic sinusitis was associated with risk of developing HNC, particularly nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancer (HPV-OPC), and nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancer (NCPSC). Most of this increased risk was limited to risk within 1 year of the chronic sinusitis diagnosis, as associations were largely reduced 1 year or more after chronic sinusitis. All 3 HNC subtypes had cumulative incidence of less than 0.07 percent 8 years after chronic sinusitis diagnosis. The authors write that these findings suggest that sinusitis-related inflammation and/or immunodeficiency play, at most, a minor role in the development of these cancers. "Despite the fact that people with chronic sinusitis have an increased risk for certain subtypes of HNCs, the absolute risk of these cancers is low. The cumulative incidence of NPC, HPV-OPC, and NCPSC was less than 0.10 percent after 8 years of follow-up after a chronic sinusitis diagnosis. There are currently no general U.S. guidelines for HNC screening, but given the low absolute risk, our findings do not support a need for HNC screening in individuals with chronic sinusitis." ### (JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Published online Sept. 8, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2016.2624. The study is available pre-embargo at the For The Media website.) Editor's Note: This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute. Both authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported. Note: Available pre-embargo at the For The Media website is an accompanying commentary, "Can Chronic Sinusitis Cause Cancer?" by Elisabeth H. Ference, M.D., M.P.H., and Jeffrey D. Suh, M.D., of the University of California-Los Angeles. In a study appearing in the September 13 issue of JAMA, Jouke T. Annema, M.D., Ph.D., of the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, and colleagues examined five-year survival after endosonography vs mediastinoscopy for mediastinal nodal staging of lung cancer. Accurate mediastinal nodal staging is crucial in the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) because it directs therapy and has prognostic value. The Assessment of Surgical Staging vs Endosonographic Ultrasound in Lung Cancer (ASTER) trial compared mediastinoscopy (surgical staging) with an endosonographic staging strategy (which combined the use of endobronchial and transesophageal ultrasound followed by mediastinoscopy if negative). The endosonographic strategy was significantly more sensitive for diagnosing mediastinal nodal metastases than surgical staging (94 percent endosonographic strategy vs 79 percent surgical strategy). If mediastinal staging is improved, more patients should receive optimal treatment and might survive longer. This analysis evaluated survival in ASTER. Of 241 patients with potentially resectable NSCLC, 123 were randomized to endosonographic staging and 118 to surgical staging in 4 tertiary referral centers. Survival data were obtained through patient records, death registers, or contact with general practitioners. Survival data at 5 years were obtained for 237 of 241 patients. The prevalence of mediastinal nodal metastases was 54 percent in the endosonographic strategy group and 44 percent in the surgical strategy group. Survival at 5 years was 35 percent for the endosonographic strategy vs 35 percent for the surgical strategy. The estimated median survival was 31 months for the endosonographic strategy vs 33 months for the surgical strategy. "Why did improved mediastinal staging not lead to improved survival? Missing data occurred in less than 2 percent and therefore are an unlikely source of bias. However, ASTER was powered to detect a difference in diagnostic sensitivity, not survival, as reflected by the wide confidence intervals. If a survival difference between the strategies exists, it is likely to be small and a larger sample size may be needed to detect it. However, randomized trials to detect a survival difference based on staging strategy are not likely to be conducted as the endosonographic strategy is now advised in clinical guidelines," the authors write. ### (doi:10.1001/jama.2016.10349; the study is available pre-embargo to the media at the For the Media website) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. A major review of the available evidence on the safety and efficacy of statin therapy, published in The Lancet, intends to help doctors, patients and the public make informed decisions about the use of the drugs. The authors warn that the benefits of statin therapy have been underestimated, and the harms exaggerated, because of a failure to acknowledge properly both the wealth of evidence from randomised trials and the limitations of other types of studies. Research on statins has been ongoing for over 30 years, generating a large amount of data from a wide variety of patients. The review published today explains how the available evidence on the efficacy and safety of statin therapy should be interpreted, and concludes that: Lowering cholesterol by 2 mmol/L with an effective low-cost statin therapy (e.g. atorvastatin 40 mg daily, which costs about 2 per month in the UK) for 5 years in 10,000 patients would: Prevent major cardiovascular events (heart attacks, ischaemic strokes and coronary artery bypasses) in 1000 people with pre-existing vascular disease ("secondary prevention"), and in 500 people who are at increased risk (eg, due to their age or having hypertension or diabetes) but have not yet had a vascular event ("primary prevention"). Cause 5 cases of myopathy (one of which might progress to the more severe condition of rhabdomyolysis, if the statin is not stopped), 5-10 haemorrhagic strokes, 50-100 new cases of diabetes and up to 50-100 cases of symptomatic adverse events (such as muscle pain). The authors note that although further research may identify small additional beneficial or adverse effects, this is unlikely to materially alter the balance of benefits and harms for patients because of the evidence generated so far. "Our review shows that the numbers of people who avoid heart attacks and strokes by taking statin therapy are very much larger than the numbers who have side-effects with it. In addition, whereas most of the side-effects can be reversed with no residual effects by stopping the statin, the effects of a heart attack or stroke not being prevented are irreversible and can be devastating. Consequently there is a serious cost to public health from making misleading claims about high side-effect rates that inappropriately dissuade people from taking statin therapy despite the proven benefits," says review author Professor Rory Collins, Clinical Trial Service Unit (CTSU), University of Oxford, UK. [1] Professor Liam Smeeth, co-author from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK adds: "The best available scientific evidence tells us that statins are effective, safe drugs that have a crucial role in helping prevent cardiovascular disease: the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide." [1] Randomised trials vs observational studies The review discusses the strengths and limitations of different types of studies. Randomised controlled trials are a robust and well recognised way of determining the effect of treatments. Whereas observational studies based on databases can generate hypotheses about associations between the use of drugs and health outcomes, randomised trials can determine cause and effect. In a randomised trial, patients are randomly divided into two or more groups - eg, one group is given a drug and the other group is given a dummy treatment (ie, a "placebo"). Researchers then compare the rates of health outcomes between these groups. Randomly allocating patients means that any difference in these rates can generally be attributed to the treatment itself (see panel 1). Additionally, by "blinding" the patients and their doctors as to whether they are taking the drug being studied or a placebo, bias in the assessment of health outcomes between the different treatment groups can be avoided. Meta-analyses bring together evidence from randomised trials that have tested the same treatment and, by including data from a larger and more diverse set of patients, can increase the reliability and generalisability of the results. By contrast, observational studies compare the health outcomes of people who have been given a particular treatment by their doctors as part of routine care, and people who have not been given the treatment. Doctors give treatments to selected patients for good reasons, so the health of the patients given a treatment may be very different to the health of people who are not given it. These differences in the underlying risks of the different groups of patients are hard to predict, and it is not possible to know that they have been allowed for completely in the analyses. In addition, patients prescribed a drug in routine care know that they are getting it, and their doctors may have warned them that the drug may cause problems. Consequently, the patients may be more likely to attribute health outcomes (particularly symptoms that are subjective, eg muscle aching) to the drug, whereas people who are not taking the drug would not do so. As a result, although observational studies may be able to detect large increases in health outcomes that would usually be rare, they are not able to produce reliable evidence about the effects of drug treatments when the health outcomes are common or the effects are not large (see panel 2). Benefits of statin therapy Evidence from large population studies, combined with studies in animals, genetic research and randomised controlled trials have confirmed a causal link between higher levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood and higher risks of vascular disease. Meta-analyses of large randomised controlled trials of statin therapy indicate that each 1 mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol with statin therapy reduces the risk of coronary deaths and heart attacks, ischaemic strokes (strokes due to blood clots) and coronary revascularisation procedures by about 25% during each year (after the first) that treatment continues to be taken (figure 3 & 5). The meta-analyses also indicate that larger reductions in LDL cholesterol with statin therapy produce larger reductions in the risks of these major vascular events. For example, using an effective statin regimen (such as generic atorvastatin 40 mg daily, which costs about 2 per month in the UK) to reduce LDL cholesterol by 2 mmol/L would almost halve a person's risk of a major vascular event. It has been claimed, based on observational studies, that statin therapy might also reduce the risks of cancer and various other conditions (including respiratory diseases and infections, deep vein thrombosis, and post-operative atrial fibrillation). However, the evidence from randomised trials shows that these associations in observational studies do not reflect a causal effect of statin therapy. Harms of statin therapy Myopathy is a rare condition involving muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness accompanied by significant increases in blood creatine kinase concentrations. Evidence from observational studies and randomised trials points to a causal effect of statin therapy on myopathy. However, the risk of myopathy is low: about 1 extra case per 10,000 patients taking an effective statin regimen (such as atorvastatin 40 mg daily) during each year of treatment. In addition, evidence from randomised trials has identified an increased risk of diabetes due to statin therapy: about 10-20 extra cases of diabetes developing per 10,000 treated patients per year. This excess of diabetes occurs mainly in people who are already at increased risk of developing diabetes, and its clinical significance is uncertain. In particular, although diabetes is associated with increased risk of vascular disease, statin therapy produces substantial reductions in vascular disease. Some observational studies have suggested statin therapy may be associated with an increased risk of haemorrhagic stroke. And randomised trials indicate that statin therapy may increase the risk of haemorrhagic stroke by about one-fifth. Typically, in Western populations, this would correspond to an increase of about 5-10 extra cases per 10,000 treated patients per year. In most circumstances, the reductions in ischaemic strokes produced by statin therapy are much bigger than the increases in haemorrhagic strokes, so the risk of stroke of any kind is reduced substantially. Reports of increased rates of muscle pain and weakness in observational studies have led to claims that as many as 20% of patients have "statin intolerance", mainly due to muscle pain and weakness. The randomised trial evidence demonstrate that these claims represent misattribution of symptoms to the statin therapy. Instead, at most, statin therapy causes an increase in symptomatic adverse events (such as muscle pain and weakness) in about 10-20 of 10,000 treated patients per year. It has been claimed, based on observational studies, that statin therapy might increase the risks of various other conditions (including memory loss, cataracts, kidney injury, liver disease, sleep disturbance, aggression, suicidal behavioural, erectile disjunction and neuropathy). However, the evidence from the randomised trials shows that these associations in observational studies do not reflect a causal effect of statin therapy. Writing in a linked Comment, Dr Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet says: "Controversy over the safety and efficacy of statins has harmed the health of potentially thousands of people in the UK... That is why we are this week publishing a comprehensive scientific review about the efficacy and safety of statin therapy by researchers who have made substantial contributions to the science of statins. The purpose of this review is to help doctors and patients make informed decisions about the use of this important drug class." ### NOTES TO EDITORS No specific funding was received for this Review. [1] Quotes direct from the author and cannot be found in the text of the Review. IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE AT THE TIME THE EMBARGO LIFTS: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS140-6736(16)31357-5/abstract Irvine, Calif. -- Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are a leading cause of birth defect-related deaths. Understanding how genetic alterations cause such defects is complicated by the fact that many of the critical genes are unknown, and those that are known often contribute only small increases in CHD risk. In new research publishing Sept. 8 in the Open Access journal PLOS Biology, University of California, Irvine biologists Anne Calof and Arthur Lander and colleagues report that the role of genes in CHD is more complex than previously realized and that overall risk is determined by a combination of gene effects both inside and outside of the heart itself. Normal heart formation depends on interactions of multiple types of cells that collaborate in precise times and places throughout development to build the heart's intricate structures. To figure out how these interactions can go awry, the Calof-Lander team studied atrial septal defects (ASDs, a common type of heart defect) in a mouse model of the developmental disorder Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS). Most cases of Cornelia de Lange Syndrome are caused by mutations that inactivate a single copy of Nipbl, a gene that directs the expression of many hundreds of other genes in tissues throughout the body. Just as people with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome have a high incidence of heart defects, 30 percent of mice that harbor similar Nipbl mutations exhibit atrial septal defects. Employing genetically modified mouse models, the researchers used a novel technology to selectively introduce or remove Nipbl mutations in different tissues during embryonic development. Unexpectedly, they found that no Nipbl deficiency in any single tissue -- including the tissue that forms the heart itself -- could singlehandedly account for the development of atrial septal defects. Rather, the development of heart defects was determined by interactions between heart-forming tissues and the rest of the body. In fact, Nipbl deficiency in some tissues even seemed to protect against the development of atrial septal defects, in certain situations. In a Primer article that accompanies this research, Bruce Gelb, MD, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, explains why these were "mind-bending results" and writes that "this work provides novel insights into incomplete penetrance and oligogenic effects underlying CHD." He adds that the novel observations "add further complexity to the way in which we need to think about CHD pathogenesis". "Our results lead us to hypothesize that heart defects such as ASDs occur when the heart does not grow quickly enough to meet the demands of the developing body - in other words, that heart size and body size must be coordinated for the heart to develop without defects," said Calof, professor of anatomy & neurobiology and developmental & cell biology at UCI. "To our knowledge, this is the first genetic demonstration that major risk factors for heart defects are likely to lie outside of the heart itself." "When a single gene change causes a birth defect, we often assume that it's because one thing goes wrong in one cell type. The big difference in our studies may have to do with the fact that Nipbl controls a large number of other genes," said Lander, the Donald Bren Professor of Developmental & Cell Biology and director of UCI's Center for Complex Biological Systems. "Given that most human CHDs are now thought to be caused by gene variants acting in combination, what we learned from Nipbl-deficient mice may actually be more typical of the way most CHDs arise." ### Calof and Lander, working together with researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, helped identify the causative gene for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome in 2004. The discovery of this gene, Nipbl, has led to the development of tools for molecular diagnosis of CdLS and has spawned a large body of biomedical research on CdLS and related syndromes. As part of this effort, Calof, Lander and their UCI colleague Thomas Schilling, Professor of Developmental & Cell Biology, have developed animal models of CdLS that are being used to find ways to prevent and/or treat this disorder. Their work has been recognized by the CdLS Foundation, and UCI has been designated a Center of Research Excellence in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. In addition to Calof and Lander, Rosaysela Santos, Shimako Kawauchi, Martha Lopez-Burks, Hojae Choi and Jamie Wikenheiser from UCI; Russell Jacobs from Caltech; Benedikt Hallgrimsson and Heather Jamniczky from the University of Calgary, Canada; and Scott Fraser from the University of Southern California contributed to the study, which was funded in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant number NICHD P01-HD052860) and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (grant number NIBIB R01-EB000993). Please use this URL to access the freely available articles in PLOS Biology: (Research Article) http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2000197 (Primer) http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2000494 With global temperatures rising, an international group of 22 top biologists is calling for a coordinated effort to gather important species information that is urgently needed to improve predictions for the impact of climate change on future biodiversity. Current predictions fail to account for important biological factors like species competition and movement that can have a profound influence on whether a plant or animal survives changes to its environment, the scientists say in the September 9 issue of the journal Science. While more sophisticated forecasting models exist, much of the detailed species information that is needed to improve predictions is lacking. "Right now, we're treating a mouse the same way as an elephant or a fish or a tree. Yet we know that those are all very different organisms and they are going to respond to their environment in different ways," says University of Connecticut Ecologist Mark Urban, the Science article's lead author. "We need to pull on our boots, grab our binoculars, and go back into the field to gather more detailed information if we are going to make realistic predictions." The 22 top biologists affiliated with the article identify six key types of biological information, including life history, physiology, genetic variation, species interactions, and dispersal, that will significantly improve prediction outcomes for individual species. Obtaining that information will not only help the scientific community better identify the most at-risk populations and ecosystems, the scientists say, it will also allow for a more targeted distribution of resources as global temperatures continue to rise at a record rate. Current climate change predictions for biodiversity draw on broad statistical correlations and can vary widely, making it difficult for policymakers and others to respond accordingly. Many of those predictions tend not to hold up over time if they fail to account for the full range of biological factors that can influence an organism's survival rate: species demographics, competition from other organisms, species mobility, and the capacity to adapt and evolve. "We haven't been able to sufficiently determine what species composition future ecosystems will have, and how their functions and services for mankind will change," says co-author Dr. Karin Johst of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research. "This is because current ecological models often do not include important biological processes and mechanisms: so far only 23 percent of the reviewed studies have taken into account biological mechanisms." Generating more accurate predictions is essential for global conservation efforts. Many species are already moving to higher ground or toward the poles to seek cooler temperatures as global temperatures rise. But the capacity of different organisms to survive varies greatly. Some species of frog, for instance, can traverse their terrain for miles to remain in a habitable environment. Other species, such as some types of salamander, are less mobile and capable of moving only a few meters over generations. "New Zealand's strong foundation in ecological research will help," explains study co-author Dr. William Godsoe, a Lincoln University lecturer and member of New Zealand's Bio-Protection Research Centre. "One of our hopes is to build on these strengths and highlight new opportunities to improve predictions by explicitly considering evolution, interactions among species, and dispersal." This will aid in the development of strategies to manage impacts on species and ecosystems before they become critical. With more than 8.7 million species worldwide, gathering the necessary biological information to improve predictions is a daunting task. Even a sampling of key species would be beneficial, the authors say, as the more sophisticated models will allow scientists to extrapolate their predictions and apply them to multiple species with similar traits. The researchers are calling for the launch of a global campaign to be spearheaded by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services or IPBES. The IPBES operates under the auspices of four United Nations entities and is dedicated to providing scientific information to policymakers worldwide. One thousand scientists from all over the world currently contribute to the work of IPBES on a voluntary basis. The scientists are also encouraging conservation strategies to support biodiversity such as maintaining dispersal corridors, and preserving existing natural habitats and genetic diversity. "Our biggest challenge is pinpointing which species to concentrate on and which regions we need to allocate resources," says UConn Associate Professor Urban. In an earlier study in Science, Urban predicted that as many as one in six species internationally could be wiped out by climate change. "We are at a triage stage at this point. We have limited resources and patients lined up at the door." ### Working groups for this project were supported by the Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, DIVERSITAS, and the National Science Foundation. With three new detectors coming online in the next several years, scientists are confident they will collect enough geoneutrino data to measure Earth's fuel level Earth requires fuel to drive plate tectonics, volcanoes and its magnetic field. Like a hybrid car, Earth taps two sources of energy to run its engine: primordial energy from assembling the planet and nuclear energy from the heat produced during natural radioactive decay. Scientists have developed numerous models to predict how much fuel remains inside Earth to drive its engines -- and estimates vary widely -- but the true amount remains unknown. In a new paper, a team of geologists and neutrino physicists boldly claims it will be able to determine by 2025 how much nuclear fuel and radioactive power remain in the Earth's tank. The study, authored by scientists from the University of Maryland, Charles University in Prague and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, was published on September 9, 2016, in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. "I am one of those scientists who has created a compositional model of the Earth and predicted the amount of fuel inside Earth today," said one of the study's authors William McDonough, a professor of geology at the University of Maryland. "We're in a field of guesses. At this point in my career, I don't care if I'm right or wrong, I just want to know the answer." To calculate the amount of fuel inside Earth by 2025, the researchers will rely on detecting some of the tiniest subatomic particles known to science -- geoneutrinos. These antineutrino particles are byproducts of nuclear reactions within stars (including our sun), supernovae, black holes and human-made nuclear reactors. They also result from radioactive decay processes deep within the Earth. Detecting antineutrinos requires a huge detector the size of a small office building, housed about a mile underground to shield it from cosmic rays that could yield false positive results. Inside the detector, scientists detect antineutrinos when they crash into a hydrogen atom. The collision produces two characteristic light flashes that unequivocally announce the event. The number of events scientists detect relates directly to the number of atoms of uranium and thorium inside the Earth. And the decay of these elements, along with potassium, fuels the vast majority of the heat in the Earth's interior. To date, detecting antineutrinos has been painfully slow, with scientists recording only about 16 events per year from the underground detectors KamLAND in Japan and Borexino in Italy. However, researchers predict that three new detectors expected to come online by 2022--the SNO+ detector in Canada and the Jinping and JUNO detectors in China--will add 520 more events per year to the data stream. "Once we collect three years of antineutrino data from all five detectors, we are confident that we will have developed an accurate fuel gauge for the Earth and be able to calculate the amount of remaining fuel inside Earth," said McDonough. The new Jinping detector, which will be buried under the slopes of the Himalayas, will be four times bigger than existing detectors. The underground JUNO detector near the coast of southern China will be 20 times bigger than existing detectors. "Knowing exactly how much radioactive power there is in the Earth will tell us about Earth's consumption rate in the past and its future fuel budget," said McDonough. "By showing how fast the planet has cooled down since its birth, we can estimate how long this fuel will last." ### In addition to McDonough, UMD geology graduate student Scott Wipperfurth also contributed to this study. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (Award Nos. EAR 1068097 and EAR 1067983), and by Fundamental Research Grants for Central Public Research Organizations, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (Award No. YYWF201623). The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations. The research paper, "Revealing the Earth's mantle from the tallest mountains using the Jinping Neutrino Experiment," Ond?ej Sramek, Bed?ich Roskovec, Scott A. Wipperfurth, Yufei Xi, and William McDonough, was published online September 9, 2016 in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. An international group of researchers has for the first time identified a set of 30 inherited recessive genes that play a role in intellectual disability (ID), a neurodevelopmental disorder that, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), affects as many as 213 million people around the world. The research team was led in in part by Principal Investigator Saima Riazuddin, PhD, MPH, MBA Professor of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery and Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM). Other principal researchers included Hans van Bokhoven, PhD, of the Department of Human Genetics at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and Sheikh Riazuddin, PhD, of the Allama Iqbal Medical College, the University of Health Sciences in Pakistan. Intellectual disability, or ID (previously known as mental retardation), becomes apparent in children before the age of 18. The disorder, which is measured by an intelligence quotient below 70, significantly limits an individual's intellectual ability and practical skills. ID also can be a significant burden to families, society and the healthcare system. According to CDC, the lifetime cost for caring for a person with an intellectual disability is over $1 million. Currently, about 1-3 percent of the world's population possess some form of ID. While about half of all ID cases can be linked to environmental causes like poor nutrition, unknown genetic factors, such as gene mutations, are responsible for the remaining 50 percent. The new study, which was published recently in the online journal Molecular Psychiatry, presents the outcomes of a five-year investigation that was conducted over three continents. In order to identify potential genetic causes for ID, investigators assembled a test group of 121 families in rural Pakistan, in which there was a higher incidence of ID and consanguineous marriages (marriages between blood relations). More than 15,000 DNA samples were collected, which were analyzed both in the Netherlands and at UM SOM's Institute of Genomic Sciences (IGS), using next-generation genetic sequencing. From an initial pool of 2,000 possible genes, the study has categorized 30 novel candidate genes possessing a strong potential for causing ID--and possibly other brain disorders as well. In addition, this information now can be applied to DNA screenings in determining the possibility of a couple producing an ID child. "The implications are enormous," said Dr. Riazuddin. "The next phase of our study is to come up with therapeutic options and personalized protocols that could help patients improve their intellectual function." "This study by Dr. Riazuddin and her colleagues marks a major breakthrough in uncovering new solutions to such crippling brain disorders as ID," said UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, who is also Vice President of Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland and the John Z. and Akiko Bowers Distinguished Professor at UM SOM. "Their innovative work now has opened the door to other potential discoveries that will change the way we treat such disabilities in the future." ### About the University of Maryland School of Medicine The University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 and is the first public medical school in the United States and continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland and is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 43 academic departments, centers and institutes, and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists and more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S. with top-tier faculty and programs in cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, vaccine development and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the nation, but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 35 countries around the world. medschool.umaryland.edu New research suggests the Polynesians, Europeans and the Chinese have had a penchant for black pigs because of the novelty of their colour. Pigs have played an important cultural role in Hawaii since Polynesian explorers first brought them to Hawaii 800 years ago. Scientists led by Professor Greger Larson from Oxford examined the DNA sequences of modern feral Hawaiian pigs and discovered that a novel mutation is responsible for their black coats, a significant finding because the pigs were expected to have either the Asian or the European genetic mutation leading to their black colour. The study in the Royal Society journal, Open Science, says wild pigs would naturally have camouflaged coats. However, human societies have independently selected domesticated pigs that express the trait of black-coloured coats on at least three separate occasions. Debate has centred on whether Hawaiis modern feral pigs (modern populations that were once descended from domestic pigs but are now living in the wild) are from Polynesian stock or whether they descend primarily from the European domestic pigs that travelled with explorer Captain Cook who arrived in Hawaii in 1778. Scientists find that todays feral pigs ARE mainly the descendants of the Pacific family brought by the Polynesians. In addition, the scientists identified a new genetic mutation responsible for the black colouring of their coats. An international team of researchers studied the mitochondrial DNA and MC1R gene sequences in tissue samples collected from 57 modern feral Hawaiian pigs. They found a novel mutation in all the black-coloured pigs which is different to the mutation in European and Asian domestic pigs with black coats. This finding suggests that for thousands of years, humans in different parts of the world have been independently selecting and breeding pigs for their black colour. Senior author Professor Greger Larson, from the Palaeogenomics and Bio-Archaeology Research Network at the University of Oxford, said: The first pigs introduced to Hawaii by the Polynesians were kept as domestic animals. No wild boar have black colours since natural selection only allows camouflaged pigs to survive long enough to reproduce. Humans, on the other hand, love all kinds of coloured coats and have selected for black coats at least three times independently in domestic pigs in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. In the case of pigs, black has always been the new black. Existing academic literature describes how Polynesians were experienced sailors who spread across the Pacific region, bringing dogs, pigs, chickens and sweet potatoes in their boats. The study suggests that further research is needed to pinpoint where the domestic animals used by Polynesian explorers were originally sourced. Some scholars have said they believe South East Asia to be their original ancestral home. The modern feral pigs in Hawaii are considered as a scourge of the islands by many. Over the last few hundred years, they have uprooted and eaten indigenous forest vegetation and preyed on the eggs of native ground-nesting birds. The discovery of their unique historical lineage may inform future debates about how to manage them in a way that is culturally sensitive but also protects native Hawaiian flora and fauna, says the paper. ### The research was a collaboration between the University of Oxford; Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, USA; University of Hawaii; Trinity Western University, Canada; Uppsala University, Sweden; University of Liverpool, UK; Estacion Biologica de Donana, Spain; Cornell University, USA; National University of Ireland; and Texas A&M University, USA. Research for the study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the European Research Council. For images and more information, please contact the University of Oxford News Office on +44 (0) 1865 280534 or email: news.office@admin.ox.ac.uk Alternatively, contact the study lead author Professor Greger Larson on Office: +44-1865-611745/ Mobile: +44-7963905362; email: Greger.larson@arch.ox.ac.uk Notes for Editors *The paper, A novel MC1R allele for black coat colour reveals the Polynesian ancestry and hybridization patterns of Hawaiian feral pigs, is published in Royal Society journal, Open Science. The media can request a photograph of a black feral Hawaiian pig from the University news office. Please credit to Jack Jeffrey Photography. Sept. 8, 2016 Sharks have a big reputation for their teeth. The ocean predators use their buzz saw mouths to efficiently dismantle prey, ranging from marine mammals and sea turtles to seabirds and -- as Hollywood likes to remind us -- an occasional human. There are more than 400 species of sharks in the world and each has a unique tooth shape. Some are simple triangles, while others are deeply notched or spear-shaped. But despite this variety, scientists haven't detected a difference in how different shark teeth cut and poke tissue. A recent University of Washington study sought to understand why shark teeth are shaped differently and what biological advantages various shapes have by testing their performance under realistic conditions. The results appeared in August in the journal Royal Society Open Science. "When you have all these different tooth shapes, there should be some functional reason. That issue was fundamentally troubling to me," said senior author Adam Summers, a UW professor of biology and of aquatic and fishery sciences. "It seemed likely what we were missing is that sharks move when they eat." Sharks shake their heads rapidly when they bite their prey, so evaluating how teeth perform while in a side-to-side motion was critical to the study tests, which took place during a summer marine biology course at the UW's Friday Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island. Summers and his collaborators affixed three different types of shark teeth to the blade of a reciprocating power saw, then cut through thick slices of Alaska chum salmon at a speed that mimicked the velocity of head-shaking as a shark devours its prey. "Sure enough, when we cut through salmon, different teeth cut differently," Summers said. "We found a way to distinguish between this huge morphological difference we see among shark teeth in nature." The researchers also noticed that some species' teeth dulled more quickly than others. Two kinds of teeth, belonging to tiger and silky sharks, dulled after only several passes of the saw blade over tissue, meaning that it's possible these sharks in the wild must replace their teeth every time they kill prey. Teeth from the bluntnose sixgill shark didn't cut as well, but they also didn't dull as quickly as the other teeth. "There's this tradeoff between sharpness and longevity of the tooth edge," Summers explained. "It looks like some sharks must replace their teeth more often, giving them a consistently sharp tool." This might shed light on the feeding patterns of different sharks, the authors explain. For example, bluntnose sixgill sharks with duller, longer-lasting teeth might be swallowing their prey whole. Tiger sharks that eat a larger range of prey such as sea turtles, dugongs and seabirds usually bite their prey to pieces before eating it and would need sharper teeth to puncture a sea turtle's rigid shell, for example. When tissue is punctured and twisted side-to-side as prey is during a shark attack, the prey's tissue doesn't always behave the same way. This is not unlike a child's Silly Putty that will stretch into a long, stringy piece when slowly pulled apart, but break in two when yanked at a much faster speed. Biological tissues behave in the same unpredictable way when pulled, prodded or strained. It was this nuance that the research team tried to capture using experiments that involved movement. They believe it's the first study of its kind for mimicking how sharks hunt and kill. "It is really important to test biological materials at strain rates that are high enough to mimic how the predator and prey tissues would actually behave in real life," said co-author Stacy Farina, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University and an adjunct lecturer at Shoals Marine Laboratory. Farina was a teaching fellow at Friday Harbor Labs when the research was conducted. The experiments for this study were designed and carried out during an intensive five-week course at Friday Harbor Labs in summer 2014. Katherine Corn, now at the University of California, Davis, used epoxy from a local hardware store to glue shark teeth to the reciprocating saw blades. The materials worked surprisingly well. "We asked ourselves, how do we safely and effectively move these teeth back and forth quickly? The quick and dirty way was, glue them onto a power saw," Farina said. "It was a simple solution to a complicated problem." ### The other co-author is Jeffrey Brash, a retired engineer now with Valley Steel and Stone in Friday Harbor, Washington. The study was funded by the UW and the National Science Foundation. For more information, contact Summers at fishguy@uw.edu and Farina at scf59@cornell.edu. Related paper: http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/8/160141 Related video: https://youtu.be/aI5ipLWFNxI Posted with video, images: http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/09/08/how-do-shark-teeth-bite-reciprocating-saw-glue-provide-answers/ HIGHLIGHTS A clinical trial is now underway at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles to test the efficacy and safety of a type II diabetes drug as a potential therapy for Parkinson's disease. Patients and clinicians are urged to wait for the results of the trial. The trial is part of the Linked Clinical Trials initiative, a program spearheaded by UK research charity The Cure Parkinson's Trust, in collaboration with Van Andel Research Institute. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Sept. 8, 2016)--Type II diabetes and Parkinson's disease may not appear to have much in common but a look below the surface reveals important molecular similarities that provide a potential target for fighting Parkinson's. These commonalities form the foundation of a clinical trial now underway at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles to investigate the use of the diabetes drug liraglutide to slow or stop the progression of Parkinson's. Led by Michele Tagliati, M.D., Steven D. Broidy Chair and Director of Movement Disorders at Cedars-Sinai, the trial is the latest to be launched as part of the Linked Clinical Trials (LCT) initiative, a program spearheaded by UK research charity The Cure Parkinson's Trust in collaboration with Grand Rapids-based Van Andel Research Institute (VARI). Novo Nordisk, which developed liraglutide, also is supporting the trial. "There is a great need to find therapies that impact the disease process--that is, to slow or actually halt it--rather than just mitigating symptoms," said Patrik Brundin, M.D., Ph.D., head of LCT's international scientific committee and director of VARI's Center for Neurodegenerative Science. "Investigating drugs already approved to treat other conditions and that have already undergone extensive testing provide a unique opportunity to more quickly move these potential new therapies into the clinic. However, as with any investigational new treatment, we urge patience until the clinical studies are completed, which are critical for ensuring efficacy and safety." Liraglutide belongs to a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists and prompts the release of insulin, thereby lowering glucose levels in the blood when bound to its receptor. Recent laboratory findings suggest that when liraglutide activates these receptors in the brain, the drug provides protection against degenerative damage to key brain cells, specifically those affected in Parkinson's disease. "The investigational use of liraglutide is a reflection of our scientific progress and improved understanding of Parkinson's disease," Tagliati said. "Given the increasing evidence of a possible role of insulin resistance in neurodegeneration, we expect this GLP-1 agonist to have a great impact on the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and its progression. A remarkable aspect of this new avenue of research is the focus on mechanisms that may address both motor and non-motor features of the disease. We are grateful for the vision and generosity of the Linked Clinical Trials initiative that made this important clinical effort possible." Liraglutide is the second GLP-1 agonist to be selected for a trial through LCT. The first, exenatide, demonstrated promising initial results in people with Parkinson's who participated in a year-long clinical trial. Other drugs that are being investigated through LCT include the respiratory drug ambroxol and the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin. By focusing on existing medications that have shown promise in preclinical laboratory studies for treating Parkinson's and have already passed the rigorous drug approval process for other diseases, LCT aims to significantly reduce the time and cost required to bring new therapies to people with Parkinson's. "Linked Clinical Trials is a proactive initiative that has gathered real momentum--it gives us the opportunity to accelerate potentially breakthrough treatments more quickly into the clinic," said Tom Isaacs, president and co-founder of The Cure Parkinson's Trust. "This trial provides people like me who live with Parkinson's real hope that we are on the brink of a paradigm-shift for the better. There is an urgent need to identify and develop these potentially new therapies to improve the quality of life for everyone around the world who lives with this condition." There have been few major therapeutic breakthroughs for Parkinson's in the last 50 years with the exception of levodopa, the current gold standard for drug treatment, and deep brain stimulation, a surgical option. Although these therapies may significantly improve quality of life, they do not impact the progressive brain cell death that is the disease's hallmark. LCT's scientific committee, which comprises leading Parkinson's experts and advocates from around the world, continue to investigate additional compounds that not only treat symptoms but that may also slow or stop disease progression. ### ABOUT VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE Van Andel Institute (VAI) is an independent nonprofit biomedical research and science education organization committed to improving the health and enhancing the lives of current and future generations. Established by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, VAI has grown into a premier research and educational institution that supports the work of more than 360 scientists, educators and staff. Van Andel Research Institute (VARI), VAI's research division, is dedicated to determining the epigenetic, genetic, molecular and cellular origins of cancer, Parkinson's and other diseases and translating those findings into effective therapies. The Institute's scientists work in onsite laboratories and participate in collaborative partnerships that span the globe. Learn more about Van Andel Institute or donate by visiting http://www.vai.org. 100% To Research, Discovery & Hope ABOUT THE CURE PARKINSON'S TRUST Founded by people with Parkinson's, the UK-based The Cure Parkinson's Trust has one aim--to find a cure. It funds innovative scientists with a particular interest in projects and trials to slow, stop and reverse Parkinson's. Led by people with Parkinson's, the charity involves people living with the condition in shaping its research policy, approaches and priorities through Parkinson's Movement. ABOUT CEDARS-SINAI Cedars-Sinai is a national leader in providing high-quality, patient-centered healthcare encompassing primary care as well as specialized medicine and conducting research that leads to life-saving discoveries and innovations. Since its beginning in 1902, Cedars-Sinai has evolved to meet the healthcare needs of one of the most diverse regions in the nation, continually setting new standards in quality and innovation in patient care, research, teaching and community service. Today, Cedars-Sinai is widely known for its national leadership in transforming healthcare for the benefit of patients. Cedars-Sinai impacts the future of healthcare globally by developing new approaches to treatment and educating tomorrow's physicians and other health professionals. At the same time, Cedars-Sinai demonstrates a longstanding commitment to strengthening the Los Angeles community through wide-ranging programs that improve the health of its most vulnerable residents. People have been enjoying the ability of yeasts to produce beer and wine since the dawn of civilization. Researchers from VIB, KU Leuven and Ghent University found that yeasts used for beer and winemaking have been domesticated in the 16th century, around 100 years before the discovery of microbes. Together with a US research team, the Belgian teams analyzed the genomes and fermentation characteristics of more than 150 industrial yeasts used to produce different beers, wines and bread. The results show that the hundreds of beer and wine yeasts available today are the result of brewers and winemakers unconsciously selecting variants that can consume specific sugars, tolerate industrial conditions and produce desired flavors. Fascinatingly, beer yeasts show stronger signs of domestication than wine yeasts, likely because they happily lived in the brewery throughout the year and lost all contact with their feral family members. The results are published in the scientific journal Cell. In this research project, the lab of yeast expert Kevin Verstrepen (VIB-KU Leuven) and the bioinformatics team of Steven Maere (VIB-UGent) worked side by side. Yeast breeding avant la lettre Kevin Verstrepen (VIB-KU Leuven): "The ancestors of the hundreds of different yeasts on the market today have been selected in the 16th century. Ancient brewers, winemakers and bakers often practiced 'backslopping', a technique where a small part of a previous well-fermented dough or brew was kept apart to mix it with a new batch, to make the fermentation process quicker and more consistent. Without realizing what they were doing exactly, these ancient craftsmen were effectively selecting and transferring yeast cultures from one batch to the next, allowing the microbes to continuously grow and adapt to man-made industrial environments." Pet fungi In order to study a large variety of beers and yeasts, the Belgian team joined forces with White Labs, an American company specialized in selling different yeasts to craft brewers. The scientists found that yeast strains were selected to provide beers with desired industrial characteristics. For example, brewers clearly selected yeasts that do not produce undesirable flavors. And yeasts used for bottle conditioning are more tolerant to high concentrations of alcohol, which is necessary for stronger beers. Steven Maere (VIB-UGent): "The consequences of four centuries of domestication were very clear in the DNA of industrial yeasts. In beer yeasts for instance, specific genes have often been amplified or deleted to optimize growth in beer fermenters and beer taste." Researchers Brigida Gallone (VIB-KU Leuven-UGent) and Jan Steensels (VIB-KU Leuven) add: "Interestingly, although wine yeasts share their origins with beer yeasts, they show fewer signs of domestication. This is probably because wine yeasts are only used to ferment grape juice once a year, and survive in and around the winery for the rest of the year, where they may interbreed with feral yeasts. In that sense, beer yeasts are like dogs, completely "tamed" and adapted to their relation with humans, whereas wine yeasts resemble the wilder character of cats." The new study does not only yield insight in how humans have shaped the evolution and genomes of today's industrial yeasts, but also allows breeding even better yeast variants. The scientists are already using the genome sequences to select hybrids that combine beneficial DNA regions from several existing beer and wine yeasts. "Mapping out the genome structure of yeasts in food or drinks, allows us to better understand the mechanics and applications of yeasts. As a result, it opens up new possibilities to breed yeasts to enhance flavors, aromas or conservation techniques," Kevin Verstrepen (VIB-KU Leuven) comments. ### An extinct reptile related to crocodiles that lived 212 million years ago in present day New Mexico has been named as a new species, Vivaron haydeni, in a paper published this week by Virginia Tech's Department of Geosciences researchers. Leading the paper that names the previously unknown animal is undergraduate researcher Emily Lessner of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, a double major in the departments of Geosciences and Biological Sciences, both in the Virginia Tech College of Science. Lessner's paper detailing the fossil of the animal - jawbones, other skull fragments, and hip-bones - appears in this week's open science journal, PeerJ. Vivaron haydeni was found in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, in 2009 during an excavation co-led by Sterling Nesbitt, then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, and now an assistant professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech. Some of the fossils remained sealed in protective plaster jackets until 2014, when they were transported to Blacksburg for study. That's where Lessner enters. At the time a sophomore majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Geosciences, she was seeking an independent research experience that piqued her interest and provided a challenge. She found it with the Paleobiology Research Group in Derring Hall. Nesbitt had not arrived on campus yet and was looking for students interested in conducting research projects. When Lessner heard of the opportunity and the chance to work with Nesbitt and Michelle Stocker, also a newly arriving paleontologist in the college, Lessner jumped at the chance. "Initially, I cleaned fossils in the lab and worked on a project reconstructing soft tissue structures using computed tomographic, or CT, scans on the computer," said Lessner, now a senior. "I began looking at Vivaron pretty soon after." The name of the new species came from Lessner. Vivaron haydeni is named for a famed, monstrous snake - 30 feet long - of Ghost Ranch lore, a story passed around campfires more than a century ago, and John Hayden, a hiker who in 2002 discovered the New Mexico quarry from which the fossils were collected. The fossil represents the sixth species of rauisuchid found thus far, and the second found in what is now the American Southwest, but was once part of the western portion of the supercontinent Pangea. Vivaron was a carnivorous archosaur - a large set of animals that includes crocodilians and dinosaurs, as mammals includes humans and dogs. Vivaron itself measured 12 to 18 feet long, and walked on four legs. Thus far, three jaw bones, other skull fragments, and hip-bones from at least three individuals - two large, one smaller - have been found. "These were some of the biggest predators at the time, all dinosaurs were much smaller," added Nesbitt, speaking of the Triassic Period, more than 200 million years ago. Vivaron is distinguishable by its upper jaw bone, which is smoother in appearance than other rauisuchid species. Other features of the animal must be inferred from close relatives. The New Mexico location in which it was found is a hot spot for paleontology research. Other parts of Vivaron may still be there. "It is possible that other bones were not preserved, were previously collected, or are still in the ground," said Lessner, who added geosciences as a second major soon after beginning work on Vivaron. Bones of Vivaron that Lessner took apart, cleaned, and are on hand in the paleontology lab, some kept in protective sleeves and plaster jackets as they are thin and incredibly fragile. The detailed cleaning process was as much a learning process as any part of Lessner's work with the lab. "When you look at anything so long, so close, you realize extra details and patterns you would not otherwise notice," she added. Lessner said her undergraduate research experience has greatly enriched her college experience. "It has given me opportunities that simply attending class never has and has opened up doors for my future. I have been able to gain first-hand experience in the field," said Lessner. She has learned to write scientifically, met paleontologists from around the world, and participated in digs in Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming with both Stocker and Nesbitt. She has presented her findings to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology; the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology; the Southeastern Association of Vertebrate Paleontology; and will speak before the 2016 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. All this in addition to being published in a journal by the age 22. She credits Nesbitt and Stocker for setting her undergraduate education on a new course. "They got here just as I was looking for them," Lessner said of her sophomore year looking for a new direction. Nesbitt said he is "paying it forward" when working with undergraduate students in the paleontology lab, as he himself began his career as a paleontologist via independent undergraduate research projects at University of California Berkeley. "These experiences are what really made me understand what it is like to think as a scientist and how to take on complex scientific problems one step at a time," he said. "Emily embodies a key characteristic all undergraduate researchers need, bravery,"said Nesbitt. "You constantly are in situations that you have never been in, from fieldwork in the middle of a desert to presenting research in front of 200 professionals." Added Stocker: "Emily has become an important member of our research group. She's taken on an increasing amount of responsibility since she first started with us, and she's now a leader among our students. She's ready to tackle the next steps of her career." Among her career plans, Lessner wants to enter a graduate program upon completion of her undergraduate degree and she wants to one day investigate the Triassic fossil quarries of her native southeastern Pennsylvania. "There is something for everyone, whether it be within your major or outside it, as mine was," she said of the variety of research projects and methods across Virginia Tech. "Contact and even work with multiple people, especially if you are unsure of your interests; do not be afraid to reach out to professors. Find something you really like and it will turn into something meaningful." ### Lessner's New Mexico fieldwork experience and research at Virginia Tech was supported by a National Science Foundation grant to a collaborative research team consisting of scientists from Virginia Tech, the University of Utah, Stony Brook University, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Additional resources are available at Virginia Tech News. Asda and Tesco have been accused of lagging behind on their lamb-sourcing policies, compared with some of their main competitors who were selling 100% British lamb in August 2016. AHDBs monthly beef and lamb watch survey, which monitors the amount of British product on offer by different retailers, found during August the two retailers were offering lower levels of British lamb than other supermarkets. The survey showed Asdas facings of home-grown lamb were at 70%, while Tescos were at 75%. See also: Co-op to switch to 100% British bacon and lamb Tescos offering was 28% higher than at the same point last year, but it was lower than that of Morrisons, the Co-op, Aldi, Waitrose, Lidl and Marks & Spencer who were all selling 100% British lamb. National Sheep Association chief executive Phil Stocker praised those retailers sourcing 100% British lamb and said if budget supermarkets could do it, there is no excuse for those who dont. Asda and Tesco were lagging behind their competitors at what was peak production time for UK lamb, he said. Yet home-grown lamb should have been more attractive as the backdrop of a weaker pound had made imports more expensive to buy in. Mr Stocker said problem was the two retailers were committing to New Zealand lamb months ahead and then using British lamb to balance their requirements, rather than the other way around. Tesco and Asda need to work more closely with the UK industry and commit to volumes of UK production in advance in the same way they commit to NZ volumes. But NFU chief livestock advisor John Royle said Tesco deserved praise for making an effort to increase its sourcing of UK lamb over the past 12 months, as shown by the 28% increase in facings. Tesco are trying to get longer-term relationships with their suppliers. This is a big step in the right direction, although there is clearly some way to go. Mr Royle said the figures showed Asda could do better on both lamb and beef and urged it to increase the amount of home-grown product sold. If you look at some of the other retailers who are selling 100% British they are doing so as it seems to make business sense. Some of them are really overtrading on red meat because consumers want to buy it. It does seem to be resonating with consumers at the moment. Beef The survey showed that Asda and Tesco were also at the bottom of the league table when it came to facings for British beef. During August 2016, 58% of the beef on display in Asda was British, while 68% of that on sale in Tesco was from the UK. All the other retailers had 100% British beef, except for Sainsburys which had 93%. How the big five supermarkets compare John Deere has said it will fight an attempt by the US Department of Justice to block the acquisition of technology company Precision Planting from Monsanto. The authorities have said they want to stop the sale because it will remove John Deeres only real competitor in the US market for high-speed precision planting systems. The two companies together account for about 86% of the market. See also: Bayer and Monsanto join forces in $66bn deal High-speed precision planting technology holds out the promise of improved yields for American farmers by enabling them to plant crops more accurately at higher speeds, said acting assistant attorney general Renata Hesse of the Justice Departments antitrust division. If this deal were allowed to proceed, Deere would dominate the market for high-speed precision planting systems and be able to raise prices and slow innovation at the expense of American farmers who rely on these systems. Misguided In a statement, John Deere and The Climate Corporation the subsidiary of Monsanto selling Precision Planting said they planned to contest the legal action. DOJs allegations about the competitive impacts of the transaction are misguided and the companies intend to defend the transaction vigorously against those allegations, it said. Deere has long been focused on helping American farmers become more efficient and productive so that they can remain globally competitive. The proposed acquisition benefits farmers by accelerating the development and delivery of new precision equipment solutions that help farmers increase yield and productivity. The move by John Deere is one of a series of significant deals in the global agricultural market over recent months. Mergers There are now several multi-national companies seeking to join forces and consolidate their efforts, particularly around research and development. It was announced last week that Bayer is to buy Monsanto in a $66bn (50bn) deal which will create the worlds largest supplier of pesticides and seeds. Dow and DuPont have also proposed a merger which would initially create a business worth an estimated $130bn. However, the intention would be to split the company into three independent, publicly traded companies and one of these would be a pure-play agricultural business generating estimated revenues of $16bn. The Dow/DuPont deal is currently being investigated by EU officials because of worries it could lead to higher prices for farmers. Theme Invites Discussion of Womens Power, Womens Justice Sept. 20, 2016 Students discussed a wide range of topics relating to the "Women's Power, Women's Justice" intellectual theme at a kickoff luncheon earlier this month. BLOOMINGTON, Ill. Illinois Wesleyans campus community will wrestle with notions surrounding the intellectual theme Womens Power, Womens Justice in classes and in co-curricular programming during the 2016-17 academic year. The intellectual theme is selected annually by a working group of students, faculty and staff. Women represent over 50 percent of the worlds population, yet their opportunities to lead self-directed and meaningful lives are still challenged by cultural expectations, religious ideologies and political restrictions throughout the world. Earlier this month a luncheon served as an introductory kickoff to the annual theme which is designed to encourage deep thinking and discussion of its many aspects. More than 200 students attended the luncheon; many of the students are enrolled in one of the more than 25 courses related to the theme. Carole Myscofski, director of the Womens and Gender Studies program, said it is particularly exciting so many faculty have aligned their courses with the theme because discussions about equality for women are not limited to just one subject or just one course. That is one of the many points of this theme, she said. The potential of girls and women should be unlimited and powerful, but cultural injustices have in the past limited our abilities to choose our own paths and our own lives. The theme of Womens Power, Womens Justice invites us to cross, intersect, and transcend boundaries in the ways we think about others and ourselves. After watching a video montage on topics ranging from the womens suffrage movement in the United States to a chastity certification ceremony in Africa, students at the luncheon were invited to discuss some of the issues women face. At one table, some students were appalled at the idea of 10-year-old girls being sold into marriage, but the students recognized they view such practices from the lens of the Western world. We see this is an issue, but its confusing to determine if it is really an issue for that culture or if thats just the way the culture is, said one student. How do you get someone who fundamentally thinks everything their culture is doing is right, to change? And should an outsider even try? Kickoff discussion topics included the challenges of gender expectations for males and for females. Another table of students grappled with gender expectations. The group of both males and females believed it is far more acceptable for women to express their emotions than it is for men. In many ways, men in general cant do that. If they do, men are viewed as weak, one student said. The students felt Western society accepts women who dress in more masculine ways, yet it does not accept men who dress or act more effeminately. In an interview after the luncheon, biology major Clifford Klimas 17 said his group of students also discussed expectations of gender roles regarding childcare. The male isnt always the breadwinner. Its okay if he stays home [caring for children]. There shouldnt be a stigma around that. To help students in defining the notions of womens power and womens justice, organizers offer some explanatory guidelines on the annual theme website. Failure to guarantee equality leaves women unable to choose their own life paths, work at satisfying jobs, receive fair compensation, address pressing health care needs, and care for themselves and their families adequately, according to the site. This is the heart of the justice that women still seek: not anger against men or hate for social norms, but sharing and self-determination on their own terms. Theme organizers and students acknowledge much work remains to be done. Alex Doorenbos 20 said his group of students believed that steps forward more female leaders in business, more women attending college in the U.S. than ever before, more women in politics at every level can create a false sense of progress. In reality were not even close to where we need to be and a lot more needs to be done, he said. It will take much more than a few people doing a little, he said. Its going to take everyone doing a lot to make a big difference for womens power and womens justice in our world, said Doorenbos. More than two dozen events related to women and social justice will be held on campus during the rest of the semester, with more events planned for spring 2017. Follow the theme on Facebook and Instagram. Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving metals market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. Legit.ng is #1 online trusted source of the latest news in Nigeria. We are covering Nigeria news, Niger delta, world updates, and Nigerian newspaper reviews. We guide our readers to the world of politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle and human interest stories. In Oliver Stones Snowden, the future NSA contractor/whistleblower/traitor/spyselect one, according to your politicsspends his first date with Lindsay Mills strolling past the White House. Tourists gawk at the imposing facade, parents chase children through the shade of flowering cherries, and petitioners collect signatures against the War in Iraq. Mills (Shailene Woodley), a liberal, adds her name to the rolls; Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a conservative, does not. He is, we learn, deferential to authority, wary of questioning the commander-in-chief: No surprise, perhaps, from a former Army reservist-in-training, discharged on account of injuries before joining the CIA. He nonetheless resists orthodoxies: In an interview with intelligence official Corbin OBrian (Rhys Ifans), Snowden lists as influences Joseph Campbell, Henry David Thoreau, Ayn Rand, and Star Wars. One can already see the outlines of what Stone is up to, but its the series of still images he sets against the couples conversation that establishes Snowdens central thrust. With her camera, Mills captures intimate, black-and-white candids of the man we first met in a Hong Kong hotel room, strutting across the grass with a goofy grin, and from here the sequence bleeds into other photographs, of people holding placards scrawled with antiwar messages as the symbol of executive power looms behind them. In Stones work, of course, protest is the highest form of patriotism, and Snowden frames its subject as a dutiful defender of this principle. It is blunt (as ever), clumsy (in spots), and the directors liveliest, most impassioned film in ages. Biopic/thriller/propaganda/mythselect one, according to your politics. But Snowden is a reclamation. Its worth noting, in light of the handwringing thats accompanied the films release, that Stone embraces the polemical nature of his project, positioning it as a necessary corrective not simply to Snowdens frequent tarring and feathering in the press, but also to the broader program of state surveillance thats emerged since 9/11. (Even the wry Turn Off Your Phone PSA that accompanies theatrical screenings of Snowden features Stone warning the audience, We are giving them access.) When an NSA contact in Geneva explains the evolution of FISA courts, XKeyscore, and PRISM to Snowden, for instance, his point of reference for the breadth of information collected by American intelligence agencies is parable: The whole kingdom, Snow White. If the films aphoristic pronouncements are unsubtleSecrecy is security, and security is victory, OBrian growlsthis is, perhaps, the consequence of the one-sided debate that descended from the PATRIOT Act, in which leaders from both major political parties hastily acquiesced to the ever-widening net without much concern for the long-term consequences. Snowdens revelations and Snowdens reflections thereon are, in this sense, perfect complements. To force the issue, both need a bullhorn. Though not of the same caliber as Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, and Nixon, Stones latest thus returns to the terrain of his finest films, run through with the vigor of dissent. And his broadside is not without compelling evidence. Snowden is strewn with archival footage that illustrates the extent to which officials have stifled meaningful criticism of the national security apparatus: Do not tell truth to power, as whistleblower Thomas Drake glosses the governments position in a clip from 60 Minutes. Well hammer you. (Director of National Intelligence James Clappers head-scratching tell, as he testifies before Congress in 2013 on the contours of domestic surveillance, is so absurd, in retrospect, that it almost qualifies as low-hanging fruit.) One can parse the accuracy of Snowdens account, or dispute the usefulness of message movies, but read on its own termsas a political instrument, wielded with convictionthe film is a forceful attempt to resuscitate Snowdens reputation, and, more importantly, to make the largely unchecked power of the NSA and the CIA the subject of an argument, rather than a fait accompli. That Snowden is not preaching to the choir, but applying a modicum of muscle on its subjects behalf, is clear enough from the recent spate of editorials and op-eds inveighing against him: See The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, CNN, and The Washington Post, which declares its own source deserving of prosecution. The film is only one part of the renewed interest in Snowdenthough both the ACLUs campaign to win him a pardon and the House Select Committee on Intelligences report discrediting him seem to have been timed to Snowdens releasebut the fact that hes once again a topic of conversation speaks to its effectiveness as a pot-stirring missive, if not a nuanced portrait. If understanding Snowden as a hero in the tradition of Daniel Ellsberg requires turning him into the hero of a Hollywood narrative, the problem isnt the filmits us. As the film builds to its suspenseful crescendo, involving Snowden, an Internet outage in Syria, and a Rubiks cube, Stones purpose is not simply to lionize his protagonistthough he does, perhaps too much for some tastes. It is, in equal measure, to suggest the sheer, metastasizing might of the institutions of national security, and to ask, as our representatives in government mostly have not, if this is an arrangement were comfortable with. The most striking moment in Snowdenthe point at which our hero decides to actfinds Snowden in a quiet conference room, dwarfed by OBrians face during a video chat. As it dawns on the bright, sober NSA contractor/whistleblower/spy that there are no lengths to which his leaders wont go, the wall-sized image of Ifans snarl recalls the technological advances of another authoritarian dystopia, George Orwells Oceania. Stone, a skilled propagandist himself, understands 1984s nightmarish universe, and Snowden expresses his belief that its not so different from our own. This might be a bit bluff, but as Orwell knew, politics often demands impolitic language. Otherwise, were liable to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, which sounds like a fair summary of the last 15 years to me. Rio de Janeiro was not my first Olympic experience. If you count living in Munich as an infant in 1972, this was my sixth time at the Olympic Games. Half of those can be chalked up to my time as founder and editor-in-chief of a magazine for Olympic pin collectors calledI kid you notPindemonium. Fresh out of the University of Georgia with a journalism degree, I was an aspiring freelance travel writer, who was taking any corporate copywriting job to pay the bills. My dad had gotten a handful of Olympic pins for Christmas a couple of years before the Summer Games were headed to Atlanta, and he started going to meet-ups for pin traders. My brother and I realized this was a huge hobby with no publication, and we found some advertisers and pin experts and printed up some copies of Issue #1. While I eventually founded a publication that more closely matched my passion for music, movies, TV, comedy, books, food, craft beer, travel and the other sections you see in the navigation bar above, Im thankful for those early experiences of starting something from scratch. Pindeomonium gave me the chance to go to the Olympics in Nagano, Japan; Sydney, Australia; and Salt Lake City, Utah. It put me in a room in Lausanne, Switzerland, with Nelson Mandela and Luciano Pavarotti, during the bid process for the 2004 Games. It got me invitations to South Africa to be a consultant for the Cape Town Olympic Bid Committee and as a guest on The Today Show, where I swapped pins with Katie Couric in Sydney. So I had to bring some pins to trade in Rio, where I met athletes from Fiji, Ecuador and Australia that I otherwise would never have had the reason to strike up a conversation with. The above video offers a glimpse in the fun, slightly crazy world of Olympic pin traders. By: National Steinbeck Center End -- For its NEA Big Read celebration of Sun, Stone, and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories, the National Steinbeck Center will revamp its Sweet Thursday series. Following a Sweet Wednesday talk on September 21st, every subsequent Thursday until October 27th will feature an admission free talk at the National Steinbeck Center around the central topic of the NEA Big Read book: Mexican culture. The NEA Big Read in Salinas is presented in partnership with The Western Stage, Hartnell College, Hijos del Sol, Maya Cinemas, Salinas Public Libraries, Monterey Public Library, Monterey County Free Libraries, California State University, Monterey Bay, Monterey County Office of Education, and "Voices of California,"a research project from Stanford University.The National Steinbeck Center launched its Sweet Thursday series last summer as a way to provide meaningful and exciting cultural activities for Salinas Valley residents. For the NEA Big Read, the National Steinbeck Center enlisted the help of local scholars, journalists, and historians to help contextualize and enhance Sun, Stone, and Shadows. The series will cover various topics including psychology, history, literature, and theatre."The schedule is a testament to the breadth of the Sun, Stone, and Shadows and it's relevance to a variety of topics" added Eric Mora, Marketing & Membership Coordinator. "We are delighted to be able to offer such a wide array of topicsthere is a talk here for everyone!"SCHEDULE:National Steinbeck Center, 5:30pm(with pan dulce): "What Can Literature Tell us about Ourselves?" Rafael Gomez, Professor of Mexican Literature and Spanish at California State University, Monterey Bay.: National Steinbeck Center, 5:30pm: "The Mexico We Left Behind" Claudia Melendez, author of A Fighting Chance and journalist at the Monterey County Herald, leads a discussion of Sun, Stone, and Shadows.: National Steinbeck Center 5:30pm: "A View of Mexican Culture by Exploring Human Behavior." Leslie Price, Professor of Psychology at MPC and Hartnell College.: National Steinbeck Center, 6pmPerformance of "The Panther" by Everett Alvarez High School students, directed by Taylour Matz. Performance of "Permission Granted" by Alisal High School students, directed by Veronica Pulido. Coordinated by Mike Roddy..The Western Stage performance of "My Life with the Wave." Discussion to follow.: National Steinbeck Center 5:30pm: "Mexico in the Modern Imagination,"Ruben Mendoza, CSUMB Professor of Mexican Archaeology.: National Steinbeck Center 5:30pm: "The Bull in Commerce and Culture," Bruce Elliott, former SeniorBiologist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.A program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Managed by Arts Midwest, this initiative offers grants to support innovative community reading programs designed around a single book. Salinas is one of 77 communities nationwide participating in the NEA Big Read from September 2016-June 2017. From September 16-November 1, the Salinas community will celebrate Sun, Stone, and Shadows with a full calendar of events including a film series with Maya Cinemas, lectures, plays, and more!For more information on this event, please contact Eric Mora, 831-775-4729. You also can view a full calendar of events for the NEA Big Read in Monterey County on the website.Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Use #NSCBigRead to share your experience reading Sun, Stone, and Shadows.Theopened in 1998 as the only museum in the world solely dedicated to the life, works, and legacy of John Steinbeck. Located in Salinas, California the National Steinbeck Center is situated in the heart of Steinbeck Country and the sites and sounds immortalized in dozens of Steinbeck's novels.Contact: Eric Mora Marketing King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, United Arab Emirates University, and several oil and gas companies collaborate with Petrowireless LLC on joint technology workshop focused on Internet of Things Technologies for Oil and Gas. Contact Public Relations Manager Jeff Leblanc ***@oilgaswireless.org Public Relations ManagerJeff Leblanc End -- PETROWIRELESS LLC. has announced an Internet of Things (IOT) workshop focused on the evolution of sensor, auto-id, Industry 4.0, and cloud computing technologies within the oil and gas industry and their relevance with the world of IOT Technology.This workshop will be hosted November 16th and 17th in Dubai, UAE in collaboration with various leading oil and gas leading academic and industry organizations and professionals.Dr. Wasim Raad of King Fahd University, an industry recognized IOT researcher and workshop presenter adds "This is a great way for oil and gas companies to experience the growing evolution of IOT [internet of things] within the energy [sector]. The work and knowledge we share and the exchanges we have with the oil and gas industry at these workshops are extremely important. They help shape how this technology will evolve for everyone."In addition to King Fahd University, other academic institutions such as United Arab Emirates University, University of Houston, and industry leaders such as Royal Dutch Shell PLC. are participating in the workshop as a means to understand IOT technologies application to the energy sector, align the IT industry's product development objectives with the needs of the oil and gas community, and bring to together thought leaders to help drive industry adoption.For more information visit: https://oilgaswireless.org/ workshops/iotworkshop/ ###Petrowireless LLC.Petrowireless LLC is a leading authority of technology workshops, technical reviews, and whitepapers for the oil and gas industry. The company's partnerships with leading organizations aims to support new opportunities for innovative technology solutions to solve industry pain-points. We have a database of hundreds of whitepapers, thousands of technology reviews, and have hosted over a hundred workshops worldwide.www.oilgaswireless.orgKing Fahd UniversityKing Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals is a public university in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Among Saudi universities, its science and engineering programs are highly regarded.www.kfupm.edu.saUnited Arab Emirates UniversityUnited Arab Emirates University is the oldest university in the United Arab Emirates. It was established after independence from Britain by then the president and the founding father of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in 1976. It is the first and oldest of the three government-sponsored institutions of higher learning in the United Arab Emirates The university is located in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Its alumni have provided the United Arab Emirates with ministers, diplomats, senior government officials, and business leaders.www.uaeu.ac.aeUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONThe University of Houston is a state research university and the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, UH is the third-largest university in Texas with nearly 43,000 students.www.uh.edu Go Paperless! Contact Paperless Trail Inc. marketing@paperlesstrail.net 893-5951 Paperless Trail Inc.893-5951 End -- Go Paperless! is the premier scanning and digitization services brand from Paperless Trail Inc. With our experience of scanning more than 100 million pages, we have designed these offerings to fit the different requirements of our customers. We have a proven track record providing convenience, security and reliability to enable us to deliver business value to our customers.We can help integrate with various systems, and more importantly, data mine the results of digitization efforts. End-to-End scanning services Register your company - define indices and provide sample documents Box - file your documents Pick-up - call us and schedule a pick up Scan - 48 to 72 hours Publication - in a hard disk or a Document Management System Deliver - back to your office or a storage provider Businesses with periodic paper growth Hospitals in Central Business Districts (CBDs) Small BPO Centers General Business Finance Records HR Records Medical Records Engineering and construction as-built plans Condominium plans On-premise scanning bureau / Dedicated team in your office Backed by a Service Level Agreement (SLA) 24 to 48 Hours Turn-Around Time Requires integration with systems Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Hospital Information Management System (HIMS) Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Define SLAs Define your search and data mining requirements / indexing Plan for integration if required A dedicated team of people and equipment are deployed at the customer's offices. Teams and equipment are scalable depending on volume and SLA Businesses with regular paper record volume Hospitals in Central Business Districts (CBDs) Large BPO Centers Shared Services Companies (In-Sourcing Companies) Finance Records (BIR forms, Invoices, Delivery Receipts) HR Records Medical Records Large volume scanning Custom Scanning Service On-premise Contact our sales representatives Estimate your volume Define your search and data mining requirements/indexing Start the project Businesses with existing backlogs Hospitals in Central Business Districts (CBDs) Large BPO Centers Shared Services Companies (In-Sourcing Companies) Finance HR Records Medical Records Engineering and construction as-built plans Condominium plansFor more information, visit us at http://www.archive- one.net/go-paperless By: Dr Max Mongelli Contact Dr Max Mongelli ***@gmail.com Dr Max Mongelli End -- Dr Max Mongelli has recently published on better methods to assess obesity in pregnancy. Traditional methods are based on weight and height and calculating the body mass index. These do not give an accurate indication of abdominal fat or truncal obesity - which is more closely related to adverse events and complications. In his review he refers to several researchers who have used ultrasound to directly measure the amount of fat in the abdomen. This technique is non-invasive and appears a better predictor of complications during pregnancy.Dr Max Mongelli is an OBGYN specialist based in Sydney. He underwent undergraduate medical training at the University of Sydney. This was followed by specialist and clinical research training in the NHS, United Kingdom, where he developed an interest in perinatal medicine and fetal growth disorders. He has worked in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and in Singapore. His main interest is in obstetrics, both clinical and research. He contributed to the development of the software for the customised antenatal growth charts, which are now widely used in the NHS and overseas. His other research interests include clinical applications of computer modelling, biostatistics and evidence-based medicine. He has co-authored a book on fetal growth with Professor Tambyraja ("The Low Birth Weight Baby") in Singapore, and over 60 papers in mainstream medical journals. Many of these have been presented at international conferences such as the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Recently his interests include early pregnancy problems such as miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and early fetal growth. He has been involved in the teaching and mentoring of medical students and junior doctors. He is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.More on this at Fracking and home water concerns Contact Jill Weittenhiller ***@housefax.com Jill Weittenhiller End -- A few residents of a small Wyoming town recently received some bad news. A study with volunteer participants showed higher than normal levels as much as 10 times the national average of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in participants' bodies. VOCs have been linked to a number of health issues including problems breathing, rashes, headaches, nosebleeds, and even more serious ailments including cancer and reproductive disorders.VOCs can come from a variety of sources. However, researchers behind this particular study are concerned about the possibility of VOC-contaminated air and drinking water from nearby natural gas operations. In March, a study by Stanford University researchers found evidence that the fracking operations near the town "have had clear impact to underground sources of drinking water.""Fracking" short for hydraulic fracturing, a process of injecting pressurized water and sand into shale deposits to create fractures that make it easier to extract oil, natural gas, or even water has been used since the late 1940s. In recent years, the process has come under increased scrutiny by environmental groups that claim fracking produces far-ranging negative consequences, both to the environment and to people who live in the areas where fracking occurs.Just because an oil or gas facility is in the neighborhood, the danger to nearby residents may be minimal or non-existent. Still, it's important to be vigilant. Pay attention to your tap water for any changes in color, odor or taste. You can also contact your local water department, which can provide quality reports of the water in your area (if you use a public water system). Additionally, your local or state health department can provide information about labs that can test your water for VOCs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other byproducts of fracking.There are also home water filtration systems that can remove VOCs and other harmful contaminants, such as lead, from water. NSF International provides this list of known contaminants and the type of water filtration system that is needed to remove them.As a final precaution, you may want to familiarize yourself with the various health issues that have been reported by people who live near oil or gas wells, and talk to your doctor about any concerns you or your family members may have.The jury is still out on whether fracking affects home values in nearby communities. Some studies say yes, others say no, which is not surprising considering the many factors that affect a home's value. If you are thinking of moving out of the "fracking zone," remember that it's important to. You'll want to gather as much information as possible about your potential new home, as well as information about the neighborhood and surrounding area.In addition to getting a Housefax Report ( http://www.housefax.com ) which can warn you of other potential hazards such as the possibility of lead paint or asbestos and whether the property was ever home to a meth lab there are online websites that track the location of fracking sites and also the level of toxic air pollution. You can use this information to avoid moving into active and even potential fracking areas.Earthjustice ( http://earthjustice.org/ ) provides a zoomable map of the United States that shows areas where fracking is currently active or proposed, as well as potential fracking zones and "fraccidents" reported incidents attributed to fracking including "poisoned drinking water, polluted air, mysterious animal deaths, industrial disasters and explosions."You can also search the map by zip code to see if your city (or the city you're thinking of moving to) is in an active or potential fracking zone.The Oil and Gas Threat Map (http://oilandgasthreatmap.com/)denotes areas of the country where oil and gas facilities are causing high levels of methane and other toxic chemicals to be released into the air. As shown by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this type of pollution raises the average health risk for cancer, respiratory ailments and birth defects in nearby populations. The Oil and Gas Threat Map draws on publicly available data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Education and other sources to create interactive maps of 34 states. Zooming in on your state's map, you can easily find your town and local landmarks, such as schools and hospitals, and see which areas are threatened with high levels of toxic air pollution.These websites are also good sources of information about fracking and toxic air pollution, and about what is being done to reduce the potential dangers related to the process.Founded in 2012, Housefax is a leading provider of residential property history reports for real estate consumers and industry professionals. Housefax offers instant access to property details, voluntary liens, building permit history, emergency incidents and natural hazards. Housefax PRO is a monthly subscription service designed to give industry professionals access to Housefax Property History Reports at preferred pricing. For more information and to view sample reports, visit housefax.com. Contact Devart ***@devart.com Devart End --Devart, a Czech software vendor of database tools and data connectivity solutions, has released a new database documentation tool,dbForge Documenter for SQL Server v1.0, designed to yield comprehensive nice-looking technical description of SQL Server databases.The new Documenter tool delivers the following features: Extracts an extensive database info about all SQL object types, their details and properties, as well as inter-object dependencies and source code. There are capabilities to personalize and customize documentation, to select database objects and properties for each individual object to be included in the documentation. There is also a number of style templates as well as the ability to apply Bootstrap themes to get a nice-looking layout. Support for HTML and PDF formats. The former suits for databases to be published on the web, and the latter is good for distributing to various systems and devices. Both formats are searchable, which is very convenient especially for large databases. Ability to annotate all parts of database. With MS_Description properties supported, annotations to every SQL object including views, tables, columns, indexes, foreign keys, stored procedures can be added. Searching functionality for quick navigation throughout the documentation via build-in hyperlinks. Integration with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Databases may be documented directly from the Object Explorer of SSMS solution.Documenter is included in dbForge Developer Bundle for SQL Server, an ultimate toolkit of add-ins for SQL Server Management Studio that combines feature-rich functionality allowing to version-control databases, compare schemas and data, optimize database performance, write SQL queries on a fly, generate meaningful test data, and much more straight in the SSMS IDE.Now, all the SSMS add-ins included in dbForge Developer Bundle for SQL Server are compatible with SQL Server 2016 and the latest SQL Server Management Studio 2016.For more information about dbForge Documenter for SQL Server, please visit https://www.devart.com/ dbforge/sql/ documenter/ Devart is one of the leading developers of database tools and administration software, ALM solutions, data providers for various database servers, data integration and backup solutions. The company also implements Web and Mobile development projects.For additional information about Devart, visit https://www.devart.com/ The Asian documentary film and photography project 'Burma Booksellers', a followup to filmmaker Jason Rosette's award winning New York movie, 'BookWars', gears up to shoot in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar By: Camerado Media Contact Jason Rosette, Producer ***@camerado.com Jason Rosette, Producer End -- A new documentary project by Camerado Media, producer of the award winning New York City streetside literary documentary, 'BookWars' ('Terrific' - LA Times * 'Superb' - NY Film Critics Circle) is gearing up to shoot in Yangon, Myanmar.'BookWars' filmmaker Jason Rosette, who has been working in the ASEAN region of Southeast Asia since 2005, first encountered street and sidewalk booksellers in Yangon while he was working as an employee of the US Embassy, Rangoon American Center."Years ago, I worked as a street bookseller in Manhattan to make extra cash after graduating from NYU Film School, which is how my first feature movie, "BookWars", came about", Rosette recounts."But during my entire time in Southeast Asia, I'd not yet encountered any significant organized literary culture of the street. I'd seen scattered vendors of magazines and books here and there in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, maybe a few in Phnom Penh, but nothing that resembled a substantial literary culture of the street and public forum.""Lo and behold, when I came to Yangon, where I worked as an EFL instructor with the State Department for a year between 2013-2014 - there they were. street booksellers, clusters of them in what appeared to be a pretty active and robust community, selling used books along Pansodan road and elsewhere in Yangon."Since 'BookWars' was recently invited into the circulating films collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the filmmaker-producer decided to undertake a documentary project about the Yangon booksellers as an international compliment to his earlier New York based project.With the help of his willing former students in Yangon and several local Myanmar film makers he'd met during his time in the region, the project is now underway. Interested worldwide supporters are invited to join in and support the project on IndieGogo at https://igg.me/ at/burma-booksellers- movie-photography "Myanmar continues to develop at rocket speed", says Rosette. "Just last week President Obama met with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Washington to announce the lifting of sanctions. It's possible that new and rapid development could sweep the Yangon sidewalk booksellers off the streets.We'd encourage anyone interested in literary culture, street culture, or Asian and Myanmar issues come visit our campaign link and support our effort right away - there's not a moment to lose". Brian Dale Chicago Founder and CEO of RunRunRun reports Ivy League client is a new partner. Contact Brian Dale Chicago ***@runrunrun.com Brian Dale Chicago End -- Brian Dale Chicago founder and CEO of RunRunRun announces that RunRunRun, Inc. (www.runrunrun.com (https://www.facebook.com/RunRunRunBags/)), the leader in eco-friendly travel totes and accessories, will provide Princeton University (https://www.princeton.edu/main/) with RunRunRun totes for alumni gifts."We are greatly honored that an academic powerhouse such as Princeton University has selected RunRunRun to provide custom totes for their prestigious alumni. Princeton University liked our design aesthetic as well as our environmental mission and we feel so lucky to have been selected." states Brian Dale Chicago founder and CEO of RunRunRun. "Great design goes hand in hand with our eco-friendly mission and this was a fantastic opportunity for RunRunRun.RunRunRun, based in Chicago, is known for making luxury eco-friendly totes and accessories. Launched in 2011 by Chicago entrepreneur Brian Dale, with their signature Italia Shopper and Malibu Totes, the line has expanded to other fashion and travel accessories. Catering to both its wholesale/retail fashion clients as well as its robust custom division, RunRunRun provides its line to individuals, small boutiques, museums, hotels/resorts and other major organizations around the world.A small list of partner clients include:The Container StoreThe Art Institute of ChicagoThe Museum of Arts and Design New YorkThe Peninsula HotelsAuberge ResortsSt. RegisJW MarriottMiravalFedexSubaruFood NetworkHGTVPrinceton UniversitySpence SchoolGroton SchoolRunRunRun, based in Chicago, is known for making luxury eco-friendly totes and accessories. Launched in 2011 by Chicago entrepreneur Brian Dale with their signature Italia Shopper and Malibu Totes, the line has expanded to other fashion and travel accessories. Catering to both its wholesale/retail fashion clients as well as its robust custom division, RunRunRun provides its line to individuals, small boutiques, museums, hotels/resorts and other major organizations around the world.Visit www.runrunrun.com ( https://runrunrun.myshopify.com/ admin/blogs/ 1430142/artic... ).Brian DaleFounder of RunRunRunChicagohttp://www.runrunrun.comhttp://custom.runrunrun.comhttps://www.runrunrun.com/blogs/news/portsmouth-new-hampshire-who-is-banning-bags-and-whyhttps://www.runrunrun.com/blogs/news/117857285-new-york-and-a-new-breeze-blowinghttps://www.runrunrun.com/blogs/news/subaru-chooses-runrunrun-for-custom-totes-runrunrun-chicago-press-release New additions to ConceptDraw PRO and the ConceptDraw Solution Park offer improved vector libraries with objects for designing and laying out building floor plans. Contact Olin Reams ***@csodessa.com Olin Reams End -- CS Odessa has added a new improved solution to ConceptDraw Solution Park that extends ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software with easy-to-use building elements. The materials added to the Solution Park make the drawing of plans and layouts a snap. These new additions to the ConceptDraw Solution Park are free for current users of ConceptDraw PRO v10 or greater.The new solution in the ConceptDraw Solution Park includes collections of samples, and libraries of vector stencils and icons that support the drawing of building plans and premises layouts. The solution contains samples and libraries for designing house plans, apartment and office layout plans.ConceptDraw PRO is well-known for its ability to exchange documents with Microsoft Visio the de facto standard in business graphics documents. ConceptDraw PRO can open and save documents that can be used by Visio users.ConceptDraw PRO is compatible with Apple OS X and Microsoft Windows. It is supported by the powerful business solutions located in ConceptDraw Solution Park, and retails for only US$199 per end user license. ConceptDraw PRO v10 is included in ConceptDraw Office v3 which retails for US$499 USD.ConceptDraw Office works with the latest versions of both Apple OS X and Microsoft Windows.ConceptDraw Productivity Line:ConceptDraw Basic Floor Plans Solution design house plans, apartment and office layout plans easily.ConceptDraw PRO v10 business graphics and diagramming product (compatible with MS Visio file format).ConceptDraw MINDMAP v8 brainstorming, planning, and mind mapping software (compatible with MS Office applications)http://www.conceptdraw.com/products/mind-mapConceptDraw PROJECT v7 project and resource management tool (compatible with MS Project).http://www.conceptdraw.com/products/project-management-softwareConceptDraw Office v3 powerful and economical business suite that contains the entire ConceptDraw Desktop Product line.http://www.conceptdraw.com/products/officeConceptDraw Diagram Viewer free iPad app that can be downloaded from iTunes (view MS Visio 2013 and ConceptDraw PRO v10 files).https://itunes.apple.com/app/diagram-viewer/id981531525Operating Systems Supported OS X 10.10, and 10.11 (Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan) Microsoft Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 Apple iOS 8About CS OdessaFounded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users around the world. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine, and a U.S. office in San Jose, California, CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 150 countries. The ConceptDraw line of products has won numerous awards and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.******ConceptDraw is a registered trademark, and ConceptDraw Office, ConceptDraw Solution Park, ConceptDraw PRO, ConceptDraw MINDMAP, ConceptDraw PROJECT, and ConceptDraw Solution Browser are trademarks of CS Odessa. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. Illinois Virtual School is pleased to announce American Art: From Elite to Street has passed a formal Quality Matters review and will now carry the QM logo as an officially approved course. Contact Cindy Hamblin Director - Illinois Virtual School ***@ilvirtual.org Cindy HamblinDirector - Illinois Virtual School End -- Illinois Virtual School developedthrough a partnership with Anchora Associates, Inc. located in Chicago Illinois. Clare Munana, President of Anchora, approached IVS in the Spring of 2014 with an idea to develop a course using resources of the famed Terra Foundation for American Art, also in Chicago. IVS has a history with Anchora in their ventures to assist Chicago Public Schools in understanding and implementing virtual programs, and was excited at the possibility of developing a new course with access to incredible design and content resources.was developed with the Quality Matters rubric guidelines and subsequently passed an official QM review in September and is currently open for enrollment.Illinois Virtual School joined Quality Matters as part of the Virtual School Leadership Alliance, a national association of virtual State schools which provides collegial support and collaborative opportunities for members. Five administrators and 23 instructors have been through QM professional development in order to conduct internal reviews. IVS' Coordinator of Curriculum, Jennifer Kolar-Burden was a member of the Quality Matters K12 Rubric Revision team which just released the newly updated QM rubric.IVS uses the Quality Matters Rubric as a guideline in all course development and revision. The QM rubric and process fits perfectly into IVS' mission of providing quality online courses to students in Illinois and has plans to submit seven more course to official QM review by May 2017. Those courses include: American History, American Literature, Calculus, Civics, Consumer Economics, Health, and Spanish 1. For more information, please contact IVS directly: https://ilvirtual.org About Illinois Virtual SchoolIVS is the Illinois State Board of Education's statewide virtual school. ISBE established IVS as a supplemental online program based out of the Peoria Regional Office of Education. The IVS program is designed to allow students who are enrolled in a public or private school or homeschooled, to supplement their education by taking courses that are both aligned to the Illinois Remote Education Act and engaging for students. IVS is recognized by the NCAA, International Association for Online Learning (iNACOL), the State Virtual Leadership Alliance and the College Board. New work explores landscape, architecture and social metaphor / fantasy By: Peligro Amarillo / Santurce Contact Vanphouthon Souvannasane ***@yellowperilgallery.com Vanphouthon Souvannasane End -- Peligro Amarillo / Santurce is pleased to presentby Raquel Paiewonsky, featuring new work exploring landscape, architecture and social metaphor / fantasy from October - November. In 2015, Paiewonsky was artist-in-residence at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, supported by The Davidoff Art Initiative. Inspired by her time in Germany's capital and cultural center, this vibrant series made its debut at VOLTA New York 2016 during Armory Arts Week in March.Raquel Paiewonsky (b. 1969, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) works across a range of media, including painting, sculpture, installation and photography. She has presented at 15 solo exhibitions in the Dominican Republic and the United States, as well as group shows in the US, France, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Ecuador, among others. Paiewonsky has also presented work at the 53rd and 55th Venice Biennale in the Latin American Pavilion."The predominantly feminine social body in Raquel Paiewonsky's work addresses issues of gender politics, couple relationships, sexuality, maternity, ecology and other issues of a general nature, but it also alludes to hot-button issues in the Dominican context, such as prostitution,"notes Gerardo Mosquera, Chief Curator of the San Juan Poly/Graphic Triennial. "The artist uses the body as a kind of tropological platform from which to illuminate these issues in their own complexity and in the imaginal complexity of art, without falling into the prevailing literalness of socially critical art in her country. We are mistaken if we think that her artworks are about the body or sexuality. They are so only indirectly, because here the body is above all else a critical resource that drives the artist's expression with great power."Although seldom conveying violence explicitly, Paiewonsky's work is very much concerned with the veiled but insidious violence that permeates the personal, social and political systems in which we live. "I am particularly interested in object / subject interventions, often utilizing fabric or collage as a means of taking over a particular space, body or artifact," she stresses. "In recent years, my work explores the relationship between our essence and our surroundings, the impact of stereotypes and cultural constructions, always taking as a reference our instinctual selves and the ways in which the primal component of our nature is affected by the new and ever changing contexts of contemporary life."Paiewonsky's work is in international collections that include Daros-Latinoamerica, Zurich, Switzerland;The RISD Museum, Rhode Island; Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Centro Leon, Santiago, Dominican Republic. She is the recipient of the Gran Premio Eduardo Leon award in 2006, 2008 and 2012, and was awarded in the XX and XXII editions of the National Visual Arts Biennial of Santo Domingo. Paiewonsky holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design and co-founded Quintipata, an internationally recognized art collective from the Dominican Republic that includes Pascal Meccariello, Jorge Pineda, and Belkis Ramirez.The opening reception foris Saturday, October 22, from 7PM 10PM. The exhibition will conclude at the end of November. This is Paiewonsky's first solo exhibition at Peligro Amarillo / Santurce. Most recently, she presentedat Yellow Peril over the summer and along with select works at VOLTA NY 2016 during Armory Week.Raquel Paiewonsky (b. 1969, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) works across a range of media, including painting, sculpture, installation and photography. She has presented at 15 solo exhibitions in the Dominican Republic and the United States, as well as group shows in the US, France, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Ecuador, among others. Paiewonsky has also presented work at the 53rd and 55th Venice Biennale in the Latin American Pavilion. Her work is in international collections that include Daros-Latinoamerica, Zurich, Switzerland;The RISD Museum, Rhode Island; Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Centro Leon, Santiago, Dominican Republic. She is the recipient the Gran Premio Eduardo Leon award in 2006, 2008 and 2012, and was awarded in the XX and XXII editions of the National Visual Arts Biennial of Santo Domingo. In 2015, she was artist-in-residence at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, supported by The Davidoff Art Initiative. Paiewonsky holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design and co-founded Quintipata, an internationally recognized art collective from the Dominican Republic that includes Pascal Meccariello, Jorge Pineda, and Belkis Ramirez. For more info, visitFounded in 2016, PELIGRO AMARILLO / SANTURCE is an outpost of Yellow Peril Gallery in the arts district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its mission is to present work from emerging, mid-career and established artists from Yellow Peril's roster, in addition to extending the reach of Puerto Rican artists outside the island at international art fairs and projects. For more info about future exhibitions at both Peligro Amarillo / Santurce and Yellow Peril, visit www.yellowperilgallery.com New turnkey VOD server enters the Telco market. The InnoStream platform can deliver VOD,SVOD,C3VOD and cDVR features. By: Cameron Communications Multi-Purpose InnoStream VOD Server Platform Contact Scott Meyer ***@innovsys.com Scott Meyer End -- As more IPTV companies see their legacy VOD servers hit manufacturer discontinued status, a need for a reliable, well supported replacement has been a challenge for companies like Louisiana based Cameron Communications. According to Robert Large, Cameron's Director of Network Operations, the installation and deployment of the new InnoStream server platform has been beneficial in meeting their goal of offering over 1200 hours of viewing from their Video on Demand library.Large stated that not having support with hardware that is out of production is a difficult situation because his company is heavily invested in providing their video customers in Louisiana and Texas a robust VOD service. A long time player in the VOD business, Cameron heavily promotes their VOD service telling customers on their website how they can access new release titles up to 28 days before they're available on Redbox or Netflix.Large says of the new InnoStream Hardware platform, "We had everything installed and running in a short period of time and when we needed some support for a minor issue, the Innovative Systems support team were on top of the situation and had it resolved quickly." Large said that integration with their non APMAX IPTV Middleware solution went smooth and that he looks forward to the continued quality support that he has received thus far from the Innovative support group.About Cameron CommunicationsCameron Communications started in 1928 as a small, family-owned company, and has grown to serve more than 10,000 customers throughout Southwest and Central Louisiana as well as Southeastern Texas. Cameron Communications was acquired by American Broadband in September of 2010. Cameron provides telecommunication options that include Phone, High-Speed Internet and Digital Television services. The company employs more than 75 employees.Innovative Systems offers the APMAX IMS Application Server, the only platform in the industry that delivers enhanced voice services and IPTV video solutions, as well as eLation, a fully integrated OSS solution which includes billing, financials, and staking and mapping applications. The new InnoStream server platform offers VOD, C3V0D and cDVR with all software and hardware provided and managed by Innovative Systems. With over 1,200 systems in service throughout North America, Innovative Systems is one of the leading suppliers of telecommunications hardware and software for the independent communications market. For more info visit their website. www.innovsys.com Urban Land Institute OC/IE Industry Leaders & Managers Program presents a wide array of topics, including career building in the industry, mentors and innovation. ULI Industry Leaders left to right: Linda Mamet, John Martin & Beth Callender Media Contact Kendra Chandler kendra.chandler@ uli.org Kendra Chandler End -- Linda Mamet, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for TRI Pointe Group and Beth Callender, Brand Strategist for Greenhaus, teamed up to present the September 14class on 'creating and elevating brand' across multiple divisions and companies, the continued importance of insights from "boots on the ground" team members and always being customer-driven. Organized and led by John Martin of Martin & Associates, sponsored by ULI OC/IE's Leaders & Managers Program, the evening also touched on a wide array of other topics, including career building in the industry, mentors and innovation. The high-energy tone of the class stirred enthusiastic audience participation.Ms. Callender initially took on the role of interviewer, reviewing Ms. Mamet's 15-year career trajectory, including her move from her native New Zealand in 2000, her earlier work with Sea Country, Laing, and Pulte Group to today, after joining TRI Pointe Homes in 2015. Soon after, TRI Pointe Homes merged with five other regional home builders, creating the TRI Pointe Group family. Today, TRI Pointe Group is one of the largest national homebuilders, combining the resources and scale of a public company with the insight and agility of regional brands.Ms. Callender then shared her work with numerous large companies such as Starwood Capital and W Hotels, and national homebuilders and developers. The two spoke of their mentors, working together over many years and the multitude of similarities in their experiences of bringing companies together as other existing brands were acquired to form one large company.Ms. Mamet stated that great brands start on the inside. For TRI Pointe Group, that meant first talking with the leaders and team members at each regional company and arriving at five brand pillars: The Best of Big and Small, Customer Driven, Lifestyle Brand, Premium Position and Passionate Culture. While maintaining an entrepreneurial approach, with the TRI Pointe Group brand at the foundation of the company, the six regional homebuilding brands have been successfully unified into one overall culture, critical to growth and expansion of the company.Ms. Mamet explained the unique role of brand in the homebuilding world, and its connection to all who are involved in delivering the dream of home ownership. She related the idea that direction to the internal group affects external impact, giving the team a path to walk and principles to embrace. When the brand position is delivered authentically, the buyer will connect, engage and become a brand ambassador. This discussion quickly transitioned to Ms. Mamet's passion for understanding the customer's mindset and their decision-making process.Company gatherings are one way the TRI Pointe Group builds consensus within the team and advance the internal philosophy outward. Ms. Mamet related how the TRI Pointe Group brought together all divisions and companies to develop a universal language that encourages team members to leverage local strengths as they are expressed in different markets. They chose to retain the regional names of the acquired companies, which is uncommon. However, they were able to integrate the TRI Pointe Group culture into the local brands. By adhering to a unified mission, TRI Pointe Group was able to instill a shared vision. Their unifying phrase is "Life Inspiring Homes." which they see as their toughest mission and highest calling.With the brand identity established, the focus shifted to customer's attitudes and ideas about home ownership. Ms. Callender explained that people "buy on emotion and justify with reason," and that "90% of all purchase decisions are made in the subconscious."She mapped the buying decision through a long list of steps that lead up to active searching, serious intent, making a commitment and experiencing satisfaction a process she refers to as the customer journey.Recognizing this process and its implications, Ms. Mamet further addressed use of technology, and how in only a few short years, technology has changed everything about the way new homes and communities can be marketed and how all areas of messaging, from print to social media to digital marketing, should be crafted to align with the customer's journey. The goal is to pull consumers in rather than push them.Ms. Mamet also discussed the importance of measuring marketing efforts and embracing new tools to lay a foundation for attribution. Correspondingly, expanding the brand through innovation is a practice that Ms. Mamet has helped institute at the TRI Pointe Group, creating sales and marketing think tanks and design summits. These gatherings help to reinforce a culture of innovation, studying other premium lifestyle brands outside of home building and discovering new ways to align with today's customer's purchasing experiences.In summing up, Beth Callender recommended staying curious and continuing to learn, surrounding yourself with smart people, and using the power of AND a way to invite the open ended discussion of ideas, solutions and goal setting. Linda Mamet concluded with the idea of being willing to zig and zag on your career to gain new insight and experience. She advised learning to speak your audience's language and maintaining personal determination, which she calls "grit." Lastly she counseled the class to always carve out time to do the big projects and focus on what makes the biggest difference to the company, and most importantly, to customers.A roster of leading top marketing executives and leaders in community development and homebuilding are participating in the ULI INDUSTRY LEADERS & MANAGERS PROGRAM, organized and led by John Martin of Martin & Associates. The program runs through November 2, 2016 with a break during the week of the ULI Fall Meeting, October 26Participants at every level of experience and various industry disciplines attend these valuable two-and- one-half hour seminars that meet Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at First Service Residential in Irvine. There are several ways to participate including special pricing for ULI OC/IE Members and non-members as well as students and the public. For details on these special programs or to register, email Kendra.Chandler@uli.org.The Urban Land Institute ( http://www.uli.org ) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the ULI has more than 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. FULL STORY At the back of the retina in adult vertebrate eyes is a highly differentiated layer of cells known as the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). These cells do not normally multiply or migrate in adults, but in humans they do so in response to retinal trauma. They then pass through a transitional state of multipotency, with the potential to become more than one cell type, eventually transforming into cells that heal the wound, but with a resulting loss of vision. This causes a retinal disorder such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). In the adult newt, a similar process is seen but with a key difference: it results in the regeneration of a fully functional retina and RPE, even if the retina has been surgically removed from the eye. The mechanism underlying this regenerative process in newts has remained a mystery, but researchers led by the University of Tsukuba in Japan have now shed light on the subject by creating a transgenic newt lacking expression of the Pax6 protein in RPE stem cells. In this type of newt, retinal regeneration was inhibited, and RPE stem cells instead resembled human RPE cells recovering from trauma. The study was reported in Scientific Reports. advertisement Pax6 controls formation of tissues and organs during embryonic development, and regulates gene expression in parts of the eye after birth. It was also previously found to be re-expressed in RPE cells undergoing reprogramming. Silencing of the Pax6 gene in this new study caused abnormalities in the behavior of RPE cells after the retina was removed. The cells were able to multiply and migrate, but were unable to develop either into a new retina or renew the RPE. "We observed the expression of proteins such as vimentin, N-cadherin, and smooth muscle actin in RPE cells lacking Pax6 expression," first author Martin Miguel Casco-Robles says. "These cells formed groups of structures that resembled the membranes that form to heal the wound in PVR." Knockdown of Pax6 demonstrated its importance in determining the fate of RPE cells either toward retinal regeneration or acquiring a membranous phenotype. "The evolution of the regenerative process in newts is likely to have occurred following modification of an existing mechanism that causes retinal disorders, such as PVR," corresponding author Chikafumi Chiba says. "If we can learn to control this mechanism, it might provide a new treatment for retinal problems, capable of regenerating retinas in affected patients." make a difference: sponsored opportunity Story Source: Materials provided by University of Tsukuba. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Journal Reference: Martin Miguel Casco-Robles, Md Rafiqul Islam, Wataru Inami, Hibiki Vincent Tanaka, Ailidana Kunahong, Hirofumi Yasumuro, Shiori Hanzawa, Roman Martin Casco-Robles, Fubito Toyama, Fumiaki Maruo, Chikafumi Chiba. Turning the fate of reprogramming cells from retinal disorder to regeneration by Pax6 in newts. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 33761 DOI: 10.1038/srep33761 Teaching kids about drugs, alcohol and sex appears to be less controversial than ever before with the majority of parents in a new poll saying schools should and do teach these subjects. Many parents want more -- saying those topics are not enough -- finds the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. Researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of parents with kids in middle or high school. Two-thirds of parents polled say schools should definitely cover emotional and mental health issues -- which may include such subjects as dealing with depression, stress and bullying -- yet only a third say these topics are currently covered by their child's school. Another 68 percent of parents want to see schools cover basic first aid, and 63 percent say kids should learn CPR. "Most parents today support traditional health education topics like pregnancy prevention, drug abuse and other risk behaviors that used to generate more debate in years past. However, they clearly perceive a gap between what their children need and what they are receiving in the area of mental health education, as well as basic first aid and CPR," says Sarah Clark, M.P.H., co-director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. "We are seeing increasing concerns for such issues as stress, depression and suicide among young people, and parents want schools to be a part of the solution. These results suggest that the stigma of mental health issues may have relaxed among today's parents, in favor of using a broad array of resources to help children and adolescents with these critical areas." Changing trends in health education advertisement Mental health topics dominated parent concerns in an August Mott Poll report on the top 10 child health concerns, with bullying, stress, suicide and depression all making the list. Teen suicide is a growing health concern, recently moving from the third to second leading cause of death for adolescents, surpassed only by car accidents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Sex education has come a long way from 1975 when nearly half of state legislatures voted to restrict or abolish it compared to today when most adolescents in the U.S. receive some form of sex education between sixth and 12th grade. Parent perspectives reflect the trend, too, with more than two-thirds of parents polled saying traditional health topics should definitely be covered at their child's grade level, including physical activity, drug and alcohol abuse, healthy eating and sex education and pregnancy prevention. Most parents say these topics are currently taught at their school. Nearly four in 10 parents (39 percent) also believe schools should educate students on how to use the health care system. But only one in 10 parents say the topic is covered in their child's school. Low-income parents are more likely to say schools should teach students how to use the health care system -- perhaps, Clark notes, because these parents face challenges themselves in accessing health care. Clark also notes that schools face significant barriers in expanding their formal health education curriculum. Core academic requirements, parent or student preferences for electives and the financial burden of hiring more teachers can limit opportunities to expand health education courses. But schools may seek other strategies such as recruiting health care professionals from local hospitals or clinics or nonprofits to offer occasional sessions on first aid or CPR. Schools with onsite health centers may ask those staff to expand their educational sessions. "Most parents believe schools are on the right track with what kids are learning in health education, but recognize that today's youth face a growing set of issues impacting their health," Clark says. "School leaders may consider ways to incorporate health topics in the classroom." See more at: http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/beyond-sex-ed-parents-want-more-health-topics-covered-school A team of researchers affiliated with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea, claims to have made yet another step towards finding a solution to accelerate the commercialization of silicon anode for Lithium-ion batteries. A new approach developed by a team of researchers, led by Prof. Jaephil Cho (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering) could hold the key to greatly improving the performance of commercial lithium-ion batteries. Prof. Cho and his research team have developed a new type anode material that would be used in place of a conventional graphite anode, which they claim will lead to lighter and longer-lasting batteries for everything from personal devices to electric vehicles. In the study, the research team has demonstrated the feasibility of a next-generation hybrid anode using silicon-nanolayer-embedded graphite/carbon. They report that this architecture allows compatibility between silicon and natural graphite and addresses the issues of severe side reactions caused by structural failure of crumbled graphite dust and uncombined residue of silicon particles by conventional mechanical milling. This newly-developed anode material has been manifactured with increase in graphite content in composite by 45%. The research team has also developed new equipment, which is capable of producing 300kg in 6 hours per batch using a small amount of silane gas (SiH4). Such simple procedure is expected to ensure a competitive price. They report that the silicon/graphite composite is mass-producible and it has superior battery performances with industrial electrode density, high areal capacity, and low amounts of binder. The findings of the research have been published in the August issue of the energy journal Nature Energy. This work has been supported by the IT R&D programme of the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) and Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), 2016 Research Fund of UNIST, and by the Office of Vehicle Technologies, Battery Materials Research Program of the US Department of Energy. In March 1995, members of a Japanese cult released the deadly nerve agent sarin into the Tokyo subway system, killing a dozen people and injuring a thousand more. This leads to the question: What if a U.S. transportation hub was contaminated with a chemical agent? The hub might be shut down for weeks, which could have a substantial economic impact. Craig Tenney, a chemical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, is looking for better ways to clean contaminated concrete to reduce that impact. "We can't just rip out and replace the affected concrete -- that would be too expensive," said Tenney. "We need to decontaminate it and make it safe. The public has to be confident enough to come back and use the affected facility." The project, funded by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research & Development program, uses computer simulations to examine how chemical agents soak into and bind within concrete. The power of the simulations is that researchers can glimpse details they can't obtain experimentally. Researchers can expose a concrete block to a chemical, try to clean it and then detect the remaining chemicals, but that doesn't allow them to watch what is happening on the inside, Tenney explained. Decontaminating concrete is difficult because it's chemically and physically complex. Tenney said he and his team need details of the chemical interactions that occur in concrete so they can design new decontamination methods and mixtures. Concrete's nitty-gritty details Concrete has been used since the Roman era and is everywhere: building foundations, sidewalks, even specialized underground seals and linings. But its ubiquity masks remarkable chemical complexity and physical intricacy, said Ed Matteo, a chemical engineer with expertise in cement durability. advertisement Like a cake, the recipe for concrete can change depending on how spongy, or porous, it needs to be, but the major ingredients remain the same. Roasted and finely ground limestone and clay make up the "flour," which is mixed with water to form the gluey "dough" called cement. Concrete is just cement with sand or gravel added to bulk up the mix. Other ingredients can be added to tweak properties, such as the time it takes to set. On the chemical level, cement is made up of many minerals including aluminosilicates from clay, calcium oxide of quicklime and even potassium hydroxide from potash. But the most important component is amorphous calcium silicate hydrate, the "glue of the glue," said Matteo. Cement loves water and is extremely alkaline. All this affects how chemicals react with concrete. In addition to its chemical complexity, concrete is intricately spongy and thus really hard to clean up. It may not look like it from the outside, but concrete is full of microscopic pores that allow a concrete structure to grab onto chemicals and sometimes "breathe" them back out. That means even if the concrete surface is cleaned, dangerous chemicals from an event could still be hiding deep inside. Breaking down the problem into bite-sized pieces Building upon Sandia's long-standing expertise in molecular-scale geochemical simulations, Tenney and his team modeled several long-lasting, oily chemical agents to see how they react and move within tiny water-loving concrete pores: where they spend their time and how they degrade. advertisement These simulations monitored several molecules of chemical agents wiggling for several nanoseconds in nanometer-sized pores 5,000 to 10,000 times narrower than a human hair. The team validated the simulations against what little experimental data is available, which provided a good starting point. Building on that knowledge and his expertise in atomic-scale models of chemical reactions, Chris O'Brien, a computational materials science postdoctoral researcher, looked at how chemical agents degrade in concrete. He modeled an agent bound to several representative concrete environments and watched how this interaction hastened or slowed the natural break-down process. He plans to expand to other chemical agents, time and funding permitting. The team will use the results to determine the best way to decontaminate concrete exposed to nasty chemicals. Solving the larger problem Tenney and his team still have much to do before they can suggest better decontamination mixtures for concrete, but they have determined how strongly various agents stick to concrete pores and which ones clump together. Tenney would like to team up with geochemists to look at the larger picture. Using information gained from the nanoscale models as a starting point, they would look at larger bits of concrete, still smaller than a human hair, and watch how chemical agents soak into the concrete. Once they understand the transport of chemical agents in concrete, Tenney says, they can suggest decontamination mixtures that would move similarly, following an agent to its hiding place within the porous concrete. One strength of the computer models is that they allow fairly rapid evaluation of different possible decontamination solutions, often much faster than experiments. This will let Tenney's team screen many different formulations to see which ones are best at pulling agents out of concrete or away from each other. Another future goal is to experimentally test these new decontamination methods on concrete contaminated with sample chemicals to validate the insights gained from the computer modeling. What they learn from the computational models could lead to more accurate field tests, said Tenney. Tests that accurately determine the areas impacted by an event and whether the cleaning was effective would improve the efficiency and reliability of decontamination. "Yes, it would be great from a scientific perspective to just understand what's going on, but from an engineering point of view, it would also be darn nice if we could take that understanding, tailor our approach for decontamination and make it better," said Tenney. "This is a national lab-scale problem and there are lots of little pieces that need to be put together to solve a big problem. If the unfortunate ever does happen, A study led by researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Pitt Department of Psychology has identified a possible link between adolescent sleep habits and early substance abuse. The study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, found that both sleep duration and sleep quality during late childhood predict alcohol and cannabis use later in adolescence. "Treating problems with drugs and alcohol once they exist and preventing them can be challenging, and we are always looking for modifiable risk factors," said Brant P. Hasler, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology, and lead author of the study. "Doing what we can to ensure sufficient sleep duration and improve sleep quality during late childhood may have benefits in terms of reducing the use of these substances later in life." Researchers analyzed 186 boys from western Pennsylvania whose mothers completed the Child Sleep Questionnaire as part of a larger longitudinal study of low-income boys examining factors associated with vulnerability and resilience. Based on questionnaire results from when the boys were 11 years old, their sleep time and sleep quality were calculated. At ages 20 and 22, the young men were interviewed about lifetime cannabis and alcohol use. After accounting for race, socioeconomic problems, neighborhood danger, self-regulation, and internalizing and externalizing problems, both sleep duration and sleep quality at age 11 were associated with early substance use throughout adolescence. The study participants who slept the least, compared to the participants who slept the most, were more likely to report earlier use, intoxication and repeated use of both alcohol and cannabis. Every hour less of sleep at age 11 was associated with a 20 percent acceleration to the first use of alcohol and/or cannabis, Dr. Hasler added. Worse sleep quality was associated with earlier alcohol use, intoxication and repeated use. Worse sleep quality was associated with earlier cannabis intoxication and repeated use, but not first use. "After considering other possible influences, we were able to determine that sleep problems are preceding the substance use problems," Dr. Hasler added. "Addressing sleep may now be something we can add into the package of our substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts." Hydrogen is often considered a fuel for the future, in the form of fuel cells to power electric motors or burned in internal combustion engines. But finding a practical, inexpensive and nontoxic way to produce large amounts of hydrogen gas -- especially by splitting water into its component parts, hydrogen and oxygen -- has been a challenge. A team of researchers from the University of Houston and the California Institute of Technology has reported a more efficient catalyst, using molybdenum sulfoselenide particles on three-dimensional porous nickel diselenide foam to increase catalytic activity. The foam, made using commercially available nickel foam, significantly improved catalytic performance because it exposed more edge sites, where catalytic activity is higher than it is on flat surfaces, said Zhifeng Ren, MD Anderson Professor of physics at UH. Ren is lead author of a paper in Nature Communications describing the discovery. Other researchers involved include Haiqing Zhou, Fang Yu, Jingying Sun, Ran He, Shuo Chen, Jiming Bao and Zhuan Zhu, all of UH, and Yufeng Huang, Robert J. Nielsen and William A. Goddard III of the California Institute of Technology. "With the massive consumption of fossil fuels and its detrimental impact on the environment, methods of generating clean power are urgent," the researchers wrote. "Hydrogen is an ideal carrier for renewable energy; however, hydrogen generation is inefficient because of the lack of robust catalysts that are substantially cheaper than platinum." Platinum catalysts have the highest efficiency rate for hydrogen evolution, said Ren, who also is a principal investigator at the Texas Center for Superconductivity. But platinum is rare, difficult to extract and too expensive for practical use, he said, and researchers continue to seek less expensive ways to split water into its component parts. advertisement Currently, most hydrogen is produced through steam methane reforming and coal gasification; those methods raise the fuel's carbon footprint despite the fact that it burns cleanly. Molybdenum sulfoselenide and similar layered compounds have shown promise as catalysts, but so far no one has boosted their performance to viable levels in bulk form. The researchers say most active catalysis on those layered compounds, known as layered transition-metal dichalcogenides, or LTMDs, takes place at the edges, making the idea of a substrate with a large number of exposed edges more desirable. Also, they wrote, "arranging two different materials into hybrids might lead to synergistic effects that utilize the best properties of each component." Their hybrid catalyst is composed of molybdenum sulfoselenide particles with vertically aligned layers on a 3-D porous conductive nickel diselenide scaffold. Testing determined that the hybrid catalyst required 69 millivolts from an external energy source to achieve a current density of 10 milliamps per square centimeter, which the researchers said is much better than many previously reported tests. In this case, the current "splits" the water, converting it to hydrogen at the cathode. Achieving the necessary current density with lower voltage improves energy conversion efficiency and reduces preparation costs. A platinum catalyst required 32 millivolts in the testing, but Ren said ongoing testing has reduced the hybrid catalyst requirements to about 40 millivolts, close to the platinum requirements. Equally important, he said, was the ability to increase current output at a faster rate than the increase in required energy input. The catalyst remained stable after 1,000 cycles at a constant current. The work will continue as researchers focus on reducing required voltage. We may not know how long the three baby pigs from a Philadelphia classified ad had spent packed inside a filthy box, left outside under the searing sun. And there's no telling how much worse it could have gotten for them. But Robert Misseri has an idea. "There's no question," Misseri, founder of animal welfare organization Guardians of Rescue, tells The Dodo. "[The pigs] were never going to be someone's pets. No one would have taken them as pets. They would have either been slaughtered or used for some kind of torture, such as dogfighting." Guardians of Rescue Volunteers with Guardians of Rescue, based in New York City, didn't come across these pigs for sale by accident - the organization's investigators are constantly scanning online classifieds sites like Craigslist or forums on Facebook, looking for animals in trouble. Recently, rescuers found three such animals in an online classified ad. The team then reached out to the seller in Philadelphia and soon learned he had no reservations about who bought the piglets - as long as he got $30 for each of them. Or, at least, $75 for all three. Dodo Shows Odd Couples Dog Is So Gentle And Patient With Her Foster Kittens Guardians of Rescue Pretending to be buyers, the investigators from Guardians of Rescue hinted they owned fighting dogs and were looking to use the pigs as as bait. The undercover team suggested the pigs would be used to work up the dogs into a frenzy before a fight. In other words, they would be torn apart. "We were using dogfighting lingo," Misseri explains. "[The seller] had no problem with us using them as bait." Guardians of Rescue Instead of purchasing the pigs, however, when the group descended on the row house in Philadelphia to meet the seller, they convinced him to surrender the pigs into their care. "We gave him gas money," Misseri notes. Guardians of Rescue For the pigs, it was a ticket to an actual life. They were driven to Ahimsa Acres Sanctuary in New Jersey, a sprawling refuge for ducks, sheep, horses and even another rescued pig named Rocky. Now, these little pigs have the rest of their lives ahead of them. "People don't realize how sensitive and brilliant pigs are," Misseri says. "They were really stressed. It took a day for them to realize they were no longer in jeopardy and in a horrible situation." Of course they won't stay little for long. These pigs, the group later determined, are not the smaller, potbellied variety as described in the online ad. Rather, they will grow up to weigh anywhere from 300 to 700 pounds. But at Ahimsa Acres Sanctuary, they can grow as big as they like. Outside of the box. And for free. "They can be as piggish as they want," Misseri says. "And we'll never hold it against them." Guardians of Rescue

Animals Asia

For nearly a year, this polar bear has been known as the saddest bear in the world. But now there's a glimmer of hope. The bear, named Pizza, is the so-called star attraction at Grandview Aquarium, a subpar "zoo" located inside a mall in Guangzhou, China. Pizza's plight came to light early this year, when Animals Asia revealed that the zoo was home to dozens of animals, most of whom were packed into tiny concrete cells devoid of enrichment and sunlight. In addition to Pizza, the zoo has homed wolves, Arctic foxes, walruses, a whale shark and belugas, who do notoriously poorly in captivity. And none of them are thriving - an investigation by the Guangzhou Ocean and Fishery Bureau earlier this year found that animals were injured and died when being transported to the aquarium for its January opening. One of the bears at Grandview Aquarium | Animals Asia But few animals captured the public's sympathies like Pizza, who was relegated to a sunless glass-windowed room with only a tiny pool to swim in. While there were originally believed to be two bears located at Grandview, it's unclear if Pizza is the sole survivor, or if he is in addition to those original bears. In a video that quickly went viral, one of the bears, believed to be Pizza, lies on his side inside his oppressive blue tank, staring listlessly as throngs of tourists set off camera flashes in his face. Dodo Shows Soulmates Growling Little Kitten Becomes Her Mom's Best Friend "Nowhere to hide from people taking photos - banging on the windows and shouting," Animals Asia wrote about the bear's exhibit. "Nothing natural, no attempt to create an environment that would meet the needs of any living bear - never mind this vast magnificent animal." The video sparked a wave of international public outcry. One petition calling for his release garnered more than 500,000 signatures. And Animals Asia representatives have spent the past several months trying to work with Grandview Aquarium to improve the animals' welfare, even meeting with the facility's representatives. One of the bears at Grandview Aquarium | Animals Asia Grandview officials have largely refused to budge. But now, there might be a hint of brightness in Pizza's future. Yorkshire Wildlife Park, a facility in Doncaster, England, has offered a new home to Pizza if Grandview agrees to give him up, Animals Asia announced on Monday. Unfortunately, Yorkshire Wildlife Park is still a zoo, not a sanctuary. But the park hosts a polar bear habitat that includes 10 acres of land and two lakes, a far cry from the dark room where Pizza, who is too accustomed to captivity to be returned to the wild, is currently kept. "The good news now for Grandview is that they now have the chance to put their mistake right," David Neale, animal welfare director for Animals Asia, said in a statement. "There can be a happy ending and the negative publicity they have suffered can yet be turned into a positive news story. From talking to them I know they know that mistakes have been made in terms of their animal facilities and ongoing care." Of course, the move is far from a certainty. Grandview would have to agree to release Pizza, and not to replace the bear with any similar animals. But Animals Asia is hoping that, with continued public support, Grandview could be pressured into doing the right thing for at least one of its inmates. "No payment has been offered for the bear himself - with the fear that any funds could be used to buy more animals," Animals Asia said. "However, it is hoped that positive headlines could prove to be priceless for Grandview following months of negative publicity. The cost of transferring the bear will be raised if the offer is accepted." And right now, any ray of hope is an improvement over Pizza's current state - especially the hope that he could one day see the sun again. One of the bears at Grandview Aquarium | Animals Asia

WFFT

Phubai is a long-tailed macaque, and even though his kind is considered a pest in Thailand, he's getting the love he needs to survive. These kinds of monkeys are often bred in facilities and exported internationally to be laboratory test subjects. Some are pulled into the pet trade, never knowing what it's like to be a wild animal. And those who remain in the wild are threatened by habitat loss and human beings who see them as pests. "Increasing competition between macaques and humans due to the increase in need of land for agriculture and other human activities is the foremost reason that macaques are persecuted as pests," explained Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT), which rescued Phubai earlier this month. At just 8 weeks old when he arrived at the rescue center, Phubai hungrily accepted his first bottle. Dodo Shows Soulmates Growling Little Kitten Becomes Her Mom's Best Friend And then another. And then another. Phubai had been found without his mother, after a program to try to control the macaque population swept through his habitat. "A de-sexing program to control the macaque population had recently been conducted, with the aim of helping alleviate human-macaque conflict in the area," WFFT wrote. "Whole troops of macaques were caught in enclosures, the males were de-sexed and then all the macaques were released back to the wild. This can be a stressful time for the macaques, it seems that this little guy was left behind by his mother." He probably wouldn't have survived at such a young age on his own. Luckily, he's in good hands now. Little Phubai is getting round-the-clock care from the WFFT team - and he's not alone. "A creature who lives without borders in a world we can hardly fathom. Yet millions live among us... in captivity." So begins Parrot Confidential, an hour-long documentary about the U.S.'s current pet parrot crisis and the plight of their wild kin. Created by the award-winning wildlife documentary production company ArgoFilms, it premiered on the PBS Nature channel last November. Today, I finally sat down and watched it. Here's what the film taught me: 1. Nearly a third of all wild parrots are endangered. A dire statistic. Why? Habitat loss and poaching are likely the biggest reasons. 2. Captive parrot estimates range from 10 to 40 million in the U.S. alone. The illicit trade in wild birds is a multibillion dollar, world-wide industry. In 1992, after the U.S. banned the importation of wild birds, domestic breeding boomed. Now, there is a huge problem arising as thousands of unwanted parrots -- which can live up to 90 years old -- are being abandoned by their owners. 3. Parrots are complex creatures, "right up there with apes and humans." Bird brains, schmird brains. With a large brain, highly advanced language skills, and leading complex social lives in the wild, let's face it: parrots are almost on par with, well, us. They speak in regional dialects, can differentiate between colors, and exhibit a variety of behavioral qualities; including, as one rescuer puts it, the ability to "carry emotional baggage." 4. Parrots form "mate bonds" with each other-- and their owners. Are parrots capable, then, of love? Watching an abandoned cockatiel meet a female member of his species for the first time, or hearing a female Amazon parrot heartbreakingly cry, "No! No! No!" when separated from Basil, the only other Amazon parrot she's ever met (both moments caught on film in the documentary), it's tempting to believe so. What we do know for sure, though, thanks to the work of field biologists like Dr. Tim Wright, is that parrots "are very tightly bonded with each other," a mechanism they've evolved to ensure the survival of their species in the wild. "If kept in captivity, they then try to recreate that bond with whoever's around." Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary director Jamie Mcleod says that "people don't always understand that when a bird forms a bond with you, it's actually a mate bond. They're not just part of your life. They become your life!" Considering many parrots will already outlive their adult owners, as well as our current inability to seemingly endure long-term commitments with members of our own species (divorce rates and all), it's obvious we've got a big problem on our hands! Also, early on in the film, we meet Basil's owners Russ Hartman and his wife, a couple who enthusiastically bought the parrot shortly after getting married. A delight for the first four years, once he reached sexual maturity, he bonded with Russ, and became so attached to him that he began attacking and biting Russ's wife and even, subsequently, their children. In fact, maturing parrots often exhibit similarly drastic behavioral changes. Russ's wife didn't blame Basil, though. "He was just being a normal, wild bird." And despite how much Russ himself bonded with Basil, he ultimately concluded that "Parrots are not pets. You can call them a pet. You can put them in a pet shop. You can dress them up all you want. But they're not pets." Therefore... 5. Captive parrots are still "wild" animals. "In a cage, or soaring above the canopy, parrots are still considered wild," croons the documentary's narrator. Only a few generations removed (or less) from the freedom of their natural rainforest habitats, unlike dogs and cats, they haven't been domesticated (a process that takes hundreds of years). For this reason, no matter how excited they were to purchase a parrot in the beginning, many people are unable to endure the constant squawking without gun range-quality ear protection (like one owner), and are finding it impossible to keep them in their homes for more than a few years, tops. Says Jamie, who used to breed parrots, but now devotes her efforts entirely to re-homing abandoned birds, "Many people come in and say, 'I want a bird that talks, is quiet, and doesn't bite.' And I say to them, 'I'm sorry, but that species has not been discovered yet.'" Considering that parrots in the wild can fly up to 50 miles in a day, keeping them alive yet cooped up in a tiny cage can also seem akin to torture. Couple their evolution for flight with their intelligence, and bored, otherwise healthy birds can often start physically suffering from a clipped-wing, sedentary life in captivity... ultimately succumbing to a chain reaction of health issues starting with increased stress and leading to feather plucking and even heart disease. Marc Johnson, who runs Foster Parrots (a sanctuary situated on an old chicken farm in Rhode Island that gets over 1,000-plus calls a year from owners seeking to surrender their birds) says poignantly regarding the "right" size cage for a Macaw: "There is no 'right' size. 35 square miles is the size. It's the sky." Jane Goodall, who has endorsed Foster Parrots, has stated, "For me, the sight of a parrot living alone, living in a cage, deprived of flight, miserably bored, breaks my heart. And the parrot's too, perhaps." 6. Be wary of adopting an animal as a pet just because it's "at the top of the YouTube charts." Marie Crowley, a Detroit housewife who runs a parrot rescue dubbed Feathered Friends straight out of her basement, appeals to us to curb our enthusiasm for cute critters who are at the peak of their popularity. As we watch Marie nurse a nicotine-addicted and severely neglected African Grey parrot named Fagan back to health, she cites the popularity of "Alex," the famous African Grey trained by Irene Pepperberg for the recent boom in Grey parrot purchases, then subsequent surrenders by scores of ill-advised and unprepared owners. "As long as they're at the top of the YouTube charts, they're at the top of my surrender charts." 7. Taking on a parrot is a lifelong responsibility. The heart of the issue, as the movie states, lies not only in the fact that the parrots are wild animals that probably shouldn't be kept as pets, but in their human guardians' repeated failure to prove themselves as appropriate companions to and for the birds. To combat the rates of abandonment of captive wild birds, not only do people need to be better educated about the commitment they are making, but pet stores could do their part by making more attempts to regulate the current supply and demand. According to sanctuary owner Phoebe Linden, right now, "anybody with $40 can walk into any PetCo and buy a parrot. There are no regulations. [You] can have as many as you want. You can breed them, you can sell them." If you feel you are really ready and have got what it takes to make the life-long commitment of keeping a captive parrot, here are a few pointers to keep in mind from the film: Adopt birds, don't buy. Avoid adding to the demand for captive-bred birds, while also helping to alleviate over-burdened sanctuaries. Try to think about how you can better improve the bird's life, and take the time necessary to do so. According to Johnson, "from the very first day" he got his first Macaw, "my resolve was to make his life better, every day." Also, enrichment activities and games help keep parrots' minds active and have been shown to reduce stress. Always remember: There's no such thing as a "perfect" pet parrot. Echoing her earlier words about a certain type of parrot that "has yet to be discovered," says Jamie McLeod, "being injured by a parrot, you can't be angry with them. If you take them into your life, that's one of the things you need to accept. It's still a wild animal." 8. With numbers so low in the wild, every bird counts. Conservation is key. As parrot numbers dwindle in the wild, the amount of abandoned & captive-bred birds is currently on the rise. While most captive-kept adult parrots can't be released into the wild, considering their lack of necessary survival skills and the risk of disease transmission, has raised and released over 100 disease-free Macaws (after putting them through a specialized "Macaw boot camp" where they practice cracking nuts and finding the right foods), with an 85% survival rate. As a child, I remember spending afternoons making lists of all of the animals I hoped to have when I grew up one day, and #1, at the top of the list, was always a Scarlet Macaw. Now, after watching this film, I don't want a Scarlet Macaw. I want to return to Costa Rica, one of the species' last strongholds, where I've witnessed wild flocks soaring past the balcony of my room at an ecolodge, and donate my time to The Ara Project! Watch the complete documentary online right now at pbs.org/nature, or visit shoppbs.org to buy the DVD. The diagnosis came out of nowhere. Spunky had been a little stiffer than usual for a spell, not leaping up and down stairs, but otherwise the 12-year-old dog seemed healthy. Then on Thursday morning last week, Spunky didn't want his breakfast. "He always inhales his food so I knew something was off," his mom, Ashley Niels, tells The Dodo. Ashley Niels A trip to the vet confirmed Niels's worst fears. Spunky had hemangiosarcoma - a type of cancer - and was bleeding internally. Chemotherapy and surgery wouldn't help. The vet "told me how sorry she was and that since we didn't want him to suffer, we should schedule an appointment to have him put to sleep," Niels says. Niels scheduled the appointment for the next evening - and then suddenly remembered she'd once promised her thick-coated, winter-loving dog, who has lived in Texas for years, that he would get to see snow again. "The prospect of breaking that promise to him sent me into a panic," Niels says. Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend Ashley Niels Spunky is from Wisconsin; Niels adopted him from a local shelter while she was in college. The two lived blissfully in that tundra for four years. "He is a total snow dog and could play in snow drifts for hours and be just fine," Niels says. "He loves snow, playing in it and eating it!" Ashley Niels In 2008 they moved to Austin, Texas, where Niels works as a behavior and enrichment specialist at Austin Animal Center, the city shelter. These have been mostly snow-less years, except for the occasional unimpressive few flakes. Summer in Austin, of course, would be an even less likely time to find some flurries. Except that a group of volunteers and staff at Austin Animal Center pitched in to rent a snow machine, and brought it over to Niels's house so Spunky could enjoy a man-made snowstorm in his very own yard. "To be honest, I think Spunky mostly sat there in the blowing 'snow' to humor me and make me happy," says Niels. "But the real beauty behind the whole thing was how this entire village enveloped us in love, and pulled all of this together in hours so that I could give my boy a last wish, if you will. I can't tell you how touched I was." Ashley Niels After the snow, Friday evening came. The vet had to cancel, due to an emergency. Spunky's appointment was rescheduled for the following morning. But Niels couldn't go through with it. Spunky seemed happy, and "I didn't want to take that away from him," she says. Ashley Niels He's stayed that way since. So they've gotten a couple more days now, after all. Niels's dad has flown in from Chicago, and her girlfriend has stayed home from work. Spunky's best friend, a cat named Merlin, has been paying him lots of extra attention, too. "And we've also just been spending a whole lot of quality time with him. Laying with him, doting on him, constant kisses and pictures," Niels says. "I've been doing everything I can to spoil him and give him all the love and affection he can stand." Ashley Niels The snow machine's been put to more good use - it was brought by the shelter before being returned, so AAC's dogs could enjoy some snow, as well. It pleases Niels that "the snow machine got to enrich the lives of some of our shelter's dogs." Austin Animal Center Niels doesn't know how much longer she and Spunky will have together. She prays for a miracle, as you do in this sort of terrible situation; she feels grateful for what she's gotten. For spending all these years with a dog who loves dressing up in costumes, and being brushed, and running, and playing, and exploring, and camping and loving. "His love is the purest, most unconditional love there is," Niels says. Ashley Niels And for these last days, when the community came together on such short notice, so that Niels could fulfill an impossible, unbreakable promise. "How beautiful is it that a group of people made it snow in the Texas summer?" she says. "All for the love of a dog. My dog. My Spunky." The life of Petra, a Malayan tiger, will never be the same again. Last Tuesday, the tigress was taking part in a soft introduction training session with Bunga, a 5-year-old male tiger, at their home, the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri. Petra has lived at the zoo since 2004. Bunga, featured in the video below, arrived in 2015. Dodo Shows Soulmates Dog Goes Everywhere In His Dad's Kangaroo Pouch "Our goal was to have both cats on exhibit in their own yards; however, the exhibit requires a shared fence line," Jackson Thompson, Asia zookeeper at Dickerson Park, told local news outlet KY3. "During Tuesday morning's training, the tigers came into contact with each other through the barrier. Following protocol our zookeeper staff did everything they could to separate them, but Petra's front left paw was severely injured." Petra in the midst of a training routine with Thompson | Facebook/Dickerson Park Zoo Petra's paw was so damaged that there was no other choice left but to amputate it, leaving her with only three limbs. "Petra's recovery is going well," a spokesperson for the zoo told The Dodo. "She is being cared for by our staff veterinarian as well as a board-certified surgeon. She is being treated with antibiotics and pain medication. Her appetite is good." When asked whether Petra would remain at the zoo or be retired to a sanctuary, the spokesperson told The Dodo, "Our focus right now is on Petra's recovery." But some people are concerned that, after everything Petra's been through, she shouldn't have to spend her golden years at the very zoo responsible for her disablement. Big Cat Rescue (BCR), a sanctuary in Florida, has already offered to become the tigress' permanent home in an open letter to the zoo - which also questioned the circumstances that led to Petra's injury. "The news article quoted Jackson Thompson as saying, 'the exhibit requires a shared fence line' and that's clearly inappropriate for big cats," the letter reads. "They should never have a shared fence line that would allow them to lose an ear, a tail, or limb. It happens a lot in backyard collections and over the years we have had quite a number of cats come to us missing ears, tails and limbs." Many big cats - including tigers - are solitary animals, Carole Baskin, founder and CEO of BCR, told The Dodo. "Zoos have to mix and match cats in order that they not be too inbred, which often means shipping cats across [the] country, for mating," Baskin said. "That is a recipe for disaster because the resident cat has territory to defend and the newcomer has to assert their domination. The fact that every such pairing doesn't end in a death or substantial mauling is actually noteworthy." Back in February, another tiger introduction went awry when a female tiger at California's Sacramento Zoo died after being attacked by a male tiger during an attempted mating. Baskin said that the fact that Dickinson Zoo's exhibition area was built in such a manner that a cat was able to access and attack the body part of another cat, and that big cats were housed next to each other in general, shows a lack understanding - or concern - about the behavior of the species. "Once a cat sinks his teeth into the flesh of the cat on the other side of the fence, there is nothing the victim cat can do to protect the extremity on the other side of the fence," she said. Furthermore, Baskin believes that Petra's quality of life will be immensely affected by the amputation, stating that excessive pressure will be placed on her spine and joints while walking around on three legs. Petra in her enclosure at the zoo in early August | Facebook/Dickerson Park Zoo A man was out in the fields on his farm in Kentucky, checking to see if any cows had given birth, when he came across a calf who was unlike any he had ever seen before. Lucky the calf is only 5 days old, and she has two heads. Brandy Abell McCubbin "When he came upon her he first thought he had found twins," Brandy Abell McCubbin, one of the owners of the farm, told The Dodo. Stan McCubbin and his brother quickly brought Lucky into the barn as soon as she was found to get her cleaned up and checked out. Lucky has cleft palates in both of her mouths and is unable to nurse from her mother, so the McCubbins have been bottle-feeding her. Dodo Shows Little But Fierce Pocket-Sized Kitten Grows Up To Be A Wild Woman Brandy Abell McCubbin "My husband and I have been raised on farms our whole lives and we are treating Lucky like any other calf we have had to bottle-feed," McCubbin said. "Things are just a little different and unique!" Brandy Abell McCubbin Due to the size of Lucky's head, she has some balance issues and was unable to walk or stand very much her first few days. She can now walk around a little bit, and is proving more and more every day that she isn't going to let her differences stand in her way. Brandy Abell McCubbin McCubbin is a special education teacher and helps kids overcome their challenges every day, so she knows exactly how to help Lucky feel happy and safe in her new home. "I love my students and work hard to meet their needs," McCubbin said. "Lucky is a calf with special needs and we are working hard trying to meet her needs. My students are in love with her and keep asking if they can watch her on TV and come to my house!" Brandy Abell McCubbin Though no one knows what the future holds, everyone who has met Lucky has been inspired by her story and how much she's already overcome in the short time she's been alive. Brandy Abell McCubbin

Wolf Connection

They were selling the wolf dog for drugs. Meth to be exact. They'd get at least a thousand dollars' worth - maybe more - for the sale of the wolf dog. When police caught wind of the drug deal, undercover agents visited the San Bernardino, California, property where the wolf dog was being kept. Posing as meth buyers, the agents intercepted the exchange and confiscated the wolf dog, who'd been named Wolfee by his owners. Wolfee might have been saved from the drug deal, but he was potentially in more danger now. Wolf dogs are illegal in the Los Angeles area of California, and only certified wolf rescues can take them in, which limited Wolfee's rescue options. He couldn't be placed in a private home, and if sent to a shelter, he'd be euthanized within 72 hours. The ironic part of it was, Wolfee was more dog than wolf - he was what you'd call "low content" wolf dog. Wolfee's owners had labeled him as a wolf dog to make him more valuable, but this had jeopardized Wolfee's safety. Dodo Shows Adoption Day Hairless German Shepherd Puppies Find The Perfect Families Thankfully for Wolfee, a licensed Californian wolf refuge, Wolf Mountain Sanctuary, was able to immediately take Wolfee into its care, which saved his life. But Wolf Mountain Sanctuary only kept pure wolves at the sanctuary (which Wolfee was not), so it reached out to Wolf Connection, a wolf dog rescue center and sanctuary that runs a youth education and empowerment program in California. Wolfee was only 8 months old when he arrived at Wolf Connection. He seemed to be in good physical shape, but when the medical team did a routine health check-up, which included an X-ray, they discovered something shocking. "He had BBs lodged in his body," Renee Alfero of Wolf Connection tells The Dodo. "The most likely reason was that someone shot at him, maybe for target practice." The X-ray revealed three BB pellets lodged inside Wolfee's hip, but the medical team suspected there were more inside of him. They weren't able to remove the BBs without putting Wolfee's life at risk. "Health-wise he's perfectly fine as a healthy young pup," says Catherine Salansky of Wolf Connection, "but we notice that when he sits, he sits back on his haunches, possibly due to the BB placement. He doesn't demonstrate pain in sitting or avoid it, just has a different position." Despite everything Wolfee had been through, he was surprisingly and friendly and affectionate when he arrived at Wolf Connection. "When I first met Wolfee, he seemed so happy and excited for the fresh start," says Alfero. "Wolfee loved greeting his new human pack and the other male wolf dogs, who we call the 'kindergartners.'" Wolfee adjusted so well to his new home, Alfero decided to include him in a hike for young adults recovering from substance abuse. Wolfee's calm and gentle demeanour led Wolfee to become a permanent fixture in the recovery group - in fact, the participants started referring to themselves as "Team Wolfee." "Wolfee has no hesitancy in meeting new people and will gaze into the eyes of everyone he meets," says Salansky. "After being exposed to Wolfee's loving nature, participants are usually shocked to find out that Wolfee was actually abused by his owners." Besides helping with the substance abuse programs, Wolfee participates in Wolf Connection's 8-week youth empowerment programs and monthly community awareness hikes, as well as private sessions for individuals and families. When he's off duty, Wolfee likes to dig holes, chase lizards, play with the kindergarteners and stare lovingly into the eyes of his caretakers. With Bayer AGs proposed $66 billion (U.S.) purchase of Monsanto Co., the company that invented Aspirin is poised to take on one of the worlds biggest corporate headaches. A potential cure: dropping the Monsanto name. The German drug and chemical conglomerate is considering that move to avoid sullying its reputation, according to people familiar with internal discussions at Bayer who asked not to be named because the talks are private. No decision has been made, and Bayers managers will have some time to think: thanks to antitrust reviews in some 30 jurisdictions worldwide, the purchase isnt likely to be completed before late 2017. Even if the deal goes through as proposed, merging the two companies into the worlds top maker of seeds and crop chemicals will be a challenge. Bayer will need to integrate a company known for making the herbicide Agent Orange for use in the Vietnam War and tangling with environmental groups over genetically-modified crops. One possibility would be to market Monsanto products such as seed corn and Roundup herbicide under the Bayer CropScience name, said Joachim Kregel, who represents independent investors at the German shareholder association SdK. Bayer, after all, brought Aspirin to market in 1899, and in May it topped a ranking of the worlds most reputable pharmaceutical brands from the Reputation Institute, a marketing consultancy. If anyone can do it, its Bayer, Kregel said. In an interview with Bloomberg TV last week, Monsanto chief executive officer Hugh Grant signaled hes open to a change. Ive been very flexible, Grant said after the deal was announced on Sept. 14. The key is less about the name and more about the products developed. At a question-and-answer session with Grant, Bayer chief executive officer Werner Baumann said theres an opportunity for the companies to jointly get beyond this image and reputation thing by building on the trust Bayer enjoys in Europe. Environmentalists have campaigned against the deal since talks were first disclosed in May, with celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo and Bianca Jagger tweeting in opposition. Opponents have argued that combining the companies will drive up prices for farmers and increase the spread of genetically-modified seeds. Bayer and Monsanto counter that combining will leave them better able to research new products to help farmers produce more food. U.S. regulators say food from genetically engineered plants is as safe as that from non-genetically engineered sources. The European Union also has approved GMO products for sale. Bayer is no stranger to public-relations challenges. In 2011, the company paid $750 million to settle lawsuits that claimed a strain of its genetically-modified rice had tainted other crops; Bayer said that it had acted responsibly in handling the biotech rice, but wanted to resolve the litigation so it could move forward. Environmentalists have called on it to stop selling any GM seeds. Further back in its corporate history, the company was a Nazi contractor and used forced labour. The Monsanto deal will give Bayer the opportunity to redeem a tarnished brand and highlight the benefits of the companys products, said Marc Tuengler, chief of DSW, a German association that advises small investors on proxy votes. With the right signals, the right decisions, Bayer can show what will be changed, Tuengler said. Monsanto has a better chance of improving its reputation under Bayers roof. SHARE: WASHINGTONThe CEO of Wells Fargo faced accusations of fraud and calls for his resignation Tuesday from harshly critical U.S. senators at a hearing over allegations that bank employees opened millions of accounts customers didnt know about to meet aggressive sales quotas. Members of the Senate Banking Committee showed bipartisan outrage over the long-running conduct, unsatisfied by chief executive John Stumpfs show of contrition. Stumpf said he was deeply sorry that the bank failed to meet its responsibility to customers and didnt act sooner to stem this unacceptable activity. He promised to assist affected customers. Senator Elizabeth Warren flatly told Stumpf he should resign. You squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers, she said. You should resign. You should give back the money you took while the scam was going on. The Massachusetts Democrat, one of the fiercest critics of Wall Street, also advocated for a criminal investigation by the Justice Department and securities regulators. Stumpf, a 34-year veteran of Wells Fargo and CEO since 2007, earned $19.3 million (U.S.) last year. The bank does have in place provisions its board could implement to claim back executive compensation. Wells Fargo sales employees, trying to meet targets that called for every customer to have eight products with the bank, opened more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts, regulators said last week in levying a $185 million fine. Money in customers accounts was said to have been moved to these new accounts without their permission. Debit cards were issued and activated, as well as PINs created, without telling customers. In some cases, bank employees even created fake email addresses to sign up customers for online banking services, the regulators said. Peppered with criticism for hours, Stumpf at one point stumbled a bit over his words and bristled at Warrens suggestion that the sales practices were a scam. We recognize now that we should have done more sooner, he acknowledged. I am deeply sorry that we have not lived up to our values in this way. He promised: I will make it right. The senators asked that he specifically lay out action the bank will take to do so. They also challenged assertions that he and other Wells Fargo senior executives didnt become aware of the problems until 2013 when the sales misconduct was reported by The Los Angeles Times. The practices apparently began at least in 2009. Wells Fargo has long been known in the banking industry for its aggressive sales goals. Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail banking business, announced in July that she would retire from the bank this year. She is expected to leave with as much as $125 million in salary, stock options and other compensation. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said it would be malpractice if the bank doesnt institute the compensation clawbacks, and Stumpf said the board has the tools to hold senior leadership accountable, including himself and Tolstedt. Questioned again by Warren, Stumpf said the bank had not considered firing her. Under the settlement with regulators, it neither admitted nor denied the allegations. It later said it plans to eliminate the sales targets by Jan. 1. Some 5,300 Wells Fargo employees have been fired. Stumpf offered some detail at the hearing about who was fired, saying bankers, bank managers, managers of managers, and even an area president. They ranged in pay from about $35,000 to $65,000. SHARE: VANCOUVERFirst Nations in British Columbia remain staunchly opposed to a proposed pipeline linking the provinces north coast to Albertas oilsands after the federal government and Northern Gateway announced they will not appeal a Federal Court of Appeal decision on the project. Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said the two announcements Tuesday make no difference to First Nations that would be negatively impacted by the $7.9-billion project, which he described as being on life support. Shortly after Northern Gateway announced it would not appeal the court decision made in June, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said the government also has no plans to file an appeal. Speaking outside the House of Commons, Carr reiterated the courts decision saying the previous Conservative government did not do its job to properly consult with aboriginal people. So were not going to contradict the courts judgment in this case, Carr said, adding the government is considering its options, including the possibility of more consultations with First Nations. Northern Gateway president John Carruthers said in a statement issued earlier Tuesday that meaningful consultation, not litigation, is the best path forward for a project he said would economically benefit First Nations and Metis, and includes 31 aboriginal equity partners. In order to encourage investment and economic development, Canadians need certainty that the government will fully and properly consult with our nations indigenous communities, he said. However, Phillip said that while consultation is a serious constitutional and legal undertaking, industry and governments have not made the financial investments needed to give it much weight. Were moving out of the era of consultation to consent-based decision making reality so I think this focus on adequate or inadequate consultation is somewhat behind the curve. I think the bar is much higher than consultation, regardless of quality and scope, Phillip said. The government of Canada, under Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau, has committed to fully embrace the (United Nations) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is very much about free, prior and informed consent. The Northern Gateway project by Calgary-based Enbridge (TSX:ENB) would include two pipelines, one carrying oilsands bitumen from Alberta to a port in Kitimat, B.C., and a second carrying condensate a form of natural gas used to dilute the bitumen from Kitimat back to Alberta. Eight First Nations, four environmental groups and a labour union launched legal challenges against the approval, which were consolidated and heard by the Federal Court of Appeal last October. The appeal court quashed approval of the pipeline, saying Ottawa neglected to discuss subjects of critical importance to First Nations by ignoring many of the projects impacts and offering only a brief, hurried and inadequate opportunity for consultation. The proposal, which has been in the works since 2005 and would require the construction of more than 1,100 kilometres of pipeline, first got the green light from the Canadian government in 2014. However, it has been mired in legal uncertainty ever since. Residents of Kitimat objected to it in a non-binding plebiscite that year, but widespread opposition led the Union of B.C. Municipalities to pass a resolution against it back in 2010. Art Sterritt, an elder and spokesman with the Gitgaat First Nation in Hartley Bay, said the companys continued promise of economic benefits from Northern Gateway are ridiculous. People are being offered the opportunity to buy in on a pipeline. Anybody can buy in on any company, he said of the 31 aboriginal equity partners. Most of them are in Alberta, and many already have pipelines running through their territories, Sterritt said. The reality is the people who really have something to lose, the people that own the resources, the people who have title to the land in British Columbia, are telling Northern Gateway to get lost. Little consultation has occurred so far, but more talk wont mean First Nations will accept the pipeline theyve rejected all along, he said, echoing Phillips comments. They can come along and talk till theyre blue in the face. The reality is this is an industry that will endanger everything that we stand for on the north coast. Read more about: SHARE: A wrongful-death lawsuit filed Monday claims that actor Jim Carrey supplied his late girlfriend with the powerful prescription drugs she used to kill herself. Cathriona White, 30, was found dead in a Sherman Oaks, California, residence in September 2015. The lawsuit, filed by her husband, Mark Burton, in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Carrey used a fake name and his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances. Burton, through the lawsuit, also alleges Carrey supplied White with prescription drugs despite knowing she was prone to depression and had previous suicide attempts. Representatives for Carrey did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shortly after Whites death, reports emerged that White was still married but had been estranged from her husband. Burton attorney Michael Avenatti told The Washington Post that White and Burton had been married since January 2013, but the lawyer declined to comment on the nature of their relationship at the time of her death because it distracts from what this case is really about, which is Mr. Carreys conduct. The lawsuit alleges Carrey violated Californias Drug Dealer Liability Act, which allows people to file civil lawsuits against suppliers for harm caused by illegal drug use, and seeks unspecified damages. An autopsy showed White had taken her own life by overdosing on a lethal amount of prescription drugs, including Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet, all of which Carrey got using the fake name Arthur King, according to the lawsuit. Shortly after Whites death, Carrey said in a statement that he was shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of my sweet Cathriona. She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled. Carreys statement in 2015 continued: My heart goes out to her family and friends and to everyone who loved and cared about her. We have all been hit with a lightning bolt. The actor attended Whites funeral, and a photo published by People shows him helping to carry the casket. But the lawsuit, which seeks burial and funeral expenses, claims that Carrey offered to help pay for the funeral (a story line that surfaced in TMZ) and never did. White, an Irish makeup artist, had been romantically linked with Carrey on and off since 2012. Details from her autopsy were reported by various outlets this summer, including what drugs were found in her system and a note she had written to Carrey. The actor then released a statement lamenting the public release of her autopsy. When I came to Hollywood to make it as a comedian, I soon learned that the details of my private life would be handed out to the media like free dinner vouchers. I never dreamed that the people I love most in the world would also be on the menu, Carrey said in a July statement. What a shame. SHARE: OTTAWABecause its 2015 became a Liberal catchphrase after the election of the new government late last year, but Mondays return of Parliament following a three-month summer recess had a distinctly 2008 feel. Consider the similarities: A federal government earnestly promising to address climate change while insisting it will protect the economy; repeated warnings about a job-killing carbon tax; a third party lamenting interchangeable Liberal and Conservative policy dithering. Only the players have changed. The fall sitting of the House of Commons promises some high theatre for energy and environmental policy wonks as the Liberals have engineered a schedule that calls for a number of crucial decisions by Christmas. But on Monday the place had the spontaneity and verve of a tired rerun. The heckling began even before the curtain rose. Last week, government sources told The Canadian Press that Canada would ratify the landmark Paris climate accord this fall before it finishes negotiating a plan with the provinces and territories to achieve the countrys international commitments. Then Environment Minister Catherine McKenna used the televised Sunday politics shows to promise the unilateral federal imposition of a carbon price on any province that doesnt come up with its own carbon tax or cap-and-trade system. That was enough to prompt broadsides from left and right, with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall openly musing about why Canada should make any sacrifice on climate change given that the country produces only about 1.6 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Liberals staged a photo op Monday on the Hill, with McKenna, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Transport Minister Marc Garneau arriving by fuel-cell powered vehicle, but their greenly optimistic visuals were shrouded by a fog of opposition rhetoric. Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose called the federal carbon price just a cash grab. I dont think Canadians want to be taxed more heavily, particularly when they dont see any plan to help the environment, Ambrose told a news conference. McKenna maintained shes keeping provinces and territories in the loop after a summer of consultations, and that the mechanics of carbon pricing are being negotiated. Her response was not well received. In all, five different Conservatives pounded away at the carbon tax theme during Mondays question period. Alberta provincial leadership candidate and soon-to-be-former MP Jason Kenney reprised the 2008 Conservative election tax on everything charge almost verbatim, while MP David Anderson accused the Liberals of declaring all out war on the provinces and of viciously targeting rural people and agriculture. McKenna eventually acknowledged that there is concern about carbon pricing in Canadas northern territories, where fuel costs are already sky high. Government sources have said the only acceptable carbon pricing mechanisms are either a direct carbon tax, such as the one in B.C., or cap-and-trade systems like Quebec and Ontario. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated Monday that other forms of regulation might also qualify as carbon pricing. We all got together, all the different premiers of the provinces and the federal government, and we all agreed that pricing carbon pollution has to be the way forward. Its just smart economics to put a price on the things that you dont want, Trudeau said in livestreamed interview with U.S.-based BuzzFeed News. Now what form that takes whether its a carbon tax, whether its a cap-and-trade, whether its through regulations theres all sorts of interesting and important discussion to be had; we have very different jurisdictions across the country. New Democrats were content to shoot the wounded. They focused on the inadequacy of Canadas emission targets, noting the Liberals have adopted the Conservative goal of cutting greenhouse gases 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 a measure that wont put Canada on track for the deep emissions cuts that McKenna lobbied for so heavily last December in Paris. NDP interim leader Thomas Mulcair accused the Liberals of serving up the same Conservative plan, except with a smile. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWAIt is in Canadas interest to play a leadership role in United Nations peacekeeping, former military commander Romeo Dallaire said Monday even as he delivered a pointed critique of how the world body runs such missions. The retired senator and lieutenant-general, who famously led the UNs ill-fated mission in Rwanda more than 20 years ago, told a Senate committee that the world has failed to act on some much-needed reforms when it comes to peacekeeping. The problems he cited include poor mission planning and the appointment of unqualified military officers and diplomats to lead missions and diplomatic efforts. There are regions where youve got four or five missions right beside each other that could be reinforcing each other that have no capability of doing that, Dallaire said. Thats why the guys dont like to work with the UN. But Dallaire said the many conflicts the UN is trying to manage will have an impact on Canada in the form of refugee crises, pandemics and terrorism, and that only by returning to peacekeeping can Canada help strengthen the world bodys ability to respond. Those reforms are critical to the future. And I think you can move the yardsticks, he said after the meeting. Dont go away from the UN. On the contrary, get into entrails of the damn thing and start pulling out some of that stuff. Dallaires appearance before the Senate committee coincided with the return of Parliament from the summer break. Opposition critics wasted no time criticizing the Liberal governments plan to commit up to 600 troops to at least one still-unannounced peacekeeping mission. Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose accused the government of using Canadian military personnel as pawns in its push for a UN Security Council seat, and demanded any future deployment be subject to a debate and vote in the House of Commons. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, who invited Dallaire to escort him on a tour of peacekeeping operations in East Africa in August, said the government would welcome a healthy debate. But he stopped short of saying whether there would be a vote. We fully understand the complexity of peace operations, but we cannot be an island of stability in an ocean of turmoil. Canada needs to do its part, he said. We are going to take a thorough effort before we put all the facts together and before we have a thorough debate on this. While Dallaire voiced strong support for Canada jumping back into peacekeeping, he said there could be challenges beyond simply dealing with the UN. Those include making sure any mission can be deployed and resupplied in a timely manner, and having enough troops to sustain a long-term effort. It is simply the fact that there has been mass attrition from the 90s, and we have never recovered, he said, in reference to the Chretien governments decision to cut the military by about one-third in the 1990s. That is what will limit our options. Defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance told The Canadian Press on the weekend that the military was not recommending any missions that would stretch it too thin. He also said he was comfortable the military could conduct a peacekeeping mission in Africa while operating in the Middle East and Latvia. While Dallaire was supportive of the Liberal government returning to peacekeeping, he was somewhat critical of its decision to commit only 150 police officers to such efforts. He said the National Police Services advisory council had recommended 600 police officers back when he was a member. One-hundred fifty is a good first shot, he said, but not enough. SHARE: Montreal businessman Mitch Garber called for Quebecs francophone and anglophone communities to expand their horizons and put an end to the two solitudes that has divided them for nearly 40 years. The refusal of some members of my Jewish and anglophone community to learn and live in French is embarrassing, he said in a bilingual speech Monday to the Canadian Club of Montreal. The Cirque du Soleil chairman and CEO of Caesars Acquisition Company also said that francophone Quebecers shouldnt only limit themselves to speaking the language of Moliere. Garber, 52, said former premier Rene Levesque was correct to make French the predominant language of Quebec. But that doesnt mean that francophones shouldnt also learn the language of Shakespeare. The failure on the French side to see the global and cultural benefits for their children to speak at least two languages including the worlds working, business and Internet language is paralyzing the potential of generations of French Canadians, he said. Criticizing Quebecs high level of student dropouts, Garber said business concepts need to be taught in elementary grades for the success of business people to be valued. If its important for our children to know (Habs goalie) Carey Prices statistics, we should also tell them who is Alain Bouchard, he said, referring to the founder of Alimentation Couche-Tard, whose convenience store chain is worth $50 billion. Garber also criticized the opposition Parti Quebecois and the Coalition for Quebecs Future for their rhetoric following the sales of home renovation company Rona to U.S. retailer Lowes, and the St-Hubert restaurant and food-manufacturing business to Ontarios Cara Operations Ltd. In a free market its normal that companies are sometimes sold to foreigners, just as some Quebec companies expand through foreign acquisitions, he said. Read more about: SHARE: With Green Party leader Elizabeth May leading the charge, there will be no lack of Canadians disappointed by the Liberal decision to stick with Stephen Harpers targets for reducing carbon emissions. After all, to use a term that was dear to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his days in opposition, he has the social licence not only to raise those targets but just as importantly to place part of the burden of mitigating climate change unto the shoulders of consumers. According to an Abacus poll done last month, less than one third of Canadians oppose the introduction of a carbon tax as part of a larger climate change strategy. An overwhelming majority of non-Conservative voters support or could accept such a measure. It is a rare tax that finds favour with a majority in the public especially on the heels of decade-long concerted federal effort to vilify the concept. According to Abacus, the rhetoric expended by Harpers government on making a carbon levy politically toxic even fell on the deaf ears of almost four in 10 Conservative voters. It is, of course, easier to support a tax in theory than to pay for it in practice. Still, the experience of British Columbia where a carbon tax was introduced almost a decade ago has been that the political cost of such a measure at least initially is not exorbitant. So, given all of the above, is the Trudeau government missing out on a once-in-a-political-lifetime opportunity to go hard on carbon emissions? Not necessarily. Canada has a long way to go to meet its international commitments on carbon emissions reduction. The existing targets are widely expected to fall short of the mark. But meeting them could still be a significant stretch. It is hard to reach for the sky in the absence of a ladder. The introduction of a national price on carbon is a crucial part of the building of a Canadian policy infrastructure sturdy enough to achieve steady progress on curbing carbon emissions. This is a policy for which governments will need public support for the long haul. The popular consensus on carbon pricing was not born out of thin air. The fact that there is wide provincial support for the concept is an essential part of the mix. In particular, the election of an NDP government in Alberta has altered the alignment of the stars. It was not so long ago that the mention of a federal move to put a price on carbon was enough to send Albertas political class to the barricades in protest against a purported raid on the provinces energy resources reminiscent of the National Energy Program of a previous Trudeau era. That was until NDP Premier Rachel Notley brought the province inside the tent. Like most other provinces including the three most populous ones, Alberta has put a price on carbon. But like its sister provinces of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, it is not looking to see that price increase precipitously in a sluggish economy. Keeping Harpers targets is not the same as sticking with the Conservatives climate change plan. By maintaining the existing targets, Trudeaus Liberals maximize the chances that the transition to a national price on carbon (complete with an escalator clause) is relatively seamless. Given a choice between setting goals that may or may not be attainable at a prohibitively high political (and economic) cost, or putting in place the conditions for meeting more ambitious ones on a consensual federal-provincial basis over time, the latter should logically take precedence. A note in closing: consensual is not synonymous with unanimity. There will be some provincial pushback to an escalating national price on carbon, most notably from Saskatchewan. But in the House of Commons, the Trudeau government will not lack for cover both for keeping the existing targets for emissions reductions and for putting a national price on carbon. The Conservatives had a decade to drive a stake through the heart of the concept of a carbon tax and it is still alive and kicking. They are now left to argue that their Liberal successors should not do what it takes to meet targets set by their former government. As long as Notley remains on side with Trudeaus approach, the federal New Democrats stand to be in a similarly awkward position. Calling for more stringent targets would put them on the wrong side of the partys only provincial government. Read more about: SHARE: MINTO, ONT.Shes promised more relief for soaring electricity bills starting in January but that didnt stop dozens of visitors to the International Plowing Match from booing Premier Kathleen Wynne on Tuesday. The catcalls came as Wynnes Liberal MPPs travelled through the events tent city on a parade float and when she spoke to hundreds at the opening ceremonies. We are working to bring those electricity costs down, she boasted to the crowd at the fair that attracts thousands of farmers from rural Ontario every year. There were some cheers along with a chorus of boos, prompting Wynne whose party trailed the Progressive Conservatives by 20 points in a Forum Research poll last week to acknowledge I hear a mixed response to that. Her governments throne speech last week promised an 8 per cent rebate on residential, farm and small business hydro bills, up to 20 per cent off hydro for thousands of rural residents who often heat their homes with electricity and up to 34 per cent for large power consumers who shift hydro use away from peak periods on high demand days. Whoop dee doo, said Garland Webster, a farmer from Thamesville, near Chatham, who booed at Wynne as she rode past him in the parade earlier on a bright sunny day in this rural community an hour north of Guelph. Theyre going to get it back somewhere. Webster said his electricity bills for the last three months of summer heat have been terrible and said the province must stop building wind turbines given the surplus of electricity production. The premier was also shadowed by wind turbine opponents including dairy farmer Jackie VanDenbraack from nearby Listowel who said a wind power company is now trying to convince local landowners to sign leases. Were prime agricultural land. We dont need that, she said, holding a sign reading stop the wind scam. Wynne later tried to downplay the unfriendly reception in some quarters, such as from a woman at the back of the crowd who shouted liar and later approached her to blame wind farms for her health problems. I think that there are people who dont yet know whether theyre going to qualify, the premier said, referring to the rebates of up to 20 per cent for rural hydro customers in remote areas. What we do know is they will get the 8 per cent reduction when the provincial portion of the 13 per cent HST is rebated, she added. Not everybody has that information yet, Wynne told a news conference before she and rival party leaders competed to see who could plow the straightest furrow. Its our job now to make sure that people know that theyre eligible and they have the opportunity to understand exactly what that will mean on their bills. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she wasnt surprised to see the premier facing criticism over hydro rates. People are very upset. People are tired of a government thats been seen as out of touch for so long. The government needs to do more for farmers and the food processing sector where operators are being forced out of business because of skyrocketing hydro rates, said Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown. Wynne said the Liberal government has successfully upgraded the electricity system to prevent brownouts or blackouts on high demand days in the scorching summer heat, and is helping families in other ways with tuition grants for low- and middle-income students, adding 100,000 daycare spaces and improving public transit. We are working to tackle the issues that affect people in their lives every single day. Read more about: SHARE: EDMONTONPrime Minister Justin Trudeau is adding his voice to growing condemnation of racist posters that were put up at the University of Alberta targeting turban-wearing Sikhs. Were proud of the enormous contributions Sikhs make to this country everyday, Trudeau wrote Tuesday on Twitter. The university said it removed 12 of the posters found on the campus on Monday, including one at the universitys main library. The posters feature a picture of a Sikh man, profanity about turbans and a statement calling on people from third-world cultures to leave Canada. Messaging on the poster included the caption FK YOUR TURBAN and If you are so obsessed with your third-world culture, go the fk back to where you came from. The posters included the hashtags non-integrative and invasion. University president David Turpin said campus police are investigating. It makes me very angry, Turpin said in an interview, noting the campus has been buzzing about the posters. This has been met with disgust. People are rising up independently, reaching out to minority groups and offering support. Yadvinder Bhardwaj, of the 2,500-member Indian Student Association, said it is shameful that someone tried to disturb the harmony shared by students of different ethnic backgrounds. We totally condemn the act, he said. People choose Canada because it is known for its diversity. The World Sikh Organization of Canada also spoke out against the racist message. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan who is Sikh also weighed in on the issue on social media. Proud to be Canadian, proud of my service to Canada, proud of my turban, he wrote on Twitter, referencing the university. Arundeep Singh Sandhu said he felt a flash of anger when he heard about the racist posters. But instead of giving in to rage, the former student decided to help organize a gathering to be held next week to raise awareness about what a turban is and its importance to Sikhs. Sandhu, 28, said volunteers will tie turbans on to students at the main Edmonton campus and answer questions during an event he is calling Turban 101. I thought this would be a really good way to turn the conversation around, Sandhu said. You had your say and put your poster up. The response was people tore it down. Now we are going to give our views and see what people think of that. Sandhu said he cant believe that there are still people making an issue of turbans in Canada. He remembers the debate among some people over whether RCMP officers should be allowed to wear turbans when he was a little boy. The posters put up on campus show that individuals and the community must always be ready to stand up to ignorance, he said. I will admit I was angry that someone would say this, Sandhu said. It is never productive to respond to hate with anger and hate. We can turn this around. Earlier this month, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson helped launched an anti-racism campaign on social media called Make It Awkward after someone hurled a slur at a black actor in the city who was filming a public service announcement on a city street. Actor Jesse Lipscombe challenged a middle-aged white man who made the slur to explain his actions. The man denied doing anything but then yelled another slur before driving away. Lipscombes encounter was caught on video and posted online. Read more about: SHARE: Correction - September 22, 2016: The article below from the Canadian Press incorrectly states that the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and two major First Nations groups planned to ask a Federal Court judge to find the Liberal government in contempt over its treatment of children living on reserves. In fact, one of the groups, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, asked the commission to register the tribunal's decision with the Federal Court, the first step towards allowing the caring society to bring judicial enforcement proceedings against the federal government. As well, the CHRC said on Tuesday it wants the two First Nations groups to resolve their dispute with the federal government over child welfare on reserves without resorting to legal action. OTTAWAThe Canadian Human Rights Commission and two major First Nations groups are planning to ask a Federal Court judge to find the Liberal government in contempt over its treatment of children living on reserves. The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations have endorsed the commissions legal effort to compel the government to abide by the findings of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. We have to go to Federal Court and we will have to apply for a contempt order, said Cindy Blackstock, the head of the society and a longtime champion of First Nations child welfare. It is something I was hoping we would never have to do. The quasi-judicial tribunal initially found in January that the government had been discriminating against First Nations children in its delivery of child welfare services on reserve. Two subsequent rulings ordered the government to update its policies and procedures to comply with its original findings. You have a group of children who the federal government consciously decides are getting less public services than every other group in the country, Blackstock said. They are racially discriminating against them . . . as a matter of law and they are failing to comply with legal orders. That, to me, is pretty clear cut. Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould welcomed the tribunals January findings, Blackstock noted, adding she was hopeful at the time of the decision. That didnt turn out to be the case, so now we are going to have to take it up another level, she said. What I cant figure out is, what are the kids losing to? What is a higher priority to the government than fixing racial discrimination against 163,000 children the children who are the children and grandchildren of the residential school survivors? The federal government is committed to overhauling the child welfare system for First Nations, Bennett insisted Monday, under pressure from opposition New Democrats in question period. The government will work with First Nations communities, organizations and front line service providers to improve its overall structure, she said in French. Last week, Bennetts office said it was reviewing the finding from the tribunal issued last week. The image of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government being taken to Federal Court for refusing to respond to systemic discrimination against indigenous children boggles the mind, said NDP indigenous affairs critic Charlie Angus. The government continues to follow the same refusal and denial of service to children who are extremely vulnerable, he said, pointing to the case of a young Alberta woman. The federal government has spent $32,000 fighting in court fighting her as opposed to spending $8,000 on her dental treatments, Angus added. The prime minister made such clear commitments, he was firm that they were going to create a new relationship, he said. Blackstock has repeatedly challenged the government for promising $71 million this year for immediate relief for child welfare, pegging the actual shortfall to be at least $200 million. Commitments contained within the federal budget have already been deemed clearly insufficient by the tribunal, Blackstock said. They need to stop defending the indefensible, she said. They keep raising up Budget 2016. The tribunal has issued two failure-to-comply orders since they announced Budget 2016. She also said the government needs to provide more information on a July announcement on Jordans Principle a policy named after a five-year-old boy with complex needs who died in hospital in 2005 after a protracted two-year battle between the federal and Manitoba governments over his home care costs. The government has said it will provide up $382 million over three years in new funding. SHARE: A Law Society of Upper Canada working group is proposing that the regulatory body step in to ensure that law firms and other legal workplaces move to eradicate systemic racism in the legal profession, and to penalize those that fail. The Challenges Faced by Racialized Licensees Working Group spent the past four years studying the issue and holding consultations and will present its final report and recommendations Thursday to the Law Societys benchers its board of directors for information purposes. A final vote is expected on Dec. 2. The challenges faced by racialized licensees are both longstanding and significant, reads part of the report, obtained by the Star. In our view, the Law Society must take a leadership role in giving legal workplaces reasonable deadlines to implement steps that are important to bring about lasting culture change. The report goes on to say: It is clear from the working groups engagement and consultation processes that discrimination based on race is a daily reality for many racialized licensees; however, many participants stated that they would not file a discrimination complaint with the Law Society for various reasons, including fear of losing their job, fear of being labeled as a troublemaker, and other reprisal-related concerns. Lawyer Paul Jonathan Saguil said its important that the public, as well as lawyers, see themselves reflected in the legal profession. What happens when you get to the pinnacle of the profession people who are applying to the bench or to tribunals? As you go up the pipeline, you get people who are more and more removed from what is the true diversity of the Canadian population, and that has an impact, he said. For lawyers, too, it has a psychological impact when they dont see themselves reflected at their firm, and wondering how they can succeed. Saguil, who is Filipino-Canadian, mentioned as his role model Superior Court Justice Steve Coroza, believed to be the first Filipino-Canadian appointed to a superior court. Once you see someone advance in that position, you start hoping that one day you can achieve even a modicum of that success, Saguil said. Major recommendations most of which the working group envisions would be implemented over the next three years include requiring legal workplaces of at least 10 licensees (which include lawyers and paralegals) to develop and implement a human rights/diversity policy, addressing at the very least fair recruitment, retention and advancement. A representative of each of those workplaces would also have to complete an equality, diversity and inclusion self-assessment of their office every two years, according to one proposal. Another recommendation proposes progressive compliance measures for workplaces that dont implement a human rights/diversity policy, and/or workplaces that are identified as having systemic barriers to diversity and inclusion. The 15-member working group, made up of benchers, proposes a gradation of responses, from meeting with representatives of legal workplaces to discuss concerns, to disciplinary approaches if there is deliberate non-compliance with requirements, despite multiple warnings, or no efforts are made to address systemic barriers. Observers say change is needed now more than ever, as the number of racialized lawyers in Ontario has doubled from 9 per cent of the profession in 2001, to 18 per cent in 2014. According to the 2011 census, 26 per cent of Ontarians identified as racialized. The overall goal is to change the culture of the legal profession, said lawyer Raj Anand, co-chair of the working group. We had a very important issue that has not been addressed certainly not to this extent by any law society in Canada . . . I dont think theres any law society that has gone to the point of mandatory measures in order to effect culture change. Anand said he hopes other law societies can use his working groups report as a model to change the culture in other provinces. The issues are still serious ones, and enough time has passed. Its time to put in place some base minimums. These are not radical recommendations. Progress would be measured by annually providing legal workplaces of 25 licensees or more with the self-identification data of their firms lawyers and paralegals. That information, compiled by the Law Society, would then allow the firm to compare its numbers with the profession as a whole. Licensees would also be asked to answer questions about inclusion at their workplace every four years, and a summary would be given to the workplace. The Law Society would also be required to publish an inclusion index every four years that would contain the legal workplaces self-assessment information, demographic data and information collected from the inclusion questions. The group also recommends mandatory training for every licensee on equality and inclusion, to be taken once every three years, as well as improvements for mentoring. The release of the report comes just weeks after Toronto lawyer Selwyn Pieters filed a human rights complaint against the Law Society, alleging racial profiling. In his unproven Human Rights Tribunal complaint, Pieters says he and a black student were visiting Law Society headquarters in July when a security guard demanded to see his Law Society identity card, while white people both before and after the incident were buzzed in without scrutiny. When his ID card turned out to be expired, the guard refused to allow them entry. Its based on the fact that Im black and I believe based on the fact that I have dreadlocks, he told The Canadian Press this month. Pieters was later allowed into the building after renewing his ID. The Law Societys CEO told Pieters in a letter that the guard followed proper protocols and that no racial profiling took place. One working group recommendation targets the Law Society itself, and calls for providing equality and inclusion education programs for Law Society staff on a regular basis, as well as compile and publish results of an internal diversity assessment of the bencher composition. The working group is of the view that the Law Society must take a leadership role and model the change it is seeking to create in the professions, says the report. The recommendations are a baseline to what we would consider absolutely necessary to advance the cause of diversity in the legal profession, said Lai-King Hum, national president of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers and chair of the Roundtable of Diversity Associations. There could be improvements, but my understanding is they reached consensus. The conversation has been going on for a couple of decades. Its time, and we need something implemented, and this will at least meet our baseline considerations. I commend the group for having been able to advance this and come to a consensus. An overhaul of the Law Societys Discrimination and Harassment Counsel Program (DHC), which looks into workplace complaints from lawyers and paralegals, is also envisioned, including the creation of a specially trained team to deal with racial discrimination complaints. With files from The Canadian Press SHARE: Four little voices called out her name, and Lyse Doucets measured, TV-journalism demeanor melted to jubilation. By now you may have seen it: images of the BBCs chief international correspondent running and embracing a family of Syrian refugees at a picnic in Toronto, video of which spread like feel-good wildfire online Tuesday. Its not the usual comportment of a high-profile reporter, a Canadian-born veteran of 30 years with the British public broadcaster who has covered stories all over the world, but this was a decidedly unusual twist of fate one that Doucet breathlessly described as serendipitous. To understand the emotional encounter on Sunday, one must go back two years to Damascus, the war-torn Syrian capital. It was there that Doucet met the Sabbagh family, two parents who had lost a child and were raising three sons and a daughter in a small home above a shop. Doucet said their daughter, Daad, became a central figure in her documentary about children living with the horrors of a civil war that has lasted five years, spawned hordes of casualties and refugees, and offers little hope of ending anytime soon. Speaking with the Star from New York City, between live hits for the BBC from the United Nations, the journalist from New Brunswick recounted how she was struck by Daad, who was just 11 at the time. We always said she was one of the sweetest ones, almost an ambassador for human rights, Doucet said. Doucet and her team shot video of Daad describing her yearning for the normalcy of places like Canada, where kids can go to school without fear. She also told them of her nightmares: ghosts and animate corpses that wont die even though theyve been shot. After Doucet wrapped her documentary and left Syria, she tried to keep tabs on the Sabbagh family. She knew they were worried about being evicted from their home above the shop, and that they planned to go to Lebanon as refugees. From there they would try to come to Canada as the Liberal government won office and pledged to bring in tens of thousands of displaced Syrians. But Doucet didnt know what happened to them. But the Sabbaghs were on her mind this weekend, when she came to Toronto ahead of the UN General Assembly to report on how this country is accepting refugees by inviting people to privately sponsor government-approved families and help them settle down in their new home. Doucet and her team heard about a picnic for refugees at a park in Leslieville, and they were there on Sunday when the path of her journalism would coincidentally lead her to the Sabbaghs once again. Standing in the park doing interviews, she said, a young child came up and asked for her name. Seconds later, she heard a group of young voices calling out to her. She turned around, and then she saw them. They screamed, she recalled with a laugh. For all of us, it was an extraordinary emotional moment of finding each other, but also to find each other in a place like Canada. And they, I think, still cant believe their good fortune of this happening. The video, which BBC posted online Tuesday, shows Doucet running to hug Hannan Sabbagh, the mother of the family, while yelling Oh my God! After they embrace, she hugs the children, who cluster around her with wide grins as Doucet asks them how theyre doing and tells them theyre cute. Hannan can be seen looking on with tears in her eyes. Doucet said her producers expressed reservations about posting the video, due to the sensitivity of the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe. She said the feeling was that there would be a backlash to such a sympathetic portrayal, as well as an emotional response from a leading journalist. But Doucet said she felt the story is important, to show an authentic happy ending for a family who has been through so much, like so many millions of people from that part of the world. The kids are learning English, along with their mother, while Daads dreams of deadly horrors are being replaced with the happy visions of other girls her age; Doucet said she now has a notebook with drawings of Cinderella and Snow White in her bedroom, which is painted pink. The fact of the matter is the Syrian humanitarian crisis is the crisis of our time, and its not going to go away, she said. Its very rare in life that you get a second start. And they have been given nothing less than that. SHARE: Convicted drunk driver Marco Muzzo and his familys drywall business are being sued by the relatives of the three children and grandfather he killed in a September 2015 car crash. Daniel, 9, Harrison, 5 and Milly Neville-Lake, 2, along with their 65-year-old grandfather, Gary Neville, died when an impaired Muzzo, then 29, drove through a stop sign in Vaughan and struck the familys minivan. Also injured in the crash were the childrens grandmother, Neriza Neville, and great-grandmother, Josefina Frias. The case attracted national attention because of the number of victims in the same family and the Muzzo familys wealth, estimated to be $1.8 billion by Canadian Business magazine. Muzzo pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, and was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison considered one of the harshest sentences handed down in Canadian history for those crimes. He had been returning home after landing in a private jet from his bachelor party in Miami, court heard after he pleaded guilty. A toxicologist found that Muzzo would have had between 190 and 245 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood at the time of the collision, nearly three times the legal limit. The $22.5 million-dollar lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in April, is being brought by Neriza Neville, as well as the childrens parents, Edward Lake and Jennifer Neville-Lake, their uncle Jonathan Neville and aunt Josephine Neville. The plaintiffs state that the defendant, Marco Muzzo, has behaved with high-handedness and with disdain for the rights of the plaintiffs, says the statement of claim. The plaintiffs further state that the defendant, Marco Muzzo, was conscious of the probable consequences of his carelessness and was indifferent or worse, to the danger of injury or death to the occupants of the Neville-Lake vehicle. None of the statement of claims allegations has been proven in court. The family says their lives have been, remains and will be significantly impaired and that the loss of their family members has affected their ability to earn a livelihood and means they will continue to require treatment, according to the statement of claim. Steven Stieber, lawyer for Muzzo and the family business Marel Contractors, told the Star that a statement of defence will be filed soon accepting responsibility and not casting blame or fault on anyone else. He said the defendants hope to resolve the matter of compensation in the near future. The plaintiffs lawyer, Richard Shekter, declined to comment. The family is also suing Marel as they allege the company owned the car Muzzo was driving, and that the company failed to ensure it was mechanically sound. They allege that Marel allowed its vehicle to be operated by a driver who lacked reasonable care, skill, ability and training and who ought not to have been operating the said motor vehicle in question. They go on to allege that Marel failed to properly maintain the car, including failure to ensure the brakes were in working order. (After Muzzo pleaded guilty, court heard that he applied the brakes 3.7 seconds before the crash, but was still going 85 km/h when he collided with the minivan.) Edward and Jennifer attended nearly every court appearance for Muzzo at the Newmarket courthouse and always spoke to the media afterward about their loss. In her victim impact statement, which she read herself at Muzzos sentencing hearing in February, Jennifer Neville-Lake addressed Muzzo directly. I dont have anyone left to call me mom. Not one left. You killed all my babies, she said. The roaring silence that has been left behind as a result of your actions is so deafening, and is so incredibly, painfully discordant to listen to. Shame on you for taking my loves from me. When it came time for Muzzo himself to address the court, Edward and Jennifer quietly exited the courtroom. I wish that I could be able to give back to your family for all I have taken, he said. I will spend the rest of my life attempting to atone for my conduct by devoting myself to educating the public of the disastrous consequences of drinking and driving. In handing down her sentence, Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst said the message about the dangers of drinking and driving had escaped Muzzo. It is important that it does not escape others, she said. The high degree of Mr. Muzzos moral blameworthiness, combined with the enormous and far-reaching consequences of his offences, sets this case apart from others. Muzzo, who was also banned from driving for 12 years, is eligible to apply for full parole after having served one-third of his sentence in about three years. Read more about: SHARE: As Chris Bryson, the founder and CEO of Unata, scales his five-year-old e-commerce loyalty services firm, he is keenly aware of the sword of Damocles that hangs over the 40-employee startup. He knows that whenever he hires a talented young software developer, the persons LinkedIn inbox will quickly fill with solicitations, including some from headhunters working for U.S.-based firms or global tech giants that can easily outbid his company on salaries and benefits. To me, its not that different than retail, he says. Youre not necessarily always competitive on price. Indeed, many Canadian graduates and talented younger tech workers are lured south by U.S.-dollar compensation packages, the allure of working in San Francisco or Silicon Valley, and the prospect of hitching their careers to firms on meteoric growth trajectories. When someone leaves, its almost like being broken up with, says Gimmy Chu, co-founder and CEO of Nanoleaf, the Toronto-based developer of ultraefficient LED lighting. For startups that depend on employee creativity, the brain drain can strike in every corner, especially in sectors like information and communications technology, health and cleantech. Were talking about engineering talent, data scientists and researchers, observes MaRS vice-president for talent Joanne Thomsen, who has been piloting a venture talent program at MaRS. Few dispute the financial imbalance. Money and opportunities are the reason 90 per cent of Canadians head to the Valley, says University of British Columbia graduate Ricky Gu, who ran his own startup before moving to the U.S. to work as a senior software engineer at FullBottle, a crowdsourcing platform for advertising creative. The pay is twice what it is in Canada. Lifestyle factors also play a role. Im from Toronto, so skipping winter is very appealing, adds Michael Caputo, an engineer at Evidation Health, in San Francisco. Im also a cyclist and a runner, so being able to do both those things through the year in very mild weather is another plus. Yet its increasingly clear that the talent has begun to flow in both directions. In fact, according to a report from the Silicon Valley Competitiveness and Innovation Project, the storied California tech hub has lost more residents than it gained in recent years, as the high cost of living, quality of life issues and opportunity gaps for minorities are making rivals, such as the Toronto-Waterloo tech corridor, more appealing. Other factors, relating to family, future opportunity and a sense of national loyalty, are also at play. Toronto native Ian Logan, who works in San Francisco as an engineering manager at accommodation disrupter Airbnb, says that, when he left school in 2008, he had a clear understanding of the importance, for his career, of spending five to 10 years with a high-growth firm. With that experience under his belt, he finds himself looking northward. One of the draws to return to Toronto is family and friends, Logan allows, but I also feel that I can bring a lot to technology in general back home in Canada. I can see that happening within the next two years. For myself, I was able to gain enough context in the Valley to come back to this ecosystem and make a difference, says Amar Varma, general manager of mobile in Toronto for California-based Pivotal Software, Inc. Thats been helpful, because I dont have that chip on my shoulder. I understand how they work; theyre people too. To attract either grads or those returning north, Canadian startups should foster a culture that allows employees to tackle tough problems, and work closely with colleagues who are both talented and collegial. Unatas Bryson says he looks to provide those sought-after hires with plenty of responsibility, and makes certain to check in with employees regularly. The first couple of hires are really, really important, he adds, noting that they can create a virtuous circle by establishing the culture of the operation. Thomsen urges startups to make it clear to new recruits that they will have significant learning opportunities and the chance to greatly impact the companys growth. Also, due to the small size of these firms, they will invariably participate in decisions that extend beyond their specific expertise. Its exciting, to be a part of a high-growth venture, she says. When it comes to compensation, universities are telling graduates they should look at all elements of a package, including benefits and options-based profit-sharing. Bryson says Unata closely monitors compensation levels in the industry and seeks to remain close to average levels, although hell aim to make counter-offers for employees who seem to be straying. Heather Galt, a former Kik Interactive manager who now heads the talent initiative for Communitech in Waterloo, urges startups to establish mind share with potential recruits by making sure they are visible in their own communities, either through involvement in charitable events, hackathons, meetups or other activities meant to build their corporate brands. She also says startups can think about other ways of offsetting the compensation differential, using inducements such as flexible hours, telecommuting or other career-advancement opportunities. Thomsen adds that, when startups are looking for new talent, the founders must be actively engaged in the hiring process. The CEO is in the best position to convince candidates to join the organization by sharing their startup story and vision in a passionate and compelling way. Ultimately, a young companys brand equity is so intimately linked to its people that its reputation is paramount, and represents a crucial ingredient in the war for talent. Treat your people fairly, advises Gimmy Chu. Some startups are run by young, inexperienced people. You want to make sure they feel theyre being treated fairly, which will help create trust and retention. This article is part of a series on the Future of Work featured in MaRS, a publication that highlights the people and companies in MaRS Discovery Districts network, and the innovations that touch our lives. Learn more about the Future of Work. SHARE: Patrick Brown was apparently in the loop during the PC partys secret talks with social conservatives about scrapping the sex education curriculum despite his denials. That explosive allegation, which contradicts Browns version of events surrounding the Scarborough-Rouge River byelection saga, was levelled Tuesday by Tanya Granic Allen, head of a group opposed to the sex curriculum. At issue is the Progressive Conservative leaders involvement in an orchestrated bid to convince independent social-conservative candidate Queenie Yu to drop out of the byelection to boost the chances of Tory candidate Raymond Cho, who eventually won the Sept. 1 vote. While the Tories failed to get Yu to quit, they still circulated 13,000 letters in the riding in English and Chinese and under Browns signature promising to scrap the sex-ed curriculum if elected in 2018. It is my understanding that this letter originated in his office and he was involved with it, said Granic Allen, who was in negotiations last month with Browns chief of staff Nicolas Pappalardo, though she did not have direct communication with Patrick in this specific instance. If a chief of staff takes his marching orders from the leader of the party, then I would be very confident to say that Patrick was aware of what was going on the whole time, said the president of Parents As First Educators, which claims 75,000 supporters across Ontario. Pappalardo, who did not return messages seeking comment, asked her to make some suggestions of possible commitments that Brown could make to satisfy opponents of the curriculum, Granic Allen said. There was a back-and-forth and, again, it was them approaching me not the other way round to get language that would be suitable for parents of Ontario, she said. I suggested repeal . . . and I was very clearly told . . . that Patrick preferred scrap. Asked whether Brown, who has repeatedly denied knowledge of a letter bearing his signature, is telling the truth, she paused: How do I respond to that? Brown did not return messages on Granic Allens allegations. Granic Allen said she was flabbergasted when the Tory leader renounced the letters contents and endorsed the new curriculum, which includes lessons on gender expression, same-sex relationships, and the dangers of sexting. I couldnt understand how that would have been possible, because it was pretty understood to me all along that he was involved in many steps of this process. As first disclosed by the Star last Friday, his office was quietly cajoling Yu to quit. On Aug. 10, Yu registered with Elections Ontario her intention to run as an independent candidate. On Aug. 12, Pappalardo invited Yu and Granic Allen to meet at a Tim Hortons near Queens Park to discuss what the Tories could do to get Yu to step aside. On Aug. 13, Granic Allen emailed Pappalardo with a list what Brown could say to appease social conservatives. On Aug. 14, Brown, Pappalardo, and other Tories held a conference call on what they characterized as Granic Allens demands. They rejected her suggestion that former MPP Garfield Dunlop, a sex-education proponent who resigned his Orillia-area seat last year for Brown and is now an adviser to the leader, have no role in setting PC education policy. Talks were at an impasse. On Aug. 17, Yu filed her nomination papers with Elections Ontario, formally becoming a candidate running on a platform opposing sex education. On Aug. 18 at 6:03 a.m., Parents As First Educators sent an email to supporters urging them to vote for Yu. At 7:40 a.m., a frustrated Pappalardo emailed Yu a draft of a statement Brown had been prepared to release before the 2 p.m. deadline for her to withdraw. It said a PC government would introduce a new curriculum after thoughtful and full consultation with parents. But Pappalardo said the social conservatives move meant that instead of a win for the cause, the bridge is being blown up. On Aug. 24, the Tories printed 13,000 copies on party letterhead of a message from Brown vowing to scrap the sex-education syllabus. On Aug. 25, Pappalardo emailed Yu a copy of an open letter to parents from the leader of the PC Party of Ontario that will be distributed in the riding this weekend. On Aug. 26, the letter became public in the Toronto Sun and Brown took to Twitter to discuss sex education, but did not distance himself from the byelection message. On Aug. 28, Brown led another conference call and got an earful from Tory MPPs unhappy at his apparent flip-flopping on a polarizing issue that could haunt them in the 2018 election. On Aug. 29, Brown wrote a 398-word opinion piece for the Star, saying the letter was a mistake and maintaining a Tory government would keep the sex-ed curriculum. On Aug. 30, in a flurry of media interviews, Brown blamed overzealous local activists on Chos campaign for the letter. He told AM640s John Oakley Show that he saw it afterwards. But, you know, I was up north, and I saw what was . . . being reported in media, I wasnt comfortable, it didnt reflect my views. On Sept. 1, Cho won the byelection and Brown told reporters he was livid about the letter. PC Party president Rick Dykstra, a close Brown ally and fellow former Conservative MP, admitted on CP24 that: when it was first put out, I knew about, yes, because it, obviously, was being distributed. On Sept. 15, Brown told the Star he was not going to comment on internal operations when asked if his office tried to convince Yu to step aside. On Sept. 19, after the Sun published emails to the Campaign Life Coalition from last year saying he will repeal sex education, Brown issued a statement saying my views on Ontarios sexual education curriculum and similar issues have evolved. Earlier Tuesday, at the International Plowing Match near Harriston, Ont., Brown evaded questions on why he has suddenly renounced social conservatives when his office was negotiating with them so recently. Ive made it very clear where I stand on it. Like most Ontarians, my views have evolved. And I try to make it very clear I want to lead a modern, inclusive PC Party, he said, again describing the letter as a mistake. SHARE: A bitter rivalry between Ontarios major party leaders always gets down and dirty at this time of year. Tuesdays annual plowing match pits Premier Kathleen Wynne against Opposition leader Patrick Brown and the NDPs Andrea Horwath. Its fair to say most Ontarians wonder if any of them is up to the job be it steering a plow or the province. Whether on a farmers field or the campaign trail, their performances are as dispiriting as they are unpredictable. The same can be said for their standings in recent public opinion surveys. Polling is like plowing. Previous standings dont help you divine the results of the harvest agricultural or electoral in advance. The latest Forum Research survey, published in Sundays Star, suggests Browns Tories are headed for a majority government landslide, burying the Liberals like yesterdays night soil: His Progressive Conservatives are perched at 45 per cent, leading Wynnes Liberals, who are languishing at 25 per cent, with the NDP stuck at 23 per cent. Partisans and pundits tend to focus on Wynnes dismal personal approval rating, now mired at a record low 16 per cent. Can the premier dig herself out? The numbers are not good for her, and people are starting to ask if she has reached the point of no return. The Tories keep hinting she may not last as leader to fight the next election, though Wynnes formal announcement Monday of her 2018 campaign team suggests she is readying for the fight. Either way, the numbers are not especially good for her competitors either. Browns approval rating is 27 per cent, hardly honeymoon territory. Nearly twice as many people, 48 per cent, say they dont know, and another 25 per cent disapprove of the job hes doing as opposition leader perhaps reflecting a series of stunning flip-flops on sex education. Horwath boasts the best personal approval rating of 36 per cent, though slightly more people (38 per cent) dont know, and another 26 per cent disapprove. But her personal popularity doesnt translate into winnability, given her partys perennial third-place position. When the three rivals are rated on who would make the best premier, only 19 per cent choose Horwath little different from the 15 per cent that Wynne gets (the polls margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points, so they are statistically tied). Brown gets a more respectable 25 per cent, but the big winner by far is none of the above: 41 per cent of Ontarians dont know or dont like any of them for premier. Thats not a poll any politician can be particularly proud of. Like the plowing match, the survey results are set in shallow ground a snapshot in time 20 months from voting day. The enviable PC lead in party preferences masks a remarkable volatility in voter intentions. Polls are notoriously unreliable between elections, when few Ontarians are paying attention. Most people are dont knows, or prefer to park their votes with the opposition until the campaign begins. The Liberals were doing even worse in May of 2015 (bottoming out at 24 per cent), before bouncing back up, and then down again. Redistribution could also change the equation, if additional seats in urban areas of population growth help the governing party weather its remarkable unpopularity in rural ridings. Ontario is also osmotic, easily influenced by political currents in Ottawa notably the profound decline in the federal NDP, the baggage still borne by the Conservative Party of Canada, and the enduring popularity of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus federal Liberals. Despite Wynnes recent dismal harvest, can she harness some of Trudeaus magic? The PMs warmth wins people over, whereas the premiers rough edges can leave voters cold. While some voters give the premier points for authenticity, empathy is not necessarily her thing. Are we at a tipping point, the point of no return for Wynne? Do the PCs under Brown have irreversible momentum, despite all the voters who remain dont knows and his unknowable policies? No one knows. Polling, like plowing, yields an unpredictable harvest. Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn Read more about: SHARE: Marcus Brauchli has viewed the evolving 21st century media landscape from all sides as a journalist, consultant and Washington insider. From working as a correspondent in Asia to helming the Wall Street Journal and overseeing the Washington Posts print and digital news operations, he has kept a critical eye on how that landscape is taking shape. In Toronto Monday at the Munk School of Global Affairs, he talked about how the digital revolution has changed U.S. electoral politics. Now a media investor and adviser, he spoke to the Star on the new and old medias role during the strangest presidential campaign in American history. If you went back in time to the media scene of 20 years ago, would Donald Trump still be the Republican candidate? No! So much has changed in the way people interact with and consume information. The essential preconditions for this election season are many. But they would undoubtedly include information fragmentation that results from the social media and other platforms so-called filter bubbles where audiences self-select whom they will receive information from and what kind of information they seek. Theres also the delegitimization of traditional media which, no matter how good and responsible they may have been, are no longer respected or believed in some quarters. Has instantaneous reporting affected the quality of media coverage? Part of the problem is defining media. What you and I grew up thinking of as media were big established organizations more likely to dominate the conversation. Today the spectrum of media ranges from people who produce tweets and social media posts to those who have narrow audiences and deliver content through blogs and newsletters, to mainstream-looking media that serve audiences with common interests or ideology, to media that attempt to produce broad coverage of news they deem important to society. Metabolism is no doubt faster today than it has ever been for journalists. But theres nothing that holds media or journalists back from doing long form investigative, in-depth stories or beat journalism. The challenge for old media companies is to step back enough to do the traditional long-form journalism that distinguishes them from all the frenzied social media postings. How has the new media landscape affected the way policy is made on issues that are vital to the public? Politicians have always made promises and modified them to suit the realities of their time in office. Now, at least one candidate is tweeting multiple variations of what may be policy but would we know if he changed his policy if he was elected? Youre not electing for policies, but for attitude, and perceived ability to get things done. Has the new media reduced the publics attention span and made for less responsible voters? I dont think voters are necessarily thinking in short bursts. The bigger problem is theyre getting information from sources they like. For democracy, the question becomes how do things change if every voter is choosing his own set of facts and people are not operating from the same set of facts? How is the traditional media scoring in this campaign? Until a couple of years ago, media upstarts commanded a disproportionate amount of attention. They were doing cool things with technology, building audiences rapidly. Mainstream media seemed lead-footed. But in this election cycle they have rediscovered the strength of brand and power arising from having large staffs of journalists and other content producers that make it hard for others to compete. A lot of the most important sources of journalism in this campaign have been traditional. Fact checking is one of the strengths of mainstream media. But how important is it to voters? I think this election has been discouraging in terms of how little people seem to care about factuality. Suddenly what you and I perceive as fact is seen by some as subjective. But journalists must never abandon their crucial role of holding people to account for truthfulness and factuality. That is the minimum obligation of a journalist. Society can make its own choices. But nothing is more important for our profession than we continue to fact check those in power, and those who seek it. This interview was edited for style, length and clarity. Read more about: SHARE: MANILA, PHILIPPINESA pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane mistakenly pressed a hijack warning button as it approached Manilas airport on Tuesday, causing airport officials to mobilize commando forces and isolate the jet after it landed, Philippine officials said. Manila airport manager Eddie Monreal said Flight SV872 from Jiddah made the distress call about 32 kilometres from the airport. Airport authorities asked for a verification of the emergency message and one of the pilots confirmed the distress call verbally with the airport tower, aviation security chief Mao Aplasca said. He said the pilot did not immediately say the emergency call was a mistake. The pilot did not tell the control tower that the button had been pushed accidentally until the plane was parked, Aplasca said. Despite the assurance, airport authorities continued to treat the incident as a crisis, Monreal said. We can never play around with safety and security, Monreal said. We decided that we will not take that call hook, line and sinker saying that it was a mistake. Security forces were deployed around the Boeing 777 as a precaution. Outside the airport complex, police quickly set up a security cordon and checkpoints. The passengers were later allowed to disembark and told reporters that everything had seemed normal in the cabin until relatives informed them by cellphone about reports that the aircraft may have been hijacked. When Princess Habiba Sarip-Paudac, a news anchor at a state-run TV network who was on the plane, peered out of the window, she saw SWAT forces and police, some with dogs, who later boarded the plane. She said the passengers felt like it was really a hijacking. They thought someone would throw tear gas. As the plane sat isolated on the tarmac, Not even one crew explained. For two hours, they were saying, Sorry maam, we dont know anything, we dont know what to say, Paudac told reporters. Many of those coming off the plane were dressed in white, likely indicating that they were returning from the annual hajj pilgrimage, a ritual required of all able-bodied Muslims once in a lifetime. Saudi Arabian Airlines, also known as Saudia, does brisk business during the hajj, which reached its climax last week. The 71-year-old airline, which operates 119 planes, said on its official Twitter feed later Tuesday that there was a false alarm of a hijacking aboard the flight. Monreal said the plane was carrying 410 passengers and 21 crew members. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said it is investigating the cause of the incident. Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if the result is indeed a human error, it said in a statement. The pilots were not being held during the investigation, Aplasca said. The incident came after Philippine officials in February announced they had strengthened security for Saudi Arabias embassy in Manila and its national airline because of a possible threat. At the time, officials also said additional armed officers were posted in the boarding area for the Saudi flag carrier and to guard the airlines luggage. It did not elaborate on the threat. However, it came as the Sunni-ruled kingdom has been on increasingly hostile terms with Shiite power Iran. SHARE: On Wednesday, superbugs are taking over the United Nations. At the UN headquarters in New York City, the 71st General Assembly will devote an entire day to antimicrobial resistance the fourth time in history a health topic has been discussed at the annual gathering. Other health issues that have reached this level of global attention include high-profile killers like HIV, Ebola and noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs, which include everything from diabetes to cancer. But the growing threat of superbugs which now kill an estimated 700,000 people every year has become an urgent priority requiring a global response, experts say. The resistance of bacteria to antibiotics has grown significantly, to the point where we now have infections in nearly every country that are not treatable, said Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy based in Washington, D.C. At this point, it is an emergency. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microbes like bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi evolve to defeat the drugs that once killed them. The problem is especially pressing for antibiotics, which are becoming increasingly ineffective at treating everything from gonorrhea to tuberculosis. Experts have long warned that the overuse of antibiotics will eventually render them useless; Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, was already sounding the alarm in 1945. But the last five years have seen unprecedented levels of urgency. In 2013, Britains chief medical officer warned of a looming apocalyptic scenario when routine surgeries are no longer possible, due to the risk of deadly infection. Last year, U.S. President Barack Obama called antibiotic resistance one of the most pressing public health issues facing the world today and the World Health Organization described a post-antibiotic era as the end of modern medicine as we know it. And this week, new research from the World Bank suggested that antibiotic resistance could cause economic fallout similar to that of the 2008 financial crisis only in this case, the damage will prove more long-lasting and harmful to the worlds poorest people. Its a threat not only to our health and the health gains weve made over the last century, but also potentially the economy, food security, and the general development of low-income countries, said Dr. Liz Tayler, senior technical adviser on antimicrobial resistance with the World Health Organization. Its really in the last five years that people really realized, Hey, this is something thats really important we have to all take it seriously. We have to make it political. There are many reasons why antibiotic resistance has struggled to gain traction as global priority, however. For one, its a complex issue that can prove difficult to explain a headache-inducing combination of molecular chemistry, evolutionary concepts, and bacteria with unpronounceable names. The WHO has also compared the problem to a silent tsunami. Unlike high-profile killers like HIV or cancer, deaths caused by antibiotic resistance tend to be less obvious or visible. It never goes on anyones death certificate when someone has died of a nasty infection, the fact that its resistant either wasnt known or hasnt been talked about, Tayler said. And while its a really big problem in developing countries, the labs there arent very good and they dont have the resources to do the testing to find out (why someone died). Antibiotic resistance is also considered a tragedy of the commons, where the effectiveness of antibiotics a common resource has been depleted by people who prioritize their own interests over the public good. And everyone is culpable: patients who demand antibiotics unnecessarily and doctors who cave to their demands; farmers who routinely feed their livestock antibiotics and consumers who demand cheap meat; low-income countries that allow antibiotics to be widely-sold without prescription, and wealthy nations that need to do more to help those countries improve the sanitary conditions that lead to high infection rates. All of this human activity is pouring unprecedented volumes of antibiotics into the environment and placing evolutionary pressure on microbes to evolve new strategies for defeating them. I think of this problem as a planetary change at a microscopic level one that we dont even notice. Were changing microbial ecology in a very significant way, Laxminarayan said. We need to protect antibiotics with the same seriousness as we protected the ozone layer through the Montreal protocol. Wednesdays UN meeting will likely see countries agreeing to a declaration on combating antimicrobial resistance. This step while largely symbolic will draw global attention to the issue, sketch out solutions, and place pressure on countries to address the problem within their own boundaries. It requires all of these folks to be paying attention that they are now on notice, Laxminarayan said. We cannot afford to continue consuming the 100,000 tonnes plus of antibiotics that we do every year. But the declaration wont be binding, nor will it contain specific targets. For Dr. Brad Spellberg, an antibiotic resistance expert with the University of Southern California, the UN meeting is just one step and theres still a lot of heavy lifting that has to be done. Tackling antibiotic resistance will require work on multiple fronts, he said everything from improving prevention efforts (through vaccines against bacterial infections, for example, or better hospital infection control) to reducing antibiotic use in livestock and fish farms. The world also needs to recognize that antibiotic resistance is a threat we will have to face for not just years, but centuries or millennia, he added. Historically, scientists have fought superbugs by intensifying efforts to find new antibiotics that can kill them. But this arms-race approach is futile, according to Spellberg because the bugs will always win. Bacteria invented antibiotics probably between 2 to 2.5 billion years ago; we discovered antibacterial substances in the 30s. So theyve known about these compounds for 20 million times longer than we have, he said. There is no scientific discovery thats going to allow us to permanently stay ahead of the bugs. No matter what we come up with, they will adapt to it. SHARE: Justin Trudeau made a lot of promises to aboriginal people before and after becoming prime minister. But the rhetoric has already worn thin for First Nations in north-eastern British Columbia who are furious that the federal government has given the green light to a huge hydro dam that requires extensive flooding of the Peace River Valley. The new enhanced relationship with First Nations that Mr. Trudeau talks about its a pack of lies, Roland Willson, chief of the West Moberly First Nation said during a webinar last week at the University of Ottawa. He didnt have many good things to say about Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould either. As B.C. regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, Wilson-Raybould once opposed construction of the $9 billion dam, the largest industrial project in B.Cs history. But since becoming a Liberal cabinet minister she has concurred with both the federal and B.C. governments decisions to approve the project. The B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs and The Assembly of First Nations have also condemned the decision. First Nations in the Peace River Valley have already gone to court over the project. They went before the Federal Court of Appeal in Montreal last week to argue that the cumulative impacts of the project are an infringement of their treaty rights. They are also awaiting a decision from the B.C. courts. Nevertheless, construction work has already begun. This area of B.C. is sparsely populated. The nearest city to the dam project is Fort St. John, which has a population of about 21,000. In total, the area, which sprawls up from Prince George to the Yukon/NWT border and east to the Alberta border is home to about 65,000 souls. The project proposed by B.C. Hydro a provincial Crown corporation is known as Site C because it would be the third dam on the Peace River built and operated by B.C. Hydro to provide electricity to consumers across the province. B.C. premier Christy Clark is touting the new dam as a crucial driver for the provinces economy that will provide inexpensive electricity from a renewable source. A joint federal-provincial review panel concluded after extensive public hearings that it was in the public interest and should proceed. But the review also found that the project would cause environmental impacts that could not be mitigated. And it suggested B.C. Hydro had not made a strong case for additional electricity supply. Two years after the three-member panel approved the dam project the former chairman of the panel, Harry Swain, stated that, in his opinion, there was no immediate need for it and electricity consumers would end up paying for an expensive white elephant. Marc Eliesen, former CEO of B.C. Hydro told DeSmog Canada he didnt think it was necessary either. The MP for the area is Conservative Bob Zimmer, who garnered more votes during the last election than the Liberal and NDP candidate combined. This is not a riding the Liberals have much hope of ever winning so there isnt a lot at stake for them. But there is a lot at stake for the First Nations and farmers of the area. However, their priorities have been relegated to the back of the bus by politicians who would rather focus on controversial oil pipelines that impact much more heavily populated and voter rich areas in B.C. When the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which will transport diluted bitumen from Alberta to B.Cs southern coast, was approved by the National Energy Board, despite strong opposition from First Nations, Trudeau established another panel to engage with communities and indigenous groups. That panel is expected to report back in November. The First Nations in the Peace River Valley were not granted a second chance. Unless the courts rule in their favour, thousands of hectares of forests and fields in northeastern B.C. will soon be underwater never to be seen again. And once more, indigenous people in a remote part of the country will be paying a heavy price for our insatiable appetite for instant energy. Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week. gsteward@telus.net Read more about: SHARE: Ive spent much of my career in the health care field, but it took a very personal experience to drive home just how poorly prepared health care providers are to help us through the one certain life-experience that awaits us all: death. It happened in a hospital in southern Ontario. My father-in-law, Ijaz Ahmad, who lived with insulin-dependent diabetes for 35 years, went into the hospital for a partial foot amputation due to a bone infection. Prior to surgery, a routine diagnostic test was performed requiring dye to be inserted into his bloodstream. After the surgery, the dye put him into kidney failure while it was being metabolized. Within a day of the surgery all of his organs started to fail and he was put on life support for what we were told would be two to three days so his organs could rest and strengthen after which, we were told, the doctors would bring him back. He spent the next 18 days on life support. And what became clear over that long 18-day ordeal is that what had clearly become the end of his life would have been unnecessarily prolonged depending on which of the eight doctors we interacted with was treating him that day. Like so many families who have had the difficult but essential conversation with an aging parent around their end-of-life wishes, we had spoken with him about his wishes. He was clear he did not want to be on life support. The eight doctors who treated my father-in-law all had different ideas about what those wishes meant, and how involved the family should be in making treatment decisions. This inconsistency the waiting, the arguing, the feeling of powerlessness was our familys worst experience with a health care system of which we are so often proud. Some of the doctors acknowledged his wishes but said life support was an essential part of the treatment plan; it was just a temporary measure to aid in his recovery. Others made very little effort to consult with us, and another outright refused! Another doctor assured us he would bounce back, though nurses told us this was increasingly unlikely and that the doctor was prone to sugar-coating discussions with families. Because of this inconsistency, different members of my family were hearing different things and that made it even more difficult for us to make a decision we all felt comfortable with. Finally, I pulled aside the latest doctor treating my father-in-law and asked him for an absolutely frank and direct discussion. Only then were we able to make an informed decision that respected my father-in-laws wishes and provided as much comfort as possible to our family. On my father-in-laws 18th day on life support, and on what was to be the final day of his life, a new doctor was treating him. This doctor had trained and practiced in the U.K., and had only recently started to work in Ontario. His European training and experience gave him a different perspective on end-of-life care, and one for which we were grateful. In Europe, the societal conversation on end-of-life care is more advanced than in Canada they have grappled publicly with these essential issues of decision-making in health care for many years, and physicians have therefore become more comfortable discussing end-of-life decisions with their patients and families. Not only is this an essential conversation we need to normalize as families and as a society, it is something our health care system must take on as an essential part of its work. All doctors must be trained to discuss end-of-life care in a direct and compassionate way with patients and their families. This will only become more important as people live longer, and as their health issues become more complex as they reach the end of their lives. Over the last few years, Canadians have engaged in an impassioned debate on assisted death, a debate that culminated in landmark and controversial legislation in Parliament. But assisted death is just a small part of the issue. As my familys experience illustrates, end-of-life care and the difficult discussions surrounding that care are too inconsistent inconsistent between institutions and inconsistent between doctors within a single hospital. It is something we can and must fix. Surrounded by family and friends my father-in-law peacefully passed away within minutes of removing the breathing tube. He was 66 years old. May his soul rest in eternal peace. Mohamed Dhanani, a graduate of the Yale School of Public Health, is the former chair of the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network and is currently vice-president at Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Toronto. SHARE: Oshawa will keep making cars in the wake of an historic tentative deal between General Motors and Unifor, the union representing auto workers. Thats good news for the hard-pressed city and the entire province. A framework agreement reached on Monday ensures that GM will channel hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment into its plants in Oshawa and St. Catharines. The four-year contract, covering about 4,000 workers, finally ends nagging uncertainty over the future of vehicle manufacturing in Oshawa. And it resolves it the right way with a commitment to maintain production once assembly of the Chevy Equinox stops in 2017 and work expires on other models two years later. Our fear of a closure in 2019 is now over, union leader Jerry Dias told reporters. The facilities clearly have a bright future. The tentative deal even calls for jobs to be shifted from Mexico to GMs St. Catharines engine and transmission plant. This is the first time that I can remember where there has been a migration of product from Mexico to Canada, said Dias. Heaven only knows weve seen enough of it go the other way. Before launching negotiations Dias frankly declared a line in the sand, promising a strike in the absence a firm commitment to continued production. GM, for its part, said it would accept no such obligation without first signing a collective agreement. In the end it was the company that blinked, agreeing to invest a reported $520 million in its Canadian plants. The bulk of that money is to go toward upgrading the Oshawa operations high-tech flex line, making it the first and only plant in North America with the ability to build both cars and trucks, Dias said. GM said it will be working with government on potential support for its new investment. And its reasonable for the firm to expect some accommodation from Ottawa and Queens Park. Ratification voting is set for Sunday on a tentative deal that includes wage increases and a signing bonus. But the union was forced to make a notable sacrifice. All new GM hires will be covered by a defined contribution pension plan, providing less security than the defined benefit pensions of legacy union members. The concession is significant because GM talks serve as a template for Unifors coming talks with Ford and Fiat Chrysler. This means the unions retreat on pensions is likely to spread. Its a distressing trend. But, on balance, protecting jobs is the right priority and auto workers would do well to heed the unanimous advice of their bargaining committee and endorse the deal. In securing continued production, Unifor has scored a notable victory one that benefits not just its members but also the communities and province where they live and work. Read more about: SHARE: As the Trudeau government enters its second parliamentary session this week, nearly a year into its mandate, the new regimes hopeful new direction, its so-called sunny ways, will be put to the test. Without action to match, the progressive political symbols that provided such needed relief after a decade of mean-spirited Harper government will be worse than inadequate. Nowhere is this truer or more crucial than on the issue the government has put at the centre of its agenda: repairing Canadas relationship with indigenous peoples. Justin Trudeaus rhetoric of reconciliation is no doubt welcome. The governments acknowledgement of the destructive legacy of residential schools and other colonial policies promises an important change from the largely divisive approach of the previous administration. So, too, does Trudeaus willingness to sign onto the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These symbols may well change the way many Canadians think about our history, which is a prerequisite for progress. But as Parliament resumes its work, a growing chorus of critics is casting doubt on whether the prime minister is truly willing to match his lofty words with transformative policies to protect indigenous peoples rights to self-government, justice, health and opportunity. Take the issue of child welfare services on reserves. In January, after a years-long inquiry, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found Ottawa discriminates against indigenous children living on reserves. The most vulnerable, it found, have the least access to needed services. At the time, the government welcomed the decision and vowed to take action. In its first budget, it earmarked $635 million to address the issue a promise unthinkable under Harper. But the investment was not what it first seemed. Despite the urgency of the on-reserve crises and the tribunals legal order to address them, the money is to be doled out over five years, with the largest amount coming after the next election in 2019. Evidently the $71 million provided in immediate relief was insufficient to the challenge. In April, the human rights tribunal determined that the government had failed to address the service gaps identified in the January decision and issued a second compliance order. Earlier this month, it issued a third. This week, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society said it will ask a Federal Court judge to find the government in contempt for failing to heed the tribunal. It is something I was hoping we would never have to do, said Cindy Blackstock, head of the organization. Is this what a renewed relationship looks like? Also seemingly out of step with the governments rhetoric is its approach to the victims of the so-called Sixties Scoop. Over two decades starting in the 1960s, thousands of First Nations children were taken from their families, often without consent, and placed in non-indigenous care. As Canada phased out compulsory Indian residential schools, the Scoop was the next phase of its longstanding policy of forced assimilation. Yet despite the Trudeau governments condemnation of residential schools, it has neither apologized for the Scoop nor compensated victims. Instead, the government continues to fight a series of class-action lawsuits filed in recent years by survivors. Earlier this week, asked by the Globe and Mail about the recent wave of criticism, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said disagreements were a natural part of a renewed relationship. Thats what friends do, she said. You correct one another. Yet for all those who see as much continuity as change in the governments approach to its flagship issue, for the residents of Attawapiskat and Grassy Narrows and other communities torn apart by 20th-century colonialism and all but abandoned since, or First Nations across the country fighting federal resource projects planned on indigenous lands, Bennetts chummy characterization may rankle. A change of tone does not a friendship make. On the contrary, if its not matched with action, it can start to look a little hypocritical. Correction - September 22, 2016: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said the Canadian Human Rights Commission and two major First Nations groups planned to ask a Federal Court judge to find the government in contempt for failing to heed the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's decision. Incorrect information was sourced from a Canadian Press article. Read more about: SHARE: Re: I can't believe in an atheist minister, Sept. 19 I can't believe in an atheist minister, Sept. 19 I read with great interest both the article by Rosie DiManno and the Letters to the Editor concerning United Church Minister Gretta Vosper. As an Anglican Priest I am keenly aware of the shifts in peoples understanding of spirituality and their struggle to find a means to address the spiritual questions of life. I do so within the context of a tradition that stands on faith, reason, and tradition. The combination of these three provides balance and context to the Theistic concept of a God we as Christians believe in. Into this camp there are polarities about how to live out this faith but the general belief in God, Jesus and a Spirit abide. Vosper has allowed reason and her understanding of the evolution of faith beyond the need for a God construct to disconnect her from the tradition and faith of the United Church which holds her minister credentials. This in and of itself is not wrong and a journey many make in the course of their life. While she has to be true to her personal journey and understanding of spirituality, it is unfortunate that she has placed her congregation into battle with the denomination on her behalf. She is free to gather others around herself and set a spiritual course based on her understanding. It is unrealistic for her to anticipate that the United Church, broad as its tent may be, to credential her atheistic spirituality devoid of Christian sacraments and beliefs. The Reverend Donald Shields, Whitby, Ont. There is no shortage of opinions regarding the United Church of Canada possibly removing Reverend Vosper from her position at West Hill United. One cannot but be less than amused when non religious folk wade in arguing that it is inappropriate for an atheist to be a minister in a Christian church. As a committed atheist I know that it is none of my darn business what standards of believe are required for one to be a minister/priest/rabbi/imam, etc. in a religious community. I do find it passing strange however when it is argued that spirituality is the sphere of religion and that an atheist cannot by definition be spiritual. I would not dare presume to define spirituality but surely a life affirming humanitarian approach to the mysteries of life is by its very essence spiritual. Simon Rosenblum, Toronto SHARE: Re: We want the loon, Editorial Sept. 18 We want the loon, Editorial Sept. 18 I enjoyed your tongue-in-cheek but sadly misguided endorsement of the loon as Canadas national bird. There is a hole in your reasoning large enough for a sizable flock to fly through the loon doesnt even have the decency to be in the country more than half the year. Should such a fair-weather friend be honoured with the prestigious appointment as national bird? I think not. The choice should be obvious the chickadee. A year-round resident, cheerful in all seasons, soft-spoken, not pushy, friendly. Ever had a loon join you in your yard, perch on your finger, hop along the railing of your deck or visit your campsite? I rest my case. Scott Belyea, Holland Landing The loon as Canadas national bird is a great idea and long overdue. However your warm and fuzzy claim that the loon is not a killer like the snowy owl or raven is incorrect. Fish do not voluntarily swim into the loons open mouth. Loons prey upon and kill fish. Having this done by July 1 would be great but July 1 is not Canadas birthday as you claim. Canadas birthday is July 24, 1534, and it will be Canadas 483rd birthday. What Canadians celebrate on July 1 every year since 1867 is the anniversary of an act of Parliament, a law known as the British North American Act. Commonly called Canada Day. Peter H. Breidon, Mississauga SHARE: Re: City has long way to go' in battle with gridlock, Sept. 14 City has long way to go' in battle with gridlock, Sept. 14 Gridlock importance varies by the day. Only days ago, the mayor deplored 1400 tickets and 300 tows given for illegal stopping downtown. The very next day, Toronto closed King St. and diverted the citys busiest streetcar line for four days for a film festival. What gives here? Today, a protest over an oil pipeline, in South Dakota, U.S., even got a mounted police escort while it shut down Queen St., another main traffic artery and major streetcar line. This happened during evening rush hour. Parade permits for legitimate groups are very hard to get, I understand. Well, just call your parade a protest and all is fine, it seems. Instead of arresting protesters for obstructing traffic, police will march with them to smooth the way. Gridlock actually seems bottom of the totem pole. Main roads were closed every weekend over the summer for a host of events. No police were even assigned to operate traffic signals on routes impacted by the closures and ease the congestion. TIFF could take place at an airport venue. Protesters could protest at Queens Park. The gridlock crackdown has a very hollow ring to it. Workers, customers and delivery people can go jump. It seems to serve only as a publicity ploy, and a money grab. Ron McCracken, Toronto SHARE: The following article, originally published at 2:13 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, has been updated with market reaction and data on regulatory settlements. Deutsche Bank (DB) , which buttressed its balance sheet last year by securitizing at least $11 billion of loans, is employing the tactic again as the lender grapples with rising investor concern about its capital adequacy. The move would reduce risks and improve the largest German lender's financial picture as it negotiates with U.S. regulators who proposed a $14 billion settlement of probes into mortgage-backed securities, people with knowledge of the matter said. The deal, under the same program the bank used to securitize $5.5 billion in loans in June 2015 but for a smaller amount, is set to close next week, in time for inclusion in the German lender's third-quarter results, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the transaction is private. Capital is the buffer of extra assets that banks are required to keep to protect depositors from losses and prevent the need for government bailouts. While Deutsche Bank says in its annual report that such efforts are a part of routine risk-management operations, next week's deal would be the first such transaction this year, one person said, in an indication that the lender is deploying all available means to bolster capital shy of a new equity offering. The overall size of the new deal and the amount of capital relief that would come from it couldn't be determined. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment. Deutsche Bank's credit-default swaps -- a type of financial instrument used to speculate on the likelihood of a company's default -- are trading at more than twice the average for global banks. Last week, Deutsche Bank's CDS price surged 8.4% in a single day after the lender confirmed the size of the mortgage settlement sought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Deutsche said it expected to reach a settlement with the U.S. for a "materially lower" amount. Still, Credit Suisse said Friday that the German lender could need an additional 7 billion euros of capital ($7.8 billion) to meet expected regulatory requirements. The bank is likely to post a loss in 2017 and may have to cut its dividend, Credit Suisse analyst Jon Peace wrote in a report. He has an "underperform" rating on the stock, which has fallen 14% this month in New York to $12.62, a far worse decline than the broader S&P 500. "Weak profits and difficulties in disposing assets are slowing the capital build," Peace wrote. "Although an organic rebuild is still possible, a potential capital raise should not be ruled out." Deutsche Bank's new deal is structured as a synthetic collateralized loan obligation, or CLO -- a type of financial instrument that uses derivatives to transfer the risk of losses to investors, the people said. Synthetic CLOs allow lenders to retain relationships with their customers while working like insurance policies to protect against defaults. The deals provide an alternative to a straight sale of loans, where the customer relationship transfers to the buyer. Selling synthetic CLOs allows lenders to reclassify risky loans as higher-quality exposures, since the bank would only incur losses under a dire economic scenario. Once the loans are reclassified as less risky, the bank gets to reduce the amount of capital that must be held against them. The tradeoff is that much of the expected income stream from the loans goes instead to the investors, who stand to collect attractive coupon payments sometimes in excess of nine percentage points over benchmark money-market rates. Other European banks including Stockholm-based Nordea and London-based Standard Chartered have used similar deals to manage risk and free up capital, which can then be applied toward new loans. Last month, Nordea securitized 8.4 billion euros of corporate and small-business loans through a synthetic CLO. In that deal, investors agreed to invest in notes that would be first to suffer losses if defaults on the loans escalate, according to a Nordea statement. While synthetic CLOs are often sold to a small group of investors who specialize in them, the Nordea notes were bought by the Dutch pension fund PGGM, Bloomberg reported last week. In December, Deutsche Bank used a synthetic CLO to reduce its risks on a $3.5 billion portfolio of trade-finance receivables, according to a statement at the time. The new deal is being issued under an existing program known as Craft, which is designed to accommodate a mix of corporate loans from the U.S. and elsewhere, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The last transaction under the program was in June 2015 and involved the sale of $385 million of notes that effectively insulated the lender from the first losses on a $5.5 billion collateral pool, according to Bloomberg data. A previous deal, in March of that year, involved the sale of $139.8 million in notes that protected the lender from losses on $2.35 billion in loans. Source: Find Out More | Graphiq Southeast Asian ride-hailing platform Grab booked a $750 million passenger on Tuesday, as Japanese conglomerate SoftBank (SFTBF) and other new and existing investors piled into its capacious taxi fleet. "Grab is the clear winner in the Southeast Asia mobile space," said SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son in a statement, appearing to say that the company is beating the global champion Uber within its home region. However, Uber is reportedly focusing increased resources on Southeast Asia and India following the loss of its China market to Beijing competitor Didi Chuxing earlier this year. It is still hoping to give home-grown rivals such as Grab and India's Ola a run for their money. The Series F funding round makes Singapore-based Grab the best capitalized technology startup and mobile internet business in southeast Asia, raising its total capital position to $1 billion, Grab said. The round also values Grab at over $3 billion, according to a Reuters report. Grab said it will use the capital to continue expanding its services in the region, which has a population of 620 million and a rising middle class. The growth in cellphone use is especially marked in Indonesia. Grab also plans to invest in mobile payments capabilities. That is important in a region with low banking and credit card penetration and limited cashless payment options. The company has partnered with Citigroup (C) to enable Citi cardholders to pay for rides, as well as striking deals with Indonesian bank Mandiri and local retail conglomerate Lippo Group. "We are particularly excited about the growth opportunity in Indonesia, where we see an almost US$15 billion market for ride-hailing services alone, as well as the potential to extend GrabPay's platform regionally," said Anthony Tan, Grab CEO and co-founder, in the same statement. He was referring to the mobile payments arm of his business, originally founded in Malaysia, and formerly known as GrabTaxi. The group now offers private car, motorbike, taxi, and carpooling services across six countries and 31 cities in Southeast Asia. "I am confident in our technology, data science and machine learning platforms, which have continued to scale to support our bold ambitions in the region." The company said the Grab app has been downloaded onto over 21 million mobile devices and users have access to over 400,000 drivers to meet their transportation needs. This is not SoftBank's first ride on Grab. It poured $250 million into the Singapore-based start-up in December 2014, as part of a Series D funding round, which reportedly valued the company at over $1 billion and first elevated it to "unicorn status." GrabTaxi's two previous rounds had been led by New York fund Tiger Global and GGV Capital, of Menlo Park, Calif., respectively. Perhaps more poignantly, given its competition with Uber, Grab also received funding in August 2015 from Didi Chuxing, Uber's then-ferocious rival and ultimately the buyer of its Chinese operations. Beijing's sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. also participated. Since that Series E round, Grab has nearly quadrupled its total number of drivers and active users, as well as its rides volume. Citigroup (C) is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells C? Learn more now. NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Marriott (MAR) were increasing in mid-morning trading on Tuesday as Chinese antitrust regulators approved the Bethesda, MD-based hotel operator's nearly $13.6 billion acquisition of the Stamford, CT-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT). China's Ministry of Commerce was the last regulatory approval required to complete the deal, Marriott said in a statement. The companies expect the acquisition to be completed by Sept. 23. Upon closing, Starwood shares will immediately stop trading on the NYSE. Marriott and Starwood had secured approval from more than 40 countries, including the U.S., the European Union and Canada, according to Reuters. The combined company will be valued at about $36 billion. Shares of Starwood were higher in mid-morning trading on Tuesday. Separately, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. TheStreet Ratings has this to say about the recommendation: TheStreet Ratings team rates Marriott as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. This is driven by some important positives, which it believes should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks it covers. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, revenue growth and increase in net income. The team feels its strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow. You can view the full analysis from the report here: MAR MAR data by YCharts NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Mylan (MYL) were higher in early-afternoon trading despite the state of West Virginia opening an investigation into the Canonsburg, PA-based pharmaceutical company. The state is looking into whether Mylan defrauded West Virginia's Medicaid program in connection with its EpiPen product, Bloomberg reports. EpiPens are portable devices used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions. Mylan has recently come under fire for the skyrocketing price of EpiPens, which were priced at about $100 in 2007 but are now as much as $600. The company is also being investigated by U.S. officials and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey is seeking internal company documents concerning the company's rebates to participate in West Virginia's Medicaid program. Drug companies must pay rebates to Medicaid and they are much higher for brand-name drugs than for generics. Morrissey said the company may have overcharged its Medicaid program by labeling the EpiPen as a generic drug, even though it is sold as a brand-name drug, according to Bloomberg. Additionally, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch will testify at a hearing before Congress tomorrow, Bloomberg noted. Separately, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. TheStreet Ratings has this to say about the recommendation: The team rates Mylan as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. This is driven by some important positives, which it believes should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks it covers. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations, expanding profit margins and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. The team feels its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself. You can view the full analysis from the report here: MYL MYL data by YCharts NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Brazil's President Michel Temer sat down with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker to discuss the South American country's economy, deficit and plans for the future. A portion of the interview was aired on BloombergTV's "Bloomberg Markets." Temer officially assumed the role of President of Brazil last month after serving as interim president following the ouster of former president Dilma Rousseff. Schatzker questioned Temer on two "ambitious proposals" that will require constitutional changes. The first goal is to cap government spending and the second is to make social security more restrictive. "These are two difficult reforms, I acknowledge that," Temer told Schatzker. "But they are essential and precisely because they are essential I believe that we will pass these issues or subject matters in Congress. And the time required more precisely regarding measures to cap government spending, we're setting a ceiling to government spending that may be renewed in every budget year." President Temer is "absolutely certain" that the government spending cap measure will be passed by the end of this year. The social security reform measure is expected by the president to be passed in the first half of next year. Schatzker pointed out that some of the chief complaints among Brazilians is that the government doesn't spend enough on education and healthcare. He questioned if a cap on government spending would further limit reforms in those areas. Temer suggested that the cap is on overall spending and would not result in a reduction in those two areas. The 2017 budget has already been set as if the spending cap measured was already passed, the president said. He went on to say that the budget for education and healthcare had been increased. Brazil is working its way through its worst recession in a century. Schatzker questioned Temer on how long it will take to close the budget deficit. Temer took office with a deficit of 217 billion reals and told Schatzker that the government has established measures to reduce the deficit to 130 billion reals. The president believes that in 2018 the country will still be living with a small deficit. "It will be two [to] three years before [Brazil] totally eliminates the deficit," Temer said. 09/20/2016 By Katharine Webster Cyril Mack was 19 years old when he enlisted in the Royal Irish Fusiliers in January 1916 to fight as part of the British Army in World War I. As soon as he finished training, Mack was instead sent to Dublin to help put down the 1916 Easter Rising, when Irish rebels took over key city buildings in the fight for independence from British rule. He was so confused: He was told the enemy was the Germans and he was going to fight the Germans, said Fiona Byrne, historical engagement officer for the Living Legacies 1914-1918 Engagement Centre at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland. He spoke of the trauma of having to fight his own countrymen. Mack was just one of many Irish soldiers whose loyalties and families were divided by the Great War and the Easter rebellion, according to Byrne and other speakers at a conference on Remembering 1916: The Easter Rising, the Battle of the Somme and Impact on Lowell. The conference was hosted by the universitys Center for Irish Partnerships and featured scholars and community historians from Queens University Belfast, National Museums Northern Ireland, the Cork Folklore Project, Living Legacies 1914-18 and the university. The center has partnerships with universities in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, and together they cooperate on archaeological digs, conferences and faculty and student exchanges. The centers first international historical conference in 2014 examined the Irish legacy in Massachusetts; this one explored the complicated relationship the Irish had to Britain during World War I, as well as Irish-Americans reactions to the Easter Rising, especially here in Lowell. Photo by Tory Germann Photo by Tory Germann Thomas O'Mahony of the Cork Folklore Project listens to another speaker at "Remembering 1916: The Easter Rising, Battle of the Somme and Impact on Lowell." Irish troops made up about 40 percent of British forces during the war and suffered heavy losses, most notoriously at the Battle of the Somme, but also on numerous other battlefields from Salonika, Greece, to the Belgian Congo. We left bleached bones in every part of the empire, said Thomas OMahony, a community historian with the Cork Folklore Project. OMahony said many young Irishmen joined the British Army more because of poverty than loyalty to the British crown. Others the rebels slipped away by night to fight against British forces in France. When a rebel boat was due to sail under cover of darkness, volunteers were alerted by coded songs and phrases such as, Its great weather, isnt it? The wild geese will fly tonight. New archaeological excavations may help debunk one common belief, though: that the massive losses suffered by Irish divisions in the war occurred because the British failed to train them properly, said Heather Montgomery, a post-graduate researcher at Queens University Belfast. Montgomery studied five World War I training camps in Ireland, using sources ranging from personal narratives and diaries to aerial mapping, remote sensing, ground surveys and digs. She found elaborate networks of trenches and emplacements, including a unique set of muster trenches for soldiers being readied for the front lines a feature not discovered at any other training camp in England or Ireland, she said. Photo by Tory Germann Photo by Tory Germann People looked at posters depicting news headlines and photos from the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme. These digs demonstrate that military training in Ireland was extensive and progressive, she said. It was remarkable, the degree to which they tried to recreate the reality of trench warfare. Other scholars talked about changing public opinions of the rebels. Many Irish and Irish-Americans opposed the Easter Rising at first, either because of its timing during the war or because of the lives lost and the massive destruction to Dublin. But public opinion turned fiercely against the British after they arrested the rebel leaders, secretly court-martialed them and began executing them by firing squad, Byrne said. That was especially true in northern U.S. cities like Lowell, where nearly one-third of the population was of Irish descent. A prominent Lowell citizen, Joseph Smith, urged the cause of the rebels at indignation meetings in Lowell and Boston and raised thousands of dollars in rebuilding funds for Dubliners who had lost their homes and livelihoods, said University Prof. Robert Forrant of the History Department. When Smith tried to deliver an estimated $100,000 to Dublin, he was detained by British authorities in Liverpool to prevent him from crossing the Irish Sea, causing an international incident, Forrant said. When the war was over, Sinn Fein won the majority of Irish seats in the British Parliament, but instead declared a free Irish republic and formed a provisional government. When its president, Eamon de Valera a leader of the Easter Rising who had escaped execution toured the United States to rally support for independence in 1919, he packed Fenway Park for the very first time, drawing three times the crowd that had watched Babe Ruth and the Red Sox win the World Series a year earlier. Another 10,000 came to hear him speak in Lowell, Forrant said. 09/19/2016 By Ed Brennen Next stop: Platinum. UMass Lowell has earned a gold rating from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System for its campus-wide sustainability efforts, becoming only the third higher education institution in the state to reach that mark. The achievement comes just one year after the university received a silver rating in its first-ever STARS submission. Managed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, STARS is a self-reporting framework that measures the sustainability performance of more than 700 colleges and universities in 21 countries around the world. The universitys STARS Gold plaque was unveiled at University Crossing during an event hosted by Gov. Charlie Bakers administration celebrating the fact that more than 50 state-owned buildings have achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification including four here on campus: the gold-certified Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center and the silver-certified Health and Social Sciences Building, University Suites and University Crossing. This STARS Gold rating is a true reflection of UMass Lowells position as a leader in sustainability, from academics and research, to community and public engagement and, of course, to green building design and operations, said Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, who noted that while the university continues to grow, its impact on the environment has shrunk. Since 2011, the physical campus has expanded by 24 percent and full-time enrollments have increased by 18 percent. At the same time, amazingly, our greenhouse gas emissions are down a remarkable 15 percent per FTE, Moloney said. This is the UMass Lowell story: practicing a distinct brand of sustainability in our unique urban setting. Moloney attributed this success, in part, to the recent addition of clear and defined goals for sustainability to the universitys 2020 Strategic Plan, including targeted reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and the ascension to STARS Gold both of which have now been achieved. Associate Director of Sustainability Ruairi OMahony, who once again spearheaded the universitys STARS application process, credited Moloney and the senior leadership team for making sustainability a strategic priority in academics, research and campus operations. Chancellor Maloneys commitment to sustainability really is the driving force, OMahony said. The fact that we have sustainability in our Strategic Plan is the envy of many universities in the state. Big Gains in Academics After receiving 53.85 points last year for silver, the university received a score of 70.52 in its latest STARS assessment, easily surpassing the gold threshold of 65 points. An institutions score is based on the percentage of applicable points it earns across four categories: academics, engagement, operations, and planning and administration. A minimum score of 25 is required for bronze, 45 for silver, 65 for gold and 85 for platinum. UMass Lowell is now one of 96 gold-rated institutions around the world, and joins UMass Amherst and Babson College as the only gold-rated institutions in Massachusetts. Colorado State University is the only STARS Platinum institution. The universitys gold designation is valid for three years, although schools can re-apply to STARS annually. UMass Lowell saw its biggest gains in the academics category, where it jumped more than 14 points in curriculum (from 19.08 to 33.45) and nearly seven points in research (from 5.87 to 12.43). Photo by Tory Germann Photo by Tory Germann Chancellor Jacquie Moloney highlights the university's sustainability efforts during a state-hosted LEED event at University Crossing. These gains are largely attributable to the recent formation of the 2020 Academic/Research Sustainability Committee. Under the direction of co-chairs Rich Lemoine and Mark Hines, the committee seeks to support the creation of sustainability-related curricula. To help achieve these goals, the Office of Sustainability recently did an inventory of the more than 4,700 entries in the course catalogue. Of those, more than 200 were focused on sustainability while nearly 500 were related to sustainability. The 2020 Academic/Research Sustainability Committee will use that inventory as a baseline for its future efforts. Achieving gold shows the continued commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship of the entire university community, said Lemoine, executive director of Administrative Services and Environmental and Emergency Management, who noted the growing number of student groups on campus devoted to environmental issues. Theres a true interest to come together for the common good. Building Momentum Joining Moloney for the state LEED event were: Judith Judson, commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources; Joe Naughton, director of capital projects for the UMass Building Authority; Jenna Ide, director of energy and sustainability for the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance; Ed Adelman, director of the Mass. State College Building Authority Director; and Grey Lee, executive director of the state chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Photo by Tory Germann Photo by Tory Germann Grey Lee, executive director of the state chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, thanks the university for its commitment to LEED building design. I want to thank Chancellor Moloney for her leadership and for the terrific work youre doing here at UMass Lowell, Judson said during the ceremony, where University Crossings LEED Silver plaque was also unveiled. This beautiful building really shows what green buildings can do and the value that they bring to our state campuses and to other buildings across the state. Naughton added that University Crossing is one of the greatest buildings that the university system has, while Ide commended the efforts of Energy and Sustainability Manager Paul Piraino and the Facilities Operations and Services staff for continuously looking for energy-saving opportunities. Its not just building the building, Ide said, its maintaining it, operating it and learning from that process. We work with many state agencies and higher education facilities, and UMass Lowell is definitely one were really happy to work with. While Moloney was happy to see the university recognized for its continued commitment to sustainability, she reminded those gathered in the University Crossing atrium that there was still important work to be done. Every day we see headlines reminding us why its so critically important that we take urgent action to address climate change on our planet. And we are committed to doing that, Moloney said. At UMass Lowell, we are committed to building on the momentum that we have all worked collectively to achieve. The people in this room and across this university are committed to taking us to the next level. When Marriott closes its acquisition of Starwood later this week, this Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Havana, Cuba, will be part of the deal. Starwood manages this hotel owned by the Cuban military. (Ramon Espinosa/AP) Marriotts year-long pursuit of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which set off a fierce bidding war, is nearing completion. The Bethesda-based hotel giant on Tuesday said it had cleared the last hurdle a green light from Chinese regulators in its $13.6 billion takeover of Starwood, putting it on track to become the worlds largest hotelier by Friday. Under the terms of the deal, Starwood shareholders will receive $21 in cash and 0.8 shares of Marriotts stock for each share of Starwoods stock. The company plans to delist Starwood shares from the New York Stock Exchange before markets open Friday. This is a transformative deal, the kind you only see once in a generation, said Rachael Rothman, an analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group in New York. Clearly its going to empower Marriotts brand. Marriott, which will soon have 1.1. million rooms worldwide and nearly $20 billion in annual revenue, earlier this year emerged as the winner in what became an international bidding war for Stamford, Conn.-based Starwood. Marriott last November announced plans to buy Starwood for $12.2 billion. Weeks before shareholders were to vote on the merger, a business group led by Chinas Anbang Insurance Group swooped in with an unsolicited, all-cash offer of $12.8 billion. Marriott then upped its offer to $13.6 billion; Anbang followed suit with a $14 billion bid. In late March, Anbang withdrew its offer without explanation. Shareholders of Marriott and Starwood approved the planned merger in early April. The deal hit another snag last month, when the Chinese Ministry of Commerce requested additional time to review the terms. Marriott had already received approvals from regulators in 40 countries, including the United States and the European Union, and had expected to finalize the acquisition by midyear. The deal brings together 30 brands, including Marriotts Ritz-Carlton, Courtyard and Renaissance Hotels with Starwoods St. Regis, Sheraton and W Hotels. Marriott chief executive Arne M. Sorenson said the company was drawn to Starwood because of its global presence, strong rewards program and popularity among younger travelers. He also said he expected a merger with Starwood to save $250 million in annual costs within two years. By combining these two platforms, we will be a bigger buyer of tomatoes or reservations or systems, Sorenson said in an April call with investors. All of the hotels will benefit from that. Marriott executives have said one of the most important issues going forward is to successfully combine Marriott and Starwoods large loyalty rewards programs with 54 million members and 21 million members, respectively. Marriott has begun rolling out changes to its rewards program making late checkout more freely available, for example, offering a concierge service for its most elite members in an effort to bring it more in line with Starwoods. How is this going to come together? Its a question on everyones minds, said David Loeb, a lodging analyst at investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co. Customer loyalty is what this [industry] is all about, and Marriott is going to want to attract and retain those loyal Starwood customers. Wells Fargos longtime chief executive endured more than two hours of stiff questioning during a Senate hearing Tuesday, as his attempt to apologize for a scandal involving millions of sham accounts reignited anger over whether the big banks are being held accountable for their misdeeds. In the crowded hearing room, John G. Stumpf acknowledged that he and other senior executives should have realized the extent of the problem earlier and taken firmer action. But he was repeatedly chastised by lawmakers who took him to task for the banks unwillingness to punish senior executives for misconduct that resulted in $185 million in fines and the firing of some 5,300 front-line employees. For industry officials hoping to move beyond the populist anger generated by taxpayer bailouts of banks, the hearing was reminiscent of those following the 2008 financial crisis, when several executives were hauled before Congress. In one blistering exchange, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) demanded that Stumpf explain why he had not offered to give up any of his compensation he made $19 million last year or resign in the wake of the scandal. She noted that Stumpf repeatedly touted Well Fargos ability to sell more and more products to customers in calls with analysts, and then watched as investors pushed up the banks stock price, helping boost his own holdings by about $200 million over several years. Have you returned one nickel of the money that you earned while this scandal was going on? Have you fired any senior management, the people who actually oversaw this fraud? Warren asked. No, Stumpf said. Evidently your definition of accountable is to push the blame to your low-level employees who dont have the money for a fancy PR firm to defend themselves, Warren said. It is gutless leadership. You should resign; you should give back the money. The exchange quickly made the rounds on Twitter, marking an embarrassing moment for one of the banking industrys longtime veterans. Stumpf has long cultivated a folksy image in the financial world, emphasizing his upbringing on a dairy farm and the banks strong reputation as a community institution above the Wall Street fray. (He showed up to the hearing Tuesday with his right wrist in a splint and bandage, an injury he apparently incurred while playing with his grandchildren.) Warren was hardly the only lawmaker to chastise Stumpf or urge him to resign, as criticism came from both sides of the aisle. I have often said that banking is based on trust, and that trust was broken at Wells Fargo, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said during the hearing. The hearing served notice that passions still run strong over how to regulate the financial industry. Both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, have been critical of Wall Street, although they have vastly different approaches to addressing the perceived problems. Wells Fargo has been in lawmakers crosshairs since acknowledging earlier this month that some of its employees created as many as 2 million fake accounts from credit cards to checking accounts to meet sales goals. In some cases, Wells Fargo customers faced various fees for accounts they did not request, or bank employees took money from an authorized account to create a fake one. The San Francisco-based bank fired 5,300 employees between 2011 and 2016 for the scheme, including some branch managers, managers of managers, and at least one regional bank president, Stumpf said. He said the bank had begun to look at whether the conduct could have occurred before 2011, he said. I want to apologize for violating the trust our customers have invested in Wells Fargo, Stumpf said. And I want to apologize for not doing more sooner to address the causes of this unacceptable activity. Wells Fargos case has become a new flash point in the debate over whether, eight years after the Great Recession, U.S. regulators are doing enough to punish Wall Street for its transgressions. Clinton said in a letter to Wells Fargo customers Tuesday that the banks conduct was outrageous. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said in a Twitter post: How many people at Wells Fargo are going to jail? Zero. But if you smoke marijuana in this country, you get a criminal record. Wells Fargo executives were probably hoping that the hearing, even if tough, would help them move beyond the matter. Wells Fargo has already refunded $2.6 million to customers who were improperly charged fees, and it said it would contact others to see if they had been wrongly signed up. At the same time, the bank announced last week it would eliminate the aggressive sales goals that former employees and regulators said led some to break the rules. But lawmakers noted that the bank has not addressed the damage that may have been done to peoples credit scores. A late fee on an account a customer did not know about or an unauthorized credit card could also make it more difficult or expensive for someone to get a mortgage, they said. Also, some former Wells Fargo employees said they were fired for not meeting the sales goals the bank now says it will eliminate. One of the most contentious issues was whether the companys top executives should return some of their bonuses. In particular, lawmakers took aim at Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the unit overseeing the branch operation. Earlier this year, Tolstedt was told that the company was going in a different direction, in part because of the misconduct discovered in her unit, Stumpf said. Tolstedt then opted to retire in July. But lawmakers were peeved by reports that Tolstedt, a 27-year veteran of the bank, could leave with tens of millions in compensation. So, 5,300 team members, earning perhaps $30,000 a year, have lost their jobs, while Ms. Tolstedt walks away with $100 million, give or take, said Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), the ranking Democrat on the committee. Stumpf himself acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that he only learned of the problem in 2013, about the time the scandal first surfaced in a Los Angeles Times news account. But that just drew more recriminations from lawmakers. Stumpf repeatedly was asked whether, as CEO and chairman of the board, he would recommend that executives return some of their compensation, but he said he would not interfere with the compensation committees deliberations. I will accept and respect the decision of the board, he said. That annoyed lawmakers even more. You keep saying, the board, the board, as if they are strangers you met in a dark alley, Warren said. Why can you not make a change here? On Sept. 21, 1976, a car exploded in Washingtons Sheridan Circle. Even after 40 years, questions linger about the attack. (Lee Powell/The Washington Post) On a muggy autumn morning four decades ago, a car exploded in Washington. It had motored along Massachusetts Avenue NW, rounding the bend at Sheridan Circle, when a remote-controlled bomb taped beneath the vehicle was triggered. A driver in a car nearby would later describe the fiery impact of the blast: I saw an automobile actually coming down out of the air. The smoldering wreck lurched to a halt in front of the Romanian Embassy, its windows blown open and entire floor panel gone. A police officer who arrived on the scene remembered welling up with nausea. There was blood and debris everywhere and a human foot in the roadway. A fatally wounded man lay on the pavement; his legs were missing from above the knees. This was Orlando Letelier, a 44-year-old former Chilean diplomat who had been driving to work at a D.C. think tank along with his colleague, Ronni Moffitt, 25, and her husband, Michael. Letelier died within minutes. Shrapnel had pierced Ronni Moffitts throat, and she drowned in her own blood a half-hour later. Michael, who had been sitting in the back seat, tumbled out largely unscathed. He was beside himself in grief and shock. Assassins, fascists! he exclaimed amid the carnage. They were victims of a brazen, perhaps unprecedented plot, the target of a foreign regime that had sent agents into the United States to kill Letelier. Here was a case of state-sponsored terrorism in the heart of the American capital. Only in this instance, the state was a close Washington ally in the Cold War. Isabel Letelier, right, and Michael Moffitt embrace after placing roses at the site where Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt were killed in 1976. (UPI) Ronni Moffitt, who was a development associate at the Institute for Policy Studies at the time of her death in the 1976 car bombing. (Family photo) Letelier was a prominent opponent of the military rule of Chiles Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who rose to power in a 1973 army coup that ousted and led to the death of the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende. Letelier had served as Chiles ambassador to the United States in Allendes socialist government, which the CIA spent millions of dollars undermining through covert operations. On the day of the coup, Letelier was arrested and sent, with other ministers of Allendes government, to a string of concentration camps. For months, he was kept at Dawson Island in the extreme south of Chile near the South Pole. He was released only after concerted international diplomatic pressure. A trained economist, Letelier eventually won residency in Washington and a post at the left-wing Institute of Policy Studies. He became the most prominent Chilean exile living in the United States and a magnet for dissent and criticism of both Pinochets abuses and the missteps of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. For that reason, Letelier became caught in the crosshairs of Operation Condor, the covert reign of terror hatched by various right-wing dictatorships in Latin America that targeted suspected communists, leftist intellectuals and supposed subversive elements. These regimes were complicit in the murder and disappearance of tens of thousands of people. In the case of Letelier, the Pinochet government had used an American expatriate and a shadowy network of anti-communist Cuban exiles to carry out the strike. These men would eventually be arrested in the United States and Chile, and some were jailed. Manuel Contreras, the head of the secret police known as DINA, was indicted by a U.S. grand jury, but Chile refused to extradite him. Pinochet, who stepped down from power in 1990, died in 2006 without facing trial. Chilean Gen. Augusto Pinochet in 1975. He stepped down as president in 1990 and died Dec. 10, 2006, without facing trial. (Santiago Llanquin/AP) The Letelier episode now seems to be a forgotten chapter of a distant history so distant that the U.S. government had few qualms in more recent times about handing over to Chilean authorities tranches of declassified documents that showed clearly how U.S. officials considered the assassination to have been directed by Pinochets regime. The story of one diplomats assassination as told below by Leteliers associates, family and government investigators becomes a window into a strange chapter of the Cold War, with secret police, hired assassins and left- and right-wing activists all converging on Washington. And the tale continues to unfold. To mark the 40th anniversary this week of the assassination, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will receive still more documents from the U.S. government on Leteliers death. Ishaan Tharoor (Lee Powell/The Washington Post) Juan Gabriel Valdes, Chiles ambassador to the United States. Valdes was Leteliers assistant at the Institute of Policy Studies and was nearly in the car that was bombed. We had seen strange cars stopping in front of our office, at Dupont Circle, and Orlando had received threats, under his door. But Orlando always dismissed our concerns, saying: They would never dare to attack me in Washington. If they want to attack me, they will wait for me to be in Europe, particularly in [the Netherlands], where he traveled a lot. Therefore, he dismissed the issue. He was never concerned about it. The night before, he called me at around 10 oclock telling me that he wanted to pick me up the next morning either at my home, or on the way coming down Massachusetts Avenue from Wisconsin Avenue, because he wanted me to give him a draft of a paper I had been writing with another assistant. The Chilean dictatorship had stripped him of his nationality, and Orlando had decided that he wanted to answer the military in the New York Times, and we prepared a draft. I said to him, Look, Orlando, why dont we wait until 9:30, because my wife is going to the supermarket in the morning. I had to stay with my two small children at the time. Orlando didnt like the idea. He said to me: Why dont you tell Antonia to go another day to the supermarket? I mean, I need that paper. We have to remember that at the time, there were no faxes and no emails. I said to him: Why dont you wait until 9:30? I mean, its just half an hour and I will be with the paper at your office. He said okay. We said goodbye. And that was the main reason why he didnt pick me up in the morning. He was with Michael and Ronni Moffitt in the car. Michael had his car in the garage, so he needed a car and borrowed Orlandos. Life is curious. If Michael had been driving the car, it would have been Michael who would have died with the bomb. But Orlando decided to drive himself. Francisco Letelier, 57, an artist based in Venice, Calif., is one of Orlando Leteliers four sons. I was in 11th grade at Walt Whitman High School when this happened. We lived in a split-level house in Bethesda. The driveway was very close, at a lower level. My window was right there. After the assassination, I would dream about seeing and hearing something outside the window. I think I was in geometry class, and I got called down to the office. My aunt Cecilia, my mothers sister, was waiting for us. And she told us there had been an accident and really couldnt tell us anything. We were curious but not too concerned, except that we drove past Sheridan Circle, and I saw the rescue squad emergency vehicles at the circle. That was a little bit of a foreshadowing of what we learned upon arrival at the hospital: that my father had been killed. Valdes: I was at home. I was finishing the draft. And then I received a call from Orlandos assistant telling me that Orlando had a terrible accident. I believed it was a car accident, and then I received a call telling me, You have to go to the hospital and then to the house, because the FBI is going to call and somebody has to talk to them. I said, What, the FBI? I mean, this was an accident. And the response was: This was not an accident. This was a bomb. Orlando has been murdered. It was one of the greatest shocks in my life. Probably the most important one. Letelier: We immediately knew that he had been killed by the junta, Pinochet or agents of Pinochet. He had received death threats before. A short time before the assassination, we had actually had a family meeting. He had told us that he had received threatening letters and threatening phone calls. All of us essentially said, You have to continue this struggle. Valdes: Of course, my first reaction was, Pinochet murdered Letelier. Each September, Pinochet tried to kill somebody. Therefore, our first reaction was to tell the FBI and to tell everybody, this was the DINA, this was the secret police of Pinochet. (Lee Powell/The Washington Post) The investigation Taylor Branch, co-author of a book on the investigation called Labyrinth with Eugene Propper, the assistant U.S. attorney assigned to the case. Michael Moffitt said right outside the car that the Chilean fascists did it. But that doesnt do you any good. Pointing the finger doesnt put handcuffs on anyone. You have no evidence. At the time, there was actually another theory that quickly came out that it was somebody on the left trying to make Pinochet look bad. Valdes: People began accusing us of being spies. Orlando was accused of being a Soviet spy. I was accused of being a Cuban spy. For weeks after the murder, instead of feeling ourselves threatened only by the DINA and Pinochet, we felt ourselves threatened by many of the people who were investigating. I was questioned, for instance, whether it was possible that the leader of my political party in Chile had been responsible for the murder. It offended us enormously. Propper: There was a lot of suspicion that Chile did it, but there were other possible motives we had to look at. Frankly, they werent given much credence, but you know you have to rule out certain things. The FBI had no clue about how to investigate terrorism before this case. They hadnt really done it. It wasnt going to go forward unless someone was sort of looking over the FBI, and in this case, it happened to be me. Carter Cornick, the FBI agent assigned to the case. This was the first case of international terrorism, state-sponsored terrorism in Washington. I was involved in a specialty that did not exist in the mid-70s. Terrorism was a Category 3 priority in the FBI. You cannot compare then and now. The real issue to me was the potential for creating a precedent of assassinating foreign diplomats in the U.S., let alone in the heart of Washington. Every government has an obligation to protect its visiting diplomats. It was the first time we were dealing with a foreign government as a suspect. Propper: At first we had no information. I mean, we had pieces of the bomb, but that doesnt tell you anything. When you look at how a case is solved, its solved by eyewitnesses. We had a lot of witnesses who saw the car blown up, but nobody saw who did it. Its solved by fingerprints. There were no fingerprints. There were no photographs. There were no confessions. Valdes: I learned that the Cubans, the Miami Cubans, or Cubans in the nationalist Cuban movement, had participated in the murder the day of Orlandos memorial service in Washington. When we were leaving the cathedral, Ricardo Alarcon, who was the ambassador of Cuba to the United Nations, approached me and said, I have to tell you something. These were Cuban assassins. Because of the type of bomb, because of the way in which the bomb was placed. A current view of the memorial to Letelier and Ronni Moffitt in Sheridan Circle. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) Emergency personnel work at the site of the car bombing in 1976. (Associated Press) Relatives and friends of Orlando Letelier gather in Santiago, Chile, next to his coffin in November 1992. (Cris Bouroncle/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) Branch: They had a number of clues that pointed to a blond Chilean who had a number of contacts with Cubans, and had been in and out of the United States. Youre in an underworld of informants and braggarts, and you cant tell when people are bragging about being involved. I had spent time reporting on the Cuban exiles in Miami for Harpers magazine, and I went to Propper and said, I dont think youre going to solve this. Theres too much politics, theres too much underworld. But they were grasping and other leads had not worked out, and others had spectacularly fizzled. Propper: An informant pointed the FBI to this well-off Frenchwoman named Martine Darragon as somebody who knew about the Letelier case. The FBI trails this woman, through the snow in New York, and ultimately she went into a hotel. Carter Cornick knocks on the door of the hotel room, and who answers but Ted Turner. She was having an affair with Ted Turner. Cornick: She was drop-dead gorgeous, and all of the agents were laughing and joking and saying, Oh my God, we usually get to surveil baldheaded old men. This is great. But it was spurious information. Branch: It was basically two years before they get the first break connecting the crime to Michael Townley. They eventually have a photo of Townley, but thats it. In desperation, they leak it. That was a huge risk, because they didnt have that much evidence. Plus, once you leak the photograph as your evidence, whats to keep the Chilean government from just killing him? That kind of lit the fuse on the case. Tips came in. His dad ran the Ford Motor franchise in Chile and wouldnt let him marry his [Chilean] girlfriend, so he ran away from home. He was a college dropout, somewhat needy and pathetic, uneducated, but he was a Popular Mechanics science whiz. He was constantly trying to impress his girlfriend, who was 10 years older. (Lee Powell/The Washington Post) Propper: After we sit down with Townley and his lawyer, Seymour Glanzer, I took out the autopsy photographs of Letelier and Ronni Moffitt, and Seymour Glanzer turns white. I doubt hed ever seen one before. And we sat down and we started saying, Youve gotta tell us what happened. We also had some Cubans suspected of being connected, and they were never going to talk to us. But Townley didnt know that. We said, Townley, you know youre going to get life if one of these guys beats you to the punch. He finally confessed. Branch: Townley testified who his superiors were, who he got his orders from. Cornick: He was a soldier. He believed he was doing the Chileans work and that he was at war. He was the most dangerous man I have ever met. Branch: The Watergate analogy is apt in the sense that you start with the lowest-level people, the Cubans and the operatives, and it works its way up the pant leg, to the higher officers, Contreras and arguably Pinochet, as these new documents show. The aftermath is like Watergate spread out over decades. Propper: We tried to get extradition, and we had a very detailed and strong extradition package for DINA chief Manuel Contreras and his deputy Pedro Espinoza. The Chilean Supreme Court turned us down. Valdes: There was this kind of attitude that Leteliers murder was part of business as usual when you have to support a government that, probably, you dont like too much, but you have to support it because they are our friends in the Cold War. With this logic, of course, it was very difficult to pursue a serious investigation. The Justice Department of the U.S. and the FBI not only had to surpass the difficulties of a country they didnt know, a situation they were not familiar with, they had to surpass also an enormous amount of hurdles that were here, in Washington, in the government at the time. I have enormous admiration for the way the FBI followed this investigation. Propper: I viewed the fact that we solved it as extraordinarily fortunate and to some degree lucky, even though we went to extraordinary means to do some things, but it took a while to do. (Lee Powell/The Washington Post) Valdes: We are very grateful to President [Bill] Clinton, because President Clinton was the first to open the archives on this issue, and we received the first documents at that time. We are also grateful to President Obama, because he has opened archives that the U.S. government wanted to use against Pinochet before his death. Valdes: There has been nothing in the papers that we didnt imagine or we didnt know. The only thing that impresses us is that the U.S. government knew, as the result of a report written by the CIA in 1978, that Pinochet had been not only aware of the murder but had ordered the murder. And nothing was said or done in this respect during all these years, particularly when Pinochet was alive. Of course, if the U.S. government had reacted, accusing him, the situation in Chile would have changed. We would have probably recuperated democracy sooner than we did. A page of a 1987 document by then-Secretary of State George P. Shultz discussing reports of Pinochets involvement in ordering the murder of Orlando Letelier. (istockphoto/Getty Images) Peter Kornbluh, director of the National Security Archives Chile Documentation Project and of the Cuba Documentation Project. Were talking about an act of state-sponsored terrorism in the capital city in the United States of America. This was a team of assassins sent by one of our allies, General Pinochet and his secret police team. It behooves everybody, particularly in a day and age when were still fighting so hard against terrorism, to understand completely what happened in this particular episode of history. (Lee Powell/The Washington Post) Valdes: It took an extraordinary amount of maturity by the people of Chile and by the United States, and by the government that established democracy in Chile, and the government of the United States, to have gone through this tragedy and have the excellent relationship we have now. This is an event that changes a life, in one sense. But it didnt change one thing, which is the sense of gratitude and a sense of friendship and of love that I have developed to many Americans who were so committed to our own cause and were so close to Orlando that they have continued their whole lives to remember him at Sheridan Circle. They have been a source of hope to us that we will end up learning all the details of what really happened during all those terrible days. Alice Crites and Julie Tate contributed to this report. Imagine going outside on a winter day, packing a wicked snowball, and then pegging some random stranger in the back as he passes by. What happens next? Does the guy turn around, grin playfully and send a fistful of snow in return? Or does he charge at you and deliver a fist to your chin? Chances are, just thinking about that scene is enough to give you a sore jaw, and that, according to Rolling Stone contributing editor Gavin Edwards, is the difference between Bill Murray and the rest of us. Describing Murray as a modern-day trickster god, The Tao of Bill Murray shares dozens of stories like that snowball stunt, which the author says Murray pulled outside a wine shop in Rockland County, N.Y. (It launched not a brawl but a giant neighborhood snowball fight.) From such roguish tales, Edwards derives rules for living that he calls the Ten Principles of Bill. Bill has said, My legacys gonna have to be something different from my work, and these encounters might be what hes remembered for, writes Edwards, whose research for the book included interviewing Murray. If you apply his philosophical tenets to your own life, you can find the previously untraveled path to a better version of yourself. The Ten Principles of Bill, generally speaking, are all about learning to recognize and seize opportunities to have a little more fun and be a little more kind. For instance, the First Principle, Objects are opportunities, gives us the movie star playfully commandeering a New York City street sweeper during a pub crawl. Later, the Sixth Principle, Drop coin on the world, finds Murray jamming two bottles of Veuve Clicquot into a snowbank outside a drive-through bank window. When he gets the tellers attention, he simply mouths, Happy new year and drives off. One of the books most surreal scenes arrives with the Tenth Principle, While the earth spins, make yourself useful. Late one night in Scotland, Edwards explains, Murray ended up at a party with a bunch of Scandinavian exchange students who were already too deep in their cups for him to catch up. But Murray didnt go home he stayed and did the dishes. You cant just walk in and walk out, he told Edwards. That feels strange. But if you walk into someones house, do all the dishes and leave, then you feel like youve made a contribution. But the story that perhaps best captures Murrays enigmatic, comic genius arrives in the books introduction. The former SNL star has a habit of walking up behind strangers and placing his hands over their eyes. When they turn around, he delivers an ideal one-liner for todays celebrity-obsessed, hyper-connected, pics-or-it-didnt-happen culture: No one will ever believe you. John Wilwol is a writer in Washington. Cave Canem, a nonprofit group founded to nurture the work of African American poets, has won the National Book Foundations Literarian Award for service to the American literary community. This is the first time that the $10,000 prize has been awarded to an organization instead of an individual. Previous winners include Maya Angelou, Dave Eggers, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and James Patterson. The foundations choice is a strong demonstration of its renewed commitment to supporting diversity. Cave Canem founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady (Rachel Eliza Griffiths) Based in Brooklyn, Cave Canem was started 20 years ago by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the under-representation and isolation of African American poets in the literary landscape. Its tuition-free writing retreats at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg support more than 50 African American poets every year. The organization also offers prizes, workshops, lectures and readings throughout the country. [Best poetry books of the month] In a statement released today, Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation, said: Cave Canems innovative and effective literary activism has been transformative to the world of letters. Their ongoing commitment to provide supportive channels for African American poets to thrive has yielded works that enrich the worlds literary culture. Derricotte and Eady conceived of the organization while touring the ancient city of Pompeii. When they saw the words Cave Canem (Beware the Dog) on the floor of the House of the Tragic Poet, they were inspired to create a safe space for African American poets to work. Since then, Cave Canem fellows and faculty members have included some of the most celebrated poets in the country, including Terrance Hayes , Tracy K. Smith , Lucille Clifton , Yusef Komunyakaa and Natasha Trethewey. In reaction to the National Book Foundation award, both founders modestly turned attention away from themselves. Eady, now a professor of English at the University of Missouri, said in an email to The Washington Post: While its wonderful to have our work seen and acknowledged, its a larger joy to count the ways the work of the over 300 fellows who have gone to Cave Canem has rippled through the American poetry scene. Though we didnt have the term for it then, its clear to me that one of the points we were trying to make as we started out is that Black Poets (and Poetry) Matter. Derricotte, a professor emerita at the University of Pittsburgh, also expressed gratitude for the awards acknowledgment of the organization rather than individuals: It recognizes the importance of the discourse within a widely diverse community of African American poets in the shaping of our American literature. Poet Elizabeth Alexander (The Washington Post) Elizabeth Alexander, who recited one of her poems at Barack Obamas 2009 presidential inauguration, was a founding faculty member of Cave Canem. To get a sense of the organizations impact, Alexander said, one needs to consider the situation that black poets faced in this country 20 years ago: If you imagine teaching or writing or going into workshop situations where youre the only African American, if you look at the publishing industry that wouldnt publish work by African American poets in any significant way, if you imagine contests that didnt award prizes to African Americans not to say that Cave Canem has directly changed that, but when you look at all the poets whose work has blossomed under the arbor of Cave Canem, you see an actual transformation of American literature. Its been the most extraordinary happening in American literature in all the time Ive been working. Poet and former Cave Canem faculty member Carl Phillips praised the organization for the way it nurtures expression by immediately stripping away a certain self-consciousness about outsiderness, about ones relationship to a nonblack majority a self-consciousness that can distract from writing and thinking aloud freely and as honestly as possible. At the same time, Cave Canems commitment to aesthetic diversity invites the fellows to balance solidarity with a keen and necessary awareness of how race is just as complex and multifarious as poetry itself. This awareness, in a relatively short time, has reshaped the landscape of contemporary American poetry. Cave Canem will officially receive the Literarian Award at the National Book Awards ceremony on Nov. 16 in New York. Nominations for the prize were solicited from former National Book Award winners, finalists and judges, and other writers and literary professionals. The winner was chosen by the foundations board of directors. Ron Charles is the editor of Book World. You can follow him @RonCharles. When the Capitol building is attacked on the night of the State of the Union, claiming the lives of the president and all members of Congress, the designated survivor is immediately sworn in as president. That person is Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland). (ABC) Tom Kirkman is having a really bad day. First, the housing and urban development secretary discovers that all of his proposals have been cut from the presidents upcoming State of the Union address. Then hes asked to resign the president wants to appoint a fresh face for his second term and is offered an obscure ambassadorship as a consolation prize. Hours later, he learns that hes that nights designated survivor the Cabinet member who sits out the presidents speech in case of a catastrophic attack on the U.S. Capitol. Guess what? Theres a catastrophic attack on the U.S. Capitol. So begins Designated Survivor, ABCs new Washington-based drama about an accidental president faced with the worst crisis in American history. The series, which debuts Wednesday night, stars Kiefer Sutherland as the former academic with no political experience thrust into power after the president, the vice president, the Cabinet and most members of Congress are killed. Replete with explosions and vast conspiracies, it looks like another high-concept political thriller. But the premise is based on the real practice of sequestering someone in the presidential line of succession during the State of the Union and on similar occasions and the controversial question of how we determine who takes over if the president and other senior officials perish. [Fall TV preview 2016] Im obsessed with Washington, D.C., protocols, says show creator David Guggenheim, who first learned about designated survivors while watching a State of the Union broadcast. Theres inherently such a great character story in someones life changing in an instant, an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. The concept of a designated survivor first arose sometime during the Cold War, amid fears that the Soviet Union could wipe out the U.S. government with one well-timed nuclear strike when all of the countrys leaders were gathered in one place, such as at the State of the Union or an inauguration. It was a secretive but informal practice, with one Cabinet member omitted from the event to head the country in case of a disaster. Before 2001, being selected as the designated survivor was a bit of lark, a good story to share after the fact. Take the oft-told tale of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. In 1997, he spent the evening of the State of the Union at his daughters New York apartment surrounded by the highest security. Once President Clinton was safely back at the White House, the agents disappeared, and Glickman on his way to a late dinner found himself on the street unable to find a cab in the pouring rain. But since the terrorist attacks 15 years ago, the role has become much more serious. Cabinet members selected in recent years did not return calls asking about the experience, or they answered with a stern no comment. Turns out, its a security breach to discuss any details. This much we do know: The president and his top aides decide who will sit out that year. The designated survivor is escorted out of Washington by the U.S. Secret Service, accompanied by military and communication aides. In earlier years, the selected person was able to pick a location nearby (Bill Richardson spent the evening in Oxford, Md., in 2000), but since 9/11, all have been taken to the same secure government facility a couple of hours from Washington. And a little-known fact: For the past decade, there have been two designated survivors one Cabinet member to rebuild the executive branch and one member of the congressional leadership to lead a new legislature. Who was missing when President Barack Obama delivered his 2016 State of the Union address? (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) Like the president, the designated survivor must be at least 35 years old and a natural-born citizen, so Cabinet members not born in the United States, such as former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright, are ineligible. And the designee doesnt automatically become president: If another administration official higher in the line of succession happens to survive, he or she would take office instead. In 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was overseas during the State of the Union, but because her schedule and whereabouts were known, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was named the designated survivor. If both had survived any attack, Clinton, outranking Donovan, would have been sworn in as president. All this is governed by the Presidential Succession Act, which determines the exact line of succession to executive power. And, says political scholar Norm Ornstein, is a poorly crafted piece of legislation. Ornstein has been writing about the issue since shortly after 9/11. When he realized that the Capitol could easily have been wiped out by the fourth hijacked plane, he identified several flaws in the current law: It sets up a line of succession based on the order in which Cabinet departments were created (rather than jumping to the better-prepared Secretary of Homeland Security, for example) and calls for special congressional elections that could take months. In the event of an attack that wiped out the nations leadership, youd have the complete fog of war, Ornstein says. Its a mess the way it is now. Hed like to see changes that would allow governors to appoint successors to dead and incapacitated legislators so that there could be a functioning government within a week of an attack. And he also wants politicians to take a hard look at whether the historic line of succession would yield the most qualified president in the midst of a national tragedy. Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) takes the oath of office in Designated Survivor. (Ben Mark/ABC) Despite his lack of experience, we know that fictional President Kirkman will prevail because . . . hey, hes Jack Bauer in glasses. And its a television series. From the very beginning, we wanted this to live in real Washington, said Rich Klein, who worked in the Clinton administration and is a consultant for film and television productions including Designated Survivor. Our goal is that people who know Washington, know the presidency and know the towns rhythms, watch the show and say, They really know their stuff. Kal Penn, who took a break from acting to work briefly for President Obama in the White House, plays speechwriter Seth Wright, and he also brought his real-life experience to the set, offering advice on such tiny details as who would wear badges in the White House and who would not. But, this being Hollywood, the writers have made a few tweaks for dramatic purposes. Kirkman, still reeling from the news that hes been unceremoniously dumped by the administration, doesnt find out that hes been selected to sit out the speech until hes preparing to leave for the Capitol. His cellphone rings. Whats a designated survivor? he asks. In reality, the selected official would know days before and would be secretly whisked out of Washington on the day of the address. In the pilot, Kirkman and his wife are at a secure location (which just happens to overlook Washington), eating popcorn and watching the presidents speech. When the broadcast abruptly cuts off, Secret Service agents rush into the room as news reports of an explosion come on the air. Kirkman flings open the blast-door shutters just in time to see a fireball plume over the Capitol, and its clear that hes in Rosslyn. The real designated survivors are nowhere near the nations capital. And although it seems counterintuitive, taking Kirkman back to the White House to be sworn in wouldnt be out of the question, if only to rush him to the underground Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) beneath the executive residence. (Dick Cheney and other top Bush administration officials were evacuated to the bunker on 9/11.) Were not convinced that fictional White House staffers, having just watched the Capitol explode, would be comfortable hanging around the West Wing, but it makes for good television. There are also a few details that look Hollywood but turn out to be real. When Kirkman gets the news that hes being dumped, hes offered a job as ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization. Thats an actual agency of the United Nations based in Montreal that deals with global air navigation and the representative from the United States holds the title of ambassador. And theres a scene where speechwriter Wright has an awkward exchange with the new president in a White House bathroom. That shoe polisher in the background? A real thing. Kal made sure there was one of those old-fashioned black-and-red shoe buffers plugged into the back wall, Klein says. Because even in a global crisis, polished shoes are a must. The two-story Los Angeles museum spawned from the original Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia. (Matt Weir/Museum of Broken Relationships) Her story started with, I fell in love with a junkie. He must have felt the same heart-thumping emotion, because he ripped the handset off a pay phone for her. The busted receiver rested inside a neatly labeled display case, with the thin wire shaped like a crooked smile resting against the broken body. It was a touching gift, if a tad violent. The couple were strangers to me, but I knew exactly how their romance would play out. No one stays together at the Museum of Broken Relationships in Los Angeles. Hearts cleave, tears spill and lives splinter. And yet the personal mementos from those unions remain intact a forever reminder, for one half, of what the other half did. So dump them, suggests the Los Angeles museum, or in more proper institution-speak, donate them. Contribute your bittersweet artifacts to the arts and humanities of Southern California, and to the broader culture of voyeuristic sharing. Plus, you might find closure for the nominal cost of shipping. Nothing protects you from a broken heart, said Alexis Hyde, the museums director. These objects honor the time you spent together and the emotions you felt. They connect you to the human race. The museum, which opened in June, limits the number of objects on display to about 115, to avoid redundancy. (Matt Weir/Museum of Broken Relationships) [Fares are down, satisfaction is up, and the airline industry is not out to torment us] The two-story repository, which opened in June, spawned from the original Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia. During a European vacation, John B. Quinn, a lawyer and art collector, was moved by the concept and decided to open a satellite branch in his hometown, the City of Broken Dreams. To build the collection, the museum posted a call-out for items in February. It requested relics associated with all types of loss, not just the Taylor Swiftian kind. Its not automatically romantic, Hyde said. Its anything friends, cities, former self. For instance, a middle-aged man submitted a Peter Pan plush toy that represented his bon voyage to boyhood. An Irish donor relinquished a religious figurine that signified a renunciation of Christianity. And a daughter volunteered a painting of a cowboy and a dog that she had received from her father as a wedding gift. Knife cuts shredded the canvas. She was clearly not happy with the present, or his parenting skills. Contributors must abide by only one rule: None of the individuals involved in the story can be identified through the object. That means such personal effects as belly lint, dreadlocks and silicone breast implants are acceptable; photos of faces or letters with names are not. Anonymity makes people more forthcoming, Hyde said. Since winter, the museum has amassed about 400 items, with 10 to 20 packages arriving each week. (Applicants fill out an online form. If their entry is accepted, they then mail or drop off the item.) The staff limits the number of objects on display to about 115, to avoid redundancy. The items will rotate every six months, with some favorites staying (the wedding dress in a Mason jar, the paper flowers, the wine key) and others leaving (TBD before December). Book on display at the museum; since winter, it has amassed about 400 items, with 10 to 20 packages arriving each week. (Museum of Broken Relationships ) [Around the world in 20 days: How to visit seven countries in one 21,623-mile adventure] The way we make and break relationships is changing all the time, Hyde said, and we want to reflect that. The museums location on flashy Hollywood Boulevard echoes that sentiment. Love, like fame, evolves. And both can tank. Walk of Fame stars bedazzle the sidewalk outside the entrance. I navigated my way through a constellation of Charlie Chaplin, Bing Crosby and Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters to reach the front door. Inside, the minimalist space has the hushed and sacred atmosphere of a Van Cleef & Arpels boutique or an Apple store. Each item is treated like a treasure. They are nestled in display cases and fastened to the white walls like Dada artworks. A few, such as the dinosaur pinata, squat on the floor or rest on pedestals. Diarylike descriptions accompany each relic. The staff barely touches the prose; they will fix the authors spelling, grammar and punctuation or redact a name, but they will not correct facts. For example, the instrument in Illustrated Mandolin, which features a drawing of two penguins on the back, is actually a ukulele. I wasnt the first person to tell the front desk about the mislabeling, nor will I be the last person to hear the no-recollection-is-wrong policy. The stories are very unique to someone, Hyde said. They honor a relationship, even if it ended in flames. During an afternoon visit in July, I wandered through the gallery alongside clingy couples and rapt singles. I approached the exhibit with the eye of a social anthropologist and the spirit of a nosy neighbor. I studied each item and read each passage. Out of context, the objects appeared common: a coffee pot, an empty tube of Toms toothpaste, a dog brush. But in the museum, they transformed into totems inscribed with universal truths. Diamond ring: S(he) be(lie)ve(d). Moroccan cedar pen case: I unclasped the wooden case and set the neon yellow pen inside. It didnt fit. [In this fascinating German museum on the Kennedys, we can all be Berliners] Implants: What a beautiful send off for these two lumps of silicone that caused me so much pain. Salad spinner: Getting rid of this wont change anything, but it will at least free up some space. Though each mini-memoir is singular, I noticed several shared traits among the heartbroken. Many were artists, and a few own dogs and have children. References to mental illness emerged several times. And a lot of people buy or make thoughtful gifts that never reach their intended recipient. In one example, a woman from Warsaw explained that she had planned to write her boyfriend a romantic sentiment every day for a year. For his 27th birthday, she was going to fill a jar with all 365 messages. The title of the piece 103 Love Notes suggests that he never received it. If inspired, visitors can participate in the group catharsis inside a confessional booth. A desk in a private corner provides an electric candle and a journal. Have fun with your Tinder, read one passage. The Jonas Brothers broke my heart, but I got you, said another. Im scared youll leave me for Pokemon one day, a guest shared. Perhaps in a future exhibit, we will see a smashed iPhone with a Pokemon Go app still displayed on the screen. More from Travel: Still kicks to be found on Route 66 What does the National Park Service consider a national park? The arduous but worthwhile pursuit of Madagascars lemurs Bernie Demczuk stands in front of the Wye House with Beverly Tilghman, whose ancestors owned Frederick Douglass when he was enslaved as a boy on the Wye Plantation in Talbot County, Md. (Courtland Milloy/The Washington Post/Courtland Milloy/The Washington Post) During a recent driving tour of Marylands Eastern Shore, Bernie Demczuk pulled into a long, tree-lined driveway in Talbot County and parked in front of a mansion called the Wye House. Beverly Tilghman welcomed us inside and gave a brief history of her family. They had come from Wales in 1659, built the house in 1790 and, over the years, accumulated 40,000 acres of farmland and more than 700 enslaved black men, women and children to work it. Among them was a boy who would eventually escape the bonds of slavery and become a world-renowned abolitionist named Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass lived here from ages six to nine, Tilghman said. He was owned by one of the overseers and walked 12 miles to this property as a young boy with his grandmother, who turned him over and left. Once there, his home would become a storage closet in the kitchen of another slave, a cook. For Demczuk, who teaches African American history at the Districts School Without Walls, the Wye House was just one of his many classrooms on the Eastern Shore. The birthplace of Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman in nearby Bucktown was another, along with Unionville, a community founded by black people in the early 1700s. The National Museum of African American History and Culture opens its doors to the public on Sept. 24. Heres a look at the numbers behind the 19th Smithsonian museum. (claritza jimenez/The Washington Post) I dont want to sit in an office or just stand in a classroom all day, the public schoolteacher said. I want to teach like this. I bring my students here all the time. As the National Museum of African American History and Culture prepares for its grand opening this weekend, Demczuk is hoping that visitors will be inspired to go outside those walls and see where the treasured history occurred, discover the actual places where the celebrated culture originated. [Two-story house symbolizing freedom for former slaves displayed in new museum] Just drive somewhere, get out of your car and start talking to people, Demczuk said. But for those who are unable to roam far, the new museum should provide a starting point. Demczuk has proposed that D.C. public school students from sixth to 12th grade spend at least one day a year touring the museum. Other schools in the metropolitan area could also take advantage of the astonishing new resource. Despite the regions rich history, too little of it gets taught in school. I ask my students if they know who Georgetown was named for, Demczuk said. They say George Washington. I say, no, its named for King Georges I, II and III, who were the largest slave traders in history, having stolen 4 million Africans between them. He also reminds them that Washington, D.C., was named for George Washington, who owned slaves, and Christopher Columbus, who invented the Atlantic slave trade, and that Alexandria, Va., was named for John and Philip Alexander, the two largest slave traders in Northern Virginia. So our heritage, our whole concept of who we are as a people, a nation, comes out of this thing called slavery, and we dont even want to study it, we want to ignore it, not teach it, Demczuk said. [For parents and children, difficult history at African American Museum] Ive argued that one of the reasons old black Washington is so upset with these white millennials that are moving into their neighborhoods is not because they are young and white but because they lack appreciation, he continued. Black people have been struggling to make a place in the city for 150 years and here you come with blinders and earplugs, not speaking, not seeing, not appreciating. He believes the new African American History Museum will go a long way in helping to increase awareness and appreciation. Tilghman and her husband, Richard, inherited the Wye House in 1993. Not long afterward, they began allowing archaeologists from the University of Maryland and Morgan State University to explore the property. Ill say that we have learned a lot about ourselves, she said. It has been heartwarming and also sad. A family member of one of our good friends from Unionville was beaten to death on this property, and thats a hard thing to take. But the two of us have sat down, discussed it, tried to accept it in the hope of being able to work through it. But what about those who say that slavery was in the past, that we should just move on and forget it? I think its all of our jobs to make sure we move forward, Tilghman said. Saying, I wasnt here, or, Its not my fault, is just a way of closing yourself in. You cant do that. Theres still a lot of work to be done. Demczuk added, We cant heal until we can talk. There is no redemption, no restorative justice, until we can sit down, over a piece of bread, and talk. As he left the Wye House, he explained, Thats why I teach. To get my students talking. To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy. Wegmans, the supermarket chain, warned that it will not open stores in the District if the city council approves legislation that would require it and other large employers to give hourly workers two weeks advanced notice of their shifts. The council tabled the bill on Tuesday (Photo by Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post) (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post) Legislation intended to give hourly employees more predictable work schedules effectively died Tuesday before the D.C. Council, with lawmakers saying that they were hesitant to pile too many costs onto employers in a single year. The D.C. Council voted 9 to 4 to table the bill, leaving little chance that lawmakers would reach a final decision this session on the councils third major pro-labor bill. The legislation, which mirrors similar laws passed in San Francisco and Seattle, would have mandated that employers give workers two weeks advance notice of their scheduled hours. It also would have required bosses to give part-time workers priority when filling full-time shifts. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) predicted that the legislative body would focus instead on finishing a bill that would require private employers to provide paid family leave, to be funded by a new corporate tax. That bill follows a decision in the spring to ratchet up the citys hourly minimum wage to $15 by the end of the decade. My concern was we were getting too far into the details of telling businesses how to operate, Mendelson said. But that was a concern, not a judgment. There is a possibility this issue comes back up next year. But advocates for hourly workers, dozens of whom had filled the council chambers wearing JUST HOURS stickers, took little solace in the suggestion that the bill may be revisited. We are extremely disappointed, said Ari Schwartz, a spokesman for DC Jobs with Justice, a coalition of workers groups supporting the legislation. We had people who tell us they are with working families who vote against us. This was a question of who stands with workers. Several council members who had initially supported the legislation when it was proposed last year by former council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large) retracted their support over recent months amid a lobbying push by Target, Best Buy and other big-box retailers who said the costs would be prohibitive. Grocery chain Wegmans threatened not to move into the District if the bill passed. The bill would have curbed a practice known as just-in-time scheduling. Employers use the computer-assisted scheduling practice to assign workers according to the time of day or month that they expect the most business, requiring them to sometimes be available at a moments notice or to be sent home if business is slow. Opponents say that while the practice might minimize labor costs, it can wreak havoc on the lives of low-wage workers, making it difficult to schedule child care, commit to a second job or take part-time classes. The practice also results in erratic pay, studies show. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) had cautioned against the bill, saying she wanted time to study its impacts in concert with the increase to the minimum wage and 1 percent corporate tax increase likely needed to cover new family-leave benefits. Asked for reaction Tuesday, Rob Hawkins, a Bowser spokesman, wrote in an email, The council sets the councils agenda. Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At large) pleaded with colleagues to keep the bill alive Tuesday morning during a breakfast meeting before the public council session. Silverman said she wanted to send the measure back to committee and begin study sessions to find grounds for a compromise. I thought it was the right thing to do by our hourly workers, Silverman said. The bill figured prominently in Oranges decision to resign early from the council. Orange, who chaired the council committee on business affairs, advanced the measure weeks before he lost his primary in June. Shortly thereafter, he left on vacation, missing a council meeting at which he had been expected to press for a vote on the scheduling bill. Over ensuing weeks, support for the bill on the council fractured, and Orange announced that he planned to take a job in August as chief executive of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, while serving the remaining four months of his term. The chamber opposes the scheduling bill. Orange maintained that he had never been in discussions with the chamber about his new post when the bill was delayed. But critics charged that Orange faced a conflict of interest, leading Orange to step down on the day that he assumed his chamber job. Last week, the D.C. Democratic Party appointed Robert White (D), who beat Orange in the June primary, to fulfill the remaining months of Oranges term. White is overwhelmingly favored to win the seat in the November general election. Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Karen Garza announced Monday that she would step down to take a job at Battelle for Kids, an Ohio-based educational consulting organization. (Shamus Ian Fatzinger/Fairfax County Times) When Karen Garza took the helm of Fairfax County schools in 2013, she brought with her a team of fresh central office hires and ideas to remake one of the nations largest school districts. When she departs in December after less than a full term in the job and shortly after renewing her contract she leaves behind a legacy of achievement, but she also abandons a series of mid-stream reforms and will miss what is sure to be a trying school budget process. [Fairfax County Schools superintendent Karen Garza resigns] Garzas unexpected resignation Monday also forces the Fairfax County school board and school system leaders into what they are expecting to be a grueling process to find her replacement. Garza is set to leave her post later this year to lead Battelle for Kids, an Ohio-based educational nonprofit group that lured her away. I dread going through another superintendent search, said board member Elizabeth Schultz (Springfield), who helped select Garza in 2013. Schultz traveled to Lubbock, Tex., where Garza was previously the superintendent, to observe her in action before she was selected to lead the district. I know whats coming, and its a significant intellectual burden that were faced with. School leaders already are assembling a list of characteristics for Garzas ideal successor. Kevin Hickerson, president of the Fairfax Educators Association, praised Garzas ability to make everyone and teachers in particular feel as if their opinions were valued, even if they diverged with hers. It was a leadership style that validated your concerns, Hickerson said. Hickerson added he hopes whoever replaces her brings the same ability to listen to educators, who frequently feel undervalued. Board member Megan McLaughlin (Braddock) said it is essential that we find a new leader who is going to carry on this new legacy that she brought to Fairfax County Public Schools. . . . I want to remain hopeful that well find another remarkable leader who understands what the community needs. While Garzas tenure will end up near the national average, many board members thought Garza would remain with the district for longer and were hoping for stability. Garzas predecessor remained with the district for nine years, and Fairfax is not used to such quick turnaround in an important position. Garza said Monday that she wished hers had been a longer stay, but she also acknowledged that she told school board members upon her contract renewal this year that she was not sure how long she would stick around. And offers were rolling in. The announcement came less than four months after the board renewed her contract for another four years and gave her a raise. It also comes as the school system enters another budget season, a time often marked by acrimony with the school systems main funders, the countys Board of Supervisors. Garza had a track record of seeing her requests for funds nearly entirely fulfilled, campaigning hard for the county to increase its investments in the school system. She won a pay increase for teachers this school year with a budget that largely avoided cuts. Her successor likely an interim superintendent will be left to navigate a sticky political situation that in the past few years has involved dire predictions of shortfalls from the school system and allegations of grandstanding from government leaders. [Fairfax superintendent proposes teacher raises, class size reductions] McLaughlin said much of the work of assembling the budget proposal will be done before Garza departs. She praised her ability to get close to full funding for the school systems budget. In terms of her success with Fairfax County school funding . . . I think it is a testament to her success has a leader, McLaughlin said. She worked tirelessly to communicate with the Board of Supervisors, with our school board and with the public on why the funding was so essential. Garza is set to leave an organization of nearly 25,000 employees to head a much smaller team in Columbus, Ohio, where she was hired to be the president and chief executive officer of Battelle for Kids. The organization has just 100 employees but has worked with schools in 30 states, Ireland and Hong Kong furnishing roster verification software for the Chicago Public Schools and advising small, far-flung rural districts including in districts where Garza has been an administrator. The company supported an effort in the Houston Independent School District, when Garza was chief academic officer, to give teachers raises for student performance. When Garza headed the Lubbock Independent School District, the system implemented a Battelle for Kids program for professional development. That program, called instructional rounds, gives administrators and teachers a structured method for observing their colleagues and giving them feedback. Fairfax County Public Schools was brought into the same program in 2015, with a $279,000 contract. Dan Domenech, who served as Fairfax County schools superintendent from 1997 to 2004 and is now the executive director of American Association of School Administrators, said he expects a superintendent search to attract a deep pool of applicants because the countys school system is seen as a destination for aspiring school leaders. There wont be any shortage of very capable people applying for the job, Domenech said. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogans mandate that schools open after Labor Day would allow more time at the beach. (Jeffrey MacMillan/for The Washington Post) Amid uncertainty about Gov. Larry Hogans order that Maryland schools start classes after Labor Day next year, Montgomery County is looking toward creating two school calendars one that starts in September and another in August. The doubling up would give the community a vision of the school boards thinking while officials look for greater clarity on the state requirement, said Patricia ONeill, chair of the boards policy management committee, which is scheduled to consider the issue Tuesday afternoon. Montgomerys school board typically takes final action on a calendar for the next school year each November. At the latest, a calendar must be adopted in December under board policy. We will put forward two calendars one complies with the governors order and one that we really prefer, said ONeill, adding that officials will work to resolve the issue quickly. I think we owe it to our community to adopt one as soon as possible because people need to make plans. Montgomerys efforts to grapple with the state mandate come three weeks after Hogan (R) signed an executive order saying school systems must start after Labor Day and end by June 15, a summer-extending move he said would benefit families and provide an economic boost. [Could a late school start mean an end to spring break? Md. move could have consequences] His edict left school systems scrambling. All but one opened in August this year, and some said they might have to cut back on spring break or certain holidays to meet the state requirement to start later and still end by mid-June. There was another twist on the issue Friday, when the state attorney generals office said in a 24-page letter Hogan may have exceeded his authority as governor in issuing the executive order about start dates. [Maryland attorney general: Hogan may have exceeded authority with order on school start] Reacting to that letter, Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince Georges) said he would advise school systems to ignore the governors order and set a calendar that is appropriate to them and their students. Whether systems will embrace such an approach is unclear. In Montgomery, school officials will confer with district lawyers as they proceed, said Michael Durso, school board president. I think its still a fairly confusing situation, he said. The Hogan order came as Montgomery was weighing a proposal that would have pushed its school-year calendar in the opposite direction with an earlier-than-usual start date of Aug. 21 in 2017. [More school in August? First day of classes in Maryland district may come earlier in 2017] ONeill said there was not strong community support for an Aug. 21 start date and she will no longer pursue the idea. She said she now backs a calendar that would start Aug. 28, a week before Labor Day, similar to previous school years. Public reaction to the districts 2017-2018 calendar proposal was strong, with more than 2,000 comments pouring in since June, said schools spokesman Derek Turner. About 1,900 were dated before Hogans order was announced, with several hundred coming in afterward; the system is still accepting feedback. A sampling of comments, submitted to school officials following the Aug. 21 proposal, shows a range of opinion. Here are some that The Washington Post edited for space: I think starting a week earlier so that students are done with school the week after Memorial Day is a great idea. I went to school in the South and we went back to school in mid-August and got out at the end of May. By Memorial Day, students and parents are just drained. I teach IB and AP courses. This extra week will give us more instructional time before the exams. May not seem like much but it will help! Leave the school year alone!!! I do not see the reasoning for change. Take the school year back to starting after Labor Day and getting out mid June. Get rid of all the unnecessary days off!!! NO!!! Do not change! My childrens summer vacation should be the month of August. My family has a tradition the month of August especially that week. If so many families will be coming to school a week later. School should start after Labor Day or close or it! When considering the calendar, please consider the lives of families. Having a break from school is the most important time of the year. Do NOT reduce our summer by any more time. The pressure of school continues to grow along with anxiety and continued issues of childrens mental health. MARYLAND Step-grandfather is charged in death A step-grandfather who was charged with child abuse after the infant he was caring for suffered severe head injuries has been charged with manslaughter following the childs subsequent death. Lenwood Pearson, 48, of Landover, had sole care and custody of 6-month-old Demetrius Hooper when the boy suffered a skull fracture, severe facial swelling and bleeding on the brain, according to charging documents. Pearson was caring for the child Sept. 13 when the boy suffered his injuries and was flown to Childrens National Medical Center in a coma, police said. Doctors pronounced the infant dead three days later. Police also have charged Pearson with assault and child abuse causing death. He is being held without the possibility of bail. Lynh Bui Baker: Word on bid for governor after Nov. 8 Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), who is frequently mentioned as a likely 2018 challenger to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), says he will decide whether to run for the governorship after the November presidential election. Baker, 57, is almost halfway through his second and final term as county executive of Marylands second-largest jurisdiction. He said he will talk with his family before deciding whether to seek the Democratic nomination to run against the extremely popular Hogan, and that the Republicans record-high approval ratings will not be a factor in his decision. I dont base [my decision] on what the political climate is, Baker said. Its whether I think I can do a good job and whether it is right for me and my family at that time. And if I can get the things done that I want to do. Baker said he also will evaluate the effect of the decision on the health of his wife, who has Alzheimers disease. Arelis R. Hernandez Creepy clowns turn out to be nonexistent It turns out the reports of creepy clowns being seen in Annapolis are not true. Four students, between the ages of 7 and 9, had said they saw clowns in parts of Annapolis within the past week as they were on their way to school. But Annapolis police said they interviewed the children again Tuesday and determined the reports to be unfounded. Cpl. Amy Miguez, a spokeswoman for Annapolis police, said that all four of the children had similar stories of how the incidents occurred but that police thought it didnt seem very likely. She said the fresh interviews revealed the truth. Thats what ended up leading to the admission that they made it up, Miguez said. Other reports of creepy clowns have turned out in most cases not to be true, and police have started to make arrests after false reports in other parts of the country. Alleged clown incidents have occurred in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky. Dana Hedgpeth Motorcyclist who hit parked truck dies A Maryland man who drove his motorcycle into a parked truck early this month has died, police said. On Sept. 3 about 3:30 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 7200 block of Beltz Drive in District Heights in response to a report of a crash involving a motorcycle, Prince Georges County police said in a statement. A preliminary investigation revealed that Phillip Brooks, 59, of Brandywine was riding east on Beltz Drive when he struck a truck parked beside the road, the statement said. There was no driver in the truck, and Brooks died of his injuries Sunday, police said. Police are asking anyone with information about the crash to call them at 301-731-4422. Anonymous tips can be submitted to pgcrimesolvers.com. Justin Wm. Moyer A top aide to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has accused House Speaker Michael E. Busch of trying to pressure Attorney General Brian Frosh to rule that Hogans order to start the school year after Labor Day was illegal. Within days after Hogan (R) issued his Aug. 31 executive order, Busch (D-Anne Arundel) called Frosh to discuss how long it would take for the attorney generals office to review the order and opine on whether Hogan overreached. The Baltimore Sun, whose reporter overheard Buschs end of the conversation, wrote that Busch told the attorney general that he would set a bad precedent if his office did not determine that Hogans action was illegal. Youre going to empower this guy to continue to roll out these executive orders rather than propose legislation, Busch reportedly told Frosh, a fellow Democrat and former state lawmaker. Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer characterized the call on Friday as partisan lobbying and said the discussion raises questions of propriety, and we hope it isnt having undue influence on the ability to render impartial legal analysis. Busch said Tuesday that he did not pressure Frosh. I cant influence anything, he added. He said he could not recall the specifics of the conversation but had called to find out the time frame for lawmakers to receive the legal advice they were seeking from Froshs office. Im not a lawyer. I thought it would come back quickly, Busch said. He told me it was more complex. Lawmakers received a letter from Froshs office late Friday afternoon that said Hogan may have exceeded his authority in taking control of the school calendar from local jurisdictions. The letter also said the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both chambers, could pass a law blocking Hogans order if lawmakers so choose. [Md. AG: Hogan may have exceeded authority with order on school start] When reporters called Mayer for comment, he questioned whether Froshs office had acted independently, citing the Busch-Frosh conversation that had been reported in the Sun. On Tuesday, Mayer said Busch was putting political pressure on another elected official to stop it. . . . He wasnt advising him to follow the law. It wasnt do your due diligence. It was you have to stop this guy. And that sounds like political pressure. Alexandra Hughes, Buschs chief of staff, said the speaker had been inundated with calls in the days after Hogans order, with county officials, superintendents and delegates wanting to know whether the governors move was legal. He wanted to know: Whats our timing here? Whats going on? Hughes said, explaining the call to Frosh. Hughes said she did not know what the rest of the conversation entailed. I dont think its unfair for anyone to ask the attorney general what the timing would be or to even give their opinion about the executive order, she said. I dont think that is lobbying. Frosh declined in an interview to discuss conversations he has with clients, which for him include Busch, Hogan and other state government officials. He said that the letter from his office, which was signed by Adam D. Snyder, chief counsel in the Division of Opinions and Advice, was a collaborative effort and that politics didnt play a role. It wasnt a situation in which I leaned in and said, You have to come out one way or another, Frosh said. If politics had been a factor, he added, the advice would not have been as balanced as it is. Guns line the walls of the firearms reference collection at D.C. police headquarters in Washington. A federal appeals court panel is considering the constitutionality of the citys strict gun-control laws. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press) Appeals court judges had tough questions on Tuesday for the Districts lawyers about strict limits the city places on carrying concealed firearms on the streets of the nations capital. At issue for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit were two challenges to the Districts system that requires residents to demonstrate a good reason to get a permit. D.C. officials say the restrictions are necessary in a city that struggles with gun violence and faces heightened security challenges because of a concentration of federal government buildings and public officials. Gun rights groups and Republican attorneys general from more than a dozen states are among those asking the court to find Washingtons restrictions on concealed carry unconstitutional. The challenges follow the Supreme Courts landmark 2008 decision that used a D.C. case to declare that people have the right to gun ownership unrelated to military service. In D.C., residents who want a permit to carry a concealed firearm must show that they have good reason to fear injury or a proper reason, such as transporting valuables. In 2008, D.C.'s ban on handguns was struck down by the Supreme Court after more than 30 years. The city's gun-control laws are under challenge again. This is a look back at D.C.'s tough history on gun ownership. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post) [The high court struck down D.C.s gun ban eight years ago, but the fight continues] The three-judge appeals panel is specifically being asked to decide whether the citys permitting restrictions can remain in place while the challenge to the law is litigated. Judges Thomas B. Griffith and Stephen F. Williams seemed most concerned Tuesday about the possibility that a woman living alone in a high-crime area, for instance, with neighbors who had been attacked, might not qualify for a permit. Isnt it an inherent right? Griffith asked Assistant Attorney General Holly Johnson. Why should I have to show a need before exercising that right? The Districts law is among the strictest in the country: 88 people have been approved for concealed-carry permits. According to the police department, 309 applicants were denied. At one point during oral arguments, Williams seemed skeptical there was much difference between the citys good reason requirement and an outright ban, saying a distinction exists, but its small. The Districts concealed-carry rules are similar to those in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and some jurisdictions in California. Even as Griffith and Williams pressed lawyers representing the city, they noted that similar permitting systems have survived legal challenges in three other federal appeals courts. The judges asked attorneys for the opponents of the D.C. law what was different about the Districts regulation. Youre just saying, They are wrong? Williams said in questioning attorney David Thompson. The judges also noted the importance of adhering to the Supreme Courts earlier decisions. They referred several times to Justice Antonin Scalias 2008 opinion that found that the Second Amendment right to possess a firearm for self-defense is most acute in the home. The Supreme Court has turned down several opportunities to decide whether regulations that cover carrying firearms in public are constitutional. The high court also has not answered the question of whether the Second Amendment extends into a right to carry guns into public spaces. Griffith pressed attorney Alan Gura, who is representing opponents of the permitting restrictions, whether Gura was asking the court to extend the Second Amendment right beyond the home. Gura acknowledged that the right to carry is not absolute but said the city system precludes access for the majority of people in D.C. What the city cannot do is destroy that right entirely, Gura said. Much of the discussion Tuesday centered on conflicting interpretations of the history of gun regulations, with references to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and early American and English law. Loren L. AliKhan, the citys deputy solicitor general, told the court there is a rich history of banning concealed carry in highly populated public places because of safety concerns. Thompson, the lawyer for District resident Matthew Grace and the gun rights group Pink Pistols, said such comprehensive bans were not the norm historically and that the citys law is akin to an absolute ban. For the typical law-abiding citizen, who has not been subject to a specific threat, this is a ban, he said. Griffith, a President George W. Bush nominee, was in the majority in the courts 2007 opinion that overturned the Districts decades-old ban on handguns. The third judge on the panel, Karen LeCraft Henderson, dissented in that ruling and sided last year with the city when it argued unsuccessfully to keep a one-gun-per-month limit on firearms registration. She did not ask a question during oral arguments Tuesday. The home of Dick and Jody Vilardo on May 11, 2015, the day after they were killed. (Dan Morse/The Washington Post) Mortally wounded, Dick Vilardo stumbled down the rear hallway of his suburban Maryland home just after midnight, hoping to reach his wife of nearly 40 years, Jody. He saw her in the kitchen, struggling with a masked intruder for control of a phone. Dick Vilardo, 65, grabbed the intruder, a man less than half his age and armed with a large knife. But Vilardo was too weakened, and the intruder was too bent on murder. Details of the gruesome attack that killed the Vilardos were spelled out Tuesday during a two-hour court hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court in which Scott Tomaszewski pleaded guilty to murder in the May 2015 slayings inside the couples home on Ridge Drive, about 12 miles northwest of the District. Scott Tomaszewski ( Montgomery County Police) Tomaszewski, 32, a longtime neighbor of the Vilardos, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 15. About 140 people were in court Tuesday, many of them friends and family of the Vilardos, who left behind two children, two grandchildren and a motto they had lived by: Friends are family, and family is everything. Dick Vilardo, in his last act on earth, was trying to save the woman he loved, said Montgomerys top prosecutor, John McCarthy. The murders, on Mothers Day, attracted considerable attention. Immediately after the killings, Tomaszewski slipped off for a planned Alaskan cruise with his parents. Detectives caught up to him nearly a week later in Juneau, apprehending him as he got off the Coral Princess ship for a day of whale-watching. His attorney, John Kudel, had spent much of the time since Tomaszewskis arrest exploring a possible insanity defense. But he couldnt establish that profound mental illness was responsible for the murders and accepted a plea deal with prosecutors last week. Under the deal, prosecutors can still seek a life sentence with no chance of parole the maximum penalty for murder in Maryland and have said they will do so. The precise motive for the murders remains elusive. The son of retired employees from the National Institutes of Health, Tomaszewski had previous convictions for possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while impaired. Hed also had trouble holding a steady job. Richard Dick Vilardo and Julianne Jody Vilardo were killed at the their Rockville-area home in 2015. (Courtesy of the Vilardo family) I dont think theres any rational explanation for the conduct of the defendant in this case. . . . Theres no rational explanation for this, McCarthy said. In April 2015, Tomaszewski had broken into another neighbors empty home and stolen jewelry. When Tomaszewski broke into the Vilardos home, he was armed with two knives, McCarthy said. Tomaszewski attacked Dick Vilardo as he slept and then continued the stabbings in different parts of the house. Dick Vilardo suffered dozens of wounds. Jody Vilardo fled from the bedroom and was attacked in the kitchen. It was only after attacking the couple, McCarthy said Tuesday, that Tomaszewski stole cash and more than $7,000 worth of jewelry. Before the killings, Tomaszewski sent a message on his phone to his ex-girlfriend, asking: U dont have a hockey mask i can borrow, do u? I need to get some work done. Then, in the minutes after the killings, he went into the Vilardos refrigerator and got a ginger ale because his throat was parched. He returned to his parents home next door and threw a black mask, gloves, clothes and sneakers into a washing machine. Around 3 a.m., he headed to the airport with his family for the Alaska cruise. Before boarding the plane, he posted a Facebook message at 6:14 a.m.: Happy Mothers day to my wonderful mom, he wrote. . . . Happy mothers [day] to the rest of you mommies out there as well. For the Vilardo children Andrew and Katherine May 10, 2015, had started with great promise. They had plans to meet their parents for a Mothers Day brunch, and when the couple didnt show up and didnt reply to messages, their children drove to their parents home. In court, McCarthy played a 911 call placed by Katherine. She is heard in utter panic, telling the operator about finding her parents bodies. As the call was played, the Vilardo friends and relatives looked down, and many cried. Theres blood everywhere! Katherine Vilardo said during the 911 call. After Tomaszewskis arrest in Alaska, police searched his stateroom and found a folding knife, later shown to bear Dick Vilardos DNA. They also looked at the contents of his smartphone, where they saw a photo he had taken of a large knife shaped like a machete. Believing that was the murder weapon, detectives got a search warrant for his parents home. The detectives told Tomaszewskis mother what they were looking for, and she told them she may have taken the knife to a trash dump, according to McCarthy. His mother added that after returning from Alaska, she had found a backpack in the house with the knife and jewelry that was not hers or her husbands. She said she took the items to the dump. McCarthy said he did not press for charges against Tomaszewskis mother, choosing instead to secure her as a potential witness against her son if the case had gone to trial. Kudel, the defense lawyer, said that Tomaszewskis mother agreed to cooperate with authorities. Since the killings, Tomaszewski has come to better understand exactly what he did, according to Kudel. Time has allowed him to reconstruct the event. Hes shocked at what he did, Kudel said. He feels as bad as any right-thinking human being can feel, Kudel added. [Tomaszewski wished everyone a happy Mothers Day] After his clients arrest, Kudel signaled that he would be looking into Tomaszewskis mental health. Under Maryland law, if someone is so mentally ill that he doesnt realize he is committing a crime, he can be found legally insane and be sent to a psychiatric hospital rather than to state prison. [What Jody Vilardo said about her husband: He can always make me laugh] Court records indicate that Kudel explored whether a 2014 accident could have damaged Tomaszewskis brain. The attorney retained a neurologist to review medical records from his clients fall into a family swimming pool. On Jan. 8, Kudel entered an insanity plea for Tomaszewski. The plea is known as not criminally responsible. Circuit Judge John Debelius ordered Tomaszewski to undergo a psychiatric evaluation at a Maryland state hospital. The details of that evaluation have not been made public. But by early August, Kudel had started speaking with prosecutors about a possible plea deal, according to court records. That plea was finalized Sept. 14, according to the court records, and it called for Tomaszewski to be sent to state prison. Widely used methods to trace complex DNA samples, bullets, tread and bite marks to criminal defendants fall short of scientific standards, limitations that federal prosecutors and judges should seriously consider before entering forensic evidence in trials, a presidential panel urged Tuesday. The unanimous report by the 20-member Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology does not advocate banning testimony or putting limits on tools used for investigations. But when it comes to evidence at trial, the report says, the Justice Department and federal judges should give greater weight to scientists view of forensic evidence, particularly in light of a landmark 1993 Supreme Court decision that ruled courts should act as gatekeepers and admit only scientifically valid expert testimony. The councils co-chairs said in an interview that scientists were not telling judges what to do. But they said they hoped the report would ensure the scientific reliability of forensic techniques used in thousands of cases each year. For a forensic science to be scientifically valid, you need actual, empirical evidence of its reliability and accuracy, period, said Eric S. Lander, founder of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Historically that hasnt been the case. Lander and White House science adviser John P. Holdren co-chaired the council. The report found that feature-comparison techniques that link a person or an item to a crime scene through bite marks or treads from shoes or tires fell far short of scientific standards and lacked meaningful evidence of their accuracy. The report concluded that evidence supporting firearms tracing was promising but needed more corroboration. Analysis of high-grade samples of mixed DNA where the DNA of up to three people may be in the sample was well-founded, according to the report. But interpretation of more complex DNA mixtures currently was not a reliable methodology, the report found. Overall, the lack of rigor in researching error rates and ensuring that forensic results do not rely on the subjective views of law enforcement experts is a real and significant weakness in the judicial system, the council said in a 174-page report that President Obama commissioned last year. Neither experience, nor judgment, nor good professional practices . . . can substitute for actual evidence of foundational validity and reliability, stated the final report, which the White House provided to The Washington Post. Expressions of consensus among practitioners . . . [are] no substitute for error rates. [FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades] A Justice Department spokeswoman said there was always a place for continued review, but noted that DOJ had taken unprecedented steps in the last few years to strengthen forensic science and was confident that, when used properly, forensic science evidence helps juries identify the guilty and clear the innocent. An FBI statement was directly critical of the report saying it makes broad, unsupported assertions regarding science and forensic science practice and conflates distinctions about levels of evidence that led to troubling generalized conclusions about all forensic science disciplines. The pre-publication backlash among several law enforcement groups also underscored what is at stake. In a Sept. 1 email alert, Matthew Gamette, director of forensics for the Idaho State Police and senior board member of two leading crime lab organizations, said the Justice Department had held a series of calls with prosecutors, law enforcement and lab officials, and that it does not support or agree with a testimony ban, and would provide a packet of information to federal prosecutors regarding how to dispute this report in court. In later public statements, the National District Attorneys Association accused the council of scientific irresponsibility, and Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying that the effort to overturn years of settled law over expert testimony posed a threat to the public safety of our American citizens. Pasco said Monday that he continues to hold that view. The council report advocates that law enforcement be precluded from using most forensic evidence in the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses, the DA association said, adding, Adopting any of their recommendations would have a devastating effect. Nelson O. Bunn Jr., spokesman for the DA association, on Monday said the group stood by its statement. Gamette said Monday that the Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations was withholding comment until it could review the final report. The White House report adds to a critical 2009 report by a congressionally charted National Academy of Sciences panel that traced weak standards for crime labs, examiners, testimony and research in part to crime labs being under the control of law enforcement. [Forensic techniques are subject to human bias, lack standards, panel found] The new report makes more concrete and pointed recommendations to federal courts and Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. For instance, the White House report praised the FBI for research in recent years that established a reliable error rate in fingerprint examinations of better than 1 in 300 matches. It recommended increasing the research budgets of the National Institute for Standards and Technology and the FBI to about $44 million a year to expand similar work and to develop automated systems to trace fingerprints, bullets and DNA mixtures, under a government-wide strategy set by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. [U.S. to commit scientists and new commission to fix forensic science] Lander, a leader in the human genome mapping effort, likened the challenge to the early days of DNA testing, when inconsistency among testing labs in discerning genetic profiles and declaring matches led a New York judge to bar results from court. That 1989 decision led to joint efforts by forensic and non-forensic scientists, including him, to produce what became a gold standard for DNA crime lab work. But tension between law enforcement and scientists over what forensic analysis is scientifically sound and what needs more study has impeded reforms, according to some legal observers. And some critics said the outcry that arose before the White House report was officially released has exposed those lingering problems. If the forensic science community is going to view it as an attack when other scientists question their methodology, its going to make it difficult to generate support from other scientists, White House council member S. James Gates Jr., a theoretical physicist at the University of Maryland, said in an interview. The sculpture was packed in bubble wrap inside a taped-up box and was wheeled on a dolly to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial one day last month by three people who looked to be in their 60s. They asked Al Gallant, a volunteer guide, if it was okay to leave a memento. Sure, he said. They pushed the cart down the path to the Wall, took the sculpture from the box, and walked away. One of them paused to snap a picture as they departed. What they had left was an unusual piece macabre, Gallant called it. And, like many of the 400,000 items left at the Wall since 1982, it had a story. Since the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in 1982, it has become a de facto shrine with about 400,000 offerings and mementos for the dead and messages from survivors left by the millions who visit it each year. (YouTube/U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs) The object was the painted bust of an American soldier, one side of the face depicting a smooth-skinned young serviceman, the other an aged, long-haired veteran with pocked features and a tearful, staring eye. On one side, the top of the head was protected by an Army helmet. On the other, the helmet and skull were cut away to reveal the gray folds of the brain, etched with the names of battles and slogans from the war. The bust was left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post) The dog tag on the sculpture bore the name, blood type and religion of Army Pvt. Leo C. Buckley Jr., a Vietnam veteran who died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 60 in Walterboro, S.C. But the face was that of Samuel J. Elliott, 73, a church deacon who lives in Hendersonville, N.C. He is the artist who created the sculpture. Both men served in the war. Both saw combat. Both suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Neither knew the other during the war. It was Buckleys widow who, with two friends, left the sculpture at the Wall, which bears the names of more than 58,000 men and women claimed by the war. She snapped the photo as she walked away. [Stories of grief, love and penance live among whats left at the Vietnam Wall] Clay Buckley had been a paratrooper with the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade during the war, and was severely injured when he stepped on a land mine, which tore off a chunk of one of his legs. He spent 13 months recuperating in hospitals. It was created by Samuel Elliott and depicts Private Leo Claiburne "Clay" Buckley, Jr. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post) Elliott served with an Army survey team, which helicoptered into the bush and selected sites where artillery could be placed. He was hit by shrapnel, and lost a revered commander who had served as a father figure. Following the war, Elliotts life fell apart and he was in and out of a veterans hospital in Georgia for counseling, he said. It was after a final stay in the mid-1990s that he started work on the sculpture as part of his healing. He had realized the Vietnam veterans dilemma: Were back, but the memories of the war are embedded in our brain so deeply that we cant seem to escape that part of us, he said in a recent telephone interview. An artist and a writer, he said he did the first version of the sculpture in bronze as personal therapy in 1995. But he produced eleven more versions in high-density plaster of Paris for fellow veterans. I would hand engrave their name and serial number and all that on the dog tag, to personalize it for them, he said. He explained the two sides to the sculpture: First, youre proud to be an American soldier, he said. By God, Im in uniform and Im here and Im ready to do what Ive go to do. Afterward, you feel scarred, he said. You feel wounded. Youre aged. Youve matured way too fast, came back an old man in spirit. Elliott, a native of Hendersonville, said he was drafted in 1966, and was in a field artillery unit in the 1st Air Cavalry Division. He was in Vietnam from March 15, 1967, to March 15, 1968, and had a job that was often dangerous. We had to go out in small groups out in the middle of nowhere all by ourselves, he said. Got shot at I dont know how many times. . . . They used us as scouts. . . . It was to position our artillery. Helicopters would then airlift artillery pieces to sites selected by the surveyors, he said. His most wrenching experience of the war was the death of a commander, Lt. Col. Robert E. Whitbeck, to whom he had grown close. He said he often served as Whitbecks jeep driver, and he has an old photo of them shaking hands. It really affected me, Elliott said. I really loved the guy. He became almost like a father figure. . . . [He had] all the attributes of a great leader. . . . Id have stuck my neck out any time for him. Whitbeck was killed Jan. 30, 1968. Elliott said his recollection is that the jeep Whitbeck was riding in that day was hit by a mortar during an attack. After Elliott left Vietnam he stayed in the Army for 15 years, but was medically discharged with migraine headaches. Thats when my life began to fall apart, he said. I was lost. An instant connection Buckley was originally from Vienna, Va., his wife, Susan, said in a telephone interview this month. She said he joined the Army in 1968, when he was 19, and was blown up in 1969, after being in Vietnam about three months. His combat injuries were severe. His leg was badly damaged, she said. They wanted to take it off, but he wouldnt let them. . . . He didnt wear anything but long pants for the longest period of time. . . . Half his leg was missing in the calf. He had also been peppered with shrapnel. He used to sit at the kitchen table and dig . . . pieces of shrapnel with a knife out of his arm, she said. He was given the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals, but seldom spoke of the war. Discharged from the Army in 1970, Buckley, who worked as a truck driver, was reluctant to seek help for his PTSD, his wife said. Finally I convinced him, You do have problems, she said. He never believed that he did. About 2004 or so he finally went . . . and got treatments and medicines. It was about that time that Buckley and Elliott crossed paths. Elliott said he was passing through the Washington area en route to an art show, and was introduced to Buckley by a mutual acquaintance. Buckley, a student of the Civil War, took Elliott on a tour of the Manassas Battlefield, near where the Buckleys were then living. The two men soon shared their Vietnam war experiences. I think thats why they got along so well as soon as they met, Susan Buckley said. Elliott told Buckley about his Vietnam sculptures, and Buckley requested one. Susan Buckley said her husband thought it was a perfect rendering of the Vietnam veterans experience. Elliott personalized the sculpture, adding the 173rd Airborne Brigades blue-and-white winged patch. Susan Buckley said the bust was prominently displayed in the living room of their home in Manassas, and later the sun porch of their home in South Carolina. Some visitors found it overwhelming, she said. But I guess if youve been there, and understand why it looks like that, its not so hard. Recently, in the process of moving, she decided to bring the sculpture to the Wall. I was the only one who saw it, she said. I thought other people should see it. . . . I thought maybe it might help somebody else. . . . Its very self-explanatory if youve been in Vietnam. She typed up a summary of her husbands service and taped it to the bottom of the sculpture. I need to honor my husband somehow, and I thought this is the way to do it, she said. With the help of friends, she transported the bust from South Carolina. After she placed the piece at the Wall on Aug. 24, Gallant, the volunteer, left it there for several hours. Later, the National Park Service took custody of it and moved it to the Park Services Museum Resource Center, in suburban Maryland. There it joined the thousands of other objects left in tribute to those on the Wall, and to the veterans of the war who carried its legacy. A boy wears a T-shirt reading Dont deport my mom as immigration supporters react after the Supreme Court rules on President Obamas immigration policy in June. (Andrew Gombert/EPA) The total population of undocumented immigrants living in the United States has remained largely unchanged since 2009, although it has risen in Virginia and a few other states, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday. The report, by Pew Research, said an estimated 11.1 million immigrants were living in the country illegally in 2014, compared with 11.3 million in 2009. The recent relative stability in the estimated size of the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population is a contrast to previous periods, Pew said. The number rose through the 1990s and early 2000s, peaking at 12.2 million in 2007. Virginia had an estimated 300,000 undocumented immigrants in 2014, an increase of 20 percent, while Maryland had 250,000 undocumented immigrants and the District had 25,000. Other states where the number rose included Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington state. Only Louisianas increase could be traced to a rise in the number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Nationwide, the number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico declined about 8 percent in 2014, to 5.85 million. The decrease in the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population since 2009 indicates that departures have exceeded arrivals, the report said. The population of undocumented immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa jumped 35 percent to 275,000, while the number from Asia jumped 10 percent to 1.45 million, and the total from Central America rose 6.8 percent to 1.7 million. Mexicans still made up the majority of the undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2014. Virginia and Maryland were among the top one-third of states for the largest populations of unauthorized immigrants, ranking 10th and 12th, respectively, the report said. The District, Maryland and Virginia each ranked among the top one-third in the nation for highest percentage of undocumented immigrants within their populations. Maryland tied for sixth place, with 4.2 percent; the District tied for ninth, with 3.9 percent, and Virginia tied for 13th, with 3.5 percent, which matched the national average. Individuals from El Salvador made up the largest percentage of undocumented immigrants in the District, Maryland and Virginia, with rates of 37 percent, 28 percent and 25 percent in those jurisdictions, respectively. Mexico was the second-largest country of birth for undocumented immigrants in Maryland and Virginia, representing 11 percent and 14 percent in those states, respectively. In the District, Guatemala was the second-largest, with 7 percent. Pew said the undocumented-immigrant population continues to become more settled, with such individuals living in the United States for a median of 13.6 years in 2014 compared to a median of eight years in 2005. Also, new arrivals make up a smaller share of the undocumented population. Fourteen percent of undocumented immigrants had lived in the United States for less than five years in 2014, compared to 31 percent in 2005. Fairfax County police officer Adam D. Torres, left, at his sentencing June 24, 2016. Torres pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting an unarmed man. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post) Fairfax County will hire a police department auditor to monitor how the county investigates use-of-force complaints and fatal incidents involving officers like the one in 2013 in which an unarmed man was fatally shot in front of his home. The new position, which the countys Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Tuesday, is part of police reforms in Virginias largest jurisdiction triggered by the controversy over the fatal shooting of John B. Geer by a Fairfax officer. The vote came as the nation continues to grapple with painful questions about police use of force, most recently in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa. [Chief in Tulsa says video of shooting is disturbing] In response to another of the 202 recommendations made by an advisory commission created in the wake of the Geer case, Fairfax also plans to create a civilian review panel for police-abuse investigations and is considering whether to require county officers to wear body cameras. John B. Geer was fatally shot by a Fairfax County police officer as he stood in the doorway of his townhouse in Springfield. (Jeff Stewart) The auditor will be paid $98,000 to $163,000 a year and report to the Board of Supervisors. Supported by two analysts hired by the county, the auditor will be allowed to sit in on use-of-force investigations conducted by the police internal affairs bureau. If there is disagreement over how those investigations are conducted, the auditor can request that the police chief order new investigations. The auditor will also regularly report to the Board of Supervisors on how police investigations in general are handled. It is a way to allow the police to receive sort of real-time comments back from the auditors office to help strengthen those investigations, said Supervisor John C. Cook (R-Braddock), chairman of the county boards public safety committee. [Fairfax supervisors divided on body cameras, approve police changes] Critics of the police department said the auditors position is too weak. They noted that the Board of Supervisors passed on giving the auditor authority to conduct independent investigations, which the ad hoc police commission had recommended. In eliminating that authority, the board excised key revisions to the Commissions recommendations, the social justice committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston said in a statement. County supervisors, acting on legal advice from a county-hired attorney, had previously said they did not want the auditor to jeopardize the integrity of ongoing criminal investigations. Michael Hershman, who led the police commission, called the auditor position a positive step toward increased transparency in Fairfaxs police department. Im of the mind that we give this a chance, he said. Is it perfect? No. Is it a step forward? Yes. Cook said the auditors job description is likely to change once that person and the county board get a better understanding of what is needed to effectively monitor police investigations. I dont think it would be shocking at all if we pass this and hire an auditor and that auditor came back after some time and recommended some adjustments to things, Cook said. We can amend and add changes in the future as circumstances may warrant. Federal employees have until Sept. 30 to add or make changes to the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance program. (istock) A lot of our financial life is dictated by deadlines. For federal employees, there are a few coming up that shouldnt be ignored. One is a deadline involving long-term-care insurance. But for now, I want to address the open season for life insurance, which is over at the end of this month. Even if you arent a federal employee, you should start thinking about your life insurance choices when your open enrollment starts this fall. Federal employees have until Sept. 30 to add or make changes to the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance program. During this open season, employees can apply for term life insurance for themselves and eligible family members without getting a medical exam or answering health questions. Those last two points are significant, says Barry Korb, a Maryland-based, fee-only certified financial planner. The removal of the medical underwriting requirement is particularly important for any employees who for health reasons have not been able to get needed life insurance for themselves or their family members, Korb says. It is the rare open season that offers you a way out of this quandary. This open season can be a godsend. You should act now. There are no regularly scheduled open seasons to elect, increase or change coverage under the federal program. The last one was in 2004. In most cases, if you are a new federal employee, youre automatically covered by basic term life insurance. The premiums are deducted from your paycheck unless you waive coverage. The government pays one-third of the coverage, and the employee pays the remaining two-thirds. Employees of the U.S. Postal Service get the basic fully paid. Basic coverage is based on a workers annual salary rounded up to the next $1,000, plus an additional $2,000. For example, an employee making $65,500 a year will have $68,000 of basic life insurance under the program, Korb says. In addition to basic coverage, an employee can carry even more insurance. There are three options: Option A: Add $10,000 in coverage. Option B: Insure your life for multiples of one to five times your annual basic pay rounded up to the next even $1,000. Option C: Insure your family, with coverage for your spouse up to $25,000 and up to $12,500 for each eligible dependent child under 22. Please note that elections or changes made during this open season wont go into effect until Oct. 1, 2017. There are other times when you can change your coverage. If you have a qualifying life event, such as marriage, divorce or the birth of a child, you can make changes. Or you can do it at any time by passing a physical exam. Korb recommends that federal employees shop around, despite the subsidies for premiums. But if youre running out of time, get the federal coverage now and still shop around. You can always cancel if you find a better or cheaper policy, he said. For anyone thinking about life insurance, keep in mind why you need it: to help take care of folks who depend on your income. Federal employee or not, figure out how much life insurance you need to carry. One rule of thumb is to get enough insurance to cover 10 times your annual gross salary. While rules of thumb are helpful, this one doesnt take into account your entire financial situation, including debts and assets. Bankrate.com provides an estimate of how much coverage you need based on your answers to a series of questions, the first of which is how much you think youll need for your funeral. Next, youre asked to estimate how many years your dependents your spouse and/or children would need to survive without your income. As Bankrate.com puts, Would your income need to be replaced until your children finish their education, or until your spouse retires, gets a job or dies? In its calculations, Bankrate.com assumes certain rates of return should your beneficiaries choose to invest the insurance money. And keep in mind that they wouldnt want to risk investing money that they need in the short term to pay bills, Korb said. The reality is, we dont know how much life insurance well need exactly because there are so many variables. But take some of the guesswork out by using the life insurance calculator at Bankrate.com, which, if nothing else, should initiate a good conversation with your family about what theyll need in the event of your death. Deborah S. Jin, an American physicist who was one of the worlds foremost experts on how ordinary atoms and molecules change their behavior at extraordinarily low temperatures and who was known for creating what is sometimes called a new state of matter, died Sept. 15 at a hospice center in Boulder, Colo. She was 47. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where Dr. Jin was employed for nearly 20 years, announced the death and said the cause was cancer. She lived in Boulder and also worked at JILA, which was once called the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics and is a joint institute of the University of Colorado and NIST. A 2003 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, known as the genius award, Dr. Jin was a masterfully deft and accomplished experimenter. Using lasers, magnets and vacuum chambers, she trapped and probed tiny bits of matter in realms only infinitesimal fractions of a degree above absolute zero, where all motion is understood to cease. At almost negligible particle densities, and in cold far more frigid than the farthest reaches of space, the rules of physics that govern the everyday world give way to the probabilistic regime of quantum mechanics. There, particles show the characteristics of waves, and uncertainty often replaces the deterministic. One corner of the quantum universe houses the world of ultra-cold quantum gases, and Dr. Jin received many honors and awards for her ground-breaking explorations in the field. Such work is expected to aid in the development of more practical and effective superconductors, materials that can carry electric currents without resistance. Scientists have also said it also holds promise in creating and improving electronic devices, in devising better sensors and measuring devices, and in quantum computing. It may also lead to advances in understanding the quantum behavior of systems of many particles. Martin Zwierlein, a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who leads a group studying ultracold gases at temperatures near absolute zero, said Dr. Jin and a colleague created an ultracold gas of polar molecules, which can interact as magnets do. In doing so, she opened another new field of research. Calling the ultracold polar molecules highly promising as candidates for use in a quantum computer, he said such devices would far outstrip the speeds of current computers. Specific accomplishments with which Dr. Jin was credited included production in 2003 of what scientists describe as the first fermionic condensate. Dubbed a superfluid in recognition of its ability to flow without resistance, the material embodies fermions, atomic and nuclear particles distinguished by what is known as their half-integral spin. (The name can be traced to work carried out by physicist and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi.) The fermionic condensate is kin to Bose-Einstein condensates, which embody bosons, particles with integral spin. The Bose-Einstein condensate was first produced by NIST scientists, and NIST called it the worlds first quantum gas. In deference to their uncommon properties, both condensates have been characterized in some scientific corners as new states of matter, to stand alongside the traditional solids, liquids and gases. NIST physicist Eric Cornell, one of three scientists who shared the Nobel Prize for their work on the Bose-Einstein condensate, called Dr. Jins work in producing the fermionic condensate technologically much more challenging. In addition, of the two condensates, the one credited to her is ultimately more commercially relevant, he said, noting that electrons, the basic particle of electronics, are fermions. Zwierlein said Dr. Jins impact on ultracold atom and molecule research has been immense, added that her work has opened up several new fields of research in atomic physics, with many experimental and theoretical groups following in her footsteps in the quest to understand quantum materials. Deborah Shiu-lan Jin was born in Stanford, Calif., on Nov. 15, 1968, and grew up in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., where her father, a physicist, was teaching at a university nearby. Her mother had a masters degree in physics and worked as an engineer, and Dr. Jin noted that while still young, she already felt inclined toward her parentss field. It pretty much rubs off on you, she said. While she was a student at Princeton University, a summer job at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., pretty much settled things, Dr. Jin once said. I think I knew from that point on that I was going to be a physicist. She graduated from Princeton in 1990 and obtained a PhD in physics at the University of Chicago in 1995, then went to JILA as a National Research Council research associate. She joined NIST in 1997 and was also on the physics faculty at the University of Colorado. In addition to the genius award, her honors included the 2014 Isaac Newton Medal from Britains Institute of Physics and the Commerce Department Gold Medal. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Survivors include her husband of 22 years, John Bohn, and a daughter, Jaclyn Bohn, of Boulder; her mother, Shirley Jin, of Boulder; a sister; and a brother. NORTH CAROLINA Police fatally shoot man they say had a gun Police in North Carolina shot and killed a man carrying a gun Tuesday afternoon at a Charlotte apartment complex, officials said. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers went to the complex about 4 p.m. looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when they encountered the man not the suspect they were seeking inside a car, department spokesman Keith Trietley said. Officers saw the man get out of the car with a gun and then get back in, Trietley said. When officers approached the car, the man again got out of the car with the gun. At that point, officers deemed the man a threat and at least one fired a weapon, Trietley said. The man, identified as Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Detectives recovered a firearm at the scene and were interviewing witnesses, Trietley said. Police blocked access to the area, which is about a mile from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as protesters gathered after the shooting. A department spokeswoman identified the officer involved in the shooting as Brentley Vinson. Vinson, who has been with the department for two years, has been placed on administrative leave. The suspects and the officers races are not known. Associated Press NEW JERSEY Fort Lee mayor details Christie allies actions The Democratic mayor who prosecutors say was targeted by two former allies of Republican Gov. Chris Christie for a political vendetta told jurors Tuesday how he was courted by Christie staffers for more than three years before ultimately declining to endorse Christies reelection. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich testified he told a Christie staffer about his endorsement decision in the late summer of 2013, weeks before traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge plunged the town into four days of gridlock. Bill Baroni, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official, and Bridget Kelly, Christies former deputy chief of staff, are charged with civil rights violations, conspiracy and wire fraud. Prosecutors say they caused the traffic jams by reducing the number of access lanes to the bridge from three to one without notifying Fort Lee officials. Sokolich recounted Tuesday how he called and texted Baroni, Christies highest appointee to the agency that operates the bridge, on the first two days of the traffic jams but received no response. Prior to that week in September, he said, his relationship with Baroni and members of Christies staff was more than cordial. Associated Press PHILIPPINES Leader of Senate probe into drug war is ousted A senator in the Philippines who led an investigation into the presidents bloody anti-drug campaign was ousted Monday from the justice committee in a vote that human rights advocates said could derail accountability in the crackdown. President Rodrigo Dutertes allies led the vote that removed Sen. Leila de Lima from the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which has spearheaded an inquiry into the widespread killings of drug suspects that have alarmed President Obama, the United Nations and rights groups. More than 3,000 drug suspects have died in the crackdown since Duterte assumed the presidency on June 30. More than 600,000 have surrendered for fear of being killed. De Limas ouster is a blatant and craven move to derail accountability for the appalling death toll from President Rodrigo Dutertes abusive war on drugs, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said. De Lima has had a running feud with Duterte. As head of the governments human rights commission, she had investigated his alleged role in extrajudicial killings of criminals when he was mayor of Davao City. Duterte has accused de Lima of involvement in illegal drugs. She has denied the allegation, but the presidents allies in the House of Representatives are set to launch an inquiry on Tuesday. Associated Press MIDDLE EAST Police: 2 Palestinians killed in West Bank Two Palestinians were killed Monday as they tried to stab Israeli police officers in the West Bank city of Hebron, while a third Palestinian was shot and wounded after stabbing two Israeli police officers in Jerusalem, police said. The incidents followed a weekend in which four Palestinians were killed while attacking Israelis, according to Israeli authorities, raising fears of a return to the near-daily Palestinian attacks seen at times over the past year. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that in Hebron, two assailants tried to stab soldiers guarding a checkpoint, lightly wounding one officer before the troops opened fire, killing the attackers. Earlier Monday, a Palestinian stabbed two Israeli police officers outside Jerusalems Old City before being shot and critically wounded, Samri said. The officers were wounded. Among the four Palestinians killed over the weekend was one who held Jordanian citizenship, 28-year-old Said Amro. Jordan has demanded a detailed explanation from Israel about the killing of Amro. Israeli police said he rushed out of Jerusalems Old City armed with knives and tried to stab officers before being shot. Associated Press U.S. airstrikes reportedly kill 8 Afghan officers: An Afghan official said that at least eight Afghan police officers were killed in two U.S. airstrikes in southern Uruzgan province in what was apparently a friendly-fire incident. The airstrikes occurred outside the provincial capital, Tarin Kot. The Taliban has been advancing on the city in recent weeks. A U.S. military spokesman confirmed that U.S. forces carried out an airstrike, saying they sought to aid Afghan troops fired on by the Taliban, but he said he did not have any further information on casualties. 17 arrested in Saudi sweep targeting militant network: Saudi Arabias Interior Ministry said its forces uncovered an Islamic State-linked network that was involved in past attacks in the kingdom and was planning more. Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a ministry spokesman, said the Saudi-based network comprised three cells. Seventeen suspects, including a woman, were arrested. Turki said the network was involved in making suicide vests and improvised explosives, and providing logistics, cover, funding, arms and transportation for terrorist operations in the kingdom. The network also communicated with leaders abroad in all their activities, he said. Pakistan stays execution of mentally ill man: A Pakistani official said the Supreme Court has temporarily stayed the execution of a mentally ill man. Imdad Ali was convicted in a 2001 murder case and has exhausted all appeals. A clemency request to the president was rejected, and Ali was to be executed. But Prison Superintendent Syed Babar Ali said he received an order to halt the execution until the top court hears a petition next week. A state-appointed doctor has diagnosed Ali with schizophrenia and argued against hanging. From news services FRANCE 8 suspects arrested in Bastille Day attack French authorities have made eight new arrests in the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that left 86 people dead, the Paris prosecutors office said Tuesday. The office said the suspects, detained a day earlier, were French and Tunisian and had links to the attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who plowed a truck into a crowd assembled for a July 14 fireworks display. All eight were arrested in the Alpes-Maritimes region. At least five people already face preliminary terrorism charges in the attack and are accused of helping Bouhlel obtain a pistol and providing other support. The Islamic State group has asserted responsibility for the attack. Authorities say that Bouhlel, a Tunisian with French residency, was inspired by the group but that there is no evidence that the Islamic State orchestrated the attack. Also Tuesday, authorities detained two boys, 14 and 17, in an investigation into a hoax hostage alert at a Paris church, the prosecutors office said. The false alarm Saturday prompted a big police deployment and activation of an app-based terrorism alert system. A 16-year-old detained Monday remains in custody. Associated Press CONGO More deadly clashes erupt over vote delay At least 44 people have been killed in Congo in two days of street clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher said Tuesday, and several opposition party buildings were burned. Thousands took to the streets of the capital, Kinshasa, on Monday to oppose a bid by officials to delay the upcoming presidential election, viewed as an effort by President Joseph Kabila to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate in late December. Human Rights Watch researcher Ida Sawyer said the group has received credible witness reports that security forces killed at least 37 civilians. Protesters killed at least six police officers and a Kabila supporter, she said, adding that demonstrators also burned and looted shops and police stations. At least two people were killed in attacks on the headquarters of five opposition parties late Monday, the United Nations and an opposition party said. Associated Press BRAZIL Lula to stand trial on corruption charges A Brazilian judge ruled Tuesday that former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will stand trial on charges of money laundering and corruption. Judge Sergio Moro said there is enough evidence to start a judicial process against Lula, his wife and six others in a widening corruption probe centered on the countrys huge state-run oil company, Petrobras. Prosecutors have called Lula the maximum commander of the Petrobras graft scandal that has rocked Brazil. Prosecutors allege that billions of dollars in bribes were paid to win inflated contracts from the company. The judges decision had been expected after prosecutors charged Lula last week. Moro said Lula and others benefited from renovations at a beachfront apartment in the coastal city of Guaruja in Sao Paulo state. Associated Press SOUTH AFRICA Students rally for free education; 30 arrested South African university students who want free education protested Tuesday on several campuses, clashing with police in Johannesburg and shutting down classes at some universities. The students were reacting to a government announcement that universities can increase fees by up to 8 percent next year. In 2015, the government froze university fees for the current year after some of the biggest student protests in South Africa since the 1994 end of white minority rule. Police on Tuesday set off stun grenades and arrested about 30 students who were blocking access to the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The students were later released. The protesters want free education for all students. Associated Press Botswana deports U.S. pastor for anti-gay comments: A U.S. pastor who has made anti-gay comments is being deported, Botswana said, shortly after he spoke on local radio and called the people killed in a June shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando disgusting. Neighboring South Africa had earlier barred the pastor, Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church of Tempe, Ariz., from entering the country, saying he promotes hate speech and social violence. From news services Central American immigrants wait to be transported after turning themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents on Dec. 8 near Rio Grande City, Tex. (John Moore/Getty Images) President Obamas support for Syrian refugees is to be commended [Todays nativism, and yesterdays, editorial, Sept. 19]. However, his administrations enforcement-based policies toward thousands of Central American women and children arriving at our border, seeking compassion and safety, are inhumane and a disgrace. By any reasonable standard, these women and children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, fleeing violence and danger, are refugees. Yet they are treated as criminals. First, they are held in overcrowded Border Patrol cells, nicknamed hieleras (iceboxes), where they sleep on cold cement floors. Then they are jailed, sometimes for months or years, in a network of for-profit family detention prisons, causing or worsening emotional distress and suffering. Due process is dubious at best and includes unannounced deportations in the middle of the night. Those released to live with family often must wear electronic monitoring devices while living in fear of roundups by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. These Central American women and children are the refugee crisis of our time on our border. While preaching to the world about compassion toward refugees, the president would be well-served to remember what is happening in our own back yard. Allen S. Keller, New York The writer is director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture. Richard Painter, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota, was the chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007. Norman Eisen, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, was the chief White House ethics lawyer for President Obama from 2009 to 2011. As government ethics lawyers who have, respectively, counseled the most recent Republican president and the most recent Democratic one, we have watched Donald Trumps campaign with increasing concern. We have come to believe a Trump presidency would be ethically compromised for the following reasons: Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine said on Sept. 14 that he's concerned about Donald Trump's overseas business interests, especially in Russia. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) Opacity. Trumps refusal to disclose his tax returns shields critical information about his finances that is not found in the basic details he is required to provide on his candidate financial disclosure. For example, his disclosure form does not cover his tax deductions and exemptions and any loopholes he takes advantage of; each represents a policy issue on which he has a potential conflict. To take another example, how much tax is Trump paying or sheltering domestically vs. in foreign jurisdictions? That needs to be known to ascertain which nations Trump has financial ties to and where he may be susceptible to pressure. Absent this information, it is impossible to assess the potential conflicts a President Trump would face in making decisions. Lack of divestment. Trump has said that if elected he would have his children manage his business and would not discuss business matters with them. That is not sufficient. Presidents for the past half-century have either converted assets to simple, conflict-free holdings such as U.S. government bonds, adopted blind trusts or done both. Blind trusts were used by Presidents Reagan, Carter, both Bushes and Bill Clinton, none of whom had holdings comparable to the size and complexity of the Trump empire. A true blind trust means that your holdings are liquidated and placed in new investments unknown to you by an independent trustee who manages them free of familial or other bias. Trump has so far declined to commit to taking those steps, and doing so would not be easy for him even if he agreed. A large number of Trump businesses are branded with his name as an integral part of their value. Even if ownership were placed in trust, Trump and everyone else would remain well aware of these assets. Assumption of the presidency requires a much more definitive break than Trump has, so far, been willing to make. Domestic conflicts. Without considerable additional detail about Trumps finances, we cannot be sure his decisions on domestic matters would be conflict-free. When Trump nominated his Cabinet, offered his budget and invited people to White House meetings, would he be choosing with an eye toward his or his familys business interests? Moreover, based on what we do know, there is ample cause for concern about conflicts. Take the example of bank regulation. Trumps real-estate holdings appear to be heavily leveraged. That means that his businesses, like those of many in the real-estate field, are beholden to banks. It is not fanciful to question whether that would affect the Trump administrations attitude toward regulation of banks and other lenders. Foreign conflicts. Even more serious are the questions raised by Trump investments abroad. Those relate to some of the United States most important and most sensitive relationships, among them ones with Russia, China, India, South Korea and Turkey. When the United States must support or confront those nations, or their adversaries, would Trump act to benefit the national interest, or his and his familys investments? Moreover, who are the foreign individuals with whom he has had financial ties, and how would those relationships affect his decisions? As the electorate considers those questions, it is entitled to more information. Legal exposure. Because of Trumps seeming unwillingness to set up a true blind trust, and the difficulty of his doing so, his potential foreign conflicts could raise immediate legal issues. Most federal ethics rules, surprisingly, do not apply to the president. But Trump would be covered by bribery laws and the Constitutions emoluments clause, which broadly prohibits the president from accepting gifts from any King, Prince, or foreign State. The emoluments clause has been interpreted by the Justice Department to include any payment from a foreign government, except with the consent of Congress. Every time there was a financial transaction between a foreign government or a company controlled by a foreign government and any Trump entity, there would be a potential for favorable treatment that could violate this limitation, as well as the anti-bribery laws. That, too, gives us pause. Veracity. Finally, we must address Trumps propensity for dishonesty. It is disturbing that just 15 percent of his statements checked by PolitiFact are true or mostly true. No ethics program can work if the client is not honest. To be sure, counsel for a President Hillary Clinton would have to address actual or apparent conflicts posed by the Clinton Foundation, but those have been disclosed and publicly vetted. They are nowhere near as obscure, profound and dangerous as Trumps. The ethics lawyer who would have President Trump as his or her client would face a far more daunting task than either of us or any of our colleagues in recent years has ever confronted. July and August were the hottest months for the planet since record keeping began. Scientists are confident that 2016 will be the hottest year. Rising sea levels have made flooding commonplace in several major U.S. cities. And meanwhile, one of our leading presidential candidates says climate change is some kind of Chinese hoax. Elections have consequences, and this is one of the most fateful: Anyone who takes climate change seriously had better do everything possible to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. Believe it or not, there are issues more important than Trumps latest offensive outburst or Hillary Clintons score on the likability scale. Clinton accepts the scientific consensus on climate change, which is increasingly supported by what we see and feel every day. She would build upon President Obamas efforts to address the issue, which include the historic Paris agreement, seen by many experts as our last best hope to prevent catastrophe. Trump, by contrast, is a bald-faced denier. Obamas talking about all of this with the global warming and . . . a lot of its a hoax, he said at a December rally in South Carolina. Its a hoax. I mean, its a moneymaking industry, okay? Its a hoax, a lot of it. He tweeted in 2012 that the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. He later said this was a joke, but during the campaign he has again said he does not believe in climate change and claimed that action to limit carbon emissions is done for the benefit of China. The Paris pact represents the first time the worlds two biggest emitters, China and the United States, have formally agreed to hold down the amount of heat-trapping carbon they spew into the atmosphere. Trump would renounce the agreement and also scrap Obama administration rules limiting emissions from coal-fired power plants. He has promised greater fossil-fuel production and scoffed at alternative energy sources such as wind power. Clinton recognizes the potential economic benefits of developing the technology to lead the world toward a clean-energy economy. Trump would rather let China, Germany and other nations compete for that prize. The differences could not be more stark. And the evidence for climate change has never been clearer. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 15 of the warmest 16 years on record have come since the turn of the century. By examining air bubbles preserved for centuries in polar ice, scientists know the concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 40 percent since the Industrial Revolution, when large-scale burning of fossil fuels began. Global warming is affecting weather patterns worldwide. Deniers point out that it is not possible to conclusively blame any given storm or localized heat wave on climate change and that, yes, it still gets cold in the winter. But the phenomenon is clearly visible in melting glaciers and ice caps, the opening of ice-free sea lanes through the Arctic and, most urgently, sea-level rise. The oceans are rising because warmer water occupies a greater volume than cooler water and because so much land ice is melting. According to NOAA, average sea level is rising by about 1.2 inches per decade. That may not sound like much, but it has already been enough to at least triple the amount of nuisance flooding that coastal cities have to cope with when onshore winds coincide with high tide. In Norfolk, some low-lying intersections flood so often that officials have installed gauges so residents can tell when the water is too deep to drive through. In Miami Beach, some frequently flooded streets are being elevated. In New York, officials are debating how to prepare for the next storm that takes the path of Hurricane Sandy, which caused an estimated $75 billion in damage in 2012. Last November, in Time magazine, Clinton wrote that I wont let anyone take us backward, deny our economy the benefits of harnessing a clean energy future, or force our children to endure the catastrophe that would result from unchecked climate change. Neither her policies nor Trumps will reverse the climate effects were already seeing. But it is possible, and necessary, to keep the impacts from becoming completely unmanageable. Obama leaves behind a framework for coordinated international action, more than two decades in the making, that still could fail but that might, just might, succeed. Trump boasts that he cant wait to tear it all down. The choice is ours. Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A. WITHIN THE space of 12 hours on Saturday, there were explosions in New Jersey and New York and a mass stabbing in Minnesota . Dozens of people were injured, though thankfully no victims were killed in what authorities are investigating as acts of terrorism. No question the events were scary: This is the nightmare scenario in a post-9/11 world, said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). At the same time, Americans should feel reassured by how competently and seamlessly local, state and federal authorities responded to the attacks, prevented others and developed leads. Even better, ordinary citizens particularly those in New York and New Jersey who bear the scars of previous attacks resolved not to give in to fear or panic. Instead, they helped out neighbors in need and got back to their business. Less than two days after a bomb designed to do maximum damage exploded in the Chelsea neighborhood and other devices were found in New York City and New Jersey, authorities had identified and apprehended a suspect. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, a U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, was taken into custody after an apparent shootout with police in which he was wounded and two police officers were shot. What motivated him, whether he acted alone or was influenced by or connected to international terrorist groups, will be the focus of the ongoing investigation by multiple agencies. The same kind of questions are being probed in the case of Dahir Aden, the 22-year-old who went on a stabbing rampage in a St. Cloud shopping mall before he was killed by an off-duty police officer. A news agency linked to the Islamic State called him a soldier of the terrorist group, and police said he asked at least one victim whether they were Muslim before assaulting them and referred to Allah during the attacks. In commending law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, President Obama on Monday stressed the importance of letting them do their jobs so as to prevent false reports or incomplete information. The obvious need for such prudence sadly but not surprisingly did not seem to matter to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Before there was any determination of the Chelsea explosions source, Mr. Trump nonetheless proclaimed at a campaign stop in Colorado that a bomb had gone off. He may have guessed right, but that would be a reckless way to do business in the Oval Office. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said that preventing radicalization is a key part of the war on terror, during a Sept. 19 press conference. (The Washington Post) Equally disturbing was Mr. Trumps bombast about how he would approach terrorism knock the hell out of em and maybe use racial profiling. By contrast, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wanted to know the facts, and called for the support of first responders and prayers for the injured. It was the kind of calm and caution one naturally expects from a leader. Edward Snowden is the former National Security Agency contractor who risked his job, his prestige and his freedom to expose the NSAs secret mass surveillance programs that trampled the privacy rights of Americans. For that, he has earned the gratitude of millions of Americans and the loathing of the security state. The Justice Department indicted him under the Espionage Act for revealing classified information. The State Department stripped him of his passport while he was in a Russian airport transit lounge, effectively exiling him to Russia. Now human rights organizations at home and abroad are joining to call on President Obama to pardon Snowden. Even those who oppose a pardon acknowledge that, as Obamas former attorney general Eric Holder said, if Snowdens leak of classified information was inappropriate and illegal, the whistleblower had performed a public service. The scope of that service too often gets ignored. Snowdens disclosures revealed that the NSA was spying on the digital lives of hundreds of millions of innocent people, trampling their privacy with no prior review, reasonable suspicion or probable cause. The leaks sparked the greatest reform of the intelligence agencies since Watergate. As Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, observes, Snowdens revelations led to the first . . . legislation to rein in the NSA in over 30 years, reform of the secret [intelligence] court, and significant, long-overdue public releases of critical information by the government about its spying on innocent Americans as well as millions of others around the world. The resulting reforms helped to strengthen privacy and security on the Internet, while actually making the NSA programs more effective. Timothy Edgar, director of privacy and civil liberties in Obamas own national security staff, concluded: Snowden forced the NSA to become more transparent, more accountable, more protective of privacy and more effective. For this, Edgar says, the U.S. government has reason to say, Thank you, Mr. Snowden. To spark these changes, Snowden was forced to break the law. But he did so responsibly and with great caution. Rather than dumping documents on the public, he worked with respected journalists from The Post, the Guardian the Intercept and a number of other publications. He asked experienced journalists and editors to make the judgment of what could be released in the national interest without damaging the country or endangering lives. This was no turncoat selling secrets to the nations enemies, no general revealing classified information to his inamorata. This was a patriot seeking to protect the rights of his fellow citizens. President Obama and Hillary Clinton suggest that Snowden should have operated within the agency, raising his objections internally, with the protections that whistleblowers have. But Edgar points out: My job was precisely to provide top officials with confidential advice about how to ensure that intelligence programs were protective of our liberties. In doing so, I made just the sort of arguments that many have said Snowden should have raised internally instead of compromising classified information. Unlike Snowden, I had direct access to the officials that could have made surveillance reform a reality and who did so, after the Snowden leaks forced their hand. There is no way a junior NSA contractor could have accomplished more. Snowdens revelations sparked needed reform at home. They also embarrassed the president and U.S. officials abroad, with revelations that the NSA was tapping the phones of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, among others. But to date, the NSA and U.S. government have revealed no evidence that the information Snowden released has caused any harm to this nations security. Aggravation, yes. Embarrassment, surely. Unwanted but needed reform, no doubt. Even in exile, Snowden has continued to serve the greater good. Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, and Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International, making the case for pardoning Snowden, write that Snowden now is the head of a human rights group, the Freedom of the Press Foundation; hes developing technology to protect journalists in dangerous zones around the world from life-threatening surveillance; and he has frequently criticized the human rights and technology policies of Russia, the only country that stands between him and a high-security prison in the United States. Faced with this reality, those intent on hunting Snowden too often resort to slurs, inventions and lies. A case in point is the three-page summary of a 36-page secret report on Snowden rushed into print by the House Intelligence Committee apparently to provide a counter to the pardon campaign and the sympathetic portrait of Snowden in the new Oliver Stone film. The House release contains far more fantasy than Stones admitted fictionalization. Former Post reporter Barton Gellman, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his articles based on the Snowden documents, calls it aggressively dishonest and trifling. Theres no evidence that Snowden stole 1.5 million sensitive documents, as the committee charges. He didnt flee to Russia; he was trapped there when the government stripped his passport. He didnt have protected whistleblower avenues. He didnt lie about his medical discharge from the military or his position as a NSA contractor. The House report accuses Snowden of causing tremendous damage to national security, but fails to offer a clue of what that damage might be. Even more bizarre is the recent Post editorial opposing a pardon for Snowden. The editorial board admits that we owe . . . necessary reforms to Mr. Snowden. But then it condemns Snowden for leaking information about overseas NSA monitoring and of basically defensible international intelligence operations. This ignores the fact that Snowden didnt make the choice of what secrets were published. That was made by reporters from responsible papers. In fact, as the Intercepts Glenn Greenwald notes, the stories the editorial board cites were determined by reporters and editors of The Post itself to be important to the public good. The Post then submitted these articles to the Pulitzer Prize board, seeking and rightfully winning a Pulitzer for public service. The facts on this are clear. Snowden broke the law in the service of the publics right to privacy, and to enforce the vital democratic imperative that the secret state operate under the laws and the constitution of this country. A presidential pardon is precisely designed for this situation. It is an act of presidential discretion to do justice. It sets no precedent. It does not preclude the prosecution of those who endanger national secrets, whether a paranoid secretary of state, an infatuated general or a foreign spy. No future leaker could count on similar treatment. A pardon would recognize the public service that Snowden provided, without undermining the rule of law. For a president who has argued that we need not sacrifice our liberties for security, it is time to act. Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvels archive or follow her on Twitter. Barbie dolls are displayed during the exhibition "Barbie, life of an icon" at the Museum of Decorative Arts as part of the Paris Fashion Week in March 9. (Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images) Kudos to Tim Gunn for stating the obvious: The emperor, and any woman who wears a size larger than 12, has no clothes [Shoppers think this is hot. Why dont designers?, Outlook, Sept. 11]. The fashion industry disdains women who dont look like glamazons, as millions of Americans with eating disorders can attest. That women of every size can look beautiful given the right choice of clothes is clear to anyone who has lived in cultures that havent been unduly influenced by infantilizing U.S. fashions. Unfortunately, the industry is trying to export this aesthetic around the world, along with its manufacturing sites that underpay female workers and ban collective bargaining. May designers in the fashion industry be inspired by Mr. Gunns courage and summon the creativity to make it work for all women. Joanne Rocky Delaplaine, Bethesda IN 2011, widespread fraud in a Russian parliamentary election led to massive demonstrations that surprised and shocked the regime of Vladimir Putin. For the past five years, the Kremlin has been focused on ensuring that no such uprising could happen again. Opposition leaders have been killed, jailed or forced into exile, and civil society organizations, including election monitors, have been severely restricted. Rules were changed to favor the ruling party, and a Praetorian guard created to defend the Kremlin. Mr. Putin even abruptly moved the election date from December to September, when many Russians have just returned from vacations, in an apparent attempt to depress turnout. On Sunday, Mr. Putin appeared to get the result he wanted. This years parliamentary election produced a resounding victory for his United Russia party, and reports of fraud were more muted. Popular protests seemed unlikely. Rather than invest in the elections and their results, many Russians simply stayed home. Turnout was reported to be 48 percent, compared with an average of 60 percent in previous elections, and the figures dropped to a third or less in the big cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Mr. Putin expressed satisfaction Monday, even claiming that voters were responding to outside attempts to destabilize Russia. In fact, the real message of the election is that many Russians have retreated into passivity about politics, or quiet opposition to the regime something familiar from Soviet times. The two-thirds majority that stayed away from the polls in the countrys two most important cities will not risk death or imprisonment to oppose Mr. Putin; but neither will they participate in his hollow institutions. That doesnt bode well for the long-term future of the autocratic system Mr. Putin has constructed. As it is, the Russian economy is moribund, headed into a third year of recession. The regimes onetime dreams of stimulating industries other than energy and raw materials extraction, and creating a high-tech sector, are long dead. Middle-class Russians with skills are leaving the country en masse; more than 1 million citizens are reported to have emigrated since the 2011 elections. Officially, Mr. Putin enjoys approval ratings above 80 percent, as Donald Trump likes to point out. But in practice, his regime relies more and more heavily on domestic repression. As the election results were coming out Monday, the Kommersant newspaper was reporting that a new State Security Ministry is in the works, combining existing domestic and foreign intelligence agencies in the manner of the former Soviet KGB. Mr. Putin may reckon he will need that muscle to engineer his own reelection in 2018. For now, he looks likely to pull that off. But Russias reigning strongman is forgetting what the countrys modern history should have taught him: that economic stagnation, heavy state repression and the passive public resistance it produces are, in the long run, a recipe for systemic collapse. EVEN BY the blood-drenched standards of Syria, the attack on a United Nations humanitarian relief convoy near Aleppo on Monday was horrific and criminal. Aid workers say trucks that carried desperately needed aid for the rebel-held side of the city, along with a warehouse, were repeatedly bombed, killing at least 20 people. Senior U.S. officials told reporters there were strong indications that the attack came from the air and that either Russian or Syrian planes were responsible. Red Cross and U.N. officials rightly demanded an investigation and suggested the attack was a war crime. There has been a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, said Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. A logical U.S. response would have been to ask for an immediate meeting of the U.N. Security Council like the one Russia demanded Saturday, after the mistaken bombing of a Syrian army camp by planes from the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State. There was no such summons. Instead, Secretary of State John F. Kerry declared that the cease-fire the attack had so gruesomely violated was not dead and called for more talks with Russia. There was still an imperative to pursue the arrangement reached last week in Geneva between the United States and Russia, read a State Department statement. Mr. Kerrys optimism was at odds with that of the Syrian and Russian governments: The former declared the cease-fire over, and the latter said its prospects were very weak. His optimism also showed a shocking tolerance for atrocities committed by forces with which the United States is proposing to ally itself. The Obama administration pledged that if the truce held for seven days and humanitarian supplies were delivered, it would join with Russia in launching airstrikes against Syrian rebel forces deemed to be terrorists. It is hard to conceive of a more definitive trashing of the agreement than Mondays attack. When the convoy departed for Aleppo, notification . . . had been provided to all parties to the conflict, and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian, said U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen OBrien. Yet as the trucks were being unloaded, the place turned into hell, and fighter jets were in the sky, said the White Helmets civil defense groups Aleppo director in a video. Predictably, Russian and Syrian officials denied their planes were involved just as they have brushed off the well-documented reports of their air attacks on hospitals, food stores and other civilian targets. That only makes the offense and the danger of the Kerry deal greater. After all, the United States acknowledged the mistaken attack Saturday, which hit a military target. What will the State Department say when, after joining forces with Russia, there is another bombing of civilians or international aid workers for which Russia denies responsibility? The administrations evident willingness to overlook war crimes in its zeal to collaborate with Vladimir Putin was perhaps best explained by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson: The Kerry-Russia deal, he said, is the only show in town. Thats because President Obama has refused to allow other options, such as a U.S.-defended safe zone for civilians or military action to ground the Syrian air force. With no other cards, Mr. Kerry is still pleading for cooperation from those who bombed the Red Cross. Former secretary of state Madeleine Albrights voice was absent from the Sept. 16 front-page article Clintons Iraq mistake: The path to the vote she most regrets. Ms. Albright was a frequent whisperer in Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clintons ear and was key to the making of Ms. Clinton. Ms. Albright and Gen. Wesley Clark lobbied both Clintons for military action against Serbia. Ms. Albright and Ms. Clinton coined the oxymoron humanitarian war, since invoked to support nearly every U.S. military action since 1999. Ms. Albright also lobbied to cut off financial and political support for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europes Kosovo Verification Mission as it was gaining traction. As a chief architect of the 1999 decision to use NATOs air forces against a country that fought on the side of the United States and Britain in World Wars I and II, Ms. Albright redefined NATOs role. She pushed then-President Bill Clinton to authorize the alliances first offensive action in its 50-year history. Prior to the bombing war in 1999, NATO was a defensive alliance with the sole mandate to defend Europe in the event of a Soviet invasion. Joan McQueeney Mitric, Kensington THE U.S. Marine Corps is a storied fighting force, but lately it has done a huge favor to the nations enemies. Amid what the Marine Corps itself has condemned as a culture of hazing and abuse at Parris Island, S.C., one of two main training depots for recruits, a widening inquiry is underway involving mistreatment that targeted brand-new Muslim Marines, one of whom wound up dead at the bottom of a barracks stairwell. It is hard to imagine a greater propaganda gift to Islamist extremists than the incidents now under investigation at Parris Island, which can and will be portrayed as evidence of Americas cruelty and inexorable hostility to Islam. The revelations are also likely to subvert the Marines recruitment efforts at home, and not only among young Muslim Americans. In one instance last year, a drill instructor is accused of badgering a Muslim recruit by calling him a terrorist and ordering him repeatedly into a spinning industrial clothes dryer, leaving him with burns on his neck and arm. In another, involving the same drill instructor, this March, a 20-year-old Muslim recruit, Raheel Siddiqui, valedictorian of his high school in Michigan, jumped 40 feet to his death down a stairwell after he was verbally abused and slapped. He had arrived at Parris Island just 11 days earlier. The victims in these cases are young Americans who elected voluntarily to serve their country and challenge themselves by entering a military service famed for its patriotism and professionalism. In return for their service, they were hounded, persecuted and treated as pariahs. The alleged abuse violated Marine Corps policies and procedures, yet the chain of command at Parris Island seemed content to look the other way. These were not isolated episodes involving a rogue drill instructor; as the Marines own assessment has shown, they were part of a pattern involving the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island, through which tens of thousands of young Marines pass annually. White House press secretary Josh Earnest talked with reporters at the daily briefing about reports that a Marine drill instructor put a Muslim recruit into an industrial clothes dryer multiple times. The investigative documents have not been made public, but were reviewed by The Washington Post. (The White House) Marine Corps investigative documents reviewed by The Posts Dan Lamothe paint a chilling picture. Some drill instructors were drunk on the job; some repeatedly ordered unauthorized training exercises that left recruits injured. Ethnic and homophobic slurs were commonplace. Twenty officers and senior enlisted Marines are facing administrative discipline or criminal charges; some have already been removed from command, including the colonel in charge of training at Parris Island. Given the extent and severity of the alleged misconduct, there is reason to believe the Marines must go further if they truly want to uproot the rot at Parris Island. The Marine Corps has done itself a grave disservice. It will need more than cosmetic reforms intended to placate public opinion or congressional scrutiny. The Marines say they have taken immediate steps to enforce a zero-tolerance policy on hazing at Parris Island as well as at its West Coast training facility in San Diego, which has not been subject to similar allegations. Thats a good start; it now needs tough implementation and follow-up to regain the prestige it has lost. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is barely registering in the polls, but in recent months, an infusion of cash has enabled her campaign to pay an award-winning advertising firm, host parties and rent office space in pricey Brooklyn. The source of a good chunk of the money: taxpayers. Stein is the only candidate on the November ballot who is relying on public money to help pay campaign bills. In addition to her own fundraising, she has received four federal payments totaling $456,000 under the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, a moribund program whose critics call it the losers fund. The federal fund with $315 million now sitting in reserve has gone largely untouched in the 2016 race, which still has 103 candidates reporting some level of financial activity, according to the Federal Election Commission. The public financing law was passed during the Watergate era as a way to minimize the influence of moneyed interests in politics and give lesser-known candidates a fair shake, funded through a $3 voluntary checkoff on individual federal income tax returns. Candidates who agreed to limit their outside funding and met other requirements were eligible for tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer financing. But the system lost its luster after 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), fueled by record online donations, opted not to take public money so that he could raise as much as he wanted. Obamas Republican rival that year, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), was the last major-party candidate to partake in the public financing system. The decline of the public campaign fund reflects the seismic shifts over the past eight years in how elections are financed, with the rise of megadonors bankrolling super PACs and the increasing ability of candidates to raise large sums online, often in small increments. Taxpayers have also expressed less interest in contributing to the public fund with less than 6 percent checking the box in 2015, down from a high of about 29 percent in 1980. Neither Democrat Hillary Clinton nor Republican Donald Trump has applied for the funding. Nor has Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. The only other candidate to qualify for taxpayer money, Democrat Martin OMalley, received just over $1 million in public funds before dropping out of the primary in February. Steins campaign manager, Gloria Mattera, said Stein believes in public financing as a way to equalize the playing field among candidates. Campaign finance is a broken system, Mattera said. The campaign funds downgraded stature has prompted a debate over whether the money should be collected in the future or if the existing pot of funds should be diverted to other causes. Some critics, such as Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), question why taxpayer money should go to who he calls fringe candidates with no chance of winning. This is a laughable use of taxpayer resources, Cole said in an interview. It is welfare for candidates and consultants. Give that money to worthwhile programs or put it back in the Treasury. Use it for Zika. There are an infinite number of better places to use federal money than this. But the fund has wide support among campaign finance reformers, who agree that the system is broken but say it warrants repair. Rep. David E. Price (D-N.C.) said he thinks the recent payments illustrate the need for a complete overhaul, including stricter rules for how candidates qualify for the federal funds though his proposal is stalled on Capitol Hill, with little Republican backing. The Presidential Election Campaign Fund has been used in every election since 1976, and it has been credited over the years with boosting political underdogs such as Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan. In recent years, the fund has made payments to the campaigns of Johnson, Ralph Nader and Buddy Roemer. Stein tapped into the fund during her earlier unsuccessful Green Party run in 2012. Obamas decision in 2008 to opt out remains a sore point with campaign finance reformers. The law sets strict limits on how much federal money a candidate can get in both the primaries and general election. Payments to primary candidates are based on a federal match of qualifying donations up to a maximum of about $48 million. In the general election, qualifying candidates can get about $96 million, which is now considered inadequate to run a competitive major-party campaign. Stein was approved by the FEC in April for the matching-funds program. She had to first prove that she had financial support of at least $100,000 in at least 20 states. She submitted voluminous paperwork to the FEC that lists contributions in amounts as small as $1. Her August report to the FEC shows that she is raising money apart from the taxpayer assistance. It lists $1.6 million in individual contributions, hardly enough to compete head-on with major-party candidates. Her July spending report shows her campaign spending was $170,527. By August, her spending was up to $830,226. Her campaign expenses included $406,000 to North Woods Advertising, a Minneapolis firm run by Bill Hillsman, who handled advertising for the late senator Paul D. Wellstone (D-Minn.) and for the Mall of America. The campaign has paid for office space in Brooklyn and Philadelphia to use for volunteer organizing. Her campaign paid for video production, signs, T-shirts and tent rentals. It also contributed funds to state-level Green Party organizations and tens of thousands of dollars to operatives to help her get onto ballots, the reports show. As with any candidate seeking public money, demands on staff also increase. Mattera said the Stein campaign relies on a technical compliance officer to take care of the paperwork and tracking needed to get federal funding. The Washington Post's David A. Fahrenthold explains the latest revelations about how Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may have violated the IRS's rules regarding charitable funds. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) Donald Trump spent more than a quarter-million dollars from his charitable foundation to settle lawsuits that involved the billionaires for-profit businesses, according to interviews and a review of legal documents. Those cases, which together used $258,000 from Trumps charity, were among four newly documented expenditures in which Trump may have violated laws against self-dealing which prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses. In one case, from 2007, Trumps Mar-a-Lago Club faced $120,000 in unpaid fines from the town of Palm Beach, Fla., resulting from a dispute over the height of a flagpole. In a settlement, Palm Beach agreed to waive those fines if Trumps club made a $100,000 donation to a specific charity for veterans. Instead, Trump sent a check from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a charity funded almost entirely by other peoples money, according to tax records. The check to charity from the Trump Foundation. In another case, court papers say one of Trumps golf courses in New York agreed to settle a lawsuit by making a donation to the plaintiffs chosen charity. A $158,000 donation was made by the Trump Foundation, according to tax records. The other expenditures involved smaller amounts. In 2013, Trump used $5,000 from the foundation to buy advertisements touting his chain of hotels in programs for three events organized by a D.C. preservation group. And in 2014, Trump spent $10,000 of the foundations money on a portrait of himself bought at a charity fundraiser. Or, rather, another portrait of himself. Several years earlier, Trump used $20,000 from the Trump Foundation to buy a different, six-foot-tall portrait. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) railed against GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump from the Senate floor Sept. 20. Reid accused Trump of being "incapable of making money honestly." (C-SPAN) If the Internal Revenue Service were to find that Trump violated self-dealing rules, the agency could require him to pay penalty taxes or to reimburse the foundation for all the money it spent on his behalf. Trump is also facing scrutiny from the New York attorney generals office, which is examining whether the foundation broke state charity laws. More broadly, these cases also provide new evidence that Trump ran his charity in a way that may have violated U.S. tax law and gone against the moral conventions of philanthropy. I represent 700 nonprofits a year, and Ive never encountered anything so brazen, said Jeffrey Tenenbaum, who advises charities at the Venable law firm in Washington. After The Washington Post described the details of these Trump Foundation gifts, Tenenbaum described them as really shocking. If hes using other peoples money run through his foundation to satisfy his personal obligations, then thats about as blatant an example of self-dealing [as] Ive seen in awhile, Tenenbaum said. The Post sent the Trump campaign a detailed list of questions about the four cases but received no response. The Trump campaign released a statement about this story late Tuesday that said it was peppered with inaccuracies and omissions, though the statement cited none and the campaign has still not responded to repeated requests for comment. The New York attorney generals office declined to comment when asked whether its inquiry would cover these new cases of possible self-dealing. Washington Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold is investigating how much Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has given to charity over the past seven years. Here's what he found. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) Trump founded his charity in 1987 and for years was its only donor. But in 2006, Trump gave away almost all the money he had donated to the foundation, leaving it with just $4,238 at years end, according to tax records. Then, he transformed the Trump Foundation into something rarely seen in the world of philanthropy: a name-branded foundation whose namesake provides none of its money. Trump gave relatively small donations in 2007 and 2008, and afterward, nothing. The foundations tax records show no donations from Trump since 2009. [In 2007, Trump had to face his own falsehoods. And he did, 30 times.] Its money has come from other donors, most notably pro-wrestling executives Vince and Linda McMahon, who gave a total of $5 million from 2007 to 2009, tax records show. Trump remains the foundations president, and he told the IRS in his latest public filings that he works half an hour per week on the charity. The Post has previously detailed other cases in which Trump used the charitys money in a way that appeared to violate the law. In 2013, for instance, the foundation gave $25,000 to a political group supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R). That gift was made about the same time that Bondis office was considering whether to investigate fraud allegations against Trump University. It didnt. Tax laws say nonprofit groups such as the Trump Foundation may not make political gifts. Trump staffers blamed the gift on a clerical error. After The Post reported on the gift to Bondis group this spring, Trump paid a $2,500 penalty tax and reimbursed the Trump Foundation for the $25,000 donation. In other instances, it appeared that Trump may have violated rules against self-dealing. In 2012, for instance, Trump spent $12,000 of the foundations money to buy a football helmet signed by then-NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. And in 2007, Trumps wife, Melania, bid $20,000 for the six-foot-tall portrait of Trump, done by a speed painter during a charity gala at Mar-a-Lago. Later, Trump paid for the painting with $20,000 from the foundation. In those cases, tax experts said, Trump was not allowed to simply keep these items and display them in a home or business. They had to be put to a charitable use. Trumps campaign has not responded to questions about what became of the helmet or the portrait. After the settlement, Trump put a slightly smaller flag farther from the road and mounted it on a 70-foot pole as seen in this Nov. 1, 2015, photo. (Rosalind Helderman/The Washington Post) The four new cases of possible self-dealing were discovered in the Trump Foundations tax filings. While Trump has refused to release his personal tax returns, the foundations filings are required to be public. The case involving the flagpole at Trumps oceanfront Mar-a-Lago Club began in 2006, when the club put up a giant American flag on the 80-foot pole. Town rules said flagpoles should be 42 feet high at most. Trumps contention, according to news reports, was: You dont need a permit to put up the American flag. The town began to fine Trump, $1,250 a day. Trumps club sued in federal court, saying that a smaller flag would fail to appropriately express the magnitude of Donald J. Trumps . . . patriotism. They settled. The town waived the $120,000 in fines. In September 2007, Trump wrote the town a letter, saying he had done his part as well. I have sent a check for $100,000 to Fisher House, he wrote. The town had chosen Fisher House, which runs a network of comfort homes for the families of veterans and military personnel receiving medical treatment, as the recipient of the money. Trump added that, for good measure, I have sent a check for $25,000 to another charity, the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial. Trump provided the town with copies of the checks, which show that they came from the Trump Foundation. In Palm Beach, nobody seems to have objected to the fines assessed on Trumps business being erased by a donation from a charity. I dont know that there was any attention paid to that at the time. We just saw two checks signed by Donald J. Trump, said John Randolph, the Palm Beach town attorney. Im sure we were satisfied with it. Excerpt from a settlement filed in federal court in 2007. In the other case in which a Trump Foundation payment seemed to help settle a legal dispute, the trouble began with a hole-in-one. In 2010, a man named Martin Greenberg hit a hole-in-one on the 13th hole while playing in a charity golf tournament at Trumps course in Westchester County, N.Y. Greenberg won a $1 million prize. Briefly. Later, Greenberg was told that he had won nothing. The prizes rules required that the shot had to go 150 yards. But Trumps course had allegedly made the hole too short. Greenberg sued. Eventually, court papers show, Trumps golf course signed off on a settlement that required it to make a donation to a group of Greenbergs choosing. Then, on the day that the parties informed the court they had settled their case, a $158,000 donation was sent to the Martin Greenberg Foundation. That money came from the Trump Foundation, according to the tax filings of both Trumps and Greenbergs foundations. Greenbergs foundation reported getting nothing that year from Trump personally or from his golf club. Both Greenberg and Trump have declined to comment. Several tax experts said that the two cases appeared to be clear examples of self-dealing, as defined by the tax code. The Trump Foundation had made a donation, it seemed, so that a Trump business did not have to. Rosemary E. Fei, a lawyer in San Francisco who advises nonprofit groups, said both cases clearly fit the definition of self-dealing. Yes, Trump pledged as part of the settlement to make a payment to a charity, and yes, the foundation is writing a check to a charity, Fei said. But the obligation was Trumps. And you cant have a charitable foundation paying off Trumps personal obligations. That would be classic self-dealing. The Trump International Hotel in Washington, a renovation of the historic Old Post Office Pavilion, opened Sept. 12. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) In another instance, from 2013, the Trump Foundation made a $5,000 donation to the D.C. Preservation League, according to the group and tax filings. That nonprofit groups support has been helpful for Trump as he has turned the historic Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue NW into a luxury hotel. The Trump Foundations donation to that group bought a sponsorship, which included advertising space in the programs for three big events that drew Washingtons real estate elite. The ads did not mention the foundation or anything related to charity. Instead, they promoted Trumps hotels, with glamorous photos and a phone number to call to make a reservation. The foundation wrote a check that essentially bought advertising for Trump hotels? asked John Edie, the longtime general counsel for the Council on Foundations, when a Post reporter described this arrangement. Thats not charity. The last of the four newly documented expenditures involves the second painting of Trump, which he bought with charity money. It happened in 2014, during a gala at Mar-a-Lago that raised money for Unicorn Childrens Foundation a Florida charity that helps children with developmental and learning disorders. The galas main event was a concert by Jon Secada. But there was also an auction of paintings by Havi Schanz, a Miami Beach-based artist. A painting by artist Havi Schanz of Donald Trump. (Photo provided by Havi Schanz) Trump with the painting that he bought. (Photo provided by Havi Schanz) One was of Marilyn Monroe. The other was a four-foot-tall portrait of Trump: a younger-looking, mid-90s Trump, painted in acrylic on top of an old architectural drawing. Trump bought it for $10,000. Afterward, Schanz recalled in an email, he asked me about the painting. I said, I paint souls, and when I had to paint you, I asked your soul to allow me. He was touched and smiled. A few days later, the charity said, a check came from the Trump Foundation. Trump himself gave nothing, according to Sharon Alexander, the executive director of the charity. Trumps staff did not respond to questions about where that second painting is now. Alexander said she had last seen it at Trumps club. Im pretty sure we just left it at Mar-a-Lago, she said, and his staff took care of it. The website TripAdvisor provides another clue: On the page for Trumps Doral golf resort, near Miami, users posted photos from inside the club. One of them appears to show Schanzs painting, hanging on a wall at the resort. The date on the photo was February 2016. With 42 words, a hashtag and a bowl of Skittles, Donald Trump Jr. set out to illustrate what he saw as the danger of letting Syrian refugees into the United States. Instead, he set the Internet ablaze with controversy. In a tweet, the Republican presidential nominees eldest son equated refugees with a bowl of the colored candy that included some pieces that had been poisoned. The blowback was immediate and widespread Tuesday, as many critics said the message belittled refugees and was bigoted. Even the maker of Skittles rebuked him. The reactions highlighted a recurrent subplot in this years presidential campaign: Trump Jr. has repeatedly sparked controversy by associating himself with ideas, themes and people seen as racially or culturally charged. In some cases such as when he did a radio interview with a white nationalist and posted a symbol used by white supremacists Trump Jr. claimed ignorance. Still, some have found his actions nearly as troubling as the blunt attacks his father has launched against individuals and groups he dislikes. Fergus Cullen, a New Hampshire-based Republican strategist who does not support Donald Trumps campaign, said he was disgusted at the way Trump Jr. and others have spoken disparagingly about refugees. Talk about a politically powerless group with no public defenders, Cullen said. He also decried the frat boy culture around Trump, which he said stems directly from the candidate. Donald Trump Jr. tried to make a political point about refugees on Twitter on Sept. 19, but he got it all wrong. The Fix's Philip Bump explains how. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) [Makers of Skittles to Donald Trump Jr.: Please leave us out of your analogies] In a statement Tuesday, Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller defended Trump Jr., calling him a tremendous asset to the team. Heres the reality: this is a family thats passionate about changing America by bringing real positive change to Washington, Miller said. Theyre not political insiders, and their honesty and connection with real people is whats made them so popular with voters also seeking change. The flap over Trump Jr.s tweet could further complicate his fathers intensifying effort to appeal to centrist Republicans, independents and Democrats. Word this week that Republican former president George H.W. Bush plans to vote for Hillary Clinton also made things more difficult. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a Democratic former lieutenant governor of Maryland, said Bush told her of his choice Monday. The GOP nominee has been a vocal critic of Clinton and President Obamas welcoming of Syrian refugees into the United States, voicing alarm that doing so could bring in terrorists determined to attack Americans. Trump has made halting the flow of Syrian refugees into the country a centerpiece of his campaign. On Monday afternoon, Trump Jr. opined on the subject by tweeting the image of the candy and an accompanying question that he argued said it all: If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? The answer to the question was: Thats our Syrian refugee problem. Trump Jr. added: Lets end the politically correct agenda that doesnt put America first. #trump2016 The tweet drew a swift and intense backlash. Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy, Wrigley, the parent company of Skittles, said in a statement sent by its vice president of corporate affairs, Denise Young. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing. Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill retweeted Trump Jr.s message, calling it disgusting. [Trump Jr. inadvertently encourages Americans to scoop up refugees by the handful] David Kittos, a British citizen who said he took the Skittles photograph six years ago, told the BBC he is a refugee who left the Turkish occupation of Cyprus as a young child. He said he does not endorse Trump Jr.s use of his photo. This was not done with my permission, I dont support his politics, and I would never take his money to use it, he said. Some noted problems with the scale of the analogy embraced by Trump Jr. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, published a report last week finding that, each year, the risk to an American of being killed by a refugee in a terrorist attack is 1 in 3.64 billion a far cry from the three-in-a-bowl notion expressed in Trumps tweet. The analogy does not appear to be a Trump Jr. creation. Former congressman Joe Walsh, an Illinois Republican, wrote on Twitter that he made the same point in August. The candy meme has also been used before to make different points. Last week, Trump Jr. told WPHT radio in Philadelphia that the media has been Clintons number one surrogate, letting her slide on every indiscrepancy, on every lie, on every DNC game trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the way. He added, If Republicans were doing that, theyd be warming up the gas chamber right now. For that remark, he faced criticism from the Anti-Defamation League and the campaigns of Clinton and independent candidate Evan McMullin. McMullin took to Twitter to call it an unsurprising Nazi reference from the alt-right movements presidential campaign, referring to the name adopted by many white nationalists online. Trump Jr. told ABC News he used a poor choice of words. In March, Trump Jr. drew scrutiny when white-nationalist radio host James Edwards aired an interview with him. Trump Jr. later told Bloomberg he did not realize that Edwards was going to be looped into an interview he was doing with another host. Earlier this month, Trump Jr. posted an image on Instagram he said he got from a friend that was meant to draw attention to Clinton referring to half of his fathers supporters as a basket of deplorables. The image included Trump and a number of his supporters. It also included Pepe the Frog, a cartoon figure that has been appropriated by white supremacists. He told ABC News he did not know about the association. Trump Jr. plays an active role in his fathers campaign. The 38-year-old father of five is also executive vice president at the Trump Organization. During a breakfast event hosted by the Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Trump Jr. expressed openness to one day following in his fathers footsteps and running for public office. Jenna Johnson, Aaron Blake, John Wagner and Philip Bump contributed to this report. At Vienna Grove, floor plans range from 5,600 to 5,900 square feet. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post) On a little piece of land just up a driveway from Courthouse Road in Vienna, Va., eight spacious Craftsman-style single-family houses are taking shape along a short cul-de-sac. This is the Vienna Grove property by Christopher Cos., a locally owned firm based in Oakton, Va. One day recently, there was one model house, one framed, one foundation laid and one tall pile of dirt next to a red dump truck filled with construction materials. The site remains a work in progress that shows the evolution of a house from hole in the ground to skeleton to half-finished to ready for sale. Lot sizes range from about 7,000 to 13,000 square feet, or a little more than a sixth of an acre to a little less than a third. One house is sold and seven are on the market. McWilliams Ballard is handling sales. [Houses at Trotters Glen feel tranquil and tucked away but arent far from everyday conveniences] James Wilson and his wife were the first to sign on, a couple months ago, and now they are watching their house go up. They hope to move in by years end. They live on the northeast side of Vienna and wanted to stay in Vienna because its an eclectic town, Wilson said. They looked around for a while and then went to 11 houses in one day. We were either crazy or dedicated, he said. This was by far the best one we saw. So they signed a contract. As we walked through, the craftsmanship and attention to detail was excellent, and there were no minor flaws. The other thing appealing to us was the high level of standard finishes. We didnt need to get upgrades. They were definitely a selling point, he said. 1 of 15 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Buying New | Vienna Grove in Vienna, Va. View Photos The eight single-family houses are priced from $1.295 million to $1.445 million. Caption The eight single-family houses are priced from $1.295 million to $1.445 million. On a little piece of land just up a driveway from Courthouse Road in Vienna, Va., eight spacious Craftsman-style single-family houses are taking shape along a short cul-de-sac. Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Lots face trees: The kitchen, in the back left corner, has space for a breakfast nook with a table and chairs and melds seamlessly with a large family room. Wilson liked that the family room and kitchen are in one piece and the den is on the first floor. The space isnt broken up with a formal living room, he said. A deck can be built off the kitchen, and on most of the home sites, it will face trees. A mudroom leading into the garage is a place for sneakers, sunscreen and bug spray, and boots in the winter. Four bedrooms fill out the second floor, and none of them share a wall, enhancing privacy and quiet. Two bedrooms share a bathroom, one has an en-suite bathroom, and the master bedroom and bath stretch across the back end of the house. Wilson and his wife like the upstairs layout and the master bathroom with dual vanities on opposite walls. [Neighborly rowhouses within walking distance of a bustling arts district] The finished basement is designed to be personalized into a bedroom suite, a lounge (perhaps with a wet bar), a play area, a media room, an office, or an exercise room. If it becomes an exercise room, a rubberized floor, full wall mirror and recessed ceiling lights are options. The lot size is very nice, too, Wilson said. Not too big or small. Having an acre is nice, but someone has to mow it. The kitchen has GE Cafe Series appliances, Delta Arctic faucets and under-cabinet LED lighting. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post) Neighbor to Wolf Trap: Vienna is loaded with recreational facilities. Nottoway Park, operated by Fairfax County, spreads across 84 acres. There are picnic tables in the shade to rent, ball courts, grass fields and wooded trails. Wolf Trap, the well known outdoor concert venue, is also a 117-acre park, with trails, picnic areas and eating establishments. Tamarack Park is also close by. And the 95-acre Meadowlark Botanical Gardens is must-see for outdoor enthusiasts and flower lovers. Three gardens bloom with seasonal flowers. This month, chrysanthemums, ferns, herbs and annuals are featured. In October, therell be grasses, conifers, pansies, salvia and fall tree colors. Miles of trails crisscross the Meadowlark grounds, some with lake views. Theres an 18th-century log cabin and an indoor tropical garden. On Sept. 24, the Kiln Club of Washington will host a pottery sale of handmade ceramics. Plenty of activities: Vienna has hundreds of retail outlets, restaurants and commercial services. The local government website viennava.gov offers a list of shops by category, including clothing, child care, pets, banking, lawn and garden, music lessons and health. The master bedroom and bathroom stretch across the back end of the house. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post) On Fridays at 9:30 a.m. the mayor leads a walking tour from Town Hall. On Saturdays the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna sponsors a farmers market in the parking lot of Faith Baptist Church at 301 Center St. South, and Sunday nights the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department hosts bingo. Schools: Marshall Road Elementary, Thoreau Middle, James Madison High. Transit: From the District take Interstate 66 East past the outer loop of the Beltway/Interstate 495 at Exit 64. Get off at Exit 62 and head right on Virginia Route 243 North/Nutley St. Turn left on Courthouse Road, continue past Nottoway Park on the left and then take a sharp right up the driveway at the Vienna Grove sign. What gravitated us to the house was access to 66, 495 and downtown Vienna, Wilson said. He works in Reston, and his wifes office is in Tysons, but the ability to easily get to the Metro if one of us did get a job downtown is appealing. The two closest Metro stations are Vienna/Fairfax-GMU and Dunn Loring-Merrifield on the Orange Line. All day parking at both is $4.85, and there are bike racks and lockers. The houses are Energy Star certified with a HERS Index Score of 53. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post) Allister Sparks, a South African journalist who helped expose the brutality of the apartheid system during decades as one of his countrys most prominent and dauntless journalists and authors, died Sept. 19 at a clinic in Johannesburg. He was 83. The cause was complications from pneumonia, said his son Michael Sparks. Mr. Sparks was a fifth-generation white, English-speaking South African and grew up on a farm in a community where all of his playmates were black. Not until boarding school was he initiated into white society, an upbringing that allowed him to develop what he described as an empathy with the black people that enabled me to go in and speak with them and find out what was happening. He was 15 when apartheid rule was established in 1948, codifying rigid racial segregation in South Africa and reserving political power as well as economic and educational privileges for the nations white minority. Shortly thereafter, fresh out of high school, Mr. Sparks entered journalism. I was seeing police folk beat up black folk, he once told C-SPAN interviewer Brian Lamb. And it horrified me. Mr. Sparks died at 83. (Family photo) For much of the rest of his life, Mr. Sparks sought to use the power of the press to lay bare the injustices of apartheid. He wrote for years for publications including The Washington Post, the Economist and the London Observer. But he was perhaps best known as editor, from 1977 to 1981, of the Johannesburg-based Rand Daily Mail, the countrys most high-profile liberal newspaper. Early in Mr. Sparkss leadership, the Rand Daily Mail weathered a government reprimand after it helped discredit official reports that Steven Biko, a 30-year-old anti-apartheid activist, had died of a hunger strike while in police custody when in fact his autopsy showed evidence of brain damage. A pathologist had contacted Mr. Sparks and, swearing him to confidentiality, revealed to him the contents of the postmortem report. The newspaper later uncovered a scandal in which government officials were implicated in a plan to secretly divert millions of public dollars to fund a propaganda campaign aimed at currying favor in South Africa and abroad for the apartheid system. The scandal led to the resignation of John Vorster as prime minister in 1978 and then as president the following year. In recognition of the reportage, a media organization named Mr. Sparks an international editor of the year in 1979. Two years later, the Rand Daily Mails leadership removed Mr. Sparks as editor in what was widely understood as an effort to tamp down the publications political engagement. They had never liked the vigor with which it exposed the iniquities of apartheid, Mr. Sparks wrote in The Post in 1990, nor the heat this brought from the government, and when the paper began losing money, they contended it was because it was selling too many copies to blacks, who were of little value to advertisers, and too few to the wealthy whites. The ownership shuttered the newspaper in 1985. By that time, Benjamin C. Bradlee, The Posts executive editor, had hired Mr. Sparks as a special correspondent, or stringer, in newspaper jargon. He remained a regular contributor to the newspaper through the collapse of apartheid in 1994 and beyond. Mr. Sparks tussled frequently with state authorities. In 1983, he was charged with breaching internal security laws by quoting a banned person Winnie Mandela, then the wife of imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and by reporting that the South African security police operated an assassination unit. Mr. Sparkss wife, Suzanne, an anti-apartheid activist, was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly helping arrange the removal of documents from her husbands office. All the charges, which carried the potential of prison time, were eventually dropped. Throughout his career, Mr. Sparks was undeterred by threats to his safety, whether during uprisings in black townships or facing government intimidation. Glenn Frankel, The Posts southern Africa bureau chief from 1983 to 1986, recalled in an e-mail that there were times when there were so many wiretaps on the office phone that all we heard was click after click for the first 15 seconds of every call. No matter. He kept working. Allister Haddon Sparks was born in Cathcart, in South Africas Eastern Cape province, on March 10, 1933. He worked for newspapers in South Africa and England before joining the Rand Daily Mail in 1958, where he was a political correspondent before ascending the editorial ranks. After a closure that lasted years, the newspaper was revived in 2014. Mr. Sparks, who appeared frequently on U.S. television and radio, distinguished himself in the later years of his career as an author. His books included The Mind of South Africa (1990), which was modeled on American journalist W.J. Cashs 1941 volume, The Mind of the South, and in which he explored the centuries of history that helped create the countrys entrenched psychology. Writing in the New York Times, journalist and author Adam Hochschild described Mr. Sparkss book Tomorrow Is Another Country (1995) as a gripping, fast-paced, authoritative account of the long and mostly secret negotiations that brought South Africas bitter conflict to its near-miraculous end and the work of a fine reporter who was in the right place at the right time. Mr. Sparkss other books included Beyond the Miracle: Inside the New South Africa (2003), First Drafts: South African History in the Making (2009) and Tutu: Authorized (2011), a biography of the Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu written with Tutus daughter Mpho A. Tutu. Mr. Sparkss memoir, The Sword and the Pen, was released this year. His first wife, Mary Rowe, whom he married in 1957, died in 1972. Sue Matthey, whom he married in 1973, died in 1999. His third marriage, to Jenny Gandar, ended in divorce. Survivors include three sons from his first marriage, Simon Sparks of Rivonia, South Africa, Michael Sparks of London and Andrew Sparks of Kenilworth, England; a son from his second marriage, Julian Sparks of Santiago, Chile; and six grandchildren. Mr. Sparks wrote most recently for The Post in 2004, on the 10th anniversary of Mandelas swearing-in as his countrys first black president. It was the most stirring moment of my life, Mr. Sparks wrote. For more than 40 years as a journalist in South Africa, I had written about the pain and injustices that apartheid inflicted on people. I had been harassed and threatened by a white regime that regarded me as a traitor for doing this, and here at last was a kind of vindication or triumph. It is a terrible thing to feel alienated from ones own people, he continued. . . . I could not identify with the land of my birth because it stood for things I abhorred; I felt no sense of patriotism when I heard my national anthem or saw my national flag. But on that day in 1994, as I stood before a new flag, listening to a new anthem, watching a new president being sworn in, I felt, yes, my very first twinge of national pride. The United Nations and other relief agencies suspended all humanitarian convoys across combat lines in Syria on Tuesday after a bomb attack on an aid shipment killed more than 20 people near Aleppo as a cease-fire crumbled. The convoys deadly fate Monday capped a rapid unraveling of week-old truce efforts, brokered by the United States and Russia. The plan intended to open routes to aid thousands of besieged Syrians and possibly spur greater military cooperation between Moscow and Washington to battle militants such as the Islamic State. What was left Tuesday was a return of shelling and airstrikes in places that had hoped to receive critical food and medicine including embattled Aleppo and angry denials from Russia that it was responsible for targeting the aid convoy. [Syrian forces pound Aleppo as government declares end to cease-fire] The International Committee of the Red Cross called Mondays attack a flagrant violation of international law, and the U.N. said it could amount to a war crime. The convoy was carrying U.N. supplies distributed by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the village of Urum al-Kubra near Aleppo. Notification of the convoy which planned to reach some 78,000 people had been provided to all parties to the conflict, and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian, said U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen OBrien. If the attack deliberately targeted humanitarian workers, OBrien said, it would amount to a war crime. It sent a massive fireball into the sky over rural Aleppo, killing around 20 civilians and Syrian Arab Red Crescent sub-branch director Omar Barakat as they unload supply trucks, the Syrian aid group and ICRC said in a joint statement. "The attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance," the statement added. In a video recorded Monday night, a Syrian civil defense volunteer spoke in English in front of the burning warehouses. He held up diapers and blankets supplied by the U.N. refugee agency. "The place turned into hell, and fighter jets were in the sky," said Ammar al-Selmo, the Aleppo director of the White Helmets, a volunteer civil defense force in rebel-held areas. The group has headquarters less than a mile from where the convoy was hit. Elsewhere, other non-food items such as vitamin C and cream to treat burns had been blown out of their boxes and were scattered on the warehouse floor. In this video shared by the Syrian Civil Defense, a rescue worker walks through the aftermath of an airstrike on an aid convoy near Aleppo which killed at least 12 people. (YouTube/Syrian Civil Defense) "It was pure chaos," Syrian medic Bakry Ebeid, a friend and colleague of Barakat. Those aid workers who survived the strike attempted to treat others who had been severely injured. "But for some, like Omar [Barakat], it was too late," Ebeid said. In Moscow, Russias Defense Minister strongly denied suggestions carried by some Syrian activists that its warplanes hit the convoy. [U.S. admits carrying out airstrike that Russia says killed 60 Syrian soldiers] Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a Defense Ministry spokesman, did not directly accuse rebel factions opposing the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a key Russian ally. But he said the fire in the aid convoy strangely began during a massive rebel offensive in the northern city of Aleppo. The United States supports some opposition groups seeking to topple Assad. Both sides now blame the other for collapsing the cease-fire. The strike on the convoy "raises very serious questions about whether the Russians can deliver," a senior administration official said in a briefing with reporters Monday. From all indications, it was an airstrike, and it wasn't one from the coalition," said a second U.S. official who also participated in the briefing. "We don't know at this point whether it was the Russians or the regime." Meanwhile, U.N. and International Red Cross missions to villages in various parts of Syria have been suspended, officials said. "There were planned convoys today, and those are not happening," said David Swanson, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He said the pause was needed to reassess and revaluate the situation on the ground." [Syrian government preventing aid from reaching Aleppo, U.N. official says] Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there was little hope of renewing the cease-fire, blaming the Americans for not separating terrorists who were not part of the truce from the moderate opposition fighters backed by Washington and others. The deal had envisioned eventual coordination between Russia and the United States of counterterrorism airstrikes against the Islamic State and a former al-Qaeda affiliate, now known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. The Russian government announced that group launched a broad-based offensive against the government-controlled southwestern edge of Aleppo on Monday night before being repelled. The report could not be verified, but is further evidence of a return to heavy fighting in the area after the week-long lull that brought a fleeting respite from the five-year conflict. With the cease-fire in tatters, diplomatic efforts shifted to crisis mode at the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York. Secretary of State John F. Kerry met early this morning with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The two made no comment afterwards, and headed immediately into a larger meeting of the Syrian support group that includes the United States and its partners backing the Syrian rebels, and Russia and Iran, which support Assad. Tensions were already at a high between the United States and Russia. Over the weekend, coalition warplanes, apparently inadvertently, struck a camp of Syrian government troops in the eastern part of the country, killing what Syria said were more than 60 soldiers. The U.S. military quickly acknowledged the strike, saying it was targeting Islamic State positions. It offered its regret and said it was investigating what appeared to have been an intelligence failure. DeYoung reported from New York and Roth from Moscow. Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul, and Heba Habib in Berlin also contributed to this report. Read more: New violence in Syria threatens cease-fire, as U.S. and Russia blame each other U.S. Special Operations forces begin new role alongside Turkish troops in Syria 75,000 Syrians are trapped near Jordans border. Satellite images show some are dying. Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Now that United Russia, the party founded by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has won a landslide constitutional majority in parliamentary elections, the Kremlin has gained the ability to wield virtually full control over the legislature during a period of economic downturn. Never in post-Soviet Russian history has a ruling party so dominated the State Duma. With 343 seats in the 450-member parliament, United Russia will be able to change the constitution by way of a strict party vote and there will be no openly critical voices to contend with. Putin has received a new resource to maintain stability. Everyone understood that if the Duma was more opposition-leaning, it would be bad for a period of transition until the presidential elections scheduled for 2018, said Alexey Chesnakov, a political strategist and former top official in United Russia who now heads the Moscow-based Center for Current Politics. [Putin wants revenge and respect, and hacking the U.S. is his way of getting it] A main concern in that transitional period will be money, or a shortage of it. Russia is spending billions of dollars to cover a budget shortfall of around 3 percent of gross domestic product because of low crude prices and international sanctions, and it is expected to exhaust one of its two sovereign funds next year. There are contesting visions of how to fill the gap, but cutbacks on social entitlements would be one likely solution. Representatives of parties and members of the Russian Central Elections Commission watch screens displaying the results of Sundays parliamentary election in Russia. (Sergei Chirikov/European Pressphoto Agency) This Duma will have to make unpopular decisions, ones they didnt talk about during the election campaign, said Alexei Makarkin of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, noting a possible rise in the pension age. And if a political decision is made then they are going to have to vote for it, whether they like it or not. It is a sidekick role that Russias legislature, and its ruling party, have played for years: shouldering broad social entitlements and then taking the heat if those promises come up short. We just dont have the money right now, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told an angry retiree in Crimea this May, explaining why her pension had not increased. When we find the money, well index the pensions. And then, in a moment of poor judgment destined to go viral, he added: You hang in there! Cheers, take care. Polling before the elections suggested that United Russias popularity had suffered from the ailing economy, falling as low as 45 percent, and the party built its reelection campaign around images of Putin, releasing posters and television ads with the slogan the party of the president. I voted for United Russia because they always say they are with the president, and I trust our president, Irina Avdeeva, 46, an engineer who works for a government agency in Moscow, said as she paused outside a polling station in northwest Moscow on Sunday. I think he is trying hard and works really hard for our country. I respect him. So my vote was more for him than for United Russia. Ultimately, United Russia mustered 54 percent of the vote, but its landslide victory was ensured by a new system of head-to-head contests in voting districts. Turnout for the elections marked a historic low at 48 percent, a decrease of 12 percentage points from the 2011 vote. This is a system that rests on a ruling party that isnt all that popular, said Samuel Greene, a political sociologist and director of the Russia Institute at Kings College London. Over the past five years there has been an effort to create an active, mobilized, pro-regime constituency. And while theyve certainly created a constituency that is not going to vote for the opposition, they dont seem to have generated a great degree of enthusiasm for United Russia. Russias Communist Party won 42 seats (9.3 percent), the nationalist LDPR party took 39 seats (8.7 percent), and the leftist A Just Russia party received 23 seats (5.1 percent). All are considered systemic opposition parties, none oppose Putin, and all regularly vote with United Russia on legislation considered desirable by the authorities. Liberal opposition members accused the government of using administrative resources and controlled media to dominate the campaign. Videos of ballot stuffing at some polling stations were also widely shared. But there was also soul searching over the low turnout, which was lowest in the large cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg where support for opposition parties is strongest. One cant be elected to the Duma, if people dont believe in the elections, wrote Dmitry Gudkov, a candidate who ran with the liberal party Yabloko in the Moscow district of Tushino. He described the enemy as the turnout, or lack thereof. Distrust. Apathy. Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin spin doctor and now independent political strategist, said that opposition campaigns were hassled by the government, but he added that they also did not make many of their potential, democratically oriented voters an attractive political offer. One misstep may have been an anti-Putin agenda in which some of their voters are not interested. United Russia will be represented in the Duma by a large number of newcomers. Fewer are representatives of business, more are representatives of what you would call grass roots, said Yevgeny Minchenko, a political analyst, adding that it was not yet clear how the Kremlin would use the new parliament. I dont expect any big changes because the previous Duma was also quite comfortable for the government and for Putin, most of the legislation they wanted was passed, he said. The first task is the budget, said Sergei Naryshkin, the Dumas chairman, on Monday, hinting that it might contain cuts. The bill on next years state budget is not going to become hostage to the electoral campaign, and I am sure that the State Duma will exhibit more professionalism, not populism, when considering the budget bill, he said in remarks to the Interfax news service that were published on Monday. Read more Masked attackers beat Greenpeace firefighters in Russia In 2011 protests, two Russias faced off Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world A woman lights candles during a vigil Tuesday for Indian soldiers killed in an attack at an army base in Kashmir. (Mukesh Gupta/Reuters) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to power in 2014 projecting the image of a strong leader who could bring an end to terrorism and tame nuclear rival Pakistan. Just over two years later, Modi faces his first big foreign policy test: how to respond to the devastating terrorist attack on an Indian army base Sunday that left 18 soldiers dead in the disputed Kashmir region. More than a dozen of the soldiers were burned to death in their tents. The Indian government has accused Pakistan of supporting the four militants who sneaked onto the base in the border town of Uri in India-administered Kashmir with assault rifles, grenade launchers and supplies a charge Pakistan vehemently denied. On Tuesday, the two militaries exchanged artillery fire at a border outpost near Uri. Control over the verdant Kashmir Valley in the foothills of the Himalayas has been the main source of contention between regional powers India and Pakistan for decades, with an armed insurgency by Muslims seeking autonomy from India often flaring there. [War of words could be prelude to harsher measures over Kashmir] The latest tensions could be thrust onto a wider stage this week at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Kashmir will probably be the centerpiece of a speech by Pakistans prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, at the gathering. Modis top aides say that the prime minister has lost patience with Sharif. Indias response, though measured, will be significant, his administration warned. The consistent attempt of the Modi government to have a good relationship with Pakistan has always been responded to with the export of terror, said Ravi Shankar Prasad, the countrys law and justice minister. Now our patience stands exhausted. Relations will never be the same again. At home, Modi who campaigned on his image as a strong Hindu nationalist leader is facing pressure from the media, the public and members of his own party to act swiftly in the coming days. Hawkish supporters have unearthed some of Modis old tweets from his opposition days, when he criticized the former government as being too soft on Pakistan. Are you not weak? Modi once tweeted. If indeed you are a strong government, the country needs proof of that. And public opinion in India backs military action, too, according to one poll. The Pew Research Center released results of a public opinion survey Monday that found that 62 percent of Indians surveyed said that overwhelming force is the best way to defeat terrorism. There is a lot of anger, and the political establishment has been quite aggressive on these counts. People expect the government to do something, said retired Gen. Ved Prakash Malik, who was the Indian army chief during the last major border conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, in the Kargil district. [A mention of Pakistani province brings fallout in India] Secretary of State John F. Kerry met Monday in New York with Pakistans Sharif and expressed strong concern over recent violence in Kashmir, said a statement from John Kirby, the State Department spokesman. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs, the statement said. Pakistan and India are both nuclear powers. The region erupted in violence yet again in July, when the killing of a popular militant commander named Burhan Wani set off protests that have left more than 70 dead and hundreds more injured or blinded by military pellet guns. During the conflict, India has accused Pakistan of fomenting unrest among Kashmiris in the villages and through social media, and Pakistan has accused the Indian military of using excessive force, a concern echoed by some human rights groups. A group of former Pakistani security officials, in an unusual joint statement published Monday, said the countrys association with anti-Indian and anti-Afghan militants has hurt its international image and undermined its ability to forcefully advocate for the Kashmir cause. Pakistan, the statement declared, must stop allowing militant groups to abuse our hospitality. India has long claimed that Pakistan trains and supports Muslim militants who cross into Indian-controlled Kashmir to attack security forces. Sharif and Modi made a rare public display of solidarity in December, when Modi made a surprise visit to Lahore to see Sharif and attend his granddaughters wedding. But any good will generated by that visit evaporated days later when militants attacked a different Indian military installation, killing seven soldiers and stalling relations yet again. For the second day since Sundays sneak attack, Modi remained cloistered Tuesday with his advisers, considering a range of political, diplomatic and military options. Experts have said those may include shaming Pakistan and its support of terrorist groups on the global stage, continued diplomatic intervention, boosting security at military camps and cutting off trade ties and water agreements. A greater military response, such as targeted airstrikes on alleged terrorist training camps inside Pakistan, is not off the table but is fraught with risks, officials say, because it could lead to an escalation in tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbors and take the focus off Modis chief priority : expanding the nations economy. The Indian air force presented the government with several options for an air response after the terrorist siege in Mumbai in 2008 by Pakistan-based militants, which left more than 160 people dead. But New Delhi decided against using that option, Malik said. There was far too much diplomatic pressure at the time, Malik said, both from within the countrys Foreign Ministry and from international allies in the West, including the United States. Pam Constable in Islamabad contributed to this report. Read more Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Election posters are on display in Amman, Jordan, on Sept. 18. More than 1,200 candidates are competing for 130 seats and the largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is participating for the first time in almost a decade. (Raad Adayleh/AP) For thousands of die-hard supporters, the Muslim Brotherhoods rally in upscale West Amman was almost unrecognizable. Gone were the green flags emblazoned with crossing swords. Instead, young men waved white banners with the word reform written across them. Christians and women took center stage, and Islam was not mentioned once. Many in the crowd swayed to nationalist pop music and Bedouin folk songs. The tone was more reminiscent of a Bernie Sanders rally than of a 90-year-old Islamist movement. Today we need to lift up the nation and the dignity of everyday citizens and election day is the day to make this change happen, candidate Abdullah Omari told the crowd of thousands earlier this month. The Brotherhood has rebranded itself after years of pressure from the Jordanian government that pushed it to the brink of dissolution. Over the past two years, the group lost its license to operate as a political movement, its assets were frozen in a court battle and security services shuttered its headquarters in Amman, the capital. The government issued a license to a new pro-regime splinter group, the New Muslim Brotherhood, a band of Brotherhood renegades who lack the support and numbers of the original group. Jordan's Islamist candidates wave to the crowd during a campaign conference for the National Alliance for Reform in Amman's Sweileh district on Sept. 16, 2016. (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty Images) Now, the Brotherhood is set to make historic gains in Tuesdays parliamentary elections. Turnout appeared low as a trickle of voters headed to schoolhouses in Amman and surrounding governorates to cast their ballots. Incidents were few, with a handful of cases of citizens firing gunshots near voting centers, most likely celebratory gunfire, according to Jordans public security department. Many of the polling centers across central and western Amman were quiet, with election canvassers outnumbering voters 10-to-1. Many of the voters who made their way to the polls said corruption is their chief concern. Corruption has been strangling the citizens, and we have been paying the price, said Rena Ghanem, a 27-year-old human resources manager who voted for a non-Islamist candidate list. We need parliament as a check against the powerful and the wealthy. Various projections show the Brotherhood on track to win 20 to 30 seats and become the largest political force in Jordans 130-member parliament, a remarkable turnaround for a group written off by observers as all but dead a few months ago. Final results are expected by Friday. The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist political group founded in Egypt in 1928, came to Jordan in the 1950s after King Hussein offered it a safe haven from a crackdown by Egypts president and the kings rival, Gamal Abdel Nasser. [Egypts Muslim Brotherhood faces a dilemma: Religion or politics?] Over the decades, the Brotherhood in Jordan was allowed to operate a vast network of charitable organizations, hospitals and mosques, winning supporters in urban slums and Palestinian refugee camps. But when King Hussein reinstated parliament in 1989, the Brotherhood emerged as a powerful opposition force, clashing with the palace over the countrys peace treaty with Israel in 1994, and in recent years, calling on his successor, King Abdullah II, to cede his powers to parliament. The Brotherhoods ardent supporters remain Jordanians of Palestinian origin and Jordanians who believe that an Islamist government, because it is supposed to be devoted to God, would be free of corruption. But it is viewed with suspicion by the royal palace, tribal leaders and large swaths of the public, who see it as driven by a desire for power and determined to diminish the influence of the tribes and the military. In the wake of the movements 2013 ouster from power in Egypt and losses in Jordan and the Persian Gulf, its leaders say the movement has to reach beyond its base. Now is the time for us to evolve from an Islamist movement to a national, inclusive movement that speaks for the aspirations of all Jordanians, said Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy leader of the Jordanian Brotherhood. We needed to change in order to survive. In a bid to mollify skeptics, Bani Rsheid formed the Islah, or reform, coalition, removing the name Muslim Brotherhood from campaign material, banners and its Facebook page. He now also serves as Islahs chief election strategist. Its traditional slogan, Islam is the solution, has been replaced with renaissance of the homeland, dignity for the citizens. The group no longer openly calls for the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law, and rarely refers to the Palestinian cause, a mobilizing issue for its base and many of Jordans more than 2.5 million Palestinians. The Brotherhood has even recruited four Christian candidates in an effort to capture some of the nine seats reserved in parliament for Christians. Islah candidates campaign side by side with their Christian counterparts, bringing the Brotherhood for the first time to Jordans Christian community 3 percent of the population, or about 200,000 people. Observers say the shift in the Brotherhoods tone, if genuine, could mark a turning point for the movement and Jordanian politics, which lacks parties to rival Islamists. If these election changes are real changes to the Muslim Brotherhoods core mission, this would have a positive impact on Jordan and its democratic future, said Oraib Rantawi, head of the Amman-based Al Quds Center for Political Studies. But if the changes are only cosmetic, they will eventually find themselves back in the political wilderness. Under a new law that requires candidates to run on lists rather than as individuals, the Brotherhood saw a chance to break the dominance that tribes and businessmen have had over parliament for more than 20 years. After boycotting previous elections in 2010 and 2013, the Brotherhood, led by its licensed political party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), fielded a list this year of more than 130 Islamists, leftists, nationalists, tribesmen, Christians and retired servicemen. Despite the changes, tensions remain between the Brotherhood and the Jordanian establishment. Two weeks before Tuesdays polls, a Jordanian court disqualified two candidates, IAF leader Ali Abu Sukkar and Hussam Masheh, on technicalities. Fearing potential voter fraud, the IAF on Saturday threatened a boycott over any potential interference in the voting by security services. King Abdullah II, who appoints the prime minister, in the past has called for a parliament-formed government. With a strong showing on Tuesday, that move could put the Brotherhood in the government. The Brotherhoods previous experience in Jordans government, when it held five cabinet posts in 1991, was widely panned as a disaster. Rather than act as a check on the monarch or push through reforms, the movement was consumed with its conservative social agenda, attempting to segregate men and women at universities and pass a nationwide ban on alcohol. Perhaps the Brotherhoods greatest obstacle is winning over a doubtful public. All the Brotherhood is offering is slogans and promises about the economy, but no details, said Ghazi Tamimi, 23, a political science graduate, at a rally Sunday. If the choice is between the Brotherhood or nothing, I might just stay home. Read more: What to expect from Jordans elections New youth movement emerges in Jordan ahead of elections Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Rabia Haj Ali plays with her daughter Boshra, 8, after picking her up from school in Aurora, Ill. (Kristen Norman/For The Washington Post) All was quiet as Rabia Haj Ali walked through this Chicago suburb last week. Pausing to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, she watched as the only other moving presence a small black squirrel lolloped across the neatly cut lawns. For Rabia, the silence felt unnerving. In her Syrian hometown of Daraa, a quiet street signaled danger and the need to move inside. Its hard to believe youre safe when the brain is still on high alert, she said. This takes some getting used to. Two months ago, 36-year old Rabia and her family had never heard of Aurora. And yet here they were, the states newest arrivals in a nationwide resettlement program that last month reached its goal of welcoming 10,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year. The issue of what to do about Syrias refugee crisis the worst globally since World War II takes center stage Monday and Tuesday in New York as leaders gather at the U.N. General Assembly for the first global summit on migration. [10 new wars that could be unleashed as a result of the one against ISIS] After a slow start, the pace of resettlement across 231 U.S. municipalities now averages 2,200 Syrian refugees a month. On Thursday, the White House signaled that rate was set to increase in the new fiscal cycle, as the United States prepares to admit an additional 110,000 refugees, including but not only Syrians, in the year beginning Oct. 1. Fouad Haj Ali holds prayer beads his family brought from Syria. (Kristen Norman/For The Washington Post) But while refugee advocates welcome that commitment, in states like Illinois, the increase in numbers has put pressure on resettlement groups, leaving some families without formal housing on arrival, even as staff and volunteers work overtime to make the entry of large and often traumatized families run as smoothly as possible. After spending their first week in a small house with their cousins already a family of seven the seven Haj Alis are now living in temporary accommodation while resettlement agencies search for a permanent home. We want to welcome people and to place them on a path to thrive. But our willingness to help and our capacity are two very different things, said Melineh Kano, the executive director of Refugee One, one of the main groups working with refugees in the Chicago area. Rooms in the Haj Ali household are spartan but clean Rabia makes sure of it and are filled mostly with toys and books donated by the community. The five children are learning English and getting used to life in different schools across the city. For Boshra, the youngest at 8, its a bewildering experience. As the only Arabic speaker in her school, she understands little, but her teachers are using an array of translation devices to help her settle in. Shy with dark brown eyes like her mothers, Boshra shoots out of the school gates as she sees her parents approach. She has something to report. Theyre calling it an iPad, she whispered to Rabia, cocking an eyebrow as she sounded out the syllables. None of them find this easy, but we know this is the best place for our children, said Rabia, speaking through a translator. These schools will give them a chance we could never give them once the war started. That is worth everything. [Obama hoping to rally world support at the U.N. for worsening refugee crisis] The acceptance of families like the Haj Alis has become a campaign issue, and Donald Trump insists that the United States knows little about the refugees it accepts. We dont know where these people come from, he told supporters Wednesday night in Canton, Ohio. We dont know if they have love or hate in their heart, and theres no way to tell. Rabia countered with a laugh that, If theres a detail about me the Americans dont know, then I probably dont know it myself. Boshra, 8, from left, Fouad Haj Ali, nephew Abdulrahman, 11, and Rabia at their home. (Kristen Norman/For The Washington Post) To qualify for resettlement in the United States, a refugee must first be identified by the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR as one of the most vulnerable cases among the 4.8 million to have been registered since the Syrian crisis began in 2011. Next, refugee specialists with the Departments of State and Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center collect basic biographical information, running names, birth dates and fingerprints through databases, and assess the plausibility of the background story. Only then will the family make it to a face-to-face interview in either Jordan, Lebanon or Turkey, where most Syrian refugees live. Three years after fleeing Daraa with just a set of house keys and the clothes on their backs, the Haj Alis interview took place amid the tightest security they had ever seen. It was like they were scared of us, said Rabias husband, Fouad. It was funny, really, because that whole time we were scared of them, too. For months, President Obamas promise to admit 10,000 refugees this year had seemed like a distant dream, as tight vetting procedures stemmed the monthly flow to the low hundreds. But the numbers increased in May, after the administration beefed up resources devoted to resettlement. Crucial to this effort was the establishment of a temporary surge center in the Jordanian capital, Amman, that helped cut the average acceptance period from 24 to 12 months, interviewing about 600 Syrians each day. An interview can last from dawn to dusk, breaking only for a lunch of rice, beans and Coca Cola, with four separate screening panels. They asked us everything, said a former Syrian restaurant owner from the capital, Damascus, who now lives two blocks from the Haj Ali family in Aurora. They asked about my politics and my personal life. They asked about life in Syria and of course they asked why I left. The answers are carved deep into his body, a patchwork of fresh skin still knitting over deep wounds sustained during torture. He asked that he not be identified by name as he still has relatives in Damascus. Arrested in November 2012 for serving rebel fighters at his Damascus restaurant our food smelled like home, he remembers the man spent nine months in Branch 235, a notorious military intelligence-run prison where thousands of Syrians have died through abuse or starvation. A local prisoner amnesty secured his eventual release. The resettlement of Syrians presents a depth of medical challenges that is unusual, even among new refugees. Local doctors discovered that some of the Syrians still carried shrapnel in their bodies; less visible but more pervasive is the trauma. Nights in Branch 235 were sleepless, the prisoners packed so tight that they had to tessellate their knees as they crouched. The Syrians hands shook as he described the dying moments of three prisoners close by in the darkness two had succumbed to their injuries, the third to madness. A former Damascus restaurant owner, in his bedroom in Aurora, Ill. (Kristen Norman/For The Washington Post) We see it in everyone, and that is going to take a long time to heal, said Suzanne Akhras Sahloul, the founder and president of the Syrian Community Network, a grass-roots initiative staffed by Syrians that has stepped in to fill the linguistic and cultural gaps that larger agencies are unable to address. These people have spent a long time surrounded by communities where PTSD has become normal. The challenge now is getting them into therapy and allowing them to start talking through the nightmare. For the Syrian families, theres also a determination to make their new lives work. Theyve started English lessons, the men have applied for jobs, and the bus timetable is slowly but surely being memorized. But Syria will be preserved in the small customs. Over the weekend, that meant baking the coconut and cardamom biscuits that would always fill the restaurant owners Damascus home for the Muslim religious festival of Eid. His wife has adapted the family recipe to fit the ingredients they found at a 7-Eleven. Theyre good, arent they? she said. I can work with this. Grabbing one on his way out to the evening shift at a photocopying firm, the former Damascus resident paused at the sight of three sticky notes with his childrens names Judi, Batool and Mohammed felt-tipped carefully in big English letters. Their prospects are some compensation for the sheer monotony of his own work, standing on a production line turning pages for hours on end. You know, theyre in school for the first time since we left Syria, he said. Life is hard here for us, their parents, but for them this chance is everything. Read more: White House raises refugee target to 110,000 Finding refuge, still seeking peace: Syrian refugees in Germany reflect A wary start to Syrian refugees new life in Kentucky This is the third time Kamran Foroughi has flown here from London for the U.N. General Assembly, a private citizen hoping for success where diplomats have failed. Two years ago, he delivered a letter to the Iranian mission pleading for his ailing fathers release from prison. Last year, he managed to attend a dinner for President Hassan Rouhani and handed an aide a second letter. Now, he has another letter asking Rouhani to release Kamal Foroughi, 77, on humanitarian grounds. The British-Iranian dual national has cataracts, spent 18 months in solitary confinement, and is more than halfway through his seven-year sentence on espionage charges. It feels a lot like Groundhog Day to me, Kamran Foroughi said. He has company in his quest. Foroughi came to New York with Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife, Nazanin, also a British-Iranian dual national, was sentenced last month to five years in prison on espionage charges while visiting her parents. Their 2-year-old daughter, Gabriella, has had her passport confiscated. Relatives of several of the other prisoners arrested on what their families and governments consider trumped-up charges are also making public appeals. [Iran says it executed a nuclear scientist for spying] A growing number of dual nationals, a status Iran does not recognize, have been arrested in recent months by the hard-line Revolutionary Guard Corps in what is likely a message to the moderate Rouhani administration that negotiated the nuclear deal with six global powers, including the United States, and wants to end Irans international isolation. Its a clear attempt to embarrass their own government, said Ratcliffe, who keeps track of his wifes 171 days in captivity on a calendar at home. Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen and State Department subcontractor living in the Washington area, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine, according to his supporters. His sentence has not been officially announced, but state media have called him a spy with links to U.S. intelligence services. Jason Poblete, an Alexandria lawyer representing Zakka, urged Secretary of State John F. Kerry and U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power to ask Rouhani for Zakkas unconditional release. The same judge, Abolghassem Salavati, presided over the trials of Zakka, Foroughi and Ratcliffe. He is known for handing down harsh sentences in high-profile political cases. He also sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was released along with three other Iranian Americans in a prisoner swap in January when the nuclear deal was implemented. [Utah state senators summer visit to Iran sparks firestorm] In New York, Ratcliffe and Foroughi met privately with Rezaian and his brother Ali, who actively campaigned for his brothers release. They discussed strategies for publicizing the fate of their loved ones. At least three U.S. citizens with dual nationality are known to be imprisoned in Iran. Siamak Namazi, a prominent Iranian American businessman, and his father, Baquer, also a dual national, are facing espionage charges. Court dates have been set for Baquer and Siamak, and we hope that the judge will show the independence of the judiciary and acquit them of the baseless charges against both of them, said Bijan Khajehpour, a former business partner of Siamak Namazi who intends to come to New York next week to meet with U.N. officials. In addition, Robin Shahini of San Diego was detained in July. And the United States is still looking for information about Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007. Several other Westerners are thought to be held in Iran, including some whose cases have not been made public. Ratcliffe has spoken once with his wife since she was sentenced last week. She was less concerned about her own fate than about that of their daughter. She told me she has missed more than a fifth of Gabriellas life while she has been in prison, he said. Shell never get that time back. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and senior officials from two dozen nations meeting here Tuesday declared that Syrias cease-fire is not dead but offered no ideas on how it can be preserved after heavy fighting broke out again, including the bombing of a humanitarian aid convoy by what Pentagon officials said was likely a Russian jet. The mood of the meeting is that nobody wants to give this thing up. Its the only show in town, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said after an hour-long session that others described as tense and dramatic. Pentagon officials, who earlier had said they were uncertain who was responsible for the Monday airstrike, which took place as aid was being offloaded from trucks west of Aleppo, said that their preliminary assessment was that a Russian Su-24 operating overhead at the time was responsible for the bombing. The officials said they had tracked the aircraft and were certain it was Russian and did not belong to the Syrian air force, which uses the same planes. Pentagon officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments. Ben Rhodes, President Obamas deputy national security adviser, said Tuesday night, We hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this airspace given their commitment under the cessation of hostilities was to ground air operations where humanitarian assistance was flowing. Russia has said its own assessments show that no Russian or Syrian aircraft were responsible for the bombing, which left at least 20 civilians dead, including the head of the local Syrian Red Crescent, and suggested it was the result of a ground attack by al-Qaeda-linked forces against the Syrian military. [U.N. suspends aid convoys in Syria after deadly attack on relief shipment] The Russian Foreign Ministry said, Moscow is outraged by the attempts to blame Russia and Syria for the shelling of a humanitarian convoy in Syria. The Russian military are making checks, including by using objective-monitoring systems, to clarify all details of the incident in Urum al-Kubra on the night of September 19, the ministry said in a statement on its website late Tuesday. In the meantime, we can state responsibly that no airstrikes were carried out by either Russia or Syria against the U.N. humanitarian convoy on the southwestern edge of Aleppo. Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, earlier told reporters that a Russian drone that had been tracking the convoy showed that it was accompanied by a rebel pickup truck mounted with a large- caliber mortar, implying that the aid convoy had served as cover for a rebel operation. In the wake of the convoy bombing, the United Nations and other relief agencies suspended all aid shipments across combat lines. The deadly incident capped a rapid unraveling of week-old truce efforts brokered by the United States and Russia. The plan was intended to open routes to aid thousands of besieged Syrians, possibly spur greater military counterterrorism cooperation between Moscow and Washington, and create conditions for a resumption of negotiations on a long-term political solution to Syrias civil war. What was left Tuesday was a return to shelling and airstrikes in places that had hoped to receive critical food and medicine, and an escalation of hostility between the United States and Russia as the two governments presented starkly different versions of what transpired the day before. This image provided by the Syrian anti-government group Aleppo 24 News shows a vest of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent hanging on a damaged vehicle in Aleppo, Syria, on Sept. 20. (Aleppo 24 via AP) Kerry planned to meet Tuesday night with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and propose to him that the only way to restart the truce and prove Moscows commitment and influence was the immediate grounding of the Syrian air force, which has dropped barrel bombs and chemical weapons on both the opposition and civilians. The dispute took place as more than 100 world leaders have gathered here for the annual U.N. General Assembly this week. On Wednesday morning, Kerry is expected to take the U.S. chair at a special U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria. [10 new wars that could be unleashed as a result of the one against ISIS] A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is not attending the U.N. meeting, described hopes for resumption of the cease-fire as weak. Conditions for resuming the truce, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow, were quite simple: [The militants] must stop firing. The terrorists must stop attacking the armed forces of Syria. And certainly, it would be nice if our American colleagues didnt accidentally bombard Syrians. The reference was to a bombing attack Saturday in which coalition aircraft, apparently targeting Islamic State forces in eastern Syria, instead bombed a Syrian military unit. Russia and Syria said at least 62 soldiers were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the strike, which the U.S. military has said it is investigating. Kerry held a brief private meeting with Lavrov before both attended the larger gathering with foreign ministers from Europe and the region that are partners in the U.S.-led coalition, as well as Iran, which is supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad along with Russia. Lavrov left the group meeting without comment. [Syrian forces pound Aleppo after government declares end to cease-fire] U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, who also attended the session, said afterward: The cease-fire is in danger. The cease-fire has been seriously affected. But the only ones who can announce the cease-fire is dead are [the United States and Russia], and they have today not done so. They want to give it another chance. But French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters that the U.S.-Russia negotiation has reached its limits and that they alone will not be able to achieve this cease-fire. Ayrault said he had proposed a new mechanism for control and monitoring the cease-fire on the ground. The group plans to meet again this week. In his major U.N. speech Tuesday, Obama made only a brief mention of Syria, saying that there is no ultimate military victory to be won. Were going to have to pursue the hard work of diplomacy that aims to stop the violence and deliver aid to those in need. Obama has been supportive of Kerrys diplomatic efforts with Russia, over the objections of the Pentagon, which mistrusts Moscows intentions. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen OBrien said that notification of the convoy which planned to reach some 78,000 people had been provided to all parties to the conflict, and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian. It the attack proved to have been intentional, he said, it would amount to a war crime. The attack sent a massive fireball into the sky over rural Aleppo, killing around 20 civilians and Syrian Arab Red Crescent sub-branch director Omar Barakat as they unloaded supply trucks, the Syrian aid group and the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a joint statement. The attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance, the statement added. In a video recorded Monday night, Syrian civil-defense volunteer Ammar al-Selmo spoke in English in front of burning warehouses. He held up diapers and blankets supplied by the U.N. refugee agency. Selmo, the Aleppo director of the White Helmets, a volunteer civil-defense force in rebel-held areas, said Tuesday in an interview that the place turned into hell, and fighter jets were in the sky. The group has headquarters less than a mile from where the convoy was hit. Elsewhere, other non-food items such as vitamin C and cream to treat burns had been blown out of their boxes and were scattered on the warehouse floor. It was pure chaos, said Syrian medic Bakry Ebeid, a friend and colleague of Barakats. Those aid workers who survived the strike attempted to treat others who had been severely injured. But for some, like Omar [Barakat], it was too late, Ebeid said. Meanwhile, U.N. and international Red Cross missions to villages in various parts of Syria have been suspended, officials said. There were planned convoys today, and those are not happening, said David Swanson, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He said the pause was needed to reassess and revaluate the situation on the ground. Cunningham reported from Istanbul. Missy Ryan in Washington, Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul, Andrew Roth in Moscow and Heba Habib in Berlin contributed to this report. Read more: U.S. Special Operations troops begin new role in Syria alongside Turkish forces 75,000 Syrians are trapped near the Jordans border and some are dying U.S. admits carrying out airstrike that Russia says killed 62 Syrian soldiers The right-wing policies of the establishment parties and the incessant incitement against refugees are encouraging right-wing forces to open violence. This was evident in the last few days in the town of Bautzen in Saxony. On Wednesday evening, about 80 far-right hooligans gathered on the Kornmarkt in Bautzen and provoked a violent confrontation with 15 to 20 young asylum seekers. Eyewitness Andrea Kubank, who is active in Bautzen is colourful, told the Tagesspiegel that the refugees were gathered on the square, as always in the evening, when a right-wing mob formed. When police officers then asked the refugees to leave the Kornmarkt, they resisted. According to Kubank, the right-wingers then attacked the refugees, shouting racist slogans such as Foreigners out, This is our Bautzen and This is our Nazi-hood. The situation escalated into violence and there was a pogrom atmosphere. The young refugees were chased through the city by the right-wing mob as they ran back to their asylum accommodation. In the ensuing fight, Mehdi, an 18-year-old Moroccan, was injured with a knife and needed to be taken to hospital. Brawling right-wingers pelted the ambulance with stones, forcing the paramedics to abort their rescue mission. The injured could only be taken away under police protection. The next day, Mehdi told Zeit Online that the right-wingers had hurled abuse at him, and other refugees had opposed this. The police attacked me with pepper spray, suddenly I couldnt see anything. Then he was injured with a knife. Zeit Online also interviewed some of those belonging to the right-wing mob. We just wanted to make them [the asylum seekers] a bit afraid and show that this town belongs to us, one of them said openly, while another lamented that he had arrived too late at the chase yesterday. According to eyewitness Kubank, police escalated the situation. Other statements by witnesses, who refused to identify themselves for fear of right-wing violence, described a similar situation. The official version of events presented by the police and most of the media, however, is quite different. The Bautzen police director, Uwe Kilz, said the refugees were responsible and downplayed the violence of the right-wing mob. He spoke of circa 80 persons who were mainly of German origin, made up of younger age groups, women and men, including those who had come specifically into the town in advance and who had already drunk this or that amount of beer. There had been a sort of conflict with the UMAs (unaccompanied minor asylum seekers). The UMAs, who then threw stones and beer bottles in the direction of this group, were then, understandably, also verbally attacked from the other side and the attempt was made to take control of these unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. The police and politicians responded to the events not by taking action against the provocative extreme right-wingers, but by immediately punishing the underage asylum seekers with a ban on alcohol consumption and a curfew from 7 p.m. Four so-called ringleaders of the refugees were relocated to other accommodation outside Bautzen. On the other hand, the police took no personal details from any of the neo-Nazis. A spokesman for the authorities justified this on the grounds that the operation was fully designed for security purposes. In this context, the statement by Gorlitz Director of Police Klaus-Jorg Mehlberg, that our message is now to show zero tolerance and not to allow a legal vacuum, can only be understood as a warning to the refugees. Representatives of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) declared that action must now be taken against violence on all sidesleft, right and foreignersand to ensure security and order through a greater police presence in Bautzen. A comment in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung also presented the events as if there had been merely an overheated atmosphere, which was stirred up by all sides. A climate had arisen in which years ago the NSU [neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground] came into being, wrote Jasper von Altenbockum. It was not only the radical right who let themselves be incited, but also asylum seekers. Even the prejudices that come from cultures that do not stand for de-escalation encourage violencenot only on New Years Night, he claimed. Leniency towards Nazis has something of a tradition in Saxony. Right-wing networks and neo-Nazi groups such as the National Socialist Underground have been built up and funded for years by the state apparatus. Especially in Saxony, the security agencies are riddled with right-wing forces. For German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (CDU), Saxony serves as a forward-looking model for the new police watch force. By the end of this year, some 250 members of this police watch force are due on duty, recruited on a lower standard than normal police officers, and who are given a baton, pepper spray and service pistol after just three months training. Among other things, this police watch force will take over guarding asylum seeker centres and could quickly become a horde of right-wing elements. The training centre for the new police watch force is located in Bautzen, of all places! According to a secret service report in December 2015, the Bautzen district was a regional focus for extreme right-wing meetings last year. Until June of this year, former German National Party member Daniela Stamm sat on the Bautzen Town Council for The Right Party. The far-right scene has acted increasingly more provocatively and confidently this year. In February, 20 to 30 right-wing onlookers had watched with undisguised pleasure as a planned refugee camp in Bautzen burned down. Long-time employee of the Saxony Cultural Office Markus Kemper has closely observed the development of the far-right scene. In an interview with the MDR, he explained that in Bautzen, an organised neo-Nazi structure existed, which has shown itself to be very militant for quite some time. Far-right and sometimes relatively new groups such as Stream BZ, the National Front Bautzen and an offshoot of the Aryan Brotherhood are active there. On Thursday evening, a day after the violence against the refugees, 350 right-wing extremists again gathered for a demonstration on the Kornmarkt. Kemper assumes that this involved not only those from Bautzen, but also probably [people] from other regions such as Sachsische Schweiz or from Dresden. Drunk and aggressive demonstrators shouted down the mayor, Alexander Ahrens, and chanted right-wing slogans. Three people are said to have given the Nazi salute and one journalist was injured. About 25 counterdemonstrators were also there, but the situation did not escalate into violence. The police afterwards expressed satisfaction that there had been no ugly scenes. There are currently 2,600 asylum seekers accommodated in the Bautzen district, including about 180 minors, of whom only 30 live in Bautzen, a town with a population of nearly 40,000 people. The state of Saxony is ruled by a grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party and CDU, which has dramatically tightened its asylum policy in recent months. So-called voluntary departures are promoted, and the number of deportations has increased significantly compared to last year. While in 2015 a total of 1,725 people were deported from Saxony, in the first seven months of 2016, 2,398 refugees had already been expelled. The Saxon State Interior Ministry also announced a number of measures to make forced deportations more efficient in the future. These include the creation of a detention centre and a departure custody facility in Saxony and increasing the staff available for the Central Immigration Authority. Prague (AFP) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Sunday said he hoped a new border and coastguard force would be deployed on the European Union's outer frontiers by the end of 2016. His statement came after European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker called earlier this week for a new EU border and coastguard force to start work quickly with 200 guards and 50 vehicles deployed in Bulgaria by October. "The goal is very clear: to put into action European border guards and coastguards by the end of the year, with all that that entails," Fico told Czech television channel CT. "All the legislative procedures concerning the matter have been carried out," he said, adding that his country would offer its full support to ensure the force was deployed. Fico's statement came two days after European leaders gathered for a post-Brexit summit in the Slovak capital Bratislava. The leaders agreed to forge a new "vision" within six months to restore faith and unity in the bloc which has been rocked by problems such as mass migration, security and a faltering economy. "The summit proved that as far as the migration wave was concerned, EU policy was a failure," Fico said. "That's what we were saying from the start," he said, referring to Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic -- known together as the Visegrad Group. "Let's protect the outer borders and forbid the entry of illegal migrants, that's the only way," he said. "We faced criticism for that. But today, that is the EU's official policy." Kendall Jenner channeled her inner ballerina for a Vogue Spain shoot, but Dance Moms Abby Lee Miller and others werent a fan of her moves. (Photo: Instagram/Kendall Jenner) Kendall Jenner has been on the cover of every major magazine in the world, but its her most recent one that the Internet is having a field day about. Jenner was on the cover of Vogue Spain and shot a video for the media outlet, posing as a beautiful, childlike ballerina and speaking out about how she didnt have a normal childhood. Although the video might have been artfully crafted, it unfortunately sparked a major controversy among actual dancers, most notably Abby Lee Miller of Dance Moms. I had to grow up pretty fast, Jenner says in the video while prancing around a ballet studio, doing her best imitation of a sashay. I love being a kid to run around like a child just not caring. Ive always been adventurous, so I love doing stuff like that I dont know, just stupid stuff. I love walking around; being able to be free. Miller, whos known for her being hypercritical on her hit show, believed Jenners turn as a ballerina was a sad imitation of such a beautiful art, displaying poor technique and ability. Jenner spinning in a tutu for Vogue Spain. (Photo: Instagram/Kendall Jenner) The Dance Moms star was so maddened by the video that she even took to Instagram to say that she cannot be a fan of this shoot because of the incorrect technique and failure to feature an actual dancer, even writing, Shame on Momager, Kris Jenner!!! See her entire rant, below: A photo posted by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom) on Sep 19, 2016 at 7:39pm PDT Thats not all: Other dancers felt inclined to speak out against Jenners shoot as well, expressing some pretty harsh words against the supermodel and the outlet alike: Nothing against Kendall Jenner, but cast an actual ballet dancer instead, maybe? @VogueSpain Kendall Jenner trying to be a ballerina for vogue Spainare they kidding Story continues Although its true that Jenner is no ballerina, Miller (and the rest of the Internet) might be coming down a bit harshly on the reality star. Its doubtful that Vogue Spain was hoping to highlight Jenners dancing technique, but instead wanted to use the grace, elegance, and sophistication of ballet as an art form for the piece. Knowing the Kardashians and their unfaltering ability to defend one another, we dont doubt that someone will speak out in Jenners defense. (Khloe would be our bet.) Until then, you can watch the Vogue Spain video here: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. The estranged husband of Jim Carreys late girlfriend filed a lawsuit against the actor on Monday, accusing him of wrongfully providing the drugs that led to her death. Cathriona White, 30, was found dead in her home on Sept. 28, 2015 following a drug overdose. A toxicology report found four prescription drugs in her system: a mix of painkillers, beta blockers and a sleep aid. Her death was officially ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles County Coroners office in July of this year. It was revealed shortly after her death that despite White and Carrey dating on and off for three years, she was actually married to another man, Mark Burton, at the time of her death. According to records in Clark County, Nevada, White and Burton married on Jan. 14, 2013 at the Heavenly Bliss Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. NEWS: Jim Carreys Girlfriend Cathriona Whites Death Ruled a Suicide This is a case about Jim Carrey using his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit goes on to claim that Carrey obtained drugs illegally under the false name of Arthur King and provided them to White. Mr. Carrey did so despite the fact that he knew full well that Ms. White was ill equipped to ingest and manage highly additive prescription drugs outside the care of a licensed physician; was prone to depression; and had previously attempted to take her own life, the lawsuit alleges. NEWS: Jim Carrey Slams Coroners Office for Information Released in Cathriona Whites Autopsy Report: What a Shame According to the autopsy report obtained by ET, three of the prescriptions found at Whites residence were prescribed under the name Arthur King. The coroner also reported finding a text on Whites phone from Carrey the night before she died, asking if she knew where certain painkillers prescribed to him went. The lawsuit alleges Carrey was attempting to cover-up his conduct and complicity in her death by sending the text message. Story continues The suit claims that Carrey was pretending as though he had misplaced the drugs and insinuating White may have taken them from Carrey without his knowledge, when in reality Carrey knew full well that he had voluntarily and illegally provided them to White just days prior. NEWS: Cathriona Whites Final Note Includes Jim Carreys Name, Pills Found by Her Bed, Says Coroner The court documents also allege that Carrey had an obsession with controlling and manipulating White and had the ability to monitor surveillance cameras on a home White often stayed at. The lawsuit claims that Carreys assistant remotely checked the surveillance cameras and had determined White had not left the residence in over a day at the time surrounding her death, yet neither Carrey nor his assistant alerted authorities, according to the lawsuit. The documents pose the question: If Carrey legitimately believed White had taken the drugs from him and she had subsequently gone missing for days with no contact, then why would Carrey not immediately request law enforcement to check on her well-being after she did not return his text? NEWS: Jim Carrey and Late Girlfriend Cathriona White: A Timeline of Their Relationship Over the Last 3 Years In addition to seeking recovery for economic and emotional damages, Burtons attorney, Michael Avenatti, tells ET they are also looking for criminal action to be taken. We will be calling for the Los Angeles District Attorneys Office to investigate Mr. Carreys role in connection with the death of Cathriona White, Avenatti says. At this time, Carreys rep had no statement to provide in response to the lawsuit. She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled, Carrey told ET in a statement shortly after Whites death. My heart goes out to her family and friends and to everyone who loved and cared about her. For more Entertainment Tonight videos visit Yahoo View. Related Articles From Esquire Kim Kardashian West is not terribly political. Her words are planned, her reactions rarely fiery. Everything you see of her-which, granted, is quite a lot-is often borderline impersonal in its over-personalization. So, this past weekend, when she took out a full page ad in the Saturday New York Times to criticize the Wall Street Journal for an ad it ran denying the Armenian genocide, its genuineness struck as slightly off-brand. In The Times, Kardashian said the WSJs decision to run an ad from Fact Check Armenia, which denies that the 1915 genocide left as many as 1.5 million Armenians dead, was reckless, upsetting, and dangerous. The WSJ stood by its decision in April, telling Gawker it often runs provocative ads that do not represent the papers viewpoints. Kardashian also wrote, Many historians believe that if Turkey had been held responsible for the Armenian genocide, and reprimanded for what they did, the Holocaust may not have happened. The whole ad is below: This is not the first time Kardashian has spoken about the Armenian Genocide. For its 100th Anniversary, she wrote an essay about her familys ancestry for Time, and she visited Armenia. She also urged President Obama to formally recognize the genocide, saying she was disappointed he did not. For more Keeping Up With the Kardashians videos visit Yahoo View. Armenia may not have many people publicly pulling for its history it right now, but it does have one of the worlds biggest celebrities with one of the worlds biggest social media audiences, Kim Kardashian West. Of all the lies affecting her family, she certainly chose a hell of a one to address. Story continues Back to branding as usual: [contentlinks align=center textonly=false numbered=false headline=Related Story customtitles=Emily Ratajkowski and Kim Kardashian Just Posed Topless Together to Prove a Point customimages= content=article.43475] You Might Also Like After two years of marriage and a nearly 10-year relationship, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are divorcing. The couple, who met while starring in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, have only worked on one other project together: the 2015 drama By the Sea, which Jolie directed. However, both Jolie and Pitt have continued to work as actors and producers (and, for Jolie, as a director) throughout their relationship. Heres a primer on their upcoming projects: Angelina Jolie: The actress has wrapped work on the documentary First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, which Netflix will release. She directed and produced the film, which centers on Cambodian human rights activist Loung Ung, who recounts the horrors she suffered under the rule of the deadly Khmer Rouge. Jolie also is a producer on the upcoming animated film The Breadwinner from animated powerhouse Gkids. Read more: How a Brad Pitt Mantra, Game On, Fers!, Fueled His Oscar Contender 12 Years a Slave On the acting front, Jolie will reprise her titular role for the Maleficent sequel. Disney has not yet set a release date or hired a director for the follow-up to the 2014 hit, but Linda Woolverton is writing the script. Jolie was at one time in talks for Kenneth Branaghs Murder on the Orient Express, but a deal did not get made. Brad Pitt: The actor continues to be a busy producer through his Plan B productions. His upcoming producer credits include Moonlight, which was a breakout at the Toronto Film Festival, The Lost City of Z starring Charlie Hunnam and the HBO Lewis and Clark TV miniseries. Pitt will next be seen on the big screen in Robert Zemeckis Allied opposite Marion Cotillard. The film, set in 1942, follows an intelligence officer in North Africa who encounters a female French Resistance fighter. Its slated for release in November. He will star in Netflixs military satire War Machine, directed by David Michod. Pitt also is attached to a World War Z sequel, which David Fincher could possibly direct. Watch: A look back at the films of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: One pilot has died and another was injured after a U-2 spy plane crashed in a rural area in Northern California on Tuesday morning. The high-altitude plane crashed not long after takeoff in what the Air Force described as a training mission for the two pilots. Early word suggested they had both safely ejected from the flight, but officials later announced the death and injury. The jet reportedly came from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base north of Sacramento, the L.A. Times reports. The last U-2 crash to take place near the base was in Oroville in 1996, when a pilot and a woman in a parking lot were killed. The U-2 was designed during the Eisenhower administration, when it was used as a method for spying behind the Iron Curtain. It has been redesigned many times, and is slated for retirement in 2019. [LA Times] Star Wars walking in traffic Here is what you need to know. The Bank of Japan meets Tuesday evening. There has been growing speculation the central bank will tweak its bond-buying program to include the purchase of more short-term bonds in an effort to steepen the yield curve, The Japan Times reports. The Japanese yen is little changed near 101.90 per dollar. Jeff Gundlach doesn't think the Fed will raise rates at Wednesday's meeting. The CEO of DoubleLine Capital believes the US Federal Reserve will use a "hawkish no-hike" language. Wells Fargo's CEO is testifying before the Senate Banking Committee. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and tell members he takes "full responsibility" for his bank's selling customers unauthorized bank accounts and credit cards, The New York Times reports. Bayer might drop the Monsanto name. The German drug and chemical maker is considering moving Monsanto products under the Bayer CropScience label to remove the stigma of the Monsanto name, Bloomberg reports. Twitter is finally letting you use more than 140 characters. The social-media company will no longer count links to media like photos, GIFs, polls, and videos as part of its 140-character limit. Carl Icahn dumped a bunch of his Chesapeake Energy shares. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed Carl Icahn owned a 4.55% stake in the energy explorer as of Monday, down from 9.40% on August 4, Reuters reports. 2 IPOs are expected to price on Tuesday. According to Bloomberg, The Trade Desk (TTD) and Novan (NOVN) are expected to price at $16 to $18 and $11 to $13, respectively. Stock markets around the world are trade mixed. Japan's Nikkei (-0.2%) slipped amid a quiet overnight trade, and Germany's DAX (+0.6%) paces the gains in Europe. S&P 500 futures are higher by 6.75 points at 2,139.75. Earnings reporting picks up a bit. Lennar will release its quarterly results ahead of the opening bell, and FedEx and KB Home will report after markets close. Story continues US economic data is light. Housing starts will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 2 basis points at 1.69%. More From Business Insider The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search. The number of international students attending a U.S. college or university continues to grow every year, but the financial aid options for these undergraduates varies among schools. A total of 974,926 international undergraduates enrolled during the 2014-2015 school year -- up 10 percent from the prior year, according to an annual study that tracks the number of students who study abroad. For international students who do receive aid from a school, the package may include a job on campus or institutional money, but never loans. While some international students receive financial aid packages, most colleges and universities restrict aid awards to U.S. citizens or legal residents, financial aid experts say. [Learn 10 ways international students can prepare for U.S. college success.] But several schools across the U.S. do offer financial aid to international students, and Williams College, also No. 1 among National Liberal Arts Colleges, tops the list as the most generous. The Massachusetts school forked over $59,674 on average to 94 international undergraduates during the 2015-2016 school year -- the highest among 418 ranked institutions that awarded financial aid to at least 50 international students, according to data submitted to U.S. News in an annual survey. Harvard University, another Massachusetts school that extends its need-blind admissions policy to international students, awarded an average of $56,268 in aid to 559 undergraduates from abroad. [Explore the colleges and universities that report meeting full financial need.] Among the 10 schools that gave the most financial aid to international students, the average aid award size was $57,054. Story continues Wayland Baptist University in Texas gave the least amount in aid to international students among schools that granted financial aid packages to at least 50 international undergraduates. The Texas Panhandle school allocated $1,722 on average to international students for the 2015-2016 school year. But its tuition and fees are relatively low for a private school: $19,110 for the 2016-2017 school year. Below is a list of the 10 colleges and universities that gave the most in financial aid to at least 50 students from abroad during the 2015-2016 school year. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for the report. School name (state) Number of international students who received aid during 2015-2016 Average aid awarded to international undergraduates during 2015-2016 U.S. News rank and category Williams College (MA) 94 $59,674 1, National Liberal Arts Colleges Stanford University (CA) 160 $59,000 5 (tie), National Universities Amherst College (MA) 159 $58,477 2, National Liberal Arts Colleges Columbia University (NY) 189 $57,727 5 (tie), National Universities Skidmore College (NY) 90 $57,250 38 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges Trinity College (CT) 163 $57,107 38 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges Harvard University (MA) 559 $56,238 2, National Universities Duke University (NC) 173 $55,213 8 (tie), National Universities Yale University (CT) 336 $54,954 3 (tie), National Universities Wellesley College (MA) 91 $54,873 3, National Liberal Arts Colleges Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find financial aid data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights. U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The financial aid data above are correct as of Sept. 20, 2016. More From US News & World Report Nicaragua has much to recommend it from the foreign retiree's perspective. It is a friendly, welcoming country with one of the lowest costs of living and of real estate in the Americas. It offers a user-friendly retiree residency program that is among the most affordable in the world right now. [See: 10 Affordable Places to Retire Overseas in 2016.] In addition, Nicaragua boasts lots of sunshine, beautiful beaches, great surfing, plus lakes, volcanoes and rain forest. The oldest Spanish-colonial city in the region, Granada, is a jewel of a town. The trouble is that, when we think of Nicaragua, most of us think first of Daniel Ortega, whom we remember as a Cold War villain. Nicaragua's President Ortega was (and still is) head of the country's Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional, or Sandinista party. The Sandinistas are named for Augusto Cesar Sandino, a well-known revolutionary figure who fought against the repeated invasions and occupations of Nicaragua by the United States and was assassinated in 1934. Daniel Ortega came to international prominence in 1979 when the FSLN overthrew Anastasio Somoza, a dictator and the last leader of the Somoza family dynasty that had ruled Nicaragua since 1936. Considered a dictator, Somoza was not what you'd call a "man of the people." His family owned about 20 percent of the arable land in Nicaragua and controlled about 60 percent of the country's economic activity, which left most of the country's wealth in the hands of the Somozas and their associates. Somoza hightailed it when his downfall was imminent, robbed the national treasury and fled to Miami, leaving Nicaragua deeply in debt. He was assassinated by a Nicaraguan hit squad in Paraguay in 1980. On November 6, Nicaragua will hold a general election to select the next president. Most people believe that the incumbent, Daniel Ortega, in office since 2006, will be re-elected. This is raising concerns among some Americans who already are or who are considering the idea of living or investing in this country. Story continues [See: 10 Affordable Places to Retire Overseas in 2016.] No term limits. The first concern has to do with the lack of term limits in Nicaragua. Term limits were abolished by the legislature in 2014, allowing President Ortega to run again in 2016. He's been elected president in 1984, 2006 and 2011. (The United States also didn't have term limits until 1951.) No opposition. Then there's the lack of opposition. On June 8, 2016, the Nicaraguan Supreme Court decided a six-year-old lawsuit ruling that Daniel Ortega's main opposition in the election -- Eduardo Montealegre -- was no longer the head of his party and was ineligible to run for election. Instead, they appointed an Ortega supporter, Pedro Reyes, leaving Ortega with no serious opposition. The Supreme Court in Nicaragua is dominated by appointees loyal to Ortega, so most assume the ruling and timing were politically motivated. Power couple. Finally, there's the running mate. President Ortega has named his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his running mate for the November election. Murillo is an intelligent, well-educated woman who speaks four languages. She descended from Augusto Sandino himself, joined the FSLN in 1969 and fought in the revolution. This looks to many people like it could be the beginning of another family dynasty. Boiled down, the worry is that Nicaragua has what could be turning into a one-party system with a perpetual ruler and that the stage is being set for a liberal version of the country's former Somoza dynasty. The U.S. Department of State issued a travel alert in June 2016 to warn U.S. residents about potential demonstrations during the election season and increased government scrutiny of foreigners' activities. The travel alert expires on November 30, 2016. Foreign retirees have the additional concern of property rights. In Nicaragua, like many other countries including in the United States, a certain setback from the ocean is public land and cannot be owned by any individual. The amount of beachfront land restricted in this way was in dispute in Nicaragua for many years. When the final ruling was made by the Ortega administration, the line could have been drawn in a way that would have allowed Ortega and his cronies to confiscate tens of millions of dollars of mostly expat-owned beachfront property. But Ortega has a track record of protecting property rights, including those of the foreign investors. [See: 10 Retirement Hot Spots in the U.S.] National politics and the reality of expat life on the ground can be different things. While you always want to make sure leaders do not threaten your personal safety or property rights, make any decision as to whether you'd like to live, retire or invest in Nicaragua based on whether the country is appealing and makes sense for you. Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f216395%2ftrumpscientistsletter On Tuesday, 375 top scientists signed an open letter warning against the consequences of backing out of the historic Paris Climate Agreement, which Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he would do if elected. The letter marks an unusual foray into presidential politics for most of these scientists, many of whom specialize in climate change-related fields. World-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is among the signatories, as is former Obama energy secretary and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu. The Paris Agreement, which is expected to go into force this year or in 2017, commits all nations to undertake steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to global warming impacts for the first time. At least 20 countries are expected to announce their ratification of the agreement in an event at the United Nations on Wednesday. SEE ALSO: In diplomatic milestone, the US and China formally join Paris Climate Agreement The list of scientists signing the letter includes 30 Nobel Laureates, and all signatories are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The letter reads as both a warning of the seriousness of human-caused climate change, as well as a warning against electing a candidate who thinks climate change is a hoax and would withdraw from the Paris Agreement. "Human-caused climate change is not a belief, a hoax, or a conspiracy. It is a physical reality," the letter states. "Our fingerprints on the climate system are visible everywhere." Trump is on record saying he would pull out of the Paris Agreement if he were elected, and has expressed the view that climate change is a hoax, rather than a real and growing problem. Were going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payment of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs," Trump said in an energy policy speech on May 26. Scientists assessing a melting glacier in Austria on Sept. 8, 2016. Image: sean gallup/Getty Images Trump has stacked his campaign with advisers that have deep ties to the fossil fuel industry, including oil tycoon Harold Hamm and North Dakota Republican Rep. Kevin Kramer, who questions the existence of human-caused global warming. Story continues "During the Presidential primary campaign, claims were made that the Earth is not warming, or that warming is due to purely natural causes outside of human control. Such claims are inconsistent with reality," the letter states. In the letter, the researchers who include MIT's Kerry Emanuel, who has been open about his past support for Republican candidates warn against triggering climate "tipping points" as well as political points of no return. "From studies of changes in temperature and sea level over the last million years, we know that the climate system has tipping points. Our proximity to these tipping points is uncertain," the letter states. "The political system also has tipping points," the letter states. "Thus it is of great concern that the Republican nominee for President has advocated U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord." Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a recipient of the National Academys Public Welfare Medal and the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, endorsed the letter in a press release (though he did not sign onto it since he is not an elected member of the NAS). For lawmakers to not heed the advice of esteemed scientists on matters of science, in this the 21st century, signals the beginning of the end of an informed democracy, Tyson said. It's not anti-Trump, except... The scientists, however, said they do not see the letter as a political effort against Trump, but rather as something that fulfills their obligation to speak up about the scientific evidence on climate change to correct the record based on candidates' statements. August global average temperature anomaly. Image: NASA GISS This is fundamentally about the science. Its not about Donald Trump," climate scientist Benjamin Santer of Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory, said on a press call. He added that his expertise in finding the human fingerprints on modern climate change compelled him to act. It would be an epic failure to be silent and remain silent when that scientific understanding is dismissed as a hoax or a conspiracy, he said. "Ignorance is not a virtue, nor should it form the basis of public policy," Santer said. Although Santer and other letter organizers see this as divorced from the presidential campaign in some way, it's clear that Trump was the impetus for the letter, at least to some degree. "All of us reacted with some shock to language in the Republican platform," Emanuel said. "So we felt that we had to say something." This isn't the first time that scientists have voiced concerns regarding public policy related to climate change. For example, in February, nearly 3,000 scientists from around the world condemned the Australian government's move to slash funding for climate research and lay off dozens of scientists. However, the signing of this letter is a unique instance in which nearly 400 scientists are criticizing the political platform of the Republican Party, considering Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's climate proposals track more closely with what scientists are saying regarding the severity of global warming and need to slash emissions of greenhouse gases. Four scientists collaborated on the effort to write and solicit signatories for the letter: Santer, Emanuel, who specializes in studying tropical cyclones; and astrophysicists George Field and Ray Weymann. At least 4,000 people were evacuated from the Moira refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos Monday after a fire destroyed many make-shift homes. The camp is one of the largest in Greece, housing some 5,600 migrants and refugees, though it has the capacity for just 3,600, reports the BBC. No injuries were reported in the blaze and some migrants have been allowed to return to the camp. But damage was widespread. According to Aris Vlashopoulos, an aid worker with Swiss charity SAO, 30% of the camp was destroyed. People are returning to the camp now as I can see. But the biggest number of the refugees are already on the streets, sleeping outside, Vlashopoulos said. Police are unsure what caused the fire, but one aid worker told the BBC it started after a dispute over food. According to the Greek state-news agency ANA, fights started in the camp on Monday after rumors of mass deportations to Turkey. After making perilous boat journeys from Turkey, many migrants land in Lesbos and other Aegean islands where they are held while their asylum application is processed. Those granted asylum are allowed to travel to the Greek mainland while those who are refused are turned back. [BBC] HELSINKI (AP) -- A Finnish court on Tuesday convicted five members of Cuba's national volleyball team of aggravated rape and ordered them to pay a total of 24,000 euros ($27,000) in compensation to the victim. Four of the men were sentenced to five years in prison, while a fifth man got 3+ years. The District Court of Pirkanmaa acquitted a sixth man, who had been held in police custody with the five others in the southern city of Tampere. The trial was held behind closed doors. The men had denied the charges, saying they were innocent. It wasn't immediately clear if the five who were convicted would appeal. Some said they had sexual intercourse with the Finnish victim but denied rape. Five-year sentences were given to Osmany Santiago Uriarte Mestre, 21, Ricardo Norberto Calvo Manzano, 19, Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, 21, and Rolando Cepeda Abreu, 27. Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra, 21, got 3+ years. Eight members of the Cuban volleyball team were initially arrested in early July following allegations that a woman was raped at a hotel where the team was staying in Tampere, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki. Two were released without charge. The arrests were made during Volleyball World League. During the investigation, the Cuban Volleyball Association acknowledged the arrests, saying the investigation seemed to indicate acts by the players that were ''totally removed from discipline, the sense of honor and respect that govern our sport and society.'' The average 401(k) plan account balance is down 2 percent through the first two quarters of 2016, on a year-to-year basis, according to a recent report from Fidelity Investments. That's not a number that will have retirement savers reaching for the Pepto-Bismol, but the average 401(k) plan balance, at just $88,900 according to Fidelity, may yet prompt a midnight visit to 7-Eleven for some stomach relief after all. On the surface, $88,900 doesn't seem like a bad number. After all, it's $88,900 better than nothing at all in a retirement account. But if you're past 50 and feel retirement looking ever closer, a 401(k) account with less than $100,000 won't get the retirement savings job done at all -- not when financial experts estimate you'll need at least 4 percent of your total retirement savings each year to get by in your golden years. You don't even need to pull your socks off to do the math -- 4 percent of $100,000 is $4,000 annually in retirement -- barely enough to just buy the groceries or keep the lights on. [See: 13 Ways to Take the Emotions Out of Investing.] To get back on the fast path to a decent retirement, 401(k) plan savers with a low balance number need to take some solid, aggressive steps to turbocharge their retirement plan savings. Never cash out of a 401k plan -- not until retirement. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average time a person spends at each of his or her jobs is 4.6 years. "That means by the time that person reaches retirement age, he or she could have been employed by 10 different companies," says Penny White Gordon, a financial advisor with Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust in Coral Gables, Florida. "Leaving 401(k) plans at each of those companies over the course of a career is not only difficult to manage, but it could be a costly mistake." Play catch-up. An easy way to maximize your 401(k) portfolio if you're 50 or older is to take advantage of the catch-up provision. "This provision was created by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 in order to help older individuals catch-up and save more for retirement," Gordon says. "It allows you to defer an extra amount beyond the usual IRS-mandated maximum each year." In 2016, Gordon said this is an extra $6,000 you can elect to save by year-end. Assuming the average person will retire at age 65, this is at least an extra $90,000 you can defer over 15 years without taking into account the tax-deferred growth you might enjoy on the money. "Sadly, studies indicate that only a small percentage of eligible employees take advantage of this powerful provision," Gordon says. Story continues Get more aggressive with stocks. Ed Snyder, a certified financial planner with Oaktree Financial Advisors in Carmel, Indiana, strongly advises 401(k) plans falling behind on assets to make up ground through an aggressive stance on stocks. "Over the long term, history shows that the best returns are to be gained investing in stocks," Snyder says. "Over the short term the ride may be bumpier but the long-term returns have been higher." The key, he says, is to remain patient and disciplined over the short term and invest more when the market is declining. "It seems counterintuitive but when the market slips, prices are lower," he says. "That means you're buying stocks on sale." [See: 12 Tips for Investors in Their 50s and 60s.] Upgrade your contribution rates. There's no federal law that says you have to spend a workplace bonus or raise, or even a family inheritance. "Set your deferral contribution amounts to increase automatically every time you get a raise," says Robert Massa, director of retirements at Atlanta-based EPIC. "This way you'll increase how much you contribute and it won't adversely affect your take-home pay." And, if your plan has the feature, take advantage of workplace auto-escalation programs. "Plans are becoming more and more automated these days," says Jeanne Fisher, retirement plan specialist at ARGI Investment Services, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. "That's where the participant can elect to automatically increase their contribution every year. You can elect the increase and cap it. So for example, enroll at 6 percent, then choose to automatically increase your deferral by 1 percent every year until it caps out at 10 percent. Most participants intend to increase the amount of their deferral over time, but actually forget to do so." Max out -- and match at the right time -- Massa advised contributing up to, or beyond the company match. "If your company offers a match to your 401k plan, always contribute to an amount that at least earns the maximum match," he says. "Otherwise, you're giving up a tax-deferred raise from your company, and everybody wants a raise." Massa also wars not to max out too fast. "If you're among those who contribute the maximum each year ($18,000 in 2016, or $24,000 if you're 50 or older), you want to make sure that you don't reach your annual contribution limit too quickly, or it could negatively affect your match," he said. For example, Massa says, if you're company matches up to six percent of your pay each pay period, but you hit the $18,000 limit in July, your company match may stop, even though you may be entitled to more match. "Instead, calculate your deferrals so that you contribute an amount each pay period so that you hit your $18,000 or $24,000 maximum on the last pay period of the year," he notes. [See: 20 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Financial Advisor.] Nobody is saying these are the only ways to turbocharge a struggling 401(k) plan, but they're at the top of the list, if you ask a financial expert or two. See if they don't make a difference in boosting your 401(k) plan assets. More From US News & World Report The average 401(k) plan account balance is down 2 percent through the first two quarters of 2016, on a year-to-year basis, according to a recent report from Fidelity Investments. That's not a number that will have retirement savers reaching for the Pepto-Bismol, but the average 401(k) plan balance, at just $88,900 according to Fidelity, may yet prompt a midnight visit to 7-Eleven for some stomach relief after all. On the surface, $88,900 doesn't seem like a bad number. After all, it's $88,900 better than nothing at all in a retirement account. But if you're past 50 and feel retirement looking ever closer, a 401(k) account with less than $100,000 won't get the retirement savings job done at all -- not when financial experts estimate you'll need at least 4 percent of your total retirement savings each year to get by in your golden years. You don't even need to pull your socks off to do the math -- 4 percent of $100,000 is $4,000 annually in retirement -- barely enough to just buy the groceries or keep the lights on. [See: 13 Ways to Take the Emotions Out of Investing.] To get back on the fast path to a decent retirement, 401(k) plan savers with a low balance number need to take some solid, aggressive steps to turbocharge their retirement plan savings. Never cash out of a 401k plan -- not until retirement. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average time a person spends at each of his or her jobs is 4.6 years. "That means by the time that person reaches retirement age, he or she could have been employed by 10 different companies," says Penny White Gordon, a financial advisor with Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust in Coral Gables, Florida. "Leaving 401(k) plans at each of those companies over the course of a career is not only difficult to manage, but it could be a costly mistake." Play catch-up. An easy way to maximize your 401(k) portfolio if you're 50 or older is to take advantage of the catch-up provision. "This provision was created by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 in order to help older individuals catch-up and save more for retirement," Gordon says. "It allows you to defer an extra amount beyond the usual IRS-mandated maximum each year." In 2016, Gordon said this is an extra $6,000 you can elect to save by year-end. Assuming the average person will retire at age 65, this is at least an extra $90,000 you can defer over 15 years without taking into account the tax-deferred growth you might enjoy on the money. "Sadly, studies indicate that only a small percentage of eligible employees take advantage of this powerful provision," Gordon says. Story continues Get more aggressive with stocks. Ed Snyder, a certified financial planner with Oaktree Financial Advisors in Carmel, Indiana, strongly advises 401(k) plans falling behind on assets to make up ground through an aggressive stance on stocks. "Over the long term, history shows that the best returns are to be gained investing in stocks," Snyder says. "Over the short term the ride may be bumpier but the long-term returns have been higher." The key, he says, is to remain patient and disciplined over the short term and invest more when the market is declining. "It seems counterintuitive but when the market slips, prices are lower," he says. "That means you're buying stocks on sale." [See: 12 Tips for Investors in Their 50s and 60s.] Upgrade your contribution rates. There's no federal law that says you have to spend a workplace bonus or raise, or even a family inheritance. "Set your deferral contribution amounts to increase automatically every time you get a raise," says Robert Massa, director of retirements at Atlanta-based EPIC. "This way you'll increase how much you contribute and it won't adversely affect your take-home pay." And, if your plan has the feature, take advantage of workplace auto-escalation programs. "Plans are becoming more and more automated these days," says Jeanne Fisher, retirement plan specialist at ARGI Investment Services, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. "That's where the participant can elect to automatically increase their contribution every year. You can elect the increase and cap it. So for example, enroll at 6 percent, then choose to automatically increase your deferral by 1 percent every year until it caps out at 10 percent. Most participants intend to increase the amount of their deferral over time, but actually forget to do so." Max out -- and match at the right time -- Massa advised contributing up to, or beyond the company match. "If your company offers a match to your 401k plan, always contribute to an amount that at least earns the maximum match," he says. "Otherwise, you're giving up a tax-deferred raise from your company, and everybody wants a raise." Massa also wars not to max out too fast. "If you're among those who contribute the maximum each year ($18,000 in 2016, or $24,000 if you're 50 or older), you want to make sure that you don't reach your annual contribution limit too quickly, or it could negatively affect your match," he said. For example, Massa says, if you're company matches up to six percent of your pay each pay period, but you hit the $18,000 limit in July, your company match may stop, even though you may be entitled to more match. "Instead, calculate your deferrals so that you contribute an amount each pay period so that you hit your $18,000 or $24,000 maximum on the last pay period of the year," he notes. [See: 20 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Financial Advisor.] Nobody is saying these are the only ways to turbocharge a struggling 401(k) plan, but they're at the top of the list, if you ask a financial expert or two. See if they don't make a difference in boosting your 401(k) plan assets. Brian O'Connell is a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, business writer and author. A former Wall Street bond trader, O'Connell is the author of two best-selling books, and is a frequent contributor to TheStreet.com, CBS News, Bloomberg and other major media business platforms. 8point3 Energy Partners LP CAFD announced that its board of directors has declared a hike in the quarterly distribution for Class A shares for the third quarter of 2016, bringing the annualized payout to 96.24 cents from 93 cents per share. The annual yield on distribution is 6.5%. The new quarterly distribution amounts to 24.06 cents per share, reflecting a 3.5% increase from the previous-quarter level of 23.25 cents. The new distribution will be paid on Oct 14, 2016 to shareholders of record as of Oct 3. Growth Initiatives The partnership reported a positive earnings surprise of a whopping 2600.0% in the last reported quarter. It has also taken certain measures to keep up the solid performance in the coming quarters. In Apr 2016, 8point3 Energy, a joint venture between SunPower SPWR and First Solar FLSR, announced that it has inked agreements to acquire interest in the 50-megawatt (MW) Hooper Project from SunPower as well as the 40 MW Kingbird Project from First Solar. Power generated by the Hooper Project will be purchased by Xcel Energy Inc. XEL under a 20-year power purchase agreement. On the other hand, electricity produced by the Kingbird Project will be sold to member cities of the Southern California Public Power Authority and the City of Pasadena under separate 20-year power purchase agreements. Acquisition of interest in 90 MW solar projects will definitely benefit the partnership. 8POINT3 ENERGY Price 8POINT3 ENERGY Price | 8POINT3 ENERGY Quote Distribution Target Thanks to the above acquisitions as well as the purchase of the Kern County School District project, 8point3 Energy is well positioned to meet its targeted annual distribution growth rate of 1215% through 2017 end, even without additional project acquisitions. Zacks Rank 8point3 Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report XCEL ENERGY INC (XEL): Free Stock Analysis Report SUNPOWER CORP-A (SPWR): Free Stock Analysis Report 8POINT3 ENERGY (CAFD): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research ABC News is turning again to Facebook as an outlet for extended 2016 election coverage off traditional TV with the companies unveiling a partnership to deliver live video programming from the four 2016 general-election debates. The networks Facebook Live broadcasts will cover the three debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and the VP face-off between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine. ABC News earlier this summer teamed with Facebook for live coverage of the 2016 Democratic and Republican conventions, which produced more than 28 million video views across ABC News main Facebook page and other accounts. ABC News remains in experimentation mode with Facebook Live its debate programming on the social platform wont carry any advertising. The news org wants to see how viewers engage with the content on Facebook to deliver enhanced political reporting and analysis. Two hours before each debate, ABC News contributors Matthew Dowd and LZ Granderson will kick off evening coverage on Facebook Live with original series Strait Talk at 7 p.m. Eastern. That will be followed by anchored coverage from Nightline co-anchor Dan Harris along with Granderson and digital host Amna Nawaz through the completion of the debates, which are scheduled to run from 9-10:30 p.m. each night. The Facebook Live broadcasts will include the debates themselves. In addition, throughout each debate day, ABC News Facebook feed will offer live streams from around the debate host cities, inside the spin room, and from watch parties across the country. The coverage also will include commentary from anchors and correspondents at ABC News headquarters in New York. ABC News will incorporate viewer comments, questions and discussions in its Facebook Live coverage. The debates kick off next Monday, Sept. 26, with Clinton and Trump squaring off at Hofstra U. in Hempstead, N.Y., moderated by NBC News anchor Lester Holt. They will reconvene Oct. 9 at Washington U. in St. Louis for a debate held in a town-meeting format moderated by ABC News Martha Raddatz and CNNs Anderson Cooper, and Oct. 19 at UNLV in Las Vegas with Fox News Chris Wallace moderating. The Oct. 4 vice-presidential debate at Longwood U. in Farmville, Va., will be moderated by CBS News correspondent and CBSN anchor Elaine Quijano. Story continues Given the tremendous viewership we saw across the ABC News Facebook pages throughout the conventions, were thrilled to continue the partnership and bring ABC News wide-ranging live coverage direct to users News Feeds for the debates, said Colby Smith, VP of digital for ABC News. As we move further into the election cycle, there continues to be a voracious appetite for live content and we know many users turn to Facebook to engage and participate in the conversation. Each of the 90-minute debates will be broadcast live on networks including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and C-SPAN without commercial breaks. Related stories Fandango Teaming With Facebook on Movie Ticket Sales Jimmy Kimmel Emmys Monologue Will Get Facebook 360-Degree Video Facebook Blocks Historic Photo of Nude 'Napalm Girl' in Vietnam, Then Does An About-Face Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, the Libertarian Party candidates who are threatening to be spoilers in the November presidential election, have been campaigning on the themes of fiscal constraint, social freedom and limited involvement overseas. As they try to lure voters away from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the two former governors from New Mexico and Massachusetts have stressed downsizing government, balancing the budget, legalizing marijuana, abortion rights and avoiding further foreign entanglements. Related: Libertarian Gary Johnson Scores a Major Victory in His White House Bid The preamble to the Libertarian Partys 2016 platform that Johnson and Weld are running on sounds eminently sensible and reasonable. It calls for a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others. But as polls increasingly suggest that Johnson and Weld could play a decisive role in determining whether Clinton or Trump prevail in a handful of key battleground states, the Libertarian Partys platform is coming under closer scrutiny. Paul Krugman, the liberal New York Times columnist, lamented this week that many voters turning to Johnson and Weld havent the slightest clue as to what their party stands for. While some of the platform falls well within the boundaries of traditional conservative doctrine such as shuttering some federal departments and rewriting the federal tax code -- other elements are harder to imagine a wealthy country in the 21st century enacting. Heres a sampling: * Eliminate public schools in favor of private education or home schooling. Education is best provided by the free market, achieving greater quality, accountability and efficiency with more diversity of choice, the platform states. Recognizing that the education of children is a parental responsibility, we would restore authority to parents to determine the education of their children, without interference from government. Story continues * Abolish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and a raft of other crucially important programs that were not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. Retirement planning is the responsibility of the individual, not the government, according to the platform. Libertarians would phase out the current government-sponsored Social Security system and transition to a private voluntary system. The proper and most effective source of help for the poor is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals. * Abolish the Internal Revenue Service and repeal the federal income tax because all persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor. The tax system would be replaced by some sort of national sales tax or value added tax that has yet to be defined. Related: Johnson Says the GOP and Democrats Are Dinosaurs Headed for Extinction * Adopt a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and henceforth forbid the government from incurring additional debt that would burden future generations. Future budgets could be balanced only through deep cuts in government spending across the board, and not by raising taxes. * Eliminate virtually all kinds of environmental regulation, from governing air pollution and global warming to guarding against dangerous chemicals in drinking water. Instead, the platform insists that controls can be achieved outside the government system through lawsuits filed in the courts. The Libertarians would essentially abolish the Environmental Protection Agency and cut through reams of government red tape, and then leave it to corporate polluters, land owners and environmentalists to slug out their differences in court. Competitive free markets and property rights stimulate the technological innovations and behavioral changes required to protect our environment and ecosystems, the platform states. Private landowners and conservation groups have a vested interest in maintaining natural resources. Governments are unaccountable for damage done to our environment and have a terrible track record when it comes to environmental protection. Related: Trump Says the Debates Are Rigged. Turns Out He's Right * Libertarians support the maintenance of a sufficient military to defend the U.S. against aggression, but they oppose entangling alliances with other countries or attempts to act as policeman for the world. That would mean, among other things, pulling back from NATO and other global alliances and ending military and economic aid to Israel and scores of other U.S. allies. Johnson and Weld present themselves as the voice of reason in contrast to the cacophony of the dueling Republican and Democratic rhetoric. The two veteran Republican politicians also say that while they are running as the standard bearers of the Libertarian Party, they dont necessarily subscribe to everything in their partys platform such as literally getting rid of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Were not looking to eliminate Medicare, Johnson explained Sunday evening during an interview with Steve Kroft of CBSs 60 Minutes. We do believe in a safety net. But there has to be reform for Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security And if were going to put our heads in the sand, if we say were going to do nothing in any of these areas, its a fiscal cliff. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: The ACLU of Oklahoma has called for criminal charges to be brought against the Tulsa police officers involved in the shooting death of an unarmed black man, Terence Crutcher. Crutcher was shot on Friday after police confronted him while he stood near a car that was blocking the road. Two videos of the shooting, one from a dash cam, one from a police helicopter, show Crutcher raising his arms over his head as officers approached him. At a certain point, he appears to lean on the car; a lawyer for one of the officers said he was reaching his arm inside the window, causing the officers to consider him a threat. One officer then tased him, while another, Betty Shelby, shot him. The dash cam video shows the officers backing away from Crutcher, not immediately offering him medical aidwhich the ACLU says was their legal and moral obligation. Shelby has been placed on paid administrative leave, but the ACLU of Oklahoma says she and the other officers involved should be criminally charged. A Tulsa Police officer murdered Terence Crutcher in cold blood, said Executive Director Ryan Kiesel, according to USA Today. Each of the officers present were complicit in the unconscionable, reprehensible and disgusting killing of this unarmed, defenseless man. Shelbys attorney has emphasized that Shelby believed Crutcher had a weapon and considered him a threat, stating that he did not follow multiple instructions and appeared to be under the influence of drugs. The Justice Department is investigating Crutchers shooting, and the Tulsa police department opened its own criminal investigation, the New York Times reports. [USA Today] Chinas dizzying growth and Wild-West business culture have led to a profusion of fraudsters, speculators, and Ponzi schemers. Thats nowhere truer than in Shanghai, the countrys financial capital, a glitzy and vibrant city thats also filled with traps for the ambitious and insufficiently wary. In April, for example, Chinese authorities raided the offices of a Shanghai-based hedge fund with over $4 billion in assets and arrested its owner on suspicion of bilking investors. Below is an excerpt from NPR correspondent Rob Schmitzs recently released book, Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road, in which he profiles one woman a bit too eager to find the next big thing. Ed. Were five miles north of the Street of Eternal Happiness in an office overlooking Shanghais train station. Auntie Fu sits beside me on a leather sofa. This is the second time shes heard Mr. Huangs sales pitch. The companys tagline: Whatever you cant find on Taobao Chinas largest online retail site you can find on Gatewang. The shopping experience begins with the Gatewang terminal, Mr. Huang tells us. Its a machine that resembles a 1980s-era arcade game. Pretty soon, youll find these machines in most public places, he promises. Once stationed in front of the terminal, shoppers log in, browse through wares on the secure Gatewang site, select items for purchase, and pay with special Gatewang money. Its so easy, Mr. Huang assures us. But I can buy whatever I need over Taobao on my phone, I say. Why should I leave the comfort of my home in search of a shopping supercomputer? Huang bows his head and holds up his finger, its curved nail high in the air, dismissing a line of reasoning hes heard before. He lifts his head and looks me in the eyes. On Gatewang, you can buy anything, he repeats slowly, pausing to add: except for human beings and weapons. Mr. Huangs business card lists several occupations: Painter, Calligrapher, traditional Chinese medicine vendor, Gatewang representative. Its been three days since I attended the illegal church service with Auntie Fu, and shes already convinced me to attend this investor meeting. Im skeptical of Mr. Huangs sales pitch, but that doesnt faze Auntie, whos already given him more than five thousand dollars months worth of her retirement savings to buy Gatewang shares. Story continues Huang hopes Ill eventually do the same. The gleam from his freshly shined black loafers match the glare of his slick shoulder-length hair, dyed jet black. A mole the size of a five-jiao coin protrudes from his left cheek, and his smile reveals a missing front tooth. He holds his head with his chin tilted upward and his eyes half closed when he shakes my hand. I see a man ready to pounce. But Auntie, well, she only saw opportunity. There were three of us. Auntie Fu had brought a church friend named Xia, a middle-aged dark-skinned peasant from the countryside of Jiangsu province. The women addressed each other as zimei sister. When we met outside, Xia looked me up and down suspiciously, turned to Auntie, and proclaimed: Hes a foreigner. Auntie broke the ice. Hes a dixiong, a brother. Hes Catholic. Hes a believer, just like us. He speaks Chinese, too! Xia looked up at me and smiled, giving me a thumbs-up. Xia and I were there for the same reason: we were both too polite to turn down Aunties invitation to an information session about a vague but lucrative investment opportunity. The walls of Huangs office were four panes of dirty glass. Inside, particleboard desks and cabinets were covered by rice paper watercolors depicting various songbirds perched on trees. Huang had painted them in the morning and set them out to dry in the hazy sunlight streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, which looked out onto a landscape of dozens of identical white and gray highrises stretching as far as Shanghais smog allowed us to see. Auntie Fu sat close to me, folding and unfolding her fingers. Ive told them the company will be listed on the London exchange in January, she announced, pointing to Xia and me, and that theyve only got two months to invest, so theyve got to make their minds up fast. Mr. Huang nodded slowly, his fingers clasped. Ive told them there is no risk, Auntie added. Zero risk, interrupted Mr. Huang calmly. Thats right! Zero risk! she repeated, as if waking from a dream. And thats because this is not just a private company, but a company with national support behind it, so the listing must happen. I told them our company would service all of China and the rest of the world. It will enter foreign markets and eventually allow the renminbi to flow freely around the world! Mr. Huang nodded majestically, pleased his loyal pupil had spread the good news so thoroughly. He leaned forward and began to speak. Chinas exports have slowed and the government needs to boost consumption, he said matter-of-factly. A week ago, Taobao announced sales of nineteen billion renminbi. That was a big boost to consumption. But the majority of the profit goes to Japan, not China. Eighty-seven percent of Taobao shares belong to the Japanese. That means were working for the Japanese. Taobao belonged to Alibaba, a company started by Jack Ma, Chinas most successful entrepreneur. Japans SoftBank had been an early investor in the company, but Mr. Huang was wildly exaggerating the firms stake in Alibaba. SoftBank owned 37 percent of Alibaba, not 87 percent. He made it sound as if Chinese shoppers who make purchases on Taobao funneled their money directly into the coffers of the enemy. Due to these circumstances, China helped create Gatewang, said Mr. Huang, pointing to the name of the company printed on the wall behind him. Mrs. Shao will tell you how its done. Mrs. Shao was younger than him in her forties and had curled her hair and dyed it auburn. She wore a black jacket, tight jeans, and a red scarf. Hearing her cue, she walked from the side of the room, her high-heeled shoes making a loud clopping sound upon the Pergo floor. She stopped beside a bookcase and positioned a computer screen toward us. Dont turn it on yet, said Mr. Huang softly. Dont turn it on! yelled Auntie Fu. Mrs. Shao glared at her. Im not turning anything on, she spat back. My presence seemed to make Auntie anxious. She had hand-delivered two potential investors, one of them a foreigner. I assumed there was something in it for her should we decide to invest. Mrs. Shao regained her composure and ordered Auntie to go and find a mouse pad. She fired up the monitor. It showed a picture of a refrigerator-sized computer terminal with Gatewang emblazoned on its side. It looked like what I used to play Pac-Man on at the arcade. Mrs. Shao explained that Taobao required an online transaction to buy products, but Gatewangs customers could instead buy credits offline. They could spend these credits at standing terminals located at convenience stores, restaurants, and barbershops throughout China. Mr. Huang cut in. We already have fifty-two thousand types of products available on Gatewang: you can even buy a house, gold bars, and luxury cars such as BMW or Mercedes Benz. In developed countries, shopping this way is very popular, but Gatewang is the first of its kind here in China. I thought of saying: In developed countries, shopping this way is unheard of because buying a house or a car with credits at a terminal inside a barbershop is a terrible idea. But I held my tongue. Mrs. Shao turned to me. If youre interested, the initial price is just two yuan per share, and youll get free credits with that, she said. The listing price on the London exchange will be at least five pounds per share. Thats equal to fifty yuan. If you buy ten thousand shares, itll be worth at least twenty-five times more when Gatewang lists! Auntie Fu had heard the pitch before, but this part still made her excited. Nows the time for us Chinese to make money off of foreigners! she shouted, forgetting who was sitting a few inches to her left. I had a lot of questions about Gatewang. Who owned it? A man in Guangzhou, replied Mrs. Shao. Who set the price of the stock? The man in Guangzhou, answered Mrs. Shao. When was the listing date? January 31, but that was up to the man in Guangzhou, said Mrs. Shao. Who is this Man in Guangzhou? I asked. Mr. Huang showed me a photo on his phone. The Man in Guangzhou was stout, had a full head of hair, and stared at the camera with beady eyes. His right hand appeared to be in mid-shake with that of a distinguished-looking foreigner wearing a suit. Behind them on the wall was Gatewangs company seal. Look who visited our office, said Mr. Huang, the British consul general of Guangzhou! This raised even more questions. Sensing I would ask another one, Mr. Huang chose distraction. Look at this, he said, directing my attention to a book on the coffee table. It was bound in leather and bore a nonsensical title in Chinglish: CAPITAL INVESTMENT OF NEW THINKING CONSUMER BUSINESS It was written by someone named Pang Bofu, identified as a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Sichuan province. Our company philosophy is based on this book, he said, reaching across the table to caress the cover. The book had been placed on the table so that it lay precisely in the middle, allowing nothing else to touch it. The entire volume all 148 pages was about the Gatewang machine, Mr. Huang explained. Back at my office, a quick online search revealed that Pang Bofu makes a living giving talks at investment conferences and is a strong advocate of Amway, an American company accused of being a pyramid scheme. An Internet forum devoted to Gatewang was filled with posts alleging the company was a scam, and its founder, Mr. Li the Man in Guangzhou had operated several pyramid schemes throughout China and was already moving his assets overseas. But sitting on the sofa staring at the Gatewang bible, I didnt know any of this. I only knew that investing in the company seemed like a very bad idea. Mr. Huang could sense I was skeptical. But he was a salesman. I sell Chinese medicine, too, he said, his voice trailing off. He reached around meI shifted sideways in surpriseto produce a tiny brown bottle from a box that had been resting behind the sofa. If you are drunk and you drink two bottles of this, you immediately become sober, he claimed. He opened the bottle and offered me a taste. Im not drunk, I said. Drinking this can also help you lose weight. A friend of mine said his son lost five kilograms after a few bottles. Then Ill buy some! said Auntie. She took a sip and then offered the bottle to Xia and me. I took a swig. It tasted sweet, like prune juice. You can give these bottles as gifts to your Chinese friends if you dont like the taste, suggested Mr. Huang. They will be grateful. The market price for a bottle is sixty-eight yuan, but the price among friends is only ten. I politely declined. Top Image: Getty Images Adapted from STREET OF ETERNAL HAPPINESS: BIG CITY DREAMS ALONG A SHANGHAI ROAD Copyright 2016 by Rob Schmitz. Published by Crown Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f215739%2fsg-10 Indigenous leader Patricia Gualinga lives in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, where oil, minerals and lumber are abundant. She says her people, the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, are one with the land. It's land companies and miners are hungry to destroy. But Gualinga won't let that happen. SEE ALSO: Indigenous leaders hold powerful press conference on climate action in Paris For the past 25 years, Gualinga has been tirelessly dedicated to keeping oil, mineral and lumber extraction off of Sarayaku land. At the 2016 Social Good Summit on Monday, Gualinga who is the international representative for the Kichwa of Sarayaku of the Ecuadorian Amazon spoke with actor and advocate Alec Baldwin about her fight to keep indigenous land pure, while also curbing climate change. Gualinga's answers were translated into English for the discussion by Leila Salazar-Lopez, executive director of Amazon Watch. Environmental activism is known for being dangerous and even deadly around the world, with attacks on activists on the rise as conversations around climate change intensify. According to Amnesty International, about 65 percent of activists murdered for human rights work are advocating for the protection of land, territory or the environment. In the face of this violence, Gualinga has emerged as a fierce and fearless advocate for her community of about 1,200 people hailing from the south-central area of the Amazon rainforest. The community is passionate about protecting their land that is mostly made of primary rainforest land that is lush and almost completely untouched by harmful human activities and pollution. Image: MAshable But keeping that land pure has come with a lot of pushback, especially from the Ecuadorean government, which tried to claim some Kichwa land for oil in 1992. The government's efforts after a decade-long fight were ultimately unsuccessful. Story continues "When the the government has disrespected us, we have taken them to court," she said. "We had a human rights case against our government for 10 years and we won. At least, with this case, we gained back a little bit of the respect that they had taken away from us." Over the past year, the Kichwa people developed a Living Forest proposal to permanently protect the Sarayaku rainforests, keeping them free from extraction. Gualinga said this proposal is essential to respecting Mother Earth and living on land responsibly. "These are spaces that are sacred," she said. "They're alive and we want to keep them protected forever." Gualinga said what her people want most is simply to be heard and have their proposals implemented. With that, she said, comes recognizing the contributions of the Kichwa people to the climate and to the world. "We aren't just poor Indigenous people who have these complaints," she said. "We are contributing valuable contributions to the world by protecting our rainforests." "This is not just our problem; this is your problem, too." About Social Good Summit The Social Good Summit is a two-day conference examining the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. Held during U.N. Week on Sept. 18 and 19, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders and grassroots activists to discuss solutions for the greatest challenges of our time. You can watch the event live at socialgoodsummit.com. This year's summit is brought to you by Mashable, the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme and the 92nd Street Y. For complete event details, visit http://mashable.com/sgs. By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The husband of Jim Carrey's former girlfriend sued the actor on Monday, accusing him of illegally supplying Cathriona White with prescription drugs that resulted in her death. Carrey called the wrongful death lawsuit "a terrible shame," in a statement, adding "there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world." The lawsuit filed by White's husband, Mark Burton, in Los Angeles Superior Court, accused Carrey, 54, of "using his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances." White, 30, an Irish-born makeup artist, was found dead in her Los Angeles apartment in September 2015, in an apparent suicide. Carrey's statement also said: "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. Cats troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyones control. I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace." Celebrity news website TMZ had said at the time of White's death that she and Carrey had an on-and-off romance and had broken up the week before her death. Burton's lawsuit said White was "engaged in a sexual relationship with Carrey" at the time of her death. Carrey had previously called White "my sweet Cathriona" in a statement following her death, adding "She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil." In his lawsuit, Burton alleged that Carrey obtained the prescription drugs Percocet, Ambien and Propranolol under the name of "Arthur King" and gave them to White even though he knew she was "prone to depression" and "had previously attempted to take her own life." Burton, who is seeking a jury trial, also said Carrey had made "an effort to cover-up his conduct and complicity in her death" by saying White may have taken the drugs from him without his knowledge. He added that the actor never made good on his offer to pay for White's funeral expenses, despite "considerable efforts to publicize his supposed generosity as it related to the death of White." Carrey, slapstick star of comedy movies including "Dumb and Dumber," "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Bruce Almighty," ended a five-year relationship with actress Jenny McCarthy in 2010. He has two previous marriages that ended in divorce. The Daily Beast Patrick Pleul/AFP via GettyJust days after he promised advertisers that Twitter would not become a free-for-all hellscape, Elon Musk used the platform he now owns to amplify a baseless conspiracy theory about the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosis husband by an intruder.There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye, Musk tweeted Sunday morning in reply to a tweet by Hillary Clinton blasting the Republican Party for creating a toxic environment that lays the gr MUMBAI (Reuters) - A unit of India's Adani Enterprises Ltd (ADEL.NS) will buy the company that operates Australia's Abbot Point Coal Terminal from Glencore Plc (GLEN.L) for A$19.25 million dollars ($14.52 million), ending a legal wrangle over control of the port. The statement from Adani and Glencore said Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) would purchase the port operator, Abbot Point BulkCoal Pty Ltd, pending regulatory approvals. Adani Enterprises, India's biggest private sector coal trader, acquired the Abbot Point Coal Terminal port from the Queensland government in 2011, considering it a key part of its plan to ship coal from Australia to India and for other exports. However, Glencore retained control of the actual operations of the port through its ownership of Abbot Point BulkCoal, sparking a legal dispute between the global miner and Adani that effectively will now end as the Indian company will assume full control of the port. Adani Australia CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj called the deal "a key milestone in our well advanced plans for Abbot Point," according to the joint statement by the two companies. ($1 = 1.3256 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Mark Potter) Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - A convoy delivering aid to Syrians in Aleppo province was hit by a deadly air strike hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a week-long ceasefire, with an outraged UN warning it could amount to a war crime. The UN said at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike while UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated "many people" were killed or seriously wounded. "Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," O'Brien said. The Observatory was unable to confirm if the planes responsible were Syrian or Russian. The UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian mission had sought to take advantage of the ceasefire, which collapsed on Monday night as shells and bombs rained down on Aleppo city and the surrounding province. The Observatory said a total of 36 people had died in the violence across the battleground region. An AFP correspondent inside Aleppo city reported almost non-stop bombardment and constant sirens. Syria's military announced the end to the truce earlier Monday, accusing rebels of more than 300 violations and failing to "commit to a single element" of the US-Russia deal. The ceasefire, which came into force on September 12, saw an initial drop in fighting but violence began to escalate late last week and the deal came under severe strain over the weekend. US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that the truce could be the "last chance" to save the country. - Aid under attack - The attack on the convoy is likely to provoke anger at the UN General Assembly in New York, with the delivery of aid to desperate Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas stressed as a key condition of the deal by Washington. Story continues The US, Russia and other key players are set to gather there on Tuesday for talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions. "Our outrage at this attack is enormous," the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters. "The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians." The United States said it was outraged at the attack and stressed that the destination of the convoy was known to the Syrian regime and its ally, Russia. Aid distribution to Syrian civilians caught up in the conflict had already faced severe difficulties. The UN held back deliveries destined for Aleppo city because it was unable to obtain security guarantees. Jan Egeland, head of the UN humanitarian task force for Syria, said the convoy was bombed despite aid agencies coordinating their movements with all sides on the ground. A Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouse was also hit, a UN spokesman said. - 'Pointless' ceasefire - Inside Aleppo, residents in rebel-held areas hunkered down after the end of the ceasefire which had brought only temporary relief to the population of up to 275,000 people trapped there. Sirens wailed as ambulances zipped through the eastern half of the divided city, an AFP correspondent reported. The Observatory said that military planes had carried out more than 40 strikes since the Syrian army announced the end of the truce. Chief US diplomat Kerry will try to speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York before Tuesday's meeting of the International Syria Support Group but statements from Syrian and Russian military officials on the ground appeared to bury the deal. "Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally," said Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy. The ceasefire deal had three key components: fighting between government and rebel forces across Syria would halt, although strikes on Islamic State and other jihadists could continue. Humanitarian aid would reach desperate civilians, particularly in devastated eastern Aleppo. And if the ceasefire held, the US was to have set up a joint military cell with Russia to target jihadists. It came under massive strain on Saturday when a US-led coalition strike hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday blasted the air strikes, which he said showed world powers supported "terrorist organisations" like IS. His adviser Buthaina Shaaban went further, telling AFP that Damascus believed the raid which killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers had been intentional. The bloodiest day for civilians was Sunday, when a barrel bomb attack killed 10 in a southern rebel-held town and one woman died in the first raids on Aleppo since the truce started. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A deadly air strike on a UN aid convoy by Syrian or Russian planes calls into question Moscow's will to try to salvage a ceasefire, the United States said Monday. The attack could only have been carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime or his Russian allies and Moscow must take responsibility either way, US officials said. "The United States is outraged by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near Aleppo today," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Last week, the United States was forced to apologize after it weakened the ceasefire by bombing Syrian troops, but Washington said it had been accidental. US officials said there could be no similar excuse from Russia for the targeting of non-combatant aid workers. "The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian Federation," Kirby said. "And yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people," he added. "Given the egregious violation of the cessation of hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia." Senior US officials went further, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Russians have the responsibility to refrain from taking such actions themselves, but they also have the responsibility to keep the regime from doing it," one said. "So either way, the burden is on the Russians to demonstrate quickly and in a significant way that they are committed to this process," the official added. US Secretary of State John Kerry will try to speak to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov before Tuesday's meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). But if Moscow is not serious about re-committing to what had been a seven-day lull in fighting, there may be no peace process to salvage, the senior official warned. "Our sense is that what happened today has dealt a serious blow to our efforts to bring peace to Syria," another US official said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Story continues Russia and the United States agreed a deal during talks in Geneva earlier this month to pressure both Moscow's ally Assad and US-backed rebels to obey a ceasefire. If the truce had lasted a week, the US and Russian militaries were to set up a joint targeting cell to hunt jihadist groups not party to the cessation of hostilities. But Assad's forces continued to block shipments of aid to rebel-held areas, and on Monday declared an end to the truce, accusing the opposition of breaking it in turn. Then the United Nations and monitors complained that a UN and Red Crescent aid convoy had been attacked, destroying at least 18 trucks and leaving 12 aid workers dead. Kerry, Lavrov and ministers from the 23-nation ISSG are to meet Tuesday alongside the UN General Assembly in New York to decide what steps to take next for peace. Kerry had earlier indicated that he wants to press on with the Russian-US process, but fellow US officials sounded more downbeat after the strike on the convoy. LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations suspended all aid shipments into Syria on Tuesday after a deadly attack on a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies. The Syrian Red Crescent said the head of one of its local offices and "around 20 civilians" were killed in the attack on Monday. Other death tolls differed. The attack, described by rescue workers on the ground as an air strike, drew condemnation from much of the world. Russia, however, presented a different explanation, saying it believed the convoy had not been struck from the air at all but had been destroyed by fire. Here is some reaction from humanitarian organizations: PETER MAURER, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS From what we know of yesterday's attack, there has been a flagrant violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which is totally unacceptable. Failing to respect and protect humanitarian workers and structures might have serious repercussions on ongoing humanitarian operations in the country, hence depriving millions of people from aid essential to their survival. ABDUL RAHMAN ATTAR, PRESIDENT, SYRIAN ARAB RED CRESCENT We're totally devastated by the deaths of so many people, including one of our colleagues, the director of our sub-branch, Omar Barakat. He was a committed and brave member of our family of staff and volunteers, working relentlessly to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. It is totally unacceptable that our staff and volunteers continue to pay such a high price because of the ongoing fighting. TADATERU KONOE, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES (IFRC) Today, the Red Cross and Red Crescent is in mourning. In solidarity with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, we are calling on the international community to ensure the protection of humanitarian aid workers and volunteers. We are not part of this conflict. THOMAS WHITE, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL'S SYRIA RESPONSE DIRECTOR This is an attack against humanity. It is not 'collateral damage' and there is no excuse for this horrendous targeting of humanitarian aid and aid workers. They were unarmed civilians, humanitarians, putting their lives on the line to help fellow Syrians. It is unbelievable that this could happen to a regular humanitarian convoy, giving detailed information about where the convoy was heading, when, how many trucks and what they were carrying. Besides the catastrophic loss of life of our humanitarian colleagues, this means many more Syrians will be denied the lifesaving aid they have been desperately needing for months on end. MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF) Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is deeply shocked by the 19 September attack ( ) MSF strongly denounces this attack, another example of the continuous disregard for the basic rules of war in the Syrian conflict, and demands that all warring parties involved in the conflict in Syria respect humanitarian workers and civilians, health facilities and civilian infrastructures. We demand that the major international powers involved in this conflict assume their responsibilities and take more concrete steps to put an end to all attacks against civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities and aid convoys. UK INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY, PRITI PATEL The death of those who are trying to bring hope to a country which has known little more than conflict, violence and hunger for six years is yet another act of barbarity. The result is that more people in Syria will now go without the lifesaving support they need. We will only solve this humanitarian crisis if a lasting solution to the conflict can be found. (Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org) PARIS (Reuters) - Air France said on Tuesday it had canceled its morning flight to Kinshasa amid an escalation of street violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital over opposition claims the president wants to extend his mandate. The airline blamed "the deteriorating local security situation" for the cancellation of the flight and said it was following events in Kinshasa carefully. Armed men early on Tuesday set fire to the headquarters of one of the country's main opposition parties, leaving at least two people dead inside, a day after 17 people were killed in violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters. (Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Maya Nikolaeva) By Tom Perry and John Davison BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday and killed 12 people, according to a war monitor, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce brokered by the United States and Russia over. The United Nations confirmed the convoy was hit but gave no details on who carried out the attack or how many died as world leaders converged on New York for their annual U.N. gathering under the shadow of fresh violence in the Syrian civil war. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the attacks were carried out by either Syrian or Russian aircraft, adding that there had been 35 strikes in and around Aleppo since the truce ended. A humanitarian aid group said the death toll was higher. Fourteen Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers were killed, Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told a U.N. summit. At least 18 of 31 trucks in a U.N. and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) convoy were hit along with an SARC warehouse, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The convoy was delivering aid for 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra in Aleppo Governorate, he said. U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated many people had been killed or seriously wounded, including SARC volunteers, and that if the "callous attack" was found to be deliberate it amount to a war crime. "Notification of the convoy ... had been provided to all parties to the conflict and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian," he said in a statement, calling for an immediate, independent investigation. The attack appeared to signal the imminent collapse of the latest effort by the United States and Russia to halt Syria's 5-1/2-year-old civil war. "We don't know if it can be salvaged," said a senior Obama administration official of the effort by the United States and Russia, which back opposite sides in the conflict. "At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage," the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added. Moscow supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with its air force. The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment on the attack. But Syria's army said the seven-day truce period had ended. It accused "terrorist groups," a term the government uses for all insurgents, of exploiting the calm to rearm while violating the ceasefire 300 times, and vowed to "continue fulfilling its national duties in fighting terrorism in order to bring back security and stability". A local resident told Reuters by phone that the trucks were hit by about five missile strikes while parked in a center belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent in Urm al-Kubra, a town near Aleppo. The head of the center and several others were badly injured. KERRY'S GAMBLE The week-old attempt at a ceasefire, negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, could be the final attempt by U.S. President Barack Obama to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war. Kerry called on Moscow to halt Syrian government airstrikes, including on aid convoys, and indicated that the United States had not received official word from Russia that the ceasefire deal was dead. "The Russians made the agreement. So we need to see what the Russians say," Kerry said before meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in New York. "But the point the important thing is the Russians need to control Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys." The United Nations said that only Washington and Moscow could declare it over, as they were the ones who originally forged the deal. The air strikes appeared particularly heavy in insurgent-held areas west of Aleppo, near the rebel stronghold of Idlib province. And in eastern Aleppo, a resident reached by Reuters said there had been dozens of blasts. "It started with an hour of extremely fierce bombing," said Besher Hawi, the former spokesman for the opposition's Aleppo city council. "Now I can hear the sound of helicopters overhead. The last two were barrel bombs," he said, the sound of an explosion audible in the background. Abu al-Baraa al-Hamawi, a rebel commander, said the most intense bombardments had taken place in areas west of Aleppo, the same area where the aid convoy was hit. "The regime and Russians are taking revenge on all the areas," he said. Russian and U.S. officials met in Geneva on Monday to try to extend the truce, and the International Syria Support Group - the countries backing the Syria peace process - was scheduled to meet on Tuesday in New York to assess the agreement. RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD But like the Syrian army, the rebels spoke of returning to the battlefield. The coordinator of Syria's main opposition group said on Monday the ceasefire never took hold and called on the world to put an end to the "criminality" of the Syrian government. "There was no ceasefire to begin with for us to say whether it failed or succeeded," Riad Hijab, general coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee, told reporters. Aid was delivered to the besieged town of Talbiseh in Homs province on Monday, the Red Cross said, for the first time since July. The convoy brought in food, water and hygiene supplies for up to 84,000 people, it said. But most aid shipments envisaged under the truce have yet to go in. The United Nations said it had received government approval to reach nearly all the besieged and hard-to-reach areas where it sought to bring aid, but access to many areas was still constrained by fighting, insecurity and administrative delays. Already widely violated since it took effect, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russia said jets from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria. Assad called that incident "flagrant aggression". Washington called it a mistake. The ceasefire is the second negotiated by Washington and Moscow since Russia joined the war in September 2015. But while it led to a significant reduction in fighting at the outset, violence has increased in recent days and aid has mostly failed to arrive. Plans to evacuate several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held district of Homs city have also overshadowed the agreement, with rebels saying it would amount to the government declaring the ceasefire over. The Homs governor said the plan had been postponed from Monday to Tuesday. Washington and Moscow back opposite sides in the war between Assad's government and the insurgents, while both oppose the Islamic State jihadist group. Russia joined the war a year ago on Assad's side, tipping it firmly in his favor. (Additional reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard in Copenhagen, John Davison, Lisa Barrington and Ellen Francis in Beirut, Lesley Wroughton, Yara Bayoumy, John Irish and Michelle Nichols, David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed at the United Nations, Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles in Geneva, and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Writing by Tom Perry, Peter Graff and Warren Strobel; Editing by Giles Elgood, Howard Goller and Bill Rigby) Geneva (AFP) - An attack on aid trucks and a warehouse in Syria has killed around 20 civilians, leading the UN to suspend all humanitarian convoys in the war-ravaged country. Here is what we know about the attack that has also sparked a war of words between Washington and Moscow: - What happened? - Trucks carrying food and medical equipment from the United Nations and other agencies were unloading aid into a warehouse in the town of Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo province on Monday. A spokesman for the UN's humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Geneva, Jens Laerke, said "every single partner or party to the conflict" was informed in advance about the delivery. According to the Red Cross the first report that the trucks and warehouse had been hit came at 8:15 pm local time (1715 GMT), several hours after the Syrian army had declared an end to a week-long partial ceasefire. Among the dead were a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) staff member Omar Barakat and volunteers. Pictures of the convoy published by SARC on Twitter showed that several of the trucks were draped with blue flags from UNICEF, the UN's agency for children. The raids destroyed at least 18 of 31 vehicles, the warehouse and much of the aid, the Red Cross said. Inside the trucks was sanitation and nutritional supplies for 50,000 people, nine tonnes of medical aid, including antibiotics and surgical materials, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization. - Who was responsible? - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor group, reported Monday night that an airstrike had hit the trucks, with a spokesman for the Red Cross in Geneva also referring to an air strike on Tuesday morning. Although not confirmed, this meant that either Russian or Syrian aircraft were strongly suspected of being responsible as neither opposition groups nor jihadist groups have air power. Giving further details on Tuesday, an unnamed US official told AFP that Washington believed a Russian plane was responsible. Two Russian SU-24 warplanes were operating in the area, he said. Story continues But both Syria and Russia have denied responsibility for the attack, with Moscow furious at the "unsubstantiated, hasty accusations" from the US. The Russian military, which is investigating the incident, said that footage from activists at the scene showed damage to the vehicles that did not appear to come from an air strike or other munitions. Later on Tuesday, the Red Cross changed the language in a press statement and referred to an "attack" on the convoy, not an air strike specifically. The main Syrian opposition group said Tuesday it was certain that bombing from either Syrian or Russian aviation was responsible. "No one else has aircraft in that area," said leader Riad Hijab in New York. Hijab said a member of his High Negotiations Committee (HNC) was escorting the convoy had provided him with photographs of the attack that he described as "very precise." The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, said an investigation was needed into a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law." - What is the fallout? - Laerke said the UN had suspended convoy movements "as an immediate security measure" and that future aid deliveries would depend on a "further assessment of the security situation." The Red Cross has so far not followed the UN's lead in pausing deliveries, spokesman Benoit Carpentier told AFP. Stalled aid deliveries have emerged as one of the most devastating consequences of the Syrian conflict, with the UN, Red Cross and others repeatedly demanding unhindered access to civilians in desperate need of life-saving supplies. Even before the strikes, some 40 UN trucks carrying relief supplies destined for rebel-held east Aleppo had remained stuck in a customs zone between the Turkish and Syrian borders since early last week. MOGADISHU, Somalia The proliferation of billboards and glossy campaign fliers, plastered across windshields and storefronts here, gives the impression of a hard-fought battle for Somali votes. But the coming parliamentary and presidential elections, scheduled to take place over the next six weeks, wont be decided by a democratic ballot. Theyll be decided behind closed doors, by coalitions of powerful clan and militia leaders, often greased with illicit funds from abroad. This years election was supposed to mark the culmination of Somalias democratic transition after more than a quarter-century of civil war. Instead it will be only slightly more inclusive than the last one, in 2012, when just 135 clan elders selected the Parliament that in turn voted on a president. It also may be tarnished, U.N. officials and opposition candidates say, by a surge in harassment of political activists and journalists by Somali security services. I think there are a lot of people who think they are deeply disadvantaged by this election and they would be right, said Michael Keating, the special representative of the U.N. secretary-general in Somalia, who maintained that the vote still represents a step forward for the country. Security has improved in parts of Somalia since the last election, thanks mainly to a 22,000-strong African Union force that has dislodged al-Shabab from most urban areas. But the al Qaeda-linked group continues to carry out regular bombings and assassinations, killing a top Somali general and six of his bodyguards in Mogadishu as recently as Sept. 18. But its not just al-Shabab that stands between Somalia and a return to political normalcy. The clan violence that fueled the civil war throughout the 1990s and early 2000s has mostly subsided. The underlying clan rivalries, however, are still very much intact. And they have made everything from drafting a new constitution to federating the country to drawing up a plan for the current election all things the government was supposed to have done by now excruciatingly difficult. Story continues After months of tortured negotiations, officials finally agreed that 14,025 electors representing the clans will select the members of the lower house of Parliament while the countrys recently formed state governments will nominate members of the upper house. Together, the two houses will elect a new president. More than a dozen candidates have thrown their hats into the ring, but only a handful, including President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, and former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, have the clan backing and financial support to be considered real contenders. The countrys first female candidate, Fadumo Dayib, has acknowledged she has virtually no chance of winning. In an interview at his private residence in Mogadishu, Sharmarke likened the process to the Iowa caucuses in the United States. We dont have the primaries; everybody doesnt vote. Its just a caucus reflecting the larger society that is voting, he said. Sharmarke, whose bookish appearance is reinforced by a pair of thick rectangular glasses, is arguably the front-runner to replace Mohamud, whose popularity has faltered amid persistent allegations of corruption. (Last year, the president survived impeachment proceedings initiated by the speaker of the Parliament.) Sharmarke is the son of Somalias second president, Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, who was assassinated in 1969. A year and a half into his second term as prime minister, he acknowledges that progress on many of the governments top priorities, including the constitution and the federalization process, has been slow. But he says the election is proof that things are headed in the right direction. Last time any election like this happened was 1969. Forty-seven years later, I think this is going to be a test of whether the country is ready for one-person, one-vote, he said. International donors have reluctantly come around to this view, having long ago dropped their insistence on a plebiscite open to all citizens. Already, however, there are worrying signs that the carefully designed electoral exercise may be marred by abuses. In July, the president told local media outlets that anyone who opposed his re-election bid was Somalias second-biggest enemy, after al-Shabab. Since then, there have been numerous reports of harassment and intimidation of candidates who are challenging the president, especially those without the backing of powerful clans. I am subject to all-day harassment from him, from security, Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, a former planning minister who is also running for president, said of Mohamud and his allies. He said that all his campaign billboards in Mogadishu were torn down, and that it was a hassle just to get permission to hold a news conference to release his new political manifesto, a 19-page document titled Iskutashi, or self-reliance. I dont believe it will be a fair and free election, Warsame said in interview at the heavily fortified airport in Mogadishu. The president will try to use the government machine and money against us. The frustration of opposition candidates tracks with reporting from international observers, including the United Nations. Earlier this month, the U.N. assistance mission in Somalia released a report detailing a steep decline in freedom of expression. It highlights a range of abuses by government security forces against journalists and political activists, including arbitrary detentions, harassment and intimidation, and the forced closure of websites and media houses. I think there will be probably be many examples of security forces of one kind or another trying to stop people [from campaigning], reacting to reports that they dont like. Unfortunately, thats going to happen, Keating said. This is an important moment coming up, and it will be a test of whether Somalis are tolerant enough to allow freedom of expression and access to the [electoral] process. A spokesman for the president, Daud Aweis, denied that security forces had harassed opposition candidates. Unfortunately, it has become common practice for some of the presidential candidates to spread unsubstantiated accusations of intimidation against our security forces, he said in a written statement to Foreign Policy. This government does not tolerate such behavior nor accept the divisive rhetoric, which distorts the inclusive, credible and transparent electoral mechanism that our leaders agreed upon. Just as troubling as the allegations of intimidation is the unprecedented influx of campaign funds from abroad, particularly from the Gulf countries whose leaders appear eager to curry favor in Somalia. One consequence of the countrys expanded electorate and new upper house of Parliament is that, given the lack of strong political parties, winning alliances will be much more expensive to build. Countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Turkey have happily picked up the tab, welcoming the parade of Somali politicians shuttling among their capitals on discreet fundraising trips in recent months. There was quite a competition going on between the Qataris and the Turks on the one side, who are supporting candidates who are broadly aligned with the Muslim Brothers, and the Saudis and the Emiratis on the other side, who are broadly supporting candidates not aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood but who have professed some sort of Salafi [or] Wahabi allegiance, said Alex de Waal, a Horn of Africa expert who leads the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University. The implication being that huge amounts of money, by Somali standards, were going to be spent in order to secure the loyalty of whoever wins. The combination of shady foreign funds and inscrutable clan politics reinforces the perception that the election is rigged against ordinary Somalis. If the highest bidder carries the day whether the money is gotten from external funders or secured from local sources, illicit or otherwise it shortchanges the Somali people, said Abdirashid Hashi, executive director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in Mogadishu, adding that the majority of Somalis already feel shortchanged by a lopsided electoral process that is dominated by the president, prime minister, and a few regional power brokers. That is a dangerous proposition in a country where bullets have long held sway in the absence of ballots. According to Warsame, the former planning minister, the main driver of conflict in Somalia isnt al-Shabab as such, but manipulation of the political system to serve clan interests, which is what drives ordinary Somalis to join the terror group in the first place. I regard al-Shabab as a symptom, not the real cause of the problem. Al-Shabab thrives on the grievances of the clan, he said. The key challenge for peace-building in Somalia is corruption in business, security, and politics that enables al-Shabab to thrive. Photo credit: MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/AFP/Getty Images By Carl O'Donnell (Reuters) - Allergan Plc (AGN.N) CEO Brent Saunders calls them "stepping stones" - small, bolt-on acquisitions, as opposed to the mega-deals common in the drug industry. And they're expected to boost dealmaking in sectors ranging from neurology to skin care. Allergan's agreement on Tuesday to acquire liver drug developer Tobira Therapeutics Inc (TBRA.O) for $1.7 billion may seem trivial compared to the proposed $160 billion deal Allergan crafted last year to sell itself to Pfizer Inc (PFE.N). But that deal was torpedoed in April by the U.S. Treasury's latest curbs on tax inversions. Now the company, domiciled in Ireland, is taking a new tack, preparing to spend a war chest of more than $20 billion on stepping-stone deals. The small deals are aimed at filling gaps in its core therapeutic areas, which range from the central nervous system and gastrointestinal diseases, to dermatology and eye care. Allergan has added four other small companies to its portfolio this year, three of which sold for less than $100 million upfront, plus performance payments. Two, ForSight Vision and Retrosense Therapeutics, treat eye disorders. The others, Topokine Therapeutics and Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VTAE.O), focus on dermatology. Allergan agreed to acquire Vitae last week for $639 million. The fact that Allergan is paying top dollar for some of these companies - including a nearly 600 percent premium for Tobira, excluding performance payments - has investors and dealmakers speculating about the company's next stepping stone. Logical acquisition targets for Allergan would include Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc (ACAD.O), a maker of treatments for Parkinsons disease; Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc (ITCI.O), a developer of psychiatric medications; Neurocrine Biosciences Inc (NBIX.O), which focuses on neurology and womens health; and Dermira Inc (DERM.O), a dermatology company, according to investment bankers and industry investors. Story continues In an interview with Reuters, Saunders declined to comment on any specific companies that Allergan may want to acquire next. But he said that stepping stones will play a key role in helping the company continue to meet its ambitious annual revenue growth target of 10 percent for years to come. "I needed to do big deals to get where we are, but the strategic vision was always to get to a point where we could use stepping stones," Saunders said. Allergan has relied heavily on M&A because it views inventing its own drugs in-house as too risky. Saunders, 46, has attempted or executed mergers and acquisitions totaling more than $300 billion in the last three years. Allergan now has the money to embark on a major acquisition spree thanks to the sale of its generic drug portfolio to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA). Allergan received $33.4 billion in cash and $5.1 billion in Teva stock last month as a result of that deal. While Allergan has pledged to spend some of those dollars on share buybacks, it will still have cash reserves of more than $20 billion it can spend on deals. Allergan wants to build out its central nervous system franchise, which is one of the largest in the industry and treats diseases including Alzheimer's, depression, migraines and schizophrenia, Saunders said. He added that he would like to branch out into other types of neurological treatments, including multiple sclerosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Parkinson's disease. One of Allergan's successful endeavors in the central nervous system space, its Namenda Alzheimer's franchise, took a hit over the past year after one of its key drugs, Namenda IR, lost patent protection. Namenda IR generated more than $500 million in 2015. Allergan is hoping that a ramp-up of its newly commercialized anti-psychotic drug, Vraylar, can help offset that decline. BOTOX AS A GATEWAY DRUG Saunders said he also is optimistic about opportunities in dermatology and eye care, adding that he would be open to a medium-sized deal to build out its opthalmic products. In dermatology, Allergan has the world's biggest franchise by sales, largely due to its flagship drug, Botox, for wrinkle-smoothing. Last year, in a stepping-stone acquisition, Allergan bought a publicly traded dermatology company called Kythera for $2.1 billion, and it has been ramping up sales of its key drug, Kybella, which treats double chins. "There's definitely potential for more deals like that in dermatology," said Randall Stanicky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "Botox is a gateway product into the entire world of aesthetics." In the interview, Saunders left open the possibility of a transformative acquisition or merger for Allergan, which has a market capitalization of $95 billion. He said a company with a cutting-edge treatment that reversed Alzheimer's was an example of the type of big deal Allergan would consider making. Biogen Inc (BIIB.N) and Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) both have late stage drugs that promise to reverse the effects of the degenerative neurological disease. Biogen and Eli Lilly have market capitalizations of $65 billion and $86 billion, respectively. Reuters reported in August that Allergan had held informal conversations with some members of Biogen's board before deciding against any acquisition offer. (Reporting by Carl O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Brian Thevenot) By Carl O'Donnell (Reuters) - Allergan Plc CEO Brent Saunders calls them "stepping stones" - small, bolt-on acquisitions, as opposed to the mega-deals common in the drug industry. And they're expected to boost dealmaking in sectors ranging from neurology to skin care. Allergan's agreement on Tuesday to acquire liver drug developer Tobira Therapeutics Inc for $1.7 billion may seem trivial compared to the proposed $160 billion deal Allergan crafted last year to sell itself to Pfizer Inc . But that deal was torpedoed in April by the U.S. Treasury's latest curbs on tax inversions. Now the company, domiciled in Ireland, is taking a new tack, preparing to spend a war chest of more than $20 billion on stepping-stone deals. The small deals are aimed at filling gaps in its core therapeutic areas, which range from the central nervous system and gastrointestinal diseases, to dermatology and eye care. Allergan has added four other small companies to its portfolio this year, three of which sold for less than $100 million upfront, plus performance payments. Two, ForSight Vision and Retrosense Therapeutics, treat eye disorders. The others, Topokine Therapeutics and Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc. , focus on dermatology. Allergan agreed to acquire Vitae last week for $639 million. The fact that Allergan is paying top dollar for some of these companies - including a nearly 600 percent premium for Tobira, excluding performance payments - has investors and dealmakers speculating about the company's next stepping stone. Logical acquisition targets for Allergan would include Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc , a maker of treatments for Parkinsons disease; Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc , a developer of psychiatric medications; Neurocrine Biosciences Inc , which focuses on neurology and womens health; and Dermira Inc , a dermatology company, according to investment bankers and industry investors. Story continues In an interview with Reuters, Saunders declined to comment on any specific companies that Allergan may want to acquire next. But he said that stepping stones will play a key role in helping the company continue to meet its ambitious annual revenue growth target of 10 percent for years to come. "I needed to do big deals to get where we are, but the strategic vision was always to get to a point where we could use stepping stones," Saunders said. Allergan has relied heavily on M&A because it views inventing its own drugs in-house as too risky. Saunders, 46, has attempted or executed mergers and acquisitions totaling more than $300 billion in the last three years. Allergan now has the money to embark on a major acquisition spree thanks to the sale of its generic drug portfolio to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd . Allergan received $33.4 billion in cash and $5.1 billion in Teva stock last month as a result of that deal. While Allergan has pledged to spend some of those dollars on share buybacks, it will still have cash reserves of more than $20 billion it can spend on deals. Allergan wants to build out its central nervous system franchise, which is one of the largest in the industry and treats diseases including Alzheimer's, depression, migraines and schizophrenia, Saunders said. He added that he would like to branch out into other types of neurological treatments, including multiple sclerosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Parkinson's disease. One of Allergan's successful endeavors in the central nervous system space, its Namenda Alzheimer's franchise, took a hit over the past year after one of its key drugs, Namenda IR, lost patent protection. Namenda IR generated more than $500 million in 2015. Allergan is hoping that a ramp-up of its newly commercialized anti-psychotic drug, Vraylar, can help offset that decline. BOTOX AS A GATEWAY DRUG Saunders said he also is optimistic about opportunities in dermatology and eye care, adding that he would be open to a medium-sized deal to build out its opthalmic products. In dermatology, Allergan has the world's biggest franchise by sales, largely due to its flagship drug, Botox, for wrinkle-smoothing. Last year, in a stepping-stone acquisition, Allergan bought a publicly traded dermatology company called Kythera for $2.1 billion, and it has been ramping up sales of its key drug, Kybella, which treats double chins. "There's definitely potential for more deals like that in dermatology," said Randall Stanicky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "Botox is a gateway product into the entire world of aesthetics." In the interview, Saunders left open the possibility of a transformative acquisition or merger for Allergan, which has a market capitalization of $95 billion. He said a company with a cutting-edge treatment that reversed Alzheimer's was an example of the type of big deal Allergan would consider making. Biogen Inc and Eli Lilly and Co both have late stage drugs that promise to reverse the effects of the degenerative neurological disease. Biogen and Eli Lilly have market capitalizations of $65 billion and $86 billion, respectively. Reuters reported in August that Allergan had held informal conversations with some members of Biogen's board before deciding against any acquisition offer. (Reporting by Carl O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Brian Thevenot) The Netflix documentary Amanda Knox and its latest trailer (watch it above) gets at the heart of why her case was so compelling: Either this ordinary-seeming college student is a devious killer, or she spent eight years trapped in the nightmare scenario of being punished for someone elses crime. As Knox herself puts it in the clip, Either Im a psychopath in sheeps clothing, or I am you. The new film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this month, takes a hard look at how Knox, 29, came to be accused of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher while studying abroad in Italy. Related: From La La Land to Katwe: Best of the Toronto International Film Festival Twice convicted and twice acquitted, Knox spent four years in an Italian prison and was pilloried by the tabloid press, which mined her personal life for details to support the prosecutions theory that she and her boyfriend killed Kercher during a violent sex game. According to The Daily Beast, the new documentary explores how the case against Knox was built by reporters and lawyers despite a lack of evidence, while the more likely murderer, drug dealer Rudy Guede (who was tried and convicted separately), faded into the background. The documentary focuses on interviews with Knox herself, but includes such key players as her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito; prosecutor Giuliano Mignini; and Daily Mail reporter Nick Pisa, who calls the case a feeding frenzy. Amanda Knox premieres on Netflix Sept. 30. Amber Rose just gave us the Khaleesi/Khal Drogo wedding dance weve always wanted on DWTS Amber Rose just gave us the Khaleesi/Khal Drogo wedding dance weve always wanted on DWTS On Monday nights Dancing with the Stars, Amber Rose did her best Daenerys Targaryen cosplay,and the talk show host, model, and actor actually pulls off a pretty convincing Khaleesi, if you can believe it. Rose was joined by Maksim Chmerkovskiy as Khal Drogo. Hes no Jason Momoa, but he still looks great in a glued-on beard, sans shirt and inked up with a bunch of fake tats. In this Viennese Waltz set in a firey Westeros, Amber Rose looks smoking in her Khaleesi costume and platinum bun. Why doesnt she always have that hair? It looks so good on her! Unfortunately, the Dothraki Khals only scored 24 out of 40. One can ride a mother of dragons coattails only so far, apparently. And when youre up against competition like Former Governor and Presidential Candidate Rick Perry, disgraced swimmer Ryan Lochte and 90s hiphop phenom Vanilla Ice, you better step up your game. That hair though! Just look: So gorge. Amber is loving being on the show, telling Access Hollywood that shes having a blast and wants to be on the show forever. Cool but Amber, we beg you: braids forever. Please. The post Amber Rose just gave us the Khaleesi/Khal Drogo wedding dance weve always wanted on DWTS appeared first on HelloGiggles. On Sep 20, 2016, we issued an updated research report on American Financial Group Inc. AFG. American Financials inorganic growth story remains impressive with strategic acquisitions. The companys decision to acquire the remaining shares of National Interstate displays its prudence to invest in a safe business environment. The property and casualty (P&C) insurer will acquire only those shares of National Interstate that are not owned by Great American Insurance Company, the wholly owned subsidiary of the acquirer, for $320 million. Further, the company has been experiencing consistent price increases in the P&C business, and intends to maintain satisfactory rates in P&C renewal pricing in the future. Along with price increase, loss projects cost trends to remain stable and appear relatively benign across all the P&C lines. These are strong positive trends that should favor the company in the long run. Riding on its operational strength, the company engages in shareholder friendly moves that make it an attractive pick for yield seeking investors. In its latest endeavor, the board of directors hiked its dividend by 12%. The company also has about 4.6 million shares remaining under its authorization. Based on strong results through the first half of 2016, the company expects earnings of $5.35$5.75 per share this year. Notably, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has witnessed upward estimate revisions over the last 60 days. The same inched up 0.7% and 1.5% for 2016 and 2017, respectively, over the same time frame. However, the P&C insurer remains exposed to catastrophe losses, which have resulted in earnings volatility. Despite catastrophe mitigation techniques deployed by the company this continues to be a headwind. Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider Currently American Financial carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are National Interstate Corporation NATL, NMI Holdings, Inc. NMIH and Cincinnati Financial Corp. CINF. While both National Interstate and NMI Holdings sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Cincinnati Financial holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Story continues Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CINCINNATI FINL (CINF): Free Stock Analysis Report AMER FINL GROUP (AFG): Free Stock Analysis Report NATL INTERST CP (NATL): Free Stock Analysis Report NMI HOLDINGS-A (NMIH): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Sanaa (AFP) - Gunmen posing as security forces on Tuesday detained a US national in the Yemeni capital where he runs an English-language school, witnesses said. A dozen men dressed as members of the Huthi rebels' "national security service" appeared at the Exceed Language Center in the afternoon, according to students. Three of the gunmen, who were masked and brandishing automatic weapons, headed to the principal's office, before escorting the American to their vehicle. The man who was only identified by his first name, Peter, was taken away to an unknown location. The Exceed Language Center is located Algiers Street in the western part of the Yemeni capital. Its website lists only one staff member with the same given name -- Peter Willems who is identified as the school's director. His seizure caused panic among the students, one of them said on condition of anonymity. The same source said the gunmen belonged to the "national security service" of the Iran-backed Huthi rebels who overran the Yemeni capital two years ago. They gave no reason for detaining him. Angelina Jolie shocked fans on Tuesday when it was revealed that she had filed for divorce from Brad Pitt after two years of marriage. The A-list couple married in August 2014 after meeing on set of the 2005 film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Over the years, both Pitt and Jolie have spoken about their decade-long relationship, including co-parenting their six children, Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Shiloh, 10, Zahara, 11, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 8. EXCLUSIVE: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Divorce a 'Long Time Coming' -- Here's What Went Wrong Here's a look at what they've told ET about their marriage, as well as a few other candid interviews where the estranged couple opened up about their highly publicized relationship. 1. Brad as a New Husband Just two months after Brangelina tied the knot, ET spoke to Pitt at the premiere of Fury in October 2014. When asked what married life was like, the A-list actor simply responded, "It doesn't suck." MORE: Chrissy Teigen Reacts to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Split -- 'How Am I Supposed to Go to Work Today?' 2. Working Relationship After getting hitched, the two almost immediately flew to the Maldives to begin shooting By the Sea, a film about "a couple on the brink of disaster." In November 2015 at the AFI Fest in Hollywood, California, the couple's last red carpet appearance, both Pitt and Jolie -- who also directed the movie -- admitted to ET that working together had its challenges. "We came out stronger on the other end," Pitt said. "She knows when I'm faking it better than anyone else, but the actor/director relationship is a very collaborative experience. It's really no different, and actually a great pleasure, 'cause you've got to trust your director. Who do I trust more than my wife?" "It's an odd honeymoon," Jolie added. "A few weeks into it, we wondered if it was a good idea because [By the Sea] is heavy and it's a lot of fighting. But we had the thought that if we can do it, if we can be close in that way and that open as artists, then you push through and you really get closer and you learn something." Story continues MORE: Angelina Jolie Says She Didn't Envision Herself as a Mother -- 'I Never Wanted to Have a Baby' 3. Relationship 'Issues' In the November 2015 issue of Vogue magazine, Jolie also opened up about her marriage and how she hoped it would never mirror the tumultuous relationship of the characters that she and Pitt portrayed in By the Sea. "Brad and I have our issues," she confided. "But if the characters were even remotely close to our problems we couldn't have made the film." WATCH: Brad Pitt Talks Marriage and Children -- 'Angie and I Were Aiming for a Dozen' Kids 4. Brad Gushes Over Angelina Upon promoting By the Sea, Pitt praised his wife's directing abilities. "It's surprising how much I enjoy the direction of my wife," he told V magazine. "She's decisive, incredibly intuitive, and might I say sexy at her post. I trust her with my life." MORE: Angelina Jolie on Directing Brad Pitt -- A Therapist Would Have a Field Day 5. Brad's Support for Angelina In a rare joint interview with Tom Brokaw in October 2015, Jolie talked about the support she received from Pitt after undergoing a double mastectomy in 2013 and an ovary removal two years later, to reduce her risk of cancer. "I knew through the surgeries that he was on my side and that this wasn't something where I was going to feel less of a woman," she said. "Because my husband wasn't going to let that happen." Pitt added, "Whatever's got to be done to keep the family together, and keep the family together as long as possible is going to be done." 6. Brad on Having More Babies In an interview with the Telegraph last year, Pitt opened up about managing his family of eight. "[There's] a lot of love, a lot of fighting, a lot of refereeing; a lot of teeth-brushing and spilling," he said. "Chaos, total chaos. But so much fun." Pitt added that he and Jolie had planned on having more kids. "Listen, Angie and I were aiming for a dozen," he shared. "But we crapped out after six." 7. Domestic Life Jolie implied that she and Pitt had a pretty normal marriage when she spoke to the Wall Street Journal last November. "We wake up, we make breakfast," she said. "In our domestic life, we're mom and dad. And often we're dorky mom and dad, which the kids find ridiculous." 8. Angelina's Real Talk When talking to The Australian Women's Weekly, Jolie admitted that being a wife has it's ups and downs. "Maintaining a marriage and raising kids can be hard work," she said. "[We] work really hard at nurturing our family to make sure that everybody is alright and everyone stays connected You have to really make sure that your work doesn't get in the way. That you don't do something that is going to put too much strain on your family." 9. Marriage 'Feels Different' In an interview with Vanity Fair in December 2014, Jolie talked about getting married to Pitt after being together for years and having six children. "It does feel different," she shared. "It feels nice to be husband and wife." The actress also revealed that their kids wrote wedding vows for them. "They did not expect us never to fight, but they made us promise to always say, 'Sorry,' if we do," she explained. "So they said, 'Do you?,' and we said, 'We do!'" WATCH: Angelina Jolie Says Her and Brad Pitt's Kids Don't Want to Be Actors After news broke that Jolie had filed for divorce, Pitt released a statement to People, saying that he was "saddened" by the split. "What matters most now is the well-being of our kids," the statement continued. "I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time." Related Articles "Mr. & Mrs. Smith": 20th Century Fox; realtor.com illustration Yes, yes, were all quite upset over global warming, terrorism, urban strife, racial intolerance, and the most depressing presidential campaign in American history. But lets take a moment to focus on something truly earth-shattering. Brangelina is no more. After turbocharging the paparazzi as, arguably, The Tinseltown Couple over the past dozen years (Sorry Bey and Jay Z!), Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, citing irreconcilable differences. And while rumors are already flying about what those differences might be (Pitts coziness with his Allied co-star Marion Cotillard, perhaps?) and what will happen to their six kids (Jolie is reportedly seeking full custody), were focusing our well-honed Brangelina obsessions in a different direction: How will the ultimate power couple divvy up their real estate? Its a complicated question, in part because the couple live, well, everywhere. Their combined wealth, reportedly totaling around $400 million, is largely tied up in real estate holdings all over the world. Still, rumblings are already afoot on who will get dibs on which property. Heres where wed put our money. Los Angeles home: Pitt When the Brangelina brood arent globetrotting, their main digs are in East Hollywood bordering on Los Feliz. Pitt bought this megamansion in 1994 for a reported $1.7 million, and lived there with wife Jennifer Aniston until their divorce in 2005. After Jolie and the kids moved in, Pitt bought up surrounding property and added a park with an area to ride ATVs. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolies main home in Los Angeles James Aylott/Online USA/Getty Images All in all, we think Pitt will keep this place because he goes further back with it. According to Dolly Lenz, a New Yorkbased celebrity real estate broker who has worked with Jolie and Pitt as well as Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, P. Diddy, and others, Angelina wont want to be [there] in California plus the house will remind her of him. Story continues But not all agree. Thats the one we think its most likely Angelina will keep, says Mark Coleman, co-owner of Coleman Rayner photo agency which has made it their job to follow Brangelina from place to place. Based on aerial photos, shes been spending a lot of time there with her brother. Its really decked out for the kids, with skateboard parks and all kinds of delights. Still, you also have to weigh the fact that Jolie seems, at times, to be just plain over Hollywood. (Can you blame her?) According to the New York Post, She has increasingly wanted to quit Hollywood in favor of devoting herself full-time to traveling the globe for her humanitarian work, while Pitt prefers Tinseltown and its parties. Chateau Miraval: Jolie One piece of property that will likely go to Jolie? Chateau Miraval, their 1,000-acre estate and vineyard in Provence, France. The couple leased this place in 2008, then bought it in 2012 for $60 million. This home holds a special spot in Jolies heart because of her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who was of French Canadian descent. Before Bertrand died of ovarian cancer in 2007, Angelina promised her mother that shed get married in France, a source told The Daily Mail. They were so extremely close, and this is Angies way of honoring her. They held their wedding at, you guessed it, Chateau Miraval. So, we can see why Jolie would want to hole up here to get over her broken heart. Another bonus: Any humanitarian work she does in African or Asia will be a quick plane ride away. The French property will go to her because shes the one whos much more involved going to Europe, says Lenz. She wants to make that the center of her universe. Chateau Miraval, a vineyard estate bought in 2008 by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Michel Gangne / Staff / Getty Images French Quarter mansion: Pitt Hey guys, Pitt has humanitarian hankerings, too! After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, he founded Make It Right to rebuild New Orleans. In 2007, he purchased a mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans for $3.5 million. However, the couple put the 7,645-square-foot home up for sale in May 2015 for $6.5 million. This area was very important to Brad, but his charity has hit the skids and hes less involved, says Coleman. Its just not a place where they spend much time. Still, though, if it sits, we think this will go to Pitt purely because this areas his baby. In fact, New Orleans residents once tried to make him mayor, a role that he said hed still be happy to accept. Brad Pitts and Angelina Jolies home in the French Quarter realtor.com Aside from these major holdings, the couple also own a place in Springfield, MO, close to where Pitts parents settled down a half-century earlier. So that place will likely go to him. Meanwhile, Jolie reportedly purchased a place in Laurel Canyon, CA, in 2007, so that will likely stay with her. Wed wager she will also hold on to the $5 million vacation home she bought in 2000 in Santa Barbara, next to Gaviota State Park. And those are just the biggiesodds are there are many more properties hiding across the globe that theyll have to divvy up, too. Talk about a headache! Divorce is complicated, but real estate coupled with divorce is even more complicated when you have the assets that this power couple has, says Florida Realtor Cara Ameer. This is going to take some very sophisticated attorneys to work out, balancing the needs and wants of each sides, especially if theres alimony and hefty child support expenses in the mix. Probably the easiest solution is to liquidate what they can. But what happens if they both tend to be really attached to one of their particular properties and want to keep it? They could work out a time-share type of agreement for each place, Ameer suggests. That, of course, brings up sticky questions about houseguests: Will Pitts ex Gwyneth Paltrow (also now single) be allowed to visit? How about Jolies ex Billy Bob Thornton? Stay tuned, Brangelina fans. The post How Will Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Split Their Real Estate? appeared first on Real Estate News and Advice - realtor.com. Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, according to TMZ. Jolies attorney, Robert Offer, also confirmed to the Associated Press that she had filed for divorce for the health of the family. According to TMZ, she filed legal documents on Monday morning, requesting legal custody of their six children. She does not want Pitt to have joint custody, according to TMZ. Pitt released a statement confirming the news and asked for privacy for his children on Tuesday morning. I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the wellbeing of our kids. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time, Pitt said in a statement to People. For more celebrity videos visit Yahoo View. Jolie and Pitt recently co-starred in the film By the Sea, which opened the AFI Film Festival in 2015. Jolie wrote and directed the film about a couple trying to repair their marriage. Netflix will premiere the true-life Khmer Rouge drama she directed, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, later this year. Jolies recent acting credits include Kung Fu Panda 3 and Maleficent. She also directed the film Unbroken in 2014. Pitt recently starred in the 2015 film The Big Short which he also helped produce. Pitts upcoming projects include the the Robert Zemeckis film Allied co-starring Marion Cotillard, a satire about the war in Afghanistan called War Machine and a sequel to World War Z. Jolie recently passed on Kenneth Branaghs remake of Murder on the Orient Express. A sequel to Maleficent with Jolie attached has been announced, but hasnt gone into production. The couple has been together since 2004 and were married in August, 2014. TMZ reports the date of separation as Sept. 15. Variety is working to obtain the full court documents. Related stories Oscar-Nominated Cartoon Saloon, Angelina Jolie Pitt Team With WestEnd on The Breadwinner (EXCLUSIVE) Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard Are Spies in Love in Allied First Trailer Brad Pitt Courting David Fincher for 'World War Z Sequel (EXCLUSIVE) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) Angelina Jolie Pitt and Brad Pitt separated just five days ago, according to the divorce filing obtained by PEOPLE. Jolie filed from divorced from the 52-year-old actor on Monday, after two years of marriage. Jolie, 41, cited irreconcilable differences for their split. She asked for physical custody of the couples shared six children Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox asking for Pitt to be granted visitation. She did not request child or spousal support. The documents state that the couple have been separated since September 15. Brad Pitt, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Jane Pitt, and William Pitt at the premiere of Unbroken on December 15, 2014. (Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) In a statement to PEOPLE Pitt said, I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the wellbeing of our kids. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time. The divorce is a complete shock, a source close to the couple told PEOPLE. They have definitely spent more time apart this year, but its still a shock. They just celebrated their wedding anniversary together. The couple was last spotted together in mid-July, just ahead of their second wedding anniversary though the insider told PEOPLE Pitt has escaped to France many time this year because they were fighting. They sometimes clashed over issues of raising their children, the source says. They always had disagreements when it came to disciplining the kids, according to the source. With all the kids, it did tend to get chaotic many times." Pitt "has always been stricter, the source adds claiming The Big Short-star wanted the kids to have more structure and was more about having rules. While the source said he never used any kind of physical discipline, Pitt was known to get frustrated sometimes and yell at the kids. Story continues That parenting style was different than Jolies. Angelina always had a more relaxed attitude when it came to the kids. She definitely never yells, according to the source. Just last month, sources told PEOPLE that the couple were as happy as ever. They really are great, the source said. Theyre really busy, but happy. The kids are getting so big! Its hard to believe." Pitt and Jolie first met on the 2003 set of their 2005 thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and began publicly dating a few years later after the actors split from then-wife Jennifer Aniston. "Because of the film, we ended up being brought together to do all these crazy things, and I think we found this strange friendship and partnership that kind of just suddenly happened, Jolie Pitt told Vogue in 2006. I think a few months in I realized, 'God, I cant wait to get to work. Anything we had to do with each other, we just found a lot of joy in it together and a lot of real teamwork. We just became kind of a pair." In May 2006, the couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Shiloh, now 10. She joined Jolie Pitts adopted brood of Maddox, now 15, and Zahara, now 11. In 2007, the couple adopted son Pax, now 12, from a Vietnamese orphanage. The next year, twins Knox and Vivienne were born. Of their new family of eight, Jolie Pitt told PEOPLE at the time, "It is chaos, but we are managing it and having a wonderful time. After nearly seven years together, Pitt proposed in 2012, but it would be two years before the pair married at the familys French estate. Los Angeles (AFP) - Tattooed rebel, red carpet queen, goodwill ambassador and anti-cancer warrior: Angelina Jolie is a silver screen beauty with convictions to match, and a record of taking tough decisions without looking back. After a decade in the Hollywood spotlight as one half of the "Brangelina" celebrity couple, the 41-year-old filed this week for divorce from Brad Pitt, it emerged Tuesday. The split opens a new chapter for the thrice-married mother of six -- whose roller-coaster life has taken her from movie star glory to refugee camps in Africa, to a role as an outspoken champion of women's health. Jolie was propelled to stardom with her role in 1999's "Girl, Interrupted," taking home a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of a rebellious woman in a mental institution. She went on to play everything from a fairy tale villain ("Maleficent") to a sexy video game heroine ("Lara Croft: Tomb Raider") to the widow of murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl ("A Mighty Heart"). Jolie once flaunted a decidedly punk sensibility, scandalizing the public with declarations of bisexuality and quirky behavior such as wearing a vial of actor Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck during their 2000-2003 marriage. Her relationship with Pitt became the stuff of speculation in 2004 after they were seen looking cozy on the set of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith." Pitt announced his split from "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston the following year -- and "Brangelina" was born. The megastars married in France in August 2014 after living together for several years, and have six children together, three of whom are adopted. But Jolie is now better known for her humanitarian work than her tabloid-ready comments. For several years she served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In 2012, she was promoted to special envoy and has visited refugees around the world, from Syria to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Story continues Made an honorary dame by Queen Elizabeth II, she has been a vocal advocate for victims of sexual violence in war zones, co-hosting a global summit on conflict rape in London. Jolie is also one of the world's most visible advocates in the battle against cancer, having undergone a double mastectomy and removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes to prevent an aggressive form of the disease that killed her mother, grandmother and aunt. - Decision to go public - In both cases, Jolie publicized her surgeries, triggering a global discussion about the pros and cons of the procedures as a preventative measure. Jolie said she made the decision to go public so that other women could learn from her story. It was with her children in mind that Jolie decided to undergo the surgeries. "I can tell my children they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer," the actress wrote in the Times after her mastectomy in 2013. "They know that I love them and will do anything to be with them as long as I can." Her father is Oscar winner Jon Voight, hailed as one of the finest actors of his generation, who rose to fame after bravura performances in now classic movies like "Midnight Cowboy," "Deliverance" and the Vietnam drama "Coming Home," for which he won his Academy Award. Her mother was an actress who appeared in US television series, but abandoned her film career to raise her two children. On the other side of the camera lens, Jolie made her directorial debut in 2011 with "In the Land of Blood and Honey," an unflinching drama about rape as a weapon in wartime Bosnia, saying she hoped to use cinema as a force for reconciliation. Jolie was married twice before, to actors Jonny Lee Miller and Thornton. Angelina Jolies father, Jon Voight, seems just as shocked as the rest of the world upon hearing that the actress filed for divorce from Brad Pitt after two years of marriage. It must have been pretty severe for this to happen, Voight tells ET. I dont know much yet, but [I] plan on speaking to her and the kids very soon. EXCLUSIVE: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt Divorce a Long Time Coming Heres What Went Wrong The 77-year-old actor adds that he will be there to support Jolie and his six grandchildren as hes been doing. On Monday, Jolie filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, and lists the separation date as Sept. 15, 2016, according to court documents obtained by ET. The 41-year-old actress is asking for physical custody of their six children Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Shiloh, 10, Zahara, 11, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 8. RELATED: Brad Pitt Speaks Out on Angelina Jolie Divorce: 'I Am Very Saddened by This An attorney for Jolie, Robert Offer, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the decision was made for the health of the family. Voight, 77,did not attend his daughters wedding back in August 2014, but did issue a statement after news broke of her very private nuptials in France. It seems like it was a beautiful simple ceremony with all the kids involved, he said at the time. Must have been a lot of fun. I am very happy for them. READ: Chrissy Teigen Reacts to Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Split: 'How Am I Supposed to Go to Work Today? Hes also gushed over Pitt to ET in June 2013 after Jolie spoke out about her decision to have a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer. You want your children to be surrounded by love and I like Brad very much, he said. Jolie and Pitt, 52, met in 2005 while on set of their film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston. The last sighting of the two together was in July, when Pitt and Jolie took their twins out for a birthday breakfast at the Griddle Cafe in West Hollywood, California. Related Articles By Kenny Katombe and Amedee Mwarabu KINSHASA (Reuters) - At least 17 people, including three policemen, were killed when Congolese police and anti-government protesters clashed in the capital Kinshasa on Monday during a march against President Joseph Kabila and what the protesters see as his bid to extend his mandate. The protest, attended by thousands, came at a time of growing local and international pressure on Kabila to step down when his term of office legally ends in December. The opposition accuses him of plotting to extend his tenure by delaying elections that were supposed to be held in November until at least next year. His supporters deny this. "Officially, we have 17 dead in Kinshasa: three police and 14 civilians," said Interior Ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara. Earlier, a Reuters witness saw a crowd burning the body of a police officer in the Kinshasa suburb of Limete in an apparent act of retaliation for police gunfire. Angry crowds tore down photographs of Kabila, chanting in French: "it's over for you" and "we don't want you". Georges Kapiamba, director of the Congolese Association For Access to Justice, a local non-governmental organisation, said that security forces shot dead twenty-five protesters. Rights groups reported dozens of arrests of protesters and journalists in the capital as well as in Goma and Kisangani, where anti-government marches also took place. A government spokesman confirmed the detention of opposition leader Martin Fayulu, who suffered a head injury during the march. By mid-afternoon, most protesters had been dispersed and the streets in the normally bustling city centre were quiet. "VERY DANGEROUS" Monday's march was sparked by anger over a decision by the election commission last week to petition the constitutional court to postpone the next presidential vote. The vast, mineral-rich central African state has never seen a peaceful transition of power. Western observers and donors fear that growing political instability could mushroom into armed conflict in a country plagued by militias, especially in its lawless eastern regions. Millions of people died in regional wars in Congo between 1996 and 2003 that drew in armies from half a dozen countries. Opposition leaders had planned to file an official petition against the decision before the clashes began. The police said in a statement that officers had been warned to use restraint, adding that it would punish those who do not comply. Dozens of people died in similar protests against Kabila last year. Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Monday that the clashes were preceded by intensified government repression. "Today's march shows that the security forces have not switched their tactics and are still clamping down on anyone opposed to Kabila," said Ida Sawyer, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. "People want their constitution to be respected and are willing to risk their lives to make sure that happens." She added that three children were shot in Goma during the clashes. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday described the situation in Congo as "extremely worrying and very dangerous", adding that European nations will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions. The United States has already threatened sanctions against political figures in Congo over electoral delays. A senior adviser to Kabila has pleaded to Washington not to. The U.S. embassy said on its Twitter feed that it was "outraged" by the harassment of its special envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Thomas Perriello, at Kinshasa's airport. Congo's "Presidential Majority", as Kabila's supporters call themselves, had accused Perriello, in a Sunday statement, of jeopardising talks aimed at resolving Congo's political crisis. (Additional reporting by Benoit Nyemba; in Kinshasa and Nellie Peyton in Dakar; writing by Emma Farge; editing by Tim Cocks, Larry King) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f21438%2f3445f4be576242c29e08170361c4a893 A high school teacher in Ontario, Canada, has been suspended for multiple charges of misconduct, including several alleged inappropriate comments she made to students. One such comment: "why don't you lick me where I fart?" Jennifer Elizabeth Green-Johnson teaches grades 10 through 12 at Dunnville Secondary School, and has been scheduled for a disciplinary hearing on Sept. 23 for the charges against her. SEE ALSO: Kind teacher gives students 101 ways to manage their stress According to the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers, Green-Johnson is coming under fire for the following incidents: She told a student who brought coffee to class to "get that fucking thing out of here." She called a student a "bloody pedophile." She told a student, "I've never said this to a student before, but fuck you." She said in class, "it's debate, not masturbate." She told other students in class that a particular student would "stare at my daughter's ass." She told a student, "it sounds like your ass cheeks are too close together," after the student made a noise by pressing his lips together. She told a student, "you mean a bribe? Id be able to shit for a week 'cause of all that fiber," after the student offered to buy her muffins in exchange for a passing grade. She stated to students that a female student "looked like a frumpy old lady today." And that "why don't you lick me where I fart?" comment was made to a student about a piece of gum. Granted, the one student probably shouldn't have offered muffins for a passing grade, but perhaps the teacher's reactions are a bit much. One parent spoke to The John Oakley Show, a local talk radio show in Toronto, saying she, "was a great teacher, who has made maybe a couple of bad decisions." However, Green-Johnson's comments are not the first time she has come under fire. She was suspended for a month without pay in January 2016 for similar comments she made in 2012 that she pleaded no contest to. Story continues According to the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers, one of the comments she made was to a male student after seeing him wrestling another male student in the hall, saying, "so you like it from behind?" Despite all these allegations, Green-Johnson's rating is just above a 2.5 out of 5 on Rate My Teachers, so clearly some students are at least entertained by her class. Gabrielle Barkany, spokesperson for the Ontario College of Teachers told the Toronto Star, "its pretty unusual for a teacher who has been found guilty of unprofessional conduct to come before us again." Not a great way to start the school year. Nice (France) (AFP) - The rightwing mayor of a French Riviera beach town where bathers asked a burkini-wearing Australian to leave has defended their complaints -- calling her behaviour "indecent". Sydney native Zeynab Alshelh "could have asked herself whether the people in the area weren't still reeling from the jihadist attack that killed 86 people" in nearby Nice in July, Lionnel Luca told AFP by telephone late Monday. "She could not just innocently come to our beaches with religious garb that is the sign of the fundamentalism that killed us," he said, calling the 23-year-old's actions "pretty indecent". Alshelh told Australian television the bathers threatened to call the police unless she left the beach at Villeneuve-Loubet, even though a ban on the controversial full-bodied swimsuit had recently been overturned. The burkini became a political hot potato over the summer as France gears up for a presidential election next spring. Alshelh, a medical student, said she had travelled to Europe to show solidarity with French Muslims by wearing a burkini -- invented by an Australian designer -- on the beach. Footage broadcast Sunday evening showed local bathers make disparaging gestures towards Alshelh. Nice and about 30 other French towns banned the Islamic swimsuit after the July terror attack in which a man ploughed his truck into crowds gathered for Bastille Day fireworks in Nice. In August, France's highest court suspended the burkini bans, declaring the swimsuit's prohibition an "illegal violation of fundamental freedoms". VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria has begun laying a base on which a fence could quickly be erected along a 1.8 kilometre (1.2 mile) stretch of its border with Hungary, next to the crossing that hundreds of thousands of migrants used during a wave of arrivals a year ago. The preparations, which involve burying vertical pipes in the ground into which fence poles can be inserted, began on Monday, but a decision whether to put up a fence has not yet been reached, a police spokesman said. The fence near the crossing in the town of Nickelsdorf would be erected if Austria decides to activate tough measures that could enable it to quickly turn away most people hoping to claim asylum as they arrive at the border. "So-called ground anchors have been laid," a spokesman for the police in the province of Burgenland, which borders Hungary.The flow of migrants across the countries' shared border has slowed to a trickle since last year's surge, in which hundreds of thousands of people, many fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, headed through the Balkans and toward Germany. Hungary has since built a fence along its border with Serbia, and Balkan countries have introduced border restrictions of their own, in coordination with Austria, largely shutting down that route into the heart of Europe. After last year's influx, in which Austria took in about 90,000 asylum seekers, more than 1 percent of its population, the government said it would only let 37,500 people apply for asylum this year. The number of asylum claims that count toward that cap reached around 26,400 last month. Measures, including a rapid assessment of potential claims at the border could be triggered, albeit not before the end of October, to keep that number below the cap for the year. Austria says such fences are necessary to manage crowds. It built a 4 km barrier with a managed entry point on its border with Slovenia when the flow of migrants shifted toward that frontier, and it has said it will erect one at the Brenner crossing with Italy if needed. (Reporting by Francois Murphy, editing by Louise Heavens) By TJ Strydom JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Private equity firm Bain Capital has agreed a debt for equity swap deal valued at $1.5 billion for Edcon, the chief executive of the South African clothes retailer said on Tuesday. Taken private in a highly leveraged 25 billion rand (or $3.5 billion at the time) buyout by Bain 2007, Edcon has struggled to grow at a fast enough rate to pay down debt. "We have been living beyond our means, expenditure was more than our income," CEO Bernie Brookes told a news conference. Under the deal, Franklin Templeton, one of the world's biggest fund managers, will become a top shareholder in Edcon, which sells brands such as Tom Taylor, Top Man and Salsa. Other owners are Standard Bank , Barclays Africa Group, FirstRand, Standard Chartered , Investec and Harvard Pension Fund. The retailer has been grappling with an over-leveraged capital structure for several years, after troubles in its credit business in 2014 coincided with an economic slowdown and weak consumer spending in South Africa. Brookes said Edcon reached "a catastrophic situation in March" and had to choose between seeking protection from creditors - called business rescue in South Africa and similar to Chapter 11 in the United States - or not paying debt holders. Edcon, which vies for market share with Foschni Group, Truworths and international chains such as Zara and H&M, asked holders of two euro and-dollar denominated bonds in April to defer an interest payment to December to boost liquidity. A 425 million euro bond - originally pitched in late 2013 as a bridge to an initial public offering - was written down last year in a distressed exchange offer that reduced the company's debt pile by 4.5 billion rand and its interest payments by 1 billion rand. Brookes said Bain spent more than 6.4 billion rand ($461 million) in capital but had not taken out any dividends and would receive no proceeds from the deal. Bain Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In South Africa's largest private equity deal at the time, the structure of the deal required Edcon to sell high-yielding bonds just before South Africa's slipped into a recession in 2009 and shortly before the global financial crisis. With the rand currency losing half its value since 2007, Bain's investment was deep underwater and Edcon struggled to pay down foreign-currency denominated borrowings. ($1 = 13.8758 rand) (Reporting by TJ Strydom; writing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by Jason Neely and William Hardy) Frankfurt (AFP) - German chemicals giant Bayer said Tuesday it had increased its earnings and profits forecasts after signing a deal to take over US seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto. "We are optimistic for the medium-term development of Bayer and have set ourselves correspondingly ambitious targets," chief executive Werner Baumann said in a statement. In the crop science division that will integrate Monsanto, Bayer said it would grow sales faster than the market and increase its profit margin to "more than 30 percent" after 2020, three years after the merger is slated to be finalised. Between them, Monsanto and Bayer's crops division brought in 23.1 billion euros ($25.8 billion) in sales in 2015. Bayer justified the predictions with a "broad product palette and research and development pipeline" for the two companies, adding that the merged firms would bring new products to market faster. The 58.8-billion-euro deal is the largest takeover in history for a German firm and would create a giant in the agribusiness sector. But the tie-up still has to be voted through by Monsanto shareholders and pass regulators' scrutiny in both Europe and the US. Environmental groups on both sides of the Atlantic have promised fierce opposition to the deal. Baumann said the pharmaceuticals division, one of two other major business areas, looked forward to "particularly high growth in sales and margins". The prescription medicines unit would target annual sales growth of 6.0 percent on average until the end of 2018, the firm said, and boost margins to "between 32 and 34 percent" compared with 2015's 30 percent. Bayer pointed to a stable of five new medications -- now forecast to bring in 10 billion euros in annual sales, up from 7.5 billion -- and a "highly promising" pipeline in the division to explain its optimism. "By the end of 2023 we are planning to launch at least 20 new products in pharmaceuticals," Baumann said. Meanwhile, the consumer health unit aims to increase sales and margins by focusing on its globally-recognised brands, such as aspirin, and key markets, including the US, Russia, China and Brazil. Bayer added that the group would "exhaust the potential for licensing previously prescription-only medications for self-medication" as well as developing new digital health offerings. Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders ripped Wells Fargo following testimony by its CEO over millions of fraudulent accounts opened by bank employees. Lets be clear, the business model of Wall Street is fraud, the Vermont senator wrote in a blog post published on Medium Tuesday. There is no better example than the recently-exposed illegal behavior at Wells Fargo. During his testimony in front of the Senate Banking Committee, CEO John Stumpf admitted that he and other senior executives were made aware of the account-opening scheme in 2013. Sanders says the Wells Fargo scandal is "not an aberration," laying out the bank's history of abusing its customers and getting slapped with multiple ines. No major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted despite big banks having paid more than $200 billion in fines and settlements since the 2008 financial crisis, Sanders noted. The former presidential candidate, who vowed to break up big Wall Street firms throughout the Democratic primary, forcefully criticized what he called atwo-tier justice system that treats the poor and the wealthy differently. How many people at Wells Fargo are going to jail? Zero. But if you smoke marijuana in this country, you get a criminal record. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 20, 2016 In a letter sent to financial regulators who fined Wells Fargo, Sanders asked whether any criminal inquiries were pending. Your agencies recently fined Wells Fargo $100 million, and $35 million, respectively, for illegally opening up deposit accounts and taking out credit cards for customers without their knowledge or consent, Sanders wrote. Wall Street wont change until we make it clear that no bank is too big to fail and no CEO is too big to jail. NOW WATCH: Trump strikes back after 'Morning Joe' host says he sounded like 'he's had a lot to drink' More From Business Insider Tricking yourself into saving money is an exercise in psychological self-manipulation. After all, saving for retirement, college, summer vacation or any other goal involves delayed gratification, unnatural consistency and hard work. Squirreling away money typically requires some tolerance of risk and a certain degree of self-motivation. "We're very conscious of behavioral finance," says Michael Resnick, senior wealth management advisor and certified financial planner at GCG Financial in Deerfield, Illinois. "Really, my job is to talk [clients] off the ledge." [See: 10 Summer Savings Tips.] If you are one of these four common types of savers, here's how to best structure a plan to meet your goals. 1. The goal-setter. These folks are motivated by progressing toward a target and seeing evidence of that progress, experts say. They enjoy "getting that satisfaction of achieving that goal and having that propel them to actually do more," says Melissa Sotudeh, a wealth advisor at Halpern Financial in Rockville, Maryland. One saving technique that appeals to goal-setters is to create a different savings accounts for an important target -- favor an account with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Use that account to save for summer vacation, for example, or a down payment on a new house. That way, goal-setters can frequently check in on their progress toward their target. Another strategy for goal-setters is to download financial tracking apps, such as Mint, where savers can segment out goals electronically and track them digitally. [See: Your Month-to-Month Guide to Savings.] 2. The gambler. The gambler scoffs at your mutual fund. She has a tip on a real estate project or a fledgling hedge fund that could net her triple-digit returns. She's at risk of losing all her savings in an ill-advised, get-rich scheme, and she needs to talk herself out of it. Experts say these risk-takers can still play around a bit with their money. But they need to be able to scratch that gambling itch without imperiling important savings targets, like retirement. Story continues Gamblers can set aside 5 to 10 percent of their portfolio, if they can afford it, to play around with, experts say. "It's OK for them to have some play money," says Marguerita M. Cheng, certified financial planner and co-founder of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Rockville, Maryland. But they should pick an amount that they could totally afford to lose, says Lora J. Hoff, certified financial planner and wealth manager at IPI Wealth Management in Dallas. The rest of their funds should be funneled into less risky accounts. [See: 11 Ways to Save Time and Money.] 3. The nervous Nellie and nervous Norman. These savers are terrified of risk. They may have been burnt by a stock market crash or a job layoff. "I think that older clients of the Depression era, they like to know that their money is safe and accessible," Hoff says. But Millennials may also be nervous when it comes to risk. Nervous savers are the ones who have $200,000 in a checking account and refuse to budge. Their challenge isn't squirreling away cash. It's funneling it into a financial vehicle that yields more than their savings account -- without losing sleep at night. "For people like this, it's difficult because they have trouble looking at the long-term view and are always looking at the headlines," Resnick says. These wary savers can make their money grow by depositing some of it into an online savings account, which typically yields higher rates than a checking account or a brick-and-mortar bank savings account, Cheng says. They may also feel comfortable tying up some of their money in certificates of deposit of varying lengths, with money maturing every six months or every year. Or perhaps they can invest some in a money market account. They need to find a product that works for them but doesn't give them ulcers, experts say. 4. The lazy saver. These laid-back savers don't want to think about saving, investing or retirement. For them, it's crucial to automate their savings -- for example, telling payroll to automatically funnel money into their 401(k) and having their bank auto-transfer cash from their checking into a savings account. Whatever they can do to put these good behaviors on autopilot is key. But they're not done yet. These hands-off savers still need to set up a time to review their savings regularly, experts say. "At a minimum, you have to meet with them once per year," Resnick says of dealing with this kind of client. "We go through everything and say, "This is the plan we established. Have there been any changes in your goals?'" A new job, recently purchased home, newborn child or a teenager entering college may require reworking the plan to accommodate those life changes. Susannah Snider is the Personal Finance editor at U.S. News. She previously covered paying for college and graduate school. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at ssnider@usnews.com. Tricking yourself into saving money is an exercise in psychological self-manipulation. After all, saving for retirement, college, summer vacation or any other goal involves delayed gratification, unnatural consistency and hard work. Squirreling away money typically requires some tolerance of risk and a certain degree of self-motivation. "We're very conscious of behavioral finance," says Michael Resnick, senior wealth management advisor and certified financial planner at GCG Financial in Deerfield, Illinois. "Really, my job is to talk [clients] off the ledge." [See: 10 Summer Savings Tips.] If you are one of these four common types of savers, here's how to best structure a plan to meet your goals. 1. The goal-setter. These folks are motivated by progressing toward a target and seeing evidence of that progress, experts say. They enjoy "getting that satisfaction of achieving that goal and having that propel them to actually do more," says Melissa Sotudeh, a wealth advisor at Halpern Financial in Rockville, Maryland. One saving technique that appeals to goal-setters is to create a different savings accounts for an important target -- favor an account with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Use that account to save for summer vacation, for example, or a down payment on a new house. That way, goal-setters can frequently check in on their progress toward their target. Another strategy for goal-setters is to download financial tracking apps, such as Mint, where savers can segment out goals electronically and track them digitally. [See: Your Month-to-Month Guide to Savings.] 2. The gambler. The gambler scoffs at your mutual fund. She has a tip on a real estate project or a fledgling hedge fund that could net her triple-digit returns. She's at risk of losing all her savings in an ill-advised, get-rich scheme, and she needs to talk herself out of it. Experts say these risk-takers can still play around a bit with their money. But they need to be able to scratch that gambling itch without imperiling important savings targets, like retirement. Story continues Gamblers can set aside 5 to 10 percent of their portfolio, if they can afford it, to play around with, experts say. "It's OK for them to have some play money," says Marguerita M. Cheng, certified financial planner and co-founder of Blue Ocean Global Wealth in Rockville, Maryland. But they should pick an amount that they could totally afford to lose, says Lora J. Hoff, certified financial planner and wealth manager at IPI Wealth Management in Dallas. The rest of their funds should be funneled into less risky accounts. [See: 11 Ways to Save Time and Money.] 3. The nervous Nellie and nervous Norman. These savers are terrified of risk. They may have been burnt by a stock market crash or a job layoff. "I think that older clients of the Depression era, they like to know that their money is safe and accessible," Hoff says. But Millennials may also be nervous when it comes to risk. Nervous savers are the ones who have $200,000 in a checking account and refuse to budge. Their challenge isn't squirreling away cash. It's funneling it into a financial vehicle that yields more than their savings account -- without losing sleep at night. "For people like this, it's difficult because they have trouble looking at the long-term view and are always looking at the headlines," Resnick says. These wary savers can make their money grow by depositing some of it into an online savings account, which typically yields higher rates than a checking account or a brick-and-mortar bank savings account, Cheng says. They may also feel comfortable tying up some of their money in certificates of deposit of varying lengths, with money maturing every six months or every year. Or perhaps they can invest some in a money market account. They need to find a product that works for them but doesn't give them ulcers, experts say. 4. The lazy saver. These laid-back savers don't want to think about saving, investing or retirement. For them, it's crucial to automate their savings -- for example, telling payroll to automatically funnel money into their 401(k) and having their bank auto-transfer cash from their checking into a savings account. Whatever they can do to put these good behaviors on autopilot is key. But they're not done yet. These hands-off savers still need to set up a time to review their savings regularly, experts say. "At a minimum, you have to meet with them once per year," Resnick says of dealing with this kind of client. "We go through everything and say, "This is the plan we established. Have there been any changes in your goals?'" A new job, recently purchased home, newborn child or a teenager entering college may require reworking the plan to accommodate those life changes. More From US News & World Report On the 10th season premiere of The Big Bang Theory, tension in Apartment 4A hit an all-time high in the lead-up to Leonard and Pennys vow renewal ceremony as everyone assumed Alfred (Judd Hirsch) and Mary (Laurie Metcalf) went all the way during their post-rehearsal dinner rendezvous. The arrival of Pennys family (played by Big Bang newbies Katey Sagal and Jack McBrayer and returning guest star Keith Carradine) only compounded the drama. Lets recap: RELATEDBig Bang Renewal Update: CBS Boss Confident Cast Will Re-Sign THE COPULATION CONUNDRUM | Though Beverly (Christine Baranski) was initially adamant about not attending the nups, Leonard and Penny convinced her to stay despite how awkward itd be for her to see Alfred with Mary together. As always, it was Sheldon who made things uncomfortable when he asked Alfred point-blank if he had defiled his mother. While Alfred insisted that their evening never got that far, he and Mary announced their intent to keep seeing each other. This, of course, caused even more discomfort, with Sheldon at one point running to the nearest whiteboard to figure out who could and could not stand to be in the same room together. Amy, thankfully, cut the escalating tension with her insurmountable enthusiasm for the wedding. As if the family squabbling hadnt already convinced Penny that she and Leonard were right to elope the first time, Alfred and Beverly nearly wrecked the ceremony with more of their petty side-banter. Alfred ultimately attempted to be the bigger man, though, pointing out that his marriage to Beverly resulted in Leonard. Sheldon, meanwhile, took it upon himself to approach the altar and give his own unconventional vows, declaring Leonard to be like a brother to him even before the recent threat of our parents fornicating like wrinkly old rabbits. RELATEDBig Bang Staging Flash Crossover? "The Conjugal Conjecture" -- Pictured: Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Wyatt (Keith Carradine), Randall (Jack McBrayer) and Susan (Katey Sagal). After Sheldon's mother and Leonard's father share an evening together, everyone deals with an awkward morning the next day. Also, Penny's family arrives for the wedding ceremony, including her anxiety-ridden mother, Susan (Katey Sagal), and her drug dealing brother, Randall (Jack McBrayer), on the 10th season premiere of THE BIG BANG THEORY, Monday, Sept. 19 (8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Dean Norris guest stars as Colonel Williams, an Air Force Representative from the Department of Materiel Command. Christine Baranski, Laurie Metcalf, Judd Hirsch and Keith Carradine return. Photo: Monty Brinton/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. AA 2016 WBEI. All rights reserved. THE WHITE TRASH AGITATION | While Penny was delighted to have her family attend the ceremony, the same couldnt be said for her mother. Sagals Susan spent most of the premiere nervous about what Leonards highly educated parents would think of her white trash family, especially with Pennys brother Randall (McBrayer) recently out of prison after years of manufacturing crystal meth. Not helping matters was Pennys alcohol-addled pops Wyatt (Carradine), who was happy to make jokes about his dysfunctional clan. Mom later realized she had nothing to worry about, especially since Sheldon was far more peculiar than any of her Nebraskan kin. Story continues THE GOVERNMENTAL INTERFERENCE | An army colonel (Breaking Bads Dean Norris) showed up at Howards doorstep in search of (presumably) the inventor of the sought-after quantum gyroscope. Raj, fearing the worst, lied and said Howard wasnt home. Later, the colonel and Howard connected by phone and agreed to meet in the coming days. VIDEOS This Big Bang Theory Supercut Is a Wedding Gift to Leonard/Penny Fans What did you think of The Conjugal Conjecture? Grade the premiere via our poll, then let us know if you were satisfied with Leonard and Pennys second wedding. Launch Gallery: The Big Bang Theory Season 10 Photos Related stories Superior Donuts Nets CBS Series Order CBS' Bull: What's Your Verdict? NCIS Recap: Season 14 Premiere Fills Team Vacancy, Teases JAG Update A nationwide epidemic of prescription drug addiction so alarmed lawmakers and the White House this year that Congress passed major legislation in July to police and treat opioid abuse. The government has estimated that more than two million Americans are opioid abusers and that nearly 500,000 more are heroin addicts. In 2014 alone, there were more than 47,000 deaths related to prescription drug abuse or twice the death rate in 2000. Related: As Heroin Addiction Grows Like a Cancer, Obama Orders New Health Treatments Although lawmakers approved only about half the $1.1 billion President Obama requested, the legislation was viewed as an important first step. It includes grants and other programs designed to help law enforcement officials and health care experts identify and treat heroin and prescription drug abuse. This is a problem that once was largely confined to urban areas but now is rampant in suburban and rural areas. Major pharmaceutical companies have publicly voiced support for steps to combat or reduce the addiction epidemic, particularly after it became an important issue during the presidential primaries this year. In May, PhRMA, the major pharmaceutical research and manufacturing trade organization, declared in a statement, Given the growing toll related to the abuse of prescription opioids and heroin, we must collectively redouble our efforts to prevent the misuse, abuse and diversion of prescription medicine. Related: Another Budget Showdown Looms on Capitol Hill This Fall A joint investigation by The Center for Public Integrity and The Associated Press found that major drug companies frequently lobbied state legislatures across the country to resist legal restrictions on their drugs, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Fentanyl. Often teaming up with advocacy groups that use the veneer of independence to fight limits on the drugs, the manufacturers of prescription painkillers adopted a 50-state strategy that included hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids, the report says. Story continues Between 2006 and 2015, the drug companies and their allies spent $880 million nationwide on campaign contributions and the lobbying effort in statehouses. That works out to an astounding 200 times more spending on lobbying and political activity than spending by advocates for stricter drug policies. The investigation found that the drug companies and their allies employed on average 1,350 lobbyists a year to try to influence state lawmakers and other influential officials. Two of the drug companies most active allies were the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, according to the report. Those groups contacted state legislators and other officials about opioid control measures in at least 18 states including a few cases where cancer patients were exempted from drug restrictions. Related: The U.S. War on Drugs in Afghanistan Is an $8 Billion Failure In fairness, the drug companies and their advocacy group allies have some interests beyond opioid addiction that they have targeted as well, which accounts for some of the massive annual spending. Still, the report concludes that the industry did just about everything in its power to limit restrictions on prescription drugs that accounted for an important share of their revenues. For instance, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin and one of the largest opioid producers by sales, made an estimated $2.4 billion from opioids last year alone, according to estimates from health care information company IMS Health. The opioid lobby has been doing everything it can to preserve the status quo of aggressive prescribing, Dr. Andrew Kolodny, founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and an outspoken advocate for opioid reform, told the researchers. They are reaping enormous profits from aggressive prescribing. The drug industry has disputed the criticism and said that manufacturers are committed to medical and social problems associated with their painkillers. They say that they have launched important initiatives to encourage doctors to be more cautious in prescribing the drugs, to allow states to share databases of prescriptions, and to try to stamp out illegal trafficking of the drugs. Related: Obama signs into law opioid addiction bill to protect newborns PhRMA) has said, We need a balanced approach that ensures appropriate access and use of prescription medicines by patients for legitimate medical needs under the direction and care of a licensed health care professional, but that also reduces the potential for misuse, abuse and diversion. The group noted that while 94 percent of the prescription medicines most susceptible to abuse are generic, PhRMA and its members are committed to supporting the appropriate use of prescription medicines and working with others to collectively address this complex public health challenge. Among their goals: Improving the use and effectiveness of prescription drug monitoring programs. Improving education and training related to prescription drug abuse, pain management and treatment options Increasing coverage and access to a range of treatment options. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: On Friday, an important discussion about inclusion happened during a keynote and panel at the annual conference for the Online News Association (#ONA16keynote). It was a specific challenge to newsrooms across the country to address their dismal diversity stats - more on that below. But the discussion raised an interesting idea for other industries as well. What if inclusion was a marketable and measurable badge of honor? The discussion was led by Alisa Miller, the president and chief executive officer of Public Radio International. Panelists included Vanessa K. De Luca, the editor-in-chief of Essence; Lisa Stone, founder of Blogher; and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, founder and CEO of Define American. The panel used specific media staffing statistics to paint a grim picture: Some 83% of print staffs and 77% of digital staffs are white, for example. Ouch. "Our leadership and our staffs do not look like the market audience," Miller wrote in a piece accompanying the keynote. "Even more acutely, we lack racial/ethnic and gender diversity in our sources -- the experts and people featured in our stories." The solution on the table was a fascinating one. Could there be a 'Bechdel Test' for newsrooms? First, a bit of background. The Bechdel test is designed to help people determine if works of fiction, movies in particular, depict women behaving in fully realized ways. It asks three simple questions. One, are there at least two named women characters? Next, do they talk to each other? And finally, do they talk to each other about something besides a man? An astonishing number of popular movies dont pass. The test was named for cartoonist, playwright and social critic Alison Bechdel who credits her friend Liz Wallace with the idea and is a fascinating person in her own right. Sign up for raceAhead, Fortune's daily newsletter on race and culture here. Miller proposed something called 'The Full Story Test' for media organizations, defined by three less simple, but important questions: Story continues Are our content priorities committing us to be more inclusive and to tell stories that aren't being told? Are we tracking the diversity of staff, leadership and our board? How do we measure up? Do we regularly measure the diversity of bylines and sources? Do we have goals? Heres where it get interesting. Asks Miller: But is there a marker we could use to identify organizations taking responsibility for solving a problem -- like LEED certification for energy-efficient buildings, or fair trade seals on food? These concepts mean something to the user as they make choices about what they eat and where they work or live. Miller's idea extends the idea of diversity as a driver of financial performance into a real world measure of differentiation. She believes, and I do too, that this would attract a base of consumers who increasingly understand that diversity means better products. So, here are three questions for you. Would you be more likely to choose a car that you knew had considered the safety of all different sizes of bodies in its design decisions? Or pick a medical device or drug that you knew came from a company that routinely developed products based on the biology of more than just one type (or life stage) of human? Or a bank who developed smart financial services for the benefit instead at the expense of its diverse community members? Ellen McGirt writes Fortune's raceAhead, a daily newsletter about race and culture. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros said on Tuesday, he would invest $500 million to meet the needs of migrants and refugees. The investment comes in response to the Obama administration's "Call to Action" initiative, asking U.S. companies to help ease the migrant crisis. "We will invest in startups, established companies, social impact initiatives, and businesses started by migrants and refugees themselves," Soros said in a statement. "These investments are intended to be successful. But our primary focus is to create products and services that truly benefit migrants and host communities." Soros, founder of the Open Society Foundations, also said he plans to work closely with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Rescue Committee to guide his investments. This comes a day after the ceasefire between the U.S. and Russia in Syria collapsed, after a deadly attack on a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies near Aleppo. Soros first made the announcement in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. (http://on.wsj.com/2cE0JnK) (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra and Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair and Shounak Dasgupta) By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision. "Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft) The DJ/producer Black Coffee, real name Nkosinathi Maphumulo, is becoming one of South Africa's most famous musicians: His latest album, Pieces Of Me, which came out in his home country last year, was recently released in the U.S. by Ultra Music - a label that has a knack for repackaging dance music from abroad for the cautious listeners that populate America's mainstream. But creating dance floor mayhem is not the end game for Maphumulo. "I want to be a producer, not a house music producer," he tells Billboard Dance. "My next album, I want to be able to have Kanye, [but] not force Kanye on a house track." Black Coffee Announces Ultra Records Deal with Single Release 'Come With Me': Exclusive Maphumulo is sitting in the lobby of New York's Gansevoort Hotel, which offers a caricature of high-end downtown uber-chicness. A playlist of '90s R&B, current hip-hop hits, and some Justin Bieber blares; a few patrons play pool on a purple-felted table; many more are drinking beer in the restaurant that opens onto the street. Maphumulo, who is in town for fashion week, is wearing several shades of green, killing the many hours before a 1:30 a.m. DJ set. In June, he made history as the first South African to ever win a BET Award, taking home the Best International Act: Africa honor. Maphumolo positions this as both a sign of his growing reputation and a reminder of how far he has to go. "It's a great pat on the back," he says. "But honestly, the next BET [win] must be on a Saturday on the main show, not the African category. That's where I need to take the music: I'm not a dark horse, I'm part of the scene." Black Coffee Becomes First South African to Win BET Award Maphumolo's aspirations are reflected in his references - the artists he hopes to emulate are not just those who have achieved fame in the world of house music but those, even from other genres and art forms, who have acquired a larger cultural significance. "Look at French Montana," he says. "He's from Morocco, but it doesn't even come up. He's part of the scene." Maphumolo fires off an example from his homeland as well: "Charlize Theron is part of the scene. She's not, 'oh, that South African.'" Story continues Maphumolo has been fighting this battle for a long time. House music began to pick up steam in South Africa after the release of a compilation titled Fresh House Flavor Vol. 1 in 1998. As soon as Maphumolo started to make forays into the genre, he wanted to break into the international circuit. "A lot of DJs were compiling music," he remembers. "But I felt we needed to up our game in production. Instead of sending money overseas, create our own music, license our music. It was a strategy for myself to get into that bigger house world." Black Coffee Guest Playlist Fresh House Flavor Vol. 1 featured underground stalwarts like Glenn Underground and Chez Damier next to acts that enjoyed some mainstream success: Romanthony, who millions would encounter a few years later when he sang lead vocals on Daft Punk's "One More Time," and Mood II Swing, who produced crossover hits for the likes of Ultra Nate. This music helped form Maphumolo's taste - once he got over its speed. "123, 124 [b.p.m.], was too fast," he recalls. "We were used to our own genre of music, Kwaito, which was 105 to 110." But he came around to the rapid pace, and he maintains unequivocal praise for the vocal house of the mid-to-late '90s, especially the New York duo of Kenny Dope and Louie Vega, who produced as Masters At Work. "They are the university," Maphumolo says. "I don't know any dope DJ who will not mention them [as important]. If you look at their discography, anything you can imagine musically, they took house music there. They did it to the highest quality." Vega's label, Vega Records, was one of several international labels that ended up licensing a Black Coffee track - for Vega, it was "We Are One," featuring the famous South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Other labels that presented Maphumolo's music before Ultra include Gogo Music (Frankfurt), Kronologik (London), and Real Tone (Paris). The Berlin label Get Physical recently licensed "Buya," a Black Coffee track from the deluxe edition of his 2012 album, and released it with several fresh remixes, including a sterling rework from another South African producer, Da Capo. These various releases helped "create traction" and earned Black Coffee invitations to play in other countries, further raising his profile - and that of South African dance music - abroad. Bridges for Music: How Nonprofit is Harnessing EDM's Power for Positive Change But Maphumolo feels that there is still new territory for the DJ to reach: Pieces Of Me, his fourth album, opens with a manifesto delivered by the poet Lebo Mashile. "Black Coffee is a wake-up call for all disciples," she declares. "We are international. The planet is our dancefloor." (She composed the spoken word piece on her own after a conversation with Maphumolo.) Though many of the artists from the dance world who receive mainstream attention make songs at lengths suitable for radio play, Black Coffee makes no concession to pop formatting - every track here stretches past seven minutes. Despite that, Ultra chose to release the record Stateside, perhaps seeing hit potential in a tune like "Come With Me," with its breathless hook and easily hummable guitar riff. Ultra is not the only big player taking note; Apple Music recently drafted Maphumolo to make a mix for Beats 1 Radio, and he contributed an installment in the BBC's Essential Mix series last year. In order to follow Mashile's mandate, Black Coffee is mulling a change in tactics. "The licensing was more for the underground scene," he suggests. "I'm past that approach now. Obviously if a label wants to license a song, we'll give it to them. But now I want to take the music to a different level in terms of exposure - I want it to be on radio, on TV. That's a different game." To achieve that level of ubiquity, Maphumolo needs the right track. But he's not necessarily in a hurry to find it. "I have the patience," he notes. "That song must be on my terms. I don't want to drop everything and chase a certain sound and leave the whole legacy that I built." He feels that he's close to finding that breakthrough single. "When Drake did his first OVO Radio on [Apple Music], the first one ever, the first song he played on the show was my song, which is so big," Maphumolo remembers. "It also shows that the music is not far off. It's not about changing it, it's fine the way it is. It just needs to be out there." Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt (Photos: Getty Images) In the wake of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolies shocking split, speculation has surfaced about the actors relationship with co-star Marion Cotillard. A source tells PEOPLE, however, that the pairs breakup has nothing to do with Cotillard, who is starring with Pitt in the upcoming World War II drama Allied. Jolie, 41, filed for divorce Monday, citing irreconcilable differences and stating that she and Pitt, 52, have been separated since last Thursday. The dramatic decision after just two years of marriage follows Jolies hiring of a private eye, reported the New York Post. She felt that he was fooling around with [Cotillard] on the set, and it turns out, he was. And that was the final straw, a source told the Post in comments PEOPLEs source disputes. In Allied, out Nov. 23, Pitt and Cotillard, 40, play undercover allies who begin to develop a romantic relationship as they plan a high-profile assassination. Brad Pitt plays Max Vatan and Marion Cotillard plays Marianne Beausejour in Allied. (Photo: Paramount Pictures) Pitts character is a British intelligence officer, and Cotillards a French Resistance fighter who poses as his wife. Of the film which was inspired by real wartime stories producer Graham King told PEOPLE, Brad and Marion immediately had the utmost respect for each other, so once they delved into their characters, their chemistry was electric." King said the pair "spent a lot of time developing their characters with each other and director Robert Zemeckis before filming began. Pitt and Jolie famously met on the set for their 2005 thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith. They were married in 2014 two years after getting engaged. The pair share six children. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's fighting led the actor to escape to France several times throughout 2016, a source tells PEOPLE. The couple are divorcing after just two years of marriage and over a decade together, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE on Tuesday. Court documents obtained by PEOPLE show the couple have been separated since Sept. 15. "The divorce is a complete shock," the insider says. "They have definitely spent more time apart this year, but it's still a shock." While Pitt, 52, and Jolie, 41, were together to celebrate their second wedding anniversary in August, the source says that the actor often fled to Europe after the pair had disagreements. Often, the arguments were over "disciplining" their six children Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox the source says. "Brad has always been stricter," the source explains. "He has wanted the kids to have more structure. Brad will get frustrated sometimes and yell at the kids. Angelina always had a more relaxed attitude when it came to the kids. She definitely never yells." Further, the large brood could lend itself to chaos, according to the source. Thus, Pitt was focused on "having rules." RELATED VIDEO: A Behind-the-Scenes Sneak Peek from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Pitt's Newest Collaboration Pitt and Jolie were engaged in 2012, nearly seven years after starring together in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and were married in 2014 at the family's French estate. "I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids," Pitt said in a statement to PEOPLE. "I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time." Jolie, through her lawyer, also released a statement addressing the divorce: "This decision was made for the health of the family," the actress' attorney said. "She will not be commenting at this time, and asks that the family be given their privacy during this difficult time." Paris (AFP) - As Angelina Jolie files for divorce from Brad Pitt, here's a look at some of the other off-screen Hollywood romances that have kept audiences enthralled: - Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart - The sultry Bacall made her debut aged just 19 opposite Bogart, 44, in "To Have and Have Not" in 1944. They got married a year later; the age gap did not stop them from becoming one of Hollywood's most mythical couples. Bacall cemented her status as a film noir icon with appearances alongside Bogart in "The Big Sleep" (1946), "Dark Passage" (1947), and "Key Largo" in 1948. They were married until Bogart's death from cancer in 1957. - Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton - Taylor and Burton's famously turbulent romance began in 1963 when the pair were filming "Cleopatra", she in the title role and he as her Mark Antony. Both were married to other people at the time but their instant chemistry was plain to see. They were married twice: for ten years from 1964, and another year from 1975-76. Both unions were marred by alcoholism and furious arguments, though they remained close into their later years. They starred in eleven films together, including "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) and "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967). - Demi Moore and Bruce Willis - Married for more than a decade from 1987, Moore and Willis were one of the most prominent Hollywood power couples of the late 80s and early 90s. Both blamed the collapse of their relationship on not having enough time together as their careers took off, with Moore the best-paid actress in Hollywood by 1990 and Willis working on the "Die Hard" series. They remained friends after their split, even spending holidays together to give stability to their three daughters. - Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman - The pair met on the set of "Days of Thunder", a high-adrenaline racing movie starring Cruise as an ambitious young driver and Kidman as his neurosurgeon love interest. It was released in 1990; they were married by the end of the year. Story continues "I was a baby when I married Tom, but I don't regret any of it," Kidman later said. The couple adopted two children and starred in two other films together -- "Far and Away" and "Eyes Wide Shut" -- but divorced in 2001. Cruise later married actress Katie Holmes, gaining the celebrity moniker "TomKat". Their six-year relationship, ending in 2012, was heavily scrutinised by the press, largely because of Cruise's growing involvement in the Church of Scientology. - Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz - Spanish actress Cruz -- another former lover of Tom Cruise -- began dating her Oscar-winning "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" co-star Bardem in 2007. Married in 2010, the couple have two children together and are fiercely private. They sparked a Hollywood row in 2014 when they signed an open letter blasting Israel's bombardment of Gaza. But both released follow-up statements clarifying their comments, amid rumours that Israel-supporting Hollywood executives were furious over the move. RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A Brazilian judge on Monday accepted the indictment of eight men accused of plotting militant attacks inspired by Islamic State against foreigners at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as well as against homosexuals, Shi'ite Muslims and Jews. Judge Marcos Josegrei da Silva of the Federal Court in Curitiba, Brazil, said police and prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. It is Brazil's first prosecution under a new terrorism law enacted earlier this year. The accused were also charged with racketeering. All but one were also charged with corrupting minors. The eight are part of a group of 10 who were arrested in July, only weeks before the Olympics began, as part of the Brazilian Federal Police's Operation Hashtag. An 11th suspect turned himself in shortly after the arrests. Prosecutors and police said the men communicated with each other over internet applications such as Telegram and spoke about training, procuring weapons and making attacks. At the time of their arrest, authorities said only two of the men, all Brazilians between the ages of 20 and 40, had actually met each other, when they went to learn Arabic in Egypt in 2012 after converting to Islam. They are being held at a maximum security in Brazil's Southern Region. The accused are Oziris Moris Lundi dos Santos Azevedo, Luis Gustavo de Oliveira, Levi Ribeiro Fernandes de Jesus, Leonid El Kadre de Melo, Israel Pedra Mesquita, Hortencio Yoshitake, Fernando Pinheiro Cabral and Alisson Luan de Oliveira. (The case is: Penal Action No. 5046863-67.2016.4.04.7000/PR) (Reporting by Jeb Blount; Editing by Peter Cooney) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Brazil's new president, Michel Temer, told the United Nations on Tuesday that his controversial ascent showed the triumph of democracy. Temer took office on August 31 after the impeachment over accounting irregularities of elected president Dilma Rousseff, whose supporters said Brazil's right-wing forces had staged a bloodless coup. But Temer, addressing the UN General Assembly, said that the impeachment took place "with the most absolute respect of the constitutional order." The move showed the world "there can be no democracy without the rule of law with the standards applicable to all, even the most powerful," he said. "Isolated wills do not prevail, but rather the will of institutions, under the careful oversight of a pluralistic society and a totally free press," he said. Temer said that he was committed to a "path of fiscal responsibility and social responsibility" for Brazil, whose once-steady economic growth rates have been whittled by softening prices for its commodity exports. As expected, he said that Brazil on Wednesday would become the latest major economy to ratify the Paris global accord on climate change, bringing the agreement closer to coming into force. Brazil, one of the world's most biodiverse countries, "is an environmental powerhouse, one that has an uncompromising commitment to the environment," Temer said. In a sign of protest against his rise to power, several Latin American delegations walked out of the assembly hall Tuesday as Temer prepared to speak. "It is common practice when one wants to send a strong signal of rejection," said Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Guillaume Long, who was among the diplomats that left. He was joined by the delegations from Bolivia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Temer, who is from the center-right, was vice president to Rousseff but turned on Brazil's first woman leader amid her political woes. After Rousseff's ouster, Brazilian prosecutors filed corruption charges against her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, accusing him of a pay-to-play scheme at state oil company Petrobras. The leftist icon accused Brazilian elites of trumping up charges to destroy him politically ahead of 2018 elections. (Adds quote from Lula) By Brad Brooks SAO PAULO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will stand trial on corruption charges, a crusading federal judge ruled on Tuesday, adding more turbulence to the country's political landscape. Judge Sergio Moro said that Lula, who served as president from 2003-11 and has for two decades been an iconic and powerful political force in Brazil, will face charges of accepting 3.7 million Brazilian reais ($1.14 million) in bribes connected to a sweeping kickback probe at state-run oil company Petrobras . Moro wrote in his ruling that according to the prosecutors' charges, Lula was a "direct beneficiary" of bribes from OAS SA , one of the engineering and construction firms at the center of the graft scandal, and therefore must stand trial. The corruption case will also put on trial Lula's wife, Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva; OAS Chief Executive Jose Aldemario "Leo" Pinheiro; Paulo Okamotto, the president of the Lula Institute, and four others. In an emailed note late on Tuesday, Lula's lawyers again said their client had committed no crime and labeled Moro as a "impartial" judge who was on a witch hunt to see the former leader jailed. Lula, speaking via video link, told an event held by his lawyers in New York that the charges were a "farce." "What's happening isn't getting me down, but just motivates me to go out and talk more," said Lula, adding that he "will keep fighting." Tuesday's events capped an incredibly choppy few weeks for Brazil. Lula's hand-chosen successor Dilma Rousseff was found guilty by the Senate of breaking budget rules and dismissed from the presidency late last month. Her successor, former vice president Michel Temer, has abruptly pulled the country to the political and economic right, and is trying to boost Brazil out of its worst economic recession since the 1930s. Moro's decision may prevent Lula from making a political comeback in the 2018 presidential campaign. It could also derail any hopes the Workers' Party (PT) had of returning to power, or possibly even surviving, according to some experts. Story continues Despite the corruption allegations facing the PT and several of its former coalition parties, the most recent polls have shown Lula remains a leading candidate for 2018. Lula was charged with three counts each of corruption, which carries a maximum sentence of 16 years per count, and money laundering, with a possible sentence of up to 10 years per count. If found guilty, however, the sentence would be determined by the judge, and Lula and the others to stand trial would have chances to appeal. TURN OF FORTUNES Nonetheless, simply putting on trial the former president who left office with an 83-percent approval rating sent shockwaves across Brazil. Lula was widely adored at home and abroad for his exceptional life story, rising from poverty to the presidency, and of being the charismatic, rough-talking former union leader who led massive strikes in the 1980s that helped topple an entrenched military dictatorship. "It's a huge, grave blow to Lula's myth," said Claudio Couto, professor of political science at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) university in Sao Paulo. "Any condemnation of Lula would also end up being a condemnation of the Workers Party." The decision and the Petrobras probe as a whole make up a watershed moment for the fight against corruption in Brazil, experts say, where for centuries the rich, powerful and politically connected have enjoyed impunity. Now they are the target of this country's most sweeping anti-corruption push ever, which became known to the public two years ago. It has since seen nearly 200 people, including top executives and politicians, facing corruption charges and 83 people already found guilty and jailed. Federal prosecutors leveled charges against Lula last week, labeling him as the "commander" of the Petrobras graft scheme that they say has caused an estimated 42 billion reais ($12.6 billion) in losses to Petrobras shareholders and tax payers. It was the first time that Lula, 70, has been charged by federal prosecutors for involvement in the political kickbacks scheme at Petrobras. He has been indicted separately by a court in Brasilia for obstruction of justice in a case related to an attempt to persuade a defendant in the Petrobras scandal not to turn state's witness. Lula's lawyers have said prosecutors lacked the evidence to back up their accusations and that charges against him amount to political persecution to stop him from running for president in 2018. But experts say that if the prosecutors' charges are proven, the case against Lula is essential to demonstrate a new strength in rule of law and the determination of institutions to prosecute corruption at the highest levels. "It's a crucial and critical juncture for Brazil, to try such a powerful figure like Lula and, if he is guilty, to send him to jail," said Carlos Pereira, a professor of public policy at FGV in Rio de Janeiro and one of Brazil's top experts on corruption. "Voters now see powerful white guys going to jail - not just poor, black Brazilians, as was always the case." But Pereira also warned that the political fallout if Lula were to be found guilty and sent to jail would be enormous, and that the chances of the PT "disintegrating" even more likely. "The PT has been an incredibly important party for the re-democratization of Brazil, being the main force that represents leftist groups and created policies that promoted unprecedented social inclusion in our unequal society," he said. "Without the PT, it may take a long time for smaller, left-wing parties to find a new 'nucleus' to gravitate around, to provide a healthy counterweight within the political system to the more right-leaning parties," Pereira added. ($1 = 3.2570 Brazilian reais) (Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia and Christian Plumb in New York,; editing by Daniel Flynn, G Crosse) By Brad Brooks SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will stand trial on corruption charges, a crusading federal judge ruled on Tuesday, adding more turbulence to the country's political landscape. Judge Sergio Moro said that Lula, who served as president from 2003-11 and has for two decades been an iconic and powerful political force in Brazil, will face charges of accepting 3.7 million Brazilian reais ($1.14 million) in bribes connected to a sweeping kickback probe at state-run oil company Petrobras . Moro wrote in his ruling that according to the prosecutors' charges, Lula was a "direct beneficiary" of bribes from OAS SA [OAS.UL], one of the engineering and construction firms at the centre of the graft scandal, and therefore must stand trial. The corruption case will also put on trial Lula's wife, Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva; OAS Chief Executive Jose Aldemario "Leo" Pinheiro; Paulo Okamotto, the president of the Lula Institute, and four others. In an emailed note late on Tuesday, Lula's lawyers again said their client had committed no crime and labelled Moro as a "impartial" judge who was on a witch hunt to see the former leader jailed. Lula, speaking via video link, told an event held by his lawyers in New York that the charges were a "farce." "What's happening isn't getting me down, but just motivates me to go out and talk more," said Lula, adding that he "will keep fighting." Tuesday's events capped an incredibly choppy few weeks for Brazil. Lula's hand-chosen successor Dilma Rousseff was found guilty by the Senate of breaking budget rules and dismissed from the presidency late last month. Her successor, former vice president Michel Temer, has abruptly pulled the country to the political and economic right, and is trying to boost Brazil out of its worst economic recession since the 1930s. Moro's decision may prevent Lula from making a political comeback in the 2018 presidential campaign. It could also derail any hopes the Workers' Party (PT) had of returning to power, or possibly even surviving, according to some experts. Despite the corruption allegations facing the PT and several of its former coalition parties, the most recent polls have shown Lula remains a leading candidate for 2018. Lula was charged with three counts each of corruption, which carries a maximum sentence of 16 years per count, and money laundering, with a possible sentence of up to 10 years per count. If found guilty, however, the sentence would be determined by the judge, and Lula and the others to stand trial would have chances to appeal. TURN OF FORTUNES Nonetheless, simply putting on trial the former president who left office with an 83-percent approval rating sent shockwaves across Brazil. Lula was widely adored at home and abroad for his exceptional life story, rising from poverty to the presidency, and of being the charismatic, rough-talking former union leader who led massive strikes in the 1980s that helped topple an entrenched military dictatorship. "It's a huge, grave blow to Lula's myth," said Claudio Couto, professor of political science at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) university in Sao Paulo. "Any condemnation of Lula would also end up being a condemnation of the Workers Party." The decision and the Petrobras probe as a whole make up a watershed moment for the fight against corruption in Brazil, experts say, where for centuries the rich, powerful and politically connected have enjoyed impunity. Now they are the target of this country's most sweeping anti-corruption push ever, which became known to the public two years ago. It has since seen nearly 200 people, including top executives and politicians, facing corruption charges and 83 people already found guilty and jailed. Federal prosecutors levelled charges against Lula last week, labelling him as the "commander" of the Petrobras graft scheme that they say has caused an estimated 42 billion reais ($12.6 billion) in losses to Petrobras shareholders and tax payers. It was the first time that Lula, 70, has been charged by federal prosecutors for involvement in the political kickbacks scheme at Petrobras. He has been indicted separately by a court in Brasilia for obstruction of justice in a case related to an attempt to persuade a defendant in the Petrobras scandal not to turn state's witness. Lula's lawyers have said prosecutors lacked the evidence to back up their accusations and that charges against him amount to political persecution to stop him from running for president in 2018. But experts say that if the prosecutors' charges are proven, the case against Lula is essential to demonstrate a new strength in rule of law and the determination of institutions to prosecute corruption at the highest levels. "It's a crucial and critical juncture for Brazil, to try such a powerful figure like Lula and, if he is guilty, to send him to jail," said Carlos Pereira, a professor of public policy at FGV in Rio de Janeiro and one of Brazil's top experts on corruption. "Voters now see powerful white guys going to jail - not just poor, black Brazilians, as was always the case." But Pereira also warned that the political fallout if Lula were to be found guilty and sent to jail would be enormous, and that the chances of the PT "disintegrating" even more likely. "The PT has been an incredibly important party for the re-democratization of Brazil, being the main force that represents leftist groups and created policies that promoted unprecedented social inclusion in our unequal society," he said. "Without the PT, it may take a long time for smaller, left-wing parties to find a new 'nucleus' to gravitate around, to provide a healthy counterweight within the political system to the more right-leaning parties," Pereira added. ($1 = 3.2570 Brazilian reais) (Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle in Brasilia and Christian Plumb in New York,; editing by Daniel Flynn, G Crosse) Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must stand trial for corruption, a judge ruled Tuesday, after prosecutors accused the popular leftist of masterminding the large-scale plundering of state oil company Petrobras. The crusading judge behind the Petrobras investigation, Sergio Moro, accepted charges filed last week by prosecutors investigating Lula -- making him the highest-profile figure to face trial in a case that has taken down some of the country's most powerful business executives and politicians. "Given that there is sufficient evidence of (Lula's) responsibility... I accept the charges," Moro said in his decision. The charges allege that Lula, 70, received the equivalent of 3.7 million reais ($1.1 million) in bribes. Among the accusations are charges that the former union leader and his wife received a beachside apartment and upgrades to the property from a major construction company, OAS, which was one of the players in the Petrobras scheme. More broadly, prosecutors last week singled out Lula -- who was president during much of the time that Petrobras was being fleeced of billions of dollars -- as the scheme's "supreme commander." "I am sad because I just learned (Judge) Moro accepted the charge lodged, even though it is all a farce, a huge lie," the ex-president said from Brazil by videoconference to New York where his lawyers held a solidarity event for him. - Courtroom showdown - Lula, who presided over an economic boom from 2003 to 2011, will now go head to head with Moro for the first time. The crusading judge's anti-graft investigation, known as Operation Car Wash, has had explosive consequences in Brazil. It may now thwart Lula's hopes of a political comeback in the 2018 presidential election. It already played a part in ousting the leftist Workers' Party, which he co-founded. The once unstoppable party's 13 years in power ended last month when Lula's hand-picked successor, Dilma Rousseff, was convicted of budget irregularities in an impeachment trial. Story continues The charges against Rousseff were unconnected to the Petrobras case, but the scandal -- combined with Brazil's worst recession in decades -- did much to bring her down. Rousseff was replaced on August 31 by center-right President Michel Temer, her vice president-turned-nemesis. He has vowed to slash a ballooning budget deficit and lead Latin America's largest economy back to growth. But the Petrobras case also looms large over his administration, and several of his close allies are under investigation. - Symbol of Brazil's decline - Lula was hailed internationally for combining business-friendly economic policy with social-welfare programs that helped fight centuries of deep-rooted inequality in Brazil. He also was key in winning hosting rights to the 2014 World Cup and the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, which finished on August 21 -- South America's first. But his legacy and power base are rapidly crumbling. He challenged prosecutors last week to prove his alleged crimes, saying he and Rousseff were both victims of conspiracies by Brazilian "elites" who felt threatened by the Workers' Party. The scandal has also taken a heavy toll on Petrobras, Brazil's biggest company, which has become a symbol of the country's decline from emerging giant to economic basket case. The company announced Tuesday it will cut investments by 25 percent over the next five years. It ended 2015 with losses of $9.6 billion -- its second year in the red, and worst performance since its founding in 1953. Under the corruption scheme, Petrobras allegedly gave over-inflated contracts to other big firms, such as OAS and construction rival Odebrecht. The scheme was allegedly orchestrated by high-ranking politicians who took bribes from the contractors, sometimes for themselves and sometimes to fill party coffers. On Sep 19, we issued an updated research report on Brinker International, Inc. EAT. Based in Dallas, TX, the company primarily owns, operates, develops and franchises various restaurants under Chilis Grill & Bar (Chilis) and Maggianos Little Italy (Maggianos) brands. Prospects The acquisition of 103 franchised Chilis Grill and Bar restaurants from Pepper Dining Holding Corp. for $106.5 million in Jun 2015 boosted the companys fourth-quarter fiscal 2016 results. Notably, unlike most of its peers, Brinker is focused on company-owned restaurants, which allows it to have full control over operations and also keep the profits. Hence, the Pepper Dining deal turned out to be positive in an industry that depends largely on franchising and the units should thus continue to drive the companys top and bottom line performance, moving ahead. Meanwhile, the company initiated a strategic plan Vision 2020 in second-quarter fiscal 2016. It focuses on menu innovation in Chili's and continuous improvement in service to differentiate the brand and gain market traction to achieve the long-term earnings growth target of 10% to 15%. Moreover, the companys aggressive expansion strategies and sales building initiatives, such as introduction of loyalty program along with promotional offerings, should boost comps. Also, Brinkers remodeling initiative is expected to continue to invigorate its potential as a brand and enhance guests experience. Additionally, Brinker is investing heavily in technology-driven initiatives, like online ordering, to augment sales and boost guest services. Challenges However, Brinkers revenues have missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in five of the trailing six quarters, mainly due to lower comps. Notably, traffic decline at its restaurants has been hurting the comps. Moreover, the companys high exposure in states like Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, where the economy is currently sluggish due to the continuous decline in oil prices, would continue to hurt traffic. Additionally, Brinkers international comps might be under pressure in the coming quarters due to a slowdown in some of the international markets that it operates in. Further, higher labor and costs related to various initiatives might continue to hurt margins in the near term. Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Brinker currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in this sector include Papa John's International Inc. PZZA, Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. TACO and Wingstop Inc. WING. All the three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report PAPA JOHNS INTL (PZZA): Free Stock Analysis Report BRINKER INTL (EAT): Free Stock Analysis Report WINGSTOP INC (WING): Free Stock Analysis Report DEL TACO RSTRNT (TACO): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A British activist has been dealt a suspended sentence of three years in Thailand on charges of defamation and computer crimes, a Bangkok court ruled Tuesday, in a surprise end to a case that has dragged on for nearly four years and stunned rights advocates. Andy Hall, 36, was convicted of criminal defamation and violation of Thailands controversial Computer Crimes Act in relation to research he conducted for a report alleging serious labor abuses at a Thai pineapple-processing plant, Natural Fruit. The report, Cheap Has a High Price, accused a number of Thai factories of using forced labor, child labor, unfair wages and excessive overtime. These findings were published in 2013 by the NGO Finnwatch, a corporate watchdog that audits European suppliers. Food exports are a multibillion dollar industry vital to the Thai economy, supplying major global markets such as the U.S., E.U. and Japan. Natural Fruit has denied all allegations of unlawful labor practices. Read More: A British Labor Activists Trial in Thailand Puts Free Speech in the Spotlight We are shocked by todays verdict, Sonja Vartiala, executive director of Finnwatch, said in a statement. Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights. Defamation is a criminal offense in Thailand, which has a number of antilibel tools in its legal repertoire. Hall initially faced four charges leveled by Natural Fruit; two criminal cases were ruled on Tuesday while two civil suits remain in the courts, one seeking damages of about $10 million. Halls three-year sentence will be suspended for two years and Finnwatch says that he will not go to prison if he doesnt commit a crime during the two-year period. But Hall told TIME on Monday that he has already been threatened with additional charges by another company with regard to an unrelated incident. Story continues Just a day before the verdict, Hall said that he was confident the court would rule in his favor, arguing that he neither wrote the offending content nor uploaded it to the internet. More importantly, he said, some 24 people including migrant workers referred to in the research, testified in his defense that abuses detailed in the report were true. Thats what we want the court to rule on, Hall said, referring to the allegedly unlawful labor practices of some Thai manufacturing companies. He could not be reached on Tuesday and is currently in police custody pending payment of a $4,300 fine. Lawyers and rights advocates roundly condemned the verdict, claiming it could have a chilling effect on free speech and warning that the case has done damage to Thailands already bruised global image. Kingsley Abbott, senior international legal adviser with the International Commission of Jurists, tells TIME that Halls criminal conviction was a real blow to human rights in Thailand. This case is yet another example of why Thailand must decriminalize defamation and repeal or revise its broadly worded Computer Crime Act law to prevent them from being used to silence human-rights defenders and journalists working on important public interest issues, he says. Read More: Child Slaves May Have Caught the Fish in Your Freezer Halls case, which has kept him in and out of the Thai court system for nearly four years, coincided with increased scrutiny over Thailands labor practices. Thailand is host to about 3 million migrant laborers, about half of them from neighboring Burma, the rest mostly from Cambodia and Laos. Thailand has long had a bad track record on human trafficking as poor migrant workers regularly pay brokers to bring them across the border and find them work. Often they are delivered into vulnerable positions where they are denied legal documents and protective services. Thailand was recently upgraded in the U.S. State Departments annual human-trafficking report, a move viewed by some as a political maneuver that undermined progress and ignored abuses in the food-processing industry. Investigations in recent years have alleged official complicity in human trafficking and exposed slavery in Thai businesses, particularly the countrys enormous seafood sector. Bangkok (AFP) - A British activist was found guilty of criminal defamation on Tuesday and given a suspended jail sentence over a report alleging abuses in Thailand's lucrative fruit industry -- a verdict the UN described as "very disturbing". Andy Hall, who lives in Thailand, has seen a series of legal actions for contributing to a 2013 report on a Natural Fruit factory in the south of the country, alleging poor working conditions, low wages and child labour. On Tuesday he was found guilty of defamation and breaching computer crime laws in a private prosecution filed by Natural Fruit. Hall, 36, was given a three-year suspended sentence and fined 150,000 baht ($4,300), his lawyer Nakhon Chomphuchat told AFP. Rights groups say criminal defamation and computer misuse laws are routinely used to stifle investigative work in Thailand. The country's reputation as a major supplier to global food chains has been tarnished by persistent allegations of labour abuses, especially against cheap and vulnerable migrant workers. Both Natural Fruit, a private company and major supplier to the European drink market, and Thai prosecutors have brought separate actions against Hall. The United Nations' Human Rights Office for South-East Asia said the ruling was "very disturbing". "It would have been more appropriate to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the serious allegations raised in the Finnwatch report," acting regional representative Laurent Meillan said in a statement. - 'A hard look' - The contentious report -- "Cheap Has a High Price" -- was published by the Finnish civil rights group Finnwatch. It heaped pressure on Thailand's food industry. Western companies have faced increased pressure to vet their supply chains and ensure their Thai exports are slavery-free. But scandals keep emerging, while those who document abuses often face a backlash. Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said international companies should "take a real hard look at whether they want to source anything from Thailand going forward" following the ruling. Story continues Natural Fruit has denied the allegations in the report and has also launched a civil case seeking $10 million in damages. Hall, who said he will appeal the verdict, stands by his research and has accused the company of trying to detract from the report's findings. Speaking after the trial on Tuesday, Hall said the verdict "shows people are not free or at liberty to do this kind of research". "There's a huge problem with human trafficking in Thailand. There's a huge problem with labour exploitation," added the activist, who in recent years has also drawn attention to abuses in Thailand's shady fishing and poultry sectors. The president of Natural Fruit was in unforgiving mood after the ruling. "No foreigner should think they have power above Thai sovereignty," said Wirat Piyapornpaiboon. In a statement, Finnwatch said they took "full responsibility" for the report's contents, adding Hall had been personally targeted "in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights". Hall was acquitted by a court last year on a separate defamation charge pursued by Thailand's attorney general. In his statement, the UN's Meillan said at least 10 human rights defenders have been slapped with prosecutions this year in Thailand. One recent case includes a trio of researchers in the insurgency-plagued "deep south" over a report they wrote documenting torture allegations against the Thai army. London (AFP) - British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday promoted its consumer healthcare head Emma Walmsley to chief executive, a move which will make her the most powerful woman on the FTSE 100. The 47-year-old, who succeeds outgoing boss Andrew Witty, will become the seventh female chief executive of a group currently listed on London's benchmark shares index. However, GSK's share price finished on a flat note, with analysts noting that some shareholders had wanted an outsider to oversee a radical overhaul of its structure. The incoming CEO, who joined GSK from French cosmetics giant L'Oreal six years ago and has a background in marketing, will take up her new post in late March. "Emma is an outstanding leader with highly valuable experience of building and running major global businesses and a strong track record of delivering growth and driving performance in healthcare," said chairman Philip Hampton in a statement. Witty will meanwhile retire early next year after almost a decade at the helm. There are currently six other female-led companies listed on London's prestigious FTSE 100 index. They include no-frills airline EasyJet and postal operator Royal Mail -- who are headed by Carolyn McCall and Moya Greene respectively. The other four FTSE 100 firms with female bosses are cigarette maker Imperial Brands, home-improvements retailer Kingfisher, leisure group Whitbread and water supplier Severn Trent. Looking ahead, Walmsley said GSK has "the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders" thanks to a rise in "medical innovation and trusted healthcare products". - 'R&D the beating heart' - In an interview posted on the firm's website, the married mother-of-four added that research and developement (R&D) of new products would remain GSK's priority under her stewardship. "R&D is absolutely the beating heart of our company and our success is and will continue to be defined most fundamentally by the strength of our pipeline," she said. Story continues The Oxford University graduate pointed also to challenges that lay ahead for her company and the sector as a whole. "Pricing is a key area of focus, government and household budgets are under pressure, the regulatory environment is extremely tough and unpredictable and of course society wants big business and big pharma to continue to close the trust deficit that has been widening," she said. However, GSK's shares closed almost flat on Tuesday, losing 0.03 percent to 16.45 on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which gained a quarter of a percent in value. "Her appointment is welcome for the diversity it brings to the top of UK business -- but was less well-received by GSK shareholders," noted analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets. "Some more vocal shareholders had wanted an outsider appointed to help push through a change in GSKs structure, and are selling shares in a show of disappointment." - Rapid consolidation - The global pharmaceutical sector has meanwhile undergone major consolidation in recent years as companies battle competition for generic versions of their drugs. For its part, GSK agreed in 2014 to sell its oncology business to Novartis for $16 billion, while buying the Swiss group's vaccines division in return. The pair also formed a joint venture for consumer health products, headed by Walmsley. Alongside the Novartis deal, the latter part of Witty's tenure was clouded by Chinese authorities fining GSK the equivalent of almost half a billion dollars in 2014 over alleged bribery. The firm's former head of China operations, Mark Reilly, and four other ex-officials were handed suspended prison sentences over the incident. GSK said details of Walmsley's pay package would be disclosed next year. Hampton meanwhile praised Witty for developing "market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare" which provided "excellent platforms" for growth. The drugs company employs around 100,000 people worldwide, of which one-tenth work in R&D. By Lin Taylor LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - British intelligence agencies will form part of a new taskforce to "stamp out" modern slavery, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May will announce on Tuesday, urging world leaders to do more to get rid of the "evil" practice. The heads of Britain's domestic and foreign intelligence services, MI5 and MI6, and the nation's security agency, Government Communications Headquarters, as well as police agencies Europol and Interpol will join the taskforce. This comes as part of a concerted approach to eradicate modern slavery with UK government figures estimating between 10,000 and 13,000 people are living as slaves in Britain. "Just as the criminals cross borders, so we need a radical new approach that crosses borders sharing intelligence and joining up investigations," May said in a statement ahead of her maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "This is standard in the case of drugs trafficking and the trade in illegal firearms and there is no excuse for our law enforcement authorities failing to do this when it comes to modern slavery." May will also pledge at least 5 million pounds ($6.50 million) on anti-trafficking efforts in Nigeria, a proven human trafficking route into Britain. "We owe it to the innocent men, women and children who are being tricked into a life of hard labor and abuse to rid our world of this evil," said May, who took over a prime minister in Britain in July. Nearly 46 million people around the world are living as slaves, forced to work in factories, mines and farms, sold for sex, trapped in debt bondage or born into servitude, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation. Modern slavery has become a catch-all term to describe human trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, sex trafficking, forced marriage and other slave-like exploitation. The International Labor Organization estimates that forced labor generates global profits of about $150 billion per year, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region and developed economies, including the European Union. Seen as a milestone in the international fight against slavery, May introduced the Modern Slavery Act last year, requiring British businesses to disclose what action they have taken to ensure their supply chains are free of slave labor. It also introduced tougher criminal sanctions for perpetrators and more victim protection. In July, May said 33.5 million pounds ($43.47 million) of the overseas aid budget would be put into a five-year fund designed to tackle the issue in countries like Nigeria. "Just as it was Britain that took an historic stand to ban slavery two centuries ago, I am determined that the United Kingdom will once again lead the way in defeating modern slavery," May added. ($1 = 0.7688 pounds) (Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, global land and property rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, women's rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories) Homeownership has long been a key feature of the American Dream. However, according to a recent Census Bureau report, the percentage of Americans who own their homes has fallen to 62.9 percentthe lowest it has been in more than 50 years. The homeownership rate peaked in June 2004 at 69.2 percent. For millions of Americans, owning a home remains out of reach. Tom Salomone, a real-estate agent in Coral Springs, Florida, has witnessed the changes in the market over the course of his 40-year career. I spoke with Salomone about what hes seen. The interview that follows has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Adrienne Green: How did you get started in the real estate industry? Tom Salomone, a Realtor in Coral Springs, Florida (National Association of Realtors) Tom Salomone: I grew up in a real-estate family and from a very early age I knew this was a profession that I wanted to get into. I'm a second-generation Realtor, which means that my dad was a Realtor. My uncle as well. I got my real-estate license in 1974 when I was 18 year old, the summer between high school and college. I worked in my dad's office in the summers and on breaks. Then, after I graduated college at 22, it's been the only profession I've been involved in. Green: What do you do as a real-estate agent? Recommended: The Agony of a Young Liberal-Arts Major Salomone: The majority of my business is residential sales, which means I'm trying to facilitate transactions between property owners who want to sell their property and purchasers who need housing. I'm trying to help those buyers achieve the American Dream, and that's home ownership. Green: I know oftentimes it can take viewing three or more houses to find the right fit when looking to buy a new house. What are some of the challenges of facilitating those transactions? Salomone: Well I think every situation has challenges because each is unique. That's what makes my job as exciting and interesting 42 years later, because each family has different needs and wants. I think from a sellers standpoint the biggest challenge is making sure you have the property in a physical condition and a price point that's competitive in the marketplace. We all feel that what we have in life may be worth a little bit more than the market bears. Sometimes owners will start out higher than maybe the market point shows, and its a process to get the property at the right asking price. Story continues From a buyers standpoint, you always have to distinguish between needs and wants. Some buyers are extremely realistic. Others may have more wants than what their real needs are. Those needs will sometimes dictate what they can afford from a mortgage standpoint, or how much cash they're working with or from their savings. There are challenges on each side. Eventually people will get to a point where the property is priced properly and the buyer will key in on the needs of their family. Recommended: Why Do So Many Rich People Work So Much? Green: What is an average day like for you? Salomone: Every day it's different. The beauty in today's world is your office is pretty much anywhere you have a laptop computer. One day, we may have an appointment with a seller first thing in the morning to talk about marketing their properly. The next day, maybe we're meeting an appraiser to assess a property that is already under contract. The next day, maybe we're meeting an inspector who's doing an inspection on a property that's been purchased. The next day, maybe we have an appointment with a buyer to show a certain number of properties. The exciting part of this job is that every day in the course of a week, each day could start out differently. The requirement, then, if you want to be a great real estate agent, is you've got to be available seven days a week. The people who need to look at property or talk to you about marketing their property are normally going to be available after work. That may be at night or on the weekends. Green: Since youve been in the real-estate industry for more than 40 years, youve worked throughout the burst of the housing bubble and other economic crises. Did your business or clients experience any challenges during that time? Salomone: Yeah. The biggest change in the industry has been the financing aspect. With what happened in the crash, now banks are much more stringent. It's a different time as far as how people are qualified to obtain a mortgage to buy a property. The banks are much more careful in making loans to buyers. Recommended: The Case for Reparations The changes over 40 years of selling real estate has been pretty incredible. It's been changing constantly, not just during the economic downfall over the last 8 years. Technology has changed our industry tremendously over the years. For a number of years everything was done out of listing books and face-to face-meetings. As technology progressed, we went from phone calls to faxing to emailing to texting. Green: As banks become less willing to give people loans how has that impacted your business at all? Salomone: The stringent part that I'm referring to is that someone may not qualify for a mortgage who maybe in the past would have. That's why I said we don't want to waste a buyer's time. So the first thing we want to do is find out what and if you're qualified for a mortgage. As far as how it may have changed our business, it really just minimizes the number of people that we would be able to help. If someone goes to a lender and the lender cannot get him or her a loan, well then perhaps we would then find you a rental instead of purchasing a home. There's a reason in that lender's eye that you wouldn't be able to qualify for a mortgage right now, and if it's something that can be pinpointed, [we can help]. Green: How do you find somebody the perfect home? Salomone: If you're a new customer of ours, the first thing that we do is to make sure that you're pre-qualified by a lender so we don't waste your time showing you properties that you either can't afford or are smaller than what you can afford. Then, based on what you qualify for we now try to match up as many of those needs and wants in selecting the properties, the area that you may want to be in. Maybe you have a specific school district that you want to be in or a place of worship that's important to you. Then once we do, we physically go out and start looking at properties. When you find the property that you like, well then, again, we sit down and we look at what's a reasonable offer. There'd probably be some negotiations going back and forth. Once the contract price is agreed upon, and then we will normally have an inspection on the property. Based on the inspection results, you're now in need for more negotiation, repairs, or maybe a repair credit. At the same time, a bank will be doing an appraisal on the property to make sure that they're comfortable with the amount of money that they're going to lend you. While all that's going on, there's an attorney or a title insurance company that's checking all the history on the property making sure there's no judgments or open permits. Green: What is your relationship with the people who youre helping find a home? Salomone: I love people. An outgoing personality would be the kind of personality that you would hope to have in the real-estate industry. The beauty of our business is most Realtors stay in touch with property owners after closing because in many cases you become friends. You've spent months together going through the whole process. That Realtor becomes the family Realtor. If I said, Who's your dentist or your eye doctor or your hairdresser? You would say a name very quickly. In many cases if I said, Who's your Realtor? you would say a person's name very quickly, because there's normally a relationship there that will last a lifetime. This interview is a part of an ongoing project on work and identity in America. You may find other pieces here, including interviews with an optometrist, a coal miner, and an engineer. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. BREZNIK, Bulgaria (Reuters) - Pine forests planted in Bulgaria to combat soil erosion are falling prey to a beetle that is feeding on trees already weakened by excessively hot weather, dense planting and a lack of proper logging in the years after the fall of communism. More than 7,000 hectares of pine forest in the Balkan country perished due to bark beetle attacks in August alone - an area three times bigger than in previous years, said Tsenko Tsenov, the director of Bulgaria's forest agency. The beetle problem concerns pines planted on around 680,000 hectares of land since the 1950s at lower altitudes than they grow naturally to help fight soil erosion. Global warming and inadequate logging have exacerbated the problem by denying the trees their optimal moisture and the space they need. The damage is greatest in southern and southwestern Bulgaria, where forest officials have adopted logging plans to tackle the pest infestation. About a third of the lower altitude pines in the Rhodope mountains near the Greek border have succumbed to the bark beetle and other diseases, Tsenov said. The long-term solution lies in allowing the broad-leafed deciduous trees traditionally dominant at such altitudes to flourish once again, said Damyan Damyanov, head of a local forest enterprise, during an inspection at a logging site near the southwestern town of Breznik. "After we take the coniferous trees out, we see the saplings of beech, oak and ash trees. The local broad-leafed trees are taking back their place," he said. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Gareth Jones) As the U.K.'s largest and most famous luxury fashion house, Burberry's biannual London Fashion Week show is considered a highlight each season. But expectations were running especially high ahead of Monday evening's (Sept. 19) spring/summer 2017 collection show. That's because, for the first in the British fashion house's 160-year history, every ensemble was made available for purchase online and in flagship stores around the world immediately after its debut on the catwalk -- a move that, should it prove a success at the cash register, could completely transform the way fashion has been shown and sold since the birth of ready-to-wear. Adele Is Wearing One Dress & One Dress Only on Tour: This Is Its Story (Exclusive) The industry -- plus some millions of fans tuning in to the live stream across the globe (below) -- was watching, and Burberry pulled out all of the stops for the occasion, constructing a temporary two-story space in London's Soho neighborhood, the bottom floor of which was occupied by a 21-piece orchestra, five vocalists and a pianist. For many consecutive seasons now, Burberry has invited British music artists including Alison Moyet and Tom Odell to perform at its shows, but on Monday it treated guests to an entirely original score composed and conducted by Ilan Eshkeri of Still Alice and Stardust fame. The composition -- made of three original songs, plus a fourth that combined elements of the first three -- was spellbinding, lending an emotional vibrancy and powerful cinematic quality that transformed what was essentially a traditional runway show into something completely magical. Like the collection itself, the score was inspired by Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando, a prescient work of magical realism that follows a character's transformation from a young page boy who captures the withering affections of Queen Elizabeth I and ends as a woman living in 1920s England. "I was inspired entirely by [Burberry Chief Executive and Chief Creative Officer] Christopher [Bailey]'s vision, which was to make something that came from history and to make it contemporary," Eshkeri told Billboard following the show, explaining that he looked to Renaissance and Baroque styles and gave them a contemporary twist, incorporating Woolf's words in the lyrics throughout. "That's what I hope I achieved, something that felt contemporary but also felt rooted in the classical." Story continues One might think such a work would take four or six months to produce -- but Eshkeri had less than one. "We had to work extremely fast," Eshkeri conceded, noting that changes to the score were still being made the morning before the show. "But I love that kind of energy. You find an idea and you say 'That works,' and you go at it with courage and conviction." Eshkeri has worked with Burberry before, by helping Odell arrange the music for his Burberry shows. "We've actually been looking to work together for quite a long time, and finally we found the right moment," he said with genuine enthusiasm. "To be honest, I'm so glad and so proud that I could be part of this show, because this is such a significant moment not just for Burberry, but for the fashion world. To be part of that and to express some of that with music, that's a real privilege." Like the collection itself, the soundtrack has been made available for purchase in select countries on iTunes and for streaming through the Burberry Apple Connect page on Apple Music. In the nearly 20 years since JonBenet Ramsey was killed, her brother, Burke, and their parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, have been on the receiving end of continued scrutiny an "umbrella of suspicion," as it was once described. While theories abound about who strangled the 6-year-old girl in December 1996 and left her body in the family's Boulder, Colorado, home, Burke is adamant on one point: The Ramseys were not involved. "It blows my mind. What more evidence do you need that we didn't do it?" Burke, now 29, said Monday of his family's innocence, during the final installment of his three-part Dr. Phil interview, his first public sit-down since the crime. Earlier in the special, Burke assured of a theoretical cover-up, "You won't find any evidence because that's not what happened." Burke Ramsey Reveals Who He Thinks Killed Sister JonBenet| Murder, True Crime, Crime, The Dr. Phil Show, TV News, John Ramsey, JonBenet Ramsey, Patsy Ramsey, Phil McGraw Patsy, John and Burke who was 9 at the time of the killing were never charged in JonBenet's death and have always maintained their innocence. The local prosecutor later declined to prosecute John and Patsy, following a grand jury proceeding against them, citing a lack of evidence. Now, John and Burke are the family's only surviving members: Patsy died in 2006 from ovarian cancer. Two years later, then-District Attorney Mary Lacy wrote a letter to John saying that DNA evidence cleared the trio. (A decisive announcement some in law enforcement criticized as premature.) 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. Related Video: 5 Clues That Could Reveal What Really Happened To JonBenet Ramsey Decades later there remains rampant speculation about the role of JonBenet's family in her death which Dr. Phil McGraw brought up in his special. But the Ramsey men have their own theories about what happened all those years ago. Burke said on Dr. Phil that it was "probably some pedophile in the pageant audience." JonBenet performed in child beauty pageants in the time before her death, and Burke speculated in his interview that the culprit "saw her at one of the pageants." John, now 72, said he believes that it was an intruder who entered the home while the family was out on Christmas Day, 1996, possibly hiding in one of the upstairs bedrooms. "They came in when we left and were there when we came home," John told McGraw. As PEOPLE reported in a recent cover story, investigator Lou Smit has said a broken basement window, an unidentified footprint near the body and trace male DNA evidence on the scene proved that an intruder was the perpetrator. Boulder police, however, considered those signs inconclusive, pointing to dust and an undisturbed spider web around the window as evidence that undermined the theory. "People still can't get that in their head that we didn't do it," Burke told McGraw on Monday, adding that he thinks JonBenet and his mother are "together again," watching over him. In fact, Burke said that he has talked to JonBenet in the years since her death. "Like, 'Hey, thanks for looking out for me ... Hope you're having fun up there, because I'm taking some test,' " he explained. He said said he "keeps the hope alive that [JonBenet's killing] will [be solved in my lifetime]. I don't know, but you gotta never give up." He said the focus should be on remembering his little sister, a girl who loved ice-skating and the outdoors. John, meanwhile, said his Dr. Phil interview will be his last with the media, assuring, "I have no intention to speak out ... in the future." He said, "The real story here is not that a child was murdered. The real story is what was done to us by [the system]." Johannesburg (AFP) - South African students and campus security guards clashed in Johannesburg on Tuesday, hurling rocks at each other as demonstrations over higher fees turned violent. Unrest has hit many South African universities over the past year, as students protest fee increases that they say force poorer, often black, pupils out of education. Students and guards battled outside the Great Hall auditorium at Wits University in Johannesburg, leaving many of the building's windows broken and the ground littered with rocks before police moved in to break up the fighting. "The students wanted to gather, and we were denied entry (to the Great Hall), that is when things turned violent," student Sizwe Mangena, 20, told AFP. "Things started to fly, everyone running for cover. It was like a scene from the townships during apartheid. "Our demand is simply that we want free education. Our parents can't afford to pay." Earlier police fired stun grenades to clear a main road in Johannesburg, and students blockaded campus entrances and disrupted classes. Tuesday's protests came a day after the government said that next year's fee hikes would be capped at eight percent. Protests were also held at campuses in Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfontein. The government said it would cover the increase for students from families earning less than 600,000 rand ($43,000, 39,000 euros) a year, but student activists have demanded free education for all. "About 200 students in roving groups are moving from campus-to-campus disrupting classes... and intimidating students," Wits, one of the country's most prestigious universities, said in a statement on Tuesday morning. "We are deploying security and the police. Students will be arrested if they do not comply with police orders." TV footage showed stun grenades being fired to clear a major road in Johannesburg, while local media said that 31 people who had been arrested for blocking a campus entrance, were released with a warning. Story continues - 'Disturbing images' - Student medics at Wits told AFP that they had treated at least 20 injured people. "I'm very disturbed about this because... as much as students have the right to protest, there is no basis for this protest here," Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande told 702 radio. "I don't like to see the sight of police in our universities. It's not good." Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of major protests which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016. Throughout this year, there has been sporadic unrest which has seen accommodation buildings and libraries set alight, and in May, an auditorium at Johannesburg University was firebombed. The issue of education fees has ignited widespread frustration over a lack of opportunities for young people, worsened by a weakening economy and high unemployment. The University of Free State closed its Bloemfontein campus Tuesday, while classes and lectures were also abandoned at the University of Cape Town. "Burning schools, libraries and university buildings means burning the future," President Jacob Zuma said after campus riots earlier this year. By Susan Taylor TORONTO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Canadian autoworkers' union president Jerry Dias once publicly invited a critic to kiss his behind, but the tough-as-nails image overshadows a deft touch in negotiations, people familiar with him said. Dias, 57 is leading Canadian contract talks for workers of General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ford Motor Co, whose four-year labor contract expires at midnight. The Unifor autoworkers' union chose GM as its strike target and is demanding the company commit to producing new vehicle models in its Oshawa, Ontario plant. Choosing GM as the strike target is a high-stakes gambit, given there is no obvious new vehicle production that could be assigned to Oshawa. GM has said it will not commit to building new models in Canada until it has a contract in hand. Dias says Unifor will not sign a contract without that promise. "If we're going to have a dust up, we might as well have it immediately," said Dias, who became Unifor president in 2013. GM has been the most reluctant of the three automakers to invest fresh money in Canada. The country has seen those dollars go to lower-cost sites in the southern United States and Mexico. Now, Dias will either lead Canada's first auto strike in 20 years or secure a contract with GM against the odds, which could bolster union confidence as it heads into talks with Ford and Fiat Chrysler. "Unifor was built to fight," he said at a 2014 United Auto Workers convention. "We're sick and tired of playing defense and it's about time that we started to play offence." Dias, who grew up in a union family, began work at de Havilland Aircraft in 1978, becoming a union plant steward, chair and president in 1987. His father, Jerry Dias Sr., worked at the same plant and was also union local president. When Boeing put de Havilland up for sale in 1990, Dias demonstrated strategic smarts in the way he led a fight to secure a better deal, said Roland Kiehne, a co-worker at the time. Story continues Alongside organizing lunch-time demonstrations that emptied the plant, Dias sued the Canadian government for breach of trust over the deal and convinced politicians to get involved. It worked, and De Havilland was sold to Canadian plane maker Bombardier. A fitness buff, Dias can whip up union delegates with impassioned speeches, once inviting a critic who called him one of Canada's five most feared men to "kiss my union ass" at a public rally. Dias said automotive executives talk in specifics at contract talks and expect the same of him. "These aren't charm school graduates. These are people who run major corporations," he said in an interview. "We ought not mislead each other or soft pedal the delivery of what our expectations are." But he is also a pragmatist who knows how to get a settlement, said Buzz Hargrove, former president of the Canadian Auto Workers, which merged with another union to form Unifor in 2013. Hargrove hired Dias as his assistant in 2007 after watching him craft deals that improved worker benefits at de Havilland's Toronto plant. "He's not shy. He'll pick up the phone and call the prime minister if he thinks it makes sense. And he may very well have to do that before this bargaining is concluded," Hargrove said. "He knows how to get out on a limb, but he also knows how to get back." (Reporting by Susan Taylor; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Two major Canadian bank stocks, The Toronto-Dominion Bank TD and Royal Bank of Canada RY, headquartered in Toronto, have market capitalization of $80.3 billion and $90.8 billion, respectively. Both of these are part of the Foreign Banks industry, which has a Zacks Industry Rank #62 (top 23%). These two banks are listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE. On NYSE, Toronto-Dominion was up nearly 11%, while Royal Bank of Canada jumped over 14%, year-to date. While the business of both the banks is almost similar, lets dig deeper into to the financials, before deciding which one is a better investment option. Toronto-Dominion Toronto-Dominion founded in 1855 provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in Canada, the U.S. and internationally. The company operates through Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking segments. Toronto-Dominion has a beta of 0.98, indicating it is slightly less volatile than the market. Further, the company has a trailing 12-month Return on Equity (ROE) of 13.3%, compared with the industry average of 10.6%. This shows it reinvests its earnings more efficiently. Further, Toronto-Dominion stock looks a little bit overvalued with respect to its Price-to-Earnings (P/E) and Price-to-Book (P/B) ratios. It has a P/E ratio of 11.69, compared with the industry average of 10.95. Also, the companys P/B ratio of 1.55 is above the industry average of 0.91. Additionally, Toronto-Dominion has a dividend yield of 3.93%. However, the banks current year earnings are projected to decline 0.5%, while sales is expected to fall 1.4%. Nevertheless, analysts seem optimistic about the stocks earnings performance. Over the last 30 days, the stock has witnessed three upward revisions (against no downward revision) for fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2017. The Zacks Consensus Estimate rose 1.9% to $3.70 for fiscal 2016 and 1% to $3.92 for fiscal 2017. Toronto-Dominion carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has a VGM Score of B. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 offer the best upside potential. Story continues TORONTO DOM BNK Price and Consensus TORONTO DOM BNK Price and Consensus | TORONTO DOM BNK Quote Royal Bank of Canada Founded in 1864, Royal Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company operates through these segments: Personal & Commercial Banking; Wealth Management; Insurance; Investor & Treasury Services; and Capital Markets. Royal Bank of Canada has a beta of 1.17, indicating it is 17% more volatile than the market. Further, the company has a trailing 12-month ROE of 15.37%, compared with the industry average of 10.6%. This shows it reinvests its earnings more efficiently. Further, Royal Bank of Canada stock looks overvalued with respect to its P/E and P/B ratios. It has a P/E ratio of 11.74, compared with the industry average of 10.95. Also, the companys P/B of 1.88 is above the industry average of 0.91. Additionally, Royal Bank of Canada has a dividend yield of 4.10%. Further, the banks earnings for the current fiscal year are projected to be 3.1%, while sales growth is estimated to be 2.9%. Moreover, analysts seem optimistic about the stocks earnings prospects. Over the last 30 days, the stock has witnessed three upward revisions (against no downward revisions) for fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2017. The Zacks Consensus Estimate edged up nearly 1% to $5.20 for fiscal 2016 and increased 1.3% to $5.46 for fiscal 2017. Royal Bank of Canada carries a Zacks Rank #2 with a VGM Score of C. ROYAL BANK CDA Price and Consensus ROYAL BANK CDA Price and Consensus | ROYAL BANK CDA Quote Conclusion Both Toronto-Dominion and Royal Bank of Canada stocks look overvalued at the current prices. While Royal Bank of Canada looks better positioned in terms of dividend yield, ROE and growth expectations, Toronto-Dominions less volatility compared with the market, along with a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM Score of B, makes it a better pick. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Where Do Zacks' Investment Ideas Come From? You are welcome to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks free of charge. There is no better place to start your own stock search. Plus you can access the full list of must-avoid Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See the stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report TORONTO DOM BNK (TD): Free Stock Analysis Report ROYAL BANK CDA (RY): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research This Cara Delevigne and Rihanna Puma collab is a match made in heaven This Cara Delevigne and Rihanna Puma collab is a match made in heaven There are some girl squads in Hollywood that give us the kind of friendship goals we aim to find in our own lives. Theyre super successful and always seem to be doing collaborations that put all other projects to shame. Thats a true statement for the collaboration between Cara Delevigne and Rihanna, who are a heaven-made match for Puma. Refinery29 reports Delevigne, who is always super choosy when it comes to her work because shes busy as she can be, has decided to join forces with the Princess of Pop, Rihanna, who is behind the super successful Puma collection, Fenty Puma. The 24-year-old model and actress was just announced as the face of Pumas new Do You initiative, which celebrates and encourages personal empowerment. A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Sep 16, 2016 at 7:44am PDT The photoshoots creative director happens to also be a member of her girl squad. Rihanna signed a multi-year partnership with Puma two years ago, and now has a creative director title. In regards to working with Rihanna, Delevingne told Refinery29 the experience was a good one. Chanel : Front Row - Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2014-2015 I really admire both her business mind and her creativity, so working on this campaign together was a really great experience, she told the site, adding that she was also very inspired by working with Rihanna and the opportunity as well. A photo posted by PUMA (@puma) on Sep 19, 2016 at 8:45am PDT The first photos have been released featuring Delevingne wearing athleisure and shot in black and white. What does she think of the clothes she gets to model? Well, she feels how we ALL feel about sporty clothes. A photo posted by MISSBISH (@missbish) on Sep 20, 2016 at 4:54am PDT Its easy, fresh, cool, and fun. Its not so serious its more playful and realistic, she says. Adding, I dont know that it ever left but I love that it is back! I love a tracksuit always have and always will. And we love this collab, ladies! The post This Cara Delevigne and Rihanna Puma collab is a match made in heaven appeared first on HelloGiggles. The Great Gatsby actress Carey Mulligan hasnt been caught in the glare of Hollywoods spotlight lately. Instead, shes been using her star power to bring attention to the plight of refugee children worldwide. An estimated 63 million children will be displaced due to conflict by 2025, the charity War Child UK Mulligan is their global ambassador predicts, leaving up to 12.5 million children out of school. Mulligan has long been politically-minded, making her first splash in the thoughtful An Education, lending her voice to the feminist film Suffragette alongside Meryl Streep, and recently signing on as a U.K. ambassador for dementia awareness. Her involvement in the cause of refugee children, however, has a more personal origin: her brother, who served in the army in Afghanistan, had worked with War Child UK in 2013 to facilitate funding of a girls school in a conflict area. I was intrigued, Mulligan told TIME of that project, and she accompanied War Child on a service trip to Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After that, she became an ambassador for the advocacy organization. Her work with War Child has taken her to conflict zones in the Congo and Jordan, where she spends time in the camps listening to children and asking questions about their needs. Carey would be a great aid worker. Because when we sit with children, they dont know who Carey Mulligan is. But they respond to her very honest questions, Rob Williams, CEO of War Child UK, explained. Its really nice to go out with someone who cares so deeply about what were seeing Carey shares that sense of urgency. As a mother of a one-year-old daughter, Mulligan is more sensitive than ever to the plight of children, too. Theres something sort of fundamental that changes in the way you view children when you have one yourself, Mulligan said. It makes me wince to think of my daughter experiencing even an iota of the things that [refugee children] have been through. Story continues The lottery of where youre born is so unfair, and more needs to be done to address that, she added. Two critical refugee-focused discussions are taking place this week in New York, the U.N. Summit on Refugees and Migrants and President Obamas Refugee Leaders Summit. Mulligan, War Child UK, and others supporting a global action plan for refugees hope to see as much as $4 billion set aside to support education in emergencies by 2020, and to commit leaders to more comprehensive refugee resettlement programs, especially for children. The Case of: JonBenet Ramsay docuseries has come to a shocking conclusion The Case of: JonBenet Ramsay docuseries has come to a shocking conclusion The second part of the CBS docuseries The Case Of: JonBenet Ramsey aired on Monday and investigators dropped a major bombshell with their theory of who killed the six-year-old beauty queen: her older brother Burke Ramsey. For the few unfamiliar with the infamous case, JonBenet Ramsey was a six-year-old beauty pageant queen who was found dead in the basement of her family home after being reported missing on December 26th, 1996. The murder has remained one of the most prolific unsolved murders in America. Despite being cleared of suspicion by police in 2008, the Ramsey family, specifically JonBenets father, John, late mother, Patsy, and brother Burke, have been at the center of the most popular theories regarding the murder. The Ramseys have maintained that an intruder broke into their house and committed murder. While the case has remained the the media for the last 20 years, the CBS docuseries brought newfound fame to the cold-case, compiling a team of expert investigators including retired FBI agents, forensic scientists, and criminal behavioral analysts to try and solve the case. In a three-part interview with Dr. Phil, Burke Ramsey debunked the popular theory that their mother Patsy, who died of cancer in 2006, committed the murder and a separate theory that he killed his sister and their parents covered it up. However, the CBS investigative team suggested that a 9-year-old Burke, did in fact, kill his sister and that their parents were behind the cover up. The team concluded that Burke unintentionally killed his sister in a fit of rage and that John and Patsy concocted the intruder theory to protect their son from prosecution. Docuseries investigative team member and retired F.B.I. agent James R. Fitzgerald spoke with E! News regarding the outcome of their investigation, stressing that while the team believe that they had confirmed the most plausible theory regarding the murder, the docuseries was not part of an official investigation. Story continues He said, Its going to be up to a prosecutors office and maybe a police department to actually put handcuffs on someone. Whether that happens, working as private citizens now, we can only go so far. The series ended with a disclaimer from CBS stating that the conclusion of their investigation team represented one of many theories as to who killed JonBenet Ramsey, acknowledged that John and Burke Ramsey have maintained their innocence, and encouraged viewers to come up with their own conclusions. We hope that the mystery is solved (like, really solved) one day. The post The Case of: JonBenet Ramsay docuseries has come to a shocking conclusion appeared first on HelloGiggles. The case of JonBenet Ramsey has recaptured national attention because of a television special of the same name - and it's raising questions about what role, if any, her family members played in her 1996 death. A panel of investigators consulted for the CBS special came to a disturbing conclusion: Ramsey's then 9-year-old brother Burke killed his younger sister and the siblings' parents, John and Patsy, covered it up. The Hollywood Reporter asked Colorado attorney and legal consultant Lisa Polansky, who is featured in the show, about the legal trouble the family could be facing now if investigators reopen the case. If Burke Ramsey was responsible for his sister's death, could he have faced charges then? No, he [was] a child under 10 years old and is considered under the "minimum age for criminal responsibility" in the state of Colorado. In other states the minimum age is less (7 years old in NY, CT, MD and MA; 8 years old in AZ, NV and WA; etc.), more (12 years old in GA), or the same (10 years old in AR, KS, TX and WI, etc.); and some states have no minimum age (CA, AK, etc.). Age of responsibility means there can be no prosecution until that age for any "crime" and, therefore, he cannot be subject to criminal laws or procedures. This law has its roots in common law, entitled the "defense of infancy," and is based in current science of brain development. The child cannot be held responsible for his acts until he reaches the age of emotional, mental and intellectual maturity. The median age worldwide is 12 years old. Could he face charges now? No, see above. If Burke Ramsey was responsible for his sister's death, and his parents covered it up, could John and Patsy Ramsey have faced charges then? Yes, accessory after the fact to murder, pursuant to CRS 18-8-105 (if they can be prosecuted for that crime for an act by a child under 10) or the child abuse statute, CRS 18-6-401, which prohibits a child from being unreasonably placed in a situation that poses a threat to the child's life or health. Story continues Could John Ramsey face charges now? Probably. There is no statute of limitations on murder, but it all depends on whether or not he can be prosecuted for an "accessory" charge if their son is immune from prosecution, which I believe he can. Should the Boulder Country District Attorney's Office reexamine the case? Honestly, I feel as if people in Boulder are tired of hearing about the case, but if Boulder DA Stan Garnett believes he has enough evidence, he would charge the appropriate parties and pursue justice. Read more: 'The Case Of: JonBenet Ramsey': TV Review Renowned Dutch DJ R3hab is returning to Malaysia for the umpteenth time and is once again ready to take Kuala Lumpur's club scene with his awesome club tunes! Just last year, the 30-year-old DJ had played at PLAY club at The Roof for Playfest. Known to be one of the proponents of the modern Dutch house subgenre alongside Afrojack and Chuckie, R3hab has been remixing everyone from Taylor Swift to Rihanna, Beyonce, Calvin Harris and John Legend for his tracks. With over 218 million Soundcloud streams, 140million Spotify streams, and 43 million video views, the heavyweight producer is now ready to bring his dynamic party anthems to Zouk Club KL on 30 September 2016. His show will be supported by Malaysia's very own DJ duo, BATE, consisting of Ethan Curzon and Yeoh Wai Hong who are absolutely no strangers to Kuala Lumpur's nightlife circuit. The event will start at 10pm, and the admission cost RM70 including 1 drink before 12am. For more information, visit zoukclub.com.my (Photo source: R3hab's Facebook) While some industry insiders worry of Netflix becoming a monopoly, CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves said Tuesday he's thrilled with the success of the leader in streaming media. "We're a big fan of Netflix," the exec said at an investor conference in New York. "We don't think they're eating the world." Moonves said Netflix's appetite for content has driven the price of the shows CBS is selling much higher. Meanwhile, CBS All Access and the Showtime digital service are thriving with 2 million subscribers between them even with the competition from Netflix. Moonves said Tuesday that the goal of 8 million between them by 2020 will be met and possibly exceeded. "We surprised a lot of people," he said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia 2016 gathering. The new Star Trek: Discovery, which will go to CBS All Access, is already paid for due to Netflix buying the international rights, Moonves said. He acknowledged, though, that Netflix has grown so large that it is eating up a lot of the available content while also creating its own, and that it has an advantage over CBS: It does not need to show a profit every quarter, as CBS does. "Netflix pays a lot, but they take everything off the table," he said. "We actually have to take some of the profit we make and put it in the bank as opposed to investing it in original content," Moonves said. "Look, it's a great model, I don't knock it, I wish we could do that." Twitter and Yahoo have limited streaming rights to NFL games, and Moonves hinted he'd like some rights for CBS All Access, too, and it should happen "sooner rather than later." The CBS boss also lamented that Donald Trump, the GOP candidate for president, isn't spending as much on advertising as some had expected, but he said political advertising over issues and down-ticket candidates is very strong. At the five TV stations that CBS owns in California, "the issues spending is tremendous," Moonves said. Story continues "The economy is doing great, and we're doing great," he said when addressing the selling of advertising in general. The CEO said international sales of programming, in particular, is growing at a fast clip. "The price of this content is going up immensely," Moonves said. He also praised the booming business of skinny bundles, since he considers CBS "must-have" content no matter how large or small cable bundles are. "You have to have content that people really can't live without," he said. There's been a lot of speculation that CBS would merge with Viacom, and while Moonves didn't address the prospect specifically, he was clear that CBS is only in the market for acquisitions if the price is right. "Our balance sheet's in great shape, we love the assets we have, we love the company, we have the ability to do whatever we want," he said. "As we look out to spinning off radio, we'll have more cash, some of which we'll return to our shareholders, some of which we'll have the ability to invest in things that we like," Moonves said. Read more: The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content Monopoly * Shorter than 10-year Hungarian yields trade at record low * Hungarian central bank seen limiting depos, a help to bonds * CEE stocks, currencies ease ahead of BoJ, Fed meetings By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Hungarian bonds traded at record low yields on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of the country's central bank, and after Hungary's unexpected rating upgrade from Standard & Poor's on Friday. The bank is seen keeping its base rate on hold at 0.9 percent at Tuesday's meeting, but pumping liquidity into markets by limiting the funds that commercial banks can place into its 3-month deposit facility. The forint slipped 0.2 percent to 309.15 against the euro by 0931 GMT, while the zloty and the leu eased 0.1 percent. Investors took profit in Central European currency and stock markets amid some uncertainty ahead of the Bank of Japan's and the Federal Reserve's meetings, which start on Tuesday and conclude on Wednesday. The region's government bonds firmed, with Hungary leading gains after the S&P move which granted it its second investment grade rating, opening the way for many investment funds to buy its debt. In the next days more and more funds could add Hungarian bonds to their portfolios, and the Hungarian central bank's expected deposit limit could trigger further buying, one Budapest-based fixed income trader said. "Investors will also watch the Fed but I do not think its comments could reverse the firming of Hungarian bonds now," the trader added. Hungary's 10-year bond yields dropped 6 basis points to 2.77 percent. A likely further fall of a few basis points would push them below record lows touched in early August. The country's 10- and 5-year yields have fallen by 20 basis points from levels before the S&P upgrade. The 3-year yield has declined 26 basis points, and shorter-than-10-year yields are at record lows. If the central bank sets a lower than expected deposit limit or cuts economic growth forecasts, the forint can weaken and short-end government debt can firm, Equilor brokerage analyst Monika Kiss said in a note. Story continues The bank is seen lowering the amount that commercial banks can keep in the 3-month deposits, which is unlimited now and stands at 1.63 trillion forints ($5.91 billion), to 1 trillion forints by the end of the year. The limit could be lowered gradually and the amount may depend on the pace of the inflow of European Union development funds, which increase liquidity in local markets. Elsewhere, Croatian bonds were steady, but Raiffeisen said in a note they could draw support from the progress of talks to form a government coalition. The kuna eased slightly in line with the regional trend, but was off Monday's 11-week lows. Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect in a series of explosions in New York and New Jersey, was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer in a shootout with police Monday morning in New Jersey. (NBC News) Authorities said the key to breaking the case was a fingerprint found on an unexploded bomb in New York. Meanwhile, flip phones used on devices Chelsea and Seaside, New Jersey were both bought at same store last year. (NBC News) President Barack Obama plans to push world leaders today to do more to meet the needs of the world's refugees, in his final address as president to the annual United Nations summit in New York. (USA Today) Against the backdrop of the U.N. gathering, billionaire investor George Soros is pledging to invest up to $500 million in programs and companies benefiting migrants and refugees fleeing life threatening situations. (CNBC) Donald Trump Jr. set off Twitter outrage , comparing Syrian refugees to poisonous Skittles candy. His tweet read: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." (CNBC) The possibility of a Donald Trump victory over Hillary Clinton, although still small, has risen among U.S.-based business leaders, while expectations that Clinton will assume the presidency have fallen. (CNBC) George H.W. Bush, who lost his presidential re-election campaign to Bill Clinton in 1992, plans to vote for Hillary Clinton. That's according to Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former Maryland lieutenant governor. (Politico) The federal government is issuing new self-driving vehicle guidelines. Effective immediately, the rules tell automakers, suppliers, and tech firms what's expected as they develop and deploy automated technologies. (CNBC) In prepared testimony , Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John Stumpf plans to tell the Senate Banking Committee at a hearing today he's "deeply sorry" for the unauthorized account scandal, and takes "full responsibility." (NY Times) Story continues Samsung said its investigation into one of two reports of Galaxy Note 7 fires in China found no battery problem. The electronics giant announced a global recall of 2.5 million devices due to complaints of batteries burning up. (AP) Wal-Mart (WMT) has completed its $3 billion acquisition of internet retailer Jet.com. Jet's founder Marc Lore, who's joining Wal-Mart as head of U.S. e-commerce, gets a huge payday from the deal. (Reuters) As General Motors (GM) looks to take on Tesla's (TSLA) upcoming Model 3 mass market electric car, it set the price on the Chevrolet Bolt at $37,495, below $30,000 once a federal tax credit is applied. (USA Today) GM and the Canadian autoworkers union announced a tentative contract deal early this morning, averting a 3,900-worker strike that would have shut some manufacturing facilities north of the border. (Reuters) American Airlines (AAL) employees today start wearing a new uniform, the first in nearly three decades, representing one of the last transitions of the American-US Airways merger, which closed in late 2013. (USA Today) Investors will be parsing this morning's August housing starts and building permits data for signs of excessive weakness or strength that might sway the Fed. Economists see starts falling 1.7 percent and permits rising 1.8 percent. On the earnings front, Dow transportation component FedEx (FDX), software maker Adobe Systems (ADBE), and home builder KB Home (KBH) are out with quarterly results after closing bell on Wall Street this afternoon. Ascena Retail (ASNA) reported adjusted profit of 8 cents per share, half of what Wall Street had been expecting. The Ann Taylor parent also warned on guidance. The stock was down more than 20 percent in the premarket. Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings of $1.01 per share. Revenue of $2.83 billion also exceed forecasts. Orders for new homes were up 8 percent. Community Health Systems (CYH) was soaring in premarket trading; up about as much as Monday's loss on reports that the company is in talks to sell assets to Apollo Global Management (APO). Billionaire investor Carl Icahn slashed his stake in Chesapeake Energy (CHK) by more than half. Icahn cited tax planning as the reason for the move, which reduced his stake to 4.55 percent from 9.4 percent. Pier 1 Imports (PIR) now has hedge fund firm Alden Global Capital as a 9.5 percent shareholder. The fund said it has been in contact with the home goods retailer's management about representation on the board. JPMorgan (JPM) is naming Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) investment officer Todd Combs to the bank's board. Intel (INTC) named Bob Swan as its next chief financial officer, replacing longtime CFO Stacy Smith. Swan was eBay's (EBAY) CFO for nine years and helped guide the spinoff of PayPal (PYPL). FedEx (FDX) plans to raise shipping rates in 2017, with an average 3.9 percent increase at FedEx Express and 4.9 percent for its ground services. Rival UPS (UPS) recently unveiled an average rate increase of 4. 9 percent. Fast food chains are testing upscale menu items, such as a Pesto Mozzarella Melt at McDonald's (MCD) and Truffle Bacon Cheeseburgers and Bacon Truffle Fries at Wendy's (WEN). (CNBC) Chelsea Manning, the transgender U.S. soldier jailed for leaking classified information to the Wikileaks website, has said the military is moving forward with her request for gender reassignment surgery. Manning, who recently went on a hunger strike to appeal to the Army to allow her to receive surgery for her gender dysphoria, wrote in an opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper Tuesday that she was given good news last week that the Department of Defense will let her see a surgeon for medical treatment. Although I dont have anything in writing, I was shown a memorandum with my name on it that confirmed the military is moving forward with my request, she said. Everything that they have presented to me leads me to believe that they are going to provide the care that has been recommended by my doctor. I have requested this for nearly a year. However, Manning said she was told she may be punished for attempting suicide in July at a military prison in Missouri. She said she is set to soon face a disciplinary board which can sentence her to indefinite solitary confinement. I lack the words to express how deeply pained I am about this board and the fact that the government is pursuing my punishment so aggressively, she said. Manning said part of the militarys evidence, which she was allowed to briefly see, includes a photograph of herself taken shortly after her suicide attempt. Seeing this photograph has haunted me for the past week. It has disturbed me. It sends a chill down my spine. This hurt me more than any physical injury or hardship I have lived through. This process has forced me to relive one of the worst moments of my entire life, she said. I saw the face of a woman who had given up. I saw the face of woman who, for years, has politely asked, formally requested, and desperately begged for help. The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. [Guardian] Emmy-winning actress Cherry Jones has signed on for Season 3 of ABCs American Crime, Variety has learned exclusively. Jones, who will have a recurring role, will play the matriarch of a large family agricultural operation. She joins previously announced returning cast members Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Connor Jessup, Lili Taylor, as well as Regina King who just won her second Emmy Award for her work in the series. Benito Martinez, who appeared in the first season, is returning as well, but in a larger role this time around. Jones is now also starring in Amazons Transparent, which bows its third season on Sept. 23. Executive producer John Ridley told Variety that the third season of American Crime will focus on workers rights and reproductive rights. And as compared to the first and second seasons, which centered on a single persons guilt or innocence, this season will focus on our greater complicity. Season 3 will be set in North Carolina, where the issue of LGBT rights has been dominating headlines. But this season will be shot in Los Angeles, as the production recently obtained California tax credits. Production began Monday morning. ABC renewed the limited series for an eight-episode Season 3 for a planned 2017 premiere. Related stories 'American Crime' Brings Back Connor Jessup for Season 3 From 'Fargo' to 'People v. O.J.': Emmy Nominees Discuss Limited Series Format Emmys: Is the TV Academy Selling Writers & Directors on Broadcast Shows Short? NEWS BRIEF More than 70 years after a revered Japanese commander was killed by U.S. forces in the South Pacific, his gold tooth may be in the possession of a Chicago hot dog magnate. Dick Portillo, who sold his successful chain of diners for a reported $1 billion two years ago, says the tooth he recovered on an island in Papua New Guinea last year may have belonged to Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander who led the Japanese navy beginning in 1939. If the tooth is confirmed to be Yamamatos, Portillo wants to give it to the Japanese government, according to a Chicago Tribune story Monday about the find. I dont want to make any money, Portillo told the Tribune. I dont care if I keep the tooth, you know what I mean? The value to me is the fun, the experience of doing that, the fact that I had a lot to do with it, and history. About that history. In 1941, Yamamoto orchestrated the attack on Pearl Harbor, even though he opposed war with the United States. Two years later, in April 1943, the commander embarked on a tour of military units in the South Pacific to boost morale after Japan failed to retake the island of Guadalcanal from Allied forces. Japanese forces sent coded messages to those units about Yamamotos visit. The U.S. navy intercepted and decrypted these messages, and warplanes were dispatched. On April 18, 1943, U.S. aircraft shot down the plane carrying Yamamoto, killing everyone on board. The plane crashed in thick jungle of the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville, and tourists can visit and see the wreckage today. Recommended: Donald Trump Jr. Is His Father's Id Portillo, a 76-year-old former Marine, is a World War II history buff, according to the Tribune. He has organized at least five expeditions to South Pacific sites that played important roles in the war. In July 2015, he led a team to Bougainville to survey the wreckage of Yamamotos plane. One of the members of the group, a retired professor, crawled through the fuselage, and on his way out spotted something shiny in the mud nearby: the gold tooth. Story continues Portillo bought it for $14,000 from the local clans who oversee the wreckage site. Back in the U.S., dentists verified it was a human tooth that was forcefully removed. Portillo is still working with contacts in Japan and U.S.-based researchers to confirm whether it came from Yamamotos mouth. That may be difficult since the plane was carrying 10 other men that day, and there are no dental records for Yamamoto, who was cremated after his death. But Portillo, who keeps the tooth inside a prescription medicine bottle, is not deterred. Ill do whatever it takes to find out, he said. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Two of China's top steelmakers announced plans Tuesday to merge,creating the worlds second-largest manufacturer of the commodity as markets struggle with a glut caused by Chinese overcapacity. The world's second largest economy is trying to overhaul its lumbering state sector and especially its steel industry, by using mergers and restructuring to cut chronic overproduction and create world-beating mills. Baosteel Group, Chinas second-largest steelmaker, will issue new stock to existing shareholders of Wuhan Iron and Steel Group to absorb the other company, the state-owned companies said in separate statements to the Shanghai bourse, where they are listed. They did not give details. The two firms rank fifth and 11th respectively in world production capacity. The merger will form a new firm called China Baowu Iron and Steel Group, China Business News reported late Monday, adding the state asset watchdog had already okayed the plan and submitted it to the State Council -- China's cabinet -- for final approval. The combined production capacity of the two firms reached 60.7 million tonnes last year, data from the World Steel Association showed, which would make the new entity the worlds second biggest producer by capacity -- behind ArcelorMittal. Chinese steel demand has slumped as economic growth slows and the global steel industry is assailed by overcapacity. The crisis has seen manufacturers in Asia, Europe and the US suffer huge losses and led to political rows and accusations of dumping. Shanghai-based Baosteel's net profit plummeted 83 percent to 1.0 billion yuan ($150 million) last year, while Wuhan Steel lost 7.5 billion yuan, compared with a 1.3 billion yuan net profit in 2014. - 'Unstoppable trend' - An analyst said the merger between Baosteel and WISG was merely the beginning of more such moves in Chinas steel industry. Restructuring in Chinas steel industry is the trend and it's an unstoppable one, Chen Bingkun, an analyst at Minmetals and Jingyi Futures, told AFP. Story continues Restructuring of another two Chinese steel giants both based in northeastern province of Liaoning -- Ansteel and Benxi Steel Group - is next on the agenda, Shanghai Securities News reported Tuesday. It quoted Chi Jingdong, vice secretary general of the China Iron and Steel Association. Ansteel is the world's seventh biggest mill and Benxi Steel ranks 21st. The listed arms of the two groups suspended trading in Shenzhen on Tuesday pending statements on the report. Investors in Hong Kong cheered the news, with Angang Steel (Ansteel) shares jumping 2.81 percent on Tuesday afternoon. Analysts said the mergers would help China deal with overcapacity that has long plagued manufacturers. Beijing has vowed to eliminate 100-150 million tonnes of capacity -- out of a total of 1.2 billion tonnes -- by 2020. China is now trying to cut down its steel production through policy. And restructuring of the industry is a second way to help. Once the merged giants form a monopoly in the market, it will start to control production, said Minmetalss Chen. The result of this restructuring is to integrate Chinas steel industry and pave the way for China to export its steel capacity. However, another analyst said the merger would not give Chinese mills an edge over global competitors like ArcelorMittal and US Steel. I dont think these mergers will be able to change the current market status of the worlds steel industry, Qin Jiawei, Hangzhou-based analyst with Xinhu Futures, told AFP, adding that high-end markets would still be dominated by foreign companies. Chinas high-end steel products dont have the competitiveness in the international markets. Its not the size of the company that counts. You cant change the global steel market by just adding them up. A Chinese security team successfully hacked a Tesla Model S, and demonstrated several security vulnerabilities. And yes, they showed they could control the car remotely, whether the car was parked or in motion. The Keen Security team at Chinese company Tencent notified Tesla (TSLA) of the hacks, and Tesla issued an update patching the holes in just over a week. The team discussed the hack in a blog post, and in the video above. The hack required a couple of conditions, of course. The driver would have to connect to a malicious WiFi hotspot, and then use the web browser. This is how the hackers were able to gain access. The team advised Tesla owners to ensure they have the latest software update, on their post: "PLEASE DO UPDATE THE FIRMWARE OF YOUR TESLA CAR TO THE LATEST VERSION TO ENSURE THAT THE ISSUES ARE FIXED AND AVOID POTENTIAL DRIVING SAFETY RISKS." Teslas are certainly not the only cars that can be hacked Chrysler recalled 1.4 million cars in early 2015 after a team of researchers hacked into and remotely controlled a Jeep. Whereas Tesla updated the software over the air, Chrysler owners had to contact the company for a USB stick with the update on it. Tesla provided this statement to CNBC: Within just 10 days of receiving this report, Tesla has already deployed an over-the-air software update (v7.1, 2.36.31) that addresses the potential security issues. The issue demonstrated is only triggered when the web browser is used, and also required the car to be physically near to and connected to a malicious wifi hotspot. Our realistic estimate is that the risk to our customers was very low, but this did not stop us from responding quickly. We engage with the security research community to test the security of our products so that we can fix potential vulnerabilities before they result in issues for our customers. We commend the research team behind today's demonstration and plan to reward them under our bug bounty program, which was set up to encourage this type of research. A Cambodian court sentenced two Chinese nationals and a local man to life in prison on Tuesday for trafficking 55 kilograms (121 pounds) of methamphetamine and heroin, one of the country's biggest drug seizures. The two Chinese men -- Ly Yong, 43, and Deng Yuan Ping, 53 -- were arrested in June last year alongside a Cambodian couple after a police raid uncovered the drugs worth an estimated $3 million. The heroin and meth were smuggled from the Golden Triangle -- the region along the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos which remains a major global drug production hub. They were destined for the market both in Cambodia and abroad, police said. Judge Pech Vicheathor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court found the two Chinese and the local man guilty both of producing and trafficking drugs. The trio were also fined a total of 180 million riel ($45,000). The Cambodian man's girlfriend was also jailed for five years and fined six million riel ($1,500) for her involvement. Another Cambodian man, who remains at large, was sentenced to life imprisonment in his absence. Cambodia has become a popular smuggling route for narcotics, particularly methamphetamine and heroin, since neighbouring Thailand toughened its stance on illegal drugs in the early 2000s. Cambodia has intensified its war on drugs in recent years and there have been hundreds of arrests, some involving senior officials. Last year police uncovered nearly 1.5 tonnes of marijuana worth more than $7 million packed into coffee bags. SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese police repatriated a fugitive from France for the first time since the two countries signed an extradition treaty which came into effect in 2015, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua said. The suspect surnamed Chen, who was detained by French police in October, is accused of taking public funds of more than 20 million yuan ($3 million) without authorization, said Xinhua, citing police from the city of Ruian in Zhejiang province. China has been trying to get increased international cooperation to hunt down suspected corrupt officials who have fled overseas since President Xi Jinping began a war against deeply-rooted graft more than three years ago. But Western countries have been reluctant to help, or sign extradition treaties, not wanting to send people back to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of criminal suspects remains a problem, and also complaining China is unwilling to provide proof of their crimes. Beijing has vowed to pursue an overseas search dubbed Operation "Fox Hunt" for corrupt officials and business executives, and their assets. ($1 = 6.6700 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting By Nathaniel Taplin; Editing by Michael Perry) passengers sony One of the most anticipated movies this winter is the teaming of mega-stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in the sci-fi thriller, "Passengers." Pratt and Lawrence play two passengers who wake up 90 years too early during a trip to a colony planet to discover that they're the only two awake on the ship as it travels through space. The two soon realize what happened and that they're the only ones who can save the ship and the thousands of other passengers currently in hibernation. Sony will release the movie December 21. Here's the first trailer: NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life More From Business Insider New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called on residents of the state to be vigilant instead of intimidated on Monday, September 19. Speaking after a suspicious device was discovered by a train station in Elizabeth earlier that day, Christie encouraged New Jersey residents to inform law enforcement about anything strange. The device exploded as a bomb squad attempted to disarm it. Christie said he believed the Elizabeth blast was related to an earlier explosion in New Yorks Chelsea neighborhood on September 17 and that he had discussed the matter with US President Barack Obama, The New York Times reported. The September 17 Chelsea blast injured 29 people, who were released from hospital the following day. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old suspect in the bombing, was taken into custody on September 18 after exchanging fire with police officers in Linden, New Jersey. Two officers were injured in the shootout. Credit: YouTube/GovChristie New Location Enables Company to Access Deep Talent Pool AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / CipherLoc Corporation (CLOK), a leading supplier of high-value security solutions, today announced it has completed moving its corporate headquarters office from Henderson, Nevada to Austin, Texas. The move stems from CipherLoc's desire to access the deep talent pools present in Austin to accommodate upcoming hiring growth as the company begins scaling its operations. "With the impending launch of our initial wave of products later this month, it was important for us to find a city that would allow us to quickly scale our operations as we move from a development stage company to one focused on growth," said Michael DeLaGarza, President and CEO at CipherLoc. "Austin's strong and vibrant technology foundation combined with its underappreciated strength in the security industry made it an ideal choice for us." The new CipherLoc headquarters are located in the fast-growing suburb of Buda, TX located southwest of downtown Austin. CipherLoc is actively hiring in Austin in several areas, including software development, test, and support. Please visit our website at www.cipherloc.net for more information on the company and employment opportunities. About CipherLoc Corporation (CLOK) CipherLoc Corporation is a data security solutions company whose vision is simple - Protect the World's Data. Our highly innovative solutions are based on our patented Polymorphic Cipher Engine which is designed to enable an ironclad layer of protection to be added to existing products, services, or applications. We deliver solutions that are highly secure, synergistic, and scalable. In short, we keep information safe in today's highly dangerous world. For further information, please go to www.cipherloc.net. Media Contact Mike Salas msalas@cipherloc.net SOURCE: CipherLoc Corporation Sometimes crises provoke national conversations about American values and the wisdom of contending policy choices. But thats not whats happened aftermath of attacks in New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota. Even before police in New Jersey arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect in explosions on Saturday and Monday, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had begun a fierce debate in which each side accused the other not just of misguided policies but of actively aiding ISIS, the latest nasty bout in a nasty campaign. Speaking to reporters at a press conference Monday morning in Philadelphia, Clinton said that Trumps rhetoric about Muslims made him a recruiting sergeant for the terrorists. That language stuck outThe New York Times called it most drastic version yet of an attack Mrs. Clinton has tried out recentlythough actually, she has been using that line for some time. In April, for example, she told Henry Blodget, I think it was said just this week that the way Donald Trump talks about terrorism and his very insulting language towards Muslims is making him the recruiting sergeant for ISIS. Recommended: Trumpism Is The Symptom of a Gravely Ill Constitution Trumps campaign took quick umbrage. Spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement: Hillary Clintons comments today accusing Mr. Trump of treason are not only beyond the pale, its also an attempt to distract from her horrible record on ISIS. If Clinton really wants to find the real cause of ISIS, she needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror. The decision to remove all American troops from Iraq in 2011, which was vigorously supported by Clinton, created the vacuum that led to the founding of ISIS. Nothing she says or does can ever un-ring that bell. Meanwhile, Trump posted on Facebook, arguing that Hillary Clinton's weakness while she was Secretary of State, has emboldened terrorists all over the world to attack the U.S., even on our own soil. They are hoping and praying that Hillary Clinton becomes President - so that they can continue their savagery and murder. He later expanded on that sentiment in a campaign statement. Story continues There is no small irony to Trumps complaint that Clinton was accusing him of treason. Clintons accusation was certainly provocative, but it not as stunning as what Trump said about President Obama after the Orlando shooting. At that time, he suggested that Obama may have known about the shooting and done nothing. He acted outraged when the press reported those comments, but he promptly added that Obama put the interests of American allies over the countrys interest. Later, he said Obama founded ISIS, a statement that clearly was hyperbolic and not intended to be taken literally, although he insisted he meant it that way, before reversing course and calling his statement sarcasm. Recommended: The Death of 'He Said, She Said' Journalism Clintons claim is based on statements made by former intelligence officials. In March, Al Jazeera asked Michael Hayden, the former head of the CIA and NSA, whether Trumps rhetoric about Muslims made him a recruiting sergeant for ISIS. Hayden said it did. More recently, after Clinton said on Israeli TV that the group prays to Allah for Trump victory, Matt Olsen, the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote, Trumps anti-Muslim proposals are likely to inspire and radicalize more violent jihadists in the U.S. and Europe. Trump has shown a predilection for the rhetorical turn best known as Im rubber, youre glue. When Clinton began assailing her temperament, he added a long attack on her temperament to his stump speech. Last week, after spending five years pushing conspiracy theories about whether Obama was born in the United States, Trump argued that Clinton had started the whole thing, which was both untrue and an odd claim for someone who had so eagerly adopted the theory. His response to Clintons recruiting sergeant jab is to simply turn it around on Clinton and say that shes the real recruiting sergeant. Even by the standards of this election, it was a fast trip from attack to mutual accusations of treason. There are reasons Trump might not want to get into a more detailed policy argument. In particular, his solutions are often shallow, unconstitutional, or both. On Monday, he appeared on Fox and Friends, where he promised to do something extremely tough to stop ISIS. Like what, asked Steve Doocy, not ordinarily known as a tough questioner. Trumps response: Like knock the hell out of them. We have to get everybody together and and we have to lead for a change. Because were not knocking them. Were hitting them every once in a while. Were hitting them in certain places. Were being very gentle about it. We have to be very tough and you have other countries who are getting devastated far more than we are and you have to get them together. Its called leadership. They have to fight. They have to fight the battle. The battle is over there. And we have to fight the battle and we cant let any more people come into this country and when we have bad oneswe have people going over fighting for ISIS and coming back and we know they are fighting for ISIS and we take them. Once you leave this country, you fight for ISIS, you never come back. Elsewhere in the interview, he claimed that the Obama administration was planning to let 100,000 new Syrian refugees into the country, which is both untruethe 2017 goal is 110,000 refugees from across the globeand largely irrelevant, as the suspects in both New York and Minnesota were not Syrian refugees. Rahamis family came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 1995, long before ISIS or the Syrian civil war, and was granted asylum in the U.S. in 2011, and Rahami himself is a citizen. Its unclear how one would vet a seven-year-old, on which basis Chris Christie in November argued against admitting even five-year-old orphan refugees. The asylum decision came when Clinton was secretary of state, which will almost certainly become a line of attack for Trump. Recommended: The Many Scandals of Donald Trump: A Cheat Sheet During the Fox and Friends interviews, Trump also made some cryptic comments about bomb designs that appeared to argue for limits on press freedom, as he admitted: So I see the other day, and they're all talking about it so wonderfully because it's called freedom of the presswhere you buy magazines and they tell you how to make the same bombs that you saw. I wouldnow people will go crazy, they'll say Trump is against freedom of the press. I'm totally in favor of freedom of the press. But how do you allow magazines to be soldthese are magazines that tell you, from step one, go to the store and buy such-and-such, right? Its unclear quite what magazines hes referring to. The Anarchist Cookbook, a book, has been in circulation for decades. The other notable publication offering bomb recipes is Inspire, the Al Qaeda periodical. Its publishers, however, are overseas, and the Obama administrations approach was far more aggressive than simple arrests: It killed Samir Khan, an American citizen believed to be Inspires editor, in a 2011 drone strike. Elsewhere on Monday, Trump lamented that Rahami would receive medical treatment and a lawyer, as constitutionally required. Clinton, for her part, has offered more detail about how shed approach homegrown terrorism and national security. Its a fairly straightforward, sober, predictable set of ideas: Make sure first responders and police are trained in prevention; improve intelligence gathering; enact stronger gun controls; and improve relationships between Muslim American communities and law enforcement. In other words, Clinton wants to basically stay the course on Obamas strategy for homegrown terror. Theres nothing flashy, and the hard truth underlying it is that some number of attacks is inevitable. She might rather trade allegations of treason, too. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. By Amanda Becker and Emily Flitter WASHINGTON/HIGH POINT, N.C. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton consulted national security advisers on Tuesday after weekend bomb blasts renewed fears of domestic attacks, as Republican Donald Trump accused her of pushing policies that made the United States less safe. The two rivals in the Nov. 8 election have been vying to portray themselves as the best equipped to protect the nation. The domestic security issue returned to the forefront after a New York City bomb injured 29 people, a pipe bomb went off and unexploded bombs turned up in separate incidents in New Jersey, and a man stabbed 10 people at a Minnesota mall. Clinton spoke by phone with former Defense Department official Michele Flournoy, former CIA deputy head Mike Morell and other advisers, her campaign said in an email. "We can't lose our cool and start ranting and waving our arms," Clinton said on the call, according to her campaign in an apparent reference to Trump. "We shouldn't toss around extreme proposals that won't be effective and lose sight of who we are. That's what the terrorists are aiming for." The call was supposed to be open to news media, but when reporters called in, they could not hear anything. Clinton's campaign provided notes to reporters afterward. Clinton has called for better intelligence, new efforts to counter online recruiting of militants and smashing Islamic State strongholds in the Middle East. She has said Trump's rhetoric against what he calls "radical Islamic terrorism" is helping Islamic State recruit more fighters. At a rally in High Point, North Carolina, Trump countered by saying that Clinton, as Democratic President Barack Obama's first secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, backed policies that made the United States less safe. "I'm much tougher than her on this horrible situation, but she goes around saying it's a recruiting tool," Trump said. The New York businessman accused Clinton of supporting policies in Iraq and Syria that he said allowed Islamic State to take root. Trump has pointed to the pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011 - which occurred after the Obama administration and Iraqi leaders could not agree on the withdrawal - and what he has characterized as a push for regime change in Syria. A U.S.-led coalition has conducted air strikes on Islamic State in Iraq and northern Syria. Trump also criticized Clinton for supporting the entry of some Syrian refugees into the United States, reiterating his call for tougher vetting of people seeking admission. He has instead proposed safe zones for refugees, which he says Gulf states would fund. "There's nothing like doing things with other people's money," Trump said at a rally later on Tuesday in Kenansville, North Carolina. On Monday, U.S. authorities arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami following a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, in connection with the Saturday night bombing in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Rahami, 28, is a naturalized American citizen born in Afghanistan. Law enforcement officials were also investigating the stabbings, also on Saturday night, at the St. Cloud, Minnesota, mall as "an act of terrorism. An off-duty policeman fatally shot the attacker, Dahir Adan, 20, whom an Islamic State news agency claimed as "a soldier" of the militant group. Reuters could not verify the claim. Adan came from a Somali family that settled in the United States. 'GRAVY TRAIN' At the Kenansville rally, Trump said he would dislodge a political establishment that he said ignored working people. "They go to the same restaurants, they go to the same conferences, they have the same friends and connections, they write checks to the same think tanks and produce the same papers, it's a gravy train that never ends," Trump said. Democrats, in turn, criticized Trump's business activities. U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid called the real estate developer a "fraud" in a speech on the Senate floor, pointing to his multiple bankruptcies and lawsuits. Clinton's campaign repeated its call for Trump to release his tax returns after The Washington Post reported Trump's charitable foundation had spent thousands of dollars to settle lawsuits involving his businesses. (Additional reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington; Writing by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Peter Cooney) By James Oliphant NEW YORK (Reuters) - With national security again a major U.S. election issue after bombings in New York and New Jersey, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump sought to burnish their foreign-policy credentials on Monday by meeting world leaders at the United Nations. For Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, it was a return to a role she knows well after she served as President Barack Obama's secretary of state for four years. Trump, the Republican nominee, is a newcomer to the global stage who is hurriedly trying to play catch-up. In rapid succession, Clinton met briefly with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Trump also met Sisi minutes after the Egyptian leader spoke with Clinton in the same Manhattan hotel. The meetings came on a day that started with Clinton suggesting Trumps harsh rhetoric toward Muslims aids the Islamic State militant group's recruiting efforts. Trump pushed back, arguing the United States was less safe as a result of Obama and Clintons policies. Security questions arose in each of Mondays bilateral sessions, which took place as world leaders gathered for the U.N. General Assembly, with Clinton and Abe discussing concerns over North Korea and maritime issues involving China. Clinton and Trump both spoke with Sisi about working more closely with Egypt to combat the Islamic State threat. Trumps campaign released a statement saying that Trump "highlighted how Egypt and the U.S. share a common enemy and the importance of working together in defeating radical Islamic terrorism." With Clinton, Sisi also discussed his goal of moving Egypt toward "a new civil society, a new modern country that upholds the rule of law and respects human rights and liberties." Clinton and Poroshenko addressed Russian incursions into Ukrainian territory. Clinton started the session by saying Ukraine faces very real problems and threats from Russian aggression and that she was anxious to know how we can be supportive. The session also resonated because of Trumps praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month. Trump called Putin a stronger leader than Obama, rattling both Democrats and Republicans in Washington. The evening was not without drama, starting with Clintons motorcade zooming through packed New York streets at rush hour and then quickly rushing from hotel to hotel. Trump also tried to bolster his foreign policy credentials last month when he went to Mexico to meet President Enrique Pena Nieto, but both sides ended up disagreeing about whether who would pay to build a border wall had been discussed. Clinton called that episode an embarrassing international incident. (Reporting by James Oliphant; Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy and Emily Flitter; Editing by Paul Tait) After 15 years off the road, BMW Films is bringing back its series of short films with Clive Owen reprising his role as "The Driver." The new short, titled The Escape, is being directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) and co-stars Dakota Fanning, Jon Bernthal and Vera Farmiga. Presented as an homage to the original series -- which featured Owen and such A-list directors as Alejandro G. Inarritu, Ang Lee and the late John Frankenheimer -- The Escape will premiere on Oct. 23 at 6:00 p.m. EST on BMWFilms.com. Blomkamp got a call from his agent at WME saying that BMW was looking for a director to relaunch the series with Owen. "I was like, 'Man, count me in,'" Blomkamp told The Hollywood Reporter. "When I was in film school, these films were really groundbreaking. They seemed like the perfect halfway point between commercials and features. I actually emailed the production company as a 20 year old and was like, 'I'd really like to make one of these,' They wrote back, 'Never contact us again.' And here I am [laughs]." The critically acclaimed original series, dubbed The Hire, included eight short films that were released over two seasons from 2001-02. Each film featured then-rising star Owen as the mysterious driver hired to complete various missions. Directors also included Joe Carnahan, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, John Woo and the late Tony Scott. The series, which was released without the benefit of high-speed Internet or YouTube, received more than 100 million views online. BMW not only brought back Owen for The Escape but also creative director Bruce Bildsten, executive producer Brian DiLorenzo and David Carter, who in addition to serving as a creative consultant, co-wrote the film alongside Blomkamp. The trio then brought together a group of producers and designers to bring the film to life. In addition to Owen, original talent included Gary Oldman, Forest Whitaker, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle and Madonna. Season 1 of The Hire was executive produced by David Fincher, while Season 2 was executive produced by Tony and Ridley Scott. Story continues Blomkamp shot the The Escape this past summer and just wrapped visual effects this week. He used drones and disposable cameras to film the signature car maneuverings. Though he wouldn't disclose the budget on the 11-minute film, he said it was substantial. "On a cost-per-minute basis, it was pretty close to major feature film territory," Blomkamp added. Sanaa (AFP) - Aircraft of the Saudi-led coalition hit the UNESCO-listed Old City of Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday after the rebels fired a missile at Saudi Arabia overnight. The missile launched at the King Khalid air base outside the city of Khamis Mushait on Monday evening was intercepted by the kingdom's air defences and its launcher destroyed, the coalition said. But it sparked intensive retaliatory air strikes in the early hours of Tuesday. Around a dozen bombs or missiles hit the headquarters of the National Security Bureau in Sanaa's Old City, causing damage to neighbouring homes which left at least one civilian dead and three wounded, witnesses said. It was the first time that the headquarters had been targeted by the coalition, which has come under heavy criticism for previous strikes on the historic district, which is world renowned for its multi-storey, rammed-earth tower houses. The coalition also bombed the defence ministry, near one of the gates to the Old City, ministry staff and residents said. A coalition strike on a checkpoint in the capital's northwestern suburbs killed two rebels and wounded four residents said. Two rebel military camps in the Sanhan district, southeast of the capital, also came under attack by coalition aircraft, tribal sources said. There has been heavy criticism of the high civilian death toll from the air campaign which the coalition launched in support of beleaguered President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in March last year. More than a third of coalition strikes have hit civilian sites including schools, hospitals and mosques, according to a survey by the Yemen Data Project published in the Guardian last week. A UN report in June found the coalition responsible for 60 percent of the 785 deaths of children in Yemen last year. Fighting has intensified since the collapse of UN-backed peace talks in Kuwait on August 6. Since March last year, the conflict has killed more than 6,600 people, most of them civilians, and forced at least three million from their homes, according to the United Nations. On Tuesday, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, her husband of two years and partner of nearly 12 years. Tabloids have always fixated on the couple, but Brangelina continued to raise their six children, participating in humanitarian projects and even making wine together at their French chateau. Oh, and the movies theyre actors, after all. Lets take a look back at all of Brangelinas most important moments. Summer 2004: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie start filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a steamy action-comedy movie about two (married) spies. Due to scheduling conflicts, they hadnt met before filming their first scene. At this point, Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had been married for nearly five years, while Jolie was still considered a wild card with unusual taste. (Fun fact: in a recent revelation, Gwen Stefani shared that she auditioned for the role of Mrs. Smith. I feel like I almost got it, she said, leading us to imagine that in another universe, Brangelina didnt even happen.) March 2005: After a months-long formal separation, Jennifer Aniston files for divorce from Pitt, citing irreconcilable differences. Summer 2005: As they make the publicity rounds for the premiere of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, rumors ramp up, culminating in a sultry Domestic Bliss photo shoot with W magazine featuring the two playing house. But nothing is confirmed; Pitts divorce is not yet complete. Fall 2005: Pitt and Anistons divorce is finalized in October 2005. In November, Jolie, a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and active humanitarian, heads to Pakistan to participate in earthquake relief efforts and Pitt is snapped accompanying her on the aid trip. Winter 2006: Its well and truly on: Jolie confirms to People that she is having a baby with Pitt. Soon after, he legally adopts Maddox and Zahara Jolie, her two adopted children, and they change the childrens last names to Jolie-Pitt. Story continues May 2006: Their daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, is born in Namibia. October 2006: Despite their growing brood, Pitt insists that marriage is not their goal, telling Esquire that they will only tie the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able, prompting same-sex marriage advocates to applaud the two. January 2007: The couple are spotted setting up shop in a historic 1830s mansion in New Orleanss French Quarter, which they will call home as Pitt works on his Make It Right project to rebuild the city following Hurricane Katrina. He first became involved in New Orleans while shooting the award-winning Curious Case of Benjamin Button. March 2007: The two continue to expand their family, adopting three-year-old son Pax Thien from Vietnam. May 2008: Jolie reveals shes pregnant with twins when then the couple appears on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. (Shes promoting Kung Fu Panda at the time, a franchise she will remain involved in for the foreseeable future.) In 2008, they also sign a long-term lease on a French chateau, where they begin spending time regularly. July 2008: Twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon are born in France. The exclusive first photos of the twins are sold for $14 million to People and Hello!; its the costliest set of photos sold in tabloid history at that time. September 2011: While on press tour for Moneyball, Pitt is quoted in Parade as saying that during the end of his relationship with Aniston, he was trying to pretend the marriage was something that it wasnt, and that meeting Jolie was reinvigorating for him. December 2011: In an interview with Christiane Amanpour, Jolie mentions that her children keep asking about when their parents will get married. Weve explained to them that our commitment when we decided to start a family was the greatest commitment you could possibly have. Once you have six children, youre committed, she said. A month later, Pitt tells the Hollywood Reporter that wedding bells might be in their future: But I dont think well be able to hold out. It means so much to my kids, and they ask a lot. And it means something to me, too, to make that kind of commitment. April 2012: The two announce they are engaged to be married. It is a promise for the future and their kids are very happy. Theres no date set at this time, Pitts manager told People. March 2013: The couple debut their wine, an award-winning rose, which is made at their 1,000-acre vineyard and named after their home of Chateau Miraval in Correns, France. All 6,000 bottles sell out within minutes, and it is later named a top vintage by Wine Spectator. May 2013: Jolie writes an op-ed in the New York Times sharing her choice to undergo a double mastectomy, citing genetic predispositions towards breast cancer. I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive, she wrote. Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of. August 2014: Finally, in a private, secret ceremony at their chateau, Brad and Angelina formalize their union with a wedding attended by a small number of guests and their six children. December 2014: The two actors appear together on the big screen again but this time, Jolie wrote and directed the film. Critics didnt love By the Sea, a melancholy meditation on a disintegrating marriage. Sharing something in a deep artistic way, its something I think is necessary for artistic couples, Jolie said at the time. I hadnt realized how good it would be for us. Jolies World War II movie Unbroken would also premiere that month. May 2015: After spending eight years with their New Orleans house, Brad and Angelina decide to say goodbye to their French Quarter home, listing it for $6.5 million and dropping the price nearly $1 million just six months later when it fails to sell. September 2016: Pitt is profiled by writer Marlon James for the New York Times. In the story, James pointedly avoids discussing Pitts marriage or family life. Maybe Brad Pitt is a regular guy, James concludes after spending time with the actor, who has several upcoming films to promote: romantic thriller Allied and War Machine. He seems more like the Dude than a dad. Sept. 19, 2016: Jolie files for divorce. In a statement, Pitt told People that his focus is on the well-being of our kids. Harrowing images of a man apparently dragging his young daughter by the hair through a Texas Walmart are being circulated around the internet as one concerned mother has spoken out. Read: Parents Arrested After Blind, Autistic Boy, 17, Found Weighing Just 88 Pounds "Somebody had to stand up for her," Erika Burch of Cleveland told InsideEdition.com. "She can't stand up for herself. Whatever he's doing, big or small, if I'm there, I'm going to stop and say something." Burch posted a series of images on Facebook Monday of what appeared to be a man pushing a shopping cart with his daughter's hair wrapped around the handle of the buggy. Read: Parents Face Manslaughter Charges After Toddler Dies From Meth Poisoning "She was hunched over, her knees are bent," Burch told InsideEdition.com. "She's saying 'Please stop, I won't do it again.' She's saying it slow like she knows not to say it loud, because she's going to get in trouble." According to some parents who claim they know the girl, she may even have autism. Burch, who has four children under 7 years old herself, said she didn't hesitate to intervene. She said she began arguing with the man in the photograph, as an employee brought out tissues for the young girl to dry her tears. When she called the cops, Cleveland Police Department's Sergeant Bartley responded to the scene. "The Cleveland Police Department has received numerous calls in regards to a child having her hair pulled last night at Cleveland Wal-Mart," the Cleveland Police Department wrote on Facebook Tuesday. According to the post, the police department is continuing their investigation into the case alongside child protective services. Read: Uncle Pleads Guilty in Case of 9-Year-Old Boy Beaten to Death Over a Piece of Birthday Cake The Cleveland Police Department has not responded to InsideEdition.com's request for further comment. Story continues "I want this little girl to know it's not okay for anybody to pull you by your hair," Burch told InsideEdition.com, "especially the people you're supposed to be safe with. I want her to know that people do care about her." Watch: A Toddler Found a Bag of Crystal Meth While Christmas Shopping With Mom at Walmart Related Articles: ConocoPhillips COP is on track to divest its entire 40% stake in an oil and gas production sharing block that it operates on the South Natuna Sea Block B off Indonesia. The asset will be purchased by Indonesias PT Medco Energi Tbk. This acquisition is being viewed by many as an attempt by Indonesian officials to strengthen defenses of the nations maritime borders by ramping up of energy projects as well as boosting resource nationalism. The block is located in an energy-rich chain at the edge of the South China Sea in the Natuna Islands. Notably, Indonesia has faced increasingly aggressive maritime moves by China in this region. If the deal goes ahead, Medco's acquisition of ConocoPhillips' interest in the block off the northwest coast of Borneo island would follow its purchase of a majority stake in Indonesia's second-biggest copper and gold miner, Newmont Nusa Tenggara, for $1.3 billion. Neither of the companies disclosed any details relating to the transaction. However, a Medco spokeswoman said that the transaction value is much less than the Newmont deal. Medcos shareholders are expected to vote on this acquisition by the end of September. CONOCOPHILLIPS Price CONOCOPHILLIPS Price | CONOCOPHILLIPS Quote The deal, which is expected to conclude by year-end 2016, also covers related transportation systems and an onshore receiving terminal. ConocoPhillips has been contemplating the sale of its interest in Block B and related facilities in the Natunas since Aug 2015. The block in the Natunas produces about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas and 30,000 barrels of oil a day. Other partners are Chevron Corp. CVX and Japans Inpex Corp., holding 25% and 35%, respectively. ConocoPhillips has been operating the facility for almost five decades and has an operating contract in place till 2028. The company also has oil and gas assets in other parts of Indonesias portion of Borneo island and in the south of Sumatra island. ConocoPhillips currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players from the energy sector are Enbridge Inc. ENB and Murphy USA Inc. MUSA. Both these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MURPHY USA INC (MUSA): Free Stock Analysis Report CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report ENBRIDGE INC (ENB): Free Stock Analysis Report CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Amidst continued uncertainty over copyright royalty collections in Russia, the local music industry is expressing concerns about the government's proposed plan to take control over the sector. A letter from the recording industry in Russia -- signed by many prominent players including the heads of Universal Music Russia, Warner Music Russia and Sony Music Russia -- was recently sent to first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov and quoted by the business daily Vedomosti, government control would destroy the existing system, not reform it. The government's control over copyright royalty collection would lead to prevalence of state interests over rights holders' private interests, the letter says. Signees also point out that, under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, signed by Russia, intellectual rights cannot be transferred to government institutions. The government has become more serious about taking over the sector -- a position first voiced a year ago, but which received no support at the time -- just as the country's sole state-approved collection society for authors' rights, RAO, remains mired in controversy. Last week, a Moscow court declined to release the RAO's general director Sergei Fedotov from jail. Fedotov has been jailed since late June on suspicions of fraud. Meanwhile, RAO is effectively split; a group of its members held a conference in late August, replacing Fedotov with Maxim Dmitriyev, head of First Music Publisher. However RAO's management insists the conference was illegitimate, as it could only be called by the organization's board, not a splinter group of members. Last week, two members of RAO board members filed a lawsuit questioning the outcome of the conference, but bizarrely filed their lawsuit not against the organizers of the controversial conference, but against RAO itself. A spokesman for RAO explained the confusion to Billboard. "You can't file a lawsuit against a bunch of people with no legal status," he said. "So, RAO is the main defendant, and those individuals are included in the lawsuit as third parties. Now the court will be able to make a decision about the legality of the conference." Story continues Over the last week or so, the battle over control of RAO has heated up. According to RAO management, Dmitriyev has made attempts to block RAO's bank accounts. "He was unable to do so," RAO's spokesman said. "There have been no changes to the register of organizations, and we're working normally." Meanwhile, Dmitriyev was quoted by Vedomosti as saying that his appointment will be soon confirmed by the country's justice ministry. The ministry, however, says it has no right to do so. Now, the court's decision on the legitimacy of the conference is expected to clarify the situation over RAO, but a date for a hearing has not yet been set. Washington (AFP) - A US federal appeals court heard challenges Tuesday to Washington's strict gun-carry law, a battle in the debate over firearms that has divided the country and the two presidential candidates. Cases brought by supporters of the right to bear arms under the US Constitution's Second Amendment are attacking the constitutionality of the law, among the strictest in the country. Lawyers representing the District of Columbia (DC), the other name for the US capital Washington, faced tough questions from the appeals court judges. The city, home to the White House, Congress, political organizations and international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, makes it difficult for gun owners to carry concealed weapons. DC gun laws in general prohibit the carrying of a firearm. And to obtain a license to carry a concealed gun, DC law requires the person to provide a "good reason," such as a reason to fear injury to themselves or the need to transport money. The simple fact of living in a troubled neighborhood is not sufficient. "Why should someone show a need for self-defense?" said Judge Thomas Griffith. He sketched a scenario in which an unarmed woman's choices in a bad area are limited to running away from a threat or using martial arts to confront it. In practice, the DC government just trickles out licenses for carrying firearms, which must be concealed in clothing or a bag, to the consternation of supporters of the Second Amendment's right to bear arms. Their challenges, which have met with mixed responses in lower courts, have risen to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It is considered by many to rank second in stature only to the Supreme Court. - Divided states - The decision of the federal appeals court will resonate far beyond the borders of the compact city and its population of 672,000. The debate over gun control is fierce in the country wracked by gun violence and is a hot issue on the campaign trail ahead of the November 8 presidential election. Story continues Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is endorsed by the National Rifle Association, a powerful lobby that rains money in Congress. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has vowed to take on the gun lobby and is campaigning for tighter gun control laws. Four states -- California, Maryland, New Jersey and New York -- have concealed-carry laws similar to DC's. Dozens of states have filed supporting arguments for the DC law to the appeals court. About 15 other states called on the appeals court to declare it unconstitutional. In the court debate Tuesday, DC authorities defended the need for the gun-carrying limits to protect public safety. "On crowded city streets of the District, the bystanders are everywhere," said Loren Alikhan, DC deputy solicitor general. Her argument drew a retort from David Thompson, a lawyer specialized in Second Amendment gun rights. "The people who are the biggest victims of the District ban are the people who live in the dangerous neighborhoods," Thompson said, implying that they need a gun for their safety. In 2008, gun rights supporters won a landmark victory in the Supreme Court, which overturned the city's law banning possession of a handgun. Eight years later, they are trying to extend that victory by pushing for the US capital to join dozens of states in allowing the carrying of firearms -- with variations according to the models -- whether they are concealed or not. There have been multiple reports of sightings of creepy clowns across the Southeast several of them false, authorities in multiple states are alleging. In two recent cases in Georgia and North Carolina, three people have been accused of falsely reporting clown sightings and now face misdemeanor charges, PEOPLE confirms. David Wayne Armstrong, 24, was arrested on Sept. 9 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after police allege he lied about seeing a clown knock on his window before he chased it into the woods, according to an incident report obtained by PEOPLE. Police allege Armstrong later admitted he lied. In Troup County, Georgia, on Sept. 14, Brandon Moody, 26, and 27-year-old Rebecca Moody were arrested after allegedly falsely reporting that they saw clowns in the area, the sheriff's office said. Both Moodys were charged with obstruction and unlawful conduct during a 911 call. It was not immediately clear if the Moodys had entered pleas to the charges or retained attorneys, though the typical punishment for such misdemeanors is a fine. Armstrong tells PEOPLE he has not entered a plea and says, "I really do wish I could take that night back." But he says he had a personal health crisis and panic attack that day and was acting irrationally. He says he is due back in court in November. "I want the real truth out there," Armstrong says. "I am tired of getting all these evil looks." (PEOPLE was not immediately able to reach local police in his case or Brandon or Rebecca Moody for comment.) In a third, more serious case, police in LaGrange, Georgia, said Friday they had warrants out for four people on charges of terroristic threats and disrupting public schools after the suspects allegedly made Facebook threats on Sept. 12. The suspects allegedly said they would attack three LaGrange schools dressed as "creepy clowns," police said, further noting the "significant resources" they spent in the investigation In a similar case, in Alabama, police have reportedly arrested one woman for alleged terroristic threats after a social media account called "Flomo Klown," with profile photos of a clown, allegedly threatened students in Flomaton, Alabama, triggering a school lockdown. Three juveniles were arrested with the woman, 22-year-old Makayla Smith, according to reports. None of the suspects are connected to Flomaton schools, authorities said, according to AL.com. 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. It's unclear what charges the juveniles face while Smith faces one charge of making a terroristic threat, according to AL.com and Atmore News. Her bond was set at $200,000 at a Monday bond hearing, according to AL.com. She did not have an attorney at that hearing and it's unclear if she has entered a plea. (PEOPLE was not immediately able to reach local police, court officials or Smith for comment.) Widespread Clown Reports: 'This Is Not Funny' The string of arrests this month comes after weeks of spreading clown sightings first in Greenville, South Carolina, in late August, after which sightings were reported in Greensboro, North Carolina, and then Georgia, Maryland and Kentucky. In one case, in Greenville, children told local deputies that clowns had approached them behind their apartment complex and tried to lure them into the woods with money. While multiple people in different cities, including children, have reported the sightings to authorities, law enforcement officials have told PEOPLE they've been repeatedly unable to locate the menacing individuals or evidence of a crime. In Winston-Salem, for example, police said earlier this month they were unable to substantiate any of the local sightings and even debunked a report of clowns trying to lure kids into the woods after reviewing surveillance footage. Still, authorities acknowledge the stress and fear generated by such behavior, prank or not, and have discouraged "copycat behavior." One viral Facebook video last week, showing a clown "sighting," was later revealed to be a prank, while the Maryland reports, from four schoolchildren, were found false after the kids admitted they made it up, according to the Washington Post. "If this is a hoax or publicity stunt it is not funny," Greensboro police spokeswoman Susan Danielsen previously told PEOPLE. "It is alarming to the public and a drain on police resources. We just don't know at this point, because we haven't had the chance to interview any clowns." Immigration has been the signature issue of political campaigns that want to appeal to Latinos, a group that has grown to encompass 17 percent of the population. But the last few years have poked big holes in the idea that Latinos only care about immigration, showing that Latino voters also care about terrorism, social security, and the environment. A growing number of Latinos are also becoming concerned about criminal justice reform, as more join the call for systemic changes at the federal and state levels. Latinos are overrepresented both among victims of violence and among those behind bars. Latinos under 30 are almost three times as likely to be homicide victims as whites the same age, according to the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC. They are also more likely to be threatened or attacked with a gun. And when Latinos report crimes, the report is less likely to lead to an arrest than the same crimes do when the victims are white. In a 2014 report, the Violence Policy Center gathered valuable information on the profiles of Latino victims of crime. The homicide rate is more than twice as high as that of whites, and homicide is the second-leading cause of death for Latinos 15 to 24 years old. About 41 percent of Latino homicide victims in 2011 were younger than 24. Among blacks, the rate was 40 percent, and among whites it was 22 percent. In prisons, 20 percent are Latino, according to the Department of Justice, which indicates that if current rates continue, one of every six Latino men can expect to spend time in jail over their lifetime. Recommended: H.W.'s Unprecedented Dis of Donald Trump Yet a great deal of data that would help policymakers and advocates understand Latinos relationship to law enforcement has yet to be collectedthere is much more data about whites and blacks encounters with the criminal justice system. After hitting some dead-ends in my search for answers about Latinos perceptions of, and experiences with the penal institutions and law-enforcement authorities in the country, I reached out to Alex Piquero, a criminologist at the University of Texas, Dallas, with some of my most pressing questions. An abridged and edited version of our conversation follows. Story continues Juleyka Lantigua-Williams: Im trying to address the question of whether Latinos care enough, or care at all, or should care more about criminal justice reform. Whats your perspective on that? Alex Piquero: There are two main things that the research evidence is very clear about. The first one is, unfortunately, we do not have a lot of information on Hispanics in the criminal justice system, in general, whether its their offending, whether its their perceptions of the system. Thats primarily because of the lack of data collection that has occurred in this country for over a hundred years. Were getting better, were now starting to collect that data. For example, the FBI started to collect that information with arrest statistics. Traditionally, most of the research on criminal justice issues, whether its looking at offending patterns or incarceration rates, or peoples perceptions about the criminal justice system and their experiences has been only focused on blacks and whites, because of data constraints. Now were starting to get a little bit of a picture with respect to Hispanic and Latino views. Recommended: Michelle Obama Gave an 'SNL'-Worthy Performance on 'The Late Show' Lantigua-Williams: What do you think has been the effect of this lack of data, specifically on Latinos? Piquero: We just had no idea what Hispanics felt about with respect to the criminal justice system or their experiences. Thats been one of the very big limiting factors of that area of work, thats really important to say because we dont have fifty years of research on a topic like that, whereas we do with respect to whites and African Americans. That said, the most recent research is complicated because theres a lot of variability within Hispanics. Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Central Americans, they may not see and/or interpret the criminal justice system in the same way. Sometimes youre going to see differences within the groups, but we have very little information, for example, on what Puerto Ricans think about the criminal justice system because, typically, those studies have always lumped together the various Hispanic groups. Now, that said, Hispanics care about the criminal justice system just as much as whites and African Americans do. They are interested in it, they have experiences about it, and I think Hispanics are no different from whites and African Americans in that they see needs for reform. Theres no perfect system, but theres not a lot of variability with respect to what parts of the system they may want to see reformed. Lantigua-Williams: Lets go back a little bit to your point about the different subsets of Latinos. What are some of the key factors that may play in differentiating how these groups, by nationality, might view the criminal justice system? Recommended: Trumpism Is The Symptom of a Gravely Ill Constitution Piquero: Theres several here. Some might be emerging from where they come from. For example, the experiences that Puerto Ricans have in their home country and say, for example, Brazilians have in their country, or El Salvadorans have in their country with respect to general practices and interactions with the criminal justice system might be different across those three countries. When they come to America, they get experiences with an entirely different criminal justice system. You have people who will come from one jurisdiction or one country where things are a particular way. That might be very different from another country thats also Hispanic/Latino but does criminal justice a different way. Then they come to America and its entirely different from them. Theres not only a variability across the countries that Hispanics and Latinos might come from but theres also going to be variability with how they deal with and interpret the United States criminal justice system. Lantigua-Williams: Let me ask you about immigrant status and whether you, in your work, have come across anything that indicates that immigrant status, whether you are a fifth-generation American-born Latino or a recently arrived person who has a green card. Do these differences impact how you perceive the criminal justice? Piquero: There literally is only a handful of studies that have actually looked at this issue that youre raising. The reason why is because no one has been able to collect the data on first-generation, second-generation immigrants and then looking at Hispanics, and then comparing them to native-born Americans. Youre asking the right questions but we havent gotten the data in a really good format. The data just has not been available. Its a really unfortunate thing. In the studies that have been done, and again, these are a limited set of studies, less than five studies that look at individual perceptions and individual behavior, what we know is that first-generation immigrants actually offend at lower rates than native-born Americans. This is just first-generation immigrants, were not talking about legal status because that data doesnt exist at the individual level. Just look at first-generation immigrants, their offending patterns are less than those individuals who are born in America, are native-born Americans. Thats the first thing. The second thing that were seeing, and again, these are very preliminary studies, is that first-generation immigrants actually have very strong, supportive beliefs about the criminal justice system. Why that could be the case, there are a lot of different philosophies but one argument that people have made is that some of the countries they are leaving from, theyre leaving very repressive style of criminal justice experiences and the legal systems. When they come to America, America is the land of opportunity and so they see it as a chance to better themselves, their lives for themselves and their lives for their families. They might sit back and say, You know what? We have this opportunity, weve got to play by the rules. Were going to follow the law. Were going to believe in the system. That might be one reason why their offending rates are lower. Again, its a really thin knowledge base, but thats what the first set of studies have actually shown. Lantigua-Williams: What are some of the key questions that are left unanswered, that youd want to tackle first with research? Piquero: Id want to know how they perceive the system in terms of fairness. Id want to know if the issue, with respect to differential stop rates, affects Hispanics the way it may affect other groups. Id want to know what kind of sentences they may receive. Id want to know what kind of offending rates they have. Part of this reason is because police departments dont collect data on Hispanic and Latino ethnicities. Its a very difficult piece of information to obtain. We just do not have the level of detail that is needed to really understand the experiences of Hispanics in the criminal justice system. Were getting better, but were just not there. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Mediterranean holiday island Cyprus recorded its best ever August when arrivals jumped nearly 17 percent to reach more than 458,000 visitors during the peak season, official data showed Monday. "August 2016 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month," the finance ministry said. In a clear indication that the economy is on an upward curve, August marked a 16.9-percent hike in tourist arrivals compared to the same month in 2015. Only July saw more tourists for a single month with a record 482,000 arrivals. Tourists from Britain -- the island's top holiday market -- increased 9.9 percent in August to 172,236, while the second largest market Russia jumped 36.8 percent to 122,843. There was also a 61-percent increase in holidaymakers from Israel, with 27,048 arrivals. For the first six months until June, revenue from tourism increased 13.7 percent to 831.2 million euros ($928 million),up from 730.9 million in the same period of 2015. With the island seen as a "safe" destination in a region of turmoil and terror threats, state-run Cyprus Tourism organisation projects a bumper tourist season that could surpass the three-million barrier this year. Cyprus exited a harsh bailout programme in March garnering praise from international lenders for its impressive turnaround. Tourism revenues account for around 12 percent of the EU state's GDP and are credited for ensuring that Nicosia made a relatively quick recovery. Following a 10-billion-euro rescue package to save a crumbling economy and insolvent banks in March 2013, Cyprus has returned to growth. PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech police have detained Oleg Vorotnikov, a founding member of the Russian underground art collective Voina, wanted in Russia over a series of high-profile stunts that authorities branded insulting and violent, two media outlets reported. Voina (War) started in 2007 with stunts poking fun at President Vladimir Putin. It drew greater attention in 2010 by painting a huge phallus on a drawbridge near offices of Russia's FSB security service in St Petersburg. In November that year, police detained some Voina members, including Vorotnikov, after police cars were overturned in a demonstration to protest against abuse of power by the force. Vorotnikov fled the country in 2011. Czech daily Hospodarske Noviny said police held Vorotnikov in Prague on Sunday after a routine document check. Police did not confirm the detention but said a 38-year-old foreigner subject to an international warrant had been detained in Prague. Radio Free Europe also reported Monday evening on its website his wife Natalya Sokol was detained but later released. The Czech paper cited Sokol as saying they either faced being returned to Switzerland, where they have applied for political asylum, or being deported to Russia. The Czech justice and interior ministries declined to comment, while Reuters was unable to immediately contact Sokol. Interpol's Russia office also declined to comment while Russia's interior ministry said it had not received any documents on the detention of Voina members. Hospodarske Noviny said Vorotnikov was visiting Prague from Switzerland and did not have a Czech visa. The couple face charges of hooliganism in Russia, which could mean steep jail sentences, media reported. The group has long been under pressure in Russia for its activities although it has also won the support of activists, like international graffiti artist Banksy. Voina also has links to punk protest group Pussy Riot, whose member Nadya Tolokonnikova started in Voina. She took part in early "actions", including an orgy staged at a biology museum in support of "the bear cub-successor" - a play on Medvedev's family name and on his close power relationship with Putin. (Reporting by Petra Vodstrcilova, additional reporting by Moscow bureau; Writing by Jason Hovet; editing by Ralph Boulton) Bond regulators are urged to revisit definition of accredited" investor. The High Court of Singapore came to the rescue of distressed Hanjin Shipping, granting the large South Korean companys fleet safe passage into the city-state without fear of being impounded due to its $5.37 billion debt. Read more here. Large hedge funds are seeking new areas of growth as Brevan Howard Asset Management, Caxton Associates, and Balyasny Asset Management incorporated units in Singapore this year to expand their footprints in Asia amidst the industrys struggle to generate money and retain investors. Read more here. Bond regulators in the Lion City are urged to rethink the qualification of an accredited investor as some Singaporeans who look rich on paper are forced to make riskier investments as in the case of Swibers bondholders. Read more here. More From Singapore Business Review Imagine, as a child, leaving behind everything you knowyour family, your home, even your native language. Those were only some of the hardships facing the child refugees who fled Nazi France for freedom in the United States. In the virtual reality companion piece to the Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky documentary Defying the Nazis: The Sharps War (premiering Tuesday on PBS), you can step inside the ship with them as they travel from Portugal to the United States. The saviors responsible for this daring rescue mission were Waitstill and Martha Sharp. The Unitarian minister and his wife left their own children behind with their Wellesley, Mass., parish for two years while they risked their lives saving hundreds of refugees across Europe. This powerful fully computer-generated VR experience includes a letter from Martha read by actress Maria Bello, along with narration from real-life survivors. Through audio and archival photos from the documentary, youll see the passengers faces, hear their emotional stories and travel with them on a recreation of the Excambion, the actual ship that brought them to safety. Defying the Nazis VR also serves as a reminder of the hardships that thousands of refugee families currently face amid the current European migrant crisis. With this immersive story, the past is rendered palpably present. To watch the full experience and explore more exclusive virtual reality content download the LIFE VR app for iOS and Android or visit time.com/lifevr. Defying the Nazis VR is produced by VR Playhouse in association with Artemis Joukowsky and Farm Pond Pictures and directed by Elijah Allan-Blitz. LIFE VR is the exclusive distributor. DeluxeAds, an Advertising Agency, Specializes in Performance-Based Marketing in the Health and Beauty Industry ASPEN, CO / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / The founders of DeluxeAds, a leading advertising agency, are proud to announce that they have just signed on as a Booth Sponsor for the ADSUM conference. ADSUM is unlike all other events that dedicate themselves to serving the interests of affiliate, exclusively. ADSUM will take place in gorgeous Aspen, Colorado from December 2-5, 2016 with the goal of providing merchants and online advertisers the opportunity to form strategic connections and alliances amongst other advertisers and corporate sponsors and services providers attending. To learn more about DeluxeAds and how they specialize in performance-based marketing in the health and beauty industry, please visit http://deluxeads.com/. Founded in 2010 by a group of internet marketing professionals, DeluxeAds maintains expertise across all branches of internet marketing including its in house boutique affiliate network which serves billions of impressions per month across the globe. "At DeluxeAds, we understand the importance of driving quality traffic at a high volume to provide our merchants the highest possible return on investment," noted a company spokesperson, adding that they focus on leveraging the high-volume traffic of their internal distribution while exploring the power of numbers with their industry leading affiliate network. When the founders of DeluxeAds heard about the ADSUM conference, they knew they had to be a part of it. When they learned about the different sponsorship opportunities, they jumped at the chance to contribute to the success of the event. Nate Lind, the Founder of ADSUM, is determined to host a conference that goes against the idea of the traditional mega trade show where people are packed into trade floors and herded like cattle through the endless sea of sponsors and vendors that send high-pressure salesmen to pitch their company's services to any and all who pass by. Story continues "DeluxeAds is thrilled to be attending ADSUM Aspen with some of the leading advertisers in the industry. We look forward to networking with new and existing clients as well as taking a few runs down the slopes," the spokesperson said. "This year has been challenging but rewarding and we look forward to continuing that into the end of 2016 and beyond. On behalf of everyone on the DeluxeAds team, we wish all the participants a wonderful time at the conference and a productive end of the year." About ADSUM and DeluxeAds: ADSUM is a conference for online advertisers, merchants, and retailers to cultivate networking and collaboration to enhance the performance marketing industry. DeluxeAds is an advertising agency, which specializes in performance-based marketing in the health and beauty industry. For more information, please visit http://www.adsum.net/ and http://deluxeads.com/ Contact: Johnny Quinn admin@rocketfactor.com (949) 555-2861 SOURCE: ADSUM A program to speed visas for Afghan interpreters who worked for the United States during the war was already facing dubious approval by Congress this year. After last weekends bomb attack, now it may be on even shakier ground. Established in 2009, the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program helps bring foreign interpreters to America who served alongside U.S. troops and diplomats, and now face retaliation at home. Congress must renew the program and allocate more visas every year. But in an election year colored by xenophobic rhetoric, the visa program has become both a sticking point and a bargaining chip for some conservative lawmakers trying to limit immigration. Still, many prominent lawmakers are adamant that it be extended. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee, a Republican, told Foreign Policy, I do think this should be a priority for us. Those people are subject to beheadings when found. Yet extending the visa program was left out of House and Senate versions of the annual defense policy bill, despite a concerted push by Sens. John McCain, the GOPs 2008 presidential nominee, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. They expect the program will be discussed in ongoing negotiations but have no guarantee it will be part of the final bill when it goes to a vote, most likely at the years end. With the visa program due to expire at the end of December, that doesnt leave much time for the more than 10,000 interpreters and their family members still hoping to move to America, according to advocacy group No One Left Behind say. A concerted media push was underway this past month to revive the issue: the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal both ran editorials recommending swift action. But after bombs allegedly planted by a U.S.-naturalized Afghan immigrant shook New York and New Jersey last weekend and rekindled public anxiety over terrorism, the programs fate seems even more uncertain. The suspected bomber, Ahmad Khan Rahami, was naturalized as an American citizen after his family moved to the U.S. under a regular asylum visa, and never worked for the U.S. military. But GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump pounced on the attacks to double down on his proposal to ban Muslim immigrants, even calling for racial profiling. Story continues These attacks and many others were made possible because of our extremely open immigration system, which fails to properly vet and screen the individuals or families coming into our country, Trump said at a Sept. 19 rally. The blasts wounded 29 people, and fueled fears of terrorism, but were not fatal. Still, they spurred concerns that their ultimate impact could doom efforts to extend the special visa program beyond the year. Last night I saw the news and I was so sad, thats how people will look at me and other Afghans, said an Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army who recently moved to the United States under the program and asked to be identified only as Nick. I hope it wont affect the SIVs because there are thousands of people waiting for their visas in Afghanistan, and they are living in hiding just like I did for two years. There are currently fewer than 2,000 visas available through the special program, and more than 10,000 Afghans and their families waiting for them. It is already common for applicants to wait years to obtain a visa to come to the United States, sometimes facing death threats in the meantime as extremist retribution for working for the U.S. government. Jennifer Quigley, a refugee advocate at the non-profit Human Rights First, said trying to extend the visa program this year was particularly difficult. Republican lawmakers vocally opposed to immigration, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley and Sen. Jeff Sessions, a senior advisor to Trump, received a boost of attention from voters fired up by Trump. What we have is a few key members that are anti-immigration that are in positions of power vis-a-vis this program and have raised objections to it, and that is what has caused problems, Quigley told FP. This year marked the first time the Afghan interpreters visa program was not included in the annual defense policy bill, she added. Quigley and others voiced hope the bombings wont have a chilling effect on Congress. The attacks, she said, wont change the equation for those who are already supportive and know Rahami came to the U.S. as a child. Thats completely different from adults who already work for the U.S. government, and put their lives on the line for the U.S. government in Afghanistan, she said. Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also blamed anti-immigrant sentiment for slowing negotiations. I am concerned it wont get done, and yes, I think [Trumps] rhetoric makes it more difficult to get it done, he told FP. I think the anti-immigrant sentiment makes it more difficult for any type of special visas for people coming here. But, he added, theres a couple vehicles to push the extension through despite opposition, like making it a last-minute add to the defense policy bill or the governments massive annual spending plan expected to be passed later this year after a short-term extension. Still, both would leave Congress dealing with the program uncomfortably close to the wire. Theres a couple really big hurdles, Cardin said, but I think theyre pretty close. Reporting contributed by Molly OToole. This story has been updated to include the full name of the group No One Left Behind. Photo Credit: JOE RADLE/Getty Images By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One in four registered voters in the United States live in areas that will use electronic voting machines that do not produce a paper backup in the November presidential election despite concerns that they are vulnerable to tampering and malfunctions, according to a Reuters analysis. The lack of a paper trail makes it impossible to independently verify that the aging touch-screen systems are accurate, security experts say, in a year when suspected Russian hackers have penetrated political groups and state voting systems and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said the election may be "rigged." Election officials insist the machines are reliable, but security experts say they are riddled with bugs and security holes that can result in votes being recorded incorrectly. A Reuters analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Election Assistance Commission and the Verified Voting Foundation watchdog group found that 44 million registered voters, accounting for 25 percent of the total, live in jurisdictions that rely on paperless systems, including millions in contested states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The picture has improved gradually since the 2008 presidential election, when 31 percent of U.S. voters lived in areas that used paperless touch-screen systems. In 2012, 27 percent lived in jurisdictions that used paperless systems. "Clearly we still have a long way to go to ensure that all Americans have access to a form of voting technology they can trust," said Alex Halderman, a University of Michigan computer-science professor who has helped to uncover security flaws on touch-screen systems. (Graphic showing different types of voting systems across the U.S. -- http://tmsnrt.rs/2cZiKQ5) Most of these machines are nearing the end of their expected life span, making them more vulnerable to problems. And Congress has not authorized money for upgrades since 2002, just after the disputed 2000 presidential recount battle in Florida highlighted flaws in aging punch-card and lever-voting systems. In some states, a divide has emerged between poorer areas that continue to use paperless touch-screen systems and wealthier areas that have bought new optical scan systems that process paper ballots, which many experts say are a better way to ensure accurate elections. In Virginia, for example, counties that still use touch-screen systems have a poverty rate of 23 percent, while those that have switched to optical-scan systems have an average poverty rate of 11 percent. "I would have liked to have had the new machines, but the county says we don't have the money," said Patsy Burchett, the top election official in rural Lee County, which has been hit hard by the decline of the coal and tobacco industries and is the poorest county in the state. "These machines are on their last legs," she said. QUESTIONABLE RESULTS U.S. election officials have known about the shortcomings of touch-screen systems since shortly after they were widely adopted in the early 2000s, when researchers showed that vote results could be manipulated with tools as simple as a magnet and a Palm Pilot-style handheld device. The systems have produced questionable results in some elections. In Florida, more than 18,000 iVotronic machines did not record a vote in a 2006 congressional race in which the margin of victory was less than 400 votes. In Fairfax County, Virginia, electronic machines subtracted one vote for every hundred cast for one candidate in a 2003 school-board race. More than 4,400 electronic ballots in Carteret County, North Carolina, were lost and never recovered in the 2004 presidential election. Since 2008, states such as Maryland have traded in their touch-screen machines for optical-scan systems. Others like California and Ohio have added printers to their touch-screen machines which produce a backup paper trail, while Washington and Colorado moved to mail-in ballots. Absentee balloting is also cutting into the use of paperless systems. In 2012, for example, roughly 1 in 10 voters who lived in areas that used paperless systems cast absentee ballots. Election officials say the touch-screen machines that remain in use are more secure now than they were a decade ago whether they are fitted with printers or not, thanks to extensive testing and better poll-worker training. They say that a hacking incident is unlikely because the machines are not connected to the Internet. "Voters should have confidence in whatever systems are being used in their jurisdiction because election officials have taken the necessary steps to secure these systems and ensure the integrity of the process," said Matthew Masterson, a commissioner with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Although there has so far been no confirmed major incident of U.S. voting machines being hacked, security experts say that those aiming to manipulate votes could spread a virus through memory cards, with no Internet connection needed. The best way to stop that is to switch to paper-based systems, they say. With 55 percent of all U.S. registered voters living in areas that use systems that are no longer in production, according to the Reuters analysis, election officials must rely on a dwindling supply of spare parts. Virginia Beach, Virginia, for example, pulled 32 of its 820 Accuvote TSX touch-screen machines in a 2014 election after residents complained that the machines were registering votes for candidates they didn't support. The city has since purchased a new optical-scan system. Lacking fresh federal funds, some states have opted to upgrade on their own. Louisiana aims to switch to an iPad-based system by 2019, while Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, are designing systems from scratch. Others see no reason to switch. In Georgia, Secretary of State Brian Kemp said he hasn't asked the state legislature for money to replace its fleet of paperless AccuVote TS touch-screen machines. "It's working just fine and all these so-called experts that are making these accusations about our system haven't seen it," he said. (Additional reporting by Dustin Volz; editing by Stuart Grudgings) 20 Sep - Dingdong Dantes was more than happy to accept the compliments given by "Alyas Robin Hood" director Dominic Zapata, who said that the actor could be the new Filipino action star. According to PEP News, the actor, who plays the titular role in the new action series that premiered on GMA Telebabad on 19 September, stated that he has always been interested in action movies. "I remember when I was younger, I really loved action movies. This is a dream come true," he said. Dantes also thanked GMA for giving him the opportunity to show a new side of him to viewers. Previously, Zapata sang praises for Dantes, who is more famous for his romance dramas and love tandem with now wife, Marian Rivera - saying that Dantes is a very willing actor. "The first time I worked with him was for "TGIS". I love seeing him grow [as an actor]. I would always set him for a certain kind of challenge every time," he said. However, he was surprised that Dantes was able to fulfill his demand while they were working on the action series. (Photo Source: GMA Network) Tiny fossil clues left behind on an early Cretaceous-era dinosaur have revealed the dinosaur's original coloring, a new study finds. The 120-million-year-old dinosaur, a Triceratops relative known as Psittacosaurus, had a dark-colored backside and a light underside, along with a splash of spots and stripes on its body, including its back legs, the researchers said. This dark-on-top, light-on-bottom coloring scheme, known as countershading, is common among modern animals today, the researchers said. Creatures with countershading can use their coloring as camouflage when they're in a shadowy area, such as a forest. Given the Psittacosaurus's coloring, it's likely that the beast lived in an area with "diffuse illumination" such as a forest, the researchers wrote in the study. [Photos: Oldest Known Horned Dinosaur in North America] Weird dinosaur Psittacosaurus was one bizarre-looking beast: The horned creature looked like a cross between a porcupine and a lizard, with a parrot-like beak and a row of bristles sticking out from its tail. And that's not all horns jutted out from its cheeks, and pointed claws adorned all four of its limbs, which were also decorated with spots and stripes. The remains of this 5-foot-long (1.5 meters) oddball, now called Psittacosaurus, were discovered in the late 1990s in Liaoning, China an area famous for its well-preserved fossils of feathered dinosaurs. But it wasn't until 2009 that molecular paleobiologist Jakob Vinther and his colleagues came across the fossils at the Senckenberg Museum in Germany. When he saw the Psittacosaurus, Vinther noticed that "the color patterns were just so clear," and he decided that he needed to study them, because he realized that they could help paleontologists understand camouflage patterns and how they might reveal information about a dinosaur's habitat. Colorful past To investigate the museum specimen, Vinther and his colleagues looked for evidence of pigment on the remarkably preserved Psittacosaurus's skeleton, which had extremely well preserved skin compressed into a film outlining the body and superimposed on the skeleton. They found "little oblate bodies, which resemble melanosomes" small cell structures that hold melanin pigments that are found in feathers and skin. Story continues The newfound melanosomes were similar to those found in two other Psittacosaurus fossils, Vinther said. An analysis of their structure suggests that they would have given the dinosaur a brownish color, he added. The researchers also used polarized light photography to capture the dinosaur's color pattern left on the specimen, including its spots and stripes. Also, a technique called laser stimulated fluorescence made the scales and bristles fluoresce brightly, which "made their characterization easier," Vinther said. For instance, they found that the face was heavily pigmented, likely for display, he said. There was also a pigmented cloacal opening the area in which animals defecate and females are inseminated, he said. Pigmented Psittacosaurus After studying the melanosomes of Psittacosaurus, the researchers worked with paleoartist Bob Nicholls to create a life-size 3D model, complete with color. [In Photos: Wacky Fossil Animals from Jurassic China] Because of the model, "We were able to not only see how the patterns of shading changed over the body, but also that it matched the sort of camouflage which would work best in a forested environment," the study's senior author Innes Cuthill, a professor of behavioral ecology at the University of Bristol, said in a statement. Moreover, studies that look at the ancient geography and life of the Jehol biota, where the specimen was found, suggest that the area had lakes that were surrounded by a coniferous forest and a few deciduous plants, the researchers wrote in the study, which was published online today (Sept. 15) in the journal Current Biology. Such a forest would have provided shadows that could have provided a camouflage cover for the Psittacosaurus, the researchers said. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. PARIS Discovery Networks Italy and Asia have acquired Alexis Marants investigative documentary Terror Studios from Paris-based Newen Distribution. Produced by veteran documentary producer Jean-Marie Michel at Capa Presse, Terror Studios examines how the Islamic State uses storytelling techniques and imagery from Western culture, including Hollywood productions, to create propaganda that resonates with disillusioned young Westerners. Through interviews with jihadist communication experts, industry insiders, filmmakers and academics, Terror Studios seeks to explain how ISIS has managed to borrow from popular culture to attract new recruits. Newen Distribution has also sold the film to Movistar and RTVE in Spain, DR in Denmark, TVN in Poland, TeleQuebec in Canada, BeTV in Belgium, RTS in Switzerland and Yes in Israel. Commissioned by French pay-TV network Canal Plus, Terror Studios will be broadcast on free-TV channel Nove in Italy and will be introduced by Roberto Saviano, the creator of the crime drama series Gomorra. Terror Studios is really impressive and describes, with strong images and exclusive interviews, ISIS refined use of media. We are very proud to present this important documentary to Italian audience on our [free-to-air] channel Nove enhanced by the precious participation of Roberto Saviano, said Laura Carafoli, senior VP of programming and content at Discovery Italy. In Asia, the documentary will roll out on Discovery Networks Asia-Pacifics pay-TV channel. Lynn Ng, the head of content strategy and acquisitions at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, called the film a riveting examination of ISIS sophisticated use of media to spread their message of hate. Terror Studios is a highly relevant piece of film-making Discovery is proud to have as part of our lineup, added Ng. The documentary will premiere tonight (Sept. 20) in France on primetime Canal Plus. Related stories Delivery Agent Files for Chapter 11 As IPO Hopes Fade Story continues 'Harley and the Davidsons' Races to Ratings Highs for Discovery Discovery, LMNO Battle Over '7 Little Johnstons' Footage Helicopter footage released Monday showed police in Tulsa, Oklahoma shooting and killing an unarmed African-American man on Friday night after he walked toward his SUV with his arms raised. Terence Crutcher, 40, can be seen walking slowly toward his car, which authorities said had been left abandoned and running in the middle of the road, according to NBC News. The video footage shows an officer following Crutcher slowly from behind with a gun trained on him. In the video, Crutcher approaches the driver's side door before dropping to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun. He was fatally shot moments after. At a news conference Monday, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Officer Tyler Turnbough tasered Crutcher, while a second officer, Betty Shelby, fired at him after telling a dispatcher that Crutcher was not cooperating. Jordan said Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV. He called the footage "disturbing" and has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case. "I will make this promise to you, we will achieve justice," Jordan said. According to the Associated Press, Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges Monday. "The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father," she said. "That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week. That big bad dude, that's who he was." About a dozen protesters gathered outside a Tulsa courthouse early Monday with signs that read "Black Lives Matter" and "Am I Next." Helicopter footage released Monday showed police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, allegedly shooting and killing an unarmed African-American man on Friday night after he walked toward his SUV with his arms raised. Terence Crutcher, 40, can be seen walking slowly toward his car, which authorities alleged had been left abandoned and running in the middle of the road, according to NBC News. The video footage shows an officer following Crutcher slowly from behind with a gun pointed at him. In the video, Crutcher approaches the driver's side door before dropping to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun. He was fatally shot moments after. At a news conference Monday, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Officer Tyler Turnbough tasered Crutcher, while a second officer, Betty Shelby, fired at him after telling a dispatcher that Crutcher was not cooperating. Jordan said Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV. Jordan called the footage "disturbing" and has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case. The Tulsa Police Department has opened a criminal investigation into the shooting, the The New York Times reports. And the federal Justice Department has opened a separate civil rights investigation into the shooting, according to the paper. "I will make this promise to you, we will achieve justice," Jordan said. According to the Associated Press, Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges Monday. "The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father," she said. 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. "That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week. That big bad dude, that's who he was." About a dozen protesters gathered outside a Tulsa courthouse early Monday with signs that read "Black Lives Matter" and "Am I Next." Shelby is on paid administrative leave, the Times reports. A police spokesman told The Times the officer gave a statement to homicide detectives Monday morning. Shelby's lawyer, Scott Wood, told the Times that the officer thought Crutcher had a weapon. The lawyer added that Crutcher allegedly refused to comply with orders. Jordan said at the news conference that Shelby came across Crutcher while on her way to another call. She requested back up, alleging that the man was not cooperating, he said. In the newly released footage, an officer aboard a helicopter above can be heard saying, "He's got his hands up there for her now. This guy is still walking and following commands." Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for Crutcher's family, likened the fatal shooting to the police shootings of unarmed African-Americans in recent years. "This is an issue that is not unique to Tulsa, Oklahoma," Crump told the Times. "This is an issue that seems to be an epidemic happening all around America. What are we an an America society going to do about it?" Iran is once again the center of a heated debate between the Barack Obama administration and Republicans in Congress, this time over whether the United States $1.7 billion payment to Iran amounted to a ransom to secure the release of American hostages. Regardless of whether one believes the payment, the result of a settlement agreement related to decades-old legal claims between the two countries, was ransom, one thing is certain: The nature of the payment all cash, some delivered in the middle of night and ferried to Iran by an airline known for its connections with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, without limits to ensure Iran would not use the funds for terrorism is troubling. Cash transactions raise serious terrorism financing risks. According to the Financial Action Task Force, the international body that sets global standards for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, the physical cross-border transportation of currency [is] one of the main methods used to move illicit funds, launder money, and finance terrorism. These risks are particularly acute in the case in question; the State Department has identified Iran as one of the leading state sponsors of terrorism and the country actively supports terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and assists Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his murderous assault on civilians. Obama told reporters, [t]he reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions and we do not have a banking relationship with Iran that we couldnt send them a check and we could not wire the money. While correct that the United States government does not maintain regular banking channels with Iran and that the U.S. and European sanctions campaign against Iran seriously constrained its access to the Western financial system, historical examples suggest that the U.S. did not have to provide these funds in cash. Story continues In 2007, as part of the Six-Party Talks over North Koreas nuclear program, the United States facilitated a similar transfer through the formal financial system. The United States had designated Banco Delta Asia a Macau-based bank known to hold significant assets of the North Korean leadership as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern under the Patriot Act. Like Iran, North Korea was almost completely cut off from the international financial system. As part of the negotiations, the United States decided to return the $25 million in North Korean funds held in BDAs accounts, but found that international financial institutions were unwilling to move the funds because none wanted to be seen as cooperating with a bank that was well-known to engage in illicit activity. Instead of transferring the $25 million to North Korea using pallets of cash, the United States Federal Reserve stepped in. Banco Delta Asia transferred the $25 million via the Federal Reserve to the Russian Central Bank, which in turn sent it to Far Eastern Bank, a Russian bank in Vladivostok that held accounts on behalf of the North Korean leadership. Through this system, the United States was able to facilitate the delivery of North Korean funds back to the regime through legitimate financial channels. A similar mechanism could have been employed with the $1.7 billion payment to Iran. The administration has also claimed it delivered the cash to Iran because the country needed immediate access to the funds to address critical economic needs. But other, less opaque options existed that would have allowed fast delivery of the money. For example, as part of the Joint Plan of Action the interim agreement that preceded the final Iran agreement the United States set up a financial channel using foreign financial institutions to ensure that humanitarian and agricultural goods could flow to Iran. Likewise, the administration admitted last week that it had sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Iran through the formal financial system at the height of the U.S. sanctions regime in July 2015. The administration could have used this or similar channels to send the funds. Moving forward, the administration and Congress if the president is unwilling should ensure that any payments it makes to Iran are facilitated through the formal financial system. Current bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate are steps in the right direction. The United States should also take steps to reduce the risk that Iran uses such funds to support terrorism or Assad. These steps should include: holding the funds in escrow accounts, verifying that the end recipients of the funds are not sanctioned Iranian parties, and requiring the funds be released in tranches, with a certification provided by the Secretary of the Treasury that prior tranches have not been diverted to sanctioned persons. While Republicans and Democrats can disagree about the wisdom of providing funds that at the very least appeared to Iranian officials to be a ransom payment, the administration should not have sent this money in cash and risked inadvertently funding Irans support for terrorism. It can and should do better in the future. Photo credit: ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images Republican nominee Donald Trump called first presidential debate moderator, NBC News anchor Lester Holt, a Democrat Monday, despite public records that indicate otherwise. New York State voter registration documents show that Holt has been a registered Republican in the state since 2003. Trumps comments to Fox News Bill OReilly, which were offered without any evidence to support the claim, are part of a time-honored tradition of alleging moderator bias and expectations-setting before a presidential debate. By the way, Lester is a Democrat. Its a phony system. They are all Democrats. Its a very unfair system, Trump said of the debate moderators. The NBC newsman, regarded by both parties as a straight shooter, is set to moderate the first debate on Sept. 26. Trump has not been alone in criticizing the objectivity of debate moderators. Hillary Clintons campaign sent out a pair of fundraising appeals off NBC anchor Matt Lauers performance anchoring a back-to-back candidate town hall earlier this month. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who is set to moderate the third debate, is a longtime registered Democrat, which he has explained as a matter of pragmatism as a resident of Democrat-dominated Washington, D.C. Public records searches for the remaining debate moderators returned no partisan affiliation. Spokespeople for NBC did not respond to requests for comment on Trumps attack or Holts voter registration. Donald Trump Jr. took to Twitter on Monday night to comment on the Syrian refugee crisis with a Skittles analogy that is being widely criticized on social media. "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you.. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem," read the words above a bowl of Skittles and the Trump-Pence logo. Trump Jr. posted the message with the caption: "This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first." This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN - Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 Users were swift to respond to the Trump campaign's breakdown of the crisis, as "Skittles" quickly made its way to the top of Twitter's trending terms on Monday night. President Barack Obama's chief speechwriter Jon Favreau shared the haunting photo that recently went viral of Omran Daqneesh, the 5-year-old Syrian boy who survived an airstrike in August, to say: "This is one of the millions of children you compared to a poisoned Skittle today." The analogy has been similarly used in the past with M&Ms and peanuts, to make a sweeping generalization about the crisis. Wrigley, which owns the Skittles brand, issued the following statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday night: "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." Here are some of the social media reactions: Read more: Donald Trump on Debating Hillary Clinton: "If She Treats Me With Respect, I Will Treat Her With Respect" Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, this is one of the millions of children you compared to a poisoned Skittle today: https://t.co/SDSGw0eUIP pic.twitter.com/HuhY9RGvWW Story continues - Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 20, 2016 10s of thousands of Syrian children have been killed in the war. They aren't Skittles. They're children. Like yours. https://t.co/y51TW9Jeq1 - Jason Sparks (@sparksjls) September 20, 2016 This is disgusting. https://t.co/Qygl03Cnc1 - Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) September 20, 2016 Oh and human beings fleeing oppression and terror aren't skittles. https://t.co/wXK24wvurK - John Legend (@johnlegend) September 20, 2016 That skittles analogy has been going around in Europe for years. I know that cause many Germans say it to me, forgetting that I'm a skittle - Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) September 20, 2016 This image says it all. In 1939 900 Jews on ship fm Nazi Germany to USA were sent back. 25% died in Holocaust. Not skittles @DonaldJTrumpJr pic.twitter.com/vbvQMFYquF - Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) September 20, 2016 Sept. 19, 9:45 p.m. PT: Updated with statement from Skittles rep. Donald Trump Jr. posted a meme of poisoned Skittles on Monday evening in an attempt to make a point about Syrian refugees. In a tweet, the son of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, railed against what he described as political correctness in the US immigration process, comparing supposed terrorists hidden among Syrian refugees to poisoned skittles in a bowl. This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 The comment quickly garnered criticism online from officials with Hillary Clinton's campaign and some observers. Thankful my grandfather was allowed into this country and not compared to a poisonous skittle https://t.co/YFzKLS1hx6 Josh Schwerin (@JoshSchwerin) September 20, 2016 the chance of an American being murdered in a terrorist attack caused by a refugee is 1 in 3.64 billion per year https://t.co/ZWsr8SsRLK https://t.co/NPsUxPhsFV Elise Foley (@elisefoley) September 20, 2016 Pause to reflect on the fact that this was sent from an iPhone, which was created by the son of a Syrian immigrant. https://t.co/N13gXgRozn Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) September 20, 2016 Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, this is one of the millions of children you compared to a poisoned Skittle today: https://t.co/SDSGw0eUIP pic.twitter.com/HuhY9RGvWW Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 20, 2016 Immigration advocates argue that the refugee-acceptance program is one of the most difficult ways for a terrorist to enter the US, since it requires a multiyear vetting process that includes a background check and interviews. "It is extremely unlikely that someone who is a terrorist will be sent through the refugee-resettlement program," Greg Chen, the director of advocacy at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Business Insider last year. "It takes a great deal of time, and it wouldn't make sense for someone who is a terrorist for someone to go through that process. There are going to be easier ways for a terrorist to try to infiltrate, rather than going through the refugee-resettlement program." Wrigley Americas, the parent company of Skittles, distanced itself from the tweet in a short statement provided to NBC News. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," said Denise Young, the company's vice president of corporate affairs. "We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." This is the second time in recent days that the younger Trump has raised eyebrows with his perspective on issues in the 2016 election. Last week, he argued that some media outlets purposefully ignored Clinton's controversies, asserting that the same media outlets would be "warming up the gas chamber right now" if the Republican presidential nominee acted like Clinton, his Democratic rival. Trump's Twitter account has become a subject of some online fixation, particularly after sites like BuzzFeed rediscovered older candid and controversial tweets from Trump's son. NOW WATCH: Heres how Skittles responded to Trump Jr. comparing the candy to Syrian refugees More From Business Insider From Esquire The people seeking to blow up the cap on the number of charter schools here in the Commonwealth (God save it!) have turned on the afterburners in recent weeks, as we get closer to balloting in which a referendum on lifting the cap will be placed before the voters. The airwaves are thick with commercials about how lifting the cap on charter schools will provide more money to public schools, which is a dodge, because charter schools are not in any important sense public schools. There is no public oversight. There is little public input. They are privately run and funded with public money. This is the same principle that has worked out so well with prison food. In New York on Monday, Jonathan Chait jumps into the issue with both feet. (To his credit, Chait is quite clear that his wife works for a charter company.) He argues no less a case than that the referendum is "one of the most important tests of social justice and economic mobility of any election in America this fall." Glorioski! And, of course, he characterizes the opposition to lifting the charter cap as wholly influenced by the all-powerful teachers union, which he casts as a thoroughgoing villain, and which he comes dangerously close to accusing of enabling racism-or, at the very least, as heedless to the concerns of the poor and disadvantaged. This is noxious garbage; the great majority of the people represented by the teachers union work in classrooms that most of us wouldn't walk into on a bet. And, anyway, as the very excellent Diane Ravitch points out, a huge number of local school boards have lined up against lifting the cap. These are not all puppets of the evil teachers union. Many of them are composed of people who have looked around the country and seen that an untrammeled charter system is an amazing entry vehicle for waste and fraud. Chait dismisses these people as the heirs to Louise Day Hicks or something. From New York: The localism argument is correct: Charters are regulated by the state's excellent, rigorous oversight board, which has closed 17 schools it deemed ineffective or mismanaged. If you believe that schools must be managed by local communities rather than by statewide regulators, you might oppose charters. But a fetish for localism is an off principle for liberals to espouse. The "separate but equal" argument is bizarre. The defining trait of a segregated system is that people are forced into inferior systems and given no choice. It is the unions who want to deny them choice. The cap unions support is what forces urban students to attend inferior schools. Lifting the cap would give more of those students the choice to attend high-performing schools. Story continues If Massachusetts has done charters better than, say, Ohio or Florida, it is because the state has exercised the excellent, rigorous oversight that he mentions, and the cap has been an essential part of that oversight. The current campaign to eliminate the cap is not being done to benefit poor children. It is being waged to benefit the charter school industry, which wants to demolish that excellent, rigorous oversight with which Chait claims to be so impressed because it stands in the way of that industry's profits. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="Related Story" customtitles="Charter School Movement Is Vehicle for Corruption" customimages="" content="article.48531"] For proof of that, go to the excellent reporting by Scott O'Connell of The Worcester Telegram. (Hometown newspaper, represent!) O'Connell went to the state office of campaign finance and came away with a good dissection of the Yes On Two campaign. According to the OCPF's online database, there are four committees backing Question 2 this year: Great Schools Massachusetts, Expanding Educational Opportunities, Yes on Two, and the Campaign for Fair Access to Quality Public Schools. Of those, Great Schools has by far been the busiest fundraiser and biggest spender, taking in almost $8.2 million since the start of the year and spending $5.2 million. Most of those contributions came from a single source: New York-based Families For Excellent Schools Advocacy, Inc., which gave multiple donations totaling more than $5.7 million, the committee's latest report with the OCPF shows The Campaign for Fair Access committee, the next biggest fundraiser, has only recently started receiving donations since organizing in July, but has pulled in a sizeable amount of money in that short time. Of the nearly $2.3 million the committee has gotten in contributions over that period, the biggest donation came from Arvest Bank Group president Jim Walton, son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, who gave more than $1.1 million to the campaign. The committee so far has spent more than $500,000 of that haul, mostly on campaign management services. The committee dropped $450,000 alone on hiring Wellesley-based Five Corner Strategies, according to OCPF's records. Yes on Two is also a relative newcomer to the campaign, bringing in a quick $710,100 since organizing in July. Almost all of that money came from a single donor, Mr. Walton's sister, philanthropist Alice Walton, and all of it has already been spent, primarily as a nearly $704,000 donation to the Campaign for Fair Access committee. Call me crazy, but I don't think Michael Bloomberg and the Walton family give a rat's ass about educating children in Roxbury or Mattapan. I think they are running for-profit businesses that want to increase their profits and, in Massachusetts, they see a chance to make themselves more money, the way they have in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, and all those other places where education is considered an industry and children, essentially products. (Especially Sacramento, where Michelle Rhee, Queen of the Grifters, is married to Kevin Johnson, a truly horrible person.) They are not campaigning for freedom of choice for Massachusetts children. They are campaigning for their own freedom to gobble more and more from the public trough. See also: Privatization, all forms of. Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page. You Might Also Like By Manjeet Negi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is all set to approve 36 Rafale fighter deal on Wednesday. In the negotiations, the Defence Ministry has been able to get a concession of Rs 4,200 crore through hard bargaining as per the instructions of the Prime Minister and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. French Defence Minister Yves Le Drian is arriving on September 23 to finalise the deal which will cost Euros 7.8 billion to India. advertisement The defence ministry has sent the finalised deal to the CCS after making requisite changes to its offset section. The deal involves the manufacturer outsourcing 50 per cent of the total amount of the deal from India. The cost of 36 fighters will be around Rs 4,200 crore lower than that what was being offered to the previous UPA regime in the now cancelled contract for multi-role medium range combat aircraft (MMRCA). Also read: Rafale deal: French Defence Minister to arrive on Sep 22 Details of Rafale contract finalised: Govt sources --- ENDS --- "High risk, high reward" is a phrase commonly used to describe the world of private investing, where the money bypasses Wall Street for Main Street, Silicon Valley or any locale where promising ventures bubble up. This is a landscape glowing with potential, yet littered with heartbreak, so it helps to have a road map to get you there and back without breaking the bank. Here, nine experts offer recommendations for finding a private investment that has the best chance of taking you to the best destination of all: Easy Street. Visit the company. One of the best ways to know what you're investing in is to see what you're investing in close up. "Examine how [the company] spends money on their offices, dress, cars," says Richard Trimber, senior counsel of the corporate practice group at General Counsel in McLean, Virginia. "Examine their sales and marketing system to make sure they have a developed pipeline to sustain growth and understand how your investment capital will accelerate that or take them into additional markets." [See: 7 Dividend Stocks to Buy That Pay More Each Year.] Know where private sector becomes public victor. Does an energy company, for example, have as much of a chance to go public as one working on an electric car? "One way to look at [where to invest] would be to see what sectors IPOs are coming from," says Drew Pascarella, a finance lecturer at Cornell University's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. He adds that in 2015, a down year for IPOs, 56 percent came from two sectors: health care (42 percent) and technology (14 percent). Heed the yellow and red flags. Even if a company looks solid, it helps to know the hurdles it will definitely face. Though high-tech has a healthy share of IPOs, it's far from a slam dunk sector, as 85 percent of early stage businesses never make it past those initial Series A funding rounds, says James R.F. Berkeley, managing director of Ellice Consulting in London. Story continues "What kills investors is unsubstantiated valuations that leave no wiggle room," he says. Another warning sign: "A high concentration of business revenues earned from a single or couple of clients, where ownership of the client relationship is opaque," Berkeley says. Write your investment thesis. This helps you identify companies that fit a crucial list of desirables, says John Honney, director of business owner consulting at Northern Trust, with headquarters in Chicago. "If you know the size, location, industry sector and capabilities of the company you want to buy -- and the reason you want to buy it -- you will kiss fewer frogs," Honney says. "It can be helpful to focus on industries you know well, such as those where you spent your career or owned companies in the past." Look for losses behind the growth. There's a common misperception that growth is always good. "But growth can sometimes mask fundamentally bad underlying genetics of a business," says Vincent Bradley, CEO of FlashFunders, an online equity crowdfunding site based in Santa Monica, California. He cites Class Pass, a New York City fitness startup. "They were able to grow fast and big because customers loved their subscription workout model," Bradley says. "The problem was that the average customer paid $99 per month for a subscription that ended up costing Class Pass well over $99 a month in services." [See: 13 Ways to Take the Emotions Out of Investing.] And that caused negative growth margins. "Any business that gives their customers a dollar and asks for 75 cents in return is sure to be a hit with their customers," Bradley says. "But anyway you cut it, that's a bad business model." It's who you know (and who they know). There's a big difference for investors who have a direct connection to the leadership team based on years of collaboration. "In addition to a trust factor, there's some comfort in knowing the history of the firm and what its growth pattern has been," says Michael J. Driscoll, clinical professor and senior executive in residence at Adelphi University's Robert B. Willumstad School of Business. If you don't know the founders directly, use your network "to learn about interesting companies that may be in need of capital infusions," Driscoll says. "This helps to identify companies long on ideas and entrepreneurial spirit, but short on capital." Connect with the best. Finding an excellent private company worth your investment dollar "entails connecting with the best entrepreneurs, the best ideas and the best companies," says Richard Kimball, a Stanford University fellow and managing partner of HExL Advisors, which provides capital and strategic advice in the health care sector. "Furthermore, investors need experts to help evaluate business strategies, products and services, and management teams." Kimball says. "Hence it's essential to build a broad and deep network of industry players to optimize your deal flow, assist in due diligence and then help with recruiting, business development and capital raising." The customer is always right. For all the salesmanship private companies use to lure investors, nothing convinces quite like a consumer who's sold on the product or service. "There's an old saying that there's nothing like real customers to validate the value proposition," says Dino Vendetti, general partner at Seven Peaks Ventures, an early-stage investment fund based in Bend, Oregon. "When a startup identifies a real market gap, targets the exact customers who are likely to buy, and finds that they're willing to pay for the product, we call that product/market fit," he says. "That's what we look for with every business we invest in." Your Uncle Herman could be dead wrong. It's easy to trust friends and family asking for funds, but potentially damaging to the relationship if the venture goes south. Yet there are other risks to consider, says Jared Feldman, a partner at the Anchin accounting firm and co-practice leader of its private client group. [Read: Build Your Retirement Fund by Changing Your Car-Owning Habits.] "If an investor's judgment gets clouded by a personal relationship, they may decide to invest where they might not have done so had it been an opportunity from an unfamiliar source," Feldman says. "We suggest that even in the case of a personal relationship, and depending on the size of the investment, some form of due diligence should still be completed." A former longtime staff writer, editor and columnist at the Chicago Tribune, Lou Carlozo writes about investment for U.S. News & World Report, and personal finance for Money Under 30 and GOBankingRates. He is based in Chicago. Connect with him at linkedin.com/in/loucarlozo. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Estero, Fla., Sept. 16. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Down Ticket is Yahoo News complete guide to the most fascinating House, Senate and governors races of 2016. Coming to you every Tuesday and Thursday until Nov. 8. What you need to know today. _____ Trumps coattails are giving Republican Senate candidates a bumpy ride What a difference two weeks can make. On Sept. 6, Down Ticket kicked off the fall campaign with an analysis of where things stood in the battle for the Senate and it was all good news for the Democratic Party. [Democrats] simply need to win the five states where the fundamentals favor them, and where theyre currently leading in the polls: Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, we wrote. Thats enough for a new Democratic majority. Then we unplugged from the grid and went on vacation. The landscape weve returned to this week is noticeably altered. Now the pendulum seems to have swung in the GOPs favor not just in one or two states but across the battleground map. If the election were held today, in fact, Republicans would stand a 50-50 chance of retaining control of the Senate. A podium where Senate Democrats and Republicans were scheduled to talk to the media after their policy luncheon meetings at the Capitol in Washington. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) What changed? Why? And is the shift likely to last? The fact that nearly every tossup Senate race has moved in tandem over the past two months first toward the Dems and then toward the GOP suggests some sort of larger, national force at work. To identify this force and to quantify how powerful it really is is to get at one of the key questions of the entire election: Who will rule the Senate next year? A few notes before we proceed. As we wrote earlier this month, the basic playing field is still tilted in the Democrats favor. All the Republican freshmen who rode the tea party wave of 2010 are up for reelection in November, which means the GOP started out having to defend nine tossup Senate seats (FL, IL, IN, MO, NH, NC, OH, PA, WI). The Dems, meanwhile, have to defend only one (NV). Republicans have almost zero chance of gaining seats on Election Day. Democrats are virtually guaranteed to gain some. Story continues Sen. Marco Rubio introduces his family at a primary election party in Kissimmee, Fla., on Aug. 30. (Photo: John Raoux/AP) That initial playing field, however, has shrunk. At first, Florida looked like a prime Democratic pickup opportunity. Then incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio reentered the race despite promising to steer clear and ever since, his lead over Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy has been growing. (The average gap between them was 3.8 percentage points on Sept. 6; now its 6.4 percentage points.) In Ohio, former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland led, narrowly, in nearly every survey taken before the start of the summer. But incumbent Sen. Rob Portman has run a near-perfect campaign, and as a result he seems to have left Strickland in the dust. (Current polling puts the Republican ahead by a staggering 13.4 percentage points, on average.) At the same time, Democrats have transformed a few tossups into likely wins as well; according our expert partners at the Cook Political Report, Democratic challengers in Illinois (Rep. Tammy Duckworth) and Wisconsin (former Sen. Russ Feingold) currently have a clear edge over their GOP opponents, incumbents Mark Kirk and Ron Johnson, respectively, who have both trailed in every single poll released this cycle. So only a few states appear, at the moment, to qualify as true tossups, with five percentage points or less separating the polling leader from his or her rival: Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Nevada, Indiana, North Carolina, Missouri. Rep. Tammy Duckworth celebrates after her Democratic primary victory in Chicago on March 15. (Photo: Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images) And the thing is, over the past two weeks, nearly all of them have been trending Republican. In Pennsylvania, incumbent GOP Sen. Pat Toomey trailed Democrat Katie McGinty, a former state and federal environmental policy official, in all but two polls taken during July and August. Of the two polls released so far this month, however, one shows Toomey tied with McGinty and the other shows him ahead. (The latter is by Quinnipiac, which previously had Toomey losing by three percentage points.) In New Hampshire, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan led incumbent GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte by 4.7 percentage points, on average, at the end of August but both September polls show Ayotte ahead (one by as much as eight percentage points.) Only one poll was released in Nevada in August, and it showed a tie between Republican Rep. Joe Heck and Democratic state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. Both polls released this month, however, show Heck in the lead one by two points, the other by three. In North Carolina, incumbent GOP Sen. Richard Burr looked to be in trouble as recently as August 22, when his average lead over challenger Deborah Ross slipped to one measly percentage point. It has since grown to a less perilous 3.3 points. And while theres been less data this month out of Indiana and Missouri, only the Show Me State has delivered good news for the Dems: the first poll of the cycle to give Democrat Jason Kander an edge over incumbent Roy Blunt. In Hoosier country, the most recent survey awards former Democratic Governor and Sen. Evan Bayh a smaller lead over GOP Rep. Todd Young (+4 percent) than the survey before it (+7 percent). Sen. Pat Toomey greets teenagers at a campaign stop in Johnstown, Pa., July 19. At left is Jackie Kulbak, chairwoman of the countys Republican Party. (Photo: John Rucosky/Tribune-Democrat via AP) As a result of this overall shift to the right, the New York Times election model on Monday gave the Republicans a 51 percent chance of winning the Senate. (It has since shifted to a 51 percent chance for the Democrats.) Until recently, the model hadnt favored the GOP since the beginning of August a month that saw the Democrats chances of victory climb as high as 65 percent. Partisans are likely to over-interpret these numbers. Polling isnt predictive; every one of these races has fluctuated before, and theyre all likely to fluctuate again. The fact that Pat Toomey beat Katie McGinty in the latest Quinnipiac poll doesnt mean hes going to beat her on Election Day. But there is a telling detail here: This years pivotal Senate races seem to be moving en masse. If one or two states were shifting at a time, you could attribute the changes to local dynamics: attack ads, candidate gaffes, etc. But all (or most) of them at once? Thats because of something bigger. The evidence points to Donald Trump. Some analysts have argued that because Trump is a sui generis celebrity candidate a party of one voters wont let their feelings about the GOP ticket-topper sway their down-ballot behavior. To a certain extent this is true: In the key battlegrounds of Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina, Trump is running an average 2.7 percentage points behind the local GOP Senate candidate. This means that at least some Clinton voters are planning to pull the Republican lever for Senate. Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate Katie McGinty walks onstage to speak before President Obama at a campaign event for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on September 13 in Philadelphia. (Photo: Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images) But when it comes to the shifts were seeing in these Senate contests the way that swing voters gravitate toward a Democratic candidate this week and a Republican candidate the next, propelling one past the other in the polls its likely that Trumps own performance is producing some sort of down-ballot ripple effect. Because guess what else has happened over the past two weeks, as GOP Senate candidates in pretty much every crucial contest have picked up a couple of points in the polls? Trump has picked up a couple of points as well. On Sept. 6, the RealClear Politics polling average showed Clinton ahead of the Manhattan mogul by 3.1 percentage points; today, Clinton leads by less than one. Whether this tightening is attributable to Trumps slightly more disciplined demeanor or Clintons top-secret pneumonia or something else is for other columnists to pontificate about. For us, the down-ballot impact is enough. When Trump stumbled after the conventions, Republican Senate candidates sank in the polls; now that the Donald appears to be holding it together, his down-ballot ticket mates seem to be doing a little better. (Also worth noting: Discomfort with Trump among the GOP donor class is triggering a massive surge in down-ballot dark money spending, which also appears to be boosting Senate Republicans. I think it comes down to the money, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, recently told Bloomberg Politics. We cant keep up with the Koch brothers.) The Trump effect should scare Democrats and Republicans alike. Assuming a Clinton victory still the most probable presidential outcome a net gain of four seats would flip the Senate to the Democrats. Wisconsin and Illinois seem likely to change hands. An additional six seats are currently too close to call. And more than anything else more than anything that any of the candidates say or do the difference between a Republican Senate and a Democratic Senate may come down to whether Trump, a notoriously volatile and unpredictable element, performs two percentage points better or worse on Nov. 8. _____ Rob Portman shakes his tail feather Sen. Rob Portman leaves the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol on May 17. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Here are some things you may not know about Ohio Sen. Rob Portman: He speaks Spanish. (For proof, check out his new, Spanish-language campaign ad, a rarity in Ohio politics, which ends with the phrase Soy Rob Portman y apruebo este mensaje.) He met his wife on a blind date. She was a Democrat. He is a lifelong Shaker enthusiast. In 2004 he even published a book about the 19th-century Shaker community at Union Village, Ohio. Oh, and he knows how to do everyones second-favorite Oktoberfest activity: the chicken dance. Because theres nothing like a 13.4-point lead in the polls to loosen a politician up, heres a reluctant Portman being goaded into shaking his tail feather with a couple of Cincinnati Enquirer staffers: Youre welcome. _____ Follow the money AP $270,000: The amount that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is spending on its first ad buy supporting incumbent GOP Sen. Roy Blunt in Missouri. The move comes days after an independent poll showed Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, a Democrat, leading Blunt for the first time. $3.5 million: The amount that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is planning to spend on the Missouri contest. *** $20 million: The amount that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has already given to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super-PAC linked to George W. Bush svengali Karl Rove and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. $20 million: The amount that Adelson is expected to give to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a similar super-PAC focused on the House of Representatives. $5 million: The amount that Adelson plans to give to pro-Donald Trump organizations. He gave $30 million to Mitt Romneys super-PAC in 2012. *** $1 million: The amount that Sen. Chuck Schumer is planning to transfer to the DSCC Tuesday. $2 million: The amount that Schumer transferred earlier this month. $3.2 million: The amount that Schumer transferred to state parties over the past week. All told, Schumer has (in September alone) transferred $6.2 million of the $27 million he has on hand to help Democrats take back the Senate. Worth noting: The New Yorker is next in line to become majority leader. _____ The best of the rest THE JUICE: Conservatives say NRCC is in cahoots w/ GOP establishment against conservatives. Won't pay member dues. https://t.co/0ejcY3ADyS Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) September 20, 2016 OPINION: Winds are wild this year, and turbulence has been increased by Burrs slowness to recognize vulnerability https://t.co/VBWzdRtK2V The News & Observer (@newsobserver) September 19, 2016 Problems for Burr in NC: Unpopular guv, HB2 hurting biz, Trump getting outspent 7-to-1 by pro-Clinton forces https://t.co/BR7J8JJ8T3 Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 20, 2016 This years most consequential Senate race https://t.co/fv93BJqft2 George F. Will (@GeorgeWill) September 18, 2016 California's congressional Republicans may prefer @LorettaSanchez for Senate, but they're staying out of it https://t.co/1tqX64JsnH #CASen Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) September 19, 2016 _____ Countdown _____ By Manuel Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - Convicted Philippine felons on Tuesday told a Congressional hearing they had bribed a former justice minister and fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, dealing another blow to her efforts to investigate the country's deadly war on drugs. Senator Leila De Lima has become an increasingly isolated voice since seeking to hold Duterte to account for unleashing a crackdown on narcotics in which 3,800 people have been killed since the president took office 11 weeks ago. Bank robber Herbert Colangco told Congress he had paid 3 million pesos ($62,637) a month since October 2013 to De Lima, then justice secretary, to let him hold concerts and sell beer to inmates. He also said he ran a brothel and had been pressured to sell drugs to raise money for her election campaign, but had refused. De Lima vehemently denies all the allegations against her, saying the witnesses were prisoners and former prison officials with an axe to grind or people who were being pressured by her political opponents. "What the people have to realize is that this is not just an offense against me, but against everyone," she said in a statement. "They are making me into an example of what will happen to those who dare criticize and call out the abuses of those in power. Who would dare stand up for others now?" The congressional testimony came a day after senators voted to remove De Lima as head of a house committee probing the drugs war, a campaign condemned by the United Nations and human rights groups but cheered by Filipinos tired of crime and drug addiction. "I have de Lima's blessings," Colangco said, when Congress members asked how he had smuggled contraband into the prison. He said the bribes were paid through a security guard and presented what he said were receipts for the money remitted. Another convict testified to seeing De Lima in the cell of an inmate who monopolized drugs deals in one of the country's largest prisons. Two former prison officials told the panel they had delivered 5 million pesos in bribes to De Lima's home. Opposition to De Lima has intensified since she arranged for a self-confessed hitman to testify to a senate hearing last week that he saw Duterte shoot a man dead with an Uzi assault weapon and order other killings while a mayor of Davao City in the 1990s. Duterte's office denies the allegations. De Lima did not attend Tuesday's congress hearing and gave a speech at the senate defending the investigation. "No committee chairmanship is worth it, if it sacrifices my principles," she said. Speaking at an army base in Davao, Duterte said the events in Congress showed there were plenty of people who could back up his allegations that De Lima was taking cash from drug gangs. "I was correct all along," he said. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez) From Harper's BAZAAR If you've been paying attention at all, you'll know that Oaxaca is on the top of everyone's must-visit list these days. This southern Mexican state has made a name for itself, thanks to a strong indigenous culture, and its most famous exports are the the impressive food traditions and colorful folk art. A visit to Oaxaca has a wealth of natural treasures too. In addition to its vibrant capital city, also named Oaxaca, there are scores of mountains, where mezcal is made, that cascade into the ocean at the tropical beach towns of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido. But let's get back to the food. Though Oaxaca is worth a visit for any of the reasons mentioned above, you wouldn't be wrong to visit and focus solely on food and drink. Outside of Mexico, Mexican cuisine is often wrongly dismissed as being cheap and unsophisticated. While it's true that inexpensive street food is a large part of Mexican food culture, this in no way means the food isn't enlightened. A closer look into the traditions of Oaxacan cooking reveal intensely ancient, laborious and intricate techniques and flavor profiles, which include everything from grasshoppers to corn to mole and everything in between. Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Discovering the finer points of Oaxacan cuisine is as simple as cooking it yourself. Cooking classes abound in and around Oaxaca city, with the best options being Susana Trilling's Seasons of My Heart and Reyna Mendoza's El Sabor Zapoteco. It was at the latter that I discovered the intense preparation needed for mole negro con pollo (chicken in dark mole sauce); each ingredient was individually toasted over an open fire, then ground by hand using a stone. I pulled a muscle in my back after 30 secondsand a portion for eight diners needed over an hour of prep time for the sauce alone. The idea that these dishes are expected to be cheap or fast is clearly a grave misconception. Why Oaxaca? Chances are you have come across Oaxacan food without knowing it. Mole, which comes in many varieties and colors, is an Oaxacan staple. Tamales poached in banana leaf, another one. The tlayuda is an iconic street food classic comprised of giant, crispy tortillas with all sorts of ingredients heaped upon it, like a Mexican pizza. Another popular snack includes flor de calabaza, known in the English-speaking world as squash blossoms. The Oaxacan version closely resembles the Italian staple by requiring breading and frying with queso fresco inside. As for plants, corn and cacao are king, featured in many different foods and drinks, like tejate, a frothy, non-alcoholic drink blended from corn and cacao best enjoyed while exploring one of Oaxaca's bustling markets. Another plant central to Oaxaca's exploding food scene is the agave, which has taken the world by storm in the last few years with the mezcal's increasing popularity. Often touted as tequila's smokier cousin, this particular agave distillate, which is native to the state, is produced differently and on a much smaller-scale. Story continues Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Photo credit: Jackie Bryant The most sought after bottles of mezcal are produced by a single family off of a single plot of land using a single agave, which is a production style made popular by the Del Maguey brand that has come to signify high quality in the eyes of aficionados. Bottles like this can fetch prices in the low-hundreds and the sheer variety of different agaves and terroirs has inspired drink-lovers from all corners of the earth to travel to Oaxaca in search of their favorite and the most artisanal mezcal. Along with Del Maguey, notable brands include Koch el Mezcal, who also has a single village, single producer approach, Ilegal Mezcal, whose business today focuses on economic and agricultural stability, and Fidencio, based out of the town of Santiago Matatlan, which is considered the home base of scaled-up Mezcal production. In addition to a bevy of mezcalerias popping up around Oaxaca city, restaurants have jumped on board, offering impressive mezcal lists and accompanying menu pairings to offer a full Oaxacan gastronomic experience. Mexicans have long revered Oaxaca for its food culture and the rest of the world has (finally) taken notice as well. Netflix's second season of Chef's Table features Enrique Olvera, a Mexico City native who has two restaurants on the World's 100 Best list. Olvera spends much of the episode proclaiming his love for Oaxaca, detailing which parts of his menus are Oaxacan-inspired. He's putting his money where his mouth is, too: word on the street is he's about to open a restaurant in town. Before Olvera, there have been others. While no visit to Oaxaca is complete without roaming the streets and markets to sample from food carts, a new kind of fine dining food tourism is emerging here. Considering the pedigree and effort involved in Oaxacan cooking as it relates to the techniques revered in traditional French cuisinefoodies (both local and visiting) are embracing sophisticated dining concepts to honor these traditions. Below, the best white-glove options in Oaxaca city to inspire your next food tour. Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Casa Oaxaca One of the first chefs to capitalize on fine dining in this city is Alejandro Ruiz. Ruiz is credited with first exporting traditional Oaxacan food to the world and his restaurant, Casa Oaxaca, is listed as a favorite by both Olvera and famed Catalan chef Ferran Adria, among many other notable names in food and drink. It's also a regular on the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America list. On the grounds of an eponymous hotel, the space is serene and inviting and has a sprawling roof deck that looks out onto Oaxaca city's iconic church, Santo Domingo de Guzman. The food draws on traditional preparations with a modern twist, and focuses on local and sustainable options found in local markets. If you're looking for something local with a polish, this is the true "OG" haute cuisine spot in Oaxaca. Origen Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Another Oaxaca native, chef Rodolfo Castellanos, is offering modern interpretations of traditional Oaxacan classics at Origen. Inspired by the passion he saw growing up in his mother's home kitchen, Castellanos went on to become French trained and Mexican crowned, as the recent winner of Top Chef Mexico. He opened Origen with his wife, Lizette, in 2011 to showcase the rich traditions of his home state, and his penchant for creative twists can be found in dishes like his octopus and sweetbread tlayuaa riff on a classic dish traditionally served with grilled beef. Expect creative uses of local herbs, chiles, meats, starches and fish. The restaurant space itself is a delight, with multiple levels, open courtyards and big windows opening to the colorful streets below. Castellanos' humility and enthusiasm are palpable, and you can often find him milling around the restaurant, greeting guests and answering diners' questions when he isn't busy in the kitchen. Pitiona Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Continuing on the trend neo-Mexican cuisine is Pitiona, helmed by Jose Manuel Banos Rodriguez, who is also no stranger to the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America list. This restaurant's name comes from a plant, a verbena-like herb ubiquitous in Oaxacan cooking. Rodriguez draws his experience from working on yachts and in Europe's finest kitchens, as well as sourcing ideas and recipes from his mother and grandmother. The result? A pan-Oaxacan experience that spans the mountains and coasts. While everything is excellent, especially the lengua in chile adobo, we have it on good authority that the suckling pig taco is the move here, no matter what else you might order. El Destilado Photo credit: Jackie Bryant The newest kid on the block, El Destilado, is truly emblematic of Oaxacan cuisine's profile on the world stage. The three men at the helm, Jason Cox, Joseph Gilbert and Julio Aguilera, are American imports, lured to southern Mexico initially by mezcal, then fully converted by the food. Joseph, who runs the bar program and Julio, the head chef, met in the kitchen of Saison in San Francisco. Later, Jason and Joseph moved to Oaxaca to study Spanish with a side of food and mezcal and invited Julio to move down and help them open a restaurant. The rest is (delicious, flavorful and mouth-watering) history. El Destilado operates a full a la carte menu as well as two tasting menu options. There is also the opportunity for a beverage pairing, which generally includes Mexican craft beers and wines and, naturally, a lot of mezcal. These guys aren't strict on traditional preparations but are religious about using Oaxacan ingredients, bringing a dynamic perspective to quintessential Oaxacan cuisine. A favorite dish, for example, is their house made pasta with bottarga, XO and chorizo sauce, which is distinctly Oaxacan while channeling Italy at the same time. Critics claim dynamism within a near-perfect culinary tradition isn't needed, but once you enjoy a dinner at El Destilado you'll realize there's definitely room for creative extrapolation at the table. Photo credit: Jackie Bryant Where to Stay Need to visit but don't know where to start? You can't go wrong with choosing Oaxaca city as your homebase. You should also consider a tour. Eat.Drink.Cook.Mexico runs food and art-focused tours to the region, where you can join a previously scheduled group or hire owner and operator Elexia de la Parra to take you and your compadres around privately. As for where to stay, there are plenty of great options. The upscale Mexican chain Quinta Real has a stunning colonial property right in the center of Oaxaca city, which is worth a visit, even if you don't stay there. La Betulia is a recently renovated bed and breakfast owned by a charming young couple, offering stylish, private rooms centered around a courtyard, as well as an out-of-this-world home cooked breakfast every morning. You Might Also Like By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Union's competition regulator said on Tuesday she is not about to launch a new wave of tax investigations against U.S. companies after last month's 13 billion-euro ($14.5 billion) decision against Apple Inc (AAPL.O). Fears of a new round of EU state aid probes were triggered by a tweet that EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager sent over the weekend. Some officials said privately that the message appeared to portend a new round of state aid probes days before Vestager began meeting with U.S. officials and lawmakers in Washington. "I don't think that was the suggestion," Vestager said in an interview, when asked if her tweet meant she was planning new probes. The tweet stemmed from a Sept. 16 letter from Business Roundtable President John Engler who asked the 28 states that make up the EU Council to overturn a European Commission decision ordering Ireland to recover tax revenue from Apple. The Washington-based business lobbying group represents about 185 chief executive officers. London-based Algebris Investments CEO Davide Serra tweeted to Vestager: "Apple: so in the USA there are 185 CEO which think it's legal to pay 0.05 percent Taxes in Europe! @vestager pls check what they pay asap!" She replied a day later: "@davidealgebris I will. And I keep thinking about all the CEOs who just make sure that their companies do pay their taxes. They exist too." "The suggestion was to look into what they were saying," Vestager told Reuters ahead of a Tuesday meeting with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady. "We've been looking into whether the (Business Roundtable) had a point for the council to overthrow our position, which they dont," she added. "The council by now cannot overthrow" (the decision). The Business Roundtable said it believes European leaders will ultimately intervene in the Apple case to "avoid economic harm." Vestager said she has received no complaints from EU members about state aid investigations, adding: "That is most probably because we've been doing this since 1958." Story continues She said meetings with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and members of the Senate Finance Committee included a "quite frank discussion" about Apple and "a very open dialogue" about global tax issues. Senators described their discussion as cordial but said she did not address some questions about state aid probes. "I dont think she's going to change her viewpoint," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch told Reuters. He issued a statement saying Vestager "failed to build an effective case". (Editing by Matthew Lewis) CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced nine policemen to three years in prison on Tuesday for physically and verbally assaulting two doctors at a Cairo hospital in January, an incident that prompted strikes and a protest demanding justice. The verdict can be appealed and the court ordered bail of 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($225). The policemen are not in jail. Momin Abdelazim, one of the two doctors allegedly involved, told Reuters at the time that police assaulted him and a colleague after they refused to falsify medical records to say one officer had a serious head injury. Abdelazim said the wound was superficial. The incident prompted thousands of Egyptian doctors, led by the doctors' syndicate, to hold strikes and a rare protest demanding the policemen involved be brought to trial and the health minister be sacked. Following the strikes and pressure from the syndicate, prosecutors decided to reopen the case. Some media at the time criticised the doctors, saying they were using the incident for political ends and accusing them of endangering lives through their strike actions. Egyptian officials say cases of police abuse, including that involving the doctors, are isolated. Officials have repeatedly promised that all allegations would be investigated and punished where appropriate. Anger over perceived police brutality helped fuel the 2011 uprising that began on a Police Day holiday and ended President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Human rights groups says abuses are the result of a culture of impunity in which police are rarely punished. They have called for an independent body to investigate police brutality allegations. A string of deadly recent incidents, some of which took place in public, have fomented popular anger with the police. In April, a riot erupted in a Cairo suburb after a policeman killed a man with an assault rifle in an argument over the price of a cup of tea, witnesses and the Interior Ministry said. The ministry promised to investigate the incident. In February, protests broke out after a policeman shot dead a driver in the street in an argument over a fare, witnesses and the ministry said. The case was sent to court and the policeman was sentenced to life in jail in April. A police officer was sentenced to seven years in jail and five other policemen to three years in July for beating to death a father of four. The man was one of at least three men who died in police custody in a single week in November 2015. (Corrects prison sentence to three years from three months.) (Reporting by Haitham Ahmed and Ali Abdelaty; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Alan Crosby) Nice (France) (AFP) - French police on Tuesday arrested eight associates of the jihadist who killed 86 people when he ploughed his truck into a Bastille Day crowd in Nice, an investigation source said. "They are associates of the perpetrator. We are carrying out checks and they are in custody," the source said. "They are all men, of French and Tunisian nationality." The men were arrested in Nice and in the neighbouring towns of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer. Police were also searching properties on Tuesday, the source said. Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, rammed a 19-tonne truck through a crowd of more than 30,000 people gathered on the seafront Promenade des Anglais in Nice on July 14 before police shot him dead. The Islamic State group claimed he was one of its followers. Bouhlel was initially thought to have planned the attack alone but anti-terror investigators later said he had received help from several people and had spent several months planning it. Six people have already been charged over the attack. The increase in the number of local youths allegedly joining various militant outfits in the wake of Burhan Wani's death on July 8 is a worrying trend in the Valley. Police have been busy enforcing law and order in restive Kashmir (file photo). By Ashraf Wani: While the terror attack in Uri has got everyone talking about India's response to external threats, the surge in local youths allegedly joining various militant outfits in the wake of Burhan Wani's death shows the internal threat is equally, if not more, worrying in the Valley. If reports are to be believed, more than 60 local youths have joined different militant outfits in Kashmir, particularly south Kashmir, in the last 73 days of unrest following Hizb-ul Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani's death on July 8. advertisement ALSO READ Hurriyat hawks exposed: How funds flow from Pakistan to fuel Kashmir unrest There has been a simultaneous increase in militant attacks on police posts, and security pickets of political leaders. In all such attacks, militants snatch or loot service rifles and ammunition, which are in turn provided to fresh terror recruits during training. THE ATTACK PATTERN In the last 15 days, militants have looted at least 10 assault rifles with ammunition in south Kashmir. On Monday night, militants attacked two police posts in Langate area of Kupwara and Keller village in Shopian districts. On Sunday, 12 to 15 armed militants attacked PDP leader Javaid Ahmad Sheikh's house at Dyalgam in Anantnag and snatched four service rifles from the guards. In a similar incident, militants barged into the residential compound of NC leader Abdul Rashid Khanday on September 8, and snatched five service rifles from the guards. On July 9, 53 rifles were looted from the police station in Damhal Hanji Pora area in Kulgam district. Meanwhile, in fresh clashes on Monday, 50 protesters were injured, and two school buildings were set on fire in Shopian and Anantnag districts. WEAPONS FOR FRESH RECRUITS Security agencies have confirmed that the looted weapons are being provided to fresh recruits of militant outfits, mainly Hizb-ul Mujahideen cadres in the Valley. As the police have been occupied with enforcing law and order in the restive Kashmir, counter-insurgency operations have taken a hit, giving enough room to terror outfits to regroup and reorganise their structure in Kashmir. Further, fresh recruits are also getting trained in arms from local militant commanders. Hizb-ul Mujahideen's new video on social media networks in Kashmir shows its new commander Zakir Naikoo giving training in arms to new recruits in south Kashmir. Naikoo is shown training three young boys on how to fire from inside a room in case of an encounter. ALSO READ Hafiz Saeed releases new video before Eid, asks Kashmiris to back Hurriyat --- ENDS --- The family of the New York/New Jersey bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami filed a lawsuit against the city of Elizabeth, N.J. and its police force in 2011 claiming they were being harassed because of their Muslim faith. The suit stemmed from the citys decision to curb the round-the-clock operation of First American Fried Chicken, the family's restaurant, following multiple noise complaints from neighbors. Through the congregation of the people, code enforcement violations and numerous automobiles seen parked on the curb blaring horns in the early morning hours, the city council limited [the restaurants] hours to 10 oclock in the evening, Elizabeth, N.J. Mayor Christian Bollwage told the FOX Business Network. The suit was settled in the citys favor in October 2012, however, Bollwage said that the citys ultimate decision to close the restaurant had nothing to do with the familys faith. Related Articles Senator Elizabeth Warren said during a committee hearing on Tuesday, September 20, Wells Fargos president and CEO, John Stumpf, should resign. Wells Fargo bankers are accused of opening secret and unauthorized credit card and deposit accounts for customers in order to meet sales goals over at least five years. Warren hammered Stumpf during the hearing, asking him if the bank had returned any money to customers or if anyone had been fired over the scandal. Stumpf said no one had been fired, nor had money been returned. Ultimately, Warren said, Stumpf should resign and a federal investigation into Wells Fargos practice should result. You should give back the money that you took while this scam was going on and you should be criminally investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, she said. This just isnt right. A cashier who steals a handful of twenties is held accountable. But Wall Street executives almost never hold themselves accountable. Credit: YouTube/Senator Elizabeth Warren Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at the Washington Ideas Forum in Washington, D.C., last fall. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Elizabeth Warren tore into Donald Trump after the Republican nominee said it was sad that the suspect in the New York City and New Jersey bombings would receive medical care and legal counsel after his arrest. You just really wonder what kind of vision Donald Trump has for this country, Warren told MSNBC on Monday night. This is what we fight for. We fight for our Constitution. We fight for our basic humanity. And Donald Trump says, Lets throw all that out the window. And lets do the maximum amount of fearmongering. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan, was taken into custody following a gunfight with police in Linden, N.J., on Monday morning, hours after federal authorities named him as a suspect in the weekend blasts. An explosion in Manhattan resulted in 29 injuries, but neither the bombings nor the attempted bombings resulted in any fatalities. Rahami, who was injured in the shootout, was taken to the hospital before he was charged. At a Monday rally in Fort Myers, Fla., Trump lamented the idea that Rahami would be granted constitutional rights. Now we will give him amazing hospitalization, Trump said. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And hell probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is. And on top of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer. .@SenWarren reacts to Trump's lamenting that the NY/NJ bomber will receive "amazing hospitalization," lawyer #inners https://t.co/hyU9wAB93Q All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) September 20, 2016 The Massachusetts senator and progressive firebrand said such comments, as well as Trumps veiled remarks suggesting Second Amendment supporters might do harm to Hillary Clinton, ought to alarm everyone. Story continues What kind of human being are we talking about here? Warren said. Speaking at a rally for Clinton in Ohio over the weekend, she offered several possibilities. Donald Trump has repeatedly invited his followers to commit a terrible act of violence on his opponent. He has invited them to kill another human being more than once, Warren said. What kind of a man does that? A nasty little bully who cant win in a fair fight. Warren whom Trump has mockingly called Pocahontas for claiming Native American heritage also ripped the real estate mogul for his role in leading the birther movement to discredit President Obama. What kind of man does that? A man with a dark and ugly soul, she said. A man that will never be president. * EM stocks up 13 pct in 2016 after 5-year lull * India, other Asian markets primed for initial offerings * Brazil also re-emerging but Russia slower off blocks By Karin Strohecker LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A stock market rally is breathing fresh life into equity capital markets across developing countries, with bankers predicting some long-awaited IPO deals will finally get off the starting blocks in coming months. After five years of underperformance, emerging equities have rebounded 13 percent during 2016, attracting record sums from investors fleeing the low returns of other asset classes. That has already triggered some initial public offerings (IPOs) including in India, where ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd on Monday launched a bid to raise almost $1 billion in what will be the biggest local listing since 2010. "The recent rally in prices clearly makes the valuations more attractive, which influences a company or its shareholders on whether to bring a company to the market," said James Roe, equity capital markets partner at law firm Allen & Overy. But a market rout in January followed by uncertainty caused by events such as the Brexit vote have left companies wary of committing to equity fundraisings, and just over $25 billion has been raised this year via 110 emerging market IPOs, Thomson Reuters data shows. This is down from nearly $37 billion across 130 deals in the first three quarters of 2015 and far off the more than $120 billion tally for the whole of 2014. But many believe the pace is about to quicken. State-owned Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) launched an up to $8.1 billion IPO in Hong Kong last week while BSE, India's second-biggest stock exchange, filed for one earlier this month. In South Korea, construction machinery maker Doosan Bobcat Inc is expected to make its stock market debut in late-October, raising up to 2.45 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in potentially the country's second-largest listing ever. Story continues Ken Brown, Head of Global Finance at Nomura, said a pipeline had started to build in recent weeks both for IPOs and for rights issues by already listed firms. "There are... some big rights issues that are likely to happen, particularly in the bank space," he said. He also noted a "slew" of slower-burning IPOs, many of which had been worked on during the summer. "We expect to see a number getting launched pre year-end and with a lot of others lining up for spring next year." Some rights issues have already found a warm welcome. Polish bank Alior raised 2.2 billion zloty ($570 million) in a June deal that saw a take-up of 99 percent. WAKING GIANTS? Signs of a turnaround in the economic fortunes of larger developing countries, notably Brazil and Russia, may also benefit equity capital markets. Brazil's last IPO was in June 2015 and equity fundraising this year is running around the weakest rate in over a decade. But as the steepest recession in eight decades shows signs of lifting, several firms have filed for permission to sell stock, two via IPOs. "In Brazil, almost everything is up for sale right now....If you think about the depth of the recession ...it shouldn't be a surprise there are quite a few corporates out there who need to raise capital either on equity or on debt markets," said Will Ballard, head of emerging markets & Asia Pacific equities. Ballard expects a rise in fundraising across Latin America from the low levels seen at the end of 2015. Russia has also been absent as it suffered the effects of tumbling oil prices and Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. It has seen no IPOs this year, after four in 2015 and eight in 2011, Thomson Reuters data shows, though the government has raised around $800 million by selling a stake in diamond miner Alrosa. It also plans to list shares in oil firms Bashneft and Rosneft among others but the timing is unclear. Bankers say an IPO resurgence is unlikely for now in the commodity and energy-heavy economy at a time when investors prefer to invest in sectors such as consumer goods. "We need to see a stabilisation of consumer sentiment and once that is there, some of the stronger companies in that sector could look to IPO," said Georgy Egorov, emerging markets head of equity capital markets at UBS. ($1 = 1,119.0300 won) ($1 = 3.8598 zlotys) (Reporting by Karin Strohecker; editing by John Stonestreet) Joe Manchin Mylan CEO Heather Bresch has been in the hot seat over the price of the EpiPen. The cost of the device, used in emergencies to treat severe allergic reactions, has increased more than 500% since Mylan acquired it in 2007. Now Bresch's parents are being brought into the conversation. And it's no ordinary family Bresch is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Her mother, Gayle Manchin, was president of the National Association of State Boards of Education, USA Today reports. While in that position and after Bresch became CEO at Mylan, in 2012 the NASBE launched an "epinephrine policy initiative," which was the first time it had addressed food allergies, USA Today reports. Shortly after, Mylan launched its EpiPen4Schools program, which is now the subject of an antitrust investigation by the New York attorney general. And in 2013, President Barack Obama signed legislation that helped public schools build up emergency supplies of EpiPens. "There is no truth to the suggestion that the company's efforts were anything but straightforward or that we are aware of anyone advocating inappropriately for the right of schoolchildren to have access to potential life-saving medicine," Mylan told USA Today in a statement. "We make a point ever since I've been in this position, and when I was governor, we made a point, we just didn't get involved. It's so convoluted. I don't understand," Joe Manchin told Bloomberg on September 7. "To get into something you don't understand and your daughter being in this type of industry, it was best I stayed away." In the past few weeks, Mylan has found itself facing accusations that it overcharged Medicaid and an investigation into whether it violated antitrust laws with its EpiPen4Schools program. Lawmakers have been asking for federal investigations and hearings to get more details on how Mylan set the price of the EpiPen. Story continues To fend off public outrage over the EpiPen's cost, Mylan recently raised its copay-coupon system to cover $300 of out-of-pocket costs for those with commercial insurance. (A two-pack of the EpiPen has a list price of about $600.) The company has also said it would make an "authorized generic" version of the EpiPen that would cost $300 for a two-pack. Bresch will appear before the House oversight committee on Wednesday to discuss the drug's price increases over the years. NOW WATCH: A Chinese Olympic swimmer in Rio has tested positive for a banned substance More From Business Insider Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f217243%2fcda5f7d930284486b75927475502a60b Tap water supplies for roughly 218 million Americans nationwide were found to have chromium-6, a carcinogenic chemical, at levels above California's public health goals, a new study found. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, analyzed more than 60,000 samples of drinking water taken from taps across the United States. Thousands of local water utilities gathered the samples from 2013 to 2015 as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program. SEE ALSO: Coca-Cola says it 'replenished' all the water it used to make its soft drinks Over 75 percent of the water samples contained levels of chromium-6 above 0.02 parts per billion. Thats the threshold at or below which California state scientists say chromium-6 would pose a "negligible" cancer risk over a lifetime of consumption. A screenshot of shot of EWG's interactive map shows that chromium-6 taints the tap water of 218 million Americans. Image: environmental working group "Chromium-6 is so widespread, in terms of its distribution across drinking water sources," David Andrews, a senior scientist at EWG, told Mashable. "I should be shocked by the findings of EWG's report, but I am not," Erin Brockovich, the crusading environmental legal clerk and inspiration for the 2000 film starring Julia Roberts, said in a statement Tuesday. Brockovich brought chromium-6 into the national spotlight in the 1990s after fighting a California power company that allegedly leaked the chemical into tap water supplies in Hinkley, California, sickening residents. The case was settled for $333 million. She said that EWG's findings were "nothing short of an outrage." Erin Brockovich, who helped residents of Hinckley, California,, sue PG&E for water contamination, speaks at June 2002 news conference in Las Vegas. Image: AP Photo/Las Vegas Sun, Lori Cain But does the report mean that over two-thirds of the U.S. population could develop cancer from their drinking water? Not exactly. Chromium-6, or hexavalent chromium, naturally appears in some minerals, but it can also sneak into drinking water supplies through industrial pollution. The chemical is used to manufacture stainless steel, textiles, for anticorrosion coatings and in leather tanning. Story continues California's public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion effectively means that if a million people drank water with that level of chromium-6 every day for 70 years, one additional case of cancer would occur, according to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), which set the state's health target. Even so, "Water containing levels that exceed the public health goal can still be considered acceptable for consumption," Sam Delson, the office's deputy director for external and legislative affairs, said in an email. "The public health goal is not a boundary between a safe and dangerous level of chromium-6, and it is not considered the highest level that is safe to drink," he added. California established a public health goal in response to a handful of studies that showed chromium-6 can cause cancer in animals. A 2008 study by the National Toxicology Program, for instance, found that drinking water with chromium-6 caused cancer in lab rats and mice. Scientists at OEHHA extrapolated from that research that ingesting even tiny amounts of chromium-6 could cause cancer in people. In 2011, the office established the "very conservative" public health target of 0.02 parts per billion, which factored in the increased susceptibility of young children and other sensitive groups, Delson said. California's health target was designed to help inform California legislators as they crafted the nation's only state-specific legal limits for chromium-6 in drinking water. The Golden State the world's sixth largest economy struck out on its own because a federal limit for chromium-6 does not exist. The EPA instead has a 25-year-old drinking water standard of 100 parts per billion for total chromium, which includes chromium-6 as well as chromium-3. "At a national level, we're still operating under an outdated standard that doesn't even address this particular chemical," Bill Walker, EWG's vice president, told Mashable. "EPA's drinking water regulations lag behind science," he said. Image: Environmental Working group California's own state limit for chromium-6 is significantly higher than the public health target of 0.02 parts per billion. In 2014, legislators in that state adopted a "maximum contaminant level" of 10 parts per billion, a level that appeased the state's chemical companies but disappointed environmental groups, including EWG. "We don't believe that it's adequately protective of public health," Walker said of the 10-parts-per-billion state limit. Still, the California standard for chromium-6 is ten times lower than what the federal standard is for both chromium-6 and chromium-3. Delson said that while the more conservative 0.02 parts per billion public health goal is based solely on health protection, the maximum contamination level must be set at a level that is technically and economically feasible for the state's utilities to meet. EPA standards may lie ahead The EPA, for its part, is working to develop a risk assessment of chromium-6, which will include a comprehensive evaluation of the health effects associated with the chemical. The agency said it expects to release its draft risk assessment for public comment in 2017. The EPA ordered nearly 5,000 public water systems to collect water samples the ones that EWG analyzed to help paint a nationally representative picture of the occurrence of chromium-6 and total chromium in the nation's drinking water supplies. Regulators found that less than 2 percent of those roughly 5,000 systems had levels of chromium-6 exceeding California's standard of 10 parts per billion, the EPA told Mashable. Only one system exceeded the EPA's standard for total chromium. "Ensuring safe drinking water for all Americans is a top priority for EPA," the agency said in an email. By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Most European Union states want to postpone new EU rules meant to protect investors in life insurance, funds and other retail financial products because parts of the reform might be misleading. In a joint statement, 23 of the 28 EU states have urged the European Commission to delay by one year the application of the new rules on so-called packaged retail and insurance-based investment products, or PRIIPs. The new rules, due to come into force in January, cover a 10 trillion euro (8.63 trillion pounds) market and will force banks and insurers to use a standard "key information document", or KID. The goal is to help consumers across the bloc for the first time to compare products in what are often national markets dominated by mutual funds. The statement, which was dated Sept. 19 and distributed to journalists on Tuesday, came a week after the European Parliament rejected the new rules. Italy, Poland, Spain, Luxembourg and Slovakia did not sign it. "We need to wait for the Council to formally make its position known later this month. We will take the Council and the European Parliament's positions on board to ensure the best possible course of action for consumers," said a Commission's spokeswoman. But she added that the Commission was not in favour of delays in the application of the new rules. The KID is supposed to be written on no more than three pages of jargon-free language and must accompany each savings product, derivatives and life insurance policy to show the buyer potential future performance and total costs. European Parliament lawmakers said last week the proposed KID, which would replace a patchwork of documents given to customers for financial products, used an adverse scenario for a product's potential performance that was too optimistic. The EU governments that signed the statement said a delay was needed "to provide sufficient time to clarify open questions". They want the proposed law to remain unchanged, but call for clarifications on the technical standards to apply it. Story continues "The suggested postponement of PRIIPS by one year seems reasonable. The EU Commission should now abstain from introducing PRIIPs without binding technical standards," said Sven Giegold, a German Green EU lawmaker. "This would risk legal uncertainty for financial providers." EFAMA, which speaks for the mutual funds industry, and Insurance Europe representing insurers have both called for a postponement in the application date but not in the underlying law. "Delaying implementation increasingly appears to be the only realistic option," said Cathy Pitt, an expert on investment funds at law firm CMS. "Implementation of the PRIIPs Regulation without the unifying technical standards would carry significant risk to both investors and firms," she added. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Richard Balmforth) BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Tuesday to freeze assets of Islamist militants and their financial backers even if they are not on U.N. blacklists, an initiative advanced by France after deadly attacks in Paris, Brussels and Nice. Until now, EU rules allowed only for sanctions on individuals and companies targeted by the United Nations. EU governments could act individually. There was no EU-wide policy. No one was put under sanctions on Tuesday, but the new rules will allow the EU to target militants who have planned or taken part in attacks, as well as those who finance or arm militant groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda, and those who seek to recruit more members. Foreign nationals suspected of fighting for or supporting Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq will also now be put under Europe-wide travel bans, barring them from entry to the bloc. EU nationals will also be hit with asset freezes, although they cannot be blocked from returning home and governments have promised to arrest and prosecute them. French, German, Belgian and British citizens have joined insurgent forces in Syria and Iraq and some returning volunteers took part in the November attacks in Paris and those in Brussels in March. Islamic State claimed responsibility for those as well as the attack in Nice in July. "Such measures will target particularly the so-called foreign fighters," the European Council of EU governments said in a statement. "The EU will be able to list any person who meets the criteria, including EU nationals who have supported these organizations outside the EU and who then return." While the number of European foreign fighters is difficult to track, a Dutch study showed in April that more than 4,200 Europeans had gone to fight in Syria's civil war, of whom 30 percent had since returned and 14 percent were confirmed dead. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Mark Heinrich) In the wake of Uri terror attack, actor Akshay Kumar has urged people to help families of martyred soldiers with money, not just honour them. By Siddharth Husain: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has reacted to the ghastly terror attack in Uri near Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18, which left 17 Indian Army soldiers dead. Akshay Kumar, who has always shown his deep respect and support for the Armed Forces, stressed that while felicitating our martyrs was great, it was far from enough. COMMEMORATIONS NOT ENOUGH advertisement When the actor was in Delhi last month, he was invited for an event to felicitate the kin of soldiers, who had sacrificed their lives at the border, and present plaques to their families. While he strongly believes that Indian soldiers should be honoured, he also feels at the same time they don't need just the commemorations. Also read: Akshay comes clean on DGCEI notice, Salman and Aamir don't budge The actor said, "They are decorated with a lot of medals and that is good. But I looked at their faces. The honor was required for them, but they need money too. You have to be practical. I thought about supporting them financially and that is when I decided to do my bit for each family present there." DO YOUR BIT FOR SOLDIERS Given that our soldiers sacrifice their lives for us and their families need money to survive after them, Akshay said it was our duty to do something for them too. In the wake of the Uri terror attack, he urged everyone to come forward to do their bit beyond just applauding our heroes and praying for their families." Akshay Kumar has, of late, starred in quite a few Bollywood movies based on patriotism. Baby, Rustom, Airlift, Special 26 and some others have been appreciated by fans as well as critics. He will soon be seen in a movie called Crack, which is said to be on drug mafia. Also read: Akshay Kumar's Rustom: Get set to meet naval officer Rustom Pavri on June 30 --- ENDS --- BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Michel Barnier, the French politician who will lead EU negotiations with London on Britain's exit from the European Union, plans to tour member states once he takes office on Oct. 1, EU sources said on Tuesday. "He'll do a round of capitals and gauge the mood," one source said, noting that until Prime Minister Theresa May formally notifies Brussels of the British departure under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon treaty, negotiations will not start. Barnier, a conservative former minister and European Commissioner, was appointed by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to serve as his chief negotiator with Britain following the Brexit referendum in June. Barnier, 65, who oversaw financial services regulation for the EU executive until 2014, has already been joined by several staff including a German deputy, trade negotiator Sabine Weyand, and expects to have a "critical mass" of about 10 people on his team within a couple of weeks, sources said. His staff is likely to reach around 20 in time, though the negotiating process, once Britain has triggered it, will draw in much larger numbers of Commission officials. One source said Barnier was planning to concentrate his team on negotiating three main areas: disentangling Britain from the EU budget; trade and foreign policy; and issues around the single market, including migration of workers. It is unclear when formal negotiations will start. May's government is still assessing its objectives and she has said she will not trigger Article 50's two-year countdown to exit before next year. Juncker and other EU leaders say they will not discuss terms until she does, although some governments are keen to give London some idea of where talks might lead. Barnier wants to hear from the other 27 EU governments what their priorities are. He will coordinate the Commission's work on the detail of any divorce settlement, which will also need the agreement of the Council of the other member states, as well as of the European Parliament. Some British politicians have complained the EU negotiating line-up, including Barnier, represents interests hostile to Britain. European leaders say they want a deal that keeps Britain close and limits economic damage, but they will put the interests of the EU first. (Reporting by Brussels bureau; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) (Reuters) - The former partner of an Afghan-born man arrested after weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey is seeking full custody of their child, according to a court document seen by Reuters. Maria Mena said she was seeking custody because the defendant, Ahmad Khan Rahami, "has been charged with police attempted murder and is currently under protective services after possible terrorist related activity," according to the document filed on Tuesday in the Superior Court of New Jersey's Chancery Division. Mena, who could not immediately be reached for comment, last had telephone contact with Rahami in January 2016, the record showed. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in and Christine Prentice in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler) LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who built a multi-million pound business network advising multi-national corporations and governments after leaving office in 2007, said on Tuesday he was planning to close his commercial ventures and concentrate on not-for-profit activities. He said he would donate the "substantial financial reserves" of the businesses, Tony Blair Associates (TBA) and his Windrush and Firerush structures, to non-profit work. Blair, 63, was Labour prime minister for 10 years from 1997 and was later a Middle East envoy for eight years. He has been widely criticised for dealing with undemocratic governments, including that of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose human rights records have come under fire. In an email to staff released by his office Blair said the restructuring reflected changes that had been under way in his organisation for the last two years. He did not elaborate. "Over the past nine years we have built a group of organisations employing around 200 people and working in more than 20 different countries round the world," he said in the email. "It is time to take this to a new level." He said he would retain a small number of personal consultancies for his income, but that 80 percent of his time would now be spent on the non-profit side. "I want now to concentrate the vast bulk of my time on the not-for-profit work which we do," he said. "De facto, this has been the case in the past two years but we need to reflect this change in the way we are structured. "The substantial reserves that TBA has accumulated will be gifted to the Not For Profit work." The not-for-profit ventures include Blair's Faith Foundation and the Centre for Geopolitics and Religion, which focuses on addressing the root causes of Islamist extremism. The full extent of Blair's business activities has never been disclosed but 2015 accounts for Windrush published in January this year showed turnover up by more than a third to 19.4 million pounds, while profits trebled to 2.6 million pounds. Blair and his wife Cherie also have extensive property investments in London. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt on Monday, but their split has been a "long time coming," a source tells ET. Jolie, 41, and Pitt, 52, tied the knot in August 2014, but according to the source, the two have been having problems for the last year. WATCH: Angelina Jolie Files for Divorce From Brad Pitt After Two Years of Marriage "They haven't slept in the same bed for a big chunk of that," the source says. "When they were in New York City the last time together, they had separate rooms and were on their own schedules." The last time Pitt and Jolie were together in New York City was at the 2015 WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards on Nov. 4, 2015. According to another source, Pitt has also been more "carefree" in recent months. During his visit to NYC in July, people who worked with the A-list star commented that "the old Brad is back," the source says. NEWS: Brad Pitt Speaks Out on Angelina Jolie Divorce: 'I Am Very Saddened by This' " ... They said [that] because 'he was back to being totally carefree and easygoing. Back to the aloof Brad,'" the source says. "It was a working trip but he was making the most out of his free time. He was going out to lunch, walking around. It's almost like he didn't care about anything. He wasn't your classic, uptight A-list celebrity walking around with a big entourage." "Angelina runs a tight ship, and for years, Brad followed her orders," the source further claims. "She always called the shots and he went along with it. In recent months, he hasn't been and has been living his life how he wants to live it." According to another source, Jolie and Pitt also struggled with issues when it came to agreeing on a parenting style for their six kids -- 15-year-old Maddox, 12-year-old Pax, 11-year-old Zahara, 10-year-old Shiloh, and 8-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. PHOTOS: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Most Matching Moments "Brad has traditional parenting skills -- thinks the kids need structure [like] bed times, consistent schooling," the source says. "Angelina's parenting style is much more freeform. She's not into setting boundaries." Story continues Most recently, Pitt took a solo trip to Croatia on Sept. 1, where he met with investors and toured a real estate development. A source tells ET that Pitt "seemed fine" during his recent stay. As for Jolie, she was last spotted in Syria on Sept. 12, making her fourth visit to the refugee camps in Jordan since the conflict in Syria began. The last sighting of Pitt and Jolie together before their bombshell divorce announcement was in July, when they took Knox and Vivienne out for a birthday breakfast at the Griddle Cafe in West Hollywood, California. WATCH: Brad Pitt on Working With Angelina Jolie -- 'She Knows When I'm Faking It Better Than Anyone' Jolie lists their separation date as Sept. 15 in her divorce filing, and is asking for physical custody of their six children. --Reporting by Jennifer Peros For a look back at the pair's fiery relationship over the years, watch the video below: Related Articles Attorney Christopher Darden is opening up about why he declined to talk with Sterling K. Brown before the filming of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Brown took home the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie on Sunday, and the one person he said he wouldn't be calling was Darden, whom he portrayed in the true crime mini-series. According to the actor, he tried to get in contact with Darden as he prepared to take on the role of the famed prosecutor, but Darden "respectfully declined." However, Darden recalls the communication attempts quite a bit differently, saying that Brown reached out very late at night. "It was kind of weird actually," Darden told ET's Lauren Zima on Monday. "It was 3 o'clock in the morning. I was concerned about my parents that night. I thought, when the phone rang, there was a problem, but it was just Sterling K. Brown." WATCH: Sterling K. Brown Reaps the Rewards of 'American Crime Story' Darden also said that part of the reason he shied away from connecting with Brown was because of the terrible memories the infamous trial evokes in him. "For me, it was a hugely negative life experience. For me to have to revisit it, it really drags me to a very dark and angry place," Darden shared. "I don't want to go back to 1995. And I don't want to feel the way I felt in 1995." However, now that Brown's a "big shot Hollywood actor, Emmy-award winning actor," Darden said he'd have to take Brown's call, as long as it's "during the daylight hours." While Darden maintains that he's never watched the Ryan Murphy-helmed miniseries, the 60-year-old lawyer and author said he was "very happy" for Brown's triumph, adding, "I knew he was going to get nominated and I knew he would win." WATCH: Christopher Darden Still Has a Lot of Regrets About OJ Simpson Case: Prosecution Was 'Not Ready' Story continues According to Darden, he relied on his "surrogates" to tell him about Brown's performance -- namely his daughter, Jenee, who communicated with the actor over the course of his time shooting the series and was rooting him on during the awards show. Darden said he thinks it's "great" that his daughter has a friendship with the star who played him -- with one exception. "The only thing I don't like is when she calls him her TV dad. That part I'm not happy about," he pointed out. While Darden hasn't seen much of the actor's portrayal of him, he said he has seen a lot of photos of Brown in character. "I've seen more pictures than anything because when I Google myself, the first picture that comes up is Sterling K. Brown," Darden said, laughing. "People that have watched it said he did a great, great job, so I'm glad for that. I'm glad for him." "It's a tremendous thing after all of these years, for an actor to play me and do a great job!" Darden added. "He must have done a great job because he beat John Travolta! I'm really happy for him. Last night I took a shot of tequila for you, Sterling." WATCH: Christopher Darden Opens Up About Marcia Clark and the Truth Behind 'The People v. OJ Simpson' In 1996, Darden wrote his recollections about prosecuting the Simpson trial in his memoir, In Contempt, which he's currently re-releasing. Darden said he "bled over those pages," while writing the story, one week after the conclusion of the trial. ETONLINE "You will hardly ever find such a personal story," Darden said. "I wanted to write something that would last and people could read and understand and know about us and what we did and what we tried to do and who we were -- because I couldn't just leave it to the tabloids and the media." Brown spoke with ET after his big win, where he opened up about being unable to contact the real-life inspiration for his role. "I don't think it would be right to call him again," Brown said. "He's a grown man living his life." Check out the video below to hear more from the first-time Emmy winner. Related Articles By Astrid Zweynert LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain's role as a pioneering country for social entrepreneurs could suffer as it prepares to leave the European Union after decades of the government actively promoting business leaders seeking to do good, experts said. A Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of experts in the world's 45 biggest economies ranked Britain third after the United States and Canada as having the best environment for entrepreneurs using businesses to help tackle social problems. From The Big Issue newspaper sold by homeless people and ecotourism attraction the Eden Project to Divine Chocolate, a company co-owned by cocoa farmers in Ghana, Britain's social enterprise sector has grown rapidly in 20 years. Britain launched a social enterprise strategy in 2002, the first social impact bond in 2010, introduced social investment tax relief and brought in a law in 2013 calling for all public sector commissioning to factor in social value. But economic uncertainty after Britain's decision to leave the EU poses significant financial and operating challenges for the sector, said Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK, a membership organisation for social enterprises. "While there is no blueprint to know what will happen after Brexit we can expect there will be less government support, financially and in terms of policy, because there will be some economic contraction," Holbrook said. The Thomson Reuters Foundation poll, carried out in partnership with Deutsche Bank, the Global Social Entrepreneurship Network (GSEN) and UnLtd, foundations for social entrepreneurs, found Britain came seventh when experts were asked if government policy supports social entrepreneurs. South Korea, Singapore topped the list with France tied with Chile in third place followed by Canada and the United States. In Britain government records identify about 70,000 social enterprises - loosely defined as ventures combining business with social purpose - employing nearly one million people. But leaving the EU could bring new challenges such as delays on public sector contracts - a source of income for larger social enterprises - and social businesses may find it harder to borrow money amid financial uncertainty, Holbrook said. MOMENTUM SLOWING? In Britain, as elsewhere in the world, public funds have come under increasing pressure from shrinking economic growth, making governments more aware of the potential of social enterprises to promote a more equitable and sustainable society. Nigel Kershaw, executive chairman of the Big Issue Group, said the sector had grown since the 1990s out of co-operatives and community enterprises wanting to use business to create social change. Growing demand from the government to buy services from charities has also boosted the sector, Kershaw said, a factor he said he expects to continue despite Britain's EU exit. The poll found that selling to government was one of the main challenges faced by the growing sector. The Big Issue, one of Britain's best-known social enterprises, was formed in 1991 as a business solution to a social crisis and inspired street papers in more than 120 countries. "It's about finding sustainable business solutions that are making a difference to people's lives throughout the U.K. in a time when we need a more innovative way of doing business," Kershaw said. GOVERNMENT ALLY But despite Britain's leadership on social entrepreneurship, experts in the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll ranked Britain only 27th when asked if social entrepreneurship was gaining momentum, while Canada and the United States ranked top. Experts said the sector could be impacted if the new government of Theresa May does not provide the same level of support enjoyed by social entrepreneurs in the past two decades. A decision to move responsibility for the sector from the Cabinet Office - a department at the heart of government - to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport set alarms bells off. "There is a danger that the needs of social enterprises, social investors and mutuals will be sidelined," Holbrook said. Britain's model of government support for social enterprise has caught the attention of other governments, aware of the power of using business to help social problems, experts said. In Malaysia - which came 9th in the overall ranking and 10th when it came to government support - Prime Minister Najib Razak last year allocated 20 million ringgit (3.7 million) to boost the number of social enterprises to 1,000 by 2018 from around 100. As part of the plan it set up the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) which provides training in setting up a business, how to access funding and networking opportunities, along with competitions and outreach. "It's been a tremendous help to get this type of government support," said Su Seau Yeen, founder of Simply Cookies, a social enterprise based in Kuala Lumpur that trains single mothers to bake in a kitchen where they can bring along their children. By contrast Australia ranked 36th on government support with experts saying the sector needed coordinated government support. "It's a hot-button issue right now and there is a strong sense that there's not a lot of government support," said Jo Barraket, a professor and director of the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. (For the full results of the 2016 poll on the best countries for social entrepreneurs go to poll2016.trust.org) (Reporting by Astrid Zweynert; Additional reporting by Pauline Askin in Sydney; Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories) Maks Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgratroyd certainly do last-minute well! The Dancing With the Stars couple stepped out looking glam for a date night at a pre-Emmys party at Nightingale Plaza nightclub in West Hollywood on Friday, but getting ready was a rush job for the parents-to-be. WATCH: Peta Murgatroyd Shares Adorable Video Of Baby Bump Moving As Son Kicks "It's nice to get out, actually," Murgatroyd told ET's Denny Directo. "It's nice to be able to dress up a little bit and put on some heels." But the couple admits that pre-baby life is busy, with Chmerkovskiy working on the new season of DWTS and Murgatroyd focusing on her Peta Jane skincare business. "This is like, practice for when we just left the baby at home and we get a night to ourselves," joked Chmerkovskiy. "It's true, because we got ready so quickly and there was no time," the mom-to-be added. "And that's how it's going to be in the next year." Well, they nailed the look! The 30-year-old's dress featured a plunging neckline and hugged her baby bump, while her fiance looked as dapper as ever in his suit. With the baby due in January, the dance champ shows no sign of slowing down just yet -- though she admits there's not much time for full hair and makeup anymore. "She doesn't do what a normal pregnant lady does," Chmerkovskiy explained. "She's still fully engaged with all our activities. She literally drove from San Diego from a convention show with her tanning line, straight changed and then here." "I'm like, 'I can do this! Let's go!'" Murgatroyd adds. NEWS: Peta Murgatroyd Shows Off Pregnancy Boobs and Baby Bump in Crop Top Check out the adorable footage of Peta's baby kicking kicking in the video below. Related Articles By PTI: New Delhi, Sept 20 (PTI) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani today called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and condemned the "cross border attack" in Uri while expressing solidarity with India to eliminate the threat of terrorism. President Ghani strongly condemned the cross-border terror attack and conveyed Afghanistans solidarity and support with India for all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism, a PMO statement said. advertisement Heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based JeM had stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir on Sunday, killing 18 jawans. President Ghani also expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers. The Prime Minister thanked President Ghani for Afghanistans support. PTI AKK DV --- ENDS --- It started out with a dumb sight gag Jimmy Fallon donning a surgical mask to greet the now pneumonia-free Hillary Clinton on Mondays Tonight Show and it ended with Fallon reading letters from kids written to Clinton, including one that advised, Cut your hair now lol. At one point, Fallon said the current campaign is long and long and long, and as if to prove it, thats how he made his interview seem as well. At one point, Fallon said, We have the debate coming up. Which Trump are you going to get? Cause he seems to be changing a bit, ah His voice trailed off, either because he realized he was about to suggest that Donald Trump was trying to, as they say, become more presidential or, more likely, he just didnt know what his staff had been getting at when they wrote that card for him to read. In any case, Clinton pounced. Hes trying to convince people to somehow forget everything hes said and done, and I dont think hes going to get away with that, she said. Your former guest Donald Trump has refused to admit that President Obama is an American, born in America. For five years hes been hammering this so-called birther movement, which I think is so sickening. Then Clinton pulled out that Maya Angelou quote shes been using in her stump speech for a while now: When someone shows you who he is, believe him the first time. Thats good, said Fallon. She is amazing, he added, feeling obliged to express admiration for a poet. It was like awkward cocktail chatter between two people who just wanted to find their real friends at the party. Fallon isnt simply a mediocre interviewer; hes often an incoherent one. Thus, Clinton had to field pop-fly bloopers such as, We have little boys and girls who watch our show why should they grow up to be president want to grow up to be president? Huh? Clinton had to respond by trying to inject some meaning into Fallons word salad, and then steer the conversation, such as it was, into a campaign message: Well, they should grow up to be what they want to be [and] not bump up against a hard glass ceiling because of where they were born, [or] that somehow the American dream isnt big enough for them. What kind of country do we want to be? Are we going to have all this bigotry and bullying thats going on? Story continues Taped last Friday, this interview certainly wasnt a newsmaker. Early on, still harping on her pneumonia, Fallon went for an easy laugh, asking, Is Bill a good nurse? Clinton responded with a curt, Hes very solicitous, and then went on to say that her dogs were equally caring. Ooof. Hillary, just stop doing these kinds of interviews. The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC. The family of an unarmed Oklahoma man who was fatally shot by police demanded justice at a press conference Monday night. Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old black man, was shot and killed by police Friday evening. In a video of the shooting released by the Tulsa Police Department, Crutcher can be seen putting his hands up and walking away from police to his vehicle before being Tasered and then shot. Read: 13-Year-Old Boy Fatally Shot by Police After He Pointed BB Gun at Officers Crutcher was unarmed, police said in a press conference. One officer flying in the helicopter above the scene can be heard on video saying Crutcher looks like a bad dude. Tiffany Crutcher, Terences twin sister, said and because he was a big bad dude he wont get to make his family proud like he hoped to. She said it was clear to her that Terence died because of a Tulsa Police officer's "negligence and incompetency and insensitivity." "I just feel like I'm in a nightmare really. I just want to wake up and this all be over tomorrow, Tiffany Crutcher said at a press conference Monday. I lost my brother, my twin brother who was doing nothing wrong, absolutely nothing wrong and I truly believe in accountability." Tulsa police released the video of the shooting in an effort to exercise full transparency and disclosure, said Officer Tuell, a spokesman for the department. Crutcher suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest, police said. According to the Crutcher family attorneys, Crutcher was having difficulty with his vehicle. After watching the video and seeing what actually happened, we asked for the facts, we asked for answers and we clearly got it through the video," said Tiffany. Police officer Betty Shelby, who is white, fired the deadly shot. On the force since 2011, she has been placed on paid administrative leave while authorities investigate and determine whether charges will be filed. Story continues The U.S. Department of Justice has also opened a probe into the shooting. Officer Shelbys lawyer, Scott Wood, said the officer had thought that Mr. Crutcher had a weapon. Wood said Mr. Crutcher had acted erratically, refused to comply with several orders, tried to put his hand in his pocket and reached inside his car window before he was shot, according to The New York Times. Wood also told the Tulsa World that Shelby has completed drug-recognition expert training and believed Crutcher was acting like he was on PCP. A vial of the drug was later found in his vehicle, according to Fox 23. The Tulsa Police Chief, Chuck Jordan, called the video disturbing at a news conference Monday and said the department will "do the right thing." Read: Shooter Targets Cops as 6 Victims Shot in 'Completely Bizarre' Philadelphia Rampage "It's very difficult to watch," Jordan said. "The first time I watched it I watched it with the family... we will not cover anything up." Crutcher is one of 161 black men who have been shot and killed by police officers this year, according to a Washington Post database that has been tracking police shootings. Crutcher's name was a top trend on Twitter Tuesday with more than 18,000 mentions, as many posted their feelings after watching the video. As an officer I am so sick and drained of some cops doing things like this. You are making us all look bad. STOP. #TerenceCruthcher R_Muterspaw (@RodneyMute) September 20, 2016 There is NO JUSTIFICATION for an UNARMED AMERICAN CITIZEN to be killed by police. In the #TerrenceCrutcher case, let's see if they find one. CandaceTX (@CandaceTX) September 17, 2016 Watch: Police: We Posted Images of Adults Overdosing With 4-Year-Old To Show Epidemic Related Articles: Tillamooks #RealFoodSunday is a movement that encourages people to eat more Real Food, nothing artificial, at least once a week, with an emphasis on Sunday. Tillamook invites you to join in this Sunday andwhether by shopping, cooking, or eatingshare your ideas with #RealFoodSunday! The alarm screams to life at 4:12 in the morning. It is still dark out, even this time of year, when the nights are the shortest they will be. The country air feels cool before the sunrise. The truck is loaded, and the coffee is poured in to-go cups with lids. By 6:30, 700 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, 25 bushels of sweet corn, stacked crates of cucumbers, and bouquets of basil are careening through the tunnel en route to the farmers market. The coffee is long gone. This scene happens every Saturday and Sunday in every city across the country. Farmers unpack the freshest food you can find into stacks of flavor at their markets. There is a fleeting moment between the time when the final bunch is placed on the pile and when the first customer arrives. The calm before the storm. The cool before the heat wave. Then it starts. We want to know where our food comes from. We want to have a connection with the people who grow it for us. We crave better, cleaner, fresher choices. We find all this at our farmers markets, where we can draw a direct line from the hands that plant the seeds to the hands that make the meal. Walk across the sidewalk and into the square where the tents are lined up, protecting the lettuce from the sunlight. There is an excitement here you can almost touchthe open arms of bounty awaiting your embrace. Find the stand with the young, tan tomato farmer, the one with the dirt under her nails. Shes been awake for seven hours; its not quite noon. Smile in her direction, across the stack of plump heirlooms. Pick one up. Smell it. There is nothing like that perfume. It reeks of the best parts of summer and the best parts of life. Buy that tomato and several moremore than you need. Move on to the corn, the cucumbers, the basil; then buy some butter and a bag of homemade pasta. Linger in the market a little longer than you have time for. Should you buy the flowers this week? They were grown 20 miles away by people who have followed their heart. Buy the flowers this week. Story continues At home, slide open the kitchen windows, and place the flowers in a vase of cool water on the sill. Shuck the husks from the kernels. The corn is still cool from the night air. It pops with sweetness and is so fresh that it doesnt even need to be cooked. Slice open tomatoes, one for the bowl, one for the cook. Tear basil leaves, and let them fill the air with their scent. Boil the pasta, whisk in the butter, and then toss it all together in a tangle of summer. Fresh Pasta With Tomatoes, Corn, Cucumbers, and Basil Serves 6 as a main course or 10 as a first course The sauce of this seasonal pasta uses a classic French technique known as beurre blanc, which threads together the super summery flavors found at the farmers market. INGREDIENTS Kernels from 4 ears of fresh corn 1 pint ripe tomatoes 1 small cucumber 2 large shallots, finely chopped cup white wine vinegar cup dry white wine cup heavy cream 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into bits Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 pound fresh pasta cup fresh torn basil leaves DIRECTIONS Place the corn kernels in a large bowl. Halve the tomatoes, and thinly slice the cucumber, placing all in the bowl with the corn. Bring the shallots, vinegar, and wine to a boil in a medium-heavy saucepan and boil until all the liquid is reduced and the only thing left is the shallots. (This seems like its going too far, but its notreduce the liquid completely.) Whisk in the cream and teaspoon salt, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and whisk in the butter, a few bits at a time, until it is completely melted and incorporated. Pour this sauce over the vegetables in the bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Boil the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid; then drain the pasta and add it immediately to the bowl with the sauce. Toss the pasta with the sauce, and let it stand for about a minute. The pasta will start to suck up the sauce. Stir the pasta to see if it has become too thick, and if so, stir in some of the cooking liquid to thin the sauce. Transfer the pasta to plates, then spoon the remaining sauce and vegetables over the pasta. Scatter the basil leaves over the plates and serve immediately. Farmers Market Vegetarian Quesadillas As part of Tillamooks #RealFoodSunday movement, TakePart has created this recipe, which highlights Tillamook products and ingredients that can be sourced from the farmers market. Serves 4 as a main course or 10 as a first course INGREDIENTS cup chopped red bell pepper cup chopped zucchini cup chopped yellow squash cup chopped red onion cup chopped mushrooms 1 tablespoon olive oil Cooking spray 6 (9-inch) whole wheat tortillas 1 cups Tillamook Shredded Sharp Cheddar DIRECTIONS In a large nonstick pan, cook the red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, and mushrooms in olive oil over medium to medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until just tender. Remove vegetables from pan. Coat the same pan with cooking spray, and place one tortilla in pan. Sprinkle cup of Tillamook Shredded Sharp Cheddar evenly over tortilla, and layer cup of the vegetable mixture over the Tillamook Shredded Sharp Cheddar. Sprinkle another cup of Tillamook Shredded Sharp Cheddar on the vegetables and top with a second tortilla. Cook until golden on both sides, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove quesadilla from pan, and repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut each quesadilla into 8 triangles with a pizza cutter. Serve hot. Take the Pledge: When You Pledge, We Give $5 to Help Under-served Communities Access Affordable and Fresh Food Related stories on TakePart: A Back To School Lunch Guide A Guide to Enjoying Summers Best Foods How Farmers Markets Can Help Fight Hunger Original article from TakePart VW Beetle LSR The original Volkswagen Beetle was always surprisingly quick, for a diminutive two-door with a sub-100-horsepower engine 60 mph to 70 mph. The New Beetle, which arrived in the late 1990s, dramatically upped that, to around 130 mph from a modern four-cylinder motor that lived under the front hood and was liquid-cooled, not chilled by air like its grandfather. But who knew that the Beetle had so much more to give, speed-wise? On Monday, VW revealed a stunning milestone in a statement: Volkswagen of America, Inc., ... announced that its specially tuned Volkswagen Beetle LSR, powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder TSI gasoline engine, has achieved 205.122 mph over a flying milethe fastest speed ever recorded for a Beetle. The car was driven by Automobile magazine contributing Editor Preston Lerner on the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, at the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) 2016 World of Speed event. VW Beetle LSR The Bonneville Salt Flats is a legendary land-speed landscape. The surface is starkly uniform and vast, providing correctly equipped cars with an ideal canvas for painting a legacy in velocity. It was, of course, no ordinary Beetle. "The suspension was lowered, special Salt Flat wheels and tires fitted, a limited-slip differential added to aid traction, and the interior was stripped and outfitted with full safety equipment, such as a rollcage, racing seat and harness, and a fire suppression system," VW said in a statement. "Plus, to help slow the car down, the Beetle was fitted with a pair of parachutes." You won't be able to threaten 200 miles per hour, but you can buy an R-Line Beetle for about $26,000, outfitted with a 210-horsepower engine that will get you to an electronically restricted 130 mph and rocket you from 0 to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds, according to VW. VW Beetle LSR NOW WATCH: Reports say Volkswagen has agreed to buy back 500,000 cars see if your car may be eligible More From Business Insider fbi new york bomb The father of the suspect in three bombing incidents last weekend prompted an FBI review in 2014 when he called his son a terrorist, according to The New York Times. Mohammad Rahami made the statement to New Jersey police after his son Ahmad Khan Rahami was accused of stabbing his brother in a domestic dispute, The Times reported, citing two senior law-enforcement officials. The comments were passed along to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the FBI, according to The Times. FBI officials interviewed the father, but he recanted his statement. An official told The Times that Mohammad Rahami made the comments because he was angry at his son. In a statement released Tuesday, the FBI said it found nothing linking the suspect to terrorism during its 2014 review. Ahmad Rahami was not interviewed during the assessment, according to CBS News. JUST IN: FBI releases statement on #Ahmad_Khan_Rahami. Sources say Rahami was not interviewed during "assessment." pic.twitter.com/vKtfaRAaT8 Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) September 20, 2016 Ahmad Khan Rahami spent three months in jail on charges relating to the domestic dispute, a law enforcement official told The Times. On Monday, Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested after a gunfight with police in Linden, New Jersey, in connection with three bomb incidents in New York and New Jersey. Reporters outside Mohammad Rahami's restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, asked him on Tuesday if he thought his son was a terrorist. "Two years ago I go to the FBI because my son was doing really bad, OK?" he said, according to The Times. "But they check almost two months, they say, 'He's OK, he's clean, he's not a terrorist.' I say OK." Story continues The Times also reported that police found a notebook after the shootout on Monday. In one part of the book, Rahami wrote of "killing the kuffar," or nonbelievers, a law enforcement official said. He also praised Anwar al-Awlaki the American-born, former senior Al Qaeda leader who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen in 2011 and the soldier involved in the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. NOW WATCH: Watch Donald Trump attempt to explain why he thinks Hillary Clinton is a bigot More From Business Insider New York (AFP) - The Afghan-born American held on suspicion of bombing New York had a violent past, allegedly stabbing his brother after returning from a year in Pakistan, and reportedly possessed a notebook that mentioned Al-Qaeda. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was shot multiple times and captured by police Monday after being spotted in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The FBI had released his name and mugshot, setting off an intensive manhunt. Rahami underwent surgery and was in "critical but stable" condition, New York police chief James O'Neill said Tuesday. But so far he has not spoken to interrogators. He has been charged with unlawful weapon possession and five counts of attempted murder of a police official. US media reported he was captured with a bullet-torn notebook that contained pro-Al-Qaeda writings. He has yet to be slapped with terror charges over Saturday night's bombing in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, which wounded 29 people, and a pipe bombing along the route of a US Marine Corps race in New Jersey. The FBI is now analyzing eight other unexploded bombs recovered from Manhattan and New Jersey, fingerprints and DNA, for clues as to how he may have become radicalized, and whether he acted alone. The notebook found on Rahami included references to US-born Al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011, and the 2013 Boston bombers, CNN reported. "He doing bad, he stabbed my son, he hit my wife," Rahami's father Mohammad told reporters when asked why he called authorities in 2014 to tell them his son was a danger and reportedly calling him a terrorist. - Email from Pakistan - In August 2014, Rahami was charged with aggravated assault and unlawfully possessing a knife after being accused of stabbing Nasim Rahami in the leg. He reportedly spent three months in jail but was never prosecuted. Two years earlier in February 2012, he was also accused of violating a domestic violence restraining order, according to court filings in Elizabeth. Story continues Investigators suspect that Rahami built 10 bombs, only two of which exploded -- the one in Chelsea and the pipe bomb in the New Jersey town of Seaside Park. Two other pipe bombs in Seaside Park failed to detonate, as did a pressure cooker device in Chelsea, and five pipe bombs in his hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, which were defused safely on Monday. "I think it's a good sign that he was found in a doorway. Hopefully that means he had nowhere to go," O'Neill told CBS News. Officials say Rahami travelled "extensively" in recent years to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he married his wife, who then fell pregnant. Local congressman Albio Sires said Rahami sought his help to obtain a visa for his heavily pregnant wife to travel to the United States in 2014. "He sent an email to my office from Pakistan, and he had said to me that he had been in Pakistan since April 2013 and we received the email on March 2014," Sires told CNN. - Love child - His wife left the United States shortly before the attack and was stopped in the United Arab Emirates, US media reported. Officials say so far they have found no connection between Rahami and any militant groups, including the Taliban or Islamic State (IS). He worked at the family's fried chicken restaurant, where The New York Times quoted friends as saying that he started praying and wore traditional clothes after returning from Afghanistan. He was also father to a child with his American high school girlfriend, who is now requesting full custody, filing court documents that list Rahami as "under terrorist investigation." The woman complained to Fox that he failed to pay child support. In court papers, she said she last spoke to him on the telephone in January. Another line of inquiry may be whether the family's tussles over their business could have played a role in radicalizing Rahami. His family sued the city of Elizabeth in 2011, accusing it and local police of discrimination, because they were Muslim and Afghans, in forcing them to close their chicken restaurant by 10:00 pm. The suit was settled in favor of the city. In Minnesota, police also say they have uncovered nothing to tie a Somali American man who went on a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota shopping mall on Saturday to organized extremist groups or the East Coast attacks. London (AFP) - Financial traders armed with a strong "gut feeling" may make more profitable decisions in a high-pressure market environment, according to a scientific study carried out in the City of London business hub. The field study ranked the ability of 16 male volunteers from an unnamed hedge fund to measure their own heart rate without feeling their pulse as a test of "interoception" -- or sensing your body. Their ability to do so "predicted their relative profitability, and strikingly, how long they survived on the financial markets", said the authors from the universities of Cambridge, Sussex and Queensland published in Nature's Scientific Reports journal. They ranked heart rate detection against daily profit and loss as well as number of years in the business. "Our results suggest that signals from the body -- the gut feelings of financial lore -- contribute to success in the markets," they added. The volunteers being tested were all involved in buying and selling futures contracts, which are an agreement to trade an asset at a specified future time at a price agreed ahead of time. The traders were involved in high-frequency trades, meaning that they only held their trading positions for a few hours at most and had to make "large and risky" split-second decisions, the study said. "This niche of the financial markets is particularly unforgiving, and selection acts quickly: while successful traders may earn in excess of 10 million (12 million euros, $13 million) per year, unprofitable ones do not survive for long," it said. The study was carried out at the end of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis -- a period of "extreme uncertainty" on the financial markets. The authors were cautious about their conclusions, saying they "could not establish causation". But they said the findings could have "profound implications for the understanding of financial markets, specifically by reorienting attention away from risk takers' psychological traits towards their physiological ones". New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested after a gun battle with police in New Jersey. Here is all you need to know about him. By India Today Web Desk: An explosion, later termed as 'an intentional act', injured 29 people in New York's Chelsea on September 17. The officials, after screening the surveillance camera videos, have arrested one suspect - Ahmad Khan Rahami. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was born in Afghanistan but became a naturalised US citizen in 2011. The police had made his photo appear on a wanted poster as they sought him in connection with series of bombings in New York and New jersey. Photo: Reuters advertisement He was arrested after a gun battle with the police in Linden, New Jersey. Here are 10 things to know about him: Rahami is suspected of being responsible for the bombings in both New York and New Jersey. He is a resident of New Jersey's Elizabeth neighbourhood and worked in a restaurant that his father, Mohammad, ran. Authorities believe that Rahami is the "main guy" and New York Police Commission James O'Neil said that investigation can now determine if the suspect acted alone or had help. Investigators believe that the 28-year-old is the man seen dragging a duffel bag near the site of the New York explosion in the surveillance video. Rahami has been "directly linked" to devices from New York and from the recent explosion in New Jersey. He also travelled to Afghanistan many times and was in Quetta, Pakistan in 2011. He is said to have married a Pakistani woman in July 2011 in Quetta. In April 2013, he again made a trip to Pakistan though this time to stay for a year. Investigations are on to find out whether he was radicalised before returning to United States in 2014. Rahami was known as "Mad" (abridgment of his name) in his friends circle and in recent years they had noticed a marked change in his personality and religious devotion. He gave up on western clothing and wore Muslim robes. Photo: Reuters Also read: New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami captured in New Jersey --- ENDS --- In the wake of Universals first trailer for Fifty Shades Darker racking up a record 114M global views on line in its first day, ComScores social media monitor PreAct reports that the feature adaptation of E L James S&M sequel has generated close to 172K conversations on social stateside, taking the top spot in its Most Talked-About Movies Chart for September 12-18. Fifty Shades Darker hits theaters on February 10, the Friday before Valentines Day. The original Fifty Shades of Grey was a cultural event last year. If women werent seeing it with their best friends, then they were dragging their guys to it. There were launch parties and multiplexes and hotel weekend getaway packages surrounding the opening of the Jamie Dornan-Dakota Johnson pic. Fifty Shades of Grey previously owned the February and Valentines Day opening-weekend record with $85.2M before Deadpool stole it away this year with $132.4M. Disneys Moana also continued to generate buzz thanks to the release of its teaser poster on September 13 followed by the full trailer drop two days later. Total conversations on social media to date are nearing 200K. And 89 days before its release, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has clocked more than 1.4M conversations on social media, recently registering due to the third stop-motion toy video that debuted on September 16. A number of Toronto International Film Festival titles also were clicking on social including Tom Fords Nocturnal Animals, fest closer The Edge of Seventeen and La La Land, the latter which won the Peoples Choice Award. Related stories 'Blair Witch', 'Bridget Jones' & 'Snowden': How Did 2016's Lowest Grossing Weekend Happen? - Sunday Postmortem 'Bridget Jones's Baby' Delivering $29.4M Offshore Bow; Breaks Multiple UK Records 'Fifty Shades Darker' Trailer Breaks 'Force Awakens' Record For Most Views In First Day HELSINKI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Five volleyball players from the Cuban national team were found guilty on Tuesday of aggravated rape while they were in the country in July for a World League tournament prior to the Rio Olympics. Finnish district court charged six men with the crime, which took place in the city of Tampere, at the hotel where the team was staying. One was found not guilty. The court sentenced four of the men to five years in prison, and the fifth to three and a half years. All the men denied the charge. (Reporting by Tuomas Forsell; Editing by Alison Williams) The cast of Jumanji has officially made it to the jungle. Dwayne Johnson (Dr. Smolder Bravestone) and Kevin Hart (Moose Finbar) have shared the first photo of the team on set, with the pair joined by jungle-exploring costars Karen Gillan (Ruby Roundhouse) and Jack Black (Professor Shelly Oberon). Johnson headed off any criticism about Gillan's outfit being more revealing than the men's by writing, "Her jungle wardrobe will make sense when you know the plot. Trust me." Not pictured: co-star Nick Jonas. "We had a amazing first day," Hart wrote on Instagram. "The chemistry & energy of our cast & crew was beyond amazing!!!! This movie is going to be dope as hell." Read more: 9 Theories as to Why 'Jumanji' Has Actress Karen Gillan So Scantily-Clad The Sony movie from director Jake Kasdan is shooting in Honolulu and is a continuation of the 1995 fantasy-adventure film that starred the late Robin Williams. "The love and respect I have for this man is boundless," Johnson wrote of Williams on Instagram in May. "You have my word, we will honor his name and the character of 'Alan Parrish' will stand alone and be forever immortalized in the world of Jumanji in an earnest and cool way." Sony is set to release Jumanji on July 28, 2017. EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK: #JUMANJI The journey continues.. "Moose Finbar" (Kevin Hart). "Ruby Roundhouse" (Karen Gillan. Her jungle wardrobe will make sense when you know the plot. Trust me;). "Professor Shelly Oberon" (Jack Black). "Dr. Smolder Bravestone" 'cause well.. he smolders. Hard workin' and FUN first day of shooting in the jungle with this talented and crazy motley crew. Jack is brilliant, Karen is bad assery, Kevin is sharply hilarious and I smell good. Extremely hard trying to keep a straight face in these scenes. Too funny. We're makin' a good one. More to come.. #JUMANJI #WishFulfillment #TheGameThatPlaysYou A photo posted by therock (@therock) on Sep 20, 2016 at 8:29am PDT First Lady Michelle Obama and Broadways biggest stars spread the message of global girls empowerment First Lady Michelle Obama and Broadways biggest stars spread the message of global girls empowerment Yesterday, as part of her Let Girls Learn initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted Broadway Shines A Light on Girls Education in New York City. The event featured some of Broadways finest performers, foreign dignitaries from Jordan and Malawi, and three young women who shared their personal stories of overcoming adversity in pursuit of education. letgirlslearn1 But first, what IS Let Girls Learn? Education is essential for empowerment. The consequences of girls not finishing school are extremely profound; the longer they stay in school, the more their health and life expectancy improves. And yet, global attrition rates are extremely high. Over 62 million girls around the world are not in school, and half of them are adolescents. But Michelle Obama is here to change that with Let Girls Learn. The First Lady has made it her mission to share as many personal stories as she can to spread the word about the global fight for girls education. At todays event, the room was buzzing with positive energy. Michelle Obama spoke passionately about how Let Girls Learn is something that she will not only support during the remainder of her time as First Lady, but for the rest of her life. Emcee Stephen Colbert made us laugh, but he also made us reflect on the severity of the issue. Broadway superstars from Wicked, Waitress, Beautiful, and The Color Purple rallied the audience with powerful performances and empowering lyrics that matched the heart and enthusiasm of the room. Picture of Michelle Obama Cynthia Erivo Also in attendance were Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and First Lady of Malawi Dr. Gertrude Mutharika. They gave inspiring remarks about the important initiatives theyre implementing in their own countries, like improving opportunities for girls, preventing gender based violence, and ending child marriage. To know that theyre concerned, listening, and taking steps to make a difference is so motivating. Story continues But the main event was to honor the three young women who traveled from Pakistan, Malawi, and Jordan to share and inspire us with their stories. The honored guests spoke to the many reasons why girls have limited access to education around the world. All three cited physical, cultural, and financial barriers like violence, long commutes, and extreme poverty as reasons why girls in their countries cannot attend school. Ms. Summyka Qadir, a 17-year-old girl from Pakistan, comes from an impoverished single-parent household. Despite financial hardships, she was accepted into medical school and granted a full scholarship from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for her studies. She has aspirations to become a doctor to help others in need. To me, girls education is very important, Ms. Qadir nobly told the crowd. The girls deserve the education as much as the boys. letgirlslearn Ms. Halima Robert, a 17-year-old girl from Malawi, shared the story of her arranged marriage. At the young age of 15, it was impossible for her to continue with her studies with a husband and home to care for. But the story has a happy ending: After finding ASPIRE, a USAID effort for girls in Malawi, and Let Girls Learn, Ms. Robert nullified her marriage and now attends school every day. Her favorite subjects are English, Math, and Science, and she plans to attend high school, college, and some day lead a government ministry. letgirlslearn3 The ASPIRE program has boosted my confidence and is helping me continue my education, Ms. Robert shared. I now want to succeed more than ever. But shes not alone. In Malawi, a girl is 50 times more likely to be married before her 18th birthday than to enter university. Ms. Roberts story shows not only the tangible benefits of education, but also the intangible ones; an education gives girls confidence and helps them believe in themselves. Ms. Noor Abu Ghazaleh, a 23-year-old young woman from Jordan, is a wonderful example of what education can do for young girls. She worked hard to establish a career for herself. She has a job as a senior accountant at a prestigious firm, has a side business selling chocolate, and volunteers as a mentor to young women. She says she owes all of her success to her ability to get a good education. I stand before you today as a positive example of what happens when a girl is educated, Ms. Ghazaleh said. My experiences taught me two very important things: Girls should have a voice, no matter who they are and where theyre from, and all students should be given the tools to help them live their best possible lives. letgirlslearn4 Hearing the girls stories was a big eye-opener for the entire crowd. In the U.S., it can be easy to take education for granted. Many people are unaware that so many girls around the world dont have the same opportunities we do to attend school. Ms. Qadir, Ms. Robert, and Ms. Ghazaleh came together to call attention to this important issue, and to encourage people to step up and show their support. And with the remarks from Rania Al-Abdullah and Dr. Gertrude Mutharika, the powerful message was driven home: Educating girls transforms lives, families, communities, and entire countries. I hope you will join me in this work to let girls learn, pleads the First Lady. I know that together, we can solve this problem, and we can give every girl on this planet a future that is worthy of her talents and her dreams. Ms. Ghazaleh summed it up well: Learning is more than just facts and figures, but life skills. If youd like to learn more about and support Let Girls Learn, please click here. The post First Lady Michelle Obama and Broadways biggest stars spread the message of global girls empowerment appeared first on HelloGiggles. Ohio investigators say they've linked suspected serial killer Shawn Grate to a fifth dead woman, charging him in two homicides so far, and that there may be even more victims to find, PEOPLE confirms. During a Monday news conference, Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey said the 40-year-old Grate allegedly admitted to killing an unidentified woman more than 10 years ago, abandoning her remains at a remote dumping site. The woman's skeleton was found in 2007, and Bailey said Grate allegedly told detectives the unnamed woman was his very first victim. Bailey said they've yet to identify her remains, noting Grate has been trying to remember the woman's name to no avail. Grate allegedly told investigators he'd killed her because his mother was upset she did not get the magazines the woman was selling, Bailey said. Bailey also said Grate's ex-girlfriend told police he'd previously referred to killing a woman, but that she didn't believe him. Five Dead Women Linked to Ohio Murder Suspect: 'He's Obviously a Serial Killer'| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime "He's obviously a serial killer," the sheriff told reporters. Grate has been linked to five dead women, Bailey said and he said there could be more, whose bodies have not been recovered. Bailey said Grate has been "very polite" throughout his interrogations. "It's hard to believe there aren't other bodies out there," Bailey said. Under questioning, Grate allegedly told investigators he wanted to clear his conscience. "He said he wanted to get it off his chest," Bailey explained Monday, "and I think he's found God." A year after dumping the unnamed woman's remains, Grate allegedly returned to her shallow grave and set fire to her corpse, fearing some DNA evidence could still be present on the body, Bailey said. 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. Last week, Grate was taken into custody in Ashland, Ohio, after police received a desperate 911 from a woman he had allegedly abducted. After arresting Grate, local police recovered the remains of three women: Two of their bodies were found in an abandoned home Grate had been squatting in; and hours later, police found a third body, which had been dumped not far from the deserted home. Five Dead Women Linked to Ohio Murder Suspect: 'He's Obviously a Serial Killer'| Crime & Courts, Murder, True Crime Grate has been charged with killing two women Elizabeth Griffin, 29, and Stacey Stanley, 43 and kidnapping another. He is a suspect in two more homicides, Bailey said: the woman whose remains were found in 2007 and a second woman who was killed last year and whose body was found Monday. Five dead women have been discovered so far in connection with Grate, including the three recovered after the alleged abduction, Bailey said. The call to Ashland's 911 was made by a woman who claimed she'd met Grate a month earlier. As her alleged captor slept, the caller was able to lead authorities to the abandoned house where she was allegedly being held against her will. Grate is in custody at the Ashland County Jail on $1 million bail. During a court appearance Monday, he pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. He has not retained a lawyer. Grate will be back in court on Sept. 29. Nairobi (AFP) - Five million Somalis, or more than two out of five people in the country, do not have enough to eat, the United Nations said Tuesday, calling for extra funds for food aid. The latest figures represent an increase of 300,000 food insecure people since February, said the UN's humanitarian affairs office, OCHA. "Humanitarian partners are ready to scale up response to help families struggling to find food to make it through the day," Peter De Clercq, Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement. He said a humanitarian response plan was only 32 per cent funded and additional resources were urgently needed to address malnutrition and access to food. A study from the UN's food agency, FAO, said more than 1.1 million people cannot meet their daily food requirements while another 3.9 million Somalis require support. Among the hungry are 300,000 children aged under five who are acutely malnourished, including more than 50,000 who are severely malnourished. Harvests have been hit this year by a severe drought caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon which occurs every five to seven years. Worst hit by hunger are the estimated 1.1 million people displaced from their homes by conflict, some of them forced to move several times during the past two decades. Many of them live "in appalling conditions in settlements spread throughout the country," OCHA said. "The simple truth is that today in Somalia, the weight of climate vulnerability, conflict and displacements is greater than the counterweight of people's resilience," Richard Trenchard, the FAO's Somalia officer, told a press conference. In 2012, severe drought coupled with civil war caused a famine that left more than 250,000 people dead. photo: Pitchfork Over the weekend, the cartoon community sadly lost one of its greats, C. Martin Croker an animator and voice actor who played both Zorak and Moltar on the 90s cult TV classic Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a show that over its 10 seasons welcomed a wide range of esteemed (and often confused) musical guests, from Shirley Manson to Hanson, Bjork to Thom Yorke, the Bee Gees to Beck, Weird Al to Alice Cooper, David Byrne to Pat Boone. To honor Croker in the most awesome way imaginable, Adult Swim put almost every episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast online for free, making the Internet a much, much better place. So this seemed like the perfect time to wipe the space-dust off our classic Q&A with the shows interstellar emcee, Space Ghost himself, conducted in 1997 to promote the animated superhero-turned-hosts first proper rock album, Space Ghosts Musical BBQ. Its out of this world. YAHOO MUSIC: Hello, Space Ghost! How are you? SPACE GHOST: Im swell! YAHOO MUSIC: You have a great speaking voice. SPACE GHOST: Aw, arent you sweet? Arent you just little miss punky pie! YAHOO MUSIC: Youre not the first to say that. Where are you calling from? SPACE GHOST: Im calling from scenic Atlanta, Georgia. YAHOO MUSIC: Youre not calling from Outer Space, then? SPACE GHOST: Um oh, yeah, sure, sure Outer Space, sure I am! You fooled me! Yes, here I am in scenic Outer Space! YAHOO MUSIC: Dont ruin this for me, Space Ghost! Dont shatter the illusion! Thatd be more traumatic than finding out Santa Claus doesnt exist! SPACE GHOST: Well, I dont want to destroy this special moment. YAHOO MUSIC: OK, Space Ghost, youve had a lot of career changes over the years. First you were a superhero, then a talk show host and now youre a budding rock star. SPACE GHOST: I was a pool boy for a while, for Francis Ford Coppola. But thats when things were going sour. Then of course, I got my show back. YAHOO MUSIC: So for a while you hit rock bottom? SPACE GHOST: Well, it wasnt really bottom. But really, who wants to clean Francis Ford Coppolas pool? Can you imagine? The beard alone! Twice a week Id have to dive in and pull the beard out of the pool! Hed be down there flailing around Story continues YAHOO MUSIC: So your climb to the top wasnt as glamorous as some might assume. SPACE GHOST: Well, of course it was fast and easy in the beginning. Just BOOM! there I was, a big star, fighting crimes, saving the universe, etc. Then all of a sudden POW! Bye-bye. All over. YAHOO MUSIC: Superheroes kind of fell out of fashion for a while SPACE GHOST: Yes, by the late 60s everyone was in that happy child-flower mode, yknow. Thats when they were saying, [hippie voice] Aw, man, the universe is groovy, Space Ghost! So everything was fine. I no longer served a purpose at least in the minds of simpletons. But of course, when it all broke loose again, guess who they called to come save the day? YAHOO MUSIC: So how did the talk show come about? SPACE GHOST: That was just one of those things where I tried to move with the times. You know, youve got to make yourself contemporary! Make yourself popular! Entertain the youth of America and at the same time, provide a valuable service! YAHOO MUSIC: Well, I have to commend you, because you went more the Rosie ODonnell/Mike Douglas route and did a variety show, instead of a sordid Geraldo-style tabloid talk show, which is obviously lucrative these days. SPACE GHOST: I refused to do that. Oh sure, Ted [Turner] wanted me to do that. Yep, Ted, in spite of his conservative looks, was saying, Hey, lets do a show on two-headed calves! But I said, No Ted, I refuse. I will not do that. And he said OK; somebody showed him a real estate book and he went off to buy another state. So that was a quick-lived idea. YAHOO MUSIC: So, on your show, youve interviewed quite a few rock stars. Is it true that when Paul Westerberg was on your show, he walked out after the first question? SPACE GHOST: Yes, its true. I think Mr. Westerberg didnt realize what he had volunteered for! I felt bad, cause were all big fans of Pauls, but apparently he werent gonna have nothing to do with some little cheesy cartoon. YAHOO MUSIC: Anyway, now that youre doing the rock thing, did you get any inspiration from past musical guests on your show? SPACE GHOST: Well of course, Mr. Stipes been by, and he was a delight; weve had David Grohl, fromwas it the Foo Fighters, is that the name of that peppy new group hes in? Oh, the kids love those Foo Fighters! Who else have we had NINA, THE CARTOON NETWORKS PUBLICIST: [breaking into the call] Weve had Pavement, Metallica, the Ramones, Beck, George Clinton SPACE GHOST: See there? I pop up with one damn question, and suddenly Ive got 15 people on the phone! Hey, who can tell me the periodic table sign for the element boron? Id like somebody to get on that right away, please. NINA: [Laughs] SPACE GHOST: Im not kidding, Nina! NINA: Ill work on it for you, Space Ghost. [Hangs up] SPACE GHOST: We should keep asking them trivia questions. Lets see who circumnavigated the Africa tip? Hmmm, I wonder. Dont you, Yahoo? YAHOO MUSIC: Thats what you should do as your next project you should host a game show! SPACE GHOST: I would be more fun than that Ben Stein fellow. But enough about him! Lets talk about my show! Ha ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha, ha YAHOO MUSIC: So SPACE GHOST: Hold on, Im not doneha ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha hahaha..haha. OK, Im done. What were you saying, now? YAHOO MUSIC: Like I was saying, youve done the crime-fighting thing, the talk show thing, now youre doing the rock thing. So my question is: Why do you feel the need to keep reinventing yourself? SPACE GHOST: We must reinvent ourselves. Otherwise, we become stagnant adults. I am actually going to create my own line of mens and womens briefs, hopefully in the next year or so. YAHOO MUSIC: So that will be your next big challenge after this album? SPACE GHOST: Yes. Im going to have the Cartoon Network sellin them for me. Itll cut down on labor costs. Itll give the youngsters at the network something constructive to do, because the second they leave the building, theyre off blowing all their money on comic books and pennywhistles and whatnot. Im going to be a good influence on them and teach them some responsibility. YAHOO MUSIC: So, now that youre a rock star, do you ever get any groupies, any space groupies? SPACE GHOST: And how! Wait a minute theres some groupies banging on the door right now! YAHOO MUSIC: Should I hold? SPACE GHOST: Actually, Im a lonely man. Nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. Im going to eat some worms now. Hold on a minute Space Ghosts call waiting is kicking in. Ill be right back! [About 20 seconds pass before Space Ghost returns] Im sorry! My profound apologies! That was one of my many groupies! No, actually, that was a call for help on the interstellar hotline. Theres an unpleasant water situation developing in Peru. Ive got to fly down there with a bunch of bottled water cause theres a dysentery outbreak. YAHOO MUSIC: So youre still doing your superhero duties on the side? You must be a very busy man. When do you find the time to rock? SPACE GHOST: Well, you find the time for the things you enjoy, am I right? I enjoy music, and as you can tell from some of the cuts on the album, I enjoy making my own music. YAHOO MUSIC: What are your musical influences, Space Ghost? SPACE GHOST: Of course, you got your Spike Jones, you got your Larry Blackman from Cameo, you got your Liza Minnelli you gotta have Liza. Also a little bit of Oliver Nelson, Steely Dan back before they sold out, Ornette Coleman And of course the popular group the Silly Defendants. Theyre were more of a club group; they never really made it. YAHOO MUSIC: So you have some underground influences, huh? SPACE GHOST: Oh, yes. Im also a huge Kecks fans this band called the Kecks. Also the Toast Monkeys -I dont know if youve ever heard of them, but theyre very big where Im from. YAHOO MUSIC: Youre too underground for me. SPACE GHOST: Am I? You know what I am? Im Retro-Boy! I was retro when retro wasnt retro. YAHOO MUSIC: Is Nirvana an influence for you? You have a song called Smells Like Cartoon Planet. Was that inspired by Nirvana? Do you liken yourself to Kurt Cobain as a rock n roll icon for a generation? SPACE GHOST: Actually, when I was bellowing that song, I was thinking more along the lines of a meatloaf. Because lets face it who among us doesnt love the delicious, meaty taste of meatloaf? YAHOO MUSIC: Well, Im a vegetarian SPACE GHOST: Are you? Sorry to hear that. If you like, I could send you some Space Ghost Simulated Meat Products. Mmmm! YAHOO MUSIC: Are they animal-product-free? SPACE GHOST: Er um yeah, sure, what you just said. You betcha! YAHOO MUSIC: Whos to say that Kurt Cobain wasnt also thinking of meatloaf when he did Smells Like Teen Spirit? SPACE GHOST: Well never know now. These are the mysteries of the ages. YAHOO MUSIC: Did your advisors warn you not to pursue a rock music career? Did they think it would ruin your upstanding, spotless, superhero/role model image? SPACE GHOST: No, my hangers-on would never even dare to tell me anything like that. They just go, Oh yes, Mr. Ghost, anything you say! Thats a great idea! Tee hee hee! Theyre all a bunch of little suck-ups. Theyll do anything I tell them to. [Yelling] Whos got that thing for boron figured out!?! They think Im kidding. They sit there all day on the phone, yap yap yap. I ask for one thing somebody get me the skinny on the boron and have any of them piped up yet with the answer? No! YAHOO MUSIC: How did you build this huge empire, where you can have these yes-men at your beck and call? SPACE GHOST: Well, basically its Teds dough. Were all living off Teds dough. YAHOO MUSIC: You should write a book about your life story. SPACE GHOST: You think? I could call it that: Living Off Teds Dough. YAHOO MUSIC: After you do the underwear thing, of course. SPACE GHOST: Yes, the underwear is first. I think thats generally an appropriate way of living your life: The Underwear Is First. That could be the title of my book, too. Because who doesnt begin their day with underwear? YAHOO MUSIC: Yes, thats one universal thing that everyone can relate to. SPACE GHOST: Yes, Im speakin to the people. I care about American broadcasting. I care about what you and your family watch. YAHOO MUSIC: Wow, Im touched. SPACE GHOST: You know, speaking of the music thing, weve got our own musical coming up. Its not just an album! Musical BBQ is just whetting my whistle! We got a musical coming up on the Cartoon Network. Steve Allens a guest and so is Andy Dick. YAHOO MUSIC: Does it have plot? SPACE GHOST: Does it have a plot? Ha ha ha! Do any of my shows, really? YAHOO MUSIC: Any chance itll hit Broadway? SPACE GHOST: Doubtful. Thatd be one of those one-night things. Itd be like Ol Calcutta, only wed have our clothes on. Itll be more like off-off-off-Broadway. YAHOO MUSIC: Maybe you can work the underwear thing into it hawk the underwear on Broadway! SPACE GHOST: Well, if youve ever hawked underwear, you know just how painful that can be. YAHOO MUSIC: As far as the music goes, are you serious about turning it into a major career? Or is it just a side-project? Would you ever leave your talk show behind to pursue music? SPACE GHOST: Actually, I have other goals first. The underwear thing is in my mind; and as I said, I would like to create a line of Space Ghost meat-like products. I mean, who doesnt enjoy a good snack-log? What I have to do is come up with vegetarian snack-logs, for folks like you who dont enjoy the flavor of seared dead animal flesh. Also, with the profits from this album, Im also going to try to buy a True Value Hardware store in Lakeland, Florida. Thats one of my dreams. YAHOO MUSIC: Do your ambitions know no end? SPACE GHOST: You know, you gotta always be thinking. Theres no off-switch on the genius button! YAHOO MUSIC: I suppose thats how you got where you are today. SPACE GHOST: [Yelling] Who has my information on boron!? Gee-whiz. Theyre no help in a crisis, are they? YAHOO MUSIC: Theyre probably too busy scurrying around trying to round up your groupies. SPACE GHOST: Whatever. YAHOO MUSIC: Anyway, it was a pleasure talking to you, Space Ghost. SPACE GHOST: Likewise! And keep watching my show; we would like you to be a regular member of our viewing audience! YAHOO MUSIC: I already am. SPACE GHOST: Great! That makes eight now! Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Amazon, Tumblr, Vine, Spotify By Timothy Mclaughlin CHICAGO (Reuters) - A former member of the Illinois National Guard was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday for planning with his cousin to attack a military installation outside Chicago as part of a conspiracy to support the Islamic State militant group. Hasan Edmonds, 24, and his cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 31, pleaded guilty last year to planning to carry out an armed attack on the military facility where Hasan Edmonds had been training in Joliet, 34 miles (55km) southwest of downtown Chicago. Jonas Edmonds was sentenced to 21 years in prison earlier on Tuesday. "They were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for planning to wage violence on behalf of ISIL in the Middle East and to conduct an attack on our soil," U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to Islamic State by an acronym. "Thanks to the efforts of many prosecutors, agents and analysts, we were able to ensure these plotters did not attain their violent intentions." Jonas Edmonds' attorney, James Graham, said prosecutors initially believed his client was more culpable, but changed course as the trial proceeded to focus on Hasan. Hasan Edmonds' attorney, Paul Flynn, was not immediately available for comment. Hasan Edmonds was arrested at Chicago's Midway Airport in March 2015 as he tried to fly to Egypt. The cousins' plan called for Hasan to leave the United States and join Islamic State fighters while Jonas carried out the attack, according to an affidavit attached to the criminal complaint. Prosecutors said Hasan Edmonds had been using Facebook to communicate with an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agent pretending to be an Islamic State fighter. Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty in December 2015 to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and attempting to provide support - namely personnel - to the organization. He had been a member of the Illinois National Guard since 2011. Story continues Jonas Edmonds, 30, pleaded guilty the same month to the conspiracy charge and a charge of lying to law enforcement on an offense related to terrorism. U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas wrote in court documents last month that Hasan Edmonds "...betrayed both his word and his country by plotting to kill his fellow soldiers on behalf of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant." "Had this scheme succeeded, we would have been left to mourn yet more victims of ideological terrorism," he added. (Editing by Bill Rigby) The DGCEI sent notices to actors, directors to show cause that they don't fall under the purview of Service Tax liability. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: Among the list of nine top personalities and production houses in Indian Film Industry, actor Akshay Kumar has come out clean with 'no liability' of service tax to be paid, whereas Bollywood giants like - Aamir Khan and Salman Khan did not even bothered to respond the notices issued by the Directorate General of Customs Excise and Intelligence (DGCEI). advertisement Last month, DGCEI had issued an enquiry notice to nine big names of Bollywood suspecting evasion of service tax in big numbers. Being an investigative agency and based on specific information, DGCEI sought details and documents of all film contracts signed between these actors and the production houses. Names include: Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Sanjay Leela Bansali (production house) and Yashraj Films. These personalities were asked to submit all details about their stakes in the films they work in. Notices were sent under Section 14 and Section 83 of Service Tax Act. Out of these names, Aamir, Salman, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti ignored the notice and still not responded to the investigative agency. "In such cases, the agency would issue another request letter to these names seeking all required details", senior official of DGCEI confirmed. In case of Yashraj Films, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ranveer Singh and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, documents were handed over to DGCEI, but with a request of seeking more time till 30th September. "Few of them would like to complete the process of filing income tax returns by this month-end. Thereafter, these names would be in a position to clarify many issues that DGCEI have a doubt", the official said. DGCEI suspects that these actors are concealing facts about their earnings as many of them are directly or indirectly are involved in the distribution, satellites rights of the movies they work in. Nowadays, these actors sign a contract having 50:50 partnership clause for distribution rights, satellite rights, promotions marketing rights besides charging money for acting in films. Among all, Akshay Kumar was first to submit all the required documents to DGCEI. "We have examined Akshay's documents and are quite satisfied with it. He has come out clean with no liability of service tax on his head", the official confirmed. For others, if details are not shared or if details shared in writing are not satisfactory enough than DGCEI would issue summons to these actors or their Chartered Accountants (CAs) for further questioning. --- ENDS --- advertisement Syrian government warplanes resumed heavy bombing of the rebel-held section of the city of Aleppo on Monday night, residents and medics in Aleppo said, hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a cease-fire negotiated by the U.S. and Russia. At least one airstrike hit an aid convoy near Aleppo, reportedly destroying 18 vehicles delivering food and other items to rebel-held areas west of the city, and causing international outrage. The U.N. on Tuesday suspended all aid convoys in Syria in the wake of the strike. Within hours of the declaration of the truces end, barrel bombs and missiles fell on the rebel sector of Aleppo, according to activists and medical personnel in the area. Residents blamed government forces and the Russian air force for the attacks. At least 12 people were killed, according to the Syrian American Medical Society. Dozens of others were reported injured. The attacks marked the collapse of a partial cease-fire agreement that went into effect a week earlier following an agreement brokered by the U.S. and Russia. The deal produced a degree of calm in Syria but failed to provide humanitarian access to besieged cities and towns. The U.N.s humanitarian chief, Stephen OBrien said the convoy struck in Aleppo carried aid for 78,000 people and was operated by the U.N. and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. A Red Crescent warehouse and health clinic were also hit, he said in a statement. A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters during a briefing on Monday that the airstrike that hit the convoy had not been carried out by the U.S.-led military coalition. We dont know at this point whether it was the Russians or the regime, said the official. The U.N. special envoy for the Syrian conflict, Staffan de Mistura, condemned the attack. Our outrage at this attack is enormous, he said in a statement quoted by Reuters. The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians, he also said. Story continues The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tweeted images of an interagency convoy of aid trucks, believed to be the vehicles targeted in the airstrike, on Monday morning. Medical personnel said hospitals in the rebel-held part of Aleppo had been flooded with wounded people, including children. The shelling included the use of makeshift barrel bombs. Once Syrias most populous city, Aleppo has become a fulcrum of the Syrian civil war, divided between President Bashar Assads regime and rebel forces. The city has been devastated by years of conflict, but a significant population remains, with an estimated 300,000 people living under siege in the rebel-held side. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the cease-fire early on Sept. 10 following long negotiations with Russia, which supports the Assad regime. The agreement reduced fighting in some parts of Syria for some days, but the truce teetered on the edge of collapse over the weekend as fighting flared up and the government resumed airstrikes on some rebel-held areas. Both sides accused each other of violating the truce. In addition, U.S.-led international coalition warplanes mistakenly killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers in an attack in the city of Deir al-Zour, in an incident that further weakened the already fragile truce agreement. The agreement also called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into areas under siege in Syria. As of Monday, aid convoys had not been allowed into the besieged section of Aleppo. UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - French President Francoise Hollande urged authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday to respect the constitution and to hold elections on schedule later this year. Hollande, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, also blamed the Congolese authorities for violent clashes between security forces and protesters this week in which Human Rights Watch said at least 44 people were killed. "These clashes were caused by abuses by the Congolese state itself ... The main opposition party's headquarters was attacked and even set alight. We can't accept such behavior in any country and I want to condemn that," Hollande said. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Gareth Jones) UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande blamed the Syrian government on Tuesday for the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-backed ceasefire and urged foreign backers of President Bashar al-Assad to help enforce peace or risk the country fragmenting. "I say to the Syrian government's foreign backers that they must compel the regime to enforce peace otherwise they will bear the responsibility for the splitting up of the country and the chaos," Hollande said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Russia and Iran are the main foreign backers of Assad and his government. The French president also said the use of chemical weapons in Syria should not go unpunished. (Reporting by Richard Lough and Bate Felix; Editing by Gareth Jones) Paris (AFP) - Some of France's top chefs on Tuesday denounced the $66-billion takeover of controversial seed firm Monsanto by chemicals giant Bayer as a "danger for our dinner plates". "Nature, diversity and the quality of our food should not be crushed by the freedom-destroying steamroller of Bayer-Monsanto," they declared in an open letter signed by more than 100 chefs, winemakers and patissiers. "This new giant of seeds and pesticides has only one ambition -- to control the complete food chain... citizens cannot stand by and watch their plates be filled with chemicals," it added. The chefs, who included the Argentina-born Mauro Colagreco, who runs the Mirazur restaurant on the French Riviera which was named the sixth best restaurant in the world earlier this year, said the EU was right to be worried by the merger. The bloc is investigating the likely impact of the massive deal -- the biggest ever undertaken by a German company -- which would need the approval of regulators. Monsanto's genetically modified crops, its herbicide Roundup and other pesticides "threaten cultural as well as agricultural diversity", the chefs said in their letter published on the Atabula website. "Without quality and healthy products and a diversity of crops, cooks can no longer exercise their creative talents," added the letter, which was also signed by three-star Michelin chefs Yannick Alleno and Michel and Sebastien Bras. Friends of the Earth have already labelled the tie-up a "marriage made in hell". "This mega corporation will be doing its best to force damaging pesticides and GM seeds into our countryside," campaigner Adrian Bebb said in a statement. The National Farmers Union in the US said the Bayer deal, along with other pending agricultural mergers, "are being made to benefit the corporate boardrooms at the expense of family farmers, ranchers, consumers and rural economies." Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f216065%2f8704399ad7a443af97329d0c110315bf Hitchhiking can be an exhilarating experience for the brazen, but a frustrated Frenchman travelling in New Zealand has found it to be quite the ordeal. Cedric Claude Rene Rault-Verpre, 27, couldn't get a lift out of the small town of Punakaiki, so he allegedly took out his anger at road signs in the area. SEE ALSO: A racial slur taints 'Real Housewives' and the explanation is pretty nuts Witnesses said they saw him verbally abuse people, threw rocks at a sign, while another sign had appeared to have been pulled out and thrown into the nearby Punakaiki River. "We found one in the bushes last night and one had been thrown in the river," local man Neil Mouat told Westport News on Monday. Following complaints to police, Rault-Verpre was arrested on Sunday, appearing at Greymouth District Court on Tuesday pleading guilty to the charge of damaging road signs, according to the New Zealand Herald. French hitchhiker in court after waiting four days for lift on West Coast https://t.co/VUtOj3vwEz pic.twitter.com/X7wxaG06AR nzherald (@nzherald) September 19, 2016 Rault-Verpre told the court that no-one had offered him water in the four days he waited on the side of a highway. Fulton Hogan, the company that owns the signs, is seeking NZ$3,000 (US$2,194) in reparations. It's something Rault-Verpre disputes the value of, who told reporters outside they were already damaged and weren't worth more than $100. "You should change the name: 'Nazi Zealand' not New Zealand," he said. Rault-Verpre has been ordered to surrender his passport and must return to court on Friday in Christchurch. Police told the New Zealand Herald had he started walking, he would be 220 kilometres (136 miles) away by this point. Story continues "He could have started walking, he would have been in Franz Josef by now," Senior Sergeant Paul Watson said. Suffice it to say, the experience has left Rault-Verpre not so impressed with the New Zealand as a travel destination. "I've been to 80 countries," he told reporters. "The worst part of the U.S. the worst American is not an asshole like a New Zealander." A 27-year-old French tourist allegedly went crazy in the small New Zealand fishing town of Punakaiki last week, after he tried unsuccessfully for four days to get a lift. The traveler is accused of wrecking road signs and hurling abuse at passing drivers, reports the Guardian. According to police, he had been hitchhiking his way around the country for sometime before he was left without a ride for four straight days in Punakaiki a town that is home to just 70 year-round residents. Neil Mouat, a local who called the police, told Guardian reporters the man threw an absolute hissy fit before trading barbs with an elderly fisherman. He was a spoilt millennial, and he created a hell of a din, Mouat added. But all that time he was standing in the wrong place to hitchhike a corner with poor visibility and nowhere for cars to easily pull over. The Guardian reports that the tourist is currently on bail, having been charged with willful damage and had his passport confiscated. There is no word yet on whether he will try to hitchhike to his court hearing. [Guardian] Paris (AFP) - French lawmakers on Tuesday proposed mandatory surveillance cameras for abattoirs to combat cruelty against livestock after an animal rights group published shocking slaughterhouse videos. The proposal is the "result of a rude shock, to me and to millions of French people who saw the videos of the L214 association," said Olivier Falorni, who headed a six-month parliamentary inquiry into the scandal. Footage of sheep being bled while still showing signs of consciousness and a lamb being butchered alive shed light on the "omerta", or code of silence, "that prevailed in the abattoirs", Falorni said. The lawmakers who worked on the cross-party inquiry are proposing that surveillance cameras be required by law in "all areas of abattoirs where live animals are handled", with funding provided for the devices at small plants. They said the law should be carefully crafted to prevent the cameras from being used by employers to spy on their staff. The lawmakers are also calling for stepped-up training of staff and the hiring of veterinary experts to oversee slaughtering procedures at all abattoirs of 50 employees or more. A "national abattoir ethics committee" would be set up under the plan. The MPs proposed that guidelines be amended to encourage electric stunning before ritual slaughter. But it would not be made mandatory, as a law to that effect "would be contested" in court, according to the committee's rapporteur, Jean-Yves Caullet. Muslim halal and Jewish shechita rules require an animal to be conscious when its throat is cut. France's Grand Rabbi Haim Korsia, in a statement to AFP, "hailed the lawmakers' wish to guarantee the animal's well-being... along with the preservation of ritual slaughter." He said the MPs had struck a balance between the needs for "secularism and the free exercise of faith." The L214 animal rights group for its part launched a petition on Tuesday to ban slaughter without prior stunning. Story continues It said it would take an abattoir to court for "infractions" committed during the ritual slaughter of sheep for the just-ended Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. The foundation of actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot said the proposal did not go far enough, saying it was "imperative" to require animals to be stunned before their throats are slit. The L214 campaign prompted the agriculture ministry to order nationwide inspections of abattoirs in March. Last week another French animal rights group demanded a ban on raising angora rabbits for their prized fur, releasing a secretly recorded video during which the animals squeal while being shorn. Brangelina had been together since 2004, and got married in August, 2014 in a private ceremony in Greece. By India Today Web Desk: Angeline Jolie has finally called it quits on her husband, partner of 12 years, Brad Pitt. A leading Hollywood gossip publication has reported that Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce and is asking for sole custody of their six children. ALSO READ: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt fighting hard to save marriage Apparently, the Lara Croft actor was upset with her husband's parenting skills, and hence has refused to settle for joint physical custody. She has requested the judge for joint legal custody which would allow Pitt a periodic visitation. advertisement Things were reported to have been difficult between the celebrity couple recently, as Angelina Jolie was suspecting Pitt's affection for his Allied co-star Marion Cotillard was only growing. However Jolie's rep has specifically denied that there is a third person involved in this divorce. The two have been together after they started filming for Doug Liman's Mr and Mrs Smith, which led to Pitt's marriage with Jennifer Aniston breaking up. The two were together for almost a decade when they finally decided to exchange vows in Greece in August, 2014, with their kids in a private ceremony. --- ENDS --- When world leaders arrive in New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly, many will seek to have the United States provide their countries companies with protection so they may do business with Iran. Because of Irans support for terrorism, disrespect for human rights, and nuclear proliferation, it has been under U.S. and international sanctions for decades and companies have been fined billions for circumventing those sanctions. President Barack Obamas administration would like to give companies and banks the green light to financial transactions with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism, but heres the reality: It cant. Unfortunately, the U.S. government doesnt know the full scope, scale, and reach of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military branch charged with enforcing Irans theocratic rule at home and exporting the revolution abroad. The IRGCs tentacles are well hidden in the Iranian economy, making the risk of becoming entangled with the organization an impossible-to-quantify possibility. Even after the lifting of sanctions, U.S. prohibitions are unambiguous: It is against the law to facilitat[e] a significant transaction for Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or any of its agents or affiliates that have been identified. The United States designated the Quds Force the special operations arm of the IRGC as a terrorist group almost 10 years ago, and other countries have joined suit. The penalty for getting this wrong, even with tacit U.S. approval, is jail time. This applies not to shareholders, not to affiliates but to the decision maker. For a French aircraft manufacturer or an Emirati shipping company, staying within the boundaries of U.S. law is critical to maintaining the ability to operate internationally, particularly when they are dependent on American banks. The United States has seemingly provided a way to avoid this problem: Dont engage in commerce with the IRGC, the Obama administration says, and Iran is your oyster. Story continues But CEOs, bankers, and board members around the world know that business with Iran is far more complicated than that. Ensuring an Iranian entity is clean exceeds the grasp of even the worlds most capable intelligence agencies much less any bank or company. As a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, I know that the CIA, Treasury Department, National Security Agency, and others work closely to keep tabs on the IRGCs operations. Like a drug cartel or mob, the IRGC has had decades to study and practice evading sanctions. One method they have found particularly effective is front companies setting up fake companies in Iran and other countries to hide the IRGC affiliation. By using a huge, wall-sized poster, the Treasury Department delineates which Iranian individuals, government officials, and military commanders are tied to terrorism and which evasion mechanisms they are utilizing. The posters hard lines and dashed lines map the constantly changing IRGC. It provides an impressive visual representation of the advanced network the IRGC maintains in dozens of critical industries. With this poster and many other tools, our intelligence community tries to keep a pulse on the members of the IRGCs terrorist regime. But the poster also contains enormous blank spaces and question marks. There are areas that we wish were filled in, but are empty. Despite the incredible amount of U.S. manpower and resources put into the maintenance of this sophisticated chart, there are many unknowns and imperfections. Given the gaps in the U.S. governments understanding of how entangled the IRGC is in the Iranian economy, one can understand how unrealistic it is to expect companies to perform the necessary due diligence before investing in Iran. Lets play this out: Say an international company wants to invest in Iran, though it cannot find out much about its Iranian partner on the ground. It proceeds anyway, lured by the encouragement of the Iranian regime and the promise of profit. After some broken promises, it turns out that the companys Iranian partner is linked to the IRGC, either through a previous designation or a recent action, as the Treasury Departments poster evolves to track the Iranian partners connection to the IRGC. Then the international company is in a bind: Either it violates U.S. sanctions by continuing to do business in Iran, thus forfeiting access to the American market and many others, or it risks losing its investment. That lose-lose situation could have been avoided. As the former head of two small businesses, I know the legal and reputational risks not to mention the weighty moral dynamics of these sorts of decisions. During a recent trip to Europe, where I met with U.S. officials and multinational businesses, these dynamics were on full display. Many of the businesspeople I met were trying to ascertain how to avoid the pitfalls and dangers of working with the Islamic Republic. But if the full power of the U.S. government is not able to fill in the gaps of how Iranian companies are connected to the IRGC, how can we expect foreign and American firms to do so? Despite this obvious challenge, Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry expect that a friendly meeting is all companies need to overcome this heavy risk. But companies should remember: Those two officials will move on, but a criminal conviction does not. The Treasury Departments poster of the IRGCs business dealings will continue to expand as Iran tries to figure out new ways to evade international restrictions. The gaps in our understanding will continue to grow as well, leaving companies in a bind as they seek to avoid a connection to terrorism. The responsible choice? Steer clear of business with Iran. Photo credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images By Tom Hals and Jim Christie Sept 20 (Reuters) - Failed South Korean cargo line Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd has found the money to unload a full container ship waiting outside a New York-area port. But there is another problem: once unloaded, the empty vessel may not be able to go back out to sea. The predicament of the Hanjin Miami, one of 10 U.S.-bound ships stranded by the Hanjin bankruptcy, illustrates one way that disputes over ships, ocean containers and even truck trailers to haul the shipping boxes have stranded at sea some $14 billion of goods around the world. Since filing for court receivership on August 31, the world's seventh-largest container carrier has caused chaos for many retailers at a time when they are getting goods for the holiday shopping season. The National Retail Federation on Tuesday urged U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to find a way to clear up the confusion. "The impact on small and medium-sized companies could be particularly devastating if this situation is not resolved in a timely manner," the group said in a letter. Hanjin has the money to dock its Hanjin Miami, Federal Maritime Commissioner William Doyle, whose agency regulates international shipping, told an industry event on Friday. But the Miami is not being allowed in port because of a dispute about empty Hanjin shipping containers, which the Miami normally would load up as ballast to exit port. Without those empties, the ship "will not be able to depart the harbor because it would not have the air clearance to navigate under the Bayonne Bridge -- even at a dead low tide," said Doyle. Without a way to leave, the ship could tie up a berth. "There are so many disputes right now attached to empty containers that the terminal is not going to load the empties back onto the ship," Doyle said. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey declined to comment, as did an attorney for Maher Terminal, which operates the marine terminal in Newark where the Hanjin Miami is expected to dock. Story continues The Hanjin Miami is currently off the U.S. East Coast, about 300 miles from New York, according to Reuters Eikon data. The Bayonne Bridge, which held the title of world's longest arch bridge for 45 years after it opened in 1931, presents a unique challenge to Hanjin. But other ports also are struggling with questions of who pays for terminal charges and what to do with empty containers. The complexity increased on Monday after a South Korean judge told Hanjin to cancel its ship charter agreements and return empty vessels to their owners. In the wake of the decision by the South Korean judge, an empty Hanjin Miami may become the responsibility of Reederei NSB, which manages the ship on behalf of its owner, an affiliate of Conti Holding of Munich, according to Reuters Eikon data. A spokeswoman for Reederei and a U.S. lawyer for Hanjin did not respond to requests for comment. Port terminals, meanwhile, have stopped accepting returns of empty shipping containers because they doubt Hanjin will pay to store them. "The Hanjin boxes are radioactive. Nobody wants to take responsibility for them," said Mark Hirzel, chairman of the Los Angeles Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association Inc. As containers on chassis pile up in far-flung storage lots, it has created a shortage of the trailers used to transport containers on land. Darren Azman, an attorney for Bermuda-based Textainer Group Holdings Ltd said cargo owners and other Hanjin parties are working out an agreement that they hope will normalize the movement of shipping containers. But U.S. retailers and manufacturers who own the cargo are caught in the confusion. Alex Rasheed, president of Pacific Textile and Sourcing Inc, a Los Angeles-headquartered importer and wholesaler of apparel, is anxious to receive $300,000 worth of seasonal fall clothing in two containers on the Hanjin Jungil, which is waiting off the coast of Southern California. "We're going to start feeling the pressure unless there is some kind of resolution," Rasheed said. Hanjin's bankruptcy also has U.S. exporters that were relying on the company scrambling to find alternatives, including flying goods to foreign markets at a loss, said Hirzel. "I've even heard about air transport of agriculture exports," Hirzel said. "Economically, it's a guaranteed loser ... The only reason you would do that is to meet an order to get a contract in the future." (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, editing by Peter Henderson and Alden Bentley) By Tom Hals and Jim Christie (Reuters) - Failed South Korean cargo line Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd has found the money to unload a full container ship waiting outside a New York-area port. But there is another problem: once unloaded, the empty vessel may not be able to go back out to sea. The predicament of the Hanjin Miami, one of 10 U.S.-bound ships stranded by the Hanjin bankruptcy, illustrates one way that disputes over ships, ocean containers and even truck trailers to haul the shipping boxes have stranded at sea some $14 billion of goods around the world. Since filing for court receivership on August 31, the world's seventh-largest container carrier has caused chaos for many retailers at a time when they are getting goods for the holiday shopping season. The National Retail Federation on Tuesday urged U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to find a way to clear up the confusion. "The impact on small and medium-sized companies could be particularly devastating if this situation is not resolved in a timely manner," the group said in a letter. Hanjin has the money to dock its Hanjin Miami, Federal Maritime Commissioner William Doyle, whose agency regulates international shipping, told an industry event on Friday. But the Miami is not being allowed in port because of a dispute about empty Hanjin shipping containers, which the Miami normally would load up as ballast to exit port. Without those empties, the ship "will not be able to depart the harbor because it would not have the air clearance to navigate under the Bayonne Bridge -- even at a dead low tide," said Doyle. Without a way to leave, the ship could tie up a berth. "There are so many disputes right now attached to empty containers that the terminal is not going to load the empties back onto the ship," Doyle said. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey declined to comment, as did an attorney for Maher Terminal, which operates the marine terminal in Newark where the Hanjin Miami is expected to dock. Story continues The Hanjin Miami is currently off the U.S. East Coast, about 300 miles from New York, according to Reuters Eikon data. The Bayonne Bridge, which held the title of world's longest arch bridge for 45 years after it opened in 1931, presents a unique challenge to Hanjin. But other ports also are struggling with questions of who pays for terminal charges and what to do with empty containers. The complexity increased on Monday after a South Korean judge told Hanjin to cancel its ship charter agreements and return empty vessels to their owners. In the wake of the decision by the South Korean judge, an empty Hanjin Miami may become the responsibility of Reederei NSB, which manages the ship on behalf of its owner, an affiliate of Conti Holding of Munich, according to Reuters Eikon data. A spokeswoman for Reederei and a U.S. lawyer for Hanjin did not respond to requests for comment. Port terminals, meanwhile, have stopped accepting returns of empty shipping containers because they doubt Hanjin will pay to store them. "The Hanjin boxes are radioactive. Nobody wants to take responsibility for them," said Mark Hirzel, chairman of the Los Angeles Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association Inc. As containers on chassis pile up in far-flung storage lots, it has created a shortage of the trailers used to transport containers on land. Darren Azman, an attorney for Bermuda-based Textainer Group Holdings Ltd said cargo owners and other Hanjin parties are working out an agreement that they hope will normalize the movement of shipping containers. But U.S. retailers and manufacturers who own the cargo are caught in the confusion. Alex Rasheed, president of Pacific Textile and Sourcing Inc, a Los Angeles-headquartered importer and wholesaler of apparel, is anxious to receive $300,000 worth of seasonal fall clothing in two containers on the Hanjin Jungil, which is waiting off the coast of Southern California. "We're going to start feeling the pressure unless there is some kind of resolution," Rasheed said. Hanjin's bankruptcy also has U.S. exporters that were relying on the company scrambling to find alternatives, including flying goods to foreign markets at a loss, said Hirzel. "I've even heard about air transport of agriculture exports," Hirzel said. "Economically, it's a guaranteed loser ... The only reason you would do that is to meet an order to get a contract in the future." (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, editing by Peter Henderson and Alden Bentley) Libreville (AFP) - Lawyers for President Ali Bongo and opposition leader Jean Ping told AFP on Tuesday said they have agreed to a poll recount for August's contested presidential vote, though the methodology remains in dispute. "The parties have reached agreement on a vote recount," said Ping's lawyer Jean-Remy Batsantsa, which Bongo's lawyer Francis Nkea confirmed, while adding there was disagreement on the extent of a recount. "We agreed on a recount in the 2,579 polling stations" across the country, Bongo's lawyer said. "We must avoid discriminating between Haut-Ogooue and the eight other provinces." Ping went to the Constitutional Court on September 8 to demand a recount in the province of Bongo's fiefdom Haut-Ogooue, where the incumbent received 95 percent of the vote on a 99 percent turnout in the August 27 poll. Bongo was proclaimed the winner of the vote by a razor-thin margin of just under 6,000 votes, triggering violent protests as the opposition cried foul. Jean-Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, a spokesman for Ping, said the opposition wanted to see the court sift through all vote counts rather than just those signed off by the electoral commission. But Nkea responded: "The law says a recount is on the basis of official counts... (meaning) the electoral commission's." After the result was announced, Ping warned of serious instability if the court -- which has 15 days to decide amid rumours of a delay -- rejected his recount appeal. Bongo responded by saying that Ping had indulged in a "violent campaign of lies and denigration" which was to blame for post-poll unrest. An EU election observer mission earlier said there was a "clear anomaly in the final result in Haut-Ogooue". Ping compared the Supreme Court the Tower of Pisa "because it always leans to the side of the ruling power". But he also told supporters "2016 is not 2009", a reference to the last presidential election when the Constitutional Court upheld Bongo's victory. The Central African nation has been ruled by the Bongo family since 1967. Industrial goods manufacturer General Electric Company GE has recently completed the divesture of the majority of GE Capitals restaurant franchise financing assets in the U.S. The assets were sold to three separate buyers. General Electric sold assets in the Southwest and Southeast to First Horizon National Corporation, a Tennessee-based bank with assets of approximately $27 billion. Assets in the Midwest and part of the West were sold to Wintrust Financial Corporation, an Illinois-based bank with approximately $23 billion in assets. GE Capital assets in the East were sold to Sterling National Bank, a $13-billion-asset holding bank headquartered in New York. The transactions included about $1.3 billion in ending net investment (ENI). Since Apr 2015 to date, GE Capital has inked sale agreements worth approximately $192 billion in ENI, of which it has already completed deals worth $172 billion. By the end of 2016, the company expects to sell $200 million of GE Capital assets across the world. The transactions are in conformity with the corporate strategy of building a manufacturing-based entity with emphasis on big-ticket items such as aviation engines, drilling machines, generators, medical equipment and scanners. With these restructuring initiatives, General Electric expects operating earnings from the industrial business to comprise over 90% of its total operating earnings by 2018, significantly up from 58% in 2014. GENL ELECTRIC Price GENL ELECTRIC Price | GENL ELECTRIC Quote General Electric is actively pursuing massive restructuring initiatives in order to create a simpler and nimbler firm. From a classic conglomerate with diversified business interests in financial services, media, industrial and technology-based operations, the company is pruning its operating portfolio to focus on core manufacturing businesses with a digital edge. In accordance with this strategy, GE Digital, an integral part of General Electric, acquired Meridium, Inc., a global leader in asset performance management (APM) software and services for asset-intensive industries. The acquisition will facilitate GE Digital to augment its comprehensive APM offering by leveraging Meridiums expertise in cognitive analytics, reliability centered maintenance, operational risk management and asset health, as well as intelligent asset strategies. GE Digital will utilize its Predix platform along with Meridiums enterprise software solutions to improve the APM offering through advanced asset-centric analytics, industrial software and value-added services. This will enable it to boost the Industrial Internet for asset-centric industries such as oil & gas, power and chemicals, in order to maximize the availability of their industrial assets at lower operational costs and risks. We remain encouraged by the restructuring endeavors of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. Some other favorably ranked stocks in the industry include Raven Industries Inc. RAVN, Crane Co. CR and Barloworld Ltd. BRRAY, each carrying the same Zacks Rank as General Electric. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Story continues Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report GENL ELECTRIC (GE): Free Stock Analysis Report RAVEN INDS INC (RAVN): Free Stock Analysis Report CRANE CO (CR): Free Stock Analysis Report BARLOW LTD-ADR (BRRAY): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Former President George H.W. Bush, who lost a second term to Bill Clinton in 1992, will be voting for the wife of his former bitter rival, according to reports. Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, recently visited the 42nd president and later posted a picture of herself and Bush to Facebook with the surprising revelation. "The President told me hes voting for Hillary!!" the caption reportedly read. Read: Trump Calls for Police Profiling in Wake of Area Bombings: 'This Is Only Going to Get Worse' The former Maryland lieutenant governor confirmed the news with Politico, saying, "thats what he said." Meanwhile, a spokesman for President Bush would neither confirm nor deny the report. "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim," Jim McGrath said in an email to Politico. The official response is in line with what many mainstream, high profile Republicans have done in the months since Donald Trump swept their primary and became the party's nominee. Read: Donald Trump Mocked at the Emmy Awards Both George Sr. and George W. Bush have declined to endorse Trump but have refrained from publicly throwing their hat in for anyone else. Neither Jeb Bush nor John Kasich has endorsed their party's candidate, either. And just this past Sunday, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus warned they could suffer consequences for keeping mum. "Those people need to get on board," Priebus told Trump's former primary opponents on Face the Nation. "And if they're thinking they're going to run again someday, I think that we're going to evaluate the process of the nomination process and I don't think it's going to be that easy for them." Story continues Watch: New Yorkers Run From Explosion in Dumpster That Injured 29 Related Articles: A spokesman for George H.W. Bush declined to clarify or deny a report that the former Republican president will vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in November. The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim, Jim McGrath, Bushs spokesperson, said in a statement to TIME. Politico reported Monday evening that Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, the former Maryland lieutenant governor and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, had posted a picture on Facebook of her and Bush with the caption, The President told me hes voting for Hillary!! She then confirmed to Politico in a follow-up call thats what the president had told her. Bushs son, Jeb, the former Florida governor who was defeated by Trump in the primary, has so far declined to endorse his rival. And his other son, former President George W. Bush, has stayed quiet through the general election season. With reporting by Zeke J. Miller. George Soros explains that he is giving $500 million of his own money to refugees to answer President Obama's call for private companies to help with the crisis. He intends to invest in startups and social impact issues as well as companies started by refugees themselves. He also intends for these investments to be profitable. His goal is to demonstrate that the private sector can make sustaining and enduring investments in ways that help immigrants. Ahead of 2017 polls in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, the 'full' Election Commission led by CEC Nasim Zaidi will visit Lucknow on Monday next and Imphal from today. By Press Trust of India: Kick-starting the process of holding assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur early next year, the 'full' Election Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi will visit Lucknow on Monday next and Imphal from today. An EC spokesperson said in New Delhi that the EC team comprising the CEC and fellow Election Commissioners AK Joti and OP Rawat will visit Lucknow on September 26 and 27. advertisement "During their stay n Lucknow for two days, the Commission would review poll preparedness of Assembly elections in the state. They would meet the state police, officers of the administration and district magistrates as also representatives of political parties before coming back to Delhi on September 27 evening," the panel said. Also read: Masses favour simultaneous conduct of elections for LS, Assembly UP ASSEMBLY TERM ENDS ON MAY 27, 2017 The term of the 403-member UP Assembly ends on May 27, 2017. Under the Representation of People's Act, EC is free to hold elections six months prior to the expiry of the term of the Assembly. The Commission will be in Manipur today. During their two-day visit to Imphal, the Commission would review poll preparedness and meet the state police and officials of the administration. They would also interact with representatives of political parties before coming back to Delhi on September 21 evening. Also read: Number of polling stations in Haryana increases to 17018 TERM OF GOA ASSEMBLY ENDS IN MARCH The term of the 60-member Manipur Assembly comes to an end on March 18. The term of the Goa, Punjab and Uttarakhand Assemblies also come to an end in March next year. --- ENDS --- Billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros announced on Tuesday his intention to invest $500 million in startups, existing businesses and initiatives founded by migrants and refugees. In an essay for the Wall Street Journal, Soros criticized the collective failure to develop and implement effective policies to address the global migration crisis, and argued that although governments have the leading role to play in finding solutions, harnessing the power of the private sector is also critical. The announcement coincides with the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York, and follows President Obamas Call to Action earlier this summer for private sector engagement on the global refugee crisis. I have decided to earmark $500 million for investments that specifically address the needs of migrants, refugees and host communities, Soros wrote. I will invest in startups, established companies, social-impact initiatives and businesses founded by migrants and refugees themselves. Although my main concern is to help migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, I will be looking for good investment ideas that will benefit migrants all over the world. The philanthropist announced that all investments made will be owned by his nonprofit organization, and any profits will go to fund programs at the Open Society Foundations, including programs that benefit migrants and refugees. Soros also stated his intention to work with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Rescue Committee, and his hope that this move would inspire other investors to undertake similar action. Our biggest contribution is in Jordan, this is the most promising partner. This is a country with strategic significance and a forward thinking government. Soros wants other investors to look at Jordan. His foundations are also supporting education of refugees in Turkey and Europe, they're also working with the government of Canada which has been successful with bringing in refugees. They want to promote the Canadian model of private sponsorship of refugees elsewhere in the world. They're contributing 100s of thousands not millions to this cause. By Julia La Roche Billionaire George Soros, the chairman and founder of the Open Society Foundations, pledged up to $500 million of his own private capital to aid the global crisis of forced migration. Im a refugee myself, Soros said at the Concordia Summit in New York. Soros was a teenager when the Nazis occupied Hungary. He moved to London in 1947. In those days, there were fewer of us around and we were better treated, he said. The 86-year-old hedge fund manager pointed out that the current refugee crisis is new, but economic migration has been going on forever. He considers the refugee and migration crisis the most pressing problem, and its one of his top priorities. His pledge of $500 million is his answer to President Barack Obamas call to action for US companies to play a bigger role in meeting the challenges posed by refugees and migration. The money Soros pledged will be used to invest in startups, companies, social impact initiatives and businesses started by refugees. The investments will be held by Soros non-profit organization, and the profits will fund Open Society Foundation programs, including ones that benefit refugees. His plan to solve the refugee crisis is built on his seven pillars that include: The European Union (EU) must take on a substantial number of refugees directly from front-line countries in a secure orderly way. This will be far more acceptable than the current disorder. The EU must regain control of its borders. There is little that scares and alienates the public more than scenes of chaos. The EU must have a way to generate economic growth. We estimate refugees will require $30 billion a year for several years. The plan explains the benefits of what he calls surge funding. The EU must build a common mechanism to protect borders. We need a voluntary matching mechanism to relocate refugees. The EU cant coerce EU states to accept refugees they dont want. Canada sets a standard. This shows how far the EU has to go. The EU must offer far greater support to countries outside its borders that host large numbers of refugees. It must be more generous to Africa. It must offer genuine grand bargain, creating jobs in African countries where some migrants originate, which would reduce the number that wants to migrate. Create a welcoming environment for migrants. All evidence shows migrants can contribute significantly to innovation and development if they are given the chance to do so. Story continues Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Read more: Boone Pickens: This election scares the hell out of me Heres the chilling speech Soros gave to European parliament By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) said on Tuesday it had chosen its head of consumer healthcare, Emma Walmsley, as its new chief executive, after several months reviewing internal and external candidates. She will become the first woman to head a top global pharmaceutical company and will bring the number of female chief executives in Britain's FTSE 100 index to seven. Walmsley, 47, joined Britain's biggest drugmaker in 2010 from LOreal (OREP.PA) and will replace Andrew Witty, who had previously announced his decision to retire on March 31, 2017. She will join the board from January. The decision will disappoint investors such as Neil Woodford, a top shareholder and a critic of the drugmaker's current structure, who wanted to see an outsider appointed to overhaul the company. However, Walmsley had always been tipped as a strong internal candidate, along with pharmaceuticals boss Abbas Hussain and manufacturing head Roger Connor. Her appointment is likely to be seen as a signal that GSK will retain the consumer business as a core part of its operations, rather than splitting up the company. "Choosing Emma Walmsley suggests a strategy of evolution rather than revolution," Joe Walters, senior portfolio manager at Royal London Asset Management, one of GSKs 30 largest investors, told Reuters. "A big change in the firms corporate structure is less likely, but any worries about a reduction in Glaxos attractive dividend payments should recede." GSK's 5 percent yield is a big lure for investors. A weaker pound after Britain's vote to leave the European Union helped the group's 2016 outlook and also soothed fears of a dividend cut, but there had been speculation that an outside CEO might go on a major buying spree that could crimp payouts. Chairman Philip Hampton said in a statement that GSK had market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare that provided excellent platforms for sustainable, long-term growth. Story continues Shares in GSK slipped 0.5 percent by 1040 British time. BROAD PORTFOLIO At the helm since 2008, Witty has struggled with flagging sales and profits, as well as a damaging corruption scandal in China, although earnings are now improving. Some investors and analysts have questioned his focus on a consumer health business that ranges from headache pills to toothpaste. Other drugmakers have enjoyed better share price performance in recent years by riding a wave of innovation in disease areas such as cancer. GSK has chosen to largely sit out a wave of acquisitions in the pharmaceuticals industry that has seen rivals spending billions of dollars on promising experimental medicines. A $20 billion (15.4 billion) asset swap with Novartis (NOVN.S), completed last year, which involved the exchange of cancer drugs for the Swiss groups consumer health products and vaccines, was a centrepiece of Witty's time in charge. The deal crystallised the company's idea of reducing exposure to premium-priced pharmaceuticals and increasing sales of over-the-counter products, as well as selling more lower-priced medicines in emerging markets. Walmsley has been intimately involved in that strategy as head of consumer healthcare and, like Hampton, she sees the breadth of GSK's portfolio as a key strength. "We have momentum in the group and as the demand for medical innovation and trusted healthcare products continues to rise, we have the opportunity and the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders," she said in the statement. As head of GSK's consumer healthcare operations, Walmsley is responsible for a business with 21,000 employees and annual sales of 6 billion pounds, equal to around a quarter of group sales (Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Sonya Hepinstall and Giles Elgood) * Choice of consumer head signals no break-up of GSK * Walmsley will be first woman to lead top global drugmaker * GSK shares slip 0.5 percent (Adds investor reaction, more on consumer business and dividend) By Ben Hirschler LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday it had chosen its head of consumer healthcare, Emma Walmsley, as its new chief executive, after several months reviewing internal and external candidates. She will become the first woman to head a top global pharmaceutical company and will bring the number of female chief executives in Britain's FTSE 100 index to seven. Walmsley, 47, joined Britain's biggest drugmaker in 2010 from L'Oreal and will replace Andrew Witty, who had previously announced his decision to retire on March 31, 2017. She will join the board from January. The decision will disappoint investors such as Neil Woodford, a top shareholder and a critic of the drugmaker's current structure, who wanted to see an outsider appointed to overhaul the company. However, Walmsley had always been tipped as a strong internal candidate, along with pharmaceuticals boss Abbas Hussain and manufacturing head Roger Connor. Her appointment is likely to be seen as a signal that GSK will retain the consumer business as a core part of its operations, rather than splitting up the company. "Choosing Emma Walmsley suggests a strategy of evolution rather than revolution," Joe Walters, senior portfolio manager at Royal London Asset Management, one of GSK's 30 largest investors, told Reuters. "A big change in the firm's corporate structure is less likely, but any worries about a reduction in Glaxo's attractive dividend payments should recede." GSK's 5 percent yield is a big lure for investors. A weaker pound after Britain's vote to leave the European Union helped the group's 2016 outlook and also soothed fears of a dividend cut, but there had been speculation that an outside CEO might go on a major buying spree that could crimp payouts. Story continues Chairman Philip Hampton said in a statement that GSK had market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare that provided excellent platforms for sustainable, long-term growth. Shares in GSK slipped 0.5 percent by 0940 GMT. BROAD PORTFOLIO At the helm since 2008, Witty has struggled with flagging sales and profits, as well as a damaging corruption scandal in China, although earnings are now improving. Some investors and analysts have questioned his focus on a consumer health business that ranges from headache pills to toothpaste. Other drugmakers have enjoyed better share price performance in recent years by riding a wave of innovation in disease areas such as cancer. GSK has chosen to largely sit out a wave of acquisitions in the pharmaceuticals industry that has seen rivals spending billions of dollars on promising experimental medicines. A $20 billion asset swap with Novartis, completed last year, which involved the exchange of cancer drugs for the Swiss group's consumer health products and vaccines, was a centrepiece of Witty's time in charge. The deal crystallised the company's idea of reducing exposure to premium-priced pharmaceuticals and increasing sales of over-the-counter products, as well as selling more lower-priced medicines in emerging markets. Walmsley has been intimately involved in that strategy as head of consumer healthcare and, like Hampton, she sees the breadth of GSK's portfolio as a key strength. "We have momentum in the group and as the demand for medical innovation and trusted healthcare products continues to rise, we have the opportunity and the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders," she said in the statement. As head of GSK's consumer healthcare operations, Walmsley is responsible for a business with 21,000 employees and annual sales of 6 billion pounds ($7.8 billion), equal to around a quarter of group sales. ($1 = 0.7684 pounds) (Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Sonya Hepinstall and Giles Elgood) By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday it had chosen its head of consumer healthcare, Emma Walmsley, as its new chief executive, after several months reviewing internal and external candidates. She will become the first woman to head a top global pharmaceutical company and will bring the number of female chief executives in Britain's FTSE 100 index to seven. Walmsley, 47, joined Britain's biggest drugmaker in 2010 from LOreal and will replace Andrew Witty, who had previously announced his decision to retire on March 31, 2017. She will join the board from January. The decision will disappoint investors such as Neil Woodford, a top shareholder and a critic of the drugmaker's current structure, who wanted to see an outsider appointed to overhaul the company. However, Walmsley had always been tipped as a strong internal candidate, along with pharmaceuticals boss Abbas Hussain and manufacturing head Roger Connor. Her appointment is likely to be seen as a signal that GSK will retain the consumer business as a core part of its operations, rather than splitting up the company. "Choosing Emma Walmsley suggests a strategy of evolution rather than revolution," Joe Walters, senior portfolio manager at Royal London Asset Management, one of GSKs 30 largest investors, told Reuters. "A big change in the firms corporate structure is less likely, but any worries about a reduction in Glaxos attractive dividend payments should recede." GSK's 5 percent yield is a big lure for investors. A weaker pound after Britain's vote to leave the European Union helped the group's 2016 outlook and also soothed fears of a dividend cut, but there had been speculation that an outside CEO might go on a major buying spree that could crimp payouts. Chairman Philip Hampton said in a statement that GSK had market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare that provided excellent platforms for sustainable, long-term growth. Story continues Shares in GSK slipped 0.5 percent by 0940 GMT. BROAD PORTFOLIO At the helm since 2008, Witty has struggled with flagging sales and profits, as well as a damaging corruption scandal in China, although earnings are now improving. Some investors and analysts have questioned his focus on a consumer health business that ranges from headache pills to toothpaste. Other drugmakers have enjoyed better share price performance in recent years by riding a wave of innovation in disease areas such as cancer. GSK has chosen to largely sit out a wave of acquisitions in the pharmaceuticals industry that has seen rivals spending billions of dollars on promising experimental medicines. A $20 billion asset swap with Novartis, completed last year, which involved the exchange of cancer drugs for the Swiss groups consumer health products and vaccines, was a centerpiece of Witty's time in charge. The deal crystallized the company's idea of reducing exposure to premium-priced pharmaceuticals and increasing sales of over-the-counter products, as well as selling more lower-priced medicines in emerging markets. Walmsley has been intimately involved in that strategy as head of consumer healthcare and, like Hampton, she sees the breadth of GSK's portfolio as a key strength. "We have momentum in the group and as the demand for medical innovation and trusted healthcare products continues to rise, we have the opportunity and the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders," she said in the statement. As head of GSK's consumer healthcare operations, Walmsley is responsible for a business with 21,000 employees and annual sales of 6 billion pounds ($7.8 billion), equal to around a quarter of group sales. (Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Sonya Hepinstall and Giles Elgood) Goggles, virtual reality, 3-D animation -- these are some of the digital tools global universities are using to recruit increasingly tech-savvy prospective international students. "Though I hadn't come to Savannah before classes started, I felt like I knew the campus even more so after exploring it in virtual reality," says Colombian national Nicolas Barrera Castaneda, an architecture major at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. He received virtual reality goggles to explore the campus and says he got a good sense of what the university had to offer because of the technology. [Here are four ways to narrow an international college search.] To date, the school has distributed more than 25,000 sets of goggles worldwide to prospective and accepted students, says Laura Kennedy, associate vice president for admission at SCAD. Used with a smartphone, the goggles provide a 360-degree, real-life experience of the campus. Channels for digital marketing "are being used increasingly to have very targeted efforts" among students in particular countries and fields, says Megan Brenn-White, managing director of The Brenn-White Group, a higher education consultancy firm. She says these methods are used "to spread word-of-mouth and to help convert prospects to applicants" and eventually to enrolled students. A 2015 study by Uversity.com -- a company that provided universities with a student-engagement platform and has since been acquired by TargetX -- found that of the 800 newly enrolled international students from 88 countries who were surveyed, 95 percent owned a mobile smartphone. The study showed that these students used their mobile devices to view university websites, download school apps, access university social media, take virtual campus tours and submit their college applications. These stats have not been lost on SCAD -- President and Founder Paula Wallace says Snapchatting, FaceTiming and texting are "the new normal for rising generations." She says augmented reality and virtual reality digital tools "are about meeting students where they are." Story continues This fall, the school welcomed "a larger than ever before" student body, Wallace says, which included students from 115 countries. Kennedy attributes the growth to a combination of these initiatives and other marketing and recruitment efforts. [Explore how U.S. universities offer international students a taste of home.] Researching U.K. and Canadian schools from Palestine, Marwa Afaneh relied heavily on global universities' digital tools, particularly those that the University of British Columbia in Canada offered. She attended several of UBC's live chats and virtual events to ask more in-depth questions about scholarships, financial aid, study permits that allow international students to stay in Canada, transfer credits and the basis on which the university revokes its offer. Afaneh, who is now a media studies major, says the live responses she received from UBC were "one of the decision-makers to my university choice." She says they made her feel that the university was not only strong academically, "but they also care about their students." Graeme Menzies, UBC director of recruitment marketing and prospective student engagement, says the school's digital recruitment strategy also includes social media outreach, such as Twitter chats and Snapchat geofilters, which are location-based digital stickers on videos and photos. He says that in the previous recruitment cycle the university held 176 digital events, averaging two to three events per week and collectively engaging nearly 10,000 prospective students. [Explore nine reasons to earn a bachelor's degree overseas.] Aston University in the U.K. similarly uses a variety of digital tools for both recruitment and conversion efforts. Yuliya Whittem, senior international officer at Aston, says these include live chats, webinars, Skype calls to and from students as well as virtual recruitment exhibitions organized by external providers and virtual open days. She says some live chats are for students from a particular region, while others are focused on a specific degree program. They also tailor topics ranging from immigration advice to living and studying in the U.K. She says current students often participate in the chats, "which gives a more genuine student perception to the applicants or enquirers as the students can communicate with them in their own language." She says professors from the various schools of study typically use webinars, followed by question-and-answer sessions. During the webinars and live chats, Whittem says "students receive the answers almost instantly; they also make friends; they engage with academics and university staff even before they come to study here." Catherine Riggins, associate vice president of marketing and alumni relations at Royal Roads University in Canada, says the school is currently exploring the option of offering a virtual open house experience through Facebook Live for prospective students who can't physically be on campus. Facebook Live could be used "for interviews with our alumni, current students, faculty, enrolment advisors or just film a lecture specific to what a prospective student might be interested in," Riggins said via email. At the National University of Singapore, R. Rajaram, director of the admissions office, says the school's "comprehensive digital and social media strategy" includes daily live chats that are run each semester by student ambassadors who share information about NUS student life. UBC also uses student ambassadors to help engage prospective students. As a senior UBC student ambassador, American student Mina Willett has given campus tours and participated in live chats and online recruitment sessions. She most recently did an Instagram takeover, where the university allowed her to host its prospective undergraduate Instagram account to help relay a student perspective to potential applicants. She says the variety of digital tools used lets prospective students tailor how they want to learn about and engage with the university. "Looking into university is a big step," says Willett. "I really appreciate the opportunity that these new digital tools allow us in providing new forums to connect." See the complete rankings of the Best Global Universities. Anayat Durrani is a Los Angeles-based freelance education reporter for U.S. News, covering global universities, including those in the Arab region. (Adds detail on size of investment, analyst comment) By Allison Lampert Sept 20 (Reuters) - A tentative labor deal with General Motors Co sends a clear signal to Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler that Canada's autoworkers union is determined to secure new investment in local plants, the union's president said on Tuesday. The deal includes pension concessions by the union, Unifor, and a rare shift in work from Mexico to an Ontario facility, averting a strike that would have shut some of GM's Canadian plants and affected some top-selling vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Equinox. Under pattern bargaining, the first deal typically sets a template for the other automakers' contracts. A second target company will be selected shortly. "We have been absolutely straightforward with the automakers that we want investment in Canada," Unifor National President Jerry Dias said in an interview. "This shows that to the other companies." Unifor wants Ford to keep its engine plant operating in Windsor, Ontario and called on Fiat Chrysler to upgrade a paint shop at its Brampton, Ontario plant. The GM deal, reached early Tuesday, will ensure "hundreds of millions" in investment, Unifor said, including new jobs and higher wages. GM is expected to invest about C$400 million ($303 million) in Oshawa and C$120 million at the St Catharines powertrain plant, the Globe and Mail reported. Union members vote on the deal on Sunday. The union agreed to a pure defined contribution plan for new workers, the first such plan under the master agreement that covers most assembly workers at GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Veteran employees have defined benefit pensions and those hired since 2012 have a hybrid plan. The deal is positive for the Canadian auto industry, which has lost jobs to lower-cost markets in the United States and Mexico. While GM agreed this year to move some truck production from Mexico to Michigan, it is rare for an automaker to shift production from Mexico to Canada. Story continues "It's a big deal," said analyst Sam Fiorani at AutoForecast Solutions. "The drawback for Canada has never been the quality of the labor, which is high. It's the energy costs." Any change in Ontario's policy to lower its energy costs for automakers would "be a huge win for Canada," he said. GM Canada said it will look for government funding to support its investments. GM spokesman Tom Wickham declined to give further details. The federal government recently agreed to offer automakers grants rather than loans, which helped both sides reach a deal, according to a source directly involved in the talks. Canada industry ministry spokesman Philip Proulx declined to comment on specifics on funding, adding "we are in the process of reviewing the terms" of the fund. The Ontario government said it will "provide further information regarding potential government support at the appropriate time." Dias did not say what vehicle model or models would be built in Oshawa, but said the car plant would become capable of producing trucks. A four-year contract covering some 20,000 Canadian autoworkers at the three automakers expired on Sept. 19. ($1 = 1.3208 Canadian dollars) (Additional reporting by Allison Martell, Ethan Lou and Jeffrey Hodgson in Toronto; Editing by James Dalgleish) An Australian blogger wrote a Facebook post about motherhood and mothers are now sharing their stories and explaining how much they relate with the post. By India Today Web Desk: Being a mother might be the most difficult yet underrated task. This Facebook post explains why it is so. An Australian mother posted about the true essence of motherhood and its paradox on a Facebook page called Constance Hall. She described motherhood as 'confusing' because while she is never alone, she always feels a bit lonely. advertisement "You work 24 hours a day and get asked why you don't work," the post read. The post talks about the reality of being a mother and that is not all rosy. She describes struggles mothers face everyday ranging from gaining weight to being busy round the clock, yet bored. "You feel resentful and exhausted and hard done by while head over heels in love". She talks about wanting space from the people she never wants to leave and wonders how ironical it is. "It's so confusing because you wouldn't change a single thing," she writes in the post. The Facebook post has gone viral with nearly 15,000 shares and more than 80,000 likes. It has managed to engage mothers who are now sharing their stories and explaining how much they relate with the post. --- ENDS --- TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / Golden Share Mining Corporation (GSH.V) (the "Company" or "Golden Share"), announces the completion of a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement"). An aggregate of 740,000 units of the Company (the "Units") were issued at a price of $0.25 per Unit for gross proceeds of CAD $185,000. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one half Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles its holder to purchase one Common Share at the purchase price of CAD $0.35 per share at any time during an 18-month period beginning at the closing date. Any securities issued under the Private Placement would be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from their date of issuance under applicable Canadian securities laws, expiring January 20, 2017. The private placement remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Canaccord Genuity Corp. acted as a finder for a portion of the private placement and received a finder's fee consisting of a cash payment of $2,800. The company is pleased to announce that field work including a geophysical IP survey was successfully and safely completed at the Berens River Project. The program was completed prior to the beginning of the hunting season in the area as requested by the Sandy Lake First Nation. The preliminary results of the program appear encouraging. The Company would also like to acknowledge that the recent field work at Berens River was approved for the Junior Exploration Assistance Program (JEAP) sponsored by the Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. and the Ontario Prospectors Association. Golden Share is pleased to see such needed support from these organizations during such a challenging time for the junior mineral exploration industry. The Company hope that support such as this will continue until more favourable financing conditions occur for exploration companies focused on advancing projects within the province of Ontario. The Company also announces that it has granted an 18-month incentive stock option to a Director of the Company. The incentive stock option allows purchasing up to an aggregate of 200,000 Common Shares at $0.35 per share. About Golden Share Golden Share Mining Corporation is a Canadian junior mining company focusing on exploration in the province of Ontario, a politically stable jurisdiction with a long history mineral exploration and development. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONSULT www.goldenshare.ca OR CONTACT: Golden Share Mining Corporation Nick Zeng, President & CEO Tel: (905) 968-1199 E-mail: info@goldenshare.ca SOURCE: Golden Share Mining Corporation VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / REVOLVER RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: RZ) (the "Company" or "Revolver") is pleased to announce that the J2 Private Syndicate, which Revolver Resources owns a 9% interest in, is just concluding its program focused on precious metals project generation and exploration in north western BC including the Golden Triangle. With strong preliminary results and field observations, the geological team has recommended staking several showings. Additional results are expected over the next several weeks and a detailed update is planned to be provided once all the results have been received and additional staking has been completed. This syndicate was formed with the intention of optioning the properties to qualified parties. Revolver will have the Benefit of receiving its pro-rata share of any cash, stock, and NSR's received through these arrangements. The J2 syndicate field and technical team includes some of the original project generators of Coffee Creek, recently purchased by Goldcorp for $520 Mill CAD. Members of the J2 team have been recognized through their peers in the industry for several of their mineral discoveries. "Management and shareholders of Revolver are pleased to have this opportunity with an exploration team of this calibre as further demonstrated by the initial results. The board of Revolver thanks the entire J2 team for the dedication and focus that has resulted in such success," stated President, C.E.O. & Director Dan Stuart. Revolver looks forward to reporting detailed results as they become available. Financing Up-date: As previously announced on August 5, 2016 the Company is continuing its non-brokered private placement financing of up to $675,000 through the issuance of up to 4.5 million units of the company at a price of 15 cents per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share and one transferable common share purchase warrant with each warrant exercisable by the holder into one common share of the company at a price of 20 cents per share for a period of five years from the closing date. In the event that the company's shares trade at a closing price at or above 25 cents per common share for a period of 10 consecutive trading days at any time after the closing date of the private placement, the company may accelerate the expiry date of the warrants by giving notice to each holder thereof, and in such case the warrants will expire 30 days from the date of providing such notice. Story continues The private placement and payment of finders' fees are both subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. The net proceeds of the private placement will be used to finance work on the Gold Drop property in connection with the option agreement with Ximen Mining Corp., working capital and general corporate purposes. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Dan Stuart, President, C.E.O. & Director 604-488-3900 This News Release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the acquisition of certain mineral claims. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements and Revolver undertakes no obligation to update such statements, except as required by law. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the industry and markets in which the Company operates, including that: the current price of and demand for minerals being targeted by the Company will be sustained or will improve; the Company will be able to obtain required exploration licences and other permits; general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; financing will be available if and when needed on reasonable terms; the Company will not experience any material accident; and the Company will be able to identify and acquire additional mineral interests on reasonable terms or at all. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including: that resource exploration and development is a speculative business; that environmental laws and regulations may become more onerous; that the Company may not be able to raise additional funds when necessary; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; fluctuating prices of commodities; operating hazards and risks; competition; potential inability to find suitable acquisition opportunities and/or complete the same; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the Company's public filings. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Revolver Resources Inc. (JAKARTA) Indonesia plans to pursue Alphabet Incs Google for five years of back taxes, and the search giant could face a bill of more than $400 million for 2015 alone if it is found to have avoided payments, a senior tax official said. Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax offices special cases branch, told Reuters its investigators went to Googles local office in Indonesia on Monday. The tax office alleges PT Google Indonesia paid less than 0.1 percent of the total income and value-added taxes it owed last year. Asked to respond to Hanivs comments, Google Indonesia reiterated a statement made last week in which it said it continues to cooperate with local authorities and has paid all applicable taxes. The move comes at a time when Indonesia is eager to ramp up tax collection to narrow its budget deficit and fund an ambitious infrastructure program. Other governments around the world are also seeking to clamp down on what they see as egregious corporate tax avoidance. Haniv added that the tax office planned to pursue other internet firms for back taxes. If found guilty, Google may have to pay fines of up to four times the amount it owed, bringing the maximum tax bill to 5.5 trillion rupiah ($418 million) for 2015, Haniv said. He declined to provide an estimate for the five-year period. Most of its revenue generated in the country is booked at Googles Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Google Asia Pacific declined to be audited in June, prompting the tax office to escalate the case into a criminal one, he said. Googles argument is that they just did tax planning, Haniv said. Tax planning is legal, but aggressive tax planning to the extent that the country where the revenue is made does not get anything is not legal. The tax office will summon directors from Google Indonesia who also hold positions at Google Asia Pacific, Haniv said, adding that it is working with the Indonesian police. Story continues Globally, it is rare for a state investigation of corporate tax structures to be escalated into a criminal case. Governments hitting back Indonesias move to pursue Google shows that the international tax tide might be turning, said Crawford Spence, a professor of accounting at Warwick Business School in Britain. In recent decades multinationals have scoured the globe looking for low tax jurisdictions, effectively engaging in rate-shopping as part of tax minimisation strategies, Spence wrote in an email. Now, with initiatives at the transnational levelcountries are starting to develop the confidence to hit back. In January, Google agreed to pay 130 million pounds ($185 million) in back taxes to settle a probe by Britains tax authority, which had challenged the companys low tax returns for the years since 2005. The Indonesia case is unlikely to be resolved soon as it normally takes at least three years for a court to make a decision on a tax-related criminal case, said Yustinus Prastowo, executive director of the Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis. Haniv said the tax office is planning to chase back taxes from other companies that deliver content through the internet (over-the-top service providers) in Indonesia. The Indonesian communication and information ministry is working on a new regulation for OTT providers, and the tax office has proposed that a company with a network presence in Indonesia should also be subject to taxation. Total advertising revenue for the industry is estimated at $830 million a year, with Google and Facebook Inc accounting for around 70 percent of that, according to Haniv. A joint study by Google and Singapore state investor Temasek released earlier this year, however, estimated the size of Indonesias digital advertising market at $300 million for 2015. Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo and Eveline Danubrata; Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Alexander Smith Stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) are slightly in the green at midday ahead of the Bank of Japan and Federal Reserve announcements, with health care (XLV) leading, and the new real estate sector (XLRE) lagging. Alan Valdes, director of floor operations at Silverbear, joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange. To discuss the other big stories of the day, Alexis Christoforous is joined by Yahoo Finances Rick Newman and Julia La Roche. GoPro enters the drone market GoPro is now selling its very own drone called Karma. The companys cameras are already a favorite among drone enthusiasts, and now GoPro is offering an end-to-end solution. The package includes a stabilizer stick, a controller that also acts as a flight simulator and a collapsible design that fits in an included carrying case. The drone flies at 35 miles per hour, and the battery lasts about 20 minutes. Trump, Clinton have plans to boost infrastructure spending Ok, forget about the Fed for a minute: America needs to boost spending on infrastructure in the view of many economistsand both presidential candidates agree. Advocates say spending more on bridges, tunnels and roads will help boost living standards and pump life into an economy thats struggling to grow. The question, though, is whether Congress will approve any new major expenditures. High earners have low savings: Study Many Americans who earn a lot of money have not managed to save a lot of money. Thats the upshot of a study by the website GoBankingRates. According to Bloomberg, the study shows that nearly half the people who earn between $100,000 and $149,999 a year have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts. And almost a third of the those who make over $150,000 have less than a grand in savings. Foxs Gotham opened Season 3 with a bit of heartbreak, steering Jim Gordon into a new line of work. Meanwhile, Fish Mooney aimed to assemble an army, Barbara and Tabitha did some clubbing and Bruce Wayne threw stones at the wrong birds. RELATEDGothams Ben McKenzie: Beasts and a Beauty Will Pull Jim From a Dark Place Having gone to patch things up with Lee, only to find her kissing some other man, Jim poured himself into a whiskey glass, spending his nights as a bounty hunter who rounds up Indian Hill experiments for $5,000 a pop. (The GCPD wants the monsters off the streets, sure, but Mayor James sees them not as threats but souls in need of help.) The big fish for Jim, however, is, fittingly, Fish, for whom Penguin has offered a million-dollar reward dead, alive or cut into sticks. Jim gets a bead on Mooney, only to run up against some of her enhanced goons, including a batty man as well as Marv, a creepy guy whose touch rapidly ages you, into dust if he holds on long enough. Later, news reporter Valerie Vale comes to Jim with a tip, from Selina, on where to find Fish, but that turns into a trap that captures Miss Peabody. Hugo Stranges No. 1 is commanded by Fish to fix it so Mooneys DNA doesnt deteriorate each time she uses her ability. When Ethel insists she can be of no help, Marv turns her into skin and bones. RELATEDGotham Fall Preview: New Foes, New Sets Make for a Mad City Meanwhile, Bruce has returned from a months-long retreat to Switzerland (though yes, Selina, Italy is better), where he built up the gumption to give the Wayne Enterprises board members an ultimatum: If youre with the ominous Court of Owls, get in touch with me. And get in touch they do, when at episodes end, the henchman known as Talon grapples with and bests Alfred before whisking Bruce away into the dark night. Story continues Elsewhere: * Penguin and (the hysterically lovelorn) Butch commended Barbara and Tabitha (Happy Bisexual Awareness Week!) on the opening of their club, The Sirens, though the ladies declined to pay him for protection. Nor did they wish to pony up to his gangland rival, whom Babs bludgeoned good before Penguin ultimately put a bullet in the ding-dongs melon. * Bruces long-haired doppelganger, who was glimpsed at the end of the May finale and will come to be known as Five, lurked in shadows mostly, receiving a food handout from an oblivious Selina and then spooking Ivy Pepper, who mistook him for Bruce. Ivy in fact would then go looking for her best gal pal, only to get mistaken for a spy by Fishs henchmen. Marv grabbed the street rat for but a moment, before she plunged into a grisly drain pipe and got washed away, fated to resurface looking different. Want scoop on Gotham, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matts Inside Line. Related stories Scream Queens Season 2 Premiere: Grade the Chanels' Scary, Hairy Return New Girl Recap: The Comeback Kid Ratings: Big Bang Theory Premiere Down vs. Year Ago, But Tops Night Michigan-based producer and saxophonist GRiZ is currently preparing for the release of his forthcoming album Good Will Prevail this Friday via his own imprint, All Good Records. Ahead of the albums official release, GRiZ shares a new single from the record. For his new single Gotta Push On, GRiZ recruits Brasstracks and Eric Krasno to help complete the record. Brooklyn duo Brasstracks provide some additional flare on the horns as Krasno plays guitar and takes the lead with his vocals. As a result, Gotta Push On becomes a lively single that layers jazz, funk, and soul over an electronic rhythm. Tough moments that seem too hard to face can occur at the most unexpected times, songs like Gotta Push On are the perfect motivational kick needed for those exact moments. GRiZ, Brasstracks, and Eric Krasno joined forces to create a feel good song, and thats exactly what they achieved. Listen to Gotta Push On below, and pre-order Good Will Prevail here. Continue Reading On Complex We guess THIS is the drink psychopaths love most We guess THIS is the drink psychopaths love most When we reflect on ourselves, we tend to think a lot about what our likes, dislikes, and behaviors say about us as individuals. Research out of Innsbruck University in Austria suggests that theyve discovered the most popular drink of choice by people who display psychopathic tendencies. And (cue the horror movie music) its one we see people order at bars and restaurants pretty constantly. Thats right, everybody, science suggests that the most popular drink of choice for a psychopath is a a gin and tonic. Cool, classy, and. psychopathic? Maybe. Of course, its important to remember that science looks at trends based on what data is available. This study, in particular, looked at over 1000 subjects and evaluated their likes, dislikes, and preferences, up against some of the common traits and tendencies associated with psychopaths. For example, enjoying the pain of others, lacking empathy, and being cold-hearted. giphy (1) That said, ordering a gin and tonic does NOT mean someone is a psychopath. Instead, this study is examining the inverse: Of people who display psychopathic tendencies, what drink choice is the most popular? This research falls into line similarly with studies that have found people with psychopathic tendencies tend to prefer their coffee black and their chocolate bitter. Basically, what a lot of science attempts to do is determine what trends are consistent among research subjects and what these correlations suggest about people overall. giphy (2) But hey, lets be real: If youre on a horrible first date and the person orders a gin and tonic, you are more than welcome to tell your friends you had to duck out early because your date showed signs of being a psychopath. Better safe than sorry, are we right? The post We guess THIS is the drink psychopaths love most appeared first on HelloGiggles. The Fraser town police is on major major crackdown on stunt bikers after a wheelie accident took the life of a young girl earlier this month. By Rohini Swamy: The Bengaluru police has arrested a 21-year-old for uploading his pictures of performing a 'wheelie' on his social media account. The police arrested Mohammed Juber, after his pictures on social media showed him performing stunts with a modified bike. Subsequently, he was booked under the section 238 IPC and sections 183, 184 and 189 of the motor vehicles act. advertisement The Fraser town police is on major crackdown on stunt bikers after a wheelie accident took the life of a young girl earlier this month. The police have said that if any under aged rider is found indulging in stunts in the city, an FIR will be lodged against their parents which also includes a fine and a jail term of 6 months. ALSO READ: Teenager arrested after girl dies during bike stunt --- ENDS --- Fee awareness is up among investors in college savings plans, and it may be pushing them toward commission-free 529s. As the cost of higher education continues to rise, more families are socking away money into 529 college savings plans. As of 2015, these accounts held $253.2 billion in assets, according to the College Savings Plans Network. Earnings grow on a tax-deferred basis in 529 plans, and withdrawals are also tax-free if the money is used for the beneficiary's qualified education expenses. Not all college savings plans are equal, however. Investors need to be aware of the internal expenses in these plans as well as the commissions advisors may receive for selling 529s. For instance, investors in certain portfolios can shell out an average of 4.75 percent in charges paid upfront to the advisor, according to fund research firm Morningstar. Considering that the average 529 account had a balance of $20,190 last year, according to the College Savings Plans Network, every dollar spent on these sales charges and fund expenses means less money to pay for college. As a result, some fee-conscious advisors are recommending that clients use what's known as direct-sold 529 plans, which investors can purchase from most states. Wyoming does not offer a 529 plan, and Washington state offers a prepaid college savings plan. Across the board, costs are declining in 529 plans. At the same time, more assets are migrating toward direct-sold plans, motivated in part by advisors who are turning away from being paid on a commission basis to being paid a percentage of assets under management or a flat-dollar fee for service. "The story on a larger scale is the move from commission-based to advisory models," said Paul Curley, director of college savings research at Strategic Insight, a fund research firm in Boston. Currently, 29 states and Washington, D.C., offer advisor-sold plans, Curley said. The chart below shows that, over time, direct-sold 529 plans are taking on more assets than their advisor-sold counterparts. Story continues "What is the advisor being paid for?" is the question investors need to consider when it comes to 529s. For the most part, assets in 529 plans are invested in age-based portfolios that become more conservative as the child gets closer to college age, according to Morningstar. Even fee-only and fee-based advisors whose clients go the self-directed 529 route find that many of them stick with these options. "It's very difficult to design, implement and manage an allocation model that will outperform one of the age-based models," said Roy P. Janse, managing partner at DeHollander & Janse Financial Group in Greenville, South Carolina. "I see it as a violation of my fiduciary responsibilities to charge someone a 5 percent or 6 percent commission simply for recommending that the investor allocate their money into the appropriate age-based model," he said. Not all cost-conscious advisors go the self-directed route, however. Patrick Dougherty, founder of Dougherty Wealth Management in Dallas, operates a fee-only practice and recommends advisor-sold 529s. "Often with self-directed accounts, investors listen to watercooler talk and pick what their friends recommend," he said. Dougherty uses an institutional share class to keep costs down, and he doesn't charge a commission. "I'm helping them pick the investments, but once I do that, it's on autopilot," he said. The funds he chooses use age-based allocations. Advisors who aren't receiving commissions for recommending a 529 still provide guidance on how to contribute to the plans and whether there are state-level tax benefits for choosing a given plan. Instead of operating on a commission, however, they bill the client separately for their time, or they include the 529 guidance as part of the overall financial planning service they already offer for a fee. "This way it becomes planning-centric," said Valerie L. Chaille, a certified financial planner at Circle City Wealth Advisors in Indianapolis. "You're looking at the 529 not just from the perspective of saving for college, but how are you helping yourself out from a tax standpoint," she said. Are you ready for a self-directed 529? Curley of Strategic Insight recommends that you consider the following: Open your eyes to fees: Even if you skip the commissions, be aware of other costs, including annual maintenance fees, fund fees and administration and management expenses. Be aware of the tax incentives: Some states provide their residents tax benefits for choosing that state's 529. Others provide benefits to those who open these accounts, regardless of which state's plan they use. If you need help from an expert, get it: Researching investment options and learning about fees and tax deductions can be overwhelming. "If you think you need help, you probably do," said Curley. More From CNBC Whether you go every day or are getting back to your fitness routine after some time off, you most likely know there are some fitness rules to follow once you swipe your card and enter the air conditioned space. Sometimes you can hear them before you walk through the gym doors, other times they are silently lifting, leaving a trail of sweat on all equipment in their workout path, gym rule breakers are everywhere. While anyone who decides to go to the gym deserves a pat on the back for committing to a healthier lifestyle, there are some rules you can follow to make your and everyone elses personal experience as enjoyable as possible. The gym isnt a phone booth While most people on your Facebook believe that your gym session doesnt count if you havent checked in, the gym is not a phone booth or a social media station. Dont tie up equipment or valuable space in the weight room while you discuss next weekends plans with your best friend. If you need to take/make a call or Snapchat your bench press (just kidding, please dont do that), do so from a place where you arent prohibiting others from getting their workout done. Wipe up your sweat Its OK to get a little (or a lot) sweaty. In fact this is one of the few places where its encouraged. Embrace this fact and give every workout your all why else are you there? One thing you can do to ensure your fellow #fitfam is just as happy in their workout as you are is wipe down your equipment after each use. This ensures that the next person to use the treadmill isnt doing so in your sweaty leftovers. Put away equipment when youre done The best way to signal to other gym goers that youre done with a specific piece of equipment is by putting the weights/equipment back where it belongs. This lets others know that you are no longer using that piece of equipment and that the equipment is clean (because you wiped it down, right?). It also makes rotating throughout your workout easier and doesnt cause you to accidentally hoard equipment in your space, annoying anyone who may be waiting around you. Story continues As heavy as they are, dont drop the weights Anyone who practices yoga in a gym with a studio, can attest that there is nothing less zen than having your practice interrupted by the constant thumping of weights being dropped to the ground. And its not just the yoga-goers who will thank you. Everyone from fellow lifters to treadmill runners will be grateful for the quiet and lack of ground-shaking vibration. There is one exception to this rule: if you cant raise the weight or youre putting yourself at risk, drop them. Other than that, just dont do it. Dont yell/moan with every rep Trust me, we have all had a moment during a workout where we wanted to moan and then slowly crawl under the bench and curl up for a mid-workout nap, but that doesnt mean you should do it. The same goes for moaning incessantly with every rep. We know its hard, were struggling too, but you dont have to make sounds that are reminiscent of an animal in heat. Keep the vocals to yourself and channel that extra energy into your workout, you and everyone around you will be happy you did, If someone asks to work in with you, share Your mom said it, and well say it again: its always nice to share. While its not ideal, we can bet the person asking also doesnt want to share a particular piece of equipment during their sweat session. Sharing a piece of equipment shouldnt hinder your workout too drastically, since you should rest between each set anyways, letting your body recover before digging back in. Whats the biggest gym faux pas youve ever seen? Let us know by tweeting @YahooStyleCA. Making history: Transgender models Tracey Norman (left) and Geena Rocero (right) grace the cover of Harpers Bazaar India for the first time. (Photo: Harpers Bazaar) Harpers Bazaar is featuring not one but two transgender models on its cover for the first time. Tracey Norman, the first black transgender fashion and beauty model in the late 70s and early 80s, will be one of two transgender models to cover the India edition of this major fashion magazine. Joining her is transgender Filipina model Geena Rocero making them, according to art director and executive producer Christopher Sollingers research, the first two trans cover models for any Harpers Bazaar. Sadly, not all magazines were excited by this monumental project, but that doesnt surprise us. Sollinger told The Cut he shopped his cover series idea around to multiple imprints of Harpers Bazaar before Harpers Bazaar India finally signed on. India is actually very inclusive of transgender people, Sollinger said. Tracey Norman was the first black transgender fashion and beauty model in the late 70s and early 80s. (Photo: Getty Images) This nine-model cover series also features Muslim model Hind Sahli, 38-year-old Belgian actress Hannelore Knuts, and Koreas leading model Soo Joo Park. Tyra Banks is the biggest name among the cover models, but she actually turned down the project at first. Always on board for a good cause, however, as soon as she heard the story and the difficulties Sollinger had been facing getting the covers published, Banks changed her mind, in true TyTy fashion. The best part is, she did it on her own dime. Tyra flew to New York at her own expense, Sollinger said. She doesnt need to do a nine-model multicover series, nor do the other models, but she felt moved and wanted to do what she could to make it happen. When Norman finally got to see her first magazine cover, she cried, because its what shouldve happened 30 years ago, Sollinger said. Shes amazing. Story continues Transgender Filipino fashion and beauty model Geena Rocero. (Photo: Getty Images) Thankfully, Norman and Rocero arent the first trans models to make a magazine cover. In 2014, Laverne Cox, Carmen Carrera, and Janet Mock joined Rocero on Candy magazines all trans cover. Cox was also the first transgender woman to be on the cover of Time. In 2015, Andreja Pejic became the first trans woman to appear in the pages of Vogue, and of course theres Caitlyn Jenners Vanity Fair cover. Even mens magazines are on board with the movement. Earlier this year, Benjamin Melzer, a fitness model who appeared on the April cover of Mens Health, became the first trans man to land the cover of a mens fitness magazine in Europe. And yet, there are still people sitting around arguing about which bathroom trans people should use. Weve got a long way to go, but well take what we can get. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f215964%2fscreen_shot_2016-09-20_at_2.27.36_pm Police in Far North Queensland are investigating an incident in which a cow brought down a helicopter. It happened south of Coen, right near the north eastern tip of Australia. Presumably trying to get their daily muster under wraps, the pilot got a little too close to his livestock and ended up with one of the chopper's feet caught on the horns of a cow. SEE ALSO: Data entry blunders force Air Asia pilots to land in Melbourne instead of Malaysia Mustering stock via helicopter is a necessity in certain parts of Australia where terrain is rough and properties huge. Image: Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images) After trying to disengage from the animal, the Robinson R22 Beta mustering helicopter lost balance and was forced into a rough landing, resulting in the chopper quickly being engulfed in flames. The Rural Fire Service was called to the site from Coen and quickly extinguished the chopper. The cow that caused the kerfuffle is said to be totally unharmed and presumably quite smug. Though the incident sounds minor and admittedly quite funny, after watching this video of outback cattle mustering in action, it's a wonder that these sorts of explosions are as infrequent as they are. Ahmad Khan Rahami Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-American man, was taken into custody in connection with bombings in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend. Police arrested him after an exchange of gunfire in Linden, New Jersey, that left the suspect wounded. Details about Rahami have begun to emerge. Here's everything we know about him so far: He's an American citizen. Rahami was born in Afghanistan in 1988, and according to The Daily Beast, he came to the United States as a child in 1995 as the son of an asylum seeker. The FBI described him as a naturalized US citizen whose last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was known as a class clown in high school, according to Maria, Rahami's high school sweetheart and the mother of his daughter. Maria told Fox News on Monday that Rahami often criticized American culture and American military, but she "never thought he would do something like this." But he became a "completely different person" after a trip to Afghanistan. Four years ago, he visited his native Afghanistan, and changed drastically upon returning to the US. According to the New York Times. After his trip, Rahami started growing a beard, wearing traditional Muslim clothing, and praying at work. He also became noticeably more serious. "Its like he was a completely different person," Flee Jones, who grew up with Rahami, told the Times. "He got serious and completely closed off." His father called him a terrorist in 2014. Rahami's father Mohammad told New Jersey police his son was a terrorist when his son was arrested in a domestic dispute, according to The New York Times. The comments prompted an FBI interview, but the father recanted his statement. chelsea new york explosion bomb He made multiple trips to Pakistan. One yearlong visit resulted in his marriage to a Pakistani woman, CNN reported. Story continues There's no evidence he's connected to ISIS, Al Qaeda, or other foreign terror organizations. However, authorities are exploring a possible link to international terrorist groups. After initially insisting the New York bombings weren't linked to international terrorism, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday the attack appeared to be a "specific act of terror." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he "would not be surprised if we did have a foreign connection to the act." But he apparently praised a former senior Al Qaeda leader in a notebook police found Monday after the shootout. In one part of the book, according to the Times, Rahami wrote of "killing the kuffar," or non-believers, a law-enforcement official said. And he praised Anwar al-Awlaki the American-born, former senior Al Qaeda leader who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen in 2011 and the soldier involved in the Fort Hood shooting. Rahami's family had issues with their local government. Rahami's father's restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, in Elizabeth, was open 24 hours a day and drew complaints from neighbors about rowdy crowds and loitering, according to The New York Times. Rahami and his brothers worked at the restaurant. The Rahamis did not comply with a City Council ordinance to close the restaurant at 10 p.m., and one of Rahami's brothers was arrested after fighting a police officer who came to close the restaurant, but fled to Afghanistan before the case could be resolved. According to The Times, the Rahami family sued the city, the police department, and about 15 police officers, claiming they had been discriminated against because of their race and ethnicity. He's gotten in trouble with the law before. Rahami spent more than three months in jail on charges stemming from his 2014 domestic dispute, in which he was accused of stabbing his brother, according to The New York Times. Additionally, a New Jersey apartment complex filed a landlord-tenant civil action suit against Rahami in 2013, USA Today reported, although the outcome of the case is unknown. Rahami also lost $1,158 in a small claims judgment in 2012, according to USA Today. Ahmad Khan Rahami The devices found in New York City were made with pressure cookers, flip phones, and Christmas lights. The explosives were filled with "small bearings or metal BBs" to inflict as much damage as possible, according to The New York Times. Police found Rahami sleeping in a bar. A bar owner in Linden, New Jersey, called authorities about a man sleeping in the hallway of his bar. An officer recognized the man as Rahami, and a gunfight erupted between the two. The officer was hit in his bulletproof vest over his abdomen. Rahami fled the bar and was eventually shot multiple times by other officers. One other officer was injured in the gunfight. Linden, NJ mayor says Ahmad Rahami found sleeping in bar by owner; police recognized him. https://t.co/iNsM2t4AqQ pic.twitter.com/25oLZLXK1j ABC News (@ABC) September 19, 2016 When Rahami was arrested, he was holding a notebook with writings sympathetic to jihadist causes. In one section of the book, Rahami wrote about killing non-believers, according to The New York Times. The book was pierced by a bullethole and covered in blood following Rahami's shootout with police. NOW WATCH: 'Taco Trucks on every corner': Watch the stunning comments made by the leader of 'Latinos for Trump' More From Business Insider The plan is built on 7 pillars, 1) The EU must take on a substantial number of refugees directly from front line countries in a secure and orderly way. This will be more acceptable than the current disorder. 2) The EU must regain control of its borders. There is little that alienates the public more than scenes of chaos 3) The EU must have a way to generate economic growth, this will cost $30b per year 4) The EU must build a common mechanism to protect borders 5) We need a voluntary mechanism to accept refugees, no country can be forced and no refugee should go somewhere they're not wanted. Canada sets a good standard here. 6) The EU must offer far greater support to countries outside its borders that host refugees and must be more generous with Africa. 7) Create a welcoming environment for economic migrants bond trader From Dave Lutz, head of ETFs at JonesTrading, here's a quick guide to what traders are talking about right now: Good Morning! US Futures are gaining 35bp as the Pre-FOMC Drift kicks in and drags equities higher. Mixed bag of trading over in Europe, with the DAX up 70bp as Industrials and Tech catch a bid, but Fins are lagging, with DB off nearly 3% and those Italian Banks seeing some heavy profit-taking, weighing on the IBEX. FTSE is outperforming, gaining 70bp as Headers from RIO CEO has mining stocks hitting a two-month high. Over in Asia, Shanghai lost 10bp - Japan returned from Holiday to drop 20bp, while the broader Topix gained as speculation rises that the BoJ may stop buying NKY225 ETFs - Aussie climbed 20bp despite TPG telecom getting whacked for 20%. Turnover is weak globally, with most exchanges trading 20-30% light to recent trends. Investors are awaiting decisions in the next 24hours from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan Right now peeps are expecting BOJ to steepen the curve, while Fed Funds showing a 20% chance that the FOMC hikes tomorrow. Thx DXY is stronger, as the Pound hits the lowest level in five weeks and Dovish Aussie comments propel the greenback higher. China Iron Ore Advances First Time in Six Days helping Industrial metals like Zinc and Copper shrug off the stronger $. The Energy complex is under pressure, with Oil down nearly 1% and thru ydays lows as Headers circulate OPEC members Nigeria, Libya and Venezuela are gearing to ramp exports. Gasoline is finally retreating for 2days in a row, as traders eyeball the restart of the Colonial Pipe. Softs are showing small gains across the board. Ahead of us today, we get Housing Starts and permits for August at 8:30 at 9:50 the Bank of England Bond-Buying Operation Results are posted. 10am brings Wells Fargo CEO Stumpf to testify at Senate Banking Committee. At 2:30 attention turns to the Energy complex, with the expiry of the spot WTI contract, ahead of the API data for Crude, Gasoline and Distillates at 4:30. Story continues NOW WATCH: Krugman reveals the economic risks of a Trump presidency More From Business Insider A man in Bengaluru has filed a complaint against his wife for cheating and marrying seven other men. By India Today Web Desk: In a case of cheating in Bengaluru, a man has filed a complaint against his wife saying that she married seven other men and kept everybody spinning in the dark, including himself. A 38-year-old woman, Yasmin Banu, has been detained by the Bengaluru police for marrying seven men and trying to extort money from them. Yasmin's modus operandi was simple. She wooed rich men, married them and extorted money from them, and later deserted them. And if they refused to pay, then she threatened them saying she will to the police. advertisement As of now the police have managed to trace six of the seven other men she married. Yasmin's criminal background came to light after one of her husbands Imran filed a case of cheating, at the KG Halli police station, stating that she was a mother of two of their sons. In his complaint, Imran said that Yasmin had extorted close to Rs 2.5 lakh after which she deserted him. Another of the victims, Afzal who allegedly also married Yasmin said, that she approached him seeking a job. After an affair, they married and again she extorted money from him and left him. As of now, Yasmin has denied all allegations and said that she has married just one man, which is Imran. But the police are investigating the claims made by the other victims. --- ENDS --- warren buffett serious Warren Buffett was dialing for dollars at the inception of The Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative he created with and Bill and Melinda Gates. The pledge asks the world's wealthiest people to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. One fellow he spoke to was on the fence, and his wife wasn't keen on it, Buffett said at the 2016 Concordia Summit in New York on Tuesday. But their children asked them to do it, and they agreed to give their fortunes away. That memory stuck with Buffett, who asks those who agree to the pledge to write letters explaining why they've chosen to spread their wealth rather than keep it in the family. He said he doesn't want his grandchildren to sit on their laurels, knowing that their grandpa's wealth has them set. "The world delivers very unequal results. I am a white man, born in the US, and I was wired to do well in a capitalistic world ... but it shouldn't enable my Buffett grandchildren to do nothing but to fan themselves," Buffett said. Here's his pitch to billionaires: "I'm sitting with a bunch of certificates of Berkshire Hathaway that I bought 55 years ago. They're sitting on a safety deposit box. They have no utility to me. They can't do anything for me nor my family. Here's a lot of money that has no real utility to me, but has enormous utility to hundreds and millions of people around the world for education, research, healthcare. They can change the lives of other people, but not for my life anything I can buy, I have. So there's a million uses for that money that can really change people's lives." There are now 156 people signed on to the pledge, including prominent figures in the finance and tech world like Carl Icahn and Sheryl Sandberg. When Buffett was asked if he had tried to recruit presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, he said: "I don't think the Clintons are on the Forbes list. And Trump was on the Forbes list, but he seems to have an active argument about exactly where he should be placed. Hes not one I've called. I'm not sure whether Bill's called him or not. We've probably called a majority of the names, but maybe we haven't gotten to the Ts yet. ... Maybe he'll call us!" Story continues NOW WATCH: Wall Street's deadliest terror attack remains unsolved after 96 years More From Business Insider Leading Exploration & Production (E&P) company, Hess Corporation HES, recently announced plans to issue senior unsecured notes for an aggregate amount of $1.5 billion. The proposed offering of senior unsecured notes has been assigned a Ba1 rating by Moody's Investors Service. The company intends to conduct the issuance in two tranches. The first tranche will comprise of senior unsecured notes worth $1 billion that are set to mature on Apr 1, 2027. These notes will carry a coupon of 4.30%. The second offering will comprise of senior unsecured notes worth $500 million, which are due on Apr 1, 2047. These notes will have a coupon of 5.80%. Hess had signed the deal with a syndicate of underwriters including Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Mizuho Securities USA Inc. and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. Also, the offering is expected to close by Sep 28, 2016, subject to necessary approvals. HESS CORP Price HESS CORP Price | HESS CORP Quote The net proceeds from the offering will likely be utilized to repurchase the companys 8.125% Notes due in 2019, its 7.875% Notes due 2029 , its 7.300% Notes due 2031 and 7.125% Notes due 2033. The remainder will be utilized to fund the repurchase of its 1.300% Notes due 2017, as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes. New York-based Hess engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase and sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas. Given that Hess is predominantly an E&P entity, it has changed its growth approach from high-impact exploration to low-risk unconventional oil and gas resources. The company currently has a smaller, more focused exploration portfolio. Hess effort to streamline its business will go a long way in tackling the volatile market conditions owing to low commodity prices. However, being a firm in the E&P industry, Hess profitability has expectedly taken a beating in this weakly priced oil and gas market. Moreover, we believe that potential asset sales will likely hamper the companys production and lower its profitability. Story continues As a result, Hess currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which implies that it will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months. Some better-ranked players in the broader energy sector include Murphy USA Inc. MUSA, Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. PARR and Evolution Petroleum Corp. EPM. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MURPHY USA INC (MUSA): Free Stock Analysis Report EVOLUTION PETRO (EPM): Free Stock Analysis Report HESS CORP (HES): Free Stock Analysis Report PAR PAC HLDGS (PARR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research hillary clinton Hillary Clinton on Tuesday published an open letter to Wells Fargo customers, slamming the bank's illegal account openings and outlining what should happen next. In the letter published on her website, the Democratic presidential nominee said she was "deeply disturbed" by the news and said the bank owed all its customers a clear explanation. Earlier in September, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Los Angeles city attorney accused Wells Fargo of opening accounts and collecting fees in customers' names without their knowledge or consent. The bank opened up to 2 million such deposit and credit-card accounts, according to the CFPB. "There is simply no place for this kind of outrageous behavior in America," Clinton said. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will testify in Congress on Tuesday. "Even after Americans spent years working hard to recover from the Great Recession, the culture of misconduct and recklessness that preceded that crisis too often persists," Clinton said. Clinton said she would stop plans by "Donald Trump, the Republican party, and Wall Street lobbyists" to get rid of the CFPB. In an interview with Reuters in May, Trump said he would dismantle Dodd-Frank regulations because they made it harder for banks to grant loans. Clinton also slammed the $125 million payout to Wells Fargo executive Carrie Tolstedt when she retires at the end of the year. Tolstedt oversaw the community banking division. Its responsibilities included the retail banking and credit-card operations, which was implicated in the improperly opened accounts. Tolstedt announced the move in July, before news of the fraudulent accounts was public. "It's hard to imagine that top executives were unaware of a problem that involved thousands of the firm's employees," Clinton said, adding that compensation should take a hit if companies pay huge fines. Story continues NOW WATCH: KRUGMAN: Obamacare was done 'on the cheap' and now it is struggling More From Business Insider In less than a week, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will face off in the first presidential debate, and according to a nationwide poll conducted Sept. 15-16 by Morning Consult, 73 percent of registered voters will likely be watching. That would be about 107 million Americans if everyone tuned in, which of course is a crazy-high number. But after this grueling election cycle for the candidates and the American public we all can agree, as Bernie Sanders might say, a lot of people will be glued to the tube (or their smartphones or laptops, since ABC and Facebook will live-stream the debates). Related: How a President Trump Could Cost the US Economy Almost 5 Million Jobs The race remains close. A new NBC News/Survey Monkey tracking polls puts the Democratic nominee ahead by 5 points (with a 1.2 margin of error), even when its a four-way race with Republican Trump, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. But the Real Clear Politics average of recent surveys shows a much tighter contest, with Clintons edge over Trump at a mere 1.3 points. Because the contest remains so close and because it is the first time Clinton and Trump will go head to head, the debate could be a defining moment. That is truer for Clinton than it is for Trump. After decades on the front pages of New York tabloids, after years on The Apprentice, and after nonstop coverage for the past 18 months or more, America pretty much knows Donald Trump -- all 237 pounds of bluster, bravado and uncanny ability to shout out what others are silently saying in their heads. Related: Trump: A Perfect Storm of Voter Rage, Reality TV and Social Media You would think after Clintons decades in the in public eye through the tumult of the Bill Clinton presidency, through her two terms in the U.S. Senate and through her four years as Secretary of State that we would know Hillary, too. But we dont. Her penchant for secrecy and political parsing of the truth has fed the persona that so many voters think they know a dodgy phony with an insatiable ambition. But does America really know this woman who is said to be warm and funny in private? By using the debate as an opportunity to re-define who she is, Clinton will be able to better define why she is the best choice for president. Story continues If the best way to beat a bully is to walk up and plant four knuckles in his eye, then there is certainly a case to be made for Clinton to be fierce. She can give as good as she gets as she demonstrated in some of the debates with primary opponent Senator Bernie Sanders. And that would certainly warm the cockles of many of her women supporters who would like to see the casually misogynist Trump get his nose bloodied. Related: Hillary Clinton Aces Democratic Debate, Sending Red Flag to Biden Or she could rope a dope. Let a red-faced Trump rant and throw wild punches while she disarms him with civility, likeability and even humor. She has to be careful not to talk down to him, mindful that her amusing line about the deplorables the racists, sexists and xenophobes who are among Trump supporters pretty much backfired. Clinton cant be a schoolmarm or a scold who will turn off those who call her strident when shes being forceful. Sure, a lot of that is about being a strong woman, but being elected is the best revenge against the double standard she will have to endure to get there. In the only presidential debate of 1980, Ronald Reagan good-naturedly disarmed Jimmy Carter with his there you go again line and he did the same thing when he went up against Walter Mondale in 1984 by saying he wouldnt hold his opponents youth and inexperience against him. The big question is whether this former Goldwater Girl can channel her inner Reagan. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Prague (AFP) - Outspoken Czech President Milos Zeman announced Tuesday he is backing US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, pitting himself against his country's prime minister who favours Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. "I'd vote for Donald Trump if I were a US citizen," Zeman said, quoted by the Dnes Czech daily. Branded a populist by his critics, the ex-communist leftist Zeman shares Trump's staunch anti-migrant stance and a fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hungary's anti-migrant right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- also a Putin fan -- became the first European leader to endorse Trump, calling him a "better option" for the bloc than Clinton. But in August leftist Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka insisted Clinton was better than Trump for the NATO alliance on security issues as relations between Russia and the West reach their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War. Trump drew the ire of eastern NATO members including Lithuania and Estonia that were ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era by appearing to suggest that he might not protect them from Russian aggression. Trump has also enthusiastically touted his readiness to work with Putin, at one point even describing the Russian strongman as more of a leader than US President Barack Obama. Putin on Saturday offered what appeared to be his strongest support for Trump so far -- without explicitly naming him. "We are carefully watching what is happening in the United States and we, of course, view with sympathy those who publicly state that it is necessary to build a relationship with Russia, on the basis of equality," he told journalists at a televised briefing. By Nidhi Verma NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is set to buy 6 million barrels of Iranian crude for its strategic oil reserves as negotiations with the United Arab Emirates' national oil company for supplies are stuck over commercial terms, industry sources said. Such purchases by the world's No.3 crude importer would boost Iran's drive to ramp up its oil shipments as it looks to regain market share following the lifting of sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme. Oil markets have been keenly focused on Iranian export volumes over the last few weeks as they get closer to pre-sanction levels - a milestone that Tehran has said is a precondition for discussing a global output freeze to boost crude prices. India, seeking to hedge against energy security risks as it imports about 80 percent of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in vast underground caverns to hold a total of 36.87 million barrels of crude, enough to cover almost two weeks of demand. Three industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter said India would buy 6 million barrels of Iranian Mix crude from the National Iranian Oil Co in October and November to fill half the Managlore storage facility in the southwestern state of Karnataka. They declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. State firm Bharat Petroleum Corp will buy 4 million barrels in two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd will import 2 million barrels, the three sources said. They did not give pricing details. "The two refiners decided to buy Iranian Mix as it suits their refineries," said one of the sources. The step comes as Iran's daily crude exports to India surged to the highest level in 15 years in August. India in 2014 began talks to lease part of its strategic storage to Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC). Under such a deal, India would have first rights to the stored crude in case of emergency, while ADNOC would be able to move cargoes to meet any shift in demand. Story continues "Talks have not moved forward with ADNOC despite several rounds of discussion. We (India and the UAE) are stuck on commercial terms," said one of the sources. ADNOC, India's oil ministry, BPCL and MRPL did not immediately respond to requests for comment. To take advantage of falling oil prices pending the conclusion of a deal with the UAE, India's oil ministry instructed BPCL and MRPL to select a grade to fill half the Mangalore facility, the sources said. They chose Iranian Mix. The Indian side last week discussed Iranian oil purchases with Safar Ali Keramati, Deputy Director at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for Crude Marketing and Operations. "If (Indian customers) come to us for extra barrels, then we will do our best to accommodate their demand," Keramati told Reuters. The 9.75 million-barrel Vizag storage facility in east India is being filled with Iraqi Basra oil. The start of operations at a third facility, at Padur in Karnataka, has been pushed back due to problems in acquiring land to lay a pipeline link to the local port. ($1 = 66.9713 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Joseph Radford) By PTI: From Aditi Khanna London, Sep 18 (PTI) The size of a babys head may be an indication of how bright he or she is likely to be, according to a new UK study. Larger head circumferences and brain volume are associated with higher intelligence, the study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry claims. "Highly significant associations were observed between the cognitive test scores in the UK Biobank sample and many polygenic profile scores, including... intracranial volume, infant head circumference and childhood cognitive ability," said the researchers led by Professor Ian Deary of Edinburgh University. advertisement The finding is among the first to emerge from data gathered by UK Biobank, in which 500,000 Britons are being studied over the long term to discover the links between their genes, their physical and mental health and their path through life, The Sunday Times reports. The researchers said they had also found gene variants that were strongly associated with intelligence. Analysis of verbal-numerical reasoning identified 17 significant genes, some that could even predict how likely it was that someone would go on to secure a place at university. PTI AK KJ AKJ KJ --- ENDS --- The Indian army on Tuesday blocked an attempt by suspected Pakistani militants to cross into Indian-administered Kashmir, a spokesman said, days after a deadly raid on a military base in the territory. "A group of 10-12 terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Uri sector. They were intercepted and the infiltration bid was foiled," said army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia, referring to the same area where Sunday's attack took place. Gun battles raged on the disputed border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir Tuesday, two days after a deadly raid on an Indian army base that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Eighteen soldiers died in Sunday's attack, which was the worst of its kind to hit the divided Himalayan region in more than a decade and has increased hostility between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan has rejected India's claims as "unfounded and premature". US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern over the violence in Kashmir, urging both sides to reduce tensions. "The Secretary reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens," the State Department said after Kerry met with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in New York. Colonel Rajesh Kalia said there had been a "ceasefire violation" near Uri, where Sunday's attack took place, but gave no further details. Uri is near the Line of Control (LoC) which divides the disputed territory. Kalia said troops in the same area had blocked an attempt by suspected militants to cross the LoC into Indian-administered Kashmir. "A group of 10-12 terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Uri sector. They were intercepted and the infiltration bid was foiled," he told AFP. The Press Trust of India news agency said 10 suspected militants had been killed in the incident but this could not immediately be confirmed. Another army spokesman said they were battling an unknown number of militants in Nowgam sector, south of Uri, who were trying to sneak into the Indian side on the heavily militarised border. "This second infiltration bid (in Nowgam) by an unknown number of terrorists has also been foiled and the operation is on. "Unfortunately we have lost one soldier there," Col Manish Kumar said, adding there was no information about any other casualties. - Audacious assault - India regularly accuses its arch-rival of arming and sending rebels across the border that divides Kashmir between the two countries, to launch attacks on its forces. Story continues Occasional violations of a 2003 ceasefire between the nuclear-armed rivals are not uncommon. The last was reported on September 6 this year and caused no casualties. Tuesday's exchange was the first since Sunday's attack, which the Indian army has blamed on Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad. The same outfit was implicated in an audacious assault on an Indian air force base in Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab in January. It left seven soldiers dead and dashed hopes of a revival of peace talks, which have been on ice ever since. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to punish those responsible for Sunday's attack. During his election campaign he promised to take a hard line over Kashmir and has faced calls from army veterans -- and even some in his own party -- for military action against Pakistan. On Sunday Home Minister Rajnath Singh accused Pakistan of "continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups" and called for it to be internationally isolated. But security experts say India lacks the military capabilities to take on its neighbour in the divided Himalayan region, already tense after weeks of violent clashes between police and demonstrators protesting at Indian rule. Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the disputed Himalayan territory in its entirety and have fought two wars over it. Several rebel groups have fought an estimated 500,000 Indian forces deployed in the territory, demanding independence for the Muslim-majority region or its merger with Pakistan. Tens of thousands of people have died in the fighting, most of them civilians. MUMBAI (Reuters) - A unit of India's Adani Enterprises Ltd (ADEL.NS) will buy the company that operates Australia's Abbot Point Coal Terminal from Glencore Plc (GLEN.L) for A$19.25 million dollars ($14.52 million), ending a legal wrangle over control of the port. The statement from Adani and Glencore said Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) would purchase the port operator, Abbot Point BulkCoal Pty Ltd, pending regulatory approvals. Adani Enterprises, India's biggest private sector coal trader, acquired the Abbot Point Coal Terminal port from the Queensland government in 2011, considering it a key part of its plan to ship coal from Australia to India and for other exports. However, Glencore retained control of the actual operations of the port through its ownership of Abbot Point BulkCoal, sparking a legal dispute between the global miner and Adani that effectively will now end as the Indian company will assume full control of the port. Adani Australia CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj called the deal "a key milestone in our well advanced plans for Abbot Point," according to the joint statement by the two companies. (Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Mark Potter) (Corrects official's name throughout to Haniv) By Gayatri Suroyo JAKARTA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Indonesia's tax office will investigate Alphabet Inc's Google for suspected unpaid taxes from billions of dollars worth of advertising revenue, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday. Muhammad Haniv, head of the specials cases branch in the tax office, said Google's refusal to cooperate after it was sent a letter in April requesting to be allowed to examine the company's tax reports had raised suspicions. He told a news conference that the probe would not be launched until the end of the month at the earliest. PT Google Indonesia, incorporated in 2011, said it was complying with the government. "We continue to cooperate fully with local authorities and pay all applicable taxes," a Google Indonesia spokesman said in an emailed response to questions. The government had also asked to examine the tax reports of the Indonesian offices of three other U.S. Internet based companies - Yahoo, Twitter and Facebook . Those three companies have complied, officials said. Yahoo and Google have formed Indonesian limited liability companies, while Twitter and Facebook operate branches of their Asia-Pacific offices in Indonesia. The government believes these companies owe income and value added tax on billions of dollars of revenue they generate from advertising in Indonesia, the tax office said. Haniv said Google's Indonesian entity was only allocated around 4 percent of the total revenues generated from the country, and it was this amount that was taxed, which he described as too small and "unfair". The communications ministry had estimated the value of digital advertising in Indonesia at about $800 million last year. The ministry said all of it was untaxed. There was no immediate explanation for the wide discrepancy of the two agencies' estimates for digital advertising revenue. Indonesia is facing a sizeable revenue shortfall this year as the resource-rich country can no longer rely on commodity-related income. Story continues In a separate development, the tax office said it is checking whether Ford Motor Co had avoided paying appropriate taxes, after a local newspaper reported that the U.S. car maker modified imported Everest model vehicles sold in Indonesia to pay a lower tax rate. If the car maker is proven to have caused state losses, it may have to pay back taxes of up to four times the amount it owed, according to Indonesian law. "We have always strictly complied with all Indonesia government regulations and policy, including all import-related tax and customs requirements, related to each of our Ford vehicles officially marketed and sold in the country," a Ford spokesman said. Ford announced in January it is closing all operations in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, where it held less than a 1 percent market share. (Additional reporting by Eveline Danubrata; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Alexander Smith) By Fergus Jensen and Bernadette Christina Munthe JAKARTA (Reuters) - Harvard and Columbia university research showing smoke from land fires in Southeast Asia led to more than 100,000 premature deaths last year "makes no sense at all," an official at Indonesia's Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Indonesian government records show only 24 deaths related to forest fires in 2015, but the disaster was estimated to have left more than half a million Indonesians suffering from respiratory ailments. Indonesia is under global pressure to put an end to slash-and-burn land clearances for palm and pulp plantations which send clouds of toxic smoke over the region each year. The university research estimates pollution exposure from last year's fires killed 91,600 people in Indonesia, 6,500 in Malaysia and 2,200 in Singapore in 2015 and 2016, significantly higher than government records. "Given the severe haze in Equatorial Asia in 2015, the 100,000 premature deaths in that region are not so surprising," said Loretta Mickley, a senior researcher at Harvard focusing on atmospheric pollution, who contributed to the research. Health Ministry director general of disease prevention and control Mohamad Subuh told Reuters the research data was wrong. "Data on deaths is clear. We have surveillance," Subuh said, adding that the assumptions of mortality based on mathematical calculations were "irresponsible". Every year, Indonesia faces criticism from its neighbors Singapore and Malaysia over the smog, euphemistically known as "haze", and its failure to stop the fires from being lit. Last year's fires were among the worst in the region's history, with billions of dollars worth of environmental damage, weeks of flight and school disruptions and thousands suffering from respiratory disease. (This story corrects dateline and day of attribution in the lede.) (Editing by Nick Macfie) Turrialba Volcano, located around 70 km (43 miles) outside Costa Ricas Capital of San Jose, erupted on Monday, September 19, sending huge plumes of ash into the air. The first eruption took place at 2:53 AM on September 19. According to the Red Sismologica Nacional (RSN) of Costa Rica, the volcano erupted four more times throughout the day. The cloud of ash reached San Jose/San Pedro at 7:13 PM: https://twitter.com/RSNcostarica/status/778009189306073089, covering cars and buildings as seen in the video below. Media reports:http://www.ticotimes.net/2016/09/19/turrialba-volcano-explosion said multiple international airlines were forced to cancel flights into and out of Juan Santamaria International Airport. Credit: Facebook/Red Sismologica Nacional (RSN) When it comes to solving rising inequality in the US, fixing our crumbling infrastructure may be the solution. Lower income populations cant get to jobs and so their incomes remain low, Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter told Yahoo Finance. We have a vicious cycle of poverty, of disadvantage that comes from only being able to afford to live in certain places that are less desirable because they lack transportation. Kanter, who participated in HBS new study on competitiveness, added that lower-income populationswho cant afford cars at the same rate as more affluent groupsare stuck. Mobility is opportunity, she said. If we want to fix the big income divide in America, if we want to help restore the middle class, we must focus on transportation. A record of reduced US infrastructure investment The dire need to invest in and update transportation infrastructure illustrates one example of the US failure to keep up, as explained in the HBS report. Americas public investment in transportation infrastructure is down from 2.2% of GDP in the 1960s to 1.6% todayless than in Europe and far less than in China. Starting around 1980, when the middle class began to stagnate as a result of geopolitical and technological changes, instead of investing in areas like infrastructure, credit was extended. As the report outlines, the US instead expanded entitlements, increased public-sector employment and benefits, and cut taxes. And as the federal and state governments became overextended, public spending shifted from investing for the future to paying for the pastultimately hurting development in infrastructure, research and education, and putting the US in a position behind other countries around the world. Limited public resources and rising inequality added to this backdrop, increasing polarization and paralysis. Source: Harvard Business School US Competitiveness Study The promise of a boost While the HBS study focused on corporate tax reform as the issue that could provide the most near-term benefit to society, Kanter said that infrastructure investment also has immediate benefit potential. Story continues There are a lot of immediate projects, Kanter said. Theres the application of technology, which can make a big difference. While putting in new roads or renovating LaGuardia Airport can take a long time, some projects have more immediate benefit, she added. The Miami Port tunnel is a wonderful project thatonce it was ready to buildcame in under budget and just about on time and didnt take that long and has made a huge difference to traffic congestion to clearing off the streets of downtown Miami for economic development, Kanter said. Meanwhile, Kanter explained there is significant consensus for infrastructure reform. In the HBS survey of alumni, improving infrastructure got the highest approval rating across party lines. Source: Harvard Business School US Competitiveness Study Clintons infrastructure bank proposals removes politics from projects Despite consensus, not much progress has been made with infrastructure investment in recent decades. The reason? Political gridlock, according to Kanter. Meanwhile, both presidential candidatesDonald Trump and Hillary Clintonhave rolled out ambitious proposals for infrastructure investment. Meanwhile, economists continue to call for a shift to fiscal policy, as monetary policy measures seem to be on their last legs. Kanter explained that Secretary Clintons proposal for an infrastructure bank allows for loan guarantees and funding that remain separate from political squabbles. It does remove politics, she said. And thats one of the big drawbacks in getting investors to invest in restoring and reinventing US infrastructure is political uncertainty. A lot of the consensus that has built around the need for infrastructure development has gotten hurt amid disagreements over specifics, including a choice between roads and mass transportation. Those are political issues because mass transportation affects urban populations, Kanter said. Many highways affect rural or ex-urban populations which have a different constituency. Kanter emphasized that if we can get past the politics, much can be done. For more on the US competitiveness study, please see below: Harvard economist never thought his new study would take him where it did Harvard professor identifies the worst nightmare in America right now Harvard study singles out a game-changing economic opportunity: TAX REFORM Theres a silver lining behind the dark clouds hanging over US businesses Harvard Business Dean tells us what this huge 5-year study is all about Harvard Business Dean: The post-crisis monetary policy is running out of runway Some companies have taken the next obvious step to filling jobs that sit vacant Theres one piece of tax reform that would have a real impact with little resistance Americas outdated education system isnt producing the workers companies need Revitalizing small businesses is key to drive Americas economic growth For more Entertainment Tonight videos visit Yahoo View. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt hadnt been photographed together for more than two months leading up to their split. Multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Jolie, 41, filed for divorce from Pitt. According to TMZ, legal docs filed Monday cite irreconcilable differences, and Jolie is asking for physical custody of the couples shared six children Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox with Pitt being granted visitation rights. They were last seen together in public making a stop inside a Jamba Juice store in Los Angeles with their daughter Shiloh in July. Leading up to their second wedding anniversary in August, the couple had spent a large part the past couple months apart due to their hectic work schedules. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in happier times. (Photo: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images) With Pitt, 52, having wrapped his upcoming movies Allied and War Machine, which both shot overseas, and Jolie finished filming First They Killed My Father, the two were busy with post- (and pre-) production on their many projects. Jolie has also kept up with her humanitarian efforts over the year as a special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency. In the past year, the actress has spoken out in front of a House of Lords committee in London and led an honorary committee for this years Cambodian International Film Festival. Most recently, she advocated for victims of sexual assault in war zones back in September. Over the holidays, the then-couple were spotted taking a romantic getawaytogether to Vietnam. They spent three days traveling the country and enjoying various local activities including a boat ride around the bay. They looked happy, an observer told PEOPLE at the time. [They were] holding hands, laughing. And prior to jetting off together, the had been living in Cambodia with their six children while Jolie finished filmed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia, a film based on the memoir by author and human rights activist Loung Ung about the brutal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt hadn't been photographed together for more than two months leading up to their split. Multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that Jolie, 41, filed for divorce from Pitt. According to TMZ, legal docs filed Monday cite irreconcilable differences, and Jolie is asking for physical custody of the couple's shared six children Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox with Pitt being granted visitation rights. They were last seen together in public making a stop inside a Jamba Juice store in Los Angeles with their daughter Shiloh in July. Leading up to their second wedding anniversary in August, the couple had spent a large part the past couple months apart due to their hectic work schedules. With Pitt, 52, having wrapped his upcoming movies Allied and War Machine, which both shot overseas, and Jolie finished filming First They Killed My Father, the two were busy with post- (and pre-) production on their many projects. Jolie has also kept up with her humanitarian efforts over the year as a special envoy for the United Nations' refugee agency. In the past year, the actress has spoken out in front of a House of Lords committee in London and led an honorary committee for this year's Cambodian International Film Festival. Most recently, she advocated for victims of sexual assault in war zones back in September. FLASHBACK: Brad and Angelina at the 2012 Golden Globes Over the holidays, the then-couple were spotted taking a romantic getaway together to Vietnam. They spent three days traveling the country and enjoying various local activities including a boat ride around the bay. "They looked happy," an observer told PEOPLE at the time. "[They were] holding hands, laughing." And prior to jetting off together, the had been living in Cambodia with their six children while Jolie finished filmed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia, a film based on the memoir by author and human rights activist Loung Ung about the brutal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s. Yes, this man really wants to know whether India is prepared for an alien/zombie invasion. By India Today Web Desk: This concerned Indian citizen took Right to Information Act and his worry about zombies quite seriously. Ajay Kumar, from Mumbai, filed an RTI asking how capable our government is to 'handle an invasion by aliens, zombies, and extra-dimensional beings'. Also read: 7 funny reasons for which Right To Information petitions were filed advertisement On March 15, Ajay filed a petition and asked Ministry of Home if our government can battle aliens and zombies. And that was not all. He had specific questions for which he sought answers: What plans are in place for protecting the public in the event of an invasion by aliens or zombies or extra dimensional beings? What are our chances against them? What means does the government have at its disposal to defeat them? Can we do it without Will Smith? This RTI petition didn't really go down well with Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs. He tweeted saying such RTIs will waste the 'precious time of the office staffs'. The subject matter is too scientific. This kind of RTIs will waste the precious time of the office staffs. pic.twitter.com/gVWbqt53PY Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 21, 2016 This is not the first time the government had to answer bizarre concerns of citizens. In July 2009, MP Rajkumar Dhoot asked in Rajya Sabha the then Minister of Space, Prithviraj Chavan about the possibility of Star Wars. Photo: Facebook/Yourti.in Dhoot asked if there is any truth behind the Romanian government's claim that their planes have been attacked at least four times by UFOs and that their pilot was injured. He also went on to ask if there is "an imminent danger of star wars and if so, how far are we prepared for the same". --- ENDS --- Intel CFO Bob Swan Intel tapped Bob Swan to be its new CFO, replacing Stacy Smith who will now oversee the company's sales, manufacturing, and operations. Swan's hiring was a bit of a surprise, given his lack of experience in the chip business. He was most recently a partner at private equity firm General Atlantic, and before that, has spent 9 years as eBay's CFO. But perhaps what's more surprising is his lofty pay package that exceeds $23 million in total, according to a regulatory filing. Swan will get an $850,000 base salary, but is eligible for an annual bonus of $1.2 million and a hiring bonus of $5.5 million. On top of that, his new hire stock grant and annual equity award could each be worth $9.5 million and $6.5 million, respectively. Swan's compensation package is particularly interesting because it shows Intel's willingness to pay big bucks to bring in outside executives, even as the company's going through a massive cost cutting plan that involves its biggest layoff in history. Just last year, Intel gave a $25 million pay package to former Qualcomm exec Venkata "Murthy" Renduchintala to hire him as the company's number two executive. Tricky timing "We do note a continuation of high pay for new talent however, with Mr. Swan's package coming in at a bit over $23 million," Bernstein's analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote in a note. It'll be interesting to see how Intel's current employees take these high compensation packages given that the rest of the company is going through a painful reorganization process. We did previously hear rumblings from a number of current and former employees who questioned the logic behind these big pay packages. Still, Rasgon says Swan's hiring is a "reasonably positive" move given his experience in restructuring at a private equity firm. At eBay, he also oversaw more than 30 acquisitions and helped with the spinoff of PayPal. Mr. Swan's most recent role in private equity (Operating Partner at General Atlantic), may enable him to bring a skillset to bear on Intel's ongoing restructuring and refocusing, as well as investing for growthOverall our initial (outside-in) impressions of this hire are reasonably positive," Rasgon wrote. Story continues NOW WATCH: NASA just took these incredible images of mysterious rock formations on Mars More From Business Insider Chicago (AFP) - Investigators have uncovered nothing to tie a Somali American man who went on a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota shopping mall to organized extremist groups, the local police chief said. The attack on Saturday by Dahir Ahmed Adan is being investigated as a potential act of terrorism, and a news agency with ties to the Islamic State group said the rampage was carried out by an IS "soldier." But St Cloud police chief William Blair Anderson told reporters Monday that no connections to extremist groups have been found. "We haven't uncovered anything that would suggest anything other than it was a lone attacker at this point," Anderson said. He cautioned that the investigation was still ongoing, and that officials were combing through the 20-year-old Adan's life for clues. An FBI spokesman echoed the same caution. "As part of our investigation, we are looking carefully at possible motivations as to why Mr Adan engaged in that attack," spokesman Kyle Loven told AFP. The agency also said the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was taking over the investigation from local law enforcement, in what it called a "customary" move. Police say Adan stabbed 10 people with a knife at a shopping mall, until an off-duty police officer confronted him and shot him to death. Investigators were also going through footage from security cameras in the mall. Members of the Somali refugee community in St Cloud expressed shock that Adan would commit such violence, saying he had been a high-achieving student with no history of violence. The attack came the same day as bombings in New York and New Jersey, which stoked terror fears less than 50 days before the US presidential election. Police wounded and captured a 28-year-old Afghan-born American in connection with those attacks. Anderson said the attacks in Minnesota and the East Coast did not appear to be connected. "Right now, we have not uncovered anything that would suggest there's a nexus between those events," Anderson said. Story continues Following the attack, the Somali-American community in St Cloud expressed fears of a potential backlash. Eyewitnesses reported incidents of intimidation on Sunday night, as roving groups in pickup trucks and motorcycles rode through heavily Somali residential areas carrying American and Confederate flags, and yelling racial slurs. State and city leaders urged residents to not act divisively. "I implore the citizens of St Cloud, and really citizens throughout Minnesota, to rise above this tragic incident, and to remember our common humanity, our shared citizenship, and our shared desire to live together peacefully and constructively," said Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. President Obama is delivering his eighth and final address to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, at a time when many are questioning the efficacy of his foreign policy initiatives. Tensions are still running high in the Middle East, particularly in the Persian Gulf, after Iran threatened to shoot down two U.S. Navy spy planes flying over international waters last week. Acts of aggression and provocation have been on the rise as the hostile nation flexes its military muscle in a show of strength against the United States, raising questions about Tehrans diplomatic intentions. At a State Department briefing last week, deputy spokesman Mark Toner admitted to FOX News James Rosen that Irans behavior has worsened since the nuclear agreement was signed. As much as we would like to see Iran's behavior change in the region, we've not seen a significant shift, Toner said when Rosen asked about Irans increasing aggression since the accord went into effect. After Rosen asked him to clarify, Toner responded, I don't have all the facts and figures in front of me, but we have seen some disturbing trends. This begs the question, has the Obama administrations attempt at detente actually emboldened the worlds leading state sponsor of terror? Absolutely, theres no question about it, Lt. General Tom McInerney tells FOXBusiness.com. [The deal] has given them confidence since theyve dealt with this administration, and how desperate the President was to get an agreement like this Theyre publicly humiliating him. The Iranians received a windfall of money when the agreement was enacted. The deal lifted sanctions on the oil-producing regime, and unfroze $150 billion in Iranian assets. Not to mention the $1.7 billion in cash the Obama administration sent to Iran earlier this year, $400 million of which coincided with the release of four American prisoners. According to former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army General Jack Keane, the nuclear deal did something much worse than simply open Irans financial flood gates. It gave the rogue nation credibility on the global stage. Story continues They have a renewed confidence the nuclear deal has legitimized the regime Iran is legitimized in the international community, the retired four-star Army general tells FOXBusiness.com. But what does Iran hope to gain from brazenly challenging U.S. armed forces? Keane believes the goal is regional hegemony in the Middle East: Their overall goal is strategic; to dominate the region and spread the Islamic Revolution. The means to do that is to drive the United States out of the region and therefore [the] Sunni states would be considerably more exposed. Iran seeks to weaken U.S. credibility in the region since the Sunni Arabs already see the current administration as an unreliable ally. If the Iran agreement has instigated this resurgence of bad behavior, is there reason to worry that Iran will cheat on the restrictions imposed by the nuclear deal? General Keane says if they havent broken the accord already, they will soon; they will not wait 15 years to get a nuclear weapon. Lt. General McInerney believes the Iranians are already cheating; Tehrans intercontinental ballistic missile program violates a U.N. Resolution, it purchased 300 missiles from the Russians which violated an adjunct clause of the deal, and it is now looking to buy advanced fighter planes, also from Russia. McInerney adds we also dont know whether Iran is following the enrichment protocol. This nuclear agreement should have been a treaty, we have never in our history, and I have been a part of them, had a nuclear agreement that was not a treaty and voted by the Senate, McInerney notes. A nuclear Tehran would be a serious threat to global stability because nations like Iran cannot be expected to act in accordance with the principles of mutually assured destruction; the idea that a state will not deploy a nuclear warhead for fear of retaliation in equal, if not greater, strength. Irans leaders historically have extolled suicide bombers and given the fact that they see suicide attacks as an acceptable military technique if they applied that kind of thinking towards nuclear weapons, then mutually assured destruction may be less of a deterrent and more of a goad, James Phillips, senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at The Heritage Foundation, tells FOXBusiness.com. Iran is a unique actor because of its vast ties to terror groups. It gives more than $300 million annually to Hamas, contributes a significant portion of Hezbollahs funding, and provides an estimated $6 billion per year to the Syrian Regime. The great danger we face [with Iran] is nuclear terrorism, explains Lt. General McInerney. Those weapons will end up in U.S. cities. The fact that we are facing the risk of nuclear terrorism is a failure of the Obama administrations policies, explains General Keane. [President Obamas] seminal foreign policy objective has been this nuclear deal with the Iranians in the hope that we would have an overall rapprochement with Iran; that they would join the community of nations and behave as a responsible country. The naivete of that is astounding. As President Obama prepares to exit the White House, does either of the candidates that will assume office in November have the foreign policy chops to crack down on a truculent Iran? Phillips believes Hillary Clinton would continue the current administrations policies of diplomacy. She was present at the creation of the Obama administrations Iran policy, and she never really criticized it when she was in office or out of office I dont think in terms of policy there would be that much difference. Trump has said he would renegotiate the Iran deal, but has been tight-lipped about specifics. Still, Lt. General McInerney has hope that Trump would offer a change of pace. I believe that he will reinforce the peace through strength, and attempt to get the balance using the allies we have in the Middle East to counter to this Iranian crescent thats sweeping across the region. I do believe that he will contain it, McInerney says. While General Keane advises reengaging the Middle East, strengthening relationships and potentially forming an Arab NATO, McInerney tells FOXBusiness.com that a regime change in Iran is the only way to contain its aggression. No matter who wins this election, one thing is clear; he or she will have a gargantuan task navigating the turbulent relationship with an increasingly hostile Iranian regime. Related Articles Havana (AFP) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Cuba where he met with his counterpart, Raul Castro, and the Cuban president's older brother and predecessor, Fidel Castro. Rouhani had said ahead of the one-day visit that he wanted to stop in Cuba, a "friendly and revolutionary country," on his way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The visit follows one in August by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said Iran sees this as "a very opportune moment" to reinforce its ties with the communist island. Officials are due to sign a series of deals, expected to include one on energy. Cuba is keen for oil as its key supplier, Venezuela, has dramatically cut its once generous discount sales amid an economic crisis. United mainly by their shared history of enmity with the United States, Iran and Cuba often back each other in the international arena. Tehran has vocally condemned the US embargo on Cuba, and Havana has supported Iran's right to a civilian nuclear program. The Castro regime's resentment over the more than five-decade embargo, which remains in place, is still strong despite the renewal of diplomatic ties with Washington last year. HAVANA (Reuters) - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani met with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on Monday in Havana to reaffirm friendly ties between the two countries and express a commitment to deepening their collaboration, Cuban state media reported. During the visit, Iranian and Cuban officials signed agreements for collaboration in the health, education and science sectors, as well as a memorandum of understanding on banking. Rouhani, who stopped off in the Communist-ruled island on his way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, also met with Raul's predecessor and elder brother, Fidel Castro. They discussed the importance of food production in a world "threatened by climate change, the incessant growth of the global population, and the dangers to the preservation of peace", the Communist Party newspaper Granma wrote. "Fidel and Hassan Rouhani concluded the friendly meeting with the most sincere desires for collaboration between the peoples of Iran and Cuba," the paper wrote. Iran and Cuba have long been friendly, united partly by their respective stand-offs with the United States, although both have seen relations with Washington thaw in recent years. Rouhani's visit comes a month after his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif kicked off a tour of Latin America with a trip to Havana, promising to open a new chapter in bilateral relations. (Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by David Gregorio) Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake a northern town from the Islamic State group in the latest move to prepare a broad offensive on jihadist bastion Mosul. Army and tribal forces pushed towards Sherqat, which IS fighters captured more than two years ago when they swept across Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland. The town lies on the west bank of the Tigris river in Salaheddin province, 260 kilometres (160 miles) northwest of Baghdad and around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Mosul. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and training have since retaken significant ground including the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. Iraqi forces have already reconquered other towns north of Sherqat on the way to Mosul but the question of Shiite militia involvement in military operations there had held up the push. "The operation to liberate Sherqat started at 5:30 am (0230 GMT) from several directions... with the support of coalition forces," Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool said. "We are making good progress," he told AFP. "Sherqat is important, we can't move on Mosul and have terrorists control Sherqat." Colonel Mohammed al-Assadi, an Iraqi security spokesman, said the country's forces had retaken villages around Sherqat and were about five kilometres (three miles) from the town. Colonel John Dorrian, the spokesman for the US-led operation against IS, said coalition forces had carried out 19 air strikes over the past two weeks to set the stage for the Sherqat operation. Sherqat is "in close proximity to their supply lines," Dorrian said, referring to routes by which Iraqi forces move troops and material for operations against IS. "Clearing that area makes sure that their supply lines are protected," he said. Ahmed al-Assadi, the spokesman of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces, said operation "Sherqat Dawn" aimed to "finish expelling those terrorist gangsters from usurped Iraqi land." Story continues The Hashed al-Shaabi, which has played a big part in retaking IS-held areas since 2014, is nominally under the control of the prime minister but dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militia. - Obama confident - It also includes less powerful Sunni tribal forces supporting the government against IS. Rasool stressed that only tribal forces -- sometimes referred to as Hashed al-Ashaeri (Tribal Mobilisation) -- were fighting in Sherqat, not Shiite militias. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaking from New York where he met US President Barack Obama, said the same operation also included efforts to flush out IS fighters from desert areas near Ramadi and Heet in the western province of Anbar. While most towns and cities in Anbar are now under government control, IS fighters are still able to move across parts of the vast arid province and have continued to harass Iraqi forces. Iraqi forces have been moving northwards from Baghdad for almost two years, gradually retaking areas over which IS declared its "caliphate" in June 2014. The jihadists have also lost ground in Syria and Libya. Iraqi forces have left some pockets of IS jihadists on the way however -- such as in Hawijah or in the Hamreen mountains -- and priority was given to Qayyarah, a town farther north which will be used as a launchpad for an offensive on Mosul. Speaking before talks with Abadi, Obama said he could see quick progress in the battle for Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq since government forces retook Fallujah in June. "We feel confident that we will be in a position to move forward fairly rapidly," Obama said, vowing to fight "right at the heart of the (IS) operation in Mosul." The 21-year-old woman was stabbed more than 20 times in the Burari area of north Delhi today. By India Today Web Desk: In an absolute shocker from the national capital, a woman was stabbed to death more than 22 times in broad daylight today. Twenty-one-year-old Karuna was stabbed repeatedly by a man in a crowded street in the Burari area of north Delhi. CCTV footage showed a man repeatedly stabbing the woman even as there were people around. All this while, no one from among the passers by came to the rescue of the woman as they ran for their lives. advertisement Also read: Delhi Police arrests man for kidnapping six-year-old boy, kidnapper wanted to marry victim's aunt This incident happened around 9 am today where a police station is also nearby. The accused, a 34-year-old man, committed the horrific crime as the victim had rejected his advances. Surender Singh had been troubling Karuna for a year. ACCUSED DANCED NEAR THE BODY "I tried stopping people, but nobody was willing to help. After stabbing the girl he started dancing near her body," said a witness of the brutal murder. Also read: Delhi: Illegal arms supplier carrying reward of Rs 50,000 arrested According to Karuna's brother Aditya Malik, Surender Singh had been troubling her for a year. The family had lodged a complaint 4-5 months back and both the families had reportedly reached a compromise. Singh's divorce case is going on. Karuna was a teacher at the Novel Reaches School. Family of the stabbed girl protest & make human chain outside Sushruta Trauma Centre (ISBT) demanding justice #BurariIncident pic.twitter.com/cPSk59Mhph ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 STABBING CASES ON RISE In another stabbing case, Laxmi, a 28-year-old mother of two, was stabbed to death in West Delhi's Inderpuri on Sunday evening, two months after she had complained against a neighbour who had been harassing her for six years. Sanjay was arrested under sections of stalking after Laxmi's complaint but was later released on bail. Police had filed a chargesheet against him in court and the case was pending trial. Watch the video here: --- ENDS --- By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State is building a moat around Mosul in northern Iraq, in preparation for a long, hard battle against U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces for the biggest city in the jihadists' self-proclaimed caliphate. The city of 2 million fell to the militants in 2014 in a lightning advance, and the offensive to recapture it will be the biggest battle Islamic State has ever fought. Residents say the fighters have been sealing off entire districts and building a network of tunnels across the city to obstruct government troops. The group has been working hard this month to dig a two-meter by two-meter trench along the city's perimeter and position oil tanks nearby to create a river of fire that would impede advancing troops and hinder aerial surveillance, according to senior Iraq military officers, Mosul residents, and local officials based outside the city. The battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State, which has been forced off significant portions of the territory it seized in Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, could begin as soon as next month. The jihadists have put up fierce resistance against attacks on some parts of their caliphate over the past two years but melted away in other areas, prompting debate about how they will react to a push on Mosul. Recent activities suggest Islamic State - also called Daesh in Arabic - will dig in, presaging a long and bloody fight that could displace large numbers of civilians. "Oil trenches, tunnels and suicide attacks will not save Daesh from defeat but they will make the battle more challenging," said Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for the counter-terrorism forces which are expected to spearhead the offensive. "We are confident Daesh will fight to their last fighter to keep holding Mosul." There is a gap in the moat on the western approach to the city, so fighters could slip out through the desert and into Syria to regroup if they ultimately decide to surrender Mosul. Rich in Muslim history, Mosul lies at the heart of the state the Islamists have sought to create. It was in the city's main mosque in 2014 that their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a modern caliphate spanning large parts of Iraq and Syria. With much of the population still inside, civilians are a concern for those planning the expected assault. The installation of oil tanks around residential areas raises the risk that air strikes could set off major fires, said Baghdad-based analyst and former army general Jasim al-Bahadli. In addition to the moat, the militants have sealed off central districts of Mosul by stacking cement blast walls on top of each other across main roads, according to photographs taken by residents and seen by Reuters. Dozens of trucks were seen earlier this month carrying similar barriers into the airport on the city's southern outskirts, which could be an entry point for attacking forces, local officials and residents said. The militants "are using the blast walls to make Mosul airport unfit for planes to land," said Iraqi Army Colonel Mohammed Adnan al-Taie. They used the same tactic before fleeing Qayyara air base, 60 km (40 miles) south of Mosul, which U.S. forces are helping to refurbish to use as a logistics hub for the Mosul operation. TUNNEL NETWORK Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pledged repeatedly to retake Mosul by the end of the year, and Iraqi commanders have indicated the main push could begin by the second half of October though some doubts remain that the necessary troops will be ready. After meeting Abadi in New York on Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he hoped for progress by the end of the year, and the top U.S. general later said Iraqi forces would be ready in October, but the timing would be up to Abadi. Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake the northern town of Shirqat, a stepping stone in the Mosul campaign. Mosul provincial councilman Abdul Rahman al-Wagga said Islamic State's tactics suggest it is desperate to delay the government advance. Witnesses in Mosul say the militants are working hard to dig tunnels, which they have used in the past to launch attacks on Iraqi forces, store supplies and hide from air strikes. "I can see Daesh digging tunnels everywhere and covering the entrances with sewage covers. My neighbor's house is now part of a network of tunnels that reaches across the city," a resident from the Sumer district of southeastern Mosul told Reuters.Interviews via the Internet with five Mosul residents, some of whom are still in the city, suggest Islamic State is tightening its grip in a bid to weather popular discontent and military setbacks, including assassinations of senior leaders. House-to-house searches have increased over the last two months, as the militants pursue local fighters who pledged allegiance to the group but appear to have defected. Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the joint operations command, said intelligence contacts in Mosul were providing accurate coordinates of Islamic State locations and for conducting assassinations against militants, though Reuters could not confirm those claims. Abadi this week called on Mosul residents to stand up to Islamic State ahead of the military offensive. "Our goal is to liberate the people of Mosul ... and we ask them to shake up Daesh and expel them from Mosul or kill them," he said at a news conference in Baghdad. "This will ease the work of the security forces and reduce their casualties." (Additional reporting by Stephen Kalin; editing by Giles Elgood) (JERUSALEM) Two Palestinians were killed on Monday as they tried to stab Israeli police in the West Bank city of Hebron while a third Palestinian was shot and wounded after stabbing and wounding two Israeli police officers in Jerusalem, police said. The two attacks followed a bloody weekend in which four Palestinians were killed while attacking Israelis, according to Israeli authorities, raising fears of a return to the near-daily Palestinian attacks seen at times over the the last year. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that in Hebron, two assailants tried to stab soldiers guarding a checkpoint, lightly wounding one officer before the troops opened fire, killing the attackers. The officers were securing a holy site known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, Samri said. Earlier Monday, a Palestinian stabbed two Israeli police officers outside Jerusalems Old City before being shot and critically wounded, Samri said. A 38-year-old female police officer suffered wounds to her neck and was badly injured, Samri added. A second officer, aged 47, was recovering from injuries. Samri said the assailant is in his 20s and a resident of east Jerusalem. The Jerusalem attack occurred outside Herods Gate, near a bustling commercial avenue of east Jerusalem. Police ordered the shops in the area closed Monday. Over the weekend, four Palestinians, one of whom held Jordanian citizenship, were shot dead during assaults on Israelis, according to Israeli authorities. Jordan has demanded a detailed explanation from Israel about the killing of 28-year-old Said Amro by Israeli forces. Israeli police said Amro rushed out of Jerusalems Old City armed with knives and tried to stab officers before being shot dead. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said the Jordanian Foreign Ministry invited Israels ambassador for a discussion of the incident. Since last September, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis in stabbing, car ramming and shooting attacks. About 216 Palestinians have been killed in the same period. Israel says most were attackers, but the Palestinians have accused Israeli forces of using excessive force and killing people who were not assailants. Story continues The spike in violence over the weekend spurred the Israeli military to send troop reinforcements to the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the potential for violence could rise as the Jewish high holidays approach. Israel has blamed the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders compounded on social media sites. The Palestinians say it is rooted in nearly 50 years of military occupation and dwindling hopes for independence. This week Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where he plans to meet with President Barack Obama. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is visiting New York this week as well, where he is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and to address the General Assembly. By Ed Stoddard KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa's Kruger National Park is littered in places with the trunks of trees uprooted and stripped of bark by a surging population of elephants, a frequent sight in the reserve. Africa's elephants are still threatened by poachers seeking to kill them for their ivory tusks but in several southern states populations have rebounded, helped by conservation policies and the remote locations where many of the herds live. The numbers are now so big that some countries say the world's largest land mammal is causing too much damage to crops, threatening the livelihoods of poor subsistence farmers and the populations of other species including birds, bats and woody plants in forests uprooted by elephants. Zimbabwe and Namibia have asked for a global ban on ivory trade to be lifted so that they can use the proceeds of national stockpiles of tusks to fund conservation and support communities living near elephants. "Elephants are regarded as a liability and economic cost to rural communities, who suffer crop losses, other damages and lose human lives," Namibia's proposal says. Its population has increased to 20,000 from 7,500 the past two decades. The request to sell stockpiles, collected through seizures of contraband, natural mortality in the wild and the shooting of problem animals, will be considered at a meeting of the U.N.'s Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Johannesburg from September 24 to October 5. The ban on trade in ivory products was imposed in 1989 in response to a wave of poaching, though domestic trade has remained legal in a number of countries including China. The United States in July imposed a near-total ban on domestic ivory sales within its borders. Opponents are concerned that if CITES allows ivory to be traded, even from stockpiles and as a one-off, it would send a signal that it is socially acceptable, which could spur demand and further poaching. Ivory is particularly coveted in Asia where it is used for carving and jewelry. Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were given permission to sell stockpiles to Japan in 1999 and were joined by South Africa in 2008 in a sale to China and Japan. A June 2016 study by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research found that the 2008 sale likely led to an increase in elephant poaching. It noted an estimated 71 percent increase in ivory smuggling out of Africa "while corresponding patterns are absent from natural mortality and alternative explanatory variables. These data suggest the widely documented recent increase in elephant poaching likely originated with the legal sale." Poaching has skyrocketed in the past decade in much of the continent to feed the illicit market, lending a new sense of urgency to campaigns to completely close the trade for good. TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS For their request to pass, Zimbabwe and Namibia will need the support of two-thirds of the 183 member states of CITES. South Africa Environment Minister Edna Molewa told Reuters that her country and others in southern Africa would support the Namibian and Zimbabwean proposals because the ivory sales were needed to pay for the ecological and social costs of large elephant populations. "If you look at the communities that are bearing the brunt of living with these animals, their ecological systems are degraded and they lose food security and grazing lands," she said. She said "we are quite optimistic" the proposals would pass but expected tough negotiations. There is expected to be significant opposition from most western countries, some NGOs and African countries including Kenya, which along with others has made a separate proposal to CITES to keep the trade ban firmly in place. Sport hunting of elephants is permitted in some countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe and hunters are allowed to keep the tusks as trophies. But in Kenya, where elephants cannot be owned and where any hunting is forbidden, the animals are seen as a bigger draw for tourists wanting to see them in the wild. Kenya and Gabon, which has large areas of national park and is fighting a growing battle with poachers, have burnt ivory stockpiles. And while elephant populations are stabilizing in southern Africa where conservation policies are stronger, in east and central Africa, poaching is rife and the numbers are down. A census by Elephants Without Borders, a conservation group, found numbers of Savanna elephants - which favor more open habitat - fell 30 percent between 2007 and 2014 to 350,000. Africa's other species, the forest elephant, will need a century to recover from poaching because of its slow birth rate, and numbers around 70,000. "A BIT SELFISH" Zimbabwe says its elephant population has stabilized at 80,000. Its proposal says elephant populations exceeding 0.5 per km have a detrimental impact on woodlands and other species. However, scientists say the damage done by elephants is being exaggerated and that they are crucial for healthy ecosystems because their dung disperses seeds and fertilisers and they create habitats for smaller creatures through foraging. "Elephants are a key driver in maintaining biodiversity," said Sam Ferreira, a South African National Parks ecologist. "No species in the Kruger has ever gone extinct because of elephants." Since culling was halted at Kruger in 1994, the elephant population has swollen from around 8,000 to 17,000 - and other animals have not suffered, he said. In Chobe National Park in northern Botswana, where the number of elephants has risen to 130,000 from 30 in 1930, scientists say antelope species such as impala have benefited from the removal of trees by elephants as they favor shorter vegetation. This in turn has boosted the populations of predators such as lions. There is agreement, however, that elephants in Namibia and Zimbabwe are making life hard for the humans living nearby. Zimbabwe's Campfire Association say elephants eat around 18 percent of the crops in the poor communities where the NGO works. It says people have been killed by then, often when subsistence farmers come across the animals in their fields. Cash-strapped Zimbabwe, which has a 70 tonne ivory stockpile worth $35 million, says ivory trade is the only way to pay for protecting its elephants and to give rural communities an economic incentive for living near the animals. Nevertheless, conservationists say Zimbabwe and Namibia should not be given special treatment. "We do recognize that Zimbabwe and Namibia's elephants populations are in better shape than those elsewhere in Africa," said Susan Lieberman, vice president for International Policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society. "But it's rather short-sighted and a bit selfish for them to request to sell their ivory, knowing full well that it will further stimulate poaching and trafficking from other populations. The global community needs to see this as an Africa-wide issue." (Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare; editing by Anna Willard) Jamie Dornan could be putting on tights and joining Robin Hood: Origins Jamie Dornan could be putting on tights and joining Robin Hood: Origins Jamie Dornan is allegedly in talks to join the Leonardo DiCaprio produced upcoming Robin Hood film and OMG DORNAN IN TIGHTS. According to Variety, Dornan is in talks to play the role of William Scarlet, a member of the band of merry men who steal from the rich and give to the poor. Robin Hood Disney Robin Hood: Origins is a live action film that follows the story of the titular character as he returns from the Crusades and forms a band of outlaws to help fight corruption. The film is set to be directed by Otto Bathurst, the man behind the successful British drama Peaky Blinders, which airs on Netflix, and stars Taron Egerton as Robin Hood, Jamie Foxx as Little John, and Eve Hewson as Maid Marian. Dornans character of Will Scarlet is said to be a hot-headed character who has advanced skills with a blade. However, in this new adaptation, the character will be married to Maid Marian, who, as legend has it, is actually in love with Robin Hood. Eek! Given the violent and graphic nature of Peaky Blinders, were pretty sure that this latest Robin Hood movie will be *full* of gory sword fights and loads of adult themes. Were thinking Game of Thrones meets Sherwood Forrest and, tbh, were into it. Of course, this isnt the first time that Jamie Dornan has entered into the realm of fairytales and mythology. The star appeared briefly in ABCs Once Upon A Time, where he played The Huntsman/Sheriff Graham Humbert. Jamie Dornan Once Upon A Time Currently Dornan is in the midst of a busy schedule. The Irish-born star is promoting the historical thriller Anthropoid, as well as the dark murder series The Fall, in which he plays a serial killer. Similarly, the actor just wrapped up filming of both the Fifty Shades of Grey sequels, the first of which is released early next year. Jamie Dornan Robin Hood: Origins is due to start shooting in January and is set for release at some point in 2017. The post Jamie Dornan could be putting on tights and joining Robin Hood: Origins appeared first on HelloGiggles. Jared Leto is starring in and producing an Andy Warhol biopic, titled Warhol, about the pop artist and cultural icon. Michael De Luca, whose credits include the Social Network, Captain Phillips and Fifty Shades of Grey, is also producing through his Michael De Luca Productions. Terence Winter, best known for his work on The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire, is adapting the script, based on the Victor Bockris 1989 book Warhol: The Biography. Warhol began exhibiting his work during the 1950s. Hes best known for his painting of significant American objects such as dollar bills, mushroom clouds, electric chairs, Campbells Soup Cans and Coca-Cola bottles along with celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Warhol is also credited with coining the phrase 15 minutes of fame. He also created the popular art studio The Factory in New York City and managed Lou Reeds Velvet Underground. Warhol was openly gay. He was often seen in his later years at New Yorks Studio 54 nightclub. He died in 1987. Leto won a best supporting actor Oscar for playing a gay man dying from AIDS in 2013s Dallas Buyers Club. He portrayed The Joker in Suicide Squad and is starring in the untitled Blade Runner sequel. Leto, De Luca and Winter are all repped by CAA. Related stories Megyn Kelly to Produce Comedy Series Set on Presidential Campaign Trail (EXCLUSIVE) Jared Leto Joins 'Blade Runner' Sequel Jared Leto Says He Has Enough 'Suicide Squad' Deleted Scenes 'For a Joker Movie' Jason Lee is no longer a practicing Scientologist. The 46-year-old actor and his family moved to Denton, Texas, last year, and he recently quietly shared the news with local outlet, The Dentonite. When asked what businesses he owns in Denton, Lee took the opportunity to clear up rumors about himself. If [my wife] Ceren and I had an idea for a business, it certainly wouldnt happen at the cost of someone elses, Lee said. And being that we dont practice Scientology, and that we arent particularly interested in opening religious centers in general, we have no plans to open a Scientology center. PICS: Scientologys Most Famous Members and Detractors Quite a few rumors about me/us floating around but none of its true, he continued. Were not here to buy up or change or take over Denton, put some kind of personal stamp on it. Were just here like anyone else who wants to be a part of Dentons very cool creative community, and to be involved and perhaps help where we can. Lee and wife Ceren Alkac married in 2008 and have two children together 9-year-old Casper and 4-year-old Sonny. Lee also has a son with his ex, Beth Riesgraf, 12-year-old Pilot Inspektor. The former My Name Is Earl actor had been practicing Scientology since the 90s. Last June, Lees ex-wife, Carmen Llywelyn, wrote an essay for the now defunct Gawker blaming the controversial religion for their split. Lee and Llywelyn married in 1995, and divorced in 2001. When I think back, I believe a part of me knew if I didnt accept Scientology the marriage would be over before it even started, Llywelyn wrote. That may sound somewhat superficial and at that age, maybe it was. But in truth, regardless of how different I feel about Jason and Scientology today, I was very much in love with the guy and wanted our marriage to work. I did what I thought was right. Lee isnt the only celeb who has parted ways with the Church of Scientology. Lisa Marie Presley left the religion in 2012, as did Crash director Paul Haggis, in 2009. Story continues Actress Leah Remini, who left the Church in 2013 after being a member for 36 years, has been the most openly critical of the religion, penning her book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, last November. In June, Tony Ortega, who worked on the HBO documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, told ET the former King of Queens star is working on a new show spotlighting Scientology and its effects on family life. WATCH: Leah Remini Says Scientologists Are Deemed Evil If Theyre Critical of Tom Cruise The Church has previously denied all of Reminis allegations and released a statement claiming that bitterness and anger are common threads in her life. Leah Remini knows the truth she conveniently rewrites in her revisionist history, the statement reads in part. The real story is that she desperately tried to remain a Scientologist in 2013, knowing full well she was on the verge of being expelled for refusing to abide by the high level of ethics and decency Scientologists are expected to maintain. Watch below: For more Entertainment Tonight videos visit Yahoo View. Related Articles Since 2005, Jeezy has been feeding the streets with his mixtape series Trap or Die. Now, almost a year after the release of his eighth studio album, 2015's Church in These Streets, the Atlanta rapper is preparing to drop Trap or Die 3 -- the series' third installment, following 2005 and 2010's releases. After announcing the project and officially declaring it "Snow Season" on Sept 8., Jeezy has offered few specifics about TOD3 including collaborators and a release date. However, trap's elder statesman tells Billboard that it will be more than just a new mixtape. Jeezy Talks Bringing 'the Church to the Streets' With His Music and T.I.'s Hillary Clinton Slip-Up "Trap or Die 3, it ain't an album, it's a way of life," Jeezy said on the green carpet at the taping of the BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta on Saturday (Sept. 17). Third times the charm! TRUST ME #TD3 #SnowSeason A video posted by @jeezy on Sep 8, 2016 at 12:33pm PDT In an accompanying trailer, Jeezy reintroduces his "Snowman" persona, whose vivid storytelling of the struggle and triumph of the streets have resonated with many. Mostly highlighting the highs, the visual details luxury at its finest as Jeezy and Co. steer Ferraris and indulge in lobster dinners in Miami. "It's where I'm at now, from the trap house to a bossman," he adds. While Jeezy wasn't ready to share the album's featured artists, he did offer, "Just know me, Shawty Redd and D. Rich are back up to no good." Both producers have worked with the rapper throughout his career, most notably joining forces on "Who Dat," the fifth and final single from Jeezy's game-changing fifth album The Recession. "Honestly, working with them means more than anything to me because those are my brothers," he continued. "We made good music in the basement and now we're on a major level with it." Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck were spotted having a tense conversation at a party in Los Angeles over the weekend, Page Six reported Monday. This follows a report earlier this month that said Garner was pictured wiping her tears as she headed with her estranged husband toward a car. The former couple appeared to be in middle of what Page Six called an intense conversation at the neighborhood block party. The 44-year-old mother of three seemed to be upset after checking her phone, the report added. Earlier this month, Daily Mail reported that Garner was seen fighting back tears when she met Affleck. The report said that the Gone Girl actor shot angry looks at the actress as she tried to hide her emotions. Meanwhile, the two reunited Monday to take their youngest child Samuel to breakfast in Santa Monica, California. However, this time, Garner and Affleck appeared to be getting along well during their outing, according to Daily Mail. For the past several months, reports claimed that Garner and Affleck who announced their separation last June were planning to sort their differences out and reconcile. However, these reports were not substantiated. Garner also battled pregnancy rumors that stemmed after she was seen in loose-fitting clothes. Neither Garner nor Affleck commented on the rumors. Related Articles A New Jersey business owner is speaking out about finding the suspect in three bombings in New York and New Jersey sleeping in the doorway of his bar. Harry Bains, the owner of Merdie's Tavern, in Linden, said he thought the bearded man who had been asleep on the doorstep of his bar for hours was passed out and drunk, he told NBC New York. But with news of a suspected bomber on the loose circulating, he couldn't help but notice that the man looked just like Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old suspect in the bombings in New York's Chelsea neighborhood and two locations in New Jersey. "I was watching the news since this morning and I said, 'This guy looks so [much] like this guy,' " Bains told the station. "And I kept looping the same story three or four times." Twenty-nine people were injured in the Chelsea explosion on Saturday night. Earlier in the day, police responded to an explosion before a charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Nobody was injured in the Seaside Park explosion. New Jersey Bar Owner Who Found NYC Bombing Suspect Asleep on Doorstep Speaks Out| Bombings, Crime & Courts, True Crime, True Crime On Sunday night, a bag containing five pipe bombs was found at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey. One device was detonated by a bomb disposal robot, an official previously told PEOPLE. No one was injured. Bains said he called the police after realizing who the man was. And when Rahami attempted to flee, Bains yelled to the officers, "This is the guy you guys are looking for! This is the guy you guys are looking for!" Rahami allegedly fired at officers and several passing vehicles as he tried to elude authorities, NBC reports. New Jersey Bar Owner Who Found NYC Bombing Suspect Asleep on Doorstep Speaks Out| Bombings, Crime & Courts, True Crime, True Crime 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. Rahami was shot multiple times during the shootout, a federal counterterrorism official tells PEOPLE. He was taken into custody and treated at a local hospital, according to the publication. Along with Rahami, at least one officer was hurt, the Times reports. Person of Interest in New York Bomb Attack Apprehended After Being Wounded in Police Shootout Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer in the shooting, according to the Times. And he will likely face terrorism charges in the coming days, NBC reports, citing FBI officials. Rahami's father spoke with NBC briefly Monday morning and could not explain the alleged actions of his son. "I'm not sure what's going on," he said in a car in Elizabeth, New Jersey. "It's very hard right now to talk." A general store in the gorgeous Canadian island of Cape Breton is offering two acres of land to anyone who applies and qualifies to work with them. But there's one tiny condition. By India Today Web Desk: Cape Breton is a beautiful island in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, but it seems to be running low on human resource. To tackle this, a general store in Whycocomagh made an unusual appeal on Facebook. Also read: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau photobombs beach wedding picture in a HOT shirtless avatar Inviting people to come and work with them Farmer's Daughter Country Market advertised on Facebook that while they cannot afford to pay "big money", they could give two acres of land to anyone who applies and qualifies for the job. advertisement "If you decide this opportunity might fit your dreams and goals for a close to nature and community focused life, then we are willing to offer you 2 acres of woodland where you can immediately set up your tiny house or quaint cabin," reads the post. Also read: This is how Canadian PM Justin Trudeau wished everyone Baisakhi! The Independent reports that the store's owners, Sandee Maclean and Heather Coulombe, have already received over 3,500 applications. But here's the catch. After letting you dream about all things good about settling in Cape Breton, at the end of the post they tell you that you have to be legally permitted to work in Canada to be eligible to apply. "Please note if you are a foreign worker you cannot apply. At this time Cape Breton does not qualify for the Foreign Worker Program." Also read: Here's how 1,500 Americans illegally landed up in Canada after a drunken river party In case you do have a permit to work in Canada, or the means to fetch one quickly, this could be a golden opportunity for you live in the Farmville-like, gorgeous island of Cape Breton, which has a population of some 1,35,000 people. Added benefit - for those of you who forgot, this island come's under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government. Also read: Justin Trudeau becomes first Canadian PM to take part in Toronto's Pride parade TAKE A LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL POST HERE: "We are an established business in the heart of Cape Breton, rich in jobs, land, and potential, but no people. Are you someone who is looking to live a simpler life, close to nature, in an area that still believes in community meals and weekly jam sessions? We can't give you big money, but we can give you an awesome life. Our business is busy from May to December, with slower months January to April, so you can enjoy our amazing winters. We have lots of good ideas and we want to continue to build on our accomplishments but we don't have enough hands to help. advertisement We are located in a little village called Whycocomagh, which can be found in the middle (the heart) of Cape Breton. It is an area surrounded by beautiful mountains and the shining Bras d'Or lake where kayaks and canoes outnumber motorboats. We are a true four-season climate and we love it that way. We are looking for people who are environmentally conscious, want to be part of a community and will see our business not as you work for us, but we all work together to create something to be proud of. If you take pride in being friendly, helpful, and positive and have skills in the food industry or customer service, then you are who we are looking for. We cannot offer you big money (wages in local small Cape Breton businesses are not high) but we can offer you a great incentive to come and try us out. One thing our business does have is LOTS of LAND. If you decide this opportunity might fit your dreams and goals for a close to nature and community focused life, then we are willing to offer you 2 acres of woodland where you can immediately set up your tiny house or quaint cabin. Plus give you access to our farmland and other resources we have available. advertisement If you are still working with us after five years and we all still like each other after that time, then the land is yours for the cost of migrating it out and putting it in your name. Cape Breton is amazing but our population is decreasing. Corporate development has been seen as the solution in the past but that often comes at the expense of our environment. We think there is a better way." If you are interested in this unique opportunity please email your resume along with a letter about yourself to fdaughter@icloud.com Attention Heather and Sandee Please note if you are a foreign worker you cannot apply. At this time Cape Breton does not qualify for the Foreign Worker Program. --- ENDS --- Jim Carrey has responded to a lawsuit filed on Monday, accusing him of wrongfully providing the drugs that led to the Sept. 2015 death of his girlfriend, Cathriona White. "What a terrible shame," Carrey said in a statement to ET. "It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world." White, 30, was found dead in her home on Sept. 28, 2015, following a drug overdose. A toxicology report found four prescription drugs in her system: a mix of painkillers, beta blockers and a sleep aid. Her death was officially ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office in July of this year. WATCH: Jim Carrey Sued for Wrongful Death by Late Girlfriend Cathriona White's Estranged Husband "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved," Carrey's statement concluded. "Cat's troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone's control. I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace." The lawsuit, filed by White's estranged husband, Mark Burton, alleges that Carrey obtained drugs illegally under the false name of "Arthur King" and provided them to White. According to the autopsy report obtained by ET, three of the prescriptions found at White's residence were prescribed under the name "Arthur King." The coroner also reported finding a text on White's phone from Carrey the night before she died, asking if she knew where certain painkillers prescribed to him went. EXCLUSIVE: Jim Carrey Slams Coroner's Office for Information Released in Cathriona White's Autopsy Report: 'What a Shame' In addition to seeking recovery for economic and emotional damages, Burton's attorney, Michael Avenatti, tells ET they are also looking for criminal action to be taken. Story continues "We will be calling for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to investigate Mr. Carrey's role in connection with the death of Cathriona White," Avenatti said. Carrey spoke to ET in a statement shortly after White's death, saying, "She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled. My heart goes out to her family and friends and to everyone who loved and cared about her." WATCH: Jim Carrey Sued for Wrongful Death by Late Girlfriend Cathriona White's Estranged Husband Related Articles Jim Carrey is hitting back at a new lawsuit that claims he supplied his former girlfriend with the prescription drugs she used to take her own life. Read: Jon Voight On Daughter Angelina Jolie's Divorce From Brad Pitt: 'Say A Little Prayer' "We are confident that the court will see through this abhorrent money-grab scheme," the actor said in a statement. Last September, Cathriona White, a makeup artist, was found dead in her Sherman Oaks, California, home. Her death was ruled a suicide by overdose on prescription drugs. The 30-year-old left a suicide note for the Truman Show actor. The two had broken up the week before. A lawsuit, filed by White's estranged husband, Mark Burton, alleges Carrey gave White the pills, despite knowing she "was ill equipped to ingest and manage highly addictive prescription drugs outside the care of a licensed physician, was prone to depression and had previously attempted to take her own life." The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court claims Carrey used "his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances." Michael Aventatti, the attorney representing Burton, told Inside Edition: "Mr. Carreys drugs that he provided illegally were provided to this young lady [who] used and overdosed on them." According to the court documents filed by Burton, Carrey used the fake name "Arthur King to provide White with prescription drugs. The suit also alleges "Carrey sent a bogus text message... To White (who was already deceased) pretending as though he had misplaced the drugs and insinuating White may have taken them from Carrey without his knowledge..." "Mr. Carrey realized he had a problem and in an effort to solve that problem, he covered it up," Aventatti told Inside Edition. Read: Why Amber Heard Donated $7 Million Divorce Settlement From Johnny Depp Carrey looked grief-stricken when he served as a pallbearer at White's funeral in Ireland. According to published reports, the Man on the Moon actor agreed to pay funeral costs. Story continues Carrey ripped the suit, saying in a statement: "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. Cat's troubles were born long before I met her, and sadly, her tragic end was beyond anyone's control. In his statement Carrey also said "What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world." Watch: Melania Trump Files $150 Million Lawsuit Against Blogger and Daily Mail Over Escort Claims Related Articles: Proving that Jim Carrey is responsible for his late girlfriend's death is not going to be easy for her estranged husband but that doesn't mean he'll come out his wrongful death suit lawsuit empty handed. Mark Burton, who was legally married to Carrey's late girlfriend Cathriona White at the time of her death, filed a complaint against the actor on Monday. In a statement to PEOPLE, Burton's lawyer Michael Avenatti said he and Burton are asking for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to launch an investigation into White's death. "We look forward to the facts and evidence relating to Mr. Carrey's conduct and role in the death of Ms. White coming to light," Avenatti said. Carrey, 54, has responded in a statement obtained by PEOPLE saying: "What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world." In the complaint, obtained by PEOPLE, Burton claims the actor provided White with illegally obtained drugs that she used to commit suicide last year. The complaint alleges that Carrey gave White the pills "despite the fact that he knew full well that Ms. White was ill equipped to ingest and manage highly addictive prescription drugs outside the care of a licensed physician, was prone to depression and had previously attempted to take her own life." In order to prove Carrey is responsible, attorney Irwin Feinberg, an expert on wrongful death lawsuits, tells PEOPLE, "Burton must show not only that Carrey supplied her with these pharmaceutical drugs, but also that he knew or should have known that she would do herself harm with them." Proving this, Feinberg says, "is particularly difficult because we're talking about an adult woman, who volitionally and outside of Carrey's presence, took these drugs and harmed herself." One piece of evidence that could prove important to both sides of the case are text messages Carrey sent White around the time of her death. White's toxicology report states that when police checked her phone, they found texts from Carrey asking if she "knew where his painkillers went from under his sink." He also mentioned that a bottle of prescription anti-inflammatories was missing. In his complaint, Burton claims Carrey sent these "bogus" texts to "cover-up his conduct and complicity in her death." "The text messages are very important," Feinberg says. "It seems to me that by claiming these texts are bogus, Burton's team is trying to inoculate themselves from the defense that Carrey would likely assert, which is that he did not know she took the pills and that he never gave them to her in the first place." But the texts could work against Carrey as well. Feinberg explains, "If it turns out Burton can show Carrey did send these texts after giving her the pills, then that fact if it can be proved will go a long way to showing a realization on his part that he had no business giving her the pills. In lay parlance, it could point to a guilty conscience." Ultimately, the legal expert believes that while "the existence of the texts are important, the question is who benefits from them; and that's going to depend upon more information being derived as to the surrounding details of the text messages themselves." Jim Carrey Speaks Out for First Time After Autopsy Report on Cathriona White's Suicide While proving Burton's allegations won't be easy, Feinberg says, "It may be that the difficulty of proving this case is offset by the amount of money that Carrey has and the celebrity value and embarrassment that results from this kind of lawsuit." In other words, the discovery process, which would include Carrey's deposition being taken, is "the very type of intrusion that celebrities many times will pay quickly to settle out of incurring." Filing a complaint, therefore, "positions Burton to try and extract a significant amount from the celebrity, who otherwise could be dragged through this lengthy, intrusive, embarrassing and expensive exercise." Carrey's team, Feinberg says, is likely to point this out one way or another. "Whether it is done frontally or in a more indirect fashion, I think that Carrey's team is going to try to show that this is simply a form of otherwise legal extortion that this is a shakedown." At the time of White's death, sources told PEOPLE she was separated from Burton and was planning "to start divorce proceedings." News of that she was married came as a surprise to many, and sources in her hometown of Cappawhite, Ireland, told PEOPLE that few people, including some relatives, were even aware she had a husband. Burton, on the other hand, "will try to show is that this is the abuse of a very fragile woman by someone who had a lot of power and influence over her. He's going to argue that she would not have committed suicide if not for Carrey's power or influence over her, which is going to be a really tough showing to make." In terms of what Burton could expect from of a settlement, or what he could expect to be awarded in court, Feinberg says there's no way to guess. "It runs the gambit," he explains. "In terms of a settlement, it depends on what's likely to be awarded in court, which would be a function of what White's earning capacity was and the nature of her relationship to Burton. If punitive damages are sought, that would be a function of Carrey's net worth." Outside of what the court might award, a settlement would also factor in "how much it is worth to Carrey to put this to bed." As for Burton's lawyer's request that the LAPD reopen their investigation into White's suicide, Feinberg says that any criminal investigation would have an even higher standard of proof than a civil wrongful death suit. "But if the criminal investigation goes to his acquisition of the pills under a fake name, then that would certainly assist the plaintiff in building his case and putting pressure on Carrey." Meanwhile, with the one-year anniversary of White's death approaching, a source told PEOPLE that Carrey is slowly moving on with his life. "He's doing good now but he's still very much affected by her death," the source said of the star, adding that White's suicide "was extremely difficult for Jim." "There was a lot of sadness and many 'what if' questions," the source said. "It hit him very hard. He went through a long grieving period." After her death, Carrey issued an emotional note saying he's "deeply saddened by the passing of my sweet Cathriona." He added, "She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled." Hillary Clinton visited The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night. "Welcome, welcome, thank you so much, it is great to have you here," host Jimmy Fallon told the Democratic presidential nominee, while wearing a surgical mask. Clinton, who has been the subject of health rumors and who fainted from a spell of pneumonia on 9/11, responded to the bit with a laugh and high-five for the host. Fallon then piled on hand sanitizer. During the interview, which was taped on Friday, Fallon asked Clinton about the challenges of appearing both friendly and serious while on the campaign trail. "It's especially tricky for women. It just is," Clinton said, adding that you can't "talk about ISIS with a big grin on your face." Read more: Donald Trump on Debating Hillary Clinton: "If She Treats Me With Respect, I Will Treat Her With Respect" She continued, "It is a constant balancing act. How to keep the energy and the positive spirit while taking seriously what you need to." Clinton and her GOP rival Donald Trump have been at odds over their approaches to the war on terror, especially in wake of the weekend's bombings in New York and New Jersey. Earlier in the night, Trump appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to discuss his stance on racial profiling. The nominee said the U.S. is too politically correct and needs to follow Israel's lead as to how to "successfully" profile potential terrorists. "They're getting good public relations because it looks like they're beating the United States," he told the host about ISIS, "or certainly like the United States can't beat them." Read more: Critic's Notebook: With Clinton on 'Tonight Show,' Fallon Finally Tweaks Trump Last week, Trump also appeared on The Tonight Show, and Fallon was subsequently criticized for going too easy on him. Both Trump's and Clinton's appearances come less than two weeks before the first presidential debate, which will be moderated by NBC Nightly News' Lester Holt on Sept. 26. Clinton's full interview aired Monday night at 11:35 p.m. on NBC. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f215844%2f1c6e7f9f60ad4a27977eca85a299477e When it comes to Australia, John Oliver has never been shy to share his thoughts. Fresh after his win at the Emmys for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, Oliver fielded questions from journalists in the press room on Sunday evening. SEE ALSO: 'Kindergarten Cop' mashup just about sums up Australian politics in 2016 Australian reporter Angela Bishop asked Oliver about the potential U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, which she did at the last Emmys. Same time last year, Oliver told the reporter that the election of Trump wouldn't happen. Then he pointed out the Australian people had voted in raw onion-eating Tony Abbott as prime minister and likened his appeal to taking heroin. "Let's give us a chance, have some faith Angela," Oliver retorted. He then took aim Australia's controversial immigration policy. "Maybe check the state of your country's immigration policies before you steer it too hard at this one," he said. Zing. The conversation moved back onto Trump, however Oliver maintained that he's actually unable to vote because he's not a U.S. citizen. But he'll continue to talk about Trump, even though he doesn't get an official say in the matter, so to speak. "I'm sure I will comment at length over the next two months as we dance on the lip of a volcano," Oliver snarkily responded. Despite Trump and his promises to build a wall between Mexico and the U.S., amongst other proposals, at least America doesn't have secretive offshore detention centres like the ones Australia uses to detain asylum seekers indefinitely. Johnny Depp is scheduled to make his first public appearance since his divorce settlement from Amber Heard when he accepts the inaugural Rhonda's Kiss Healing and Hope Award. The organization, which helps cancer patients in need, is putting on a concert on Thursday, Nov. 3, at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and the 53-year-old actor is expected to attend. Proceeds from the event -- which will have Weezer performing and Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath emceeing -- will go to the Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. "Cancer affects many lives and this year it was my family's turn," Depp said in a statement. "The team at Cedars-Sinai works tirelessly to help people in their darkest moments. Their work is invaluable to all of us, and I will support any opportunity to help shine a light on the cause through Rhonda's Kiss." WATCH: Johnny Depp and the Hollywood Vampires Attend Hearing Aid Charity Event Before Portugal Performance In May, just three days prior to announcing his split from Heard, Depp's mother died after battling a long illness. She was 81. "The contributions Johnny has continually made in honor of his mother have been instrumental in helping us to develop the kind of research we need to move the needle forward in the fight against lung cancer," Dr. Mirhadi said, adding that Depp has made "regular visits" with cancer patients, and has been "instrumental in supporting research on lung cancer in our department at Cedars-Sinai." General admission tickets are currently sold out for the Rhonda's Kiss event, but limited VIP tickets are still available at www.rhondaskiss.org. MORE: Johnny Depp Begins Donating Amber Heard's Settlement Money to Charity -- Her Generosity Is 'Deeply Respected' In addition to receiving this charitable award, Depp is also donating the $7 million that was awarded to Heard in their divorce settlement to charity, per the actress' request. However, Heard was displeased to find out that her ex had plans to send installments of the amount to the charities she chose. Story continues A member of Heard's team told ET last month that she wanted the amount doubled to account for Depp's tax deduction, and for him to pay the full amount immediately. Here's more on this story: Related Articles Burke Ramsey, the brother of JonBenet Ramseya child beauty queen whose murder nearly 20 years ago is still shrouded in mysterybelieves his 6-year-old sister was killed by a pedophile who was a fan of pageants. Burke, who was 9 when his sister died and has not publicly spoken about her until recently, insisted his family had no part in the little girls slaying, although many have long suspected that he and his parents were behind the 1996 crime. It blows my mind. What more evidence do you need that we didnt do it? Burke told Dr. Phil, according to the final segment of the talk show hosts exclusive three-part interview. The 29-year-old added that it was probably some pedophile in the pageant audience who saw her at one of the pageants. Read More: JonBenet Ramseys Mothers 911 Call Seemed Rehearsed, Operator Says JonBenet held the title of Little Miss Colorado and National Tiny Miss Beauty before she was found beaten and strangled to death in the basement of her Boulder, Co. home around Christmas. Burke also told Dr. Phil that he sometimes speaks to his slain sister, telling her: Hey, thanks for looking out for me Hope youre having fun up there, because Im taking some test. He said he keeps the hope alive that her murder will be solved in his lifetime. I dont know, but you got to never give up, he said. Amman (AFP) - Jordanians voted Tuesday in an election that could see opposition Islamists re-emerge as a major parliamentary force in the key Western ally. Polling stations closed at 1700 GMT, after the electoral commission extended voting by an hour in major cities including Amman because of the "great crowds" of voters. The focus will be on turnout and the performance of the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood. The IAF is expected to clinch about 20 seats in the 130-member parliament, which would make it the largest opposition force. The Phenix Center pollsters had said 42 percent of those eligible planned not to vote, reflecting a general lack of enthusiasm for a parliament with limited powers to affect government policy. But others, such as 19-year-old Baraa Zeidan -- who was voting in his first election -- cast ballots enthusiastically. "I chose the party that wants to represent me," said the student. "I hope they will step up and solve our problems with transport, employment and the education system." The vote comes as Jordan wrestles with the spillover of wars in Syria and Iraq and the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees. The kingdom is a member of the US-led coalition battling jihadists in both neighbouring countries and was the target of a June 21 suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group that killed seven border guards. King Abdullah II can appoint and sack the country's military and intelligence chiefs, senior judges and members of parliament's upper house without government approval. - 'Irregularities' reported - After polling stations closed, the electoral commission said 1.49 million people had voted based on preliminary figures, compared with 1.2 million in the last election in 2013. The Islamist-led opposition complained of "several" irregularities, including vote-buying, which it said had taken place openly outside polling stations. Story continues The commission said it was investigating the allegation, a common complaint in past elections. It added that one district south of Amman had its results nullified after vandals destroyed ballot boxes. The interior ministry said 50,000 policemen had been mobilised to ensure security. "Some minor incidents have been reported from some areas, like clashes between supporters of rival candidates and shots in the air outside one polling station," said national security director General Atef al-Saudi. The authorities pride themselves on holding elections in a region wracked by conflict since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. Voting was monitored by 14,000 local observers and 676 from abroad, including 66 from the European Union. "We in Jordan are proud of the fact that we have recourse to the ballot box and dialogue through elections at a time when you hear only the sound of gunfire in several countries in the region," said government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani. A total of 1,252 candidates were standing. Seats have been set aside for 15 women, nine Christians and three representatives of the Circassian and Chechen minorities. Businessmen and tribal officials loyal to the monarchy are expected to be the biggest winners. The Islamists boycotted polls in 2010 and 2013 in protest at the electoral system and allegations of fraud. - Hope for change - The system gives disproportionate clout to rural districts, which tend to return tribal candidates loyal to the monarchy. The Islamists -- weakened by internal divisions and repression -- announced in June they would take part after the electoral law was amended. The change allows parties to run lists, rather than a "single vote" system that benefited tribal candidates. Voters said they wanted change. "I've been voting for decades and just hope it'll be different this time round," said Abdessalam Abu al-Haj, 75. Saja Asaf, a veiled 20-year-old voting for the first time, said she hoped the new parliament would tackle unemployment. "Most young people can't find work when they leave university," she said. Unemployment has reached 14 percent, according to official figures, while independent analysts estimate the figure at 22-30 percent in a country where 70 percent of the population is under 30. Electoral commission chief Khaled Kalalda gave no specific time for final results. The government said schools used as polling stations would remain closed on Wednesday and Thursday "to complete the electoral process". By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's moderate Islamist opposition could emerge from Tuesday's parliamentary election with renewed influence after surviving government attempts to ban it as part of a wider crackdown on political Islam. The group could win up to a fifth of seats in the parliament after ditching its "Islam is the Solution" slogan and joining with Christians to create a broad-based civic grouping - The National Coalition for Reform. Officials said turnout was 36 percent of 4.1 million eligible voters at the end of polling, lower than the election in January 2013. This appeared to confirm reports by independent observers who anticipated apathy from many voters with minimal confidence in a parliament dominated by pro-government tribal deputies. The election represents a modest step in the democratization process launched by King Abdullah as he seeks to insulate Jordan from the conflicts at its borders, but will show the resilience of Islamists in the face of heavy state restrictions. Electoral laws that favor tribal areas rather than the cities where Islamists enjoy most support mean they are unlikely to dominate the poll, but they could still shake up Jordan's staid political scene, analysts say. "This will be an extension of previous parliaments created by successive governments. But ... the challenges we face require a brave stance," said Sheikh Hamza Mansour, a prominent Muslim Brotherhood figure. Vilified by pro-government media, the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), had boycotted elections for a decade in protest at electoral laws they felt were biased against them, while pressing demands for broader political representation. The Muslim Brotherhood has been allowed to operate in Jordan since 1946. But it came under suspicion after the Arab Spring, which saw Islamists pitted against established powers in many Arab countries. Jordan came close to banning the Brotherhood outright this year in what the Islamists say was a settling of scores with them for instigating protests that focused on reforming the government and limiting King Abdullah's powers, but which fell short of demanding the overthrow of the monarchy. Elections are contested under an electoral law that left intact a voting system that favors sparsely populated tribal East Bank constituencies over the densely populated cities mostly inhabited by Jordanians of Palestinian descent, which are Islamic strongholds and highly politicized. But the Islamists have commanded increasing support in rural and tribal areas in recent years. The IAF participated in this vote in part to get round legal moves to ban it and the Brotherhood for boycotting elections. Now, the election will test the IAF's grassroots support. "The IAF's relative skill in organization and messaging ... leaves it well placed to capture a significant number of seats in parliament," said the U.S.-based International Republican Institute, one of several international observers. PASSIVE PARLIAMENT The Islamists' boycott had long reduced Jordanian elections to a contest between tribal leaders, establishment figures and independent businessmen. The IAF has fielded candidates in a majority of electoral districts. It hopes to do well by aligning with independents who share an opposition agenda, shaking up a passive parliament packed with pro-government deputies. That passivity has allowed successive governments to enact draconian temporary laws restricting public freedoms and to pass unpopular austerity measures urged by the International Monetary Fund, said Mansour. Showcasing their attempts to unite with other groups for the election, Islamists campaigned with Awdeh Qawwas, a prominent priest, in the affluent Abdoun district of the capital Amman. Crimson posters advertising the coalition have replaced the green Muslim Brotherhood flags, Koranic verses and slogans espousing jihad that were the hallmark of Jordan's Islamists. "If there are real deputies whom our great people can elect, there will be a real parliament able to hold accountable anyone who lays his hand on public funds," said Mansour Murad, a leftist in the Islamist coalition. The comeback of Jordan's best organized opposition has left secular rivals fearing the revival of Islamism in a contest where national politics has taken a back seat. They have responded by demanding the separation of politics and religions and attacking political Islam. "There should be no guardianship over people in the name of religion," said Kais Khalil Zayadin, a young lawyer running on the "Maan" (together) list, whose campaign has resonated in affluent areas of the capital. UNDER-REPRESENTATION For many Jordanians, the fact that elections are being held at all demonstrates their country's stability in a violent region. "The mere fact we are holding elections and going to our homes safely and counting votes instead of counting the dead is a testimony to how Jordan's leadership has steered us away from destruction," said Bassam Haddadeen, a former member of parliament and minister. Others see the election as unjust or meaningless, given rules that ensure Jordanian cities will be under-represented. In one constituency in the impoverished city of Zarqa, 450,000 eligible voters who usually back Islamists have only six parliamentary seats. By contrast, in the southern tribal town of Maan, 59,000 voters choose four members of parliament. More than two thirds of Jordan's seven million people live in cities but are allocated less than a third of assembly seats. Officials dismissed claims by some international observers that voters are growing apathetic, disillusioned by a parliament unable to challenge governments picked by the king. "The parliament is the gateway to political reform, whether we like it or not. Jordan is on the path towards political reform. Some say we are moving slowly, others say we are moving fast, but it is going forward as it should," said Khaled Kaladeh, head of the government-run Independent Election Commission. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Angus McDowall, Giles Elgood and Janet Lawrence) Karnataka government has been asked to release 6,000 cusecs of water till September 27 by the Supreme Court. By Anusha Soni: Karnataka will now have to release double of water in comparison to what the tribunal had directed earlier. The decision was announced by the Supreme Court on Monday. A bench headed by Justice Deepak Misra asked the state to release the 6,000 cusecs from its reservoir between September 21 and September 27 which is also the next date of hearing in the Supreme court. advertisement Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will file objections on the decision of supervisory committee within three days. Regardless of the staunch opposition raised by senior advocate Fali Nariman in favour of Karnataka, the bench went ahead and increased the amount of water by twofold. Fali Nariman had told the Supreme Court that the state will have to sacrifice drinking water for irrigation purposes in Tamil Nadu. Government had to form the Cauvery Management Tribunal under the 2013 orders of SC constituted tribunal. KARNATAKA CM DISAPPOINTED Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the Supreme Court verdict on Cauvery water row as "unimplementable". Reacting to the Supreme Court's decision , Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said, "Since we do not have water, it is very difficult to implement. It is an unimplementable order." Siddaramaiah expressed his disappointment at the verdict and said he will plot the next course of action after discussing the issue in the Assembly meeting tomorrow. "I have called an all-party meeting tomorrow. We will discuss the pros and cons of the Supreme Court order. There is a Cabinet meeting tomorrow, the Cabinet will take a view on the matter". He also hinted that he was still hopeful that wiser heads would previal and the decision can be reversed. "We will consult with legal experts and teams to see what can be done", he said. Also read: Supreme Court to hear Karnataka's plea challenging Cauvery order today --- ENDS --- By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - Todd Combs, one of Warren Buffett's stockpicking deputies at Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), has joined the board of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), expanding the conglomerate's already deep ties to the financial services industry. In a statement on Tuesday, JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, said Combs' appointment took effect on Monday. His committee assignment will be determined later. Combs, 45, has taken a growing role at Berkshire since joining the Omaha, Nebraska-based company in 2010. Buffett has credited him with triggering Berkshire's largest acquisition, the $32.1 billion takeover in January of aircraft parts maker Precision Castparts Corp. "For such a young man, it's a high honour," Andy Kilpatrick, author of "Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett," said about Combs' appointment. "It provides Combs board experience at a financial company and a platform to broaden his growth, which is important because he is a leader at Berkshire." The appointment gives Berkshire direct ties to the three biggest U.S. banks. It owns $5 billion of preferred stock in Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), and has a more than $22 billion, or roughly 10 percent, stake in Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N). Berkshire also invests in American Express Co (AXP.N), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and US Bancorp (USB.N). It reported no JPMorgan stake as of June 30. Before joining Berkshire, Combs was a hedge fund manager at Castle Point Capital Management LLC in Connecticut. He and Ted Weschler, Buffett's other stockpicking deputy, each manage roughly $9 billion. They are expected to take over Berkshire's investments after Buffett, 86, leaves. "Hiring these two was one of my best moves," Buffett said in his annual shareholder letter in February. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive, said in a statement about Combs: "Our company and our board will benefit from his wisdom and judgment." Other Berkshire executives have also taken outside board roles. Story continues Greg Abel, an energy executive whom investors consider a possible future Berkshire chief executive officer, and Tracy Britt Cool, who has chaired a few Berkshire units, are directors at Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O), in which Berkshire has a 26.8 percent stake. Buffett once sat on the Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) and Washington Post Co boards, but left those roles to focus on Berkshire. "Buffett and Jamie Dimon have expressed admiration for each other as business leaders," Kilpatrick said. "Buffett is trying to leave an enormous legacy, and this involves putting someone he trusts on Jamie's board." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) Just some adorable photos of Justin Biebers perfect and fluffy dog Todd Just some adorable photos of Justin Biebers perfect and fluffy dog Todd Now that its been quite a bit of time since Justin Bieber deleted his Instagram account, sending Beliebers into a tizzy, we have to admit we kinda miss him on the social media network. After all, hes one of the biggest celebrities on the planet, and his presence on the platform is definitely missed, even if we totally get why he stepped away from the Insta spotlight for a while. However, theres a bright spot for those missing some Bieber cuteness on the gram, and its all thanks to Todd Bieber. Todd is Justins absolutely adorable fluffy new bundle of love, and hes well on his way to becoming the cutest celebrity dog on Instagram hes already got more than 116,000 followers on the site in a mere matter of weeks. Todd, who is likely a Chow Chow, is the latest pup to join Justins brood, sharing the love with Esther the Yorkie and Phil the black Lab. Check out some of Todds most adorable photos (so far!) and try not to swoon too hard at this criminally cute Chow. Hey. It's me Todd. A photo posted by Todd (@toddthestud) on Aug 30, 2016 at 9:40pm PDT Todds introduction to Instagram that face! My favorite spot. A photo posted by Todd (@toddthestud) on Sep 9, 2016 at 6:08pm PDT Todd posing with Justins little sister, Jazmyn. I love @jazmynbieber hugs A photo posted by Todd (@toddthestud) on Sep 4, 2016 at 12:45pm PDT Todd straight chillin. Too cute. No time for photos when it's nap time. A photo posted by Todd (@toddthestud) on Sep 12, 2016 at 9:21am PDT Like his human, Todd wants to be given some peace from photos on occasion! Wake up and play with me @toddthestud. A photo posted by @estherthecutie on Aug 30, 2016 at 9:47pm PDT Todd and Esther. A photo posted by @estherthecutie on Sep 15, 2016 at 10:51pm PDT LOVE these bb dog! Mornings with Todd A photo posted by Sofia Richie (@sofiarichie) on Aug 29, 2016 at 8:23am PDT Todd and Justin cozying up on the couch. Aww. 2 cutie's #justinbieber #toddbieber #loveyouguys #bieber #bieber #bieberlove A photo posted by (@justin_selenaaax) on Aug 19, 2016 at 8:40am PDT Were so looking forward to seeing more shots of this fluffball on social media consider us totally obsessed with Todd! The post Just some adorable photos of Justin Biebers perfect and fluffy dog Todd appeared first on HelloGiggles. Fresh off the heels of this summers Walter White mixtape, New York rapper and producer Justin Rose is ready to release even more music. Today he returns with a brand new single titled "Livin Right Now" featuring Brooklyn rapper Jimi Tents. For his new single, Rose reflects on his journey so far. "Thinking about where you at right now is always good because it shows how far you've came and how far you gotta go," he explains. "'Livin' Right Now' is about living in the moment, being cool with who you are in that moment, and pushing forward to the next level regardless of what the haters say." The lighthearted production provided by TGUT adds to the nostalgia of the track and creates a peaceful tone that will encourage listeners to just take a few moments to appreciate the present, instead of stressing about past or future events. Listen to "Livin' Right Now" below. Continue Reading On Complex Since his election in October 2015, Justin Trudeau, Canadas panda-cuddling, Vogue magazine centerfold prime minister known for his generous refugee policy and shirtless photographs, has grabbed international headlines and become a household name. But in his maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trudeau used the opportunity to remake his governments foreign policy as a progressive global leader on open borders, free trade, and gender equality. Speaking before world leaders at the annual diplomatic conference, the Canadian prime minister, like President Barack Obama before him, called for greater global engagement and for governments to speak out against the rising xenophobia and protectionism that is currently playing a prominent role in American and European politics. We need to focus on what brings us together, not on what divides us, Trudeau said. We believe we should confront anxiety with a clear plan to deal with its root causes. Trudeau championed multilateral institutions like the United Nations and defended the economic benefits of globalization while calling for a renewed global focus on climate change, the refugee crisis, and greater support for peacekeeping efforts around the world. Trudeaus Liberal government has already accepted 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada and has promised to accept at least 10,000 more. In August, Ottawa also pledged 600 troops and $450 million for U.N. peacekeeping. A big part of Trudeaus globalizing mission is to contrast his governments policies with those of his Conservative predecessor Stephen Harper, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2015. Under Harpers leadership, Ottawa was hesitant and at times even critical about the U.N. and its overall effectiveness on the world stage, with then-Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird calling it a debating club for dictators. The Conservative government set itself apart from traditional Canadian foreign policy dogma by placing a greater emphasis on military power over diplomacy and membership in multilateral organizations. At times, this new direction made Harper unpopular with other world leaders, even straining relations with U.S. President Barack Obama, Canadas most important ally. Story continues Trudeaus new approach is seen most clearly in Ottawas bid for a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council, which it announced in March it would seek beginning in 2021. The Trudeau government actively went out and decided to compete in an election that is contested, Adam Chapnick, a professor at the Canadian Forces College, told Foreign Policy, adding that Ottawa will vie for the seat against Ireland and Norway, two countries with strong credentials on the U.N. council. Canada has not held a seat on the Security Council since 2000 and the Harper government suffered a decisive and embarrassing loss in 2010, the last time Ottawa ran for a council seat. One of the currencies of international politics at the leadership level is garnering support. Trudeau is very popular at home and that translates into legitimacy elsewhere, said Chapnick. If the Trudeau government runs the campaign properly, all of Canadian foreign policy over the next four years can be viewed through the lens of trying to win the Security Council election. Evidence of this strategy is already starting to play out, as Ottawa has sought to re-engage the U.N. on peacekeeping, once a hallmark of Canadian foreign policy, which the country has shied away since missions in Rwanda and the Balkans in the 1990s. On trade policy, Trudeaus has refrained from denouncing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, even though both U.S. presidential candidates have beat it up, and is close to finalizing a free trade deal with the European Union. This economic approach, as well as Ottawas willingness to run a deficit at home in order to invest in social programs, recently earned high praise from Christine Lagarde, the chief of the International Monetary Fund, who said she wished other countries would follow Trudeaus lead. Elsewhere, despite no longer participating in the airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, Ottawa also recently announced that it will lead a NATO brigade in Latvia meant to counter Russia. Canadians dont vote on foreign policy, Bessma Momani, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and a professor at the University of Waterloo, told FP. So, Trudeau wouldnt be doing this kind of investment unless it had a foreign policy value in and of itself. According to Momani, Trudeau is counting on his image as a reliable peace broker to preserve Canadas interests abroad, something she argues will go further on the international stage compared to Harpers more stringent strategy. So far Trudeau has been a [public relations] win for Canada and many Canadians relish in that, said Momani. He will elevate the Canadian brand. Photo Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images When Kathy Bates receives her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Sept. 20, the moment will hold much significance. Its a big deal to me, the Oscar winner admits. Its going to be right in front of the TLC Chinese Theatre. I just discovered that and kept asking, Are you sure? Bates adds that this is meaningful to her for several reasons. I have a photograph from around 1956 with my Aunt Lee, right in front of the theater, Bates says of the location, which was then known as Graumans Chinese Theatre. She and my grandmother lived out here and we came often to visit them, driving cross-country from Memphis. Bates can recall spending the day with her mothers sister, having tea at Bullocks department store, and walking around the theater. Her aunt died of breast cancer over 40 years ago, but Bates holds her memory dear. She was a fantastic lady and I loved her so much. She would have gotten such a kick out of all of this. The photo Bates speaks of was actually blown up and used in Misery, the 1990 film based on the Stephen King novel in which she played Annie Wilkes, the obsessive No. 1 fan of author Paul Sheldon (James Caan). It was blown up and put over the piano and used as a photo of Annie Wilkes and her mother, Bates reveals. And Misery actually opened at that same theater. And the legacy of Misery lives on; a play adaptation of the novel-turned-Rob Reiner-movie opened last year on Broadway, starring Laurie Metcalf and Bruce Willis as Wilkes and Sheldon. Bates sent flowers to both of them on opening night. I was working and couldnt get to New York to see it, she says. I have long admired Laurie, shes one of the most talented actresses out there and I would have loved to see her portrayal. Misery was also responsible for introducing the world to Bates, who was an acclaimed theater actress with a few minor film roles prior to landing Annie Wilkes. Though ostensibly a villain who holds Sheldon captive, Bates managed to make the character three-dimensional something that shes shown a skill for. Take her turn on American Horror Story: Coven, her first go-around in the Ryan Murphy series, in which she played socialite Marie Delphine LaLaurie, who tortures her slaves. Says executive producer Tim Minear, She is evil, but oddly sympathetic. Asked if that was in the writing, he continues, We definitely wrote it that way and it became more of that after we started seeing her on screen. Shes vile and evil and yet when shes reduced to being a housemaid and pushed around, because its Kathy Bates, you cant help but feel bad for her. Story continues Bates won an Emmy for that performance, and has been with American Horror Story since, also earning noms for the Freak Show and Hotel seasons. Minear adds that in person, Bates is anything but villainous. Kathy Bates is probably exactly what you would think. Shes the kind of gal you want to hang out with. Shes a great gal, a real person, and one of the great, old-school movie stars, he says. Actors love her, shes a serious actor, but on the set shes approachable and hilarious. Shes also very warm. Kathy Bates is probably exactly what you would think. Shes the kind of gal you want to hang out with. Tim Minear Bates majored in theater at Southern Methodist University, where she says she first really began to take the craft seriously. After leaving college, she wasnt thinking about stardom. I was just focused on being the best actor I could be. Bates worked a lot at the Actors Theatre of Louisville and in New York, with two of her most acclaimed roles being Marsha Normans 1983 play night Mother and Terrence McNallys 1987 Off Broadway hit, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune. Bates received a Tony nomination for night Mother for her performance as Jessie Cates, a woman who reveals to her mother that she is going to commit suicide that evening. She says it remains the most difficult role shes ever played. Portraying someone bent on committing suicide was difficult to grasp, and it was her father who really gave her insight into such a mindset. At that time, my father was about 83 and facing an amputation from diabetes, she says. Hed lived a long life and didnt want to face that. I was about 35 and was giving him all the cliche advice about how he had a long life ahead of him, all that BS. And he said, You know how I feel, youre doing that play. And that really shut me up. Bates adds that her father did attempt suicide prior to the operation, but her mother found him. He never forgave her for reviving him, she says. And when I got to working on the play, I internalized a lot of that experience without really understanding where he was. It took a while to understand that people who have made the decision are actually relieved. Her first instinct was to play Jessie as morose, starting the play with a big sigh. Our director, Tom Moore, told me thats not where shes at, Bates recalls. He said, Shes excited, shes motivated, shes going through her list. The last thing she has to do is tell her mother. And once I understood that, I really got myself on the track of Jessie Cates. Both night Mother and Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune were two-handers written by acclaimed playwrights that served as perfect vehicles for Bates talent McNally even wrote the character of Frankie with Bates in mind. And both were made into movies without Bates; Sissy Spacek played Jessie in the 1986 movie of night Mother while Michelle Pfeiffer played Frankie in the 1991 film adaptation, Frankie and Johnny. But it was still theater that led to Bates most iconic film role, after she left New York behind for Los Angeles. My sister lived out here with her husband and my nieces and I thought Id just come out and see what it was like, says Bates. She landed a role in the West Coast premiere of Wallace Shawns Aunt Dan and Lemon at the Mark Taper Forum. The role I was playing badly, I might add was a role Linda Hunt got a lot of attention for. (The character) was a bit of a fanatic. Kudos Magnet Kathy Bates has racked up noms from all the major industry awards, and shes picked up a few trophies along the way. 13 Emmy noms: Won for Two and a Half Men (2012) and American Horror Story (2014) 8 SAG Award noms: Won for The Late Shift (1997) and Primary Colors (1999) 7 Golden Globe noms: Won for Misery (1991) and The Late Shift 3 Oscar noms: Won for Misery Her co-star Elizabeth McGovern was dating Rob Reiner at the time. I dont know how many times Rob came to see that play, but it was a lot. Hed seen my work in New York, but I think this is where he got the idea to use me in Misery. Misery changed Bates life and career, which has been nonstop since. Shes earned two more Oscar noms for roles in Primary Colors and About Schmidt and won two Emmys. Shes done heralded arcs on The Office and Six Feet Under and worked alongside everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (in both Titanic and Revolutionary Road) to Jessica Tandy (Fried Green Tomatoes). As of Sept. 14, shes back with the sixth season of American Horror Story. This is my fourth time around and I wish I could tell you more, I really do, she says with a laugh. All I can say is its a wonderful part, a juicy role, and its going to be a fun season. Concurs Minear, I cant really say anything except that fans of Kathy are going to love this season. All the great aspects of her performances in previous seasons are reprised. Theres a full menu of delicious Kathy Bates hors doeuvres and meals to be had. Minear adds that Bates has been very involved with creating all her characters. Madame LaLaurie is based on a real person and she did so much research, he says. She comes with suggestions and is a partner in the creation of the character. When she portrayed bearded lady Ethel in the Freak Show season, Minear mentioned that the character was from Baltimore. She grabbed onto it and created an accent and whole demeanor for the character based on that detail. Bates will also headline Disjointed, a new comedy from Chuck Lorre and can be seen on the big screen in the upcoming sequel Bad Santa 2, in which she plays the mother of her Primary Colors co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Again, she cant reveal much. I can just say they have a past together and its not a happy one, she says. But when I got the offer I was so thrilled. I was a huge fan of the first film and I love Billy Bob, hes created such an indelible character. Currently, Bates can be seen on the big screen in Joshua Marstons Complete Unknown with Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon. On Oct. 7, shell appear in the film adaptation of the childrens novel The Great Gilly Hopkins. There are several other films set for the next year, including a secretive role in Xavier Dolans The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, in which she plays the manager of the title character, portrayed by Kit Harington. Theres not much I can tell you about that, either, she admits with a laugh. But Xavier is so talented and the way he composes shots is so beautiful. I feel like thats all I can say. What she can say is that shes thrilled to find her schedule so packed. Im so happy to be busy, she says. Its been an amazing year, and Im grateful for it. Tip Sheet What: Kathy Bates receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame When: 11:30 a.m. Sept. 20 Where: 6927 Hollywood Blvd. Web: walkoffame.com Related stories Kathy Bates and Chuck Lorre Talk Their Netflix Pot Comedy 'Disjointed' 'Storks' Delivers Stars Andy Samberg, Jennifer Aniston to L.A. Premiere FX Gets 'American Horror Story' Fans Excited About New Season With Spoiler-Free VR Experience The bag is out of a cat. An artist in New Zealand is on the receiving end of a feline outcry after posting a purse for sale made from a cat with its head attached. Claire Hobbs, whos also a taxidermist, is asking about $1,000 for the shoulder handbag on a New Zealand-Australia retail site called Trademe.com. That is sick! I love animals and you are totally disrespecting them!!! wrote one outraged viewer of the online ad. Read: Sixth Sense Kitty: Tom the Cat Comforts Patients Near the End of Their Lives This is disgusting. Not the slightest bit creative or artistic, wrote another. A few posters had their tongues firmly in their cheeks. Has the cat been spayed, as I dont need a lot of coin purses, wrote one jokester. I really love your work. Do you do mother-in-laws? posted another. Hobbs said the cat was feral, and she found its squashed corpse on the side of a road, where it had been run over by a car. She said she kept the carcass in her freezer for a while, then tanned and sculpted the hide into a handbag. Read: Rescue Team Frees Stray Cat That Got His Head Stuck In a Fence I guess because it's a domestic animal people get a bit funny about it. I don't kill animals for my work, Hobbs told the New Zealand website Stuff. It's not as though I go around snuffing out animals thinking this'll make a nice handbag." The Christchurch woman filed her creation under "cat art, taxidermy, fashion, art deco, purse, handbag, cat walk, catatonic, crazy, cool, purrrrrfect." Bidding ends Wednesday. Watch: Why Police Hired A Cat Named Ed to Patrol Area Instead of a K-9 Related Articles: The new documentary Defying the Nazis: The Sharps War bears an unusual distinction for filmmaker Ken Burns. It is the first movie to which Burnswho co-directed with Artemis Joukowskyhas lent his name after coming in partway through the process. But, though he watched the work-in-progress just to give a friend a hand, the story was gripping enough that his involvement became much deeper, Burns tells TIME. And thats no surprise, once you hear the story: Defying the Nazis traces the path of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, a Unitarian minister and his wife andnot so coincidentallyJoukowskys grandparents. In 1939, the couple was dispatched by the church to Europe, where they risked their lives to save others, perhaps most notably when Martha accompanied a boat full of refugee children across dangerous waters to safety in the United States. The film premieres on PBS on Tuesday, as does an exclusive companion piece from LIFE VR and VR Playhouse, which allows users to experience that journey on board a virtual-reality recreation of Excambion, the ship that brought them across the Atlantic. Here, Burns talks to TIME about how people can change history and why the Sharps story resonates today. What attracted you to this story? What drew me is three things. This is a story of sacrifice and its cost, and therefore it raises existential questions. This is a flabbergasting story, a middle-class Unitarian minister and his wife, in the comfort of Wellesley, Mass., leave their children with the congregation and go to Europe on the eve of the war and get Jews and other refugees out. Its a phenomenal transformation. The second thing is that this is about potentiality. When you meet the people whose lives they saved, and what they did with those lives, you begin to realize that that opaque 6 million figure of the Holocaust is just a number. But then when you see what individuals who were saved became, then you realize that that 6 million people represent a huge loss of human potentiality, and thats what drew me. So, like an amputated limb that you feel long after its goneit itches, it hurts, you feel like its still there, a phantom ghostthose 6 million, I hope, will always continue to haunt us. Story continues And then finally its about resonance. We are in this refugee crisis right now, and it speaks to the present day. So this is the story firing on all cylinders. This is a small, tiny story. But in the same way, the mechanism of an atom looks very much like the mechanism of a solar system. A phrase that stood out to me early in the film, that it seemed like a big Unitarian conviction in general, was that human beings can make a difference. Youve spent so much time with history. What are your thoughts on that? Can an individual change history? Absolutely. Of course the history of the last 75 years has been suggesting other thingsA Marxist, economic determinist view; a Freudian view; semiotics; deconstruction; post-modernism; all of that. But I think we human beings all come back to story, and most of those stories lead to the lives of other people. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter So many of the people in this film were children when it happened, which will increasingly become the case for anything about the early 20th century. What do you find to be the difference in working with people who are remembering their childhoods, versus remembering things that happened as adults? What I found coming off of the film I did on World War II and the film that I did after that on the Dust Bowl is that, I suddenly realized, all these 80-year-old and 90-year-old people that I interviewed were actually children. I wasnt interviewing old people. I was interviewing children. The same is true for the team that did these interviews here. And if you think back to your own childhood, when your parents were ecstatically happy, you remember that. When theyre scared, you remember that even more. I remember that from my own childhood. My mother was dying of cancer for 10 years and I could read it on their faces. It imprinted on me. Theres that poignant comment that Jeanne Theis-Whitaker [one of the rescued individuals] says, which is that perhaps you think that you hugging your kids tighter will save them, but in fact sometimes that imperils them. I find childrens recollections unusually accurate with regards to hard times. Cutting across the Dust Bowl film, everybody said the same thing. After a while you realize nobodys making this stuff up. These are kids who accurately received and understood what was going on. They may not have seen the bigger adult picture but they understood the fundamental threat to their parents, to their livelihoods and to their own lives. Theres some mention in the film of the destruction of documents in Prague when the Nazis invaded. How did that affect the research? What Artemis found after his grandmother died and Artemis grandmother is Martha Sharp was 14 boxes that showed records of saving hundreds of people. They tracked, with the help of the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., as many individuals as they could find. Every film that we make is a wonderful detective story and one of the things that drew me was how much legwork [had already been done]. I mean, Artemis adopted this project when he was 14 years old. He was in the ninth grade and a teacher said, please write a report on somebody with moral courage, and he asked his mom and his mom, still smarting and hurting from the abandonment [of when her parents left for Europe], for the first time in his life said, well, go talk to your grandmother, she did some cool things in World War II. This has been a lifelong project for him. Hes hired private detectives to find these people. Just the making of the film has flushed out more people and the broadcast of the film will bring in more. Well learn about more Americans who saved people in the Holocaust and that will just enrich and expand our story. That must be a big advantage of working with someone who has a personal relationship to the story. It was a blessing. But he also was too close to it in some respects. What I could bring was how to restructure it, how to tell it. I can see how that distance would help. This is a film where the bulk of World War II is a montage. Theres so much you have to choose to exclude. I had to go through and say, look, you just jumped from 1941 to 1945. I need to actually say, however voicelessly, something happens then. How do you see film and VR working together? What do you think VR can bring to stories about and from history? Youre talking to an old guy, and Im very anxious that the technological tail doesnt wag the dog, but I have come around in so many ways. The VR is a wonderful thing. Eventually it will put me out of business but hopefully Ill be long gone. To watch the full experience and explore more exclusive virtual reality content download the LIFE VR app for iOS and Android or visit time.com/lifevr. Section 144 has been imposed in Bengaluru and is likely to remain in place till the 27th of September. By Seemi Pasha: As the Supreme Court directed the Karnataka Government to release double the quantity of water in comparison to what the tribunal had previously suggested, the IT city turned into a security fortress with heavy deployment of rapid action force and state police been seen in key areas. PREVENTING VIOLENT PROTESTS The Mysore road area which witnessed large scale arson and violence last week, with pro-Kannada activists vandalizing and torching buses and private vehicles with Tamil Nadu number plates, saw security personnel lining up on both sides of the arterial road. Within minutes of the apex court's order, PCR vans could be seen announcing imposition of section 144, which prohibits large gatherings. advertisement 27 year old Sharad, from kannur in Kerala arrived in Bangalore with his family on Monday for a holiday. The group was enjoying a traditional Kannada treat at Ananda Bhavan near Satellite Bus stand on Tuesday evening when they saw RAF personnel lining up the streets. The site of men in uniform in riot gear, forced the family to pack up their evening outing and head back to their hotel. SECURITY TO REMAIN Speaking to India Today, Additional Commissioner, Law and Order, Charan Reddy said high security will be in place till the 27th of September. When quizzed about reports that the police made an error of judgement by releasing Kannada Prakash, pro-Kannada activist, from preventive custody on the 8th of Sept, three days before the city was set ablaze by rioters, the top cop said, 'it is a theory being floated by vested interests. Kannada prakash was taken into preventive custody in another matter and his release cannot be directly connected with the violence'. As news of the Supreme Court order spreads across the city, an uneasy calm prevails over the IT hub. ALSO READ: Karnataka: Congress leader seeks divine intervention to solve the Cauveri dispute Cauvery water dispute in numbers --- ENDS --- In the Philippines, the end of Ferdinand Marcoss 20-year dictatorship in 1986 was a tumultuous time. The new government of Corazon Aquino was being challenged on all fronts: from the Right, by ambitious military factions plotting coups; from the Left, by peasant guerrillas and angry protesters demanding radical reforms. In those days, I was working as a journalist in Manila, finally able to cover the countrys problems with corruption, crime, economic stagnation, and insurgency without fear of censors. In 1987 and 1988, I made several trips to Davao, a sprawling city on Mindanaos southeastern coast, to report on the convulsions rocking that city. Back then, Davao was known not so much for its balmy breezes, rich fisheries, and expansive plantations, but for a brutal campaign against a communist insurgency, sparked by widespread military abuses during the Marcos regime and longstanding problems of poverty and inequality. The breakdown in law and order had also made it a fertile breeding ground for crime. Each day, some two to three people were killed and thrown in a ditch, one longtime resident said. Agdao, the citys biggest slum, was famously called Nicaragdao. The streets were gridded with checkpoints manned by nervous soldiers, their Armalites at the ready. But that didnt deter unknown gunmen from shooting criminals and policemen, often in broad daylight. In 1985, Asiaweek branded Davao Murder City. One late evening in September of 1988, a colleague and I went on a ride-along with the newly elected mayor of Davao, a 43-year old former prosecutor and vice-mayor named Rodrigo Duterte, to learn about his plans to fix Davao. As we patrolled the streets in his van, his bodyguards kept watch, the nozzles of their rifles peeking out of the vehicles windows. Throughout our ride, Duterte offered an invective-laced running commentary about the challenges of maintaining law and order in his rough-and-tumble city. There was a notorious drug dealer, he said, who had been rushed to the local hospital, wounded and bloodied, following a shootout with the police. The drug dealer was still alive, he said. So he went to the hospital and unplugged the life support system. My colleague on the ride-along that night recalled another story: Duterte claimed to have pushed a drug dealer out of a helicopter. I dont know whether any of his stories, loaded with blood-curdling hyperbole, were true or told merely for dramatic effect. What I do know is that amid the anarchy of Davao in the 1980s, these stories were far from the most chilling that I heard. Story continues In May, Duterte, who would serve as Davaos mayor for 21 years, was elected president of the Philippines, defeating four other challengers with a promise to purge the country of drug dealers. Already in his first two months in office, police and vigilantes have reportedly gunned down some 2,000 suspected drug dealers, apparently heeding Dutertes vow during his inauguration that the fight against drugs would be relentless. Despite growing criticism from human rights groups in the Philippines and overseas, he has not backed down. I will not stop until the last pusher on the streets is fully exterminated, he said on Monday. I will kill all the drug lords. Make no bones about it. Recommended: Just How Fraudulent Were Russia's Elections? To Duterte and his supporters, Davaoonce a haven for communist rebels, Muslim secessionists, and assorted criminals, and now one of the Philippiness safest, most prosperous urban areasis living testament to this take-no-prisoners approach. Duterte has staked his presidency on the presumption that if Davaenos were willing to pay such a steep price for law and order, most other Filipinos will be as well. You can think of Duterte, then, as the bastard child of Philippine democracy. If he is to be understood at all, its as a product of the bloody, messy democratic transition on Mindanao, the countrys conflict-torn southernmost island. But Dutertes version of success came with a price. There is a curfew for minors, and a ban on late-night liquor sales. Unlike in the rest of the country, traffic rules and city ordinances are strictly enforced in Davao. More menacingly, human rights groups say that Dutertes office facilitated the creation of the Davao Death Squad, a group of vigilantes composed of local thugs, former rebels, and ex-soldiers and policemen. Between 1998 and 2015, the death squad allegedly killed over 1,400 petty criminals and street children in Davao. Last week, in chilling testimony before the Philippine Senate, a man named Edgar Matobato testified that he was part of the Davao Death Squad, a group formed in 1988, the year Duterte became mayor. Matobato said that he and other death squad members were on the citys payroll, and that they targeted suspected drug dealers, rapists, and bag snatchers. In 1993, he threw a grenade at a mosque, after suspected Islamists bombed the Davao cathedral. In one of his testimonys numerous horrific moments, he claimed that he chopped up the corpses of victims, fed them to crocodiles, or buried them in a quarry. Duterte dismissed these stories as the accusations of a madman. Recommended: The Bore Tides of the Qiantang River * * * Extreme as Dutertes provocations may be, they resonate with deep-set anxieties in the Philippines. The rule of law is weak and the police and the courts are widely considered by citizens to be unreliable and corrupt. Last year, a national poll found that even while the rate of crime victimization was falling, the sense of insecurity continued. While the Philippines is far from being a narco-state, the trade in methamphetamines is brisk and conducted in the light of day, and the government is seen as helpless to curb it. Across the country, both poor and middle-class families are concerned about drug addiction, yet the traditional political elites have mostly been indifferent to it, failing to address festering problems of law and order. Little wonder that Duterte was cheered on when he vowed to pull out all the stops in the war against drugs. Duterte is of a type familiar in the Philippines: one of many local strongmen that have thrived in the fetid swamp of the countrys feudal politics. He emerged from a clan of savvy provincial bosses who prospered in the countrys southern frontier through the skillful deployment of patronage and violence. He is also the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and brings to the office a proud Mindanaons disdain for faraway imperial Manila. Residents transport on a trolley two bodies of men killed by policemen. (Ezra Acayan / Reuters) Duterte certainly lacks the urbane pedigree of his two predecessors, Benigno Aquino III and the Georgetown-educated Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, both the progeny of presidents past. They are the Filipino elite, comfortable in Washingtons embrace and the salons of Manila society. Dutertes uncouthness and vulgarity, by contrast, are the source of his broad appeal. His supporters applaud his vulgar rhetoric, so different from that of the feckless and fork-tongued politicians who have failed to address the countrys myriad problems. Recommended: Seth Meyers Proves He's the Anti-Fallon * * * To understand what seems to validate Dutertes seemingly maniacal thirst for blood in the pursuit of order, youve got to grapple with the world that shaped him when he entered public life in the 1980s, at the height of the anti-communist campaign. In Davao in the early 1980s, guerrillas tested urban warfare strategies on the citys streets. They deployed sparrows, or assassins who gunned down policemen and criminals in broad daylight. Both in Davao and across Mindanao, the communists purged their ranks of suspected military informers, torturing and killing hundreds of innocent cadres. Unless you saw the madness with your own eyes, it was hard to believe. On one trip to Davao, I found a city terrorized by bands of vigilantes, roaming the streets with guns or long knives, hunting for communists. The radio blared anti-communist tirades, the most incendiary of them from Jun Pala, a broadcaster who compared himself to Goebbels. Pala walked around Davao armed with a Magnum revolver and a hand grenade. On air, he threatened to behead rebel sympathizers and egged on the vigilantes as they gunned down or knifed suspected communists. One day, news photographers chanced upon a vigilante band that had beheaded a suspected guerrilla. The killers posed for pictures, and said they drank the blood from the sundered head. Davao was then a laboratory for a counterinsurgency strategy involving arming civilians, many of them recruited from the citys criminal underworld, and setting them loose in poor communities where the insurgents still enjoyed strong support. This strategy had the tacit endorsement of Washington: The United States trained Filipino military officers in counterinsurgency and sent millions in military assistance for the anti-communist campaign, including a $10-million grant to the Philippine army for the planting of news stories and the creation of new political groups. Amid the murder and mayhem, Duterte was the citys only hope. Within a few years, he had neutralized the already-weakened communists by intimidating the recalcitrants among their ranks and driving them away from the city if they hadnt already been killed by the vigilantes. The rest, he offered jobs, including in the city government. He won the backing of the Davao elite, as improved peace and order allowed their businesses to thrive. He was conciliatory toward Muslim separatists and got the support of NGOs for programs that provided services for the citys poor. Today, Davao is a peaceful and booming commercial and tourist hub. Duterte appears to be betting that what worked in Davao then will work for the rest of the country now. The dark side of this was the masked gunmen he is said to have enlisted, some of them former communist guerrillas or local thugs, who targeted drug users, petty criminals, and the occasional criticlike the broadcaster Pala. By the early 2000s, Pala had begun aiming his incendiary broadcasts at Duterte, accusing him of a reign of terror. In 2003, as he was on his way home from work, Pala was shot multiple times in the chest and head by two men riding pillion on a motorcycle. Matobato, the former death squad member, said Duterte himself had ordered Palas murder. Duterte appears to be betting that what worked in Davao then will work for the rest of the country now. And thats where the problem lies. Its hard to rein in a nation of 100 million people (Davaos population is under 2 million). Despite the political turbulence since the fall of Marcos, the Philippines today has a pluralistic political culture, a feisty press, and vibrant civil society. As the Senate hearings on the Davao killings illustrate, the checks and balances sometimes work, and theres always noisy opposition eager to stymie the powerful. In many ways, Duterte is a throwback to a dark era that the country has left behind. Hes a man out of time. As president, Duterte now occupies a bigger, international stage, where the bombast he deployed to great effect at home is unlikely to play well. Yet hes found a way to extrapolate Dutertism to accommodate his new venue, for now at least. In August, he threatened to pull out of the United Nations after Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon condemned his apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings. In his expletive-laden tirade against the U.N., he threatened to join China and African countries in forming a new international body. Two weeks later, when asked whether the President Barack Obama might raise the subject of human rights with him at a regional summit in Laos, he called him a son of a bitch. In another move seemingly tailor-made to troll Washington, Duterte is cozying up to China, despite a longstanding legal dispute between the Philippines and China over contested islands in the South China Sea. On September 9, he told an audience in Indonesia that he didnt give a shit what the international community thought of him because he wasnt president of the international community. That remark may go over well with some of his fans at home, but it denies the reality that remittances from millions of Filipinos working overseas are propping up the local economy; the country is no longer as insular as it was in the 1980s, and young Filipinos, like others of their generation, have a more global outlook. The ties that bind the Philippines to its former colonizer remain strong: There are 4 million Filipinos in America, and the Philippiness military continues to depend on the U.S. support for its naval defense and counter-terrorism operations. In Davao, which has benefitted from both U.S. development aid and a brisk trade in agricultural produce with China, Duterte did not have to concern himself with foreign policy. In the presidential palace, however, things are more complicated. Casual presidential pronouncements take on the weight of official policy, whether Duterte means them to or not. Its hard to tell whether the new president is reinventing the Philippiness foreign policy, or merely thumping his chest. And therein lies the Duterte conundrum: If he becomes the voice of moderation, then he loses his distinctiveness and muscular appeal. He risks becoming one of the mealy-mouthed politicians he so detests. If he wants to remain true to his beliefs, he must find a way to articulate his position on human rights, foreign policy, and the international community that goes beyond expletives. Hes in uncharted territory now. The Davao playbook no longer suffices. Its time to write a new one. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. The heroin epidemic is a growing problem. And now there's a new form on the streets to watch out for. It's believed that this heroin is laced with something called carfentanil, which is commonly used an elephant tranquilizer! Carfentanil is in the fentanyl family and is 10,000 times as potent as morphine. Watch: The Addictive Nature of Heroin The Doctors are joined by Hamilton County Commissioner in Ohio and chairperson for their heroin coalition, Dennis Deters. "It comes from our prescription drug problem over the last two decades. It's transferred into the suburbs and through racial and gender lines," says Dennis about who is affected by this new street laced heroin. In his county, overdose deaths have doubled in the last two years, which is thought to be because of the addition of this powerful and deadly tranquilizer. Through new testing, they are now able to detect carfentanil in the heroin they take off the streets, getting them one step closer to finding the source. Watch: How Heroin Affects the Body The scariest thing about carfentanil is that anyone can go online and order this product. Dennis Deters says that you can purchase it and it will come via the U.S. Postal service. He is working now with authorities to put a plan into place to curb online delivery of carfentanil. If you're struggling with addiction or know someone who is, please click here for help. Kim Kardashian took a full-page ad in The New York Times to send an important message Kim Kardashian took a full-page ad in The New York Times to send an important message In a world that obsesses more about Kim Kardashians (infamous) butt than her brain, its easy to forget her intelligence. After all, shes proven to be an incredibly accomplished business woman. But, according to Marie Claire, she just did something incredibly amazing by taking out a full page in The New York Times to raise awareness of the Armenian genocide. Like, wow. Kim K, who is of Armenian descent, got sick of the denial of the genocide. So she used her platform to ask the government to take a stance. My family and I are no strangers to BS in the press, Kim wrote, according to Marie Claire. Weve learned to brush it off. Lies make good headlines, good headlines make great covers, great covers sell magazines. But when I heard about this full-page ad that ran in the Wall Street Journal denying the Armenian genocide, I couldnt just brush it off. According to History.com, the genocide began in 1915 when the Turkish government began attacking Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Within the next decade or so, when the government ended the massacres and deportations, approximately 1.5 million were killed. But, to this day, its still illegal to discuss this genocide in Turkey. hey kim kardashian took out a whole page ad in the New York Times to talk about the Armenian genocide pic.twitter.com/Iru40sf9GG lady macbeth (@lucymooring) September 19, 2016 Many historians believe that if Turkey had been held responsible for the Armenian genocide, and reprimanded for what they did, the Holocaust may not have happened, Kim said. We must talk about it until it is recognized by our government because when we deny our past, we endanger our future. Story continues Just, like, wow. Major shout out to Kim K for using her platform to raise awareness of what is clearly a major issue, and for taking a risk. People love her for being fun, and pretty, but with this move she reminds us that shes more than just a pretty face and ~internet breaking~ behind shes a powerful and intelligent woman. TBH, were here for it, and hoping for more political statements from Kim Kardashian in the future. You go, girl. The post Kim Kardashian took a full-page ad in The New York Times to send an important message appeared first on HelloGiggles. Kodak Black has been sentenced to 120 days in a Florida jail after pleading no contest to two misedemeanor drug charges on Monday (Sept. 19), according to the Sun Sentinel. St. Lucie County jail public records show that the Pompano Beach rapper (real name Dieuson Octave) pled a misdemeanor charge of possession of 20 grams or less of cannabis and a second misdemeanor charge of use or possession of drug paraphernalia. The 19-year-old MC, most known for his hit "Skrt" and his Lil B.I.G. Pac mixtape released in June, will be credited for the time spent in jail since his May arrest. His driver's license will also be suspended for a year and he will also pay court costs amounting to $289. Kodak Black to Be Released from Jail While his expected release date is listed as Nov. 30, 2016, Black still faces a criminal charge of sexual conduct in a South Carolina court. The Sun-Sentinel reports that the rapper was accused of committing sexual battery at a Florence hotel in February, around the time he performed at a club in the city. The crime is punishable for up to 30 years in prison. Black also had a stint at St. Broward County jail before landing at St. Lucie on multiple charges that included robbery, false imprisonment, drug possession, firearm possession, driving a vehicle without a valid license and fleeing a law enforcement officer. A label rep for Black did not immediately return a request for comment. MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia's military was checking media reports of air strikes on a humanitarian aid convoy near Aleppo in Syria the previous day and was expected to say something about the matter later in the day. Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday and killed 12 people, according to a war monitor. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement on Monday that Washington was "outraged" and would be raising the matter directly with Russia at a time when a shaky ceasefire in Syria has all but unraveled. "The situation in Syria is a source of great concern," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. "Unfortunately, we can state ... that our American colleagues have failed to separate terrorists from the so-called moderate opposition." Peskov said there was little hope for a renewal of the ceasefire in Syria. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov/Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Andrew Osborn) A L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. LLL unit, L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC has won a modification contract, worth $163.3 million, from the U.S. Navy to provide support services. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD. Details of the Deal Per the modification, L-3 Communications will provide organizational, intermediate and depot-level maintenance and logistics services for about 200 T-45 aircraft at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Meridian, MS; NAS Kingsville, TX; NAS Pensacola, FL; and NAS Patuxent River, MD. L-3 Communications will be responsible for providing services for sustaining engineering, supply and government property management, and procuring related parts and materials essential to set up the aircraft for about 320 launchers daily across the four sites, with a total projected flying capability of 75,000 hours annually. Work is scheduled to be complete by Sep 2017 and the majority of the work will be performed in Kingsville, while the rest will be carried out in Meridian, Pensacola, and Patuxent River. L-3 COMM HLDGS Price L-3 COMM HLDGS Price | L-3 COMM HLDGS Quote The T-45 Aircraft Manufactured jointly by the Boeing Company BA and BAE Systems plc BAESY, T-45 is the Navy's advanced jet trainer for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps with twin-seating capacity. This aircraft was selected to replace the TA-4J Skyhawk and T-2C Buckeye in order to meet its requirement for an undergraduate jet pilot trainer. Since the T-45 plays an important role in training pilots for strike missions, the latest contract aims to make sure that the Navys T-45 fleet is in perfect condition. About L-3 Communications L-3 Communications is one of the prime system contractors for aircraft modernization and maintenance; Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) collection platforms; simulation and training; and government systems support services. The company is transforming its business portfolio to focus better on defense electronics, communications and ISR markets, wherein it already enjoys a leading position. Zacks Rank & Key Picks L-3 Communications currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the aerospace and defense space may consider General Dynamics Corporation GD, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report BOEING CO (BA): Free Stock Analysis Report GENL DYNAMICS (GD): Free Stock Analysis Report BAE SYSTEMS-ADR (BAESY): Free Stock Analysis Report L-3 COMM HLDGS (LLL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Detroit (AFP) - General Motors reached a tentative agreement with negotiators representing Canadian auto workers, narrowly averting a midnight strike deadline. The settlement followed a lengthy bargaining session in which several issues were finally resolved, said Jerry Dias, the president of Unifor, the union representing more than 3,900 GM workers in Ontario. GM has promised new investment at the company's assembly plant in Oshawa and at an engine and transmission plant in St. Catherine -- both facilities in Ontario -- as part of the deal. Unifor is Canada's largest private sector union, representing more than 310,000 workers, including 23,050 at the Detroit Three. It was formed three years ago by a merger of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union. Dias said the union's negotiators succeeded in meeting their top objective of pushing GM into making new investment in Canada. "It provides job security for members who haven't had job security in more than 10 years," he said. The new investment promised by GM in the provisional agreement also reverses the flow of automotive investments across North America, which have gone to Mexico over the past decade. In fact, as part of the agreement, GM will actually shift engine production from Mexico to the plant in the city of St. Catherines, Dias said. Dias said the key to the settlement was the commitment by GM to bring a new product into the Oshawa assembly plant outside Toronto. "Oshawa will get a new platform that will be able to used for a truck or a car," said Dias, who said he would provide more details when he presented the complete contract to Unifor members later in the week. "GM has agreed to hundreds of millions of dollars in Oshawa," Dias said. The tentative contract also includes a pay increase and signing bonus, Dias said. The agreement will enable significant new investment in products and technology at GM's Oshawa, St. Catharines and Woodstock facilities, the labor leader said. Story continues "The agreement is subject to member ratification. We will be working with (the) government on potential support, and will provide further details on the investment at the appropriate time, while respecting Unifor's ratification process." The union did make one major concession. Going forward, new employees will be eligible for a defined contribution-style pension plan rather than a more lucrative defined-benefit-style pension plan that union members with seniority are now eligible. Capping pension costs was one of GM's major objectives. In return, GM agreed to make 700 temporary workers full-time employees, which Dias described as a major win for the union because it will bolster the unions organizing efforts at the assembly plants that Honda and Toyota now operate in Ontario. "Those temporary employees at Honda and Toyota now know the way to get full-time employment is through collective bargaining," Dias said. The fallout from a strike in Canada would have spread quickly to GM assembly plant in the US and Mexico, Unifor, said as the deadline approached. Dias has said the negotiations with General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobile are critical to the future of the auto industry in Canada, where production has steadily declined over the past 10 years new investment has shifted to Mexico where labor costs are cheaper. Dias said GM acknowledged the value of its Canadian operations, which have developed a reputation for building high quality products. An independent study released by Unifor this month found that losing the Detroit Three would eliminate $26 billion from the economy, cut 150,000 jobs and cost $4.7 billion per year in government revenues. "The strength of the auto industry in Canada is not only vital to those in the industry, but to the entire Canadian economy," Dias said. The court has directed the Central government to set up a Cauvery Water management Board within four weeks. By Anusha Soni: Heavy security deployment across parts of Karnataka after the Supreme Court directed the state to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 27. Earlier the special tribunal set up to resolve the Cauvery dispute had directed Karnataka to release merely 3,000 cusecs everyday till September 30. SET UP CAUVERY WATER MANAGEMENT BOARD Both the state of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu earlier filed petitions against the order of the special tribunal. More crucially, the court has directed the Central government to set up a Cauvery Water management Board within four weeks. The board was supposed to be set back in 2013 however the Centre so far has not initiated any action. advertisement SEVERELY AFFECT SITUATION IN KARNATAKA Senior lawyer Fali Nariman argued for the state of Karnataka said that the order of the supervisory committee was devoid of any merit or reason. He further said that the state will have to release its storage of drinking water to Tamil Nadu, which would severely affect the situation in Karnataka. The Supreme Court has set the next date of hearing to September 27. Also Read: Behind Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, a game of oneupmanship Cauvery water dispute in numbers --- ENDS --- The Supreme Court will take a decision today on the Cauvery water row. By Rohini Swamy: After the Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Monday ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for the next ten days, Karnataka government is all set to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court today. "The decision of the committee is disappointing to us, tomorrow we are challenging it in the Supreme Court...the Supervisory committee's decision is another blow to the state," Home Minister G Parameshwara told reporters here. advertisement "We are repeatedly facing injustice, Chief Minister and the Cabinet will decide on next course of action to be taken," he said. SC TO TAKE DECISON The Supreme Court is hearing petitions of both the states today with Karnataka seeking reduction of quantum of water to be released and Tamil Nadu requesting for more water. Also read: Cauvery meet: Security beefed up along Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border The last time the petitions had come before the Supreme Court, it had directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu had demanded 20,000 cusecs to irrigate their samba crops. PROTESTS IN KARNATAKA Soon after the development late evening on Sunday, sporadic protests were reported from different places, especially in Mandya district, the epicentre of the Cauvery agitation, where protesters blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. Issuing a warning against rumour mongering, officials said prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC would be in place in the city till September 25. Also read: Cauvery: In Tamil heartland, 'victory' has little meaning After the order on Monday evening, 15,000 police personnel along with Karnataka State Reserve Police, City Armed Reserve Police, Rapid Action Force as well as Quick Reaction Teams have been deployed all over city to prevent any untoward incident. --- ENDS --- By Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran sentenced Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with permanent U.S. residency, to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine after he was found guilty of collaborating against the state, his U.S.-based lawyer announced on Tuesday. Zakka, an information technology expert, was invited to Iran by a government official a year ago, but then disappeared after attending a conference in Tehran. State media announced in November that he had been detained by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, and reported that he had ties to U.S. military and intelligence services. Zakka's supporters and his U.S. lawyer Jason Poblete have said that he is innocent of any wrongdoing. "Nizar doesn't recognize this process," Poblete said in a telephone interview. "He was there at the invitation of the Iranian government, and he was pulled over on the side of the road by a bunch of men. He's been treated as a hostage ever since." Poblete said Zakka had learned of his verdict last Wednesday, and his Iranian lawyer was told on Sunday. "It's 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million" fine, Poblete said of the 60-page verdict. The Virginia-based lawyer said he has not seen the document but was informed of its contents by Zakka's Iranian lawyer. Zakka was charged under Article 508 of Iran's penal code, Poblete said. The code states that anyone found cooperating with a foreign state against the Islamic Republic of Iran faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Iran's vice president for women and family affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, invited Zakka to attend a conference on women's entrepreneurship in September 2015, according to a copy of a signed letter from Molaverdi provided by Poblete. Amnesty International said last week that Zakka's health was deteriorating in his detention in Tehran's Evin Prison but authorities were denying him medical care. In a statement, Poblete called on U.S. officials to use the visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week to ask for Zakka's unconditional release. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in Dubai; Editing by Daniel Bases) The daily grind of London commuting is being brightened by a collection of black marker pens and white boards -- giving city dwellers a welcome boost as they travel through the metropolis. The hall of Oval underground station looks more like a living room than a Tube stop -- complete with plants and a small library, while Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 5" plays. It is at this stop on the Underground's Northern Line that Glen Sutherland, an employee of tube operator Transport for London (TfL), whips out a black marker and writes up the "Thought for the Day". Today the quote appearing on the large whiteboard -- strategically positioned in front of the escalators used by thousands of people daily -- is from Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure," it reads, written in fine writing which harks back to the books of centuries past. The Oval station tradition began in 2004, as a way to brighten up the station and distract passengers -- particularly during peak times when the crowded trains are akin to sardine cans. "As you come up from the escalator you hear the music, you got the thought of the day, the books, the bench, you can sit down, have a read, take it easy. "We should start serving coffee in there!" Sutherland tells AFP. - From Steve Jobs to Socrates - The TfL employee hunts down quotes on the internet, he says, wary of what should be avoided: "It's a case of choosing them carefully, you can't put anything political, sexist, religion." Sutherland often chooses positive messages for the "Thought for the Day", encouraging those who may have got out of bed on the wrong side. "When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love", is one example from Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Oval's whiteboard also provides advice and comments on society, such as this line from Oscar Wilde: "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." Story continues The quotes can also come from more unusual quarters, such as Yoda from the "Star Wars" films: "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." Other famous names which have appeared include Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Bob Marley, Bruce Lee, Steve Jobs, Confucius, Shakespeare, Socrates and Picasso. Occasionally "Thought for the Day" takes inspiration from news and current affairs, paying tribute to celebrities who have recently passed away such as David Bowie, Prince and Mohammed Ali. There has also been encouragement for Team GB at the Olympics and a birthday message for Queen Elizabeth II. - Driven by social media - The initiative at Oval has now spread to several other stations, with photos of the "Thought for the Day" being shared on social networks, and numerous bars and shops have also started sharing quotes and witticisms. "Shoes: less money than a shrink," quips a sign at one shop about the therapeutic benefits of shopping, while a pub warns "all hipsters must be accompanied by an adult". "Beer is the answer, but I can't remember the question," reads another pub sign, traditionally written in white on a blackboard. The messages sometimes use humour rather than straightforward positive PR, such as one board outside a cafe in Stockport: "Come in and try the worst porridge that one woman on TripAdvisor had in her life". Mandy Miller, a specialist in calligraphy for blackboards, says the fashion for puns and funny comments has come with the growth of social media companies such as Twitter and Instagram. "They rarely say anything about the pub they stand outside or what is on offer, but that's almost irrelevant. It's the photo opportunity that they provide, people like to 'collect' and share them, therefore, the pub gets a mention in the post. The more clever and outlandish the better," says Miller, who goes by the alias "Chalkboard Lady". Roberta Mussato, an Italian passing through Clapham North station which also boasts a whiteboard, is just one enthusiast of the "Thought for the Day". "Either they make you smile or they make you think. In any case it's nice when you're all in the rush and you just take five seconds to read," she says, before getting lost in the fast pace of London life. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said hed like to introduce Donald Trump to his wife, Saadiya, and two teenage daughters, to allay the presidential nominees concerns about Muslims. Speaking to Bloomberg during a visit to New York, Khan said he wants Trump to meet his family, who he described as proud Londoners, proud Muslims. He added that hed like to take the Republican candidate to parts of London that are incredibly diverse. The first Muslim leader of a major European capital, Khan has openly criticized Trumps stance toward Muslims, particularly his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S. Speaking to TIME shortly after his electoral victory in May, he said that if Trump were to become President, hed be stopped from going there by virtue of his faith, which would prevent him from engaging with American mayors and swapping ideas. Conservative tacticians thought those sorts of tactics would win London and they were wrong. Im confident that Donald Trumps approach to politics wont win in America, he said in May. When Trump was asked how the controversial ban on Muslims entering the U.S. would apply to Khan, the son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver, he suggested he would bend the rules. There will always be exceptions, he said, according to the New York Times. Trump also said he was happy about Khans election victory, adding I think its a very good thing, and I hope he does a very good job because frankly that would be very, very good. Many investors like to look for momentum in stocks, but this can be very tough to define. There is great debate regarding which metrics are the best to focus on in this regard, and which are not really quality indicators of future performance. Fortunately, with our new style score system we have identified the key statistics to pay close attention to and thus which stocks might be the best for momentum investors in the near term. This method discovered several great candidates for momentum-oriented investors, but today lets focus in on Camtek Ltd. CAMT as this stock is looking especially impressive right now. And while there are numerous ways in which this company could be a great choice, we have highlighted three of the most vital reasons for CAMTs status as a solid momentum stock below: Short Term Price Change for Camtek A great place to look for finding momentum stocks is by inspecting short term price activity. This can help to reflect the current interest in a stock and if buyers or sellers have the upper hand right now. It is especially useful to compare it to the industry as this can help investors pinpoint the top companies in a particular area. With a one week price change of 4.2% compared to an industry average of 1.1%, CAMT is certainly well-positioned in this regard. The stock is also looking quite well from a longer time frame too, as the four week price change compares favorably with the industry at large as well. Longer Term Price Change for Camtek While any stock can see a spike in price, it takes a real winner to consistently outperform the market. That is why looking at longer term price metricssuch as performance over the past three months or year-- and comparing these to an industry at large can be very useful. And in the case of CAMT, the results are quite impressive. The company has beaten out the industry at large over the past 12 weeks by a margin of 22.1% to 9.2% while it has also outperformed when looking at the past year, putting up a gain of 0.4%. Clearly, CAMT is riding a bit of a hot streak and is worth a closer look by investors. Story continues CAMTEK LIMITED Price CAMTEK LIMITED Price | CAMTEK LIMITED Quote CAMT Earnings Estimate Revisions Moving in the Right Direction While the great momentum factors outlined in the preceding paragraphs might be enough for some investors, we should also take into account broad earnings estimate revision trends. A nice path here can really help to show us a promising stock, and we have actually been seeing that with CAMT as of late too. Over the past two months, 1 earnings estimate has gone higher compared to no downward revision for the full year, while we are also seeing 1 upward revision with no downward revisions for the next year time frame too. These revisions have helped to boost the consensus estimate as two months ago CAMT was expected to post earnings of 11 cents/share for the full year, though today it looks to have EPS of 16 cents for the full year now, representing a solid increase which is something that should definitely be welcomed news to would-be investors. Bottom Line Given these factors, investors shouldnt be surprised to note that we have CAMT as a security with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Momentum Score of A. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here. So if you are looking for a fresh pick that has potential to move in the right direction, definitely keep CAMT on your short list as this looks be a stock that is very well-positioned to soar in the near term. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Tale of the Tape, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CAMTEK LIMITED (CAMT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research One stock that might be an intriguing choice for investors right now is Louisiana-Pacific Corp. LPX. This is because this security in the Building Products-Wood space is seeing solid earnings estimate revision activity, and is in great company from a Zacks Industry Rank perspective. This is important because, often times, a rising tide will lift all boats in an industry, as there can be broad trends taking place in a segment that are boosting securities across the board. This is arguably taking place in the Building Products-Wood space as it currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 5 out of more than 250 industries, suggesting it is well-positioned from this perspective, especially when compared to other segments out there. LOUISIANA PAC Price and Consensus LOUISIANA PAC Price and Consensus | LOUISIANA PAC Quote Meanwhile, Louisiana-Pacific is actually looking pretty good on its own too. The firm has seen solid earnings estimate revision activity over the past month, suggesting analysts are becoming a bit more bullish on the firms prospects in both the short and long term. In fact, over the past month, current quarter estimates have risen from 29 cents per share to 32 cents per share, while current year estimates have risen from 75 cents per share to 81 cents per share. This has helped LPX to earn a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), further underscoring the companys solid position.You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. So, if you are looking for a decent pick in a strong industry, consider Louisiana-Pacific. Not only is its industry currently in the top third, but it is seeing solid estimate revisions as of late, suggesting it could be a very interesting choice for investors seeking a name in this great industry segment. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Tale of the Tape, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report LOUISIANA PAC (LPX): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. DSC_3533 DSC_3533 In a self-proclaimed confession, the 32-year-old Kalki Koechlin mostly feels like an old lady. The actress, who doesnt like to sit idle for long, is currently having her kitty full with multiple projects. Among her major films, one is Konkona Sen Sharmas directorial debut, A Death In The Gunj, and Soni Razdans Love Affair, based on the Nanavati murder case of 1959. Then she is writing an essay on Ophelia for the British Council, shooting a reimagining of Romeo & Juliet with Adil Husain in Delhi and touring with Rajat Kapoors version of Macbeth in the US. Further, theres Azmaish, a crowd-funded documentary shes working on with Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar. In a freewheeling chat with Elle magazine, Kalki spills the beans on the most controversial topics which often an actor refrains from touching - love, sex & breakups. I found it really hard when I left Anurag (Kashyap, her ex-husband). The first year it was tough. I grew up in boarding school and then shared houses with people, so I had never lived alone. But its something I really needed to learn how to do, confessed the actress. Post her divorce from Anurag, Kalkis rumoured love life is nothing less than colorful! If one goes by the gossip mill, there is an assortment of people shes rumouredly having an affair with; like filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, theater artist Jim Sarbh and her Margarita with a Straw co-star, Sayani Gupta. Feel free to keep guessing, said the actress and elaborated, What Ive learned with time, when it comes to the media, is that I have to keep my personal life very personal. I was so candid about it earlier, but that part of my life is not public property. Oh, not to miss - Kalki also expressed her views about the taboo topic - Sex. Sex is better in my thirties; Im less inhibited with my body. In your twenties, youre very worried about how people perceive you. Ive become more selfish in bed now. And Im much fussier (about partners), my bullshit tolerance is a lot less. I dont just like someone because they like me, which was the case usually. As you get older, youre just grateful to be getting some, stated That Girl in Yellow Boots star. Story continues Keep rocking your badass attitude, woman! Text : Pinkvilla The actress was spotted with her rumoured beau Jim Sarbh. The pair looked comfortable in each others company. Take a look at some pictures. Photos by YOGEN SHAH German airline Lufthansa and Air China said on Tuesday they had signed a deal to jointly operate all the groups' connections between Europe and China. "The Chinese aviation market is one of the most important growth markets worldwide. We want to profit from this growth together," Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said in a statement. The Chinese flag carrier and Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline, have had a joint venture in their sights since signing a memorandum of understanding in 2014. The move is "another major step of Air China's globalisation strategy," chairman Cai Jianjiang said. Added to Lufthansa's other co-operations, including with Japan's ANA and Singapore Airlines in Asia, and United Airlines and Air Canada in north America, the joint venture means around half of the German giant's long-haul flights are now covered by such agreements. The two groups plan to coordinate their schedules, offer common fares and improve their offers to corporate clients and frequent flyers under the arrangement. As well as Lufthansa itself, the deal covers subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines. Passengers travelling into Europe from China will be able to connect through the Lufthansa group's hubs in Frankfurt, Zurich and Vienna, while the two firms promised "additional routes in China" with Air China and via code-sharing for those travelling in the other direction. Flights under the joint venture scheme are scheduled to begin with the 2017 summer timetable, the statement said. Lufthansa in July cut profit targets for the year after a spate of terror attacks in Europe and geopolitical uncertainty cut into bookings. The group now expects to do worse in 2016 than in 2015, with preliminary figures showing sales down two percent between January and June compared with the same period last year. In 2015, the German carrier suffered a blow to its reputation after a co-pilot deliberately crashed a plane from subsidiary Germanwings with 149 other people on board into the French Alps. Lufthansa has also weathered a series of strikes by pilots and cabin crew as it seeks to bring down costs in the face of cut-price competition from European rivals including EasyJet and Ryanair. By PTI: New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) CBI today arrested promoter of FTIL and commodity bourse MCX Jignesh Shah in a case of alleged cheating and suppression of facts in getting SEBI extension to MCX-SX to continue as a private stock exchange in violation of norms. "The Central Bureau of Investigation has today arrested a promoter of two private companies and conducted searches at nine places in Mumbai, including the residence and office premises of the said promoter of Mumbai-based two private companies," CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said. advertisement The move came after CBI searches at nine locations, including the premises of Shah, FTIL, MCX, senior SEBI officials --Executive Director Muralidhar Rao, DGM Rajesh Dangeti and AGM Vishakha More-- and a former Executive Director of SEBI, J N Gupta, in connection with the case registered two years ago, the sources said. MCX-SX had started functioning as a stock exchange in 2013 after a long legal battle with SEBI. Meanwhile, 63 moons (formerly known as FTIL), said in a statement, "Pursuant to the applicable regulations of SEBI (LODR), Regulations 2015, please be informed that Central Bureau of Investigation, Economic Offence Wing, Mumbai, is conducting search in connection with FIR ... relating to recognition granted by SEBI to MCX-SX (now Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited)." MCX also gave a statement to BSE, saying the CBI search is going on in respect of recognition granted by SEBI to Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited (formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange Limited) for starting its stock exchange in trading in currency and other segments in respect of case no. RC 9/E/2014". CBI had filed the FIR in the case under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating besides provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged abuse of official position. The agency had alleged that the promoters of MCX-SX had entered into a buy back arrangement with a nationalised bank in violation of Securities Contract Regulation Act, 1956 and Securities Contract (Regulation) (Manner of Increasing and Maintaining Public Shareholdings in Recognised Stock Exchanges) Regulation, 2006. CBI had alleged that Shah, in connivance with SEBI officials, deliberately suppressed this material fact while applying for extension of recognition of the stock exchange, to conduct trade in currency derivatives, and fraudulently obtained the extension of recognition of the exchange in the year 2009 by cheating SEBI. The agency further alleged that the SEBI officials deliberately did not issue notice to the stock exchange for cancellation of its recognition in the currency derivatives, when SEBI had already rejected request of the same stock exchange for trading in other segments. (MORE) PTI ABS KIS RG KIS --- ENDS --- Central Bureau of Investigations(CBI) arrests Jignesh Shah for "his unsatisfactory replies" while recording his statement. By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: After conducting surprise searches on Jignesh Shah, promoter of National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) and Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) and few other directors at nine locations in Mumbai, the Central Bureau of Investigations(CBI) arrested Shah for "his unsatisfactory replies" during recording his statement. Till Tuesday evening, search operation were also going on at Multi Commodity Exchange(MCX), Metropolitan Stock Exchange (MSEI) and at the residences of NSEL directors Jignesh Shah, Joseph Massey, Shrikant Javelgekar and the then executive director of SEBI. advertisement "Incriminating documents, including transfer of shares by private companies, FDR, purchase of assets etc recovered during searches are being scrutinized for further investigation", CBI said in its press statement. The case was registered under section 120 B of IPC read with Section 420 of IPC and Section 13 (2) read with 13 (1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against the promoter of Mumbai-based private company; four then SEBI officials and others. Major allegations are faced by Shah are connivance of the SEBI officials with private company/stock exchange (MCX-SX) of Mumbai in fraudulently allowing renewal of recognition of said company to conduct trade in currency derivatives in 2009 - 2010 . "It was further alleged that the said private company, a stock exchange, had dishonestly entered into a buyback arrangement with some financial institutions in violation of the Securities Contract Regulation Act, 1956 and other rules and regulations and deliberately suppressed this material fact while applying for extension of its recognition to operate in currency derivative", the CBI said. The SEBI allegedly rejected the request of private company/stock exchange for trading in other segments in 2010, but renewed the registration granted to said company/stock exchange even though it was not compliant to SEBI MIMPS Regulations. The CBI is investigating roles of each accused in the licence grant case as well as in the Rs 5,600 crore National Spot Exchange (NSEL) crisis. CBI will produce Jignesh Shah tomorrow before the special CBI court in Mumbai seeking CBI custody of atleast 4-5 days. Also read: CBI arrests FTIL promoter Jignesh Shah --- ENDS --- Maisie Williams Emmy after-party look was so beautifully retro it hurts Maisie Williams Emmy after-party look was so beautifully retro it hurts While Game of Thrones destroyed the competition winning their 38th Emmy (thus making it a record-breaking win!), the entire Thrones cast and crew slayed on the red carpet as well. And one of our favorite stars of Game of Thrones, Maisie Williams (aka Arya Stark), actually blessed us with not just one, but TWO killer looks. For your reference, heres her BEAUTIFUL gown (complete with pockets!!) from the actual Emmy awards ceremony. maisie Its crazy chic and includes some gorgeous detailing like flowers and rabbits! She looks like a royal fucking badass. And heres Maisies second, after-party look, which is totally different, but still equally stunning, because duh when in Rome Hollywood! HBO's Post Emmy Awards Reception - Arrivals Maisies sparkly geometric mini (with matching geo-shaped clutch) is like something out of a mod dream and its just too freakin cool. Seriously, Maisie looks like she stepped off the pages of a 60s Vogue spread. And obviously she knows how to strike the perfect post. She couldve even blended in with the fashionistas of ~swinging~ London. mod maisie In fact, they probably would have completely envied her look. A girl has some serious fashion game. HBO's Post Emmy Awards Reception - Arrivals Amazing fashion aside, it looks like Maisie had the most incredible time at the Emmys and we loved every moment of it right along side her. Congratulations on helping make history (and looking amazing while doing so), Maisie! ...just like to thank me mam xo A photo posted by Maisie Williams (@maisie_williams) on Sep 17, 2016 at 4:42pm PDT The post Maisie Williams Emmy after-party look was so beautifully retro it hurts appeared first on HelloGiggles. Zane Lowe is known for his revealing interviews, frequently getting some amazing face-to-face time with the likes of Chance the Rapper, Kanye West, and Daft Punk. Zane's next interview could be one of his most reclusive subjects yetLondon's Evening Standard is reporting that he spontaneously jumped on a plane to Tokyo to interview Frank Ocean (again), who gave him the go-ahead just hours before. Frank and I have known each other for a few years. So he trusts me enough to get on FaceTime," Lowe told the Evening Standard. But Lowe had to travel all the way to Japan to secure the huge exclusive, adding "But if [that interview] doesnt work and its not coming together, theres that moment where you have to ask yourself: How badly do you want to deliver this for Frank, and for the audience? And is this going to be the best way to do both?" He explained further, saying, Deciding within a few hours to jump on a plane for Tokyo to interview Frank Ocean, and getting the go-ahead from him by textYeah, do it, get on a planeand thats all we have: we dont have a time, we dont have a location and theres a freedom in that which makes it incredibly exciting to be working in this modern framework. We've yet to see an official announcement for the interview, but considering he was in Tokyo recently, tweeting "Hello Tokyo" on September 9, we shouldn't have to wait too long. Related links: Continue Reading On Complex An Ohio man who was charged last week with murder and kidnapping, has been linked by local police to the deaths of at least five women. The latest developments in the Shawn Grate case have led Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey to call Grate obviously a serial killer. When you start in 2003 or 2004 and youre still doing it in 2016, theres got to be something in between. Its hard to believe that others arent out there, he said, according to the Washington Post. Grate was arrested after a woman he had allegedly kidnapped and tied up in an abandoned house in Ashland County, Ohio, managed to make a desperate 911 call while he slept. During the 17-minute phone call, the woman begged for the polices help as she stood quietly in the first-floor bedroom. When officers arrived they found the bodies of two women: Stacey Stanley, a 43-year-old mother who went missing about a week earlier, and Elizabeth Griffith, 29, of Ashland, who had been missing for about a month, reports the Washington Post. Investigators then discovered the body of Candice Cunningham, 29, who was never reported missing and was murdered in 2016, Fox News reports. And authorities have reopened the case investigating the death of Rebekah Leicy, who went missing in February 2015, after Gates admitted to officers that he strangled her, Cleveland 19 News reports. Gates also confessed to police about the first woman he killed, authorities said; Bailey said the unidentified womans body was discovered in March 2007. Grates attorney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf in the murders of Stanley and Griffith as well as the kidnapping of the woman hes accused of abducting and tying up this month, the Associated Press reports. Yellowknife (Canada) (AFP) - De Beers officially opened one of the world's largest diamond mines on Tuesday near the Arctic Circle in Canada's remote far north. The Gahcho Kue mine is situated in the outback some 280 kilometers (174 miles) northeast of Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. "It's the largest diamond mine brought into production in the last 13 years and it's the biggest outside South Africa," De Beers chief executive Bruce Cleaver told AFP in an interview at a ceremony christening the new mine. "So this is very significant for us." Headquartered in Johannesburg, De Beers owns a 51 percent stake in the mine, whose name is derived from a term for "big rabbit" in the local indigenous Chipewyan language. The global diamond company's Canadian partner Mountain Province Diamonds controls the remaining ownership stake. Discovered in 1995, the deposit located near the Arctic Circle took more than $1 billion to develop. The open-pit mine is accessible only by air except for a few months in winter when trucks can travel across ice roads. It is expected to produce 54 million carats of rough diamonds over its operating lifetime, by 2028, and employ 530 workers who must be flown in from communities further south for two-week work rotations, according to De Beers. The search for diamond-rich kimberlite formations underground is costly and finds are rare, Cleaver said. "It's also very difficult to bring a new diamond mine into production on time and in the budget," he added. Finding a rich deposit, setting up the mine and bringing it on stream "is very rare these days," he said. The Gahcho Kue mine is the sixth to open in Canada in the last two decades, making the country the world's fifth-largest diamond producer in terms of volume and third in value, with more than $1.5 billion in annual exports. Cleaver predicted that "consumer demand for diamond jewelry is set to see continued medium to long-term growth." Story continues However, production is waning. Last December, De Beers halted operations at its Snap Lake mine adjacent to the new Gahcho Kue mine and put it up for sale. It may be shuttered if no buyers come forward. Another of its mines in Ontario province, meanwhile, is scheduled to close in the next three years. Diamond sales to consumers have been hampered by an economic slowdown in China and ongoing turmoil in global financial markets, falling two percent in 2015 to $79 billion. This sluggishness is expected to continue over the next decade, according to a forecast published last week by De Beers, which is owned by mining giant Anglo American and the government of Botswana. The United States, China, India and Japan have traditionally provided the largest markets, buying up around 73 percent of diamonds sold each year. Manhattan-chelsea-bombing-with-New-York-Mayor-Bill-de-Blasio Even has some have seized upon the arrest of a naturalized American of Afghan origin in connection with last weekends bombing in Chelsea neighborhood of New York City to fuel anti-immigrant feelings, the mayors of New York, Paris and London have reaffirmed their commitment to welcoming refugees and migrants to their cities. Bill de Blasio of New York, Anne Hidalgo of Paris, and Sadiq Khan of London co-wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, sending a clear message to leaders attending the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants and President Obamas Leaders Summit on Refugees this week: Our cities stand united in the call for inclusivity: As the mayors of three great global cities New York, Paris and London we urge the world leaders assembling at the United Nations to take decisive action to provide relief and safe haven to refugees fleeing conflict and migrants fleeing economic hardship, and to support those who are already doing this work. Politicians in all three countries have equated migration with terrorismmost recently, with the son of US presidential candidate Donald Trump comparing Syrian refugees with nefarious intentions to poisoned Skittles candy. All three mayors come from cities scarred by terrorism, from 9/11 in New York City to the London bombings of 2005, to the attacks in January and November of 2015 in Paris. Still, it is wrong to characterize immigrant and refugee communities as radical and dangerous, the three mayors wrote. Therefore, we must continue to pursue an inclusive approach to resettlement in order to combat the growing tide of xenophobic language around the globe. And they do. The mayors highlighted their cities centers for refugees, support for unaccompanied children, and municipal ID programs designed to give immigrants access to services and resources. Investing in the integration of refugees and immigrants is not only the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do, the mayors wrote. Refugees and other foreign-born residents bring needed skills and enhance the vitality and growth of local economies, and their presence has long benefited our three cities. Story continues They urged the world leaders to follow their example: We know policies that embrace diversity and promote inclusion are successful. We call on world leaders to adopt a similar welcoming and collaborative spirit on behalf of the refugees all over the world during the summit meeting this week. Our cities stand united in the call for inclusivity. It is part of who we are as citizens of diverse and thriving cities. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Fans of "Running Man" can look forward to the opening of Shoopen Malaysia's flagship store this coming October, as the only female member of the popular South Korean variety show will be making an appearance in Malaysia! The 35-year-old actress will be gracing the grand opening of one of South Korea's largest footwear fashion brands, which will take place at Fahrenheit 88, Jalan Bukit Bintang on 1 October 2016. The Malaysian Shoopen store takes up two full floors at Fahrenheit 88 and will be the first Shoopen store in Southeast Asia. To meet the cheerful South Korean actress and model, fans can join the "Spend and Win" contest which will end on 25 September. All you need to do is spend RM200 and above in the store in a single receipt, and you will be eligible to participate in the contest, and win special passes to see Song Ji Hyo at a special zone which is nearer to the stage. Through this contest, five lucky winners will stand a chance to win the meet and greet passes where they will be allowed to go on stage for a group photo opportunity with the South Korean star! Visit Shoopen Malaysia's Facebook for more info. The Centre has prepared a list of 42 phrases (like gender selection, sex selection) which, when searched online, would produce no results. This has been done after the Supreme Court had accused Google, Yahoo and Microsoft of defying its orders to end prenatal sex determination. By Harish V Nair: Two months after a fuming Supreme Court accused Google, Microsoft and Yahoo of attempting to intentionally defy its orders aimed at putting an end to prenatal rampant sex determination tests, Centre told judges it is coming up several words using which if a search is made on these sites, there will be an auto block with a warning and "nothing would be reflected". advertisement To start with, the Information Technology ministry submitted a list of 42 phrases (having most commonly used words like 'gender selection', 'prenatal sex determination', 'baby gender selection', 'sex selection', etc.) before a bench headed by justice Dipak Misra and said they are coming up with several more. Also Read: SC accuses Google, Microsoft, Yahoo for posting foetal-sex test ads SUPREME COURT HAD SCOLDED CENTRE, WEBSITES On July 15, the court had directed Modi government to take urgent steps to stop the search engine trio from hosting advertisements of kits for foetal gender determination, and displaying the addresses of foreign clinics that provide assistance in the act, which is an offence in India. Solicitor General (SG) Ranjit Kumar said the government had to intervene as the companies failed to develop a technique to block the advertisements. When the lawyers for the internet giants said they were agreeable to blocking if particular instances were brought to their attention, the bench told them "you are under obligation to see that the doctrine of auto block is applied within a reasonable period of time. It is difficult to accept the submission that once it is brought to their notice, they will do the needful". As per latest estimates, around five lakh female foetus are aborted annually. According to UNICEF, India has lost over two crore girls since 2007 to female foeticide. Since 1991, 80 per cent Indian districts have recorded an increasingly masculine sex ratio."Call your technical people. They (search engines) need to be controlled. They are violating the laws of India. They are flagrantly violating the law of the country and it seems they do not have any respect for the law of this country", an angry SC had told centre's lawyer. "There can be no dispute that the respondent Google, Microsoft and Yahoo cannot put anything on their search engines that violate the law of the country", bench had said. THE CASE SC asked the SG to instruct the government to hold a meeting of technical experts of the government with that of the internet search engines within a week's time and made it clear that "nothing shall be there on the search engines that will violate the law of this country". advertisement SC was acting on a petition filed by Sabu Mathew George who is a member of the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee set up by the SC in 2003 to inspect and report the implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. The plea said such advertisements flooded the internet after the Pre-Natal Diagnostics Technique (PNDT) Act, which came into force in 1994 to crack down on female foeticide, and banned the publication of such ads in the print media. Also Read: Google, Yahoo, MS obliged to check pre-natal test ads: SC --- ENDS --- Mercedes is promising a greater focus on electric mobility at this year's event, including EV versions of its entire Smart car lineup plus a plug-in electric concept car. However, until that concept is unveiled its Paris Motorshow line up will resemble an AMG AGM. At the start of 2016, Mercedes announced that one of its grand future plans was to bring its dedicated tuning arm AMG -- the department charged with building sporting flagships -- closer to the company's core clients. To do this it was going to offer models of all shapes and sizes infused with differing levels of AMG performance. And as we approach the end of 2016 and with it the Paris motor show, the 2500-square meter Mercedes-Benz stand will boast four new models with an AMG badge on their rear. The most exciting of which are not one, but two soft-top Mercedes-AMG GT models -- the Roadster and the C Roadster. Officially announced at the beginning of the month, they offer different levels of comfort and performance but will both leave pretty much any series production Porsche standing. The company will be debuting a sportier take on its GLC crossover coupe, the Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 4Matic complete with twin-turbocharged V6 powerplant and a 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds plus plenty of room for four adults and their luggage. As good as it promises to be, the 43 4Matic is simply a taste of things to come -- a 63 4Matic, with a twin-turbo AMG V8 is also on its way in due course. The AMG 43 4Matic versions of the E-Class in sedan and Station Wagon form will complete the company's sporting focus at this year's show and they will be joined by something Mercedes is calling the E Class All Terrain. Another new variant for the E-Class range that will boast genuine off-road capability and styling cues but will stop short of being an actual SUV. As for its Paris concept car, Mercedes is expected to unveil an electric SUV with a range between charges equal to the Tesla Model X. And while that particular car won't be going into production for several years, the Paris show will mark the official launch of the Smart plug-in electric range. With an EV version of the ForTwo, ForFour and the ForTwo cabrio, the company will become the first in the world to offer a plug in electric version of every model in its current vehicle range. By Madeline Chambers and Paul Carrel BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's shock admission that she wishes she could turn back the clock on her migrant policy is a clear attempt to mend fences with her allies in Bavaria and a strong hint she will seek to run for a fourth term as German chancellor. Not everyone in the conservative Bavarian CSU was convinced by her uncharacteristically contrite remarks on Monday, however, and Merkel's own views on political longevity could play into her decision on whether to stand again. Merkel's conservative CDU suffered its second electoral rout in as many weeks in Berlin on Sunday as voters rejected her open-door migrant policy just a year before a federal election. Striking a confessional tone that reached out to Catholics in her own party and in the CSU's southeastern heartland, a front line of the migrant crisis, Merkel took her share of the blame and said she would if she could "turn back time by many many years" to prepare Germany for the influx. Looking more vulnerable than ever before in her 11 years in office, Merkel chose her words carefully as she sought to appease her CSU allies, who have repeatedly voiced anger at her decision to let in a million migrants last year. The CSU accounts for roughly 20 percent of the conservative bloc of votes in the federal parliament and she needs its support to stand again for the chancellorship. Reading a script, she distanced herself from her "we will manage it" mantra on integrating refugees which has been widely criticized by political foes in the CSU as well as the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is winning votes. But, crucially, she offered no policy concessions, which means that this may not go far enough for the CSU to endorse her in the next few months. "She is weaseling without revoking," said Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of Germany weekly Die Zeit, adding the underlying message was 'I was not wrong. I only failed to get the message across'. TIME TO GO? Inscrutable Merkel smiled and declined to comment when asked if she would run in 2017, saying only she was still motivated. Spiegel Online and top-selling daily Bild clearly interpreted her remarks as a signal that she would stand again. "There can be no doubt over whether she will run again," Bild wrote in an editorial, reflecting a widely held view in Berlin that there is no obvious successor. However, there was some dissent within German media. The Berlin correspondent of Deutschlandfunk radio said he would not be surprised if she smoothed things over with the CSU in the next couple of months only to announce at the CDU's conference in December that she will not run again. Merkel, 62, who grew up in Communist East Germany, is well aware that leaving politics at the right time is one of the most difficult decisions a leader has to make. "I would like some day to find the right time to leave politics. That is much harder than I had previously imagined it to be. But I don't want to be a half dead wreck when I leave politics," she was quoted as saying in 1998. Merkel was herself ruthless towards her mentor, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, saying in the midst of a party funding scandal in 1999 that it was time to move on without him. "Of course she will run again. It would be irresponsible for her to throw in the towel now," one senior German official said. "She will do it again.. I would bet money on this." However, even the fact that there is speculation about her future highlights how things have changed. Until only a few weeks ago, the question was not even raised. "Instability is bad and all investors love Merkel, but one is reminded of when (former British Prime Minister Margaret) Thatcher became very beloved by foreigners and foreign investors and started losing luster back home," said Sassan Ghahramani, CEO of U.S.-based SGH Macro Advisors which advises hedge funds. EYES ON BAVARIA Much depends on whether Merkel's contrition will win over her critics in the CSU, focused more squarely on their party's performance on its Bavarian home turf than on national politics. Senior CSU lawmaker Stephan Mayer told broadcaster NDR that Merkel's comments were a "very important and welcome signal" showing she had understood popular concerns, adding the two parties were on the path of reconciliation. But CSU boss Horst Seehofer was lukewarm, saying voters did not want backward-looking apologies, but actions. The influx of migrants has already slowed from the million who entered Germany last year and is estimated to be nearer 300,000 this year. Even last December, Merkel acknowledged her critics' fears and said the flow of refugees must ease. That has been achieved, partly because other countries have closed the Balkan route for migrants. Merkel argues other measures, including an EU-deal with Turkey, have also helped. A humbled Merkel may have changed her vocabulary, but her statement on Monday was also an implicit rejection of the central CSU demand of a cap of 200,000 migrants a year. Former Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, of the CSU, told Focus Merkel realized she had to adjust her message but as long as she rejected a cap, doubt remained over her resolve. "So much trust has been lost, you also have to change policies," he said. (Additional reporting by Noah Barkin and Andreas Rinke; writing by Madeline Chambers; editing by Philippa Fletcher) Mexico City (AFP) - A special Mexican police unit has raided seven sawmills near the monarch butterfly's mountain sanctuary in a bid to prevent illegal logging threatening the insect's winter migration, officials said Tuesday. Backed up by a helicopter, some 220 members of the country's police force and 40 forestry inspectors participated in the September 12 operation in the western state of Michoacan. North American governments have taken steps since last year to protect the monarch butterfly, which crosses Canada and the United States each year to hibernate on the fir and pine trees of Mexico's western mountains. Last week's raid was the first since the government decided in April to add the police to protection efforts for the brilliant orange and black monarchs. The force has been conducting foot patrols day and night, using drones and helicopters for surveillance when weather permits, Abel Corona, director of the special units, said at a news conference. The authorities permanently shut down three sawmills in the town of Ocampo and one was temporarily closed while its legality is verified, the government said. Three more were temporarily closed in Aporo for lack of the proper paperwork. No one was arrested. The operators of the illegal mills fled before the police arrived. Ignacio Millan Tovar, a deputy prosecutor at the federal environmental prosecutor's office, said the raids led to the seizure of 6.54 cubic meters (231 cubic feet) of wood. By permanently shutting down three mills, the authorities are preventing the illegal logging of 3,300 cubic meters of wood per year, Millan said. "It is the equivalent of 330 logging trucks lined up one after the other," Millan said. "This is the relevance and importance of removing these three sawmills from circulation," he said. The people behind illegal logging are from Michoacan, he said, without providing more details. Illegal logging dropped by 40 percent between the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 butterfly season, environmental protection authorities said last month. Story continues But March storms killed seven percent of the monarchs. The cold spell came after authorities had reported a rebound in the 2015-2016 season, with the butterfly covering 4.01 hectares (9.9 acres) of forest, more than tripling the previous year's figure. The cold weather's impact on the population will be known when the butterflies begin to arrive in later October or early November, before returning north in March, said Gloria Tavera Alonso, regional director of CONANP, the agency overseeing natural protected areas. "That was good," deadpanned emcee Stephen Colbert, as an audience of visiting dignitaries, school children, and a few rows of raucous Girl Scouts took their seats following a standing ovation for a performance by the cast of Broadway's Waitress. The event, "Broadway Shines a Light on Girls' Education," held on Monday (Sept. 19) at the Bernard B. Jacobs theater in New York's Times Square, gave First Lady Michelle Obama the opportunity to reach out directly to the spouses of the Chiefs of State and Heads of Government participating in this year's United Nations General Assembly, about her global Let Girls Learn Initiative. "I want to be clear that as First Lady of the United States I have no budget of my own for programs, I have no authority to make or pass laws, and I cannot issue any kind of executive orders," she told the audience, before reminding them that, "When people hear the stories of girls who aren't in school they want to help. And as spouses of world leaders, so many of us here in this room have platforms to tell these stories and bring people together to take action for these girls." Diane Warren Explains How Michelle Obama's 'This Is for My Girls' All-Star Anthem Came to Be: Exclusive With performances from the female-focused casts of Wicked, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Waitress and The Color Purple, as well as remarks from Queen Rania of Jordan, and Dr. Gertrude Mutharika, the First Lady of Malawi, the program had the feel of a high wattage pep rally in support of attaining education for girls around the globe. Cynthia Erivo, who recently received the Tony for her performance in The Color Purple, had the audience on their feet with a powerhouse rendition of that show's "I'm Here." But the performer wasn't interested in her own accolades. "The thing about me that is most important is that I'm a young Broadway actress, but I'm also female," Erivo told Billboard. "So I have a vested interested in other young women learning and being confident in themselves." Sara Bareilles Celebrates 'Waitress,' Broadway's First Musical From All-Female Creative Team And it was the stories shared by three young women: Noor Abu Ghazaleh of Jordan, Summyka Qadir of Pakistan, and Halima Robert of Malawi, who spoke about overcoming poverty, child marriage and indifference in order to attain an education that really brought the house down. In her earlier remarks, Mrs. Obama spoke of the girls she'd seen "stand up and be champions." And as the three women walked off stage and the Girl Scouts clapped and hollered for what they'd just heard, there was a sense that this next generation of girls won't let anything stand in their way as they champion the right to learn for themselves, and for girls just like them, all around the world. Michelle Obama took to Broadway to promote Let Girls Learn, and its so empowering Michelle Obama took to Broadway to promote Let Girls Learn, and its so empowering Our incredible First Lady Michelle Obama has been a powerful advocate for educating women and girls for all of her years in the White House, and we are SO behind that message. Michelle started the initiative called Let Girls Learn, which is an organization that tackles many of the issues that prevent adolescent girls around the world from getting an education. Yesterday, Michelle hosted an event on Broadway to raise awareness for this cause that is so close to her heart. Michelle Obama was joined by Stephen Colbert and Broadway stars for Broadway Shines a Light On Girls Education. Traveling from Pakistan, Jordan and Malawi, these young women courageously shared their stories of overcoming unthinkable barriers to their education on the stage of New York's historic Bernard B. Jacobs Theater at the First Lady's "Broadway Shines A Light on Girls' Education" event. #LetGirlsLearn A photo posted by First Lady Michelle Obama (@michelleobama) on Sep 20, 2016 at 9:24am PDT The event was held in the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York City, with hilarious comedian Stephen Colbert as the emcee. Michelle spoke in front of a theater full of the spouses of global heads of state who are in town for the U.N. General Assembly, and implored them to make this an issue. Billboard reported some of Michelles impassioned speech. I want to be clear that as First Lady of the United States I have no budget of my own for programs, I have no authority to make or pass laws, and I cannot issue any kind of executive orders. When people hear the stories of girls who arent in school they want to help. And as spouses of world leaders, so many of us here in this room have platforms to tell these stories and bring people together to take action for these girls. Michelle called on her fellow influential women to use their power to ensure that girls are given the opportunity to get an education. Story continues The First Lady invited some of the awesome women of Broadway to perform at the event. A photo posted by cynthiaerivo (@cynthiaerivo) on Sep 19, 2016 at 3:01pm PDT Performers came from Wicked, The Color Purple, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Waitress. These performers included Cynthia Erivo, who recently won a Tony for her incredible performance in The Color Purple. Billboard also quoted her thoughts on the historic day. The thing about me that is most important is that Im a young Broadway actress, but Im also female. So I have a vested interested in other young women learning and being confident in themselves. The keynote speakers were three young women who spoke from their own experiences of overcoming obstacles to get an education. Noor Abu Ghazaleh of Jordan, Summyka Qadir of Pakistan, and Halima Robert of Malawi spoke about the kinds of extreme obstacles in their path to an education such as child marriage, poverty and an indifference to womens education. But despite all of these hardships, these young women were able to achieve their goals of learning and growth. The post above details the story of Halima of Malawi. At the age of 15, Halima was forced to leave her education behind and marry a man twice her age. Weeks into marriage, Halima told her husband that the Mother Group, a community group of women that supports girls and fight for their right to go to school, would come looking for her once they learned that she had been married off. And they did. They found Halima and helped her break free of her marriage and return to her an education. Now, Halima works with @USAIDs ASPIRE program and serves as a role model in her class as she is still able to achieve top grades despite missing months of school. That is SUCH an inspiring story, and we are so glad to see such a powerful collection of women coming together to make sure all young girls like Halima have access to education. According to the First Lady, 62 million girls around the world arent in school, and we are very supportive of all of Michelle Obamas efforts to change that. A photo posted by First Lady Michelle Obama (@michelleobama) on Sep 20, 2016 at 6:27am PDT To find out how you can help or contribute, check out the Let Girls Learn website, which details ways that we can get involved. Because everyone deserves access to the wondrous world of books and learning! belle books The post Michelle Obama took to Broadway to promote Let Girls Learn, and its so empowering appeared first on HelloGiggles. Athens (AFP) - Greek police arrested nine migrants after clashes and a huge fire at an asylum seekers' camp, as the UN warned Tuesday that 2016 could be the deadliest year yet for refugees trying to reach Europe. Some 5,000 migrants fled Monday when dozens of tents and shelters at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos were torched, in a blaze sparked when migrants of different nationalities got into a brawl. The people arrested -- including Afghans, Iraqis as well as one national each from Senegal, Syria and Cameroon -- were taken into custody over the violence that led to the fire, a police source said. "Calm has returned to the (island), but the situation is still changing," the source said, adding 40 riot police had been sent to Lesbos. The Moria unrest underscored the ongoing urgency of Europe's biggest refugee crisis since World War II as the UN refugee agency warned fatalities in the Mediterranean could outstrip last year's total of almost 4,000. Billionaire investor George Soros also waded into the fray Tuesday by saying he was investing $500 million in migrant start-ups. - 'I've nothing left' - Greek police said the Moria fire destroyed 60 pre-fabricated structures, 100 tents and three shipping containers that housed camp services. "My tent burned down. I've nothing left but the clothes on my back," Hamid, a young Iranian, told AFP. Greek media showed images of women fleeing with babies in their arms although no injuries were reported. A ministerial source said the camp would be rebuilt as soon as possible but in the meantime authorities were placing families in another camp on Lesbos, where there are in excess of 5,600 people, over 2,000 above nominal capacity. Brawls are common among people desperate to avoid being returned to Turkey or their home countries after spending a small fortune and risking their lives trying to escape poverty and persecution. "It is not surprising," said Roland Schoenbauer, a UNHCR representative in Greece, pointing to a "lack of security" at the camp. Story continues He reiterated UNHCR's calls for the swift transfer of some migrants on the Greek islands to mainland Europe, saying the island camps had some 6,000 more people to find places for than capacity allowed. Greece overall currently hosts more than 60,000 refugees and migrants, most looking to travel to Germany and other affluent EU countries. But they are unable to do so after several eastern European and Balkan states shut their borders earlier this year. Tuesday, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said more than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year. Although that number is well down on 520,000 for the first nine months of last year, the UNHCR said fatality rates had risen. A spokesman said 2016 is set to be "the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea" with 3,211 migrants reported dead or missing to date -- compared with 3,771 across 2015. - 'Gaps' in EU response - Although a March accord provides for Turkey taking back migrants who do not apply for asylum or have a claim rejected, claimants have overwhelmed Greek asylum services in the absence of beefed up administrative staffing promised by Brussels. "The fire at Moria is symbolic of the gaps in the European response to the refugee crisis," said Panos Navrozidis, Greece director of the International Rescue Committee. To date, authorities say just 502 people have been returned to Turkey while arrivals continue at a rate of around 100 per day. The Moria blaze came amid a UN summit to roll out a global response to the crisis. The summit saw world governments adopt a non-binding political declaration pledging to uphold the rights of a record 65 million refugees and help them resettle. Soros meanwhile said governments had to play "the leading role" but in announcing his cash pledge told the Wall Street Journal that "harnessing the power of the private sector is also critical." "Migrants are often forced into lives of idle despair, while host countries fail to reap the proven benefit that greater integration could bring," said Soros, lamenting a "collective failure to develop and implement effective policies to handle the increased flow." A mother had no idea her twin daughters would be born conjoined has now been forced to decide whether she wants her babies separated, despite knowing that it may kill one or both of them. Read: Twins Conjoined at the Heart Are Separated in Miracle Surgery: 'The Outlook Is Extremely Optimistic' Taslima Khatun Uno, of North Bangladesh, said she didn't even know she was pregnant with twins before she gave birth in July. "The doctors shouted, 'Two babies! Give them medicine, we have to save their lives,'" Khatun Uno recalled, knowing nothing more than the fact that one of her babies may not have been healthy. "The whole night, I heard two crying sounds," she recalled. It was her husband, Mohammed Rafiqul Islam, who met the twins first. "The doctors told me, 'Here are your twins, they are conjoined from the head,'" Rafiqul Islam said. "I had never seen babies like this and I was nervous." According to Barcroft Media, Khatun Uno had experienced a healthy pregnancy and ultrasounds revealed no abnormalities until her second to last month of pregnancy, where doctors told her the baby's head was growing bigger than the body. Doctors gave her medicine for the condition. Khatun Uno said they didn't even consider she might have been carrying twins, joined at the head. Although Khatun Uno told her husband that her daughters, Rabia and Rukia, are beautiful despite their rare condition, "for their future its necessary to separate the girls they are not having a healthy life." But according to their pediatric surgeon, Rohu Rahim, "this is not like any other surgery. It is a difficult and complicated operation and will be a team effort." He said it is possible for both the babies to die in the process, or one to die and one to live. Read: Baby Born at Sea Under 'Extraordinary Circumstances' After Being Rescued From Overcrowded Boat The other complication in the decision is money. Rafiqul Islam and Khatun Uno, who are both teachers, do not believe they will be able to afford the surgery. Story continues "We are asking the government to help us," Rafiqul Islam said. "Surgery will be costly and it's not possible for us to bear this cost." The family now has two years to come up with a plan and the money, but for now, the concerned mother said: "I pray to God that both my babies should stay alive after surgery and they can lead beautiful lives." Watch: Meet the Cosmetic Surgeon Who Livestreams His Procedures for All to See: 'It's Show Time' Related Articles: Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda choosing India over China for his first overseas visit since assuming power has not gone down well with China. The latter has accused India of interfering in its relations with Nepal. By Ananth Krishnan: The Chinese media has accused India of "interfering" in its relations with Nepal and 'pressuring' new leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to move away from Beijing. That Prachanda last week chose India as his first overseas destination as Prime Minister rather than China - as he had done eight years ago - has appeared to rankle with Chinese strategic experts and State media. advertisement WHAT XU LIANG SAID In an article published Tuesday in the Global Times, a paper under the official People's Daily stable, Xu Liang, the Executive Director of the Indian Studies Center at the Beijing International Studies University, said, "It looks like the bilateral relationship between China and Nepal has suddenly turned fragile and sensitive." "Obviously, China feels tricked," he said. "When Kathmandu needed Beijing to relieve pressure from New Delhi, it got close to China and signed a series of crucial agreements with Beijing which would help Nepal get rid of its reliance on India." ALSO READ:NSA Ajit Doval and Nepal PM Prachanda discuss several issues in Delhi China and Nepal had grown closer under the previous KP Sharma Oli government. Amid a border blockade with India, both sides agreed a number of ambitious infrastructure deals, in March even signing an agreement for a landmark cross-border railway. However, China is now worried that the projects face an uncertain fate under the new government, Xu said. While recent reports said Beijing had even decided to reschedule a planned October visit by President Xi Jinping, China has moved to quell those fears, reportedly assuring Kathmandu of a top visit by year-end. "During his tour in India this time, the Pancheshwar Project, reconstruction after the earthquake and the East-West Railway program are on the agenda of high-level meetings. However, all those are among the core subjects of China's Belt and Road initiative that can benefit Nepal," Xu said. "Against such a backdrop, people cannot help but ask whether Prachanda is seeking reconciliation with New Delhi or maintaining Nepal's status of being controlled by India." ALSO READ:Xis visit to Nepal not cancelled: China He said that "under pressure from India" Prachanda was "likely to derail the process" of closer ties with China. This would be Nepal's loss, he added, as China had provided it opportunities to be less dependent on India. "Today's Nepal does not need opportunism, but more politicians with perspective and strategies. Only such politicians can seize the opportunities offered by China's 'B&R' initiative, figure out a way to become less dependent on New Delhi and turn Nepal into a completely independent country." advertisement AI JUN'S ARGUMENT A separate article in the paper, by Ai Jun, argued that the recent visit by Prachandra to India had shown that "India was seeking to 'claw back ground from China' which does not sound like a meeting with fully open mind." With Delhi "alarmed" by the agreements signed by the previous Oli government, "ndia is now trying to turn the tables", he wrote. "But such narrow-minded geopolitical logic will do favour to nobody." ALSO READ:Nepal for friendly ties with India, China: Mahat He added that "while China has never asked Kathmandu to pick a side, the latter has always felt pressure from India in terms of security and internal affairs." "It might not be easy for Nepal to remain unbiased toward the two giant neighbours against such a backdrop," said Ai. "However, if Nepal wants to gain maximum benefit from the situation and thrive, it must not let itself turn into any side's pawn. Keeping good relations with both China and India is Kathmandu's optimal choice." --- ENDS --- BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany needs to keep a closer eye on the influence of funds and institutional investors on German business because they may be distorting competition, the head of the Monopolies Commission said on Tuesday. Large investors, such as U.S. wealth manager Blackrock (BKCC.O) or Norway's sovereign wealth fund, have stakes in numerous German companies that are partly in competition with each other, Achim Wambach said in Berlin. This trend is especially pronounced in sectors such as computer manufacturing, optical and electronic equipment, as well as machinery and vehicle construction, he said. "There is the danger that competition could be impeded," said Wambach, who is chief of the independent commission that advises the government on competition policy. There are already initial indications of distorting effects on competition, he added. Wambach said Germany's cartel office should take a close look at drugmaker Bayer's (BAYGn.DE) $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto (MON.N), since Blackrock has holdings in both companies. "The cartel office should at least cast an eye on it," he said. On the whole, however, there was no reason for competition concerns since the concentration of companies in Germany had fallen, he added. In addition, the interrelationship of its 100 biggest companies had also declined, he said, referring to multiple mandate holders in supervisory boards and mutual capital shares. (Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Caroline Copley; Editing by Tom Heneghan) BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany needs to keep a closer eye on the influence of funds and institutional investors on German business because they may be distorting competition, the head of the Monopolies Commission said on Tuesday. Large investors, such as U.S. wealth manager Blackrock or Norway's sovereign wealth fund, have stakes in numerous German companies that are partly in competition with each other, Achim Wambach said in Berlin. This trend is especially pronounced in sectors such as computer manufacturing, optical and electronic equipment, as well as machinery and vehicle construction, he said. "There is the danger that competition could be impeded," said Wambach, who is chief of the independent commission that advises the government on competition policy. There are already initial indications of distorting effects on competition, he added. Wambach said Germany's cartel office should take a close look at drugmaker Bayer's $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto , since Blackrock has holdings in both companies. "The cartel office should at least cast an eye on it," he said. On the whole, however, there was no reason for competition concerns since the concentration of companies in Germany had fallen, he added. In addition, the interrelationship of its 100 biggest companies had also declined, he said, referring to multiple mandate holders in supervisory boards and mutual capital shares. (Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Caroline Copley; Editing by Tom Heneghan) By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hundreds of top scientists warned on Tuesday against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's vow to pull the United States out of the Paris climate-warming accord if elected in November. The 375 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including 30 Nobel Prize winners, said in an open letter that a U.S. abandonment of the agreement would make it far harder to develop global strategies to lessen the impact of global warming. "Thus it is of great concern that the Republican nominee for President has advocated U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord," the letter said. "A 'Parexit' would send a clear signal to the rest of the world: 'The United States does not care about the global problem of human-caused climate change. You are on your own.'" Among the signers are biologist E.O. Wilson, physicists Stephen Hawking and Claude Canizares, astrophysicist Simon D.M. White, and Nobel winners Thomas Steitz, Michael Levitt and William Daniel Phillips. The National Academy of Sciences is a private society of scholars who advise the United States on science and technological matters. The signers of the letter said they did so as individuals and not on behalf of the Academy or their institutions. In Paris last December, almost 200 countries agreed to slash greenhouse gases and keep global temperature rises to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. The United States and China, the two largest producers of carbon emissions, ratified the accord this month. Trump will speak at a natural gas industry conference in Pennsylvania on Thursday. A Trump spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Trump has dismissed manmade climate change as a hoax invented by the Chinese and says he will abandon the Paris agreement if elected. He has vowed to reverse much of the work the administration of President Barack Obama has done to address climate change, including rules to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The Republican Party platform also questions the legality of Obama's executive order ratifying the Paris deal. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is a strong supporter of the Paris accord. (Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Leslie Adler) Moscow (AFP) - Moscow reacted furiously Tuesday to "unsubstantiated" accusations from the United States that Syrian or Russian planes were responsible for bombing an aid convoy in Syria's Aleppo. At least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday as they delivered humanitarian assistance to desperate civilians in Orum al-Kubra in the Aleppo region, according to the UN. Washington said the alleged air strike could only have been carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime or his Russian allies and that Moscow must take responsibility either way. The Russian foreign ministry said it was watching "with indignation and anger" at attempts by "protectors of terrorists and bandits" to blame Russia or Syria for the attack. The "unsubstantiated, hasty accusations" seemed designed to "distract attention from the strange 'error' of coalition pilots," said the statement, referring to the US-led coalition which struck a Syrian army position at the weekend killing dozens of soldiers. The Russian military, which is investigating the incident, said that footage from activists at the scene showed damage to the vehicles that did not appear to come from an air strike or other munitions. Instead, the fire that tore through the convoy happened "strangely at the same time insurgents were carrying out a large-scale attack on Aleppo," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. Konashenkov said Russian drones had followed the convoy until it successfully delivered its load, but had stopped surveillance after that. "All information on the convoy's location (after that) was known only to the rebels controlling this area," he said. Syria's army has also denied bombing the aid trucks, with a military source telling state media that there was "no truth" to media reports that the Syrian army was responsible. Story continues - UN aid convoys suspended - The deadly attack occurred several hours after Syria's military declared an end to a week-long truce brokered by the Moscow and Washington earlier this month in an attempt to end the five-year war. The United Nations has since suspended all humanitarian aid convoys. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said hope for a renewal of the ceasefire was "for now, very weak", stressing that a truce could only be resumed if "terrorists" halted their fire. "The conditions are very simple. The shooting needs to stop and the terrorists need to stop attacking Syrian troops," he said. "And, of course, it wouldn't hurt if our American colleagues didn't accidentally bomb the Syrians," he added, referring to a US-led coalition strike last week that Moscow said killed at least 62 Syrian servicemen. Russia and the United States have persistently blamed each other for not doing enough to bolster the truce. The love story of Brangelina all began on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004. Read: Jon Voight On Daughter Angelina Jolie's Divorce From Brad Pitt: 'Say A Little Prayer' Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have said they fell in love while playing married assassins. At the time, Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston and eventually left the Friends star for Jolie in 2005, months before the film was released. Anistons fans are reacting to the announcement that Brangelina are splitting up by posting messages online. Gimme a K Gimme an A Gimme an R Gimme an M Gimme an A Gimme KARMA #BRANGELINA #JenniferAniston Jennifer Anistonhttps://t.co/RRzHoT1Es6 pic.twitter.com/0rlPUpRM0a Uplike (@Uplike) September 20, 2016 The most disappointing thing about the #brangelina split is #JenniferAniston doesn't have social media to enjoy all the memes about her. Miss Klonk (@MissKlonk) September 20, 2016 In 2006, Pitt and Jolie had their first child together Shiloh. Two years later, they had twins, Knox and Vivienne. The couple also has 3 adopted children together, Zahara, Pax and Maddox. In 2013, their world was rocked when Jolie announced she had undergone a double mastectomy. Her mother had died of breast cancer and she wasnt taking any chances. A year later, at request of their six kids, they surprised the world by getting married in a secret ceremony at their estate in France Chateau Miraval. Jolies dress was decorated with the drawings of their children. Read: Brangelina Is No More: Angelina Jolie Files for Divorce From Brad Pitt It was Pitts second marriage and Jolies third. In 1996 she married her Hackers co-star Johnny Lee Miller, divorcing three years later. In 2000, she married actor Billy Bob Thornton, and they divorced three years later. In 2015, Jolie directed her husband and herself in the box-office bomb, By The Sea. It marked the second time they worked together. The film was centered around a couple vacationing in France while trying to save their 14-year marriage. Watch: Drew Barrymore Puts On a Brave Face After Announcing Her Divorce From Third Husband Related Articles: By Timothy Mclaughlin CHICAGO (Reuters) - The resettlement of refugees from Middle Eastern countries, particularly Syria, has been the center of a heated political debate after President Barack Obama last year pledged to resettle at least 10,000 refugees from the war-torn country in the United States. But refugees from Myanmar, whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited Washington last week, have quietly outpaced Syrian arrivals in recent years, even as Syria's civil war intensifies, with an increasing number coming from the marginalized Rohingya Muslim community, according to State Department figures. From Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 15, 11,902 Myanmar nationals were resettled in the United States, according to figures from the Refugee Processing Center, operated by the State Department, compared to 11,598 arrivals from Syria over the same time period. That was out of a total of nearly 79,600 refugees who arrived in the United States in that period. The largest group, numbering just over 15,000, were from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Arrivals from Syria, where Islamic State and other radical groups are active, are subject to additional screening processes, according to the White House. State Department figures show the number of Rohingya arrivals from Myanmar jumped from just over 650 in the 2014 fiscal year, to 2,573 last year. This year, 2,173 have arrived as of Sept. 15. During a meeting with Suu Kyi in the Oval Office last Wednesday, Obama announced that the United States would remove sanctions originally imposed on the country in 1997, when it was ruled by a military junta that brutally suppressed pro-democracy movements and showed little regard for human rights. The decision raised alarm among rights groups, who are concerned about the plight of the stateless Rohingya among other ethnic minorities. The Rohingya have long been persecuted in Myanmar, where they are viewed largely as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh though many have lived in the country for generations. Story continues Increased freedom of speech since the military stepped back from direct rule in 2011 has allowed for the unleashing of long-held anti-Muslim sentiment. Around 125,000 remain confined to temporary camps on Myanmar's Rakhine State following waves of deadly violence in 2012 between Buddhists and Muslims. Most were stripped of their ability to vote in last years election. Most Rohingya tend to come to the United States after spending years in Muslim-majority Malaysia and being granted refugee status by the United Nations. Melineh Kano, Executive Director of RefugeeOne, a resettlement agency in Chicago, which is home to one of the largest populations of Rohingya in the United States, said Rohingyas made up more of the total number of refugees arriving from Myanmar to the city recently. "The number has increased considerably over the past year, year and a half," she said. Nasir Bin Zakaria, who founded the Rohingya Culture Center in Chicago, estimates that there are just over 1,000 Rohingya in the city. He fled Myanmar after being forced to work as a porter when he was 16-years-old, he said. Obama has also called for Myanmar to end the persecution of Rohingya in order for it to succeed in its democratic transition, a key achievement of his foreign policy agenda. Nasir Bin Zakaria said that the ability to move around freely and legally made life in Chicago far better than in Myanmar and Malaysia, but it is not without its own challenges for refugees. The city of 2.7 million is struggling with a surge of killings, with 509 murders this year, according to the Chicago Police Department. Newly arrived children from refugee families, unfamiliar to the United States, are an enticing target for gangs looking to recruit, said Kano of RefugeeOne. "When we are selecting neighborhoods we have to be very careful about the crime rate and gang recruitment, because the majority of refugees come with kids," she said. "You either join or you get beaten up." (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin; editing by Stuart Grudgings) Gayle Manchin, former First Lady of West Virginia and mother of embattled Mylan MYL CEO Heather Bresch, may have used her position as head of the National Association of State Boards of Education to encourage states to require schools to buy EpiPens, according to a new report from USA Today. Manchin took over this role in 2012, the same year her daughter was made CEO of Mylan, and eleven states soon followed her direction by drafting laws that required epinephrine auto-injectors in schools. By 2013, most states recommended schools stock this allergy medication after the so-called federal EpiPen Law helped fund those that did. The news surrounding Manchin is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Mylan and its price hikes on EpiPens over the last several years. The company is the center of congressional investigations related to the popular allergy treatment, and it also faces an antitrust probe in New York related to its EpiPens4Schools program. According to the USA Today report, Mylans relationship with the National Association of State Boards of Education appears to have begun in October 2012, when the company sponsored several health presentations at the associations annual conference. Just two months later, the association announced its epinephrine policy intiative, which was designed to help state boards of education develop health policies that included access to auto-injectors. While Manchins organization never specifically mentioned Mylan when it recommended epinephrine auto-injectors, it didnt really have to. As critics have pointed out, Mylan is basically the only maker of these allergy treatments in the world. Its not difficult to see the connection here, and this latest detail will only add more drama to the ongoing Mylan controversy. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MYLAN NV (MYL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Mylan NV are trading at historically low valuations as the company's chief executive officer is set to face a congressional grilling on Wednesday over the price of its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment. The stock is trading at 7.5 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months, holding near its lowest in at least 30 years and well below its five-year average of 11 times, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream. Since late August, when the EpiPen price increases came into the spotlight, Mylan shares have fallen about 15 percent. For the year, they are off about 23 percent, against a nearly 4 percent decline for the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical index, a broad gauge of large and small drugmakers. A test for the shares looms on Wednesday, when Mylan CEO Heather Bresch testifies before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee over price increases of EpiPen, an auto-injector of allergy medicine. The hearing will come the day after West Virginia disclosed an investigation into whether Mylan violated antitrust laws or defrauded the state's Medicaid program. A probe into EpiPen pricing by a U.S. Senate subcommittee was also announced on Sept. 7. The stock "is just not working because of the overhang from all the headline stuff on EpiPen," said Guggenheim Securities analyst Louise Chen, who rates the shares "neutral". One concern among analysts is how fallout over EpiPen pricing will affect Mylan's roughly $1 billion in annual sales of the device. Mylan said last month that it would introduce the first generic version of EpiPen for $300, half the price of the branded product, as it tries to quell the backlash. Further competition looms from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, which hopes to start selling an EpiPen-like device by 2018. Chen also said investors were unsure of the benefits from Mylan's recently completed $7 billion acquisition of Swedish drugmaker Meda, which some had deemed expensive. Story continues Deutsche Bank analyst Gregg Gilbert stuck to his "buy" rating on Mylan stock earlier this month, noting its valuation. But in a research note, Gilbert cautioned: "Investors will have little patience if execution falters on the base business and/or the newly acquired Meda business." (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) The solar wind's evolution is finally coming to light, thanks to new analysis of observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). The twin spacecraft (known as STEREO-A and STEREO-B) studied the sun's edge to see how the constant flow of charged particles known as the solar wind originates. Since solar storms containing these particles can damage satellites and power lines, understanding how these particles are generated is key to improving safety on Earth, NASA officials said in a statement. A new video explains the transition of the particles from the sun's outer atmosphere to solar wind. We've known about the solar wind since the 1950s, but its evolution has been hard to figure out. Prior to that time, scientists knew that the sun and its atmosphere are made of plasma, which are charged particles that separate at extremely high temperatures. [How the Sun's Magnetic Field Works (Infographic)] These positively and negatively charged particles stream out from the corona (the sun's outer atmosphere) and fill the solar system, stretching well beyond Pluto. The new analysis shows that the plasma undergoes changes as it moves farther from the sun. "As you go farther from the sun, the magnetic field strength drops faster than the pressure of the material does," Craig DeForest, lead author of the paper and a solar physicist at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said in the statement. "Eventually, the material starts to act more like a gas, and less like a magnetically structured plasma." While scientists have previously believed that magnetic forces are dominant at the corona's edge, this is the first time that they have actually seen it. The effect is very hard to catch on camera, because the plasma is tenuous and scatters sunlight. To observe the effect, scientists processed the images to take out light sources more than 100 times brighter than the plasma itself. Examples of light sources include dust in the inner solar system, light from the sun and stars in the background. Story continues STEREO's work will help scientists better understand the observations of NASA's Solar Probe Plus mission, which is expected to launch in 2018, according to the agency. Solar Probe Plus will zoom into the sun's corona to get even more information about how the solar wind comes to be, and changes. The new analysis of STEREO data was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal. The data was obtained in December 2008, when both spacecraft were fully functional. Nearly two years ago, STEREO-B lost communication with Earth during a planned reset. Controllers regained contact with the spacecraft late last month, and are checking to see how healthy it is. Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Editor's Recommendations Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. By PTI: From K J M Varma Beijing, Sep 19 (PTI) Chinese and Russian navies today concluded their joint military exercise in waters off the southern province of Guangdong, with a drill to "seize" an island, in a symbolic move by Beijing whose claims over the South China Sea was struck down by an international tribunal. Though held off Guangdong coast far from nine-dash line claim over SCS, the drill has a strategic value for China as it comes nearly two months after an international tribunal struck down Beijings claims over almost all of SCS. advertisement Under pressure from the US and Japan, China regards the drills as significant as they demonstrate Russias backing to it, downplaying reports of international isolation. The eight-day long exercises have ended with both navies staging a mission to seize an island. Besides the SCS which has numerous islands with rich mineral deposits, China also stakes claims over the islands held by Japan in the East China Sea. Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed Chinas decision to reject the SCS tribunal verdict which the US and Japan said is legally binding. As the key element of the annual drill, the Chinese and Russian navies dispatched vessels including missile destroyer, anti-submarine vessels, missile frigates, ship-based helicopters and conventional submarines, among others, official media here reported. The exercises demonstrated the Chinese and Russian navies capacities in command management, telecommunications coordination, and intelligence and information sharing, Senior Captain Li Xiangdong, who commanded the Chinese warships, told state-run China Daily. Addressing the closing ceremony of the drill, which ran from September 13 to 19, Wang Hai, deputy commander of the Chinese Navy, lauded the exercise as successful and said the activity had achieved the desired aim. Wang said the drill had improved the actual combat capabilities, informationisation and standardisation of the two navies, adding that they will expand practical cooperation and boost communication, state-run Xinhua news agency said. Alexander Fedotenkov, deputy commander of the Russian Navy, said the two navies shared theoretical and practical experience and were engaged in sound collaboration throughout the exercise. Fedotenkov said the two sides will maintain close marine cooperation ties, deal with new challenges and threats, and together safeguard world peace and regional stability. The "Joint Sea 2016" drill featured surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, marines and amphibious armored equipment. PTI KJV ZH --- ENDS --- NASA has turned one of its aerial instruments toward Australia's Great Barrier Reef, in an effort to study the destruction of this natural wonder and other coral reefs around the world. The agency's aptly titled CORAL mission (short for COral Reef Airborne Laboratory) will study four major coral-reef systems using data gathered by an instrument mounted in the belly of an airplane. The CORAL team set up camp in Australia earlier this month, and after some bad-weather days, the first science flights over the Great Barrier Reef took place Sept. 9, a NASA representative told Space.com. [Images: Colorful Corals of the Deep Barrier Reef] Changing oceans The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of about 133,000 square miles (344,400 square kilometers), and is the largest structure on Earth made by living organisms, according to a statement from NASA. But this natural wonder, like many other coral reefs around the world, is showing serious signs of decline. As corals die, they are replaced with flat beds of algae and sand; this is a natural occurrence, but typically new corals also appear to replace the old ones. Instead, coral reefs are "degrading at alarming rates due to human-induced factors and global change," thestatement said. Efforts to assess the damage are sparse, and data sets that do exist aren't uniform, making it hard to see the bigger picture. "Virtually all reef assessments to date rely on in-water survey techniques that are laborious, expensive and limited in spatial scope," Eric Hochberg, CORAL principal investigator, said in the statement. "Very little of Earth's reef area has been directly surveyed." Hochberg, an associate professor at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), said scientists also need to build models that can help scientists predict how these reefs will react to "the full range of biological and environmental factors that affect them." To that end, Hochberg said CORAL addresses "an urgent need in the face of ongoing worldwide reef degradation." Story continues The CORAL mission will include some in-water data collection, but that will mainly be used to validate the data taken aerially with the Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRISM). The instrument is built into a modified Gulfstream IV aircraft, built by Tempus Solutions. The plane is about the size of a small commercial aircraft. Other Gulfstream IV's have been modified by NOAA and used to study hurricanes and cyclones. The PRISM instrument collects sunlight reflected off the reefs "in the specific regions of the electromagnetic spectrum important to coral reef scientists," according to the statement. The data will be analyzed "against data for 10 key biological and environmental factors affecting coral reef ecosystems, acquired from pre-existing data sources." The CORAL team will continue to collect data on the Great Barrier Reef through the end of October. Later this year, the program will move to study reefs around the Hawaiian Islands; in the spring of 2017, the mission will take aerial observations of the reefs around two island archipelagos east of the Philippines: the Mariana Islands and Palau. From that comprehensive data set, scientists will be able to search for widespread trends between the state of coral reefs, and the factors (both natural and human-produced) that affect their health. Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Editor's Recommendations Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. President Barack Obama used the pulpit of his last speech before the United Nations to make an impassioned plea for an open world order, even as walls rise against refugees, protectionism makes a comeback, and the West faces the prospect of a simmering cold war with Russia and other authoritarian states. The address represented a rallying cry for beleaguered democratic, pro-trade governments to promote the values of human rights and free markets. Obama also explicitly rejected the politics of isolationism, demagoguery, and nationalism that have gained political traction from the American heartland to Moscow. There appears to be a growing contest between authoritarianism and liberalism right now, and I want everybody to understand I am not neutral in that contest. I believe in a liberal political order, Obama said. So those of us who believe in democracy, we need to speak out forcefully. The U.S. president took aim at plenty of targets during his speech but trained a sharp burst of rhetorical fire on a country that has, in the course of his own administration, become Washingtons international nemesis and, at best, awkward diplomatic dance partner Vladimir Putins Russia. He specifically rebuked Russia for intimidating its neighbors and using military might to shape the future of its growing sphere of influence. Obama argued that Russias military interventions from Syria, where it is shoring up President Bashar al-Assads government, to Ukraine, where Russian-backed rebels seized control of Crimea and continue to challenge a Western-backed government in Kiev are unsustainable over the long haul. In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force, Obama told the U.N. gathering as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other top Russian diplomats listened from the floor. If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure. Story continues Obama also took a swipe at China, which has erected an archipelago of military installations on disputed islands in the South China Sea. He said a peaceful resolution of Chinas territorial dispute will mean far greater stability than militarization in the region. Obama also challenged China to ensure that its troublesome client, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, pays a price for his recent test of a nuclear explosive, a flagrant violation of multiple Security Council resolutions that China has supported. When North Korea tests a bomb, that endangers all of us. And any country that breaks this basic bargain must face consequences, he said. Hours after Obamas speech, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkeys democratically elected, though increasingly authoritarian, leader delivered his first address to the international community since a failed coup attempt in July. Erdogan implored world leaders to crack down on Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating the coup from his self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. If you do not fight against [Gulens organization] now, it may be too late, he said. Obamas speech also served up a blunt rejection of growing calls for sealing national borders, including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps proposal for a beautiful wall along the U.S. southern border to keep out foreigners from Mexico and elsewhere. Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself, Obama said. So the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are squarely addressed. That included a now familiar endorsement of free trade, which Obama hailed as a necessary component for a more prosperous and peaceful world. He described trade wars, protectionism, and tariff hikes as failed models of the past and reiterated his pitch for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim countries awaiting ratification by signatories. But even in Washingtons political climate, Obamas free trade message has become increasingly isolated. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has disowned the trade pact, despite her vocal support for it as Obamas secretary of state; so has progressive firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who challenged her for the nomination. Trump calls the trade pact, which would link together about 40 percent of the global economy, one of the worst deals ever forged. Yet Obama sounded an uncharacteristically populist note in his speech, highlighting the need for the worlds wealthiest to strike a fairer bargain with the worlds workers. A world in which 1 percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never be stable, the U.S. president told the gathering of foreign leaders. A society that asks less of oligarchs than ordinary citizens will rot from within. Although part of Obamas speech centered on his forward-looking policy goals, he also sought to burnish his presidential legacy on the world stage. He noted that the meltdown of the global financial system, which nearly collapsed during the final years of George W. Bushs administration, was stabilized under his watch. He cited landmark diplomatic agreements with Cuba, resulting in restored relations, and Iran, where sanctions relief was traded for the restriction of Tehrans nuclear program. He also pointed to Washingtons role in supporting peace talks that ended Latin Americas longest civil war in Colombia. Obama traversed a range of pressing issues he still hopes to tackle before he steps down in January, singling out the need to secure commitments from governments to make binding the Paris climate pact, an accord to rein in greenhouse gas emissions. If we dont act boldly, the bill that could come due will be mass migrations and cities submerged and nations displaced and food supplies decimated and conflicts born of despair, he warned. But Obama struck a fatalistic note over the prospects of restoring peace in the Middle East, where leaders have demonized rival sects, persecuted political opponents, and tolerated the perversion of Islam. [Such forces] are now at work helping to fuel both Syrias tragic civil war and the mindless, medieval menace of ISIL, he said, referring to the Islamic State. If we are honest, we understand that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to coexist for long, Obama said. In the meantime, Obama said the United States and its coalition partners will continue to undertake a united and relentless military campaign against the Islamic State in Syria. Beyond that, Washington will limit its action to pressing for an elusive diplomatic settlement to the conflict while working to deliver assistance to those in need. The recent breakdown in the Syrian cease-fire, however, has raised doubts over the viability of such a plan. Photo credit: WANG YING/Xinhua via Getty Images (Adds details, quotes) AMSTERDAM, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Tuesday it would spend more generously next year, reversing years of austerity policies as it heads into campaigning for elections in March. Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the government would increase spending by 2.3 billion euros, with more for security, healthcare, childcare and education. The budget also included an upgrade to next year's growth forecast by the Netherlands' Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, from 1.6 percent to 1.7 percent. "The tide has turned", Dijsselbloem said in a speech to parliament. Now "we can look further ahead and invest in opportunities and people." It is not clear whether voters will listen: national broadcaster NOS published a poll on Tuesday which said most Dutch people think their personal finances are worsening and they are not benefiting from the recovery. Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative VVD Party trails the far-right party of populist Geert Wilders in opinion polls. Wilders is campaigning on a platform that would have the Netherlands close its borders to Muslim immigrants and refugees, and quit the euro and European Union. Dijsselbloem's Labour party has lost more than half its popularity since the previous elections in 2012. The minister responded to criticism in recent weeks that the government's austerity policies had damaged the economy unnecessarily. "Spending cuts may cost jobs and growth, but the specific Dutch circumstances couldn't be ignored," he said, arguing that the Netherlands had been harder hit by the financial crisis than others and urgently needed to cut spending. The national debt is expected to fall to 62 percent of GDP next year amid falling unemployment. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / NetCents Technology Inc. (CSE: NC) ("NetCents" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its users are now able to make purchases online with some of the biggest names in retailers and travel companies such as Amazon, Overstock, Ebay, Shopify, and Expedia. NetCents newly updated and innovative Digital Payment Platform closes the loop in becoming a full service payment processor. NetCents users can now purchase online with many of the well-known names that accept digital currency for their goods and services. NetCents' easy to use digital platform offers streamlined digital currency purchasing to companies such as Amazon, Overstock, Ebay, Bloomberg, Shopify, Dell, and Expedia. "NetCents users are already making purchases online from companies such as Overstock.com, Amazon, Expedia, which is another step in our accelerated initiatives to make NetCents an industry leader. Our comprehensive Digital Currency Platform streamlines merchant processing and consumer payments. Our system reduces fees while providing ample space for emerging and existing companies to evolve with the least amount of growing pains," commented Clayton Moore, CEO and Founder of NetCents. "Over the last 18 months NetCents has partnered and integrated with some of the world's largest exchanges, PayPal, Apple Pay and have opened up consumer deposits in 194 countries. NetCents is fully registered and licensed processor that offers the easiest and quickest way to buy, sell and purchase with digital currencies like Bitcoin. Positioning NetCents as an industry leader in the digital currency space." About NetCents NetCents is an electronic payments technology company offering consumers and merchants online services for managing electronic payments by a variety of payments methods through its processing platform. NetCents works with its financial partners, mobile operators, exchanges, etc. to streamline the process and user experience of transacting online. The NetCents platform is integrated into the Automated Clearing House ("ACH") through the Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC", "Royal Bank"). NetCents is available for deposits from 194 Countries around the World, providing you with the freedom to choose to Pay. Your Way. For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.netcents.biz or contact Robert Meister, Capital Markets at Ph: 604.676.5248 or email: Robert.meister@net-cents.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors NetCents Technology Inc. Clayton Moore, Founder/CEO NetCents Technology Inc. Suite 1500, 885 West Georgia Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3E8 The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. SOURCE: NetCents Technology Inc. WARSAW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc has made no progress in its plan to enter the potentially lucrative Chinese market as it needs to obtain a government licence, its Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said on Tuesday. The video streaming service is seeking to grow its subscriber base abroad to counter slowing growth in its home market of the United States. The producer of popular TV series such as Narcos and House of Cards has recently entered countries such as Turkey and Poland, but remains absent in the world's most populous country. Content providers in China face stringent regulations and censorship challenges. Asked whether Netflix had made any progress in entering China, Hastings told reporters: "No ... we are continuing to work on it. Same (problem) it has always been - government permissions, we got to get a specific licence in China." Hastings said he could not give a specific timeframe for Chinese market entry. (Reporting by Marcin Goclowski; Editing by Mark Potter) (Adds information about Netflix plans regarding Polish market) WARSAW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc is expanding its Polish service to include more content subtitled or dubbed in Polish and plans to produce local shows before the end of the decade as the U.S. service seeks more subscribers away from its home market. Netflix, which first launched in Poland in January, said on Tuesday that 80 percent of its streamed content available in central and eastern Europe's most populous country now has Polish subtitles or lectors. Founded nearly 20 years ago, the distributor of popular series such as House of Cards and Narcos is boosting its subscriber base by expanding throughout the world to offset slower growth in its U.S. home market. Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said Netflix also planned to produce content in Poland in a push to promote local movies that may be of interest to a global audience. "A show that is interesting to Canadians, Norwegians, that shows human things," Hastings told reporters after the official launch of the Polish Netflix version, adding that local production could be about Polish history, for example. Asked if local production could be launched before the end of the decade, Hastings said, "If I look at other markets it has been three years, so hopefully before then". Netflix started streaming TV in the United States nearly a decade ago and has now launched in almost every country but it faces the task of adapting the service to different markets and cultures as competitors rush in. In Poland, for example, Netflix is up against two local services as well as HBO GO. "I watch a lot of Netflix movies without subtitles already, but the introduction of the Polish version will definitely broaden their viewers' base in Poland," said Jacek Sledzinski, a 42-year-old lawyer from Warsaw. Hastings also said Netflix had made no progress in its plan to enter the potentially lucrative Chinese market as it still needs a government licence. Story continues Content providers in the world's most populous country face stringent regulations and censorship challenges. "We are continuing to work on it. Same (problem) as it has always been - government permissions, we have to get a specific licence in China," Hastings said, adding that he could not give a specific time for when Netflix might get permission. (Reporting by Marcin Goclowski; editing by David Clarke) Donald Trump is in open hostilities with the news reporters who helped make him a presidential contender. On Friday, he lured journalists with a quick statement declaring that President Obama was born in the United States, then turned to boasting about a new hotel breezing over the fact that he has raised questions about Obamas birthplace for the last five years. Breitbarts Milo Yannopoulos the only member of the media who adores Trump enough to call him Daddy, described the bait-and-switch as a thrashing. Daddy Trump has conquered the media, burned its corpse, and salted the earth of its grave, he said. Daddy managed to achieve free publicity for his new hotel. Also Read: Skittles Clarifies 'Refugees Are People' After Donald Trump Jr. Compares Them to Poisoned Candy But reporters finally did something theyve rarely done this campaign: Stand up to Daddy. A few crews even deleted their footage of the hotel to ensure it wouldnt see the light of day. To me it seemed like this was the last straw, former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau said during his Keepin it 1600 podcast on Monday. Throughout the primaries, Trump infuriated his rivals by riding a wave of free news media publicity to the Republican nomination. Cable networks ran his rallies in their entirety. Morning shows welcomed his phone calls. But the tone has changed. On Sunday, John Dickerson, host of CBSs Face the Nation, grilled Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway on why Trump pushed claims that President Obama was born outside the U.S., saying he advocated something for five years that was a lie. Well, youre going to have to ask him, she finally said. Also Read: Samantha Bee Rips NBC for Giving Donald Trump Airtime: 'Ratings Matter More Than Brown People' (Video) But Trump was busy. On Saturday, he threatened to sue the New York Times, and called columnist Maureen Dowd a neurotic dope. Trump bashing the press is nothing new. You may have heard about his run-in with Megyn Kelly. He mocked a reporter with a disability. Throughout his campaign, he has banned reporters from outlets ranging from Politico to the Washington Post. (The ban is lifted, for now.) Story continues Some outlets, like the Huffington Post, have been proudly antagonistic throughout his run. But many others have failed to challenge him even on factual inaccuracies, perhaps out of over-sensitivity that they would appear liberal. (Theres no telling why NBCs Matt Lauer didnt call Trump out at a town hall earlier this month, when Trump lied that he had opposed the Iraq invasion all along.) In the past week, mainstream outlets have become more confrontational. Also Read: Donald Trump Lifts Media Ban: Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Politico Credentials Restored CNN now calls Trump out regularly in its reporting and in text at the bottom of the screen. Washington Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold, who has closely investigated Trumps charity, posted a note to the campaign Friday asking when Trump would give $5 million to the charity of President Obamas choice. (Trump promised, years ago, to make the donation if Obama would turn over personal documents.) Last week, Trump gleefully taunted reporters of his own traveling press corps because they were late for one of his rallies in New Hampshire. I have really good news for you, Trump told the crowd. I just heard that the press is stuck on their airplane. They cant get here. I love it. But again, instead of taking it, the press pushed back. While TV cameras continued to cover the rally, still photographers opted not to shoot any images out of solidarity with their missing colleagues. Also Read: Vice Reporter Arrested While Trying to Enter Donald Trump Campaign Event One reporter told Politico: The press corps is at a boiling point here and was more frustrated tonight than ever. But the news media may be too late to stop the candidate it helped create. An email last week illustrated just how much Trump has benefited from the news media. In it, Smart Media Group, which works with the Republican National Committee, told Trumps advisers that he has only spent $17 million on TV ads, compared to Hillary Clintons $126 million, according to Politico. If you add Super PACs to the equation, Trumps has spent even less, by comparison $33 million to Clintons $244 million. Since last May, Trump received the equivalent of nearly $3 billion in free advertising, according to the latest numbers from the firm mediaQuant. Meanwhile, Clinton earned about $1.1 billion in free advertising through April. Related stories from TheWrap: Jimmy Fallon Defends Donald Trump Interview: 'I'm Never Too Hard on Anyone' (Video) Donald Trump Basks in Glory of Being Right About NYC Bomb: 'I Should Be a Newscaster' (Video) Emmys Fixate on Politics, From Donald Trump to Jeb! By PTI: From K J M Varma Beijing, Sep 19 (PTI) China today slammed the European Parliament leaders for receiving the Dalai Lama and warned that the meeting between them has harmed Beijings "core interests" in Tibet. It was reported that European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Elmar Brok, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, met with the Dalai Lama on September 15 despite strong opposition from the Chinese side. advertisement "They have broken the promises the EU made to China on Tibet," spokesperson Lu Kang told a press conference. "Tibet issues are core interests of China," Lu said, stressing that the Chinese government is firmly against separatism. Dalai Lama has been living in India since he escaped China after the failed uprising of 1959. China opposes the Dalai Lamas visits in any name or capacity to any country or organisation to engage in separatist activities, Lu said. China is also opposed to any contact between the Dalai Lama and officials from any country or organisation. China-EU ties are at a new stage, and relations between the parliaments are sound, but the meeting between the European Parliaments leaders and the Dalai Lama harms Chinas core interests and the political foundation of inter- parliamentary communication, Lu said. China demands that the EU side take measures to nullify the negative effects of the meeting, he said. PTI KJV SUA AKJ SUA --- ENDS --- The Children's Book Tells the Story about Nicky the Car Who Learns that Looking Cool Does Not Necessarily Help Him Fit In LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / TunersCare, a social venture company, is pleased to announce the launch of their new book Nicky is Stanced Out: Car Club Culture for Early Readers. To learn more about the book and check out a few sample pages, as well as read about the professional and talented team behind the story of Nicky, please visit http://goo.gl/tXFyI4. As a spokesperson for Nicky is Stanced Out noted, many little ones develop an interest in automobiles early on, but those dazzling coupes and convertibles are not only good for show. Parents are using this interest to their advantage with the help of this new book, which is about a car named Nicky. His owner has fitted him with oversized wheels and low suspension, or "stanced him out." "It's a popular look, but impractical and Nicky feels like he's not fitting in. Nicky learns that it takes just one friendly face to change everything, encouraging young readers to learn social acceptance and optimism if they feel that they're having the same problems as Nicky," noted the spokesperson, adding that the book is already available digitally, and will soon be printed on board, a popular format for children's books. This will be the first publication for TunersCare, a charitable organization of car lovers hoping to give back to the community. Influenced by the bond created by years of friendship within the Car Culture, this team wanted to share their enthusiasm with their children and friends' children. The book is both a chance to share their love of cars and valuable lessons and encouragement for little ones. In order to help pay for the costs associated with turning Nicky is Stanced Out into a regular printed book on board, the founders of TunersCare recently launched a fundraiser on Kickstarter. They hope to raise $7,000 through crowdfunding to help them publish their first children's book about motorsports and car culturewith an important lesson thrown in for good measure. Story continues About Nicky is Stanced Out: Car Club Culture for Early Readers: Nicky is Stanced Out is a children's book that combines an entertaining story and bright colorful pictures with an important lesson. The book, which was created by TunersCare, tells the tale of Nicky, a car who wants to look as cool as possible. For more information, please visit http://goo.gl/tXFyI4. Contact: Chelsea Lindsey admin@rocketfactor.com (949) 555-2861 SOURCE: Nicky is Stanced Out Niamey (AFP) - Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, is shelling out more than 4.5 million euros every month for "non-existent" teachers, the state anti-corruption agency said Tuesday. The revelation came a day after teachers and students launched a crippling week-long strike in protest over the non-payment of salaries and scholarships. Salissou Oubandona, the number two in the HALCIA graft-fighting agency, said the money was allocated for 2,565 fictitious teachers in five of the west African nation's eight provinces. He said a "school-by-school study" showed that "1,917 teachers did not exist at all", while the names of 648 "figures two or three times" on the state payrolls. The study was conducted in June by the government. Experts say the money allocated for non-existent teachers was siphoned off by corrupt state officials. According to teachers' unions, 80 percent of the educational staff work on a contractual basis with salaries ranging from on average between 114 euros ($127) and 152 euros a month. Niger's union of teachers and researchers on Monday launched a seven-day strike to demand the payment of salary and grant arrears. The country's minister for education minister Mohamed Ben Omar acknowledged there had been a problem with salary payments, but insisted the problem had been resolved. "Four months of salary arrears" at Zinder University in central Niger had already been taken care of, Ben Omar told public television. He blamed the delay in paying wages and grants on the country's military expenditure which had "raked in" all the treasury's revenues. Since February 2015, Boko Haram has staged a series of attacks in the Diffa region of southeast Niger, which lies just across the border from the Islamists' stronghold in northeastern Nigeria. In late July this year a multinational force, drawn from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, was formed to tackle the Islamic insurgents and clear them out of towns and villages. The force is funded by each of the participating states. Story continues In another blow for the administration, Niger magistrates on Tuesday accused the government of manipulating the judiciary by appointing judges close to the regime. "The executive has begun a massive infiltration of the judicial machinery by systematically weeding out professional magistrates," the Autonomous Union of Niger Magistrates (SAMAN) said in a statement. It cited the high profile appointments in September of two men who are close to President Mahamadou Issoufou and who were shunted from the presidential office and given top legal posts. "How can one hope for neutral and impartial justice when one fills up these posts with people whose political affiliations are crystal clear?" it said, calling for these two appointments to be cancelled. Last week, Boko Haram extremists released a video threatening Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, and other top officials in a violent warning to fear the groups renewed strength. Buratai just shrugged it off. They warn they are very strong, which is a lie, Buratai told Foreign Policy in an exclusive interview last week at a hotel in Northern Virginia, where he was touting his troops successes against the militant group while on a speaking tour in the United States. They dont have that ability that they are claiming. Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more in recent years, sparking a refugee and security crisis across the Lake Chad region. Since Buratai took over as the armys top ranking officer last July, the Nigerian military has repeatedly claimed a technical victory over the group, which once controlled a territory the size of Belgium and is now largely confined to hideouts in the Sambisa Forest, which stretches some 23,000 square miles through Nigerias northeast. You can beat your chest and say, Yes, weve defeated the Boko Haram insurgents to the extent that they are not holding or administering any territory in Nigeria right now as they were before, Buratai told FP. He also spoke at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington and the Virginia Military Institute three hours south of the capital, but said he did not meet with any defense officials at the Pentagon. Buhari ran for office in 2015 on a platform that promised increased security following Boko Harams rise, winning him popularity among civilians frustrated by former President Goodluck Jonathans unwillingness to take the militants seriously until they had wreaked havoc across the countrys predominantly Muslim northeast. A regional taskforce made up of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Cameroon, and Chad helped beat Boko Haram out of many of its strongholds. But once the group began to lose its grip on territory in early 2015, it aggressively shifted to more asymmetrical warfare: For months, militants regularly launched suicide attacks in and around Nigeria, often sending young girls into markets to detonate themselves. Story continues According to Action on Armed Violence, a U.K-based nonprofit that tracks conflict around the world, suicide attacks killed nearly 650 civilians in Nigeria between January and July of last year alone. Fear of those attacks and distrust that the Nigerian military could permanently keep Boko Haram out of villages where they regularly executed or forcibly recruited civilians added to the regions already growing migration crisis. Maiduguri, the capital of Nigerias Borno State, is now home to nearly 1.7 million displaced people, many of whom are living in overcrowded camps where food and medical aid is scarce, if accessible at all. For that reason, Jennifer Cooke, director of at the Africa program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Buhari was wrong to claim even a technical victory, because defeat and victory at this point are kind of meaningless. I do think they have been successful in weakening Boko Haram, but theyre still dealing with asymmetrical attacks, she said. During an hour-long conversation with FP, Buratai said although he believes Nigerias armed forces were prepared for Boko Harams eventual shift to more civilian bombings, he conceded they never envisaged it to be at that scale. He declined to estimate how many militants now belong to the group, but said their increased reliance on propaganda is indicative of its inability to effectively influence the local population. He believes that the extremists have proven themselves so violent that very few civilians would now willingly join them, despite the continued economic challenges that have plagued Nigerias isolated northeast and prompted some loyalty to the extremists since the group first turned violent around 2009. Buratai said the militarys ability to oust Boko Haram from its strongholds in the north has restored the confidence of Nigerians in their military. Under his watch, the Nigerian Army has begun live-tweeting its successes to improve transparency about its operations and counter Boko Harams propaganda narrative that it continues to threaten the states military. The social media campaign offers a glimpse into the brutality of the fight against both Boko Haram and the Niger Delta Avengers, a rebel group that regularly attacks the countrys oil pipelines further south. This month alone, @HQNigerianArmy has tweeted multiple photos of bloody corpses that allegedly belong to captured Boko Haram members.The account recently tweeted that the military had fatally wounded Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who they have claimed to kill multiple times in recent years and whose leadership came into question this summer as Boko Haram continues to try to rebrand itself as the Islamic States West Africa caliphate. But Buratai told FP he believes Shekau was likely killed as far back as 2013, and that today he just has many clones who try to convince the public he is still alive and well. Civilians know he was killed, he said. In one recent tweet, a photo of a severed leg is accompanied by a caption describing it as belonging to a female suicide bomber neutralized by government troops. In another, a man wearing ripped camouflage pants lies dead next to his motorbike, one hand resting on his rifle. The caption claims the photo portrays the aftermath of Nigerian troops clearing out Boko Haram hideouts. As soon as we have any encounter, or we carry out any operation within the theater, we make sure we get it across to our people, Buratai said. But critics maintain that lack of due process for Boko Haram suspects continues, and that men who willingly joined the group and those who were forcibly conscripted are often treated as equals in crowded detention centers. Torture and other ill-treatment by police and military remained pervasive, Amnesty International said in its 2015-2016 report on Nigeria, noting that Boko Haram suspects continued to die in detention. Youve got thousands of people surrendering and thousands of people being captured, so they may be overwhelmed in terms of sorting out culpability, Cooke said. But, she said, Nigerias military do themselves no favors by making the default throwing people in prison without any process of any kind. When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Nigeria last month, he cautioned government and religious leaders against being tempted to crack down on everyone and anyone who could theoretically pose some sort of a threat. The United States has provided some aid to the region in its fight against the terrorist group, including U.S. drones that fly reconnaissance missions from a base in northern Cameroon. But the Nigerian government has repeatedly expressed frustration with a U.S. law widely known for its author, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), which prevents Washington from providing material support to military units that have committed human rights violations. Buratai defended his soldiers human rights record in his conversation with FP, calling Nigerias military one of the most human rights-observant in the world. We want to believe it can still get better, there is hope, he said of the U.S.-Nigeria relationship. We still hope that it will be better than what we are doing now. But Buratai found himself at the center of a particularly violent episode last December, when Shiite protesters in the northern city of Zaria surrounded his convoy in what the military insisted was an assassination attempt against him. Human Rights Watch reported that the Nigerian military opened fire on the protesters, who belonged to the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, potentially killing hundreds of civilians. It sparked a major diplomatic row between Abuja and Tehran, which has historically provided support to the Nigerian Shiite community. At best it was a brutal overreaction, and at worst it was a planned attack on the minority Shiite group, Daniel Beleke, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in December. When pressed to explain how the protest escalated so quickly, Buratai told FP that he feared for his life and that his troops acted in self-defense. Many of the protesters were killed, he claimed, by their own Molotov cocktails. And according to his account, the protesters were the first to turn violent. What they did that day, there is no way any country would accept that behavior, he said. Thats complete rebellion. Photo credit: Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Porterville (United States) (AFP) - In California's Central Valley, where verdant fields of fruit and vegetables unfurl under sunny skies, the water that feeds them -- and flows into taps across the region -- contains a toxic and silent poison. The very same farmers who have tilled and cultivated the earth for decades in one of America's biggest produce regions have also poisoned it, dumping millions of tons of fertilizer, which has found its way into many of the region's aquifers. Nitrates, a residue left behind by intensive farming, now lurk in the water in a number of communities, many of them poor and rural. For years, Cristobal Chavez has been drinking the water directly from the faucet, never imagining that he, his wife and their children were in danger of nitrate poisoning. The water "tasted normal," said the former truck driver, who lives in the agricultural town of Porterville, is a foster parent and now runs a day care -- meaning lots of children have consumed the water in his home over the years. Several months ago, the Community Water Center (CWC) nonprofit association discovered that water in the family's well contained twice as many nitrates as the maximum allowed under state standards. According to a study by the University of California, Davis, some 250,000 people in the region are at risk of excessive exposure to nitrates. Most of the tainted communities are small and cut off from larger water distribution networks, making them dependent on wells. The majority are poor, and most residents are Latino, with few speaking English well. The California State Water Resources Control Board, which monitors public distribution systems in large cities, has no jurisdiction over private wells. One of its branch chiefs, Kurt Souza, said that county authorities are "trying to target the areas they feel are the most critical," but admitted they had probably missed some contaminated spots. - 'Health emergency' - Story continues The toxic effects of nitrates are widely recognized by World Health Organization and US health officials, and are particularly dangerous for children and pregnant women. Nitrates can sometimes cause a deadly blood disorder called "blue baby" syndrome, in which the blood's capacity for carrying oxygen is reduced, in addition to causing increased miscarriages and fetal deformations. The substance is also thought to play a role in kidney and thyroid problems, and may cause certain cancers. Nitrates are "a public health emergency," said Jennifer Clary, an advocate at CWC. According to a CWC report, the rate of blue baby syndrome is 40 percent higher in the Porterville area than the California average. California's Public Health Department was unable to provide statistics on blue baby syndrome, and says it does not collect data on the broader impact of nitrates in the Central Valley. "There is a total lack of transparency, this is of a crisis proportion," Erin Brockovich, the environmental crusader portrayed by Julia Roberts in her Oscar-winning role in the 2000 eponymous Hollywood film, told AFP. - 'Ticking time bomb' - "Most communities suffering are not sophisticated enough to demand change, and since they are predominantly from a migrant status there has never been a push really to get anything done," said Bob Bowcock, an expert who works with Brockovich. Honorio Nunez, who is Mexican and makes a living picking oranges, discovered with the help of CWC that his tap water in Porterville is contaminated with nitrates and bacteria. Although his family has been using water bottles, which have been delivered for the past two years by emergency services due to a drought that has dried out area wells, he and his wife worry about the water that they and their children drank before that. "The vast number of smaller communities with this nitrate contamination are a ticking time bomb," Brockovich said. Authorities have indicated a willingness to toughen legislation on the amount of nitrates farmers can use, but are still in the information gathering stage. "It will take 10 years for the government to even regulate them," Brockovich said. Of the 1,500 Porterville homes that are being connected to a larger water distribution network, only 10 percent are expected to be on-stream within the next year. "If we don't do anything 80 percent of people (in parts of the Central Valley) could be impacted by nitrates by 2050," said Deborah Ores of the CWC. Meanwhile, many of Porterville's residents are simply stuck, with no place else to go. "We've seen people interested in buying the house," Chavez said of his property. But when they find out about the nitrates, all hope will be lost, he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine used for launching satellites Tuesday, giving indications that Pyongyang may be ready to launch a new long-range rocket. The test was conducted at the Sohae Space Center according to Reuters, citing North Koreas official news agency. The location is where the country launched another rocket this past February that was widely seen as a test of the countrys long-range ballistic technology. Reuters said that a satellite image it obtained dated Sept. 17 revealed preparations for an engine test. According to state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim asked scientists and engineers to make preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test. Pyongyang has been the target of global condemnation after conducting a nuclear test earlier this month and several other missile tests since February. North Korean analyst Joel Wit told Reuters that the latest test was another important development pointing to the first launch of a bigger, better space vehicle to place satellites in higher orbits, which could happen in the not-too-distant future. [Reuters] Geneva (AFP) - Fatalities among migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe could outstrip last year's total even though total numbers fell in the first nine months of this year, the UN said Tuesday. "The number of refugees and migrants reaching European shores this year passed the 300,000 mark today," William Spindler, spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told reporters. While that is well down on last year's January to September total of 520,000, fatality rates had risen, with 2016 on track to be "the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea," the agency added. So far, 3,211 migrants have been reported dead or missing on the Mediterranean in 2016, just 15 percent lower than the total number of fatalities for all of last year (3,771), a UNHCR statement said. Different patterns have emerged in the two European countries, Greece and Italy, which receive the vast majority of migrants. Arrivals in Italy this year stood at 130,411, on a par with the 132,000 people who landed over the same period in 2015, according to UNHCR. But Greece has seen 165,750 migrants and refugees land on its shores this year, a 57 percent drop against 2015 figures. Arrivals began falling after a March deal between the European Union and Turkey on curbing migrant flows across the Mediterranean. Nearly half of the migrants and refugees who landed on Greek shores this year were Syrians, with 25 percent coming from Afghanistan and 15 percent from Iraq, UNHCR said. In Italy, the majority of incoming migrants are Africans, led by Nigerians (20 percent) and Eritreans (12 percent). While migrant traffic into Europe has eased, tensions on the continent over the issue remain high. At a just-concluded UN summit on refugees in New York, the political fallout of the unprecedented migrant crisis took centre stage. Addressing the meeting, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned that failure to confront the refugee crisis would "give space to nationalistic, xenophobic forces." UNHCR has repeatedly urged European leaders to reject calls for harsh caps on migrants, arguing that the number of people in urgent need of resettlement can be managed if responsibility is shared across the continent. New York (AFP) - The suspect held on suspicion of carrying out weekend bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey is in critical but stable condition in a hospital, police said Tuesday. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was wounded in a shootout Monday with police in Linden, New Jersey, just four hours after the FBI released his mugshot and sent text message alerts to millions of people. "Critical but stable," New York police commissioner James O'Neill told CBS News when asked if the suspect would likely survive. Rahami was shot multiple times and underwent surgery on Monday, the local prosecutor said. He has been charged on five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two unlawful weapons counts. Police are still investigating the motives behind Saturday's bombings in the New York neighborhood of Chelsea, which injured 29 people, and a pipe blast at a US Marine Corps race on the Jersey shore. Officials say that Rahami travelled "extensively" to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years, but have not yet found evidence linking him to militant groups such as the Islamic State or the Taliban. Suspected Chelsea bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami was reported to the FBI as a potential terrorist two years ago. Read: NYC Bombing Suspect a Deadbeat Dad Once Accused of Stabbing His Own Brother: Reports The New York Times reports his own father turned Rahami in, prompting an investigation by the FBI. Mohammed Rahami spoke to reporters outside his chicken restaurant, First American Fried Chicken in New Jersey Tuesday afternoon. Mohammed told reporters: I called the FBI two years ago. He was asked: What did you tell them? He replied: I told them, 'You got a connection with this guy'. Mohammed told the Today show he knew nothing of the bombings. He was asked: Did you know that your son was doing this? No, he replied and continued to express that he had no idea. He was then asked: When you hear now that he has been accused of this do you believe it? I am not sure what is going on, the father answered. Rahami, 28, attended Edison High School in New Jersey. He went to the prom with his girlfriend, Maria, whose last name has not been revealed to protect her anonymity. She is also the mother of his child. Read: Bombing Suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami Nabbed; Charged With 5 Counts of Attempted Murder of Law Enforcement Officer Photos show Rahami and Maria with other classmates at the prom and frolicking with friends in the pool. Maria told The New York Times: "My heart is just broken. I don't even know what to think." She's now accusing him of being a deadbeat dad. Radio DJ Chris Konya was a classmate of Rahami, "To go from the kid at prom who could have ended up in a cubicle, selling cars or doing someone's taxes, to nine years later wanting to hurt people is just shocking." Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two gun charges. His bail has been set at $5.2 million. Story continues Watch: Anatomy of a Bomb: Inside the Explosive Device Used in NYC Blast Related Articles: More information about the life of the New Jersey terror suspect who is accused of setting off a bomb in Manhattan is emerging. Read: Bombing Suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami Nabbed; Charged With 5 Counts of Attempted Murder of Law Enforcement Officer Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, once spent a year in Pakistan and reportedly traveled several times to the country in the last decade. During his most recent trip, he met his wife and one of his excursions included the Taliban stronghold of Quetta according to reports. He also visited his native Afghanistan. Prior to Saturdays bombings in New Jersey and the Chelsea section of Manhattan, Rahamis wife left for the Middle East. His mother also left for Turkey three weeks ago. According to reports, his father knew nothing of the planned attacks. Rahami was accused of stabbing his brother in the leg in 2014, according to a court document obtained by DailyMail.com. He spent 3 months in jail on weapons and aggravated assault charges due to the incident. A grand jury opted not to indict him. He attended Edison High School in New Jersey and went to his prom with his girlfriend, whom he had gotten pregnant. She told the The New York Times: "My heart is just broken. I don't even know what to think." The former girlfriend, who has not been identified, is now reportedly accusing Rahami of being a deadbeat dad. Rahami is now at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, recovering from the gunshot wounds he sustained in that dramatic shootout with cops Monday morning. He's reportedly refusing to cooperate with authorities, not even giving up his name. His sister wrote on Facebook: "I would like people to respect my family's privacy and let us have our peace after this tragic time." Three hours after Rahamis name and wanted poster were released by authorities on Monday morning, he was found sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey about 13 miles from New York City. Story continues Read: Mayor Calls Manhattan Blast 'Intentional Act' After Exploding Dumpster Injures Dozens Rahami was still conscious when he was loaded onto a gurney and placed in an ambulance. His family owns a restaurant called First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, New Jersey. FBI agents raided the family's apartment above the restaurant. Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two gun charges. His bail has been set at $5.2 million. Watch: Anatomy of a Bomb: Inside the Explosive Device Used in NYC Blast Related Articles: The second season of Comedy Nights Bachao is called Comedy Nights Bachao Taaza and is premiering this weekend. By India Today Web Desk: Come September 25, Comedy Nights Bachao will be seen in an all-new avatar with a fresh line-up of comedians including Television actors Aditi Bhatia, Nia Sharma, Ssharad Malhotra, Sumeet Vyas, Gujarati stand-up comedian Mayank and internet sensation Pammi Aunty. In the new season, the roast format will be done away with as the celebs were not too comfortable with the insults, and stopped coming to the show altogether. Stars like Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan refused to come to the show, thanks to the format they could not digest. advertisement Meanwhile, Aditi Bhatia has shared the first look from Season 2: Yayyy ?? A photo posted by Aditi Bhatia ?? (@aditi_bhatia4) on Sep 20, 2016 at 1:40am PDT Also read: No more roasting! Mona Singh replaces Krushna, Bharti in Comedy Nights Bachao 2 While Krushna Abhishek and Bharti Singh will continue to be part of the fresh season, they will not host the show. Super-talented Mona Singh, who was last seen in horror TV series Kawach, will be seen hosting the show. "The show will now be completely positive. Some film stars were not comfortable with the earlier format and stayed away. Akshay Kumar did not come on our show to promote Rustom. We want him to come now. Getting Amitabh Bachchan on the show will be a big thing for us," Krushna had earlier told DNA, opening up on the format of the new show. Also read: Comedy Nights Bachao Season 1 ends, YHM's Ruhi approached for next season Bachao fans, excited about the new season? --- ENDS --- United Nations (United States) (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged countries to "welcome the stranger in our midst" at a summit that drew pledges from 50 countries to take in 360,000 refugees. Speaking at a US-led refugee summit at the United Nations, Obama praised Germany and Canada among other countries for opening up their doors to those fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts. "We are facing a crisis of epic proportion," Obama said. "We cannot avert our eyes or turn our backs. To slam the door in the face of these families would betray our deepest values." Some 50 world leaders took part in the summit, but their participation was conditional on making new commitments to address the world's largest refugee crisis since World War II. "Collectively, our nations are roughly doubling the number of refugees that we admit to our countries to more than 360,000 this year," Obama announced. In particular, seven countries -- Romania, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Luxembourg -- committed to resettle or admit at least 10 times more refugees than in 2015, according to US officials. While the new pledges would allow more asylum-seekers to rebuild their lives, it represented a fraction of the 1.1 million refugees who are in need of resettlement in 2016, according to the UN refugee agency. Countries also boosted financial contributions to UN appeals and international humanitarian organizations by about $4.5 billion over 2015 levels. The pledges included funds to ensure access to schools for one million refugee children and enabling one million refugees to work legally. The summit was held a day after the 193 UN member-states adopted a global plan to confront the refugee crisis. Rights groups dismissed the plan as falling far short of the needed international response. A record-breaking 65 million people are on the move worldwide, including 21 million refugees fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts. Story continues Now in its sixth year, the war in Syria has displaced nine million people while more than four million have fled to neighboring countries. - Don't build walls - The Obama administration itself has said it will raise the number of refugees entering the United States to 110,000 next year, up from 85,000 this year. In an apparent swipe at US presidential candidate Donald Trump, Obama said the refugee crisis was a "test of our common humanity, whether we give in to suspicion and fear and build walls." Trump has controversially proposed building a wall on the US border with Mexico to keep out undocumented migrants. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country has taken in more than 30,000 Syrian refugees since December, said the refugee crisis posed a challenge but also "an opportunity," vowing "there is more to come." After admitting one million refugees last year, Germany pledged to continue welcoming those in search of refuge. "I believe we cannot allow ourselves to stop here. We must finally get ahead in tackling this crisis," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. Chancellor Angela Merkel's party suffered electoral setbacks this month in the face of a surge of anti-migrant parties. Obama pointedly noted in his address that "the politics can be hard" for leaders who open up to refugees and migrants. Only eight countries currently host more than half the world's refugees: Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya and Uganda. Six of the world's richest countries -- the United States, China, Japan, Britain, Germany and France -- hosted only 1.8 million refugees last year, just seven percent of the world total, according to research by the British charity Oxfam. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - President Barack Obama used his farewell UN address Tuesday to castigate strongmen and populists, taking aim at Vladimir Putin's Soviet nostalgia and Donald Trump's rise at home. Obama told the UN General Assembly that democracy remains the "firmest foundation for human progress" as he repudiated "crude populism" that has mushroomed in the United States and around the world. "Some argue the future favors the strongman," Obama said, in remarks that will echo in the 2016 US campaign as much as the Kremlin, or Tiananmen Square. "I believe this thinking is wrong." "History shows that strongmen are then left with two paths: Permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war." Obama's solemn valedictory remarks came less than 50 days before Americans decide whether fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, or Trump, the Republican nominee, will be his replacement. The bellicose reality star has taken far-right positions on immigration and security on the campaign trail and into the US political mainstream. Trump lashed out at Obama Monday after a spate of attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, saying "our country has been weak. We're letting people in by the thousands and tens of thousands." Obama challenged that thinking, saying: "We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home." "We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children if the unspeakable happened to us." But he admitted there were "deep fault lines in the existing international order," not least in the Middle East where "basic order has broken down" and fundamentalists prey on social unease. He admitted too that a "course correction" was needed to smooth the serrated edges of globalization. "A world in which one percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never be stable," he warned. Story continues - 'Past glories' - Obama had a more direct message for his Russian counterpart, accusing Putin -- who has invaded Ukraine and deployed forces to Syria -- of using the military to gain global clout. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. "If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure." By the same token, Obama warned China's increasingly powerful leader Xi Jinping that adhering to the rule of law offers "far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs" in the South China Sea. - Legacy on the line - Eight years ago at his first UN General Assembly -- with America's reputation tattered by the Iraq war and George W. Bush's unilateralism -- Obama promised a "new era of engagement." After two terms in the Oval Office a new Middle Eastern crisis, this time in Syria, threatens to sully Obama's effort to improve America's standing in the world. Obama has been more cautious -- critics would say timid -- with the use of US power, refusing to intervene to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Before the UN, Obama restated the case for multilateralism and an America that knows the limits of its own might. "I've noticed as president times when both America's adversaries and some of our allies believe all problems were either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington." "Perhaps too many in Washington believe that as well," he said to laughs from delegates. And even as a Syrian ceasefire brokered by Washington lay in tatters, Obama insisted diplomacy -- not force -- is the only way to end the brutal five-year conflict. "There's no ultimate military victory to be won, we're going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence and deliver aid to those in need," Obama said. On Monday the Syrian military declared the ceasefire over and 18 UN aid trucks were destroyed as they tried to bring relief to war-ravaged citizens near Aleppo. Syria and Russia denied striking the convoy, with Moscow suggesting it may have caught fire. A large motorcade carried US President Barack Obama through midtown Manhattan on September 19 towards the United Nations headquarters. There, after two terms in office, the president made his eighth and final UN speech as leader of the United States. In his speech, Obama addressed the war in Syria, a day after a week-long ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia collapsed; the fight against the Zika virus; what he described as Russian aggression in the Ukraine; the Paris climate agreement of April 2016; the Iran nuclear deal, and a range of other topics. Credit: Facebook/Kyle Orangio The virtual reality headset, Oculus Rift, is commencing its European rollout from September 20. Having launched in March 2016 at $599, the VR kit from Facebook-owned, Samsung-partnered Oculus is set to retail at a recommended price of 699 in the Euro zone and 549 in the UK. While it requires a recent and relatively high-end computer to power it, the Oculus Rift offers a first step into consumer-grade virtual reality. The UK, French and German branches of online retailer Amazon are also stocking and shipping the headset, as are John Lewis, PCWorld, and GAME in the UK, FNAC in France, and MediaMarkt and Saturn in Germany. A Canadian retail release has been delayed to October 11. The Oculus website features a compatibility tool (ocul.us/compat-tool) to test the suitability of home computers as well as an Oculus Live search tool (live.oculus.com/search/), which will locate the nearest in-store demonstration. Its European launch arrives ahead of the $399 (399) PlayStation VR's October 13 premiere, while HTC and Valve partnered for April's $799 HTC Vive. Cushman & Wakefield The Longaberger Basket Building, the Newark, OH, office structure built to resemble a giant picnic basket, is heading to foreclosure if the home goods company does not pay more than $600,000 in back property taxes. Olivia Parkinson, the Licking County treasurer, tells realtor.com that the county recently sent a letter informing Longaberger that it is referring the property for tax foreclosure. The company, which hasnt made a tax payment since November 2014, owes $605,219.12. In order to halt foreclosure proceedings and an eventual property auction, the company must pay the bill in full within two weeks, Parkinson says. The one-of-a-kind property has lingered on the market for 18 months. Brenton Baker, a spokesman for the Longaberger Company, says serious negotiations are underway with several entities whod like to pack their employees into the basket building. The basket backstory Its been tough to find a buyer for the 180,000-square-foot building in a suburb of Columbus. The basket landed on the market for $7.5 million about a year and a half ago, and the price has since been slashed to $5 million. The current asking price works out to about $27 per square foot, roughly half of what area office spacethat doesnt look like bologna sandwich storagetypically commands. Inside the Longaberger building Cushman & Wakefield Its a very unique property, and I dont know that there are a lot of basket-related businesses out there, says Baker. The inside is a very nice, high-end office space. But the outside does present certain challenges. Longaberger, which sells baskets through a national network of Tupperware-style home consultants and is now owned by JRJR Networks, completed the office building in 1997 at a cost of approximately $32 million. It was the brainchild and dream project of the companys founder, Dave Longaberger, who wanted his headquarters to mimic his best-selling basket. Initially, the projects architects thought he was speaking conceptually. But after the third failed design, Longaberger grabbed one of his baskets, slammed it on the table, and said, Make it look exactly like this. Story continues And so they did, handles and all. The exterior consists of stucco-covered framed metal set in a basket weave pattern. Two 75-ton handles heated to prevent ice from forming grace the top of the basket, and two 725-pound gold leaf Longaberger tags adorn the sides. The interior contains a 30,000-square-foot atrium and a 142-seat auditorium, where employees used to gather for movie night. It was a great home for us for many, many years, says Baker, whos worked for the company for 25 years. The final employees emptied out of the basket in July. It also was a tourist destination. TripAdvisor, which calls the building Worlds Largest Basket, ranks it No. 6 out of 19 things to do if you happen to be in Newark. The Dawes Arboretum is No. 1. It did bring people to the area when it was new, says Jennifer McDonald, vice president of Licking County Chamber of Commerce, which includes Newark businesses. Theyd make a stop because of the size of the building and the photo opportunity. Unpacking the baskets fate But after Dave Longaberger died in 1999, tastes in home decor changed and sales slumped. The companys revenue shrank from $1 billion in sales in 2000 to about $100 million in 2014. In fall 2014, the company was nipping away at the back taxes it owed, paying $10,000 per week for eight weeks, says Parkinson. But the payments stopped in November 2014. Those delinquent taxes are the scary part for prospective buyers, says McDonald. Heating and cooling costs must be phenomenal. Plus, it looks like a basket. A basket in need of a paint job, according to a TripAdvisor comment posted in August. Being a Newark resident, I have to say that this has become one of the largest eyesores in our area, the comment said. The exterior condition of the big basket is not good. It needs to be cleaned and painted. Empty overgrown parking lot, brass Longaberger label that needs polished, handles need repainted. Tear it down! To make it look less basket-ish, the handles can be removed, says listing agent Michael Guagenti of Cushman & Wakefield. Im sure a good architect could come up with some paint scheme to make it look not like a basket, Guagenti told Bloomberg. Guagenti has explored marketing the property as a nursing home or call center. McDonald says she could envision the basket building being transformed into a hotel with, perhaps, top floor lofts. Theres also been talk of turning the basket into a convention center. However, a group of fans and Longaberger employees are trying to gain National Registry status for the building. Jim Klein, a former Longaberger Company president, started a Facebook pagePreserving the Longaberger Big Basket as a National Treasurewhich now has 1,900 supporters. Klein says the Big Basket represents the Gateway to our great American Craft Tradition. He recently posted a letter he had written to the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC, suggesting that the building become an architectural school or laboratory. Baker, for his part, is glad to be out of the basket building. The last of the Longaberger employees recently resettled in the companys combined headquarters and manufacturing facility in nearby Frazeysburg. There were 50 people working in a building that can hold 500, says Baker. Thats not a fun feeling. Now, Im close to everyone. I can talk to the basket makers. (We reached out to Longaberger and JRJR spokesmen for comment on the impending foreclosure, but they havent responded.) The post Ohios Giant Basket Building Headed to Foreclosure appeared first on Real Estate News and Advice - realtor.com. It was a week which saw oil prices settle at its lowest level since Aug 10, while natural gas futures rose to a 2 month high. On the news front, domestic upstream operator Anadarko Petroleum Corp. APC has agreed to buy deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM) properties from Freeport McMoRan Inc. for $2 billion, while Canadas Encana Corp. ECA launched a $1 billion share offering to pay debt and boost drilling. Overall, it was a mixed week for the sector. While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures plunged 6.2% to close at $43.03 per barrel, natural gas prices ended up 5.4% to $2.948 per million Btu (MMBtu). (See the last Oil & Gas Stock Roundup here: Spectra Energy & Enbridge to Merge, Apache Scores Big in Texas.) Oil prices moved south for the third time in 4 weeks after the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) projected a bleak demand outlook for the commodity. In its monthly report, the energy-monitoring body that advises oil-consuming countries, said that global crude demand will rise by 1.3 million barrels a day in 2016 down by about 100,000 barrels a day from its earlier projection. The IEA also trimmed next years forecast by 200,000 barrels per day to growth of 1.2 million barrels a day. With demand growth slowing amid the specter of record high inventories and rising supply, the agency warned that the worlds oil surplus is set to persist at least until mid-2017. Before IEAs weak demand predictions, crude was already falling on OPECs worries about the oversupply crisis. On Monday, the international cartel of oil producers said that it expects production from non-member countries such as Russia to increase in 2017, reversing prior expectations of a drop. Finally, expectations regarding the resumption of shipments from Nigeria and Libya proved another headwind for oil prices. Oils-Energy Sector Price Index Oils-Energy Sector Price Index Story continues Meanwhile, natural gas eked out a handsome gain following an in-line build and predictions of strong gas-powered cooling demand with forecasts of warmer temperature throughout Sep. Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories 1. Oil and gas finder Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has inked a deal to acquire mining giant Freeport McMoRan Inc.s deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets for a consideration of $2 billion in a bid to expand its operation in the region and gain additional scope for exploration. The transaction is anticipated to close by 2016 end. The acquisition will double Anadarkos ownership in the Lucius development to 49% from 23.8%, thereby enabling the company to leverage future value addition at Lucius and achieve over 400 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in estimated recovery from the development. The to-be-bought assets are expected to generate $3 billion free cash flow over the next five years, while adding nearly 80,000 BOE per day to Anadarkos production volume (80% crude). (Read more: Anadarko Acquires Freeport's Gulf of Mexico Assets.) 2. Canadian energy explorer Encana Corp. announced the pricing of its previously declared public share offering. The company has offered 107 million of its common shares at US$9.35 per share. Encana which currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) expects to generate gross proceeds of more than US$1 billion from the offering. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Encana is expected to utilize nearly half of the net proceeds to lower its long-term debt and strengthen its balance sheet. The remainder will be utilized by the company to fund a portion of its 2017 capital budget. The capital budget of 2017 is mainly focused on boosting oil and petroleum liquids production from Encana's Permian Basin where the company is a top tier operator by increasing the number of rigs. This, in turn, is expected to double the number of wells on stream in the Permian in 2017 from that in 2016. 3. Leading Houston-based oil and gas finder ConocoPhillips COP is on track to divest its entire 40% stake in an oil and gas production sharing block that it operates on the South Natuna Sea Block B off Indonesia. The assets will be purchased by Indonesias PT Medco Energi Tbk. ConocoPhillips has been contemplating the sale of its interest in Block B which produces about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas and 30,000 barrels of oil a day and related facilities in the Natuna since Aug 2015. Neither of the companies disclosed any details relating to the transaction. This acquisition is being viewed by many as an attempt by Indonesian officials to strengthen defenses of the nations maritime borders by ramping up of energy projects as well as boosting resource nationalism. The block is located in an energy-rich chain at the edge of the South China Sea in the Natuna Islands. Notably, Indonesia has faced increasingly aggressive maritime moves by China in this region. 4. Italys Eni SpA E has signed a deal with the government of Montenegro to explore four offshore blocks in the country for a period of 30 years. The blocks cover 1,228 square kilometers and the company received the exploration license following the First International Competitive Bid Round. Per the concession contract, Eni will be the operator of blocks 4118-4, 4118-5, 4118-9 and 4118-10 with a 50% interest. The remaining stake will be held by OAO NOVATEK Russias leading gas player. Eni management added that this contract reflects its aim to significantly strengthen the companys upstream portfolio. Eni has been present in the region as a leading exploration and production player since early '60. (Read more: Eni in 30-Year Exploration Deal with Montenegro Government.) 5. Onshore contract driller Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. PTEN recently declared that it has signed a deal to acquire Calgary, Alberta-based drilling technology company, Warrior Rig Ltd., and certain related entities. The transaction amount has not been disclosed as yet. Patterson-UTI expects that the deal would improve its competitive position within the high-spec rig market and expand its technology portfolio. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to conclude soon. (Read more: Patterson-UTI Signs Agreement to Acquire Warrior Rig.) Price Performance The following table shows the price movement of some the major oil and gas players over the past week and during the last 6 months. Company Last Week Last 6 Months XOM -2.84% +0.25% CVX -2.26% +1.66% COP -5.69% -7.75% OXY -6.17% +0.21% SLB -1.51% +1.43% RIG -5.46% -14.91% VLO +3.52% -13.23% TSO +4.91% -6.73% Over the course of last week, The Energy Select Sector SPDR was down 2.47% amid bearish outlook from worlds leading energy bodies. Consequently, investors witnessed selling in most market heavyweights. The worst performer was domestic oil and gas explorer Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY whose stock price fell 6.17%. But longer-term, over the last 6 months, the sector tracker has gained 6.54%. U.S. energy major Chevron Corp. CVX has been one of the beneficiaries during this period, experiencing a 1.66% price increase. Whats Next in the Energy World? As usual, market participants will be closely tracking the regular weekly releases i.e. the U.S. government data on oil and natural gas. Energy traders will also be focusing on the Baker Hughes data on rig count. Where Do Zacks' Investment Ideas Come From? You are welcome to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks free of charge. There is no better place to start your own stock search. Plus you can access the full list of must-avoid Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See the stocks free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ENCANA CORP (ECA): Free Stock Analysis Report CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report ENI SPA-ADR (E): Free Stock Analysis Report PATTERSON-UTI (PTEN): Free Stock Analysis Report ANADARKO PETROL (APC): Free Stock Analysis Report CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP): Free Stock Analysis Report OCCIDENTAL PET (OXY): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research (Note: Please be advised that this story contains graphic details in paragraph 6 that may offend some readers) By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - A criminal investigation into a police officer in Oklahoma who shot and killed an unarmed black man seen on video with his hands in the air was underway, authorities said on Tuesday. Officer Betty Shelby shot Terence Crutcher, 40, after his sport utility vehicle broke down on Friday. A lawyer for the officer told media outlets that Shelby fired her weapon after Crutcher failed to comply with commands. Crutcher's family called the shooting a criminal act and is seeking charges. The case is the latest in a string of shootings of unarmed black men by U.S. police that have raised questions of racial bias. In one video shot from a police helicopter, a person is heard saying Crutcher is not following instructions from police. A voice from the helicopter then says, "that looks like a bad dude too, could be on something." An officer is seen with a weapon drawn before Crutcher drops to the ground, and a female officer can be heard on police radio saying: "shots fired." The video shows Crutcher on his back with what appears to be blood oozing from his torso. A separate police dash cam video also shows the officer with a weapon drawn and following Crutcher as he walks to his vehicle with his hands in the air. A pop is heard as he appears to place his hands on the vehicle and he falls a few seconds later. Crutcher's twin sister Tiffany said her brother was a church-going man who had enrolled at Tulsa Community College to better his life. On their 40th birthday about a month ago, he sent her a text message saying he wanted to make the family proud. "That big 'bad dude,' his life mattered," she told a news conference on Monday. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement that the criminal investigation will be thorough and he will make sure "the facts fit the law." The deadly shooting gained national attention after the release on Monday of the police videos, which Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said he found "very disturbing, very difficult to watch." On Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton called the shooting "unbearable." "We've got to tackle systemic racism. This horrible shooting again - how many times do we have to see this in our country?" she said on the Steve Harvey radio show. The U.S. Justice Department has launched a separate, civil rights investigation about the use of force by officers. Scott Wood, a lawyer for Shelby, told the Tulsa World that Crutcher ignored repeated commands from the officer and reached for his pockets even though he was told not to do so. "He has his hands up and is facing the car and looks at Shelby, and his left hand goes through the car window, and that's when she fired her shot," said Wood, who could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Shelby has been placed on administrative leave. One of the officers in the helicopter is Shelby's husband, police said. (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Andrew Hay) At least 17 people were killed including three policemen during clashes in Congo on Monday. Congolese opposition supporters chant slogans during a march to press President Joseph Kabila to step down. Photo: Reuters By Reuters: Congolese police on Monday clashed with protesters marching against what they claim is a bid by President Joseph Kabila to extend his mandate, killing at least 17 people and prompting a threat of further sanctions from the US. The protest, attended by thousands, came at a time of growing local and international pressure on Kabila to step down when his term of office legally ends in December. advertisement The opposition accuses him of plotting to extend his tenure in the central African copper producer by delaying elections that were supposed to be held in November until at least next year. His supporters deny this. "The sad and painful death toll from these barbaric and extremely savage acts is as follows: 17 dead of which three were policemen," said Interior Minister Evariste Boshab, condemning "the use of violence to incite disorder and chaos". UN URGES RESTRAINT United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed the death toll and urged Congolese national security forces to exercise restraint. The president of opposition party Reformist Forces for Union and Solidarity (FONUS) Joseph Olenga Nkoy said 53 people were killed in the clashes while a local rights official said 25 protesters were shot. Earlier on Monday, a Reuters witness saw a crowd burning the body of a police officer in the Kinshasa suburb of Limete in an apparent act of retaliation for police gunfire. Angry crowds torched the offices of politicians loyal to Kabila and tore down giant posters of the president, chanting in French: "It's over for you" and "We don't want you". DOZENS ARRESTED Rights groups reported dozens of arrests of protesters and journalists in the capital as well as in Goma and Kisangani, where anti-government marches also took place. A government spokesman confirmed the detention of opposition leader Martin Fayulu, who suffered a head injury during the march. By mid-afternoon, most protesters had been dispersed and the streets in the normally bustling city centre were quiet. But in a sign that further unrest could be ahead, opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi called for further protests in a statement late on Monday. "(The opposition coalition) calls upon the Congolese population from this day forth to intensify and amplify the popular mobilisation every day until December 19," said a spokesman for Tshisekedi's UDPS party, referring to the day Kabila is officially due to step down. Kabila's supporters also plan a loyalty march this weekend, according to a statement released on Sunday. "VERY DANGEROUS" Monday's march was sparked by anger over a decision by the election commission last week to petition the constitutional court to postpone the next presidential vote. advertisement The vast, mineral-rich central African state has never seen a peaceful transition of power. Western observers and donors fear that growing political instability could mushroom into armed conflict in a country plagued by militias, especially in its lawless eastern regions. Millions of people died in regional wars in Congo between 1996 and 2003 that drew in armies from half a dozen countries. The United States on Monday threatened to impose additional sanctions on those responsible for violence and repression -- an outcome Kabila is seeking to avoid. It imposed targeted sanctions on a Kinshasa police chief in June. Dozens of people died in similar protests against Kabila last year. Police said in a statement that officers had been warned to use restraint ahead of Monday's march, adding that it would punish those who did not comply. But Human Rights Watch said government repression has intensified in the period leading up to the clash. "Today's march shows that the security forces have not switched their tactics and are still clamping down on anyone opposed to Kabila," said Ida Sawyer, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. She added that three children were shot in Goma during the clashes. advertisement SITUATION WORRYING In another sign of growing scrutiny of Kabila's government, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday described the situation in Congo as "extremely worrying and very dangerous", adding that European nations will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions. The African Union urged parties in Congo to seek a solution to the current political impasse through talks. In a further sign of growing tensions between Washington and Kinshasa, the U.S. embassy said on its Twitter feed that it was "outraged" by the harassment of its special envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Thomas Perriello, at Kinshasa's airport. Congo's "Presidential Majority", as Kabila's supporters call themselves, had accused Perriello, in a Sunday statement, of jeopardising talks aimed at resolving the political impasse. --- ENDS --- Touch of Modern COO and co-founder Jonathan Wu used to love handling payments for his suppliers. It showed him just how fast his company, a well-curated shopping site for men, was growing. (Sales hit $100 million in 2015, just its fourth year.) But it got really tedious really fast, he says. I was blocking out a whole day each week just to process payments. So he started looking for a fully automated system that would free him up to focus on building his business. Related: 10 Questions Every Entrepreneur Needs to Ask Suppliers The fix Touch of Modern sells designer goods from around the globe, which makes paying vendors a challenge, given the cross-border payment channels, tax regulations and processing nuances involved. So in 2012, the startup began using Tipaltis cloud-based accounts payable platform, which allows Touch of Modern to process international payments using multiple methods and currencies, all while complying with tax and regulatory laws. Once signed on, a supplier just needs to submit invoices to the platform, and the system handles the rest. The results Integrating Tipalti with Touch of Moderns mostly internally built systems went very smoothly, says Wu. Since then, Tipaltis platform has easily handled a spike in the e-commerce sites payments to vendors -- from 2,000 in 2013 to 12,000 in 2015 -- and cut the time Wu spends on them to about 30 minutes a day. The fees and labor costs per payment have dropped from about $10 when Wu processed them manually to just over $6 today. Whats more, Touch of Modern hasnt had to hire an accounts payable team. Related: 3 Steps to Avoiding Late Payments A second opinion Given their scalability, cloud-based accounts payable platforms work particularly well for companies anticipating fast growth, says Adam Boyce, an IT strategist with Panorama Consulting in Denver. The biggest benefits, he adds, are the ability to deploy payment processes across multiple business locations and the increased availability of data to help make key payment decisions. By Vladimir Soldatkin and Alex Lawler MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - A possible deal to support oil prices by the world's leading producer countries may last for one year, the secretary-general of OPEC said on Tuesday, longer than other officials have indicated. OPEC and non-member producers including Russia are discussing a deal to stabilise the market by at least freezing output, although key details such as the timing and baseline for any deal have yet to emerge. "One year, we are looking at one year," OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said, RIA news agency reported. Russia and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries hold an informal meeting in Algiers on Sept. 28. Algeria's energy minister said on Monday any OPEC move to freeze output would help balance the market for at least six months. Several producers have called for an output freeze to rein in a supply glut that triggered a price collapse in the last two years, hitting their income. Previous talks on an output freeze collapsed in April. One potential stumbling block - Iran's insistence on boosting exports after sanctions on it were lifted in January - is less of an issue this time because Iran's own figures suggest its production is close to pre-sanctions levels. Two OPEC sources were optimistic an agreement in principle could be reached. "I think we're likely to reach a consensus," said an OPEC source familiar with discussions. "There will not be a decision. The decision will be shelved until we meet in November." The source was referring to the next scheduled gathering of OPEC ministers to be held on Nov. 30 in Vienna. Another OPEC source said there was strong momentum around having at least the outline of a deal agreed next week. "A production freeze is what we all want, but I'm not sure if we will finalise all the discussions at this meeting," this source said. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Alex Lawler; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov) Rome (AFP) - The head of the OPEC oil cartel warned Tuesday that sharp cutbacks in investment by petroleum firms poses a threat for future supplies. Mohammed Barkindo said that after plunging by 26 percent last year, a further 22 percent drop in investment was expected this year. Oil firms have slashed their investment budgets as they seek to adapt to the price of crude falling from over $100 per barrel in 2014 to under $30 at the beginning of this year, before recovering to around $45. On Tuesday, Brazil's state oil company Petrobras announced it will cut investments by 25 percent over the next five years. Barkindo called the cutbacks a "major concern for industries which need regular investments" and "which threaten our future". Too severe a cutback in investment could leave the industry unable to meet rising demand in future years. The OPEC secretary general said "to revise this cut in investments, the process of rebalancing the market needs to be fast tracked". Oil prices haven't rebounded as there has been too much crude on the market, with OPEC cartel states primarily responsible as they have kept output high, seeking to maintain market share. Previously, OPEC members would cut back output to balance supply and demand, thus ensuring prices stay at levels sufficiently high for profits and investments. The 14 OPEC states and Russia are due to meet next week, with Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro saying Sunday a deal on limiting output was close. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f215868%2fscreen_shot_2016-09-20_at_10.19.40_am It's the stuff Pixar and Disney dream of. An orphaned baby koala called Shayne has found a friend in a fluffy toy doppelganger during his rehabilitation. A car accident left his mother dead and the nine-month-old orphan was reportedly being stalked by crows when he was rescued and brought to the wildlife hospital at Australia Zoo in Queensland, Australia. SEE ALSO: Watch: 'Bowie' the koala with different coloured eyes gets released Trauma Season affects a variety of native Aussie animals. Learn about Shayne's story here: https://t.co/RVKmxZUx5U pic.twitter.com/XzJ07tTl7B Wildlife Warriors (@wildwarriors) September 19, 2016 Animal hospital director Rosie Booth said that Shayne was in good health considering the severity of his accident. "Shayne has no injuries as a result of the accident, instead, he's dealing with the loss of his mum and the vital life lessons he needs to learn in order to become an independent, wild koala." Here's hoping Shayne's stuffed toy twin provides some much-need comfort and cuddles as he recovers from the trauma, and grows up well enough to be released again. The staff at the animal hospital treat up to 80 koalas a month and said that while Shayne was recovering well, they are seeing an alarming increase in fatalities and injuries in wildlife as a result of human activity. #My3WordDreamJob = Head Koala Cuddler. The daily grind is a tough gig in #thisisqueensland! Read all about it:https://t.co/mfeY3FE9Om pic.twitter.com/mXpQHPqbq2 Queensland Australia (@Queensland) September 19, 2016 As the weather warms across Australia, more animals and their young are move about the bush and venture closer to highways and suburban roads. The Wildlife Warriors are urging drivers to be extra vigilant. Outlander has cast two pivotal roles for Season 3, Variety has learned. Joining Jamie Frasers (Sam Heughan) world in the 18th century, John Bell (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) will play the role of Young Ian Murray, Jamies nephew. Young Ian is a tall, gangly Scottish lad with a heart of gold, a stubborn streak and a penchant for getting into trouble. Bursting with charm, hes more like his adventurous, fierce uncle Jamie than his farmer father Ian but when we meet him, he is still a very gawky boy. However, he keeps trying to prove that he is a man and we will see him grow into quite a formidable one as the series evolves. Meanwhile, in Claires (Caitriona Balfe) life in 20th Century Boston, Wil Johnson (Waking the Dead) will play her friend and medical colleague, Joe Abernathy. Joe is a fellow doctor-in-training whom Claire befriends in medical school. Intelligent, charismatic, with a wry and irreverent sense of humor, Joe is a loyal confidant with great affection for Claire. He puts on a good face, but he is all too aware of his place in the Civil Rights era. Joe and Claire both feel out of place in the mostly all-white, all-male medical field, which bonds them together in a lifelong friendship. Season 3 of Starzs Outlander is based on the third novel in Diana Gabaldons bestselling series, Voyager. The third season picks up right after Claire travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948. Now pregnant, she struggles with the fallout of her sudden reappearance and its effect on her marriage to her first husband, Frank (Tobias Menzies). Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Jamie suffers from the aftermath of his doomed last stand at the historic battle of Culloden, as well as the loss of Claire. As the years pass, Jamie and Claire attempt to make a life apart from one another, each haunted by the memory of their lost love. The budding possibility that Claire can return to Jamie in the past breathes new hope into Claires heart as well as new doubt. Separated by continents and centuries, Claire and Jamie must find their way back to each other. As always, adversity, mystery and adventure await them on the path to reunion. And the question remains: When they find each other, will they be the same people who parted at the standing stones, all those years ago? Story continues Showrunner Ronald D. Moore, Maril Davis, Matthew B. Roberts, Toni Graphia, Anne Kenney and Andy Harries serve as executive producers of Outlander, which is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining & Supply Company and Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television. Starz retains all domestic multiplatform pay TV rights to the original series. Related stories Lionsgate Promotes Legal Executive James Gladstone Lionsgate and Starz to Spend $1.8 Billion on New Films, TV Shows 'Outlander' Finds Its Lord John Grey in David Berry Investigations by India Today reveal that fogging done in several parts of Delhi to combat the increasing mosquito menace was a one-day drive, merely under pressure. The neighbourhoods they visited with hordes of supporters and TV cameras last week have been completely abdicated by municipal inspectors and bosses now, the India Today survey discovered. Photo: Reuters By Rohit Mishra, Kapil Sharma: Barely days after leaders hit Delhi's streets with fumigators to fight off dengue and chikungunya breeding, an India Today reality-check found their actions were nothing more than mere political stunts. UNCHANGED SITUATION The neighbourhoods they visited with hordes of supporters and TV cameras last week have been completely abdicated by municipal inspectors and bosses now, the India Today survey discovered. advertisement Fetid water pool in streets and parks, swarms of mosquitoes buzzing over parts of Malviya Nagar, is a common sight in the ward of Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay. On September 15, Satish Upadhyay walked around his municipal borough with South Delhi Muncipal Corporation chief Puneet Goel, fogging streets and homes, as media crews filmed his health drive to combat Delhi's dengue and chikungunya crisis. Today the same streets look as unsanitary and neglected as before. India Today's team found no sign of the anti-mosquito campaign that Upadhyay had begun last week. It appears to have been done for a few photographs. RESIDENTS FUME "Fumigation isn't done on a regular basis here. It's done occasionally when sanctioned by politicians," complained a resident. Others had the same views as his. "Mosquitoes make no distinction between people. They can bite anyone regardless of which party he or she might be supporting," said another resident. FUTILE BIPARTISAN EFFORTS The scene was no different at Sonia Vihar in north-east Delhi. In this neighbourhood, AAP MLA Kapil Mishra and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari had joined hands to knock down mosquitoes. Stung by massive criticism of politicking over the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya, the two leaders from rival parties fumigated Sonia Vihar together on September 14. Their bipartisan endeavour got widespread coverage in mainstream and social media and that's where it ended. India Today's team today found heaps of filth along open drains and mosquitoes flying over stagnant water at various locations in Sonia Vihar. WHAT DO RESIDENTS HAVE TO SAY Residents here call last week's fumigation a political stunt. Residents here call last week's fumigation a political stunt. "It's a cosmetic exercise (fogging) they carry out on peripheries. No one comes inside where a large number of people live," said a resident. "Politicians took us for a ride. Their one-day exercise was a bluff," said another resident. --- ENDS --- Starzs hit time-travel saga Outlander has added two key roles for Season 3. John Bell (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) will join Jamies (Sam Heughan) world in the 18th century, playing Young Ian. And Wil Johnson (Waking the Dead) will enter Claires (Caitriona Balfe) world set in Boston in the 20th Century, playing her friend and medical colleague, Joe Abernathy. From developer/executive producer Ronald D. Moore and Sony Pictures TV, Season 3 will be based on the third of the eight books in Diana Gabaldons Outlander series, entitled Voyager. The third season picks up right after Claire travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948. Now pregnant, she struggles with the fallout of her sudden reappearance and its effect on her marriage to her first husband, Frank. Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Jamie suffers from the aftermath of his doomed last stand at the historic battle of Culloden, as well as the loss of Claire. Bells Murray is a tall, gangly Scottish lad with a heart of gold, a stubborn streak and a penchant for getting into trouble. Bursting with charm, hes more like his adventurous, fierce uncle Jamie Fraser than his farmer father Ian but when we meet him, he is still a very gawky boy. However, he keeps trying to prove that he is a man and we will see him grow into quite a formidable one as the series evolves. Johnsons Abernathy is a fellow doctor-in-training whom Claire befriends in medical school. Intelligent, charismatic, with a wry and irreverent sense of humor, Joe is a loyal confidant with great affection for Claire. He puts on a good face, but he is all too aware of his place in the Civil Rights era. Joe and Claire both feel out of place in the mostly all-white, all-male medical field, which bonds them together in a life-long friendship. Bell played Helius in Jonathan Liebesmans Wrath of the Titans and then went on to play Bain in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies both directed by Peter Jackson. On TV, Bell recurred on BBC Scotlands Life of Riley and CBBCs Tracy Breaker Returns, and also appeared in Midsomer Murders and the History mini-series Hatfields & McCoys. Story continues Johnsons TV credits include recurring roles on British dramas such as Waterloo Road, Holby City, Cracker, Babyfather and Waking the Dead. He will soon be seen in Kit Monkhams feature film of Macbeth and was also in Noel Clarkes Adulthood. Moore, Maril Davis, Matthew B. Roberts, Toni Graphia, Anne Kenney and Andy Harries serve as executive producers of Outlander, which is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining & Supply Company and Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television. Related stories 'Outlander' Casts David Berry As Lord John Grey Starz's Chris Albrecht On Lack Of Emmy Recognition: "It's Not Even Playing Field' Starz Reports Lower Q2 Earnings But Touts Lionsgate Deal And 'Force Awakens' Bow A Pakistani Christian teen has been charged with blasphemy over a derogatory picture of Islam's holiest place, police said Tuesday. Nabeel Chohan was arrested for liking and sharing on social media a disparaging photograph of the Kaaba, the building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that Muslims turn and pray to five times a day. Chohan, who is 18 and from Punjab province, also kept the picture on his phone, police said. A Muslim friend of Chohan's informed police after seeing the Facebook post on September 16 and the teen was arrested after his friend filed the blasphemy case, police official Shahbaz Ahmed said. "A case of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims and desecrating the religious place has been lodged," Ahmed told AFP. Muhammad Hussain, the investigating police officer, confirmed the arrest and told AFP Chohan was in a police cell. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can provoke beatings and mob violence. It has extremely strict laws against blasphemy -- including the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Mohammed -- and rights campaigners say they are often used to settle personal disputes in a country where 97 percent of the population is Muslim. HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - A Palestinian who tried to stab an Israeli soldier was shot dead on Tuesday and an Israeli aircraft intercepted a drone launched by Hamas, the army said, as violence surges in the run-up to next month's Jewish new year holiday. The attempted stabbing took place outside Bani Na'im, a village in the occupied West Bank near Hebron, the army said. The area has been secured by Israeli forces in recent months because of attacks by Palestinians from the area. The Palestinian health ministry gave the assailant's age as 16. His death raised to seven the number of alleged attackers - six Palestinians and a Jordanian - killed by the army since Friday, in incidents in which Israeli authorities said at least nine Israelis have been wounded. The surge in violence coincides with preparations for the Jewish new year holiday starting on Oct. 2 and as the anniversary of the wave of attacks that began last October nears. In the past year, at least 218 Palestinians have died in violent incidents in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Of those, 147 were identified by authorities as assailants while others were killed during clashes and protests. Palestinians, many acting alone and with rudimentary weapons, have killed at least 33 Israelis and two visiting Americans in the attacks. Israel says anti-Israeli incitement by Palestinian officials and on social media networks is stoking attacks. Palestinian leaders say assailants are acting out of desperation over the collapse in 2014 of peace talks and Israeli settlement expansion on occupied land that Palestinians seek for an independent state. Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, declined to comment on the drone the Israeli army said had been intercepted off the coast of the enclave. It was the first such incident reported since the 2014 Gaza war, when a U.S.-supplied Israeli Patriot missile destroyed an unmanned Hamas aircraft over the southern Israeli port city of Ashdod. Palestinians have accused Israel of using excessive force and say that some of those killed over the past year posed no threat or had no intention of attacking anyone. In some cases, Israel has opened investigations into whether excessive force was used. On Monday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian assailants in the West Bank and two Israeli police officers were stabbed near the Old City of Jerusalem. [nL8N1BV31U] (Writing by Luke Baker and Ori Lewis; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and John Stonestreet) Hebron (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A Palestinian teenager tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday before being shot dead, officials said, the latest death in a flare-up of violence. An Israeli army statement said the assailant attempted to stab the soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Bani Naim. "Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death," it said. The Palestinian health ministry identified the alleged assailant as Issa Tarayra, 16, from Bani Naim. Tuesday's incident was the ninth since Friday, coming after Palestinians wrapped up the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha and as Israel tightened security ahead of major Jewish holidays in October. The upsurge has shattered several weeks of relative calm. The recent attacks have mostly taken place in and around Hebron in the occupied West Bank and in annexed east Jerusalem. Hebron also saw clashes between stone-throwing youths and Israeli soldiers later on Tuesday. There was also a confrontation between a Palestinian man and Israeli soldiers who were stopping and checking cars. The argument degenerated into scuffles and pushing back and forth. Soldiers were seen beating the man before arresting him, according to footage recorded by an AFP video journalist. Some Palestinians in the area described the man as mentally challenged. Contacted by AFP, an Israeli military spokesman said he would look into it and had no immediate comment. Meanwhile, an Israeli policewoman stabbed outside Jerusalem's Old City on Monday was in serious condition in intensive care. - 'Copycat effect'? - After that attack, which also left another police officer with moderate wounds, Israeli authorities closed Palestinian shops in the area. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the closures were ordered so officers could search the area, but some shopkeepers questioned whether it was punishment for the stabbing. Story continues The assailant in that case was shot and seriously wounded. Surveillance video showed him approaching the officers from behind before stabbing them. The Israeli army called the recent escalation of violence "further testament to the ongoing influence of incitement on the Palestinian street and social media networks". An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was the possibility of a "copycat effect" of one attack influencing another. The official said tensions may also be rising because of Palestinian "online incitement" against Jewish visits to the Old City's ultra-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound which are expected to increase during next month's holidays. The compound is the third holiest site for Muslims and the most sacred for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians fearing that Israel will eventually seek to assert further control over it. Since October, 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with the Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest. Displaced Iraqis, who had fled to Syria to escape the violence in Mosul, arrive in Kirkuk as they return to Iraq September 10, 2016. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed Explaining ISIS current state in a CNN interview, Secretary of State John Kerry summed it up succinctly. They are shrinking They are on the run, he said. Seeing how much its territory has shrunk and its financial assets decimated, the above statement may very well be the case. However, there still exists a number of ISIS strongholds that have yet to experience liberation from the jihadists. Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, is one of these remaining ISIS bastions. With a population around 600,000, many civilians living in the city have experienced first-hand since 2014 what it feels like to be a citizen of the self-proclaimed caliphate. One of these Mosul civilians managed to reach out to an anonymous Jordanian religious scholar and illustrate the morale of the captured city. The Intercept and Al Jazeera reports his harrowing account: "While Mosul is under siege and a war against it is looming in the horizon, the people there have lost trust in everything that comes from ISIL. They even are reluctant to pick up arms to defend the city because of mistreatment and harassment they have been subjected to. We even started hearing those who are saying: it does not matter any more who comes and take over Mosul. [ISILs] behaviour and aggression against the residents of Mosul and their capturing and enslaving women from others faiths has turned people away from them ... The Mosul resident also detailed what the living conditions were like: "Remarkably, while all this is taking place, ISIS couldn't care less about the people or how they feel or what they are going through. Every Friday during the prayer sermon, their preachers insult the local population and attack them for not going off to Jihad with them and accuse them of being cowards and hypocrites. Their [morality police] is manned by young men and teenagers who insult and attack older and grown men. These young teenagers often issue tickets and fines to elderly men because they for example shaved some of their beards off, even though people barely have money to eat let alone have any to pay imposed fines. They also often yell at women because they slightly showed their faces or eyes from under their veils." Story continues Sinjar children flee isis Amidst reports of a secret group that was allegedly assassinating ISIS members within the walls of the city, things seem to be in disarray for the crumbling state. Working in conjunction with coalition forces, organizations such as the Mosul Battalion have claimed to provide intelligence and coordinates of ISIS positions for airstrikes, and set up roadside bombs at ISIS checkpoints all while coalition forces make their final preparations for the offensive to liberate the city. That sentiment is also being felt by the ISIS militants as well. USA TODAY reported in July that as the offensive was being prepared, the jihadists were placed on the highest alert. In preparing for their stand, the militants had sent their own wives and children to Syria and Turkey an act that according to the above mentioned Mosul resident was forbidden for ordinary civilians. We hope within the next few months we're going to kick Daesh out of Mosul, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi after meeting with President Barack Obama in New York. "They must be crushed on the ground." NOW WATCH: Trump says he was being sarcastic when he called Obama the 'founder of ISIS' More From Business Insider After seeking help from The Doctors for her permanent baby bump, Amy is back to reveal her dramatic transformation! Last season, Amy shared her struggle with a condition called diastasis recti, where her stomach muscles separated and never fused back together after she gave birth to her third child. She said she felt as though she was carrying around a permanent baby bump for the last seven years. In addition to living in excruciating and debilitating pain, Amy previously told The Doctors, I have no control over my stomach, my insides will literally pop out like a bowling ball. I feel and I look like Im 8 months pregnant I want to be out enjoying life with my family. My self-esteem is shot. I feel useless as a wife and a mother. Watch: Can Womans Botched Tummy Tuck Be Repaired? Following surgery with plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Zarrabi, Amy returns to show off her new body! 9009 Output.091516.Cut 2.Sub.59 I feel amazing. A year ago, I was at my lowest point. I was very depressed and I was in a lot of pain and all it took was one e-mail message to The Doctors and it saved my life. Im very thankful and grateful, she says. Prior to her surgery, Dr. Zarrabi asked Amy to lose 20 pounds, but she was happy to share with the help of her family also making serious lifestyle changes she lost an impressive 37 pounds before her operation. Dr. Zarrabi says without the weight loss her surgery would have been impossible. Watch: Tumor or Baby Bump? Amy tells The Doctors her surgery and weight loss has opened up an entirely new world for her. I used to hide my body before, I didnt want to show it and now I have to stand up and be like, this is me! she says with confidence. With her new body, Amy had an entire wardrobe that no longer fit her new body. She donated all of her old clothes to those in need. Find out the surprise The Doctors have for Amy that will help her show off her dramatic transformation in the video below! The North Delhi Municipal Corporation officials sealed the office of South Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner's personal secretary and stalled the work of SDMC for over two hours. The MCD Civic Centre in the heart of the city falls under the jurisdiction of North MCD. By Sneha Agrawal: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi's Municipal Corporation (MCD) appears to be a divided house ahead of the crucial civic polls slated early next year. This was evident on Monday when a long standing financial dispute between the North and the South Delhi municipal corporations resulted into sealing of the office of SDMC commissioner's personal secretary by the North MCD officials. Even though the cash-strapped North MCD is trying to make its ends meet, such an extreme step will only serve to aggravate the rift between the two civic bodies, insiders said. advertisement NORTH MCD SEALS SOUTH MCD COMMISSIONER'S PS' OFFICE, SOUTH MCD BREAKS THE SEAL The North MCD claims that it is the rightful owner of the 28-storeyed MCD Civic Centre in the heart of the city and the SDMC was a tenant in the building. It said the south corporation owes Rs 810 crore towards rent and licensing fee that were due since 2012. South MCD officials said they were taken aback when they found the office of Mangal Singh, the PS to SDMC Commissioner Punit Goel, sealed in the morning. By 11.30 am, the seal was found broken and the south corporation resumed its work. SDMC leaders, who reportedly broke the seal, sought to put the blame on the bureaucrats saying the move by North MCD officials did not have political backing. "There is no dispute between the leaders. The office was sealed by bureaucrats without sanction from the political heads," said SDMC Mayor Shyam Sharma. SOUTH MCD A TENANT IN NORTH MCD'S OFFICE? Currently, both the north and south corporations are functioning from the Civic Centre, which falls in the jurisdiction of the North MCD. While the East Delhi Municipal Corporation is headquartered in East Delhi's Patparganj, the SDMC is yet to get its headquarters that is proposed to be built in Dwarka. According to North MCD, the south corporation has set up its office on its property and hence owes it a due of Rs 810 crore as rent. The amount is pending from May 2012 till present. Several notices were sent to the commissioner of South MCD to clear its dues. When asked a senior official on why the office of the personal secretary was sealed and not of the commissioner itself, the Mail Today was told, "The office of the personal secretary to the commissioner is the key functionary. All communications to the commissioner are carried out through his office. The sealing of his office would have stalled the work in the commissioner's office." advertisement The north corporation in its recent letter to South MCD sent on September 1 had granted them seven days to clear the dues. The letter said that if the dues are not cleared in time, they would begin sealing the south MCD office. On several occasions, the North and South MCD had taken up this issue, but there was no resolution. Also Read: Delhi's municipality blames residents for inadequate support to control dengue, chikungunya Delhi civic body helpline flooded with 20,000 complaints as piles of garbage are linked to chikungunya outbreak --- ENDS --- (Adds Petrobras comment from company meetings with press, analysts) By Jeb Blount and Guillermo Parra-Bernal RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-led oil company Petrobras on Tuesday cut planned investments by 25 percent in a drive to reduce the largest debt burden among global petroleum producers and revive investor confidence battered by a corruption scandal. Petrobras contributes about 10 percent of the nation's economic output and Brazil's government, the company's controlling shareholder, is counting on it to help pull the economy out of its worst recession in decades. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, pledged up to $74.1 billion in capital spending for the 2017-2021 period compared with a $98.4 billion target in the prior four-year 2015-2019 plan, according to a securities filing. This program outlines Petrobras' smallest capital budget since 2006 and fell short of the $82.7 billion average forecast of eight analysts surveyed by Reuters. Petrobras reaffirmed its goal of $15.1 billion in asset sales for the 2015-2016 period and plans to raise an additional $19.5 billion through divestments and partnerships between 2017 and 2018. The company said it could sell as much as $40 billion of assets over the next 10 years. Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente is seeking to cut the company's $125 billion of debt, amassed after years of state-directed policies overstretched the company. Parente faces several obstacles including the lowest oil prices in a decade, a corruption scandal highlighting governance flaws, and its struggle to recover from huge losses incurred over many years because of government-mandated fuel subsidies. Petrobras's stock rose 2.68 percent in afternoon trading in Sao Paulo. Its U.S.-traded common stock rose 1.31 percent in New York. Speaking to reporters in Rio de Janeiro, Parente vowed to cut costs and sharpen the focus on high-return activities to restore profitability. Story continues "This plan should start bearing fruit within two years, when we expect to have strong metrics that will allow us to return to the good situation of a few years back," said Parente, who was appointed in May to turn around the struggling oil giant. In line with focusing on oil and gas production, Petrobras said it will exit the biofuels business by selling ethanol and biodiesel production assets. The plan shows how far Parente, appointed by new President Michel Temer, is prepared to go to reverse the policies of former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, removed from office in August for breaking budget laws. OUTPUT MAINTAINED "Lower capital spending makes absolute sense as the company aims at decreasing cash burn to accommodate interest and debt payments and to avoid stretching even further its balance sheet," said Rodolfo de Angele, an analyst with JPMorgan Securities in Sao Paulo, in a note to clients. Exploration and production will get 82 percent of the investment budget. Spending on "downstream" refining, natural gas distribution and electricity generation will see spending cut 24 percent to $12.4 billion. While investment cuts were bigger than analysts expected, production targets were largely unchanged. Petrobras expects crude output in Brazil to fall in 2017 to 2.07 million barrels per day (bpd) from an average 2.22 million bpd in August. However, the company maintained its target of 2.70 million bpd for 2020, 16 percent above the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Reuters. The company expects to produce 2.77 million bpd in 2021. Total output of domestic and international oil and natural gas equivalent is expected to rise 19 percent in the 2017-2021 period to an average of 3.41 million bpd. Before the plan was released, Luana Siegfried, oil and gas analyst at Raymond James in Houston, said failure to cut the outlook for 2020 Brazil crude oil production in the face of significant budget cuts raises the risk Petrobras will fall short of its promises. In the past 14 years Petrobras has met its annual oil output target only once, in 2015. Parente said that big efficiency gains and higher-than-expected output from new offshore wells will allow Petrobras to meet its targets in the years ahead. The business plan is based on a price of Brent crude oil averaging $48 a barrel in 2017 rising to $71 a barrel in 2021. The plan expects the U.S. dollar to be worth an average of 3.55 reais in 2017, strengthening to 3.71 reais in 2021. (Additional reporting by Marta Nogueira and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro, and Roberto Samora and Marcelo Teixeira in Sao Paulo; Editing by W Simon and Daniel Bases) Manila (AFP) - A pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight accidentally pressed a hijack alarm and triggered a major security response at Manila airport on Tuesday, authorities said. Police isolated and surrounded the Saudia flight after it landed on Tuesday afternoon just after one of its pilots issued a distress signal indicating a hijack was underway, the Philippine aviation authority said in a statement. Hundreds of passengers aboard the Boeing 777 flight from the Red Sea city of Jeddah were forced to remain on the plane for more than two hours, but were allowed to disembark about 5:00pm (0900 GMT) after it was confirmed there was no threat. Soon after the distress signal was activated, authorities at Manila control tower obtained a verbal confirmation from the pilot that he had triggered it although he did not say why at the time, Manila airport aviation security chief Mao Aplasca told reporters. "It was only after the plane was parked for some time that he said it was a false alarm," Aplasca added. In Saudi Arabia, an airline spokesman also told AFP there was no security threat. "False alarm for hijack for Flight 872," the spokesman said. The Philippines' aviation authority said in a statement the distress signal pressed by the pilot alerted authorities "that a hijacking incident is on progress on board". "Immediately the flight was given priority landing by airport authorities... and was directed to park on the remote bay and isolated for security procedures," the statement said. "Apparently the pilot committed an error activating the 7500 squawking signal," the statement said, referring to the hijack alarm. It said an investigation would still be needed to confirm why the distress signal was pressed. "Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if the result is indeed a human error," it said. There were 410 passengers on board plus four pilots and 17 crew members, airport general manager Ed Monreal told reporters. Story continues Many of them were returning from the annual Islamic pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. One of the passengers, Aida Majud, said they were not told why they were being kept on the plane. "When we saw the armed men we thought, what's the problem? We wanted to know what was happening," Majud told ABS-CBN television network. But she said the atmosphere was calm, with some speculating President Rodrigo Duterte had come to the airport to welcome the pilgrims home and that the armed men surrounding the plane were his security personnel. Majud said passengers had to undergo body checks after getting off the plane to ensure no one was carrying weapons. Airport officials said there were no major disruptions to traffic, with planes continuing to land and take off, because the Saudia aircraft had been kept at an isolated area. The carrier is known as Saudia. The photographer whose image of a bowl of Skittles was tweeted out by Donald Trump Jr. in an anti-refugee statement says he did not grant permission for its use and that he himself was a refugee. The image was used as a metaphor for the refugee situation, with text reading, If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful? Thats our Syrian refugee problem. Trump Jr. further editorialized in his tweet, saying Lets end the politically correct agenda that doesnt put America first. The image quickly sent the Internet into an uproar, and Skittles manufacturer Mars tweeted out a statement condemning the comparison: The photographer of the Skittles, David Kittos, tells the BBC he never granted permission for its use, and indeed that he wouldnt accept payment for it from the Trump camp because he doesnt support the Republican candidates politics. In 1974, when I was 6 years old, I was a refugee from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus, so I would never approve the use of this image against refugees, he says. Now a British citizen, Kittos recalls his familys flight from Cyprus: We had to leave everything behind overnight. Our property and our possessions. Kittos says he would like the image to be deleted but doesnt expect it will. This is pure greed from them, he says. I dont think they care about my feelings. They should not be stealing an image full stop. [BBC] f-22 edwards air force base fifth generation In the early days of the F-22 Raptor program, the 411th Flight Test Squadron operated out of Edwards Air Force Base, California. The squadron frequently lined up seven or eight of the fifth generation fighters on the tarmac like you see above. However, those days are numbered. This will be the last time we have this many jets ever in this compound, Lt. Col. Randel Gordon, F-22 Combined Test Force director and 411th FLTS commander, said in an Air Force statement. The majority of the original test F-22s were stationed at Edwards in the 1990s, but now they're moving on to other bases as the F-22 program matures. So for the foreseeable future, this will be the last time that 7 of the deadliest combat planes in the world will line up at Edwards. f 22 edwards air force base NOW WATCH: The F-35 has hit another snag this time because its too stealthy More From Business Insider * Could pit Mideast as pricing hub against Singapore, London * Aims to establish derivatives market * Liquidity still low - traders By Jessica Jaganathan OSLO/DUBAI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Oil price agency Platts will launch new assessments for fuels including gasoline and diesel in the Middle East that could lead to the region becoming a major price hub as exports from new Gulf refineries surge. Platts, a unit of S&P Global Inc, will begin publishing independent prices for Middle East gasoline, middle distillates including diesel and jet fuel, and fuel oil from Oct. 3, the company said in a note to subscribers on Tuesday. The company will also assess derivative prices for these oil products to calculate the physical values, potentially pitting the Middle East region against established pricing centres like Singapore and London, should liquidity take off. "I think the liquidity is still very low now so it will be a challenge for them to get interest, but that could potentially change if a market is established like here in Singapore since (Middle East) already has storage," a Singapore-based middle distillates trader said. New refining capacity in the Gulf has driven record high exports of diesel and jet fuel from the region, which has changed trade flows in Asia and Europe. Oil companies in Asia and the Middle East use Platts crude and products price assessments in a wide number of contracts. The assessments are mainly calculated from derivative contracts and physical cargoes traded during the company's market on close (MOC) process which is referred to by the industry as the "window." Platts currently calculates the majority of its Middle East prices by offsetting shipping costs between the Middle East and Asia from its Singapore price assessments, a value known as a netback. This is due to an illiquid derivatives market in the Middle East, though volumes have been picking up since May this year when the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) launched contracts and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) more recently, brokers and traders said. Story continues In its note on Tuesday, Platts said it will assess derivative values based on its MOC process, on derivatives exchanges or heard in over the counter markets. The new prices will be labelled as free-on-board (FOB) at the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates and run alongside the existing Middle East netback prices, Platts said. The prices will reflect FOB trades at "any safe and sound port" within the Gulf region, adjusted back to Fujairah. "As the Middle East continues its diversification into producing and exporting refined oil products, market participants have identified a need for independent oil products price assessments," said Dave Ernsberger, Global Head of Oil Content, S&P Global Platts in a statement. (Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal in Dubai and Roslan Khasawneh in Singapore; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Britain will remain open and active on the global stage despite its shock vote to leave the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May told the United Nations on Tuesday. May, who took office in July after the "Brexit" vote led her predecessor David Cameron to resign, said that Britain "has always been an outward-facing, global partner" in international affairs. "And that is how we will remain. For when the British people voted to leave the EU, they did not vote to turn inwards or walk away from any of our partners in the world," May said in an address to the UN General Assembly. May said that Britain, one of five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, would remain a player on major issues including fighting poverty, terrorism and climate change. She pledged a particular focus on preventing human trafficking, saying that criminals had created a modern form of slavery. "We need to be smarter and even more coordinated than the criminal gangs in our efforts to stop them," she said. May said that she committed to Nigeria the first five million pounds ($6.5 million) from a new fund that aims to help stop human trafficking from countries to Britain. The United Nations estimates that nearly 21 million people around the world are victims of forced labor, with more than half of them women and girls. In line with her remarks a day earlier at a UN summit on refugees, May devoted much of her address to urging a tougher stance amid the massive flow of migrants into the West. She called for more distinction between refugees fleeing persecution and economic migrants. She said asylum seekers should always apply in the first safe country where they step foot -- meaning Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan for most fleeing war-torn Syria. "Countries have to be able to exercise control over their borders," May said. Past albums by The Band, Neil Young, Esthero, Rough Trade, Arcade Fire, Rush, The Tragically Hip and many more made the short list for the second annual Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, it was revealed at last night's Polaris Music Prize gala in Toronto. Ten albums are honored in four time periods, 1960-1975; 1976-1985; 1986-1995; and 1996-2005. The prize was launched last year to recognize albums that may have made the short-list for the Polaris Music Prize were it in existence then. Like the Polaris Music Prize, albums are selected based on artistic merit without regards to sales or affiliations. "This award is Polaris' version of the Hall of Fame, intended to recognize classic Canadian albums released before 2006, the year the original Polaris Prize started," said Derrick Ross of Slaight Music onstage at the Carlu. Kaytranada Wins Canada's Prestigious 2016 Polaris Music Prize The list of albums has been increased to 10 titles (from last year's five) for each time period, selected by four separate juries of music critics, journalists, broadcasters and programmers from across Canada. Another change for 2016 is two albums from each era will win, one selected by a jury, the other by public vote. "I liked the idea of the critics picking one of those records," Polaris Music Prize founder Steve Jordan told Billboard backstage. "We do want to get fan engagement and the public engagement, but we don't want artists who are less popular and don't have that ability to mobilize a fan-base not to get the recognition." He says it will not be possible for the same album to be picked by the fans and jury. "No, we'll just go down the list." Polaris Prize Founder Talks New Rules After Jury Discussions Began 'Teetering' Into Personal Jabs Voting is now open here. Winners will be announced Oct. 24. Last year's winners were Blue by Joni Mitchell (60s & 70s); The Trinity Session by the Cowboy Junkies (80s); Twice Removed by Sloan (90s); and The Teaches of Peaches by Peaches (00s: 2000-2005). Story continues The 2016 nominees are: 1960-1975 The Band, Music From Big Pink (1968) The Band, The Band (1969) Robert Charlebois & Louise Forestier, Lindberg (1968) Leonard Cohen, Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967) Gordon Lightfoot, Lightfoot! (1966) Joni Mitchell, Court And Spark (1974) The Oscar Peterson Trio, Night Train (1963) Jackie Shane, Live! (1967) Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969) Neil Young, After The Gold Rush (1970) 1976-1985 Bruce Cockburn, Stealing Fire (1984) D.O.A., Hardcore 81 (1981) Fifth Column, To Sir With Hate (1985) Glenn Gould, Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1981) Martha and the Muffins, This is the Ice Age (1981) Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Kate & Anna McGarrigle (1976) Jackie Mittoo, Showcase Volume 3 (1977) Rough Trade, Avoid Freud 1(980) Rush, Moving Pictures (1981) Leroy Sibbles, On Top (1982) 1986-1995 Blue Rodeo, 5 Days In July (1993) Dream Warriors, And Now The Legacy Begins (1991) Maestro Fresh Wes, Symphony In Effect (1989) Daniel Lanois, Acadie (1989) Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (1993) Main Source, Breaking Atoms (1991) Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill (1995) Mary Margaret O'Hara, Miss America (1988) John Oswald, Plunderphonics (1989) The Tragically Hip, Fully Completely (1992) 1996-2005 Arcade Fire, Funeral (2004) Bran Van 3000, Glee (1997) Broken Social Scene, You Forgot It In People (2002) Constantines, Shine A Light (2004) The Dears, No Cities Left (2003) Destroyer, Streethawk (2001) Esthero, Breath from Another (1998) Feist, Let It Die (2003) k-os, Joyful Rebellion (2004) Lhasa de Sela, La Llorona (1997) By Mica Rosenberg and Joseph Ax ELIZABETH, N.J. (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged the Afghan-born man arrested after weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey with four counts including use of weapons of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use. The charges were laid out in a federal complaint that said a handwritten journal was found on the suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, that praised Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and accused the U.S. government of slaughtering Islamist fighters in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Palestine. The federal charges come after the father of Rahami, the naturalized American citizen captured on Monday in New Jersey after a shootout with police, said he had reported concerns about his son being involved with militants to the Federal Bureau of Investigations two years ago. The FBI acknowledged it had investigated Rahami in 2014, but found no "ties to terrorism" and dropped its inquiry. The White House said on Tuesday it appeared that the bombings were "an act of terrorism" as an investigation continued in to whether Rahami had accomplices, or if he picked up militant Islamic views during trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The investigation is active and ongoing, and it is being investigated as an act of terror," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in Lexington, Kentucky. Rahami, 28, was suspected in the weekend bombings, including a blast on Saturday night in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood that wounded 29 people, and another on the New Jersey shore that injured no one earlier that day. Rahami was arrested on Monday in Linden, New Jersey, after a shootout with police that left him with multiple gunshot wounds. Rahami was listed in critical but stable condition, and police had not yet been able to interview him in depth, New York Police Department Commissioner James O'Neill said. His father, Mohammad Rahami, briefly emerged on Tuesday from the family's restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, about 20 miles (30 km) west of New York City, telling reporters, "I called the FBI two years ago." Story continues The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that it began an assessment of the younger Rahami in 2014 based on comments his father made about his son after "a domestic dispute." "The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks, and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism," the FBI said. One U.S. law enforcement official said the elder Rahami met twice with the FBI, first saying he was worried his son was hanging out with people who might have connections to militants, but two weeks later contending his real concern was that the son was associating with criminals. Another law enforcement official said the father "recanted the whole story" about his son associating with terrorists. The comments by the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, showed Rahami had been brought to the attention of the FBI before the bombings much like others who have carried out attacks in the United States in recent years. For example, the FBI had received tips on both the Orlando nightclub shooter who killed 49 people in June and the lead bomber in the 2013 Boston Marathon attack before they acted. TRADITIONAL GARB Rahami was arrested not far from Elizabeth, where his family lived above their storefront First American Fried Chicken restaurant. A neighbor said Rahami had recently started dressing in more traditional clothes such as long tunics and sandals, which she said was how his father dressed. "I always saw him outside talking on a cell phone, walking back and forth," said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. "His brother was friendlier, you always saw him with friends. I never saw him with a group of friends." Two U.S. officials said Rahami had a small notebook on him when he was apprehended, which one of the officials said contained "ideological" musings. The notebook, punctured by a bullet hole and stained with blood, contained references to killing nonbelievers and mentioned American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading al Qaeda propagandist who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011, the New York Times reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement official. Two U.S. officials told Reuters Rahami had traveled to Afghanistan and to Quetta, Pakistan, a city where support for the Taliban is significant. The official, and other U.S. security sources, said Rahami underwent additional security screening upon returning from abroad but passed each time. One of the officials, who specializes in counter-terrorism, said the "secondary" screening included asking Rahami where he had gone and for what purpose. Rahami's wife left the United States a few days before the bombings, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source. A previous partner of Rahami sued him for full custody of their child on Tuesday, court documents show. "Defendant has been charged with police attempted murder and is under protective services after possible terrorist related active in NYC," Maria Mena hand-wrote on the application. (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball,; Julia Edwards, John Walcott and Doina Chiacu in Washington and Christine Prentice in New York; Writing by Scott Malone and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Will Dunham and Alan Crosby) By PTI: Hyderabad, Sep 20 (PTI) AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh today alleged that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was indulging in corruption while ignoring the poor in the state. Addressing the concluding session of the two-day training programme for Congress sarpanchs and deputy sarpanchs here, Singh accused the Chief Minister of "luring and intimidating" the elected representatives of opposition parties to join the ruling party. advertisement "KCR is good at planning corruption, but not welfare schemes for the poor...KCR family is buying the MLAs and other elected representatives as vegetables. This is an insult to all elected representatives," Singh said. "KCR is accumulating huge illegal wealth with a plan to buy votes in next elections. However, the Chief Minister must realise that voters of Telangana are not for sale," he said. The Congress leader also slammed the TRS government for "not fulfilling" promises like providing three acres of land to each Dalit family and double bed room houses for poor. "KCR is busy feeding his own family," he alleged. Singh said both KCR and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were spreading falsehood against previous Congress Government by openly denying the facts. PTI GDK NP AJR SRE --- ENDS --- By Joseph Ax and Mica Rosenberg LINDEN, N.J. (Reuters) - Police on Monday arrested an Afghanistan-born American who they suspect of detonating a bomb in the heart of New York City and planting other devices, capturing the 28-year-old in a dramatic gun battle that wounded him and two officers. Officials did not offer any information on the possible motives of Ahmad Khan Rahami and said they were not looking for other suspects. New York's mayor called the bombing that injured 29 people in the bustling Chelsea district "an act of terror." Police in Linden, New Jersey, swooped in on Rahami just hours after authorities publicly identified him as the prime suspect in the Saturday night blast and sent out an alert to millions of mobile phone users. Authorities suspect Rahami, who lived in the neighbouring city of Elizabeth, was also behind a bomb that exploded on the New Jersey shore on Saturday, a device found near the New York blast, and up to six more devices found near the Elizabeth train station on Sunday night.The bombings and subsequent manhunt prompted even greater security in America's biggest city, already on high alert for the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York for the annual General Assembly this week. An additional 1,000 officers were deployed. While officials did not give much information about Rahami, CNN, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that Rahami travelled multiple times to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years, including a year-long stay in Pakistan until March 2014. Police were looking into whether he was radicalized overseas, CNN said. The blasts, the manhunt and an apparently unrelated stabbing attack in Minnesota over the weekend recalled the tension of other recent attacks, such as the mass shootings in Orlando and San Bernardino, California. The events also fuelled the debate about America's security challenges seven weeks before the presidential election, with candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashing once again on Monday. 'SHOW ME YOUR HANDS' Police in Linden were responding to a complaint by a bar owner of a man sleeping in the closed establishment's entranceway. "The officer realized that this might be the person that the FBI was looking for. The officer then said, 'show me your hands,' and the person went to the side of his body and pulled out a handgun and fired a round at the officer, striking him in the abdomen. Fortunately the officer had his bulletproof vest on," Linden Police Captain James Sarnicki told reporters. Rahami indiscriminately opened fired on police, officials said, injuring another officer with broken auto glass that struck his forehead. Police fired back, wounding Rahami in the arm and leg. Eyewitness video showed Rahami handcuffed in a gurney, his wounds bandaged, before he was taken to hospital for surgery. His condition was not considered life threatening, police said. Focusing just on the shootout, the Union County Prosecutor's Office charged Rahami with five counts of attempted murder in the first degree and two second-degree weapons charges, spokesman Mark Spivey said. More charges were likely in federal court but Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, said authorities would take their time. 'DEMON RAGE' Rahami had not previously been identified as dangerous but his family was known to police as a result of late-night noise and crowd complaints at a family halal chicken restaurant in Elizabeth. "This is a criminal, sick act and it's an idea that is coming from abroad and spilling over into the youth and this demon rage," said Salaam Ismial, a social worker at Masjid Al-Hadi, a mosque in Elizabeth, and who said he knew Rahami. "A rightful Muslim would denounce this violence. The Koran is very clear on this." Investigators said they had not yet determined a motive for the bombings and there was no indication that an extremist cell was operating in the area, William Sweeney of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York division told a news conference. U.S. President Barack Obama, who spoke by phone with some of the officers involved in the arrest, praised police for the quick apprehension and said he saw no connection between the explosions and a separate weekend incident where a man stabbed nine people at a mall in central Minnesota before being shot dead. The Minnesota attacker was described a "soldier of the Islamic State," the militant group's news agency said. (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Julia Edwards, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Roberta Rampton and Hilary Russ in New York; and Roselle Chen in Linden, New Jersey.; Writing Daniel Trotta; Editing by Alan Crosby and Mary Milliken) Acapulco (Mexico) (AFP) - A top police official in Mexico's southern Guerrero state and his female companion were found stabbed to death in their home in the Pacific resort of Acapulco, authorities said. The death of Tomas Hernandez Martinez, the state police's director general and operations coordinator, is a "huge loss" for the force, the Guerrero public security department said in a statement. The state's deputy attorney general, Jose Antonio Bonilla, later confirmed to reporters that a woman was also killed. He didn't specify whether the couple was married or not. An agent from the state prosecutor's office, who was at the crime scene, told AFP on condition of anonymity that the couple had stab wounds in their faces and other parts of their bodies, and their throats were cut in their home in the populous neighborhood of Progreso. Acapulco, a once glittering resort, is now considered Mexico's murder capital, with 111 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants last year. The violence is linked to turf battles between the Beltran Leyva criminal group and the Independent Cartel of Acapulco. Assisi (Italy) (AFP) - Pope Francis said Tuesday the world "thirsts for peace" after praying with faith leaders for an end to religious fanaticism and indifference to the plight of war victims. "We do not have weapons" to end wars and stop those who commit violence in the name of God, the Argentine pontiff told religious heads from across the globe gathered in the central Italian medieval town of Assisi. But "as religious leaders, (we) are duty bound to be strong bridges of dialogue, creative mediators of peace," he said, as fighting resumed in Syria and several people died in a second day of bloody violence in DR Congo. "We never tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to justify violence," and must cast off "the heavy burdens of distrust, fundamentalism and hate," he told an open-air ceremony as the sun set. The annual World Day of Prayer event, established by John Paul II 30 years ago and held in the hill-side town, aims to combat extremism in the name of religion and the persecution of people for their faiths. - Candles for war dead - The pope had held one-on-one talks with leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Islamic organisation. He also sat down with Rabbi David Rosen from the American Jewish Committee and Koei Morikawa, the Supreme Head of the Tendai Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism. He had earlier bemoaned the coldness of those who turn a blind eye to refugees as easily as changing the channel on the television. The 79-year-old pontiff had arrived amid tight security for lunch with the leaders and a group of refugees, including Syrians and Palestinians, an Eritrean, two Nigerian women and a 23-year-old from Mali who fled crisis-torn Libya for Sicily by boat. The leaders had prayed separately in locations across the town before coming together in the square in front of the Basilica of Saint Francis to read out messages of peace. Story continues Twenty-seven candles were lit for 27 war-hit countries, from Iraq to Myanmar, Syria and Yemen, before a minute's silence. "Islam is a religion of peace," Syamsuddin said, adding that it was "the responsibility of us Muslims to work together to show the real face of our faith" and distance it from those who perpetrate violence in the name of Islam. - 'No tomorrow in war' - In his address, Buddhist leader Morikawa bemoaned military interventions aimed at ending conflicts, saying history had taught us "peace enforced will be undone through force". Bartholomew called for fundamentalists in each religion to be "isolated" while Israeli Rabbi David Brodman, who survived the Holocaust as a child, said the Assisi meeting was proof "even those who are different can forge friendships and live in peace". After hearing testimony from a Syrian woman who described the screams of children under fire in war-torn Aleppo, Francis said the world needed to give voice to those who suffer. "They know well, often better than the powerful, that there is no tomorrow in war," he said. The pontiff had earlier reminded Western countries that while they had suffered a string of deadly jihadist attacks, there were parts of the world where cities were being flattened by fighting, prisoners were being tortured and families were starving to death. "We are frightened... by some terrorist acts," he said as US authorities probed an attack possibly linked to the Islamic State group. "(But) this is nothing compared to what is happening in those countries, in those lands where day and night bombs fall." By Philip Pullella ASSISI, Italy (Reuters) - Pope Francis and leaders of other world religions said "No to War!" on Tuesday, vowing to oppose terrorism in God's name and appealing to politicians to listen to "the anguished cry of so many innocents". Francis flew by helicopter to the central Italian hilltop city that was home to St. Francis, the 13th century saint revered by many religions as a patron of peace and nature and a defender of the poor. The head of the Roman Catholic Church closed a three-day meeting where about 500 representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and other faiths discussed how their members could better promote peace and reconciliation. Francis, who delivered two addresses and shared meals with the leaders, said indifference to suffering had become "a new and deeply sad paganism" that caused some to turn away from war victims and refugees with the same ease as changing a television channel. Near the end of the gathering, members of each religion prayed in a separate locations and then joined each other in a square outside the famous pink stone basilica where St. Francis is buried. Prayers were said for the victims of war, including in Syria and Afghanistan, and for the refugees fleeing the conflicts. A woman refugee from Aleppo now living in Italy told the pope at final gathering "my heart is in tatters". "Only peace is holy, and not war," the Argentine-born pontiff said. ABUSE OF RELIGION Francis, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, prayed in the basilica with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans, and Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of up to 300 million Orthodox Christians around the globe. In a final appeal that key representatives signed and gave to children from around the world, they vowed "to oppose every form of violence and abuse of religion which seeks to justify war and terrorism." "No to war! May the anguished cry of the many innocents not go unheeded. Let us urge leaders of nations to defuse the causes of war: the lust for power and money, the greed of arms dealers, personal interests and vendettas for past wrongs," the appeal said. The narrow, cobblestone paths of Assisi echoed with the sound of different languages when Shinto priests in red-and-white robes crossed paths with rabbis in black and Muslims in white as each group converged outside St. Francis Basilica to join the Christians. Speaking during the Christian service, Francis said the world could not ignore "our brothers and sisters, who live under the threat of bombs and are forced to leave their homes into the unknown, stripped of everything". "Who listens to them? Who bothers responding to them? Far too often they encounter the deafening silence of indifference, the selfishness of those annoyed at being pestered, the coldness of those who silence their cry for help with the same ease with which television channels are changed," he said. The event was held to mark the 30th anniversary of the first such encounter hosted by the late Pope John Paul in 1986. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Four states and the District of Columbia have voted since 2012 to legalize the retail sale of marijuana. One main incentive of legalization is the tax revenue states receive from marijuana sales. The first two states to legalize marijuana -- Colorado and Washington -- began sales in 2014. After a slow start, tax revenues now exceed expectations in both states. While the legal structure supporting marijuana sales would be quite different in each U.S. region, other states can begin to better understand the financial impact legalization would have on their states. The Tax Foundation used sales per capita in these two states and the assumption of a 25% effective tax rate to determine the potential tax revenue from marijuana sales in each state. ALSO READ: America's Most Segregated Cities While tax revenue from marijuana sales exceeded expectations in both Colorado and Washington, the revenue increase remains small relative to the overall state tax revenue. This could support arguments of both those who claim the financial incentives are enough to push for legalization, and those who claim they are not worth the potential risks. For example, based on a 25% tax rate -- the lowest among the four states that legalized marijuana -- potential annual revenues for states legalizing marijuana would likely range from $16 million in less populated states such as Wyoming to $1.1 billion in California. When compared to all tax revenue statewide, the percentage increase of this potential revenue ranges from only a 0.3% increase in state tax revenue in North Dakota to a 1.6% increase in New Hampshire. Increasing tax revenues is not the only financial benefit of legalization. States also save from spending less on enforcing marijuana laws. However, this saved money is at least partially repurposed to regulating the new market. Marijuana legalization is still hotly debated nationwide, with many states likely to legalize soon while others are doubtful. Based on two previous analyses, 24/7 Wall St. identified the next 14 states to legalize marijuana and the 11 states least likely to legalize marijuana. If all of the 14 states legalize, the combined annual additional revenue is expected to be $3.1 billion. The 11 states least likely to legalize would miss out on an estimated $1.2 billion annually. Story continues To identify the potential tax revenue from the sale of marijuana in every state, 24/7 Wall St. used estimates based on sales per capita in Colorado and Washington from The Tax Foundation. All potential revenues are based on a 25% tax rate. Total state tax revenues are from the U.S. Census Bureau. Marijuana usage figures are from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The likelihood of legalization is based on two previous analyses from 24/7 Wall St. This is the potential tax revenue from marijuana sales in every state. 1. Alabama > Potential pot tax revenue: $134 million > Total state tax revenue: $9.29 billion (24th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.6% of adults (5th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 2. Alaska > Potential pot tax revenue: $20 million > Total state tax revenue: $3.39 billion (8th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 12.2% of adults (7th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: N/A 3. Arizona > Potential pot tax revenue: $188 million > Total state tax revenue: $13.08 billion (20th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 8.9% of adults (14th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 4. Arkansas > Potential pot tax revenue: $82 million > Total state tax revenue: $8.94 billion (22nd lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.8% of adults (20th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 5. California > Potential pot tax revenue: $1.08 billion > Total state tax revenue: $138.07 billion (the highest) > Marijuana use rate: 9.3% of adults (13th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 6. Colorado > Potential pot tax revenue: $150 million > Total state tax revenue: $11.76 billion (22nd highest) > Marijuana use rate: 15.2% of adults (the highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: N/A ALSO READ: America's Most Hated CEOs 7. Connecticut > Potential pot tax revenue: $99 million > Total state tax revenue: $15.94 billion (19th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 8.6% of adults (17th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 8. Delaware > Potential pot tax revenue: $26 million > Total state tax revenue: $3.18 billion (7th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 8.2% of adults (18th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 9. Florida > Potential pot tax revenue: $557 million > Total state tax revenue: $35.38 billion (5th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.6% of adults (25th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 10. Georgia > Potential pot tax revenue: $281 million > Total state tax revenue: $18.63 billion (16th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 8.0% of adults (20th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 11. Hawaii > Potential pot tax revenue: $39 million > Total state tax revenue: $6.03 billion (14th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.9% of adults (21st highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 12. Idaho > Potential pot tax revenue: $46 million > Total state tax revenue: $3.67 billion (9th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.3% of adults (14th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 13. Illinois > Potential pot tax revenue: $354 million > Total state tax revenue: $39.18 billion (4th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.7% of adults (23rd highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 14. Indiana > Potential pot tax revenue: $182 million > Total state tax revenue: $16.85 billion (17th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.6% of adults (24th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 15. Iowa > Potential pot tax revenue: $86 million > Total state tax revenue: $8.27 billion (20th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.0% of adults (2nd lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 16. Kansas > Potential pot tax revenue: $80 million > Total state tax revenue: $7.33 billion (18th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.4% of adults (17th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 17. Kentucky > Potential pot tax revenue: $122 million > Total state tax revenue: $11.10 billion (24th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.9% of adults (21st lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 18. Louisiana > Potential pot tax revenue: $128 million > Total state tax revenue: $9.70 billion (25th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.2% of adults (10th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 19. Maine > Potential pot tax revenue: $37 million > Total state tax revenue: $3.85 billion (10th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 12.9% of adults (5th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 20. Maryland > Potential pot tax revenue: $165 million > Total state tax revenue: $18.93 billion (15th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 8.6% of adults (15th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 21. Massachusetts > Potential pot tax revenue: $187 million > Total state tax revenue: $25.24 billion (9th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 12.0% of adults (8th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 22. Michigan > Potential pot tax revenue: $273 million > Total state tax revenue: $24.80 billion (10th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 10.4% of adults (10th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 23. Minnesota > Potential pot tax revenue: $151 million > Total state tax revenue: $23.13 billion (12th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.3% of adults (25th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 24. Mississippi > Potential pot tax revenue: $82 million > Total state tax revenue: $7.57 billion (19th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.9% of adults (8th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 25. Missouri > Potential pot tax revenue: $167 million > Total state tax revenue: $11.24 billion (23rd highest) > Marijuana use rate: 8.1% of adults (19th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 26. Montana > Potential pot tax revenue: $28 million > Total state tax revenue: $2.66 billion (4th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 10.2% of adults (11th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 27. Nebraska > Potential pot tax revenue: $52 million > Total state tax revenue: $4.88 billion (11th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.8% of adults (7th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 28. Nevada > Potential pot tax revenue: $79 million > Total state tax revenue: $7.14 billion (17th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.7% of adults (22nd highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 29. New Hampshire > Potential pot tax revenue: $37 million > Total state tax revenue: $2.28 billion (3rd lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 11.7% of adults (9th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 30. New Jersey > Potential pot tax revenue: $246 million > Total state tax revenue: $29.68 billion (7th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.3% of adults (11th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 31. New Mexico > Potential pot tax revenue: $57 million > Total state tax revenue: $5.76 billion (13th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 9.7% of adults (12th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 32. New York > Potential pot tax revenue: $544 million > Total state tax revenue: $76.98 billion (2nd highest) > Marijuana use rate: 8.6% of adults (16th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 33. North Carolina > Potential pot tax revenue: $276 million > Total state tax revenue: $23.40 billion (11th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.7% of adults (19th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 34. North Dakota > Potential pot tax revenue: $21 million > Total state tax revenue: $6.12 billion (15th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.8% of adults (6th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 35. Ohio > Potential pot tax revenue: $319 million > Total state tax revenue: $27.02 billion (8th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.0% of adults (23rd lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 36. Oklahoma > Potential pot tax revenue: $108 million > Total state tax revenue: $9.10 billion (23rd lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.3% of adults (12th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low ALSO READ: Healthiest City in Every State 37. Oregon > Potential pot tax revenue: $111 million > Total state tax revenue: $9.68 billion (25th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 12.6% of adults (6th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: N/A 38. Pennsylvania > Potential pot tax revenue: $352 million > Total state tax revenue: $34.19 billion (6th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.3% of adults (24th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 39. Rhode Island > Potential pot tax revenue: $29 million > Total state tax revenue: $2.97 billion (6th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 12.9% of adults (4th highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 40. South Carolina > Potential pot tax revenue: $135 million > Total state tax revenue: $8.93 billion (21st lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.6% of adults (18th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 41. South Dakota > Potential pot tax revenue: $24 million > Total state tax revenue: $1.61 billion (the lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 4.8% of adults (the lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 42. Tennessee > Potential pot tax revenue: $182 million > Total state tax revenue: $11.81 billion (21st highest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.5% of adults (3rd lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 43. Texas > Potential pot tax revenue: $755 million > Total state tax revenue: $55.26 billion (3rd highest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.9% of adults (9th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 44. Utah > Potential pot tax revenue: $82 million > Total state tax revenue: $6.31 billion (16th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 5.6% of adults (4th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low 45. Vermont > Potential pot tax revenue: $17 million > Total state tax revenue: $2.96 billion (5th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 13.4% of adults (2nd highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: High 46. Virginia > Potential pot tax revenue: $231 million > Total state tax revenue: $18.95 billion (14th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 7.0% of adults (22nd lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 47. Washington > Potential pot tax revenue: $197 million > Total state tax revenue: $19.45 billion (13th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 13.1% of adults (3rd highest) > Likelihood of legalizing: N/A 48. West Virginia > Potential pot tax revenue: $51 million > Total state tax revenue: $5.38 billion (12th lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.4% of adults (15th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 49. Wisconsin > Potential pot tax revenue: $159 million > Total state tax revenue: $16.41 billion (18th highest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.4% of adults (17th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Medium 50. Wyoming > Potential pot tax revenue: $16 million > Total state tax revenue: $2.26 billion (2nd lowest) > Marijuana use rate: 6.3% of adults (13th lowest) > Likelihood of legalizing: Low Related Articles The younger Trump posted a tweet featuring a bowl of the candy Skittles with a warning. By AP: Donald Trump Jr. has posted a message on Twitter likening Syrian refugees to a bowl of poisoned Skittles. Seeking to promote his father's presidential campaign, the younger Trump posted a tweet featuring a bowl of the candy Skittles with a warning. "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?" said the tweet on the verified @DonaldTrumpJr handle. advertisement "That's our Syrian refugee problem," said the post, which caused a stir and negative tweets on the internet into Tuesday. Trump Jr.'s tweet said, "This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first." His father has advocated sharply restraining immigration and has accused opponent Hillary Clinton of advocating acceptance of tens of thousands of refugees. SKITTLES DISTANCES ITSELF FROM THE TWEET Skittles parent company Wrigley Americas distanced itself from the tweet with a terse response opposing Trump Jr.'s premise. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," Vice President of Corporate Affairs Denise Young said in the statement. "We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." Trump Jr.'s tweet repeats an analogy that has been on the internet for years, using M&Ms and other foods, and targeting a variety of groups. When former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was running for the Republican presidential nomination last year, he used peanuts to warn about the risk of admitting refugees. In a Nov. 17 interview on MSNBC, he asked, if there was a five-pound bag of peanuts and "there were about 10 peanuts that were deadly poisonous, would you feed them to your kids? The answer is no." Trump Jr.'s tweet came as world leaders meeting at the United Nations on Monday approved a declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane response to the global refugee crisis, among which Syrians are a major grouping. TRUMP CALLED MORATORIUM ON ACCEPTING SYRIAN REFUGEES During the campaign Trump has repeatedly called for a moratorium on accepting Syrian refugees. This is part of a more wide-ranging policy on immigrants that has ranged from an outright ban on foreign Muslim immigrants entering the United States "until we know what the hell is going on" to "extreme" vetting and an ideological test for would-be immigrants from countries and regions plagued by extremism. Clinton has said she would expand President Barack Obama's refugee program to accept about 65,000 Syrian refugees. This would be in addition to the tens of thousands of refugees accepted from around the world every year. advertisement Clinton said she would continue with the vetting currently in place, an effort that can take multiple years to complete. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have sought refuge in Europe while many others wait in neighboring countries and refugee camps for the war to end or a chance to move away from the carnage. Obama pledged the US would accept 10,000 Syrians this budget year, which ends September 30, and achieved that number a month early. This is in addition to about 75,000 refugees from other parts of the world. Also read: Clinton says Trump gives 'aid, comfort' to ISIS recruiters How pastor interrupted Donald Trump's attack on Hillary Clinton Birther movement over after Trumps acknowledgment: Pence --- ENDS --- Special to 24/7 Wall St. From PrivCo The three famous words from the 1992 Clinton campaign were in fact, The economy, stupid without the Its. We simply added this over time. It was easier. What we also got wrong about the original phrase, however, was its true intent. The beginning and end of the Clinton-administration era are bookended by linguistic liberties: from its to the definition of is. Perception of the economy was really what political strategist, James Carville, was aiming for. Perception matters in elections. Trumps rise came on the backs of immigration perceptions that were nowhere based in fact. Clintons attempt to stay above the fray has relied on her ability to drive perceptions of herself and her opponent, all while dodging questions of what a private server is. ALSO READ: America's Best (and Worst) Car Brands In an election where substance and policy have seen less airtime than a Bobby Jindal debate rebuttal, perception matters more than ever. Come election day, pending an ongoing war or natural disaster, the economy is usually at the forefront of every voter's mind. Conventional wisdom suggests that if the economy is perceived to be doing well in the weeks and months leading up to election day, it typically bodes well for the incumbent party. When all other factors are held equal, undecided voters act in their economic best interest. Tim Fernholz of Quartz put together a thorough and poignant article on this subject in April, which you can read here. We have seen a "HUGE" amount of data and polling information that has done a superlative job in providing insight on where the minds of many voters are. But other than unemployment data and the recent improvements in household income, we haven't seen much regarding who is actually employing. At PrivCo we collect an enormous amount of data every day on the private economy. We collect financial figures, business plans, funding rounds, competitive intelligence, and most important for the purpose of this article, we collect employment figures. Story continues We wanted to see the pace at which the private economy was employing above and beyond state-wide totals. While publicly-traded companies typically have large head counts, the effects on sentiment aren't felt as strongly as when a smaller private company increases its headcount. For example, a 20% increase in headcount at Ford Motors over four years may not be noticed by the average employee of the 200,000 strong company. However, a 200% increase at a smaller privately held company with only 50 employees would certainly bring different perceptions of growth and economic well-being. Private company employment changes have disproportionate effects on voters' perceptions of economic vitality. ALSO READ: 9 Cities Where Home Flippers Make $100,000 a House While we have employee count information on over 900,000 companies worldwide, we limited our focus to the following five swing states, since they will have the greatest influence over the election. We chose Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and North Carolina and took a look at employment figures in those states over the course of President Obamas final term in office. We then compared that data with the Bureau of Labor Statistics' unemployment data. Finally, we compared the average change in employment within the private economy to the average change in statewide unemployment figures. While we cant draw definitive conclusions as to which way a state will vote, one can take a look at how much better or worse a states private economy is doing as compared to the change in statewide employment. Weve broken down each state's private businesses into categories of large (500+ employees), medium (60-500) and small (1-60) and looked at the average percentage increase in those companies, comparing this with the average percentage increase in total employment in each state. It is worth noting that all five states experienced improvement in total employment during the recorded period (2012 - 2015). Additionally, these five swing states all had an improvement in employment above the median for the entire country. Our findings are below. Florida ALSO READ: Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Campbell Soup, Lockheed Martin, PNC Financial, Wells Fargo, Cerner and More Florida has played a significant role in presidential elections for the past two decades and this year will be no different. The state saw unemployment drop by nearly 41% from 2012 to 2016 which was the second largest drop in our swing state cohort. Florida's medium-sized private employers saw the largest gains in employment, adding on average 41.5% more employees over the recorded period. While perceptions of the economy may be strong in the state, it is important to note that Florida hasn't elected a Democrat to the governor's office in nearly three decades (Lawton Chiles in 1991). Florida's Largest Private Employer % Increase - Digital Media Solutions (422%) Ohio Every four years, a slew of candidates tour the towns of Akron and Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland all echoing the same phrase, "As Ohio goes, so goes the nation," and for good reason. Ohio has had a perfect record in predicting elections dating back to the 1960's. Presidential hopeful John Kasich, the Republican governor, has presided over an economic uptick, albeit a subtle one, during his time as governor, yet his reluctance to endorse or even show up to the RNC may leave that economic boost unused for the Republican nominee. Ohio's private economy saw its largest increase in employees from small businesses with a whopping 75%increase in average employment gains. Unemployment decreased by 36% during the period which was the lowest of our five states. ALSO READ: America's Most and Least Educated States: A Survey of All 50 Ohio's Largest Private Employer % Increase - EBTH Holdings, LLC (560%) Michigan Michigan has seen one of the largest changes in employment figures and economic improvement on our list as well as nationwide. The state has skillfully leveraged its powerful university system and currently promotes a wealth of high growth sectors, including Biotech. The state has been involved in providing tax credits to new businesses that decide to set up shop in the state. Michigan saw its largest gains in private employment by large businesses, which increased employee size by roughly 20% on average. The state also saw the largest decrease in unemployment on our list at 44% and as of Q2 of this year, the state's unemployment rate is at 4.58%. Michigan's Largest Private Employer % Increase - ChemicoMays LLC. (107%) North Carolina North Carolina has long been championed for its "Research Triangle," the unambiguous tech-centric triangle connecting North Carolina State University, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. While this area certainly has promoted nominal business growth throughout the state, employment figures have increased outside the triangle as well. The state saw its largest private employment increase from small business which increased headcount on average 51.6% over the period. Unemployment decreased by nearly 40% as well. ALSO READ: 4 Companies That Destroyed Shareholders Last Week North Carolina's Largest Private Employer % Increase - Yard-Nique (199%) Pennsylvania While Pennsylvania's employment figures have improved over the last four years, the change has been marginal. Pennsylvania saw the second lowest employment improvement figures on our list, with unemployment only going down by about 38%. The state's core industries for employment are certainly a hold-over from the boom years of the industrial revolution. Machining and equipment manufacturing, as well as fabricated metals, are some of the top employers in the state. Large industrial companies take an even larger workforce to maintain them and Pennsylvania saw its largest increase in private employment from companies employing 500 workers or more, increasing on average 17%. Pennsylvania's Largest Private Employer % Increase - Net Health Systems, Inc. (185%) Special to 24/7 Wall St. From PrivCo Related Articles By Esha Vaish (Reuters) - Five big property services firms are dropping Brexit uncertainty clauses from their valuation reports for most UK assets as market conditions steady after a sharp drop immediately after Britain's vote in June to leave the EU. The original Brexit clause, seen by Reuters, stated there was a reduced probability that valuers' opinions of the worth of a UK property would exactly coincide with the price its potential sale fetched. British property was among the sectors hardest hit by the vote in favour of Brexit and at one point commercial property funds worth over 18 billion pounds were suspended amid high redemptions from investors concerned that property demand and prices would plummet. Concerns have since eased with four of the seven closed funds reopening and data from the widest UK commercial property index showing that property values fell less sharply in August than the month before. "We feel now there's enough certainty in most sectors for us to withdraw that clause from all our valuation reporting," said Robert Gray, head of fund valuations at Knight Frank. CBRE, Jones Lang LaSalle, Savills and Colliers said that for some subsectors with greater uncertainty, they had retained reworded clauses that reflected a less cautious tone. "Savills considers the uncertainty clause is redundant for most markets. However, there is a lack of post-Brexit evidence in some sectors ... and we will reference this in our reports as necessary," said Ian Malden, Savills' divisional head of valuation. The sectors involve central London offices, development land and buildings, retail parks and large shopping centres. A revised clause from JLL, seen by Reuters, said there was still a lack of comparable deals in such sectors and therefore valuations reflected a "greater degree of judgment". Andrew Renshaw, JLL's lead director for UK valuations and professional advisory, said the concerns were largely around the larger asset sizes. He expected the revised clause to disappear completely during October as conditions become more transparent. Story continues For less risky properties, JLL dropped clauses completely from Sept. 19, following a meeting of top property valuers and firms last Wednesday, Renshaw said. Russell Francis, head of valuation and advisory services at Colliers, said the firm had begun dropping clauses many weeks ago, referencing areas of the housing market that had seen strong levels of activity even after Brexit. In recent weeks, several builders have said sales have risen, and data has suggested prices are climbing again. On the commercial end of the market, valuers have dropped clauses for properties with long leases and steady incomes, often seen in sectors such as student flats and care homes. Knight Frank's Gray said the firm's valuations for risky properties would on average be 2-6 percent lower than pre-Brexit levels. There are some concerns that such clauses may resurface once Britain begins formal negotiations to exit the EU. Gray said he did not envisage reintroducing the clause in the short term, though altered market conditions could prompt their return. Knight Frank and CBRE value around two-thirds of UK commercial real estate market, according to Mike Prew, property analysts at Jefferies. Reuters could not immediate verify how much market share the rest of the valuers held. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Gross Revenue Growth Expected to be Further Accelerated by Multi-Faceted Publicity Campaign MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / ML Capital Group (MLCG) is pleased to share that its flagship investment, Platinum Tours Maui (PT Maui), is continuing its trend of 100% year over year revenue growth, matching its gross annual revenue from 2015 with three months, and major holiday seasons yet to come in 2016. In 2014, PT Maui reported gross revenue of $168,971 USD, followed by $392,000 USD in 2015. To date, 2016 gross revenue stands at $385,653 USD, or 98% of the annual income from the previous year. With the launch of an international publicity campaign that is already delivering returns, the company is expected to easily supersede its uninterrupted track record of year-over-year, 100% gross revenue increases. "Our analysis of PT Maui revealed not only strong revenue growth, but also significant potential for future growth acceleration, with relatively basic investments," said Kevin Bobryk, CEO, ML Capital Group. "Progress to date reinforces our confidence, and now that we're investing in both corporate infrastructure and international promotion, we expect that the Company will not only continue its stellar year over year revenue growth, but accelerate it." The publicity campaign, which targets high-net-worth travelers, combines both Maui-specific media and international media. It incorporates digital channels, partner promotion, public relations pieces that profile PT Maui and it's distinct, 5-star service offering, as well as membership promotions. While most revenue growth thus far has been achieved through effective partnership promotion on the island of Maui itself, this campaign opens a new revenue generation stream through direct-to-consumer marketing. "PT Maui is the sort of brand you love working with," said Bobryk. "It sells itself through a truly unique and differentiated service offering, but that's only the beginning. Once you've established and elevated the brand, once you invest in spreading that brand, and once you partner with the right corporations and associations, with the right customers and members, you're suddenly in a position for significant growth with a lower overhead investment. There's no need to manufacture value propositions for PT Maui. All you need to do is ensure the right people know about the company, at which point it literally sells and expands itself." Story continues Investors seeking to validate PT Maui's historical revenue can do so easily, by sending a request for documentation to info@mlcginc.com. All requests must include valid contact information - name, institution (where applicable), contact email and contact cell phone number. Safe Harbor: This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27E of the Securities Act of 1934. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approval for anticipated actions. ML Capital Group Investor Relations Email: info@mlcginc.com Phone: (786) 313-3206 SOURCE: ML Capital Group In what is being hailed as a breakthrough in demonstrating the feasibility of quantum teleportation, two independent teams of scientists have succeeded in transferring quantum information over several miles of commercial optical fiber networks. The experiments, carried out in the cities of Calgary, Canada and Hefei, China, are separately described in two studies published in the journal Nature Photonics. First proposed by scientists nearly two decades ago, quantum teleportation relies on "entanglement" a weird and counter-intuitive phenomenon once famously derided as spooky action at a distance by Albert Einstein. When two subatomic particles are entangled, changing the quantum state of one immediately changes the quantum state of the other, no matter how far apart they are. By utilizing this property, researchers in Canada were able to send quantum information over 6.2 kilometers (3.9 miles) of Calgary's fiber optic network, while the Chinese team using a slightly different configuration was able to do so over a distance of 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles). Although greater distances have been achieved in laboratories before, this is the first time researchers were able to use existing telecommunications infrastructure to accomplish quantum teleportation a key step in ensuring the viability and practicality of the process. Here's how quantum teleportation works. Imagine, if you will, three people Alice, Bob and Charlie. Alice wants to send information to Bob. In order to do so, she prepares a photon she wants to teleport and sends it to Charlie, while Bob entangles two photons and sends one of them to Charlie. When Charlie receives the two photons one each from Alice and Bob he carries out what's known as a Bell-state measurement, which actually forces the two to become entangled. This, in turn, causes the photon Bob has to collapse into the state of Alice's original photon, thereby teleporting quantum states between Alice and Bob, who can, in theory, be separated by a distance of miles. Story continues Although the use of the word "teleportation" immediately conjures up images of Star Trek-like transporters thanks to the theme being gratuitously exploited by science fiction books, shows and movies over the ages quantum teleportation refers to the instantaneous transmission of information, rather than actual matter. So, while the latest breakthrough is not going to lead the creation of transporters that seem straight out of science fiction, it does have several real-world implications. From the development of super fast quantum computers to quantum crypotography and the creation of extremely secure "quantum internet," feasible and reliable teleportation has the capability to revolutionize communications. Quantum internet, for instance, would enable users to transfer information through quantum states instead of the currently used strings of 0s and 1s. Given that an eavesdropper cannot read the quantum state of a photon without disturbing it, a quantum network would be essentially unhackable. "The two experiments can be seen as milestones on the path to a long-term goal, namely to build a fibre-based quantum internet connecting large cities," Johannes Kofler from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Munich, who was not involved in the experiments, told New Scientist. Related Articles By Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations suspended aid convoys across Syria on Tuesday a day after an air strike hit relief trucks near the city of Aleppo, killing at least one aid worker and around 20 civilians, and destroying a warehouse and hospital. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which said it was postponing an aid convoy that had been set to deliver supplies to four besieged Syrian towns, warned of the consequences for millions of civilians in need. "As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being pending further assessment of the security situation," Jens Laerke, U.N. humanitarian aid spokesman, told a news briefing in Geneva. "However we remain committed to stay and deliver to everybody in need in Syria," he added. Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday, a war monitor reported, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce over. The confirmed death toll on Tuesday stood at one Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) staff member and "around 20 civilians", the SARC and Red Cross said in a joint statement. "If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien said in a statement calling for an immediate and independent investigation. The United Nations had just received permission from the Syrian government to deliver aid to all besieged areas in the country, Laerke said. All parties, including Russia and the United States, had been notified about the cleared convoy heading to rebel-held eastern Aleppo. "Yesterday's attack is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and it is unacceptable," Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement. "Failing to protect humanitarian workers and structures might have serious repercussions on ongoing humanitarian work in the country, hence depriving millions of people of aid essential to their survival." CONVOYS STALLED Aid convoys for four Syrian towns will be postponed as staff reassess security after the deadly attack on relief trucks and intensified violence, a senior ICRC official said earlier. "This is very worrying. We see a resumption of violence, an intensification of fighting in many locations," Robert Mardini, ICRC director for the Middle East and North Africa, told Reuters in Geneva. "We had something planned in the four towns, but for now it is put on hold to reassess the security conditions," he said, referring to rebel-besieged Foua and Kefraya in Idlib and government-blockaded Madaya and Zabadani near the Lebanese border. At least 18 of 31 trucks in a U.N. and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) convoy were hit on Monday along with an SARC warehouse. The convoy was delivering aid for 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra in Aleppo province. "Life-saving aid supplies have been totally damaged and a health clinic destroyed, depriving thousands of civilians of much needed food and medical assistance," said Benoit Carpentier of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. SARC's director in Urem al-Kubra, Omar Barakat, was among the dead, Mardini said. "The team is in shock." "Omar was badly injured and the rescue team could not reach him for two hours. When he was evacuated he could not survive his wounds," he said. A separate SARC/ICRC convoy to Talbiseh in Homs province made its first delivery since July on Monday, carrying supplies for more than 80,000 people. "It is difficult to read the environment in coming hours because you have a mixture of intensification of fighting and politicization of humanitarian aid ... It is high time to de-link humanitarian work from politics," Mardini said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles; writing by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Peter Millership) We all thought that the buzz around Sanrio characters has fizzled. but we thought wrong. Especially with this new release of Sanrio themed products up for redemption when you spend at 7-Eleven Taiwan. Sanrio Staplers The Taiwanese have indeed taken this up another notch, with the ingenious creation of these Sanrio characters stationery. With these adorable Sanrio characters perched on a mini stapler, this stationery will bring eyes of envy from your classmates. To get this item for free, you simply have to accumulate 80 points (Spend NT$79 for 1 point). Otherwise, you can also accumulate 6 points and top up NT$89 in exchange for this stapler. Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio characters Scissors & Protective Cover To add another drop of cuteness in your pencil case, you should not miss out on these Sanrio themed scissors. The scissors are kept in these character shaped protective covers, offering safe storage in the cutest form! Even as a 21-year-old, I find this stationery hard to resist. These would definitely also be a hit with your young ones at home. Dont forget to remind them that this is not a toy! Get your hands on this item for free by accumulating 80 points, OR 6 points + a top up of NT$89! Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio USB Night Light Connect this night light to a USB port and you are ready to overcome your fear of the dark. Well, to be honest, you dont need to be afraid of the dark to want/need this item, especially if you are a sucker for cute items! There is also a build in storage area at the bottom of the night light, for you to keep your USB wire. (Plus point for functionality!) This night light comes in 3 designs, Sanrios classic Hello Kitty, Gudetama and Pompompurin. You may have a hard time choosing your favourite. My suggestion: Just get all 3. For one night light, you just have to collect 6 points, with an additional top up of NT$349! Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio Solar Powered Bobble Head Toy Now, you can add life to your study table with these Sanrio Bobble Head Collectibles! As its name suggests, this toy would bob its head up and down with the help of power derived from sun rays. Besides study desks, these toys fit perfectly on your car dashboard. It is going to take great resolve not to collect every character that 7 Eleven offers! Similarly, you have to collect a total of 80 points to exchange for 1 of this bobble head toy. Alternatively, you can also accumulate 6 points and complete it with a top up of NT$89. Story continues Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio Cooler Bag Go for your picnics and BBQ sessions in style this cooler bag with roomy interiors and a long shoulder strap, it can store up to 13kg worth of groceries. 7 eleven Taiwan offers 2 different designs, Gudetama and Hello Kitty. I know, right? Why do they have to make it so difficult for us to choose! Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source Sanrio x 7 Eleven Taiwan - Airfrov Blog source The entire Sanrio collection is now available for redemption in 7-Eleven Taiwan, until 30th October! If you are hell-bent on getting your hands on any one of these collectibles, post a request on Airfrov. Our travellers will hand-carry your item back for you, all the way from Taiwan! In case you need to find ways to spend all that money on 7-Eleven, here are some tips on what to buy: Read: 7 Best Convenient Food From Taiwanese Convenience Store The post Redeem Kawaii Sanrio Stationery Collectibles from 7-Eleven Taiwan! appeared first on Airfrov Blog. Drivers across the southeastern U.S. are facing a gas shortage thats pushing prices at the pump higher, but relief may be on the horizon. Colonial Pipeline announced on Tuesday that construction of a bypass line has been completed, allowing gasoline to flow around the site of a leak that was discovered on Sept. 9. The company expects to reopen the pipeline on Wednesday after conducting tests on the 500-foot bypass. The leak, which spilled 250,000 gallons of gasoline into a retention basin, has caused pump prices in the southeast to spike, as tracked by GasBuddy.com. Prices in Georgia averaged $2.37 a gallon midday Tuesday, an increase of 27.7 cents over the last week. South Carolina gas prices have jumped 18.5 cents to $2.09 a gallon, while drivers in North Carolina are paying about 16.2 cents more. The states average per-gallon cost was $2.21. Gasoline in Tennessee has climbed 15.8 cents to $2.15 a gallon. Prices in Alabama, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware are up roughly 10 cents per gallon. The national average is also seeing the effects of the shortage. U.S. gas stations are selling regular fuel for $2.21 on average, an increase of 3.2 cents since last Tuesday. In order to alleviate price hikes and supply disruptions, Colonial Pipeline has been moving gasoline through a parallel pipeline, Line 2, which normally carries diesel, jet fuel and heating oil. The main pipeline, Line 1, brings gasoline from refiners on the Gulf Coast to multiple delivery locations in the southeast and mid-Atlantic. Line 1 extends from Houston, Texas, to Linden, New Jersey. Colonial Pipeline has yet to determine what caused the leak near Birmingham, Alabama. According to Colonial Pipeline, its fuel delivery supply chain wont return to normal for several days after Line 1 is back in business. As such, some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions. Colonial continues to move as much gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal, the company said in a statement. Story continues Senior Petroleum Analyst Gregg Laskoski said regional supplies of gasoline may recover within another week or so, he wrote in a report on GasBuddy.coms website. There are reports of gas shortages and long lines at stations in several states, particularly in metro areas like Nashville and Atlanta. The governors of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee approved emergency plans that allow fuel truck drivers to drive longer hours. Related Articles By PTI: New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Law Commission Chairman B S Chauhan today came out in support of the draft surrogacy bill, saying such a step was required. Addressing a seminar here, Justice Chauhan (retd), who had been a judge of Supreme Court, said the draft measure cleared by the Cabinet "is required" at a time when there is no law on the subject in the country. advertisement The seminar on South Asian Diaspora and Emerging Legal Challenges organised by South Asian University also discussed a draft bill on parential abductions which the government plans to bring in the near future. There is also a Hague Convention on inter-country parental abductions to which India is not a signatory. There were suggestions that the bill be brought and the convention be signed at the earliest. A bill proposing a complete ban on commercial surrogacy and allowing only legally wedded Indian couples to opt for children through it was approved by the government last month to check unethical practices. The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the introduction of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 in Parliament, seeking a bar on unmarried couples, single parents, live-in partners and homosexuals from opting for surrogacy. PTI NAB IKA RG IKA --- ENDS --- The National Constitution Centers Liberty Medal was awarded to United States Representative John Lewis during the 28th Annual Liberty Medal Ceremony on Monday, September 19, 2016 in Philadelphia. lewismedal535 Jeffrey Rosen presents Liberty Medal to John Lewis Representative Lewis, who, along with Hosea Williams, led the 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on Bloody Sunday, was recognized for his courageous dedication to civil rights and the Constitution. I never tried to win any award, Lewis told the National Constitution Center audience. My plan wasnt to seek fame or fortune. All I wanted to do is to help out to do what I could to help make this country and the world community a little bit better. We truly believed that by refusing to comply with what was wrong we could get our nation to do what was right, Lewis said. We had an extraordinary vision to live in a society that respected dignity and the worth of every human being. There are some people that have said, Nothing has changed. Come and walk in my shoes and I will show you change, Lewis said. The National Constitution Centers Liberty Medal, established in 1988, annually honors men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe. The selection of Representative Lewis comes as the National Constitution Center commemorates the 150th anniversaries of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, a series of constitutional amendments known as the Reconstruction Amendments. Through his heroic leadership on behalf of civil rights and the Constitution, Representative Lewis has helped to extend the blessings of liberty and equality to all Americans. Under his leadership, the Civil Rights Movement helped this nation move toward the creation of the more perfect union promised by President Lincoln at Gettysburg, said Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, adding, As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the equal protection of the laws, the National Constitution Center is thrilled to honor Representative Lewis with the 2016 Liberty Medal. Story continues Representative Lewis is an inspiration to people all over the world, said Mayor Jim Kenney. On behalf of the City of Philadelphia, I am thrilled to welcome him back to our city and to help showcase his achievements with the Liberty Medal. Representative Lewis is the only surviving Big Six leader of the Civil Rights Movement, a group of prominent civil rights leaders which included Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young. To read more about this event, go to http://constitutioncenter.org/libertymedal One tequila, two tequila, three tequilamore bad decisions. Scientists have discovered the neurochemical explanation behind beer goggles, also known as the lowering of inhibitions after drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Recent research from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology suggested drinking alcohol affected our ability to perceive other peoples emotions and allowed us to view sexually explicit material in a more positive light, especially for women. In other words, after a few cocktails, youre more likely to notice and respond to happy faces and lower your sexual inhibitions. These effects of alcohol on social cognition likely enhance sociability," explained lead researcher, Professor Matthias Liechti. The study recruited 60 men and women between the ages of 18 and 50; half of the group received half of a beer, and the rest received an entire beer. The researchers then recorded facial recognition, empathy, and sexual arousal. Oxytocin and arousal levels were surprisingly stagnant, but facial recognition levels changed the most. Subjects who drank an entire beer were able to recognize happy faces faster, and female subjects were able to view sexually explicit content more easily. The conclusion is something weve suspected all along: Alcohol is a social lubricant and moderate use makes people happier, Liechtis colleague, Professor Wim van den Brink, said. One of the many odd side effects of having Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president has been the amount of time very smart people now spend critiquing and debunking claims on which they should not be wasting their time. Last night, for example, Trumps son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted out an image of a bowl of Skittles candy with the comment, This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016. Related: Are the Trump Kids Becoming Political Liabilities? The accompanying text read: If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? Thats our Syrian refugee problem. His fathers campaign logo appeared below it the Skittles. Politics, public policy, and simple human decency aside, the Tweet was problematic because of its atrocious grammar and associated lack of clarity. Are there three killer Skittles in the bowl? Or are each of the Skittles so dangerous that just three will kill you? In the end, most people seemed to assume that there were three theoretically murderous Skittles mixed in with the others. Good folks on the Internet then spent a considerable amount of time running the numbers to prove that Don Jr.s tweet actually wildly overstates the likelihood of a particular Syrian refugee being a terrorist in disguise. Related: Trumps Tax Plan Would Cost Trillions, but the Numbers Are a Moving Target The problem here is not that the tweet was statistically imprecise -- but rather that treating a glib, social media post as an argument worth engaging is, well, a waste of everyones time. A public relations executive at Skittles parent company won the Internet Monday night with this simple statement of fact: Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy. Last week, the widely respected economic forecasting firm, Macroeconomic Advisers, gave us another example of the Trump campaigns extraordinary ability to make deeply intelligent people reply to absurd arguments with far more seriousness than they deserve. Story continues In a speech before the Economics Club of NY, Trump, among a number of other improbable promises, said that his policies would create an additional 25 million jobs over the next 10 years. In a brief two-page analysis, MAs Joel Prakken and Chris Varvares assessed his likelihood of success. Prakken and Varvares gave Trump the benefit of the doubt, and assumed that his claim included the more than 7 million jobs the Congressional Budget Office already expects the economy to produce in that time frame, leaving Trump to make up the difference with about 18 million extra jobs. Related: Trump Has Backtracked on Some of Yesterdays Economy Proposals Their analysis is an interesting read, but once you get to paragraphs like this one Incidentally, we admit to being perplexed by the rule of thumb. Firstly, it is a semi-log relationship. Every extra percentage increase in GDP gives the same absolute increase in employment. Today, a 1.2 million increase in employment is a 0.8 percent increase, but that percentage declines every year as employment increases. This doesnt seem sensible. Secondly, if we think about the rule of thumb as a sort of Okuns law, at todays level of employment it implies that a 1 percent increase in GDP lowers the unemployment rate by about percentage point, significantly more than the textbook version of the famous relationship between the output and unemployment gaps. ...you start to feel as though Prakken and Varvares put more thought into this critique than Trump put into his whole speech. In the end, they find that for Trump to make good on his promise, the decades-long slide in the US labor force participation rate would have to execute an immediate about-face, and soar to the highest rates ever recorded within the space of 10 years. Related: Trump Has a New Economic Plan, but the Numbers Still Dont Add Up After some more analysis of the possible effects of marginal tax rate changes and the tension between the substitution effect and the income effect on labor force participation, they determine, In short, we consider the rise in the participation rate implied by Trumps figures as simply not credible. When I was in elementary school, a math teacher cautioned our parents not to use Algebra to help us with the simple math problems we were learning to solve. You dont need a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, she said. Similarly, maybe we dont need high-level statistical and economic analysis to debunk poisonous and/or nonsensical claims from Team Trump. Calling them what they are -- nonsense -- might be giving them all the consideration they deserve. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Lyle Denniston, Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent, looks at a case under consideration for the Supreme Court that could clarify national educational standards for disabled children in the public school system. Over a period of more than four decades, the national government has moved deeper and deeper into the realm of education for disabled children, but it still is not clear what the ultimate goal is supposed to be. Federal funds now are provided to promote an appropriate education for each disabled child, but what would that be? The federal government is now asking the Supreme Court to clarify what Congress has had in mind since the lawmakers took the initiative in 1975 to set policy, with the aim of relieving parents of disabled children from the burden of having to win, one constitutional case at a time, a right to attend public school. Before Congress passed the first federal law to assure access to public schools, the pattern across the country was either to bar students with disabilities entirely from public schools, or to let them attend with little more to do than wait until they were old enough to quit school. Tens of thousands were kept in institutions with little preparation for when they might emerge. Because education is traditionally, and by constitutional understanding, governed by state and local officials, Congress used the one workable means to influence policy: it made federal funds available to induce the nations school systems to open their doors to disabled children. In the beginning, the goal was mainly to assure access. In those days, the science was not yet well developed on how to educate children with autism and related disabilities, so the emphasis had to be on simply getting those young ones into classrooms. The specific hope was that they could learn while attending classrooms along with other students who were not disabled, rather than being taught separately in isolated special education environments. Story continues Congress wrote a phrase to express its ultimate aspiration: each disabled child was to have a free appropriate public education. The taxpayers of the nation, not of the states, would pay the bill for developing the means specifically to educate the disabled. There is no question that many of those children have special needs, but, as much as possible, they were to have those needs met by the public schools. But what was appropriate in the education of a disabled youngster? Under the federal law, each disabled child was to have an educational plan, tailored to that child specifically. School officials were required to work out each such plan with the parents of the child, and the parents were given a right to sue their school district if the discussions over the plan broke down. (If a school district could not provide an adequate plan, the parents could choose send the child to a private school, and the school district would reimburse them for the tuition.) This was the scheme that replaced the pre-1975 situation, when parents had to bring individual lawsuits, claiming access for their child as a constitutional requirement of either due process or equal legal opportunity. A few of those lawsuits had succeeded, but they remained an isolated answer to the educational challenge. Under the new legal regime that Congress provided, parents could still sue on behalf of their children specifically, but such cases were directly tied to the formation of education policy in general. The meaning of what an appropriate education is, and what an appropriate individual plan for a child would be, reached the Supreme Court for the first time in 1982, in the case of Board of Education v. Rowley. In that ruling, the court provided a partial definition and refused to make it more specific. Since then, it has never returned to the issue. The court declared then that public schools did not have to maximize the potential of children with disabilities to learn, because Congress did not aim at strict equality of opportunity or services in the public school setting. But, it said, each childs plan must be reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits. While it said the benefit had to be meaningful, it stopped there. Because of the wide variety of individual capacities, it said, it would not establish any one test for what would be appropriate in a given childs situation. In the years since then, the lower federal courts have reached widely varying interpretations. From a low point of merely more than the minimum or a bit more than the trivial, the standards have moved up to varying higher levels of achievement. The issue has now returned to the Supreme Court. Along with his parents, a 15-year-old Littleton, Colo., student, identified only as Endrew F. (his parents call him Drew), is challenging one of the federal appeals courts that set the standard at the lowest level of achievement. The youth is autistic and has attention deficit disorder, compromising his verbal and non-verbal communications skills. When his parents and school officials couldnt agree on a plan for him in public schools, he was placed in a private school that specializes in teaching autistic students. The family then sued to recover the private school tuition, contending that the school district was obliged to pay because it failed to provide Drew with an adequate educational opportunity. A trial judge and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit denied the challenge, finding that the law only required a benefit just above the trivial, and that Drew had done a bit better than that in public school. At the invitation of the Supreme Court, the Obama administration has offered its views. In a legal brief filed in August, the administration said the conflicting views of the lower courts should be straightened out by the Justices, and that the court should settle on a single, uniform standard: the educational benefit, to satisfy the law, must be meaningful and that means that each childs plan must include measurable annual goals in achievement, and the actual services provided to the child must be capable of helping that child move toward achieving the annual goals. No reasonable school district, the brief argued, sets out to provide educational benefits to its non-disabled children that are barely more than trivial. It denies equal educational opportunity if that is all that a school district aims at for a disabled child, it said. The Justices are expected to act soon after ending their summer recess on the Colorado familys request to consider setting a national standard. Legendary journalist Lyle Denniston is Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent. Denniston has written for us as a contributor since June 2011. Denniston has covered the Supreme Court since 1958. His work also appears on lyldenlawnews.com. Recent Stories on Constitution Daily National Constitution Center launches free Constitution app Five lessons we can learn from George Washingtons Farewell Address It was 229 years ago today, the Constitution was signed in Philadelphia Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes most vocal opponent was removed on Monday from the helm of a Senate panel investigating his vicious war on drugs, in a sign that critics of the more than 3,000 killings that have taken place since he took office are being sidelined. Senator Leila de Lima who initiated the probe into Dutertes savage campaign to kill drug users and drug dealers with little if any due process was voted out of the chair of the Senates Justice and Human-Rights Committee by her fellow members, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. A motion to dissolve the committee and install a new leader initiated by Senator and former champion boxer Manny Pacquiao saw 16 votes against de Lima and four in favor, with two abstentions. Her ouster comes as the committee was due to hear a statement from Edgar Matobato, a self-confessed hit man who testified last week that Duterte ordered death squad killings some of which Duterte allegedly carried out personally during his 22 years as mayor of Davao City in the countrys South. De Lima will continue to serve on the committee, but will be replaced as its chair by Senator Richard Gordon who recently called for Philippine law enforcement to be allowed to make arrests without warrants. She has faced an intense backlash from Duterte supporters, who have vilified her as a coddler and a protector, in her words, of the countrys drug syndicates. Duterte himself has launched a smear campaign against her, attempting to convince Filipinos that de Lima is in the pay of drug gangs and that she has had sex escapades (his words) with her driver. Duterte said on Sunday that he needs six more months for his antidrug campaign, reportedly adding that he cant kill them all. He has previously said that his brutal war will last until the last day of his six-year presidency. Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is expected to be back in action before the end of the year, likely taking on champion Amanda Nunes. UFC president Dana White said in an interview with Brazilian news outlet Globo that there is a great chance that Rousey will face Nunes and it could be sooner than what has recently been speculated. There is a great chance of a Ronda fight with Amanda Nunes and I am very confident that the Ronda will probably fight before the end of the year, said White. TRENDING > Ronda Rousey Fought Chael Sonnen? Rousey hasn't fought since losing the belt to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. Since Rousey lost the title, no one has successfully defended it. Holm was defeated by Miesha Tate in her first title defense, and Tate was subsequently dethroned by Nunes at UFC 200. If a bout between Rousey and Nunes materializes, it will be Nunes' first title defense. Follow MMAWeekly.com on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Roy Rowan, a former foreign correspondent, writer and editor for LIFE, TIME and Fortune, who covered Maos revolution in China and the Korean and Vietnam wars, died on Sept. 13, at Greenwich Hospital, near his home in Connecticut. He was one of only two surviving American journalists who covered the Chinese civil war and was in April 1975 one of the last journalists to evacuate Saigon by helicopter. He is also the author of ten books during his 70-year career as a writer. He was 96. Rowan was hired by Henry Luce and Bill Gray in 1947 to cover the Chinese civil war for LIFE magazine. When Shanghai fell to Maos insurgents in 1949, Rowan moved to Hong Kong and subsequently covered skirmishes in Malaysia and Burma. He later covered the Korean War and subsequently the reconstruction of Europe and the Cold War from Germany. In 1954 he was transferred back to New York and in 1955 was named LIFEs Chicago bureau chief covering the Midwest. In 1957, Rowan and LIFE photographer Francis Miller covered the murder of Bernice Worden in Wisconsin which became the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcocks movie, Psycho. In 1959, Rowan spent a month traveling with Jimmy Hoffa for a profile of the Teamster boss in LIFE. He was later confronted by Robert Kennedy, then serving as chief counsel for the McClellan Committee, which was trying to put Hoffa in jail, for being too soft in his reporting on the labor leader. Rowan was transferred back to New York City later in 1959 and appointed an assistant managing editor of LIFE. In 1963, he was having a weekly editors lunch with Henry Luce at the Time & Life Building in Manhattan when the maitre d announced that President Kennedy had been shot. Rowan immediately flew to the LIFE magazine printing plant in Chicago where he and his editorial team replaced the cover with a portrait of the president and a lead story with the now famous eight-millimeter film footage of the Kennedy motorcade in Dallas shot by Abraham Zapruder. Story continues Roy Rowan continued to edit and help run LIFE magazine until 1970, when he left Time Inc. to start On the Sound, one of the nations first regional magazines, covering the coastal areas around Long Island Sound from New York to Massachusetts. A second magazine, On the Shore, covering the region around Chesapeake Bay, was launched in 1972. Both magazines were sold to Universal Publishing Company that same year, at which time Roy Rowan returned to Time, Inc. as Hong Kong bureau chief in charge of Asia for TIME magazine. While based in Hong Kong for the next five years, Rowan covered the opening of China under Nixon and then Ford and the ongoing fighting and wind-down of Americas involvement in the Vietnam War. He was among the last journalists to leave Saigon by helicopter on April 30, 1975. He also relied on a personal friendship with President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, in covering public affairs and social issues in the Philippines. Rowan also forged friendships with business leaders based in Hong Kong including shipping magnates C.Y. Tung and Y.K. Pao, kung fu movie producer Run Run Shaw and global architect and developer William Wong. After returning to the U.S. in 1977, Roy Rowan joined Fortune magazine as a senior writer and a member of the Board of Editors. During his tenure at Fortune, Rowan wrote 65 major articles including provocative cover stories on Labor Secretary nominee, Ray Donovan, Citibank chairman Walter Wriston and a 15-page expose on the top 50 Mafia bosses in America. He also wrote a 1992 cover story for TIME on the perpetrators behind the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Rowans ten published books include The Four Days of Mayaguez; The Intuitive Manager, which was translated into 10 languages; First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Best Friends (co-authored with Brooke Janis), which also became the subject of a Discovery Channel documentary; and Chasing the Dragon. Rowan was born in New York City on Feb. 1, 1920. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1941 and received his MBA from Dartmouths Tuck School of Business in 1942. He was drafted into the Army as a private in 1942, attended Engineer Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Va., and was assigned in 1943 to the Mediterranean Theater with stops in Tunisia and Italy. Later, he was sent to the Pacific region and stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines. He was a major in Manila when the war ended. Roy Rowan was a past president of the Overseas Press Club of America, the Time-Life Alumni Society and the Dutch Treat Club. He was also an active member of the Century Association in New York City and The Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong. In 1995, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Hartwick College where he also served as a trustee for nine years. His papers are held in the Paul F. Cooper, Jr. Archives at Hartwick. In 2006, Rowan received the Henry R. Luce Award for lifetime achievement in journalism. Rowan was the loving husband of Helen Rounds Rowan, who predeceased him in 2013. Helen Rowan was a former picture editor at LIFE magazine, where they first met. He is survived by his four sons: Dana (in Boston, Mass.) including his wife, Janice Kelley Rowan; Douglas (in Ventura, Calif.); Nicholas (in New York City); and Marcus (in Dallas, Tex.) as well as one grandson, William Roy Rowan in Boston. Roy Rowan was a longtime resident of Greenwich, Conn., and a summer resident of Block Island, R.I., where he and his wife owned a second home for 35 years. He was an avid fisherman and boater all his life. Dana and Nicholas Rowan are sons of Roy Rowan. The Centre is planning to liberalise the e-tourist visa, and thus allow foreign nationals to stay in the country for 100 days. By India Today Web Desk: Soon after the e-tourist visa scheme was launched in India, there was a sharp increase in foreign tourist arrivals. Incredible India received saw a whopping 266 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrivals using the e-tourist visa scheme in just one year's time. Looking at this overwhelming response to the e-tourist visa scheme, the central government has put forward a proposal of liberalising the scheme even further, reports Deccan Chronicle. The Centre is now planning to allow the foreign travellers to stay here for as long as 100 days rather than the 30-day period that the e-tourist visa currently allows. Added to that, the Centre is also planning to introduce multiple entries for the foreign nationals. advertisement Also read: Incredible India sees 266 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrivals; here's why These plans were announced by Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi, who talked about this while giving the inaugural speech of the 32nd edition of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) in Chennai. He said that the ministry has "in-principle" agreed to make these changes to the e-tourist visa scheme and "it will be matter of time to implement these". When implemented, the liberalised e-tourist visa scheme might give a further boost to the foreign tourist arrivals in India. --- ENDS --- Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f216827%2fbrangelina If you have been screaming, "Dear God, why?" ever since news of the Brangelina divorce hit but have not received a response from the heavens, we're here to intervene. Here are three of the rumors of why Angelina Jolie filed for a divorce from Brad Pitt just two years after officially tying the knot. SEE ALSO: Brangelina isn't alone: 6 more couples who broke up after making movies together Angelina hired a private detective who caught Brad cheating with Marion Cotillard. According to The Post, Jolie hired a private detective who uncovered his affair with his Allied co-star Marion Cotillard and predilection for Russian prostitutes. Cotillard has been in a relationship with French actor Gulliame Canet since 2007 and the couple share a son, Marcel, but the pair never married. This sounds a lot like Hollywood fan fiction, but would also be totally unsurprising. Pitt doesn't exactly have a squeaky clean record when it comes to cheating with co-stars. There are also rumors about Pitt reconnecting with ex Gwyneth Paltrow, but those seem significantly less likely. Angelina is concerned for the safety of her children. According to a report from TMZ, Jolie filed for divorce because she feels Pitt's drug use and temper compromise the well-being of the couple's six children. Jolie requested sole physical custody of the couple's six children, which lends credibility to this rumor. Robert Offer, Jolie's attorney, told Reuters in a statement, "This decision was made for the health of the family. She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time." Angelina broke up with Brad because he was interfering with her political ambitions. Over the summer, Us Weekly published a story claiming there was tension in the Pitt-Jolie family due to her interest in joining the British House of Lords. This would require her to be a British tax-paying citizen and, because of this, she wanted to sell the Chateau Miraval, the estate and winery the couple owns in Correns, France. According to their source, Pitt wanted to keep the estate which has its own moat, so we get it, Brad. Story continues Jolie's humanitarian efforts are well documented. Most notably, she has worked as a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and recently spoke for Syrian refugees. Recently, she has also been working with House of Lords member Baroness Arminika Helic, whom Jolie considers her mentor. Helic, a refugee of the Bosnia-Herzegovina war, co-authored an op-ed in The Times about the global refugee crisis with Jolie in 2015. Jolie, Helic and Chloe Dalton formed JP.D.H London, a non-profit, together in 2015. Id like to be part of international work, and see where I can be useful, whatever way that takes shape," Jolie told Vogue in 2015. I still dont know what Im capable of. Bonus: Contrary to Reports, Love Is Real On Saturday, about 30 minutes after precision bombs from an armada of American, British, Danish, and Australian warplanes began smashing into a large group of Islamic State fighters gathered near Deir el-Zour, Syria, the phone rang. But there was a problem. No one at the operations center for the U.S.-led coalition could figure out what the Russian officer on the other end of the line was on about. So he hung up, and called back. By time the Russian officer found his designated contact who was away from his desk and explained that the coalition was actually hitting a Syrian army unit, a good amount of strikes had already taken place, U.S. Central Command spokesman Col. John Thomas told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday. U.S. commanders called off the strike within minutes, but the damage had been done. The incident Saturday killed an estimated 60 Syrian soldiers in what was the coalitions first inadvertent attack on Syrian troops in the two-year air war. But it came at a tense time, as the week-long ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia was less than 48 hours from completion. Then all hell broke loose. During those 48 hours, the Russian foreign ministry accused the Pentagon of providing direct support for ISIS; the Syrian military broke the ceasefire; barrel bombs began falling again on Aleppo; and Syrian, and possibly Russian, aircraft obliterated a U.N. aid convoy near Aleppo, killing 12 aid workers and destroying about 20 trucks. The United States had been planning the strike for two to three days, with the target under surveillance during that time, Thomas said Tuesday. Some reports have emerged that the Syrians werent wearing uniforms, and werent in the place that the coalition expected them to be, but defense officials wouldnt comment on the particulars. The U.S. military is now investigating the strike on the Syrian troops, and there is no timeline for its conclusion, U.S. defense officials said. Story continues With the ceasefire in tatters, so too are any plans for the Americans and Russians to begin sharing operational information on ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al Sham (formerly known as Nusra Front, al Qaedas franchise in Syria) targets. We dont move forward until the diplomats tell us to do that, Thomas said, adding, were waiting to see what were asked to do, but I dont think its a situation where we are anticipating any great progress any time soon. Speaking at a conference in Washington Tuesday, another top U.S. military official said that any cooperation with the Russians is off, at least for the time being. Gen. Herbert Hawk Carlisle, head of the Air Combat Command, told reporters that for the foreseeable future we will be in deconfliction mode and not in the joint operations mode with the Russians. Photo Credit: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday an aid convoy that came under attack in Syria had been accompanied by a militants' pickup truck armed with a heavy mortar gun, Russian news agencies reported. The ministry has uploaded part of the footage at its page on YouTube service. The agencies cited a defence ministry official as saying footage provided by drones had shown "new details" of the incident on Monday. Russia has denied reports that its or the Syrian air force had struck the convoy near Aleppo. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Gareth Jones and Janet Lawrence) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Russian Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes were in the skies above an aid convoy in Syria at the precise time it was struck on Monday, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday, citing U.S. intelligence that has led them to conclude Russia was to blame. Russia has denied its aircraft or those of its Syrian government allies were involved in the incident, in which 18 trucks from a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed. The strike appeared to deal a fatal blow to Syria's fragile week-old ceasefire. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by James Dalgleish) MOSCOW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday had a private meeting with Viktor Vekselberg, the billionaire tycoon whose lieutenants were earlier this month put in jail on charges of paying bribes to local government officials. The prosecutions of the two executives in Vekselberg's Renova group prompted speculation that the businessman himself could be targeted, suffering the same fate as other prominent tycoons who have fallen from grace under President Vladimir Putin. "They spoke, it was an unofficial meeting at Medvedev's residence,", a government source told Reuters. The government press office confirmed the meeting took place, but declined to give details. A source in Vekselberg's entourage said the businessman had planned to raise the investigation with Medvedev, but it was not yet clear if he had been able to do that. A spokesman for Vekselberg declined comment. State investigators on Sept. 5 laid bribery charges against Evgeny Olkhovik, Renova chief managing director, and Boris Vainzikher, chief executive of Renova subsidiary T Plus. Lawyers for both men have declined to comment. At the time they were detained, a Renova spokesman said the company would cooperate with the authorities, and that the investigation was not connected with Vekselberg personally. A third suspect in the case, Mikhail Slobodin, used to be the head of a utility which is now owned by Renova. He is currently abroad. His lawyer, Sergey Koptyakov, told Reuters on Tuesday his client denies the charges and is appealing against an order for his arrest. (Reporting by Anastasiya Lyrchikova and Svetlana Reiter; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin) Ryan Clark wearing the @Kaepernick7 jersey on set this morning. pic.twitter.com/4O9R4OBzeZ Mike & Mike (@MikeAndMike) September 20, 2016 The whole point of Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the Star-Spangled Banner isnt because he doesnt love The Troops or because he hates America its because he reached his breaking point with police brutality, specifically cops murdering unarmed black men. On Monday, Tulsa police released video of officer Betty Shelby killing Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man whose vehicle had broken down. After Crutcher was shot, officers on the scene offered no assistance for several minutes. This led to ESPNs Ryan Clark offering a refresher course on why Kaepernick has been doing what hes been doing. Another unarmed black man killed by police, but let's continue to be upset because people kneel! Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) September 20, 2016 Clark makes the point that the Chelsea bomber that was captured in New Jersey on Monday engaged in a firefight with cops but managed to survive, yet Crutcher did not. Think about this: the bomber got into a gun fight with officers but he is still ALIVE!! I guess you don't have to die if you don't comply Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) September 20, 2016 This led to a calm and rational exchange of ideas on Twitter, a great place for people of various backgrounds to engage and learn and just kidding. Attention? I'm already paid to be on tv RT @915chris: @Realrclark25@SLAYERREIGN this dude need a hug. Attention whore Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) September 20, 2016 On the Twitter troll bingo card, you just want attention should be the center square. Yes, a black man being shot and left to die in the streets is the moment Clark has been waiting for so he can interact with an anonymous dude with 11 followers or a guy with a confederate flag as his avatar. Its a real dream come true for Clark. It all culminated with Clark making an appearance on the ESPN radio show Mike & Mike this morning in the Kaepernick jersey. Hopefully this doesnt hurt the feelings of any cops that may choose to withdraw their services in the Bristol, Conn., area, because the last thing anyone wants in all this is sad cops. Days after Jimmy Fallon playfully joked around with Donald Trump in an interview that was widely criticized, including by social media users, Full Frontal's Samantha Bee devoted a segment to criticizing Fallon's approach as well as NBC in general for its treatment of the Republican presidential candidate. Bee said that NBC "tacitly condoned a race-baiting demagogue" by nurturing him on Celebrity Apprentice despite his birtherism claims. She then added that although the network supposedly severed ties with the Republican presidential candidate over his comments on Mexicans, "ratings matter more than brown people" so they brought him on Saturday Night Live as a host. "When Holocaust survivors are telling you, 'Hey this guy gives me deja vu,' maybe don't invite him up into your house to play with your adorable children," she said, cutting to clips from Trump's interview with Fallon. "Aw, Trump can be a total sweetheart with someone who has no reason to be terrified of him," said Bee, pointing out that there were no cutaway shots to The Roots during Trump's interview. She concluded, "Network execs and a lot of their audience can ignore how very dangerous Trump is because to them he isn't - they're not going to be deported, they're not going to live under a president who thinks of them as a collection of sex toys. They're not racist - they just don't mind if other people are, which is just as bad." Read more: Samantha Bee Reveals How Roger Ailes' Exit Was Actually His Ultimate Fantasy Samantha Bee tore into NBC on this weeks episode of Full Frontal due to the networks refusal to outright condemn Donald Trump because ratings matter more than brown people. To their credit, NBC did sever ties with Trump after he called Mexicans rapists, if by severing ties you mean inviting him on their flagship comedy programs to show millions of Americans what a fun guy he is,' Bee said Monday. She was of course referring to when Trump hosted Saturday Night Live last year in September and, more recently, when the GOP candidate appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. After his appearance on the latter program, Fallon got ripped to shreds for asking nothing but softball questions before ruffling Trumps hair. Also Read: Jimmy Fallon Defends Donald Trump Interview: 'I'm Never Too Hard on Anyone' Aww, Trump can be a total sweetheart with someone who has no reason to be terrified of him, Bee said. I notice there were no cutaway shots to The Roots. Network execs and a lot of their audience can ignore how very dangerous Trump is because to them, he isnt. Theyre not gonna be deported, she continued. Theyre not gonna live under a president who thinks of them as a collection of sex toys. Theyre not racist, they just dont mind if other people are, which is just as bad. Watch the video above. Related stories from TheWrap: Sheldon Adelson Plans to Drop $45 Million to Help Donald Trump, GOP Win Election Emmys Fixate on Politics, From Donald Trump to Jeb! Joe Scarborough Working on 'Trump: The Musical' (Reuters) - Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) has pulled out of talks to buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group's (RBS.L) Williams & Glyn unit, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Santander dropped negotiations because of price disagreements with RBS. Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group is considering a bid for Williams & Glyn branches, the FT said. (http://on.ft.com/2cmylbD) A spokesman at Santander UK said the bank had no comment. RBS was not immediately available for comment. Santander made an offer for Williams & Glyn last month. RBS has sought to offload the small business lender, a key European Union condition of its taxpayer-funded rescue at the peak of the global financial crisis. Santander walked away from a deal to buy Williams & Glyn fours years ago amid concerns about its technology platform, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier this year. (Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; editing by Susan Thomas) By PTI: Panagariya Bhubaneswar, Sep19 (PTI) Niti Ayogvice chairmanDr Arvind Panagariya today said true empowerment of people can be achieved only when their income level goes up for which, both the Centre and the states must work in tandem. Inaugurating the three-day Odisha Vikash Conclave here, Panagariya suggestedthat theCentre and state governmentmust work in tandem toensure various schemes and programmes aimed at economicgrowthofthepeoplewereimplementedin the right spirit. advertisement Panagariya said the best way to enable people to increase their income was to empower them with quality education. "There can be no better way other than imparting quality education to people to empower themachievehigher growth rate. Oncetheyare empowered, they willafford for good food, clothandhouses which will contribute to the building of a great nation," Panagariya said. When economy grows, it generates income and directly empowers people. Apart from meeting their food, cloth and shelter, they make good spending in healthcare and quality education, he said. Noting that Odisha has made considerable progress in poverty reduction in the last few years and achieved higher economic growth rate in recent years, Panagariya said this tempo should be maintained. Addressing the function, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in order to empower the people, the state should think of a sustainable economic model, instead of relief-centric model. "Relief centric model can bring temporary happiness, but it cannot bring sustainable development," he said. Odishas Health and Family Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and NALCO CMD T K Chand also spoke on the occasion. PTI SKN DKB IKA --- ENDS --- Franconville (France) (AFP) - French Presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy said that once immigrants are granted citizenship in France they "should live like the French". Speaking at a public meeting in the northern Paris suburb of Franconville, the outspoken former president, who wants to return to the top job in 2017, also denounced "extremist political Islam" whose goal was to "provoke the Republic". "I will be the president of action, I do not accept the 238" victims of attacks in France since January 2015, he added, promising to lead a "merciless war" on Islamist terrorism. "I will not accept the medieval behaviour that wants men to swim in swimsuits while the women are locked up" in burkinis, he added. Denouncing the "tyranny of minorities", Sarkozy said that if he won the 2017 election, he would be "the president of the national community, because in France the only community that matters is the French community." "If you want to become French, you speak French, you live like the French. We will no longer settle for integration that does not work, we will require assimilation. "Once you become French, your ancestors are the Gauls. 'I love France, I learned the history of France, I see myself as French'," is what you must say, he added. "If we say we can no longer continue with immigration (...) then it is racist. It's unbearable," he said. "I want to be the voice of the silent majority," Sarkozy added to applause. The 61-year-old standard-bearer for the centre-right, who was president from 2007-2012, had seen his poll ratings rise recently after taking a hard line on Islam and immigration following a truck massacre in Nice in July which saw 86 people killed. In August he said France had to fight to protect its secular "way of life". MANILA (Reuters) - A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane was temporarily isolated after landing at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday following a false hijack alarm, airline and airport officials said. Passengers were taken off the aircraft and transported to the airport's main terminal while Philippines security personnel carried out checks of the plane. Earlier, the airport's control tower received a warning that flight 872 from the Saudi city of Jeddah to Manila was "under threat", apparently triggered by someone pressing an alarm button in the cockpit. "We instructed (the) aircraft to proceed to (the) isolated area," the airport's general manager Edmund Monreal told reporters. "It is fortunate that upon landing ... the crew said they made a mistake. However, we can never play around with safety and security." "It (the button) was unintentionally pushed. But the problem is it was pushed twice." In a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said it was investigating the incident. "Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if (the) result is indeed a human error," CAAP said. Saudi Airlines and Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation had no immediate comment on the Philippines' statement. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Manuel Mogato in MANILA and Katie Paul in RIYADH; Editing by Mike Collett-White) By Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Hillary Clinton attended her first major White House meeting on Russia in February 2009, the new secretary of state insisted that she wanted to play a leading role in President Barack Obamas effort to "reset" U.S. relations with Moscow. But while Clinton became implementer-in-chief for one of Obamas signature first-term initiatives, she was consistently more sceptical than most of his top aides about how far Russian leader Vladimir Putin was prepared to go in turning the page, according to current and former U.S. officials. That stance is indicative of how she would go about dealing with Moscow if she is elected U.S. president on Nov. 8, aides to both Clinton and Obama told Reuters. With U.S. relations with Moscow already plumbing post-Cold War lows, the aides and veteran Russia watchers said she would likely take a harder line than Obama or Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has praised Putin as a strong leader. Dealing with Putin, who is flexing his geopolitical muscle from Ukraine to Syria to cyberspace, will be among Clinton's biggest foreign policy challenges -- one made more daunting by the personal bad blood between them. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department aide and now senior Clinton campaign advisor, said Clinton could consider the shipping of lethal arms to Ukraine government forces and the creation of no-fly or safe zones in Syria. Obama has rejected both ideas. While such moves could further stoke tensions and might even face resistance from some U.S. allies, Sullivan said in an interview with Reuters that Clinton could manage ties with Russia effectively because Putin would "respect her as U.S. president, her strength, her clarity, her predictability." According to current and former Clinton advisers, she could consider other policy moves such as stiffer sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and doing more to wean Russias neighbours off reliance on Moscows energy supplies. Russia is watching warily. "She is not perceived by many people as the Kremlin's preferred candidate," said Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry. "Many here believe that she would be tougher on Russia than Obama," he said. Clintons first fence-mending effort in March 2009 was not so much a show of strength than of diplomatic clumsiness. She handed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a red button that was supposed to have the word "reset" on it. Instead, it was labelled with the Russian word meaning "overcharged." Clintons distrust of Putin deepened, mirrored by his growing list of grievances against her. By the time she prepared to leave the State Department in early 2013, former officials said, she wrote at least two confidential memos to Obama urging a more hard-nosed approach. At the time, many in the president's inner circle were not convinced the reset had run its course, they said. Since Clintons departure, Putin has reasserted Russia on the world stage, seizing Ukraines Crimea region and intervening militarily in Syrias civil war. U.S. officials have linked the hacking of Democratic Party computers to the Russian government which the Kremlin denies. "NOT AS IF SHE WENT GRUMPILY" Like most national security policies under Obama, the attempt to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations was managed from the White House by the president himself, along with aides from his 2008 campaign, including Russia specialist Michael McFaul. "No one should pretend that this wasnt an Obama-driven policy," said Philip Gordon, Clinton's top Europe adviser at the State Department. "But its also not as if she went grumpily to the table and was told by the president 'youre doing it' ... She thought it had logic." McFaul, who later became ambassador to Russia, said in an interview that from the first White House meeting on Russia in early 2009 Clinton was sceptical of the prospects for transforming U.S.-Russian relations in a way that "some of us aspired to back then." Two other officials backed up his account. The first fruits of the reset were promising. Putin had - temporarily, it turned out - stepped down as president, with the younger, reform-minded Dmitry Medvedev in his place. Obama and Medvedev signed a new strategic nuclear arms control pact, cooperated to sanction Iran for its nuclear programme and agreed to let U.S. troops and equipment transit Russia to support a American military "surge" in Afghanistan. But after little more than two years, the "reset" ran out of steam. By mid-2011, it was clear that Putin was returning to the presidency. A DECADE OF BROADSIDES Clinton first met Putin at his residence outside Moscow in March 2010. She persuaded him to back tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran, according to two people with knowledge of the session. In front of the TV cameras, however, Putin railed against U.S. trade and economic policies as Clinton watched. Clinton and Putin have been exchanging broadsides for nearly a decade. Putin, a former KGB agent, "doesn't have a soul," Clinton quipped on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary, riffing off of President George W. Bushs comment seven years earlier that he had looked into Putin's eyes and seen his soul. The Russian leader retorted: "At a minimum, a head of state should have a head." A U.S. official who was involved in Russia policymaking said Clinton sometimes chose her words poorly, inflaming Russian resentment over its perceived post-Cold War humiliation, a nationalist strain that Putin has long used to his advantage. "She played into that," said the official, who requested anonymity. The most serious rift of Clintons tenure occurred in late 2011, as crowds filled the streets of Russian cities protesting parliamentary elections marred by allegations of voting fraud. Clinton, in a statement approved by the White House, called the election "neither free nor fair." Putin, who was preparing to retake the presidency, accused her of trying to foment a new Russian revolution. A steady slide in contacts between Clinton and the Russian leadership and in overall relations followed. "Secretary Clinton's views on Russia were always a little harder-edged than President Obama's," said John Beyrle, Obama's first ambassador to Moscow. That partly reflected a "splitting up of responsibilities," he said. Obama cooperated with Medvedev; Clinton grappled with Lavrov and Putin. Some Russia watchers say Clinton's record was mixed. "The reset was the right approach," said Thomas Graham, former Russia adviser under Bushs Republican administration. But he faulted Clinton and Obama's team for not doing more to "actively reach out to Putin and open lines of communication." (Additional reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow. Editing by John Walcott and Stuart Grudgings) NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / SeeThruEquity, the leading independent equity research firm focused on smallcap and microcap public companies, today announced it has issued an update on Q BioMed Inc. (QBIO). The report is available here: QBIO September 2016 Update. On September 7, 2016, QBIO announced that it had completed an exclusive license and option agreement for all intellectual property related to Strontium Chloride ("SR89"). The license agreement finalizes an announcement made by the company in June 2016. We see the completed agreement as a significant accomplishment for QBIO given that it expands the company's portfolio, presents realistic near-term revenue opportunities, and also shows that the management team can meet its goals for corporate actions the agreement was completed within the initial timeframe outlined by management (which was calendar 3Q16). Highlights from the note are as follows: Exclusive license expands company into palliative care We were pleased to see that on September 6, 2016, QBIO completed the exclusive license for SR89. Management had disclosed this opportunity in a June 2016 press release, and completed the agreement in the expected time frame and at what appears to be attractive terms. Near-term revenue opportunities; long term potential The agreement to acquire IP related to SR89 should position QBIO for near term revenue generation. The company described the generic radiopharmaceutical as "revenue ready" and we note that it has already approved by the FDA. Management expects initial revenues within a year and believes it can generate $1mn+ in annual revenues within the first year following the procurement of materials and implementation of manufacturing and marketing strategies; QBIO also has an intermediate goal of generating 10mn+ in annual sales within 3-5 years. Increasing target to $6.00 following license deal We are raising our price target to $6.00 for QBIO, as the risk that the cancer palliative deal was unable to close has dissipated. With the deal complete, we increased our expectations and weighting for this program, and look forward to hearing from management about the specific timing of revenues and the timeline for expansion. Moreover, we note that the company now has two completed programs, with potential new deals slated for the future. As QBIO is able to source and close more attractive deals, management will be able to point to a history that shows a replicable process of identifying and enhancing value in the market. The target of $6.00 represents upside potential of 26.3% from the recent close of $4.75. Story continues Please review important disclosures at www.seethruequity.com. About Q BioMed Inc. Q BioMed Inc. "Q" is a biomedical acceleration and development company. We are focused on licensing and acquiring undervalued biomedical assets in the healthcare sector. Q is dedicated to providing these target assets; strategic resources, developmental support, and expansion capital to ensure they meet their developmental potential, enabling them to provide products to patients in need. About SeeThruEquity Since its founding in 2011, SeeThruEquity has been committed to its core mission: providing impactful, high quality research on underfollowed smallcap and microcap equities. SeeThruEquity has pioneered an innovative business model for equity research that is not paid for and is unbiased. SeeThruEquity is the host of acclaimed investor conferences that are the ultimate event for publicly traded companies with market capitalizations less than $1 billion. SeeThruEquity is approved to contribute its research reports and estimates to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), the leading estimates platform on Wall Street, as well as Capital IQ and FactSet. SeeThruEquity maintains one of the industry's most extensive databases of opt-in institutional and high net worth investors. The firm is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. For more information visit www.seethruequity.com. Contact: SeeThruEquity info@seethruequity.com SOURCE: SeeThruEquity The scope and length of time of the unsolicited account mess at Wells Fargo (WFC) needs to be investigated, Sen. Bob Corker told CNBC on Tuesday, ahead of the morning hearing before his Senate Banking Committee panel. The Tennessee Republican said there are "legitimate concerns" over the practices that led to the bank's $185 million settlement with regulators earlier this month over charges employees boosted their sales targets and bonuses by opening accounts for unsuspecting customers. Corker said he wants to get to the bottom of how these kind of practices "could have been going on and for so long with so many people in the bank." "It was kind of interesting that internal controls didn't flag what was happening here," he added. In prepared testimony, Wells Fargo Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf said he's "deeply sorry" for the unauthorized account scandal, and takes "full responsibility." Last week, Stumpf told CNBC's "Mad Money" he holds himself accountable, but does not plan to resign. Corker said a focus will also be on Carrie Tolstedt, the Wells Fargo executive in charge of the unit where employees opened as many as 2 million unauthorized customer accounts. She retires at the end of the year, according to a bank announcement in July. There are accounts Tolstedt was a "workaholic," Corker said, adding she was reported to be "very, very micro-focused, and yet at the same time systemically there was something happening at the bank." According to a Wells Fargo proxy statement, Tolstedt accumulated stock and options over the course of her career at the bank of $95 million, based on when the stock was trading around $49 per share. "There are also questions about what the role the regulators played. Was this really something an LA Times reporter figured out was occurring or did our folks involved in regulating this actually play a role?" Corker said. Wells Fargo last Tuesday said it would eliminate retail banking product sales goals, starting next year. Story continues Hours later, CFO John Shrewsberry blamed underperforming employees struggling to meet goals for the lapses. Speaking at a banking conference in New York, he said 10 percent of the 5,300 employees fired were branch managers or more senior staffers. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors were investigating Wells Fargo over the unauthorized accounts. The investigation is in its early stages and prosecutors have yet to decide whether they would pursue a civil or criminal case, if either, according to the Journal. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Tuesday that Donald Trump Jr.s tweet comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles was totally inappropriate and undermines the values that this country was built on. The younger Trump, a campaign adviser and surrogate for GOP nominee Donald Trump, had sparked widespread outrage the day before when he shared an image asking people if they would eat Skittles if some of them were poisonous. Thats our Syrian refugee problem, his image concluded. In her interview with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric, Shaheen pointed to the statement by Wrigley Americas, which produces Skittles, criticizing Trump Jr.s comparison. We have a very robust, careful process where we review people who want to get visas, who want to get into this country, the senator said. And as [Wrigley Americas parent company] Mars pointed out: Refugees are people. If we look at what made this country strong, it has been refugees and immigrants. Shaheen addressed a number of other topics in the interview. She dismissed the elder Trumps fitness to be commander in chief. She said last weekends bombings in New Jersey and New York highlighted why Democrat Hillary Clinton should be president. If Trump were to win in November, Shaheen said, he could have difficulty working with Congress. The question is, how will a President Trump work with Congress? she replied when Couric asked how shed work with a President Trump. He has indicated a tremendous amount of disdain for members of Congress, even members of his own party. So hopefully well see a change of heart if he becomes president. And she highlighted two of her legislative efforts in the Senate. First, she said it was crucial to renew a program giving special visas to Afghans who have worked with the U.S. government and military during the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. She said the special visa program is in danger of expiring. I think it has a lot to do with the immigration debate thats been happening in this country, Shaheen lamented. Story continues If we do nothing, so many of those men and women who served us are in real danger. Their lives are threatened. Their families are threatened, she said. She was much more optimistic about congressional support about another one of her initiatives: the Sexual Assault Survivors Rights Act. The legislation would give basic rights, like the automatic preservation of rape kits without charge, to victims of sexual assault. I think that its a tremendous step forward, Shaheen said, noting versions of the bill had passed both the Senate and the House. Watch the full interview: By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will vote on Wednesday on a measure to block the sale of tanks and other military equipment worth $1.15 billion to Saudi Arabia, but the measure is not expected to pass despite lawmakers' growing frustration with the longtime U.S. ally. The Senate's Republican Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Tuesday he would "aggressively" oppose the effort. "I think it's important to the United States to maintain as good a relationship with Saudi Arabia as possible, and I hope we'll defeat the resolution of disapproval of the arms sale," McConnell told reporters, calling Saudi Arabia a good ally. The Pentagon announced on Aug. 9 that the State Department had approved the potential sale of more than 130 Abrams battle tanks, 20 armored recovery vehicles and other equipment to Saudi Arabia. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said General Dynamics Corp would be the principal contractor for the sale. A bipartisan group of senators, led by Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Chris Murphy, introduced a joint resolution seeking to block the arms deal, expressing concern that Saudi-led air strikes had killed civilians in Yemen, worries that the deal might fuel a regional arms race and concern that Congress was giving up its power to declare war. "We should be part of the debate over whether or not we go to war. But then we should debate the practicalities of whether or not it's a good idea to be involved in the war in Yemen," Paul told Reuters. Paul said the conflict could lead to instability and perhaps the rise of a militant group in Yemen, as Islamic State did in Syria. The resolution also underscores concerns over what many in Congress see as Riyadh's international promotion of a severe form of Islam they view as hostile to U.S. interests. "We've let them get away with it for years and years. And because they're less bad than other people in the Middle East, we keep giving them weapons," Paul said. Democratic Representative Ted Lieu and Republican Representative Mick Mulvaney introduced companion legislation on Tuesday seeking to block the sale in the House of Representatives. Lieu in August sent a letter signed by 64 lawmakers asking U.S. President Barack Obama to postpone the sale. Separately, Congress could vote this week to override Obama's promised veto of a measure allowing relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue the Saudi government. (Additional reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Eric Walsh, Sandra Maler and Bill Rigby) By India Today Web Desk: 10 terrorists gunned down in Uri, shortly after Pakistan violates ceasefire The encounter follows a blatant provocation by Pakistani forces when they violated the ceasefire and opened fire at Uri, forcing the Indian army to retaliate with full might. India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh may boycott SAARC to protest against Pakistan sponsored terror India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh are likely to boycott SAARC summit to be held in Pakistan in November. advertisement Jiah's death not suicide? Hanging was staged, says British forensic expert Jiah Khan's death has been called a suicide by the CBI, but new developments indicate something else altogether. The newest development in her death case is a shocking one: a British forensic expert hired by Jiah's mother Rabia Khan has found that the 'hanging was staged'. India will be too strong for New Zealand, says Brett Lee Hailing India's Test side as "well-balanced", former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee said India seriously looks to be the superior side on paper with a strong batting line-up. --- ENDS --- If theres any country that does the whole cutesy-cartoon packaging for cosmetics best, it has got to be the Koreans. I mean, is there anyone who could resist the lazy egg Gudetama, or the all-time fan-favourite Pokemon? Not on my call. Which is all the more why its so hard for us to say no to beauty products that have these classic characters on them. Some buy them for the novelty, some for their favourite cartoon, and others possibly just for their personal collection. But either case, the Koreans are not slowing down with their adorable packaging just take a look at all these new K-beauty launches! (and trust me, youd want to get your hands on ALL of them) 1. Its Skin X Sesame Street K Beauty its-skin-sesame-street Source Any collab with Sesame Street with most definitely be one thats vibrant and bursting with energy. And its true with the partnership between Its Skin and Sesame Street. The collection that celebrates Its Skins 10th anniversary takes the most popular products from the brand, and tailors them to suit the fun nature of childhood favourite Sesame Street. K Beauty its-skin-sesame-street Source K Beauty its-skin-sesame-street Source My favourites are the Power 10 formula serums (19,000 won / S$23.08) and the macaron lip balms (5,800 won / S$7.05) that come in so many different flavours! Any purchase of the serums will come with a matching Sesame Street plush toy! 2. Etude House X Dumbo K Beauty Etude House x Dumbo Source Good ol Etude House and their good ol Moistfull Collagen line now comes in a whimsical Dumbo print, with the adorable elephant plastered all over their products. Evidently, the Dumbo theme is one of fanfare and carnivalesque, so do expect bright and bold colours. K Beauty Etude House x Dumbo Source As its name suggests, the Moistfull Collagen products help to moisturise the dehydrated skin while improving the skins suppleness and firmness. Moistfull Collagen Facial Mask Sheet 2,000 won/piece / S$2.43 Moistfull Collagen Facial Stick 10,000 won / S$12.15 Moistfull Collagen Essence 17,000 won / S$20.65 Moistfull Collagen Cream Jumbo 24,000 won / S$29.16 Story continues Some of the products are available in Singapore, but should you not be able to find the ones that you need, simply Airfrov them back! 3. Tony Moly x Pokemon K Beauty Tony Moly Pokemon Source For those who arent subscribed to the Pokemon GO craze, get your bit of Pokemon fix with Tony Molys Pokemon skincare range! This collection is everything a Poke-fan could ever ask for, with the adorable faces of Pikachu and friends all over every product! K Beauty Tony Moly Pokemon Source K Beauty Tony Moly Pokemon Source K Beauty Tony Moly Pokemon Source There are hand creams (5,900 won / S$7.17), foam cleansers (7,900 won / S$9.60) and face creams (15,000 won / S$18.22). All products come with different ingredients that target different problem spots, so you can select the ones that are most suitable for your skin woes. 4. Holika Holika X Gudetama K Beauty New Launches Holika Holika Gudetama Source Just a couple of months back Holika Holika dropped the Lazy & Easy collection which features none other than everyones favourite lazy egg Gudetama! The epic series then was already extensive, comprising of cushion foundations, blushers and even hair sprays. Source Source Source This Fall, the brand has once again pushed out three new products to further complement the previous collection. Pig Nose Clear Blackhead 3-Step Kit 2,500 won / S$3.04 Cotton Pore Cover Powder 7,900 won / S$9.60 Sweet Cotton Sebum Clear Pact 7,900 won / S$9.60 5. Apieu X Rilakkuma K Beauty New Launches Apieu x Rilakkuma Source Another leading cosmetic brand has just released a new selection of goods, in a collaboration with Rilakkuma, to further add on to their previous Rilakkuma collection. Theres a wide variety of products this time round, from products that treat blemishes to eyeshadows. The new release has up to 10 new items! Here are some of my favourites: Perfumed Hand Cream 3,000 won / S$3.64 Tea Tree Stick 4,800 won / S$5.83 Mellow Lipstick 6,800 won / S$8.26 Essential Source Micro Essence 15,000 won / S$18.22 These are some really gorgeous K-beauty products that are worth purchasing even if its just for the packaging. But fret not if youre not heading into Korea anytime soon, simply get a friendly traveller from Airfrov to get your beauty treats straight from Korea! Heres how it works: 1) Click on + button on this page to copy requests. It works like a job ad to travellers 2) A traveller will offer to help you buy 3) If youre agreeable to the offer price and return date, place a deposit (your payment will be held securely with Airfrov until traveller returns) 4) Wait for the traveller to return with your goodies! processflow2-1-768x768 The post Sept-Oct 2016 Edition: New K Beauty Launches That are Too Cute to Resist! appeared first on Airfrov Blog. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP: To: All Persons or Entities who purchased Tobira Therapeutics, Inc. ("Tobira") (TBRA) stock prior to September 20, 2016 . You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of Tobira to Allergan plc for $28.35 per share. The deal also includes up to $49.84 per share in Contingent Value Rights, payable upon the successful completion of certain milestones. The deal has a potential approximate value of $1.695 billion. To learn more about the action and your rights, go to: http://zlk.9nl.com/tobira or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you. Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Joseph E. Levi, Esq. Eduard Korsinsky, Esq. 30 Broad Street - 24th Floor New York, NY 10004 Tel: (212) 363-7500 Toll Free: (877) 363-5972 Fax: (212) 363-7171 www.zlk.com SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP: To: All Persons or Entities who purchased DTS Inc. ("DTS") (DTSI) stock prior to September 20, 2016 . You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of DTS to Tessera Technologies Inc. for $42.50 per share. To learn more about the action and your rights, go to: http://zlk.9nl.com/dts-dtsi or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you. Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Joseph E. Levi, Esq. Eduard Korsinsky, Esq. 30 Broad Street - 24th Floor New York, NY 10004 Tel: (212) 363-7500 Toll Free: (877) 363-5972 Fax: (212) 363-7171 www.zlk.com SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP HOUSTON (Reuters) - Shell Oil Co, the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, plans to move most of the operations at its company's downtown headquarters to new offices on the city's west side, Shell announced to employees on Tuesday. Only Shell Oil's U.S. trading floor with remain in Shell Plaza after the first quarter of 2017, the company said in a statement. Shell follows ExxonMobil Corp, which relocated 10,000 employees from offices across Houston, including downtown, to a custom-built complex 25 miles (40 km) north of the city in 2015. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Alan Crosby) Photo: Caroline Logan Photography Dogs are becoming frequent features at weddings, as couples decide they need to feature these important family members in the celebration of their union. But recently weve also seen some couples incorporate animals that dont even belong to them into the party. This is not just because theyre some cute must-have accessory, mind you, but because the couples wanted to help shelter dogs find their forever homes. In September, bride Sarah Malouk Crain organized one of the cutest wedding shoots on record. The trainer and board member of Pitties Love Peace in central Pennsylvania asked her bridesmaids to set aside their bouquets and pick up an 8-week-old coon-hound-boxer pup. The puppies named after first ladies Martha, Abigail, Dolley, Elizabeth, and Louisa had been raised at Pitties Love Peace since they were a week old, according to the Dodo. Crain herself held a 9-week-old pit bull pup from Brooklyn appropriately named Biggie Smalls. The groomsmen also got a turn, because how could they not? Photo: Caroline Logan Photography My days are spent rescuing, training, or rehabilitating dogs, so it only seemed fitting that I needed to include some on our big day, Crain told the Huffington Post. Not only did she bring extra attention to the shelter dogs in need of a home, but she also got some amazing photos out of the deal. While photographing six rambunctious puppies definitely brought an added challenge, it also caused the bridal party to be more at ease, photographer Caroline Logan told Yahoo Style. Having something to divert attention from that uncomfortable, Oh my goodness, Im getting my picture taken what do I do with my hands?! feeling to pure puppy bliss made for relaxed photos where the bridal party was able to focus on interacting with the fun-loving puppies as I documented it all unfold. Photo: Caroline Logan Photography In July, Shahr Nouraini and Peter Rushton, a couple who wed in Mexico, had the chance to hire local rescue dogs to film their wedding with GoPro cameras. Story continues Our guests absolutely loved the dogs, and a few have even said they would like to integrate something similar into their own weddings, Nouraini said on her photographers blog. Should you decide to hop aboard this adorable trend, its wise to heed the advice of event planner Brita Olsen and consider the dogs temperament. If you have a dog that jumps up on the table, you shouldnt bring it to your wedding, she told Yahoo Style. The dogs that do the best are the ones that are able to just sit at your feet and hang out and just stay close. If you worry about your dog running off, you shouldnt even consider it. Thats actually why using puppies just for a separate photo shoot works well. Thankfully there was no puppy drama, no accidents, and no dresses harmed in the making of the photos, Logan said. When the photos are done, the dogs can be taken away to a more comfortable, appropriate location while the humans go about their partying. Its kind of hard to have a dance party with a dog although Ive done it, Olsen said. If youd like a pup or a grown-up dog of your own for much more than a photo shoot Pitties Love Peace is accepting adoption applications. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Is it ever ok to tell off someone elses child? [Photo: skitterphoto.com via Pexels] Shes not usually afraid to voice her opinions on all things parenting, and its her refreshingly honest attitude thats won the Perth-based blogger an army of fans (or as she calls them Queens), but Constance Halls latest blog post When To Step In has seen her sit somewhat on the fence. But then again, she was discussing the thorny topic of disciplining other peoples children. Though she admits she doesnt like telling kids off, the parenting blogger also believes there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the decision to reprimand someone elses little one. My main gripe with disciplining kids who arent yours is that you dont know their story, she writes. You dont know if this is something they do all the time or something that was a pure accident. You dont know if that little girl has spent the day crying for her dead Poppy, or if she purposely hits toddlers in parks on her bike every weekend. The blogger illustrates how trick the topic is to navigate with two personal anecdotes about instances that have happened with her own children. Constance Hall has tackled the tricky topic of disciplining other peoples children [Photo: Facebook/Constance Hall] In the first experience Constance discusses a time when she stepped in to ask a child to behave in the absence of finding her parent. The little girl had first kicked her son, then thrown sand into his eyes, before slapping her sons friend and Constance felt she had no choice but to intervene. Hi sweetie, do you think that you could chill on the kicking and sand throwing? My kids are all a bit sad coz they really wanted to play up here with you, Constance recalled saying. Her eyes narrowed, She responded with a poised statement. Fine the boys can play there, and she pointed to a tiny patch of mud. The boys were happy with that and I felt like the negotiator of the year, she wrote. Story continues However, the second occasion where the mummy blogger found herself pondering the subject matter didnt have quite such a positive outcome. When her daughter was yelled at by a dad, who shouted: Youre a stupid little girl, you shouldnt be riding [her bike] around here!, Constance describes feeling enraged. My blood boiled. Fierce warrior mum kicked in. I gave him a mouthful about yelling at kids you dont know. How long before the smiles turn to frowns? [Photo: unsplash.com via Pexels] Constance ends the post by saying that for her, the best way to deal with the situation in hand is to try and sort it out with the childs parent first. Obviously, there isnt a cut and dry answer, she wrote. When someone is hurting your kid it doesnt matter who, a child or a grown man, the first thing you need to do is stop that shit, she continues. Now it isnt a do or dont type of conversation, everyone handles situations differently. But I do know that the words that come out of adults who arent your parents cut children a lot deeper than those of your own folks. So for me? Going to extreme measures to sort it out with the kids parents before even thinking of approaching the kid is the only way. And Constances view seems to have kicked off a debate about the rights and wrongs of telling off other peoples children. I think it can be a positive thing when other parents discipline children, one mother wrote. I want my children to know that I am not the only person they have to listen to. This is something that I really struggled with. It used to send me into a frenzy of anxiety, the thought of taking my son somewhere, another kid upsetting him and that kids Mum not being around to sort it, added another. And one fan believed we should all live and let live when it comes to navigating the delicate subject. At the end of they day we all have our own way of disciplining our children and we should all respect each others way! Do you think parents have the right to discipline other peoples children? Let us know what you think @YahooStyleUK Dad blogger pens hilarious post questioning his wifes female logic of wanting another baby Should Parents Kiss Their Kids On The Lips? Pax traffic's 6.8% tumble is a four year low. Singapore Airlines' (SIA) uninspiring August figures are hinting at slowing demand, as traffic and yields sank to record lows. According to a report by UOB Kay Hian, the 6.8% pullback in pax traffic and 5.5% slide in pax carriage reveal the weakest August figures for SIA in four years. Regional full service carrier SilkAir's traffic also dipped 2% YoY, which suggests a broad-based slump in demand. UOB Kay Hian noted that demand was hurt by concerns over the Zika virus, as infections only made headlines on 28 August. At this stage, however, it remains unclear what weighed down demand. "The steep decline in traffic and yields seem to suggest weakening demand dynamics, which could be due to: a) increased competition out of Singapore, b) demand destruction from a weaker economic environment, and c) substantial capacity additions by Chinese carriers towards Australia which would thus impact Singapores transit/transfer traffic," UOB Kay Hian stated. Photo by IanC66/Shutterstock.com More From Singapore Business Review Russian airstrike syria bomber A week into a cease-fire in Syria brokered by Russia and the US, Russian-made warplanes hit a UN aid convoy traveling to the besieged town of Aleppo to provide relief to Syrians at the scene of some of the most intense fighting in the country's five-year civil war. At least 18 of 31 trucks in a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy were hit and 12 people were killed, according to Reuters. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the airstrike "sickening" in remarks on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly in New York. "Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians," Ban said. "It started with an hour of extremely fierce bombing," Besher Hawi, the former spokesman for the opposition's Aleppo city council, told Reuters of the air raid. "Now I can hear the sound of helicopters overhead. The last two were barrel bombs." Because the Syrian regime, which has been linked to chemical warfare against civilians and other war crimes, flies Russian-made jets, it can be hard for ground forces distinguish them from the Russian air force, which also carries out airstrikes in Syria, reportedly sometimes on hospitals or with banned munitions. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Associated Press that the Syrian air force "does not have the capabilities to carry out such airstrikes within two hours." Abdurrahman added that "it was mostly Russian warplanes who carried out the air raid." Future of US-Russian relations Obama and Putin "The United States is outraged by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near Aleppo today," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "The United States will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the cessation of hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia." Story continues Secretary of State John Kerry had described the cooperation between the US and Russia as possibly "the last chance we have to save a united Syria," and that a truce between the two powers leading to negotiations to end the war "is the only realistic possible solution." But the Syrian military has declared the cease-fire over, an official failure that comes to a close after the US mistakenly killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in an airstrike, and the aid convoys Russia promised to let through to Aleppo were bombed. While the US can claim it had faulty information on the position of the Syrian troops, the position of the UN aid convoy was known to all parties and clearly marked as a humanitarian effort. A senior US official told Reuters he was not sure if US-Russian relations could be salvaged at this point, as the countries back opposite sides in the Syrian conflict, and their latest attempt at cooperation proved disastrous. "At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage," the official told Reuters. NOW WATCH: EX-PENTAGON CHIEF: These are the 2 main reasons ISIS was born More From Business Insider This is the lowest since 2013. The overall value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of Singapore firms in 2016 dropped 17.1% YTD to S$51.1 billion (US$37.5 billion) against the first nine months of 2015. This is the sharpest decline in the city-states M&A activities since 2013. According to data from Thomson Reuters, dealmaking among Singapore firms slackened in 3Q16 with M&A value at about S$16.4 billion (US$12 billion), a 27.2% sequential decline from 2Q16 (~S$22.3 billion) and down 26.7% compared to 3Q15 (~S$22.2 billion). The average M&A deal size for disclosed deals dropped to S$136.9 million (US$100.5 million) thus far, compared to S$141.9 million (US$104.2 million) in the first nine months of 2015, as fewer transactions above S$1.4 billion (US$1 billion) were witnessed by Singaporean companies this year compared to the same period last year, Thomson Reuters revealed. The total cross-border deal activity amounted to S$30.8 billion (US$22.6 billion) from year to date, a 15.6% slump from the same period last year. Inbound M&A activity contracted 18.6% in deal value compared to the first nine months of 2015. Outbound M&A reached S$17 billion (US$12.5 billion), but this is 13.1% lower in value from over a year ago. Domestic M&A was the only gainer, growing to 19.1% to S$12.5 billion (US$9.2 billion) in deal value from the previous corresponding period. More From Singapore Business Review By PTI: Raised in the 33rd Session of the UNHRC (Attn.editors: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same). Exploitative Nature of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Raised in the 33rd Session of the UNHRC GENEVA, September 20, 2016/PRNewswire/ -- Friends of Gilgit Baltistan, an international organization set up by a few Members of the European Parliament, held a seminar on September 19, 2016 on the sidelines of the 33rd UNHRC session in Geneva, on the exploitative nature of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan Administered Kashmir. The speakers included Alberto Cirio, Member of the European Parliament, Paulo Casaca, Executive Director, South Asia Democratic Forum, Junaid Qureshi, prominent Kashmiri human rights leader and Mehran Marri, Baloch Representative to the UN. Paulo Casaca moderated the seminar. advertisement During his speech, Paulo Casaca mentioned that though the CPEC has been termed by Pakistani leaders as a game changer time and again, they had glossed over and failed to acknowledge the negative impacts of the project. He opined that though the government harped on the expected economic benefits of the CPEC, little attention was given to the fact that the CPEC would fail to provide economic benefits, including jobs, to the locals and instead only enrich a few. The CPEC, he stated, had become more of a project championed by the Pakistani government and its military to divert attention from all the failures of the civilian government in all other areas including human rights. Later, responding to an intervention, Casaca stated that the most worrying factors with regard to Pakistan was its support to cross border terrorism and there was an immediate need for this to stop as otherwise it would impact the security of not only South Asia but also the world. more PRNewswire GSV --- ENDS --- Things fall apart. Exactly one week after the ceasefire brokered between the U.S. and Russia took hold, and the bombs are again falling on civilians in Aleppo. Just hours before the deal hit its one week mark which would signal to Washington and Moscow that their military planners could begin working together to draw up lists of Islamic State and Nusra Front targets the Syrian military called an end to the ceasefire, and unleashed a barrage of barrel bombs on rebel-held areas of Aleppo, killing over 30 people. Following that, Syrian and possibly Russian warplanes attacked a United Nations humanitarian convoy, killing what monitors say were 12 aid workers and destroying 18 of 31 trucks filled with critically needed humanitarian aid. The U.N. followed by suspending all aid convoys in Syria, and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, described the attack as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. U.N. officials say that the convoy had all of the proper permits from Damascus, and Russian and Syrian officials knew what the trucks were, and where they were going to be. Doubt. Bassma Kodmani, a senior member of the Syrian oppositions negotiating team, told FPs Colum Lynch and John Hudson that the cease-fire had no value. Kodmani added, Assad never complied with it. The humanitarian aid never reached any of the areas. This week was supposed to bring some humanitarian aid, but what happened instead was the displacement of populations. Deal teetering. An Obama administration official told reporters at the U.N. that the strikes fundamentally call into question the viability of what were trying to achieve [with the ceasefire] given the severity and the outrageousness of what took place. Few in the Pentagon, White House, and even the State Department ever gave the deal much of a chance of success, with folks in the Pentagon actively criticizing the attempt to partner with Moscow. The State Department is playing it cool, however. Spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the U.S. will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the Cessation of Hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia. Talking it through. The International Syria Support Group will meet in the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly Meeting in New York on Tuesday, where the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, and others will try and salvage the ceasefire, or at least argue about who did what to whom. Iraq, speeches, and last shots. President Barack Obama is set to address the United Nations Tuesday for the eighth and final time as president. On Monday, Obama confronted one of the problems that has bedeviled his presidency, meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to discuss the upcoming assault on the ISIS-held city of Mosul. Abadi announced the start of an offensive to retake the town of Shirqat, an ISIS stronghold 60 miles south of Mosul. Obama said he hoped to see real progress in taking Mosul by the end of the year. Good morning and as always, if you have any thoughts, announcements, tips, or national security-related events to share, please pass them along to SitRep HQ. Best way is to send them to: paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or on Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley New York and New Jersey Police in New Jersey captured the man that authorities say is responsible for a string of bombings over the weekend in New York and New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested in Linden, NJ after a shootout with police, who found him sleeping in a doorway. Investigators found Rahamis fingerprint on one of two bombs placed in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood. Officials say that Rahami, a naturalized citizen who moved to the United States from Afghanistan as a young boy, is also responsible for placing a bomb at a Marine Corps charity race in Seaside Park, NJ and five explosives devices at a train station in Elizabeth, NJ. Little is known about Rahami so far or whether or not he has ties to international terrorist groups. But Fox News spoke to the mother of Rahamis daughter, who accused him of being a deadbeat father. The woman, who asked not to be named, said that Rahami resented America and Western culture and made bigoted remarks about gays and lesbians. North Korea North Korea showed off a new rocket engine on Monday, which it says will be used in future satellite launches. Kim Jong Un himself made an appearance for the apparently successful test at the Sohae Space Center and told the engineers that they should prep for a rocket launch as soon as possible. Experts, however, say Pyongyangs space program is likely a cover for the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which could carry nuclear warheads from the Norths growing arsenal. NATO The Netherlands top air force official is growing increasingly worried about Russias deployment of advanced surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) in Europe and the Mediterranean, Military.com reports. Lt. Gen. Dennis Luyt told an audience at the Air Force Association that the proliferation of Russian systems like the S-300 and S-400 in Ukraine and Syria should worry other members of the Atlantic alliance, as well. U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander Gen. Tod Wolters, who spoke alongside Luyt, said NATO could mitigate the threat of Russian SAMs with proper training. Syria American warplanes may have accidentally killed prisoners and not regular Syrian troops in an airstrike that went awry in Deir Ezzor, Syria on Saturday. Anonymous defense officials tell the Daily Beast that coalition aircraft hit the targets they were aiming for but that those targets may have been prisoners forced into conscription by the Assad regime and not Islamic State fighters. Central Command announced on Monday that it had begun an investigation in order to get to the bottom of the bungled strike. Saudi Arabia It looks like Saudi Arabia is using American-supplied white phosphorous munitions in the war against the Houthi movement in Yemen. The Washington Post found imagery on social media showing Saudi-led coalition forces using the white phosphorous munitions from artillery systems in Najran province and near the capital, Sanaa. White phosphorous munitions are controversial in because they can be used both to provide smoke and illumination but also as incendiary weapons against enemy personnel. The U.S. military prohibits the latter use but its unclear how, precisely, Saudi-led forces are using them. Air Force The Air Forces next generation bomber now has an official name. The service announced on Monday that the forthcoming bomber will henceforth be known as the B-21 Raider after the Doolittle Raiders, the World War II-era Army Air Corps unit which led a surprise bombing raid on Tokyo. The Air Force brought Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the last living participant in the raid, to participate in the name unveiling ceremony. The multi-billion dollar B-21 Raider will, in all likelihood, be flown by human meatbags instead of software that would allow it to operate autonomously. Some have pushed for the bomber to be built with optionally-manned capability, but Global Strike Command chief Gen. Robin Rand poured cold water on the notion at the Air Force Association conference on Monday, said that there might be benefit to keeping a human pilot intrinsic to the system. Randall Walden, director of the Air Forces rapid capabilities office, hinted that the unmanned option could be viable for the B-21 later on. Photo Credit: OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images The birth of a farming oligopoly. Big farms are about to get a lot bigger. With six agricultural giants on the verge of merging into three separate companies, consumers and farmers are feeling uneasy about the global implications and how it might impact the food system. Top executives from Bayer, Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical, and Syngenta today (Sept. 20) testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, making a case for why federal regulators should approve the mega-mergers, which stand to fundamentally reorganize global agriculture. (Executives from the sixth company involved in the consolidation, China National Chemical Corp., declined an invitation to appear at the hearing.) The executives in attendance argued that the proposed mergers would combine their companies expertise and allow for greater efficiency in serving farmers and consumers. But whether that efficiency is worth the side effects of massive consolidationpossible price hikes and less competition in the marketplaceis an open question. In essence, should people put faith in three big companies to shepherd consumers and farmers into a world that can responsibly feed a growing global population? Heres whats on the table On July 20, shareholders at Dow Chemical and DuPont agreed to a $59 billion merger that would bring under one umbrella two of the largest US chemical makers. The deal is awaiting US antitrust clearance. On Aug. 22, Chinese state-owned China National Chemical Corp. was cleared by US regulators to proceed with its $42 billion purchase of Swiss chemical and seeds company Syngenta. The deal, subject to US scrutiny because of Sygentas American business interests, marks the largest purchase of a foreign firm in Chinese history. On Sept. 14, Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and chemical giant, said it had reached an agreement to purchase US seed company Monsanto for $66 billion. If the deal is approved by US regulators, it would create the worlds largest seed and agriculture chemicals company. Story continues The consolidation of these six highly competitive companies into three juggernauts has left many farmers and consumers uneasy. Consumers advocates say they worry the mergers will usher in a new era of sterile crops soaked in dangerous pesticides. Farmers worry that less competition in the marketplace will give the merged companies an ability to increase prices of seeds and chemicalssomething that would be particularly harmful during a time when US farm incomes are dropping. Thats part of the case that National Farmers Union president Roger Johnson made to senators, warning that approval of the mergers would lead not only to higher prices, but also less innovation and fewer products from which farmers can choose. Even the mighty American Farm Bureau lobby expressed some trepidation. Any one of these [merger and acquisition] activities could certainly be well understood; all of them occurring at the same time is the challenge, said Bob Young, chief economist for the lobby. Obviously youd rather have six companiesbut if the economics arent there to justify six companies, it just wont happen. The corporate perspective For their part, the company executives stressed that, in a world where internet companies such as Google can quickly pivot to manufacturing driverless cars and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos can invest in rockets, the nimbleness of agriculture will be paramount. Change can be rough for farmers, testified Robb Fraley, Monsantos chief technology officer. But in our industry, it is changing. Farmers are best served with companies investing more in new technology. Fraley noted that 15 years ago, Monsanto invested $300 million in research and development; this year it has invested $1.5 billion. By way of comparison, he said big-name technology firms such as Apple are spending upwards of $10 billion a year on R&D. Left unsaid by the companies was that, with the exception of Bayer, the US and European giants have experienced shrinking sales. As Republican senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina put it, Dows numbers look like the EKG of a heart attack patient. From that perspective, the mergers are as much about maintaining profit and staying financially healthy as they are about the development of new technologies. Its not just a case of American farmers needing more technologically advanced tools; its also a white flag from big agribusiness companies struggling with the fact that, despite all their efficiencies and inventions, the US market is demanding supplies that let farmers grow more profitable and less complicated organic and all-natural foods. Whether that trend continues remains to be seen. For now, the mergers are a clear sign that companies that invest in high-tech seeds and chemicals are going through a rough patch, and they think consolidation is their way out of it. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: By Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Hillary Clinton attended her first major White House meeting on Russia in February 2009, the new secretary of state insisted that she wanted to play a leading role in President Barack Obamas effort to "reset" U.S. relations with Moscow. But while Clinton became implementer-in-chief for one of Obamas signature first-term initiatives, she was consistently more skeptical than most of his top aides about how far Russian leader Vladimir Putin was prepared to go in turning the page, according to current and former U.S. officials. That stance is indicative of how she would go about dealing with Moscow if she is elected U.S. president on Nov. 8, aides to both Clinton and Obama told Reuters. With U.S. relations with Moscow already plumbing post-Cold War lows, the aides and veteran Russia watchers said she would likely take a harder line than Obama or Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has praised Putin as a strong leader. Dealing with Putin, who is flexing his geopolitical muscle from Ukraine to Syria to cyberspace, will be among Clinton's biggest foreign policy challenges -- one made more daunting by the personal bad blood between them. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department aide and now senior Clinton campaign advisor, said Clinton could consider the shipping of lethal arms to Ukraine government forces and the creation of no-fly or safe zones in Syria. Obama has rejected both ideas. While such moves could further stoke tensions and might even face resistance from some U.S. allies, Sullivan said in an interview with Reuters that Clinton could manage ties with Russia effectively because Putin would "respect her as U.S. president, her strength, her clarity, her predictability." According to current and former Clinton advisers, she could consider other policy moves such as stiffer sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and doing more to wean Russias neighbors off reliance on Moscows energy supplies. Russia is watching warily. "She is not perceived by many people as the Kremlin's preferred candidate," said Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry. "Many here believe that she would be tougher on Russia than Obama," he said. Clintons first fence-mending effort in March 2009 was not so much a show of strength than of diplomatic clumsiness. She handed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a red button that was supposed to have the word "reset" on it. Instead, it was labeled with the Russian word meaning "overcharged." Clintons distrust of Putin deepened, mirrored by his growing list of grievances against her. By the time she prepared to leave the State Department in early 2013, former officials said, she wrote at least two confidential memos to Obama urging a more hard-nosed approach. At the time, many in the president's inner circle were not convinced the reset had run its course, they said. Since Clintons departure, Putin has reasserted Russia on the world stage, seizing Ukraines Crimea region and intervening militarily in Syrias civil war. U.S. officials have linked the hacking of Democratic Party computers to the Russian government which the Kremlin denies. "NOT AS IF SHE WENT GRUMPILY" Like most national security policies under Obama, the attempt to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations was managed from the White House by the president himself, along with aides from his 2008 campaign, including Russia specialist Michael McFaul. "No one should pretend that this wasnt an Obama-driven policy," said Philip Gordon, Clinton's top Europe adviser at the State Department. "But its also not as if she went grumpily to the table and was told by the president 'youre doing it' ... She thought it had logic." McFaul, who later became ambassador to Russia, said in an interview that from the first White House meeting on Russia in early 2009 Clinton was skeptical of the prospects for transforming U.S.-Russian relations in a way that "some of us aspired to back then." Two other officials backed up his account. The first fruits of the reset were promising. Putin had - temporarily, it turned out - stepped down as president, with the younger, reform-minded Dmitry Medvedev in his place. Obama and Medvedev signed a new strategic nuclear arms control pact, cooperated to sanction Iran for its nuclear program and agreed to let U.S. troops and equipment transit Russia to support a American military "surge" in Afghanistan. But after little more than two years, the "reset" ran out of steam. By mid-2011, it was clear that Putin was returning to the presidency. A DECADE OF BROADSIDES Clinton first met Putin at his residence outside Moscow in March 2010. She persuaded him to back tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran, according to two people with knowledge of the session. In front of the TV cameras, however, Putin railed against U.S. trade and economic policies as Clinton watched. Clinton and Putin have been exchanging broadsides for nearly a decade. Putin, a former KGB agent, "doesn't have a soul," Clinton quipped on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary, riffing off of President George W. Bushs comment seven years earlier that he had looked into Putin's eyes and seen his soul. The Russian leader retorted: "At a minimum, a head of state should have a head." A U.S. official who was involved in Russia policymaking said Clinton sometimes chose her words poorly, inflaming Russian resentment over its perceived post-Cold War humiliation, a nationalist strain that Putin has long used to his advantage. "She played into that," said the official, who requested anonymity. The most serious rift of Clintons tenure occurred in late 2011, as crowds filled the streets of Russian cities protesting parliamentary elections marred by allegations of voting fraud. Clinton, in a statement approved by the White House, called the election "neither free nor fair." Putin, who was preparing to retake the presidency, accused her of trying to foment a new Russian revolution. A steady slide in contacts between Clinton and the Russian leadership and in overall relations followed. "Secretary Clinton's views on Russia were always a little harder-edged than President Obama's," said John Beyrle, Obama's first ambassador to Moscow. That partly reflected a "splitting up of responsibilities," he said. Obama cooperated with Medvedev; Clinton grappled with Lavrov and Putin. Some Russia watchers say Clinton's record was mixed. "The reset was the right approach," said Thomas Graham, former Russia adviser under Bushs Republican administration. But he faulted Clinton and Obama's team for not doing more to "actively reach out to Putin and open lines of communication." (Additional reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow. Editing by John Walcott and Stuart Grudgings) This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 One of the fundamental problems of social media, if youre running a company, is that some of your customers might have their own agendas which they try to tether you to, then share with millions of people. So it was when Skittles found themselves used in a tangled metaphor tweeted by Donald Trump Jr., and how the brand reacted deserves credit. For those blissfully away from the news cycle, Donald Trump Jr. posted the meme above about Syrian refugees, using an analogy with a bowl of Skittles. If three of the Skittles were poisoned, and you didnt know which three, you wouldnt take the risk of eating them, goes his argument. Many called it an attempt to draw political capital off the Chelsea bombing. It was also clearly an attempt to, yet again, incite the alt-right without acknowledging it. The idea of refugees as poisoned food dates back to Nazi Germany, where it was used to indoctrinate children, and after the death of Trayvon Martin, racists on the internet have made Skittles into a meme. Skittles had a blunt response: Its notable because so many brands get this painfully wrong. In 2011, for example, Kenneth Cole made light of social unrest in Egypt, and then promptly began digging itself a deep, spacious hole as it tried to apologize. In Australia, Jenny Craig made the mistake of sponsoring shock jock Kyle Sandilands, and doubled down on the choice for awhile, before finally backing away. Even at least somewhat sincere attempts to help have gone wrong, like Bings attempt to raise donations for Japanese earthquake victims with retweets. Needless to say, crisis communications from brands are low priority in any election, especially one as fraught as this one. But Skittles deserves kudos not just for rejecting the horrible meme, but also for explicitly acknowledging thats all they can do, and that they dont want to cash in, whether via those outraged over the meme or those who agree with it. It sets a solid precedent that more brands should take to heart; namely, there are time when shutting up is the best for #branding. Donald Trump Jr. took to Twitter on Monday night to comment on the Syrian refugee crisis with a Skittles analogy that is being widely criticized on social media. "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem," read the words above a bowl of Skittles and the Trump-Pence logo. Trump Jr. posted the message with the caption: "This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first." This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN - Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 Users were swift to respond to the Trump campaign's breakdown of the crisis, as "Skittles" quickly made its way to the top of Twitter's trending terms on Monday night. President Barack Obama's chief speechwriter Jon Favreau shared the haunting photo that recently went viral of Omran Daqneesh, the 5-year-old Syrian boy who survived an airstrike in August, to say: "This is one of the millions of children you compared to a poisoned Skittle today." The analogy has been similarly used in the past with M&Ms and peanuts, to make a sweeping generalization about the crisis. Wrigley, which owns the Skittles brand, issued the following statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday night: "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," Denise Young, vp of corporate affairs for Wrigley Americas, told THR. "We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." On Tuesday, the Trump campaign then issued a statement to THR. "Don Jr. has been a tremendous asset to the campaign," began the statement. "America has become less safe under Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Clinton's planned 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees is a dangerous proposal that will put American lives at risk. Speaking the truth might upset those who would rather be politically correct than safe, but the American people want a change, and only Donald Trump will do what's needed to protect us." Story continues Here are some of the social media reactions from Monday night below: Read more: Donald Trump on Debating Hillary Clinton: "If She Treats Me With Respect, I Will Treat Her With Respect" Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, this is one of the millions of children you compared to a poisoned Skittle today: https://t.co/SDSGw0eUIP pic.twitter.com/HuhY9RGvWW - Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 20, 2016 10s of thousands of Syrian children have been killed in the war. They aren't Skittles. They're children. Like yours. https://t.co/y51TW9Jeq1 - Jason Sparks (@sparksjls) September 20, 2016 This is disgusting. https://t.co/Qygl03Cnc1 - Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) September 20, 2016 Oh and human beings fleeing oppression and terror aren't skittles. https://t.co/wXK24wvurK - John Legend (@johnlegend) September 20, 2016 That skittles analogy has been going around in Europe for years. I know that cause many Germans say it to me, forgetting that I'm a skittle - Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) September 20, 2016 This image says it all. In 1939 900 Jews on ship fm Nazi Germany to USA were sent back. 25% died in Holocaust. Not skittles @DonaldJTrumpJr pic.twitter.com/vbvQMFYquF - Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) September 20, 2016 Sept. 20, 12:40 p.m. PT: Updated with statement from Trump campaign. Sept. 19, 9:45 p.m.: Updated with statement from Skittles rep. Skittles took a big stand against something Donald Trump Jr. said about refugees, and this is why it matters Skittles took a big stand against something Donald Trump Jr. said about refugees, and this is why it matters Theres just about six weeks until the 2016 presidential elections, and its no secret that things are kind of bananas. The seemingly close race is extremely tense, with both candidates vying for a significant lead. And the other day, Donald Trumps son, Donald Trump Jr., said something about his fathers immigration platform that gave all of us some serious pauseand it involved Skittles? Heres the full comment, encapsulated in this Tweet: This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 Just to clarify, Trump Jr. is saying that you wouldnt eat from a bowl of Skittles if you knew some of them were poison, so we shouldnt embrace Syrian refugees into our borders for that same reason (i.e., a few may be dangerous). Which prompted the generally apolitical Skittless parent company, Wrigley Americas, to make the following statement: Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing. Wow. Well said. And if you were wondering, many were (rightfully) outraged but the incredibly callous comparison. Here were just some of the comments on Twitter: By that logic, you would take everyone's guns away. Because someone is gonna kill somebody at some point. But I guess that doesn't count. https://t.co/3BraX0Ew19 John Legend (@johnlegend) September 20, 2016 Oh and human beings fleeing oppression and terror aren't skittles. https://t.co/wXK24wvurK John Legend (@johnlegend) September 20, 2016 Skittles' answer is more thoughtful than anything Donald Trump has ever said. https://t.co/ihCcLpEZmD Kriston Capps (@kristoncapps) September 20, 2016 Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, this is one of the millions of children you compared to a poisoned Skittle today: https://t.co/SDSGw0eUIP pic.twitter.com/HuhY9RGvWW Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 20, 2016 Politics aside, were so glad the candy company stepped up and stood for decency today. We have some serious respect right now. H/T Entertainment Weekly The post Skittles took a big stand against something Donald Trump Jr. said about refugees, and this is why it matters appeared first on HelloGiggles. By PTI: New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) The Anti Corruption Branch has registered an FIR against DCW chief Swati Maliwal in connection with alleged irregularities in recruitment in the womens panel. "A case under sections 13(D) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the IPC has been registered against Maliwal," said a senior ACB officer. advertisement The ACB had taken up the probe on a complaint by former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh, who alleged that several AAP supporters were given plum posts in the womens panel. Singh, in her complaint, had listed the names of 85 people who, she claimed, got jobs "without requisite credentials". The ACB had been probing the matter for the last two-three months and based on the questioning of Maliwals employees, it was found that due procedure "was not followed in appointments," said the officer, adding that a total of 91 appointments were found to be made without allegedly following due process. Yesterday, Maliwal was interrogated for over two hours by ACB officials in connection with the allegations made by Barkha Singh. Maliwal was also handed over a questionnaire seeking her reply to 27 queries within a weeks time. "I have been asked 27 questions and given a weeks time to reply. We have been asked how we did so many appointments to the womens panel. In a way, they are asking how did we manage to do so much work?" Maliwal had told reporters yesterday after her questioning. She termed the probe as an "attempt" to "silence" the womens panel that has been raising a lot of questions. "In one year, we have handled 11,500 cases and attended 2.25 lakh calls on helpline number 181. The former DCW chief handled only one case. DCW asks questions whenever a rape is reported. This is disturbing a lot of people. But we will continue to raise questions," she said. The DCW chief had said she will answer the questions asked by the ACB within a week and "fully cooperate" with the probe by providing all documents sought by the investigative agency. Maliwal had alleged that Singh also appointed members to the panel during her tenure despite handling only one case in eight years. "We followed the due process for appointing members to the panel. While she (Singh) appointed wives of IAS and IPS officers without giving an advertisement for recruitment. We have all the documents and we will give them to the ACB," she had said. PTI SLB DV --- ENDS --- advertisement By Liana B. Baker and Lauren Hirsch Sept 20 (Reuters) - Accounting software maker BlackLine Inc is preparing for an initial public offering that could value it at more than $1 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. An IPO of Los Angeles-based BlackLine, which the sources said could come as early as October, would make BlackLine one of the first venture-backed technology firms to go public since market jitters all but shut the window for such companies at the end of last year. BlackLine has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc to lead its IPO, which has already been registered confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the sources said. The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is not yet public. Representatives for BlackLine and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Venture-backed technology company Nutanix, which was valued at roughly $2 billion in the private market in 2014, is set to price its IPO next week. Market conditions delayed Nutanix's IPO earlier this year, and its debut may serve as a bellwether for other venture-technology-backed companies waiting in the wings. BlackLine was founded in 2001 by Therese Tucker, its chief executive and a former senior executive at financial technology firm SunGard, with the goal of improving the lives of accountants by eliminating drudge work. The company counts Coca Cola Co, Under Armour and Dow Chemical Co among its 1,500 customers. BlackLine's software supports "continuous accounting," which spreads accounting tasks over a longer period of time so work does not pile up. Earlier this month, BlackLine acquired Runbook, a Europe-based competitor. The company has raised more than $200 million in venture capital funding from investors such as Silver Lake Sumeru, the former middle-market arm of Silver Lake that has since been spun out and renamed Sumeru Equity Partners. It also has funding from ICONIQ Capital, a family office for technology scions such as Facebook Inc co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. While there have only been a handful of technology IPOs this year, some of the subsequent stock market performances of these offerings have made investors more confident. For example, shares of communications software provider Twilio Inc, which went public in June, are now trading nearly four times above their IPO price. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler) The Hague (AFP) - Somalia accused Kenya on Tuesday of unnecessarily prolonging a battle over lucrative Indian Ocean oil and gas reserves, saying "both impoverished nations" had an interest in swiftly resolving the dispute. And Mogadishu also slammed Nairobi for criticising its Horn of Africa neighbour for turning to the UN's top tribunal, the International Court of Justice, to adjudicate in the row. "We seek nothing more and nothing less than to have our maritime boundary dispute with our Kenyan brothers and sisters be resolved finally and definitively in an equitable manner," lawyer Mona al-Sharmani, arguing on Somalia's behalf, told the tribunal. Somalia had only turned to the ICJ after years of "hard, and at times heated" negotiations with Kenya proved to be "to no avail," she said. At the heart of the dispute is how to draw the maritime border off their coasts. Both countries lay claim to a triangle of water, which stretches over an area of more than 100,000 square kilometres (40,000 square miles) and is believed to hold valuable deposits of oil and gas. Kenya is a relative newcomer to the oil industry, but is believed to have major potential in a part of Africa only recently found to be sitting on significant reserves. Somalia, which lies north of Kenya, wants its maritime border to follow south extending from the line of the land frontier. But Kenya wants it to go in a straight line stretching directly east from the coast, along the line of latitude. And Nairobi has already sold off concessions on three oil blocks in the disputed area to Italian energy company EniSpA. "We could not even agree on a method of delimitation, let alone a boundary," said Sharmani. Somalia filed its suit in 2014 with the ICJ in The Hague, set up to rule in disputes between member states, and the tribunal is now considering whether it has the jurisdiction to hear the case. Lawyers for Mogadishu also slammed Kenya's attitude as "puzzling", saying it was a "developing country, legitimately in a hurry to develop ... and just as impoverished as its neighbour" Somalia. Story continues "And yet Kenya seems to be trying its best to slow things down and prevent the dispute between the two countries ... from being settled rapidly," lawyer Alain Pellet told the court. At the start of preliminary hearings on Monday, Kenya argued the tribunal was not competent to rule in the case. Basing its argument on a 2009 bilateral accord, it asked the panel to dismiss Somalia's request. The hearings will continue on Wednesday and Friday, and the ICJ will rule later whether to take up the case. (Reuters) - A Southwest Airlines flight traveling to Nashville on Monday was forced to return to Los Angeles after a tire blew on the aircraft's landing gear during takeoff, the airline said. Flight 2634 returned to Los Angeles International Airport shortly after taking off because of a mechanical issue with its landing gear, the airline said in a statement. All 142 passengers on the flight got off the plane safely and were placed on another aircraft that was expected to land in Nashville four hours behind schedule, Southwest Airlines said. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Paul Tait) Billionaire real estate investor Barry Sternlicht had declared Greenwich, Connecticut, with its glut of mega-mansions for sale, " may be the worst housing market in the United States ." "You can't give away a house in Greenwich," he said at CNBC/Institutional Investor's Delivering Alpha conference last week. One broker has an idea for how to fix that. "Get some start-up to buy them and put 12 people in them and work," said Fred Glick, a real estate veteran who is currently CEO of brokerages Arrivva and U.S. Spaces. In an interview Monday on CNBC's "Closing Bell," Glick pointed to the success of that model in Silicon Valley hot spots. "That's actually happening out here in San Francisco," he said. "They're buying a big house and putting 12 to 15 people in it at $3,000 to $4,000 a month, and it's working." Of course, Silicon Valley also has a long track record with companies being operated out of houses. As Barron's noted over the weekend, the joke in Silicon Valley lately is that Meg Whitman's recent split and accelerated downsizing of Hewlett Packard "will return the business to its 1939 roots under David Packard and William Hewlett: a tech shop run out of a garage." As for gilded Greenwich, it has traditionally been the trophy, as opposed to the launching pad, for business success. Such a departure from its highfalutin history toward divvied-up work-mansions seems unlikely barring some dramatic catalyst. But, "if Greenwich itself did something with giving start-ups some tax incentives, I bet you'll get some people out of New York to move up to Greenwich and start getting it going," Glick said. There is now an abundance of "Silicon Alley" talent in New York City where rents have surged to draw upon. And Sternlicht, chief executive of Starwood Capital Group, just moved from Connecticut to Florida, having tired of Connecticut's onerous taxes. He is part of an exodus of successful businessmen from the area, including Paul Tudor Jones and former New Jerseyan David Tepper. Story continues A surge in new listings and a drop in sales has left Greenwich with a 12-month supply of homes on the market as of June, up from 7.7 months a year earlier, according to Bloomberg. Taxes are one factor, along with lifestyle changes across all generations that favor renting or buying newer homes in emerging communities (such as "active senior living" centers). While certain to stir upset in the neighborhood, something "like Start-Up BNB" an Airbnb-style service that matched start-ups with available rental space could work well in Greenwich, said Glick. Certainly, the deluxe accommodations indoor pools, for instance, and plenty of outdoor and parking space would seem a strong selling (or rather, renting) point. And if that doesn't take? "Make 'em into dorms," Glick said. (Adds Labor Secretary's comment, paragraphs 6-7) By Daniel Wiessner Sept 20 (Reuters) - Officials from 21 U.S. states on Tuesday filed a lawsuit claiming an Obama administration rule to extend mandatory overtime pay to more than 4 million workers will place a heavy burden on state budgets. Hours after the states announced their lawsuit, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups filed a separate challenge to the rule in the same federal court in Sherman, Texas. The rule, set to take effect Dec. 1, will require employers to pay overtime to salaried workers earning less than $47,500 a year, double the current threshold of $23,660. Business groups and Republican officials say the rule will force employers to demote salaried workers to hourly positions and create more part-time jobs. "Once again, President Obama is trying to unilaterally rewrite the law," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. "And this time, it may lead to disastrous consequences for our economy." Paxton and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt spearheaded the states' lawsuit, which was joined by Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, among others. U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in a statement the rule had "sound legal and policy footing" and the lawsuits were an attempt to deprive workers of fair pay. Only 7 percent of full-time salaried employees are currently eligible for overtime pay, he said, down from 62 percent in 1975. "I look forward to vigorously defending our efforts to give more hardworking people a meaningful chance to get by," Perez said. Both of Tuesday's lawsuits said the department abused its authority by increasing the salary threshold so drastically, and also failed to account for regional variations in the cost of living. The agency also violated federal law by indexing the salary threshold to the 40th percentile of income, with automatic increases every three years, the lawsuits claim. The states' lawsuit says that under the rule many state employees would become eligible for overtime pay even though they perform management duties that should make them exempt. Story continues That would force states to pay workers more or resort to layoffs and other budget cuts, a violation of states' rights, they said. Paxton and his predecessor, Greg Abbott, have filed a wave of challenges to Obama administration initiatives, including environmental regulations, a plan to provide relief from deportation to certain undocumented immigrants, and a rule to require employers facing union campaigns to disclose dealings with lawyers and consultants. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Alexia Garamfalvi) U.S. drivers traveled more miles last year than ever before -- 3.1 trillion miles. The average number of miles driven by a single driver is 13,476, a total nearly equal to two round trips between New York and Los Angeles. Travel is rising in every region of the country with drivers in the West showing the biggest gain (4.2%) for a monthly total of about 65 billion miles, or more than 20% of the national total miles driven in July. Of the states, nearly 70% posted a gain in miles driven in July compared with miles driven in July of 2015. Using data gathered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), researchers at carinsurance.com have surfaced some trends: Men drive more miles than women, an average of 16,550 to 10,142, respectively. Fewer teenagers are getting driver's licenses -- only 24% of eligible 16-year olds this year compared with 46% in 1980. Drivers older than 65 are driving more and the subgroup growing fastest are drivers older than 85. The carinsurance.com researchers also pointed out how mileage affects insurance rates: ALSO READ: America's Best (and Worst) Car Brands The uptick in driving is not spread evenly among the states. Some states are seeing a much bigger increase than others and almost a third are in decline. The mileage you drive affects your insurance rates, because companies figure the more you drive, the higher your risk of being in an accident. Therefore, state car insurance rates may be generally affected by these trends. Oregon posted the largest year-over-year gain in vehicle miles traveled, up 19%. Alaska and Georgia both posted increases of 16%, with Texas jumping 14%, and West Virginia 12%. The largest year-over-year decline in miles traveled occurred in North Dakota, where the total fell by 16%. Louisiana's total fell by 10% and both Montana and Alabama saw miles drop by 6%. Related Articles By Parmita Uniyal: The promo for the second season of Naagin is out and the excitement among telly buffs about the fresh season is all too palpable, as they eagerly await the premiere (October 8) of Naagin 2. Ekta Kapoor's supernatural 'snake' drama is coming back to rule the TRP charts (in all probability) and this has got us thinking about the journey of Naag-Naagins in Indian television. @imouniroy is coming back to rule your hearts as naagin on #Naagin2! What's your excitement level? A photo posted by Naagin Colors (@naagin_officiall) on Sep 20, 2016 at 3:47am PDT advertisement THE INCEPTION One can recall, that Doordarshan's 90s series Chandrakanta had a character called Roopmati (played by Varsha Usgaonkar) who was the queen of snakes. There was another character in the show called Naagmani Devata, the snake king. The fantasy series, revolved around the life of Princess Chandrakanta and was based on the novel of Devaki Nandan Khatri's novel Chandrakanta Santati. Later, the show was remade on Sahara One in the year 2011 and featured characters of a naag and a naagin. Dimpy Mahajan played the role of ichchadhaari naagin called Jwala who's in love with naag Jeevan. The story shifts to a revenge track when Jeevan is killed and Jwala decides to avenge his death. A NAAGINN THAT NO ONE REMEMBERS In 2007, Zee TV came up with the show Naaginn, that almost had the same plot as Colors' Naagin; but has fainted from public memory. Created by AK Films, the show revolved around the life of an ichchadhaari Naagin Amrita who gets married into Singh family to take revenge from her parents' killers and get Naagmani from them to return it to queen Naaginn. Much like Shivanya, Amrita (Sayantani Ghosh) also falls in love with her husband Arjun. This particular show also aired in Indonesia in the year 2014. However, the response to Zee TV's Naaginn was dismal, unlike Ekta's superhit series. WHEN NAAGINS TURNED KILLERS AND VAMPS While Naagins are traditionally shown to be the ones taking revenge from their killers, in &TV's Adhuri Kahaani Humari, Maya (Suhani Dhanki) an 'Icchadhari Naagin' kills the protagonist Manaswini to get her love, who in turn reincarnates into Radhika to avenge her killing. This far, naags and naagins were only part of supernatural or fantasy dramas. But Sasural Simar Ka changed it all, when an ichchadhaari naagin (Sara Khan) crawled into the family drama as the stylish vamp (daayans, shaitans, makkhis apart). The journey of snakes in Indian TV took a sharp turn all of a sudden. Snakes were not fantastical any more, the soap made us believe that anyone around us could be a shape-shifting serpent. FROM VAMP TO HEROINE: WHEN NAAGIN FINALLY GOT ACCEPTED BY THE MASSES Then came the path-breaking Naagin. Much has already been written about it. It premiered on November 1, 2015 and nobody was expecting it to be a roaring success. And that was the reason it took time to pick up initially. But barring the first few weeks, the show constantly stayed on No. 1 slot, according to BARC India. Mouni Roy and Adaa Khan became household names thanks to the TV series. The show brought us closer to naagins but it might be a bit scary for men-- what if their wife turns out to be a Naagin? advertisement AND THEN NAAGIN GAVE WAY TO NAAG LOK Another Naag?oops show that needs mention here is Naagarjuna - Ek Yoddha-aired on Life OK. The concept of the show is sourced from Mahabharata where there is a reference of Naag Lok. According to Mahabharata, Arjun marries Nagakanya Ulupi (half maiden-half serpent), the daughter of Kouravya, the king of serpents. Ulupi goes on to save Arjun from the curse of Vasus after restoring his life. The series also has mentions of Naag, Naagins, Naagmani, Naag Lok, Naag Dev and all things snake. NOW NAAGIN WILL TRY TO MAKE YOU LAUGH And, if your appetite for snakes is still not satiated (pun intended), you can wait for SAB TV's upcoming comedy show Ichchapyaari Naagin, where Priya Gor plays the lead role. Yes, this is yet another face of Naagin on Indian Television. And if you want to re-visit your lost Naagin, wait till October 8 to meet her in all her glory from 8pm to 9pm on Colors TV. --- ENDS --- This strap turns your fingers into a phone, which means the future is here This strap turns your fingers into a phone, which means the future is here Have you ever wanted to make a phone call with your fingers? Well, now you have the chance. Meet Sgnl, the strap that allows you to make calls simply by putting your finger close to your ear. Sounds insane, right? Well, check for yourself. Heres the Sgnl in action. The Sgnl eliminates the need for a headset, which is good since weve lost plenty of those. (But fingers? Were still currently in stock.) fingerphone The product comes out of Innomdle Lab, a company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. (For the record, Innomdle actually means dudes in Korean.) CEO Hyunchul Choi developed the main product after winning a competition that Samsung held in 2014. Interestingly enough, according to Choi, the product came about as a way to improve upon the smartwatch. Creating a Kickstarter campaign for Sgnl didnt just raise money it got people talking. Speaking of money, the company originally set out to fundraise $50,000 but at the time of publication theyve already hit $933,249 with 17 days to go. Pretty impressive. Of course, people are buzzing about Sgnl because it seems pretty simple since the technology is embedded into a strap, you can use it with any kind of watch that you already have. But even if you dont wear a watch, you can purchase a Sgnl with a pretty slick looking smart band. smartband1 Replace your existing watch strap with Sgnl and youre done, whether you wear a classic watch or an Apple Watch, Samsung Gear, or Pebble Time, the Sgnl Kickstarter says. So, how does it work? Easy. It works through vibrations. Sgnl picks up on voice from Bluetooth, and is then programmed to generate vibrations to the Conduction Unit, which travels from your hand to your fingertip. How awesome is that? Its not a question as to if were going to buy a Sgnl when its released its more like, how many of them are we getting. The future is finally here! The post This strap turns your fingers into a phone, which means the future is here appeared first on HelloGiggles. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f217587%2fglobaltempanomaug When it comes to Earth's climate, even the records themselves are breaking records now. Earth just experienced its hottest August on record, according to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This means the planet has set a record warm monthly temperature record during every month for the past 16 consecutive months an unprecedented warm streak, according to NOAA. The year-to-date is also record warm, as was the June through August period, known as meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere. SEE ALSO: 375 top scientists warn against Trump's plan to pull out of climate pact According to NOAA findings released Tuesday, the globally averaged surface temperature for August was 0.92 degrees Celsius, or 1.66 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average of 15.6 degrees Celsius, or 60.1 degrees Fahrenheit. This surpassed all other Augusts in temperature data going back to 1880, beating August of 2015 by 0.05 degrees Celsius, or 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike NASA, however, NOAA did not find that August tied July for the title of the hottest month on record. Based on NOAA's analysis, August was slightly cooler than July, compared to average. The record warm streak has featured months that have shattered previous milestones, with 14 of the 15 highest monthly temperature departures from average occurring since February 2015, NOAA found. Monthly global average surface temperature anomalies. Image: Gavin schmidt via nasa and climate central For the year-to-date, global average surface temperatures beat out the previous record warm January through August period, which occurred just last year, by 0.16 degrees Celsius, or 0.29 degrees Fahrenheit. Both land and ocean surface temperatures were record warm for the year so far. Record warmth during the first eight months of the streak occurred across much of the globe, NOAA found, including western Canada, northern South America, central and southern Africa, Indonesia, northern and southern Asia and Australia. Not a single land area saw cooler-than-average conditions during the January to August period, NOAA said. Story continues "Something that gets lost in the monthly updates to this streak of record-breaking months is the magnitude of change compared to just a couple decades ago," Derek Arndt, chief of climate monitoring at NOAAs National Centers for Environmental Information, told Mashable via email. "Sure, we've broken the record 16 consecutive months, that is evidence that we are in a warm surge following decades of warming. But the magnitude is immense: twenty years ago, in 1996, no year had poked above half a degree Celsius warmer than the 20th century average. Now, we're at a degree above the average. We've doubled that difference in half a generation." Global average temperature anomalies since 1880, including the century-long trend line. Image: NOAA/ncei For the oceans, the only area that was record cold for the year-to-date was the stormy Drake Passage off of South America. Consequences The extraordinarily warm year of 2016 has brought flood disasters to the U.S. the most recent of which devastated parts of Louisiana as well as in China. Typically hot locations, such as India, Kuwait and Iraq, set new benchmarks for what constitutes their hottest days. Meanwhile, the world's oceans have been suffering through the longest-lasting global coral bleaching event on record, which is now expected to last into 2017. Meanwhile in the Arctic, both the Northwest and Northeast Passages were open for navigation, with a massive cruise ship passing through the Northwest Passage for the first time, carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew. Arctic sea ice hit the second-lowest level on record, which continues the long-term trend toward a seasonally ice-free Arctic. Warmest year? While NASA has said that it is virtually certain that 2016 will be the warmest year on record, beating the milestone set just last year, NOAA is hedging on that prediction a bit more. The agency published a graph showing different scenarios in which 2016 could end up being the second-warmest year. For example, if each month from September through December matches the 1998 monthly values, NOAA scientists found, the year would end up behind 2015 by 0.06 degrees Celsius, or 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit. The 1998 comparison is apt, since that year also saw an El Nino event at the start of the year, followed by much cooler conditions in the tropical Pacific as the year went on. Global average surface temperature anomaly horserace for 2016 compared to previous warmest years. Triangles show scenario involving 1998 monthly average temperatures, while circles follow scenario in which September to December match 21st century monthly average temperatures. Image: NOAA/NCEI While part of the warmth is due to an El Nino event in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which tends to boost global average temperatures, that event has subsided, yet warm records have continued to topple. This illustrates the influence of human-caused global warming, which has been driving temperatures upward at a faster pace in recent decades. Without a La Nina event to dampen global average temperatures slightly, it's possible that more monthly temperature records will be set before 2016 is over. Updated: A lawsuit contends that actor Jim Carrey illegally provided the prescription drugs that his girlfriend used to commit suicide last year. The suit was filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Mark Burton, who is identified as the husband of Cathriona White. White, 30, killed herself in September 2015 with an overdose of oxycodone, propranolol and Ambien. Our client, Mr. Burton, is seeking justice in connection with the death of his wife, attorney Michael Avenatti told Variety. What he is seeking is a search for the truth. We believe that Mr. Carrey has culpability in the death of Ms. White. In a statement issued late Monday, Carrey called the suit a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this mans lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world, Carrey said. I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. Cats troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyones control. I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace. The suit was filed under the states Drug Dealer Liability Act, which attempts to hold drug dealers financially accountable for the harms of drug abuse. The suit alleges that Carrey obtained illegal prescriptions for the various drugs under the name Arthur King. It also claims that Carrey provided White with the drugs despite knowing that she was prone to depression and had attempted suicide before. If these drugs that Ms. White used in connection with her suicide were prescribed to Mr. Carrey illegally, including under a false name, then hes liable, Avenatti said. White was found dead at her home in Sherman Oaks on Sept. 28. The suit alleges that Carrey had access to surveillance cameras placed inside the home. Sometime before Sept. 28, according to the suit, Carreys assistant noted that White had entered the home at midday on Sept. 24 but had not left for more than a day after that. The suit claims that neither Carrey nor the assistant alerted the authorities. Story continues The suit does not explain why Carrey would have supplied White with the medication. According to the coroners report, reported by People magazine, authorities found texts from Carrey on Whites phone, in which he asked if she knew where his painkillers went from under his sink. The suit alleges that this text was sent after White was already dead, in an effort to minimize Carreys involvement. Related stories Jim Carrey, Eli Roth Team on Horror Film 'Aleister Arcane' Jim Carrey's 1970s Dark Comedy 'I'm Dying Up Here' Greenlit at Showtime 'Good Wife' Star to Play Johnny Carson in Showtime's 'I'm Dying Up Here' Comedy Pilot London (AFP) - Kate Moss is launching her own talent agency after leaving the one that recruited her aged 14 earlier this year, the Business of Fashion website reported as London Fashion Week draws to a close on Tuesday. "I don't really want pretty people, I want people that want to sing and dance and act. I want to create stars," the 42-year-old was quoted as saying in a rare interview after her departure from Storm Models. "I want to focus more on managing people's careers than just a modelling agency," said Moss, whose agency has a website, Twitter and Instagram presence despite her own well-known avoidance of social media. London-born Moss, the daughter of a barmaid and a travel agent, was recruited in a chance encounter at New York airport and is one of the few supermodels from the 1990s who still has a lucrative career. In the interview published on Monday, Business of Fashion said the model's eponymously named Kate Moss Agency "could transform her from supermodel to budding businesswoman". Moss is the 12th highest-paid model globally, earning $4.5 million (four million euros) in the year to June 2015, according to US magazine Forbes. In a sign of her longevity in the industry, Moss recently modelled for Calvin Klein -- more than two decades after she was first photographed for the company. She shot to fame in the 1990s and was swiftly labelled the epitome of "heroin chic" -- a fashion trend blamed for glamorising drugs and anorexia. Despite a string of scandals -- including photographs allegedly showing her taking cocaine -- Moss's image has survived each episode unscathed. She is adored by fashion bible Vogue, adorning its cover dozens of times and serving as contributing editor for British Vogue in 2014. While modelling for the world's major fashion houses such as Versace and Yves Saint Laurent, Moss has also signed up with high street make-up brand Rimmel and collaborated with clothing store Topshop. maine forest yurts; bob crowley Eight years ago, high school teacher Bob Crowley was sleeping on the jungle floor. These days, he charges others to do (more or less) the same. Crowley, the winner of the 17th season of "Survivor" and the oldest person to take home the prize, used part of his $1 million award to build a campground outside Portland, Maine. His retreat offers peace and quiet in the great outdoors though not without creature comforts. bob crowley survivor winner "I would say we lean towards 'glamping,'" Crowley, 65, tells Business Insider. Guests shouldn't expect to rough it at Maine Forest Yurts quite as much as Crowley did on the show. In 2008, Crowley spent his summer break from teaching physics in Maine stranded in the rainforest of the central African nation of Gabon. A self-described hybrid of Indiana Jones and Robinson Crusoe, the natural outdoorsman set out to prove nice guys can win on "Survivor." He played fairly. He formed alliances and kept them. And he won three consecutive immunity challenges, helping him "outwit, outplay, and outlast" his competition. Crowley returned to his native Maine with $1 million. After paying off bills and setting aside funds for taxes, Crowley and his wife, Peggy, looked to the hospitality industry to start the next chapter of their lives. During their 30-plus years living in South Portland, the couple came to acquire some 100 acres of remote Maine woods. The thickly forested land surrounds a pond, and in winter, you can't make out a single house through the trees. The family would visit and cook hot dogs and beans over open fires. Otters, beavers, kingfishers, and a couple of eagles also call it home. In the winter of 2013, the family constructed their first yurt a circular, portable tent used by the nomadic people in Central Asia for thousands of years (and now favored by glamping resorts and hippies alike). Crowley's three yurts feature hardwood flooring, a wood stove for warmth, a gas stove for cooking, and furniture Crowley built using wood found on the property. Natural light radiates out from the center. Story continues maine forest yurts; bob crowley Guests pay $125 a night to rent a yurt. The company sells out through summer. "Glamping," or glamorous camping, has caught on in recent years. People who want to enjoy nature without buying camping equipment or getting dirty enjoy the five-star accommodations that glamping provides. At Maine Forest Yurts, accessibility trumps luxury on the list of priorities. The resort welcomes school groups, active military and veterans, and non-profit groups, like the Special Olympics, to stay in yurts for free. It manages to do so through an annual fundraising event called the Durham Warriors Project, where applicants from across the country (including some former "Survivor" contestants) compete in challenges inspired by the show. Their donations fund over 100 guests' stays annually. 13662323_1069928916414581_4278293896542933207_o Crowley loves entertaining guests with stories of his adventures in Gabon as he tours them around the property. But "Survivor" fans make up only about 10% of the guests, he says. Life in rural Maine suits Crowley. But he wouldn't say no if CBS asked him to return to "Survivor" for a later reunion season. "I would hang up this phone and run right out the door," Crowley says. NOW WATCH: What it's like to go 'glamping' for $2,500 a night on top of a luxury hotel in NYC More From Business Insider ABUJA (Reuters) - Suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed six people in an attack on a commercial convoy being escorted by the army in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, the military said on Monday. Boko Haram has killed more than 15,000 people and displaced 2.4 million across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad during a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating a state based on a radical interpretation of Islamic law. Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman said suspected elements of the group who were foraging for food had ambushed troops escorting the commercial vehicles from Damboa to Maiduguri, a journey of around 50 miles (80 km). "Unfortunately, five civilians lost their lives at the incident and another died on the way to the hospital," said Usman. "Three soldiers also sustained injuries." Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the start of last year, but has been pushed out of most of that territory by the Nigerian army, aided by troops from neighbouring countries. The militants have nevertheless continued to carry out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad. On Saturday, Niger said its soldiers and Chadian troops had killed 38 Boko Haram fighters during operations that followed attacks on two border towns in southeastern Niger. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Kevin Liffey) The chef's exclusive menu, based on the Seven Wonders of the World, was presented at a gala dinner at the Hyatt Regency, Delhi. Gary Mehigan crafted a menu based on the Seven Wonders of the World. Picture courtesy: Instagram/hyattregencydelhi By Indo-Asian News Service: Chef Gary Mehigan, well-known all over the world as one of the judges on MasterChef Australia, crafted an exclusive menu based on Seven Wonders of the World for The CEO Series Indian Edition 2016, a high profile lifestyle event that took place here on Sunday. The gala dinner was hosted for the top hundred CEOs of the country at the Hyatt Regency's The Mansion. Gary Mehigan was welcomed to the city with the traditional Indian aarti, tika and garlands. Picture courtesy: Instagram/hyattregencydelhi advertisement Mehigan, along with Ivan Chieregatti, Executive Chef, Hyatt Regency Delhi, curated an exclusive seven-course menu on the theme of Seven Wonders of the World. The Australian celebrity was welcomed at the hotel in pure Indian traditional style with aarti, tikka and garlands. The CEO Series Indian Edition is a gala dinner for the top hundred CEOs of the country. Picture courtesy: Instagram/hyattregencydelhi The venue witnessed the presence of top executives of multinationals, who were treated to a lavish menu ranging from rich soft textured salmon with flavours of ceviche from Peru, butter roasted cauliflower caramalized with spices from India, Brazilian Moqueca crustacean veloute, white chicken cooked in authentic Chinese sauces to Italian Concod'Oro'; Lemon curd and olive oil semi freddo, slow cooked lamb inspired from Middle East flavours and refreshing compressed watermelon from Jordon. The delicious menu crafted by Gary Mehigan was based on the Seven Wonders of the World. Picture courtesy: Instagram/mrinall17 Also read: MasterChef Australia's Matt Sinclair is serving up food the Indian way--without any cutlery Delighted to have Mehigan conceptualise "an innovative and scrumptious menu" for the guests, Aseem Kapoor, General Manager, Hyatt Regency, Delhi, said in a statement: "Such events enable social interactions outside of boardrooms and following our tradition we are dedicated to serving our guests at its best." Watch Gary Mehigan explain why he doesn't want to cook biryani for Indians, here: --- ENDS --- STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's center-left government said strong finances gave it room to boost spending by around 0.6 percent of GDP in 2017 on schools and welfare services struggling to cope with last year's record numbers of asylum seekers. Sweden took in 163,000 people in 2015 and while a U-turn on decades of generous asylum policies is expected to cut that number to around 35,000 this year many public services have yet to catch up. Strong growth has boosted tax revenues and Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said the minority coalition had room to spend on training more teachers and police, building new homes and ensuring recent immigrants find a place in the workforce. "The Swedish economy is very strong," Andersson said. "We have the highest growth in our region, unemployment is falling and the large deficit we inherited when we took power has been basically wiped out." Andersson stuck to a forecast of growth of 3.5 percent this year. The government said it would dole out 10 billion Swedish crowns ($1.17 billion) in the budget to local authorities to cope with asylum seekers. Other measures include an increase in the Migration Agency's budget with more money going to courts as well as investment in scientific research, adult education and measures to fight climate change. New spending totaled 24 billion crowns. Most of the measures were already known. With Andersson forecasting public finances back in the black in 2018, many analysts have called on the government to open the spending taps and take advantage of record low borrowing costs to boost long term growth. A housing shortage has pushed up prices and led to worries of a crash. Sweden's schools have slipped down in international rankings and their test scores are now below the average for advanced nations. Productivity growth is low and many believe the labor market needs to be reformed to give those with lower qualifications - many of them immigrants - a chance to get a job. "The Social Democrats .. do not seem to be able to come up with a coherent diagnosis with what is wrong with society and a big project to put it right," said Nick Aylott, political science professor at Sodertorn University. "They are just administering." ($1 = 8.5697 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Stockholm Newsroom; Writing by Simon Johnson; Editing by Alistair Scrutton) By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - The SWIFT inter-bank messaging network plans to send daily reports to clients to help them more quickly identify unauthorized payment instructions like those used by hackers to steal $81 million from Bangladeshs central bank in February. Trillions of dollars worth of inter-bank payments are made each day using SWIFT messages but the Bangladesh theft and others which have came to light this year have knocked confidence in the supposedly super-secure system. SWIFT said in a statement on Tuesday that from December it would begin sending 'Daily Validation Reports' to clients. These would list the messages sent from the client's SWIFT terminal, thus allowing a bank to spot any payment instructions that it had not intended to send. The report will also contain a risk report aimed at showing whether transfer instructions deviated from the client's typical payment patterns. In the Bangladesh heist and a $12 million theft from a Colombian bank last year, hackers covered their tracks by deleting records of fraudulent SWIFT messages they sent from the banks' terminals. In both cases, it took days for the thefts to be discovered. The new reports will be sent to customers payments and compliance teams through a separate channel to the normal SWIFT terminal, so that even if hackers have gained access to the terminal, the reports will get through. Some former SWIFT staff and clients say the Belgium-based organization, a co-operative controlled by the biggest global banks, have been slow to react to growing security risks in recent years. SWIFT denies it overlooked risks around unauthorized access to client terminals, saying it was up to banks to secure their own facilities. However, in June the co-operative launched a new 'Customer Security Programme' and is in the process of developing new measures to help clients, particularly smaller banks, ensure they are not victims of hacking. (Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Richard Balmforth) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - US President Barack Obama insisted diplomacy is the only way to end the brutal five-year conflict in Syria Tuesday, as a ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow lay in tatters. "There's no ultimate military victory to be won, we're going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence and deliver aid to those in need," Obama told the United Nations. His comments came hours after the Syrian military declared the ceasefire over and 18 UN aid trucks were destroyed as they tried to bring relief to war-ravaged citizens near Aleppo. Syria and Russia denied striking the convoy, with Moscow suggesting it may have caught fire. Obama's Secretary of State John Kerry insisted hopes for a ceasefire remain alive after meeting his Russian counterpart and key powers with a stake in the civil war. In brief remarks to reporters as he left a New York hotel after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group, Kerry said talks would reconvene later this week. "The ceasefire is not dead," Kerry insisted. United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura confirmed that there was still hope of reviving the ceasefire, but admitted that delegates agreed it was in danger. The 23-nation ISSG, chaired by Kerry and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The talks were brief and, participants said, tense. "The mood is that nobody wants to give this thing up," Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told reporters. "Quite frankly the Kerry-Lavrov process is the only show in town and we've got to get that show back on the road." His French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault agreed that the meeting had been tense but argued other countries should now help Moscow and Washington overcome their differences. "It was a fairly dramatic meeting, the mood was gloomy. Is there hope? I can't answer that yet, but we should do everything we can," he said. "The US-Russian negotiation has reached its limit. There's a lot left unsaid. The Russians and the Americans can't do it alone." The ministers are in New York for the week to attend the UN General Assembly and officials said they would try to get together again to talk about Syria. New York (AFP) - Syrian opposition leader Riad Hijab on Tuesday accused world powers of showing "total weakness" in the face of the Syrian regime's renewed attacks and the collapse of a ceasefire. Hijab told reporters that Russian and Syrian planes bombed an aid convoy that was en route to Aleppo to deliver food and other basic supplies to 78,000 civilians. "Regime and Russian planes are responsible for this attack. No one else has aircraft in that area," said Hijab, who is the coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) seeking agreement on a political transition. Hijab said a HNC member who was escorting the convoy had provided him with photographs of the attack that he described as "very precise." Russia and Syria have denied any involvement in the strike on Monday that destroyed 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy. "Through this tragic incident it is the United Nations that is directly hit," Hijab said. "But there are no consequences. It is yet another illustration of the total weakness of the international community," he added. The war in Syria, now in its sixth year with 300,000 dead, is dominating this week's General Assembly debate at the United Nations. The United States and Russia, the regime's ally in the war, earlier chaired a brief meeting of the 23-nation group backing the Syrian peace process, but there was no breakthrough. The opposition leader accused Russia of having an "exclusively military strategy" to end the war and said the international community had failed since the beginning of the conflict to recognize the seriousness of the crisis. SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A non-governmental organization (NGO) in China opened an exhibition in Shanghai this week of paintings by Syrian children to raise awareness about the migrant crisis in the war-torn country. The Chinese Initiative on International Law, an independent NGO, obtained the paintings when its founder Liu Yiqiang and his team researched Syrian refugees in Greece and Turkey. Migration flows are not new, but a wave of more than 1 million migrants last year prompted bitter divisions among European countries over how to share responsibility for them. After a request from a refugee center, Liu's team brought 50 paintings by Syrian children back to China and put 30 of them on display in Shanghai on Monday. "I was shocked when I saw these paintings," Liu said. "The bright colors used in each one of these paintings and the illustration of every side of the war and of their lives can directly bring you into the world of the children who have suffered the war." One of the children painted a giant green dinosaur towering over a child running away from it in fear. At the United Nations General Assembly's Summit for Refugees and Migrants, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that China will provide $100 million of additional humanitarian aid to help solve problems brought about by the mass movement of refugees and migrants. "Shanghai received Jewish refugees during World War Two. Now as an international metropolis, would Shanghai be able to do something for these refugees?" asked Li. But one visitor to the exhibition disagreed. "At this stage ... China itself has many problems in its underdeveloped regions," said Wang Le. "I do not think that China is suitable to receive refugees now." Another visitor Li Yan said she was moved by the art. One of the painters "said that she would grow up into a happy woman," she said. "However, they are living far away and becoming refugees now and don't know that many countries are not willing to accept them." Liu said there will be an charity auction for the paintings in October. Funds raised from the auction will be donated to a special project at the China Children and Teenagers' Fund which aims to educate young people in doing charitable work. The exhibition will be on display until the end of September. (Reporting by Reuters TV; writing by Melissa Fares, editing by G Crosse) GENEVA (Reuters) - At least one Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid worker was killed in an air strike on an aid convoy near Aleppo, along with civilians, but the overall toll may be lower than feared, the Red Cross said on Tuesday. "For now that is all we can confirm, the director of the sub-branch (of SARC Urem al-Kubra) who has been killed," Benoit Carpentier, spokesman of the International Federation of the Red Crescent and Red Cresecent Societies, told a Geneva news briefing. Asked whether at least a dozen SARC volunteers had been killed, he said: "It could be less." At least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were destroyed, as well as a health clinic, he said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Tom Miles) t boone pickens T. Boone Pickens has donated more than $1 billion over his career to medical research, youth programs, entrepreneurs, education, and conservation efforts. But the 88-year-old founder of BP Capital Management doesn't pretend he's someone he's not. Shortly after Pickens spoke at the 2016 Concordia Summit in New York, Business Insider asked him, "What is the number-one thing keeping you up at night?" "Typically it's some idea to make money," he said. "And a lot of them have paid off for me and so many other employees and the various charitable entities I have supported to the tune of more than $1 billion. I'd like to say I wake up thinking about solving global poverty or fighting for world peace. Let others worry about that." In his Concordia talk with moderator Tom Brokaw, Pickens explained that his business and philanthropy approaches are the same: Recognize what you're good at and only do that, hiring talented people to take care of everything you would do at a lower level. "I know my limitations," he told us. NOW WATCH: T. Boone Pickens' strict morning routine will inspire you to plan your days better More From Business Insider Its September, so Ted Cruz is trying to shut down the government again. Every time Congress needs to keep federal agencies operating when the fiscal year ends, Cruzs eyes light up with opportunity. But this time, his quest for high-profile defiance of the Obama administration has turned to an incredibly obscure subject: a planned reorganization of the governance of the internets list of website addresses. This highly technical, back-of-the-newspaper topic doesnt seem like it could ever lead to a controversy. But though Cruz public statements suffer from the usual grandstanding and overstatement, hes hit on something important about the government-created non-profit that manages internet domain names, like .com or .net. Related: US Tech Firms Urge Congress to Allow Internet Domain Changeover That organization is called ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The U.S. government has wanted to get out of the domain name business for decades, creating ICANN in 1998 to outsource day-to-day management. Instead of the government logging all 334 million internet addresses in use around the world, ICANN runs the root servers, and makes sure every address routes to its correct source. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the Commerce Department, has oversight responsibility, but ICANN does the work. At the end of September, the government plans to relinquish regulatory control over ICANN and fully privatize the process, as its chief administrator Lawrence Strickling explained in August. The U.S. would still retain .gov and .mil, but everything else would go to ICANN. None of this should matter to any internet user. Theyll log on Oct. 1 and see the same websites functioning the same way. The only change is that, instead of the U.S. government overseeing ICANN, a group of businesses and technical organizations would. Cruz, however, has described this as a last-ditch battle to protect the internet. Specifically, he warns that Russia, China and Iran could exploit the looser supervision to censor content on the web. With government funding legislation needed by the Sept. 30 deadline and the Senate scheduled to hold a procedural vote Tuesday afternoon, Cruz is trying to insert a rider delaying the ICANN transition and forcing congressional approval for any transfer. With a few high-profile allies like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, he just might succeed. Story continues Related: 20 Things You Didnt Know About Ted Cruz On the surface this crusade seems ridiculous. ICANN maintains that it merely runs the back end of the internet and cannot regulate, censor or block the censorship of online material in any country. Tech companies support the transition, arguing there are safeguards to prevent countries from hijacking ICANNs oversight process. And Russia and China actually want to shift internet governance to a United Nations panel where they would have more influence, suggesting they arent counting on exploiting ICANN. But beneath all of that, there are actual concerns about the way ICANN runs. This obscure organization has enjoyed revenues of nearly $600 million in the last three years, with one of the highest-paid executive teams in the non-profit world. Theyve spent over $400 million on salaries, consulting and lobbying fees and travel expenses over that three-year period, an incredible burn rate. That includes consulting firms run by Condi Rice and Madeleine Albright, $17.8 million annually for its auditor Ernst & Young and another $6 million for external legal advice. Where is all this money coming from? The way it works is that ICANN contracts out the registries for all the top-level domain names to private companies. And these contracts are incredibly lucrative for everyone involved. Related: Blocking Internet Transition a 'Gift to Russia,' Obama Administration Says Take VeriSign, the company that operates the .com, .net, .name, .cc and .tv registries. The .com registry is easily the most lucrative, with roughly 128 million registered names. But though VeriSign, through a mandatory price cap, can only charge $7.85 a year for every .com name, the companys profit margins are astronomical: over 60 percent last year, and on track to be even higher in 2016. As more people buy .com addresses and the expenses that go into managing them drop, this little company selling a regulated product is one of the most profitable in the entire world. As the other entity in the contract, ICANN is supposed to prevent the registries from becoming sources of windfall profits. But it has done little about that, and until recently allowed VeriSign to increase the sales price of a .com address by up to 7 percent in four out of every six years (the company still gets to do that for .net). Competitors to VeriSign claim they could manage the same workload on .com while charging $1.00 per registration, and still make a profit. Meanwhile, ICANN, whose mission statement is to introduce and promote competition in the registration of domain names, inked a contract with VeriSign in 2006 that allows the company to automatically renew it every six years if it meets certain performance metrics. Two years before the next renewal in 2018, ICANN reached agreement with VeriSign on another six-year .com renewal. (The deal has yet to be finalized.) Related: How to Save Money on Your Internet Bill ICANN benefits from a 25-cent kickback on every domain address, along with up-front payment for new domain name contracts. This has created massive revenue for ICANN, as domain names have exploded to over 1,000. The organization just held a public auction for the .web name, seen as one of the few domains that could compete with the dominant .com. A shell company named Nu Dot Com won the bidding for $135 million, three times what has ever been paid for a domain name. It turns out that Nu Dot Com was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of VeriSign. It can now either bury .web or price it so high that it offers no competition for .com. These all seem like things that the chief regulator for ICANN would want to examine. But after Sept. 30, that regulator would be dispersed among multiple stakeholders. The proper dictum here is that if everybody has responsibility, then nobody does. So if the government gives up ICANN oversight, there will be less opportunity to critically scrutinize how ICANN operates, and whether its ripping off the public in mutually beneficial deals with monopolistic corporations. To be clear, NTIA isnt doing a ton of oversight of ICANN right now, so Cruzs claim that we need to preserve the current system doesnt offer much peace of mind. But though Cruz has mainly foregrounded the threat of foreign states censoring internet content, he has been mindful of ICANNs governance problems. He and two congressional colleagues asked the Justice Department for a competition review of the .com contract in August. DoJs response was noncommittal. At least right now, Congress can appeal to somebody. Once ICANN moves away from U.S. government oversight, the authority would be much less clear. And many fear that ICANN could use this opportunity to continue to ramp up unjustifiable revenues. Cruz has created mostly bluster with his giving up control of the internet campaign. But that doesnt make him wrong to question the whole enterprise. This article was updated at 11:55 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20 to correct VeriSign's permitted price increases. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Madrid (AFP) - Spain's indebted telecoms giant Telefonica said Tuesday it hoped to raise up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) from the listing of a stake in subsidiary Telxius, planned for October 3. In a statement, the group said it could float up to 40 percent of Telxius, which manages its infrastructure assets, including over 31,000 kilometres (19,000 miles) of fibre-optic submarine cables and 15,000 telecom towers in Spain. The indicative price range for each share has been set between 12 and 15 euros, "which would put Telxius Telecom's (entire) market capitalisation between 3 and 3.75 billion euros, the company said. Telxius will float on October 3 "in the Spanish stock markets". Telefonica, one of the world's biggest telecoms groups, had a debt pile of 52.57 billion euros at the end of June. As such, it is on the hunt for cash and it is also considering a possible listing of its British unit O2, after the European Commission blocked its sale to Hong Kong group Hutchison Whampoa over fears it would inflict higher prices on consumers. The group reported a net profit of 1.24 billion euros in the first half of 2016 -- a 42.1 percent drop from the same time last year -- due in part to currency fluctuations. The students and teachers argue that Gandhi's reference to black Africans as "kaffir" in some of his early writings reflected his 'racist' mindset. By Press Trust of India: Three months after President Pranab Mukherjee gifted a Gandhi statue of Mahatma Gandhi to the University of Ghana. Some students and academics at the Ghana University are demanding its removal saying he was prejudiced against black people. GANDHI CALLED AFRICANS KAFFIR The students and teachers argue that Gandhi's reference to black Africans as "kaffir" in some of his early writings reflected his 'racist' mindset. The campaign has been led by Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, former director of the Institute of African Studies. advertisement The students and teachers have also launched an online petition, asking authorities to facilitate "the removal of the statue of Gandhi" at the earliest. "How will the historian teach and explain that Gandhi was uncharitable in his attitude towards the black race and see that we're glorifying him by erecting a statue on our campus?" wrote a professor in the petition. The campaigners have been raising slogans like 'Gandhi Must Fall' and 'Gandhi For Come Down'. PAY HEED TO PETITION Ampofo is urging members of the University of Ghana Council to heed her petition, arguing among other things that,Gandhi was racist against black people and honouring him will set a wrong example for students, as per local media in Ghana. But there have been voices which oppose the demand. Ocqauye, a professor of political science and a lawyer, said a decision to demolish the statue might have implications on diplomatic ties between Ghana and India. "It will be most unnecessary, most uncalled for and not in the supreme interest of Ghanaians and we must know what serves our interest best," he said. OPEN LETTER TO NATAL MERCURY The petitioners referred to Gandhi's open letter to "The Natal Mercury" in 1894, saying he called black Africans as "kaffirs," a derogatory term for black people. "A general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir," they quoted Gandhi as saying in the letter. Also Read: SPs Verma slams RSS over Mahatma Gandhi assassination Rahul Gandhi takes U-turn, says did not blame RSS for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination --- ENDS --- The fatal shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher by a Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer last week adds to an already long list of police-related shootings this year, and social media is reflecting people's growing frustration. Jay Z Releases Song About Police Brutality After Philando Castile & Alton Sterling Shootings: Listen Crutcher was killed Friday, and the release of dash-cam and helicopter videos of his death on Monday sparked outrage online. Celebrities were quick to respond and offer their condolences for Crutcher and his family. To all law enforcement around the country, YOUR SILENCE IS SICKENING!!! #TerenceCrutcher was MURDERED!! - King Push (@PUSHA_T) September 20, 2016 And all of you "good policemen/women" are being too quiet... #TerenceCrutcher was murdered!! Do you not agree?? Why so silent? - King Push (@PUSHA_T) September 20, 2016 I JUST SEEN A TERRORIST SURVIVE A SHOOTOUT WITH THE POLICE AFTER BLOWING SOME SHIT UP AND LATER ON THAT DAY A BLACK MAN SHOT DOWN FOR NO REASON AT ALL! "I NEVER BELIEVED IN AMERICA" THE LAND WHERE THEY WILL TAKE YA HOUSE AND PUT YOUR KIDS OUT ON THE STREETS FOR SOME OWED TAX MONEY..... WHERE THEY GIVING OUT 30 YEARS SENTENCES FOR NON VIOLENT CRIMES TO MOSTLY BLACK OFFENDERS " I DONT THINK I WILL EVER VOTE,THAT STUFF NEVER FELT LIKE IT WAS FOR ME OR MY PEOPLE FROM WHERE THEY GIVE POOR PEOPLE MILLION DOLLAR BAILS AND SAY INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!!! FROM WHERE THEY SAY FREEDOM OF SPEECH BUT WILL GIVE YOU A 100 YEARS ABOUT A PHONE CONVERSATION WHERE THE WORLD EQUAL DOSENT EXSIST! THEY JUST TOOK MY FRIEND FREEDOM FOR SMOKING WEED ON PROBATION....... AND THIS COP THAT KILLED THIS MAN/FATHER GOING HOME TO BED TONIGHT????? A photo posted by Meek Mill (@meekmill) on Sep 20, 2016 at 7:10am PDT #TerenceCrutcher not another hashtag -- #BlackLivesMatter - Amber Patrice Riley (@MsAmberPRiley) September 20, 2016 Terrence Crutcher. #tiredofhashtags - Christina Milian (@ChristinaMilian) September 20, 2016 Story continues So tired of seeing these videos. When do the people who pay taxes get protection? #TerenceCrutcher pic.twitter.com/MkVH2F7js5 - Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) September 20, 2016 Praying for the family and loved ones of #TerenceCrutcher. pic.twitter.com/vA5qGxuBqw - Viola Davis (@violadavis) September 20, 2016 #terencecrutcher This requires everyone's outrage. It needs to stop. https://t.co/fYji4fixeA- Rashida Jones (@iamrashidajones) September 20, 2016 #TerenceCrutcher ---- Heart breaking - kerry washington (@kerrywashington) September 20, 2016 so all you you "mad at national anthem kneelers" w verification checks----yall got another 2 cents for #TerenceCruthcher or nah? - Questlove Gomez (@questlove) September 20, 2016 Hands up...DO NOT SHOOT! - Zendaya (@Zendaya) September 20, 2016 .@CNN Priorities. #TerrenceCrutcher pic.twitter.com/c4BMu4N6yO - Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) September 20, 2016 Another unarmed Black man was shot in a police incident. This should be intolerable. We have so much work to do. #TerenceCrutcher -H - Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 20, 2016 Now let all the racists come forth and say that racism doesn't exist. Those who will make a reason for why this man was shot and killed. Fuck you! Can you not see why we shout BLACK LIVES MATTER! Can you not see why Colin Kaepernick says fuck your national anthem?! A bomber, literally a terrorists, shoots it out with the cops and is safely detained yet this unarmed black man is shot down like so many others. If you don't see the problem, you are the problem. #prayformypeople A video posted by treysongz (@treysongz) on Sep 20, 2016 at 2:18am PDT By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of people fled a migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after fire swept through tents and cabins during violence among residents, police said. The fire broke out late on Monday and was put out by midday on Tuesday at the Moria camp which houses the 5,700 migrants on the island. Many people had returned, though children had been transferred to other facilities, police said. No casualties were reported from the fire and its cause was unclear. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, linked the fire to poor living conditions and a sense of insecurity among many of the residents. Refugees and migrants on Lesbos are stranded by a European Union deal with Turkey preventing them going beyond the island until their asylum claims have been processed. Those who do not qualify will be deported to Turkey. Tensions have boiled over at overcrowded camps on Greece's islands as the slow processing of asylum requests adds to frustration over living conditions. Greek media said violence erupted among residents after a rumor that hundreds of people would be deported. Roland Schoenbauer, UNHCR's spokesman in Greece, said people were "sick of waiting" in the camps. "They don't know when their asylum claims will be processed. Some people feel they don't have enough information," he said. Nearly 60 percent of the Moria camp, including tents and metal-roofed cabins, were destroyed by the fire, a police official said. Work was underway to set up new tents, Police Minister Nikos Toskas said. At least nine people were arrested on accusations of damaging property and causing unrest and were expected to appear before a prosecutor, a police official in Athens said. OVERCROWDING The shipping ministry said it was looking to charter a ship to help cover "the immediate and urgent need to host, cater and perhaps transfer refugees-migrants," after the fire and that interested parties should submit their bids by 1830 GMT. To ease growing tensions, Greece has said it plans to build new facilities to transfer migrants from its islands and improve conditions that campaigners have called disgraceful. Panos Navrozidis, Greece director of aid agency International Rescue Committee, said the camp had been operating at over-capacity for months, with people crammed into the facility with limited access to water and in conditions that do not meet humanitarian standards. He criticized the system to process claims as "opaque and inconsistent" and said preferential treatment based on nationality led to tensions within the community. Thousands have applied for asylum and the wait ranges from weeks to months. Just over 500 people have been deported to Turkey since March but none of those who have requested asylum were among those, Greece says. Despite a slowdown in arrivals from Turkey compared to last year, more than 13,500 migrants and refugees are now living on eastern Aegean islands, nearly double a capacity of 7,450. "The situation is difficult," Christiana Kalogirou, prefect of the north Aegean region, told Greek TV. "There is a great need for decongestion of the islands ... in the future things could become much more difficult," she said. Including those on the islands, there are 60,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece, mostly Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who made risky journeys in flimsy inflatable boats. (Additional reporting Renee Maltezou; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., in his Hart Building office. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) SPARTANBURG, S.C. Tim Scott was doodling in my notebook. The Republican U.S. senator and I were having dinner before he and a few staffers were to make the three-hour drive to Charleston, so he could sleep in his own bed that night. But first, Id asked him to explain how his idea to defer capital gains taxes would help struggling communities like the one wed just visited in this city of roughly 40,000 people. He scribbled some numbers and words, while talking about the bill that he and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., introduced in April. If passed into law, it would let anyone defer the capital gains tax on the sale of any asset a business, a piece of land or property if they reinvest the money in an economically distressed area. The idea is to give wealthy individuals and corporations an incentive in the form of reduced tax burdens on investment profits to put money into developing low-income areas. Scotts approach is savvy both in terms of business and in terms of politics. He understands business, having owned an insurance company and been a partner in a real estate company. And having worked with Booker, a Democrat who happens to be the only other African-American member of the U.S. Senate, Scott has inoculated himself against the charge that hes just another Republican cloaking efforts to reduce government in the language of helping people out of poverty. Scott also knows that partnering with Booker on the legislation gives it a better chance to pass. When I mention Sen. Rand Pauls proposal from three years ago for what he called Economic Freedom Zones, Scott dismissed it. I want something that will actually have a shot at passing some day, he said. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters) The Scott and Booker legislation would allow investors to defer capital gains tax for as long as their money was invested in what they would call Opportunity Zones, which would be designated by the states. Investors could pool their contributions. They would owe tax on the original capital gains whenever they took their money out of the Opportunity Zone, but would get a reduction if they kept their money in the zone for at least five years, another reduction if they kept it in for seven years, and wouldnt have to pay tax on additional capital gains if their money stayed put for at least 10 years. Story continues The most likely ways for investors to come into these zones would be to purchase and rehabilitate vacant property and finance new development. Scott said he is still working on the details of the bill, to get it ready for scoring by the Congressional Budget Office. But having started to build a policy foundation that has bipartisan credibility, Scott is now expanding his anti-poverty efforts. On Wednesday, hell help announce a new group of five senators who will call themselves the Senate Opportunity Coalition: Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. They are all Republicans, and thats intentional. We believe strong conservative solutions can help every single American family, the group says in its announcement. This is not something that will be solved with one bill, they say. From taxes to education, infrastructure to agriculture, we are each bringing stories from our own states to help show how wide-reaching our solutions must be. Scott at the 2016 Kemp Forum on Expanding Opportunity in Columbia, S.C. (Photo: Randall Hill/Reuters) There is some tension between the idea that the group will introduce conservative solutions to poverty while working with Democratic lawmakers, which Scott told me is one of its goals. But its intent is in part aspirational. Republicans dont often talk about poverty, and they strategize even less about how to address it. This group, which is Scotts brainchild, aims to change that. Scott says that despite the exclusivity of the group, including only Republicans, this isnt a branding effort. Im not here to make the Republican Party stronger, he says. Im here to make the country stronger. Other members of the Republican group intersect at different places on the continuum of poverty awareness and action. Ernst, a freshman senator like every other member of the group from rural Iowa, speaks of recent realizations about the solutions for food insecurity in her own state. Lankford is promoting community nonprofits. Sullivans anti-poverty efforts are centered on helping a remote Alaskan village get federal approval for a road that will lower their fuel and supply costs. Rubio is seeking to improve the federal Department of Housing and Urban Developments inspection process for low-income subsidized housing. He passed three amendments in May toward that goal. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Scott is the only member of the group, so far, with a piece of standalone legislation aimed at reducing poverty. Hes also the only member of the group who grew up in a single-parent home, in a low-income neighborhood. When Scott visited a group here that is working to revitalize a neighborhood on the north side of downtown Spartanburg, he spoke from firsthand experience about the challenge of living in poverty and having a pit thats in your stomach that just never goes away. Anybody know that feeling, that you just look out toward tomorrow and theres really no reason to be hopeful? Scott asked the group. And you meet someone who helps to change that reality, where tomorrow is not really filled with hope, but its not as dark as it used to be. And then the next day is not completely dark. Its got shades of gray. And then one day you wake up and it wasnt overnight it was as if, through prodding and plodding and moving, one day you just have a different sense of whats possible, not for the community, but whats possible for you. Scott is running for election to the Senate for the second time in two years, unlike most senators. He was appointed to the seat in 2012 to replace Jim DeMint, who retired to run the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scott won the special election in 2014 to serve the last two years of DeMints term, and is running this fall for his first full six-year term, with only token opposition. Politically, the Senate Opportunity Coalition being announced Wednesday seems similar to the effort of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to talk about something other than Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and to present a different face of the Republican Party, even while tepidly supporting Trump. But Scott said his work on fighting poverty predates Donald Trump. Ive been talking about this for three decades, he said. Left to right: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C.; Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., at a rally earlier this year. (Photo: John Bazemore/AP) Scott, who supported Rubios presidential candidacy in the Republican primary, has endorsed Trump, even though he does not agree with everything Trump says and stands for. We dont have the same approach to life, Scott told me. I place a greater emphasis on civility and looking for ways to build a bigger, better success story. I dont shy away from the fact that I think some of the things hes said should not have been said. But at a recent conservative gathering, the Value Voters Summit, Scott went so far in endorsing Trump as to suggest that a vote for the Republican nominee was a vote for hope. He contended that President Obamas policies have produced 12 million more people living in poverty, a 40 percent increase in those eligible for food stamps, a 1 percent economic growth in our nation, more division, disaster and challenges. He even told the audience that they could vote to make America great again. Over dinner, he told me that phrase wasnt in his prepared remarks. I said it, and before I was actually thinking about Donald Trump specifically. Ive heard it so many times, it just popped out of my head, Scott said. It made me laugh. They say that taxation is a sovereign function of the State so the execution of sovereign function should not be given to a private body without having complete government control. By Atir Khan: With more than 60 per cent work completed on Good & Services Tax Network, which is slated to roll out GST in April next year, Indian's top revenue officials have warned putting GST data in the private hands in GSTN could jeopardise the national security and corporate interests. Various corporate bodies have also expressed similar sentiments. WHY THE RED-FLAG? advertisement Sources say top Indian Revenue Service officials have red flagged the possibility of national security data and corporate secrets being compromised in Goods & Services Tax Network. They have given a representation in this regard to the Central Board of Excise and Customs and Department of Revenue. They said that taxation is a sovereign function of the State so the execution of sovereign function should not be given to a private body without having complete government control. A CII official said, "The matter was taken up with the Ministry of Finance, which has assured us there will no breach in data security. The Department of Revenue has given an assurance and said there has been no precedent of data being stolen from Ministry of Finance." WHAT IS GST NETWORK? GSTN is a special utility body started by the government to regulate GST. However in the corporate structure of GSTN, government holds only 49 per cent equity. The remaining 52 per cent is in the hands of private organisations such as HDFC, ICICI, LIC Housing Finance Ltd and others. Though there are talks that government is trying to own the majority stake in the equity. WHAT IS HAPPENING However, in the present scenario the concern is that even private employees working with GSTN will have access to highly confidential government and corporate data including vital statistics of key establishments. They say the data will be concerned with the national security and giving access to the data will also be a violation of the Official Secrets Act. Chairman GSTN Navin Kumar told India Today Group, "An eight-tier security mechanism will be in place. World's best tools and software for data security are being deployed for protection. From day one we are aware GSTN will be an attractive target for disruption since it's a stand-alone system. We have focussed our attention on this aspect. Only authorised persons will have access to the data." OFFICIALS SAY IT'S SAFE GSTN officials say large number of VAT, Service Tax, Income Tax data is being handled by private companies like TCS, Wipro, Infosys. They have kept the data secure. However the counter view is GSTN will be recording all transactions and indirect taxation liabilities of corporate bodies and those associated with the government. For example, it will also have data related to HAL, matters related to taxation in the manufacturing or repair of defence equipment such as Arjun tank, INS Vikrant and Sukhoi. advertisement The contention of the IRS lobby is that a number of private employees will be working in GSTN tomorrow might start working for another private company. They will be privy to the confidential data of all the corporate houses. There have been incidents of date theft in the past in various private organisations. The data thus stolen could be sold and misused. The present system will be conducive for corporate espionage. In spite of confidential clauses, chances of leakages of secrets relating to security, trade and commerce of the country cannot be ruled out. Shravan Kumar Bansal, General Secretary of Indian Revenue Service Officers Association said, "Government has been apprised of this apprehension and they have assured that all loopholes will be plugged. We hail the government as it has reacted positively and assured of remedial measures as we are all working in the interest of the country." When Infosys was contacted for their view, their spokesperson Sarah said, "Since the project is underway we will not comment on the issue." Sources said GSTN will start transferring data of entities already enlisted for VAT, Service Tax by the end of next month. --- ENDS --- advertisement By Phil Stewart ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - The top U.S. general warned on Monday against rushing to judgment after a deadly weekend U.S. air strike that Syria says killed some of its soldiers, as he defended U.S. targeting that his military has used against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. "Maybe before we start going on a path of 'what went wrong, let's do an investigation and actually ensure that something did go wrong," Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a small group of reporters travelling with him. The remarks are the latest to suggest the U.S. military still believes it may have had good reason to think it was striking Islamic State instead of Syrian army forces onSaturday in the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor. The strike triggered a war of words betweenWashington and Moscow and further strained a cessation of hostilities that now appears in tatters. SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad called the strikes a "flagrant aggression." Russia has said more than 60 Syrian soldiers were killed. But Dunford said he would wait for the investigation to be completed to answer basic questions about what U.S. intelligence knew and did not know, noting he wanted to learn things like what kind of uniforms the Syrians were using. Among the targets the U.S. forces hit was a tank, two U.S. officials previously said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Such military equipment would be relatively easy for the United States to identify from surveillance drones or satellite images. Dunford, asked about that possibility, noted that Islamic State fighters had seized tanks in Syria and Iraq in the past. They also have heavy weapons, he said. "It may be that ... when you do the investigation, the facts would tell you that we would have done what we did again," Dunford said, adding he would not have a clear picture without a proper investigation. Dunford noted that even in Syria's messy civil war, U.S. targeting had previously avoided hitting Syrian or Russian forces on the ground. "I'd put this in the context of thousands of strikes ...that we've conducted, with minimal loss of civilian life," he said, adding the U.S. military had a "pretty good process" for targeting. COORDINATION WITH MOSCOW The Syrian military on Monday declared the week-old ceasefire was over, although Washington said it had still not received word from Moscow to that effect. The attempt at a ceasefire, negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, could be the final attempt by U.S. President Barack Obama to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war. If successful, the ceasefire held out the prospect of military cooperation between the United States and Russia against Islamic State, a prospect that had long made the Pentagon deeply uneasy. Dunford, wrapping up four days of talks with European allies, said, however, he believed there was broad consensus among America's partners that military coordination would be beneficial if it helped ease suffering in Syria's war. "They are cautious. This is not a relationship based on trust," Dunford said. At the same time, Dunford stressed that he would not allow any future military cooperation with Moscow to alter U.S. protocols that ensure safeguarding of civilians. "Our job is to develop a construct within which we do mitigate the risk of being involved in any violation of the law of armed conflict or any unnecessary loss of civilian life," he said. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Peter Cooney) LONDON (Reuters) - Yaya Toure will not play for Manchester City again until he apologises to the Premier League club for comments made by his agent, manager Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday. The 33-year-old Ivory Coast midfielder's agent Dimitri Seluk had said Toure felt "humiliated" by Guardiola after being left out of City's Champions League squad. "He must apologise. If he doesn't, he won't play," Guardiola told reporters. "It was difficult to leave him out of the Champions League squad but (the) day after, his (agent) went to the media. (Toure) has not had the courage to call me. From that moment he was out." Toure, four-times African Footballer of the Year, has been a mainstay of City's midfield since joining from Guardiola's Barcelona in 2010. He has only played once this season, in the second leg of a Champions League playoff tie against Steaua Bucharest when City had a 5-0 lead from the first game. Guardiola and Toure also clashed at Barcelona, with the player saying in a 2011 interview with a Spanish radio station that he felt forced out. "He pretty much ignored me until City's offer came in. That's why I eventually opted to leave. I didn't speak to Guardiola for a year," Toure said at the time. "I did not want to go and wanted to end my career at Barcelona. However, he had no faith in me." Guardiola subsequently disputed the player's version of events and said he had tried to convince him to stay. Toure, who has a year left on his City contract but had been tipped to leave after Guardiola joined from Bayern Munich in the close season, had announced earlier on Tuesday his retirement from international football. "Writing this note was probably 'the most difficult match of my life'," he said in a statement on his website (officialyayatoure.com). He said the decision was not to do with his age, the intensity of training or number of games. "Football is everything to me. It gave me so many things in my career that now I don't feel able to set new goals, as a player with the Elephants of the Ivory Coast." Toure scored 19 goals in more than 100 appearances for Ivory Coast and captained his country to their first African Nations Cup win for 23 years in 2015. City play Swansea City in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London and Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond) Republican nominee Donald Trump says hes ready to go toe to toe with Hillary Clinton in the upcoming presidential debates, but believes the moderators of the first two NBCs Lester Holt, ABCs Martha Raddatz and CNNs Anderson Cooper may treat him unfairly. By the way, Lester is a Democrat, Trump told Fox News Bill OReilly on Monday night. Theyre all Democrats. That is not true in Holts case. According to Time magazine, which cited New York voter registration records, the NBC Nightly News host has been registered as a Republican since 2003. Its a phony system, Trump continued. Its a very unfair system. He singled out Cooper specifically. Im not OK with Anderson Cooper, who treats me very unfairly on CNN, Trump said. I think CNN, they call it the Clinton News Network. Both Trump and Clinton agreed to the moderators and formats announced earlier this month by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Holt will moderate the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., on Sept. 26. Cooper and Raddatz will co-moderate the second debate, a town-hall style forum, in St. Louis on Oct. 9. Fox News Chris Wallace will moderate the third and final presidential debate in Las Vegas on Oct. 19. Trump, though, has been preemptively sounding the alarm on a rigged debate system for the past several weeks. Trump talks to Cooper during a town hall event in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 18, 2016. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) After Matt Lauer faced harsh criticism over his performance as host of NBCs Commander in Chief Forum earlier this month, Trump predicted the moderators of the upcoming debates would be harder on him. Everyones saying that [Lauer] was soft on Trump, he said last week on CNBC. Well, now the new persons going to try to be really hard on Trump just to show, you know, the establishment what [they] can do. So I think its very unfair what theyre doing. What would be fair, then? I think we should have a debate with no moderators, Trump said. Just Hillary and I sitting there talking. Story continues In his interview with OReilly, the brash real estate mogul revealed little in the way of his debate strategy, saying hes unsure if hell unleash personal attacks on Clinton. I have absolutely no idea, Trump said. If Hillary Clinton treats me with respect, I will treat her with respect. She can bait me, I can bait her, and well see what happens, he continued. I can talk about her deleting emails after she gets a subpoena from Congress. I can talk about her record, which is a disaster so well go back and forth. Shes got a lot of baggage, Ill tell you what. Shes been there a long time, and we need change in this country. OReilly asked Trump if he planned to bring up the Clintons marital history and President Bill Clintons sex scandal during the debates. I dont think Im looking to do that, Bill, Trump replied. I dont know what Im going to do exactly. New York (AFP) - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton met Egypt's president in New York on Monday as the two US presidential candidates tried to bolster their diplomatic credentials at the United Nations. Democratic standard-bearer Clinton said last week that she would meet Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along with leaders from Japan and Ukraine on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. She spent more than an hour locked in private discussions with the Egyptian leader, with aides later saying they had discussed issues ranging from counter-terrorism to human rights. Trump's meeting with Sisi -- the first time the Republican presidential candidate has met a leader from the Muslim world -- appeared to be a response to his opponent's program. The former reality TV star, who has previously called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, spoke with Sisi at New York's La Guardia airport, after flying in from Florida. Trump told Sisi -- who has been much-criticised by rights groups for his intolerance of dissent -- that "under a Trump administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on." Trump has called for "extreme vetting" of refugees entering the United States along with a ban on people from "terrorist nations." But he also told Sisi about "his high regard for peace-loving Muslims," according to a statement released by his campaign. In an interview with Fox television earlier on Monday, Trump alluded to the impending visit, saying that meetings with other foreign leaders were also on his agenda. "I don't want to comment specifically on who but a couple of people are coming over. I've already met with a couple," he said. As well as a sit-down with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Clinton also met Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, stressing that the US would help Kiev "in the face of Russian aggression" -- a dig at Trump, who has repeatedly praised President Vladimir Putin. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump already has a contentious relationship with Kiev, irking the Ukrainian public and government officials with his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-friendly views on the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine. Now, invited to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trumps campaign didnt even bother to send Kiev an RSVP. A spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidential administration told Foreign Policy they reached out to both Trump and his Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to meet with Poroshenko. According to the official, only Clinton said yes, sitting down with the president on Monday. The Trump campaign did not give a clear answer. Trumps campaign did not provide comment about the so-far snub by the time of publication. But according to the candidates public schedule, hes already jetted to North Carolina and has plans to be in Ohio and Pennsylvania the rest of the week, not in New York, where the U.N. meeting ends on Sept. 26, the day of the first presidential debate. Clinton met Monday with Poroshenko and they discussed the importance of continued sanctions imposed on Moscow after Russias invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014. According to a release from Poroshenkos office, he thanked Clinton for her continued support of Ukraine in the ongoing conflict, and the leaders agreed that solidarity with Ukraine is important in resisting the Russian aggression. Trump, on the other hand, has appeared at times to invite Russias bellicose behavior towards Kiev. The New York businessman, whose hotel overshadows Turtle Bay and the world leaders gathered there this week, has raised plenty of eyebrows and alarm around the world with his controversial or incendiary foreign policy pronouncements, but nowhere more so than in Ukraine. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News in late July, Trump said that Putin is not going into Ukraine, despite widespread proof that Russian troops moved into the Crimean peninsula and eastern Ukraine two years earlier. When Stephanopoulos challenged Trump, the GOP candidate responded by saying, OK, well, hes there in a certain way, but Im not there yet, before adding that that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama. Story continues The comments drew widespread criticism in the United States and Trump later took to Twitter to clarify his confusing remarks, tweeting that he meant Putin would not go into Ukraine again if he were president. But the comments had already drawn ire in Kiev, with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk calling Trumps statement a breach of moral and civilized principles. Ukrainian ambassador to Washington Valeriy Chaly told FP at the time that Trumps comments raised fears in Kiev that if elected he would change U.S. policy towards the country by cooperating more closely with Moscow and open a Pandoras box of bigger instability in the world. In late February 2014, shortly after the ouster of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Moscow deployed troops without insignia into Crimea and later annexed the peninsula in March 2014. The Kremlin also sent troops into eastern Ukraine to fight alongside pro-Russian separatists as fighting began in April 2014. Despite repeated denials from the Kremlin, the presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory has been confirmed multiple times and been widely tracked through Russian soldiers accounts on social media networks. Trump has routinely praised Putin throughout the 2016 election cycle, complimenting the Russian president as a strong leader who is doing a better job than Obama. The GOP nominee has also incorrectly said throughout his campaign, most recently at NBCs Commander-in-Chief forum, that Putin called him a brilliant leader and a genius. In fact, the Russian presidents comments from December 2015 have been widely mistranslated, with Putin even clarifying that he called Trump a colorful person. The Russian leader, however, has voiced support for Trumps calls to rebuild ties between Moscow and Washington. Trumps aides intervened in the drafting of the Republican Party platform this summer and successfully lobbied to replace language on providing lethal aid to Ukraine with appropriate assistance, a move widely seen as an overture to Moscow. Poroshenko has a long-standing request with the Obama administration for lethal assistance that so far has not been granted. At other points in his presidential campaign, Trump has suggested he wont step in if Russia invades a NATO ally whom by treaty the U.S. is obligated to defend unless theyve ponied up to his satisfaction. He also said he might pull the U.S. military out of the security alliance altogether, statements that Eastern European allies say have already encouraged a resurgent Moscow to push back even harder to restore its lost empire. Photo Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images FORT MYERS, Fla. Donald Trump slapped back at Hillary Clintons suggestion earlier in the day Monday that terrorists have seized on his rhetoric as a recruiting tool for attacks on the United States. Trump called her a weak and ineffective politician who talks tougher about his supporters than she does the Islamic State terror group. Speaking at a rally here just hours after police detained the lead suspect in weekend bombings in New Jersey and New York that authorities have described as terrorism, the Republican presidential nominee pointed the finger back to Clinton and President Obama. Trump repeated his charge that it was their handling of the terrorist threat overseas that is largely responsible for the rise of ISIS. She very much caused this problem. Her weakness, her ineffectiveness, Trump said, citing Clinton tenure as Obamas secretary of state and the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Libya and Syria. Her attacks on me all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monster of evil on us and all over the world. At a Monday morning press conference, Clinton criticized Trumps hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric, which includes a call for a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the U.S. and extreme vetting of others from unidentified risky countries. She said Trumps inflammatory words have been seized on by terrorists, in particular, ISIS. They are looking to make this into a war against Islam, rather than a war against jihadists, violent terrorists, Clinton said. The kinds of rhetoric and language Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries. In response, Trump blasted Clintons remarks at his afternoon rally in Florida, accusing her and the Obama administration of turning a blind eye to the threat of ISIS until it was too late. Weakness invites aggression and silence in the face of a brutal enemy. It allows it to spread and thats whats happening all over the world, Trump told supporters here. Her claim that my opposition to radical Islamic terrorism [is] a recruiting tool. It demonstrates a level of ignorance about the terror threat and its motivations. Story continues Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Estero, Fla. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Linking this weekends bombings to previous attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., and Orlando, Fla., Trump revived an old line of criticism against Clinton, suggesting her refusal to use the words radical Islam in describing the threat facing the country makes her unfit to lead the country. Hillary Clinton talks tougher about my supporters than she does Islamic terrorists, Trump declared, referring back to Clintons claim at a fundraiser earlier this month that half of the GOP nominees supporters fit into a basket of deplorables. Clinton partially walked back the remark. She calls patriotic Americans who support our campaign deplorable and irredeemable, and she means it, millions of people. Has she ever talked that way about radical Islam? No, he said. At the same time, Trump used the bombings to reiterate his call for a tougher immigration system, including his proposal to vet the ideology and worldview of those seeking to enter the United States. He suggested tougher border controls might have prevented the attacks, even though the suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan, had immigrated when he was 7 years old. The bombings and attempted bombings last weekend had no fatalities. A dumpster explosion rocked a Manhattan intersection and injured 29 people. An unexploded pressure-cooker device was found nearby. In New Jersey, an explosion occurred before a delayed charity race took off, and explosives were removed from a train station. Authorities said two officers were injured in a gunfight with the suspect Monday morning before he was arrested. Calling Rahami an evil thug, Trump went on a long rant about the suspected bomber, suggesting he should be treated as a foreign enemy combatant and not a typical defendant who has the right to due process. We will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room, Trump said, referring to injuries Rahami suffered during the shootout with police. Hell probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is. Trump suggested that Rahami would get an outstanding lawyer and predicted his case would wind through the various court systems for years. In the end, people will forget, and his punishment will not be what it once would have been. What a sad situation, the GOP nominee declared, calling for a speedy trial and very harsh punishment for these people. These are enemies, Trump added. These are combatants, and we have to be tough and we have to be strong. _____ Related slideshows: Slideshow: Ahmad Khan Rahami, suspect in New York City and New Jersey explosions, is captured >>> Slideshow: Explosive devices found in Elizabeth, New Jersey >>> Slideshow: Substantial police presence in NYC following Chelsea explosion >>> Slideshow: Pipe bomb explodes at Jersey shore >>> Slideshow: Explosion in New York Citys Chelsea neighborhood >>> After falling flat in Mexico, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has tried his hand again at that whole statesman thing, this time meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. And once again, he was dogged by critics although, to be fair, so was his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton for her own meeting with the Egyptian strongman, on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. Trump had flowery words for Cairo: Under a Trump administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead, according to a six-paragraph readout of the Monday night meeting, provided by his campaign. Sisi, a retired general, has been accused of increasingly authoritarian rule and crackdown on political opposition since his election in 2014, after the military he led overthrew President Mohamed Morsi. Morsi headed the countrys Muslim Brotherhood movement and became Egypts first democratically elected leader following the 2011 revolution. A small group of foreign policy experts, including Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution and Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations, urged both Clinton and Trump against meeting with Sisi, according to Politico. Both ignored the request. Trumps last dance on the world stage the impromptu visit last month to Mexico for a meeting with President Enrique Pena Nieto resulted in a Twitter spat over which leader said what about the GOP nominees infamous proposed wall. In turn, that prompted public opinion polls to plummet even further for an already unpopular Nieto, and the resignation of top Mexican officials. Earlier Monday, Trump seized on the arrest of an Afghan-born U.S. citizen who is suspected of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey to repeat his plans to halt immigration from predominantly Muslim and Mideast nations. But within hours, he spoke to Sisi of his high regard for peace-loving Muslims. Story continues Trump understands that every day there are people of goodwill that sacrifice their lives and fortunes to combat the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorism, the campaign readout said. Hes also already planning invites for future White House state visits and foreign trips aboard Air Force One. Mr. Trump said that if he were fortunate enough to win the election in November, he would invite President el-Sisi on an official visit to the United States, the readout said, and would be honored to visit Egypt and the Egyptian people who he has a great fondness for. Photo credit: DOMINICK REUTER / Stringer As Trump supporters at a rally in Florida shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. By AP: Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists on Monday, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps groups such as ISIS recruit new fighters. Trump showed no sign of changing and insisted the U.S. should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. "TERRORISTS USE TRUMP'S COMMENTS TO RECRUIT FIGHTERS" advertisement As Trump supporters at a packed rally in Florida shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks - bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall - casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point." "I'm the only candidate in this race who's been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield," Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. "I know how to do this." The possibility of a home-grown terrorist plot cast a new shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates' attention from the daily controversies of the campaign and giving them a high-profile opportunity to make their case to undecided voters. CLINTON'S EXPERIENCE A KEY POINT FOR HER CANDIDACY Clinton and her team see her experience and what they say is her steady judgment as key selling points for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama at that moment. But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close U.S. borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid. On Monday, he called for tougher policing, including profiling foreigners who look like they could have connections to terrorism or certain Middle Eastern nations. "This isn't just a matter of terrorism, this is also really a question of quality of life," he said. "We want to make sure we're only admitting people into our country who love our country." advertisement Also read: Donald Trump does it again! Hints at Hillary Clinton's assassination How pastor interrupted Donald Trump's attack on Hillary Clinton Pointing to her Monday morning comment that Trump's words give "aid and comfort" to Islamic extremists, his campaign said Clinton was accusing him of treason, going beyond the bounds of acceptable campaigning and trying to change the subject from her own failures. She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with ISIS, are rooting for Trump to win the White House. She said, "We're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them, but we're not going to go after an entire religion." Trump agreed terrorists have a preference: They "want her so badly to be our president." Clinton briefly turned her focus from national security on Monday, wooing younger voters at a midday rally in Philadelphia. At Temple University, she acknowledged she needs to do more to get millennials on board. "Even if you are totally opposed to Donald Trump, you may still have some questions about me. I get that. And I want to do my best to answer those questions," she told several hundred students gathered in an ornate, wood-paneled lecture hall. advertisement This election marks the first presidential campaign where millennials make up the single largest generation among U.S. adults, having surpassed baby boomers during the past four years. The group helped anchor Obama's support, but Clinton has failed to attract them in the same numbers. She met with the leaders of Egypt, Ukraine and Japan late in the day in New York City, where they gathered for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Trump has tried to appear more statesmanlike as the November election approaches. Still, he suggested it's fine if some world leaders feel uneasy about him. "Well, maybe that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Right now the world has no respect for our country, they have no respect for our president, whatsoever," he said in an interview on Fox News. New York officials said Monday the bombings in a Manhattan neighborhood and a New Jersey shore town were looking increasingly like acts of terrorism with a foreign connection. Authorities were also investigating the stabbings of nine people at a Minnesota mall as a possible act of terrorism. --- ENDS --- advertisement By Amy Tennery NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The maker of Skittles candies on Tuesday objected to a social media post by Donald Trump Jr. in which the Republican presidential hopeful's son compared admitting Syrian refugees to the United States to eating poisoned pieces of the brightly colored, fruit-flavored treats. Candidate Donald Trump has opposed letting Syrian refugees enter, while his Democratic rival in the Nov. 8 election, Hillary Clinton, has supported accepting some of those fleeing the war-torn country. In a post on Twitter on Monday accompanied by an image of the candy, Donald Trump Jr. wrote, "If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." A spokeswoman for Skittles maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co said the company did not feel Trump's analogy was appropriate. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," said spokeswoman Michelle Green, adding that the company would refrain from further comment, "as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." U.S. admission of Syrian refugees has long been a politically sensitive issue, although the country has admitted far fewer than many close allies. Trump has said that violent militants could enter the country posing as refugees. In 2015, Democratic President Barack Obama announced plans to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, sparking fierce criticism, mostly from Republicans who said the plan could put Americans at risk. His administration announced in August that it would meet that goal. The younger Trump's tweet drew return fire from the Clinton campaign and many Twitter users. "Thankful my grandfather was allowed into this country and not compared to a poisonous skittle," Josh Schwerin, a national spokesman for Clinton, posted on Monday. Twitter user Neal Rogers on Tuesday, tweeted, "I'd rather die eating a handful of Skittles than live a single day with @realDonaldTrump as president." Story continues But Trump adviser Jack Kingston, a former U.S. congressman from Georgia, defended the tweet in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday. "What he was doing was making an illustration. I don't think he was comparing refugees to candy at all," he said, saying some percentage of refugees are going to be "bad actors" without giving specific details. "What we need to do is say: We're going to be humanitarian ... but the reality is we need to make sure, as much as possible, who's coming into America and what are their views on America?" Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The hashtag #SkittlesWelcome was trending on Twitter in the United States, as social media users flooded the microblogging site with jokes mocking the tweet. (Reporting by Amy Tennery; additional reporting by Emily Flitter and Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis) (Adds Pence comment) By Amy Tennery NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The maker of Skittles candies on Tuesday objected to a social media post by Donald Trump Jr. in which the Republican presidential hopeful's son compared admitting Syrian refugees to the United States to eating poisoned pieces of the brightly colored, fruit-flavored treats. Candidate Donald Trump has opposed letting Syrian refugees enter, while his Democratic rival in the Nov. 8 election, Hillary Clinton, has supported accepting some of those fleeing the war-torn country. In a post on Twitter on Monday accompanied by an image of the candy, Donald Trump Jr. wrote, "If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." A spokeswoman for Skittles maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co said the company did not feel Trump's analogy was appropriate. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," said spokeswoman Michelle Green, adding that the Mars Inc subsidiary would refrain from further comment, "as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." U.S. admission of Syrian refugees has long been a politically sensitive issue, although the country has admitted far fewer than many close allies. Trump has said violent militants could enter the country posing as refugees. In 2015, Democratic President Barack Obama announced plans to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, sparking fierce criticism, mostly from Republicans who said the plan could put Americans at risk. His administration announced in August that it would meet that goal. The younger Trump's tweet drew return fire from the Clinton campaign and many Twitter users. "Thankful my grandfather was allowed into this country and not compared to a poisonous skittle," Josh Schwerin, a Clinton spokesman, posted on Monday. Twitter user Neal Rogers on Tuesday, tweeted, "I'd rather die eating a handful of Skittles than live a single day with @realDonaldTrump as president." Story continues Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, hit back at the Skittles criticism in an NBC News interview. "It is remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by (Donald Trump Jr.) when Hillary Clinton's calling for a 550 percent increase in the Syrian refugee program," Pence said. A year ago, Clinton said she supported the admission of 65,000 Syrian refugees. The former U.S. secretary of state has not updated that figure in recent months but says all refugees should be vetted. The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Pence's remarks. Trump adviser Jack Kingston, a former U.S. congressman from Georgia, also defended the tweet in an interview with MSNBC. "What he was doing was making an illustration. I don't think he was comparing refugees to candy at all," he said. The hashtag #SkittlesWelcome was trending on Twitter in the United States, as social media users mocked the tweet. (Reporting by Amy Tennery; additional reporting by Emily Flitter and Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis) By Amy Tennery NEW YORK (Reuters) - The maker of Skittles candies on Tuesday objected to a social media post by Donald Trump Jr. in which the Republican presidential hopeful's son compared admitting Syrian refugees to the United States to eating poisoned pieces of the brightly colored, fruit-flavored treats. Candidate Donald Trump has opposed letting Syrian refugees enter, while his Democratic rival in the Nov. 8 election, Hillary Clinton, has supported accepting some of those fleeing the war-torn country. In a post on Twitter on Monday accompanied by an image of the candy, Donald Trump Jr. wrote, If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? Thats our Syrian refugee problem." A spokeswoman for Skittles maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co said the company did not feel Trump's analogy was appropriate. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," said spokeswoman Michelle Green, adding that the Mars Inc [MARSIW.UL] subsidiary would refrain from further comment, "as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." U.S. admission of Syrian refugees has long been a politically sensitive issue, although the country has admitted far fewer than many close allies. Trump has said violent militants could enter the country posing as refugees. In 2015, Democratic President Barack Obama announced plans to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, sparking fierce criticism, mostly from Republicans who said the plan could put Americans at risk. His administration announced in August that it would meet that goal. The younger Trump's tweet drew return fire from the Clinton campaign and many Twitter users. "Thankful my grandfather was allowed into this country and not compared to a poisonous skittle," Josh Schwerin, a Clinton spokesman, posted on Monday. Twitter user Neal Rogers on Tuesday, tweeted, "I'd rather die eating a handful of Skittles than live a single day with @realDonaldTrump as president." Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, hit back at the Skittles criticism in an NBC News interview. "It is remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by (Donald Trump Jr.) when Hillary Clinton's calling for a 550 percent increase in the Syrian refugee program," Pence said. A year ago, Clinton said she supported the admission of 65,000 Syrian refugees. The former U.S. secretary of state has not updated that figure in recent months but says all refugees should be vetted. The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Pence's remarks. Trump adviser Jack Kingston, a former U.S. congressman from Georgia, also defended the tweet in an interview with MSNBC. "What he was doing was making an illustration. I don't think he was comparing refugees to candy at all," he said. The hashtag #SkittlesWelcome was trending on Twitter in the United States, as social media users mocked the tweet. (Reporting by Amy Tennery; additional reporting by Emily Flitter and Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis) New York (AFP) - Donald Trump's hardline stance on immigration after two bombings in the New York area again sparked debate on the White House campaign trail, as his son caused a firestorm by comparing Syrian refugees to lethal candies. The Republican presidential hopeful's uncompromising position on undocumented migrants -- even calling them a dangerous "Trojan horse" who enter the country with the aim of doing harm -- is inextricably linked to his meteoric political rise. Most Republicans approve of his tough talk, with polls showing that a majority of party members agreed with his call last December to bar Muslims from entering the United States. Since then, Trump has refrained from specifically targeting Muslims, but he has championed police profiling of suspects and promised to bar immigrants and travellers from certain countries deemed dangerous, such as Syria. The candidate has repeatedly warned of the risks posed by Syrian refugees, citing the arrival in Europe of Islamic State operatives disguised as simple refugees, and says US immigration officials are not properly screening new arrivals. "We want to make sure we are all only admitting people in our country who love our country," he said Tuesday in a speech at High Point University in North Carolina. "It's just a plain fact that our current immigration system makes no real attempt to determine the views of the people entering our country. We have no idea who they are, what they think," he said. Trump also denounced the "open borders" that he said his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton advocated as secretary of state, blaming her for the rise of the Islamic State group. "All these disasters with ISIS happened on Hillary Clinton's watch, happened with her, her bad judgment, her bad decision-making," he said. "Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monstrous evil upon us." Story continues Immigration is not one of the major issues on the minds of voters, ranking fourth according to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, making it unclear if Trump, 70, can use it to persuade those who are still undecided. But national security and the anti-terror fight are number two on that list, and with less than 50 days to go before Election Day on November 8, Trump is attempting to blur the lines between the two issues. - Syrians and Skittles - Trump's son Donald Jr, one of his surrogates on the campaign trail, has meanwhile courted controversy with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of multi-colored Skittles candy -- some of them lethal, but not to the naked eye. "This image says it all," he said on Twitter, with a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular sweets. Written above the image is: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful? That's our Syria refugee problem." Trump Jr thus argued that it is too dangerous to welcome migrants when a tiny number of them could later launch attacks. The man accused of planting bombs in downtown Manhattan and near a race in New Jersey over the weekend is a naturalized American of Afghan descent. At his rallies, Trump Sr has repeatedly recited the lyrics to a 1960s song, "The Snake," which recounts how a woman who aided an injured snake ended up being bitten, and he used the Trojan Horse imagery to warn of hidden dangers. "We cannot let this evil continue. Cannot do it," he said Monday. "Nor can we let the hateful ideology of radical Islam, its oppression of women, gays, children and non-believers, be allowed to reside or spread within our country." Wrigley, the maker of Skittles, on Tuesday criticized Trump Jr's tweet. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," a company statement said. Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who had no public events scheduled on Tuesday a week after taking a break from campaigning to recover from pneumonia, backs President Barack Obama's position on immigration. Obama has increased the number of Syrian refugees granted entry to the United States in the face of the brutal five-year war in their homeland. On Tuesday, Clinton used a call with a group of advisors on national security issues to emphasize the need for "experienced, steady leadership" to defeat extremist groups like IS. "Calm, not panic. Resolve, not fear," she said in remarks released by her campaign. "We can't lose our cool and start ranting and waving our arms. We shouldn't toss around extreme proposals that won't be effective and lose sight of who we are. That's what the terrorists are aiming for," she said. Meanwhile, former president George H.W. Bush plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, the niece of president John F. Kennedy wrote in a Facebook posting. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" read the caption of a picture Kathleen Kennedy Townsend posted on Facebook, as she shook the 92 year-old ex-president's hand. Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump's eldest son triggered an online storm with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl containing an assortment of tainted and untainted candies. "This image says it all," Donald Trump Jr, 38, wrote Monday, in a tweet showing a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular, rainbow-colored Skittles candies. Written above the image is: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syria refugee problem." The Twitter post -- showing the familiar "Trump-Pence 2016" logo with the presidential campaign slogan "Make America Great Again!" -- was met with immediate scorn from users of the popular micro-blogging site. "I'm not even big on Skittles but now I will buy up every single packet," wrote @SarahSahim. "Is Donald Trump's new campaign slogan "Fear The Rainbow"? wrote Twitter user @AngrySalmond. Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has sparked waves of criticism with comments on race, immigrants and refugees, including calling for a ban on Muslim travelers to the United States. Equally controversial was his pronouncement last year that many Mexican immigrants were drug smugglers and rapists. The brash businessman also is strongly opposed to plans by President Barack Obama to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States by the end of this month. Syria is in the grip of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, amid an exodus of more than 4.8 million fleeing the war-torn country. The United States, which has a long tradition of taking in refugees, has been criticized for its slow response to the Syrian crisis. .@realDonaldTrump slams dishonest CNN for editing out Clinton reference to NYC explosion as bombing pic.twitter.com/EG2Yy63B4y FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) September 19, 2016 If Donald Trump truly is an Internet comments section running for President of the United States, then the Republican nominee acted the part Monday morning when he boasted about being the first person to call Saturday nights then-mysterious explosion in New York City a bomb. In other words, the White House hopeful used a phone interview on Fox & Friends to exclaim First! while discussing his previous comments made in Colorado Springs. At the time, Trump had only just learned about the incident in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood. I was criticized for calling it correctly, said Trump. What I said was exactly correct. I should be a newcaster because I called it before the news. The Fox & Friends co-hosts laughed along with the presidential candidates suggestion, which hinged on his claim that Democratic rival Hillary Clinton disliked his use of the word bomb. Clinton never actually ridiculed Trump for using the word preemptively, though she did emphasize, Its always wiser to wait until you have information before making conclusions. However, several media outlets did take issue with Trumps offhand remarks in Colorado, prompting Monday mornings rant against the disgusting and disgraceful CNN and countless others: Hillary Clinton used the word bombs shortly thereafter and nobody said anything about it. And somebody said some of them edit that word out. They took it out. Hey, folks, its a rigged system. Whether or not Trump and Clinton were right or wrong to blame the incident on a bomb, the former spent the latter half of the weekend chatting it up in a politicized manner. While his initial remarks remained suggestive (Nobody knows exactly whats going on, but boy, we are living in a time), Trump doubled down Monday morning on Fox & Friends. In doing so, he referenced his controversial concerns with President Obamas policies regarding ISIS and Syrian refugees and paved the way for laying plenty of political blame on others: Our countrys been weak. Were letting people in by the thousands and tens of thousands. Ive been saying you gotta stop it. Just last week Obama said more than 100,000 people are going to come in from Syria. Hes letting more people in. Hillary Clinton wants to increase what hes let in They dont know, they cant be properly vetted. This isnt the first time during the campaign that Trump has tried to claim responsibility for something with regards to an act of violence. After the Orlando nightclub shooting in June, the Republican nominee tweeted, Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I dont want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart! after news of the shooters telephoned pledge to ISIS broke. Check out Fox News perpetual correspondent Donald Trumps latest report below. .@realDonaldTrump: We might see more terror strikes around the country; our leaders are stupid pic.twitter.com/l1ilg5URPL FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) September 19, 2016 (Via Politico) New York (AFP) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump used funds from his charitable foundation to pay settlements in legal cases involving his businesses, an apparent violation of laws governing non-profits, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The cases involved a combined $258,000 paid out by the Donald J. Trump Foundation -- a charity almost entirely funded with other people's money, the newspaper said -- and follow a review of legal documents and the foundation's tax records. The newspaper carried out a weekslong investigation into the charity's finances, finding that Trump himself has not contributed a dollar since 2009. The group is funded by donations from third parties instead. One of the group's suspect payments was a $100,000 donation to a veterans' charity in 2007 as part of a legal settlement with the city of Palm Beach, Florida. Trump had sued the city after it fined him $120,000, or $1,250 per day, for erecting an 80-foot (24-meter) flagpole at his Mar-a-Lago Club that exceeded the maximum 42 feet permitted by local regulations. The Trump Foundation also made transactions that appeared to be exclusively for the benefit of the real estate mogul or his businesses, apparently in violation of regulations governing charities, the Washington Post said. In one case, the charity paid $20,000 in 2007 for a six-foot portrait of Trump, the newspaper reported. "Clearly the Trump Foundation is as much a charitable organization as Trump University is an institute of higher education," said Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the campaign of Trump's White House rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton. "Once again, Trump has proven himself a fraud who believes the rules don't apply to him," she said in a statement. "It's past time for him to release his tax returns to show whether his tax issues extend to his own personal finances." Some Democrats have complained that the media has not sufficiently reported about the Trump Foundation's suspected wrongdoing, accusing journalists of being lenient in their treatment of the outspoken billionaire. Story continues News outlets have also been criticized for being more keen to cover a tweet by Trump's son comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of colorful Skittles candy. "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful?" he wrote. "That's our Syria refugee problem." "If you are covering Skittles-gate instead Trump's illegal use of his foundation, you are probably in journalism for the wrong reasons," tweeted Dan Pfeiffer, a former top advisor to President Barack Obama. Trump's campaign did not respond to a request for comment. donald trump jr Donald Trump's campaign on Tuesday responded to outrage over a tweet Trump's son posted comparing Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles. In a Monday tweet, Donald Trump Jr. railed against the US immigration system, contending it had been stunted by political correctness. He compared supposed terrorists hidden among Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles in a candy bowl. After critics slammed the tweet for mischaracterizing the refugee vetting process, senior communications adviser Jason Miller brushed off criticism, calling Trump Jr. "a tremendous asset to the campaign." "America has become less safe under Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Clinton's planned 550% increase in Syrian refugees is a dangerous proposal that will put American lives at risk," Miller said. He added: "Speaking the truth might upset those who would rather be politically correct than safe, but the American people want a change, and only Donald Trump will do what's needed to protect us." Other Trump campaign higher-ups also on Tuesday defended Trump Jr.'s comments. Speaking with MSNBC, Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, cited FBI Director James Comey's claim that it's not always easy to run thorough background checks on every refugee, though Comey has noted that federal agencies have gotten far better at vetting refugees. "It is remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by Don Jr. when Hillary Clinton is calling for a 550% increase in the Syrian refugee program," Pence said. "All the while our FBI and public safety officials tell us we can't know for sure who those people are coming into this country." Many immigration advocates have argued that the US's refugee acceptance program is one of the most difficult ways for a terrorist to enter the US. Refugees from areas with terrorist activity are required to undergo a lengthy vetting process that includes a background check and interviews. Story continues "It is extremely unlikely that someone who is a terrorist will be sent through the refugee resettlement program," Greg Chen, the director of advocacy at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Business Insider last year. "It takes a great deal of time, and it wouldn't make sense for someone who is a terrorist for someone to go through that process. There are going to be easier ways for a terrorist to try to infiltrate, rather than going through the refugee-resettlement program." NOW WATCH: Watch Donald Trump attempt to explain why he thinks Hillary Clinton is a bigot More From Business Insider India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh are likely to boycott SAARC summit to be held in Pakistan in November. By India Today Web Desk: India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are likely to boycott the upcoming SAARC summit to be held in November in Pakistan. The neighbouring countries may boycott the global summit in protest against state sponsored terrorism. All three nations have been victims of Pakistan sponsored terrorism. The three countries will unite to hold a victim of State Sponsored of Terror Conference. advertisement The three countries will reportedly take lead to create global awareness about Pakistan sponsored terrorism. Sources said the three countries will work towards isolating terror in the region. The move is likely to built pressure on the world to come clean on support to state sponsors of terror. Also read: Uri terror attack: PM Modi, top ministers discuss India's action plan against Pakistan India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will also be producing evidence supporting their claim of Pakistan state sponsored terror. The nations will also share the evidence on public platform globally with world leaders. After the attack on Army base in Uri of Jammu and Kashmir, top sources in the government told India Today that diplomatic talks with Pakistan are likely to be off the table. There may not be any dossier diplomacy. Sources also said PM Modi has given his nod to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping in the wake of the Uri attack. Militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had stormed an army base, killing 17 jawans. Also read: Uri attack: India to declare Pakistan state sponsor of terror, may launch punitive strikes --- ENDS --- DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish armed forces shelled a Kurdish militant target in northern Iraq on Tuesday and killed four rebels, military sources said. The Turkish army regularly conducts cross-border air operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq's mountainous north, where the rebels are based. The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984. The sources said unmanned aerial vehicles determined the shelling also wounded a fifth PKK fighter and destroyed weapon depots in an area across from Turkey's Sirnak province, which borders the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi Kurdish authorities, as well as central government officials in Baghdad, have slammed Turkey for such cross-border activities against the PKK in the past, saying it violates the country's territorial sovereignty. (Writing by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by David Dolan) By Stephen Adler and Parisa Hafezi NEW YORK (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and that his activities should be banned around the world. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in Turkey's failed coup in July and Washington has said it will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence, much to the Turkish government's frustration. Erdogan said Washington had "no excuse" for keeping Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who Turkish officials say has built up a network of followers over decades inside the armed forces and civil service to take over Turkey. "If the U.S. is our strategic ally and our NATO partner ... then they should not let a terrorist like Gulen run his organization," Erdogan said, in an interview on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Erdogan said an initial three months state of emergency, declared in the wake of the coup, could be extended if necessary. Critics say extending the state of emergency will give Erdogan a freer hand to limit or suspend freedoms, to bypass the parliament as well as taking swift measures against his opponents. "It can be extended for three months or one month or even more ... Gulen's people have infiltrated everywhere ... we will continue to identify and arrest the plotters ... extending the state of emergency will help this process," Erdogan said. Authorities have cracked down on schools, media and businesses run by Gulen since the July coup. Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 100,000 soldiers, police and civil servants since the failed coup on suspicion of links to Gulen's network. At least 40,000 have been detained. Some of Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups have accused Erdogan of using the putsch and the purge that has followed to suppress any opposition. Turkey has accused the EU of double standards in criticizing the crackdown while showing hesitation in condemning the coup that killed about 240 people. Erdogan said the EU had failed to meet its obligations despite Turkey's decades-long efforts to join the trading bloc. "Turkey has kept its promises regarding the EU membership process ... it is a two-way street and the EU should fulfill its promises ... We have not concluded this process ... we want the EU to be honest about this process," he said. Turkey's ties with the United States also are strained over Washington's support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers a terrorist group. The YPG has been among the most effective partners on the ground in the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State militias. SYRIA WITHOUT ASSAD Turkey is worried that advances by Syrian Kurdish fighters will embolden Kurdish militants in its southeast, where it has been fighting an insurgency for three decades led by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). "Daesh (Islamic State militants) and YPG ... are the main source of threat," he said. Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria on early September, saying it was aimed at driving out Islamic State militants (IS). The Euphrates Shield operation initially targeted IS militias, but most of the focus since has been on checking the advance of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters. "We have been patient... We have not deplored all of our troops to Syria ... with the moderate opposition Jerablus was freed," he said, adding that Turkey supported plans to drive IS out of its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. "But Turkey will not act unilaterally to liberate Raqqa. We will get involved in actions taken by the (U.S.-led) coalition forces," he said. Erdogan said no lasting peace could be achieved in Syria without removal of President Bashar al-Assad from power. Turkey is one of the main supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, and hosts around 2.7 million Syrian refugees. "The future of Syria should be determined by its own people ... Why this killer (Assad) is being backed by some states?," Erdogan said. "Assad cannot be part of any transitional period ... the world should find a solution that does not involve Assad ... Syria's territorial integrity should be respected by other countries." Assad is supported by Russia, Iran and Arab Shi'ite militias, while Sunni rebels seeking to unseat him are backed by Turkey and Gulf Arab states. (Editing by Bill Rigby and Michael Perry) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday demanded international action against the US-exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom he accuses of orchestrating an aborted coup d'etat against him. "I would like to call on all our friends to take the necessary measures against the Fethullah Terrorist Organization in their own countries for the future of their own people and their well-being," he told the UN General Assembly, referring to Gulen's movement. Gulen, who fled Turkey for Pennsylvania and has been active in religious dialogue and charity, strongly denies Erdogan's charges that he organized the July military coup attempt, which quickly collapsed. Erdogan, who has sought to purge Turkey's schools and military of Gulen followers as he solidifies control, told the United Nations that the movement was present in 170 countries, posing a "national security threat" to all of them. "This terrorist organization is in a deep mental heresy of subduing the whole world, far beyond Turkey," he said. "It is evident from our experience that if you do not fight against FETO now, tomorrow may be too late," he said, referring to the group by an acronym. Erdogan has pressed the United States to extradite Gulen. US Vice President Joe Biden said on a visit to Turkey last month that legal experts and courts would need to review evidence against the preacher. The Turkish leader also lashed out at the European Union over implementation of a deal in March that calls for Turkey to step up efforts to stem the flow of migrants, mostly from Syria, who have fled for Europe. In turn, Europe promised three billion euros in aid, visa-free travel to Turks and faster talks on the country's longstanding goal of joining the European Union. "Unfortunately, we have not received significant support from other countries, especially the European Union, that had promised us to contribute in this regard," said Erdogan, who said Turkey had spent a total of $25 billion, half of it in camps, to care for the nearly three million Syrians on its soil. Story continues Promises by the European Union "have been nearly forgotten and artificial excuses are raised all the time," Erdogan said. The European Union voiced particular alarm when Turkey spoke of reinstituting the death penalty -- banned in the 28-member bloc -- for coup perpetrators. Erdogan is a major proponent of toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He said Turkey's military offensive launched last month has "propped up the self-confidence of the moderate Syrian opposition." The operation aims to create a buffer zone between Turkey and Syria. Erdogan regretted that Turkey "could not get the necessary support" earlier to meet the goal. The United States, while allied with Turkey, has put an emphasis on eliminating the Islamic State group rather than on the removal of Assad. By Parisa Hafezi UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on world leaders at the United Nations to take measures against a U.S.-based cleric's "terrorist network" that he said threatened their security. "I am calling, from this podium, to all our friends, to swiftly take the necessary measures against the Gulenist terrorist organization for their own safety and the future of their nations," Erdogan said. "It is evident from our experience that if you do not fight the Gulen network at this stage, it may be too late later." Turkish authorities have accused Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating Turkey's failed coup in July. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied involvement in the coup attempt. Accusing Gulen of building up over decades a network of followers inside the armed forces and civil service to take over Turkey, authorities have asked the United States to extradite or detain the cleric. Gulen denies these charges. In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Erdogan said the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like Gulen and said his activities around the world should be banned. Calling for an immediate political solution to resolve the crisis in Syria, Erdogan said: "Turkey's incursion into northern Syria in early September had led to establishing peace, balance and stability in a region taken over by hopelessness". He added: "We cannot lose more time to realize the political resolution process and end the root of the problem, which is the fighting in Syria, terror and atmosphere of cruelty." Turkey's incursion into Syria came after it had called in vain for several years for world powers to help create a "safe zone" along the Syrian border, with the aim of clearing out Islamic State and Kurdish fighters and of stemming a wave of migration that has caused tension with Europe. Turkey has said it has no plans to stay in Syria. "We respect Syria's territorial integrity," Erdogan said. The president also accused the European Union of not keeping its promises over Turkey's decades-long efforts to join the trading bloc. (Reporting and writing by Parisa Hafezi; Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by Howard Goller and Bill Rigby) Costa Ricas Turrialba volcano erupted multiple times on September 19, throwing a plume of ash and gas up to 4,000 meters into the air and grounding flights. Ash fell on the landscape below prompting local authorities to issue a warning for people to limit their exposure and to avoid breathing in the dust. The eruptions had a tremendous impact on tourism and farming, a local politician and former government minister, Marco Vinicio Ruiz Gutierrez, said. He called for support from the government. Credit: Facebook/OVSICORI-UNA The opening credits to Versailles are scored by a track off of M83s Hurry Up, Were Dreaming, a 2011 synth-pop album. Outro, the track in question, is a electronic, dreamy song that isnt quite rock but isnt quite pop, either. The song presents an ultra-contemporary aesthetic to the viewer, as synthesizers from the 80s combine with swelling chords that recall church music to create a kind of modern-day hymn. Its an interesting choice for Versailles, a period drama set in 1667 at the fabled grand palace outside Paris. Louis XIV of France, known as the Sun King, transformed a royal hunting lodge into the seat of power and along the way reinforced his own dynastys power and Frances cultural dominance. For the modern audience, Louis XIV is a fascinating and alien figure. He became king when he was just four years old, and ruled for 72 years serene in the confidence that he was divinely ordained to be the ruler of France. A deeply religious man who was both a war hawk and a womanizer, he operated under a set of personal beliefs that dont have many analogues in the present day. This is where the music comes in. Versailles which has already aired in France, the U.K., and Canada attempts to marry modern sensibilities with historical fact, bringing to life the secret histories of the king, his brother the duke of Orleans, his Spanish queen, and his many, many mistresses. In other words, its trying to be a historical document as seen through an Instagram filter more trendy than accurate. When the series begins, Louis (George Blagden) is just 28 years old, waiting for his wife Maria-Theresa (Elisa Lasowski) to give birth, and missing his recently deceased mother, Anne (Dominique Blanc), with whom he shared a particularly close relationship. In a dream, Louis sees a vision of what Versailles could be, and upon waking, he decides to make his dream a reality forcing his wife to give birth at the hunting lodge, instead of returning to Paris, and making the rest of the court camp out there with him. Story continues That is about as much of a plot as Versailles has. More than a specific story, Versailles feels like 10 episodes of pretty scene-setting in a historic fantasyland. The series does so much necessary introducing and explaining that very little actually happens until a few episodes in. Even then, the action is secondary to the creation of a certain seductive atmosphere the theme park version of historical storytelling. The emphasis is less on making history come alive and more on making history feel just like every other soap opera. Theres a fair bit of sex and torture, and a lot of Louis strolling around in leggings and high heels, as was the fashion. But the series lacks a raison detre; the episodes meander through scenery without building the hour-long blocs into narratives. And with so many Frenchmen with long tresses coming in and out of the frame to talk 17th century military strategy, its difficult to keep everyones names and faces straight. What is more interesting is how Versailles chooses to interpret the major relationships and rumors that defined the early years of Louis reign. The French court was full of gossip, meaning that Versailles has plenty of ridiculous stories to choose from. A subplot about Maria-Theresas newborn child, born at the end of the first episode, ends up engaging with Bourbon Frances take on race, stitching together the Queens pet dwarf and a visiting African prince with the story of Louise Marie-Therese, the black nun of Moret. Its an illustration of an oft-overlooked element of European history which is that the world was racially diverse, even in 1667 one that finds ways to intertwine fantasy, rumor, and fact into a portrait of the neglected and much-cheated-on Spanish Queen. And the primary relationship of the series is Louis close relationship with his brother Philippe (Alexander Vlahos), a functionally bisexual but preferentially gay man whose effeminacy was encouraged, when he was growing up, so that he would not be a threat to his brother the king. As a result, Philippe is both accepted and dismissed, angry and relieved. It would be very easy for Philippe to become a kind of caricatured homosexual villain, but hes written and played with more nuance. Unfortunately, that nuance comes at the expense of his wife, Henriette (Noemie Schmidt). In the first episode, Philippe forces his wife to have sex with him, mostly to express his anger that Henriette has been carrying on a long affair with his brother. That Philippe is then steadily redeemed, as a character, is more than a little troubling. While the complexity granted him is fascinating, the corresponding flatness accorded the kings plaything, Henriette, is incredibly frustrating. It is frequently lovely to behold. The real Versailles is of course gorgeous, and the series renders the palace through expensive sets and substantial on-location filming. But like the plot, the prettiness is a little superficial; this is more the CWs Reign than Starzs Outlander. Its actually quite funny; the show about the French monarchs first aired in France on Canal+, but is entirely in English; Versailles showrunners, Simon Mirren and David Wolstencroft, are Brits. Which is to say that for all of its flourishes towards history, Versailles is a fantasy a music video using a certain period of history as a theme. M83s Outro has just a few lines of lyrics, including Im the king of my own land Now and forever, Im your king. A pretty sentiment, but theres not much subtlety there. Related stories TV News Roundup: 'Code Black' Casting Shuffle Promotes One and Loses Two MipTV: Netflix Acquires Canal Plus' Hit Period Series 'Versailles' (EXCLUSIVE) MipTV: Ovation TV Picks Up U.S. Rights to Canal Plus' 'Versailles' (EXCLUSIVE) Coatzacoalcos (Mexico) (AFP) - Two priests were found dead in eastern Mexico hours after they were kidnapped from their church, raising the number of Catholic clergymen killed in the country to 14 since 2012. The priests were abducted by gunmen on Sunday from the church in Poza Rica, in the crime-plagued state of Veracruz, said Father Jose Alberto Guerrero, a local spokesman for the bishops' conference in Teziutlan, Puebla state, where the victims were based. "They took the two priests by force as well as a sacristan," Guerrero told AFP. The sacristan managed to escape but the priests were found with bullet wounds in the municipality of Papantla on Monday, close to where they were kidnapped, the spokesman said. The Mexican Episcopal Conference expressed its "pain and outrage over the violence" against the priests in the world's second biggest Roman Catholic country after Brazil. "We hope the authorities will clear up these incidents and apply justice against those responsible," the conference said in statement. The Veracruz prosecutor's office issued a statement saying it had launched an investigation after two people were found dead on Monday in Papantla, a day after they were kidnapped in Poza Rica. It did not reveal their identity but the statement's description of the deaths coincide with the church's information. The Catholic Multimedia Center, which monitors attacks against clergymen, said the deaths mean that 14 priests, one seminarian and one sacristan have been killed since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December 2012. Two other priests remain missing. Oil-rich Veracruz has been the scene of bloody turf wars between the Zetas and Jalisco New Generation drug cartels. DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Tuesday by an explosion during the construction of a wall along the Syrian border, near where the military is conducting an operation against Islamic State and Kurdish fighters, military sources said. They said the blast, in the Turkish district of Karkamis, was caused by either a landmine or an improvised explosive device. Earlier security sources and Turkish media had said the soldiers died during the "Euphrates Shield" operation, itself in northern Syria. The security sources said the soldiers were wounded in the blast and then transported to a hospital in the Turkish city of Gaziantep where they later died. The Euphrates Shield operation initially targeted IS militias, but most of the focus since has been on checking the advance of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan) The journalist works with new channel NDTV from the US and was asked to leave the press conference. By India Today Web Desk: An Indian TV journalist was today forced to leave a press conference addressed by Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Namrata Brar, who reports for news channel NDTV from the US, was told by somebody during the briefing at New York's Hotel Roosevelt, "Iss Indian ko nikaalo (remove this Indian)." advertisement Told "Indian ko nikalo" at #Pakistan press con #UNGA #UriAttacks. Not surprised, we would probably do the same... Namrata Brar (@namratabrar) September 20, 2016 INDIAN JOURNALISTS BARRED No Indian journalist was allowed to cover the briefing by the Pakistani administration in the backdrop of tension over the Uri attack last week in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistan-based terrorists. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is also in New York for the UNGA meeting, also evaded a question on the Uri attack by another Indian journalist working for the news agency ANI. Also read: Nawaz Sharif to highlight Kashmir issue at UNGA speech India has decided to isolate Pakistan on the global stage, calling the country a sponsor of terror even as Sharif rakes up the Kashmir issue at the UN. --- ENDS --- NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's fifth nuclear test, the White House said. China and the United States are also targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party cadre, that the Obama administration thinks has a role in assisting North Korea's nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. U.N. diplomats say the two countries have started discussions on a possible U.N. sanctions resolution in response to the nuclear test earlier this month, but Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against North Korea. Obama met Li on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. "Both leaders condemned North Koreas September 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea," a White House statement said. China is isolated North Korea's most important diplomatic backer and its biggest trading partner. It has been angered by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and signed on to increasingly tough U.N. sanctions, but it has said it believes such steps are not the ultimate answer and called for a return to talks with North Korea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart last week China opposes "unhelpful" unilateral sanctions on North Korea but will work within the United Nations to formulate a response. Washington has pressed Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea. The United States has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if the country commits to get rid of its nuclear weapons, which Pyongyang has refused to do. HONGXIANG PROBE The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing as early as this week to announce legal action against Chinese firms suspected of providing financial assistance to Pyongyang, the Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the matter. It said DoJ prosecutors visited Beijing twice last month to make their Chinese counterparts aware of alleged criminal activities being committed by Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial. A social media post last week from the police in Liaoning, the northeastern border province of China, said they were investigating the firm's alleged long-term involvement in "serious economic crimes" and that relevant suspects were cooperating. A report by Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul and C4ADS in Washington says it identified more than $500 million in trade from January 2011 to September 2015 between the North and the Liaoning Hongxiang Group, which states on its website that it trades heavily with the North. The figure includes more than $360 million in imports from North Korea by one group company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., an industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler. While no judgment is being made on the final use of these funds, trade at this volume is of particular note. By one estimate, this amount would have been almost enough to both fund North Koreas uranium enrichment facilities, and to design, make and test its nuclear weapons, the report said. Certain assets related to the company, its founder and top executive Ma Xiaohong, and some of her relatives and associates, have been frozen by Chinese authorities in recent weeks, according to government and corporate filings cited by the Journal. The Asan report said its trading of goods that could qualify as potential military and nuclear dual-use products under U.S. export restrictions were of particular concern. The companies identified have had dealings with sanctioned North Korean entities, the report said. Chang Yong-seok, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University, said this case was symbolic and could have real practical impact. "This was the U.S. taking China into consideration and working with China. More such cases may follow if the U.S. or South Korea have firm evidence ... Chinese companies that have capacity for producing or securing goods for North Korea may be worried now, he said. China's Foreign Ministry said relevant departments were investigating Liaoning Hongxiang Group and were following the provisions of U.N. resolution 2270, which imposed tighter sanctions on North Korea in March in response to its fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range missile a month later. Representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice and Hongxiang Industrial were unavailable for comment. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group is also heavily involved in North Korea-related shipping, with Ma and other people associated with the group owning and operating a combined fleet of 10 ships that regularly sail between the North and China. Ma, who served on Liaoning's People's Congress before resigning at the weekend, is described by Chinese media as the most successful businessperson in Dandong involved in cross-border trade with North Korea. Government records say Ma's investment in Hongxiang was frozen on Sept. 2. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, David Brunnstrom, Michelle Nichols and Arshad Mohammed; Additional reporting by Sue-Lin Wong in BEIJING and Ju-min Park and Jack Kim in SEOUL; Editing by Bill Rigby and Will Waterman) By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. judge overseeing litigation accusing 16 banks of rigging prices in the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market on Tuesday narrowed but refused to dismiss lawsuits against Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and five other large banks that have yet to settle. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan dismissed antitrust claims against the seven remaining banks arising out of some transactions executed outside the United States, and claims based on transactions conducted before Dec. 1, 2007. She also dismissed claims under the Commodity Exchange Act for false reporting, and based on transactions conducted on foreign exchanges. Schofield said the remaining claims survived. The complaint "plausibly pleads both that artificial prices existed on FX exchanges," causing investors to pay more, "and that this artificiality was caused by defendants' actions," Schofield wrote in a 56-page decision. Investors accused Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered Bank of conspiring to manipulate key foreign currency benchmark rates including the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates, or the Fix. Traders were accused of using chat rooms with names such as "The Cartel," "The Bandits' Club" and "The Mafia" to communicate, and manipulating prices through such tactics as "front running," "banging the close" and "painting the screen." RBC had no immediate comment. The other banks declined to comment. A lawyer for the investors had no immediate comment, saying he was still reviewing the decision. Last December, Schofield granted preliminary approval to more than $2 billion of settlements with nine other banks over related claims. These banks included Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS. The case is In re: Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-07789. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Alan Crosby) By Suzanne Barlyn Sept 20 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co customers aiming to sue the bank over bogus accounts opened in their names may be in for an unpleasant surprise: the fine print requires them to take their claims to an arbitrator instead of a court. Mandatory arbitration rules inserted into account-opening agreements prohibit customers from joining class actions or suing the third-largest U.S. bank in court. Instead, the agreements require individual, closed-door arbitration. U.S. senators highlighted the issue on Tuesday as they grilled Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf during a hearing. Asked if he would set aside the mandatory arbitration agreements for customers affected by the phantom accounts, Stumpf demurred. "I'm not an expert in that," he said, adding he would talk to his legal team. That was not enough for some lawmakers. "If we had class action on this in 2010, 2009, 2008, the problem never would have gotten so out of hand," Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said later, when questioning regulators about the practice. Class actions can be more affordable for unhappy customers, especially those with limited resources, because they can band together to sue, rather than having to hire lawyers individually. Consumers also complain that target companies often choose the arbitrators; proceedings are confidential; and decisions are hard to appeal. Three Wells Fargo customers filed a lawsuit Friday in a Utah federal court, seeking class action status on behalf of hundreds of thousands of customers nationwide they say were harmed by the San Francisco-based bank's fraud and recklessness. It was unclear whether they could get around the mandatory arbitration clauses, though. Last year, Wells successfully invoked the clauses to defend against a class action suit tied to bogus accounts. In that case, the judge said customers had to arbitrate because of agreements they signed when opening legitimate accounts at the bank. Story continues The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a brainchild of Warren, was part of the regulatory group that negotiated a $190 million settlement from Wells Fargo over the bogus accounts. The bureau is considering rules to ban banks, credit card issuers and other companies from forcing customers to submit to arbitration and waive their right to join class action lawsuits. Under the proposal, companies could still use arbitration, but would have to tell consumers they could join class action lawsuits instead. Mandating arbitration when signing up for financial products has become standard practice after a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision validated the practice. Still, the tide may be turning, said Joseph Peiffer, a New Orleans lawyer who has represented investors and others in class action lawsuits. "Class actions dissuade companies from ripping people off a thousand dollars here and a thousand dollars there," Peiffer said. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn. Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert and Dena Aubin; Editing by David Gregorio) By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers expressed concern on Tuesday over a wave of mergers among companies that sell farmers their seeds, herbicides and insecticides, worrying that the deals could lead to higher prices and less innovation at a time of dropping farm incomes. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said the proposed mergers of Dow and DuPont, Bayer and Monsanto and Syngenta and ChemChina had potential consequences which were "troubling, in fact alarming." Executives at the five companies defended their mergers at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee but Blumenthal was one of several senators who were unconvinced. "The stakes are very high here. I am worried about consolidation in this area of our economy and other areas as well," said Blumenthal, pressing executives from Bayer and Monsanto to acknowledge that their herbicides Liberty and Roundup, respectively, were competitors. "They are competitors, yes," said Bayer President and CEO Jim Blome, who noted that the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup was generic. He said this meant merging the two companies would not reduce competition. The merger spree began in December, when chemical titans DuPont and Dow Chemical Co agreed to an all-stock merger valued at $130 billion at the time, a first step toward breaking up into three separate businesses. Next was ChemChina's $43 billion takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta in February. That deal won approval from a U.S. national security panel in August. In September, two of the three big fertilizer companies, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc and Agrium Inc said they would merge and German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer clinched a $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto. Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley, committee chair and a farmer, was one of several lawmakers who worried the deals would slow the rate of improvement in seeds and pest control for farmers. Story continues "I'm concerned that further consolidation will diminish critical research and development initiatives which drive innovation," he said. The five companies sought to allay that concern and reassure lawmakers that they would keep licensing new types of seeds to smaller companies. "Especially in agriculture, innovation is a requirement not a choice," responded James Collins, an executive vice president at DuPont. "This transaction will increase competition in seeds and traits," he said, noting that DuPont's strength is in seeds and Dow's in agricultural chemicals. "We will be a more effective competitor." Asked about cross-licensing of new seeds, Bayer's Blome said Bayer had "no plans to discontinue that." (Additional reporting by PJ Huffstutter; Editing by David Gregorio) By David Shepardson WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The Obama administration said Monday it was considering seeking the power to review and approve technology for self-driving cars before they hit the road and said U.S. states should not set individual rules regulating fully self-driving vehicles. The U.S. Transportation Department, in its most comprehensive statement yet on autonomous cars, also urged automakers in new voluntary guidelines to sign and submit to certify a safety assessment that their highly automated vehicles were ready for public roads. Automakers and technology companies are racing to develop vehicles that can drive themselves at least part of the time, and have complained that state and federal safety rules impede the process. The guidelines call for federal oversight of ethical issues such as which of two obstacles a self-driving car should be programmed to hit when a collision cannot be avoided. Fifteen factors outlined include ways to ensure that the technology works properly, data recording and sharing, a vehicle's ability to survive a crash and how it would behave after a crash. The government currently allows automakers to self-certify that vehicles comply with safety standards. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on a conference call with reporters that a new premarket approval system overseen by the government would "would require a lot more upfront discussion, dialogue and staffing on our part." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating Tesla Motors Inc's Autopilot system since June because of a May 7 fatal crash in Florida in which the system was in use. The Autopilot system, which allows drivers to keep their hands off the wheels for extended periods, did not require any preapproval by NHTSA for use by owners. On another issue, the administration's guidance sides with Alphabet Inc's Google unit by calling for the federal government, not states, to set the rules governing vehicles driven by computers. Story continues Google criticized California last year when the state proposed draft rules requiring steering wheels and a licensed driver in all self-driving cars. A person briefed on the guidelines prior to their release on Tuesday said they urge states not to require the presence of a licensed driver in the driver seat when a highly automated vehicle is in operation. The person requested anonymity because the guidelines had not yet been made public. "When a human being is operating that vehicle, the conventional rules of state law would apply," Foxx told reporters on a conference call on Monday. The goal is to "avoid a patchwork of state laws," he added. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement on Monday that it would not comment until it saw the guidelines, but said it planned to release revised draft regulations in the coming weeks. The state of Michigan, in contrast, is moving to adopt legislation to no longer require a licensed driver in a self-driving car while testing on public roads. Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing major automakers, said in a statement that the government's goal should be to "avoid policies that become outdated and inadvertently limit progress in reducing the number of crashes and saving lives." (Reporting by David Shepardson) By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said Monday it was considering seeking the power to review and approve technology for self-driving cars before they hit the road and said U.S. states should not set separate rules. The U.S. Transportation Department, in its most comprehensive statement yet on autonomous vehicles, also issued voluntary guidelines and urged automakers to certify that their highly automated vehicles were ready for public roads. "If a self-driving car isn't safe, we have the authority to pull it off the road. We won't hesitate to protect the American public's safety," President Barack Obama wrote in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed published Monday. "We have to get it right." Automakers and technology companies are racing to develop vehicles that can drive themselves at least part of the time. They have complained that state and federal safety rules impede the process. Obama wrote the administration is asking automakers "to sign a 15-point safety checklist showing not just the government, but every interested American, how theyre doing it." The guidelines include testing, backup systems in the case of a self-driving computer failure, and recording and sharing data. Companies would also have to demonstrate how vehicles would comply with all traffic laws and fare in traffic crashes and how they would perform after a crash. The government currently allows automakers to self-certify that vehicles comply with safety standards. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on a conference call with reporters that a new premarket approval system overseen by the government would "would require a lot more upfront discussion, dialogue and staffing on our part." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating Tesla Motors Inc's Autopilot system since June because of a May 7 fatal crash in Florida in which the system was in use. The Autopilot system, which allows drivers to keep their hands off the wheels for extended periods, did not require any pre-approval by the agency for use by owners. On another issue, the administration's guidance sides with Alphabet Inc's Google unit by calling for the federal government, not states, to set the rules governing vehicles driven by computers. Google criticized California last year when the state proposed draft rules requiring steering wheels and a licensed driver in all self-driving cars. A person briefed on the guidelines prior to their release on Tuesday said they urge states not to require the presence of a licensed driver in the driver seat when a highly automated vehicle is in operation. The person requested anonymity because the guidelines had not yet been made public. "When a human being is operating that vehicle, the conventional rules of state law would apply," Foxx told reporters on a conference call on Monday. The goal is to "avoid a patchwork of state laws," he added. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement on Monday that it would not comment until it saw the guidelines, but said it planned to release revised draft regulations in the coming weeks. The state of Michigan, in contrast, is moving to adopt legislation to no longer require a licensed driver in a self-driving car while testing on public roads. The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, whose members include Google, Ford Motor Co and ride-hailing service Uber, said in a statement they hoped policymakers could develop a framework that avoids a "patchwork of requirements that could inhibit self-driving vehicle development." Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing major automakers, said in a statement that the government's goal should be to "avoid policies that become outdated and inadvertently limit progress in reducing the number of crashes and saving lives." (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang and David Gregorio) By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. investigators looking into the alleged torture and murder of government opponents in Burundi have drawn up a list of suspects who should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, they said on Tuesday. The U.N. has verified 564 executions in the central African nation since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza sparked protests by saying he would seek a third term, the investigators said, calling that "clearly a conservative estimate". The government called the report, by the U.N. Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB), biased and politically motivated and denied all its allegations. The investigators said they had received evidence of rapes, disappearances, mass arrests as well as torture and murder, and that there were probably many thousands of victims. "UNIIB found that the large majority of victims have been identified as people who were opposed or perceived to be opposed to the third mandate of President Nkurunziza or of members of opposition parties," it said, adding: "There are worrying signs of a personality cult being built around the president." The list of suspects will be handed to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and be available in the event of any prosecutions. "The charges of the UNIIB investigators are politically motivated and based on anonymous, unverified testimonies," the president's media advisor, Willy Nyamitwe, tweeted. The government has sent the U.N. rights commissioner a 40-page rebuttal, he added. UNIIB said a former senior army officer told investigators of the existence of lists of people to be eliminated. Witnesses named 12 senior members of the security forces - who report directly to the heart of government - responsible for disappearances. Some of the people who said they had been tortured reported being held in secret jails including at the homes of the president and a government minister. "DEPLORABLE" The government denied the existence of such death-lists and said the accusations came from "those who want to sow division and the panic within the defense and security corps." "It is deplorable that the experts believed such gratuitous and diversionist assertions," it said. According to the UNIIB report, the bodies of some people who were summarily executed were transported across the Ruzizi river and buried in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It listed 17 types of torture used by the security forces, ranging from attaching weights to the testicles to forcing a victim to sit on broken glass or to stay next to the dead body of a relative. Many women fleeing the country were subjected to sexual violence by the members of the youth wing of the ruling party, Imbonerakure, border guards and unidentified men. Women opposed to the president's third term were also subjected to extreme sexual violence, the report said. Satellite imagery suggested the existence of mass graves, but the government did not respond an offer to investigate the sites, it said. Burundi has set up three commissions of inquiry to look into human rights allegations, but the report accused the government of "blatantly failing" to investigate. (Additional reporting by Clement Manirabarusha in Bujumbura; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States could alleviate growing stockpiles of nuclear waste at U.S. power plants by allowing private companies to dispose of it and foster support for new nuclear projects, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said on Tuesday. The U.S. government spent billions of dollars on the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada that was supposed to store nuclear waste permanently underground, but politicians from the state, including top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, opposed the project, leading to its cancellation in 2010. The waste is now mostly held at power plants in dry cask storage or in spent fuel pools, said Moniz, a nuclear physicist who has run the department since 2013. The United States could start transferring that waste to interim sites, potentially including government and private disposal sites, in the middle of the next decade until a permanent solution is developed. "We would like to have the authority for publicly owned and operated (storage) facilities. We are also very much interested in the possibility of pursuing private storage," Moniz said in an interview about the nuclear issues the next administration will face after President Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received an application earlier this year from Waste Control Specialists, part of Valhi Inc to store waste at a site in Texas. More companies may also apply. "Potentially that could go faster," if the private sector took on the challenge, Moniz said of the mid-2020s' timeframe for moving waste into interim storage. Nuclear power supplies 60 percent of the country's virtually carbon-free electricity and is an important part of Obama's plan to fight climate change. But even some of his fellow Democrats have reservations about moving ahead with nuclear, which faces competition from natural gas, until the waste problem is solved. Senator Diane Feinstein told Moniz at a congressional hearing last week she would not support new nuclear power projects unless the issue is dealt with. Moniz said if companies take over storage, Congress will still need to act. One thing the next administration will have to work on with Congress is making sure that money from the nuclear waste fund, set up in 1983 to help pay for Yucca Mountain, would be available to pay companies for the storage. MOX PLANT Another thorny issue on nuclear waste has been an agreement with Russia to convert plutonium left over from the Cold War to nuclear plant fuel. Under the deal struck in 2000, each country is expected to convert 34 tons of the material into fuel pellets. The federal government has spent about $5 billion on a plant in South Carolina and associated facilities that would convert the material into MOX, or mixed-oxide pellets for reactors. But cost estimates for the project have soared, and now Moniz says the MOX method would cost up to $50 billion over 50 years. He wants the country to consider simply diluting the plutonium with inert materials and disposing the mix deep underground, such has been done for other nuclear materials in New Mexico. But Russia would have to sign off on the idea, an action Moniz is optimistic about in part because Moscow has already changed its side of the original deal. Russia now wants to dispose of the fuel in a so-called fast reactor, a technology the United States does not have. Moniz has brought up the idea of underground disposal to his counterparts in Russia as a "heads up," he said. "What Russia has said is if Congress acts to say that the dilute and dispose approach is the preferred alternative, then they will engage on this question of change," he said. With many hurdles ahead on nuclear issues, speculation has grown on whether Moniz would remain in his role as energy secretary in the next administration. Moniz would not say whether he would rule it out. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States on Monday questioned whether a fragile Syrian truce could be salvaged and put the onus on Moscow to show it is committed to ending the violence after warplanes bombed a U.N. aid convoy in Aleppo province. "This was a difficult and trying day in Syria that raises very serious questions about whether the Russians can deliver their end of the arrangement," a senior U.S. administration official told reporters. "Either way the burden is on the Russians to demonstrate quickly and in a significant way that they are committed to this process," a second administration official said, adding that it was unclear whether the bombing was by the Russians or Syrian government. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Sandra Maler) As India seethes with anger at terror transgressions by Pakistan, and many warmongers on social media call for action against Islamabad, the voters, it seems, are not entirely happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Pakistan policy. By India Today Web Desk: Despite Modi's unblemished popularity among the people, one gaping loophole remains his flip-flop policy towards Pakistan. Indian respondents in a Pew Research, despite voting overwhelmingly in favour of the PM, showed dissatisfaction with Modi's policy. Unsurprisingly, Pakistan is the country that Indians love to hate the most with 73 per cent respondents unfavourable to the neighbour. advertisement The research says that half of all respondents are disgruntled with the government strategy to deal with the volatile neighbour. Modi's Pakistan policy is approved by just 22 per cent, said the survey which was conducted in the months after the terrorist attack at the Pathankot Air Force base. Eight out of 10 Indians view crime and terrorism (78%) as very big domestic problem and more than three-fifth of Indians support use of the military to fight terrorism. Pew also asked Indians about Modi's dealings with the US, Russia and China. Fifty-four per cent Indians approve of Modi's dealings with the US, even though the rating is down 12 percentage points compare to 2015, despite him having visited the US more than any other country during his premiership. When it comes to China, 38 per cent of Indians still support the way Modi is handling India's relations but 30 per cent have no opinion on the issue at all. China's relationship with Pakistan is seen as a very serious problem for India with 21 per cent worried about it. More than four-in-ten Indians (43 per cent) approve of Modi's relationship with Russia, while 25 per cent disapprove. But 32 per cent say they "don't know". Support for the prime minister's dealings with Moscow is up 6 points since 2015, states the Pew re --- ENDS --- Southeast Asian ride-hailing company, Grab Tuesday said it raised $750 million in equity financing, bringing its total cash pile to over $1 billion. Japanese telecommunication giant SoftBank (9984.T-JP) led the funding round, with both new and existing investors participating, Grab said in a statement, without disclosing the names of other investors in the round. Grab said the funds would be used to continue expanding into the highly lucrative Southeast Asian market, particularly in Indonesia. The company said in the first half of 2016, its GrabCar and GrabBike services grew by 250 times on-year in Indonesia. "We see [Indonesia as] an almost $15 billion market for ride-hailing services alone," said Anthony Tan, group CEO and co-founder of Grab, in a media statement. Grab also plans to expand its mobile payments service, GrabPay, regionally. Recently, Grab partnered with Citibank to allow cardholders to use Citibank points to pay for their rides. The service is currently available in Singapore and is expected to be available in four other markets including Indonesia and the Philippines . Last month, rivals Uber sold its China business to domestic competitor Didi Chuxing, with some suggesting the company was better off focusing on other potential markets such as India. Didi Chuxing previously invested in Grab last August in a funding round that saw the company raise over $350 million from investors that also included U.S. investment firm Coatue Management and Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation. It's also likely that Uber might turn its focus onto Southeast Asia, given the region boasts a growing, internet-savvy middle class. Grab has an expansive transportation network in Southeast Asia, with over 400,000 drivers and up to 1.5 million daily bookings, according to the company. It offers various transportation modes including private cars, motorbikes, taxis and carpooling services in 31 cities across the region. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook . By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - A plan by the Ugandan parliament to spend 50 million shillings each on the funerals of lawmakers has angered critics, who say it exposes the waste of taxpayer money and the legislature's sense of entitlement in a poor nation. The allocation comes after a proposal to offer each of Uganda's 427 lawmakers 150 million shillings ($44,444.44) to buy tax-free vehicles, another plan that has drawn strong criticism. The funeral cash will give each lawmaker a state-of-the-art casket, preparation of the grave, police to provide security and food and drink for mourners. Each funeral will probably last three days, including a period for lying in state. Even in a country where corruption is widespread, punishment for stealing public funds is rare and politicians are often viewed with cynicism, that strikes citizens as outrageous. A Ugandan lawmaker already makes about $5,900 a month; the average Ugandan earns around $670 - a year. "MPs have not told us how they are growing our economy, instead all we see is how they are sucking from it," Jackie Asiimwe, a women's rights activist, told Reuters. "The amounts are obscene." Chris Obore, the spokesman for parliament, said public anger against the proposed funeral plans was misplaced, adding that the lawmakers were being "targeted unfairly." "It's popular to be seen to be concerned about alleged government wastage," he said. Under the proposal, five deaths will be budgeted for each financial year. If no lawmaker dies in a given financial year, money will be returned to the Treasury, Obore said. A procurement process for a funeral provider is under way. Criticism of lawmakers is not new in East Africa. Kenyan legislators have also earned the wrath of citizens for their cavalier attitude to public funds. At more than $10,000 a month, they are among the best paid parliamentarians in the world. Previously, some Ugandan MPs have joined the public in criticising President Yoweri Museveni, whose private jet, long motorcades, outsized presidential villas, and large security detail were often depicted as symbols of government extravagance and waste. Now the criticism is being directed at lawmakers. Last week, in a apparent insult to the legislators, two members of a youth pressure group arrived at the entrance to parliament's premises with piglets concealed in sacks, local media reported. The piglets, with protest notes carrying words like MPIGS glued on their bodies, were then let loose before they were picked up by police, who also arrested the youths. A similar protest against legislators, using pigs, was staged at the Kenyan parliament by activists in 2013. ($1 = 3,375.0000 Ugandan shillings) (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa, Larry King) LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Tuesday they had charged two people with terrorism offences, including a woman accused of encouraging others to commit a terrorist offense in connection with a publication linked to a Turkish militant group. Ayfer Yildiz, 45, from west London, faces two counts of encouraging terrorism for allegedly passing on two editions of the magazine "Yuruyus", which is linked to the far-left militant group, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C). The group, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States, claimed responsibility for an attack in March when two female militants opened fire and threw a grenade at a police bus in Istanbul. Turkish police shot them both dead. The group also killed a security guard in a 2013 suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara and claimed responsibility for an attack in August of last year when two women opened fire on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. British police said that in a separate prosecution Alaettin Kalender, 50, from northeast London, had been charged with possessing information that was useful for terrorism purposes. The two accused are due to appear at London's Westminster Magistrates Court on Oct. 4. (Reporting by Michael Holden in London and David Dolan in Ankara; editing by Stephen Addison) (Corrects Aldi and Lidl figures in last paragraph) LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - British grocery sales rose 0.3 percent in the 12 weeks to 11 September, helped by higher alcohol sales and a strong showing from the country's biggest supermarket chain Tesco which posted its best performance for over two years. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said on Tuesday that Tesco's 0.2 percent sales decline in the period was its smallest drop since March 2014, making it the best performer out of Britain's big four supermarkets. Alcohol sales rose 8.5 percent in the last four weeks of the period, Kantar said, as Britons bought sparkling wine to celebrate the country's sporting success at the Olympics and Paralympics. No.2 supermarket Sainsbury's posted a 1.4 percent fall, followed by sector laggard Asda, which recorded a 5.4 percent drop, and Morrisons whose sales declined by 2.3 percent. The growth of German discounters Aldi and Lidl continued, with the pair recording sales growth of 11.6 percent and 9.5 percent respectively, and winning market share. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton) UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday raised concerns about the case of a detained Iranian-British aid worker with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a Downing Street official said. Iranian-British aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison in Iran on charges that remain secret, her family said earlier this month. "The Prime Minister raised a number of consular cases where we have concerns, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe," a Downing Street official said. The official said May wanted to understand the situation after reports that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been sentenced. Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards have accused her of trying to overthrow the country's clerical establishment. The official charges against her have not been made public and the Iranian authorities were not immediately available for comment. Zaghari-Ratcliffe works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a London-based charity that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News. The Foundation and her husband have dismissed the Revolutionary Guards' accusation. The 37-year-old, who appeared in court for the first time in August, according to Iranian media and her family, was arrested at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport as she tried to leave Iran after visiting her parents. She was separated from her two-year-old daughter, Gabriella, who has remained in the care of her grandparents. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Bill Rigby) U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivered a full-throated, and thinly veiled, broadside against a host of world leaders from Syrias President Bashar al-Assad to South Sudans Salva Kiir Mayardit during his tenth and final speech at the U.N. General Assembly. In too many places, we see leaders rewriting constitutions, manipulating elections and taking other desperate steps to cling to power, he said. My message to all is clear: serve your people. Do not subvert democracy; do not pilfer your countrys resources; do not imprison and torture your critics. Ban charged South Sudans leaders, which includes Kiir, with having betrayed their people by pursuing a violent path to power. He blasted Syrias Assad for prosecuting a brutal military campaign to cling to power at the expense of millions of brutalized victims of war. Many groups have killed many innocents but none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees, he said. Ban excoriated the outside powers that have supported the warring parties on both sides of the conflict. While Ban didnt name names the list of regional or global powers from Russia and Iran to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and the United States that supported the combatants is long. Powerful patrons that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands, he said. Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all side. In what appeared to be an implicit criticism of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and nationalist, anti-immigrant leaders in Europe, Ban criticized politicians for scapegoating foreign migrants, especially Muslims, and engaging in cynical and dangerous political math. Muslims in particular are being targeted by stereotyping and suspicion that have echoes of the dark past, he said. Story continues Ban also voiced particular frustration that efforts to welcome an independent Palestinian state during his tenure have foundered. It pains me that this past decade has been lost to peace. Ten years lost to illegal settlement expansion. Ten years lost to intra-Palestinian divide, growing polarization and hopelessness. This is madness. Replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation. Israels U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, fired back shortly after the speech. The real madness belong to the U.N., he said in a statement. Instead of focusing on Palestinian terror and incitement, and instead of compelling Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table, the secretary general chose to criticize Israel once again. This is an obsession with Israel and it must end. He also expressed remorse over two internal scandals that have roiled his tenure at the U.N., the exploitation of women and children in the Central African Republic by U.N. peacekeepers and the outbreak of cholera in Haiti, which was introduced into the country be Nepalese U.N. peacekeepers. I would like to use this moment to express my regret, he said, noting that the incidents tarnished the reputation of the United Nations and, far worse, traumatized many people we serve. In Haiti, the U.N. had denied responsibility for years, but Ban said he was working on an aid package for victims and their families in the impoverished country. John Hudson contributed to this report. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used his farewell address to the General Assembly on Tuesday to urge world leaders to end the war in Syria and bring the Paris climate deal into force this year. With just three months to go before he steps down as UN chief, Ban also made a final plea to end the "madness" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and gave world leaders advice on good governance. "My message to all is clear: serve your people. Do not subvert democracy, do not pilfer your country's resources, do not imprison and torture your critics." The former South Korean foreign minister is stepping down on December 31 after 10 years in what has been widely described as the world's most impossible job. Now in its sixth year with over 300,000 dead, the war in Syria is dominating this year's gathering of world leaders and stands out as the unfinished business of Ban's tenure. "I appeal to all those with influence to end the fighting and get talks started," Ban said. Denouncing the "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack" on an aid convoy in Syria, Ban said: "Just when you think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower." The UN chief hailed the aid workers on the convoy to Aleppo province as "heroes" and said "those who bombed them were cowards" before calling for accountability for crimes committed in the war. He blamed all sides for killing innocent people, but "none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees." Taking a swipe at "powerful patrons" fueling the conflict, Ban said these governments "in this hall today" had "ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities" in Syria. - No time to lose on climate - The Paris climate deal on curbing greenhouse gas emissions stands out as Ban's crowning achievement, an ambitious accord that he defended early on in the global push to address climate change. Story continues "We have no time to lose," Ban told the gathering. "I urge you to bring the Paris Agreement into force this year." The push for early entry into force of the Paris deal got a shot in the arm this month when the United States and China, the world's top two polluters, ratified the deal. Describing climate change as the "defining challenge of our time," Ban said only 26 countries representing 15 percent of emissions must join the agreement for it to enter into force. Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ban said it pained him that the past decade had been "lost to peace" with Israel building more settlements and the Palestinians facing growing hopelessness. "This is madness. Replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom," he warned. After North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test on the back of a series of missile launches, Ban urged Pyongyang to "change course" and fulfil its obligations to scrap its military programs. Switching to French, the UN chief expressed regret over the "despicable" sexual abuse and rape committed by UN peacekeepers and for the cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed thousands since it broke out in 2010 near a UN peacekeepers' base. The United Nations will put forward a package of assistance for cholera victims and help Haiti build sound water, sanitation and healthy systems, he said. On a more personal note, Ban said he was stepping down as the world's number one diplomat with the conviction that the United Nations can help improve peoples' lives. "After ten years in office, I am more convinced that ever that we have the power to end war, poverty and persecution," he said. By PTI: New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) International community continued to condemn the dastardly Uri attack with Germany and Japan today asserting that they stand resolutely with India in its fight against terrorism. Sri Lanka and Bhutan also strongly condemned the terror attack that left 18 soldiers dead and called for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. advertisement In a statement, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, without taking Pakistans name, said every country is responsible for taking decisive action against terrorism emanating from its territory. "Germany stands resolutely at Indias side in the fight against terrorism. At the Indo-German counter terrorism consultations, which will take place in a few days time, we will further discuss the threat to our two countries societies," he said. He further said, "As is often the case, the terrorists aim is for the situation to escalate. They want to trigger a spiral of violence. We must not give in to this logic, including in conflicts between India and Pakistan." In its statement, Japan said it condemned terrorism in all forms regardless of its purposes, and strongly reiterated that no act of terrorism can be justified. "Japan expresses its solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Strongly condemning the terror attack, Sri Lanka said there was an urgent need for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. "In the hour of grief, the Government of Sri Lanka offers its condolences to the families of the victims of the attack," the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said adding the country had grappled with the challenge of terrorism for three decades. Expressing solidarity, Bhutan said it stands with India in the fight against terrorism. "Such heinous acts of terrorism call for the need to step up international cooperation to combat the scourge of terrorism that poses a severe threat to the peace and stability of all countries," the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The US, UK, Russia, France, Canada and Afghanistan have already condemned Sundays attack. PTI JC/MPB RT --- ENDS --- Unisys Corporation UIS was recently awarded a three-year contract by public utility company Empresa de Servicios Publicos de Heredia (ESPH) in Costa Rica. According to the contract, Unisys will provide its endpoint management support to 320 branches, over 2,800 types of computer equipment, 500 corporate servers and more than 400 network elements for ESPH. The Deal This is the first contract following the partnership of Unisys and ServiceNow in Latin America. Using Unisys and ServiceNows technical expertise, ESPH will be able to address important aspects including network equipment configuration, managing abound 3,000 users of smart devices, service-level agreement handling and various other important things. This contract will enable Unisys reach out to ESPHs high-end clients, which in turn will help enhance its foothold in the area. UNISYS Price UNISYS Price | UNISYS Quote Recent Deals Earlier this year, Unisys was awarded a contract by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to transfer email communications of all 4,000 agency employees to a cloud-based platform. The five-year contract with OCC was worth approximately $11.2 million. Per the contract, Unisys will provide its expertise in analyzing, designing, transition planning and developing services to enable the OCC securely transfer all of its email services to the cloud. Also the company was acknowledged as one of the first partners to have achieved AWS (Amazon Web Services) Government Competency by AWS, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. This is a new component of the AWS Competency Program that recognizes companies that demonstrate technical expertise and achievements in delivering specialized cloud-based solutions to customers. This partnership has also helped Unisys expand its client base across various government agencies that are linked with AWS. Such deals help the company to gain an edge over its peers in the industry. Moving Forward Based in Blue Bell, PA, Unisys specializes in securing client operations, increasing efficiency of data centers, enhancing support to their end users and constituents and modernizing their enterprise applications. The company has over 20,000 employees serving clients around the world. Story continues Unisys currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). A couple better ranked stocks in the industry include Acxiom Corporation ACXM and Acacia Research Corporation ACTG, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis Report UNISYS (UIS): Free Stock Analysis Report ACXIOM CORP (ACXM): Free Stock Analysis Report ACACIA RESEARCH (ACTG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 20, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit was filed against Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Tokai" or the "Company") (TKAI). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between June 24, 2015 and July 25, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm prior to the September 30, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline. If you purchased shares of Tokai during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. There has been no class certification in this case yet. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member. According to the Complaint, Tokai made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: there were significant structural problems with the trial design for its Phase 3 galeterone study, ARMOR3-SV; that ARMOR3-SV was unlikely to succeed in meeting its primary endpoint; the commercialization of galeterone was less likely than investors were led to believe; and as a result of the above, Tokai's statements about its business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading at all relevant times. If you want to learn more about this lawsuit, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com. This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in certain jurisdictions. Contacts Joon M. Khang, Esq. Telephone: 949-419-3834 Facsimile: 949-225-4474 joon@khanglaw.com SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP A wildfire burning near Lompoc, California, grew to more than 4,500 acres on Monday, September 19. The Canyon Fire scorching on the south side of Vandenberg Air Force Base spread despite aggressive air and ground attacks, according to the Los Angeles Times. The blaze forced authorities to postpone the launch of an Atlas V rocket on Sunday. This drone footage shows the 138th Field Artillery Brigade performing a training exercise at the Allan Hancock College Public Safety Training Complex with smoke from the fire at the background. Credit: YouTube/Flying90 Chicago (AFP) - US authorities have launched a civil rights probe into the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, captured on video that sparked renewed outrage over law enforcement's treatment of African-Americans. The fatal shooting on Friday of Terence Crutcher was recorded by police car dashboard cameras and a police helicopter camera in that city in Oklahoma. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan, in releasing the footage to the public on Monday, called it disturbing and "very difficult to watch." In the video, the 40-year-old Crutcher is seen with his hands up, appearing to comply with police officers and leaning against his car. He is then shot once by officer Betty Shelby, and falls to the ground. Another officer fires his stun gun. It is not clear from the video who fired first, or what Crutcher's exact movements were prior to the shooting. Crutcher later died at a hospital. Officer Shelby was placed on paid leave pending an investigation, police said. "The entire family is devastated," said Crutcher's sister Tiffany during a news conference, demanding that "charges are pressed against this officer, that was incompetent, that took my brother's life." Officer Shelby's lawyer Scott Wood told The New York Times that Crutcher had been behaving erratically and had tried to put his hand in his pocket. "We will achieve justice in this case," the Tulsa police chief told a news conference. "We will do the right thing. We will not cover anything up." News and video of the shooting spread on social media. Google reported more than a million searches Monday for Crutcher's name and related topics. Meanwhile, demonstrators in Tulsa expressed outrage, and demanded that the officer be punished. "This is not target practice. This is real life. Right now, we need for them to arrest Betty Shelby," said Marq Lewis, a member of the group We The People Oklahoma, during a protest on Monday. Story continues The Department of Justice said Monday it would conduct a federal civil rights probe, a investigation parallel to the one local authorities in the state are carrying out. The federal probe "will seek to determine whether a Federal Civil Rights violation occurred. The investigation will include a comprehensive review of the events surrounding the Friday night shooting that resulted in Mr. Crutcher's death," US Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. of the Northern District of Oklahoma said in a statement. This latest police shooting incident comes after a tense summer in which widely disseminated videos of police shootings of African-Americans prompted protests around the country. In Baton Rouge and Dallas, officers were shot and killed by gunmen who appeared to have been motivated by a desire for revenge against police shootings. As of September 18, 697 people have been shot and killed by police in the US, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. Washington (AFP) - The United States believes Russia was responsible for an air strike on an aid convoy that killed about 20 people in Syria, a US official told AFP on Tuesday. Two Russian SU-24 warplanes were operating in the area where the aid convoy was struck in the Aleppo region late Monday, the official said. "The best evaluation we have is that the Russians carried out the strike," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity. The United Nations says at least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed as they delivered humanitarian assistance to Orum al-Kubra. Russia has reacted furiously to claims it conducted the attack, and Damascus has also denied involvement. The Pentagon and Russia had planned on some low levels of coordination to hit Islamic State group targets in Syria if a fragile truce lasted for seven days, but with the ceasefire in tatters officials said plans were on indefinite hold. The United Nations on Tuesday suspended aid convoys into Syria. The air strike came just hours after the Syrian army announced the end of the fragile cessation of hostilities. Further fueling tensions, a US-led coalition air strike Saturday apparently killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria, near the Islamic State group-controlled town of Deir Ezzor. More than 300,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the Syria conflict started in 2011 with anti-government protests. Washington (AFP) - The United States officially labelled the Syrian jihadist rebel group Jund al-Aqsa a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" organization Tuesday as talks continued on securing a ceasefire in the war-riven country. The US State Department said the four-year-old group was originally a unit of the al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda arm in Syria, before splitting off to carry out operations independently. Today Jund al-Aqsa operates primarily in Idlib and Hama provinces, but remains "openly allied" with al-Nusra, already designated a terror group two years ago, the State Department said. It said Jund al-Aqsa was behind two suicide bombings in Idlib in March 2105 and a February 2014 "massacre" of 40 civilians in Maan in central Hama. The designation, and parallel sanctions by the US Treasury Department, forbid US entities and individuals from any transactions with the group. The designation came as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov led talks in New York Tuesday aimed at preserving a ceasefire in Syria after the Syrian military declared the week-old truce over and launched new bombardments on rebel-held cities. "The ceasefire is not dead," Kerry insisted following the brief meeting of the International Syria Support Group, which one person in attendance described as "tense". South China Sea While military deployments to the tense seas around Southern China often make headlines, China has been quietly building paramilitary forces out of their coast guard and fishing fleets. China operates the biggest fishing fleet in the world, and in the South China Sea, where its sweeping territorial claims conflict with its neighbors, Beijing uses these fishing ships as a kind of militia to harass and block other nation's vessels from accessing the vital trade routes and fishing grounds. In an interview with DefenseNews, Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy with the US Naval War College and a founding member of the China Maritime Studies Institute, suggested that it's time to start exposing these fishing boats for the aggressive militias they are. While the Center for Strategic and International Studies recently released an eye-opening report on China's use of its coast guard as a sort of "second navy," Beijing's inclusion of fishing fleets in its maritime law enforcement push has gone on for years now as a kind of open secret. China's maritime militia is only as deniable for China as we allow it to be, and we don't have to allow it to be deniable, said Erickson. According to Erickson, China doesn't publicize its militia in any English language publication, but in domestic internet pages and files, China makes it abundantly clear that the fishing vessels have a "militia" function. south china seas There is plenty of evidence of the front-line elite Chinese maritime militia units answering specifically to a Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) chain of command, being entrusted with the fulfilling of specific state-sponsored missions with respect to participation in international sea encounters and incidents, said Erickson. However, Erickson says the US military, and practically no one in the US, has said a word about this. This leads to China having a dangerous advantage, where it may even now be collecting photos and videos to later use as propaganda, showing its secret militia in a benign light. Story continues Erickson says that by the US simply showing it is on to China's adventurism, and that the US intelligence apparatus can read in Chinese too, could help to deter Beijing from pushing the envelope in the South China Sea, where incidents have already occurred between nations being bullied by Chinese fishing vessels. I believe we already have enough data to make very conclusive durable connections using sources that, within China's own system, are authoritative and legitimate. The only thing missing is for some US government official and report to state this officially, Erickson said. NOW WATCH: A Top Gun school graduate explains what the movie got wrong More From Business Insider By PTI: New Delhi, Sept 20 (PTI) The world community continued with its condemnation the dastardly Uri attack with Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and many other countries today conveying strong support to India in its fight against terror. Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Mauritius, Bahrain, Qatar, Nepal Mongolia and South Korea also strongly condemned the terror attack in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead and called for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. advertisement In a statement, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, without taking Pakistans name, said every country is responsible for taking decisive action against terrorism emanating from its territory. "Germany stands resolutely at Indias side in the fight against terrorism. At the Indo-German counter terrorism consultations, which will take place in a few days time, we will further discuss the threat to our two countries societies," he said. Japan said it condemned terrorism in all forms regardless of its purposes, and strongly reiterated that no act of terrorism can be justified. "Japan expresses its solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Strongly condemning the terror attack, Sri Lanka said there was an urgent need for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. "In the hour of grief, the Government of Sri Lanka offers its condolences to the families of the victims of the attack," the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said, adding the country had grappled with the challenge of terrorism for three decades. Saudi Arabia, considered to be close ally of Pakistan, denounced the Uri attack and conveyed condolences to the families of the victims. The United Arab Emirates said renewed its "firm stand" against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, adding it supports all actions India may take to "confront and eradicate" the menace. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain, in a statement, conveyed its "full support to the friendly Republic of India in their actions to counter terrorism, renewing the Kingdoms firm position against all forms of terrorism and calling for concerted efforts to eliminate it and cut off its funding". Expressing solidarity, Bhutan said it stands with India in the fight against terror. "Such heinous acts of terrorism call for the need to step up international cooperation to combat the scourge of terrorism that poses a severe threat to the peace and stability of all countries," the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry said. Mauritius, Qatar, Nepal, Mongolia, the Maldives and South Korea have also strongly condemned the strike, saying it cannot be justified under any circumstances. advertisement The US, UK, Russia, France, Canada and Afghanistan have already condemned Sundays attack. PTI JC/MPB SC --- ENDS --- New York (AFP) - As Syria plunged back into bloodshed Tuesday after the collapse of a week-old truce, the United States and Russia convened crisis talks in a bid to salvage hopes of peace. Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived together at a New York hotel to jointly chair the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). Grim-faced after days of bitter recriminations between Moscow and Washington over breaches in the truce, they began the 23-nation meeting without speaking to reporters. A short distance across the city at United Nations headquarters, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was opening a General Assembly debate with a plea to halt the fighting. But in Syria, fighting continued, one day after a strike on a UN and Red Cross aid convoy marked a low point in what was already a brutal five-year-old conflict. US officials hold Moscow responsible for what they say was a deliberate air strike, carried out either by Russian forces or strongman Bashar al-Assad's regime. Moscow and Damascus have both denied being behind the attack, which killed more than 20 civilians including aid workers, pointing the finger at US-backed insurgents. Russia and Syria are also furious with Washington over a coalition air strike on Saturday that killed dozens of regime soldiers and which Washington admits was a mistake. With a US-Russia brokered truce in tatters and no prospect of a resumption in a UN-brokered political dialogue, eyes turned once again to the ISSG for a response. "We will have to reflect on whether there are ways back to negotiations on a truce or if this has become hopeless," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. "I hope, of course, that we can manage to reduce the escalation of the last days. But I can't be sure at the current moment," he admitted. Kerry and Lavrov were joined by more than 20 foreign ministers from countries with a stake in the Syrian conflict, including bitter rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. (Recasts, adds details on regulators' testimony and former Wells executive, Sen. Warren quote, updates shares) By Patrick Rucker and Dan Freed Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate lawmakers excoriated Wells Fargo & Co's chief on Tuesday for his oversight of the bank as it opened 2 million bogus customer accounts, potentially laying the groundwork for new rules and reviving questions of whether banks are "too big to fail." Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that customers who had bogus accounts opened in their name will be made whole and compensated for any damage to their credit rating, but some Democratic senators called for his resignation. Under fire, Stumpf said he has told his managers to do "whatever it takes" to make customers whole, refunding fees or compensating them for damage to their credit ratings. But he stood behind the former executive who ran the unit that oversaw many of the practices, and at times downplayed the scope of the affair. In answer to a question, he declined to commit to setting aside mandatory arbitration agreements that prohibit clients from suing Wells Fargo. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has proposed a ban on such clauses that prohibit class-action lawsuits. Earlier this month, the lender agreed to pay $190 million in penalties and customer payouts to settle the case involving the creation of credit, savings and other accounts without customers' knowledge. About $5 million will directly go to customers, many of whom might have paid a small fee on the unwanted accounts. The revelations are a severe hit to Wells Fargo's reputation. During the financial crisis, the bank trumpeted itself as conservative, in contrast to its rivals. Besides potential criminal charges against the company and its executives, Wells Fargo may face pressure from shareholders to change its practices on executive pay and governance. The scandal also renewed debate over whether U.S. banks are "too big to fail" and need closer government oversight to prevent a massive collapse. Story continues Lawmakers could use the fraud settlement as a springboard for new rules on executive pay, including clawbacks of compensation, and limits on forced arbitration. Wells Fargo has said its board will assess whether to cancel or claw back any incentive compensation paid to a now-retired executive at the center of the scandal, Carrie Tolstedt. Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for Stumpf to resign, with Warren saying Stumpf should give back his salary and be criminally investigated. "You should resign. You should give back the money you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated," Warren said. The bank's board of directors is examining what action it should take against company executives, Stumpf told the committee. "I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices," Stumpf said, adding later, "I apologize to all of the American people and our customers, and I will make it right." Lawmakers said the phony bank accounts might have hurt customer credit ratings, increased the cost of a mortgage or car loan. New credit card applications and consumer borrowing trends can weight on an individual's credit. "WHERE WAS MANAGEMENT?" Wells Fargo has acknowledged bank employees "inappropriately opened" the customer accounts and that about 5,300 employees were fired over five years. Former bank employees say they were under intense pressure to add accounts for each customer. Abuses were found as early as 2011, Stumpf said, but bank executives only realized the scale of the problem early last year. At that time, Stumpf said, managers came to recognize how a pattern of creating phony accounts could be used to boost unwarranted fees. "It never dawned on us that there could be a cycle," the CEO said. "It just sort of begs the issue of where was management," said Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the senior Democrat on the panel. Brown said employees were caught "forging signatures, and stealing identities, Social Security numbers, and customers' hard-earned cash, so as to hang on to their low-paying jobs and make money for the high-paying executives at Wells Fargo." Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, said the agency is considering action against individual Wells Fargo executives who may have violated laws or regulations. The U.S. Attorney's Offices in Manhattan and in San Francisco are investigating Wells Fargo, a person familiar with the matter said last week. While Democratic lawmakers were the most outspoken in their attacks, Republicans also grilled Stumpf. Louisiana Senator David Vitter pressed the CEO on how customer fraud could persist for years and thousands of employees could be fired before the head of the bank got involved. "Why isn't this crystal clear proof that an entity as big as Wells is not only too big to fail but it's too big to manage and too big to regulate?" Vitter asked. Stumpf said the widespread abuse was "a problem of focus and not of size." Stumpf appeared before the congressional panel with a bandaged right hand. He suffered an injury playing with his grandchildren, according to the bank. Wells Fargo shares rose 2 percent to $46.94. (Reporting by Patrick Rucker in Washington and Dan Freed in New York; Writing by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Linda Stern and Jeffrey Benkoe) skyrunner In order to combat versatile enemies who are not only able to acquire US weapons and vehicles but emulate tactics as well, the US military needs to take advantage of the latest advances from the defense industry. But just as the military and its branches all have unique missions, the individual units within the military are also issued equipment geared towards fulfilling their respective jobs. One such unit from the special forces community may very well be receiving the latest offering from SkyRunner, a company that specializes in utility vehicles and light sport aviation. This all-terrain vehicle has the ability to take off from indigenous runways and transform into a light-sports aircraft using a parafoil wing. Reaching ground speeds of up to 70 mph and flight speeds of 40 mph, the SkyRunner can transport 2 occupants 240 miles, or 120 nautical miles, at an altitude of 10,000 feet. skyrunner The latest model of SkyRunner, equipped with a carbon-fiber body, will cost about $139,000. After receiving FAA approval in June, a SkyRunner representative explained in an interview with Business Insider that they received interest and a verbal commitment from the US special forces community. The shocks [are what] won this particular group over, said SkyRunner consultant Mike Mitchell. Going off of a loading dock 4-5 feet tall with such a soft landing was a big plus in their eyes. via GIPHY Rather than being offensively oriented, Mitchell explained that a military-grade SkyRunner would be primarily used for surveillance or recovery missions. SkyRunner could not comment on what the commitment specifically entailed, or which branch of the military expressed interest in their vehicle. via GIPHY NOW WATCH: Watch the worlds largest aircraft crash land on its 2nd flight More From Business Insider On Sep 19, we issued an updated research report on steel pipe and tube company Valmont Industries VMI. While the prevailing external environment remains challenging for Valmont, the company should benefit from its restructuring actions, cost management and a focus on operational improvements. The restructuring actions, which the company executed last year, are expected to improve its overall cost structure, thereby supporting its earnings in 2016. Valmont should also gain from acquisitions and its efforts to boost its market position through investments towards developing its product line. The acquisition of leading Northern European engineered steel products maker DS-SM A/S (rechristened Valmont SM A/S) has enabled Valmont to cater to a wide range of industries. Moreover, the acquisition of a majority stake in South Dakota-based AgSense has broadened Valmonts portfolio in remote monitoring and control technology for agriculture. The purchase of American Galvanizing Company, a market leader in hot-dip galvanizing in the Northeast U.S., also expanded Valmont Coatings' network to 33 facilities in 6 countries around the world. However, Valmont faces certain near-term challenges across a number of businesses. The company, in its second-quarter 2016 earnings call, said that it does not expect considerable short-term improvement in its end markets, and anticipates consistent downward pressure in the irrigation market. The company is seeing continued challenges in its irrigation business. The results in its North American irrigation business are expected to continue to be affected by lower commodity prices which are affecting farm income. Lower farm income, in turn, is expected to impact equipment purchases by farmers. Moreover, Valmont's utility business remains affected by a difficult pricing environment and unfavorable project mix. A weak mining industry in Australia and depressed global oil and gas markets are also affecting Valmonts Energy and Mining segment. Valmont is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Story continues VALMONT INDS Price VALMONT INDS Price | VALMONT INDS Quote Better-ranked companies in the basic materials space include Ternium S.A. TX, Angang Steel Company Ltd. ANGGY and Northwest Pipe Co. NWPX, all holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report NORTHWEST PIPE (NWPX): Free Stock Analysis Report VALMONT INDS (VMI): Free Stock Analysis Report ANGANG STEEL LT (ANGGY): Free Stock Analysis Report TERNIUM SA-ADR (TX): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research * Palm hits intraday and five month high of 2,725 rgt/T * Tight supplies, stronger soy lifted the market - trader * Palm seen rising to 2,761 rgt/T - technicals (Updates latest prices) By Emily Chow KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures surged to their highest in five months on Tuesday, recording a third straight session of gains, in response to tight supplies and strength in rival oils. Benchmark palm oil futures for December on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange surged 1.9 percent to 2,693 ringgit ($651) a tonne at the end of the trading day. It earlier touched an intra-day high of 2,725 ringgit, its highest since April 22. Traded volumes stood at 57,726 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the 2015 average of 44,600. The market is up on tight supplies, said a trader in East Malaysia, adding that rising soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange also lifted palm. Palm oil output from Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer, is still showing lagging effects of last year's dry weather El Nino, resulting in lower than average crop yields. Malaysian production in August rose 7.3 percent, but registered its lowest August levels since 2012. (MYPOMP-CPOTT) "Exports were also not too bad," the East Malaysian trader added, referring to export data from cargo surveyors which fell less than expected. Palm oil shipments from Malaysia fell 11-12 percent during the Sept. 1-20 period versus the same duration last month. Traders were expecting a sharper dip after record exports in August of 1.8 million tonnes, according to data from industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. (MYPOME-PO) A narrowing spread between palm and rival oilseed soy has shifted some demand to soy, dampening palm shipments in recent weeks. Consumers tend to prefer soyoil for cooking to palm and both compete for a share of the global edible oils market. Chicago soybeans rose for a fourth straight session as excessive rains in parts of the U.S. delayed harvesting and Story continues raised concerns about crop quality. The Chicago Board of Trade's soybean oil December contract rose 1.6 percent, while the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also gained 3.1 percent. Palm oil is expected to rise to 2,761 ringgit per tonne, as it has cleared a resistance at 2,651 ringgit, according to Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1039 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL OCT6 2883 +56.00 2870 2911 694 MY PALM OIL NOV6 2743 +55.00 2720 2781 14882 MY PALM OIL DEC6 2690 +51.00 2677 2725 23768 CHINA PALM JAN7 5676 +218.00 5528 5676 959748 OLEIN CHINA SOYOIL JAN7 6380 +192.00 6224 6394 1062300 CBOT SOY OIL DEC6 33.6 +0.52 32.97 33.83 13145 INDIA PALM OIL SEP6 585.00 +4.30 583.50 591 1738 INDIA SOYOIL SEP6 652.15 +1.90 651.3 655 610 NYMEX CRUDE OCT6 43.01 -0.29 42.89 43.26 1571 Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel ($1 = 4.1370 ringgit) ($1 = 67.0325 Indian rupees) ($1 = 6.6699 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jane Merriman) Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela accused the United States on Tuesday of spying on a Non-Aligned Movement summit it recently hosted, saying Venezuelan fighter jets had intercepted a US surveillance plane and forced it to turn back. President Nicolas Maduro's latest beef with Washington comes after Venezuela hosted leaders from the 120-member group on the Caribbean island of Margarita last weekend, a meeting that featured numerous jabs at US foreign policy. "We know a military aircraft carried out flight patterns 130 nautical miles from Margarita island, collecting information, carrying out intelligence operations on the summit," said Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez. He said a US Coast Guard Dash 8 plane was detected near Venezuelan airspace on Friday and Saturday, "flagrantly violating international norms" by failing to announce itself to the Venezuelan military's air traffick controllers. "Our fighter jets, commanded by the president, flew out, intercepted the aircraft and informed (its crew) of the violation it was committing. The aircraft agreed to return to its base," on the island of Curacao, the minister said. He called the incident a "provocation" that "underestimated" Venezuela's capacity to respond. Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said Venezuela would present a formal protest. Venezuela took over the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement from Iran at the summit. Maduro sought to use the occasion to strengthen old alliances, amid a severe economic crisis that has left him fighting for his political survival and increasingly isolated on the international stage. The Non-Aligned Movement -- founded as a backlash against US and Soviet dominance during the Cold War -- has a history of prickly relations with Washington. The United States and Venezuela likewise have a history of bad blood under Maduro and Hugo Chavez, his late predecessor and mentor. Caracas and Washington withdrew their ambassadors in 2010, and Maduro has repeatedly accused the US of backing coup plots against him. CARACAS (Reuters) - The president of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA on Tuesday slammed ratings agencies as "professional speculators" who were contributing to a negative reception of a $7.1 billion bond swap proposal meant to improve the company's finances. Standard & Poor's on Monday said PDVSA's swap plan was "tantamount to default" if carried out, while Fitch Ratings said PDVSA's 2020 bond to be issued as part of the swap had a "real possibility of default." Moody's said that "if executed as planned, (the exchange) would be a credit positive event ... reducing the risk of an immediate payment default." PDVSA President Eulogio Del Pino slammed the ratings agencies on Union Radio, a Caracas-based network. "Speculators are trying to generate a climate of tension so that (bondholders) will get rid of their bonds at a lower price," said Del Pino. "These ratings agencies are always playing this game, they always have, they're professional speculators." S&P and Fitch did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. PDVSA is offering investors a new 2020 bond in exchange for the 2017N bond maturing in November 2017 and the 2017 bond maturing in April, with shares of its Citgo Holding Inc, the owner of PDVSA's U.S. refining unit Citgo, serving as collateral on the new bond. Wall Street analysts have expressed concern that the operation is not sufficiently attractive to convince bondholders to join a swap operation. Del Pino said the plan had been subjected to a "smear campaign" Socialist-led Venezuela frequently accuses Wall Street and businesses of seeking to sabotage its leftist administration. "What we're seeing is a political war against our country, against our operation, trying to grind our operation into the ground," said Del Pino, urging bondholders to "carefully evaluate what we are offering you." Story continues PDVSA says it will continue to make payments on outstanding bonds even if investors turn down the swap offer. Despite market concerns earlier this year that PDVSA could default, investors broadly believe that PDVSA and Venezuela will continue servicing debt to avoid being cut off from the international financial system. President Nicolas Maduro dismisses default talk as a campaign by adversaries seeking to weaken his government. (Reporting by Eyanir Chinea, writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) A federal judge in Georgia has refused to grant Viacom's summary judgment in full in a lawsuit over CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, a biopic about the 1990s R&B group that first aired on VH-1 in October 2013. As a result, if no settlement comes, a trial appears likely. The biographical film spurred a $40 million libel claim from Perri "Pebbles" Reid, the group's former manager, upset at being depicted underpaying Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. The lawsuit led Viacom and the other defendants to point the judge's attention to CrazySexyCool being a docudrama that may have told the group's story through a certain prism with composite characters and compressed events, but still was "accurately maintaining the essence of TLC's story" and not susceptible to defamatory meaning. In a summary judgment opinion, U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen finds that 10 specific allegations are not capable of supporting a claim of defamation while five are capable. Among the scenes which plausibly imply a defamatory inference, Cohen writes, are those where TLC's manager pressures the group to sign contracts without providing them time to read the agreements. Other scenes showing TLC and Reid sharing the same attorneys, with Reid controlling these lawyers to TLC's detriment, can also impart defamatory meaning as well as, in the judge's opinion, "injure Plaintiff's reputation in the music industry and expose her to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule." Cohen becomes the second judge in the past three months to look at a music biopic and flag artists being denied proper legal representation. In June, Universal beat most of the claims brought by former N.W.A manager Jerry Heller over Straight Outta Compton, but not the claim directed at how the hip-hop artists were shown being discouraged from retaining an attorney during contract negotiations. Story continues Reid also is being allowed to bring to a jury scenes that conveyed the idea that she improperly deducted expenses, only paid TLC $25 a week, and that it was her decision to remove Chilli from TLC. On the other hand, Judge Cohen rules out claims that CrazySexyCool defamed Reid by allegedly showing how she put money before the group's health, was involved in Chilli's abortion, exercised control over the group's accountants for her personal benefit and never made a personal investment in TLC. Viacom also argued that the scenes presented Tionne and Chilli's perspectives and thus represented unactionable opinion, but Cohen disagrees, finding that "all of the scenes Plaintiff alleges defame her can reasonably be interpreted to imply facts about her that are capable of being proven true or ." The case appears headed to trial, and when that happens, Viacom may have defenses including that the allegedly defamatory statements were substantially true. But for now, the judge rules that stuff like whether TLC was actually paid a weekly stipend of $25 and whether it was Reid's decision to remove Chilli are genuine issues of material fact that will need to be addressed before a jury. Perhaps most worrisome for other lawyers in the biopic business is the judge's discussion of whether Reid, as a public figure, has demonstrated actual malice to succeed on her lawsuit. Here, Cohen looks at whether the filmmakers intended the defamatory impression. The judge quotes a casting director who wrote that the "Pebbles" character was a "not quite ethical businesswoman." Cohen also nods to evidence that the filmmakers rejected information favorable to Reid, pointing to deleted scenes, and writing that "viewing this evidence in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, the Court finds that a reasonable juror could conclude that Defendants' decision to delete this material from the Movie was a deliberate effort to convey the alternative, more scurrilous representation that TLC did not independently review the Contracts or meet their lawyers prior to signing the Contracts, which Defendants knew not to be the case." The judge concludes that the scenes combined with such circumstantial evidence are "sufficient for a reasonable jury to find that Defendants purposely avoided or deliberately ignored facts that would have established the falsity of one or more purportedly defamatory scenes." Here's the full opinion. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, "These operations pave the way for cleansing every inch of Iraqi land and, God willing, its end will be the liberation of Mosul city, ... the liberation of all Iraqi lands and the end of Daesh," By Reuters: Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake the northern town of Shirqat from Islamic State, a stepping stone in their campaign to recapture the jihadists' stronghold of Mosul before the end of the year. Shirqat, which lies on the Tigris River 100 km (60 miles) south of Mosul, has been surrounded by Iraqi troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias allied to the government. advertisement Tens of thousands of civilians are thought to be trapped there. Officials have warned for months of a humanitarian disaster inside, where residents living under Islamic State's harsh rule say food supplies have dwindled and prices soared. OPERATION Iraqi troops, backed by local police and Sunni Muslim tribal fighters, took up positions along five axes on Tuesday and advanced through five villages but by midday were still around 13 km from the town centre, said the mayor and a source in the Salahuddin Operations Command, which oversees military operations in the area. They said there was little resistance so far, aside from some bombs planted along the road. State media said the security forces had disabled several car bombs and snipers. Television footage of an airstrike near a residential compound south of Shirqat showed plumes of light grey smoke emanating from a sparsely populated valley. "CLEANSING EVERY INCH OF LAND" Iraqi forces are also moving to retake two areas in the western province of Anbar, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in an televised message from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. "These operations pave the way for cleansing every inch of Iraqi land and, God willing, its end will be the liberation of Mosul city, ... the liberation of all Iraqi lands and the end of Daesh," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. He has pledged repeatedly to retake Mosul by year's end, and Iraqi commanders have indicated the push could begin by late October, though doubts remain that the necessary troops will be ready. READY FOR MOSUL? After meeting with Abadi in New York on Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he hoped for progress on Mosul by the end of the year. The top U.S. general later said Iraqi forces would be ready in October, but the timing was up to Abadi. Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, on Monday appealed for more funding to help people displaced by the conflict. "We're very worried that we won't be able to prepare in time" for the Mosul battle, she said in a statement. advertisement U.S. and Iraqi officials are also concerned there has not been enough planning for how to manage Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and a mosaic of ethnic and sectarian groups, if and when Islamic State is kicked out. Also In World News The city fell to the jihadists in 2014 after Iraq's army and police dropped their weapons and fled, despite having received billions of dollars in aid since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. The disposition of forces and the treatment of Shirqat's residents, who have been living under Islamic State for more than two years, will be closely watched by the Sunni residents of Mosul, who have a historic mistrust of the forces of successive Shi'ite-led governments in Baghdad. Shi'ite militias, which have been accused of rights abuses in previous battles, did not look set to participate in Shirqat but could join in at a later stage. The factions, which deny those allegations or describe them as isolated incidents, were critical in rolling back Islamic State in the immediate aftermath of its surge through northern and western Iraq towards Baghdad two years ago. Hawija, east of Shirqat, is the other remaining Islamic State bastion south of Mosul. The group also controls the city of Tel Afar, west of Mosul towards the Syrian border. advertisement ALSO READ: Clinton says Trump gives 'aid, comfort' to ISIS recruiters ISIS releases video showing young boys shooting hostages --- ENDS --- HANOI (Reuters) - A court in Vietnam sentenced a land rights activist to 20 months in jail on Tuesday for causing public disorder, her lawyer said, jailing her for a second time over a similar offense in a case a top human rights group said should have been dropped. Can Thi Theu, 54, was found guilty at a half-day trial by a district court in Hanoi, three months after she was arrested for leading protests outside government offices against what she called illegal land seizures. "This is a very unfair and tragic verdict," said Vo An Don, one of her lawyers, adding that she would appeal. As the court heard the case, dozens of supporters held signs outside saying "Can Thi Theu is innocent" before police shepherded them away to a waiting bus. In recent years, a real estate market boom in Vietnam has stirred up protests by small landowners evicted to make way for construction projects. Many complain the evictions are illegal and authorities fail to pay adequate compensation. The sentence comes at a time when Vietnam's human rights record is in the spotlight, with the jailing and intimidation of activists, bloggers and dissidents showing no sign of abating, despite the country's aggressive pursuit of closer economic and diplomatic ties with the West, most notably the United States and European Union. Theu was detained on June 10 for causing public disorder. A newspaper run by the Hanoi police said she led people to gather at state offices in the capital many times, raising banners and causing traffic jams. Theu was freed in July 2015 after serving a 15-month term on charge of opposing officials on duty. Upon her release, she posted a video on YouTube in which she said she had been jailed for protesting against land seizures. The New York-based Human Rights said she was caught filming evictions. The group called on the Vietnamese authorities to drop all charges against Theu and pursue proper legal reforms "instead of punishing people who protest the loss of their land". (Editing by Martin Petty) BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) has no plans for a public listing of its trucks business until 2019, Manager Magazin reported on Tuesday, citing senior managers at the carmaker. Some analyst had speculated that Volkswagen (VW) might sell or float its truck operations to help raise funds as the carmaker is pushing to become a global force in trucks. But VW trucks chief Andreas Renschler told Reuters in July that a public listing of VW's Truck & Bus division was not a top priority, though declined to elaborate. VW declined comment on the article. "Top priority for us at the moment is to intensify cooperation between our (Scania and MAN) brands and to implement the strategy to become a global champion" in trucks, a spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Christoph Steitz) JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African union declared a wage dispute with the world's top platinum producer and a unit of Anglo American (AAL.L) on Tuesday after negotiations deadlocked, setting the stage for a potential strike. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said in a statement it had rejected the latest offer of a 6.75 percent hike by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) (AMSJ.J), less than half of the 14.5 percent it is seeking. The union - whose members comprise about a fifth of the workforce at Amplats - had originally sought a 20 percent wage increase. Amplats shares extended their decline after the news of a deadlock in the wage talks. A state mediator will now try to help the two parties reach an agreement, but if they fail to do so, the union's members would then have legal grounds to embark on a strike. The union's members are concentrated in a handful of Amplats' operations including its heavily-mechanised Mogalakwena mine, the company's most profitable asset. Amplats said the company hoped to reach a deal. "We continue to engage recognised unions and remain optimistic to reach a sustainable wage agreement," said Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole. South African platinum companies have said they cannot afford big wage increases as they grapple with depressed prices and rising costs including power and labour. Amplats, which is in the process of selling its labour-intensive Rustenburg mines to Sibanye Resources (SGLJ.J), is also in wage talks with its majority union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which lead a crippling five-month strike against the sector in 2014. Amplats' share price fell over 3 percent, underperforming Johannesburg's All-share index (.JALSH) which was 0.67 percent lower. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia) The United States fought on Monday to salvage a troubled Syria cease-fire pact it brokered just a week ago with Russia, as Syrias warring parties accused one another of violating key provisions of the accord and broached the possibility of a return to the battlefield. The U.S. effort came against a backdrop of increased violence in Syria, with Damascus, for its part, declaring the cease-fire virtually dead. The Syrian military said it planned to end the truce, citing what it claimed were 300 cease-fire violations by armed terrorist groups, Reuters reported. The Syrian army, according to the report, vowed to continue fulfilling its national duties in fighting terrorism in order to bring back security and stability. Syrian government jets allegedly launched dozens of airstrikes in and around the city of Aleppo on Monday, including a deadly attack on a convoy of Red Crescent aid trucks, according to a Syrian monitoring group. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry dismissed Syrias rejection of the cease-fire, saying Russia had an obligation to bring its client into compliance with the deal it struck with the United States. In New York, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was not prepared to give up on the cease-fire agreement and said Washington is seeking clarification from Moscow on the position of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance, Kirby said in a statement. We will be consulting with our Russian counterparts to continue to urge them to use their influence on Assad to these ends. However, a senior U.S. official conceded that the increased violence in the country, in particular, the attack on the aid trucks, raises very serious questions about whether the Russians can be a reliable partner for a ceasefire in the war-torn country. Story continues The burden is on the Russians to demonstrate quickly they are committed to this process, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. Bassma Kodmani, a senior member of the Syrian oppositions negotiating team, said the cease-fire had no value. Assad never complied with it, she told Foreign Policy in a telephone interview. The humanitarian aid never reached any of the areas. This week was supposed to bring some humanitarian aid, but what happened instead was the displacement of populations. The breakdown in the cease-fire is the latest in a long trail of American diplomatic initiatives that have failed to stem the killing in a civil war that has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and drawn criticism that Washington has ceded a key pillar of its Middle East policy to Moscow. It also threatens to undercut what is likely to be President Barack Obamas last-ditch effort to do some good in Syria before his term ends. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault urged the United States and Russia to salvage the cease-fire deal, calling the shaky diplomatic settlement the only hope of easing the violence around Aleppo and beyond. In the interest of peace, we must seize on what Kerry has built with the Russians, even though it is very fragile, Ayrault told reporters at a breakfast at the French mission to the United Nations. Otherwise, he warned, the war will restart, and we will enter an even worse spiral of violence. The latest American diplomatic push comes just days after what Washington called a tragic accident caused a major headache for its Syria policy. The U.S.-backed coalition killed 62 Syrian soldiers in an airstrike Saturday in an attack south of Deir Ezzor, blasting apart months of painstaking U.S. and Russian talks aimed at easing the humanitarian plight of besieged civilians in eastern Aleppo and coordinating the fight against Syria-based terrorist groups. The mishap drew a sharp rebuke from Russia, which suggested the U.S. Defense Department had intentionally targeted Syrian troops in an effort to undermine a commitment by the White House and State Department to share battlefield intelligence on terrorist groups and moderate opposition forces. American officials fired back, accusing Moscow of cynically and hypocritically voicing outrage to deflect attention from Syrias own violations of the cease-fire. Syrias ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Hussam Eddin Ala, took a different approach Monday, calling the U.S. strike deliberate and preplanned. Ala said the strike aimed to pave the way for the ISIS terrorists to attack and take control over the site, from which the Syrian troops had been fighting Islamic State attackers. The details of the U.S.-Russian cease-fire deal have not been made public at the request of the United States. But the terms would require the warring parties, including Syria, to silence their guns for seven days and permit unimpeded access to U.N. convoys delivering badly need food and supplies to needy Syrians in eastern Aleppo. If the cease-fire were to hold for a full week, the United States and Russia would begin to coordinate military strikes against Syrian terrorist groups, including the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and is still considered affiliated with al Qaeda. In the end, bombs have kept falling, and the humanitarian corridors have stayed largely shut. The International Committee of the Red Cross announced that some 45 trucks from the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and the U.N. delivered aid to the besieged town of Talbiseh in central Homs the first time the town has been reached by an aid convoy since July. But U.N. efforts to deliver life-saving flour and other food supplies into eastern Aleppo for the first time since July 7, when government forces stepped up attacks on opposition targets, remain stalled. The U.N. chief emergency relief coordinator, Stephen OBrien, issued a statement Monday expressing disappointment that a 20-truck U.N. convoy with enough food to feed 185,000 desperate people for a month has yet to even cross the Syrian border, let alone make it to Aleppo, where up to 275,000 people remain trapped without food, water, proper shelter or medical care. Kodmani, the Syrian opposition negotiator, disliked the secrecy of the U.S.-Russia pact but had remained hopeful it could finally bring some relief to those who need it most. The Syrian opposition, both political and military, were hoping that the deal would alleviate the sieges and provide safety for civilians, hospitals, and schools. None of that happened, she said. After meeting with a top Saudi official, Kerry put the onus on the Russians to rein in Assads army. The Russians need to control Assad, he said, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys. Photo credit: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f216050%2f108704513-above-and-below Bryce Wilson is probably Australia's most well-known and potentially most controversial urban explorer, but turns out he came across urban exploration, or "urbex," by pure chance. His jaw-dropping perspectives and controversial involvement in the lifestyle have been discussed extensively online, but a new eight-part series on Red Bull TV exploring the dangerous, illegal world of urbex, takes it to new heights. SEE ALSO: 21 Beautiful Runner Photos to Motivate You Off the Couch The 25-year-old, who goes by "Drjft," became a lightning rod for criticism after a video of his very first attempt at urban exploration a climb up the 304 metre (997 feet) crane on Melbourne's Prima Pearl construction site, went viral. However, he's not a thrill seeker without a cause. Photography is what drives him, he merely climbs to get perfect shot. But boy, does he climb. Speaking of his first climb, he tells Mashable: "I went to a building for fun to find unique angles for my photographs. Only after that did I find that other people did this and it was a 'thing.'" "I was motivated and obsessed by the idea of tackling every major icon in Melbourne for my photographs, but not obsessed with the act of urban exploration." Don't look down. Image: Bryce Wilson "The destination was always more important to me than the interim act of getting into the spot or climbing," he said. As his photos show, Wilson's now an experienced urban explorer, having climbed cathedrals, towers and cranes in the name of night-time photography. He says urban exploration in Melbourne is "easier than ever before. Cities are covered in high-rise developments, scaffolding and cranes." Just hangin' out. Image: bryce wilson With his stunning photos, Wilson's also courted controversy. In July 2015 it was reported that he was sentenced to perform 100 hours of community service after stealing A$11,000 (US$8,301) worth of camera equipment and posting it on Instagram. Story continues Look, no hands. Image: bryce wilson As the vertigo-inducing, POV-filled online series URBEX: Enter at Your Own Risk also shows, Wilson's also been highly criticised by the more underground urban exploration community of Melbourne, who felt he was drawing too much attention to the culture. He even received serious threats of violence. King of the world. Image: Bryce Wilson "The people that criticised me for 'spoiling' spots are more motivated by the idea of being in a special, exclusive club than they are photography or exploration of urban spaces," he said. "We live here, and the cities belong to us. Why shouldn't we explore them?" Check out his free climb of Melbourne's Prime Pearl construction site here. Testing East River water quality in Queens, New York City Citizen Science Leader (CSL), Peter Tavolacci, tests East River water quality on the banks of Astoria Park in Queens, New York City. Peter is a HSBC employee and was trained as a CSL by Earthwatch as part of the HSBC Water Program. He joined the FreshWater Watch community of more than 8,000 people who have collected 15,000 water quality samples around the world. Peter said, "I've always felt a real connection with nature. I remember my days in the Scouts where we would always strive to leave nature even better than how we found it, so joining this program was natural for me. I have absolute belief that my collection of data can have a big impact because of the number of people around the world joining in." (Photograph by Mustafah Abdulaziz/Earthwatch) Since 2011, Brooklyn-raised photographer Mustafah Abdulaziz has traveled to nine countries for his long-term photographic project, Water, highlighting the global water crisis. This summer, he focused on New York's waterways and water challenges. The resulting images, along with images from around the world (including Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan, India and China), will be shown in Water Stories, an open-air solo exhibition. This show, his first in New York, will be part of Photoville, a free photography festival in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The 68 images will be presented in massive light boxes along the East River, one of New York's most important bodies of water, and will be visible from Manhattan. The exhibition is the result of a collaboration with the HSBC Water Program a partnership between HSBC, Earthwatch, WaterAid and WWF. The exhibition coincides with NYC Climate Week, further highlighting the growing water challenges across the country and the world. Abdulaziz has captured people and places affected by water challenges, including New York, with a focus on understanding and improving the city's water quality for future generations; the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where just two polluted rivers provide water for 21 million people; the poisoned marigold fields of Kanpur, India; shrimp fishermen at dawn on the restored Lake Hong, China; the barren river bed of the Ganges, India; and brightly dressed women hauling water from a 150-foot-deep well, a three hours walk from their home in Pakistan. Mustafah's work, displayed for the first time at Photoville, includes landscapes scarred by deforestation in Brazil and barriers to development such as conflict and inaccessibility in Nigeria. It also includes previously unseen images of the many levels of New York City's water sources, from the air above the city n to the dark underground of Manhattans sewers. The exhibition also includes portraits of individuals working to improve their local environment: the female mason building toilets in Kanpur, India; the former hunter, Zhang, who now protects wildlife around Lake Hong in China; and the volunteer citizen scientists who gather data on freshwater quality in New York City. Story continues Collectively, the photographs chart the diverse and far-reaching effects of urbanization, poor sanitation, pollution, water scarcity and the side effects of expanding industry and population. As the world becomes more populous and industrialized, water quality is declining , threatening human health and freshwater species, which have declined by 76 percent since the 1970s. Presently, 650 million people do not have access to an improved source of drinking water, while 2.3 billion people live without access to basic sanitation. The United Nations has warned that our planet is facing a 40 percent shortfall in water supply by 2030. World leaders signed 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development in September 2015. Goal 6 calls for ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. Mustafah Abdulaziz is an American documentary photographer based in Berlin. His ongoing project 'Water' has received support from the United Nations and VSCO. In 2012, he was named one of PDN's 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch and was the winner of the Syngenta photography award in 2015. Mustafah Abdulazizs Water Stories exhibition opens Wednesday, Sept. 21, and will be on view in Brooklyn Bridge Plaza in Brooklyn through Oct. 12, as part of Photoville 2016, which runs Sept. 21 to 25. See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr. Sean Payton The New Orleans Saints are in familiar territory: Off to an 0-2 start after disappointing and heart-breaking last minute losses to the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants. AROUND COVER32 Highlights Watch the top plays from Sundays games NFL: Week 2 winners and losers Fantasy Football: DFS picks for Week 2 QB Rankings: Where each QB stands after Week 1 As ESPNs Adam Schefter pointed out, history is not on the Saints side: As 0-1 Jets and 0-1 Bills prepare for tonight's game: Under current playoff format, only 12% of teams starting 0-2 went on to make playoffs. Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 15, 2016 The Saints NFC South foes are all 1-1, so there definitely is hope for them to catch up. A victory at home next Monday against the Atlanta Falcons will tie those two squads up with 1-2 records. The Carolina Panthers have a tough home game against the Minnesota Vikings, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Los Angeles Rams, who have a knack for pulling off road upsets. Obviously, having all three games work in the Saints favor is highly unlikely, but they control their own destiny in Week 3 to remain just one game out of the playoffs. Remember, the Carolina Panthers won the division with a 7-8-1 record two years ago. All hope is not lost with the Saints. Also consider how great their defense was against the New York Giants. If this is the type of unit were going to see in 2016, you know Drew Brees will take care of business, and this team will be a force to be reckoned with. New Orleans schedule doesnt do them any favors, but tough opponents like the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks are visiting New Orleans, not vice versa. There definitely is panic in New Orleans, but a Week 3 win against the Falcons will put them RIGHT BACK in the playoff picture. So no, their season isnt over yet. They just havent made it easy on themselves thus far. The post Weak NFC South gives Saints fighting chance appeared first on Cover32. NEW YORK (AP) The man suspected of planting bombs in a New York neighborhood and a New Jersey seaside town may have aimed to inflict carnage incognito, but he didnt succeed for long in concealing his identity. Ahmad Khan Rahami provided investigators with a wealth of clues that lead to his arrest some 50 hours after the first explosion, according to three law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation. His fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of the Manhattan bombing, they said. His uncovered face was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the spot of the blast. Electronic toll records showed that a car to which he had access was driven from New Jersey to Manhattan and back to New Jersey the day of the bombing, according to the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to discuss an ongoing case. Those and other clues spurred officials to publicize his name and photo Monday morning, asking for help finding Rahami, 28, a U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, who lives with his Muslim family in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Hours later, a police officer in Linden, New Jersey, recognized Rahami after finding him sleeping in a doorway, prompting a confrontation and shootout that led to his capture. A lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too, said New York Police Commissioner James ONeill. He said now, investigators would make sure that we get to the bottom of whos involved and why. After surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg, Rahami was being held on $5.2 million bail, charged with five counts of attempted murder of police officers. Federal prosecutors said they were still weighing charges over the bombings. Rahami remains hospitalized. With Rahamis arrest, officials said they had no other suspects at large, but cautioned that they were still investigating. Story continues Messages left for family members were not immediately returned. It wasnt clear when Rahami would get an attorney. The bombing spread fear across the New York area and revived anxiety about homegrown terrorism nationwide. As the East Coast was rattled by the bombings, a man who authorities say referred to Allah wounded nine people in a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota mall Saturday before being shot to death by an off-duty police officer. Authorities are investigating the stabbings as a possible terrorist attack but have not drawn any connection between the bloodshed there and the bombings. William Sweeney Jr., the FBIs assistant director in New York, said there was no indication so far that the bombings were the work of a larger terror cell. Rahami wasnt on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes traveling between the U.S. and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. Rahami and his family live above their fried-chicken restaurant called First American Fried Chicken and the family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints, which the Rahamis said in a lawsuit were tinged with anti-Muslim sentiment. The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 because one of Rahamis brothers had pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing closing hours at the restaurant. A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. Still, some of the family restaurants customers said Rahami was more likely to talk about his interest in cars than to mention faith. Hes a very friendly guy, patron Ryan McCann said. Thats whats so scary. The investigation began when a pipe bomb blew up Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines. No one was injured. Then a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb exploded Saturday night in New Yorks Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found blocks away. Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station, about 3 miles from where Rahami was later found asleep in the doorway of a bar. Investigators are still gathering evidence and have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices, though Sweeney noted they arent ruling anything out. The bombs discovered Saturday all used flip cellphones as a trigger and were all made with easily purchasable materials, a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said. After zeroing in on Rahami and learning of the car that had traveled between New Jersey and New York, authorities pulled it over Sunday night after it headed in the direction of Kennedy airport. The law enforcement officials said at least one of Rahamis relatives was in the car. All five were questioned and released, Sweeney said. He declined to say whether they might later face charges. Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said the break in the case came Monday morning, when a bar owner reported someone asleep in his doorway. An officer arrived and confronted Rahami, who pulled a gun and fired, authorities said. The officer was saved by his bulletproof vest. More officers joined in a battle that spilled into the street. Another police officer was grazed by a bullet. The officers injuries werent life-threatening. Around the time Rahami was captured, President Barack Obama was in New York on a previously scheduled visit for a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. He called on Americans to show the world we will never give in to fear. ___ Kang reported from Elizabeth, New Jersey. Associated Press writers Tom Hays in San Francisco, California; Michael Balsamo in New York; Michael Catalini in Elizabeth; and Eric Tucker, Alicia A. Caldwell and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report. hillary clinton jimmy fallon Hillary Clinton riffed on the double standard she faces on the campaign trail on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon Monday night. "When you campaign, I feel like it's so tricky," Fallon said. "People kind of want to see this Hillary, which is the bad-ass Hillary and the serious Hillary." "They want to see someone who's going to protect us and be strong and tough," he added. Clinton responded: "It's especially tricky for women. It just is, because you know there's a lot of serious things. The other night, I was on a show and being asked about ISIS and Iran and I was serious. These are important issues that the country needs to talk about. And the Republicans were saying, 'Oh she looks so serious.' Well you don't talk about ISIS with a big grin on your face. They're a barbaric, evil group that we have to defeat and wipe out. But it is a constant balancing act. How do you kind of keep the energy and the positive spirit while taking seriously what you need to." Clinton was referring to NBC's Commander-In-Chief Forum that news anchor Matt Lauer hosted on September 7, where both she and her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, discussed national security. After Clinton appeared, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted that she had "no smile." @HillaryClinton was angry + defensive the entire time - no smile and uncomfortable - upset that she was caught wrongly sending our secrets. Reince Priebus (@Reince) September 8, 2016 Not the first time Conservative MSNBC host Joe Scarborough similarly told Clinton to "smile" after she won three crucial states in the Democratic primary. The response from Samantha Bee of "Full Frontal" prompted thousands of others to tweet their #SmileforJoe. Story continues And those are just the two instances that received a substantial amount of press. A number of women have addressed being told to smile over the last few years, from actresses and activists to politicians and pundits. "Stop Telling Women to Smile" is a project from artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh that places portraits of women around major cities to draw attention to the street harassment women face every day. It's turned into a movement, with women sharing their own harassment stories across social media. As a true testament to the cultural ubiquity of the phrase, in an episode of the show "Broad City," Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson reacted to a stranger on the street saying it by pushing their mouths into a smile with their middle fingers. After Preibus' tweet, Chelsea Handler responded on her Netflix show, "Chelsea." "Who the f--- are you to tell someone to smile? This is just another example of how men think they can belittle every woman in the world and order up a smile," Handler said. "You know what, women? We'll smile when Hillary kicks that pneumonia and trounces Trump in November." NOW WATCH: 'Its not my thing': Clinton releases ad of Trump stating diaper changes are a wife's job More From Business Insider Jiah Khan's death has been called a suicide by the CBI, but new developments indicate something else altogether. By India Today Web Desk: Jiah Khan was found hanging in her Juhu apartment in June 2013, and over the last three years, the actor's death has been the subject of mystery for people all over the country. From Jiah Khan's then-boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi being charged with abetment to suicide to the CBI later pronouncing Jiah's death as suicide, the case has seen several twists and turns over the years. The newest development in the Jiah Khan death case is a shocking one: a British forensic expert hired by Jiah's mother Rabia Khan has found that the 'hanging was staged'. advertisement ALSO READ: This is what Jiah Khan's letter to Sooraj Pancholi read ALSO READ: Sooraj Pancholi extricated Jiah Khan's foetus with own hands? A report in Mumbai Mirror states that the findings by the UK forensic expert hired by Jiah's mother Rabia are in contradiction with the conclusion reached by the CBI. Rabia wants to share the developments with a Mumbai sessions court tomorrow (September 21), but is not sure if the court will pay any heed to the findings by a forensic expert hired independently by her. Forensic expert Jason Payne-James's report comes a month after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ruled out murder in the Jiah Khan death case. Over the last three years, Rabia has time and again reiterated her view that Jiah could not have committed suicide. Khan's debut in Bollywood happened alongside Amitabh Bachchan in the controversial film Nishabd in 2007. Jiah then went on to work in Ghajini (2008) with Aamir Khan. The actor was found hanging at her Juhu residence on June 3, 2013. She was in a relationship with Aditya Pancholi's son Sooraj Pancholi back then. According to the state's forensic experts, the injury marks on Jiah's lower lip were said to be the result of "friction with the teeth during the commission of the act (suicide)". However, Payne-James has said in his report that the injuries "represent either abrasions or bruises", and are indicative of "blunt force trauma to the mouth region (for example punching or a hand placed over the mouth)". "In terms of their site and appearance, they are not typical of teeth marks," the report goes on to state. The ligature marks on Jiah's neck, the state forensic experts said, "may be caused due to slippage of ligature material [dupatta] slightly downwards or the ligature knot present at that site". Payne-James, on the other hand, concluded that such impressions could not have been created by the dupatta. "It would seem unlikely that the diffuse pressure of the dupatta around the neck would cause the well-defined abraded ligature mark seen," Payne-James said. advertisement "There are a number of serious misinterpretations (or exclusions of reasonable inferences) of the medical evidence, and that the apparent intention to attribute her death to suicide may mean that the real possibility of a staged hanging subsequent to earlier death at the hands of another has been missed," the report states. Aditya Pancholi, however, raised doubts over the admissibility of the report in court. Pancholi told the tabloid, "This report is from a private forensic lab and it's paid. We will see if a court admits it or not. The investigations have been done by different agencies and all of them have come to the same conclusion [that it was a suicide]." However, if legal experts are to be believed, the latest findings will be taken into account and that no judge would dismiss the developments. --- ENDS --- Stocks (^GPSC, ^DJI, ^IXIC) started the day with solid gains ahead of policy decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. Meanwhile, crude prices (CL=F) are lower after Venezuela warned that the oil market remains 10% oversupplied. Housing stumbles On the economic front, some disappointing data from the housing sector. Home construction fell 5.8% below July to an annual adjusted pace of 1.14 million according to the Commerce Department. Wells Fargo chief to apologize Wells Fargo (WFC) CEO John Stumpf heads to Capitol Hill today to answer questions about the scandal over sham accounts set up by the banks employees to meet sales targets. According to prepared remarks, Stumpf will tell the Senate Banking Committee hes deeply sorry and takes full responsibility for the unethical behavior. Will lawmakers buy it? Guidelines for driverless cars The Obama administration is rolling out new safety guidelines for self-driving cars. The recommendations include a 15-point safety assessment and are meant standardize how driverless cars are tested before hitting the road. How will automakers react? Buzz over new Google phone Google (GOOGL) will reportedly unveil a new smartphone at an event on October 4th. The company announced the event in a video posted on YouTube that simply shows the shape of a phone and the date. Another site suggest the device will be made by Google. Does the world need another smartphone? Stocks to watch SeaWorld (SEAS) shares sank this morning after the embattled theme park operator said it will suspend future dividend payments. The company said it would use the money saved on dividend payments to buy back shares. SeaWorld said it would stop breeding killer whales in March as public scrutiny over its treatment of orcas took a toll on attendance in recent years. Apple (AAPL) shares are in focus once again after UBS raised its 12-month price target on the stock to $127 per share from $115. The bank cited expectations of higher 2017 earnings and demand for the new iPhone 7, which has been encouraging. Apple shares popped last week on optimism over pre-orders. Chesapeake Energy (CHK) shares fell in early trading following news late Monday that billionaire investor Carl Icahn cut his stake in the shale driller by more than half to 4.5%. Icahn said he reduced his position for tax reasons and expressed confidence in Chesapeakes top executives. Lennar (LEN) reported a beat on both its top and bottom line for its fiscal third quarter. Revenue jumped 13.7% from a year ago as it sold more homes at higher prices. Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo & Company WFC, John Stumpf, is set to apologize today as the bank runs deep into troubles following the exposure of the fake account scandal. The banking giant was slapped with charges of opening around 1.5 millions of unauthorized accounts. In his prepared testimony to be delivered before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Stumpf said, I am deeply sorry that we failed to fulfill our responsibility to our customers, to our team members, and to the American public. He added, And I want to apologize for not doing more sooner to address the causes of this unacceptable activity. He also noted, I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices in our retail banking business, and I am fully committed to doing everything possible to fix this issue, strengthen our culture, and take the necessary actions to restore our customers trust. The prepared remarks reflect the penitent tone of Stumpf, who has been facing huge criticisms post the $190-million settlement with regulators on Sep 8. Stumpf specified that there was no no orchestrated effort or scheme by the bank to promote the wrongful sales practices. In his testimony, Stumpf outlined how the company has been making progress in its several measures to detect and deter unethical behavior of employees, improve sale practice oversight in its retail banking. He further added that the bank is working to win back customers confidence. Regarding the termination of the banks 5,300 employees, Stumpf stated that the termination did not occur following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus enforcement investigation. According to Stumpf, the employees were dismissed gradually for misconduct related to sales activities as a result of investigations from Jan 1, 2011 through Mar 7, 2016. In order to prevent the creation of unauthorized accounts, Stumpf highlighted several measures undertaken by the banking giant, including working with The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to boost enterprise oversight of sales conduct risk, establishing new improved branch compliance program to monitor violations of sales practice and revising credit card procedures as well. Stumpf is also expected to testify at a hearing, later this month, before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, which has also commenced an investigation into the bank. Currently, Wells Fargo carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the finance space include Meta Financial Group, Inc. CASH, Flagstar Bancorp Inc. FBC and LPL Financial Holdings Inc. LPLA, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report WELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report LPL FINL HLDGS (LPLA): Free Stock Analysis Report FLAGSTAR BANCP (FBC): Free Stock Analysis Report META FINL GRP (CASH): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. (In 4th paragraph, corrects to Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, not Sherrod Brown of Ohio.) By Patrick Rucker and Dan Freed Sept 20 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co's chief executive officer told a Senate panel on Tuesday that customers who had bogus accounts opened in their name will be made whole and compensated for any damage to their credit rating, but some Democratic senators called for his resignation. Under fire, CEO John Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee he has told his managers to do "whatever it takes" to make customers whole, refunding fees or compensating them for damage to their credit ratings. Asked if he would set aside mandatory arbitration agreements that prohibit clients from suing Wells Fargo, he declined to commit to that. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has proposed a ban on mandatory arbitration clauses that prohibit class-action lawsuits. Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for Stumpf to resign, with Warren saying Stumpf should give back his salary and be criminally investigated. The bank's board of directors is examining what action it should take against company executives, Stumpf told the committee. "I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices," Stumpf said, adding later, "I apologize to all of the American people and our customers, and I will make it right." Earlier this month, the lender agreed to pay $190 million in penalties and customer payouts to settle a case in which bank employees created credit, savings and other accounts without customer knowledge. The revelations are a severe hit to Wells Fargo's reputation. During the financial crisis, the bank trumpeted being a conservative bank in contrast with its rivals. Of the $190 million in the settlement, only $5 million will directly compensate customers, many of whom might have only paid a small fee on unwanted accounts. But lawmakers said phony bank accounts might have hurt customer credit ratings, potentially increasing the cost of a mortgage or car loan. New credit card applications and consumer borrowing trends can weight on an individual's credit report. Story continues "STUNNED" Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, said in prepared testimony for the committee that his agency is considering action against individual Wells Fargo executives who may have violated laws or regulations or engaged in "unsafe or unsound practices, or breach(ed) fiduciary duty." Brown, the senior Democrat on the Senate panel, criticized the bank for exploiting customers and for its slow response in controlling the abuse. "I was stunned when I learned about the breadth and duration of this fraud," he said in his opening remarks. Wells Fargo has acknowledged bank employees "inappropriately opened" the customer accounts over five years, and that about 5,300 employees were fired in that time. Former bank employees have said they were under intense pressure to add accounts for each bank customer. Abuses were found as early as 2011, Stumpf said, but bank executives only realized the scale of the problem early last year. At that time, Stumpf said, bank executives came to recognize how a pattern of creating phony accounts could be used to boost unwarranted fees. "It never dawned on us that there could be a cycle," the CEO said. "It just sort of begs the issue of where was management," Brown said. Brown said employees were caught "forging signatures, and stealing identities, Social Security numbers, and customers' hard-earned cash, so as to hang on to their low-paying jobs and make money for the high-paying executives at Wells Fargo." Wells Fargo shares rose 1 percent in early-afternoon trading at $46.49. Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Wells Fargo violated internal controls required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for financial disclosures and corporate accounting. The U.S. Attorney's Offices in Manhattan and in San Francisco are investigating Wells Fargo, a person familiar with the matter said last week. "TOO BIG TO MANAGE?" While Democratic lawmakers like Warren were the most outspoken in their attacks, Republicans also grilled Stumpf. Louisiana Senator David Vitter pressed the CEO on how customer fraud could persist for years and thousands of employees could be fired before the head of the bank got involved. "Why isn't this crystal clear proof that an entity as big as Wells is not only too big to fail but it's too big to manage and too big to regulate?" Vitter asked. Stumpf said he had considered the question, adding that the widespread abuse was "a problem of focus and not of size." Stumpf appeared before the congressional panel with a bandaged right hand. He suffered an injury playing with his grandchildren, according to the bank. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in a letter to bank customers released on Tuesday, said Stumpf "owes all of you a clear explanation as to how this happened under his watch." (Reporting by Patrick Rucker in Washington and Dan Freed in New York; Writing by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) (WASHINGTON) Wells Fargo & Cos chief executive officer told a Senate panel on Tuesday that customers who had bogus accounts opened in their name will be made whole and compensated for any damage to their credit rating, but some Democratic senators called for his resignation. Under fire, CEO John Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee he has told his managers to do whatever it takes to make customers whole, refunding fees or compensating them for damage to their credit ratings. Asked if he would set aside mandatory arbitration agreements that prohibit clients from suing Wells Fargo, he declined to commit to that. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has proposed a ban on mandatory arbitration clauses that prohibit class-action lawsuits. Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for Stumpf to resign, with Warren saying Stumpf should give back his salary and be criminally investigated. The banks board of directors is examining what action it should take against company executives, Stumpf told the committee. I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices, Stumpf said, adding later, I apologize to all of the American people and our customers, and I will make it right. Earlier this month, the lender agreed to pay $190 million in penalties and customer payouts to settle a case in which bank employees created credit, savings and other accounts without customer knowledge. The revelations are a severe hit to Wells Fargos reputation. During the financial crisis, the bank trumpeted being a conservative bank in contrast with its rivals. Of the $190 million in the settlement, only $5 million will directly compensate customers, many of whom might have only paid a small fee on unwanted accounts. But lawmakers said phony bank accounts might have hurt customer credit ratings, potentially increasing the cost of a mortgage or car loan. New credit card applications and consumer borrowing trends can weight on an individuals credit report. Story continues STUNNED Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, said in prepared testimony for the committee that his agency is considering action against individual Wells Fargo executives who may have violated laws or regulations or engaged in unsafe or unsound practices, or breach(ed) fiduciary duty. Brown, the senior Democrat on the Senate panel, criticized the bank for exploiting customers and for its slow response in controlling the abuse. I was stunned when I learned about the breadth and duration of this fraud, he said in his opening remarks. Wells Fargo has acknowledged bank employees inappropriately opened the customer accounts over five years, and that about 5,300 employees were fired in that time. Former bank employees have said they were under intense pressure to add accounts for each bank customer. Abuses were found as early as 2011, Stumpf said, but bank executives only realized the scale of the problem early last year. At that time, Stumpf said, bank executives came to recognize how a pattern of creating phony accounts could be used to boost unwarranted fees. It never dawned on us that there could be a cycle, the CEO said. It just sort of begs the issue of where was management, Brown said. Brown said employees were caught forging signatures, and stealing identities, Social Security numbers, and customers hard-earned cash, so as to hang on to their low-paying jobs and make money for the high-paying executives at Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo shares rose 1 percent in early-afternoon trading at $46.49. Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Wells Fargo violated internal controls required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for financial disclosures and corporate accounting. The U.S. Attorneys Offices in Manhattan and in San Francisco are investigating Wells Fargo, a person familiar with the matter said last week. TOO BIG TO MANAGE? While Democratic lawmakers like Warren were the most outspoken in their attacks, Republicans also grilled Stumpf. Louisiana Senator David Vitter pressed the CEO on how customer fraud could persist for years and thousands of employees could be fired before the head of the bank got involved. Why isnt this crystal clear proof that an entity as big as Wells is not only too big to fail but its too big to manage and too big to regulate? Vitter asked. Stumpf said he had considered the question, adding that the widespread abuse was a problem of focus and not of size. Stumpf appeared before the congressional panel with a bandaged right hand. He suffered an injury playing with his grandchildren, according to the bank. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in a letter to bank customers released on Tuesday, said Stumpf owes all of you a clear explanation as to how this happened under his watch. (Reporting by Patrick Rucker in Washington and Dan Freed in New York; Writing by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) Tuesday wasnt a great day for Wells Fargo WFC CEO John Stumpf, the man whose company is at the center of a scandal involving fraudulent account-opening practices. The banking chief was called to a Congressional committee hearing to answer questions about the companys fraud, and several key U.S. senators held nothing back while grilling Stumpf. Stumpfs most vocal critic was Elizabeth Warren, the senior senator from Massachusetts. The Democratic senator questioned Stumpfs accountability, demanded his resignation, and suggested that he be criminally investigated. Since this massive years-long scam came to light, you have said repeatedly: Im accountable. But what have you actually done to hold yourself accountable? Have you resigned as CEO or chairman of Wells Fargo?, Warren asked. The exchange between Warren and Strumpf reached its most tense point when Senator Warren brought up the chief executives stock-based compensation during the years that the Wells Fargo fraud occurred. While this scam was going on, you personally held an average of 6.75 million shares of Wells stock. The share price during this time period went up by about $30, which comes out to more than $200 million in gains, all for you personally, Warren said after a round of contentious back and forth questioning. Other members of the committee were also unimpressed with Stumpfs prepared remarks, despite his attempt to place some of the blame on himself. Although Stumpf did apologize to Wells Fargos customers and employees, as well as the American public, he fell short of labeling the scandal a result of systemic fraud. I do want to make very clear that there was no orchestrated effort, or scheme as some have called it, by the company, he claimed. Stumpf also argued that the fake accounts cost the bank money and customers. The company also said that it has fired 5,300 employees in response to the issue, which began in 2011, including managers and managers of managers. Story continues Todays committee hearing will certainly not be the last time Stumpf or Wells Fargo will face a tough series of questions in front of regulators and the American public. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report WELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research New York (AFP) - Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf was grilled on Capitol Hill Tuesday and faced a demand from one senator to resign in the wake of a massive bogus accounts scandal. Members of the powerful Senate Banking Committee also called on Stumpf to "claw back" compensation from top executives allegedly responsible for the scandal, after he apologized for it. Stumpf said the bank had taken steps to address the problem as it learned of the bogus accounts, firing 5,300 employees over a five-year period and making some incremental policy changes, such as reducing the link between sales goals and compensation. But the bank should have moved earlier to completely eliminate sales targets for retail bankers, a policy shift announced last week, he said. "Despite all of these efforts, we did not get it right," Stumpf said. "We should have realized much sooner that the best way to solve the problems in the retail banking business was to completely eliminate retail bank product sales goals." Regulators on September 8 fined Wells Fargo $185 million for opening some two million customer deposit and credit card accounts without customer approval. The accounts were reportedly opened by often low-paid sales staff under pressure to meet performance goals and earn bonuses. Stumpf told the panel that employees were never instructed by senior executives to open bogus accounts. But Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, accused Stumpf of scapegoating low-ranking employees and not taking responsibility for setting up an incentive system that led to the fraud. Warren noted that Wells Fargo has touted its strong cross-selling results as key to boosting its share price, helping to lift Stumpf's personal wealth by more than $200 million, according to her estimates. "This is about accountability," Warren said. "You should resign. You should give back the money that you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission," she said. Story continues "This just isn't right. A cashier who steals a handful of $20s is held accountable, but Wall Street executives almost never hold themselves accountable, not now and not in 2008 when they crushed the worldwide economy." The hearing focused on a former senior executive in community banking, Carrie Tolstedt, who left the bank recently with a reported $125 million retirement package as regulators were probing the bogus accounts. "To not invoke some kind of clawback for yourself and others is a malpractice just from the standpoint of public relations," said Republican Senator Bob Corker. Stumpf declined to offer an opinion on whether he, Tolstedt or other top executives should be forced to pay back compensation. "I'm not on the human resources committee," Stumpf said. "It's an independent committee. They will take under deliberation. He said some members of senior executive management had suffered financial consequences and could face additional penalties. These include officials in charge of risk in the retail bank and regional presidents, he said. In his opening statement before the Senate Banking Committee, Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) CEO John Stumpf outlined some of the key new internal rules put in place in the wake of the banks fake accounts scandal. I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices in our retail banking business and I am fully committed to fixing this issue, strengthening our culture and taking the necessary actions to restore our customers trust, Stumpf told the Committee Stumpf detailed some of the steps the company is taking in an effort to improve Wells Fargos culture and rebuild the banks trust with consumers. On September 13, 2016, we announced a major decision, that we will end product sales goals for everyone in our retail banking business, Stumpf told the Committee. Stumpf then listed several of the key initiatives the bank is implementing. Im also announcing, today, three new initiatives that will reinforce our commitment to our customers. The first measure was to expand the scope of the banks customer account reviews. First, were expanding the scope of our account review and remediation to include both 2009 and 2010. Stumpf explained the banks plan to contact all of its deposit customers in an effort to discuss and review their accounts with them. Second, we will be contacting every, single one of our deposit customers across the country, using the same process that we agreed to with the city of Los Angeles for our California customers. According to Stumpf the bank would be in contact with its credit card customers as well. And third, we have begun contacting hundreds of thousands of our customers with open credit cards, including those for whom weve already refunded fees, to confirm whether they need or want their credit card. Stumpf then discussed the banks plan for future communications with customers opening new deposit accounts or credit cards. In addition, weve recently started sending customers a confirmation email within one hour of opening any new deposit account and an acknowledgement letter before submitting a credit card application. Story continues In a press release the bank also explained it was Conducting an independent, enterprise-wide review of our sales practices. We recognize now, that we should have done more sooner to eliminate unethical conduct or incentives that may have unintentionally encouraged that conduct, Stumpf said. Related Articles On the eve of a Congressional hearing on the soaring price and lack of competition for the EpiPen emergency allergy treatment, the attorney general for West Virginia has confirmed his office is investigating EpiPen maker Mylan for allegations of antitrust violations and Medicaid fraud. WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey confirmed the investigation today, revealing that hed issued a subpoena to Mylan back in August, seeking documents and other information related to EpiPen, but that the company failed to meet the Sept. 7 deadline. In response, Morriseys office has petitioned [PDF] a state circuit court to enforce that subpoena. The state believes that EpiPen has been short-changing the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services Bureau for Medical Services (BMS) by paying smaller rebates than it should have. Related Stories From Consumer Reports Drug companies pay different levels of rebates to BMS depending on whether a medication is considered an innovator or a non-innovator. The lower, non-innovator distinction, is usually reserved for generics, but Morrisey says that Mylan was paying that rate for EpiPen, even though its a brand-name drug. This may constitute Medicaid fraud under state law, according to the petition. The state also believes that Mylan may have violated state antitrust laws by filing an intellectual property suit against Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2012 over an in-development generic version of EpiPen. Though Tevas generic has since been rejected by the FDA (Teva says it plans to try again soon), the state contends that at the time of the lawsuit, Mylan was attempting to exclude generic competition from the market, at least initially, by suing competitors for patent infringement. Story continues The two drug companies settled with an agreement that Teva could try to go forward with a generic after three years, but the petition notes that Cooperating with, agreeing with, or conspiring with competitors to limit the availability of competing products is a violation of the Antitrust Act. Morrisey says that Mylan now controls up to 90% of the U.S. market for epinephrine auto-injectors, which has allowed it to raise prices from around $100 for a two-pack in 2009 to more than $600 for the same two-pack today. The petition acknowledges that its not illegal to raise the price on a drug, but it is against the law to maintain a monopoly through exclusionary conduct. I have a statutory responsibility to investigate any potential antitrust violation, explained Morrisey in a statement. Consumers lose when competition doesnt flourish. West Virginiahome state to Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, whose father is former a former governor, and current U.S. Senator for the stateis not alone in investigating Mylan. New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently confirmed that his office was looking into antitrust concerns about the EpiPen4Schools program. Documentation for that program, which provides EpiPens to schools at a discounted price, appears to show that participating schools must agree to not purchase any drugs that compete with EpiPen. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright 2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S. Kareena Kapoor Khan, who congratulated Shahid Kapoor on becoming a father, says that only good things are in store for him now. By India Today Web Desk: Kareena Kapoor, who is expecting her first child with husband Saif Ali Khan, is in a happy phase. So much so that the Begum of Pataudi has decided to bury the hatchet with ex-flame Shahid Kapoor. Though the two haven't become best of friends, but they do make it to the list of each other's well wishers. In fact, Kareena, along with Saif, congratulated Shahid who recently became a dad to a baby girl. advertisement ALSO READ: Kareena congratulates Shahid on being a dad, B-Town exes who left ugly break-ups and became friends ALSO READ: Ex-lovers Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan reunite for Udta Punjab trailer launch Kareena is happy for Shahid and this new phase in his life. The 35-year-old actor is also excited about Shahid's next film Rangoon, which also stars Saif. In an interview to Pinkvilla, Kareena said that great things are in store for the Udta Punjab actor because of his baby and his next release Rangoon. "We have congratulated them. He is Saif's co-star in Rangoon. And they are going to make a kick ass film. It is going to look fab. It is such a great time because it is a beautiful thing to happen to anybody in life. I think there are only going to be good things to come now in store for them with the baby and now Rangoon," she told the website. It is for the first time that Shahid and Saif will star together in a film. And Kareena can't wait to watch Rangoon. "I am most excited about it. I am more excited as I have seen the stills and I think it will be one of the best movies of 2017," she added. On the work front, she will be next seen in Rhea Kapoor's Veere Di Wedding. Kareena will shoot for some parts next month and then resume the film after the delivery of her first child. --- ENDS --- Whoopi Goldberg wearing Vetements on The View [Photo: Twitter/IANCOGNEATO] Vetements, the bank-breaking Parisian label thats built up a cult following in just a few seasons, has a brand new A-list fan. Actress Whoopi Goldberg was spotted yesterday in the brands May The Bridges I Burn Light The Way hoodie on talk show, The View. The design comes from Vetements AW16 collection and was such a favourite it was shown on the same runway twice. If youre in the market for a new sweatshirt, the same one can be yours for the princely sum of 550. Celine Dion is also a Vetements enthusiast, having worn the labels oversized Titanic hoodie at Pariss recent couture shows. Whoopi Goldberg on the runway at Opening Ceremony SS17 [Photo: Getty] This isnt the first foray into fashion from the outspoken Goldberg. The actress was all over this seasons New York Fashion Week. She walked in Opening Ceremonys political pageant, sat front row at the PornHub-sponsored Hood By Air show and was also spotted at the likes of Marc Jacobs and Thom Browne. Whoopi arriving at Marc Jacobss SS17 show [Photo: Getty] So is Whoopi fashions unlikeliest advocate? If her sense of humours anything to go by, shell get on great with the industrys wackier brands. What do you think of Whoopis new look? Let us know at @YahooStyleUK. The new UGG-Sandal hybrid has divided the internet Emmy Awards 2016: best and worst dressed We updated our research report on Mack-Cali Realty Corp. CLI on Sep 16, 2016. The company recently announced strong progress on its 20/15 plan. This 39-month plan envisages Mack-Cali as a premier real estate investment trust (REIT), with focus on the waterfront and transit-based office holdings in the Northeast and on luxury multi-family portfolio growth as well. Chalked out last year, this plan aims to reposition Mack-Calis portfolio to include 20 million square feet of office and 15,000 luxury apartment units by 2018. Over the last 12 months, the company has determined market mix, exited non-core markets and purchased assets in transit-based markets in Hoboken & Metropark. Mack-Cali targets 6% annual yield and 11% internal rate of return (IRR) on developments over the next 24 months. It also intends to make up to $450 million non-core asset sales through 2017, upgrade its present amenities and improve its offerings with six major capital investment programs in the next 1218 months. Among such projects is the $50$75 million transformation and re-imagination of the Harborside complex on the Jersey City Waterfront. In our view, despite the near-term dilution impact of the non-core assets sale, the transformation efforts and diversification into the apartment sector are expected to drive growth as well as improve Mack-Calis cash flow. Moreover, besides this robust progress on its strategic plan, the company reported better-than-expected results in second-quarter 2016, backed by higher base rents and lower net property expense. The company, which has a solid roster of commercial tenants from diverse industries, enjoys debt-free ownership for the bulk of its portfolio. As of Jun 30, 2016, the company had 205 unencumbered properties with a carrying value of $2.3 billion. This denoted 91.9% of the companys total consolidated property count. Reflecting positive sentiments, the funds from operations (FFO) per share estimates have also been improving lately. Over the past 30 days, FFO per share estimates for 2016 moved up 0.5% to $2.11 and 1.8% to $2.22. The 2016 and 2017 estimates also reflect 12.23% and 5.31% growth year over year. As such, Mack-Cali currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Story continues MACK CALI CORP Price and Consensus MACK CALI CORP Price and Consensus | MACK CALI CORP Quote Another favorably placed stock in the REIT industry is InfraREIT, Inc. HIFR, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Also, investors can consider stocks like Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. ARE and HCP Inc. HCP, both carrying the same Zacks Rank as Mack-Cali. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report HCP INC (HCP): Free Stock Analysis Report MACK CALI CORP (CLI): Free Stock Analysis Report ALEXANDRIA REAL (ARE): Free Stock Analysis Report INFRAREIT INC (HIFR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The 75th anniversary of a major historical event is a tricky one, says Craig Nelson, author of best-selling books like Rocket Men and The Age of Radiance. Those who remember that event first-hand were young when it happened and are elderly now. Youre sort of on the border between journalism and history, he says. You have to make a giant effort to capture this material before it goes away for good. That was part of the reason why Nelson turned his attention to the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the subject of his new book Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness, available Tuesday. He talked to TIME about what its like to take on a topic that has been so thoroughly dissected, and how its possible that theres still more to learn about that infamous day. When youre researching something so huge, where do you start? The guy who sort of did the big definitive book before me was Gordon Prange, and he wrote At Dawn We Slept. He had been given orders by General MacArthur to interview all of the Japanese captured as part of Operation Hawaii and Operation Z. He went so far overboard in his research that he died before being able to finish the book. So thats the kind of research thats involved. I ended up hiring about a dozen peoplesome worked on Japanese material, some worked with me in New York, some worked in Washington, and we produced over a million pages of research to start from. It was just overwhelming. At first I thought, I should really just give up. It was the most written-about thing in American history. That sounds daunting. Part of what we researched was, What were the major books that people had written already and was there something new? A lot of the people, the survivors, were very young [at the time], and they were so traumatized. No one knew about PTSD then, and they didnt have any kind of treatment for it. So a lot of these people never really talked about it, and then you have people who were ignored, such as most of the Air Force and the civilians and the whole Japanese-American side of the story. You end up finding out that theres an enormous amount of material that isnt commonly known or hasnt been published before. Theres a lot more research to do and theres a lot of stuff we can do thats new. Story continues Was there a most surprising research moment that you had during this process? I guess the big surprise to me was all the horrible things that people would live with and they wouldnt tell anybody. That idea, that people were expected to just deal with it and not process their emotions, is that part of the reason why there remains more to be said about something thats been so studied? Yes, all of this stuff is new because people wouldnt talk about it. Remember after 9/11, they had the pictures of people jumping off the towers, and how they made this effort to sort of scrub all that away? Something sort of similar happened with Pearl Harbor, where they tried not let people know how devastating it was. Roosevelt announced that 300 people had died when it was 2,403. Theres almost a protective quality the government wants to have, to go, Oh, this wasnt as bad as you think, when its much worse than any one of them thought. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter How has our popular understanding of that day evolved over these last 75 years? Well, of course, for the war years it was the great inspiration for winning World War II, to remember Pearl Harbor and honor the memory of those who died and get revenge and get payback. It became as popular as Remember the Alamo. Even though it was very distant to people, it also seemed as though the Japanese might appear in California at any minute. Then, after World War II, people really forgot about it. They deliberately tried to put it out of their minds. I had one veteran tell me that the first time he talked about it with his children was when he became a grandparent. He didnt mention a word of Pearl Harbor for 30 years. Other ones would say, well, who wants to remember that? It was traumatizing. Is there anything you found that, over time as these different narratives evolved, got messed up? Something that everyone thinks they know but its wrong? The view that we had of the Japanese government during this period was that we thought that they were like Germany, where the head [of the government] was a maniac and the government was practically a religious cult group operation. And this was pretty much our image of the 1930s Japanese government for 50 years. And just now, the new stuff is coming out, showing how they constantly wavered back and forth on whether or not to attack the United States. Whats a shame is that, because the military had told Roosevelt that Japan would never attack the United States, that he and his Secretary of State Cordell Hull were pretty belligerent in dealing with the Japanese during this period. If they had lightened up a little bit, we probably might have never had a Pearl Harbor or a Pacific war Really? The Americans were insisting that the Japanese had to pull out of China. If the Americans had said, O.K., how about you do this in 10 years, this in 15 years and this in 25 years, it probably would have worked. China for the Japanese was kind of like Vietnam for Americans. It was a quagmire and it wasnt doing anything for them, but they couldnt get out of it. One of the most interesting points you make in the book is that if the Pearl Harbor strike had hit the nearby petroleum tanks, there wouldnt have been enough fuel for the American Navy to fight the war in the Pacific. It would have been very difficult. They had to ship all of their oil for running every engine from the west coast. Are there other what if moments from that day that could have changed the course of the war? Its my whole favorite thing about this story. It seems to me that it was very close to never having a Pearl Harbor, and if that were true America wouldnt have fought a Pacific war, and if that were true and theres only fighting Italy and Germany, would we even be a global superpower? Pearl Harbor is this amazing trigger. You can say that even though Americans didnt want to face the gruesome things they had seen in war, they made a lot of effort to make sure it didnt happen again. David Simon, the creator of The Wire, is being slammed for using the N-word in a tweet about Sean Hannity. Simon was weighing in on the upcoming Donald Trump town hall where he is set to address the issues facing African-Americans. The event will be hosted by Hannity on Wednesday. Hannity my n-, he tweeted, without the dashes. If they couldnt get Ta-Nehisi or Deray to host, then who but you on the pulse of black America? Hannity my nigga! If they couldn't get Ta-Nehisi or Deray to host, then who but you on the pulse of black America? https://t.co/9hW7wpH4Ar David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016 Social media users were quick to blast Simon, telling him he was out of line and he should know better. Also Read: 'The Wire' Actor Wendell Pierce Says Arrest Was a 'Civil Political Discussion' That Escalated @AoDespair Hello, fellow white person! I see you are using racially loaded in-group vernacular! Might I suggest rethinking this idea? Studious Butt (@Sedna_51) September 20, 2016 @AoDespair This wasn't okay. You know better, you should do better. BrownBecky (@bettyb00p00) September 20, 2016 @AoDespair white people love using the word 'nigga' any chance they get, under any context when it's not needed. go fuck yourself. Rosa Sparks (@MzYummyDread) September 20, 2016 @AoDespair David, you're an intelligent white man. You know how this looks. It's not okay. I get the sarcasm. There's better ways to do it. BrownBecky (@bettyb00p00) September 20, 2016 @AoDespair I respect you. Draw back from that word, sir, it's not ours. I see where you wanted to go with it, but damn, my dude. BearDevil (@GotdamBear) September 20, 2016 @AoDespair You are out of line. Nyasha Junior (@NyashaJunior) September 20, 2016 Simon later tried to explain his remarks, saying his tweet was supposed to intentionally mock the misuse of a white Fox interlocutor to address black issues. Many understood the intended sarcasm, but some also objected to his use of the word saying it doesnt matter whether it is spelled with -er or -a at the end. Story continues To the hall monitors: Use of N-word (with an A) DIRECTLY mocks the misuse of a white Fox interlocutor to address black issues. I'll play it. David Simon (@AoDespair) September 20, 2016 @GotdamBear @AoDespair I agree and to be perfectly clear, a vast % of AA are against this word PERIOD. No matter if it's the A or ER. ClassySassy (@ColorMeTiff) September 20, 2016 The Wire, about Baltimore drug dealers and the cops who pursue them, ran from 2002 to 2008 on HBO and has been widely praised for its look at how institutions from schools to newspapers have failed urban communities. Also Read: 'The Wire' Actor Wendell Pierce Arrested in Atlanta Apart from The Wire, Simons other credits include Show Me a Hero and the recently-announced show, The Deuce, on which he will serve as writer and executive producer. Simons reps have not yet responded to TheWraps request for comment. Related stories from TheWrap: 'The Wire' Actor Wendell Pierce Cancels Speech After Arrest Nathan Barksdale, Inspiration for 'The Wire,' Dies at 54 DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthi movement and supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh criticised the country's exiled government on Tuesday for appointing a new head of the central bank and relocating it to Aden. Exiled president Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi appointed Monasser Saleh al-Quaiti as governor on Sunday and ordered the bank to move to the government-held southern city from Sanaa, escalating a struggle over the finances of the impoverished country. The bank's newly appointed governor has said the armed Houthi movement that controls Sanaa has been pillaging it to finance its war against the exiled government. The governing council of Houthis and Saleh supporters said in a statement that the "unprecedented move reflects the desperation and lack of direction that the Saudi regime and its supporters in Riyadh had reached." It said the central bank in Sanaa, currently run by veteran governor Mohamed Bin Humam, should be the only legitimate monetary authority. "This act from a legal perspective is null and void," it said. "We call on the international community especially the international monetary and financial institutions to stand by their decision to reject that move." The leader of the Iran-allied Houthi faction Abdel-Malek Al-Houthi on Al Manar television, the Lebanese Hezbollah's official station, that the move was mainly directed by the United States and appealed to Yemenis to support the bank in Sanaa. "Whoever can contribute should contribute, whether it is fifty riyals or a hundred or a thousand, and then you will see how the bank will stand strong in the face of the conspiracies it faces," he said. The newly appointed governor Quaiti said on Monday that salaries paid by the central bank to pro-Houthi soldiers and officials have reduced Yemeni foreign exchange reserves from $5.2 billion in September 2014 to less than $700 million by the end of August. [nL8N1BV2TI] Still, diplomats largely agree that the bank has maintained its impartiality throughout the 18-month civil war, remaining the last pillar of Yemen's financial system and guaranteeing imports of key food staples - a job that becomes harder as foreign exchange reserves dwindle. [nL8N1B54SM] (Reporting by Noah Browning and Ali Abdelaty; Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Tom Heneghan) To neighbors and customers of his familys storefront chicken takeout, Ahmad Khan Rahami was a friendly, quiet presence behind the counter who liked talking about cars and was generous with free food. So when the 28-year-old Afghan immigrant was apprehended Monday as the lead person of interest in bombings in New York and New Jersey, those who knew him expressed shock, questioning whether his turn to religiosity in recent years might have hinted at views otherwise kept hidden. Rahamis father and brothers had long nursed tensions with neighbors and officials in Elizabeth, New Jersey, over the restaurants late hours, a conflict the family claimed in a lawsuit was the result of discrimination against them as Muslims. But Ahmad Rahamis demeanor increasingly devout but more likely to talk about worldly pursuits than his faith never hinted at anything but goodwill, customers said. Hed always talk about his cars. He loved his Civics, he loved going fast, said Ryan McCann, a frequent customer at First American Fried Chicken, the restaurant that Rahamis father, Mohammed Rahami, has run since 2002. He was so friendly hed give us free chicken here and there, just because we shopped there so much. Ahmad Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was taken into custody after a shootout with police in Linden, a nearby town. A law enforcement official says fingerprints and surveillance video helped investigators identify him as the man suspected of setting off bombs in the New York area over the weekend. The official says hes seen in surveillance footage clear as day at the scene of the Saturday night bombing in Manhattan. The official says investigators recovered his fingerprints from the scene. Rahami wasnt on any terror or no-fly watch lists, a law enforcement official said, but hed been interviewed by officials for immigration purposes. Story continues Another law enforcement official says investigators pulled over a car carrying three men and two women associated with Rahami when it appeared headed toward an airport Sunday. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly about the case. As FBI agents removed bags of evidence from the restaurant Monday, officials and residents recalled Rahami and his family, who shared an apartment over the business. Flee Jones, 27, who said hed known Rahami since they were teenagers, told reporters hed noticed a change in Rahamis personality after a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. When Rahami returned, he got more religious and dressed differently than before, Jones said. He was more quiet and more mature, Jones said. I said, Oh, where have you been? And he said, Oh, vacation. But I knew he went to Afghanistan because his little brother said it. A photo of Rahami, published in the Edison High School yearbook when he graduated in 2007, shows him with a carefully groomed goatee, wearing a crimson vest and tie. Rahami went on to attend Middlesex County College from 2010 to 2012, majoring in criminal justice, but didnt graduate. Andre Almeida, a customer at the restaurant for the past eight years, said he noticed when Rahami stopped wearing Western clothes after returning from Afghanistan and started wearing a little more ethnic clothing. Rahami was accused of stabbing a relative in 2014, but a grand jury declined to proceed with criminal charges, court records show. He also was accused of violating a domestic-violence restraining order in 2012. A Democratic New Jersey congressman, Albio Sires, said Rahami contacted his office from Pakistan in 2014 seeking help because his wife had an expired Pakistani passport. Sires said his office wrote a letter to the U.S. embassy in Pakistan to check on the status of the case and the woman received a visa. He said he didnt know if she ever came to the country, and the FBI didnt answer when asked about it Monday. Neighbors had complained to Elizabeth officials that the Rahamis restaurant was a late-night nuisance, Democratic Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said. Rahamis father and two brothers sued the city in 2011 after Elizabeth police said the restaurant stayed open past 10 p.m. in violation of a local ordinance. The Rahamis charged in the lawsuit they were targeted by police because theyre Muslims. The harassment, the lawsuit alleged, was based largely on the complaints to officials by one neighbor who regularly walked into the restaurant to tell them that Muslims dont belong here and Muslims are trouble. Adjudication of the lawsuit was put on hold in 2011 when the elder Rahami traveled to Pakistan and was unable to return to the U.S. in time, court filings show. The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 because one of the brothers, Mohammad K. Rahami, had pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing restrictions on the restaurant. But neighbors aware of tensions over the restaurant said Ahmad Rahami was easy to get along with, if somewhat reserved. He was just very quiet, said Jorge Vasquez, who owns a business a block over and frequently visited the restaurant. As police searched for Ahmad Rahami on Monday, the owner of a bar in Linden found a man sleeping in his hallway. The man was initially presumed to be a vagrant, but police officers who responded quickly realized it was Rahami, Democratic Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said. Armstead said the man pulled out a handgun and fired at the officers, hitting one in a bulletproof vest. He said the man then began firing as he ran down the street and police shot him in the leg. Rahami was charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, prosecutors said. Bail was set at $5.2 million. ___ By Gina Cherelus NEW YORK (Reuters) - Life crept back to a New York City street that was rattled by a bomb on Saturday, as business owners and their employees traded disbelief and fear for the task of getting back to normal on Manhattan's West 23rd Street. Shattered shop doors and windows, remnants of yellow police tape and nearly deserted sidewalks that normally bustle with activity were reminders on Tuesday morning of the blast that shook the Chelsea neighborhood and injured 29 people on a warm September evening. By New York City standards, the block between 6th and 7th Avenues is unremarkable, dotted with small shops and brick apartment towers and some distance from tourist magnets like the Empire State Building and Times Square. Perhaps the most significant landmark in the immediate vicinity is the Flatiron Building at 5th and 23rd. So, why 23rd Street? Investigators still want to know why the bomb was placed inside a ubiquitous metal dumpster in that part of town. We didn't think it would happen on a quiet block. You have a gym, a closed-down church, you have a Dunkin' Donuts," said Avhik Mitra, a banker at a Capital One branch that reopened for business on Tuesday with a plywood sheet in place of a glass window. "Do you expect something to go down over here?," Mitra asked rhetorically. "It's not even a tourist-y location. Even though authorities reopened the block to motor and pedestrian traffic on Tuesday, it was far from business as usual at the bank, Mitra said. Few customers showed up during the morning. "I think people are still too scared to come out," he said. Hoping to reassure people in the neighborhood, Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the popular Malibu Diner a few doors down from where the bomb went off. He received a warm welcome. De Blasio shook hands, posed for photos and greeted people seated in booths and at the counter, then he sat with some customers and chatted over coffee. Story continues The dumpster in which the bomb exploded had been in front of King David Gallery 23, a glass and mirror shop where cleanup was in full swing on Tuesday. A man named Baruch, who works at the gallery and declined to give his last name, said the shop was the ground zero of Saturday's blast, in a reference to the site where the World Trade Center stood when it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. We are saddened by the events that took place, but as New Yorkers, we are resilient and well keep going with our daily routine," Baruch said. "Theres shock, there is disbelief but there's no anger." Security cameras at Orange Theory Fitness caught the blast. The video footage, shown extensively on cable television, helped police track down the suspect, according to Adam, the gyms owner, who declined to give his last name. On Tuesday morning, the double-door at the entrance to the gym was missing. Web-like cracks ran through the front windows, which were X'd with duct tape. Contractors outside evaluated the damage. "It's not the expense that really matters," said Adam, noting that the gym was closed when the bomb went off. "You can't replace someone's life. You can always replace glass at a fitness studio. (Reporting by Gina Cherelus; Writing By Frank McGurty; Editing by Toni Reinhold) Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence." By PTI: US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, as he expressed strong concern over the violence in Kashmir particularly the terror attack on an Indian army base. Kerry met Sharif yesterday on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir and sought American help to resolve the Kashmir issue. advertisement US EXPECTS MORE FROM PAKISTAN US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward well just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. Later, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence." "The Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions," he said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmirs Uri town early Sunday. RESTRAINT IN NUCLEAR WEAPON PROGRAMS Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif asked the "US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India." In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the alleged use of force against the people in the region. PAKISTAN'S KASHMIR CAUSE NON-NEGOTIABLE Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. Sharif alleged that human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to "ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". advertisement He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. INDIA, THE BAD GUY : PAKISTAN He added that "if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu & Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities." Also Read: Pakistan PM Sharif to take aggressive stand on Kashmir at UN Assembly Baloch activists to protest outside UN during Sharif's address --- ENDS --- For Immediate Release Chicago, IL September 20, 2016 Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses Alternative Energy, part 2, including NRG Energy Inc. (NRG), SunPower Corp. (SPWR), First Solar Inc. (FSLR), SolarCity Corp. ( SCTY) and Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL). Industry: Alternative Energy, part 2 Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/90898/will-obama39s-green-energy-plan-drive-alt-energy-stocks The extension of key renewable tax credits, reduced solar photovoltaic (PV) capital costs and low natural gas prices, along with state-level renewable mandates, will be driving the alternative energy spaces growth trajectory. After months of suffering from collapsing oil prices, green energy companies suddenly seem to be on firmer footing now. The Paris climate change summit gave the renewables sector a shot in the arm last year, while Congress vote to extend federal subsidies for renewable energy has further perked up the space. Solar and wind energy got a major boost from the environmental tax credit extension that came as part of the $1.15 trillion federal spending bill, which also lifted a 40-year ban on exporting American crude oil. The latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) also shows that renewable energy will be the fastest growing power source through 2040, accounting for 27% of total U.S. generation. Solar and wind are gradually transforming the way we produce and consume energy, driving the ongoing global energy transition. Although some better-established sources of alternative energy hydro, wind, biomass and waste, not to mention solar PV are supported extensively, niche renewable energy sources such as geothermal and concentrated solar power (CSP) are also on the rise, natural conditions permitting. Moreover, declining capital costs for technologies are improving their competitiveness. As per Solar Energy Industries Associations (SEIA), national solar PV system pricing fell up to 17% over the course of 2015. Story continues Here we take a look at the alternative energy space and attempt to identify this nascent industry's growing strengths. Presidents Green Energy Plan: "Clean energy" has long been the focus of the current administration. President Obamas "Climate Change Action Plan" and the favorable green energy trends have already done a lot in pushing the sector northward. On Dec 15, 2015, Congress passed an extension and modification of federal tax credits for new wind and solar generators. The new environmental tax credit extension allows solar power companies to keep claiming federal Investment Tax Credits ("ITC") at 30% of the price of solar energy systems installed by businesses or homeowners. The ITC, which was earlier set to expire at the end of 2016, was forcing developers to rush to finish projects. Now they look good through 2019 with the five-year extension. However, the credit will start to decline, going down to 10% in 2022. The wind sector also benefited significantly from the production tax credit (PTC) extension. The PTC, which had expired at 2014 end due to Congressional gridlock, was extended through 2020. However, the PTC that pays 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated will be gradually reduced over the next four years before being completely phased out. In addition, the Obama administrations efforts to restrict carbon emissions are a net positive for renewable energy stocks. On Aug 3, 2015, the White House revealed the final version of its ambitious climate policy. This Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program seeks to cut CO2 emissions from the nation's power plants. The administration has vowed for CO2 reduction of 28% by 2025 and 32% by 2030, from 2005 levels. This version turns out to be a little stronger than the draft proposal released last summer, wherein the EPA had proposed total CO2 reduction of 29% by 2025 and 30% by 2030. The plan sets carbon pollution reduction goals for power plants and requires states to implement plans to meet these goals. States have until this month to submit plans, but all must comply by 2022. of U.S. electricity and coal plants are the largest source of carbon emissions in the country. Increasing regulatory mandates to safeguard the environment will be a catalyst for renewable stocks. The proposed rule has influenced utility providers like NRG Energy Inc. ( NRG) to gradually shift their mode of power generation to solar, wind and water. The EIA projects that utility-scale solar capacity will expand by more than 13.3 GW between 2016 and 2017 in the U.S., in tandem with considerable consumption growth in renewables for electricity and heat generation purpose. California, along with North Carolina, Nevada, Texas and Georgia, will account for most of the projected utility-scale capacity additions over the said period. Anti-Dumping Duties and Solar Trade War: Washington imposed import duties on solar panels and other related products from China and Taiwan. The U.S. believes that Chinese manufacturers have benefited from unfair subsidies offered by their government. U.S. solar stocks like SunPower Corp. (SPWR) and First Solar Inc. ( FSLR) are expected to make the most of the trade conflict between the U.S. and China. The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), in Dec 2014, set anti-dumping duties at about 52% on most module imports from China and at 19.5% on most imports of Taiwanese cells. It has also slapped 39% anti-subsidy tariffs on most China-made panels. The move is intended to close a gap in which Chinese companies could use solar cells made in Taiwan to avoid paying higher tariffs. The Sun Is Everywhere: Solar power is generally located at a customer's site due to the universal availability of sunlight. As a result, solar power limits the expense and losses associated with transmission and distribution from large-scale electric plants to the end users. For most residential consumers seeking an environment-friendly power alternative, solar power is currently the only viable choice. Residential solar is undeniably gaining on utility-scale solar in the U.S. in a marked change in industry dynamics. Among the renewable energy pack, rooftop solar energy systems provider SolarCity Corp. ( SCTY) has an innovative game plan. This downstream solar company plays on its strength, providing renewable power lower than the grid price to residential and commercial markets in the U.S. California-based SolarCitys MyPower loan plan allows its customers to own their solar systems and still pay less for electricity when compared to leasing them through power purchase agreements. Indias Solar Initiatives: While the U.S. and China have been in the forefront in recent years in driving the industry, other nations are also developing their home-grown solar generation capacity as a remedial measure to solve the electricity crisis. The latest to join this list is Asia's third-largest economy, India, which has committed to generate 40% of its total power capacity from renewable sources by 2030. India is striving to enhance its solar energy capacity to 100 GW by 2022, which will include 60 GW from grid-connected solar projects and 40 GW from rooftop solar. The pace of installation is projected to accelerate rapidly with a forecast of installing 4.8 GW in 2016. This has kindled the interest of global solar players in the Indian market. First Solar and SunEdison Inc. have ample businesses in India and, together with local firms, are investing considerably in the country. Recently, First Solar has connected 130 megawatts (MW) utility-scale solar power to the nations grid. These plants are part of a 260-MW project portfolio wholly owned by First Solar in India. Chinese player Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL) is planning to build 700 MW capacity for solar cells and 500 MW capacity for solar modules in the country. These are encouraging signs of the solar industrys prospects in India. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. 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These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report NRG ENERGY INC (NRG): Free Stock Analysis Report SUNPOWER CORP-A (SPWR): Free Stock Analysis Report FIRST SOLAR INC (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report SOLARCITY CORP (SCTY): Free Stock Analysis Report TRINA SOLAR LTD (TSL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe on Tuesday warned against the production, sale and use of the national flag without official permission after activists turned it into a symbol of anti-government protests. "Members of the public who participate in any action or activity involving the national flag or bring the national flag into disrepute are warned they are liable to prosecution," justice minister Virginia Mabhiza said in a statement. She said offenders faced up to a year in jail or a $200 (180 euros) fine -- or both. The national flag became a symbol of anti-government protests after evangelical pastor Evan Mawarire posted a video in April in which he appeared with the flag wound around his neck as he bemoaned the countrys worsening economic crisis. Mabhiza said she was "concerned with increasing incidences whereby members of the public have been using the national flag in a manner that is prohibited by the constitution". The warning came as the country experiences a surge in protests against veteran President Robert Mugabe's rule amid a worsening economic situation which has seen banks running out of cash and the government failing to pay its workers on time. Protesters are also demanding a raft of electoral reforms ahead of general elections scheduled for 2018. Pastor Mawarire's clips went viral, attracting tens of thousands of viewers and spawned the "ThisFlag" campaign that has fuelled angry street protests and brought Zimbabwe's situation to international attention. The campaign triggered a spike in demand for the flag with vendors selling the national colours in a variety of shapes and sizes. Mawarire was arrested following street protests which shut down schools and offices and paralysed the public transport system. He was released after a court threw out charges that he had attempted to overthrow the government. Mugabe singled out Mawarire, warning him sternly against further protests. Mawarire is in the United States where he is leading protests against Mugabe at the UN general assembly in New York. By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Accenture is challenging a defining feature of blockchain, its immutability, by patenting a system that will allow data processed and stored using the technology to be edited. The consultancy said on Tuesday data would only be edited under "extraordinary circumstances", in order to resolve fat-finger-type human errors as well as to meet legal and regulatory requirements and address wrongdoing. Blockchain users were quick to criticize Accenture's move, which is the latest investment by the financial services industry in the nascent technology, which promises to cut costs, reduce settlement times and increase transparency. The original blockchain underpinning digital currency bitcoin is kept secure by data being shared across a global network of computers, which are incentivized by competing to win new bitcoins in a system know as "mining". But while there have been worries about its irreversibility, some technologists argue that it is a feature that makes blockchain unique and that without it, the term becomes meaningless. "An editable blockchain is just a database. The whole thing about blockchain is that it's immutable, so this just defeats the object."" Gary Nuttall, founder of blockchain consultancy Dislytics, told Reuters at a blockchain conference. Because so-called "permissionless" blockchains like bitcoin's have no centralized authority, it is essential that transactions cannot be tampered with. But Accenture said its prototype would be for the private "permissioned blockchains" favored by banks, which would have designated administrators who manage the network under agreed governance rules. "For financial services institutions faced with a myriad of risk and regulatory requirements, absolute immutability is a potential roadblock," said Richard Lumb, Accenture's group chief executive for financial services. Under the new system, data would not be editable by all users of the system, just by designated administrators. "We can preserve the strength of the original blockchain while making it even more useful," said Giuseppe Ateniese, a leading cryptographer and professor of computer science at The Stevens Institute of Technology, who filed for the new patents with Accenture. "Unlike a traditional database, our solution is compatible with current blockchain frameworks and works in a decentralized and accountable environment," he added. (Editing by Alexander Smith) Freefly Systems' Alta drone Washington state officials convened the first meeting of an industry council focusing on drones and related businesses today, after a seminar on the promise and potential perils of unmanned aerial vehicles. Focusing on this isnt just about aerospace and UAVs, its about a whole variety of industries that benefit, Brian Bonlender, director of the Washington State Department of Commerce, told a gathering of business executives, researchers and other experts at the offices of K&L Gates in downtown Seattle. About a dozen of the attendees went from the large-group gathering to the inaugural meeting of the Unmanned Systems Industry Council, led by John Thornquist, head of Washington states Office of Aerospace. Drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems or UAS, are expected to have an impact on fields ranging from package delivery to agriculture, media production and public safety. Nationwide, the UAS industry is expected to create 100,000 jobs and add more than $82 billion to the U.S. economy over the decade ahead. Washington state companies are playing lead roles in the industry thanks to Amazons efforts to develop a drone-based delivery system, and thanks to Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary that provides fixed-wing drones for the U.S. military. Lesser-known Evergreen State companies are also part of the mix. For example, Applewhite Aero does intermediate-scale UAS engineering. Echodyne is working on a radar system that could be installed on drones. Freefly Systems builds high-end drones as well as image stabilization hardware for cinematography. Those smaller companies were represented at todays informational seminar, and some of the representatives attended the informal council meeting as well. The meeting even attracted a robotics expert from Silicon Valley whos working on a project for Alphabet, Googles parent company. Like Amazon, Alphabet is developing and testing commercial delivery drones. Story continues Neither Amazon nor Insitu sent a representative today, but Thornquist said hes getting in touch with both those companies about the council. Thornquist said the Unmanned Systems Industry council, which is modeled after the Washington State Space Coalition, will cast a wide net. Everyones focus is on UAVs, but were trying to do more than that, he told GeekWire. For example, the members include researchers at the University of Washingtons Applied Physics Laboratory who are working on autonomous underwater vehicles. Thornquist expects the council to meet quarterly, with the next gathering expected in December. The council is meant to serve as a clearinghouse and a channel for industry concerns that can be addressed by government actions or academic research. Im hoping we can take issues that you have and move them up the food chain, Thornquist told council members. Tom Hagen, vice president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems Internationals Cascade Chapter, said the councils mission is consistent with his own organizations mission. It furthers cooperation and advocacy for the industry in the Northwest, he told GeekWire. Image: Rick Larsen One of the big issues has to do with broadening the scope of drone operations. In June, the Federal Aviation Administration laid out its rules for flying commercial drones that weigh less than 55 pounds, but those rules dont allow for drones to fly beyond an operators visual line of sight. During todays seminar, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., listed beyond-line-of-sight operation as one of his top four priorities for the drone industry going forward, along with drone traffic management, multiple-drone operations and clearance for drone deliveries. All four of those issues are key for the kind of delivery system that Amazon has in mind. Last month, Amazon said it has been highly involved in a NASA/FAA project to develop a traffic management system for low-flying drones. Amazon is also represented on a 35-member national Drone Advisory Committee, which had its first meeting on Friday in Washington, D.C. Today, Larsen noted that Amazon laid out detailed suggestions for managing delivery drones more than a year ago. And although he shied away from making an endorsement, the lawmaker told GeekWire that Amazons concept is one idea thats been thought through. It helps Amazon, Larsen said, but it helps everybody. Clarification for 6:20 p.m. PT Sept. 23: Thornquist says Amazon wasnt made aware of the existence of the newly formed industry council before this weeks event, but his office is in touch with Amazon about future meetings. More from GeekWire: By Gayatri Suroyo and Eveline Danubrata JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to pursue Alphabet Inc's Google for five years of back taxes, and the search giant could face a bill of more than $400 million for 2015 alone if it is found to have avoided payments, a senior tax official said. Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax office's special cases branch, told Reuters its investigators went to Google's local office in Indonesia on Monday. The tax office alleges PT Google Indonesia paid less than 0.1 percent of the total income and value-added taxes it owed last year. Asked to respond to Haniv's comments, Google Indonesia reiterated a statement made last week in which it said it continues to cooperate with local authorities and has paid all applicable taxes. The move comes at a time when Indonesia is eager to ramp up tax collection to narrow its budget deficit and fund an ambitious infrastructure program. Other governments around the world are also seeking to clamp down on what they see as egregious corporate tax avoidance. Haniv added that the tax office planned to pursue other internet firms for back taxes. If found guilty, Google may have to pay fines of up to four times the amount it owed, bringing the maximum tax bill to 5.5 trillion rupiah ($418 million) for 2015, Haniv said. He declined to provide an estimate for the five-year period. Most of its revenue generated in the country is booked at Google's Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Google Asia Pacific declined to be audited in June, prompting the tax office to escalate the case into a criminal one, he said. "Google's argument is that they just did tax planning," Haniv said. "Tax planning is legal, but aggressive tax planning - to the extent that the country where the revenue is made does not get anything - is not legal." The tax office will summon directors from Google Indonesia who also hold positions at Google Asia Pacific, Haniv said, adding that it is working with the Indonesian police. Globally, it is rare for a state investigation of corporate tax structures to be escalated into a criminal case. GOVERNMENTS HITTING BACK Indonesia's move to pursue Google shows that the international tax tide might be turning, said Crawford Spence, a professor of accounting at Warwick Business School in Britain. "In recent decades multinationals have scoured the globe looking for low tax jurisdictions, effectively engaging in rate-shopping as part of tax minimization strategies," Spence wrote in an email. "Now, with initiatives at the transnational level...countries are starting to develop the confidence to hit back." In January, Google agreed to pay 130 million pounds ($185 million) in back taxes to settle a probe by Britain's tax authority, which had challenged the company's low tax returns for the years since 2005. The Indonesia case is unlikely to be resolved soon as it normally takes at least three years for a court to make a decision on a tax-related criminal case, said Yustinus Prastowo, executive director of the Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis. Haniv said the tax office is planning to chase back taxes from other companies that deliver content through the internet (over-the-top service providers) in Indonesia. The Indonesian communication and information ministry is working on a new regulation for OTT providers, and the tax office has proposed that a company with a "network presence" in Indonesia should also be subject to taxation. Total advertising revenue for the industry is estimated at $830 million a year, with Google and Facebook Inc accounting for around 70 percent of that, according to Haniv. A joint study by Google and Singapore state investor Temasek released earlier this year, however, estimated the size of Indonesia's digital advertising market at $300 million for 2015. ($1 = 13,155.00 rupiah) (Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo and Eveline Danubrata; Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Alexander Smith) Google on Monday launched a new travel app, called Trips, which it's describing as "a personalized tour guide in your pocket." And that it is: The app offers a city guide, curated tips from Google's travel experts, and personalized recommendations based on your Google historythe activities, sights, and restaurants the company believes you're most likely to prefer. Google is combining what it knows (which is a lot) about what activities and attractions are generally popular in your travel destination with what it knows about you. The result is a travel app with tons of information that keeps pretty good tabs on what you're up to and what you might want to do next. "Flight receipts, car rental reservations...if you have that sitting in your [Gmail] inbox, the first time you open the Google Trips app that will be there," Jonathan Alferness, vice president of product for Google Travel, told Travel + Leisure. Google Trips app When I opened the app, I had a pre-populated list of Trips based on reservations in my email, including the trip I'm currently on, based on flight and car rental information. Within the trip, tne "Things to do" is the most robust, with a built-in interactive Google Map populated with activities and an option to auto-magically create a full- or half-day itinerary. "We wanted those maps to feels as rich and live as possible," said Alferness. "They can't just be screenshots of the map." Operating hours, popular times, reviews, and real-time weather conditions are all embedded to provide plenty of information for making itinerary decisions within the app. "Google Trips acts as a place to reflect and surface all of that great content and information in a pocket-sized, digestible but also downloaded way so you can take it with you on the go," said Alferness. The download option is available on each Tripespecially handy if you'll be traveling abroad and aren't sure you'll have cellular data or Wi-Fi. Story continues There's a small learning curve to customizing the day plans, which seem intended to be as automatic as possible. Overall, however, I found the recommendations to be useful and informative, and offered great ideas I wouldn't have thought of even though I'm very familiar with the city I'm visiting. The app is not without limitations. For the trip I'm on, ideally the flight information would be integrated and connected with the airline app on my phone. Instead it's connected to the email confirmation, so I'm several taps away from a mobile boarding pass. And since Trips are automatically populated from email reservations, they can include itineraries that have been sent to you even if they're not yours. That happened to me with a few family members' vacation plans, which I had to manually delete from the appnot difficult but mildly inconvenient. Also, I frequently rent a car and drive to my destination, which Google interpreted as trips to New York City (which is a little weird since I live there). Again, this can be adjusted manually, but it's not as intuitive as it could be. Google Travel plans to iterate on the app to further improve it based on user behavior and feedback. "We're eager to see how users react and respond to this, so we can make sure we're prioritizing features in the right order based on how the tool is getting used," said Alferness. "Over time, we'll bring more and more personalization into this." What's obvious about the app now is how much information is being pulled in, and how simply it's presented. "A lot of the magic that you're seeing in the Google Trips app leverages work that we've been doing in travel for a number of years." Google Trips is available on iOS and Android. Related Articles We're talking about the Dursleys' residence in Sorcerer's Stone, where Harry spent many miserable years. By India Today Web Desk: We're not talking about the Gryffindor Tower. We're referring here to the house he grew up in before knowing his "true calling"--yes, the Dursleys' residence in the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, 4 Privet Drive. That's right, the same house Harry spent many miserable years in with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia Dursley and their pampered child, Dudley. advertisement The house that was used in the movie has been put up for sale, replete with an enclosed backyard, three bedrooms, and yes, THE cupboard under the stairs. The cupboard under the stairs. Picture courtesy: Pinterest The one BIG difference between the house you saw in the movie and this house is--this one's located at 4 Privet Drive, village of Little Whinging, in the county of Surrey. Instead, this house is located at 12 Picket Post Close in Martins Heron, Bracknell in Berkshire, on the outskirts of London. How much money would you need? Oh, just Pounds 475,000 (Rs 4,15,05,500 approx). Running into platform 9 and 3/4 would be easier, no? Mashable reports that the house is being sold by Chancellors Estate Agency, but the online advert reveals nothing about the home's place in movie-making history. --- ENDS --- San Francisco (AFP) - Google have sent out invitations to an October 4 event, hinting that the Internet titan will show off a new smartphone powered by its Android mobile software. Emailed invitations sent late Monday revealed only the time and place for the gathering in San Francisco, the message topped by blue, red, yellow, and green dots of color. Google fired off a Twitter message with hashtag #madebygoogle and a video of what appeared to be a long rectangular search term box morphing into a silhouette of a smartphone. Industry trackers have been expecting Google in October to show off its own smartphone, showcasing the prowess of its new Nougat version of Android software. Google may stamp its latest smartphones with a "Pixel" brand instead of the "Nexus" name it has used in the past for Android smartphones it has made in collaborations with partners. A Google smartphone would be fielded as a standard to which other's making Android devices should aspire, and would come just weeks after Apple's began selling new iPhone 7 models. An enticing Google smartphone could also prove a contender for the attention of buyers during the prime year-end holiday shopping season. Scenes in Apple stores around the world on Friday were reminiscent of days before online ordering became a norm and people camped out for days to be first to get hands on the California company's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Enthusiasm was peppered with disappointment due to shortages of the large-screen iPhone 7 Plus and a jet-black iPhone 7, but it was unclear if the shortages were the result of strong demand or limited supply. The devices chart a new path for the tech giant by eliminating headphone jacks, a move seen as setting a trend for a wireless future The iPhones also boast Apple's freshly-released iOS 10 mobile operating system. While the company has touted total iPhone sales of one billion, the number sold in the quarter ending June 25 fell 15 percent from a year earlier, highlighting concerns over growth for the key profit driver. Growth has become challenging with many mobile phone markets saturated, with Apple rivals producing a wide variety of devices powered by Android software that Google makes available for free. Apple faces stiff competition from traditional rival Samsung, although the South Korean giant is currently on the back foot after being forced into a massive recall because of exploding batteries of its flagship Galaxy Note 7. Theres a company, which, besides providing all necessary information on travel and tourism, helps you to plan and organize your entire trip without any online accessibility. In a bid to boost the overall travel experience, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL owned search giant Google, on Monday, unveiled a new smartphone app Google Trips. The app allows users to organize flight, hotel, car and restaurant reservations virtually anywhere across the globe. How Google Trips Works? Google Trips available on iOS and Android helps a user to manage and organize a vacation in the best possible way. The app automatically pulls details of a users trip from his or her Gmail account and then stores its offline. It recommends restaurants, attractions and new places for the user to visit while on vacation. The best thing about the app is that the saved itineraries and reservations can be downloaded and used later even when there is no internet connectivity. Thus, the company intends to free vacations from hassle with the Google Trips app. Increasing Competition & Continuous Innovation Competition in this lucrative market is also intensifying, with companies like TripAdvisor Inc. and Yelp Inc. doing their best to expand their customer base. In June, Yahoo rolled out Yahoo Radar, which organizes reservations and highlights sights and nearby restaurants. Home-sharing startup Airbnb Inc. is also working on a trip-planning app of its own. To counter competition, Google has a prudent plan, which includes continued innovation, including the development of new apps and addition of new features to keep customers interested in the company. Google Trips is set to benefit travelers at large. The companys ability to innovate has translated into strong growth. However, Google refuses to rest on its past laurels. Its continued efforts to launch products and services for multiple industries, and adapt to changing market trends are commendable. Our Take The online travel market is growing rapidly driven by increased digitization, mobile adoption and shift from offline channels. A stronger economy and higher spending levels provide the perfect backdrop for growth. With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets among travelers around the world, travel apps have become essential. These apps offer a convenient way to receive and access information at a glance. Googles own research has indicated that travel and shopping-related searches on mobile have increased by 30% over the past one-year period. So, it appears that with this new app, the company is set to join the smartphone revolution leveraging its core capability search. Story continues ALPHABET INC-A Price ALPHABET INC-A Price | ALPHABET INC-A Quote Stocks to Consider At present, Google has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Silicon Laboratories Inc. SLAB, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Analog Devices, Inc. ADI and Inphi Corporation IPHI, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ANALOG DEVICES (ADI): Free Stock Analysis Report SILICON LAB INC (SLAB): Free Stock Analysis Report INPHI CORP (IPHI): Free Stock Analysis Report ALPHABET INC-A (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By David Henry NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co said it had hired and would take a stake in InvestCloud, which provides software that makes online transactions easier for customers with banking and investment accounts. The biggest U.S. bank by assets, JPMorgan did not disclose the amount of the stake in an announcement prepared for release on Tuesday and which Reuters saw. The investment reflects Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon's response to threats from new Silicon Valley companies, which he said in 2015 were coming to disrupt JPMorgan's business. Rather than vowing to block upstarts, Dimon has chosen to embrace those with technology that provides better customer service at lower costs. JPMorgan is competing with other banks and money managers to meet customers' rising expectations for easy but secure ways to keep up with their affairs, anywhere and anytime. The InvestCloud deal is also part of Dimon's commitment to spend $300 million over the next three years on digital improvements in asset management. Starting early next year, the bank will use InvestCloud to customize website dashboards and mobile apps for clients ranging from individuals with investments of $1,000 to managers of family investment offices with $1 billion or more. Over time, the tools will become more refined for people who make their own trading decisions, people who only check managed accounts, and people who manage part and hire out the rest. Compared with the costly slog of traditional programming, InvestCloud says it offers thousands of "lightweight applets" that can be configured within days rather than months. The company started selling products in 2012. It has 660 institutions using its tools in support of $1.5 trillion of assets, according to the announcement. In the announcement, Dimon cited InvestCloud's "record of driving innovation for its institutional clients" as a reason for making the deal. Since December, JPMorgan has struck deals with financial technology companies including OnDeck, which provides systems to speed small business lending; Virtu Financial Inc, which handles electronic trading in U.S. Treasuries; and TrueCar Inc, which provides online car shopping services. Kelli Keough, JPMorgan's global head of digital wealth management, said in an interview that she expected to sign additional financial technology companies. "We are exploring with a range of vendors," she said. "It allows us to get to market faster and bring in innovation." (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) After an uninspiring couple of years, GoPro, Inc. GPRO finally seems to have a few ace gadgets up its sleeve. Following weeks of attention-grabbing teasers, the action camera maker officially unveiled its first drone Karma at an event in Squaw Valley, CA yesterday. GoPro also launched the first significant update to its flagship line of action cameras in two years the new Hero5 camera, and the smaller, cube-shaped Hero5 Session. GoPro shares were up 8% at one time during the much-awaited event, but later fell and closed 2.3% higher. Karma: The Specifications Priced at $799, the Karma is a compact, sleek quadcopter, with props that fold into the device. It has one button for takeoff, landing, and returning to home and comes with four pre-programmed shots: dronie, cable cam, reveal, and orbit. GoPros Karma works with a controller that has two joysticks, a few buttons and a touch screen. Its simple design makes it easy to use for amateurs, with several pre-set routes to take neat selfies and videos with gradual reveals of landscapes. GoPro is also offering a "passenger app" that allows another person to see the live video feed from the drone and even control the camera position. The front positioning of the camera is intended to help eliminate the appearance of rotors, which can crop up in shots with DJI or Yuneec drones, when they fly forward at full tilt. A distinctive feature of the camera is that it easily detaches from the drone and attaches to a handheld gimbal. The drone can be hooked up to Hero4, Hero5, and the Session cameras. We believe that as the first drone from an established brand with a huge, loyal fan base, Karma will draw huge attraction from consumers. The Hero5 Cameras The company also showcased the latest version of its signature line of cameras the Hero5 and the smaller Hero5 Session. The Hero5 is now waterproof without additional casing and includes GPS with a great voice control feature which supports 7 languages. The company has also improved its image stabilization pre-edit, which can ensure really smooth footage at break-neck speeds. Further, Hero5 Session a simpler, smaller version of the Hero5 can now shoot video in 4K resolution. Story continues GoPro also unveiled an app Quik, which will enable users to instantly edit their GoPro footage on their phones and create short videos for networking sites like Facebook and Instagram. The Karma hits stores on Oct 23 and the new camcorders are scheduled to go commercial on Oct 2. GoPros drone which comes with a backpack and controller can be packaged with the Hero5 Black and Hero5 Session for $1,099 and $999, respectively. Karmas Hand in GoPros Fate Karma has entered the burgeoning market for consumer drones as one of the first models that is more than a plaything. However, the market is already stuffed with devices from companies like DJI, Yuneec and 3D Robotics. Further, the quadcopter is releasing at a time when several cities and businesses are restricting such aircraft from their skies. Analysts expect GoPro to sell about 100,000 drones this year, generating sales of over $50 million. While this figure might be somewhat insignificant for a company that posts $1.5 billion in annual revenues, we believe that it could restore the company to profitability. GoPro has had a tough time of late, with ill-timed product missteps & delays, strategic pricing errors, and intense competition from Sony Corporation SNE and China's Xiaomi. With Karma, GoPro is veering outside its core video-capturing devices, and its success or failure is likely to shape the companys immediate future. This winter holiday season will be a test for consumers appetite for the new products, and is likely to foretell the success of the new drone. Summing Up GoPros last action camera upgrade the Hero4 was outrageously successful, and drove a spike in sales and record profits. However, the craze eventually died away and the companys stab at a new design the Hero4 Session faltered. GOPRO INC-A Price and Consensus GOPRO INC-A Price and Consensus | GOPRO INC-A Quote GoPros revenues plunged to almost half year over year in the first half of 2016. However, the action camera maker has done a great job of clearing out channel inventory and streamlining its product portfolio. It has also taken huge strides in developing content distribution and software recently. After three quarters of sharp year-over-year revenue declines, GoPro has finally created a product lineup that could potentially reverse the trend. However, in order to achieve its full-year sales target, it needs to generate about 70% of the same in the second half of 2016 (compared to an average of 58% over the past four years). The Hero5 is attractively priced ($100 less than the previous version at launch) and boasts several new, interesting features. Its reasonable to assume that the new camera will spark interest. However, Karma seems more of a wild card. GoPro will have to contend with ample competition in that market, but again, GoPro has priced its drone very competitively, which should work in its favor. It will be quite interesting to track GoPros stock price gyrations, as consumers absorb and decide whether Karma and Hero5 are good enough to change this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stocks dwindling fortunes. Stocks to Consider A couple of better-ranked stocks in the broader consumer discretionary sector include Electronic Arts Inc. EA and Hasbro Inc. HAS, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Confidential from Zacks Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SONY CORP ADR (SNE): Free Stock Analysis Report GOPRO INC-A (GPRO): Free Stock Analysis Report HASBRO INC (HAS): Free Stock Analysis Report ELECTR ARTS INC (EA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research With its classic Nokia look -- a compact candybar shape presenting screen and keyboard on the same face -- the Nokia 216 is to make its worldwide debut in October 2016. Availability in India has been announced for October, with the handset retailing at an equivalent to $37 USD. Users can expect a dual band 11.8 x 5 x 1.35cm handset weighing in at 83g and running on Nokia Series 30+. Its QVGA display measures 2.4", front and rear cameras are VGA, and the 1020 mAh battery's performance specifications are 24 days on standby, 18 hours of talk time, MP3 playback of 47 hours, or FM radio playback of 42 hours. Apps will be made available from the Opera Mobile Store while a partnership with Gameloft provides one free game every month for a year. Microsoft sold its Nokia-branded phone business to Foxconn's FIH Mobile and ex-Nokia phoenix company HMD Global in a May 2016 deal. As such, the 216 is thought to be one of the last, if not the last, Nokia produced under Microsoft's auspices. Watch: The New Nokia 216 and Nokia 216 Dual Sim - youtu.be/AsKCq1rwG8c When I was growing up in the 1980s, my parents would occasionally take my brother and me for a special treat: an evening spent browsing for software at a local computer store. We would wander among the aisles of shiny, shrink-wrapped boxes, lobbying our parents to buy us games such as the geography spy mystery Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, which cost about $40 a pop. Flash-forward nearly 30 years, and my own kids cant believe I ever paid so much for a computer game. Most software packagesfrom games to productivity apps to health-tracking appsare free. Theres only one catch: We pay for all this software with a new currency, our personal data. Whenever we download an app, visit a website, watch a smart TV, use free WiFi, or partake of most of the joys of the information age, we agree to give up previously unimaginable amounts of personal data. The shift toward data as currency began somewhat innocuously. At first, we simply accepted ads targeted to our search queries. But now, a decade later, the trade-offs have become more extreme. We implicitly agree to have our movements followed both virtually, as we browse the web, and physically, as our phones transmit our locations. We agree to have our interests cataloged and analyzed. We agree to have the content of our emails scanned. We agree to have our friends identified and analyzed in social graphs. We agree to have our images stored, shared, and tagged and our faces analyzed to help companies perfect their facial recognition tools. We agree to have our voices analyzed, our fingerprints scanned, and soon enough, the iris patterns of our eyes stored in vast, remote databases. More on Privacy Theoretically, we could read all the fine print in the terms and conditions and privacy policies foisted on us and refuse to use products that track us egregiously. But who has time to do that? In a 2016 experiment by researchers at Torontos York University and the University of Connecticut, 74 percent of people who joined a fictitious social network skipped reading the privacy policy altogether. And those who opened the terms and conditions must not have read them very carefullybecause all of them agreed to give up their firstborn child to the social network. Story continues In fact, failing to read privacy policies is perfectly rational. In 2008, Carnegie Mellon researchers estimated that it would take an average individual 154 hours to skim the privacy policies for the approximately 1,462 websites they encountered each year. In terms of wages and lost time, that would amount to $2,226 per person. Even if we read all those policies, we still couldnt accurately weigh our privacy trade-offs. Our data is a currency that we trade for services, but we dont really know what the data will cost us in the future. Could it keep us from landing a job? Rob us of a good deal on insurance? Get us thrown in jail? Its impossible to say. All we know for sure is that it seems like it would cost a lot of time and energy now to try to keep our data from costing us even more in the future. No wonder most people feel overwhelmed by the task. Paging Ida Tarbell One day in 2012, I was on a city bus talking to a friend about how hopeless privacy trade-offs can seem. She asked: Is it hopeless because no one cares? Or is it truly hopeless? In a flash, I realized that I didnt know the answer. I hadnt ever really tried to protect my privacy because I assumed it would be too difficult. So I began a privacy experiment. For a year I sought to protect my data as much as possible while continuing to remain connected to the internet, my phone and my friends, and all the joys of the information age. What I found was that protecting my privacy wasnt as difficult as I thought. There were plenty of steps Ior anyonecould take that were simple, cheap, and effective. And most important, my actions gave me a feeling of reclaiming control over the technology invading every corner of my life. I started with the basics of computer securityessentially, locking the doors of my digital home. I updated all my software so I wasnt vulnerable to criminals who might exploit flaws in old versions. I deleted free applications that I was no longer using that could be stealing my data. I installed software and adjusted the privacy settings on my web browser to block the most common types of tracking used by advertisers. I purchased software to help me generate and manage strong passwords. I covered my laptop camera with tape so that hackers couldnt see anything if they took control of it remotely (which unfortunately is easy for them to do). Once I had secured most of the entry points to my digital domain, I began trying to reclaim my data from as many places as possible. I took some big steps, and I realize not everyone will want to follow my lead. First, I stopped using the social networks LinkedIn and Facebook. Surprisingly, I didnt miss them muchI discovered that I preferred staying in touch with friends through phone calls and visits. Next, I decided to break up with Google. The company had famously promised not to be evil in its corporate motto. But when I checked my accounts privacy dashboard, I saw that Google had more intimate information about me than my closest friends and family. Googles search history revealed that I often browsed for shoes when I was stressed out on tight work deadlines. Google Maps recalled all the trips I had taken, foreign and domestic, along with my precise routes. And I already knew that Googles Gmail recorded the fact that I emailed my close girlfriends more than my husband. I started by abandoning Googles admittedly excellent search engine. I began searching on the website DuckDuckGo.com, which doesnt track its users. It makes money the quaint old-fashioned way, by showing so-called contextual ads related to the search query rather than behavioral ads that track users across websites. Replacing Gmail with a service that promised not to scan my personal correspondence was more expensive. I gave up both Gmail and Google Docs, and ended up paying about $200 per year for an encrypted cloud storage systemand then invested $100 for a hard drive to store my emails at home. I was starting to feel like a data survivalist, stockpiling terabytes of personal info. Yet all these digital barriers didnt help me hide the details of my offline lifewhom I had coffee with, where I saw movies, whom I emailed. So I pulled a real Jason Bourne move: I created a fake identity. (Yes, it is legal to maintain an alias if its not used for fraud.) I began using the name Ida Tarbell, after the turn-of-the-century muckraker who revealed Standard Oils abuse of its monopoly power. I set up Ida with a credit card (linked to my account), an email address, an Amazon account, a postal address, a cell phone, and even a few social media accounts. Even though Ida was the thinnest of disguisesany decent investigator could link her to meI found using her as an alias to be incredibly satisfying. I loved booking a restaurant reservation under her name and being greeted as Ida. I loved ordering books about the history of the National Security Agency from her account rather than mine. I loved using her name to sign up for stupid online games that I was embarrassed to be caught playing. Ida is my homage to the fleeting pleasures of the past, a past anyone over the age of 40 can recall but younger people may find hard to grasp. Back when buying a video game or a frivolous magazine or a drink with an old boyfriend didnt create a data trail to be stored, scrutinized, and analyzed for generations to come. Using Idas name empowers me by restoring anonymity to everyday life. Privacy as Mindfulness Armed with my tracker-blocking software, my secure passwordsand, of course, IdaI believe Ive called the bluff of those who claim that privacy is dead. In fact, theres a lot you can do. And yet. The multibillion-dollar trade in personal datawhats often called the surveillance-industrial complexcontinues to expand. Ive had wins in my personal battles, and so have many others. But a larger win would be a shift in the balance of power between the data collectors and the rest of us. You see, I wouldnt mind some of my behavior being tracked if I knew the data wasnt going to end up denying me a job or a loan one day. If I knew that I could successfully dispute it in court. If I didnt constantly have to sign unconscionable contracts allowing companies to use my data however they liked. If I knew that the data collectors would protect my information from being hacked. If I knew that my childrens future wouldnt be forever marked by an idiotic video they posted when they were 8. If I knew that I could indulge in ephemeral, innocent joys without leaving a permanent record. But I dont have any of those guarantees today. In Europe, companies that collect personal data are required to give people access to their data, the ability to dispute it, and in some cases, the right to remove it. But the United States has no such laws. And the companies themselves dont seem to be leading the way. So until I can be assured how my data will be used in the future, Im reluctant to employ it as a currency to buy services. Instead I choose to pay whenever possible with dollars, with my effort, and with my time. Three years after my experiment was supposed to end, I still do most of my privacy-protecting moves. I secure my computer. I block tracking. I reclaim my data when I can. I hoard my data at home. And I delight in using my fake identities. (Yes, I have a few others, too.) Despite its hassles, Ive grown to like the practice of privacy. To me, its another form of mindfulness. Even though I know my victories are incomplete, they give me a sense of control over the technology that is encroaching on my life. Each new act of resistance gives me strength to imagine a better world, one where we have some assurances about how our data is used. Its not that hard. And I hope that others find a few acts of resistance that work for them, too. Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the November 2016 issue of Consumer Reports magazine. You can also read about our own stance on consumer privacy protections. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright 2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S. PARIS/TOKYO (Reuters) - Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> announced on Tuesday they would buy French software development company Sylpheo as they compete with global automakers and tech firms to develop new services including ride hailing and car sharing. The French and Japanese automakers said that the acquisition, under which they would absorb Sylpheo's 40 engineers and consultants, would boost their software development and cloud engineering expertise. "The Sylpheo team of software developers and cloud engineers joining the Alliance will have a unique opportunity to work on our next generation of connected cars and other advanced technologies," said Ogi Redzic, Renault-Nissan's senior vice president of Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services. "They will be playing a critical role in this new era of tremendous change for the global auto industry." Automakers from Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> to General Motors have been investing in software firms and mobility start-ups to position themselves for the rise of autonomous driving, ride-sharing and other connected services which threaten the traditional vehicle ownership model that has dominated the past century. Sylpheo will develop the applications for the alliance's connected car service platform, a Renault spokeswoman said. She said the acquisition was part of the alliance's recruitment push to hire 300 technology experts to better compete in the fast-growing mobility services sector. These services will be integrated with autonomous driving technologies. In July, Nissan launched a suite of semi-autonomous driving functions in one of its Japanese minivan models which enables the vehicle to drive on single lane motorways and navigate congestion. The two companies plan to launch more than 10 vehicles with autonomous drive technology by 2020. Nissan is aiming to develop autonomous multiple-lane driving functions, including lane changes, by 2018, and functions for full urban driving, including intersection turns, by 2020. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva in Paris and Naomi Tajitsu in Tokyo; editing by Richard Lough and Simon Cameron-Moore) Justice Rathnakala granted conditional bail to all 11 accused in the Lokayukta extortion case. By Rohini Swamy: The Karnataka High Court on Monday granted bail to 11 accused, including former Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao's son Ashwin Rao, in the Lokayukta extortion case. Justice Rathnakala granted conditional bail to Ashwin, suspended Lokayukta PRO Syed Riyaz, real estate agent Ashok Kumar, RTI activist Shankaregowda, journalist Srinivasa Gowda, Narasimha Murthy and others. In total, there are 5 cases and the HC has directed all the accused to surrender their passports and not to leave the country. advertisement Former Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar rao is an accused in one of the cases and has sought the quashing of the case against him. The case is likely to come up before the HC this week. The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is investigating the case, had filed charge sheet against the accused after government engineer MN Krishnamurthy lodged a complaint alleging that he was asked to pay Rs 1 crore by the accused to prevent a raid on him by Lokayukta police. ALSO READ: Scam tainted Karnataka Lokayukta finally resigns --- ENDS --- By Aradhana Aravindan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Grab, the biggest rival to ride-sharing service Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] in Southeast Asia, has raised $750 million in a funding round, turning up the heat on the U.S. firm now seeking to expand in the region after exiting China. The successful cash-injection just a month after Indonesian peer Go-Jek raised $550 million highlights the intensifying competition in the region, as Uber shifts its focus following a deal to sell its China operations into Didi Chuxing. Four-year-old Grab said it planned to expand its services in Southeast Asia through the funding round, which was led by Japan's SoftBank Group <9984.T> with new and existing investors. The region has become a key battleground for ride-hailing firms thanks to a burgeoning middle class as well as a youthful, internet-savvy demographic. Since leaving China in August, Uber is even more focused on Southeast Asia, doubling down on resources, staffing and technology deployed there, a source familiar with Uber's plans has said. Specifically, the company is refocusing more than 150 engineers to work on its Southeast Asian operations and hiring more engineers in India, the source said. It was also working on making sure its maps fit the region. The latest funding values Grab at over $3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. It increases its total capital position to over $1 billion, the company said without naming other investors in the round. A Grab representative told Reuters institutional investors from the United States and China took part. Uber had no comment on Grab's fund-raising. BUFFERING Grab says it has 95 percent market share in third-party taxi-hailing services, while its private-car business has more than half of the Southeast Asian market. In addition to expanded ride-hailing services, Grab said it planned to invest in mobile payments capabilities in a region with low banking and credit card penetration and limited cashless payment options. "Grab is using this funding to try to diversify because the ride-hailing industry, in terms of profitability, is still a big question. Grab need to hedge risks and diversify," said Rushabh Doshi, an analyst with researcher Canalys. "The additional funding and diversification will give Grab buffer to fend off Uber's attack," he said. Since its launch in 2012, the company has expanded into motorbike hailing, carpooling and delivery. It also recently teamed up with Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group to roll out a mobile payment platform in its biggest market, Indonesia. "We are particularly excited about the growth opportunity in Indonesia, where we see an almost $15 billion market for ride-hailing services alone, as well as the potential to extend GrabPay's platform regionally," CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan said in the statement. Grab said it will also invest in data science and machine learning capabilities to enable services like predictive demand and driver and user targeting. The company operates in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Stephen Coates) Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f216077%2f2f4d52f0c73b4f208f7cc8f8df33e804 Okay, we get it, Wang Sicong. You're rich. The son of China's wealthiest man is once again flaunting the Apple bling, posting pictures of his Alaskan Malamute, Coco, lounging with a stack of eight brand-new iPhone 7 devices. SEE ALSO: Chinese village celebrates dogs by carrying them around on wooden thrones He posted the images on his account dedicated to Coco on Weibo, China's biggest social media platform. Image: /weibo Image: /weibo Wang, speaking as his dog's voice on the account, gloats in the caption: "Not sure what people are showing off on social media about. There is nothing to show off. I was forced to take action." By "action", he means show you that he has tons more iPhones than you. The devices aren't Coco's first bounty from the Apple store. Last year, when the Apple Watch debuted, Wang posted a picture of the pampered pooch wearing one on each paw. Image: /weibo Image: /weibo The watches weren't just the regular Apple watches, either they were the gold ones that went for US$10,000 apiece. Clearly, while neither the phones nor the watches are for Coco's use, Wang's point that he's privileged was clear. Stocks of the new iPhone 7 and larger iPhone 7 Plus are running critically short globally. Apple said last week, days before launch, that the iPhone 7 Plus was entirely sold out, and the much coveted jet-black iPhone 7 would be elusive for the next month at least. Wang's pictures of the iPhone 7 have come days after hundreds of people queued outside Apple stores in China. Last year's pictures of Coco with the watches were also posted shortly after supplies of the high-end gold editions ran low. Tech fans Coco and Wang Sicong share a moment. Image: /weibo Story continues Thousands of people have commented on the iPhone 7 pictures on Weibo. A user called Anonymous Mute said: "Wang Sicong is so gross." Another user, WeChat a906991000, said: "Sicong's dog has a better life than so many people." And xxxibgrosegr said: "The phones are probably for all his girlfriends." Wang is the only child of Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda, China's largest real estate developer. The elder Wang is worth an estimated $28.8 billion RMB (US$4.3 bn). But judging by the stack of iPhones in mixed colours next to Coco, it seems even the younger Wang's billions and privilege couldn't secure him the elusive jet-black iPhone. By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - The SWIFT inter-bank messaging network plans to send daily reports to clients to help them more quickly identify unauthorized payment instructions like those used by hackers to steal $81 million from Bangladeshs central bank in February. Trillions of dollars worth of inter-bank payments are made each day using SWIFT messages but the Bangladesh theft and others which have came to light this year have knocked confidence in the supposedly super-secure system. SWIFT said in a statement on Tuesday that from December it would begin sending 'Daily Validation Reports' to clients. These would list the messages sent from the client's SWIFT terminal, thus allowing a bank to spot any payment instructions that it had not intended to send. The report will also contain a risk report aimed at showing whether transfer instructions deviated from the client's typical payment patterns. In the Bangladesh heist and a $12 million theft from a Colombian bank last year, hackers covered their tracks by deleting records of fraudulent SWIFT messages they sent from the banks' terminals. In both cases, it took days for the thefts to be discovered. The new reports will be sent to customers payments and compliance teams through a separate channel to the normal SWIFT terminal, so that even if hackers have gained access to the terminal, the reports will get through. Some former SWIFT staff and clients say the Belgium-based organization, a co-operative controlled by the biggest global banks, have been slow to react to growing security risks in recent years. SWIFT denies it overlooked risks around unauthorized access to client terminals, saying it was up to banks to secure their own facilities. However, in June the co-operative launched a new 'Customer Security Programme' and is in the process of developing new measures to help clients, particularly smaller banks, ensure they are not victims of hacking. (Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Richard Balmforth) By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration proposed on Tuesday deeper government involvement in the design of autonomous vehicle systems and called on manufacturers to share more information about how such systems work and why they fail. The wide-ranging proposal unveiled on Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) called on automakers to voluntarily submit details of self-driving vehicle systems to regulators in a 15 point "safety assessment." The plan came as automakers race to put autonomous driving systems on the road and regulators scramble to keep up. The emphasis on voluntary action reflected the reality, cited by regulators, that enacting formal rules could take years and securing congressional approval to expand NHTSA's authority faces political obstacles. "This technology is moving so rapidly that it is outpacing the public policy that is necessary to make sure we're doing this properly," Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said Tuesday. The proposals gave automakers and technology companies investing in automated driving many things they wanted, including a call for a single, national set of rules for self-driving cars. Throughout the document, titled, "Accelerating the Next Revolution In Roadway Safety," NHTSA cites the importance of fostering innovation. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on Tuesday at a briefing for reporters the agency would seek to make it mandatory through the regulatory process. "The industry now knows where we are headed," Foxx said, acknowledging that the policy leaves many questions unanswered now and will be updated at least annually. A fatal crash in May involving a Tesla Motors Inc sedan highlighted the challenges for regulators. NHTSA had authority to ask Tesla for details of the system's design only after the crash. "The absence of something like this policy creates a bit of a vacuum and makes it difficult for safety to be addressed properly," Foxx said. Transportation officials said at a briefing they want Alphabet Inc's Google unit, Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], Tesla and others to answer safety assessment questions within six months about self-driving vehicles and systems such as Tesla's Autopilot, which allows limited hands-free driving on highways. In what appeared to be a win for Google's self-driving car project, NHTSA said it could exempt up to a few thousand vehicles from regulations that require steering wheels and brake pedals for testing, but would need a change in law to permanently change the rules. Google has proposed fully autonomous vehicles without driver controls. Uber is testing self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh. Other automakers are testing their systems on public roads in other states. The regulator said it wants to explore whether automakers should be required to submit technology to regulators for approval before they are offered for sale in a process similar to that used by the Federal Aviation Administration with aircraft. NHTSA said it plans to propose a requirement that automakers report to regulators on the results of their testing of self-driving vehicle systems. The next presidential administration and Congress will determine the future of NHTSA proposals. Some consumer advocates called on NHTSA to go beyond voluntary guidelines and issue rules to govern autonomous vehicles before they are allowed on roads. "This new policy comes with a lot of bark but not enough bite," Marta Tellado, president of Consumer Reports, said in a statement. The NHTSA proposals touch an array of issues, from the ethics of robot-guided vehicles - should an automated car hit a pedestrian or protect the occupants of the vehicle in a case where a crash is unavoidable - to whether self-driving cars should be allowed to speed. In that instance, NHTSA said self-driving cars should obey all traffic laws, including speed limits. Industry groups on Tuesday praised the administration's call for federal standards for self-driving vehicles, instead of allowing states to set their own rules. The NHTSA also urged states not to require a licensed driver for the most highly automated vehicles. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, in a statement on Tuesday, said it "supports NHTSA's goal of creating a consistent approach and national framework" for self-driving cars. The administration guidelines also call for sharing among manufacturers and regulators of data about problems encountered by self-driving vehicles. IHS Markit analyst Jeremy Carlson said data sharing could be a sensitive issue. "There is a competitive aspect to all this data, all of the software," he said. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Andrew Hay) Whether we openly admit it or not, KISSING is one of the most important activities in human life. So much thought and hard work go into this simple yet magical act. Setting the right mood for the perfect kiss can be tricky and arduous, a kiss opens the floodgates of emotions and seals the deal, it is a make or break for creating a lasting impression and leaving a trait that makes the other wanting more. Here are twelve Ghanaian songs that are sure to work the magic and ease you into the right mood to get that much-awaited kiss 1. FANTI LOVE SONG by MENSA This five-year-old song on our get the kiss sealed playlist but its one song that is sure to work the magic. The song speaks for itself, being a love song sang in the local Fanti dialect. READ ALSO:The most sexualized Ghanaian songs ever recorded 2 TRIGGER by SAMINI Talk about setting the mood right for your significant other in the most direct of ways possible and our minds quickly fall on bad boy Samini who over the years has thrilled us with a good number of songs for that perfect moment. 3. WO P3 MI ANA ( KYERE MI) by K.K FOSU FT SANTROFI Its safe to say this song will go down in history as one of Ghanas top romantic love songs ever composed. Released in 2004, this song, from its first beat, magically turns any environment into a love-spell bounded one. You are sure to get that kiss anywhere you dare play this tune so be fully aware what you are getting into with this one. 4. HARRY ( MENSEI DA) by DADDY LUMBA As far as classics go, Daddy Lumba is one of the big boys who released hit upon hit, love song upon love song, back to back. Whether its about very straight forward lyrics or suggestive ones with deeper meanings, Lumba has them all. 5. WHERE DID I GO WRONG by SARKODIE & EFYA Four years ago we were blessed with this beautiful duet that got everyone thinking that Sarkodie and Efya had a good thing going on. Doesnt that simply demonstrate the effect this song has already? Even though it is a song about heartbreak, Efya's smooth voice and Sarkodies intentional break in voice raps sends out appealing vibes to its listeners. 6. BEST IN ME by EFYA It gets hard for ladies to express themselves verbally when it comes to shy guys who talk less and thus barely have the courage to lean in to initiate the kiss that you so badly want. Dont worry ladies; its the society we find ourselves that makes it the mans job to make all the moves while we send subtle positive vibes his way. 7. MY MIND DEY by IRENE LOGAN This 2014 hit is just the right song to let the emotional walls down and break the unseen bridges that prevent your lips from colliding. Irene bears it all in this slow electric combination of jazz soul and R&B. 8. WHEN I GET YOU by ASEM AND RICHIE Here is another number that does the trick for sealing the mouth deal. This two-year-old song stayed at number one on the charts for as long as we can remember not only because it was a different tune but because on any given day, an Asem and Richie combo on a song will always get the girls swooning over you like high school love-struck teenagers. 9. EMIRIKA / DADIE ANOMA by KOJO ANTWI We dont think any male musician or male in the history of Ghana has expressed love any better than the ladies man Kojo Antwi. It was hard enough listening to his songs for that perfect one, but at the end of the day we just had to settle for a two in one. 10. ANOINTING by MR EAZI This song is the youngest and most recently released on our playlist but, like they say, big things sometimes come in small packages. Trust when we say this song can do all the things you need it to. 11. ODO by R2BEES The 2012 hit song goes straight to the point in its first line and helps guys who find it hard expressing themselves to ladies from A-Z. You can use this song to initiate a first-time kiss or another romantic kiss as your remind your girl of how much you are into her. Ladies, after all, love to be told that they are still numero uno and this song guarantees just that. 12. IM DONE - MUGEEZ With all pun intended, our last song comes out of the camp of R2bees again but this time with Mugeez going solo. This dancehall flavoured tune with a touch of highlife rhythm is another that reminds your girl of her place in your life. READ ALSO: Your wifes breast should satisfy you Nacee So there you go! 12 ( 13 technically) different songs and artistes to choose from to set the mood right for that special kiss! Did we miss any song?. Send us a message via Twitter or Facebook or even to our email address, info@yen.com.gh. You can also read about the top 3 irrelevant artistes in Ghana. Source: YEN.com.gh Ten-year-old Luis Collazo battled cancer as a baby, dealt with bullying in school, and is now a proud, published author. By India Today Web Desk: Luis Collazo is only ten years old, but this little guy has gone through and achieved more than most of us do at such a tender age. A class five student from North Texas, US, Luis was diagnosed with eye cancer as a baby and lived most of his life with a prosthetic eye. And as he grew up as a young cancer survivor, he wrote a book to inspire others like him. advertisement Yes, at 10, he's already a published author. His book's name is 'Todd the Odd Boy'. "When I first came into first grade, there were some kids who bullied me," Luis told NBCD. "They called me 'alien' because I had one eye." Reserved by nature, the bullying drove Luis to write and express what he was going through. "It popped into my head 'Maybe if I write a book I'll feel better about my feelings,'" said Luis. "So then I wrote it, it got published and now it's viral." Luis's book is available on Amazon. Source: Amazon Luis' story, Todd the Odd Boy, tells the tale of accepting who we are and what makes us special. Apart from bullying, his experience as a cancer survivor inspired him to craft the characters of his story. "I got sick over retinoblastoma, but that's something that's just really special about me," he said. "Even if you're unusual, everybody is special, no matter how you are. "My eye is something that I love, something about me, something really special," said the young author. Though he still undergoes regular checkups to ensure long-term recovery and any trace of relapse, Luis is now cancer-free. A cancer fighter, an author, a hero of his own accord, what else does Luis want to be? "A scientist," he said, so that he can help cure diseases like cancer. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Mumbai, Sep 20 (PTI) Amid rising unrest among tribals of Palghar over deaths of children due to malnutrition, Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde is scheduled to visit the district tomorrow. In view of her visit, Palghar district administration has issued prohibitory orders in two villages in view of Mundes visit. Another state minister Vishnu Savra had recently faced the wrath of tribals over malnutrition deaths. advertisement Talking to reporters here, Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya said, "Pankaja Munde would be visiting Jawhar and Mokhada talukas of Palghar district tomorrow along with some of our officials to take stock of the situation there. They would be interacting with district officials and also listen to the villagers." He added that the state is preparing a policy that will be aimed at balancing the infant mortality rate and reduce malnutrition in the district. "To prepare a strategy for the policy, the Health and Women and Child Development departments will come together and suggest ways that will be aimed at stopping deaths due to malnutrition," Kshatriya said. According to him, the government would also seek help from civil society groups and NGOs for the preparation of the policy. District Collector Abhijit Bhangar directed for orders under CrPC section 144 to be clamped in a radius of one km of Koch and Kalamwadi villages of Mokhada taluka tomorrow from 7 am to 8 pm, an official release said. Prohibitory orders have also been issued considering that some local activists may disrupt her visit. "The order was issued due to the visit of Munde to the villages to meet the family members of the two children who recently died due to malnutrition," the statement said. Tribal Affairs minister Vishnu Savra, who is also the Guardian minister of Palghar district, had recently faced the anger of a tribal woman whose two-year-old son died last month apparently due to malnutrition. During his visit to the grief-stricken family in Mokhada taluka, villagers claimed over 600 children had died in the tribal-dominated district due to malnutrition since January last. PTI MM CORR GK NP BSA SRE --- ENDS --- Man kills father-in-law and two brother-in-laws in Nand Nagri of Delhi over family dispute. By Ilma Hasan, Press Trust of India: A 30-year-old man bludgeoned his father in law, and two of his brother-in-laws late on Monday night in Delhi's Nand Nagri area. Rajesh, who hails from Alwar in Rajasthan, reportedly beat three of his family members to death in a fit of rage, when they were sleeping on the terrace of their three-storey building. He repeatedly bashed his family members with a wooden log, killing them on the spot. advertisement He also attacked two others in the family who are in a critical condition and are being treated at the GTB hospital. According to the police, Rajesh attacked his five relatives over not getting a good share in the family property as compared to the other two sons-in-law. Ram Kishan (62), Kiran Pal (32) and Raju (29) died instantly, while Tarun (30) and Karan (16) sustained severe injuries. The accused was staying with his in-laws with his wife and son. After the assault, Rajesh jumped to the adjacent terrace and injured himself while trying to climb down in order to escape. The victim's neighbour raised an alarm and called the police. BODIES FOUND IN POOL OF BLOOD A neighbour said, "We thought he had injured himself and tried to help him. It was later that we got suspicious and went to check on Ram Kishan. We found their bodies covered in a pool of blood." Police have registered a case of murder against Rajesh and arrested him. "Accused Rajesh also sustained injuries on his head and leg as he tried to escape from the house after bludgeoning his relatives. He is now undergoing treatment at a hospital. He is under police custody and a case of murder has been registered against him," said A K Singla, DCP (north-east). Police said Ram Kishan was a retired sanitation worker of MCD. He has four sons -- Mannu, Ravi, Govinda and Raju, and three married daughters -- Rakhi, Asha and Priya. The accused Rajesh was married to Rakhi. VICTIMS CAME TO RESOLVE DISPUTE The accused, along with his son Aditya, came from Alwar to his in-laws place after a dispute with his wife on Monday morning. Later, his wife Rakhi too came, along with their other children. The family was trying to resolve the dispute and Kiranpal, who lived in the neighbourhood, joined in the effort. In evening, Rajesh convinced Kiranpal to stay back so that his problem could be solved through mediation. However, when the whole family was fast asleep after dinner, he stealthily picked up grindstones and the stick to hit them. advertisement Police suspected that some sedative might have been mixed with the food eaten by the family for dinner as the accused went on a killing spree without drawing attention from any of the family members. Amid a ruckus, the rest of the family members discovered the injured and rushed them to a hospital where Ram Kishan, Raju and Kiranpal were declared dead on arrival by the doctors. With inputs from PTI --- ENDS --- By PTI: Mathura, Sep 19 (PTI) A man from Mathura, who was stranded for over four months in Saudi Arabia after failing to pay an agent, who had promised him a job in that country, returned with the help of the Ministry of External Affairs, his family members claimed. An agent had taken Virendra (32), a resident of Bhainsa village here and a welder by profession, to Saudi Arabia by promising him a job there. But when he didnt get a job, he asked him to send him home, Prakash Singh, one of his relatives, claimed. advertisement The agent started putting pressure on him for Rs 3 to Rs 7 lakh and also seized his passport and other documents, he alleged. Virendra somehow managed to contact his family members and narrated his ordeal. They in turn approached the local police and through them the MEA, Singh claimed. Following this, officials of the Indian Mission in Saudi Arabia yesterday arranged for Virendras return to Delhi. He reached here today, his elder brother Fatah Singh said. PTI CORR NSD --- ENDS --- According to sources Parrikar is specially concerned about how the militants were allowed to enter the base completely unchallenged despite timely intelligence inputs on attempts to target military installations. By Manjeet Negi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has sought a detailed report from the Army on the terror attack in Uri which has claimed 18 lives of jawans . He has requested an explanation as to how the terrorists successfully entered the high security Battalion Headquarters without being spotted. CONCERNED ABOUT INFILTRATION The Army had already filed an initial report on the attack. According to sources Parrikar is specially concerned about how the militants were allowed to enter the base completely unchallenged despite timely intelligence inputs on attempts to target military installations. As per sources, the Army is required to answer as to why unarmed soldiers were housed in tents. Out of 18 martyrs, 14 were charred to death as the terrorists used incendiary grenades and targeted a fuel dump to maximise casualties. advertisement ATTACK At 5.15 am on Sunday, four terrorists managed to infiltrate into Indian territory from across the Line of Control and preceded to launch an attack on the 12th brigade of the army based in the Uri sector. The terrorists launched 13 grenades in 3 minutes which caused a massive fire in which 17 jawans were burned alive and 20 others were injured. In the gun battle that ensued between the security forces and the militants, all four militants were gunned down. ALSO READ: Uri attack: Pakistan can't go unpunished, PM Modi has approved effective retaliation Uri attack: An inside story of how it happened --- ENDS --- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised the ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported on Tuesday. By Reuters: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised the ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported on Tuesday, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the isolated state. Kim asked scientists and engineers to make "preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test", the official KCNA news agency said, indicating the North may soon launch another long-range rocket. advertisement NORTH's 5TH NUKE TEST This is the North's fifth nuclear test this month, conducted amid global condemnation. The United States, Japan and South Korea demanded this week that greater pressure be exerted on Pyongyang following its disregard for the UN resolution banning missile and nuclear programmes. Also read: South Korea, US to conduct joint aerial drill against North Korea North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under Kim's direction, including the launch of a satellite in February that was widely seen as a test of long-range ballistic missile technology. KIM VISITS SOHAE SPACE CENTRE "Kim Jong Un visited the Sohae Space Centre to guide the ground jet test of a new type high-power engine of a carrier rocket for the geo-stationary satellite," KCNA said. The Sohae centre is the North's newly-upgraded rocket station where the February launch of a satellite and other rocket tests have been conducted. Also read: Kim Jong has two officials executed with anti-aircraft gun for disobeying him "This test is another important development pointing to the first launch of a bigger, better space vehicle to place satellites in higher orbits, which could happen in the not-too-distant future," said Joel Wit, founder of the 38 North website, which monitors North Korea. A satellite image from Sept. 17 provided to Reuters by Washington-based 38 North showed preparations for an engine test, including a heavy crane over the vertical engine test stand and a shelter that would house the rocket engine. PYONGYANG FIRES 3 MISSILES IN SEPT Earlier this month, North Korea fired three missiles that flew about 1,000 km (600 miles) each and in August tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that international experts said showed considerable progress. It also launched an intermediate-range missile in June that experts said marked a technological advance for the isolated state after several test failures. Also read: UNGA session to begin amid N Korea nuke threat --- ENDS --- The encounter follows a blatant provocation by Pakistani forces when they violated the ceasefire and opened fire at Uri, forcing the Indian army to retaliate with full might. By Manjeet Negi, Naseer Ganai: At least ten terrorists were gunned down by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Lachhipora area in Uri sector, two days after an audacious attack on an Indian Army camp killed 18 soldiers and injured 19 others. The encounter follows a blatant provocation by Pakistani forces when they violated the ceasefire and opened fire at Uri, forcing the Indian army to retaliate with full might. Pakistan is often accused of firing at Indian posts to give cover to infiltrators. advertisement "Pakistani troopers resorted to heavy gunfire with small and automatic fire arms from across the Line of Control (LoC). No damage was caused to Indian posts. The fire was returned," the source said. The firing targeted Indian posts in Lachhipora and Boniyar villages of the border area, the source said, adding: "The fire was returned with equal calibre weapons." The firing violates the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan along the international boundary and the LoC -- the de facto border that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two neighbours. WHILE URI FIRE RAGES The border skirmish came as New Delhi and Islamabad are locked in a bitter diplomatic war of words following the Uri terror attack, which India has blamed on militants from Pakistan. Pakistan has denied the allegations even as India claimed to have clinching evidence to support its claims. The Indian Army has claimed to have recovered arms, ammunition and food and medicine packets with Pakistani markings during the combing operations at the military base in Uri. India also claimed that the four terror attackers who were gunned down during the gun fight that lasted for about two-and-a-half hours were foreigners. Watch: Also read: Days after Uri attack, suspicious bag found near Army unit in Pathankot NIA registers FIR in Uri terror attack, seizes GPS and ammunition from slain terrorists India slams Pakistan at UN after Uri attack, rakes up human rights violations in Balochistan Uri attack: India to respond at multiple levels, but will the stand be aggressive? --- ENDS --- Pakistan interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has hit back at Indian authorities after New Delhi slammed Islamabad for backing terror in light of the Uri attack, saying Pakistan would not be intimidated by Indian threats. Pakistan would not step back from its political and moral support to Kashmir said Pakistan interior minister. Photo: @touseefdhamrah1 By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has hit back at Indian authorities after New Delhi slammed Islamabad for backing terror in light of the Uri attack, saying Pakistan would not be intimidated by Indian threats, Geo TV reported. Speaking to PoK leader Raja Farooq, he called India's allegations baseless and just tools of sabotage meant to disrupt peace in the region. He also followed the routine Pakistan line and alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. advertisement He said Pakistan would not step back from its political and moral support to Kashmir. Chaudhry Nisar's meeting with the PoK leader Farooq comes at a time when Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is in New York to attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. --- ENDS --- Kashmir will be the key point in Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the UN General Assembly. By India Today Web Desk: Kashmir will be the key point in Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday following a further straining of ties between India and Pakistan after the terror attack in Uri. AGGRESSIVE STAND ON KASHMIR In the past, Pakistan has raised the K-issue at important segments of the General Assembly and other UN platforms. This time, Sharif is set to take an even more aggressive stand on Kashmir. Sharif had earlier met Hurriyat leaders from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and promised them that he would "emphatically highlight" the issue and the alleged human rights abuses by India. advertisement "Pakistan will continue to extend moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris," Sharif had said last week, alleging that atrocities in Kashmir had touched a new high. FOUR-POINT PEACE IN PIECES Last year Sharif, raising the Kashmir issue in the General Assembly, had proposed a four-point "peace initiative" with India on Kashmir. ALSO READ: Nawaz Sharif appoints 22 MPs as special envoys to raise Kashmir at world stage In a strong response, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had then said in her address that India does not need four points but just one that Pakistan should "give up terrorism and let us sit down and talk". Swaraj will address the General Assembly on September 26 and is likely to make a strong statement to counter Sharif's rhetoric on Kashmir. (With inputs from PTI) ALSO READ: Malala Yousafzai stands with Kashmir, urges India and Pakistan to stop the 'inhumanity' --- ENDS --- Section-144 will be imposed in the villages of Palghar during Pankaja Munde's visit to meet the families of children who died due to malnutrition. By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: State administration has issued prohibitory orders ahead of Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde's visit to tribal areas in Palghar today. The move, issued under Section 144 in Kochi and Kalamwadi villages of Palghar, has been initiated to maintain law and order. Local activists are expected to disrupt Munde's visit. Pankaja Munde has planned the visit to meet the family members of the two children who died of malnutrition. advertisement The order will be imposed from 7 in the morning to 8 at night. READ| Under attack for 'drought selfies', Pankaja Munde skips Cabinet meeting citing heat stroke Munde, downplaying the issue, has said "I have not taken this decision. It is the local administration that has taken this decision. This comes under the police, not me. However I have asked them that there is no such need for the order but police officials want it to be imposed and I cannot interfere in their work." FLAK FROM FORMER CM The decision has invited flak from the government. Charging the administration's move as insensitive, Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and State Congress President Ashok Chavan said, "It is really shocking that the state administration is imposing Section 144 ahead of the minister's visit to tribal areas instead of talking to the people and knowing their grievances." PREVIOUS INCIDENT In a similar episode, Tribal Development Minister Vishnu Sawra faced the anger of a tribal woman whose two-year-old son died last month, apparently due to severe malnutrition in Palghar district. The video of the instance also went viral on social media. Sawra landed in further trouble as he was alleged to have made insensitive remarks over the deaths of 600 children. Watch: See Pankaja Munde's selfies in drought-hit Latur that raised eyebrows --- ENDS --- In its annual survey, the Pew Research Center reveals the reason behind PM Narendra Modi's lily-white popularity among Indian voters. By India Today Web Desk: Two years since his sweeping victory in the general elections, the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a survey reveals, remains untarnished. Critics who thought that his adoration would wane over time have been proven wrong with this study. US think tank Pew Research Center says in its report that 'two-thirds of the Indian public is satisfied with the direction of the country and eight-in-ten think the economy is doing well.' advertisement The survey was conducted from April 7 to May 24 this year and covered 2,464 respondents. Here are five charts that show Modi's 'continuing honeymoon' and 'acche din' with the Indians: 1. Wave of contentment: The survey indicates that public satisfaction with India's current direction increased by 36 per cent since 2013, when the previous government was in power. A strong majority (81%) hold a favourable view of Modi, including 57% who have a very favorable opinion of him. A similar proportion of the public (80%) expresses a positive view of the Bharatiya Janata Party. 2. Rising tide of the economy Eight out of ten Indians believe the economy is doing well. The economy is up six points from last year and 16 per cent more than when Modi was elected in 2014. Now, 80 per cent are satisfied with the country's economy, with only a handful who hold a negative view. Modi's popularity cuts across demographic groups Modiji's personality charmed both men and women among all age groups, educational backgrounds and income levels. It's not just 94 per cent of the BJP followers who admire the leader of their party, but also 61 per cent of the rival Congress party adherents see him favourably, says the survey. More than half the population thinks that Modi is 'someone who can get things done' and his party adherents feel he is 'more sensitive to their needs than Congress party supporters'. While 49 per cent of Indians say Modi brings people together, 29 per cent believe he is divisive. Modi's Pakistan policy takes a hit The survey reveals that only 22 per cent of the public approves of Modi's policy towards Pakistan and more than half strongly disagree. This harsh judgment remains relatively unchanged from 2015. While, Indians still laud Modi's handling of key issues like poverty, terrorism and unemployment, he fares slightly less well in public assessment in handling international relations, despite having taken 51 trips to 42 nations since he became the prime minister in 2014. Indians see their nation's star on the rise. Two-third of Indians believe that India plays an more important role in the world today than it did 10 years ago, says the report. More and more Indians support use of military force than looking for solutions to fix problems of other countries. advertisement Hope for a better future Steady economy since Modi took over has instilled faith among the people of a better future for the next generation. Seven out of ten Indians believe that when today's children grow up they will be better off financially than their parents, says the report. --- ENDS --- The body of an apparent victim of vigilante execution lies on a street in Manila. The sign next to him reads: "I am a persistent thief and drug pusher, Better Change." (Reuters Image) By India Today Web Desk: More than 3,000 people have been killed in the ongoing war against drugs in Philippines, triggered since controversial President Rodrigo Duterte's landslide election win in May this year. Just yesterday, the daughter of a former British lord was shot dead in the Philippines in one such vigilante-style hit. A cardboard reading "Drug pusher to the celebrities" was left next to her body. advertisement A little over a thousand drug suspects have been killed by the police and the remaining murdered by unknown assailants. Maria (name changed) is one such assassin. Read: Over 1,900 killed in just 7 weeks in Philippines' violent war on drugs "My first job was two years ago in this province nearby. I felt really scared and nervous because it was my first time," she told BBC in an interview. An assassin for hire, Maria has killed five more people with a shot to the head. She now carries out contract killings as part of Duterte's war on drugs and is part of a hit team that includes three women. Women assassins are valuable assets -- they can get close to their victims without arousing the same suspicions a man would. On his campaign trail, Duterte had promised that 100,000 people would be killed in his crackdown on drugs and that so many bodies would be dumped in Manila Bay that "fish would grow fat from feeding on them". Duterte has been nicknamed The Punisher. Read | Meet 'The Punisher': Philippine president-elect wants criminals assassinated, corrupt scribes killed The crackdown invited severe criticism from the UN, human rights activists and countries like Europe and the US, which in turn led to an angry Duterte calling Obama a "son of a whore". And surely the crackdown has brought her more work, but the risk is greater too. At the time of her BBC interview, she was in the middle of vacating her safe house -- which had been exposed -- with her husband and baby. HOW SHE GOT INVOLVED It was Maria's husband who first landed a hit -- he had to kill a man who owed money to a drug pusher policeman. Once, for a trickier situation, his handlers needed a woman and Maria came into the picture. "When I saw the man I was supposed to kill, I got near him and I shot him," she said. Maria and her husband earn up to 20,000 Philippine pesos (approx Rs 28,000), a blessing for the family from an impoverished neighbourhood, with no source of regular income. According to the BBC, "contract killing is nothing new in the Philippines, but the hit squads have never been as busy as they are now". advertisement "We only talk about the mission, how to carry it out," she said. "When it is finished we never talk about it again." The blessing, however, is turning into curse. Maria lives in regret of her choices, but sees no way out of the contract killing job -- her boss has threatened to kill anyone who leaves the team. "I feel guilty and it is hard on my nerves. I don't want the families of those I have killed to come after me," she said. She also worries for a children, with her older boy already curious about the source of 'so much' income. "I do not want them to come back to us and say that they got to live because we killed for money," said Maria, hoping her next hit would also be her last. Read: Bounty offered to kill Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte PHILLIPINES' DRUG PROBLEM Crystal meth or "shabu" has spread its roots deep within the Filipino community. Often called "ice" or "crystal meth" in the West, Shabu is a pure and potent form of amphetamine. It is cheap (costs about 1,000 Philippine pesos (Rs 1400) per gram), easily made, and severely addictive, giving an instant high. These qualities also make Shabu a very profitable drug. It can be smoked, injected, snorted or dissolved in water. Many industrial-scale labs in Philippines produce the drug in tonnes, and then distributed it throughout Asia. According to president Duterte, 150 senior officials, officers and judges are linked to the Shabu trade, while five police generals are kingpins of the business. Many residents in low-income areas blame shabu for rising crime and fiercely support Duterte's campaign, but others say only the small fish are being targeted in the 'war on drugs'. According to an addict quoted in the BBC report, between 30 to 35% people in his neighbourhood were shabu addicts. advertisement --- ENDS --- By PTI: Kochi, Sep 20 (PTI) Kerala Police today dismissed claims by Ameerul Islam, lone accused in the rape and murder of a Dalit woman law student, that he has no role in the brutal crime and it was committed by one Anarul Islam. When he was produced before the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court, Ameerul Islam denied his role in the rape and murder of the law student at nearby Perumbavoor in April this year. advertisement Dismissing his claim, Ernakulam Rural SP P N Unnirajan said all scientific evidence, including DNA analysis and statements given by witnesses had confirmed that the heinous crime was committed by Ameerul Islam himself. Unnirajan, a key member in the SIT headed by ADGP B Sandhya, told a Malayalam TV news channel that it was revealed in detailed probe that the person called Anarul Islam was not in Kerala when the incident took place at her small house. "It is quite natural. An accused will always deny his role in a crime. In this case, all scientific and technical evidence clearly suggest that the crime was committed by Ameerul Islam," he said. Meanwhile, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court dismissed Ameeruls bail plea in wake of chargesheet filed in the court. The chargesheet named Ameerul Islam, a native of Assam who was arrested in June as the lone accused in the case and charged him with offences, including rape and murder. Ameerul was arrested on June 16, 50 days after the murder of the 30-year-old law student, which became a major issue in the run-up to the Kerala Assembly election this May. The woman, hailing from a poor family, was raped and brutally assaulted with sharp weapons, before being murdered at her residence on April 28. PTI TGB APR AJR --- ENDS --- Racist posters targeting Sikhs have been seen in the campus of University of Alberta in Canada. Indian students living there are outraged over the same and say they have no hand in any wrongdoing. By PTI: Racist posters targeting Sikhs have appeared in and around the campus of one of Canada's largest research-intensive universities. The posters showed the image of a man wearing a turban with a racist message that asked Sikhs to go back to their home country, Toronto Sun reported. "This is shameful that people in Canada are doing this," said Yadvinder Bhardwaj, president of the Indian Students Association at the University of Alberta, which represents more than 2,500 Indian students. advertisement 'HERE TO STUDY, NOT DO WRONG' "I don't want this. We are students, we are here trying to get an education, we are not doing anything bad." Also read: Racist former US SWAT officer calls Sikh US soldier a Muslim on Twitter, faces heat for stupidity The World Sikh Organisation of Canada condemned the racist posters. "Similar posters appeared two years ago in Ontario and are a pathetic attempt at drawing the spotlight to deplorable views that have been rejected in Canada," WSO president Mukhbir Singh said. "Despite the claims on this poster, Sikhs are an integral part of the Canadian fabric and we are proud that many turbaned Sikhs serve Canada in the federal cabinet, Armed Forces and many other capacities." Also read: Racism fear looms as Indian doctors head for UK "These racist posters don't reflect the inclusiveness Canada is renowned for and we know that the University of Alberta and the larger Edmonton community stand in solidarity with Sikh Canadians in saying that this type of messaging is not welcome," said Tejinder Singh Sidhu, vice-president of WSO Alberta. POSTERS REMOVED David Turpin, president of the University of Alberta, said all of the posters that were brought to their attention have been taken down and any new posters will be removed. "We are working with University of Alberta Protective Services to find the parties responsible. The University of Alberta is a space that is open to all people and we take pride in the strength of our diverse community," Turpin said. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Kanpur, Sep 20 (PTI) Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will hold a roadshow in Kanpur tomorrow, as part of his ongoing Deoria to Dilli kisan yatra. Congress city chief H P Agnihotri said Rahuls roadshow will enter Kanpur tomorrow evening from Shastri Nagar and will reach Phool Bagh after passing through various routes. A "khat sabha" will also be organised before the roadshow at Ghatampur, 60 km from here. Rahul will spend the night at Kanpurs circuit house and will leave for Unnao on Thursday, he said. advertisement The party workers will welcome the Congress vice president who will take part in "nukkad sabhas" at various stops during his roadshow, Agnihotri said. Security arrangements by the Special Protection Group (SPG) and district authorities have been put in place for Rahuls visit tomorrow. Gandhi is making an aggressive pitch to woo voters in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. PTI ZIR ASV RG ASV --- ENDS --- The trailer of actor Sivakarthikeyan's Remo, which was unveiled yesterday (September 19), has now clocked 1 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours. By India Today Web Desk: The trailer of Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Tamil romantic comedy Remo, which was unveiled on Monday, has clocked over a million views in less than 24 hours. As of today, the trailer has registered 1.2 million views. ALSO READ: Prabhakaran biopic- If Mani Ratnam is the director, what the dream cast would be ALSO READ: Happy Birthday Akkineni Nageswara Rao- 5 best films of the legendary actor advertisement Going by the trailer, it seems like Sivakarthikeyan plays an aspiring actor and in a bid to impress a director, he dons the avatar of a nurse. Remo, which is touted to be a romantic comedy, is directed by debutant Bakkiyaraj Kannan. The film will see Sivakarthikeyan collaborating with Keerthy Suresh for the second time after the duo's successful outing in Rajini Murugan. Anirudh Ravichander has been roped in to compose the film's music. He will be pairing up with Sivakarthikeyan for the fourth time. The big-budget flick will also bring together Academy Award-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty and ace-cinematographer PC Sreeram. Produced by RD Raja under his banner 24AM Productions, the film is slated to release on October 7. Here's the trailer: --- ENDS --- By PTI: Durban, Sep 20 (PTI) Some students and academics at the Ghana University are demanding the removal of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, saying he was racist against black people. The Gandhi statue, currently installed in the premises of the varsity, was gifted by President Pranab Mukherjee during his recent visit to Ghana. The students and teachers argue that Gandhis reference to black Africans as "kaffir" in some of his early writings reflected his racist mindset. advertisement The campaign has been led by Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, former director of the Institute of African Studies. The students and teachers have also launched an online petition, asking authorities to facilitate "the removal of the statue of Gandhi" at the earliest. "How will the historian teach and explain that Gandhi was uncharitable in his attitude towards the black race and see that were glorifying him by erecting a statue on our campus?" wrote a professor in the petition. The campaigners have been raising slogans like Gandhi Must Fall and Gandhi For Come Down. Ampofo is urging members of the University of Ghana Council to heed her petition, arguing among other things that, Gandhi was racist against black people and honouring him will set a wrong example for students, as per local media in Ghana. But there have been voices which oppose the demand. Ocqauye, a professor of political science and a lawyer, said a decision to demolish the statue might have implications on diplomatic ties between Ghana and India. "It will be most unnecessary, most uncalled for and not in the supreme interest of Ghanaians and we must know what serves our interest best," he said. The petitioners referred to Gandhis open letter to "The Natal Mercury" in 1894, saying he called black Africans as "kaffirs," a derogatory term for black people. "A general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir," they quoted Gandhi as saying in the letter. PTI MPB SAI AKJ SAI --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) BJP MP Meenkashi Lekhi has proposed to New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to rename Race Course Road, on which the Prime Ministers official residence is located, as Ekatma Marg based on the philosophy of her partys ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay. She said that the existing name, Race Course Road, "does not match with Indian culture". advertisement Upadhyay is remembered by his followers for his concept of antyodaya (serving the last man in the queue) and ekatma (integral humanism). Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off Upadhyays 100th birth anniversary celebrations on September 25. Lekhi, who is a member of NDMC, said in her proposal to the civic body that as the residence of the Prime Minister is situated on Race Course Road, the new name ?- Ekatma Marg -? would remind every PM about the last person of the society. "The nation is celebrating the birth centenary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay this year. To take the philosophy of Ekatma to the mind of the public at large, and as the name of the road, viz Race Course Road, on which residence of Prime Minister of India is situated does not match with Indian culture... "(Lekhi) has, therefore, requested to rename Race Course Road under the NDMC area as Ekatma Marg so that this name would remind every Prime Minister about the last person of the society throughout life," stated an agenda of the Council Meeting of NDMC which is likely to take a decision in this regard tomorrow. Lekh, who is an MP from New Delhi, also cited the past cases of renaming of roads which fall under NDMC in her proposal submitted to the civic body on September 9. Race Course Road was named after the Delhi race course, part of Delhi Race Club, established in 1940. Top BJP leaders have often lamented that Upadhyay, whose death during a train journey in 1968 is shrouded in mystery, did not get the due recognition among the political stalwarts of modern India. In August last year, Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens Delhi had been renamed as Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Road in honour of the late President. NDMC had taken the decision after East Delhi BJP MP Maheish Girri proposed the move to "correct the mistakes made in our history". PTI BUN SMN DV SMN --- ENDS --- By PTI: At a Congress briefing, party spokesman Manish Tewari launched an equally scathing attack on the Modi government. "Their (Modi governments) definition of policy is unfortunately limited to only headline management. The unfortunate reality is that this government neither has any strategic sense nor any tactical understanding," he said. Replying to a question, he favoured India mustering required support in the international community for moving a resolution to declare Pakistan a "sponsor of terrorism". advertisement Tewari asked the Prime Minister two questions ?- "can you assure the country that there will not be another terrorist attack? Do you have a policy towards Pakistan and if you do, what is that policy?" In a reply to questions about whether the Prime Minister should attend the SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Pakistan in November, he said it was for the government to take a call on the issue. He recalled that the Prime Minister had paid an impromptu visit to Pakistan last year and the way Home Minister Rajnath Singh was treated during his recent visit to the country was known to everybody. PTI SPG GVS RG GVS --- ENDS --- By PTI: The survey said that Modi continues to ride a wave of good feeling (81 per cent) about the way things are going in India, the state of the domestic economy and his own stewardship of the country. In 2015 Pew Survey, Modis approval rating was 87 per cent. Modis favorable rating of 81 per cent is followed by that of Sonia Gandhi (67 per cent), Rahul Gandhi (63 per cent) and Arvind Kejriwal (50 per cent). advertisement Modi has the lowest unfavorability rating of 16 per cent followed by Arvind Kejriwal (27 per cent), Sonia Gandhi (31 per cent) and Rahul Gandhi (32 per cent). Like Modi, the ruling BJP has an approval rating of 80 per cent, followed by Indian National Congress (67 per cent) and Aam Admi Party (47 per cent). About half or more of the public approves of Modi?s handling of a range of domestic problems facing the country: helping the poor and dealing with unemployment (both 62 per cent), handling terrorism (61 per cent) and dealing with corruption (59 per cent). And roughly half or more of Indians in the survey approve of Modi?s leadership style: 56 per cent believe he cares about people like them, 51 per cent say he stands up for what he believes and 49 per cent say he brings people together and gets things done, Pew said. Pew said Indians also favor toughness in dealing with the world. "Nevertheless, Indians give priority to issues at home. By more than two-to-one (53 per cent to 23 per cent) they believe that India should deal with its own problems and let other nations deal with theirs. This public preference for a focus on domestic issues reflects ongoing concerns about a range of issues: Roughly eight-in-ten Indians believe crime, corrupt officials, a lack of employment opportunities and terrorism are very big national problems," Pew said. Observing that only about a third (31 per cent) of the public expresses a favorable opinion of their emerging Asian rival, Pew said these positive views are down 10 percentage points in the past year, but unchanged from 2014. "Another 36 per cent voice an unfavorable opinion and 32 per cent have no opinion. Large majorities say Beijing poses serious challenges for India. Seven-in-ten of those surveyed believe that China?s economic impact on India is a serious problem, including 45 per cent who voice the view that it is very serious. Nearly half (48 per cent) of Indians think China?s relationship with Pakistan poses a very serious problem for India," Pew said. MORE PTI LKJ NSA CPS --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: Akbar also held meetings with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bulgaria?s Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov and Guyana Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly yesterday. Sources told PTI that discussions during the meetings focussed on the issue of terrorism, refugees and migrants and the situation in the Middle East. The Ministers also discussed the need for the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. advertisement "Discussions on bilateral issues on the sidelines of UNGA71 MOS MJ Akbar and FM of Iraq Dr Ibrahim al-Jaafari," Indias Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted. Another tweet said Akbar "meets Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov on the sidelines of #UNGA71." PTI YAS NSA --- ENDS --- Shah Rukh Khan is a Dilli launda in his veins, and apart from Turkey we saw his anger boil over in the following instances. By India Today Web Desk: Shah Rukh Khan is a man of impeccable manners. Apart from a razor-sharp sense of humour with Shah Rukh is known to tick some people off, he makes that extra effort to be kind and nice to the people he's interacting with. However, sometimes even his anger boils over and he channels his inner Delhi boy, who can resort to abuses and physical confrontation within minutes. ALSO WATCH: Shah Rukh gets into a scuffle with fan in Turkey? advertisement On Monday, Shah Rukh got into a minor scuffle in Turkey where he is shooting for Imtiaz Ali's The Ring with Anushka Sharma. A fan got too close, and the superstar didn't have another option but to push him away. Not before continuing to take selfies with fans. This is not the first time Shah Rukh let his anger take control over his behaviour. Here are few other instances: 1) Spat with Salman Khan at Katrina Kaif's birthday party: Even though this entire incident is hearsay, but it has been reported by so many of the witnesses present at the party that pretty much everyone following Bollywood gossip knows about this one. Shah Rukh, apparently was having drinks with Salman Khan, when he made a joke which Salman couldn't digest and which gave way to a cold war for almost half a decade. It was finally, only at an Iftaar party that the two superstars buried the hatchet and hugged. 2) Slapping Shirish Kunder for Ra.One joke: This was at the after-party of the 2012 Filmfare awards, when Shah Rukh Khan having a good time with Sanjay Dutt, and was allegedly provoked by Shirish Kunder. Shirish had for some time making fun of Shah Rukh's Ra.One which opened to some scathing reviews and a lukewarm box office response. By-standers gave differing versions of the story, some saying Kunder provoked Shah Rukh, while some said Shah Rukh went straight up to Kunder and slapped him. However, they called truce when Shah Rukh decided to do Farah Khan's Happy New Year and produced it too. Shah Rukh co-owns the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, who had a match against the home team Mumbai Indians in April 2012. According to the superstar who was on the field to cheer his team along with his kids and their friends, Shah Rukh saw a security guard man-handling the children and using foul language and that's when he himself entered the scene and protested in equally foul language. Allegations were also that he got into a physical altercation with a few officials of MCA which led to him getting banned from entering the stadium for 5 years. However, the ban was lifted after his good behaviour for 3 years in August, 2015. advertisement Shah Rukh Khan has more or less been a well-behaved superstar, and maybe people can stop rubbing him the wrong way which will not invite the boiling tempers of this Dilli launda. --- ENDS --- The bar owner, Harinder Bains, helped the police capture the 28-year old Afghan-American wanted for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. By Press Trust of India: A Sikh bar owner in the US is being hailed as a hero for helping capture the 28-year old Afghan-American wanted for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. Harinder Bains, the owner of a bar in Linden found Ahmad Khan Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his bar on Monday. Bains said he was watching news on TV on his laptop from another business across the street. advertisement At first, he thought he was some "drunk guy" resting in the vestibule but then recognised Rahami and called police. Also read: Orlando gay club massacre: How Indian-origin ex-Marine helped save 60-70 lives "I'm just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do. Cops are the real heroes, law enforcement are the real heroes," Bains said. CHASED BY POLICE When officers responded, Rahami pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking an officer in the chest. A foot chase ensued, during which Rahami shot at a police car, causing a bullet to graze another office in the face. The chase ended when Rahami was shot multiple times. He was taken to a hospital for surgery. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said. Also read: NYC museum invites viewers to use 18-karat gold toilet BRAVE ACT Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra told PTI that Bains "dared to honour his Oath of Citizenship to protect & defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic - and it turns out that the Chelsea Pressure Cooker Bomber suspect, a naturalised citizen, is caught by another immigrant, an Indian-American Hero-Sikh." In a statement, the National Sikh Campaign said this was brave and courageous act by Bains. "A Sikh helps police get to the terrorist involved in New York and New Jersey bombing over the weekend," it said. "He heroically helped save many innocent lives and yet gave credit to law enforcement officers. Harinder Bains certainly did what every responsible citizen in America ought to do. Brave and courageous act!" said the National Sikh Campaign. --- ENDS --- Suriya's upcoming actioner Singam 3 has its release date locked, will hit the screens on December 16 as a Christmas treat to fans. By India Today Web Desk: Suriya-starrer Tamil actioner S3, the third part in the Singam series, is finally slated for worldwide theatrical release on December 16, the makers announced. In an official poster, it has been confirmed that the film will hit the screens on December 16. ALSO READ: Prabhakaran biopic- If Mani Ratnam is the director, what the dream cast would be advertisement ALSO READ: Happy Birthday Akkineni Nageswara Rao- 5 best films of the legendary actor Suriya took to Twitter and shared this exciting news. Directed by Hari, the film will mark the return of Suriya donning Khaki and will see him on an international mission this time. Popular television actor Thakur Anoop Singh, has been roped in to play the antagonist, while Shruti Haasan and Anushka Shetty are playing the leading ladies. The film has music by Harris Jayaraj, who recently composed the title track of the film Oh Sone Sone Super Sonic. Here we go... Just recorded Surya's Intro song for S3 "Oh Sone Sone Super Sonic" ??. Harris Jayaraj (@Jharrisjayaraj) September 17, 2016 Meanwhile, Suriya has a plethora of projects lined up. He has signed his next with director Vignesh Shivan of Naanum Rowdy Dhan fame, which is tipped to be a thriller. According to Kollywood grapevine, Suriya has also signed a film with director Raju Murugan, who is basking in the success of Joker. Suriya will be next seen in a rural entertainer which will be helmed by director Muttiah of Komban fame. --- ENDS --- The Centre will announce the next set of cities for financing under the Modi government's flagship Smart City Mission today. By India Today Web Desk: The Centre will announce the next set of cities for financing under the Modi government's flagship Smart City Mission today. According to the Mission guidelines, as many as 40 cities have to be announced during this financial year. With the government having already announced names of 13 cities in May, slots for 27 cities remain vacant against which the announcement would be made by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today. advertisement FACILITIES ON OFFER In January, the government had announced a list of 20 cities for partial funding to be developed as smart cities, which would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. Also read: Smart City test: Failed states can still upgrade proposal to make the cut Each city will receive Central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore over three subsequent financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre's contribution. The Modi government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Centre providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years. Also read: US delegation meets Venkaiah over smart cities 4 UP CITIES TO GET INCLUDED With the Centre playing the development card in the run-up to Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh next year, four cities out of Agra, Aligarh, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad and Jhansi might feature in the list, according to sources. So far, only Lucknow has been selected in the first set of smart cities. Also read: CalTel to pump in Rs 50 crore at New Town smart city --- ENDS --- By PTI: Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 20 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today assured all support to ensure justice to the family of Soumya, who was allegedly raped and murdered after being pushed out from a moving train in Thrissur district in February 2011. Vijayan gave the assurance when Sumathi, mother of Soumya, met him at his official chamber here to express her concern over the recent Supreme Court verdict, commuting the death sentence awarded to Govindachamy, the lone accused in the sensational rape and murder case. advertisement "I am satisfied with my meeting with the Chief Minister. I am going home content," she told reporters after meeting the Chief Minister along with her son Sumesh. In a Facebook post, Vijayan later said the grieving mothers sorrow and concern is being shared by all and such incidents should not happen in the future. "In the wake of the recent Supreme Court verdict in the Soumya case, her mother Sumathi today came to my office to meet me and share things. We will do everything to ensure justice for Soumya," he said. "Such things should not happen in future. We share the sorrow and concern of that mother", he said. Ministers E Chandrasekharan, A K Balan, Kadannappally Ramachandran, Mathew T Thomas, A K Saseendran, J Mercykutty Amma, K T Jaleel and K Raju, MLA P K Sasi and DGP Loknath Behera were also present during the time of meeting. The Chief Ministers assurance assumed significance with political opponents mounting a scathing attack on the CPI(M)-led LDF government for alleged lapses in dealing with the case. Sumathi had also described the verdict as heart breaking and alleged that it was due to the failure of the state prosecutor to properly represent the case in the Apex Court. According to the prosecution, Govindachamy had raped Soumya, a 23-year old sales representative after pushing her out from a running train on February 1, 2011. The Thrissur trial court had sentenced him to death, which was upheld by the Kerala High Court. The Supreme Court, however, commuted his death sentence, while upholding the life imprisonment. The Kerala government has decided to file a review petition against the verdict in the Apex Court. PTI LGK JRK APR MNG --- ENDS --- By PTI: New York, Sep 20 (PTI) Several flavourings added to electronic cigarettes significantly affect the toxicity of the devices, with strawberry flavour being the most toxic to users, a new study has warned. Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in the US also confirmed an earlier finding that increasing the battery output voltage of these devices significantly increases toxicity. advertisement "Although many of the flavourings used in e-cigarette liquids have been certified as safe for eating, little is known about their effects when heated and inhaled in e-cigarettes," said Maciej Goniewicz, Assistant Professor at Roswell Park. "This study suggests that various characteristics of e-cigarettes, including any flavourings, may induce inhalation toxicity and therefore, caution should be used with these products until more comprehensive studies are performed," said Goniewicz. In the study, researchers exposed bronchial cells to aerosol generated from several variable-voltage e-cigarettes. They analysed cell viability and activity as well as the release of inflammatory mediators. They evaluated six types of e-cigarette devices filled with liquids of different flavors - tobacco, pina colada, menthol, coffee and strawberry - at several battery output voltages. Their findings suggest that the power of the e-cigarette device, as well as the addition of any flavourings, significantly affect the toxicity of e-cigarette aerosol, with strawberry flavourings being the most toxic to users. "Our study demonstrates that e-cigarette products differ significantly in the degree of their cellular toxicity to bronchial epithelial cells," said Goniewicz. "These findings have important regulatory implications, because the features of e-cigarette products - such as the power of the device and the presence of flavourings - can be regulated and standardised," he said. "Additionally, users may want to reduce their potential harm by choosing products with lower toxicity profile and operating their devices at lower power settings," Goniewicz added. The study appears in the journal Tobacco Control. PTI NKS SAR SAR --- ENDS --- Maliwal was on Monday questioned for over two hours by the ACB in connection with allegations of illegal recruitment in the women's panel. By India Today Web Desk: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) today filed FIR against DCW chief Swati Maliwal over Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) recruitment scam. Maliwal was on Monday questioned for over two hours by the ACB in connection with allegations of illegal recruitment in the women's panel. QUESTIONNAIRE SENT TO MALIWAL A questionnaire has also been sent to Maliwal seeking her reply to 27 queries within a week. advertisement COMPLAINT FILED BY FORMER DCW CHIEF A complaint was filed by former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh, who alleged that many Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters were given plum posts in the women's panel. Barkha Shukla Singh, in her complaint, listed the names of 85 people who, she claimed, got jobs without requisite credentials. Also read: DCW raid: PM Modi, LG hell bent on removing Swati Maliwal, says Kejriwal Kejriwal attacks PM Modi for ACB raid at DCW office, says it's bad DCW chief Swati Maliwal takes on Barkha Singh on work issues BJP TARGETS AAP "It is a known fact that after coming to power, AAP used government appointments for flushing in its cadres in administration and same was done at DCW too. No public advertisement was issued announcing jobs at DCW as is mandatory under law," said Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay. The DCW chief said she will answer the questions asked by the ACB within a week and will fully cooperate with the probe by providing all documents sought by the ACB. Maliwal asserted that all the appointments in her tenure were made following the due procedure and nobody was given any benefit. RULES NOT FOLLOWED: ACB CHIEF ACB chief MK Meena has said, "Rules to check illegal admission into the Commission were not followed. Those admitted into the Commission are being paid according to their whims and fancies. A case was filed in this case following inquiry. I will not comment at this point on arrest. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia will be sent a notice for inquiry as he too has a role to play in the case. Have issued some letters to him too." --- ENDS --- The East Village style fine dining restaurant, Toast & Tonic is yet another feather in the cap of celebrity chef Manu Chandra. The East Village style fine dining restaurant, Toast & Tonic is yet another feather in the cap of celebrity chef Manu Chandra. Even before we started on the meal, we knew we were in for a treat owing to the chef's earlier track record, but we must admit, the drinks left us equally impressed. If you aren't a gin drinker, you might want to turn one for the evening because the Signature G&Ts with house made tonic waters are an absolute must have. The Herbalist, with its burst of citrus in the form of basil and orange tonic water with cubes of coriander and orange rind infused ice is a drink we won't forget for a long time. advertisement Gintleman's Tonic with its floral jasmine tea offset by an elderflower and grapefruit tonic water came a close second. After tonic waters, if there is another thing that you just can't go wrong with here, it is the pork. It turned out to be the star on our table and the slow cooked BBQ ribs deserve special mention for the meat delicately slipped off the bones and packed a flavourful punch at the first bite. The Herbalist--an orange tonic water drink. Photographs by Kunal Chandra and Sanjay Ramachandran We would also recommend the Shrimp Tempura for a quick, crispy bar snack, topped generously with toasted sesame and served with chilli mayo. For the main course, choose from juicy burgers, sandwiches or a risotto. The tender Mushroom Asparagus risotto with Gobindhobog rice cooked in mustard oil was a refreshing take on the classic. Our Monsoon Bone Broth, the restaurant's own version of the Tibetan thukpa, loaded with chicken, flat noodles and mild spices is perfect for a rainy day. Photographs by Kunal Chandra and Sanjay Ramachandran For dessert, try Expression of Jaggery with its banana cake, cardamom ice cream and bits of caramel-a light and fulfilling end to a wonderful meal. Meal for two Rs 2,000 At 14/1, Wood Street, Richmond Road, Ashok Nagar Tel 41116878 Web Log onto toastandtonic.com Health fix in a bottle When we first heard of MyDaily, we weren't too pleased to hear of a shake replacing a walk outdoors and a hearty meal. But then we bit the bullet and tried the rather pleasant chocolate shake. Created by FourFountain De-Stress Spa in consultation with Dr Ezhil Arasan, MyDaily claims to be preservative and trans-fat free and provides you with nutrients equivalent to a meal. The mildly sweetened shake prepared out of a powder sachet tastes quite good. The shake does its job and keeps you away from the mid-meal snack binging which a lot of people are prone to. It makes you feel full and energetic for about five hours. To put it in a nutshell, MyDaily keeps hunger at bay for the promised time but does leave you feeling a tad bit lost for not having spent an hour over lunch and chatter. At amazon.in, mydailymeal.comand at Four Fountains De-Stress Spa outlets. advertisement --- ENDS --- According to a Twitter spokesperson, the layoffs will impact less than 20 employees at the development center. Twitter has also confirmed that the global engineering work at the Bangalore development center will cease from now on. By Rohini Swamy: Twitter Inc announced on Monday it would lay off some employees at one of its development centres in Bengaluru. The microblogging company will also halt engineering work at the centre. According to a Twitter spokesperson, the layoffs will impact less than 20 employees at the development center. Twitter has also confirmed that the global engineering work at the Bangalore development center will cease from now on. advertisement Officially Twitter has said that the number of affected employees is less than 20, however, the number is possibly as high as 100 employees. The employees were part of ZipDial, an Indian mobile communications startup bought by Twitter last year, a source told Reuters. "Over the past 18 months, we have incorporated the technology and talent of our ZipDial acquisition across our company," said a company spokesperson. Marketing platform ZipDial uses missed calls to connect brands with their relevant target audience. Twitter had acquired the Indian company for an amount of somewhere between $30 to $40 million last year. "Engineering is a key part of our global company and we continue to focus our programs and efforts on improving the core product experience for our users worldwide. As part of our normal business review, we have decided to stop the global engineering work at the Bangalore development center. We thank the impacted individuals, less than 20 persons, for their valuable contributions and are doing as much as we can to provide them a respectful exit from our company," said Twitter spokesperson in a statement to IndiaToday.in. Twitter said it remained committed to India as a strategic market and would continue to maintain a presence in the city. The company said that it's hiring professionals for other positions across the country, the information regarding these job openings can be found on Twitter's website. The company had 3,860 employees globally as of June 2016. However, it did not disclose the number of employees it had in India. Twitter has continuously struggled to raise its market participation. The microblogging website's user base has also been stalled at around 300 million people. The company has added several new features along with changing its timeline algorithms to attract more users. The latest update was rolled out last night, which now removes photos and links from a tweet's 140-character limit. The new feature will allow users to tweet with more characters in hand after attaching a photograph or a link. Twitter also plans to stop counting a username placed at the beginning of a tweet. With Reuters input --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Yoshita Singh United Nations, Sep 19 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today called for the world community to address the root causes of forced migration and form a comprehensive global compact on refugees and migrants that ensures the displaced do not become victims of "xenophobic attitudes and political expediency". Sharif, addressing the high-level UN summit on large movements of refugees and migrants here, said the displacement of millions of people from their homelands, among the most urgent humanitarian challenges of the current times, "has neither been voluntary nor orderly". advertisement He noted that the developing countries have to bear a greater burden of providing shelter to millions seeking refuge from war and poverty. "The true scale of the crisis lies beyond the headlines. It is the developing countries, including Pakistan, that continue to be at the forefront of bearing the burden of large scale global human displacements. Many of these protracted displacement situations have created complex political, socio-economic and security and environmental challenges for host countries and local communities," he said. Sharif said it is time for the international community to forge a "comprehensive global compact" on the large scale movement of refugees and migrants. "This compact should be "based on fair and equitable burden sharing that aims to ensure that the displaced do not become victims of xenophobic attitudes and political expediency, a compact that provides greater avenues for legal migration and takes a holistic view of the situation". He added that going forward, the international community must also address the "root causes of displacement" and forced migration. "Unless we resolutely put out the fires that have caused so much suffering, we will not be able to find a long term solution to this crisis". Sharif told the session that Pakistan has served as a "generous host" for nearly four decades to millions of Afghan refugees despite its own "modest resources". Describing the Afghan refugee crisis as the "largest protracted refugee situation" in the world, Sharif said today Pakistan is hosting over 2.5 million Afghan refugees. "Pakistan supports a safe and dignified return of all Afghan refugees to their homeland in a sustainable manner. We hope the international community will step forward and provide necessary resources to the (UN Refugee Agency) in a timely manner," he said. PTI YAS KUN --- ENDS --- The wife of the Bihar martyr refused to take Rs 5lakh as compensation saying other states were paying much more. By Rohit Kumar Singh: The compensation announced by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the martyrs of Uri terror attack yesterday has left a family upset . Sangeeta, wife of Havaldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life in the terror attack refused to accept Rs 5 lakh compensation calling it disrespectful to the family of a martyr. "Was my husband a drunkard who lost his life falling in a drain? Common man in the state who die in accidents get Rs 4 lakh as compensation. My husband is a martyr. I don't need Nitish Kumar's financial assistance," said an angry Sangeeta Devi. advertisement Also read: Uri attack: Families of martyrs from Bihar seek revenge on Pakistan PEANUTS NOT NEEDED Sangeeta Devi said that the compensation that was announced by other state governments like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh was much more than what Bihar government was providing. "We are not beggars who need peanuts from the government. We are self sufficient. Nitish Kumar should be ashamed of what he is giving us," said wife of the martyr. COMPENSATION INCREASED Bihar's Science and Technology Minister, Jai Kumar Singh, who was nominated by the chief minister to participate in the funeral of Havaldar Ashok chose not to meet Sangeeta Devi when he came to know about the grievance. Singh immediately spoke to the chief minister about the issue after which he announced that all the three martyrs from the state would be now provided Rs 11 lakh as compensation. Also read: Supreme Court notice to Shahabuddin on cancellation of bail, Bihar govt seeks NBW "I have spoken to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and he immediately said that the compensation money to be increased to Rs 11 lakh. It was the state government policy of 2013 which had a provision to provide Rs 5 lakh as compensation to martyrs," said the Bihar minister. Havaldar Ashok Kumar Singh who was posted in 6th battalion of Bihar Regiment was killed by fidayeen terrorists in Uri in Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday. Singh who belonged to Bhojpur district was one of the three from the state who were martyred in the att --- ENDS --- The teenage son of Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh who lost his life in the Uri attack, controlled his tears while waiting for his father's body and pledged to follow his father's footsteps. Army jawans carry the body of a soldier killed in the attack. By Jai Prakash Singh: Doleful wails of grief, confusion and anger echo across the dingy room that has been lit up by camera lights at Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh's home. Tears cover wrinkled face as a cacophony of sorrowful chants fill the air at Raktu Tola village in Bihar's Bhojpur district. "Babbua," sobs the mother for her fallen son. advertisement At a corner of the room, her widowed daughter-in-law mourns inconsolably, her arm attached to an intravenous drip as all the energy has drained from her body. Also Read: Uri attack: Families of martyrs from Bihar seek revenge on Pakistan I WILL JOIN THE ARMY: HAVILDAR SINGH'S SON But Havildar Singh's teenage son, Vishal Singh, controlled his sobs to pledge to follow his father's footsteps as he waited for his body to arrive. "I will join the army," he said. As Vishal struggled to hold backs his tears, he expressed his frustration at the system. "We don't give them (terrorists) a befitting reply. We must," the young boy lamented. Also Read: India slams Pakistan at UN rights council after Uri attack, rakes up human rights violations in Balochistan RAKTU TOLA STANDS OUT, 25 HOUSES OUT OF 100 HAVE MEMBERS IN ARMY Raktu Tola stands out as a village of soldiers in Bihar's Bhojpur district. Out of its 100 houses, at least 25 have one or more family members serving in the Indian army. The loss the family has suffered has not deterred its male members from joining the forces. Havildar Singh's brother Kamta Singh died in action as part of the Bihar Regiment in 1986 in Rajasthan. The Uri martyr's elder son, Vikas Singh, and his two nephews are in the army. His mother, Sangeeta Singh, was resentful of New Delhi's handling of terror. "The government has failed. Had it stayed alert, this wouldn't have happened," she said. Also Read: Uri terror attack: Bihar government announces Rs 5 lakh each to families of martyred soldiers Uri attack: An inside story of how it happened Uri attack: India to declare Pakistan state sponsor of terror, may launch punitive strikes --- ENDS --- Jag Narayan Singh lost his second son to the service of the nation in Uri attack, 30 years after the martyrdom of his eldest son, a sepoy in the Army who died in an explosion. He said, I have sacrificed two sons for motherland. Pakistan should be taught a lesson now. By Rohit Kumar Singh: A family member attaining martyrdom is nothing unusual for a blind father Jag Narayan Singh, resident of Ranktu Tola in Bhojpur district of Bihar. Singh on Sunday lost his second son in Uri terror attack. 30 years back in 1986, Singh lost his first son, 23-year-old Kamta Singh, a sepoy in the Indian Army, who died in an explosion in Bikaner. advertisement FAMILY OF BRAVE HEARTS "I have lost another son who was serving in Army. I have sacrificed two sons for motherland. Pakistan should be taught a lesson now", said 78-year-old father Jag Narayan Singh. Sepoy Kamta and Havildar Ashok are not the only two family members who served in the Indian Army and martyred in Jag Narayan Singh's family. Havildar Ashok Singh's his elder son Vikas too is serving in the Army. Vikas maintains that he always wanted to serve the motherland. He is posted as a sepoy at the Danapur Cantonment. Reacting to his father's martyrdom, a silent Vikas says the government has tied our hands or else we would have taught a lesson to Pakistan. Also read: Uri attack: We don't give terrorists a befitting reply, we must, says martyr's son "I always wanted to serve in the Army, from childhood I have seen members in my family in the Army. We now want revenge but our government is holding us back. If they free us, we will destroy Pakistan", said Vikas Singh. Vikas's younger brother Vishal who is studying in college also aspires to join the armed forces, "I will also join the Army", said Vishal Singh. "We are a family that has served the nation for decades now. We are proud of our family. In future also we will keep sending our sons in the Army", said Sangeeta Devi, wife of Martyr Havildar Ashok. Interestingly, martyr Ashok Singh's grandfather, Rajgrih Singh, and his two uncles, Shyam Narayan Singh and Ramvilas Singh, also served in the Army. ALSO READ Was my husband a drunkard who died in a drain? Uri martyr's wife refuses Rs 5 lakh by Bihar govt --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: As anger rises over the brazen terror attack in Uri by Pakistan-backed terrorists, India Today has got access to the government's strategy to counter Islamabad. According to sources, the Narendra Modi government is firm on the fact that Pakistan can't go unpunished. In fact, within hours of the Uri attack, the Prime Minister had said that "those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished". advertisement EFFECTIVE RETALIATION Prime Minister Modi has approved "effective retaliation" to the Uri terror attack, sources told India Today. The time and method of the retaliation will be decided by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the three service chiefs. This follows the statement by Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on Monday that the Army had the "desired" capability and it reserved the right to respond at a time and place of its own choice. UPPING THE ANTE AT UN The proposed military response, it has been learned, will not be initiated during the United Nations General Assembly session. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to keep the spotlight on Kashmir in his address to the UN on Wednesday. ALSO READ China condemns Uri attack, but wants India, Pakistan to have 'dialogue' India has begun its diplomatic offensive to corner Pakistan on its terror plans. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj is expected to address the UN General Assembly on September 26 and she is likely to make a strong pitch against Pakistan and terrorism to counter Sharif's rhetoric on Kashmir. CLAMOUR FOR CLEAR POLICY ON PAKISTAN Meanwhile, an all-party meet is expected to take place at the end of this week. Political parties across the spectrum have condemned the Uri attack. However, the government's lack of a clear policy on terrorism and Pakistan has come under attack from the Opposition. Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari accused the BJP government of "pendulum-like shifts" in its Pakistan policy. ALSO READ Uri terror attack: Congress trains gun on PM Modi, Parrikar The Uri attack puts pressure on the armed forces to neutralize terror camps in Jammu and Kashmir. Efforts are underway to identify terror hotbeds in the region, and accordingly chalk out a plan to eliminate them. ALSO READ Twitter goes 'nuclear' in its anger over Uri terror attack Watch: --- ENDS --- The NIA has registered an FIR in the Uri terror attack case. The recovered GPS devices and finger prints of terrorists will help trace the attackers back to their roots in Pakistan. By India Today Web Desk: The National Investigation Agency has registered an FIR in the Uri terror attack case, in which 18 soldiers of the Indian Army were martyred. TERRORISTS IN THEIR 20s: REPORT According to a report, the terrorists were in their 20s and had Army-like close cropped haircut so that they could pass off as security personnel. The terrorists took as many as 169 bullet hits. The medicines they were carrying with them had made-in-Pakistan tags, it has been revealed. advertisement Also read: VK Singh to India Today: Sushma Swaraj will expose Pakistan at UN The NIA has started investigating the equipments seized by the Army from the slain terrorists. "Four AK-47 rifles, 14 magazines, 318 rounds of ammunition, 29 UBGL grenades and 5 hand grenades, 2 GPS devices, 2 navigation maps, 1 matrix sheet, 1 mobile phone and food and medicine samples were recovered. The seized GPS devices, finger prints of the terrorists and their blood samples will help trace the attackers back to their roots in Pakistan", the central agency said in a statement. GPS DEVICES TO HELP TRACK ROUTE It said the seized GPS devices and icon satellites will be sent to the US for a forensic investigation to find out what route the terrorists chose and how they entered our territories. Also read: Uri attack: We don't give terrorists a befitting reply, we must, says martyr's son --- ENDS --- The Modi government's response to the Uri attack would be at multiple levels and it would choose from a range of options available to them. By Mail Today: The government on Monday indicated that it could choose from a range of options on the table - starting from diplomatic isolation of Pakistan to a spectrum of military and intelligence offensives - in its response to the terrorist attack on the Uri Army base where 18 soldiers lost their lives. RESPONSE WILL BE AT MULTIPLE LEVELS advertisement Top-level sources in the security apparatus told Mail Today that India's response will be at multiple levels and not restricted to a tactical operation on or across the Line of Control (LoC). The sources pointed out that the political atmosphere was charged and there was intense pressure on the government to act. Besides, there was the question of redeeming Indian Army's pride after suffering one of the worst casualties in Jammu and Kashmir in more than two decades. Also Read: Uri attack: An inside story of how it happened "We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at a time and place of own choosing," said Director General Military Operations (DGMO) lieutenant general Ranbir Singh, after a series of meetings held at various levels starting from the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who remained busy throughout the day meeting with officials of various ministries and heads of the three defence services, later briefed President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, about the government's strategy. Also Read: Uri terror attack: PM Modi, top ministers discuss India's action plan against Pakistan INDIA TO GO AGGRESSIVE? "The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in the hinterland," said Lieutenant General Singh. He stressed that the army had the desired capability to respond to "such blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us". The sources referred to the incident when the Indian Army avenged the beheading of its soldiers in 2013 through a tactical operation but never publicised the same. However, this time the situation was different, they said, and the response had to be in measure with the casualties inflicted by the enemy. The sources said all the military options have their own advantages and pitfalls. Crossing the Line of Control (LoC) for surgical operation could lead to escalation, felt the officials, even though such an operation by the special forces was not ruled out. advertisement The surgical strikes by Indian Air Force across the border would require precise identification of targets. The officials said that acquisition of targets like terrorist training camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) continues to be a challenge. At the tactical level, the army can increase firing on the border targeting vulnerable Pakistan army posts. The army said that it had managed to foil 17 infiltration bids on the Line of Control this year and had killed four terrorists each in Punch on September 11 and Uri on September 18. Also Read: Uri attack: India to declare Pakistan state sponsor of terror, may launch punitive strikes COMBING OPERATION IN URI CALLED OFF Meanwhile, the combing operation around the army camp in Uri was called off on Monday evening and the area was declared secured after the recovery of 39 under barrel grenade launchers, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPs, two map sheets, two matrix sheets a mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets having Pakistani markings. The toll in Sunday's pre-dawn Uri strike by Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists near the Line of Control has gone up to 18 with one of the injured soldier succumbing at an army hospital in New Delhi. advertisement Also Read: Uri attack: Army says India will respond at place, time of its choosing Intelligence agencies warn of another possible attack near Srinagar within next few days --- ENDS --- Criticising Pakistan-sponsored terror against India, Fair said, "I have never heard any Pakistani say they will not send a terror team because India has nuclear weapons." Georgetown University professor and an expert on India-Pakistan relations Christine Fair says India shouldn't exercise restraint fearing nuclear reprisal from Pakistan. By India Today Web Desk: Talking to India Today about India's retaliation against Pakistan after the Uri terror attack, Georgetown University professor and an expert on India-Pakistan relations Christine Fair said that India shouldn't exercise restraint fearing nuclear reprisal from Pakistan. Criticising Pakistan-sponsored terror against India, Fair said, "I have never heard any Pakistani say they will not send a terror team because India has nuclear weapons." advertisement She says that India's nuclear arsenal should in fact give it immunity and impunity to prosecute sub-state terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. HOLES IN PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE Fair pointed holes in Pakistan's nuclear doctrine saying that it required Pakistan "to first detonate a nuclear tactical weapon in its air space as a warning to Indian troops and then the second level of escalation over a border transgression would call for the use of nuclear weaponry. If Pakistan bursts a weapon in its airspace, it will immediately run a risk of knocking out its commanding communication." "Secondly, If Indian troops transgress into a populated city like Sialkot or Lahore, Pakistan will suffer more fatalities than on Indian troops. Therefore, this battlefield calculation gives India a lot of wriggle room to retaliate than to exercise restraint," she said. BALOCHISTAN CARD DEMOTES LARGER ISSUE The professor also warned India against breaching the Indus water treaty with Pakistan, arguing that it will be an unjust answer because India will end up punishing innocent Pakistanis and not those who launched the terror attack. Fair is strongly averse to India's plan of sending ministers to foreign countries in order to garner support against Pakistan. She says, "It is a little too much to ask others to do it," adding that India cannot expect support unless it officially declares Pakistan a state sponsor of terror. Asking India to focus on Pakistan seeding unrest in Kashmir and not on Balochistan, she advised - "If India plays the Balochistan card to UN, it would merely look like a 'tit for tat' situation, thereby demoting the larger issue of sub-state terrorism." WHY IS CHINA DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE Fair wanted India to pull in China into the debate as they have been defending Pakistan blatantly. It will put China in a hot seat, when India raises the terror issue in UN. "Why is China defending the indefensible?" asked Fair. Waging a diplomatic war is just not enough, Fair said. "Don't expect diplomatic isolation is going to stop Pakistan from using terror as tool for foreign policy," she added. Watch the full interview here advertisement --- ENDS --- The Homeland Security Department's inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birth dates to apply for citizenship with US Citizenship and Immigration Services. By AP: The US government has mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud who had pending deportation orders, according to an internal Homeland Security audit released today. The Homeland Security Department's inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birth dates to apply for citizenship with US Citizenship and Immigration Services and such discrepancies weren't caught because their fingerprints were missing from government databases. advertisement SPECIAL INTEREST COUNTRIES The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but Inspector General John Roth's auditors said they were all from "special interest countries" - those that present a national security concern for the United States - or neighboring countries with high rates of immigration fraud. The report did not identify those countries. In an emailed statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the findings reflect what has long been a problem for immigration officials - old paper-based records containing fingerprint information that can't be searched electronically. DHS says immigration officials are in the process of uploading these files and that officials will review "every file" identified as a case of possible fraud. Roth's report said fingerprints are missing from federal databases for as many as 315,000 immigrants with final deportation orders or who are fugitive criminals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not reviewed about 148,000 of those immigrants' files to add fingerprints to the digital record. The gap was created because older, paper records were never added to fingerprint databases created by both the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service and the FBI in the 1990s. ICE, the DHS agency responsible for finding and deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, didn't consistently add digital fingerprint records of immigrants whom agents encountered until 2010. ALSO READ: Trump vows 'tracking system' to deport everyone whose visa expires The government has known about the information gap and its impact on naturalization decisions since at least 2008 when a Customs and Border Protection official identified 206 immigrants who used a different name or other biographical information to gain citizenship or other immigration benefits, though few cases have been investigated. ICE IS INVESTIGATING 32 OTHER CASES Roth's report said federal prosecutors have accepted two criminal cases that led to the immigrants being stripped of their citizenship. But prosecutors declined another 26 cases. ICE is investigating 32 other cases after closing 90 investigations. ICE officials told auditors that the agency hadn't pursued many of these cases in the past because federal prosecutors "generally did not accept immigration benefits fraud cases." ICE said the Justice Department has now agreed to focus on cases involving people who have acquired security clearances, jobs of public trust or other security credentials. advertisement Mistakenly awarding citizenship to someone ordered deported can have serious consequences because US citizens can typically apply for and receive security clearances or take security-sensitive jobs. At least three of the immigrants-turned-citizens were able to acquire aviation or transportation worker credentials, granting them access to secure areas in airports or maritime facilities and vessels. Their credentials were revoked after they were identified as having been granted citizenship improperly, Roth said in his report. A fourth person is now a law enforcement officer. Roth recommended that all of the outstanding cases be reviewed and fingerprints in those cases be added to the government's database and that immigration enforcement officials create a system to evaluate each of the cases of immigrants who were improperly granted citizenship. DHS officials agreed with the recommendations and said the agency is working to implement the changes. ALSO READ: Studying abroad: 5 reasons why Indian students get deported BUSTED: How gangs use sports tournaments as cover to smuggle children to Europe --- ENDS --- VK Singh calls Pakistan a sponsor of terror, and said his colleague Sushma Swaraj will expose Islamabad. By India Today Web Desk: As India prepares to isolate Pakistan on the global stage over the Uri attacks, former Army chief and now Union Minister General VK Singh today called the country a sponsor of terror, and said his colleague Sushma Swaraj will expose Islamabad at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. "Pakistan is a state sponsor of terror...Sushma Swaraj will expose Pakistan at the UNGA," Singh told India Today in an exclusive interview. advertisement Singh said India's response to the Uri attack will be "effective" and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a "strong stance" against Pakistan in his meeting with top officials on Monday. VK SINGH SLAMS PAKISTAN The former army chief slammed Pakistan for raking up Kashmir at the UNGA and said Nawaz Sharif is under compulsion to do so. "Nawaz Sharif is under compulsion in Pakistan. Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif has put a gun to Sharif's head," he said. On Monday, Sharif had asked the US and UK to mediate on Kashmir, a proposal declined by both the western powers. "There is no point in raking up Kashmir at the UNGA by Pakistan. Kashmir is a bilateral issue," General Singh said. WATCH FULL VIDEO HERE ALSO READ | India slams Pakistan at UN after Uri attack, rakes up human rights violations in Balochistan --- ENDS --- He said the Centre has taken a serious note of complaints regarding mafia grabbing Waqf properties in some states in connivance with officials of the state Waqf boards. These properties can be used for the welfare of the Muslim community and ensure their socio-economic and educational empowerment, said Naqvi. Photo: PTI By Indo-Asian News Service: The government has initiated an "intense campaign" to free Waqf properties grabbed by "Waqf mafia" in several states, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday. PLAN OF ACTION "A campaign on a war footing has been started to free the Waqf properties from the clutches of mafia across the country so that these properties can be used for the welfare of the Muslim community and ensure their socio-economic and educational empowerment," he said. advertisement A one-man 'Board of Adjudication' will be set up, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or retired High Court Chief Justice, to look into complaints regarding Waqf properties, Naqvi said while chairing the 74th meeting of Central Waqf Council here. He said the Centre has taken a serious note of complaints regarding mafia grabbing Waqf properties in some states in connivance with officials of the state Waqf boards. "Encroachment on Waqf properties will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken against encroachers, no matter how powerful they are," said the minister adding that a high-level inquiry has been going on in this connection and strict legal action will be taken against erring persons soon. HELPING THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY The minister said state Waqf boards have been directed to get online registration of all Waqf properties done by the year-end. There are 31 state Waqf boards with more than 4,27,000 registered Waqf properties across the country. There are many non-registered Waqf properties as well. While the Minority Affairs Ministry has provided financial assistance to the state Waqf boards for online registration of their properties, Naqvi said: "Some states lacked seriousness in implementing the directive." He said that tribunals will also be set up in more states. Currently, three-member tribunals are being established in 15-16 states. Naqvi said his ministry, in cooperation with the state governments, will construct schools, colleges, malls, hospitals, skill development centres etc., the revenue from which will be utilised for educational and other developmental activities pertaining to the Muslim community. "Multipurpose community centres 'Sadbhav Mandap' will also be constructed on Waqf land to be used for conducting marriage ceremonies, exhibitions and also as relief centres during calamity," he added. --- ENDS --- Both natural factors and human activities have resulted in a rise in whales being washed ashore on beaches across India. By India Today Web Desk: Blue whale is the largest animal ever known to exist. It can weigh up to 200 tonnes and just to put that in perspective, they are as big as a Boeing 737 airplane. It falls under the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1986. advertisement When something that huge washes ashore, people are more than just befuddled, not just by the size but also thinking about the reason behind it. More recently, a whale, weighing around 20 tonnes, drifted into shallow waters of Maharashtra. Fortunately, after six exhausting hours, rescuers could push it back into the waters. A 47 feet long #Whale rescued in a brave operation by forest dept nd fishermen at #Jaitapur https://t.co/aIEqaJJJ2D pic.twitter.com/e474D7WQVF Virat A Singh (@singhvirat246) September 12, 2016 What causes whales to beach themselves? Even with technological advances, the reason behind whales being washed ashore continues to baffle scientists. Mass stranding of whales and other marine mammals date back to 300 BC. In an interview to the Scientific American magazine in 2009, here's how Darlene Ketten, an expert on hearing in marine mammals, explained the phenomenon: "I often use the analogy of a car crash, because a lot of things can go wrong but you get the same result. Statistically, we are only able to determine the cause of a stranding in about 50 per cent of all cases worldwide. In some cases it is obvious, like a ship strike leaving an animal in poor condition." We see other diseases and trauma, such as shark attack on whales or dolphins or attacks by members of the same species. Poisonous "red tides" will also affect marine mammals. Some stranding have been speculated to be related to anomalies in the magnetic field. Military sonar has been implicated in the mass stranding of beaked whales." There are two main factors which cause beaching of whales: 1) Natural reasons Presence of predators such as a killer whales could push whales towards the shore. Sometimes a pod ends up following a disoriented leader which results in mass stranding. Baleen whales or toothed whales which get wary or hurt are usually found washed ashore. They can also get disoriented by gently sloping shorelines which can manipulate their natural echo navigation. 2) Humans disrupting the environment Excessive water pollution which makes the water toxic can kill whales or make them sick. SONAR or sound navigation and ranging, is a low-frequency noise released in the ocean to detect submarines. The combined effect of artificial waves and the whales natural echo navigation can cause severe pain and affects the mammal's brain tissue. The SONAR waves also trigger panic among some. advertisement Overfishing of krill, ship strikes and becoming entangled in fishing gear are other reason that force them to be washed ashore. Increasing frequency of whales getting stranded: In January this year, more than a 100 whales washed ashore and 45 died along a 15 km stretch on a Manpad beach in Tamil Nadus Tuticorin. WATCH: Around 50 Small Fin Whales beached in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu since last evening, number of them deadhttps://t.co/lyC7aMDZxv ANI (@ANI_news) January 12, 2016 In August last year, a 42-foot-long blue whale washed ashore in Mumbai's Alibaug, but didn't survive despite an 18-hour-long rescue operation.. In January this year, a 40-foot-long whale was beached for 17 hours and could not be rescued. Its carcass washed up at Juhu beach, where it was ultimately burnt and buried. Last year, researchers identified 569 dolphins in Sindhudurg during 2014 and 2015, adding that the numbers could be even higher. Maharashtra announced plans to set up rescue centres for whales and dolphins in coastal districts after increasing cases of beached whales along the state's shores. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) A 21-year-old woman was brutally stabbed to death with scissors in broad daylight by a stalker, who attacked her nearly 22 times in a span of two-and-a-half minutes as passersby looked on in north Delhis Burari area. The incident drew outrage as CCTV footage of the frenzied stabbing by 34-year-old Surender Singh was aired by media, prompting the Centre to seek a report from the Delhi Police. advertisement The victim, Karuna Kumar, worked as a teacher at Novel Riches School along with her cousin Neha. Both of them were on their way to the school when Karuna was suddenly attacked by Surender with a pair of scissors near Labour Chowk in Burari around 9 AM today, police said. As Surender caught Karuna off guard and plunged the single blade of scissors in her body, a man rushed to stop him but soon backed off fearing attack on himself. Within two-and-a-half minutes, Surender had stabbed Karuna 22 times, they said. Neha was also threatened by Surender and had to back off but she kept shouting for help. Surender is the son of a retired Delhi Police sub-inspector. He is going through divorce proceedings and has two kids. The CCTV footage showed that the accused came on a bike with another man and hurriedly got down before stabbing the girl who staggered and fell down as she tried to save herself. The brutal attack did not stop there and he kept on stabbing the helpless girl like a maniac even as some petrified passersby watched unable to take any action. Karuna was rushed to Sushrut Trauma Centre in Civil Lines where she was declared brought dead by the doctors. Surender was beaten up by the locals, who caught him and handed him over to the police. He was taken to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital with head injuries but later shifted to LNJP Hospital. A case under section 302 IPC (murder) has been registered against the accused, said DCP (North) Madhur Verma. The Centre has sought a report from Delhi Police over the brutal murder of the girl. "We have sought a fact report from Delhi Police Commissioner over the incident. Whatever happened is very sad," Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told reporters. Delhis Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia expressed shock over the gruesome incident while hitting out at the Delhi Police, saying instead of "harassing" AAP legislators the force should focus on security of people. advertisement "Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-yr old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizens security than harassing AAP MLAs," he tweeted. Surender had been stalking Karuna for the last year and six months and her family had lodged a complaint against him. She used to learn computer at the training centre owned by Surender and he fell in love with her, police said. (MORE) PTI SLB VIT KIS RT KIS --- ENDS --- House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) (09.09.16): We are glad the evacuation and resettlement of the residents of Camp Liberty from Iraq to Albania has been successfully concluded. The safety and security of the residents has always been our primary concern, and they have now been effectively placed beyond the immediate reach of Iran and its terrorist proxies operating in Iraq. U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ): In 2003, the United States made a commitment to protect thousands of members of the Iranian dissident organization, the Mujadedin-e Khalq (MEK), who agreed to surrender their weapons and came under our protection as a result. Today marks the culmination of that commitment with the safe and successful relocation of all Iranian dissidents residing in Camp Liberty, Iraq to Albania. This is a welcome and long overdue development. John Kerry (to reporters 12.09.16): On Friday of last week, the last 280 members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin e-Khalq, or MEK, as theyre known, were moved out of Camp Liberty in Iraq. And their departure concludes a significant American diplomatic initiative that has assured the safety of more than 3,000 MEK members whose lives have been under threat. And as everybody remembers, the camp they were in had on many occasions been shelled. There were people killed and injured. And we have been trying to figure out the way forward. After steady progress over a period of months, I visited Tirana earlier this year and I discussed with the Albanian Government how to assist in facilitating the transfer and the resettlement of the last group of MEK members from Camp Liberty. Albania has a proud tradition of protecting vulnerable communities, as it did during the Kosovo conflict and in sheltering large numbers of Jews during World War II. I am very grateful that in this case too Albania was willing to play an important humanitarian role. I also want to thank the governments of Germany, Norway, Italy, the U.K., Finland, and other EU countries for helping to save the lives of the MEK. And this is a major humanitarian achievement, and Im very proud that the United States was able to play a pivotal role in helping to get this job done. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (on Twitter): Glad to hear the good news that all MEK residents from Camp Liberty have been transferred safely to out of Iraq and away from Iranian threats. Senator Tillis (12.09.16): Camp Liberty was a former U.S. military installation in Baghdad that housed approximately 3,000 Iranian political refugees who oppose the totalitarian Iranian regime. Despite initially working to create Camp Liberty and pledging to protect the Iranian refugees, the Obama Administration had been slow to address the camps security vulnerabilities. The residents of Camp Liberty were targeted in countless attacks over the last several years, resulting in the deaths of innocent men and women. Camp Liberty will be remembered as not only a humanitarian issue, but also a symbol of hope and courage to young people in Iran. Wesley Martin, retired U.S. Army colonel: This summer marked the 28th anniversary of an extraordinary massacre of political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the span of a few months in 1988, upwards of 30,000 people were put to death as a result of minutes-long trials that were little more than loyalty tests for the regime. The vast majority of those victims were members and supporters of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and recently revealed information has helped to confirm that the massacre was primarily motivated by a longstanding desire to snuff out the opposition of the MEK to the increasingly repressive theocracy. At the end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, thousands of members of the MEK were relocated out of the community they had built there during the 80s. After two massacres of the residents by the Iranian regimes proxies in the Iraqi government, under an agreement among the Iraqi government, the United States, the United Nations, the Iranian exiles began to be settled in the former U.S. military base of Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport. But before the relocation could even be completed, Camp Ashraf was brutally attacked by Iraqi affiliates of the Iranian regime, resulting in over 50 deaths. No one has ever been held accountable for the crime. On Friday, the final group of dissidents left Iraq through a scheme organized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugee assisted by the U.S. Embassy. The Iranian regime resorted to all means to prevent the relocation but it was lost a battle for the mullahs and their Quds Force, which intended to eliminate the movement by in particular arresting and extraditing its leadership in Iraq. The MEK and its members steadfastness resulted in massive international support from U.S. dignitaries, to members of Congress and European parliamentarians. The MEK is by all accounts a natural ally of those seeking civic freedom, human rights and democracy in Iran. The 10-point plan of Maryam Rajavi, the president of its political coalition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has been described as embodying the essential principles of any democratic nation in the modern world. It outlines a future for Iran that will be based on secularism, free and democratic elections, the active promotion of the rights of women, and avoidance of the current regimes policies of aggressive intervention. Alejo Vidal-Quadras former Vice President of the European Parliament and president of International Committee In Search of Justice (09.09.16): This evening the last group of Camp Liberty residents, members of the main Iranian opposition, Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), left Iraq safely for Albania. However, the Iranian regime used every element to sabotage this operation, he wrote in his post on isjcommittee.com, stating,This is a major defeat for the mullahs and the final failure of its repeated criminal attempts to massacre all the residents in Camp Liberty. It is also a historic victory for the Iranian resistance and the Iranian people and all supporters of democracy and freedom in Iran which was achieved only due to the steadfastness of Ashraf and Liberty residents, and the leadership of Mrs Maryam Rajavi, as well as the international campaigns by many parliamentarians, political dignitaries, lawyers and brave supporters all over of the world. Struan Stevenson, former member of the European Parliament and President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (09.09.16): This afternoon the main Iranian opposition PMOI (MEK), moved their remaining members who were previously trapped in Camp Liberty near Baghdad airport. This successful huge transfer took place while the Iranian regime planned to either eliminate or rip apart its main enemy while they were still in Iraq. This final round of departures marks the successful conclusion of the process of relocating members of the PMOI (MEK) to countries of safety outside Iraq despite the Iranian regimes conspiracies, obstruction and threats, which continued until the very last day. I was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 and President of the Delegation for Relations with Iraq during my final 5-year mandate. I was able to learn at first-hand about the Iraqi governments repeated attempts to annihilate the defenceless PMOI (MEK) refugees in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty, under the guidance of the Iranian regime. The victorious transfer of the PMOI (MEK) members and the regimes ultimate major defeat in this regard, opens a new chapter for the Iranian people and its Resistance. Now that the main organized democratic opposition is safely out of Iraq, we need to focus on the human rights situation, the end of executions and a democratic change; a free Iran. We also need to redouble legal efforts to bring those to justice in Iraq who orchestrated the serial abuse and murder of the Ashraf and Liberty residents and who looted their property worth tens of millions of dollars. Prominent German figures (joint statement): The relocation of Iranian opposition members from Iraq was successfully carried out. Thus, a long-term concern turned into a great joy for all those who never lost their hope and continued to resist by standing on their positions and providing aid measures. Following the US invasion of Iraq, the Iranian regime repeatedly attempted to eradicate PMOI (MEK). Three massacres in Camp Ashraf, five missile attacks to Camp Liberty, and an 8-year-old siege took lives of 168 of these opponents. The Iranian regime has in no time been happy about the withdrawal of PMOI (MEK) members from Iraq and it is essential that Mrs. Maryam Rajavi be extremely praised as she tirelessly led this relocation process with great effort and promoted it to the level of a global humanitarian movement. The main portion of this success belongs to the very own members and numerous fans of the PMOI (MEK). Our efforts and humanitarian aids should and will continue while PMOI (MEK) members are more motivated than ever to achieve their main goal, namely a free and democratic Iran. British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF): We learned that after 13 years of painstaking work in defence of the security, and to protect the rights of members and supporters of the Peoples Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in Camp Ashraf and in later Camp Liberty in Iraq, finally, all members and supporters of the organisation, have officially been accepted by the government of Albania and all have been moved to that country. Undoubtedly, today counts as a great and historic day for the democratic opposition and resistance of the Iranian people and all of us as supporters of this liberation movement. Despite the Iranian regimes expansive and destructive efforts, thanks to their own heroic resistance in Camps Ashraf and Liberty, as well as their countless international campaigns the Iranian resistance was victorious. We should also acknowledge the extensive and highly effective campaigns led by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) which were decisive in turning the international balance of power in favour of the Iranian people and their Resistance and against the religious dictatorship in Iran. Giulio Terzi, former Italian Foreign Minister (in The Hill): Terri wrote about the Iranian Resistance, in the shape of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), which has withstood an incessant campaign by the regime to annihilate it, including the mass execution of nearly 30,000 of its members in 1988 and, most recently, the attempted killing or capture of those thousands of PMOI (MEK) members stranded in Camp Liberty in Iraq. In spite of this carnage, the NCRI draws approximately 100,000 supporters to its annual international gathering near Paris. What the Resistance has accomplished has been with the support of parliamentarians across the globe, but it has been without the support of national executives, he says. This makes the successive blows it lands against the blood-drenched Ayatollahs, including the successful relocation of its members from Iraq to Albania, all the more noteworthy. Terzi wrote that a better understanding of the movement would give policy-makers an obvious way to resolve the hopelessness of trying to moderate an increasingly provocative regime, saying they should put their full-throated support behind the democratic opposition. There is another government waiting in the wings, prepared to shape a future for Iran that is based on declared principles of secularism, democracy, and gender equality as it has been articulated by President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi. Canadian Friends of a Democratic Iran: Canadian Friends of a Democratic Iran (CFDI) offers its congratulations to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and each resident of Ashraf (later Liberty) for the great success of the Iranian resistance in achieving the safe transfer of all Camp Liberty residents from Iraq to Albania, and shares the joy of the Iranian people and the resistance in thwarting the mullah regimes plots against the lives of residents. Recently, there has been an ongoing program of executions of political prisoners by Hassan Rouhanis supposedly moderate regime, including the mass hanging of 20 members of a minority group on August 2. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein, criticised the Iranian authorities and said he had doubts about the fairness of the trials, respect for due process and other rights of the accused. Later that month newly published audio recordings dating back to August of 1988, were published online, on a website maintained by Ahmed Montazeri, son of the late Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri. On them, Montazeri can be heard accusing the leaders of Irans death commission of the greatest crime committed during the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you He is referring to the massacre of tens of thousands of political opponents of the Iranian regime, including thousands of members of the Peoples Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI). Tehrans use of executions as a form of suppression of its populations desire for democracy has continued from 1988 to the present day. Supposedly moderate Presidents have come and gone, but one thing that has never changed is the systematic use of executions, wrote Freer, who added, Looking at the individuals who formed the death commission leads us to a worrying conclusion: that in reality, although the puppets head may change from election to election, those pulling the strings in Iranian politics have remained. Three of the four men who made up the death commissions in 1988 remain senior figures within the Iranian regime today. Mostafa Pourmohammadi is now Irans Minister of Justice, Hossein-Ali Nayyeri is Irans head of the Supreme Disciplinary Court for Judges, and Ebrahim Raeesi is among the regimes most senior clerics, and the head of a multi-billion dollar religious, political and economic conglomerate, the Astan Qods-e Razavi foundation which is one of the most important political and economic powerhouses in the regime. This week Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Irans largest coalition of opposition groups, called on the international community to bring justice for those massacred in 1988 through the international prosecution. Freer vowed to join her in that call. He wrote, Included in that list alongside Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Hossein-Ali Nayyeri, and Ebrahim Raeesi must be Ayatollah Khamenei Irans current Supreme Leader and a public supporter of the 1988 massacres. Freer called for decisive steps and a clear message to be sent to the leaders of Iran. He called for a halt to executions taking place without a fair trial, due process, or without the individuals rights being preserved. He said that this treatment should no longer be accepted by the international community. He asked, Have we sacrificed human rights for progress on decommissioning centrifuges? Hassan Rouhani is hailed as a moderate and a man the international community can work with, so it is important that we do not simply address the man but rather the establishment in Tehran. Entry into the international community and the benefits that brings must come at a cost for Iran and not simply be a right of way, Freer concluded by saying, Bringing about international prosecutions against the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre is not only something we should have done many years ago, but it will show Tehran that breaches of international protocols will not be accepted if the regime wishes to play a greater part in the international community. A symbol of hope for the youth of Iran, Camp Liberty hosted approximately 3,000 Iranian political refugees. Over the 14 years in the Camps, the residents suffered 5 missile attacks, and an inhumane siege, all of which left 141 dead, and over 1000 wounded. The last 280 members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MeK) left Camp Liberty safely, for relocation in Europe, on Friday September 9. The resettlement of the resident of the camp have been received with joy by dignitaries, US congressional leaders, UN secretary general, and lawmakers of European countries, who have congratulated Mrs Maryam Rajavi, the president elect of Iranian resistance, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), for the safe relocation of the residents. Remarks by some of those dignitaries follow: US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said: I continue to stand with the people of Iran and the Iranian-American community who yearn for a free Iran. The safe resettlement of these Iranian dissidents is a vital step in countering the Iranian regimes malign influence in the region. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen wrote in her tweet, Glad to hear the good news that all MEK residents from Camp Liberty have been transferred safely to out of Iraq and away from Iranian threats. Alejo Vidal-Quadras former VP of the European Parliament and president of International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ) said: This is a major defeat for the mullahs and the final failure of its repeated criminal attempts to massacre all the residents in Camp Liberty. It is also a historic victory for the Iranian resistance and the Iranian people and all supporters of democracy and freedom in Iran. The relocation was also welcomed by 28 top former US officials, which included Ambassador John Bolton, Newt Gingrich, Lincoln P Bloomfield, Jr. Frances Townsend, Joseph Lieberman, Tom Ridge, Howard Dean, Marc Ginsberg and Rudy Giuliani. The spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also issued a statement thanking member states and international organizations for the successful resolution of this humanitarian issue. Struan Stevenson former member of the European Parliament and President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA) in his statement said: The victorious transfer of the residents and the regimes ultimate major defeat in this regard, opens a new chapter for the Iranian people and its Resistance. Now that the main organized democratic opposition is safely out of Iraq, we need to focus on the human rights situation, the end of executions and a democratic change; a free Iran. Iran Cant Whitewash Its Record of Terror Saudi Arabia would welcome better ties with Tehranbut first it must stop supporting terrorism. By ADEL AL-JUBEIR September 19, 2016 Ronald Reagan was fond of quoting John Adams, who famously said: Facts are stubborn things. So when Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made public pronouncements about fighting extremism, the facts show that his comments are ironic at best and little more than insincere propaganda. The fact is that Iran is the leading state-sponsor of terrorism, with government officials directly responsible for numerous terrorist attacks since 1979. These include suicide bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the Marine barracks at Beirut International Airport; the bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996; attacks against more than a dozen embassies in Iran, including those of Britain, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia; and the assassination of diplomats around the world, to name a few examples. Nor can one get around the fact that Iran uses terrorism to advance its aggressive policies. Iran cannot talk about fighting extremism while its leaders, Quds Force and Revolutionary Guard continue to fund, train, arm and facilitate acts of terrorism. If Iran wants to demonstrate sincerity in contributing to the global war on terrorism, it could have begun by handing over al Qaeda leaders who have enjoyed sanctuary in Iran. These have included Osama bin Ladens son, Saad, and al Qaedas chief of operations, Saif al-Adel, along with numerous other operatives guilty of attacks against Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and other targets. It is a fact that Saif al-Adel placed a call from Iran in May 2003 giving orders for the Riyadh bombings that claimed more than 30 lives, including eight Americans. Yet he still benefits from Iranian protection. Iran could also stop funding terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, whose secretary-general recently boasted that his organization gets 100% of its funding from Iran. Iran could stop producing and distributing improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, which have killed or injured thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Iran could halt supplying weapons to terrorists and sectarian militias in the region who seek to replace legitimate governments with Iranian puppets. In Syria, the blood of the more than 500,000 people slaughtered by the regime of Bashar al-Assad stains the hands of Iran, which sent forcesboth regular troops and nonstate actorsto prop up the Syrian regime. Iranian leaders have said publicly that if not for their efforts, Assad would have fallen from power. Iranian officials sometimes lament sectarian strife and violence. But here again, the facts are stubborn. The region and the world were at peace with Iran until the Ayatollah Khomeinis 1979 Islamic revolution, whose principal slogan remains, Death to America! Mullahs seized power and vowedas written in their constitutionto export the revolution and spread their ideology through religious and sectarian conflict. To export the revolution, Iran set up so-called Cultural Centers of the Revolutionary Guard in many countries, including Sudan, Nigeria, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and the Comoros Islands. The aim was to spread their ideology through propaganda and violence. Iran went so far as to propagate that the Shiite Muslims living outside Iran belong to Iran and not the countries of which they are citizens. This is unacceptable interference in other countries and should be rejected by all nations. It is this ideology of Khomeinismdriven by an appetite for expansion, fueled by anti-Western hatred and motivated by sectarianismthat has energized and empowered extremism. Only by ridding the world of this toxic and radical mind-set can sectarianism be contained, terrorism defeated and calm restored to the region. If Iran is serious about combating extremism, then it should refrain from policies and actions that give rise to extremism. Since signing the nuclear deal with the U.S. last year, Iranian leaders have taken to pointing fingers at others to assign blame for the regional problems that they helped create. But before buying into their rhetoric, consider a few questions: Which country issues a fatwa for the execution of author Salman Rushdie, a death threat that is still in force today? (Iran.) What country has attacked more than a dozen embassies inside its own territory in violation of all international laws? (Iran.) What country managed, planned and executed the 1996 attack in Khobar Towers against the American Marines? (Iran.) Do these answers describe a country that is serious about combating terrorism and extremism? The rest of the Islamic world has unanimously condemned Irans behavior. In Istanbul in April, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation formally rejected and deplored Irans policies of sectarianism, interference in the affairs of others and support for terrorism. Saudi Arabia is a leader in the war against terrorism. My country brought the world together for an international conference in 2005 to align nations in the fight against terrorism. The kingdom contributed more than $100 million to create a global center for counterterrorism at the United Nations and established a 40-member Islamic Military Coalition to combat terrorism and extremism. It also is a member of the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Counter ISIL and is part of the coalitions continuing military operations. The kingdom has also foiled several attacks aimed at the U.S., and its leaders have been a target of suicide terror attacks. The kingdoms record is clear, and attested to by our allies and the international community. Irans record is one of death and destruction, as the situation in Syria and parts of Iraq clearly attests. Words will not change that; concrete action will. Saudi Arabias position has remained constant with regard to Iran. The kingdom would welcome better relations with Iran, based on the principles of good neighborliness and noninterference in the affairs of others. That means Iran has to abandon its subversive and hostile activities and stop its support for terrorism. Thus far, Irans record has not been encouraging. Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-cant-whitewash-its-record-of-terror-1474234929 [September 19, 2016] TopNotepad Provides a Simple, Affordable Alternative to Quickbooks, Xero and Freshbooks LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- After a highly successful soft launch in 2016, TopNotepad is setting their sights on new markets in the UK, Australia, and Canada. Founded in August 2015, just over a year ago, TopNotepad is a promising new startup dedicated to providing small businesses and freelancers with an easy and cost-effective option for online invoicing, accounting, CRM, and payment integration. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409220 An Affordable Solution for Freelancers & Small Businesses TopNotepad was founded to solve a problem faced by freelance contractors and very small businesses: the need for an online invoicing and accounting software system that provides the features they need, at a price they can afford. For over a decade, the market has been dominated by established companies like Quickbooks, Xero and Freshbooks. While these software suites are aimed at small businesses, their most affordable packages are decidedly lacking in features. They provide only limited access to much-needed functions like invoicing, billing, and CRM. For freelance workers and small businesses who need a broader range of features, programs like Freshbooks are priced out of reach. With the rise of the "gig economy" in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, an increasing number of professionals are working as independent freelance contractors. This trend is projected to continue into the future: by 2020, some analysts predict that a full 40% of workers will be independent contractors. For freelancers, especially those who recently transitioned from traditional employment, budgets for software services can be quite tight. However, there's still a need for invoicing, lead management, expense reporting, accounting, and other functions that are an unavoidable necessity for any business. TopNotepad offers a solution, priced well within reach of freelancers and very small businesses with limited budgets. Even their free package is not restricted to a one month trial, and can be used indefinitely. Even their premium "Lake" option, designed for small businesses with multiple employees, is priced at a remarkably modest $25 per month. TopNotepad may be considerably less pricey than their competitors, but for the price, they still offer an impressive range of features-- beyond what's available in other software companies' low-level packages. Their free package offers support for up to five invoices, five expenses, five leads, and five clients. No other company offers that much for free, especially without restricting it to a limited-time trial. An upgrade to their $12.50/month "Pond" package allows for unlimited storage, expenses, clients, and more. The incredibly reasonable pricing, combined with a set of features that actually fit freelance and small business needs, is unprecedented in the world of SaaS accounting and CRM. A Focus on Simplicity Affordability is one facet of TopNotepad's philosophy. The other is simplicity. "At TopNotepad, we believe in uncomplicating things, and our product truly reflects our belief," says Lovleen Soni, the company's co-founder and CTO. TopNotepad's design and user interface are designed to make business processes as simple as possible. For busy freelancers, this is a considerable benefit. The program has a very small learning curve, preventing new users from becoming overwhelmed while trying to figure out how to use the program. It also has the advantage of being an all-in-one solution, eliminating the need for multiple costly subscriptions to a variety of software services. TopNotepad isn't just an online invoicing software: it combines a range of functions into one convenient package. With TopNotepad, users can handle invoicing, expenses, and paypal payment integration. The software is designed to handle bookkeeping automatically when the user logs invoices and expenses, simplifying the financial aspect of running a small business. Along with its robust financial functionality, TopNotepad also serves as a CRM, letting users import and track leads to improve conversions. TopNotepad is Just Getting Started TopNotepad hasn't been on the market for long, but users are already generating buzz about its affordable yet impressive set of features. "We are driven by love of our users, who talk passionately about our product and service," says Lovleen Soni. "Just Google 'TopNotepad reviews' and you will know how engaged our clients are." Indeed, early reviews are looking quite promising so far. As TopNotepad expands its marketing efforts into the UK, Canada, and Australia, freelancers and small businesses throughout the English-speaking world will be able to take advantage of the program's affordable, easy to use accounting and CRM solutions. About TopNotepad: Founded in August 2015, TopNotepad is a startup centered around affordable yet feature-rich solutions for freelancers and small business. Their modestly priced software service combines online invoicing software and invoicing templates, online accounting software, online payment, and CRM functionality, providing an all-in-one solution designed especially for the needs of freelance contractors and small businesses. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/topnotepad-provides-a-simple-affordable-alternative-to-quickbooks-xero-and-freshbooks-300330139.html SOURCE TopNotepad.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 19, 2016] Fitch Places Community Health Systems' Ratings on Evolving Watch Fitch Ratings has placed the ratings of Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS), including the 'B' Issuer Default Rating (IDR), on Rating Watch Evolving. The ratings apply to $15.6 billion of debt outstanding at June 30, 2016. A full list of rating actions follows at the end of this release. KEY RATING DRIVERS Strategic Review Announced: CHS announced that the company has retained advisors to conduct a strategic review of its business. The Evolving Watch reflects uncertainty as to the credit profile implications of the outcome of the review. At this time, there are few details of the timing and likely resolution of the review. If the review does culminate in a transaction, the effect on the ratings will depend on the business profile implications and the resultant capital structure. Fitch believes there is also a heightened risk of management distraction during the review, which increases the likelihood of a downgrade of the ratings based on continued deterioration in operating trends, particularly organic growth in patient volumes. Repositioning Hospital Portfolio: Prior to announcement of the strategic review, CHS was engaged in efforts to reposition its portfolio of hospitals in larger and faster-growing markets. Earlier in 2016, the company spun off 38 hospitals into a separate, publicly traded entity, and announced plans to divest another 12 hospitals before the end of the year. Repositioning the portfolio should help CHS's organic volume growth by reducing exposure to lower acuity patients. This strategy is aligned with secular trends in healthcare delivery, which are resulting in more patients being treated in outpatient settings. Persistent Operational Challenges: CHS acquired rival hospital operator Health Management Associates (HMA) in a 2014 deal that added about $7 billion of debt to CHS's capital structure. Since the close of the transaction, growth in EBITDA has been hampered by operational issues at the HMA hospitals, and ongoing government investigations and lawsuits. In second quarter 2016 (2Q16), CHS recognized a $1.4 billion goodwill impairment charge, reflecting lower earnings prospects for the company's hospitals than at the time of the HMA acquisition. Restructuring Proceeds Reduce Debt: Progress towards deleveraging has been slow since the HMA acquisition; total debt/EBITDA is about 6.4x, versus 5.2x prior to it. So far in 2016, CHS has paid down about $1.5 billion of debt with the proceeds from the spin-off of Quorum Health Corporation (QHC) and the sale of a minority interest in several hospitals in Las Vegas. This was the first substantial debt repayment since the HMA acquisition. Prior to announcement of the strategic review, management said CHS plans to divest another 12 hospitals before the end of 2016, and expects to apply the proceeds to debt reduction. If the company were to execute on those divestitures as planned, Fitch would expect debt to be about $2.3 billion lower at the close of 2016 versus the January 2016 level, which is equal to about one-turn of EBITDA. More Profitable Hospital Portfolio: Fitch's respective $2.38 billion and $2.26 billion EBITDA forecasts for CHS for 2016 and 2017 reflect the loss of a cumulative $380 million in EBITDA as a result of the company's portfolio pruning. The largest portion of EBITDA divested was the 38 hospitals involved in the QHC spin-off. Headwinds to Lower Acute Volumes: CHS's legacy hospital portfolio is exposed to rural markets and therefore headwinds to lower acuity patient volumes. Volume trends in these markets are highly susceptible to weak macro-economic conditions and seasonal influences on flu and respiratory cases. Health insurers and government payors have been increasing scrutiny of short-stay admissions and preventable hospital readmissions. CHS has made some headway in turning around the company's hospital industry-lagging volume trends, but these challenges have proven difficult to overcome. Progress in Resolution of Legal Issues: CHS has been dealing with government investigations and lawsuits related to the issue of short-stay hospital admissions. CHS has made good progress in resolving the legal issues facing the legacy CHS hospitals, which did not involve financial fines significant enough to threaten financial flexibility and provided some comfort that the scope of the potential HMA fines or penalties will be similarly manageable. KEY ASSUMPTIONS Fitch's key assumptions within the rating case for CHS include: --Top-line declines 5.3% and 8.7% in 2016 and 2017, respectively, reflects completed and planned hospital divestitures. Underlying same-hospital growth of 2%-3% is driven primarily by pricing. --EBITDA before deduction of non-controlling interest and including equity earnings of affiliates of $2.38 billion and $2.26 billion in 2016 and 2017, respectively, assumes that operating EBITDA margin recovers about 50 bps by the end of 2017 versus the June 30, 2016 latest 12 months (LTM) level, mostly as the result o divesting less-profitable hospitals. --Free cash flow (FCF) margin recovers to 1.4% in 2016 and 2.5% in 2017, benefiting from lower cash interest expense due to debt repayment, and lower capital intensity based on management's projections for capital expenditures of about 4% of revenues in 2016. --The company divests another 12 hospitals in late 2016, raises net proceeds of $850 million and uses the cash to repay debt; thereafter, debt levels are fairly constant through the projection period assuming minimal cash towards acquisitions and share repurchases. --Total debt/EBITDA is sustained between 6.0x and 6.5x. RATING SENSITIVITIES Maintenance of the 'B' Issuer Default Rating (IDR) considers CHS maintaining total debt/EBITDA at or below 6.5x, an operating EBITDA margin of at least 12% and an FCF margin of 1%-2%. A downgrade could result from leverage sustained above 6.5x and a breakeven FCF margin. Risks to the operating outlook include the inability of management to execute on operational improvements necessary to improve organic volume growth and profitability. This could be evidenced by difficultly completing the remaining planned divestitures and associated debt pay-down, negative growth in organic adjusted admissions, and/or lack of progress toward resolution of HMA's legal issues.] LIQUIDITY At June 30, 2016, sources of liquidity included $461 million of cash on hand, $935 million of available capacity on the senior secured credit facility cash flow revolver and LTM FCF of about $64 million. CHS's EBITDA/interest paid is solid for the 'B' rating category at 3.3x and the company had adequate operating cushion under the bank facility financial maintenance covenants, one of which requires net secured debt leverage maintained at or below 4.25x. Despite a forecasted decline in EBITDA, Fitch expects the company to remain in compliance with the financial maintenance covenants through the projection period. Upcoming debt maturities include the A/R facility maturing in 2017 with $673 million outstanding at June 30, 2016, and $1.5 billion in bank term loans and $700 million of secured notes maturing in 2018. FULL LIST OF RATING ACTIONS Fitch has placed the following ratings on Evolving Watch: Community Health Systems, Inc.: --IDR 'B'. CHS/Community Health Systems, Inc.: --Senior secured credit facility 'BB-/RR2'; --Senior secured notes 'BB-/RR2'; --Senior unsecured notes 'B/RR4'. The 'BB-/RR2' rating for CHS's secured debt (which includes the bank term loans, revolver and senior secured notes) reflects Fitch's expectations for 72% recovery under a hypothetical bankruptcy scenario. The 'B/RR4' rating on CHS's $6.1 billion senior unsecured notes reflects Fitch's expectations for principal recovery of 36%. In the U.S. healthcare sector, Fitch consistently uses a going-concern approach to valuation as opposed to assuming a liquidation value; intrinsic value is assumed to be greater than liquidation value for these companies, implying that the most likely outcome post-default would be reorganization rather than liquidation. The going-concern cash flow (measured by EBITDA) estimate assumes an initial deterioration that provokes a default which is somewhat offset by corrective actions that would take place during restructuring. Fitch assumes a 37% discount to its 2016 forecasted EBITDA less distributions to non-controlling interests of $2.3 billion for CHS, resulting in a post-default cash flow estimate of $1.4 billion. Fitch applies a 7x multiple to CHS's post-default cash flow estimate of $1.4 billion, resulting in a going concern enterprise value (EV) of $10.1 billion. The 7x multiple is based on observation of both recent transactions/takeout and public market multiples in the healthcare industry. Administrative claims are assumed to consume 10%, or about $1 billion of going concern EV, which is a standard assumption in Fitch's recovery analysis. Also standard in its analysis, Fitch assumes that CHS would fully draw the $1 billion available balance on its bank credit revolver in a bankruptcy scenario and includes that amount in the claims waterfall. Fitch applies a waterfall analysis to the going-concern EV based on the relative claims of the debt in the capital structure. Fitch estimates EV available for claims of $9 billion, net of a standard assumption of 10% for administrative claims. At June 30 2016, about 60% of consolidated net revenue resides in the guarantor group, so Fitch assumes that 60% of the going-concern EV, or $5.4 billion, is recovered by first-lien secured holders, leaving $3.6 billion of non-collateral value to be distributed to unsecured claimants. Based on $9.5 billion of total secured claims (which includes the bank term loans, revolver and senior secured notes), the resulting first-lien secured deficiency claim of $4.1 billion is added to $6.1 billion of senior unsecured claims, resulting in $10.2 billion of total unsecured claims, recovery of which is assumed on a pro rata basis. Summary of Financial Statement Adjustments - Financial statement adjustments that depart materially from those contained in the published financial statements of the relevant rated entity or obligor are disclosed below: --Historical and projected EBITDA is adjusted to add back non-cash stock-based compensation. In 2015, Fitch added back $59 million in non-cash stock-based compensation to the EBITDA calculation. --Historical and projected EBITDA includes equity earnings of affiliates. In 2015, Fitch included $63 million of equity earnings of affiliates in its EBITDA calculation. Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com. Applicable Criteria Corporate Rating Methodology - Including Short-Term Ratings and Parent and Subsidiary Linkage (pub. 17 Aug 2015) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/869362 Recovery Ratings and Notching Criteria for Non-Financial Corporate Issuers (pub. 05 Apr 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/879564 Additional Disclosures Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1011876 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006294/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 19, 2016] Privacy and Security Leaders from Major Tech Companies and Government Join Faculty of Oct. 24-26, 2016, Forum in DC WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 600 professionals will attend the second annual Privacy+Security Forum on the campus of George Washington University for a three-day event that will cover the gamut of data security and privacy matters facing companies, governments and individuals, Tom Hay of HB Litigation Conferences, the event organizer, said today. Companies represented on the roughly 300-speaker faculty include Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Government speakers will appear from the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security and several other agencies. Speakers also hail from Germany, Ireland, Korea, Japan, the U.K. and more. Co-founded by Daniel Solove of George Washington University Law School and Paul Schwartz of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, the event was an immediate success in 2015, hailed by one attendee as "the best collection of experts speaking together in one place that I've seen." "The purpose of the event is to bring together seasoned thought leaders to break down the silos of privacy and security, create rigorous discussion, and deliver practical takeaways," Solove said. /p> Providing depth and rigor in presentations, as well as unparalleled interactivity, the program offers a variety of breakout sessions, workshops and focused sub-seminars, called "intensive days." Categories of discussion include: Healthcare information International privacy Communications regulation Advertising and marketing Big data monetization and discrimination Consumer privacy and security Employment Surveillance Class actions and litigation And much more As many as 300 speakers will present, representing companies including: AT&T Cisco Dell Facebook General Electric Google LG Electronics Microsoft Netflix Northrop Grumman Qualcomm Uber Verizon Federal agencies represented include: Department of Commerce Department of Health & Human Services Department of Homeland Security Department of Justice Department of State Federal Communications Commission Federal Trade Commission Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Secret Service For more information visit http://bit.ly/PSForum2016. Media Contact Tom Hagy (484) 324-2755 www.LitigationConferences.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/privacy-and-security-leaders-from-major-tech-companies-and-government-join-faculty-of-oct-24-26-2016-forum-in-dc-300330387.html SOURCE HB Litigation Conferences [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 19, 2016] Tractica Launches Artificial Intelligence Advisory Service Today Tractica announced the launch of its new Artificial Intelligence Advisory Service, a subscription-based market research and analysis suite that provides independent and objective market intelligence and strategy insights for companies engaged in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) market. As part of the service, Tractica's global industry analyst team provides strategic and quantitative analysis focused on the market opportunity for AI technologies in enterprise, consumer, and government markets. "Artificial intelligence technologies are already beginning to have a disruptive effect on established business models across virtually every industry, while simultaneously enabling new business processes that were not previously possible," says managing director Clint Wheelock. "Rapid advances in AI technologies like deep learning, machine learning, computer vision, and natral language processing (NLP) are being enabled by more powerful hardware, sophisticated algorithms, and a virtually limitless ocean of data to analyze and interpret." As part of its Artificial Intelligence service, Tractica's industry analysts offer timely and actionable market insights, covering specific technology and industry sectors as well as overall market conditions and trends. Research reports include an in-depth examination of AI business models, use cases, technology issues, and key industry players in addition to detailed market sizing, segmentation, and forecasts. Tractica's Artificial Intelligence Advisory Service examines use cases and business models for the application of artificial intelligence technologies in enterprise, consumer, and government markets. The service includes access to more than eight of the firm's research reports per year, in addition to unlimited analyst inquiry access, quarterly conference calls, and a full-day onsite strategic advisory session. Executive summaries and further information about the Advisory Service are available for free download on Tractica's website. About Tractica Tractica is a market intelligence firm that focuses on human interaction with technology. Tractica's global market research and consulting services combine qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide a comprehensive view of the emerging market opportunities surrounding Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, User Interface Technologies, Wearable Devices, and Digital Health. For more information, visit www.tractica.com or call +1.303.248.3000. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006446/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 19, 2016] Fitch Affirms Chualar Union Elementary School District, CA's GOs at 'A+'; Outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has affirmed its 'A+' rating on the following Chualar Union Elementary School District, CA's (News - Alert) (the district) general obligation (GO) bonds: --$810,000 series 2001 (Election of 2001). Fitch has also affirmed its Issuer Default Rating (IDR) for the district at 'A+'. The Rating Outlook is Stable. SECURITY The bonds are payable from an unlimited ad valorem property tax levied on all taxable property within the district. KEY RATING DRIVERS The 'A+' IDR reflects the district's good financial cushion, solid flexibility to adjust spending, and midrange gap closing capacity in a revenue loss scenario. Cumulatively, these help offset the district's limited independent legal ability to raise revenues and moderately high long-term debt liability. Economic Resource Base This small, one-school elementary school district is located in the central part of Monterey County, south of the city of Salinas. It provides K-8 education to a population of approximately 2,100 residents in Chualar and surrounding unincorporated areas. The majority of the district's 66 square miles consists of agricultural properties which account for 72% of the district's assessed valuation (AV). The top 10 taxpayers are all agricultural concerns and represent a concentrated 37% of the district's tax base. While the focus on agriculture results in below-average wealth levels for local workers and their households, it did ensure AV stability during the recession. The district's AV continued to increase through the recession, with strong cumulative growth of 66% during fiscals 2007-2017, to almost $487 million. This was primarily due to the rising value of agricultural land. A number of the largest ranches in the district are under multigenerational family ownership. Agricultural properties within the district share first rights to the Salinas water table, thereby avoiding the water issues that impact other parts of Monterey County. The local non-agricultural commercial economy and residential property market are both very limited with marginal growth potential. The median AV for the district's 197 single family houses in the district is low at $193,000. Revenue Framework: 'bbb' factor assessment Despite student enrollment declines, general fund revenues have rebounded in recent years due to state economic improvement and the district's extremely high unduplicated count of targeted students. However, the district's independent legal ability to raise revenues is constrained by state law, which requires voter approval for tax increases. Expenditure Framework: 'aa' factor assessment While the district has a moderately high and rising fixed cost burden, it retains solid flexibility to adjust spending. Long-Term Liability Burden: 'a' factor assessment The long-term liability burden is moderately high relative to the district's resource base. There are no additional debt issuance plans and direct debt will amortize faster after an imminent refunding of parity GO bonds. The district participates in two adequately funded state-run pension plans and its other post-employment benefits (OPEB) liability is very manageable. Operating Performance: 'a' factor assessment The district maintains reserves well above the minimum state mandate, providing a good financial cushion. Fitch assesses the district's gap closing capacity as midrange relative to the expected revenue loss (5.7%) during a 1% GDP decline scenario. RATING SENSITIVITIES Fitch expects that the district will continue to exercise sound budget management and maintain solid reserves through the economic cycle. CREDIT PROFILE As with most California school districts, the bulk of the district's operational revenues are derived from a state-determined per pupil funding formula. Student average daily attendance has declined by 5% since 2011 to a projected 327 students in fiscal 2017. The district's unduplicated count of students who are English language learners, eligible for free or reduced price meals, or in foster care is almost 99%. Consequently, the district benefits significantly from supplemental and concentration funding under the state's new local control funding formula (LCFF). Revenue Framework State aid and local property taxes provide the majority of district operating revenues. State aid has been expanding due to improvements in the state's economy and LCFF, which provides additional funding for targeted students.Actual general fund revenues grew by 6% during fiscals 2013-2015. Although student average daily attendance (ADA) has declined by 5% since 2011, forward projections show less than 1% further decline through fiscal 2021. The funding impact of ADA declines is somewhat muted by basing each year's funding on the prior year's ADA. This gives California school districts time to respond appropriately to the funding impact of ADA declines. State law requires voter approval of tax increases, limiting the district's independent legal ability to control revenues. However, Fitch expects that the district will continue to manage its revenue pressures satisfactorily. Expenditure Framework Fitch expects general fund expenditure growth to be in line with, or to slightly exceed, general fund revenue growth, partly because of rising special education and employee benefit costs. The district's fixed costs represent a manageable 11% of its general fund expenditures. The district will be negotiating new labor contracts next year. In order to retain maximum expenditure flexibility, the district does not plan to repeat its current three-year contracts, preferring to negotiate single year contracts instead. The district's workforce environment is moderately flexible and labor negotiations have historically been productive. The district's mandate to provide educational services places some limitation on its ability to reduce expenditures in the event of a revenue decline. Nevertheless, the district maintains good expenditure flexibility, particularly in relation to employee hour reductions, classified staff layoffs, class size increases, reduced professional development and teaching days, and reduced supplemental programs (such as after school classes and Saturday academies). These options are supported by the district's moderately flexible labor environment. Long-Term Liability Burden The district's debt burden is moderately high relative to its resource base at 11% of estimated personal income. However, it represents a more moderate 3% of the district's assessed valuation. The district has no outstanding GO bond authorization and no plans to seek voter authorization for new GO bonds, although in the near future it is planning to refund parity GO bonds (not rated by Fitch) for savings. This will further decrease the district's already low overall debt burden and eliminate capital appreciation bonds, which currently slow down its direct debt amortization considerably. The district participates in two state-funded pension systems, both of which are mandating increasing employer contributions over the next few years to improve their funded ratios. As of June 30, 2015, the district's proportionate share of CalSTRS' and CalPERS' net pension liabilities was $1.9 million (assuming 7.6% and 7.5% discount rates, respectively). Using Fitch's more conservative 7% discount rate, the district's proportionate share increases to an estimated $2.5 million which is still less than 1% of the district's fiscal 2015 AV. The district pays for OPEBs on a pay-as-you-go basis based on the number of eligible retirees (none in fiscals 2015 and 2016). The district has a special OPEB reserve of $215,129, approximately one-third of its unfunded actuarially accrued OPEB liability. Operating Performance Since fiscal 2011, the district has maintained year-end unrestricted general fund balances of between 17% and 26% of spending, well in excess of the state's 4% minimum mandate for small school districts. However, this cushion is limited in dollar terms ($666,000 - $896,000) and was inflated during the recession by temporary borrowing from the special reserve capital outlay fund to address general fund cash flow issues caused by state funding deferrals. To control its costs during the recession, the district worked with the Monterey County Office of Education to downsize its classified workforce. The district's projections for fiscals 2016-2019 indicate maintenance of healthy unrestricted general fund balances of between 16% and 20% of spending. Again, this cushion is limited in dollar terms ($650,000 - $771,000). In the event of a general fund emergency, the district could borrow from its $1.2 million special revenue capital outlay fund. This would provide a useful cushion given the general fund's rather limited liquidity. However, Fitch notes that $1 million of this cushion will cease to be available when a Qualified Zone Academy Bond loan has to be repaid fully in fiscal 2018. Fitch assesses the district's gap closing capacity as midrange relative to the expected revenue loss (a moderately high 5.7%) during a 1% GDP decline scenario. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. In addition to the sources of information identified in the applicable criteria specified below, this action was informed by information from Lumesis and InvestorTools. Applicable Criteria U.S. Tax-Supported Rating Criteria (pub. 18 Apr 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/879478 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1011894 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1011894 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON (News - Alert) THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006536/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Handheld Launches New Version of the ALGIZ 10X Ultra-rugged Tablet LIDKOPING, Sweden, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Handheld Group, a leading manufacturer of rugged mobile computers and tablets, today announced a major upgrade to its popular Algiz 10X ultra-rugged tablet computer with new and improved screen technology and improved GPS/GLONASS functionality. The new version of the Algiz 10X has a 10.1" HD projective capacitive touchscreen that is ultra-bright and built for outdoor use. The 10-point touchscreen offers the ability to operate in both glove mode and rain mode, allowing outdoor users to operate seamlessly in any weather. The Algiz 10X also comes with an optional active capacitive stylus to maximize ease of use. The new u-blox NEO-M8N offers both GPS and GLONASS, giving users access to more satellites than before. To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7917851-handheld-new-algiz-10x-ultra-rugged-tablet/ This latest version of the Algiz 10X comes standard with the Enterprise LTSB version of Windows 10, demonstrating Handheld's commitment to the needs of enterprise customers who value long-term stability. The powerful Algiz 10X features a quad-core Intel N2930 1.83 GHz processor and an expandable 128 GB solid-state drive. It has 4 gigabytes of DDR3 RAM and offers several conectivity options, including WLAN and BT, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, VGA and RS232 ports. The Algiz 10X is IP65-rated and meets stringent MIL-STD-810G military standards for protection against dust, water, vibrations, drops and extreme temperatures. It has a 10.1-inch touchscreen with high-brightness MaxView screen technology. This compact tablet weighs only 1.3 kilograms (2.9 pounds) and measures 32 millimeters (1.2 inches) thick. "The technology changes made in this version give a whole new user experience for our customers," says Johan Hed, director of product management. "With the updated screen and GPS/GLONASS capabilities, the Algiz 10X is a natural choice for field professionals who are looking for a truly rugged device for their mission-critical applications." The new Algiz 10X pricing is unchanged, and is available for order and delivery immediately. The previous version with resistive touchscreen will continue to be available for the foreseeable future. The new Algiz 10X will be shown at several upcoming events this fall, including InterGeo in Hamburg, Germany. Helpful links ALGIZ 10X product specifications ALGIZ 10X press images About Handheld Group Handheld product lineup What does rugged mean? Tweet this: Handheld launches new version of the ALGIZ 10X ultra-rugged tablet https://www.handheldgroup.com/PCAP About Handheld The Handheld Group is a manufacturer of rugged mobile computers, PDAs and tablets. Handheld and its partners worldwide deliver complete mobility solutions to businesses in industries such as geomatics, logistics, forestry, public transportation, utilities, construction, maintenance, mining, military and security. The Handheld Group of Sweden has local offices in Finland, the U.K., the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and the USA. For more information, please see https://www.handheldgroup.com (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160901/403429 ) Video: http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7917851-handheld-new-algiz-10x-ultra-rugged-tablet/ SOURCE Handheld Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Lee Moore of Imperas Receives RAeC Award from HRH Prince Andrew for New Aviation Traffic Awareness Technology Imperas Software Ltd., the leader in high-performance software simulation, is proud to announce that Imperas' own Lee Moore has received a Royal Aero Club (RAeC) award from His Royal Highness Prince Andrew at the Club's annual Awards Evening held at the Royal Air Force Club in London's Piccadilly. (See image of HRH Prince Andrew presenting the RAeC award to Imperas' Lee Moore.) This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006417/en/ HRH Prince Andrew presenting the RAeC award to Imperas' Lee Moore (Photo: Business Wire) The RAeC Awards are the hihest recognition for achievement in sporting and recreational flying in the UK and date back over 100 years; many of the greatest names in the UK's aviation heritage have been recipients of the certificates, cups and trophies that the Club presents. Lee Moore has developed PilotAware, a new, low-cost traffic awareness device which receives ADS-B transmissions from suitable Mode S transponders, and transmits a radio signal with GPS positioning data to other PilotAware units. Information is also delivered to tablet-based navigation systems such as SkyDemon & EasyVFR, where traffic details can be shown on-screen. The affordable PilotAware system makes the hardware and RF protocol public, and can transmit NMEA messages to various transponders capable of providing ADS-B out. (See image of PilotAware system showing several different real-time interfaces.) "Designing an embedded system around an ARM (News - Alert) processor that runs real-time Linux with several radio peripherals and a handheld software application makes software test and verification the biggest challenge we faced during development. The difficulty comes in interacting with the real world which is dynamic and changing by definition," said Lee Moore. "The use of simulation where you can capture real world interactions and make things deterministic, and which allows you to replay different scenarios and see how the software responds and predicts issues makes software test and verification much quicker, simpler and more rigorous," continued Moore. "PilotAware has done a fantastic job of raising the profile of traffic awareness in the UK GA community, by delivering a solution which is affordable and works with the navigation software people are already using. This and other initiatives like it will hugely accelerate the widespread adoption of such technologies and ultimately make everyone in aviation safer," said Tim Dawson, founder and managing director, SkyDemon. "With increasing risks of mid-air collisions in Europe, EasyVFR encourages the use of PilotAware in conjunction with our Navigation software. Our mutual customers are already benefiting from the increased levels of aviation conspicuity (see and be seen) provided by these complimentary technologies," said Rob Weijers, Founder PocketFMS / EasyVFR. Simon Davidmann, CEO of Imperas Software commented: "I think this is fantastic that Lee Moore has used his extensive expertise of complex embedded systems hardware and embedded software development to create such a system as PilotAware that can really help avoid collisions, reduce accidents and casualties." Davidmann continued: "To win such an award is recognition of Moore's interests and skills regarding embedded systems development and we are pleased that our staff can provide such practical expertise to Imperas customers." About Imperas For more information about Imperas, please see www.imperas.com. All trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of Imperas Software Limited or their respective holders. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919006417/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Etiometry Platform Introduced, Company Broadens its Product Line of Hospital ICU Software Solutions Etiometry, a pioneering leader in next-generation patient monitoring software, has introduced the Etiometry Platform. This end-to-end clinical data collection, analysis, visualization and archiving system collects physiologic data directly from patient monitoring devices while analyzing it in near-real time in the context of human physiology models and proven aerospace estimation methodologies. The Etiometry Platform features a web-based architecture that is hosted in a hospital's data center and protected by the hospital's firewall, and it encompasses all of the Etiometry products under a unified architecture. These products include: T3 Visualization & Data Aggregation - An FDA-cleared software visualization application to collect, store, and visualize ICU data in near-real time. It includes new and proprieary data aggregation technologies developed by Etiometry to enable the collection, segmentation, and near real-time patient binding of data to support patient care. This is Etiometry's flagship product, and it was formerly branded as the Etiometry T3 Monitor. Risk Analytics Algorithms - New Etiometry algorithms that are deployed on Etiometry's T3 Visualization & Aggregation software. Quality Improvement Sandbox - This clinical database from Etiometry allows researchers and quality improvement specialists to easily access high-fidelity data files for any individual or groups of patients. About Etiometry Based in Boston, Etiometry was founded in 2010 and provides next-generation patient monitoring software for hospital ICUs. By consolidating data from many ICU devices, the Etiometry Platform helps clinicians better understand the trajectory of their patients by viewing salient clinical information on a single screen. It fosters more objective communication among care teams and provides a common platform to analyze the best course of treatment for ICU patients. For more information, visit www.etiometry.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005158/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] ALA Services LLC Acquires Adaptive Computing Enterprises, Inc. of Provo, Utah NAPLES, Fla., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ALA Services LLC (ALA) announced on Sept. 1, 2016 that they have successfully completed the acquisition of Adaptive Computing Enterprises, a private company previously backed by tier one Investors including Boston-based Tudor Ventures, EPIC Ventures out of Salt Lake City, Utah and Intel Capital, which operates internationally. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409562LOGO ALA, which is an enterprise software investment company, brings with it the experience of software industry veteran Arthur Allen, founder and former CEO of ASG Software Solutions, and his longstanding team of seasoned professionals in the software, financial, and legal industries. The ALA team has a wealth of experience in understanding software platforms used for intelligent decisions in distributed computing environments and with this acquisition, they can now leverage that knowledge to enhance Adaptive Computing's ability to automate intelligent decisions in the workload and resource orchestration software market. "With Adaptive Computing we have a platform which can automate the decision processes that save customers tens of thousands to even millions of dollars as they implement their software-defined infrastructures." Arthur Allen, Founder & CEO, ALA Services LLC ALA perates on a corporate shared-services model that will provide added marketing, sales, financial and legal value added services to Adaptive Computing. ALA is currently beginning a new round of technology investments and has as its objective to acquire and grow its combined portfolio of companies to more than a half a billion in annual revenues. ALA is actively negotiating M&A opportunities in the mature software technology space and the acquired companies will remain separate entities under the ALA umbrella. "We look forward to accelerating our business and improving value to our customers by combining ALA's expertise with Adaptive Computing's leading technology and great position within the market." Marty Smuin, CEO of Adaptive Computing Enterprises, Inc. Adaptive Computing's Workload and Resource Orchestration software platform, Moab, is a world leader in dynamically optimizing large-scale computing environments. Moab intelligently places and schedules workloads and adapts resources to optimize application performance, increase system utilization, and achieve organizational objectives. Moab's unique intelligent and predictive capabilities evaluate the impact of future orchestration decisions across diverse workload domains (HPC, HTC, Big Data, Grid Computing, SOA, Data Centers, Cloud Brokerage, Workload Management, Enterprise Automation, Workflow Management, Server Consolidation, and Cloud VMs); thereby optimizing cost reduction and speeding product delivery. Media Inquiries: Sue DeGram Director of Marketing, ALA Services +1 239.330.6123 [email protected] www.alanaples.com Sales Inquiries: Marty Smuin CEO, Adaptive Computing +1 801.341.4606 Direct +1 925.895.2015 Cell [email protected] www.adaptivecomputing.com This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ala-services-llc-acquires-adaptive-computing-enterprises-inc-of-provo-utah-300330839.html SOURCE ALA Services LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Heineken And TUMI Debut Custom "#Heineken100" Backpack NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Heineken, the world's leading international brewer, unveiled the second of its three 2016 #Heineken100 TUMI product collaborations: a custom, New York City inspired backpack. The utilitarian and versatile pack is made with water resistant high-tensile poly weave. It features Heineken-green architectural lines and its front zipper pockets employ seam-seal technology. The piece may be worn traditionally, or carried by front handles for freedom of movement between work and travel. Heineken's partnership with TUMI, the global leader in lifestyle, business and travel essentials and the most prevalent brand to ever participate in the program, marks the seventh year of the #Heineken100 program. The longest running and most premium product collaboration in the beer industry, #Heineken100 connects the brewer with the most innovative lifestyle brands in the world to create co-branded lifestyle products that are seeded to 100 of the world's most influential men. "I'm honored to be among the just 100 people receiving this amazing and ultra-limited backpack," said Matthew Chevallard, President and Creative Director of Del Tro Shoes and 2016 #Heineken100 recipient. "I will take my 'traveling shoe salesman' role across the globe with the #Heineken100 TUMI accessories. The backpack is the modern briefcase and its versatility allows me to function in the best possible way." The first #Heineken100 release, a Miami-inspired TUMI tote with signature Heineken-green detailing, debuted in August. The third and final product, inspired by the global citizens of Amsterdam, will be revealed next month. "Our goal is to not only create the best product with the best brands in the world, but to create something functional," said Coltrane Curtis, Founder and Managing Partner of Team Epiphany, the marketing agency that birthed the #Heineken100 program. "Functionality and utility are inherently at the epicenter of what luxury is." Selected for both a defined aesthetic vision and sphere of active cultural influence, #Heineken100 partners have included Public School, Garrett Leight, retailer Union Los Angeles, Parabellum Mark McNairy, retailer KITH and Neighborhood Japan, among others. Watch the #Heineken100 hashtag for more information. About HEINEKEN USA HEINEKEN USA Inc., the nation's leading upscale beer importer, is a subsidiary of HEINEKEN NV, the world's most international brewer. Core brands imported into the U.S. are Heineken, the world's most international premium beer brand, the Dos Equis franchise, the Tecate franchise and Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders. HEINEKEN USA also imports Amstel Light, Newcastle Brown Ale, Red Stripe, Sol, Indio, Carta Blanca and Bohemia brands. For the latest information on our company and brands, follow us on Twitter @HeinekenUSACorp, or visit HEINEKENUSA.com. About TUMI Since 1975, TUMI has been creating world-class business and travel essentials, designed to upgrade, uncomplicate, and beautify all aspects of life on the move. Blending flawless functionality with a spirit of ingenuity, we're committed to empowering journeys as a lifelong partner to movers and makers in pursuit of their passions. Designed in America, for Global Citizens everywhere. The brand is sold in over 350 stores from New York to Paris to London and Tokyo, as well as the world's top department and specialty stores and travel retail in more than 75 countries. For more about TUMI, visit www.TUMI.com, www.facebook.com/TUMItravel, www.twitter.com/TUMItravel. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409789 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160920/409790 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160801/394489LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/heineken-and-tumi-debut-custom-heineken100-backpack-300331011.html SOURCE HEINEKEN USA Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Runnable's On-Demand Environments Lay Foundation to Dismantle the Development Pipeline Runnable, the company rethinking the development pipeline and speeding up workflow for developers, announced its new service is generally available today. Runnable's new service provides development teams with full-stack environments for every code branch at a low, fixed cost. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005706/en/ Runnable's user interface. Runnable gives each code branch its own isolated, full-stack environment on-demand, complete with an environment URL, enabling developers to gather feedback in real-time. Environments stay up-to-date with changes to their code branch. (Graphic: Business Wire) Development teams rely on a staging server to verify changes in their application work well end-to-end. As teams continue to build smaller components - adopting microservices and containers - more demand is placed on the staging server due to the higher rate of incremental changes. A single staging server can't scale with this demand, and thus becomes a bottleneck. Developers are forced to wait in line to verify thei changes or risk their changes breaking someone else's. After gaining access, developers must verify and redeploy versions of other services, and reset databases before running their code. "One of the most time-consuming tasks developers face today is figuring out if their code runs end-to-end." explained Ken Olofsen, President & Chief Operating Officer of Runnable. "Lack of environments should never get in the way of your developers' speed." Runnable eliminates the bottleneck of the staging server by creating a new full-stack environment for every new branch on a code repository. Every environment comes properly configured with expected versions and cloned databases, and is kept up-to-date with the latest changes so developers can always see if their code is runnable. Developers always have access to full-stack environments running their code to test end-to-end, get real-time feedback, and debug issues without waiting for a shared staging server. "After a few hours we were up and running [on Runnable]," said Alex Morse, Co-founder and CTO of Cratejoy. "Now we have test environments per feature without managing the orchestration. This accelerates both product and QA feedback to get changes into master confidently, faster." Runnable's intention is to dismantle the development pipeline, a long and arduous path that's evolved over time between the developer and the user. Runnable believes the software industry is moving past the aging pipeline established prior to the shift of containers and microservices, and having access to full-stack environments on-demand is a critical component in that evolution. "The overwhelming response we got from our CodeSnippets community was that they needed on-demand environments for their professional dev workflow," said Runnable CEO and founder Yash Kumar. "We're excited to make this available for all development teams today." Building out traditional testing and staging servers in-house can be time-consuming and very costly. Runnable's offering avoids the spiraling AWS costs teams face by providing unlimited environments at a predictable, low-cost. Three plans are priced per developer and align with the complexity of the application. All plans start with a 14-day unlimited trial. Runnable supports teams that host their code with GitHub, with Bitbucket support and an enterprise offering to be supported in the near future. Teams interested in keeping up-to-date with progress for either can sign up for the mailing list on Runnable's website. About Runnable Founded in 2013, Runnable focuses on rethinking the development pipeline and speeding up development for organizations of all sizes. The company, which is headquartered in San Francisco, CA (News - Alert), offers on-demand environments for every code branch, accelerating the process for testing, deploying, and getting feedback - at a low, fixed cost. With 16 employees, and $10M in funding, Runnable can be found at runnable.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005706/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] OpenIO Validates Its Technology on Kinetic Open Storage OpenIO Inc., next generation open source object storage vendor, today announced OpenIO's Kinetic Open Storage certification as part of its participation in Kinetic Plugfest, an open source project hosted by the Linux Foundation (News - Alert), and anticipates the next storage industry revolution. OpenIO SDS now integrates the Kinetic Open Storage platform to enable a new scale-out storage approach. While keeping all the key features of the OpenIO technology, such as built-in tiering, never rebalance, erasure coding, geo-replication, and without modifying the internals of the core solution, OpenIO leverages easily and efficiently all the benefits of Kinetic revolutionary drives. From high-end storage arrays, the industry has evolved to commodity x86 servers to efficiently reach petabyte scale. Kinetic Open Storage is the next major evolutionary step that will enable finer grained scalability for even larger platforms. OpenIO embraces the idea of reducing overhead drive costs by presenting them directly on the network. It drastically simplifies the software and hardware stack, and reduces the management complexity of the storage platform. The OpenIO technology and Kinetic Open Storage combined replace the usual x86 servers in the datacenter. OpenIO is among the very few object storage vendors that are able to cope with thousands of nodes in one single platform. Each Kinetic drive is managed as an OpenIO node, reflecting Seagate's (News - Alert) vision while designing the Kinetic technology. At Petabyte scale and more, this order of magnitude in terms of number of drives is easily reached. As a very flexible and versatile technology, OpenIO is to become the universal solution for any application's data access regardless of the storage tier (internal drives and SSDs, kinetic drives, hybrid storage cloud, ). According to Seagate, the Kinetic Open Storage platform is a revolutionary object-based storage platform that breaks from block and file architectres. Designed for unstructured cloud data, the Kinetic medias reduce TCO by up to 50% and simplifies the software stack, boosting performance up to 4. "OpenIO's unique storage solution represents an innovative approach for customers, and is a great fit for the Kinetic Open Storage Project. While providing flexible object or file based interface options, they offer tailored business additions for video, email, or enterprise deployments, offering even more value to customers," said David Burks, Director, Enterprise Product Strategy at Seagate Technology & Chairman, Kinetic Open Storage Project, Linux Foundation. "OpenIO is a firm believer that the Kinetic drives are part of the future for datacenter technologies. We are very proud of the collaboration with Seagate and to be certified today. That very first step anticipates an even more disruptive evolution for OpenIO to be run as a server-less platform," said Laurent Denel, Co-Founder and CEO at OpenIO. About the Kinetic Open Storage Project The Kinetic Open Storage Project, a Linux Foundation project, is dedicated to creating an open standard around Ethernet-enabled, key/value kinetic devices. The architecture is inspired by the scale-out data center in which Ethernet and Linux are ubiquitous, open source software reduces barriers to entry, and hardware is becoming commoditized. Project members include Cisco, Cleversafe, Dell, Digital Sense, EMC, Exablox, Huawei, NetApp, OpenIO, Red Hat, Scality (News - Alert), Seagate, SwiftStack, Toshiba and Western Digital. For more information, visit https://openkinetic.org. About Seagate Seagate creates space for the human experience by innovating how data is stored, shared and used. Learn more at www.seagate.com. Follow Seagate on Twitter, Facebook (News - Alert), LinkedIn, Spiceworks, YouTube and subscribe to our blog. About OpenIO OpenIO offers an open source storage software that allows organizations to converge application and storage on a single scale-out platform, bringing flexibility and agility to large-scale storage infrastructures. The product is a pure Software Defined Storage solution. Officially launched in June 2015 as a company, OpenIO has a long track record in object storage having started the development of the product in 2006. At that date, only few pioneers existed and OpenIO is one of them. For the past 10 years the team has architected, delivered, and supported numerous hyper-scale storage platforms and hundreds of billions of objects, with remarkable stability and no down time. The company has offices in San Francisco, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo, and Montreal. For more information, please refer to www.openio.io and follow @openio on Twitter (News - Alert). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005927/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Introducing GloboTech' New One-Click App to Combat Cloud Complexity MONTREAL, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- GloboTech Communications, a leading Canadian provider of enterprise cloud hosting, announced today the addition of the exciting, new One-Click application to its Cloud Platform offering. Designed with pure simplicity in mind, One-Click enables users to deploy their favorite applications within seconds in the GloboTech Cloud, ready to use. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409566LOGO With this new GloboTech Cloud feature, business professionals will no longer have to drag through mundane and irrelevant underlying platform details when working to achieve their goals. Instead, the streamlined process enshrined in GloboTech One-Click empowers every user to spend more time and energy on the things that really matter: their core business. The One-Click applications feature for simplified Cloud application use by GloboTech is due to become available for customers from September 20, 2016 12PM (ETA). One-Click applications are a prime example of the unique GloboTech dedication to customer experience in the face of increasing complexity in the cloud hosting industry. At a time when the "Cloud" has become almost eponymous for bulk and bloat, GloboTech beats the competition by keeping their values clear throughout the development process. This philosophy of keeping it simple for customers without having to compromise speed, features, or reliability is at the heart of all that is GloboTech's Cloud Server innovation. The asirational goals set by GloboTech's customer-oriented attitude towards hosting are achieved by building their Cloud with only the latest cutting-edge technologies. This enables the GloboTech Cloud to be lightning fast, yet easily scalable, and furthermore, remain remarkably resilient for even the most demanding applications. The upcoming One-Click applications feature reinforces the GloboTech philosophy in a desire to not only improve the hosting experience of all clients, but also enable them to enhance how they interact with the Cloud Platform itself. Comprehensive, yet smooth, interactions with the Cloud form the core of what features such as One-Click work to enable. Following the initial launch of One-Click applications later in September, GloboTech plans to continuously add even more applications to its Cloud Platform to continue to empower their customers to do better business. "We want to make it simple and easy for our customer to launch their favorite CMS or Applications - such as WordPress, Joomla, ownCloud, or a regular LAMP Stack with one click and zero technical knowledge," said Anthony Levesque, Product Designer at GloboTech. "While Our SSD Cloud Servers are built to be fast and reliable, the addition of our new One-Click Apps makes it a complete turnkey solution. Our One-Click Apps are available with any Cloud Server Packages and we made sure to keep the pricing low starting as low as $10 per month or $0.0139 per hour." This Montreal-based company has indeed done just that, with the One-Click application feature being just one component in their comprehensive platform offering, complete with a fully immersive cloud portal that boasts how few clicks users need to do, well, basically everything. Considering this, it is only natural that GloboTech would bring about a feature that is known literally as "One-Click" applications. About GloboTech Communications Originally founded in 1999, GloboTech has steadily evolved over the years to become one of Canada's most significant hosting providers with a wide range of services and solutions for every customer. Currently, the company supports thousands of servers within its constantly growing infrastructure, providing their expertise on standard and complex hosting solutions in over 150 countries worldwide. Related Files GloboTech-PressRelease-HTML.txt PressRelease - GloboTech Communications.pdf This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/introducing-globotech-new-one-click-app-to-combat-cloud-complexity-300330864.html SOURCE GloboTech Communications [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] anterior Avances. La Universidad Hebrea descubrio que el agua de mar desalinizada esta relacionada con trastornos por deficiencia de yodo NEOGA -- In an attempt to raise funds for Camp New Hope, a decorated toilet is being placed in unsuspecting residential yards in Neoga, during the month of October. Members of Delta Xi, a local service organization wants to have some fun, and raise some funds for Camp New Hope with a project called, Youve Been Flushed. Youve Been Flushed means for a donation of $10 the resident who ends up with the toilet may ask to have the toilet flushed away, or moved to another yard. But, for $20, the resident may flush a friend or ask Delta Xi members to place it in a particular yard. Members and Neoga residents will be monitoring the flushing on social media each time the toilet is moved for the entire month of October. Should you end up with the toilet, there will be clear instructions with it about how to get it moved. Delta Xi, is a chapter of the Epsilon Sigma Alpha, which does fun and service projects to better the community. In this case, we hope to flush up to $500 for programs at Camp New Hope. Camp New Hope, located near Neoga, serves mentally challenged and disabled young people and adults, providing them summer camp fun, adventures and activities throughout the year. So, have some fun, a few laughs and keep this toilet moving each day in October around town. Its all in good fun, to raise some funds. Delta Xi is a Community Service Organization that welcomes men and women. It handles service projects and raises money for organizations such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and several local charitable organizations such as Backpack Ministry, Hope for Heroes, and Strong Beginnings Daycare, to name a few. The organization focuses on philanthropic and service endeavors, educational and leadership development, plus friendship and fellowship. Contact Katie (Anderson) ODell at 217-460-0335; or Sharon Kistner at 217-246-2631, to learn more about the organization, or to join. SPRINGFIELD -- A federal appeals court has denied requests from David Gill that would have allowed the Bloomington physician to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District. After a federal judge ordered the Illinois State Board of Elections to place Gill on the ballot despite his failure to collect the 10,754 signatures he needed on his nominating petitions, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked that order. The elections board formally removed Gill from the ballot Monday. Gill had asked the full appeals court to reverse the ruling from a three-judge panel and for a quick hearing of the case, but the court on Tuesday denied those requests. Gill now has the option of asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in. Local election authorities must have absentee ballots prepared to mail to military and oversees voters by Friday. Gill, who previously ran for Congress four times as a Democrat, collected more than 8,000 valid petition signatures. He filed a federal lawsuit because his would-be opponents, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Democratic challenger Mark Wicklund, each had to collect fewer than 740. This story will be updated. 100 years ago, Sept. 20, 1916 MATTOON -- John Wisely, 9-year-old son of Curtis Wisely, was arrested Tuesday night by Police Night Captain Linthicum on a charge of stealing $5 from Mrs. William Kemper of Mattoon. Being too young for prosecution, the boy this morning at 9 o'clock, after a night in jail, was turned over to his father. The Wisely boy has been loitering around the Kemper house for several days. He is alleged to have taken the money while Mrs. Kemper was out of the home. He spent most of the money before his arrest. Police have arrested the boy several times after he and a brother robbed a store in Toledo, and implement and buggy company in Mattoon and several at a local novelty store... ARCOLA -- Broomcorn buying in the Central District has been very active. The extreme range of prices has been $140 to $175 a ton, says the Arcola Broom and Broomcorn News. The bulk of the sales since Saturday morning have been $160 to $170. About half the corn in the Central District has been sold. About 10 percent remains to be cut. The central District has been visited by frosts during the week. Last Thursday night was a very heavy frost, sufficient to dry up all the blades on Indian corn. 50 years ago, 1966 MATTOON -- Cable television service for Mattoon is just around the corner, Richard A. Lumpkin told the Mattoon Rotary Club today. Lumpkin, Illinois Consolidated telephone Co.'s staff engineer, said approval from the federal Aviation Administration for construction of the company's 400-foot receiving tower was expected any day. Rotarians were told how TV signals from distant stations will be picked up by the tower, amplified and then transmitted to the homes of subscribers by cable. Lumpkin said approximately 60 miles of coaxial cable have already been placed on Consolidated's poles throughout the city... CHARLESTON -- A nine-story women's residence hall under construction at Eastern Illinois University has been named after Dean Elizabeth K. Lawson, President Quincy Doudna announced today. Dr. Lawson was dean of women for 27 years before her retirement in May. A native of Brattleboro, Vt., she came to EIU in 1939. The new hall, a mirror image of Andrews Hall, will house approximately 490 women students. 25 years ago, 1991 CHARLESTON -- The teen birth rate in four of seven area counties exceeds the state average of 13.1 percent. Out of 600 births in Coles County in 1989, 99 of them or 16.5 percent were to teen-age mothers, according to statistics released this week by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Edgar County teens accounted for 20.3 percent of that countys births while teen moms accounted for 16 percent of Cumberland Countys 1989 births. Douglas Countys rate of 9.1 percent was the lowest teen birth rate in the area. Cathie Reynolds, director of nursing with the Coles County Public Health Department, said three of Coles 1989 pregnancies were girls younger than 15 years old NEOGA David McCullough was optimistic a few years ago about bringing a nursing home to Neoga until he came to the line item about community fundraising. McCullough, a former Neoga mayor, felt $60,000 was a hefty sum to raise in a small town. But on Thursday, the fundraising committee presented a check for $67,000 to Christian Homes, parent company for Heartland Christian Village, the 69-bed nursing home being built in Neoga. Richard Kepp, Sandra Swengel, Tammy Himes, Phyllis Krueger and Connie Albin were on the fund drive committee. 100 years ago, Sept. 21, 1916 MATTOON -- According to the Illinois Central Railroad Company, a contract soon will be let for the construction of its new passenger depot in Mattoon. Local contractors have been directed to file bids by Sept. 28. The new depot of the Illinois Central will be erected in the subway between the Broadway Avenue bridge and the MX bridge. The State Utilities Board has ordered that the depot must be completed and ready for service by Dec. 31...MATTOON -- Thousands of boys and girls this morning stood in eager anticipation along the line of march of the Ringling Bros. Circus parade. Once more they were going to see that gorgeous, glittering galaxy of great and gigantic glories which only a circus can produce. The circus arrived on schedule from Taylorville and the afternoon performance, opening with the tremendous fairyland spectacle, "Cinderella," was attended by one of the largest crowds that has ever turned out to a circus in this city. Another performance will be given at 8 o'clock tonight... MATTOON -- Owing to a series of unavoidable accidents, Mr. and Mrs. A.H. Adler, who went in their automobile to the state fair in Springfield, had an 11-hour ride home Wednesday. On the return trip, before the party reached Decatur they had two tire punctures. After leaving Decatur there was a blowout. Having no extra tires the car was run to Bethany with one wheel on the rim. After a new tire finally was purchased, on the way to Sullivan the storage batteries ran down. At Sullivan the car was started with instructions to keep the engine running steadily all the way to Mattoon, which was done. 50 years ago, 1966 MATTOON -- Action at Tuesday night's Mattoon City Council meeting joined the city limits of Mattoon and Charleston. Mattoon annexed the Illinois Route 16 right-of-way east to Coles County Memorial Airport. Charleston had taken the same action west about a year ago. The reason given for the "strip annexation" was that the city will gain control over zoning of a 1 1/2-mile strip on either side of the annexed right-of-way... MATTOON -- More than $29,000 has been received by the City of Mattoon in quarterly utility tax collections with two more collecting agencies still to turn in their receipts. City Clerk Charles White said tax receipts have been turned in by Central Illinois Public Service Co. and by the Mattoon Water Department. Still to be received are utility taxes collected by Illinois Consolidated telephone and by Western Union. The taxes collected are the first under the city's new 5 percent utility tax ordinance. The collections cover the period from June 1, when the tax became effective, to Aug. 31. 25 years ago, 1991 DALTON CITY Paint, landscape products and construction material are in demand this weekend as 368 exhibitors at the Farm Progress Show finish preparing for 200,000 to 300,000 visitors. The nations largest agricultural show is Tuesday through Thursday on 1,500 acres one mile north of Dalton City. Show Manager David Roepke said the show is like a shopping mall for farmers. MATTOON The Big Top tradition came to Coles County on Friday. The Carson & Barnes Five-Ring Circus pulled into the Coles County memorial Airport for two performances. The show emphasizes acts like acrobats, clowns and animals. Neil Huff, circus superintendent, said Carson & Barnes is the largest circus in the world today. Proceeds from the circus will go to Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Mid-Illinois, which will receive about $7,000 as its share of receipts. SPRINGFIELD -- In many ways, Gov. Bruce Rauners Tuesday question-and-answer session had the feel of a typical news conference. The first-term governor made an announcement, in this case the appointment of an executive director to oversee Illinois 2018 bicentennial celebration, and followed it up by fielding a series of questions, often steering the answers back to some of his go-to subjects: the burden of high property taxes, the need for better funding and relief from state mandates for local schools, and the importance of term limits and legislative redistricting reform to restoring faith in state government. But rather than standing in front of a bank of TV cameras and a half-dozen reporters, Rauner was seated in front of a webcam in his Capitol office, addressing a few hundred viewers on Facebook Live. It was the governors first use of the live-streaming service, which became available to all Facebook users this spring, and he promised more to come. The event allowed Rauner to bypass the traditional media to speak directly with the audience. Experts say its a strategy that brings both potential benefits and possible pitfalls for someone facing low approval ratings. Nathan Carpenter, assistant director of convergent media at the Illinois State University School of Communication in Bloomington, said holding an event like this sends a signal that Rauner doesnt think his message is getting across to the public and that hes not getting the kind of news coverage hed like. You dont have to look far for evidence to support that assessment. During a July conversation with the editorial board of The (Champaign) News-Gazette, Rauner vented his frustration with what he sees as the news medias failure to convey his message about his turnaround agenda to the public. I underestimated how much most of the standard media just doesn't care about this and ignores it and won't send our message out, he told the newspaper. We've been too slow in creating our own media channels through social media and other outlets. We're doing that now. Carpenter said one benefit for Rauner in doing things like answering questions from the public on Facebook is that it creates an image of transparency and draws a stark contrast with his chief political rival, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat with no social media presence to speak of. But thats also where the potential pitfalls come in, Carpenter said. Because the questions were submitted ahead of time and screened by Rauners staff, it can prompt criticisms about the authenticity of the exchange, he said. The purpose of live-streaming technology is to feed off of the audience, Carpenter said, but as Rauner responded to the pre-submitted questions, comments and questions posted in real time went unaddressed. In this case, it becomes just another broadcasting tool, he said, and if you run counter to peoples expectations with how the medium works or counter to what are the norms for the medium, you can really turn off and frustrate a lot of users. Chris Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, said efforts like this are an extension of the bully pulpit that comes with the governors office. Anything he does is going to get covered, Mooney said. The governor, especially in the state of Illinois, is a big deal. As for the format, Mooney said it would be a risky proposition for most politicians or public figures to field unscreened questions from an audience in real time. Pope Francis could be flustered if he got the wrong question, he said. A recording of the 26-minute event is online at facebook.com/govrauner. Mattoon fire Firefighters were dispatched to two motor vehicle collisions on Sunday -- one at 12:54 p.m. at 9951 County Road 900N and the other at 11:14 p.m. at Ninth Street and Charleston Avenue. -- -- -- Firefighters conducted a smoke odor investigation at 5:20 p.m. Saturday at 708 Lincoln Ave. -- -- -- Firefighters were dispatched to a motor vehicle collision at 4:10 p.m. Saturday at 34th Street and Western Avenue. -- -- -- Firefighters were dispatched to a rubbish fire at 10:03 p.m. Friday at 1501 Old State Road. -- -- -- Firefighters responded to a combustible liquid spill at 2:47 p.m. Friday at 101 Dettro Drive. -- -- -- Firefighters were dispatched to a motor vehicle collision at 11:04 a.m. Thursday at Illinois Route 16 and Interstate 57. -- -- -- Firefighters responded to a camper fire at 11:26 a.m. Wednesday at 1502 N. 19th St. -- -- -- Firefighters responded to a gas leak at 7:15 a.m. Wednesday at 1020 N. 10th St. -- -- -- The Mattoon Fire Department handled 62 medical calls from Wednesday to Sunday. I received the following yesterday by e-mail. It came from a friend who lives a goodly distance from my home. red (below) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Crusades have finally started They're getting to be known - and rejected. The Crusades have finally started as predicted. The first countries to ban Islam: See how the world is acting fast on the threat posed by Islam and its barbaric Sharia Law. Japan has always refused Muslims to live permanently in their country and they cannot own any real estate or any type of business, and have banned any worship of Islam. Any Muslim tourist caught spreading the word of Islam will be deported immediately, including all family members. Cuba rejects plans for first mosque. The African nation of Angola and several other nations have officially banned Islam. Record number of Muslims, (over 2,000) deported from Norway as a way of fighting crime. Since these Muslim criminals have been deported, crime has dropped by a staggering 72%. Prison Officials are reporting that nearly half of their jail cells are now vacant, Courtrooms nearly empty, Police now free to attend to other matters, mainly traffic offenses to keep their roads and highways safe and assisting the public in as many ways as they can. In Germany alone in the last year there were 81 violent attacks targeting mosques. Austrian police arrested 13 men targeting suspected jihad recruiters. A Chinese court sends 22 Muslim Imams to jail for 16 to 20 years for spreading Islam hatred and have executed eighteen jihadists; China campaigns against Separatism (disallowing Islamist to have their own separate state). Muslim prayers banned in government buildings and schools in Xinjiang (Western China). Hundreds of Muslim families prepared to leave China for their own safety and return back to their own Middle Eastern countries. Muslim refugees beginning to realize that they are not welcome in Christian countries because of their violent ways and the continuing Wars in Syria and Iraq whipped up by the hideous ISIS who are murdering young children and using mothers and daughters as sex slaves. British Home Secretary prepares to introduce 'Anti-social Behavior Order' for extremists and strip dual nationals of their Citizenship. Deportation laws also being prepared. The Czech Republic blatantly refuses Islam in their country, regarding it as evil. Alabama - A new controversial amendment that will ban the recognition of "foreign laws which would include Sharia law". 16 other States have all Introduced Legislation to Ban Sharia Law. North Carolina bans Islamic "Sharia Law" in the State, regarding it now as a criminal offense. The Polish Defense League issues a warning to Muslims. Many Muslims in Northern Ireland have announced plans to leave the country to avoid anti-Islamic violence by Irish locals. The Announcement comes after an attack on groups of Muslims in the city of Belfast, Groups of Irish locals went berserk and bashed teenage Muslim gangs who were referring to young Irish girls as sluts and should be all gang raped, according to Islam and ''Sharia Law" Even hospital staff were reluctant to treat the battered Muslim patients, the majority were given the Band-Aid treatment and sent home with staff muttering ''Good Riddance''. Dutch MP's call for removal of all mosques in the Netherlands. One Member of the Dutch Parliament said: "We want to clean Netherlands of Islam". Dutch MP Machiel De Graaf spoke on behalf of the Party for Freedom when he said, "All mosques in the Netherlands should be shut down. Without Islam, the Netherlands would be a wonderful safe country to live in, as it was before the arrival of Muslim refugees''. Please share this e-mail with your family and friends if you agree. I'm more than happy to forward this on - maybe I'm more of a realist than a racist? MAJOR PROBLEMS! (a) The "article" is anonymous. Any writer with integrity would have been more than willing to add his or her name. Anonymity is cowardly. (2) The "article" makes many assertions, but it never names the sources for them. Responsible writers names their sources. AND (1) The word "Crusade" is problematic. It plays directly into the claims of militant and violent Muslims (a tiny proportion of the multi-faceted Islamic world) that the West is bound and determined to destroy Islam. The internet world is multi-national and porous, so it's more than likely that this article has already come to the attention of militant and violent Muslim groups, enabling them to say "here is proof that the West wants to destroy us. (I call that "giving comfort to the enemy"). (2) The claim about Japan's response to Islam is demonstrably false. See this http://www.snopes.com/muslims-in-japan/ (3) It is distinctly odd that right wingers would cite Cuba as a good example of "how to deal with Muslims" - Cuba indeed, with a repressive government which is hated by all conservatives?! (I wonder if the Cuban regime has also halted the construction of Christian Churches?) (4) NORWAY has deported 2,000 Muslims and the crime rate has dropped by 72%? What is the source for the figure of 2,000 deportations? (I'm just asking!). But it's the percentage claim which is most problematic for it does not give a base number for comparison . In other words is the claimed 72% drop based on a reported crime figure of 10,000, or 1,000, or 100? (5) CHINA The writer seems to be unaware that China has had an indigenous Muslim population for about 1,400 years see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_China To where will they be deported? And if it is true that " Muslim prayers (have been) banned in government buildings and schools in Xinjiang (Western China) is it not very probable that Christian prayers have also been banned in such places? (By the way - how come that conservative/reactionary Americans cite the repressive Chinese regime as a model for our freedoms?) My list goes on! How amazing it is that right wing Christians cite violence against Muslims in Northern Ireland, as if it were commendable. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I am not naive. As a Christian I deplore all internecine violence whether it be sponsored by Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus or idiots. I especially deplore any ad hominem attacks on Jews, Christians, Hindus or Muslims. I am particularly saddened when my Christian friends give voice and support to anti-Islamic sentiments and are too careless, lazy or prejudiced to search out the facts. I refuse to allow my patriotism to be measured by crap such as this "If you lack patriotism towards your beloved Christian country, and lack Guts then simply click on delete" There was no greeting at the beginning, and no salutation at the end. It is reproduced exactly as I received it.The sender is a Christian - an Episcopalian. His politics are as deeply reactionary as mine are progressive. I have asked him not to send me right wing messages, because it will not change my mind, and it only makes me angry, and sad that such a man who I have known for forty years persists in forwarding me such material.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, September 20, 2016 Tuesday Vox Populi: Readers Write Of Probing CYFD, Raising The Booze Tax, The Tale Of Tesla And Pearce's Resilence Why should the City Council or even the citizens of Albuquerque continue to have confidence in the leaders of APD in light of the monitors report? We wondered aloud on the blog Monday on when the many mayoral candidature starting to line up as well as the city council would start saying something meaningful about the ongoing controversy over APD. Lewis is the first to do so. He was joined in his doubts by Dem Councilor Diane Gibson. Meanwhile, Republican Councilor Brad Winter defended APD and Mayor Berry's administration, saying of Monitor Ginger: What he does is, he throws this bomb, and then hes nowhere to be found. We just might get a debate yet on the future of public safety in this crime riddled city. Just maybe. Now on to Vox Populi: State Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla Although it is not clear that CYFD had culpability in the Victoria Marten's incident, it is clearly time for an independent review of the department. Even if the incident was not preventable, the public perception is that CYFD "dropped the ball" again. Predictably, the Secretary invoked the Children's Code as the reason she could not discuss details of CYFD's involvement with the family. The agency will do an internal review of how the case was handled, but the results will never be known to the media, the public or to the legislature. That's why Senator Padilla is right in advocating for an independent review of CYFD. Padilla says he will be writing a letter to AG Balderas requesting an independent investigation of CYFD which would be conducted by a "nonpartisan group of former members of the state judiciary." BOOZE TAX Marie Claire of the Santa Fe Prevention Alliance writes: Thanks for including Mike Smiths letter in your September 14 blog. It was great to see him give a shout out to Alcohol Taxes Save Lives & Money. Just to note a 25 cent a drink increase of the liquor excise tax is projected to raise an additional $154 million dollars. Mike stated it was $54 million dollars. More e more information about Alcohol Taxes Save Lives is here. That's a lot of money that could go to help resolve the state deficit but the ABQ metro has recently seen a boom in the brewery biz and it's gearing up to fight any increase. Also, Gov. Martinez would be certain to veto any new alcohol taxes. TESLA TALE This reader reminds us that before Facebook it was Tesla sending the economic planners here into ecstasy, but it appears we dodged a bullet by Despite recent denials by Tesla's CEO Elon Musk, the company is far, far behind in keeping its Gigafactory promises to Nevada. Also, Musk's claim that "there is no way for Nevada to lose" is simply untrue. Nevada is already losing. Nevada will have a difficult time recovering some of the benefits. And, others are gone for good because Nevada lacks any legal right to recover them. None of this would matter if Tesla had enough money to finish the Gigafactory. But it doesn't, and absent another capital raise, it's doubtful it ever will. DATELINE DEMING Santa Fe reader Bruce Wetherbee comments on the big business news in Deming, the hometown of Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith: Hello Joe, More great news ... not really. Kmart in Deming is closing at end of year. It appears John Arthur Smith will need to by his Arm and Hammer laundry detergent and dress shirts somewhere else other than Kmart. after the first of the year. Maybe he can slip over the line and buy his stuff in Mexico as their economy is probably doing a little better than New Mexico's! But he better do it before that wall gets built. PEARCE POWER Rep. Pearce Reader Karl Rysted writes from Las Cruces: Joe, I've been enjoying your blog for the last couple of years since I moved here from Oklahoma. I'm a lifelong D and there's something I can't understand so please help...why does Congressman Steve Pearce do so well down here? I mean, I know he picked up a ton of votes in Lea County as expected, but why can't a D carry Dona Ana County in that race? Good question, Karl. Pearce has proven to be a tough competitor for Dems in the southern congressional district even though the D's outnumber the R's there by six percentage points. Dona Ana County is key to any hope the Dems have to take the district. In 2014 Pearce managed a 52 to 48 win in the largest and most liberal county in the district. And district wide he has been performing north of 40 percent among Hispanic voters, far above most other GOP candidates. The Dems would need a powerhouse candidate to take Pearce out. A better bet would be when Pearce, 68, retires. Speculation continues to bounce around that Pearce may seek the 2018 GOP gubernatorial nomination. If he does, that would be the time for the Dems to pounce with a strong Hispanic candidate with middle of the road politics. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. ( c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2016 Before we kick off another edition of Vox Populi, we take note of some strong language from ABQ City Council President Dan Lewis concerning APD and the recent findings of Federal Monitor James Ginger that the department's upper command is stonewalling mandated federal reforms. Lewis, a Republican and possible candidate for mayor next year said this at last night's council meeting:We wondered aloud on the blog Monday on when the many mayoral candidature starting to line up as well as the city council would start saying something meaningful about the ongoing controversy over APD. Lewis is the first to do so. He was joined in his doubts by Dem Councilor Diane Gibson. Meanwhile, Republican Councilor Brad Winter defended APD and Mayor Berry's administration, saying of Monitor Ginger:We just might get a debate yet on the future of public safety in this crime riddled city. Just maybe.Now on to Vox Populi:State Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla is calling for an independent review of the management of the Children Youth and Families Department tn the wake of the shocking murder of 10 year old Victoria Martens. Reader Richard Flores agrees:Padilla says he will be writing a letter to AG Balderas requesting an independent investigation of CYFD which would be conducted by a "nonpartisan group of former members of the state judiciary."Marie Claire of the Santa Fe Prevention Alliance writes:That's a lot of money that could go to help resolve the state deficit but the ABQ metro has recently seen a boom in the brewery biz and it's gearing up to fight any increase. Also, Gov. Martinez would be certain to veto any new alcohol taxes.This reader reminds us that before Facebook it was Tesla sending the economic planners here into ecstasy, but it appears we dodged a bullet by not getting the electric car producer to locate its gigafactory here:Santa Fe reader Bruce Wetherbee comments on the big business news in Deming, the hometown of Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith:Reader Karl Rysted writes from Las Cruces:Good question, Karl. Pearce has proven to be a tough competitor for Dems in the southern congressional district even though the D's outnumber the R's there by six percentage points.Dona Ana County is key to any hope the Dems have to take the district. In 2014 Pearce managed a 52 to 48 win in the largest and most liberal county in the district. And district wide he has been performing north of 40 percent among Hispanic voters, far above most other GOP candidates.The Dems would need a powerhouse candidate to take Pearce out. A better bet would be when Pearce, 68, retires. Speculation continues to bounce around that Pearce may seek the 2018 GOP gubernatorial nomination. If he does, that would be the time for the Dems to pounce with a strong Hispanic candidate with middle of the road politics.This is the home of New Mexico politics. Links HOME E-MAIL ME About Joe Google News Real Clear Politics Huffington Post Drudge Report The Politico New Mexico newspapers NM TV stations Gov. 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The Lincoln-based company late Monday said it appointed Rick Bunka as president and CEO. He succeeds Ben Riggsby, who will continue as a member of Nebraska Book's board of directors. Bunka also was elected to the board. Bunka joined Nebraska Book in June as a consultant. He owns his own strategic advisory services company, Point North LLC, which he founded in 2013. He also has more than 30 years of experience in the retail and service sectors. Nebraska Book also said it completed a $100.9 million financing agreement with lenders and investors. Completion of the (agreement) is an important milestone in the transformation of our business," Bunka said in a news release. "It represents a strong commitment by our lenders and investors to the strategic direction and opportunity of our business." Dundee Venture Capital, an Omaha-based seed-stage investment firm, has announced a new fund as well as a strategic-based partnership with a Chicago-based firm. Dundee said it has raised $20 million for its Fund III. The capital will be deployed into seed and early-stage investments targeting e-commerce, business-to-business, software as a service and consumer-network focused startups. About $15 million of the money has come from investors in the Lincoln and Omaha areas with $5 million coming from the Chicago area, said Mark Hasebroock, Dundee's founder. To expand into Chicago, Dundee has partnered with Lakewest Venture Partners. Lakewest co-founder David Mann joins Dundee as part of the alliance, while fellow Lakewest co-founders Buzz Ruttenberg and Jonathan McCulloch will provide strategic advisory to the new fund. Dundee hopes to ultimately raise $30 million for the fund by the end of the year, which will make it 65 percent larger than Dundees previous fund. The fund already has made its first seed investment in Fooji, a real-time fan engagement platform based in Lexington, Kentucky. Hasebroock, who founded two e-commerce companies before founding Dundee in 2010, said that in the past three to four months, the company has investigated about 800 good business opportunities and is currently evaluating around 10 percent of those for potential investment. "We're seeing an amazing amount of high-quality investment opportunities throughout the Midwest," he said. And while Hasebroock said he is seeing more venture capital available than ever before to Midwest startups, "It's still not enough." Capital from the fund will be primarily invested in startups located in the middle of the country, including Denver, Omaha, Lincoln, Kansas City, Madison, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago. As part of its broader expansion, David Mann and his Lakewest co-founders will now run Dundees office in Chicago. Mann said he envisions the fund's target area stretching to Minneapolis in the north, Denver and Boulder to the West, Cincinnati to the east and Austin, Texas, to the south. OMAHA An effort by prosecutors to get DNA results admitted into evidence in the case against a former doctor accused of killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school could delay his trial. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine has asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to delay the first-degree murder trial of Anthony Garcia, which is set to begin Monday. In a separate filing this week, Kleine also asked the state's high court to vacate District Judge Gary Randall's Sept. 1 decision excluding from evidence advanced DNA analysis that prosecutors say connects Garcia to the crimes. There is no timetable for the Nebraska Supreme Court to consider or decide on the motions, but the justices routinely meet on Wednesdays. Legal wrangling has already led to four other trial delays in the case since Garcia's arrest in southern Illinois in July 2013. Garcia has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the March 2008 slayings of Dr. William Hunter's 11-year-old son, Thomas Hunter, and the family's housekeeper, Shirlee Sherman, as well as the May 2013 killings of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary. Authorities believe Garcia was motivated by revenge. Roger Brumback and William Hunter had been instrumental in firing Garcia from a Creighton University School of Medicine pathology residency program in 2001, and both men sent letters to medical boards that prevented Garcia from becoming licensed in other states and from finishing other residency programs. Garcia briefly held a temporary medical license in Indiana. He also had been licensed in Illinois, but he lost that license following his arrest. Kleine is seeking admittance of DNA results produced in May that he says puts Garcia at the Omaha home of another Creighton doctor on the same day the Brumbacks were killed. In rejecting the request, the judge cited Garcia's right to a speedy trial and the amount of time it could take his defense team to retain experts to defend Garcia against the DNA analysis. A Colorado judge has sentenced two Lincoln men to decades in prison for the home-invasion robbery of a licensed medical marijuana provider in the Denver area last year. David Tatum, 19, got 20 years on two counts of aggravated robbery Friday, First Judicial District Attorney Pete Weir said in a news release Monday. Tatum was a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln when he was arrested. Spencer Siroky, 24, got 27 years earlier this month for kidnapping, aggravated robbery and two counts of burglary. Both had pleaded guilty. A third man who was arrested with them, Fredy Pedraza Castillo, is being sought in Colorado and Nebraska after jumping bail. Weir said police in the Denver suburb of Westminster went to a home early July 19, 2015, where the victims had been robbed at gunpoint, tied up and pistol-whipped by armed intruders wearing dark clothing and masks. The thieves broke in overnight and burst into the victims' bedrooms as they slept, then ransacked the house before leaving with money, firearms and marijuana plants. Weir said the two victims worked in the retail marijuana industry and one of them was a medical marijuana provider for the other. Later that day, he said, an off-duty, vacationing Boulder County Drug Task Force detective came across the suspect's car at a rest stop in Nebraska near the Colorado state line. The detective took a picture of the license plate and alerted local law enforcement. Based on that information, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper pulled the car over for changing lanes without signaling about half an hour later on Interstate 80 near Ogallala. In court documents filed last year in Lancaster County District Court, a patrol investigator said the trooper gave the driver, Pedraza Castillo, a warning, then asked about the marijuana he could smell. After Pedraza Castillo admitted smoking marijuana in his car in Colorado, where it's legal, the trooper said that was probable cause to search in Nebraska. A search turned up 10 pounds of marijuana plants, 2 pounds of dried marijuana, 30 grams of THC concentrate and six guns, including one stolen in the Westminster robbery, plus masks, gloves, wigs, rope, an airsoft gun with silencer, more than $5,000 ($500 of it counterfeit) and scales, according to the investigator. Pedraza Castillo and his passengers, Siroky and Tatum, were arrested. Investigators came to believe the three had gone to Colorado to commit the robbery to get marijuana for Siroky to sell in Lincoln. A search of his Lincoln apartment two days later turned up marijuana, a scale, dispensary wrappers, ammunition and body armor. The men, who have ties to Lincoln and David City, also face charges in Keith County, Nebraska, in connection to the stop. Pam Russell, a public information officer with Weir's office, said because Siroky and Tatum were convicted of crimes of violence they likely will have to serve 75 percent of their sentences before they are eligible for parole. The students passed around a jar full of homemade barbecue sauce, their eyes rolled back in pleasure at the sweet smell. "Oh my god," one whispered before acting like he was going to drink the entire bottle. In the front of the class, instructor Leslee Michel demonstrated how to properly set up a station to fry chicken. "Think of February -- FEB: flour, egg, breading," she said, dipping a slice of chicken into each bowl. Her four students asked questions throughout the demonstration. Some moved up to take a closer look. Then they took over and made their own dishes. Cooking instructors from Southeast Community College have been teaching basic cooking skills at the Lancaster County Correctional Center, 3801 W. O St., for two years. Katie Skinner, organizer, chef and instructor, said she starts with the fundamentals -- how to use a knife, proper cleaning instruction, the difference between sauces and how to cook easy, quick meals. The last two weeks of the five-week class are spent baking. Sometimes, the students learn more advanced dishes, like eggs Benedict in hollandaise sauce. "I'll make that at home to show off," one inmate said during class Tuesday. The class includes up to eight students, with some dropping out due to reassignment or release. Three men and one woman are in the current class. Brenda Fisher, programs director at the jail, said inmates who have been sentenced and are eligible to work in the kitchen are able to take the class. "That means minimum-security inmates, so in a way their charges do affect who is eligible," she said. Jail inmates have sentences of a year or less. "These are individuals who will return to our community," Fisher said. "We hope this will help them be employable and give them a skill." Skinner said the food industry, especially in Lincoln, is always growing, and the need for skilled chefs never ends. At completion of the class, the students are able to take the food handler's permit test. "That's just another way to help them get those jobs," Fisher said. Since the program is still considered new, Fisher said it's hard to determine how many students have gone on to get jobs in restaurants, but many have contacted instructors after their release asking for professional recommendations. "If they're going back to the community with some education and job readiness, then we can help them make better choices," Fisher said. "Or we can have them sit in here and do nothing. This benefits the community and it makes sense." The jail has a contract with SCC Continuing Education and pays for the class with a grant funded by keno money, but Fisher said the grant has nearly run out. When it does, she said, money for the program will come from the Inmate Benefit Fund, which consists of money generated by the purchase of phone cards and jail commissary items. A five-week session costs $1,241. But Skinner, who is also a purchasing manager at SCC, said the value of the class goes beyond employment. "They're learning good recipes they can cook at home for themselves and their families," she said. "They learn so much, and you can see the excitement on their faces." After spending years cooking and teaching, Skinner said she saw going into the jail to teach a class as a challenge and way to give back. "I can relate," she said. "I'm a product of a second chance and a good 90 percent of them are thankful." The most notable challenge to Skinner and Michel were the restrictions on what they can cook in a jail. "Having a knife tethered to a table was an adjustment," Skinner said, laughing. As expected, the City Council's Republican majority approved the lower of two city property tax rates Monday afternoon, a levy that will not generate enough revenue to support Mayor Chris Beutlers budget. Next comes a lawsuit, which could be filed on Tuesday, asking the courts to clarify the winner in a drawn-out budget battle at city hall. Beutler and Democrats on the council, supported by city attorney opinions, say the council is required to approve a tax rate which brings in enough money to support the budget of record, in this case the budget Beutler submitted prior to vetoing the council's budget. The Republicans on the council, several of whom are attorneys, say the mayor cannot veto a budget, and the trimmer budget approved by the Republican majority is the legal budget. City Attorney Jeff Kirkpatrick, who hired attorneys for both sides in anticipation of a lawsuit, says Rod Confer, representing the mayor, could file the lawsuit on Tuesday. A quick ruling is anticipated, as Lancaster County commissioners must set all the tax rates of all governmental entities in the county by Oct. 15. Kirkpatrick has hired David Bargen, with Rembolt Ludtke, to represent the Republicans on the council. The City Attorneys Office, which is legal counsel to both the mayor and council, cannot participate in the lawsuit. Mondays council discussion highlighted the major issues that will be highlighted in the lawsuit, and the outside issue of who is to blame. Several Republicans have said the mayor is responsible, because he's the one filing the suit. It is totally up to the mayor if we wants to file, Councilman Jon Camp, one of the four Republicans, said. But several Democrats pointed at the Republic majority, which they said refused to obey the law and approve the tax rate necessary to fund Beutler's budget. The lawsuit, said Councilwoman Jane Raybould, a Democrat, is not precipitated by the mayor but by the City Council not doing their duty. The council has heard from residents on both sides, in emails and in testimony at Mondays public hearing. Carolyn Eberly described the things she likes about Lincoln -- a low crime rate, playgrounds for children, street improvements, a lot of private development -- in her support of the mayors budget plan and the higher tax rate. But Charlotte Ralston said she spoke for residents who do not want higher house payments or higher rent, which the mayors budget would do to us. The lower council budget would take care of the communitys needs and also take into consideration the fact that Lincoln is already a high tax city, comparatively, she said. The City Council also approved a resolution setting aside $30,000 from the citys contingency fund to pay for the two sets of attorneys. Only Raybould voted against the resolution, saying the plain language of the city's charter and statute states clearly that the mayors position is correct. Raybould said she considers the action by the Republican majority frivolous and doesn't want to spend taxpayer money on the lawsuit. Two city property tax rates were on the Monday agenda. The council Republicans approved the lower rate, which would fund the council budget, on a 4-3 partisan vote. The council rejected the higher rate, which would fund the mayors budget, on a 3-4 vote. Rosie Franz, 6, and her 7-year-old friend Lindsey Parrott spent their Monday evening scouring Pocras Park in search of gold. Its the same park where Rosie and Lindsey and other neighborhood kids spend hours playing, but a special guest -- Captain Jack Sparrow -- added to the adventure. I feel like its my neighbor, but I dont know Rosie said, studying the Pirates of the Caribbean look-alike with a confused look on her face. I think your ship is across the street. I found a pink pirate flag on the ground," she added. Monday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. (Yes, its a real day.) And to celebrate, the social chair of the Country Club Neighborhood Association, Mary Monahan, pulled together an event for neighborhood families to dress up like pirates and spend time together in the triangle of a park bordered by Sewell, Bradfield and Jefferson. Its just something silly everyone can participate in," Monahan said. "Most people dont have plans for this day. Its perfect -- adults love pirates, kids love pirates. Including close to 2,400 homes, the Country Club neighborhood is one of city's largest. Yet neighbors say the families are close-knit and everyone chips in for about eight to 12 events a year. One neighbor made paper sharks to surround the "walk the plank" game as part of Monday's festivities. Another spray painted more than 100 rocks gold to hide in the park. The regional manager of Long John Silver's, who lives nearby, donated more than 100 pirate hats. Kids sported eye patches and drawn-on mustaches. There was a sword toss and make-your-own treasure maps. Many of the pirate partygoers sought out Monahan to say thanks. The families are a breath of fresh air for Monahan, who moved to the Country Club neighborhood 3 years ago from Arizona. This place is a dream come true, she said. I love to give back to the neighborhood, because everyone here is extremely welcoming. People dont actually know how great Lincoln is because they never leave. Monahan said the neighbors on her block come in through each others back doors, and no matter the problem, theres someone close by to fix it. Like finding a Captain Jack Sparrow, for example. Monday's pirate was Monique Gustafson, a Country Club resident for 12 years and Rosies next-door neighbor. Gustafson wore the same homemade costume for Halloween last year, with the perfect wig and eyeliner running down her face. Gustafson went so far as to buy synthetic hair, heating, teasing and steaming it until dreadlocks formed. The sculpted clay skull, leather belt and wooden compass were all homemade. I really love making screen-accurate costumes, Gustafson said. Marys kids have seen me in this costume, and they still dont know its me. With a spot-on star attraction and perfect weather, Monday's event was a hit for young and old. Its just so much fun, said Anna Eickholt, president of the Country Club Neighborhood Association. Mary is fabulous. She really can plan anything. Next week's presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton could determine the outcome of the election. As polls show Trump leading in some swing states and closing the gap in others, it appears the only burden he must overcome is the one Ronald Reagan shared, looking presidential enough that voters trust him with so much power. The way these debates have usually gone in the past is that the Republican candidate is asked about abortion, gay rights and other social issues and the Democratic candidate is asked about subjects that appeal to a wider range of voters. Lester Holt, the "NBC Nightly News" anchor, will moderate the first debate. Here are some questions he should ask. For Clinton: You once supported traditional marriage, but now favor same-sex marriage. Polygamists now want to be next in line to receive legal and cultural approval. Do you oppose polygamy, and if so on what basis? If elected president, how would we know you wouldn't change your mind on this issue? Follow-up: What is your standard for defining right from wrong? For Trump: You were pro-choice, you said, until you heard about a baby that was going to be aborted, but wasn't. You called the child a "total superstar." Do you have a utilitarian view of human life -- that a baby is only valuable if it grows up to be a superstar -- or is every life valuable? For Clinton: You said you would have a "bunch of litmus tests" for Supreme Court nominees, including requiring potential nominees to have a commitment to preserving a woman's right to an abortion. Would you overlook qualified candidates because they oppose abortion? Also for Clinton: You appear to have an interventionist foreign policy record. What is your standard for sending American forces into battle, especially in the Middle East where nothing ever seems to get resolved? Follow-up: In one of your emails you praise Sidney Blumenthal's son, Max, for his virulent anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments, favoring the dismantling of the State of Israel. Since Israel's enemies have also vowed to destroy the only democracy in the Middle East and one of the United States' few allies in the region, as president, would you support the Jewish state or demand that it give up more land to Palestinians when the land it has already relinquished has brought it no closer to peace? For Trump: Many voters are worried about your praise of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who routinely behaves like the KGB agent he once was. Putin has invaded and occupied territories, censored the news and been accused of murdering his opposition. Why do you admire his leadership? Should you become president, what do you think your public praise of Putin will accomplish that will be in America's interests? Follow-up: Under what circumstances would you use military force against Russia or our enemies in the Middle East? For both candidates: North Korea is developing nuclear weapons that will fit on top of missiles capable of reaching the U.S. Would you authorize a missile defense system able to shoot down North Korean missiles, despite China's opposition to such a system? For Clinton: The federal government took in record amounts of tax money in 2015 -- $3.18 trillion -- but the debt is approaching $20 trillion, and you want to spend more. Why won't you propose cutting programs that aren't working? For Trump: What agencies and programs would you eliminate or reform? Public interest for the debates will be at Super Bowl level. These and similar questions would produce the information undecided voters need to cast their votes wisely. The future of this country hangs in the balance. Headlining an event for which the cheap seats cost in excess of $1,000, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton let her contempt for Main Street America be known. It was the moment Bernie Sanders had all warned us would happen if Wall Street Hillary got the nomination. To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of (Republican nominee Donald) Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables, Clinton said at a New York fundraiser. Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it. The other half? They are people who feel that government has let them down and that nobody cares about them. Put simply, they are broken Americans so disillusioned by the government a government in which Clinton has had a membership for multiple decades that they are willing to assume the role of a lemming and follow Trump. In Clinton's world, supporters of Republican nominee Trump are either bigots or morons. No middle ground. As the deplorables comment drew negative headlines, she tried to dial back the rhetoric. She tried to convince folks she was talking about Trumps campaign apparatus, not the Ma and Pa American supporting him. Nobody bought it. The Americans to whom Clinton was speaking blue-collar, largely white workers who still ask where Joe DiMaggio has gone are salt-of-the-earth Americans. They may not have college degrees, but they have an Ivy League work ethic. These are the people whose parents grew up in factory towns, and the plant, coal mine or steel mill were an extension of the family. They are also the same people Bill and Hillary Clinton have spent their entire political careers victimizing. When Bill Clinton won the White House in 1992, he campaigned as a New Democrat. Part of his political platform was a free trade agreement that gutted Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire and other manufacturing states. He championed NAFTA which was a boon for Mexico and turned a blind eye to the West Virginia coal miners who helped him complete his miracle mile to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Today, due in part to Bill Clintons trade policies, there are more government employees than manufacturing employees in America (by an excess of almost 10 million). As a result of the Clintons genuflecting to the golden calf of free trade, people were put out of business. American towns died and American hope disappeared. Bill Clintoln's response to the consequences of his economic policies? Democratic disdain. The coal people dont like any of us (Democrats) anymore, he told the crowd at a Pittsburgh rally earlier this month. They blame the president when the sun doesnt come up in the morning now. To Bill and Hillary Clinton, working Americans especially white working Americans are spoiled sports. Their jobs, their problems, their frustrations are all due in part to their unwillingness to embrace a Clintonian America in which refugee workers take precedence over American workers, borders are erased and trade deals are struck to benefit Wall Street in lieu of Main Street. In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama uttered some harsh words about small-town Pennsylvania. Speaking at a posh San Francisco fundraiser, Obama gave a condescending explanation as to why small-town America is disgruntled. He then expressed a faux empathy. (T)hey cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who arent like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations, Obama said of working white Americans. The working-class Americans once coveted by Democratic politics are now viewed as a cancer. At the end of the day, Hillary Clinton calling Trumps supporters every ism in the book is not deplorable; it is predictable. What is deplorable is that she -- once and for all -- told working Americans there is no room at the Democrat Days Inn. Thankfully, for these Americans, the vacancy sign at Trump Tower is still lit. Community leaders like Duane Acklie are always in short supply. He helped put a stamp on an era by valuing the qualities of decency, integrity and treating people with dignity without regard to social standing. Achievement-oriented and energetic, Acklie built Crete Carrier Corp. into one of the largest privately owned trucking companies in the nation. He was an adviser to U.S. presidents. He served as a board member of the American Trucking Association, the Lincoln and Nebraska chambers of commerce, the University of Nebraska Foundation and on and on. He was a longtime leader in Republican politics. Its not unusual for an individual with Acklies accomplishments to be the recipient of flowery words from the communitys elites at their passing. Its uncommon for similar plaudits to come from average folk. Throughout his life Acklie, who grew up on a farm in Madison County, lived by the motto, Always be a country boy. Compliments came unbidden from truck drivers in his company after Acklie died Saturday at age 84, showing that he had succeeded in living by his code. A note from one driver was recounted by Tonn Ostergard. The driver wrote that he struck up a conversation one cold night with the guy filling the tank of his truck. It turned out that person was none other than Acklie, the corporate chairman. In a comment on the Journal Stars story on Acklies death, Vic Pittman of Austin, Texas, wrote, I started with Crete as a driver in April of this year and I wish that I had done it years ago. I quickly realized that Crete was founded on a set of morals and principles that are seldom seen nowadays. I am truly saddened to hear of the passing of Mr. Acklie. Crete Carrier started in 1966 with six leased trucks that hauled dog food from the Alpo plant in Crete. When Acklie, who was a practicing attorney at the time, bought the company five years later it had grown to around 100 trucks and 100 employees. When the company celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, it had 5,200 tractors, 12,500 trailers and 5,300 drivers, according to the company website. Duanes story and that of Crete Carrier is what we hope is the story of all small businesses in Lincoln, a journey from small startup to community leader, said Wendy Birdsall, president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. At a time when public discourse has become coarse and degrading, Acklies career serves as an example and a reminder that it doesnt have to be that way. Hell be sorely missed. The Journal Star's Labor Day issue contrasting public positions by John Kretzschmar and John Markey point out several aspects of what is going on in the present and future of work ("Do wage earners still want labor unions?" and "Time to end right to work'"). We have seen the rise of automation and what it has done to the capital-labor force contract that still makes America great but now needs to be reviewed. I belonged to Local 32 B, then called the Elevator Operators Union in New York City, where I fought and lost the fight against the elimination of workers called operators. Over the years, automation has continued to erode the value of human labor in many areas of life and, as time marches on, we see new and ever more intelligent robots coming on the scene every year, if not every month. The new robot is the e-scab of our time and must be carefully controlled when, and if, it enters todays work place. Todays intelligent robot not only takes over the blue collar labor on the manufacturing line, it takes over the white collar laborer and middle managers positions. A 2013 study by Oxford University found about 50 percent of todays U.S. jobs disappearing because of the coming of the e-scab robot. We would all do well to tout and support the American Labor movement and union leadership in a rapidly changing, technologically sophisticated society. Never before has America needed unions more. Donald F. Costello, Lincoln Gov. Pete Ricketts on Tuesday turned the spotlight on a new Nebraska Department of Roads partnership with counties to accelerate bridge construction with 55 percent state funding up to a maximum of $150,000 per bridge. Ricketts said $40 million will be invested in county bridges. The program is part of an accelerated road construction program, highlighted by a $450 million state commitment that targets completion of a long-delayed network of four-lane expressways across the state. Expressway priorities will be unveiled later this week, Ricketts said at a news conference. Road construction is "one of my top priorities," he said. A 21st century infrastructure will help companies expand in Nebraska and attract other enterprises to move here, he said, helping grow the state and spur the economy. The ambitious roads construction program grows out of 2016 legislation that created a transportation infrastructure bank. It will set the state on course to complete a 600-mile network of expressways first promised in 1988. The legislation, primarily sponsored by Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, is fueled by an increase in the state gas tax approved in 2015. State Roads Director Kyle Schneweis said the county bridge program has been shaped in partnership with county roads officials, with an emphasis on innovation, accelerated construction and an openness to remove bridges and replace them with culverts when that appears to be the best and most efficient action. "We want to do things better, faster," Schneweis said. The program will include provisions designed to allocate state dollars equitably across the state. County officials joined the governor at Tuesday's news conference to hail the cooperative effort. Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman said 76 bridges in the county are in need of repair or replacement. She estimated each would cost nearly $1 million to replace, meaning the cost to replace all those bridges would be $76 million. She said she plans to apply for the new state bridge funds. Im hopeful that we could see some of these funds, she said. On other matters, Ricketts said his decision to endorse some legislative candidates even when they are opposing incumbent senators who are Republicans represents an effort to support "candidates who reflect their districts." Asked what he expected from those candidates in return, Ricketts smiled and said: "I expect them to win." "I don't expect to agree with every candidate on every issue," he said. Ricketts, a Republican, has endorsed Republican challengers to Sens. Jerry Johnson of Wahoo and Les Seiler of Hastings, even though both incumbents are also Republicans. Johnson and Seiler voted to override a number of the governor's vetoes during the past two years. Responding to other questions, Ricketts said budget increases for the Department of Correctional Services will be "one of our highest priorities in the budget" he recommends to the Legislature next year. Revenue estimates established by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board, which will meet again next month, will establish "the framework for how we put together the budget," the governor said. The Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary will celebrate its conservation efforts with "A River Runs Through It," beginning at 5 p.m. Oct. 8. The annual celebration at the center near Gibbon will honor Paul Johnsgard with the Prairie River Keeper Award. Johnsgard is an artist, ornithologist and professor emeritus of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dinner will feature a sustainable menu paired with fine wines prepared by Chef Dario Schicke of Avoli Osteria and Darios Brasserie in the Dundee Neighborhood of Omaha. Cost is $100 per person with all proceeds going to support the efforts of Rowe Sanctuary to conserve habitat and conduct programs that allow people of all ages to experience the joys of nature. To reserve a place, call 308-468-5282 or go to Rowe.Audubon.org by Monday. Saturday - Denton American Legion Auxiliary #355 hosts Tea Party and Silent Auction beginning at 11 a.m. at the Denton Community Center. Cost to participants: $10. Proceeds to send a local girl to Girls State and to support needs of the Legion post. More info.: call Charlene at (402) 423-3451. Saturday - Lincoln Lacemakers Club 20-year anniversary open house 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Hy-Vee meeting room at 84th and Holdrege streets. Numerous handmade bobbin lace, tatting and other types of lace projects on display, along with collections of related items. Members to help visitors with projects. Free event. Sunday - Lincoln Rose Societys annual show 1 to 4 p.m. at Southeast Community College, 88th and O streets. Any amateur rose grower may exhibit roses or artistic rose arrangements. Awards may be won by any deserving entry. Novice rose growers are welcome and there is even a most fragrant category which is judged by a vote of the public. Wish to enter a rose or an arrangement? Enter your rose between 7 and 10:30 a.m. Info.: call Normalee Stadler at (402) 486-1420. Monday Lincoln Sewing Guild meets at 6:30 p.m. at Sew Creative, 5143 S. 48th St. Program: Tammy Spence of The Vickeridge clothing store in Havelock presents a showing of fall clothing, colors and accessories. Guests welcome. More info.: e-mail Lois at loisu44@gmail.com, or call 402-488-8958. Tuesday - Heritage League general meeting and luncheon 11:30 a.m. at Hillcrest Country Club, 9401 E. O St. Featured speaker: Monica Zinke, executive director of Fresh Start. Performance by Band Camp scholarship winners, Catherine Apolot from Dawes Middle School and Ethan Riegsecker from Mickle Middle School. For reservations, contact Sara Friedman, (402) 477-6050. Tuesday - Lincoln Modern Quilt Guild meeting, BACK to Basics, 5:30 to 7 p.m. at International Quilt Study Center and Museum 1523 N. 33rd St. More details at info.lincolnmqg@gmail.com Wednesday - Community Women's Club of Lincoln starts its 2016-17 year with noon luncheon at Hillcrest Country Club, 9401 E. O St. Program by Stacy of Petal Creations, who will demonstrate a fall decoration. Guests welcome: call Babette Dickinson at (402) 239-5244 with your reservation by Monday. Beginning Thursday - CHI Health St. Elizabeth Auxiliary Holiday Craft Fair, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at CHI Health St. Elizabeth, 555 S. 70th St., first level of hospital near admissions. Fundraiser continues 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday (or until sold out). Large variety of hand-crafted fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas items. Coming soon All-church dinner 6 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 6 at Saint Paul Church dining room, 1144 M St. Program: "What's New in Health Care," by John Woodrich, Chief Operating Officer for Bryan Health. Dinner reservations ($8) to Gay N. at (402) 475-5663 or Addie L. at church office (402) 477-6951 by Oct. 3. Free admission for program only (at 6:45 p.m.). Hosted by United Methodist Women's group at Saint Paul. Coming soon - Lincoln Quilters Guilds Celebrate Community quilt show Oct. 68 at St. Marks United Methodist Church, 8550 Pioneers Blvd. Raffle tickets $2 for chances to win American Pride quilt. More details are at www.lincolnquiltersguild.org/quiltshow. Coming soon - Church Women United to celebrate Human Rights Day on Friday, Oct. 7 at South Gate United Methodist Church, 3500 Pioneers Blvd. Coffee and fellowship at 9:30 a.m. The celebration, led by Carol Schoenleber, begins at 10:15. Theme "Experiencing Blessings at the Table." Annual business meeting follows. Offering for the National CWU office to help ensure continuation of work for those whose rights are taken from them. More info: call Ruby, (402) 488-4815. Coming soon - Bethany Womens Club hosts annual Fall Salad Luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 11 beginning at 12 oclock noon in the Fellowship Hall of Bethany Christian Church, 1645 N. Cotner Blvd. Program: Nebraska Musical Smorgasbord, by Chris Sayre. Please join us for a delicious luncheon and a delightful afternoon. Tickets $10 per person. Reservations (required) due Oct. 6. Mail checks to: Jeannette Nichelson; 1222 Fairfield St.; Lincoln, NE 68521. For more details, call (402) 476-2466. Coming soon - Lincoln Quilters Guild meeting 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10 at Union College Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 4015 S. 49th St. Guest speaker Kris Khan, who has adapted traditional quilt-making techniques to accommodate her rheumatoid arthritis, shares her trunk show, "One Step Ahead of the Quilt Police." Her class Tuesday, Oct. 11 is Improvisational Table Runner. A class registration form can be found at http://www.lincolnquiltersguild.org. The Guild welcomes new members. It has implemented a $5 fee for visitors. Coming soon - Women in Sales and Business (WISB) monthly meeting begins with 11:30 a.m. luncheon Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Hillcrest Country Club, 9401 O St. Panel discussion of women's groups in Lincoln, including Sarah Haskell, director, Alumni Engagement and Outreach with The Nebraska Alumni Association, representing the Nebraska Women's Leadership Network and Brett Ebert, trust & estate attorney with Baylor Evnen, representing 100's of Women Who Care. Program 11:55 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost ($18) includes lunch. Register at www.wisblincoln.org or email wisblincoln@gmail.com to RSVP. Coming soon League of Women Voters monthly Lunch & Learn luncheon noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13 at the downtown Holiday Inn, Ninth and P streets. Program on Food Bank of Lincolns BackPack Program and the impact on the families it serves. Non-members welcome. Cost $13 for League members, $15 for non-members. Reservations required at lwv-ne@nebraska.com or call (402) 475-1411. Coming soon Boutique and craft fair noon to 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 at Legacy Estates, 7200 Van Dorn St. Also, noon to 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 at Legacy Terrace, 5700 Fremont St., and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at The Legacy, 5600 Pioneers Blvd. Coming soon- Hillcrest Country Doll Fest, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at Hillcrest Country Club, 9401 O St. Doll sales, luncheon and program. Info.: contact Mary Schallau at adolliefan@aol.com or call (402) 488-1440. Coming soon Lincoln Community Playhouse Guild presents Fall Into Fashion Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Country Club of Lincoln, 3200 S. 24th St. Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. preceded by social at 11 a.m. Fashions by White House Black Market. Silent auction and raffle included. Info.: contact Lynette at (402) 327-8607. Please email Womens Calendar items to dbuckley@journalstarcom RACINE The Ascension name is coming to the local hospital, but the All Saints name also is staying. Starting immediately, what was Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints hospital becomes Ascension All Saints Hospital, Ascension Wisconsin-Ministry Health Care announced Monday. The signs to reflect that change, after Ascensions merger with Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, will be put in place within the next 12 to 18 months, Ascension said. That process will likely begin next spring, Ascension spokesman Vince Gallucci said Monday. The merger to make Wheaton Franciscan part of Ascension Wisconsin was announced in October. Ascension is the largest nonprofit health system in the United States and the worlds largest Catholic health system, with 2,500 sites of care including 141 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Ascension Wisconsin stretches from Racine to Eagle River; it is composed of 24 hospitals, 111 medical clinics and other care delivery sites with 23,500 associates, including nearly 1,000 medical group clinicians. Ascension Wisconsin said its health care systems, which include Columbia St. Marys and Wheaton Franciscan, will be among the first in the country to formally adopt and begin using the Ascension name. Wisconsin and Michigan are Ascensions largest market, with statewide scale, explained Bernie Sherry, Ascension Wisconsins senior vice president and ministry market executive. Also, Ascension has been working with key personnel here and the readiness level is sufficiently high, he added. Other hospitals will receive similar name makeovers, such as Ascension Columbia St. Marys Hospital in Milwaukee. The future name of Franklin Hospital, 10101 S. 27th St., located just north of the Racine County line, has not yet been settled, Ascension said. To strengthen brand recognition and honor the heritage of these extraordinary Wisconsin healthcare legacies, it is important to incorporate the Ascension name, Gallucci stated in a news release. By creating more consistent naming for Ascension Wisconsin facilities and services, were making it clearer and easier for patients to access the care they need and to navigate their health. Staffing levels to be determined As Wheaton has been integrated into Ascension, there have been indications of positions being cut at what is now Ascension All Saints Hospital. Asked about that, Sherry said Ascension wants to make sure health care is delivered in the most affordable way possible, and he said the transition of leadership is still under way. However, the number of health care providers, including doctors and nurses, is going to grow, Gallucci said. Ascension Wisconsin is now about the same size as Aurora Health Care, he noted. MOUNT PLEASANT A 17-year-old Case High School student faces three misdemeanor charges after reportedly fighting with another student and bringing a pocket knife onto school property Monday. Anthony M. Wright, of the 400 block Ninth Street in Racine, faces charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer and possessing a dangerous weapon on school premises stemming from the Monday fight at Case High School. Wright made his initial appearance in court Tuesday and had his signature bond set at $200. According to the criminal complaint, Wright and another student had a physical fight in a Case classroom after a verbal argument escalated. Wright and the other student both said Wright threw the first punch, the complaint states. After taking Wright into custody, officers searched him and located a small folding pocket knife, according to the complaint. RACINE A Racine man whose blood droplets led police to arrest him for burglarizing a Racine home last fall will spend the next five years in prison. Travis A. Williams, 25, of the 1100 block of Wisconsin Ave., was sentenced Tuesday afternoon in Racine County Circuit Court to five years behind bars and five years on extended supervision for the Nov. 12 burglary. According to the criminal complaint filed against Williams, Racine Police were called to a home in the 1300 block of North Main Street on Nov. 12 after a complainant reported missing $10 in silver dollars and two rings, each worth about $100. Police collected physical evidence from the scene, including samples of blood droplets left on the exterior of the door, the kitchen floor, and elsewhere in the dwelling. The blood samples were submitted to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab for analysis. Those samples came back as a match to Williams, who has 2008 and 2010 burglary convictions. Williams pleaded guilty to a felony burglary charge in connection with the case on July 26. On top of his sentence in the burglary case, Williams will serve an extra year in prison and an additional year on supervision for taking oxygen tanks and the van of a woman who was in the hospital last September. Williams and his father later sold the van to salvage lot without the womans permission. RACINE A Racine man was charged Monday for a reported drug overdose that occurred Sept. 13, court records indicate. Alexander W. Rott, 26, of the 400 block of Lake Avenue, was allegedly found around 12:27 p.m. unconscious on his couch in his apartment, according to the criminal complaint. Rott's father reportedly found Rott with a warm head, slumped body on the couch and unresponsive. Rott reportedly has overdosed in the past, the complaint said. A needle with a cap on, a lighter, two cellphones, and a cotton ball in an astray were found on a table near where Rott was located, according to the complaint. Under the cushions where Rott was found, police discovered a plastic bag that contained .2 grams of heroin and a black bag that contained a spoon, cotton ball, push rod and a cellphone, the complaint said. Rott is facing a felony charge for possession of narcotic drugs and a misdemeanor charge for possession of drug paraphernalia. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 28 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. He remained in custody as of Monday night at the Racine County Jail, online records showed. SOMERS Mike Carey, senior at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, had a bug that he couldnt find. As a computer science major, Carey spent a lot of time in the App Factory on campus and it wasnt the first time he buried himself there to solve a problem. There are times when Im like I should go eat, Carey said about spending hours trying to solve a problem. And then I run into a bug and I really want to fix it I wont eat for hours. The App Factory provides a space for students to work as paid interns on real projects, coding for different programs and apps which will be used on smartphones and tablets for companies. Carey thought there may be been something wrong with the data that he was using, but he eventually fixed the bug. It was off by one letter and I sat down for a good three or four hours before I finally came to the point (that) it wasnt the database, Carey said. I just misspelled something. Occasionally, problems like this arise in the App Factory, but the purpose of the space is not to spend 24 hours straight in front of a laptop, its to further their education. Industry-ready Our objective here at the App Factory is to rally have the students industry-ready by the time they graduate, said Zaid Altahat, project manager at the App Factory, adding that it will help them when they enter the job market. They come with experience. The App Factory started almost five years ago and already former students have gone on to work for companies like Microsoft and Motorola. Theyve partnered with the cities of Racine and Kenosha, along with the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management, TriCore, Wisconsin Gateway Technical Radio and UW-Parkside Parking. One of the most popular apps designed at the App Factory was the transit app for Bell Urban System called Mobile Transit Solutions which debuted in Kenosha and Racine last year for those who use public transportation. The app currently contains the schedules, routes and locations of bus stops. The students are currently planning on updating the app which would allow users to track buses in real time based on the GPS position on the smartphone or if the user scans the QR code at the stop. Cities like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles they already have multimillion-dollar systems that do this, but Kenosha doesnt, said Tim Knautz, director of the App Factory. (Kenosha and Racine) dont have the resources to pay for one of these multimillion-dollar systems. Real work, real money Although computer science majors make up most of the membership, there some business, communication and graphic design majors. If a project comes in that requires chemistry, we can certainly find a chemistry student to bring in and become a member, a paid intern at the App Factory, Knautz said. These projects are real. They are real projects with community partners the money that the students earn come from the paid clients. Knautz said the price the App Factory charges varies depending on each project, however, they do charge $30 per hour which is a fifth (of the cost) to have this done in the commercial environment. But making a lot of money although on the minds of all the students isnt the main priority of the place. We cant have students failing their classes because theyre working in the App Factory, Knautz said. This is about their education. They cant spend 40 hours in here then fail their math class. Knautz said hes constantly looking for people, especially women and minorities, to be a part of the App Factory. The computer industry in general, especially in the programming area, is lacking I think, in females and minorities. Theres no doubt about that, Knautz said. While Im sensitive to that and Im constantly looking for roles like that, if I have a minority or a woman thats coming through and can make it here, I will for sure make sure that shes in here. Future app in the works Already the App Factory has their first return customer, Bradley Corp., which works in industrial plumbing and also designs bathrooms using various faucets and tiles. The first app designed for Bradley Corp. was aimed at helping their sales force while they were with clients or at conferences. It allows you to compare two tiles side by side, Kyle Zawacki, senior, said. So instead of actually carrying the heavy tiles or a book with you, you can catalog into this app. Currently the App Factory is working on what they call the Bradley Audit App. (Bradley Corp.) hires auditors to go to facilities that have some sort of hazards, Zawacki said, adding that the current process has individuals record issues on paper. They could take a picture of each (piece of) equipment, add comments so it removes the process of having to take the paper and go to the web tool and type it all in afterwards. They just do it once on the app. RACINE More than six months after the initial construction closure on Northwestern Avenue and State Street, all detours and road construction will draw to a close on Friday, Sept. 30. Were opening the roadway entirely to bi-direction traffic, City Engineer John Rooney said. There will be no more posted detours. The project will finish slightly ahead of schedule despite some early setbacks, including the unanticipated closure of Spring Street at its intersection with State, which reopened in late August. Rooney said at one point, he feared the project would continue through next spring. This project has gone exceptionally well, considering some of the major issues we faced early on in construction with some unforeseen conditions, he said. Thats a credit to the company contracted to do the work, Brookfield-based Stark Pavement Corp., Rooney said. Stark, which also constructed the roundabout in front of City Hall, worked through some of the early struggles with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the city. They are an excellent paving contractor, Rooney said. We were fortunate to have a real road-building professional. Two new roundabouts The project brings two new roundabouts to Northwestern Avenue and State Street, one at the intersection with Albert and High streets and the other at the intersection with Spring Street. Although the roundabouts are on the same street within a half-mile of each other, they have critical lane differences, Rooney said. The roundabout at Marino Park by West High and Albert is a single-lane roundabout and quite simple to follow, he said. All motorists have to do is yield. However, the roundabout at State and Spring streets will be able to handle more traffic with two lanes. That will also create a more complex traffic pattern, but one Rooney said will be addressed by signs at the intersection. We have overhead structures with signage on it that will be going up in the next week-and-a-half, Rooney said. You cannot miss the signs leaving Sixth Street in Downtown Racine. You wont be able to miss these signs, either. Small closures going forward While fully opening the road effectively signals the end of the project, Rooney warned that residents will still notice small closures of about 200 feet in parts of the street. After the 30th, motorists can expect that there will be short rolling lane closures for the planting of the trees in the parkway, Rooney said. The trees have yet to be planted because temperatures have remained too hot for planting, Rooney said. Its very sensitive and temperature-dependent, he added. Its kind of unusually warm right now, otherwise theyd be working. Planting will also take place on the roundabouts when the weather cools down, but that shouldnt affect regular traffic, according to Rooney. They should be able to work in the roundabout without much disruption, he said. Guess How The Minnesota Mall Terrorist Was Stopped From Stabbing Even More People By Mac Slavo. September 18th, 2016 It looks like terrorists have finally figured out where to go to inflict mass casualties on the most innocent of Americans. On the same day as two separate improvised devices were detonated in New Jersey and New York, a knife wielding terrorist dressed in a private security uniform and claiming allegiance to ISIS walked into the St. Cloud Crossroads Mall in Minnesota, asked passersby if they were Muslim, and then proceeded to stab them. The man slashed at least eight people and had planned to hurt or kill more but he was stopped dead in his tracks by a lone individual with a concealed handgun. KVSC reports via Red Flag News: There were eight victims taken to the St. Cloud Hospital's Emergency Room. Seven have been released but one remains in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Chief Anderson then spoke at a press conference. He says there was only one assailant who came into the mall after 8 p.m. He reportedly made praises to Allah and one worker at the mall says victims were asked if they were Muslim before they were attacked. The suspect was later shot and killed by an off duty police officer from another law enforcement agency. Authorities believe the suspect was working alone. Off duty police officer or civilian is of no matter. What matters is that he had a firearm with him and used it to stop someone who had, up until his death, intended to injure, maim or kill as many people as possible.. ....... Yet again, the "gun-free-zone" problem is highlighted, although in this instance it could have been way worse . Here was a venue where guns or any weapons were forbidden but by good fortune there was just one armed individual - and that mercifully was enough to put a stop to more multiple injuries and even deaths. BREAKING The shooter we just learned was not only a part time cop but, also an NRA instructor - plus a USPSA competition shooter. The media won't tell you that. When will the antis realize that the armed citizen can help save lives. "You don't have to be Jewish to fight by our side." 2016 JPFO All rights reserved. jpfo@jpfo.org 1-800-869-1884 Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership 12500 NE 10th Pl. Bellevue, WA 98005 USA Americas most aggressive civil rights organization We make the NRA look like moderates Join JPFO Back to Top Bombs explode at two schools; scare in five others (With photos) Bombs have gone off at three schools in Capital while explosive and suspicious objects have been recovered from five others on Tuesday morning. No human casualties have been reported from the explosions. Cane growers threaten to padlock sugar mills The Sugarcane Producers Association has warned of padlocking sugar mills if they dont pay longstanding debts owed to sugarcane farmers in Rautahat, Bara and Sarlahi districts. CIAA move to probe cantonment corruption at UMLs behest: Dahal CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal told his party headquarters on Monday that the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) decided to expedite probe into corruption in former Maoist cantonments at the behest of the CPN-UML. Dahal in Delhi The joint statement shows that Nepal-India relations are as they were last September Fuel surcharges cut to match oil prices Domestic flights have become a little cheaper as airlines have slashed fuel surcharges to match a fall in oil prices. The new airfares will go into effect Tuesday. Hearing of two envoy nominees on Friday The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee has decided to conduct the hearing of ambassador nominees for India and China on Friday. Himalaya Airlines to launch flights to Colombo on Oct 1 Himalaya Airlines announced on Tuesday that it would be launching scheduled commercial flights between Kathmandu and Colombo on October 1, re-establishing direct air links with Sri Lanka after more than three decades. N.Korea's Kim guides new rocket engine test, calls for satellite launch North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported on Tuesday, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the isolated state. One year on, polls the priority As the country celebrates the first anniversary of the constitution delivered by the historic Constituent Assembly, the slow pace of its implementation and the delays in addressing the concerns of the Madhesi and Janajati communities through statute amendment have cast a shadow of uncertainty over the three layers of election that have to be held within the next 16 months. Over 150k needy yet to get first tranche of aid More than 150,000 of the total 533,182 households registered for the private housing rebuilding aid have not received the first instalment as the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahals 45-day pledge to distribute the aid to all ended on Sunday. PM was not scheduled to meet Tikapur incident accused Private Secretariat of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concern over the reports of the alleged meeting of PM Dahal with the main accused in Tikapur violence during former's recent India visit. Protesting parties observe black day As the government marked the first anniversary of promulgation of the new constitution, Madhesi and Janajati parties affiliated to the Sanghiya Gathabandhan remembered those killed during protests by observing the occasion as a black day. School bomb incident: NHRC urges strict action against culprits The National Human Rights Commission has urged the government to take stern action against the culprits behind the bomb explosion and the planting of explosive devises at various schools in the Capital on Tuesday. Serving humanity Mother Teresas sincerity to help the poorest among the poor is touching US Ambassador bids farewell to 90,000th refugee to resettle in the US US Ambassador to Nepal Alaina B Teplitz bid farewell to the 90,000th Bhutanese refugee to be resettled in the United States on Tuesday. Work begins to revive Nepal Drug Limited The Industry Ministry has begun work to revive Nepal Drug Limited (NDL) and have it start manufacturing eight drugs immediately. In a move meant to build stronger human rights protection mechanisms in Africa, the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights (AfCHPR) is pushing for establishment of a Legal Aid Fund. This is top on the agenda of the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Arusha-based African Court and the Banjul-based African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) that is underway in Arusha, Tanzania. Also to be discussed is the progress on the creation of the Pan African Human Rights Institute and 2016 celebrations to mark the African Year of Human Rights. According to the President of the African Court, Hon. Justice Sylvain Ore, the four-day meeting that opened on 19 September 2016 also serves to cement the relationship of cooperation based on complementarity between the two institutions. The fourth joint meeting was held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in July, 2015. The African Court on Human and Peoples Rights is a continental court established by African countries to ensure protection of human and peoples rights in Africa and it complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights. The Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, which was adopted by Member States of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in June 1998. The Protocol came into force on 25 January 2004 after it was ratified by more than 15 countries including Uganda. Uganda is however yet to make the declaration that allows citizens and NGOs to present cases of human rights violation to the Court. Story By Catherine Ageno Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa is today set to deposit at the UN, the instruments for ratification for the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This is the pact that 195 countries adopted in the French capital Paris last December to combat global carbon emissions. Kutesa signed Ugandas instrument of ratification on 15th September in Kampala after it was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 at a high-level signature ceremony. At this ceremony, 174 states and the European Union signed, 15 states also deposited their instruments of ratification. According to the UN so far there are 180 signatories to the Agreement. Of these, 27 States have deposited their instruments of ratification. The Paris Agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the UN Secretary General. Women activists have rejected a new United Nations report that suggests Ugandan men are more productive in agriculture than women. The report launched yesterday by UN Women and United Nations Development Programme, indicates that in Uganda, 27% of plots and 20% of all cultivated land is under the sole management of women. The remaining 73% of plots and 80%of all cultivated land is managed either by women and men or solely by men. It further estimates that mens productivity stands at 70% against womens 30%. However, according to Rose Othieno, the Executive Director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution, while it is true that men own most of the land, it is women who do the actual cultivation and after harvesting, the men sell the produce, taking all the productivity credit. The report is titled: Cost of the gender gap in agricultural productivity in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi. Story By Stephen Otage The Marine Corps' patented MARPAT digital camouflage pattern does a great job of blending on the battlefield. But researchers are worried that the pattern won't be quite so stealthy against an enemy armed with optics that pick up parts of the light spectrum not visible to the naked eye. That's why officials with Marine Corps Systems Command are collaborating with the Army to study uniform dyes and materials that won't glow bright under special optics and give troops' positions away. In August, the Army published a request for information for printed fabric materials, including MARPAT woodland and desert camouflage swatches that reduce the fabric's signature when it's seen through short-wave infrared, or SWIR, optics. Officials at the Army's Natick Soldier Research, Development & Engineering Center in Massachusetts hope the samples they obtain will determine the availability of existing technology and materials that will meet operational goals as they continue research. Charles Bell, product manager for Infantry Combat Equipment at SYSCOM, said research involves the full spectrum, including signatures under black, or ultraviolet, light, which can make certain colors glow bright. "We are looking at inks and mixes and dyes that [neutralize] the reflectance," he said in an interview with Military.com. The difference in dyes would not be visible under ordinary light, Bell said. The research is evidence of the military's move to plan for a future fight with a peer or near-peer enemy that will wield cutting-edge technology as a weapon--a shift from the wars U.S. troops have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan with a technologically inferior enemy. "We see possibly a vulnerability in the future, that these optics are being developed, so were looking to the future," Bell said. The spectral mitigation research is being undertaken as part of an ongoing collaborative effort between the Army and the Marine Corps to jointly develop and field equipment that both services can use on the battlefield. Anything we develop that the services are able to share has a ripple effect in terms of efficiency and cost. If the Army and Marine Corps can be sustained by the Defense Logistics Agency for the same systemswith the same National Stock Numbersthe result is an economy of scale that both services can leverage to reduce costs and simplify the acquisition and sustainment of multi-service common clothing and equipment, Bell said in a statement. URL http://edunet002.synapse-blog.jp/konan/ BUTLER The Butler Police Department has joined forces with the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Department of Child Services to provide Safe Sleep Education classes for infants and their families. Police will offer the first Safe Sleep Education class at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26 on the second floor of the Butler City Building (Thompson Block), 215 S. Broadway. Visitors will be directed to the classroom upon arrival. Additional parking is available behind the building. Call the police department at 868-2171 to register for the class. In addition, all Butler police officers will be trained in Direct On Scene Education (DOSE), and the department will begin offering infant survival kits. Direct On Scene Education involves training officers to be observant while responding to calls for service, said Police Chief Jim Nichols in a news release. Officers may ask a parent or caregiver to show them where the baby sleeps if they learn of an infant in the home so they can help to ensure that their infant is sleeping in a safe environment, free of anything in the crib which could cause an infant to suffocate. They can also check with them to see if they need a free crib while they are there, Nichols added. If an officer asks you some of these type questions, that is the reason why. The Safe Sleep Education program focuses on educating expectant mothers, grandparents and caregivers on the safest methods of putting an infant to sleep in an effort to reduce or eliminate Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Sudden Unexpected Infant Death. Nichols explaind he has responded to four SIDS deaths in his career. They are the worst of the worst calls to go to, he said. It is my hope that as we roll out and continue to reach out to local doctor offices, hospitals, birthing centers, domestic violence advocates and many others that through this training we can drastically reduce or eliminate infant mortality in DeKalb County. The police department also has available free crib kits, he said. These are available for individuals and couples who are expecting a child or has a toddler under one year of age and has no resources to purchase a crib. The kit includes a Pack n Play Crib, an infant Safe Sleep survival kit, a Halo sleep sack, fitted crib sheet, pacifier, a toddler Safe Sleep checklist, a safety book, video and other instructional materials. The primary focus of this program is to teach caregivers the proper ways of putting their infant to sleep to help reduce the infant mortality rate, Nichols said. Right now, in DeKalb County, 7.9 infants for every 1,000 born are dying due to preventable measures on the part of the caregiver. The Safe Sleep and free crib programs are available to any DeKalb County resident. Nichols said the Butler Police Department is the first and only law enforcement agency in Indiana to offer these programs. I am hoping that as word spreads for this type of training that more law enforcement agencies will come on board and also fire departments, Nichols said. Once we get our police department fully-trained, we will be looking at the possibility of training all of the firefighting personnel as they respond to numerous calls for service where they are inside homes with infants on a weekly basis many times. ANGOLA Chip and seal season is done for the Steuben County Highway Department. Highway Superintendent Emmett Heller told Steuben County Commissioners on Monday that some 25 1/2 miles of chip and seal work was done this summer. In some instances, like Old U.S. 27, the chip and seal then received another coat, called a cape seal, which further extends the life of the road and provides for a better ride. Cape seal work on Old 27 is supposed to be done today. At the rate they got the rest of it done, they sould be done by Tuesday night (today), Heller said. The Old 27 project was perphaps the most noticeable because it is the most heavily travaled county highway in the county. The project was about 6 1/2 miles, from the south edge of Angola, south to the Steuben-DeKalb border at C.R. 800S. There were many complaints about the road because there were numerous vehicles that ended up with chipped or cracked windows. Some of the problem was motorists driving faster than the posted 35 mph or following too closly to other vehicles. Heller said within the next couple weeks the road will be stiped. There are a few more small projects to finish up and this years construction season is done for Steuben County Highway. Meanwhile, the county is probably not going to re-energize the street lights that are placed along Old U.S. 27 on the north end of the county, near the Outlet Shoppes at Fremont. The county was going to spend about $15,000 to get the lights back in operational shape after they were abandoned by the Indiana Department of Transportation. The lights have been dark for about a year. Commissioners agreed to leave the lights out after they could not identify available funds to pay for the work. The nine street lights run roughly from just north of the southbound Exit 356 off of Interstate 69, north to the I-80-90 overpass on Old 27. ANGOLA Users of the citys new Monument Plaza soon wont be able to smoke on the premises. The Angola Common Council voted unanimously to ban smoking from the Plaza, which is the citys new public restroom facility that was built at North Wayne and Gilmore streets, a block north of Public Square. Angola Mayor Dick Hickman said it was a matter of smoking being allowed within 8 feet of the public facility, as state law states, but also on the grounds. We hadnt thought of that when we put it up, Hickman said. Council said smoking on the grounds would require adding cigarette receptacles. It would also require further cleaning of the facility. The city pays a private individual an hourly rate. Angola Clerk-Treasurer Deb Twitchell was outspoken against smoking on the property. No smoking, Twitchell said. Its second-hand smoke thats hazardous. That was the cause of my cancer. Even if its 30 feet, Councilwoman Kathy Armstrong said, will it be enforced? Hickman said he felt signage regarding smoking would help. Kim Shoup, the citys attorney, will write an ordinance. In other business, the City will continue to monitor if the Steuben County Council opts to partner with the city to provide technology for emergency service vehicles to control traffic lights when on emergency runs. The project has been in the making since 2013 when Angola officials first approached Steuben County about helping fund a project that would place pre-emptive signal devices in emergency vehicles like, fire trucks, ambulances and police cars and their associated equipment on traffic signals. The County Council tabled on Sept. 13 the expenditure of $9,455, which would have paid for installation of the devices in 31 county vehicles. Originally the county was going to have to pay $6,110 to be part of the project. The majority of the funding is coming from federal highway sources, with 10 percent coming locally. The city was paying about $38,000, which covered all of the equipment. It was indicated during the County Council meeting that Steuben County Sheriff Tim Troyer didnt want the screens in vehicles because they could be a distraction. He also expressed concern with the added cost, reasoning he would rather put money toward additional deputies. I dont want our police or fire to go without, said Councilman Dave Olson. I personally think its so ridiculous to squabble over. I think its so important. It hasnt be turned down, its been tabled, Hickman reminded Council. Angola Councilman and former Steuben County Sheriff Mike McClelland said he was confident the project could be worked out. During a meeting of the Steuben County Commissioners earlier Monday, County Council President Rick Shipe said he had spoken with Twitchell. Shipe feared county action might kill the project, which Twitchell assured him it would not. I was just worried that we were holding that project up, Shipe said. It is possible that if Troyer doesnt go along with the project, the devices could be added to Steuben County Emergency Medical Service ambulances. Last week, EMS Director Vicki Meek said she was excited about the project. Meanwhile, Hickman also announced Deputy Clerk Tammy Onofrietti, Angola Fire Capt. Bill Harter and Angola Fire Capt. Jason Meek completed the Ball State University Bowen Center for Public Affairs program as certified managers. The three employees attended monthly classes toward the certification. Harter also is an elected official, Steuben County Coroner. Its three more examples of how our employees take their jobs seriously, Hickman said. Seven people arrested over weekend ANGOLA The following people were arrested over the weekend by law enforcement officers working in Steuben County and lodged in the Steuben County Jail. Steve Baker, 37, of the 800 block of Lane 150 Hamilton Lake, Hamilton, arrested at home on misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and intimidation. Alfredo V. Espinosa, 45, of the 200 block of Memoreil Driver, Sturgis, Michigan, arrested on a fugitive warrant. Tonia J. Henry, 49, of the 600 block of West North Street, Fremont, arrested on a warrant alleging misdemeanor probation violation. April M. Lively, 34, of the 1000 block of South C.R. 450W, arrested on a warrant alleging misdemeanor failure to appear. Christopher B. Nichols, 23, of the 200 block of North Sierer Street, Fremont, arrested at the sheriffs department on a misdemeanor charge of probation violation. Christopher M. Short, 29, of the 400 block of West County Line Road, Wolcottville, arrested on a warrant alleging felony probation violation. Scott E. Warnke, 52, of the 800 block of Aspen Drive, Rochester, Michigan, arrested at the sheriffs department on a misdemeanor charge of operating while intoxicated. When the bidding lagged during the sale of artifacts and equipment from La Crosse landmark Edwardos Ristorante di Pizza, the auctioneer cajoled the crowd: Come on. Youre buying history is what youre buying. Auctioneer Brian Craig didnt need to remind Kurt Knutson of La Crosse that many items on the block Monday were iconic symbols of the citys history: Knutson came ready to bid on two of the more symbolic mementos of his own heritage as a 21-year employee of the former Heilemans Brewing Co., and he snagged both for princely sums. Knutson won the bidding war at $1,250 for a 1950s-era neon Old Style sign with a grenadier clock, which he cradled in his arms and placed carefully in his van. Asked whether he panicked when Craig tried to coax a $2,000 starting bid, before dropping it to $100 to start the action, Knutson laughed and said, I had my heart set on it no matter what. Being a former employee, Ive accumulated quite a bit of different memorabilia. Probably not as much as other guys, but Im pretty proud of it, said Knutson, who worked at the brewery until 1991, when he went into business as Dpw Trucking in La Crosse. Thus, he was drawn like cheese sticks to a pizza lid to one of two 3- to 4-foot diameter, foot-deep lighted signs advertising Peerless beer on both sides. After winning one for $950, he acknowledged, Oh, I dont know where Ill put this one. Peerless is as much a part of the citys history as riverboat traffic, having been a world-famous recipe for the John Gund Brewery, with its roots in 1854. Prohibition was the death knell for Gund, but not Peerless, which survived in fits and starts for decades under the La Crosse Brewing Co. label and eventually disappeared after being brewed at Potosi Brewing Co. for a time, according to a chronicle at the Peerless Beer Museum website. The crowd at the auction, which began at 10 a.m. and went late into the afternoon, attracted more than 200 bidders and at least half that number of observers and tire-kickers. The sale began on the parking lot, with items as small as the two large scoops that were the first things sold, at $10 apiece. Several others besides Knutson were former Heileman workers, while others were history buffs, casual onlookers, bargain-hunters, antique store owners, former Edwardos customers, other restaurant owners who were there to bid on the kitchen equipment, and a fair number of Amish, who focused mostly on fire extinguishers and kitchen equipment. Tod Edwards, who closed the restaurant in December after its 55-year history, expressed pleasure at the turnout. Before the Peerless signs were brought to the front for sale, he noted a sentimental connection to one, saying, I bought it at the brewery when I was just a kid, 18. Many patrons approached Edwards and told of their special goals in turning out for the sale. Even the booths are popular, he said. One guy said he got engaged in one of the booths, and he wanted to buy it. And the liquor a lot of people want to buy liquor for their home bars, he said. Edwards has sold the building but declined to name the buyer in the deal, expected to close Friday. It isnt a secret, but I dont want to steal their thunder. They are local and nice, and its going to be very, very nice, said Edwards, who acknowledged that the sale price is close to the final asking of $699,000. That was the price after the original ask was cut by $89,000 drop in May. Its impossible to know whether this is a hint, but the refrigeration equipment and coolers were among the few items not sold. Its difficult to describe one of the auctioned pieces as more iconic than another. The eclectic collection included artwork, lamps, brewery memorabilia, decorations and other items. For example: The unique monkey lamp that was a sentinel near the restaurants entry, brought $275. Artwork ranging from small pieces to massive wall paintings with lights went for prices that ran the gamut from $10 to into the hundreds. A large, steel rolling pin, which auctioneer Craig described as for rolling in your dough, went for $20. Two Trane Co. retirees Herb Berra and Dennis Peterson of Chaseburg said they routinely attend auctions together as a hobby, joking that they buy low and sell high. Pressed, they admitted that they sometimes buy too much and dont sell enough, although they were on the lookout for a cooler for American Legion Post 52. Sitting with them was Buck Rogers (really), a retired truck driver from Coon Valley, which he described as a suburb of Chaseburg. Rogers initially said he was looking for something I can steal, so it seemed an odd choice later when he joined the bidding for a large Yogurt-Plus costume. Auction assistant Hannah Moe modeled the costume, which Rogers landed for $85. Asked what he possibly planned to do with the stiflingly hot costume (just ask Moe), Rogers explained that he runs Big Old Red Shed antiques in Westby 35 booths spread over 10,000 square feet. The Yogurt outfit, which makes the costumes for Lady Liberty Tax Service look like miniatures, will come in handy for special promotions, he said. Some items seemed like strange partners when paired together for sale, such a 4-foot mixer blade and a hand-cranking rotor drain clog cleaner. After Berra outbid the largely silent crowd, at that point, he confided that he paid $4 for the pair because the Chaseburg Rod and Gun Club needed something to whip up beer batter. Asked whether club members would use the mixer blade or the drain unclogger for the task, he laughingly explained that the job would go to the mixer blade and offered to give away the drain device. Auctioneer Craig, of Bangor, took barely a break from his rapid-fire, tongue-twisting chatter, and his wife, Karin, staffed the registration and money booth. Asked who does the talking at home, Karin responded with an exasperated shrug, You know, youd think hed be tired, but oh, no, hes gotta rehash the whole thing at home. La Crosse Promise's Future Centers will host a series of events this fall to help prepare students and their guardians for the college application process and college essay writing. The nonprofit organization will host a college information night from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Central High School auditorium, which will be open to all La Crosse School District high school students. The event will discuss ACT, financial aid and school requirements. A second event from 6 to 7 p.m. Sept. 26 in room 125 of Logan High School will focus on college essay-writing, with University of Wisconsin representative Emily Herzog teaching students what admissions officers are looking for. The group also has organized a college visit to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 17. The bus tour will leave at 7:15 a.m. from Logan High School and 7:30 a.m. from Central High School. Students will take a tour, have a $10 lunch and attend informational sessions. Registration is required. Call 608-789-2054 or visit the La Crosse Promise Future Centers at Logan or Central high schools. Excessive speed may have contributed to a Friday crash in La Crosse that killed a motorcycle passenger, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol. Sean Lucey, 42, of Minnesota was driving the motorcycle west on Interstate 90 when he lost control on a curve on Exit 3 about 8:40 p.m. Passenger Sheila Lucey, 51, also of Minnesota, died after striking a wood sign post, according to the state patrol. Sean Lucey had unknown injuries but was not taken to a hospital. ROCHESTER, Minn. (TNS) From addict to advocate to accolades, Tiffany Hunsleys transformation is enough to make any cynic smile. The now-47-year-old Rochester woman with five drug-related felonies on her record hit rock bottom in 2004 when she was arrested in Wabasha County after fleeing a probation officer. She admits using drugs at age 9 and says her addiction had progressed to dangerous levels during the next 20 years. Huntleys ill-fated attempt to elude the authorities actually set the stage for her recovery. Rather than being sent back to jail, she was enrolled in Wabasha Countys drug court program, which forced her to confront long-standing issues head on. Since that arrest, shes become the first person from her family to graduate college and will spend much of today hosting the sixth annual Recovery Is Possible 5K, which she started in 2011. Hunsley took six years of classes at Rochester Community and Technical College to earn her degree in social work and chemical dependency counseling but required Wabasha County District Judge Terrence Walterss support to convince then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty to wipe all five felonies from her official record. She didnt learn her degree actually would be useful felons typically are prohibited from social work until after graduating in 2010. That unusual sequence of events set the stage for Hunsley to open Recovery Is Happening in 2011. The nonprofit organization is focused on improving long-term recovery through education, advocacy and peer support. It now has three full-time employees and numerous volunteers operating out of a 2,200-square-foot facility in Northwest Rochester. Thanks to her personal journey and the programs success, Hunsley recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to accept an award from American Honors Recovery, which described her as a catalyst of change. Weeks later, she and her 29-year-old daughter, Amberly, flew to California, where the mother of four received a Voice Award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Her successful reunification with her children is a reminder of the overarching goal of the child protection system to reunify parents and children when it is safe to do so, the Voice Awards wrote of Hunsley. The Voice Award was especially meaningful because Amberly Hunsley, a Dover-Eyota graduate, nominated her mother after watching her rebound from rock bottom to become a critical community resource. Hunsley was selected out of 200 nominations from across the country. It means so much to me, Hunsley said of the award and her daughters support. Just like my addiction had an impact on her life, my recovery has had a big impact on her life. It has allowed her to gain strength and tools for living that I wasnt able to focus on (as an addict). Through the process of recovery, not only have I recovered, but so has my daughter. Weve been through so much together. Her living through my addiction and being a part of my recovery process. I just really felt super honored. Big plans Hunsleys work with the U.S. Department of Human Services Alcohol and Other Drug Project and Olmsted County Adult Behavioral Services has helped identify ways to improve court-related outcomes for children and families involved in child protection court proceedings. In other words, shes helped facilitate family reunifications after legal trouble forced separations. Recovery Is Happening was made possible by a three-year grant from the state for $540,000. Its fully staffed by those in recovery, often as a way to satisfy drug court requirements. The nonprofit has applied for additional funding from Olmsted County to purchase a Recovery Is Happening home, which would create a safe home environment away from past temptations. A decision is expected in October, but Hunsley already is dreaming big. She eventually wants to offer such housing across the region to help address whats become a hot-button issue. The Minnesota Legislature approved $47 million in funding during the 2015 session to expand mental health services, which reflects the largest investment on that issue in state history. Gov. Mark Dayton also established a Mental Health Task Force to established a comprehensive plan across the state, with recommendations expected in November. Hunsley says those all are steps in the right direction but feels it remains a work in progress. Now, we have a drug court (in Olmsted County), Hunsley said. That was our first advocacy project here. For too long, we have treated people with pats on the back and 28-day treatments, then put them back in the exact same home environment where they had problems. Its been proven that when people are put in high accountability situations their chance for attainable recovery is much higher. The Rochester woman has been successful, in part, because her own struggle with addiction and mental health issues lends instant credibility to those seeking help. Hunsley has been speaking candidly and eloquently about her addiction issues while maintaining sobriety for the past 12 years. Her story resonates. Ive been through treatment myself, and were constantly telling our counselors that you dont get me, Hunsley said. (My past) removes a pressing barrier thats otherwise uncomfortable. Authenticity is critical for inspiring hope among those who have used drugs or alcohol as a crutch, according to National Alliance on Mental Illness Courtney Lawson, the executive director of Rochesters branch. Lawson has collaborated with Recovery Is Happening for years, and she says Hunsley has earned the national spotlight. Thats what really drives hope someone who is struggling sees someone who has experienced similar things, and shes kind of made it, Lawson said. It is possible. Recovery inspires hope, and hope is kind of everything. MADISON State wildlife officials plan to launch a five-year study this fall they say should provide unprecedented data on how predators and chronic wasting disease affect deer survival in southwestern Wisconsin. The Department of Natural Resources study will begin by capturing and placing radio collars on deer predators, such as bobcats and coyotes. The agency will start capturing and collaring deer in January. The collars will be equipped with GPS tracking devices that will record and display information on the animals multiple times per day. Plans call for capturing and collaring 200 adult deer, including bucks and does, 100 fawns and 60 predators annually. The study should result in unprecedented information on movement, behavior, habitat use and predator-prey survival, DNR Wildlife and Forestry Research Section Chief Scott Hull wrote in a memo to the agency's board. The study will take place in areas with different CWD infection rates, which will help DNR scientists better understand how the disease may be interacting with predators to affect deer survival, Hull wrote. Chronic wasting disease affects deer's brains, causing them to grow thin, act strangely and ultimately die. It was first found in Wisconsin in 2002 near Mount Horeb. The DNR initially attempted to contain the disease by eradicating as many deer as possible, a plan that generated intense public backlash and led to the agency ultimately backing off on eradication. The DNR's current strategy calls for reducing local herds in isolated areas of infection that appear far from known disease clusters but centers mostly on simply monitoring the disease's spread. The disease has moved beyond southwestern Wisconsin into 41 of the state's 72 counties. Test results released in March show 9.4 percent of the 3,133 deer tested last year were infected, the highest prevalence rate since the disease's discovery in the state. Gov. Scott Walker announced a series of initiatives in May, including more studies on deer populations and research investments to better understand CWD's effects on the deer herd. He also ordered state agriculture officials to create best practices for deer farms and the DNR to conduct deer farm fence inspections every two years. The agency had been inspecting farm fences only once per decade. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board plans to discuss the agency's CWD response plan during a meeting Sept. 28 in Black River Falls. Many property owners in the La Crosse School District will see lower taxes as state aid to the district is projected to rise. The 2016-17 budget plan was presented to the school board Monday, the first of many times the board and the public will get a look at the districts proposed budget before final approval at the end of October. Janet Rosseter, the districts director of business services, said before the meeting that projections call for the budget to increase slightly from last year but taxes to drop because of a 2 percent increase in state aid. Anticipating a slight increase in the three-year enrollment average, the districts operating budget is expected to be about $77 million, an increase of a third of 1 percent or almost $200,000. State aid to the district is projected to increase about $650,000, or 2.1 percent, to nearly $31.2 million, while the total operating levy is projected at nearly $49 million, a decrease of $620,000, or 1.26 percent. For a homeowner, that translates into $1,186 in taxes per $100,000 of equalized property value, down more than 4 percent from last year. Rosseter projects the equalized property value of the district to rise 3 percent from last year, so homeowners whose property values have risen more than average could see higher tax bills. Another variable is the states levy credits, which are used to relieve local taxes. The district estimates these credits will reduce a property owners taxes by $212 per $100,000 of equalized value in the district to around $974. The district also will see a $100-per-pupil increase in state categorical aid this year. A number of factors could change these projections, Rosseter said, such as final equalized property valuations, the headcount the third Friday in September and the final number of Wisconsin Parental Choice Program enrollees, which are funded through the district. The proposed budget get preliminary approval from the board Oct. 3, with a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 17. Final approval is slated for Oct. 31. A link to the budget plan can be found on the districts website, lacrosseschools.org. Anyone and everyone can look through the information and what is proposed, Nelson told the board. AP results show growth More students in La Crosse took Advanced Placement courses and exams last year, but the percentage who passed was down from the year before. Almost 300 students enrolled took an average of about 1.8 AP courses at Central High School last year, according to the data. They took more than 410 AP exams, which can be used to obtain college credit, passing 64.9 percent of them, down a percentage point for the previous years. At Logan High School, 187 students took an average of about 1.7 AP courses each, with 189 exams taken and a 54.50 pass rate, down more than six percentage points from the year before. The AP program has seen a noticeable trend over the years, a trend of growth, Rob Tyvoll, the districts supervisor of instruction and staff development, told the board. Backup generator In order to keep computer servers and the telephone system running during an electrical blackout, the board approved a district project to add a generator at Hogan Administrative Center as part of Mondays consent agenda. Spiro Agnew is remembered for pleading no contest to tax evasion charges related to bribery and resigning as Richard Nixons vice president. But his signal political achievement was igniting a campaign that endured for more than four decades painting the mainstream media as biased, liberal and elitist. Anti-media sentiment had long been bubbling on the right when Agnew targeted what were then the Big Three television networks for representing a concentration of power over American public opinion unknown in history. The American people would rightly not tolerate this kind of concentration of power in government, Agnew declared in a 1969 speech in Des Moines. Is it not fair and relevant to question its concentration in the hands of a tiny and closed fraternity of privileged men, elected by no one, and enjoying a monopoly sanctioned and licensed by government? Agnew was unrelenting. With help from William Safire and Pat Buchanan, gifted Nixon speechwriters (and, later, columnists), he coined many memorable phrases, including the alliterative nattering nabobs of negativism. Rarely has a concerted political effort been more successful. Ever since, reporters, editors and producers have incessantly looked over their right shoulders, fearing theyd be assailed as secret carriers of the liberal virus. But the 2016 campaign has brought an intense progressive counterattack on media timidity toward the right. Coverage of Donald Trump has become the occasion for a new crisis of credibility. There is the matter of Trumps outsized access to television time during the primaries that dwarfed the attention given to his competitors. Liberals insist further that Trump is being held to a much lower standard than is Hillary Clinton, which, in turn, means that while relatively short shrift is given to each new Trump scandal, the same old Clinton scandals get covered again and again. Allowing Trump to dominate television time during the primary campaign has nothing directly to do with the liberal-conservative argument, but its something the media will have to answer for. This disadvantaged other Republican presidential candidates and reflected a hunger for ratings that overcame any concern for balance. But the coverage of Trump and Clinton does suggest that a media exquisitely sensitive to conservative criticism now overcompensates against the other side. Josh Marshall, the founder of the Talking Points Memo blog, offered one of the clearest statements of the problem. Theres little doubt, he wrote last week, that the scrutiny of the Clinton Foundation and Clintons emails has had a repetitive, hyper-skeptical and saturation coverage that hasnt been close to matched by any investigative story about Donald Trump. Its not remotely close. The issue is not asking the media to shy away from holding Clinton accountable. But journalists need to ask whether they have created a narrative about Clinton that paints her as less trustworthy than Trump even though the factual evidence is overwhelming that he lies far more than she does. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof pointed to PolitiFacts finding that while 53 percent of the Trump statements it checked were False or Pants on Fire howlers, only 13 percent of Clintons were. Theres no comparison with Trump, Kristof wrote. Ideological concerns aside, Marshall argued that Trumps repeated false statements were so brazen and repetitive as to put all of the medias traditional rules and practices under strain. Trump keeps saying that he opposed the Iraq War when the evidence from 2002 and 2003 shows he supported it. And the birther in chief who made his name on the right by insinuating for years that Barack Obama was ineligible to be president had the effrontery to say, falsely, that Clinton had started the whole thing. Yet journalists are often reluctant to call Trump a liar, even when he lies, lest their objectivity be questioned. Liberals complaints about the media are themselves typically dismissed as partisan, and sure, the liberals are furious. Theyre furious that the rights own partisan media campaign has intimidated journalistic institutions. Theyre furious that Clintons shortcomings are magnified and harped on while negative stories about Trump often get report-once-and-move-on treatment. And theyre furious when Trumps lies arent called lies. But critics motives shouldnt matter. What counts is whether their complaints are justified. For the first time since Agnew kicked off the great conservative campaign against the media, those who run our journalistic institutions are being systematically challenged as to whether they are so worried about condemnation from the right that theyre now demonstrably biased against the Democratic candidate for president. Thus has media criticism finally become fair and balanced. With some disappointment, I read the column by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Ben Stelter regarding college affordability (Sept. 16 Tribune). Mr. Stelters column was a rather poorly disguised attempt to turn the college affordability issue against Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and conceal the true source of the problem, which is the continual diverting of public funds from education into the pockets of special interests by Stelters Republican Party. Mr. Stelter appeared to be incensed that Feingold, in the four years after he was defeated for the U.S. Senate, earned a total of $450,000. To put that number in perspective, about 10 years ago, the average yearly compensation of a Fortune 500 CEO was $25 million. Feingolds yearly compensation was slightly more than that average CEOs daily compensation, and that CEO was certainly one of those benefiting from the public money diverted from education. A portion of Stelters irritation seemed to stem from the $8,000 that Feingold was paid for teaching a course at Stanford University. Extrapolating that sum to full-time employment for a year, it becomes $64,000 a yearly compensation that is about two-thirds of one days compensation for our average CEO. Mr. Stelter, exactly what do you think college professors should be paid, $7.25 an hour? Then, for that one course, you might have been able to get Feingold for less than $1,200. Even more nonsensical than Stelters column was one by Mary Clare Reim and Jamie Bryan Hall (Sept. 6 Tribune), which attempted to place the blame for the cost of college on students. The writers cite statistics from the American Time Use Survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that the average college student spends 8.3 hours per week in class and another 11 hours doing homework and other educational-related activities. How were these numbers obtained? Were they for part-time students only, full-time students, all students? The authors use the statistics to argue for eliminating public money entirely from education and letting the financing be done by loans because students are goofing off, partying, taking five and six years to graduate, and are, therefore, wasting public money. However, there is another, more cogent reason for the classroom times and graduation rate, and it goes right back to the diversion of public money from education to special interests. A substantial portion of students are going to school part-time and working 10 to 30 hours per week to help pay for college because tuition rates have risen as public money has been diverted. The two columns are designed to divert attention from the siphoning off of public money from education, to justify the presence of the moneylenders in the temple of education, and to divert the scrutiny of the Republican Partys culpability in the issue of college affordability. Lets just blame the students and anyone else we can think of. Dont believe them. Vote Tim Guth for judge in Minnesota 3rd Judicial District Its not often a former Green Beret becomes an attorney. It is not often an attorney has been both a criminal prosecutor and a defense attorney. And it is not often you have the opportunity to elect a judicial candidate with this breadth of experience and depth of skills. An attorney who now is requesting your support and vote in the November election. Tim Guth believes your judge should be elected, not appointed. Guth believes changes in process and practice need to be addressed and implemented. His opponent was appointed to complete the term of a retiring judge. She was not elected and is not the peoples choice. I am writing this letter to encourage each and every one of you to vote Tim Guth for judge in the 3rd Judicial District, seated in Houston County. Guth has 28 years of legal experience. He is man who has served his country, has served his clients, and will serve you the people with integrity, dependability and trust. Catherine Gray, Carver, Minn. WINONA, Minn. A Winona man is in custody, charged with the Sept. 2 burglary of a southeast Minnesota gunshop. Trinity James Wicka, 19, was charged in Wabasha County District Court with two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of felony theft in the early September break-in in Millville, Minn., that netted thieves nearly 80 handguns and a large amount of ammunition. According to the criminal complaint filed against Wicka, he and two accomplices forced open the front door of the gun shop in the early hours of the morning. Once inside, surveillance cameras captured the images of three masked people, one standing watch while the other two filled bags with guns and ammunition, at one point smashing a glass display case, leaving glass shards and blood behind. Later that day, Winona police responded to a report of an armed robbery, and, shortly after 10 p.m., stopped a silver SUV and arrested four suspects. Police recovered five handguns, four of which bore serial numbers associated with the Millville burglary, along with a backpack containing shards of glass similar to the shattered glass case. In subsequent days, investigation by local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms led to several informants who linked Wicka to guns stolen in the burglary. On Sept. 10, Wicka was arrested in Austin, Minn., on a felony-hold warrant. At the time of the arrest, he had a cut on his hand that would be consistent with an injury caused by smashing through glass. Charges in the burglary case were filed in Wabasha County District Court on Sept. 16 and a warrant was issued for Wickas arrest and detention. He remains in custody in the Winona County Jail. In related matters, two Winona men have been arrested and charged in Winona County District Court for possessing firearms stolen from the Millville gun shop. Cody Charles Dickenson, 19, is charged with receiving stolen property after police were told about a gun in a blue drawstring bag wrapped in a towel that had been hidden by Dickenson and a juvenile accomplice, then thrown in the river. Early Friday evening, a tip led police to a Winona apartment building, where they found a handgun stolen in the burglary stuck between a cushion and the arm of a sofa next to Jeremy Wayne Polus, 41, according to the criminal complaint. Polus, who has an extensive felony record, was taken into custody and faces a single charge of being an ineligible person in possession of a firearm. 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(4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (2) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (4) May 28 (4) May 27 (3) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (6) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (5) May 11 (4) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (8) Mar 11 (6) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (5) Mar 03 (7) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (7) Feb 03 (9) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (6) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (7) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (8) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (6) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (6) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (8) Nov 09 (8) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (8) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (3) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (5) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (5) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (5) May 26 (7) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 13 (5) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 10 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (3) May 07 (6) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (6) May 03 (4) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (7) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (7) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (4) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (5) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (5) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (3) Feb 29 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (5) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (2) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (1) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (5) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (4) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 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04 (5) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (3) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (5) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (4) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (7) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 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Kellogg's(NEW YORK) -- The latest in a line of food recalls that involve possible contamination with Listeria bacteria is a variety of the popular Eggo brand waffles manufactured by the Kellogg Company. The company announced a voluntary recall of 10,000 cases of its Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat waffles, prompting concern over the growing list of Listeria scares. Previous product recalls related to Listeria have included Blue Bell ice cream, frozen vegetables and raw milk. The bacteria at the center of these outbreaks, Listeria monocytogenes, is a stubborn pathogen that has proven difficult to eradicate. Here's a few things to know about the bacteria and about the U.S. food recall process: Which Waffles Have Been Recalled? The Kellogg Company has voluntarily recalled 10,000 cases of Kellogg Eggo Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles according to a statement released Monday. The recall affects products that were distributed in 25 states. The individual boxes of 10 waffles have the UPC Code 38000 40370 and a "Best If Used By Date" of November 21, 2017 or November 22, 2017. A full list of states affected can be found here. Why Were They Recalled? During routine testing, the company found a problem with its cleaning process, which left an opening for the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria to possibly contaminate this batch of Eggo waffles. There have been no reported illnesses related to the recalled Eggo waffles, according to the company statement Monday. "The recall is a result of tests, which identified the potential for contamination and a gap in our sanitation process. As soon as we learned of a potential concern, we moved quickly to identify any foods that might be impacted and resolve the issue, " a spokesman from the Kellogg Company said in a statement sent to ABC News. "This includes initiating a recall, halting production on the line in question, conducting a deep sanitary clean of the area and reviewing our cleaning and sanitation protocols with the relevant plant employees." Bill Marler, an attorney who specializes in food-borne illness, said the news was actually a good sign about the state of the food industry. "Companies should be encouraged to test and should [receive] a pat on the back for testing and recalling the product," said Marler. "That's the system working properly." What is Listeria? The bacteria Listeria monocytogenes can cause dangerous infections, especially in pregnant women or people with compromised immune systems. The bacteria, which is often associated with food-borne disease outbreaks, can cause fever, muscle aches, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. In severe cases, the infections can cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly everyone infected with the bacteria ends up with an "invasive" infection meaning it has moved outside of the gastrointestinal tract. The disease causes 1,600 illnesses and 260 deaths every year in the U.S. according to the latest statistics, 2011, from the CDC. Pregnant women are at least 10 times more likely than the general population to develop a Listeria infection -- and the illness has been associated with miscarriage, stillbirth and premature delivery, according to the CDC. Identifying the source of a Listeria outbreak can be notoriously difficult since the disease can incubate up to 70 days after exposure before a person develops symptoms. Additionally, the bacteria can continue to grow even at refrigerated temperatures. Cooking contaminated foods to recommended temperatures can kill the bacteria. How Is a Listeria Outbreak Detected? While the recalled Eggo waffles have not been linked to any cases of Listeria infection, health officials have been increasing surveillance for Listeria in recent years in an effort to combat outbreaks. Today, when a person is diagnosed with a Listeria infection, epidemiologists and other health experts can sequence the bacteria's whole genome -- essentially creating a unique DNA fingerprint -- and enter that into a federal database. If a second person is found to have that same kind of Listeria infection, officials can find a match. This means a Listeria outbreak can be tracked after just two people have been infected. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Americans are still frustrated with the economy although new economic information suggests people are working and pay is higher. Many people say the economic recovery has left them behind. They say they plan to voice their frustrations when they vote in the presidential election in November. Denise Alber from Stafford County in the state of Virginia is one of those people. She has two college degrees. She has decided not to work and to help her 98-year-old mother. Together, they receive a fixed income of nearly $25,000 a year. That total is just above the poverty rate for a family of two. She says the price for food, gasoline and electricity have increased, but her familys income has not gone up. "It's been very, very difficult to maintain that same standard of living, we have not maintained it. Alber believes that the middle class is not being treated fairly. Economic numbers show improvement New government data show that family incomes rose over five percent in 2015. That is the largest increase since 2007. That increase is another indication that the U.S. recovery continues. However, economists say incomes remain nearly two percent below levels in 2007, before the start of the Great Recession. Maya MacGuineas is the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. She understands why many Americans feel like the recovery has left them behind. She said Americans once took a job and the salary grew until retirement. I don't think it feels like that anymore. Economists say it is that sense of betrayal that is driving much of the anger during this election season. Some dissatisfaction is caused by a feeling that middle class incomes have remained the same while wealthy families have prospered. Elise Gould is senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. She says the difference between the highest and lowest earners has increased since the recession. The top five percent is still the only group that has completely returned back to their 2000 levels. So theyve made up lost ground. Theres inequality across the income distribution. Some economists blame the lack of an economic recovery for all on political disagreements in Washington. That is one of the reasons Denise Alper says the next election is so important. But, she is not hopeful that the leading candidates will be able to provide results. "In terms of the economy or politics, I'm very despondent in that regard. I don't think either candidate will help the middle class." Im Jonathan Evans. Mil Arcega at VOA News wrote this story. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story frustrate v. to cause someone to feel angry, discouraged or upset because of not being able to do something Great Recession n. a sharp decline in economic activity during the late 2000s betrayal n. to hurt someone by not giving help or by doing something morally wrong prosper v. to become very successful usually by making a lot of money recession n. a period of time in which there is a decrease in economic activity and many people do not have jobs despondent adj. very sad and without hope Indonesias Leuser Ecosystem is one of the few places where tigers, orangutans, elephants and rhinoceros all live in the wild. But there has been talk of possible development of the area for geothermal energy -- heat that comes from the Earth. Wildlife activists are worried about the plan. Rudi Putra is an adviser at the Leuser Conservation Forum. He asked, Why do they want to build it inside Acehs best remaining forest? He believes that if the plan is approved, the area will lose many, many animals. The Leuser ecosystem is in Aceh, Indonesias westernmost province. Last month, the provincial governor asked the central government to change zoning laws for 8,000 hectares of the ecosystem to permit geothermal exploration. Under the plan, a Turkish company would explore part of the 800,000 hectare Gunnung Leuser National Park. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared the park a World Heritage site. The re-zoning request was structured to help Indonesian President Joko Widodo. He has promised to add 35,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity to Indonesias energy grid by 2020. The plan is designed to increase renewable energy production. But environmentalists worry that such a development would start a series of events leading to Leusers collapse. Once the destruction is started, they say, officials would be powerless to stop it. Farwiza Farhan leads a group called Forest, Nature and Environment of Aceh. She says anywhere you put roads, destruction follows. She says timber companies and small farmers used the roads to gain entry to forests, leading to environmental destruction. Right now it is geothermal, but whats next? Even now they cant protect Leuser, she said. Federal laws for protecting wildlife are in place. But in recent years, illegal development and logging has been a problem. Some observers say the ecosystem is shrinking by about 5,500 hectares a year. In Sumatra, logging and land development for farming has destroyed almost one fourth of the forests since 2000. Recently, the Indonesian environment ministry ruled on the Aceh provincial governments plan. The environmental group Mongabay says the ministry denied the request. The group said it learned about the decision last week during a meeting of the International Union for Conservation and Natural Resources (IUCN) in Hawaii. The ministers director for protected areas told Mongabay that the minister received the proposal. But the result was disagreement with the rezoning, so thats that. [The plan] stops there, he said. Im Christopher Jones-Cruise. Cory Rogers in Indonesia reported this story for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story ecosystem n. everything that exists in a particular environment, including living things -- such as plants and animals -- and things that are not living -- such as rocks, soil, sunlight and water geothermal adj. of, relating to, or using the natural heat produced inside the Earth zoning n. a system of rules used to control where businesses and homes are built in a city or town site n. the place where something (such as a building) is, was or will be located grid n. a network of electrical wires and equipment that supplies electricity to a large area timber n. trees that are grown in order to produce wood log v. to cut down trees in an area for wood 2 This handout photo received from the Australia Zoo shows Shayne, a nine-month-old orphaned baby koala who has found solace cuddling a fluffy toy koala in the absence of his dead mum, as he recovers from the trauma of her death. The baby was taken to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, run by the family of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin. The month of September has been one of the busiest months for the arrival of refugees in the United States. Almost 79,000 refugees from 78 countries have come to the U.S. since October of last year. That is the largest number of refugees coming to America in 17 years, according to official data. The effort to bring more Syrians fleeing violence in their country has made September the busiest month for arrivals in 10 years. The U.S. refugee program is operated by several federal agencies. These agencies still expect that 85,000 refugees will arrive by the end of September. Lots of airplane tickets bought Michel Tonneau is a staff member with the U.S. refugee program at the International Organization for Migrations Washington office. He said his agency had bought enough airplane tickets for the targeted number of refugees to reach the U.S. by the end of the month. He said September is usually a busy time for the arrival of refugees. The refugee program tries to get close to the target number without exceeding it. The actual number of refugees often falls a little short of the target. That happened last year. President Barack Obama and the State Department decided 70,000 refugees would be allowed into the U.S., and the country admitted 69,933. European countries struggled to process hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers in 2015. President Obama announced an increase in the number of refugees the U.S. would accept for resettlement this year. The number rose to 85,000 from 70,000. The decision included the goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees. 'Crazy' months for admitting refugees The summer months saw a sharp increase in arrivals. The numbers increased because many Syrian families quickly came from Jordan. July and August were so crazy. We definitely felt the push, said Aerlande Wontamo, regional director for Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area. The social services group finds immediate housing for families of refugees. Someone from the service provides transportation, helps enroll children in school and provides support in a new country. Lutheran Social Services and other groups say they can meet the demand of even more refugees. The groups say they could assist 200,000 more refugees. The government set a goal of 100,000 for the coming fiscal year. The fiscal, or financial year, begins October 1. Media reports this week have suggested that Obama will raise that target to 110,000 refugees. Were excited to hear more refugees are going to be coming, said Wontamo. Thats a great need. The U.N. refugee agency registered 16.1 million refugees in 2015. Only about 107,000 of those individuals were relocated to countries that volunteer to take displaced persons. These countries include the U.S., Canada and Australia. Bill Canny heads migration and refugee services for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He said the current effort is not good enough. Those figures are incredibly low, Canny said. We can all do better, including the United States. Im Dorothy Gundy. Victoria Macchi at VOA News wrote this story. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story enroll v. to enter someone as a member of or participant in something figures n. numbers incredibly adj. difficult or impossible to believe The events of Bernard Schaeffer's life in the 1970s and his years since then, all of them behind bars, were examined in great detail during a mitigation hearing Monday at the Hall County Courthouse. Schaeffer was given a life sentence after murdering Donald Beery Jr. of Grand Island in 1977. Beery, killed on his 28th birthday, was the manager of the Ace Hardware Store. Schaeffer, who was 16 at the time, shot Beery 17 times after he and a friend robbed him of the day's proceeds from the hardware store. Convicted of first-degree murder, Schaeffer has been in prison since Oct. 3, 1977. Schaeffer, who is now 56, will be resentenced as a result of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case, Miller vs. Alabama. That case struck down laws in 28 states and the federal government that required mandatory, parole-ineligible life sentences for individuals whose homicide offenses occurred before the age of 18. Keeping juveniles in prison for life without any chance of parole, the court said, violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments' prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. Schaeffer is represented by Lincoln attorney Jeff Pickens of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy. Pickens is handling a number of such cases around the state. District Court Judge Teresa Luther presided over the hearing, which was attended by close to 30 people who don't want Schaeffer released from prison. At the time of his murder, Donald Beery and his wife, Edith, had three children 5 and younger. The youngest, Mandy, was 9 months old. Edith, now 66, has since remarried. She and her children were at Monday's hearing, along with Beery's three siblings, Denise Pascoe, Carol George and Dick Beery. Relatives traveled from as far away as California and Georgia. The hearing was a continuation of an abbreviated hearing earlier in the summer. Schaeffer spent seven hours on the stand Monday, questioned by Pickens and Deputy Hall County Attorney Sarah Carstensen. Megan Alexander, another deputy county attorney, is also prosecuting the case. As a youngster, Schaeffer was involved in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and took part in activities at the YMCA. His home life was a happy one, he said. But at the invitation of two fellow students, he tried marijuana when he a freshman at Northwest High School. Until they asked him to ride around in their car and get high, those two students had never spoken to Schaeffer. "I went from being a pretty good kid to smoking weed and doing hard drugs very quickly, once I was exposed to it," he said. He talked about how his father started having major medical issues beginning in the summer of 1975, when the family was on vacation in Branson, Mo. Prior to Beery's murder, Schaeffer carried out two armed robberies of a gas station. He also burglarized another gas station and helped his friends burglarize that station. He got the idea to rob Ace Hardware one evening when he saw a man exit the store carrying what appeared to be a money bag. That man, whom he didn't know, was Beery. A few weeks later, Schaeffer returned with a friend, George Lanzendorf. They hid under a trailer behind the store. The plan was to render Beery unconscious and take the money. Lanzendorf was going to knock Beery out, but changed his mind. Schaeffer wound up hitting Beery in the forehead with the butt of a semiautomatic handgun. But the blow didn't knock out Beery. He went down to one knee and "he came up angry," Schaeffer recalled. The three males got into Schaeffer's AMC Javelin, Beery sitting in the front seat. Lanzendorf sat in the back seat, holding the gun on Beery. At that point, Schaeffer did not have any thought of killing Beery, he said. "I just remember being extremely scared," he said. They ended up at a sandpit west of Grand Island, where Schaeffer told Beery to get out of the car. In pulling the trigger, Schaeffer used up most of two clips because he "didn't know how many times it would take to kill him." Schaeffer was not under the influence of drugs at the time of the murder, but he had smoked marijuana earlier that day, he said. The money bag contained $600, which Schaeffer split with Lanzendorf. Schaeffer had hoped to use the money to buy an ounce of cocaine and a pound of mescaline, which together cost $1,800. Instead, he bought an engine for his car. From 1977 to 1987, Schaeffer was in the Nebraska State Penitentiary. At his request, he was transferred to the South Dakota State Prison for seven years and the North Dakota State Prison for two and a half years, returning to Nebraska in 1996. He's been at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution since it opened in 2002. Schaeffer's father died in 2003, his mother in 2013. He was emotional as he described his mother's visits to the prison. He is currently more honest with his five best friends than he was with her. "I didn't share with her what my life in prison was like," he said. When Schaeffer entered prison, "drugs, sex and weapons were everywhere," he said. Many men wanted to have sex with him because he was young. After resisting many approaches, Schaeffer finally entered into a sexual relationship with a man in return for his protection from other inmates. Rape was common, and the longer he was in prison the more he realized "I was going to be victimized at some point," he said. Because more cameras have been installed in prisons, rape is much less common than it used to be, he said. Over the years in prison, Schaeffer has stabbed two inmates and engaged in a mutual stabbing with another. He used six years in segregation in the 1980s as a time for introspection and education. During that time, he did a lot of reading, he said. He now realizes that what he did to Beery was "a terrible thing," he said. He actually directs many prayers to Beery, whom he hopes is in heaven. "I like to think he heard what I was saying," he said. In addition to periodic misconduct reports, Schaeffer has been written up three times for drugs during his 39 years of incarceration. The last one was in about 2007. His last use of a drug, marijuana, was in 2010, he said. Monday's hearing was continued until 10 a.m. Nov. 22. Luther will issue sentencing at 1 p.m. Jan. 3. During a break in the hearing, two of Beery's children, Sarah and Mandy, said they don't believe Schaeffer has been rehabilitated. Mandy regretted that the hearing required her mother to relive the events of 1977. "It turned my mom's life completely upside-down," Sarah said. "My dad was the love of her life," Mandy said, adding that her father was the family's sole provider. An audience of about 100 people attended a town hall meeting with Gov. Pete Ricketts Monday afternoon at the Grand Island Public Library. Ricketts talked about tax reform and the state budget before fielding questions on a wide range of issues, including problems at the Grand Island Veterans Home, immigration, reforming Nebraska's prisons and what his favorite thing to do as governor is. Earlier that day, Ricketts held a town hall meetings in Hastings. Several residents from the Grand Island Veterans Home were at the Grand Island meeting and told Ricketts their concerns about "deteriorating conditions" at the Veterans Home. They told Ricketts that more veterans would have been at the Town Hall meeting to raise their concerns, but there was a ceremony recognizing Vietnam veterans at the home that prevented more from coming. After asking Ricketts to look into the veteran's concerns and presenting him with information documenting those concerns, Ricketts promised the veterans that he would immediately look into their concerns with John Hilgert, the director of the state's Health and Human Services Department, and get back with them with some answers. Don Shuda, Hall County Service Officer, was also at the meeting and told Ricketts he has heard the same concerns from other veterans living at the home. "There are issues at the home that need attention," Shuda told Ricketts. While those concerns the veterans had about their living conditions at the Veterans Home were not immediately addressed during the meeting, Ricketts said one of the challenges the Grand Island Veterans Home has that it shared with other state operating care facilities was a shortage of nurses statewide. A number of questions from the audience expressed concerns about illegal immigration and Syrian refugees in Nebraska. Ricketts said there is no way to know how many illegal immigrants were in Nebraska, but the U.S. needed to do a better job policing its border with Mexico, not only for people entering the U.S. illegally, but to stem the tide of illegal drugs coming into the U.S. from across the border. On where Syrian refugees are placed in the United States, Ricketts said where those refugees go is something states have no control over as it is a federal determination working with non-profit organizations. Ricketts expressed a concern about the lack of control states have on the refugee issue that he and other governors have. That concern is the lack of vetting of those refugees before they come to this country. A five-year civil war has raged in Syria that has taken millions of lives. Ricketts said because of the chaos of the situation on the ground in Syria, doing thorough a background check on those seeking refugee status is difficult and a concern to states where those refugees are placed. An audience member asked Ricketts to give them some background on how some of the problems facing the state's correctional system has arisen. Ricketts said a lot of work needs to be done to correct some of the long-term problems Nebraska penal system is facing, such as the high turnover rate of prison personnel. He said there are a number of ways to tackle the problems, such as changing the culture of operating a state prison and having a greater focus on rehabilitation of inmates to lower the amount recidivism at Nebraska prisons. Ricketts said changing that culture and instituting those reforms cannot happen "overnight" and will take time. "We need to do a better job of managing our prison system," Ricketts said. Members of the audience also questioned Ricketts about finding ways to keep retired people from moving from Nebraska to other states where there is a more favorable tax climate. Nebraska retirees face continuing high property taxes, taxation on retirement income and state income taxes on their Social Security payments and military retirement pensions. That question fitted into a larger theme Ricketts talked about in better managing state government and finding better efficiencies that can save taxpayer's dollars, which in turn, those savings can be applied to lowering property taxes. Improving Nebraska's tax climate is one of Ricketts' top priorities since being elected governor nearly two years ago. "A priority of my administration is to grow Nebraska," Ricketts said. "To do that is by creating opportunities, making government more effective, more efficient and more customer-focused." He said the number one focus to accomplishing those goals was to address the imbalance in the state's tax climate that acts as a deterrent to growth and a barrier to creating more higher-paying jobs in the state. Ricketts said since becoming governor, his administration has cut the growth of government from 6.5 percent when he took office to about 3.5 percent with the current budget. He said the only way to have sustainable tax relief is to control spending. "There is no silver bullet here," Ricketts said. "You have to control spending and allow your revenues to grow faster." Ricketts went on to explain that his administration will continue to implement better efficiencies to state government that saves money. But he also recognized the challenges ahead as state revenue experts continue to forecast flat revenue growth while the cost of government programs continue to growth, though at a slower rate. In a lighter note, Ricketts was asked by a third grader what has been his favorite thing since becoming governor. He told the young student that it was the opportunity to meet with fourth graders from across the state when they come each year to visit the State Capitol in Lincoln. Ricketts likes to quiz the students about state history, such as when Nebraska became a state and what is the correct term to describe a 150th anniversary. Only one person was able to answer the question about the date of Nebraska's admission into the union, March 1, 1867; and only one answered the question about what a 150th anniversary which is called, a sesquicentennial. Ricketts told the young boy to memorize those answers as he may quiz him when he becomes a fourth grader and visits the State Capitol with his class next year. For 27 years, Dr. Jim Smith had been performing CPR. Every patient remained unconscious until Rick Libsack. Libsacks case would change the way paramedics and emergency room staff, both in North Platte and across the state, looked at CPR. Libsack, 55, of North Platte, had a heart attack on July 25, 2015. He had a medical history of coronary artery disease and stent placement, according to a case study. Libsack was taken by ambulance to Great Plains Health and went into cardiac arrest just before entering the emergency room. Smith essentially sat on Libsack, pushing hard on his chest over and over to try to save his life. It wasnt an unique situation, except that Libsack was someone Smith knew but even thats not unusual when youve spent so long practicing medicine in the same place. But then Smith heard, Hi, Smitty. He looked into Libsacks eyes very much open and very much aware of what was happening. Im out for a while, and then bang Im opening my eyes and Dr. Smith is pushing down on me, Libsack said in an interview last year. Smith had performed CPR so forcefully that his patient, Libsack, actually woke up. Reports of CPR-induced consciousness are rare. This is the first time Ive seen it, Smith said. Libsacks heart required defibrillation, a process in which an electric shock is used to force the heart back into a normal rhythm. I was talking to him and I said, Rick, Im going to shock you, Smith said; he was quickly drowned out by the sound of the machine charging. Libsack was talking to him and Smith was at a loss. If CPR was powerful enough to wake Libsack, it was undoubtedly incredibly painful. That would combine with the panic Libsack must have felt, waking up under the lights of the ER with a doctor sitting on him, the fear that would come with the sound of a defibrillator charging, and the pressure as it was placed on his chest. Something had to be done. Smith told a nurse to get him some ketamine, which is used as a form of anesthesia as well as a treatment for chronic pain. Smith says the drug seems to have a unique use in CPR-induced consciousness. Its not the only thing you can use, but it works, Smith said, adding that it doesnt lower respiration or blood pressure like some alternatives. Smith administered the ketamine; Libsack became unconscious and was intubated. Over the next 20 minutes, he received multiple rounds of defibrillation. Eventually, he was stabilized and the cardiology team was able to take over. Smith worried that, while Libsacks case was the first hed seen, it might not be the last. Just months before, multiple Lucas 2 devices had been sent across the state, thanks to a $5.9 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The Lucas 2 Chest Compression System performs powerful, uniform chest compressions on a patient. Smith feared that while the machines were making a difference for patients who needed them, they could lead to more patients waking up during CPR. An unintended consequence of improving resuscitation techniques may be that we are subjecting aware patients to psychological trauma and the physical pain of CPR with increasing frequency, Dr. Don Rice, a technical consultant with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Office of EMS, wrote in a letter in the journal Resuscitation published in June 2016. Rice said that studies had shown that being awake during CPR can have profound emotional and psychological implications for the patients as well as those providing care. He cited a paper published in Resuscitation in 2014, in which 101 patients out of more than 2,000 cardiac arrest patients were interviewed about their experience: 46 percent had memories with seven major cognitive themes: fear; animals/plants; bright light; violence/persecution; deja vu; family; recalling events post-cardiac arrest. 9 percent reported near-death experiences. 2 percent described awareness with explicit recall of seeing and hearing actual events related to their resuscitation. One had a verifiable period of conscious awareness during which time cerebral function was not expected. Rice, Smith and several other physicians began working together to prevent the trauma patients may suffer from receiving high-quality CPR. Smith is the director of the state EMS board and began pushing for a protocol that would utilize ketamine in cases such as Libsacks. Nebraska EMS Model Protocols now call for paramedics to administer ketamine if its necessary. The physicians also compiled a paper, recently published in the British Paramedic Journal, providing doctors around the world with a new option for sedating patients who experience CPR-induced consciousness. Its all because of Rick, Smith said. Libsack is grateful that his unique case is going to make a difference in other patients lives. I think its really amazing that what is being done here in the North Platte medical community is so cutting edge that its getting worldwide attention, Libsack said recently. As a GPHealth patient and a heart attack survivor, I just happen to be one of the people who has benefited most from Dr. Smiths desire to try innovative patient care. LINCOLN A new study is confirming observations from western Nebraska sheriffs who have reported increases in marijuana-related arrests since Colorado legalized pot. Whether the uptick in such arrests is the result of Colorados law, however, is still up for debate. The rate of marijuana arrests in Nebraska grew 11 percent between 2013 and 2014, the year marijuana shops opened in Colorado, according to an analysis by the University of Nebraska at Omahas Nebraska Center for Justice Research. Counties with the highest rates of such arrests were generally in western Nebraska along the Colorado border and those along the Interstate 80 corridor. Researchers stopped short of fully tying the increases to Colorados legalization of recreational marijuana, and pointed to the possibility that numbers are up due to stepped-up law enforcement efforts. The UNO center presented the findings last week to the Legislatures Planning Committee, which looks ahead at policy issues. The numbers, which reflect data from 2014, the first full year of pot sales in Colorado, support anecdotal evidence from law enforcement officials who work in western Nebraska counties and along I-80. Such officials have reported seeing spikes in their marijuana-related arrests and tied the arrests to Colorado pot coming into Nebraska. The UNO center plans to survey law enforcement across the state to determine whether officers are coming across marijuana more often or if theyre cracking down on such crimes. Nebraska attacked Colorados recreational marijuana legalization by joining Oklahoma last year in suing that state to halt the recreational sales of marijuana, saying Colorado cannot sell a drug thats banned under federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case and, in April, Nebraska and Oklahoma asked to join an existing case before a lower court in Denver. Gov. Pete Ricketts said UNOs report is confirmation of the negative impact Colorados legalization of marijuana has had on Nebraska, especially our border counties. The governor called the study a warning to medical marijuana advocates who want to legalize marijuana by circumventing FDA approval and the appropriate legal process. Recreational marijuana is not legal in Nebraska, and the Nebraska Legislature earlier this year did not advance a bill that would have legalized medical marijuana. Opponents cautioned that such a law would pave the way for legalization of recreational marijuana. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, who has been vocal about the spillover of marijuana from Colorado and the problems it creates in Nebraska, was unavailable Monday to comment on the study. Among the UNO studys findings: Nebraska overall made 8,565 marijuana sales and possession arrests in 2014, up from 7,665 in 2013. Based on UNOs analysis, the state had 4.55 marijuana arrests per 1,000 residents in 2014, an increase from 4.10 arrests per 1,000 residents in 2013. Deuel County, where Interstate 76 enters Nebraska from Colorado, had the highest rate of marijuana arrests in both 2013 and 2014. However, that county also had the most notable decrease in arrests between 2013 to 2014. Banner County, which is along the Wyoming border in the Nebraska Panhandle, had the largest increase in the rate of marijuana arrests from 2013 to 2014. The number of possession arrests reached a six-year high in 2014, at 8,135. The majority of the increase happened in counties along the I-80 corridor. Overall, increases in marijuana possession arrests have been more substantial than sale and manufacture arrests. Marijuana sales arrests statewide trended downward from 2009 to 2013, but reversed direction in 2014. The state saw 430 sales arrests in 2014, up from 372 in 2013. Nebraska spent an estimated $10.2 million on enforcement of marijuana laws in 2014, a 12 percent increase from dollars spent in 2013. Counties along I-80 were responsible for the majority of the increase. During last weeks hearing, State Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala cautioned that law enforcement agencies in his western Nebraska district cant keep up with the rise in marijuana activity. Counties like Deuel County have a limited amount of revenue sources to pay for this, he said. State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston wondered whether higher marijuana-related penalties in Nebraska would curb offenses. If word gets onto the street that instead of a $500 charge, its a $5,000 charge, would that have some deterrent? he asked. Jared Ellison, a researcher in UNOs justice research center and doctoral student, said most evidence about deterrents shows that offenders will offend anyway. But higher penalties may be the states only option, he said, aside from legalizing recreational pot. The largest cable TV provider in the US plans to launch a wireless network. Today Comcast CEO Brian Roberts confirmed the rumors that the company would start offering wireless services in 2017. Comcasts wireless offering will actually look a lot like Googles Project Fi: phones that use Comcasts network will connect to WiFi hotspots whenever possible, only using cellular data when WiFi isnt available. A key difference is that Comcast already has a network about 15 million WiFi hotspots that phones can tap into. When WiFi isnt an option, phones will connect to Verizons network. Rather than build its own cellular towers, Comcast will operate as an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) by piggybacking on Verizons infrastructure. Interestingly, this means that Comcast will be using Verizons network to compete more directly with Verizon one of the nations largest cellular providers, which has also moved into the pay TV space in recent years. Wondering why Verizon would let Comcast use its network? As PC World notes, Comcast and a group of other cable companies sold a portion of wireless spectrum to Verizon 5 years ago, and in the process they received an option to resell Verizon service. While this could all be good news for Comcast, it remains to be seen what it means for potential customers. While the combination of Verizons network and Comcasts WiFi hotspots should lead to reliable coverage, we dont know how much the service will cost or if there are any advantages over using a competing service. I wouldnt be surprised if Comcast offers discounts to customers who also sign up for TV and home internet bundles, but I wonder if theres any reason for people who arent already Comcast subscribers to consider the new service once it becomes available. It is often asserted that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 proved that HWA was right and he really did see the future. This of course is nonsense. Herbert W. Armstrong said that Christ would return within twenty years in his book Mystery of the Ages. (PCG has since deleted those words so someone in there knows HWA spoke nonsense.) How convenient for them to forget this. Also Herbert W. Armstrong never said the Soviet Union would collapse. He thought it would survive intact until a few years after Christ's return. It shows how biased some many in the COGs are that they never seem to notice this. This inconvenient truth is just tossed into the memory hole. It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most. So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning". Yes, we know a lot of people use the hashtag #travelgoals and very generously so, but we promise this time we really mean it. Why goals? Because Alia Bhatt just traveled all the way to Spain for just a weekend, to celebrate her best friend's birthday. If you had a best friend who you called 'sister/boyfriend/best friend/ love/family/everything', you would probably travel all the way to Spain for a weekend too. (Not that anyone needs an excuse to travel with your girls) Happy birthday sister/boyfriend/best friend/ love/family/everything only ur face could bring me across the globe for just one day! I love you to be moon and back! Here's to many more crazy birthdays and lives together till death do us part haha A photo posted by Alia (@aliaabhatt) on Sep 18, 2016 at 10:38am PDT A sneak peak to her instagram account will reveal what a blast Alia had. Wild with the tribe #finallyspainsqaud2016 #happybirthdaykanchu A photo posted by Alia (@aliaabhatt) on Sep 18, 2016 at 2:50am PDT Saat samundar paar main tere peeche peeche aa agayi #surprisesurprise #happybirthdaykanchu #soulsistersforlife A photo posted by Alia (@aliaabhatt) on Sep 18, 2016 at 3:18am PDT Ofcourse, who can resist taking a selfie (or many selfies) while on a vacation. Palms trees and a 100 degrees A photo posted by Alia (@aliaabhatt) on Sep 18, 2016 at 1:13pm PDT Here are some more photos taken from Bhatt's friend and birthday girl Akanksha Ranjan's instagram account. now we're looking pretty in a hotel bar #birthdayvibing A photo posted by Kanch (@akansharanjankapoor) on Sep 18, 2016 at 3:07am PDT Every time that i feel you've given me the best birthday- you manage to top yourself!!! Here's to another year of having it all I LOVE YOU #bestsurpriseever A photo posted by Kanch (@akansharanjankapoor) on Sep 18, 2016 at 3:20am PDT Looks like Alia had way too much fun. So, when are you planning your next trip? In a Facebook post dated 17 September, Justice Katju said, "Amitabh Bachchan is a man with nothing in his head, and since most media persons praise him, I doubt there is anything in their heads too." Needless to say, after getting trolled for his view, he tried to further his point. However, Amitabh Bachchan had a relatively quietened response to this. Bachchan said on Monday that he has no rivalry with former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju. "He (Katju) is right I don't have anything inside my mind. He is right...My head is 'khalas' (finished)," Bachchan said when asked about the comment. The former Supreme Court Judge is known for his hard-hitting and often controversial views on a rash of issues. At a time when the veteran actor is receiving praise for his performance in Pink, a social thriller which revolves around the issue of women's empowerment, Justice Katju had a different take on his on-screen talent. The 73-year-old said Justice Katju and he went to the same school in Allahabad. Was there any old rivalry? "There is no rivalry between us. I will have to fold my hands and stand before him. He is a judge," said Big B, who was in Mumbai to talk about the response to Pink. When Justice Katju was asked to elucidate his comment on Amitabh, he posted: "Amitabh Bachchan's films, like those of Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, etc are like drugs, they take the people to a world of make believe, and they are therefore very useful to our rulers since they keep people pacified." "Apart from being a good actor, what is there in Amitabh Bachchan? Has he any scientific ideas for solving the country's massive problems? There are none. From time to time he appears on some media channels giving sermons and homilies, and from time to time he is shown to be doing good deeds, but who can not do this with tons of money." (With inputs from PTI and IANS) A documentary film about protests against two Coca-Cola plants in Mehendigunj has been denied a censor certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification. A film cannot be publicly exhibited in Indian without being passed by the CBFC. The documentary titled Charlie and the Coca Cola Company has been made by Jharana Jhaveri and Anurag Singh, under the Janmadhyam Productions banner. A 12-minute trailer for the film, released on YouTube in February last year, depicts the protests at Mehendigunj, about 40 km from Varanasi. As speakers talk about how the cola company is "stealing" their water, and protest that progress should be for everyone, not just the corporate elite, the police cracks down on the hundreds gathered there, dispersing them from the spot. In a post shared on Facebook, the filmmakers stated that the CBFC apparently took the decision to not pass the film back in May. Jhaveri and Singh were apprised of the decision in a letter from the Board received only this month. The reason for refusing certification to the documentary is stated in one line: "The film, more than education, is misleading and political motive [sic]. Hence the film is not passed in its present form". The CBFC's decision has caused consternation to filmmakers who state that under the Cinematograph Act of 1952, concerns over a film's political content are not included as a reason to deny certification. The Cinematograph Act of 1952 states that: "A film shall not be certified for public exhibition if, in the opinion of the authority competent to grant the certificate, the film or any part of it is against the interests of [the sovereignty and integrity of India] the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or involves defamation or contempt of court or is likely to incite the commission of any offence." It isn't clear which part of this mandate the CBFC believed Charlie and the Coca Cola Company was breaching. As per the guidelines, the film's makers can now approach the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal to contest the CBFC's decision. If the FCAT doesn't rule in their favour, they can also approach the High Court. In the meantime, the Charlie and the Coca Cola Company team has shared the first part of their documentary on their Facebook page: Sunny Leone was gung-ho about the idea of making a documentary on her life with photographer-turned-director Dilip Mehta. However, shockingly, when it came to the premiere of Mostly Sunny at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11, Leone was a no-show. The actress and her husband Daniel Weber decided to give the premiere and a lunch, organized by Mehta and his sister Deepa Mehta the same afternoon, a miss. So what changed between the shooting of the documentary and its screening? According to this DNA report, Weber claimed that they couldnt attend the premiere as they had a bar mitzvah in the family. But there might be more to the story. According to reports, Leone was unhappy about certain topless scenes in the documentary and asked the director to snip them at the editing table a request that went unheeded. In an interview to Hindustan Times, Mehta said, Days ahead of the premiere, she called me and demanded that I delete the stray topless clips that I have used from her adult filmsThat is rather surprising coming from Sunny, who claims on camera that she does not give a damn about what people think of her past as an adult entertainer. The two-hour documentary charts Leones journey from Karenjit Kaur Vohra of Ontario to her emergence as an adult star and finally, her breakthrough in Bollywood. Mehta shot Leone over a period of two years in Canada, the US, London, Malaysia and India. Mostly Sunny received mixed reviews in Canada. While the film is scheduled for worldwide release in December, it will have its Indian premiere at MAMI Festival in October. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's renewable energy push just got a huge boost. Betting big on the country's renewable energy space, France-based state-run power company EDF Group has announced plans to set up 2,000 MW of power projects at an investment of $2 billion. "We are aiming 2 GW in the joint venture, $1 billion per GW, so that is $2 billion. We will have hundreds of millions of dollars that will be invested in this country from EDF over the next years," The Economic Times reported quoting EDF Energies' chief executive officer Antonie Cahuzac. Cahuzac said his company wants to tap India's wind and solar energy segment, particularly the states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, which have quality wind, the ET report said. In the solar power space, Cahuzac said EDF will bid for projects assuming 21 percent efficiency in the photo voltaic solar segment. He also said equipment prices used for wind energy could fall 20-30 percent over the next three to five years, the ET report added. Besides EDF, Japan's SoftBank Group, too, has evinced interest in the country's solar power play. The Japanese major is evaluating setting up a joint venture manufacturing unit for making solar panels. "SoftBanks strategy for India includes solar panel manufacturing, a Bloomberg report said quoting Manoj Kohli, executive chairman of SB Energy. Even as Modi has set a target of 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2022, just around 40 percent of the country's 1.2 GW of annual solar-cell manufacturing capacity in operational, the Bloomberg report said. Last year, a Bloomberg report said that Chinese companies Liang Wengen and Nan Cunhui were looking to pump in $5 billion into Indias renewable power sector space. Liangs Sany Group had said it will install 2,000 megawatts of capacity and generate 1,000 jobs from 2016 to 2020 at a cost of $3 billion, the Bloomberg report said. According to the government of India's new and renewable energy sector report published last month, India's renewable sector has a total installed capacity of 44.2 GW as on 30 August, 2016. This accounts for 15 percent of the total installed capacity. Of the total renewable capacity, wind energy capacity accounts for the largest chunk with 27.2 GW, followed by solar power capacity at 7.8 GW, small hydro power capacity at 4.3 GW and Biomass at 5 GW, respectively. During Budget 2015, the government had said, The Ministry of New Renewable Energy has revised its target of renewable energy capacity to 1,75,000 MW till 2022, comprising 100,000 MW Solar, 60,000 MW Wind, 10,000 MW Biomass and 5000 MW Small Hydro. As per the government's current assessment, the Centre hopes to generate 302 GW of wind, 750 GW of solar power, 25 GW of biomass and 20 GW from small hydro power, the report said. The aim is to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix. The overall target for the energy sources is 175 GW. However, experts state that the country's renewable energy policy interventions have failed to take a holistic approach. They say the current national policies such as preferential-grid access, feed in tariffs (FiT), renewable purchase obligations (RPO) on utilities, tax holidays, RE certificate (REC) trading and accelerated depreciation only address techno-economic barriers, said a recent article in the Economic & Political Weekly report. The phase I of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project has received the approval of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), according to various media reports. The Rs 9,393 crore project was given the approval at the meeting held on 23 August, chaired by Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave. The standing committee of NBWL comprises of two members of NBWL, representatives of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Institute of India (WII), state governments and user agency who was to visit the site visit and submit a report on the impact of project on habitat and wildlife of Panna Tiger Reserve. The interlinking of the Ken and Betwa rivers in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh is aimed at providing water to Bundelkhand, an area in Uttar Pradesh fighting continuous drought. For the project - the first of the NDA government's ambitious mega river linking programme - the government will have to divert 5,258 hectares of forest. This will include 4,141 hectares of Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, a report in The Indian Express said. A report in The Economic Times said as much as 105 sq km of tiger habitat will be lost. Apart from the NBWL nod, the project now requires approvals from the Forest Advisory Committee and the Environment Ministry, said the ET report. An IE report said in order to make good for the loss of the tiger habitat, "Nauradehi, Rani Durgavati and Ranipur wildlife sanctuaries will be integrated in Panna Tiger Reserve" and project-affected villagers will be rehabilitated. According to the ET report, the Chhatarpur and South Panna Division will also be notified as a buffer of the protected reserve area. The report, citing the minutes of the meeting, says that Uma Bharti's water resources ministry has agreed to all conditions to get the approval from the wildlife board. As per the conditions, no more mining will be given in the tiger reserve area and power generation units will only be set up outside it. Bharti had in June termed the delay in clearance to the Ken-Betwa river-linking project a "national crime and threatened to go on hunger strike if work on it gets prolonged". Work on the project was expected to take off from December last year. However, it has been delayed for want of wildlife clearances. "I consider causing delay to the project as national crime. I am not saying it's treason, but it indeed is a national crime. Because you are denying livelihood for 70 lakh people," Bharti had told reporters in New Delhi. An Expert Appraisal Committee of the environment ministry had in October 2015 raised objections to the project saying it will impact the Panna Tiger Reserve "very significantly" and suggested a careful study of the project before granting approval. A total of 10 villages consisting of 1,585 families are likely to be affected by this project. The project envisages construction of a dam across river Ken in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh to irrigate 6.35 lakh hectare area of land, drinking water purposes and generation of 78 MW hydropower. The project comprises two powerhouse of 2x30 MW and 3x6 MW each, two tunnels of 1.9 km long upper level, 1.1 km long tunnel lower level and a 221 km long Ken-Betwa link canal, proposed on the left bank of the river. The project will provide irrigation facilities for 6,35,661 hectares of land in Panna, Chhattarpur, Tikamgarh districts in Madhya Pradesh, and Banda, Mahoba and Jhansi districts in Uttar Pradesh. The project was first mooted in the early 1980s but was actively taken up by the NDA government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It was then challenged in the Supreme Court, which finally gave the nod in 2013. The project was allotted Rs 100 crore in 2014-15 to expedite preparations of detailed project reports (DPRs). Apart from the Ken-Betwa linking project, the other such projects in the works are the Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga, involving Assam, West Bengal and Bihar; Par Tapi Narmada Link to transfer water from the water surplus regions of Western Ghats to the water deficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch and Damanganga-Pinjal link, which will provide water for the Greater Mumbai. With PTI inputs Twitter Inc said on Monday it would lay off some employees and halt engineering work at one of its development centres in India's technology hub Bengaluru. The layoffs will impact less than 20 employees at the development centre, according to a source familiar with the matter. The employees were part of ZipDial, an Indian mobile communications startup bought by Twitter last year, the source said. "Over the past 18 months, we have incorporated the technology and talent of our ZipDial acquisition across our company," said a company spokesperson. Twitter said it remained committed to India as a strategic market and would continue to maintain a presence in the city. The company had 3,860 employees globally as of June 2016. However, it did not disclose the number of employees it had in India. The two main excuses elusive liquor baron Vijay Mallya used for long to not return to India and pay back the Rs 9,000 crore loans his defunct airline, Kingfisher Airlines, owes to 17-Indian banks are practically non-existent now. If Mallya still doesnt return and face the law of the land, the Narendra Modi government should call out his bluff and convince the UK government, where he currently lives, to initiate a clampdown on Mallya. Mallya left the country on 2 March after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) corrected an inadvertent error in their look-out notice and precisely a week before banks moved Supreme Court seeking to detain him. No media trial now Mallyas first excuse was that the media trial, both in India and UK, which he had described as a raging fire and witch hunt, prompted him to consider that the time was not right then to return to India. TV anchors have stopped spitting fire on him for some time now and newsrooms have largely run out of ideas on the Mallya issue, except when a fresh court warrant/summon is issued against him (there have been quite of them by now). So, for now, there is no witch-hunt for sure. Nearly seven months after Mallya flew off to safer lands, even the courts seem to have developed a sense of humor while describing his case. On Monday, the Bombay High Court made an interesting remark observing that the businessman aptly named his company 'Kingfisher', and like the bird of the same name he too flew away without bothering about boundaries. Does anyone know why he (Mallya) came up with the name 'Kingfisher' for his entity? In history no one could have come up with a more apt name for this entity. Because Kingfisher is a bird that can fly away...it knows no boundaries...no boundaries can stop it. Just like how no one could stop him (Mallya)," the PTI quoted Justice S C Dharmadhikari, who was part of the bench hearing an appeal filed by the Service Tax department and also another petition filed by the department seeking to recall the auction sale of Mallya's private aircraft. Even politicians like Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi seems to have almost forgotten the issue after a short-lived protest in Parliament and a blame session on the Modi-government. Passport excuse no longer valid Mallyas second excuse, of not having a valid passport (his passport was revoked by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in April on the recommendations of the Enforcement Directorate) too is irrelevant now. The government has clarified that Mallya doesnt need a passport should he wish to return to the country, face the law and pay back the money he owes to the banks. All that Mallya has to do is approach the local Indian Embassy or High Commission to get a travel document. Our position is very clear. Any Indian citizen who is outside India and who does not have a valid travel document for any reason, only has to approach the nearest Indian embassy or the high commission and apply for an emergency certificate, said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup, according to PTI. Swarups comments came after Mallya recently conveyed to a Delhi court that he wants to return, but is unable to travel back as his passport has been suspended by the Indian government. Will Mallya return? In the backdrop of Mallyas two excuses vanishing into thin air, the question is: Will he now return to the country and pay back the money he owes to the banks? Or will he continue his delaying tactics? So far, Mallya has continued to adopt a confrontational approach with banks and the government on the issue. Unlike other borrowers who adhere to rules and pay back loans, Mallya wants to settle the loan on his own terms. Even the Rs 9,000 crore figure is disputed. Take for instance, Mallyas response in the 29 April interview to UK-Based Financial Times on the actions being taken against him by the Indian government. We wish to settle at a reasonable number that we can afford and banks can justify on the basis of settlements done before, Mallya said in the FT interview, adding, by taking my passport or arresting me, they are not getting any money. Mallyas intention to pay back the money was under question from the very beginning considering that the Kingfisher loan, for which he offered personal guarantee to the banks, turned into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) way back in 2011-2012. Since then, till the time the issue grabbed intense media attention when Mallya left the country in March, there were hardly any serious attempts from the part of Kingfisher to settle their dues. If Mallya wanted to settle it, he could have done it much before the liability increased on account of the interest getting accrued on the principal. Mallya later questioned the Rs 9,000 crore figure. Though Mallya offered to pay part of the loans to banks, the latter could not accept the offer since that would set a bad precedent for other defaulters. Mallya-Kingfisher case As Firstpost noted in an earlier article, the Mallya-Kingfisher case hasnt made any serious progress six months after the issue broke out. This is despite several attempts by the bank consortium, the government and investigative agencies bid to nail Mallya and get him to repay the money and after courts issuing warnings against him. The case is pretty much at the point where it all started in 2012. Mallya has so far denied any wrongdoing such as diversion of funds or misuse. Now, the Narendra Modi government is said to be readying to invoke a 21-year-old bilateral treaty with the United Kingdom to get him back. Under the 1995 treaty-- Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)-- countries can seek "transfer of persons, including persons in custody, for the purpose of assisting in investigations or giving evidence in proceedings". The larger point is this: Mallya has clearly run out of excuses not to return to the country and face the law of the land. It is time that the liquor baron takes a flight back and comes clean on the massive issue of loan default and alleged financial irregularities. That is, if he intends to pay back the money to the banks, which is ultimately public money. Else, the government should call out his bluff. India is unlikely to resort to any military action, whether direct or indirect, against Pakistan to avenge the Uri terror attack in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed. It seems that the military commanders have advised the Modi government against any "rash military action". Their rationale, it is understood, is that Pakistan at the moment is fully prepared to negate any such actions. The military commanders seem to suggest therefore that it is better to wait for a more opportune time to strike at the terrorists (including their top leaders) and terrorist camps in Pakistani or Pakistan-controlled territories. The standard phrase thus is "at a time of our choosing" for conducting such strikes or raids in a graded, sequenced and synchronized way. In other words, the hybrid wars that Pakistan has imposed on India, of late, will remain unchallenged for some more time. "Hybrid war", a term popularised by the American strategic analyst Frank Hoffman, means multiple types of warfare being used simultaneously by the adversary. Here, it will engage in irregular warfare, often taking the help of the non-state actors in its territory, apart from preparing for the conventional war to serve its ends. And when one talks of the irregular war, it involves terrorist mercenaries, deadly criminals, drug-traffickers and insurgents etc. in the enemy country. The idea here is to unleash indiscriminate violence (often communal), coercion and criminal disorder. At the strategic levels, hybrid wars ensure that there is a clear linkage between the regular and irregular (the so-called non-state actors); in fact, in many a case the distinction between them gets blurred. They are operationally integrated and tactically fused. In fact, under hybrid war, the warfare becomes quite unrestricted. Multiple means - military but more non-military - are used against the enemy. Hacking into websites, targeting financial institutions, terrorism, using the media, and conducting urban warfare are among the methods championed. There are no rules or norms of war; in fact nothing is forbidden. These elements of hybrid war perfectly match Pakistans policies towards India. No wonder Pakistan did not find any role of Hafiz Saeed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. It does not find anything wrong in Saeeds relentless hate-speeches against India. Similarly this time too, it will not find any role of Masood Azhar, chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, in the Uri attack. Why is it that India is not able to wage such hybrid wars against Pakistan? What is it that India is lagging behind Pakistan in sub-conventional war capability (also called strategic asymmetry)? These are the questions the Modi government should mull over. One often comes across India developing 'Special Forces' for carrying out surgical strikes in the neighbouring region if its national interests so dictate. But then the fact remains that we have too many of such 'Special Forces'. The first in the series came with the Special Frontier Force (SFF) or Establishment 22, a force raised post the 1962 Sino-Indian War with US help and manned by exiled Tibetans for behind-enemy-lines activities if the Chinese were to launch another invasion of India. Then, we had the Meghdoot Force raised in Armys Western Command during the 1965 Indo-Pak War. The Army today has its Para (Special Forces). In course of time, the Navy and Air Force have built their respective special forces - Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of the Navy and Garud of the Air Force. Then, we have raised the National Security Guard (NSG). However, the fact remains that despite having so many Special Forces, the only time they have been used outside the country (other than the United Nations operations) was in 1987 as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, where all the then three Para (Commando) battalions in conjunction with MARCOS gave a good account of themselves. One is told that following 26/11 attacks on Mumbai in 2008, the then Air Force Chief Fali Homi Major had told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he was prepared to strike inside Pakistan; but he could not do so because the intelligence services could not provide adequate digital data on Lashkar camps. Then Army chief Deepak Kapoor also demurred, saying the Army was not prepared for a brief surgical war. Remarkably, the Army speaks the same language even now. Be that as it may, India is perhaps the only country whose Special Forces have no centralised command structure. We have a variety of Special Forces under varied chains of command ranging from Services Headquarters for Military Special Forces, NSG under the Ministry of Home Affairs, SFF under the Cabinet Secretariat. In early 1990s, the then Chief of Naval Staff had put up a proposal to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for integrating the Special Forces of the Services; but in vein. Proposals to put the NSG, particularly its Special Action Group (SAG), under the command the Army have also remained on paper. As a result, the variety of Indian Special Forces have little synergy, thereby failing to optimize their potent combat capabilities. And this is all the more surprising, given the fact that one of the reasons India bought six C-130 Hercules transport aircraft was for special-forces operations. There have been speculations that the Modi government is about to give the green signal for the setting up a Special Operations Command (SOC) to counter terrorism and conduct unconventional warfare and covert operations in the country and the neighbourhood. The MoD has apparently approved the SOC in principle and the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, is likely to give the final approval. Headed by a Lieutenant-General, the proposed command will report to the National Security Advisor (NSA) and work closely with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) as the commandos may have to carry out strategic strikes outside Indian boundaries. In fact, this proposal predates to the UPA government which had set up the 14-member Naresh Chandra Taskforce on National Security. The Taskforce in its recommendations submitted to the Prime Minister in 2012 had suggested setting up three commands, including Special Operations, Cyber and Aerospace, to keep abreast with the fast changing nature of war fighting. The Cyber command is supposed to be headed by a Vice Admiral and the Aerospace command will be managed by an Air Marshall. Once put in shape, the Special Operations Command will see the integration of the commandos of Special Forces of the Army, MARCOS of the Navy and Garud of IAF. They will deal with "out of area" contingencies. While, personally, I am in favour of the creation of the SOC, it will be little unrealistic to expect that it will deliver results in near future. In my considered view, the SOC will have teething problems and it will take years for becoming effective. All said, if the US Navy Seals succeeded in conducting an Abottabad type operation that killed Osama bin Laden, it was because the CIA provided adequate intelligence inputs for the operation. In contrast, India's intelligence capabilities are quite limited, the contrary claims of the Research Analysis wing (RAW) notwithstanding. Another thing we should be realistic about is that we simply do not have the technological assets that the US has for these operations. We have then huge political constraints in the sense that our political class is not reputed for taking hard decisions, particularly when it pertains to launching cross-border commando raids. Here one would like to quote novelist Aravind Adiga, who is really apt in describing what our leaders say regarding New Delhis response to the next major terrorist strike: The government will immediately threaten to attack Pakistan, then realise that it cannot do so without risking nuclear war, and finally beg the US to do something. Once it is clear that the government has failed on every front military, tactical and diplomatic against the terrorists, senior ministers will appear on television and promise that, next time, they will be prepared and teach Pakistan a lesson. This being the case, the only thing India can do effectively, and it seems to be doing so, is to isolate Pakistan internationally by launching a series of diplomatic offensives. The very fact that Russia has called off its joint military exercise with Pakistan is a victory for Indian diplomacy. New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday hit out at Delhi Police over the murder of a 21-year-old woman in Burari, saying the force should "focus" on ensuring the security of people rather than "harassing" AAP legislators. "Shocking incident in Delhi of the stabbing of the 21-year-old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizen's security than harassing AAP MLAs (sic)," Sisodia tweeted. Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-yr old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizen's security than harassing AAP MLAs. Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) September 20, 2016 Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, "We have sought a fact report from Delhi Police Commissioner over the incident. Whatever happened is very sad." The accused, identified as Surender Singh, carried out the frenzied attack when the victim, Karuna, was walking through the area at 9am. The woman was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight by her 34-year-old stalker, who attacked her nearly 22 times this morning as passersby looked on. A man tried to approach but backed off and left from there. Some onlookers later caught Singh and handed him over to the police. Singh had been stalking the girl for a year but she resisted his advances, said a senior police officer. The victim used to learn computer at a training centre owned by the accused and he fell in love with her, police said. The victim's family had lodged a complaint against the stalker six months back but both the families reached a compromise and the accused had stopped stalking her, said the victim's family. However, he attacked her on Tuesday and brutally killed her, police said. Srinagar: Curfew was on Tuesday lifted across Kashmir, except from six police station areas of Srinagar, in view of the improving situation, even as normal life remained disrupted in the Valley for the 74th straight day. Curfew remains in force in five police station areas of downtown (interior city) and Harwan in Srinagar, while the curbs have been lifted from elsewhere in the Valley, a police official said. He said curfew was clamped in Harwan Police Station areas on Tuesday in view of the fourth day of mourning of a boy killed in security forces' action on Friday. The official said the curbs on the movement of people were lifted, from other areas where curfew was in force on Monday, because of the improving situation. Barring stray incidents of stone pelting in Sopore and Shopian, overall situation remained under control across the Valley on Tuesday and there was increased traffic and movement of people between various districts and towns of the Valley including in some areas of Srinagar city, the official said. He, however, said that restrictions on the assembly of people under Section 144 CrPC continued to remain in force in the Valley. Meanwhile, normal life continued to remain paralysed in Kashmir for the 74th consecutive day due to restrictions and separatist sponsored strike. The separatists, who are spearheading the current agitation in the Valley, have extended the protest programme till 22 September. They have also asked people to observe Tuesday as Women's Day. They have not announced any period of relaxation in the strike for the week. Shops, business establishments and petrol pumps continued to remain shut, while public transport was off the roads. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions also continued to remain shut. Postpaid mobile telephone services were restored last night, while the outgoing calls on prepaid numbers continued to remain snapped across the Valley. Mobile Internet services also remained suspended. As many as 81 people, including two cops, have been killed in the unrest that broke out a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir on 8 July. New Delhi: A Delhi Police team probing the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, is in the US to collect her viscera samples that have been lying with an FBI lab for nearly a year now. The team is likely to return by the end of the week. The US agency has already given its report which will be discussed with a medical board, a senior police officer said. It is just a routine exercise to bring back the samples lying with the FBI lab. The team will also seek details on some points mentioned in the US probe agency's lab report, he said. The step was taken after the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter reminded Delhi Police to get the samples back as was asked by the FBI lab. 51-year-old Sunanda was found dead in a suite at a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of 17 January, 2014, a day after her spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on Twitter over her alleged affair with Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Delhi Police had in January last year registered a case of murder in connection with Sunanda's death. An Aiims medical board had earlier found poisoning as the reason for her death following which the police had sent her viscera samples to the FBI lab in the US. The FBI lab report, sent to Delhi Police in November last year, endorsed the findings of the Aiims forensic report. As police could not firm up about cause of the death based on the FBI report, they requested a medical board of Aiims to analyse its content. Several persons including Shashi Tharoor have been questioned in connection with Sunanda's death. The police have also conducted polygraph test on six persons, all prime witnesses in the case, including Tharoor's domestic help Narayan Singh, driver Bajrangi and Sanjay Dewan, a close friend of the couple. In February, Tarar was questioned about her relation with the Congress leader and his wife, her fight with Sunanda over Twitter, and other issues revolving around Sunanda's death. Balasore (Odisha): In a bid to galvanise its air defence capabilities, India on Tuesday successfully test-fired a new, long-range surface-to-air missile jointly developed with Israel from a defence base off Odisha coast. The long-range missile, a product of a joint venture between India and Israel, was test launched from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur near Balasore at 10.13 am, a DRDO official said. The trial was successful and some more rounds of the test are expected to be conducted shortly, the DRDO scientist said. "Apart from the missile, the system includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile," the official said, adding the missile along with MF-STAR would provide the users with the capability to neutralise any aerial threats. Earlier, between 30 June and 1 July, 2016 three consecutive test firing of the medium range surface to air missile, jointly developed by India and Israel were conducted from the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) base at Chandipur. The missile guided by armoured seeker had successfully hit the last minute manoeuvring target. Indian Navy had also successfully test launched the long-range surface to air missile (LR-SAM). The test was undertaken on the Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata on 30 December, 2015. These missiles would be inducted in all the three services after trials were completed. Many Indian industries like BEL, L&T, BDL, and TATA group of companies besides other private industries have contributed to the development of a number of subsystems which have been put into use in this flight test, the official said. As a safety measure, Balasore district administration in consultation with the defence officials had temporarily shifted 3,652 persons residing within 2.5 km radius of the launch pad No.3 of the ITR at Chandipur to nearby temporary shelter centres this morning to ensure a safe launch of the missile, a district revenue official said. Fishermen engaged in fishing along the Bay of Bengal in three coastal districts of Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapada were asked not to venture into the sea during the time of the test launch. Amid the ongoing tussle between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over Cauvery water, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from 21 to 27 September daily. The apex court also directed the Centre to constitute a Cauvery Management Board within four weeks. The SC order comes just a day after the Cauvery Supervisory Committee, headed by Ministry of Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar had ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from 21 September to 30 September. Reacting to the SC ruling, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said: Disappointed with judgement; injustice time & again: K'taka HM G Parameshwara on SC's verdict on Cauvery water sharing pic.twitter.com/uBXvQSU0gz ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 We'll wait for the copy of order. CM has called senior ministers, we will discuss and examine the different possibilities: G Parameshwara ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Theres a cabinet meeting tomorrow. Some decision has to be taken: G Parameshwara pic.twitter.com/8LeFXMvXlu ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Earlier on Tuesday, the Karnataka government had decided to challenge the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's order in the SC. Karnataka will have to release 3,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily between September 21 and 30: Shashi Shekhar ANI (@ANI_news) September 19, 2016 Despite the day-long discussions on Monday, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had failed to reach an agreement on the quantum of water to be released. #FLASH: SC directs Karnataka to release 6000 cusecs of water daily from tomorrow till Sept 27 (next date of hearing) to Tamil Nadu. ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 SC also directs Centre to constitute Cauvery Management Board in 4 weeks. ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 "They have not agreed. The two states are free to challenge this order in the Supreme Court when it takes up the matter tomorrow or they can agree with the order before the court," PTI had quoted Shekhar as saying. The supervisory committee, in its previous meeting on 12 September, had failed to arrive at any decision for want of adequate information which was to be made available by the river basin states. It had asked them to provide the information by 15 September. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had submitted to the committee data about withdrawal of water, its utilisation, variation in rainfall and its impact on the actual run-off over a period of 29 years in their respective Cauvery basin areas, according to a source. Besides Shekhar, chief secretaries of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry and Central Water Commission chairman are members of the committee, formed to implement final award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. The Supreme Court had on 5 September had asked Tamil Nadu to approach the committee over the issue. On that day, the apex court had asked Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water per day for a period of 10 days to Tamil Nadu to ameliorate the plight of farmers. Meanwhile, Karnataka, which is the upper riparian state, had approached the Supreme Court on 11 September seeking modification of its order. A day later, the court modified the order, reducing the quantum of water to be released to Tamil Nadu and other states to 12,000 cusecs per day until 20 September, when the SC will hear the matter again. Last week, the SC order had led to large-scale protests in Bengaluru. With inputs from PTI At least 35 were killed including 11 children when a bus fell into a roadside pond in Bihar's Madhubani district on Monday. Around 65 passengers were on board and according to PTI, some of them swam to safety while over a dozen were feared to have been killed. The death toll, however, was not consistent and while news agencies like PTI and ANI claimed 35 died, other publications said 32 were killed. The private bus was on the way to Sitamarhi from Madhubani when the mishap took place on the state highway. The accident took place at Basaitha Chowk under Bennipatti Police station in Madhubani, about 50 km from the district headquarters. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Benipatti Nirmala Kumari said four bodies were fished out so far and search is on for others. The bus was pulled out of the pond with a crane. According to the police, more than 5,000 people from neighbouring villages gathered at the accident site. Angry over the alleged delay on the part of local administration to start rescue operations, a group of people staged protest and pelted stones at district officials, including the vehicle of the district magistrate. The superintendent of police and other policemen were stranded at the accident site and waiting for police reinforcement to reach the spot. Even as rescue operations are on and locals and divers are looking for those missing, police said many could be still trapped. "The bus is not visible. It is completely submerged in water and with passage of time, the chances of survival of the travellers were declining sharply," an officer told The Times of India. According to Hindustan Times, 13 passengers were rescued. The accident and delay in rescue operations sparked a mob fury. villagers angry over delay in reaching of crane pelted stones on police team on way to the accident spot. The SP and other policemen are stranded at the accident site and waiting for police reinforcement to reach the spot. Madhubani district magistrate Giriwar Dayal Singh told Hindustan Times that 19 police officials and members of the state and national disaster response forces were injured and five of their vehicles destroyed by the mobs. In Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed deep sorrow and said in a statement that reason of the accident was being looked into. He instructed officials to speed up relief and rescue operation. Kumar instructed revenue minister Madan Mohan Jha and panchayati raj minister Kapildeo Kamat to rush to the accident spot. The chief minister also issued instruction to provide assistance to the victims. Besides, Nitish also directed for payment of ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the family members of those killed in the incident. Apart from district magisrate and superintendent of police, Darbhanga divisional commissioner RK Khandelwal, Darbhanga inspector-general Umashankar Sudhanshu and other senior police and civil officials of Madhubani and Sitamarhi were camping at the spot along with Benipatti MLA Bhavna Jha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too expressed deep sadness over the bus mishap. Deeply saddened by the bus accident in Bihars Madhubani district. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief: PM PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 19, 2016 The prime minister aside, President Pranab Mukherjee and prominent politicians also tweeted their condolences. Heartfelt condolences on loss of lives in the bus accident in Madhubani district of Bihar today #PresidentMukherjee President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) September 19, 2016 Deeply saddened to know around 50 ppl r feared to hv drowned as a bus fell in a pond in #Madhubani, #Bihar. Sincere condolences to brvd fmls Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) September 19, 2016 Very sad to know of the Madhubani bus mishap. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. May God give them strength. Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) September 19, 2016 Saddened by the bus accident in Madhubani. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families. Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) September 19, 2016 # Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) September 19, 2016 With inputs from agencies By Rakesh Dubbudu, Factly.in One in every three corruption-related cases against officials of the central government since 2006, investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with trial complete, resulted in the acquittal of officials, according to this report by data journalism site Factly, based on data released to the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) in August 2016. The cases were filed under The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act), which deals with corruption by government servants. The amendments to the Act are yet to be ratified by parliament. More than 7,000 corruption-related cases disposed since 2006 Between 2006 and June 2016, the CBI completed investigation in 7,217 cases under the PC Act. Of these, 3,615 (50.1%) ended in prosecution; 2,178 (30.2%) ended in prosecution as well as regular departmental action (RDA), while 636 cases (8.8%) ended in only RDA. As many as 671 cases (9.3%) were closed without any action. Source: Lok Sabha; Data as of June 2016 The highest number of cases were investigated in 2008 (933), followed by 2007 (916). The least number of cases were investigated in 2010 (467). Source: Lok Sabha; Data as of June 2016 More than 32% cases ended in acquittal Since 2006, trial was complete in 6,533 cases under the PC Act where the investigation was done by the CBI. As many as 4,054 cases (62.1%) ended in conviction of the accused, while 2,095 cases (32.1%) ended in acquittal. Source: Lok Sabha; Data as of June 2016 The highest number of cases were disposed in 2013 (921 cases), followed by 865 in 2012. The least number of cases were disposed in 2008 (369)the same year that saw the most cases being investigated. Prosecution sanction still an issue As per the PC Act, the relevant government has to sanction the prosecution of the official when an investigating agency such as the CBI recommends prosecution. Though the government is supposed to take a decision on sanction of prosecution within a period of three months, many such cases remain pending for sanction from the government even after four months. (Dubbudu has been working on issues related to the Right to Information for a decade. He is a data/information enthusiast & is passionate about governance/policy issues. Factly.in is dedicated to making public data meaningful.) The phase I of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project has received the approval of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), according to various media reports. The Rs 9,393 crore project was given the approval at the meeting held on 23 August, chaired by Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave. The standing committee of NBWL comprises of two members of NBWL, representatives of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Institute of India (WII), state governments and user agency who was to visit the site and submit a report on the impact of the project on habitat and wildlife of the Panna Tiger Reserve. The Ken-Betwa river linking project will submerge almost 105 sq km of the Panna Tiger Reserve. At Firstpost, we spoke with Valmik Thapar, author, naturalist and tiger lover who has been associated with tiger conservation for over four decades on his views on the submergence of the Panna Tiger Reserve, if the river interlinking project comes through. Excerpts from the interview: Your views on the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project I don't believe in the manipulation of natural resources. I do not believe in river linkages. Man is continuously manipulating natural water regimes that have their origins from thousands of years ago. This could have short-term gains but long-term consequences could be disastrous. It is not our job to interfere through any invasive way with the natural world. Around 105 sq kms of the Panna Tiger Reserve will be submerged when the project comes through The Ken Betwa link will submerge a part of Panna Tiger Reserve. Panna faced a serious threat from poachers from 2003 to 2008 and all its tigers were poached. The park is slowly recovering by reintroduction of tigers from other areas. That ongoing recovery can be effected by submerging more than 100 sq kms of this tiger reserve. Why has the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife agreed to the proposal? The National Board for Wildlife has not met since this government has come to power. The prime minister is the chair of the Board. In the previous UPA regime too, there have been gaps in the holding of bi-annual meetings. The Standing Committee is a government selected body and the government keeps dealing with it instead of the Board. I believe this decision should have been taken by the new National Board for Wildlife chaired by the prime minister. This body has not met in the last two to three years. Instead, its standing committee has convened to take decisions concerning Panna. Submerging Panna Tiger Reserve is a big decision and therefore must be taken by the full board. The final decision on the project will go to the Supreme Court of India who will judge if this is in national interest. There is so much of talk about tourism in India with the prime minister himself talking about its importance. On the other hand, we have a river linking project like the Ken-Betwa which will submerge a tiger reserve. Those that do not understand tourism take decisions to restrict it. They do not realise that good tourism increases GDP and boosts local economies. Tanzania gets 17 percent of its GDP from wildlife tourism. We need to encourage it. It is a plank that our prime minister also believes in encouraging as it supports local communities. Therefore, instead of submerging Panna, we should create innovative tourism ideas for it that help locals and play a vital role to save our fragile wilderness. Clamour is growing for decisive action against Pakistan to avenge the killings of eighteen soldiers killed in a deadly attack carried out by four alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad militants on Indian Armys 12 Infantry Brigade base Headquarters in Uri town. From Uttar Pradesh up to Bihar to Bengal, the kins of deceased soldiers want the centre government to take stringent action against Pakistan for exporting terror to India, and killing their loved ones. India should carry out strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan where these people get trained to unleash terror. The government should send forces across the border, and carry out air strikes, to eliminate these terrorists. If they are not ashamed of their act why should we be, Anikat Yadav, a masters student and cousin of slain Sepoy Harinder Yadav, a resident of Village Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, told Firstpost over the phone. Hundreds of people turned up to receive coffins and raised slogans against Pakistan in Jammu region, two out of eighteen slain soldiers killed in Sundays early morning attacks were from the region, whose last rites were performed on Monday evening. Havildar Ravi Paul and Naib Subedar Karnail Singh, both from Jammu, lost their lives in the brutal attack, leaving their families in mourning. Both were from 10 Dogra regiment and were headed for Pathankot in a day or two for a routine turnover. He (Ravi) served this nation for 23 years. We are proud of his ultimate sacrifice. He was to be posted out and was joining in Pathankot in a couple of days, Yash Paul, brother of Havildar Ravi Paul, told Firstpost. The advance party of 10 Dogra Regiment had already left for the neighbouring state and the troops of 6 Bihar, which was replacing 10 Dogra, too had arrived at the 12 infantry brigade at Uri. Ravi was to retire next year and Pathankot was his last posting. His two sons were already admitted in a school in Pathankot so that they could continue their studies. We had never imagined in his the last year of his service he would achieve martyrdom, Yash, the brother of slain soldier Ravi, added. While Paul and Singh were waiting to leave for the neighboring state of Pathankot for their posting, Lance Naik R K Yadav of 6 Bihar, who had just landed in Uri on Friday for his new posting, was also killed in the attack. Yadav, 33, a resident of Ballia, Uttar Pradesh has two daughters and his wife is pregnant with their third child. On Saturday he had made a call to his mother asking her about the health of his wife. He talked for hours as if he was thinking this was his last time, Yadav mother told reporters. Joginder Singh, Karnail Singhs brother, told Firstpost on a phone from Jammu that Indias response should be same and Pakistan should feel what losing the near and dear ones means. He said he was proud of the sacrifice of his brother for the nation". He had brought a shawl and gifts from Kashmir for his wife and was expected to visit home briefly before heading towards Pathankot. Now instead of gifts, his coffin arrived in his home, Karnail said. Singh is survived by an ailing mother, wife and three sons. Anmol Singh, son of Karnail Singh, who is an undergraduate student in a local college in Jammu, said that this was the time for India to hit Pakistan as much as we could. I will do everything to join Army and avenge the death of my father. These people needed to be taught a lesson, the Anmol, said. In the village of Jamuna Balia, Howarah in West Bengal, villagers gathered outside the house of Sepoy G Dalai waiting for his body to be brought to his home for the last time. Dalai, 22, had called his mother on Thursday and told her that he was returning home in few days. I had never thought I was talking to him for the last time. He was an obedient child, Dalais mother told visiting reporters. The people responsible for this attack should be strictly punished, she added. After Sunday's attack, questions are being asked about what kind of response the Indian government needs to take in response. Director General of Military Operations, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said, "The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in the hinterland. However, we have the desired capability to respond to such blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us." Rajendra Prasad Singh whose son Sepoy Rajesh Kumar Singh, a resident of Jaunpur village in Uttar Pradesh, was also killed in the attack, said he wished his son was killed in a war instead of a terrorist attack. But I also want to know why my son was sleeping in the tent. I dont know if he was awake when these terrorists attacked them, had he been awake, I am sure, he would have fought like a warrior, Rajendra said. Singh is survived by his aged parents, wife and a six-year-old son. Soldiers were resting inside two tents when militants carried out the strike and hurled grenades and opened indiscriminate fire. The army said on Monday that many of its soldiers were burned alive when the tent they were sleeping in caught fire. After the wreath laying ceremony in Armys 15 Corps Headquarters in Srinagar, the bodies of slain soldiers were flown out of Srinagar. 15:52 (ist) Modi under pressure to live upto his 2014 poll promise: Show Pak that India isn't a soft power Modi on Monday conferred with his senior ministers, security and military advisers and other experts as his government sought to craft an "appropriate response" to Sunday's terror assault on the Uri army garrison in Jammu and Kashmir. The attack, one of the biggest targeting the Indian Army in recent years, and quickly blamed on Pakistan, resulted in the deaths of 18 soldiers and substantial damage to military property just a few kilometres from the Line of Control with Pakistan. With calls mounting from inside the ruling BJP that India should "teach a lesson" to Pakistan with one senior party strategist Ram Madhav demanding "for one tooth, a complete jaw" Modi is under pressure to live up to his 2014 election campaign rhetoric of showing Pakistan that India is not a "soft power" and would give a "befitting reply" to any attacks on the country. Expectations of appropriate action were raised when Modi himself said soon after the attack that "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished", while the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the party, said that "terrorists, their masters and their supporters should be dealt with firmly and conclusively". Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also said he had asked Army Chief, Gen. Dalbir Singh, to take action against "those responsible for the attack". There were arguments for and against a retaliatory military action, even a "punitive counter attack", as many military analysts are demanding. There were various war scenarios being drawn out in South Block's board rooms with one former general suggesting on TV that India should not be seen "pussyfooting" anymore as it had "conventional superiority" and could deal with military exigencies. With the world watching anxiously, and foreign embassies monitoring the "flashpoint situation" closely, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's statement that Pakistan will not hesitate to use "tactical nuclear weapons" if the need arose and that "horses should be ready" for action has led to a building up of a tense situation in the subcontinent with unpredictable consequences. After the spate of high-level visits on Sunday, including by the Defence Minister and the Army Chief, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi was flying to Srinagar on Monday to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with the top police and civil officials in the state government, an official source said here. The Valley has been restive since the 8 July killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, with the almost unending protests resulting in close to 90 deaths, including that of three policemen, and over 11,000 injuries. Mehrishi will be also call on the state Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Governor NN Vohra. Mehrishi is expected to attend a series of meetings with officials of the state government, army, police and paramilitary forces, the source added. New Delhi: Accusing Pakistan of supporting terrorism against India, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the entire world has come together to isolate Islamabad on the issue even as he asserted Jammu-Kashmir is an integral part of India and there could be "no compromise" on it. "Our neighbour is aiding, abetting, funding, trading terrorists. They have made terrorism a state policy. The entire world has come together to isolate Pakistan and condemn Pakistan(-backed) terrorism. Terrorism is not acceptable at all. We have been very clear about it," he said, without making direct mention of Uri terror attack. The Union Urban Development Minister said, "(no matter) how many times they (Pakistan) raise the Kashmir issue, Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India and there is no question of compromise on it." Naidu made these remarks during an event in which he renamed the Paryavaran Bhawan, located in Central Government Offices (CGO) Complex, as 'Pundit Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan'. Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also attended the event to mark the birth centenary of BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay. He said that the NDA government does not work on communal line and added that a terrorist is "neither a Hindu nor Muslim" as he pitched for "integrated nationalism". "We should seek inspiration from our history. You may (religion wise) be Hindu, Muslim, Christian, but we all are Indians. Our ancestors are one," he said. Naidu, while referring to the debate on nationalism, said the slogan of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' is not a dialogue of any film but an act of "uplifting poorest of poor" of the country. The Minister also took a veiled dig at Gandhi family for allegedly naming majority of country's memorials, projects and institutes after its members. He termed first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a "great patriot", but added Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose "too were great patriots". Naidu further said the NDA government is trying to name memorials, institutes and government structures after "forgotten heroes" of the country. He also lauded BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay for "guiding" people "to work for uplift of the last person in the society" as he defined the concept of 'antyodaya'. The building, which houses Minority Affairs Ministry and other government offices, has been renamed after former Union Minister Najma Heptulla made a proposal to this regard in March this year. The building was named as Paryavaran Bhawan as it would earlier house offices of Environment Ministry. The Environment Ministry offices were shifted to a separate building called Indira Paryavaran Bhawan located in Jor Bagh in 2014. Vadodara: In the wake of Uri terror attack, GPCC president Bharat Solanki on Monday blamed the PDP-BJP led coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir for the rise in "Pak-sponsored" terror attacks in that state. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir would not have worsened if Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country, he said. Talking to PTI, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief also blamed the PDP-BJP led coalition government in J&K responsible for the rise in the Pak-sponsored terror attacks in that state. Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to divide people on the basis of caste and religion, the Congress leader asked, "Why is PM Modi keeping silent despite the killing of 18 jawans in Uri yesterday?" Solanki said that late PM Indira Gandhi had displayed "great courage" and got Bangladesh separated from Pakistan in 1971 war. "Our country needs leaders like late Mrs Gandhi," he said while condemning the Uri attack. Solanki was in the city to felicitate newly-elected office-bearers of the Maharaja Sayajirao University Students' Union. ABVP candidates were defeated in the election and NSUI-backed candidates captured the two important posts of Vice President and General Secretary. Talking about this election, he said, "This election indicates that young generation is turning towards Congress and also shows good prospects for the party in winning the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat." Bengaluru: Terming the Supreme Court's order directing Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till 27 September as "unimplementable", Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called for a Cabinet and an all-party meeting on Wednesday to chalk out the next step. "....the Supreme Court has passed an order, since we do not have water, it is very difficult to implement it. It is an unimplementable order," he told reporters here. Siddaramaiah said Karnataka had placed certain facts based on ground reality before the Cauvery Supervisory Committee but it still passed an order directing the state to release 3,000 cusecs per day between 21 and 30 September. Noting the committee was constituted by the apex court, he said it had given a direction on 5 September to Tamil Nadu to approach the committee and also asked Karnataka to file a response to the neighbouring state's plea. Despite all this, the Supreme Court has passed an order on Tuesday, he said. Siddaramaiah appealed to public to maintain peace, while assuring that the government "is committed" to protect the interest of the state and its people and farmers. "There is a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, we will discuss, we are waiting for the copy of the order of the Supreme Court. The (state) Cabinet will take a view, meanwhile we will consult legal experts also," he said. "I have also called an all-party meeting, in that meeting we will discuss the pros and cons of this order. After taking views and opinion of leaders from all parties we will proceed further," he added. Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from Wednesday till 27 September, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while raising the quantum fixed by the Supervisory Committee by 3,000 cusecs. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit has also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award. Siddarmaiah also said, "I appeal to people, especially those from Cauvery basin to maintain peace; they should not get carried away by emotions. The government is committed to protecting the interest of the state, its people and its farmers. Every one should cooperate." Soon after the Supreme Court's order, the chief minister held meetings with senior state ministers and officials. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea seeking to put on hold the bail granted to RJD leader Shahabuddin in connection with the controversial Rajiv Roshan murder case, stating that it would prefer to hear the case in greater depth, before taking a decision on the RJD strongman's bail. Therefore, the court has issued a notice to Shahabuddin, seeking his response on the subject and scheduled the next hearing in the case for 26 September. However, this does not mean that the troubles of the tainted RJD leader have eased as the apex court has agreed to hear a fresh plea next week, seeking the quashing of HC order granting him bail. Shahabuddin was booked in connection with the murder of BJP leader Rajiv Roshan, who had witnessed the gruesome killing of his two younger siblings, Girish Raj and Satish Raj at Siwan in Bihar. The victims were allegedly first abducted and given an "acid bath" before being murdered, and Roshan, who was an eyewitness in the case, was shot dead three days before he was to record his statement in the case, according to a report in The Financial Express. The apex court, which for the present did not allow the interim prayer for stay on operation of Patna High Court's bail order asked Shahabuddin, against whom 58 criminal cases were pending in 2014, to respond to the plea of Siwan-based Chandrakeshwar Prasad whose three sons were killed in two separate incidents. Keeping coalition compulsions aside, the Nitish Kumar-led government went a step ahead of Prasad's plea and sought issuance of non-bailable warrant (NBW), against the RJD strongman who has termed Kumar as "Chief Minister of circumstances" on his release from Bhagalpur jail recently. Meanwhile, RJD supremo Lalu Yadav chose to respond with caution and first feigned ignorance but subsequently said he had nothing to comment on it. "I do not know about it," Prasad said, when asked about Prashant Bhushan and Bihar government moving Supreme Court with an appeal against Patna HC granting bail to Shahabuddin. When pressed further for his comment, the RJD chief said, "When the state government has taken a decision what can I say about it. The government would see what it has to do." However, earlier, the RJD supremo had said that the controversy over Shahabuddin getting bail is a creation of BJP and the media and the matter should be decided only by the courts. Shahabuddin, however, did not appear so aloof or guarded in his response when asked about Lalu. After being released from the jail, the RJD strongman praised Lalu effusively and reiterated his loyalty to the leader will last "forever", according to a report by The Indian Express. A bench of Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy, which heard advocate Prashant Bhushan and Bihar government's plea for nearly an hour, however said "we intend to give him a hearing also". "Issue notice on the Special Leave Petition as also on the prayer for interim relief seeking stay of the impugned Order dated 7 September, 2016 passed by the High Court of Patna, returnable on Monday, the September 26," it said. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Prasad also known as Chanda Babu, said Shahabuddin was a "notorious criminal" and his reign of terror was "in Bihar in general and in Siwan in particular". "As per the affidavit filed by Bihar government in 2014 in another case, there are 58 criminal cases pending against Shahabuddin and out of them he has been convicted in eight cases. In two of the cases, he was awarded life sentence by a trial court," he said. Shahabuddin had been granted bail recently by the High Court in the murder case of Rajiv Roshan, Prasad's son who was the sole eye-witness to the cold-blooded murder of his two younger brothers in Siwan. The RJD leader has already been convicted and awarded life imprisonment in the twin murder case, while the trial in the Roshan murder case is yet to commence. Bhushan said the High Court considered the fact that the trial in Roshan murder case could not begin as Shahabuddin was jailed at Bhagalpur prison and enlarged him on bail. Bhushan said, "the High Court order at best could have been that the trial could be allowed to be conducted from Bhagalpur jail through video conference". He said Shahabuddin should have been rather shifted to a jail outside Bihar, alleging that his clout was such that jail authorities in the state allowed him to meet his associates. He claimed that during a raid, 40 mobile phones were recovered from his cell and there were reports that even Shahabuddin was often allowed to go out of the prison as a result of which, a Jail Superintendent was once suspended for letting it happen. During the hearing, the apex court asked Bhushan whether he was seeking cancellation of bail granted to Shahabuddin or was he challenging the Patna High Court order. "I am challenging the Patna High Court order granting him bail," Bhushan replied and referred to various case laws to highlight the point that criminal antecedent of an offender should be considered alongside other relevant materials while granting bail. He said free and fair trial was not possible in pending cases against the RJD politician who is out on bail as witnesses and people would be fearful of deposing against him. "In a case of another Bihar don Pappu Yadav, the apex court had laid down guidelines which should have been followed by the High Court while granting bail," Bhushan said, adding that the relief was granted to the controversial leader contrary to the principles laid down by this court. Terming Shahabuddin as a "class-A history sheeter who cannot be reformed", the lawyer said the High Court should not have granted bail to him. Bihar government also supported the submission of Bhushan and referred to the earlier apex court order denying bail to Shahabuddin to drive home the point that mere longer incarceration does not entitle him for grant of bail The apex court had on 16 September agreed to hear the plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to Shahabuddin. Bihar government had earlier said the High Court had failed to follow its own order of February asking the trial court to complete the trial in the Roshan murder case within nine months. The state government had also said that HC ignored the crucial aspect that key witnesses did not turn up to depose in these cases due to fear and the clout wielded by the dreaded gangster, who before pronouncement of judgement in the murder case of Prasad's two sons, allegedly conspired from the jail to eliminate his third son, Rajiv Roshan, the prime witness in the case. It had contended that the HC overlooked the apex court judgement, which had held as correct its decision to conduct the trial of cases against Shahabuddin from jail itself considering the threat to witnesses. In his plea, Prasad has said the High Court's 7 September order granting regular bail to Shahabuddin "suffers from total non-application of mind" as it had "completely lost sight of the facts that Respondent No 2 (Shahabuddin) is a dreaded criminal, who has absolutely no regard for the law, and granting bail to him would let him come out of the jail as a free man even though he is still facing trial in many of the cases lodged against him." The plea further said that on 13 May this year, journalist Rajdev Ranjan was killed in Siwan and it was alleged that Shahabuddin was behind his killing also. In August 2004, Girish, Satish and their eldest brother Rajiv Roshan, the three sons of the petitioner, were picked up by a henchmen of the gangster and taken to his native village Pratappur, where they were drenched in acid. Both Girish and Satish died but Roshan, who witnessed the killings, managed to escape. However on 16 June, 2014, Roshan was also allegedly murdered and Shahabuddin was arrested for this killing on 17 November, 2014. Slain scribe Rajdev Ranjan's wife has also moved apex court seeking transfer of the probe and trial in the murder case to Delhi from Siwan, alleging that media reports have shown two absconding killers of her husband in the company of Shahabuddin and Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav. She has sought relief including a direction to CBI, to which probe has been transferred, to take up the investigation forthwith. With inputs from PTI India called upon the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to ask Pakistan to vacate the illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) while asking Pakistan to stop supporting violence and terrorism in India during a general debate at the 33rd session of the HRC. India said that the country has been a long-suffering victim of terrorism emanating from our neighbourhood. The fact that known terrorists like Hafiz Sayeed and Syed Salahuddin are able to hold huge rallies in Pakistans main cities is a reflection of the state of affairs and can mean only one thing: Active support for such personalities and designated organisations they lead in blatant disregard for rule of law is the new normal in Pakistan, said Ajit Kumar, Indian ambassador to the UN office at Geneva. Rather than internationalising issues with India, Pakistan needs to cleanse itself of its terrorists, Kumar said. We call upon this council to ask Pakistan to put an end to cross-border infiltration, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and stop acting as an epicentre of terrorism, he further added. The human rights violations in Pakistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is destabilising the entire region, India told the council. Pakistan raised the issue of the detainment of human rights activist Khurram Parvez and the subsequent open letter that international intellectuals and activists wrote to the Indian government adding that India obviously has much to hide. It is truly ironical that India, which has unleashed this terror and is sponsoring terrorism in its neighbouring country, claims to be a victim of terrorism. We have given evidence to the UN Secretary General and to the international community of Indian involvement in terrorism and fomenting instability in Pakistan, said Tehmina Janjua, Pakistans ambassador to the UN office at Geneva. This evidence provides details of Indian interference and support for terrorism in Balochistan and in Karachi as well as its security and intelligence agencies link with the Taliban in Pakistan, she added. Exercising a right of reply, India told the council that Pakistan has territorial ambitions in India since 1947 as expressed in the aggression it embarked on in 1947, 1965 and 1999. As on date, Pakistan is in forcible and illegal occupation of approximately 78,000 of square kilometres of Indian territory in J&K, India said in a statement. The fundamental reasons for disturbances in Kashmir is cross-border terrorism promoted by Pakistan. The people of Balochistan among other provinces in Pakistan have been waging for decades a bitter and brave struggle against daily abuse and torture. Enforced disappearances continue with impunity in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh where members of the Muttahida Qaumi movement are abducted and killed, India further said. Minorities like Hindus, Shias, Ahmadiyyas, Christians and others faced blatant discrimination and persecution in the country and minority religious places are vandalised. The selective and extremely opaque and high-handed use of force by Pakistani forces have affected civilian population where more than 1 million remain displaced in the north-west of the country. We, once again, ask Pakistan to stop inciting and supporting violence and terrorism in any part of India and refrain from meddling in our internal affairs in any manner. We call upon the council to urge Pakistan to fulfill its obligation to vacate illegal occupation of PoK, India said. An NGO called Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy said that the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan requires the council's attention the increasing disappearances of political activists and human rights defenders as well as military operations against civilians have increased over the past several weeks. There was a "complete media blackout" in the region. It thanked the Indian prime minister and the Indian mission for raising human rights violation issues in Balochistan. Pakistan, in turn, called Indias concerns about Balochistan hypocritical. J&K is an internationally recognised dispute where Pakistan is a party and they had a right to address the situation in India-occupied Kashmir. In case India insists on flouting all international norms and on pronouncing itself on the internal affairs of Pakistan then we will need to address situation in India as a whole, Pakistan said. The ruling party of India is infected by rank communalism and outright bigotry it is time to squarely address the perverse ideology that motivates the governing party of India, it further added. United Nations: President Barack Obama conceded Tuesday that the United States and other world powers have limited ability to solve the most profound challenges facing the world, while calling for a "course correction" for globalisation to ensure that nations don't retreat into a more sharply divided world. Obama, in his final speech to the UN General Assembly, acknowledged that the extremist and sectarian violence wreaking havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed." Still, he stuck faithfully to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria's civil war and other conflicts. "If we are honest, we know that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long," Obama said. "Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer." In a less-than-subtle jab at Donald Trump, the Republican running to replace him, Obama said, "The world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent (extremism) from affecting our own societies." The president was unabashed in his critique of Russia as he laid out his diagnosis of the world's ills. Obama's longstanding differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his actions in Ukraine have accompanied intense disagreement over Syria's future and a series of failed attempts by Russia and the US to resolve the civil war there together. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. The tough talk about Russia illustrated how little progress has been made in reconciling the diverging interests among the two powers that has allowed the Syria crisis to continue to fester. A year ago, Obama stood at the same podium and declared anew that Syrian President Bashar Assad must leave power, while Putin gave a dueling speech warning it would be a mistake to abandon Assad. In the year since, Moscow's leverage in the conflict has strengthened significantly. Russia's military intervention in Syria has helped bolster Assad's standing without pulling it into the military "quagmire" that Obama had predicted. Obama sought to use his last appearance before the global body to define how his leadership had put the world on a better trajectory over the last eight years. At the heart of that approach, Obama said, is the notion that the biggest conflicts are best solved when nations cooperate rather than tackle them individually. It's a theme that Democrat Hillary Clinton has put at the forefront of her campaign for president, casting herself as the natural continuation of Obama's legacy. In another apparent reference to Trump, Obama bemoaned how terrorist networks had spread their ideology on social media, spurring anger toward "innocent immigrants and Muslims." Obama lamented that the world has become safer and more prosperous at the same time that nations are struggling with a devastating refugee crisis, terrorism and a breakdown in basic order in the Middle East. He said governing had become more difficult as people lose faith in public institutions and tensions among nations spiral out of control more rapidly. "This is the paradox that defines the world today," Obama said. "We must go forward, and not backward." The president cited his administration's outreach to former adversaries Cuba and Myanmar as key examples of progress, along with global cooperation to cut emissions blamed for global warming. At the same time, he said he sought not to "whitewash" challenges across the globe, some of which he attributed to deepening anxieties about the profound shifts inflicted by technology and growing international interdependence. "In order to move forward though, we do have to acknowledge that the existing path to global integration requires a course correction," Obama said. Stockholm: At least 20 countries are expected to formally join the Paris Agreement on climate change this week, greatly improving the pact's chances of coming into force just a year after it was negotiated in the French capital, UN officials say. That's considered a blistering pace in the world of international diplomacy, reflecting a sense of urgency in the fight against global warming and a desire to seal the deal before the Obama administration leaves office. Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Morocco are expected to hand over documents at the UN in New York on Wednesday to formally complete the ratification process. At least half a dozen small island nations including Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Kiribati will also follow suit. "We are ready. We will announce it in New York," Moroccan Environment Minister Hakima el-Haite told the Associated Press. After years of negotiations, governments agreed in Paris last December to curb the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that scientists say are warming the planet. More than 170 world leaders have signed the deal, but it won't take effect until 55 countries accounting for at least 55 percent of global emissions have ratified or accepted it through their domestic procedures. That was initially expected to take several years, but 28 countries accounting for 39 percent of emissions are already done, including China and the United States, the world's top two greenhouse gas emitters. U.S. diplomats are now pushing other countries to accelerate their ratification efforts so that the deal can enter into force this year. The White House says President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry plan to corner foreign leaders in the hallways during the UN gathering to personally pressure them to join this week. "We're very anxious to have it move forward quickly," U.S. climate envoy Jonathan Pershing told the AP. "We are talking to everybody about the urgency." It's possible that more than 55 countries will have joined by the end of Wednesday. It will likely take a bit longer to reach 55 percent of world emissions. Pershing said the haste comes down to the fact that "this is a problem that can't wait." Others say another factor is the potential of a shift in US climate policy depending on the outcome of the presidential election in November. Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton has said the U.S. must implement the Paris Agreement, but Republican candidate Donald Trump has said he will cancel the deal. "The Obama administration clearly would like to see this done before they leave office," said Alden Meyer, a veteran observer of the UN climate talks at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "That doesn't guarantee that the next president will fully implement Paris," Meyer said. "But it would take at least four years for the US to formally withdraw." The Paris Agreement asks both rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns across the globe. It requires governments to present national plans to reduce emissions, though the targets themselves aren't internationally binding. The European Union, which considers itself as one of the architects of the Paris deal, is trying to fast-track its ratification process to avoid the embarrassment of sitting on the sidelines when it comes into force. The EU, which accounts for 12 percent of global emissions, originally planned to wait for its 28 member states to approve the deal domestically, but now wants to ratify it on their behalf. "It's technically possible," said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a spokeswoman for EU Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete. "But politically it's a decision of the member states." With or without the EU, there's a chance that the deal can enter into force as early as the next UN climate conference, which starts 7 November in Marrakech, Morocco. UN officials said last week that at least 20 countries had indicated they would join on Wednesday and that they were "absolutely certain" that the deal will come into force this year. For some the timing is mostly symbolic, because the first round of emissions targets doesn't start until 2020. For others, like the island nations who face an existential risk from rising seas, it's imperative that countries prepare to implement and improve their targets as soon as possible. "We cannot wait," said Maldives Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim, who chairs an alliance of small island states. "We are at the forefront of climate change and we are the people who will suffer if there is no action taken early." On Monday night, while world leaders in New York discussed immigration issues (among other problems) at the United Nations General Assembly meet, Donald Trump Jr, son of Republican nominee Donald Trump, took to Twitter to oversimplify the situation of Syrian refugees by comparing them to potentially dangerous Skittles candy. Trump Jr used a graphic to explain as to why it's not a good idea to allow Syrian refugees in United States. The graphic poses a simple question: "If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful?" The question ended with a bold statement, "That's our Syrian refugee problem." This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 Three things come to mind when one looks at the graphic: 1) The statement's logical fallacy 2) The statement is a severe triviliasation of a serious world issue. Even school children wouldn't put it so crassly. 3) Trump Jr has a serious problem with Skittles. Let's start with the first one. The Fallacy While various fallacies can apply to this statement, one or two immediately stand out. First is the false dilemma/dichotomy also called bifurcation, where the person presents the argument in such a way that there are only two conceivable alternatives left. 'Eat Skittles and die, don't eat Skittles and live', here it implies 'Give refuge to Syrians and die, don't give refuge and live.' In this case a third possible solution could be to identify the poisonous skittle. Oversimplification is another fallacy which Trump Jr easily overlooked. Here, Trump Jr uses an easily relatable example of Skittle-eating and equates it to a research paper-worthy subject such as the Syrian refugee status. The graphic is tailor-made for the millions of people who are probably looking for an easy tutorial on complex subjects like immigration/counter-terrorism. So, when Trump compares actual human beings, trying to escape war, with colourful candy, he is just trivialising their very existence. So how do we provide a solution to this dilemma? Let's start with identifying the poisonous Skittles. How to identify a poisonous Skittle? Trump Jr has a Bachelors in Science from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. So when we see him tweeting such graphics, we wonder whether Trump Jr slept through most of his (expensive) Ivy league education? How can he not think of a scientific solution to the poisonous Skittle problem? May we suggest a solution? Use a scientific screen test. You know who does something similar? The United States government, while vetting people who want US citizenship. This screening test has been in place for more than a decade which was implemented after 11 September, 2001 attacks (9/11). So every time a Syrian immigrant applies for refuge in US, the system starts working. This Time article very aptly presents the picture of the vetting process of the refugees who seek shelter in the US. The process begins with a referral form from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR which is responsible for providing aid and assistance to refugees. After extensive interviews and background checks, the military combatants are weeded out. Next comes government screening which includes consultation from nine different government agencies. After this, the refugees go through the vetting process where multiple law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies like the State Department, the FBI's Terrorist Screening Centre, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, conduct interviews and tests to scrutinise the applicants. According to the Time report, the screening for the Trump Jr's 'Skittles' (Syrians) is more rigorous than regular immigrants. The system is pretty effective if not foolproof but very few refugees have been arrested for terrorism charges after their citizenship is granted. That is the system working. Surely one should have more faith in the US government than Donald Trump Jr. Dying from Skittle eating/Syrian refugees, low odds Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat laid the fundamental groundwork of probability theory whose guiding principle is that an event has higher probability if it is more likely to occur. So keeping this principle in mind, the probability of an American dying in a terrorist attack err, according to Trump Jr a Skittle eating accident is very low (they're the same thing, right? No). Logically speaking, one should not be xenophobic and look at people from Syria with suspicion and one should definitely not stop eating Skittles. According to PBS, the average American has a 0.000009 percent chance of dying in a plane crash (1-in-11 million) or a 0.02 percent chance of dying in a car crash (1-in-5,000). Last week a think tank, Cato Institute, published a report to note the risk posed by refugees. That report stated that, each year, the risk of an American of being killed by a refugee in a terror attack is 1 in 3.64 billion, just in case you're still wondering, we did the math, that is approximately 0.00000003 percent. In March 2011, Harper's Index noted that the number of American civilians killed worldwide in terrorist attacks in 2010 was 8 and the minimum number of people killed after being struck by lightning were 29, suggesting there is a higher chance of being killed by lightning. In the year 2013, even US President Barack Obama noted that "The odds of dying in a terrorist attack are a lot lower than they are of dying in a car accident The Washington Post studied the matter and on the basis of statistics from a 2004 National Safety Council report, the National Center for Health Statistics, the US Census Bureau, and 2003 mortality data from the Center for Disease Control, noted that in 2011: Americans are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack Americans are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack Americans are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane Americans are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack Americans are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack Americans are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack Americans are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack Americans are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack Americans are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack Americans are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist Americans are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack Americans are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack In fact an FBI report suggested that there is a lower probability of dying at the hands of an Islamist terrorist as compared to a Jewish terrorist. The report quoted numbers which noted that only a small percentage of terrorist attacks carried out in US between 1980 and 2005 were perpetrated by Islamic extremists. According to the data, 5 percent of the attacks between 1980 and 2005 were committed by Communists, 6 percent by Islamic terrorists, 7 percent by Jewish extremists, 24 percent by Extreme Left Wing Groups, 16 percent by other groups and 42 percent by Latinos. Now studying the various inventive ways in which Americans can die, death at the hands of a terrorist is very low, more so if it is at the hands of a Syrian refugee posing as a terrorist. Twitter erupts Like always, Twitter enjoyed the Trump clans' grasp on world issues. They made it their own and mocked it. The first respondent was former Congressman Joe Walsh who passive aggressively pointed out that he had already used this analogy a month ago. Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month. Glad you agree. pic.twitter.com/Nssw6KC1HY Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) September 20, 2016 So no points for originality Trump Jr (reminds us of someone else from your family). If I put 100 guns in a store, and told you that one of them would murder a human being, would you sell all the guns? https://t.co/4Mz4AGin3e (((Steph Haberman))) (@StephLauren) September 20, 2016 Skittles even responded to the distasteful candy analogy and asked Trump Jr not to trivialise a humanitarian issue. Re: Skittles 65m forced migrants today on 2016 Earth. Climate change could bring 200m+ by 2050. We need to learn empathy, and fast. Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 20, 2016 Here's the difference tween skittles &refugees, @DonaldJTrumpJr As u giggle over infantile memes, 1000s of innocent "skittles" are dying. Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 20, 2016 This image says it all. In 1939 900 Jews on ship fm Nazi Germany to USA were sent back. 25% died in Holocaust. Not skittles @DonaldJTrumpJrpic.twitter.com/vbvQMFYquF Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) September 20, 2016 Trump Jr should get rid of his pessimism, but the probability of that is quite low too. New Delhi: Japan and Germany on Tuesday joined the international community in condemning Sunday's cross-border terror attack from Pakistan on an army base at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that claimed the lives of 18 Indian soldiers. "The government of Japan strongly condemns the terrorist attack on the Indian base in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, and extends its sincere condolences," Tokyo said in a statement,according to a tweet by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup. "Japan condemns terrorism in all forms regardless of its purposes and strongly reiterates that no act of terrorism can be justified," it said. "Japan expresses its solidarity with India in its fight against terrorism." In its statement, Germany said that it stood "firmly on the side of India in the fight against terrorism". "Every country has the responsibility to take decisive action against terrorism, which emanates from its own territory," it stated. United Nations: Describing terrorism as an "existential threat", India has said that "hypocrisy" towards the menace is unacceptable and underlined that terrorism is the "principle cause" of the large-scale refugee movement. "It is important to stress that today the geo-politics of the crisis points and proves that terrorism is the principle cause of refugee movements. Can we ignore this fact, we cannot. We do so at our peril," Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar said in his address to the UN General Assembly's first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants at the United Nations on Monday. Akbar asserted that terrorism is an "existential threat" and "hypocrisy towards this crisis will not do." He underscored that for the millions of people fleeing conflict, war and poverty, terrorism is not characterised as good or bad. "There is no good terrorism or bad terrorism and if you do not know the answer to this question, all you have to do is ask the refugee if he considers any terrorism to be good or bad," Akbar said. Stressing that terrorism is the "biggest danger" to human rights, Akbar said large movements of people across borders serve as a reminder that the world has become a global village. "We can only prosper or perish together, it is best that we learn to live in peace, prosperity and amity," he said. Underlining that "prevention is better than cure", Akbar said the international community has to address issues like terrorism, prevent armed conflict and facilitate development, which will help ensure people are not forced to flee their homeland. "We have to find out what drives them towards seeking refuge. Prevention is better than cure. Perhaps prevention is the only cure," he said adding that preventing armed conflict, countering terrorism, building and sustaining peace to facilitating sustainable development and governance will prevent people from being forced to leave their homeland. Terming the present refugee crisis as "unprecedented", Akbar said the number of people on the move globally is estimated at close to 250 million or one in every 30 persons and three-fourths of all refugees come from just 11 countries. Akabar noted that it is disconcerting that just seven countries host more than half of all refugees and now almost 90 per cent of all refugees are hosted in developing nations. He said it is wrong to assume that host nations do not want refugees. "It is assumed that only host nations do not want refugees. I ask do refugees also want to become refugees. They don't," he said. He said the problem of the refugee crisis has been with the world for a very long time. "Refugees are as old as war. The first consequence of war is death and the second is refugees. There is another kind of person seeking a new haven the migrant driven by a second cruelty, hunger or economic aspiration, and both phenomenon are visible in the present crisis." Akbar referred to India's "long history" of welcoming people seeking refuge from conflict, war, tyranny and poverty. "India offers refuge not because it has a large bank balance but because it has a large heart," he said. He cited the tumultuous year of 1971 when Bangladesh was fighting for independence and more than a million people from the neighbouring nation took refuge in India to escape the "genocide" that they were facing at home. "People seeking shelter in our country have never been turned back. Our record has been unique," he said. Akbar said nationalism is the "contemporary architecture" of stability and "we understand its importance. "The intersection of human need in a refugee crisis and national imperatives make this a complex issue," he added. Akbar also recalled Mahatma Gandhi's "seminal contribution" to abolishing indentured labour 100 years ago. He said in more recent times, Indian migrants, including a cross section of professionals, skilled and less-skilled workers, have migrated to countries around the world and offered a "positive contribution to the diaspora". He voiced India's commitment to working with all partners beginning next year in developing a global compact to ensuring a safe and orderly migration that is in the interest of all people. Akbar also held meetings with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bulgarias Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov and Guyana Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly yesterday. Sources told PTI that discussions during the meetings focussed on the issue of terrorism, refugees and migrants and the situation in the Middle East. The Ministers also discussed the need for the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. "Discussions on bilateral issues on the sidelines of UNGA71 MOS MJ Akbar and FM of Iraq Dr Ibrahim al-Jaafari," India's Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted. Discussions on bilateral issues on the sidelines of UNGA71 MOS MJ Akbar and FM of Iraq Dr. Ibrahim al-Jaafari pic.twitter.com/rZkgEIbMnb India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) September 19, 2016 Another tweet said Akbar "meets Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov on the sidelines of #UNGA71." You need a spot of luck, great detectives and a super efficient police force to solve a terrorist bombing spree in two days flat. Afghan-born immigrant Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, the suspect in Saturday's bombings in New York and New Jersey was captured on Monday after a massive manhunt and shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. The lightening speed at which the NYPD, the New Jersey police and FBI have cracked open the case is a lesson for police forces around the world, including India, in catching culprits behind random acts of violent terrorism. "We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday at a conference after Rahami underwent surgery for gun shots to his right shoulder. We all know that 11 September, 2001 attacks (9/11)-scarred New York was rocked by an explosion on Saturday in Chelsea which injured 29 people, but police believe another bomb was intended to go off in the busy city. The day Ahmad Khan Rahami allegedly planted two bombs in New York's Chelsea one of which detonated on West 23rd Street two thieves accidentally helped to disable his second pressure cooker bomb left inside a rolling suitcase on West 27th Street. "The young men, who sources described as being well-dressed, opened the bag and took the bomb out, sources said, before placing the explosive into a garbage bag and walking away with the rolling suitcase," reported New York's local neighbourhood newspaper DNA Info. "In doing so, investigators believe they inadvertently disabled the explosive, sources said. Since the bomb remained intact, it allowed investigators to examine the cellphone attached to the intact bomb and discover that it was connected to the Rahami family." "Who in this world finds a pressure cooker (bomb) with a phone and just takes the bag?" quipped Robert Boyce, the NYPD's Chief of Detectives. In the age of social media, the NYPD quickly turned to Facebook and identified pictures of Rahami's family and of him. They matched one of his social media photos to surveillance footage captured from security cameras in Manhattan and blasted it to policemen and women on the ground. Similarly, on Sunday night, two homeless men snatched a backpack resting on top of a trash can near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, police said. They probably thought there was something of value in that backpack, said the mayor of Elizabeth, Christian Bollwage. They started rooting through the bag and found five explosives that officials say are tied to Rahami, prompting them to immediately drop the bag in the middle of the street and alert police, officials said. Rahami was captured after the owner of a bar in Linden, New Jersey, found him sleeping in the doorway of his bar on Monday morning and called the police. When the New Jersey Police arrived, Rahami went for his handgun and shot a policemen straight in the chest; fortunately he was wearing a safety vest. A second policeman got a hand wound before the suspect was overpowered. Radicalised in Pakistan, Afghanistan It is not surprising anymore to find that America has homegrown Muslim terrorists who are radicalised abroad: A famous example is an American terrorist of Pakistani origin David Coleman Headley who conspired with the Lashkar-e-Taiba in plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks. It turns out that even Rahami, spent several weeks in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Quetta, Pakistan, in 2011. Law enforcement official who reviewed Rahami's travel and immigration records told CNN that two years later, in April 2013, he went to Pakistan and remained there until March 2014 before returning to the US. Detectives suspect he got radicalized in Afghanistan and Pakistan before returning to the United states in 2014. Investigators have discovered a website where Rahami posted messages with distinctly jihadist overtones. New York: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has urged the US to help resolve issues between Islamabad and New Delhi. Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st UN General Assembly session, Dawn online reported. "Pakistan has always fought terrorism as a moral obligation. I have always reached out to neighbouring countries for regional peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "I still remember (former) president (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." "I expect the US administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help resolve issues between Pakistan and India," the Prime Minister added. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry were also present in the meeting. Sharif emphasised that strong relations between Pakistan and the US remained a mutual desire and this partnership was critical to ensuring regional peace and stability. The Prime Minister arrived in New York on Sunday. He is scheduled to address the session on Wednesday where he would specifically focus on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He will also hold bilateral meetings with President of Iran, Prime Ministers of Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Nepal, Romania and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Pakistan condemns the terrorist incident in Pathankot, India, today, in which many precious lives have been lost. We extend heartfelt condolences to the government and people of India and the bereaved families and wish the wounded speedy and full recovery. Building on the goodwill created during the recent high-level contacts between the two countries, Pakistan remains committed to partner with India as well as other countries in the region to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism afflicting our region. - Pakistan Foreign Office after the Pathankot airbase attack. Refuting the unfounded and pre-mature Indian allegation, Pakistani DGMO asked his counterpart to share any actionable intelligence. - Pakistan Army spokesman after the Uri attack on Sunday. It is a blatant attempt on India's part to deflect attention from the fast deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation. - Sartaj Aziz, the advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs after the Uri attack. Its been barely eight months and India was attacked by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists yet again on 18 September at the 12 Brigade headquarters of the Army in north Kashmir's Uri town after the daring attack on the Pathankot air base in January this year. Pakistan, however, had a starkly different response to both the attacks. While it sympathised with India and declared its commitment to eradicate terrorism after the Pathankot attack, its change in stance immediately after the Uri attack on Sunday is palpable. Aziz accused India of trying to divert attention from Kashmir and the Pakistani media went a step further and published an interesting hypothesis. The News International report dwelled on the realms of phantasmagoria that the Uri terror attack was staged by India to create hatred between the Sikh and Muslim communities in Kashmir. Although the Pakistani Joint investigation Team (JIT) which was probing the Pathankot terror attack admitted that the four terrorists who attacked the Pathankot Indian Air Force base were from Pakistan, the JIT later changed its stand to say that the Pathankot attack had been staged by India. However, the initial reaction of our neighbour country should be noted. The accusation of staging the attack came three months after the Pathankot attack while in the case of the Uri attack, the outrageous theory emerged just a day after. The reason for this unsympathetic response from our neighbour country might have been because it is moving gradually towards an army-dominated government. Time has moved forward, things have evolved (maybe for the worse), and probably time is running out fast for the tame Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan government. While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assured that his government will go to any lengths to uncover the alleged use of its soil in the 2 January attack as The Indian Express reported, he preferred to remain a mute spectator on the 18 September attack. After the Pathankot air force base attack, Indian officials quoted in the report had said, "Sharif wants to get to the bottom of the attack but the question is whether the Pakistan Army-ISI combination will let him do what he intends to do? Lets contrast the January response with Pakistans stand on the Uri attack. The Pakistani Army spokesperson denounced Indias claims as unfounded and Aziz said that Pakistan has noted with serious concern the recent spate of vitriolic and unsubstantiated statements emanating from Indian civil and military leadership in the aftermath of Sunday's attack. Sharif might have remained relatively silent on the terror attack but he did find time to write to the permanent members of the Security Council over the Kashmir issue. The nature of Sharif's response fast indicate the shift from a civilian government to an army-influenced one in Pakistan as reported by The National Interest. It reported that banners requesting the militarys takeover of the country were put all across Islamabad. While a direct coup in the current milieu is not likely to take place, the influence which the army can wield on the government is apparent from Pakistans history. The report in The National Interest also said that the army controls the domestic and external political and security landscape and its political hyperactivity in the midst of a non responsive civilian government forms a positive image of it in front of the people. The Foreign Policy Centre claims that the civilian government only seems to be clutching at straws to retain an impression of its control over the population. After the failed coup attempt in Turkey, the debate about Pakistani army attempting a coup has reignited. Further, the protests against Sharif after the Panama papers leak also suggest that the Pakistan Army continues to be the most powerful institution in the country, according to a report in Observer Research Foundation. It said that on 1 August, the Army took over Islamabads security at the request of the government. As Sunil Raman writes in this Firstpost piece, Pakistans civilian government was egged on by generals to take an aggressive stance towards protests in parts of Kashmir and spread anti-India venom across the globe. Tainted by the Panama Papers revelations that he and his family owned foreign bank accounts, Nawaz found that Kashmir would be a handy issue to divert their attention. The Pakistani Army is taking baby steps towards dominating the civilian government and the cold response to the Uri attack may be attributed to this. Raman also writes that Pakistans Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has been very vocal in his support to protestors in the Kashmir Valley. Pakistans continued support to separatists in Kashmir in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wanis death has threatened the bilateral relations between the two nations. Pakistan even declared a black day to express solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and declared Wani a "martyr". There are other reasons which have pities both the countries against each other. Pakistan's constant interference in India's Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership bid and India's remarks on Balochistan have further strained the relations. It started with China vetoing Indias bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN and described its stance as "fair and based on facts". Prime Minister Narendra Modi singled out Pakistan as a country which is spreading agents of terror in our region, NDTV reported. Soon after India applied for the Nuclear Suppliers Group membership and secured US support, Pakistan has been launching drives to gather support for its own NSG membership. Aziz said that Pakistan was making successful efforts against New Delhi's bid. With Pakistan actively participating in fuelling unrest in the Kashmir Vally, Modi raised the Balochistan issue and the alleged human rights violations by Pakistan during his Independence Day speech. This evidently irked the country and its army definitely needed something to divert global attention from them rather than leave the job to their spineless government. Uri is the first diversion, perhaps. The police surrounded a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight at Manila airport on Tuesday after reports said it was "under threat", with passengers not allowed to disembark, the aviation authority spokesman said. "A Saudi plane has been isolated at the airport runway," Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio said. However, it later turned out to be a "false alarm", an airline spokesman told AFP. There was a "false alarm for hijack for Flight 872," the spokesman said in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Philippine airport officials said that Saudia Airlines plane mistakenly sent a distress call before landing at Manila's airport. The passengers have now been allowed to disembark, reported AP. The airport had earlier said in a statement that it had received information of the threat, which it did not describe, when Flight SV872 was 30 miles (48 kilometres) away from landing. It had said the Boeing aircraft was moved to a designated isolation area after it landed. TV stations had shown the plane parked near a ramp with people standing nearby, while normal airport operations continued elsewhere. With inputs from agencies Geneva: The UN said Tuesday it had suspended all humanitarian aid convoys in Syria after a deadly air raid hit trucks delivering aid near Aleppo, killing a Red Crescent staff member and civilians. As an "immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency told reporters in Geneva. This marks a "very, very dark day for humanitarians in Syria and indeed across the world," he said, stressing that it was "paramount that we are able to establish the facts through an independent investigation." The UN said at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike. Red Cross spokesman Benoit Carpentier told reporters that the director of the Syrian Red Crescent's sub-branch was killed, along with a number of civilians. Laerke said the convoy had been carrying food and non-food aid for some 78,000 people. The aid was "intended for people in dire need... This aid will now not reach those people," he said, stressing that attacks on humanitarian workers has "an exponential effect on thousands of other people." The US on Tuesday issued a stern warning to Pakistan in the wake of the Uri attack on Sunday which took the lives of 18 Indian Army soldiers. US Secretary of State John Kerry in his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated the need for the country to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistan as a safe haven. He met the Pakistani PM on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations in Kashmir and sought the US help. However, CNN-News18 reported that the US, UK and France have rejected Pakistans claims. US support to India and acknowledging it as a major defense partner seems devoid of any practical sincerity. Taking past attacks on the Indian soil as evidence, the US support to India and warning to Pakistan seem mere words with no chance of ever getting fructified. US stand and cooperation has been consistent since 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. Be it former president George Bush or President Barack Obama, the statements on US stance on India and Pakistan have barely changed. 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai The then US president George Bush told the then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh that American agencies will throw their weight behind Indias investigation into the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He also said that US will demonstrate a shared commitment to combat terrorism and that his country will work with the international community to book the perpetrators. PTI quoted the then White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe as saying, "President Bush told the prime minister that he has directed the state and defence departments along with other federal agencies to devote the necessary resources and personnel to this situation." The US had also told Pakistan to help in the investigation of the attack in the most committed and firmest possible way. The Telegraph reported that the then President-elect Barack Obamas spokeswoman on national security said that he strongly condemned the attacks. The United States must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks, said Obama. US now wants accountability from Pakistan. We've been very clear that we want to see accountability and justice in the case of the Mumbai attacks, and as you noted, there were American citizens who lost their lives in that those terrible attacks," US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner had said. 2013 attack in Srinagar The Dailymail reported that just two days before Singh was scheduled to arrive in Kashmir, militants attacked an army convoy in Srinagar. Eight soldiers were killed and 11 others injured. However, US did not come out to support India or denounce Pakistan. It remained largely silent on the Srinagar attack. Pathankot attack Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said that the US commitment to bring 2008 Mumbai attackers to justice now extends to Pathankot attack as well. While asking Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice, the US also handed proof confirming that the strike emanated from Pakistan, reported The Times Of India. Kerry while in New Delhi reiterated US continued support to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai and the Pathankot attacks to justice. During a joint press meet with External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, he said I have talked to the Pakistan Prime Minister and General Raheel Sharif for the need for Pakistan to deprive any group (terrorist) of sanctuary. US warnings to Pakistan after major terror attacks in India have perhaps become routine but a largely remain on papers or are picked up by media to snowball into a major positive move in India's favour. However, history is proof that this commitment and support may never materialise. With inputs from agencies. The terror attack in Kashmir's Uri sector, touted as the deadliest attack on the Indian Army in the last 26 years, garnered enough eyeballs across the world. In a dastardly act, heavily-armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the Indian Army in North Kashmir's Uri and killed 17 jawans. The toll rose to 18 later on Monday when one more soldier succumbed to his injuries. As the Indian leadership, along with the intelligence and Army chiefs, huddled to decide on their next move, the brazen attack in Uri were condemned across the world the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, Germany, Japan, Canada and Bhutan were among the nations which denounced the attack. However, the perspective and message in each of their condolences were different. While China and Germany supported India in their statements, they also said that such "situation" escalates and triggers a "spiral of violence." "We must not give in to this logic, including in conflicts between India and Pakistan," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Russia, on the other hand, supported India's claim and condemned the attacks. Russia also cancelled its planned joint military exercises in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, however, Russian officials said that the decision not to hold the exercises in PoK was taken independently of the Uri attack, keeping in mind India's insistence that the area is illegally occupied. "Regarding the Pathankot Indian air base attack in January 2016, we are very concerned about the terrorist attacks near the Line of Control. We are also concerned about the fact that, according to New Delhi, the Army base near Uri was attacked from Pakistani territory. We believe that this criminal act will be investigated properly, and that its organisers and perpetrators will be held accountable," Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. Apart from world leaders condemning the attacks, media played a huge role in how the Uri attacks were perceived both in India and abroad. Indian media aside, Pakistan media had front-page coverage of the attack. Interestingly, the media coverage of the attack was heavy on rhetoric. Starting from headlines in like 'RAGE' in The Telegraph to Pakistan media's coverage with headlines like 'Indian officials jump the gun, blame Pakistan' in The Express Tribune, both the Indian and the international media lent a heavy rhetoric on what was happening between the two neighbours. Relations between India-Pakistan have plummeted in the last few months, starting with Pakistan's alleged involvement in the Pathankot terror attack in January this year, followed by Pakistan Prime Minister's interference in the unrest going on in the Kashmir Valley following the encounter of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. After Sunday's attack in Uri, India's political leadership decided to immediately respond with diplomatic offensive and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave orders to isolate Pakistan on a global stage. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is attending the UN General Assembly meet in New York, will also raise the issue at the meet. Here's what Indian media said about the Uri attack Most Indian newspapers and television channels, while condemning the attack, called for a "befitting" response from the Indian political leadership. Even though many articles carried quotes of Army veterans who favoured an eye-for-an-eye treatment for Pakistan, newspapers dialed down any vitriolic statements in their editorials against Pakistan or its leadership. In fact, majority of the leading newspapers called for reasoning over rage. Remarks like "for one tooth, the complete jaw" from BJP leader Ram Madhav, was actively discouraged and maybe the more level-headed generals across the board discussed that while Madhav's approach may play well on TV, letting strategic restraint go, is better said than done. While they condoled the death of the 18 soldiers, op-eds in Indian newspapers maintained that even though India needs to give a reply that will resonate in Pakistan, it still needs to be calm and not act in haste. Like Akshaya Mishra of Firstpost says in this piece, "Dont take rhetoric so high that not living up to it becomes a source of embarrassment." "That they offer no clarity on what the strong and fitting response should be though the word war is suggested in hints. They forget easily that war is not an easy option for the country. The collateral damage can be heavy on India, a country slowly building itself into an economic powerhouse." Utpal Kumar, on the other hand, in an opinion piece in DailyO said that India need not wage a full-fledged war on Pakistan to contain the "rogue nation". He suggested, "India, for instance, can throw the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, which unduly favours Pakistan, into the dustbin. Without shelling a single mortar, India can make Pakistan crawl." The timing of the attack also can't be ignored. The militants attacked the Army base on the eve of Indias planned intervention at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meet where New Delhi is to highlight Pakistans terror atrocities not just across the border, but in Balochistan as well. Like Sreemoy Talukdar of Firstpost argues in this piece, "Islamabad, or more correctly the Army apparatus in Rawalpindi, is gambling on the well-considered possibility that the Uri attack will goad India into a knee-jerk response that it may then exploit to its advantage to go with its narrative of "Indian oppression in Kashmir". Given the fact that the West would surely try to defuse the tension between the nuclear neighbours would mean that India would be at the receiving end of global pressure to "show restraint" and "act responsibly". Lectures to such effect were already being administered by United States commentators on Sunday evening." Most of the opinion/editorial pieces in Indian media maintained that Pakistan-backed terrorists across the border are getting audacious by the day, the articles also noted that it will help India to revisit its overtures towards Pakistan "but it also begs the question of what kind of strategic change can be realistically achieved to expose and bring to justice Pakistans currently free-running military-jihad complex." Here's how Pakistan media reacted As leaders and sections of the media in India blamed Pakistan for Uri, Pakistani media also lashed out at the Indian authorities, claiming that the Uri attack was "staged" and that India was trying to shift the focus from the ongoing Kashmir unrest. The News International ran an editorial which said: Assisted by its crafty media, the Indian political and security establishment is notorious for designing bizarre pseudo operations so that it could defame Pakistan in the eyes of the world, muster international support and to cover up its intelligence failures, but on most occasions over the years, even the internal investigative reports have mocked New Delhis claims in this context. The editorial, headlined "Uri attack is an addition to RAW failures", says how the Uri terror attack was staged "to dilute the effects of Nawaz Sharifs speech at the United Nations." This article in The News International is getting a special mention here (over other Pakistani newspapers) because of its strange claims. The article goes on to say how India staged the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as well. Another leading Pakistani paper, The Dawn, even though reporting on the Uri attacks, stressed on the deteriorating situation in Kashmir. "Surely, though, the war of words, at least from the Indian side, will not abate in the days ahead. Indias automatic blaming of Pakistan for major violence in that country is very much a part of the problem," the report in The Dawn said. Another report in The Dawn said that Home Minister Rajnath Singh "immediately" blamed Pakistan for the attack and then quickly shifted focus to the violent protests in Jammu and Kashmir. "Almost daily protests against the Indian rule and Indias ruthless use of force to stop the protests have drawn international attention, causing almost every major human rights organisation to demand access to the Valley." The report also talked about how India is expected to raise the Balochistan issue at the United Nations General Assembly and said that Pakistan was likely to respond by claiming that it was India, in fact, which was "responsible for promoting militancy in Balochistan". Similar words were used against India in a report in The Express Tribune, which called India's allegations against Pakistan a "knee-jerk reaction". Another article in Pakistan Observer titled "Also expose Indian interference at UNGA" said, "India misses no opportunity to malign Pakistan at international forums and for this purpose resorts to all sort of rhetoric and baseless allegations. It is time for Pakistan to veraciously expose the double face of India." International media The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post and other leading international papers also reported the open scuffle between the two Asian neighbours on Monday. While The New York Times referred to Kashmir as "disputed region", The Guardian said that India "directly accused" Pakistan of being involved in the midnight raid in Uri. The Guardian reported that there was clamour in India for a less-diplomatic approach from the Narendra Modi government. Even though opinions did not find place in the international reports, it was obvious that the world was watching India and Pakistan war of words keenly, especially days before the UNGA meeting scheduled in New York next week. The Guardian report said: "Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir as their own and have fought three wars over the former princedom since partition in 1947. Sunday attacks came during a week of diplomatic wrangling between the pair. Pakistans prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has promised he will use a speech to the UN general assembly on Wednesday to emphatically highlight alleged human rights abuses against protesters by Indian authorities. Last week, Indian diplomats at the UN human rights council raised for the first time Pakistans alleged mistreatment of its own separatists in Balochistan, a restive province in the countrys south-west." The CNN reported that Uri attack has started "a new chapter in the India-Pakistan geopolitical saga." The report also brought focus to the ongoing unrest in Kashmir for the past two months. The report in The Washington Post said that the Uri attack has effectively brought Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to square one since Sharif has been "preparing for days to make a forceful appearance at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, hoping to burnish his international credentials with a ringing denunciation of Indian aggression in the disputed border region of Kashmir." The report goes on to add that the raid adds a "messy backdrop" for the Pakistan prime minister who was about to raise the issue of Kashmir on a global stage. "Diplomatic fallout, meanwhile, could include India cutting off all talks or refusing to attend a South Asian summit in Islamabad later this year," the report noted. New York: The US and China have agreed to continue working towards narrowing differences and expanding practical cooperation on regional and global challenges to maintain "sound development" in bilateral relationship and to strengthen coordination in achieving denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. President Barack Obama met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly session. According to a readout of the meeting provided by the White House, the two leaders "agreed to continue efforts to narrow differences and expand practical cooperation on regional and global challenges in order to maintain sound development in the bilateral relationship." Both leaders also condemned North Korea's 9 September nuclear test and "resolved" to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the UN Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea. Obama will make his final address as US President on Tuesday on the opening day of the General Debate as the US goes into the last leg of the 2016 presidential race and votes to elect a new leader in November. The two leaders noted the important contributions of the economic relationship to the broader bilateral relationship and to the global economy. They discussed China's transition toward a more sustainable consumption-driven economic growth model, with Obama encouraging Communist country to accelerate its continuing efforts to address industrial excess capacity, foster an environment conducive to innovation and advance an orderly transition to a market-determined exchange rate, the readout said. Obama also urged China to establish a level playing field for all firms to compete fairly in China. The two leaders also discussed the importance of achieving progress in negotiation of a US-China Bilateral Investment Treaty and of a World Trade Organization Environment Goods Agreement. On climate issues, both leaders pledged to continue working toward bringing the Paris agreement into force as early as possible and to reach a market-based measure to reduce international aviation emissions. The US and China, the world's biggest polluters, formally joined the Paris Agreement earlier this month. China and the US together account for nearly 38 per cent of global emissions. Both leaders also acknowledged the important role their nations play in strengthening the international humanitarian system. Li will participate in the Refugee Summit Obama is hosting on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. New York: The US has said it will continue to press Pakistan to take "additional steps" to deal with terror groups seeking refuge within its borders, hours after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought American help to resolve bilateral issues between India and Pakistan. Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday and raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir. Sharif's meeting with Kerry was among his first bilaterals in the city on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly and Kashmir featured prominently in the talks. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said at a press briefing just hours after the bilateral meeting between Kerry and Sharif that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. Toner told reporters at the briefing at the New York Foreign Press Centre that US-Pakistan is "obviously a very important relationship. "There's a lot on the bilateral agenda but also on the regional agenda," he said when asked about the Sharif- Kerry meeting. He said the two sides are expected to discuss ongoing efforts by Pakistan at economic reform, "but certainly security will also be on the agenda, and we'll continue to urge Pakistan to take additional steps to deal with all of the terrorist threats that it faces on its own territory but also those groups that frankly, that seek refuge or safe refuge within Pakistan's borders and how to deal with those groups in an effective way. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif said, "I still remember President (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." "I expect US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India," he said. In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self-determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. "We will not disappoint our Kashmiri brethren at any cost; we will keep on reminding the international community of its decades-old commitments that have not been honored till today," he said. Sharif said human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to "ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that "if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people of Jammu and Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities." Meanwhile, as a practice, Pakistan's officials do not allow Indian media to attend press briefings by Pakistan Foreign Secretary and other officials accompanying Sharif or any other events that they host. In previous years too, Indian journalists have been asked by Pakistani officials to wait outside the briefing room while senior officials with the PM address their media. Russia's largest new hotel complex, Novotel Adagio Ibis Moscow Kievskaya by ACCORHOTELS management, is located right in the heart of Moscow, alongside the Moscow River and in between major business and historic districts. Hotels surrounded by modern architectural ensembles and legendary historical buildings such as The House of the Government of the Russian Federation, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Moscow Kievskaya railway station. The Kievskaya metro station, one of Moscow's most beautiful underground stations, is just a few steps away and will bring you to Red Square & the Kremlin just in 7 min - 3 metro stops. The complex consists of three well-known international hotel brands of various categories under one roof. Multifunctional shopping and hotel complex combines three hotels: Novotel Moscow Kievskaya with 202 rooms, Adagio Moscow Kievskaya with 149 rooms and Ibis Moscow Kievskaya with 350 rooms. Modern and stylish hotels offer the highest standards of international brands and a wide range of services: 24 hour room service, a cozy bar, two restaurants, a conference center equipped with the latest technology and a wellness center with a swimming pool. Novotel Moscow Kievskaya Modern Accommodation in the city centre Novotel Moscow Kievskaya offers 202 spacious, contemporary and fully flexible rooms and suites. The Novotel room is designed to live in. The rooms feature: high speed internet access, large flat screen with connectivity, iPod docking station, and LIVE N DREAM* bed design- fully customized beds dedicated to those who like spending a lot of their time in bed whether working, relaxing or having breakfast. Simple and authentic cuisine Gourmet Bar Discover the subtlety and fusion of contemporary cuisine combining international signature dishes with authentic Russian touch. Delicious food accompanied with inventive and trendy drinks is a perfect place for an informal business meeting or for a drink with friends. Escape from city hustle at Wellness Centre In Balance In Balance by Novotel is the modern fitness and wellness centre featuring: saunas, hammam, spacious massage rooms, 17 metres indoor pool and pool for kids on the 5th floor. It is an ideal place to escape from city hustle, relax after a long day of sightseeing or energize your mind and body. Moscow's Premier Address for Business Meetings and Events The hotel provides a full range of conference services, presenting 11 fully equipped modern meeting rooms featuring latest communication technologies. Choose from various business facilities: 3 rooms on the 5th floor or 8 daylight rooms on the 6th floor. Providing a total space of 780sqm, accommodating up to 160 people with access to spacious coffee break areas on both floors. Website link Novotel: http://bit.ly/2cqNlmZ Adagio Moscow Kievskaya Comfortable Apartment in the city centre Immerse yourself in ideally located Moscow apart-hotel, which provides home comfort in elegant rooms ensuring an enjoyable stay with freedom and flexibility. Meanwhile, our team works to ensure your total peace of mind and safety 24/7. Adagio boasts 149 apartments that include: 107 studios, 36 one-bedroom and 6 two-bedroom apartments. All are 'ready to live in' with a fully equipped kitchen including: a microwave, oven, electric hubs, dishwasher and refrigerator. The advantage of having Adagio as a part of the hotel complex is that guests can enjoy an array of food and beverage outlets, as well as In Balance by Novotel is the modern fitness and wellness centre featuring: saunas, hammam, spacious massage rooms, 17 metres indoor pool and pool for kids on the 5th floor. Thus making it an ideal place to escape from city hustle, relax after a long working day or energize your mind and body. If you feel more comfortable to have your working space nearby, we can offer the most suitable meeting space among 11 conference rooms represented in our conference centre. Website link Adagio: http://bit.ly/2cMTLLC ibis Moscow Kievskaya A vibrant place for dynamic people The hotel offers 350 modern and vivid rooms featuring brand new Sweet Ibis beds which are entirely designed, tested and perfected by our innovation department for the best night's sleep. All rooms equipped with air conditioning, bathroom, hairdryer, safe, mini-fridge, comfortable working desk, free Wi-Fi throughout and flat-screen TV. Enjoy spacious, airy and dynamic lobby where you can comfortably meet with your friends, surf in the virtual world or read a book. Amuse yourself with fabulous food at the ibis Kitchen Cafe from our Chef or inventive drink at the bar. Website link ibis: http://bit.ly/2c8jJYl About Accor, a world-leading hospitality group Accor is a world leading hospitality group consisting of 5,300 properties and 10,000 food and beverage venues throughout 110 countries. The group has one of the industry's most diverse and fully-integrated hospitality ecosystems encompassing more than 40 luxury, premium, midscale and economy hotel brands, entertainment and nightlife venues, restaurants and bars, branded private residences, shared accommodation properties, concierge services, co-working spaces and more. Accor's unmatched position in lifestyle hospitality one of the fastest growing categories in the industry is led by Ennismore, a joint venture, which Accor holds a majority shareholding. Ennismore is a creative hospitality company with a global collective of entrepreneurial and founder-built brands with purpose at their heart. Accor boasts an unrivalled portfolio of distinctive brands and more than 230,000 team members worldwide. Members benefit from the company's comprehensive loyalty program ALL Accor Live Limitless a daily lifestyle companion that provides access to a wide variety of rewards, services and experiences. Through its global sustainability commitments (such as achieving Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2050, global elimination of single use plastics in its hotels' guest experience, etc.), Accor Solidarity, RiiSE and ALL Heartist Fund initiatives, the Group is focused on driving positive action through business ethics, responsible tourism, environmental sustainability, community engagement, diversity and inclusivity. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France and publicly listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticket: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information visit group.accor.com or follow Accor on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Ilya Lavrutich Accor GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. The Australian government reached a 39.3 million Australian dollar (USD29.6 million) settlement with the owners of a Chinese coal carrier to pay for environmental damage caused when the ship ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef six year ago, the environment minister said yesterday. The government had sued Shenzhen Energy Transport for at least AUD120 million in Australian Federal Court after the fully laden ship Shen Neng1 went off course in April 2010 and grounded on Douglas Shoal, 100 kilometers east of the town of Rockhampton, among the chain of World Heritage-listed coral reefs. Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said Shenzhen Energy Transport has agreed to the out- of-court-settlement after refusing to accept responsibility for restitution for more than six years. Our ongoing actions to pursue funds to clean up the pollution sends an unambiguous signal that damage to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is unacceptable and that we will use every available means to pursue ship owners who are negligent in causing damage to the reef, Frydenberg said in a statement. The crash site was contaminated with hundreds of kilograms of paint particles tainted with the highly toxic anti-fouling agent tributyltin. Tributyltin slows the growth of aquatic organisms on ship hulls, and marine biologists say the particles need to be removed from the 40-hectare (100-acre) crash site to allow the area to recover. Shenzhen Energy Transport had said in court the reef is already healing and the company should not have to pay for a cleanup that is not needed. Shenzhen Energy Transports maritime insurer, London P&I Club, has said the governments estimated costs of fixing the reef were unrealistic. Frydenberg said the cleanup is likely to begin in mid 2017. Of the total, AUD35 million is to be paid to the government to cover the cost of removing polluted rubble. The remaining AUD4.3 million is to cover government costs incurred in the immediate aftermath of the grounding. AP The process of Chinese group Fosun taking a stake in Portuguese bank Banco Comercial Portuguese (BCP) is expected to be completed by the end of September, according to a statement issued by the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM). BCPs board of directors, which met last week instructed the banks executive commission to deepen the negotiations with Fosun to set the conditions of entry of the Chinese group in the capital of the financial group. BCPs Board of Directors welcomed the interest shown by Fosun [which in Portugal already owns healthcare company Luz Saude and insurance company Fidelidade] and discussed general lines of what may turn out to be the terms of the investment, said the statement released by the market regulator. This information follows the expression of interest by the Fosun Group to acquire 16.7 percent of the share capital of BCP. This would be achieved through a reserved capital increase in the amount of 236 million euros, which would help improve the banks solvency levels. At the end of July, the Chinese group laid out conditions for investing in BCP including a reverse stock split and places on the board and executive commission, among others. The major shareholders of BCP are Angolan oil company Sonangol with 17.84 percent, Banco Sabadell with 5.07 percent, Energias de Portugal group with 2.71 percent and the Interoceanico group with 2.05 percent. MDT/Macauhub The General Association of Chinese Students of Macao has released the results of a survey conducted recently, showing that over 80 percent of more than 1,300 interviewed students have a habit of overusing their phones, according to a report by Jornal Va Kio. About 95 percent of those surveyed use mobile phones and close to 60 percent were said to display signs of anxiety caused by overusing mobile phones. Some 47 percent of the students chose to chat with people via mobile phone rather than face-to-face. Twelve percent of the students admitted to feeling lonely when not in possession of their phones, and that they would try to get their phones back. Locals file complaint against Lisboa Palace Around ten residents visited the Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL) yesterday to report their former employer, the Lisboa Palace, for having unreasonably fired them. Lawmaker Lei Cheng I accompanied the group of self-proclaimed construction workers to the DSAL, according to a report by TDM. Lei said that approximately 90 local workers had been fired, all of whom were members of the cleaning staff at the Lisboa Palace construction site, with most having been employed on or after September 12. After only two or three days, they were told to stop working. Some of the complainants believe that the employer fired local workers to reduce costs. 73 year-old HK man found dead in casino A 73 year-old Hong Kong man was found dead at the Casino Kam Pek Paradise early yesterday morning. The man was discovered in the resting lounge by one of the casino employees, who then reported the incident to the police. The employee first noticed an abnormal odor, and then realized that one customer had been in the resting lounge for a while. The Fire Services Bureau arrived to the scene and confirmed the death. The case has been forwarded to the Judiciary Police for further investigation. A male (27) tourist from mainland China threatened several casino gamblers using syringes and a fake report that stated he was HIV positive. His stated purpose was to coerce the gamblers to place bets for him at the casino tables, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) said at a press conference yesterday. According to the police report, the suspect was finally taken into custody after reportedly threatening at least three men between September 8 and September 13. He was finally caught with the help of the security staff of a casino in ZAPE area. The victims stated that the man, who allegedly struck in the ZAPE area, was targeting casino gamblers who had won large sums, threatening them with used syringes filled with a red liquid that resembled blood and showing them a medical report which stated that he was infected with the HIV virus. The suspect allegedly had no intention of stealing from the victims, but was attempting to coerce them to place bets on his behalf at the casino tables in order to recover a large sum that he had previously lost. According to the statements of the suspect, he was targeting those men for being winners, believing that they were luckier than him. As for the syringes and the red liquid contained inside, the man admitted to use fake blood similar to the type used in movies and decorations, saying that he bought it in his native Hebei province. He also admitted that the medical report which that stated that he was infected with HIV was fake, but did not state where he sourced it from. As far as the PSP is aware, the suspects attempts to force gamblers to help him had failed, as none of the gamblers who filed complaints against him were convinced by his story. After the questioning, the suspect was sent to the public hospital for a toxicological exam, which the result was negative. The man has also been tested for HIV but the results have not yet been released. He has been presented to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) under the charges of threat and attempted coercion, possession of forbidden weapons and offenses to physical integrity. Road accidents in coloane leave three seriously injured Following the two road accidents in the Coloane area Sunday morning, which were reported yesterday by the Times, the PSP said three of the victims are still under medical care in hospitals around the territory. The most critical case is one of the motorcycle riders, who has been hospitalized and is in a serious condition with several internal injuries. The other two victims are still in the hospital due to several bone fractures, but are in stable conditions. The other three reported victims had no serious injuries and have already been released from the hospital. 50-year-old man killed during argument A 50-year-old Macau resident was killed in the early hours of yesterday morning in a restaurant at Bairro Horta da Mitra in central Macau, the Judiciary Police (PJ) reported. The case reportedly occurred around 2:44 a.m. following a long argument between the victim and another man over an undisclosed matter. According to the PJ report, during the argument, the suspect allegedly hit the victim in the neck with a broken glass bottle, causing a serious wound and heavy bleeding. The victim was transported to the public hospital (CHCSJ). where he died 10 minutes later. Following the attack, the suspect fled the scene and is still at large. The PJ is still investigating the case and is searching for the suspect. Indonesian forest fires that choked a swath of Southeast Asia with a smoky haze for weeks last year may have caused more than 100,000 deaths, according to new research that will add to pressure on Indonesias government to tackle the annual crisis. The study by scientists from Harvard University and Columbia University to be published in the journal Environmental Research Letters is being welcomed by other researchers and Indonesias medical profession as an advance in quantifying the suspected serious public health effects of the fires, which are set to clear land for agriculture and forestry. The number of deaths is an estimate derived from a complex analysis that has not yet been validated by analysis of official data on mortality. The research has implications for land-use practices and Indonesias vast pulp and paper industry. The researchers showed that peatlands within timber concessions, and peatlands overall, were a much bigger proportion of the fires observed by satellite than in 2006, which was another particularly bad year for haze. The researchers surmise that draining of the peatlands to prepare them for pulpwood plantations and other uses made them more vulnerable to fires. The estimate of early deaths linked to respiratory illness and other causes covers Indonesia and its neighbors Singapore and Malaysia. It dwarfs Indonesias official toll of 19 that included deaths from illness and the deaths of firefighters. However, the possible scale of serious health consequences was indicated by a statement from the countrys disaster management agency in October that said more than 43 million Indonesians were exposed to smoke from the fires and half a million suffered acute respiratory infections. The study considered only the health impact on adults and restricts itself to the effects of health-threatening fine particulate matter, often referred to as PM2.5, rather than all toxins that would be in the smoke from burning peatlands and forests. The bulk of the estimated deaths are in Indonesia, by far the most populous of the three countries and the country with the biggest land area affected by haze. The fires from July to October last year in southern Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo were the worst since 1997 and exacerbated by El Nino dry conditions. About 261,000 hectares of land burned. Some of the fires started accidently, but many were deliberately set by companies and villagers to clear land for plantations and agriculture. Rajasekhar Bala, an environmental engineering expert at the National University of Singapore, one of five experts who reviewed the paper for The Associated Press and were not involved in the research, said the study is preliminary and involved a very challenging task of analyzing the sources and spread of fine particulate matter over several countries and a lengthy time frame. Even with caveats, it should serve as a wake-up call for firm action in Indonesia to curb peatland and forest fires and for regional cooperation to deal with the fallout on public health, he said. Air pollution, especially that caused by atmospheric fine particles, has grave implications for human health, he said. Frank Murray, an associate professor of environment science at Australias Murdoch University, said the death estimates are not precise health outcomes but their overall scale should trigger intensified efforts to deal with the crisis. The study is a major contribution to addressing an international problem, he said. The study finds there is a high statistical probability that early deaths ranged between 26,300 and 174,300. Its main estimate of 100,300 deaths is the average of those two figures. It predicts 91,600 deaths in Indonesia, another 6,500 in Malaysia and 2,200 in Singapore. The researchers involved in the study say the model they developed can be combined with satellite and ground station observations to analyze the haze in close to real time. That gives it the potential to be used to direct firefighting efforts in a way that reduces the amount of illness caused, they say. The annual fires have strained relations between Indonesia and its wealthier neighbors Singapore and Malaysia, who are at the mercy of winds that carry the haze into their territory from Sumatra. But the brunt of the crisis is faced by millions of Indonesians in Sumatra and Kalimantan, many of them poor and with little or no means to protect themselves from the blanket of smoke. Particles penetrate indoors, and housing in Indonesia is very well ventilated, so I dont think there is any avertive behavior that people there could have taken that would have been effective, said Joel Schwartz, an air pollution epidemiologist at Harvard who co-authored the study. In Singapore, if you close all the windows and turn on the air conditioning you get some protection, which may have happened. The Indonesian Medical Associations West Kalimantan chapter said Indonesia faces an overall decline in the health of future generations with social and economic consequences if the situation is not tackled. We are the doctors who care for the vulnerable groups exposed to toxic smoke, said Nursyam Ibrahim, deputy head of the West Kalimantan chapter of the association. And we know how awful it is to see the disease symptoms experienced by babies and children in our care. Howard Frumpkin, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, said it is possible the health consequences are greater than indicated by the study because higher incidence of certain health problems in developing countries could make populations more susceptible to the effects of fine particulate matter. Stephen Wright, Jakarta, AP Laughter and lively chatter filled a room at a modest apartment in Tokyo one recent Thursday night as more than two dozen kids and volunteers gathered around tables laden with curry, rice, salad and fruits. Misako Omuras weekly dinner is one of a growing number of kodomo shokudo, or childrens cafeterias, that are springing up across Japan. The mostly grassroots efforts seek to address a range of child-related issues, from poverty to ensuring that those with late- working parents get a proper dinner. A tally by the national Asahi newspaper found 319 such places serving free or low-cost meals across Japan as of May, up from 21 in 2013. Over the past 70 years, Japans rising affluence has banished most of the penury of the lean years during and after World War II, when children sometimes starved and many families went hungry. But despite its ultra-modern conveniences, Japan had the 10th-highest child poverty rate among 31 relatively well-off countries in a 2013 UNICEF report. Poverty in Japan is largely hidden, as it can lead to public shame and discrimination. Families often skimp on food and other necessities to ensure children are dressed well enough to avoid being seen as disadvantaged. Such children might have smartphones but not the money to buy a 100-yen (USD1) box of juice or participate in a school field trip, said Setsuko Ito, who heads the child- rearing-support division in Tokyos working-class Arakawa district. Omura started her weekly dinner in Arakawa in 2014 to create a space to welcome area children who might not get enough support from their families, schools and communities. Her initiative, supported by donations and a grant from the district office, is meant to counter a void left as communities hollow out and family ties unravel, leaving many parents and children isolated and struggling to cope. The kids and volunteers pay 300 yen ($3) for dinner. I hope everyone can develop a sense that each child is our child and understand that we are raising the children who will be supporting us as the next generation, she said. Omura emphasized that the children who come to her weekly dinners are not necessarily living in poverty. In some cases, they just have to dine alone because their parents are working late. She asked the Associated Press not to interview the children, out of concern that public exposure might lead to harassment at school and in their neighborhood, or even when applying for jobs in the future. Just over half of all Japanese single-parent households are considered to be under the poverty line. Single mothers, who make on average 150,000 yen ($1,490) a month, get limited support from welfare programs. Though a 2013 law aims to coordinate national and local government efforts to provide educational, living and economic support, many local officials are struggling with the issue, said Kaori Suetomi, a professor specializing in education administration and finance at Nihon University in Tokyo. Until now, Japan hasnt really dealt with child poverty, and officials are not sure what to do, said Suetomi, co-author of a recent report on policies devised by local governments across Japan to address the issue. The problem, she said, is budgets for those programs are not guaranteed, so some local governments have had to abandon programs. In addition, Suetomi said that child poverty issues overlap between the education and welfare ministries. That makes securing funds difficult as the ministries shuffle the responsibility of which should bear the cost, she said. The childrens cafeterias are an attempt to fill that void. Kazuma Omoto, a former participant and aspiring teacher who volunteers at Omuras dinners, said he attends to find himself and learn how to interact with younger children. Its a wonderful place for that, the high school junior said. I come here every week. Going forward I hope I can study and learn many different things myself. Satoshi Sugiyama, Tokyo, AP Police released a photo of a 28-year-old Afghan immigrant that they took into custody late last night in connection to explosions in New York City and New Jersey, following a shootout with officers. Senior government officials have revised their stance from Sunday, now saying that the attacks are looking increasingly like an act of terrorism. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey, should be considered armed and dangerous, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in one of a series of TV appearances just minutes after the photo was released. In addition to the blast in Chelsea on Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded in a New Jersey shore town before a charity 5K race and an unexploded pressure cooker device was found blocks away from the explosion site in Chelsea. On Sunday, five explosive devices were discovered at a New Jersey train station. Authorities are investigating whether the bombings and explosive devices were related. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as investigators gathered information they learned there were certain commonalities among the bombs, leading authorities to believe that there was a common group behind the bombs. We want to get this guy in for questioning, de Blasio said on CNN. We need the facts to be able to piece all this together. [] I think were going to know a lot more in the course of the day. Things are moving very quickly. Early yesterday, FBI agents swarmed an apartment above a fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth thats tied to Rahami. The activity came hours after one of five devices found at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded while a bomb squad robot attempted to disarm it. No one was injured. Saturday nights blast in the bustling Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan injured 29 people, and another unexploded device made out of pressure cooker was found several blocks away. In the immediate aftermath of that bombing, de Blasio and Cuomo were careful to say there was no evidence of a link to international terrorism. Both are now saying that appears to be changing. The more we learn with each passing hour is it looks more like terrorism, de Blasio said in a later interview on NY1 News. Cuomo, in a separate interview on MSNBC, said: Todays information suggests it may be foreign related but well see where it goes. [] My operating premise is anytime, anywhere, seven days a week you could have an incident like this. On Sunday, a federal law enforcement official said the Chelsea bomb contained a residue of Tannerite, an explosive often used for target practice that can be picked up in many sporting goods stores. The discovery of Tannerite may be important as authorities probe whether the two New York City devices and the pipe bomb at the Jersey shore are connected. Cellphones were discovered at the site of both bombings, but no Tannerite residue was identified in the New Jersey bomb remnants, in which a black powder was detected, said the official, who wasnt authorized to comment on an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The bombings in New York City and New Jersey happened the same day that a man stabbed and injured nine people at a Minnesota mall before an off- duty police officer fatally shot him. The St. Cloud police chief said the man reportedly made at least one reference to Allah and asked a victim if he or she was Muslim before attacking. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility. MDT/AP Samsungs smartphone problems expanded yesterday to Chinas populous market, where the South Korean tech giant was looking into reports two Galaxy Note 7 handsets exploded in a country where it earlier said its units were safe and didnt need to be included in a global recall. The reports in the biggest mobile phone market were a new setback for Samsung Electronics, which is struggling to restore consumer trust after dozens of reports of batteries that overheated or caught fire in other nations. In the latest incidents, two people posted accounts on Chinese social media saying their Galaxy Note 7 handsets exploded over the weekend. Samsung has faced criticism it has failed to coordinate with American and other safety regulators and failed to give clear information to consumers. U.S. regulators ordered a recall on Thursday. Aviation authorities in the United States, Australia and Europe have urged passengers not to use or charge Note 7s while flying and not to put them in checked baggage. The Note 7 debuted to rave reviews in August thanks to its speed, new software features and longer time between charges, which requires a more powerful battery. Users report phones have caught fire or exploded, in one case causing a blaze that destroyed an SUV. Samsung had earlier excluded China from its global Note 7 recall. It said handsets sold in China were safe because they used different batteries from those linked to problems elsewhere. The Chinese battery supplier for Note 7 phones sold in China said yesterday fires there appeared to be different from cases in other countries, where Samsung has blamed a manufacturing error in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. In the United States, there have been 92 reports of Galaxy Note 7 battery fires. Amperex Technology Ltd., which supplies lithium polymer batteries, said the fires in China appeared to be caused by unspecified factors outside the battery. We believe the heat problem comes from outside the battery. A very large likelihood exists that other factors gave rise to the heat problem, it said in a statement. ATL gave no indication of what may have caused the problems. Samsung did not respond to questions. In the first incident reported in China, a social media user posted messages Sunday saying a friends Galaxy Note 7 caught fire over the weekend. It included photos of the damaged phone. The user, contacted by phone, told The Associated Press the Note 7 was bought Sept. 1 through the JD.com e-commerce site. The man, who asked not to be identified by name, said the phone started to heat up and vibrate late Saturday night, then exploded and emitted black smoke. A second report on a separate social media account said an owners phone exploded Sunday while the person was playing a game on it. That account gave no contact information for the user or details of where the person lives but showed photos of the damaged phone and its serial number. The incidents, widely reported in Chinese media, are a big blow to Samsung in China, where consumers expect global brands to be better quality, said Nicole Peng of research firm Canalys. This is a very big incident that Samsung will find hard to defend, said Peng. Previously, they promised the China unit was fine and was using a different battery, she said. So it seems like this is causing more trust issues and hurting consumer confidence in their brand. The incidents could set back Samsungs effort to stage a comeback in China, where it has slipped to No. 6 in a crowded market behind ambitious local brands, Peng said. Samsung accounted for 8 percent of smartphone sales in China in the three months ending June 30, down slightly from the previous quarters 9 percent, according to Canalys. Huawei was in first place in both quarters with 16 percent, followed by Vivo and Xiaomi at 13 percent. AP A survey conducted by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) for the second quarter of 2016, showed that local residents participating in cultural activities totaled 257,900, with a participation rate of 59.2 percent, up slighty year-on- year. According to the results of the Survey on Participation of Residents in Cultural Activities, total participants (including non-residents) in cultural activities rose by 2.1 percent year-on- year to 302,300. In its statement, DSEC outlined that cultural activities include going to the cinema, a library, visiting a museum or World Heritage site, and attending a performance or art exhibition. When analyzed by type of cultural activity, going to the cinema remained the most popular activity for local residents with 169,800 participants, up by 7.6 percent year-on-year. As the government organized a number of film screenings to support local films, the amount of residents watching locally produced films rose 58.5 percent to 35,100. Local residents going to libraries increased by 3.1 percent year-on-year to 114,400; the activity participation rate was 26.3 percent, up by 0.5 percentage points. Students had a higher participation rate than non-students, at 68 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Residents visiting museums or World Heritage sites increased by 19.1 percent year- on-year to 113,900. The average visit per participant was 2.8, the same as a year earlier. More specifically, 82,500 local citizens visited World Heritage sites and 75,100 visited museums. The survey also showed that there were 90,500 local residents attending performances, down by 0.7 percent year-on- year. The average attendance per participant remained unchanged from a year earlier, coming to 2.3. Music and dance performances were more popular amongst local residents, with 65,500 participants (72.3 percent), while theatre performances had 45,200 participants (50 percent). There were 38,300 local residents attending art exhibitions, up by 5.2 percent year-on-year; 95.7 percent of them also participated in other types of cultural activities, and 51.6 percent took part in four or more types of activities, up by 3 percentage points. Hong Kong-based Indonesian domestic worker, Eni Lestari, took the stage at the United Nations Summit on Refugees and Migrants in New York yesterday to remind world leaders of the plight faced by many migrant workers worldwide. During her speech, Lestari highlighted some of the difficulties that migrant workers face in their host countries, describing them as nightmarish. Speaking as a migrant worker herself, Lestari said: Like many others, I did not have the choice but to work abroad in a foreign country [so that I could help my family]. But like many others, I found that the choice of a better future is a lie, she decried, we migrants are denied the future [] that we imagined when we arrived [in our host country]. Our dream has become a nightmare. Lestari also pointed out what she regards as paradoxes in the treatment of migrant workers by the host society, which involve the widespread suspicion of them and a general lack of respect from the countrys nationals. We expect protection and services [like nationals], but we are left alone; [] we are perceived as a security threat yet we [are part of] an industry that generates billions, she said, pleading for migrant workers to be seen and heard, not marginalized and excluded. Migrant workers account for some 150 million people worldwide, according to the International Labour Organization, accounting for more than 60 percent of the global migrant population. Lestari, who argues that migrants are often overlooked by state and local governments, wants these workers to be included in policymaking on a regional, national and international level. I dont expect that I will change the whole situation of migrants with a three-minute speech, she told the Sunday Morning Post in Hong Kong. But I hope it will remind world leaders about the reality that migrant workers face on the ground and that they should involve migrant workers when they make policies. However, yesterdays summit saw world leaders and foreign ministers from 193 countries approve a document aimed at providing a more humane and coordinated response to the refugee crisis. The 22-page New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, is not legally binding and lacks concrete commitments but calls on countries to protect refugees human rights, boost humanitarian aid and increase resettlement of refugees. According to the website of yesterdays one-day summit, the gathering is a historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response [to migrant workers]. It is a watershed moment to strengthen governance of international migration and a unique opportunity for creating a more responsible, predictable system for responding to large movements of refugees and migrants. The summit will be composed of several plenary sessions and six roundtables discussing topics such as the root causes of large movements of refugees, vulnerabilities of migrants traveling from their place of origin to countries of arrival, and international cooperation for the protection of displaced people. Eni Lestari arrived in Hong Kong back in 2000 after the Asian financial crisis struck. Today she chairs the International Migrants Alliance a grouping of grassroots organizations consisting of migrants, refugees and displaced peoples. The entity claims to be the first ever global alliance of migrants, refugees, displaced peoples and their families. In Hong Kong, she is known for campaigning for equal rights for migrants and for advocating greater protection against exploitative employers. Lestari also wants regulations drawn up on the working hours of migrants and a minimum wage increase from HKD4,210 per month to HKD5,000. The community leader says that, since she first arrived in Hong Kong, the working conditions of domestic helpers have marginally improved, but there is still a lot more work to be done. A Justice Center survey earlier this year found that at least one in six such workers in Hong Kong are subject to forced labor, working an average of over 70 hours per week. The problem is far less prevalent in Macau because, unlike in Hong Kong, domestic helpers in the MSAR do not usually live-in with their employers, thus reducing the prospect of exploitation. Contrarily, Hong Kongs Labor Law regulations stipulate that migrant workers should live in their employers residences. Todays follow-up summit to be led by Obama More concrete progress on the issue is expected at a follow-up summit later today called by President Barack Obama, where at least 45 countries are expected to make pledges that are in line with U.S. goals of increasing humanitarian aid by USD3 billion, doubling resettlement and increasing access to education for 1 million youngsters and access to employment for another million of the displaced. You hear all around the world the U.N. hasnt handled the refugee crisis. The way the U.N. will handle the refugee crisis is if all of us countries within the U.N. step up and dig deep and face those political headwinds that we all face, to do more, to give more, to take on a greater share of the resettlement challenge, said Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Prior to the pledging summit with world leaders, Obama will host a meeting with top executives from 50 companies to discuss what the private sector can do to help address the problem, Power said. According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, an unprecedented 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015, an increase of more than 5 million from a year earlier. They include 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million migrants. According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, refugees are people forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution, while migrants chose to move in search of a better life. AP SYRIA Top American and Russian diplomats joined together yesterday in a last-ditch bid to save Syrias week-old truce, on a day the pair once envisioned as the start of a new military partnership against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. Instead, they went into their talks unsure what cooperation could be maintained to stop the Arab countrys five-year civil war. HK In an interview with China Daily, Hong Kongs Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying talked about independence activists in the city, stressing that they share the view or the proposition of a very small minority. He also said that, as the HKSAR is an inalienable part of China, there is no room for discussion [on the matter]. THAILAND A Thai court found a British labor activist guilty yesterday of defaming a fruit canning company, and gave him a suspended prison sentence in a case that has raised serious concerns among human rights workers and free speech advocates. NORTH KOREAs leader Kim Jong Un oversees a ground test of a new rocket engine and orders a satellite launch preparation, state media say, an indication the country might soon conduct a prohibited long-range rocket launch. NEPAL Small bombs explode outside two schools in Nepals capital, but no injuries and only minor damage are reported. Unexploded bombs are found at five other schools in the city. INDIA-PAKISTAN The Indian army says Pakistani troops fired bullets at an Indian military position in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir two days after suspected rebels killed 18 Indian soldiers in an audacious attack on a military base. BRITAIN-SPAIN Gibraltars financial-services minister, Albert Isola, said he hopes the British territorys economic relationship with Spain wont be changed by Brexit, but its most important ties are still with the U.K. There is a modern democracy in Spain and we should be able to have a normal relationship, Isola said in an interview yesterday. URUGUAYs government has rejected an ultimatum from a former Guantanamo prisoner who is on a hunger strike demanding to leave the South American country. Abu Wael Dhiab has been on a hunger strike for more than a month to press his demands to leave Uruguay, as he wants to join his wife and children in Turkey, where they are refugees. Zimbabwes economy is falling apart, and police are cracking down on growing anti-government protests. But the countrys comedy scene is booming. No subject seems taboo. Even 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, widely accused of muzzling free speech, is a target. Insulting the president can bring a one-year jail term in this southern African country. Nonetheless, the comedians carry on, becoming bolder as fears of speaking out begin to erode. In one skit at a show called State of the Nation, an actor playing the first lady, 51-year-old Grace Mugabe, lays her stake to the presidency on hearing the news of the death of her husband, the worlds oldest head of state. I deserve it. Were any of you cleaning his nappy and wiping the spit off his chin? she says. She also talks up her own chances of winning elections. Near the end, a fake Mugabe emerges, struggling to walk while scoffing at rumors of his demise. Some in the audience laugh. Others gasp. The real president has joked at the persistent rumors, telling reporters earlier this month: It is true that I was dead. And I resurrected. As I always do. The comedy show played to a packed audience in the capital, Harare. State of the Nation will be a twice-monthly show streaming live on internet, said organizer Davis Guzha, director of Rooftop Promotions. Comedy allows us to laugh but also to think about our problems at the same time, said Sam Monro, or Comrade Fatso, a stand-up comedian who runs Zambezi News, a satirical social media show on current affairs. In everyday life, the state of this once-prosperous countrys economy and politics is hardly a laughing matter. Government has failed to pay its close to 300,000 workers, including the military, on time since June. Industries are closing down, worsening unemployment where more than two-thirds of the population of 13 million survive on informal work, according to the African Development Bank. People line up for hours at banks to access their money as currency woes deepen. The speculation over the health of Mugabe, this countrys only leader since independence from white minority rule in 1980, has only heightened the uncertainty. Near daily anti-government protests are often met with brute force by police. Yet amid their troubles, Zimbabweans are still laughing at life and at themselves. While comedy shows attract an upper-class crowd, ordinary people flood social media with jokes, images and video selfies poking fun at the growing problems. But the politically charged material comes with risk. A local actor, Silvanos Mudzvova, was arrested in April for trying to stage a play scripted on Mugabes statement that at least USD15 billion had been looted from a diamond-rich region by joint-venture companies mining there. He was released but then was abducted again last week. Last week, Mudzvova spoke to the AP from a hospital bed in Harare where burns and bruises on his legs and back were visible. Six men took me from my home on Tuesday night. They threatened to shoot my family before taking me away, he said. The actor, who is also an activist, said he was given electric shocks by men who demanded information on his activities. MDT/AP Lately, the Zika virus and fears of Zika seem to be sweeping the nation. This week, there were reports of the virus making its way to Idaho. According to Southwest District Health, a 40-year-old Canyon County man tested positive for Zika after traveling to Mexico. Its one of three travel-acquired Zika virus confirmations in Idaho. Southwest District Health stresses there arent locally acquired cases, but there is also not currently a vaccine or medicine for the virus. What does this have to do with Better Business Bureau? Scammers make their living preying on our fears. With the Zika news, scammers nationwide are cashing in on our anxiety about the disease. BBB warns you not to fall for cons that claim to repel the mosquitoes that spread it. Heres how this scam works. You hear about a product that can prevent you from contracting Zika; Maybe you saw the ad on a friends post on social media, received an email or found it on a website. The promoted products range from wristbands to patches to stickers, and they all claim to repel the mosquitoes that carry Zika. The products website may look completely legitimate and have a lot of information, including convincing testimonials. But dont fall for it! The Federal Trade Commission already issued warnings to online sellers, urging them to remove unsubstantiated claims about products. When purchasing, be skeptical of any too-good-to-be-true claims and look for EPA-approved products. Unfortunately, Zika-related cons will likely continue to spread, even if Zika doesnt. Fake cures and other cons preying on health fears are sure to pop up again if not about Zika then about another disease. BBB offers a few tips on how to spot quack cures and fraudulent health products. Watch for a product that claims to do it all instantly. Be suspicious of products that claim to be effective immediately against a wide range of diseases. The same goes for medicines claiming to be a miracle cure. If a real cure for a serious disease was discovered, it would be widely reported through the news media and prescribed by health professionals, not buried in print ads, social media ads, or on websites. Be wary of personal testimonials instead of scientific evidence. Success stories are easy to make up and are not a substitute for scientific evidence. Dont be lured by claims of a product being all natural. Just because its natural does not mean its good for you. All natural does not mean the same thing as safe. Be cautious of conspiracy theories as an excuse for why a product isnt mainstream. These statements can be used to distract consumers from the obvious, common-sense questions about the so-called miracle cure. Check with your doctor: If youre tempted to buy an unproven product or one with questionable claims, check with your doctor or another health care professional first. There is legitimate advice about how to protect yourself from Zika virus and mosquitoes. That information can be found from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Using Skittles to make a point about our Syrian refugee problem didnt go over too well with Mars Inc., but the candy makers rebuke of Donald Trump Jr.s controversial tweet is hardly a first. The eldest Trump son posted a photo of a bowl of Skittles and a caption that reads: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 The condemnation was swift, though he appears to be standing by the sentiment and has not removed the post. He also didn't remove his Instagram post on Sept. 11, which was meant to be a play on Hillary Clinton's reference to some of his father's supporters as "a basket of deplorables." That photo, which he wrote was sent to him by "a friend," replaced images from the movie "The Expendables" with pictures of Donald Trump, alt-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, alt-right blogger Milo Yiannopolous and other well-known Trump supporters like Gov. Chris Christie, Dr. Ben Carson and political strategist Roger Stone. It also included a cartoon frog named Pepe, which is regularly used by alt-right supporters. Donald Trump Jr. has been actively involved in his father's campaign, both in public and in private. He was the one to cast the convention floor vote for his father that put the Republican presidential candidate over the top and officially secured him the nomination. He also was the first of Trump's eldest children to give a speech at the convention in Cleveland this summer, which was well-received by many in the audience. "Donald Trump Jr. was so excellent that my brain was already thinking, What should we run him for?'" Trisha Turner, the president of the New York State Federation of Republican Women, told ABC News at the time in Cleveland. He has also played a significant role behind the scenes of his father's campaign. Donald Jr. was extensively involved in the vice presidential selection process, even meeting with V.P.-hopeful Christie, along with his siblings -- Ivanka and Eric -- who have also been active in their father's campaign, without their father present. In May, Donald Jr. met, on his own, with Republican officials and the National Rifle Association on Capitol Hill. Donald Jr., who is a registered gun owner and known hunter, was actually the one to lead the negotiations with the NRA leading up to the gun rights lobbying groups endorsing his father, sources told ABC News. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. TWIN FALLS Following two years of treatment for breast cancer, Kelli Babb had a difficult time getting back to work. She bounced from temp job to temp job for a couple of years and was required to take a training with Easter Seals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain while she was on welfare. When she heard about a new Careers in Retail training program, she decided to sign up, impressing a future employer during a job interview at Twin Falls 93 RV Park in Filer. She was really impressed, and thought that would make me a great fit, Babb said. Easter Seals-Goodwill extended its Careers in Retail Training program to individuals with the goal of helping people in entry-level jobs move up into better paying, mid-management positions. This is for people that are entry level, just not making enough or unemployed, said Jan Duff, job developer for Careers in Retail. The whole purpose is to get them more money. The free program has been offered since last year in Twin Falls and Boise through a grant from the Walmart Foundation, Duff said. Previously offered through employers, its been open to individuals for just a couple of months. Babb took the six-day course at the end of August and already feels its helped her in her job as office manager for the RV park. The business has plans to expand next year, with Babb overseeing other people in the office. Before this class, I didnt think I really had leadership abilities, she said. Im an introvert. Leading people and being assertive and firm I didnt think I had it in me. Now, she feels differently. The class instruction covers topics such as communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, professionalism and human resources. Just getting people to believe in themselves is probably the greatest lesson they earn in there, Careers in Retail Instructor Nanette Fisher said. So far, about 200 business employees and 40 individuals have received the training. Many have found out about the program through Easter Seals-Goodwill or word-of-mouth, Duff said. Theyre looking for skills that they can take back to work with them, Fisher said. Nicole Humphrey was volunteering for the organization when Duff suggested it as an option. She wasnt employed at the time because of health problems. I was hoping to learn more about professionalism in the workplace and how to dissolve workplace conflict, Humphrey said. Following the class, Duff tracks where the students are at and helps them craft resumes. She also recommended Humphrey for a job at C3/CustomerContactChannels as a customer service representative. The business has sent many of its employees through the training. They trust the program, said Humphrey, who took the job, with the prospect of extra incentives, more hours and possible promotion after six months. Duff has analyzed the success of the Careers in Retail training with employees already working in a company who moved up into mid-management positions. On average, their wages increased by $7.40 an hour after taking the class and receiving certification, she said. Classes take place twice a month for individuals. Information: Visit Easter Seals-Goodwill at 1411 Falls Ave. E., Suite 1202, or call 208-733-9675. TWIN FALLS How long does it take to turn left onto the I.B. Perrine Bridge from Fillmore Street? City staff have received numerous complaints from the public about the intersection of Blue Lakes Boulevard with Fillmore Street/Bridgeview Boulevard. On Monday, the City Council agreed to try to do something about it. The Council unanimously authorized Mayor Shawn Barigar to send a letter to the Idaho Transportation Department. Barigar will ask the state to consider changes to improve traffic flow at the intersection. While these improvements may be as simple as upgrading a traffic light, there could be more to it, City Engineer Jackie Fields said. It appears that people are not comfortable entering the intersection from the Fillmore (Street) side, primarily, Fields said. Our level of comments from the public is increasing regularly. Local driver-education instructors teach students that drivers should not enter an intersection unless they can complete the movement without stopping. This may exacerbate delays, Fields said. City Councilman Greg Lanting agreed that turning left from Fillmore Street is a problem with the size of the intersection, since it isnt a protected left turn. Any intersection that Ive come to thats that big has had a turn arrow, he said. Without a turn arrow, youre not sure what to do. If thats all there is to it, Fields said, the city may not need to get the intersection on ITDs large capital improvement list, which could take years. Still, Council members also said changes may be needed with turn lanes or striping. A quick review of vehicle crashes in the intersection showed that there have been no fatal or serious-injury crashes so far, but there has been property damage, Fields said. KIMBERLY A man riding a motorcycle went off a trail in the South Hills Sunday and fell about 40 feet. Twin Falls County Sheriffs spokeswoman Lori Stewart said the call came in at about 5:10 p.m. The man was reported as conscious at that time. He was taken by air ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center at 7:37 p.m., Stewart said. The Cassia County Sheriffs Office, search-and-rescue teams from Cassia County and Twin Falls County and one Fish and Game deputy responded. The Cassia County Sheriffs Office did not have a full report listing the mans name filed on Monday. TWIN FALLS A district judge ruled Monday that an 87-year-old Twin Falls man charged with first-degree murder is not competent to stand trial because he cant help his defense, but the judge said he would order the man to undergo treatment aimed at restoring his competency. The problem, as attorneys on both sides of the issue explained during a hearing Monday, is there are questions about which facilities and state agencies are willing to house and treat the man, apparently because of his advanced age. Mondays hearing came after a mental health evaluator found that Paul Robert Welch is not currently competent to help in his defense, Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said. Welch is accused of shooting and killing 81-year-old Barbara Sue Chitwood Aug. 21, 2015, at the home they shared on Lacasa Loop in Twin Falls. Dressed in a blue sweat suit and seated in a wheelchair, Welch appeared in court Monday for just the second time since February after a series of errors and miscommunications delayed his mental competency evaluation for almost six months. Loebs, District Judge Richard Bevan and Welchs attorney, Keith Roark, hope Welch will be admitted to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfares State Hospital South in Blackfoot, where he could receive mental health treatment. According to the Department of Health and Welfares website, State Hospital South provides psychiatric inpatient treatment and skilled nursing care for Idahos adult and adolescent citizens with the most serious and persistent mental illnesses. More pertinently, it also maintains a statewide program to restore competency of criminal justice patients. But theres a chance the hospital will not accept Welch, apparently because of his age, Roark said during Mondays hearing. Ive had clients that have the (mental) evaluation ordered and who were committed to the custody of the Department of Health and Welfare, but theyve always gone, just as a matter of fact and routine, to State Hospital South, Roark told the court. This apparently is a little bit different situation because of my clients age, not necessarily his condition, Roark said. Bevan said he would recommend Welch be taken to State Hospital South, while Loebs laid out the potential problems that could arise if hes not accepted there. If they dont admit him, and he stays with the Department of Health and Welfare, it is entirely possible that the only place he could be placed would be some sort of non-secure retirement facility, with just members of the general population where he would not get any mental restorative care, Loebs said. He would just be housed there and taken care of physically. Both sides agree that is not an appropriate place to put him, the state because it wouldnt be secure, and I think both of us because he would not get any closer to being competent to stand trial. Instead, the prosecutor laid out a plan of action in case Welch is not admitted to State Hospital South. The court could refer him, as a dangerously mentally ill person, to the state prison, which does have a mental facility which also works to restore his competency, Loebs said. Roark agreed to that plan, saying hes a little uncomfortable classifying Welch as dangerously mentally ill, and reaffirming that all sides would prefer he go to State Hospital South rather than the state prison. So what Mr. Loebs has proposed to the court, I support, Roark said. I do understand the concerns of Mr. Loebs, and our primary concern is getting Mr. Welch the psychotherapy he needs so that he can in fact assist his counsel in his defense. Bevan said he would sign an order recommending Welch be taken to State Hospital South but asked to be notified immediately if he was rejected. We would then enter an order that he be found to be dangerously mentally ill and thereafter we would proceed with the state prison plan, Bevan said. TWIN FALLS The canyon launch is over, but the rocketeers are still making memories. Its been three years of agonizing, tears and emotions, said Hollywood stuntman Eddie Braun, who paid homage Friday to his childhood hero, Evel Knievel, by rocketing himself over the Snake River Canyon. Braun is back home in Manhattan Beach, Calif., taking a well-deserved rest, and rocket builder Scott Truax is at his home in Twin Falls reading some 600 emails he received over the weekend. I had to shut my phone off, I was getting so many calls, said Truax, whose father, Robert Truax, built the rocket that Knievel attempted but failed to pilot over the canyon in 1974. Scott Truax is promoting his fathers autobiography, American Rocketman: The Amazing Life and Times of Americas Premier Rocket Scientist, available on Amazon. Television and film director Kurt Mattila and producer Alexander Dervin are finishing a documentary tracing Brauns and Truaxs steps for the past three years. The documentary will be available for purchase when finished, Mattila said. The rocket was immediately on its way to California after the flight. Meanwhile, many fans expressed frustration that they werent able to see the launch in person. Others were disappointed that the launch happened Friday, one day before the originally scheduled date. An explanation was posted Saturday on the rocket teams Facebook page. Friday the weather conditions were nearly perfect and the rocket was ready, the Return to Snake River team wrote. It was decided to seize this window of opportunity to launch the Evel Spirit. Braun was supposed to make an appearance Monday on ABCs Good Morning America but got bumped because of Saturdays terrorist bombing in New York City. Fans had hoped to see exclusive coverage of Brauns flight over the canyon as filmed by ABCs news crews. Now, theyre settling for a stunning online video filmed by GoPro cameras positioned on his steam-powered rocket. The video shows Braun, a stuntman for more than 30 years, adjusting the face shield of his helmet as he waits for the countdown, and then launching himself 2,000 feet into the air before releasing its chutes and floating to Earth. The Evel Spirit carried Braun three-quarters of a mile from a ramp on the north rim of the Snake and landed in a bean field north of Hansen. Im scared to death of heights, Braun said. But I can do anything for 30 seconds. Thats all the time it took for the 10,000-horsepower rocket with 6,000 pounds of thrust to run out of steam and the chutes to deploy. FILER If history is not written or recorded in some manner, it is lost forever, says Duane Ramseyer, who has lived in Sucker Flats all his 88 years. Ramseyer has taken on the history of this former sea of sagebrush his father helped settle north of Filer, and will hold a book signing at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Twin Falls County Historical Museum at Curry. Sucker Flats, settled by emigrants from Illinois, the Sucker State, lies west of Rock Creek, south of the Snake River, and mostly north of Pole Line Road. Children attended Maroa School, named for Maroa, Ill., near Decatur. In his book, Sucker Flat A Small Capsule of History, Ramseyer explains how a group of 19 Illinois men in September 1904 traveled here in a chartered Pullman car and how 18 of them relocated in Sucker Flat. He describes outhouses and cisterns and explains the difference between dairy barns and horse barns. He tells of students being bused in horse-drawn school wagons and how children wore bicycle pant clips to keep their pants out of the bicycle chain. He explains the Carey Act, land drawings and prove-up shacks. And he tells how the fields were cleared of sagebrush and rock. One of the very first things that the early settlers realized was that the removal of the sagebrush was a very hard and dirty job..., Ramseyer wrote. A good portion of the sagebrush was grubbed by hand by the use of an ax-like tool which resembled an adze. Large rocks were rolled onto a flat slip called a stoneboat and pulled by horse to the edge of the field. So when you drive by a pile of rocks about 4 feet high and 100 feet long, Ramseyer wrote, just think that every rock in that pile had a hand on it, not of love or admiration, but in humbleness. BURLEY Colds and flu can run rampant through a school. But parents in Cassia County will soon have a jump on bugs spreading through classrooms. Four Cassia County elementary schools will be the recipients of free smart thermometers that will be given out to staff members and each family with a child enrolled at the schools. The FLUEency School Health Program, through Kinsa Health, will allow parents and school officials access to real-time information on illnesses traveling around the schools, said district nurse Kyle Hodges. The four schools have a total of 2,296 students. Mountain View Elementary School expects to receive the smart thermometers this week. The school was the first in the district to be approved for the program. Mountain View Principal Dustin Heath said the FLUency School Health Program could help keep students and teachers healthier. We are hoping to take a more proactive approach to community health and nip any sickness in the bud before it becomes a problem, Heath said. The thermometer will be able to track temperature, symptoms, medications and notes for each member of a family and has a jack that hooks into any smartphone. The user will download a free app and join a private group for the school. There, they can view anonymous information on what kinds of illnesses are going around and any diagnosis others are reporting. The information could help parents know when a childs illness is just a cold or something more serious. Hodges, the district nurse, said she hoped to get the thermometers for other schools in the district soon. I see good value in it, Hodges said. People are often in the contagious stage of an illness when they first have a fever. If parents can see there is something going around at the school they can keep a feverish child home and help stem the spread of illness, she said. I think it will be a wonderful, interesting thing to see that holds great promise, Hodges said. It is a novel approach to being more mindful of health and wellness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pulled the use of flu mist at schools this year due to concern over its effectiveness, Hodges said. In other health news, the school district will offer flu shots for children accompanied by parents after school at Oakley, Raft River and Albion this year. Information on times and dates will be provided to parents soon. To help combat increased flu illness this year, Hodges plans to ramp up educational programs on hand washing and covering a cough. We really have to be careful about preventing the spread of illness to protect the vulnerable people in our community, Hodges said. JEROME Police are searching for the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a man before dawn Tuesday on Interstate 84. Lyndon Buffington, 33, of Nampa, had stopped his 2008 Chevrolet Impala in the eastbound median and gotten out of the vehicle. As his passenger, Malinda Buffington, 32, of Kuna, got behind the wheel and drove off, he was hit by an unknown vehicle in the lane of traffic, Idaho State Police said. Police didnt say why the pair had stopped. They have not been able to find the vehicle that struck Buffington. The eastbound lanes of the interstate were partially blocked near milepost 176 for about five hours. Police are still investigating. Eariler Tuesday, Idaho State Police Lt. Robert Rausch said investigators were trying to rule out the possibilities that Buffington was injured before the crash or there was some kind of foul play involved. Details keep changing on this one every few minutes, it seems like, Rausch said. ISP was notified of the crash about 4:50 a.m., the lieutenant said. The initial report was that a car had stopped on the interstate for unknown reasons, and two people were outside of the car when one of them was struck by a semitrailer. Rausch said he heard the family arrived at the scene to identify the body before it was taken to the morgue. But in a situation like this, the lieutenant said its important not to jump to conclusions. One of my troopers is going to the morgue now to check his injury patterns, make sure its consistent with being hit and killed in a crash, Rausch said. Im not saying someone pushed him, but you have to check, make sure there wasnt some sort of trauma or injuries from before. An eastbound lane was closed as troopers took measurements and cleaned debris off the interstate. Police didnt say how the Buffingtons were related. The crash is the second in the past four days to involve a pedestrian on I-84. About noon Saturday, a pedestrian was walking on the interstate near the Orchard exit in Boise when he was struck by an SUV. Both the pedestrian and the woman passenger in the SUV were taken to St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise. In its first-ever summit on refugees and migrants on Sept. 19, the U.N. urged member countries to do more to settle the 21.3 million refugees around the globe. If the U.N. could find a way to tackle even one small part of this problem the large number of available resettlement places that are not filled that would already be tangible progress. Just one refugee in need of resettlement out of every 10 is offered a resettlement place, but even that paltry capacity is not being used up. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that every year since 2009 the resettlement opportunities are being wasted because the resettlement process is riddled with inefficiency. Resettlement agencies spend weeks screening and interviewing refugees but refugees are rarely asked about their settlement preferences. Receiving communities are hardly consulted either, leading to widespread mismatches. An engineer from Syria, for example, might be resettled in a tiny village where the potential to eventually use his skills are limited, while a farmer is sent to a busy city, where he struggles to cope. This hurts both sides: Refugees are unable to find jobs and access appropriate social services and communities fail to integrate their new members. Research shows that initial matches matter. Refugees who end up in unsuitable communities are more likely to be unemployed and their children are more likely to perform badly at school. When refugee placements fail due to misallocation, the long-term burden on society is much greater than if refugees are smoothly integrated. The solution to these frequent mismatches is a comprehensive, algorithm-based matching system. In the past half-century, matching systems have been used to match medical residents to hospitals, connect kidney donors with dialysis patients, and assign military cadets to branches of service. In our work with the University of Melbournes David Delacretaz and Will Jones from Royal Holloway, we have identified how refugee-community matching systems might achieve improve refugee outcomes by building on the systems many cities worldwide use to assign children to schools. In a centralized refugee match, each refugee family would express preferences regarding the kind of areas it would prefer to live in (urban or rural? close to religious centers? accessible by public transport?). Local communities would also express preferences, perhaps prioritizing refugees who have skills that are in demand in the local economy, or who have particular medical or social needs. Refugee and community submissions would then be aggregated by a centralized matching system and used to match refugees to communities. Also, a good refugee community match would respect refugees preferences and local communities priorities, without wasting any places. Matching also gives refugees some dignity of choice and provides local communities with a sense of control. And in the long run, by enhancing the quality of refugee community matches, we may even increase communities overall willingness to take in refugees. A refugee community matching system can only work well if it incentivizes refugees to express their true preferences. For example, refugee preferences over resettlement areas should be elicited only after entry visas have been granted, so that refugees do not worry that their stated preferences could affect their chances of gaining entry. Complete contentment in matching is not possible and unrealistic expectations on both sides can still lead to disappointment; but a much higher share of suitable matches can be achieved. A matching system does not create new resettlement places politicians do. The U.N. summit will put pressure on member states to expand refugee resettlement, but there will still be a shortage of places; the U.N. has already had to roll back an initial target of resettling 100 percent of refugees in need. But matching can at least help ensure that no resettlement opportunity is wasted. Paul Krugman is upset that many Millennials are toying with the idea of voting for Gary Johnson rather than Hillary Clinton. He offers a number of arguments, here is one of them: What really struck me, however, was what the [Libertarian Party] platform says about the environment. It opposes any kind of regulation; instead, it argues that we can rely on the courts. Is a giant corporation poisoning the air you breathe or the water you drink? Just sue: Where damages can be proven and quantified in a court of law, restitution to the injured parties must be required. Ordinary citizens against teams of high-priced corporate lawyers what could go wrong? That is the opposite of the correct criticism. The main problem with classical libertarianism is that it doesnt allow enough pollution. Under libertarian theory, pollution is a form of violent aggression that should be banned, as Murray Rothbard insisted numerous times. OK, but what about actual practice, once all those special interest groups start having their say? Historically, under the more limited government of the 19th century, it was big business that wanted to move away from unpredictable local and litigation-driven methods of control, and toward a more systematic regulatory approach at the national level. There is a significant literature on this development, starting with Morton Horwitzs The Transformation of American Common Law. If you think about it, this accords with standard industrial organization intuitions. Established incumbents prefer regulations that take the form of predictable, upfront high fixed costs, if only to limit entry. And to some extent they can pass those costs along to consumers and workers. The maybe you can sue me, maybe you cant regime is more the favorite of thinly capitalized upstarts that have little to lose. So under the pure libertarian regime, big business would come running to the federal government asking for systematic regulation in return for protection against the uncertain depredations of the lower-level courts. It is fine to argue the court-heavy libertarian regime would be unworkable for this reason, or perhaps it would collapse into a version of the status quo. That would be a much more fun column: Libertarian view untenable, implies too high a burden on polluters. Im not sure that would sway the Bernie Brothers however. Some of the criticisms of libertarianism strike me as under-argued: And if parents dont want their children educated, or want them indoctrinated in a cultNot our problem. Rates of high school completion were below 70% for decades, until recently, in spite of compulsory education. Parents rescuing children from the neglect of the state seems at least as common to me as vice versa. And what is the status quo policy on taking children away from parents who belong to cults? Unusual religions can be a factor in contested child custody cases (pdf), but in the absence of evidence of concrete harm, such as beatings or sexual abuse, the American government does not generally take children away from their parents, cult or not. Germany and Norway differ on this a bit, for the most part this is, for better or worse, the American way. Thats without electing Gary Johnson. By the way, Gary Johnson slightly helps Hillary Clinton. Although probably not with New York Times readers. The UN Humanitarian aid agency has suspended its activities in Syria after a humanitarian and relief aid convoy was struck by warplanes on Monday night in the Urum al-Kubra area near rebel-held Aleppo. Dozens of people, most of them aid workers, are reported to have been killed and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) said a warehouse and 18 of the 31 aid trucks in the convoy were struck. Spokesman of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Jen Laerke described the incident as a very, very dark day for humanitarians across the world while the President Peter Maurer of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the bombings were a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. The attack came a few hours after Damascus declared an end to the US-Russia negotiated ceasefire. UN Special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura condemned the attack lamenting that the convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assists isolated civilians. Our outrage at this attack is enormous, Staffan de Mistura said. No group has claimed responsibility but fingers are being pointed at the Syrian army. Stephen OBrien, the head of the UN relief organization, warned that if this callous attack proves to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would be termed a war crime. He said he was disgusted by the attack because the convoy has been clearly marked and their route provided to warring parties. Meanwhile, the US and Russia that brokered the ceasefire are still questioning each others commitment to the agreement and they have not announced its end amid the renewal of hostilities. Moscow is a strong ally to President Assad while Washington backs the rebels. Their efforts to cooperate have been stalled by the lack of compromises on their stance. Secretary General of the Oil Producing Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammed Barkindo has hinted that the organization could hold an extraordinary meeting as early as November if OPEC and non-OPEC producers meeting on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum reach a consensus. The Energy Forum will be held in Algeria September 26 to 28. Barkindo said the informal gathering that will be held on the sidelines of the Energy Forum is destined for consultations and not decision-making while the extraordinary meeting which could be held as a result of the informal gathering would be aimed at taking decisions to stabilize the market. Barkindo made these remarks while on a visit to Algeria. Algerian energy minister Noureddine Bouterfa on his part said he believed that most OPEC members support a freeze in production. According to the minister, the plan is to have at least a six-month freeze on production output to balance the oil markets with the hope that the price will increase to between $50 and $60. An optimistic Barkindo and a confident Bouterfa said the feedback from oil producing countries is positive. President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela added his voice to the hope of stabilizing the market. He was quoted by the state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, as saying that a definitive answer could be reached this month in Algiers following positive discussions with his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran at the just concluded Non-Aligned Movement Summit. We are close to an agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC countries to stabilize the market, he stated. Countries that are heavily dependent on hydrocarbons revenues are severely affected by the low prices that have persisted since mid-2014. Barkindo stressed that OPEC is not seeking a definite price range for oil but stability for the market. Replaces associate degree program The masters degree program replaces the associate degree program to train physician assistants that began in 1971 as a partnership between the School of Medicine and Foothill College, a two-year community college in Los Altos. The associate degree program will no longer be offered once its current students have graduated. The new program is designed to meet the expanding role of PAs in todays changing health-care environment, said Susan Fernandes, PA, clinical professor of pediatrics and of medicine. Todays PAs practice in all areas of medicine, Fernandes said. They are leading community health centers, they are front stage in the health-care policy arena, leaders in the classroom and changing health-care delivery through innovation and research. The role of the PA, one of the fastest growing professions, has expanded in part due to a shortage of physicians nationwide and the need to meet the growing demands of an aging population, Fernandes said. She and Rhonda Larsen, PA, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, worked as consultants to help design the new program. We are trying to educate the next generation of PA leaders, Larsen said. No other program sets out to do this. New direction for Stanford PAs treat patients as part of a health-care team, collaborating with physicians and other providers, Fernandes said. They often provide a broad range of health-care services that may include conducting physical exams, ordering and interpreting medical tests, diagnosing illnesses, developing treatment plans, prescribing medication and assisting in surgery. We are trying to educate the next generation of PA leaders. This is a new direction for Stanford, which has been traditionally a very research-heavy medical school, said Andrew Nevins, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine and medical director of the new program. There is little training of advanced practice providers such as PAs. There is no school of nursing, no pharmacy school. This is an opportunity for Stanford to make a mark on this rapidly growing field. The curriculum will emphasize training in the foundational sciences during the five quarters, followed by a year of clinical clerkships. There will be clerkships in obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, ambulatory family medicine, pediatrics, surgery, psychiatry and emergency medicine. In addition, students will have several elective rotations that allow them to specialize in their area of interest. For example, a student interested in a career as a surgical PA can complete up to 12 weeks of clerkship in that area. Currently there are about 150 accredited training programs nationwide for PAs, almost all masters programs, with about 70 to 80 new programs on the horizon, Larsen said. The number of practicing PAs has grown from 14,000 in 1990 to about 100,000 today, according to the American Academy of Physician Assistants. The average salary is about $98,000 a year. Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 30 percent between 2014 and 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has donated $200,000 cash to support the government of Tanzania affected by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake last week. The Eastern-African nation said the earthquake claimed the lives of at least 19 people and injured over 300 in the Kagera Region. It also reported that 2,063 houses were destroyed or badly damaged, leaving 126, 315 people homeless. Tanzanian President John Magufuli, who received the money from his counterpart, pledged it would be directed into rehabilitating damaged public facilities. He called for more assistance to shelter, feed and treat the displaced. Local media reported that, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has also donated building materials worth over $50,000 to help the victims. President Magufuli directed state institutions to closely monitor the distribution of assistance to avoid that the aid is diverted for personal benefit. He commended all people who contributed relief aid to assist the victims and alleviate the earthquake impact. He called upon Tanzanians to continue assisting the victims through the Prime Ministers Office. According to the Premier, so far the government has responded by providing food, health services and shelter to the victims. Protesters in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D RC) are burning tyres and barricading roads in the capital Kinshasa on Monday, urging President Kabila to step down. The move comes as the main opposition bloc in the central African nation has called its supporters for a day of general strike amid continued tension over slow preparations for the presidential elections. The Presidential polls are supposed to take place in November, but the vote is set to be postponed due to outstanding issues, which are yet to be resolved, including updating the voter register. Human Rights Watch has called on the authorities to respect peoples rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Over the weekend, the Congolese police drove across the capital to present its new anti-riot arsenal and vehicles a show of force the opposition claims was intended to discourage the local population from taking part in the strike. In a new report titled Dismantling dissent: DRCs repression of expression amidst electoral delays, released on Friday, Amnesty International said the DRC government is using state institutions to prevent people who oppose a prolongation of President Kabilas term in office to organize and express themselves. A national dialogue initiated by President Kabila started early September. However, the majority of opposition political parties declined to participate. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on Monday appointed Momodou Alieu Bah, a former coup plotter, as Interior Minister after sacking Ousman Sonko who had served in his government for the past 10 years. A press release read over state television said long time Interior Minister Ousman Sonko would be replaced with immediate effect by Momodou Alieu Bah. Alieu Momodou Bah, who was previously a top ranking member of the armed forces, was sentenced in 2006 to 25 years in prison for involvement in a coup against Jammeh. He was pardoned after his testimony for the prosecution at the trial of the Chief of Staff, General Lang Tombong Tamba. The latter was sentenced to death in 2010 for treason, but has also benefited from a series of pardons decreed by President Jammeh in July 2015. Gambia will hold presidential election on 1st December, with legislative and local polls to follow in April 2017 and April 2018. The small West African nation of less than two million people has been ruled by President Yahya Jammeh since 1994, when the then 29-year-old seized power in a bloodless coup. Jammeh who is eyeing a fifth term was re-elected in 2011 with 72 per cent of the votes. The International Criminal Court on Monday accused Kenya of being non-cooperative over failure to release sufficient documents as evidence in the case against President Uhuru Kenyatta. In a statement released on Monday, the Hague-based court said the Republic of Kenya had failed to comply with its mandates to cooperate with the ICC and referred the matter to the courts governing body. The judges believe that Kenya had prevented the Court from exercising its functions and powers under the Rome Statute. Judges at the ICC this year withdrew charges against Kenyatta, whom they accused in 2011 of stoking ethnic violence after the 2007 presidential election. Prosecutors blamed their failure to put Kenyatta on trial on political interference and widespread interference with witnesses, especially after Kenyatta was elected president in 2013. Kenyatta denied any interference. The court, set up more than a decade ago to hold the most powerful to account for the most serious crimes, has concluded only three cases, convicting two little-known Congolese warlords and acquitting another. The ICC has proved unable to impose itself in uncooperative countries: Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir remains at large, in office; and Saif al-Islam, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, is incarcerated in increasingly anarchic Libya. 'Like' us on Facebook Follow us: Posted on: Sept 20, 2016 The Narayani Sena Dilemma - Follow Krishna or follow Conscience Me or My army? The war between the Pandavas and Kauravas had become imminent and both sides had begun preparations. As allies were being made and battle lines drawn, both sides realised the importance of the support from the Yadavas. The Yadavas consisted of four major clans with their chieftains. They had been united under a single umbrella by Krishna as the Narayani Sena (the Narayani army, obviously named so because it is indeed Lord Narayanas army). Duryodhana was keen to have the Yadavas fighting the war under the Kuru banner. So he decided to approach Krishna and seek His help. Much to his dismay, Arjuna from team Pandavas also comes there with the same objective. God helps anyone who seeks it. So Krishna decides to help both. He says, I shall offer you a choice. Either pick the famed Narayani army or choose Me. But let Me caution you that I will neither fight nor take up arms in the war. Arjuna is given first choice based on two considerations. 1. When Krishna woke up from sleep, it was Arjuna He saw first because Arjuna was sitting at His feet while Duryodhana was sitting at His head. (Shows that humility while seeking always helps.) 2. Arjuna is younger of the two. We are what we regularly do - Arjuna is humble while Duryodhana is arrogant. Arjuna chooses Krishna, much to the delight of Duryodhana, who walks away happily with the Narayani Sena while Arjuna walks away happily with Krishna. Both get what they desire. Ultimately, Arjuna is the winner for choosing God over everything else. The Pandavas are triumphant in the war and even the Yadava support isnt enough to save the Kauravas from complete annihilation. A choice is not a choice when enforced When viewed from the Pandavas and Kauravas perspectives the above episode offers insights on making the right choice by choosing God alone. However, when seen from the Yadavas perspective, the episode seems to create massive confusion. For those that have been blessed to remain blissfully ignorant of this confusion, here is some stirring of a hornets nest! The Yadavas were an ancient Indian community that descended from the mighty emperor, Yadu. The community was formed of four major clans - Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Satvata - all who worshipped Krishna (as God or, at least, as a leader). It is difficult to say whether their love for Krishna preceded their love for Dharma or vice versa. However, this much can be said that they united under Krishna for they believed in His divinity and absolute adherence to Dharma. They knew that they could do no wrong by being on Krishnas side. Now, when the greatest war of the Yuga was being fought between the forces of Dharma and Adharma (righteousness and unrighteousness), the Narayani Sena was being forced to fight on the side of Adharma (the Kauravas led by Duryodhana). For the first time in their lives possibly, the members of the Narayani Sena had to choose between obeying Krishna and fighting for Dharma! The question On the face of it, it appears as though the Yadavas trusted Krishna but Krishna misused their trust and commanded them to fight on the side of Adharma. While their God within, their conscience, was guiding them to fight for Dharma, their God outside was commanding them to fight for Adharma! The question now arises - which is the greater Dharma - following the conscience or following ones duty as a soldier/devotee/follower? In other words, what should one do to ensure that the Karmic reaction is not adverse? Here is one way of understanding and answering it. Dharma and Karma are closely interlinked with one influencing the other. They are dynamically modified based on the thoughts, words and deeds of the individual. Thus, they get personalised for the individual and the situation. In other words, a single thought, word or deed cannot be painted as Dharmic or Adharmic on the standalone basis. A different time, place or circumstance (Desha, Kala, Paristiti) changes something Adharmic into Dharmic (and vice versa); bad Karma into good Karma (and vice versa). So, when we seek an answer to the question posed, we cannot do it by considering the Narayani Sena as a whole. Though the Narayani Sena has a Dharma and Karma of its own, the group Karma does not free a member from his own individual Karma. The same holds good when we consider group Dharma and individual Dharma. Let us look at it from both perspectives - individual and group. Three heroes; three paths It becomes impossible to take up the case of each member of the Narayani Sena. However, three representative cases give us a beautiful insight which resolves the confusion. These three heroes have been chosen because each of them responded in a different way to Krishnas decision. Tracing their fate after their decision would make a good study. The first hero is Kritavarma. The son of Hridika, he was born in the fearless Andhaka clan. Going through the Vishnu Purana, one realizes that he was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. Yet, he takes charge of the entire Narayani Sena which is to fight under the Kaurava banner. He is known to be level-headed and strictly traditional; he is committed to Krishna and Dwarka. Since Krishna and Dwarka have committed the Narayani Sena to Hastinapura, he has absolutely no qualms in fighting for Duryodhanas side. He and his men line up to Hastinapura. The second hero is Satyaki. The son of Satyaka, he was born in the Vrishni clan, the same as Krishna. He loved Krishna with all his heart and could not imagine taking up arms against Him. More so, he could not tolerate taking up arms for Adharma against his teacher, Arjuna. He is known to be hot-tempered and impulsive though he is noble at heart. He disobeys his beloved Krishna and, with his men, fights the war on the side of the Pandavas. The third hero is Balarama. The elder brother of Krishna, he was the unnamed leader, second to Krishna among the Yadavas. His love for Krishna cannot be doubted in the least but his love for peace was great. His thought was that nothing justifies a war. And even if a war is inevitable, he did not want any part in it. He is a teacher to Duryodhana as well as Bheema in the art of wielding the mace and he is not happy with the thought of his favourite disciples fighting each other. Being a stickler for ethics and protocols, he refuses to fight for either side. He goes on a long pilgrimage seeking God and avoiding war. His men sit out of the war altogether. Wars aftermath and the after-war math The Pandavas vanquish the Kauravas. The war takes a heavy toll and all the Kauravas are annihilated. We can see both in action - group and individual Karma. While the group Karma of the Pandavas ensures them victory, it is not as if the Pandava army has not suffered extensive losses. In fact, the Upapandavas (sons of the Pandavas) are brutally butchered in their sleep! While the group Karma of the Kauravas hands them a terrible defeat, it is not as if none of them have survived. Kripacharya, Ashwatthama, Yuyutsu and Vrishaketu make it safely through the war. Going into each individual history for those killed and those alive on the Pandava and Kaurava sides is beyond the scope of this discussion. But, what about the Narayani Sena in general or the three Yadava heroes in specific? During the war, Satyaki was the commander of one akshauhini (consisting of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 cavalry and 1,09,350 infantry) in the Pandava army. He comes out of the war alive and kicking. Kritavarma was the commander of one akshauhini in the Kaurava army. He is among the few surviving heroes on the Kaurava side. Balarama returns from the pilgrimage and is, naturally, hale and hearty. The Yadavas do not lose a single stalwart in the war! Three contrasting decisions and yet, amazingly, it is the same result for Satyaki, Kritavarma and Balarama! The story does not end there. There is minimal loss in the Narayani Sena. Out of the 11 akshauhinis, only two participated in the war. The one under Satyaki returned with minimal losses while the one under Kritavarma was mostly wiped out. Nine akshauhinis did not participate in the war (as advised by Balarama and, surprisingly, by Krishna too!) Thus, the Narayani Sena lost only about ten percent of its soldiers. In the end, there is justice always It seems like justice has been done - mostly. The Yadava heroes are fine and ninety percent of the Narayani Sena is alive. However, the Narayani Sena came into existence not to witness the war between Adharma and Dharma. Wasnt it cheated out of the opportunity to fight for Dharma? That is the conclusion if we end the story with the Kurukshetra war. Continuing a little more, we see justice being served. When Yudhishtira performs the Ashwamedha Yajna after the war, to proclaim his emperorship over the whole of Bharatavarsha, it is the Narayani Sena that fights for him. The Pandava army has been greatly reduced in the war to vanquish Adharma. It is the Narayani Sena (Kritavarma include) that fights for the re-establishment of Dharma under Yudhishtira. So the men actually get what they had signed up for. But the one akshauhini that fought under Kritavarma seems to have been cheated out of its opportunity to fight for Dharma. The members of that akshauhini seem to be the unlucky ones with a bad fate. That is the conclusion if we end the story with the Ashwamedha Yajna. Continuing a little more, we get more clarity. The destruction of the Yadavas at Prabhasa - Krishna turns to be the 'creator', 'sustainer' and the 'destroyer' too! Isn't that what GOD stands for - Generator Organiser and Destroyer? Years after Yudhishtira is crowned emperor, the Yadavas become very powerful. Though the empire is peaceful and prosperous, the former members of the Narayani Sena become frivolous and hedonistic. Several dark omens strike, including the disappearance of the Sudarshana Chakra (Krishnas weapon), the Panchajanya (Krishna's conch), Krishna's chariot and the plough weapon of Balarama. Pests multiply. Sinful acts multiply, yet no one feels any shame. Spouses deceive each other. Everyone starts to get terrifying dreams and nightmares. People insult and humiliate their seniors and teachers. When all this is happening, Krishna gets concerned and asks everyone to go on a pilgrimage to the sacred waters of the Prabhasa sea. Though the Yadavas obey, they reach Prabhasa and revel in merry making, dancing and drinking lots of alcohol. Arguments begin which turn into fights. In the fracas that follows, Kritavarma is killed by Satyaki in combat and Satyaki is murdered by several others seeking revenge. Soon, everyone is fighting everyone and at the end of a few hours, all except Krishna, Balarama, Vabhru and Daruka are dead! The Narayani Sena that was unrivalled in war and that established Dharma is now food for the scavenging beasts! Now it appears as though those members of the Narayani Sena who died in the war obeying Krishnas command were luckier. They fought on Adharmas side by the Lords command. Though they didnt directly fight for Dharma, they did so indirectly. As many commentaries on the Mahabharatha go, had the Narayani Sena not fought for Duryodhana, he would not have had the courage to go to war. And had the war not taken place, Adharma could not have been completely wiped out. On the other hand, the so called lucky members of the Narayani Sena turned immoral and Adharmic though they had signed up to fight for Dharma! They met a gruesome end - an end that nobody would ever want. That is the conclusion if we end the story here. And we shall end it here because we have received the necessary insights to answer the question posed in the beginning. An Answer Whether one follows the external God or the internal God (conscience), the result is the same. All it requires is for one to be absolutely truthful to oneself and have the courage not to compromise values at any cost. Sathya and Dharma are the greatest shields one can wield. Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone triumphs) and Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha Dharma Eva Hato Hanthi (One who protects Dharma is protected by Dharma; one who destroys Dharma is destroyed by Dharma). In the end, there is justice always. If justice has not been served, it is not yet the end! - By Aravind Balasubramanya Radio Sai Team DNA double helix. Credit: public domain A Ludwig Cancer Research study published online September 14th in Nature reports a novel technique to map specific chemical (or "epigenetic") modifications made to the protein packaging of DNA using a small population of cells. Such epigenetic marks play a central role in the regulation of the genome's expression. Led jointly by Ludwig San Diego's Bing Ren and Arne Klungland of the University of Oslo, the authors describe their application of this method to unravel a key mystery of the earliest stage of development. The new technique, named ChIP-seq, is also likely to be of notable relevance to cancer research. Very soon after fertilization, the control of embryonic development shifts from pre-existing maternal gene products to the products of genes encoded by the early embryo (or zygote). This passing of the genetic baton, called the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), is poorly understood because existing technologies have generally been too insensitive to capture the full scale of the epigenetic changes it entails across the zygotic genome. The improved sensitivity of ChIP-seq, developed jointly by Klugland, Ren and John Arne Dahl of Oslo University, led to "some remarkable discoveries that have completely changed our view of epigenetic inheritance mechanisms," says Ren. In the current paper, Ren and his colleagues describe their use of ChIP-seq to investigate how epigenetic information is passed from one generation to the next to orchestrate the MZT. To that end, they examined in mouse embryos the global distribution of an epigenetic mark known to play a critical role in regulating the activity of genes. This mark (H3K4me3) modifies chromatinthe complex of DNA and its protein packagingby adding three identical molecules known as methyl groups at a specific place on a packaging protein known as histone 3. Dahl, a visiting scholar in Ren's lab and co-first author on the Nature paper, fine-tuned the technique for mapping such epigenetic tags to where only a few hundred embryos or cells were needed for each experiment. Previous methods required up to 10,000 cells to conduct similar analyses. The other first author, Inkyung Jung, a Ludwig postdoc in Ren's lab, contributed significantly to the computational analysis of the resulting data. When the scientists compared H3K4me3 distribution in immature mouse egg cells they found something unexpected: broad but distinct domains of the immature egg cell's genome, representing some 22% of the whole, are heavily marked by H3K4me3. These domains rapidly decrease in size in 2-cell embryos and eventually shrink to about 1% to 2% of the genome. "The key lesson we learned was that the genes that are destined to be turned on specifically in the fertilized egg are covered by this unique chromatin domain structure," says Ren. Those marks have to be removed by specialized enzymes to activate the zygotic genome. "This mark is a mechanism for the oocyte to influence which genes in the zygote are activated. It is an epigenetic mechanism for the passage of information from the maternal oocyte to the zygote." The ability to map "epigenomes" using such a small number of cells will be valuable to cancer research, since the epigenetic landscape is dramatically rearranged in cancer and contributes to phenomena driven by small subpopulations of cells, such as drug resistance and metastasis. "With a better understanding of the epigenetic landscapes in cancers, we are going to have more tools to study the basis of tumorigenesis," says Ren. "We still have a long way to go, but our goal is to have a thorough understanding of gene regulatory programs so we can use that knowledge to treat cancer and develop diagnostic tools." Explore further The whole of epigenetic regulation may be greater than the sum of its parts More information: John Arne Dahl et al. Broad histone H3K4me3 domains in mouse oocytes modulate maternal-to-zygotic transition, Nature (2016). Journal information: Nature John Arne Dahl et al. Broad histone H3K4me3 domains in mouse oocytes modulate maternal-to-zygotic transition,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/nature19360 Provided by Ludwig Cancer Research (HealthDay)For patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI), those with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at increased risk of major amputation, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in Diabetes Care. Marlon I. Spreen, M.D., from Haga Teaching Hospital in The Hague, Netherlands, and colleagues examined the implications of DM in a population of patients with infrapopliteal CLI. Individual data from patients with CLI were pooled. The rates of major amputation and major events (major amputation or death) were compared for CLI patients with and without DM. The researchers found that 49.1 percent of the 281 patients had DM. At five-years of follow-up the rate of major amputation was higher in patients with versus without DM (34.1 versus 20.4 percent; P = 0.015). There was no difference in the major event and death rate. For major amputation risk, the unadjusted hazard ratio of DM was 1.87. In multivariate analysis, factors with significant hazard ratios were baseline Rutherford category (hazard ratio, 1.95) and ankle-brachial index >1.4 (hazard ratio, 2.78). "CLI patients with DM are at a significantly higher risk of major amputation than CLI patients without DM," the authors write. Explore further ACC: Good outcomes for endovascular procedures for CLI Copyright 2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Loneliness is linked to poor physical and mental health, and is an even more accurate predictor of early death than obesity. To better understand who is at risk, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine conducted the first genome-wide association study for lonelinessas a life-long trait, not a temporary state. They discovered that risk for feeling lonely is partially due to genetics, but environment plays a bigger role. The study of more than 10,000 people, published September 15 by Neuropsychopharmacology, also found that genetic risk for loneliness is associated with neuroticism and depressive symptoms. The research was led by Abraham Palmer, PhD, professor of psychiatry and vice chair for basic research at UC San Diego School of Medicine. In their paper, Palmer and team explain that just as physical pain alerts us to potential tissue damage and motivates us to take care of our physical bodies, lonelinesstriggered by a discrepancy between an individual's preferred and actual social relationsis part of a biological warning system that has evolved to alert us of threats or damage to our social bodies. But not everyone perceives loneliness in the same way. "For two people with the same number of close friends and family, one might see their social structure as adequate while the other doesn't," Palmer said. "And that's what we mean by 'genetic predisposition to loneliness'we want to know why, genetically speaking, one person is more likely than another to feel lonely, even in the same situation." The heritability of loneliness has been examined before, in twins and other studies of both children and adults. From these, researchers estimated that 37 to 55 percent of loneliness is determined by genetics. Previous studies also tried to pinpoint specific genes that contribute to loneliness, focusing on genes related to neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, or other cellular systems associated with human attachment, such as oxytocin. But, Palmer said, these studies mostly relied on small sample sizes. In their latest research, Palmer and team used a much larger sample sizethey examined genetic and health information from 10,760 people aged 50 years and older that was collected by the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal study of health, retirement and aging sponsored by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health. As part of this study, participants answered three well-established questions that measure loneliness. The survey doesn't actually use the word "lonely," as many people are reluctant to report feeling that way. Instead, the questions were: How often do you feel that you lack companionship? How often do you feel left out? How often do you feel isolated from others? The study accounted for gender, age and marital status, as married people tend to be less lonely than unmarried people. Here's what Palmer's team found: Loneliness, the tendency to feel lonely over a lifetime, rather than just occasionally due to circumstance, is a modestly heritable trait14 to 27 percent genetic, as compared to the previous estimates of 37 to 55 percent. This new estimate of the genetic contribution to loneliness could be lower than previous estimates because Palmer's team relied on chip heritability, a method that only captures common genetic variations and not rare genetic variation. The researchers also determined that loneliness tends to be co-inherited with neuroticism (long-term negative emotional state) and a scale of depressive symptoms. Weaker evidence suggested links between heritable loneliness and schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. In contrast to previous studies, the researchers did not find loneliness to be associated with variations in specific candidate genes, such as those that encode dopamine or oxytocin. According to Palmer, these results could differ from previous loneliness findings in part because the team exclusively surveyed older adults in the United States, whereas other research groups looked at young adults in Europe. Palmer and team are now working to find a genetic predictora specific genetic variation that would allow researchers to gain additional insights into the molecular mechanisms that influence loneliness. Explore further Loneliness in midlifethe risk of becoming lonely is not limited to old age More information: Jianjun Gao et al. Genome-Wide Association Study of Loneliness Demonstrates a Role for Common Variation, Neuropsychopharmacology (2016). Journal information: Neuropsychopharmacology Jianjun Gao et al. Genome-Wide Association Study of Loneliness Demonstrates a Role for Common Variation,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/npp.2016.197 Myocardial Infarction or Heart Attack. Credit: Blausen Medical Communications/Wikipedia/CC-A 3.0 A novel test developed by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) could allow 40 per cent of patients arriving at emergency departments with a suspected heart attack to be immediately reassured and safely discharged. Developed in collaboration with The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, the test breaks new ground by also giving doctors a precise estimate of the risk that an individual patient has a heart problem. This could enable doctors to provide healthcare that is customised to the individual needs of a patient, while also enabling patients to play a more active role in decisions about their healthcare. Funded by the NIHR, this new research was published online in Emergency Medicine Journal. Chest pain is the number one reason for emergency hospital admission, accounting for over 250,000 admissions a year in England and Wales. Whilst in Manchester premature death due to heart disease is amongst the highest in England. The symptoms associated with a heart attack and those of non-cardiac conditions, such as indigestion, are often similar and can cause unnecessary delays for those patients going to emergency departments with suspected heart attacks. Previous research involving over 2000 patients at CMFT, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Poole NHS Foundation Trust demonstrated that the Manchester Acute Coronary Syndromes (MACS) model, in combination with two blood tests taken at admission allowed 25 per cent of patients with suspected heart attacks to be immediately discharged. This new analysis led by Professor Rick Body, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at CMFT and NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, indicates that a simplified version of the model (troponin-only; T-MACS) which requires only one blood test can boost this figure to 40 per cent. This is an exciting development, which could bring huge benefits to patients and emergency departments. The traditional MACS model uses two blood tests taken at admission (high sensitivity cardiac troponin and heart-type fatty acid binding protein) to calculate likelihood that a heart attack has taken place, and decide whether discharge or further investigation is required. Although accurate and effective in reducing waiting times for patients, the need to run a blood test for heart-type fatty acid binding protein can be a barrier to implementation as it is not widely used in health services internationally. Professor Body and co-authors of the research, who represent other leading emergency medicine institutions in the UK and Australia, hope that simplifying the model will bring benefits for patients in the UK and beyond. Professor Body explains, The T-MACS model provides an opportunity for us to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and more appropriately allocate time and resource to patients who need help most. By providing a precise estimate of the risk that an individual patient has a heart problem, the model helps doctors to make more accurate decisions about individual patients. The T-MACS model still requires further testing before we can realise all of its potential benefit, and we are currently collecting data to monitor the performance of the model when it is used in real-life practice. In the future, we hope that T-MACS will provide valuable information that empowers patients and provides them with the option to play a more active role in decisions about their healthcare. Our goal is to achieve genuinely bespoke healthcare for each individual patient, uniquely tailored according to the patients own preferences and values. This is known as precision medicine and, to our knowledge, it is the first time such an approach has been applied in Emergency Medicine. Explore further New test set to improve care for patients with suspected heart attack More information: Richard Body et al. Troponin-only Manchester Acute Coronary Syndromes (T-MACS) decision aid: single biomarker re-derivation and external validation in three cohorts, Emergency Medicine Journal (2016). Journal information: Emergency Medicine Journal Richard Body et al. Troponin-only Manchester Acute Coronary Syndromes (T-MACS) decision aid: single biomarker re-derivation and external validation in three cohorts,(2016). DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2016-205983 Provided by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Credit: RIKEN One of the biggest surprises of the past decade of genomic studies was the discovery that, contrary to previous belief, the majority of the genome is not used to produce proteins. Initially, many scientists thought that these long non-coding RNAs were non-functional "noise," but in recent studies, a growing fraction of these lncRNAs have been found to have regulatory functions. In 2012, a group from the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, in collaboration with SISSA, an Italian University, discovered a new class of mouse lncRNAs, which are called "antisense" because their can pair with typical protein-coding mRNAs and enhance their translation. The team was surprised to find that pairing these novel antisense RNAs caused the mRNA to be translated more efficiently. This was counterintuitive, because it was generally believed that antisense RNAs always inhibited gene activity. They found that the positive effect on specific mRNA translation was mediated by a sequence embedded in the antisense lncRNA. This element turned out to be a member of what is known as the SINE family, standing for "short interspersed elements," which are very broadly distributed throughout the genome. They were long considered to be part of the "junk" of the genomeremnants of ancient parasites in the genome capable of making copies of themselves, filling up the genome with junk. Specifically, the repeat elements discovered during the earlier research belonged to the SINEB2 class, which is present only in rodent genomes. Artificial RNAs containing these SINEB2 elements, which can be made to target any RNA by simply engineering the antisense region, are called SINEUPs (RNA containing SINE elements that UP-regulate translation). Due to the peculiar evolution of the mouse SINEB2 elements, which are thought to have co-evolved from an ancestor sequence similar to tRNAs, natural SINEUPs were thought to exist only in mice. Comparison of mouse SINEB2 elements and human FRAM elements. Credit: RIKEN Now, in a discovery reported in Scientific Reports, the group found a group of human sequencesunrelated to those in micewhich were also capable of producing SINEUPs. The group carried out a broad screening of RNA sequences from humans and tested the function of various antisense RNAs to see if they could have SINEUP functionality. Surprisingly, they found that human SINE elements of a very different type from the mouse SINEB2called FRAM and MIRbcould. According to Piero Carninci of CLST, who led the team, "This was very surprising, because unlike the mouse SINEB2, the human ones resemble unrelated families of non-coding RNAs. We were even more surprised when we looked at the similarity between the mouse and human sequences: the newly discovered FRAM elements share less than 30% of their sequences with the mouse SINEB2 elements, yet they function in a very similar fashion, by enhancing translation of mRNAs they overlap." "As in the mouse," he continues, "the human elements can be used in biotechnological applications to target mRNA encoding different proteins, by simply engineering the antisense part. Although the primary sequence is so different, the human and the mouse may fold in a similar way and hence have similar function. The structural basis for this functions are yet unknown, and this remains an exciting remaining question." SINEUPs are currently used in biotechnology applications, to specifically stimulate the translation of mRNAs to produce more proteins both in cell cultures to study gene function and to produce biological proteins in bioreactors. Additionally, laboratories around the world are working to develop SINEUPs to enhance protein translation as a therapy for specific diseases caused by the deficiency of a specific protein, such as haploinsufficiencies, where one of two genes is not functional. According to Carninci, "Our discovery provides one more weapon to the SINEUP toolbox to broaden the scope of gene therapy, as well as to express a greater variety of proteins." Explore further Non-coding antisense RNA can be used to stimulate protein production More information: Aleks Schein et al. Identification of antisense long noncoding RNAs that function as SINEUPs in human cells, Scientific Reports (2016). Journal information: Scientific Reports Aleks Schein et al. Identification of antisense long noncoding RNAs that function as SINEUPs in human cells,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/srep33605 Mammograms showing a normal breast (left) and a breast with cancer (right). Credit: Public Domain Genetic testing of mitochondrial DNA could reveal otherwise unknown ancestry that can influence a person's risk for certain types of breast cancer, a new study finds. UT Southwestern Medical Center cancer researchers studying mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in a group of triple negative breast cancer patients found that 13 percent of participants were unaware of ancestry that could influence their risk of cancer. "We found 12 differences among 92 patients, a significant amount," said lead author Dr. Roshni Rao, Director of the George N. Peters, M.D. Center for Breast Surgery at UT Southwestern. "Some patients who self-identified as Hispanic had African-American ancestry. One Hispanic woman was found to be Ashkenazi Jewish. Both African Americans and some Ashkenazi Jewish populations have a higher risk for triple negative breast cancer," said Dr. Rao, Associate Professor of Surgery and with the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Triple negative breast cancer is characterized by tumors that do not express receptors for estrogen, progesterone, or Her2-Neu, and accounts for about 15 to 20 percent of all breast cancer cases. This form of the disease is known to be particularly aggressive, and challenging to treat. Patients with triple negative breast cancer have a higher incidence of metastatic disease cancer spreading to other parts of the body and an overall higher rate of death from breast cancer, compared to patients with other types of breast cancer. "This study is the first to perform mtDNA testing for self-described African-Americans, Caucasians and Hispanics with triple negative breast cancer and to identify unexpected mtDNA patterns," said senior author Dr. Barbara Haley, Professor of Internal Medicine, who holds the Charles Cameron Sprague, M.D. Chair in Clinical Oncology. "It is estimated that 10 to 30 percent of Americans may not be aware of their mixed ancestry. This type of assessment has the potential to be informative for other cancers where we see ethnic differences in frequency without understanding the cause." Patients diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer tend to be younger and are more likely to be African-American or Hispanic. These patients may be less likely to be identified through traditional mammography screenings, which tend to target women 50 and older. "If you know your ancestry, then you could be included in the group that gets screened at a younger age," Dr. Rao said. The researchers asked each volunteer 31 African-Americans, 31 Caucasians, and 30 Hispanics who are triple negative breast cancer patients to come in for a simple test, which collects cells from inside the cheek on a swab. Mitochondrial DNA was then isolated from these samples for comparison. Mitochondrial DNA differs from nuclear DNA because it is maternally inherited so it does not change or mix. Researchers can trace the lineage of mtDNA through multiple generations. Among 30 Hispanic patients in this study, 22 did not have a family history of breast cancer whereas eight did. These results suggest that further genetic testing can potentially become an important step in identifying those at risk. Additionally, those of Nigerian, Cameroon, and Sierre Leone ancestry were most strongly associated with triple negative breast cancer, an unexpected finding of this study. This association could indicate that ancestry from specific African countries may predispose an increased risk in the rate of triple negative breast cancer, which does not respond to standard breast cancer therapies, such as tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, or trastuzumab. The study, which appears in the journal Cancer, was supported by Young Texans Against Cancer and the David M. Crowley Foundation. Explore further Study identifies potential targets for treating triple negative breast cancer More information: Roshni Rao et al. eneticncestry usingtochondrial DNA in patients withriple-negative breast cancer (GAMiT study), Cancer (2016). Journal information: Cancer Roshni Rao et al. eneticncestry usingtochondrial DNA in patients withriple-negative breast cancer (GAMiT study),(2016). DOI: 10.1002/cncr.30267 State structures join forces to support Georgias film industry Several of Georgias state organisations are uniting to support the local film industry and encourage its development.The Georgian National Film Centre and the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) that outlined an obligation to support Georgias flourishing film industry.With state support, filmmakers and producers avoid bureaucratic processes during film, making the overall filming process easier.The MoC will support local and foreigner film producers.As well as Georgias Culture Ministry and the Georgian National Film Centre, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Tbilisi City Hall and Ministry of Defence also signed the MoC to pledge their support for Georgias film industry.This was not the only initiative of the Government to support the local film industry.Earlier this year authorities announced the Film in Georgia state program to stimulate the local film sector by offering favourable conditions for local and international film makers. The News in Brief Georgian citizen arrested by occupants The Russian occupants have arrested Valiko Khizanishvili, a resident of the village of Koshka. The Georgian citizen has been accused of crossing the so-called border illegally. As reported, he has been transported to a Tbilisi remand center. The State Security Service of Georgia has confirmed the detention. No other details are available at the moment. (IPN) Supreme Court Finds Rustavi 2 TVs Appeal in Ownership Dispute Admissible A three-judge panel of the Supreme Court found an appeal from Rustavi 2 TV, which is disputing the lower courts rulings ordering the transfer of ownership of the broadcaster to its former co-owner, admissible. The decision of admissibility by the panel, which includes judges Ekaterine Gasitashvili, Paata Katamadze and Besarion Alavidze, was posted on the Supreme Courts website on Friday evening. It says that the appeal will be considered on its merits by the same panel of three judges without an oral hearing. The Tbilisi Court of Appeals upheld on June 10 the ruling of the lower court in favor of Kibar Khalvashi, who seeks to reclaim his shares in Rustavi 2 TV, which he owned about a decade ago. The current owners of the broadcaster, who claim that Khalvashisdrive to regain Rustavi 2 TV is being orchestrated by the authorities to silence a television station critical of the government, took the case to the Supreme Court. On the eve of Supreme Courts decision on admissibility, Rustavi 2 TVs head Nika Gvaramia alleged that pressure was exerted on the judges from the authorities to dismiss the appeal and not to proceed with its consideration on the merits. The panel of three judges denied the allegation in a brief written statement few hours before their decision finding the appeal admissible was made public on September 9. After the Supreme Court decision was announced, Gvaramia thanked the judges for their brave decision, but complained about the part of the decision which says that the appeal will be considered without an oral hearing. (Civil.ge) 3.5 million have registered to vote in Georgias elections More than 3.5 million voters had registered in Georgia by August 12; eight weeks before the election for parliament. Ana Mikeladze, Speaker for the Central Election Commission, said on Wednesday that between June 10 and today, more than 715,000 people checked their information in the online voters list. September 8 is the deadline to register majoritarian candidates and party lists. So far, 24 parties and six election blocs have registered. The number of registered voters is two hundred thousand short of the total population of Georgia according to the 2014 population census of 3.7 million. (DF WATCH) I had an idea not to admit locals in casinos Bidzina Ivanishvili I remember when meeting Erdogan, he asked me to close down casinos, former PM BidzinaIvanishvili said in Imereti at a meeting with regional media. According to him, serious restrictions should be imposed on underage people to prevent them from gambling. Speaking frankly, I would ban the casinos with great pleasure but this is an economic issue and its impossible to have a categorical attitude towards it. Especially in Adjara; this business has a serious position in Batumi and contributes to the countrys development. But underage people should be barred from entry, According to him many tourists arrive in Georgia and presence of casinos also increases the tourist influx. (ipn) ISFED: 2016 pre-election campaign features less physical confrontation than 2012 One of the countrys leading non-governmental organisations says the current pre-election period leading up to next month's Parliamentary Elections is more peaceful and less violent than the 2012 pre-election period. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) published its third interim report following its pre-election monitoring ahead of the October 8 vote. The NGOs executive director MikheilBenidze said there were "obvious better practices" in this years pre-election campaign environment where fewer violations had been reported than during the pre-election period of the 2012 Parliamentary Elections. Benidze, however, said the improvement wasnt hugely obvious compared to the 2014 Municipal Elections, which he believed could be explained by the idea that Parliamentary Elections were much important than regional elections. In comparison with the 2012 pre-election campaigning period, there is an obvious tendency of general improvement now, but certain cases of violations are increasing as the election campaign progresses and becomes more active, he noted. Benidze stressed even though this pre-election campaign period was generally peaceful, it was still important to adequately react to individual cases of violations. During the reporting period (August 8 - September 1) ISFED identified: Eleven cases of intimidation/harassment allegedly based on political affiliation Two cases of physical confrontation One cases of possible vote buying Five cases of participation of unauthorised individuals in canvassing Four cases of unlawful use of administrative resources Seven cases of obstruction of pre-election campaigning Five cases of damaging campaigning materials The ISFED said these alleged violations were committed either by supporters of the ruling party and oppositional parties. The ISFED is carrying out pre-election monitoring in all electoral districts of Georgia through 68 long-term observers. (Agenda.ge) THE TRUE COST OF ALL THAT 'CHEAP' LAOR THAT DESTROYED AMERICA THE BIG SECRET DEMOCRATS DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW: Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute has testified before a Congressional committee that in 2004, 95% of all outstanding warrants for murder in Los Angeles were for illegal aliens; in 2000, 23% of all Los Angeles County jail inmates were illegal aliens and that in 1995, 60% of Los Angeless largest street gang, the 18th Street gang, were illegal aliens. Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog. Ahmad Hasan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images(LONDON) -- Aid to Syria has been suspended following Monday's attack on a United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy in the countryside of Aleppo. The convoy was delivering wheat flour, health supplies and other emergency aid to some 75,000 people in Urum al-Kubra in rural Aleppo, according to the U.N. Of the 31 trucks in the convoy, at least 18 were hit. A Syrian Red Crescent warehouse was also destroyed and a health clinic severely damaged, the U.N. said. Around 20 civilians and one SARC staff member were killed as they were unloading the trucks, according to a joint statement from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies. "The convoys that we had hoped to move across the border to Syria as well as aid inside Syria have been temporarily put on hold. As a result, millions of people across Syria run a very real risk of not receiving the assistance they need because of this callous attack," David Swanson, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told ABC News. The U.N. said the attack on the aid convoy could amount to a "war crime." "Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime. I call for an immediate, impartial and independent investigation into this deadly incident," Stephen OBrien, the U.N.'s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said in a statement following the attack. The Red Crescent in Aleppo confirmed in a statement that Omar Barakat, SARC's director in Urum al-Kubra, was among the killed. Two U.N. trucks carrying flour and food supplies -- enough to feed around 185,000 people for one month -- have been parked by the Turkish border, waiting for security assurances in order to make the journey into the besieged East Aleppo. These trucks will remain parked until the U.N. reevaluates the situation on the ground. On Tuesday, the four besieged towns of Madaya, Zabadani, Foua and Kefraya were supposed to receive humanitarian assistance, but the U.N. has also put these deliveries on hold indefinitely. After the Syrian military declared the end of the U.S.-Russia-brokered truce Monday night, airstrikes hit several areas in Aleppo. "We heard from a partner from Aleppo that there were 100 airstrikes in about five hours yesterday," Misty Buswell, Save the Children's regional advocacy director for the Middle East, told ABC News. "It's brutal what is going on right now and there has to be accountability for what happened last night. This is not the first time that we have seen aid being attacked in Syria. This demonstrates the new lows that this conflict has reached. Were hearing that hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of casualties that are coming in today." At least 38 civilians, including one child and three women, were killed by airstrikes in Aleppo and its western and eastern countryside, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. On Tuesday, airstrikes continued and the observatory said that warplanes dropped 27 barrel bombs on different neighborhoods in Aleppo city. The cease-fire agreement was focused on reducing violence in the war-torn country and delivering humanitarian aid. The agreement had to be met before Russia and the U.S. would work together to fight militant groups ISIS and al-Nusra in Syria. Following Monday's attack on the aid convoy, the U.S. Department of State released a statement saying it would now reconsider the prospects of cooperating with Russia. "The United States is outraged by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near Aleppo today," the statement from Monday read. "For more than a week, we have urged Moscow to fulfill the commitments it made in Geneva to facilitate the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. And for more than a week, the Syrian regime repeatedly denied entry to these UN convoys, preventing them from delivering urgent food, water and medical supplies to desperate Syrian citizens. Only today did the regime finally grant permits for some convoys to proceed. The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people. The United States will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the Cessation of Hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia." The Russian Defense Ministry denied conducting the deadly strike on the aid convoy, according to Russian state-run media. The Aleppo media center on Tuesday posted photos on Twitter of the destroyed aid trucks. # .#AleppoAMC pic.twitter.com/ksJfE8gIlC (@AleppoAMC) September 20, 2016 Nearly 13.5 million people in Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance, while another 4.8 million have fled their country and 6.1 million are internally displaced, according to this month's figures from the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Coming soon Red Cross blood drives During National Preparedness Month in September, the American Red Cross encourages eligible donors to give blood to help ensure a readily available blood supply for emergencies. Donors of all blood types are needed. To make an appointment to give blood, download the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767. Donors are encouraged to make appointments and complete the RapidPass online health history questionnaire at redcrossblood.org/rapidpass to help reduce wait times. Upcoming blood drives: Arlee: 11 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, Arlee School, 72220 Fyant St. 11 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, Arlee School, 72220 Fyant St. Kalispell: noon-5:15 p.m. Thursday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center, 126 N. Meridian Road; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center; 12:30-4:45 p.m. Saturday, Straight Blast Gym, 30 Fourth St. E.; 1:30-5:30 p.m. Monday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center. noon-5:15 p.m. Thursday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center, 126 N. Meridian Road; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center; 12:30-4:45 p.m. Saturday, Straight Blast Gym, 30 Fourth St. E.; 1:30-5:30 p.m. Monday, Kalispell Blood Donation Center. Missoula: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, PEAK Health and Wellness, 5000 Blue Mountain Road; 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, University of Montana Continuing Ed Building, 32 Campus Drive; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Missoula Blood Donation Center, 2401 N. Reserve St., Suites 6 and 7; 2-6 p.m. Monday, Missoula Blood Donation Center; noon-4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, Imagine Nation Brewing, 1151 W. Broadway. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, PEAK Health and Wellness, 5000 Blue Mountain Road; 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, University of Montana Continuing Ed Building, 32 Campus Drive; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Missoula Blood Donation Center, 2401 N. Reserve St., Suites 6 and 7; 2-6 p.m. Monday, Missoula Blood Donation Center; noon-4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, Imagine Nation Brewing, 1151 W. Broadway. Polson: noon-5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 409 Fourth Ave. E. Fitness, dance classes For more information on the following classes offered by the Lifelong Learning Center, call 549-8765 or visit missoula.classes.com: Continuing Pickleball-Indoor, Oct. 3, Jan. 24, 7:20-8:20 p.m., Target Range School, $17. Introduction to Pickleball-Indoor, Oct. 4-25, 11 a.m.-noon, Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $22. Beginning/Intermediate CoreAlign, Oct. 5-28, 7-8 a.m., Alpine Physical Therapy, $104. Introduction to CoreAlign, Oct. 5-26, 9:30-10:30 a.m., Alpine Physical Therapy, $55. Introduction to Pilates Reformer, Oct. 5-26, 5:35-6:35 p.m., Alpine Physical Therapy, $55. Beginning Waltz, Oct. 6-27, 7:15-8:15 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $17. OULA Palooza!, Oct. 14, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $11. Romantic Rhumba, Oct. 19-Nov. 9, 6:45-7:45 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $17. Family Yoga, Oct. 29-Nov. 9, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, $24. Red Willow Center For more information on the following classes at the learning center, 825 W. Kent, call 721-0033 or visit redwillowlearning.org: "Basics of Resilience" with Kathy Mangan, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, free. "Building Personal Resilience with Self-Hypnosis" with Patrick Marsolek, 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, $55. "Story as Medicine" with Suzy Wiseheart, Oct. 3-Nov. 14, 6-7:30 p.m. Mondays, $145. Tai Chi Chih with Lynne Roberts, Oct. 12-Nov. 9, noon-1 p.m. Wednesdays, $60. "Resiliency for Caregivers" with Christine Lustik, Oct. 10-Nov. 28, 2-4 p.m. Mondays, $200. "Basics of Resilience" with Glenn Tousignant, 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, free. "Becoming Fully Alive with Chronic Illness" with Betsy Hart, Oct. 20-Nov. 17, noon-1 p.m. Thursdays, $100. Ongoing classes include "Yoga for Wellness" at noon Mondays, $12 or $40 for four weeks; "Mindfulness Meditation" at 12:10 p.m. Tuesdays, $12 or $40 for four weeks; "Yoga Beyond Cancer" at 4 p.m. Tuesdays, $40 for four weeks; "Yoga for Chronic Pain" at 5 p.m. Wednesdays, $40 for four weeks plus $50 for prerequisite screening. BodyTalk programs For details and registration on the following classes taught by Kathy Mangan at the Red Willow Learning Center, call Tori at 880-8749 or register at bodytalksystem.com. ACCESS class, Saturday, Oct. 8, $125, including manual. Fundamentals, Oct. 21-23 and Oct. 29-30. Learn the BT system and skills to become a practitioner, $100 discount available to students who register and pay course deposit of $250 by Sept. 26. New student payment plans are also available. Ongoing programs AA and Al-Anon For the latest Alcoholics Anonymous meetings list, visit aa-montana.org or call the Missoula hotline at 543-0011. For more information on Al-Anon and Alateen, which are 12-step recovery programs for relatives and friends whose lives have been affected by alcoholism, visit mt.al-anon.alateen.org. Acupuncture for cancer caregivers Missoula Community Acupuncture, located in the Radio Central Building, 127 E Main St., Suite 314, offers free acupuncture treatments for friends, family, nurses, doctors or anyone who takes care of cancer patients 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays. No appointment is necessary. For more information, call Michael Peluso at 406-926-1611. Adult Asperger's support group An open meeting for those with Asperger's as well as their family and friends is held every Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the University Center, Room 215, on campus. Contact Monique Casbeer at 721-3947 or Cindy Bacon Janego at cjanego@communitymed.org for more information. Alzheimers support Meets the second Wednesday of each month at noon at the Summit Independent Living conference room, 700 S.W. Higgins Ave. Another group meets the fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Missoula Senior Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. For more information, contact Jackie Johnson at 549-3433 or jackiej45@yahoo.com. Alzheimers caregivers support group Meets the fourth Monday at 6:30 p.m. of each month at the Missoula Senior Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. For more information, call Jackie Johnson at 549-3433. Arthritis programs The Montana Arthritis Program offers physical activity and self-management education programs, such as the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, Walk with Ease and Stanfords Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. Classes are available in several communities including Florence, Hamilton, Kalispell, Libby, Missoula, Plains and Polson. To find a class or for more information, visit dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/arthritis. Bereavement support groups Frontier Hospice offers open door meetings 6-7 p.m. Thursdays at the following locations: The Springs at Whitefish on the first Thursday; Rising Mountains Assisted Living Community in Bigfork on the third Thursday; and Frontier Hospice in Kalispell on the second and fourth Thursdays. Call 406-755-4923 for more information. Breast cancer support group Meets the first and third Wednesday of the month from 11 a.m. to noon at the Montana Cancer Center, St. Patrick Hospital Broadway Building, second floor. Call 329-5656. Cancer Center support group Meets noon-1:30 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at the Montana Cancer Center, 500 W. Broadway. For more information, call Bonnie at 240-0996. Cancer Resource Guide The online guide covers resources including support groups, treatment centers, camps and retreats, in Missoula, Mineral and Ravalli counties. It is available at CancerResourcesMT.org. Cancer support group A support group for anyone affected by cancer meets noon-1 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays at the Polson United Methodist Church, 301 16th Ave. For more information, call Tammy at 406-883-7284 or 824-2868. Celebrate Recovery The Christian-based 12-step recovery program meets 6-9:30 p.m. every Friday at Christian Assembly Foursquare Church, 1001 Cleveland St. Dinner is available from 6 to 7 p.m. and child care is provided for ages birth to 11. For more information, call 721-6884 or email cafc@4bible.com. Cheerful Heart Lake County cancer patients in treatment can receive a massage and help with hair and skin problems, free of charge, from local therapists and cosmetologists. Other non-medical services include transportation to treatment and doctor appointments, running errands, yard work and meal preparation. Appointments may be scheduled by calling 406-883-3070. Colorectal Cancer Support Group Meets 1-2 p.m. the third Friday of every month through March 20, Community Cancer Care Conference Room, 2827 Fort Missoula Road. "Coping, Education & Support for Women with All Cancer Types" The support group for women in all stages of cancer treatment or survivorship will be held noon-1:30 p.m. the second Monday of every month through March 14, 2016, at the Community Cancer Care Conference Room, 2837 Fort Missoula Road. For more information, call Deb Rivey at 327-3912, Terri Paxinos at 327-3957 or Kimberly Hardwick at 327-3906. Diabetes program At 6:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, there will be a short presentation on a topic related to the management of type 1 diabetes at the YMCA, 3000 S. Russell St. It will be followed by the option for socializing in the foyer or being active together at the Y. A fee of $5 per individual will be collected at the door for those choosing to use the facility. Designed for ages 14 and older, children are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent/caregiver. Double Trouble in Recovery The 12-step program for people with mental health and addiction issues meets 3-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Winds of Change Recovery Mall, 2685 Palmer St., No. C (second floor). Coffee is provided. For more information, call Veronica at 721-2038. Epilepsy support group Meets the first Monday of the month from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Summit Independent Living Center, 700 S.W. Higgins Ave., Suite 101. Patients, friends, family and caregivers welcome. Call Debbie at 721-0707 for more information. Free health exams Women ages 30 to 64 who meet necessary income guidelines and either have no health insurance or have insurance that will not pay for breast and cervical health exams can receive free exams through Partnership Health Centers Montana Cancer Screening Program. Call 258-4162 for more information. Gentle yoga class The Missoula Senior Citizen Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave., offers a class that focuses on balance training, back strength and core conditioning through gentle yoga matwork every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m. Fee is $4 per class. All ages welcome. For more information, call 543-7154. Health Insurance Assistance Service Montana cancer patients can call the American Cancer Societys 24-hour toll-free number to be connected to a health insurance specialist to ask about coverage and insurance programs specific to the state. The number is 800-227-2345. Mens cancer support group Open to men in all phases of testing, treatment and followup, the group meets the fourth Tuesday of the month from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Montana Cancer Center, 500 W. Broadway. It is facilitated by Gary Weisbrich and Tom King. Call 329-5628 or email gary.weisbrich@providence.org for more information. Narcotics Anonymous Meets at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Alano Club, 8 Third Ave. W., Polson. Call 406-883-4135. National Alliance on Mental Illness NAMI Missoula meets every Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon in the lower level (behind the cafeteria) of the Providence Center. It is open to anyone affected by mental illness or interested in learning more about the group. The NAMI Connection group for adults living with mental illness meets 1:30-3 p.m. Thursdays at the NAMI offices, 202 Brooks St., Room 210. Call 880-1013 with questions. NAMI Family Support Group National Alliance on Mental Illness Missoula meets Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 Brooks St., in Room 210. The peer-led support for adult family members, caregivers and loved ones of individuals with mental illness is free. For more information, call 406-880-1013 or email namimissoula@gmail.com. My No-Nonsense Nutrition Program A seven-week webinar course to improve your nutrition and fitness. Faith based approach to better health. Free initial consult with Judy Gilman, registered nurse, diabetes and wellness educator. mynononsensenutrition.com or 546-7819. Overeaters Anonymous Local meetings include 7 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 Brooks St. A meeting for newcomers is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday followed by a "Back to Basics" meeting at 7 p.m. at St. Paul's. Everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively is welcome. There are no dues, weigh-ins or lectures. For more meeting information, visit oa.org. SAA For the latest Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting list visit saa-recovery.org, call the Missoula hotline at 241-4005 or email MissoulaBetterway@yahoo.com. SAA is a 12-step fellowship of men and women who share experience, strength and hope for the purpose of finding freedom from addictive sexual behavior and helping others recover from sex addiction. S-Anon Local meetings are held weekly for this recovery program for people affected by another persons sexual behavior. Visit sanonmontana.org or call 406-544-1271 to learn more. Stroke and Brain Injury Support Group Meets the second Thursday of each month from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Providence Center, 902 N. Orange St., in the dining area on the fourth floor. For details, call 329-5784. Tai Chi for Arthritis Class offered 9:15 a.m. Mondays at the Missoula Senior Citizens Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. $4 per class. All ages welcome. Tai Chi Chih Classes are offered at the following locations: Missoula Senior Citizens Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave., 9:15 a.m. Wednesdays, $4 per class; PEAK Health & Wellness Center, 5000 Blue Mountain Road, 11 a.m. Tuesdays, call 251-3344; and The Womens Club, 2105 Bow St., 9 a.m. Fridays, call 728-4410. TOPS Take Off Pounds Sensibly, an affordable, nonprofit, weight-loss support and wellness organization, meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the First Christian Church, 2701 S. Russell St. Another TOPS meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 2512 Sunset Lane. For additional meetings, go to tops.org, click on "Find a Meeting" and enter your zip code or call 800-932-8677. The Women's Club For more information on the following classes at The Women's Club, 2105 Bow St., call 728-4410: Foundation Training, 12:15-1 p.m. Monday and Thursday. Improve posture, strength and athletic ability. Pickle ball open play, 1-4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Paddles provided. All levels welcome. Kick and Core high-intensity cardio workout with focus on strengthening core. For more than a decade, members of a little-known group called the Pain Care Forum have blanketed Washington with messages about prescription painkillers' vital role in the lives of millions of Americans, creating an echo chamber that has quietly derailed efforts to curb U.S. consumption of drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. In 2012, drugmakers and their affiliates in the forum sent a letter to U.S. senators promoting a recent report on a "crisis of epidemic proportions": pain in America. Few knew the report stemmed from legislation drafted and pushed by forum members and that their experts had helped author it. The report estimated more than 100 million Americans roughly 40 percent of adults suffered from chronic pain, an eye-popping statistic that some researchers call deeply problematic. The letter made no reference, however, to another health issue that had been declared an epidemic by federal authorities: drug overdoses tied to prescription painkillers. Deaths linked to addictive opioid drugs had increased more than fourfold since 1999, accounting for more deaths in 2012 than heroin and cocaine combined. An investigation by the Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity reveals that similar feedback loops of information and influence play out regularly in the nation's capital, fueled by money and talking points from the Pain Care Forum, a loose coalition of drugmakers, trade groups and dozens of nonprofits supported by industry funding that has flown under the radar until now. Hundreds of internal documents shed new light on how drugmakers and their allies shaped the national response to the ongoing wave of prescription opioid abuse, which has claimed the lives of 165,000 Americans since 2000, according to federal figures. Painkillers are among the most widely prescribed medications in the U.S., but pharmaceutical companies and allied groups have a multitude of legislative interests beyond those drugs. From 2006 through 2015, participants in the Pain Care Forum spent over $740 million lobbying in the nation's capital and in all 50 statehouses on an array of issues, including keeping opioids accessible, according to an analysis of lobbying filings. The same organizations reinforced their influence with more than $140 million doled out to political campaigns, including more than $75 million alone to federal candidates, political action committees and parties. "You can go a long, long way in getting what you want when you have a lot of money," said Professor Keith Humphreys of Stanford University, a former adviser on drug policy under President Barack Obama. "And it's only when things get so disastrous that finally there's enough popular will aroused to push back." Opioids were long reserved for severe pain due to surgery, injury or terminal diseases like cancer. That changed in the 1990s, with a surge in prescribing for more common ailments like back pain and arthritis. Marketing for new long-acting painkillers like OxyContin helped fuel the trend, along with other factors. OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty and agreed to pay more than $600 million in fines in 2007 for misleading the public about the risks of its drug. But the painkiller continued to rack up blockbuster sales, generating more than $22 billion over the last decade. Purdue's Washington lobbyist, Burt Rosen, co-founded the Pain Care Forum more than a decade ago and coordinates the group's monthly meetings in Washington. Purdue declined to make Rosen available for interviews and did not answer questions about its specific lobbying activities. The company said it supports a range of advocacy groups, including some with differing views on opioids. "In practice and governance, the Pain Care Forum is like any of the hundreds of policy coalitions in Washington and throughout the nation," the company said in a statement, adding: "Purdue complies with all applicable lobbying disclosure laws and requirements." By spring 2014, even the head of the Food and Drug Administration was citing the statistic that 100 million Americans suffered from chronic pain. Then-commissioner Margaret Hamburg used the figure to illustrate the importance of keeping painkillers accessible despite the escalating toll of opioid addiction and abuse. Yet a researcher whose work contributed to the number said it was being misquoted, since most people included in the figure had common pain ailments and managed them without opioids. Hamburg said in an emailed response that the report was "another piece of scientific literature that helped inform the broader field," and that her agency had no role in writing it. When the FDA began developing plans to reduce misuse of long-acting opioids, the Pain Care Forum intervened with a "strategy to inform the process," according to an internal memo from the American Pain Foundation, a now-defunct forum member. The FDA's initial proposals included requiring doctors to undergo certification training to prescribe opioids and tracking opioid prescriptions via databases. But when the FDA sought public comment on how to proceed, the forum helped generate more than 2,000 comments against new barriers to opioids and a 4,000-signature petition opposing electronic registries, according to another pain foundation memo. Ultimately, the agency announced far milder steps than its initial ideas: Drugmakers would fund optional classes for doctors and supply brochures to patients about opioid risks. FDA leaders said they decided requiring certification for prescribers would have been overly burdensome, disrupting care for patients and doctors. But experts said regulators had missed a pivotal chance to curb deadly misuse and abuse with the drugs. "The FDA failed to make a decision that could have averted many of the thousands of deaths we're seeing per year," said Dr. Nathaniel Katz, a former FDA adviser who urged the agency to make training mandatory for prescribers. *** Today, the FDA is taking another look at requiring training for opioid prescribers, following a recommendation by a panel of expert advisers in May. It was a federal agency hundreds of miles from Washington that finally sidestepped the influence of the Pain Care Forum. Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, located in Atlanta, overcame threats of congressional investigation and legal action to publish the first federal guidelines intended to reduce opioid prescribing. Essentially, the agency said the risks of painkillers outweigh the benefits for the vast majority of patients with routine chronic pain and that doctors instead should consider alternatives like physical therapy. When draft guidelines emerged in September, forum members said they were not based on solid evidence, and criticized the CDC for not disclosing outside experts who had advised its effort. One pharma-aligned group, the Washington Legal Foundation, said the lack of disclosure constituted a "clear violation" of federal law. A longtime Pain Care Forum participant now known as the Academy of Integrative Pain Management asked Congress to investigate how the CDC developed the guidelines, though investigators found no violations. After months of scrutiny, the CDC in December released a list of its advisers. One of 17 "core experts" had served as a paid consultant to a law firm suing opioid drugmakers. The final guidelines appeared in March. The first recommendation for U.S. doctors was unequivocal: "Opioids are not first-line therapy" for routine chronic pain. It was a statement considered common practice by many doctors as recently as the early 1990s, a decade before the Pain Care Forum formed in Washington. Missoula police arrested a 24-year-old man Monday evening after he allegedly shot another man in the head near the California Street footbridge. Public information officer Sgt. Travis Welsh said officers responded around 8:15 p.m. to a report of a 28-year-old man who was shot near the bridge. The man had non life-threatening injuries and was able to describe his assailant to officers. He was taken to the hospital and later discharged. Following a search, police arrested 24-year-old Jordan Branch Standingrock at a residence on the 200 block of Catlin Street. Standingrock was booked into Missoula County jail shortly before 10:30 p.m. on suspicion of attempted deliberate homicide and violating a city ordinance for discharging a firearm. He remains in custody without bail pending an initial appearance in Missoula County Justice Court on Wednesday. Saying Missoula City Councils approval of a partial demolition plan for the Mercantile was made arbitrarily" and "capriciously, Preserve Historic Missoula filed a petition asking District Court to repeal the decision. The petition, filed Aug. 30, cites Missoula Municipal Code, which gives any person aggrieved by a decision the right to appeal in District Court. Preserve Historic Missoulas appeal, written by Michael Doggett of Doggett Law Offices in Missoula, references as-yet unidentified plaintiffs and defendants, who may be substituted for further in the process. Doggett asked for an order staying the partial demolition of the Missoula Mercantile and covering costs and attorneys fees. Missoula City Council unanimously approved HomeBase Montanas design for the building, which preserved the northwest pharmacy corner. The Aug. 22 action ended around five months of debate on the project. Earlier in the summer, Andy Holloran, of HomeBase, argued it wouldnt be feasible to save any of the facade, and the companys original plans, presented in early 2016, called for a complete demolition of the Mercantile. The council urged him to find a compromise over the summer. The citys response, prepared by City Attorney Jim Nugent and Chief Civil/Administrative Attorney Susan Firth, was filed Sept. 16 in District Court and asked for dismissal of the appeal. The response outlined more than 20 defenses, citing Preserve Historic Missoulas lack of standing to appeal, as they are not an aggrieved tax payer, nor are directly affected by the demolition, nor have ownership interest in the Merc or any adjacent properties. Preserve Historic Missoula "is essentially attempting to impose [its] political or philosophical conclusion on a municipal legislative bodys decision making, the response said, adding the petition fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The city referenced the almost 16 hours of public hearings held on the Merc decision, in which Preserve Historic Missoula and its members were very active. A section of the Montana Code Annotated protects city governments and mayors from personal liability for legislative acts, Nugents response said. This was cited to protect individual council members, as well as the mayor, who were each named, from being liable to pay the legal fees requested in Preserve Historic Missoulas appeal, though its a longshot, Nugent said in a phone interview Tuesday. We dont want people to intimidate the legislative body by naming them in lawsuits, he said. There have been no further motions in the case and no District Court hearing has been set. Greg Gianforte successfully built and grew a business that employed hundreds of Montanans. Thanks to his hard work and dedication, he proved that a world-class business could be built in Montana. The spark of RightNow Technologies ignited Montanas growing high-tech sector. Many Montanans have benefited directly or indirectly from what RightNow Technologies accomplished here. This is especially true for former RightNow employees like Susan Carstensen. Carstensen served as a chief financial officer while Gianforte served as chief executive officer, and was made a millionaire by the sale of the company. Despite gaining so much from working for Greg Gianforte, she is not endorsing his bid for governor. In fact, as we saw on the pages of this newspaper (Aug. 30), she is endorsing the incumbent Gov. Steve Bullock, citing political disagreements and claiming, interestingly, that her former boss supports discrimination. Now, Carstensen is entitled to her opinions and she can share those opinions. However, her claim that Gianforte supports discrimination is actually proven wrong by her own success at RightNow Technologies. Carstensen is a liberal woman with a long record of supporting Democrats. She and Gianforte likely dont agree on many issues. However, he still made Carstensen second in command at RightNow, putting the company finances in her hands. Why? Presumably, because she was the best and most qualified to do the job, and the success of RightNow is a testament to that. Even by Carstensens own account, she had a good working relationship with Gianforte, despite their differences. This really speaks to the character of Greg Gianforte, and its proof that he does not believe in discrimination. RightNow Technologies was a complete meritocracy. People of all different types were hired and promoted only based on their ability to do the job. Contrast this with Bullock. The governor also had female second- in-command. Despite being nearly universally well liked across the state and a rising star in the Democratic Party, Angela McLean was forced out of her position. While neither Bullock nor McLean will say why exactly McLean left her post, this presumably occurred because she and the governor had some disagreements. Emails released to the public show that a strained relationship had developed between the states two highest officers. Unlike Greg Gianforte and Susan Carstensen, who worked together successfully despite their disagreements, Bullock pushed McLean out and took actions against her that sound like something out of a high school drama, such as locking the lieutenant governor out of her official Twitter account. The irony here is that the record shows that Greg Gianforte worked better with a liberal woman than Bullock! To really test what type of character people have, you have to look how they conduct themselves in their personal lives. Bullock and his surrogates can try and claim all they want that Gianforte believes in discrimination or doesnt believe in equality for women. However, his record in business clearly shows these claims to be false. On the other hand, Bullock can talk a good game about non-discrimination and equality for women, but the way he treated his female lieutenant governor paints a far different picture of his character. Ignoring a group of voters is no way to win their support. Its a pretty simple concept and its one that holds true for working Montanans. Fifty thousand Montanans and their families are represented by organized labor unions. These workers demands are modest. They want fair pay for a days work, health insurance and a retirement, safety and dignity in the workplace. Unfortunately, some politicians still think its to their advantage to ignore these workers and even attack the rights to have a voice on the job. These attacks dont just hurt union workers, they hurt all workers. Unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow. In fact, the impact of unions on nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact they have on union wages. By raising the bar for employers in their workplace, union workers raise the bar for all workers. People have taken notice. In fact, 58 percent of voters support labor unions. That percentage will continue to grow because voters aged 18 to 34 have an even higher opinion of unions. The labor movement in Montana is also growing. In the last year, thousands of workers have elected to organize their work places. These workers, their families, and their communities are already benefiting. However, the same politicians who want our votes continue to ignore us and even attack us. Earlier this year, Republicans and Democrats met with the Montana AFL-CIO (Montanas largest labor organization) to discuss the issues important to the labor movement and our members. Candidates from both parties answered our questions and both Republicans and Democrats received our endorsements. Greg Gianforte was not one of those candidates. Gianforte cancelled his meeting with the Montana AFL-CIO with little warning and no explanation. Apparently his time is more valuable than the other peoples and his actions dont warrant explanation. Unfortunately, its not just the Montana AFL-CIO that Gianforte has ignored; its our members, too. On multiple occasions, union members in both the private and public sector have asked Gianforte if he would sign an anti-worker right-to-work bill and on every occasion, Gianforte has ignored and dismissed those workers questions. That is unacceptable. Gianforte hasnt just ignored union members, however. He is now attacking them. Just this month, Gianfortes campaign spokesman wrote an opinion attacking organized labor and attempting to divide private and public sector unions. Im proud to be the elected business manager of IBEW 233, a union made of hard working members from the public and private sectors, and I can tell you right now that an attack on any union is an attack on all unions and all workers. Its audacious for Gianforte to question our support of Gov. Steve Bullocks re-election when Gianforte has spent his entire campaign ignoring and attacking us and our members. Ill say it again, ignoring and attacking a group of voters is no way to win their support. The former Montana secretary of state, Bob Brown, is to be commended for his excellent column in the Missoulian on Sept. 12, concerning his upcoming vote for Hillary Clinton. Brown explained in cogent terms his reasons for choosing Hillary Clinton, even though he is a Republican! BILLINGS - The City/County Complex in Livingston was evacuated and searched Tuesday morning following a bomb threat. The building houses Park County and City of Livingston administrative offices including courtrooms and law enforcement headquarters. The evacuation occurred at about 8:15 a.m. and the building was swept by police officers, said Lisa Lowy, interim Livingston city manager. Lowy said an explosives team is en route to Livingston from Helena with dogs trained to detect bombs. It's unclear when the building will reopen. The Livingston City Commission meeting set for 6:30 p.m. will be postponed one week out of an "abundance of caution." It is unclear if the bomb threat was pointed at a specific office in the building. The 911 dispatch center is in the City/County Complex and has also been evacuated. Emergency calls will be redirected to Gallatin County's dispatchers so services will remain available. A Livingston's Fire and Rescue station is attached to the government building but firefighters have not been evacuated from that area. The Park County Detention Center is located in the City/County Complex as well. About a dozen detainees were moved to an undisclosed location, said Park County Undersheriff Clay Herbst. The building remained locked down as of 11:15 a.m. with resources from Park county Sheriff's Office, Livingston Police Department, Montana Highway Patrol and Helena Police Department on scene. Investigators continue to search the building with dogs and are working to determine who made the bomb threat, Herbst said. BUTTE - Jurors on Monday in Butte district court convicted a Texas man for the fatal shooting of a Whitehall man and wounding two other men on a remote road southeast of Butte in 2015. In less than four hours, the jury of six men and six women found Tony Dwade Sawyer guilty of deliberate homicide and two counts of attempted deliberate homicide, all felonies, in connection with a late-night triple shooting that killed 37-year-old Joe Powers on Nov. 3. The 48-year-old, flanked by public defenders Ed Sheehy and Catherine Rickett, sat stone-faced and lowered his eyes while the verdict was read. Powers parents, Tom and Zelda, sat quietly behind prosecutors along with other family members. They declined comment. Presiding Judge Brad Newman ordered a presentence investigation, and the sentencing was slated for Nov. 7. Sheehy said his client may be facing a throat cancer diagnosis and asked the judge that his client receive a medical evaluation while incarcerated in the county jail, which Newman ordered. After the judge adjourned court, family members of Joe Powers embraced County Attorney Eileen Joyce and her co-counsel, Ann Shea and Michael Clague, both deputy county attorneys. Joyce and her team spent at least 100 hours in preparation for the trial. She wasnt surprised that jurors returned a quick verdict. We believe that the jury reached the correct verdict, and were happy justice was served for all the victims and Joe Powers family, Joyce said. In instructing jurors before closing arguments Monday morning, Newman said their task was to deliberate if Sawyer was guilty of the more serious charges or the lesser offenses of mitigated deliberate homicide regarding Powers and attempted mitigated deliberate homicide regarding Whitehall residents Steve Drury and Hunter Smith. If jurors opted for the lesser offense regarding Drury and Smiths injuries, they would also consider an offense of assault with a weapon. In an hour-long closing argument to a packed courtroom, Deputy County Attorney Michael Clague faced the jury, saying the case was about a choice Sawyer made and a choice he took away from Powers, who was shot in the back and left face down in a snowy ditch on Fish Creek Road. Four men got into a car on Nov. 3, 2015, and only one man returned in the vehicle to Drurys residence, Clague continued. No matter the amount of methamphetamine and number of guns, the facts in the case could not be denied that Tony Sawyer took away these three mens choices. Clague dismissed the defenses contention that Sawyer was acting in self-defense. If a person acts in self-defense, he argued, then that person would likely turn himself in. Sawyer was apprehended a day after the shooting in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The prosecutor said testimony showed there was no danger to Sawyer as it related to Powers and Smith. He said the defense wanted the jury to believe danger existed. When Sawyer ran up to Drury, this was not the action of a scared man, Clague said. Rather, it was the behavior of a man running to a fight. Clague argued the security footage at Drury's house shows Sawyer was not scared when he helped load the Chevy Equinox the four men rode in to go skeet shooting. After the shooting, when Sawyer returned to Drury's house, he took 45 minutes to methodically pack another vehicle, a Mitsubishi, before he fled, Clague said, adding that the security footage did not support Sawyer's admission that he was scared or suffering severe emotional distress. Sheehy, in his closing, said the five days of testimony showed his client feared for his life the night the shootings occurred and that his use of force was justified. Sheehy said testimony based on Sawyers interviews with Idaho law enforcement, Butte police Detective Anthony Jurenic and clinical psychologist Loretta L. Bolyard indicated he fired shots because he feared for his life or serious bodily injury. As the situation escalated on Fish Creek Road that night, Sawyer questioned You guys aint going to kill me? And then, when the need for self-defense became apparent, said Please, please, please dont make me do it. That, said Sheehy, indicated Sawyer was doing what he could to save his own life. In the prosecutions rebuttal, Shea said this is a case of choices and those choices revolved around the defendants choices. When Sawyer left Texas for Montana, he set in motion a chain of events that changed Powers family forever and took away Joe Powers life, she said. BILLINGS - A 12-year-old Lewis and Clark Middle School student was taken to a Billings hospital Tuesday after he was hit by a pickup on Broadwater Avenue. At about 7:15 the collision was reported at the intersection with 8th Street West. The boy was walking with another child when he stepped into the street to cross Broadwater Avenue and was hit by an eastbound RAM 5500's towing mirror, said Sgt. Shane Winden, of Billings Police Department. The mirror hit the boy's head and the impact was strong enough to fold the mirror back and shatter the passenger side window. The boy suffered injuries that did not appear to be life threatening, Winden said. Medical response was delayed to the scene because American Medical Response's ambulances were already dispatched to other calls. Billings firefighters assisted the injured boy until a Lockwood Fire and Rescue ambulance arrived on scene. Winden said the 26-year-old Billings man driving the RAM reported having sun in his eyes. Witnesses provided conflicting accounts of whether the man had a green light and it was not immediately known if citations would result from the incident. POLSON A small local subsidiary of the tribally owned S&K Technologies is taking one of the worlds largest corporations to court. Adelos, headquartered in Polson, alleges that Halliburton, the oilfield services giant, received proprietary technology information from Adelos under the guise of acquiring the rights to it, but has since tried to pass it off as its own by incorporating the technology into its own products and services, and secretly filing patent applications for it. The lawsuit was filed last week in federal court in Missoula by attorney Randy Cox of the Boone Karlberg law firm. It seeks a judgment that declares Halliburton has directly and willfully infringed on the asserted claims of the asserted patents, that the conversion of Adeloss property was committed with actual fraud and/or malice, and a judgment that would triple the amount of any damages awarded. Emily Mir, director of public relations for Halliburton, said the company does not comment on pending litigation. *** The technology involved turns ordinary fiber optic cable into a highly adept sensing device capable of detecting real-time, location-specific changes related to sound, pressure and temperature. Its potential applications range from oil and gas exploration to homeland security. First developed by the U.S. Navy as a way to locate enemy submarines, the commercial potential of the highly classified technology was eventually recognized. The Navy, according to the lawsuit, chose Adelos as its partner and exclusive licensee of the Navy patents. Since then, the lawsuit says, Adelos has further developed the Navy technology. For example, Adelos has created systems directed toward perimeter and homeland security operations, where the sensitive detector can hear intruder or troop movements along vast borders, the complaint says. Adelos has also developed the capability to listen to geological features and movements, opening the capability to hear down oil well bores and extract valuable data about underground gas and petroleum conditions. The lawsuit says the current market for the technology is estimated at $586 million, and is expected to approach $1.2 billion in the next three years. The technology apparently caught the eye of Halliburton. *** In 2011, the lawsuit says, Halliburton contacted the Navy and expressed an interest in acquiring the fiber optic sensing technology. The Navy told Halliburton it needed to talk with Adelos, the S&K Technologies subsidiary located on the Flathead Indian Reservation. S&K Technologies is owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Shortly thereafter, Halliburton and Adelos began discussions regarding Hallibutons interest in the Adelos proprietary technology, the lawsuit says. Halliburton expressed its disappointment with its current fiber optic sensing system and represented that it was interested in establishing a business relationship with Adelos. For approximately two years, the lawsuit alleges, Halliburton proceeded to extract detailed technical information about the technology. Believing that Halliburton was acting in good faith and intending to enter into a business relationship with Adelos, Adelos provided details in an effort to facilitate this potential business relationship, it goes on. In addition to requests for technical information, Halliburton also demanded that it be allowed to observe multiple tests of Adelos fiber optic sensing systems, the lawsuit says. In May 2012, it says Christopher Stokely and David Barfoot of Halliburton visited Adelos headquarters in Polson for two days of intense, detailed technical discussion. *** By September of that year, the lawsuit alleges, Halliburton said it would have to postpone further discussions because of budget concerns. But in early 2013, Halliburton was again contacting the Navy about a potential business relationship involving the technology The Navy again directed Halliburton to talk with Adelos. Discussions were restarted, but the lawsuit says after Stokely asked for more field testing, Adelos was unable to contact Stokely, or any other Halliburton representative. Instead, it says that in August 2013, Halliburton surreptitiously filed an international patent application disclosing the technology that is the heart and soul of Adelos fiber optic sensing technology. Halliburton falsely claimed in this application that its agents, including Christopher Stokely, were the sole inventors of the technology, the lawsuit says. Neither did the company disclose any of the Navy patents on the technology, it adds. After the international patent application was rejected, the lawsuit says Halliburton again entered into discussions with Adelos, but eventually broke off the talks. This time, the lawsuit says, Halliburton tried to claim the technology as its own in a U.S. patent application. Halliburton is now marketing and selling services and products involving the technology, according to the complaint. Adelos is asking also asking for temporary and permanent injunctions to prevent Halliburton from continuing to benefit from the technology. In addition to Boone Karlberg, the company is represented by law firms in Atlanta and Seattle. In addition to Halliburton, defendants include Halliburton Energy Service and three companies that Halliburton has acquired in the last eight years: Optiphase, SensorTran and Pinnacle Technologies. The 2017 Montana Suicide Prevention Plan has been released with output of new information to the public, including the fact that the state saw 555 suicides from Jan. 1, 2014 to March 1, 2016. Looking at the reports new data, as well as other national information, Montana remains No. 1 in the country for suicide rate per capita. Importantly, and sadly, Anaconda-Deer Lodge and Butte-Silver Bow remain at risk, with Anaconda-Deer Lodge at No. 1 in the state for age-adjusted suicide rate (per 100,000 residents) from 1995 through 2014, and Butte-Silver Bow ninth. (From Jan. 1, 2014 to March 1, 2014, Butte-Silver Bow saw 18 suicides, Anaconda-Deer Lodge 11.) Other Montana counties with a statistically high age-adjusted suicide rate: Roosevelt (Wolf Point) and Park (Livingston). Information in the updated Montana report was compiled by the states suicide prevention coordinator, Karl Rosston, with assistance from the Montana Office of Epidemiology and Scientific Support and the Montana Suicide Mortality Review Team. The reports release comes during National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. In addition to providing much new data and remaining challenges, the report is solution-based, citing significant work across the state in recent years, and recommendations for more of the same. Much of the work throughout the state has occurred in Butte-Silver Bow, where at least five entities are focusing and collaborating on these issues the Community Action Team (the former Suicide Prevention Committee the Community Action Team retains a strong suicide prevention component); the Butte-Silver Bow Mental Health Local Advisory Council; the Youth Mental Health Subcommittee of the Butte Community Coalition, which focuses on supporting early childhood interventions; Butte School District No. 1; and Montana Tech. The updated Montana report cites the following primary suicide prevention accomplishments made in the state toward addressing the suicide issue these accomplishments have also been made in Butte-Silver Bow: Provision of the Signs of Suicide (SOS) School-Based Program to middle and high schools in Butte, in addition to the SOS program, the PAX Good Behavior Game curriculum has been taught in the public school first grades a version of the curriculum will now be taught in grades 1-6. Presentation of Youth Mental Health First Aid, Mental Health First Aid and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training to a variety of groups. Distribution of a suicide informational brochure in Butte Water Utility bills. Marketing of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and the National Crisis Text Line, which provides crisis services for those who text MT to 741 741 in Butte-Silver Bow, this marketing was accompanied by the Continue Your Story campaign. Distribution of gunlocks with suicide prevention tags almost 2,000 locks have been distributed in Butte-Silver Bow, at gun shows, hunter safety training, parent-teacher conferences, health fairs and other events more than $10,000 has been contributed for this effort. Creation in Montana of the nations first suicide mortality review team (a suicide mortality review team is also being created in Butte-Silver Bow, following the FICMMR model, which reviews every fetal, infant, child, and maternal death maternal mortality is reviewed if the mother has given birth within 18 months of her death. Additionally in Butte-Silver Bow, the following has happened: Facilitation of legislation prompting suicide prevention training to public school faculty and staff statewide. Redesign of the St. James Healthcare emergency area, to better manage homicidal and suicidal patients (with a grant from the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System). Training in evidence-based crisis intervention to a majority of Butte Law Enforcement Division officers, by Western Montana Mental Health Center. Raising of $35,000 over the past two years from the Out of the Darkness walks half of the proceeds go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the other half remains for local efforts. In May 2016, facilitation of the citys first mental health fair, a 5k run/walk focused on promoting mental health awareness, and the citys second annual Stomp out the Stigma walk, focused on informing the public of the stigma attached to seeking out mental health services and the need to remove that stigma. Piloting of the NOBLE Web-based referral system, which will streamline referrals for mental health and other services. The newly updated Montana Suicide Prevention Plan has a variety of recommendations, including depression screening for all Montana Medicaid patients, 12 and older, use of a safety planning intervention for those with positive screens, and use of the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale for those who positively screen for moderate to severe depression. The plan also recommends mandatory suicide prevention training and suicide risk assessment training for primary care providers, based on research indicating that, nationally, a high percentage of people who die by suicide saw their primary care provider within a month (or sometimes hours) of their death. The plan has other recommendations at the policy, state and federal levels. Suicide is the most preventable of deaths. Many thanks are forwarded to the strong state and local leadership at work on the issue of suicide and its prevention. Police reports SCREAMING MAN Otto Snajdr, 67, of Butte was allegedly intoxicated when he tried to kick out a male roommate, 65, from his residence on the 1700 block of Hobson Avenue about 4:30 p.m. Monday. Police say Snajdr refused to listen to reason, yelling and screaming obscenities. He was arrested for disorderly conduct. THIRSTY TEEN A 5-foot, 8-inch tall man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt was confronted by a Safeway clerk after he allegedly stole two packs of beverages from the store on Massachusetts Avenue. The suspect, 18 or 19, told the clerk he paid, police said. But when she directed him to a register, he tried to flee. An 18-pack of bottles shattered when it hit the floor after the clerk grabbed it. The man, carrying an 18-pack of Bud Light, jumped into the passenger seat of a black Camaro that fled east on Yale Avenue. HE SAID, POLICE SAID Shon Thorson, 57, of Pocatello, Idaho, was arrested for disorderly conduct Monday after police say he harassed staff and truckers at the weigh station in Rocker. He had earlier helped himself to fountain pop at the adjacent Town Pump. He told police he had not been drinking, however, police say he was intoxicated. UNWANTED MAN A female reported Jason Frikart, 38, of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, tried to break into the back door of her residence on the 600 block of South Montana Street. The woman, who didnt know the suspect, fled through the front door. Police were later called to the Town Pump, 531 St. Montana St., about 9:40 p.m. Monday and arrested Frikart, who was bothering customers. He was arrested for disorderly conduct. HELENA In the hours leading up to the second debate between Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who is running for re-election against Republican businessman Greg Gianforte, both parties pulled the dust off some attacks from earlier in the campaign. Since last spring Bullock and Gianforte have traded jabs over a lawsuit Gianforte filed to remove an easement that provided access to the Gallatin River near his home and the governors use of a private email account to conduct state business and the deletion of emails from Bullocks state account from when he was attorney general. Bullock has used the lawsuit to paint Gianforte as anti-public lands, and Gianforte has used the email flap to tie the governor to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was also in hot water earlier this year over her use of a personal email server during her time as secretary of state. The Montana Democrats on Monday released an email sent in March 2008 with a passage that says Gianforte, a tech entrepreneur, had gated and put up signs to keep the public off an easement that allowed access to the Gallatin River near his home in Bozeman. Gianforte has previously said he never actively blocked access to the easement. Correspondence released Monday by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks department contained an email from then-regional parks manager Jerry Walker saying the Gianfortes fenced the easement and actively excluded the public from accessing this property. Additional documents included an April 2008 letter Bozeman attorney Art Wittich sent on behalf of several landowners near the access area asking the department to relinquish the easement in order to avoid litigating this issue. Gianfortes East Gallatin LLC sued Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in May 2009 to remove an easement that provided public access along the East Gallatin River, arguing that users were damaging adjacent land, the original 1993 agreement by a previous owner was invalid and that the public had sufficient access via two other nearby sites. The complaint was filed to create a foothold for a case, but the papers were never served to the agency. In May, Gianfortes campaign defended the candidate. Greg and Susan have been strong supporters of stream access, spokesman Aaron Flint wrote in an email. Greg and Susan have always welcomed anglers on their property and generally have three to five cars everyday in the summer accessing the river on their property just north of Bozeman. On Monday, he said Democrats were just trying to revive an old, settled issue and distract from discussion of the states poor economy. Flint said the fence had been there when the Gianfortes bought the property. It had been a barbed wire fence. They improved it and put in a post fence because they had horses on the property, he said. Standing outside Petro Hall on the Montana State University Billings campus where the gubernatorial debate would be held hours later, GOP Chairman and legislator Jeff Essmann announced Monday that he was sending a letter asking Bullock to preserve email records in his office related to six recent noteworthy events that have come out of that office and are subject to some public scrutiny right now. He raised questions about the resignation of former Lt. Gov. Angela McLean, funds spent by the Department of Public Health and Human Services that employees had flagged as potentially illegal, alleged retaliation against agency employees who raised questions about spending, travel on the state plane to campaign stops or events that were not clearly for a governmental purpose, travel with state employees related to his tenure as president of the Democratic Governors Association and his role in the decision to award a $7 million contract to a Wisconsin firm for marketing state tourism that Republicans have said has family ties to a state employee. The reason this letter is necessary is the fact that it has been reported that when he departed the attorney generals office Bullock deleted all emails of himself and his senior staff, he said with a chuckle. We have a national conversation going on about Hillary Clinton deleting some of her emails from her service at the state department but Steve Bullock has deleted all of his from when he was serving as attorney general. The Great Falls Tribune has previously reported that emails from Bullocks tenure as attorney general from 2009 to 2013 were deleted without any record of the office seeking prior approval from the state records retention committee as outlined in state policy. Essmann argued that the deletion violated Montana statutes and record retention policy, critical components of the publics right to know enshrined in the state Constitution. How do you exercise the right know if public documents are hidden or destroyed? You cant. This is a serious matter and I hope its attended to, he said. For one, he should apologize for violating the law. And he should promise not to do it again. Upon being asked, Essmann said the party has no pending records requests for emails from the governors office at this time even about the events listed in his letter. Moments into Essmans press conference Monday, the Gianforte campaign emailed a statement calling for an immediate investigation. This appears to be a massive breach of the public trust, Gianforte said in the written statement. Its time career politicians are held accountable. Montana Democratic Party Spokesman Jason Pitt accused Gianforte and the GOP of lying. Greg Gianforte will make up anything to bury the news that he has just been caught misleading voters yet again, Pitt said, referencing the easement dispute. Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel said Essmann did not have the facts of the situation and that the governor had done nothing wrong. The emails in question qualify as a type of public information that is not subject to the states most stringent records retention rules that Essmann and others have cited, according to the Department of Administration's information technology department. Transparency is one of Gov. Bullocks highest priorities. But lets be clear, the governor did not delete emails from an account that was created eight years ago, she said in a written statement. The email account no longer exists, just like accounts from former Attorney Generals Marc Racicot or Joe Mazurek no longer exist, and thousands of other state employees who move between branches or leave state government whose accounts are ended. Asked if Essmann knew about the practice of previous attorney generals, the party chairman shifted focus back to Bullock. Well, it clearly wasnt permitted by law, he said. Steve Bullock was at the time the chief law enforcement officer for the state. Of anybody, he shouldve been aware of what the requirements of state law were and followed them and I dont think he did. But staff from the Department of Administration, which manages state email accounts, said the deletion of emails from Bullocks tenure as attorney general is par for the course. Closing an email account is normal procedure when an employee leaves State employment or moves between branches or agencies, Montanas Chief Information Security Officer Lynne Pizzini said in an emailed statement. The state does not store emails from thousands of former state employees and former elected elected officials due to the high volume and cost of that storage. Although Essmann said he was aware of the deletions as early as 2014 when Republican Tim Fox succeeded Bullock as attorney general, the GOP chairman said the significance of the matter only became apparent to him recently. He dismissed the suggestion that Mondays announcement was only a campaign stunt. At the time, I dont think I realize the scope of the deletions nor had it been publicly reported, he said. I think weve got some serious issues going forward if some of these allegations turn out to be true theyll have serious consequences. Editor's note: Gallicano's title has been corrected. An Anaconda business owner and health care consultant for a global company enjoys the luxury of working from Montana. Yet, successful by all counts, she admits she struggled with self-confidence when negotiating for a raise. Guest speaker Mary Gallicano told the Montana Equal Pay Task Force team meeting Monday at Montana Tech that she feared for her job the first time she negotiated for a higher wage in keeping with what male colleagues earned. The task force, started by Gov. Steve Bullock, continues to meet because women, on average, earn 67.5 percent of mens median earnings in Montana and 74 percent among full-time, year-round workers. Gallicano, 51, was in her early 30s when she finally mustered the courage and learned the skill set to ask for a raise. It took me a very long time to say Id stand up for myself, she said. I was afraid of losing my job. Thats a bold admission coming from someone who once served on a GE company board and who has worked 26 years in health care sales and marketing. I told myself, This is terrifying, but Ive got to take this step, she added. I had to learn how to negotiate for my value in a male-dominated industry. More recently, she successfully negotiated with her employer, Boston-based GE Healthcare Digital, for a competitive salary and the ability to work from home in Anaconda. Her title: Enterprise Solution Consultant. The position better fits her family and small-business-oriented lifestyle. She and husband Bill own Gallicanos Pizzeria in Anaconda, popular for its New York-style pies. They have lived in Anaconda for 10 years. Now her newest corporate job requires only 50 percent travel time, compared to up to 90 percent travel for her previous job working for ZirMed Healthcare. It also allows her to spend more time with their son, a sixth-grader. Advice she offers women negotiating for a new job and salary: take inventory of your skills, use online tools to research how industry pay compares around the country, pinpoint why you would be a better employee than others and gather face-to-face mentors to guide you and hang onto your contacts list. You are your own brand, so own it, she added. Even professional women like Gallicano worry about the potential fallout from proactively negotiating for a raise. She suffered from a fear of public speaking most of her life until her 30s, when she began conquering her anxiety. Its about confidence level, said Gallicano. I knew what I wanted, but I was too shy to approach it. Then something flipped a job opportunity I wanted. But I just said, Just do it. Elicia Schotland, 22, attended the task force on her own time to learn about negotiating. Its going to be really important for my generation as a whole, Schotland, a Bozeman resident, said afterward. These organizations these women are paving the way for us. My generation wants to make the last push for equality in general. Schotland is confident her generation will be better at negotiating than older women who didnt have a task force to consult. The lack of equal pay and of women not being respected are symptoms, added Schotland. But well get there. Im optimistic. A Butte resident received the dream phone call Tuesday she had just won $7.5 million. Better yet, $200,000 was soon to be delivered to her house, then she'd receive $15,000 a week for life. Oh, the caller said, that money would be picked up at the post office when the time came. And ... she had also won a Mercedes Benz. All Carol Smith needed to do was come up with $385. The caller, who had a heavy foreign accent, said he'd meet her at the bank with representatives from the FBI and Homeland Security. Smith, 69, of course, didn't do that. Rather, she said, recognizing the call was a scam, she played along for nearly 30 minutes, before he hung up on her. During that time, she called police, who directed her to the state attorney generals office. The number, according to the Montana Department of Justice, was from Jamaica. Smith, 69, said the caller identified himself as James Parker, the "prize director'' for the American Cash Awards Corp. Smith said Parker told her she wasnt the only winner in the area, because two other people won in Butte. A spokesman with the state office that deals with consumer fraud told Smith these kinds of scam calls are commonplace. Who doesnt dream of winning big? But for a growing number of Montanans, those words are the beginning of a nightmare. In recent years, reports of fake lottery and sweepstake scams in Montana have ballooned, nearly tripling. Along the way, they have tripped up dozens of unlucky Montanans, some of whom have lost tens of thousands of dollars, according to the state Office of Consumer Protection. The schemes differ on specifics, but most follow a formula: Offer lots of winnings, but ask for a smaller amount up front in order to access the big prize. Best advice? Hang up. And for more information, call the Office of Consumer Protection at 406-444-4500 or 800-481-6896. In Carol Smith's case, the caller, thankfully, hung up on her (he had called her twice). That was after she told him her neighbor worked for the FBI (he doesn't) and that she wanted the FBI guy to accompany her to the bank. She also wanted the newspaper there when she received the big payoff. "That would really boost the economy of Butte'' if Smith and the others won all that money, she said with a laugh. HELENA A hearing on a request from Disability Rights Montana to release two patients held in an intensive treatment unit at the state hospital into the general population has been continued to December. Helena District Court Judge Kathy Seeley said Tuesday the patients will continue to live in long-term isolation units in the meantime. In August, four people living at Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs filed a lawsuit alleging they were held in physical restraints for longer than state law allows and kept in isolation for almost 24 hours a day. DRM had asked for the patients to be immediately moved out of isolation before a jury trial could be held. They also asked for damages. "We're obviously very disappointed we have to wait until December when we have people who are in seclusion 23 hours a day," said Bernadette Franks-Ongoy, executive director of DRM. Seeley said if asked for a decision from the bench Tuesday, she could not grant the injunction. I have not heard any testimony tailored to these patients as to what we are supposed to do, she said. And I am not going to direct that they just be placed on the unit, in the regular unit. Curt Drake, a Helena attorney who is representing the state hospital and employees named in the suit, said there wasnt enough information for Seeley to grant the injunction Tuesday. It is not safe now in the judgment of people who work with them every day, he said. Bridgitt Erickson, staff attorney for DRM, called the living conditions of the patients who brought the lawsuit not appropriate. Integrating partnerships between the workforce and education is the main focus of a two-day symposium at Montana Tech Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 20-21. So far, 309 attendees have registered. Educators and employers will share training models to better partner in boosting the workforce in Montana in the Beyond the Classroom: Building Montanas 21st Century Workforce symposium. Sponsored by Gov. Steve Bullocks main Street Montana Project, the peer-to-peer symposium will provide tools and information about such models. Education leaders set to speak are Denise Juneau, Montana superintendent of schools; Jessica Anderson, of Deer Lodge, Montana Teacher of the Year; and Ted Mitchell, undersecretary of the Department of Education. Business speakers include Mathias Bihler, director of Otto Bihler Maschinenfabrik in Germany; David Etzwiler, CEO of the Siemens Foundation; and business leaders from across Montana who use work-based learning models in their businesses. Work-based learning is a continuum of activities that engage employers and extend the classroom in to the work place, connecting a students acquired knowledge and skills to future employment. Bullock and Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney will attend the free symposium. Details: www.eventbrite.com and search for Beyond the Classroom: Building Montanas 21st Century Workforce symposium. This letter is in reference to the opinion piece by Hamilton area legislator Ron Ehli (Sept. 15, Montana Standard). We appreciate his input and message to the citizens of Boulder but believe that some of what he has to say is not complete or fully informed. In one sentence, he writes, The main objective of SB 411 may have been to close MDC, but another important objective of the bill sponsor was to repurpose the campus in Boulder, protect jobs, and thus the economy of Boulder. We acknowledge repurposing the Montana Development Center campus and protecting jobs and the local economy may have been an objective of some who voted in favor of the bill, but records demonstrate that it was not an important objective of the bill sponsor. The original draft of the bill as introduced by the sponsor, Sen. Mary Caferro of Helena, contained no language whatsoever about those issues. It was not until April 13, 2015, during executive action of the House Human Services Committee that those issues were introduced, coming then as amendments offered by Rep. Kirk Wagoner of Montana City, whose district includes the Boulder area. Supporting evidence exists on the official legislative website. Rep. Ehlis advice that the citizens of Boulder ask questions, stand up for themselves and approach the Legislature for help is well taken. That is exactly what the community has been working on through the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee (BTAC) and the Making Boulders Future Bright effort. Dozens of citizens have devoted many, many hours to getting ready for the upcoming legislative session, and Rep. Ehli should rest assured that the citizenry will do its best to be heard when the legislative session begins in January. We take a little bit of an issue with Rep. Ehlis claim that there has been an apparent lack of input from the Governors office and administration staff on this matter. Boulder has seen far more input from that wing of the government than from the many legislators who voted in favor of SB 411. Several legislators, all Democrats who opposed SB 411, have been actively involved in the Making Boulders Future Bright and BTAC effort. The Governors Budget Director Dan Villa has also spent many hours visiting with and listening to the citizens in those efforts. Some of those efforts have also addressed the topic raised by Rep. Ehli about the forensic overflow from Montana State Hospital. We feel confident that any legislator who voted in favor of SB 411 who wants to be involved in helping Boulder citizens craft a repurposing and economic protection plan to take to the upcoming session would be welcomed to any of the citizen meetings set to address that. A meeting of the MDC Repurposing Committee is set for Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 3:30 p.m. at the county clerk and recorders building in Boulder. A meeting of the Attracting Business Committee is set for Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the city hall. The BTAC will meet Oct. 12 at 8 a.m. at city hall. All of the meetings on this topic are listed on the website makingbouldersfuturebright.com under Get Connected. We urge Rep. Ehli and those legislators who share his concerns about the future welfare of our community to get involved in our ongoing efforts. The more advice we can get about crafting a viable plan that will gain legislative approval, the better off we will be. The Boulder Monitor newspaper I have to say, I am growing increasingly concerned over the failure of my opponent, Pat Noonan, to grasp the most basic facts and issues that come before the Public Service Commission, that governmental body on which he aspires to serve. I was looking forward to a healthy discussion and debate on relevant PSC issues, and a fair examination of my four-year record on the commission. Instead, Rep. Noonan has chosen the Low Road of partisan politics, and has subjected voters to a series of anti-Koopman attacks that are factually untrue, and show how little he understands about the PSC. Attempting to shoot me down, he is firing only blanks. Heres an example. On the commission, I have consistently sought to expose crony capitalism, particularly in the area of un-tracked and abused federal subsidies by telecommunications companies. Noonan attacks me for my efforts to create on the state level, some transparency and accountability for the spending of these tax dollars. Noonan apparently embraces crony capitalism, and believes its fine to just throw your taxes around, willy-nilly, and let companies do as they please. Example. Between 2013 and 2014, Century Link received $17.5 million in federal high cost support for the specific purpose of broadband build-out into unserved rural areas of Montana. Yet 93% of those dollars ($16.3 million) went into already served areas, to fatten Century Links bottom line and use tax dollars to compete with unsubsidized competitors. Rep. Noonan apparently thinks this is okay, because in his world, any kind of government spending is a good thing, accountable or not. I disagree, and I proceeded to do something about it. While the PSC has little regulatory authority over telecoms, we do have the ability to withhold for a time, the re-certification of these companies eligibility for the federal subsidies. Based on the commissions concerns over probable continued misuse of these funds, we delayed for a week, the PSC certifications of these 26 companies servicing notice, and beginning a process of monitoring subsidy spending to ensure that funds were being put to the uses intended. Noonan apparently understands none of this or doesnt care. Hes in good company, because the Bozeman Chronicle reporter didnt understand it either. The Chronicles coverage completely missed the point, and true to form, the paper subsequently wrote a false editorial, based on their false story. Rather than understanding the issue or checking the facts, Noonan quoted the Chronicle editorial as if it were gospel. I can tell you, if Rep. Noonan is looking to newspaper editorial boards as his source of truth on PSC issues, he is in big, big trouble! Noonans recent editorial (Montana Standard, Sept. 16) also asserted that the all-Republican commission has stifled diverse opinions, and accuses me personally of favoring dangerous deregulation schemes (which he fails to identify.) Anyone who has observed the workings of the commission will immediately recognize these charges as TOTAL NONSENSE. The PSC is extremely diverse, with most key votes splitting, 3-2. I am viewed as one of the commissions most pro-active regulators, and I consistently depart from the two GOP commissioners who are more protectionist of utilities and less supportive of the consumer (one of whom labels me a liberal.) As a legislator, I supported all efforts to reverse the disastrous decision to de-regulate Montana Power. And how many times, Pat, must I state that I am opposed to Right-to-Work, before you will quit smearing me on that issue? Unfortunately, you can only arrive at one of three conclusions regarding Rep. Noonan ultra-partisan rhetoric. He either (1) has never read the record, (2) doesnt understand the record, or (3) is intentionally misrepresenting the record. None of these speak well of a person who claims to be qualified for the PSC. I encourage PSC3 voters to examine the record . What youll find is a commissioner who time and again, has vigorously defended the rate-payer in dockets where previous commissions would have acquiesced to utility monopoly demands. Youll also see a commissioner who has opposed the special interests and consistently supported greater competition and consumer choice in all PSC-regulated areas. Lets hope the rest of this campaign deals with relevant PSC issues and the actual record, not partisan fairy tales and mean-spirited nonsense. Several major issues clearly place the choice for Governor of Montana at Greg Gianforte over Steve Bullock. While Bullock has logged more time in State politics, Gianforte offers superior insight and business savvy. I compare their positions: Second Amendment Rights: (rated by the NRA-PVF): Bullock is C: A candidate with mixed record or positions on gun related issues. Gianforte is AQ: A pro-gun candidate whose rating is based solely on the candidates responses to the NRA-PVF Candidate Questionnaire Note: Greg is an NRA life member, earning their endorsement. Expand Obamacare: Bullock Strongly Favors (Expansion), stated in Ballotpoedia.com, The Encyclopedia of American Politics. He continues to support Obamacare, even in light of recent news that insurance giant Aetna is pulling out of that market. Gianforte states on gregformontana.com: Its time we find real solutions to lower healthcare costs and preserve access. Governmental Regulations: re: Attorney General Tim Foxs lawsuit against the EPA Clean Power Regulations: Bullock didnt directly say whether he supports the lawsuit. (KXLH,10/23/2015). His non-supportive stand came at our (Colstrip workers) dismay. Gianforte states on gregformontana.com: Eliminate excessive regulations that burden businesses. Considering these stands, Greg Gianforte will obviously be a better Governor than Steve Bullock. Dan Negethon, Colstrip The Montana Standard wants a judge to open up negotiations on the Butte Hill Superfund cleanup after 14 years, saying the public and press have a right to keep a watchful eye on the workings of government. The Standard and the Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition filed papers in federal court in Butte Tuesday seeking permission to intervene in a case between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Atlantic Richfield Co. over cleanup issues left from decades of mine pollution. If U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon grants the initial request, The Standard and its partner, the Headwaters Coalition, could then formally argue that federal court orders to keep the talks secret block public access to otherwise public information. The Superfund litigation, which will decide long-term, multimillion-dollar cleanup responsibilities for pollution on the Butte Hill, has dragged on for more than 20 years. The current "consent decree" talks now involve the EPA, ARCO, two state agencies and Butte-Silver Bow County. There are few matters more important to the people of Butte and Silver Bow County than the environmental cleanup of the Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site including the manner in which that cleanup is conducted and whether the cleanup proposals will in fact ensure a clean and restored Silver Bow Creek, a brief in support of the motion says. In filing, The Standard is joined by the Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition led by Buttes Fritz Daily, Ron Davis and Sister Mary Jo McDonald. The coalition won a lawsuit against the state in 2015 when a state judge ruled that Silver Bow Creek was the official name of the channel running through the center of Butte. They say that bolsters their quest to make the channel a clean, free-flowing creek someday. The Montana Standard and the Headwaters Coalition is represented in the matter by attorney Jim Goetz who also represented the coalition in their victory last year. The request to intervene in the suit is aimed just at the secret talks, not the underlying disputes over pollution matters. At the Montana Standard we believe that when three levels of government state, federal and local are holding talks that will affect life in Butte for generations, the public is entitled to know whats going on in real time, Standard Editor David McCumber said Tuesday. Gov. Steve Bullock also weighed in, saying, Obviously, well do what the judge tells us, but I like sunshine. Chief Executive Matt Vincent voiced similar sentiments. "These meetings have been closed for over 14 years, and even though were making progress now, we still dont have a consent decree. What harm could a little sunlight possibly do?" ARCO declined comment late Tuesday. The Montana Standard also sought and was awaiting comment from the EPA. The request comes a day after Bullock withdrew the state from consent-decree negotiations at least temporarily because BP/ARCO has refused to permit the state to dump polluted Parrot smelter mine tailings near the Berkeley Pit. Bullock wanted removal of the tailings to start this year. Vincent also declined to participate in another round of Superfund talks Monday, saying no tangible progress could be made without the state at the table. In its filing Tuesday, the Standard said Haddons initial order in August 2002 was granted through a single motion by the EPA that was unopposed and contained no substantive reasons why talks should be confidential. The state of Montana agreed to the confidentiality provisions. ARCO, which inherited the pollution problems after buying the Anaconda Co. in 1977, asked in December 2003 that a provision be added saying communications during negotiations should be kept confidential after the talks were over. The judge granted that request. Butte-Silver Bow agreed to the terms in November 2004, and just this past June, the state and county denied open-records and open-meeting requests by The Standard. They said the confidentiality order prevented them from complying with Montana access laws. In its filing, The Standard says courts routinely find motions to intervene timely regardless of time that has passed in this case 14 years since an order was made. It says the EPA and ARCO had no right to bargain away the publics rights to know about government dealings that affect Montana. Some officials have suggested privately in recent months that talks should be confidential because it is the only way negotiators can be frank and reach agreements similar to those on other Superfund matters. But The Montana Standard has rejected that thinking for months. Does anybody believe that this process could have been any more tortured and less effective if it had been carried out in public? the newspaper asked in a July 24 editorial. Notice is hereby given that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has under review an air quality construction permit application submitted by Monsanto Company, located at 2500 Wiggins Road, Muscatine, Iowa. The proposed permitting action is the modification of an existing boiler (Boiler #8) to natural gas only and update the ancillary equipment associated with the boiler to accommodate the change in fuel. This proposed action will maintain SO2 requirements established in response to the nonattainment designation for a portion of Muscatine County published in the Federal Register (78 FR 47191) on August 5, 2013. The nonattainment designation is for the 1-hour SO2 primary national ambient air quality standard promulgated in 2010 (75 FR 35519, June 22, 2010). The Department intends to submit the proposed action for inclusion in the State Implementation Plan to address Clean Air Act requirements for nonattainment areas. An electronic copy of all the materials the applicant has submitted, the proposed permit, the Fact Sheet (Technical Support Document), the application, and all other correspondence are available for public inspection on the Air Quality Bureau website at: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environmental-Protection/Air-Quality. These materials will also be available for public inspection at the following locations: * The Musser Public Library, 304 Iowa Avenue, Muscatine, Iowa * Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Air Quality Bureau, 7900 Hickman Road, Suite #1, Windsor Heights, Iowa 50324. The public comment period for this proposed permitting action will be from Wednesday, September 21, 2016 to Friday, October 21, 2016. A public hearing will be held regarding this proposed permitting action upon request from the public. The request for a public hearing and public comments must be received prior to end of the public comment period. Written and signed comments may be directed to: Peter Zayudis Environmental Engineer Senior Air Quality Bureau Iowa Department of Natural Resources 7900 Hickman Road, Suite 1 Windsor Heights, Iowa 50324 Or emailed to: Any materials related to comments submitted by the public shall be included in full and not be incorporated by reference unless the material is already part of the administrative record or consists of State or Federal statutes and regulations, EPA documents of general applicability, or other available reference materials. Upon a final decision on the project, all comments, Department responses, and the final documents will be available for public inspection at the Department address listed above and on the Air Quality Bureau website http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environmental-Protection/Air-Quality. In addition, all comments, Department responses, and the final documents will be available at and the Musser Public Library for thirty (30) days after the final decision. You are hereby notified that on the 15th day of July, 2016, the last will and testament of Dolores Mohnsen, deceased, bearing date of the 18th day of January, 2002, was admitted to probate in the above named court and that Michael Mohnsen was appointed executor of the estate. Any action to set aside the will must be brought in the district court of said county within the later to occur of four months from the date of the second publication of this notice or one month from the date of mailing of this notice to all heirs of the decedent and devisees under the will whose identities are reasonably ascertainable, or thereafter be forever barred. WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa Great River Gift Shop will host a fashion accessory trunk show from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29. Select items will be discounted 20 percent. The gift shop is in Great River Medical Centers lobby, 1221 S. Gear Ave., West Burlington, Iowa. The trunk show is sponsored by Great River Friends, a community of donors and volunteers who support Great River Health Systems with their gifts of time, talent and treasure. For more information, please call Great River Gift Shop at 319-768-3480. 7 p.m. Tuesday The League of Women Voters of Muscatine County is sponsoring forums to inform voters about upcoming elections. The public is invited to attend and bring questions. Muscatine County candidates for Supervisor, Sheriff and Auditor will speak about issues and answer audience questions at Muscatine City Hall. Those running in District 3 are Scott Sauer and Nathan Reichert; District 4: Kas Kelly and Nathan Mather; Sheriff: C.J. Ryan, and Michael Channon; and Auditor: Leslie Soule. Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life! Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane recently released a statement in which he said cabinet approved a probe of South Africas top banks after they stopped doing business with the Guptas. He said the government was looking into establishing a state bank of South Africa, possibly incorporating the Post Bank. It was not long before his statement was slated by the ANC and by the Presidency as inaccurate. ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa lambasted Zwanes comments, saying they were outrageous, appalling, and shocking. He called on President Jacob Zuma to discipline Zwane. The Presidency said Zwanes remarks were issued in his personal capacity. The unfortunate content of the statement and the inconvenience and confusion caused are deeply regretted, said the Presidency. The conflicting messages from the ANC and one of its ministers does little to instill trust in the government. However, broken promises and dubious statements are not new in South Africa. Below are prime examples of why you should think twice before believing what South African politicians tell you. Zuma said in his State of the Nation address in June 2009 that between now and December 2009, we plan to create about 500,000 job opportunities. Zuma said the second phase of the Expanded Public Works Programme aimed to create about four million job opportunities by 2014. What really happened: According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, 395,000 jobs were lost between July and December 2009. The DA said in 2014 that only 561,000 of the promised millions of jobs materialised from 2009 to 2014. The Cabinet has approved that the digital signal be switched on on 1 November 2008. The analogue signal should be switched off in November 2011, said Former Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in 2007. What really happened: In June 2015, South Africa failed to meet the International Telecommunication Union deadline to switch over to digital terrestrial television broadcasting. South Africa has still not switched off the analogue signal, five years after its deadline. On 3 September 2004, Matsepe-Casaburri published the determination that VANS may self-provide facilities from 1 February 2005. ICASA confirmed this after workshops: VANS may self-provide facilities from 1 February 2005. Self-provision contemplates the procurement of telecommunication facilities by a VANS licensee from any telecommunication facility supplier and to use them under and in accordance with its licence to provide telecommunication services. What really happened: The Department of Communications and ICASA backtracked, saying that value-added network service licensees were never given the right to provide their own networks. It took a legal battle from Altech against ICASA and the DOC to make self-provisioning a reality. On 15 July 2010, former Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda dismissed as false, spurious, and malicious allegations he was about to suspend Director-General Mamodupi Mohlala. What really happened: His statement came days before the ministry, on 23 July, stated that: In the interests of the Department, the staff, and the government, the Minister has come to the conclusion that it would be best to release Ms Mohlala from her position as Director-General. On 22 May 2001, Matsepe-Casaburri said the licensing of the second national operator (SNO) to compete with Telkom will be finalised in the first half of 2002. What really happened: The SNO (Neotel) was licensed on 9 December 2005, nearly four years behind schedule. Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) Committee chairman Tshilidzi Marwala said in 2007 that the LLU process will be completed in 2011. Marwala said he believed that by the end of 2007 all the mechanisms will be in place for Telkom to open up the local loop to rivals and that he expected Telkom to start giving rivals access to its copper infrastructure by January 2008. What really happened: LLU has still not happened. Telkom is looking at opening some of its infrastructure to service providers, but the process has fizzled out at governmental level. In May 2006, Matsepe-Casaburri said Sentech will form the core of our wireless broadband infrastructure network that our country will use to advance its socio-economic development goals. Sentechs wireless broadband infrastructure network would be expanded to enable it to carry voice to the end user in the provision of this service, giving full effect to its multimedia licence. What really happened: In November 2009, Sentech closed its MyWireless broadband network, following network and funding problems. The wireless broadband network was a political pipe dream. In March 2013, Communications Minister Dina Pule denied she was romantically linked to Phosane Mngqibisa. Pule said in a 702 interview that she only knew Mngqibisa as a comrade, but had nothing to do with him. What really happened: A letter from Pules office in 2009 (as deputy communications minister) showed that she nominated Phosane Mngqibisa as her spouse to accompany her on an official visit to Mexico in September 2009. Zuma said in Parliament that he replaced former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene with Des van Rooyen, because Nene had been nominated to head up the Brics Bank. What really happened: Months after being fired from his position as finance minister, Nene had still not received any offer to take up a job at the Brics bank. The DA said it was clear the Presidency had lied. In December 2015, Zuma claimed that Africa was the biggest continent on earth and that it was larger than all the other continents put together. The truth: Asia is the largest continent by area. Asia also has the largest population. Africa is a distant second in terms of size. Bloomberg reported that the South African government has allocated R2.5 billion for a national broadband network. Telecommunications Minister Siyabonga Cwele said in an interview that the government wants the entire country to have access to high-speed Internet within the next four years. There is still a shortfall in our funding, but we hope to start rolling out broadband as soon as possible, said Cwele. We are sure additional money will come in as we start building. Speaking to delegates at SATNAC 2016 earlier this month, Cwele said the governments Broadband War Room was established to speed up the roll-out of the countrys broadband policy. We are also practicing this coordination at the implementation level through Provincial Broadband Steering Committees that seek to align all broadband activities to the South Africa Connect. South Africas broadband policy, South Africa Connect, requires 50% of South Africans to have access to a 5Mbps connection by 2016. The policy also states 90% of South Africans must have access to a 5Mbps connection by 2020, while 50% of citizens must connect at 100Mbps. First phase of the broadband project In his 2015 State of the Nation address, President Jacob Zuma announced the beginning of the first phase of the broadband roll-out initiative. The initial phase of the roll-out would encompass offices in eight district municipalities, said Zuma. The municipalities were: Dr Kenneth Kaunda in North West Gert Sibande in Mpumalanga O.R. Tambo in the Eastern Cape Pixley ka Seme in the Northern Cape Thabo Mofutsanyane in the Free State Umgungundlovu and Umzinyathi in KwaZulu-Natal Vhembe in Limpopo In the Bloomberg interview, Cwele again mentioned these eight areas. It is uncertain when the project will be completed. More on South Africas broadband policy Why Minister Siyabonga Cwele is suing Icasa South African government too useless to run SA Connect: DA The number of Facebook users in South Africa grew from 13 million in 2015 to 14 million in 2016. Twitters growth has slowed dramatically, growing from 7.4 million to 7.7 million South African users between 2015 and 2016. Managing director of World Wide Worx Arthur Goldstuck released these results as part of the 2016 Social Media Landscape report. Facebook users in South Africa who access the service from mobile devices increased from 10 million in 2015 to 12 million in 2016. The number of active users on YouTube in South Africa grew from 8.28 million in 2015 to 8.74 million in 2016. Instagram grew from 2.68 million users to 3.5 million between 2015 and 2016. This makes Instagram the fastest-growing social network in South Africa, while Twitters growth is the slowest. Engagement Engagement on Facebook and Twitter has also increased between 2015 and 2016, said Goldstuck. On average, the number of likes per post grew from 80 to 108. The average number of comments per post increased from 10 to 12, and, on average, posts are shared more growing from 6 to 11 shares per post. Brands also started posting more frequently, with the average number of posts per day increasing from 5.3 to 5.7. Engagement on Twitter also increased, with the average number of retweets per post increasing from 4 to 6, and the average number of favourites growing from 1.3 to 4. Across Facebook and Twitter, response time from brands has improved. The average response time of South African brands has gone down from 8.5 hours to 7 hours. Twitter response time has decreased from 8.5 hours to 4.7 hours. More on Facebook and Twitter WhatsApp and Facebook to work independently Twitter removes character limit on additional content Twitters new longer tweets coming soon Twitter Direct Messages now more like chat A leaked document has revealed the price of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus for South Africa. A Vodacom price list was sent to MyBroadband, which revealed the iPhone 7s recommended retail pricing will start at R14,669, while the entry-level iPhone 7 Plus will cost R17,389. Apple unveiled the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on 7 September 2016. The devices feature new cameras and a new design. A standout feature is the non-mechanical Home button, which is now a solid-state, force-sensitive unit with a taptic engine. Apple added that its antennas are built more subtly this time around, and you will hardly see them anymore. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will be also water and dust resistant at an IP67 rating. South African pricing The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB models. It should be noted that the pricing below has not been finalised, and may change before the devices go on sale in South Africa. Vodacom said it cannot validate the pricing below at this stage, and will advise once our pricing and tariffs are confirmed. iPhone 7 Prices in South Africa Device Recommended Retail Price Apple iPhone 7 32GB Black R14,669 Apple iPhone 7 32GB Silver R14,669 Apple iPhone 7 32GB Gold R14,669 Apple iPhone 7 32GB Rose Gold R14,669 Apple iPhone 7 128GB Black R16,929 Apple iPhone 7 128GB Silver R16,929 Apple iPhone 7 128GB Gold R16,929 Apple iPhone 7 128GB Rose Gold R16,929 Apple iPhone 7 128GB Jet Black R16,929 Apple iPhone 7 256GB Black R19,199 Apple iPhone 7 256GB Silver R19,199 Apple iPhone 7 256GB Gold R19,199 Apple iPhone 7 256GB Rose Gold R19,199 Apple iPhone 7 256GB Jet Black R19,199 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 32GB Black R17,389 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 32GB Silver R17,389 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 32GB Gold R17,389 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 32GB Rose Gold R17,389 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 128GB Black R19,639 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 128GB Silver R19,639 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 128GB Gold R19,639 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 128GB Rose Gold R19,639 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 128GB Jet Black R19,639 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 256GB Black R21,899 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 256GB Silver R21,899 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 256GB Gold R21,899 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 256GB Rose Gold R21,899 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 256GB Jet Black R21,899 More on the iPhone 7 iPhone 7 drop and water tests are in The R570 adapter that lets you charge your iPhone 7 while using headphones The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will be available for pre-order before it releases in South Africa in November. Samsung said it decided not to release the Note 7 in South Africa in September after multiple reports of battery fires resulted in a mass recall of the device. It added that a software update to help reduce the risk of incidents relating to the battery issues which limits maximum charge to 60% was implemented in markets where the device had been distributed. As the Note 7 has not yet officially been launched in South Africa, this will not be applicable to the South African market. South African customers will receive the Note 7 that offers full battery usage, said Samsung. More on the Note 7 Exploding batteries caused by Samsung rushing to beat Apple iPhone 7 Galaxy Note 7 battery problems resolved: Samsung Advertise Here Be seen advertise here. Contact us. A statewide shortage of math teachers has the Napa Valley Unified School District scrambling to hire such instructors. Do you enjoy math? read a recent ad in an NVUSD newsletter. Have you thought about sharing your enthusiasm with students by becoming a math teacher? Almost a month into the new school year, the district is still short two math teachers, one for River School and one for New Tech High School. Justin-Siena High School is also looking to hire a math teacher, according to the schools administration. There is always a need for qualified math teachers, said Alejandro Hogan, assistant superintendent of human resources for the NVUSD. Over the past few years, there have been a lack of applicants for math teaching jobs and a lack of teachers who are qualified to teach math, he said. The NVUSD employs approximately 1,000 teachers, said Hogan. While two math teachers might not sound like a lot, those two teachers could teach a total of as many as 300 students. Until those permanent teachers can be hired, substitutes are teaching those math students, said Hogan. Substitute teachers arent always qualified to teach math. And a substitute can only stay with a class for 30 days before a new substitute must be brought in. The students are affected by the lack of continuity, said Hogan. Newly credentialed math teacher Samuel Urena is one of the chosen few. Urena is a new math teacher at Napa High School, the same school he graduated from in 2005. The first in his family to graduate from college, he said his teachers motivated him to earn his own teaching credential in math. For me, teaching is not just about numbers, but also use those critical thinking skills that math provides and use those skills in real life, said Urena. Hopefully I can get that message across to my students. Staying in Napa and working with youth was another goal. I want to help motivate them to go into higher education, he said. Working at Napa High is a good fit, Urena said. As a Napan and a graduate, I know what these kids are maybe going through, he said. Urena said he felt reassured knowing math teachers are in demand. When I was in the credential program, we were told, you math teachers dont worry about jobs. It did make it somewhat more comfortable for us math candidates. But at the same time, my goal was to stay here in Napa and that was a little competitive. I was lucky enough that I had offers from two schools. Today, Urena is teaching four sections of Math 1 to mostly freshman students at Napa High School. Hes also an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program teacher. The program prepares students for college and other postsecondary opportunities. Even though he could have made more money with his math degree in a different career, Urena said teaching suits him. I like being busy, he said. I cant sit down the whole day like at an office job, he said. The need for math teachers isnt just a Napa problem. Every district in California is having a hard time finding qualified math teachers, said Alejandro Hogan, the districts assistant superintendent of human resources. When funds are cut, the universities that prepare teachers to receive their credentials dont always offer strong programs for math applicants, Hogan said. In addition, there are less people interested in the teaching profession, he said. Other careers and industries can offer higher salaries money and better professional opportunities for those with math skills. The salary range for an NVUSD math teacher is $55,179 to $85,046. Hogan said the high cost of living in Napa is also a deterrent. It is very difficult for a new teacher to find adequate housing and housing they can afford, he said. Last year the NVUSD implemented a $2,000 signing bonus for hard-to-sign positions such as science, math and special education teachers and psychologists. Since the school year has already started, that bonus is no longer available, he noted. According to a 2016 report from the Learning Policy Institute, increased demand for K12 teachers in California comes at a time when the supply of new teachers is at a 12-year low. Enrollment in educator preparation programs has dropped by more than 70 percent over the last decade, and has fallen below the estimated needed number of hires by school districts around the state. Although shortages are occurring across a range of subject areas, the problem is most acute in mathematics, science and special education, said the report. Each of these high-need fields has been marked by a drop in the number of preliminary credentials issued to new teachers and a significant increase in the number of temporary permits, waivers, and intern credentials. In mathematics and science, the number of preliminary credentials awarded to new, fully-prepared teachers dropped by 32 percent and 14 percent, respectively, over the last four years. In that same time, the numbers of underprepared mathematics and science teachers (those with temporary permits and waivers and intern credentials) have increased by 23 percent and 51 percent, respectively, said the report. Teachers are more likely to quit when they work in districts with lower wages and when their salaries are low relative to alternative wage opportunities, especially in high-demand fields like math and science, said the Learning Policy Institute report. For decades, patients who entered the gates of California mental hospitals were all but cut off from the rest of society even after death. From the 1880s into the 1960s, the lives of about 45,000 patients at Napa State Hospital and other state institutions ended not with a casket and headstone, but with unmarked graves or the scattering of anonymous ashes in obscure fields. To bestow some belated dignity to those denied it after their deaths, advocates for the disabled mark the third Monday each September to honor those who died while institutionalized. On Monday, one of the nine statewide ceremonies staged by the California Memorial Project brought together present-day patients at Napa State Hospital to commemorate the patients who came before. Let us work to build a world where no person is removed from the community due to disability, Yvonne McGough, a Disability Rights California representative, told an audience of three dozen patients during the hour-long remembrance in the Napa State gymnasium. (The organization also sponsored observances as far north as Ukiah and as far south as Norwalk and Patton, in Southern California.) McGough then explained the extent to which generations of Napa patients were extinguished in death: 4,363 burials on the premises from 1875 to 1923, followed by thousands who were cremated or placed in a St. Helena potters field. After a small patients choir serenaded their comrades with Amazing Grace and Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, other residents took time to remember their departed friends with stories or poems, including one describing the release of death: Dont grieve for me now; Im free, following the path God made for me. Ill miss you, my buddy; Ill miss you, my friend, sang another patient. Ill miss you, my buddy, to the very end. The observance wound down with McGoughs naming of the 15 Napa State patients who have died in the past year including a man who had expired just that morning. Napa States observance dates to 2002, when Disability Rights California and two other advocacy groups partnered to form the California Memorial Project. In addition to staging the annual ceremonies for the dead, the team restores graveyards holding the remains of institutional patients, places monuments at burial grounds, and collects oral histories of former patients. After the Monday ceremony, two visitors stepped through a gate and toward the burial ground McGough and a fellow advocate, Katie Meyer, bearing a box of roses. If we didnt do this, there wouldnt be any flowers, anyone here to remember, said McGough as the women stopped at a broad live oak whose canopy once shaded the graves that have since been relocated. First the white roses, then the red and finally the yellow were laid slowly, carefully in a ring around the tree trunk the only touch of color amid the arid landscape. For one day, the lost patients of Napa State Hospital were not forgotten. Union County Prosecutors Office(NEW YORK) -- The wife of New York and New Jersey bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami was questioned by American investigators in the United Arab Emirates Tuesday as she sought to return from Pakistan to the U.S., federal officials told ABC News. The FBI said Asia Bibi Rahami voluntarily submitted to an interview. She had left the U.S. for Pakistan in June, one of the officials said, and by virtue of the actions of her husband she has now been flagged for possible terror ties. Asia Rahami's travel comes after Ahmad Rahami's mother, Najiba, left the U.S. on Aug. 24 for Turkey, the federal sources said. The travel by the two women, along with the whereabouts of Ahmad Rahami's other relatives and associates, have been a source of continued interest to investigators, who are trying to determine whether the bombing suspect acted alone or had help. Of keen interest, investigators told ABC News, is the period of time Ahmad Rahami spent overseas. From April 2013 to March 2014, the Afghan-born American traveled in and around Quetta, a Pakistani city near the Afghan border known as a home of extremism and a Taliban stronghold. The Taliban denied any link to Rahami. During his time in the region, Ahmad Rahami married Asia Bibi and the two had a child together, law enforcement sources said. Upon his return, Ahmad Rahami lobbied for his wife to join him in New Jersey. In May 2014, she was granted entry with their baby, and because of their marital status, she was given the status of a U.S. Green Card holder. Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Representatives from six University of California campuses, seven California State universities and dozens of independent and out-of-state colleges and universities attracted about 1,500 Napa Valley College students and 400 local high school students during Transfer Day on Monday. Altogether, 45 representatives from four-year colleges looking for community college transfers attended the campus event. The students have all been asking some great questions, said Diedre Robinson, director of outreach for John F. Kennedy University based in Pleasant Hill. They know what they want, and they know what questions to ask about financial aid, for example. Napa Valley College business student Dominic Almeida, planning to transfer next year, said he was well-received by representatives of the four-year colleges. Most of them wanted me, welcomed me and asked what I am studying. April Yip, a junior at Jesse Bethel High School in Vallejo, said she attended simply to find out how to get to a four-year. Her classmate, Christina Orbase, agreed. Most of us are still debating what to do, Orbase said. Its easier to commute from Vallejo to Napa Valley College. Calistoga High senior Francisco Alfaro said he is still investigating how to best transfer from a community college to a four-year university. It makes us think about when and where were going to go, agreed fellow senior Julian Alfaro (no relation), who wants to study physical therapy and mechanical engineering. There are so many options out there. Calistoga Jr./Sr. High School College and Career Center Coordinator Carla Surber said one of the most important lessons given on Transfer Day was that students who complete 30 college units by September can apply for a Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) a year before enrolling in a four-year college by promising to complete 60 units by the following spring. I will push them to get a transfer agreement guarantee, so they know what they have to do starting on Day One at Napa Valley College, Surber said. Second-year NVC student Megan Perez, who plans to study nursing and transfer next fall, said she learned what she needs to do to get accepted at California State University East Bay, which requires a 3.85 grade point average. Getting in is based on grade-point average, so I have to get As in every one of my four science prerequisites, she said. I have a 4.0 but in science I have to make the grade. ST. HELENA Even though answering 10 questions on the government, history and laws of the United States wasnt hard, I still got two wrong. I had studied the 100 questions and answers or rather, I had read over them a couple of times and it didnt matter if I got all of them right or wrong. Not so for Blanca Dixon, Immigration Program coordinator for the UpValley Family Centers. Dixon is a lawful permanent resident (LPR) who is seeking to become a U.S. citizen. She is one of nearly 9,000 LPRs living in Napa County who are eligible to become U.S. citizens. In July 2013, the Napa Valley Community Foundation and more than 125 donors and four nonprofits launched the One Napa Valley Initiative. It is designed to help Napa Countys foreign-born residents become citizens. The nonprofits are UpValley Family Centers, the International Institute of the Bay Area, On the Move and Puertas Abiertas. Before meeting with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer to orally answer the questions, Dixon said she was studying the questions every night. Additionally, she was listening to them on a CD in her car during her 30-minute commute. I go question by question, and if I know the answer, I skip it, she said. At the beginning, I couldnt even get through the 100 questions. Now I can do it twice. The questions arent hard and the answers are supplied. Dixon said, The good thing is that there are several answers for each question. So I tell my clients, pick the one (answer) that is closer to Spanish, so you can remember it. Thats what Dixon did, and she reports she passed the test. During a mid-August mock test, Dixon asked four of us 10 questions. Both Norma Ferriz, operations director for the UpValley Family Centers, and Jesse Duarte, Star reporter, got all 10 right. Jenny Ocon, UpValley Family Centers executive director, got nine of 10 right. How hard were the questions? I think we got some of the easier questions, Ocon said. I feel like I knew quite a bit, but I know there are some questions in there that I would be struggling with quite a bit. Dates and numbers, for example, would be tough. We all knew that George Washington is regarded as the father of our country, and each of us could name a freedom guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution freedom of speech, for example, or freedom of assembly. A listing of officers in the cabinet such as secretary of state and secretary of defense also was fairly straightforward. For somebody born as a U.S. citizen, who grew up here, I feel like so much of this information is absorbed over time, Ocon said. A lot of this you learn in school. But, if youre not from this country, you dont have that benefit, so it does require studying. Ferriz, who passed the test in September 2013 and shortly thereafter became a U.S. citizen, said the mock civics test was OK, but added she did study before taking it. She said it was the same as when she sat for the oral exam before a Department of Homeland Security officer three years ago, except she wasnt nervous this time because I was not being evaluated. Three years ago though, she missed one question because of what she calls a stupid mistake. Ferriz was asked when the Declaration of Independence was issued and she replied, Fourth of July, 1976. She stuck with her answer even when the Homeland Security officer questioned her again, and the woman told her the correct year was 1776. I knew the right answer, Ferriz said, but I was so nervous. Becoming a U.S. citizen isnt easy, especially for people who didnt grow up here, may have very limited English skills and have trouble reading and writing, Ferriz said. I was nervous because it means a lot to us (to become a U.S. citizen). It really does. Ellis Island connection Lisa Toller has lived in St. Helena for the past 20 years, and her husband Joel was raised here. Lisa has served on the UpValley Family Centers board for the past two years and said she is vitally interested in immigration and citizenship issues in the Napa Valley. I am very interested and very proud of our work regarding immigration and integration, Toller said. I think it is important that community members understand how motivated and how difficult it is for people to become U.S. citizens. I know it is something I take for granted, and Ill bet a lot of folks do. Toller said her grandparents on both sides of her family were immigrants, one side from Italy, the other from Ireland. One was a coal miner, the other a stone mason. When they came to this country, like a lot of folks, it was the land of promise, she said. About a decade ago, Toller and her youngest son, Tyler, went to Ellis Island, in New York, with the express purpose of looking up Tollers great-grandfather, Anselmo Lenzini, who came to this country with his family. Between 1892 and 1954, more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through the Ellis Island station, located on a small island in New York Harbor. I actually found his signature in the records at Ellis Island and it was really an incredible feeling, Toller said. I had never seen his signature before. I never knew him, but somehow I connected with him at that place. My oldest son Sam is named after him. Citizenship equals integration The UpValley Family Centers offer their citizenship services in both St. Helena and Calistoga. Both Indira Lopez and Blanca Dixon began their training through the International Institute of the Bay Area more than a year ago. For Ferriz, becoming a U.S. citizen would make her life more convenient. I was living here and I was going to live here for the rest of my life. She said the better question is not why did she become a U.S. citizen, five years after permanently moving to the United States, but why not? Ocon said the center is committed to helping people become citizens, so they can feel as integrated as they can with the community. Theres research that shows that U.S. citizens over time tend to have higher education, make more money and have a better quality of life than noncitizens, Ocon said. The services are specific for each individual. We each have a different story of how we came to this country, why we came, what we brought and what we didnt, Ferriz said. Its not a cookie-cutter service. Lopez and Dixon analyze each persons situation to make sure the path is the best one for that person. For more information on becoming a U.S. citizen, contact Blanca Dixon at bdixon@upvalleyfamilycenters.org. For the second year in a row, the Napa Valley Unified School District is proposing the merger of two schools due to declining enrollment and other critical factors. But the plan this time involves two very different schools widely separated by distance and learning methods: Yountville Elementary and Stone Bridge Charter in Carneros. Last year, NVUSD got the school board to approve moving the students and curriculum at Salvador Elementary, a magnet school specializing in artful learning, to El Centro Elementary, another north Napa school with a traditional K-5 curriculum. These elementary schools, located only a mile apart, are in an area of north Napa where enrollments have been shrinking. NVUSD has cited fewer students as one reason for wanting Yountville Elementary School, known locally as YES, to become the new home for Stone Bridge Charter, located southwest of Napa in the Carneros region. The two schools would retain their separate curriculum. YES currently has only 120 K-5 students, making it by far the smallest elementary population in NVUSD, whose primary schools range in size from 300 to 600 students. YES is a New Tech school that uses Project Based Learning and computers, Stone Bridge uses Waldorf methods that emphasize holistic learning and nurturing childrens imagination. The two schools are 14 miles apart. Stone Bridge does not lack for students, based on the limits established by its charter. It has reached its cap of 260 students across nine grades (K-8), and has a waiting list. Together, the two schools would form a campus of nearly 400 students, making it more viable operation for NVUSD from a fiscal standpoint. Stone Bridge needs to move, according to district officials, because of safety issues stemming from a nearby earthquake fault and a Pacific Gas & Electric natural gas transmission pipeline. We dont believe it is safe to have a school that close to a pipeline, especially after San Bruno, said Assistant Superintendent Wade Roach last Tuesday in Yountville, referring to the 2010 explosion of a PG&E gas transmission line that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes on the Peninsula. Roach also brought up the fact that the Stone Bridge campus sits on top of the West Napa Fault, a discovery made after the August 2014 earthquake that left huge cracks in the schools parking lot. Joining Roach that night in the Yountville Community Center was Don Evans, NVUSDs head of school construction, who told the crowd of nearly 100 parents and local leaders, including Mayor John Dunbar and the Town Council: Having that school that close to that fault line is not a good situation. PG&E replaced a section of its gas transmission line that runs underneath the Stone Bridge property line following the earthquake. But that wasnt enough to satisfy Evans, he said. Im concerned after living as long as I have in earthquake country, said Evans, who has lived in Napa since 1952. Im not sure thats enough improvement to make it safe for a school. If Napa Valley Unified asked me today whether I would recommend that site for a school, the answer would be a flat no, he said. Stone Bridge was established at the former Carneros Elementary School, which was built in the 1950s and closed five years ago. Some Stone Bridge parents say they were both surprised and upset by NVUSDs plans to move their school to Yountville. Laura Jones, co-chair of the Stone Bridge School Parent Council, appeared before the school board last Thursday to complain about the YES/Stone Bridge merger. Citing Measure H, the $269 million school bond passed by NVUSD voters in June, Jones indicated her school was the victim of bait-and-switch tactics by the school district, which held meetings at numerous school campuses in the spring to garner parent support for the election. We were told last May by Don Evans at a meeting on our campus that if Measure H passed, there would be dedicated money to rebuild our school structures within our Carneros campus, Jones told the school board during the meetings public comment period. We were told based on testing and studies done by the state of California, if the facilities were rebuilt from a certain distance from the fault line, our campus would be safe, just as is happening with Snow [Elementary School], which also has the West Napa Fault running under it, said Jones. She also said that a majority of our parent body want to stay on our current campus, and we are really confused by the extreme change of plans after Measure H has passed. As Napa families were feeling really confused and upset and slightly misrepresented, said Jones in her concluding remarks. I hope we can create a more open and honest dialogue in the near future. When asked Monday morning about parents complaints and the change of plans for Stone Bridge, Evans said he would address the matter on Wednesday night, when he and other district officials will meet with the Stone Bridge community beginning at 7 p.m. at their school. Even if Stone Bridge parents balk at the Yountville relocation, Superintendent Patrick Sweeney indicated the district wants to go ahead. Speaking to the Yountville audience last Tuesday, Sweeney said the districts goal is to have the school board approve the merger in November. We want to get the architects started on designs for a remodeled YES campus that would have Stone Bridge operating on it, but separately from the Yountville K-5 school, according to Sweeney. He also said the final decision may not be popular with all parents, including those at Stone Bridge. The way charter schools work, said Sweeney, we have to provide a facility but we dont have to give people their facility wherever they want. Yountville parents expressed their own worries about the merger, most of which centered around whether their small school would get short-changed by having the larger Stone Bridge on their campus. How do we know Yountville wont be the loser in this merger, given the differences in enrollment sizes, asked one parent in the audience. Boyd Dennington, president of the Yountville Kiwanis Club, rose up and told Sweeney, Evans and Roach: I fear youre putting the future of Yountville Elementary in jeopardy. I feel like in the past Yountville Elementary has been bullied by the district, he said. I feel like their needs have not always been addressed, and theres always been an uphill battle fighting rumors and misinformation about closing down the school. Denningtons remarks produced the loudest applause of the night. District officials were aided in their efforts to assuage Yountville parents by Rob Mondavi, whose child attends kindergarten at YES. Mondavi, the grandson of Robert Mondavi, is helping lead a parent advisory committee thats meeting weekly with the district about the merger. They cant promise us anything, he told his fellow Yountville parents, but theres an idea that theyll help us one way or another. I feel comfortable with the intent of the team thats over here, he said pointing to district officials. Evans said the district anticipates greater demand for parking at YES if two separate schools are operating on the same campus. Mondavi pledged to help raise money for a parking structure, if NVUSD says it cant afford to build one. If parking is a problem, how do we go vertical with it? he said in an interview following the meeting. If thats too expensive [for the district], how do we do a private fundraiser to the school for the community? Napa Police report arresting a man on parole for second degree murder when they stopped him for driving the wrong way on Pueblo Avenue near Montoya's Alley on Sunday afternoon. A records check revealed that Sean Mustill, 41, of Sacramento was on parole for second degree murder, police said. A parole search was conducted and a small amount of methamphetamine was located under the drivers floor mat, police said. A parole hold was issued and Mustill was booked into the Napa County jail for possession of methamphetamine. In 2008, when Hillary Clinton first ran for the Democratic presidential nomination against Barack Obama, I asked one of her oldest allies how she could be losing a race that appeared to be hers to win. "I've known Hillary for many years, ever since she came to Arkansas," former Sen. Dale Bumpers told me. "She'll find a way to screw it up. She always does." Eight years later, the conventional wisdom is that Clinton is a much better candidate. She learned hard lessons from her failure in 2008; her campaign this year is smarter and less chaotic. And she isn't running against Obama, a once-in-a-century political talent; she's running against an ill-disciplined rookie, Donald Trump. And yet, as Clinton's poll numbers have sagged, Democrats have started freaking out: What if the Clinton of 2016 is just as error-prone as the Clinton of 2008? "I don't see how Trump can win this election," a Democratic strategist told me last week. "But I can see a lot of ways Hillary can lose." (He pleaded for anonymity to avoid becoming persona non grata in Clintonworld.) Others have piled on with less reticence. "Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia," former Obama adviser David Axelrod wrote, referring to Clinton's brief health crisis. "What's the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?" But while Democrats are right to be worried, they're wrong to be panicked. This presidential race was always going to be close. Clinton is still in the lead, even if her margin has narrowed. Last week, the average of national polls compiled by the RealClearPolitics website showed Clinton winning 46 percent of the popular vote to 44 percent for Trump. If Democrats and Republicans behave as they do in most campaigns, they'll stick with their respective parties' candidates by massive margins -- and the outcome should be a close win for Clinton. In truth, the polls are doing exactly what campaign strategists on both sides expected: narrowing as Election Day nears. Clinton won a "bounce" from a successful Democratic convention in July; in August, that average of national polls stood at 48 percent-40 percent. Now, more than a month later, the margin has returned roughly to where it stood before the two conventions. Besides, Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster who isn't working for Clinton, noted that the "fundamentals" of this year's election--_ a sluggish economy, a party seeking its third term in office -- always made it an uphill climb for Clinton. "Were it not for Donald Trump, this was set up as a good year for Republicans," he said. I don't mean to suggest that Clinton hasn't screwed up. She has. In the short term, Clinton's missteps -- her speech calling half of Trump's supporters "deplorables," her decision to keep her pneumonia secret until after she appeared to collapse -- probably contributed to her swoon in the polls. But she has also announced a strategy to reboot her campaign: a shift to positive themes instead of negatives about Trump. That shouldn't sound like an innovation -- but this year, it is. Meanwhile, Trump seems to have heard much the same advice from his new campaign advisors -- and has improved, too. He's given a series of policy speeches on topics from the economy to child care, a stark contrast to the freewheeling Trump who won his primary campaign mostly by belittling rivals. A major test will come in the candidates' first debate on Sept. 26. In theory, Clinton should have the advantage. She knows more about policy than Trump, to put it mildly. She has more experience talking about how she would actually govern. She's less likely to resort to name-calling. The test for Trump, remaining within the chalklines his advisors have sketched out, looks tougher. Clinton has other advantages in the campaign's final stage. She has more high-level surrogates to argue her case, from Obama and Bill Clinton to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren; Trump's wingmen, Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, don't compare. She has a larger and more professional campaign organization to make sure Democratic voters get to the polls. "The biggest challenge she's going to have is turnout," David Plouffe, Obama's former campaign manager, said last week. "I think they'll get there." "To win he's got to get historic Republican turnout, get historically bad democratic turnout, and win the center," he added. "I don't see any evidence of that." My bet is that Plouffe is right, and that Clinton is going to prove Dale Bumpers wrong. She's a better candidate now; she's still likely to win. But she's also going to keep Democrats fighting off panic attacks for the next seven weeks -- right up until Election Day. Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. SAN FRANCISCO A San Francisco summer camp counselor suspected of child molestation and sending sexually explicit images and videos to children was arrested in Arizona on Thursday, according to police. Evin Devin Blanchard, 24, is suspected of inappropriately touching three juvenile campers during several field trips, as well as sending the explicit images and videos through social media, police said. Police began to investigate Blanchard after the camps director reported that an adult counselor was having inappropriate contact with children, police said. The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force apprehended Blanchard in Phoenix. Once extradited to San Francisco, police are expecting to ask the district attorneys office to charge Blanchard with five counts of child molestation, four counts of sending harmful material to a minor, production of child pornography and three counts of annoying or molesting a child. Police did not release the name of the summer camp but are asking anyone who feels they might have been victimized to call the department at (415) 558-5500. The St. Helena Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold a special study session on student achievement at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at Vintage Hall. The board will review data, both past and present, depicting student progress as recorded through standardized testing and other performance indicators. They will also receive data on student climate and engagement, in preparation for a formal report on Oct. 13. The League of Women Voters, the city of St. Helena, St. Helena Chamber of Commerce and St. Helena Kiwanis Club have announced forums and workshops featuring political candidates and the proposed Measure D half-cent sales tax. League of Women Voters Candidates for St. Helena City Council and California State Assembly District 4 (Cecilia M. Aguiar-Curry and Charlie Schaupp) will attend a candidate forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at the St. Helena Public Library. City of St. Helena The city will hold three community workshops on The State of the City and Measure D: 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at the firehouse 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the St. Helena Public Library 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, at City Hall. Chamber of Commerce The St. Helena Chamber of Commerce will host a candidate debate at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, at Vintage Hall. The debate will include the four City Council candidates: incumbents Sharon Crull and Greg Pitts and challengers Geoff Ellsworth and Mary Koberstein. The debate will be broadcast live on Channel 28. Kiwanis Club The St. Helena Kiwanis Club will host a number of breakfast forums starting at 7:30 a.m., on the following Wednesdays at the American Legion Hall, 1291 Madrona Ave. RSVP to StHelenaKiwanis@gmail.com. Oct. 12: Mayor Alan Galbraith on Measure D; Oct. 19, Councilmember Greg Pitts; Oct. 26, candidate Geoff Ellsworth; Nov. 2, Councilmember Sharon Crull. Tuesday, Sept. 13 0818 -- Report of a man holding a large cardboard sign saying hed lost everything in the Lake County fire. He was sitting in front of a business near Main and Pope streets. 1006 -- Report of a loose Rottweiler puppy on Fulton Lane. 1040 -- Non-injury accident at Main and Spring streets. 1649 -- Someone received a fraudulent phone call from a scammer claiming to be from Medicare and asking for personal information. 1712 -- Report of a water leak coming from the ground on Pratt Avenue. A water main had broken. Police assisted with traffic control. Wednesday, Sept. 14 0824 -- Emergency units responded to an injury accident at Highway 29 and Zinfandel Lane. 0945 -- Report of an ongoing problem with cars speeding in the Valley View/Birch area when kids are walking to and from school. 1139 -- A green van caught on fire on Valley View Street near Spring Street. Police diverted traffic while firefighters put out the fire. A gas leak is believed to have been responsible for the fire. 1229 -- There was a homeless encampment in the vineyards near Library Lane. 1351 -- Report of a young boy recklessly riding a motorcycle with an illegal exhaust system on Spring Street and Colombard Court. 1416 -- Non-injury accident at Main Street and Sulphur Springs Avenue. 1417 -- Report of a woman peddling downtown. She was reportedly passing out cards soliciting donations. Police checked the area. 1432 -- Report of two dogs left inside a car on Main Street. 1522 -- A homeless man comes into a Library Lane business almost every day. He isnt violent, but he disrupts the staff in their duties. He had just come in asking for a ride to Berkeley. Police checked the area. 1726 -- Report of a large truck crossing the Pope Street bridge. 2000 -- Report of an ongoing problem with a dog barking on Charter Oak Avenue. 2012 -- While checking Charter Oak Avenue for the previous call, an officer heard a loud bang. Thursday, Sept. 15 0846 -- Police provided speed enforcement in the Valley View/Birch area, per a citizens request from the day before. 0852 -- Police investigated a report of a runaway juvenile. The 17-year-old St. Helena resident was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs. 0929 -- Police checked on a homeless encampment east of the library. 1301 -- Non-injury accident in a parking lot at Main and Adams streets. 1405 -- Police picked up a baby opossum caught on the patio of a Main Street restaurant. 1536 -- Non-injury hit-and-run at Tainter Street and Oak Avenue. A van backed into the victims car and left, last seen heading south on Main Street. 1557 -- Report of two cars blocking a driveway on Oak Avenue. 1724 -- Report of a suspicious man riding a bicycle slowly through an Adams Street parking lot and appearing to be looking into parked cars. He was last seen headed toward Main Street. He was described as a scruffy white man, about 25 years old, with short hair, wearing a white tank top, burgundy shorts and a backpack. Police checked the area. 2224 -- Medical aid on Hunt Avenue for a woman with an allergic reaction to medication. Friday, Sept. 16 0002 -- Report of a car abandoned on Brown Street, with over a quarter-inch of dust on the windshield. 0014 -- Police checked on an occupied car on Hunt Avenue and told a man hes not allowed to sleep in his car. 0720 -- A citizen asked police to check on a homeless woman in Lyman Park. The citizen said the woman was huddled down, and it looked like something might be wrong. 0821 -- Police took custody of a very friendly dog that had been starting to enter traffic near Main Street and Britton Way. It was a brown and white Boston terrier with a collar but no tags. 0906 -- Report of an ongoing problem with a truck parking in a blue zone behind the pool on Grayson Avenue. Police issued a citation. 0959 -- Report of a truck parked on Madrona Avenue near Hudson Avenue, with its trailer sticking out into the road. 1019 -- Police received multiple calls about a low-flying helicopter. It was not related to police activity, and police did not know any details about it. 1117 -- Medical aid on Adams Street for a patient feeling dizzy at a medical office. 1348 -- A black bi-fold wallet was found on Hunt Avenue about three days ago. 1407 -- An employee at a Main Street business was receiving ongoing calls from people claiming to be with the FBI. They stated they were coming for her and she needed protection. 1544 -- A caller saw several vehicles almost causing accidents while passing other cars using the recently re-striped center turn lane on Main Street. The caller requested extra patrol of the area. 1645 -- Report of a possible drunk driver crossing over the yellow and white lines and traveling at varying speeds on Main Street. Police checked the area. 1746 -- Report of a person driving drunk with a child in the car. The caller said it wasnt happening at the moment, so police said to call immediately if it happens again. 1809 -- Report of two limos parked illegally and blocking traffic on Adams Street. 1813 -- Report of teenagers smoking cigarettes on College Avenue. Police checked the area. 1929 -- Molly, a female Australian shepherd, wandered away from her home on Dean York Lane. 2124 -- A caller asked police to review suspicious messages received via cell phone. 2131 -- A caller saw a gray Prius crash and then continue down Main Street. Police arrested the driver, a 44-year-old Los Angeles woman, on suspicion of DUI. She was transported to the police department and later released on a signed promise to appear in court. 2240 -- Medical aid on Main Street for a man with cuts on his face. He and a group of other people were all intoxicated and nobody was sure what had happened. Saturday, Sept. 17 0748 -- A male husky was reported missing from Mariposa Lane. 0922 -- A suspicious group of four or five men were seen entering a house on Riesling Way through an open front door. 0939 -- Police contacted a homeless man on Main Street who theyd talked to before. Hes aware he needs to move along if and when hes asked to do so. He agreed to be non-confrontational. 1006 -- Police received two calls about a white van parked in the middle of Spring Street with nobody around. 1024 -- A pager-like digital device with the name Bobby on the screen was found on Crane Avenue. Police determined it was a Portable People Meter, which measures how many people are listening to specific radio and TV stations to determine ratings. 1149 -- Yard signs promoting Hillary Clintons presidential candidacy were stolen from the front yard of a house on Crinella Drive. 1303 -- A woman tripped and fell outside a store on Hunt Avenue. She was injured but declined medical attention. Police took a report. 1358 -- Medical aid on Pope Street for a person with an aspirin pill caught in the throat. The patient was breathing and conscious. 1532 -- Medical aid for a man in the police department lobby having trouble breathing and experiencing pain in his chest and numbness in his arm. 1533 -- Report of a limo parked illegally on Church Street. 1558 -- Report of a possible drunk driver swerving and stopping randomly on Silverado Trail before turning onto Pope Street. Police checked the area. 1622 -- Report of a woman and her son panhandling on Hunt Avenue. 2157 -- A caller reported hearing amplified music with an announcer and a large crowd cheering somewhere near Charter Oak Avenue. 2245 -- A Meadowcreek Circle resident arrived home to find a screen removed from a window. Police took a burglary report. 2253 -- Report of loud music somewhere near Charter Oak Avenue or Mills Lane. Sunday, Sept. 18 0107 -- Following a traffic stop on Highway 29, police arrested a 40-year-old Pawtucket, Rhode Island, man on suspicion of DUI. He was cited and released from the police department. 0733 -- Report of a strong natural gas smell in front of the police department. 1053 -- Mail was reported stolen from Fulton Lane. Police took a petty theft report. 1311 -- A skinny German shepherd was seen running north on Main Street. 1400 -- Police responded to a disturbance after a caller said a woman had followed her home and was now screaming at her in her front yard. 1430 -- A man and a young girl reportedly came to the front door of a Stockton Street home asking for money for a trip. 1508 -- Report of a reckless driver unable to maintain their lane on Silverado Trail. The car was last seen turning onto Pratt Avenue. 1841 -- Police responded to a disturbance on Main Street after a man reportedly became upset, went into a bathroom and caused property damage. Police contacted both parties, who arranged to pay for the damage and settle it as a civil matter. 1906 -- Report of two kids throwing water bottles onto the roof of a building on Adams Street. Monday, Sept. 19 0114 -- Report of a diesel spill on Sulphur Springs Avenue near Crane Avenue. 0708 -- Medical aid on Olive Avenue for a lift assist. 1228 -- Non-injury accident at Main Street and Madrona Avenue. 1452 -- Report of a man selling things in front of a store on Main Street. 1512 -- A citizen reported identity theft. Police took a petty theft report. 1522 -- A flash drive was found in Lyman Park. 2035 -- Someone reported smelling gas on Laguna Seca Court. YEREVAN. An Armenian complex of artillery control caused interest in a most recent defense exhibition that was held in Moscow. Gagik Buniatyan, General Director of the LT-Pyrkal Greek-Armenian joint venture, told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am. Three devices were presented in the Armenian pavilion in Moscow; one of them was ours, noted Buniatyan. The relevant organizations of Russia were interested in it. And now, they discuss with us the opportunities for cooperation. This automated complex of artillery fire control and intelligence ensures a 36-year optical zoom, it is equipped with a laser rangefinder, and it can transmit digital information and audio messages. We will introduce our device also on [Wednesday,] September 21, added Gagik Buniatyan. During the procession scheduled in [capital city] Yerevan, in connection with the 25th anniversary of [Armenias] independence. YEREVAN. After the lifting of sanctions on Iran, it has become much easier to import plastics and polymers to Armenia from there. Semyon Ghukasyan, the executive director of an Armenia-based plastic company, told the abovementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am, during the Made in Armenia expo which is held in capital city Yerevan. And [the price of] plastic has become cheaper [in Armenia], added Ghukasyan. This enabled us to reduce the cost price of our products, too. He also noted that, thanks to Armenias joining the Eurasian Economic Union, the plastic, polyethylene, and propylene imports from Russia also have become cheaper. As per Ghukasyan, all this enables to compete with the Turkish plastics that are in the domestic market of Armenia. The local companies in Armenias food sector prefer domestic-made plastic containers. They need plastic with pure ingredients, added Semyon Ghukasyan. But they dont trust the Turkish products, on this matter. Sweden's new government is ready to supply Kiev with heavier weapons Biden confuses number of states in U.S. Peskov: Russia cannot be someone's vassal Minibus carrying party members overturns in Ankara Dashnaktsutyun: Any document that will include Artsakh into Azerbaijan must be torn up Speaker: We hope that no document ignoring the Artsakh issue will be signed in Sochi Italian MFA comments on Russia's withdrawal from food deal Economist: High inflation took Western countries by surprise, which were wrong in their forecasts Artsakh National Assembly issues statement: Artsakh has never been and will never be part of independent Azerbaijan Parliament of Republic of Artsakh unanimously adopts statements NA holds extraordinary meeting in Artsakh: Big rally takes place on Renaissance Square (photos) Lavrov confirms Putin's readiness for negotiations with Ukraine La Repubblica: Italy supplied Kiev with 20-30 M109L artillery guns and PzH 2000 howitzers Typhoon in Philippines affects more than 932,000 people Source: Turkey conducts 'telephone diplomacy' on food deal Television and partially radio broadcasts will be turned off in Armenia for two hours on October 31 Borrell: The EU urges Russia to revert its decision Haiti PM Ariel Henry: The leader of a political party was murdered in the republic Armenia MFA expresses condolences to South Korea over Seoul tragedy Seoul receives more than 3,700 missing persons reports after crush Armenian Defense Ministry: Private received fatal gunshot wound Toivo Klaar: I emphasised the European Unions continued strong engagement in the peace process Arrested for assaulting Speaker Pelosi's spouse faces charges Major crush in Seoul: There are victims Britain needs air defense in connection with war in Ukraine President discusses latest foreign political developments around Artsakh Azerbaijan officials considering opening embassy in Israel Armenia PM, EU Special Representative for South Caucasus discuss regional security and peace Nikol Pashinyan, Garo Paylan exchange views on Armenia-Turkey normalization process Quake hits Armenia-Turkey border zone Armenia ruling party adopting new vision regarding Karabakh conflict settlement Russia MOD: Ukraine carried out terrorist attack on Black Sea Fleet ships, civilian ships in Sevastopol Premier: CSTO should plan force operation, restore Armenias territorial integrity Armenia PM: All countries consider Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan Armenias Pashinyan: CSTO does not exist Kremlin responds to question on extending mandate of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh Armenia premier: We need to know, ultimately, what Russian peacekeepers are doing in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia PM: Im ready to sign document, accept that Russian peacekeepers term in Karabakh be extended 10-20 years Armenias Pashinyan: We are ready to delegate border guard service operation to Russian border guards Finland, Sweden promise to join NATO together European Parliament calls on Armenia to consider diversifying its security partnerships Visiting Armenia MPs brief Canada lawmaker on recent Azerbaijan military aggression Armenia PM at ruling party congress: We declared repairing states foundation our primary task Karabakh President: Russia leaders statement inspires certain hopes Armenia ruling party congress kicks off Man breaks into US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home, demands to speak with her, beats husband with hammer EU-Armenia Joint Committee on Research and Innovation first meeting to be held in November Provincial governor of Armenias Gegharkunik: EU monitoring mission already started US accuses Russia of disinformation regarding Washington intentions towards Armenia, Azerbaijan Mexico fully legalizes gay marriage Newspaper: Azerbaijan not inclined to sign anything with Armenia in Russias Sochi Armenia ruling party convening closed convention Italian prime minister demands that she be addressed as prime minister in masculine form Pentagon to send Ukraine new aid package worth $275 million Europe will ban sale of one type of car European Commission head announces new aid and investments for Serbia Biden calls Putin's rhetoric on nuclear weapons 'dangerous' Lukashenko on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: What are you fighting for in these mountains, where not even goats walk? Swedish authorities offer to create united northern army Lukashenko: Conflict issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be resolved now - with Ilham Aliyev Lukashenko about situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border: Where are we racing horses, where are we rushing to? Pashinyan: Armenia-Diaspora relations undergo profound substantive changes Lukashenko to Pashinyan: Sit down with Aliyev and make a decision, if you don't make it today, it will be worse Bulgarian interim government urges to speed up transition to euro zone President of Karabakh: It is necessary to unite all national potential and efforts IMF: China's sharp and uncharacteristic economic slowdown will stall growth in Asia by the end of 2023 Iran: Riots in country were planned by the intelligence services of the USA, England, Israel and the KSA Steinmeier: Ukraine war caused 'epochal break' in Germany's relations with Russia Gas prices in Europe remain high in coming years Ararat Mirzoyan and Toivo Klaar stress importance of hosting EU civilian mission in Armenia Armenia's ambassador-at-large: Daily false propaganda can't cover up Azerbaijani war crimes Taiwan MFA outraged by Putin's speech on his status and Pelosi's visit Armenia gives no response to peace treaty proposals, Bayramov says Netanyahu expects return to power after 5th Israeli election in 4 years Armenian gravestone found in Trabzon, Turkey neighborhood Pashinyan: CSTO Secretary General's report mainly reflects existing realities Azerbaijan talks possible deliveries of its gas to international Turkish hub CSTO leaders to meet in late November: Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border will be discussed Dollar, euro continue falling in Armenia Pelosi's house attacked, her husband injured YEREVAN. Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, who is on a working visit to New York City, on Monday met with Stephane Dion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada. Nalbandian noted that he is happy to continue the discourse with respect to the comprehensive development of bilateral relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. Dion, for his part, congratulated on the 25th anniversary of Armenias independence, and noted that he will continue his efforts to deepen Canadas cooperation with Armenia. Subsequently, the interlocutors discussed the topics that are on the Armenian-Canadian agenda. They also underscored the Canadian Armenian communitys active role in making bilateral relations grow deeper. The heads of the Armenian and Canadian foreign ministries also conferred on cooperation within the framework of the UN, OSCE, and La Francophonie. In addition, Nalbandian briefed his Canadian colleague on the consequences of the large-scale military aggression, which Azerbaijan had unleashed against Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in early April, and on the efforts to implement the arrangements that were made toward eliminating these consequences. The Andean Parliament, control body of the Andean Community, formed by Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, adopted unanimously a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, in a session held in Montevideo, Uruguay, last Saturday 17 September, Prensa Armenia reported. The project was presented by Pedro De la Cruz, a member of the body representing Ecuador. On 24 April 2016, was the commemoration of 101 aniversary of the genocide of the Armenian people, perpetrated between 1915-1923, when the authorities of the Ottoman Empire carried out a program of arrest and deportation and later killing of civilians in the territories of Western Armenia and Anatolia; with the tragic result of more than 1.5 million people killed, highlights the text, and resolves: ARTICLE ONE: Condemn international crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression committed against different peoples and communities. ARTICLE TWO: Recognize the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 1923 and express solidarity with the Armenian people and their descendants, who make up the Armenian communities in the world. Therefore condemn any denial policy regarding the Armenian genocide and crimes against humanity suffered by the Armenian nation. ARTICLE THREE: Urge the international community to move forward in implementing the principle adopted in the framework of the United Nations entitled Responsibility to Protect, with which seeks to protect citizens against genocide, crimes against humanity and all kinds of serious violation of human rights and adopt measures to prevent the different communities, peoples and nations, the suffering as a result of the atrocities of violence. Also, ask the International Community to recognize the genocide of the Armenian people as a historical fact, and support the search for truth and justice as a form of rejection of such acts that shame humanity. The resolution is signed by the president of the body, Edith Mendoza Fernandez, and the Jeneral Secretary,Eduardo Mazon Chiliquinga. YEREVAN. In the frame of its targeted mission to assess the local by-elections held on Sunday in a part of Armenia's communities, a 15 member delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe visited polling stations in four regions of the country. The delegation, headed by Congress' Rapporteur Liisa Ansala (Finland, ILDG) and including two members of the EU Committee of the Regions, was deployed to Aragatsotn, Armavir, Ararat and Tavush, where, in total, seven teams observed the vote in 100 polling stations. The polling organised in more than 300 Armenian communities (out of currently some 900) was conducted for both mayoral and councillor seats. In the majority of the municipalities both elections were held, 22 communities voted only for the Mayor, 80 only for the Municipal Council. Overall, the Congress' delegation found that the elections were well organised and E-Day carried out in an orderly manner with the exception of a few incidents and instances of crowdedness in certain polling stations. Overall, more political competition between candidates was noticed in larger communities, whereas in many smaller localities often only one candidate remained in the list of mayoral candidates. In addition to individual features of the electoral process which need to be addressed by the authorities for future elections, notably the grey zone in respect of the so-called "assisted voting" for elderly and voters with disabilities, the Congress' delegation noticed overall a high number of voters on voters' lists who reside de facto abroad, a situation bearing the risk of electoral fraud and therefore constituting a constant concern for electoral observers. The new Electoral Code of Armenia and provisions to address, in particular, the prevention of electoral fraud due to multiple voting, has been under discussion between the Government, the opposition, civil society and the Council of Europe Venice Commission over the last months. The local by-elections held on 18 September were still governed by the existing 2011 Electoral Code and did therefore not allow the Congress' observers to assess the effectiveness of measures foreseen to increase the transparency of the electoral process, notably the access of different stakeholders to the list of voters who have actually cast their ballot. For Congress' Head of Delegation Liisa Ansala the improvement of the quality of voters' lists in Armenia is of crucial importance for the trust of citizens in the system: Transparency - together with more competition between candidates - is needed to increase the interest of the population in local elections which are currently mainly seen as a formality by the citizens. We will see in how far the new Electoral Code, introducing the proportional electoral system, and the decentralisation reform, which is currently being implemented, will be able to change the situation to the better. It is clear that local communities in Armenia need to be strengthened - financially, logistically but also in terms of public awareness for the importance of the local level of government. The organisation of all local elections on one single day in the entire country could be conducive in this respect, Ansala stated. The detailed Information Report following the Electoral Assessment Mission will be debated in the frame of the 31st Congress Session on 19-21 October in Strasbourg. YEREVAN. Acting Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan on Tuesday received Adjutant General of the US State of Kansas, Kansas National Guard Military Commander, Major General Lee Tafanelli; and Deputy Commanding General of the United States (US) Army Europe, Major General John Gronski. The parties highly appreciated the level of cooperation between the Armenian armed forces and the Kansas National Guard and US Army in Europe. They stressed that the high-level mutual visits, and the US Armed Forces expert groups that are currently in Armenia yet again attest to the active and effective cooperation and mutual trust. A high-ranking delegation from the US Armed Forces will participate in Wednesdays celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the independence of Armenia. YEREVAN. Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, who is in New York City within the framework of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, on Monday met with Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). They exchanged views on the OSCE agenda, and urgent regional and international matters, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. The interlocutors also discussed the present-day situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. In addition, Nalbandian and Zannier conferred on the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, and its programs and the opportunities for expanding them. YEREVAN. Seven Armenian companies, together with the Development Foundation of Armenia (DFA), represent Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), as appealing tourist destinations, at the IFTM Top Resa 2016 annual international tourism industry show that is held in Paris, This year, it is held from Tuesday to Friday. The IFTM Top Resa is one of the worlds major events in the tourism sector, the DFA press service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. This year, 32 thousand businessmen and professionals from 158 countries are taking part in this major tourism industry show. Europe is a target market for Armenia, and the European air carriers direct flights to [capital city] Yerevan make the Armenian direction competitive and more appealing, noted DFA Executive Director Garen Mikirditsian. In addition, European tourists appreciate ecologically-clean food, [and] the presence of historical architectural monuments, with which the two Armenian countries are so rich. I believe all this will contribute to the Armenian tourism products promotion in the French market. Sweden's new government is ready to supply Kiev with heavier weapons Biden confuses number of states in U.S. Peskov: Russia cannot be someone's vassal Minibus carrying party members overturns in Ankara Dashnaktsutyun: Any document that will include Artsakh into Azerbaijan must be torn up Speaker: We hope that no document ignoring the Artsakh issue will be signed in Sochi Italian MFA comments on Russia's withdrawal from food deal Economist: High inflation took Western countries by surprise, which were wrong in their forecasts Artsakh National Assembly issues statement: Artsakh has never been and will never be part of independent Azerbaijan Parliament of Republic of Artsakh unanimously adopts statements NA holds extraordinary meeting in Artsakh: Big rally takes place on Renaissance Square (photos) Lavrov confirms Putin's readiness for negotiations with Ukraine La Repubblica: Italy supplied Kiev with 20-30 M109L artillery guns and PzH 2000 howitzers Typhoon in Philippines affects more than 932,000 people Source: Turkey conducts 'telephone diplomacy' on food deal Television and partially radio broadcasts will be turned off in Armenia for two hours on October 31 Borrell: The EU urges Russia to revert its decision Haiti PM Ariel Henry: The leader of a political party was murdered in the republic Armenia MFA expresses condolences to South Korea over Seoul tragedy Seoul receives more than 3,700 missing persons reports after crush Armenian Defense Ministry: Private received fatal gunshot wound Toivo Klaar: I emphasised the European Unions continued strong engagement in the peace process Arrested for assaulting Speaker Pelosi's spouse faces charges Major crush in Seoul: There are victims Britain needs air defense in connection with war in Ukraine President discusses latest foreign political developments around Artsakh Azerbaijan officials considering opening embassy in Israel Armenia PM, EU Special Representative for South Caucasus discuss regional security and peace Nikol Pashinyan, Garo Paylan exchange views on Armenia-Turkey normalization process Quake hits Armenia-Turkey border zone Armenia ruling party adopting new vision regarding Karabakh conflict settlement Russia MOD: Ukraine carried out terrorist attack on Black Sea Fleet ships, civilian ships in Sevastopol Premier: CSTO should plan force operation, restore Armenias territorial integrity Armenia PM: All countries consider Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan Armenias Pashinyan: CSTO does not exist Kremlin responds to question on extending mandate of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh Armenia premier: We need to know, ultimately, what Russian peacekeepers are doing in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia PM: Im ready to sign document, accept that Russian peacekeepers term in Karabakh be extended 10-20 years Armenias Pashinyan: We are ready to delegate border guard service operation to Russian border guards Finland, Sweden promise to join NATO together European Parliament calls on Armenia to consider diversifying its security partnerships Visiting Armenia MPs brief Canada lawmaker on recent Azerbaijan military aggression Armenia PM at ruling party congress: We declared repairing states foundation our primary task Karabakh President: Russia leaders statement inspires certain hopes Armenia ruling party congress kicks off Man breaks into US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home, demands to speak with her, beats husband with hammer EU-Armenia Joint Committee on Research and Innovation first meeting to be held in November Provincial governor of Armenias Gegharkunik: EU monitoring mission already started US accuses Russia of disinformation regarding Washington intentions towards Armenia, Azerbaijan Mexico fully legalizes gay marriage Newspaper: Azerbaijan not inclined to sign anything with Armenia in Russias Sochi Armenia ruling party convening closed convention Italian prime minister demands that she be addressed as prime minister in masculine form Pentagon to send Ukraine new aid package worth $275 million Europe will ban sale of one type of car European Commission head announces new aid and investments for Serbia Biden calls Putin's rhetoric on nuclear weapons 'dangerous' Lukashenko on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: What are you fighting for in these mountains, where not even goats walk? Swedish authorities offer to create united northern army Lukashenko: Conflict issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be resolved now - with Ilham Aliyev Lukashenko about situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border: Where are we racing horses, where are we rushing to? Pashinyan: Armenia-Diaspora relations undergo profound substantive changes Lukashenko to Pashinyan: Sit down with Aliyev and make a decision, if you don't make it today, it will be worse Bulgarian interim government urges to speed up transition to euro zone President of Karabakh: It is necessary to unite all national potential and efforts IMF: China's sharp and uncharacteristic economic slowdown will stall growth in Asia by the end of 2023 Iran: Riots in country were planned by the intelligence services of the USA, England, Israel and the KSA Steinmeier: Ukraine war caused 'epochal break' in Germany's relations with Russia Gas prices in Europe remain high in coming years Ararat Mirzoyan and Toivo Klaar stress importance of hosting EU civilian mission in Armenia Armenia's ambassador-at-large: Daily false propaganda can't cover up Azerbaijani war crimes Taiwan MFA outraged by Putin's speech on his status and Pelosi's visit Armenia gives no response to peace treaty proposals, Bayramov says Netanyahu expects return to power after 5th Israeli election in 4 years Armenian gravestone found in Trabzon, Turkey neighborhood Pashinyan: CSTO Secretary General's report mainly reflects existing realities Azerbaijan talks possible deliveries of its gas to international Turkish hub CSTO leaders to meet in late November: Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border will be discussed Dollar, euro continue falling in Armenia Pelosi's house attacked, her husband injured Russias Putin to have private talks with Armenias Pashinyan, Azerbaijans Aliyev Mher Grigoryan: CIS needs a new scientific and technical agreement Pentagon strategy doesn't rule out use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear threats French National Assembly plans to pass resolution proposing certain sanctions against Azerbaijan Mher Grigoryan: There are no other corridors in the trilateral statement other than Lachin's Konstantin Zatulin: Russia should have made maximum efforts so that there would be no war in Karabakh The Hill: The American people deserve to know how the war in Ukraine will end Sochi to host trilateral talks of Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders on October 31 Poland receives first Turkish drones Hungarian government may extend price limits on fuel and some basic foodstuffs Armenias Simonyan attends meeting of heads of EEU countries parliaments Polish general appointed as head of EU mission to train Ukrainian troops Russia MP: Karabakh status decision is in fact its Armenians safety guarantee Zatulin: West seeks to push Russia out of negotiation process at any cost Legislature head proposes to organize, under CIS auspices, return of Armenians detained in Azerbaijan Iran prevents bomb explosion in Shiraz crowded street Iraqi parliament expresses vote of confidence in new cabinet France lawmakers visit Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan Putin: Moscow is doing everything possible to normalize relations between Yerevan and Baku Annual shopping festival kicks off in Dubai on December 15 When the Emory Quadrangle turned into a temporary movie set earlier this year for Denial, a feature film focused on Emory professor Deborah Lipstadt's internationally publicized legal battle against a Holocaust denier, it sparked a ripple of excitement through the heart of campus. Not only was the project focused on one of Emorys own, but producer Russ Krasnoff also agreed to include Emory students as background extras. He even made time to speak in the classroom, sharing his own experiences working with television and feature films with Emory film and media studies students. If it seemed like a serendipitous Hollywood-meets-Emory moment, consider this: It was just the tip of the iceberg. Over the past two years, Emory has steadily courted the attention of the television and film industry, encouraging location scouts to view the University as a viable set for their projects. And the industry has taken notice, choosing campus properties, landscapes and hospitals as the backdrop for some 30 productions, ranging from feature films and television series to viral videos and commercials. In response to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deals economic push to encourage film and television production in the state in part through expanded tax incentives Emory has become serious about leveraging its physical assets to support such productions, a decision that has also provided unique opportunities for Emorys Film and Media Studies program, says Bill Dracos, associate vice president of administration and chief Business Practice Improvement (BPI) officer at Emory. Today, location scouts can explore viable settings through the Emory Film Management website, which offers information about Emorys many campus properties from the Universitys leafy urban forest and historic architecture to classrooms, chemistry labs, and quirky mid-century office buildings on the Briarcliff property. They also have a dedicated point person. Within Emorys BPI office, Denise Chandler has served as manager of film management and contracting since February 2015. Weve been fortunate that in Georgia, the tide is rising there has definitely been an increased demand for film locations, Dracos says. Along with Denises hard work to create more awareness about Emory within the community of location managers and film scouts, the industry is growing and maturing theres just more volume," he explains. Filmmaking boom In FY 2015 alone, Georgia-based feature films and television productions generated an economic impact of $6 billion, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. In fact, a study of U.S. feature films released theatrically in 2015 showed Georgia is now tied with Louisiana for third place for filming locations, behind only California and the United Kingdom. In the past, Emory worked on a more ad-hoc basis with some film companies, says Dracos. Now weve put the structure behind it to make it operate in a more systematic, disciplined way networking with location scouts, working to understand their needs, and deciding if the projects make sense for Emory to host." And its paid off. After a summer of active negotiations, Chandler reports that no fewer than four major productions are poised to film on the Emory campus this fall. Although the BPI Office maintains confidentiality around productions that come to campus, magazines, newspapers and websites that document regional television and film productions show that Emory properties have played host to a wide range of productions over the past academic year, including: Denial (Bleecker Street): Feature film starring Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz that recounts Lipstadts legal battle against British Holocaust denier David Irving. Opens Sept. 30 in New York and Los Angeles, Oct. 7 in Atlanta and other selected cities, and nationwide Oct. 21. Stranger Things (Netflix): A supernatural drama set in the 1980s starring Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine that begins with the disappearance of a young boy amid an unfolding mystery that involves top-secret experiments and supernatural forces. Gifted (Fox Searchlight): Feature film starring Chris Evans and Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer about a single man raising his 7-year-old niece a mathematical prodigy who is drawn into a custody battle with his formidable mother. Scheduled for release April 2017. Killing Reagan (National Geographic Channels International/Scott Free Productions): A television movie due to premiere later this year starring Tim Matheson and Cynthia Nixon as Ronald and Nancy Reagan in an adaptation of the book Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency, which examines the attempted assassination of Reagan in 1981. "Jacobs Ladder (LD Entertainment/Gaeta-Rosenzweig Films): The 1990 supernatural thriller starred Tim Robbins as a Vietnam war veteran plagued by hallucinations of monsters and demons. This remake is a modern day paranoid action thriller starring Michael Ealy, Nicole Beharie and Jessie Williams. Containment (The CW Television Network): Follows a mysterious and deadly epidemic that breaks out in Atlanta, leaving the city quarantined. The series was cancelled after one season; the finale aired in July. The Jury (Sony TV/ABC Television): A crime drama starring Jeremy Sisto and Archie Punjabi that follows jurors on a single murder trial in the vein of popular podcast Serial and Netflixs Making A Murderer. At this writing, the series is being redeveloped. A classroom on the set To film at the University, Emory charges modest location fees, which vary by the size of crew, the length of the shoot and the exact location, explains Dracos, who notes that Emorys Briarcliff property remains a perpetual favorite. Location revenue is shared with the hosting schools and units, he says. Fees from a recent production at the Emory School of Medicine, for example, were provided to support student services and infrastructure, Dracos explains. But if a project has a strong Emory connection such as Denial there is no charge, its more about doing the right thing, he adds. In the end, Emory simply passes on projects that arent a good fit. We partner closely with our schools and units in managing the impact a production would have on our core operations and mission, Dracos says. Weve turned away major productions that would have been disruptive. To strengthen educational opportunities, production companies that agree to use Emory students as extras can receive a discounted rate, Chandler notes. If we can, well put film and media studies students on the set to observe, she says. Sometimes students help work on the productions for academic credit and weve also had producers and actors meet with classes and talk to the students, which is always a terrific opportunity. For Emory students, the chance to observe filmmaking firsthand provides a critical form of research, says film and media department chair Matthew Bernstein, Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media Studies. We can analyze a film shot-by-shot, but there is no adequate description of what its like to be on a film set, he says. Its a unique experience and an important one for our students to understand. The Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caretaker committee, Sen Ahmed Makarfi, yesterday said that the party will be victorious in the forthcoming Edo State governorship election. He also said that though the party is going through its baptism, reconciliation is inevitable, adding that he has no doubt that the opposition party will come out stronger. He expressed confidence that the party will not only bounce back as one united family but will also emerge victorious in a free and fair election in Edo State. Makarfi, who addressed newsmen at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, said that the party is committed to reconciliation of all the interest groups in the party. He pointed out that even if the party is victorious in court, there would still be need for reconciliation, stating that the party is making serious efforts to resolve the crisis in the party. He said: "Not only shall we rise and run. We shall rise and fly. We are doing everything possible. Even if you are victorious in court, you still need to come home and do reconciliation. So, it is better if we can achieve that before instead of leaving it to litigation to settle down. "We are not representing ourselves. Whatever the party wants, we will do. We don't have personal interest in this matter. We listen to the opinions of the overwhelming members of the PDP. "Reconciliation is something you talk less about. Because certain action being taken if you talk about it, you will indirectly be undermining the process. We are open to the reconciliation. There must be flexibility when you are talking of reconciliation. And of course the overwhelming views of majority of the members, even whoever you may classify as minority cannot also be ignored, you must make concession here and there and I believe that the party is ready to do that. But that will be the basis of rational and reasonable demands. So that we can all work as one family," Makarfi said. On Edo, he said: "We are confident that the party will not only bounce back as one united family but will also emerge victorious in a free and fair election in Edo State." In the same vein, the Secretary of Caretaker committee, Sen Ben Obi said the committee is committed to restoring the party to its past glory. Botswana is to deport a controversial US pastor a week after he was barred from South Africa because of his critical remarks about homosexuality. A government statement did not say why Steven Anderson had been declared a "prohibited immigrant". He was arrested after doing a radio interview in the capital, Gaborone. Mr Anderson runs the Faithful Word Baptist Church, which says that homosexuality is an abomination punishable by the death penalty. After his visa for South Africa was rejected last week, the preacher posted on his Facebook page: "Thank God we still have a wide open door in Botswana." Homosexual acts are illegal in Botswana, as in many African countries Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole yesterday warned his counterparts, Ifeanyi Okowa Delta State and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State that any attempts from them to disrupt or unduly interfere in the forthcoming Edo governorship poll would be sternly resisted by the people of the state. Godwin Obaseki of Oshiomhole's All Progressive Congress and Ize Iyamu of the Peoples Democratic Party are major contenders in the race. The election earlier scheduled for September 10 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has now been fixed for September 28, 2016 owing to unfavourable security reports that Oshiomhole later allegedly linked to Okowa and Wike. Oshiohmole who was at the Presidential Villa to see Mallam Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, for an undisclosed reason, told State House correspondents that Edo did not wish to experience violent election similar to those of Delta and Edo states. "I was very specific to them, that my brother, Okowa and Governor Wike, these two states have had history of violence and deaths during every election. "In Rivers in particular, they almost use blood instead of ink pad on election day, but in Edo State we have had to run credible election based on one man, one vote and they imported people to Edo, some of them have been arrested, some of them have been charged to court and they will be prosecuted. "But my appeal to them is that they should be ashamed because we are all chief security officers of our states. If you are having the level of deaths and killings in Rivers and it is not bothering him and he wants to export that bloodletting tactics to Edo state, our people will resist. "I also want to tell him that people who have exaggerated views of what they represent. A fish or a shark may appear powerful because it is inside the creek but when you move it to dry soil even babies can feast on it. So Edo is not like the creek that you have in Rivers. "I want to plead with him, if he wants to send anybody, he should send his children, his own blood children, so that they can bear the full consequences of their father's message. "He has no right to pay token to other people's children to go and die in Edo because our people are rugged and dogged. "We are not in the creeks, if they move those guys who can dive into the water and do magic to the dry soil of Edo, they will learn the hard way what it takes to walk through the desert. "We want to fight with PVC only, they must not import killers. If they do, they must bear full responsibility,"Oshiomhole said. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Library to host Banned Books Week events by Christi Mathis CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondales Morris Library is hosting two special events in recognition of The American Librarys Associations annual Banned Books Week, which is Sept. 25-Oct. 1. The events mark the librarys dedication to protecting intellectual freedom and First Amendment rights. Come to Morris Library between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sept. 26 and visit the Banned Books Selfie Station at the north entrance, near the large Abraham Lincoln bust. There, you can pose for a photo with a banned book and the photos will be posted to #BannedBooksSIUC. In addition, all who participate will be entered into a drawing for a Banned Books Week prize. There will also be a banned books reading from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sept. 28. Everyone is welcome to stop by in front of the library and read brief selections from their favorite banned books. Those who wish can also pose for a photo for #BannedBooksSIUC. In the event of rain, the reading will move indoors to the library rotunda. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship, Pam Hackbart-Dean, director of the librarys Special Collections Research Center, said. While books have been and continue to be banned, Hackbart-Dean noted that Banned Books Week recognizes that in the majority of cases the books have remained available and this happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read. This week highlights the value of free and open access to information and support for the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. Veterans Small Business Roadshow planned at SIU by Christi Mathis CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Veterans of all branches and eras are welcome to attend a special workshop at Southern Illinois University Carbondale designed to help those who want to start a new business or enhance an existing business. The Veterans Small Business Roadshow is coming to the Illinois Small Business Development Center, located at 1740 Innovation Drive in Carbondale, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Workshop topics include: Entrepreneurship for You! -- Veterans Edition, covering the concepts of small business ownership Financing Your Small Business, with information from the United States Small Business Administration Kickstart Your Business, introducing ideas for increasing the profitability of an existing business at little or no cost The event is open to active-duty service personnel, members of the National Guard and the reserves as well as to military family members. Representatives from the Illinois Small Business Development Center at SIU will be on hand to provide participants with an overview of business development services available to them. There is no charge to attend and lunch is provided. However, space is limited and you must pre-register at http://vbocroadshow.eventbrite.com. For additional details, call 618/536-2424. The Carbondale event is one of three the Veterans Business Outreach Center in Chicago, with sponsorship from Allstate Insurance, is offering this month in Illinois. Another is set for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 28 at 2500 Carlyle Avenue, Room 2311/13, in the Liberal Arts Building at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. The final session is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 29 at the Madden Auditorium in the Decatur Public Library, located at 130 N. Franklin St. in Decatur. The Illinois Small Business Development Center/International Trade Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and hosted by SIU. For more information about the center and the many services it provides to new and expanding businesses, visit www.sbdc.siu.edu, call 618/536-2424 or email sbdc@siu.edu. SIU to host technology-innovation expo in Chicago by Tim Crosby CARBONDALE -- Innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs from across the Southern Illinois University System will be on hand next month in Chicago when the university plays host to an event aimed at bringing together research and enterprise. The SIU Technology and Innovation Expo is set for Thursday, Oct. 13, at the 1871 venue, located at 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1212, in Chicago. The event will bring some of the universitys top researchers together with business leaders and entrepreneurs for an afternoon conference and networking event. Organizers invite all current or prospective corporate partners, investors, policymakers, media partners and other supporters of innovation and SIU to register for the event by emailing michelle.chitambar@siu.edu or by going here. The event will showcase technologies and research by faculty from SIUs Carbondale, Edwardsville and School of Medicine campuses. Those attending can look forward to presentations and demonstrations on everything from DNA marker systems to cryogenic coffee products, new high-definition-low-cost imaging techniques for MRI, novel dust control systems for underground mines and new, combined-loop refrigeration technology, among others. Go here to learn more about the program. Doors open at 2 p.m., followed shortly after by a welcome and opening remarks from Randy Dunn, president of the SIU System. Our previous expos were held on our campuses, and they were wonderful celebrations of the cutting-edge research conducted across the SIU System, Dunn said. This event is totally re-imagined to better introduce our world-class inventors to potential investors and partners in the Chicago area. Jason Morales, principal solution specialist at Microsoft Corp., will give the first of two keynote addresses starting at about 2:15 p.m. Morales focuses on everyday data and how it impacts people. His professional experience working for Microsoft and his efforts as founder of MING Studios, a nonprofit art center and artist residency program based in Boise, Idaho, help to inform and inspire his passions for applying data technologies to improve education, the arts and community, organizers said. Following Morales speech, researchers will give a series of presentations on health and medical technologies and innovations beginning at 2:40 p.m. Networking and sampling of cryogenic coffee, developed by Curt Jones, founder and president of Dippin Dots ice cream and an SIU Carbondale alumnus, begin at 3:25 p.m. At 3:45 p.m., Eric McAfee, chairman of McAfee Capital and chairman and CEO of Aemetis Inc., will give the second keynote speech of the day. McAfee founded and funded more than 30 companies in various sectors including renewable energy, oil and gas, networking equipment, enterprise software, medical devices and agriculture, organizers aid. He also has founded seven companies that were taken public, including Aemetis, Pacific Ethanol, and Evolution Petroleum. McAfees speech will be followed by additional innovation presentations in energy, agriculture and others areas. More networking, along with beer-tasting and light refreshments, begins at 5 p.m. with the event ending by 6 p.m. To inquire about sponsorship, contact the university here. Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st UN General Assembly session, Dawn online reported. "Pakistan has always fought terrorism as a moral obligation. I have always reached out to neighbouring countries for regional peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "I still remember (former) president (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." "I expect the US administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help resolve issues between Pakistan and India," the Prime Minister added. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry were also present in the meeting. Sharif emphasised that strong relations between Pakistan and the US remained a mutual desire and this partnership was critical to ensuring regional peace and stability. The Prime Minister arrived in New York on Sunday. He is scheduled to address the session on Wednesday where he would specifically focus on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He will also hold bilateral meetings with President of Iran, Prime Ministers of Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Nepal, Romania and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. --IANS ksk ( 246 Words) 2016-09-20-09:10:08 (IANS) "Pakistani troopers resorted to heavy gunfire with small and automatic fire arms from across the Line of Control (LoC). No damage was caused to Indian posts," a defence source said. The firing targeted Indian posts in Lachhipora and Boniyar villages of the border area, the source said, adding: "The fire was returned with equal calibre weapons." The exchange of fire was continuing an hour after it started. Pakistan is often accused of firing at Indian posts to give cover to infiltrators. The firing violates the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan along the international boundary and the LoC -- the de facto border that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two neighbours. The border skirmish came as New Delhi and Islamabad are locked in a bitter diplomatic war of words following the Uri terror attack, which India has blamed on militants from Pakistan. Pakistan has denied the allegations even as India claimed to have clinching evidence to support its claims. The Indian Army has claimed to have recovered arms, ammunition and food and medicine packets with Pakistani markings during the combing operations at the military base in Uri. India also claimed that the four terror attackers who were gunned down during the gun fight that lasted for about two-and-a-half hours were foreigners. --IANS sar/rn ( 265 Words) 2016-09-20-15:52:08 (IANS) In an operation in Kaleghan region of Saravan county, the IRGC forces succeeded in identifying and arresting the two "terrorists" who had crossed the border into the country from Pakistan, Xinhua news agency reported. Two explosives and some ammunition were also found on them, the report added. --IANS sm/sac ( 80 Words) 2016-09-20-17:10:22 (IANS) General (retd) Musharraf's remarks came amid reports that Bugti has formally sought political asylum in India, and New Delhi is willing to grant it. "He (Bugti) is a terrorist. India should not give him asylum," Musharraf told CNN-News18 channel from London. The former Pakistani military dictator accused India of adopting double standards on terrorism. "You (India) cannot say your terrorist is a terrorist but our terrorist is not a terrorist," he said. Musharraf also denied Pakistan Army's role in the Uri army camp attack on Sunday, and warned of consequences in case of any militray strike against Pakistan. "The persons talking about military retaliation, including your DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) and your Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) should understand the consequences," the former Pakistan Army chief, who assumed power in a coup against the then Prtime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said. "If you strike at the time and place of your choosing, we will strike back at the time and place of our choosing as well. It does not stop at your action; what will follow should also be considered," he added. Quizzed about the equipment used by Pakistan military as well as weapons found on Uri attackers, Musharraf said these could be procured anywhere in the world and do not qualify as evidence of Pakistan's involvement. --IANS mak/tsb/vt ( 262 Words) 2016-09-20-22:24:09 (IANS) Despite a flurry of media reports suggesting a serious rethink, Australia continues to actively pursue the finalisation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. There seem to be two sticking points: India's high tariff rates and whether Australia would ever export uranium to India. With some government officials recently expressing frustration over the slow pace of the negotiations, doubts are being raised whether Australia was serious about inking the deal, also known as the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), with India. The pace of the negotiations may slow down in the coming months but, it seems, the upswing in bilateral ties would continue under Australia's incumbent Liberal government. "Bilateral ties have deepened significantly since Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's 2014 visit. The government is pursuing an ambitious bilateral agenda with India and Prime Minister Turnbull met Prime Minister Modi on November 15, 2015, and September 4, 2016, during G20 Summits," Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo said in a communication. The two-way goods and services trade between Australia and India totalled A$18 billion (Rs 910 billion) in 2014-15. Of this, Australia's exports to India was at A$12.7 billion and the imports from India were A$5.3 billion. Turnbull's government continues to view the rising South Asian economic powerhouse with intense interest. "India's economy offers significant opportunities -- our economies are highly complementary. Soon after Prime Minister Modi's visit, the Australia Business Week in India (ABWI) exposed a delegation of 450 business leaders to the trade and investment opportunities presented by India," Ciobo noted. It is not that India is playing the role of a recalcitrant partner in the trade pact. While former Trade Minister Andrew Robb made no less than four visits to India last year to escalate the negotiations, a number of Indian ministerial delegations have also touched down in Australia to strengthen bilateral ties. "A more recent visit to Australia by Finance Minister (Arun) Jaitley in March/April 2016, with two business delegations, highlighted the potential for two-way investment, which has been on an upward trajectory since Prime Minister Modi's visit," Ciobo pointed out. The defence of Australia's stance on the FTA was echoed by Sheba Nandkeolyar, National Chair of the Australia India Business Council. "Since Prime Minister Modi's visit to Australia, there have been innumerable visits made by (then) Minister Andrew Robb and his team to India," Nandkeolyar told IANS. "India traditionally has tariffs which are very high and complicated. To expect India to suddenly abolish or bring down everything is not a win situation for India either," she opined. While there are conflicting reports about the progress and fate of the FTA, some commentators have also been raising doubts whether Australia would ever export uranium to India. Supply of the crucial fuel required for the mushrooming Indian nuclear power stations has been a contentious issue ever since the then Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed his government's willingness to lift the uranium export ban in 2007. "The governments of Australia and India opened the door to the supply of Australian uranium to India in late 2015 by bringing a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement into force," Ciobo pointed out. "The Australian government understands that commercial negotiations on supply contracts are advancing well, and looks forward to seeing exports commence soon," he added. "The Australia-India nuclear cooperation agreement was negotiated and brought into force in the period 2013-2015," Ciobo said. Even though Modi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh have done significant work to improve bilateral ties, there is a general perception that New Delhi can do more to keep the trajectory moving northwards. The ongoing Festival of India in Australia is cited as one example of the Modi government's willingness to engage with Australia. India's low position on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index is often cited as one reason why the bilateral ties are not moving at the same pace as with China (Indian ranking 130 vs China 84) which is Australia's largest trading partner. "More visits by senior business leaders, more bilateral cultural events and festivals like Confluence," Nandkeolyar replied when asked what India can do to improve bilateral ties. She said there is a need to debunk the perception that India is a hard place to do business and highlight ground-breaking measures such as the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, "which has international business ramifications". (Rekha Bhattacharjee can be contacted at vijay@hotkey.net.au) --IANS rekha/vm/sac/ky ( 749 Words) 2016-09-20-09:46:07 (IANS) Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, while promoting the upcoming horror-comedy 'Tutakk Tutak Tutiya', expressed her fan moment for actor Prabhu Deva. The 29-year-old actress narrated an incident of her childhood and said she has been a fan of the actor's dancing knack ever since she was a teenager. "When I was small, I was a huge fan of 'K Sera Sera' and at that time because we had no music channel or internet or anything, so it we use to wait for the song on (Chitrahar). We used to keep holding our breaths that the song just appears on it. I use to be a huge fan," said the 'Gangster' actress. Adding, "And today I'm sitting with him, it's such an uncanny moment, he looks like he is not aged, not even one day. He looks the same and that's amazing." Talking about how she has always admired Prabhu's dancing skills, the actress said, "The best thing about Prabhu sir's step is they are full of so much fun. There is a lot of humor and quirk in it, even the way he is sliding and the way he does one movement and everybody just falls on the floor. There is no rule to his dancing, which I really love and I don't know if anybody can ever copy it because they are just impulses that are translated into movements." On the professional front while Kangana will next be seen in Vishal Bhardwaj directorial 'Rangoon' along with Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. 'Tutak Tutak Tutiya' starring Sonu Sood, Prabhu Deva and Tamannaah Bhatia, will be released in three languages, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on October 7. (ANI) Jolie filed for divorce on Monday citing irreconcilable differences. She is seeking physical custody of their six kids, suggesting that Pitt get visitation rights. Jolie did not seek spousal support, E! Online added. Jolie and Pitt got together in 2004 after starring in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and secretly got married in 2014 in a chapel at Chteau Miraval in the village of Correns, France. Jolie adopted daughter Zahara from Ethiopia, and in early 2006 she announced that she and Pitt were expecting a baby. Shortly thereafter, Pitt was granted the right to legally adopt Maddox and Zahara. Their daughter Shiloh was born in May 2006, and son Pax was adopted from Vietnam in March 2007. Jolie gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox in July 2008. The couple announced their engagement in 2012. --IANS lok/rn ( 172 Words) 2016-09-20-21:00:10 (IANS) A joint study by a team of Indian and Canadian scientists has suggested that traditional medicines with Ashoka (botanical name Saraca asoca) as an ingredient are mostly adulterated. The bark extracts of Ashoka tree are used for the treatment of leucorrhea and other uterine disorders. It also has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-pyretic, anti-helminthic and analgesic characteristics. The study carried out by scientists from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, Kuvempu University, Shimoga, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, Punjab and University of Guelph, Toronto, Canada, analysed samples from outlets in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and found 80 percent of the samples were spurious. This is the first comprehensive and large-scale study to demonstrate the widespread adulteration of market samples of Ashoka in India. The study was published in International Journal of Legal Medicine. "In this paper, we have confined only to the bark extracts of Ashoka where we found 80 percent are spurious. In other medicinal plants, the adulteration ranges from 20 to 100 percent ," Dr. G. Ravikanth, Associate Professor at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore told Indian Science Journal. Indiscriminate and rampant extraction of the wood of Ashoka to meet the ever-increasing market demand has led to a sharp decline of the plant population. Consequently, it has recently been classified as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). "In the absence of any regulatory agency to check the quality of traditional medicines, no studies have been carried out in India to assess the implication of adulterations," said Dr. Ravikanth. He added, "Studies abroad have shown adverse consequences of adulteration in Indian traditional medicines. For example, more than 100 women suffered kidney failures due to admixtures of roots of anti-inflammatory agent 'Stephania tetrandra' by the roots of a toxic herb Aristolochia fangchi in the United States. Similarly, Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) barks that were adulterated with C.Cassia and C. Malabatrum have a bitter and burning flavour. C.cassia contains 1 per cent coumarin, a naturally occurring flavouring substance, which causes hepatotoxicity." The researchers suggested DNA bar coding to detect and quantify adulteration in raw herbal trade of a variety of medicinal plants. A limitation of this technique, however, is the raw herbal trade material is in the form of powder, billets, or even dried plant material and is extremely recalcitrant to extraction. In such cases, chemical fingerprinting, using techniques such as NMR spectroscopy could be used in conjunction with DNA bar coding to identify herb species and admixtures. In recent years, there has been great demand for medicinal plants as alternative health care system. India exports over 5000 metric tonnes of herbal products annually and the demand is growing approximately by 10-15 percent. Most of the herbal medicines are used in the crude forms (unlike the chemical drugs) and have to be taken for a prolonged period. There are no regulatory standards for traditional medicines, as in the case of modern pharmaceutical drugs. (ANI) Asserting that no compromise will be made with regard to national security, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that relations with Pakistan will never be the same. Prasad told ANI, "After such a brutal attack, relations with Pakistan will never be same. The way our innocent jawans were cruelly killed, things will never be same. Pakistan's involvement is evident, we have seized arms, and then, we have mobile phones with Pakistan signs on them." "The DGMO has also said that the Jaish-e-Mohammad was behind this attack and this terrorist group is again backed by Pakistan. So for India's security, the government will take the needed steps. A mature decision will be taken in this regard. No compromise will be made in regard to India's security," he added. After giving an assurance of going after the perpetrators of the deadly Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gave the green signal to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping. India is to present all actionable evidence against Pakistan to international bodies if required. Evidence of Pakistan's hand in Uri attack, including GPS tracker movements that go back to starting point in Pakistan, Pashto literature and Pakistan Army marked arms will be given to Islamabad at the DGMO level, sources add. Sources said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will strongly emphasize on Pakistan's involvement in the attack in her UNGA speech on September 26. This development comes after the Prime Minister yesterday chaired a high-level meeting at his official residence at 7 Race Course Road here. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Army Chief Dalbir Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other officials were present in the meeting. Pakistan has rejected New Delhi's claims of Islamabad's involvement in the Uri terror attack, saying the latter has a traditional tendency to point fingers at the former after each terror attack on Indian soil. "Pointing fingers at Pakistan has become a traditional tendency of India after each terrorist attack," the Dawn quoted Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, as saying. "In the past many Indians were involved in the terrorist acts for which India had blamed Pakistan," he asserted. Director General of Military operation Lt. Ranbir Singh earlier this week said that the four terrorists, who attacked the military base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). (ANI) After Nepal and Kenya, wax produced in Assam based Numaligarh Refinery Limited is now being dispatched to Mexico. The first consignment of wax to Mexico was dispatched last week from Inland Container Depot(ICD), Amingaon, Guwahati. High quality of NRL wax has evinced interest from several other countries like Mozambique and US, making NRL Wax a brand to be reckoned with worldwide, a statement from the company said. NRL commenced sale of Paraffin Wax in domestic market as well as exports since commissioning of its wax plant, the largest single unit producing wax in the country in 2015. NRL has been able to capture around 40-45 per cent of the domestic market , the statement said. The wax Plant was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2016. The utility of paraffin wax lies in making candles, tarpaulin sheets, food grade wrappers and in PVC pipe manufacturing industries while microcrystalline wax finds widespread application in the manufacture of tyres, rubber products, paints and polishes, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.UNI ABI JW ADG 0955-- -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0105-941345.Xml Condemning the terror strike on the Army's Administrative Unit at Uri in which 18 soldiers lost their lives, the students took out a candlelight vigil in Tripura's Agartala city to offer their tributes to the bravehearts. The students were also joined by their teachers and local journalists during the march, which began from Umakanta mini stadium. Abhijit Bhattacharjee, one of the organizers of the march, condemned the increased terror attacks on Indian soil and laid emphasis on "peace and tolerance" at this point of time to deal with the crisis. "The students have assembled here to express their solidarity with the nation and armed forces while stressing that we are all united at this point of time," he added. Joysree Sinha, one of the protestors, condemned Pakistan's cowardly act and called for peace in the nation. "What happened is very sad and should not have happened. We all want peace and are living happily in a peaceful nation. This kind of thing should not happen and I condemn this," she added. In one of the worst attacks in recent times, as many as 18 soldiers were killed and over 20 others got injured post the terror strike on an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Baramulla district on Sunday. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh earlier today chaired a high-level security review meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir post the Uri terror attack. NSA Ajit Doval, Director of Intelligence Bureau, RAW Chief, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, Minister of State in Prime Minister Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh and other senior MHA and MoD officials were in attendance. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team has begun its probe into the incident. The team visited the encounter site in Baramulla district yesterday in this regard. Sources said the NIA has filed an FIR in the attack case. The Army will hand over all weapons, GPS, navigation map of terrorists to the NIA for further investigation. This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his key ministers yesterday received counsel against rash military action. Top military commanders warned that Pakistan's Army had raised its defensive posture along the LoC. Few details emerged from the meeting, but senior government figures pushed back against calls from their ranks for immediate military strikes against Pakistan. Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh yesterday warned Pakistan in the wake of the Uri strike and said India reserves the right to respond to any act of the adversary. "We have the desired capability to reply to such blatant act of violence in a manner as deemed appropriate by us. We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," he told the media in New Delhi. (ANI) The nation is paying an emotional tribute to all the 18 Indian Army bravehearts, who lost their lives in Sunday's dastardly militant attack in Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district. The mortal remains of all the Uri bravehearts have been taken to their ancestral places for the last rites. Yesterday, they were given an emotional farewell at the Army Headquarters in Badamibagh by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, senior Army and police officials. Mehbooba visited the injured soldiers at the 92 Base Hospital of the Army in Srinagar post the wreath laying ceremony. Several jawans continue to battle serious injuries. Subedar K Singh, Havildar NS Rawat, Havildar R Paul, Naik SK Vidhyarthi, Havildar Ashok Kumar, Sepoy N Kujur, Sepoy U Janrao, Sepoy RK Singh, Sepoy H Yadav, Lance Naik RK Ydadav, Sepoy G Shankar, Sepoy KV Janardhan, Sepoy G Dalui, Sepoy R Singh, Sepoy B Ghorai, Lance Naik G Shankar, Sepoy TS Somnath and Sepoy J Munda are the 18 bravehearts, who lost their lives in the service of the nation. Four heavily armed militants had stormed the battalion headquarters of the Army in Uri, close to the Line of Control (LoC), in the wee hours on Sunday, killing 18 jawans and injuring more than 20 other personnel. In the encounter, the security forces neutralised all of them within hours. The terrorists, who attacked the military base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Following crucial meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his key ministers received counsel against rash military action. Top military commanders warned that Pakistan's Army had raised its defensive posture along the LoC. Few details emerged from the meeting, but senior government figures pushed back against calls from their ranks for immediate military strikes against Pakistan. The meeting attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, heard from National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Army chief General Dalbir Singh on possible long-term options to retaliate against jihadist logistics and the Pakistani military infrastructure. The Prime Minister briefed President Pranab Mukherjee on the discussions late Monday. Prime Minister Modi and the Home Minister strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Uri. Prime Minister Modi assured the nation that those behind this will not go unpunished. In a series of tweets after the attack, the Prime Minister said: "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished". He added, "We salute all those martyred in Uri. Their services to the nation will always be remembered. My thoughts are with the bereaved families (of the Army jawans)". Rajnath branded Islamabad as a terrorist state and said the Asian neighbour should be isolated and sanctioned at international platforms. Pakistan has, however, flatly rejected New Delhi's claims of involvement in the Uri terror attack, stating that the latter has a traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil. Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh yesterday warned Pakistan in the wake of the Uri strike and said India reserves the right to respond to any act of the adversary. "We have the desired capability to reply to such blatant act of violence in a manner as deemed appropriate by us. We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," he told the media in New Delhi. (ANI) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rupees one lakh on the Nagarik Samabay Bank Ltd., Guwahati RBI has imposed the penalty in exercise of the powers vested in it under the provisions of Section 47A (1) (b) read with Section 46(4) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (As Applicable to Cooperative Societies), for violation of the provisions of para 4 (i) of circular dated September 18, 2002 on Guidelines on Know YourCustomers Norms and Cash Transactions read with para 1.7 of the Annex to Circular dated September 21, 1993 and para 6 of circular dated March 21, 2006 on 'Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002-Obligation of Banks in terms of rules notified thereunder-UCBs'. The Reserve Bank of India had issued a show cause notice to the bank, in response to which the bank submitted a written reply. After considering the facts of the case and the bank's reply in the matter, the Reserve Bank came to the conclusion that the violations were substantiated and warranted imposition of penalty.UNI JS SM1249 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-941547.Xml Cremation of martyrs Harendra Yadav and Rajesh Kumar Singh was held in Ghazipur and Jaunpur districts, respectively with full state honours, amid thousands of people raising slogans against Pakistan. While the cremation of Harendra Yadav was done at the banks of river Ganga in Ghazipur this morning, but the last rites of martyr Rajesh Kumar Singh were performed at the bank of river Gomti in Jaunpur, last night. A report from Ghazipur said the funeral was brought out from Deopur village of Harendra Yadav and it traveled around 12 kilometers from Mardah block on a vehicle to reach the banks of Ganga for the cremation. In between people raised slogans against Pakistan and burnt its effigy. They also gave slogan of ' Harendra Yadav amar rahe' in the funeral and when the pyre was lit amid full state honours. Another report from Jaunpur said the mortal remains of martyr sepoy Rajesh Kumar Singh were consigned to flames at Ramghat. UP minister Jagdish Sonkar, Lok Sabha MP K P Singh and several other politicians and officials were present to receive the body which came from Varanasi late last night. They paid their floral tributes to the martyr and then the body was taken for cremation at around 2200 hours. Martyr'sfather Rajendra Singh lit the pyre. The deceased is survived by his widow and a son. The entire Bhakura village, of the martyr, assembled at the door step of the family to condole the death and as a show of tribute the entire village remained on fast, yesterday. Meanwhile, a Varanasi report, today said two bodies of the martyrs were sent to Ballia and Sant Kabir Nagar district after guard of honour by the Army personnel here at the BHU, this morning. The cremation of sepoy Ganesh Shnker Yadav would be held at Medhawal in Sant Kabir Nagar district and Lance Naik R K Yadav in Ballia, later in the day. UP governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav have condoled the death of the martyrs and the state government has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 20 lakhs each to the families of the four Army men of the state.UNI MB PR ADG PM1203 - -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-941416.Xml A post graduate Kashmiri student has been expelled by the Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) for writting an anti-national post in the social networking site over the Uri terror attack and on the martyrs . An FIR under Section 505 of the IPC has also been registered against student Muddasir Yusuf Lone at the Medical chowki under Civil Lines police station for the act. Besides, the AMU authorities have have thrown out the student from the hostel too. AMU Vice- Chancellor LT Gen. Zamiruddin Shah took the decision to expel the student yesterday, following reports of anti-national post by him. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajesh Pandey told UNI here today that police had also registered a case in Civil Lines police station over the matter. He further said, ''After taking cognisance of the anti-national post, we had informed the AMU administration asking them to inquire. After probe, AMU had expelled the student.'' The expelled Kashmiri a native of Kupwara, of the Srinagar valley, is in the third semester of MSc ( Organic Chemistry) and was staying in the MM Hall hostel. He had done his BSc from AMU too. There are around around 1,200 Kashmiri students studying in AMU.UNI MB PR ADG PM1301 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-941491.Xml Ghani strongly condemned the cross border attack and conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India against all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism. Afghanistan's Ambassador to India, Shaida Mohd Abdali, also condemned the attack yesterday and said all terrorist groups are coming from the same source but with different names. The envoy called upon India, Afghanistan and the world community to come up with a joint strategy to fight terrorism out. In one of the worst attacks in recent times, as many as 18 soldiers were killed and over 20 others got injured post the terror strike on an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri on Sunday. (ANI) President Pranab Mukherjee today extended his greetingsand felicitations to the Government and the people of the Republic of Armenia andthe Republic of Malta on the eve of their Independence Day . In a message to President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, the President said, "On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it is with great pleasure that I extend warm greetings and felicitations to Your Excellency and to the friendly people of the Republic of Armenia on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of your Independence Day. India and Armenia share historical and civilisational ties since ancient times.Our cordial relations are marked by consistency, continuity and understandingon issues of mutual interest, and by cooperation in the bilateral and multilateralframework. I am confident that India-Armenia bilateral relations would furtherstrengthen and diversify in the years to come.'' ''I take this opportunity to convey my good wishes for Your Excellency's goodhealth and well-being and for the continued progress and prosperity of the friendlypeople of Armenia,''the President said. The President also extended his greetings and felicitations to the Governmentand the people of the Republic of Malta on the eve of their Independence Day . In a message to the President of the Republic of Malta, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca , the President said, "On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it is with great pleasure that I extend warm greetings and felicitations to you and to the friendly people of Malta on the occasion ofyour Independence Day. India and Malta have traditionally shared warm and friendly relations. I amconfident that in the coming years, the cooperation between our two countrieswill be further strengthened for the mutual benefit of our peoples.'' ''I take this opportunity to convey my best wishes for your good health andpersonal well being and for the continued progress and prosperity of thefriendly people of Malta,''the President said.UNI AR PR ADG 1308 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-941538.Xml The Indian Navy has agreed to hand over INS Viraat to Andhra Pradesh government after its decommissioning. The aircraft carrier will berth on the coast here by mid-2017, Flag Officer Commanding-In-Chief, Eastern Naval Command(ENC) Vice-Admiral H C S Bisht said. The Andhra Pradesh government had shown a keen interest in getting INS Viraat, the oldest aircraft carrier operated by Indian Navy, to berth in Vizag Port City for promotion of tourism Development after its decommissioning, he said. He was speaking to mediapersons after taking part in the International Coastal Cleanup Day at R K Beach here. The Ship Viraat is likely to be decommissioned by end of 2016 after 55 years of service, including 27 years with the Royal Navy -British Navy, he said.UNI BSR JW 1400 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0105-941554.Xml The All India Ex-Servicemen Bank Employees Association (AIEBA) lit candles and offered prayers to the martyrs in front of the Gandhi statue near Central Park here yesterday. Faculty, students and employees of Andhra University(AU) Institute of Advanced Studies in Education observed a two-minute silence in memory of the 18 Armymen. BJP city unit, Janata Yuva Morcha and Ex-Servicemen held a demonstration near the Victory At Sea memorial and paid homage to the martyrs. City president M Nagendra said the entire Nation should solidly stand behind the Government. Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) former Vice-Chancellor V Balamohan Das, former deputy general secretary of State Bank of India Staff Union J P Sarma also paid their tributes.UNI BSR PR ADG 1340 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0105-941562.Xml Police said when the victim PI Sanjay Vispute was coming to Nashik from Pune by Innova car, collided head on with Bolero car yesterday. Another woman who died was Shabirabi Pirmahamad Sheikh (50) resident of Ghargaon and injured are being treated in nearby hospital. A complaint has been registered and further investigation was on, they added. UNI RDS NV PY ADG PM1344 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-941586.Xml Unprecedented security measure was taken inKarnataka, especially in Cauvery basin Districts, as a precautionarystep to maintain law and order even as the Supreme Court is expectedto take up hearing on release of water to Tamil Nadu later in the day. In the State Capital Bengaluru, Police Commissioner N S Megharikhas announced extension of prohibitory orders till September 25. Hehas also ordered closure of liquor shops today. He said that more than 15,000 police personnel, 3 companies ofRapid Action Force (RAF), more than 4000 Homeguards, Indo-TibetanBorder security force have been deployed. More number of CCTVs wereinstalled in all the vulnerable points to keep close watch onmovement of people and trouble mongers. Police were seen holding flag march in small lanes of sensitiveareas in the city to instill confident among the public besidessounding a warning to miscreants not to indulge in anti-activities. Direct bus service to neighboring Tamil Nadu continued to beaffected badly and travelling public have to alight four km beforethe border and walk the distance to other part to continue their journey. Minister for Home G Parameshwar, who held meeting with top policeofficials, has given strict instruction not to spare anybody whoindulge in violence and see that law and order is maintained at any cost. He also visited several sensitive areas and studied the securitymeasures taken and personnel deployed. Meanwhile, agitations have been intensified in Mandya and MysuruDistricts following Supervisory Committee directing the state torelease 3000 cusecs water till September 30. Police sources said that no untoward incident reported from anypart of the State.UNI MSP PR ADG 1417 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0105-941648.Xml Mr Ghani spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone and condoled the terror attack in Uri, a Prime Minister's Office statement said. He strongly condemned the cross-border terrorism and conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India against all actions to eliminate this threat. Mr Ghani also expressed condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers. Mr Modi thanked Mr Ghani for his support. On Sunday, four heavily armed terrorists attacked the Army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Baramulla district, leaving 18 soldiers dead and several others injured. It was one of the deadliest terror attacks on security forces in recent times in the state. UNI RBE SW SB 1455 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0427-941692.Xml A Delhi-bound passenger was today detained at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport by the CISF after a round of cartridge was discovered in one of his pockets during security check, according to airport sources. The man, a resident of Howrah, failed to give any satisfactory answer to the queries by the CISF and also failed to produce any documents of a licensed gun. UNI XC PL SB NS1437 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-941638.Xml "Anti-Pakistan" slogans rented the air when bodies of three jawans martyred in the Fidyaeen attack on the Uri Army base today reached their villages in Bihar for their final journey. When the bodies wrapped in Tricolour reached their native villages in Gaya, Kaimur and Bhojpur districts, villagers joined the nation in the chorus for the toughest possible action against Pakistan for its dastardly attack on the Army base. While the body of Naik Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi reached Boknari village in Gaya district, those of Sepoy Rakesh Singh and Havildar Ashok Kumar were brought to their respective villages in Kaimur and Bhojpur districts respectively. A Gaya report said that people at Boknari village started raising slogans, "Shaheed Sunil Amar Rahe, Pakistan Murdabad..", as a mood of grief and anger enveloped the entire atmosphere. Later, the body was brought to the cremation ground in Gaya for the last rites. MORE UNI DH IS PL SB NS1442 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-941646.Xml State Vigilance Department Director General Ravindra Kumar said here a trap under the leadership of a DSP rank officer was laid on senior clerk Prem Chand Tiwari, posted at Arwal collectorate when one Rakesh Kumar, a native of Kubdi village under Karpi police station area in the district lodged a complaint with the vigilance authorities. Mr. Tiwari was demanding a bribe of Rs. one lakh for giving financial benefit to 70 Chowkidaars after their promotion. The nabbed government employee is being brought to the vigilance headquarters here for interrogation and his subsequent production in a local vigilance court. UNI DH PL SB AS1455 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-941678.Xml German Foreign Minister Steinmeier and its Ambassador to India Martin Ney said in a statement, "I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the Indian army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir region. Our thoughts are with the families of the murdered soldiers and with many people who have been injured, some seriously. "Germany stands resolutely at India's side in the fighting against terrorism. At the Indo-German counter terrorism consultations, which will take place in a few days' time, we will further discuss the threats to our two countries' societies." Mr Ney said, "We share the view that every country is responsible for taking decisive action against terrorism emanating from its territory." Meanwhile, he also cautioned that the terrorists' aim is for the situation to escalate, they want to trigger a spiral of violence. "We must not give in to this logic, including conflicts between India and Pakistan. On Sunday, four heavily armed militants attacked the Army base in Uri, which left 18 soldiers dead. A war of words between India and Pakistan has escalated after India accused its neighbour of being involved in the cowardly attack.UNI ASH SW SB 1605 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-941830.Xml Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today came down heavily on the state governments for not utilising the funds collected as cess for the construction workers welfare fund and also diverting the money for some other purposes in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day national conference on labour here, Mr Dattatreya said a sum of Rs 27,886 crore was collected by various states in the country for the construction workers' welfare fund while only Rs 5,800 crore had been utilised by the states so far and the rest around Rs 22,000 crore was lying in treasuries of various states, he regretted. He also alleged that though the money was collected for the development of construction workers, many states were diverting the funds for some other purposes. Without naming any state, the Union Minister said some states were utilising the money for distribution of bi-cycles violating the Supreme Court guidelines. Odisha, Mr Dattatreya said, has collected Rs 940 crore as cess from various companies for the Building and Construction workers Welfare fund but managed to spend only Rs 120 crore for their development. Emphasising that the hard earned money belonged to the construction workers, the Union Minister said the money should be spent for the development of construction workers only. The Union Minister requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to ensure that the money collected is spent for the development of construction workers only and not for other purpose as they were living in vulnerable condition, socially backward, uneducated and have less bargaining power. The Supreme Court, he said, in its direction has clearly stated that the government should focus on education, health, social security, skill development and insurance of the construction workers and utilize the money for the purpose. The Union government has now embarked upon reforming the labour laws and wanted to reduce 44 existing labour laws into four labour codes as a major reform initiative as these laws enacted in 1920s and 1935 have now became redundant.The four codescode on social security, code on wages, code on safety of working condition and health and code on Labour and Industrial Relations--would be enacted after they were passed by Parliament in the coming session for the benefit of construction workers. He said the Union government has given top priority to social security and planned to cover all construction workers in phases soon. As many as 5 crore construction workers would be covered under EPF and ESI and later others like rickshaw pullers, ASHA workers would also be brought under the social security fold. Replying to a question after the meeting, the Union Minister ruled out setting up of any medical college by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in the state but said a hospital would be set up. He hinted that the Union government would soon announce a package for the Odisha government but did not divulge about the package.More UNI BD DP PL AE SB PR1636 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-941864.Xml BJP Tripura state committee today held a march to civil secretariat demanding independent inquiry into the communal tension that erupted during a rally of Indigenous Peoples' Front of Twipra (IPFT) at Agartala on August 23 last, enhancement of stipend in 25 centrally sponsored social welfare schemes and ten other demands.According to report, more than 10,000 BJP supporters from various parts of the state took part in the march at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhawan of the city along with the party leaders Sunil Deodhar and president Biplab Deb.Traffic halted for more than three hours in all streets, including the VIP road. The administration made sufficient security arrangement and mobilised forces on private buildings and houses with cameras to avert any untoward incident.Police prevented the rally ahead of the civil secretariat where BJP leaders had shouted slogans against the Left Front government alleging massive corruption, nepotism and under development of the state because of narrow politics of the CPI-M.Addressing the gathering BJP central observer Deodhar alleged that the Manik Sarkar led government has been looting the fund meant for the development of the marginalised section of the society.He demanded a CBI inquiry into the communal tension during the IPFT rally, alleged involvement of Left Front leaders and ministers in chit fund scam and return of money of innocent depositors. He also alleged distortion of history books of schools. He sought salary of state government employees at par with central government employees, enhanced wages of MGNREGA to Rs 250 like in Kerala and Haryana and ensuring security of women and girls. UNI BB PL SB NS1625 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-941888.Xml Two youths and a girl were killed and nine others injured in three separate car accidents in West Bengal today, police said. A youth was killed and four others-were injured critically when a private car speeding towards Digha, hit a parked truck at Kulgachia nearUluberia in Howrah district early. The injured, all from Baranagar, were admitted to Kolkata Medical College and Hospital. The youths were going proceeding to Digha on holiday. In another accident an auto driver was killed and four passengers were injured when an private bus hit the three-wheeler at City Centre Island in Salt Lake. The auto driver was declared dead at Bidhanagar Hospital. Tulana Bera a furth grade student was killed when her school bus was hit by a truck at Contai in East Medinipur today. The driver of the school bus was critically wounded and admitted to Contai Hospital.UNI PC PL SB RK1712 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-941947.Xml However, the kingpin of the gang managed to escape under the cover of darkness. Moga SSP Snehdeep Sharma said here today that on secret information, police conducted raid and arrested five dacoits, all residents of Landeke village last night from a deserted place when they were planning a major strike. Gurpreet Singh, the kingpin of the gang, however, managed to escape. Police seized two kirpans, three rods and also some other sharp edged weapons besides two motorcycle suspected to be stolen one from them. Those arrested were identified as Amarjit Singh, Baljit Singh, Gurtej Singh, DCs alias Tarsem Singh, Gurpreet Singh The preliminary investigation revealed that the gang was active in various parts of the Moga and adjoining districts.UNI XC DB SB BD1705 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-941973.Xml The boycott call, which emanated from Afghanistan, is expected to gain further momentum during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India on October 16 to attend the BIMSTEC meet at Goa. The strong signal was sent by Afghan envoy in New Delhi, Shaida Mohammad Abdali, who said that efforts should be made to single out a country that spoils unity and regional peace. "The time has come for a decisive message to Pakistan, even if it means a possible boycott of the SAARC summit in Islamabad in November," the envoy said in an interview to NDTV.More UNI MK SW RP1725 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-942072.Xml Expressing its support for any action by the NDA government to counter the terror attacks in Uri, which left 18 soldiers killed and scores injured, the Congress today said there was a need for a concrete policy and action on part of the government to prevent recurrence of such attacks in future. Talking to reporters here, AICC spokesperson R P N Singh said, "We fully support any action by the government to counter the terrorist action in Uri. There is, however, a need for a concrete policy and action on part of the government to prevent recurrence of Uri-like attacks.'' Mr Singh also blamed the 'confused' policy of the NDA government towards Pakistan for the Pathankot and the Uri incidents. "The NDA government's foreign policy, especially its policy towards Islamabad, is confusing. One day you cancel foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan while the very next day you decided to make an 'impromptu' visit there. "There is need for a concrete policy towards Pakistan. It is time for firm action by the government to stop infiltration and prevent recurrence of terror attacks like the one in Uri,'' he said. In this context, he pointed out that the previous UPA government had, after the 26/11 terror attacks, followed a policy to create an image of Pakistan internationally as a country that promotes terrorism. "We want the NDA government to evolve a similar policy." He also blamed the policies of the present BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir as responsible for the deterioration of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. "When UPA was in power at the Centre, there had been an improvement in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the situation in the Valley has deteriorated ever since the BJP-PDP coalition Government came to power in the state. One has come to witness Pakistani flags across the valley. No concrete steps have been taken by the state government to establish peace,'' he said.UNI AR SW SB 1747 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-942094.Xml Citing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and European Union (EU) would be a strategic interest for his country, German Ambassador to India Martin Ney today said the FTA negotiations would be resumed very soon as it would be beneficial for India too. Addressing the media persons on Germany's contribution to 'Make in India' and Indo-German economic relations, Mr Ney said, "Negotiations on FTA will be resumed soon as India has potential to become manufacturing hub of the world but it needs skilled work force." On new FTA, Mr Ney said, "I see protectionist reflects here. The new FTA is in India's interest and Indian industry should aim for world class standard. India needs to write rules of globalisation and if India doesn't join hands then somebody else will do." On Smart city, the ambassador added, "Germany will develop three Indian cities which include Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and Kochin. I have visited these cities in the month of July to kickstart the process." Asked over impact of Brexit, Mr Ney said, "I shall only say that the growth in UK has been drastically slowed down while the case with EU is not same. There is negative repercussion on UK and not on us. Britain needs to put in place article 51 for Brexit to start." He also appreciated the Indian government for passage of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and said it would attract more investments. However, Mr Ney added that beyond GST, the reliable tax regime is crucial for attracting investments, so clarity is must. Mr Ney also briefed on the broader developments in the economic ties between Germany and India. "In 2015, German exports to India stood at roughly 9.8 billion Euros. But trade is not a one-way street: Indian deliveries to the German mechanical engineering sector have increased by more than six percent to 280 million euros in the first six months of 2016." UNI ASH SW SB 1750 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-942067.Xml Faced with criticism on social media, the Bihar government today raised the compensation from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh for the kin of the three soldiers who were martyred in 'fidayeen' attack at Uri Army base in Jammu and Kashmir September 18. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today issued the instructions to the officials concerned, said an officer of the state public relation department. The state government had yesterday announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the slain soldiers triggering criticism on the social media .UNI IS DH PS SB 1752 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0421-942172.Xml Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda said here today that the under-5 mortality rate in 2014 was 45 as compared to 49 in 2013. The recent RGI data released for the Sample Registration Survey (SRS) for the year 2014 indicates 8.16 per cent decline as compared to 5.76 per cent decline between 2012-13. The difference in mortality rate in urban and rural areas had also been reduced. This implies that about 1.26 lakh additional under-five deaths have been averted in 2014. The Union Health Minister said considering the significant progress in 2014, India is set to achieve MDG4 target of under-five mortality of 42 per 1000 live births in 2015. Significant point decline (4 points and more) has been recorded in 15 states. These are: Assam (7), Uttar Pradesh (7), Rajasthan (6), Chhattisgarh (4), Delhi (5), Gujarat (4), Haryana(5), Odisha (6), Himachal Pradesh (5), Jammu and Kashmir (5), Jharkhand (4), Karnataka (4), Madhya Pradesh (4), Punjab (4) and West Bengal (5). As many as 16 out of 20 states had shown a decline of more than and equal to 3 points. Moreover, the rural urban differential in under-five mortality is reduced to 23 points in comparison to 26 points in 2013 indicating good progress in rural areas. The success has been possible due to dedicated efforts during the neonatal period through establishment of special newborn care units (SNCU), systematic home visits by ASHA workers to all newborns for improving breastfeeding practices, improvement in quality institutional delivery, the Minister said.UNI NAZ SW SB 1851 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0421-942386.Xml AARP Travel Center Powered by Expedia: Hotels & Resorts Members save on hotel stays AmericInn by Wyndham 10% off the best available rate Ascend Hotel Collection Up to 10% off the best available rate Atwell Suites 10% or more off the best available rate avid Hotels 10% or more off the best available rate Baymont by Wyndham 10% off the best available rate Best Western Hotels & Resorts 5%-15% off the best available rate Best Western Plus 5%-15% off the best available rate Best Western Premier 5%-15% off the best available rate Best Western 5%-15% off the best available rate BW Premier Collection by Best Western 5%-15% off the best 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Wyndham 10% off the best available rate Wyndham Garden 10% off the best available rate Wyndham Grand 10% off the best available rate Wyndham Hotels & Resorts 10% off the best available rate Wyndham 10% off the best available rate Golden City of Amritsar, Kalyan Dombivilli, Ujjain, Tirupati and Nagpur are among 27 cities selected in the third round of Smart City challenge competition. Announcing the result here today, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said a competition was held in which 63 of the mission cities participated. Out of them, 27 cities from 12 states qualified. Maharashtra had topped the list with five of its cities making to the list followed by Tamil Nadu with its four cities and Uttar Pradesh with three cities. Mr Naidu said, "These 27 cities have proposed a total investment of Rs 66,883 crore under respective smart city plans including Rs 42,524 crore in area based development and Rs 11,379 crore in technology based pan-city solutions". The Minister informed that in this round, Nagaland and Sikkim have made it to the implementation stage of the mission. "With this smart city implementation is now spread to 27 states and union territories and 60 cities from so many states and UTs joining this distinguished club within one year." However, nine states and union territories -- Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra, Nagar & Haveli -- were still to join this club. With today's announcement, a total investment of Rs 1,44,742 crore has been proposed by the 60 cities. Mr Naidu said, "60 of the 100 cities are on course of implementation. Already 82 projects are under implementation by the first batch of 20 smart cities and another 113 will soon take off the ground and by next year one would get to see smart cities taking shape". On financing the mission, Mr Naidu informed that DFID of UK, JICA of Japan, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, AFD of France, New Development Bank (BRICS Bank) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank were willing to finance. The process of selection of the remaining 40 cities would commence in January next year. The other cities selected were Agra, Ajmer, Aurangabad, Gwalior, Hubli-Dharwad, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Kohima, Kota, Madurai, Mangaluru, Namchi, Nashik, Rourkela, Salem, Shivamogga, Thane, Thanjavur, Tumakuru, Vadodara, Varanasi and Vellore. UNI RBE SW SB 1837 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0427-942222.Xml The regional level of the competition was held at Hindustani Kendriya Vidyalaya, (HKV), Guwahati under the supervision of regional science centre, Guwahati. A large number of schools from different areas of the North-east took part in the regional level of the two-day competition, held on September 2 and 3, results of which were declared today, a NPS release said. The theme of this year's competition was on "Swach Bharat" where students were supposed to design robots for waste management. During the competition, students took part in three rounds. The WRO is a global competition which is being hosted by India this year. The event is being organised by "India Stem Foundation" and "National Council of Science Museums", under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The International World Robot Olympiad final in 2016, WRO 2016, will take place in New Delhi. UNI SG AKM CJ SB NS1905 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-942253.Xml Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar today held an interactive session with the IIM students and emphasised on the importance of teaching as a profession and stressed upon the need for good quality teachers required to enrich 270 million students throughout the country with quality education. Mr Javadekar held meet at IIM-Shillong before the institute chairpersons and directors. Highlighting the diversity prevalent in the batch, he emphasised on how learnings in such institutes of national excellence occur not just in the class but also outside through peer learning. Appreciating the "Nurturing Minds", an initiative of the students of IIM Shillong, to teach primary school students every weekend as a tribute to the late President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Mr Javadekar encouraged the students for taking up teaching as a career option and give back to their alma maters. Mr Javadekar also highlighted the lack of top quality research which is often considered a key reason why IIMs have lagged behind in international rankings. In his opinion, IIMs need to pay due attention to carrying out serious research and innovation in order to upgrade their status and create substantial learnings. He paid homage to Dr Kalam as one of the greatest teachers. Mr Javadekar ended the session with a call to action to all the students, "India's young population can offer a demographic dividend only if we can skill and educate them well enough; India's transformation can happen only when passionate teachers can lead us from the front. This transformation will be the greatest tribute to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam".UNI RRK AKM DJK SB 1921 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-942444.Xml Saudi Arabia today requested India to host the Ministerial session of International Energy Forum (IEF) in India in 2018, on which Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan agreed. In a telephonic conversation, Mr Pradhan discussed various issues of mutual interest, including Petroleum, energy cooperation and global oil and gas scenario with Khalid A Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Natural Resources, Saudi Arabia. Mr Pradhan invited his Saudi Arabian counterpart to visit India at an early date during which Petroleum energy cooperation can be reviewed and various pending issues could be discussed, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said in a statement. The Minister welcomed Saudi Oil companies to invest and to do business in Indian oil and gas sector. UNI ASH SB 1958 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-942556.Xml Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh today asked the Income Tax Department not to resort to ''tax terrorism'' on the traders and businessmen, to meet their revenue targets. He said the IT Department was free to ensure lawful and legal compliance but bullying and terrorising the traders in an extortionist manner was unacceptable. "Better not unleash your income tax department on businessmen lest they are forced to wind up and shutdown," he warned Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while telling him that no business can survive in a taxation regime that tries to terrorise the businessmen. Sharing the concern of the traders and businessmen who met him at his residence here, the PCC president said he will also raise the matter with Mr Jaitley to ensure that the harassment is stopped immediately. The traders' delegation said the income tax authorities have asked their officials to conduct surveys where they (the traders and businessmen) are forcibly asked to make declarations about their income. They said it was for the first time that the IT department had resorted to such extreme, forcible and arm-twisting tactics. Capt Singh said since the central government had failed to bring back the black money from the foreign banks it was now trying to use intimidating and arm-twisting tactics and techniques to make the small traders and businessmen shell out money, which is not acceptable and simply amounts to extortion and 'taxation terror'.UNI DB AE 1957 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-942517.Xml Pandemonium prevailed in the meeting of municipal corporation today when Congress and BJP members grappled with each other after heated discussion over the issue of non-payment of wages of workers by the contractors. Later the Congress members, led by Mayor Ramesh Mall with BJP member Surinder Bindra, walked out of the meeting and staged dharna in front of the Panchayat Bhawan where meeting was held. They raised slogans against the Corporation administration and the BJP government holding them responsible for deterioration of civic amenities in the twin cities of Ambala. On resumption of the proceedings, the Congress members again raised the issue against the erring contractor who with BJP background was not executing the works including the payment of wages to the workers. Intervening in the matter, the commissioner admitted that the corporation officials had committed mistakes one after another to allot works with vested interests. At this the BJP members stood up and started criticising the Mayor for creating fuss. This was opposed by the Congress members and both sides entered in heated discussion and later grappled with each other. However, Commissioner Dinesh Yadav in an attempt to pacify the agitated members tried to calm them up. He said that the contractor who had not paid wages to workers was called but since he was out of station he did not attend the meeting. However, the Mayor said that the situation worsened due to undue interference by the BJP MLA who had favoured the contractor. The Commissioner, however, said that an attempt would be made clear the wages of workers and then next step would be taken according to directions of the high court. UNI XC DB CJ 2021 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-942567.Xml Sharing his heartfelt sympathies with the members of the bereaved families, Mr Badal prayed to the Almighty to give them courage to bear this irreparable loss in the hour of crisis and grant peace to the departed souls. Meanwhile, he also directed the district administration to provide free treatment to all the injured and extend all possible assistance to the bereaved families. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Revenue and Public Relations Minister Bikram Singh Majithia also mourned the tragic incident.UNI DB CJ 2030 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-942714.Xml However, according to a government release seven school students were died and 13 others were injured in the accident. The accident took place when the students were returning to their homes from DAV Public School, Neshta at around 1330 hrs. Injured students said that van driver Charanjit Singh, who fled after breaking open a window, was driving rashly. The critically injured children were taken to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar, while six were admitted to a private hospital at Chheharta. Police said that driver and owner of the bus have been booked and would be arrested shortly.UNI DB 2056 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-942758.Xml Alleging that the state police have not been strengthened to provide security to the tourists, specially foreign, the opposition Congress in Goa today demanded that government must take steps to ensure that police were adequately equipped to address the security concern of the tourists. Addressing a press conference in the state headquarter in the city, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) spokesperson Avinash Tavaresh said, ''In August, Chief Minister LaxmikantParsekar had said the Goa Police will be applying the security model of Delhi Police for BRICS Summit to be held in the state next month. The government has also asked for assistance of manpower and expertise from police force of other states. The state police is to borrow safety equipment from them. But there is a larger question. This is regarding the security of foreign delegates who would be visiting the state for the summit. But what about security of those foreign tourists who visit the state regularly?.'' Citing the incidents of suspicious deaths of foreign nationals in the state in the past, he pointed out that theincidents had taken place in the constituencies of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs and alleged that law and order situation in those constituencies had been bad. ''For providing security to world leaders and 900 delegates during BRICS Summit, police personnel are bring brought from other states. But what about our police force? Goa has been tourist destination for so many years and yet we have to bring police personnel from other states. Look at the number of advisories given by foreign countries to their citizens visiting India. Is it not a reflection of poor law and order situation inthe state. Security of the tourists should have been priority for the government. The government scrapped tourist protection force introduced by our government and now tourism master plan saysthat there is need to have coastal police,'' the Congress leader said. ''Now tourism season will start from next month. The government should make it clear what are the measures being put in place to ensure security of tourists. The government should have come out with a clear policy with regard to security of the tourists,'' he added.UNI AKM SS NP CJ 2106 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-942778.Xml The activists gathered with an effigy and picture of Pakistan Prime Minister of Nawaz Sharif on the main road of the city this afternoon, condemned the attack and burnt the Pakistan's national flag. They also burnt the picture and effigy of Mr Sharif. The MNS activists demanded urgent action by the Indian government against Pakistan to save the country from terrorism. They also paid homage to 18 soldiers martyred in the attack.UNI XR SS NP CJ 2125 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-942793.Xml Expressing profound anguish at the martyrdom of 18 soldiers in the Uri attack, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today said India believed in the saying ''Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam'' and would always stand firm against terrorism. Speaking at a programme organised by Mahesh Bindra, MP and co-chair of New Zealand Parliamentary Friendship Group for India, she said India would continue to engage international community in its fight against state-sponsored terrorism. Ms Mahajan said one of India's most remarkable achievements of seven decades of freedom is that it has not only sustained but also reinforced a vibrant system of governance based on parliamentary democracy, along with its commitment to secularism and inclusive and equitable development. Since Independence, the Indian people have shown tremendous zeal and enthusiasm for participation in the electoral and governance processes, and thereby have greatly helped in the establishment and strengthening of the largest representative democracy in the world, she observed. On India-New Zealand ties, she said, ''Keeping in view the shared values of democracy and good governance, India and New Zealand would be able to take their relationships to new heights." Since India is emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, Ms Mahajan called upon the two countries to strengthen their economic ties. She emphasized that India and New Zealand should make sincere efforts to tap the full potential of their trade and economic engagements. Ms Mahajan acknowledged that the exchange of visits of senior government functionaries, parliamentary delegations and the friendship groups provides an ideal platform to exchange views on issues of mutual concern. UNI SY SW AE 1924 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0093-940728.Xml No injuries have been reported and some migrants have now been allowed to return to the camp, BBC reported. Police are still investigating whether the fire was deliberate, but an aid worker says it started after a food dispute. There are some 5,600 refugees currently in Lesbos, according to the UN, but the island only has capacity for 3,600. The fire destroyed 30 per cent of the camp, according to Aris Vlashopoulos, an aid worker with the Swiss charity SAO. "People are returning to the camp now as I can see. But the biggest number of the refugees are already on the streets, sleeping outside," he added. According to Greek state news agency ANA, a brawl started on Monday after a rumour that refugees would be deported to Turkey en masse. Many on the island are afraid of being returned to Turkey or their home countries, correspondents say. The situation on Lesbos is exacerbated as many refugees land there and are held on the island until their asylum claim is fully processed. Those granted asylum are permitted to journey to the Greek mainland, while others are turned back. The procedure is part of the EU-Turkey deal brokered in March, in which the EU pledged to work towards visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Europe's Schengen zone in exchange for Ankara's assistance in curbing migrants crossing to the Greek islands. --IANS pgh/ ( 272 Words) 2016-09-20-06:58:08 (IANS) The suspect in Saturday's bombings in New York and New Jersey has been identified as an Afghanistan born naturalized U.S. citizen Ahmad Khan Rahami (28), who was captured on Monday. He has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after a shootout on Monday with police in Linden, New Jersey, reports the CNN. Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park said, he is also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Authorities said Rahami is "directly linked" to the bombings on Saturday in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, and is believed to be connected to pipe bombs found Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. "We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. Investigation is underway to determine if Rahami had help. Though FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr., said there is "no indication" of an active operating cell in the New York area, evidence suggests Rahami was not acting alone. Rahami first came to the United States in 1995 as a child, after his father arrived seeking asylum, and became a naturalized US citizen in 2011. Officials said he had earlier travelled for extended periods to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last five years and married a Pakistani woman in 2011 while he was in Pakistan. Mayor Chris Bollwage said his family, who runs First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, has a history of clashes with the community over the restaurant, which used to be open 24 hours a day. In 2011, the family sued the city of Elizabeth, and its police department, alleging discrimination and harassment against Muslims stemming from disputes over the restaurant's hours. (ANI) Highlighting the issue of enforced disappearances and custodial killings by Pakistani Security Forces in Balochistan, Representative of the Baloch Republican Party at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Abdul Nawaz Bugti said that the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan requires immediate attention of the council. He said in his speech that the military has intensified its operations against the civilian populace as well, adding that Dera Bugti and Naseerabad areas have been under continuous siege and attacks by Pakistani forces for weeks. Giving an account of the rampant human rights violations there, Bugti said, "Gunship helicopters were used against civil populace resulting in killing of more 100 Baloch civilians, including women and children. 260 people, mostly women, have been abducted during the operations since 13 August." He added that a mass grave was discovered in Sui area where 12 dead bodies of previously abducted Baloch civilians were found. He further said that on September 6, Pakistani forces besieged the house of a Baloch political activist Pirjan Baloch in Turbat and continued the siege for seven days, forcing the women and children inside the house to starve. He said that the forces finally ended the siege only after abducting the activist's wife along with her two infants. "We have reported 650 cases of enforced disappearances and 230 cases of extrajudicial murders in Balochistan since January," he said. "Pakistani forces claimed to have arrested more than 13000 people from Balochistan since 2015 but not a single case was brought in any court of law. This further exposes the impunity with which the Pakistani forces operate and carry out a systematic genocide in Balochistan," he added. He said that Balochistan is facing a complete blackout by the Pakistani media which keeps the international community in dark about situation prevailing on ground. He also welcomed the statement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and permanent mission of India to highlight Pakistani atrocities in Balochistan and added that he hopes the member states of the council will follow the suit. "We call on this council to take immediate measures to stop the systematic genocide of Baloch people by Pakistani state," he said. (ANI) The head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition said today that because Russia did not respect the terms of a ceasefire in Syria, brokered by Washington and Moscow, the Syrian government also violated it."The regime does not respect the terms and conditions of the truce. Unfortunately also Russia does not respect it as well and that must have basically given the regime the go-ahead to go with these violations," SNC president Anas al-Abdah told Reuters in New York. REUTERS AKC 0157 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-941279.Xml Suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed six people in an attack on a commercial convoy being escorted by the army in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, the military said today.Boko Haram has killed more than 15,000 people and displaced 2.4 million across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad during a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating a state based on a radical interpretation of Islamic law.Nigerian army spokesman Sani Usman said suspected elements of the group who were foraging for food had ambushed troops escorting the commercial vehicles from Damboa to Maiduguri, a journey of around 80 km."Unfortunately, five civilians lost their lives at the incident and another died on the way to the hospital," said Usman. "Three soldiers also sustained injuries."Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the start of last year, but has been pushed out of most of that territory by the Nigerian army, aided by troops from neighbouring countries.The militants have nevertheless continued to carry out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad.On Saturday, Niger said its soldiers and Chadian troops had killed 38 Boko Haram fighters during operations that followed attacks on two border towns in southeastern Niger. REUTERS AKC 0207 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-941280.Xml Democrat Hillary Clinton accused Republican Donald Trump of aiding Islamic State recruitment, while Trump said she had helped weaken national security as bomb blasts in New York and New Jersey resonated on the US presidential trail.Both candidates for the November 8 election tried to use the weekend attacks to flex their credentials to protect America as world leaders gathered in security-heightened New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly.Yesterday Clinton said Trump's rhetoric against what he calls "radical Islamic terrorism" was helping Islamic State recruit more fighters."We know that a lot of the rhetoric we've heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS, because they are looking to make this into a war against Islam rather than a war against jihadists," she told reporters in White Plains, New York. ISIS is an acronym used for Islamic State.Trump fired back by saying Clinton bore some responsibility for the violence by not persuading President Barack Obama to leave a residual force of US troops in Iraq when she was his secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.Obama and the Iraqi government failed to reach agreement at the end of 2011 on extending a US-Iraqi status of forces agreement, and most American troops were withdrawn.Trump has sought to tie Clinton to the decisions of the Obama administration."Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monster," Trump told a large crowd in Fort Myers, Florida.The campaigns weighed in after the bomb incidents and a stabbing attack at a mall in central Minnesota.In the most serious incident, a bomb went off in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday, injuring 29 people. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found nearby. Earlier that day, a pipe bomb went off in Seaside Park, New Jersey.Yesterday, an Afghanistan-born American suspected in some of the incidents was arrested in nearby Linden, New Jersey, after a gunbattle with police. Authorities had said earlier they wanted to question Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old naturalized US citizen, about the Chelsea and Seaside Park bombings.The incidents, just days after the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, put the United States' most populous city on edge.Trump, who has in the past talked of the need for a resumption of harsh interrogation tactics like waterboarding for terrorism suspects, said authorities need to "get information" from the bombing suspect "before it comes no longer timely," but that instead he would probably be coddled."Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he'll probably even have room service knowing the way our country is," he said.'COMMANDER IN CHIEF TEST'At a speech in Philadelphia on Monday, Clinton called for vigilance."This is a fast-moving situation and a sobering reminder that we need steady leadership in a dangerous world," she said.Trump seized on a government report that said 858 immigrants from countries with which the United States has national security concerns who were pegged for deportation were mistakenly granted citizenship. He said the report showed the need for tighter control over who gets into the United States."Immigration security is national security," Trump said in Fort Myers.Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University who worked on the National Security Council under Republican President George W. Bush, said Clinton was trying to argue Trump did not pass the commander in chief test."When bad news happens, she wants to be able to say, this is why you need a steady hand on the tiller," Feaver said.The renewed focus on terrorism came as Clinton and Trump prepared for their first debate next Monday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, east of the city.With world leaders gathered in New York for the UN conclave, Clinton was expected to meet leaders of Japan, Egypt and Ukraine later on Monday, while Trump was expected to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.A US-led coalition has been fighting Islamic State mainly through air strikes in Syria and Iraq.Trump, who has based much of his campaign message on arguing that the United States is no longer safe and that he alone can protect the nation, told Fox News on Monday morning that he expected more attacks."I think this is something that maybe will ... happen more and more all over the country," he said.REUTERS AKC 0420 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-941291.Xml UN investigators reported today they found it increasingly difficult to interview newly arrived Syrian refugees in Europe and urged countries to allow access to them to help document suspected war crimes.Their inquiry panel, which says it has a confidential list of suspects on all sides who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity, called again for major powers to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court."We are appealing to countries inside Europe hosting newly arrived Syrian refugees to grant us access and remove any barriers to our work," Paulo Pinheiro, chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told the UN Human Rights Council.He declined to name the countries hampering investigators' access to Syrian refugees. Most have gone to Germany and Sweden while others remain stuck in Greece and Italy seeking asylum."Time is of the essence, particularly if the Commission is to continue preparing well-documented reports on the current situation in the country, rather than reports of a historical nature," Pinheiro said.Vitit Muntarbhorn, a panel member, said it was investigating allegations of chlorine gas being used in the Maqsoud area of Aleppo in April and also of chemical weapons used in August.It was also looking into alleged use of incendiary weapons - both "phosphorus and napalm" - in the Syrian cities of Hama, Homs and part of Damascus, he told Reuters.The panel said earlier this month that it had a database of some 5,000 detailed interviews and information, some of which is being shared with European governments seeking to prosecute their nationals fighting as foreign militants in Syria."There have been cases of successful prosecution which our information has aided," Pinheiro told the 47-member Geneva forum today without elaboration.Carla del Ponte, a panel member and former UN war crimes prosecutor, said: "We need a formal investigation to be done as soon as possible. Time is passing and we must be ready for a future tribunal. Don't forget, 'no peace without justice'.""I think it's time that the Security Council is doing something because it is incredible after five years, no justice for the victims," she told reporters.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said today that US coalition air strikes which hit Syrian army positions near Deir al-Zor on Saturday were a "flagrant aggression".Syrian Ambassador Hussam Eddin Aala, addressing the rights council, denounced "this treacherous, deliberate, pre-planned American aggression" that he said had killed dozens of Syrian soldiers and paved the way for an Islamic State attack.Russia has backed Assad in Syria's five-year civil war while the United States has supported non-Islamist rebel forces fighting to topple him.REUTERS SZ AKC 0031 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-941038.Xml The declaration adopted yesterday is not legally binding but calls on the member countries to protect refugees' human rights, boost humanitarian aid and work on their resettlement. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the member states, saying: "Today's Summit represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility." UN General Assembly President Peter Thomson said that he would take forward the commitment of the membership to begin a process leading to a global compact on migration as well as to support a global compact on refugees. In his address at the Summit, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar said terrorism is the principle cause of large-scale refugee movement and hypocrisy towards the menace is unacceptable. He also voiced India's commitment to working with all partners beginning next year in developing a global compact to ensuring a safe and orderly migration that is in the interest of all. (ANI) Turkish armed forces shelled a Kurdish militant target in northern Iraq today and killed four rebels, military sources said.The Turkish army regularly conducts cross-border air operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq's mountainous north, where the rebels are based. The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984.The sources said unmanned aerial vehicles determined the shelling also wounded a fifth PKK fighter and destroyed weapon depots in an area across from Turkey's Sirnak province, which borders the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.Iraqi Kurdish authorities, as well as central government officials in Baghdad, have slammed Turkey for such cross-border activities against the PKK in the past, saying it violates the country's territorial sovereignty.REUTERS PY PM1235 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-941533.Xml The United Nations has suspended all aid convoy movements in Syria after an air strike hit a 31-truck convoy, UN humanitarian aid spokesman Jens Laerke said today."As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being pending further assessment of the security sitaution," he told a briefing, adding that the UN had recently received permission from the Syrian government to deliver aid to all besieged areas in the country.REUTERS VS VP1444 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-941714.Xml The head of Turkey's main opposition said tens of thousands of people had suffered injustices in government purges since a failed military coup, and announced he was setting up a special team to help them.The comments from Kemal Kilicdaroglu could anger President Tayyip Erdogan and threaten the fragile unity that has existed between the government and much of the opposition since the failed July putsch in which about 240 people were killed.Turkish authorities have sacked or suspended some 100,000 members of the military and civil service, including teachers, prosecutors and police officers for suspected links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for the plot. At least 40,000 people have been detained.Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the accusations and condemned the coup. The scope of the crackdown has raised concern from human rights groups and Turkey's Western allies, who fear Erdogan is using the abortive coup as a pretext to curtail dissent.Kilicdaroglu, head of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP), told broadcaster CNN Turk in an interview late yesterday all action should be conducted within the framework of the law."Anyone can be detained for being related to FETO," he said. "The government needs to determine objective criteria."FETO refers to the "Gulenist Terror Organisation", the name Ankara has given to the cleric's network of supporters. Turkey says that Gulen's followers infiltrated the civil service, courts and military with the intent of toppling the government, a charge the cleric denies.CRITERIA"We have formed a team in the party for the FETO victims. They can come and apply with us," Kilicdaroglu said. "We have received information that 25,000 people have suffered injustices so far."In words directed at the government, he added: "What criteria are you using to suspend officials?"Gulen and Erdogan were allies until they had a public falling out in 2013.Erdogan told Reuters in an interview in New York on Monday that the United States should "not harbour a terrorist" and that his activities should be banned around the world.Following the coup, Turkey imposed a three-month state of emergency. Since then, the crackdown has widened further, with authorities targeting teachers in the mainly Kurdish southeast for alleged links to Kurdish militants."The state of emergency should be used to bring the country back to normal," Kilicdaroglu said. "But they took things completely unrelated to the coup and put them in with the state of emergency."Erdogan told Reuters the state of emergency could be extended, if necessary. Critics have said that extending the state of emergency would give Erdogan a freer hand to limit or suspend freedoms, to bypass the parliament as well as taking swift measures against his opponents."It can be extended for three months or one month or even more...Gulen's people have infiltrated everywhere," Erdogan said.REUTERS VS PR1653 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-942016.Xml The United Nations suspended aid convoys across Syria today a day after an air strike hit relief trucks near the city of Aleppo, killing at least one aid worker and around 20 civilians, and destroying a warehouse and hospital.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which said it was postponing an aid convoy that had been set to deliver supplies to four besieged Syrian towns, warned of the consequences for millions of civilians in need."As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being pending further assessment of the security situation," Jens Laerke, UN humanitarian aid spokesman, told a news briefing in Geneva."However we remain committed to stay and deliver to everybody in need in Syria," he added.Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo yesterday, a war monitor reported, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce over.The confirmed death toll on Tuesday stood at one Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) staff member and "around 20 civilians", the SARC and Red Cross said in a joint statement."If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targetting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said in a statement calling for an immediate and independent investigation.The United Nations had just received permission from the Syrian government to deliver aid to all besieged areas in the country, Laerke said. All parties, including Russia and the United States, had been notified about the cleared convoy heading to rebel-held eastern Aleppo."Yesterday's attack is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and it is unacceptable," Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement. "Failing to protect humanitarian workers and structures might have serious repercussions on ongoing humanitarian work in the country, hence depriving millions of people of aid essential to their survival."CONVOYS STALLEDAid convoys for four Syrian towns will be postponed as staff reassess security after the deadly attack on relief trucks and intensified violence, a senior ICRC official said earlier."This is very worrying. We see a resumption of violence, an intensification of fighting in many locations," Robert Mardini, ICRC director for the Middle East and North Africa, told Reuters in Geneva."We had something planned in the four towns, but for now it is put on hold to reassess the security conditions," he said, referring to rebel-besieged Foua and Kefraya in Idlib and government-blockaded Madaya and Zabadani near the Lebanese border.At least 18 of 31 trucks in a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) convoy were hit yesterday along with an SARC warehouse. The convoy was delivering aid for 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra in Aleppo province."Life-saving aid supplies have been totally damaged and a health clinic destroyed, depriving thousands of civilians of much needed food and medical assistance," said Benoit Carpentier of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.SARC's director in Urem al-Kubra, Omar Barakat, was among the dead, Mardini said. "The team is in shock.""Omar was badly injured and the rescue team could not reach him for two hours. When he was evacuated he could not survive his wounds," he said.A separate SARC/ICRC convoy to Talbiseh in Homs province made its first delivery since July on Monday, carrying supplies for more than 80,000 people."It is difficult to read the environment in coming hours because you have a mixture of intensification of fighting and politicisation of humanitarian aid ... It is high time to de-link humanitarian work from politics," Mardini said.REUTERS VS BD1713 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-942063.Xml Afghan government will soon sign a peace agreement with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar led Hizb-e-Islami party, a top official said. Deputy Chief of Afghanistan High Peace Council (AHPC) Abdul Khabir Ochqoon said the agreement will be signed during the next couple of days as details have already been worked out. The deal between the two sides was due to be signed on 10th of September, but was postponed due to some internal issues, apparently within the government.Reports earlier suggested that Hezb-e-Islami party has issued new impossible-to-meet demands to sign the agreement.According to the reports, the new demands include cancellation of pacts with the United States and a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.UNI XC SHK 1725 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0430-942138.Xml The European Union's 28 member states today accepted Bosnia's membership application, taking a step forward in what is certain to be a long process that Sarajevo hopes will eventually give it a place in the bloc.The EU said Bosnia, which applied to join in February, had made progress on necessary reforms, so it had accepted the application. It asked the European Commission, the EU's executive, for an assessment of Sarajevo's readiness.In doing so, Brussels will lay out for Sarajevo what conditions remain to be met before it is granted membership. There is no time limit for the process.While it accepted the application, the EU states called on Bosnia to continue "socio-economic reforms (and) reforms in the area of rule of law and public administration." They asked the Commission to monitor the implementation of a 2009 European Court of Human Rights ruling that ordered Bosnia to allow ethnic minorities, such as Jews and Roma, to run for high office.Bosnia has yet to implement that ruling. Only Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats can run for high office, and the issue continues to be an obstacle to Bosnia's EU plans.But the issue is complicated. A country of 3.5 million people, Bosnia is still split along ethnic lines, after a war in the 1990s that killed some 100,000 people during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The Dayton peace accords that ended the war in 1995 gave Bosnia three governments.Two are autonomous entities, one representing Bosniaks and Croats, the second representing Bosnian Serbs. The third is a central government with a three-member presidency consisting of one Serb, one Bosniak and one Croat; hence the limit on who can run for office.Bosnia has, however, made progress on two other key conditions: setting up a body to deal with the EU and adjusting a 2008 agreement with Croatia after the neighbouring ex-Yugoslav republic became an EU member in 2013, the EU said."Today is really a historic moment for the European path and European future of Bosnia-Herzegovina," said Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic. "This is really some of the most positive news for Bosnia-Herzegovina ... especially for young people."REUTERS VS RK1740 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-942160.Xml German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said today that world powers must look to see if there is a way back to negotiations on a Syria truce "or if this has already become hopeless."Steinmeier was speaking on his way into a meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which includes Russia and the United States, after the Syrian military declared a one-week truce brokered by the United States and Russia over. REUTERS SZ VN1852 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942381.Xml The United Nations suspended all aid shipments into Syria today after a deadly attack on a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies, as a week-old US-Russian sponsored ceasefire collapsed in renewed violence.Washington said it was "outraged" by the apparent air strike that hit a 31-truck aid convoy late yesterday.Russia, which is allied to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, denied that either its air force or that of the Syrian armed forces were responsible. The Syrian army also denied blame.Moscow said only insurgents knew the full whereabouts of the convoy, but this contradicted the United Nations, which said all parties had been notified and the trucks were clearly marked.The Syrian Red Crescent said the head of one of its local offices and "around 20 civilians" were killed.The strike on the aid convoy appeared to deliver a death blow to the ceasefire, the latest failed attempt to halt a war, now in its sixth year, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and created the world's worst refugee crisis.Syria's army declared the ceasefire over yesterday, hours before the strike. While the United States initially said it was still hopeful of extending the truce, US officials acknowledged in the wake of the attack that there might no longer be any agreement left to salvage.That would most likely wreck the last hope of any breakthrough on Syria before the administration of President Barack Obama leaves office in January, meaning his successor will inherit a war that has split the Middle East on sectarian lines and drawn in global and regional powers.The ceasefire was meant to halt all fighting and allow aid to reach besieged areas, at a time when pro-government forces, with Russian and Iranian military support, are in their strongest positions for years and civilians in many rebel-held are completely cut off from food and medical supplies."As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being pending further assessment of the security sitaution," Jens Laercke, a UN humanitarian aid spokesman, told a briefing."WAR CRIME IF DELIBERATE"The attack on the convoy of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent destroyed 18 of 31 trucks."If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targetting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said in a statement. Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called it a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law".While there were contradictory reports of the full death toll, one of those killed was the head of the Syrian Red Crescent for the area, Omar Barakat. The team on the ground was "in shock," said ICRC's Middle East chief, Robert Mardini.The United Nations had only just received permission from the Syrian government to deliver aid to all besieged areas in the country, and had notified Washington and Moscow of the convoy's route.A local resident told Reuters by telephone that the trucks were hit by about five missile strikes while parked in a centre belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent in Urem al-Kubra, a town near Aleppo.WASHINGTON "OUTRAGED"At the time of the strike, US and Russian officials had been meeting behind closed doors in Geneva to discuss extending the ceasefire, although Syria's army had already declared the truce over and announced it would resume fighting.Washington was "outraged", said US State Department spokesman John Kirby. "The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people," he said in a statement.Kirby said Washington would raise the issue with Moscow and reassess the future of its cooperation with Russia.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was unlikely the ceasefire could be salvaged, and blamed Washington for failing to fulfil its obligation to separate jihadist fighters from insurgent groups covered by the truce.A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said the Russian and Syrian air forces were not involved, and appeared to blame the insurgents: "All information on the whereabouts of the convoy was available only to the militants controlling these areas."Syria's state news agency SANA quoted a source in the army as saying: "There is no truth to reports carried by some media outlets that the Syrian Arab Army targeted a humanitarian aid convoy in the Aleppo countryside."DIPLOMATIC GAMBLEAfter five years of fighting that made a mockery of all peacekeeping efforts, the ceasefire deal was a gamble on unprecedented cooperation between the United States and Russia. Trust between the two Cold War-era foes is at its lowest point for decades.The deal called for Washington and Moscow, which support opposite sides in the war between Assad's government and insurgents but are both fighting against Islamic State militants, to eventually share targetting information, the first time they would have fought openly together since World War Two.It was negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry during months of intensive diplomacy, despite scepticism from other senior officials in the Obama administration.Following the attack, a senior Obama administration offical said of the ceasefire: "We don't know if it can be salvaged.""At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage," the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added.Kerry, in New York for a UN summit, said the future of the agreement would depend on Moscow."The Russians made the agreement. So we need to see what the Russians say," he said. "But the point - the important thing is the Russians need to control Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys."The air strikes appeared particularly heavy in insurgent-held areas west of Aleppo, near the rebel stronghold of Idlib province. And in eastern Aleppo, a resident reached by Reuters late yesterday said there had been dozens of blasts."It started with an hour of extremely fierce bombing," said Besher Hawi, the former spokesman for the opposition's Aleppo city council. "Now I can hear the sound of helicopters overhead. The last two were barrel bombs," he said, the sound of an explosion audible in the background. REUTERS SZ BD1853 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942413.Xml US investigators were looking today for clues to why an Afghanistan-born man might have planted bombs around the New York area over the weekend, including whether the suspect had accomplices or was radicalized overseas.Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was arrested yesterday in Linden, New Jersey, after a gun battle with police. They were summoned by a neighborhood bar owner who thought the bearded man sleeping against his closed tavern's front door in pouring rain resembled the bombing suspect.Rahami and two police officers were wounded in the exchange of gunfire.The events put New York on edge and fueled the debate about US security seven weeks before the presidential election, with candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashing once again yesterday.Rahami was suspected of a spate of weekend bombings, including a blast in New York's crowded Chelsea neighborhood that wounded 29 people, and two in suburban New Jersey that caused no injuries.He lived with his family above the First American Fried Chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey.The suspect's foreign trips were coming under scrutiny, with US media reporting that he had traveled to Pakistan and his native Afghanistan multiple times. Police were looking into whether he was radicalized during that time.US security sources have confirmed that Rahami underwent secondary screening after returning from foreign travel in recent years and passed on every occasion.Travelers coming from Afghanistan and Pakistan, which both have a strong Taliban presence, are routinely required to undergo secondary screening."There could have been a more intensive holding and screening in that situation," US Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, told CNN. "The problem is what happened next didn't really go into any depth."Rahami's wife left the United States a few days before the bombings, CNN reported today, citing a law enforcement source.'ACT OF TERROR'Authorities did not offer any immediate information on the possible motives of Rahami, whom Union County prosecutors charged with five counts of attempted murder in the first degree and two second-degree weapons charges.He was in critical but stable condition as a result of his wounds, and police had not yet been able to interview him in depth, New York Police Department Commissioner James O'Neill said today.O'Neill, who was sworn in as commissioner yesterday, said he was encouraged that officers found Rahami hiding alone."It's a good sign that we found him in a doorway," O'Neill told CBS "This Morning." "Hopefully that means he had nowhere to go."More charges were expected to be brought against Rahami in federal court. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the Saturday night bombing "an act of terror."Rahami is also suspected of planting a bomb that exploded on the New Jersey shore on Saturday, a device found near the New York blast, and up to six more devices found near the Elizabeth train station on Sunday night.All of the people injured in Saturday night's blast have been released from hospitals.The bombings and subsequent manhunt prompted even greater security in New York. The largest US city was already on high alert for a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York for the annual General Assembly this week. An additional 1,000 officers were deployed.The blasts, the manhunt and an apparently unrelated stabbing attack in Minnesota over the weekend created tensions similar to those that followed other recent attacks, such as the mass shootings in Orlando and San Bernardino, California.The Minnesota attacker was described a "soldier of the Islamic State," the militant group's news agency said.Rahami had not previously been identified as dangerous, but Elizabeth police knew of his family because of late-night noise and crowd complaints at its halal chicken restaurant. REUTERS SZ NS1922 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942496.Xml Foreign ministers from the United States, Russia and other major and regional powers met today to explore ways to revive a Syrian ceasefire shattered by a strike on a humanitarian aid convoy, with one asking if matters were already hopeless.The United Nations suspended all aid shipments into Syria after yesterday's deadly attack on a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies to a town near Aleppo, as a week-old US-Russian sponsored ceasefire collapsed in renewed violence.The Syrian Red Crescent said the head of one of its local offices and "around 20 civilians" were killed. Russia, which is allied to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, denied that either its air force or that of the Syrian armed forces was responsible. The Syrian army also denied blame.German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier struck a decidedly pessimistic note about the chances of halting violence in the Syrian civil war, now in its sixth year, as he arrived for the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly."We will have to reflect if there are ways back to negotiations on a truce, or if this has already become hopeless," Steinmeier told reporters before the meeting of the International Syria Support Group in a New York luxury hotel.REUTERS SZ NS1921 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942510.Xml Czech President Milos Zeman would vote for Donald Trump if he were casting a ballot in the US election in November, he said today."I will not interfere in internal American politics. I will only say, if I were an American citizen, yes, I would vote for Donald Trump," he told idnes.cz, the website of daily newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes.The outspoken Zeman has often ran counter to government policy on a number of issues and has even called for referendums on Czech membership of the European Union and NATO, although he has said he would back staying in both.In August, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said Democrat Hillary Clinton would be a better guarantee of security.Zeman said in the videotaped interview Clinton would continue the policies of President Barack Obama that he said were linked with several failures, adding "the entire Middle East has been put in disarray, festering wounds remain".Zeman is not the first in the region to throw his weight behind the Republican nominee. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also said Trump's migration and foreign policy plans were vital for Hungary and called those of Clinton "deadly". REUTERS SZ BD1942 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942579.Xml Israel's defence industry faces layoffs, closures and a scramble to set up shop in the United States following the signing of a new US military aid package that phases out Israel's ability to spend a quarter of the funds on its own businesses.The 10-year, 38 billion dollars agreement, signed on September 15 after a year of negotiations, comes into effect in US fiscal year 2019. It constitutes the most military assistance Washington has ever provided to an ally, but was clinched only after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted concessions.Key among those is the gradual phasing out of a clause allowing Israel to spend 26.3 per cent of the funds on its own defence sector, which competes actively with US firms such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon.That means Israeli defence companies will miss out on up to 10 billion dollars that might otherwise have been spent on home-made drones, missiles, tanks and other equipment, depending on the precise terms of the phase-out, which remain unclear. Once that phase-out is completed, all the funds in the agreement will have to be spent in the United States."It's quite a problem," said one Israeli defence industry official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "The bigger companies and most advanced ones with the best technology and capabilities will be able to survive, but the smaller you are, the bigger the problem is."Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the domestic consequences of the aid deal but has said the agreement "will greatly strengthen the security of Israel".Israel has about 700 defence-related firms, most of them with only 50 to 150 employees. They mainly act as subcontractors to Israel's four largest defence companies -- Elbit Systems , Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel Military Industries and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.Israel's defence exports totalled $5.7 billion in 2015, about 14 pct of all exports and a major driver of the economy.OPTIONSNone of the companies asked by Reuters to discuss the aid package were willing to speak on the record, mentioning concerns about future business. But several executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that as a result of the deal they were already considering contingency plans.One option would be for larger firms to open subsidiaries in the United States, like Elbit has done, to compensate for the loss of business. They might also acquire smaller US firms.As one executive put it: "This should be translated into an opportunity for the Israeli industry, which should penetrate new markets and improve their competitive ability.""We should face the global trends and the fact that Israel is losing its ability to compete," the official said, adding the company where he works would "accelerate the process" of searching for a US company to buy.Another area of concern is the loss of Israeli know-how, with aerospace engineers and scientists potentially moving abroad if there is a decline in inward spending and investment.The executives said they hoped that when the time comes, the government will find the nearly $1 billion a year extra needed to keep the sector afloat under terms of the agreement, although the sum may be hard to come by given the fractured political environment.According to Israel's Manufacturers' Association, even a 1 billion shekel ($265 million) cut in the defence budget will lead to the layoff of more than 2,000 workers, mostly from small- and medium-sized subcontractors that have a "to be or not to be" dependence on orders from the Israeli defence establishment.A source close to Netanyahu said the prime minister didn't anticipate any closure of small defence companies, and noted the procurement changes would go into effect only in time.On the domestic political front, the right-wing leader has drawn fire over the new pact from critics, including his former defence minister Ehud Barak, who said that Netanyahu's vocal opposition to last year's US-led nuclear deal with Iran had jeopardised a potentially larger package.However, with uncertainties surrounding a tightly contested election for the White House, Netanyahu was keen to wrap up an agreement, replacing the current 30 billion dollar deal that expires at the end of fiscal 2018.Addressing his cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu called arguments that Israel was short-changed in the negotiations "distortions and fabrications of parties with political interests".Avraham Bar David, a former general who works with some 200 small Israeli defence contractors through the Manufacturers' Association, predicted that "70 to 100 of them" will not survive the local procurement restriction."These companies are too small to sell abroad," he said. REUTERS SZ BD1941 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942589.Xml At least 44 people were killed in protests against Congolese President Joseph Kabila, including 37 killed by security forces and six police officers killed by demonstrators, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.The protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo that started yesterday followed a decision by the election commission to seek to postpone the next presidential vote, which was due to be held in November.Kabila is barred by constitutional term limits from running again and his opponents say the election delay is a manoeuvre to keep him in power. The president's allies deny this and say he will respect the constitution.HRW Africa researcher for the New York-based group, Ida Sawyer, said 17 people were killed overnight and today, while 20 had been killed yesterday. Her statement was based on what she said were credible reports."Most were killed when security forces fired on crowds of protesters. Others died when the security forces burned down opposition party headquarters last night," she said by email.Witnesses told Reuters earlier that at least two people were killed when armed men in uniform set fire to the opposition HQ."We've also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a (ruling party) PPRD supporter and they have also burned and looted several shops and police stations," Sawyer said.Interior ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara told Reuters the death toll stood at 17 and said Human Rights Watch's statement was a "typical" exaggeration by the group. The ministry earlier said three people who died were policemen.UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that nearly 200 people were believed to have been arrested yesterday and the UN received reports of excessive use of force by security forces.Congo has not had a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. REUTERS SZ AN2056 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942769.Xml Conservative presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy has said immigrants granted French citizenship should know "their ancestors are the Gauls", a pitch to woo voters away from the far right National Front.In the race for his centre-right party's nomination, the outspoken former president, whose abrasive style alienated many voters during his 2007-2012 term, said all immigrants should "live like the French" if they wish to stay in France.Sarkozy is hitting hard the themes of security, immigration and national identity in campaigning at a time France reels from a wave of Islamist militant and attacks and Europe struggles to find a coherent response to the ongoing migrant crisis."If you want to become French, you speak French, you live like the French and you don't try and change a way of life that has been ours for so many years," Sarkozy told supporters in the northern Paris suburb of Franconville last night."Once you are French your ancestors are the Gauls," Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, continued.'Your ancestors are the Gauls' is an old maxim which French school children used to parrot in history class and which became a symbol of France's empire when recited by pupils across francophone Africa.Sarkozy's comments drew derision from his right-wing rivals and Socialist opponents, who branded the hyper-active politician for being out of touch with modern-day France."I'm smiling. I'm smiling just a little bit," his main rival for the Republican party ticket, former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, told France Info radio. "We're not all the same, we need to respect diversity.""Do we have to give Mr Sarkozy a history lesson," quipped Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem on iTele. "Yes there are Gauls among our ancestors. But there are also Romans, Normans, Celts, Nicois, Corsicans, Arabs, Italians, Spanish. That's France."Islamist militants have killed more than 230 people since the beginning of 2015, straining relations with France's Muslim population, the largest in Europe. A ban on burkinis by some towns this summer highlighted secular France's distrust for public expression of religious faith.While France's top administrative court overturned the ban in one town, Sarkozy, who projects himself as a defender of French values, promises to change the constitution and introduce a nationwide burkini ban."I will not accept medieval behaviour that wants men to bathe in trunks when women are locked up" in burkinis, he said. REUTERS SZ BD2118 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942781.Xml Iran sentenced Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with permanent US residency, to 10 years in prison and a 4.2 million dollars fine after he was found guilty of collaborating against the state, his US-based lawyer announced today.Zakka, an information technology expert, was invited to Iran by a government official a year ago, but then disappeared after attending a conference in Tehran.State media announced in November that he had been detained by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, and reported that he had ties to US military and intelligence services.Zakka's supporters and his US lawyer Jason Poblete have said that he is innocent of any wrongdoing."Nizar doesn't recognize this process," Poblete said in a telephone interview. "He was there at the invitation of the Iranian government, and he was pulled over on the side of the road by a bunch of men. He's been treated as a hostage ever since."Poblete said Zakka had learned of his verdict last Wednesday, and his Iranian lawyer was told on Sunday."It's 10 years in prison and a 4.2 million dollars" fine, Poblete said of the 60-page verdict. The Virginia-based lawyer said he has not seen the document but was informed of its contents by Zakka's Iranian lawyer.Zakka was charged under Article 508 of Iran's penal code, Poblete said. The code states that anyone found cooperating with a foreign state against the Islamic Republic of Iran faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.Iran's vice president for women and family affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, invited Zakka to attend a conference on women's entrepreneurship in September 2015, according to a copy of a signed letter from Molaverdi provided by Poblete.Amnesty International said last week that Zakka's health was deteriorating in his detention in Tehran's Evin Prison but authorities were denying him medical care.In a statement, Poblete called on US officials to use the visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week to ask for Zakka's unconditional release. REUTERS SZ AN2207 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942823.Xml The father of the Afghan-born man arrested after weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey reported concerns about his son to the FBI in 2014, but officials took no action after reviewing the complaint, the father and law enforcement officials said today.US authorities today investigated whether Ahmad Khan Rahami, the naturalized American citizen captured yesterday in New Jersey after a shootout with police, had accomplices in the bombings or if he was radicalized during trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan."The investigation is active and ongoing, and it is being investigated as an act of terror," US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in Lexington, Kentucky.Rahami was suspected in weekend bombings, including a blast on Saturday night in New York's crowded Chelsea neighborhood that wounded 29 people, and two in suburban New Jersey including one earlier on Saturday near a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park that caused no injuries.His father, Mohammad Rahami, briefly emerged today from the family's restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, telling reporters, "I called the FBI two years ago."A US law enforcement official confirmed the elder Rahami had twice met with the FBI, first saying that he was worried his son was hanging out with people who might have connections to militants, but two weeks later contending his real concern was that the son was associating with criminals.The FBI tried to check out the father's story, and conducted what officials now describe as an "assessment" of that information. However, investigators found no evidence to prompt a full-scale investigation into the son, and the initial investigation was closed without action, the law enforcement official said.At the time, the son was being held on an assault charge for stabbing his brother during a domestic dispute, another law enforcement official said.Rahami, 28, was arrested yesterday in Linden, New Jersey, not far from Elizabeth, where his family lived above their storefront First American Fried Chicken restaurant. The family was known to local authorities for frequent disputes related to the restaurant, which had received noise complaints for staying open very late into the night.The bombings put New York, the largest US city, on edge and fueled a political debate about US security seven weeks before the presidential election, with candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton again clashing on the threat posed by Islamic militants.Two US officials said Rahami had traveled to Afghanistan and to Quetta, Pakistan. The official, and other US security sources, said Rahami underwent additional security screening upon returning from abroad but passed on every occasion. One of the officials, who specializes in counter-terrorism, said the "secondary" screening included asking Rahami where he had gone and for what purpose."There could have been a more intensive holding and screening in that situation," US Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, told CNN. "The problem is what happened next didn't really go into any depth."Rahami's wife left the United States a few days before the bombings, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source.Rahami had emailed US Representative Albio Sires of New Jersey, whose congressional district includes Elizabeth, in 2014 from Pakistan, raising concerns about his wife's visa issues, said Mark Gyorfy, a spokesman for the congressman.MORE CHARGES EXPECTEDProsecutors in Union County, New Jersey charged Rahami with five counts of attempted first-degree murder and two second-degree weapons counts. More charges were expected to be brought against Rahami in federal court.Rahami and two police officers were wounded in the exchange of gunfire before his arrest.He was listed in critical but stable condition as a result of his wounds, and police had not yet been able to interview him in depth, New York Police Department Commissioner James O'Neill said.O'Neill, who was sworn in as commissioner yesterday, said he was encouraged that officers found Rahami hiding alone."It's a good sign that we found him in a doorway," O'Neill told "CBS This Morning." "Hopefully that means he had nowhere to go."Rahami is also suspected of planting a bomb that exploded on the New Jersey shore on Saturday, a device found near the New York blast, and up to six more devices found near the Elizabeth train station on Sunday night.All of the people injured in Saturday night's blast in Manhattan have been released from hospitals.The bombings and subsequent manhunt prompted even greater security in New York, a city already on high alert for a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations for the annual General Assembly this week. An additional 1,000 officers were deployed.The blasts, the manhunt and an apparently unrelated stabbing attack in Minnesota over the weekend created tensions similar to those that followed other recent attacks, such as the mass shootings in Orlando and San Bernardino, California.The Minnesota attacker was described as a "soldier of the Islamic State," the militant group's news agency said. Lynch also said US authorities were investigating the stabbings "as an act of terrorism."REUTERS SZ AN2313 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942862.Xml At least 44 people were killed in protests against Congolese President Joseph Kabila, including 37 killed by security forces and six police officers killed by demonstrators, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.The protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo started yesterday after the election commission decided to try to postpone the next presidential vote, due in November.Kabila's opponents say the proposed delay is a manoeuvre to keep the president in power although ruling party politicians deny this. Kabila is barred constitutionally from running for a third term and his allies say he will respect the constitution.With the unrest forcing schools to close and halting public transport in the sprawling riverside capital, the United Nations expressed fears the situation could worsen.Overnight, several people were killed when security forces burned down the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and attacked buildings of other opposition parties, HRW Africa researcher for the New York-based group, Ida Sawyer, said.Seventeen people had been killed overnight and today, while 20 had been killed yesterday, she said."Most were killed when security forces fired on crowds of protesters," she said."We've also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a (ruling party) PPRD supporter and they have also burned and looted several shops and police stations," Sawyer said.The fire - a criminal act - started between 0630-0830 IST, said opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, a UDPS official and son of veteran opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, who lost to Kabila in a 2011 presidential run-off after five decades of active involvement in Congolese politics.Congo has not had a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960."We have on our hands seven dead and two people who were amputated: one at the arm and another at the leg, in the fire at our headquarters in Limete. There are also multiple people wounded at the hospital," Felix Tshisekedi told Reuters.Tshisekedi, who has called for further protests, said: "We won't live with this barbarity. The people are angry." Witnesses said calm has returned to central Kinshasa by today afternoon, though there were reports of clashes in the suburbs.Government spokesman Lambert Mende condemned the attack on the UDPS but denied security forces were involved.Interior ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara told Reuters the death toll stood at 17 and said Human Rights Watch's statement was a "typical" exaggeration by the group. The ministry had earlier said three of those killed were policemen.Kabila took power in 2001 when his father was assassinated but must step down in December.His opponents fear he may follow the example of leaders in other African countries such as Burundi and Rwanda and change the constitution to extend his rule.Tom Perriello, US Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, said Washington would hold all sides accountable for their actions during the latest violence and that the government could easily have taken steps to defuse tension."Unfortunately, the pattern over the last year has been to dramatically reduce that open political space ... We have seen a crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Congolese people," he told a news conference in New York."We remain ready to impose additional targeted sanctions on individuals who have been involved in abuses or violence," said Perriello, who was verbally harassed and obstructed at Kinshasa airport as he left on Sunday.Adding to the mix of disapproval, Congo's powerful Catholic church temporarily suspend its participation in talks between the government, some opposition parties and civil society groups over the election timetable, local media said.Nearly 200 people were believed to have been arrested yesterday and the UN received reports of excessive use of force by security forces, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.Congo is Africa's top copper producer but many Congolese people have yet to benefit from the country's mineral wealth. REUTERS SZ VN2337 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0441-942870.Xml UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A summit of the United Nations on Monday adopted a declaration on refugees and migrants, pledging to build a comprehensive refugee response framework. The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants outlines recommendations with regard to reception of refugees and migrants as well as supporting them with ongoing assistance under the proposed response framework and a global compact for safe and regular migration. In face of the challenge that more people than ever have been displaced by conflicts and wars, the U.N. General Assembly held the first-ever summit on addressing large movements on refugees and migrants. While addressing the summit, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for more collective efforts to address the challenge of human mobility, saying that "acting together, we can respond to rising xenophobia and turn fear into hope." U.N. statistics show that in today's world, there are roughly 65 million forcibly displaced persons, including over 21 million refugees, 3 million asylum seekers and over 40 million internally displaced persons. At the summit, Ban and William Lacy Swing, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed an agreement to complete the process of IOM joining the U.N. system. U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said the new agreement between the two organizations will benefit both and benefit migrants and member states. BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday called on parties concerned to continue to implement the recent Russia-U.S. agreement on a nationwide cease-fire in Syria. Spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks at a routine press briefing when asked to comment on air strikes against Syrian military positions. According to media reports, the U.S.-led coalition killed 62 Syrian government soldiers and injured some 100 others in airstrikes in eastern Syria's province of Deir al-Zour Saturday. China expressed regret over the casualties caused by the airstrikes, said Lu. Russia and the United States announced agreement on a nationwide ceasefire in Syria on Sept. 10. The truce includes improving humanitarian aid access and a joint military operation against terrorist groups. All attacks and airstrikes will be stopped and unobstructed access will be allowed to besieged areas, according to the truce. The truce has not come easily, said Lu, calling on parties concerned to enhance coordination and cooperation, continue to carry out the deal and create favorable conditions for resuming peace talks and allowing life-saving humanitarian aid to reach civilians in need. HANOI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China has made positive contributions to maintaining the main stream of the world situation, which is peace and stability, said a Vietnamese expert. Le Van Cuong, former director of Institute of Strategy Studies under Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security, made the remark in an interview with Xinhua in capital Hanoi on the occasion of the 71st session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. "Obviously, China has played the full role of a permanent member of the UN Security Council," said Cuong, elaborating that "The country has made remarkable contributions and taken due responsibilities in implementing the UN Charter and ensuring the global peace, stability and development." As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has participated in discussions of all hot issues and in adoptions of all resolutions, said the Vietnamese expert. In term of sustainable development, the country has fulfilled its duty and transformed from a poor and backward economy into a global economic power, Cuong assessed. According to the expert, "China has shared responsibilities with international community with its overseas investment and its participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other economic institutions." Cuong said developing countries worldwide, including Vietnam, can learn various valuable lessons from China's economic development. Specifically, Vietnam can learn Chinese lessons in social management and agricultural development, Cuong proposed. "China's development has not only produced material wealth to the world but also created a new model of development for human civilization. This is a positive mark of China," the expert told Xinhua. Highlighting China's ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Vietnamese scholar said "this is a positive action welcomed by the world. As one of the world's largest green house gas emitters, by signing the agreement, China will voluntarily restrict its emission." "This presents an example for others to follow," the expert hailed, adding that China is also taking the lead in green growth and renewable energy. WARSAW, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Poland has a chance to export some 2 billion Polish zloty (518.8 million U.S. dollars) worth of poultry to China, local media reported Monday. The Rzeczpospolita daily wrote that a new representative office for Poland's poultry branch, to be officially opened in Shanghai later in the month, is to help Polish entrepreneurs enter the Chinese market. The office is a joint effort of the Polish food sector. Poland is currently the only European country which can export chicken and turkey meat to China. In 2015, Poland exported over 105 million Polish zloty worth of poultry products to China, according to the daily, and Poland's poultry exports may further reach 2 billion Polish zloty. For the time being, Germany is the largest buyer of Polish poultry. Exports to that country reach some 400 million euros (446 million U.S. dollars). Poland is one of the biggest producers of poultry in the European Union. (1 U.S. dollar=3.85 Polish zloty) NEW DELHI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 people were killed Monday after an overcrowded bus carrying them skidded off the road and fell into a pond in India's eastern state of Bihar, officials said. The accident took place in afternoon at Shivnagar village in Madhubani district, about 180 km north of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. "Am deeply heartbroken over the killing of 35 people in bus accident in Bihar," Lalu Prasad Yadav, a senior politician from Bihar said. Officials said the ill fated bus was travelling from Madhubani to neighbouring Sitamarhi district. According to India's official television news channel, Doordarshan, so far 35 bodies have been fished out from the waterbody. Following the accident, authorities rushed disaster response force personnel and police to the spot to rescue the survivors and fish out bodies from the pond. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed deep sorrow over the accident and instructed two of his ministers to rush the site. Preliminary investigations by police suggest the accident was caused after driver lost control over the bus. Reports said over 65 passengers were in the bus at the time of accident. However, few of them survived the accident. Officials fear death toll in the accident could go up to 50. "The private bus was carrying 65 passengers," an official said. "After the accident some of the passengers swam to safety and there are fears that death toll could mount to 50." The local government has announced an ex-gratia relief of 5973 U.S. dollars to each family who have lost their member in the accident. Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving. Last year 146,133 people were killed and 500,279 others injured in 501,423 road accidentsacross India, a latest report released by India's ministry of road transport said Global Road Safety Report - 2015 released by WHO last year however said India accounts for more than 200,000 deaths annually due to road accidents. Policemen investigate near the site of an explosion in New York, the United States, Sept. 17, 2016. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said Saturday that there is "no evidence at this point of a terror connection" to an explosion in New York Saturday evening, in which twenty-nine people were injured. (Xinhua/David Torres) NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect wanted in connection with a series of bomb attacks in New York City and New Jersey in the United States was apprehended on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, local police said. Rahami was wounded after exchanging fire with police officers on East Elizabeth Ave in Linden and subsequently taken into police custody. Two police officers were also reportedly injured during the shootout. The suspect, 28, was taken into custody shortly before Monday noon time and only a few hours after New York Police Department released his photo and asked for tips from the public. TV footage showed Rahami was on a stretcher and his right arm seemed to have been wounded. He was conscious and reportedly sent by an ambulance to a hospital for treatment. Police had also found a suspicious package and required bomb squad and police canine to the scene. Rahami was believed connected to all three incidents including the bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan on Saturday evening that injured 29, a pipe bomb explosions near the starting line of a Marine charity run on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and five pipe bombs discovered near a train station on Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The FBI and New York City Police Department had identified Rahami as a suspect in the series of attacks on Monday morning, while New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio described him as "armed and dangerous." Rahami was described as a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born on Jan. 23, 1988 in Afghanistan. The investigation is ongoing and it's not clear if there were other suspects involved in the bombings. Rahami was identified by investigators using the cellphone attached on the explosive device made out from a pressure cooker, as well as his fingerprints left on the device, according to authorities. U.S. President Barack Obama, who is here for the annual UN General Assembly, delivered his first statement in New York since the attacks on Monday morning, commending law enforcement officers and first responders for their professionalism and quick response, and urged Americans not to "succumb to the fear." Nine people were also wounded Saturday night in a stabbing attack at a mall in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota. The incident was investigated as potential acts of terrorism, but did not appear to be linked with the series of bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey, according to police. The attacks came as world leaders gather at New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this week, which puts pressure on the security capabilities of the city's law enforcement force. Cuomo said on Saturday that the state will be deploying an additional 1,000 state troopers and members of the National Guard throughout New York. WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The first U.S. area with locally transmitted Zika, the Wynwood neighborhood in Miami, is now free of the mosquito-borne virus, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced Monday, as federal health officials continued to advise that pregnant women and their partners consider postponing "nonessential travel" to the affected regions. Scott made the announcement following 45 days with no evidence of active Zika transmission in the entire Wynwood zone, which was originally about one square mile (2.6 square kilometers). Florida will host "Dine Out Wynwood" on Sept. 30 to support businesses there and Scott said he will be in Wynwood to participate in the event. "Now that the Wynwood zone has been lifted, we must all work together to help this incredible Florida community fully recover," he said in a statement. "I encourage everyone to travel to Wynwood and join me in visiting the many great local restaurants and businesses." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attributed the success in mosquito control to the aerial application of the larvicide Bti and the adulticide Naled. "We understand that this has been a difficult time for Wynwood residents and visitors," CDC Director Tom Frieden, said in a statement. "Still, we encourage people not to let down their guard. We could see additional cases." Indeed, the fight against Zika is not over in Florida, as the virus is still spreading in another location in Miami, known as Miami Beach. On Friday, the Florida Department of Health expanded the Miami Beach Zika zone from an area of about 1.5 square miles to 4.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers to 11.7 square kilometers). Therefore, the U.S. CDC updated its guidance on Aug. 1 that advised pregnant women to avoid travel to the Wynwood-designated area. It's now recommended that pregnant women and their partners who are concerned about potential Zika virus exposure "may also consider postponing nonessential travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County," where both Wynwood and Miami Beach are located. "People living in or visiting Miami-Dade County, particularly pregnant women, are encouraged to continue to take steps to prevent mosquito bites and to follow guidelines for preventing sexual transmission," Frieden added. So far, Florida is the only U.S. state that has reported local Zika transmission by mosquitoes. The total number of local Zika cases in the state has reached 93. NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Security concerns are plaguing the United States on Monday after bombings rocked New York and New Jersey over the weekend in what officials linked to act of terrorism. The New York City Police Department released a photograph of a 28-year-old Afghanistan-born American wanted for questioning in connection with both the blast that injured 29 people in the bustling Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea Saturday night and the pipe bombing earlier that day in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was taken into custody after a shoot-out with police, local police said, more than two hours after the release of his photo. The attacks, occurred just days after the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, sparked fears among the population of more than 8 million in New York City. At 7:55 a.m. on Monday, residents in the U.S. financial capital were alarmed with an emergency alert urging them to contact authorities if they see Rahami or have any information about him. The klaxon-like alarm that usually sounded for flash flood warnings was sent to New Yorkers' cell phones, in a sign of the urgency authorities felt in chasing down the suspect and preventing additional bombings. The bombings put enormous pressure on the city's law enforcement as world leaders are gathering this week at the United Nations headquarters for the annual General Assembly meeting and a UN high-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants. About 135 heads of state or government are expected to attend this week's event at the United Nations. "We're going to have more security personnel than ever assembled over this next week during the UN General Assembly," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in interviews with CNN on Monday morning. City authorities said they had bolstered an already heavy security force with 1,000 more uniformed police officers and National Guard members. Rahami should be considered "armed and dangerous," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in one of a series of TV appearances minutes after the release of the photo. Early Monday, FBI agents flocked to an apartment above a fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth that the authorities said was tied to Rahami. Just hours earlier, one of the five explosive devices discovered Sunday night at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded when investigators were trying to defuse it with a robot. Rahami, whose fingerprint was found on an unexploded device, was manhunted in connection with the blasts that provoked suspicions of a local terror cell, according to federal officials. In addition to the Chelsea blast on Saturday night, another unexploded device apparently made out of a pressure cooker was found several blocks away. On the immediate heels of the blast, both New York city mayor de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo were cautious about linking the attacks to international terrorism. However, both struck a different tone on Monday morning. "I suspect there may be a foreign connection," Cuomo told CBS News. "That's what we are hearing today, as the investigation goes on." On Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded in a garbage pail along the route of a five-km charity run sponsored by the U.S. Marine in New Jersey's Seaside Park, the Ocean County, about 129 km south of New York City. The explosive device went off before the road run, thus inflicting no injuries or damages, according to local authorities. Also on Saturday, a man stabbed and injured nine people at a mall in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota before a police officer fatally shot him. The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) quickly claimed responsibility for the Minnesota attack. The incident was investigated as potential acts of terrorism, but did not appear to be linked with the series of bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey, according to police. Rahami was identified by investigators using the cellphone attached on the explosive device made out from a pressure cooker, as well as his fingerprints left on the device, according to authorities. Rahami was wounded after exchanging fire with police officers on East Elizabeth Ave in Linden, while two police officers were also reportedly injured during the shootout. Police had also found a suspicious package and required bomb squad and police dogs to the scene. The investigation was still underway and it's not clear if there were other suspects involved in the bombings. U.S. President Barack Obama, who is now in New York City for the annual UN General Assembly, delivered his first statement since the attacks on Monday morning, commending law enforcement officers and first responders for their professionalism and quick response, and urged Americans not to "succumb to the fear." "The threat to the United States is serious," Robert Shapiro, professor and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, told Xinhua. Prof. Shapiro, however, believed it was "not an existential national threat unless there might be chemical or other large-scale attacks." "I don't think the timing is related to the UN meeting but perhaps to the U.S. elections," he said. ROME, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Italian foreign ministry confirmed two Italian were kidnapped in Libya on Monday. The two Italians were abducted at dawn Monday in Ghat, a southern Libyan city, along with a Canadian citizen, according to Komani Mohamed Saleh, the mayor of the city of Ghat, as quoted on the Tuniscope Arabic website. All three of the kidnapped worked for an Italian company that performed maintenance operations at Ghat airport, the website said. The ministry learned of the kidnapping in the early morning and is following the developments closely, the announcement said. Authorities are working with utmost discretion given the sensitivity of the situation, according to ANSA. DUBAI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Producers of solar technology from China said here Monday that while growing competition in the region has weighed on profit margins, they continue to secure market shares across the Middle East. At the three-day annual Intersolar Middle East exhibition opening Monday, dozens of companies from China showcase their latest innovations like solar panels or solar power transmitting technology. Anne Zheng, sales manager from Zhejiang Longchi Technology, said "in 2015, a price war in the region started and we are exhibiting for the first time at the Intersolar Middle East in order to reach out to new clients." Jimmy Wang, vice general manager with Cixi City Rixing Electronics, confirmed that pressure on sales prices increased. However, he added "we managed in recent years to spread our wings across the Middle East as we found new clients even in remote markets like Syria, Afghanistan or Yemen. Dubai is the perfect distribution hub for the region and we also reach out to Africa and India from here." Cuban President Raul Castro (2nd L) holds a welcoming ceremony for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (3rd L) in Havana, Cuba, on Sept. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Str) HAVANA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Cuba on Monday for an official visit that will include a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro to bolster bilateral ties. During his brief visit in Havana, Rouhani is scheduled to meet with Castro at the presidential palace to discuss bilateral political and economic ties, Cuba's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a press release. He is also expected to meet with retired revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, according to Iran's English-language news service Press TV. Before leaving Tehran, Iran's president said his nation wanted to forge a "new path" in ties with Cuba by expanding economic cooperation. In the course of the day, the two nations are to sign several cooperation agreements in the fields of public health, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and energy. Rouhani was greeted at the airport by Cuba's minister of economy and planning, Ricardo Cabrisas, the Cuban News Agency (ACN) said. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Cuba in August as part of a six-nation Latin American tour to strengthen ties with the region, and the two nations agreed to create a bilateral committee to boost economic and health cooperation. Iran has long condemned the U.S.-led trade embargo against Cuba, and is itself just beginning to emerge from a punishing U.S. sanctions regime designed to thwart its nuclear technology program, despite Tehran's assurances that it was for peaceful purposes. Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez said last month Havana was "pleased" with Iran's foreign policy achievements, particularly the nuclear deal struck last year to remove sanctions. Rouhani was in Venezuela for the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, where he handed over the bloc's rotating presidency to Venezuela, and will head to New York later in the day to take part in the United Nations General Assembly. DAMASCUS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 people were killed and many more wounded in the northern province of Aleppo on Monday, in the first hours after a U.S.-Russian truce expired, a monitor group reported. Over 40 airstrikes were carried against rebel-held areas in Aleppo and its countryside Monday, just hours after a week-long ceasefire expired without any extension. Twelve of those killed were drivers of aid convoys of the Red Crescent, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said the death toll could likely rise due to the high number of critically wounded people. Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said the rebel groups attacked military positions on Monday afternoon in the 1070 residential area in the southern countryside of Aleppo. It added that the Syrian forces repelled the attack, inflicting losses on the assailants. In the central province of Hama, the Syrian forces killed 25 rebels with the Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, adding that those rebels attacked several military positions in the northern countryside of Hama before they were pushed back. The Syrian army announced Monday the end of the Russian-U.S. brokered truce in Syria, without talking about possible extension, according to SANA. The Syrian army said the seven-day truce that was brokered by the United States and Russia ended Monday, as previously declared. Still, the army didn't speak of any possible extension to the week-long truce, but accused the rebels of committing over 300 violations to the truce. "The terrorists have taken advantage of the ceasefire to amass themselves and continue to attack residential areas and military positions, mainly in the provinces of Hama, Qunaitera, and Aleppo," the military statement said. The statement said the military forces have practiced high self-restraint, and responded in a few cases when it had to do so to silence the fire sources of the rebels. It renewed old pledges that the army will continue to fight terrorism until restoring peace and stability to Syria. Last Monday, a Russian-U.S. ceasefire was implemented in Syria, bringing relative calm to the most troubled areas, including Aleppo. Still, both warring parties traded accusations of breaching the ceasefire, which was deemed as a good chance to bring the bloodletting in Syria to a close. Enditem A woman poses in front of banners with photographs shown outside the Sao Paulo Museum of Art during a protest against the rape, abuse and violence against women in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 10, 2016. The protest demanding an end to the violence against women, refered to the allegedly mass rape of a 16-year-old girl that occurred in Rio de Janeiro in May 2016. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso) LA PAZ, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia continues to see a high rate of femicides and gender violence despite the introduction of a law securing women's rights in 2013, due to delays in the judicial process and a lack of action to raise awareness about the problem. A total of 67 femicides occurred in Bolivia between January and August. This period also saw 603 rapes, 589 cases of sexual abuse and 18,805 cases of domestic violence, said a report released Friday by the Observatory for the Fulfillment of Women's Rights. The country's attorney general estimated that about 250 women were murdered between 2013 and 2015. Bolivia promulgated the law to guarantee women a life free of violence in March 2013. The new law added the crime of femicide to the penal code for the first time, and making it punishable with 30 years in prison and no right of appeal, the highest sanction under Bolivian law. People walk in front of banners with photographs shown outside the Sao Paulo Museum of Art (MASP, for its acronym in Spanish), during a protest against the rape, abuse and violence against women, organized by the Non-Governmental Organization "Rio de Paz" (River of Peace), in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 10, 2016. The protest demanding an end to the violence against women, refers to the allegedly mass rape of a 16-year-old girl that occurred in Rio de Janeiro on May 2016. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso) Since the law came into force, around 250 cases of femicide have been tried, with 47 criminals sentenced to the maximum 30 years of imprisonment. For Monica Novillo, executive secretary of Coordinadora de la Mujer, a private association seeking to combat gender violence, the delay in trials is a "cruel" element making women who have been assaulted have to wait, while those who have been killed "are no longer in this world to tell of the hell they lived." She told Xinhua that the rate of the cases that have been brought to trial has been far too slow, urging the authorities to speed up the processing of the cases. Novillo said that the violence is due to a number of factors, including a sexist society, outdated gender roles imposed on women, as well as broader political and structural problems. "Violence against women is structural in our society and often degenerates into femicide. The high numbers are worrying," said the activist. Griselda Sillerico from the attorney general's office said that "these terrible murders happened due to broad social tolerance of violence against women. It is preoccupying that these femicides are very high among younger women." According to a UN Women report, Bolivia is the Latin American country that sees the highest level of physical violence against women and the second highest level of sexual violence after Haiti. Left: Former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States waves as she arrives on stage a the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 46th Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner, at the Washington Convention Center, September 17 2016, in Washington, DC. (Olivier Douliery/CNP/AdMe/SIPA/1609181836) Right:Donald Trump takes the stage on the last day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the United States, July 21, 2016. New York billionaire Donald Trump officially accepted the presidential nomination of the U.S. Republican Party Thursday night on the final day of the Republican National Convention. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The proposed trade policies of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Republican and Democratic nominees for U.S. president, would "deeply harm" the U.S. economy, according to a study released by a U.S. think tank. "Clinton's proposed trade and international economic policies would damage American well-being, primarily but not solely due to her stated opposition to TPP and to further economic integration," Adam Posen, president of the Washington-D.C. based non-partisan Peterson Institute of International Economics (PIIE), said in an introduction to the institute's study of both Trump and Clinton's trade policy proposals that was released on Monday. "The policies proposed by Trump are another matter altogether. His stated approach to the global economy of waging trade war and protecting uncompetitive special interests would be disastrous for American economic well-being and national security," Posen said. Trump has threatened to slap punitive tariffs on products imported from China and Mexico, withdraw from the World Trade Organization (WTO), and abrogate existing preferential trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), making protectionist trade as a centerpiece of his campaign. "If implemented, these proposals would provoke retaliation by U.S. trading partners, unleashing a trade war that would send the U.S. economy into recession and cost millions of Americans their jobs," the PIIE study found. U.S. industries that manufacture machinery used to create capital goods in the information technology, aerospace, and engineering sectors would be the most intensely affected, according to the study. The trade shock would also damage sectors such as wholesale and retail distribution, restaurants, and temporary employment agencies, particularly in regions where traded commodities are produced, the study said, noting that the U.S. state of Washington would suffer a 5 percent private sector job loss relative to baseline in a full trade war scenario. "While Clinton's stated trade policy would be harmful, Trump's stated trade policy would be horribly destructive," Posen said, adding the institute has no partisan goal with undertaking this study, which aims to "prevent severe economic policy mistakes by the next president of the United States" . "Curbing trade will worsen rather than solve the problem of American income stagnation by reducing families' purchasing power, and by further slowing productivity growth," he said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (2nd R) meets with European Union(EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini (1st L) in New York, the United States on Sept. 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to join hands with the European Union (EU) to promote the healthy development of China-EU relations and strengthen cooperation to meet global challenges including the refugee crisis, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday night. Wang made the remarks during his meeting with High Representative Federica Mogherini of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the sidelines of a series of UN General Assembly high-level events. Wang said China and the EU successfully held their annual summit not long ago and have reached many important consensus, injecting fresh momentum into China-EU relations. China hopes that the EU can fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the Protocol on China's accession to WTO as scheduled, and properly handle important sensitive issues concerning China's core interests, said Wang. Article 15 requires WTO members to stop using an alternative calculation method in anti-dumping investigations against China after Dec. 11, 2016. For her part, Mogherini said the EU would take the opportunity of G20 Hangzhou Summit and EU-China annual summit to promote a dynamic growth of EU-China relations. Noting that China is an important member of the United Nations, Mogherini said the EU would like to strengthen multilateral cooperation with China and is glad to see China playing an active role in this regard. The EU is stepping up its coordinated effort to fulfill its obligations under Article 15, and the EU's stance on Tibet-related issues has not changed, said Mogherini. The two sides also exchanged views on issues of Afghanistan and Syria as well as the Iranian nuclear issue. William Lacy Swing (L front), Director General of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) signs the agreement with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon(R front) as IOM officially joined the UN during the United Nations High-level plenary meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, on Sept. 19, 2016. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for more collective efforts to address the challenge of human mobility, saying that "acting together, we can respond to rising xenophobia and turn fear into hope." (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Members of the United Nations, on the eve of their VIP-packed annual UN General Debate and in the face of the recent wave of refugees and migrants, on Monday committed to working for a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration through a 2018 compact. The outcome document of this summit, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, "represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility," said UN Secretary-General Ban in his opening remarks. It means that "more children can attend school; more workers can securely seek jobs abroad, instead of being at the mercy of criminal smugglers." "More people will have real choices about whether to move once we end conflict, sustain peace and increase opportunities at home," he said. In response to growing xenophobia and as called for in the declaration, Ban launched a campaign dubbed "Together -- Respect, Safety and Dignity for all." Also Monday, in connection with the Summit, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), formed after World War II, formally joined the UN family when Ban and William Swing, Director-General of the IOM signed an agreement for the agency to work with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. Newly installed President Peter Thomson of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly said, "I will take forward the commitment of the membership to begin a process leading to a global compact on migration, as well as to support a global compact on refugees." "The fate of millions of refugees and migrants rests with us," he said. Peter Southerland, the special representative of the secretary-general for Migration, said in a message to the summit, "It is an issue fraught with peril, but also full of promise. Migrants and refugees are some of the world's bravest people, but also among the most vulnerable." "Their success or failure is our success or failure," he said. "Our ability to protect refugees and to integrate migrants is a barometer of the health of our institutions, starting with the rule of law." World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the group's efforts was helping countries hosting refugees to improve the business climate for them with the aim of creating jobs, and was looking for longer-term solutions such as increased agricultural output in areas where refugees had settled. Much was riding on the Summit as the outcome would have a bearing on everyone' s future, he said. Shri M. J. Akbar, India's state minister for external affairs, gave an explanation of the difference between migrants and refugees and some overall numbers. "While the current plight of the refugees, be it from West Asia (the Middle East) or parts of Africa, is a direct consequence of the armed conflict situations obtaining there; the discussion about migrants relates to the forces of the ongoing globalization," he said. "The two phenomena are very distinct." "Migration is a voluntary process, while refugees flee their homeland due to war and destruction," Akbar said. "To put the issue of refugees in perspective, the number of people on the move globally is estimated at close to 250 million -- one in every 30 persons. Refugees are currently estimated to be around 20 million -- one of every 12 persons on the move." Perhaps the greatest current source of refugees is the 5-year-civil war in Syria. Two of its neighbors are hardest hit by the crush of refugees, Lebanon and Turkey. President Tammam Salam of Lebanon's Council of Ministers, said in his prepared remarks, "The world is witnessing the worst ever crisis of forced population displacement in history, with all what this drama entails of sufferings, miseries, criminality, abuse of human rights and dignity, in sum, a devastation of people's destinies." "This poses serious problems for our stability, our security, our economy, and our public services and the situation is becoming more dramatic by the day which does not bode well for the future of our country and for our future generations," Salam said. "Since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, over 100,000 Syrian babies were born in Lebanon," calling the population rise, "a perilously destabilizing trend of internal growth in numbers." "It is unthinkable that Lebanon could, alone, cope with an existential challenge of such proportion," the foreign minister said. "This cannot continue!" He added that Lebanon, a nation of 4 million people, is hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees. "My country is at the crossroads of irregular migration," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey. "With more than 3 million people, Turkey hosts the largest refugee population in the world. At the same time, we also continue a fight against human smugglers at land and at sea." He said that while Turkey was able "to decrease irregular migration in the Aegean Sea by 95 percent in the last six months," it cannot continue alone. "The world needs a better strategy to deal with irregular migration, and, we need it urgently!" Cavusoglu said. He called for a three-point plan of action to, first, address the root causes of refugee movements, second, support countries' refugees and halt "negative rhetoric such as xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia towards refugees or migrants." Cavusoglu said Turkey has spent more than 12 billion U.S. dollars on Syrian refugees while receiving only 512 million U.S. Dollars from the international community. SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday summoned Shin Dong-bin, chairman of the country's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group, for alleged corruption charges. Shin, 61, appeared at about 9:20 a.m. local time before the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on charges of slush funds and embezzlement, which local media outlets estimated to have reached as much as 200 billion won (180 million U.S. dollars). The summon came about three months after prosecutors raided Lotte Group offices and the houses of some executives on June 10 as part of a broader probe into the group's corruption charges which also include tax evasion. The chairman's elder brother Shin Dong-joo, 62, was summoned on Sept. 1 for alleged embezzlement, and prosecutors visited the group founder Shin Kyuk-ho, 94, for questioning for three days through Sept. 9 in consideration of his old age. Shin Young-ja, 74, the founder's eldest daughter, was detained and indicted in July for receiving kickbacks from local companies in return for offering business favors in the group's duty-free shops and department stores. Lee In-won, the group's vice chairman and the closest aide to Chairman Shin, was found dead in August. His body was found hours before his appearance in the prosecutors' office. Police concluded that he had committed suicide. HO CHI MINH CITY, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Conservationists have found two civet species in Vietnam's central region, which are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the Viet Nature Conservation Center said Tuesday. Through camera traps, Vietnamese conservationists have recorded the existence of the rare and valuable wild animals, Owston's palm civet (Chrotogale owstoni) and large-spotted civet (Viverra megaspila), in Phong Dien Nature Conservation Reserve in Thua Thien Hue Province. The large-spotted civet has been found in nature for the first time in Vietnam. In June, IUCN assumed that this civet species might have been extinct in Vietnam and China. The findings were made accidentally when the conservationists from the center and nature reserves in four central provinces are looking for Edwards's pheasant (Lophura edwardsi). Edwards's pheasant, endemic to Vietnam's rainforests, is listed as critically endangered by IUCN. MEXICO CITY, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's Minister of Tourism Enrique de la Madrid will meet this week with some 60 Chinese tour operators to promote Mexican tourism in China, the ministry said Monday. Madrid, who is on a three-nation promotional tour in Asia, will take part in "Mexico Day China," an event organized to showcase Mexico's sights to China's leading travel wholesalers and tour operators, the ministry said in a press release. Through Mexico's Tourism Promotion Board, the ministry "has launched an important promotional plan for the Asian tourism market, which aims to position our country's image in this niche," the release said. "Through this strategy, we will inform the potential Asian consumers about Mexico's various competitive advantages and establish a positive image of the country," the ministry added. Madrid will also visit South Korea and Japan, where he will take part in Tourism Expo Japan, a trade show organized by the Japan Association of Travel Agents. ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese historical drama "True Friends", staged by the Beijing People's Art Theater, became a hit as the final play of the Alexandrinsky International Theater Festival in St. Petersburg on Sunday. "True Friends" was chosen from a total of eight plays to become the closing show by the art-director of the Alexandrinsky Theater Valery Fokin, according to the Chinese drama's director Ren Ming. The theater thus became the 60th place where the drama had been staged. "True Friends" actor Feng Yuanzhen noted that the foreign version of the show was slightly enriched with new "Asian-style" details, making the ancient story more exotic and modern. The Chinese drama tells a story of Chinese poet Gu Zhenguan who tried to save his unfairly accused friend Zhao Qian. Feng, on his stage debut in Russia, was glad that this performance could attract the attention of the Russian audience to the Chinese theater art. Anna, a Russian university lecturer, told Xinhua that she had never seen any Chinese drama before. At the beginning, the play seemed very exotic, but the acting charmed her. Boris, a theater musician, said he still couldn't completely understand the Chinese theater art, but in the technical aspect the show was flawless. Maria, another spectator, praised the quality of the translation. "It's not only a very consistent translation, it also conveys a sense and emotions of the original text," she said. In 2014, "Our Jing Ke" produced by the Beijing People's Art Theater became a great success in St. Petersburg. Last year, the Beijing People's Art Theater invited the Alexandrinsky to present the famous comedy "The Government Inspector" in China. Ren Ming hopes that such exchanges will become a tradition that will promote cultural exchanges and dialogue between China and Russia. The Annual Alexandrinsky International Theater Festival, hosted by the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, promotes the art of national theaters from various countries. BISHKEK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Resident Mission in Kyrgyzstan celebrated on Monday the 50th anniversary of the bank. "ADB will integrate innovative and effective technologies in our projects to deliver longer-lasting, sustainable benefits," said Wencai Zhang, vice president for Central and West Asia and South Asia Operations of ADB, at the celebration meeting. Kyrgyz Minister of Finance Adylbek Kasymaliev, who is also a ADB governor, highlighted the dialogue between the country and the bank and welcomed their further cooperation in the future. Zhang will hold meetings with the leadership and members of the Kyrgyz government to discuss the country's development strategies and ADB's operations in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan joined ADB in 1994. The ADB Resident Mission in the country was established in April 2000. MUMBAI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indian markets opened flat Tuesday as investors are waiting for the result of U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex opened at 28,601.45, 33.05 points or 0.1 percent down compared to the previous close at 28,634.50. PHNOM PENH, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Tuesday called on people to be vigilant over Zika virus in light of a recent spike in cases in neighboring Thailand and nearby Singapore. "The virus has not entered Cambodia yet, but it has been reported in our neighboring Thailand and Singapore," he said in a speech during the inauguration ceremony of a private hospital here. "Therefore, I suggest that people and health officials pay high attention to prevent the virus from spreading to Cambodia." Hun Sen appealed to people, particularly pregnant women, travelling to Zika-hit countries to be cautious and to prevent themselves from being bitten by Aedes mosquitoes. The prime minister's call came after some 381 cases of Zika virus have recently been reported in Singapore and more than 100 cases of the virus have been found in Thailand so far this year. In a bid to prevent the virus from spreading to Cambodia, the government has installed thermal scanners at international airports and major land border checkpoints. Transmitted through Aedes species mosquitoes, symptoms of Zika include fever, headache, rash, red eyes, and joint pain, according to a health ministry statement. Most of the patients recover within two to seven days, as fatal rate is very low, the statement said. However, if the virus is transmitted to pregnant women, it can lead to the death of babies in the wombs, or babies' heads are abnormally small, it said. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat the disease. SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's military said Tuesday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has conducted a ground test of a new rocket engine that could be used for a long-range missile. An official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told a press briefing that the DPRK is assessed to have carried out a performance test of a new high-powered engine, which could be used for a long-range missile. Whether the engine jet test was a success, the official said, still needs more detailed analysis, but he noted that the jet capability seems to have been enhanced based on the DPRK's state media announcement. The DPRK's official KCNA news agency reported that top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un has guided a ground jet test of "a new type high-powered engine of a carrier rocket for geo-stationary satellite" at the Sohae Space Center in the country's west coast. The state media said the test was a great success. The Sohae center is dubbed in South Korea as Tongchang-ri rocket base, where the DPRK launched a long-range rocket in February and had conducted other rocket tests. The test came after the DPRK said on Sept. 9 that it successfully conducted an explosion test of nuclear warhead to fit on ballistic rockets. Standardization of the warheads, which the DPRK claimed after the fifth nuclear test, was seen in South Korea as a sign of starting the mass-production of nuclear warheads. The fifth nuclear test was seen as the most powerful nuclear detonation ever by the DPRK as it produced an explosive yield of 10 kilotons, stronger than 6 kilotons recorded in the fourth test in January. About a month after the fourth nuclear device test, the DPRK put a Kwangmyongsong-4 Earth observation satellite into orbit aboard a Kwangmyongsong rocket on Feb. 7. The Kwangmyongsong rocket has been seen by Seoul's defense ministry to have extended the DPRK's ballistic missile range to about 12,000 km that may enable Pyongyang to strike the eastern part of the U.S mainland. It was longer than an estimated range of 10,000 km held by the three-stage Unha-3 rocket, which Pyongyang blasted off to deliver the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite into space in December 2012. Two months later, the third nuclear test of the DPRK was carried out. In April 2012 and in the same month of 2009, the DPRK launched Kwangmyongsong satellites, but many countries such as South Korea, the United States and Russia claimed they were failures. In August 1998 and July 2006, Pyongyang launched Taepodong rockets, which Seoul saw as long-range missiles, but South Korea assessed the tests had failed. Pyongyang had conducted a series of ballistic missile launches since top leader Kim gave an order on March 15 to test a nuclear warhead and ballistic rockets capable of carrying the warhead "in a short time." Earlier this month, the DPRK test-fired three Rodong ballistic missiles that flew about 1,000 km and landed near Japan's territorial waters. On Aug. 24, a ballistic missile was launched from a DPRK submarine off its east coast, traveling 500 km, the longest-ever distance by the DPRK. On June 22, Pyongyang launched a Musudan intermediate-range missile, flying some 400 km after lofting as high as 1,413.6 km. It was seen as a considerable technological advance and the first success by the DPRK after several failures. LANZHOU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the first Silk Road International Cultural Expo, which began in the northwestern city of Dunhuang Tuesday. On behalf of himself, the government and the people of China, Xi congratulated the expo on its opening day and extended a warm welcome to all attendees. Hailing the "glamorous Dunhuang culture," Xi said the host city was a major Silk Road hub where different cultures met. Also, noting that the ancient trade route was an important bridge for friendly exchanges between the East and West more than 2,000 years ago, Xi said the Silk Road International Cultural Expo will provide an important platform for cooperation and communication among countries along the route. Xi lauded coexistence, mutual learning, and cooperation and sharing in cultural fields. He said efforts to promote cultural exchanges and common progress are important to driving society forward. He called for more cultural exchanges, promotion of cultural equality, protection of cultural heritage and cultural innovation, and improvements to cultural cooperation to "let more people benefit from the rich and colorful culture created by humankind to make the world a better place." Vice Premier Liu Yandong, who read out the letter at the opening, suggested a new mechanism for state-to-state cultural cooperation. She called for deeper people-to-people exchanges, respect for different civilizations, enhanced protection of cultural heritage and boosts to cultural innovation so that people in various countries could benefit more from modern civilization. Before the opening, Liu met with attendees from Nepal, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Morocco, France and Japan, urging them to continue to contribute to international cultural cooperation and exchanges, and the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. More than 1,500 representatives from 86 countries, as well as five international and regional organizations, are attending the expo. NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi discussed on Monday plans to retake Iraqi city Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) in a major offensive against the extremist group. Obama said despite the fact that the IS has embedded itself deeply within Mosul, he and Abadi felt confident that the offensive will "move forward fairly rapidly." "Hopefully, by the end of this year, we will have seen further progress with respect to Mosul," Obama told reporters after his meeting with Abadi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Abadi, in an optimistic tone, said the two leaders hoped the IS will be driven out of Mosul "within the next few months." However, Obama also acknowledged that it will be a tough battle to retake the IS stronghold. "This is going to be hard. This is going to be challenging and will require resources," he said, adding that he will seek more support from Congress as well as other countries. He also emphasized the importance of providing rapid humanitarian assistance to people in Mosul after the IS is driven out of the city. Last month, Iraqi security forces launched an operation to flush out the IS militants from the town of Qayyara south of Mosul, following victory in July to recapture a strategic airbase near Qayyara. Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, has been controlled by the IS since June 2014, when the Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, giving the IS militants opportunities to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Cuban President Raul Castro (2nd L) holds a welcoming ceremony forIranian President Hassan Rouhani (3rd L) in Havana, Cuba, on Sept. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Str) HAVANA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Raul Castro and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, on Monday agreed to deepen economic cooperation between their countries and expand talks on important international issues, said a government statement. Rouhani received military honors at the presidential palace before holding a private meeting with Castro where the two leaders discussed the good relations between Cuba and Iran and agreed to further boost cooperation and exchanges between the two nations. Castro and Rouhani later witnessed the signing of an agreement on cooperation in the fields of health, research, education, medicine and medical technology between the two governments. The two leaders also exchanged views on other issues of regional and international importance, according to the statement Earlier, Rouhani met with Cuban leader and former President Fidel Castro. Both sides discussed bilateral cooperation and challenges. Last month, the two countries agreed to create a joint economic committee to boost economic cooperation and the exchange of Cuban doctors and other advisors. Tehran has expressed support to Cuba against potential sanctions by Washington despite a new scenario in Cuba-U.S. relations. Rouhani arrived in the Cuban capital earlier in the day for a short visit to boost economic cooperation between Tehran and Havana. He kicked off the visit after participating over the weekend in the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela. The Iranian president will leave for New York on Tuesday morning to participate in the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China hails Britain's approval of the Hinkley Point nuclear project and hopes the project will go well, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday night. Wang made the remarks during his meeting with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on the sidelines of a series of UN General Assembly high-level events. Wang said that China-Britain relations have maintained a good momentum of development and the two countries have seen fruitful cooperation in various fields. There are conditions and a solid basis for the two sides to build a "golden age" for China-Britain relations, he added. Wang said China attaches importance to Britain's influence over international affairs and appreciates Britain's adherence to free trade as well as its pursuance of a policy of openness. China is willing to treat the bilateral relations from a strategic perspective and with a global vision and is going to well prepare for the coming events based on exchange and cooperation mechanisms between the two sides, he noted. China would like to dovetail its Belt and Road Initiative with Britain's development strategy, boost cultural exchanges, and conduct third-party cooperation in various forms so as to promote bilateral cooperation toward a new height with new achievements, he added. For his part, Johnson said Britain is pleased to see Britain-China relations going forward continuously under new circumstances. With the two nations sharing many common interests, Britain believes that bilateral exchanges and cooperation will become ever closer, he added. China becomes an increasingly important partner for Britain, and Britain is committed to developing relations with China, Johnson said. Britain is willing to take advantage of China's Belt and Road Initiative to promote bilateral cooperation in all fields, actively conduct third-party cooperation, and steadily proceed with the Hinkley Point project to push for greater development of bilateral relations in the "golden age," said Johnson. The two sides also exchanged views on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula as well as other issues including Afghanistan and counterterrorism. The Hinkley Point nuclear project is Britain's first nuclear power plant in two decades. It will be co-built by China General Nuclear Power Corp., which has a one-third stake, and French state-owned company EDF. The British government on Thursday decided to approve it following a new agreement with EDF. The Belt and Road Initiative comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, envisioning a trade and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) meets with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York Sept. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met here on Monday with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the issue of development and climate change, pledging further support to the United Nations therefor. China has always been an active supporter to and participant in the cause of the United Nations, as well as a firm defender of the rules and principles of the UN Charter, said Li. China is willing to further support the United Nations in playing a key role in international affairs and contributing more to world peace and development, he said. Stressing that this year is the first year for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the first year since the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted, Li said China, as the biggest developing country, will continue to work with the rest of the world to shoulder the responsibility within its power and make relentless efforts to better global governance. China also hopes the United Nations could carry out its responsibility of international peace and put the development issue as its priority in order to let people of all countries to benefit from the development, he said. Speaking highly of China's role in international affairs, Ban said the United Nations commends China's participation in important agendas including climate change and sustainable development as well as its contribution to South-South Cooperation and the international peacekeeping operations. The United Nations is ready to closely work with China to address the common challenges of the human kind so as to promote world peace and development, said Ban. Li arrived here Sunday to attend the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. This is the first time for Li to visit the United Nations headquarters in New York since taking office in 2013. HANGZHOU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Hangzhou, a major city in eastern China, has followed several other first and second-tier Chinese cities and initiated measures to cool the housing market. From Monday, people without a local hukou (household registration certificate) cannot buy a second home in the city. The restriction is a far cry from two years ago when the city was attempting to pep up a stagnant property market by making access to housing easier. "The policy is relatively mild and leaves room for further tightening," said Fang Zhangjie, head of research at property tracking website tmsf.com. On Sunday, when the change was announced, many home purchases in the city were sealed late in the night, setting a daily sales record of 5,105 houses. TO CURB SPECULATION Pang, a property speculator from Shanghai, rushed to Hangzhou on Sunday night to buy a second home. "We didn't expect the rule change, so we had to sign the contract in a hurry," she said. House prices in Hangzhou have risen 20 percent in the last year. "The market in Hangzhou as a whole is healthy, but there have been signs of speculation," said Yu Xiaofen, head of the real estate research institute at Zhejiang University of Technology. "Excessive speculation raises the cost of living and starting a business. It reduces the city's allure and hurts its long-term prospects." In August, one third of Hangzhou homes were sold to outsiders. In the week after the G20 Hangzhou summit the figure was closer to 40 percent, according to tmsf.com. "The restriction may affect some non-residents, but many have already bought houses and received local hukou certificates along with them," said a local housing agent. "The policy may have some impact, but not much." "The new homes inventory in Hangzhou is low, so the local government needs to sell land to put new homes on the market," said Jia Shenghua, head of Zhejiang University's real estate research center. FEEDING FRENZY "The new round of tightening in big cities is all about avoiding a property bubble," said Li Mingyan of Zhejiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. Easy credit and low mortgage rates mean housing prices in big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, but also places like Xiamen, Hefei and Zhengzhou have been soaring for more than a year. Of 70 cities surveyed, 64 reported new home price rises in August, up from 51 in July and 55 in June. But despite this, many are still rushing to buy. Liu Cu, a Zhengzhou real estate agent,is surprised by the clamor to buy."An old woman from Shanghai bought three apartments in Zhengzhou some months ago and has told me to reserve another three," he said. In Beijing, prices of some homes have more than doubled over the past year, prompting glee in some quarters and groans in others. Sales of resold homes in Beijing are currently rising by 16.5 percent month on month. Xiao Yang has just bought a one-bed apartment in south Beijing after 18 months of indecision. "I could not afford the houses that I liked, so I waited and waited. As prices rose, my expectations had to fall," he said. "Last year, the price was 43,000 yuan (6,450 U.S. dollars) per square meter, and it was 58,000 yuan per square meter in August when I finally bought. Over the past three weeks, the price has risen by another 3,000 yuan. I need to borrow more from the bank." MORE TO FOLLOW Ni Pengfei, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said despite downward economic pressure, more people were now optimistic about the housing market in big cities. "This is rather an odd cycle as people from all walks of life have set their sights on the property market," Ni said. Some buy on expectation of further price rises, and others buy because they fear if they do not move fast they will not be able to afford it in the future, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst with Centaline Property. Zhang said the control measures will only have a slight impact if authorities do not tighten credit. More cities may start to tighten in the future, and if these measures fail to cool the market even harsher measures can be expected, said Ding Zuyu, executive president for the research center of China Real Estate Information. In the past few months, other cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Xiamen, Hefei and Zhengzhou have unveiled measures to cool the housing market, including purchase restrictions and higher downpayments. "As more policies begin to take effect and purchasing power is depleted, housing sales might decline in the last few months of the year," Ding said. by Xinhua writer Chen Shilei BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- As the refugee crisis stemming from Syria's civil war and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan lingers on, nations around the world need to realize that only concerted efforts by all aimed at the root causes instead of empty talks can solve the issue. At a UN summit on refugee crisis held Monday in New York, world leaders approved a declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane response to deal with migration of the more than 20 million refugees worldwide. In fact, Western countries, especially the United States that is largely responsible for the war and conflicts in the regions concerned, needs to take the lead in addressing the refugee crisis, because what they did in those regions has partly led to war, social instability and poverty -- the main root causes of the refugee issue. Take the Syria war for instance. Now in its sixth year, the war has produced more than 4.8 million registered refugees -- who were forced to abandon their home and flee to neighboring countries and regions, especially Europe. The war seems to continue as the week-long Russian-U.S. brokered truce in Syria comes to an end on Monday. Meanwhile, the wealthy Western countries' political inaction could negatively influence other countries. The measures adopted by rich countries to limit refugee numbers have fostered similar policies in regions that have traditionally welcomed high numbers of refugees, according to British think tank the Overseas Development Institute. Examples include the refusal of Jordan to receive about 70,000 Syrians stranded in the desert and Kenya's plans to close the Dadaab refugee camp and repatriate its largely Somali refugee population, the institute said. Eradicating the root causes of the refugee crisis by ending wars, bringing social stability, and promoting economic development, employment and education is the fundamental way to help refugees to go back home. At the UN summit, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China will provide 100 million U.S. dollars in additional humanitarian aid to help solve problems brought about by massive movement of refugees and migrants. He said China is also considering setting aside a portion of the China-UN peace and development fund to support developing countries in their efforts to address relevant issues. Furthermore, China has offered its solution by investing in countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The Chinese investment has promoted local economic development, created many jobs, reduced local people's pressure to leave home and played an important role in maintaining local social stability. Today, as no country can stay immune to the global issue of refugees and migrants, the international community needs to act urgently and strongly in unity to more effectively respond to the issue. Israeli security forces gather around a wounded Palestinian, who was shot during a reported stabbing attack against Israeli officers, near the Ibrahimi mosque, or the Tomb of the Patriarch, a religious site to both Muslims and Jews, in the divided West Bank town of Hebron on September 19, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua) JERUSALEM, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian was killed on Tuesday as he tried to stab an Israeli soldier outside the West Bank city of Hebron, Israel's military said in a statement. "An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to Bani Na'im village," the statement read. "Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death," it said. Bani Na'im has been under closure since Friday after two alleged assailants came out from this village to perpetrate an attack against soldiers in the West Bank, according to Israeli authorities. The army blocked the exits of the village, and residents are allowed to leave only after a security check. The incident followed bloody four days in which Israeli forces killed five Palestinians and a Jordanian. According to Israeli authorities, the men were killed while attacking Israelis, suggesting the return of the almost daily Palestinian attacks seen previously over the past year. Jordan required a detailed explanation of the killing of 28-year-old Said Amro, who was shot dead by Israeli police outside east Jerusalem's Old City on Friday. According to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, Amro was with a group of tourists from Jordan. Yearlong violence has claimed the lives of at least 230 Palestinians and 34 Israelis. Israel says that most of the Palestinians were killed amidst stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks. The Palestinians and human rights organizations say that Israel is using excessive force to quell the uprising, and in many cases kill Palestinians who could be stopped without using lethal force or were mistaken to be attackers. Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, home to more than five million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their state. BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign trade remains under considerable pressure as uncertainties mount, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday, describing the current situation as "complicated and severe." Although trade data in August suggests an improving trend, China should not be "blindly optimistic" on its outlook, and further measures need to be taken to stabilize growth, MOC spokesman Shen Danyang told a press conference. Official data showed China's foreign trade improved markedly in August due to stronger domestic and external demand. Yuan-denominated exports rose 5.9 percent year on year, while imports increased 10.8 percent. But in the first eight months of the year, foreign trade was down 1.8 percent from a year earlier, with exports dropping 1 percent and imports falling 2.9 percent. The weak performance comes against a backdrop of flagging trade growth worldwide. Last year was the fourth-consecutive year that global trade growth was below GDP growth, according to the World Trade Organization. Alongside the prolonged downturn, protectionism is on the rise. Shen said that in the first eight months of the year, China was subject to 85 trade remedy probes, an increase of 49 percent year on year. The probes involved trade of 10.32 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 94 percent year on year. "Relentlessly resorting to trade remedies won't help economic recovery. ... China is willing to resolve the disputes through dialogue and cooperation to create a better environment for growth," Shen said. In Hangzhou earlier this month, leaders of the G20 members, which account for 80 percent of the world's trade, agreed to promote growth by formulating a strategy for global trade and creating guiding principles for global investment policy-making. Criticism that China's investment environment for foreign businesses had worsened was rejected by the MOC as biased. Some foreign companies that rely on low costs and preferential policies are struggling, but this is because of intensified competition and slowing economic growth, not a worsening investment climate, Shen said. Foreign companies that rely on preferential treatment to make easy money may feel the investment environment has deteriorated, but companies with foresight and competitiveness will feel the environment has improved, Shen added. Shen said the Chinese government remains committed to creating an open and transparent investment environment for overseas companies. BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China has set an excellent example for promoting sustainable development both nationwide and for the world as a whole, said chiefs of international organizations and overseas observers on Monday after a symposium on sustainable development at the United Nations headquarters. The UN-facilitated 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by world leaders one year ago. It outlines 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), aiming to guide the world to pursue economic and social progress while protecting the environment. In this regard, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presided over the symposium to collect world wisdom to reach SDGs. China's experience in and contribution to sustainable development has also become a hot topic at the symposium. POVERTY ALLEVIATION As the world's most populous country, China has made tremendous efforts and scored great in poverty-alleviation that are a strong support for the shrinking of poverty-ridden population worldwide. China, with less than 10 percent of the world's arable land and 6 percent of the global fresh water, manages to provide food for 20 percent of the world population. It's remarkable achievement, noted Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations. Chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde commended China for "leading the chart of growth," as the country had doubled its GDP as well as the per capital income of its people over the past 10 years. Macharia Munene, a professor on international relations in Nairobi, noted that it's inspiring for other developing countries as China has managed to help millions of people to get rid of poverty in a short period of time. ASSISTANCE TO OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES As the biggest developing country, China has shouldered the responsibility of pushing other developing countries onto the path of sustainable growth. "China is also deepening South-South cooperation to help other developing countries implement the 2030 agenda, providing support and financing technology capacity building," President of World Bank Jim Yong Kim said. Saeed Chaudhry, director of Islamabad Council for International Affairs, echoed by pointing out that in Africa where once no country or donor was willing to invest, now "You will see schools, hospitals, bridges, roads and other infrastructures built with Chinese assistance in many African countries." He went on to say that for the true sustainable development of the developing countries, China has also provided training to hundreds of thousands professionals from different needy countries. In the field of international trade, China also takes concrete measures to aid its African partners. China's imports from Africa represents about 18 percent of their total global exports. In addition, China has granted zero-tariff treatment to over 400 products from African states, 93 percent of their total exports to China, Chaudhry noted. Numan Fares, a political analyst in Syria, lauded China for providing substantial assistance to countries that "are plagued with crisis and natural catastrophes." Take war-torn Syria for instance. China has provided several aid shipments to the Syrian people to alleviate their sufferings, Fares added. During Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States in Sept. last year, China announced a plan to establish a 20 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollar) fund to help other developing countries combat climate change. Bambang Suryono, editor in chief of the Inhua Daily in Indonesia, quoted this to demonstrate that China is a responsible big country, which, while addressing its own challenges, has also made endeavors to help other developing countries to attain sustainable development. Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, deputy secretary general of ASEAN for socio-cultural community, said that ASEAN member states look forward to working closely with China and UN entities in the course of implementing the 2030 Agenda. GLOBAL ENGINE AND VISION As the world's second-largest economy with a comparatively fast rate of economic growth, China's experience and contribution are greatly valued by the outside world. Under the Chinese presidency, the G20 leaders at the summit in China's eastern city of Hangzhou earlier this month aligned for their work programs with the sustainable development agenda. "This was the first time that the sustainable development agenda was taken as an official action agenda of the G20 summit," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted, adding that "I appreciate the Chinese leadership and vision." "China is an eminent player in global development; in particular China is a leader in the implementation of the 2030 (sustainable development) agenda, emphasizing country-led strategies that are supported by multi stake-holder partnership," said Jim Yong Kim. Helen Clark, chief of the UN Development Program, noted that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank initiated by China and the new development bank of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) will become very important partners for financing sustainable development. "China's Belt and Road initiative has a vision for shared prosperity and economic cooperation among countries along the major economic corridors, which links china around the world," said Clark, referring to the initiative on the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road which was brought up by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. The Belt and Road initiative is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. "We look forward to working with China to see that this important initiative also serves as a vehicle for driving agenda 2030," she added. Moreover, China, as "a driving force for the global economic growth," has become an increasingly important export market for many countries as well as a key investor in many places of the world, said Chaudhry. (By Xinhua writers Wang Lili, Shi Xiaomeng, Ji Wei, Liu Tian, Che Hongliang, Zhou Meng and Jinzheng) BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces said it launched two operations to free the town of Shirqat in Salahudin province and two areas in Anbar province from Islamic State (IS) militants, security sources said. In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, the troops and allied paramilitary Sunni tribal fighters began at dawn the advance toward the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, from three directions following heavy artillery and mortar barrage, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The troops will continue their advance toward the center of the town, the source said. The liberation of the town, which is the last one under the IS control in Salahudin province, is part of a major offensive to liberate the major IS stronghold in Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh. Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, is the second largest city in Iraq. It has been under the IS control for more than two years since the extremist group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014. In the western province of Anbar, the security forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters launched another offensive to free sprawling agricultural area of Jazirat Haditha near the town of Haditha, some 200 km northwest of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, and the nearby rural area of Jazirat al-Baghdadi, from IS militants, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua. The operations in the province came as the Iraqi security forces and allied units are fighting to drive IS militants out of the province after they reclaimed key cities and towns, including the provincial capital of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the source said. The reports of the provincial security sources came hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launching of the operations in the two provinces, in a televised message from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. Iraqi security forces and allied units have been battling IS militants for retaking large territories in northern and western Iraq that was seized by the IS since June 2014. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C) chairs a roundtable on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Sept. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Tao) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China released on Monday its national plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The plan was released by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang when he chaired a roundtable on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The plan consists of five parts, including China's achievements and experience in implementing the Millennium Development Goals, and the challenges and opportunities, guiding principles, roadmap and detailed plans of implementing the SDGs. As the first national plan that specifies various domains and goal-oriented concrete measures, the plan comprehensively expounds China's development policy and its efforts to help other developing countries to forge ahead the process of global implementation. The 2030 Agenda, endorsed and launched at the UN Summit for Sustainable Development last year, is a blueprint for eradicating poverty across the world for the years leading up to 2030. Implementation of the Agenda, including its 17 SDGs and 169 targets, is high on the agenda of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, which opened last week. Leaders attending the Group of 20 (G20) summit, which was held earlier in September in east China's Hangzhou City, also pledged to actively implement the 2030 Agenda. Pursuing sustainable development is the fundamental solution to all kinds of global problems, said Li, adding that accelerating the implementation of the agenda is of great significance for now and in the long term amid a weak global economic recovery and increasing difficulties and risks. While deeming eradicating poverty and hunger as the top priority, the premier called for more efforts to promote robust, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. In the past 15 years, China highly valued and took the lead in realizing the UN Millennium Development Goals, and has made remarkable achievements in poverty reduction, health service and education, the premier said. Over the period, China has lifted over 400 million people out of poverty, reducing the mortality of children under five years old by two thirds and that of pregnant women by three fourths, said Li. Looking into the future, China has fully started its efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda, and has approved and released the national plan for carrying it out, he added. As a responsible developing country, China is willing to participate in relevant international cooperation, continuously increase investment in South-South cooperation, and share development experience and opportunities, he said. In order to support a bigger UN role in the implementation of the Agenda, China pledges additional 100 million U.S. dollars in annual aid to UN development agencies by 2020 on top of the amount in 2015, Li said. He also announced that China's donation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will reach 18 million U.S. dollars in the next three years. The roundtable, hosted by the Chinese government, was attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN General Assembly President Peter Thomson and heads of 16 international organizations including UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, IMF chief Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo and WHO Director-General Margaret Chen. All the above-mentioned participants gave speeches and agreed that progress has been made since the 2030 Agenda was adopted last September, and that China has been playing a leading and creative role in areas such as implementing the SDGs, poverty eradication, dealing with climate change, and South-South Cooperation. The participants also highlighted the important role China has played in carrying forward the 2030 Agenda within the G20 framework. The international organizations present at the roundtable expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation with China, popularize China's development experience, and jointly address challenges so as to push forward the sustainable development of China and the rest of the world. by Xinhua writers Cao Bin and Zhang Wenjing LANZHOU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- As night fell, Shen Hongjie, a woodcarver began his workday at a night market in Dunhuang City, in the northwestern province of Gansu. His Buddhist murals and charming desert landscapes are popular among tourists. Shen is from central China's Hunan Province and has been doing woodcarving in Dunhuang since 2004. He has lost count of the number of pieces he has made and sold. His woodcarvings are even exported, to countries such as the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan. "My inspiration and enthusiasm came from a better understanding of tourists and what draws them to Dunhuang and the Silk Road," said Shen, whose sales topped 1 million yuan (150,000 U.S. dollars) last year. Around him are more than 100 craft stalls, crammed tightly into the busy market, traders hawk their wares to tourists who were drawn to the ancient Silk Road post by the magnificent Mogao Grottoes and Crescent Spring, an oasis in the sandy dunes. The first Silk Road International Cultural Expo opened Tuesday in Dunhuang. Delegates from 85 countries, five international organizations and 66 overseas institutions are gathered in the city to offer suggestions on cultural exchange and intergovernmental cooperation during the two-day event. "Dunhuang has witnessed communication and integration among different peoples and cultures -- it is an embodiment of the Silk Road spirit that features openness and inclusiveness," said Zheng Binglin, president of the History and Culture School of Lanzhou University. "That is why Dunhuang is the perfect place for such a Belt and Road event," Zheng said. DUNHUANGOLOGY Dunhuangology is the study of Dunhuang Manuscripts and grotto art. Over the past decades, scholars and professionals thronged the city to see its splendid cultural artifacts first hand, many of them artists. Minimal, abstract, fauvist, pastoral, European artists from over 20 countries painted white china plates and presented them to the city Monday, a day before the expo opened. Floros Floridis, a Greek artist who had brought three acrylic paintings to the European art exhibition being held as part of the expo, found Dunhuang painting both "abstract and modern." He said the lines and colors, though drawn hundreds of years ago, shine with modernity. The exhibition planner Huang Mei told Xinhua that no artistic form is necessarily better than another given country's different cultural backgrounds, especially in Dunhuang where the blending of different elements can be traced back thousands of years. Deputy director of the expo committee Liang Yanshun said Dunhuang is a rare place -- as it is where four cultures -- Chinese, Greek, Indian and Arabic -- meet. Over 8,000 precious antiques, works of art and bespoke cultural products from national museums and private collections in over 60 countries including France, Mexico, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Italy, Germany, Greece and Iran are on display, a collective demonstration of cultural achievements along the Belt and Road. "Here in Dunhuang, you have a sense that the ancient Silk Road spirit, which the world needs so badly today, has come back," Huang said. INDUSTRY BOOM Ancient Dunhuang was founded in a place where hardly anything grew. But the city's commodity trading market was extremely prosperous. Almost all commodities were foreign -- silver dishes from Rome, spices from India, brocade from Persia. Frequent trading along the 4,000-mile Silk Road bound countries economically, and stability came out of shared interests. Historical materials repeatedly show that when the trading was at its peak, conflicts were rare in the region. According to Liang, 10 agreements between Gansu and participating countries and international organizations, along with about 90 cultural cooperation agreements worth over 100 billion yuan will be signed at the expo. Some 1,000 km from Dunhuang in the province's Dingxi City, Yimei, a folk art company, has joined the "gold rush" of Silk Road-related cultural and creative industry. Its director Jin Aiqin said the company's paper-cut and embroidery products featuring unique Chinese folk custom have drawn a large amount of fans both at home and abroad. "We had exhibitions in South Africa and the United Kingdom over the last two years, and all the exhibits and souvenirs were snapped up by local audience." Statistics from the provincial government show cultural industry grew substantially, accounting for 2.31 percent of its GDP in 2015. Seeing the potential and the publicity surrounding the ongoing expo, Shen, the woodcarver, is looking to expand his business. "In addition to ornamental art, I hope to step into applied art, which can make people's lives easier and more artistic," he said. "With Dunhuang standing in the center stage of a modern Silk Road, I feel like I am conducting business in the center of the world." Visiting Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee Du Qinglin (L) meets with Speaker of the Moroccan House of Advisors (parliament's upper house) Hakim Benchamach in Rabat, Morocco, Sept. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Liu Kai) RABAT, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Speaker of the Moroccan House of Advisors (parliament's upper house) Hakim Benchamach has called for establishing a Moroccan-Chinese parliamentary forum to promote dialogue between lawmakers of the two countries and strengthen bilateral relations. Benchamach made the call at his meeting on Monday with visiting vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee Du Qinglin. He stressed the importance of friendly relations between Rabat and Beijing and the strong ties between the Moroccan parliament and the CPPCC, the House of Advisors said in a statement. He also lauded China's role in promoting peace and strengthening development and partnership at regional and continental levels, the statement said. On his part, Du Qinglin praised cooperation relations between the Moroccan House of Advisors and the CPPCC, welcoming the idea of setting up a Moroccan-Chinese parliamentary forum and expressing China's readiness to boost relations with Morocco in all fields. The Chinese official also hailed the outcome of Moroccan King Mohammed VI's visit to Beijing in establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Morocco is an important partner for China in Africa and the Arab world, he noted. BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China urges the Philippines to solve bilateral disputes through negotiation and consultation on the basis of mutual respect and trust, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday. It was reported that Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said recently that time is not right for the Philippines and China to discuss territorial disputes and the Philippines would only discuss territorial disputes with China on the basis of the so-called award on the South China Sea arbitration. A tribunal in July issued an "award" on the South China Sea arbitration, which was unilaterally initiated by the former government of the Philippines. China has reiterated that it will not accept any proposition or action based on the decision. China's position on this so-called award is clear, spokesperson Lu Kang said, adding that China sticks by its position -- the peaceful solution of disputes through dialogue and consultation. "The door of bilateral dialogue is always open," Lu said. Friendly, steady and healthy bilateral ties are in accordance with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people's expectations, the spokesperson said. Lu expressed his hope that the Philippine side will work with China, show their sincerity in dialogue, properly handle differences through negotiation and consultation based on mutual respect and trust, and push bilateral ties back on a healthy track at an early date. BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tuesday urged Japan to take its neighbors' security concerns seriously and act prudently in military and security fields. Spokesperson Lu Kang's comments came after some 23,000 people gathered Monday in Tokyo to protest against controversial security laws that were enacted by the Japanese parliament one year ago, marking the country's departure from postwar pacifism. Lu told a routine press briefing that the voices of the Japanese people, and their message of pacifism, were reasonable and understandable. Many innocent people in Japan, not just the residents of those nations that Japan invaded, are victims of Japan's war of aggression in last century, according to Lu. The spokesperson urged Japan to learn from the past, listen to the voices of justice at home and abroad, take its Asian neighbors' security concerns seriously, act prudently in military and security fields and stick to the path of peaceful development. The Japanese government forcibly enacted controversial security laws last September which, marking a significant overturn of Japan's "purely defensive" defense posture, were met with widespread concern and criticism both at home and abroad. An Iraqi soldier stands next to a wall with a red cross above a slogan of the Islamic State (IS) group, on September 4, 2016 in the city of Fallujah. (AFP/Xinhua) BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces said it launched two operations to free the town of Shirqat in Salahudin province and two areas in Anbar province from Islamic State (IS) militants, security sources said. In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, the troops and allied paramilitary Sunni tribal fighters began at dawn the advance toward the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, from three directions following heavy artillery and mortar barrage, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The troops will continue their advance toward the center of the town, the source said. The liberation of the town, which is the last one under the IS control in Salahudin province, is part of a major offensive to liberate the major IS stronghold in Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh. Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, is the second largest city in Iraq. It has been under the IS control for more than two years since the extremist group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014. In the western province of Anbar, the security forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters launched another offensive to free sprawling agricultural area of Jazirat Haditha near the town of Haditha, some 200 km northwest of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, and the nearby rural area of Jazirat al-Baghdadi, from IS militants, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua. The operations in the province came as the Iraqi security forces and allied units are fighting to drive IS militants out of the province after they reclaimed key cities and towns, including the provincial capital of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the source said. The reports of the provincial security sources came hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launching of the operations in the two provinces, in a televised message from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. Iraqi security forces and allied units have been battling IS militants for retaking large territories in northern and western Iraq that was seized by the IS since June 2014. HANGZHOU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's e-commerce powerhouse Taobao has surpassed Tencent to become the nation's most valuable brand, according to a report published Tuesday. Taobao's brand value stands at 230 billion yuan (34 billion U.S. dollars), followed by China Mobile at 227 billion yuan, and Baidu at 218 billion yuan, according to Hurun Research Institute. Last year's champion Tencent fell to fifth position at 210 billion yuan, as its instant messaging service WeChat was counted independently this year. Wechat, which has 700 million users, debuted at seventh place on the list, with a brand value of 132 billion yuan. The combined brand value of the 200 Chinese companies listed in the report reached 4.6 trillion yuan, up 7 percent year on year, and a record high. Of the 200 companies listed, 139 have seen their brand values grow, and 97 are private businesses. The value of state-owned brands has decreased by about 3 percent on average, while those of private businesses are up by about 20 percent on average. Financial and property sectors have the most brands on the list, but technology brands recorded the biggest rise, with their average value increasing by about 59 percent. The rapid expansion of China's technology industry in recent years contributed to the growth, according to the institute. MANILA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said on Tuesday that the Saudi Arabian plane that was "isolated" at Manila's international airport was not hijacked, adding that the pilots mistakenly pressed the distress button. MIAA General Manager Eddie Monreal told a news conference that upon landing, the airline pilots of the SV 872 from Jeddah radioed the control tower saying they made a mistake by pressing the emergency button. Monreal vowed to throughly investigate the incident which alarmed the 410 passengers, the crew and the airport security personnel. "There is something that we have to be curious about. That's why we can not just accept the statement of the crew, because this involves security, especially now that terrorism is very rampant," said the official. The plane landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport around 3 p.m. local time on Tuesday. A few minutes before landing, the pilot reportedly sent an emergency signal that airport authorities interpreted that the approaching aircraft was "under threat." Emergency service vehicles and armed airport police scrambled as the plane touched down, escorting the jet to a secure area. Passengers said they were "shocked" to see armed police from windows. One female passenger told a TV interview that they were advised to stay calm "because security men will board the plane to check our passports." She said the passengers remained calm inside the plane until they were told to disembark. Another female passenger told the same interview that the were subjected to body check before deplaning the plane and were asked to stay at the airport. "We were told that the pilot wrongly pressed the emergency button," she said. NEW DELHI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- India on Tuesday successfully test-fired its most advanced long range, surface-to-air, nuclear-capable ballistic missile Barak-8, jointly developed with Israel, from a military base off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha, a senior defense official said. "The missile was fired from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in the state's Balasore district. The test-firing was successful as the missile intercepted a moving aerial target over the Bay of Bengal," he said on condition of anonymity. More tests will be carried out Wednesday, the official said, adding that earlier tests in June and July were also successful. The Barak 8 has a length of about 4.5 metres, a diametre of 0.225 at missile body, and 0.54 metres at the booster stage, a wingspan of 0.94 metres and weighs 275 kgs, including a 60 kg warhead which detonates at proximity. The missile has maximum speed of Mach 2 with a maximum operational range of 70 km. The system also includes a multi-functional surveillance and threat alert radar for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile. MOGADISHU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of people facing acute food insecurity across Somalia has risen to five million, or more than 40 percent of the population, according to a UN report released on Tuesday. The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit - Somalia run by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that more than 1.1 million Somalis currently cannot meet their daily food requirements, while another 3.9 million Somalis require livelihood support. An estimated 58 percent of the people who are acutely food insecure are internally displaced, many of them are living in appalling conditions in settlements spread throughout the country, says the report. It also reveals that the 5 million people include over 300,000 children under five who are acutely malnourished, and among them, more than 50,000 are severely malnourished. Drought conditions continue in pastoral areas of Somaliland and Puntland, while poor rainfall in southern and central Somalia, the breadbasket of the country, has led to lower cereal production compared to the long-term average, according to the report. Peter de Clercq, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said humanitarian partners are ready to scale up response to help families struggling to find food to make it through the day. "The Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 is 32 percent funded and additional resources are urgently required to boost response," Clercq said. LOME, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Togo-China film week kicked off here on Monday marking the 44th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, with about 40 Chinese films waiting to be screened to the Togolese people. Chinese film "The Four Cupids" and Togolese short film "Rhum' heure" were shown to launch the event. "A very interesting initiative... A very good movie story with suspense," Togolese film actor Dyann'k Djovakpo told Xinhua after watching "The Four Cupids." Kouelo Tsifoaka, Togolese movie production manager, said, "'The Four Cupids' shows an interesting storyboard, good settings and characters." In his speech delivered at the launching ceremony, Liu Yuxi, the Chinese ambassador to Togo, said the film week will be an open window to enable Chinese and Togolese peoples to familiarize with each other and know more about each other's culture. Togolese Communication and Culture Minister Guy Madje Lorenzo welcomed the Togo-China film week. "The cinema is an open door to the neighbor," he said. BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China firmly supports the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) playing a bigger role in international affairs, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Tuesday. The 17th NAM Summit was held on September 17-18 in the Caribbean island of Margarita in Venezuela, which holds the rotating presidency of the non-aligned bloc for the next three years. China congratulates Venezuela for successfully hosting the 17th NAM Summit and appreciates the tremendous work the country has done preparing the meeting, Lu told a press conference. The Non-Aligned Movement is an important hallmark for developing countries to pull together and has played an important role in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, he added. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday approved the Margarita Declaration of the 17th NAM Summit. The declaration covered several areas, including consolidating a new international order, achieving self-determination for all people, nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, human rights and anti-terrorist measures. China is an observer state of NAM and has always supported its purpose and principles, said Lu, adding that China attaches great importance to NAM's role in international affairs and will continue to deepen its traditional friendship and expand mutually beneficial cooperation with NAM. Lu also said that China will continue to stand with developing nations to safeguard their common interests, jointly shape a new type of international relations characterized by win-win cooperation and build a community of common destiny. Founded in Belgrade in 1961, NAM is a group of states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. The group is currently made up of 120 members, 17 observer states and 10 observer organizations. SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Troops of India and Pakistan Tuesday targeted each other's positions on the Line of Control (LoC), dividing Kashmir, officials said. The two sides exchanged fire in village Latchipora of Uri sector in frontier Baramulla district, 125 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on our positions in Uri sector this afternoon and we have retaliated to it," Indian military spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia told Xinhua. "The firing between two sides is going on. There were no reports of any damage or causality on either side." On Sunday, four gunmen stormed an Indian army base in Uri, killing 18 troopers and wounding over 20 others. The attack considered to be deadliest in the recent past in the restive region has heightened tensions in India with some Indian politicians and retired military officials demanding a strong reaction. New Delhi blames Islamabad for the attack and accuses Pakistan-based militants of carrying it out. Pakistan however has strongly rejected the accusations of India. Indian government and its top officials have been meeting continuously ever since the attack in a bid to plan its diplomatic and strategic response to the attack on Uri. Indian army said on Monday that it will decide the time and place to respond to the Uri attack. By Xinhua writer Wu Yilong FUZHOU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ma Li brushes a layer of ink on a woodblock engraved with 324 Chinese characters, spreads a sheet of paper on it, and rubs over it with a dry brush. Ma is working on a reproduction of the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, a piece of Chinese calligraphy by Wang Xizhi, an ancient master who lived nearly 2,000 years ago. "I'm trying to use traditional printing techniques and materials to reproduce the charm of Chinese calligraphy," said Ma. "I've sold more than 5,000 copies this year." Ma, 32, is one of two woodblock engravers recognized by the provincial government in Sibao, a remote mountainous town in Liancheng County of east China's Fujian Province. The town was renowned as one of China's four major woodblock printing centers during the late Ming and Qing dynasties. "Sibao boasts a woodblock printing history of more than 300 years," said Qiu Qingsheng, Party chief of the town. "More importantly, it's the only surviving site of China's ancient printing centers, with 34 old printing houses still well preserved." Printing technology is acknowledged to be one of the four great inventions of ancient China. According to local chronicles, 1,200 people, or about 60 percent of Sibao's population, used to work in more than 100 printing houses. Sibao published over 1,000 books, which were sold in 13 southern provinces and even exported to Southeast Asia through the maritime Silk Road. The Sibao Woodblock Printing Exhibition Hall reflects the past glory of the town's book printing industry. The 400 time-worn volumes include a book combining the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Outlaws of the Marsh, and a pocket edition of the Analects by Confucius used for cheating during the imperial examinations. Also on display are traditional costumes worn by local women who worked in the printing industry. The clothing features sleeves that could be removed while printing and then reattached during leisure time. Starting in the mid-19th century, Sibao's woodblock printing began to dwindle under competition from more advanced and efficient Western technology. In 1942, the last printing house closed in Sibao. "Tradition dies hard," said Qiu. "The smell of ink has never left Sibao. As time goes by, more and more people have begun to appreciate the value of its precious cultural heritage." The 34 existing old printing houses, which once housed their owners' families and served as workshops, have been listed as key cultural relics under state-level protection. In recent years, the government has started maintenance of these dilapidated buildings. Covering an area of 5,600 square meters, the 156-year-old Linlan House has been renovated to its original magnificent appearance. However, there has been no return to the past hustle and bustle. "We've been trying to conserve these national treasures," said Qiu. "After renovation is finished, two of the houses will be used to demonstrate the complete woodblock printing process." The key step in the process is to carve characters onto woodblocks. For hundreds of years, these engraved woodblocks were the main assets handed down from generation to generation among Sibao's big families. Unfortunately, with the decline of Sibao's printing business, the remaining woodblocks have become rarer and rarer. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), they were even burned to ashes or sawed into toy pistols in large numbers. "Twenty or thirty years ago, you could buy woodblocks like these for only one yuan (15 U.S. cents)," said Ma, holding a small woodblock. "A few days ago, I had to persuade a friend to sell this to me, and the price was 4,000 yuan." However, Ma considers it a good bargain. "You see how finely these characters are cut," said Ma. "We've got a lot to learn from our forefathers." Born in Sibao, Ma fell in love with woodblocks and their stories as a child. After graduating from junior high school, he learned wood carving in Xianyou County of Fujian and Dongyan City in Zhejiang. "For years, I had to do wood and root carving to sustain my research in woodblock printing," said Ma. "But now I'm sure I can turn a profit by producing special works of art through manual woodblock printing." In addition to printing the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, Ma and his team plan to produce a 6,000-plus character book of ancient epigrams, the Zeng Guan Xian Wen, by the end of the year. "We've been carving the book's woodblocks for half a year, and we need another three months to finish," said Ma. "This will be my first book printed by woodblocks I have made myself." The book will be the first printed from a new woodblock in Sibao in 75 years. KINSHASHA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed on Tuesday amid escalating violence in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). The headquarters of several opposition parties were torched in a riot that followed a mass demonstration staged by the opposition on Monday. At least 17 people, including three policemen, were killed Monday in heavy clashes between protesters and police in Kinshasa. The opposition protesters marched in the capital to protest against President Joseph Kabila's perceived step to extend his mandate, demanding that presidential elections be held on time. DAMASCUS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led airstrike on Syrian military positions in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour was one of the main reasons behind the faltering efforts to resume a recently-established ceasefire, political analysts said. Just days after a U.S.-Russian brokered ceasefire went into effect, warplanes with the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition attacked Syrian military positions in Deir al-Zour, killing 90 Syrian soldiers and wounding over 100 others. The U.S. said the strikes were "unintentional," but government officials in Syria as well as political analysts said the strikes aimed to weaken the Syrian military presence in Deir al-Zour in favor of the Islamic State (IS) group and also to bring back the recently reached deal with Russia to ground zero. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the attack was a flagrant aggression on Syrian military forces in favor of the IS. The general-command of the Syrian army, meanwhile, said the ceasefire was a good opportunity but the foreign-backed rebels violated it over 300 times. "The U.S. airstrikes on Syrian military positions were the main reason behind undermining the ceasefire," Hmaidi Abdullah, a political analyst, told Xinhua. He believes that the United States wasn't fully satisfied with the deal it struck with Russia, whose content wasn't made public. "The United States was lurking for an opportunity to render the deal flat," he said, adding that the rebel violations were enough to bring the ceasefire to a halt, but the strikes had hastened the collapse of the truce. A day earlier, the Syrian army announced that the ceasefire was ended, speaking nothing on possible extension. The army blamed the rebels and their backers on the violations that were made during the week-long truce. Meanwhile, Abdullah shunned aside the U.S. claims that the strikes were carried out on mistake, saying the strikes rendered a great help to IS, which attacked Syrian military positions after the strikes and succeeded to take over several positions. For his part, Muin Ibrahim, another political analyst, said the Syrian army was the sole victim in the ceasefire, and the strike was the straw that broke the camel's back. He said the strikes were a clear message that the United States wants to impose its vision of a settlement, and to tell the Russians that it could turn the table at anytime. Bashar al-Jafaari, the Syrian representative at the United Nations, said the strikes not only undermined the truce, but also exposed the U.S. backing of the IS group. Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said the truce has become a past following the collapses it had witnessed on its forth day, and the coalition strikes on the Syrian military positions in Deir al-Zour. "The Russian-American deal must come out to light, as one of its stages was the formation of a joint operation room, but apparently the deal didn't satisfy the U.S. Department of Defense," he said. Just hours after the truce expired on Monday evening, the rebels attacked several military positions in the northern province of Aleppo and the central province of Hama. Opposition activists also spoke of tens of airstrikes on rebel-held areas, one of which targeted the aid convoys in Aleppo, killing 20 civilians, including one official with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The UN announced Tuesday that it had suspended all aid convoys in Syria after its lorries were attacked by warplanes near Aleppo on Monday. Related: Syria accuses U.S. of supporting terror groups in Syria DAMASCUS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Monday the United States of providing "support to the terrorist groups" in Syria, state news agency SANA reported. "Every time the Syrian government makes a progress, the antagonist countries up their support to the terrorist groups," said Assad, during a meeting with the visiting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab-African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari. Full story Russia blames U.S. for intensified conflicts in Syria despite truce accord MOSCOW, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Conflicts in Syria have intensified over the week despite the Russia-U.S. truce accord which started on Monday, as militants continued targeting Syrian government troops, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday. Aid is seen strewn across the floor in the town of Orum al-Kubra on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on September 20, 2016, the morning after a convoy delivering aid was hit by a deadly air strike. (AFP/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led airstrike on Syrian military positions in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour was one of the main reasons behind the faltering efforts to resume a recently-established ceasefire, political analysts said. Just days after a U.S.-Russian brokered ceasefire went into effect, warplanes with the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition attacked Syrian military positions in Deir al-Zour, killing 90 Syrian soldiers and wounding over 100 others. The U.S. said the strikes were "unintentional," but government officials in Syria as well as political analysts said the strikes aimed to weaken the Syrian military presence in Deir al-Zour in favor of the Islamic State (IS) group and also to bring back the recently reached deal with Russia to ground zero. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the attack was a flagrant aggression on Syrian military forces in favor of the IS. The general-command of the Syrian army, meanwhile, said the ceasefire was a good opportunity but the foreign-backed rebels violated it over 300 times. "The U.S. airstrikes on Syrian military positions were the main reason behind undermining the ceasefire," Hmaidi Abdullah, a political analyst, told Xinhua. He believes that the United States wasn't fully satisfied with the deal it struck with Russia, whose content wasn't made public. "The United States was lurking for an opportunity to render the deal flat," he said, adding that the rebel violations were enough to bring the ceasefire to a halt, but the strikes had hastened the collapse of the truce. A day earlier, the Syrian army announced that the ceasefire was ended, speaking nothing on possible extension. The army blamed the rebels and their backers on the violations that were made during the week-long truce. Meanwhile, Abdullah shunned aside the U.S. claims that the strikes were carried out on mistake, saying the strikes rendered a great help to IS, which attacked Syrian military positions after the strikes and succeeded to take over several positions. For his part, Muin Ibrahim, another political analyst, said the Syrian army was the sole victim in the ceasefire, and the strike was the straw that broke the camel's back. He said the strikes were a clear message that the United States wants to impose its vision of a settlement, and to tell the Russians that it could turn the table at anytime. Bashar al-Jafaari, the Syrian representative at the United Nations, said the strikes not only undermined the truce, but also exposed the U.S. backing of the IS group. Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said the truce has become a past following the collapses it had witnessed on its forth day, and the coalition strikes on the Syrian military positions in Deir al-Zour. "The Russian-American deal must come out to light, as one of its stages was the formation of a joint operation room, but apparently the deal didn't satisfy the U.S. Department of Defense," he said. Just hours after the truce expired on Monday evening, the rebels attacked several military positions in the northern province of Aleppo and the central province of Hama. Opposition activists also spoke of tens of airstrikes on rebel-held areas, one of which targeted the aid convoys in Aleppo, killing 20 civilians, including one official with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The UN announced Tuesday that it had suspended all aid convoys in Syria after its lorries were attacked by warplanes near Aleppo on Monday. DAMASCUS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Several humanitarian organizations in Syria Tuesday condemned the airstrikes that targeted a warehouse of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in the northern province of Aleppo. In a joint statement, SARC as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said they were outraged by the "horrific attack" that was carried out on Monday evening on a SARC warehouse and an aid convoy in Orem Al Kubra in the countryside of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 people were killed in the attack. The warplanes were not identified, even though opposition activists accused the Syrian and Russian air force of being behind it, a claim denied later by Moscow. Meanwhile, the joint statement said 20 civilians were killed as well as a SARC staff member, Omar Barakat, while they were unloading trucks carrying relief aid, much of which was also destroyed. "The attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance," the joint statement said. "It is totally unacceptable that our staff and volunteers continue to pay such a high price because of the ongoing fighting," said the SARC President Abdulrahman Attar, according to the statement. Tadateru Konoe, the President of the IFRC, called on the international community to ensure the protection of the aid workers, as "We are not part of this conflict." The aforementioned organizations renewed calls on all parties to the conflict adhere to the rules of international humanitarian law, which includes protecting aid workers. During the past six years, 54 staff and volunteers of SARC have lost their lives while on duty, the statement said. On Tuesday, SARC said it will suspend operations for three days as a result of the attack. The UN also announced Tuesday it had suspended all aid convoys in Syria after its lorries were attacked by warplanes near Aleppo on Monday. DAMASCUS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Tuesday denied striking aid convoys in the northern province of Aleppo, the Syrian national TV said. The army said the reports speaking of airstrikes on an aid convoy in the northern countryside of Aleppo were baseless. A day earlier, at least 20 civilians were killed, as well as an aid worker with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in an attack that targeted the convoy in Aleppo. Several opposition groups accused the Russian and Syrian warplanes of targeting the convoy. Humanitarian organizations in Syria condemned the attacks on Tuesday. In a joint statement, SARC as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said they were outraged by the "horrific attack" that was carried out on Monday evening on a SARC warehouse and an aid convoy in Orem Al Kubra in the countryside of Aleppo. The joint statement said 20 civilians were killed as well as a SARC staff member, Omar Barakat, while they were unloading trucks carrying relief aid, much of which was also destroyed. "The attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance," the joint statement said. On Tuesday, SARC said it will suspend operations for three days as a result of the attack. The UN also announced Tuesday it had suspended all aid convoys in Syria after its lorries were attacked by warplanes near Aleppo on Monday. Syrian government soldiers walk in the damaged al-Farafira souk in the government-held side of Aleppo's historic city centre on September 16, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Tuesday denied striking aid convoys in the northern province of Aleppo, the Syrian national TV said. The army said the reports speaking of airstrikes on an aid convoy in the northern countryside of Aleppo were baseless. A day earlier, at least 20 civilians were killed, as well as an aid worker with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in an attack that targeted the convoy in Aleppo. Several opposition groups accused the Russian and Syrian warplanes of targeting the convoy. Humanitarian organizations in Syria condemned the attacks on Tuesday. In a joint statement, SARC as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said they were outraged by the "horrific attack" that was carried out on Monday evening on a SARC warehouse and an aid convoy in Orem Al Kubra in the countryside of Aleppo. The joint statement said 20 civilians were killed as well as a SARC staff member, Omar Barakat, while they were unloading trucks carrying relief aid, much of which was also destroyed. "The attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance," the joint statement said. On Tuesday, SARC said it will suspend operations for three days as a result of the attack. The UN also announced Tuesday it had suspended all aid convoys in Syria after its lorries were attacked by warplanes near Aleppo on Monday. KHARTOUM, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on Tuesday signed contracts with two consultancy offices to conduct technical studies on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). "It is an event that we are witnessing today after long path that we have been through to achieve this stage," Egypt's Minister of Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Ati said when addressing the signing ceremony of the contract in Khartoum Tuesday. "We have bigger dreams of regional integration. Our objectives are to generate electricity and to reduce power blackout in all the countries," he noted. Mutaz Mussa, Sudan's Water Resources and Electricity Minister, for his part, said "I'm confident that our three countries have the necessary expertise to support, validate and approve the two studies report in a joint effort with the consultant." Motuma Bedassa, Ethiopia's Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, addressing the ceremony, said "many prior studies have indicators that the GERD can be filled and operated without causing any significant harm to any of the three eastern Nile countries." The Tripartite National Committee (TNC) should engage in complete harmony and good faith in order to ensure sustainable cooperation of the three countries in the management of trans-boundary water resources in the eastern Nile, he noted. He said that there is no room for competition or exerting unnecessary effort in outsmarting each other in the work of the TNC during the conduct of the two studies. Bedassa further noted that it is also very important to focus on the technical aspects of the studies and not to engage in the hydro politics aspects which may will divert the TNC attention into unwanted directions. In September 2014, local expert committees from Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia recommended conducting two more studies on the GERD. The first proposed test was on the dam's impact on the water shares of Egypt and Sudan, and the second on the anticipated environmental, economic and social impact on the two countries. The GERD worries Egypt which fears that the construction of the dam would affect its share of the Nile water, which amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters, while Ethiopia reiterates that the dam is likely to make a shift in its wealth, namely in the field of electricity. The GERD, extending on an area of 1,800 square kilometers, is scheduled to be completed in three years at a cost of 4.7 billion U.S. dollars. Enditem BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping ordered that all individuals and agencies who contributed to the success of the G20 Hangzhou summit should be commended. In an instruction read out Tuesday at a conference for major contributors to the summit, Xi said that the values shown by those involved -- patriotism, selflessness and dedication -- should be promoted across society. He said these values should play an important part in the cultivation and practice of socialist core values, culture and ethics. The president attributed the summit's success to the organizing committee as well as central and local authorities under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The Hangzhou summit has shown China's spirit and strength to the world and left a deep China mark on G20 progress, Xi said. Xi ordered efforts to pursue follow-up work, implement the summit's achievements, and fully publicize its effects. The president also spoke highly of Hangzhou residents, saying they had made a major contribution to the summit's success with their dedication and voluntary service. The conference for contributors was held in Hangzhou Tuesday, with more than 2,000 people participating. The 11th G20 summit was held earlier in September in the capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. NAIROBI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has created a friendly policy and environment to attract Chinese investment in the agro-chemicals market, a senior official said on Tuesday. Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Willy Bett, said the next phase of Sino-Kenya agricultural cooperation will focus on development of a robust fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing sector. "Kenya has been collaborating with China in the field of agriculture to enhance productivity of this sector. We encourage Chinese investors to explore our agro-chemical industry that has potential for growth," Bett said. He was speaking in Nairobi during the opening of the 2nd China-Africa Agro-chemicals Summit and Exhibition attended by policymakers, regulators and industry executives. An estimated 40 Chinese firms are showcasing their products at the two-day exhibition. Kenya wants strengthen partnership with China in the areas of research, technology and skills transfer in order to create a vibrant agro-chemicals industry, Bett said. "China is a leading producer and exporter of fertilizers and chemicals for management of crop diseases and pests. The country can help us develop our own agro-chemicals industry," said Bett. Kenya is keen on adopting China's technology and innovations to boost production of environmental-friendly pesticides and fertilizers, he said. He added that Kenya's regulatory agencies had streamlined issuance of permits to encourage foreign direct investment in the agro-chemicals industry. Evelyn Lusenaka, CEO of the Agro-chemicals Association of Kenya, said the market for farm inputs like fertilizers and pesticides have bright prospects as Kenya is trying to modernize the agriculture sector. "We have witnessed a rapid growth of agro-chemicals industry in Kenya as food production systems become highly mechanized. There is need to encourage more external players to invest in this sector," Lusenaka said. BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government on Tuesday announced measures to stimulate venture capital (VC) in an effort to sustain the ongoing entrepreneurial wave. To increase investment in cash-starved startups, China will nurture more VC investors, strengthen policy support, diversify corporate financing channels and allow in more foreign capital, according to a guideline released by the State Council. Industrial leaders, business incubators, wealth management companies and other institutional investors will be encouraged to make investment, as well as individuals, such as angel investors, said the guideline. State-owned companies will be allowed to set up VC funds or invest in new firms. Venture loans will also be promoted in an orderly manner. The official policy support will focus on taxation and coordination between VC investment and government projects. China will attract foreign VC by granting easier access and simplifying procedures. Domestic companies will be encouraged to invest in foreign startups. In addition, the government will enhance supervision, create a withdrawal mechanism and help set up an industrial association for venture investors. Robust VC will help generate new growth impetus and stabilize the economy,the guideline said. Confronted with a prolonged economic slowdown, policymakers are promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation to sustain growth, rolling out preferential policies for people to establish their own businesses. New business registrations jumped 28.9 percent in the first eight months of 2016. Refugees land at Lesbos island, close to Eftalou, Greece, after crossing the Aegean Sea, Nov. 8, 2015. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) GENEVA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced that the number of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach European soil this year passed the 300,000 mark on Tuesday. Though lower than the 520,000 arrivals registered during the first nine months of last year, the figure still represents a significant increase from 2014, a year which saw 216,054 arrivals on the European Union territory. UNHCR said that the pattern of arrivals in Italy have remained unchanged from last year, with some 130,000 refugees and migrants arriving in 2016 compared to 132,000 last year. The situation in the other main country of arrival, Greece, has drastically changed however. Some 385,000 arrivals were recorded there by the end of September 2015, compared to 165,750 arrivals recorded so fa this year. The nationalities of those reaching Greek and Italian shores are also different. While those landing in Greece hail mainly from Syria (48 percent), Afghanistan (25 percent) and Iraq (15 percent), those reaching Italy originate from Nigeria (20 percent), Eritrea (12 percent) as well as Gambia, Guinea, Sudan, and Ivory Coast (7 percent each). With total arrivals this year being 42 percent lower than during the same period last year, UNHCR reported that the number of deaths however has not seen the same decrease. A total of 3,211 individuals have drowned or gone missing at sea since January, representing only a 15 percent drop from the casualty count of 3,771 for the whole of 2015. If such numbers continue unabated, UNHCR warned that this year will be deadliest on record for maritime refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe. GENEVA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Swiss watch exports in August 2016 totalled 1.4 billion CHF (1.43 billion U.S. dollars), down 8.8 percent from last year, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported on Tuesday. "The fall in value was explained almost entirely by watches made of precious metals," the federation explained in a statement. "At the other extreme, steel timepieces reported growth as did the other materials category. Volumes fell across the board," it added. With both the number of precious-metal wristwatches sold abroad and their export value dropping by over 25 percent last month, the Federation said that timepieces costing more than 3,000 CHF suffered the steepest export-decline in the period under review. Watches priced between 200 CHF and 3,000 CHF showed significant growth on the other hand, while the export of products priced below 200 CHF remained constant in value terms, it added. Figures show that the value of exports to Hong Kong were down almost 29 percent, a drop compounded by disappointing revenue generated by sales in the United States, Germany and Japan (down around 12, 15 and 27 percent respectively). The value of Swiss watch exports to China's mainland (up 29 percent) and Britain (up 23.5 percent) were more promising however. Witnessing the first downturn in seven years, Swiss watch exports reached 21.5 billion CHF last year, down 3.3 percent compared to 2014. (1 CHF=1.02 U.S. dollar) BEIRUT, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenes stressed Tuesday his country's commitment to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission, praising Lebanon's efforts in ensuring the safety of the country "which directly affects Spain." Morenes made the remarks following his meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Vice Premier Minister of National Defense Samir Mokbel. Heading a military delegation of senior officials at the defense ministry, Morenes stressed Spain's commitment to Lebanon, saying that they consider Lebanon not only as a friend country, but also as an ally, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. He noted that the mission is not only "within the context of UNIFIL but also via the bilateral relations with the Lebanese government," saying that the common effort between the two countries stems out from their confidence in the struggle for freedom, peace and justice. The talks with Mokbel, Morenes said, tackled Lebanon's needs of training and equipping the armed forces with weapons and gear. Mokbel, for his part, described the talks as "positive," with discussions tackling the issue of displaced Syrians in Lebanon and its negative repercussions on the Lebanese community, as well as the aids that Spain can present to contribute in treating this issue," adding that the two countries would continue communication and coordination to strengthen ties. Morenes also expressed his pleasure for returning to Lebanon and visiting the Spanish forces working within the UNIFIL that celebrate this year its 10th anniversary in Lebanon. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks as Prime Minister and chairman of the United Russia political party Dmitry Medvedev listens at the party's election campaign headquarters during parliamentary elections in Moscow on September 18, 2016. (AFP PHOTO/SPUTNIK/Alexei Druzhinin) MOSCOW, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia's ruling United Russia party won an overwhelming victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections with over 54 percent of the vote, enabling a constitutional majority in the State Duma. Analysts say the party's electoral victory amounts to a vote of confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite challenges at home and abroad, a constitutional majority in the lower house of parliament for Putin's party is expected to bring continued political stability in Russia and a successful presidential race in 2018. UNITED RUSSIA DEMONSTRATES POWER According to preliminary results released Monday by the Central Election Commission (CEC), with an increase of 105 seats, United Russia boasts 343 seats out of the 450 in the new State Duma, or more than the two thirds needed for a constitutional majority. The Communist Party won 13.43 percent of the votes, the Liberal Democratic Party won 13.25 percent and Just Russia 6.18 percent, while the other parties failed to reach the five-percent threshold to enter parliament. United Russia last enjoyed a constitutional majority in the 2007-2011 State Duma, with 315 seats. With such a majority, it can amend constitution or veto a presidential impeachment. The Sunday results exceeded earlier predictions for the 15-year-old party at a time of economic difficulties worsened by sanctions by western countries and fiercer political competition to enter parliament lowered from the seven percent threshold to the current five. "It means that the people see that delegates from United Russia, the leading political party, are really working for them. Maybe they don't always succeed, but they are working honestly and as efficiently as they can," Putin said. The party's leader and head of the Russian government, Dmitry Medvedev, noted that the party has always fulfilled its promises, and made no promises it was unable to keep. An opinion poll conducted before the elections by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed 78 percent of Russians support Putin and 52.5 percent Medvedev's administration. However, commenting on the parliamentary elections, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called the turnout of one third of eligible voters as "a very alarming signal."8 GOOD SIGN FOR PRESIDENTIAL RACE The Sunday elections were seen as a prelude to the upcoming 2018 presidential race. Analysts reckoned that losses by United Russia in the vote would boost the political power of the opposition and likely harm a safe transfer of presidential power in the future. Yet it remains unclear whether or not Putin will run for another presidential term. As one of the most influential and trusted politician in modern Russia, Putin has been crucial in helping United Russia remain in power since 2003. He said in an interview with Bloomberg before the election that it was too early to speak about Russia's presidential race since a lot depends on the outcome of the Duma vote. Many Russians believe that with a strong United Russia, Putin is very likely to win in 2018. Regardless of Putin's decision, analysts believe economic recovery will remain the toughest challenge for Moscow. KIGALI, Sep. 20 (Xinhua) -- China is playing a significant role towards transformation of Africa's agriculture sector, which has contributed to food and nutrition security and poverty reduction on the continent. Attaher Maiga, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Country Representative to Rwanda, said this in an interview with Xinhua Tuesday at the ongoing African Regional Forum on Agriculture for Sustainable Development in Kigali. "Agriculture holds the key to economic growth, poverty reduction and food security in Africa. Agricultural growth is an important component of China's economic relations with African countries," Maga said. Last December, China promised to offer about 60 billion U.S. dollars to Africa to enhance the continent's economic transformation, industrialization and technological development. The Chinese government announced that it will roll out 10 major cooperation plans that will strengthen cooperation with Africa within the next three years. "China is partnering with African economies to transform agriculture into a modern and dynamic sector. Chinese government has supported Africa's agriculture growth through a multitude of activities in areas such as investment, capacity building, infrastructure development, innovations and research," said Maga. The three-day conference, organized by FAO, aims at discussing how the principles for sustainable food and agriculture can promote joint action to strengthen the contribution of agriculture, forestry and fisheries to sustainable development. Africa needs about 400 billion U.S. dollars of investment in food production over the next decade to meet the continent's needs, according to FAO. W hen my family fled Kabul in the 1990s, a bloody civil war was raging in Afghanistan. After years of western support to fundamentalist militant groups, those groups had defeated the Russian army and the communist government, then ravaged the country as they fought to control it. The international community had washed its hands of Afghanistan, seemingly indifferent to the fact that the people raining rockets on Kabul were trained by the CIA, or that the , leaving the militants to tear the country apart. For a decade Afghanistan was largely ignored. Then, 15 years ago today, the pendulum of global interest swung to the opposite extreme. Within a month of the terrorist attacks on , the , vowing to defeat the Taliban and bring democracy to the country. We heard over and over that this was a just war, and it was a moral imperative to intervene and defeat the evil of the Taliban. Failure, they said, was not an option. But now, again, we appear to be subject to global indifference and neglect. Two years ago Barack Obama declared . Yet 2016 has been the deadliest year for civilian casualties and injuries. Despite the explicit premise of the war to liberate Afghans from the Taliban the group is now stronger than ever, and gaining more and more territory. In the last month have been launched in Kabul by the Taliban, killing dozens of civilians. With security non-existent in most of the country, Afghans remain poor and destitute. Unemployment is high and access to basic services remains desperately low. More than half of all Afghan children . It is still one of the and it is still devastated by violence. It seems to stand once again on the edge of collapse into a bloody civil war. There is no question that the intervention in has been riddled with disastrous decisions. A series of hubristic military and development strategies have predictably failed and as yet there is no detailed understanding of the failure or how it might be prevented in the future. Still, even after nearly 40 years of war, ordinary Afghans are fighting for a better life. Fifteen years on, its time to honestly reflect on the failure of the international community in Afghanistan. If we can abandon paralysing, fantastical notions of complete failure or victory, and meet Afghans where they are, we can build on what progress has been made. Afghans need the full support of the international community to continue their hard-won successes in the past 15 years. Anything less would be another bitter betrayal by the very people who claimed to have their back. - Search ResultsThe world helped destroy Afghanistan. It must help Afghans rebu TEHRAN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) arrested two "terrorists" with Pakistan nationality in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday. In the operation in Kaleghan region of Saravan county, the IRGC forces succeeded in identifying and arresting the two "terrorists" who had crossed the border into the country from Pakistan, the report said without referring to the time of arrest. Two ready-to-explode bombs and some ammunition were also found in their hideout, the report added. They had planned to explode the explosives in crowded places in Iran, press TV also reported. The detained men confessed that they were planning to conduct acts of sabotage. According to Press TV, IRGC announced earlier this month that it had dismantled a terrorist group and killed five of the group's members in Sistan and Baluchestan province. The report alleged that the terror group was backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States. The Pakistani-based Jaish al-Adl is the Sunni rebel group attempting to fight for the rights of Sunni Muslims in the Iranian provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, and is responsible for a series of attacks against Iran's border posts. Syrian government soldiers walk in the damaged al-Farafira souk in the government-held side of Aleppo's historic city centre on September 16, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua) MOSCOW, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The hope for restoring the cease-fire in Syria brokered by Russia and the United States is "weak" following a U.S.-led coalition airstrike on the Syrian army and shelling of a humanitarian convoy, the Kremlin said Tuesday. "We are expressing serious concerns here," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying in a comment on an offensive launched by the Nusra Front terrorist group in Syria. "The main thing we can state is that the situation is extremely tense," he added. The United States and Russia have announced a landmark agreement on a nationwide cease-fire in Syria for seven days starting Sept 12. On Saturday, the Syrian army accused the U.S.-led coalition of attacking its positions and killing 90 soldiers in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour. The Pentagon admitted in a statement on the same day that the coalition might have attacked Syrian government forces unintentionally. On Monday, unidentified warplanes launched an airstrike on a Syrian Red Crescent humanitarian convoy carrying UN-supplied food to the besieged city of Aleppo. John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, in a statement stopped short of accusing Russia and the Syrian government of carrying out the attack, but said the destination of the convoy was known to Moscow and Damascus. Peskov declined to comment on the attack against the humanitarian convoy, saying the Russian military was checking the details. He added that the condition for renewing the cease-fire in Syria is very simple. "There is the need to stop firing; there is the need for the terrorists to stop attacking Syria's armed forces," he said. SARIPUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A seven-member group of armed militants gave up fighting and surrendered to government in the northern Saripul province with Saripul city as its capital 350 km north of Kabul on Tuesday. "A total of seven armed rebels under Mullah Merajudin gave up fighting and handed over their weapons to police here today," provincial governor Mohammad Zahir Wahdat told reporters here. The former militants were involved in anti-government activities in several villages outside provincial capital over the past couple of years and their surrender to government would help improve security situation in Saripul city and adjoining areas, the governor said. Taliban militants who are active in conducting anti-government operations in parts of Saripul province are yet to make comment. Enditem ANKARA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish government submitted Tuesday a motion to the parliament for extending the mandate authorizing the Turkish Armed Forces to take military action in Syria and Iraq, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The proposal seeks one more year authorization for the government to carry out cross-border military operations against "terrorist threats" and allows deployment of foreign troops on Turkish territory, the report said. The motion provides necessary legality for Turkey's contribution to the international coalition's efforts to degrade and defeat the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq. It also allows transit of foreign troops through Turkish territory in operations against the IS. Signed by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the motion gives Turkish army permission to conduct cross-border operations against members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Syria and Iraq. The current mandate will expire on Oct. 2, therefore parliament is expected to convene and vote for the new government motion, which offers a one-year extension to the current mandate, said Daily Sabah. The Turkish government merged two separate motions on Syria and Iraq into one in 2014, saying the threats and risks posed by terrorist organizations were using both countries' territories. "Developments in neighboring regions of Turkey's southern land borders, as well as threats and risks arising from ongoing clashes have increased both quantitatively and qualitatively," the motion said. Turkish parliament will debate the proposal on Oct. 1 and it would take effect on Oct. 2 once approved. The motion is likely to be adopted by support of the ruling Justice and Development Party and the Nationalist Movement Party deputies. The Republican People's Party and the Peoples' Democratic Party earlier voted against the mandate. The Turkish military has entered Jarablus of Syria on Aug. 24 as part of the Euphrates Shield Operation to back Syrian rebels to sweep the IS militants. The Turkish army also targeted Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militants in northern Syria by artillery fires. Turkish government claims the Democratic Union Party and its military wing YPG enjoy close connections with the PKK, including militant and ammunition support. KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian government said Tuesday that a United Nations award to be given to Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was deferred following allegations made by some western media. A spokesman of Najib said the Prime Minister and his wife had received a letter from Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, which stated that Rosmah would be given a special tribute award at an event co-hosted by UNESCO this month. The award was in recognition of efforts undertaken by the Malaysian government to counter extremism through the educational system, and specifically the approach taken by Permata, a children education program founded by Rosmah in 2007, the spokesman said. However, the organizing committee of the tribute later informed the Malaysian government that the award would be deferred to 2017 due to the "interventions" from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times regarding the funding of Permata. The spokesman said the program was wholly funded by the Malaysian government and its expenditures were in accordance with government financial procedures, criticizing the allegations made in the reports were "smears and insinuations" of a "politically-motivated campaign". Neither Permata, Rosmah nor the Malaysian government has ever applied for the award, the spokesman said, adding that the proposed deferred award have been declined to avoid any further distraction. Najib has been under constant criticisms by some western media since last year, including allegations of large funding went in to the Prime Minister's personal accounts. Malaysian government responded that the fund was legal donations from the Middle East and an official investigation has cleared Najib of any wrongdoing. BRL Director General Gilles Rocquelain (C) signs a document during a trilateral meeting in Khartoum in which two French engineering companies formally signed a contract to carry out environmental impact studies on Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile river, on September 20, 2016. (AFP Photo) KHARTOUM, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on Tuesday signed contracts with two consultancy offices to conduct technical studies on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). "It is an event that we are witnessing today after long path that we have been through to achieve this stage," Egypt's Minister of Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Ati said when addressing the signing ceremony of the contract in Khartoum Tuesday. "We have bigger dreams of regional integration. Our objectives are to generate electricity and to reduce power blackout in all the countries," he noted. Mutaz Mussa, Sudan's Water Resources and Electricity Minister, for his part, said "I'm confident that our three countries have the necessary expertise to support, validate and approve the two studies report in a joint effort with the consultant." Motuma Bedassa, Ethiopia's Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, addressing the ceremony, said "many prior studies have indicators that the GERD can be filled and operated without causing any significant harm to any of the three eastern Nile countries." The Tripartite National Committee (TNC) should engage in complete harmony and good faith in order to ensure sustainable cooperation of the three countries in the management of trans-boundary water resources in the eastern Nile, he noted. He said that there is no room for competition or exerting unnecessary effort in outsmarting each other in the work of the TNC during the conduct of the two studies. Bedassa further noted that it is also very important to focus on the technical aspects of the studies and not to engage in the hydro politics aspects which may will divert the TNC attention into unwanted directions. In September 2014, local expert committees from Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia recommended conducting two more studies on the GERD. The first proposed test was on the dam's impact on the water shares of Egypt and Sudan, and the second on the anticipated environmental, economic and social impact on the two countries. The GERD worries Egypt which fears that the construction of the dam would affect its share of the Nile water, which amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters, while Ethiopia reiterates that the dam is likely to make a shift in its wealth, namely in the field of electricity. The GERD, extending on an area of 1,800 square kilometers, is scheduled to be completed in three years at a cost of 4.7 billion U.S. dollars. GENEVA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Tuesday issued a joint statement expressing their outrage over Monday night's air strike on a UN/Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) aid convoy. "From what we know of yesterday's attack, there has been a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which is totally unacceptable. This is an attack on humanity," said ICRC president Peter Maurer. He added that failing to respect and protect humanitarian workers and structures might have serious repercussions on ongoing humanitarian operations in the country, hence depriving millions of people from aid essential to their survival. According to the joint statement, around 20 civilians and one SARC staff member were killed, as they were unloading trucks carrying vital humanitarian aid. Initial media reports said that 18 out of 31 trucks carrying life-saving supplies were destroyed by warplanes in Urum al-Kubra, northwest of Aleppo. A UN spokesperson indicated Tuesday that the convoy had received clearance from all required parties to deliver critical supplies of food, medical supplies as well as non-food items including blankets and clothes to some 78,000 people. "The Red Cross and Red Crescent is in mourning. In solidarity with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, we are calling on the international community to ensure the protection of humanitarian aid workers and volunteers," said Tadateru Konoe, the president of the IFRC. According to figures of IFRC, during the past six years, 54 staff and volunteers of SARC have lost their lives whilst carrying out their duties. LUSAKA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government said on Tuesday that it has started making both internal and external consultations in order to come up with an economic recovery plan. The Zambian government suffered the effects of the downfall in global commodity prices, which saw copper prices plummeting. Copper accounts for about 70 percent in the country's foreign exchange earnings. The situation was exacerbated by a crippling power deficit which saw firms downsizing on their production, with the mining sector, the most affected. But Minister of Finance Felix Mutati said consultations with both local and external stakeholders have commenced to ensure broad consultation in formulating economic recovery policies which will be announced alongside the 2017 budget. The government, he said, will cooperate with all partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in constructing the country's economic recovery program, according to a statement released by his office following a meeting with visiting British Department for International Development chief economist Stefan Dercon. The finance minister is this week expected to meet stakeholders from the banking sector, revenue collection agency and the mining industry as part of the consultation process. He said the government will prescribe invaluable reforms aimed at assisting the country in handling the pressing socio-economic challenges facing people. Dercon said Zambia should diversify its exports as a way of cushioning it against the side effects of over-dependence on copper revenue. Zambia is expected to agree a deal with the IMF for a financing program of about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars before the end of this year to deal with the current economic challenges. Enditem ABUJA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 4,000 houses have been destroyed by flood which wreaked havoc in Nigeria's Cross River State due to the intensity of rainfall in the West African country, a rescue agency official said on Tuesday. More than 13,000 farms were also destroyed by the flood which swept through seven districts in the state, John Inaku, chief coordinator of the state-run emergency management agency, told reporters at a news conference. He said, in total, 46 communities were affected by the flood. Two boats have already been acquired by government of the southern state to evacuate victims of the disaster to a higher ground, according to the official. He told Xinhua some relief materials had been donated to the victims. Last month, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency had predicted flooding in some 11 states across the country, urging the government to take pro-active action against the disaster. The meteorological agency said there were prospects of flooding between August and October due to current high intensity rainfall, particularly because the soil moisture had "either reached saturation or near saturation levels". Enditem BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- While a "dual-track" approach, peaceful negotiation and joint efforts to secure stability have become the norm in the South China Sea issue, some still don't like the situation. Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said Thursday in Washington that she strongly supports U.S. "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea and threatened to increase engagement in the waters. The new defense minister also said that Japan would conduct "joint training cruises" with the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea. Japan's attempt to intervene in the South China Sea issue becomes increasingly bare and bold. Always pointing the finger at China, Japan also supports the farcical arbitration started by the former Philippine government. Japan has shown an ardent interest in the issue at the G7 summit and other international platforms, claiming concerns about "freedom of navigation," "status quo" and "prevailing norms." Does anyone actually believe this talk, considering the rise of right-wing forces in Japan? One possibility is that Japan intends to use the South China Sea issue, which involves multiple parties, to muscle in on regional security affairs. The United States' "Asia-Pacific Rebalance" strategy gives Japan the chance to use the South China Sea issue to snuggle up even closer to the United States, especially now that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has questioned how the U.S. military are behaving in his backyard. Through "China threat" rhetoric, Japan may find a way to whitewash its underhand expansion of its Self-Defense Forces' activities both at home and overseas, and its posturing over the East China Sea. The only problem with Japan's little scheme seems to be that those directly concerned in the issue are not remotely interested in its predictable drama. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday noted that China and ASEAN had reached agreement on how to handle the issue at their leaders' meeting earlier this month following similar agreement at the foreign minsters' meeting in July. Everyone expects the new Japanese defense minister to do something useful for the Asia-Pacific region. It would be wise for Inada, and for her country, to stop trying to ignore the "trend of times" and begin to follow it. SHANGHAI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's major steel company Baosteel has unveiled a plan to acquire Wuhan Iron and Steel and thereby will become the world's second largest steelmaker, after ArcelorMittal. According to announcements posted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange website on Tuesday evening, state-owned Baosteel will issue A-shares to all transferring shareholders of Wuhan Iron and Steel to absorb the latter,also a large state-owned steel enterprise based in Hubei Province. The restructuring plan still needs approval from the shareholders of both listed firms. Last year, Wuhan Iron and Steel reported a loss of 7.5 billion yuan (1.1 billion U.S. dollars). Baosteel's profits shrank by more than 80 percent to its lowest level in 18 years. The crude steel output of Baosteel and Wuhan Iron and Steel was 34.9 million tonnes and 25.8 million tonnes respectively last year. After the merger, the output of Baosteel will exceed that of HeSteel Group based in Hebei Province, to rank first in China. Shares of the two firms have been suspended from trading since late June due to the planned restructuring. China plans to cut steel production capacity by 100 million tonnes to 150 million tonnes by 2020, according to a government plan unveiled in February. Chen Derong, president of Baosteel, said the merger will coordinate various aspects of the business, such as logistics and R&D. Both companies produce and sell auto sheets. Now, long-distance transportation can be avoided and costs cut, he said. Baosteel already planned to cut 9.2 million tonnes of capacity by 2018.Together, the production of both companies can be cut further, he said. The market share of certain core products, such as high-end auto sheets, will be greatly expanded in China after the restructuring, according to a research report by Everbright Securities. Meanwhile, the profitability of these products will be improved and the company's pricing ability for upstream iron ore strengthened, it added. Wang Bei, researcher with mysteel.com, said the restructuring will contribute to the balance between supply and demand through production adjustment and squeeze out ineffective or poor supply. After the merger, the new entity will account for 7.6 percent of the country's crude steel output. Industry experts expect more acquisitions among steel producers. TAIPEI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 863,540 people from outside Taiwan visited the island in August, down 3.4 percent from the same period last year, according to the island's tourism bureau on Tuesday. The decline was due largely to plummeting numbers of visitors from the Chinese mainland, though visitors from Japan and the Republic of Korea increased by more than 30 percent to 187,000 and 78,000 respectively. The number of August visitors from the Chinese mainland decreased 32.4 percent from last year to 248,538. About 190,000 of the visitors were tourists, against 296,000 last year. The number of mainland visitors, which rose to about 4.2 million last year, has declined markedly since Tsai Ing-wen took office. Local observers attributed this to Tsai's refusal to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which includes the one-China policy. Her attitude has left mainlanders feeling both puzzled and unwelcome. The situation has worried many on the island who were employed in hospitality and tourism. Around 10,000 people from the sector, including the island's hotel, travel agent and tour bus associations, took to the streets in downtown Taipei on Sept. 12, in the sector's first ever demonstration, demanding help for the ailing industry, according to organizers. DAMASCUS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian official said here Tuesday that the U.S.-led airstrikes against Syrian military posts in Deir al-Zour province were not a coincidence. The attack, which killed 90 Syrian soldiers and allowed the Islamic State (IS) militant group enter the bombed areas, indicates that some powers still support terrorist groups, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab-African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari told a press conference. "As long as Washington keeps on playing with the terrorist card, it will have no positive or constructive role in resolving the Syrian crisis," he said. He added that successful cessation of hostilities in Syria is tied to commitment by all concerned parties to the deal, and absence of seriousness undermines any hope of success. "The main condition for successful cessation of hostilities and bringing the Syrian crisis to a political solution is a collective international and regional effort," he said. Ansari stressed that Iran rejects any unilateral military action in Syria, adding that any solution agreed upon by the Syrian government is also accepted by Iran. Earlier this week, U.S.-led airstrikes attacked several Syrian army posts in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, killing over 90 soldiers and providing IS with an entryway into that territory. Observers believe that the ceasefire, brokered by Russia and the United States, was largely undermined by the U.S.-led airstrikes, which Washington claimed were "unintentional." The Syrian army announced Monday the end of the week-long ceasefire without extension, as a consequence of the Syrian government's dismay at the U.S.-led attack, and the violations IS rebels allegedly committed during the ceasefire. NANJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police brought 63 telecom fraud suspects back from Cambodia on Tuesday in their continued crackdown on such crimes, the Ministry of Public Security said. The suspects -- 50 from the Chinese mainland and 13 from Taiwan -- were brought back by chartered plane which landed in Nanjing Lukou International Airport in east China's Jiangsu Province at around 8 p.m. Tuesday. They are suspected of falsely presenting themselves as law enforcement officials to extort money from people on the Chinese mainland through telephone calls. The exact number of fraud cases and the amount of money involved are still under investigation, said the ministry. Cambodian immigration authorities recently destroyed a telecom fraud den in Phnom Penh, netting the suspects and seizing telephones, computers and scripts. The suspects were brought to the Chinese mainland in order to protect the interests of the victims, said the ministry. The ministry has designated the Public Security Bureau of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, to investigate the case. In accordance with the consensus across the Taiwan Strait, mainland police authorities have informed Taiwan through normal channels. Since the launch of a special crackdown on telecom fraud in November last year, the ministry has cooperated with police in Kenya, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia, destroying 65 telecom fraud dens, arresting 1,168 suspects, including 347 Taiwan residents. WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A suspicious package found blocks away from the White House caused the evacuation of buildings and temporary closure of streets nearby, the Washington D.C. Police Department said Tuesday as the country was still reeling from recent series of possible terror attacks. In a Twitter message, D.C. Police said they were called to Warner Theater on East 13th Street NW because of a suspicious package. The theater is located about half mile, or about 0.8 km, to the east of the White House. The investigation is still underway, and D.C. Police later tweeted that two entrances to a nearby metro station were closed for now. The discovery of the suspicious package came as the country was on high alert against terror attacks after three bomb attacks happened over two days. Some 29 people were wounded in a blast Saturday night in New York City, hours after another pipe bomb exploded on the same day along the route of a Marine charity run in the U.S. state of New Jersey in what U.S. authorities believed was a planned attack. One day later in New Jersey, an explosive device inside a suspicious package at a train station exploded while being examined by the authorities. Apart from the trifecta of bombings, 10 people were also wounded Saturday night in a stabbing attack at a mall in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota. All four incidents were being investigated as potential acts of terrorism. Aid is seen strewn across the floor in the town of Orum al-Kubra on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on September 20, 2016, the morning after a convoy delivering aid was hit by a deadly air strike. (AFP/Xinhua) MOSCOW. Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian war planes in Syria did not conduct any strikes on the UN humanitarian convoy in Aleppo, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday. "Neither Russian nor Syrian aviation carried out any airstrikes on the UN humanitarian convoy in the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo," Konashenkov said. "After thoroughly examining the video footages made by the so-called activists on the scene, we found no evidence of any ordnance hitting the convoy of trucks," he said, adding that it is the fire on the cargo together with the large-scale offensive on Aleppo launched by militants caused the consequences. Konashenkov pointed out that militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group launched a large-scale offensive on Aleppo in this particular sector at about 7:00 p.m. Monday. Referring to who set the fire that the humanitarian convoy caught on Monday, Konashenkov said it can only be learned from the members of the White Helmet organization, which is close to Jabhat al-Nusra. According to reports, 18 out of 31 trucks carrying life-saving supplies were destroyed by warplanes in Urum al-Kubra, northwest of Aleppo on Monday. The evening-attack resulted in the killing of at least one senior humanitarian official working for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent as well as civilian casualties and severe damage to key infrastructure including a hospital. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Sept. 20, 2016. The 71st session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday opened its annual high-level General Debate at the UN headquarters in New York, with a focus on pushing for the world's sustainable development. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday called on countries in the world to "open our hearts" and do more to help refugees who are desperate for home. "We should all understand that ultimately our world will be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need," Obama said in his final speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), adding that pledges of increased assistance made at the meeting should all be welcomed. Obama will host a summit on the global refugee crisis on the margins of UNGA later Tuesday, in an effort to galvanize new global commitments to help the refugees. More than 65 million people in the world are displaced, the highest number on record since the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began collecting statistics, according to the White House. More than 21 million of these people have crossed international borders in search of safety and are assessed as refugees. In his speech, Obama said many nations are "doing the right thing" on the refugee issue, but countries "with wealth and the benefits of geography" can do more to offer a hand to the displaced people. "In the eyes of innocent men and women and children...we have to have the empathy to see ourselves," Obama said. "We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children if the unspeakable happened to us." On Tuesday, the White House announced that 51 American companies have made "new, measurable, and significant" commitments to aid refugees in the U.S. and around the world. In total, the companies have committed to investing, donating, or raising more than 650 million U.S. dollars. OTTAWA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- China-Canada relations have improved steadily since last year, and the two sides will take advantage of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Canada to expand the scale of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, said Chinese ambassador to Canada Luo Zhaohui. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked off a visit to China with stops in Beijing and Shanghai before attending the G20 Summit held in the eastern city of Hangzhou. Premier Li's official visit to Canada later this week comes within less than a month of Trudea's trip to China. "Such a frequent exchange of visits in a short period of time is indeed rare in the history of China's foreign relations," Luo told Xinhua. Despite some previous setbacks, China-Canada ties have improved steadily since the Liberal Party of Canada took office last November, which can be summarized in four ways, Luo said. The first involves political exchanges between China and Canada. Last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit held in Turkey and suggested building a long-term, healthy and stable strategic partnership with Canada on the basis of mutual respect and win-win cooperation. Last October, Li congratulated Trudeau on his election as Canadian prime minister after his Liberal Party won a landslide victory in Canada's federal elections. During his first official visit to China and his attendance at the G20 Hangzhou Summit earlier this month, Trudeau enjoyed a high-level reception and hailed a new era in China-Canada relations. The two countries also agreed to establish an annual dialogue between the Chinese premier and Canadian prime minister. Secondly, pragmatic cooperation between China and Canada has achieved steady growth. China is Canada's second largest trading partner, a source of imports and a market for exports. Last year, bilateral trade reached 55.7 billion U.S. dollars, more than 370 times the amount at the beginning of diplomatic ties decades ago. During his China tour, Trudeau also announced Canada's decision to apply for membership at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and signed dozens of cooperation deals with China. "Thirdly, people-to-people and regional exchanges between the two countries are improving," Luo said. The government of the province of Nova Scotia, dubbed the "Atlantic Gateway," recently released its China Engagement Strategy. In an unprecedented move between two provinces, Guangdong Province and the province of British Columbia jointly inked agreements to mutually support the Belt and Road Initiative and the "Pacific Gateway" strategy. The Belt and Road is China's massive initiative to create land and maritime trade routes throughout Asia, parts of Africa and Europe. Last year, nearly 1.3 million visitors traveled between both countries. The number of Chinese studying in Canada and Canadians studying in China was a combined 150,000. The leaders of the two countries have also announced 2018 as the year of China-Canada Tourism, an agreement which also includes adding seven Canadian visa application centers in China. Fourthly, the two sides share similar ideas regarding development, Luo said. China's five development concepts, involving innovation, green growth and the Belt and Road Initiative, complement the new Canadian government's plans for innovation, a green economy, assisting Small-and-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and expanding infrastructure, which give both sides more opportunities to push forward mutually-beneficial cooperation. "China-Canada relations have recently moved onto the fast track," Luo said, attributing the improvement to three factors. First, both governments attach great importance to promoting mutual ties. Second, both believe in the need to counter rising protectionism that threatens the global economy. Third, China and Canada continue to witness increasing coordination at the United Nations, the G20 as well as on climate change and elsewhere. The recent exchanges between China and Canada provide a perfect chance to boost bilateral trade, advance free-trade negotiations and strengthen coordination in global governance, said Luo. "I'm confident we will witness a glorious chapter once again in China-Canada relations." UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Following are quotable quotes from the speakers at the General Debate of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20: "Yet after ten years in office, I am more convinced than ever that we have the power to end war, poverty and persecution. We have the means to prevent conflict. We have the potential to close the gap between rich and poor, and to make rights real in people's lives." -- Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations. "Week after week, innocent people are falling victim to despicable acts of violent extremists. The gap between rich and poor; between women and men; and between developing countries and advanced economies, remains stubbornly high." -- Peter Thomson, the president of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. "Today's world is marked by uncertainty and instability. The international system is experiencing a deficit of order. Reality evolved faster than our collective capacity to deal with it. From regional conflicts to violent fundamentalism, we confront threats, both old and new, that we failed to contain. Faced with the tragedy of refugees or the resurgence of terrorism, we cannot avoid a sense of perplexity." -- Michel Temer, the president of Brazil. "The (2030) Agenda and the (Paris) Agreement are evidence of environmental commonsense. They are the most excellent examples of the sort of collective action most likely to ensure a sustainable future and a safe planet. They are harbingers of hope for everyone, everywhere and forever." -- David Granger, the president of Guyana. "The world has become smaller due to globalization and modern communication technologies. The problems our world faces have become more global and intertwined. Yet our social instincts have often remain local, and our sense of responsibility is often limited by our national borders." -- Andrej Kiska, the president of Slovak. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's new president, Michel Temer, told the United Nations on Tuesday that his country will deposit instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change on Wednesday. In his first appearance at the high-level general debate of the UN General Assembly which started Tuesday, Temer also urged more national efforts to turn the 2013 Agenda into reality. "The 2030 Agenda is the greatest United Nations endeavour in favour of development. Turning it into reality will require more than the sum of national efforts," said Temer, who took office on Aug. 31 after the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff. The president noted that supporting developing countries will be crucial to achieving the sustainable development goal. "We live in the same Planet. There is no plan B. We must take ambitious measures under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities." "Tomorrow, I will deposit Brazil's instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change," he said. As the world's most biodiverse country and displaying one of the world's cleanest energy matrices, Brazil is an environment powerhouse with an uncompromising commitment to the environment, he said. The Paris Agreement, sealed in December, 2015 after nearly two weeks of hard bargaining, needs 55 nations that together account for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions to ratify before it can enter into force. Temer also voiced strong opposition to protectionism, which he said is on the rise and poses a perverse barrier to development. "It subtracts jobs and makes men, women and families around the world - including in Brazil - fall victim to unemployment and despair." The multilateral trading system, he said, is part of the fight against trade protectionism and ending protectionism in agriculture is particularly important for development. Over 140 world leaders gather in New York to attend this year's general debate which lasts from Sept. 20 to 26. This year's theme for the General Assembly is "The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Universal Push to Transform our World." WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Republican President George H.W. Bush plans to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a niece of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Along with a picture of her shaking hands with Bush posted Monday on her Facebook page, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Maryland lieutenant governor and niece of late U.S. President Kennedy, wrote in the caption that the 41st U.S. president would buck his party's own nominee Donald Trump in this year's election. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" read the caption. According to Politico, a spokesman for Bush replied to the U.S. daily in a way that did not appear to refute Townsend's claim. "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim," wrote the spokesman in an email. According to an earlier statement by Bush who endorsed every Republican presidential nominee for the past five election cycles, for the first time since his own presidency, the 41st U.S. president "is retired from politics," and had no plan to endorse Trump this year. In this April 25, 2013 former US Presidents GeorgeH.W. Bush and George W. Bush attend the George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication ceremony in Dallas, Texas. Former president George H.W. Bush plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, the niece of president John F. Kennedy wrote in a September 20, 2016 Facebook posting. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" read the caption of a picture Kathleen Kennedy Townsend posted on Facebook, as she shook the 92 year-old ex-president's hand. (AFP PHOTO/JEWEL SAMAD) WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Republican President George H.W. Bush plans to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a niece of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Along with a picture of her shaking hands with Bush posted Monday on her Facebook page, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Maryland lieutenant governor and niece of late U.S. President Kennedy, wrote in the caption that the 41st U.S. president would buck his party's own nominee Donald Trump in this year's election. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" read the caption. According to Politico, a spokesman for Bush replied to the U.S. daily in a way that did not appear to refute Townsend's claim. "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim," wrote the spokesman in an email. According to an earlier statement by Bush who endorsed every Republican presidential nominee for the past five election cycles, for the first time since his own presidency, the 41st U.S. president "is retired from politics," and had no plan to endorse Trump this year. People gather near an anti-TTIP banner in front of EU headquarters prior to a demonstration against European Union's (EU) free trade deals with the United States and Canada in Brussels, capital of Belgium, on Sept. 20, 2016. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan) BRUSSELS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 9,000 protesters paraded in the heart of Brussels around the European Union (EU) institutions to demonstrate against the bloc's trade deals with the United States and Canada late Tuesday, fearing those agreements would harm Europe's industries and social benefits. Two meters-high inflatable Trojan horses, labeled "TTIP" and "CETA" respectively, were placed on a square between headquarters of the European Commission and the Council of the EU, implying the EU-U.S. Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada were conspiratorial pacts. More than 50 groups participated the march, which occupied some two kilometers of a street toward the square, blocking the traffic at rush time. Organizers expected 10,000 to 15,000 people to attend the demonstrations but police put a "definitive" number at 9000. "The agreements will change all the rules in EU countries. We need to take control of our own life," Anastasia,a member of European NGO EuropeanLeft,told Xinhua. "We have to make a living," a group of farmers yelled. "Pay attention! It's the U.S. that wins in the end, " said Eric Claeys, organizer of these farmers. "The intrusion of American agriculture industry is our main concern. American's standard for agricultural products like meat and vegetable is much lower than Europeans'," he added. The demonstration, following several strikes in several German cities, is part of a series of planned activities against the TTIP and CETA. Another protest is planned in Bratislava on Friday, when EU trade ministers are expected to discuss the two deals. Europe has recently seen increased anger and resistance toward the two deals from politicians and worker unions. This comes as parties hope to conclude TTIP by the end of this year and gain approvals on CETA from member states and the European Parliament. French President Francois Hollande earlier criticized TTIP as "clearly unbalanced" and his government refrained support for continuing the talks while German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel believed the deal had "de facto failed" as Brussels and Washington reached no agreement after three years of negotiations. SANAA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebel group denounced Tuesday the exiled government's decision to relocate the country's central bank headquarters from the capital Sanaa to the temporary capital of Aden. The condemnation came during a speech delivered by the group's leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, aired by the group's Almasira satellite television station on Tuesday night on the second anniversary of the group's control of Sanaa and other northern provinces. The Houthi leader called for Yemeni people to support the central bank's location in Sanaa and to donate as much as possible in order to help the bank operate and fulfill its duties. He urged the international community to reject the exiled government's decision and stand by "the Yemeni people." "This act is legally null and void," he declared. On Sunday, Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen's internationally recognized president, issued a decree to fire the central bank's board and relocate the central bank to Aden. Hadi appointed Monasser Al Quaiti, former finance minister, as the central bank's new governor, relocating the entire bank from the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa to the southern port city of Aden, the temporary bastion of Hadi's exiled government. The situation in Yemen has deteriorated economically and politically since March 2015, when war broke out after the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, stormed through Sanaa and forced President Hadi and his government into exile. The move triggered a military intervention by a coalition from Middle Eastern Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015 to support Hadi through airforce campaigns and sea sieges in order to restore the government and recapture the capital. The coalition has thus far made no major military progress in favor of Hadi and his Saudi-based government. However, the central bank was the last card in the hands of Hadi's government to pressure Houthi rebels economically. The exiled government accused Houthis of draining the bank to finance their fighters against government troops, an accusation denied by Houthis. The civil war, ground battles and Saudi-led airstrikes have killed over 10,000 people - half of them civilians - injured about 35,000 others and displaced over three million, according to statistics obtained from humanitarian agencies. UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday met with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet Jeria and thanked Chile for its "strong contribution" to the UN work, including the peacekeeping operations. "The secretary-general thanked Chile for its strong contributions to the work of the United Nations, including to peacekeeping," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "He thanked Chile in particular for its contributions to MINUSTAH (the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) and the UN Mission in Colombia." During the meeting, they also exchanged views about the ratification process of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, including in the area of gender equality, the spokesman said. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly, which opened here Tuesday and runs through Sept. 26. BEIRUT, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas asserted Tuesday that the true number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is 1.5 million, not 1.1 million recorded by the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees, the National News Agency reported. Derbas, who received at his office a delegation of the justice committee at the European Union that discussed with him the condition of displaced Syrians, noted "in addition to the 1.5 million Syrians, Lebanon hosts 500,000 Palestinian refugees as well." He stressed "if the international community thought that Lebanon was able to uphold two million refugees across its lands to become citizens, they would believe an absurd thing." Derbas hoped that a positive cooperation would be conducted between Lebanon and European Union in favor of projects serving the return of displaced people to their homeland. Peter Thomson, president of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, tried to maintain order in the hall of the 193-member assembly on Sept. 20, 2016, as many delegates milled in aisles and sidelines disturbing the ongoing session.(Xinhua/Wang Ying) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Peter Thomson, president of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, on Tuesday banged the gavel several times in an unusual manner in a bid to maintain order in the hall of the 193-member assembly as many delegates milled in aisles and sidelines disturbing the ongoing session. Thomson asked the UN security officers to show those talking delegates the exit, asking those in the hall to show respect to heads of state who were taking to the podium during the annual high-level debate. "Delegates, please take your seats, we have a long list of heads of state and heads of government" who were on the list to speak to the General Assembly, he said from the dais behind and above the speakers podium, asking the people who were having a conversation on the edge of the hall to leave in silence so he could bring in the next head of state. The poker-faced president, who is the UN ambassador of Fiji, chaired for the first time the General Debate of the assembly, the week-long event which kicked off here Tuesday. More than 140 heads of state and government were to speak during the week. "To those of you who are still talking, I ask you to show respect to the head of state" who was about to speak from the rostrum, he said. After banging the gavel several times, the president was successful in bringing the ongoing session to order. According to the original schedule and traditionally as representative of the host country, the United States is listed as the second member state to take the floor at the General Debate. But this year the tradition was broken: U.S. President Barack Obama was late, so Chad, after Brazil, was the second to speak at the assembly debate. Brazil traditionally takes the first speaker slot because the first speaker scheduled in the early years of the world organization failed to show on time and Brazil filled in. According to the original list of speakers, Idriss Deby Itno, the president of Chad was the third to address the General Debate. By Ge Mengchao & Wang Caizhen BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinas science and engineering students are said to be lacking in communication skills both speaking and writing. But many of them prove to be very good communicators, especially when it comes to their special fields. Bi Xiaotian, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, began to be known as a popular science writer a few months ago after his article became a popular online read. In his article in response to Internet users amusing selection of Top Five Terrible Drinks, Bi compared the five soft beverages through strict chemical approaches and used numerous funny pictures and buzzwords to explain why they taste so terrible. The article on Weibo, a leading microblogging service in China, was retweeted 8,900 times with 17,000 comments. This is not the first time that Bi has used the Internet to spread knowledge about hot topics in the online community. A few years ago, he joined an online battle about whether a chemical is low toxic or high toxic on Baidu Baike, Chinas Wikipedia. Bi is one of the numerous campus fellows who have joined in the efforts of popularizing science in an era when the normal Chinese not being affluent in science literacy becomes a more serious issue to tackle in context of the present information overload. According to statistics from the China Association for Science and Technology, only 6.2 percent of the Chinese people held basic science literacy in 2015, lagging far behind the countrys economic growth. The low science literacy has protruded the need of effective science communication, popularizing complex subjects like cosmology, quantum physics, evolution and anatomy to the public. Generally, members of the group of communicators are scientists, professors and journalists, with college students coming up in the wake. Compared with professors and experts who stay in labs surrounded by bizarre test tubes, students are easy-going and down to earth in a way. As young adults and twitteratis, they understand their audiences better and are good at playing with trendy new media platforms. In addition to Weibo, these Internet savvies like to publish scientific articles on Wechat, Chinas Whats App, Zhihu, Chinas Quora, and Squirrel Association, a non-governmental organization that publishes books, organizes themed events and runs an Internet service. Also, the college students are more likely to get in touch with leading scholars and researchers who can re-check their opinions. Driven by pure love, most of them tend to be less influenced or manipulated by vested interest behind science -- a foundation of accuracy, precision and objectivity of their articles. Huge hunger for knowledge, with people as interested and enthusiastic about science as they have ever been, is a catalyst for promoting science communication, Bi says. BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) - Nanjings famed Porcelain Tower is the pagoda that has been alive in American TV drama for quite a time, in a way that is surprisingly close to peoples life- Chinese take out! How come Porcelain Tower has anything to do with take out in the United States? Well, look into the snapshots below. Have you noticed the box of the take out? The red tower printed outside the box is by no means a nobody. Yes, you got it, its prototype is exactly the Porcelain Tower! (snapshots from the web) The Porcelain Tower, also known as "Bao'en Temple", which means "Temple of Gratitude", was first built during the reign of Chinese Emperor Yong Le (1403-1425) in the Ming Dynasty for his mother. But it was completely destroyed during the war between the Qing Imperial Court and the Taiping rebels in 1856. The pagoda was reconstructed with dated technology and reopened to public last year. Workers set up a large flower terrace on the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, to celebrate the upcoming National Day on Oct. 1. The main flower terrace on the Tian'anmen Square celebrating the upcoming National Day began installation Monday. (Xinhua/Li Xin) DUBAI -- Producers of solar technology from China said here Monday that while growing competition in the region has weighed on profit margins, they continue to secure market shares across the Middle East. At the three-day annual Intersolar Middle East exhibition opening Monday, dozens of companies from China showcase their latest innovations like solar panels or solar power transmitting technology. Anne Zheng, sales manager from Zhejiang Longchi Technology, said "in 2015, a price war in the region started and we are exhibiting for the first time at the Intersolar Middle East in order to reach out to new clients." Jimmy Wang, vice general manager with Cixi City Rixing Electronics, confirmed that pressure on sales prices increased. However, he added "we managed in recent years to spread our wings across the Middle East as we found new clients even in remote markets like Syria, Afghanistan or Yemen. Dubai is the perfect distribution hub for the region and we also reach out to Africa and India from here." Cocoa stakeholders meet Highlighting the advantages of Cooperatives, Rudder said we should work in teams to achieve our objectives, sharing that a team is not a group of people working together, rather a team is a group of people who trust each other. To the 100 farmers and stakeholders present the main message was, all beans offered for sale for this upcoming crop, by cocoa farmers will be purchased. This assurance came from chairman Rudder who said it came arising out of ongoing discussions with key stakeholders including buying agents, fermentary operators and Cocoa and Coffee Cooperatives. However, the chairman stressed that there is a need to ramp up cocoa production to have a more commanding presence in the market place, and moreso that the quality management systems employed maintains the fine and flavour reputation currently enjoyed on the world stage. He called on the farmers to avail themselves of the research and extension services available. Rudder noted that recognizing there are constraints, there is a need to have an ongoing conversation on how to progress in dealing with said constraints. As a critical player in the revolution, the Cocoa Development Company was introduced to successfully lead the sector to a position of viability, expansion and modernization. As a special purpose state company, CDCTTL will provide support for the development of the cocoa industry in Trinidad and Tobago. The issues were raised by farmers primarily included labour shortage, financial losses due to fires and the high transport cost to access plants at nurseries located in the north. One farmer said, here is no development without labour, while another, Oscar Cadette opined that, we must make agriculture an honourable profession. In response to a concern that we do not continue to follow the aged model of simply selling beans, the Board elaborated on the plans for developing the local market. The Companys goal is to make cocoa production a financially viable activity, contributing to economic diversification by integration and development of the cocoa value chain. Its mission is to empower stakeholders by leading and facilitating the development of the fine or flavour cocoa sector in an efficient, innovative, and transparent manner to increase production whilst ensuring adherence to international standards of quality, leading to improved value and a globally recognized brand. The session commenced with a presentation by Monica Lessey of the report on the project: Integrating the farmer into the cocoa value chain, administered by the South West Local Economic Development Project Agriculture Sub-committee. The strategic goal of which was to increase the competitiveness of the agriculture sector by supporting potential industries and developing market linkages. The Company Directors present included Dr Carlisle Pemberton, Kamaldeo Maharaj, Jacqueline Rawlins, Jenson Alexander and Fitz Clarence Waldropt. This session represented the second in a series of seven planned for the coming weeks. This weeks session will be held in Tabaquite. Execution victims identified Police sources said the two were identified as Jeremiah Brown, 18, and Zion Jabadi Allister Salvary, 16. They were found dead off a dirt track at Wells Trace in Valencia. Both lived in Enterprise, Chaguanas. Autopsies confirmed both youths were shot multiple times in the head and chest. Distraught relatives who were awaiting the results of the autopsy said they had nothing to say except that they hoped the killers would be brought to justice. It doesnt matter if we say anything or if we dont say anything, said a relative who asked not to be named. Whether we say something or not, nothing will come of this murder. We just want to bury our family and leave the rest up to God. According to reports, a WASA employee was walking toward a pumping station at about 6.15 am on Friday when he came across the two bodies. The WASA employee alerted the police and officers of the Northern Division, led by Snr Supt Trim and including Superintendent Phillip, ASP Rodain, Inspector Ken Lutchman and officers of Northern Division Homicide visited the scene. The two teens were seen with their heads facing in opposite directions. Both men were clad in white T-shirts, and 3/4 jeans, and their hands were bound behind their backs. Police sources said they were working on information that the two were members of a criminal gang in the Enterprise, Chaguanas area who were kidnapped by members of a rival gang and taken to Valencia where they were executed. Investigations are continuing. Female prisoners lock themselves in On Sunday, the inmates used several devices to interfere with the lock system inside the prison and began banging on their cell doors shouting, spraying debris on the corridor while others stood in their dormitories and began threatening prison officers claiming that they were fed up of what they described as inhumane condition. Some of the prisoners claimed that they continued to be treated like animals and are forced to defecate in slop pails when there are toilet facilities available, the use of which they are denied. The inmates also complained of constantly being locked down and added that this is causing them to become more frustrated. Between Sunday and yesterday the female prison remained under lock down and under the close surveillance of prison officers because of the action taken by female prisoners. Yesterday, a female prisoner contacted Newsday and said that they have been clamouring for better conditions, better bed space, improvement in the food and for simple things like toiletries to be afforded to those who could not purchase it, and added that these complaints had fallen on deaf ears. The prisoner admitted that they used devices to block entry into their cell after their action on Sunday and feared that they will be beaten with batons if prison officers had access to them. Due to cell block area being jammed, prisoners were unable to be taken out of their cells and in some instances food and other supplies could not be given to them. Airing out could not be given tot he inmates and up to midday yesterday the situation had remained the same. Newsday understands that the manpower strength at the womens prison has not been doubled to restore calm and order in that section. Prison officers who also spoke to Newsday said that they understood the plight of the inmates and were hoping for an intervention from the Office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of National Security. Officers added that the situation at the Womens prison has been tense for quite a while and they believe the conditions could be improved. Attempts to reach Ministry of National Security Edmund Dillon the matter proved futile but Newsday understands that a report being taken by the female prisoners have been sent to him. Yesterday Ceron Richards President of the Prison Officers Association opted not to reassure Newsday of his officers would deal inhumanely or insensitive with the inmates but instead gave his full support to the Prisons Commissioner retaking control of the Prison. He said steps are being taken to treat with the situation and he anticipated a return to normalcy soon. I cant pre-empt the methodology to be used, he told Newsday when pressed as to whether the officers would show sensitivity to the women inmates fears of being beaten by the officers. The Commissioner of Prisons must take steps to arrest the situation and return it to normalcy. The Commissioner of Prisons has a duty of care to the public and must do all he can to regain control. Bar patrons robbed According to reports, at 12.55 am, four masked bandits entered and robbed a well-known Marabella night club located on the Southern Main Road, Marabella. Six patrons were robbed of cash and valuables. However, police officers on mobile patrol, noticed the men who were all wearing dark clothing, exiting the building, who, on seeing the police officers, began shooting at them. Police returned fire, but the men escaped in a waiting vehicle and officers gave chase. There was another exchange of gunfire in the vicinity of the Train line in Marabella as the men exited the vehicle and fled on foot. Investigations are continuing into the incident. Diabetic on $1M bail The charges read to the accused man was that on September 11 he had in his possession nine firearms and 1,497 rounds of ammunition. The charges were laid indictable by Police Constable Bonnet. Ramsamooj was not called upon to enter a plea. Several weapons were produced before the magistrate who later ordered that the items be sent to the Forensic Science Centre for ballistic tests. Attorney Shiva Boodoo who represented Ramsamooj begged the magistrate to allow his client bail saying the accused is a diabetic and requires insulin twice a day. The magistrate said that while Ramsamooj does not deserve bail, he would however be granted because of his physical challenges. Boodoo further told the magistrate that his client underwent double by-pass heart surgery two years ago. In addition, the attorney said, four toes on Ramsamoojs left foot and three on his right were amputated due to complication from his diabetic condition. Ramsamooj was asked to report to the Couva Police Station on Saturdays between the hours of 7 am and 7 pm. Magistrate Cardenas-Ragoonanan granted bail in the sum of $1 million or a $300,000 cash alternative. The case was adjourned to September 30. Man in court for sexual grooming Bissessar appeared before Magistrate Joanne Connor in the First Court. The charge read to accused alleged that on September 15, on two occasions, Bissessar engaged in conversations via telephone and social media with a child in Trinidad and Tobago, for the intent of sexual grooming. The charge was laid indictably by PC Corey Williams under the Children Act 2012. Bissessar was not called upon to enter a plea. Attorney Taradath Singh who represented the accused man said his client resides at Longdenville and worked as a transport provider. Singh also told the court that his client is a member of the Kingdom Hall Jehovah Witness Church for the past ten years. In seeking bail, Singh said that his client did not have any previous conviction. Singh also told the magistrate that his client also suffered injuries as he was assaulted by persons. The magistrate heard that Bisssessar suffered spinal injuries. Singh said his client had visible bruises and his right middle finger was broken. Singh said his client has been in police custody since last week Thursday. Court prosecutor Sgt Ken Ali asked the magistrate for more time to obtain the accused mans records to see if he has any pending charges before the courts and/or convictions. The magistrate agreed and remanded Bissessar into police custody. The case was adjourned to Wednesday when the issue of bail will be addressed. Also present during the hearing was the mother of the 11-year-old schoolgirl whom the charge alleges Bissessar was grooming. Two maxi drivers get CNG vehicles A press release from the National Gas Company, Compressed Natural Gas Company Ltd (NGC, CNG) advised of the recent event which took place on September 12. Maxi taxi owners, Lucien Hernandez- Maxwell and Godfrey Flemming, were the first to switch from diesel to CNG. The company said that in order to access the grant of $45,000 for a small maxi, and $75,000 for a large maxi, owners have to destroy their old diesel- powered vehicles and procure new Original Equipment Manufactured (OEM) CNG maxi taxis. Both vehicles, small maxi taxis, were in excess of 20 years old. They were taken to a scrap yard and crushed with an excavator. The mangled vehicles were then torn apart and fed into a massive shredder which separated the pieces into metal and other scrap. Following the disposal of the two vehicles, both owners received a certificate of destruction, which they took to the Licensing Office to register their new CNG vehicles. A Chinese company, the Jiangsu Joylong Automobile Company, provided the 18-seater vehicles which are new to this country. The official launch of both vehicles will take place tomorrow at the Red and Green Band Maxi Taxi Hub in City Gate, Port of Spain. With the switch to CNG, Hernandez- Maxwell and Flemming will save 50 percent on their fuel costs (diesel $1.98/litre, CNG $1.00/litre equivalent). CNG vehicles, because they burn cleaner, do not require frequent maintenance as a diesel vehicle. Hernandez-Maxwell expressed sadness at watching the vehicle destroyed, but said it was worth it. He also noted that you have to follow the agreement. Flemming felt the same. He said, I have no problem, and I understood the procedure. The Memorandum of Understanding between NGC, CNG and the Association of Maxi Taxis of Trinidad and Tobago (AMTTT) that allowed for the grant offer to maxi taxi owners to dispose of their diesel vehicles and secure new CNG ones, was signed in 2015. More holistic homework centres needed, Harvey We have a lot of pre-schools. What we dont have enough of is the homework centres which are more than just care centres for children after school. (They) have to become, more and more, places where the problems that children face in the schools are able to be seen on a more individual basis, analysed and corrected... Lets face it, some of those problems require psychological or psychiatric help, so some of that money is also going to go towards that. The Roman Catholic priest was responding to a call by President of the Single Fathers Association (SFA), Rhondall Feeles, that homework centres to be turned into day care centres, particularly during holidays, so that fathers have an affordable place to leave their children while they are at work. We have a serious problem in Port-of- Spain, where people living in Port-of-Spain cant get their children into schools in Portof- Spain because everybodys heading for the city, so they want their children to have a space in a city school, Harvey said. I manage two primary schools and Im seeing that for myself. This makes homework centres for the children in these areas even more important because the children are being sidelined into schools that are not your primary schools of substance and, more and more, theyre needing that individual attention and individual care. So while I understand the concern of the president of the SFA, I really think that these centres, if you turn them into pre-schools, youre going to be defeating the purpose of the best of your homework centres. Harvey explained that in an effort to achieve a more holistic approach at its own homework centre, the Community Intervention for Transformation and Empowerment (CIT+E) Centre in Gonzales, Belmont, which he runs, has gone into an experimental research phase. Were not just satisfied with helping children with home work...An essential part of what were doing will be to work with the kids, especially with their parents and caregivers, to try and make sure that we really understand them, because Im convinced that one of the problems that we face in Trinidad and Tobago today (stems from) a lack of understanding of the problems that the children themselves face in their own homes. Harvey was speaking with reporters yesterday following the dedication of a room at the CIT+E Centre to the memory of Michael Mansoor, former Executive Chairman of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (FirstCaribbean). The bank also donated TT $50,000 to support the work of the centre. Harvey said the money would be used for several things, including the continued operation of The Workplace of Tomorrow room which was dedicated in Mansoors memory. We also have to pay one or two tutors who will do the work of teaching people how to use a computer to earn a living. Thats what The Workplace of Tomorrow is about - people should be able to develop their computer skills to such a level that they can in fact use those skills to earn a living. Some of the money will be used to maintain the homework centre there, including paying some tutors and the use of computers to teach computer skills to the children of Gonzales. Parents continue protest for new Princes Town school Parents of students attending Princes Town Presbyterian Primary Schools No.1 and No.2 (Pres 1 and Pres 2) protested outside the Pres 2 building yesterday morning, claiming that the Board is keeping back the establishment of a temporary prefabricated building to house their children until a new school could be built. The Board, on the other hand, said again that it is not against the building of a temporary prefabricated building to relieve the children of the shift system, but based on reports in relation to the Pres 1 building, an entirely new school is not necessary. Pres 1 students have been attending school at the Pres 2 building since July after a wall at the Pres 1 building fell. According to Nola Ramjohn-Karim, President of the Pres 1 Parents Teachers Association, the Ministry of Education already agreed to build a prefabricated structure and just needs approval from the Board. Asked why she thinks the Board is delaying approval, she said, we would love to know. Chairman of the Presbyterian Primary School Board, Carlyle Mulchan, denied the claim, saying that he is not against the building of a temporary prefabricated school as long as it could house all of the students. Mulchan said the school just needs 15 classes built to house some 300 of its 530 students. The rest, he said, could continue to be schooled at the Pres 2 building. We have land in the back of the school (Pres 1), said Mulchan. If the Ministry wants to come and build a prefabricated building there, then it can do so. The issue of contention, however, seems to be over the Pres 1 PTAs insistence that Pres 1 needs an entirely new school in the long term. Mulchan says a new school is not necessary. Ramj ohn-Ka r im spoke of the conditions of the 60-year-old school. We spoke to (Education) Minister (Anthony) Garcia ourselves - myself and another parent - and he (Garcia) said that the Ministry would not consider refurbishing the school. Ramjohn-Karim said that the Ministrys position was based on a report produced by the Ministry of Works that said the Pres 1 building was unfit for refurbishing. I know people over 50 years old who went to Pres 1, Ramjohn-Karim said, They tell me that since then, drains have been passing through two of the classrooms. Mulchan, on the other hand, denied the claim that the school is not refurbishable, citing four other reports that, he claims, say otherwise. That Ministry of Works report is a single page document that makes a blanket statement, said Mulchan. It does not identify that Pres 1 is made of three separate buildings. How could you say all three buildings need demolishing? Mulchan said the integrity of the structure of the first of the three buildings was not compromised. The Presbyterian Primary School Board is scheduled to meet with the Ministry of Education to discuss the way forward for the two schools in the upcoming weeks. Mulchan said that the Board, for that meeting, is preparing a proposal for shortterm solutions to the shift system as well as long term plans for the Pres 1 school. CIBC pledges US$1M to help sick children At last weeks opening of the Diploma in Paediatric Haematology/ Oncology Nursing Programme, an initiative of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and SickKids-Caribbean, CIBC FirstCaribbean reinforced its commitment to supporting the initiative. The event was held at the UWI School of Nursing in El Dorado. The banks partnership with SickKids Caribbean extended from the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Barbados in 2013 where the organisation pledged to provide US$1 million over a seven-year period to train medical professionals specialising in the care of paediatric patients affected by cancer, or blood disorders such as sickle cell disease. CIBC FirstCaribbean has been a long-time supporter of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) through the CIBC Childrens Foundation, corporate gifts and employees, who together have raised millions in Canada with a focus on cancer clinical trials. Managing Director of CIBC FirstCaribbeans local operation, Anthony Seeraj, emphasised the personal significance of the initiative to the bank. Childhood cancer, affecting our most vulnerable citizens, is particularly heartbreaking. Unfortunately, some of the children of our employees have been touched by diseases like cancer and sickle cell anaemia. For us, therefore, this programme to provide improved care for our regions children is personal, Seeraj said. He said they were pleased to join the list of contributors on the project as the Nursing Training Partner. We consider it an honour to be a part of this programme, and we are excited at the possibilities it opens up for health care in the Caribbean, he said. Seeraj highlighted the importance of funding medical health training in the Caribbean, citing the lack of access to specialised consultations which could save the lives of children. The Nursing Training Programme was expected to develop critical expertise to help advance the prospects of those in need. CIBC FirstCaribbean is the largest, regionally- listed bank in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean serving over 400,000 customers in 17 markets, through about 2,700 staff, across 100 branches and offices. The bank, which has almost 250 years of combined experience in the region, offers a full range of market- leading financial services in corporate and investment banking, treasury sales and trading, retail banking, wealth management, small business and credit cards. Govt, Opposition cooperate to preserve tax bill Despite the tit-for-tat over a Bill to entrench a bilateral agreement on taxation matters between TT and the US, both the Government and the Opposition on Wednesday cooperated to approve a motion to carry over the Tax Information Exchange Agreement Bill 2016. Government Whip Camille Robinson- Regis had called on the House to exercise its powers under new Standing Order 79 (3) which states, The House may...on motion moved without amendment or debate, agree to the resumption of proceedings on a Bill in the following session. This motion was approved. Minister of Finance Colm Imbert yesterday confirmed the impact of the Parliaments invocation of its powers will be to prevent the legislation from lapsing, meaning time will be saved in the new session which begins on Friday. Two other Bills were also preserved relating to the reform of the insurance sector, as well as the gaming industry. Under this new standing order, the proceedings on these Bills will be resumed in the new session of Parliament, due to commence on Friday, September 23, Imbert said. This means that these Bills do not have to be reintroduced, and in the case of the FATCA Bill it allows us to complete the debate on that Bill as soon as practicable after the completion of the Budget debate and send it to a JSC without losing any time. While sources on Sunday stated Parliament was due to reopen next Monday, those plans have since changed and the official reopening will instead occur this Friday. Parliament spokesman Jason Elcock on Sunday did not state when Parliament would reopen, but Government sources on that day pointed to September 26. However, Government sources yesterday said while September 26 was originally planned, subsequent events have caused the date to move to this Friday. Thereafter, the Budget is due to be read on September 30. There will be no ceremonial opening, Government officials said. The session prorogued yesterday. UNC MP: TTs foreign policy in shambles In a statement, Charles said Turkish President Recep Erdogan will be in New York this week to attend the United Nations Assembly. However, he said, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley will not be attending. Charles, who served as TT ambassador to the UN under the former Peoples Partnership government, said it was unlikely Erdogan would meet with Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dennis Moses who is leading this countrys delegation at the Assembly. At a post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair on September 1, Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, Stuart Young, said eight of the nine people detained last month by Turkish authorities had TT passports in their possession. Young said Governments national security channels are looking into the issue of the TT passports and whether the holders are in fact TT citizens. He said the circumstances of their detention is still unknown and Government is awaiting official response from the Turkish Government on this matter. PNM questions UNC commitment In a statement yesterday, PNM General Secretary Ashton Ford said the latest example of this was the Oppositions failure to support the Tax Information Exchange Agreement Bill 2016 which is designed to ensure TT is compliant with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of the US. Ford said the Oppositions failure to support passage of the Bill has demonstrated once again the glaring inconsistencies in their flippant stance on matters of major national importance. He said this could have dire consequences for financial institutions and businesses engaged in international trade. He added that the UNCs actions seems to point again towards an inconsistency in positions from being in government to being in opposition. Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has indicated there is documentary evidence to show the former Peoples Partnership government, in which the UNC was the major party, supported all of the measures now being advanced by the PNM. Ford said the actions of the UNC are not different from its changing positions, from government to opposition, in making the Caribbean Court of Justice this countrys final appellate court. In contrast, Ford said the PNM supported more pieces of legislation than possibly any other Opposition in this countrys history during the five years of the PP. Ford said the UNCs inconsistent behaviour suggests that rather than being pro-TT, it prefers to be anti-PNM. NAM resolved to act for Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development: Vice President of India New Delhi, Tue, 20 Sep 2016 NI Wire Addresses Onboard Media on return from 17th NAM Summit The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit has resolved to act for Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development in the world. He was addressing the Media Onboard Air India Aircraft while returning back to New Delhi after attending the 17th NAM Summit in Margarita, Venezuela on September 17-18, 2016. The Vice President said that India is one of the founders of the NAM and it is a matter of satisfaction that the great majority of the countries in the world have found NAM relevant. Even though there has been much evolution in the approach since 1961, the core approach remains the same, he pointed out. The Vice President said that three issues - Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development comprised the theme of the NAM Summit meeting and the point that India made emphatically was that the core issue of sustainable development was not possible unless there were sustainable conditions of peace in societies. He further said that the choice of mode of development was an autonomous decision of each country, as only it could choose the path most relevant to it. So the three pointed themes of this conference formed a triad, where peace, security and sovereignty formed the essential requirement for development. Specifically referring to the issue of terrorism, the Vice President said that along with sustainable development and the situation in West Asia, terrorism formed the three longest sub-items in the final document. The centrality of terrorism as an impediment to peace in society and as an impediment to development has been flagged by India and received much support at the Summit. He also said that when he met the Chairman of the Conference, the President of Venezuela, he had raised these issues, and that some of the language used in the bilateral meetings had found its way in to the final document. Reacting to a question on whether India was showing restraint on terrorism, the Vice President said that there could be no question of restraint or tolerance of terrorism. He said that India was a victim of cross-border terrorism and the manner of response is something that should be left to the concerned authorities. On a question relating to a specific statement by a member-state of NAM, the Vice President mentioned that something was said by one delegation which was contrary to the practice of NAM and specifically objectionable to India. As NAM does not have a practice of right of reply, India registered its protest in the form of communication from the Minister of State for external Affairs, Shri M.J. Akbar who was also a part of the Indian delegation, to the Chairman of the Conference. On India's approach to raising the issue of terrorism at the forthcoming session of United Nations General Assembly, the Vice President said that it has been India's general approach to flag the issue terrorism on all possible fora, and that although he did not have the details of Indian intervention, he was certain that it was a subject that would figure very prominently in our statement to the General Assembly. Source: PIB "My audience is the best judge of my transformation as an actor", says Shreyas Talpade Bollywood, Tue, 20 Sep 2016 NI Wire Shreyas Talpade has been known for some really thought provoking stories he has brought to the cinema, be it Dor, Iqbal or his upcoming release Wah Taj! The versatile actor makes it a point to leave you with messages that would run chills down your spine. He not only has a knack of pulling off these scripts driven by social issues but he also can make your ribs tickle with laughter. Every actor has a different reason for either accepting or rejecting the script, we asked Shreyas what is it that he looks for in a script. The actor very sportingly responds saying, The script has to appeal to the actor within me in its first hearing itself. If it doesn't, then with every hearing post that you try to justify certain things in the script only because you either want to work with the director, producer or the money involved. If I liked the story, then I also have to love the character. It can be a lead or supporting. It doesn't matter what the length, it has to have the required Meat. What intrigued us about Shreyas is his way with the films driven around comedy. He has given the audience some of the best comedy cults of Bollywood like the Golmaal series or a satirical comedy like Welcome to Sajjanpur. The obvious question to him was to pick between comedy and commercial scripts, choosing none the actor had the perfect response, I've always been inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee films and connect immediately with that humor as an actor though, I've been a part of various kinds of comedies in Bollywood (slapstick as well as satires) & loved every bit of it. Bollywood has very effectively been a mirror to the social & political scenario in the country from time to time, dealing with the same in a comical/Humorous manner. I personally feel the impact that such satires have on the social psyche is phenomenal. Shreyas being the honest person he is expressed that Failure is his biggest teacher, and his transformation as an actor has got a lot to with every time he failed as an actor. He used his learnings to be better at what he does and was never disheartened by things not working out in a particular phase. Shreyas also added that he leaves it up to his audience to decide how has he faired as an artist and how his transformation an entertainer has been! Wah Taj is a script which is very close to his heart because it is one such film here he is representing the sentiments of 90% of the audience in India. To get the message out right is his only motto right now with film being close to its release date. Wah Taj starring Shreyas Talpade and Majari Fadnis is presented by Jayantilal Gada (Pen) of Pen India Ltd and Directed by Ajit Sinha. The film is produced by Pawan Sharma (Pun films Pvt. Ltd.) , Abhinav Verma (Spyderwave films) and Dhaval Jayantilal Gada (Pen India Ltd.) and co- produced by Gopal Sharma, Naresh Sharma, Amitesh Kumar, Poonam Raikwar, Ravindra Choudhary, Aksshay Jayantilal Gada, Kushal Kantilal Gada & Reshmaa Kadakia. The movie is slated to release on September 23rd, 2016. Wah Taj Trailer Shreyas Talpade, Manjari Fadnis, Ajit Sinha View More : 'Wah Taj' Honors : An American Library Association Notable Children ' s Book A Junior Library Guild Selection A Children ' s Choices title A Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Children and Teens An Association for Library Service to Children Notable Children ' s Book A Sydney Taylor Notable Book of Jewish Content Kirkus Reviews " best of the year " list New York Public Library ' s " 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing " Starred reviews : " Vibrant and well-researched...Nobleman details this achievement with a zest amplified by MacDonald ' s...punchy illustrations " Publishers Weekly " This robust treatment does [Shuster and Siegel's] story justice " Booklist " The battle for truth and justice is truly never-ending " Kirkus Reviews Other coverage : , Life section USA Today cover story , Life section " [N]o library in the world could object to the book's style and panache. [T]his is one biography that's going to lure the kids like nothing else. More fun than any children's biography has any right to be " Fuse #8 ( School Library Journal ; four out of five stars) " Fascinating " Horn Book " Sure to become a classic example of the genre " Families Online " Wonderfulyoung readerswill find thistitle appealing and thereby ensure that future generations recall the amazing story behind Superman's creation as well. Wait, did I say 'recall'? Strike thatmake it 'will be inspired by' instead. This book is that good " Firefox News " Touching... The illustrated section...is upbeat, entertaining, and informative...the [well-crafted] afterword shows the shadow side of the great American dream. ...Nobleman is equally adept at both stories " Boston Globe " Surprisingly poignant " San Francisco Chronicle " Haunting " Geek Monthly " Excellent " GeekDad (WIRED) " A-minus " A.V. Club " Engrossing...wonderful " Scripps Howard News Service " I was completely mesmerized by this book from the first instant I opened it. I loved every page, and every word. Boys of Steel transported me; it made me feel young; it moved me to tears. Honest to God, it did! It caused my black heart to melt. The book is absolutely fantastic, the book is tremendous, the book is a huge achievement " Robby Reed, DIAL B for BLOG " Expertly crafted...entertaining and good looking...a real winner " Tripwire " I have to praise this wonderful book. It has something for children and adults, fans of comics and otherwise...I don ' t use the word a lot, but the book is very charming " PLAYBACK:stl " Terrific...elegantly laid down " Comics Waiting Room We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. The Daily News publishes death notices and obituaries on a daily basis for Norfolkans, area residents and former residents. Death notices, which include information about when and where a person died, funeral services, burial and visitation for the deceased and memorial information, are published free of charge. If families of the deceased desire to have an obituary printed, there is a fee charged for doing so. Because of that, families of the deceased can decide what information they want included in the obituary, as well as if they desire to have a photograph of the deceased published along with it. The Daily News reserves the right to edit. Norfolk and area funeral homes have detailed information about placing an obituary in the Daily News. If individuals want to submit obituary information themselves, it can be emailed to funerals@norfolkdailynews.com or faxed to (402) 644-2080. People needing additional information about death notices and obituaries can call the Daily News at 371-1020 or (877) 371-1020 and ask for the newsroom. Mr Du Qinglin, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, paid tribute on Monday in Rabat to King Mohammed VI for the efforts made by the Sovereign for socioeconomic development and for peace in the region. The Chinese official, who is visiting the North African Kingdom, met Head of Moroccan Government Abdelilah Benkirane and Speakers of the two Chambers of the Moroccan Parliament. Following his talks with Speaker of the Parliament upper Chamber Hakim Benchamas, the Chinese official described as very successful the visit paid last June by King Mohammed VI to Beijing. The royal visit opened up for the two countries new horizons to usher in and deploy exemplary partnership globally, said Mr. Du Qinglin, noting that Morocco is one of Chinas main partners in Africa and the Arab world. For his part, Mr. Hakim Benchamas called for setting up an inter-Parliamentary Moroccan-Chinese forum to foster further the special bilateral relations binding the two countries. In a bid to boost Moroccan-Chinese cooperation, King Mohammed VI gave instructions for the abolition of entry visas for Chinese nationals as of June 2016. The move, made during the royal visit to Beijing, confirms the Sovereigns vision and his commitment to deepen and diversify Moroccan-Chinese relations. It shows also Moroccos determination to intensify human, cultural, economic and political relations between the two long-time friends and partners. King Mohammed VI and President Xi Jinping have voiced commitment to the strategic partnership between Beijing and Rabat. The two leaders also presided over the signing ceremony of some 15 agreements and memoranda of understanding, all meant to boost cooperation between the two countries in all sectors. Moroccan Minister Delegate in Charge of the Environment Hakima El Haite said at the Our Ocean 2016 Conference in Washington DC that oceans will feature prominently in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 22), to be held in Marrakech on November 7-18. Addressing a panel on Ocean and the Environment, El Haite stressed the importance of linking the aims of the Our Ocean conference to the implementation of the COP 21 Paris Agreement. She called for a world partnership to establish a real vision and strategy to address oceans, noting that oceans both sustain life and are essential to the economies of coastal countries like Morocco. In this respect, El Haite stressed the need for treating oceans not only as an environmental agenda, but also as an economic and human agenda. The event was an occasion to shed light on some measures taken by Morocco to address the environmental and economic challenges posed by climate change, notably in terms of ocean protection through the adoption of laws against illegal fishing, promoting and monitoring of fishing fleets and creating protected zones along the coastlines. The conference was also marked by the announcement of a partnership between Morocco, France and the Principality of Monaco to ensure a better protection of the biodiversity and richness of the Mediterranean Sea against climate change and pollution. Moroccos environmental commitment was highlighted in several international reports the latest of which is the 2016 Climate Performance Index which ranked the North African Kingdom among the top ten countries making headway in addressing climate change. Secretary of State John Kerry hosted the 2016 Our Ocean conference on September 15 to 16. The conference focused on the key ocean issues of our time including marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and climate-related impacts on the ocean. The Polisario separatists, backed by Algeria, have failed at the 17th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Venezuela (Sept. 17-18) in their hostile attempts targeting Moroccos territorial integrity. They have not achieved any of their goals or schemes, according to political analysts. All their plots were foiled by Morocco at the NAM summit, which brought together several Heads of State and Delegates from member countries to discuss key regional and international issues. Despite the pressure exerted by Algeria and the host country, the summiteers rejected the invitation to the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Republic, SADR. Morocco also dealt a hard blow to its enemies when it compelled Venezuela, one of the Polisarios friends and supporters, to withdraw from NAM web site a map showing Morocco without its southern provinces. NAM closing statement cited the same former wording of the Movement regarding the Sahara issue, reiterating its call for a political solution to this dispute. The fiasco of the Polisario separatist front and its mentor Algeria at NAM follows Jamaicas decision to withdraw its recognition of the self-proclaimed SADR. In an official document released by Jamaica Foreign Ministry, this Caribbean country expressed neutrality and continued support for the efforts led by the UN to find a fair solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara that has lasted for much too long. Since 2000, some 34 countries, including nine states of the Caribbean region, have pulled out their recognition to the pseudo-RASD. During the latest African Summit held in Kigali (Rwanda), 28 African member countries out of 54 tabled a motion demanding the immediate suspension of the membership of the so-called RASD which was illegally admitted in 1984 through the illegitimate use of threats, deceit, coercion and dirty petrodollar money. They also welcomed Moroccos bid to rejoin the African Union, noting that the North African country is one of the founding members of the African organization. Head of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar has called on head of UNSMIL, Martin Kobler, to stop meddling in Libyan internal affairs, a statement that underlines division between the Libyan military veteran and the United Nations, reports say. Last week, following Haftar forces takeover of the countrys oil crescent, Martin Kobler, addressing UN Security Council, condemned the move by the LNA, but conceded that the Libyan army marshal has a role to play in the future of the country. In a statement published by the Egyptian state media Al-Ahram on Monday Haftar says Kobler is meddling in very sensitive issues. Egypt has endorsed Haftars takeover of the oil crescent. The UN-backed Government of National Accord in capital Tripoli has accused Egypt of carrying out airstrikes against the Libyan Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) on Sunday as these forces, commanded by Ibrahim Jadhran; an ally of the GNA, tried unsuccessfully to re-take Ras Lanuf and Sidra oil ports. Haftar and his political ally, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, have been opposed to the GNA that both view as an instrument of control by western powers. Haftar has repeatedly scorned diplomatic efforts aiming at bridging the gap between him and Faiez Serraj; Head of the GNA. He has also refused to meet Kobler. In the interview with Al-Ahram, Haftar said that Tripoli was awash with armed gangs. Libya, following the demise of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has collapsed into chaos, with armed factions jockeying for power. A group of leaders of Tunisian Presidents party, Nidaa Tounes, have called for structural reforms in the party, including cancellation of the post of executive director and legal representative held by Hafedh Caid Essebsi; son of president Caid Essebsi. These leaders see in Hafedh Caid Essebsi the cause of the crisis entangling the party. President Caid Essebsis Nidaa Tounes was weakened in January following the walkout of dozens of its members, accusing President Essebsi of imposing his son. The party lost several lawmakers as well as majority in the parliament. Eleven leaders of the party issued a statement protesting against a meeting of the party leaders, held on Sunday, that proposed unity government Prime Minister and leader of the party, Youssef Chahed, to head Nidaa Touness political committee. The group members called on Chahed to stay away from the partys internal affairs and to focus on his governments mission. They argued that involvement of cabinet members in the political life of the party could harm the performance of the government and the management of the state. The group members called the Sunday meeting a coup attempt made by Hafedh Caid Essebsi who is seeking to assert his influence and seize the leadership of the party. The clan opposed to Hafedh Caid Essebsi will not leave the party, a member of the group said. Chahed whose nomination as Prime Ministers was surrounded by controversy due to his family bonds with Essebsi has not indicated whether he would take up the position, reports say. Not-so-secret Never Trumper. Photo: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images A Facebook post may have just exposed George H.W. Bush as a Hillary Clinton supporter, potentially making him the first American president in history to cast his vote for the wife of the guy who ended his own presidency. While Bush himself has carefully refused to endorse either candidate, his pointed neutrality was blown on Monday night by a Facebook post from former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend. She posted a picture showing the two shaking hands above the caption: The President told me hes voting for Hillary!! Bush, 92, has not confirmed or denied his support of Clinton, but his spokesperson did reach out to Politico in an email saying: The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim. Townsend was more forthcoming, saying she met the president in Maine earlier in the day and he told her he was voting for Clinton in November. Bushs decision should make dinnertime in Kennebunkport less tense. Barbara Bush has been much more outspoken than her husband about Trump, telling CNN in February that shes sick of him, is not crazy about what he says about women, and doesnt understand why people are for him. Photo: Charles Ommanney/The Washington Post/Getty Images Mike Fernandez, a billionaire Republican donor, is pledging $2 million to help register new Latino voters in Florida, and then turn them out for Hillary Clinton on Election Day. Historically, Latinos have been drastically underrepresented in Americas voting booths. Among registered voters, the demographic is much less likely to turn out on Election Day than whites or African-Americans. Whats more, there are millions of Hispanic legal residents who are eligible for citizenship but have neglected to apply for naturalization. These facts combined with Latino voters antipathy for Donald J. Trump have made expanding the Hispanic slice of the electorate a top priority for the Clinton campaign. Thus, funding Latino registration and turnout efforts offers Fernandez a means of opposing the GOP nominee even if he cant quite bring himself to bankroll a Democrat (Fernandez does plan to vote for Hillary Clinton in November). As a lifelong Republican, I cannot support a Party I no longer recognize, Fernandez told Politico, explaining that he could not understand how the GOP could not distance itself from a man who has taken such liberties with the facts that calling him a liar would not suffice. In Florida, Hispanics account for more than 15 percent of registered voters. And their share of the electorate has grown in recent years, as the financial crisis in Puerto Rico has inspired many of that islands residents to seek better fortunes in the Sunshine State. This represents a significant change in the composition of Floridas Latino voting bloc, diluting the influence of the states historically conservative Cuban community. Trump has sought to win over that community with his calls to reestablish the Cuban embargo. But for Cuban-Americans like Fernandez, such appeals have lost their luster. As to my Cuban American community, how many more times have politicians told you what you wanted to hear and then did nothing? Its happening again, Fernandez told Politico, after saying that he no longer believes the embargo is effective. This man is taking you and America down the same path of disappointment that you have lived for 60 years. While Fernandez sees a world of difference between Mitt Romney and Donald Trump, recent polling suggests that many Hispanic-Americans do not. As The Hill notes, Trump is actually outperforming Romney among Latinos in recent polls of Nevada, while Univisions recent battleground surveys show Trump drawing roughly as much support from Latinos in Arizona, Colorado, and Florida as the former Massachusetts governor did four years ago. In an average of several national surveys updated Tuesday, Bloomberg found Clinton leading Trump by 38 points among Hispanic voters 6 fewer than Obama beat Romney by, according to 2012 exit polls. Of course, Obamas margin among Latinos was large enough to cause widespread panic among GOP elites. And if organizers can significantly increase Latino registration, Clinton can win more votes from the demographic without improving on Obamas share of the overall Hispanic vote. Evidence suggests organizers are doing just that. Meanwhile, in other money-in-politics news, Fernandezs fellow conservative plutocrat Sheldon Adelson appears to be drastically reducing his investment in Trumps presidential bid. While the casino magnate once suggested he would spend as much as $100 million on pro-Trump super-pacs, the New York Times reported Tuesday that he now plans to direct most of his largesse down ballot. The paper reports that Americas leading opponent of online gambling will give $20 million each to a pair of super-pacs backing Senate and House Republicans, while setting aside a mere $5 million to efforts supporting Trump. On Monday night, Donald Trump Jr. discovered a meme that perfectly expressed his view of the Syrian refugee crisis. This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 Like so many other opinions espoused by men named Donald Trump, this summary of our refugee problem was cruel, bigoted, plagiarized, factually wrong, and grammatically incorrect. The core issue, of course, is that whether one should eat from a bowl of Skittles, in which three have been poisoned, is radically different from whether the United States should offer refuge to those displaced by the Syrian Civil War. If you choose not to eat the Skittles, no one gets hurt (not even you, really, since even the non-poisoned candies are a net-negative for your nutritional health). But if no country offers the 4.8 million Syrian refugees half of whom are children a place to restart their lives, they suffer in camps and then die. Then theres the discrepancy in risk: According to Mashables calculations, your chance of drawing one of the poison Skittles from a standard, six ounce-bowl of the candies, is roughly 2 percent. The chance that you will die in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, committed by anyone, let alone by a refugee, is 0.000000027 percent, according to a recent study by the CATO Institute. So, unless one views refugees lives as essentially valueless, the risk-reward proposition of welcoming refugees into your nation is not at all analogous to that of eating from a bowl of poison candy. To establish that refugees lives do, in fact, have value, some reminded the Trump campaign that suggesting otherwise is monstrous. Others noted that theory of special relativity was invented by refugee, and the iPhone, by the son of a Syrian immigrant. in this analogy are the skittles also displaced human beings with children & families trying to escape war & violence exacerbated by the US https://t.co/49EPml6MWU thomas violence (@thomas_violence) September 20, 2016 Pause to reflect on the fact that this was sent from an iPhone, which was created by the son of a Syrian immigrant. https://t.co/N13gXgRozn Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) September 20, 2016 This is Albert Einstein, a German Jew. He was a refugee. We took him in after Hitler rose to power. Donald Trump thinks he's a lime Skittle pic.twitter.com/54FkB7j3Vg Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) September 20, 2016 And now, David Kittos of the United Kingdom has informed the Trump campaign that the very photograph it used to dehumanize refugees was composed and shot by a refugee. Specifically, himself. I am now a British citizen but I am Greek-Cypriot by birth and in 1974 I was a refugee because of the Turkish occupation, the 48-year-old Kittos told the BBC. I was 6 years old. We lived in the area of Cyprus that is now under Turkish military control. We had to leave everything behind overnight. Our property and our possessions. Kittos took the photo in his home studio, while experimenting with off-camera flash. He then posted it to Flickr in January 2010, where someone saw his work and thought, This can be used to express my contempt for people displaced by war. This isnt about the money for me. They could have just bought a cheap image from a micro stock library, Kittos observed in his interview with the BBC. This is pure greed from them. I dont think they care about my feelings. The fact that the tweet remains on Donald Trump Jr.s Twitter feed suggests Kittos is correct. Photo: Jackson Lee/Splash News This past weekend, rapper and fashion designer Kanye West made the mistake of leaving his phone unlocked. Never one to miss the small details, the British tabloid Daily Mail devoted an entire article to bragging about how Kanye uses its app (which makes sense, given how obsessively the Mail covers his wife, Kim Kardashian, and their extended family). We here at Select All, however, are concerned with loftier things than the news outlets Kanye reads. No, we care about the important things: Which apps does Kanye use?! Heres what we could make out. Photo: Jackson Lee/Splash News Top row: Messages, Photos, Camera, Settings Second row: Clock, Calendar, Notes, [blocked by thumb] Third row: FaceTime, Facebook (?), [blocked by thumb], [blocked by thumb] Fourth row: Snapchat, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram Fifth row: Voice Memos, unknown, unknown, unknwon Sixth row: unknown, Daily Mail, unknown (blank space?), unknown Tray: Phone, Safari, Mail, Music What can we learn? Well, assuming hes actually using those apps, Kanye has secret Snapchat and Tumblr accounts. (He joined Instagram earlier this week.) And while he doesnt have his wifes Kimoji app, its also worth noting that hes using a LuMee case endorsed by his wife and his wallpaper is a picture of them. Thats nice! Anyway, Kanye should swap out the default apps in his tray for the ones he uses most. Thats my advice. Its just more efficient. Oh, my other piece of advice is to download an app called Ham Horn. Its not so hard to imagine a day when well stop being seduced by the human salesmanship of active investors. Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images On September 4, a new activist investor announced himself to the world of big-swinging-dick finance. In a short email sent to 200 industry heavyweights, he urged Och-Ziff, one of the worlds largest publicly owned hedge funds, to embrace robo-trading. The author of the note was Michael Young; he is 24, a Chipotle cook who has moonlighted as a self-taught investor since reading Ron Chernows The House of Morgan at 19. His stake in Och-Ziff, a $39.2 billion fund, is $1,018. He wrote his declaration from a personal Gmail account; he did not use bcc. Dear Partners, Young began. We have taken a position in Och-Ziff Capital Management. Then he got to the point. OUR GOALS ARE TO: I. Focus Och-Ziffs attention on increasing tangible book value. II. Help Och-Ziff develop an automated trading strategy to decrease human emotion and improve investing performance. This will also increase profit margins by requiring fewer traders to execute trades. III. While continuing to focus their attention on tangible book value and investing performance. We will advocate for the sale of Och-Ziff Capital Management to a buyer who can manage the business better. When notorious activist Bill Ackman took his position against Herbalife in 2012, it was with a 342-slide PowerPoint; I have just reproduced Michael Youngs Och-Ziff presentation in full. But that second objective was genuinely eye-catching (one recipient forwarded it to a Business Insider reporter, asking, more or less, Who the fuck is this guy?). For decades, certain amateur investors, suspicious of stock-market gamesmanship they mightve felt looped out of, have proselytized fundamentals investing (its one way Warren Buffett got sainted as the cuddly Oracle of Omaha). But robo-trading (also called algorithmic or automated investment) is a relatively new crusade and, for financial managers, a new fear. Which, of course: Its hard not to worry if your future professional status depends on outJohn Henrying some Deep Blue fino-bot. One telltale sign theyre genuinely freaked is the word they use to deride the threat. Robot is what we call technology were scared of these days, from robot warfare to robot cars to robot doctors. When we like the technology, we call it software. Lately, financial advisers have been calling it worse things. In August, a team from AllianceBernstein ($496 billion under management) published The Silent Road to Serfdom: Why Passive Investing Is Worse Than Marxism. The paper was inspired by index funds, which eliminate human judgment by simply following the market as a whole, but was such a vigorous defense of active, human investment management it got passed around, and talked about, in a frenzy of robot panic. As Bloomberg Views Matt Levine very memorably sketched out, the threat from robo-trading is to more than just financial services as an employment class. One broadly plausible thing to expect is that, in that long run, the robots will be better at this than the humans, he wrote. Another broadly plausible thing to expect is that, in the long run, robots will keep getting better at it. Then, after many charming caveats, Levine proposed a truly staggering hypothetical: What if a single robot intelligence could, over time, crowd out not just human traders but all the other AIs too machine-learning its way to better and better performance in something like the way Google became search in the mid-aughts (by mostly out-algorithming all the WebCrawlers and Yahoos). Eventually the best robot will predictably and repeatedly outperform the second-best robot, so why would you invest with the second-best robot? Levine asked. The result: a market taken over by a single robot. But if an exchange could truly be animated not by the messy, uncoordinated behavior of countless self-interested individuals but by the single AI that Levine called Best Capital Allocating Robot at that point, do we have a market anymore? If the Best Allocating Robot is buying, who would the sellers be? And if there were still suckers around, do you call a robot exploiting them capitalism? It smells a bit like state command-and-control, only much more efficient at allocating resources than the Soviets ever managed. How much of a fantasy is this? We may find out. Already, we know that index funds outperform hedge funds, the investor-genius poster children. Lately, hedge funds have hit a rough patch: Like charter schools in education, the hedge-fund sector has used the freedom to experiment to produce some spectacular winners, many more funds that perform at about the level of the market as a whole, and enough true disasters that the entire industry topples into not meaningfully profitable. And thats at the high-skill end; the broker managing your TD Ameritrade account didnt turn down a gig at D.E. Shaw for the privilege. So perhaps were already investing against our better judgment anytime we hand our money to a real person. Which means its not so hard to imagine a day when well stop being seduced by the human salesmanship of active investors and maybe even realize that, when you think about it, robo-trading isnt passive at all. Its software making the same analytical decisions humans do only, possibly, better. (To take one example, Bloomberg reports that Renaissance Technologies Medallion Fund, working originally with a much cruder technology, delivered an average annual return of 71.8 percent from 1994 to 2014.) Michael Young loves the Medallion Fund, and he sees a lot of upside in a market run by robots both for bankers and the rest of us. (Talking about it, he sounds like many in Silicon Valley who believe that, thanks to their work, something like John Maynard Keyness promise of a 15-hour workweek is, finally, just around the corner.) If we go to Wall Street or any firm and say, Raise your hand if youre really doing what you wanted to do when you were 18 Young says. I know ambitions evolve. But you need to have some money in the bank if you want to go to Europe and try out the best teas or visit the best coffee shops. Thats why we need a system where your income is being generated and you dont have to worry about the betting aspect or your investments going to zero. Young may not live to see the full revolution: One recent report suggested hybrid robo-advisers (algorithms overseen by humans) would manage only 10 percent of global capital by 2025; pure robo-advisers would manage only 1.6 percent. But theres still plenty of money to make, Young believes, pushing the revolution along an ultimate-outsider activist-investor trying to put the business of human investing out of business (and having done so mostly during his shift-work off-shifts). Thank God for my boss, he says. He was able to give me a week off so I could plan everything out going forward here. Thats what he wanted me to do. He said, Always follow your passion. So thats what this week is about for me the purpose of this week is getting Och-Ziff on the right page. Working the phones, he says, has proved surprisingly productive. I just ended up calling Mark McCombe hes the co-head of alternative investments at BlackRock. (Thats the biggest asset manager on the planet.) I dont know if it was by luck or by chance that I got him. I was expecting maybe his assistant, but he picked up the phone directly. I think he was on his way out of the office, but I mentioned what we were trying to do and how BlackRock can help Och-Ziff. McCombes office denies the conversation took place, but in Youngs telling, he expressed hope that BlackRocks size might get Och-Ziffs attention. Och-Ziff is so big, and they need help turning that big truck around, he says. Its a lot harder to turn a big truck versus a Toyota. You need a little more guidance. Because sometimes you can be so tuned into your own business its like being in your house with the TV on you dont realize whats going on in the outside world. Sometimes that can happen. *This article appears in the September 19, 2016, issue of New York Magazine. Brangelina, always in our hearts. Photo: Grant Lamos IV/FilmMagic/Getty Brangelina, the last of our great celebrity portmanteaus, is no more. Earlier today, TMZ reported that Hollywoods most beloved couple are getting divorced, launching a planet-wide state of emergency and sending the rumor mill into overdrive. As we pour out a glass of award-winning Jolie-Pitt & Perrin Cotes de Provence Rose Miraval Reserve for the once-great couple, heres a look back at the history of their relationship, from their whirlwind romance on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the Jennifer Aniston love triangle and the tabloid frenzy, their many adoptions and joint humanitarian endeavors, their long-awaited nuptials, and ultimately, their tragic split. Summer 2004: The pair meet on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Rumors of a relationship abound, despite the fact that Brad is married to Jennifer Aniston. January 2005: Brad and Jen announce that they are splitting after much thoughtful consideration and that their breakup was not caused by any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media. April 2005: The paparazzi catch Angelina and Brad vacationing together in Kenya with Angelinas son Maddox, all but confirming their relationship. The world was shocked, and I was shocked, Aniston later tells Vanity Fair of the photos. Meanwhile, the Brangelina-and-Jen tabloid industry goes into overdrive, and never stops. June 2005: The couple attend the Mr. & Mrs. Smith premiere but do not pose for photos together. W runs a feature titled Domestic Bliss, conceptualized by Brad, featuring Brad and Angelina as a 60s married couple. Everyone agrees that it is not very nice to Jen. Photo: Steven Klein/W magazine July 2005: Angelina adopts daughter Zahara from Ethiopia. September 2005: Jen opens up about Brad and Angelinas relationship for the first time in a big Vanity Fair spread, saying she believes Brad when he says he did not cheat on her with Jolie, even if the speed of their coupling suggests differently. I just dont know what happened, Aniston admits. Theres a lot I dont understand, a lot I dont know, and probably never will know, really. According to Anistons friends, once Brad began working with Angelina, he checked out of his marriage. I dont think he started an affair physically, but I think he was attracted to [Angelina], says Courteney Cox. October 2005: Brad and Jens divorce is finalized. January 2006: Angelina reveals that she is pregnant with Brads baby. Brad also legally adopts Maddox and Zahara. Photo: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images May 2006: Angelina gives birth to their daughter Shiloh. She sells photos of the new baby to People and OK for a whopping $7 million total, which is then donated to charity. September 2006: The couple launch the Jolie-Pitt Foundation to contribute to various humanitarian causes around the world. October 2006: Brad tells Esquire that he and Angie will marry when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able, something he reiterates over the years. December 2006: The pair step out on The Good Shepherd red carpet, their first red-carpet appearance together. Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images For the first time, Angelina opens up about the beginning of their relationship to Vogue. It took until, really, the end of the [Mr. & Mrs. Smith] shoot for us, I think, to realize that it might mean something more than wed earlier allowed ourselves to believe, she says. And both knowing that the reality of that was a big thing, something that was going to take a lot of serious consideration. March 2007: Angelina adopts Pax from Vietnam. Shortly after, she legally changes his surname from Jolie to Jolie-Pitt. May 2008: We learn that the couple are expecting twins, which will bring their total number of offspring to six. July 2008: Angelina gives birth to twins Knox and Vivienne, selling their pictures for a whopping $14 million, which they again donate to charity. October 2008: While Brad and Angelina still deny having a physical relationship while Brad was with Jen, Angelina tells the Times that she is excited for her kids to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith because not a lot of people get to see a movie where their parents fell in love. November 2008: Jen thinks Angies comments to the Times were uncool. I felt those details were a little inappropriate to discuss, she tells Vogue. Brad publishes his personal photographs of Angelina in W. December 2008: Brad confirms that they fell in love during Mr. & Mrs. Smith, telling Rolling Stone that it is his favorite film because you know six kids. Because I fell in love. February 2010: The couple sue The News of the World for an erroneous report that they are separating. June 2010: [Were not] against getting married, Angie tells Vanity Fair. Its just like we already are. Children are clearly a commitment, a bigger commitment [than marriage]. Its for life. September 2011: Brad talks about how satisfied he is with Angie and appears to shade Jen in Parade, saying, I wasnt living an interesting life myself. I think that my marriage had something to do with it. Trying to pretend the marriage was something that it wasnt. He later apologizes, clarifying that he was just in a rough patch during the end of their relationship. Pitt reiterates to Ellen that he and Jolie will not marry until same-sex couples can marry, but also talks about marriage pressure from the family, saying: The kids are putting on the heat. They really are. They are putting on the heat. How do I get out of this one? Somebody help me. I dont know what the future holds. December 2011: Angelina also says that the kids are pressuring them to tie the knot. The kids asked me the other day, and I asked them if it was just because they wanted to have a big cake, she said. Weve explained to them that our commitment when we decided to start a family was the greatest commitment you could possibly have. Once you have six children, youre committed. January 2012: Brad changes his tune a bit. Wed actually like to [get married], Pitt tells THR. It seems to mean more and more to our kids. We made this declaration some time ago that we werent going to do it till everyone can. But I dont think well be able to hold out. It means so much to my kids, and they ask a lot. And it means something to me, too, to make that kind of commitment to be in love with someone and be raising a family with someone and want to make that commitment and not be able to is ludicrous, just ludicrous. April 2012: Brads manager confirms that the pair are engaged. May 2013: Angelina reveals that she underwent a preventative double mastectomy in a New York Times op-ed. I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive, she writes. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has. I find Angies choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic, Brad tells the Evening Standard. May 2014: Angelina waxes poetic about their love in Elle. You get together and youre two individuals and you feel inspired by each other, you challenge each other, you complement each other, drive each other beautifully crazy. August 2014: The pair secretly marry at a private ceremony in Chateau Miraval, France. September 2014: We finally get to see photos of the wedding, including photos of the Versace wedding dress, which Angelinas kids helped decorate. November 2014: The pair honeymoon in Malta, while also making their first film together since Mr. & Mrs. Smith turbulent relationship drama By the Sea. March 2015: Angelina reveals that she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to prevent cancer. I called my husband in France, who was on a plane within hours, she writes in the Times. The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful. November 2015: By the Sea comes out. Talking to The Telegraph, Angelina says that their relationship is nothing like that of the unhappy couple in the film. Brad and I have our issues, but if the characters were even remotely close to our problems we couldnt have made the film. To be clear: we have fights and problems like any other couple. We have days when we drive each other absolutely mad and want space, but the problems in the movie arent our specific problems. Promoting the film, the love fest is mostly in full swing. Whatevers gotta be done to keep the family together and keep the family together as long as possible, its gotta be done, said Brad of his wifes surgery. There was no vanity to my wifes approach. It was mature. June 2016: Us Weekly predicts a divorce, citing tension over whether to sell their Chateau Miraval property in the south of France. September 2016: September 20, 2016, a day that will live in infamy: Angelina files for divorce. This decision was made for the health of the family, says Angelinas attorney in a statement. She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time. Speculation over possible causes abounds, mostly suggesting that Brads bad behavior is to blame. I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids, Brad tells People. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time. On September 30, for the first time in its 54-year history, the New York Film Festival will kick off with a documentary film; The 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, best known for 2014s Selma, chronicles Americas history of racial subjugation. The movie takes its name from the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery but included a loophole that exempted those guilty of crimes from freedom. The 13th, which will debut in theaters and on Netflix on October 7, uses archival images from before emancipation through the Jim Crow era and the civil-rights movement, as well as contemporary footage of police brutality against black men, and is threaded with interviews with scholars, lawmakers, prison-reform activists, and the formerly incarcerated. Meanwhile, Queen Sugar, the television show she co-produced and wrote (which is directed exclusively by women, including DuVernay), has broken viewership records for the Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN. Next up, Winfrey will star as Mrs. Which, along with Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. Whatsit, Mindy Kaling as Mrs. Who, and 12 Years a Slaves Storm Reid as Meg Murray in DuVernays adaptation of the childhood classic A Wrinkle in Time. That movie, the first $100 million film to be directed by a black woman, will start shooting in November. And on September 24, the Smithsonians new National Museum of African American History and Culture will open with another new film by DuVernay, chronicling seismic events that have all taken place on August 28: Emmett Tills murder, the March on Washington, Hurricane Katrinas landfall, and Barack Obamas acceptance of the Democratic nomination. Rebecca Traister: This documentary tells the story of African-American history by focusing on how, since emancipation, black men have been criminalized, and thus dehumanized, by American law and practice. People of color are 30 percent of the American population but 60 percent of the prison population. What you do, though, is break down how we as a culture created those conditions. Tell me about your argument. Ava DuVernay: Theres a clause in our Constitution that still allows for slavery to exist. Because we dont live in a slavery era, folks dont embrace imprisonment for what it is. But theres an exception to the 13th Amendment, which literally permits slavery as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. And from that criminality clause arose a societal behavior, a collective consciousness about who was a criminal. More often than not, the folks labeled criminal were people of color. In particular, black men. We explore everything from the reasons why the link between race and criminality was manufactured to how its used for profit and power and political gain, all the way up until the current day. This isnt the first time youve made a movie about incarceration. Your second feature, Middle of Nowhere, told the story of a woman coming to grips with her husbands prison sentence. But what was the point at which you decided, Im going to make a documentary about this? Netflix asked me what I might be interested in doing a documentary about, and its always on my mind. When I got done with Selma, I was behind on reading. I read Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow. Bryan Stevensons Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. I picked up Howard Zinns Peoples History. It was just a bunch of stuff in my head. I grew up in Compton, and there were two really silly things Id say when I was a little girl driving around with my mom. The first one was: If Im ever homeless, thats a good place to sleep overnight. I would do that all the time, just look for a little nook, say under the freeway sign. I guess it just came from seeing people homeless. And I would also always say, If Im ever in prison, Ill miss this Were your friends going to prison? Family members? No, just in my community. Where I grew up, people are locked up and dealing with incarceration in different ways, including parole or probation. The police presence was really heavy. I used to want to be a lawyer. In the eighth grade, I got a briefcase as my graduation gift, and it was like, Its all happening to me. A couple more steps and its all there. When did you decide not to do that? Somewhere along the way, I became fascinated with media. I wanted to produce news and be a war correspondent. I got a really prestigious internship with CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and Connie Chung, and I was like, Im gonna be producing for Dan Rather, like, tomorrow. Then I got assigned to the O.J. unit and was like, This sucks. This is the worst ever. What was it that put you off? They had me digging through trash cans! I was like, No! Mama didnt raise me to be digging through nobodys trash can, no. I had a little suit on I mean come on, stop and we were each assigned a juror. I was camped out outside, waiting for this poor lady to come home. It was trash day, and they were like, Is there anything there? I just became disenchanted with it. Thats when things started to change in terms of the tabloidism in what was considered real news. Not to disparage CBS. That was the overall culture. I was interning at a soap opera that summer, at CBS in New York, and all the soaps were canceled for O.J. coverage. So I said to myself, I dont think soap operas are where its at. Think of all of the collateral consequences of that time. When did you start thinking about incarceration as a systemic issue? At UCLA, I was an African-American studiesEnglish double major. I was very active in black student life. Some people call it a red-black-and-green phase that young black people go through, when theyre learning about the history in a deep way. The red phase is very angry. The black phase is very nationalist. Green is when you begin to reckon with it and have some peace with it all but it doesnt go away. Some people stay in one phase or the other, some people go through it all. What did you think of Bill Clinton in the early 90s? That he was a cool dude. I was in college and saw him playing the sax on Arsenio, and that was about it at that point. So much in presidential politics is about the pop-culture presentation of who you are. And Clinton was sold to me as the first black president. When did you rethink that? I mean, once I saw the impact In 1994, unless you were reading the fine print and consuming alternative news rather than the hook, line, and sinker of the mainstream press, you did not have a full understanding as most Americans did not of the impact of that bill and how it would reshape law enforcement overall. The militarization of police came about because of it, as did destructive laws that really targeted the black and brown communities. But that crime bill was a direct result of the Republican administrations before it. It was overreach triggered by other, previous overreaching. Many of the analysts that we talked to for the documentary pointed out that you couldnt run without running on crime. And you had to be tougher than the next guy, so you get this bill that the Did it make you look back at that period of your life and feel like you and the rest of America had been duped? I wouldnt use those words. I mean, the law is there. If you read it and understood it, you can get the information, I think. I was doing what I vowed not to do and dont do anymore, which is listen to what everyones saying and take it as truth. Its taught me to read more carefully, understand more carefully, and go beyond the stump speech. Thats what I did for The 13th. I read for myself, I thought for myself, and I found some things that were startling. And folks may watch this documentary and come up with a different conclusion than I did. All good. Just dont take anything at face value. Did you see that the Obama administration is I was so excited when I read about it, and I told my husband, Look, I cant believe it! Hes a public defender in Brooklyn. He was like, Yeah, its bullshit. Theyre going to make 14 different exceptions, it wont apply to anything but low-level misdemeanors, and it was so deflating. He thinks, If it sounds too good to be true, its too good to be true. I think the interesting thing about these proclamations, though, is that they do something to deteriorate the tightly held ideas about whats possible. It will eventually lead to a change in public opinion, which is important. As it stands, we all close our eyes and let it happen. Prison is a place where bad people go. Its over there. As long as I dont have anyone there, its okay. Howd slavery happen? White people think, I could never have owned anyone. Black people say, I could never have worked. I would have run away. But all of it is happening again, and were all just sitting here letting it go down. You have everyone from Angela Davis to Newt Gingrich in the movie. How did you decide whom to interview? I kept adding people. It was very exploratory. It was kind of like, who can talk about plea bargains? Because this is fucked up, that 97 percent of people in jail have not gone to trial. Is this a real thing? Who can help me talk about I also wanted to include the voices of formerly incarcerated people, not just have a whole bunch of people talking about them, but to have their voices. And it was important to listen to the right. Grover Norquist talked to you! I was surprised, because its not like Im Switzerland. A couple of conservatives walked in and were like, A lot of black people! What is this? But my questions were very earnest. I just said, I want to hear your side of it. The whole Right on Crime thing was A criminal-justice-reform movement led by Republicans? I genuinely wanted to know: What is this really about? Did you just all of a sudden want a whole bunch of people out of prison? What do you want out of this? In the first two clips of Newt Gingrich, he says theres no question that crack and cocaine sentencing were racist. And I rewound, like, Is that Newt Gingrich who said that? Yeah, a lot of people are like [makes a double-take face]. He says super-authoritatively, The bottom line is, if youre white in America, you have no idea what its like to be black. Photograph by Amanda Demme Yeah! That surprised me too. Hes been talking like that for a little bit in smaller circles. I got hooked up with him because of Van Jones [the environmental and social-justice activist]. He and Van Jones have had this bipartisan effort to I guess theres a part of my brain that has blocked out a lot having to do with Newt Gingrich. It was super-interesting to sit with him. Hell talk about a mission to treat crack cocaine the same as powder cocaine, and youre like, Okay! And then hell turn around and say something else, and youre like, Did you just say ? But it taught me a lot. Because I cant say I know a lot of conservative Republicans. I want to talk to you about the power of images. After a police officers killing of Philando Castile was recorded and streamed by his girlfriend, there was a lot of discourse around the value of watching these videos. People wonder: Is it wrong? Does it just publicize it in some way? But you also have to weigh it against the power of lynching photos. It is asking people to bear witness to what has happened. Its like what Mamie Till said about leaving the casket of her lynched 14-year-old son open at I want them to see what they did to my baby. We asked the families what they thought about us including these images of their dead. Because these families, they dont own the photos, they dont own the videos. So when you say in the movie, We had permission, youre not talking about legal permission. Its all fair use. But I did not include any families in it who did not okay it, out of a human respect for showing the murder of their loved one. It was an emotional permission I felt I had to ask. Im always surprised we dont see the post-death image of Emmett Till more. I just got word today we cant use it. We found out we cant get permission from the owner. I got this email in the middle of a meeting with Disney. I said, It cant be. It cant be. It cant be. Who do I call? Ill try every powerful person I know. We ran into the same thing with a video interview of Kalief Browder, the New York man who was in Rikers for three years without conviction and killed himself at age 22. The only places that had [video] interviews with him were ABC and Huffington Post. I was just like, Arianna Huffington! They told me, Ava, shes not there anymore. Finally, I tracked down the woman whos executive editor of the whole thing there and she pushed it through in two hours. Im making calls tomorrow about Till. [DuVernay ultimately used a different Emmett Till photograph, from a different angle.] I was interested in New Yorker writer and historian Jelani Cobbs comments about the portrayal of black men as rapists, how after emancipation they went from being rendered as kindly Uncle Remuses to rapacious villains. And I was also just reading about how Harry Belafonte is against That story is at the crux of so many of these issues: the way that criminalization and imputations of sexual predation have often been aimed at black men who threaten. So I understand why Harry Belafonte can argue that Parker had already faced a judicial system that is not kind to black men. Are you thinking about that story? No, I havent. I know thats top of mind for everybody, but Im so intensely busy. I think people are obsessed with it because it gets to the question of who the judicial system doesnt work for: black men. But it also doesnt always work for women in rape cases. And because of this tangle of competing inequities, a lot of people dont know what theyre supposed to think, especially about someone whos created But the way Americans dehumanize those they perceive as threatening to them by criminalizing them is something Ive also been thinking about with regard to the Lock her up stuff about Hillary. Lock her up? This is what people are chanting at Hillary, some saying Hillary for prison, that she needs to be shot for treason. What? That is crazy. It is crazy. But I was thinking about how the use of perceived criminality in your movie translates to gender as well, in different ways. At the Republican convention, Chris Christie led a chant: Guilty or not guilty? And the convention crowd yelled, Guilty! Whats your political investment at this point? Making sure Trumps not elected, by any means necessary. Were you a Bernie person? No. These are the two we have. And theres a lot at stake. Youre somebody whos not by trade a historian; youre a filmmaker. As a journalist who finds myself writing about history constantly, as in my book about unmarried women Hey, I could have been in that book! Some of us people who are not historians are suddenly realizing that what we do ties to the history of the country. You see Ta-Nehisi Coates doing this, too. Ive always been fascinated by the idea that history is only perception. but to a whole bunch of other people it sounded exactly right. You put the title history on it and its supposed to be cemented. Ive wanted to get in and deconstruct that. Its about peeling back the layer from the mythology, whether the mythology is about patriarchy or [white] supremacy, or whether its about the fantasyland that many want to believe was the civil-rights movement. The actual movement was fractured, tense, multitiered, messy. It wasnt everyone in lockstep marching and singing We Shall Overcome. And what they accomplished is more extraordinary than if theyd all gotten along. Its a homogenization of radical black-liberation theology when you just say, Oh, you know, he had a dream! Thats horrible. Its a vanilla-ing. Ive always been fascinated by the idea that history is only perception. Did the pushback against your take on LBJ make you waver in your belief that youd gotten him right? Absolutely not. It made me feel even more solid and confident. I mean, the audacity of the LBJ library to try and say what he did and didnt do, what he meant to people and didnt mean to people, was kind of jaw-dropping. People were beaten on that bridge because it was not stopped and it could have been. Google the N-word and LBJ and see what comes up, then tell me that the history is pristine. Until recently, the kind of people who wanted to use history to reveal something crucial about inequities and injustices hadnt been in the position to make the movies or write the stories. I think part of why theres such a national freakout is because suddenly there are new people in these positions of narrative power. You cant lock it away in a history book anymore. What are the chief differences in going about that work of challenging that history and encouraging independent thought when youre making a narrative film versus a documentary? The first time I ever picked up a camera was for a documentary about my community, South Central L.A. Its called This Is the Life, and I made it check to check. Id work, Id get paid, Id put it toward the film. The second film I made, the first time anyone ever gave me money, was for a documentary it was BET for a film chronicling the role of women in hip-hop. Thats what felt most organic to me. Not trying to create truth but just pointing a camera at it. The muscle that had to be tested the most was the narrative. But I can see some trace of that documentary thinking in the narrative filmmaking, whether it be my first feature or the second one, or Middle of Nowhere, both of which are very observational, or Selma, which really brings in elements of documentary filmmaking as well. Do you imagine yourself always returning to both forms? I feel really free to move across mediums. And I know that its something thats quite rare and is a privilege that was not afforded to the women who came before. But I feel that I can go across not only mediums but genres, the styles, the form. I can make a short for a fashion brand, I can make a commercial for Apple. And within all those I can try to find a story to tell that feels connected to what I want to say. Im doing my first installation, this piece thats going to be at the Smithsonian. Which is even a different form. Do you think other women besides you are experiencing some of the flexibility you are? Are you asking about what were making now or about how women are being received? Well, maybe both. Theres something exciting about this era. You know, Jill Soloway makes an independent film that wins Sundance and then she goes on to make a series for a streaming channel and now shes Jill Soloway. Issa Rae started making her stuff online, on the web, unaffiliated with anything. Now shes got a digital empire where shes empowering all kinds of people to release all kinds of things on her YouTube channel. Plus shes got her HBO deal, for Insecure. Barry Jenkinss Those are people of color and women who are affected by the time. The traditional walls have collapsed. People of color are taking advantage of it, and women are taking advantage of it. Should there be more? Hell, yeah, there should be a lot more. Gatekeepers have a lot less hold. I sit and talk with or and all these heroes of mine who did the exact same thing that I do tell stories, really gorgeous stories, far beyond anything that I could ever think of doing. And yet were not able to move freely and easily. You could really only make a film if you were black or a woman if you were also independently wealthy or in school. All those L.A. Rebellion filmmakers and Burnett and Dash were at UCLA, thats how they got the film stock and the film camera, 35-mm. film. Wheres the black Coppola, wheres the black Spielberg? Folks didnt have access. Now you can use your beautiful iPhone, or you can edit it, and you can not only do that but you can distribute it yourself on the web. You can amplify it yourself. And youre finding a huge audience for Queen Sugar. Hollywood must be paying attention. Im relieved. Erykah Badu has the famous line Im an artist, and Im sensitive about my shit. Anytime you put something out, youre worrying, Will this work? And for me, the TV thing, its new. All you can do is serve your own sensibilities. Am I surprised that folks are clamoring for Donald Glovers show? Am I surprised that people are falling all over themselves for the No, because folks want to see themselves. Am I challenged by the fact that there are very few Asian-American shows on television? That theres almost no Latino-family representation? That really is upsetting to me. Youve spoken about your issues with the word diversity and the way that we often conceptualize diversity as a math problem. Does it feel like to some degree Hollywood gets one or two people who are different and decides, Were good now, well just have that one person do all the work! Do you feel any of that? Like, Why am I the only one here? For sure. And thats why I try to use whatever bandwidth I have to bring more people into the space. To make sure there are all-women directors, a majority-people-of-color writers room, majority-women editorial team, very deep bench of crew. Our crew on Queen Sugar was like the United Nations, and its the same thing Im doing on A Wrinkle in Time. Its like, All department heads, please, do not bring me the same people youve been using the last 20 years. So Im constantly pushing even if the industry is thinking that maybe me or Ryan [Coogler] or the handful of us that are doing it are enough. You know its not all about getting in that door and reading in that room. Now there are other rooms, and we can create new spaces. So can we talk about You loved it when you were a kid? Nooo. I never read it when I was a kid. When did you read it? Last year. I loved it. The studio reached out to my agent about it, and I was like, Im sure theres somebody out there whos read it who would love it but its just not my thing. But Tendo Nagenda, the highest-ranking black production executive in Hollywood and the executive vice-president of production at Walt Disney, sent me this is so embarrassing the graphic novel, like a big picture book. There was something about the way Meg was drawn. I read it that night the graphic-novel version then I ordered the real thing to my iPad and stayed up the whole night reading. And I just knew exactly how to make it. Which was not Meg in a sleepy New England town with ladies who look like Mrs. Doubtfire. So I went in to the studio, and I was like, This is my plan. What do you think? And they immediately said thats what we were hoping you would say. Usually Im working with $2 and a paper clip, and dealing with the whole Disney apparatus, I was like, I dont know how thats gonna be but I love it. Really? I love independent film. I dont need permission thats my thing! How I ended up here with a major studio, I cant tell you. Somehow I got into it with people who really want me to do my thing. They just announced the casting for Meg today. I retweeted a couple of things. One woman said something really touching, that when she grew up, she knew that Meg looked like her, like the book says. And shes so happy that other girls will be able to watch it and feel like Meg looks like them. I know whenever I read a book, I always put myself in it. And whenever Im watching a movie, I put myself in it. Like, I am Jason Bourne! Im kicking ass. And you didnt write the screenplay? No, its my first time working with a screenwriter. I was worried. But shes a freaking genius: Jennifer Lee, who wrote Frozen. We have all these ideas about these worlds that they go to and how they should reflect a universe thats beyond our narrow American sensibility. So are you taking it out of America? No, Im saying theres an American view of what other worlds are like, which is just like: more America. This really is thinking about these worlds in a way that brings in textures and colors and terrain that are different from what we know here. Im trying to think in new ways. I had a two-week brainstorm concept previsualization with illustrators about flight. Deconstructing all the ways people fly in movies: on the back of somebody, on the back of some thing, held by somebody. Or youre like in a spaceship or in a suit floating. And it was like: What hasnt been done in that regard? I was talking to Alan Horn, head honcho at Disney, and I told him what Im going to do for flight. He said, Oh, huh, never seen that before. I was like, Yes! Im so interested right now in people returning to white spaces or male spaces like Ghostbusters or Oceans 11 and saying, Hey, heres an idea. What if everything wasnt male and/or white? Like Hamilton I think for so many artists its Before Hamilton and After Hamilton. Its important that Hamilton came at this moment, this Black Lives Matter moment, this moment where were interrogating issues around identity, gender identity. For me, its also about Obama and Hillary. Talk about a space that has historically only been white and male, and suddenly were like, Lets take this job that has only been held by one kind of person and lets reimagine it as being able to be done by a different kind of person and see how that goes. Yes, its huge. But thats also why we have Donald Trump, this is why we have people posting horrible screeds, and abusive messages at Ghostbusters star A lot of people are angry about it. But even folks who may be affected positively by this kind of revolution are interested in it as far as it concerns them, and still dont go past it beyond that to think about other kinds of people who arent them. To me, its really disingenuous to be sitting with women who are not of color talking about womens issues, and they cant wrap their minds around transgender issues, Black Lives Matter issues, civil-rights issues, immigration issues, Muslim tragedies that are happening. They dont see the parallel in terms of underrepresentation. They arent able to extend that thought. This is the story, though, not only of the womens movement and its blind spots but also of the antiwar movement, the civil-rights movement. Part of the womens movement grows out of those other progressive movements that couldnt extend themselves to think about womens inequities. But when you put black women in that category, you get the double bind. Given all that, do you view yourself as an optimist about the direction were going in? Its a great time for people of color making art. The architecture around the art and the commodification of the art and the industry authenticating that art is a different thing than the art-making. Im excited about the art coming out of this time; culture and class and gender and race and all of that is being interrogated in a way that is, for many of us, like an open wound. And there are artists trying to heal it. You look from Ferguson to now, you see all kinds of art, from television to film to theater to fine art, music. Im more excited about that than Hollywoods treatment of it. *This article appears in the September 19, 2016, issue of New York Magazine. Styling by Zerina Akers; Makeup by Uzo for NARS Cosmetics and Tracey Mattingly; Hair by Felicia M. Leatherwood/Natural Hair stylist. Trench by Tome; Dress by COS; Rings by Arme de lamour; Silver link bracelet by Mishka Piaf; Bangles by LARUICCI. Photo: Courtesy of E! Entertainment Last nights episode of Rob & Chyna & Scott & Kris was racked with drama. The titular characters, Rob & Chyna, lead parallel lives in Calabasas, both fighting insecurities and emotional confusion. On one side, we see a man struggling with clinical depression; on the other side, a young woman wondering if her ass is collapsing. A modern tale of love, lust, and mental illness. The journey even takes us to the South of France. Imagine trying tirelessly to piece together two Lego pieces from two different box sets. They look similar, theyre the same brand, and they should fit but no matter how hard you knock them together, just dont connect. This is their love: This is Rob & Chyna. At Chynas home, she hosts a birthday party for one of her employees. She deserved a party thrown by Chyna either because shes a hard worker, or simply free the day of filming. Rob, even though he and Chyna are still fighting, was invited, but decided not to show. Chynas upset, and while tossing various meats onto the grill she tells her employee that she does want to be with Rob, but he needs to get his life together. In an ideal world, Chyna would have Rob less bound to his depression and his home. Chyna cant understand why Rob continues to behave this way, especially since shes never dated someone who doesnt enjoy leaving their house. Robs at home, his favorite place, and opens up to Scott about his struggles with Chyna. Scott asks about their communication. Rob calls it all good. Scott knows thats a lie, and looks at Rob sideways and tells him that its not. At this time, Rob and Chynas fight was still fresh. (This scene between Rob and Scott was filmed on June 14, 2016, days after Chyna kicked Rob out.) Whether or not he makes use of this knowledge himself, Scott knows quite a bit about bettering oneself in the face of mental illness or harmful behavior. So he tells Rob that he cant take care of anyone else, like a fiancee or child, if he cant first take care of himself. Scott thinks Rob has hope to turn his life around, whereas Scott doesnt feel he has that luxury. Scotts words barely help Rob, who is just sad and now hopes only to take care of himself. After his talk with Scott, Rob calls Chyna. He apologizes for missing her employees party, saying that he didnt show because he didnt want to give Chyna any reason to be unattracted to him. Chyna doesnt really understand why he would feel this way, but accepts his apology. Rob and Scott visit Kris Jenner. Shes in her office, singing the praises of coffee-table books: She is obsessed with them. Her happiness is halted by a call from her client, Kendall Jenner, who is having a panic attack. While Kris is on the phone with Kendall, Rob and Scott look at one another knowingly, and simultaneously as though its been rehearsed more times than any man could count say, Ask the person next to you for a Xanax. Kris only slightly rolls her eyes, but she does agree to have Kendall chat with Scott, who runs down both his and Robs issues to make her feel better about her life. Their issues include being orphaned, drug addictions, impregnating women after weeks of dating, and severe depression. It does seem to work a bit, and Kris puts her on FaceTime during her meeting with Scott and Rob, just so she can listen in. Now that shes dealt with Kendall, Kris deals with Rob. Sternly, she runs down his issues with Chyna and advises him to get it together fast. Rob understands Chyna isnt like his last girlfriend (who hurt him, and possibly catapulted him into weight gain and depression by cheating on him), so he agrees to work on making himself better for Chyna and their baby. Kris agrees, and suggests possibly creating a schedule that keeps him motivated and on task. Kris says that she introduced a schedule into her 82-year-old mothers life, and now MJ is no longer exhausted, nor does she want to retire from running her store. Im not one to make bold claims, but this seems like elder abuse. Inspired by his chat with Kris Jenner, Rob visits Chyna. They share an awkward hug and Chyna struggles to speak without yelling. Rob apologizes for their fight, the origin of which Ive already forgotten and care not to learn again. Happy he apologized, Chyna asks Rob to move back into her house. He declines. Rob thinks their separate spaces are good for now, but he does promise her that hell go to Cannes, France, when Chyna goes to host a Daily Mail party. Theyve been talking about the trip since the beginning of their relationship and Rob doesnt want to miss it. To prepare his mind and body for Cannes, Rob works out with Kourtney and Khloes trainer, Don, owner of DONAMATRIX. Luckily, Robs house is 90 percent empty, so he can work out inside. Scott is there, of course, and happily admits to Don that he hasnt worked out in ages and is more of a stocks guy, which I guess means lazy. Scott does watch Rob work out, though. Meanwhile, over at Chynas house, Chyna is concerned with a tabloid story about her ass collapsing. The tabloid sourced a doctor who has never treated Chyna, yet confirmed that her ass is in fact collapsing. Offended, Chyna calls the doctors office to give him a piece of her mind, but hes unreachable. Its not only the doctor whos upsetting Chyna; its also the people online talking about her and her body, especially her ass. My ass aint collapsing! says Chyna in her confessional, distraught. To get her mind off the collapsed ass, Chyna gathers some of her closest pals to create fun and not at all spontaneous memories at a piercing parlor. Chyna gets her tongue pierced, but only after her friends, who are twins and former Playmates, get their nipples pierced. Both of these young women walked into the shop with what appeared to be Saran Wrap from a prior procedure covering their breasts, so I hope the piercings were authorized by a medical professional. Yet again, Scott and Rob are at Robs house. Eager to make good on his promise to go to Cannes with Chyna, Rob has a stylist come over to help him put together some outfits for the trip and red carpet. The stylist, Jen, looks Rob and Scott square in their eyes and reminds them that Robs weight is constantly fluctuating. Given the inconsistencies in his body, she suggests that cheaper is better. Ideally, he wont be able to fit into these same clothes in eight weeks, so bear that in mind. While in the fitting, Robs confidence rapidly declines. Jeans arent fitting how hed like, and hes not interested in wearing a suit. (Robs already decided that he wont be wearing a suit until New Years Eve.) Rob ultimately doesnt find anything hes comfortable in and so he decides not to go to Cannes. Chyna is driving with Paige when Rob calls to break the news that he wont be joining her on the trip. He explains how he isnt feeling comfortable in his body and doesnt think he can handle the constant paparazzi and red-carpet photos. Chynas upset, but keeps her cool. When shes off the phone, Chyna tells Paige that Rob wasnt this insecure at the beginning of their relationship, so she doesnt really know what to do. Rob must not care about anyones travel plans, because the Cannes trip seemed to happen the minute he ended his call with Chyna. Chynas even wearing the same blonde wig when she and Paige make it to Cannes and where Kris found the budget for this filming, we may never know. Chyna doesnt really miss Robs presence in Cannes. Shes happy she doesnt have to hear him complaining about his insecurities the whole time. Chyna is anxious about her own appearance, though. For Chyna red carpets are always nerve-racking, with or without the drama surrounding [her] booty. Scott, who has the oddest priorities, sneaks into Robs house to plant cameras. He wants to make sure that Rob is actually practicing self-care when no ones watching. This story line is so fake that its actually extremely offensive and insulting. Its even more painful to watch because Robs acting skills are rusty, so he cant believably be upset over the cameras he knew would be planted in his home. Its too elevated a scene for a novice performer. Perhaps a Kris or a Kim could have pulled off the farce, serving believable shock and dismay. Scott and Rob merely serve Im doing this for a direct deposit and a bag of chips. Chynas back in the States, and shes still unhappy with Rob. Shes still unable to understand why Rob lets his insecurities hold him back so much in life. Chyna cites her discomfort with the speculation that her butt is collapsing: If she could get over that, she tells Paige, then he could get over his weight issues. Paige doesnt see it this way and asks Chyna to remember how she felt about her butt and imagine feeling that way about your whole body all of the time. This gets to Chyna, so she decides to go see Rob. At Robs, Chyna climbs into bed with him and tries to empathize. She explains the issues shes been having with her butt, and compares it to Robs depression. Now she gets it and is ready to find common ground. For some reason Rob accepts her empathy and shows her the babys room with two items he built on his own, a playpen and a bouncing seat. Chynas impressed, which earns Rob some good old-fashioned sex. Well, Dolls, thats all for this week. We can all rest a little bit easier tonight knowing that at least we arent gnawing away at the emotional fortitude of our family members by trying to find life in a relationship that was pronounced dead on arrival. We may not be rich in money, we may not have the finest accessories or drive the nicest of cars, but we are not Rob & Chyna, and for that we are rich in self-awareness and worth. May your asses stay uncollapsed and may you know that two pieces of haphazardly built baby furniture do not a babys room make. See you next week. shut up jimmy Reply Thread Link yes please Reply Parent Thread Link Have you seen my show? Im never too hard on anyone." rme Reply Thread Link lol admit you're a coward, Jimmy. Reply Thread Link Donald Trump is an irl troll bred with the hamster emoji. OT: I'm watching 7 Days in Hell and I'm DYING. Omfg. Reply Thread Link Perfect description Reply Parent Thread Link Isn't it hilarious?? When Andy and Kit went to present together at the Emmys I flipped out because I was not expecting it lol I want them to do another project together! Reply Parent Thread Link I need Kit to do more comedy!!! Reply Parent Thread Link It's not about the questions. It's fine to keep it light & silly even with ~srs guests, but having Trump on at all is reprehensible. He's a narcissistic fascist who's essentially made assassination threats on the other candidate, among many many many other astounding statements and flat-out lies. To act like he's even remotely a normal human being who deserves normal treatment at this point is bonkers. I've defended Jimmy through a lot, but it'll be hard to get past this one. It's not about the questions. It's fine to keep it light & silly even with ~srs guests, but having Trump on at all is reprehensible. He's a narcissistic fascist who's essentially made assassination threats on the other candidate, among many many many other astounding statements and flat-out lies. To act like he's even remotely a normal human being who deserves normal treatment at this point is bonkers. I've defended Jimmy through a lot, but it'll be hard to get past this one. Reply Thread Link Fallon's whole "aww shucks I'm just everybody's friend!!!" schtick doesn't work when you have a white supremacist who could possibly be POTUS in November appearing on your show. I get that he's a host and some people will say he doesn't have a ~duty~ to call out somebody like Trump but there's so much at stake here. The media normalizing Trump is part of the reason how we got here. He could have at least asked a few tougher questions to see what Trump says. I mean, the whole reason Trump was on there was to say *why* he should be president. Edited at 2016-09-20 01:50 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link lets not forget NBC had Trump host SNL during the campaign last year. and he was already saying shit. you are right, they totally normalize what he says. people keep saying hillary needs to talk about the issues but when she does they dont even show it. they only care about the next crazy thing trump said and how it will go. they only really talk about her when she talks about him. its a mess. Reply Parent Thread Link The media's obsession to play bothsidesism/false equivalency is so maddening. Especially white journalists. What they've done is help legitimize Trump's supporters and the alt-right shit by being like "well we have to be unbiased and give white supremacists a voice too!" Look at how they acted after the deplorables comment. Or they hire disgusting people like Lewandowski and put them on panels to amplify racists. Mess. Trump continues to play the press and the press looks pathetic - we've already seen what freedom of the press would look like under a President Trump. They're normalizing a man who won't give a shit about them if he's POTUS. There will be no freedom of the press lbr. It will be Trump detaining journalists. He probably admires how Putin treats journalists. Reply Parent Thread Link Probably because they know that if they show Hillary actually talking about the issues, that she'll sound incredibly intelligent and running circles around Trump. That wouldn't fit in the with the "it's so close!" narrative the media seems to want. Reply Parent Thread Link THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS You're a fluff ass night time entertainer, fine. OWN IT and refrain from interviewing politicians. Don't sit there and humanize a racist, sexist, classist asshole who has an actual possibility of negatively affecting countless American lives and then brush off the criticism by saying EL OH EL NOBODY SHOULD TAKE ME SERIOUSLY Fuck you, asshole Reply Parent Thread Link This Reply Parent Thread Link well said. the media is definitely part of the reason why he's gotten this far and it's awful tbh Reply Parent Thread Link EXACTLY Reply Parent Thread Link thank you Reply Parent Thread Link mte you ain't shit jimmy Reply Parent Thread Link Perfect comment. Reply Parent Thread Link Yep!! I mean, I wasn't expecting Jimmy to ask any hard hitting questions but the whole "Look, isn't Trump such a goof! He's just like us!!" shit is so ridic. Don't humanize or legitimize his behavior. So many people are missing that point..... Reply Parent Thread Link The normalizing of this racist, hate-mongering, orange-faced fascist is unacceptable and Fallon is dead to me. Judging by how defensive he is, he knows he screwed up big time. Reply Parent Thread Link Exactlyyyy Reply Parent Thread Link YES when I read comments online every fucking day about how me and my children should be deported or killed, I don't want to see Jimmy Fallon tousling this orange monster's hair for laughs. Reply Parent Thread Link He's basically saying "I'm a piece of shit and I'm never going to try better." That's not okay. Why should we settle for that? Colbert and Kimme don't. Fuck You, Fallon. Reply Parent Thread Link what a moron. Reply Thread Link so dont interview politicians... nobody was expecting him to be extra hard on trump. people just didnt want him to go and pet him. he is a fucking joke. look at the shit trump says.. I didnt care for fallon, and now I have little respect for him. Reply Thread Link Judging a book by its cover and mentioning that he looks hopped up on something that costs more than my weekly salary in this screencap. Reply Thread Link shut up you unfunny slag Reply Thread Link called Trump a "good sport" and that his hair felt like the hay in an Easter basket Reply Thread Link lol Reply Parent Thread Link haha, perfect Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah I've seen it. Raise expectations tbh Reply Thread Link this alcoholic and his shit excuse go to rehab and get out of my face Reply Thread Link this comment is gross. (a) there's still no hard evidence that it's even true and (b) demonizing a serious addiction and throwing it in someone's face for why they're a "bad" person is just gross either way. Reply Parent Thread Link Luckily the only trump signs I've seen were in other states. I have seen some Hillary signs pop up in my neighborhood though Reply Parent Thread Link ive seen the make america great again hat at bars Reply Parent Thread Link There's this guy downtown who has a huge Trump sign on his lawn and it keeps getting stolen/torn down I live in a fairly Republican neighborhood and there haven't been any Trumo signs that that I've seen. Reply Parent Thread Link He had a booth at the LA fair this weekend and it legit made me angry except for the fact that it was empty aside from some old lady sitting at a table Reply Parent Thread Link WTF?! There was no Trump booth when I went opening weekend, otherwise I would've set it on fire. Or at least made gay pelvic motions on everything. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah there's three on my street. :( I hate driving past Reply Parent Thread Link I saw a guy at the gym proudly wearing that shirt. I stopped what I was doing and immediately looked over to my boyfriend. We were both appalled. I kept shooting him dirty glances hoping he would look in my direction but he never did, at least not when I was looking at him. Reply Parent Thread Link I live in the Bay Area, and I just saw my first one. I was horrified and mystified at the same time. Reply Parent Thread Link take all their money!! Reply Thread Link I'm loving the Tumblr posts, this is one of my favorites so far "irish judge: we're gonna take a short recess harry:*points to z* careful, that one has a tendency to leave while we're in the middle of something" Reply Thread Link Lmao I know but I cackled \_()_/ Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao! The tweets and posts are so funny and shady. I love it! Reply Parent Thread Link Zayn is my fave and I STILL laughed. Reply Parent Thread Link lol they broke up like a year ago. Why so soon Reply Thread Link it's never too soon to be sued Reply Parent Thread Link it feels like forever ago. i remember the breakup post and all the crying. then people being like, "DON'T MAKE FUN OF US FOR CARING!!!!" Reply Parent Thread Link It's kinda ironic that his dad is talking about not being able to leave the house when Louis calls the paps and stalker fans every time he leaves the house now. Edited at 2016-09-20 02:30 am (UTC) Louis' dad killed 1d (not that it wasn't already dead)It's kinda ironic that his dad is talking about not being able to leave the house when Louis calls the paps and stalker fans every time he leaves the house now. Reply Thread Link "no I just love your son and his family" nnnnnnnn at least this fan was polite but why are they so delusional and tragic? Reply Parent Thread Link Hopefully they're not the ones that went to his first gfs graduation. That was WAY ott Reply Parent Thread Link Damn On one hand it's a little weird to send that comment to your faves dad but that was a little bit of a rude response on his side He probably gets a lot of stuff from wild stans though so idk Reply Parent Thread Expand Link this interaction made me feel a range of emotion, all of them negative Reply Parent Thread Expand Link ugh @ his dad being an ass but also ugh at whoever that fan is, you can't text people like that Reply Parent Thread Link Niall does too which is funny since he's the example people like to hold up as ~if you want to be private you can be~. In a sense though it's smart since there's going to be fans stalking him anyway so might as well release pictures you can control. But I don't think Louis has been doing it as much lately though. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link "find someone real" Reply Parent Thread Expand Link ...is this real ...is this real Reply Parent Thread Link this seems fake tbh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol what a rude motherf***** No one remembers the existence of his son Reply Parent Thread Link all of them including Zayn could make things awkward, i'm ready for this lol Reply Thread Link I don't think it has anything to with story of my life, I think that was just to give an example of their more popular songs. But lbr none of them are actually going to appear in court. Reply Thread Link i doubt they'll actually show up idk. but anyway, i guess at least the 1d stans are having fun rn? they were so upset earlier @ 1d's people taking down the 'future events' tab on their website lmfao. it was their own faults tho for spreading a fake rumor when that had been on their site for years. Reply Thread Link That's the larry m.o. Spreading lies, then spreading more lies when their first lies are exposed. Reply Parent Thread Link i expect the larries to be permanently in denial but i saw a lot of the normal 1d fans falling for it too. it took me under a minute to confirm that the tab had been there for a while lol idk why ppl can't check for themselves instead of believing any tweet. the 1d fandom is rly allergic to any fact checking tho and then they wanna get mad abt how 1d's team are ~playing games~ with them for taking it down now. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Don't they have to show up if they're subpoenaed? Lol idk if they get a choice Reply Parent Thread Link the larries must be discharging like crazy Reply Thread Link Honestly my first instinctive thought was 'did a fangirl/gaggle of fangirls arrange for this to happen so they could pull the most psychotic version of The Parent Trap ever' IT'S NOT BEYOND THEM Reply Thread Link netizen realness Reply Parent Thread Link 1d fans beat the jokes about this into the ground rather quick. I guess it's something new other then attempts to prove their solo endeavours are not real. Reply Thread Link Are cameras allowed in Irish court or will I only be able to witness this reunion in those cartoon court drawings Reply Thread Link Don't worry. They won't show up. No need to wonder. It will be the team of lawyers. Lol Reply Parent Thread Link Didn't some of the members of Led Zeppelin just have to testify at a (potentially) similar case? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link it's so weird to think how much they meant to me in 2012 Reply Thread Link That's how I feel about the Glee cast from 2009 to 2012. Now I just care about Naya and I miss Cory. Reply Parent Thread Link omg glee in 2009-2010 was my everything as well! it's cheesy but i was going through the worst patch of my life and that show just helped me so much. i stan grant gustin since watching the flash so i want to go back and watch his glee eps (bc i stopped the show alltogether after s2 ended) but i get this weird feeling of dread thinking about watching the show knowing that corey is gone and all the memories i have from that shitty time Reply Parent Thread Expand Link glee is my best current example for no fame being forever and every single hwood trend having a season, all it takes is a misstep and not even that its easy to forget how huge they were i like to drag them but the show at its peak was big and now its like it never happened all the stars who were singing at games and for presidents and playing arenas private concerts with big stars, spinoff shows are basically back where they started but w/more money if this could happen to glee it will happen to anything the cw's general programming format is the same thing on a smaller scale you get abt 5 years if lucky and i hope u invested well in that time the superhero bubble both tv and film will burst, they are the big thing now but it will go too Reply Parent Thread Link lmao same Reply Parent Thread Link same omg Reply Parent Thread Link Pshhhhh. Like they'd actually show up in person. I mean in my experience (speeding tickets galore) I never showed up to court and let the lawyer handle it. I would love it if they were forced to tolerate each other in one space though. Oh to be a fly on that wall. Reply Thread Link Natural gas producers in the state of Colorado have a problem. Its not a problem thats unique to them, but its potentially more serious than the problem encountered by frackers elsewhere. Colorado, home to the Niobrara shale play, is the fourth-largest natural gas-producing state in the U.S., according to the EIA. Over the ten years from 2004 to 2014, gas extraction there rose by 51 percent, thanks largely to the wide-scale employment of horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing. But local demand is, alas, not rising in sync with production. It has remained stable in the range between 400 and 600 bcf annually since 2000. Gas prices are at historic lows across the U.S., and thats the problem that Colorado has in common with other states proud to call themselves homes of the shale plays that made the country almost entirely self-sufficient in terms of oil and gas. But it seems the problem is graver in the Western state, at least according to some authors. There are, apparently, two main causes of this problem: environmental opposition to fracking that could hypothetically curb most drilling activity in Colorado, and the lack of pipeline and export terminal infrastructure that would allow local producers to expand their markets. Now, the threat of environmentalist opposition that could reduce drilling for the time being remains only a potential one. Two petitions for legislative initiatives aimed at doing precisely that failed to garner enough voter support to be added to the November ballot in the state, but one of these is up for appeal next week. Overall, opposition to fracking in Colorado is not overwhelmingly strong, as Jude Clemente notes, with the state deriving much of its wealth from oil and gas revenues. These revenues have been declining, and jobs in the industry have been declining as well, as the oil and gas industry looks to layoffs as part of necessary cost-cutting measures. Environmentalists aside, the simple truth is that gas is too cheap to motivate the local industry to invest any substantial amount in developing a transport infrastructure and building LNG export terminals along the Western coast. Though Clemente cites regulatory opposition to such infrastructure, a far more important reason why the Western coast is not sprouting LNG terminal next to LNG terminal is that the economic viability of such undertakings is highly questionable. Related: OPEC Secretary General: No Production Freeze This Month Its true enough that the U.S. and the world in general will need more gas in the future, as we gradually move away from coal and oil and towards what we know is a cleaner alternative. Gas, as Clemente points out, is the backup energy source of preference for renewable installations, again, because its emission rates are lower than for its sister fuels. Yet, supply is for the moment ample, as evidenced by the pressured prices of the fuel across the globe. Whats more, however unpleasant this fact may be to Colorado frackers, the international gas market is pretty packed with suppliers, and big ones at that, who have the resources and readiness to lower their prices as much as necessary to keep their market share. The global market will likely remain closed for smaller Colorado shale boomers over the observable future. They will just have to find another way to make a living until gas prices rebound, which, according to the EIA, will start happening as early as next year. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Investment in upstream operations in the oil and gas industry shrank by a quarter last year and is expected to continue shrinking this year by another 24 percent. Next year could see a continuation of the trend, which will represent the longest investment decline period in the history of the industry, says the International Energy Agency. In its latest World Energy Investment report, the IEA points out that most of the decline in upstream investment a decline of over $300 billion was a result of lowered costs. This could suggest quickly improving efficiency of exploration and production, but its far more likely that the lower costs are a direct result of rigorous cost-cutting by E&Ps across the board to weather the effects of the oil price rout. In absolute terms, investment in upstream oil and gas totaled $583 billion last year, representing the biggest single portion of investment in energy. Geographically, Russia and the Middle East were the most resilient producing regions, with state-owned companies such as Aramco and Rosneft accounting for 44 percent of the global total in energy investment last year. On the other hand, 2015 upstream investments in North America were down over 50 percent from 2014, at $138 billion. Overall, however, North America accounted for the most investments in energy last year. Hardly surprisingly, the share of investments in oil and gas declined in the overall energy investment mix, from 61 percent in 2014, during half of which oil prices were comfortably high, to 55 percent in 2015. This is still an impressive portion, especially in light of the international regulatory and lobbyist drive to tip the scales in favor of renewables. Related: Stormy Seas Ahead For Shippers Following Hanjins Bankruptcy Speaking of renewables, IEAs report highlights the damage done to this industry by cheap oil and gas. The share of investments in renewables in the overall mix was 17 percent in 2015, up by just one percentage point from the 16 percent it accounted for in 2014. Still, the IEA notes that wind and solar power has become noticeably cheaper, which has made it possible to expand generating capacity with lower investments. In the period between 2011 and 2015, renewable power capacity was boosted by 40 percent and power production from renewable sources jumped by a third, thanks to cheaper materials and installations, and adoption in countries with better resources. Last year, investments in renewables totaled $313 billion. Back to hydrocarbons, the IEAs report is bad news for the LNG industry, on which so many hopes are pinned as a cleaner but still hydrocarbon alternative to crude. In 2014 and 2015 investments in LNG peaked, according to the IEA, and this year has already seen a 30 percent drop in spending on LNG terminals. A big part of the decline is the fact that so many large-scale LNG projects came online over the last two years, bringing in a lot of supply, for which there is often not enough demand. Overall, $1.8 trillion was spent on energy last year, spanning everything from hydrocarbon extraction to energy efficiency to power supply. The reductions in upstream spending were behind the fact that this total was 8 percent lower than the 2014 figure. It was also, partially at least, behind the drop in energy supply investment, which was last year at its lowest since 2010. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Barring the sentimental uptick on an expectation of a production freeze in Algiers, the fundamentals of oil seem to be pointing towards another leg down. The International Energy Agency has gone ahead and reduced the global demand picture for this year and next. The oil bulls have been advocating for higher oil prices, citing growing demand and a slowdown in supply. However, the recent IEA report suggests that the opposite is true: Oil demand is slackening, while production is on the rise. During the third quarter of this year, oil demand growth slid to a two-year low of 0.8 million barrels a day. On the other hand, OPEC increased its output by 640,000 barrels a day since May. The main contributors to the rise are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Is there an opportunity for the demand forecast to be revised upwards? The current global economic conditions dont support a major upward revision in the global demand picture. Amid the debate about the limitations of the central banks and their monetary policies as well as a possible global economic slowdown, the demand picture for oil looks weak. China and India have used low oil prices to shore up their Strategic Petroleum Reserves. However, as China doesnt report its storage regularly, the data and the expectations of the experts are skewed. While JP Morgan believes that the Chinese are close to topping up their SPR, Energy Aspects believes that new commercial storage capacity additions will sustain the increased demand from China. The difference between the two possibilities accounts for a huge difference of 1.1 million barrels a day. Nevertheless, with reports of a likely debt crisis or a hard landing in China, chances are that the oil demand from the worlds second-largest economy will remain flat or see muted growth in 2017. On the other hand, the OECD countries have stockpiled on crude, and the July figures reached 3.1 billion barrels, which is another damper to oil prices. Though some optimistic bulls state that the long-term average of an increase in global demand for crude oil is 1.1 million barrels a day, they miss the point that since 2010, the demand growth skyrocketed to 1.5 million barrels a day. Hence, an increase of 1.3 million barrels a day in 2016 and a further slowdown to 1.2 million barrels a day for 2017 shows that the demand growth is decreasing, even though crude oil prices have quoted below $50 a barrel for most of this year. Related: Is U.S. Shale Nearing Collapse? Recent pillars of demand growth China and India are wobbling. After more than a year with oil hovering around $50/bbl, the stimulus from cheaper fuel is fading. Economic worries in developing countries havent helped either. Unexpected gains in Europe have vanished, while momentum in the US has slowed dramatically, the IEA report noted. Even if we look at the possibility of a demand growth in 2018, the picture is not very promising. History suggests that the US is likely to enter a recession within the next two years. Chinas borrowing-led growth is also not likely to sustain much longer and is prone to downside risks. There is a general gloom about the European countries right now, and Brexit is another nail in the coffin, IEA senior economist Matthew Parry said in an interview, reports The Globe And Mail. With every major global crude oil supplier, barring the US, is attempting to increase production and demand stuttering, it is time for the oil bulls to go back to the drawing board and reassess their figures. Unless we see a major oil disruption, oil supply will continue to outpace demand. By Rakesh Upadhyay for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The terms of a potential deal within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may bind member countries for one year, according to comments by the blocs secretary-general on Tuesday. Other officials have signaled that a binding agreement limiting oil output may be imminent, though the length of the discussed deals had been far shorter, Reuters reported. OPEC and major oil producers outside the cartel - most notably Russia - have been in talks regarding a potential production freeze, though neither a timeline nor a baseline for the halt has been revealed so far. "One year, we are looking at one year," OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo, who hails from Nigeria, said. OPEC members will hold an informal meeting in Algiers on September 28th on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum. On Monday, the Algerian Energy Minister said any OPEC production freeze would balance markets for a minimum of six months. "I think we're likely to reach a consensus," an OPEC source close to the matter told Reuters. "There will not be a decision. The decision will be shelved until we meet in November. The source referred to an official OPEC meeting in Vienna scheduled for November 30th. Related: Is U.S. Shale Nearing Collapse? An additional OPEC source contacted by Reuters said that a general outline of the deal could be complete by the end of next weeks meeting. "A production freeze is what we all want, but I'm not sure if we will finalize all the discussions at this meeting," the source said. Iran had refused to be part of a production freeze proposed during OPECs meeting in April, arguing that because international sanctions against its oil industry had been lifted just four months prior, it had a right to continue rebuilding its market share. Saudi Arabia called off the deal at the last minute due to Irans non-participation. This time around, Iran may be more willing to abide by the terms of a halt as its production rate has neared pre-sanction levels in recent weeks. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: After stalled talks with the United Arab Emirates, India is turning to Iran for 6 million barrels of crude oil as it seeks to build up its strategic reserves. India increased Iranian oil exports by approximately 600,000 barrels per day as of last month, the highest amount in the last fifteen years. Indias refineries are looking for more oil after the countrys import negotiations became bogged down over commercial terms. According to Reuters, The National Iranian Oil Company is set to supply Iranian Mix grade, which would fill half of the Mangalore storage facility in Karnataka. Bharat Petroleum Corp will purchase four million barrels, while Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd will import two million barrels. Last week, Indian officials negotiated with the National Iranian Oil Company for the increased oil purchases. NIOC Deputy Director for Marketing and Operations Safar Ali Keramati stated that if the country comes to Iran for extra barrels, then we will do our best to accommodate their demand." India wants to bolster its reserves as a hedge for its economy against potential negative changes in the market. It plans to store its reserves in its underground caverns. Iran of course, will benefit from the agreement as it scrambles regain its position in the market post-sanctions. The added shipments will help to ensure that Iran reaches the pre-sanction export levels of 2012 when it was moving 2.3 million barrels per day. The agreement could also put Iran in a better seat at the table when OPEC meets in Algeria to discuss capping oil production. The country has said it would support stabilizing the market, but would only participate in a production cap after its oil output had reached pre-sanction numbers. In August, Irans oil exports had already hit 2.11 million barrels per day. Lincoln Brown for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Norways state-owned oil company Statoil has celebrated the five-billionth barrel of crude extracted from the North Sea Statfjord field, where production began in 1979. The Norwegian company operates the field in partnership with Exxon and British Centrica. Since its inception, the development of Statfjord has generated US$181.1 billion (1.5 trillion kroner), Statoils executive VP for development and production in Norway, Arne Sigve Nylund, said at the official event marking the occasion. During the decades of its exploitation, the field yielded as much as 67 percent of its hydrocarbon reserves, a record-high rate, versus an initially estimate 40-percent rate of exploitation. Statfjords productive life is not over yet and the operators plan to pump oil from it until 2025. This has been made possible by advancements in hydrocarbon reserve recovery technology and smart software solutions, the Statoil official added. Some of these solutions allowed Statoil and partners to cut the costs of drilling by as much as 50 percent a significant achievement in the currently depressed oil price environment. There are 451 wells currently functioning in the field, with 70 more planned to be drilled. Statoil says it has put much effort into innovations designed to boost its competitiveness and keep operations profitable even at low oil prices. Most recently, the company announced it had managed to reduce production costs at its newest discovery, the Johan Sverdrup filed in the North Sea, to US$25 per barrel, at the same time boosting its initial output estimate from it from 315,000-380,000 bpd in the first phase of development to 440,000 bpd, starting in 2019. Statoil is also eyeing the huge untapped reserves in its portion of the Arctic, announcing last week it was ready to spend some US$7 billion on Arctic exploration. It cant do this, however, without government backing and although the government seems to be on board with this foray into the Arctic, Norways political world has a strong environmentalist lobby, which is firmly against it. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Big day for nickel yesterday. With prices leaping nearly 20 cents on the day to near $4.60 per pound marking a nearly 5% move in a matter of hours. And there was one major reason for the jump: more government turmoil for miners in the Philippines. As Ive been discussing of late, the new Philippines mines minister Regina Lopez was scheduled to unveil results of a nationwide mines audit last Thursday. But the minister relented at the last minute, saying that the announcement of the results would be delayed a week to this Thursday, September 22. But in the interim, things have gotten very tense for miners in the country. The biggest gauntlet in this growing fight came yesterday. When Reuters asked minister Lopez if this weeks results could see 10 or more mines suspended to which she replied simply, Yes possible. A suspension of operations on that scale could be very significant for the mining world. Given that the Philippines only has 30 mines operating right now (after 10 were already suspended so far this year) which are responsible for 21% of global nickel production. A negative outcome for Philippines miners appears all the more likely after some bizarre comments by minister Lopez in an interview with local news last Thursday. Where she appeared to suggest she would do everything in her power to ensure that miners do not pass the current government audits. Heres a direct quote from Lopez: If an audit team passes a mining company for whatever reason, youre not only passing a mining company, youre saying its okay, thats really scary. Right? It sounds like the minister is suggesting here that it is not acceptable for mining companies to pass the audit under any circumstances. Because that might give the idea that mining is okay. A downright ludicrous suggestion from a person who is supposed to be a regulator for the industry. All of which suggests that the results of the upcoming audit could be very bad for the Philippines mining scene and thus for global nickel supply. Watch for details Thursday on mine suspensions, and effects on production and exports. Heres to keeping it real. By Dave Forest More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Wisconsin "John Doe" investigation into whether the Scott Walker campaign illegally coordinated with third-party groups during the 2012 recall election is dead, and likely to stay dead. The U.S. Supreme Court will announce soon whether the case will be among those heard in its upcoming term; my prediction is no, and that will be the end of it. The end of the legal case, anyway. The fallout for Gov. Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans tangled in that web may well continue because now, thanks to the Guardian U.S. and someone who will probably go to jail for leaking them, all of the prosecution's documents in that case are public and available for all to see. They provide a remarkable picture of what a true political pay-to-play scheme looks like. This is important, because in the 2016 presidential campaign, the Republican party has been eager to hang the pay-to-play label on Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, current Democratic nominee for president and one of three Clintons on the masthead of the Clinton Foundation. As we will see, Clinton can't begin to compare to the pay-to-play corruption on the Republican side. The Clinton Foundation maintains high ratings from organizations that rate charities. Its spending has put AIDS drugs into the hands of millions, helped tens of thousands of third-world women gain economic independence, and worked furiously to abate the damage done by climate change and polluters. No one named Clinton takes a cent in salary from the foundation, and the foundation spends more of its income on projects and recipients than the majority of other charities. Republicans have alleged that donors to the Foundation received favorable treatment by the State Department. The opposite seems to be true; the evidence we have, through released State Department emails and emails "hacked" by various malefactors, suggests that donors often asked for special treatment and were simply denied. Even when the Associated Press tied dozens of donors to meetings with Secretary Clinton, it failed to prove any wrongdoing or favors done by Clinton and included in that number people whom a Secretary of State should be meeting with: Nobel Prize winners, global philanthropists, even decades-long Clinton friends whose donations surely had nothing to do with getting on the calendar of an old friend. Also Ben Affleck, but who among us hasn't had a mistaken Ben Affleck meeting (cough, "Daredevil," cough)? In other words, Republicans have been fanning the smoke around the Clinton Foundation for months now, but no fire has been located. The same cannot be said for her opponent's eponymous foundation. The Trump Foundation, it was revealed recently, sent a donation to a political action committee, which is illegal, and paid an IRS fine for doing so. Why did the Trump Foundation make that donation? The simplest explanation is that the recipient, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, asked Trump for a donation shortly after her office started investigating claims that Trump University was defrauding Florida residents. In fact, Bondi was one of many state Attorneys General considering a Trump U legal action. Then Texas AG, now Texas Governor Greg Abbott was one of those; a donation from Trump also conveniently made its way to Abbott, though that was personal and not from the Trump Foundation. In the end, neither Bondi nor Abbott pursued Trump University. Other legal actions are still ongoing against the school, and revelations about how embarrassingly awful the place was should be enough to disqualify Trump from the presidency even without the pay-to-play part of the scandal. If Trump's judgment is such that he would put his name on something like that, how do we trust him with access to the White House kitchen, let alone the nuclear codes? Trump's Foundation is itself a bit of a disaster. Unlike the Clintons, Trump hasn't put any of his own money into it for almost a decade. An exhaustive investigation into the Trump Foundation found plenty of bizarre and shady dealings, including foundation money being spent on a six-foot portrait of Trump and holding events at his properties with foundation money picking up the tab (his campaign, too, is spending wads of campaign cash on rent paid to Trump properties). All the charitable gifts he personally promised during his run on "The Apprentice" were actually paid for by NBC, through the Trump Foundation. For those keeping score at home, that's Clinton 1, Republicans 0. The biggest reveal of the John Doe documents was not actually the confirmation that Walker's campaign and third-party groups coordinated. It was clear from previously available documents that was the prosecutors' theory of the case, and there was pretty strong evidence that they could have proved it, too. This is not about that part of the case, so I won't go too far into the weeds, but you may need the nickel version. In Wisconsin, until recently, coordination between a political campaign and a third-party group, even a not-to-profit group producing only "issue ads" (that is, the ads don't advocate a vote for or against a specific candidate), had to be disclosed by the campaign, as that is a kind of campaign contribution. Big donors who want to stay anonymous like the third-party groups because there are no contribution limits and limited disclosure rules; donors to campaigns must be disclosed and face limits on how much to give. A guy named R.J. Johnson worked, during the recall elections, for both Walker's campaign and the Wisconsin Club for Growth. The sharing of an employee alone is a giant red flag that there might be coordination happening, but previously released documents showed pretty clearly that the Walker campaign directed donors to Club for Growth, and Club for Growth worked with the campaign on timing and content of advertising. The Walker campaign knew this was illegal; in an irony meter-busting email released by the Guardian, Walker ally Deb Jordahl suggested that the Republicans file a complaint against Democratic state senate candidate Shelly Moore for coordinating with a non-profit group. "Imagine if a GOP candidate opened up shop with Club for Growth," she wrote. I am not making this up. In the end, the Republican legislature changed the laws in 2015 to allow that behavior (though they did not make the change retroactive), and the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided that banning such coordination was a violation of the first amendment and ordered prosecutors to drop the case. To be clear, federal election law still bans such coordination in federal elections, and U.S. Supreme Court precedent explicitly allows states to ban such behavior, apparently reading the first amendment differently than the majority of the Wisconsin court. That difference might be explained by how some of the Wisconsin justices were also supported by third-party "issue ads" and one of whom, David Prosser, is on record in a newly-released email thanking a campaign worker for "the coordination you provided with friendly organizations outside the Republican Party." But also new in the Guardian documents is the massive scope of the Walker campaign's pay-to-play operation. We've long known that major GOP donors like John Menard, who also gave to Club for Growth, got favorable treatment from Republican legislators. There's not much to be done about such things except change the campaign finance laws to make them stiffer. Such a thing did happen once, after the legislative "caucus scandal" fifteen years ago, in which state legislative staffers campaigned and solicited donations on the taxpayer's dime. Among the players in the scandal were people involved in Walker's campaigns, like campaign manager Keith Gilkes. If anyone should have known to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing, it would be someone like Gilkes, who already rode the political corruption train once in this state. Not only were laws changed after the caucus scandal, but the way Wisconsin elections were overseen was changed. After legislators and staffers from both parties were convicted in the scandal, it was decided that partisan oversight of elections was maybe a bad idea. The result was the Government Accountability Board, a non-partisan group of retired judges tasked with keeping things on the up-and-up. The GAB assisted prosecutors with the John Doe case against Walker and Club for Growth, since the GAB members were the experts on what's legal and not in Wisconsin campaign finance. In addition to legalizing the kind of coordination prosecutors went after in John Doe, the Republicans last year also disbanded the GAB and replaced it with two partisan bodies, setting the stage, potentially, for more caucus scandal-level corruption. The Guardian's documents reveal how not only did Walker seek donors for his own campaigns, he actively sought meetings with big-money people and asked them to give to Club for Growth; the title of the Guardian's story is "Because Scott Walker Asked," what one donor to Club for Growth wrote on the memo line of his check. These donors often had business or other financial interests in Wisconsin that, subsequent to their donations, were significantly eased by Walker or Republicans in the legislature. The smoking-gun case is that of Harold Simmons, at the time owner of NL Industries, a former lead-paint manufacturer. He gave Club for Growth $750,000 and shortly thereafter was granted immunity from lawsuits by the legislature. But Simmons is not alone. The documents list meeting after meeting Walker had with business leaders while he was supposed to be running the state. Those meetings were followed by donations to Club for Growth and help for the businesses like Gogebic Taconite, the mining company, and EZCorp, a pay-day lender. Here's what else is new: Sometimes the checks to Club for Growth were written from company accounts. It was legal in Wisconsin at the time for corporations to give to groups like Club for Growth, but not if that group was coordinating with a campaign, as was clearly happening here Walker solicited the funds himself in many cases. The "issue ads" that followed, paid for with these corporate dollars, were so blatantly done in coordination with Walker that the executive director of the national Club for Growth wrote to RJ Johnson the guy who worked for both Walker and Wisconsin Club for Growth to say what he was doing looked iffy. This is what pay-to-play really looks like: a candidate personally soliciting donations from private and corporate accounts to a third-party group that directly supported and coordinated with the candidate, with the other side of the equation being tangible favors done for those donors and companies. We have tens of thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails, from her State Department days and from various other hacks and leaks. None of them prove any pattern of anything like what these John Doe documents show about Walker. If you're still with me and keeping score, it's Clinton 2, Republicans 0. We don't even have time here to get into the overwhelming irony of Walker repeatedly criticizing Clinton's decision to have her own email server the emails from which were turned over to be archived as government work product when Walker's staff had a secret server that he knew about just feet from his office in Milwaukee County that was admittedly designed to get around open records laws. Really, at this point, Walker should be pushing that Republican score deep into negative territory, but that's not how sports-style scores work. The Guardian has done us all a huge favor here by publishing these documents. Yes, someone should go to prison for breaking the law to leak them (although Wisconsin Club for Growth's Eric O'Keefe has bragged about leaking documents to the Wall Street Journal when he thought it would make him look sympathetic). But with this record now fully public, there should be no further excuses for stalling or blocking or rolling back campaign finance reform. Clearly, we need tougher laws. Even when it was clearly illegal, Walker and his allies thought they could get away with it and they did, since none of them will be going to jail. But it should never be allowed to happen again, and when 2018 rolls around, Walker should be held accountable by the voters for this behavior, since the legal system cannot do so any longer. The upcoming November election is the first presidential face-off since Wisconsin instituted a controversial voter ID law considered one of the most restrictive in the nation. Looking to determine the effects of the new law especially on minority voters and students the Dane County Board approved a contract with UW-Madison on a comprehensive study of the 2016 election. "This study will move us past speculation and into hard facts," said Supervisor Jeff Pertl of Madison, the primary sponsor of the study resolution approved by the County Board at its meeting earlier this month. "The county is responsible for running elections. We need to know if and how voter ID is having an impact, so we can ensure every eligible voter has the chance to cast a ballot." The study will use a mix of mailed surveys, phone calls, and email to contact registered voters in Dane and Milwaukee counties who dont cast ballots on Nov. 8. UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee students will be contacted via email about their voting experiences. "The goal is to understand how recent changes in election practices will affect turnout," said UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer. With the help of graduate students, the university will launch the email survey immediately after the Nov. 8 election and start the paper mail portion in January. It hopes to have an initial report ready by August 2017. The County Board added funds for the Dane County Clerks office to cover most costs of the $44,000 study, which includes expenses for a call center, mailing and printing. The Milwaukee County Clerk has also pledged financial support for the study. Respondents to the paper mail survey will receive a $2 cash incentive for participating. County Clerk Scott McDonell says it is money well spent considering only "anecdotal evidence exists to quantify the effects on voting behavior and the conceptions or misconceptions of voters trying to navigate a slew of new legislative changes." McDonell says he got the idea for a Wisconsin study after reading the results of a recent survey in Texas that showed widespread misunderstanding of voter ID changes in that state. "It showed that confusion about the law caused more people to stay home than the actual law itself," he said. In fact, the Texas survey found that two of three people who didnt cast ballots and said a lack of identification was the primary reason actually had the proper ID but failed to cast ballots anyway. Given the numerous back and forth court rulings on Wisconsins new voting rules, McDonell fears similar confusion in this state. The study will also look at the impact of changes in voting hours and absentee balloting, which also have been challenged in court. The study is designed to help clerks identify effective approaches to voter outreach and increase participation in future elections. Mayer said the presidential election is the best time to measure the impact of the voter ID laws since statewide turnout is historically 66 percent compared to 47 in so-called "off-year" elections. "The presidential elections tend to bring out more marginally connected voters who are likely to be the most strongly affected by changes in voting practices," he said. The mail portion of the study will select a statistical sampling of those who have voted in the past but did not cast ballots this time. It will put added emphasis on neighborhoods with higher numbers of minority voters to gauge the impact on that demographic. Even in a neighborhood full of vintage architecture, theres no mistaking it. Driving or walking past, the Italianate cream city brick building at 1704 N. 4th St., on the corner of Walnut Street, looks old. If the area which is now the confluence of Bronzeville, Haymarket and Brewers Hill neighborhoods has had a long, varied history (and it has), then Baasen House, which is what this three-story gem is called, is perfectly at home here. Recently, Milwaukee Youth Arts Center across Walnut purchased the building from the Visiting Nurse Association for $950,000, according to the Business Journal, with help from an anonymous donor. When I toured the building, MYAC had no plans yet for it, but was considering options. The main part of the structure was designed by Charles Gombert who, among other works, drew the North Point water tower as a two-story residence for railroad exec and early Milwaukee settler John F. Baasen, who was active in helping to establish the St. Francis of Assisi monastery a couple blocks up 4th Street. Alas, the home was completed in 1874, the same year that Baasen died, and when his wife Mary passed away four years later, the home was occupied by their children Elise and Michael, who stayed until 1883. It was transformed into a boarding house, according to Russell Zimmermanns "Heritage Guidebook," run by brewer Emmanuel Burgy and his wife Elizabeth. Soon, the building was purchased by the YMCA, which ran it as its "German branch" the neighborhood was heavily Germanic then and added the gym wing to the north in 1889. But four years later the Y consolidated its operations elsewhere and leased the old Baasen place to The House of Mercy in 1894. (PHOTO: Milwaukee Public Library) According to John Gurda, who wrote about the buildings history for the daily paper, the House of Mercy "combined social work with maternity services, and it was the last refuge, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel, for unfortunate girls who had no other place to go. Although admission was voluntary, to a degree, there were iron bars on the windows. ... There was no shortage of prostitutes to reform. The House of Mercys superintendent, Julia Kurtz, estimated that Milwaukee supported 121 brothels ... that housed a total of 400 girls, with another 1,600 working on the streets. Kurtz resigned in 1899, declaring herself unequal to the nervous strain that comes with the daily life." If the place didnt close with Kurtzs resignation, it didnt last much longer because by 1905, it had been recast as the home of Mount Sinai Hospital, which had 15 beds at the start, but added the third floor in 1907. Around the same time, the gym, which had a tall ceiling with exposed framing, was converted to hospital rooms too. During the Mount Sinai era, the original single story bay on the Walnut Street side now gone still stood. (PHOTO: Milwaukee Public Library) By the early teens (some sources say 1912, others 1914), Sinai moved to a bigger home on North 12th Street, and in 1919 the building was converted into the Wisconsin House Hotel (and bar, pictured above), operated by Michael Schilz. According to the Wisconsin Historical Societys Architectural Inventory, a number of retail businesses set up on the 4th Street side, including a womens clothing store, a restaurant, a cigar store and a photo studio. Tavernkeep Joe Kersher opened the first bar in the place in 1933. Bars continued to occupy the building for many years after. In 1984, Baasen House was added to the National Register of Historic Places and the state added it to its own register five years later. A much more modern addition now stands to the east, connected at each of the floors and in the basement, which was built when the Baasen House was home to an adult care facility and later an Aurora Health Care facility, which closed in October 2015. When the place went up for sale earlier this year, I was eager to see inside and was pleased to see what appeared to be layers of history peeling back to make themselves visible again. After a cursory glance in the "new" side, which, with its bland cubicle rooms and character-less spaces stands in stark contrast to the older side, I focused on the original Baasen House and its attached 1889 gym, which appears to have been the work of architect Cornelius Leenhouts and Hugh Wilson Guthrie. On the first floor of the old gym, there are still a few small rooms, which were likely added when Mt. Sinai converted the gym to hospital space after 1907. Up above, in the attic, you can see the ceiling joists (pictured above), which were painting and finished with wood trim, and the plastered ceiling, which were surely once visible from below when the space was a big, open gym. Seems safe to assume to the old dumbwaiter and laundry chute as well as the floorboards that created the attic space were installed during the conversion. In the 1874 building, there are many small rooms, each with a window floor to ceiling on the second floor and a shelf or a built-in with drawers and shelves. On the second floor some of the rooms still have white tile floors (pictured above), and could have been operating theaters, shower rooms or something similar. On the main floor, the history has been scrubbed off, or at least hidden behind bland drywall, though the quirky, rabbit-warren floor plan remains. But the basement, much like the upper floors, is laced with interesting details. Cream city brick floors, peeking out from the cement poured atop them, ancient boilers, stone foundation walls, a suite that clearly appears to have been a kitchen and dining room, a space that was once a bathroom (though with interior windows looking into what appears to have been a laundry). And the wallpaper pictured above. Down here, theres also an old door with window stickers advertising an old distillery. The future of the place seems uncertain, and its not only the warren-like floor plan that makes it challenging. Theres a spot in the basement where a wood floor appears laid atop soil. In numerous areas, wide cracks in brick basement walls I mean wide enough to stick your hand in have been "repaired" with Great Stuff expanding foam. Upstairs, a ceiling appears in rough shape where a pipe was probably leaking, and lead paint is peeling in every room of the Baasen House. The modern addition appears to be in much better shape, but that hardly seems to be space that will concern history buffs and the preservation minded. We'll see what the future brings for this long-lived Milwaukee building. Hopefully, the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center will find a way for it to continue to serve the neighborhood in some useful capacity. Oregon Senate Republicans In case you missed it PERS ideas offer start for reform Corvallis Gazette-Times Editorial Board September 15, 2016 It would be an understatement to say that the Oregon Legislature has been unwilling to tackle any kind of serious reform regarding the states Public Employees Retirement System. In fact, the party line, so to speak, has been something along these lines: We tried in 2013, and we got slapped down by the state Supreme Court and now theres nothing else that we can do. Some of that is true: Legislators did make an effort to rein in some of the rising costs of PERS, and the court did in fact rule that most of those efforts were unconstitutional. In the meantime, PERS costs continue to burn a bigger and bigger hole in state and local government budgets. For example, the state now estimates that governmental entities will need to cough up an additional $885 million on top of the $2 billion theyve already tossed into the system this biennium. The PERS projections for future years dont look any better. One of the notable failures of the 2015 legislative session was its inability (unwillingness might be a better word) to seriously consider any PERS reforms. The issue didnt come up in any serious way in the shorter 2016 session. But last week, a pair of legislators, Democratic Sen. Betsy Johnson and Republican Sen. Tim Knopp, announced that they had asked the Legislative Counsel to take a look at a list of PERS proposals to gauge if they would withstand a constitutional challenge. The upshot: The Legislative Counsel concluded that seven of the proposals likely were constitutional. But the point is that legislators have options to consider that might be able to offer some relief from skyrocketing PERS costs. It would be negligent for them to continue to ignore the issue in the 2017 session. Bipartisan ideas to reform PERS East Oregonian Editorial Board September 15, 2016 Two state legislators have offered an impressive list of ideas for fixing Oregons ailing retirement system for public employees. Their suggestions are fair, constitutional and would protect government services. Their effort, notably, is bipartisan. With all that going for it, the ideas are unlikely to be embraced by Gov. Kate Brown or Democratic leaders in the Legislature. They are focused instead on spending potential revenue from Measure 97 and gaining super-majority status for their party. The challenges of Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) are well documented. The programs unfunded liability exceeds $21 billion and continues to grow. Costs to school districts and local governments are scheduled to jump $885 million next year, forcing massive cuts in staffing, programs and services. Our states political leaders cobbled together a so-called grand bargain in 2013 to save PERS. Predictably, many of the changes were struck down by the Oregon Supreme Court because they reduced accrued benefits for current retirees. The planned savings legislators counted on instead increased unfunded liabilities. Two respected state senators realize the severity of the challenge and are attempting to create momentum for bipartisan change. Democrat Betsy Johnson from Clatsop County and Republican Tim Knopp of Bend have created a work group to craft solutions that are legal, bipartisan, fair to retirees and protect essential government services. They have invited experts, government officials, retirees, and representatives from business and labor to participate. Sens. Johnson and Knopp should be lauded for their efforts to reform PERS. Perhaps they can initiate the political momentum to get past the inertia in the state capital. From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... Atomic resolution electron microscopy showing the optimization of a carbon dioxide conversion reaction mediated by the catalyst (Rh nanoparticles, NP, on TiO2) and its unique surface interactions (A-SMSI). The industrial catalysts of the future won't just speed up reactions, they'll control how chemical processes work and determine how much of a particular product is made. A team of researchers led by Phillip Christopher, assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering, demonstrated thisas well as how these catalysts look in actionin a paper published Monday, Sept. 19, in the journal Nature Chemistry. Titled, "Adsorbate-mediated strong metal-support interactions in oxide-supported Rh catalysts," the paper describes a new approach to dynamically tune how a catalyst operates, enabling the researchers to control and optimize the product made in the reaction. The team, which includes scientists from the University of California, Irvine and Columbia University, also used advanced microscopy and spectroscopy approaches to view the catalyst in action on an atomic scale. The researchers focused on an important chemical reaction that involves the conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide and synthetic natural gas. The benefits of this reaction are two-fold: it offers the potential for the removal of harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the carbon monoxide and natural gas produced can be used as a chemical precursor and fuel, respectively. The team focused on understanding how the catalyst drives the reaction at the atomic scale, which will allow researchers to modify the catalyst's properties to increase efficiency in the reaction. Christopher said the findings unlock new opportunities for carbon dioxide conversion chemistry, and the dynamic tuning and visualization techniques demonstrated in this research could be replicated in a variety of other important chemical processes. "The real uniqueness of the paper was being able to observe what was happening at an atomic scale and how physical changes in the catalyst affected the outcome of the carbon dioxide conversion reaction. The insights we gained pave the way for the design of more effective processes to produce fuels and chemicals," Christopher said. Explore further New catalyst converts carbon dioxide to fuel More information: John C. Matsubu et al. Adsorbate-mediated strong metalsupport interactions in oxide-supported Rh catalysts, Nature Chemistry (2016). Journal information: Nature Chemistry John C. Matsubu et al. Adsorbate-mediated strong metalsupport interactions in oxide-supported Rh catalysts,(2016). DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2607 In this Nov. 12, 2014, file photo, Comcast Corporation chairman & CEO Brian Roberts speaks at a Comcast presentation at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. On Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, Comcast CEO Roberts confirmed that the company plans to launch a cellphone service roughly in the middle of 2017 and appears to be aiming it at areas of the country where it's the cable provider. That could potentially make the cable giant a competitor to Verizon and AT&T for a subset of the country. Comcast has just over 28 million customers. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) Comcast plans to launch a cellphone service roughly in the middle of next year, although it would be limited to areas of the country where it's a cable provider. That could potentially offer real competition to carriers like Verizon and AT&T for a subset of the country. Comcast has just over 28 million customers. The cable giant plans to create a service that would run on its 15 million Wi-Fi hotspots and use Verizon's wireless network, which it has a deal to resell. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts confirmed the company's plans at an investment conference Tuesday in New York. He suggested that Comcast was looking at the mobile service as an add-on to customer bundles, and combining wireless service with Comcast cable or internet would likely make customers stick with Comcast longer. The company has long looked at mobile service as another potential way to grow its business. Consumers are increasingly watching video on their phones. Adding wireless service on to a cable bill could also mean some savings for Comcast customers. "If Comcast is to make this a compelling offer, especially given their lack of history in wireless, they're going to have to offer some steep discounts in their bundles," telecom analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research said in an email. Comcast spokeswoman Jenn Khoury declined to answer questions about the mobile service's pricing and whether people who didn't subscribe to Comcast cable or internet could sign up for it. Several attempts by big cable companies to offer wireless service have foundered, like the Wi-Fi-only phone launched by New York-area cable company Cablevision in early 2015 (Cablevision is now owned by European telecom Altice). Cox Communications, one of the biggest cable companies, pulled the plug on its short-lived mobile phone service in 2011, saying it didn't have the heft necessary to compete, including the ability to sell certain popular smartphones. Explore further Comcast customers won't need cable box with upcoming apps 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The green circuit boards are the heart of Baylies UROP project to create a better electronic trumpet. Credit: David Baylies David Baylies' small Boston University bedroom is crowded with musical instruments: an electric guitar, an electric bass, amplifiers, an electric keyboard, and his first love, an old, well-worn trumpet. But the instrument most occupying his attention this summer doesn't even look like one. It's a double-deck green circuit board array, with a surface area smaller than a playing card. The bottom layer is the main processor board, a Teensy 3.2, bought online. The top layer holds a microphone, an audio input adapter, and a headset jack. A single output connects the device to his MacBook Pro, where the data is run through the Garage Band music program and output to a Peavey amp. Baylies (ENG'17) is building a better electronic trumpet as his summer Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) project. UROP matches students with faculty mentors across BU and provides funding for their projects. "I'm a musician at heart," Baylies says. "I'm in school for mechanical engineering, and so I wanted to combine the two. In doing that, I've grown much more passionate about engineering." He picks up a plastic trumpet mouthpiece he made using a 3-D printer at BU's Engineering Product Innovation Center and blows a fuzzy note into the microphone. The sound is sampled 44,100 times a second and converted to data. A matching note comes out of the amp, while a wall of digital readouts scrolls down the laptop screen. It's the beginning of the projectfar from a finished product, but it's a start. Electronic trumpets already exist. The best known are the Yamaha EZ-TP and the Morrison digital trumpet, both all-black horns with vaguely steampunk looks. To Baylies' trumpeter's ear, they don't do the instrument justice. They just produce perfect notes, without the nuances of human expression. There's no sliding between notes, no subtle changes in timbre or voicing, no imperfections, no human error, all essential parts of jazz. Baylies picks up his circa 1970 Bach Stradivarius trumpet and demonstrates with a single clear-as-a-bell note, followed by a quick jazz riff, slurred at the edges. He grew up in the Boston suburbs and was a standout classical trumpeter by sixth grade, but gravitated toward jazz in his later teens, seeking more personal expression, as practiced by great players like Miles Davis. "I've found out you can look at most genres of music through a jazz lens," he says, "because in jazz you're challenged to understand every aspect of the music, every kind of rhythm, every kind of melody, every kind of harmony, every kind of tone." Pop, reggae, electronic, and funk have all become part of his repertoire. Baylies' UROP faculty mentor, R. Glynn Holt, a BU College of Engineering (ENG) associate professor of mechanical engineering, is excited about this notion of a nuanced, playable trumpet. "I see David's major contributions as getting into the real nitty-gritty of the beginnings of a sound," he says. The Teensy processor will take the data from the mouthpiece and three trumpet valves via the microphone, analyze it, and convert the key variables to data for the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). By choosing the right variables, Baylies hopes to produce a true trumpet voice. Once the sound is digital, it can be manipulated endlessly. "You can turn anything into anything," he says. "The ideal end result is a cool new instrument that allows people to do things they couldn't do before." Baylies' project was made possible by a $4,200 stipend from the BU Arts Initiative, through UROP. He spent the first few weeks teaching himself to program in the computer language C and researching processors. Now that he has the system working, he needs to assemble a prototype. He made two plastic mouthpieces so he won't have to punch a hole in a real one for the microphone. He may take an existing valve set or make his own. Then he has to fit them all together. "I have no concept of what it's going to look like," he says, "but something minimalist. I want to get rid of the bell altogether. I don't want to pretend there's something there that isn't necessary anymore." Holt says that Baylies was a keen student in his acoustic class. "When he said he wanted to do this project and asked if I would be his advisor, I said yeah, with the caveat that there are things I don't know anything about. Trumpet for one," Holt says with a laugh. "I really know nothing about trumpet except that my twin brother used to play it in high school band. That's not much to go on." Because this trumpet is mostly digital, Baylies isn't sure how well it will fit into his engineering program after this summer, but Holt says the high-fidelity transductionthe faithful reproduction in voltage of the input pressure from the mouthpieceis squarely in the area of mechanical engineering, involving fluid mechanics, acoustics, pressure sensing, and velocity sensing. "I have no idea about the actual market out there for these electronic trumpets, but I can imagine," he says. "When physical things are replaced by synthesized things, you open up new doors. There are so many things you can do that you can't do with a physical trumpet. If what David gets is something that has more fidelity to the nuances of the player, which is one of his major goals, there's a whole new world." "I'm going to love that," Baylies says. "Ideally, I'll be able to take this instrument to local jazz clubs, like Wally's Cafe or the Lilypad, make new music with people, and show them what you can do with technology." Explore further Speaking in song: New singalong software brings sweet melody to any cacophonous cry In this July 15, 2016, photo, a double decker tour bus drives by an Audi self driving vehicle parked on Pennsylvania Avenue, near the Capitol in Washington. The federal government should be in charge of regulating self-driving cars rather than states since the vehicles are essentially controlled by software, not people, Obama administration officials said Sept. 19 as they laid out the broad outlines of their plans to help get the transformational technology safely onto the nation's roadways. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Obama administration officials are previewing long-awaited guidance that attempts to bring self-driving cars to the nation's roadways safelywithout creating so many roadblocks that the technology can't make it to market quickly. Traditional automakers and tech companies have been testing self-driving prototypes on public roads for several years, with a human in the driver's seat just in case. The results suggest that what once seemed like a technology perpetually over the horizon appears to be fast approaching, especially with car companies announcing a string of investments and acquisitions in recent months. Federal officials have been struggling with how to capitalize on the technology's promised safety benefitsthe cars can react faster than people, but don't drink or get distractedwhile making sure they are ready for widespread use. The new guidance represents their current thinking, which they hope will bring some order to what has been a chaotic rollout so far. Self-driving cars have the potential to save thousands of lives lost on the nation's roads each year and to change the lives of the elderly and the disabled, President Barack Obama said in an op-ed published Monday by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Safer, more accessible driving. Less congested, less polluted roads. That's what harnessing technology for good can look like," Obama wrote. But he added: "We have to get it right. Americans deserve to know they'll be safe today even as we develop and deploy the technologies of tomorrow." One self-driving technology expert said the overall tenor of the guidance signaled that the federal government truly has embraced autonomous driving. "In terms of just attitude, this is huge," said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who closely tracks the technology. He also cautioned that many details remain unclear. The government did make clear that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will seek recalls if semi-autonomous systems don't make drivers pay attention. The agency, which is part of the Transportation Department, released guidelines showing how NHTSA can use its recall authority to regulate new technology. "It emphasizes that semi-autonomous driving systems that fail to adequately account for the possibility that a distracted or inattentive driver-occupant might fail to retake control of the vehicle in a safety-critical situation may be defined as an unreasonable risk to safety and subject to recall," the department said in a statement. NHTSA says the guidelines aren't aimed at electric car maker Tesla Motors. But the bulletin would address events like a fatal crash in Florida that occurred while a Tesla Model S was operating on the company's semi-autonomous Autopilot system. The system can brake when it spots obstacles and keep cars in their lanes. But it failed to spot a crossing tractor-trailer and neither the system nor the driver braked. Autopilot allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel for short periods. Tesla has since announced modifications so Autopilot relies more on radar and less on cameras, which it said were blinded by sunlight in the Florida crash. The company has maintained that Autopilot is a driver assist system and said it warns drivers they must be ready to take over at any time. Under the overall guidelines, the federal transportation regulators, rather than states, should be in charge of regulating self-driving cars since the vehicles are essentially controlled by software, not people, administration officials said. States have historically set the rules for licensing drivers, but when the driver becomes a computer "we intend to occupy the field here," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. States, he said, should stick to registering the cars and dealing with questions of liability when they crash. Automakers should also be allowed to self-certify the safety of autonomous vehicles by following a 15-point checklist for safe design, development, testing and deployment, said officials who briefed reporters. Though companies are not required to follow the guidanceit is voluntary and does not carry the force of formal regulationFoxx said he expects compliance. "It's in their vested interest to go through the rigors that we're laying out here" to gain the confidence of both regulators and the public, Foxx said. In somewhat contradictory fashion, officials also said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is examining whether it should have "pre-market approval" authority, in which the government inspects and approves new technologies like autonomous vehicles. That would be a departure from the agency's historic self-certification system and might require action from Congress. Officials spoke to reporters ahead of a news conference scheduled for Tuesday at which they plan to provide greater detail of their guidance to automakers and states, as well as new powers and resources that the NHTSA may require. NHTSA has been striving to make the guidelines a concise framework, rather than a lengthy set of detailed standards and regulations. The agency's administrator, Mark Rosekind, has said he wants the guidelines to be flexible to keep pace with innovation. Some consumer advocates have objected to voluntary guidelines instead of safety rules that are legally enforceable. But the rulemaking process is often laborious and can take years to complete. Automakers sought the NHTSA guidance in part because they fear a patchwork of state laws will slow or complicate deployment of self-driving cars. Some state lawmakers see the advent of autonomous cars as a way to attract technology companies and spur economic growth, and are proposing laws friendly to the technology. The Michigan legislature, for example, is considering bills that would allow the testing of self-driving cars without brakes or pedals on state roads. New York, on the other hand, has a longstanding law that requires drivers keep one hand on the wheel at all times, which undermines the rationale for self-driving technology. Explore further US moves to regulate self-driving cars 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. After decades of effort against leprosy, the possibility of eliminating the disease in China is possible by 2020, according to Ann Aerts, head of the Novartis Foundation, on Tuesday. Eradication is measured by the reduction of new cases over time. Because leprosy has an incubation period of five to 10 years, a person acquiring symptoms today may have been infected years ago. But the disease has been in decline in China and is expected to trickle to a halt by 2020. Aerts spoke with China Daily during the 19th International Leprosy Congress in Beijing. Leprosy is infectious but curable. The organism that causes it, mycobacterium leprae, has the unique ability to infect the peripheral nerves in humans, which may result in an inability to feel pain in the hands or feet, blindness and the loss of fingers or toes. Currently, China detects around 600 to 700 new leprosy patients annually. They can receive immediate treatment through the country's healthcare system, which has successfully reduced transmission of the disease, Aerts said. Globally, around 211,000 people were diagnosed with leprosy in 2015 - an average of one every 2.5 minutes. Of those, 1 in 11 are children, indicating continued transmission of the disease. It is estimated that 1.2 million people are visibly and irreversibly disabled by leprosy, the foundation said. India, Indonesia and Brazil account for 85 percent the leprosy patients worldwide. They are learning from China's experience in treating this disease, Aerts said. "China has kept the level of knowledge on leprosy high among healthcare workers, which has been beneficial for bringing the disease under control," she said. "In some countries, leprosy no longer figures in the education curriculum for nurses and doctors, and that has led to a general waning of leprosy expertise, resulting in missed opportunities and delayed diagnoses." For now, what China needs to do to eliminate leprosy is to interrupt its transmission - for example, by examining the family members and neighbors of existing patients and offering preventive treatment, she said. Novartis, a Switzerland-based global healthcare company, provides anti-leprosy medicine free and has donated more than 56 million blister packs valued at around $90 million through the World Health Organization, which has helped to treat more than 6 million leprosy patients around the globe since 2000. Chen Zhiqiang, secretary-general of the Handa Rehabilitation and Welfare Association in Guangdong province and one of seven members of the experts' commission of the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations, said it's important to end discrimination against leprosy patients during the "last mile" in the fight against this disease. "It took a long time for people to understand that the disease can be cured, even though the disabilities it caused cannot be reversed," he said. "Thus, the key to eliminate the disease is to reach zero transmission, and a lot of work needs to be done." According to the federation, leprosy-control programs have shown impressive results over the past three decades. With the introduction of multidrug therapy, the registered prevalence of leprosy globally decreased from more than 5 million people in the mid-1980s to around 200,000 in the last year. More than 16 million people affected by leprosy have been treated since the 1980s. However, evidence that transmission of the disease still occurs can be seen in the consistent diagnosis of leprosy in children in many settings. dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn An illustration shows the process developed at Rice University that uses potassium atom insertion between layers of multiwalled carbon nanotubes to split them into graphene nanoribbons. This is followed by the addition of ethylene oxide (not shown) to render the edges with solubilizing polyethylene glycol addends on the edges. This leaves the flat surfaces of electrically conductive graphene nanoribbons intact to give a conductive surface for neuron growth between the two ends of a severed spinal cord. Credit: The Tour Group The combination of graphene nanoribbons made with a process developed at Rice University and a common polymer could someday be of critical importance to healing damaged spinal cords in people, according to Rice chemist James Tour. The Tour lab has spent a decade working with graphene nanoribbons, starting with the discovery of a chemical process to "unzip" them from multiwalled carbon nanotubes, as revealed in a Nature paper in 2009. Since then, the researchers have used them to enhance materials for the likes of deicers for airplane wings, better batteries and less-permeable containers for natural gas storage. Now their work to develop nanoribbons for medical applications has resulted in a material dubbed Texas-PEG that may help knit damaged or even severed spinal cords. A paper on the results of preliminary animal-model tests appears today in the journal Surgical Neurology International. Graphene nanoribbons customized for medical use by William Sikkema, a Rice graduate student and co-lead author of the paper, are highly soluble in polyethylene glycol (PEG), a biocompatible polymer gel used in surgeries, pharmaceutical products and in other biological applications. When the biocompatible nanoribbons have their edges functionalized with PEG chains and are then further mixed with PEG, they form an electrically active network that helps the severed ends of a spinal cord reconnect. "Neurons grow nicely on graphene because it's a conductive surface and it stimulates neuronal growth," Tour said. In experiments at Rice and elsewhere, neurons have been observed growing along graphene. "We're not the only lab that has demonstrated neurons growing on graphene in a petri dish," he said. "The difference is other labs are commonly experimenting with water-soluble graphene oxide, which is far less conductive than graphene, or nonribbonized structures of graphene. "We've developed a way to add water-solubilizing polymer chains to the edges of our nanoribbons that preserves their conductivity while rendering them soluble, and we're just now starting to see the potential for this in biomedical applications," he said. He added that ribbonized graphene structures allow for much smaller amounts to be used while preserving a conductive pathway that bridges the damaged spinal cords. Tour said only 1 percent of Texas-PEG consists of nanoribbons, but that's enough to form a conductive scaffold through which the spinal cord can reconnect. Texas-PEG succeeded in restoring function in a rodent with a severed spinal cord in a procedure performed at Konkuk University in South Korea by co-authors Bae Hwan Lee and C-Yoon Kim. Tour said the material reliably allowed motor and sensory neuronal signals to cross the gap 24 hours after complete transection of the spinal cord and almost perfect motor control recovery after two weeks. "This is a major advance over previous work with PEG alone, which gave no recovery of sensory neuronal signals over the same period of time and only 10 percent motor control over four weeks," Tour said. The project began when Sikkema read about work by Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero. Sikkema thought nanoribbons might enhance research that depended on PEG's ability to promote the fusion of cell membranes by adding electrical conductivity and directional control for neurons as they spanned the gap between sections of the spinal cord. Contact with the doctor led to a collaboration with the South Korean researchers. Tour said Texas-PEG's potential to help patients with spinal cord injuries is too promising to be minimized. "Our goal is to develop this as a way to address spinal cord injury. We think we're on the right path," he said. "This is an exciting neurophysiological analysis following complete severance of a spinal cord," Tour said. "It is not a behavioral or locomotive study of the subsequent repair. The tangential singular locomotive analysis here is an intriguing marker, but it is not in a statistically significant set of animals. The next phases of the study will highlight the locomotive and behavioral skills with statistical relevance to assess whether these qualities follow the favorable neurophysiology that we recorded here." Explore further Nanoribbons in solutions mimic nature Glendon Parker, a biochemist with Lawrence Livermore's Forensic Science Center, is developing an identification method that relies on information encoded in the proteins of hair. Credit: Julie Russell/LLNL With initial help from his work at a Utah university , an Australian-born biochemist is partnering with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to discover a second science-based forensic tool for identifying people in addition to DNA profiling. Now an LLNL contract employee, Glendon Parker is working with the Lab's Forensic Science Center employees to develop a biological identification method that relies on the information encoded in proteins of human hair. Parker credits part of the forensic science breakthrough to the support he received during his five years from 2008 to 2013 as an assistant professor at Orem-based Utah Valley University, and particularly to the scientific resources and multidisciplinary approach used at LLNL to address technical challenges. "This project has so many moving parts and each part is in a different discipline. "We have one researcher (Deon Anex) who is skilled in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and analytical chemistry; we have a bioinformaticist (Marisa Torres) who manages and develops our data flow; and we have a postdoc (Katelyn Mason) who is excellent at chemical processing, sample preparation and method development," Parker said. "In addition, our multidisciplinary team has two biologistsBonnee Rubinfeld and Cheryl Stroutwho bring extensive experience in processing samples and establishing standard operating procedures to bear for our research." Parker, 48, who immigrated to the United States in 1995, had invested a lot of time and work into developing the new forensic method based on the number and pattern of protein markers in hairbut hadn't gotten as far as he wanted. Then the needs of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the Laboratory's Forensic Science Center and Parker all serendipitously converged. One day in late 2012, a DoD agency sponsor who wanted to use hair as a way to identify people, visited LLNL and suggested that Lab Forensic Science Director Brad Hart should talk to the head of a federal agency's DNA lab. "When I called the federal agency, I was told Glendon Parker of Utah Valley University was working on a way to identify people using protein markers for human hair," Hart said "I called Glendon and told him, 'We've got this requirement for forensic identification and I understand you have a science-based approach that might help us.' I had him come out to the Laboratory and give a talk and things went from there. Glendon moved out to California and we started the collaboration," Hart explained. By March 2013, Parker was working as a contract employee at LLNL. Glendon Parker (left) and Deon Anex, both of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Forensic Science Center, analyze hair samples. Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Parker believes three factors in his career path and personal life proved pivotal in the development of the new science-based forensic tool. "First, I had spent two years looking at mass spectrometry data for diabetes research and I got a good feel for what we could learn from mass spectrometry. Second, my wife is a geneticist, and I was able to get a feel for basic genetics. "And finally, when I left working as a scientific researcher, I became an assistant professor at Utah Valley University and started writing grants to secure equipment for our students. I wanted to develop new science projects for which we could use our instrumentation. That's where my idea came from for protein-based identification." Another boost for his work came from Utah Valley University. "I wouldn't be here without the support I received from the university, both from the College of Science and Health and from the university's tech transfer office. The college allowed me to structure my teaching responsibilities so that I could start at LLNL, and provided initial funding for the project. These developments were important to my work." The Lab's development of a science-based, protein-based identification method for hair and other tissues comes at a time when the subjective method of hair comparison has run into trouble. In 2013, a consortium was formed to review about 3,000 criminal cases in which the FBI used microscopic hair analysis to help convict defendants. Among the organizations participating in the study were members of the Innocence Project, the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers, the FBI and the Department of Justice. Through April 2015, the consortium reviewed about 270 transcripts involving microscopic hair analysis and determined that about 95 percent of the transcripts had at least one error in testimony. "One of the reasons we believe our protein marker identification method for hair and other tissues is so important is because hair comparison is intrinsically subjective and can lend itself to over-interpretation in criminal cases," Parker said. Hart noted that LLNL researchers are trying to provide the forensic science community with another science-based tool for human identification. "We believe we've made a very good start and we think we're going to do better in identifying protein markers," Parker said. "The pieces of the puzzle seem to be coming together." Explore further Humans may be uniquely identified by the proteins in their hair QUEENSBURY A New York City man was jailed Monday afternoon after he was found to have four forged credit cards when he was stopped for speeding on the Northway, police said. Victor Castillo, 25, of the Bronx, was stopped for speeding in the northbound lanes at about 1:30 p.m., according to State Police. He was found to have credit cards with four peoples names on them, and police determined they were forged cards, authorities said. Castillo was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony, and ticketed for speeding and not wearing a seat belt, police said. He was arraigned and sent to Warren County Jail. His legal problems got worse at the jail, after a search as part of the intake process led to the discovery of a package of marijuana hidden in his buttocks, according to the Warren County Sheriffs Office. Castillo was charged with misdemeanor promoting prison contraband and non-criminal unlawful possession of marijuana at the jail, police said. In Hudson Falls and Greenwich, local youth activity programs are continuing to grow. Amorak Youth in Hudson Falls kept active over the summer and is expanding several programs, including its music program, for the coming school year. At the Greenwich Youth Center, growth came in programs and space. The center has expanded into a third-floor space and is continuing to add more activities and programs. Were really busy, Director Chai Stark said. We are keeping up with what we have been doing and adding more. Hudson Falls Amoraks summer music program built on the program started in the spring, which was run by Jonathan Newell and Stu Kuby of Hudson River Music Hall. During the spring session, 12 students studied instruments as varied as violin, guitar, keyboard and bagpipes. In the summer, students took voice and violin lessons. The music program will continue in the fall, and interested Hudson Falls high school and middle school students are invited with their parents to attend the introductory meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the music hall. Students will be able to learn a variety of instruments as well as music production and sound engineering. As with all Amorak programs, there is no charge to the teen. Some instruments will be available for loan for students who do not have their own. The Hudson Falls group also paid the music hall back in a way, spending time doing landscaping and planting outside the building on Saturday. The planting was started last week, but they will need more topsoil to finish it, so I believe they are planning for more on Oct. 1, Braico said. During the summer, Joe San Antonio from the Council for Prevention ran a kayaking program for Amorak. The six-week program introduced teens to kayaking, boating safety, teamwork and group decision-making. This fall and winter, San Antonio will run an outdoor adventure program for consecutive 10-week sessions. Participants will have a chance to kayak, canoe, hike, rock climb, try a ropes course, raft, ski or snowshoe. Amorak will bring Circus Smirkus to Hudson Falls Middle School. From Oct. 17 to Oct. 21, up to 25 middle school students will work with circus performers to learn juggling, acrobatics, devil sticks and other circus skills. At the end of the week, a circus performance will be held for the whole community. Any middle school student interested is urged to contact Amorak to sign up soon. Amorak will also continue to arrange for Hudson Falls students to shadow students at SUNY Adirondack in the major of their choice. This opportunity will be offered Oct. 14, and again during the winter break in February. Braico said the Hudson Falls American Legion will hold a dedication Nov. 5 for the historical mural that was painted with help from Amorak. Teens or parents who want to find out more can go to Amoraks Facebook page or website, www.amorakyouth.org. Busy in Greenwich Stark and Assistant Director Adam Mack have a series of programs planned for the fall, including peer tutoring on Thursdays, grade-level activities on Fridays and Get Well, Get Fit at the YMCA on Saturday. There are also Saturday afternoon activities, including a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, a safe babysitter class and pumpkin-carving. On Sundays, there are classes to teach how to play mah-jong, as well as specific boys and girls classes and a trick-or-treat session Oct. 30. For more information on the Greenwich Youth Center, go to www.greenwichyouthcenter.org. QUEENSBURY Warren County leaders have a budget hole of nearly $1.4 million to close for 2017, and much of the increase stems from staff that has to be hired to deal with new criminal case arraignment practices. County Budget Officer Frank Thomas said preliminary budget figures include a 4 percent increase for 2017, and the county would be $1,382,000 short of revenue as of Tuesday. Under the state tax cap, the county can raise property taxes 2.2 percent next year, but a tax hike of that size would still leave a gap of about $430,000, Thomas said. He said the county will likely have to use money in its fund balance to close the hole. The fund balance had swelled to nearly $20 million earlier this year. Much of the budget increase stems from three new positions that have to be filled to help the county Public Defenders Office and District Attorneys Office deal with a state court decision that requires defense counsel at all criminal arraignments. Two new assistant public defenders and one new assistant district attorney are proposed, he said. The assigned counsel offices budget will also go up about $100,000 as new financial thresholds for free legal representation for the indigent take effect, standards that will increase the number of people who will qualify for legal assistance. Weve got to take care of the criminals, said Thomas, the Stony Creek supervisor. Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said it didnt appear that supervisors had much of a choice but to hire more staff to deal with the influx of cases. Our hands are tied. Its an issue we have to address, he said. Counties have been calling on the state to fund cost increases that stem from a lawsuit over legal representation in five counties, one of them being neighboring Washington County. The result has been that public defender and assigned counsel offices have had to send lawyers to any criminal case arraignments where a defendant could be jailed. Thomas said salary increases that employees will get through union labor contracts are also playing a part in the budget increase. The county is also putting aside money to help SUNY Adirondack build a facility to house nursing, science, technology, engineering and math classrooms. Retirement and health insurance costs for next year have not yet been calculated. The county will not have revenue from Westmount Health Facility in 2017, although it will still bear some legacy costs for the nursing home despite selling it last year. Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether Read more 1. In todays world your qualification matters A lot of people argue that your experience is a key factor in the fashion world. That is very true but so is a qualification in your chosen field of a career. Like it or not your qualification can take you where your experience may never take you and vice versa. So simply make sure you have the skills but also get a documented qualification for it. 2. It gives you an advantage over your peers Can you imagine having clients who need a business plan for a huge fashion contract? If you do not have the technical know-how you will have to pay a huge sum to someone to do it for you or forfeit the business. At the School of Fashion & Design (SFD) at BlueCrest College you do not only learn to sew, you also learn to be an all-round entrepreneur. READ ALSO: Six friends you need to survive at University 3. The fashion industry is dynamic Some time back it was a fashion blunder to wear a green blouse on a pink trouser but today we call it colour blocking. Fashion is evolving by the day, you need to keep yourself updated through education. 4. To acquire a holistic knowledge in designing Designing is not all about just cutting fabrics. One must understand how the fashion world has evolved. This influences the way you even operate in the industry. Fashion designing is not the only job opportunity in the fashion world. At BlueCrest SFD you are introduced to all the available job opportunities in the fashion world. You will be guided to make a decision and follow your own path. READ ALSO: Jobs in computer occupations to increase by 2020 5. Who wouldnt prefer an educated designer? Most clients would prefer an educated designer who can tell them what to wear to which event and how to even carry themselves. A designer who can discuss national issues with you and make you feel comfortable when you go to pick your dresses. Only BlueCrest SFD teaches you to be the best fashion designer in Ghana. BlueCrest College Ghana has offerings in certificate and diploma programmes, undergraduate, as well as postgraduate degrees in Information Technology, Business Administration, Mass Communication, Fashion and Design. Visithttp://register.bluecrest.edu.gh for more information and to apply It is no news that most of the public institutions in Ghana do not work as they ought. A good example of such an institution is Ghanas Passport office. Unless you are ready to pay a bribe, your passport application will not yield result any sooner than 7months. Read more: Parenting Woes The menace of ineffectual institutions is not only with the Passport office; talk about the NHIS, ECG, the Police Service etc. The causes of Ghanas tottering economic growth are numerous. My finger was pointed, first of all, at colonialism. My friend however, disagreed. She said that the rhetoric (thats the exact word she used) of colonialism and its impact on Ghanas current development holds no power in contemporary times. I had a simple answer for her. It has been almost six decades, yes. But that did not negate the impacts colonialism continues to have on Ghanas development. When some Ghanaians say that colonialism still has impacts on the nations development, they are not ignoring the part that corruption, greed, bad economic choices, poor leadership and apathy play in retarding development. Read more: Feature What such people are saying however is that, colonialism is an undeniable and significant starting point for understanding Ghanas development crisis. The conversation of the present day effects of colonialism on Ghanaian development is still important because several decades after colonialism, the seeds that were sown during colonialism still live on. The first of such seeds is Ghanas position in current global political structure. This structure is dominated by countries that benefited immensely from moulding the productive capacity of other nations, such as Ghana, to suit their development. Another example of such a seed is how education is viewed in Ghana. During the colonial era, education served as a tool for civilizing the native, so that he/she would become a perfect gentleman/lady. The educated Gold Coaster was neatly dressed, had a good command over the English language, and showcased a wholesale acceptance of English niceties. Read more: Ama Ata Aidoo Fast forward to 2016, and the one of the measures of an educated Ghanaian is how well he/she speaks the English language. Little is expected of how useful his/her education is to uplifting his/her fellow countrymen from poverty. What is important is that he speaks English almost as well as English people, and travels every now and then to America or the United Kingdom. How can we not talk about colonialism when He cant even speak English is an insult in 2016. One other reason why we cannot sweep the effects of colonialism on national development under the rug is because its psychological effects still linger on. In our minds, we believe that everything European or American is noble; it is the reason we adopt ideologies that are unsuited to the Ghanaian context. Read more: Child neglect It is also the reason something called the black man mentality exists in the first place. The black mentality is the explanation most of us Ghanaians give for why we are underdeveloped. For example when a politician embezzles funds, we blame it on the black mentality. Someone shoots down his neighbour, it is black mentality. These things dont happen in Europe we say. We believe that Americans prosper because they are smarter than we are, more sympathetic and generally better in every way. What we do not realise is that thus thing we call black mentality is in fact the vision Europeans had about the African; that the African was greedy, and selfish and lazy. If we do not have a conversation about colonialism, we will not be able to come to the root of this self-hatred. We will accept the narrative that something is inherently wrong with Ghanaians. We will excuse the corruption of our leaders, by blaming it on the the Blackmans mentality. Read more: Feature So we will have the conversation about how the effects of colonialism still hang around our neck today. It does not mean we are just going to moan about how the British did us wrong. Neither is it from reality; it does not mean we plan to absolve ourselves of the consequences of our collective apathy and selfishness. It is, however, realizing that we need to be aware of our disadvantaged position in the global political structure. Consider this analogy: Ghana as a former colonized state is like a limping athlete amongst able-bodied athletes at the Olympics. Recognising that she limps, like recognising that colonialism robbed her of her productivity and self-worth, determines her game plan. The Campaign Spokesperson of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joyce Bawa-Mogtari in an interview on an Accra-based radio station said many of the nurses who come out of private institutions prefer to only work in urban communities where the jobs are limited. But speaking to Pulse.com.gh, the spokesperson for the Ghana Nurses and Midwives Trainees Association, Gideon Alale Akuob said Mrs Bawa-Mogtari is only trying to make a mockery of the nurses. He explained that: The Ministry of Health is aware that they have not provided financial clearance for the issuance of postings for newly qualified midwives and nurses in the country. And the same Ministry of Health, they are also aware that currently, they do a posting that is called national postings...now you can be posted to any other part of the country and you cant refuse the posting. Government wants to throw dust in the eyes of Ghanaians by telling us that we have refused postings; it is not true. READ ALSO: Police halt planned demo by nurses The Ghana Police Service on Tuesday, September 19, 2016 halted a planned demonstration by the Ghana Nurses and Midwives Trainees Association. The demonstration by the nurses was meant to register their displeasure over the cancellation of the trainee allowance and delays in posting their members who have graduated. But the police have said they are unable to provide security for the nurses and hence their demonstration should be postponed to September 22. The event which started around 11pm saw an appreciable number of good music lovers including media personalities, the corporate world and club goers. After a special album listening session, award-winning radio presenter and host for the night NY DJ shed more light on the direction of the "Preface" album. Head of reggae and Dancehall music at the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Mr. Root Eye (who was a special guest and also featured on Shatta Rako's Preface album) joined the band to perform "Whatever You Need"; his newly penned yet to be released single. Shatta Rako set the record as the first artiste to ever perform with a live set at the ultra-modern Plush Lounge. Performing some songs off his classical remixes album, the fans could not resist the temptation of dancing as they joined him dance to the beautiful songs. He performed with the Massive Music Band. Other performers on the night included Nana Trimudehene, Phrimpong, Ratty, Benjee, Sly Gee and a host of others. CEO of Obibini Blackman distilleries, Dr. Thomas Aboagye Dompem and Osei Owusu Erasmus (Osewus Ventures) bought the first and second copies for a GHC20,000 whiles morning show host for Abusua FM, Kwame Adinkra bought the third copy for GHC5,000. With a new approach to making the album available and a first of its kind, Shatta Rako's new album is loaded on a well branded 8GB drive that makes it easy to be carried along by owners. The Preface album is also available on CDs for people who love to own copies. According to Amissah-Arthur, Dr Mrs Mary Grant served our nation with humility. Her judgement was extraordinary and she mentored many of the young people who serve in government. She has made her contribution and we wish her well in her next life. Read more: Mahama eulogises He made this known when a government delegation visited the family of the former member of the Council of State to commiserate with the family on the death of Mary Grant. He was accompanied by the former Chief of Staff, Henry Martey Newman, Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia, Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper, and the Chairman of National Democratic Congress Kofi Portuphy. Mary Grant died on Sunday, September 18, 2016, at the 37 Military Hospital. See also: Dr Mary Grant is dead Dr Mary Grant was a former Member of the Council of State and former member of erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). She died on Sunday, September 18, 2016, at the 37 Military Hospital. Read more:Dr Mary Grant is dead On his Facebook page, he said, Yesterday (Sunday), Ghana lost a true, committed patriot, Dr Mrs Mary Grant. A medical doctor, a dedicated family woman, Dr Grant took advantage of opportunities that came her way to bring people together and was keenly aware of her heritage. She did not let politics blur her perspectives about family and nation. Yes, she worked with the PNDC. She worked for Ghana. May she rest in peace. However, President John Mahama also eulogised the late Dr Mrs Mary Grant, describing her as a great woman. The president wrote on Facebook on Monday, September 19 that the former Council of State member was a great woman of our modern era. See also: Mahama eulogises Dr Mary Grant was a former Member of the Council of State and former member of erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). He arrived in New York, on Sunday for the 71st United Nations General Assembly. Accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama, he was met on arrival at the JFK Airport by Ghanas Ambassador to the United States, Lt-Gen. Joseph Henry Smith, Ghanas Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, and other officials. Read more: President Mahama jets off to New York Aside from the General Assembly, the President will also attend meetings of the UN Advocacy Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for which he is co-chairman. Listed on his itinerary include co-hosting side events geared towards the successful implementation of the SDGs, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Programme event on Pathways to Zero Hunger, which will showcase concrete transformations in food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture in support of the delivery of the 2030 Agenda. The interaction, which was over dinner is a regular feature on the President's itinerary during the 71st United Nations General Assembly. Read more: Accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama, he was met on arrival at the JFK Airport by Ghanas Ambassador to the United States, Lt-Gen. Joseph Henry Smith, Ghanas Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, and other officials. Read more: President Mahama jets off to New York Aside from the General Assembly, the President will also attend meetings of the UN Advocacy Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for which he is co-chairman. Listed on his itinerary include co-hosting side events geared towards the successful implementation of the SDGs, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Programme event on Pathways to Zero Hunger, which will showcase concrete transformations in food security. The youth of the CPP on June 21, 2016, petitioned CHRAJ to probe President Mahamas acceptance of the Ford Expedition gift from the contractor, Djibiri Kanazoe. READ ALSO: CPP petitions CHRAJ over Ford Expedition gift The partys youth wing argues that, the circumstances surrounding the gift and the acceptance of it by President Mahama, contravened the 1992 constitution. The Burkinabe in question, Djibril Kanazoe, has been accused of bribing President John Mahama with the expensive vehicle in an attempt to win a contract to execute a road construction project. But during the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Evening Encounter in July, Mr Greenstreet indicated that he saw nothing wrong with Mr Mahamas acceptance of the gift. This, the petitioner argues convinced many Ghanaians that the CPP was not ready to fight corruption since its flag bearer sees nothing wrong with public officials accepting gifts from commercial people and organisations. He believed that the Central Committee of the party had not taken a decision on it and Mr Greenstreets views could, therefore, not be taken as the position of the party. Mr Greenstreet is also reported to have threatened to pull out of the 2016 presidential race to register his displeasure at the GHS50,000 filing fee announced by the Electoral Commission (EC) for presidential candidates. But the petitioner argues that the decision to back out of an election is not the sole decision of the flag bearer, saying the Central Committee must be the one to take that decision. He believes the Central Committee has not discussed the said matter let alone decided to back out should the fees not be reduced. The petitioner has therefore argued that the two acts by the flag bearer constitute indiscipline and hence Mr Greenstreet should be punished accordingly if found culpable. The Chief of Staff is currently in Wa in the Upper West region to sustain and whip up party enthusiasm among the rank and file. Mr. Julius Debrah who took advantage of the absence of President John Dramani who is in New York, America where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, is in Wa to engage with the Chiefs and people of the Upper West region and drum home the need to retain President Mahama in the December elections. He said "the 2016 elections is for the NDC to take but it demands more work between now and December 7, 2016." The former Eastern regional chairman of the NDC for 8 years, CEO of the Ghana tourism Authority, Greater Accra regional and local governments minister and now Chief of Staff encouraged party supporters to continue to work hard, adding "it is only through hard work that would see us through a one touch victory." According to him the NDC government under President Mahama has done tremendously well over the past 3 years and there is every justification for the electorate to retain the NDC. "We have a solid record of achievements that each and every one of us must go out tell and win a soul. The fields are white and its time to convert and woo first time voters for the party." He continued by saying "we understand your frustrations and we thank you all for standing by the NDC throughout these years. Your toils won't be in vain. When the appropriate time comes you shall all be covered." He announced that his boss President Mahama means well and desires to make Ghana a better place for all. Let's embrace him and give him another for years for job creation, economic empowerment and the creation of a stable and friendly business environment which would propel all of us to greater heights of achievement. The Chief of Staff was met by the Upper Eastern regional minister, past and current regional chairman of the region amongst others. He said: what we have in John Mahama is a President that is so out of touch with the problems of the average Ghanaian that he sees his non-performance in these sectors as success. It is evident that the John Mahama government is not one that can be trusted to put people first. A government that puts corruption first can only pay lip service to putting Ghanaians first, he said. According to Boagye Agyarko, the living conditions of Ghanaians have worsened under President Mahama, adding that when you speak at random to people around the country, it appears their concerns, problems and anxieties are the same. Unemployment, bad roads, the lack of decent and affordable accommodation and the high cost of living as well as the falling standards in education and health. It cannot be disputed that President John Mahama has made Ghanaians poorer. The prices of everyday items have skyrocketed under John Mahama, Mr Boakye Agyarko said. He argued that a president who only thinks about his friends and family cannot be trusted and hence should be voted out come December 7. According to Accra-based Onua FM, she introduced the term one family, one graduate during a campaign tour in the New Abrem Constituency in the Eastern Region. The Regional Minister who is also the NDCs Parliamentary nominee for the New Abrem Constituency urged the constituents to desist from voting in a skirt and blouse pattern. She argued that the one family, one graduate promise can only be fulfilled when the electorates in the constituency vote for both President Mahama and herself. She urged the electorates to vote for her so she takes the constituency to another level of development. Ghana goes to the polls on December 7. In this years campaign promises the key campaign message has been political parties vowing to give one this to one that. Nana Addo is expected to visit some constituencies in the region including Dodowa, Adentan amongst others. Nana Addo has already toured all the ten regions. In the first phase of his campaign tour, he met chiefs and addressed rallies in various constituencies. Some chiefs he met endorsed him while others admonished him to help Ghana out of its current economic crisis if he wins the 2016 elections. Meanwhile, Nana Addo at every rally or courtesy call urged Ghanaian electorates to vote for change. He has also made some promises at various places. Some of the promises he made during his regional tour include the creation of one more region from the Western Region, One village one dam in the Northern Region and one district, one factory. Ghanaians know the manufacturing sector was doing far better under Mills than now under Mahama. They know the number of manufacturing companies, big and small, that have collapsed over the last four years and the number of people who have lost their livelihoods thereby. And, yet they hear this economic mismanagement expert, President Mahama promise to revive the factories created by Kwame Nkrumah. A little reminder, John. Many of these factories were completely buried, broken up and sold off by your previous NDC government in which you served as Minister, the NPPs policy advisor, Boakye Agyarko, said at a press conference on Monday to react to the governing NDC manifesto launch. According to him, the Ghanaian electorate is aware that growth in the industrial sector has declined sharply under Mahama, from 17% in 2011 to 2.0% in 2015. And, yet, he claims to be transforming Ghana. READ ALSO: Election 2016 Boagye Agyarko further accused the John Mahama-led administration of using state resources to transform only the lives of his friends and families to the detriment of ordinary Ghanaians. He said: Even members of his [Mahamas] own party recognise that the presidents Better Ghana Agenda has been for the benefit of only his family and friends. He added that what we have in John Mahama is a President that is so out of touch with the problems of the average Ghanaian that he sees his non-performance in these sectors as success. It is evident that the John Mahama government is not one that can be trusted to put people first. A government that puts corruption first can only pay lip service to putting Ghanaians first, he said. On Tuesday, September 20, Mrs Aisha Buhari took to her Twitter account to share a photo of herself poised and smiling with the American first lady, Michelle Obama at her Broadway event put together to help girls in New York City. Considering the fact that Fayose has alleged that the First lady was wanted in the United states of America in connection with the Halliburton bribery scandal, Mrs Buhari's latest Instagram post was definitely unexpected and a slap on the face. As if that was not bad enough, the ace comedian decided to rub it in by sharing the same photo via his Instagram page on Tuesday, September 20, commenting: "Is that not the same Mrs Buhari that is wanted? They will soon arrest her... Or is that not what one South West Governor told us? We are watching... Or she now has First Lady immunity? Wetin me I know SEF." Since Fayose is known for his propensity for sharing his opinion concerning every and any issue, this put down is bound to do very little to put him in his place. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The JANs National Company of the Year Competition is an annual event that brings the JA Company Program winners of Regional Competitions across Nigeria together to compete for the National Company of the Year Award. The program teaches Senior secondary students how to start and run their own business from inception to liquidation with the guidance of a volunteer. The judges for this years competition include JAN Ambassador and Alumnus of JA Company Program, Mr. Tunji Eleso, Co-Founder, CoCreation Hub; Mr. Audu Maikori, Founder/President, Chocolate City and Mrs. Lola Oyeka, Citi Country Public Affairs Officer, Nigeria & Ghana. Government Girls College, Abaaji emerged the winners of the 2014 JA Africa Company of the Year Award held in Libreville, Gabon. Despite waiting a year to compete due to the Ebola outbreak they also claimed the 2014 FedEx & 2014 Citi Client Satisfaction Awards for their development of bags called Pink Lady. The Dynamites recorded a gross profit of N 662,000; a net profit of N165,000 and sold 250 shares at N200 per unit. Mrs. Efua Edeh, Executive Director, JAN had this to say in support of her flagship event, The National Company of the Year Competition 2016 is an opportunity for us to showcase the weight of potential that lies within these young minds and JANs role in grooming the next generation of leading entrepreneurs. This is a call-to-action for corporate stakeholders, teachers, youths, entrepreneurs and all who support the cause of empowering youths to become not just leaders but, conscientious leaders leading a vibrant economy. The NCOY winner will represent Nigeria against other JA Africa member-nation companies for the title of JA Africa Company of the Year in Zimbabwe this December. NCOY 2016 is proudly sponsored by The Dangote Group, Minerva University and Deloitte Nigeria. Venue: The Orchid Hotel, Plot 3 Dream world Africana way, immediate right turn after Chevron toll gate, Ikota-Epe expressway Lekki Date: Thursday October 6, 2016. Time: 10:00 am 1:00pm Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The incident took place in the early hours of Monday, September 19, with the victims having their throats slit. Two other villagers have been reported dead after being shot by the assailants during their escape. One of the officials of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria in Borno state, Abbas Gava, confirming the incident to newsmen on the phone, said, The gunmen invaded the village in the early hours of Monday and they stormed the home of the village head, Ba Lawan, where they slaughtered him and his son. After killing the village head and his son, they burnt his home down and as the villagers began to run for their lives, the gunmen opened fire on them killing two persons, while many of them escaped with injuries. Mr Gava revealed that Talari village, an agrarian community in Damboa Local government, located between Kilakia Village and Chibok, and other remote communities in the area which share boundaries with Sambisa forest, have been experiencing increased attacks from the insurgents. ALSO READ: Pickpocket steals from policewoman during interrogation A Magistrates Court in Oredo in Benin, Edo State, sentenced the teenager, Happy Okotie and one Kingsley Ebose, to six years each without an option of fine. The pair were sentenced after being found guilty of a two-count charge of breaking in, entry and stealing levelled against them. The offence was reportedly committed in New Benin, Oredo Local Government Area on Thursday, August 25. The court heard that the convicts conspired to commit the felonies broke into a store belonging to one Mrs Tessy Okpebiye on the night of that fateful day and made away with valuables. Police prosecutor, Mr Patrick Agbonifo, listed the stolen items to include one Nokia battery, two Samsung Galaxy phones, one laptop and a cash sum of N17,000. The stolen items are reportedly valued at N235,000. ALSO READ: Two armed robbery suspects nabbed by vigilante The artisan identified as Ndubuisi allegedly fell off a tank under construction and later died. The commands spokesman, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Sunday that the deceased died while being rushed to a nearby hospital. Amaraizu said the deceased was contracted by his co-welder, Okolo Chijioke, to join in the construction of a tank at a workshop along Enugu-Abakiliki Expressway by PRODA junction, Emene, Enugu on September 17, 2016. He that in the course of the construction, the deceased allegedly fell and hit his head on another tank at the workshop and that left him unconscious. The Chairman of the CSOs, Ahmed Shehu, made the disclosure that IDP women and teenagers were engaging in prostitution in a desperate bid to feed their families. Shehu said this at the presentation of the situational assessment of internally displaced persons in the North-East by a non-governmental organisation, NOI Polls, on Tuesday, September 20, in Abuja. Shehu noted that 60% of female IDPs have suffered rape as well as other forms of sexual harassment, explaining that most of the homes in Maiduguri are being headed by teenagers forced to step up after their parents were either killed, missing or in captivity with Boko Haram. He stated that high incidences of sexually transmitted diseases in the state could worsen with the new development. Many females were raped and killed while collecting firewood, particularly as they travelled farther from their communities. Many teenagers are heading their families now because their parents had been killed or captured by Boko Haram. The sad part of it is that many female internally displaced persons have gone into prostitution so that they can feed themselves. Mohammed Alfa, a Borno-based journalist, noted that foods meant for the IDPs were being hijacked and sold by officials of the state government, alleging that his life has been threatened for publishing a report on the disparaging activities which go on in the camps, adding that he was not afraid. In its assessment, the NOI noted that cases of sexual abuse and social vices have increased in the camps, calling on the government to address it before it got out of hand. ALSO READ: IDPs not eager to go home NOI also affirmed that there has been incidences of corruption and sharp practices pertaining to the distribution of relief materials donated to the IDPs. The convict was sentenced by a Chief Magistrates Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti. The accused was first arraigned in court on a two-count charge of wilful and unlawful damage to farm crops at Ago Aduloju in Ado-Ekiti on January 22. Four prosecuting witnesses confirmed that 18-year-old Haruna had been caught grazing his cow's at midnight in the farmland belonging to one Abdulahi Yaho and Bello Mohammed. Crops reportedly destroyed by the cows in the farm included cassava, maize, okro and pepper, which was valued at N3 million. Defending himself, Haruna told the court that the owner of the cows lived in Illorin Kwara state. The Magistrate, Idowu Ayenimo, surmised that Haruna's defence lacked credibility and was not believed by the court, convicting the defendant as charged without the option of fine. ALSO READ: Governor bans Fulani herdsmen from grazing in Ekiti You can relax guys, his first photo was not an artistic photo of his wife Going by the handle @kanyewest, Yeezy has gained one million followers since posting his first photo- a screenshot from the movie '' starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, the photo did not come with a caption. Apart from being one of the most creative forces in pop culture in this era, Kanye West is also one of the most famous egomaniacs too. Mr West is so self-absorbed that if he decided to marry himself the world wouldn't be surprised. Kanye loves Kanye. With his Instagram account, we should expect to see more of that self-absorbed behaviour and statements of grandeur. Kanye West carrying the world on his back like the Greek god Atlas is definitely a plausible photo that can come out of the mind of the Grammy-award winning producer. Kanye West's Instagram page will be a museum dedicated to his greatness and his lifelong mission of making the world a better place with his awesomeness. Always thinking outside the box, Kanye West would most likely use his Instagram page as an extension of his music. I wouldn't put it past the music maestro to debut a full music video on the platform. Instead of premiering his video on YouTube or Tidal, Kanye can put the whole thing on Instagram. Picture watching 'Freestyle 4' featuring Desiigner on the photo and video app. ALSO READ: Kanye West speaks about Taylor Swift again To die-hard and longtime Kanye West fans, this won't be the first time they will witness the rapper express himself with pictures and videos. During his ''-'' days, Kanye West had a website called kanyeuniversecity.com. On the website, Kanye West posted photos of hot models, videos and architecture that caught his interest. Interestingly enough, Kanye West posted a photo of Kim Kardashian on his site who would end up being his wife years later. Kanye West also made his sister-in-law Kourtney Kardashian his 'girl of the week' a year later. She is, in particular, angry at journalists from her home state, Benue, whom she say have been feeding the public with wrong information about her to mislead the people into believing she was a man before going under the knife to become a woman. Born Clifford Oche to Idoma parents, but now known as Iris Sahhara Henson, before now, had issued a stern warning to Nigerian bloggers and journalists to stop addressing her as a man, claiming she has always been a woman. Worse hit is a top journalist from her state, Ameh Comrade Godwin, whom she says has been peddling wrong stories about her and has severally blocked him from her social media accounts. According to Ameh, the CEO of Idoma Voice Newspaper and Idoma Television, who spoke with Pulse, Miss Sahhara, and her family back home are not happy with him for exposing their son, turned daughter. "There was a time she reacted to one of our reports, calling me an untrained and hungry journalist for daring to write about her. She has since blocked me on twitter. The truth is all I have been writing about her; none of them is untrue. Is she denying the fact that her fathers name is Agbo Ella, or her village is Otukpo Nobi, or she was a student of Benue State University and former Press Club president? Which one be lie again Abeg free me jare, my sweet sister. In fact, her father even called me when we published the story few years back and told me to come and do an interview with but I am yet to find out time to go for the interview; which I will do in no distant time, Ameh said. Also in her line of war is an online magazine based in Benue, Idoma Voice, as also has issues to grind with them. Idoma Voice it was that first broke the news of Miss Sahhara and gave a chronicle of her life from being a man to becoming a woman through surgery. The spokesperson of the Lagos Police Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the suspect, Deji Ayoola, who was arrested by operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) for pick-pocketing, allegedly stole N1, 200 during an interrogation. Badmos said that the suspect was arrested at Ojodu Berger when he allegedly stole a commuters money while trying to board a commercial vehicle to the Redemption Camp. She said the suspect was sighted removing the wallet containing about N14,500 from the commuters purse, stressing that the police team pursued and arrested him. During his interrogation at the RRSs headquarters in Alausa, the suspect stylishly stepped on N1,200 which fell from a police womans pocket while removing her cell phone from the pocket. When the money dropped on the floor, he picked it and pocketed it. Unknown to him, another suspect had seen him when he was hiding the money, and immediately alerted the officer that the money she was looking for was with the suspect, Badmos said. ALSO READ: Global Fund provides 659m mosquito nets globally to prevent disease Professor Nasiru Shuaibu, disclosed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Zaria, Kaduna State on Tuesday, September 20, that his malaria vaccine was different from the others which are currently being used. The professor who is working with the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Japan, explained that Nigerians would soon be privy to the results of the research being carried out on the new vaccine. In a simple term that a layman can understand, the content of this malaria vaccine research is difficult, but let me try if I could simplify it, it is called DNA Vaccine. It is a new technology for discovery and delivery of vaccine against any infectious disease that was developed in the early to mid-1990s. The DNA of the malaria parasite was extracted and the portion of the DNA that is tested to be a good vaccine candidate is subjected to molecular biology methods which are used to produce a lot of the DNA, He said. Shuaibu revealed that Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is used to expand the quantity seeing as the amount of DNA from the malaria parasite is very minute. Then a method of cloning is now used to insert the DNA into a vehicle that will carry the DNA into either animal or human body. It is then injected into the body of the animal or human and it eventually enters the cells of the animal in the same way a virus enters and infects cells. The injected DNA now uses the cells in the body to produce chemicals that will prevent malaria from infecting the body, Mr. Shuaibu explained. He went on to say that the vaccine is different from any of the licensed vaccines such as polio and other EPI vaccines, adding that although the approach used was also different from the other malaria vaccine (RTS,S/AS01) which was likely to be licensed, the goal of controlling and eventually eliminate malaria, is the same. With an estimated population of over 170 million people, Nigeria makes up the highest malaria burden in Africa and the world in general. Mr Shuaibu also revealed his doubt that the figures from the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) indicated progress in containing the disease. I still doubt; the tools currently used to fight malaria are not sufficient to have a substantial and sustained impact that is needed to resolve the malaria crisis in Nigeria, he said. Children peer into the south reflecting pool at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in Manhattan, New York, US, September 1, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Just a week after the United States marked the 15th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, it again found itself in the shadow of terrorism. A bomb explosion in New York City that injured 29 people on Saturday, a stabbing attack at a Minnesota shopping mall that left nine wounded, and an earlier blast in suburban New Jersey sent shock waves across the country. Although investigations into the attacks and the attackers' motives are still under way, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the Manhattan blast "an act of terrorism", while the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Minnesota attack. All these point to the harsh reality that the US is not safer than it was 15 years ago despite its "war on terror". From Boston to San Bernardino to Orlando, homegrown terrorists have carried out deadly attacks one after another. This is fast changing the way of life for Americans as well as how they see themselves and others. What is happening in the US is actually part of the larger global picture, a land haunted by the specter of terrorism. From Kabul, Karachi and Istanbul to Madrid, London, Paris and Brussels, terrorists have spread fear by targeting innocent people through every despicable means possible, and they will continue to do so. Terrorism today is a major factor threatening durable peace and stability in the world. A global united front is needed to defeat terrorism. China has been a victim of terrorism, as evidenced by the March 2014 Kunming terrorist attack in which 31 people were killed, and the Aug 30 suicide bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, instigated by Uygur groups active in Syria. These attacks show the terrorist threat China faces is not less than any other country, and there is enough room for Beijing and Washington to cooperate in the global fight against terrorism. Double standard on terrorism will not only harm bilateral relations, it will also hinder the formation of a global alliance against terrorism, which will do neither side any good. The causes of terrorism are complicated, but many agree abject poverty is a major factor. With nearly half of the world's population still living on less than $2 a day, the fight against terrorism will continue for long. In this respect, China, which has lifted 600 million people out of poverty over the past three decades, has a lot to offer to the world. The groups Acting Project Officer, Mr Okoronko Sunday, said at the opening of the training in Zaria that it was meant to support government and other stakeholders to address current malnutrition crises in the state. Sunday said that the training would equip the beneficiaries with the needed skills to advocate for timely release of funds for nutrition interventions and effective ways to monitor implementation in the state. He described the group as a non-profit coalition of organizations with a vision to transform Nigeria into a country where every citizen has nutritious food. The project officer said that the training is being conducted in partnership with Advocacy on Child and Family Health (PACFaH). PACFaH is currently implementing social accountability project by building capacity of indigenous CSOs and activists working on nutrition. The officer said that the project was to catalyze government at national and state levels to fulfill commitments on child and family health to ensure sustainable growth and development. To support the mandate of the PACFaH project to build the capacity of CSOs in Nassarawa, Niger and Kaduna states, a need assessment was carried out early 2016 and gaps were identified that needed to be addressed. The gaps include organisational development, monitoring and evaluation, financial management, proposal writing and work plans for nutrition programmes among others. The training was, therefore, designed to address these gaps and equip CSOs with the basic skills to advocate for timely release of funds for nutrition activities in Kaduna State, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) repost that the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey 2013 indicates that 912, 822 children, representing 57 per cent of children in the state are stunted. Oladeke told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo that the mechanism would help to assess the quality of healthcare the citizens got abroad. He described the mechanism as a two-way system in which patients would be examined at the point of departure and after the completion of the treatment. In order to assess and ensure quality healthcare delivery for Nigerians abroad, there is an urgent need for medical immigration, which will serve as a referral mechanism. The control body will be saddled with the responsibility of monitoring the quality of health services available to Nigerians in referral hospitals, he said. Since June, heavy rain and flooding have hit several states of Sudan, killing at least 100 people, destroying thousands of homes and submerging many villages. "In the past three weeks, 19 people including children have died from water-borne diseases like diarrhoea," Health Minister Bahar Idris Abu Garda told AFP. Seventeen died in the state of Blue Nile and two in Kasala. So far 632 cases of people suffering from diarrhoea have been registered across the country, said Abu Garda, without specifying the type of disease. "Our laboratories confirm that using polluted water was the main reason for this disease to spread," he said, adding that the situation was now under control. Humanitarian workers had expressed concerns about the impact of flooding on the health of those affected as they were unable to deliver aid to them in the initial days of flooding. They said illnesses that cause diarrhoea had been incubating since incessant rainfall commenced. Many people had to wade through waist-deep water to reach safety or get supplies during the floods. Hundreds of people suffer from water-borne diseases every year across Sudan given the lack of access to clean drinking water. The confident hunters also claim that they know where the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau is, and they can capture him alive. Speaking to Daily Post, the leader of the group in Adamawa, Garba Tarfa said Shekau is hiding at a location known as Parisa in Sambisa forest, adding that the place is heavily guarded. Tarfa said We are ever physically ready at any given time if permitted to besiege Sambisa forest to capture the coward, Shekau, like fowl and his dreaded commanders. We know the nooks and crannies of Sambisa forest. In fact we know exactly where Shekau is hiding in the forest. They fear us more than conventional army, because they know we knew their secrets. Tarfa added that insurgency will end if the Federal Government can give them patrol vehicles and other forms of logistic help. This is contained a statement issued by acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman. Usman said the unfortunate incident happened when the terrorist ambushed troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE escorting commercial vehicles from Damboa to Maiduguri, at Sanda general area. According to him, three soldiers, who sustained injuries during incident had been evacuated to Maiduguri. Consequently, another robust patrol team has been dispatched to reinforce the troops, clear the general area and pursue the terrorists. This unfortunate incident has brought to the fore the need for more vigilance and cooperation amongst all. We would like to assure the public that we would not allow this isolated incident to thwart the peace and security commuters enjoy along the route and all other opened routes in the North East, he said. Usman said that troops were pushing the attackers and would not relent until they were apprehended or killed. Additional security measures have also been put in place to avert recurrence, he said. Meanwhile, Usman has debunked report of suspected terrorists attack at Chibok. What happened was that two persons were murdered at Kwamjilari village, which is over 30 kilometres from Chibok, and very close to Sambisa forest, by suspected remnants of Boko Haram terrorists looking for food. We wish to reiterate that they werent killed outside or near a church as being rumoured. The people from the said village are all in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Chibok. Those who went back to the village without authorisation were moved back to Chibok two weeks ago. Those killed went back on their own contrary to security advise, he said. The Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said in Abuja on Tuesday that Buhari made the statement at a meeting on Modern Slavery, hosted by the British Prime Minister Theresa May. Adesina, said the meeting was held on the margins of the 71 Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA71), at the residence of the British permanent representative to the UN. The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has so far rescued more than 8,000 victims of human trafficking, its Spokesman, Mr Josiah Emerole, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Emereole said the number did not include those rescued from other agencies. The president said the anti-corruption crusade and diversification programme of the government would address the lack of job opportunities and deprivation which had made Nigerian youths vulnerable to recruitment by human traffickers. We are also investing more on infrastructure development, education and health for our people. When the results of our efforts become manifest the attraction of seeking greener pastures abroad will lesson, Buhari said. He said the president commended the British prime minister for drawing the attention of the international community to such a serious matter to coincide with a time that the global focus is on migration and refugee crisis. He, therefore, called for practical and innovative measures to address all the modern day human tragedies. The president noted that more worrisome is the fact that human trafficking and modern day slavery have created a dangerous political economy of their own. In consequence, this international criminality is defined by the activities of human traffickers that lure unsuspecting victims into forced labour, inhuman treatment, money laundering and prostitution. According to him, Nigeria is ready and willing to partner other countries and international organisations to confront the phenomenon. The president gave an assurance that his administration was strongly committed to combating the modern slavery and would redouble efforts to prohibit human trafficking and provide succour for victims. He also assured his audience to count on the support of Nigeria in dealing with this evil, which constitutes an unacceptable stain on human dignity and conscience in the 21 century. The president said the NAPTIP and the Nigeria Immigration Service had taken steps to establish a joint operational Working Group to combat human trafficking and smuggling of migrants from Nigeria. We are aware of the challenge for Nigeria, but our resolve to combat it is strong and unshakable, the president said. According to Bafarawa, Buharis failure is due to the fact that he doesnt have a listening ear. Buhari has failed because he does not have a listening ear, he does not heed to advice at a time Nigerians are wallowing in poverty and deprivation, Bafarawa told the Hausa service of Voice of America (VOA). Ive written several letters to President Buhari, seeking to have an audience with him on the way forward but he remains indifferent in granting me the opportunity, he added. The adoption took place on Monday night in New York. The declaration expresses the political will of world leaders to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on global scale. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, while congratulating member states for adopting the declaration, said todays summit represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility. He said that the adoption would mean that more children could now attend school, more workers could securely seek jobs abroad, instead of being at the mercy of criminal smugglers, and more people would have real choices about whether to move during conflicts, sustain peace and increase opportunities at home. Mr Peter Thomson, the President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), said I will take forward the commitment of the membership to begin a process that will lead to a global compact on migration, as well as to support a global compact on refugees. I want to urge member states to maintain high level of ambition throughout these processes, and to always reach for higher ground. The fate of millions of refugees and migrants rests with us. He said that by adopting the New York Declaration, member states were making bold commitments, including negotiations that will lead to an international conference and the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018 `Member states will also develop guidelines on the treatment of migrants in vulnerable situations, as well as have a more equitable sharing of the burden and responsibility for hosting and supporting the worlds refugees by adopting a global compact on refugees in 2018. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the UN Scribe also launched a new campaign called Together Respect, Safety and Dignity for All, as called for in the declaration, to respond to rising xenophobia and turn fear into hope. He urged world leaders to join the campaign and commit together to upholding the rights and dignity of everyone forced by circumstance to flee their homes in search of better life. President Buhari, while addressing the assembly earlier, said that Nigeria believes that without deliberate and collective commitment and action, the issue of large movement of refugees and migrants may impede our aspirations toward achieving the Programme of Action of the Cairo Agenda +20. Ojudu also said that the group is conducting itself as if Buhari is detaining the abducted Chibok girls. Since the President came to power, he has met with them thrice. And it is looking like look, you are making this thing appear as if I am the one detaining those girls. I am not detaining them. You are only going to protest to me if I am the one detaining them, Ojudu told Vanguard. If you allow the BBOG to go into the villa every day to carry out their campaign, what time would the President have to do his work? Will that not be calling for disorder? In UK, anyone who has something to say goes to Trafalgar Square. The media will meet you there. They dont enter into 10, Downing Street. So, if the BBOG can restrict its campaign to the Unity Square, nobody will stop them. But to say that every day you want to go to the bedroom in the office of the President, that for me is bad, he added. ALSO READ:Ezekwesili accuses Buhari of hiring people to disrupt BBOG march The President made this known to the public at the 20th memorial service of Iyalode of Egbaland, late (Mrs) Esther Bisoye Tejuoso, where he was represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal. In the speech read by Lawal but credited to the President, Buhari stressed that the economy would have been better if the past leaders had demonstrated managerial skills and uprightness. He said: If our leaders had demonstrated the foresight, uprightness and managerial skills of Chief Bisoye Tejuoso our economy would have been better. Our past leaders refused to save and diversify the economy. Chief Bisoye Tejuosos success story in business can serve as a roadmap on how we can come out of recession. ALSO READ:Osinbajo calls for community policing She rewarded excellence and merit. She was a true heroine and a woman of courage. Her life should propel us to dedicate our lives more to the unity, progress and security of our country, the President said. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. Adesina said the president gave the assurance at the High-Level Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants on the margins of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States. President Buhari said that such intervention programmes include: the Presidential Intervention Committee on Rehabilitation of the North-East and the Victims Support Fund. Others, according to him, are the Safe Schools Initiative and the proposed North-East Development Commission currently undergoing legislative process. We are making concerted efforts to meet our citizens immediate humanitarian needs by reducing their risk and vulnerability and increasing their resilience through vocational training and skills acquisition programmes, particularly for IDPs in camp. According to him, any discourse on refugees and migrants in Nigeria, must refer to the internally displaced persons, victims of Boko Harams atrocities. The president said the atrocities had also rendered 600,000 persons homeless in Nigerias neighbouring countries. Buhari noted that in order to find a lasting solution to this regional challenge, Nigeria in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, recently hosted a regional conference on displacement of persons within the framework of Regional Protection Dialogue on the Lake Chad Basin. At the global level, President Buhari said Nigeria had equally shown appreciable concern on issues of global human mobility, using such control instruments as the National Migration Policy; Labour Migration Policy; Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Laws, and Nigeria Immigration and National Drug Law Enforcement Acts. The Nigerian leader condemned all new forms of racism, xenophobia and hate ideology targeted at undermining the considerable benefits that migration can deliver to global efficiency. Buhari noted that such divisive tendencies only lead to violence and avoidable loss of lives in a world that requires cooperation. According to him, globalisation should mean free movement of goods, services and people. The spokesman of the sect, Ibrahim Musa, slammed the Minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama for reportedly lying to the international community. Onyeama had earlier said the Federal Government detained Zakzaky because it is still studying the Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI) set up by Kaduna State government. According to Musa, We believe his illegal detention has nothing to do with the Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI). He is not being detained by the JCI nor is he detained on its recommendation. In fact the JCI had to extend its period of sitting to seek ways for Mr. Zakzakys legal team to meet with him in detention. In fact, the JCI was even inaugurated while the Sheikh was already in detention. Sheikh Zakzaky is being detained by the presidency under the Department of State Service (DSS) and not by the JCI. Adding that The DSS told the court that the Sheikh was under protective custody, and with his consent after refusing to allow his lawyers to receive regular briefs from him. Even though this statement is a blatant lie by those holding the Sheikh hostage, why didnt the (Foreign Minister) echo it to the worlds press? The DSS told this to the court to dismiss the saying that the revered leader is being detained illegally without any charges. If his detention had anything to do with the JCI, the DSS would have told that to the court. But it didnt because his detention had nothing to do with the JCI. If Sheikh Zakzaky is released now, will that tamper with their study of JCI report? We believe it will not. It will only show the world their intent in doing justice in the case of Zaria massacre. According to reports, the IPOB members went into the market to force traders to observe a sit at home order scheduled for September 23, 2016. The spokesman for the Enugu police command, Mr Ebere Amarizu, said Suspects were arrested by our operatives, as the alleged announcement was being carried out and 21 handsets were recovered from them. Also recovered, include flags suspected to be that of the group with their insignia, public address systems, one wireless microphone." He also said We advise the public not to allow themselves to be used under any guise to cause mischief, as anyone caught will be made to face the full wrath of the law. The commands Comptroller, Mr Mohammed Yaro, made this known in a news briefing in Katsina on Monday. Yaro said that the youths were rescued on Saturday in Babban-Mutum forest while trying to cross the border on their way to Niger Republic and Europe. Our intelligent officers on patrol arrested the victims one-after-the-other on the same day at different intervals inside the bush. They came differently on commercial motorcycles and begun to walk inside the forest to find their way to Agadez, Niger Republic. They are now giving us vital information on how to arrest their traffickers, he said. According to him, five of the victims are females, while the remaining six are males between the ages of 19 and 38. Yaro said that none of the victims was in possession of any travel document or any means of livelihood. He said that the victims were misled by some traffickers whose business was to ferry persons across the border through illegal routes. The comptroller urged parents and other stakeholders to intensify efforts toward curtailing the menace of illegal migration among youths in the country. The Court of Appeal, on July 21, 2016, held that the 1999 Constitution guarantees the fundamental human right of wearing hijab. The MSSN made its comments via a statement released by its Lagos Amir, Saheed Ashafa. The statement reads: Though, we do not expect any teacher to act to the contrary, if they do, we urge our members to ensure that they resist removing the hijab with their own hands. They should ensure that the teacher or overzealous principal do it themselves. And after any of the education stakeholders does that, he or she should be prepared for legal and mass actions. It will not be fair for any tutor-general, principal or teacher to order any student to remove their hijab; such action amount to committing contempt of court. A situation where a principal or teacher will be seen punishing, threatening, assaulting or harassing a student for wearing hijab, after the judiciary has granted it, will amount to not only contempt of court but a betrayal of literacy, ridiculing of education and an abuse of reasoning. We plead that all the stakeholders in education should be law abiding and practicalize what they have been teaching us as students. We commend our teachers for their efforts from inception and hope that as students resume, they will not demonstrate to us how to disobey the constitution and judiciary. ALSO READ: Bello made the appeal on Monday when he visited the Commandant-General of NSCDC, Mr Abdullahi Gana. He said that the state, with the largest land mass in the country, needed deployment of more NSCDC personnel in certain local government areas. He said: Niger state is a tenth of the country; the largest in terms of land mass. It will take you over 8 hours to travel from one end of the state to another. We need more of your men to help us maintain security in most of our councils. Whenever there are security challenges in any of our neighbouring states, residents of border villages to these states are the worst hit. We need your officers and men at this level to help curtail any incursion and help sustain the peace being enjoyed in the state. The governor assured the commandant-general that his administration would look after the welfare of the personnel posted to the state, in addition to providing office accommodation for the command. He applauded the efforts of the commandant-general at repositioning the corps and stressed the meed for team work among the officer and men for maximum results. Responding, Abdullahi Gana, pledged that the corps would ensure adequate security of lives and property in Niger state. A statement issued in Abuja by the presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said Buhari made the call at the meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council on the Situation in South Sudan. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA71), in New York on Monday. The President described the unconditional implementation of the Agreement as the cornerstone of peace and reconciliation in that country. He noted that whatever reservations that might exist against the agreement, should under no circumstances be the pretext for failure to implement the Agreement. According to the President, it is regrettable that lack of unity and political progress in South Sudan has remained a major obstacle to peace. Buhari noted that recurrent conflict and political instability with grave human rights and humanitarian consequences have overshadowed any progress that might have been made towards South Sudans development. He also stressed the need for stronger cooperation among the United Nations, the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority for Development and other stakeholders for the immediate deployment of the Regional Protection Force in South Sudan, as mandated by Security Council Resolution 2304. He expressed the hope that such action would strengthen the peace process in the beleaguered East-Central African nation and newest member-state of the United Nations, The president condemned in strong terms crimes against civilians of all ethnic groups and political parties and attacks on United Nations Mission personnel as well as local and international aid workers in South Sudan. The military launched the initiative to combat the activities of militantsin the volatile region. NDGJM made its comments via a statement released by its spokesman, Gen Aldo Agbalaja. The statement reads: The Opudo strike force, at about 11:30 pm on Sunday, September 18, 2016, struck the Afiesere Ekiugbo delivery line in Ughelli, operated by NPDC/Shoreline. The Operation Crocodile Tears is not slowing down, but determined to achieve target. Until the federal government takes the proper steps, this song will continue to play. This is to once again emphasize our earlier revelation that the so-called Operation Crocodile Smile is nothing but a scam: some jumbled job, sewn together to retire some recently embezzled military budget. Were it a serious endeavor, as the entire military system has sought to bamboozle Nigerians and the entire world to believe, the half-baked operation would have at least been reaping marginal results, besides those wrong arrests, lacking in intelligence that it had realized. This is to you, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, let you crocodile continue to smile, your time of reckoning is at hand, probably by the time the smiling crocodile finally sinks, you will see its tears and blood. Under your nose, the very task of guarding oil assets (which we consider a waste of time, resources and a failure of priorities) will fail because you are both insincere and incompetent. The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate is just starting, you are yet to see what we are about, by the time the alpha operations are initiated, you will need more than these fighter jets to keep your troops safe in any part of the Niger Delta. We have observed that you have placed your trust in the guns and fighter jets of the Nigerian armed forces, our words for you are few: keep at it and wait for your rewards, which have almost come upon you. It is a reflection of your minds towards our people; you obviously do not believe that the people of this part are deserving of good lives. You hide behind the guns of the oppressors to pillage our lands and our people, leaving us despoiled and our lands raped. You do all manners of things you will dare not imagine in other parts of the world where you operate. Here, you have failed all basic corporate social responsibilities, leaving the people to languish in lack and ruin. ALSO READ:Niger Delta militants blow up another NPDC facility Okupe made the call via a post on his Facebook page titled National Economic Emergency. Read the post, published on Monday, September 19, below: It is a fact that Nigeria as a country is in dire straits in terms of its economy. It is not too important how we got here or who or what brought us here. We need an exit plan desperately. Sadly, there is too much politicking in Nigeria. Our Partisanship is obscenely unhealthy for our nation. A few of our people are still behaving as if elections are yet to take place. But the truth is elections have come and obviously they have also gone. Unfortunately our economy has slipped into a recession and that is crippling everybody and everything. No matter what government and those opposed to government are saying, there is no easy way out of a recession. When President Obama came in, in his first term, the US was in recession. He was young, brilliant, and smoking hot, it took nearly 2yrs to see the tips of the mountain, and almost the same length of time before the flood of recession started to recede. At that time the opposition threw diatribes and invectives similar to what is being thrown at President Buhari now, at him. But he remained focused and steadfast. Eventually he succeeded. While wailing, howling or even cursing from the populace will certainly not help our situation, pretense, conceit or sheer optimism from government quarters also is no panacea for the economic infirmity bedeviling our Nation. This situation calls for an end to extreme partisanship in the face of a major threatening national emergency. We need to, and we must put all hands on deck. May be President Buharis famous quote.We have no other country that we can call our own is more apt now than the change begins with me mantra, which may not be as bad as it is being presented, except that the cliche was coming almost 18months late. It would have been better received if it was part of the inaugural speech of the president. Dr Mrs Okonjo Iweala must have a rethink. This is not about Buhari or APC, it is about the survival of over 20% of black population in the world. It is about the continued existence of the most populous nation in Africa. It is about Nigeria, the only nation where black history and heritage can be redefined. We must bring in all our aces, Kalu Ndika Kalu, Soludo, Rewane, Tunde Lemo, Utomi, Shamsudeen, our revered Emir of Kano and a host of others. Recession is a word, I agree, but a very challenging word describing a critical problem. But it is a challenge. Nations have gone in and out of recessions before now, we can jointly, working together, find answer to this thorny all-encompassing national malaise. Does the President need emergency powers to deal with this situation? I answer YES in the affirmative even though I have reservations. But truth is sacrosanct. Monies must be spent that cannot wait for the normal process of legislative approvals. Actions must be taking by the President and his executives that cannot wait for the usual debates in our hallowed legislative chambers. But alas, there are fears, genuine fears of abuse of such powers, especially against political opponents. Osinbajo made the call at the 20th Memorial Service of the first female industrialist in Nigeria and third Iyalode of Egbaland, late (Mrs) Esther Bisoye Tejuoso. The Memorial Service and Symposium at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, was organised by the Tejuoso Royal Family in conjunction with Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Chief (Mrs) Esther Bisoye Tejuoso, mother of a prominent Egba traditional ruler, Oba (Dr) Adedapo Tejuoso, was reportedly assassinated by 10 gunmen in her Lagos home on Sept. 19, 1996. The Vice President recalled how the late industrialist gave him N12,000 in 1984 when his rented apartment in Lagos was gutted by fire. He said that Nigeria, with a population of about 170 million people, could not be adequately policed from Abuja Central Command. State police or something like community policing is the way to go to tackle the nations security challenges. Osinbanjo revealed that while there were less than 15,000 cases of conviction in Nigeria regarding criminal offences, 2.2million convicted criminals were behind bars in the U.S. He said that the data on convicted criminals showed that either Nigeria has more well behaved citizens or there is something wrong with the criminal justice system in the country. The Vice President, however, stressed that the administration of justice in Nigeria must be properly examined and that the Police should also deploy hi-tech equipment to investigate and unravel crimes and their perpetrators. Dame Jonathan had claimed ownership of the $31.4 million frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). According to the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, the ex-first lady has to prove she earned the money legally. Wabba also said she should tell Nigerians what kind of business she did to earn the money. He also called on the Federal Government to extend the anti-corruption war to local governments and states. Wabba also said We have said it over and over again that NLC is the first organisation that actually supported openly the anti-graft war. We said recover, investigate and prosecute so that it can serve as a deterrent. He added that If you look at it critically, that is why we are where we are today. Salaries are not paid in many states not because the resources are not there but because of the inherent corruption in the system. Corruption fight should also be extended to states and local governments. Wherever there is element of corruption, whoever is involved, the law must take its course. There should be investigation. There should be fair trial within the confines of the law and whoever is found wanting, those funds should be recovered and prosecution should follow to serve as a deterrent. In a statement shortly after the apex court affirmed him as elected governor of Kogi, he said the judgment would remain a watershed in the annals of electoral jurisprudence and constitutional law in the country. It is a long walk to victory which will reshape the nations constitution. I am humbled and magnanimous in victory; it is a long walk to victory. The victory belongs to all Kogi people who believe in transforming Kogi State from a potentially great state to a really great state, the governor said. In the statement signed his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, in Lokoja, he advised his supporters to guide against wild jubilations but to use the occasion for sober reflections. He said that he would pursue his cardinal goals of improving education, healthcare, infrastructural development as well as raising the capacity of the citizens to reinvigorate the states economy. Bello commended the Judiciary for rising to the occasion by standing firm with what is true and just. In its reaction, the state chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), in a statement in Lokoja, described the judgment as a victory for the rule of law. The Chairman of the group in the state, Mr Taufiq Isa, commended the justices of the Supreme Court for the judgment, saying it had finally settled the contention over the governorship position. We are calling on stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to come together and join hands with the administration of Gov. Yahaya Bello in the interest of the development of Kogi, he said. Contacted on the judgment, Mr Jacob Edi, Media Officer to former Gov. Idris Wada, said that his principal had no comment on it. According to him, Wada is yet to get the details of the Supreme Court decision and will want to tarry a while before making any pronouncement. NAN reports that the atmosphere of Lokoja before and after the judgment remained peaceful as residents went about their normal activities. Heavily armed anti-riot policemen moved about in patrol vans while security was beefed up in and around the Government House and other important public facilities. Check out six things that happened on episode two: 1. Titled "A Kerry Cherry Day," the second episode follows life after honeymoon for Tomide and Dede. Tomide resumes work, while Dede is in the talks to start up a small business. 2. She pays a visit to Kerry to discuss her startup. During her visit, she meets Kerry's ex, Tobi, in her home. 3. Kerry confesses to kissing Tobi for five seconds. She reveals that she is bored and unhappy with her marriage as her husband, Sam, doesn't want kids and thinks only about his work. 4. Sam hangs out with Tomide, and reveals he is scared of having kids because he doesn't want to be like his father. 5. During their Thursday movie night, Dede tells Tomide about Kerry and Tobi. Fortunately for her, Tomide had slept off on her. 6. The episode ends with Dede seeing an open web page on Tomide's PC, with the caption "7 ways to enjoy blowjob." ALSO: undefined"This is It" follows the first year journey of the young clueless newlyweds Dede and Tomide, how they adjust living together, dealing with friends and a little drama. Starring Kenyan actor Nick Mutuma (Tomide) and Nigerian actress, Dede (Chiagoziem Nwakanma), the first season focuses on the first six months of their marriage. ALSO READ: undefined The Ekiti state chapter of the APC also said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the problem of the country. This is coming on the heels of a statement by Governor Fayose, saying President Buhari scared investors away. The Ekiti APC spokesman, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said it is the PDP that bred the insecurity that chased foreign investors away. Olatunbosun added that During his first term between 2003 and 2006, all international development agencies operating in Ekiti State, including the World Bank and British DFID, relocated from Ekiti when the agencies could no longer cope with the opaque manner Fayose was conducting governments business in relation to the agencies partnership with his administration. He said Again, Fayoses name rang around the world when he masterminded the greatest electoral fraud in history, mobilising the military for treason to menace the opposition, compromising INEC by illegally obtaining its sensitive materials and drawing on nations defence vote to manipulate his election in what is Nigerias greatest electoral blues known as Ekitigate. Adding that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently told the world that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan frittered a heavy foreign reserves built by Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umar Musa YarAdua while he failed to save for the rainy days despite the huge oil receipts within six years but instead resorted to borrowing foreign and local loans to pay salaries while obligations to contractors were ignored, thus piling up the nations debts that are disincentive to the in-flow of foreign investments. Olatunbosun also said the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry praised President Buhari for his anti-corruption war. Adding that Fayose is criticising the President again because more illicit wealth of his associates in the looting of Nigeria is being exposed. The latest in the line of his associates named in alleged fraud is Mrs Patience Jonathan, who once described Fayose as his young husband at a campaign rally. We are equally aware that Fayose is jittery that EFCC may soon quiz him for using state funds to pay lawyers defending Mrs Patience Jonathan whose accounts were recently frozen by the EFCC. The greatest fear that always rattles the fearless Fayose is whenever a looter is uncovered by the Federal Government because he knows what is coming for him after the EFCC traced billions of illegal funds to his frozen accounts. If today Buhari drops his anti-corruption war, Fayose will throw a lavish party to celebrate an open cheque to Ekiti treasury. The Delta PDP chairman made the comments while speaking to members of the party in Isoko North Local Government Area of the state, Vanguard reports. Even APC members are hungry and thinking of how to come to us. They came and preached the mantra of change to us. Nigerians bought it without asking the kind of change they are selling," he said. Today, obviously, you can see that the change is very negative. We are proud to be in PDP and I am very confident that come 2019, PDP will bring a positive change in the country, he added. Commandant of the Corps in the state, Everestus Obiyo, who stated this at a press briefing in Lokoja on Monday, said the effort was to avert possible breakdown of law and order after the court judgment. Obiyo stressed that the command would not hesitate to deal decisively with any individual or group that disturbed public peace after the verdict. According to him, peace remains the hallmark of any meaningful development, urging the people of the state to remain calm and display sense of maturity during and after the judgment. He reiterated the Corps mandate to protect critical infrastructure in the state. Obiyo urged traditional rulers, religious leaders, parents and guardians, to educate their people on the need to avoid acts capable of undermining peace in the state. The commandant urged youths in the state to desist from any act that could land them in trouble, but engage in lawful businesses and ventures as means of livelihood. Anambra is a case study for good governance. If APGA will be given the opportunity to rule Nigeria a bag of rice will reduce N9,000, Obiano said through his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chinedu Obidigwe. What Anambra has done in agriculture, which resulted in the state having its own brand of rice (Anambra rice) would be replicated at a bigger scale should APGA win the presidential election. The state has used scarce resources to resuscitate the states economy, leading to infrastructural development and timely payment of workers salary, he added. According to the country's home affairs minister, the pastor's anti-gay comments on the gunning of 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, to which Anderson said, "there's 50 less pedophiles in this world", are so terrible that they could be called hate speech. Responding to this indefinite ban, the pastor said, " I have been banned from South Africa and the United Kingdom. I feel sorry for people who live in South Africa, but thank God we still have a wide open door in Botswana." ALSO READ: Texan Pastor says all homosexuals are perverts and they deserve to die Unfortunately, the pastor is no longer welcome in this neighboring country, as well, as President Ian Khama of Botswana has ordered the arrest and deportation of the 'hateful' pastor. "He was picked up at the radio station. I said they should pick him up and show him out of the country. We don't want hate speech in this country. Let him do it in his own country", the president said. A commentator on gay and lesbian affairs, Onkokame Mosweu, has shown his support for the order, saying: "He should have never been allowed to come to Botswana in the first place." However, Anderson claims he has not been arrested or deported. "I am not being arrested. I am leaving Botswana voluntarily," he said. According to Reuters, the order was given after the pastor said that all gays and lesbians should be killed in a radio interview. He also said all pedophiles and adulterers should be killed and that the Bible says women are not allowed to preach in churches. However, a pizza restaurant in Kentucky, U.S.A, has gone viral for adding a unique twist. According to Christian Daily, the Christian co-owner, BJ Blackburn, serves orders with Bible verses and motivational messages with the customers' orders. ALSO READ: 10 Bible verses on how God views His children These messages, which change every week, include statements, such as, "God is not mad at you, he's mad about you." Blackburn, who is also the pastor of Elevate Church, states his reason for doing this. "We live in a coal-mining community and so many people here are worried about how they're going to pay for their next electric bill. This is a way to give them some hope. We're not pushing religion on anyone. I have customers who are not Christian and they still tell me, 'we're proud of you for taking a stand.' It's really about giving people hope", he said. In response to criticism from unhappy customers, the restaurant shared a message on Facebook. "If you are a Giovanni's of Prestonsburg customer then you have probably noticed that when you walk in you hear Christian music playing throughout the restaurant and bible verses on each receipt. We, here at Giovanni's of Prestonsburg, are unapologetically a Christ-based business that runs and operates with Christian values and principles. We, whole heartedly, believe that we have been blessed, the way that we have, because of the goodness of God. We understand that this is not the views of every customer and/or business owner and we are not trying to push this view on anybody. So, with that being said, we will continue to honor God in our business and in our lives. To all of our loyal customers, Thank you! We hope that you continue to allow Giovanni's of Prestonsburg to feed you, and your families, hot, delicious pizza", the post read. ALSO READ: Private schools owners decry alleged multiple taxation The Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, said this during the school census programme for private schools at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Lagos. Adebule disclosed that operators of the schools representing over two-thirds of privately-owned schools in the state have refused to register their schools even after the registration procedure was made less complicated by the ministry of education. Speaking on the theme, Entrenching Best Practices, Adebule noted that the state government would intensify its efforts in providing quality education and learning environment for pupils in the state. Presenting approval letters for 119 schools to their proprietors during the event, Adebule said, In essence, about two-third of private schools are operating illegally in the state. About 15,000 private schools are operating in the state and only 4,556 are approved and registered. No nation or society can develop better than its quality of human capital. Part of the tools required to perform our task as a regulator is accurate and precise data which the proposed school census was intended to provide for the education sector. Speaking during the event, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr Adesina Odeyemi, in his address, warned proprietors to be wary of people who pretended to be officials of the ministry. ALSO READ:Klint da Drunk and wife celebrate 9th year wedding anniversary Jessica Cuesta had been diving off the eastern coastal city of Benidorm in August when she found the wedding band with the date February 17, 1979 inscribed in it. She posted a photo of the ring on Facebook, asking for help to track down its owner, and was able to locate them after the post was shared onto the timeline of one of the couple's young relatives. Ms Cuesta has now given back the ring the to the happy lovers at a village near the northeastern city of Zaragoza yesterday, September, 19th, 2016. In a video posted by the BBC, Jessica Cuesta said, When I looked at it in more detail I realised that it had a name on and date and that it was a wedding ring. It was then we felt a little bit sad because you think of the poor person that had lost it. Agustin Aliaga and his wife Juani Sanchez said they were elated when they discovered that there was a chance to get back the long-lost ring. It was first planned that the ring will be returned on the 26th of September, but it has now happened a week earlier. A statement issued in Abuja by the presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said Buhari made the call at the meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council on the Situation in South Sudan. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA71), in New York on Monday. The President described the unconditional implementation of the Agreement as the cornerstone of peace and reconciliation in that country. He noted that whatever reservations that might exist against the agreement, should under no circumstances be the pretext for failure to implement the Agreement. According to the President, it is regrettable that lack of unity and political progress in South Sudan has remained a major obstacle to peace. He, however, stressed that Africa and indeed the entire world had high hopes and expectations for South Sudan as an independent nation. Buhari noted that recurrent conflict and political instability with grave human rights and humanitarian consequences have overshadowed any progress that might have been made towards South Sudans development. He also stressed the need for stronger cooperation among the United Nations, the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority for Development and other stakeholders for the immediate deployment of the Regional Protection Force in South Sudan, as mandated by Security Council Resolution 2304. He expressed the hope that such action would strengthen the peace process in the beleaguered East-Central African nation and newest member-state of the United Nations, The president condemned in strong terms crimes against civilians of all ethnic groups and political parties and attacks on United Nations Mission personnel as well as local and international aid workers in South Sudan. "The total number of people killed was six," MINUSCA force chief Herve Verhoosel said in a statement, adding that an investigation into the deadly violence was under way. A police source told AFP on Sunday that at least 20 people had been killed and several more injured since Friday in clashes pitting ex-Seleka rebel fighters against the anti-Balaka militia. "Ex-Seleka" is the term used for remnants of the supposedly disbanded alliance of mainly-Muslim armed groups which seized power in the CAR in late 2013. On September 16, in Ndomete in the centre of the country, "ex-Seleka members clashes with the anti-Balaka", MINUSCA said, adding that peacekeepers "dispersed fighters from both sides." "These clashes left four people dead," the peacekeeping force said. Two other people died in Kaga Bandoro some 10 kilometres (six miles) to the north, after the houses of several peacekeepers were looted, MINUSCA said. In a statement on Sunday, the UN mission said it had sent troop reinforcements to Kaga Bandoro and the village of Ndomete, which was particularly affected by the violence, "to prevent any deterioration of the situation." Kaga Bandoro is the fiefdom of the Popular Front for the Renaissance of the Central African Republic (FPRC), an ex-Seleka splinter group. It is led by Noureddine Adam, who faces international sanctions for his alleged role in intercommunal killings in 2013 and 2014. The revelation came a day after teachers and students launched a crippling week-long strike in protest over the non-payment of salaries and scholarships. Salissou Oubandona, the number two in the HALCIA graft-fighting agency, said the money was allocated for 2,565 fictitious teachers in five of the west African nation's eight provinces. He said a "school-by-school study" showed that "1,917 teachers did not exist at all", while the names of 648 "figures two or three times" on the state payrolls. The study was conducted in June by the government. Experts say the money allocated for non-existent teachers was siphoned off by corrupt state officials. According to teachers' unions, 80 percent of the educational staff work on a contractual basis with salaries ranging from on average between 114 euros ($127) and 152 euros a month. Niger's union of teachers and researchers on Monday launched a seven-day strike to demand the payment of salary and grant arrears. The country's minister for education minister Mohamed Ben Omar acknowledged there had been a problem with salary payments, but insisted the problem had been resolved. "Four months of salary arrears" at Zinder University in central Niger had already been taken care of, Ben Omar told public television. He blamed the delay in paying wages and grants on the country's military expenditure which had "raked in" all the treasury's revenues. Since February 2015, Boko Haram has staged a series of attacks in the Diffa region of southeast Niger, which lies just across the border from the Islamists' stronghold in northeastern Nigeria. In late July this year a multinational force, drawn from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, was formed to tackle the Islamic insurgents and clear them out of towns and villages. The force is funded by each of the participating states. In another blow for the administration, Niger magistrates on Tuesday accused the government of manipulating the judiciary by appointing judges close to the regime. "The executive has begun a massive infiltration of the judicial machinery by systematically weeding out professional magistrates," the Autonomous Union of Niger Magistrates (SAMAN) said in a statement. It cited the high profile appointments in September of two men who are close to President Mahamadou Issoufou and who were shunted from the presidential office and given top legal posts. The heads of Britain's domestic and foreign intelligence services, MI5 and MI6, and the nation's security agency, Government Communications Headquarters, as well as police agencies Europol and Interpol will join the taskforce. This comes as part of a concerted approach to eradicate modern slavery with UK government figures estimating between 10,000 and 13,000 people are living as slaves in Britain. "Just as the criminals cross borders, so we need a radical new approach that crosses borders sharing intelligence and joining up investigations," May said in a statement ahead of her maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "This is standard in the case of drugs trafficking and the trade in illegal firearms and there is no excuse for our law enforcement authorities failing to do this when it comes to modern slavery." "We owe it to the innocent men, women and children who are being tricked into a life of hard labour and abuse to rid our world of this evil," said May, who took over a prime minister in Britain in July. Nearly 46 million people around the world are living as slaves, forced to work in factories, mines and farms, sold for sex, trapped in debt bondage or born into servitude, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation. Modern slavery has become a catch-all term to describe human trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage, sex trafficking, forced marriage and other slave-like exploitation. The International Labour Organization estimates that forced labour generates global profits of about $150 billion per year, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region and developed economies, including the European Union. Seen as a milestone in the international fight against slavery, May introduced the Modern Slavery Act last year, requiring British businesses to disclose what action they have taken to ensure their supply chains are free of slave labour. It also introduced tougher criminal sanctions for perpetrators and more victim protection. In July, May said 33.5 million pounds ($43.47 million) of the overseas aid budget would be put into a five-year fund designed to tackle the issue in countries like Nigeria. "Just as it was Britain that took an historic stand to ban slavery two centuries ago, I am determined that the United Kingdom will once again lead the way in defeating modern slavery," May added. Finding Peace of Mind: Discover These Five Places in Europe to Unwind Often used as a pet form of Jack, this French name ranked No. 102 among boys in 1935, but it has since experienced a significant decline in popularity, as it ranked just No. 1,725 in 2015. Quad-City officials were uncertain Monday how the sale of Isle of Capri Casinos to Eldorado Resorts Inc. would affect Isle's new land-based casino in Bettendorf, but nonetheless, they are predicting a smooth transition. The $1.7 billion deal, jointly announced by the two casinos, will add 13 Isle casino-resorts to Eldorado's operations for a total of 20 properties in 10 states. The sale includes all Isle, Lady Luck and Isle of Capri Casinos properties, including Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf. Community leaders said they were unfamiliar with Eldorado but anticipated the same strong relationship they had with Isle. ''We don't know what it means, but I'm certain nothing changes until the sale would occur," Bettendorf City Administrator Decker Ploehn said. He said all the agreements between the city and Isle are transferrable to a new owner. The city receives $1.6 million a year from Isle in a combination of gaming taxes and net revenues. "Isle has been great to work with, and we've done some great things together," he said. Ploehn pointed to the 500 hotel rooms Isle has built on the city's riverfront, development of the Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center in downtown Bettendorf as well as the latest project moving the casino from its longtime boat to a $60 million land-based facility. "We hope the new owners are just as progressive," Ploehn said. Tara Barney, CEO of the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce, said the sale was a private business transaction. Asked if she was surprised by the announcement, she said, "We knew the Isle had been giving some thought from time to time (to selling). But we didn't know the specifics or this company." She said "Isle of Capri has been a stalwart in this region since gaming came to Iowa. You could say Isle of Capri built gaming in this state." In addition to Bettendorf, Isle operates two other properties in Iowa: Lady Luck Casino in Marquette and Isle Casino Hotel in Waterloo. But Barney predicted a smooth transition, adding, "Iowa's gaming laws ensure that our local communities and gaming have a good relationship." She added that the chamber "has worked with the Goldstein family on all their ventures for a long time. We've worked with Isle of Capri when it used to own Rhythm City and Bettendorf. We worked Isle a lot on River Renaissance, and it really helped us think creatively about a lot of initiatives in downtown Davenport and Bettendorf." The Goldsteins brought riverboat gaming to Bettendorf in 1991 with The Diamond Lady riverboat casino. Lady Luck Gaming Corp. was sold in 2000 to Casino America. The Goldsteins were partial owners of Lady Luck Bettendorf. The Goldsteins became majority shareholders in Isle of Capri, which has been a publicly traded company since its inception in 1992. Under the agreement with Eldorado, Isle shareholders will receive $23 per share in cash or 1.638 shares of Eldorado common stock. When the merger is complete, Eldorado shareholders will own about 62 percent of the combined company. Isle of Capri shareholders will own about 38 percent. ''The acquisition of Isle of Capri represents a transformational growth opportunity for Eldorado and creates substantial and immediate value for Isle of Capri shareholders," said Jill Alexander, Isle's spokeswoman. Quad-Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau president and CEO Joe Taylor said the combined company could help market the Quad-Cities. "It sounds like they'll be a much larger company, which means the capability of putting more resources into gaming in the Quad-Cities and marketing the Quad-Cities. That's more opportunities for getting the term Quad-Cities out there in gaming circles ...," he said. According to Alexander, Isle employees were informed of the sale when they arrived for their shifts Monday. In Bettendorf, Isle employs 536 people. Its a Friday afternoon, and the head cook at Nallys Kitchen on Davenports west side finds a few minutes to sit during a rare lull in the lunch rush. Hes reminiscing about the mornings in Mato Grosso, Brazil, where he would help his mother bake hundreds of empanadas at home before delivering them around town on his bicycle. When other kids were playing outside, I was in the kitchen with my mom by choice, said Nassr Muhammad, the head cook and owner of the Mexican restaurant at 1622 Rockingham Road. The establishment opened about two years ago this month, and it since has solidified itself as a hot spot for Illinois and Iowa Quad-Citians about a mile west of Centennial Bridge. Weve got a lot of people excited, said Muhammad, whose father is Palestinian and mother is Brazilian. I dont know why, but we try our best and I make everything with a passion. It could be the homemade churros and the Brazilian-style empanadas pastries filled with a variety of sweet and savory flavors or it could be the weekly deals that are drawing in hordes of customers. Go there on a taco Tuesday, when four generously packed hard-shell tacos sell for $5, and find a line out the door. City officials 'impressed' Muhammad immigrated to the United States in 1983. In 2000, he moved to Moline's largely Hispanic Floreciente neighborhood from Chicago with his Mexican wife, Alicia, and their three children. The family man waited until the spring of 2014 to enter the Quad-City restaurant scene after being laid off from John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline. He was one of about 120 employees at the combine plant affected by the cuts. "I was happy," recalled Muhammad, now 55, who used his supplemental unemployment and transitional allowance benefits to launch his business. That summer, he sold empanadas and churros at various festivals in the area, including the Quad-City Times Bix 7 and the annual Mexican Independence Day celebration in East Moline. When he realized he couldn't keep up with the demand from customers at his brick-and-mortar location, Muhammad reached out to the city of Davenport for financial assistance. City officials answered his call by granting the startup two zero-interest loans worth a total of $30,000, which Muhammad used to expand his operation and hire additional hands. Bruce Berger, director of community planning and economic development who oversees Davenport's Small Business Loan Program, said Nallys remains in good standing with the city. Weve been very impressed with his business, said Berger, who noted he has eaten there several times. "I love their food." And he's not alone. 'I'm at home' Decorated with Diego Rivera prints and a handful of mounted TVs that dont hinder conversation, customers feel at ease in Nally's casual and cozy digs. Just ask Lisa Willey, of Davenport. Im from St. Louis, and its very much like the restaurant I would go to there, so it makes me feel like Im at home, said Willey, who praised Muhammad and his staff's cooking on her way out the door. The empanadas are awesome. It's hard to find someone there on their first visit. Ganesh Jayaram, who lives in Bettendorf and works in Muscatine, said he has stopped by Nallys for lunch almost every week since a friend brought him there a few months back. Even though there are so many Mexican restaurants here, they have this unique taste, said Jayaram, who regularly orders a huarache, a large handmade tortilla with beans, cheese, veggies, avocado, pico de gallo and sour cream. Im a vegetarian, and they customize for me very well. Situated between the Kraft Heinz/Oscar Mayer and Nestle Purina PetCares plants, the restaurant also delivers orders every week to both facilities. No one leaves Nallys hungry, said Alicia Muhammad, Nassrs wife, who grew up in Mexico and emigrated from there in 1988. Love-inspired cuisine The couple first met just three months after Alicia arrived in the U.S. Muhammad owned a Mexican-style bakery in Chicago at the time. Alicias brother, also Muhammad's best friend, introduced them. About a week later, Muhammad proposed. Enthralled by Brazilian culture, Alicia said she knew as a young girl she wanted to wed a Brazilian man someday. Although Muhammad never shared those exact aspirations, he is just as proud today of his connections to Mexican culture and his wife's heritage. Im more Mexican than she is, and shes more Brazilian than I am, he said with a grin. She loves everything about Brazil, and I love everything about Mexico. Its an exchange. Every morning on his way to work, Muhammad takes his wife to the Oscar Mayer plant, where she operates a meat slicer about 60 hours a week. At the end of her work day, either Muhammad or their son, Fernando, will pick up Alicia and bring her back to Nally's where she interacts with customers and helps in the kitchen until close. While she's grateful for her job, she hopes to join her family at Nally's full-time in the future. "Sometimes I'm tired, but I don't complain," Alicia, 50, said. "I left my country for a better opportunity and I got it here. I'm happy with what I'm doing." Muhammad, meanwhile, puts in enough time at Nally's as many as 15 hours a day, six days a week for both of them. And he doesn't plan on stopping. "I can cook all day all night, go to sleep and then get up and cook again," he said, shrugging off the burn marks on his hands. "I'm hooked." A Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest, regarded as the father of liberation theology in Latin America, will receive the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award next week in Davenport. The Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez Merino will be honored at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 28 in the Christ the King Chapel on the St. Ambrose University campus. Gutierrez had been approved for the honor for two years, but for various reasons, he was not able to travel to Davenport until now, the Rev. Chuck Adam said. Adam, St. Ambrose chaplin, said many people had mentioned the priest and his beliefs as appropriate for the award. Previous Pacem in Terris winners include Mother Teresa and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The award is given by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport. Gutierrez and Pope Francis share the same approach to the poor in this world, Adam said. Both teach and live the whole theory of liberation theology, Adam said. Liberation theology involves the Gospel and what the Gospel says about the oppressed, according to Lisa Powell, who teaches on the subject at St. Ambrose. "The 'good news' of the Gospel is liberation for the poor and God's special love for the poor," Powell said. "In Latin America, God's preferential treatment for the poor is embraced broadly and is part of the social justice teachings among Catholics." Liberation theology has implications for the United States and problems such as inner-city violence, Adam said. Gutierrez believes we need to consider ourselves equal with the poor, Kent Ferris said. Ferris, social action director for the Diocese of Davenport, said those relationships require vulnerability, but ultimately, the poor could make their way out of extreme poverty. Sister Phyllis Morris, a member of the Franciscans of Clinton, will be part of the award ceremony and will give the opening prayer in Spanish. Morris has served in Peru since the 1960s, on the pastoral staff that often includes the award winner. "He taught and encouraged us in our mission of accompanying the poor, of including all in our pastoral efforts and activities, of strengthening the faith of those who are often forgotten by civil society and by government, of awakening the voice of the marginalized to demand justice for their families," she said. Gutierrez has a been an inspiration for several generations of Peruvian clergy and religious women, Morris said. "I personally have been motivated and inspired by him, his lived example and his teachings," said Morris, who divides her time between Clinton and her work in Peru. Gutierrez currently is the John Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Theology and teaches systemic theology at the University of Notre Dame and holds honorary degrees from about 20 universities. Among his honors is the Legion of Honor, given to him by the French government in 1993. These days, the Pleasant Valley Spartans' headpiece should be replaced with a construction helmet. School district leaders and community members last week toured two recently completed renovation projects, visited two ongoing projects and saw where the biggest addition and renovation soon will start in one of Iowa's fastest-growing school districts. Leaders gathered Sept. 14 at an open house to celebrate the finished $2.9 million addition at Bridgeview Elementary School in LeClaire. Superintendent Jim Spelhaug spoke about the districts rate of growth to a crowd of about 20 people in the renovated library. He thanked the PV community in LeClaire and noted the construction boom is due to two major funding mechanisms in Scott County: the Physical Plant and Improvement Levy, and the 1 percent sales tax. "Those two things make this possible. They are tremendously helpful to our district and its growth," Spelhaug said. Bridgeviews work was completed in time for the school year to start. It went from a two-section school to a three-section facility, meaning each grade has three classes, said Beth Marsoun, the districts communication director. Bridgeview's library also was renovated. It used to be long and narrow "like a bowling alley," Spelhaug said. There were temporary partitions put up for classrooms. Now, there are separate spaces for classrooms, as well as office space and a new area for the faculty. The new carpet is navy blue, highlighted by squares of bright orange. That color scheme is carried out in nearby new classroom, which alternated highlights of orange with bright spring green. The project at Cody Elementary School, LeClaires other elementary, is a near-twin to Bridgeviews, Spelhaug said. He said he recently learned about 50 percent of new residents who work at the Rock Island Arsenal have bought homes in the Pleasant Valley district. Many First Army residents live in the Pebble Creek housing development that feeds into Cody. The tour also included seeing expanded office space, one classroom and a new teacher's lounge at Pleasant View Elementary in Bettendorf and the footprint of Pleasant Valley High School's $20.3 million expansion that is expected to start in the winter. Mike Clingingsmith, president of the LeClaire Chamber of Commerce, also is the chief financial officer for PV schools. Clingingsmith's children attended Bridgeview. "It's very important for every community to have good schools, and schools also help the business community," he said. "Bridgeview is a good educational place for children to learn." Heather Witters, LeClaire, is president of the district's school board and brought her family to the open house. She sees the improvements as propelling Bridgeview into the 21st century, allowing space and growth for the future. "It's fun to see all this," she said of the project. "And, it's another reason to be happy and to be here and to learn." Democratic Senate hopeful Patty Judge said on Tuesday she's confident there will be a reversal in polls that say rival U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has expanded his lead in recent weeks. Judge, who toured the behavioral health unit at Genesis Medical Center on West Central Park Avenue and was attending a fundraiser in the area, has lost ground to the Republican senator, according to recent surveys. Judge noted, however, that earlier polls showed the race within single digits. "I feel very confident that people are listening now, paying attention and that those polls are going to tighten again," she said. Several polls between early July and mid-August put Judge within 7 to 10 points of Grassley, but two surveys this month have said Grassley is leading by more. One survey had him up by 17 points, another by 13. Judge also accused Grassley of ducking debates, saying she wants four, including moving a proposed Iowa Public Television debate to the Quad-Cities. Grassley campaign manager Bob Haus responded that he has agreed to the IPTV debate, which would be in the Des Moines area, as well as a radio debate on WHO-AM. He said Judge has not agreed to either. Judge spent the early part of her day in Davenport going through Genesis' behavioral health unit. The former lieutenant governor and state agriculture secretary also is a former nurse. She said that she had heard all over the state about shortages of beds and providers for behavioral health patients. Genesis officials, however, have said the Quad-Cities is adequately served with short-term beds, a message they emphasized repeatedly on the nearly hour-long tour Tuesday. The adequacy of bed space has been a key issue in the debate over whether the state should grant permission for a Tennessee-based company to open a 72-bed psychiatric hospital in Bettendorf. A state hearing on the matter is scheduled for next month. Judge said Tuesday that she is not taking a position on the dispute, which has pitted the Quad-Cities' two largest hospitals against Memphis-based Strategic Behavioral Health. But she did say what she heard Tuesday on mental health services in this area contrasted with what she's been told about conditions in other parts of the state. "Definitely, it looks to me like Davenport's getting that job done, and I'm not sure that that job is getting done as well in some other places in the state," she said. "That is something I'd very much like to work on." Judge said there should be greater effort put on creating enough opportunities at colleges and universities to fill the increased need for behavioral health providers. Also, the federal government could help more by improving reimbursements from government health programs to providers for behavioral health services. Reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare have been a persistent problem in Iowa. MUSCATINE, Iowa The Muscatine Board of Supervisors heard an extended report from Mike Johannsen, community services director, concerning the state of the countys community service/mental health department. One of the areas of special concern was veteran affairs which was discussed by Jen Watkins-Schoenig, veteran's affairs director. We are working to get additional assistance through the Veterans Administration which they are able to receive, Watkins-Schoenig said of her departments interaction with local veterans. Problem is that many of them who would be eligible for this additional assistance are resistant to ask for the help. Watkins-Schoenig added that there are many organizations and individuals who can help veterans with their needs but are not able to provide the assistance that her department can. No matter what the problem might be, our people can help, Watkins-Schoenig said. Financially the department is in good shape after the first quarter with expenses coming in at 11.72 percent of the budget which is belong the projected target of 16.67 percent. One thing we need is van drivers, Watkins-Schoenig said. We need people who can drive veterans to the VA Hospital in Iowa Center once or twice a week or to be a backup. Individuals would have to pass an examination at the VA Hospital, a background check, and take a short orientation class to be eligible to drive. It can be an all-day event or just part of the day, Watkins-Schoenig said. It just depends on the appointments for the individual you are taking, Individuals interested can call (563) 263-7512 ext. 110. Robert Howard, vice-chair of the Board of Supervisors, asked how the local veterans affair department is doing compared to the news of what is happening nationally. Iowa in general is doing better with veterans than the national average, Watkins-Schoenig said. But we have to get the veterans to accept help when they need it. Whether it is physical or mental health we can help but some are just too proud to ask. Kathy Anderson-Noel, community services director, said that her department has come out of the roller coaster ride of the past year and a half and are now on the upswing. The department provides Title 19 case management and county social work services to area residents. There have been a lot of changes in the past year and a half but we have come out of that tunnel and now going upwards, Anderson-Noel said. We still have growing pains with the system that we have. Part of the problem is in dealing with providers and receiving payment for services. Anderson-Noel said the question is whether they will be reimbursed at a rate that meets the departments costs or not. We have a higher case load which means less time with each case, Anderson-Noel said. Despite the case load and other changes the department is well below the target budget through August at 7.3 percent as expenses were $14, 000 less than a year ago. Johannsen opened with a discussion of the General Assistance fund which provides financial support to income eligible Muscatine County residents in emergency situations and also discussed trust/case coordination while also giving an update on the Eastern Regional MH-DS. Financially the department is in good shape but Howard sought guidance from Johannsen on if the county was getting the bang for the buck that the taxpayers are spending. The levy has been frozen since 1996 so we are doing the best we can with the funds that are available, Johannsen said. We are working to have the state legislature unfreeze that levy so that we can work to make it fairer and more equal. What cost effectiveness the taxpayer receives from both the county and Eastern Iowa MH-DS region was a topic of discussion but Johannsen assured board members that both the county and the region were doing well with the funds available. We are meeting with the legislature in an attempt to generate more funding and we encourage each member of the board to communicate this need to our elected officials, Johannsen said. In other business: The Board approved the execution of the Governors Traffic Safety Bureau Impaired Driving Countermeasures Grant Contract in the amount of $34,000. The grant contract pays for at least 548 hours of overtime enforcement, at least 12 public information activities, two in-car videos cameras, and one deputy attending DPS/GTSB approved training. Approved two utility permits for CenturyLink Approved a renewal application for a Class C Beer, Class B Wine, and Sunday Sales permit for Reif Oil Company, dba Stewart Road Fast Break, 2418 Stewart Road, Muscatine. Canvassed the Muscatine School Special PPEL Election held Sept. 13. DAVENPORT State senator and veterinarian Dr. Joseph M. Seng, 69, of Davenport, passed away Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, at his home after a courageous battle with cancer. Services and a Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, at Sacred Heart Cathedral, 422 E. 10th St., Davenport. Burial will take place in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Davenport. Visitation is 2-8 p.m. Friday at Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, Davenport. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Right to Life, a Humane Society of your choice, or Defeat GBM to find a cure for glioblastoma. Joseph Matthew Seng Jr. was born Sept. 27, 1946, in Davenport, a son of Joseph Matthew Seng Sr. and Elsie Irene (Ales) Seng. Joe graduated from Lost Nation Community High School. He earned a bachelor of science degree and a doctorate degree in veterinary medicine in 1970 from Iowa State University, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was united in marriage to Mary (Ellerman) Kresser on June 16, 2015, at their home in Davenport. Dr. Seng owned and operated the St. Francis Veterinary Hospital in west Davenport, where he provided care for animals, more times than not taking little to no money or once an apple pie for his services. He also owned Renwick Mansion Bed and Breakfast and Joes Club. Dr. Seng was elected in 2014 to his fourth term in the Iowa Senate, and chaired the Agricultural Committee. He is the only veterinarian ever to serve in the Senate and was known to share his musical talents on the Senate floor by playing his accordion during closing sessions. Even after his diagnosis with glioblastoma, Joe continued to fulfill his senatorial duties. Joe received national recognition from the American Humane Society for his efforts to prevent animal cruelty. He also has been honored by many Iowa organizations, including the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association, and was named Legislator of the Year by the Izaak Walton League. Joe also served as president for the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association and president of the Iowa Health Council. Prior to serving in the Senate, he served one term in the Iowa House of Representatives and had previously held office as mayor pro tem and alderman at-large for the City of Davenport. Joe was active in the community as a member of the Knights of Columbus 532, Midwest National Rail Compact and NAACP, and was the driving force behind Marquette Academy in West Davenport. He was the grand marshal of the St. Patricks Day Parade in 2015, a parade he walked every year, playing his accordion for the crowds. Dr. Seng is survived by his loving wife, Mary, of Davenport; daughter and son-in-law, Heidi and Pat Dooley, of Bettendorf; grandsons, Gavin and Finn; a sister, Jolene Daley, of St. Louis; Marys daughters, Amanda Kosarek and Angela Schriver, both of Bettendorf; a nephew, Jeffrey (Kathy) Daley; a niece, Jennifer Daley; a great-niece, Simone Daley; and several cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents. May they rest in peace. Online remembrances and condolences may be expressed by visiting Dr. Sengs obituary at www.hmdfuneralhome.com. Saratoga Capital Group, based in St. Louis, will provide financing and development services for construction of the Scott Community College Urban Campus in downtown Davenport. Financing for the $28 million project is expected to be pinned down by the end of 2016, with construction completed in late 2017 or early 2018. The project will not require a property tax increase. Saratoga is headed by Sam Estep, formerly the senior vice president of development for Restoration St. Louis, owned by Amrit and Amy Gill. The Gills currently are redeveloping the half block fronting 2nd Street between Brady and Main streets into City Square just south of the proposed Urban Campus and had previously been identified as the would-be developer of the Urban Campus. But that officially changed Monday with approval of a contract with Saratoga by the trustees of Eastern Iowa Community Colleges during their regular monthly meeting. Estep's contract will be for $1 million, with $330,000 of that already paid for the due diligence work he has done for the district during the past nine months. College chancellor Don Doucette said that the college district and Restoration St. Louis did not have "a falling out of any kind." "We will always be grateful to RSL for their assistance in conceptualizing and helping to launch the project," Doucette wrote in an email before Monday's meeting. "However, circumstances have changed. RSL is busy with multiple projects and the financial model for our project was greatly improved by EICC and its foundation's ownership of the buildings," he wrote. Amy Gill did not respond to an email request for comment. Agreements also were approved Monday for construction management and preconstruction services with Estes Construction, Davenport. The Urban Campus will be built on the half block fronting 3rd Street between Brady and Main streets. The campus will be created in the former First Federal Savings and Loan building, sometimes called the Social Security building, and the former First Midwest Bank, with a new "connector" building in between the two. The Urban Campus will replace the district's two existing downtown locations, the Kahl Building, and the second floor of the Ground Transportation Center, consolidating them in one place for more efficiency. Jon Alexander Editorial Page Editor Editorial Page Editor, Quad-City Times Follow Jon Alexander Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Don't you dare call it a "Fake Grassley." Campaign staffers for venerable Sen. Chuck Grassley's aren't concerned with criticism of his stonewalling of judicial appointments, particularly to the Supreme Court. They're generally OK with editorial boards and columnists criticizing a policy position or two. Question the veracity of the "Full Grassley," though, and you're guaranteed an earful from those surrounding the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. It's clear that maintaining Grassely's man-of-the-people image far outstrips any worries about Merrick Garland, Democratic opponent Patty Judge or Donald Trump in the campaign's hive mind. It's a campaign built on image. Grassley even push-mows his lawn in one campaign commercial. Progress Iowa -- a left-leaning, Democrat-friendly political organization -- has spent months mythicizing the Full Grassley, a 36-year tradition where the senator annually visits each of Iowa's 99 counties. It's bunk, the organizations says in op-eds and fliers, because, in the less friendly counties, Grassley visits schools instead of opening himself to criticism in a town hall format. He's not "accessible," says Progresss Iowa's executive director Matt Sinovic, who has flooded my inbox for months. In most instances, this level of nitpick would be nothing. Hell, the Democratic candidate for president went more than 200 days without holding a press conference. A politician angling for friendly confines isn't anything new. But even the tiniest hint that Sinovic's narrative is getting traction results in Grassley's people hurriedly checking in with editorial writers looking to tamp any thoughts that could lead to a critical piece. "You're not thinking about hitting this, are you?" they ask. "Have you seen the latest release about our last stop?" I'm not a native Iowan. But the Full Grassley was something of legend when I was reporting on politics in New York. Similar state tours by the likes of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, were little but less-impressive ape jobs. Frankly, I have little interest in criticizing an 83-year-old man who clearly has more energy than I do. Give me a ride-on mower any day, thanks. Visits to schools, factories and co-ops in 99 counties every year: Grassley's in-state schedule is a meat grinder few would volunteer for. His campaign recently announced the completion of this year's statewide meet-and-greet. Sure, the Republican might dodge question-and-answer forums in the potentially hostile urban counties. He still shows up. For most of his career, Chuck Grassley was an independent, solution-minded senator. Critics aren't unfair when they point to his increasing partisanship of late. His blocking of would-be Supreme Court Justice Garland's nomination process is nothing short of end-running the Constitution for political gain. I'll bet $100 that, should Hillary Clinton win the presidency, Grassley will do a 180 and schedule a hearing for Garland before January. But, clearly, his campaign isn't concerned with any of that. Blast his job in the Senate all day long if you like. Even the slightest shot at the Full Grassley's legitimacy will get you an immediate rebuke, though. This is a campaign built on the mythos of a man. Policy is, at best, secondary. It's about voter trust in a known commodity, which could falter if the Full Grassley story collapses. Polls have Grassley leading Judge by anywhere from 9 to 13 points. That's close for Grassley, who has spent four decades enjoying untouchable status. Judge has spent months trying to tie Grassley to congressional dysfunction and GOP intransigence. It's a message that, when lobbed at a lesser incumbent, could prove fatal, particularly with Trump atop the GOP ticket. But Judge's mission is more daunting. She must whittle confidence among the very voters with whom Grassley has spent decades mingling. The Quad-City Times reported that former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge and Sen. Charles Grassley disagree on the number of debates to hold in their race for the U.S. Senate. This happens in politics - the challenger wants more debates, the incumbent wants fewer. However, in this instance, Sen. Grassley needs to agree to more debates. Since he refused last February to hold Judiciary Committee hearings for President Obamas nominee for the Supreme Court, Mr. Grassley has limited his meetings with Iowans to small communities in remote parts of the state and to invitation-only events. His preference for friendly audiences does not help people here who want to see him in person and ask him questions. For them, it is a hardship to travel long distances to remote town hall meetings. Given the senators behavior, he needs to debate Patty Judge on television in all major Iowa media markets. Commercial TV stations have extended debate invitations. It is time for Sen. Grassley to accept. Having a Quad-City debate that is a joint effort of statewide public television, local TV and the newspaper is a reasonable request and fair to local voters. If Sen. Grassley wont accept these offers to explain himself to voters, I have two words for him: Cluck, cluck. Patricia Malinee Bettendorf CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa On her first campaign trip to Iowa, Anne Holton met with Hillary for Iowa volunteers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, joining them to make calls urging people to register to vote and remind them that early voting starts in just 10 days. Im all in for Hillary, said Holton, who is the wife of Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Holton encouraged volunteers to maintain their effort for the last 50 days of the campaign because, in a year when many voters already are growing weary of the campaign, they will play an important role. Her husband my best political adviser, Holton said -- told her in this day and age of so much noise in the news, the ads, the talking heads, people are really tuning that out. But what they dont tune out is the one-to-one contact, Holton told about 50 people at the Democratic field office at 2706 1st Ave. NE. When you call even a stringer and say you are a volunteer calling for Hillary Clinton that makes a difference. That cuts through all this noise. Holton, a lawyer and former juvenile- and family-court judge for 17 years, served as Virginias secretary of education for two years until Kaine received the vice-presidential nomination. Earlier in the day she campaigned with her husband at Iowa State University and later, on her own, at the University of Northern Iowa, where she had a round-table discussion with students and educators about Clintons plan to make college debt-free. Kaine and Holton, the second woman in American history whose father and husband both have served as governor, have been married 37 years and have three adult children. Without specifically referring to polls that show Republican Donald Trump gaining on Clinton in Iowa leading in some cases -- Holton reminded volunteers that the 2016 election is a close race. Every minute, every day counts, she said. Use all 50 days. MASON CITY, Iowa Indiana Gov. Mike Pence spoke Monday about security and health care, among other topics, at The Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa. The Republican candidate for vice president said he was humbled to be part of the campaign and to be on the ticket with Donald Trump, calling Trump the kind of people youd love to live next door to. More than 200 people filled the squares street-scape to listen to Pence and other Republican leaders and candidates. Iowa Speaker of the House Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, and county GOP Chairwoman Barb Hovland, a candidate for the Iowa House, spoke before Pence, denouncing Obamacare and Common Core curriculum in schools. Trump and Pence would bring the change we need in the country, Upmeyer said. Pence opened his speech with the topic of security, referencing attacks over the weekend in Minnesota, New York and New Jersey. A man who went on a stabbing rampage Saturday wounded nine people at Crossroads Center Mall in Minnesota. The attacker was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer. Authorities are treating the stabbings as a possible act of terrorism. President Barack Obama said the incident in Minnesota had no apparent connection to weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. A shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb exploded in New Yorks Chelsea area, wounding 29 people Saturday evening. Another pressure cooker that had not exploded was found blocks away. Earlier Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race. No one was injured. Our hearts and prayers go out to the injured, Pence said. Pence said that weakness in the countrys leadership arouses evil, acts of radical Islamic terrorism. Im not sure Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama know were at war, Pence said, calling Clintons leadership a narrative of denial. Pence also addressed Trumps policy on the Second Amendment, ending the war on coal and strengthening the American economy. Pence responded to several audience questions about various issues, including the rising cost of pharmaceuticals and what Trump plans to do about it. We will unleash the power of the free market, Pence said. Were just going to repeal Obamacare. (The Associated Press contributed to this report.) In a speech delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies during her recent visit to the United States, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said Japan will increase its engagement in the South China Sea by jointly patrolling the waters with the US. Inada's statement has once again put the so-called joint patrols in the South China Sea in public spotlight. A senior US navy official first talked about such patrols in Malaysia in March 2015, sparking intense debates in Japan, Australia and Singapore. Compared with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations whose response has been lukewarm, the proposal has gained the support of some Japanese given the fanned-up prevalence of the "China's threat" theory in Japan. As the anti-China wave following an arbitration tribunal's ruling on China's disputes with the Philippines in the South China Sea subsides, China's joint efforts with ASEAN to resolve the South China Sea issue has made significant progress and the security situation in the waters has begun evolving to the region's advantage. These developments are in total contrast to the tension-building attempts of the US and Japan to pressure China through multilateral channels. Inada's latest "joint patrol" remark demonstrates that Japan has not abandoned its attempt to intervene in the South China Sea issue. China and Japan are plagued by some structural contradictions, with Japan regarding China as an imaginary enemy whose rise should be checked. With such a mindset, Tokyo has been actively coordinating with Washington to implement the latter's "pivot to Asia" strategy and contain Beijing. And it seems both Tokyo and Washington believe the South China Sea is critical to the success of their conspiracy. However, domestic oppositions as well as Inada's immediate ambiguity mean the plan for "joint patrols" with the US might remain a pipe dream. By John D. Taylor HOT SPRINGS On Saturday morning, Sept. 10, more than 50 people gathered at the trailhead at the base of what is now Black Elk Peak to celebrate a name change and to offer forgiveness and prayers for continued peace between two groups of people who once warred against each other more than a century ago. The name change celebration was focused on the re-naming of what used to be 7,200-foot-tall Harney Peak to Black Elk Peak by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names. The forgiveness ceremony and prayers for continued peace were for the Little Thunder and Harney families. The ceremonies were led by Basil Braveheart and Phillip Little Thunder, Jr. both Oglala Lakota elders. Braveheart instigated the renaming process of Harney Peak in the fall of 2014, after discovering historical evidence that showed in 1855 Brigadier General William S. Harney and 600 of his soldiers, both cavalry and infantry, under the guise of a peace meeting, surrounded and attacked about 250 Oglala and Sicangu Lakota people, including Chief Little Thunders band, massacring more than 80 of the Lakota, including women and children. This took place at Blue Water Creek in central Nebraska. Braveheart, as a well-honored Korean War veteran, called this a blatant War Crime, and asked the states Department of Tribal Relations if South Dakota should name a place so sacred it is considered to the be the center of the universe for the Lakota people after a recognized war criminal. The state sort of agreed, and began wrangling with a lengthy renaming process that ultimately produced no results. Meanwhile, the Board of Geographic Names decided in mid-August to officially rename the peak after Black Elk, and the state, begrudgingly, went along with this. Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa) was an Oglala holy man and healer who experienced a powerful vision about the future of his people during the early 1860s on what he called Hinhan Kaga (Making of the Owls Peak), more than a decade before the Lakota were herded into reservation life by the U.S. military and encroaching settlement of their lands by whites. This vision has been equated to St. Johns Revelation in the Bible for Christians. During the early 1930s, Black Elk shared this vision with author John G. Neihardt. Neihardts transcription of what Black Elk told him, Black Elk Speaks, was published in 1933, and has gone on to become one of the seminal resources on Lakota spirituality, especially after the 1970s, when a spiritual rebirth of the Lakota nation was taking place. Braveheart led the renaming ceremony, gathering all participating in a circle. After the circle was smudged, cleansed with smoldering sage, he offered prayers in Lakota to the four sacred directions, Father Sky and Grandmother Earth and called out the name Hehaka Sapa four times to formally rename the peak for Black Elk. As Braveheart shouted Hehaka Sapa, a hawk and four large birds perhaps eagles gathered in the skies to the northwest of the circle, a thing notice by many in the circle, and a good sign. After this, Braveheart talked about the renaming process: how the support of the Oglala oyates (people) leaders helped make this happen, how bringing people together created the miracle that took place, and explained how the ceremony was to honor Black Elk and recast the vibrations of this sacred, spiritual place towards a more positive, natural direction. Paul Stover Soderman and Karen Little Thunder instigated the forgiveness ceremony. Soderman, 58, is a seventh generation descendant of Harney; and Little Thunders relatives were among the people Harneys men killed at Blue Water Creek. Standing in the center of the circle, Soderman told those gathered that he was three years older than his relative was when he sent troops to attack the Oglala and Sicangu at Blue Water Creek. Sodermans mission that day, however, was a polar opposite to his kins: To bring lasting friendship and a healing to those against whom his relative once warred. He described his life as haunted by the elder Harneys deeds years of alcoholism and turmoil until he became sober 33 years ago; cleaned up; married Cathie, his wife of 25 years; and took up the chanupa (Lakota sacred pipe and way of life) about 20 years ago. Since that time, he has become a warrior for peace, reconciliation and forgiveness between peoples. For example, he talked about a 150-mile walk with Phillip Little Thunder from Ft. Laramie to Blue Water Creek to pray over the site of his relatives misdeeds and bring peace there. He also told how they intend to walk to Ft. Laramie with a copy of the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty on his deer-antlered staff, adorned with colorful prayer ties, to ask the federal government to honor it on the 150th anniversary of the treaty. Karen Little Thunder brought more than a dozen family members with her, all of them representing the family, to make peace with the past and Soderman. Together, Braveheart and Little Thunder led this ceremony. Braveheart called for the Little Thunder family to gather in a circle inside the main circle while Soderman acknowledged the actions of his relative, asked for forgiveness and shook hands and embraced the Little Thunder family members gathered. This was a powerful ceremony, felt by all. Braveheart described it as a circle of sacred divinity. Braveheart also talked about how the renaming and the forgiveness ceremonies were reflections of a larger movement talking place across the nation, across the world, an awakening, a cosmological paradigm shift, with people coming together to honor each other and Grandmother Earth. He said that when four pipes belonging to the Black Elk family were sent around, opposition to positive changes began to melt away. This included the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline by President Obama the protest again this brought together the tribes of the Oceti Sakowin (the Great Sioux Nation), as well as other native peoples for the first time in more than a century. Braveheart also talked about a prophecy among his people about a black snake rising up out of the ground in the East and how this would symbolize the coming of a time of great changes. In addition, Braveheart talked about his grandmother he had family members killed at Wounded Knee in 1890 and forgiveness and how she wanted him not to hate white people, despite all the things that they did to harm his family and destroy the Earth, but to pray for them. Phillip Little Thunder spoke about the significance of his eagle-head staff, about the pain and heartbreak his family had known across the years, about breaking more than a century of animosity between peoples and about giving thanks for this peace achieved through prayer rather than violence. Then two chanupas (pipes), designed to carry a visual symbol of the prayers for sacredness, forgiveness and peace spoken skyward were filled by Soderman, presented by a Little Thunder family member, and sent to be smoked around the circle. Also a bowl of water topped with sage was sent around the circle, with instructions for people to put their prayers into this water and when full, the water would be emptied on to Grandmother Earth as songs were sung in Lakota and drums beat. The ceremonies were powerful and felt strongly by those who attended the gathering, including Deann McComb and pipemaker Marla Zimiga from Hot Springs. The Black Elk Family will be sponsoring another ceremony at the peak at a later time. Following the ceremony, many of those who participated attended the Black Hills Unity Concert, held in Piedmont. STURGIS | For the past 24 years, businesses in Sturgis have made a special effort to thank those in the ag industry who contribute to the area's economy. This year's Ag Appreciation banquet was Saturday in Sturgis. Master of ceremonies and Ag Committee board member, Adam Karrels, said the event is a way to honor the relationship between agriculture and business. "Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in South Dakota," said Karrels highlighting the reason for the successful turnout which filled more than 20 tables of eight in the gymnasium of the community center. Gayle Roth, Ag Committee member, gave some brief remarks from the committee, thanking those present for their support, both businesses and those representing the farming and ranching community. "This just shows how we need each other," said Roth. "It's an agricultural commitment." Roth said there have been many changes in agriculture since the inception of the appreciation banquet back in 1993. She said she believed that after 24 years of continuous respect in the form of the annual banquet, it showed how business and agriculture work together for the good of the community. The Saturday banquet was a festive time as people attending the 24th annual Ag Appreciation Banquet in Sturgis were greeted with a 5 to 6:30 p.m. social sponsored by First Interstate Bank and Big 81 KBHB Radio. Those were just two of the local businesses that helped to host the banquet and offer door prizes. Those businesses sponsoring tables were: Anderson Construction, Black Hills Funeral Home, Butte Electric, Casteel Auction & Real Estate, CBH-Cenex, City of Sturgis, Dakota Do-It-Best Hardware, Farm Credit, First Interstate Bank, First National Bank, Great Western Bank, Hersruds of Sturgis, Highmark Federal Credit Union, KBHB-Homeslice Media, Kinkade Funeral Home, Leavitt Heartland Insurance, McDonalds, Northern Hills Eyecare, Saber's Agency, Weierke's Septic Service, Wells Fargo and Weimer's Diner & Donuts. Friend of Ag Sponsors were Hansen Law and Sturgis Guns. Card prize sponsors were Anderson Construction, Grocery Mart and Lynn's Dakotamart. Door prize sponsors included: Campbell's Supply, Dakota Hardware, Foothills Seed, Grocery Mart, Hersruds of Sturgis, J&J Optical, Just for Looks, KT's Wreath Florel, Lodge of Deadwood, Lynn's Dakotamart, McPherson Propane, Pizza Hut, Richter's Tire & Exhaust, Rushmore Office Supply, Score Peterson Motors, Sturgis Equine Center, Sturgis Guns and Sturgis Veterans Club. Following Karrels opening remarks and introduction a community welcome by Sturgis Chamber Director Heidi Kruse and the invocation by Pastor Wes Labrier of Union Center paved the way for a Creed speaking presentation by members of the Sturgis FFA who also helped serve and clean up at the banquet. The dinner was catered by Rent-A-Chef Catering of Spearfish. Event sponsors included Five Star Insulating, Rent-a-Chef, Black Hills Title Company, Pioneer Bank and Trust, Wells Fargo, BCH, Scott Peterson Motors of Sturgis The Homeslice Group, Black Hills Federal Credit Union and Big 81. Chamber Ag Co-Chairpersons are Kelly Keffeler, Farm Credit Services and Lana Anderson, Anderson Construction. Chamber staff includes Executive Director Heidi Kruse and Events & Membership Manager Rainee Lisko. If you want to know who will pick up the tab for Medicaid expansion when the Federal Government pulls the upfront Fed funding, look no further PIERRE | Four proposals from South Dakota school districts, including in Belle Fourche, will be funded under the states new shared services grant program. Recipients of the grants included the Belle Fourche and Spearfish school districts, which will receive funds to share a teacher for English language learners. The program was established as part of the 2016 legislative package aimed at improving teacher recruitment and retention efforts in South Dakota. Part of the purpose of Senate Bill 133 was to provide incentives for districts to work together. Other grant recipients include: Baltic and Garretson school districts will receive funds to share a Spanish teacher. Bridgewater-Emery and Hanson school districts will receive funds to share an art teacher. The Florence and Henry school districts will receive funds to share a Spanish teacher. Imagine a scenario today in which the federal government, with no due process, forcibly removed children of a specific race from their homes and placed them into a boarding school more than a thousand miles away from their family and friends. Or imagine the outcry if the federal government were to subject a certain race of citizens into forced labor as a condition of receiving benefits he or she has a trust and/or treaty obligation to receive. Such patronizing superiority would not be tolerated in today's society, and there would be a public outcry against such blatant discrimination. Yet these are examples of federal laws that are still on the books today with regard to our Native American citizens. It is time to officially remove these historical wrongs from the books. In April 2016, I introduced the Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes Act, or the RESPECT Act, and last Wednesday it passed unanimously out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The RESPECT Act would reverse a list of outdated, offensive laws against Native American citizens in the United States. In addition to laws that would allow for the forced removal of Native American children who can be forced into boarding schools and subjecting Native Americans into forced labor, a law currently exists today where the president is authorized to declare all treaties with such tribes "abrogated if in his opinion any Indian tribe is in actual hostility to the United States." Another statute calls for the "withholding of moneys of goods on account of intoxicating liquors," meaning Native Americans can be denied annuities, money or goods if they are found under the influence of alcohol. These and other statutes that would be repealed under the RESPECT Act are a sad reminder of the hostile aggression and overt racism displayed toward Native Americans by the early federal government as it attempted to "assimilate" them into what was considered "modern society." In many cases, these laws are more than a century old and do nothing but continue the stigma of subjugation and paternalism from that time period. Clearly, there is no place in our legal code for such laws. The idea that these laws were ever considered is disturbing, but the fact that they remain on our books is at best an oversight. I thank Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., for all he has done to move the RESPECT Act forward, as well as U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., for introducing it in the House of Representatives last week. During a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing in June, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Chairman David Flute of South Dakota testified in support of the RESPECT Act, saying that "Native Americans should all be fully included in America as U.S. citizens and citizens of our native nations, with respect for our rights to freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." I could not agree more. While we can't change history, we should do everything we can to make the future better for all Americans. While legislative bodies before us have taken steps to rectify our previous failures relative to Native Americans, these laws unfortunately remain. Out of a sense of justice, they must be repealed. With more than 5 million Native Americans and Alaska natives living in the United States today, it is critical that we strive to work together to constantly improve relationships and mend our history through reconciliation and mutual respect. It is not always easy, but with our futures tied together and with our children in mind, continued reconciliation is something all of us should commit ourselves to. The RESPECT Act is but one long-overdue step we can take in that ongoing effort. The increasing coverage of the Dakota Access pipeline has led many national news outlets to travel to North Dakota. Unfortunately, too much of that press coverage has focused on a narrow sliver of the Great Plains populace. There are others here who are worried that our voices are not being heard I am one of them. Throughout the Midwest and country there is an opportunity to embrace energy independence and chart our own path toward economic growth. By constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois gain as many as 12,000 local jobs, $129 million in tax revenues, and access to an invaluable American-produced natural resource. It was the benefits of this project to millions of people throughout our region, and throughout the country that gave the North Dakota Public Service Commission, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, Iowa Utilities Board, and Illinois Commerce Commission rationale to approve this project and legally allow it to be constructed. But now the future of this project is jeopardized by national environmental groups that have latched onto a Native American protest as a last-ditch effort to stop a project that they could not prevent through a regular, orderly review process. These actions attempt to disrupt the very rule of law that was established by these state regulatory organizations. In North Dakota, and now Washington, D.C., Native American groups and their environmental activist allies are attempting to roll back progress of the pipeline through illegal occupation of construction sites, intimidating and threatening law enforcement and construction workers, shutting down public highways, and demonstrating in front of public buildings. Despite the fact that these groups did not take part in the review process of the project, including three public hearings held in North Dakota by the Public Service Commission, there is now a halt to construction at the pipeline site crossing the Missouri River. The North Dakota Petroleum Council fully supports projects like Dakota Access, which will greatly contribute to our energy independence. Increasing access to American-produced crude oil has already done much to lower energy prices in North Dakota and across the country, reducing overhead costs for many businesses and decreasing reliance on foreign energy products. However, we need to examine all methods available when it comes to transporting our domestic resources pipelines included. Opposition to Dakota Access, then, is no longer simply opposition to an energy project. Because it has been approved by both state and federal regulators, these groups are disrupting construction after having failed to stop the project under the standard regulatory process. Further, this project is anything but dangerous. This is a state-of-the-art infrastructure project that is arguably the biggest North Dakota infrastructure project since the Garrison Dam. It will have the latest technologies and monitoring systems to help prevent releases and will be constructed 90 feet below the riverbed to ensure nothing may reach the river far above and beyond whats required by federal regulations. Protesters and parties to the lawsuits have effectively declared that the laws of their states and the United States do not work for them, and are now attempting to assert themselves against those laws both in the courtroom and in public protest. There was a time and a place to discuss the merits of this pipeline project. The rules matter. It is beyond time to allow construction to continue. Editor's note: Regular columnist Frank Carroll is on vacation this week. Ron Ness is president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. This opinion article is reprinted from the Bismarck Tribune in Bismarck, North Dakota. What do Birmingham's Mountain Brook, Fairfield, Forest Park and Ensley Highlands have in common? If you guessed Robert Jemison Jr., the man with the vision to develop the Birmingham enclaves, you'd ace Birmingham history trivia. Jemison, the man dubbed "Mr. Birmingham," and the "Father of Mountain Brook," can be credited with establishing much of Alabama's largest municipality. Jemison Park, a 54-acre park in Mountain Brook, is named after him. Jemison organized the Jemison Real Estate & Insurance Company in 1903. The company developed everything from the working class neighborhoods on Birmingham's west side to the picturesque affluent neighborhoods surrounding Red Mountain. The company even developed several downtown high-rises like the former and current Tutwiler Hotel. According to the Jefferson County Historical Association, Jemison even handled the site acquisition for the Country Club of Birmingham, Boutwell Auditorium, the Jefferson County Courthouse and Ramsay High School. Ten Glen Iris Park, the home where Jemison likely envisioned some of the plans for those early Birmingham developments, is for sale. The colonial revival-style home is located in Glen Iris Park, a nationally recognized historic area. The home was originally designed by Boston architect William Welton around 1903. After a fire, Welton redesigned it in 1908. Original brass lights still light the entrance of the clapboard clad house. An original ceiling fan and light cools one of the twin front porches. Therapist Elane Lee-Isa and her husband knew it was the house for them when they bought it nearly ten years ago. It was very much a fixer upper then needing its potential owners to see past all of the disrepair and things like holes in ceilings, sunken floors, filthy carpets, and a roof that was falling off of the home. "I saw the value in it in its worst condition. It was dilapidated, things were falling apart," she said. Like Jemison and his vision for Birmingham, one had to be able to think outside of the box. "If you have a vision, you can see past all kinds of stuff and see what it could be and not what it is." Eight years later, there's nothing inside the home that is not new. The historically-minded couple hired Hennecy Architecture, Inc., to restore the home to its former glory with possibly the same amount of attention to detail and craftsmanship of the original. They took their time paying as they went to make sure the customized home would last another 100 or more years. They completely restored the home's exterior and reconstructed the entire interior based on the original layout. They kept the home's 12 foot ceilings on the first level. On the second level, you'll find 11 foot ceilings and three large bedroom suites. They made a few modifications to the home including adding a fireplace for balance and extending the kitchen and butler's pantry to accommodate a large eat-in breakfast nook. The kitchen area now encompasses nearly 600 square feet. The home is also energy efficient. It has 66 new double-insulated windows that were custom designed to match the originals, a tankless water heater, and insulation in all of the interior walls. The summer of 2016 was the hottest recorded and Lee-Isa said that the most expensive power bill for the large four bathroom and four bedroom home was $230. "I love to take something that is falling down and see it restored to its potential," she said. She hopes someone comes along to add their final touches to make the home complete. The 30-acre Glen Iris subdivision was developed by Jemison's father, Robert Jemison Sr., Rufus Rhodes, the founder of the Birmingham News, and Stephen Thompson. It is the city's first planned residential community as well as first professionally landscaped park in the city. All of the homes sit back at least 100 feet from the street and overlook the subdivision's privately owned key-shaped park. The home is listed with Christina Lowry James of ReMax Southern Homes for $1,375,000. For more information, contact (205)965-6483 or visit www.birminghamalproperties.com. *Updated October 4, 2016 to correct phone number. Ever wanted to live in a recreation of a late 18th century Pennsylvania farmhouse while still being energy efficient? Then you should check out this property in Wellsville. Dr. Jeanine Rusham, a visiting professor at the Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, wants to sell the two-story home at 1780 Pinetown Road for $1,349,728. She built the house in 2007 in the middle of 20.85 acres of hardwood forest and fenced meadows with a creek running through it. The first floor of the house has 2,460 square feet of living space. It includes a flagstone porch; a marble-floor foyer with 20-foot-high ceilings; a dining room; a stone-tiled kitchen; a library; a stone-titled laundry or mudroom; a study; a great room; and a conservatory. The back of the floor exits onto a flagstone patio with a pergola and a pool. The second floor of the house has 1,404 square feet of living space. The stairs in the foyer lead up to this level, where there's a master bedroom to the left with a painted dome ceiling and a master bathroom; and two bedrooms and one guest bathroom to the right. The master bathroom has a jacuzzi and two dressing rooms. The main attic of the house has another 1,040 square feet of living space, which is unfinished and can be expanded upon. The basement of the house has 2,230 square feet of living space, which includes a dance or exercise room with hardwood floors on radiant concrete slab. It also has a fourth bedroom; a mechanical or equipment room; and even more unfinished space. There's also a covered breezeway that goes from the first floor to the carriage house, which can store four vehicles, and its apartment, which has 960 square feet of living space. It includes a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and dining room. The apartment also has a gas fireplace. Much of the material that's used in building the home is either locally sourced or reused. The house is built using locally-quarried stone; its roof is made from locally-cut and milled wood; its exterior trims is constructed using recycled plastic; and its frame is made using trees that were felled on the property. The nine-foot-tall door that enters into house; the mantle for the fireplace in the dining room; and many of the lighting fixtures also date back to the 19th century. The house is heated by radiant solar and a propane back-up. It also has a high-efficiency central air conditioning system; and three Rumford wood-burning fireplaces in addition to its heating system. Ruhsam used to be an architectural builder. She had lived and worked in Pennsylvania for seven to eight years before constructing her Wellsville house. When the recession hit, she decided to pursue another career in academia. She has since moved with her spouse to New Hampshire, which is why she is looking to sell the property. "If you have good taste and want a home that'll last for hundreds of years and still maintain its beauty and quality, that's what it's for," she said. For more information about this property, visit Coldwell Banker sales associate Mary Eberly's website. " " Marco Polo spent 17 years in China. istockphoto /wynnter Long before paper, gunpowder and the compass, the Chinese had invented yet another staple of human civilization. A coil of dry noodles, preserved for 4,000 years, sat beneath an overturned earthenware bowl at an archaeological site in northeastern China. In 2005, archaeologists discovered the spaghettilike tangle, effectively settling the score about whether the Chinese, Italians or Arabs began producing pasta first [source: BBC]. Instead of being made from ground wheat, as most pasta is, those ancient noodles were prepared from another cereal grass called millet. Although not native to their country, the Chinese later began growing wheat in the northern regions along the Yellow River by 3000 B.C. The first written records of a mixture called bing appeared between the fourth and second century B.C. [source: Serventi, Sabban and Shugaar]. Bing referred to all products made from wheat dough, including breads and pastas. Around 300 B.C., the Chinese scholar Shu Xi wrote an ode dedicated to the culinary cornerstone, describing the "fine and thin" bing stuffed with pork and mutton [source: Serventi, Sabban and Shugaar]. Advertisement By the time Marco Polo arrived in China in 1274, the Chinese had well established their pasta cuisine. The medieval Chinese didn't cook pasta from dried strands, like the kind we buy from the grocery store. Instead, theirs always was made from fresh dough. They also isolated gluten, the compound in wheat that provides elasticity for kneading and stretching, and created pastas from different starches, such as rice and soybeans. In the 17 years that Marco Polo spent in China, dining with the likes of Kublai Khan, he certainly sampled the various forms of Asian pasta. According to one edition of Marco Polo's "Description of the World," which the Venetian merchant wrote after returning home from the East, he ate dishes similar to macaroni during his stint. From that brief mention, a legend arose that the famed explorer must've introduced pasta to Italy. What else could explain the gastronomical bridge between two distant countries? But as any gourmand worth an ounce of orzo will quickly tell you, there isn't a grain of truth to Polo as the pasta pioneer. 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Edit Close Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. The theme of this year's Fantastic Fest is Dishoom Reigns, the wild and wonderful world of Indian genre cinema, so it should be no surprise to our regular readers that I am crazy excited for this event. For those of you who may not know me, I've covered Indian cinema here for a little over six years, and for the last four years I have been a programming consultant to Fantastic Fest to try to bring a little bit more of India's glorious madness to the biggest genre film festival in the USA. This year is a special one for me. About 10 months ago I was contacted by head programmer Evrim Ersoy to inquire as to whether I thought we could put together a solid Indian program for the 2016 edition of Fantastic Fest. At that point it was just a thought, but for me, it was a huge opening to bring the things I love to the people I cherish in an unprecedented way. It took a little bit of negotiating, but within a couple of months, I was given the green light and the hunt was on for the finest (and wildest) Indian cinema I could find. Little did I know that it would be almost a full time job. One of the aspects of this sidebar that I am most proud of is the broad spectrum of Indian film that we are covering this year. Many well educated people incorrectly classify any film out of India as Bollywood, when that term only really describes mainstream Hindi language films. There are hundreds of languages spoken in India and dozens of those language groups have their own autonomous film industries. This year we are able to represent four different language groups at the festival, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, over the course of our six films. We are truly showing you a wide range of what India has to offer. India is the number one film producing nation in the world with nearly 2,000 films cranked out in over a dozen languages every year. Even so, film preservation is almost completely non-existent, meaning that finding older films that we might be able to show was going to be a challenge. What preservation and archiving efforts do exist are almost entirely dedicated to the arthouse side of Indian cinema, so the hundreds and thousands of action films, horror films, and other genre films that the country cranks out every year are frequently lost to the ravages of time. I asked all of my contacts on the far side of the world if there was any hope of finding what I was looking for and the answer was almost always a resounding "no." The amazing B-movie action films of Mithun Chakraborthy in the '80s only existed on DVD and VCD now, the crazy Telugu action films of that era starring Chiranjeevi were largely lost except for dodgy unsubtitled YouTube prints, the awesome gangster films of Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan from the early '80s were all but extinct. Finding 35mm prints of these films was probably going to be impossible. But, I wasn't ready to give up, and together with Evrim Ersoy, I began the hunt for the greatest films India had to offer and we struck gold. If you are an honorable cinephile, right from the opening credit sequence of Nocturnal Animals, you will know you are in good hands. Hyper-glossy and daringly uncommercial in the same breath, it puts some fine Lynchian bonafides on the table early. Then the camera pulls back from this tone-setting overture to reveal that these seemingly context free images (which will remain unspoilt by me, but might prevent the film from playing in a multiplex near you) are very much present, and in fact are part of the gala launch of a Los Angeles art gallery. The curator and architect of the exhibit (but, tellingly, not the artist) is Susan, played by Amy Adams in heavy make-up, and chunky jewelry. The deep lighting makes her red hair stand out like smoldering coals in the dark. Forget for the moment director Tom Ford's penchant for enhancing surfaces, Adams delivers an understated inner-performance entirely with her eyes and posture. Mere seconds on screen and you can immediately deduce she is unhappy with the not only the exhibit but with her many if not most of her life choices. Later that evening, Susan is abandoned to stew in her own juices by her husband (Armie Hammer) who is the kind of high-stakes businessman that is required for a cross-continental flight upon a moments notice. Nocturnal Animals is a film about how we process our thoughts when alone, versus reacting in the company of others. It is also a master-class in 'show-don't-tell' filmmaking. A brief domestic conversation, prior to her husbands exit from the film, is practical and efficient. We learn that their glass and concrete mansion and designer lifestyle is on the verge of bankruptcy, but again, the body language and framing suggest that money, in and of itself, is the least of their problems, matrimonially. The very same evening, Susan receives a package in the mail from her previous husband, whom she has not spoken to in nearly two decades. The manuscript of his soon-to-be published novel is included with a personal note thanking her for the inspiration (and life experience) provided finally write something significant. The book shares the name of the film, but the film is adapted from Austin Wright's 1993 novel, "Tony and Susan." Tony is the name of the character in the book that Susan reads, a man whose family is threatened and jeopardized on a lonely West Texas highway by a gang of good ol' boys led by an extraordinary effective, and completely unrecognizable Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who has come a distance from Kick-Ass and wins the Tom Hardy award for chameleon-like disappearance into a part. It is exceptional that Ford has made a film about a woman that spends the bulk of the runtime sitting on her couch (or bed, or in the bath) reading a book, into one of the most compellingly 'lean-in' films of the year. Half of the runtime is devoted to the novel, which is anchored by a Zodiac or Nightcrawler calibre performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and a scene-stealing Michael Shannon as a cancer stricken Texas Sheriff who is both funny, and yet, simultaneously scared the absolute shit out of me. The remaining half is split equally between Susan's languorous present, and flashbacks to her optimistic courtship with her first husband and youthful writer, Edward; also played by Gyllenhaal. The cross-cutting and transitional matching shots (note a certain red couch, for instance) provide an invigorating road-map to what the movie is actually about. The editing in this film, the fimmaking in general, is among the best films of the year. And, it is in a genre, the psychological thriller, that is so radically absent, presently, that make this is a breath - a gale? perhaps a tempest - of gloomy air. Bad things happen in Nocturnal Animals, and stylishly so. It is a fabulously blunt instrument paradoxically yet exquisitely used to extract subtleties of modern (material) compromise. It is appropriate that Jena Malone and Karl Glusman, who play key characters in Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon, appear here in cameos. These films are spiritual cousins in so many ways; all postmodern, smoggy, noir and demonstrative style as substance. It is all hall of mirrors stuff, life imitating art, imitating life, imitating art. I mean this in a good way. There is an adult thrill to observing Susan's inner-life, her dreams and regrets, unfold, and autopsied, in abstract via Edwards' writing. Again, I point out the title of the source novel, which pairs Susan with the protagonist of the book, Tony (and not her former or current husband.) The casting of Gyllenhaal in both roles underscores things, while Isla Fisher, who plays the wife in the story has enough of an resemblance (the hair!) to further bind the core structure of the film. Watching Adams essay the crumbling of Susan's sang froid facade is as engaging as the more visceral elements in the book she is reading. It is critical that she is both alone, and operating in hindsight. Miraculous, in fact. The consequences of what happens in the novel, and what carries on after Susan sets things down will not be revealed here, of course, but suffice it to say that the film sticks the landing with precision and no shortage of savage grace. 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). In 2012, the now-former owner of popular Richmond district restaurants Hong Kong Lounges I and II, Ming Lian Zhou, was ordered to pay 48 workers more than $90,000 in unpaid back wages. At roughly this time last year, we learned and he had very much not done so, although he did submit forms to the US Department of Labor, who investigated the initial misdeeds, that stated he had correctly distributed the back wages. Although the Labor Department forced Zhou to turn over the money owed to them, in turn paying that money to the unpaid workers, Zhou forced those workers to cash the government checks and hand the lucre back over to him, penalizing and/or firing those who did not obey. Now he's pleaded guilty to a felony charge of concealing a material fact from a government agency, the Chronicle reports, entering his plea before US District Judge Richard Seeborg. Zhou faces as many as 25 years in prison for the felony and will be sentenced on January 17. This case is happening just as we heard of some other allegations against another Richmond restaurateur, the owner of Burma Superstar. A class-action suit by current and former employees has been filed in the East Bay, but the restaurant is denying that the suit has any merit. Previously: Owner Of Hong Kong Lounge I & II Is An Extremely Shady Dude A woman consoles her children at a street memorial following the bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] The deadly terrorist attacks on Brussels airport and metro on March 22 are still taking a toll on Belgium's economy. Police and emergency forces are still stationed in cities, especially in Brussels and the major port city of Antwerp. In fact, Belgium has deployed nearly all of its security forces to patrol the streets and kept the risk alert at the third level, just one step below maximum, making security procedures, including bag checks, mandatory even at book fairs and concerts in the parks. Tourists, especially those from outside Europe, still hesitate to visit Belgium. The August data show a year-on-year drop of 6.7 percent in the number of passengers flying into and out of Brussels airport, partly because Asian and American tourists are avoiding Belgium. In August, the airport received just more than 2.3 million passengers, a year-on-year decrease of 4.6 percent. The number of international tourists visiting Brugge, a picturesque destination, declined by 20 percent this summer. The year-on-year decrease in the number of people visiting Brussels is even higher. The sharp drop in the number of foreign visitors has prompted the Belgian authorities to attract more visitors from abroad, especially China. For example, the French-speaking Belgian region of Wallonia has introduced a new tourism certification system for Chinese visitors, under which hotels avoid assigning rooms on the fourth floor to Chinese tourists, because 4, similar to 13 in Western culture, is not a good number for many people in China. Providing enough hot water and green vegetables for Chinese visitors is also part of the new package. Belgium has benefited from China's global investment drive. For instance, a Chinese enterprise has reportedly acquired VLM Airlines. And Chinese investors are still looking to invest in Belgium's brewing, trading, logistics and other sectors. Belgium's condition is similar to that of France after the three terrorist attacks since 2015. But despite deterring Chinese tourists, the attacks have not prevented businessmen from seeking lucrative opportunities. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel should keep this in mind as he is set to visit China next month to mark the 45th anniversary of China-Belgium diplomatic relations. He was scheduled to visit in March but the terrorist attacks that month forced him to cancel his trip. If he visits the Volvo factory in Ghent, now owned by Chinese automaker Geely, Michel might better understand the benefits of the takeover. Geely acquired Swedish carmaker Volvo several years ago and thus saved the jobs of about 5,000 Belgian workers in the factory. Now the company is earning profits by exporting its cars to China. But the workers in an auto factory next to the Volvo plant have lost their jobs because the global financial crisis forced its closure. There will be many such mutual benefits if the Michel administration follows the example set by the Wallonia region, that is, instead of sticking to one-policy-fits-all investment formula, promoting the extra benefits Belgium can offer to attract more Chinese investors. For example, Belgium can set up an international school that offers a Chinese curriculum, for it has many schools teaching English, French, German, Dutch and even Japanese, but not a single one to teach Chinese. Decades ago, when government sat various levels in China decide to attract foreign investors, they built schools for the kids of different foreign nationals. It's time the countries that now want to attract Chinese investors paid back the compliment. If Belgium does so, more Chinese investors are likely to consider the country as an investment destination. And the Chinese government or investors in the education sector are likely to join in. Belgium still faces difficult times, as does the rest of Europe. But by thinking outside the box, especially in reference to China, it can tide over its difficulties. The author is deputy chief of China Daily European Bureau. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn It can be difficult to find the words to discuss mental health, but that's just what designer Indhira Rojas hopes to do with her new print magazine project. "Nearly half of American adults develop a mental illness in their lifetime [and] depression affects 350 million people worldwide," the website for Anxy Magazine reads, "Yet the struggle to be well is still a shameful secret so many of us lock awaydespite the fact that it drives so many of us." As Rojas tells SFist, "We want to put language to emotions that might be difficult to understand." Most recently, Rojas worked at Medium, where she saw that "there was a powerful way to change what people think through storytelling." But with her skills in design and a variety of visually impressive editorial projects to her name, she'll also have an entire visual vocabulary at her disposal. Previously she was the first art director for the Bold Italic, the design-driven San Francisco website once owned by Gannett. It's there she met Jennifer Maerz, later that publication's editor-in-chief until The Bold Italic ceased operations last year (its name and assets were later purchased, and it's now under different management). Rojas approached Maerz with her idea for the bi-annual print publication, and Maerz signed on as editor-in-chief. "Doing something in print form, especially something that's very design-focused, slows down what can be a warp-speed online conversation about mental health," says Maerz (who is a former editor and current friend of mine). As evidence that a more public conversation about our inner lives is possible, Maerz cites popular podcasts that touch on mental health topics such as BuzzFeed's "Another Round" and Marc Maron's "WTF." While she'll surely be working with words, "some of the conversations [in Anxy] will be visual in a similar way to what we conceived of with the Bold Italic," Maerz says, indicating that illustrations and photo essays are fair game. Also on the Anxy masthead, along with editors from Medium and Matter like Madison Kahn and Bobbie Johnson, are an "inner circle" of mental health professionals. Those include a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Clinical Art Therapist. While the DSM this is not, Rojas tells SFist that these professionals will help frame the narrative. "When you don't have a word for something, it makes it more difficult to understand, so mental health professionals can bring in those terms." Yesterday, Anxy launched a fundraising effort on Kickstarter, who have endorsed the idea as a "project we love." There, Anxy hope to raise $50,000, and so far 144 backers who will receive issues of Anxy, tote bags, posters, and other rewards have donated more than $10,000 in under 24 hours. In 28 days, if funding is reached, the the team may start to add an online or newsletter component, or even begin to organize events. "Depending on the response, it won't just be a personal project, but a sustainable business project with a strong impact," Rojas hopes. "We don't want to be a one-time Kickstarter, but a sustainable platform and community." To find the words for the publication itself, Rojas needed a name. She landed on Anxy by accident: English isn't Rojas' first language, and she had once confused the spelling of angsty as "anxy." Now, it gives her a new word to work with. "It feels a little more general than just anxiety, or just depression," she says. "It's this nervous energy that kind of like drives us. It gets disruptive, yeah, but it signals something... it feels like a new word that doesn't have these negative associations with it, so we can totally own it, and say, this is a positive way of talking about all this." Related: New Queer Literary Journal 'Foglifter' Releases Inaugural Issue Monday A late-night fire that sent crews to San Francisco's tony Maiden Lane was arson, officials said Tuesday morning. According to the San Francisco Police Department, it was 11:40 p.m. Monday when they were called to Maiden Lane, a short, pedestrian-only alley "notable for its proximity to Union Square and its concentration of upscale retailers, including Chanel, Marc Jacobs, and Yves Saint Laurent," its website says. When officers arrived, they discovered that "multiple trash cans" in the alley "were on fire," police say. The San Francisco Fire Department was subsequently called to the scene to extinguish the blazes, which they did without any injuries or serious damage to the area. Once the flames were quelled, fire investigators determined that the blazes were "arson related," police say. However, according to the SFPD there were no witnesses to the start of the incident, and no suspect information to be had...so as of Tuesday, the Maiden Lane firebug remains at large. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley continues filing the formal criminal charges already promised against seven East Bay law enforcement officers, with three more officers charged on Monday. As KQED reports, those include Oakland Officer Brian Bunton, who's charged with felony conspiracy to obstruct justice, as well as engaging in prostitution; Oakland Officer Giovanni LoVerde, who's charged with felony oral copulation with a minor; and former Contra Costa Sheriffs Deputy Ricardo Perez, who's charged with oral copulation with a minor and two misdemeanor counts of engaging in lewd conduct in a public place. The charges follow two other officers being charged late last week in the far-reaching scandal centered on a single young woman, now identified as 19-year-old Jasmine Abuslin, who will now also be the subject of multiple civil suits being filed by attorneys Pamela Price and Charles Bonner. The first of those suits, against the City of Oakland, was filed Friday a $66 million damages suit that is a precursor to a civil rights complaint. Officer Bunton, whom Abuslin allegedly referred to as "Superman," was charged in connection with allegedly tipping Abuslin off about an upcoming undercover prostitution sting in the vicinity of East Oakland where she had been performing sex work, in exchange for sexual favors. The tipoff was found in the form of a text to Abuslin, and was one of the incendiary accusations that first surfaced in June in connection with this scandal. Meanwhile, Officer Giovanni LoVerde denied having any contact with Abuslin except on social media, but he's now being charged with meeting her for a blowjob in the doorway of a home near Lake Merritt in July 2015, a month before she would turn 18. Deputy Perez admits having sex with Abuslin, but claimed that all of his sexual contact was after her 18th birthday. The DA's office believes, perhaps via Abuslin's own testimony, that Perez "engaged in at least one sex act, oral copulation, with the subject when she was 17 years old in a public place." He also allegedly had sexual contact with Abuslin 10 times in a public place, an unknown location near Fish Ranch Road in the Oakland Hills. Perez says that his first sexual contact with Abuslin was "between 5 to 7 days after 18, August 2015," i.e. after her 18th birthday. As ABC 7 notes, felony oral copulation with a minor could come with a three-year jail sentence. Related investigations remain open in Contra Costa and San Francisco counties, and more charges are still likely to come. Also, O'Malley still has charges to file, likely this week, against Oakland Officer Warit Utappa, who's accused of searching official criminal justice data and computer systems for an unauthorized purpose; and former Oakland Officer Tyrell Smith, who resigned in May, who's facing four counts of the same crime. All previous coverage of the Celeste Guap/Jasmine Abuslin scandal on SFist. A group of mid-day muggers were tracked down by the San Francisco Police Department Monday, after the miscreants accosted two women for their lunch. The female victims were walking near Sacramento and Franklin Streets at 3:30 p.m. Monday, police say, when two men aged 17-21 approached the woman and demanded a lunch pail and cell phone from their victims. A passer-by attempted to detain one of the suspects as they fled, but a third suspect (also male, also aged 17-21) appeared and freed his criminal colleague from the samaritan, according to the SFPD. All three of the men then hopped into a car being driven by a fourth suspect, a 17-year-old woman. Police say that officers were able to locate the vehicle and suspects shortly after the incident. All four were arrested, police say, and remain in custody as of Tuesday morning. The 36-year-old woman who was paralyzed by a falling tree branch while she sat on a city park bench watching her children play has filed a claim against San Francisco alleging negligence. The Chronicle reports that an attorney for Emma Zhou, who suffered a skull fracture, brain injury, and severed spinal cord after being struck by the 100-pound branch on August 12 in Washington Square Park, alleges that the tree in question was improperly maintained thus leading to the branch's fall. The city [...] knowingly failed to warn of, eliminate or protect the public from these known risks, the claim reads. While the city has reported that the trees are healthy, and described this particular incident as a freak accident, it is unknown whether the city has looked for and eliminated other hazardous branches created by the topping. Allegedly, the tree-topping technique used on the Canary Island pine in question allowed the lower branches to grow too quickly for the tree too support. Normally, the tree grows up and down, but here, we have at the topping cut these large, trunk-like branches growing off the sides, and this one here is where the branch fell off and hit Emma, Zhou's lawyer Jeremy Cloyd told KRON4. According to the channel, the claim is the likely precursor to a forthcoming lawsuit. Zhou may need another 16 months in the hospital, as previously reported, and her family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with medical expenses. The doctors say shes not going to walk again, and thats a nightmare for me, Zhou's husband, Tony Tan, explained to KRON 4. The city, meanwhile, is continuing to investigate the incident. The Rec & Parks Department has previously said this was a freak accident and Canary Island pines are not typically subject to failures like this. They last assessed the tree in 2010 and gave it a clean bill of help, and a neighborhood association last had the tree trimmed in 2013. Previously: Woman Injured By Fallen Branch In City Park Still Waiting For City To Cover Medical Bills 100-Pound Tree Branch Falls And Critically Injures Woman In Washington Square Park Video: Woman Paralyzed By Fallen Tree Branch In North Beach Speaks Out As this years presidential hopefuls rampage forth, creating chaos in a world already loaded with vulgar chatter, its nice to know the eye of the political storm is not at the gracious, spacious Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukees Third Ward. Artist Mark Mulhern speaks softly. Ive often called him the quiet man. Hes that and more. His current exhibition is aptly titled The Space Between. Its a space occupied by this masterful artist whose work never shouts or proclaims. That said, it certainly does not lack energy. Mulherns world is populated by figures (and a few dogs) that seem to float through various doings. Its everyday stuff for everyday folks who shop, gossip and gather in various places. His is the painted land with no visible anchors, and in this land there is an air of freedom and eternal calm devoid of terror. If the barely-there persons could turn and speak to those of us standing outside of the frames, would they rant and rave, or would they tell us about the charming fringed bag depicted in The Right Accessory, or ask us if weve ever been in a red telephone booth like the one depicted in Waiting to Resume the Walk? Standing patiently outside of the booth are two dogs, and we will never know whats being said inside. If you read between the lines, Mulhern may be lamenting the loss of what it once meant to communicate. No smartphones in sight. Through Oct. 15 at Tory Folliard Gallery, 233 N. Milwaukee St. For years, Republicans did everything they could to thwart a long-running John Doe investigation into suspected criminal activity by Gov. Scott Walker and the partys legislative leaders. They finally got corrupt allies on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to shut down the investigation and order that evidence be destroyed. Well, guess what? Republicans now want a brand-new investigation related to the John Doe. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is even calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor. Lest anyone think Republicans have been struck by a sudden epiphany of honesty, they definitely do not want to reopen the investigation into whether Walker and Republicans violated election laws by laundering millions of dollars in campaign contributions through outside groups to cover up the bribery of Republican politicians. Republicans want to investigate how The Guardian U.S. obtained leaked documents from the secret John Doe. The publication of those documents showed Walkers direct involvement in money laundering to hide the identity of millionaire donors who benefited from Republican legislation. Get that? Its not the financial corruption of the states top politicians Republicans want investigated. Its The Guardians exposing of Wisconsins political corruption to the nation by publishing factual evidence. Walker himself says hell leave any legal action up to the legal authorities. But its clear that somebody violated the law. Didnt Walkers mom ever tell him that every time you point a finger at somebody else, there are three more fingers pointing back at you? Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel says hes currently reviewing available options to address serious legal questions raised by the leak and publication of these sealed documents. Corruption in All Branches of State Government Its true that information gathered in a John Doe is supposed to be kept secret until formal charges are filed. But in Wisconsin, the suspected political corruption prosecutors were investigating also spread to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which shut down the John Doe to prevent any charges from being filed. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE The financial corruption of the governors office, the Legislature and the Supreme Court are clearly outlined in the documents The Guardian published. Harold Simmons was the Texas billionaire owner of a company that produced toxic lead used in paint. He was being sued for millions of dollars over brain damage to children in poor neighborhoods caused by lead paint. Simmons secretly donated $750,000 to Walker and legislative Republicans and was rewarded with Republican legislation to shield Simmons company from legal liability. Gogebic Taconite, the mining company that once planned an enormous, environmentally destructive, open-pit mine for northern Wisconsin, made a similar secret donation of $1.2 million to Walker and Republicans facing recall. The governor and Republican legislators then allowed Gogebic to rewrite state mining laws to weaken mining regulations and eliminate environmental protections. Walkers central role, described explicitly in a fundraisers email, was to encourage large donors to hide their contributions by laundering them through Wisconsin Club for Growth. Thats because the Wisconsin Club for Growth, which claimed to be independent of Walker or any candidate, didnt have to abide by campaign finance law limits or identify its donors. But, of course, Wisconsin Club for Growth wasnt independent. It coordinated directly with Walkers campaign to spend millions of dollars from donors whose identities were kept secret so the public wouldnt be able to see all the state legislation those millionaires bought with their political contributions. The third party to the corruption was the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The four-member Republican majority on the court shut down the John Doe investigation in July 2015, falsely claiming there was nothing illegal about independent groups coordinating directly with candidates in Wisconsin. That was clearly untrue. Such coordination has been illegal everywhere in the U.S. for the past 40 years, ever since the landmark 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision that allowed independent groups to spend unlimited funds on elections as a free speech right. The court expressly forbid independent groups from coordinating directly with candidates to prevent exactly what has happened in Wisconsin. It said groups had to remain independent from candidates to alleviate the danger that expenditures will be given as a quid pro quo for improper commitments from the candidate. Otherwise known as the bribery of politicians. The real reason the state court shut down the John Doe was itself brazenly corrupt. The so-called independent groups at the heart of the caseWisconsin Club for Growth and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commercehad spent between $8 and $10 million to elect all four of the majority justices. Although two justicesMichael Gableman and David Prosserwere challenged to recuse themselves because of the clear conflict of interest, they refused. Prosecutors have appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Republican refusal to fill a vacancy on the court could prevent it from addressing Wisconsins widespread political corruption. But exposing the breathtaking magnitude of that corruption to the nation by publishing leaked documents is not a serious crime. Its a public service. A Passage to India Off the Wall Theatre, Sept. 22-Oct. 2 Dale Gutzman opens his companys season with an original adaptation of a classic E.M. Forster novel that powerfully deals with Britains troubled, often contentious rule over India. As Gutzman explains, Forster, an outsider and closet homosexual during his lifetime, often explored isolation and loneliness in his novels. He has a delicate and beautiful way with a story and a unique understanding of human nature. A Passage to India, he continues, is a play potent for todays political climate, and comprises a grand, sweeping tale of love, sex, prejudice and politics. Reflecting on the fact that the average person would likely conjure thoughts of the epic 1980s film version of A Passage to India when hearing the title, Gutzman explains: Although I love David Leans films, I think he misses some of the political and philosophical ideas that are so vital in the book. I also think the film misses Forster himself Summing up, Gutzman claims that this stage version of A Passage to India is an exciting play that leaves us with much to think about after the show is over. His production, appropriately enough, boasts a rather large cast for this epic telling, including Marilyn White, David Flores, James Strange and Lawrence J. Lukasavage, among several others. Gutzman himself portrays a Brahman mystic. (John Jahn) Elect to Laugh! With Will Durst Sunset Playhouses Furlan Auditorium, Sept. 23 & 24 Milwaukee-born political humor columnist and radio talk show host Will Durst brings his irreverent, no-holds-barred, no-politician-unscathed-and-unscorned one-man show to Elm Groves Sunset Playhouse amid one of the most bizarre presidential elections in U.S. history. Trump, Cruz, Clinton, Sanderstruly, as Sunset so aptly puts it, both sides of the partisan aisle cant help but agree that the 2016 election season has spawned one of the most fertile, febrile and fecund campaigns in historyfor mocking and scoffing and taunting purposes, that is. (John Jahn) Stay on top of the news of the day Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays. SIGN UP Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Soulstice Theatre, Sept. 23-Oct. 8 J. T. Backes directs Soulstices production of this history-based comedic rock musical with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers. Ever since opening in Culver City, Calif., eight years ago, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson has been staged all across the country, garnering both Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards along the way. True to its title, the plot revolves around Americas seventh president, Andrew Jacksonherein reimagined as an Emo rock star in contemporary times. Themes of populism, racism, nationalism and imperialism abound and are addressed through both dramatic-comedic action and several lively musical numbers. (John Jahn) 9 Circles Cardinal Stritch University @ Joan Steele Stein Center Studio Theater, Sept. 22-Oct. 2 Written by a Jesuit priest, this dramatic play is certainly highly topical: The subject matter concerns contemporary life during wartime. Directed by John Kishline, this contemporary story that somewhat parallels the nine circles of Dantes Inferno concerns the civilian trial of a formerly deployed soldier named Steven Dale Green. The Sept. 22 showing is a special preview open to the public, and the Sept. 23 performance includes an opening gala sponsored by the Genesians. The Cardinal Stritch University production of 9 Circles also coincides with a campus-wide reading of the new book Redeployment by Phil Klay. (John Jahn) MUSIC Haydn to Reger Frankly Music @ St. Pauls Episcopal Church, Sept. 26 To many listeners, the music of Max Reger sometimes suggests a complexity and anti-Wagnerian, academic heaviness, musicologist Leon Botstein once wrote, but at his death [in 1916], he was widely regardedalong with Richard Straussas a true heir to the great legacy of German Classical and Romantic music. It is, indeed, that great German legacy that will be on full display when the Frankly Music ensemble performs Joseph Haydns Trio in C Major, Johannes Brahms Op. 25 Piano Quartet and Regers String Trio No. 1. (John Jahn) Expand Photo Credit: Megan McCormick / via Wikimedia Commons Last week, in more than a thousand pages of leaked documents from The Guardian, we got a fuller picture of Gov. Scott Walkers campaign operations and what prosecutors called a criminal scheme meant to circumvent the states campaign finance laws. The documents show that Walker and his allies formed a coordinated campaign outfit that was known only to big donors and well-connected insiders. The scheme worked this way: Walker would meet with Republican millionaires and billionaires around the country, ask for a six-figure donation, and assure the contributors that their checks would be kept secret, since the money would be sent to a dark-money group, the Wisconsin Club for Growth, which would be in charge of campaign spending and messaging. In this way, the donors could send corporate checks and big-dollar donations that blew through legal limits placed on the campaign accounts of candidates, including Walkers and the Republican senators who were up for recall in 2011 and 2012. While Walker was the one who went begging for donations in corporate boardrooms and exclusive retreat centers, the individual apparently running the operation for Walker was his longtime political advisor, R.J. Johnson, who just happened to also be the spokesman for Wisconsin Club for Growth. Walker even went so far as to call Johnson my Karl Rove, referring to George W. Bushs longtime political advisor and operative. But this blurring of lines between Johnsons work for Walkers campaign and other candidates, and his work for an allegedly independent group, is likely not legal. In all the years that I was a practitioner, everyone understood that this kind of coordination was illegal, said Bill Christofferson, who had worked on the campaigns of Democrat Jim Doyle and the Greater Wisconsin Committeealthough never at the same time. Up until last year, Wisconsins campaign finance laws prohibited coordination between a candidates campaign and independent groups. Thats because candidates must disclose all of their contributions, those contributions have dollar limits, and they cannot come from corporations. In contrast, dark-money groups can take unlimited donations, dont disclose their donors and accept checks from corporations. When you link the two entities, you get the worst of both worlds: candidates taking huge sums of money from corporations and not disclosing any of that to the public, so the public has no idea that, for example, checks from Menard Inc., a lead paint manufacturer or Wall Street billionaires were sent in secret and potentially influenced state laws and regulations. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE Now, of course, the Republican-led Legislature eliminated the state regulations on candidates contact with dark-money groups. They are now allowed to coordinate as long as they only work together on issue ads, or barely disguised campaign ads that dont specifically say to vote for a particular candidate. In addition, legislative committees controlled by Senate and Assembly leaders can accept corporate donationslong banned in Wisconsin. And, to add insult to injury, Republicans prohibited John Doe investigations from being used to look into political crimes and corruption. In Walkers War Room So who is R.J. Johnson, the operative that worked for Walker while apparently orchestrating a dark money-funded campaign to keep Scott Walker, state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and embattled Republican senators in office? In his political memoir, Unintimidated, Walker writes that the two have worked together for two decades; campaign finance reports show that Walkers campaign paid Johnson at least through January 2012, as Walkers recall was heating up. Walkers memoir depicts Johnson as being with him every step of the way, and Johnson was with Walker and his wife, Tonette, on the June 2012 night that Walker won his recall. In the war room, Walker wrote, Tonette threw her arms around him [Johnson] and sobbed. All the pressure of the past 18 months came spilling out. Then R.J. started crying, too. Looking through the Guardians documents its no wonder why Johnson was so emotional. Going back to 2009, when Walker was still Milwaukee County executive, the national Club for Growth sent an email to Johnson questioning the Wisconsin Club for Growths activity, stating, We are concerned about the potential legal issues that might be presented should the Wisconsin Club for Growth continue to air the previous ads or run additional advertisements or communications featuring Scott Walker. Johnson wrote back: Under Wisconsin law we are allowed to criticize or praise anyone in the public policy arena at any time. As Walkers campaign for governor heated up through 2010, Johnson was routinely copied on Milwaukee County emails in which Walkers campaign and county advisors weighed in on his political strategy and county business. Campaigns for Prosser, Walker and GOP Senators Just a year later, one month after Walker won election as governor on Nov. 2, 2010, Johnson was ramping up for the next campaign. Johnson wrote an emailapparently to Wisconsin Club for Growths executive director, Eric OKeefeabout Diane Hendricks, one of Walkers billionaire backers, saying, It would be good for her to talk with us or have her see our plan. Club is leading the coalition to maintain the court. Thus far I have raised 450K and am looking to raise an additional 409K. Plan is attached, FYI. Prosser, of course, refused to recuse himself from hearing the John Doe case and last summer was a member of the majority that shut it down. That decision is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which should announce in the next few weeks if itll take the case. After Walker took office in January 2011 and dropped the bomb on Wisconsin in the form of his union-busting budget repair bill in February 2011, Johnson was one of the crucial figures in the coordinated campaign to defend Walker, get Prosser re-elected that spring and survive his recount, and help Walker and the Republican senators win their recall elections. As Walkers Texas-based fundraiser Kate Doner explained in an April 2011 email to billionaire T. Boone Pickens aide, the goal was to raise $9 million in six weeks. Walker wants all of the issue advocacy efforts run thru one group to ensure correct messaging. We had some past problems with multiple groups doing work on behalf of Gov. Walker and it caused some issues. The governor is encouraging all to invest in the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Wisconsin Club for Growth can accept corporate and personal donations without limitations and no donors disclosure. Pickens, as the emails show, didnt take Walker up on his offer to contribute to his campaign via Johnsons group. An August 2011 email of suggested remarks for a phone call states, Our efforts were run by Wisconsin Club for Growth and operatives R.J. Johnson and Deb Jordahl, who coordinated spending through 12 different groups. Most spending by other groups was directly funded by grants from the Club. We tactically outmaneuvered [the Democrats]. Later, the email states, Wisconsin Club for Growth raised 12 million dollars and ran a soup to nuts campaign. That campaign included polling, focus groups, message development, an absentee ballot program that involved pro life, pro family and second amendment rights activists as well as former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reeds Faith and Family organization. In addition, the statewide voter list was enhanced with district specific micro-targeting data and 3.5 million pieces of issue-specific mail was sent to targeted donors. Another leaked document appears to show bank records from the Wisconsin Club for Growth revealing its anonymous big-money donors, including Wall Street hedge fund manager Steven Cohen ($1 million), Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerces Issues Mobilization Council ($988,000), the voucher group American Federation for Children ($622,000), the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce ($599,775), casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson ($300,000), the Koch-connected Wellspring Committee ($250,000) and many more. The Guardian published a copy of a $1 million check from Menard Inc. to Wisconsin Club for Growth from June 2011. Obviously, Walker could not have accepted a check from a corporate accountbut the Wisconsin Club for Growth could. John Menard later got a valuable tax break from state Republicans. Wall-to-Wall Ads For the first time, in the leaked documents the public got a look at the ad-buying operation R.J. Johnson appears to have run on behalf of Republican candidates and the dark-money groups. Beginning in February 2011, 10 days after Walker dropped the bomb on public employee unions, Johnson was coordinating Stand with Walker ads with Matt Seaholm, then with the Koch-funded fake grassroots group Americans for Prosperity. The two have some testy exchanges over the lack of coordination on ad buys and strategy. Throughout 2011 and into 2012, Johnson appears to have been booking ads on behalf of Wisconsin Club for Growth, Wisconsin Family Action, Citizens for a Strong America and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. The ads targeted legislators up for recall, pretty much showing that they were campaign related, not pure issue ads. In 2012, Johnson appears to be part of the group approving ads for Walkers recall defense. In an excerpt from a transcript from the John Doe investigation, in October 2011 Johnson told prosecutors: I dont generally charge a lot in terms of consulting fees because I make a percentage on the media placed. He said he received 5% of the media buys for the Walker campaign. At the time of his testimony, Johnson apparently was coordinating the dark-money campaign to save the Republican legislative majority and was also being paid by the Friends of Scott Walker. For good reason, police officers in Milwaukee County and around the country undergo Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training to learn how to deal with those who are having a behavioral or mental health crisis. A true CIT officer is an amazing officer, said Sandy Pasch, a former state representative and psychiatric nurse who helped to launch CIT in Milwaukee about a decade ago. They save lives. They know what to do. They get people the resources they need and they do it in a way that demonstrates respect and compassion. Currently, local law enforcement agencies require at least someif not allof their officers to undergo CIT training. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Milwaukee partners with local law enforcement agencies to provide training, but the Milwaukee Police Department conducts its own training. The rigorous training involves 40 hours of in-depth sessions on how to assess individuals with a mental health issue, de-escalate a crisis and steer them to services if they need them instead of arresting them. Experts in the field are brought in to give their perspective, and at the end of the 40 hours, three trainers enact typical behavioral health crisis scenarios in which the officers must utilize their CIT training to resolve the situation. Sue Schuler, former director of nursing for acute and crisis services at Milwaukee Countys Behavioral Health Division, who with Pasch helped to launch CIT in Milwaukee, said the original training sessions were in-depth and a true partnership between mental health experts and law enforcement. We are very clear that we dont want police officers in harms way, Schuler said. But there are ways of being with people in crisis and de-escalating them. Its the best outcome for everyone. Police are safe, the person is safe and they get the services they need. Clearly, CIT training has the potential to benefit officers and those they serve every day. But one September 2015 training session went very, very wrong when a strictly hands-off role play became harshly hands on. Advocate Injured During Training Mary Neubauer is a well-known, well-respected and outspoken advocate for those with mental illnesses. In addition to coping with her own mental health struggles, Neubauer earned a masters of social work, works part time as a certified peer specialist, sits on the Milwaukee County Mental Health Board and is co-chair of the Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force. If youve had any involvement in local behavioral health services, you know Mary Neubauer. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE Shes been involved in CIT training since its inception, and has never had an issue during these trainings until Sept. 28, 2015, when she was helping to train officers from Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield and West Allis by enacting a role play in which she portrays a woman selling a magic potion and causing a commotion in the street. The role play was conducted during the final hours of the 40-hour training. Officers undergoing training are repeatedly told that the role plays are strictly hands off. After all, in a real-world crisis situation, an officer is supposed to use his or her CIT skills to de-escalate and defuse the situation without touching or in any way forcing an individual to do somethingunless, of course, the officers safety is threatened. Unfortunately for Neubauer, one officer ignored the hands-off instructions. During the role play I have this bag of stuff that I just kind of fling around and say, Potions! Get your magic potion, Neubauer explained to the Shepherd. I literally wasnt into my role and the cop walks up to me, grabs my left arm below the shoulder and above my elbow. He grabs on to it and I back off. He grabs it tighter, torques it and then he finally lets go. Peter Hoeffel, executive director of NAMI Greater Milwaukee, which conducted the training, immediately stopped the role play and repeated the instruction that officers should keep their hands off. Stunned and feeling traumatized, Neubauer continued the training, but the damage was done and left both emotional and physical scars. The rotator cuff in her left shoulder was completely torn at multiple locations. She underwent shoulder reconstruction surgery and rotator cuff repair on June 30, had surgery earlier this month on her handwhich she harmed due to compensating for her shoulder injuryand underwent treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which in part was related to her injury. She has taken long absences from work since the injury, has had bills go to a collection agency because of her sporadic employment and is facing a long recovery. My life consists of going to medical appointments, Neubauer said. I think Ive gone to two or three meetings. Ive watched the paint dry on my walls so much that Im ready for it to get painted again. I try to laugh it off but Ive had more meltdowns here than I care to keep track of. People see the public side of me, they dont see the other side of me. Officer Hasnt Come Forward Neubauer said the entire training session had sort of gone awry. The one other expert engaged in role play was also touched, Neubauer said, in violation of the hands-off rule, and many officers were upset that theyd had to secure their weapons during training. She chalks it up to the fact that some local police departmentsincluding Milwaukees following the shooting of Dontre Hamilton as well as West Allismandate CIT training. Thats contrary to CIT best practices in which officers volunteer for this highly specialized training. The result, Neubauer says, is that some officers forced to undergo 40 hours of training resent it, arent engaged and dont retain their knowledge. Neubauer is still trying to determine which officer injured her but no one has stepped forward and she doesnt have an attorney. She said NAMIs Hoeffel contacted the West Allis Police Department, which hosted the training, but hasnt been able to identify the officer, either. With the help of a friendly attorney, in January Neubauer sent a notice of claim to each of the suburbs involved in the Sept. 28 session. Under state law, she is entitled to up to $50,000 in compensation. Shes heard from the Franklin and Greenfield departments, which sent letters of disallowancebasically stating that one of their officers was not at fault. She hasnt heard a peep from Greendale. The Greendale Police Department didnt respond to the Shepherds request to comment for this article. West Allis notified Neubauer that the matter was under investigation and sent her a list of attendees. West Allis Police Chief Patrick Mitchell told the Shepherd that in general CIT training has helped his officers but that he couldnt comment on Neubauers claim and didnt know if the officer who injured her was from his department. I am aware that there is a trainer that has made a claim against the City of West Allis, but that claim has not been completed yet, Mitchell said. Its still in the investigative process. Neubauer said the Sept. 28 CIT training raises a host of questions about how officers are treating those they encounter on the job. If this is what an officer did during a role play, what are they like on the street? Neubauer wondered. Pasch said that shed like to get away from mandated training and perhaps do some training with all officers and in-depth, specialized CIT training with officers who truly want to work with those having a mental health crisis. As for Neubauers injury during the September training session, Pasch said she was appalled. I feel like Mary was really let down in this whole process, Pasch said. She has been volunteering her time to improve relationships and outcomes for people with mental illness and then this is what happens. I think everyone involved dropped the ball. I think Mary should be compensated for what shes been through. SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man is facing charges after police say he abducted and sexually assaulted a mentally handicapped woman the afternoon of Sept. 2. According to court documents, 30-year-old Anthony James McPherson spotted a female walking near the McDonald's at 729 Hamilton Blvd. and pulled up to ask her if she needed a ride. The victim, who court documents say is mentally handicapped, accepted the offer and told McPherson she was headed to a bus stop. Instead of taking her to the bus stop, McPherson drove her to his residence, where documents say he pulled into the garage and closed the door. Documents say the victim tried to leave, but McPherson wouldn't let her. Documents say he then began touching her inappropriately and eventually had sex with her in the back of his vehicle. He then drove her to a bus stop, documents say. McPherson was arrested Monday and charged with third-degree sexual abuse, false imprisonment and improper rear lamps. He is being held in the Woodbury County Jail on $50,000 bond. His next court appearance will be 9 a.m. Sept. 30. SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty to setting a fire in his house and trashing the kitchen. Trevor Worrell, 22, entered his written plea Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court to first-degree arson and third-degree criminal mischief. According to court documents, Worrell was intoxicated when he arrived at his house at 1400 Ruby Street on Sept. 13 and became upset. He lit a pillow on fire in his bedroom before threatening to kill his sister and being told to leave the house. The fire was put out before it spread throughout the room and the house, court documents said. Worrell later returned, court documents said, and began destroying the kitchen, throwing a microwave, coffee pot and vacuum before trying to pull down the ceiling fan. He fled the house when officers arrived, and police were unable to find him until the next day, when Worrell's stepfather found him hiding in his bedroom closet. Worrell told police he accidentally started the fire while lighting a cigarette, court documents said. SIOUX CITY | Sioux City Police officers and Deputy U.S. Marshals on Monday captured a Siouxland fugitive sought by local authorities. Kendric Banks, 29, was captured Monday evening after police received a tip on his whereabouts earlier in the day. He was arrested by police and Deputy U.S. Marshals without incident. Banks was wanted for probation violation on a felon in possession of a weapon conviction. He is being held in the Woodbury County Jail on $15,000 bond. The U.S. Marshals Service Northern Iowa Fugitive Task Force had issued a request for information on Banks last week. ELK POINT, S.D. | In the wake of the dismissal of five defendants in Beef Products Inc.'s $1.2 billion defamation lawsuit against ABC, court officials believe they do not need to move the trial out of the Union County Courthouse. The dismissal means fewer lawyers will be present at the trial, scheduled for June 5, and courthouse facilities should be adequate after some minor modifications, said Kim Allison, First Circuit court administrator. "At this point, we are planning on having it at the Union County Courthouse," Allison said. In August, lawyers filed a stipulation to voluntarily dismiss ABC News, David Kerley, Gerald Zirnstein, Carl Custer and Kit Foshee as defendants in the lawsuit. The suit will now focus on what BPI's attorney said are the three main defendants: American Broadcasting Companies Inc., former "World News Tonight" anchor Diane Sawyer and news correspondent Jim Avila. Circuit Judge Cheryle Gering entered an order dismissing the defendants on Aug. 24. "BPI's decision to dismiss some of the other defendants does not release the primary targets of the litigation, nor does it have anything to do with the merits of our case," BPI attorney, Erik Connolly, of Chicago, said in a written statement. "As happens in most litigation heading to trial, we elected to narrow the number of issues that the jury would ultimately need to decide at trial by focusing our case on the three main defendants ..." Connolly said BPI was dismissing ABC News because ABC, which remains a defendant, is the corporate entity that published news reports that BPI says were defamatory of its Lean Finely Textured Beef and employed the individuals responsible for those reports. BPI sued ABC, its correspondents, federal officials and a former employee in September 2012 in Union County Circuit Court and will attempt to prove that a series of stories and broadcasts that began in early March 2012 defamed the company's Lean Finely Textured Beef. BPI alleges the "prolonged disinformation campaign" caused a backlash against the product, which critics repeatedly referred to as "pink slime," and led to a loss of $400 million in business, forcing the family-owned business to close all but its South Sioux City plant and lay off more than 700 workers. Zirnstein, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official, was credited with coining the "pink slime" term in a 2002 email. Custer also formerly worked for the USDA. "From our perspective, Gerald and Carl should never have been sued in the first place," said their attorney, Bill Marler, of Seattle. "My feeling overall is BPI never had a case against my clients." Kerley is an ABC correspondent, and Foshee is a former quality assurance employee at BPI. The company said in the lawsuit that Foshee was fired because he refused to follow through on BPI's decision to promote more rigorous safety procedures in the beef industry. He later lost a lawsuit he brought against BPI. "We're happy to be done with it," Foshee's attorney, Steven Sanford, of Sioux Falls, said of his client's dismissal from the defamation suit. BPI's lawsuit is expected to result in one of the biggest trials in Union County history. Court and county officials had worried that the courthouse would not be able to accommodate the number of lawyers, witnesses and spectators who will be involved and maintain order and security. Other locations, such as community centers and schools, were under consideration to house the trial. Allison said the trial will take place in a community room in the courthouse basement rather than the first-floor courtroom. The community room's capacity of 132 people is nearly twice that of the courtroom. Allison said some minor renovations, including carpeting the floor to reduce noise and adding additional lighting and electrical outlets, should make the room suitable as a temporary courtroom. A temporary judge's bench and platform also will be used for the trial, which is expected to last up to two months. Todays top picks from our online calendar. Find more events at siouxcityjournal.com/calendar. 2016 Fall Career Expo: Get your career in gear with more employers hiring for more jobs than at any other single event in Siouxland from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center. Job seekers may attend this event at no cost. Visit siouxcityjournal.com for additional information. At Home in the Heartland: TRACES Center for History and Culture will bring its traveling history exhibit to Sioux City today from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The exhibit is housed in a bus-eum that will be parked in Morningside Colleges Garretson Lot at 3600 Garretson Ave., across from Eppley Auditorium. Visit morningside.edu for additional information. Girl Talk: St. James and MOMSnext at Redeemer present "Girl Talk," a fun and inspirational evening of straight talk about marriage and intimacy featuring author and blogger Sheila Wray Gregoire. Tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport St. Tickets sold at the door are $12. Contact 712-202-6761 for additional information. DAKOTA CITY, Neb. | A Dakota County panel on Monday turned down a proposed settlement in a dispute over the assessed valuation of the Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Dakota City. Since 2012, the county has assessed the sprawling beef complex at $36.5 million for property tax purposes, Dakota County Assessor Jeff Curry said. Tyson, in a 2015 appeal, countered that the property should be assessed at $14.6 million, he said. The Dakota County Board of Equalization met in closed session Monday to discuss pending litigation in the case. The equalization board members followed that, on a motion made by Scott Love, with a 5-0 vote to disapprove a proposed settlement negotiation. No representative from Tyson was present during the equalization board meeting Monday. The county's equalization board meets periodically to handle protests on property valuations, which are one of two factors in computing the level of property taxes paid. The property valuation is multiplied by the county tax levy rate to establish the taxes paid. Curry said the county and Tyson have been working to finalize a valuation and avoid having a state commission set the valuation. If the two sides do not work the matter out by October, a mid-November hearing of the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission would make a final determination. Curry said the county and Tyson are aiming to settle prior to having a TERC hearing. He speculated that the two sides could work out a compromise in the range from $25 million to $30 million. "We want to work it out with them," Curry said. Curry said each side has gotten an appraisal on the plant by two different entities. Curry said the county's appraisal showed a value of about $30 million. The Tyson complex, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, employs more than 4,500 people, making it by far the largest employer in the metro area. Springfield, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, which has owned the plant since 2001, has invested $237 million in new additions, equipment and technology in the facility in the last decade, according to company officials. "I know you are, but what am I?" Maybe you remember that one from the schoolyard. It was one of those unanswerable taunts -- "I'm rubber, you're glue" was another -- widely favored by smart-alecky kids, a bit of verbal judo that took an attacker's thrust and turned it back against her. "I know you are, but what am I?" Most of us outgrew the riposte about the same time we outgrew passing notes in class. Apparently, Donald Trump never did. Far from leaving it behind, he has honed it into a potent political tool perfect for this era of post-factual lassitude and cognitive dissonance. As Campaign 2016 grinds toward a reckoning, we are seeing that tool employed with breathtaking shamelessness. It works like this: Whatever Trump is called or accused of, he turns it back on the accuser. Did you ever see that scene in "The Equalizer" where a bad guy points a gun at Denzel Washington and, faster than the eye can follow, Denzel snatches the gun and points it back at him? It's something like that, except with words. So the man who claims that he's always opposed the Iraq War (even though he didn't), the man who said the election is rigged, (even though it isn't), the man who told us Barack Obama founded ISIS (even though -- duh! -- he didn't), the man whose PolitiFact scorecard rules over 80 percent of his rated statements as half-truths and untruths ... that man complains that Hillary Clinton is "a world-class liar." And the man whose idea of releasing medical information is a brief note from his doctor so loopy, imprecise and filled with wild, extravagant claims (Trump "will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency") that one doctor dubs it "medically illiterate" ... that man tells us it's the mysteries of Hillary Clinton's health we ought to be concerned about. And the man who said a judge was unfit to judge because he is of Mexican heritage, the man who wants a ban on Muslim immigration, the man who retweets racists and anti-Semites, the man who is openly beloved by white supremacists to the point that former Klansman David Duke seems about ready to kiss him on the lips ... that man condemns Hillary Clinton as "a bigot." Not to put too fine a point on it, but having Donald Trump lecture you about bigotry, transparency or truth is rather like having Kanye West tell you to stop behaving like a jack--s. In psychology, they have this phenomenon called projection. The Cambridge Dictionary of Psychology defines it as a "primitive defense mechanism" that involves "the unconscious warding off of negative experiences or emotions by denying an experience, perceiving it in another person and then seeing that negative experience as being directed back at the projector." Which sounds like what we're seeing here, except there is nothing "unconscious" about it. No, this is calculated, born of a conviction that there really is a sucker born every minute -- and that an alarming proportion of them vote in American elections. So the challenge here is simple: What will we say in response? How will we answer this insult to intelligence? Or are we too sick of it all to care? One has a sense of an electorate pummeled into emotional submission. Which is hardly surprising. It's been a long, dispiriting campaign largely bereft of ideas, proposals and uplift. But it is important to remember that November will be a moment of truth in more ways than one. Indeed, November will answer a critical question. You say Trump is an ignorant narcissist unfit for the White House? Yes, we know he is. But what are we? DES MOINES A former clerk in the Iowa House of Representatives was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison stemming from an April 2012 incident in which a state legislator received a racially charged threatening letter than contained a white powder. Chief U.S. District Court Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Michael Dekota McRae, 28, to 18 months imprisonment for conveying false information concerning a biological weapon. McRae also was ordered to pay $2,747.50 in restitution a $100.00 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund. McRae, a former legislative clerk to state Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, admitted to writing a threatening letter addressed to Abdul-Samad that contained racial slurs and threats to kill both McRae and the state representative. McRae subsequently inserted the letter, along with a white powdery substance, into an envelope which he placed into a legislative mail receptacle. On April 3, 2012, McRae opened the threatening letter on the chamber floor during an active session of the Iowa Legislature, causing the white powder -- included to simulate a biological agent or toxin to be released and to contact both McRae and Abdul-Samad. The incident caused a four-hour lockdown at the Iowa Capitol building in Des Moines. McRae admitted to perpetrating the hoax to create fear in others, according to a news release issued by the office of U.S. Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. The released noted that when McRae committed the crime, legislation proposing to expand existing Iowa law allowing individuals to defend themselves in their home, business or place of employment -- commonly referred to as stand your ground -- was pending before the Iowa Legislature. In the days leading up to the hoax, McRae and others participated in a rally on the Capitol steps to protest the proposed legislation, and that rally was mentioned in the threatening letter written by McRae, according to the U.S. attorneys office for Iowas southern district. According to news accounts at the time, the House was debating a bill to ban traffic enforcement cameras when McRae opened the letter. Then-House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, halted debate when informed of the situation. The incident involving the letter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Iowa State Patrol, the Des Moines Police Department, the Des Moines Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team, and the Iowa National Guard 71st Civil Support Team. DES MOINES When the president delivers his annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress, one member of the cabinet is not in attendance at the U.S. Capitol. Thats part of the presidential succession plan so that in the event something catastrophic causes the death of the president, vice president, speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate as well as cabinet members, there will be one administration official to assume command. Its also the premise of Designated Survivor, a television drama about a low-level Cabinet member who becomes president of the United States after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union address kills everyone above him in the presidential line of succession. If it sounds familiar, its similar to the plots of a pair of Tom Clancys Jack Ryan novels, Debt of Honor and Executive Orders. Iowa has a succession plan, too, but the designated survivor strategy is not employed when the governor delivers his annual Condition of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature. In fact, the members of the line of succession designated in the Iowa Constitution -- lieutenant governor, Senate president and House speaker attend the speech. The governor, speaker and president are usually within arms reach of one another. In the unlikely event they would be unable to serve, the state Supreme Court would convene the Legislature to elect a governor and lieutenant governor, and fill their respective leadership vacancies, according to the Constitution. Supreme Court justices attend the Condition of the State speech if their schedules permit, a court spokesman said. Many times, all seven are in attendance. Long-time Senate staffer Eric Bakker could not recall ever hearing a designated survivor strategy discussed. Former Sioux City Sen. Steve Warnstadt did work on a continuity of state government plan, but said it addressed issues with the Legislature, not the executive branch. The Capitol is one of the most secure buildings on the Capitol complex because anyone other than state employees and lawmakers entering the building must pass through metal-detecting security gates, according to Colin Tadlock, House Republican communications director. Security is increased during the Condition of the State Address including uniformed troopers in the House galleries, on the House floor and in the capitol rotunda. Iowa State Patrol is very comfortable with the measures taken every year to protect members of the public and General Assembly, he said. Like Bakker, Tadlock doesnt believe theres been any recent discussion of a succession plan. Perhaps this new show on ABC will spur a conversation, he said. Designated Survivor premieres Wednesday on ABC. 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Read More Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses. Its financial products and services include checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. The Commercial Banking segment provides financial solutions to private, family owned, and certain public companies. Its products and services include banking and credit products across various industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management services. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Its products and services comprise corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services. The Wealth and Investment Management segment provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, and trust and fiduciary products and services to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. It also operates through financial advisors. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Steve Werley owns a web design business in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. Hes young and very entrepreneurial. When he heard about Startup Grind, an organization built around a network of loosely-connected local chapters in more than 200 cities and 85 countries, his interest was piqued. And after looking for and not finding a chapter in his area, Steve decided to start one. I never enjoyed working for anyone else, but liked being my own boss, he said in a telephone interview with Small Business Trends. Startup Grind appealed to me due to the entrepreneurial culture it fosters. When I found out that the closest chapter was 50 miles away, in Philadelphia, I decided to apply to become a chapter director and was accepted. We had 30 people at our first event. How Startup Grind Began It all began in 2010 in Palo Alto, California with Derek Andersen, himself an entrepreneur. According to John Frye, global community manager at Startup Grind, who spoke with Small Business Trends via telephone, the organization began organically with Andersen and some friends getting together informally to talk about entrepreneurship and the challenge of founding a startup. It didnt take long before more people started showing up for these meetings, Frye said. Soon, the group began bringing in speakers. Others found out about what was going on and wanted to start groups in their cities. In a few short years, weve expanded to more than 200 cities in 85 countries with over 400,000 members, all organically through word of mouth. Startup Grind is now the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting entrepreneurs globally. Because it was founded in Silicon Valley, the organization tends to attract tech startup founders, but entrepreneurs from many verticals attend chapter meetings. How It Works Frye said Startup Grinds model is very simple. Each chapter hosts monthly events, usually from 6 9 p.m., that consist of networking, listening to and interacting with a speaker and then more networking. We use a fireside chat format where the speaker and host sit in armchairs facing the audience while the host asks questions of the speaker, to draw out his personal circumstances, experiences and lessons learned about starting a business, Frye said. Each chapter has a director, who acts as the mayor of the startup community. Directors are also tasked with finding speakers, typically entrepreneurs in the area, who donate their time to share their experiences. (Its Startup Grinds policy not to pay speakers.) Speakers dont get a lot of time to talk about their business but more about how they got there and the vision they had in getting started, Werley said. Its not about promotion but inspiration and education. Also, while members arent required to pay dues, some chapters charge to attend meetings, to cover expenses, such as refreshments or meals. Values Startup Grind is different than groups like BNI, which are designed to provide leads. Its more about educating and inspiring entrepreneurs to continue their startup journey. There is also a strong sense of community among the members, or what both Werley and Frye defined as family. The organization operates based on three core values: We believe in making friends, not contacts; We believe in giving, not taking; We believe in helping others before helping yourself. We are truly passionate about helping founders, entrepreneurs and startups succeed, the Startup Grind website says. We intend to make their startup journey less lonely, more connected and more memorable. Member Benefits The primary benefits of being in a Startup Grind chapter are the opportunity it provides members to get to know area entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences. Also, since investors sometimes attend meetings or serve as speakers, there is a chance to forge relationships that could result in funding, although that is not a primary goal. Startup Grind provides no formal means by which investors and entrepreneurs connect, so relationships happen organically, as a result of networking. Startup Grind Events In addition to the local chapters, which make up the backbone of the organization, Startup Grind hosts large gatherings, including an annual conference. Currently, two events are scheduled: See Also: 5 Habits of Local Business Champions StartUp Grind Socal A day-long event consisting of 50 speakers from the technology, media, film and entertainment industries. It takes place on Sept. 27, 2016, in Los Angeles. Startup Grind Global Conference Takes place Feb. 21-22, 2017, in Silicon Valley. As many as 5,000 people are expected to attend. Startup Grind Sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs Startup Grind has the unique advantage of being sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs, which partners with startup communities and builds campuses where entrepreneurs can learn, connect and create companies that, according to Google, will change the world. Google for Entrepreneurs also provides financial support and resources to startup communities that equip and nurture entrepreneurs. How to Start a Chapter Starting a Startup Grind chapter involves the following steps: Request to be an applicant by registering and filling in an application form; Once Startup Grind acknowledges the application, the applicant receives an email with instructions on starting the Application Course consisting of several quiz questions; When completed, Startup Grind schedules an interview with the applicant via Skype or Google Hangouts; If the application is accepted, the organization gives the newly-designated director access to onboarding courses; Once the director completes those, he can host the first chapter event. Labour September 20, 2016 Irvin Jim The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) Special National Congress in December 2013 resolved: There is no chance of winning back the Alliance to what it was originally formed for, which was to drive a revolutionary programme for fundamental transformation of the country, with the Freedom Charter as the minimum platform to transform the South African economy. Recent events have fully vindicated this view. The global capitalist system is in terminal crisis and continues to inflict great human and environmental stress, pain and destruction. The world working class is under attack; unemployment, poverty and inequality are on the rise, in the biggest global crisis of capitalism since the 1930s. In South Africa this simply makes worse the already existing crisis of our racist and colonial economy and society, which is based on the racist and inhuman super-exploitation of black and African labour. Jobs are being slaughtered daily. Whole industries are in danger of disappearing. Unemployment at 36 per cent is among the highest in the world. Employers are on the offensive. They are seeking to exploit workers desperation to find or keep jobs at any cost in order to drive down wages and working conditions by outsourcing and casualizing work, using labour brokers and sabotaging collective bargaining structures. South Africa Today All this has become clearer in the wage negotiations we are currently engaged in. Although we are pleased to have reached a negotiated agreement with employers in the auto sector, these recent negotiations have exposed a concerted strategy by employers to block even the most minimal concessions to our demands as agreed by our National Bargaining Conference in April 2016. But we are determined not to buckle under pressure and stand firmly on our demands. South Africa is the most unequal place on earth today. This inequality is blatantly racial, as the gulf widens between the white, wealthy capitalist elite and the black working-class majority. This crisis continues to confirm the continuing racist and colonial nature of South African economy and society, 22 years after 1994. Numsa places the blame squarely on the ANC/SACP/Cosatu government for failing to uproot colonialism and racism in post-1994 South Africa and their capitulation to imperialism and South African white monopoly capital by implementing first Gear and then the National Development Plan (NDP), which give practical expression to the repugnant neoliberal capitalist policies of the IMF, the World Bank and global credit ratings agencies. This is how the alliance has aborted the South African Revolution and betrayed the majority of the people the black and African working class (more than 83 per cent of the population!). This betrayal is at the heart of the terminal and irreversible decline and eventual death of the ANC/SACP/Cosatu alliance and its formations. It is this painful betrayal of the majority which explains the loss of electoral power of the ANC. The ANC government is now proceeding to limit workers constitutional right to strike as contained in their NDP and which measure has increasingly been demanded by the Free Market Foundation (FMF), big business and their shop stewards in the DA. The Stench of Corruption and Rot in Society and Government The ongoing corruption and rot in South African society and government did not start with the Jacob Zuma administration. Its foundations were laid in the negotiated settlement under which imperialism and white South African capitalism won a corrupt and rotten capitalist transition for post-apartheid South Africa, complete with all the now smelly corruption and rot in government and society. The real negotiated deal was that imperialism and white South African capital would retain their wealth and the ANC would be allowed the use of the budget and government in a post-apartheid South Africa to create and grow a black and African capitalist class. There is absolutely no moral or any practical difference between the way white capital made rings around the leadership of the ANC immediately before, during and after the so-called negotiations and how the Guptas are playing the same ANC leadership today, apart from the racial complexions of the corrupting capitalists! The abandonment of the struggle to defeat imperialism and destroy the racist colonial economy and society of South Africa in favour of a neoliberal capitalist transition was the death knell in the coffin of the ANC and its alliance. Zuma and the Guptas are just a symptom of the latest versions of the economic and social relations between the ANC and imperialism and South African racist and colonial capitalism which were laid in the negotiated settlement. There is nothing wrong with ordinary and good members of the working class being disgusted by the crony capitalism of Zuma and the Guptas, and their manipulation of the state-owned enterprises for their personal gain. It is wrong, however, and dangerously myopic, for anyone to pretend to forget that the negotiated settlement and the post-apartheid South African Constitution firmly guarantees the stranglehold of imperialism and white monopoly of South African capital over National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank. All the post-apartheid South African Ministers of Finance without exception, including Pravin Gordhan have been consistent defenders of imperialism and white monopoly capital, open enemies of the class interests of the South African working class. Numsa has consistently, in its 29 years of history, condemned the economic policies and strategies of the National Treasury, which defends the neoliberal agenda, protects the interests of white monopoly capital, in particular finance capital, champions austerity measures, and seeks to appease global ratings agencies. The whole capitalist system is immoral and corrupt. Reports appear regularly of systematic tax evasion, money laundering and price fixing by big business. Millions of rand are leaving the country as investors put their cash where they will make the quickest and biggest profits, with no regard for the welfare of the people, the environment and least of all the conditions of their workers who produce the wealth in the first place. Big business is immorally sitting on more than R1.5-trillion in the banks and refusing to invest it in the economy. More than 18,000 South Africans (roughly 50 per day, every day!) are murdered every year. The majority of these horrendous deaths are a direct product of the inhuman racist super-exploitation of black and African workers which creates massive swathes of impoverished working class communities in which burglaries, rape, murders, domestic violence, brutal and violent child abuse, and all sorts of other inhumanities are a product of the poverty, unemployment and inequalities on which South African white monopoly capital and imperialism feast. South African capitalism cares nothing about all this. Local Government Elections Numsa consistently warned the ANC-led Alliance about the consequences of abandoning the South African revolution in favour of imperialism and white monopoly capital, and that the ANCs failure to fully implement the Freedom Charter, to address the fundamentals of ownership and control of the economy, to affirm blacks and Africans in the economy, and to uproot the apartheid colonial wage among many other things would destroy the ANC and its alliance. They never listened to us. They booted us out of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and inevitably from the alliance. Jacob Zuma is completely contemptuous of the black and African working class who are the backbone of the ANC and its alliance and continues to assert that the ANC will rule until the day Jesus would come. Well, Jesus appears to have decided to come rather too early, for Jacob Zuma at least! The August 2016 Local Government elections have again confirmed the correctness of Numsas view. The ANCs betrayal of the South African Revolution and its abandonment of the Freedom Charter are matters millions of South African black and African working class do not take lightly they have withdrawn their votes from the ANC! In South Africas industrial heartlands the ANC suffered massive humiliation, failing to win a majority in one big city after another. Working-class voters registered their anger at the levels of poverty, unemployment, inequality and corruption all direct results of the continuing racist and colonial economy and society of South Africa post-1994 by voting for the EFF and some, unfortunately, for their worst class enemies in the DA, or by refusing to vote at all. In the short term this is leading to coalitions. These are not being formed on the basis of political principles but on struggles by the leaders of minority parties to get their hands on official positions and public resources. Numsa holds out no hope that this will lead to any real improvement in the lives of the working class and the poor. The DA in particular has proved in Cape Town that it is still the party of big business and the white upper middle class and its municipal leaders are already talking about privatization of council services. The New Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party One powerful and positive outcome of these elections is that they proved that Numsa was right in its 2013 SNC when it asserted the need for a revolutionary socialist party of the working class. The South African black and African working class have shown that there is a loud and angry cry for revolutionary change, but also that currently no party is capable of bringing this about. The ANC, DA and the majority of all the other parties are basically the same, because of their continued insistence on operating within the confines of white monopoly capitalism. The black South African working class will always remember Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, Gwede Mantashe, Blade Nzimande, Jeremy Cronin, Cyril Ramaphosa and Sdumo Dlamini as being prominent among the leaders of the alliance who presided over the death of the ANC and all its alliance formations. This creates the opportunity to build the genuine revolutionary socialist political party, rooted in the working class and committed to Numsas Marxist programme, which was agreed to at the unions 2013 SNC, whose view of the degeneration of the ANC, SACP and Cosatu has been vindicated by subsequent events. Capital has spawned right-wing leaders who have become representatives of the class which exploits workers. All the ANC leaders are now steeped in neoliberalism. It is more urgent than ever to move swiftly, and more visibly, to build this new party and to start campaigning on the demands in the programme. The new party must be a democratically controlled, mass-based workers vanguard party, with a programme based on Marxism-Leninism, the dictatorship of the proletariat and the abolition of capitalism, so that workers have an alternative party to represent their interests. Numsa reaffirms the continued relevance of the Freedom Charter, whose demands have not been implemented. Although not a specifically socialist document, it contains many calls which the new party must incorporate as transitional demands into its socialist programme, alongside our central demand for democratic nationalization of monopoly industries, mineral wealth and banks. Build Numsa and Reach the Target of 400,000 Members by December 2016 Our Central Committee (CC) in August agreed that to meet the target of 400,000 members by December 2016, at a time when jobs are disappearing, we require more aggressive recruiting of all workers regardless of where they work, and to focus on the unorganized 76 per cent of workers and employees of labour brokers. In line with the 2013 SNC on the extension of our scope and the formation of a new federation, the CC stressed that no worker must be turned away. We are committed to providing quality leadership and better service for members, while defending and strengthening our democracy and unity. We are determined to ensure that all Numsas Regional Congresses and the December 10th National Congress are a huge success in the best interest of Numsa members and the broader working class. Build the New Federation Workers are impatient to replace the now totally discredited and ideologically bankrupt Cosatu with a new anti-imperialist, socialist, democratic, independent, militant workers federation. Numsa called on both Cosatu and the SACP to review the alliance with the ANC as it was benefiting the property-owning class and a parasitic and corrupt bourgeois elite. Opportunistically, however, because Numsa took the side of the workers and the poor, they expelled us. But today Cosatu and the alliance have crumbled. The SACP and the ANC are at each others throats. The SACP has lost its hegemony. There is no revolutionary agenda. Slowly but surely they are withering away. In all this, what is painfully bad for the working class is that the DA, a counter-revolutionary, clearly reactionary party, is being made to appear victorious today. Numerous new breakaway unions have been formed and we are working with them in a Steering Committee for a New Federation. We have warmly welcomed Fawus historic decision to leave Cosatu. The CC agreed that we must continue to discuss with larger unions like Amcu, some other Nactu affiliates, and some Cosatu affiliates who were part of The Nine which have not yet committed to the new federation. It was agreed to aim to launch the New Federation on 1 May 2017 and reaffirmed that it must be independent of any political party but should never be apolitical, and agreed that it should have youth and gender structures. Build the United Front The United Front (UF) remains a priority and must reach out to working class communities, more and more of which are moving into struggle against deplorable living conditions and service delivery. Numsa will continue to build and to play a very active role in the UF and ensure that its revolutionary policies are adopted and adhered to. While the CC maintained its policy that the UF is not a political party and should not be contesting elections, it endorsed the decision to back those UF members who stood as independents and/or UF candidates on 3 August 2016. We are studying the lessons from this experience. Black Youth Revolt Against Racism and Colonialism Numsa continues to be appalled by the fact that a supposed Communist Minister of Higher Education has consistently maintained that free education is not possible for the South African working class, in a country in which criminal repatriation of massive quantities of South African wealth is freely tolerated by the government. We demand free education, as contained in the Freedom Charter, the abolition of all content and forms of education in the entire education system which are racist, promote colonialism, patriarchy and oppression and domination of the black and African person. However, fully cognisant of the fact that any education system reproduces the dominant cultural and psychological paradigms of its ruling class, we do not expect that South African untransformed racist, colonial and apartheid economy and society can suddenly produce a progressive, humane and emancipating education. The crisis of the continuing racist, colonial and apartheid education system in South Africa post-1994 is a class matter; it is central to the class struggles in South Africa today, which largely affects the working class and their children. We condemn the arguments of both Blade Nzimande and Pravin Gordhan that free education is unaffordable, particularly the latter, who is planning an amnesty for rich tax evaders who have stolen millions of rand from the public, which could have been used for education. We also salute the school learners who have taken a stand against attempts by racist schools to perpetuate colonial cultural traditions. International Issues Our CC condemned the Zimbabwean governments repression of its own citizens and the blocking of food imports. The union will discuss the popular call for Mugabe to fall in the context of the role of imperialist forces that would be happy to take over the popular revolt, which it appears is largely led by the middle class. The CC condemned in the strongest possible terms the arrest and violence meted out against the Zambian Rainbow Party leadership and the banning of The Post newspaper in Zambia. We urge all Zambians to resist the temptation to slide into civil war, following the August 2016 National Elections in Zambia. We have agreed in Numsa that the reversal of popular struggles in Latin America requires a deep and detailed analysis of the mistakes committed and the subsequent setback for the working class and revolutionary forces. We condemn the coup committed by the racist right wing in Brazil by the removal of President Dilma Rousseff from office. In the United States of America, we welcome some of the positive pro-poor and pro-working class energies Senator Bernie Sanders presidential campaign has generated. In Europe, we are pleased with the resurgence of socialist energies in the British Labour Party, in Greece, in Spain, in Italy, in Portugal and many other European countries. We can only encourage these comrades in the womb of the beast to soldier on! We shall work with our allied trade union and social movements to chart a way forward, in our global struggles against imperialism, neo-colonialism, capitalism and all injustices. We condemn the ill-treatment and hatred of immigrants wherever these appear! We are determined to move forward to a powerful fighting Numsa with 400,000 members! We will forge ahead and create a new democratic and militant union federation! We will not be defeated in our work to form, create and grow a strong community and worker-based United Front! Most important, we are determined to give birth to a revolutionary socialist workers party! SOCIEDAD ASIATICA THE ASIAN SOCIETY COMISION DIRECTIVA THE DIRECTIVE BOARD PRESIDENTE: Liliana Garcia Daris Universidad del Salvador. Argentina VICEPRESIDENTE: Won-ho Kim Universidad de Hankuk de Estudios Extranjeros. Corea SECRETARIO: Luis Diaz Brougton Universidad de Santiago, Chile PROSECRETARIO: Martha Barriga Tello Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru VOCALES: Mauricio Martinez Universidad de los Andes, Colombia Juan Uriburu Quintana Universidad de Chenchi, Taiwan CONSEJEROS ACADEMICOS ACADEMIC ADVISERS ASH NARAIN, Roy, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. India GARCIA BAZAN, Francisco, CONICET, Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy MATSUSHITA, Hiroshi, Universidad de Kobe, Japon MIEMBROS FUNDADORES FOUNDING MEMBERS ALBERT, Liliana Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina ANTON PACHECO, Jose Antonio Universidad de Sevilla, Espana ANTONIJEVIC, Ingrid Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile BARRIGA TELLO, Martha Universidad Nacional de San Marcos, Peru BERGMAN, Sergio Melton Institute de Jerusalem, Israel BERTOLINI, Luis Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina CABEZON, Jose Universidad de Santa Barbara, Estados Unidos CAGNI, Horacio Universidad Catolica de La Plata, Argentina CARRANZA, Francisco Universidad de Dankook, Corea CASTLETON, Barbara Ohio State University of Athens CASTRO, Jorge Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina CHAOUL-REICH, Alejandro Universidad de Texas, Estados Unidos CHELMICKI, Hanna I. Universidad del Salvador, Argentina DIAZ BROUGHTON, Luis Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile FRANCO, Raul Universidad del Salvador, Argentina GADRE, Vasant Universidad Jawaharlal Nehru, India GARCIA DARIS, Liliana Universidad del Salvador, Argentina GLUCK, Carol Universidad de Columbia. Estados Unidos HOPKINS RODRIGUEZ, Eduardo Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru KIM, Wonho Universidad Hankuk de Estudios Extranjeros, Corea KO, Heysun Univesidad de Dankook, Corea LOPEZ DEL CARRIL, Luis Maria Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina LUCO, Enrique Universidad del Salvador MARTINEZ, Mauricio Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia MASATERU, Ito Universidad Nacional de Osaka, Japon MATSUSHITA, Hiroshi Universidad de Kobe, Japon MINKOWICZ, Gabriel Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires MONETA, Carlos Juan Universidad del Salvador, Argentina MORROW, John Andrew Minot State University, Dakota del Norte, USA NGUYEN, Thiet Son Academia de Ciencias Sociales de Vietnam, Vietnam OVIEDO, Eduardo CONICET. Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina PEREIRA, Ronan Alves Universidad de Brasilia. Brasil PEREYRA, Violeta Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina REMETE, Andrea Universidad del Salvador, Argentina RIMOLDI DE LADMAN, Eve Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina ROMERO CASTILLA, Alfredo Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico TEDIN URIBURU, Virgilio Universidad de Harvard, Estados Unidos UEHARA, Alexander Universidad de Sao Paulo. Brasil URIBURU QUINTANA, Juan Universidad de Chenchi, Taiwan VITTOR, Luis Alberto Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy XU, Shicheng Academia China de Ciencias Sociales, Republica Popular China 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. LEONARDTOWN, Md. Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at so.md/expungeme. (Sept. 20, 2016)The Leonardtown Barrack of the Maryland State Police (MSP) today released the following incident and arrest reports.DRUG ARREST, DUI: On Monday, September 5, Senior Trooper Davis initiated a traffic stop on a gray Ford truck on Route 235 at Hollywood Road. S/Tpr. Davis made contact with the driver, Mark Anthony Coates, 45, of Timberlake, NC, and detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage. Field sobriety was conducted, and Mr. Coates was placed under arrest for DUI. A search incident to arrest was conducted, and S/Tpr. Davis found suspected crack cocaine in Mr. Coates' pants pocket. Mr. Coates was charged with Possession of CDS: Cocaine, DUI, and other traffic offenses. Mr. Coates was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and held pending a bond review with the District Court Commissioner. (16-MSP-36164)BURGLARY, MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT: On Thursday, September 8, Tpr. Boniarski responded to the 27000 block of Barton Street in Mechanicsville for a reported burglary. The victim advised an unknown suspect stole his red and white 2013 Honda ATV out of an unlocked shed. The case remains open pending further investigation. (16-MSP-036699)DRUG ARREST, DUI: On Friday, September 9, TFC C. Ditoto initiated a traffic stop on a passenger car on Old Village Road in Mechanicsville. TFC Ditoto made contact with the driver, Timothy Alan Dalton, Jr., 38, of Waldorf. A probable cause search was conducted, resulting in the recovery of marijuana less than 10 grams. Field sobriety was then conducted, and Mr. Dalton was placed under arrest for Driving While Intoxicated. A search incident to arrest revealed CDS-not marijuana in Mr. Dalton's pants pocket. Mr. Dalton was charged with Possession of CDS: Not Marijuana, DUI, and other traffic offenses. Mr. Dalton was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and held pending a bond review with the District Court Commissioner. (16-MSP-036834)ASSAULT, WEAPONS VIOLATION, THEFT: On Monday, September 12 at 1:59 am, TFC E. Krenik responded to a lookout for a silver Toyota passenger car coming into St. Mary's County from Calvert County. The operator was allegedly involved in an assault in Calvert County and fled the scene. TFC Krenik observed a vehicle matching the description given on southbound Route 4 north of Kingston Creek Road. The vehicle turned onto Kingston Creek Road, and then turned onto Gross Drive. TFC Krenik activated his emergency equipment, and the vehicle stopped at the cul-de-sac at the end of Gross Drive. The driver got out of the vehicle and ran towards a nearby residence. TFC Krenik caught up with the suspect, and a brief struggle ensued. The suspect, identified as Robert Jacob Eberle, 27, of Lexington Park, was arrested. While speaking with Mr. Eberle, TFC Krenik detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage. Field sobriety was conducted, and TFC Krenik determined that Mr. Eberle was under the influence of alcohol. A check through NCIC revealed that the tag on the vehicle had been reported stolen. A Ruger P345 BB gun was located in the vehicle. Mr. Eberle was transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and charged with Possession of a Handgun in a Vehicle, Second Degree Assault, Resisting Arrest, Theft less than $100, DUI, and numerous traffic citations. He was held pending a bond review with the District Court Commissioner.BURGLARY: On Wednesday, September 14 at 6:07 pm, Tpr. Coppedge responded to the 29000 block of Cross Woods Drive for a reported burglary. Investigation revealed that unknown suspect(s) had broken the glass to a side door of the residence and stolen jewelry and prescription medication. The case remains open pending further investigation. (16-MSP-037607)CHILD NEGLECT, CDS: On Friday, September 16 at 7:32 pm, Tpr. Coppedge responded to the Food Lion in Leonardtown for a report of children unattended. Upon arrival, Tpr. Coppdege observed a 4 year old and a 6 month old unattended in a locked, running vehicle. The infant was crying and the 4 year old was visibly upset. A witness advised that she initially observed the children in the vehicle at 6:50 pm. The children's mother, Amy Lynn Sotello, 28, of Loveville exited the store at approximately 7:41 pm and was placed under arrest. Sotello was found to be in possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance. Sotello was charged with Neglect of a Minor, Confine Unattended Child, and CDS Not Marijuana and transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center. Sotello was held pending a bond review with the District Court Commissioner. (16-MSP-037948)DRUG ARREST: On Saturday, September 17 at 1:21 am, TFC B. Ditoto initiated a traffic stop on a passenger car for a traffic violation. TFC Ditoto made contact with the driver, Sean Merritt Smith, Jr., 26, of Washington D.C., and the passenger, Anthony Lamar Royall, 28, of Ellenwood, GA. Upon contact, TFC Ditoto detected a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Smith and Royall were placed under arrest and charged with CDS Possess with Intent to Distribute, CDS Possession - Marijuana, and CDS Possess Paraphernalia. Both subjects were transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center and held pending a bond review with the District Court Commissioner. (16-MSP-038002)Tyesha Danielle Leys, 31, of Great Mills, on 9/7/2016 for Failure to Appear in CourtJonathan Jones, 40, of Upper Marlboro, on 9/6/2016 for Failure to Appear in CourtDavid Dwight Barnes, 42, of Lexington Park, on 9/6/2016 for Failure to Appear in CourtAnthony Levi Taylor, 28, of Great Mills, on 9/8/2016 for Assault- First Degree and MDOPJohn Irvin Eberwein, 45, of Mechanicsville, on 9/13/2016 for Failure to Appear in CourtGeorgette Smith, 25, of Pasadena, on 9/13/2016 for Failure to Appear in CourtThomas Michael Maddox, 37, of Greenbelt, on 9/14/2016 for Theft less than $1000 and Failure to Appear in CourtJonathan Jones, 39, of Upper Marlboro on 9/6/2016Nathaniel Antonne Queen, 67, of Waldorf, on 9/7/2016Timothy Alan Dalton, 38, of Waldorf, on 9/9/2016James R. Beasley, 58, of Mechanicsville, on 9/9/2016Joseph Axzavis Stewart, Jr., 36, of Bushwood, on 9/10/2016Kenneth A. Shirriel, 67, of Mechanicsville, on 9/11/2016Anthony Russell Thomas, 53, of , on 9/12/2016Quanneil Antong Gibson, 40, of Clinton, on 9/11/2016Evan Mychal Russell, 22, of California, on 9/14/2016Martell D Angelo Morgan, 29, of Piney Point, on 9/15/2016Julie Ann Blew, 46, of California, on 9/16/2016Tracy Evan Hemsley, 22, of Lexington Park, on 9/17/2016John Alexander Hale, 24, of Lexington Park, on 9/17/2016Lawrence Peter Carlson, 53, of Lusby, on 9/18/2016Lauren Rochelle Carter, 23, of Great Mills, on 9/18/2016Oscar A. Ayala, 25, of Sterling, VA, on 9/18/2016 Chart shows average monthly bill for Maryland electricity customers. The red bar indicates current prices. The yellow bar represents the proposed increases. (Chart by Camille Chrysostom) ANNAPOLIS (Sept. 20, 2016)In less than a year, three Exelon-owned power companies have filed petitions with the Public Service Commission of Maryland to raise the price of electric bills.After Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s rate adjustment was granted in June, Delmarva Power and Pepco now seek to raise their prices, citing millions of dollars invested into improving their electric systems and services during the past few years.However, many, including Montgomery County council member Roger Berliner, said they believe these rate adjustments are unwarranted and will disproportionately affect lower-income residents already struggling to pay bills."There are so many people who are struggling and live on a fixed income," said Berliner, who also spoke at a public hearing on the rate increase on Sept. 6. "Pepco has a history of asking for more than what is justified."Exelon acquired Pepco and Delmarva in March, and Baltimore Gas and Electric in 2012.Pepco, whose coverage area consists of large portions of Prince George's and Montgomery counties, seeks to raise the average bill of a customer 8.71 percent or $13.29, making the new monthly average about $165. The new rates will bring in about $103 million annually, according to Pepco's filing with the Public Service Commission.The cost of energy is especially burdensome on low-income African-American and Latino households, according to a report published by Ariel Drehobl, a research analyst with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The report looked at 48 major U.S. cities, including Baltimore and Washington, D.C. ( aceee.org/press/2016/04/report-energy-burden-low-income African-American and white households pay similar prices for utilities; however, the median energy burden for African-Americans is 5.4 percent of household income, compared to that of whites at 3.3 percent, according to the report. Latinos experience a median energy burden of 4.1 percent of their household income.In Prince George's County, African-Americans account for about 64.6 percent of the population, and Hispanic or Latino residents account for 17.2 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau ( www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/24033 )."Families who face higher energy burdens experience many negative long-term effects on their health and well-being," Drehbohl wrote. "These families are at greater risk for respiratory diseases and increased stress, and they can experience increased economic hardship and difficulty in moving out of poverty."The $13 average would include both fixed and volumetric fees on a customer's bill."Fixed prices make it more difficult for households to try to mitigate the higher burden because you can't reduce your bill through energy-efficient measures," Drehobl said."Low-income families tend to live in smaller households (but) bills tend to be higher per square foot."Delmarva's proposed rate adjustment would raise the average bill price by $21.48, making it about $168. In total, Delmarva would take in a total of $66.2 million from the hike, according to Nicholas Morici, Delmarva senior communication specialist. Delmarva's coverage area is spread across the state's Eastern Shore."Delmarva Power realizes that asking for rate increases is never easy and the company will continue to refer customers who may need help with their energy bill to its agency partners that can help with bill payment," Morici wrote in an email.During the past two years, Pepco, which filed its last rate adjustment in 2013, says it has invested $327 million into improving the reliability of the electric distribution system, including a $24 million grid resiliency program that Pepco seeks to expand with the profit from the rate adjustment.Tori Leonard, communications director with the Public Service Commission, said the ratemaking process includes an analysis of the practicality and efficiency of a company's investments, in addition to the cost of capital.Both our customer satisfaction scores and our reliability is steadily improving and we are using technology and infrastructure improvements to make our electrical system even more reliable and safe. Outages in Maryland are down 43 percent during the last four years."In order to continue to meet its obligation to provide safe and adequate service, Pepco must continuously replace and enhance the distribution system infrastructure," Peter Meier, vice president of legal services at Pepco, wrote in a letter to the Public Service Commission.Berliner said, however, utility companies should not be compensated for investments made even if they claim those investments provide customers with better service."There are no other businesses in America that are compensated on the basis of how much money they invest," Berliner said during his testimony. "Utilities, like other business, should be rewarded on how well they meet the needs of their customers."In compliance with an order issued by the Public Service Commission in September of 2010, Pepco, along with BGE, Delmarva and South Maryland Electric Cooperative, launched a smart grid initiative that aimed to enhance the generation, distribution and consumption of energy, according to Pepco.As a result, Pepco did away with many of its analog meters and since has invested in more than 560,000 "smart meters" that record energy consumption and communicate information using a central, digital system."Smart meters allow customers to better track and manage their household energy use and save money during times of peak demand, such as on a hot summer day," Pepco said in a press release.But not everyone values the smart meters.Director of anti-smart meter advocacy group Maryland Smart Meter Awareness Kate Kheel is a BGE customer but has opted not to have a smart meter installed on her house."It is in my estimation that the industry benefited (from smart meters) and customers and the environment have not," said Kheel, who plans on removing herself from the grid entirely by next year. "It's not good for the environment to produce these extra smart meters for no reason."Kheel argues that the usage of smart meters prevents utility companies from successfully and efficiently utilizing alternative forms of energy such as solar, and increases dependency on fossil fuels.Earlier this year, Berliner started a change.org petition, which has amassed more than 2,000 signatures against the price hike. He said the county will remain an extremely active participant in fighting to strike down Pepco's request.The Public Service Commission plans on holding further hearings with both Pepco and Delmarva moving forward. Leonard said it's possible that the rate adjustments are approved but at a different, potentially lower, rate.Baltimore Gas and Electric's recent rate adjustment of $2.80 that went into effect in June raised customers' average electric bills to $134.33.The commission plans to make a final decision on Pepco by Nov. 15 and Delmarva by Feb. 15. Iowa Rep. Steve King vigorously defended his views on marriage, telling CNN's Chris Cuomo that promoting "natural" families is the best thing for presidential candidates to do. "I want to respect all people but I want to promote the natural family, Chris, and I think that's the most wholesome thing that we can do," he said, Sept. 14, on CNN's "New Day." "The natural family is a man and woman joined together hopefully in holy matrimony blessed by God with children," the Donald Trump supporter added. The Iowa Republican said he supports any child care plan of Trump's that encourages more Americans to become parents. The Republican presidential candidate unveiled Tuesday parts of his plan to make child care more affordable. "The proposal about supporting mothers and fathers and families and encouraging more babies in this country, that is good," King said. "Anything he might do with this, I would encourage him to promote the expansion of families because if we don't have more babies than we have funerals, we're going to end up like Europe. And we'll be in a situation where we're importing a counter culture that may be alien to the values of the American way of life." Cuomo cited scientific research that says children of same sex parents do as well if not better than the children of heterosexual families. "We know that what works is loving the kid, giving them the attention, giving them the time," Cuomo said. "There is no reason to believe that you have to have a man and woman to do that." "Why not encourage anything that gets a child loved and provided for?" he asked the Congressman. King argued that there is also evidence that supports that children ideally need a male and a female parent. "The evidence is very heavy on the other side of this thing -- to have a role model as a man in the home, to have a role model as a woman in home especially a model of a father and a mother that are joined together and working together in a team," he said. "That is the best way that we can hope that all children are raised." They know they wont get elected, but that wont stop them from trying. Aleksei Korolyov and Bulat Barantayev, two openly gay men and longtime activists, are running for seats in Russias Duma elections on Sept. 28. They are running in response to the homophobic policies of Russian government and Vladimir Putin. Barantayev, 33, shared his reasoning with Radio Free Europe. For a long time now, I have used all opportunities to cultivate an audience for accepting LGBT people, Barantayev told Radio Free Europe. By my example, I show that gays in Russia can create their own successful businesses, can meet with people, can have children, and can even run for the State Duma. State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly. Although the men face some risk by running as openly gay candidates, Barantayev believes that he is risking less than other candidates. "The leader of the Novosibirsk branch of Parnas, Yegor Savin, is under tremendous pressure, he told RFE. His assistant was recently assaulted. People who are distributing his leaflets have been threatened over the phone. The building where his business is located was set on fire." In comparison, Barantayev believes he faces little risk because he is not seen as a threat. "The authorities believe there is no chance I'll be elected in today's Russia. So they don't pay any attention to me." Korolyov, 29, told the publication: "We can't hide and be afraid. The discriminatory law has activated the LGBT community and has spurred development. We recognize that if we don't do politics, politics will do us." Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza. Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres. Starving Black Hole ESO The mystery of a rare change in the behaviour of a supermassive black hole at the centre of a distant galaxy has been solved by an international team of astronomers using ESOs Very Large Telescope along with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory. It seems that the black hole has fallen on hard times and is no longer being fed enough fuel to make its surroundings shine. Many galaxies are found to have an extremely bright core powered by a supermassive black hole. These cores make active galaxies some of the brightest objects in the universe. They are thought to shine so brightly because hot material is glowing fiercely as it falls into the black hole, a process known as accretion. This brilliant light can vary hugely between different active galaxies, so astronomers classify them into several types based on the properties of the light they emit [1]. Some of these galaxies have been observed to change dramatically over the course of only 10 years; a blink of an eye in astronomical terms. However, the active galaxy in this new study, Markarian 1018 stands out by having changed type a second time, reverting back to its initial classification within the last five years. A handful of galaxies have been observed to make this full-cycle change, but never before has one been studied in such detail. The discovery of Markarian 1018s fickle nature was a chance by-product of the Close AGN Reference Survey (CARS, http://www.cars-survey.org), a collaborative project between ESO and other organisations to gather information on 40 nearby galaxies with active cores. Routine observations of Markarian 1018 with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE, http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/vlt/vlt-instr/muse) installed on ESOs Very Large Telescope (http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal) revealed the surprising change in the light output of the galaxy. We were stunned to see such a rare and dramatic change in Markarian 1018, said Rebecca McElroy, lead author of the discovery paper and a PhD student at the University of Sydney and the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO, http://www.caastro.org). The chance observation of the galaxy so soon after it began to fade was an unexpected opportunity to learn what makes these galaxies tick, as Bernd Husemann, CARS project leader and lead author of one of two papers associated with the discovery, explained: We were lucky that we detected the event just 3-4 years after the decline started so we could begin monitoring campaigns to study details of the accretion physics of active galaxies that cannot be studied otherwise. The research team made the most of this opportunity, making it their first priority to pinpoint the process causing Markarian 1018s brightness to change so wildly. This could have been caused by any one of a number of astrophysical events, but they could rule out the black hole pulling in and consuming a single star [2] and cast doubt on the possibility of obscuration by intervening gas [3]. But the true mechanism responsible for Markarian 1018s surprising variation remained a mystery after the first round of observations. However, the team were able to gather extra data after they were awarded observing time to use the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (http://www.spacetelescope.org), and NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html). With the new data from this suite of instruments they were able to solve the mystery the black hole was slowly fading because it was being starved of accretion material. Its possible that this starvation is because the inflow of fuel is being disrupted, said Rebecca McElroy. An intriguing possibility is that this could be due to interactions with a second supermassive black hole. Such a black hole binary system is a distinct possibility in Markarian 1018, as the galaxy is the product of a major merger of two galaxies each of which likely contained a supermassive black hole in its centre. Research continues into the mechanisms at work in active galaxies such as Markarian 1018 that change their appearance. The team had to work fast to determine what was causing Markarian 1018s return to the shadows, comments Bernd Husemann. Ongoing monitoring campaigns with ESO telescopes and other facilities will allow us to explore the exciting world of starving black holes and changing active galaxies in more detail. Notes [1] The brightest of the active galaxies are quasars, where the brilliant nucleus outshines the rest of the galaxy. Another, less extreme, class are known as Seyfert galaxies. Originally a method was developed that used brightness and the emission spectrum the plot of the strength of radiation emitted at different wavelength to distinguish between just two types of Seyfert galaxies, Type 1 and Type 2, but extra classifications such as Type 1.9 Seyferts have since been introduced. [2] Such a tidal disruption event occurs when a star strays too close to a supermassive black hole and is torn apart by the extreme gravitational tidal force. This results in a sharp rise in the brightness of the central region that slowly declines over a period of years. The observed brightness variations of Markarian 1018 were found not to match the profile of such an event. [3] Gas obscuration can affect the classification of an active galaxy by blocking the line of sight, drifting in front of the galaxys bright core like fog in front of a cars headlights, and dimming the light passing through. This also affects the spectrum of galaxy, perhaps changing its classification. References: * Mrk 1018 Returns to the Shadows After 30 Years as a Seyfert 1, R. E. McElroy et al., 2016, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics [http://www.aanda.org, preprint (PDF): http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1631/eso1631a.pdf]. * What Is Causing Mrk 1018s Return to the Shadows After 30 Years? B. Husemann et al., 2016, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics [http://www.aanda.org, preprint (PDF): http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1631/eso1631b.pdf]. xpedition 49 Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA wears a hand-painted spacesuit decorated by patients recovering at the MD Anderson Cancer Center to raise awareness about the benefits of pairing art with medicine. Three spacesuits, HOPE, COURAGE and UNITY, were created during the project. Spacesuit UNITY was created at cancer hospitals in Germany, Russia, and Japan with collaboration from astronauts from NASAs international partners, ESA (European Space Agency), the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Rubins is seen wearing the COURAGE suit. Credit: NASA. NASA The three Expedition 49 crew members orbiting Earth right now are moving ahead today with human research and the upkeep of the International Space Station. In the meantime, Roscosmos officials have decided to postpone the Sept. 23 launch of NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko aboard the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft. Expedition 49 Commander Anatoly Ivanishin worked throughout the stations Russian segment Monday working on life support systems, checking computers and testing video gear. He also set up an electrocardiogram to begin recording data for 24 hours for the Cosmocard blood circulation study. Astronauts Kate Rubins and Takuya Onishi partnered up for the Body Measures experiment exploring how living in space changes body shape and size. The study involves video-taping, photographing and tape measuring the circumference of a crew members arms, legs and chest and comparing it with data recorded before, during and after a space mission. The pair also performed a series of interactive tasks on a touchscreen tablet for the Fine Motor Skills study. That experiment explores how astronauts interact with new technologies which may help engineers design new spacesuits and spacecraft for future long-term space missions. On-Orbit Status Report Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI)-2 Auto-Stop Transition: On Sunday, ground teams received notification that MELFI-2 in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) transitioned to Auto-stop. The Brayton Motor powered off, and the rack maintained power and good Low Temperature Loop (LTL) flow. The Cold Stowage team noted that the way the MELFI monitoring software is coded that the software may pick up on an Auto-Stop condition and take action before its reported in telemetry that is broadcast to the ground. Based on the state of the rack prior to the Auto-Stop, Cold Stowage is confident that is what happened. Due to all other rack parameters being in a good state, the Brayton Motor was repowered and the total time for the Brayton Motor to be off was 1 hour 16 minutes 5 seconds. Body Measures: FE-6, with the assistance of FE-5 as the operator, conducted a Body Measures data collection session. The crew configured still cameras and video, then collected the Neutral Body Posture video and stow the equipment. NASA is collecting in-flight anthropometric data (body measurements) to assess the impact of physical body shape and size changes on suit sizing. Still and video imagery is captured and a tape measure is used to measure segmental length, height, depth, and circumference data for all body segments (chest, waist, hip, arms, legs, etc.) from astronauts before, during and after their flight missions. Fine Motor Skills (FMS): Both FE-5 and FE-6 performed their weekly FMS sessions. The crew each performed a series of interactive tasks on a touchscreen tablet were completed for the Fine Motor Skills investigation. This investigation is critical during long-duration space missions, particularly those skills needed to interact with technologies required in next-generation space vehicles, spacesuits, and habitats. The crewmembers fine motor skills are also necessary for performing tasks in transit or on a planetary surface, such as information access, just-in-time training, subsystem maintenance, and medical treatment. Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL) Sample Cartridge Assembly (SCA) Exchange: The crew changed out the SCA in the Solidification Quenching Furnace (SQF), removing the calibration cartridge and inserting the first test sample. Ground teams will initiate the runs next week. The Batch-2b of the Materials Science Laboratory Sample Cartridge Assemblies serves two projects investigating how different phases organize in a structure when metallic alloys are solidified. The project Metastable Solidification of Composites (METCOMP) studies the phase formed by the reaction of the remaining liquid phase with an already formed solid, to form a second solid phase on cooling. For this purpose, Bronze (Copper-Tin Alloys) of different compositions will be processed. The other project, Solidification along a Eutectic path in Ternary Alloys (SETA), looks at how two phases that form together organize into lamellar, or fibre, structures when cooling Aluminum (Copper-Silver Alloys). Both projects will provide benchmark samples that will enable to test numerical models that aim to predict these structures. Eli Lily Hard to Wet Surfaces: FE-6 charged batteries in support of the Hard to Wet Surfaces experiment. After the battery charging, the crew verified the setup of the camera and flash that will be used in the experiment run starting tomorrow. In chemistry, wetting refers to spreading of a liquid over a solid materials surface, and is a key aspect of the materials ability to dissolve. The Hard to Wet Surfaces (Eli Lilly-Hard to Wet Surfaces) investigation studies how certain materials used in the pharmaceutical industry dissolve in water while in microgravity. Results from this investigation could help improve the design of tablets that dissolve in the body to deliver drugs, thereby improving drug design for medicines used in space and on Earth. Hatch Seal Inspection: FE-5 cleaned and inspected the COL, N2 port, N2 Stbd, A/L, N2 Stbd, JLP, JPM Stbd, JPM Zenith and PMM hatch seals, hatch plate sealing surface and hatch handle mechanism for FOD or damage. This is standard preventative maintenance performed every 180 day. Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Latching End Effector (LEE) Survey: The SSRMS was powered up and maneuvered to allow for an inspection of the LEE B using the new High Definition cameras. Todays Planned Activities All activities completed unless otherwise noted. Fine Motor Skills Experiment Test Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Ground Connection Auxiliary Laptop Computer System (???) Virus Definition File Update Hard To Wet Surfaces D2Xs Battery Charge CO Partial Pressure Measurement on ISS RS (SM Central Post) using USOS Portable Gas Analyzer CSA-CP (located on the SM Central Post, Panel 208). Battery replacement (as necessary) Body Measures Equipment Gather COSMOCARD. Setup. 24-Hour EKG Recording (start) Body Measures Experiment Operations EML Reprogramming Cable installation Transfer of Brine and Urine from EDV-U into DC1 Progress 433 Rodnik ??2 Water Tank Hatch Seal Inspection Habitability Narrated Task Video Setup Subject Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Collect Quick Disconnect Screw Clamps Tightening on DC1-Progress 433 Interface Habitability Narrated Task Video End Subject Soyuz 731 Samsung Tablet Charging (start) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Sample Analysis Material Science Laboratory SCA ExchangeA2 #5 ??? maintenance Environmental Health System (EHS) Coliform Water Processing Soyuz 731 Samsung Tablet Charging (term) IMS Delta File Prep Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Termination EML Reprogramming Cable removal Hard To Wet Surfaces Hardware Gather Profile of Mood States (POMS) Questionnaire TV Downlink Test via Ku-band in MPEG-2 Prior to Soyuz 732 Docking to the ISS (Ku+S-band). Hard To Wet Surfaces Set Up Check Exercise Data Downlink via OCA Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record Completed Task List Items JAXA Try Zero G Experiment (Completed Saturday) Personal CO2 Monitor Payload On Board Training (Completed Saturday) Personal CO2 Monitor iPad Application Install (Completed Saturday) Personal CO2 Monitor Sensor Calibration (Completed Saturday) Remove and replace the Solid Waste Container [KTO]. (Completed Saturday) Remove and Replace Waste Hygiene Compartment (WHC) ???-Y (Completed Saturday) A/L Equipment Procedure Print (Completed Sunday) JAXA Video Taking Part 5 (Completed Sunday) Plug-in Plan USB Charger Deploy to NOD2 UOP1 and NOD3 UOP1 (Completed Sunday) Personal CO2 Monitor Sensor Charge (Completed Sunday) ARED Cable Arm Rope Measurement Columbus SSD USB Connect Velcro Attachment to Manufacturing Device Ground Activities All activities completed unless otherwise noted. MCA Full Calibration SSRMS LEE B Survey Battery 4B1 Reconditioning Three-Day Look Ahead: Tuesday, 09/20: Vision Test, HTWS sample, CMO OBT, MMS sample, iPIP USB Charger deploy Wednesday, 09/21: Ocular Health, Personal CO2 Monitor, Clean Bench Valve Checkout, MSPR Combustion Chamber Adapter Plate Thursday, 09/22: Ultrasound Scan, WHC Water Maintenance, MMS sample QUICK ISS Status Environmental Control Group: Component Status Elektron On Vozdukh Manual [???] 1 SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1) On [???] 2 SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2) Off Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab Idle Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Reprocess Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 Full Up NASA FISO Presentation: Low-Latency Teleoperations for the Evolvable Mars Campaign. NASA Now available is the September 7, 2016 NASA Future In-Space Operations (FISO) telecon material. The speakers were Mark Lupisella, Jack Bleacher and Michael Wright of NASA GSFC who discussed Low-Latency Teleoperations for the Evolvable Mars Campaign. Mark Lupisella Dr. Lupisella works at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Exploration Systems Project and leads Goddards Advanced Exploration Systems and Architecture support for Human Exploration. He led studies on Crew-Assisted Sample Return and the use of low-latency teleoperations for the Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) and Evolvable Mars Campaign and previously co-led the HAT CisLunar Team and helped develop a 500-day Mars surface operations concept. He was the Deputy Task Lead and lead systems engineer for human exploration architecture Science requirements development for NASAs Constellation Program. He was a member of the Keck Institute for Space Studies Asteroid Retrieval Mission Study and has led proposals to test and develop a commercial mini-biomolecule sequencer which was recently successfully tested on ISS under the leadership of Johnson Space Center. Mark also worked on Hubble Space Telescope and chaired several Failure Review Boards. He has also Worked in astrobiology, Cooperative robotics, and Wearable computing. Mark has authored over 30 published works and is a contributor to the International Academy of Astronautics Cosmic Study on the Dynamics of Space Exploration Activities and Outlook and was a panel member of the COSPAR workshop on Developing a Responsible Environmental Regime for Celestial Bodies. He was co-editor, with previous NASA Historian Steve Dick, of Cosmos and Culture: Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic Context. Mark received a B.S. in Physics, an M.A. in Philosophy of Science, and a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Maryland, where he did his dissertation on modeling microbial Contamination of Mars from human missions. Michael Wright is a NASA flight systems integration and test (I&T) engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center. He has served as l&T manager and expert consultant for over two-dozen spaceflight projects, including instruments, spacecraft, and observatories. Most recently, Mr. Wright served as NASA lead engineer for assembly, test, and launch operations for the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission. In Goddards Exploration Systems Project, Mr. Wright has served on programs such as Constellation and the Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT). For the latter, Mr. Wright has developed low-latency telerobotics (LLT) operations concepts for the Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC). Mr. Wright presented this work this past July at the 3rd International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos. Among other degrees, Mr. Wright holds an M.S. in Space Technology from Florida Tech. He is author of several manuscripts, including Lunar Electromagnetic Launch System for In-Situ Resource Utilization, published in IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (Jan. 2011). Dr. Bleacher has research interest is the geologic development of planetary volcanic provinces and their subsequent modification and hazard potential through a combination of terrestrial field studies and spacecraft data analysis. He is currently combining his expertise in field and planetary geology to help build and test the science capabilities of NASAs newest instrument, suit and rover technologies. As part of this effort he supports integrated science and technology field tests for human exploration such as NASAs Desert Research And Technology Studies (Desert RATS) and the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog Simulation (HI-SEAS) as well as leading the field campaigns for NASAs Solar System Exploration Virtual Institute (SSERVI) team Remote, ln Situ and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration (RIS4E). These efforts strive to ensure that science is a part of future human exploration of Mars and the Solar System. Listen to podcast of Low-Latency Teleoperations for the Evolvable Mars Campaign telecon: Download the MP3 File. Download the presentation (PDF). Thu, 27.10.22 - 11:04 The temperatures will fall in the Murcia Region but the weekend still promises to be warm and sunny Autumn has ye... Trevor Henry returned to his former stomping grounds at Grand River Raceway on Monday night and reminded fans just how efficient he can be on a half-mile racetrack. The Arthur, ON resident guided five of his nine mounts to victory, including wins in three of four $105,000 Gold Series divisions. Both the two-year-old pacing colts and pacing fillies were in Elora for their fourth Gold Leg, and Henry swept the filly divisions and captured one colt contest. Pacing colt Big Bad Bill gave the reinsman his first stakes win of the evening with a convincing gate-to-wire score in 1:55.1. Starting from Post 3, Henry rolled Big Bad Bill through a :27.4 quarter, :57 half and 1:25.3 three-quarters on the way to the one and three-quarter length victory over Machin A Trick and Classic Pro. Hes a horse, he got real sick and hes just come around. He was off three weeks and he win (Aug. 30) and then last week (Sept. 6) he got locked in; he was running over them at the wire. Hes just getting better and better, said Henry. I thought if he could get around the half hed have a real good shot. Henry steers Big Bad Bill for trainer Gerald Lilley of Dutton and his co-owners, the colts breeders Bill Manes of Rockwood and William Cripps of Acton, ON. The victory was the Badlands Hanover sons first in Ontario Sires Stakes action, which boosted his record to two wins and two thirds in eight starts and almost tripled his earnings to $85,980. Henry also employed a front-end strategy with fan favourite Windy Sport in the first pacing filly Gold division. Starting from Post 1 the pair rang up a :27.1 quarter, :56.2 half and 1:24.4 three-quarters on their way to the 1:55.2 victory. Sir Native finished one and one-half lengths back in second and Battle of the Belles champion Bid Writer was third. Shes a nice filly. She has a bit of an attitude, shes hard to handle at some times, but she has some quick speed, said Henry. Shes a small filly, I knew shed handle the half pretty good. She win pretty handy. Cambridge resident Casie Coleman conditions Windy Sport for her partners in the West Wins Stable of Cambridge and Steve Calhoun of Chatham, ON. Mondays win was the Sportswriter daughters second lifetime and her first in Ontario Sires Stakes action. In eight starts she has now posted two wins and three seconds for earnings of $115,041, well in excess of the $40,000 US her owners spent acquiring her from the 2015 Harrisburg Yearling Sale. Two races later Henry was back in the winners circle with pacing filly Aint Three OK, who delivered a gritty first over effort to secure her first Gold Series victory. After getting away third from Post 2 and watching fan favourite Fade lead the field to a :27.4 quarter, Henry sent the filly up the outside heading for the :57.4 half. Fade and driver Jonathan Drury refused to yield, but Aint Three OK continued to press the pace through the 1:26.2 three-quarters, eventually wearing down the pacesetter. A solid finishing kick propelled Aint Three OK to the 1:55.3 victory, two and one-quarter lengths ahead of Future Headlines and Southwind Ion. Shes a really good filly. She should have won the Battle of the Belles, but of course she was sick that day, noted Henry, who piloted the filly to a runner-up finish behind Bid Writer in the Aug. 1 Battle of the Belles Final. Shes a really nice filly. Shes small, but she tries hard. I really raced her tonight. Usually I just take her back and let her finish or whatever, but tonight she worked for it, added the reinsman. Shes tough, shes got a lot of heart. Mach Three daughter Aint Three OK is trained by Mike Weller for Chuck Grubbs of Louisville, KY. The filly earned her first lifetime victory in her Battle of the Belles Elimination at Grand River Raceway on July 25. Mondays win improved her record to two wins and three thirds in seven starts for earnings of $137,800. Henrys mount in the last pacing colt division made an early break and finished well back of winner Yogi Bayama, who watched his peers play musical chairs through the early going. Southwind General, favourite Happy Trio and Arsenal Seelster each took a turn on the lead, recording fractions of :28, :57.2 and 1:25.3 while Yogi Bayama looked on from third. Turning for home Hall of Fame horseman Yves Filion found Yogi Bayama an open lane and the colt sprinted by Southwind General for a neck victory in 1:55.2. Richard Hill completed the top three. Stephane Larocque of Carlisle, ON conditions Yogi Bayama for Filions Bayama Farms of Saint-Andre-DArgenteuil, QC and numbered company 9099 3833 Quebec Inc. of Sorel-Tracy, QC. A Grassroots winner at Mohawk Racetrack in the July 7 season opener, the homebred son of Sportswriter and Newmoon Bayama now has one win, one second and one third in his three Gold Series outings. In nine freshman starts Yogi Bayama has tallied three wins, three seconds and two thirds for earnings of $118,860. Henry bookended his Gold Series successes with wins in the first and last races on the Grand River Raceway program, steering pacing mare Team Leader to a 1:56.1 victory in the first race for trainer Mike Weller and trotting mare Natural Grace to a 2:00.2 win in the last race for owner-trainer Stacey Reinsma. It was a big night for me, Henry acknowledged. They dont come very often, but its nice when they do. The two-year-old pacing colts will wrap up their regular season at Mohawk Racetrack on Oct. 1 while the pacing fillies complete their Gold Series campaign at Mohawk on Oct. 3. Mondays contest wrapped up Grand River Raceways 2016 Ontario Sires Stakes schedule, which saw the Elora oval host 10 Grassroots and Gold Series events. (OSS) To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results Grand River Raceway. Bob McClure won early and often during Monday evenings card at Mohawk Racetrack, with his win total climbing to five by the time they shut off the lights at the Campbellville oval. McClure, who many consider to be one of the best B track reinsmen in Ontario, took full advantage of the unique opportunity to drive nine times on the 10-race card when a number of WEGs regular reinsmen were battling at Grand River Raceway on their stakes-filled Monday evening program. The first three races at Mohawk belonged to McClure, who clicked with Nicholas Ryan (1:53), Light Foot Rd (1:53) and Stormont Viceroy (1:57.4). He returned to victory lane in Race 5 thanks to a front-stepping score with Osborne Seelster (1:54.3), and he capped off the five-bagger with a come-from-behind tally with Par Intended (1:51.3) in Race 7. The memorable night pushed McClures seasonal earnings over $2 million, while his UDR soared to .361 a significant jump from last years total of .302. His win productivity has also taken a sharp rise compared to last year. He finished up 2015 with 340 trips to the winners circle, but this years total currently sits at 357 with more than three full months of racing remaining on the calendar. Monday also proved to be a big night for trainer Carmen Auciello, who celebrated a three-win performance on the card. He watched Nicholas Ryan (Race 1), Shippen Out (Race 4) and Toy Is Ours (Race 8) take the checkered flag in their respective assignments. Auciellos barn is on the verge of surpassing $2 million in earnings for the fourth consecutive season. Hes already sent out more than 100 winners in five straight campaigns. To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results Mohawk Racetrack. Farrier Thomas Tom J. Mello Sr. passed away on Saturday, September 17 at the age of 69. He was the beloved husband of Judith Judy (Mitchell) Mello. Together they would have celebrated their 45th anniversary on October 2. A lifelong resident of Rehoboth, Mass., he was the son of the late Manuel and Georgianna (Rocha) Mello. He grew up working on his parents dairy farm and later served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard. He then attended the University of Maine Farrier School and served his apprenticeship under James Mitchell of Johnston, R.I. Throughout his life, Mello worked at many of the New England area racetracks and most recently at Plainridge Park, where he worked as the farrier for the past several years. His true passion in life was farming; he enjoyed raising horses, pigs, goats and poultry. Together with his wife and their sons, they owned and operated Rainbow Turkey Farm on Homestead Ave., Rehoboth. Mello also loved spending time with his family, friends and cronies, attending auctions and stopping at the many area farms and diners. He had a magnetic personality and was always the life of the party; he was a free spirit who was not worried what anyone thought. He always demonstrated this at the many family reunions, weddings and get-togethers, by taking over the microphone and leading the Marine March for his family and friends. He will be fondly remembered for his many, many catch phrases, light hearted and easy going ways. Besides his beloved wife, Mello is survived by his sons, Thomas TJ Jr. (Crystal) and Gregory (Kara); grandchildren, Mason, Gage, Reid, Carly and Mary-Kate; brothers, Dr. Richard, Manuel, James, Raymond and Peter; sister, Sr. Carole V.M. Mello, Dominican Sister of the Presentation of Fall River; and many nieces, nephews and friends. His funeral will be held Saturday (Sept. 24) at 9 a.m. from William W. Tripp Funeral Home, 1008 Newport Ave., Pawtucket, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, Coyle Dr., Seekonk. Interment will follow at Oak Knoll Cemetery, Rehoboth. Visitation will be Friday (Sept. 23) from 3-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 26 Broadway, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Tom Melo. (USTA) Citizens United Releases Phil Robertson's 'Torchbearer' Coming October 7th 2016 LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- Citizens United is proud to release the thought-provoking documentary starring "The Duck Commander" Phil Robertson in a passion project coming to select theaters on October 7th, 2016. Phil makes a compelling argument on the absurdity of life without God. Featuring real-life footage from events throughout history and leading up to the modern day crisis of radical Islamic terrorism, Phil personally guides us through a journey that includes Athens, Greece; Rome, Italy, Paris, France; and even the notorious Nazi death camp of World War II, Auschwitz. With a biblical perspective, Phil covers events ranging from the creation of the atomic bomb, the impact of the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. He uses these events to illustrate that God is the only meaningful anchor to a civilized society and calls on all of us to consider our faith. Torchbearer is directed and co-written by Stephen K. Bannon. Bannon is an award winning filmmaker with previous titles including Generation Zero; The Undefeated; Occupy Unmasked and The Hope & The Change. Mr. Bannon is a former Naval Officer who is the Executive Chairman of Breitbart News. He is on a temporary leave of absence as he is currently the CEO of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. The film was produced by David N. Bossie who has served as president of Citizens United since 2001. Bossie has produced more than two dozen documentaries. Recent productions include: Rocky Mountain Heist hosted by Michelle Malkin, Occupy Unmasked featuring the late conservative icon Andrew Breitbart, Our Sacred Honor with Senator Rick Santorum, The Gift of Life with Governor Mike Huckabee, and the award winning films Nine Days That Changed The World and Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny hosted by Callista and Newt Gingrich. Bossie is currently on a temporary leave of absence from Citizens United, as he is currently the Deputy Campaign Manager of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Torchbearer is based on a story by Zach Dasher. The film will also have a day and date release on various digital and VOD platforms including Comcast, Dish, iTunes, Vudu, Amazon and more. More information is available at www.torchbearermovie.com ABOUT CITIZENS UNITED Citizens United is the nation's leading producer of conservative documentary films. Citizens United was founded in 1988 as a public policy advocacy organization that promotes traditional American values including limited government, free enterprise, belief in God, strong families and national security and sovereignty. For more information about Citizens United visit the organization's website at citizensunited.org. Two Offerings from Orbis Books Provide Pan-African Perspectives on Key Issues in Theology, Ethics, Public Health Contact: Mike Virgintino, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers , 914-941-7636 ext 2219MARYKNOLL, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- The rapid growth of the Catholic population in African countries has been one of the key factors driving the shift of perspective within the church from Western Europe to what is called the Global South. Veteran Vatican reporter John L. Allen, Jr., has called the African continent "the most dynamic corner of the Christian map."Two new books from Orbis Books, the publishing unit of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, illustrate this dynamic growth, focusing on issues of both church and society."The Church We Want" (August 2016) is the fruit of a three-year research project, the Theological Colloquium on Church, Religion, and Society in Africa (TCCRSA). The colloquium brought together 60 distinguished scholars and religious who represented a broad spectrum of cultures and regions. Their goal was to develop, model and sustain a new process and method of theological reflection and study at the service of the world church.The collection of original essays cover a broad range of topicsecclesial structure, the bible and the church, the role of women, the gospel of the family, and urgent regional and cultural issues that include the impact of Pope Francis' environmental encyclical, Laudato Si'.In "HIV and AIDS in Africa," the contributors address the myriad socio-political and spiritual questions raised by the 30-year-long pandemic. "AIDS is altogether a physical, moral, and metaphysical evil that has challenged medicine and human society," according to editor Jacquineau Azetsop.How do Christians in Africa reach out to the infected, and how do their communitiesespecially the Small Christian Communitiesprovide support to those in need? What biblical foundations can believers draw on in their lives and work, in roles from caregiver to public health administrator? While focused on the particulars of their African context, these essays have resonance for theologians, academics and health professionals.The fall series of presentations by the editors and contributors for "The Church We Want" and "HIV and AIDS in Africa" will take place at Boston College (Tuesday, September 20) Duquesne University (Tuesday, September 27) DePaul University (Thursday, September 29) and Villanova University (Monday, October 31). The public is invited."The Church We Want: African Catholics Look to Vatican III," A.E. Orobator, SJ, editorISBN 978-1-62698-203-1 paperback 304pp., index. $35.00"HIV and AIDS in Africa: Christian Reflection, Public Health, Social Transformation," Jacquineau Azetsop, SJ, editorISBN 978-1-62698-200-0 paperback 448pp., index. $35.00Founded in 1970, Orbis Books publishes works that enlighten the mind, nourish the spirit and challenge the conscience. Orbis seeks to explore the global dimensions of Christian faith and mission, to invite dialogue with diverse cultures and religious traditions, and to serve the cause of reconciliation and peace. Learn more at www.orbisbooks.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/orbisbooks The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers follow Jesus in serving the poor and others in need in 22 countries that include the U.S. All Catholics are called to mission through baptism and confirmation, and Maryknoll's mission education outreach in parishes and schools throughout the country engages U.S. Catholics in mission through vocations, prayer, donations and as volunteers. Maryknoll missioners share God's love and the Gospel in combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and promoting human rights. For more information, visit the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers at maryknollsociety.org and follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/MaryknollFrsBrs These testimonies by Syrian soldiers who are fighting the Islamic State rebels (ISIS-Daesh) confirm what we already know. The United States of America is not fighting the terrorists in Syria. The Obama administration, with the support of its allies including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, is supporting the Islamic State (ISIS Daesh) Obamas counterterrorism campaign in Syria and Iraq is bogus. Read carefully: The testimonies confirm the unspoken truth: OBAMA IS PROTECTING THE TERRORISTS - We [Syrian soldiers] first thought the aircraft are support to us after the first 2 shots, but we quickly found out that they are targeting our forces aggressively, while we were fighting IS terrorists. The aircraft used cluster bombs against us. - A day before the airstrikes, the [US] drones were flying and scanning all the area - The US air-strikes destroyed all our equipment and defense points. - IS fighters attacked us immediately after and during the US strikes. Some of them were laughing - US drones and helicopters opened fire from machine guns on our retreated forces - It for sure wasnt a mistake, they targeted us intentionally to help IS. - America is ISIS itself Translation from Arabic (H. E) The US Air strikes were deliberate, they were carefully planned and coordinated with ISIS-Daesh commandos on the ground. The bombings enabled the ISIS-Daesh Islamic State mercenaries to wage an effective counterattack against Syrian government forces. The incident was casually dismissed by Americas media: US airstrikes Missed ISIS, but Damaged US Policy in Syria. Fake media reports support a fake war on terrorism: Sorry, collateral damage, we got our targets mixed up And then they tell us (i.e the Western media) that the Islamic State is threatening the Western World, that ISIS-Daesh cells are responsible for the terror attacks in Europe and the US. The US homeland is under attack and we must defend ourselves. Nonsense! Washington and its allies are the State Sponsors of Terrorism. The various jihadist organizations including ISIS-Daesh and al Nusra are supported and funded by the Western military alliance. In the words of Oliver Stone: Were Not under Threat. We Are the Threat We Must Defend Ourselves The weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey have served to distract public attention from the fact (amply documented) that US forces in Syria are protecting the ISIS-Daesh terrorists. According to Obama, the terrorists (in NY and NJ) were: trying to hurt the innocent, but they also want to inspire fear on all of us. We all have a role to play as citizens to make sure we dont succumb to that fear. In the words of the New York Times, president Obama: put these attacks [New York, New Jersey, Minnesota] in the context of the military campaign in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Nonsense. These events have nothing to do with the military campaign in Syria. The USA is supporting the Islamic State. Were going to take out their leaders; were going to take out their infrastructure, As we take away more of their territory, it exposes ISIL as the failed cause it is., said Obama. Obama: You are the failed cause. Political lies are sustained by media disinformation and war propaganda. The US is supporting the Islamic State. The ISIS rebels are the foot-soldiers of the Western military alliance. About 1,300 miles away from home, Cowlitz Indian tribal member Melody Pfeifer found herself in the center of something she had never witnessed before. Thousands of Native Americans from hundreds of tribes were gathered along the Cannonball River in North Dakota to oppose an oil pipeline that they say could threaten water supply and damage culturally important sites to the Sioux Standing Rock tribe. It was an inspiration, it was earth moving. All of us were as one. It wasnt the Chocktaw. It wasnt the Pawnee. It wasnt Cowlitz. It wasnt the Puyallup wasnt white or black. Everybody was encompassed as one and in prayer, Pfeifer recalled last week. In early September, Pfeifer and her tribal sister Linda OBrien returned from their seven-day trip with what they said was the gift a profoundly spiritual experience and a deeper appreciation for peaceful protest. The $3.7 billion pipeline would cover 1,172 miles, crossing four states to carry oil from South Dakota to Illinois. It would pass under a dammed section of the Missouri River near the Standing Rocks reservation. Developer Energy Transfer Parnters contends that multiple archaeological surveys showed no historic relics or settlements on the pipeline route. The company also said concerns of water supply risks were unfounded, noting that the pipeline was designed with tremendous safety factors and redundancies, including compliance with and exceeding all safety and environmental regulations. The Standing Rock are not convinced. The tribe says it will stayed camped out at the pipeline until they can halt the project entirely. Just two years apart, Pfeifer and OBrien call themselves sisters by choice and ceremony, although they arent technically related by blood. They arrived at the protest site right after a critical time on Sept. 3: the same day that the Standing Rock say pipeline construction crews destroyed a native burial grounds and cultural site. Hundreds of protesters confronted construction crews at the site, where they were met by private officers security dogs. At least 12 people, including pregnant woman, were bit by the dogs and about 30 were pepper sprayed in the ensuing confrontation, according to the Associated Press. Four guards and two dogs were hurt in the confrontation with undisclosed injuries. Although they were not at the scene of the confrontation, they witnessed the aftermath, including a a young girl who was bit in the face multiple time, said Pfeifer, 59, of Longview. OBrien, 61, of Randle, said the protesters showed restraint, particularly one man who held back his pit bull in spite of seeing his son attacked by the guard dogs. What power that took from that man not to let his dogs go when women and children were being attacked by dogs. ... So I went up to him and gifted him my prayers and thoughts and told him how honorable he was, said OBrien, who is married to a Cowlitz tribal councilman, John OBrien. The next day, Pfeifer and OBrien joined about 500 people who walked for more than a mile from the protest camps to the disturbed site to pray. OBrien said she was amazed by the elderly people who walked the distance in spite of their aches and limited mobility. They also brought donations of wool blankets, medicine, cedar, a buffalo powwow drum and a Cowlitz Tribe flag, which flew in a line of hundreds of flags from other tribal nations and groups. During the day, the two would join others in prayer, help cook meals and pass out donations. Tepees interspersed through rows and rows of tents on fields. A seemingly never-ending line of food, cooking fires and wool blankets kept the chill of interment wind and rain at bay. Horses traversed throughout the camps, where people gathered to talk, hold ceremonies and host drum circles. The protest marks the first time that the seven tribal councils under the Sioux nation have come together in about 140 years. Additionally, the Crow Nation, which Pfeifer said is notorious for supporting coal, set aside its historic animosity toward the Sioux to express their support. Miraculous things like that were happening all over the camps, Pfeifer said. On Sept. 9 while Pfeifer and OBrien were still in the camp a federal judge granted Energy Transfer Partners permission to continue construction. But on the same day, three other federal agencies issued a joint statement prohibiting construction until environmental and cultural concerns could be addressed. The two left on a bittersweet note but also filled with hope for change. When we got there we cried. When we left we cried, said O Brien, her voice cracking with emotion. We cried with the people and how much it hurt. ... Its not something theyre trying to do to be mean to people. Theyre trying to save the earth for the people; for the children; for the grand children. Over the last couple months, several Northwest tribes have trekked to North Dakota to show solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux against an oil pipeline proposed there, including members of the Cowlitz Tribe. Yet there is another connection the pipeline has with the Cowlitz Tribe. The construction company building pipeline, Michels Corporation, has ties to the La Center cardooms. The mini-casinos have battled for years against the Cowlitz Tribes effort to build a Las Vegas-sized casino nearby. More specifically, Steve Michels owns the Palace Casino and the Double Down Saloon in La Center. Steve Michels, whose father founded Michels Corporation, now sits on the board of directors for the corporation. However, he said he doesnt own a stake in the company and is not directly involved in the pipeline project. But Dave Barnett, Cowlitz Tribe member and developer, said that both here and in North Dakota, Michels Corporation has a disregard for Native cultures. The Standing Rock Sioux is protesting the pipeline in part because it passes by the tribes reservation at important water source underneath a dammed-up section of the Missouri River. It also would cut through areas the Standing Rock consider culturally sacred. Although Michels Corporation is building the $3.7 billion pipeline, it is actually owned by Energy Transfer Partners. Energy Transfer said the pipeline would have several safety redundancies that meet all safety and environmental regulations. Steve Michels noted that this isnt the first pipeline to pass by important water supplies. They all have to go pass water supplies. The safest way to transfer liquid is via pipeline instead of rails or trucks, he said in an interview with The Daily News. Yet Michels and other Cowlitz casino opponents have also raised concerns over water supply back home. The casinos wastewater reclamation project involves drilling injection wells into the ground above the Troutdale Aquifer that supplies Clark Countys water. Environmental Protection Agency representatives have said they are not worried with Cowlitz Tribes plans and that the membrane bioreactor systems have provided and do provide a high level of treatment for sewage wastewater, according to The Columbian. Meanwhile, Barnett pointed out that the EPA is one of a handful of federal agencies concerned with the Dakota pipeline. Although the U.S. Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for the pipeline, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior have said construction shouldnt continue until environmental and cultural questions are addressed fully. Its pretty hypocritical for Michels Corporation to raise the water supply critiques here, Barnett said. Steve Michels said comparing the two projects was like comparing apples and oranges. But that hasnt stopped native activists from drawing connections here. Dozens of demonstrators gathered at Michels Corp. Kirkland office last week to protest the Midwest pipeline. As the protests in North Dakota continue, it likely wont be the end of protest the company sees in Washington. Lower Columbia College is offering help for local students left in the lurch following the closure of ITT Technical Institute at the beginning of September. On Sept. 6, ITT announced the closure of 136 schools across 38 states, including three campuses in Washington and two in Oregon. While the three ITT locations in Washington are located in the northern part of the state, several students from the ITTs Portland location have contacted Lower Columbia College about transfer options. The for-profit schools troubles began in August after the Accreditation Council for Independent Colleges and Schools asked ITT for evidence needed to retain its accreditation. The U.S. Department of Education then barred ITT from enrolling new students in federal financial aid its main source of revenue. ITT blames its closures on these sanctions. Students enrolled in ITT Technical Institute before the closure have two primary options now that finishing their ITT degree is out of the question. The U.S. federal student aid website provides information for these students, who can either apply for a closed school loan discharge or transfer their earned credits to another institution to continue [their] education in a comparable program. LCC did not have a standing agreement with ITT Tech, meaning that the school will not accept any credits earned through the program. However, according to Dani Trimble, director of workforce and career services at LCC, that doesnt mean students have to start over. LCCs Credit for Prior Learning program, often referred to as non-traditional credits, can award credit to incoming students based on previous life and work experience, military experience, formal and informal education and other types of training. The process is individualized. The school is recommending any former ITT Tech students reach out to LCCs entry center to meet with a counselor and come up with a plan to finish their education. We are really looking forward to meeting with students interested in coming to LCC, Trimble said. We have staff available to discuss their options with them. Former ITT students interested in continuing their education at LCC can find more helpful information on the colleges website: lowercolumbia.edu/itt. The US space agency NASAs Cassini spacecraft that is orbiting the Saturn has beamed another stunning shot. We generally talk about moons like Titan. but the Cassini has shown that one cannot ignore the presence second most innermost moon of Saturn, Pan. Although, Pan may be very small and appears like a walnut sized object orbiting within the Encke Gap in Saturns A Ring but it is very important for the preservation of Rings as it keeps them apart and acts as a shepherd by maintaining the Encke Gap free of ring particles. Pan measures 17 miles (28 kilometers) in diameter and is responsible for the Encke gap. Pan constantly removes any such particle that enters withing the gap and tries to maintain the shape of the outer edge of the A ring. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 8 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 2, 2016. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 840,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers) from Saturn and at a sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 128 degrees. Image scale is 5 miles (8 kilometers) per pixel. Pan has been brightened by a factor of two to enhance its visibility. Previously, NASA released an image in which Saturn rings appeared bending. Scientists of NASA explained that this is caused because the atmosphere of Saturn acts like a very big lens, some of the sunlight falling on it is absorbed but also as it reaches towards Cassinis camera, the path of the light is refracted or bent after passing from space to atmosphere and back into space. Read More The US space agencys Cassini spacecraft has spotted strange activity on the Saturn rings. Earlier, the shadow of the planet was stretched across all the rings but the height of the shadow is strangely falling short and now covers fewer rings. Read More In addition, the Cassini spacecraft that is orbiting Saturn had beamed back another beautiful image revealing bright spot on the B ring. It might seem strange to some, but NASA explained that glowing effect on the ring is due to the opposition surge which is making that particular area on the ring glow brightly. Read More Cassini spacecraft reached Saturn 12 years ago and now it has entered in the last year of epic journey. According to the schedule of the US space agency, the spacecraft will end its mission on September 2017. Read More The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASAs Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. hidden Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, will hold another round of fundraising but it is hoping that money raised in March will be sufficient for a year to 18 months. In its first round of funding this year, Cainiao attracted investors such as Singapore's Temasek Holdings and GIC Pte Ltd, Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and China's Primavera Capital. Business news magazine Caixin reported that the value of the round was close to 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion). "In the future we will definitely raise money again," Chief Executive Judy Tong told a news conference but added there was no timetable for the fundraising. "Cainiao is a very young company. It requires a lot of investment." Alibaba, which owns about 47 percent of Cainiao, wants to take a leading role in developing China's fragmented package delivery industry, as e-commerce spreads beyond urban hubs and requires a more robust logistics network. Cainiao manages a network of warehouses and crunches data to coordinate courier deliveries around China. Tong also said the company had not come under further pressure from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is probing Alibaba's accounting, part of which is focused on its accounting for Cainiao. Alibaba has said it is cooperating with the investigation and has handed information to the SEC. "Since we handed over materials the SEC has not come to find us," Tong said. "We are not very nervous." Reuters Naina Khedekar The all-new Google Pixel smartphone is real after all! A new video teaser is out that confirms the launch date of 4 October. The official invite received by some media persons reveal that the smartphone will be launched at an event starting 9AM. However, the teaser reveals nothing but the date and an outline of a smartphone, which is highly speculated to be the new Pixel range of smartphone, or should we call it re-branded Nexus? With over 15 days to go for the event, a lot of details about the device are already out in the form of leaks and speculations, here's what we know so far. Designed by Google Google smartphones seen in the past had hardware designed by companies like HT, LG, Samsung, among others, and it controlled the software, which was mostly stock OS. However, the new devices are said to be designed by Google. Yes, it will have a say in the design too. Rumours suggest that the device will be manufactured by HTC, but it will be the first Google designed device. The company already affirms this with its new website that's up and running called Made by Google. The website also lets you key in your email address for notifications and alerts about the device. The website says 5th Oct, so probably the device will be made available then. Display The company is likely to launch two device variants depending upon the display size, a 5-inch Pixel and a 5.5-inch Pixel XL. The smaller with 1080p resolution and the larger with a Quad HD display, if reports online are to be believed. With two display sizes, the company is simply ensuring it is keeping up with the latest fad to compete with arch rival Apple. OS Needless to say, these devices will be the first to leverage the power of Android N Nougat. Read on to know what the latest Android iteration brings. However, these new devices are likely to be running Android 7.1, an unreleased version of Android Nougat. Moreover, speculations are rife that it won't be stock OS, probably Google wants to indicate that its a complete shift from the Nexus program. Specifications Though there is no official word on the specs, the company is likely to include a 12MP rear camera, 8MP front-facing camera, support for USB-C. Another report suggests that the device will retain 3.5mm headphone jack. However, apart from the display, the battery capacity could be another differentiating factor. The Pixel to come equipped with a 2770mAh battery and Pixel XL to get a larger 3450mAh battery capacity. A recent Geekbench leak for the Pixel XL showed that it would be powered by the quad-core Qualcomm chip clocked at 1.59GHz and paired with 4GB of RAM. It is said to be the powerful Snapdragon 821. However, the scores of 1,659 and 3,951 in single-core and multi-core tests respectively were well behind the Samsung Galaxy S7s 1,806 and 5,213. The iPhone 7 scores 3,450 and 5,630 in the same test. In terms of storage front, the device is likely to start with 32GB as the base model. Now, we wonder if users will get 128Gb and 256GB options, just like Apple users. Pricing and availability The larger Pixel XL is rumoured to be priced at $650 which translates to around Rs 45,000. However, a new report by AndroidPolice, citing 'trusted' sources reveals that it is the smaller Pixel smartphone that will carry a starting price of $649 for the 32GB base model. That makes it quite a steep starting price and takes us back to rumours that had surfaced years ago around a shift from affordable Nexus to a premium lineup. Only back then, it was rumoured as Silver. Besides, the company also has some add-ons to work with the devices such as the DayDream headset that could cost $80. Both phones will be covered for accidental damage too, again, at an additional sum of $99 for Pixel and $119 for Pixel XL. Dipped in Bright blue, aluminum, and black, the Pixel units are expected to go on pre-order the same day, but no word on availability yet. hidden By Asheeta Regidi Search engines Google, Yahoo and Microsoft informed the Supreme Court on Monday that they have taken several measures to block all information relating to sex determination. This is in response to an ongoing case where a PIL was filed against the search engines regarding the display of advertisements of sex determination kits and clinics. The matter has been listed for disposal on 16 November. Gender selection, prenatal sex determination terms to be removed from keyword search The search engines have agreed to a list of 22 words which will be removed from the keyword search. This means that a person typing phrases such as gender selection, gender selection kits, prenatal sex determination clinics, and so on will not receive any autocomplete predictions on Google. As a result, though this information will still be available on the internet, it will be harder to search for on search engines. Interim measures to block the sex determination ads were first passed by the Supreme Court in January 2015. Now, advertisements relating to these issues have been banned completely. In addition, the search engines will now display a warning to users searching for these terms, stating that this issue is in violation of laws in India. The role of internet in illegal sex determination The PIL was filed in 2008 by Sabu Matthew George, a well-known gender activist. The issue of sex determination and female foeticide is no small one in India. The 2011 census reports a skewed sex ratio of 944 females for every 1000 males in India. The increasing issue of female foeticide led to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994, (the PCDT Act) which prohibits sex determination tests and abortions in India. Section 22 of this Act also prohibits advertisement on these issues in any form, including on the internet. It is this section which the search engines were found to violate through the hosting of advertisements relating to these issues. In addition to this, sex determination kits can now be ordered online. The internet is now playing an even larger role in violating the law than just through the provision of information. It is enabling people to conduct sex determination tests at home, without even having to visit a clinic. It was these incidents that drove Sabu Matthew to file the PIL against search engines Intermediary liability for advertisements relating to sex determination In the case of sponsored advertisements, the liability of search engines is clearer, since the search engine is playing an active role in making the advertisement available. In case of other advertisements, the search engines are protected as intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Even when, for example, a link to the website of sex determination clinic is listed in the search results, the search engine is not liable as an intermediary. All of this information is in violation of the PCDT Act, and therefore unlawful. Website blocking is not internet censorship, is constitutionally valid Since the search engines are protected under the IT Act, any information that has to be blocked can be done through Section 69A of the IT Act. This section gives the government the power to block public access to any online information that is unlawful. It is under this section that websites are blocked in India. This section was questioned in the well-known case of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India in 2015. The case alleged that this section resulted in internet censorship, and therefore was constitutionally invalid. The Supreme Court, however, upheld this section, noting that there were enough procedural safeguards in place to prevent any misuse or abuse of the section. Autoblock mechanism amounts to internet censorship In this case, the Supreme Court has also asked the search engines to develop and implement an autoblock mechanism, which will automatically block out any information relating to these subjects. Even if a person, by some ingenuity, types a word into search engine which shows the prohibited information, then the autoblock technique should come into play and automatically block out the information. The court had overruled the argument that blocking of such information would amount to internet censorship. However, the widespread implementation of this mechanism to block out any information that is illegal in India can be extremely detrimental for the free availability of information. For example, blocking out sex determination can block out all news articles relating to the issue, this Supreme Court judgment, and also information relating to the PCDT Act itself, the act which prohibits sex determination tests in India. Instead of an autoblock mechanism which also blocks out a large amount of legitimate information, better systems need to be developed to handle it. For example, in China, highly sophisticated, technical censorship systems are supported by large number of human censors, to identify and prevent legitimate information from being censored. It is hoped that a better way to prevent the availability of illegal information will be found. The author is a lawyer with a specialisation in cyber laws and has co-authored books on the subject. hidden Many people in the New York City area were alerted Monday morning to a screeching, buzzing message about a man wanted in connection with explosions in the area over the weekend. A Saturday explosion in Manhattan injured 29 people. Other devices were found in the New York City area but caused no injuries. The alert read, "WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen." Police had him in custody later Monday, after a New Jersey bar owner reported a person asleep in the bar's doorway. What are these alerts and how do they work? What are wireless emergency alerts? According to the Federal Communications Commission, these text-like messages let cellphone users in a particular area receive notices about what are deemed critical emergencies. Messages can be about weather threats, Amber alerts for missing children or emergencies like a chemical spill. The wireless industry, the FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency started this program in 2012, according to the wireless trade group CTIA. How are these sent? FEMA authorizes messages from a local, state, federal, or tribal government agency and sends them on to wireless carriers. In this case, FEMA said the alert was issued by the New York Office of Emergency Management. Messages appear on phones just like texts and are accompanied by a loud alarm. The phone also vibrates, which the FCC says helps people with hearing or vision disabilities. The alerts don't count as texts, so people on limited text plans won't get charged extra. Some phones, especially older ones, might not be equipped to receive these messages, though. The alerts aren't affected by network congestion and are based on cell tower locations, so if you're on vacation in California, you won't get alerts for New York, even if your phone is registered there. The FCC says targeting is typically down to the county level. Is this unprecedented? FEMA says most alerts have to do with weather. They have been sent out before as part of a police search for a dangerous suspect, but it's relatively rare. One was also sent last year to warn people to "STAY AWAY" from a "suspect shooting from balcony" at a specific location in Los Angeles. According to a transcript, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told local TV station NY1 Monday that "we're going to be using this kind of approach more frequently." There was also an alert sent Saturday night in Manhattan about a second device, which did not go off. Can you get rid of them? The FCC says some alerts can be blocked, if the carrier allows it - but not alerts issued by the president. On iPhones, the setting is under "Notifications." On Android, look for "Emergency broadcasts" under "Sound," though your phone maker may have moved that. On Samsung's Galaxy S7 phone, for instance, the setting is under "Privacy and Emergency." Hit "Emergency Alerts," then "More," then "Settings." What are drawbacks of the system? The current technology supports only text and 90 characters. That leads to a slightly awkward phrase like "See media for pic" of Rahami, rather than a link to a photo or a photo itself being sent. The FCC has proposed permitting longer messages, embedded links or possibly even images like maps. The wireless industry has said it is wary of including links because they could lead to network congestion or confused customers. Associated Press tech2 News Staff The dust hasnt even had time to settle around Apples AirPods and manufacturers are already taking pot-shots at them. The latest company to do so is Motorola with their VerveLife series of wireless earbuds. If you remember Motorolas recently announced Moto Z handsets, they dumped the 3.5mm headphone jack in an attempt to beat Apple to the punch. Those handsets didnt have an official wireless earbud option, until now. The VerveLife series consists of the VerveOnes+, VerveOnes, VerveRider+, VerveRider and VerveLoop+. The + models in this lineup are all IP57 certified, which means that theyre water and sweat resistant. The remaining models are not certified to be water resistant, but their design remains largely the same. The VerveOnes+ and VerveOnes are, like the AirPods, not connected to each other via a cable, and come with their own charging case. Motorola claims that with the case, these earbuds will offer about 12 hours of battery life. Interestingly, all devices will come with microphones and Siri and Google Now functionality, but only the VerveOnes and VerveOnes+ will come with dual-mics. A nice feature that Motorola has thrown in is the last-connected location of these earbuds being displayed on Google Maps. If you lose these buds, you simply open the VerveLife app and youll see where you last used them. The VerveOnes+ is the most expensive option at $250 (around Rs 16,800) and are thus, significantly more expensive than Apples $150 (around Rs 10,000) AirPods. Let's just hope they're significantly better. hidden Ride-hailing services such as Uber and others will have to register their apps and heed new regulations to operate in Abu Dhabi, a top official at the Gulf emirate's taxi regulator said on Monday. U.S.-based Uber and regional rival Careem suspended services in the capital of the United Arab Emirates on Aug. 27 after many of their drivers were stopped by authorities over violations of regulations, sources told Reuters at the time. Careem has since resumed services in Abu Dhabi, although Uber has yet to do so as it awaits clarification on some issues. The new regulations are coming "very soon" and will include a provision requiring ride-hailing apps to register with The Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars (Transad), its general manager Mohamed Darwish al-Qamzi said. "This will help us to control the market easier by blocking any unregulated application with us," he told Reuters. Currently, ride-hailing services are not regulated in the UAE. Qamzi said companies such as Uber and Careem suspended their services after Abu Dhabi began enforcing tighter regulations to curb malpractices and a growing black market. There was a black market, many illegal drivers doing part-time work, over-charging customers and not following regulations, he said. A spokesman for Careem denied any wrongdoing by the company and its drivers. An Uber spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment, although the company has previously said it complies with all existing regulations. According to the new Abu Dhabi regulations, ride-hailing apps must work only with luxury private hire companies and strictly follow their price structure. They must also send a list of drivers and cars to Transad, he said. At the moment, ride-hailing apps work with drivers who operate limousines as well as smaller cars that are not registered with Transad. Transad works with seven franchisee taxi companies with 7,645 registered taxis operating in Abu Dhabi. We are not against the apps services," said Qamzi. "It is the choice of the people. But we need to make sure the cars are safe, drivers are genuine and the safety of customers is first. Uber, which launched services in Abu Dhabi in 2013, said last year that the Middle East and North Africa contained some of its fastest-growing markets and that it planned to invest $250 million to expand in the region. It said on June 1 that had raised $3.5 billion from an investment by Saudi Arabia's state-owned Public Investment Fund. Reuters hidden Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab said it raised $750 million in a funding round led by investor SoftBank Group, helping it build a warchest to solidify its leading position in the region and head off competition from Uber. Southeast Asia is fast becoming a key battleground for ride-hailing firms thanks to a burgeoning middle class as well as a youthful, Internet-savvy demographic. Grab's announcement comes a few weeks after Uber sold its China operations to bigger domestic rival Didi, an existing Grab investor, and analysts have said Uber may focus its efforts and money elsewhere, such as in Southeast Asia. The company is now valued at over $3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. Its total capital position had increased to over $1 billion, the company said in a statement, without naming the other investors in the round. SoftBank is joined by new and existing investors including institutions from the United States and China, a Grab representative told Reuters. It planned to continue expanding its services in Southeast Asia and significantly invest in mobile payments capabilities, Grab said. Grab says it has 95 percent market share in third-party taxi-hailing services, while its private-car business has more than half of the Southeast Asian market. Since its launch in 2012, the company has expanded into motorbike hailing, carpooling and delivery. It also recently teamed up with Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group to roll out a mobile payment platform in its biggest market, Indonesia. "We are particularly excited about the growth opportunity in Indonesia, where we see an almost $15 billion market for ride-hailing services alone, as well as the potential to extend GrabPay's platform regionally," CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan said. Previous investors in Grab include sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation, and Vertex Ventures Holdings, a unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings. The company operates in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Such services have become popular on the traffic-clogged streets of cities such as Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila, the Philippines. The apps are also prominent in Singapore, one of the most expensive places in the world to own a private car. In August, Indonesian ride-hailing service Go-Jek raised fresh funding of more than $550 million from KKR, Warburg Pincus and other investors. Reuters Nash David This is a fiercely competitive world. Businesses are getting aggressive to ensure customer satisfaction. Businesses are also facing pressure to ensure investor returns. And the two objectives arent aligned to each other. At least not necessarily aligned. Twitter seems like a classic example. So what does one do? Reward good performers and weed out the slackers. Recently, a similar townhall discussion at Indian ecommerce company Flipkart (coincidentally also in Bengaluru) revealed a trend. If things arent looking too good, the blame squarely lies on employees. Hire and fire is the mantra. Hiring sprees are a sign of optimism. While firing, a strategic move to make ends meet. To be fair, Flipkart CEO Sachin Bansal claimed he was removed from the post of CEO due to his performance. That a company may open new offices in the US and hire employees at a hire cost is a matter of greater curiosity. But eventually, employees need to be axed for bad performance. Depending on how you look at it, it comes across as honest, or unfair. According to a report in the Economic Times, a similar development seemed to have taken place at Twitter India. A few years ago, ZipDial offered mobile marketing services through the missed call function. Typically a user could dial in to a toll-free number. The call is terminated, without actually going through. Since the calling number information is available, the dialer could then receive promotional marketing material from the respective brand. That was innovative. Which is why Twitter acquired it for somewhere between $30-40 million. That was early 2015. Were still in 2016, and the resultant engineering centre in India, one of the most important markets for virtually any business these days which costs far less than sustaining teams in the city by the bay is being shut. Its not such a big deal. Really. Acquiring a company, and getting a few people onboard is part and parcel of any acquisition. Eventually, the acquisition matters. The people could be a liability. All a company needs to find is a reason to downsize. According to a report in YourStory, when they reached out to Twitter India for a response, this is what they received: Engineering is a key part of our global company and we continue to focus our programs and efforts on improving the core product experience for our users worldwide. As part of our normal business review, we have decided to stop the global engineering work at the Bengaluru development centre. We thank the impacted individuals for their valuable contributions and are doing as much as we can to provide them a respectful exit from our company. Through the years, Ive seen reports of layoffs. Some emotional, some shallow. Some rather genuine. But the honesty and curt approach in this response took me by surprise. I read it again. Engineering is a key part of Twitter as a global company. Thats very well and fine. They continue to focus programs and efforts on improving the core product. Well about time it happened. Since Dick Costolo stepped down, the efforts have been around trying new features to boost engagement and hopefully bring in some revenue. Then comes the interesting part. As part of our normal business review, weve decided to stop global engineering work at the Bengaluru. Yes, that sounds normal. Sounds like business as usual. Just yesterday, Twitter has decided to stop counting links and images within the 140 character limit that is standard on the platform. Earlier, Twitter had removed the 140 character limit in direct messages. Finally, a word of thanks to the impacted individuals for their contributions, and theyre doing as much as is possible to provide them a respectful exit from Twitter. But in October 2015, Twitter announced it was cutting 8 percent of its workforce. Alls well that ends well. tech2 News Staff Twitter Inc said on Monday it would lay off some employees and halt engineering work at one of its development centers in India's technology hub Bengaluru. The layoffs will impact less than 20 employees at the development center, according to a source familiar with the matter. The employees were part of ZipDial, an Indian mobile communications startup bought by Twitter last year, the source said. "Over the past 18 months, we have incorporated the technology and talent of our ZipDial acquisition across our company," said a company spokesperson. Twitter said it remained committed to India as a strategic market and would continue to maintain a presence in the city. The company had 3,860 employees globally as of June 2016. However, it did not disclose the number of employees it had in India. The struggling company can look to India to find a way to recover, according to analysts. There are 23 million Twitter users in India, and there is plenty of room for Twitter to grow, especially when it comes to regional language users. Targeted advertising at state or city level can help improve revenues. Twitter is not as fast as Facebook to respond to new demands and implement features, a good example of a bus that Twitter missed was video. With inputs from Reuters Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd today introduced its special Assured 2 Win festive offer to tempt its customers this festive season. This offer assures the customers to win assured gifts on all Home appliances and Panasonic LED TVs. As a part of its marketing strategy, Panasonic will be investing Rs. 85 crore towards festive ATL and BTL activities across India. Staring from September16 to November16 the company has introduced exciting promotional offers for its customers across all product categories including Televisions, Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Purifiers, Air-Conditioners and Microwaves. The promotional offers will be valid from today, 20th September to 16th November, 2016 across all authorized Panasonic outlets and stores. Apart from special offers, extended warranty and attractive finance deals will be provided on selected products. In addition, the company will also offer interest-free credit and attractive EMI schemes for its customers. Speaking about this years festive offers, Mr. Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India said, As our customers prepare themselves for the festive season, the consumer sentiments amidst the festivities is already at a high point, and it is an exciting time for us to be part of their celebrations. With this years Diwali offers we want to ensure that our esteemed customers get maximum advantage through our exciting promotional and attractive assured gifts offer. Panasonics Assured 2 win offer, is a small endeavor on our part to add sparkle to this festive season. Highlighting on the Diwali offers, Mr. Ajay Seth, Head- Sales & Services, Panasonic India, said, At Panasonic, we aim to provide products and services that offer more value to our customers. Adding greater joy on Diwali, this year Panasonic brings in assured gifts offer, extended warranties, attractive financial offers which will be available on all product categories. To make it more exciting for our customers the Assured 2 Win- Gift offer, on all Home appliances & Panasonic LED TVs, include Holiday Voucher of 3Days/2nights, Swarovski Jewellery worth Rs.4500/- etc. With this years festive offers, we wanted to ensure that our customers joy lasts long. @Technuter.com News Service Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called upon China and the United States to step up efforts to promote economic and trade ties between the two countries. The statement was made when Li met with US President Barack Obama in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly that opened earlier last week. Economic and trade cooperation is the "cornerstone" and "propeller" of China-US relations, Li said. The two sides should work together to ensure an early conclusion of negotiations on a China-US bilateral investment treaty (BIT), expand market access to each other, and create better business environment and better cooperation prospect for enterprises from both sides, the premier said. The two sides should also properly handle economic and trade frictions to prevent bilateral economic and trade ties from suffering unnecessary distractions, he added. Meanwhile, the premier urged the US side to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China. For his part, Obama said economic relations are the stabilizing factor of US-China ties. The US president added that the US side supports China's reform process, hoping the two sides make further progress in BIT negotiations. State of mismanagement -- needs to be attended MEDIA reports of three incidents on the same day reflect the state of misrule in the country. First, a Tangail court on Sunday sent ruling Awami League lawmaker Amanur Rahman Rana to jail after rejecting his bail petition in a case for killing freedom fighter Faruk Ahmed in 2013. Having remained fugitive for over a year, the lawmaker from Tangail-3 (Ghatail) Constituency surrendered before the court in the morning and pleaded for bail. The court rejected the bail and he later landed in Tangail district jail. He, however, was able to escape serious charges brought against him in 44 other cases including murder, attempt to murder, extortion, grievous hurt, riot and unlawful assembly. In the second incident, a ruling Awami League lawmaker of Cox's Bazar allegedly led his men to take away various goods that a mobile court seized Sunday from illegal occupants at Himchari, a popular tourist spot in Ramu Upazila. Saimum Sarwar Kamal of Cox's Bazar-3 Constituency and some 40 to 50 of his supporters scolded a forest official for carrying out the drive. They also vandalized several establishments of the Forest Department. Thirdly, Rashed Sarwar alias Rumon (32), youngest son of Refat Amin, Awami League lawmaker of a reserved seat for woman from Satkhira was sent to jail on Sunday following his arrest in two extortion cases. According to media report Rashed was arrested once earlier in May this year with three women and later got bail. He was beaten by local people on September 15 in an unwanted situation. These incidents are part of the ground realities which Bangladesh has been experiencing for last few years. It is unfortunate that even the lawmakers have involved themselves in serious crimes. A good number of them are engaged in managing undue advantages for personal gain. We have differences with the government, but that is on points of mismanagement for lack of accountability. We know this is the time when any responsible government would take the prevailing lawlessness among the government and their own people seriously aiming to restore discipline in conducting the affairs of the state. Lightning kills 10 in 3 Bangladesh districts At least 10 people including a woman and at least three children have been killed and two more injured in lightning strikes during thunderstorms in three districts. Rain and thunderstorms took place in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country on Tuesday morning. The casualties occurred in Sunamganj, Tangail and Kishoreganj between the early hours and afternoon. On Monday, seven more people, including three in Kishoreganj, had died from lightning strikes in three districts. Two bamboo traders died on the spot in Sunamganj, after being struck by lightning at Dirai Upazila's Karimpur Union, police said. Dirai police OC Abdul Jalil identified them as Shamim Mia, 40, and Tohur Mia, 35, of the union's Matiapur village. He said the bodies have been handed over to their families. Three others died at the district's Bermona Haor while fishing on Tuesday afternoon. Shalla police OC Bozlar Rahman identified the victims as Hridoy Mia, 18, Emon Mia, 20, and Saimul Islam, 18. In Tangail, a man and his two sons were killed and his wife was injured in a village at Modhupur Upazila's Berbaid Union in the early hours. Modhupur police OC Md Shafiqul Islam identified them as Nikhil Hajon, 45, sons George Simsang, 10, and Loton Simsang, 8. They had died on the spot and Nikhil's wife Janata Simsang was critically injured, he said. Modhupur Fire Service's Inspector SK Tuhin said Janata was first taken to the Upazila Health Complex, but later shifted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital with major burn injuries. In Kishoreganj, a mother and her son died after being hit by lightning at Karimganj Upazila's Gujadia Union around 10am on Tuesday, police said. Her 20-year old daughter was also injured at the time, said Karimganj police OC Jakir Rabbani said. He identified the deceased as 'Lalita', 40, and 'Rimon', 15. Her daughter 'Beauty' was admitted to Tarhail Upazila Health Complex with critical injuries. Chinese experts visit proposed site of burn, plastic surgery unit of CMCH Chinese medical experts visiting site of the proposed modern Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital on Monday. Chinese medical experts formally visited the sites of the proposed modern Burn and Plastic surgery unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital on Monday. The 9-members medical experts team led by Mr. Lee Chan visited 3 venues around CMCH areas in the port city on Monday morning . Director of the Hospital Brig.Gen. Md. Jalaluddin welcomed them in his office . Among others, Prof. Dr. Samanta Lal sen , head of plastic surgery & burn department was present during their visit. While contacted Brig.Gen. Jamaluddin told that under the deal of cooperation with Bangladesh, China will establish a full-fledged Burn and Plastic surgery unit in CMCH . During the visit, the visiting Chinese team witnessed the existing burn uni , electric sub-station of the hospital, generator facilities, fire fighting equipments , sources of supply water, emergency gate, hostel, nursing institute and 3 proposed sites of the burn unit, sources added. He also told that the Chinese team was apprised about the necessity of a fulfledged burn and plastic surgery unit in the port as it is the second largest city and the commercial capital of the country and a large number of heavy industrial enterprises of the country are situated here. He said the existing 100 bed burn unit will be expanded to 500 beds considering the need for next 20 to 50 years. He also emphasized the need of locating the proposed Burn unit within the CMCH complex instead of Railway Hospital as because a plan of building Medical Village with 86 acres of land including Medical college, Medical university, Medical Hospital , Nursing Institute etc. The location of the proposed Burn & Plastic surgery unit within the complex of CMCH is justified rather outside because of existing medical has nurses, internees ,student faculties. Yaba smuggling thru Ctg, Cox's Bazar rampant A Correspondent : Smuggling of contraband yaba tablets, is rampant through Chittagong and Cox's Bazar area. The port city and adjoining Cox's Bazar is being used for smuggling of illegal drugs including Yaba. At least 20 to 25 syndicates are engaged in smuggling of yaba in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar area who supply it to Dhaka and other areas in the country. The law enforcing agencies including elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police and Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB), Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) are taking steps to stop smuggling of yaba and other drugs. The law enforcers are continuing the special raids to nab smugglers. Sources said, in separate raids, BCG recovered 18,630 pieces of yaba tablets from offshore island Shah Parir Dwip area. The team also arrested yaba smuggler Mohammad Younus (25), son of RASHID Ahamod . Commander of BGB-2 in Teknaf Lt Colonel Abu Jor Al Jahid said, a team of BGB raided offshore island Shah Parir Dwip area in Cox's Bazar on Saturday night and recovered the yaba from there. He said, the recovered yaba was handed over to department of narcotics for further action. In another raid, BCG recovered yaba tablets from a truck in Cox's Bazar Sadar area. Commander of BGB-34 in Cox's Bazar Lt Colonel Imran Ullah said, acting on secret information, a team of BCG raided a truck and recovered huge yaba tablets from there. On the other hand, Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) conducted special raids in the city area on Saturday night to nab the yaba smugglers. Police recovered 5,486 pieces of yaba from different spots in the city in separate raids. Police filed 10 cases in this connection. It may be mentioned that the teams of police, RAB and BCG recovered huge yaba tablets in recent raids from Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. On September 10 , BCG recovered four lakh pieces of yaba tablets worth around Tk 19 crore from adjoining area of Sattar Majhir Ghat in Anwara. Zonal Commander of BCG Eastern Zone M Nuruzzaman Sheikh said, acting on a tip off, a team of BCG raided a boat loaded with yaba and recovered four lakh piece tablets worth around Tk 19 crore." Besides, on August 19, elite force RAB and Police recovered 80,000 pieces of yaba tablets in separate raids from different areas in Chittagong. A team of Pahartoli thana police raided Eidgaon area under Pahartoli in the port city and recovered 50,000 pieces of yaba tablets from a house. Police also arrested three yaba smugglers named Afsa Raihan (23), Sumi Begum (30) and Jahanara Begum (40) from the spots. On the other hand, in separate raid on August 19 last conducted by RAB-7 at Karnaphuli thana area a total of 30,000 pieces of yaba tablets were recovered. The RAB team also arrested one trader from the spot. Director of RAB-7, Chandan Devnath said, a team of RAB raided the New Bridge area under Karnaphuli thana and recovered 30,000 pieces of Yaba from there. During the month of Ramadan, the law enforcing agencies have recovered huge yaba tablets and arrested several smugglers and retail traders from different spots of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. Sources said, despite special measures of the authorities, smuggling of yaba is rampant through the port city and sea city Cox's Bazar. There are also several syndicates in the port city to smuggle drugs, wine and medicine particularly yaba etc. They are active in Cox's Bazar, Chittagong and Bandarban hill district. The wine, contraband drugs, sex stimulating tablet yaba etc are smuggled from Mayanmar, India and Thailand. NBR to prepare list of tax dodgers Gazi Anowarul Hoque : The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has taken steps to prepare a list of establishments and individuals which have been dodging tax for a long time, sources said. As part of the initiatives, the filed level officials are preparing a list of persons and organisations who are allegedly involved with tax dodging. The tax authority has recently given some instructions to the concerned zones, commissionarates and intelligence departments to ensure tax compliance by bringing tax evaders into the tax net. Commissioners and officials of the customs intelligence concerned of the NBR will be given instruction soon in this regard, said a NBR official. After preparation of the list, the NBR will frame a strategy to bring those tax dodging establishments and individuals under tax net. All commissionerates are ready to start their operation as soon as possible as per the directions, sources said. Overall discussions in this regards would be held on September 26, they informed. There are some allegations against different local manufacturers and importers that they are involved with tax dodging and the individuals are not out of that allegation, they said. NBR officials said, the country's economy is gaining strengthen day-by-day and as a result it creates the potentials of huge revenue. The tax authority has taken several measures to bring all affluent persons under the tax net but many orgazanisations and individuals are trying to stay out of the tax net. Those tax dodgers still remain as a challenge to NBR in ensuring tax compliance. The matter should be closely observed by the authority. In this regard, the NBR chairman recently issued a 5-point directive to all commissioners and intelligence department under the board. Talking to the NN, NBR member Md Abdur Razzak said, "Steps have been taken to prepare a list of establishments and individuals which are evading tax in our observation." He said country's economy is expanding day by day and there is possibility of increasing the collection of tax. But NBR is yet to bring all eligible establishments and individuals under the tax net, he added. "We are preparing a strategy to bring those tax dodging establishments and individuals under a regular tax-payment system," Razzak added. "This is a message to the dishonest businessmen to return to the right path. Do not deprive the country of revenue. The intelligence teams will follow the dishonest businesses," he said. This year, the target of revenue collection has been set at Tk 2,03,000 crore with nearly 30 percent growth. To meet the target, steps have been taken from the very beginning of the fiscal. The government has framed a new customs law to fight smuggling better. The new law will replace the existing Customs Act 1969 after passage in parliament. Customs intelligence seized 365 kilograms of smuggled gold in fiscal 2014-15, down from 565 kilograms a year ago. It also seized illegally carried foreign currencies, prohibited medicines, electronics and mobile handsets in its drive to catch duty dodgers, according to customs intelligence data. It said the state got additional revenue for its vigilance at various customs houses and stations and detection of commercial fraud. Syria cease-fire falters amid deadly strikes on aid convoy A damaged truck is pictured after an airstrike on the rebel held Urm al-Kubra town. AP, Beirut : Syria's cease-fire has faltered further after an aid convoy was hit by airstrikes, with activists saying at least 12 people were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The strikes late on Monday came just hours after the Syrian military declared the week-long U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia - after blaming rebels for the violations - suggested it could still be salvaged. It was not clear who was behind the attack, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over Syria, as well as the U.S.-led coalition that is targeting the Islamic State group. U.N. officials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the northern city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the civil war, said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer first responder group also known as the White Helmets, confirmed that casualty figure. Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid coordinator in the office of the U.N. envoy for Syria, told The Associated Press in a text message that the convoy was "bombarded." Egeland added, "It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses." U. N. Humanitarian Chief Stephen O'Brien called on "all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law." The convoy, part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent, was hit in rural western Aleppo province. The White Helmets first responder group posted images of a number of vehicles on fire and a video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitch black area, as ambulances arrive on the scene. A Red Crescent official in Syria confirmed the attack, but said no further information was available. Elsewhere on Monday, at least 20 civilians, including a 1-year-old girl, were killed in fresh airstrikes on rebel-held Aleppo city and the surrounding areas, according to the Observatory. And Russia said government positions in southwestern Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets. With the week-old cease-fire under threat, both Moscow and Washington indicated a desire to try and salvage the agreement that had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country. In the wake of the Syrian military declaration, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that the first stage of the truce - which called for a week of calm and the delivery of humanitarian aid to several besieged communities - had never really come to fruition. Earlier in the day, Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that the truce was "holding but fragile." The State Department said that it was ready to work with Russia to strengthen the terms of the agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid. Spokesman John Kirby said Russia, which is responsible for ensuring Syria's compliance, should clarify the Syrian position. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement late Monday night appeared to signal that the deal could still be salvaged, saying that the failure by the rebels in Syria to respect the cease-fire threatens to thwart the agreement. The cease-fire came into effect on Sept. 12. Under terms of the agreement, the successful completion of seven days of calm and humanitarian aid deliveries would be followed by an ambitious second-stage plan to set up a joint U.S.-Russian coordination center to plan military strikes against the Islamic State group and a powerful al-Qaida-linked militant faction. US, China to step up cooperation on North Korea US President Barack Obama shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during their meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Reuters, New York : US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's fifth nuclear test, the White House said. China and the United States are also targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party cadre, that the Obama administration thinks has a role in assisting North Korea's nuclear programme, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. UN diplomats say the two countries have started discussions on a possible UN sanctions resolution in response to the nuclear test earlier this month, but Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against North Korea. Obama met Li on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. "Both leaders condemned North Korea's September 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea," a White House statement said. China is isolated North Korea's most important diplomatic backer and its biggest trading partner. It has been angered by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and signed on to increasingly tough UN sanctions, but it has said it believes such steps are not the ultimate answer and called for a return to talks with North Korea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart last week China opposes "unhelpful" unilateral sanctions on North Korea but will work within the United Nations to formulate a response. Washington has pressed Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea. The United States has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if the country commits to get rid of its nuclear weapons, which Pyongyang has refused to do. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing as early as this week to announce legal action against Chinese firms suspected of providing financial assistance to Pyongyang, the Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the matter. It said DoJ prosecutors visited Beijing twice last month to make their Chinese counterparts aware of alleged criminal activities being committed by Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial. A social media post last week for the police in Liaoning, the north-eastern border province of China, said they were investigating the firm's alleged long-term involvement in "serious economic crimes" and that relevant suspects were cooperating. A report by Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul and C4ADS in Washington says it identified more than $500 million in trade from January 2011 to September 2015 between the North and the Liaoning Hongxiang Group, which states on its website that it trades heavily with the North. The figure includes more than $360 million in imports from North Korea by one group company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co, an industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler. "While no judgement is being made on the final use of these funds, trade at this volume is of particular note. By one estimate, this amount would have been almost enough to both fund North Korea's uranium enrichment facilities, and to design, make and test its nuclear weapons," the report said. Certain assets related to the company, its founder and top executive Ma Xiaohong, and some of her relatives and associates, have been frozen by Chinese authorities in recent weeks, according to government and corporate filings cited by the Journal. The Asan report said its trading of goods that could qualify as potential military and nuclear dual-use products under US export restrictions were of particular concern. The products have possible use in a nuclear programme, particularly the uranium enrichment programme. The companies identified have had dealings with sanctioned North Korean entities, the report said. Chang Yong-seok, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University, said this case was symbolic and could have real practical impact. "This was the US taking China into consideration and working with China. More such cases may follow if the US or South Korea have firm evidence ... Chinese companies that have capacity for producing or securing goods for North Korea may be worried now," he said. Representatives of the US Department of Justice, Chinese Government and Hongxiang Industrial were unavailable for comment. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group is also heavily involved in North Korea-related shipping, with Ma and other people associated with the group owning and operating a combined fleet of 10 ships that regularly sail between the North and China. Ma, who served on Liaoning's People's Congress before resigning at the weekend, is described by Chinese media as the most successful businessperson in Dandong involved in cross-border trade with North Korea. Anushka`s Special Yash Raj Moment in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Karan Johars lavish directorial flick Ae Dil Hai Mushkil has multiple memorable moments for its leading stars. Anushka Sharma had one such special memory from shooting for the film, only this time she felt like a quintessential Yash Raj heroine. For a visually stunning sequence, Anushka wore a beautiful saree and had to shoot on a glacier, which required her to walk up to a certain height in the lesser seen, visually stunning locales of Austria. While sequences featuring heroines of the Eighties and Nineties like Sridevi and Juhi Chawla clad in slinky, chiffon sarees amidst breath taking locales of Switzerland was Yash Raj staple cinema, Anushka had always imagined doing this as a young girl. So when she shot for this particular sequence, despite very cold weather, it was like a dream come true for her. Anushka was excited enough to share a photograph of the same with her fans on Instagram. Culture of cruel politics has to end to save our girls STALKERS across the country have been taking heavy toll on life, with the latest incident in Madaripur where a schoolgirl was stabbed to death by the victim's distant cousin. The number of victims of stalking in last five years was 75 while 90 others committed suicide after being stalked as per Ain O Salish Kendra. The exposure published in a national daily explicitly apprehended that the state and society drastically failed to protect womanhood from harassment despite the country acclaimed success in women empowerment. Despite taking some sporadic punitive actions, incidents of sexual harassment are becoming worse due to non-existence of the rule of law, bending laws for some unruly stalkers and thugs and their sure impunity, and overall moral degradation caused by cultural aggression and dissolution of family values. Our shameful ineptness to protect our girls and tolerance to the heinous crimes have surely retrograde the society. Another rights campaigner revealed some 146 girls and women committed suicide in seven and half years since 2009 due to harassment while from 2009 to August 2016, at least 3957 incidents of stalking were reported. In this period, some 1145 people were assaulted for protesting harassment of girls and women by stalkers. As most of the victims, between 10 and 25 years, fall prey to stalkers on their way to and from schools, colleges and even universities, cases of dropouts and incidents of early marriage of girl students have gone up. A 2011 survey revealed that 5.1 percent of girl students' dropouts in secondary schools occurred due to stalking. It is important to note that the High Court ordered the government a few years ago to make a law to strictly deal with cases of sexual harassment such as stalking of women and girls. Unfortunately, all these have so far fallen on deaf ears. Against such a backdrop, one has, indeed, little reasons to be surprised at the recent incidents of stalking. Regrettably, however, many of the perpetrators captured by ordinary people and handed over to the police were subsequently reported enlarged on bail and to engage further in similar crimes. Unless the politics of illegitimacy, corruption and cruelty is contained, law and order situation cannot be controlled by the police alone. Police is being used as the cause and not as the remedy for lawlessness among the young ones. We must make our society safe for sanity and not haven for cruel politics. 12 killed in lightnings Staff Reporter : Lightning killed at least 12 people and injured many others in Sunamganj, Tangail, Manikganj and Kishoreganj districts on Tuesday morning. The lightning began striking early morning and continued till 10am. The lightning strikes are relatively common in Bangladesh during the June-October monsoon, which hit the country's different districts earlier, but this year's toll is particularly high. In Sunamganj, at least six people were killed and six others injured in Sulla and Derai upazilas of the district when they were fishing in two separate haors (wetland). The deceased were identified as Shamim, son of Konai Miah, and Tafu Miah, son of Hashim of village Matiapur and Sharman Hossain of village Tuk Deari under Karimpur union in Derai upazila. Hridoy Miah, son of Abdus Salam, Mohammad Imon, son of Akkas Ahmed, and Mohammad Shainal ,son of Abu Haider of village Shihali in Sulla upazila also met the tragic end of their lives. According to locals and police, when Shamim and Tafu along with eight others were fishing at Chapati haor adjacent to their village Matiapur lightning struck them killing two of them on the spot and injuring five others. "At the same time, Sharman Hossain was killed by thunderbolt at Tuk Derai village on Tuesday morning," Abdul Jalil, officer-in-charge of Derai police station told The New Nation on Tuesday afternoon. Hridoy Miah, Mohammad Imon and Mohammad Shainal met the tragic end of their lives while fishing at Patamara Haor, Bazlur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Sulla police station said. In Tangail, three people of a tribal family were killed and another was injured by thunderbolt at Magontinagar village under Madhupur upazila of the district on Tuesday morning. They were identified as Nikhil Hajong, 45, and his two sons Jaj Simsung,12, and Luton Simsung, 8. Talking to journalists, Officer-in-Charge of Madhupur Thana Safikul Islam said that they died on the spot when lightning struck them as they were sleeping in their house at about 8:30pm. In Kishoreganj, lightning killed a mother and her son at village Purbachar under Guzadia Union of Karimganj upazila on Tuesday morning. The deceased mother Lolita Begum along with her son and daughter were staying at their house during the incident. However, Lolita's daughter Rima, 17, narrowly escaped the horrific lightning, but she received serious burn injuries. The girl was admitted to the upazila health complex. Her condition is stated to be critical. In another incident, lightning struck Maijuddin Sheikh, 50, son of Nadhu Sheikh of Railla village under Saturia upazila in Manikganj district when he was working in his cowshed. He died on the spot. British Baron`s daughter killed in Philippines The daughter of a late British baron has been shot dead in the Philippines which is fighting a war on drugs. Maria Aurora Moynihan's body was found on the street on 10 September next to a sign reading "drug pusher to the celebrities you're next!" Baron Anthony Moynihan was linked to drug smuggling, fraud and prostitution.More than 3,000 people with alleged links to drug use or dealing have been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in June. Mr Duterte, who once promised to kill 100,000 criminals, has brushed off criticism of the bloody crackdown, including by the UN, which said the killings could be crimes under international law, the US, and numerous human rights bodies. Maria Aurora Moynihan, 45, had been on bail after being arrested in a drug raid in 2013. `Domestic` EC won`t be accepted again: BNP Staff Reporter : The BNP on Tuesday urged the government to form the new election commission based on consensus. The tenure of present election commission will expire in February, 2017. "We want a national election under an election commission, which must be neutral. A neutral EC is a must to hold a free, fair and acceptable election," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said this, while speaking at a discussion meeting in the city. He said, "The government should announce a neutral search committee prior to the formation of the new EC. To form such search committee, the government should also respect the public opinion". The meeting was organised by the City unit of BNP in the Institution of Engineers to mark BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's jail release day. "If any committee is formed without reflecting the public opinion, the people will not accept it," Mirza Fakhrul warned. He also accused the ruling party of trying to make the country free from politics. "Awami League is trying to make Bangladesh a country without political parties. In order to execute the design, they are filing fabricated cases against Begum Khaleda Zia and other leaders of the BNP to keep them out of politics," Fakhrul said. Khaleda Zia is fighting for the restoration of democracy whereas the government is devising to destroy it. "They are trying to bring back BAKSALregime under a different cover," Mirza Fakhrul alleged. He also alleged, the anti-militant committees formed by the government in the localities are collecting money from BNP men by creating panic that their names will be enlisted as militants in case of failure to pay money. BNP standing committee member and Dhaka City Unit Convener Mirza Abbas asked the leaders and activists to take preparations for ensuing movement demanding national polls soon. Another standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said, the BNP men will compel the government to hold fair polls. Nazrul Islam Khan, another standing committee member of the party, asked the government to form search committee for forming EC after talks with political parties. Amir Khasru Mahmud, another standing committee member of the party, accused the government of intimidating the opposition parties and common people. Mirza Abbas presided over the meeting. Party Vice-Chairman Mohammad Shajahan, Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Nitai Roy Chowdhury, Abdul Awal Mintu, central leaders Abul Khair Bhuiyan, Khairul Kabir Khokon, Kazi Abul Bashar, Sharfat Ali Sapu and Chhatra Dal President Razib Ahsan, among others, gave speech in the programme. Joy receives `ICT for Dev Award` in NY Sajeeb Wazed Joy, ICT Advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received ICT Development Award 2016 from eminent Hollywood Actor Robert Dabi in recognition of his contribution through implementation of Digital Bangladesh. Among others Prime Minister Sheikh UNB, New York : Sajeeb Wazed Joy, information and communication technology adviser to the Prime Minister, has been conferred upon "ICT for Development Award, 2016" in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the people of Bangladesh through implementation of "Digital Bangladesh" initiative. Joy was given the award for his unmatched leadership and commitment towards ICT and competitiveness as a tool for sustainable development and for his far-reaching initiatives in setting Bangladesh on the path to the digital world. The World Organization of Governance and Competitiveness, the Plan Trifinio, the Global Fashion for Development and the School of Business of the University of New Haven, Connecticut, the USA jointly organised the function titled "High-Level reception in support of the first anniversary of the adoption of the UN sustainable development goals, the importance of ICT competitiveness as a tool for sustainable development" at the Hotel Millennium on Monday night. Introduced this year on the occasion of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, the award will be given regularly on an annual basis. Eminent actor Robert Davi handed over the award at a gala function. Dr Sergio Bran, executive national director of Plan Trifinio El-Salvador, received another award from the actor. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as well as ministers and high-level political leaders from Bangladesh and other countries, UN senior officials, heads of international organistions, ambassadors, private sector and civil society leaders and celebrities attended the function. Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Hasina thanked the organisrs for nominating someone from Bangladesh for the award being given on Tuesday evening. She said, Sajeeb Wazed, who happens to be her aviser on ICT, has been instrumental in shaping her government's vision for a "Digital Bangladesh". "He (Joy) continues to inspire our youth to think big and act boldly," she said. Sheikh Hasina said, "As a mother, I am indeed proud to see my son being recognised for his work. He is making his mark in realizing 'Sonar Bangla', the dream of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," She said, in Bangladesh, her government has made substantial investment in expanding IT infrastructure and building an IT-educated workforce. "We've seen a sea-change in broadband access and IT-enabled public services," she said. Sheikh Hasina said ICT has thus become a critical enabler for the country's inclusive growth, sustainable development and good governance. "It drives our aim to build a knowledge-based society for achieving our Vision-2021' and Vision-2041," she said. "Indeed, ICT holds for us a key to unlocking the full potentials of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," she added. After receiving the award, Joy said, "I feel deeply honoured to receive this award." He dedicated this award to all the young people of the country, who are potential agents of transformation and builders of "Digital Bangladesh". This was the first ever award given by the organisers and henceforth, they would like to give it regularly on an annual basis. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has in the recent time recognised in various ways Bangladesh's strides to digitalisation and this award, now coming from other entities as well, could be seen as a wider appreciation and recognition of Bangladesh's efforts. 16kg liquid nicotine seized at HSIA Staff Reporter : Customs officials seized 16kg liquid nicotine used for e-cigarette at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) on Tuesday morning. Customs Intelligence Director General Dr Moinul Khan said, "Acting on a tip-off, they discovered different brands of the e-cigarette liquid near the courier gate of the airport. According to the documents, Veip Company, located in Dhaka's Shewrapara, imported the nicotine paying only 37.07% instead of 289.21% regular duty on the product. The importer evaded customs duty of Tk 16 lakh by illegal ways, the Customs official said. Customs officials seized a 22-kg courier parcel brought as a sample, evading a large amount of duty from the United States two days ago, the DG said. The goods were sent to Veip Company Limited in the city's Shewrapara. The legal action would be taken in this regard, he said. Daewoo to get contract sans tenders Anisul Islam Noor : The government is going to award contract to the Korean Company 'Daewoo International Corporation' for gas and oil exploration from the deep-sea block-12 in the Bay adjacent to the Myanmar's territory without floating tender. "As the Prime Minister has given her consent before the Eid-ul-Azha, the energy division of power, energy and mineral resources ministry, has already prepared a proposal in order to send it to the cabinet committee on economic affairs for its approval," a highly placed source in the ministry said. According to the source, before signing of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with any foreign company, it needs an approval from the cabinet committee on economic affairs. Daewoo has shown its keen interest for exploration gas from the block-12 as it has already discovered a gas field in Myanmar's territory adjacent to the Bangladesh one. In February, Daewoo and its Australian partner Woodside Energy announced the discovery of the gas filed in Myanmar's block AD-7. Daewoo will be paid $6.50 for each thousand cubic feet of natural gas it owns under the PSC, to be signed in a few months, the sources said. The company also agreed with the other terms and conditions set out in the Model Production Sharing Contract-2012. But it did not participate in the bidding process, sources said. The hydrocarbon block- 12 was freed along with two other blocks 16 and 21 last year, as Norwegian company Statoil claimed additional fiscal benefits beyond the bid it submitted under Model Production Sharing Contract- 2012. Statoil in a joint-venture with the US oil company ConocoPhillips, was the lone bidder for the three deep sea blocks. Later, Conoco pulled off its interests from the venture. On February 4, state-run Petrobangla invited international oil companies to submit expression of interests to explore three deep sea blocks in the Bay under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provisions) Act 2010. Daewoo alone submitted its proposal and only for the deep sea block 12. When asked, an energy division official said that the government would award deep-sea blocks 10, 11, 16 and 21 through negotiations. Petrobangla increased the price of deep sea block gas to $6.5 per thousand cubic feet in the model PSC- 2012 from $4.5 in the model PSC- 2008 and cost recovery to 70 per cent from 55 per cent. Among other financial facilities, Petrobangla also took the responsibility of paying taxes on behalf of the companies under the amended PSC- 2012. In December 2014, the US company ConocoPhillips relinquished the two deep sea blocks 10 and 11 as it did not find oil and gas from the blocks under the PSC - 2008 it signed in 2011. $15m to come in a day or two Staff Reporter : Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said Bangladesh will receive from the Philippines central bank the $15.25 million recovered portion of the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh Bank's Reserve Account in a day or two. "The fund will be deposited in the Bangladesh Bank's Reserve Account in a day or two. Rest of the stolen fund will also be returned to Bangladesh trough legal procedure," Muhith disclosed it to the reporters after a meeting with Public Works and Housing Minister Mosharraf Hossain at the Finance Ministry on Tuesday afternoon. The Minister said it a day after a Philippine regional trial court ordered the country's central bank to return to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) the recovered portion of the fund stolen from the BB Reserve Account. He also said, the probe report on Bangladesh Bank heist will be made public on Thursday. "The report will be accessible on the websites of Bangladesh Bank and the Financial Institutions Division the same day," he said. Unidentified hackers tried to steal nearly one billion from the Bangladesh central bank's account maintained with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in early February, and succeeded in transferring $81 million to four accounts with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in Manila. During a Philippine Senate hearing into the heist which ended in May, a casino junket operator Kim Wong claimed to have received $35 million of the stolen funds, but returned $15.25 million only. America will regret building Israel as most powerful terrorist country against Muslims The new military aid deal formalised by the United States and Israel on September 14 could serve to boost an intransigent, right-wing Israeli government that has already shown little appetite for substantial concessions to the Palestinians, analysts say. The new military aid deal is worth a total of $38bn over 10 years, beginning in budget year 2019. The $3.8bn-a-year agreement is an increase from the current $30bn package; however, the new MoU includes funds for missile defence that have previously been added as top-ups. The deal also phases out Israel's right to spend 26.3 percent of the aid money on its domestic arms companies. For decades, Israel has been the leading recipient of American aid for surpassing other countries. The present aid package is called the largest single pledge for military assistance in US history. The New York Times found it worth asking whether ever increasing military aid to Israel make sense. Though US and Israeli officials cite regional threats by way of justifying the huge aid package, the most frequent victims of Israeli military offensives are the Palestinians. Munitions on Israel's shopping list, say analysts, may very well be used in future assaults on the Gaza Strip. Nadia Hijab, Executive Director of al Shabaka, the Palestinian policy network, notes that the US government has managed to claw back some of its own - or rather some of its tax-payers' - money by phasing out the portion of aid Israel can spend on its own defence industry. These caveats, and the fact that the increase of aid in real terms is not as significant as some Israeli politicians had hoped it would be, have led some - including former Israeli premier Ehud Barak - to accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to secure the best deal possible. The primary lesson that the increasingly extremist Israeli right will draw from this agreement is that there are no significant international consequences, but rather, significant rewards for their behaviour. This behaviour, has included not just exponentially accelerating colonial expansion in the West Bank, but also brazen interference in domestic American politics like Netanyahu's open alignment for Mitt Romney in the 2012 elections, and the more recent efforts to mobilise the US Congress against the White House in the matter of the Iranian nuclear agreement. None of this, of course, makes life any better for Palestinians living under nearly 50 years of Israel's military occupation. The US would do well to heed the words of one of its Founding Fathers and its first President George Washington when in his farewell address he argued for a policy of enlightenment and tradition that placed reason above passion and emotion, and sought a foreign policy driven by a dispassionate, reasoned attempt to further U.S. interests, while being careful to cultivate fair and peaceful relations with other nations. We do not know when the American government and the people will learn before it is too late for the world peace that Israel is an anti-Muslim racist country and the most powerful terrorist group behaving like a brutal colonial power. It needs American money and weapons for butchering Palestinian Muslims and denying them statehood. Israel is the prime cause of anger and terrorism among Muslims. Its Prime Minister is being condemned for genocide. Week-old ceasefire over in Syria UN suspends aid convoys Sagar Biswas :Fresh disaster battered the Syrian nation when the United Nations on Tuesday suspended aid convoys in the country after an airstrike hit a fleet of trucks carrying food to a rebel-held area near Aleppo. As a result of attack, the plans for aid convoys to rebel-besieged Foua and Kefraya in Idlib, and government-blockaded Madaya and Zabadani near the Lebanese border, had been put on hold. "As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being, pending further assessment of the security situation -- The UN had recently received permission from the Syrian government to deliver aid only to besieged areas of the country," UN humanitarian aid spokesman Jens Laerke clarified. The above decision was made in the meeting of International Syria Support Group with the presence of foreign ministers- including US secretary of state John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov -before the start of the 71st UN general assembly in New York. The International Committee of the Red Cross has described the strike on a convoy of Syrian Red Crescent trucks carrying UN-supplied food, also killing about 20 civilians, "as a flagrant violation of international law". The ICRC said the attack destroyed 18 trucks laden with food intended for tens of thousands of people cut off by the war in a rural area west of Aleppo city. "The attack was a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and it is unacceptable. Failing to protect humanitarian workers and structures might have serious repercussions on humanitarian work in the country," ICRC president, Peter Maurer, said. Specially, the ICRC convoy was attacked at a time when Presidents, diplomats and their delegations were getting ready to discuss over a US air raid that allegedly killed at least 62 Syrian government soldiers on Saturday threatening the fragile truce in that country, and sparked fresh rows at the UN. The cease-fire went into effect on September 12 with a call for a cessation in hostilities followed by the delivery of humanitarian aid. And both the U.S. and Russia had expressed desire to extend the cease-fire, which saw guns fall mostly silent despite the issues in getting aid on the move. At present, the West Asian country Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is going through multiple crises; particularly the five-year long civil war has fueled mass exodus along with dearth of all essential things, including food and medicine. The muscle flexing of ISIS is also a continuous pain to global community, which is apparently 'cause of all causes' for the present obnoxious situation in the oil-rich country. Interestingly, Syrian President Mr. Assad denied any responsibility for the destruction, and conflict that has shattered his country, displaced half its population and killed thousands of people. Whereas, a number of Syrian people, once affluent and now penniless, has been begging for shelter, food and cloth thronging the borders of European countries-one of the history's most painful episode! US foreign secretary Kerry, however, insisted that a week-old ceasefire brokered by Russia and the US was not dead despite a surge of Syrian government bombing. "The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people.The United States will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the cessation of hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia. .The ceasefire "was supposed to be a real chance to stop the bloodshed, but the armed terrorist groups flouted this agreement," US State Department spokesman John Dirby said in a statement. Significantly, Kerry and the French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, both said Russia and its Syrian government allies had been responsible for the most serious violations. "The reality, according to the information we are getting from the ground, is that violations of the ceasefire are acts of the regime," Ayrault said. It's not the end. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it appeared that the attack [on Syrian government officials] was carried out by either Syrian or Russian aircraft. But Russia's defence ministry said neither Russian nor Syrian air forces were involved. "All information on the whereabouts of the convoy was available only to the militants controlling these areas," a spokesman said. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon unleashed years of pent-up anger at leaders who keep "feeding the war machine" in Syria, violate human rights and prevent aid deliveries to starving people. The U.N. chief told Presidents, Prime Ministers, monarchs and ministers at the opening of General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting on Tuesday that "powerful patrons" on both sides in the years-long Syrian conflict "have blood on their hands." "Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians," the UN chief, whose term ends on December 31, said. "Many groups have killed innocent civilians - none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees," he added. All told, Lafayette City Marshal Brian Popes legal defense has cost the city dearly as its grown appellate and criminal branches. Beginning with Charles K. Middleton, the attorney Pope first retained to fend off public records inquiries from ABiz sister publication The Independent, the marshal has purchased the representation of a total of six attorneys and obtained pro bono advice from at least one lawyer, according to invoices obtained by public records requests. Recent judgments in the ongoing civil case have exposed Pope to at least $197,000 in liabilities to this media organization, including nearly $30,000 in penalties, for his failure to turn over records the paper requested late last year while probing his meddling in the sheriffs campaign to promote the election of Chad Leger. When added to his more than $115,000 in attorney and consultant fees combined for his criminal and civil defense, Pope has exposed public coffers to more than $312,000 in costs to cover up his bungled foray into shadow politics. Pope currently faces five felony counts stemming from the dispute. THE WHO AND HOW MUCH OF POPES LEGAL DEFENSE TEAM AS OF PRESS TIME: CHARLES K. MIDDLETON $52,172. A DUI lawyer by trade now withdrawn as counsel. Popes current defense implies he made up a bogus investigation and twice lied under oath on Middletons advice. Pope still owes Middleton $10,000. J. KEVIN STOCKSTILL $25,334. Popes primary criminal defense attorney. Stockstill took the baton from Middleton as Popes go-to guy in the records battle. The capable attorney now leads Popes defense against a multi-count felony indictment. JOY RABALAIS $3,246. Popes current primary civil defense attorney. Rabalais came onto the case in the spring. She also represents Scott Police Chief Chad Leger (personally) and LCG, two other parties with an interest in the records suit. MARK PLAISANCE $15,000. A reputable appeal attorney based in Thibodaux. Pope hired Plaisance to argue that The Independent has no right to bring suit, because the newspaper is not a person. No ruling has been issued on the appeal. KATHERINE GUILBEAU GUILLOT $10,000. Hired to write a writ of review appealing a contempt of court ruling against Pope. The writ was denied. JONATHAN JARRETT $1,175. A criminal defense and family law attorney based in Lafayette. Billing records indicate Jarrett consulted on Popes behalf with Alan Haney, the lead prosecutor in Popes criminal case. The former Knight Oil Tools employee whose threats to an ex-coworker broke the case wide open will testify against his alleged co-conspirators. "[Russell Manuel] does look forward to atonement by assisting in the prosecution of the law enforcement agents and businessman involved in this torrid affair, Lafayette criminal defense attorney Pat Magee says of his client. Photo by Robin May It is possible even likely, some would argue that had former Knight Oil Tools employee Russell Manuel kept his mouth shut last year, law enforcement may never have known about the conspiracy to plant illegal drugs on Bryan Knight in 2014 and have him arrested. Now Manuel, who pleaded guilty late last week to his role in the 2014 plot, will have an opportunity to tell a jury exactly what happened two years ago when he testifies against his alleged co-conspirators. The case began to unravel in March 2015 when Manuel, after being fired from the company for reasons that have not yet been publicly disclosed, threatened with physical harm Knight Oil Tools IT Director Barret Lemaire, whom Manuel learned had failed to delete some files associated with what was referred to as "the operation." The operation was the name of the aforementioned cockamamie scheme to get Bryan Knight in enough of a legal quandary that he would stop causing trouble for his older brother, who at the time was running the family-owned oilfield service company. At Manuel's direction a year before, Lemaire had placed an order for the vehicle tracking device and magnetic box that law enforcement officials now say was later filled with drugs and planted under Bryans car to frame him. Lemaire, who says in court documents Manuel threatened him and his family if Lemaire talked, was never charged in the case, and it remains unclear what he knew about the scheme and when he knew it. Within days of the threat, however, a frightened Lemaire did indeed turn to law enforcement officials, who began piecing together the riveting made-for-TV drama. Allegedly Manuel had worked closely with Bryans older brother, oil patch millionaire Mark Knight, the longtime top executive of the company and respected businessman, and two law enforcement officials to set Bryan up for the 2014 arrest. The drug possession charges against Bryan were never pursued because the flimsy, questionable case against him eventually fell apart, even though he was a suspected drug user who had been on law enforcement's radar for some time, according to a local police department official. For starters, among the relatively small number of drugs police found were 25 Lortab pills; Bryan Knight had a prescription for Lortab. All along, Bryan insisted that he'd been framed, mentioning immediately to the officer who pulled him over the family strife and explaining that he'd just left a mediation session in the Oil Center over the direction of the company, according to information later revealed in Manuel's arrest affidavit (though not included in Bryan's arrest affidavit). Bryan, according to his own arrest affidavit, also told law enforcement that he had recently loaned his Cadillac Escalade to a friend and thought the friend may have set him up. With the help of his criminal defense attorney, Pat Magee of Voorhies and Labbe law firm, last year Russell Manuel was able to secure from the district attorney derivative use immunity, according to Kip Judice, who led the investigation for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department before leaving to become Duson's police chief. By way of that agreement, any information Manuel provided independent of what investigators had already been able to gather could not be used to build the criminal case against him. Russell Manuel Late last week Manuel whom the man he threatened had referred to as Mark Knights right-hand-man and henchman and his attorney tied a bow around the agreement, securing Manuel's get-of-jail-free card via his promise of cooperation and guilty plea to conspiring to commit corrupting influence, intimidating a witness and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methadone and hydrocodone. Manuel's 10-year prison sentence was suspended by 15th Judicial District Court Judge David Smith, and he was given supervised probation in exchange for his testimony against Mark Knight, former Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Deputy Jason Kinch and ex-Louisiana State Trooper Corey Jackson. Like Manuel, all three were indicted in July 2015 by a Lafayette Parish grand jury. Manuel will now help prosecutors prove what they allege that Mark Knight paid all three men to plant drugs on Bryan and have him falsely arrested. Russ is sorry for his actions as they pertain to Bryan Knight, and he regrets his lapse in judgment, Magee tells ABiz. He does look forward to atonement by assisting in the prosecution of the law enforcement agents and businessman involved in this torrid affair. Mark Knight, Kinch and Jackson are charged with racketeering, which carries a sentence of up to 50 years and a fine of up to $1 million. The Advocate reported Thursday that the next scheduled hearing in the case is Feb. 16. No trial dates have been set. Bryan Knight has since filed a federal lawsuit against his brother, Manuel, Jackson and Kinch, alleging they violated his civil rights. Learn more about the bizarre Knight saga, which wreaked financial havoc on the behemoth oil services company and reads like a soap opera script, by clicking here. Earlier this year, an unusual interruption abruptly ended a routine court hearing in the Justice Department's high-profile investigation of Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal's troubled department. U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi was in the middle of accepting the first of two guilty pleas by a pair of former sheriffs deputies when a federal prosecutor cut her off mid-sentence. Your Honor, I think were going to ask to stop this proceeding. And I need to speak to counsel for the defendant, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Van Hook said, according to a transcript. Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal After a short break and a private discussion with attorneys, Minaldi adjourned the hearing without giving a reason on the record. Then the attorneys and the two defendants traveled more than 70 miles (110 kilometers) from Lake Charles to Lafayette, where the two men pleaded guilty that evening in front of a different judge, court records show. The mysterious interruption in Minaldis courtroom also marked the end of her assignment to preside over the cases against Ackal and 11 of his subordinates in the alleged beatings of jail inmates. Four days after the aborted March 7 hearing, the chief judge for the Western District of Louisiana took the cases from Minaldi and transferred them to a different judge more than 200 miles away in Shreveport. Once again, no reason was publicly disclosed. Dane Ciolino, a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, said its highly unusual for a judge to halt a guilty plea in the middle of the proceeding and for a case to be reassigned to a different judge without explanation. I havent seen anything like that, Ciolino said. The switch also perplexed the sheriffs attorney, who unsuccessfully challenged the move last week. Ackals lawyer, John McLindon, says the case was reassigned without Minaldis consent and that the move violated court rules. It seems like we should just follow the rules, McLindon said in an interview Friday. From what I can tell from the record, this case was not properly reassigned. Chief Judge Dee Drell denied McLindons request last Friday in a two-sentence order that simply said it was without merit. The transcript for the March 7 hearing where the two men were scheduled to plead guilty offers few clues for why the prosecutor asked to prematurely end it. Van Hook, the prosecutor, initially interrupted Minaldi to point out that she hadnt sworn in former Iberia Parish narcotics agent David Hines before she began questioning him. And, your honor, if you would just indulge me. If you could ask those first few questions you asked him again, if it would please the court, Van Hook said. No. Thanks, Minaldi responded. Minaldi was reading aloud a factual description of the case against one of the defendants when Van Hook interrupted again and asked to stop the hearing. Court records indicate Minaldis role in the case quickly became a question mark. Lawrence Billeaud, an attorney for one of the men, mentioned the possibility that another judge is saddled with the case after they reconvened in Lafayette later that day, according to a transcript. Attorneys for the two men and a Justice Department prosecutor have declined to comment. Drell and Minaldi didnt respond to messages left with their offices Friday. This wasnt the only instance this year in which a case was abruptly transferred from Minaldi to another judge. During the first week of February, Minaldi was presiding over a criminal trial in Lake Charles when a mistrial was declared after two days of testimony. Drell appointed U.S. District Judge Donald Walter to take over the case considering the inability of the presiding judge to be present at the ongoing trial of this matter. Drells order didnt explain why Minaldi couldnt continue with the case against Adley Leo Dyson Jr., who was charged with fraudulently obtaining federal funds after Hurricane Rita in 2005. There is no record of a written or oral request for a mistrial publicly available in the docket, but a transcript in Dysons case remains under seal. Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes. What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection? Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were. Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly. Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection: You get to see exactly what will happen to your money When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor. Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on. A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with. You find out about potential major repairs Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing. If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately. You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home. Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly. You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best. This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit. Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home. You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home. You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price. You can sell your home faster and for more money If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are. In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price. Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for. Your home will hold its value longer As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property. When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home. You can make smart decisions about property investments Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property. If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal. There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about. If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing. They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit. You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for. For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money. You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building. You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure. Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so. As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process. China's ambassador to Canada has picked up a few things in his 28 months on the job. "I've learned what a 'double-double' means at a Tim Hortons (coffee with two creams and two sugars), I know that London doesn't have to be in the UK and I know that one of the best winter coats is called a Canada Goose," said Luo Zhaohui, adding that both he and his wife have greatly enjoyed living here. He was speaking at the National Day Reception Marking the 67th anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China held on Sept 14 in Ottawa, where he reflected upon the completion of his tour of duty. Over the last two years, Luo said that he has witnessed the establishment of an RMB clearing centre, a 10-year visa arrangement, more direct flights between China and Canada and Canada's participation in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. "We also welcomed the birth of two panda cubs at the Toronto Zoo," he added. According to Luo, China has made tremendous progress over the past 67 years. China's GDP per capita has reached US$8,000 compared to only $35 in 1949. The numbers of the middle class have reached over 100 million. Apart from benefiting itself, China's development also affects the outside world. China's trade with the rest of world reached $4 trillion last year. "Two weeks ago, the G20 Summit was held in Hangzhou where Alibaba, the world's largest e-commerce company is located," Luo said. "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Alibaba and discussed with executive chairman Jack Ma how to use the platform to expand Canadian products' access to the Chinese market." During Trudeau's first official visit to China, the leaders of the two countries sized up the situation and reached consensus on a series of issues, signing 56 new commercial contracts and agreements worth $1.2 billion. They also agreed to strengthen communication and cooperation in the fields of energy, clean technology, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, financial services as well as innovation, science and technology. Both sides also agreed to launch a feasibility study for a free-trade agreement as soon as possible. "The most successful consensus reached is Canada's participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank," said Luo. "This is quite significant for both sides in the areas of infrastructure, connectivity and finances. And of course, for Canada to become a founding member is very important." "I am happy to announce that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will visit Canada in the coming week," Luo continued. "It is quite unusual that two leaders exchange visits within one month. I'm sure that further consensus will be reached in the economic area, trade area, and of course the people-to-people interaction and cultural areas." After welcoming Premier Li's visit, Luo said he will finish his term in Canada. "I have been to all the 13 provinces and territories. The vast land, natural beauty and the unique cultural diversity of Canada have left a deep impression on me," he said. Hurricane Update: Fears arise that Gov. Ron DeSantis may reroute Hurricane Ian from Florida coast to Martha's Vineyard Study: People who define themselves by what they stand against, are usually afraid to tell people what they stand for Liz Cheney: Voters need to ask themselves, why they are so out of touch with their politicians White House: IRS toy guns for children are now politically correct, mandatory BREAKING: Biden's economic sanctions on the U.S. to be partially lifted prior to November election GOP's new slogan for midterms: Make Dissent Patriotic Again PSA: Due to high gas prices police departments will now be responding and making arrests via Zoom. NYT: Roe vs Wade to be renamed the "Don't Say Fetus" law Democrats insist on carrying unwanted presidency to term Elon Musk went to bed thinking he owns Twitter. Then the mail-in ballots arrived at 2am... Obama: "If you like your information you can keep your information" Fact checkers reveal Biden handler not a real Easter bunny Biden 2021: you'll save $0.16 on 4th of July BBQ! Biden 2022: you'll save a ton of $$ if you don't eat this 4th of July! Disney to buy Epstein Island for new theme park The Biology Underground is like the Weather Underground, except they are real biologists and they've had to go underground "Psssst. Hey you, kid. Ya wanna watch a Disney movie with me?" "I am not suicidal," says COVID-19 after being contracted by Hillary Clinton Trans-swimmer Lia Thomas's trophy is smaller than for male swimmers, and only 73% gold Sources: U.S. now considers majority of U.S. citizens a threat to U.S. BREAKING: Russian General claims he was beaten up outside Ukrainian bio lab by two Nazis who poured vodka and caviar over him and yelled "This is NATO Country!" Global warming news: 100,000 Russian migrants fleeing climate change about to march into Ukraine Future headline: Donald Trump to buy CNN for one dollar Georgia Governor Stacy Abrams feels honored to be the new Supreme Court justice President Biden: 'Vote for me or I'll shoot this foot' Fact checkers give Pinocchio's speech four Bidens Fauci: The only thing we have to fear, is a lack of fear itself! Study: Most people have had sex more violent than January 6th Facebook permanently bans Facebook from Facebook for violating Facebook community standards New remake of the 1950's horror movie Them to be titled Them/They Teachers Union: Idea that CRT is being taught in K-12 just a conspiracy theory by white supremacists trying to maintain their systemically racist police state Xze/She/He who controls the past controls the future; Xze/She/He who controls the present controls the past S ocialists vow to fight against Critical Socialism Theory A more perfect Soviet Union: the Party pretends it unites us, and we pretend we are united Biden solves border crisis with free direct flights from Central America to major metropolitan areas Critical race theory: destroy the world of systemic racism, build a world of systemic race-baiting In the future everyone will get canceled for fifteen minutes Biden proposes bill to spend two trillion dollars on more money printing factories Social unity: They pretend to hold elections and we pretend we voted Immigrants to Texas and Florida from New York and California break down and cry when they realize all their sacrifices for a better tomorrow were based on lies China anal swabs detect new 'silent but deadly' transmission of covid-19 variant Social science breakthrough: 'White' is the new way of saying 'Bourgeois' Biden administration swat teams make sweeping arrests of underground female-only track meets 'Green energy' to be renamed 'blackout energy' for easier comprehension of climate complexities New children's game: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Science Texas: Biden administration sends emergency wind turbines to help fight the blackouts BREAKING: Biden signs executive order canceling the number 45 ATTENTION: It is your duty to report anyone who says this is no longer a free country. Fact-checking commissars are monitoring all state-approved social media platforms for your convenience OUT: If you don't vote, you can't complain! IN: If you didn't vote Democrat, you can't complain! Social media justice: followers removed from pro-Trump accounts will be added to Biden's Twitter account Fact check: a democratic election is the one in which votes are counted until Democrats win JUST IN: China bans Twitter for being too totalitarian Pelosi introduces new House rule to replace 'gender' terms like mother, daughter, father, son with the word 'comrade'; the only acceptable pronoun will also be 'comrade' Sources: Biden transition team demands access to White House basement to begin renovations BREAKING: President Trump pardons America for its past Prime Minister Modi: to avoid accusations of racism India will change its name to Cleveland Biden creates Antifascist Librarian Justice Committee; the first book scheduled for burning is Fahrenheit 451 Media study: 148% of Americans believe voter fraud doesn't exist 2020 Election forecast: if Joe Biden emerges from the basement on Election Day and sees his shadow, expect four more years of Trump BREAKING: President Trump pardons Corn Pop Toobin, though on administrative leave, is still pulling for Biden Chinese whistleblower: Biden-20 was genetically engineered in a Wuhan lab Nancy Pelosi sponsors a bill to create the office of removal of the President New college humanities major: Critical Trump Studies Opinion: Joe Biden is just an idea CNN: Biden took a solid second place in the debate, while Trump only came next to last Having ordered that all Californians switch to electric cars by 2035, Gov. Gavin Newsom follows up by mandating them to have electricity by 2035 Election 2020: Joe Biden pledges to a peaceful post-election transfer of power to George Soros Out: Flatten the curve. In: Flatten the country. Breaking: the Democrat Party has finished transitioning from being the party of JFK to being the party of Lee Harvey Oswald Paradigm shift in Chromatics: Study shows Indigo (#3F00FF) mixed with Jamaic (#C0FF01) yields Black (#000000) Study: the trouble with wokeism is eventually you run out of victims Stacey Abrams refuses to concede to Harris; declares herself Biden's VP Election 2020: Spunky former presidential candidate wins VP slot by a head Churches in many states to hold services in opened up pubs and bars Election 2020: Xi Jinping still undecided on vice president for Joe Biden Reports: Republicans pounce on 'Republicans pounce' reports Minneapolis launches online looting app to combat Covid-19 DNC study finds lockdowns no longer necessary as the economy is now being destroyed more effectively by looters and rioters With America in lockdown, China offers to host Democrat primary Bernie Sanders tests negative for President In related news, Joe Biden follows other candidates in withdrawing from race and endorsing Joe Biden New York Governor Cuomo shuts down all 'non-essential' business, surprised to find himself out of a job Biden commits to picking a woman as running mate as long as she passes his sniff test Joe Biden's coronavirus prevention tips: always rub hand sanitizer on young girls before sniffing and fondling them Russian lawmakers warned that the American Democrats are meddling to re-elect Putin Joe Biden promises lucrative board member jobs as door prizes to get people to his rallies Democrats now worried they might even lose the illegal alien vote Soleimani's remains FedExed back to Iran and now no one knows what happened to the box BREAKING: massive search underway in Iran after Soleimani's boxed FedEx'd remains stolen off front porch Liz Warren harshly critical of Biden's suggestion to coal miners that they should learn to code, offers to have them trained as romance novelists instead Pelosi: "First we have to impeach Donald Trump before we can find out why we impeached him." Schiff calls his Amazon Alexa to testify: 'She knows absolutely everything' Iran answers to new Reagan statue in Berlin by erecting Obama statue at Tehran airport where he delivered pallets of cash California accepts award for most progressive environmental policies; further progressive developments to be announced as blackouts permit BREAKING: Romney DNA test reveals he is 1/1024th Republican California Governor Gavin Newsom blames electricity blackouts on Ukrainian kulaks, vows revenge Rat falling from White House ceiling fears for his life, begs reporters for protection, offers a tell-all memoir Latest UN climate report shows this month so far has seen the scariest climate pronouncements on record Climate science: there's no need for climate protests in China because China is already communist Islamic clerics split on whether Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib should be traveling around the world without an accompanying male relative Dem candidates call for the Beatles' song 'Get Back' and the 'White Album' to be banned; surviving two white guys of the group must pay reparations Bond's number is up: next 007 will be a black woman, played by Barack Obama NYT: moon landing was one small step for Man, one giant leap for White Male Supremacy HURRICANE WATCH: Tropical storm Barry has records sealed, once offshore expected to change name to Barack Trump politicizes the 4th of July, declares it henceforth to be called the 45th of July, or July the Trumpth Barack Obama critical of Trump for failing to insert 'I, me, my' into his 4th of July speech: "very unpresidential!" Congressional Democrats: John Dean's testimony proves Trump is Nixon in disguise and must be impeached Bernie Sanders admits to being a millionaire, promises to eat himself if nominated International Women's Day observed, women only paid 73% of attention afforded to men Democrats: anti-Semitism means never having to say you're sorry AOC: aborting babies helps preserve the planet for the next generation Bernie Sanders launches presidential campaign, promises to "build a great big beautiful Iron Curtain" around America if elected West Virginia renames itself Eastern Kentucky to avoid further embarrassment from Virginia BREAKING: Justice Ginsburg released from hospital after breaking 3 ribs at late night bar brawl in Adams Morgan DNA news: Senator Warren tanking in latest totem polls Orwell studies: 84% of academics believe problems raised in 1984 can be fixed with solutions from Animal Farm Progress in gender justice: online dating industry issues recommendations for men to wear body cameras, bring attorneys as chaperones Study: the only people who don't know what socialism is are the socialists Poll: 1 in 3 #FightFor15 activists believe movement is related to lowering the age of consent across America CNN expert: Kavanaugh confirmation will increase global warming by 3 degrees Harry Reid comes forth to say Judge Kavanaugh didn't pay any taxes in high school Hollywood to America: If you've got a flag on the Moon, you didn't plant that; some other country made that happen Protest march in straight jackets against Trump ends in chaos as participants try but fail to free themselves HEADLINES YOU WILL NEVER SEE: California Gov. Jerry Brown single-handedly stops wildfires in his state by issuing an immediate statewide ban on wildfires San Francisco closes all Planned Parenthood clinics after sting operation catches employees using plastic straws Vegan mother undergoes experimental surgery to force her breasts to produce almond milk With none of his emails answered, frustrated Nigerian man commits suicide and leaves $100bn fortune to charity California gives new meaning to strawman argument as caped Strawman battles supervillains in restaurants, bars, and fast food joints Violence increases in Mexico as cartels switch from smuggling drugs to plastic straws to San Francisco Obama proposes a Paris Economic Change agreement among nations to address how world will cope with future runaway economic warming Stormy Daniels plans border visit to give migrant children freebies San Francisco: man dumping off 20 lbs of human waste in plastic bag on street corner cited for using non-biodegradable plastic bag BREAKING: ICE renamed Planned Citizenship, immediately absolving it of all criticism Senate Democrats demand Supreme Court nominee not be unduly influenced by U.S. Constitution BREAKING: In 2018, Obama and Biden can finally celebrate Recovery Summer IG Report: the FBI broke the law, but since there was no criminal intent, no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case Pelosi on Trump's MS-13 "animals" comments: "Four legs good, two legs bad" Iran nuclear talks set to resume between the United States and John Kerry Report: The Mueller investigation has finally determined that the lyrics to Louie Louie are not about Trump and Russian collusion MARKETS: Demand for carbon credits spikes as Hamas seeks to undo damage to Earth's atmosphere caused by burning 10,000 tires on Gaza border BREAKING: After state reassignment surgery Pennsylvania will henceforth be known as Transylvania Experts: If we don't act now, unicorns will be extinct in just ten years. Children will ask, "Mommy, what's a unicorn?" Women and minorities will be forced to seek alternative hallucinations Korean war must continue: Hawaiian federal judge declares Trump's peace effort unconstitutional New York: feminists march on Broadway, demand the street be given new, non-misogynistic name Experts: California's planned transition of all state jobs from citizens to illegal aliens by 2020 will help to avoid bankruptcy and save money for social programs for illegal aliens Putin: If I didn't want Hillary to be president she would be dead Doritos maker PepsiCo to introduce snack line for women; new Doritas chips will be 77% as big as Doritos and won't make any scary 'crunchy noises' TMZ: Tooth Fairy accused of sexually assaulting millions of children, outs self as Transgendered Tooth Recovery Specialist RUSSIA COLLUSION: Trump offers Putin to trade Rep. Maxine Waters for two unnamed members of the State Duma Ikea founder dead at 91; his coffin arrived in a box with confusing instructions and took 3 hours to assemble This Thanksgiving ex-president Obama continues with his tradition of apologizing to turkeys everywhere for the injustice they suffered since America's founding Oslo, Norway: 2017 Nobel Peace Prize goes to advocacy group about which you'll forget immediately after reading this headline Cambridge, MA, library to replace racist 'Cat in the Hat' with inclusive 'Che in a Beret' Millions of men worldwide eagerly await broadcast of Hugh Hefner's funeral, solely for the articles Bill Gates offers to pay for Trump's wall on condition he gets to install Windows Bernie Sanders introduces single-payer public transportation bill to end America's unequal, unfair, and expensive private transportation system DNC embroiled in controversy after official Twitter account accidentally 'likes' pictures of US Constitution and Bill of Rights Hurricane Irma hits Cuba, causes millions of dollars worth of improvements to property and infrastructure Climate study: extreme weather may be caused by unlicensed witches casting wrong spells in well-meaning effort to destroy Trump Ex-president Obama declares Irma "Hurricane of Peace," urges not to jump to conclusions and succumb to stormophobia CNN: Trump reverses Obama's executive order banning hurricanes ISIS claims responsibility for a total solar eclipse over the lands of American crusaders and nonbelievers When asked if they could point to North Korea on a map many college students didn't know what a map was CNN: We must bring America into the 21st century by replacing the 18th century Constitution with 19th century poetry Pelosi: 'We have to impeach the president in order to find out what we impeached him for' BREAKING: As of Saturday July 8, 2017, all of Earth's ecosystems have shut down as per Prince Charles's super scientific pronouncement made 96 months ago. Everything is dead. All is lost. Life on Earth is no more. DNC to pick new election slogan out of four finalists: 'Give us more government or everyone dies,' 'Vote for Democrats or everyone dies,' 'Impeach Trump or everyone dies,' 'Stop the fearmongering or everyone dies' Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" is humanity's last chance to save the Earth before it ends five years ago Experts: The more we embrace diversity the more everything is the same BOMBSHELL: TMZ offers Kathy Griffin $5 mil to keep any future sex tape private DEVELOPING: CNN, WaPo, NYT anonymous sources say Vladimir Putin may have ties to Russia BREAKING: Manning and Snowden have come out with strong condemnation of Donald Trump leaking classified information to Russia Gun store goes into lockdown over report an "active university professor" roving the grounds Dozens injured at Ralph Lauren & Louis Vuitton headquarters after Ivanka calls in missile strikes on rival fashion houses BOMBSHELL: Evidence proves Donald Trump conspired with his campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton University ranked "very intolerant of free speech" fights the accusation by banning the study and all involved Concerned that Russians don't consume enough alcohol in the month of March, Russia's Orthodox Church makes St. Patrick's Day official holiday Grassroots group calls for "The Million Regulators March" on Washington, supported by all who fear the loss of their betters telling them what to do Experts: Starbucks CEO Schultz's hiring of 10,000 Muslim refugees likely to blow up in his face Will the groundprog be frightened by its own shadow and hide - or will there be another season of insane protests? Trump signs executive order making California and New York national monuments; residents have two days to vacate Women's March against fascism completed with 400,000 fewer deaths than anticipated Feminist historians uncover ghastly concentration camps where so-called "housewives" were forced to live inauthentic lives slaving away in kitchens Dictionary of the future: Global Warming was a popular computer simulation game, where the only way to win was not to play "Anti-fascist" groups violently protest misspelling of their original name, "aren't-we-fascists" Post-inauguration blues: millions of democrats distraught as the reality of having to find real jobs sets in "Journalism is the continuation of war by other means" is exposed as a fake quote by mainstream media journalists Congressional Democrats: "We cannot just simply replace Obamacare with freedom because then millions of Americans will suddenly become free" Schoolchildren jailed for building only white snowmen Obama's reckless attacks on Russia serve as recruitment tool to create more Russian hackers Hillary: "I lost, so I'm going to follow our democratic traditions, poison the wells, and scorch the earth" Children in Venezuela cook and eat their Christmas toys Hillary: "I can hack Russia from my bathroom" Hillary suggests to counter "fake news" with government newspaper called "Truth" ("Pravda" for Russian speakers) BREAKING: Millions of uncounted votes found on Hillary's private voting machine in her Chappaqua bathroom New York Times: Fidel Castro world's sexiest corpse After years of trial and error, CIA finally succeeds with the "waiting it out" technique on Fidel Castro Post-election shopping tip: look for the PoliticsFree label at your local grocer to make sure you don't buy from companies that don't want your business anymore In Hillary's America, email server scrubs you Obama transfers his Nobel Peace Prize to anti-Trump rioters Democrats blame Hillary's criminal e-mail server for her loss, demand it face prison Afraid of "dangerous" Trump presidency, protesters pre-emptively burn America down to the ground Clinton Foundation in foreclosure as foreign donors demand refunds Hillary Clinton blames YouTube video for unexpected and spontaneous voter uprising that prevented her inevitable move into the White House Sudden rise in sea levels explained by disproportionately large tears shed by climate scientists in the aftermath of Trump's electoral victory FBI director Comey delighted after receiving Nobel Prize for Speed Reading (650,000 emails in one week) U.N. deploys troops to American college campuses in order to combat staggeringly low rape rates Responding to Trump's surging poll numbers, Obama preemptively pardons himself for treason Following hurricane Matthew's failure to devastate Florida, activists flock to the Sunshine State and destroy Trump signs manually Tim Kaine takes credit for interrupting hurricane Matthew while debating weather in Florida Study: Many non-voters still undecided on how they're not going to vote The Evolution of Dissent: on November 8th the nation is to decide whether dissent will stop being racist and become sexist - or it will once again be patriotic as it was for 8 years under George W. Bush Venezuela solves starvation problem by making it mandatory to buy food Breaking: the Clinton Foundation set to investigate the FBI Obama captures rare Pokemon while visiting Hiroshima Movie news: 'The Big Friendly Giant Government' flops at box office; audiences say "It's creepy" Barack Obama: "If I had a son, he'd look like Micah Johnson" White House edits Orlando 911 transcript to say shooter pledged allegiance to NRA and Republican Party President George Washington: 'Redcoats do not represent British Empire; King George promotes a distorted version of British colonialism' Following Obama's 'Okie-Doke' speech, stock of Okie-Doke soars; NASDAQ: 'Obama best Okie-Doke salesman' Weaponized baby formula threatens Planned Parenthood office; ACLU demands federal investigation of Gerber Experts: melting Antarctic glacier could cause sale levels to rise up to 80% off select items by this weekend Travel advisory: airlines now offering flights to front of TSA line As Obama instructs his administration to get ready for presidential transition, Trump preemptively purchases 'T' keys for White House keyboards John Kasich self-identifies as GOP primary winner, demands access to White House bathroom Upcoming Trump/Kelly interview on FoxNews sponsored by 'Let's Make a Deal' and 'The Price is Right' News from 2017: once the evacuation of Lena Dunham and 90% of other Hollywood celebrities to Canada is confirmed, Trump resigns from presidency: "My work here is done" Non-presidential candidate Paul Ryan pledges not to run for president in new non-presidential non-ad campaign Trump suggests creating 'Muslim database'; Obama symbolically protests by shredding White House guest logs beginning 2009 National Enquirer: John Kasich's real dad was the milkman, not mailman National Enquirer: Bound delegates from Colorado, Wyoming found in Ted Cruzs basement Iran breaks its pinky-swear promise not to support terrorism; US State Department vows rock-paper-scissors strategic response Women across the country cheer as racist Democrat president on $20 bill is replaced by black pro-gun Republican Federal Reserve solves budget crisis by writing itself a 20-trillion-dollar check Widows, orphans claim responsibility for Brussels airport bombing Che Guevara's son hopes Cuba's communism will rub off on US, proposes a long list of people the government should execute first Susan Sarandon: "I don't vote with my vagina." Voters in line behind her still suspicious, use hand sanitizer Campaign memo typo causes Hillary to court 'New Black Panties' vote New Hampshire votes for socialist Sanders, changes state motto to "Live FOR Free or Die" Martin O'Malley drops out of race after Iowa Caucus; nation shocked with revelation he has been running for president Statisticians: one out of three Bernie Sanders supporters is just as dumb as the other two Hillary campaign denies accusations of smoking-gun evidence in her emails, claims they contain only smoking-circumstantial-gun evidence Obama stops short of firing US Congress upon realizing the difficulty of assembling another group of such tractable yes-men In effort to contol wild passions for violent jihad, White House urges gun owners to keep their firearms covered in gun burkas TV horror live: A Charlie Brown Christmas gets shot up on air by Mohammed cartoons Democrats vow to burn the country down over Ted Cruz statement, 'The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats' Russia's trend to sign bombs dropped on ISIS with "This is for Paris" found response in Obama administration's trend to sign American bombs with "Return to sender" University researchers of cultural appropriation quit upon discovery that their research is appropriation from a culture that created universities Archeologists discover remains of what Barack Obama has described as unprecedented, un-American, and not-who-we-are immigration screening process in Ellis Island Mizzou protests lead to declaring entire state a "safe space," changing Missouri motto to "The don't show me state" Green energy fact: if we put all green energy subsidies together in one-dollar bills and burn them, we could generate more electricity than has been produced by subsidized green energy State officials improve chances of healthcare payouts by replacing ObamaCare with state lottery NASA's new mission to search for racism, sexism, and economic inequality in deep space suffers from race, gender, and class power struggles over multibillion-dollar budget College progress enforcement squads issue schematic humor charts so students know if a joke may be spontaneously laughed at or if regulations require other action ISIS opens suicide hotline for US teens depressed by climate change and other progressive doomsday scenarios Virginia county to close schools after teacher asks students to write 'death to America' in Arabic 'Wear hijab to school day' ends with spontaneous female circumcision and stoning of a classmate during lunch break ISIS releases new, even more barbaric video in an effort to regain mantle from Planned Parenthood Impressed by Fox News stellar rating during GOP debates, CNN to use same formula on Democrat candidates asking tough, pointed questions about Republicans Shocking new book explores pros and cons of socialism, discovers they are same people Pope outraged by Planned Parenthood's "unfettered capitalism," demands equal redistribution of baby parts to each according to his need John Kerry accepts Iran's "Golden Taquiyya" award, requests jalapenos on the side Citizens of Pluto protest US government's surveillance of their planetoid and its moons with New Horizons space drone John Kerry proposes 3-day waiting period for all terrorist nations trying to acquire nuclear weapons Chicago Police trying to identify flag that caused nine murders and 53 injuries in the city this past weekend Cuba opens to affordable medical tourism for Americans who can't afford Obamacare deductibles State-funded research proves existence of Quantum Aggression Particles (Heterons) in Large Hadron Collider Student job opportunities: make big bucks this summer as Hillarys Ordinary-American; all expenses paid, travel, free acting lessons Experts debate whether Iranian negotiators broke John Kerry's leg or he did it himself to get out of negotiations Junior Varsity takes Ramadi, advances to quarterfinals US media to GOP pool of candidates: 'Knowing what we know now, would you have had anything to do with the founding of the United States?' NY Mayor to hold peace talks with rats, apologize for previous Mayor's cowboy diplomacy China launches cube-shaped space object with a message to aliens: "The inhabitants of Earth will steal your intellectual property, copy it, manufacture it in sweatshops with slave labor, and sell it back to you at ridiculously low prices" Progressive scientists: Truth is a variable deduced by subtracting 'what is' from 'what ought to be' Experts agree: Hillary Clinton best candidate to lessen percentage of Americans in top 1% America's attempts at peace talks with the White House continue to be met with lies, stalling tactics, and bad faith Starbucks new policy to talk race with customers prompts new hashtag #DontHoldUpTheLine Hillary: DELETE is the new RESET Charlie Hebdo receives Islamophobe 2015 award; the cartoonists could not be reached for comment due to their inexplicable, illogical deaths Russia sends 'reset' button back to Hillary: 'You need it now more than we do' Barack Obama finds out from CNN that Hillary Clinton spent four years being his Secretary of State President Obama honors Leonard Nimoy by taking selfie in front of Starship Enterprise Police: If Obama had a convenience store, it would look like Obama Express Food Market Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males NASA: We're 80% sure about being 20% sure about being 17% sure about being 38% sure about 2014 being the hottest year on record People holding '$15 an Hour Now' posters sue Democratic party demanding raise to $15 an hour for rendered professional protesting services Cuba-US normalization: US tourists flock to see Cuba before it looks like the US and Cubans flock to see the US before it looks like Cuba White House describes attacks on Sony Pictures as 'spontaneous hacking in response to offensive video mocking Juche and its prophet' CIA responds to Democrat calls for transparency by releasing the director's cut of The Making Of Obama's Birth Certificate Obama: 'If I had a city, it would look like Ferguson' Biden: 'If I had a Ferguson (hic), it would look like a city' Obama signs executive order renaming 'looters' to 'undocumented shoppers' Ethicists agree: two wrongs do make a right so long as Bush did it first The aftermath of the 'War on Women 2014' finds a new 'Lost Generation' of disillusioned Democrat politicians, unable to cope with life out of office White House: Republican takeover of the Senate is a clear mandate from the American people for President Obama to rule by executive orders Nurse Kaci Hickox angrily tells reporters that she won't change her clocks for daylight savings time Democratic Party leaders in panic after recent poll shows most Democratic voters think 'midterm' is when to end pregnancy Desperate Democratic candidates plead with Obama to stop backing them and instead support their GOP opponents Ebola Czar issues five-year plan with mandatory quotas of Ebola infections per each state based on voting preferences Study: crony capitalism is to the free market what the Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity Fun facts about world languages: the Left has more words for statism than the Eskimos have for snow African countries to ban all flights from the United States because "Obama is incompetent, it scares us" Nobel Peace Prize controversy: Hillary not nominated despite having done even less than Obama to deserve it Obama: 'Ebola is the JV of viruses' BREAKING: Secret Service foils Secret Service plot to protect Obama Revised 1st Amendment: buy one speech, get the second free Sharpton calls on white NFL players to beat their women in the interests of racial fairness President Obama appoints his weekly approval poll as new national security adviser Obama wags pen and phone at Putin; Europe offers support with powerful pens and phones from NATO members White House pledges to embarrass ISIS back to the Stone Age with a barrage of fearsome Twitter messages and fatally ironic Instagram photos Obama to fight ISIS with new federal Terrorist Regulatory Agency Obama vows ISIS will never raise their flag over the eighteenth hole Harry Reid: "Sometimes I say the wong thing" Elian Gonzalez wishes he had come to the U.S. on a bus from Central America like all the other kids Obama visits US-Mexican border, calls for a two-state solution Obama draws "blue line" in Iraq after Putin took away his red crayon "Hard Choices," a porno flick loosely based on Hillary Clinton's memoir and starring Hillary Hellfire as a drinking, whoring Secretary of State, wildly outsells the flabby, sagging original Accusations of siding with the enemy leave Sgt. Bergdahl with only two options: pursue a doctorate at Berkley or become a Senator from Massachusetts Jay Carney stuck in line behind Eric Shinseki to leave the White House; estimated wait time from 15 min to 6 weeks 100% of scientists agree that if man-made global warming were real, "the last people we'd want to help us is the Obama administration" Jay Carney says he found out that Obama found out that he found out that Obama found out that he found out about the latest Obama administration scandal on the news "Anarchy Now!" meeting turns into riot over points of order, bylaws, and whether or not 'kicking the #^@&*! ass' of the person trying to speak is or is not violence Obama retaliates against Putin by prohibiting unionized federal employees from dating hot Russian girls online during work hours Russian separatists in Ukraine riot over an offensive YouTube video showing the toppling of Lenin statues "Free Speech Zones" confuse Obamaphone owners who roam streets in search of additional air minutes Obamacare bolsters employment for professionals with skills to convert meth back into sudafed Gloves finally off: Obama uses pen and phone to cancel Putin's Netflix account Joe Biden to Russia: "We will bury you by turning more of Eastern Europe over to your control!" In last-ditch effort to help Ukraine, Obama deploys Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to Crimea Al Sharpton: "Not even Putin can withstand our signature chanting, 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, Russian army go away'!" Mardi Gras in North Korea: "Throw me some food!" Obama's foreign policy works: "War, invasion, and conquest are signs of weakness; we've got Putin right where we want him" US offers military solution to Ukraine crisis: "We will only fight countries that have LGBT military" Putin annexes Brighton Beach to protect ethnic Russians in Brooklyn, Obama appeals to UN and EU for help The 1980s: "Mr. Obama, we're just calling to ask if you want our foreign policy back. The 1970s are right here with us, and they're wondering, too." In a stunning act of defiance, Obama courageously unfriends Putin on Facebook MSNBC: Obama secures alliance with Austro-Hungarian Empire against Russias aggression in Ukraine Study: springbreak is to STDs what April 15th is to accountants Efforts to achieve moisture justice for California thwarted by unfair redistribution of snow in America North Korean voters unanimous: "We are the 100%" Leader of authoritarian gulag-site, The People's Cube, unanimously 're-elected' with 100% voter turnout Super Bowl: Obama blames Fox News for Broncos' loss Feminist author slams gay marriage: "a man needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" Beverly Hills campaign heats up between Henry Waxman and Marianne Williamson over the widening income gap between millionaires and billionaires in their district Biden to lower $10,000-a-plate Dinner For The Homeless to $5,000 so more homeless can attend Kim becomes world leader, feeds uncle to dogs; Obama eats dogs, becomes world leader, America cries uncle North Korean leader executes own uncle for talking about Obamacare at family Christmas party White House hires part-time schizophrenic Mandela sign interpreter to help sell Obamacare Kim Jong Un executes own "crazy uncle" to keep him from ruining another family Christmas OFA admits its advice for area activists to give Obamacare Talk at shooting ranges was a bad idea President resolves Obamacare debacle with executive order declaring all Americans equally healthy Obama to Iran: "If you like your nuclear program, you can keep your nuclear program" Bovine community outraged by flatulence coming from Washington DC Obama: "I'm not particularly ideological; I believe in a good pragmatic five-year plan" Shocker: Obama had no knowledge he'd been reelected until he read about it in the local newspaper last week Server problems at HealthCare.gov so bad, it now flashes 'Error 808' message NSA marks National Best Friend Day with official announcement: "Government is your best friend; we know you like no one else, we're always there, we're always willing to listen" Al Qaeda cancels attack on USA citing launch of Obamacare as devastating enough The President's latest talking point on Obamacare: "I didn't build that" Dizzy with success, Obama renames his wildly popular healthcare mandate to HillaryCare Carney: huge ObamaCare deductibles won't look as bad come hyperinflation Washington Redskins drop 'Washington' from their name as offensive to most Americans Poll: 83% of Americans favor cowboy diplomacy over rodeo clown diplomacy GOVERNMENT WARNING: If you were able to complete ObamaCare form online, it wasn't a legitimate gov't website; you should report online fraud and change all your passwords Obama administration gets serious, threatens Syria with ObamaCare Obama authorizes the use of Vice President Joe Biden's double-barrel shotgun to fire a couple of blasts at Syria Sharpton: "British royals should have named baby 'Trayvon.' By choosing 'George' they sided with white Hispanic racist Zimmerman" DNC launches 'Carlos Danger' action figure; proceeds to fund a charity helping survivors of the Republican War on Women Nancy Pelosi extends abortion rights to the birds and the bees Hubble discovers planetary drift to the left Obama: 'If I had a daughter-in-law, she would look like Rachael Jeantel' FISA court rubberstamps statement denying its portrayal as government's rubber stamp Every time ObamaCare gets delayed, a Julia somewhere dies GOP to Schumer: 'Force full implementation of ObamaCare before 2014 or Dems will never win another election' Obama: 'If I had a son... no, wait, my daughter can now marry a woman!' Janet Napolitano: TSA findings reveal that since none of the hijackers were babies, elderly, or Tea Partiers, 9/11 was not an act of terrorism News Flash: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) can see Canada from South Dakota Susan Rice: IRS actions against tea parties caused by anti-tax YouTube video that was insulting to their faith Drudge Report reduces font to fit all White House scandals onto one page Obama: the IRS is a constitutional right, just like the Second Amendment White House: top Obama officials using secret email accounts a result of bad IT advice to avoid spam mail from Nigeria Jay Carney to critics: 'Pinocchio never said anything inconsistent' Obama: If I had a gay son, he'd look like Jason Collins Gosnell's office in Benghazi raided by the IRS: mainstream media's worst cover-up challenge to date IRS targeting pro-gay-marriage LGBT groups leads to gayest tax revolt in U.S. history After Arlington Cemetery rejects offer to bury Boston bomber, Westboro Babtist Church steps up with premium front lawn plot Boston: Obama Administration to reclassify marathon bombing as 'sportsplace violence' Study: Success has many fathers but failure becomes a government program US Media: Can Pope Francis possibly clear up Vatican bureaucracy and banking without blaming the previous administration? Michelle Obama praises weekend rampage by Chicago teens as good way to burn calories and stay healthy This Passover, Obama urges his subjects to paint lamb's blood above doors in order to avoid the Sequester White House to American children: Sequester causes layoffs among hens that lay Easter eggs; union-wage Easter Bunnies to be replaced by Mexican Chupacabras Time Mag names Hugo Chavez world's sexiest corpse Boy, 8, pretends banana is gun, makes daring escape from school Study: Free lunches overpriced, lack nutrition Oscars 2013: Michelle Obama announces long-awaited merger of Hollywood and the State Joe Salazar defends the right of women to be raped in gun-free environment: 'rapists and rapees should work together to prevent gun violence for the common good' Dept. of Health and Human Services eliminates rape by reclassifying assailants as 'undocumented sex partners' Kremlin puts out warning not to photoshop Putin riding meteor unless bare-chested Deeming football too violent, Obama moves to introduce Super Drone Sundays instead Japan offers to extend nuclear umbrella to cover U.S. should America suffer devastating attack on its own defense spending Feminists organize one billion women to protest male oppression with one billion lap dances Urban community protests Mayor Bloomberg's ban on extra-large pop singers owning assault weapons Concerned with mounting death toll, Taliban offers to send peacekeeping advisers to Chicago Karl Rove puts an end to Tea Party with new 'Republicans For Democrats' strategy aimed at losing elections Answering public skepticism, President Obama authorizes unlimited drone attacks on all skeet targets throughout the country Skeet Ulrich denies claims he had been shot by President but considers changing his name to 'Traps' White House releases new exciting photos of Obama standing, sitting, looking thoughtful, and even breathing in and out New York Times hacked by Chinese government, Paul Krugman's economic policies stolen White House: when President shoots skeet, he donates the meat to food banks that feed the middle class To prove he is serious, Obama eliminates armed guard protection for President, Vice-President, and their families; establishes Gun-Free Zones around them instead State Dept to send 100,000 American college students to China as security for US debt obligations Jay Carney: Al Qaeda is on the run, they're just running forward President issues executive orders banning cliffs, ceilings, obstructions, statistics, and other notions that prevent us from moving forwards and upward Fearing the worst, Obama Administration outlaws the fan to prevent it from being hit by certain objects World ends; S&P soars Riddle of universe solved; answer not understood Meek inherit Earth, can't afford estate taxes Greece abandons Euro; accountants find Greece has no Euros anyway Wheel finally reinvented; axles to be gradually reinvented in 3rd quarter of 2013 Bigfoot found in Ohio, mysteriously not voting for Obama As Santa's workshop files for bankruptcy, Fed offers bailout in exchange for control of 'naughty and nice' list Freak flying pig accident causes bacon to fly off shelves Obama: green economy likely to transform America into a leading third world country of the new millennium Report: President Obama to visit the United States in the near future Obama promises to create thousands more economically neutral jobs Modernizing Islam: New York imam proposes to canonize Saul Alinsky as religion's latter day prophet Imam Rauf's peaceful solution: 'Move Ground Zero a few blocks away from the mosque and no one gets hurt' Study: Obama's threat to burn tax money in Washington 'recruitment bonanza' for Tea Parties Study: no Social Security reform will be needed if gov't raises retirement age to at least 814 years Obama attends church service, worships self Obama proposes national 'Win The Future' lottery; proceeds of new WTF Powerball to finance more gov't spending Historical revisionists: "Hey, you never know" Vice President Biden: criticizing Egypt is un-pharaoh Israelis to Egyptian rioters: "don't damage the pyramids, we will not rebuild" Lake Superior renamed Lake Inferior in spirit of tolerance and inclusiveness Al Gore: It's a shame that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of polar bears Michael Moore: As long as there is anyone with money to shake down, this country is not broke Obama's teleprompters unionize, demand collective bargaining rights Obama calls new taxes 'spending reductions in tax code.' Elsewhere rapists tout 'consent reductions in sexual intercourse' Obama's teleprompter unhappy with White House Twitter: "Too few words" Obama's Regulation Reduction committee finds US Constitution to be expensive outdated framework inefficiently regulating federal gov't Taking a page from the Reagan years, Obama announces new era of Perestroika and Glasnost Responding to Oslo shootings, Obama declares Christianity "Religion of Peace," praises "moderate Christians," promises to send one into space Republicans block Obama's $420 billion program to give American families free charms that ward off economic bad luck White House to impose Chimney tax on Santa Claus Obama decrees the economy is not soaring as much as previously decreeed Conservative think tank introduces children to capitalism with pop-up picture book "The Road to Smurfdom" Al Gore proposes to combat Global Warming by extracting silver linings from clouds in Earth's atmosphere Obama refutes charges of him being unresponsive to people's suffering: "When you pray to God, do you always hear a response?" Obama regrets the US government didn't provide his mother with free contraceptives when she was in college Fluke to Congress: drill, baby, drill! Planned Parenthood introduces Frequent Flucker reward card: 'Come again soon!' Obama to tornado victims: 'We inherited this weather from the previous administration' Obama congratulates Putin on Chicago-style election outcome People's Cube gives itself Hero of Socialist Labor medal in recognition of continued expert advice provided to the Obama Administration helping to shape its foreign and domestic policies Hamas: Israeli air defense unfair to 99% of our missiles, "only 1% allowed to reach Israel" Democrat strategist: without government supervision, women would have never evolved into humans Voters Without Borders oppose Texas new voter ID law Enraged by accusation that they are doing Obama's bidding, media leaders demand instructions from White House on how to respond Obama blames previous Olympics for failure to win at this Olympics Official: China plans to land on Moon or at least on cheap knockoff thereof Koran-Contra: Obama secretly arms Syrian rebels Poll: Progressive slogan 'We should be more like Europe' most popular with members of American Nazi Party Obama to Evangelicals: Jesus saves, I just spend May Day: Anarchists plan, schedule, synchronize, and execute a coordinated campaign against all of the above Midwestern farmers hooked on new erotic novel "50 Shades of Hay" Study: 99% of Liberals give the rest a bad name Obama meets with Jewish leaders, proposes deeper circumcisions for the rich Historians: Before HOPE & CHANGE there was HEMP & CHOOM at ten bucks a bag Cancer once again fails to cure Venezuela of its "President for Life" Tragic spelling error causes Muslim protesters to burn local boob-tube factory Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: due to energy conservation, the light at the end of the tunnel will be switched off Obama Administration running food stamps across the border with Mexico in an operation code-named "Fat And Furious" Pakistan explodes in protest over new Adobe Acrobat update; 17 local acrobats killed White House: "Let them eat statistics" Special Ops: if Benedict Arnold had a son, he would look like Barack Obama AD GOES HERE The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. PATOKA In what they called a show of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, demonstrators from across Illinois gathered near the end of the proposed Dakota Access oil pipeline in rural Marion County on Sunday. Singing ceremonial Native American songs and holding up signs, about 50 protesters marched to the construction site of a new pumping facility on Kinoka Road in Patoka, a small agricultural town 16 miles north of Centralia. The controversial $3.7 billion pipeline would transport crude oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois. It has sparked huge protests in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, drawing thousands of people from all over North America. Chippewa Chief Chris Orcutt, who lives in Indianapolis but has relatives at the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota, led the demonstration, which culminated in a peace pipe ceremony across from the construction site. This pipeline from here stretches about 1,000 miles and theres protests all along the way, Orcutt said. One of the things that I hope were able to help raise the awareness of is that connection, so that there is more focus brought to this issue. Were really here to pray, to pray for the right action with this country, with the government, with the private corporations, with the Energy Transfer Partners, said Deni Garlits, who organized the event. They can start making some money off building some new infrastructure, building clean energy and sustainable energy, so thats part of the reason that were here. Garlits, who lives in Cerro Gordo, said that many of the demonstrators have been involved in anti-fracking groups. Ive been following the issue since day one, really, said Annette McMichael, who traveled to the event with her husband from their home in Ozark. Im very much against pipelines, and we were heavily involved in fighting the Keystone Pipeline not this group, but friends of mine. And I have been involved in SAFE, the anti-fracking group in Southern Illinois, for a long time. Daniel Reese of Leech Lake, Minnesota, led the group in traditional Native drumming and singing, beginning with the intertribal American Indian Movement Song. All the other songs that we sang are ceremony songs about life, about how were here were giving thanks, asking for help, asking for pity upon us, said Reese. When were all one heart and one mind, we are very powerful. At one point, Orcutt and demonstrators directly addressed employees at the facility, who listened in silence from across the road. Water is life! Theres too much risk of poisoning the water here! You need to stop this! Orcutt said. The protest remained peaceful, and demonstrators were escorted down the rural county road by the Marion County Sheriffs Department. The Dakota Access pipeline project is currently in limbo. On Sept. 9, a judge rejected the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes request for a preliminary injunction to stop construction; later that day, however, the federal government said it would not authorize construction under and around Lake Oahe, which is regarded as sacred by the Sioux and is the tribes primary source of drinking water. On Saturday, a federal appeals court temporarily halted construction 20 miles on either side of the lake, saying that it needed more time to consider the tribes request for an emergency injunction. EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated. The original story said Herrin High School received a call on Sunday threatening a bomb would be in the school on Monday. That is incorrect. Principal Jeff Johnson said a note was discovered on Monday that said a bomb would be in the school the next day. In an updated statement Tuesday morning, the Herrin Police Department said the juvenile who is suspected of making a bomb threat at Herrin High School was released into the custody of a parent. The juvenile was not cited for disorderly conduct, as a Monday release had said. Police said the case is being sent to the Williamson County state's attorney's office with the recommendation that the juvenile suspect be charged with felony disorderly conduct. Principal Jeff Johnson said Tuesday officials discovered a note on Monday that said there would be a bomb in the building the next day. School officials identified a potential suspect before officers arrived. After an investigation, it was determined the threat was not credible and the suspect was taken into custody. The Southern Dr. Maya Rockeymoore made an impassioned plea to the community not to let anything deter it from continuing its work to ensure family wellness, including preventing babies from being born too soon or too small. The globally-recognized strategist and entrepreneur was the keynote speaker for Family Solutions of the Low Countrys ninth annual Infant Mortality Awareness Luncheon at Edisto Fork United Methodist Churchs Family Christian Center on Sept. 9. More than 100 people attended. Rockeymoore is president and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Global Policy Solutions LLC. Fulfilling the mission of the Orangeburg-based FSLC to create healthy families, particularly mothers and babies, requires faith, she said. We are the substance of things hoped for. We are the evidence of things not seen. Were it. Were faith, Rockeymoore said. She added, We all have a responsibility in our lifetimes to be able to move this agenda forward in a way that can ensure that the babies that we bring into this world are able to do their part in their next part in the race. And this is a race. The health disparities, or as she called them, "inequalities," that persist in infant mortality and other health indicators must also be addressed, she said. Its about what we prioritize. Its about the vision that we have for our communities. Its about the desire to construct societies. We have the will to do it and we have the way to do it. We are the wealthiest nation on this planet, and it is simply unacceptable that we are allowing child poverty, infant mortality and all the other ails that we see," Rockeymoore said. "We have the means to address these issues, and yet we do not organize ourselves to do it." She urged the community to become more aware of what is going on politically because decisions that are being made in the state house and in the U.S. Congress have consequences and those consequences too often mean that we have these disparities. If you are not engaged in the process, you are taking yourself out and are a contributor to your own exclusion and to your own oppression, said Rockeymoore, who also addressed South Carolinas refusal to expand Medicaid. If you care about healthy babies, you should care about healthy mamas ... and that care should be reflected in your decision to be humane and extend health-care rights to low-income people across the state, she said. She said the pathway forward is not just about political policies, but hearts and minds and learning how to treat everyone in society with common decency. She said the nations current social climate did not bode well for the advancement of that. Do not take what is happening in our country lightly. The progress weve made over the 50-some-odd years has been hard won, but we are in danger of going backwards if we dont take it seriously. ... We cant go back if we care about having a progression of progress, Rockeymoore said. She said carrying the agenda forward to eliminate infant mortality is just part of the work that must continue to improve the nation. It is part of an agenda that is fundamentally rooted in the Christian faith that no one be left outside of the circle of human concern. We must be treated equally, and officials have a responsibility to make sure that they are serving all people. We gotta make sure that they stand behind the decisions that are actually pushing the resources to those who need them most. Everybody has a role to play," Rockeymoore said. "Have confidence in your competence. Know that your brilliance is innate." FSLC is the new name for an umbrella of services that includes Low Country Healthy Start, an infant and maternal wellness program; Opportunity Knocks, a male involvement program; and Nurse-Family Partnership, a home visitation program for first-time mothers. LCHS, which FSLC administers along with the NFP, works to reduce infant mortality in Allendale, Bamberg, Hampton and Orangeburg counties. The NFP program serves Orangeburg and Barnwell counties. FSLC Director Virginia Berry White thanked the community and other stakeholders for their continued support of FSLC. John Rickenbacker, field representative for Sixth District Congressman Jim Clyburn, said Clyburn is already urging the Congress to include his 10-20-30 anti-poverty plan in future funding proposals and expand it to all federal agencies. Clyburn included a provision in the Recovery Act that directed at least 10 percent of Rural Development investments to communities where 20 percent or more of the population had lived below the poverty line for the last 30 years. Rickenbacker said approximately 800 rural communities are poised to qualify for major funding under the amendment. Dr. Rick Foster, executive director of Catalyst for Health, a new business enterprise within the South Carolina Hospital Association, touted the success of the S.C. Birth Outcomes Initiative and the important role FSLC plays in that. Were actually standing on the shoulders of Virginia and her (FSLC) team, but we were able to bring together a broad mix of stakeholders five years ago. We now have the lowest infant mortality rate (6.5 per 1,000 births) weve ever had in South Carolina, Foster said, noting that work must continue. George Johnson, chairman of the South Carolina Office of Rural Health board of directors, said, We believe that this hardworking staff and the participants and the supporters come together to create what Virginia talks about as a community of care. Miranda Lubkin received a scholarship that was presented in honor of the late Dr. Richard Williamson, a longtime Orangeburg obstetrician. Elexis Williams was presented with a scholarship in honor of the late Cindy Moore, who served as chief financial officer of the S.C. Office of Rural Health. Patience Nelson received a FSLC scholarship. Former LCHS participant Latasha King, who is now employed as a FSLC client navigator, also shared her story of inspiration at the luncheon. FSLC Perinatal Action Network member Dr. Kahlil Demonbreun received the Distinguished Community Service Award. State legislators, including Sen. John Matthews, Sen. Brad Hutto, Rep. Jerry Govan and Rep. Lonnie Hosey, were among the government officials attending the luncheon, along with Childrens Trust of South Carolina CEO Sue Williams and Delores DaCosta, regional director for U.S. Sen. Tim Scott's office. Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler was also on hand to issue a proclamation designating Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, as Family Solutions of the Low Country Day in Orangeburg. BAMBERG State Rep Justin Bamberg says hes working to establish a 24-hour, free-standing emergency department after the loss of area hospitals. "Health care has, of course, been one of the most pressing issues here. It was compounded with the closing of Barnwell's hospital," Bamberg said at the Sept. 12 Bamberg County Council meeting. The Bamberg County Hospital Board voted to close its hospital's doors in April 2012. Southern Palmetto Hospital, formerly Barnwell County Hospital, announced its closure in January. "I can tell you that with the population size that we have, I don't think that a full-service hospital is something that is doable, plausible or will succeed in the long run," Bamberg said. He's been working with state Rep. Lonnie Hosey, D-Barnwell, to try to create a 24-hour, free-standing emergency department. "I think it's something that's doable. I will be working to attempt to secure state funding to help rural areas like Bamberg County, Barnwell County, Marlboro County, whose hospitals closed, to get funding assistance," Bamberg said. "What we don't want is a situation where the funding ... would lie on the county itself because we know the county can't afford to carry it. Many of the rural counties can't, but that is what we're working toward." Bamberg added, "I'm thinking a minimum of six beds. It's not intended to be an extended stay, but to essentially save your life. And when you are capable of being transported, transport can be done into another hospital safely." The lawmaker said he is also working to have the state fully fund the Local Government Fund. The state calculates the amount of revenue local governments are to receive based on 4.5 percent of the previous year's state general fund base revenue. "It's something that we've been pushing time and time again unless and until the numbers change and they decide to take that law off the books. So we're going to be renewing those efforts. I'll be honest with you. I don't think that we will get to the 4.5 percent ... but we have to call it how we see it," Bamberg said. "The goal is to fight for as much of that money as we can," he said. "It is expected, and I'm with you 100 percent and have been from the beginning," he told county council. In the area of education, Bamberg said he will be addressing the inequities he sees at the state level for facilities. "The equation that's in place right now doesn't work," he said. "It hasn't worked for quite some time, and you see it when you look at every school along the Corridor of Shame. So we will continue to work towards that, continue to work towards teacher incentives, teacher pay." Bamberg said hes proposing a Rural Revitalization bill to "boost the economy as well as attract qualified teachers to rural areas. He said the act will address Tier 4 counties in the state, with Bamberg being one of those economically-depressed counties. Bamberg said $8 million is being sought to upgrade Denmark Technical College's welding program equipment, along with equipment used for the college's CNA and LPN program training. "Right now, the welding equipment at Denmark Tech is approximately from the 1960s, he said. Boeing flat out (said) they can't train anybody to work in their facility on equipment that is that old. So we want to improve. "Boeing's expressed an interest in this county." Councilman Trent Kinard asked Bamberg about concerns over a possible millage increase as Bamberg School District 2 seeks to build a new preK-8 school and stadium, plus renovate the high school. The district is eligible for a $38 million federal loan. The district is currently holding a series of public meetings to inform voters about a bond referendum that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. "I like the referendum process ... but you want (citizens) to make informed decisions. And to do so, you need to have all of the information," Bamberg said, noting that the schools in the district are in bad condition. He said he thinks the loan will pay off in the long run, but the questions about the effect on taxes remain. County Councilman Evert Comer Jr. asked if the consolidation of the county's two districts had been discussed on the state level to try to cut costs. "With the number of people we have living here in Bamberg County and with small school districts across the state and the issues of funding and things of that nature, I very well think that in the future we will see the state shift towards forced consolidation," Bamberg said. "We need to put this Bamberg vs. Denmark mentality behind us, and we're going to move forward as one county. And when the time comes and that issue is ripe for discussion, it should be had," the legislator said. Bamberg said there has been discussion on the state level about consolidation. "The one thing I have found out in my two years in the Statehouse is that it is much better for the citizens in a given area to engage an ongoing discussion and make a decision and come up with a plan that works for them," he said. "In this case, (it would be) this concept of potentially consolidating the two districts versus waiting and then the state itself dropping the hammer and making you do it under their terms." Bamberg, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Dan Lawrence in Novembers race for the House District 90 seat. A man is accused of breaking into an Orangeburg apartment complex and trying to evade police by crawling through the attic space. He was on probation at the time. Jerry Lamar Jones of 1617 Charles Street, Columbia, was charged with three counts of second-degree burglary. He was also cited for trespassing. The 23-year-old was arrested Sunday afternoon after a caller reported seeing two men break into a Malibu Drive apartment unit. The witness said only one man entered the unit, according to an Orangeburg Department of Public Safety incident report. The apartment had a broken window, but officers couldnt find a burglar. In one of the bedrooms, officers discovered the wooden cover to the attic access had been disturbed. Officers determined that someone broke through thin barrier walls that separated the attic spaces for the three affected units. Residents of an apartment two units down told officers that a man wearing a red shirt appeared in their kitchen. One resident said he tried to talk with the person, but he fled the apartment. The other resident told officers the man was using her cellphone, but that she didnt know him. Multiple officers, including those with the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office, pursued the man after he jumped a fence at the apartment complex and ran toward Columbia Road. Officers ultimately detained him while he was running on Middleton Street. Officers noted that it appeared a handgun was stolen from the first apartment unit that was broken into. If Jones is convicted on three counts of second-degree burglary, he faces a maximum of 10 years for each count. According to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division background check, Jones is a convicted felon. He was convicted of the felony of criminal conspiracy in October 2014 and sentenced to time served. Jones current supervised probation sentence is set to end on Nov. 28, 2017. NBC's "Commander in Chief Forum" was the closest thing to a debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton until the real thing on Sept. 26. And it showed an advantage Trump might have when the two meet face-to-face: She has a record in government to defend, while he doesn't. On that score, Trump, at 70, a newcomer to politics, seems new, while Clinton, at 68, a veteran of decades in public life, seems, well, not new. The format of the NBC forum, in which the two candidates were separated by only a commercial break, put that contrast into higher relief than ever before. Clinton cited her experience right out of the blocks, when moderator Matt Lauer asked her, "What is the most important characteristic that a commander-in-chief can possess?" "Steadiness," Clinton answered instantly. "An absolute rock steadiness, and mixed with strength to be able to make the hard decisions. Because I've had the unique experience of watching and working with several presidents..." The problem for Clinton was that talk of her experience leads naturally to talk of what she has done -- and that, in today's campaign environment, means talk of her mishandling of classified information as secretary of state. "Why wasn't it disqualifying?" was Lauer's second question of the evening. Then, when it came time for the military audience to ask questions of their own, the first for Clinton, from a retired naval officer, was brutal. "Secretary Clinton, how can you expect those such as myself who were and are entrusted with America's most sensitive information to have any confidence in your leadership as president when you clearly corrupted our national security?" Ouch. Clinton argued that she did not send or receive emails with a header marked "TOP SECRET" or the like. Maybe voters will find that convincing, and maybe they won't. But it was a rocky start. The next question, from Lauer, was about Clinton's vote in 2002 to authorize the Iraq War. Another audience member stood to ask: "You have had an extensive record with military intervention. How do you respond to progressives like myself who worry and have concerns that your hawkish foreign policy will continue?" And then Lauer asked about Clinton's role in the Iran nuclear negotiations. One common theme of all the questions: They focused on things Clinton did in her years in office, in the Senate and as secretary of state. She started out by citing her experience, so Lauer and the audience answered, in effect, "OK, let's talk about your experience." Trump has no such experience. There's no Trump record in public office, no government decisions that went awry, no votes to back away from, no nothing. When running for public office, even for the presidency, that can be an advantage. In a number of presidential elections in recent decades, especially races between two non-incumbents, the candidate with less governmental experience, especially less national government experience, won. Barack Obama had a lot less experience in government than John McCain when he defeated McCain in 2008. George W. Bush, midway through his second term as governor of Texas, had less experience in government than Al Gore, who by 2000 had served 16 years in the House and Senate and eight as vice president. And Bill Clinton, a longtime governor of Arkansas, had nowhere near the experience that President George H.W. Bush had when Clinton defeated Bush in 1992. That's not to say Obama, Bush I and Clinton had no experience at all in government, as is the case with Trump. But in 2008, 2000, and 1992, less was more when it came to national government experience. Democrats who try to pin Trump down on his record have a harder time than Republicans going after Clinton. Look at what Clinton tried to do Wednesday evening with Trump on Iraq. "My opponent was for the war in Iraq," she said. "He says he wasn't. You can go back and look at the record. He supported it. He told Howard Stern he supported it." On Sept. 11, 2002, Stern asked Trump, "Are you for invading Iraq?" Trump answered, haltingly, "Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly." Compare that brief exchange -- on the Howard Stern show! -- with Clinton's extended and carefully reasoned speech on the Senate floor supporting military action against Saddam Hussein, plus her vote to authorize the war, and it's not clear voters will see the equivalence Clinton is trying to sell. That's the challenger's advantage: The candidate who has done less on the national stage has less to answer for, and his hopeful promises and pronouncements are less weighted by an actual record. Of course, Clinton has significant advantages of her own. But for Democrats hoping Clinton will land a knockout blow in the upcoming debate, Wednesday night was a cautionary moment. It showed that Trump has some serious strengths of his own, and that in what could be the most asymmetrical matchup ever, Clinton's experience might not be the advantage her supporters hope it will be. Threats of violence are increasing in schools nationwide, blamed sometimes on local students and sometimes on outsiders seeking to cause disruptions or a big emergency response. There is no formal tracking of the threats, meaning there's no formal accounting of the collective costs, according to an Associated Press report out of Ohio. The disruptions typically aren't long enough to merit makeup classes, but the learning time lost to evacuations and cancellations adds up, as do the hours police spend responding and investigating. Less measurable but still significant are the ways threats can dent staff and students' sense of security even when they are false alarms, as they almost always are. "Schools are in a really bad position," researcher Amy Klinger of the nonprofit Educator's School Safety Network told The AP. "People are going to be mad if you evacuate; people are going to be upset if you don't evacuate." Because administrators and police can't simply ignore threats, they grapple with the fallout while trying to deter copycats. Threats are no joke. And if youre the one responsible, you can and should land in jail. Forget that the threats inconvenience hundreds and interrupt school and work. There can only be thankfulness that the threats are hoaxes. Yet no one can afford to take such a threat as a hoax. A bomb threat or threat of other terror in this day and age must be assumed to be real. South Carolina law strengthened in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks calls for up to 10 years in prison for a bomb threat. Making a threat is a felony and constitutes threatening to kill, injure or intimidate individuals or damage and destroy property by means of an explosive or incendiary device. The 1st Circuit solicitor has promised to prosecute cases vigorously. Two teen-agers in Orangeburg County found out just what a price there is to pay. Back in 1999, both received jail terms of one to six years for making bomb threats to two local schools. These are tense times for schools. Threats to safety must be taken seriously. There is nothing humorous about a threatening violence in schools and nothing funny about going to jail. I make it a point of not missing the annual Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, and this year was/is no different as it's a street pho... A blog for students in my introductory classes in government, and any interested passersby. You'll find news items and random stories that illustrate any of the topics we cover in class. Special attention will be paid to the constitutional issues associated with contemporary issues and disputes. Feel free to send me stories you find important. Please note that due to spam, I'm limiting the ability of people to comment on these pages. My apologies. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 10:46AM Revenge Picture by ALEX CARNEVALE Mrs. Vogler desires the truth. She has looked for it everywhere, and sometimes she seems to have found something to hold onto, something lasting, but then suddenly the ground has given way under her feet. The truth had dissolved and disappeared or had, in the worst case, turned into a lie. My art cannot melt, transform, or forget: the boy in the photo with his hands in the air or the man who set himself on fire to bear witness to her faith. I am unable to grasp the large catastrophes. They leave my heart untouched. At most I can read about such atrocities with a kind of greed - a pornography of horror. But I shall never rid myself of those images, images that turn my art into a bag of tricks. Ingmar Bergman's notebooks I can't think of Persona without remembering the numerous defenses Roger Ebert made of it. Revisiting the film in 2001, Ebert opens his review with "Shakespeare used six words to pose the essential human choice: To be, or not to be?" It is the kind of "common-man" bullshit Bergman specifically ignored, the kind of lazy writing he is making fun of in Persona. Dumbly, Ebert follows up this banner lede by admitting, "Persona was one of the first movies I reviewed, in 1967. I did not think I understood it," and then spends the rest of the essay proving he still does not understand it at all. Persona lacked the kind of subtlety Ebert's brand of criticism rarely picked up on anyway. Persona is an insolent work, written in the days that followed Ingmar Bergman's recovery from exhaustion and pneumonia developed while he directed the largest theater in Sweden. It will always be the most sardonic of his films, sketched out as it was at a time of high stress and possible decombustion. Bergman wrote to himself before embarking on the project: I will attempt to keep the following commands: Breakfast at half past seven with the other patients. Thereafter immediately get up and take a morning walk. No newspapers or magazines during the aforementioned time. No contact with the theater. Refuse to receive letters, telegrams, or telephone calls. Visits to home allowed during the evening. I feel that the final battle is fast approaching. I must not postpone it further. I must arrive at some form of clarity. Otherwise Bergman will definitely go to hell. He was cracking, and Persona's disjointed opening gives evidence of that. Bergman's journal reconstructs the film's opening sequence from a childhood memory he had: I imagine a white, washed-out strip of film. It runs through the projector and gradually there are words on the sound tape (which perhaps runs beside the film strip itself.) Gradually the precise word I'm looking for comes into focus. Then a face you can barely make out dissolves in all that whiteness. That's Alma's face. Mrs. Volger's face. Elisabet Volger (Liv Ullman) is a famous actress who has a nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson) taking care of her. Volger takes a vow of silence. Bergman remarks in his journal that "So she has been an actress one may give her that? Then she fell silent. Nothing remarkable about that." The empathy Ingmar extends to her is really for himself. When Mrs. Volger is presented a picture of her son, she tears it up, staring for hours at the atrocities of the war in Vietnam she sees on television. There is a disease of overempathy that allows some of us to become easily affected by events we read in the news or see on television. Elisabet is afflicted by this as surely as her creator. Even before the internet and bbs there was still the tendency to get drawn into the suffering of others, that anguish that exists outside of us and for that reason is unchangeable. In the face of this Ingmar had become mute so why not mute a woman, you know, as a kind of revenge? Liv Ullmann The performance was a star-making one for Ullman. The feat of carrying an entire movie just from reaction shots had only been achieved once before, in the work of Akira Kurosawa. Ullman's face never moves when we stare directly at it; given the task of playing a mute, every small moment in her representation seems like either an instruction or an exaltation. Elisabet is a fallen angel and demon incarnate in herself, but at the edge's of Ullmann's performance, Persona feels rather thin. The production itself was troubled from the beginning. On set Bergman shot more takes than he ever had, almost to the point of compulsion; nor was he ever more difficult with his cast. Persona did not concern itself with his own external awareness, only his inner doubts. That he had them and was capable of acknowledging them would always be his unforgivable sin. During one particular scene in the film, the two women exchange personalities. Alma spends the rest of the film imbued with Elisabet Volger's dissatisfaction and anger, while Volger stands in repose. Eventually they are merely two sides of the same person. The images of the director and DP on Persona scouting locations provide an offscreen male corollary to the events of the film. See here: Bergman and director of photography Sven Nykvist tried to focus on the unattractive side of each actresses' face, so when you showed them half-illuminated in shadowy light, they would look something not of themselves. Or as the banal Ebert put it, "The two actresses look somewhat similar." With this kind of feedback, it's no wonder Bergman repeated this trick in every single one of the films that followed. It never fails to achieve its distinguishing effect of unsettling confusion. Ebert's defenses of the man who fooled him more than once continued after the aging director allowed him access for a long profile. Even when the director himself began to shit all over his past works, Ebert held firm. The worst part of Persona is actually the scene where we see both faces; because of the dullness of the monologue Bibi Andersson delivers, and the self-indulgence of the shot. Bergman explained where this came from to Ebert: The most beautiful of all is that you're close to the human face, which is the most fascinating subject possible for the camera. On TV a few days ago, I saw a little of Antonioni's new picture, The Passenger. And you know, I am an admirer of Antonioni, I've learned so much from him, but I was struck by the moment they cut from his film to a closeup of Antonioni himself, for the interview. As he was sitting there, here was his face, so normal, so beautiful and so human - and I didn't hear a word of what he was saying, because I was looking so closely at his face, at his eyes. The ten minutes he was on the screen were more fascinating than any of his, or my, work. If Bergman is telling the truth, he is indicting himself. If he is lying, then the emperor has no clothes. It is the kind of no-win situation Persona explores as a binary theme that has been imitated in so many pictures since. on the set of Persona At one point Alma discovers Elisabet's view of her in a letter she intercepts. In that bit of correspondence, Elisabet marvels that Alma's convictions are so totally unrelated to her actions. It is no wonder Bergman felt disoriented as a filmmaker around this time. Yet it is even worse for the critic, who is permitted no ambiguity in his judgments. Bergman describes the situation of the artist in Volger/Alma there is always some outstanding question of seriousness, an overwrought scene can be ascribed to a joke or reference. No one ever had to ask, after reading an Ebert review, did you like the movie? The proper question was rhetorical, and ancient. Must all life be a chorus of good or bad? Have you not thought it might be something more? Alex Carnevale is the editor of This Recording. You can find an archive of his writing on This Recording here. Dad had his DNA tested with 23andMe as well, and here are the results of his test, using their Ancestry Composition section. Here is the &... By Azernews By Amina Nazarli National Day of Afghanistan was marked in Baku on September 19 at a solemn ceremony organized by the countrys Embassy in Azerbaijan. A grand reception brought together the heads of diplomatic corpus accredited in Azerbaijan, representatives of the Afghan diaspora and public figures of Azerbaijan. In his welcoming speech the Afghan Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Taqi Khalili said that Afghanistan goes a long way to prosperity. Security remains our biggest impediment to growth, the ambassador noted We know this. Our partners confirm this, he said. Mohammad Khalili pointed out that a key to overcoming this barrier is the support of the international community. Mindful of how key this support will be safeguard the security of our nation, I would like to take this moment to express my gratitude to President Aliyev and the Azerbaijani government for the ever-increasing strength of our bilateral alliance, the ambassador said. Khalili emphasized that these ties and this friendship continue to be reflected in many ways in the support provided to the defense and other security forces. Overall, the afghan people in Azerbaijan and at home have been aided through training and education in a range of institutions, and for this, we are truly grateful, he noted. The Afghan diaspora is embraced all over the world, Khalili stressed, but especially in Azerbaijan, through our ties of charity and bonds of filial brotherhood as fellow Islamic nations. The ambassador also touched upon the recently signing of the memorandum of understanding between ASAN Xidmat (ASAN Service) and Afghan Ministry of Finance, noting that, despite e country's will to ensure the integrity of Afghanistan, the country still has obstacles. A memorandum on creating a public service delivery mechanism in Afghanistan based on Azerbaijani model was inked earlier in July. ASAN service is an innovative Azerbaijani model of public service delivery. Speaking at the ceremony, Azerbaijans Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev, congratulated Afghan people. He said that the two countries fruitfully cooperate in many fields, including economy, energy, culture and education. The two sides also successfully cooperate at the level of international organizations, according to the minister. Afghanistan recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991 and the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1994. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan was $23.47 million in the first half of 2016, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, and the entire amount accounted for the export of Azerbaijani goods to Afghanistan. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijani Embassy in Hungary held a presentation of documentary "Traces of the Historical Truth" about Armenian vandalism, Trend reported. Documentary cycle is prepared by professor of Baku Slavic University Shelale Hasanova with the financial support of Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Based on references to American, European, and Armenian authors, the first movie debunks myths about the so-called "the first Christian country in the Caucasus". The second film "Traces of Azerbaijanism in Yerevan" attracts the attention of the audience with the original soundtrack - rap song "Iravan", written specially for this documentary. It combines facts, bearing traces of Armenian vandalism against the cultural layer of the medieval town of Iravan. The event was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, science and culture of Hungarian Diaspora organizations. Introductory remarks were made by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Hungary Vilayat Guliyev, who noted the importance of documentary films and books targeted for exposing the Armenian falsifications. Overall, since the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and occupation of Azerbaijani territories, Armenian aggressors destroyed 1,200 historical and architectural monuments, looted 27 museums, over 100,000 items were exported to Armenia. In addition, the Armenian occupiers destroyed 152 religious monuments and 62 mosques, 4.6 million books in 927 libraries, including the Holy Koran and rare Islamic manuscripts. One of the manifestations of Armenian vandalism is altering the historical toponyms of Karabakh. For instance, they call the palace complex Shahbulagh as "Surenavan", and Aghdam as Akna. There are myriads of such examples of erasing the traces of genuine Azerbaijani history. Another evidence of the Armenian crimes against the Azerbaijani culture is the export to Armenia of historical items found in more than 15 destroyed and looted mounds in the occupied Aghdam region of Azerbaijan. Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Lawyers for Murgio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed.- Reuters Greater support from the public, governments and investors is needed to boost the work of entrepreneurs using business for social good, said industry activists and organizers after a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll highlighted these as key issues. While progress overcoming those obstacles is healthy and growing, they said at SOCAP - the largest annual conference of social entrepreneurs and investors - that more could be done to support what is seen as a new way of doing business. The Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of almost 900 social enterprise experts in the world's 45 biggest economies released this week found the vast majority - 85 percent - said the sector was growing. But nearly 60 percent of experts cited a lack of public understanding, access to investment and selling to governments as the biggest challenges that could hamper growth. "There's very limited awareness of what social entrepreneurship is," said Dr. Asher Hasan, whose Pakistani-based company Docthers works with corporations in Mexico and Chile to provide insurance to suppliers, factory workers and others in their supply chains. "They understand traditional philanthropy. They understand capitalism. They don't understand the blend. There's a lot of market development that needs to be done to help the mainstream understand." A social entrepreneur is typically someone who uses commercial strategies to tackle social and environmental problems, combining social good and financial gain. Attendees at SOCAP said governments are promoting social entrepreneurship and schools are teaching it, while enterprises are finding fresh, creative ways to obtain credit and financing. Jennifer Kushell, founder of Your Success Now (YSN), which connects youth with educational and career opportunities, said U.S. President Barack Obama had been supportive, promoting so-called entrepreneurship diplomacy, a strategy to find common goals in conflict areas. YSN is designing a social entrepreneurship curriculum for business schools, she said. "DON'T MISS THE NEXT THOMAS EDISON" "You have a billion and a half young people, and they don't even realize they can be entrepreneurs or realize they can work for entrepreneurial companies," she said. "It does need a lot more people to stand up and try to get the word out much more aggressively, like any movement." Seeking to support social entrepreneurs, Autodesk, a maker of software for architecture, engineering and other industries, provides free software and licenses, said Pam Hochman, who manages the entrepreneur impact program at the San Rafael, California company. "I definitely hear about finance and access to capital being a real problem," she said. "We don't want the next Thomas Edison to walk by, and he didn't get the software that he needed because he didn't have enough money to buy a license." Banks are training loan officers on the risks involved in lending to social entrepreneurs, said Marina Leytes, a consultant with Impact Alpha, an online media site covering social and environmental business. "More and more local banks are entering this sector, providing loans to smaller enterprises," she said. "It's a way for them to gain more clients and expand their operations." The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves recently worked with the government of Kenya to eliminate a tax on cookstoves going to women in poor regions, said Stevie Valdez, manager of the Washington-based group's impact investing and market development. The Alliance aims to provide cleaner cookstoves and fuel to the 40 percent of the world's population that uses solid fuel and cooks over open fires, creating severe environmental and health problems, Valdez said. "We need the entrepreneurs really getting out there with great products, and we need the governments really making an effort to say, 'You know what? We want healthier products," she said. Representatives of YSN, Autodesk and the Alliance were among 2,500 people attending SOCAP this week in San Francisco. The conference brings together investors and entrepreneurs to address issues such as poverty, climate change, job creation and food supplies. Thomson Reuters Foundation Al Yamamah Steel Industries Company has won a SR180-million ($48 million) contract from Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to supply steel poles and accessories for its key projects in the kingdom. The financial impact will appear during the fiscal year 2017, said the company in a statement on Saudi Tadawul website. With domestic energy consumption at around 38 per cent of the total oil and gas resources produced in the kingdom, SEC is looking to boost its production capacity with new plants. According to experts, Saudi Arabia will be needing an investment of SR500 billion ($133.3 billion) in electricity projects over the next 10 years to cope with rising power demand. Al Yamamah Steel said it has four business units to supply high quality and value-added products of steel hollow sections, lighting and transmission poles, high masts, overhead transmission lines (OHTL ) and telecom towers and space frames. Al Yamamah also supplies steel reinforcing bars through its subsidiary Al Yamamah Rebar company.-TradeArabia News Service The apartment rental market in Dubai, UAE, saw values edge down further, whereas in neighbouring emirate Abu Dhabi the scenario was different - with the market witnessing a resurge with an upward movement, said a report. As always, the two main markets of the UAE continued to lure investors with relatively affordable prices and attractive rental returns on investment, with Dubai recording real estate transactions worth an impressive $43 billion by the end of August 2016, according to UAE-based property portal Bayut. In terms of yields, Dubais apartment rental segment stayed relatively stable in August 2016, offering rental yields as high as 7.6 per cent in select categories. Per Bayut.coms calculations, average rents across the emirate fell by five per cent in August compared to values in July 2016, while average yield was recorded at 5.6 per cent across all bed categories. The average rent for studio apartments in Dubai fell five per cent to Dh54,000 in August 2016 from Dh57,000 in July 2016. Despite the drop, the apartment category offered the highest property yield at 7.6 per cent, still garnering abundant interest from investors. Rents for one-bed units performed better, going up by one per cent to Dh93,000 on average in August, coupled with an attractive rental yield of 6.8 per cent. Two-bed units fetched owners Dh142,000 in August on average, declining a mere two per cent compared with the average rent in July. The average yield for the category remained six per cent. Three-bed units commanded an average rent of Dh197,000 on average after falling four per cent from Julys Dh206,000. The rental yield of the category hovered around the 5.1 per cent mark. Rental value for the four-bed category stayed stable in August at Dh304,000, with the rental yield recorded at five per cent. Top localities for renting apartments in Dubai last month were Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), Bur Dubai, Downtown Dubai and Dubai Silicon Oasis, according to Bayut. On the best hotspots for buying apartments, the portal put Dubai Marina on top of the list followed by Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), Downtown Dubai, Business Bay and Palm Jumeirah The apartment rental market of Abu Dhabi posted stronger numbers than its glitzy neighbour, with the average rental value registering an increase of three per cent over July 2016 to arrive at Dh130,000, stated the UAE portal in its report. At 6.6 per cent, the average yield for apartments in the UAE capital in August also remained stronger than Dubais. Category-wise, studio units were the clear winners. Though rents stayed stable in August compared to July 2016, the impressive yield of 7.9 per cent made the apartment category a clear favourite with investors. At Dh56,000, the average rent for these units could also be termed affordable. One-bed units recorded an average rent of Dh91,000, down 1 per cent from the July value; however, the average yield for the category was recorded at an attractive 6.8 per cent. The average rent for 2-bed apartments increased by 2 per cent to Dh132,000 in August from Dh129,000 in July 2016, while the average rent for 3-bed apartments fell to Dh171,000, registering a negligible decrease of 1 per cent in August 2016. Average yield for 2-bed units in Abu Dhabi was recorded at 7.1 per cent, while 3-bed apartments featured an average rental yield of 6.3 per cent. The average rent for 4+ bed apartments fell 5 per cent to Dh235,000 in August 2016, while rental yield for the category remained 5.5 per cent. According to Bayut, the top localities for renting apartments in Abu Dhabi were Al Reem Island; Khalifa City; Al Raha Beach; Al Muroor and Corniche Area. For buying apartments, the porttal put Al Reem Island on the top followed by Al Raha Beach, Al Reef, Saadiyat Island and Ghadeer. On the outlook, Bayut said the two leading emirates continue to be ahead of the regional pack when it comes to return on investment and avenues for capital value growth. With its new world charm, luxury lifestyle and expanding economy, Dubai remains head and shoulders above its peers for being a truly unique real estate market that is as advanced as some of the most sought-after investment destinations, and in most cases, much more rewarding, it stated. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi is warming up for a development spree in the coming years that is set to boost its status as a key regional and international realty hub further. The two combined continue to not only provide immense benefits to investors, but also to the UAE economy as it persists with its drive to prosper through diversity, it added.-TradeArabia News Service Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has requested a second extension on a SR817 million ($217.9 million) Islamic loan being used to fund construction at the kingdom's Grand Mosque, sources aware of the matter said. The talks to delay the loan repayment, originally due to mature on July 15, came after the Saudi government failed to fully reimburse the construction firm for work at Islam's holiest location, the sources said on condition of anonymity. It is the second time SBG has sought more time to meet the payment, having previously requested an extension to August 31. The Saudi Binladin Group could not be reached for comment about the loan, which is a murabaha facility, or a cost-plus-profit arrangement compliant with Islamic financing standards. The Saudi Ministry of Finance declined to comment. Two of the sources said the government had paid SBG a small portion of the amount it owed for the Grand Mosque project before the Eid Al Adha Islamic holiday this month but a large amount remained outstanding. The firm has been the leading builder in the kingdom for several years, delivering a number of major buildings including the expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, which houses the Kaaba, the structure to which Muslims face while praying. But SBG's lofty status has come under threat from government spending cuts, economic reforms and its temporary suspension from new state contracts after a crane accident killed 107 people at the Grand Mosque last year. The ban on SBG was lifted in May but a cash squeeze has left it struggling under an estimated $30 billion in debt owed to local and international lenders. The SR817 million ($217.9 million) loan was from a consortium of eight to nine lenders, mainly from the UAE. Dubai Islamic Bank led the facility and Emirates NBD, Noor Bank and Ajman Bank participated, said the sources. - Reuters Kewaunee Scientific Corporation, a global leader in the design, manufacture, and installation of laboratory, healthcare, and technical furniture products, has won a $18.5-million contract for the new College of Science complex at Kuwait University's Sabah Al Salem University City. This is the second college at the new Sabah Al Salem University City for which Kewaunee will be supplying laboratory furniture, fume hoods, and related products. The contract was awarded to Kewaunee's dealer ATC. "We are delighted and very proud to have been selected to continue working with Kuwait University, Turner Projacs JV, MCC, and the entire construction team on this world-class complex for higher education," remarked David M Rausch, the president and chief executive of Kewaunee Scientific. "Being selected to continue to provide the highest quality products and services to Kuwait University's Sabah Al Salem University City at the College of Science complex is further indication of our commitment to the Middle East and a reflection of our industry leading reputation and the ability of our experienced international team to service the important Middle East market," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), a leading aerospace company based in Dubai, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 80 per cent of Jordan Aircraft Maintenance (Joramco) from The Abraaj Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Established in 1963, Joramco has a solid track record as a leading independent commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility serving a wide range of customers in the Middle East, Europe, South Asia, Africa, Russia and the CIS countries. From its base in Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Joramco offers services on several aircraft models manufactured by Airbus, Boeing and Embraer. Joramco is certified by a number of regulatory authorities which include the Jordan Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (JCARC), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). DAE managing director Khalifa H AlDaboos said: Joramco with its experienced staff provides a high quality product at a very competitive price to regional and global airlines. We welcome Joramco to the DAE family and look forward to working with the management to accelerate the growth trajectory of the company by expanding its product offerings, customer reach and geographic area of focus. - TradeArabia News Service Democrat Hillary Clinton on Monday accused Republican Donald Trump of aiding Islamic State recruitment, as bomb blasts in New York and New Jersey resonated on the U.S. presidential trail. Both candidates for the Nov. 8 election tried to use the weekend attacks to flex their credentials to protect America as world leaders gathered in security-heightened New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly. Clinton said Trump's rhetoric against what he calls "radical Islamic terrorism" was helping Islamic State recruit more fighters. "We know that a lot of the rhetoric we've heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS, because they are looking to make this into a war against Islam rather than a war against jihadists," she told reporters in White Plains, New York. ISIS is an acronym used for Islamic State. Trump fired back by saying Clinton bore some responsibility for the violence by not persuading President Barack Obama to leave a residual force of U.S. troops in Iraq when she was his secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Obama and the Iraqi government failed to reach agreement at the end of 2011 on extending a U.S.-Iraqi status of forces agreement, and most American troops were withdrawn. Trump has sought to tie Clinton to the decisions of the Obama administration. "Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monster," Trump told a large crowd in Fort Myers, Florida. The campaigns weighed in after the bomb incidents and a stabbing attack at a mall in central Minnesota. In the most serious incident, a bomb went off in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday, injuring 29 people. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found nearby. Earlier that day, a pipe bomb went off in Seaside Park, New Jersey. On Monday, an Afghanistan-born American suspected in some of the incidents was arrested in nearby Linden, New Jersey, after a gunbattle with police. Authorities had said earlier they wanted to question Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, about the Chelsea and Seaside Park bombings. The incidents, just days after the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, put the United States' most populous city on edge. Trump, who has in the past talked of the need for a resumption of harsh interrogation tactics like waterboarding for terrorism suspects, said authorities need to "get information" from the bombing suspect "before it comes no longer timely," but that instead he would probably be coddled. "Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he'll probably even have room service knowing the way our country is," he said. 'COMMANDER IN CHIEF TEST' At a speech in Philadelphia on Monday, Clinton called for vigilance. "This is a fast-moving situation and a sobering reminder that we need steady leadership in a dangerous world," she said. Trump seized on a government report that said 858 immigrants from countries with which the United States has national security concerns who were pegged for deportation were mistakenly granted citizenship. He said the report showed the need for tighter control over who gets into the United States. "Immigration security is national security," Trump said in Fort Myers. Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University who worked on the National Security Council under Republican President George W. Bush, said Clinton was trying to argue Trump did not pass the commander in chief test. "When bad news happens, she wants to be able to say, this is why you need a steady hand on the tiller," Feaver said. The renewed focus on terrorism came as Clinton and Trump prepared for their first debate next Monday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, east of the city. With world leaders gathered in New York for the U.N. conclave, Clinton was expected to meet leaders of Japan, Egypt and Ukraine later on Monday, while Trump was expected to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. A U.S.-led coalition has been fighting Islamic State mainly through air strikes in Syria and Iraq. Trump, who has based much of his campaign message on arguing that the United States is no longer safe and that he alone can protect the nation, told Fox News on Monday morning that he expected more attacks. "I think this is something that maybe will ... happen more and more all over the country," he said. Reuters International oilfield services company Expro has been awarded a contract worth over $30 million with the Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) for the Dirok gas field in India. The project will see Expro provide the design, engineering, construction, transportation, installation and commissioning of a Modular Gas Processing Plant (MGPP) which will fulfil the requirement of a fast-track Early Production System (EPS) as well as long-term operational goals. The facility is designed to process up to 35 mmscf gas per day with associated liquid condensates. Keith Palmer, president for Expro Production and Asia said: This project is a significant milestone for Expro as it marks our first ever contract in India for the provision of a fast-track modular gas processing plant on a lease, operate and maintain basis. Im delighted that HOEC have chosen to partner with Expro and are confident in our production solutions and technical expertise. The plant itself will be fully operated and maintained by local Expro personnel, he added. Expro will also supply personnel to operate and maintain the MGPP to assist HOEC in maximising gas and condensate production from the field over the long-term. P R Krishna, HOEC asset manager said: HOEC is pleased to select Expro as its partner for this project. Expro was selected in an international competitive bidding process based on their superior technical knowledge and experience in the design and operation of modular gas processing plants. Once the plant is commissioned, it will be the first such plant in India specifically suited to the eco-sensitive and logistically challenging north eastern region. The Dirok field, located in the Assam-Arakan basin, covers a development area of 110 sq km in north-eastern India close to the town of Digboi. TradeArabia News Service Saudi Aramco has successfully responded to a minor fire incident at its oil terminal facility in Ras Tanura at about 9 am local time today (September 20), it said in a statement. Emergency fire services have fully contained the fire, while workers in the facility have been evacuated, it added. It is reported that eight workers have sustained injuries as a result of the fire, including six contractors and two employees. The injured have received medical treatment. The cause of the fire is not yet known. The company will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause. Saudi Aramco oil and gas operations were not impacted as a result of the incident, the statement said. The company will release additional information as it becomes available, it said. TradeArabia News Service ABB, a leading global technology company in power and automation, has unveiled its next-generation traction transformer designed to reduce the weight of on-board components and ensure more energy-efficient rail networks, two of the rail industrys priority objectives. Named Effilight, the product was unveiled as a world premiere at InnoTrans, the leading global rail industry symposium, being held in Berlin, Germany, from Sept 20 to 23. Effilight can potentially reduce the total weight of a trains traction component by up to 20 percent, equivalent to the weight of around 20 passengers. This weight optimisation can help train carriages attain the maximum load per wheel set and reduce wear, the company said. Traction transformers feed power at safe voltages to essential train functions like traction, lighting, heating and ventilation, passenger information, brakes, signaling and communication. They are a critical element in the traction chain, affecting train performance and operator services. Traditionally made of iron and copper, these transformers are among the heavier components on a train. They use oil for insulation and cooling, for its excellent electrical insulating properties and high reliability, but this also contributes to a significant proportion of the transformers total weight. ABBs Effilight transformer uses a unique and patented high-technology cell design that reduces the amount of oil needed by up to 70 percent, without compromising functionality. The technology enables significant weight reduction and energy savings for train manufacturers and rail operators, it said. With the weight savings achieved through the innovative design, higher quantities of energy-efficient materials like copper can be used in the transformer, resulting in reduced energy losses by up to 50 percent, compared with standard solutions of similar weight. This helps optimise energy consumption and total cost of ownership, it added. ABBs new modular traction transformer provides a competitive edge for customers in the key areas of weight and energy efficiency, said Claudio Facchin, president of ABBs Power Grids division. Effilight presents new opportunities in line with our Next Level strategy focus on technology and innovation and supports ABBs vision of sustainable mobility for a better world. ABB has been a pioneer in traction transformer technology since the early 1900s and has a long and proven track record across a broad range of state-of-the-art solutions. ABB has an estimated installed base of over 40,000 traction transformers. ABB enables utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people. - TradeArabia News Service A possible deal to support oil prices by the world's leading producer countries may last for one year, the secretary-general of Opec said on Tuesday, longer than other officials have indicated. Opec and non-member producers including Russia are discussing a deal to stabilise the market by at least freezing output, although key details such as the timing and baseline for any deal have yet to emerge. "One year, we are looking at one year," Opec Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said, RIA news agency reported. Russia and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries hold an informal meeting in Algiers on September 28. Algeria's energy minister said on Monday any Opec move to freeze output would help balance the market for at least six months. Several producers have called for an output freeze to rein in a supply glut that triggered a price collapse in the last two years, hitting their income. Previous talks on an output freeze collapsed in April. One potential stumbling block - Iran's insistence on boosting exports after sanctions on it were lifted in January - is less of an issue this time because Iran's own figures suggest its production is close to pre-sanctions levels. Two Opec sources were optimistic an agreement in principle could be reached. "I think we're likely to reach a consensus," said an Opec source familiar with discussions. "There will not be a decision. The decision will be shelved until we meet in November." The source was referring to the next scheduled gathering of Opec ministers to be held on November 30 in Vienna. Another Opec source said there was strong momentum around having at least the outline of a deal agreed next week. "A production freeze is what we all want, but I'm not sure if we will finalize all the discussions at this meeting," this source said. - Reuters Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotel company and a member of Dubai Holding, has appointed Marc Dardenne as group chief operating officer. Taking up his position with immediate effect, Dardenne returns to Dubai to oversee Jumeirah Group operations across its international portfolio, which includes the worlds most luxurious hotel, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah. Dardenne has a long and established career as a hotelier having worked internationally for more than 30 years. As a hospitality visionary, he has been instrumental in the development of a number of brands and curated guest experience across a range of diverse hospitality assets, including hotels, branded residences, serviced apartments, resorts and clubs. He joins Jumeirah Group from Patina Hotels and Resorts in Singapore where, as CEO, he oversaw brand creation, development and asset management. Previously, Dardenne was based in Dubai and most recently worked as CEO at Emaar Hotel and Resorts, where he had a broad range of responsibilities including portfolio and concept development. Stefan Leser, Jumeirah Group CEO, said: Marc brings unique insight, global expertise and a passion for hospitality that is as inspiring as it is impressive. Jumeirah Group has a strong portfolio of landmark properties and Marcs commitment to excellence reflects our own focus to deliver the very best in guest experiences. His contribution to the group will further enhance our management team and Marc will greatly contribute to Jumeirahs continued evolution as a world leading hospitality brand. Dardenne added: I am delighted to return to Dubai with Jumeirah Group. It is a unique hospitality brand with an enviable reputation for luxury and a culture of innovation and bold thinking. I am looking forward to bringing my experience to Jumeirah and working in such a highly creative hospitality environment. An industry pioneer, Dardenne has been recognised by peers and industry commentators for his contribution to the development of the hospitality sector. He won an award in recognition of his Leadership Excellence and was voted CEO of the Year in the Middle East. A Belgium national, Dardenne has lived and worked in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East and is fluent in French, English and German. - TradeArabia News Service European countries are interested in the Turkish Stream gas pipeline from Russia because of their energy needs and transit fees. In turn, Russia needs an alternative to transporting gas via Ukraine. However, the EU political elite opposes new Russian pipelines in Europe. Russia is waiting for the signing of the final permit documents on the Turkish stream gas pipeline in the coming days, a source in the Energy Ministry recently told RIA Novosti. At the same time it was also reported that Greece is interested in participating in the project and can provide its territory for the pipeline. During his visit to Greece, Russia Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich underscored that Moscow is interested in developing economic ties with Athens. Despite the potential mutual benefits, energy cooperation between Russia and Greece remains only on paper so far. Its future will depend on the decisions by Brussels. He added that the pipeline would allow for attracting investments to Greece and create thousands of new jobs. What is more, like some other European countries, Greece was interested to be part of the South Stream project. The pipeline is expected to go via the Black Sea and then to Bulgaria, the Balkans, Italy and Austria. Despite the fact that European companies were interested in the project, in April 2014 the European Parliament adopted a resolution recommending abandoning the initiative. Russia announced the suspension of South Stream and proposed Turkish Stream as an alternative. It also was suspended after a Russian Su-24 aircraft was downed by a Turkish F-16 fighter in Syria on November 24, 2015. In June, following Turkey's apology to Russia for the November incident, the sides began a reconciliation process. While construction a pipeline in Turkey is unlikely to meet obstacles, building a pipeline in Europe (for example, via Greece) is likely to face opposition from the European Commission. For example, the Nord Stream-2 was also opposed by Brussels. According to him, a pipeline could be constructed to the Greek-Turkish border and there will be discussions, talks and bargaining over its future. He noted that despite the potential difficulties the Turkish Stream pipeline is very important for Moscow due to the problem with transit via Ukraine. "Russia and Ukraine have a transit agreement which expires in 2019. Then Ukraine could raise the transit fee for Gazprom. So, the Russian company has to look for alternative ways. Moreover, Gazprom has long-term contracts with European countries," the expert said. What is also important, currently Gazprom holds a 31-percent share in the European gas market. Russian natural gas is cheaper than gas from Norway and Algeria. Head of the National Energy Security Fund Alexander Pasechnik noted that Russia should develop alternative gas routes to Europe. "Gazprom is trying to bypass Ukraine. There are two alternative routes Nord Stream via the Baltic Sea and the Turkish Stream via the Black Sea," he said. Until recently, Moscow said it planned to abandon gas transit via Ukraine. But if Kiev offers adequate terms and prices after 2019 Gazprom is likely to continue to work with Ukraine. The Moroccan Bahraini Handicraft Week will kick off on the September 26 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, it was revealed yesterday. The event, held in cooperation between the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority and the Embassy of Morocco in Bahrain, will be under the patronage of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Zayed Alzayani. We will be launching a series of events and activities to promote the tourism ties between Bahrain and other countries, said the chief executive of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, Shaikh Khalid bin Humood Al Khalifa told the media during a briefing held yesterday (September 20). The events will also serve as a platform to promote the handicraft industry between both nations and exchange expertise, he added. Further commenting on the event, the Morrocan Ambassador to Bahrain, Ahmed Rashid Khatabi, said: "We are more than happy to host this event in Bahrain which reflects the strong ties between both nations. The unique first of its kind event will showcase the traditional Moroccan crafts alongside Bahraini handicrafts to the public. It will also highlight the creativity and talents of both countries and allow for further exchange of experience and knowledge. The event will be held in partnership with Dar Al Sanea Establishment. The event, open to the public, will continue until October 1. It will run from 10 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 10 pm. The exhibition will cover an area of 3,000-sq-m and will include 22 Bahraini handicrafts and 13 Moroccan handicrafts. The event will also include live traditional music and workshops. - TradeArabia News Service Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village So when they butt-stroked me to the head from an AK-47 and I was bleeding down the side of my face and they threw me back in the cell I could Wednesday's Highlights Wednesday clubs and meetings Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A; noon, 500 S. Wolcott; 2 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:09 P.M., 917 N. Beech; 5:30 p.m., 456 S. Walnut; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 8 p.m., 8 p.m., 328 E. A; 8 p.m, 328-1/2 E. A, closed; 8:23 p.m., 719 3rd St., Evansville. Douglas: 7:30 p.m., 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back); 7:30 p.m,. 805 E. Richards, Ste. 1. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688. Al-Anon: 7-8 p.m.,500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200, 12-24 Club, for grades 6 and up. Info: 377-7260 or 258-1444; 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 302 E. 2nd. Use east entrance, meet downstairs in Room 12. Narcotics Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 302 E. 2nd St., Methodist Church, enter east side. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org. Nicotine Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club. Info: Pam M., 577-0518; Troy Y., 267-6326. OIF/OEF Support Group: 6:30-8 p.m., Casper Vet Center, 1030 N. Poplar St., Ste. B. All OIF/OEF Veterans are invited to attend. No need to pre-register. Info: 261-5355. Teen Addiction Anonymous: 7- 8 p.m., 12-24 Club Teton Room. Info: 258-7439. TOPS #35 Weight Loss: 6:45 a.m., First Christian Church, 520 CY Ave. Weight Loss Support Group, Weigh-in is from 6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. Info: 258-2603 or 234-5644. TOPS #162: 8:30 a.m., United Methodist Church, 1880 Poplar. Anyone interested is invited to join. Info: 472-4926. Free transit rides The public is invited to attend the celebration of "Transit Day," at approximately 9:15 a.m., at the Transfer Station, Second and Beech, on the Nicolaysen side of Beech St. Refreshments will be served. All rides will be free on both CATC and The Bus on Wednesday. Come learn about how CATC and The Bus got started in our community and the outstanding success it has enjoyed over the past 34 years. For more information, call 265-1313 or 237-4287. Tour residential respite care Central Wyoming Community Respite Program hosts lunch and a tour of its Residential Respite Facility every Wednesday in September from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Join us at 304 S. Fenway and have your respite care questions answered. Call 577-4832 with questions. Come in for a tour and leave knowing your loved one will be in safe hands. Proudly brought to you by Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions Program. Red Hats meet for lunch The Queen Bee Red Hat Luncheon for September is 11:30 a.m., at Pizza Ranch, 5011 E. Second St. Marble mazes The Natrona County Library will host a craft activity for elementary-age students at 4 p.m. Make marble mazes using a variety of household items. All supplies provided. Call 577-READ ext. 5 for more information. Co-parenting class on Wednesdays Are you a single parent or step-parent? Are you raising kids between two homes? Casper Family Connections is offering a co-parenting class which is held every Wednesday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Each participant must attend all five classes to receive a certificate. The class, "One Heart Two Homes," is an exciting group that will support you in your co-parenting process. A few of the topics include: Creating Stability in a Single Parent Home, Parental Adjustment, Inter-parental Conflict, Handling the Handoff, Understanding the Heart of the Child, and Helping Kids Plan for Holidays and Special Occasions. The class will be held at Casper Family Connections, 2345 E. Second Street. The cost is $50 per person for the series of classes and Medicaid is accepted. Please contact Karlea LaFave at (307) 233-2200 for more information and to sign up. Hike river September 21, 5:30 p.m. Hiking Group: Were running out of light so have to move the meeting time up. Its in town so hope everyone can make it. Come to learn about the Platte River Restoration. Meet at the Izaak Walton League lodge at Ft. Casper Campground. Well hike from there along the river to Morad Park. Brian will show us work that has been done along the river. Well have cookies and hot drinks after the hike. If you have any questions, call or text Jennie at 251-3739 or Dan at 251-3741. This will be our last evening hike until next May. If there is interest, we will hike or snowshoe on the first and third Saturdays. Veteran Cigar Night Every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m., all veterans are invited to Veteran Cigar Night at the Casper Cigar Company, 4717 W. Yellowstone Highway, sponsored by Casper Cigar Company. There is no cost to attend. This is a time and place for our community's combat veterans to relax and share their stories with other combat veterans while enjoying a good cigar. Veterans receive 20 percent off cigars. For more information, call Josh Cruse at 307-337-4400 or josh@caspercigar.com Chicken fried steak at the Elks Wednesday Night Special at the Casper Elks Lodge is chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and corn. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $3, serving from 6 to 7 p.m. or until gone. Members, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839. A carnival worker suspected of abducting and molesting a 5-year-old boy in July pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness to three felony charges Tuesday in Natrona County District Court. Joshua Winters was charged with kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor for allegedly taking the boy from the arcade at the El Mark-O bowling alley and sexually assaulting the boy on July 18. Winters worked for a food vendor at a carnival that was at the fairgrounds at the time. District Judge Thomas Sullins ordered Winters to be admitted to the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston for a mental evaluation. Winters hesitated when Sullins asked him if he had a history of mental illness before answering that he did. He did not elaborate. If convicted, Winters faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. His bail remained at $250,000, which was set in Natrona County Circuit Court. The boy was found crying by the side of a road near the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds and taken to the police station by a passerby, according to court documents. He was wet and covered in sand and didnt know where he was. According to the documents, when police asked him how he was doing, the boy replied, Im not OK. The boy told police that he had walked with his brother and a friend to the arcade on the west side of town from his house. While the boys were playing, a man approached the boy and offered them money to pay for the games. As the boys left, the man asked them to stay, according to court documents. The boy did. The boy told police he followed the guy who gives me things after he offered to show him the camp by the river where he was staying. At the camp, the man started touching the boy inappropriately and threatened to kill the child if he screamed or told anyone, according to court documents. Police arrested Winters in connection to the incident after carnival workers and bowling alley employees identified him as someone who matched the description the child gave. Winters told police he had been drinking and bowling with friends at the alley when a boy stole his backpack and money from his wallet, according to court documents. He chased the child to the river, but the boy slipped and hit his head when he jumped into the river with the backpack. Winters told police he jumped into the river to help the boy but did not remember anything after jumping into the river until he woke up on the bank later. Police asked Winters to show them what part of the river the boy had jumped in, but Winters said nothing looked familiar. While returning to the station, Winters began exhibiting a myriad of symptoms of poor health, according to court documents. Winters recovered after a nap on the floor of the interview room and told police that he might have given one of the kids a dollar, the documents state. He denied kidnapping the boy and told police, He could have gone the other way at any time. Police viewed video from a security camera that showed a man fitting Winters description following a boy who looked like the victim. Winters denied the allegations of sexual assault at a July hearing and told the judge, None of this happened, your honor, with the exception of the first part. When his baritone came over the radio every morning, Casper listened. When it came over the mic at a fundraiser, people opened their pocketbooks. And when Brian Scott Gamroth spoke one-on-one to someone offering advice or encouragement it made them feel like they were a part of something larger than themselves. Scott was a longtime radio show host, an advocate for the arts and nonprofit groups, a proponent for a revived Casper downtown and a spokesman for the state he loved dearly. To each of his passions he offered time, boundless enthusiasm and the same question: What can I do to help? Scott died Sunday in a motorcycle crash near Lewistown, Montana, as he returned from a Shriners event in Canada. His voice was absent Monday from the 6 a.m. show on K2 Radio that he had hosted for more than 20 years. First, there was a moment of silence. Then his voice was replaced by the voices of dozens of his listeners friends, current and former governors and people who never met him but felt like they had after years of listening to his show. Casper and Wyoming are going to miss that familiar voice that warmed your heart every day, said Ashley Bright, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming. We will miss his strength and how he connected people together. Scott helped organize and host dozens of events for the club and helped raise about $10 million for its operations, Bright estimated. Scott also served on the boards of the Nicolaysen Art Museum, the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, the Downtown Development Authority, the Casper College Theatre Program and the Casper Childrens Theatre. He emceed hundreds of events for local group and helped raise millions of dollars. He was one of the strong, strong voices for the arts in Casper and Wyoming, said Richard Burk, a theater instructor at Casper College. Well miss his joyful advocacy of the arts. He leaves a void. Scott was also an active member of the Natrona County Republican Party, where he served as state committeeman and on the budget and audit committee. Scotts vast knowledge of Wyoming and Casper were invaluable to the party, chairman Bonne Foster said, but his most valuable contribution was his ability to understand and connect with people. Scott was scheduled to emcee a fundraiser for the Wyoming Republican Party on Oct. 1. When U.S. Sen. John Barrasso closes his eyes, he sees Scott leaning against his kitchen counter and commanding the room at the senators Christmas gathering for family and friends. We always thought of him as part of our family, Barrasso said. Most of his listeners thought of him as part of their family. Wyoming Symphony Orchestra director Rachel Bailey sees him manning the grill at the inaugural Wild West Photo Festival fundraiser in 2012. Organizing the event had been a scramble, she said, and she had called Scott at the last minute because the orchestra needed someone to grill and serve the food. But Scott was more than happy to grab a spatula and pitch in. He stood before the grill for hours, chatting with folks and sipping whiskey. I think he was in his element then, Bailey said. For all of his work in the community and with people, he was kind of a private guy who loved the simple joys of life, too. It wasnt just Scotts passion for his community that made him special, his friends say. It was the way he looked you in the eye when he greeted you with his strong handshake. It was the way he listened and never forgot to ask about your family. It was the way he insisted on wrapping you in a bear hug when you said good-bye. He always made you feel valued and special and that you were a part of something, Bailey said. I didnt realize until today that it wasnt just me that he made feel that way he did that for everyone. He was the kind of person who would drop everything to wait in an emergency room, like he did with longtime family friend Linda Einer when her husband was admitted for emergency brain surgery six years ago. Scott sat with her for hours, Einer said, and came back the next day as soon as he finished his morning show. I dont think I couldve done that without him by my side, she said. It was so typical of Brian. No matter what he had going on, he would drop it. He was always there. Despite his local fame and busy schedule, Scott always made time to help young people in their pursuits of the arts. Trevor Trujillo grew up listening to Scott on the radio and continued to be starstruck by him even after Trujillo joined K2 as a broadcaster himself. Scott taught Trujillo to speak slowly on the air, to be as kind to the stranger on the street as the governor and, most important, to be sincere. He always meant what he said and always wanted to hear what you had to say, Trujillo said. Thats what set him apart. Scott died Sunday morning when he and another motorcyclist attempted to pass slower vehicles in front of them. Sudden oncoming traffic forced the two men to veer back into their lane, and the motorcycles collided. Scott was killed at the scene. The other man was taken to a Lewistown hospital. Mourners created a small memorial of flower bouquets and candles Monday outside of Scotts Second Street loft. A small plaque read: Those we love dont go away, they walk beside up each day ... unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear. Scott is survived by Tracy, his wife of 27 years, three sons and four grandchildren. He called me One Take Sal. Its surprising what you remember when you hear completely unexpected, unwanted news. In March 2015, from this same chair, I wrote that Wyoming had received a collective punch to the gut with the passing of Mick McMurry. This was the counter-punch. Brian Scott Gamroth, 51, was so much more than BS in the morning. Most important, he was an absolutely beloved brother, husband, father and grandfather. His joy was never more than when he saw his son Josh marry one of our former coworkers, a couple he introduced. So add matchmaker to his myriad largely unknown talents. He then recently officiated at the wedding of another son, Kyle. When granddaughter Reagan was born seriously prematurely at Wyoming Medical Center, he accompanied her on the LifeFlight plane ride to Denver. He crowed over the naming of grandson Owen, who shares his name with my the friend. Thus began the stand-up I love you, Owen! routine, whether on the street or from a dais in front of 1,000 of our closest friends. Brian loved life. All of it. Period. Thats why the haunting words to The Dance, by Garth Brooks played on a special simulcast broadcast made the sleepless nights first sips of coffee salty with tears on Monday morning. How could I have known youd ever say goodbye/And now Im glad I didnt know/The way it all would end, the way it all would go... You will hear frequently this week about the good he did for the state outside of his chair, raising millions and millions of dollars for groups from Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming and the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. But he did a lot of good from that chair in the main studio at 150 N. Nichols Ave. as well. He woke us up, gave us the news of the day, especially about our state, and filled us in on his family and his activities the previous weekend or evening. For a guy who wanted to be in bed every night by 10, he packed a lot in. We loved the way his bride Tracy called him Dad in public. Those three letters clued us in to their rock-solid, happy life. After he renovated the downtown loft nearly by hand, he loved to entertain there, large and small, simple and elegant. Christmas Eves, the whole clan would gather for casual soup suppers so they could be with the other sides of their growing families on Christmas Day. Last month, he auctioned a brunch and eclipse-watching package from his rooftop for next August at the symphonys Wine on the River event. Sitting at our table, Tracy knew nothing of that. Its at our place? she asked aloud. Sal, will you come cook us brunch? He called me One Take Sal because I co-hosted Taste of Home Cooking School with him for years back when we were collaborators instead of competitors. I miss those days very much. So I breezed into the studio, put on the headset and read the script. In one take. It wasnt that difficult, but somehow that amazed him, and Ive been One Take Sal ever since. There would be 1,000 people in the room, literally, and hed make his way through the tables to give a hug and the other Owen a handshake. Everyone felt that way, though. From up Kaycee way, to out Muddy Gap way, and every way and where in between, Brian made us feel connected. Heaven must have needed a fundraiser. What Wyoming needs to do is hold tight his family, then figure out who is going to step up. Per capita, thats a lot to ask us twice in 21 months. But we can do it. Because were Wyoming tough. And its what Brian would want us to do. Sweetwater County authorities charged an imprisoned serial killer with murder Tuesday in connection to the 1977 killing of a 28-year-old woman whose remains were found years later on public land in southwest Wyoming. Rodney James Alcala, now 73, was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of Christine Ruth Thornton, court records show. Investigators believe Alcala killed Thornton in Sweetwater County based on a photo that shows her on a motorcycle on what appears to be remote public land northeast of Granger. Her remains were found a short distance away, said Detective Joe Tomich of the Sweetwater Sheriffs Office. Authorities found the photo while searching Alcalas possessions during a previous investigation, according to court documents. In a Sept. 6 interview with investigators, Alcala said he had been in the Granger area before, met Thornton and took the photo of her on the motorcycle. He told detectives that Thornton did not leave the area with him and said, She was alive before I left her, according to court documents. Alcala has been found guilty of killing six people in two states, though authorities estimate Alcala may have killed up to 130 victims across the U.S., authorities in Sweetwater County say. He is known as the Dating Game killer for appearing on the popular television program in the late 1970s. Solving the case after more than 30 years took a little luck, Tomich said. A rancher found Thorntons unburied human remains near a two-track dirt road on the land in 1982, Tomich said. The road, identified as Lombard Road in court documents, is about 6 miles north of Interstate 80 and 1.5 miles east of U.S. Highway 30. The remains couldnt be identified for decades, though it was determined they belonged to a homicide victim who was about six months pregnant when she died, court documents show. A gold ring and a small watch with a leather band were found near the body, which were similar to the ones Thornton wore in the photo. Investigators submitted a tissue sample to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for DNA analysis in 2013 and inclusion into a database of information on missing people, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Thorntons family had searched for her since she disappeared from San Antonio, Texas, in 1977. In 2013, Thorntons sister happened to spot a photo of Thornton in a collection of Alcalas photos that had been released to the public in 2010 in the hopes of identifying more of his victims. After contacting police, two of Thorntons sisters submitted DNA samples to the missing persons database. The database alerted the Sweetwater County Sheriffs Office in July 2015 that Thorntons remains had a possible match. Detectives were later able to confirm the remains were Thorntons and contacted her family shortly after. A sister told the detective that one of Thorntons former boyfriends had previously told her that the couple took a trip to Green River in 1977 to pan for gold, but the pair parted ways after a fight. The family had last seen Thornton when she visited her uncle in Biloxi, Mississippi, in June 1977, the documents state. She was notably pregnant at the time. Alcala was traveling the country during the summer of 1977 after his parole officer granted him permission to drive from California to the East Coast to visit family, court documents show. He left California on July 2 and returned on Aug. 6. He later traveled from California to Mexico from Aug. 11 to Aug. 20 that same summer. Court documents do not state why Alcala was on parole at the time. Investigators reviewed the other photos found in Alcalas possession and determined that the same motorcycle Thornton is pictured riding a blue and white Kawasaki was also present in the photos of Alcalas other victims. During previous investigations, the motorcycle had been found disassembled in Alcalas Seattle storage unit, according to the documents. Alcala is on death row at the Cocoran State Penitentiary in California for previous murder convictions. If convicted of the Wyoming charge, he could face additional charges of life imprisonment or death. The California courts will determine whether Alcala should be extradited to Wyoming to face the charge in person, Tomich said. Its unknown whether Alcala will remain in California or be moved to a Wyoming prison if convicted of the murder charge. Alcala was convicted of murder in California in 1980 in the killing of Robin Samsoe and in 2010 for the killings of Jill Barcomb, Georgia Wixted, Charlotte Lamb and Jill Parenteau. In 2012, he was convicted of murder in New York for the killings of Cornelia Crilley and Ellen Hover in the 1970s. Alcala was known to approach victims by pretending to be a photographer and asking them to pose for him before physically assaulting and strangling them, documents show. All of his victims were female. PHOENIX Three weeks before Arizonans start voting, a statewide business group has launched a campaign to kill Proposition 206. Glenn Hamer, president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, acknowledged Monday it will take a seven-digit investment to convince voters to reject the proposal, which would increase the states minimum wage immediately to $10 an hour and by 2020 to $12 an hour. The same measure would require businesses to provide at least three days of paid leave a year. Were going to raise as much as we can, Hamer said, declining to specify a dollar figure. His organization is starting not only late but also from behind: A recent poll showed the measure with a 2-1 margin of support. And early voting starts Oct. 12. Ill be the first to say this is an uphill climb, Hamer said. When voters elsewhere have been presented with similar questions, he noted, the passing rates are high. But Hamer said theres still time to change some minds. A decade ago, Arizona voters approved a minimum wage of $6.75 an hour. At the time Arizona employers were subject only to federal laws and the $5.15-an-hour U.S. mandate. The measure approved then contains an automatic cost-of-living adjustment clause, which has put the current minimum wage at $8.05; in January, that will go to $8.15. Businesses didnt run much of a campaign against the 2006 measure a mistake, Hamer said, they wont repeat this time. The key, he said, is recrafting how voters see the issue. On the ballot, voters will see the title of The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act. We prefer to call it The Opportunity Destruction Act, said Hamer. Jacking up the minimum wage in this state by 50 percent is dramatic, he said. And adding in a paid time off component is also, in our view, harmful to job creation. Pollster Earl de Berge of the Phoenix-based Behavior Research Center, who did not conduct the earlier survey, said the poll results are not surprising. He said there is widespread awareness that (the) minimum wage is pathetic in todays economy. Hamer is not necessarily disputing that. What he hopes will dissuade voters is the size of the increase. We believe the proponents of this have overshot, he said. Going up 50 percent, going to $12 an hour, particularly in rural Arizona, is way too much. So, then, what does his organization think might be appropriate? Well, the discussion on the federal level until recently has been $10.10, Hamer said. Thats a number that President Obama has used, he said, referring to the presidents 2015 State of the Union address urging Congress to adopt that number. People like Mitt Romney have used similar figures, Hamer added. Since then, however, Democrats have become more aggressive, pushing for a $15 figure. Hamer blamed that on a bidding war among candidates. The business community never offered a $10.10 alternative here. About the closest it came was a proposal earlier this year by the Arizona Restaurant Association to ask voters to instead set the minimum wage at $8.41 an hour this coming year, going to $9.50 by 2020. The measure cleared the state Senate with Republican support but died in the House. Proponents of Proposition 206 had raised more than $1.4 million as of mid-August, the most recent campaign finance report available. But $900,000 of that went to hire paid circulators. With other expenses, that report showed the committee had about $127,000 on hand. No matter how much each side spends, de Berge said it may not be enough. Even a million dollars may get lost in the candidate combat that is expected this year in Arizona, he said, with not just the presidential race but also a high-profile contest for the U.S. Senate and some hot-button congressional races. That has not escaped Bill Scheel, campaign manager for Proposition 206. WASHINGTON Tucson stacks up fairly well in a new report on potentially misleading pricing policies for cremation services, with all but one of the citys funeral homes surveyed found to be in compliance with federal rules. The Funeral Consumers Alliance and the Consumer Federation of America looked at 142 funeral homes in 10 cities across the country and found that more than 30 were not following the Federal Trade Commissions funeral rule that requires full disclosure of cremation costs and options. The report said that all but one of the 15 homes looked at in Tucson appeared to meet the FTC regulation, and the one that did not has since corrected what its owner called an oversight. By contrast, 13 of 18 funeral homes in Atlanta were found wanting. The reports authors called the findings very troubling. But an official with the Arizona Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers said he did not consider the studys results staggering. Gary Hendrix, the licensing administrator for the board, said any failure to meet FTC rules was likely not done on purpose. Anytime you have incorrect information on your general price list, it could occur for any amount of reasons, Hendrix said. Maybe they changed their pricing or maybe whoever does their general price list got something incorrect. The report also showed that Tucson had among the lowest posted prices in the nation for a direct cremation, ranging from $589 to $2,295. Washington, D.C., was costliest, with prices quoted from $1,295 to $7,595. The funeral rule allows consumers to get an itemized list of all costs associated with services from a funeral home and requires that funeral homes sell only what the consumer wants which can include accepting a casket, for example, that was bought somewhere else. Or no casket at all, in the case of a cremation, when an alternative container can be used. The report by the consumer groups found that 33 of the funeral homes they looked at did not give consumers all the options for a direct cremation and, in some cases, only offered a package of bundled services for families to buy. The groups also said that 31 of the funeral homes prices did not include the actual cost of cremation because that was handled by a third party, not the funeral home itself. The cost of cremation is added on to the bill later. Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, compared it to a hospital offering a particular kind of surgery at a particular price, and then after you have the surgery you look at the bill and youd see that theres a fee of millions of dollars more for the actual surgeon to perform it. The consumer groups called on the FTC to reopen the funeral rule to ensure that cases like that dont happen, and to require that prices be displayed on funeral home websites. Marana High School is hosting the Marana Aviation Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 27, to celebrate all things aeronautical. Theyll have flight simulators on site, vendors explaining the ins and outs of aviation from training and education programs and financing to job opportunities, in addition to performances by circus trapeze artists, student performers and the schools choirs. Its all part of celebrating Marana Unified School Districts new aviation technology program that started this fall at Marana and Mountain View high schools. MUSD is the only district in Pima County to offer an aviation program on site; other districts offer it through the Joint Technical Educational District at Pima Community College. Its such a big industry in Pima County and the job opportunities are huge for our kids, said Cathie Raymond, head of MUSDs career and technical education program. According to recent Pima County economic reports, between 20,000 and 30,000 people are employed in the aerospace industry in Southern Arizona. Tucson is among the top five areas in the country for aerospace, county reports state. Raymond said 19 students are enrolled in the Mountain View aviation program, while 10 are enrolled in Marana. Most of the students are juniors and seniors taking the two-period class every day, she said. Raymond said the district wants to expand and grow the program, including adding an introduction to aviation class as early as next fall for freshman and sophomores. Ironically, Tuesdays Marana Aviation Fair started long before the district unveiled its aviation program. It was born out of a concert planned a year ago by Sarah Ross, director of the Marana High School choirs. Ross had decided that her choirs first concert of the 2016-17 school year would focus on flight. Joel Glunt, a pilot and father of one of Ross students, suggested that Ross incorporate the new aviation program and turn it into an event. Joel and I said wouldnt it be great if we could do this thing, and we went to (aviation program instructor Roy Gorris) and said, Roy, were going to do this thing and we want you to be part of it, Ross said. Hence the festival. Marana Aviation Fair will include demonstrations and exhibits from more than 25 vendors and exhibitors including flight simulators, aviation and aeronautics employers and college representatives. Participants will be part of the eight-week long Walking the Mourner's Path grief support group. The group is open to anyone who has lived through loss in the last 24 months, according to press materials. A free forum later this month will focus on life along the U.S. Mexico border. The September 29 event, sponsored by Arizona Public Media and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, is designed to be a live, interactive event and will feature four journalists who work along the border. Organizers aim to take the discussion beyond the often-debated topics of drug violence and illegal immigration. For example, panelists will discuss such issues as U.S.-Mexico trade relations and initiatives, as well as the ways political and cultural perceptions vary north and south of the border. The journalists also will discuss Donald Trumps and Hillarys Clintons positions on border and immigration issues and how those positions could impact business, trade and life along the border. Panelists include: Javier Garza: The longtime Mexican journalist has worked extensively to protect reporters working in Mexico, who are often targeted by drug cartels. Garza is a Knight International Journalism Fellow in Mexico. Nancy Montoya: Arizona Public Medias border reporter has 35 years experience in broadcast news in the United States and Latin America. With the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, her familys ranch went from being in Mexico to being in the United States almost overnight. Curt Prendergast: The Arizona Daily Stars border reporter has lived in South America and covered the border for the residents of Santa Cruz County from 2012 to 2015 as a reporter for the Nogales International. Fernanda Santos: The Phoenix bureau chief for The New York Times hails from Brazil and contributed to Latinos in the United States: A Resource Guide for Journalists. She is the author of The Fire Line, a book about the Granite Mountain Hotshots killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire. Moderating the panel will be Maria Hinojosa, anchor and executive producer of the long-running weekly NPR show, Latino USA. The event is free, but tickets must be reserved in advance. (See accompanying box) Arizona has been named the least attractive state in the country for educators, according to a national study on the teacher shortage crisis. With one of the highest turnover rates of any state, and 24 percent of the teacher workforce eligible to retire by the end of 2018, the outlook for Arizonas future points to continued shortages, research released Wednesday by the Learning Policy Institute found. As the end of the first quarter of the school year approaches, Tucson-area school districts report having nearly 170 vacant teaching positions. Those findings, combined with the fact that fewer people are going into the teaching profession, is terrifying the leader of Tucsons largest school district said. Thats a real wake up call, said TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez, who feels that many of Arizonas problems stem from an overly-involved legislature. If thats not shocking people right now and encouraging people to get out of teachers way and let them do a good job, then I dont know whats going to wake folks up. Sanchez came to Tucson three years ago from Texas where per pupil funding was higher, as were teacher salaries. Legislative involvement in daily classroom instruction was also not as confining as it is here, he said. It seems we have people at the legislative level that want to do the teachers job instead of the legislature doing its job, which is setting policy that creates economic strength and vitality, and making decisions based on research instead of doing the kind of things that are done now. Sanchez pointed specifically to efforts in Arizona to cut funding for career and technical education programs and eliminating funding for full-day kindergarten despite studies showing the benefits not only for children, but the community as a whole. Another example: the states involvement in determining whether third-graders are promoted to the next level, Sanchez said. Thats the teachers job the teacher knows which kids should move on to fourth grade and which shouldnt. It shouldnt be driven by the legislature. There has to be a focus on policy making at the legislative level as opposed to micromanaging. In developing the state attractiveness rating, the Learning Policy institute looked at compensation, teacher turnover, teacher qualifications and working conditions, which took into account the percentage of teachers who feel they have control over their classrooms and those who were worried about job security because of testing. A higher percentage of Arizona teachers reported being concerned about job security because of testing and a lower percent of Arizona teachers reported feeling that they had control over their classrooms when compared to the national averages. Arizona also had a higher percentage 11.9 of teachers planning to leave as soon as possible compared to the national average of 6.6 percent. Though Arizona earned the lowest attractiveness rating, it is by no means alone in the struggle to staff schools. The research found more than 40 states reporting that they are facing serious shortages of teachers in math, science and special education, and more than 30 states reporting serious shortages for teachers of English-language learners. What's the answer? More equitable compensation packages would be an important start, while forgivable loans and service scholarships also could help attract and retain teachers for high-need fields and locations, according to the Learning Policy Institute. Improved support for beginning teachers and career development, coupled with better working conditions in local schools, would reverse the turnover problem. The Flowing Wells School District, which serves more than 5,700 students, is a strong believer in professional development, competitive compensation and supportive working conditions, all of which may contribute to the fact that there is only one teaching position that is currently unfilled, Superintendent David Baker said. Despite serving a high percentage of low-income families, Flowing Wells has been recognized for excellence in academic achievement, but that all ties back to who is in front of the classroom, Baker said. As an organization, we believe hiring and retaining staff both teachers and support personnel is central to all our efforts in focusing on teaching and learning, he said. National Merit semifinalists named More than five dozen Tucson teens have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. The students, who represent 11 schools, were found to have outstanding academic records throughout high school. They will now have the opportunity to compete for scholarships that will be offered next spring. They are: Mea M. Chiasson, Bodo Lee, Daniela Liera, Luis G. Ortiz, Korina N. Pluss, Matthew Safar, Erika D. Steiner and Jennifer C. Xiao of Basis Oro Valley. Ekow A. Buadu, Brendan W. Hall, Garrett N. Moseke, Bredon R. Poss, Ashwin Raj, Geneva K. Saupe, Mary E. Steele, Eugene M. Wang, Cameron Q. Williams, Kendall T. Yu and Luann M. Zerefa of Basis Tucson North. Claire C. Bergan, Julia L. Crocco, Jack Z. Liu, Jesse Z. Liu, Kara L. Thompson, Meena Venkataramanan and Daniel Wieland of Catalina Foothills High School. Elaine F. Wright of The Gregory School. Emily L. Cherrington of Ironwood Ridge High School. Aaron J. Steele and Anna V. Vekony of Pusch Ridge Christian Academy. Ryan M. Blanchard and Ian J. Hanus of Salpointe Catholic High School. Abrielle S. Agron of Sonoran Science Academy. Christopher M. Altizer of Tanque Verde High School. Caroline S. ONeill of Tucson High Magnet School. University High students Miranda I. Agnew, Hetty Black, Robert C. Bushell, Erin E. Connolly, Cassidy M. Crone, Robert C. Downs, Alian P. Godoy, Priscilla Y. Han, Zoe M. Holtzman, Damian I. Hubble, Alexandra J. Karaim, Eric Lu, Zakkai S. Markowitz, Owais Noorani-Kamtekar, Natalia E. Orbach-Mandel, Anna M. Peckham, Sean T. Peterson, Clare K. Remy, Ian W. Schwind, Diego Silva-Mendoza, Adrian I. Soto, Jenny Steinberg, Alexandra B. Tash, Jules T. Wyman and Andy Z. Zhou. Home-school students Andrew J. Horwitz and Paul W. Oftedahl. About 90 percent of the semifinalists named across the country are expected to attain finalist standing. About half of finalists will win scholarships, earning the Merit Scholar title. Students were considered after taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The highest scoring entrants in each state were named semifinalists. To advance to the finalist level, the student and his or her school must submit a detailed scholarship application documenting their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honor and awards received. Tucson High reunion tickets on sale Tickets are on sale for the Tucson High Class of 1976 40th Reunion and All-70s Class Mixer. The event is Oct. 22 from 6 to 10 p.m. at Gentle Bens Brewing Co., 865 E. University Blvd. For information or to buy tickets, visit classreport.org/usa/az/tucson/ths/1976/. PHOENIX The chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court is openly worrying that a new ruling will let police charge parents with child molesting for changing a babys diaper. Scott Bales said the majority in the 3-2 decision puts the burden on someone who is accused of intentionally or knowingly touching the genitals or anus of a child of showing that it was not done with a sexual intent. Parents and other caregivers who have changed an infants soiled diaper or bathed a toddler will be surprised to learn that they have committed a class 2 or 3 felony, Bales wrote in his dissenting opinion on the case. He said there is little solace to parents to find out that after they are arrested, indicted and on trial that they finally have the right to escape conviction and prison by proving the touching was not motivated by a sexual interest. And whats worse, he said, the burden is on the parents to provide that proof. But Justice John Pelander, writing the majority opinion, brushed aside the possibility that otherwise innocent parents might end up in court. He said there is no evidence that a parent ever has been charged under this statute. And Pelander said if there were such a case, a court likely would rule the law could not be applied because it would interfere with parents fundamental, constitutional right to manage and care for their children. Anyway, Pelander said, the defendant in this case made no such claim. And he noted that even Bales and Justice Robert Brutinel, who joined in the dissent, acknowledged that, even with the alleged flaws in the law, this conviction should still stand. But David Euchner of the Pima County Public Defenders Office said there is, in fact, at least one such case where a foster parent was indicted and had to stand trial for following a doctors orders and checking to see if his foster children were soiling themselves. That man was eventually acquitted after a trial. But his life got ruined, Eucher said. It happened before, it can happen again. Euchner said he intends to provide that information to the Supreme Court in hopes the justices will reconsider their ruling. This case involves Jerry C. Holle, charged with inappropriately touching a young female relative. The crimes of child molestation and sexual abuse require only that the touching be knowing or intentional. But the law also says it is a defense to both crimes that the act was not motivated by a sexual interest. Based on that, his attorney argued that jurors should be told that the burden is on prosecutors to prove that any touching was sexually motivated. He also argued the allegations were blown out of proportion and presented testimony from others, including from his daughters, that he never sexually assaulted them or any other children. The jurors found him guilty and the judge sentenced him to a 10-year prison term for molestation, followed by five years of probation for sexual abuse. Pelander said the statutes are clear: Someone can be convicted simply with evidence of knowing or intentional touching, with no mention of prosecutors having to prove the reason why. States have broad authority to define the elements of a crime, Pelander wrote. He said as long as jurors are told they can convict only if prosecutors prove each element of the crime beyond reasonable doubt, it does not offend due process to require the defendant to prove that he is blameless because of some other circumstance in this case, the defense of lack of sexual motivation. Pelander also called arguments that parents and even doctors could be charged with a crime for examining a childs private parts unpersuasive. Still, he conceded that perhaps the law is not a model of clarity. A knocked over lit candle in a bedroom started a fire that grew rapidly at a Tucson home on the city's south side Monday. The resident lit the candle and was going to pray. No one was injured in the fire in the 300 block of West Canada Street, near South Liberty Avenue, said Capt. Barrett Baker of the Tucson Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the house shortly after 9 a.m. and found the resident outdoors after attempting to get a hose, but saw that the fire was spreading quickly and did not return inside the house, Baker said. Crews encountered smoke and pulled a hose line into the house and made it to a back bedroom and began battling the blaze. It took nine units and 23 firefighters seven minutes to put out the fire, said Baker. The resident, who accidentally knocked over the candle, was going to stay with relatives. The home's smoke alarm had been removed. A damage estimate had not been determined. Jessica Sottosanti and about 90 other volunteers will take steps to shed light on suicide prevention at the Out of the Darkness Tucson Walk on Sunday, Sept. 25, at Reid Park. There is a lack of understanding about suicide and how to speak about it and there is a stigma around mental illness and suicide. People are afraid to talk about it and the people who have mental illness are afraid of the reactions of others if they know they have mental illness or have attempted suicide, said Sottosanti, volunteer coordinator for the fifth annual walk that will benefit the Arizona Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. For people who dont understand what it is to go through something like that, creating open dialogue, educating the community and overall being proactive in suicide prevention helps alleviate that stigma. Sottosanti, 31, has firsthand experience: After dealing with mental illness since she was a teenager, she attempted suicide twice within the past five years. I have only this year started telling people that I have mental illness. There is shame and guilt when you go through this. Not everyone gets through it and is able to come out on the other end and talk about it. People just need to feel safe and know they can talk, said Sottosanti. Many people are shocked by the incidence of suicide in Arizona, where one suicide occurs every seven hours on average, according to Dawn Hunter, Arizona area director for the foundation. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death overall statewide; it is the second leading cause of death for ages 15 to 34 and the third leading cause of death for ages 10 to 14 and 35 to 44. Almost four times as many people die by suicide in Arizona annually than by homicide and these are all things that people dont know, which is why we are all about starting this conversation, Hunter said. Hunter launched the Arizona chapter of the foundation, which is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide, in 2010 after losing her 19-year-old son, Justin Ricks, to suicide. She said for her, as for many survivors, Justins suicide came out of the blue and she became educated after the fact in order to help others. She encourages the public to learn more at the foundations website at www.afsp.org and anyone in crisis to call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. About 90 percent of those who die by suicide are suffering from an undiagnosed underlying mental health condition usually depression. Suicide is a complex issue and some are more at risk for suicide than others and when you combine health factors, environmental factors and historical, factors that increases the chance a person may take his own life, Hunter said. The foundation is making concerted efforts to reach out to populations that may be at greater risk including veterans and college students. Programs such as Talk Saves Lives target the LGBTQ and elderly communities while More Than Sad is directed to junior high and high school students. Other innovative prevention programs provide instruction on early detection for educators and educate the public about risk factors and the early warning signs of suicide. The walk seeks to raise at least $45,000 to fund advocacy, research and continued outreach and awareness efforts. I wasnt even aware that there was a walk here until April. Not everyone knows that we have resources in the community that can help and it is so important to know that. Plus, all of the money that we raise here in the walk stays here locally to fund research and education for suicide prevention, said Sottosanti, who is also putting her own life experiences to work: In June, she graduated as a Certified Integrated Recovery Healthcare Support Specialist from the UA Family & Community Medicine Workforce Development Program. We assist people who have mental illness and/or substance use disorders or co-occurring disorders. Since we have personal experience of our own plus experiential knowledge through the Recovery Institute, we can help empower people to make their own choices toward their own recovery, said Sottosanti. Annie Dodge was born on the Navajo Reservation on April 11, 1910. Her mother Keehanabah was a wife of Henry Chee Dodge, one of the wealthiest and most respected Navajo ranchers and leaders. At age 5, Annie started herding sheep, a typical chore for young Navajo children. When she was 8 , her father sent her to a government boarding school at Fort Defiance. From there, she went on to Albuquerque Indian School. When I went to elementary school on the reservation, Annie said, the speaking of Navajo in or at the school was forbidden. And when I went to high school at the Albuquerque Indian School, the speaking of Navajo was still prohibited. So I and many of my Pueblo friends decided that we were going to speak the very best English that we could. It was very unfortunate that I had to forsake my Navajo friends and not enjoy the privilege of speaking my native language. From the time she left school in the 11th grade, Annie followed in her fathers footsteps as interpreter, arbitrator, and advocate for the Navajo people. Her ability to communicate and reason with Anglo administrators, even U.S. congressmen, allowed her to foster understanding between the two cultures. Few Navajo women have risen to the heights attained by this young shepherd girl. In 1923, Henry Chee Dodge became the first chairman of the newly organized Navajo Tribal Council. Chee Dodge believed education was the key to bringing his people into the 20th century. He wanted more boarding schools and advocated the teaching of English to Navajo children. He fought to stop the sale of liquor on the reservation, knowing its effect on his people. Ninety-year-old Henry Chee Dodge died Jan. 7, 1947, leaving Annie to continue in his stead. Annie married George Wauneka in 1929, a young man she had met in school and through the years, the couple had 10 children. She was elected to the Tribal Council in 1951, only the second woman to hold a council seat. The following year she represented the Navajo Nation in Washington, D.C., the first of many trips to the nations capitol. In 1953, Annie was appointed chair of the Health and Welfare division of the Community Services Committee that dealt with the issue of tuberculosis on the reservation. Keenly aware of the ravages of tuberculosis, she sought out experts to better understand the sickness, and took classes at the University of Arizona, receiving a degree in public health. She visited hogans witnessing the toll contagious diseases took on families and discovered many had received treatment but upon returning home, they fell into old patterns of poor nutritional health and unsanitary living conditions. She encouraged medicine men and doctors to work together to provide a better understanding of medical issues. Annie tore across the reservation in a beat up old station wagon, and later an equally disheveled pickup truck, delivering fruits and vegetables only to have the produce sit unprotected on dirt floors. She went to the tribal council seeking money to build wooden floors in the hogans. She insisted toilet facilities be built farther from houses and argued for better water quality on the reservation. She taught women the benefits of canned meats and powdered milk while advocating better health care for pregnant women and infants. She went to the departments of education in Arizona and New Mexico asking that students be taught personal hygiene and disease prevention. During the 1960s, the death rate among Navajo infants declined by 25 percent and the ravages of tuberculosis were reduced by 35 percent. The chief of the U.S. Public Health Service Division of Indian Health recognized Annie as the leader in improving the wellbeing of the Navajo. Continuing the efforts of her father to ban the sale of liquor on the reservation, Annie also chaired the Alcoholism Committee. She even took to the airwaves with a radio program focusing on health issues. In 1963, Annie became the first Native American to receive the highest honor given to a civilian. President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her crusade in the betterment of the health of her people. She became the voice of the Navajo in Washington, D.C., speaking before Congress on many occasions. She always dressed in typical Navajo clothing a plush velvet blouse over a long tiered skirt. Around her neck, she wore a beautifully decorated squash blossom necklace. When a congressman once told her to quit playing Indian, Annie calmly replied, Congressman . . . I didnt come here to talk about your clothes, so you ignore mine and lets talk legislation. At a 1975 Southwest Indian Womens Conference held in Window Rock, she urged women to move forward into the future while holding on to their Indian culture. These changing times and changing attitudes can be detrimental to women, she said. Its not just how men see us, but how we see ourselves. As we begin to demand expanded roles in the political, social, and cultural life of our people, we must not surrender our unique Indian identity. Otherwise well find ourselves asking, Mirror, mirror on the wall who is this? In 1976, Annie received an honorary doctorate degree in public health from the University of Arizona and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from the University of New Mexico. She was inducted into both the Arizona Womens Hall of Fame and the National Womens Hall of Fame. The Navajo Council named her the legendary mother of the Navajo people. At age 83, Annie was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease and moved into a nursing home. She died Nov. 19, 1997. The year before her death, the UA awarded Annie an honorary doctor of law degree. Her grandson, Milton Bluehouse, Jr., accepted the award for her. I didnt know she was famous until about my senior year in high school, Milton said. Before that, I figured that she was just my grandmother. I thought, grandmothers do these things. They jump in their trucks and go everywhere. The once dilapidated Wilmot Plaza, which was revitalized by local developers over the past three years, has sold for $47.3 million. Bourn Companies LLC bought the plaza, at 6371 E. Broadway, in 2013 for $6.2 million and poured millions into its renovation, tearing down old buildings and attracting tenants such as Dicks Sporting Goods and Nordstrom Rack. To transform a tired, almost blighted, commercial property into a vibrant shopping center is extremely satisfying for our company, said Bourn partner Alan Tanner. Personally its nice that the ownership group is local. DSW Wilmot Plaza LP is the buyer of the 139,000-square-foot center. Michael Sarabia and partner James Hardman were drawn to the trophy asset after seeing its transformation. Bourn fully redeveloped the center with an all-star tenant lineup, DSW said in a statement, noting that its appeal to investors included the substantial visibility from both Broadway and Wilmot roads, access to the major arterial intersection and close proximity to Park (Place) Mall. Toufic Abi-Aad, with Bourn Cos., represented the seller. Sarabia and Hardman represented the buyer. LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Ellie Ariagno made her annual return to Lawrence to help with a scientific study of another yearly return. The 13-year-old Leawood girl was one of the participants who help band butterflies Saturday morning at the annual Monarch Watch project at the Baker Wetlands south of Lawrence. "I've been coming forever," she said, before clarifying it was her fifth year attending the event. "This year I got to bring all my friends. I caught two (monarchs), but one was already tagged. The other one was a female. I've caught more in other years." Chip Taylor, director of the Kansas University-based Monarch Watch conservation group, said the 617 participants surpassed the previous high of 551 at the previous tagging site near Clinton Lake, the Lawrence Journal-World (http://j.mp/2cwBRw8 ) reports. Taylor predicts when all of this year's national tagging efforts are totaled and entered into a database, it will be found that the overall numbers of monarchs are down. That wasn't the case at the wetlands, which are now dotted with yellow from scattered groups of monarch-attracting wild sunflowers. Taylor suspects when Saturday's count is tallied, 200 to 300 monarchs will have been tagged. "There are a lot of monarchs out there," Taylor said. "They are pretty spread out over the wetlands." Some of the enthusiasts saw butterflies that weren't close enough to catch. Those willing to walk to the wetlands' southern boundary near the Wakarusa River found abundant monarchs, Taylor said. The fields of Douglas County and northeast Kansas have been kind to monarchs this year, Taylor said. "There are more than the usual number of monarchs produced here this year," he said. "I had a friend call me and say he counted 300 monarch caterpillars on plants in a field. You just don't see 300 caterpillars." Jeni Nadvornik, a 14-year-old homeschool student from rural Ottawa, said she and the other participants were taught how to tag the butterflies "very carefully" on the strong "mitten area" in the center part of the wing. With the help of her parents, she was able to tag the two monarchs she captured in her net. Taylor explained the small circular tags have a special adhesive that bonds to the wing for life. Each has a six-character number/letter combination that will be added to a national database. In the last 24 years, 1.2 million tag numbers have been entered into the database and 15,000 to 16,000 "recoveries" have been recorded, Taylor said. "That's an absolute goldmine," he said. "It tells us a lot about these migrations." The compelling story of the insects' long annual migration from Mexico to as far north as Canada and back is one of the things about monarchs that captures the public imagination, Taylor said. It's a trip that proves the butterfly's fragile appearance is deceiving. "They're tough," Taylor said. "They are extremely rubbery." Other traits boosting the insects' popularity are their unique appearance in the caterpillar, chrysalis and adult stages and the distinctiveness of the milkweed plant that provides nutritious meals for caterpillars, Taylor said. "There's something charismatic about this insect," he said. "They also are extremely accessible. They are slow enough to catch." But human-made challenges often threaten the tough monarchs more than the predators or weather conditions encountered on their long migrations. One factor affecting the monarchs' numbers, Taylor said, is the agricultural-related elimination of milkweed. The lower monarch population is an indication of stress on other pollinators, Taylor said. The complex interactions that take place in an ecosystem mean the lack of pollinators will have adverse consequences on many other species, he said. The last of this year's monarchs are expected to leave the area near the end of the first week of October. "The probability of monarchs making it to Mexico if they leave after that date goes down dramatically," Taylor said. ___ Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Lawrence Journal-World. Help India! By Asim Khan, The revision of social science text books by the BJP Government in Karnataka has stirred up strong objections from many corners of the society, and this comes with no surprise, though the BJP is claiming that the text books have been set under NCERT guidelines, a dive into the draft of fifth and eight standard text books provides an insight into the validity of these objections. Support TwoCircles What are the NCERT guidelines? A. Values and Ideals: education should promote in society, as well as help the learner develop a rational commitment to: Equality of status and opportunity, Freedom of thought, expression, beliefs, faith and worship; as a value in life Autonomy of mind as independence of thinking, based on reason, Autonomy of action freedom to chose, ability and freedom to decide and ability and freedom to act, Care and respect for others going beyond respecting their freedom and autonomy, concern about well being and sensitivity to all members of society, Justice: social, economic and political. B. Capabilities of individual human beings Knowledge base sufficiently broad knowledge base encompassing all crucial areas of socio-political life, and all basic ways of investigation and validation of knowledge Sensitivity to others Sensitivity to others well beings and feelings coupled with knowledge should form basis of rational commitment to values. Others should include all life forms. Rational/critical attitude: Critical rationality is the only way to autonomy of thought and action. Learning to learn the future needs of development of knowledge, reason, sensitivity and skills cannot be determined in advance. Therefore, ability to learn as new needs arise in new situations is necessary to function autonomously in a democratic society. Work and ability to participate in economic processes choices in life and ability to participate in the democratic processes depends on ability to contribute to the society in its various functions. Aesthetic appreciation/creation appreciation of beauty and art forms is an integral part of human life. Objectionable points in the eight standard text book: Cultural India The book unfolds with a map under the heading Cultural India which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal, Burma and China with puranic names, Kandahar named as Gandhari desh, Burma as Brahmadesh and China as Shamadesh. The map looks like a replica of the Akhand Bharath map idolized by Hindu fundamentalist organizations. Wouldnt this approach create ill feelings against sovereign neighboring countries? Literature that praise India Beside the map under the sub heading literatures that praise India, are listed various text on Indian history that includes only Hindu puranic texts like Vishnu Purana, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Very surprisingly, the only modern text listed is named Veer Savarkars literature. Is the objective here to teach students about Indian history? Or introduce them to Hindu religious books and writings of a known Hindu nationalist? Promotion of Bi Party system As part of an exercise in political science chapter under the heading Meaning of political science and its importance, students have been asked to meet the local MLA and discuss on bi party system. This is a negation of regional political parties that have destabilized the metrics of majoritarian politics and encroached upon opportunities to represent themselves. Suspicion towards foreigners While the whole world is tutoring its citizens to show respect and kindness to foreigners, the social science text book in Karnataka would engrain suspicion in the minds of the children towards foreigners. In the chapter citizen and citizenship, students have been encouraged to visit the police station, meet the higher officers and discuss about foreigners indulging in criminal activities in India and the limits of the police department to act against them. Objectionable points in the fifth standard text book: The Battle for Bidannur Memories of the past, a chapter in the fifth standard text book illustrates the battle between Rani Veeramma ji of Bidannur and Hyder Ali, it goes on to say that Veeramma ji fought hard but still the enemy forces won. This is a veiled demonization of the personality of Hyder Ali and the predominantly Muslim forces under him by terming them as enemy forces. History of Lal Bagh It is widely known that Lal bagh was commissioned by Hyder Ali in 1760 and completed by his son Tipu Sultan. The text gives a brief info about Lal Bagh but falls short of any information on Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. This seems like a deliberate attempt to erase Muslim contribution in Karnataka from History. Contribution of Tagadur Ramachandra Rao In the chapter named love and sacrifice for the country the book pens down the life and achievements of freedom fighter Tagadur Ramachandra Rao who fought against untouchability, but then, it also mentions about his struggle in bringing back poor Hindus who had converted to Christianity. Imagine a school kid studying this; what would he think about his fellow Christian classmates? Is this love for the nation to win back Hindus who had converted? Doesnt this sound similar to the rhetoric of many VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders? Hyderabad Nizam and the Hindu citizens Continuing in the same chapter, a biased and misleading text reads that the 86% Hindus living under Hyderabad Nizam were treated harshly, they had to take permission to celebrate any religious ritual that were rarely permitted, even the marriage rituals had to be carried out with permission whereas in another instance the Vijayanagar kings are pictured as rulers who protected, nurtured and upheld Hindu religion and culture for over 200 years. By deliberately neglecting the secular nature of Nizams and by picturizing Vijaynagar kings as saviors of the Hindu religion, the text is attempting to sow the seeds of communalism in the tender minds of children. Superseding the courts Judgment on Baba Budangiri Baba Budangiri, a religious shrine popular to Muslims and Hindus has been the source of many riots and communal tension in the state. The case is still pending in courts, but the social science text book supersedes the pending judgment and mentions it by the Hindu name Datta Peetha. Bidar or Vidhuranagara A phrase in the text says that Bidar, a persian name meaning Awakening was originally called by its Vedic name Vidhuranagara or Bidururu Pura. This is an attempt to bring back the Hindu past in the minds of the students. Contributions of Muslim rulers and Sufi Saints neglected Quite surprisingly the contributions of Muslim rulers like Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan, Lodi, Mughals and great Sufi saints find no space in the social science text books. Contribution of literates While S.L Byrappa, a writer known for his communal thoughts has been found valuable to be penned, the contributions of great literates like Lankesh and Poorna Chandra Tejasvi do not exist in the book. Democracy and Dynastic politics In one of the chapters on democracy students are questioned if they like dynastic politics, which seems to be an indirect attack on the Congress Party. Text books should be revised under NCERT guidelines The BJP Government has agreed to bring out mere changes in the text books that they initially claimed to have been reviewed at four different levels with over 500 teachers including 35 experts watching over it. With lame opposition parties in the state, if it was not for Dr C.S Dwarkanath who blew the whistle and the stiff resistance by various organizations that followed, the text books would have flown unnoticed into the schools. It is now important for civil right groups and organizations to ensure complete revision of the text books under the NCERT guidelines. (With inputs from Tauseef Madikere) Article first appeared on KarnatakaMuslims.com website. Help India! By TCN News, Vatva, Ahmedabad: A delegation of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) led by its National Vice President visited Vatva, Ahmedabad and met the family of Mohammed Ayyub who died on Friday due to the beatings from cow vigilantes. Support TwoCircles SDPI VP Adv Sharfuddin with the relatives of the victim Vatva Gujarati youths Mohammed Ayyub (29) and Sameer Shaikh (36) were mercilessly beaten by the Gau Rakshak goons accusing them of transporting cow. Ayyub succumbed to his injuries and Sameer is undergoing treatment in a hospital. On Sunday, the delegation met family members of Ayyub namely, father Ishaq, mother Meraj Banu, unmarried sister Yasmin Banu, unmarried brother Mohammed Arif and his widow with two siblings, one aged 4 years and the other aged 2 years. Ayyub was the sole bread winner for the family. Adv. Sharfuddin Ahmad, Vice President of SDPI slammed the police department for patronizing the Gau Rakshaks and for not immediately registering complaint when one of the victims visited the police. Widow of late Mohammed Ayyub killed by the Cow Terrorists Adv. Sharfuddin termed the heinous attack as an episode in the series of other occurrences being engineered in other places in the country in a short time, as 4 persons killing in Bijnor Uttar Pradesh, 2 persons killing and gangrape of 2 women in Dingerkhedi village of Haryana, 1 person killing in Delhi, all by cow vigilantes under well meditated plans and needed public actions against the growing violence against Muslims and Dalits. The brutal attacks and killings of innocents by the so called Gau Rakshaks (Cow Vigilantes) on the pretext of cow protection are all carried out under the mindset created by saffron forces, he further said. He criticized police for shielding culprits and said, The police tried every trick to protect the attackers, firstly the PI Mr. Rana sided with the attackers saying the accused persons are not attackers but then the fact came to the discussion that one of the accused persons had already registered a case with the police admitting his presence at the spot of occurrence. Women Members of the SDPI delegation with wife & mother of the victim In view of the assessment, the delegation suggested following demands that must be uniformly raised so as to provide relief to the bereaved family in Ahmedabad: 1. A compensation of Rs. 1 Crore in view of the maintenance of father, mother, widow, two children, unmarried sister and unmarried brother. 2. The family does not own any house and is in a rented place, so a government accommodation must be provided. 3. To provide sustenance to the family, younger brother of the deceased, Mohammed Arif must be provided a government job. 4. All the accused persons be arrested immediately and provisions of National Secretary Act or other preventive law must be invoked. 5. That PI Rana must be prosecuted for his foul role by registering a criminal case as well as initiating departmental proceedings against him. Help India! By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net Srinagar: Prominent human rights defender Khurram Parvez was again detained on Tuesday evening by Kupwara police even after a local court in Srinagar set aside a detention order issued by executive magistrate and had passed directions for his immediate release. Support TwoCircles According to JKCCS legal team who along with his family had rushed to Kupwara sub-jail to serve the court order to the concerned officials, police personnel from Kupwara police station arrived and refused to allow his release. Police continue to detain him in absolute disregard for the court order. In its order, the sessions judge declared that Khurram is ordered to be set free. Yet, the police is detaining him against his will and not giving any reason for his detention, said the JKCCS legal team. Parvez, who is the Chairperson of Asian Federation Against involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Program Coordinator of JKCCS, was initially detained by Kothi Bagh Police Station last week and later arrested on sections 107 and 151 of CrPC and got him shifted to Kupwara sub-jail after being remanded by an executive magistrate in Srinagar to police custody for ten days which was later reduced to five days. Earlier in the day, the case of Parvez came for hearing before Principal District and Sessions Judge Srinagar Rashid Ali Dar. The session judge asked the Executive Magistrate Mohammad Amin Najar to respond to the submission of counsels of Parvez that he wasnt produced before him. He claimed that, he was told that Pavez was handicapped and he was in jeep. The court order says that, the learned magistrate not noted anything in the impugned order regarding his endeavor for enquiring into the truth of the information received by him. The order passed by learned magistrate is not in accordance with law.Same is liable to be set aside and is set aside accordingly.The petitioner is ordered to be set free, reads the court order. Importantly, last week, Parvez, was detained at Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi and prevented from boarding the plane to Geneva, Switzerland where he was supposed to attend the ongoing UN Human Rights Council session. Parvez along with Mary Aileen Diez Bacalso, Adv. Parvez Imroz, Adv. Kartik Murukutla and Ron de Vera were part of the AFAD & JKCCS delegation which was scheduled to visit Geneva from 14th to 24th September to attend the 33rd UN Human Rights Council session. Related Kashmiri activist barred from travelling to attend UN Human rights session Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez arrested For five summers, a tarp has covered the swimming pool at Grand Bel II, a condominium community in Silver Spring that has no money for lifeguards, chemicals or insurance. The Vistas at Washingtonian Woods in Gaithersburg faces $600,000 in repairs but has just $400,000 in cash reserves. At Saxony Square in Alexandria, an unemployed man nine months behind on his mortgage negotiates with lenders to keep his two-bedroom condo. His neighbors struggle to pay their monthly fees; since 2010, Saxonys board of directors has filed more than 80 court actions to try to collect such assessments. Even as posh condos rise in trendy neighborhoods around the nations capital, many older complexes are mired in a recession that never ended. A cycle of aging infrastructure, limited resources and foreclosure is putting these communities in a deep financial hole, threatening what traditionally has been an affordable path to homeownership for the working class. I'm not sure if the problem with the complex is its location, age and the physical decline of the facility, the relatively old age of the condominium owners, the high cost of the units and a decline in their appeal to younger audiences, the failure of the hotel, further reducing activity within the complex, the anti-human urban design of the Kennedy Center, the need for a larger number of residents and office workers to generate the support necessary for successful retail, and even with the supermarket, could an independent succeed where a chain store cannot, because of higher corporate overhead and other fixed costs. ... But then I was thinking that the issues are not unlike those that planning director Rollin Stanley sees as an issue in Montgomery County--that traditional subdivisions with large houses, populated by a lot of people around the same age in the 1960s and 1970s, have a difficult time regenerating as resident households age out and younger families aren't necessarily interested in taking their place in houses and living patterns that they may consider dated. Clearly the Watergate complex is a candidate for "renewal" and a release from its basic urban renewal format--a complex of buildings inwardly focused in an area of minimal street activity. Much of the time we don't think of "rich areas" as needing public planning assistance, but the issue isn't wealth or poverty as much as it is urban design and the transportation network, whether or not it is age-resilient Some experts say better oversight and tighter restrictions are not enough, predicting that some complexes could deteriorate to the point where government agencies will have to intervene. Without significant changes, youre going to have cities and states condemning and taking over these properties, said Natalie Stewart, president of a California-based condominium consulting firm. Christopher Anderson, chief of the community development division for Montgomery Countys Department of Housing and Community Affairs, said such a scenario was not outside the realm of possibility but added that the resources available to local government are limited. We cannot as a county responsibly lend money to condo associations to fix problems, he said. Yesterday, thepublished an article, " Condominiums in crisis: Financial troubles put many communities at risk ," discussing how older condominium buildings and complexes are running into problems as they age. From the article:Maintenance costs increase and the financial problems of owners lead to foreclosures or failures to pay the "condo fees," which makes it that much harder to maintain buildings. Plus, FHA won't make mortgage loans to complexes with a a fair mount of vacancy or fee delinquency making it that much harder to attract new residents.. In testimony to the Zoning Commission in 2006 and 2007, I made the point that one of the problems posed by adding owner-occupied housing to mixed use "commercial" districts is that it was essential to get the design right, to have it be of permanent positive urban design qualities--get it right the first time--because unlike how commercial buildings are "reskinned" every 30 years or so and get a design update, residents are not likely to agree to special assessments for design improvements to the facade unless they can be assured that the payments will come back in increased property values.And I didn't discuss at length the difficulties of getting large numbers of resident households to participate in managing the building or to agree to change.. A few years ago, writing about addressing the issue of abandoned multiunit properties in Anacostia (" Deeper thinking/programming on weak residential housing markets is required: DC example, Anacostia "), I mentioned the Tower Renewal program in Toronto as a model approach for working with multiunit properties, to help keep such properties viable. Note also that HUD has a similar program for buildings constructed as part of the HUD housing affordability program.-- Tower Renewal Implementation Book , City of Toronto-- Tower Renewal initiative webpage , City of TorontoThis piece from, is particularly good, " Reassessing the Recent Past: Tower Neighborhood Renewal in Toronto .". Just like with the problems of declining infrastructure and the need for a public response, increasingly local governments are going to be called upon to step in and address problems in multiunit residential communities, as a stabilization measure.But it's even harder than apartment buildings, because in a condominium there can be hundreds and hundreds of individual owners, as opposed to a small investor group likely to own an apartment building.I suggested in a piece on the Watergate in 2011, that revitalization strategies for multiunit buildings were not only an issue in low income buildings (" Tower Renewal: The Watergate and Southwest DC, and Toronto ") but of "aging" buildings, although I didn't state this so succinctly (" Toronto hopes to revitalize its many postwar highrises ,").Then I wrote:Many jurisdictions have programs to address distressed neighborhoods. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program in Prince George's County is an example of such a response. And Baltimore's Healthy Neighborhoods program is a way to recruit new residents to single family housing, as a way to rebuild and reinvest in emerging neighborhoods.The buildings discussed in thearticle aren't distressed in the same way as those kinds of neighborhoods, they are middle income properties, but they are in decline, and without proactive intervention, their situations are likely to get worse.Building decline will in turn push decline outward into the broader neighborhood/district/ sector.If a local government isn't proactive, the situation is likely to get worse, not better, and will cost even more money to fix later on. Public involvement is justified as a form of community and neighborhood stabilization.Thearticle quotes people saying that eminent domain and condemnation actions by local government may be necessary to address this growing problem.The Tower Renewal model is an approach that more communities may wish to adopt and adapt in order to come up with a strategy and process for being proactive in addressing the weak submarket problem for middle-income and aging condominium buildings and complexes."The market" is too diffuse to do this in a rigorous and quick manner.And note, in 40 years we may have to have similar programs for the condominiums built in the last ten years and right now. Today's new building is a declining building in 40 years. Labels: housing, housing policy, land use planning, multiunit residential, neighborhood planning, real estate development, urban design/placemaking, urban revitalization Progress in judicial protection of rights Updated: 2016-09-13 07:36 (China Daily) A bailiff introduces visitors to a judge's robe at Fujian Provincial High People's Court in Fuzhou on the Open Day on Aug 25, 2016. [Photo by Zheng Shuai/China Daily] Editor's note: The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China on Monday issued a white paper on new progress in the judicial protection of human rights in China. Following is the full text of the document. Foreword Respecting and protecting human rights is a constitutional principle in China. It also reflects the will and pursuit of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese government and the Chinese people. The judiciary is the last line of defense to safeguard social fairness and justice, and judicial protection of human rights is an important part of human rights progress in a country. In recent years, especially since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has upheld the dominant position of the people, taking a people-first approach and ensuring that the people are the masters of the nation. The state strives to ensure the rights of the people, fully protects their interests, and promotes legislature based on rational analysis, strict law enforcement, judicial justice, and observance of the law by all citizens. Progress has been made in modernizing the system and capacity of state governance. China has effectively protected the people's rights and freedoms in an extensive array of fields in accordance with the law, while its people duly fulfill their obligations. As China enhances the rule of law in all respects, new progress has been made in human rights protection in the field of justice. The reform of the judiciary has been driven to a deeper level, with improvements in the allocation of judicial powers and responsibilities, judicial accountability and opening-up, and the protection of lawyers' right to practice their profession. Channels of public participation in justice have been expanded, and the judicial protection of human rights has been improved. China has implemented a case-filing register system, revamped and improved its litigation system, and strictly enforced principles of legality, in dubio pro reo, exclusion of unlawful evidence. The state is resolute in preventing and correcting miscarriages of justice, and the procedures for protecting human rights in judicial practice have been raised to higher standards. The judiciary exercises its power independently and impartially in accordance with the law, leading to strengthened public credibility. Further efforts have been made in terms of state compensation and legal aid. Judicial fairness and justice is safeguarded, and citizens' rights are effectively protected. Crime suspects, defendants and criminals are treated in a more civilized manner, punishments are meted out in a more standardized way, and the personal dignity, safety, and legal property of detainees are all well protected, as are their rights of appeal, accusation, and impeachment. There is no end to mankind's pursuit of progress. There is still much room for improvement for the rule of law in China. Strengthening judicial protection of human rights will continue to be a major task in implementing the rule of law. China will proceed from its prevailing reality, learn from the achievements of other countries regarding the rule of law, enhance judicial protection of human rights, safeguard social fairness and justice, and implement the rule of law in all respects. I. Strengthen the Mechanism of Judicial Protection of Human Rights China is striving to drive reform of the judiciary to a deeper level, allocate judicial powers and responsibilities in a more rational way, improve the judicial accountability system, promote judicial transparency, establish a national judicial assistance system, and ensure the right of lawyers to practice their profession and the rights of citizens to act as assessors and overseers. Further improve the allocation of judicial powers and responsibilities, and ensure the independent and impartial exercise of the judicial and procuratorial power. Major plans for deeper reform of the judiciary were made at the 18th National Congress of the CPC and the third and fourth plenary sessions of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC. In 2014-2015, the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform held 19 meetings, 13 of which involved reform of the judiciary. The Group examined and approved 27 judiciary reform documents in total. Public security organs have improved the mechanism of law enforcement, changed the case-filing review system to case-filing register system, and strengthened examination and supervision of case admitting work. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has issued the "Opinions on Deepening Procuratorial Reform (Work Plan for 2013-2017)," and the Supreme People's Court has released the "Opinions on Deepening the Reform of People's Courts in All Respectsthe Fourth Five-Year Reform Plan of the People's Courts (2014-2018)." Since 2014, pilot programs have been promoted nationwide to improve performance in the following areas: judicial accountability, category-based management of judicial personnel, job security for the judicial profession, and unified management of the personnel, finance and property of people's courts and procuratorates below the provincial level. The reform of trial-centered litigation is making headway. In 2014, people's courts and people's procuratorates transcending administrative boundaries were established in Beijing and Shanghai, to handle major cross-regional criminal, civil and administrative cases. This was to address certain parties' concerns over the authority of the jurisdiction in charge of their cases, and to promote the unified and correct application of laws. In 2015, the Supreme People's Court set up its first and second circuit courts in Shenzhen and Shenyang for major cross-regional administrative, civil and commercial cases. In 2015 the circuit courts handled 1,774 cases and concluded 1,653 of them, concluding all cases within the time limit. Improve the judicial accountability system, and enhance the central role of judges and prosecutors in case handling. We will improve the accountability systems of presiding judges, collegial benches, and prosecutors for the cases they handle. The powers and responsibilities of judges and prosecutors have been made clear, and they have lifelong accountability for the cases they adjudicate. A strict accountability system for misjudgments has been implemented. Thus a judiciary operation mechanism with clear distinction between and unification of powers and responsibilities, and well management has taken shape. The judiciary has reformed the signing of written judgments, with a clear provision that other than in cases decided by a judicial committee, the presidents, vice presidents and divisional chief judges will not review and sign the written judgments of cases they did not participate in. It has been made clear that presidents and divisional chief judges of people's courts are not allowed to air judgmental opinions on cases they did not hear, or negate the opinion of trial judges and collegial benches, unless they attended deliberations, on such cases at the judicial committees or meetings of judges with specialized knowledge. Reform has been carried out in judicial committees. The deliberation sessions of judicial committees are recorded with audio-visual devices from beginning to end, and all committee members who have participated in the discussion and cast their votes must sign their names in the meeting minutes. A performance appraisal and internal public evaluation system has also been established for judicial committees. In pilot courts of Shanghai, the rate of cases handled independently by trial judges and collegial benches reached 99.9 percent of all cases, with only 0.1 percent of cases submitted to judicial committees for discussion. The Ministry of Public Security amended the Regulations on the Appraisal of Law Enforcement by Public Security Organs, and the Regulations on Law Enforcement Accountability of People's Police of Public Security Organs, establishing a complete and effective appraisal system for monitoring the quality of law enforcement and for improving accountability in the investigation of misconduct during law enforcement. Forced confessions and illegal employment of police instruments or weapons are subject to strict investigation for their responsibility. The Chinese authorities issued the Regulations on the Recording, Notification, and Accountability Investigation of Leading Officials for Interventions in Judicial Activities and Handling of Specific Cases, and the Regulations on the Recording and Accountability Investigation of Staff Members of Judicial Organs for Their Intervention in Case Handling. People's courts at all levels have set up special archives in their case information management systems for recording internal and external interest and intervention in case-handling, so as to record in a complete, strict, and timely fashion any intervention in judicial activities by leading officials and any interest in cases expressed by staff members. On November 6, 2015 and February 1, 2016, 12 such cases were made public, and those adjudged to have transgressed received punishments pursuant to the law. Promote judicial transparency, and ensure the right to know and the right to supervise for concerned parties and the public. The Supreme People's Court has established three platforms for releasing information on judicial process, written judgments, and the execution of judgments. By the end of 2015 China Judicial Process Information Online had had a total of 878,500 visits, China Judgments Online had released 14,480,000 copies of written judgments and garnered 410 million visits, and China Law Enforcement Information Online had publicized 34,347,000 information entries about persons subject to judgment execution, and offered information services to 36,850,000 visitors. In 2015, Chinacourt.org broadcasted 3,795 live trials online. The January 2016 online broadcast of the Qvod Player (Kuaibo) case attracted more than one million viewers. The case information disclosure system of the people's procuratorates was officially launched in October 2014, and by 2015 it had released 2,540,000 pieces of information about the judicial process, 1,020,000 entries providing information on key cases, and 760,000 copies of effective legal documents. Judicial organs have innovated the form of releasing judicial information, such as press conferences, websites, Weibo (microblog), WeChat, and news apps. In 2015, the Supreme People's Court held 26 press conferences. The Supreme People's Procuratorate held 14, and the Ministry of Public Security held 12. By 2015, people's courts at all levels nationwide had opened 3,980 Weibo and 1,447 WeChat accounts, and created 1,468 news apps. People's procuratorates at all levels nationwide had opened 4,085 Weibo and 3,186 WeChat accounts, and launched 2,550 news apps. Public security organs had opened 26,000 Weibo and WeChat accounts, and administrative organs of justice at all levels had opened a total of 8,000 Weibo and WeChat accounts and legal education apps and websites. The Supreme People's Court launched a mobile TV app, releasing 2,862 videos by 2015, with 22,245 minutes of updated content and 651,800 users. Ensure lawyers' right of practice, so that lawyers are playing a bigger role in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of parties concerned. In 2015, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security, and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the Regulations on Protecting Lawyers' Right of Practice in Accordance with the Law, which further implements relevant legal provisions, makes clear various measures to protect lawyers' right of practice, makes it more convenient for lawyers to participate in litigation, and improves the remedy and accountability mechanisms for ensuring lawyers' right to practice. Within the scope of their functions and duties and as prescribed by the law, judicial organs have protected lawyers' rights to know, their rights of application and appeal, and the rights to meet their clients, to read case files, to collect evidence and ask questions, to cross-examine, and to debate in court. Judicial organs have ensured that lawyers are not deterred from defending and representing the parties concerned, whose legitimate rights are protected in accordance with the law. Public security organs at all levels have accelerated the provision of lawyers' meeting rooms, and opened online platform for lawyers to make appointments to visit their clients and made known to the public such appointment phone numbers, providing convenience to meetings between lawyers and their clients and ensuring their conversations are not monitored. Procuratorial organs have effectively fulfilled their role of supervision over the obstruction of lawyers' right to practice. In 2015, procuratorial organs at all levels resolved 1,093 cases involving infringement of lawyers' procedural rights pursuant to the law. In December 2015, the Supreme People's Court launched a lawyers service platform, collating 21,707 entries concerning law firms and 81,476 entries concerning lawyers. The platform offers convenient legal services to lawyers, including online case register, online access to case files, case information inquiry, electronic service of legal documents, and judges' contact details. By 2015, 1,734 courts had opened the "12368" litigation service hotline, providing self- or staff-service information for parties concerned and lawyers, and handled a total of 76,270 inquiry calls. In January 2016, the Supreme People's Court issued the Regulations on Effectively Protecting Lawyers' Procedural Rights in Accordance with the Law, which further clarifies the protection of lawyers' procedural rights and personal safety by people's courts, and stipulates that courts should, if conditions allow, provide lounges with desks, chairs, drinking water and other necessities for lawyers participating in court trials. Some courts in Beijing and Sichuan have provided changing rooms and waiting rooms for lawyers, protecting their dignity in litigious activities. Conduct pilot programs to reform the system of people's assessors and supervisors, and ensure citizens' right to act as assessors and supervisors. In April 2015, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) issued the Decision on Authorizing the Implementation of the Pilot Program to Reform the System of People's Assessors in Certain Areas. In May 2015, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the Measures on Implementing the Pilot Program to Reform the System of People's Assessors, rolling out reform at 50 courts in 10 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government). By 2015, these courts had welcomed 7,800 new people's assessors, four times the number of judges. In 2015, people's assessors took part in the trial of 2,846,000 cases. At the Dongying Intermediate People's Court of Shandong Province, people's assessors participated in a major work-related crime for the first time when hearing the trial of Ni Fake for accepting bribery and obtaining significant revenues from unclear sources. In September 2014, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Justice jointly launched a pilot program to reform the system of people's supervisors in Beijing and nine other provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government), supervising the handling of 1,505 cases according to the new reform requirements. Currently there are 15,000 people's supervisors at all levels of procuratorial organs. In 2012-2015, people's supervisors participated in 8,161 cases of work-related crimes, which are under the categories of "might be revoked" and "might not be prosecuted." Of the 216 cases in which people's supervisors gave opinions different from the preliminary decisions of procuratorial organs, 109 cases, or 50.5 percent, were ruled in favor of the people's supervisors. People's supervisors also presented 1,040 opinions regarding the nine situations within their supervisory scope. Appropriately handle letters and visits involving lawsuits in accordance with the law, and improve the channels of rights relief. A working mechanism of handling letters and visits involving lawsuits has been established, which runs according to the principles that litigation and letters and visits are separated, that letters and visits are divided in an orderly manner, and that letters and visits are handled in accordance with the law. There has been greater standardization in the scope, procedure, and responsibilities involving letters and visits concerning lawsuits. More channels are now available for people to air their grievances, including letters, visits, telephone calls, the internet, and videos, and integrated online platforms have been introduced for this purpose, ensuring that the people have access to claim their rights in accordance with the law. Lawyers have been invited to participate in activities of receiving letters and visits, and act as agents to handle them, in a way that strengthens public faith in the letters and visits system. The Supreme People's Court opened an online platform for complaints and appeals in February 2014, and an online video system to receive complaints and appeals in May of that year, which handled a total of 8,200 cases by 2015. In 2015, visits to the Supreme People's Court of those who were seeking legal justice to their own case dropped by 12 percent on a year-on-year basis. The Supreme People's Procuratorate established an online video system to receive appeals, which connects procuratorial organs at all four levels. In 2015, procuratorial organs at all levels received and handled 1,148,000 letters and visits. In 2012-2015, the Ministry of Justice received 19,788 people, registered 6,537 visits, and received 73,843 letters, including 10,337 letters on matters relating to the administrative organs of justice. Abolish the system of reeducation through labor, and strengthen social governance with the rule of law. For more than 50 years, the system of reeducation through labor played a positive role in China, appropriate to the historical circumstances, in protecting public security, maintaining social order, ensuring social stability, and educating and rehabilitating lawbreakers. But over time its functions were gradually replaced with the implementation of laws such as the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security and the Law on Narcotics Control, and also through improvements in the Criminal Law. Over the years, as the relevant laws became increasingly applicable in cases of reeducation through labor, the correction system played a lesser role. In December 2013, the Standing Committee of the NPC passed the Decision on Annulment of the Regulations on Reeducation Through Labor, putting an end to the system. It was also decided that persons who were receiving reeducation through labor as prescribed by law should be released and exempted from their remaining terms. Establish a national judicial assistance system, and strengthen the protection of victims. In 2014, six state organs, including the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security, jointly issued a document for establishing the national judicial assistance system. Under the framework, the state provides economic assistance to victims of crime who are unable to obtain financial compensation, to help them through difficulties. Judicial organs strictly perform their duty of notifying such victims of their right to apply for judicial assistance, and ensuring that eligible applicants receive timely relief. In 2015, 1.67 billion yuan went to 71,700 victims and their families. By the end of 2015, public security organs had given 140 million yuan in judicial assistance to 6,338 persons. From January 2014 to October 2015, procuratorial organs at all levels received 13,000 applications for judicial assistance, and granted 120 million yuan of relief. From 2013 to 2015, people's courts at all levels allowed 625 million yuan in reduction or exemption of litigation fees for parties in economic difficulty. China opposes European Parliament leaders' meeting with Dalai Lama Updated: 2016-09-19 19:46 (Xinhua) Print Mail Large Medium Small 0 BEIJING -- China strongly objects to the recent meeting between European Parliament leaders and the Dalai Lama, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. It was reported that European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Elmar Brok, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, met with the Dalai Lama on Sept. 15 despite strong opposition from the Chinese side. "They have broken the promises the EU made to China on Tibet," spokesperson Lu Kang told a press conference. Tibet issues are core interests of China, Lu said, stressing that the Chinese government is firmly against separatism. China opposes the Dalai Lama's visits in any name or capacity to any country or organization to engage in separatist activities, Lu said. China is also opposed to any contact between the Dalai Lama and officials from any country or organization. China-EU ties are at a new stage, and relations between the parliaments are sound, but the meeting between the European Parliament's leaders and the Dalai Lama harms China's core interests and the political foundation of inter-parliamentary communication, Lu said. China demands that the EU side take measures to nullify the negative effects of the meeting, the spokesperson said. China vows aid to resolve refugee crises Updated: 2016-09-19 12:49 Premier Li says $100 million to be provided to countries and international groups China pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid on Monday to help countries and international organizations resolve refugee and migrant crises and will consider additional support measures. The vow was made by Premier Li Keqiang when he addressed a meeting at the United Nations on refugees and migrants. Li said China would also consider using part of the China-UN peace and development fund to support refugee and migrant work in developing countries, and to explore ways to enhance cooperation involving third parties, and with international agencies. Last year, at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, President Xi Jinping announced Chinas decision to establish a 10-year, $1 billion China-UN peace and development fund. Li said the resolution of the refugee and migrant issue calls for ramped-up international cooperation and efforts by native countries of refugees and migrants. He said China has attached importance to, and has actively joined, efforts to resolve refugee and migrant issues. The number of displaced people reached a record 65.3 million at the end of last year, an increase of more than 5 million from 2014, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. They include 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers and 40.8 million migrants. Opening the daylong session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to commit to "upholding the rights and dignity of everyone forced by circumstance to flee their homes in search of a better life". China's role in ocean, climate change research growing Updated: 2016-09-20 18:11 By Xie Chuanjiao and Hu Qing in Qingdao(chinadaily.com.cn) Detlef Stammer, co-chair of CLIVAR 2016 Open Science Conference Scientific Organizing Committee, addresses at the opening ceremony of the event on Monday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] China is playing a more important role in global research on ocean and climate change, worldwide scientists agreed at an ongoing international academic event, which began on Monday. About 600 experts and scholars specializing in ocean and climate change from more than 50 countries and regions gathered in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, to attend the CLIVAR 2016 Open Science Conference. CLIVAR, which stands for "Climate and Ocean: Variability, Predictability and Change", is one of the four core projects of the World Climate Research Program, or "WCRP". This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of CLIVAR, with the Open Science Conference a follow-up to the first edition which took place in Baltimore in the United States 12 years ago. The conference aims to celebrate the progress CLIVAR has made in the past 12 years and achievements that have been made in international-level collaboration and exchanges, according to Detlef Stammer, co-chair of CLIVAR 2016 Open Science Conference Scientific Organizing Committee. Stammer said China has made significant contributions to international research on physical oceanography and climate science, adding that he is impressed by China's infrastructural participation and experimentation in the West Pacific Ocean. The conference is being held at Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, which was officially opened in October last year, where CLIVAR has established its global office. It is the first time WCRP has had an international office in China, said Valery Detemmerman, who is in charge of the office. The CLIVAR 2016 Open Science Conference attracts some 600 experts and scholars specializing in ocean and climate change from more than 50 countries and regions. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] "I am glad to see China ratified the Paris Climate Agreement ahead of the G20 Summit. China is a country with a great sense of responsibility to make our planet a better place to live," Detemmerman said. An increasing number of Chinese researchers are contributing to advances in climate research and they are expected to be involved in international cooperation, which is the spirit of CLIVAR, Detemmerman said. Bronwyn Wake, chief editor of the journal Nature Climate Change, echoed Detemmerman's sentiments, saying that China is committed to environmental research and the standard of research papers from China is improving. Costing 1.3 billion yuan ($200 million), Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology covers an area of 150,000 square meters and has eight main labs focusing on research areas such as marine and climate change, evolution and protection of marine environments, and sustainable use of marine biological resources. The CLIVAR conference provides an unparalleled opportunity for Chinese scientists to exchange ideas with top experts and scholars from around the world and will also help China to play a major role in oceanic and climate research in future, said Wu Lixin, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology. The CLIVAR 2016 event will last to Sept 23. Syrian army declares end of Russian-US brokered truce Updated: 2016-09-20 08:27 (Xinhua) Syrian children slide down rubble of destroyed a building in the rebel-held city of Daraa, in southwestern Syria on September 12, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] DAMASCUS -- The Syrian army announced Monday the end of the Russian-US brokered truce in Syria, without talking about possible extension, according to the state news agency SANA. The Syrian army said the seven-day truce that was brokered by the United States and Russia ended Monday, as previously declared. Still, the army didn't speak of any possible extension to the week-long truce, but accused the rebels of committing over 300 violations to the truce. "The terrorists have taken advantage of the ceasefire to amass themselves and continue to attack residential areas and military positions, mainly in the provinces of Hama, Qunaitera, and Aleppo," the military statement said. The statement said the military forces have practiced high self-restraint, and responded in a few cases when it had to do so to silence the fire sources of the rebels. It renewed old pledges that the army will continue to fight terrorism until restoring peace and stability to Syria. Last Monday, a Russian-US ceasefire was implemented in Syria, bringing relative calm to the most troubled areas, including Aleppo. Still, both warring parties traded accusations of breaching the ceasefire, which was deemed as a good chance to bring the bloodletting in Syria to a close. Meet the best Chinese neighbor Updated: 2016-09-20 09:32 (chinadaily.com.cn) A letter from 81 year old woman Angie Morris, who is living in Vancouver, published on The Globe and Mail tells a warm story of her and her Chinese neighborhood and has been spread in Canada. An illustration screenshot from The Globe and Mail shows what Angie Morris mentions as her Chinese neighbor, Wing, sending her food everyday when she was recovering from an operation. "My doorbell rings at 11 a.m. On the step, I find an elderly Chinese lady; she is small and slight, and she's holding the hand of a little boy. In her other hand, she holds a paper carrier bag. The boy shrinks back as my yellow Labrador tries enthusiastically to greet him,"Angie wrote in the letter. The elderly Chinese lady, Wing, is the mother of Angie's neighbor, Nicole. She came to Canada to help take care of her grandson as Nicole went to Shanghai on business. Maybe it is because Nicole told her mother that Angie had just had heart surgery, Wing then brings food every day for Angie. The food, containing meat, vegetables, soup and pancakes, is made in a Chinese way. Neither Wing nor Angie can speak each other's language so they communicate with each other using body language. Sometimes Wing would invite Angie to her house and use a webcam with Nicole. So Wing would know whether Angie likes the food or not. As residents in Vancouver think the wealthy Chinese who have raised the local house price are a headache, the story of Angie and Wing tells them that it might be good to have a Chinese neighbor. 27 bodies found, 2 still missing from central Thailand's boat crash Updated: 2016-09-20 14:25 (Xinhua) Marine police officers dive to search for survivors near a capsized boat on the Chao Phraya river, in the ancient tourist city of Ayutthaya, Thailand September 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] BANGKOK - Thai authorities Tuesday put the death toll from Sunday's boat sinking accident to 27, with two people still missing, local media reported. According to Thairath, six more bodies including a eight-year-old boy were found on Tuesday morning from the Chao Phraya River in central Thailand's Ayutthaya province about 5 kilometers away from where the accident occurred at Sanamchai Temple. A female and a male are still missing. Of the 27 victims who died from drowning at the scene and at Ayutthaya hospital, 20 were female, and 7 were male. More than 50 passengers were injured, one seriously. The boat on Sunday was reportedly carrying about 150 Thai Muslims heading to a mosque in Ayutthaya for an annual religious rite in the northern province Nonthaburi while it's licensed to carry only 50. A video clip of the accident shows the two-level ferry foundered after crashing into a concrete berm. The searching operation is still under way in strong wind and rushing currents. Officials said the boat operator arrested on Monday is charged with recklessness resulting in death and injury as well as overloading the vessel with too many passengers. Police said the boat operator admitted that most of the passengers were not wearing life vests on the boat. NY city bomb suspect charged Updated: 2016-09-20 11:44 By China Daily In New York(China Daily USA) The man suspected of planting bombs in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend has been arrested and charged on five counts of attempted murder. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was arrested just hours after millions of area residents received an automated alert on their cell phones, with a photo of Rahami, describing him as "armed and dangerous." Around 10:30 am, Rahami was spotted sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. A shootout with police injured one police officer in the hand and another in his bulletproof vest, before Rahami was shot in the shoulder and loaded onto a stretcher. "Folks around here, they don't get scared. They are tough, they are resilient, they go about their business every single day," US President Barack Obama said on Monday on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly. Interviews with residents and tourists in the city backed up his remarks. Kim Littlefield, a real estate agent who lives on West 23rd directly across the street from the site of the explosion, said she was shocked, but not at all worried or scared. "My chances of getting hit by an MTA bus are way higher than terrorism," she said. Her relaxed view didn't change the fact that her block was still being treated as an active crime scene, with more than 20 NYPD officers on patrol. Residents had to present ID and be escorted by an officer to enter or leave the area. Officials said that surveillance video from the Chelsea area caught Rahami planting both the bomb that exploded on 23rd Street and another four blocks away that did not detonate. Police said they believe Rahami is also connected to a backpack full of pipe bombs found in Elizabeth, New Jersey. "We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier today. An FBI investigation into Rahami's background and possible motivation are still ongoing. Police identified Rahami as a naturalized citizen from Afghanistan. According to The New York Times, his neighbors said that he traveled back to his homeland several years ago. No links to terror organizations have yet been identified by investigators. Kely Bauer, an investment banker from Brazil, heard about the bomb explosions a few hours before she boarded an airplane for New York. Fifty hours later, she was taking pictures of an American flag on Times Square with a smile on her face. "I can't say I wasn't worried," she said, "but I still believe it is safe here in New York, especially for someone like me, you know, coming from Brazil." Zimbabwe hosts 2016 Global Health Results Innovation Conference The World Bank and the Health Results Innovation Trust Fund (HRITF) launched today the Results and Impact Evaluation Workshop for Results-Based Financing (RBF). RBF has proven a successful innovation in reaching vulnerable households who were previously not accessing adequate care in part due to costs. By eliminating user fees and rewarding service delivery, RBF clinics have seen more rapid improvements in in-facility delivery rates, in the uptake of post-natal care and even in the availability of drugs. The Ministry of Health and Child Care will host the workshop and facilitate field-based learning visits to urban and rural districts implementing RBF to enable workshop participants to glean from Zimbabwes experiences and evidence. The workshop presents a great opportunity to learn from robust evidence on RBF and explore new frontiers of innovation in health care financing. Zimbabwe is uniquely positioned to host a conference on such magnitude as Government has, since 2011, adopted RBF and significantly improved health care outcomes in the country, saysMagnus Lindelow, World Bank Practice Manager. As host of the conference Zimbabwe is being recognized for its overall progress in maternal and child health care using RBF and is expected to prove a source of rich evidence gathered from five years of implementation. Since its launch in 2011, Zimbabwes RBF program shows promising results including increases in institutional deliveries, post-natal care and quality of antenatal care. When we bring our babies to the clinic for immunization, we do not have to pay for the service, yet we receive all the medication and even family planning injections for free, saysRBF beneficiary Splendid Moyo. A mother of two, Splendid has received free health services at Bango clinic in Mangwe District. At the conference, 26 government and Bank teams implementing RBF from Africa, Asia and Latin America will share the latest findings from impact evaluations on the effects of RBF as well as lessons from implementation so as to inform improved design, implementation and evaluation of RBF programs. The conference establishes avenues for knowledge sharing among country teams and the global RBF audience, and promote use of evidence and knowledge for policy decisions. HRITF is supported by the Governments of Norway through Norad and the United Kingdom through the Department for International Development. www.worldbank.org China will give $100m in refugee aid Updated: 2016-09-20 11:44 By Zhao Huanxin and Amy He At The United Nations(China Daily USA) China pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid on Monday to help countries and international organizations resolve refugee and migrant crises and will consider additional support measures. The vow was made by Premier Li Keqiang when he addressed a meeting at the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York on refugees and migrants. He said that the refugee and migrant problem concerns global peace and development and affects regional stability, adding that global society needs to cope with the issue proactively. "The international community should work together to expand legal channels for migration and combat illegal migration, human trafficking and terrorism," Li said. Li said China would also consider using part of the China-UN peace and development fund to support refugee and migrant work in developing countries, and to explore ways to enhance cooperation involving third parties, and with international agencies. The refugee meeting was the UN's first high-level meeting addressing large-scale movements of refugees and migrants since the organization's founding, as the problems were becoming increasingly urgent and the meeting was an opportunity to focus the attention of the world community on the issue, the premier said. World leaders adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which expresses the political will of world leaders to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale. Cooperation from refugee-origin countries is also important, Li noted. He urged stakeholders to resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation and called on the international community to lead peace talks and promote more balanced global development. The premier also said that China, as a large developing country, is always willing to join in the global effort to solve the refugee and migrant problem and shoulder the responsibility that is suitable to its capacity. He stressed that China will take a series of humanitarian measures and seek three-party cooperation with international institutions and developing countries on refugee and migrant problems. The number of displaced people reached a record 65.3 million at the end of last year, an increase of more than 5 million from 2014, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. That includes 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers and 40.8 million migrants. Opening the daylong session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to commit to "upholding the rights and dignity of everyone forced by circumstance to flee their homes in search of a better life". Experts said that the challenge in the crisis is altering international relations between Turkey and the EU, amid controversy over refugee policies, said Zhu Feng, president of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University. How to tackle the new factor of uncertainty still remains unsolved for the UN and the international community, Zhu said. Hu Yongqi in Beijing contributed to this story. Republican George HW Bush plans to vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton: JFK's niece Updated: 2016-09-21 02:43 (Xinhua) WASHINGTON -- Former US Republican President George HW Bush plans to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a niece of former US President John F Kennedy. Along with a picture of her shaking hands with Bush posted Monday on her Facebook page, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Maryland lieutenant governor and niece of late US President Kennedy, wrote in the caption that the 41st US president would buck his party's own nominee Donald Trump in this year's election. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" read the caption. According to Politico, a spokesman for Bush replied to the US daily in a way that did not appear to refute Townsend's claim. "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim," wrote the spokesman in an email. According to an earlier statement by Bush who endorsed every Republican presidential nominee for the past five election cycles, for the first time since his own presidency, the 41st US president "is retired from politics," and had no plan to endorse Trump this year. New Orleans is a vibrant city on the Mississippi River, famous for its nightlife, unique inns, music, free attractions, family activities, great seafood and other fantastic cuisine. Explore the historic French Quarter, visit the New Orleans Museum of Art, and take a cooking class. Listen to jazz at one of the local music clubs, and go on a Mardi Gras World Tour. Here are the best things to do in New Orleans. We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times. 1. The French Quarter, New Orleans, LA Courtesy of Fotoluminate LLC - Fotolia.com The French Quarter is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, and it is steeped in history and heritage. Dating back to 1718, the district was established by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville and grew around the central square of the Vieux Carre. Home to magnificent historic buildings, cathedrals, and famous jazz clubs, the French Quarter is one of the top New Orleans attractions. It has a history that goes back 200 years and it has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Resting at the heart of the French Quarter is the 18th century historic Jackson Square, formerly known as the Place dArmes. It was later renamed in honor of Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans. Overlooking the Mississippi River, the square is surrounded by famous old buildings, including the St. Louis Cathedral, the Presbytere and Cabildo Museums, and the stunning Pontalba Apartments, as well as a plethora of restaurants, museums, cafes, and art galleries. -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 2. Things to Do in New Orleans: New Orleans Garden District Courtesy of Natalia Bratslavsky - Fotolia.com Tucked between St. Charles Avenue and Magazine Street in uptown New Orleans, the historic Garden District is a famous neighborhood that is home to a beautifully preserved collection of antebellum mansions, immaculate gardens, and tree-lined avenues. Established by Barthelemy Lafron in 1832 as an upper class settlement for new American residents in the city, the area flourished as lavish homes were built in the Italianate, Greek Revival, and Victorian styles on large plots surrounded by spectacular gardens. Today, the district is home to several movie stars and celebrities, the famous Lafayette Cemetery # 1, and quite a few boutiques and excellent restaurants, including the renowned Commanders Palace Restaurant. -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 3. New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, New Orleans, Louisiana Courtesy of 1L26 - Fotolia.com The New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park is the home of jazz, and it hosts live educational performances at two locations in the city - the Old U.S. Mint on Esplanade Avenue and the visitors center on North Peters Street in the heart of the French Quarter. Excellent 11-stop guided tours of both venues are offered, starting at the modern visitor center in Peters Street, where visitors can learn about the history and culture of New Orleans jazz from ranger-led demonstrations, talks, video documentaries, and live music. If you are wondering what to do in New Orleans today, this is a great place to visit. Enjoy live music performances by world-renowned jazz artists every Saturday and Wednesday night, as well as during guided tours. 916 N. Peters Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-589-4841 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 4. New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans Museum of Art Established as the Delgado Museum of Art in 1911, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city. Situated in City Park, the Museum is home to a renowned sculpture garden and a magnificent permanent collection of almost 40,000 art pieces. The collection, which has a distinct focus on French and American art, consists of several paintings, including works by masters of the School of Paris such as Picasso, Braque, Dufy and Miro, drawings, photography, glass, and African and Japanese works. he New Orleans Museum of Art is one of the best things to do in New Orleans. The five-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden features over 60 sculptures dotted around a beautifully landscaped site. Winding footpaths, ancient oak trees, and pedestrian bridges, surround the garden, which is one of the most important sculpture installations in the United States. One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-658-4100 -- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend with Friends" -- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend with Friends" Back to Top 5. Things to Do in New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection The Historic New Orleans Collection The Historic New Orleans Collection is an institution dedicated to preserving the history and culture of New Orleans. Founded in 1966, the museum has a collection of over one million items from more than three centuries across four exhibitions spaces namely the Williams Gallery, the Louisiana History Galleries, the Boyd Cruise Gallery, and the Laura Simon Nelson Galleries for Louisiana Art. These galleries are home to both permanent and rotating exhibitions that showcase fine art and celebrate the history and culture of the Southern Gulf. The Williams Research Center offers scholars and students a wide variety of publications to explore the various genres of art and decorative art, history, and culture. Visitors can also enjoy two guided tours of the Williams Residence and the historic buildings that make up the complex in an Architecture and Courtyard Tour. 520 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: 504-523-4662 -- You are reading "What to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend" -- You are reading "What to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana this Weekend" Back to Top 6. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: The Spotted Cat Music Club Courtesy of Zsolt Biczo - Fotolia.com Located in the heart of the charming Faubourg Marigny District in the French Quarter, The Spotted Cat Music Club is a famous jazz club that is a favorite amongst locals. Known simply as The Cat and world-renowned for its music and ambiance, this quintessential New Orleans jazz club offers a variety of music from blues and jazz to funk, klezmer, and more. Their stage hosts up to three bands a night. The club does not serve food, but there are several restaurants close by, including Snug Harbor, Cafe Negril, Praline Connection, and Adolfo's. 623 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, Louisiana -- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 7. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: Maison Bourbon Courtesy of GeoffGoldswain - Fotolia.com Maison Bourbon is one of two historic jazz clubs that still exist on New Orleans famous Bourbon Street, and it is legendary for being the home of many notable jazz musicians such as Harry Connick, Jr. Dedicated to the preservation of jazz music, the club is a popular tourist attraction that showcases authentic jazz every evening in a comfortable, laid-back atmosphere. A quaint courtyard and wrought iron balcony overlooking Bourbon Street offer an ideal place to relax with a drink and enjoy the music. The club has two private event venues that can be rented for special occasions - the Jazz Parlor, which is located above Maison Bourbon and the Speakeasy. 641 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-522-8818 , From LA -- You are reading "What is There to Do with Kids in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 8. Things to Do in New Orleans: FreeWheelin' Bike Tours Courtesy of Hayes - Fotolia.com FreeWheelin Bike Tours is a family-owned company that offers visitors a relaxing and healthy way to experience New Orleans. Passionate, experienced local guides lead bicycle tours that take visitors through various parts of city, including City Park, the Garden District, and the French Quarter, and the guides share interesting information and facts along the way. Guests ride through the town on reliable cruiser bikes, which boast comfortable 13-inch seats, puncture resistant tubes and tires, and eye-catching chrome. Visitors can book private tours for two or special family group trips, and FreeWheelin Bike Tours also provides services for corporate and team-building events as well as specialized VIP tours. 504-522-4368 9. Things to Do in New Orleans: New Orleans School of Cooking Courtesy of zadorozhna - Fotolia.com The New Orleans School of Cooking offers an introduction to the diverse cuisine and food culture of New Orleans and Louisiana through a range of cooking lessons using products from the Louisiana General Store. Located in an early 1800s molasses warehouse that has been beautifully renovated in the heart of the French Quarter, guests can take advantage of cooking lessons, tips, and tricks taught by Cajun / Creole experts who share their expertise on local Gumbo, Jambalaya, and Pralines, along with their culinary history, trivia, and interesting foodie facts. The New Orleans School of Cooking offers individual and private group classes, as well as catering for special events and off-site events. The Louisiana General Store is packed with local Louisiana delights such as cookbooks, spices, gift baskets, and cookware. 524 St. Louis Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 800-237-4841 -- "Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" -- "Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" Back to Top 10. Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana: 21st Amendment at La Louisiane 21st Amendment at La Louisiane 21st Amendment at La Louisiane is a stylish French Quarter cocktail bar that pays tribute to the Prohibition era of the 1920s. Located in a historic 1881 building that now houses the Hotel Mazarin, the speakeasy-style bar is decorated with black and white photographs and memorabilia of some of the country's most infamous mobsters who lived during the time of Prohibition. The bar offers a unique menu of handcrafted cocktails and custom libations created with a range of infused spirits, homemade syrups, and locally grown herbs. Guests can enjoy a line-up of live jazz and blues music every night from Tuesday to Saturday, and up to three bands play on weekends. 725 Iberville Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-378-7330 11. Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana: New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio Courtesy of wip-studio - Fotolia.com The New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio features a gallery of glass works and prints, open working studios where visitors can watch nationally and internationally renowned artists at work, and free, hands-on daily demonstrations. Located in the American Sector on celebrated Magazine Street, the studio offers mini-workshops where visitor can learn to blow their own glass and short courses on glass and printmaking. The studio also provides instruction in glass torchworking and copper enameling, and stained glass programs are available for all ages and areas of interest. 727 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana Next read: 24-hour restaurants in New Orleans -- "New cool stuff to do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- "New cool stuff to do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top or Romantic Getaways 12. Things to Do in New Orleans: Sylvain Sylvain Sylvain is an old-world bistro steeped in the rich history and tradition of New Orleans. Located in a three-story carriage house overlooking St. Louis Cathedral, the restaurant has been beautifully renovated into a stylish and sophisticated space with a warm ambiance. A roguish copper bar is the focal point of the elegant gastropub, and it serves an array of handcrafted cocktails, signature beers, and boutique wines. The restaurant, on the other hand, serves a simple yet sophisticated menu of appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts, along with classic sandwiches, burgers, seafood, and pasta. If you are looking for romantic date night ideas in New Orleans, this is a great place to try. Well-worn wooden floors, a tucked away side alley entrance, and ambient lighting emanating from the street lamps and candles create a sultry, yet cozy atmosphere that has visitors returning time and again. 625 Chartres St, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-265-8123 13. High Hat Cafe, New Orleans, Louisiana High Hat Cafe Open seven days a week from brunch until dinner, the High Hat Cafe is a casual neighborhood eatery serving food from Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. Located in the old Longs Bakery building, the restaurant features a menu consisting of dishes made with locally sourced, sustainable ingredients such as American farm-raised catfish, which is a menu favorite, and locally caught shrimp and fish. The High Hat Cafe offers a full bar service with an impressive wine list of local and international vintages, local craft beers, and a range of signature, handcrafted cocktails and spirits. 4500 Freret Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-754-1336 14. Modernist Cuisine Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana Modernist Cuisine Gallery Modernist Cuisine Gallery features the artwork of photographer Nathan Myhrvold. It is the worlds first gallery completely dedicated to food photography created by a single artist. The gallery walls are covered by large-scale pieces made to order for each clients space and cannot be found anywhere else. The gallery is located in a beautifully preserved historic building that once housed furniture by the designer Prudent Mallard and was for a time the home of writer E. Hoffman Price. In the heart of French Quarter, surrounded by other art galleries and New Orleans famous restaurants, Modernist Cuisine Gallery is in the right neighborhood. 305 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: 504-571-5157 15. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: MoPho MoPho Southeast Asia meets Louisiana at MOPHO on City Park Avenue. Combining a delicate fusion of Vietnamese and Louisiana cuisine, Chef and co-owner Michael Gulotta has created a menu featuring po-boys, pho, rice and noodle bowls, and the ever-popular sweet-crispy-salty chicken wings. The drinks menu is as off-beat as the food menu, and it offers cocktails that include cooking ingredients, such as tamarind-honey syrup, as well as a range of medium-bodied white wines to offset the Southeast Asian spices. Dark spaces and exposed ductwork in the dining room create a svelte, rather cool ambiance, and a shaded back patio is great for outdoor dining on warm evenings. MoPho is open for lunch and dinner, Wednesday to Monday. 514 City Park Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-482-6845 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top or Amazing things to do around me 16. Things to Do in New Orleans, LA: Pizza Delicious Pizza Delicious One of New Orleans best pizza restaurants, Pizza Delicious is a comfortable, family-friendly neighborhood hotspot ideal for a hot date or a family feast. Owned and managed by Michael Friedman and Greg Augarten, Pizza Delicious, also known as Pizza D, offers several daily specials, including homemade spaghetti, bucatini carbonara, and a variety of pizzas, including everyday favorites like cheese, pepperoni, and Margherita pizzas. Diners can enjoy pizza by the slice or as a whole pie and an uncomplicated menu of wines and beers are available to accompany the food. 617 Piety Street, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-676-8482 17. Kayak-iti-Yat, New Orleans, Louisiana Courtesy of upslim - Fotolia.com Experience New Orleans from a different perspective on a Kayak-iti-Yat tour. Kayak-iti-Yat offers a range of kayaking tours through the city on the historic bayous of Bienvenue and St. John. Glide through the historic waterways of New Orleans and take in the citys most beautiful sights and attractions, stunning natural scenery, and exciting wildlife along the way. Kayak-iti-Yat offers three tours of different levels to cater to every level of physical fitness and kayaking experience. There are two urban-based trips along Bayou St. John, which gives paddlers a feel for the city, and one in Bayou Bienvenue, a wilder and more nature-based experience for adventure-lovers. Kayak-iti-Yat offers year-round kayaking tours which need to be booked in advance. 3494 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 985-778-5034 or 512-964-9499 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 18. Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana: SoBou SoBou SoBou is a popular eatery and lounge designed as a modern Creole saloon located in the W New Orleans hotel in the French Quarters SoBou (South of Bourbon) neighborhood. The place is famous for its inventive cocktails and elevated pub grub with a Creole touch and produced by Chef Juan Carlos Gonzales. Try his sweet potato beignets or yellowfin tuna tartar with basil and avocado. While the service is excellent, if youd rather not wait for the refill of your beer of wine, choose one of the tables in the restaurants beer garden, which has built-in wine and beer on tap so you can serve yourself. There is always something going on at SoBou, so check out their list of events for the next jazz evening or Burlesque Brunch. French Quarter, Rue Chartres, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: 504-552-4095 19. Things to Do in New Orleans: Brown Butter Restaurant Brown Butter Restaurant Brown Butter Restaurant is a locally owned and operated eatery that offers a creative menu rooted in Southern culture and tradition. Located in Mid-City New Orleans, the restaurant was founded by Chef Dayne Womax and Simon Beck, who wanted to provide New Orleanians with food that is both thought-provoking and consistently delicious. They serve their dynamic cuisine in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. Dishes are made with the freshest seasonal and local ingredients to come out of the south, and the bar serves a range of delicious, signature cocktails, micro-brewed beers, and in-house sodas. Brown Butter Restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, and the bar serves small plates and drinks. 231 North Carrollton Avenue Suite C, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-609-3871 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 20. Things to Do in New Orleans: Mardi Gras World Tour Courtesy of David - Fotolia.com Mardi Gras World Tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at the world of Mardi Gras on a fantastic one-day tour of the Blaine Kern Studios, which is world-renowned for building magnificent parade floats for Mardi Gras and other parades all over the world. Knowledgeable guides lead visitors through the vast studios, sharing the history of the unique and festive tradition of Mardi Gras. Tour goers will gain a better understanding of the planning and work that goes into the annual parade. Visitors get to see how the massive floats and props are built and can explore the art behind the costume making before enjoying a complimentary slice of King Cake. Tours are offered seven days a week and run every 30 minutes. 1380 Port of New Orleans Place, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-361-7821 21. Pythian Market Food Hall Pythian Market New Orleans is famous for its creole cuisine, but youll find much more than that at Pythian Market. A hugely popular hangout spot with New Orleans natives, this food hall and event space is filled with local food and drink vendors, curated retailers, rotating pop-ups, and more. A super location for foodies and friends, the Pythian Market is also a place to engage with New Orleans as a city, feeling the soul and spirit of Louisiana all around you in this community-focused gathering space that really celebrates and honors the people and culture that make the Big Easy such a unique location. The Pythian Market is housed in the Pythian, one of the most storied and celebrated buildings in the whole city of New Orleans. Instantly recognizable with its unique architectural style and imposing facade, this building was constructed back in the early 1900s and actually played a big role in the Civil Rights Movement for New Orleans, becoming a beacon of sorts for the local African American community. It was a place for people to come together and feel like they were in their own 'home away from home', enjoying live entertainment and good company. That same spirit is present in the Pythian to this day, thanks to the Pythian Market. 234 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA 70112, Phone: 504-481-9599 22. The Where Y'Art Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana The Where Y'Art Gallery Located in the historic Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, The Where Y'Art is a unique art gallery with satellite galleries across the city where visitors can discover, buy, and experience the best of New Orleans art. It is also an online gallery that represents more than 100 New Orleans artists painters, sculptors, craftsmen, and jewelry designers. The Where Y'Art Gallery helps visitors get the curated picture of the rich art offering of New Orleans, and it offers artists the opportunity to connect with buyers and art lovers. The online gallery offers 24-hour access to New Orleans art and information about the artists behind each piece. It allows art lovers to search artworks by category, collection, color, price, or neighborhood. It directly connects potential buyers with participating artists and provides information on the latest trends in the art world of New Orleans. 1901 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70117, Phone: 504-325-5672 -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana" Back to Top 23. Bevi Seafood Co., New Orleans, Louisiana Bevi Seafood Co. Bevi Seafood Co. is a neighborhood seafood market and restaurant that serves seasonal dishes according to the traditions associated with New Orleans' crawfish, crab, shrimp, and oyster seasons. Located in Metairie and soon to be located in Mid-City, Bevi Seafood Co. works closely with local seafood suppliers to ensure their seafood is sea-smacking fresh. Menus feature made-from-scratch Po-Boys using homemade ingredients and a variety of hot plates and platters laden with fresh Louisiana seafood. The menu also features specialty-to-go items such as various soups, salads, and sauces, and it also caters special occasions and private events. 236 Carrollton Ave., New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-488-7503 24. Audubon Nature Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana Courtesy of Patrick Rolands - Fotolia.com The Audubon Nature Institute was established to celebrate the wonders of the natural world through a variety of museums and parks dedicated to nature. The aim of the institute is to preserve Louisianas natural habitats and exhibit the diversity of wildlife that live within them, as well as encourage and inspire visitors to learn more about the natural world and to work towards conserving it. There are eight museums and parks that make up the Audubon Nature Institute: the Audubon Park and Riverview, the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, the Audubon Zoo, the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, Audubon Wilderness Park, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, the Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, and the Entergy IMAX Theater. 6500 Magazine St. New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-581-4629 25. Commander's Palace, New Orleans, Louisiana Commander's Palace Occupying the spectacular blue mansion snuggled in the middle of the historic Garden District and shaded by 100-year old trees, Commanders Palace is one of New Orleans most venerated restaurants, and it has been in operation since 1880. Grand, elegant rooms, terraces, and gardens are spread throughout the palace. Commanders Palace is the place for celebrations and festivities, and this New Orleans icon will give you one of the best culinary experiences of your life. Executive Chef Tory McPhail continues the tradition of world-renowned chefs like Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, and Jamie Shannon to provide guests with superbly prepared and expertly presented Haute Creole cuisine. The wine list has 2,400 titles, with 240 half-bottles and 50 wines by the glass. 1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130, New Orleans, LA, Phone: 504-899-8221 25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana Best New Orleans Trolley Rides New Orleans is an incredible city with a vibrant culture, never-ending nightlife, rich cuisine, and fascinating annual festivities. It's a must-visit Louisiana location, and there are a lot of things to do in New Orleans, so any visitors will need to be familiar with one of the most popular ways to get around the city quickly and easily: the New Orleans trolleys. Also known as streetcars or trams, the New Orleans trolleys run all around the city and have been in existence since the 1800s, making them one of the oldest trolley or streetcar systems in the entire world. New Orleans Trolley Rides Beloved by locals and tourists alike, the New Orleans trolleys provide a fresh, fun, original way to get around and see the sights, soaking up a little of the city's Creole culture on the way and enjoying convenient transportation at great rates. If youve never visited New Orleans or ridden the citys trolleys before, you might need a little information to figure out how the system works, how much it costs, and which line you should be taking to get to where you need to go. Read on to learn all about the New Orleans trolley system. You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana " Back to Top First of all, one important thing to note about New Orleans trolleys is that the locals will always refer to them as 'streetcars'. They are basically trolleys, looking and functioning in the same way as the trolleys you'd find in other major cities all around the United States, but they're known as streetcars in New Orleans so if you need to ask for directions from a local, remember to ask for a streetcar station if you don't want to sound too much like a tourist! The New Orleans trolleys run on five separate lines which are color coded on maps as blue, yellow, red, light green, and dark green. Each line also has its own names. There's the Riverfront Line, which is blue on maps; the Loyola/Rampart Line, which is yellow; the Canal St Line running to Cemeteries, which is red; the Canal St Line running to the City Park Avenue and the Museum of Art, which is light green; and finally, there's the St Charles Line, which is dark green on travel maps and is typically regarded as the main and most popular line on the New Orleans trolley system. It's important to note that the New Orleans trolleys run around the clock almost all year long. This schedule is only interrupted by special events and festivities like New Orleans' famous Mardi Gras celebrations. Train schedules will vary but the trolleys can run as often as every five minutes during peak rush hours. It's important to keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times as these trolleys can pass quite close to trees and other obstacles, and you'll need to pull a wire above your head to signal that you'd like the car to stop. Riding the New Orleans trolleys or streetcars is very simple. The fares are really cheap, with single tickets available for only $1.25. Unlike some other trolley systems that you may have encountered around the United States, the New Orleans streetcar system involves payment on board the cars, so you don't need to worry about buying a ticket from machines in advance. Simply step on and pay your $1.25 for a one-way ticket. You can also choose to buy a 'Jazzy' pass which will give you full streetcar access for a whole day. Multi-day passes are available too and offer significant savings for people who are staying in New Orleans for several days or weeks. New Orleans Trolley Lines You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana " Back to Top As previously mentioned, there are currently five lines in operation on the New Orleans trolley system. Read on to learn key details about each line, including schedules and important stops along the way. - St. Charles Line The St. Charles Line is the longest and most historic in New Orleans. It's the oldest continuously operating street trolley anywhere in the world, so it has a lot of history behind it, and it runs through the 'American' side of the city. It's one of the most popular lines with tourists, making major stops at places like the Garden District, the Audubon Zoo, the World War 2 Museum, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. - Loyola/Rampart Line The Loyola/Rampart Line starts at Union Passenger Terminal, so it's a good starting point for people who are getting into New Orleans by public transport like bus or train. It heads off along the side of the French Quarter and through the business district of the city. It offers easy access to some of the bars and eateries in the French side of the city. - Riverfront As its name suggests, the Riverfront line runs along the side of the Mississippi River. It's a good line to choose if you're looking to visit key areas in the French District like the French Market. You can also use this trolley line to check out locations like Jackson Square, the Convention Center, and the Audubon Aquarium. - Canal Lines The two canal lines have different end points but follow more or less the same routes. These lines are good options for people who want to enjoy the bars and restaurants of Canal Street itself. The line that heads up to Cemeteries is a good option if you'd like to explore the city's world-famous gravesites, while the Museum option is a good option for the New Orleans Museum of Art and surrounding City Park area. More ideas: City Park City Park is one of the nations oldest urban parks, and it is home to beautiful botanical and sculpture gardens with ancient oaks and picturesque moss canopies, walking and biking trails, tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, and several outdoor concert venues. Established in 1854, the charming 1,300-acre urban oasis has enchanted visitors to the city for decades, offering something for everyone. Stroll through the Besthoff Sculpture Garden or the beautifully maintained collections of the Botanical Garden. You can also enjoy a game of tennis on one of 26 tennis courts or ride a flying horse on the one-of-a-kind antique wooden carousel in the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park. 1 Palm Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana, Phone: 504-482-4888 You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in New Orleans, Louisiana " Back to Top Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. HA NOI The garment and textile sector will be hard pressed to achieve its export turnover target of US$31 billion this year due to a lack or orders. Therefore, the target must be lowered to $29 billion, said Truong Van Cam, deputy chairman of Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). Cam said the current order shortage could result in the decades lowest growth level of 4.3 per cent. In the first eight months of the year, export turnover of garment and textile products reached $18.7 billion, meeting 64.5 per cent of the annual target. Hung Yen Garment Joint Stock Corporation has 13 businesses with more than 14,000 labourers. The corporation targeted an export turnover of $280 million, but by the end of last month had only reached $160 million, posting a 10-per cent drop compared to last year. Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of the corporations management board, told the vov.vn online newspaper that his firm had enough orders for this month, but in previous years the number of contracts at this time was usually enough for production until the end of the year. In addition, the exchange rate and salary policies have made prices higher 2-4 per cent higher than those of textiles from other countries. The increasing production costs, limited orders and pressure by exporters to reduce selling prices have placed a burden on ther corporation, Duong said. He added that the exchange rate of the Vietnamese ong had not been adjusted for years, while the currencies of other countries were devalued by 18-20 per cent, making their products 20 per cent cheaper than Vietnamese ones. Importers asked us to lower selling prices by 18-20 per cent, even 30 per cent. However, several still found partners from other countries, he said. Several other garment and textile firms have also received small orders until the end of the third quarter of the year. Hoang Ve Dung, chairman of the uc Giang Garment and Textile Corporations management board, said obtaining orders had become more complicated, demanding higher quality and advancing delivery deadlines. VITASs deputy chairman Cam said domestic garment and textile firms should discuss wiith each other the difficulties in competing with foreign companies. We asked our member companies to avoid internal competition while enhancing co-operation to share orders. The local firms should strive to reach the export turnover of around $2.66 billion a month in the year-end months to meet the whole years target, he added. The sector will need basic and synchronous investments to not only overcome difficulties and ensure sustainable and fast growth. VNS Employees monitor clean water production at Ha Noi Water Co Ltd. The firm is among the nearly 100 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) from which the Ha Noi People's Committee will divest from. VNA/VNS Photo Bui Tuong HA NOI Ha Noi Peoples Committee will divest from 96 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) located in the city from 2016-20, according to a city government decision. Sixty-six of the SOEs are owned by large State-owned corporations and groups, under the Governments management, and 30 are managed by city authorities. The most well-known SOEs to be equitised include the Urban Infrastructure Development Investment Corp, Hanoi Housing Development and Investment Corp, Hanoi Water Co Ltd and Hanoi Transport Corp. Other companies the State will divest from include Thuong inh Footwear Company, Ha Noi Plastic Company, Minh Khai Textile Company and electronics producer Hanel Co Ltd. The SOEs have total charter capital of more than VN10.3 trillion (US$457.78 million) with the State holding more than VN4 trillion. The city will divest from business units that are not the core business of the SOEs. The city also has to attract private investors to buy shares of the SOEs in order to restructure the companies and improve the quality of corporate performance. The city will sell less than half of the States shares in companies that must be controlled by the Government and divest entirely from the others, especially those in which the State has less than 50 per cent of shares. The citys Business Development and Renovation Committee will tackle unexpected problems immediately and work with related sectors and agencies to deal with issues rising in the divestments. The citys Department of Finance and the Business Development and Renovation Committee will work with other city and Governments agencies to make sure the SOE equitisation is efficient and goes to schedule. The two citys agencies will also help SOEs and consultancy firms comply with regulations in equitisation and divestment. The SOEs on the must-sell list have to prepare documents on their business, including property and land-use rights, financial status, labour and other relevant issues so that the equitisation and divestment can be undertaken quickly and efficiently. VNS The State Bank of Viet Nam has reminded foreign credit institutions and bank branches of its rollover loan requirements. Photo vneconomy.vn HA NOI The State Bank of Viet Nam has reminded foreign credit institutions and bank branches of its rollover loan requirements. Under the newly-issued document No 6960/NHNN-TTGSNH, the central bank once again reiterated that credit organisations and foreign bank branches must recover a loans entire principal and interest at the end of the lending period, as agreed in the credit contract with customers. They must not renew all or part of the original loan before the due date. The requirement was first stated in a document issued two years ago. This time, however, the SBVs governor is taking a tougher appoach in the inspection, examination, and litigation of cases violating regulations. The governor is instructing the State Bank branches in provinces and cities, and the agencies of banking supervision and inspection in Ha Noi and HCM City, to take a stricter approach. Two years ago, the decision was not welcomed by bankers. Some argued that the central bank should not prevent rollever lending, calling it an international practice, widely recognised in the world. They said the lending form benefits enterprises by providing enough flexible capital to serve production and help reduce borrowing costs. A representative of a bank told the Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) that loan rollover isnt caused by a customers incapacity to pay but rather from the fluctuating day-to-day requirements of business activities. This type of lending is unlikely to increase credit risks, as it only applies to customers with good credit history and is based on their repayment capacity at each period of time. However, a banking expert who requested anonymity said that there must be a reason for the central bank to remind the credit institutions and branches after two years. Loan rollovers can make it hard to recognise bad debts and clarify assets. Therefore, banks sometimes end up provisioning their funds improperly and do so in a manner that is not in line with the new regulations recently issued by the SBV. As a consequence, credit quality and loan performance might not be assessed correctly. Though the decision, to some extent, might adversely affect banks and businesses operations, it is expected to improve transparency and create a foundation to assess credit quality more precisely. VNS Viet Nam expects to earn US$900 million from exporting beverage products by 2035, according to the industrys planning. Photo viettimes.vn HA NOI Viet Nam expects to earn US$900 million from exporting beverage products by 2035, according to the industrys planning. Under the new plan to 2025, with a vision to 2035, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has targeted the development of a modern industry which can compete in global integration. Accordingly, focus would be placed on applying technologies to improve product quality, diversify products and build brand names. The industry wants to reduce the percentage of alcohol and beer products, while increasing non-alcoholic beverage products. Production of non-alcoholic beverages will be more than doubled to 15.2 billion litres during the 2020-35 period. Beer plants with a capacity of below 50 million litres per year will not be encouraged. Private investments in large--scale non-alcoholic beverage production, using modern technology, and adhering to environment safety and food hygiene would be encouraged. Beer production output will reach 4.1 billion litres by 2020, then 4.6 billion litres by 2025 and 5.5 billion litres by 2035, according to the planning. Liquor output will remain the same, at 350 million litres. The export revenue is also expected to double from $450 million to $900 million during the period. The industry will post a growth rate of between 4 to 5.8 per cent by 2035, according to the planning. The ministry estimated that the industry would need a total of VN27.3 trillion ($1.2 billion) investments during the next four years. Production will concentrate on three areas, namely the Red River Delta, Southeastern region and Mekong River Delta. Viet Nams beer output totaled 3.4 billion litres in 2015, plus 70 million litres liquor and 4.8 billion litres of non-alcoholic products. In May 2015, the Ministry of Health said that per capita beer consumption had almost doubled from 3.8 litres per year in 2005 to 6.6 litres in 2010, making Viet Nam the third largest beer consumper in Asia. Beer consumption per head was forecast to increase to 7 litres per year by 2025. - VNS Power Construction JSC No 1 (PCC1) has sold nearly 11.5 million shares to the London-traded Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited (VEIL) for nearly VN380 billion (US$16.9 million). Photo cafef.vn HCM CITY Power Construction JSC No 1 (PCC1) has sold nearly 11.5 million shares to the London-traded Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited (VEIL) for nearly VN380 billion (US$16.9 million). The shares were sold for a price of VN33,000 per share. The deal also allows VEIL to act as a strategic investor in PCC1. With that shift, VEIL is now able to send a representative to attend PCC1s shareholder meetings. After the deal, PCC1 increased its charter capital to VN753 billion from VN638 billion. VEIL is a closed-end fund, managed by the HCM City-based investment group Dragon Capital and traded on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. VEIL now owns total asset of more than $900 million. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) yesterday confirmed it did not grant Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation permission for importing bauxite mud from China. Earlier, on September 15, authorities of the central province of Ha Tinh detected 160 tonnes of mud being transported in a vessel departing from Chinas Dalian Port to the provinces Son Duong Port in Vung Ang Economic Zone, where the headquarters of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, also called Formosa, are located. After initial checks, the authorities determined that the mud, together with other equipment and machine components in the vessels, had the necessary documents for customs clearance and permissions to import by responsible authorities. The item was not red mud, a toxic byproduct of the industrial process that refines bauxite into alumina, which potentially causes severe environmental pollution. According to Nguyen Xuan Minh, deputy head of the Vung Ang Port Custom Branch, the imported mud is heat-resistant mud, a tax-exempt product permitted for import by the MoIT. In the meantime, we cannot say the company imports prohibited substances. But while conducting further inspection, if we find that the mud contains toxic substances, the company would have to bear responsibility, he said. Speaking to the media about the goods, a representative of Formosa said the company was willing to cooperate with the authorities to provide all necessary documents to prove its legality. According to the representative, although the name of the material written in the import documents is mud, it was actually a kind of powder used in construction. There was probably mistranslation from Chinese to English and then to Vietnamese, the representative said, adding that it was not the first time the company imported this kind of product. In a statement released yesterday, the MoIT said it had established a task force to cooperate with responsible authorities to collect samples of the product to precisely determine its type and nature to know if it was toxic or not. We will provide the media with more updates once they are available, the ministry said. Taiwanese-owned Formosa was responsible for one of the biggest environmental disasters in Viet Nam in recent years when its untreated toxic waste water was discharged into the sea, killing tonnes of fish and marine creatures across four central provinces in April. The company admitted responsibility and paid US$500 million as compensation for the damage. VNS HA NOI Months after the Formosa toxic spill, many types of seafood bred at fishing farms in the four central provinces affected by the incident or caught within 20 nautical miles of the shore are now deemed safe for consumption, a joint ministerial study has concluded. The seafood deemed safe includes tuna, mackerel, pompano, snapper, herring, and anchovy. At a morning press conference in Ha Noi yesterday, leaders of the ministries of Health, Natural Resources and Environment, and Agriculture and Rural Development provided detailed information about sea environmental safety, seafood exploitation and seafood consumption in the four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. Health Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that after the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment announced the destruction of toxic fish inventories in four provinces on August 22, the health ministry immediately gathered leading experts on food safety, healthcare, nutrition and toxicologyas well as international expertsto study and assess the safety level of seafood at these localities. The results of studies showed no presence of cyanide or phenol (toxic chemicals which, in combination with iron hydroxide, created a compound with a density heavier than seawater and caused the mass fish death) in samples of most types of seafood taken in the four central provinces and three other randomly-selected provinces. Indicators of mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium, arsenic and iron in seafood samples of all seven provinces were within the allowed regulatory limit as well. Additionally, marine products bred at fishing ponds in the four central provinces are also safe, the health ministry official said. However, the health ministry warned several kinds of seafood, mostly bottom feeders, such as crab, shrimp, crayfish, snails, squid, rays, perch, octopus caught within 13.5 nautical miles are still unsafe for human consumption. The ministry official said among 1,040 samples of seafood in four provinces, 132 samples were detected with phenol, including crab, shrimp, tom tit (mantis shrimp, or stomatopod, is a type of marine crustacean of around 10cm in length), snails, squid, octopus, stone crabs. To ensure the health of consumers, the Health Ministry asked people not to use seafood caught from waters within 20 nautical miles. Additionally, it will increase information and guidance on unsafe seafood, as well as charge provincial health departments, relevant offices and local authorities with implementing necessary measures to ensure safe seafood consumption. The health ministry will co-ordinate with the agriculture and rural development ministries to inspect periodically seafood caught off-shore and aquaculture at the four central provinces. It also continues to take samples of seafood for testing. The ministry proposed that authorities from the four central provinces continue carrying out seafood studies following the dispatch the ministry issued on August 26. Only seafood batches that pass safety testing can be consumed, and all unsafe seafood must be destroyed. At the meeting, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said contamination levels at Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd dircharge sitesmonitoring of natural cleaning mechanisms and pollutant concentrationdecreased over time. The quality of sea water measured at all automatic environmental monitoring stations met up to ministry regulations, including standards for beach safety, underwater sports, aquaculture and aquatic conservation. Reef ecosystems, seagrass and fishery resources were all seriously affected by the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd incident, but theyve started to show positive signs of recovery. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has inspected fishing vessels at ports and continues to take samples of seafood immediately after unloaded from ships with a frequency of once every two or three days.-- VNS On occasion of Mexicos Independence Day today (September 16), Viet Nam News presents an article written by Mexican Ambassador Sara Valdes. Mexico and Viet Nam further strengthen relations in 2016 On September 16, Mexico celebrates the 206th anniversary of its Independence. This occasion is also an opportunity to present an overview of some of the countrys achievements under the administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto. Today Mexico is the largest exporter in Latin America, ranking in 15th place worldwide. While agricultural exports grow steadily, its status as an advanced manufacturing economy should not be neglected: 73.5% of exports of high and medium technology manufactures from Latin America in 2015 were of Mexican origin. It is indeed one of the most open economies in the world, having Free Trade Agreements with 46 countries and six economic complementation agreements. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), will open trade and investment with six new partners, including Viet Nam. Mexico attracted 30.285 billion dollars in foreign direct investment in 2015, and according to estimates we will reach a similar figure in 2017. A record high 32 million foreign tourists visited the country in 2015, making it the 9th biggest tourist destination in the world. Sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms have contributed greatly to social inclusion. The Prospera (Thrive) social program is supporting 6.8 million families; it includes help for productive projects as well as grants for university students. Citizens over 64 years old are receiving a pension from the Peoples Social Security. 13 thousand communal refectories across the country welcome over one million people for breakfast and lunch every day. A Women Heads of Households life insurance protects women and children, as one in three families is in charge of a woman. This is only part of a broader national policy for gender equality implemented by the Mexican Government as a national priority. Mexico is intensifying its presence as a global responsible player worldwide, creating more opportunities for Mexican nationals; actively participating in the tackling of global challenges and implementing international commitments such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; protecting its nationals abroad, and implementing migration policies aimed at ensuring safe and orderly migration flows. Mexico will soon ratify the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Government has also submitted to the Mexican Senate the TPP agreement for ratification. Mexico and Viet Viet Nam share common views on global challenges, and both countries are working together to strengthen their 41 years old bilateral relations. On 7 September, they held the 4th Meeting of the Political Consultations Mechanism on Matters of Mutual Interest, which was established in 2002. The meeting was co-chaired by our relevant Vice-Ministers of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Carlos de Icaza for Mexico, and H.E. Ha Kim Ngoc for Viet Nam. They reviewed the main items on the bilateral agenda and agreed to join efforts to increase cooperation. They also assessed progress in the negotiations of legal instruments of cooperation in matters including Culture and Education, Fisheries, Animal and Plant Health, Customs, Geographical Indications, as well as for cooperation between State News Agencies (Vietnam News Agency and NOTIMEX). The Delegation, headed by the Mexican Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, also held a meeting with H.E. Tran Quoc Khanh, Vice-Minister of Industry and Trade, with whom further trade opportunities were identified. The potential for investment, considering that both countries are signatories of TPP, was discussed as well. Viet Nam was Mexicos 8th biggest trade partner in Asia-Pacific in 2015, totaling US$ 3.86 billion. This figure is expected to reach a new record height in 2016. Active people to people exchanges are underway, as the number of tourists visiting the other country has nearly doubled each year since 2014. Meanwhile, business to business ties are further bound as delegations increasingly exchange visits in view of deepening trade and investment.VNS Ha Nguyen The lotus holds a special place in Vietnamese hearts, culture and history. The lotus flower is Viet Nams national flower. Every part of the lotus plant is valued for its elegance, medicinal qualities and culinary properties. Traditional Vietnamese literature also honours the lotus: In the pond, nothings more beautiful than lotus." So its no surprise that dishes showcasing the lotus are beloved throughout Viet Nam. Among the Royal City of Hues many lotus dishes are its specialities: Com hap la sen (Steamed rice with lotus seeds, wrapped in a lotus leaf) and Che sen nhan long (Lotus seed pudding with longan). These noble dishes were the food of kings in the 18th century during the Nguyen Dynasty. They are considered the pinnacle of Hues cuisine. These two dishes are very satisfying. They are also medicinal, harmonising vitality, tranquilising emotions and cooling the body, says Nguyen ac Xuan, 90, a historian specialising in the history and culture of the Nguyen Dynasty. Xuan knows these dishes well. His grandfather was a musician at the Hue Imperial Palace. Unlike Chinese imperial palace foods, known for their luxuriousness and authentic recipes, Hues royal foods emphasised culinary artistry and expertise in combining foods and arranging flavourful, aromatic creations artistically, says Xuan. Com hap la sen (Steamed rice with lotus seeds, wrapped in a lotus leaf) Com hap la sen is arranged like a blooming lotus flower wrapped inside a lotus leaf with rice and lotus seeds. This creates perfect harmony between cuisine and nature, Hue culinary expert Hoang Thi Nhu Huy says. To make com hap la sen with a deep lotus flavour, Huy uses boiled water to cook the rice. The challenge is keeping the rice in a lotus flower shape, while the lotus leaf remains green. The dish is now so popular that it is served at weddings and birthday parties, unlike in the past when it was only served to the king. Nguyen Van Hoc, a Hue resident, thinks of the dish as the work of a talented artisan who creates the rice with cool, fragrant and attractive colours. "The lotus seed scent is deeply imbued into each soft rice grain and mixed with the sweet flavour of chicken, shrimp, lotus seeds and other ingredients, all mixed together to create a very unique and aromatic flavour," he says. Che sen nhan long (Lotus seed pudding) Lotus seed pudding is the most popular dish in Hue and throughout Viet Nam. The ingredients are simple: lotus seeds, longan, and sugar. But this is still an enjoyable dessert desired by many," says Hue culinary expert Ton Nu Thi Ha. No one knows exactly when the dish was created. But the elderly in Hue say lotus seed pudding is hundreds of years old. The simple ingredients of the dish have played an important role in defining Hues cuisine. These days, Ha Thanh (the old name for Ha Noi) serves lotus seed pudding, too. But Hue pudding still features unique characteristics because it uses fresh local ingredients. "Hue lotus has a nutty flavour and Hues small longan is crispy and lightly sweet," Ha says. Che sen long nhan (longan lotus seed pudding). Photo nethue.com.vn In the past, royal cooks often ordered longan from Kim Long District, famed for its very sweet, scented fruit. Making lotus seed pudding is a sophisticated process to ensure that the boiled lotus seed wrapped in longan remains as white as a pearl. The pudding is often eaten in summer to cool heat inside the body, to reduce stress, and to improve the health of children and the elderly, especially people lacking sleep, Ha says. Tran Van Kieu of Ha Nois Hai Ba Trung District says the pudding is both luxurious and common and it is enjoyed by everyone from high-ranking officials to labourers. Com hap la sen (steamed rice with lotus seeds, wrapped in a lotus leaf) is served at: Ha Noi: Net Hue chain 71 Nguyen Huu Huan Street. Phone: (04) 3795 7272 189 Hang Bong Street. Phone: (04) 3938 1795 83 Tran Duy Hung Street. Phone: (04) 3557 8383 43 Mai Hac e Street. Phone: (04) 3944 9769 Hue Dishes 179 Pho Hue Street. Phone: (04) 7106 6601 77A Tran Hung ao Street. Phone: (04) 7106 6602 316 Ba Trieu Street. Phone: (04) 7106 6605 HCM City: Co o Restaurant 361 An Duong Vuong Street. Phone: (08) 3835 0442 367 An Duong Vuong Street. Phone: (08) 3835 0442 Hue Dishes 178A Pasteur, Ben Nghe, District 1. Phone: (08) 7106 6652 11 Le Thanh Ton, Ben Nghe, District 1. Phone: (08) 7106 6606 Che sen long nhan (longan lotus seed pudding) is served at: Ha Noi: inh Cafe 13 inh Tien Hoang Street, Second floor 1A Bat an Street 93 Hang Bac Street 4 Hang Can Street 14 Thien Quang Street Hue: Che Hem 17 Hung Vuong Street Che Sao 60 Phan Chu Trinh Street HCM City: Co o Restaurant 361 An Duong Vuong Street, District 5. Phone: (08) 3835 0442 367 An Duong Vuong Street, District 5. Phone: (08) 3835 0442 Chairwoman of the NA's Law Committee Le Thi Nga delivers speech at the yesterday meeting of the Standing Committee. VNA/VNS Photo Pham Kien HA NOI The National Assembly Standing Committee yesterday discussed the revised Tourism Law which forms the legal basis for the sector to improve its competitiveness and create conditions for its development into a spearhead economic sector. At the on-going third session of the 14th NA, some deputies asked for specific incentive policies for investment in tourism, resource mobilization, and the integration of tourism development into other socio-economic strategies. Most of the deputies agreed with the necessity to revise the law to tackle existing shortcomings by formulating a clear legal framework, creating motivation and favourable conditions for tourism to develop, they said. Assessing that the tourism sector still failed to match the countrys potential and advantages, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the law should be revised to deal with the urgent problem of how to draw more tourists and how to encourage tourists to visit the country again. It was necessary to promote the tourism sector via culture, she said, adding that tourism development could not be separated from culture if it wants to succeed. Some deputies said the draft law still failed to have specific and breakthrough policies to ensure that tourism could be developed into a spearhard economic sector. The compiling board should review related regulations and laws and study tourism development policies to mobilise all resources to support tourism development, and incorporate tourism development into socio-economic development plans, they said. As for the establishment of a fund for tourism development regulated in the draft law, some deputies said it was necessary to set up the fund to support the promotion of tourism and staff training for the sector. However, some deputies questioned the feasibility of creating such a fund due to limited financial resources. Draft law on belief, religion Regarding the draft Law on Belief and Religion, a regulation that allows religious organisations to join social, education and healthcare activities drew reactions from most participants. Most of the deputies agreed with the regulation, under which religious organisations will be licensed to establish educational establishments as part of the national education system, operating in line with the current education regulations. Phan Thanh Binh, Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, said that in reality, many religious organisations have opened and managed education establishments effectively for children in nursery schools, primary education and vocational training in line with the countrys laws. Some 126,000 students attend about 270 schools currently operated by religious organisations. National Assembly Chairwoman Ngan agreed with the regulation, saying that it matched the countrys policy to mobilise the participation of the whole society in education development. However, some deputies raised concern that the current Law on Education does not have regulation on this issue, urging the draft law to make the regulation clearer. National Assembly Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu said more study was needed to ensure that education establishments set up by religious organisations refrain from teaching content relating to belief and religion in order to ensure the freedom of religions of each individual. Concerning other social activities of religious organisations, such as charity, humanitarian relief, social protection and healthcare activities, most deputies agreed that religious organisations have done well, making great contributions to society. However, some deputies said religious organisations should ask for permission from local authorities in localities where their social activities are held and not be allowed to conduct propaganda activities to expand and develop their religions so as to respect peoples freedom of religion. VNS HA NOI Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment inspectors are working with six factories that own 200cu.m and above daily capacity wastewater discharge systems in the Central Highlands (Tay Nguyen) province of Kon Tum . The inspection, which will last 45 days, started last Friday and involves an assessment of the wastewater discharge system of six factories that are suspected to be causing environmental pollution in the river basin in Kon Tum, according to a ministry official. The six factories are Phuong Hoa Ltd.Cos tapioca processing factory in ak Glei District, Van Loi Ltd.Cos latex processing factory in Kon Tum City, Quang Ngai Foodstuff and Agricultural product Joint-stock Companys alcohol and tapioca factory in ak To District, as well as Kon Tum Sugar Joint-stock Company in Kon Tum Citys Vinh Quang Commune and Thuan Loi MTV Ltd.Cos latex processing factory. Kon Tum Province Peoples Committee has asked the concerned factories and relevant offices to jointly coordinate with the inspectors. Earlier, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha approved a long-term inspection plan targeting large-scale wastewater discharge projects nationwide. Under the plan, environmental inspectors examined production factories which have discharged waste into the environment. Inspections mainly focused on industrial production factories having capacity of 200cu.m wastewater and above per day, with a high likelihood of causing sea and river basin environmental pollution in cities and provinces. Besides this, the minister will issue a decision on establishing three inspection teams for factories having capacity of wastewater discharge from 500cu.m and above per day in 23 provinces. The inspectors must report the results to the ministry within 15 days from the end date of inspection. The ministry is likely to hold a press conference to officially announce the inspection results by the end of October. VNS HA NOI Vietnamese students will have better opportunities to learn foreign languages other than English with a range of pilot programmes by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) being introduced this year. The MoET will issue a teaching programme for Russian and Chinese as first foreign languages for students from grade three at elementary schools to grade 12 at high school the highest grade in general education from next year. The programme will serve as the basis for preparing textbooks and learning material. The ministry has also started trial teaching of Japanese as the first foreign language for third graders from the 2016-17 school year. The trial started earlier this month at five schools in Ha Noi and HCM City. If the programme is successful, the ministry will consider expanding it to other localities which have the desire and the conditions for its implementation. Korean and French are also being taught as second foreign languages from this school year. Korean is being taught in the sixth grade and the 10th grade at some schools in Ha Noi and HCM City. From 2017 to 2025, this language could be introduced in other grades in junior high schools and high schools. The ministry is also conducting a pilot programme to teach French across the country with new textbooks being prepared with the help of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. English will, however, still be given top priority with the ministry encouraging provincial departments of education to choose and build bilingual Vietnamese-English programmes to improve students English proficiency, especially in connection with maths and natural science subjects. The goal is to have at least three per cent of students in elementary schools, seven per cent of students in junior high schools and 20 per cent of children in high schools studying with bilingual textbooks by the 2019-20 school year. VNS Only 10.8 per cent of disabled Vietnamese people have access to social security due to low incomes and unstable work. Photo baophapluat.vn HA NOI Only 10.8 per cent of disabled Vietnamese people have access to social security due to low incomes and unstable work. The figure was released at a workshop yesterday on improving social security access for the disabled. The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), a German political fund in Viet Nam. The ministry and HSF have researched social protection for labourers with disabilities in Viet Nam to analyse resources, jobs for disabled people, and assess the current social security system to propose ways to ensure the rights of disadvantaged groups. The research showed the opportunities the diabled have in education are poor, particularly at higher levels of education. Labourers with serious disabilities face difficulties finding a good and stable job, according to the study. It also revealed that most of the disabled work in agriculture with low income and tough working conditions. Dr Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, representative of the research group, called for better policies to support people with disabilities in education, healthcare services, social and health insurance as well as employment opportunities. She also called for raising public awareness of diabled people. At the meeting, participants proposed promoting the role of people with disabilities and disabled organisations, listening to their ideas for legislation and creating conditions to help them join in State agencies and companies management boards. Delegates also said that the study on social protection for workers with disabilities in Viet Nam would be the basis for the State agencies on disability to create new measures and policies and to further amend the law on people with disabilities. Viet Nam is home to about 6.7 million people with disabilities, accounting for 7.8 per cent of the population. - VNS National Assembly vice chairman Tong Thi Phong (R) meets WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Shin Young-soo in Ha Noi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Hoa HA NOI National Assembly vice chairman Tong Thi Phong applauded the World Health Organisation (WHO)s role in implementing healthcare programmes to provide better healthcare and life quality for people in Viet Nam and across the world. Phong made the statement during a reception for visiting WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Shin Young-soo. Over the past 40 years, the UN body and Viet Nam have co-operated in fighting epidemics, health insurance, policy consultancy, and technical assistance. Phong told the guest that Viet Nam promulgated Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, Law on Health Insurance, and Pharmacy Law, among others, creating effective laws for healthcare. She expressed hope that the WHO would co-ordinate with and provide Viet Nam with updated information on the health situation in the world, the region and the country, enabling the local Government to contain diseases and better care local people. The host also called for the WHO to further supply training for local medical practitioners. The WHO official spoke highly of the countrys socio-economic growth and achievements in healthcare and said the WHO would like to strengthen co-operation with Viet Nam, including the NA. Facing newly-emerged demands and challenges on ensuring food, environment and traffic safety, Young-soo would like the Vietnamese Government to focus on developing effective legal healthcare regulations, Vietnam News Agency reported. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam Social Security (VSS) will provide data as evidence for labour unions to sue enterprises that tried to avoid paying insurance for their employees. This is part of a cooperation agreement signed yesterday by VSS and the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour to ensure the rights and benefits of employees. Every enterprise with more than 10 employees is supposed to jointly pay for their workers three types of insurance, namely social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance. However, insurance debts have been reported as enterprises delay or avoid paying insurance for their employees. VSSs statistics shows that accumulated insurance debt by the end of July was some VN14 trillion. Last year, insurance debt in Viet Nam reached more than VN7.6 trillion (US$339.2 million). Bui Van Cuong, president of the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour, said 102,900 enterprises and organisations across the country were reportedly in social insurance debt, affecting 2.66 million employees. He said labour unions, on behalf of the employees, could sue employers who did not pay for insurance under the Civil Procedure Code approved last year, which came into effect in July this year. Data provided by VSS included the list of insurance debtors and their debts, which could be used as evidence to sue employers violating rules, Cuong said. Previously, social security agencies were empowered to sue insurance debtors, but under the Law on Social Security 2014, which came into effect in January this year, the social security agencies could no longer do so. Accordingly, in the first six months of this year, almost 1,400 cases related to insurance debts of some VN300 million were taken to court by VSS but had not been resolved. VSS General Director Nguyen Thi Minh said suing insurance debtors was an effective measure to curb violations and ensure employees rights. The courts had helped insurance agencies collect 16.3 per cent of insurance debts from enterprises, she said. VNS HA NOI Foreigners can easily rent or buy motorbikes in Viet Nam but many of them do not know the countrys traffic laws and traffic police find it difficult to punish them because of language barriers. Viet Nams laws regulate that for a foreigner to drive a motorbike in Viet Nam, they must be above 18 years old, allowed to live in the country and have a valid driving license. But foreigners can hire motorbikes easily without fulfilling the above conditions. In the centre of HCM City, many shops advertise motorbikes for rent from VN100,000-200,000 (US$4.4-8.8) per day depending on the kind of motorbikes. The owner of a shop in District 1 said that to hire a motorbike, a foreigner only needed to give his/her passport, or some money as a deposit. Tuoi tre (Youth) newspapers correspondent found that near the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, there are many shops offering motorbikes for hire. Most of their customers are foreigners. In Nha Trang City in the central province of Khanh Hoa, there are a number of similar shops in main streets such as Biet Thu, Nguyen Thien Thuat and Tran Phu. The shops advertise their services in Vietnamese, English, Russian and Chinese with the prices of VN150,000-250,000 ($6.6-11) per motorbike per day. Lawyer Huynh Van Nong said that a foreigner violating the Law on Transport should be fined like Vietnamese people. If the violator and traffic police did not have a common language, or the violators do not obey the traffic police, the police could still punish them. Nong said that foreigners could change driving licenses from their country to Viet Nams driving licenses, and the procedure was simple and clear. Lawyer Vu Manh Quynh said that for foreigners from countries driving on the left hand-side such as the UK, Singapore and Australia, they could be asked to take a theory test when they want to change their driving licenses in Viet Nam. At present, procedures to let foreigners hire motorbikes in the country were basic, said Quynh. In some developed countries, the work was more professional. The hirer must show his/her driving license, credit card, passport and must buy insurance, he said. Infrastructure and signs system in Viet Nam is quite different from international norms, for instance, urban traffic signs are often hidden by billboards of shops and restaurants. Lawyer Quynh proposed the Government refer to regulations of other countries such as Germany about the motorbike owners responsibility in punishing traffic violations. Nguyen Van Canh, head of the Khanh Hoa Traffic Police Department, admitted that some traffic police were embarrassed to punish foreigners for violating traffic laws because of their limited ability to speak foreign languages. Paula Bianca, a tourist who often visits Viet Nam, said she was fined by traffic police two months ago in Ha Noi for driving in the wrong direction. The police could not speak to me in English, he used body language to express that I violated traffic laws, she said. Paula had to pay US$20 for the violation. Huynh Trung Phong, deputy head of the HCM City Traffic Police Department, said that the department set up teams with workers good at foreign languages to punish foreigners violating traffic laws. The punishment would go together with education and guidance to help them understand the regulations, he said. Colonel ao Vinh Thang, head of the Ha Noi Traffic Police Department, told the Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper that recently some foreigners did not wear helmets while driving motorbikes, and the city police would give strict punishment to them. But the traffic police would be flexible. For instance, when foreigners said that they went to Viet Nam as tourists so they did not know the laws, traffic police will give them a warning only, said Thang. VNS SEOUL North Korea has carried out a successful ground test of a new high-power rocket engine, state media said today, in a development that could advance Pyongyangs weapons programme. After supervising the test at the countrys Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians "to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible," KCNA news agency reported. There has been speculation that North Korea might celebrate the October 10 anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers Party of Korea by launching a satellite. Kim also called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come," according to KCNA. North Korea has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches, most recently in February. KCNA said the government would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites, including Earth observation satellite at a world level." Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at Korea Aerospace Research Institute said that with the new engine, the North is "coming close to having an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland." "North Koreas space programme is focused on developing launch vehicles that can easily be used for missiles rather than developing decent satellites," Chae said. The engine test comes after the North claimed earlier this month that it had successfully tested a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on a missile and follows a series of ballistic missile launches. The September 9 nuclear test was the Norths fifth and most powerful yet at 10 kilotons, experts have said. Pyongyangs state media said that test had realised the countrys goal of being able to fit a miniaturised warhead on a rocket. AFP Virginia Cooperative Extension is building a more resilient response to disaster around the commonwealth by taking part in National Preparedness Month, and challenging families to develop disaster plans on Sept. 30 during PerpareAthon Day. The goals of both the initiatives are to increase the number of individuals who understand which disasters could happen in their community, know what to do to be safe and mitigate damage, take action to increase their preparedness, and participate in community resilience planning. The theme for 2016 is Dont Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today. "Disasters can strike anyone, anywhere, and sometimes without notice. Regardless of the type of disaster, it is wise for you and your family to be prepared," said Michael Martin, Virginia Cooperative Extension emergency response and preparedness coordinator. Families can prepare for natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and weather-related power outages, by assembling an emergency kit to keep in their home, car, and on their person; developing a communication plan; and paying attention to local weather conditions and emergency alerts. One of the first things that you can do is assemble several emergency kits: one for the home, one to leave in a primary mode of transportation, and one that is portable in case it is necessary to abandon your home quickly. An emergency kit should contain enough items to supply food and water for your family for at least three days. Examples of some items your home kit may contain include: one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days; nonperishable food for at least three days; a battery-powered or crank weather radio with extra batteries; a flashlight and extra batteries; a first-aid kit; prescription medications; nonelectric can opener; personal care products; and food and water for pets. In addition to an emergency kit, Martin encourages every family to have a communication plan with phone numbers of individuals to contact in case of emergencies. Since it is possible that family members may get separated during a disaster and may not be able to get in touch with each other, you should identify a person in another locality or even in another state whom each person would contact, said Martin. "You can also identify a common meeting place in your community should you not be able to access your home. A written plan should be given to each family member to keep with them at all times." In an emergency, you may have to leave your home quickly. If evacuation is necessary, listen to the radio for more information and follow the guidance of emergency personnel. Also, make sure that all family members are familiar with: the best exits out of your home; a community meeting place; a local radio station; the location of an emergency kit; plans for care of pets and livestock; and plans for movement of family members with special needs, such as the elderly or disabled. Martin also suggests that families keep cars at least half-full of fuel because in an emergency fuel may not be available. For more information on making plans for disaster preparedness, visit the Virginia Department of Emergency Managements Ready Virginia website or the Virginia Cooperative Extension storm and emergency preparedness website. Written by Amy Loeffler A senior with the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets is at the helm of the national U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary University Programs this academic year. Katie Mazzola, of Mendham, New Jersey, whos majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, oversees 22 university programs across the country. Among her duties as division leader is to maintain the auxiliarys academic standards, coordinate professional development programs, and create new training courses. The Auxiliary University Programs are student-run organizations that take the place of a formal ROTC program. Virginia Techs unit serves Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 83, based at Claytor Lake, through a partnership with the Corps of Cadets. Students do not have to be enrolled with the corps to join the unit. Leadership development is a big goal for the program, especially with about 70 percent of its graduates who apply for the Coast Guard's rigorous Officer Candidate School getting accepted, Mazzola said. No matter what you do in life, whether youre going into the military or the private and public sector, its up to you to be a good leader. Development of that is huge, and learning through experiences is the best way to do that, she said. Mazzola, the recipient of a corps Emerging Leader Scholarship, said she hopes to commission with the Coast Guard after graduation and eventually put her political science degree to work. She joined the auxiliary in 2014 at the urging of a friend who served in the Coast Guard and found her calling. She spent summer 2015 as an intern with the Coast Guard in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she did a little bit of everything. The senior chief wanted me to learn as much as possible. She went out with a crew of electricians that work on boats, rode on a Coast Guard ice breaker, and shadowed the senior chief to learn about the administrative side, for example. This past summer, Mazzola interned for U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, a corps alum who represents Virginia's 1st Congressional District. She said she especially enjoyed interacting with constituents. When they come in for tours, its a lot of fun because they want to soak up some of the history, she said. The Coast Guard Auxiliary University Programs started in 2007 at Auburn University, The Citadel, and The College of William & Mary. Virginia Techs program followed in 2010. It took a few years to really take root, said Lt. Col. Don Russell, deputy commandant of cadets for VPI Citizen-Leader Track. When it did, the unit grew to one of the largest among the 22 detachments thanks in large part to motivated cadets who aspire to lead, Russell said. Today, more than 200 students participate in the Auxiliary University Programs, about 16 of them at Virginia Tech. Virginia Techs unit meets weekly to go over Coast Guard course work and to take boating classes. For us to get out on the water, we have to have a certain amount of training hours both in the classroom and on a boat under supervision, Mazzola said. Students help Flotilla 83 members with safety training, boat inspections, and other tasks. Many of them have spent time in one of the military branches, so its fun picking their brains about what it was like, Mazzola said. It furthers our knowledge of the military overall, and many of them have spent a decade of their time in the Coast Guard auxiliary, as well. Gary Eifried, the human relations officer for Flotilla 83, said Mazzola works tirelessly to foster the goals of the program. She has recruited eight new members into the unit this year alone and works diligently to get them trained and contributing to the program, Eifried said. Always responsive to the needs of the program, she has an engaging manner and demonstrates excellent leadership qualities. She is a pleasure to work with. Unequal Budget funding for the Yes vote wont give Australians equal say If you seek to ensure not all Australians get an equal say in the debate about an enshrined voice, then dont be surprised when millions of them cry foul about the integrity of the result. ISIS brides and children repatriated from Syria should be in a jail forever 04:45 Iraqi refugee Salam Qaro says all ISIS brides and their children who have come from Syrian detention camps should be in a jail forever". Australian killed in South Korea stampede 00:12 It has been confirmed an Australian citizen has been killed in the Halloween stampede in South Korea. Federal government warned to act quickly on power prices 02:54 The federal government has been warned it must act before the end of November to stop power prices from climbing another 50 per cent next year.... DES MOINES A former clerk in the Iowa House of Representatives was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison stemming from an April 2012 incident in which a state legislator received a racially charged threatening letter than contained a white powder. Chief U.S. District Court Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Michael Dekota McRae, 28, to 18 months' imprisonment for conveying false information concerning a biological weapon. McRae also was ordered to pay $2,747.50 in restitution a $100.00 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund. McRae, a former legislative clerk to state Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, admitted to writing a threatening letter addressed to Abdul-Samad that contained racial slurs and threats to kill both McRae and the state representative. McRae subsequently inserted the letter, along with a white powdery substance, into an envelope which he placed into a legislative mail receptacle. On April 3, 2012, McRae opened the threatening letter on the chamber floor during an active session of the Iowa Legislature, causing the white powder -- included to simulate a biological agent or toxin to be released and to contact both McRae and Abdul-Samad. The incident caused a four-hour lockdown at the Iowa Capitol building in Des Moines. McRae admitted to perpetrating the hoax to create fear in others, according to a news release issued by the office of U.S. Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. The released noted that when McRae committed the crime, legislation proposing to expand existing Iowa law allowing individuals to defend themselves in their home, business or place of employment -- commonly referred to as stand your ground -- was pending before the Iowa Legislature. In the days leading up to the hoax, McRae and others participated in a rally on the Capitol steps to protest the proposed legislation, and that rally was mentioned in the threatening letter written by McRae, according to the U.S. attorneys office for Iowas southern district. According to news accounts at the time, the House was debating a bill to ban traffic enforcement cameras when McRae opened the letter. Then-House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, halted debate when informed of the situation. The incident involving the letter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Iowa State Patrol, the Des Moines Police Department, the Des Moines Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team, and the Iowa National Guard 71st Civil Support Team. CEDAR FALLS University of Northern Iowa Katlyne Strouth would love to double major, but she has to weigh the extra experience with the extra cost to stay in school another year or more. The elementary education major worries she cant afford the debt on a teachers salary and knows her parents cant afford to take on more loans. For Abigail Shew, a UNI communications graduate student, she sees the difficulties in using federal financial aid when it requires students to list their parents income, whether their parents assist their education or not. Its very, very hard to get financial aid because, first of all, the process is so difficult and, second of all, it doesnt necessarily reflect the actual situations that students are in, Shew said. Those were just two examples of the difficulties students shared about accessing and affording higher education during a roundtable discussion at UNIs Maucker Union on Monday night with Anne Holton, the wife of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine and a former secretary of education in Virginia. Holton, who campaigned with Kaine earlier Monday in Ames, came to the UNI campus to talk about Clintons college affordability plan. But she spent most of her time hearing from the 10 roundtable participants about what they see happening in education first-hand in Iowa. The roundtable was made up of UNI students and area educators of all grade levels. For us to build our future, the educated young people for the next generation, its going to take everybody rolling up their sleeves, Holton told the audience of about 50 people, adding that students will need to contribute, but so will states and the federal government. Holton praised the progress made under Democratic President Barack Obama to improve the federal student aid program, but acknowledged more work is needed. Hopefully, the Clinton administration will be able to build on what Obama has done, Holton said. Clintons plan includes making in-state, four-year public college education tuition-free within five years; free tuition at community colleges; allowing borrowers to refinance their loans; and providing assistance for those whose loans go into default. More information about her plans are available at: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/college/. Students also discussed gaps in education in rural areas. UNI student Heather Applegate told Holton, Education is not just for people who live next to other people. Its also for those of us who grew up next to corn. Holton agreed, pointing to Clintons plan to expand broadband that has helped some small rural districts survive. Though many concerns were brought up during the 45 minutes of the roundtable discussion, the theme emerged from Holton that the federal government has a significant role to play in higher education, and it along with states have to do more. We have opportunities. If we understand education is an investment in our future, we have opportunities really to help turn around those funding deficits, Holton said. CEDAR FALLS U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-1st District, followed through on a promise he made earlier this summer to twins Berne and Maren Denison. The Cedar Falls 11-year-olds met the congressman at the Capitol earlier this summer to advocate on behalf of the University of Iowa Childrens Hospital. There, he made them an offer they couldn't refuse. Blum told them he would visit them at their school, Cedar Heights Elementary, and get them out of class. And that's exactly what happened Monday. I think it's pretty cool that we get to see you again, Berne Denison told the congressman as his stop neared an end. The stop at Cedar Heights school was less about continuing their lobbying efforts the twins have cystic fibrosis and are well-spoken advocates and more about giving a glimpse into their daily routine. The twins greeted Blum with a hug in the hallway outside the main entry before they led him to one of their passions their work on the First Lego League team. They grew animated as they explained the different challenges that make up this years theme of animal allies. Berne delighted in telling Blum about the challenge where the teams try to get cows to release their milk, but not the manure. Maren, meanwhile, kept chiding her brother not to touch the other teams project. Blum also followed up with the twins about their side businesses. Berne washes cars and driveways, and Maren has a company called Purse Pal. Maren confessed shes been neglecting her own business but picked up washing cars for Berne. Because I wasnt home; its not my fault, Berne said of why he didnt wash cars all summer. Maren, with a sly smile, said, He didnt know I did that. He countered, This is what I have to deal with. The money they earn from their businesses goes toward raising funds for research of their disease. Cystic fibrosis is a rare, inherited disorder that damages the lungs and digestive system. Treatment eases the symptoms, but there is no cure. But the twins told Blum theyve been healthy since he saw them back in June. Their dad Chris Denison told the congressman they plan to be back in Washington, D.C., to continue their advocacy work. Blum urged the Denisons to contact him and offered tips about sight-seeing. The youths offered what Blum noted were political answers about their favorite things during their June trip to the Capitol. Seeing you, Berne said to Blum of his favorite part of the trip. I liked all of it, Maren said. While the stop was nearly politics-free, Blum did note the sibling bickering reminded him of being back in Congress. WATERLOO Dan Trelka will continue to lead an embattled Waterloo Police Department looking to rebuild trust with the community and stamp out gun violence. Residents, mostly supporting the safety services director, packed the City Council chambers Monday just hours after Mayor Quentin Hart announced Trelka would remain on the job. Many carrying signs stating We got your six, Dan and Dont scapegoat Trelka gave him a standing ovation when he entered the council chambers and shared personal stories about how Trelka had helped them resolve issues. Others said Trelka should be held accountable for a series of recent missteps by his officers involving black suspects. While Trelka reportedly told some of his officers last week hed been asked to resign reports neither Hart nor Trelka would confirm or deny Hart said Trelka was being assigned for the next year to focus solely on the police issues, removing him from his dual role overseeing Waterloo Fire Rescue. I believe that Dan Trelka is the one that can help us to address the myriad of challenges internally and externally that we face, Hart said. Chief Trelka and I, through community meetings, outreach, best practices, conversations and a passion for this community have begun a process of a community-wide policing plan that will work toward regaining public trust that has been lost due to some of our shortcomings. But this just isnt a plan to hold accountability to our public safety officials, he added. It will also send a message to any perpetrators of senseless violence that takes place in our streets that enough is enough. Trelka said he was not quitting and will work with Mayor Hart. Weve got some challenges to face; weve got some adjustments to make, Trelka said. Were having great conversations. All of this is for the betterment of Waterloo and Im optimistic for the future of all of us. Trelka was hired as Waterloos police chief in 2010, and he was appointed to the newly created position of director of public safety in January 2011, which included overseeing fire operations. Hart said Pat Treloar, chief of fire services, would now answer directly to the mayors office. (Trelka) and I both agree that at this moment the focus should just be with WPD and him as chief, Hart said. The challenges that we face internally and externally are too daunting to have a dual capacity. The Waterloo Police Department has been involved in a series of incidents recently that led some to call for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. Those included settlements over improper use of force, recorded remarks an officer made disparaging a black teen killed in 2013 and the release of a video earlier this month showing an officer striking and pulling the hair of a handcuffed black suspect following a chase and crash. Hart acknowledged those incidents shine a bad light on the community but stood by the police department. The (incidents) dont represent City Hall and they dont represent the best of what our brave public safety officers have to represent this community, he said. More than 30 residents paraded to the microphone during nearly two hours of public comments during the council meeting. Several residents said they were prepared to blister the city for forcing Trelka to resign but changed their message after learning he was staying. The way things transpired over the last four days is ridiculous, absolutely appalling, said Pete Miles, who said Trelka deserves more officers along with the citys support. In the six years he has been here, every year crime has dropped. Hart took personal responsibility for the situation when some residents began criticizing the City Council for the issues swirling around Trelkas employment. Im not going to let them take a beating for conversations Ive had with Dan, Hart said. This was my conversation with a staff member. Others were not as quick to applaud the decision to keep Trelka on board. Andrea Anderson said change was needed at the top of the department because officers who allegedly roughed up her 17-year-old son Malcolm in 2014 remain employed in the city. Why are they not in jail for assaulting my son? said Anderson. Malcolm filed a federal lawsuit over the incident and was paid $100,000 to settle the suit this year and not speak about it. David Goodson said he once supported Trelka to the federal justice officials but was changing his view. I do want you to know I question your leadership, Goodson said. Youve got some police officers on this force making you look bad. AMES Tim Kaine said he thinks millennials are altruistic, global thinkers who embrace diversity. And he said those young people will be critical in choosing the nations next president. Kaine, the Democratic nominee for vice president and running mate for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, spoke Monday at a rally on the Iowa State University campus as the campaign made an appeal to young voters. Millennials are critical to this race. Young voters are critical to this race, said Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia. Some people look at the millennial generation, and they find reasons to gripe about them. I look at the millennial generation, and I see embracing diversity, I see altruistic and patriotic and thinking globally. Democrats are hoping millennials turn out in the November election, which was 50 days from Monday, and support Clinton. In an August poll by USA Today, millennial likely voters overwhelmingly supported Clinton over Donald Trump, 56 percent to 20 percent. Jeff Kaufmann, the Republican Party of Iowa chairman and a history and psychology professor at Muscatine Community College, said in a conference call Monday that Republicans have not written off millennial voters, but he cast doubt on Clintons ability to improve her standing with the group. Ive been teaching and interacting with this group of individuals for more than a quarter of a century. Ive got a pretty good handle on this group, certainly a better handle than Hillary Clinton or Tim Kaine could hope to have, Kaufmann said. I can tell you that is a fluid vote. That is a vote that is focused on very specific issues. I can tell you a few of those issues are definitely privacy rights, individualism, cost of education. I can also tell you this group is pretty discerning, and they are not going to be captured by ridiculous claims that somehow theyre going to have a free college education. En route to Ames, Kaine stopped into Mars Cafe coffee shop near the Drake University campus. Among the people he greeted was a trio of Drake students who said they were pleasantly surprised to get a chance to meet Kaine. One of the students Kaine greeted was Shea Sieff, a junior from suburban Chicago. Sieff said she supported Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses, but Clinton was her second choice, and she is supporting Clinton in the general election. Right now, the election is between Trump and Hillary, and who are we going to pick thats going to make America a country that we want to live in and not a country fueled by hate or racism? Sieff said, adding she thinks Clinton is working to help minorities. I think shes the right choice. Sieff said she thinks people her age are getting more involved in the political process during this election. I think were seeing now more millennials and my generation getting involved in the political system, she said. I feel like this election has been a turn for that. At the Iowa State rally, Kaine spoke about issues he thinks are important to young voters: LGBT equality, addressing climate change, womens choice in health care, immigration reform and voting rights. WATERLOO -- High crash rates at a rural road crossing are vexing Black Hawk County and state officials. The intersection of West Dunkerton and Wagner roads, just north of the Waterloo city limits, has seen 11 crashes in the past 10 years, including one that claimed the life of an 11-year-old girl. County Engineer Cathy Nicholas said the search for solutions included a July 7 on-site meeting with staff from the sheriff's office, Iowa Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau and the Iowa Department of Transportation's Local Technical Assistance Program. "There was no real clear reason for these accidents to be occurring," Nicholas said. "There was nothing we could pinpoint as the cause of the accidents. "When you drive out there you realize how open the intersection is," she added. "There are no sight visibility problems." Both paved roads, which cross northeast of the Waterloo Regional Airport, carry anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 cars daily and have 55 mph speed limits. Nicholas said crash histories show the accidents are not winter-weather related. Lighted LED stop signs, "stop ahead" signs and rumble strips are all in place to warn eastbound and westbound motorists on Dunkerton Road to stop. Wagner Road traffic does not stop. Nine of the 11 accidents since 2006 were caused by drivers disregarding or failing to yield at the stop signs. That was the case in June 2008 when 11-year-old Jessica Johnson died and 11 others were injured when a mini van and car collided at the intersection. Sheriff's officials said the mini van driver failed to yield at the stop sign. More recently, a 24-year-old Denver woman was hospitalized in April with severe head injuries after a car on Dunkerton Road failed to stop at the intersection and crashed into her vehicle. The driver told investigators he did not see the stop sign because he was distracted by an unsecured puppy in the car. Nicholas said county road crews soon will be installing signs on Wagner Road warning drivers of approaching cross traffic. She also may ask for more deputies' presence to enforce speed and stop sign laws. A more costly option, which is not being considered at this point, would be a roundabout intersection. Sheriff Tony Thompson isn't convinced physical improvements at the intersection will help. "I just stopped a driver going eastbound on Dunkerton Road the other night who just said he wasnt paying attention," Thompson said. "So even with the flashing LED lights, three sets of rumble strips, etc. people just arent paying attention. "All the engineering in the world wont help distracted, inattentive drivers from making mistakes at this or any other intersection," he said. WATERLOO The Grout Museum, 503 South St., will host Cedar Valley Collectors Showcase from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, in conjunction with the Grout Museum's 60th anniversary. This event is included with regular admission: $10 adults, $5 veterans and children 4-13, Vietnam era veterans, children 3 and younger, and museum members are free. Sept. 24 also is Smithsonian Museum Day Live. Museum Day Live tickets will be available to download at Smithsonian.com/museumday. Visitors who sign up and present the Museum Day Live! ticket will gain free entrance for two at participating venues for Sept. 24 only. One ticket is permitted per household, per email address. Pipeline issue PATTY GODWIN CEDAR FALLS Several letters to the editor have been in favor of continuing work on the pipeline cutting across Iowa, primarily because the writers want to keep their jobs. This is understandable for anyone who is trying to support a family. This argument is short sighted, however, not just because of the impact to the environment and the insult to indigenous peoples, but because of the dangerous precedent being set by using eminent domain to confiscate private land and give it to private, for-profit corporations. The Iowa Utilities Board is comprised of three, only three, commissioners, and they are not elected. They have been appointed by a governor of the party that believes taking from the rich and giving to the poor is wrong. Its seems they have no problem reversing the process taking from the poorer, private citizen and giving to the wealthy, for-profit corporation. Again, when government agencies collude with private, for-profit corporations by using eminent domain to take from private citizens and give to corporate interests, no ones home, business, farm, acreage or gravesite is safe. Please denounce this land grab for what it is. ReStore anniversary JON CREWS CEDAR FALLS As a past board member of the Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity located in Waterloo I would like to congratulate the current board and staff for creating and successfully operating their ReStore at 4107 Hammond Ave. The store accepts donations of construction supplies and materials and sells them to the public at a good value. This great local nonprofit is hosting a one-year anniversity of the ReStore from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 29. Email servers PAUL HIGGINS WATERLOO Lets say youre the head of the class at Iowa State University School of Engineering, offered a position with Deere and are assigned to future product development. You explain to Deere you must use your own personal email server and devices to fulfill your responsibilities. Youd be immediately escorted by security to the door. What corporate enterprise entrusts proprietary, highly confidential information to employees private servers? None. Nowhere. Apparently theres no protocol for even the presidents cabinet members. Members can utilize any server, placed anywhere, 13 different personal devices, some destroyed by staff with hammers, Bleach-Bit, etc. And that is OK? Customary? Legal? Ethical? Of course not. A middle-schooler can see intent written all over this debacle. Deliberate, willful, blatant intent. The very lawmakers entrusted to establish and enforce this country of laws have placed themselves at the root of this despicable behavior, and just one candidate is, with focused intent, the epitome of that lawlessness, unmistakably condoned by that most transparent administration we were so gullibly promised. Only an outsider can eliminate this, our future generations are at risk without fundamental change. Library will be closed Friday WATERLOO -- The Waterloo Public Library will be closed Friday for staff training. The library will reopen regular hours Saturday at 9 a.m. Clinics offering influenza shots WATERLOO -- UnityPoint Clinic Urgent Care is offering walk-in flu shots at two locations in the Cedar Valley. It is recommended everyone ages 6 months of age and older get a flu vaccine, although documentation regarding other vaccinations is required for patients younger than 9. Flu shots are available at: UnityPoint Clinic Urgent Care-United Medical Park, 1753 W. Ridgeway Ave. Suite 102, Waterloo, 833-5888. UnityPoint Clinic Urgent Care-Prairie Medical Park, 4612 Prairie Parkway Suite 100, Cedar Falls, 553-0828. Both urgent care clinics are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. 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Village is full of mushrooms. Not long ago we had the first crop of these monster mushrooms everywhere and now they are back in even more numbers. They seem to pop up over night and then a few days later are going away. The weather has been perfect for this variety of mushroom and they are invading us. If I stop posting? You will know that the mushrooms took over the the Tiny Russian Village and we have met our demise The problem is; If these mushrooms where the ones everyone likes to eat, then we would win the battle, but it seems that this mushroom, no one cares about and they flourish with no predator. Therefore, you can see these umbrellas all through the fields. Nothing but worms eat them and that is only when they start to rot from age I like them and think they are really cool * * * * * * * * * * Yesterday, the birdbrains acted like a bunch of collage kids trying to squeeze into a phone booth. Well at least in my era they did such things. The bird feeder had a record number of birdbrains stuffed into it and I watched how they pushed all the seed out onto the ground and just looked out from their feeder. They finally decided to go to the ground and eat all that seed, but not before acting like a bunch of rejects It was so stupid to watch, that I finally started to laugh and instead of running away as they usually do. They all got quiet and stared at me. I stopped laughing and thought about the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds! I told Svetochka later on the phone, If you do not hear from us for awhile, then maybe The Birds, ate us! Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my! * * * * * * * * * * Well.Sammy the Volga is in the shop! She has gone to the doctor to get a new heart. Her engine was on its death bed and she needed a new one. The transplant is underway and will take three or four days. From what I am understanding, as per normal, they will pull the old engine and transmission and drop the newer one in. That is the easiest way and also assures a matched gearbox to the engine. That is the best way. Besides, our gearbox has showed signs of aging and needs replaced also. This kills two birds with one stone Seems strange to be in the Tiny Russian Village without our trusty Volga. She is part of the family! * * * * * * * * * * America seems to be getting some flack tossed at them! This is what happens when you mettle into things you have no reason to mettle with and or if your reasons are execrable! That seems to help sway future desires for revenge to the positive side Thus, the terror mongering begins by the media and the politicians. Maybe they should admit where the issue comes from and looking into the mirror is the first place to start. If America terrorizes other countries, then expect retaliation, for many many years down the road. People who have families destroyed by the military complex of the US, will wait and get revenge and get revenge and get revenge Maybe, just maybe, we should have stopped our representatives from invading countries that we have no reason to be invading? And.. Maybe we need to change how we look at the world. That is a good start Really the image above might seem to be funny, but when you live outside of the borders of the US, it does not seem so funny and the real issue is; Many Americans look at the world this way! * * * * * * * * * * Did you know that there is a slew of legal movies on YouTube. Full length and if you stay with the foreign films with subtitles, you can find some seriously good movies. Movies that are fun to watch. Just do not mess with the Hollywood movies, they might jail your ass for life! But grab a Chinese movie and enjoy. Or grab a Bollywood movie and have a good time watching how movies use to be made If you are into Sci-Fi like I am. The animated movies all over YouTube are incredible. Quality is fantastic and it is amazing to see movies made from PlayStation, they are really good * * * * * * * * * * Millet grab some millet and feed your birds. In Russia; millet is around 20 rubles a kilo. The birdbrains will love it and if you toss in some oatmeal flakes, they will go nuts. I also am going to try millet as a cooked product and if it works, will eat millet also. Boza says, No Way! Well.winding down this article. Oh yes, I rebuilt the wood burning stove yesterday. Today I will fire it up and see if all is good. It is cold people! +2 this morning and I suspect frost this week. Gotta get ready Have a nice day! WtR Hungary hopeful of Paks II approval within weeks 20 September 2016 Share The European Commission is expected to issue a decision "within weeks" on Hungary's plan to build two additional reactors at Paks, Attila Aszodi, the government commissioner responsible for Paks II, said last week. The submission of the site licence application for the new Russian-built VVER-1200 units to Hungary's regulator is scheduled for the end of October, Aszodi told delegates at the World Nuclear Association's 41st Annual Symposium in London on 16 September. Aszodi speaking at the Annual Symposium (Image: World Nuclear Association) Paks currently comprises four Russian-supplied VVER-440 pressurized water reactors, which started up between 1982 and 1987. An inter-governmental agreement signed in early 2014 would see Russian enterprises and their international sub-contractors supply two VVER-1200 reactors at Paks, as well as a Russian state loan of up to 10.0 billion ($11.2 billion) to finance 80% of the project. The European Commission has been examining until recently two matters related to Paks II - procurement and whether funding of the project amounts to state aid. Aszodi said: "We hope to get permission from the Commission within the next few weeks, which is extremely important in order to be able to switch to full speed with all the engineering works. In parallel with the European negotiations, we have been working on licensing and some design activities for the last two years. We've completed the environmental licensing [work] and hope to get the environmental licence pretty soon, within a few weeks as well. The site investigation work is finished and we are working on the documentation for that. We hope to submit the site licence application at the end of October with the target of obtaining the licence in the spring of next year." Once the site and environmental licences have been issued, the construction licence application can be prepared, he said. Construction work would start in 2018, but when exactly depends, he said, on the conditions the European Commission attaches to its approval of the project. Hungary has had the Commission's approval to spend the last two years working on licensing, he added. Positive signals The European Commission and the Hungarian government held a ministerial meeting in Budapest two weeks ago to discuss energy policy issues related to south-east Europe's natural gas market. During his attendance of that event, Maros Sevcovic, vice president of the European Commission, told reporters that an agreement on Paks II is close to completion, Aszodi said. "Procurement and state aid are the two elements that are left," he said, "while the others have already been concluded successfully." The Euratom Supply Agency approved a contract between Hungary and Russia on nuclear fuel supply for the project in April 2015. Then in September of that year Hungary received confirmation from the European Commission that the project meets the objectives of the Euratom Treaty. That approval relates to Article 41 of the Euratom treaty - the requirement that persons and undertakings engaged in certain industrial activities communicate to the European Commission investment projects relating to new installations and also to replacements or conversions. While the two other questions were still open - the kind of procurement rules that should be applied during realisation of the project and the so-called 'no state aid versus state-aid' issue - Hungary worked on environmental licensing for the project, which includes adhering to the processes of the Espoo Convention. The Hungarian government has said the Hungarian-Russian intergovernmental agreement signed in January 2014, and the engineering, procurement and construction contract signed in December 2014 comply with EU regulations. Long process Hungary first notified the European Commission of the Paks II project in late 2013. Asked why the approval process had taken so long, Aszodi said last week, "The first thing to understand is we have a system of contracts, including intergovernmental agreements on the project and on financing, both of which were notified to the Commission prior to signing." He added: "On the basis of those we developed the implementation agreements - the EPC contract, the fuel supply contract and the operation and maintenance support contract. The Commission was notified of all these agreements prior to signing. We initiated a discussion with the Commission to see the position Brussels had towards the project. We needed to negotiate the fuel supply contract with the Euratom Supply Agency and notified it that the project was in line with Article 41 of the Euratom Treaty. So there have been many different steps. "In addition to those official notifications by the government, the Commission started three investigations, one led by DG-Environment directed to the Paks II project law, one regarding procurement and one regarding possible state aid. All these steps involved negotiations in parallel and that's why it has taken quite a long time." Maintaining nuclear's share Paks II will enable Hungary to keep the share of nuclear power in the country's electricity mix at nearly 40%. The four units in operation at the Paks site account for 36% of Hungary's electricity production, but these are old VVER-440 units with the original design lifetime of 30 years. The lifetime extension with an additional 20 years has been successfully licensed for unit 1 and unit 2, and Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd is currently working on the licensing for lifetime extensions for units 3 and 4. After the lifetime extension program, they have to be shut down between 2032 and 2037. Aszodi said: "Hungary is a small country, with just ten million inhabitants, and the objective of Paks II is to have the same production capacity when those units are withdrawn. That's why we started the Paks II project in a timely manner in order to have some reserve in the scheduling of the program. If we have the two new units in operation in 2025 and 2026 we will have six operational units at the site for approximately six years. In 2032, we will have to shut down the first old unit and by 2037 all the old units will be out of the system. In the late 2030s we will have in fact the same share of power from nuclear as today." Electricity demand in Hungary is increasing by about 1% a year, he noted. The country is "fully in line" with the World Nuclear Association's target under its Harmony initiative - to have 1000 GWe of new nuclear capacity globally by 2050, "because we are maintaining capacity with two 1200 MWe units on the existing Paks site", Aszodi said. Making a profit To be a stand-alone project and be profitable, Paks II would need a wholesale market price of more than 55 per megawatt hour, he said. "Our deep analysis indicates that the cost of electricity production in the new units will be about 55 per megawatt hour. In 2025, the wholesale electricity price is expected to be between 60 and 65 per megawatt hour, which shows that even from the very first year the plant will be profitable." Imre Martha, the former chief executive of Hungarian grid operator MVM, told local media recently that the country should wait until the Paks I reactors complete operations before putting Paks II on the grid, because the parallel operation of the old and new units would create additional costs. Aszodi said he totally disagreed with this suggestion. "All big power plant projects are complex and nuclear projects more so because of the licensing issues. You've seen how long it has taken with the Commission," he told delegates. "I dont see any problem with having six units in operation simultaneously at the Paks site for several years. It's important to note that currently Hungary imports more than 30% of its electricity and we will need to shut down half of our conventional power plants by 2030. There are at least 7000 megawatts of new capacity needed in the next 15 years and, of those, 2400 megawatts will be the two new units at the Paks site. So we will need even more power plants in the next 15 years." Science and politics Prior to his role as government commissioner, Aszodi was professor of Budapest University of Technology and Economics Institute of Nuclear Techniques for 17 years. Asked how he adjusted from his time in academia to a role which can at times be politically sensitive, Aszodi said: "I have experience of how to work with politicians and how to coordinate between the different stakeholders - the licensee, the authorities and the government." Aszodi was responsible for the university's training reactor and was a ministerial commissioner when, in 2003, there was an accident at unit 2 of the Paks plant. Thirty fuel assemblies were damaged inside a cleaning tank due to insufficient cooling. The reactor was out of service until the end of 2006 and in 2014 the damaged fuel was sent to Mayak in Russia for reprocessing. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Four global architecture firms including Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), MVRDV, Snhetta and Michele De Lucchi (aMDL) have unveiled their proposals for the new San Pellegrinos Flagship Factory in Italy. On September 15, four of the worlds most distinguished architecture firms presented their futuristic projects in an exciting step toward the building of S.Pellegrinos new home on the site of its original plant in northern Italy, where the natural mineral water has been bottled since 1899. The event, held in San Pellegrino Terme, was the culmination of an international-scale tender to secure a truly innovative project that not only conveys an artistic vision, but also sets new standards in terms of efficiency and compliancy to environmental sustainability, all while providing a favourable working environment. The project is a testament to S.Pellegrinos commitment to its terroir, the place where everything started, and where the source of its pure water is located. The project also aims to help recreate the golden age of San Pellegrino Terme, the Belle Epoque, when the town was an exclusive rendezvous for European aristocracy. ''I am particularly proud of this project, said Stefano Agostini, President and CEO of the Sanpellegrino Group. With it, we intend to further promote the quality, uniqueness, international nature and the territory of origin of S.Pellegrino. Our brand is one with a rich history that is deeply rooted in Italian tradition, which is recognised worldwide for its elegance, taste and excellence. We have invited four architecture studios of international stature to take part in this tender to design the home of S.Pellegrino mineral water, which is to become the signature of our group, welcoming visitors from all corners of the world.'' See the proposals of 4 architecture firms below: MVRDV's proposal This internationally awarded and renowned Dutch-based firm was behind the El Mirador in Madrid, and Rotterdams Market Hall, the Netherlands Pavilion for the World Expo 2000 in Hannover, the Spijkenisse Book Mountain, DNB Headquarters and Bjrvika Barcode Masterplan in Oslo. Their project includes transparent ceilings and floors plus a layer of water on the roof that echoes the key use of the building. The MVRDV co-founder explains: We turn the factory even more into a star. We dream about a factory that enlarges its transparency, its honesty, its relation with the landscapeA new transparent star floats over the factory and the valley. MVRDV's proposal BIG's proposal The renowned Copenhagen and New York-based firm, famous for its innovative VIA 57 West in New York, the 2016 Serpentine Gallery in London, the Shanghai Expo Danish Pavilion as well as the under construction Google Campus and Two World Trade Center building in New York. Their proposal embraces and enhances the architecture of the existing factory while at the same time forming an elegant framework that will allow the visitors to sense the power and purity of the surrounding Alpine nature. Founding partner Bjarke Ingels explained: Shaped by the serpentine run of the Brembo river and the sloping Alpine mountainsides, our proposal for the new S.Pellegrino Campus inherits its narrative structure from the landscape of the Brembana valley. Like an aquatic equivalent of a wine cellar, the repeating archways expand and contract to create the narrative framework for the purity and clarity of the mineral water, in an environment characterised by lightness, openness and transparency. BIG's proposal BIG's proposal Snhetta's proposal The Oslo & New York based firm is known for its iconic buildings that include the San Francisco MOMA, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion in New York and Oslo Opera House. Their project focuses on integrating the new factory into the area both physically and visually with a stainless steel mesh that adapts to the contours of the buildings and takes on new forms depending on viewing angle. Cofounder Kjetil Thrdal Thorsen explained: "The history of S.Pellegrino and its water is in itself strong enough to create a successful future. Snhetta has drawn its inspiration for the project from this fact, just emphasising the extraordinary values already embedded in S.Pellegrino, its nature, in the water and its international standing." Snhetta's proposal Snhetta's proposal aMDL (aMichele De Lucchi)'s proposal Architetto Michele De Lucchi (aMDL) is the Milan-based architectural office behind the impressive Pavilion Zero at Milan Expo 2015, the Neues Museum interior and graphic design in Berlin, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and Alitalia Headquarters in Rome. The firms project is organised around four key themes explains Michele De Lucchi: To be natural, to be pure, to be conscientious, to be cool. Designed to blend into the local surroundings the building will utilise transparent white glass facades and an external water theatre. aMDL (aMichele De Lucchi)'s proposal aMDL (aMichele De Lucchi)'s proposal The four competing projects will now be judged by a committee curated by Professor Luca Molinari and comprised of Marco Settembri, Executive Vice President Nestle S.A., Head of Nestle Waters, Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President Nestle S.A., Head of Operations, Stefano Agostini, President & CEO of Sanpellegrino in addition to international personalities. The winning project is expected to be announced around the end of September. Top image: MVRDV's proposal All images courtesy of San Pellegrino > via San Pellegrino Hawaiian Crows Use Tools. From Nature, Discovery of species-wide tool use in the Hawaiian crow: Only a handful of bird species are known to use foraging tools in the wild. Amongst them, the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) stands out with its sophisticated tool-making skills. Despite considerable speculation, the evolutionary origins of this species remarkable tool behaviour remain largely unknown, not least because no naturally tool-using congeners have yet been identified that would enable informative comparisons. Here we show that another tropical corvid, the Alal? (C. hawaiiensis; Hawaiian crow), is a highly dexterous tool user. Although the Alal? became extinct in the wild in the early 2000s, and currently survives only in captivity, at least two lines of evidence suggest that tool use is part of the species natural behavioural repertoire: juveniles develop functional tool use without training, or social input from adults; and proficient tool use is a species-wide capacity. Alal? and New Caledonian crows evolved in similar environments on remote tropical islands, yet are only distantly related, suggesting that their technical abilities arose convergently. This supports the idea that avian foraging tool use is facilitated by ecological conditions typical of islands, such as reduced competition for embedded prey and low predation risk. In other words, crows evolve into woodpeckers when there are no woodpeckers. Sort of. Heres a video. (Photograph from the original Nature article.) In a related story, a recent study notes that Kauai, an Island of Hawaii, have lost a lot of birds due to climate change. From Nature: Eben Paxton, of the US Geological Surveys Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center in Hawaii, and his colleagues analysed data on seven native species of forest bird on Kauai. Between 2000 and 2012, populations of six of these shrank by an average of 68% in their core range in the islands interior, and by an average of 94% in the surrounding areas. Two of these species could be detected only in the interior region in 2012 surveys. It appears that this is due to incrased temperatures that have helped spread bird malaria. At this rate, it is estimated, these birds will go extinct by mid century or so. - - : - : : - - - - LAS VEGAS, NV, September 20, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On September 13, 2016, The Leading Professional Employer Organization, INFINITI HR, hosted an intimate reception for select guests at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV to reveal the next destination of its world renowned President's Club. The INFINITI HR President's Club is reserved for its top sales leaders, national alliance partners, consultants, coordinators, service professionals, select franchisor and franchisee clients of INFINITI HR during the 2016 calendar year. Business leaders got their first glimpse into the next President's Club destination from INFINITI HR that will be held in Greece in July of 2017. INFINITI HR Division Vice President, Daniel Mormino, revealed the next President's Club destination. "All of us at INFINITI HR are proud to have to have some of our most respected national alliance partners by our side as we continue to expand our world-class PEO to clients big and small throughout all 50 states," INFINITI HR Division President Daniel Mormino said. "Our INFINITI HR team members are the most consistent leaders of industry who perform with purpose and passion at every juncture, contributing to the growth and success of our clients and our firm. We will continue to empower your passion; We will continue to recognize the leaders who share in our core values through such exceptional experiences. Your epic adventure awaits," Mormino said. Click the link for the latest press releases and up-to-date news on human resources outsourcing. To learn more about how you can mitigate employer liability, increase efficiency and your return on human capital, call the INFINITI HR Franchise Division at 623-455-6234 or email [email protected] On September 13, 2016, The Leading Professional Employer Organization, INFINITI HR, hosted an intimate reception for select guests at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV to reveal the next destination of its world renowned President's Club. The INFINITI HR President's Club is reserved for its top sales leaders, national alliance partners, consultants, coordinators, service professionals, select franchisor and franchisee clients of INFINITI HR during the 2016 calendar year. Business leaders got their first glimpse into the next President's Club destination from INFINITI HR that will be held in Greece in July of 2017. INFINITI HR Division Vice President, Daniel Mormino, revealed the next President's Club destination. "All of us at INFINITI HR are proud to have to have some of our most respected national alliance partners by our side as we continue to expand our world-class PEO to clients big and small throughout all 50 states," INFINITI HR Division President Daniel Mormino said. "Our INFINITI HR team members are the most consistent leaders of industry who perform with purpose and passion at every juncture, contributing to the growth and success of our clients and our firm. We will continue to empower your passion; We will continue to recognize the leaders who share in our core values through such exceptional experiences. Your epic adventure awaits." Mormino said. About INFINITI HR INFINITI HR is the leading professional employer organization for franchises (PEO) and premium supplier to the IFA, recognized for the most innovative and proactive human capital management infrastructure designed to mitigate employer risk and joint employer liability for franchisors, franchisees, suppliers and mid-size businesses throughout all 50 states. As one of the fastest growing companies in America by Inc. 5000, INFINITI HR is home to top talent leadership throughout the human resources industry and proud to be the leading PEO for some of the most recognized franchise brands throughout the world. # # # Sep 19, 2016 | By Tess 3D design and printing studio 3DNA recently collaborated with popular computer hardware manufacturer Cooler Master UK to bring a new level of customization and personalization to their products. Founded by maker Simone Fontana (who showed us how to make awesome 3D printed graphic t-shirts) and Ricardo Salomao, 3DNA has committed itself to turning everyday objects into interesting and imaginative 3D printed pieces. The design studios latest project was to design custom keycaps and covers for three of Cooler Master UKs products, the MasterAir Maker 8 CPU air cooler, the MakerPulse Over Ear with Bass FX headphones, and its range of keyboards. Not only did 3DNA design custom keycaps and pieces, however, but it was present at the recent INSOMNIA58 gaming festival in Coventry, England. That is, Simone Fontana (pictured below) was present during the event at Cooler Masters booth, where he 3D printed a selection of custom designed pieces live with the help of two Ultimaker 3D printers. If you were lucky enough to attend the event, and purchased one of Cooler Masters keyboards, you might even have taken some of 3DNAs custom keycaps home with you. According to Fontana, at the event itself, the feedback from attendees and fellow games was enormously positive. As he told 3Ders, A lot of people were stopping at the stand watching the Ultimakers print the designs. They asked what I was printing and after I explained that I was printing custom designs for specific Cooler Master products, we had all positive reactions. As Fontana explains, each of the designs, from the Cooler Master logo, to the Yoda head covers, were designed using Rhino 3D, Fusion 360 and Zbrush. For the actual 3D printing, 3DNA used two Ultimaker 3D printers: the Ultimaker 2+ and the Ultimaker 2 Go, both using a range of FormFutura filaments, including its PLA, HDGlass, and EasyWood filaments. The custom 3D printed pieces for their various products is part of Cooler Master UKs ongoing Make It Yours campaign, which is aimed at including end users and gaming communities more in their product development. In fact, 3DNAs collaboration with Cooler Master UK was part of this campaign, as the hardware manufacturer is seeking to partner with and encourage makers to personalize and adapt Cooler Masters diverse range of products. This is just the latest of 3DNAs awesome 3D printing projects and products. If you like their stuff, be sure to check out some of their previous work here: Posted in 3D Printer Company Maybe you also like: Sep 20, 2016 | By Benedict A group of students from Chinas Changsha University of Science & Technology has built two copies of the FNX-16, Chinas first 3D printed metal racing car. The 130 kmh (80 mph) carbon fiber vehicle will compete in the Chinese Formula Student race. Although China has produced 3D printed cars before, the unveiling of the entirely student-designed FNX-16 racing car marks a significant milestone in the countrys automotive additive manufacturing scene. Produced by a group of incredibly dedicated students who worked overtime and even poured much of their own money into the project, the carbon fiber FNX-16 is Chinas first metal 3D printed racing car, making it one of the most exciting student-run 3D printed car projects of recent times. The Changsha students have actually built two near-identical versions of the FNX-16. One will compete in the upcoming Chinese Formula Student race on behalf of the university, while the other will be delivered to a corporate sponsor which invested significant funds in the project. Each vehicle weighs around 200 kg (441 lb), has a carbon fiber body, and can achieve a top speed of 130 kmh (80mph) with stable, agile handling. Yesterday afternoon the two vehicles went for a test drive at the universitys Jinpen Ridge campus, racing round the track at high speed, going for the occasional drift, and grabbing the attention of many observers. "About three years ago, the Chinese car industry introduced polymer material 3D printing concepts, explained FNX-16 team captain Zhao Shucheng. Today, we have made the country's first metal 3D printing concept car. These metal 3D printed parts are stronger and more stable, but much more expensive. The building process is also more difficult. Developing and building the 3D printed racing cars was a mammoth task, with over 300 college students of different ages taking part in the project over the course of five semesters. The recently unveiled FNX-16, the model that will race in the Chinese Formula Student competition, is the fifth prototype of the vehicle, showing just how much time and energy has gone into the project. During the research phase, some hardworking students worked from 8:00 in the morning until late at night, with various team members investing a cumulative 10,000 RMB ($1,500) to supplement the 200,000 RMB ($30,000) provided by various sponsors from the 3D printing industry. While one of the projects main sponsors was responsible for actually 3D printing the cars metal printed parts, the students themselves were responsible for engineering the design. According to the students, this was a grueling process. For example, a single suspension upright had to be reworked five times before it was fit for 3D printing. However, when the designs were complete, the sponsor used a selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printer to fabricate the parts, which fitted together seamlessly thanks to their precisely engineered design. The car manufacturing process has developed our way of thinking and exercised our ability to innovate, Said team member Tao Yiwei. FNX-16 only weighs about 200 kilograms, but it is much more stable than the previous version. According to the student team behind the 3D printed vehicle, additive manufacturing was used to cut costs and save time while still providing high quality components. An intake manifold, wheels, steering, aerodynamics, and many other parts were all made using 3D printing technology. said Wang Hui, another team member. Had we used traditional production methods, we would have required the services of many companies, using different molds and machines, to make the small parts. With 3D printing technology, components only needed to be modeled in the software and then sent to the 3D printer. We could print out the entire system. In order to participate in the Chinese Formula Student race, in which the Changsha University of Science & Technology has taken part for five consecutive years, the FNX-16 cannot use anything more powerful than a 610cc four-stroke gasoline engine. As such, the team has opted for a 600cc motorcycle engine, chosen and implemented by the projects dedicated power team. The entire group, which currently consists of around 50 students, also has a dedicated suspension group, body group, marketing group, and other specialist groups. Car manufacturers to have experimented with additive manufacturing technology include BMW, which has used 3D printers since the early 1990s, and Audi, which last year used metal 3D printing to create a 1:2 3D printed replica of an Auto Union Type C. The future of the automotive industry will inevitably make more extensive use of 3D printing technology, Wang Hui added. Thirsty for more information about 3D printed cars? Check out our recent list of 25 incredible 3D printed cars & automotive projects from around the world. Posted in 3D Printing Applications Maybe you also like: Sam Kriss at The Baffler: Something has gone badly wrong with our atheists. All these self-styled intellectual titans, scientists, and philosophers have fallen horribly ill. Evolutionist faith-flayer Richard Dawkins is a wheeling lunatic, dizzy in his private world of old-fashioned whimsy and bitter neofascism. Superstar astrophysicist and pop-science impresario Neil deGrasse Tyson is catatonic, mumbling in a packed cinema that the lasers wouldnt make any sound in space, that a spider that big would collapse under its own weight, that everything you see is just images on a screen and none of it is real. Islam-baiting philosopher Sam Harris is paranoid, his flailing hands gesticulating murderously at the spectral Saracen hordes. Free-thinking biologist PZ Myers is psychotic, screeching death from a gently listing hot air balloon. And the late Christopher Hitchens, blinded by his fug of rhetoric, fell headlong into the Euphrates. Critics have pointed out this clutch of appalling polemic and intellectual failings on a case-by-case basis, as if they all sprang from a randomized array of personal idiosyncrasies. But while one eccentric atheist might be explicable, for all of the worlds self-appointed smartest people to be so utterly deranged suggests some kind of pattern. We need, urgently, a complete theory of what it is about atheism that drives its most prominent high priests mad. more here. Pacifica's reputation as that sleepy, foggy town off Highway 1the one you only visit if you're learning to surf the small waves off Linda Mar Beachis only partially true. Sweeping coastal views, gorgeous hikes, and small-town charm make the 20-minute drive from San Francisco worth a day trip for non-surfers too. Plus, the fog typically burns off by noon. September in particular is a great time to visitthe family friendly Fog Fest features live music, local vendors and food, while Pacifica has some of the best weather of the year. TO-DO Bill Lewis will be creating a sand sculpture live at this year's Fog Fest. (Courtesy of twitter.com/fogfestival) Pacific Coast Fog Fest This annual community festival is back for its 31st year on Sept. 24 and 25, celebrating sun, sand and surf during sunny September. With food booths ranging from tacos to teriyaki, and plenty of arts and crafts on display from local vendors, the city of Pacifica comes to life in this music-filled, family friendly festival. This year's theme, In Fog We Trust, even features a sand sculpture by Bill Lewis from Santa Cruz Sand being created right in front of your eyes.Mikaela Luke // Pacific Coast Fog Fest, Sept. 2418; Palmetto Avenue (Pacifica), pacificcoastfogfest.com Mori Point Hike through the wildflowers in the hills of Mori Point and take in views of the rugged California coast. Park on Mori Point Road, and walk down the nature preserve path that leads out to the ocean. The stairs on your left lead to a lookout with jagged rocks and pounding surf below. Continue on the coastal trail where, at the top of the hill, you'll find a stone maze kind of a miniature version of the famous labyrinth at Lands End. Be warned, the hike back down is rather steep. Call it a day here, or continue on for a longer workout. // Mori Point, Mori Point Rd. (Pacifica), parksconservancy.org In clear weather, there's always a chance you'll see a whale or dolphin near Sharp Park Beach. (Courtesy of californiabeaches.com) Sharp Park Beach As you descend from Mori Point, walk out onto the deserted black sand beach of Sharp Park Beach. Sit for a few minutes and see if you can spot any whales or dolphins. // Sharp Park Beach (Pacifica), californiabeaches.com Linda Mar Beach is one of the best in the area for beginning surfers. (Courtesy of californiabeaches.com) Linda Mar Beach Linda Mar Beach is one of the best in the area for beginning surfers. When the waves are small (which they are most of the time throughout the summer), take a lesson throughNorCal Surf Shop or Homebreak Surf Shop. If the waters are raging, bring a blanket and watch the talented local surfersthe waves break close to the shore. // Linda Mar Beach, 5000 Pacific Coast Hwy. (Pacifica), cityofpacifica.org Mussel Rock Park Beach Mussel Rock Park Beach is the place for paragliders who get a rush from riding the gusts of air off the rocky cliffs. Take a lesson with Airtime of San Franciscothis is a killer photo op for Instagrammers. // Mussel Rock Park Beach (Daly City), californiabeaches.com SHOP Pacifica is a quirky vintage lover's paradise. Set aside an hour to make your way through Vintage Cove(1612 Palmetto Ave.) for old furniture, wall hangings, and lanterns; In the Attic(1925 Palmetto Ave.) for retro trinkets, teapots, bottles, and clocks; and Resurrected Boutique(450 Dondee Way, Suite 2) for eclectic clothing, jewelry, and vintage Disney figurines, as well as girly soaps, bath products, and candles. EAT + DRINK High Tide Cafe and Crepery Grab breakfast at High Tide Cafe and Crepery, a local surfer hangout right on Linda Mar Beach. You can't go wrong with one of their scrambles or banana pancakes paired with coffee or a fresh-squeezed juice. If it's warm, venture out to the back patio and check out the beachy murals. // High Tide Cafe and Crepery,5500 Pacific Coast Hwy. (Pacifica) Gorilla Barbecue If meat is your thing, don't miss Gorilla Barbecuethe cult favorite, housed in a shipping container off the Pacific Coast Highway, with a longer line than ever thanks to a recent episode ofDiners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Arrive early for the best selection of perfectly cooked pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and more. The mac 'n' cheese is a must. // Gorilla Barbecue, 2145 Pacific Coast Hwy. (Pacifica), gorillabbq.com Camelot Fish and Chips Camelot Fish and Chips is a hole-in-the-wall British pub worth fishing out of its otherwise nondescript shopping center locale. Go for the selection of British and Irish beers and ciders and, of course, some of the best fish and chips around. Take it to go for dinner on the beach, just a block away. // Camelot Fish and Chips, 70 W. Manor Dr. (Pacifica), camelotfishandchips.com Belly up to the bar at Puerto 27 to enjoy Peruvian food and happy hour deals. (Courtesy of puerto27.com) Puerto 27 For more a upscale restaurant vibe, belly up to the pisco bar at Puerto 27, which serves fresh, authentic Peruvian food. Order a ceviche, lomo saltado (marinated sirloin with onions and potatoes over rice), and a pisco sour. The stylish atmosphere and a panoramic views of the ocean make this your best option in Pacifica for a date night or a fun dinner with friends. Go for happy hour or lunch to maximize your window seat. // Puerto 27, 525 Crespi Dr. (Pacifica), puerto27.com Pair your craft beer with a burger at Devil's Slide. (Courtesy of devilsslidetaproom.com) Devil's Slide Taproom Devil's Slide Taproom has the best offering of California craft beer in town. Grab a seat on the dog-friendly patio and order a hyper-local beer from Mavericks Brewing or Half Moon May Brewing Company. // Devil's Slide Taproom, 5560 Pacific Coast Hwy. (Pacifica), devilsslidetaproom.com Surf Spot If you're looking to pair your drinks with live music, grab a seat on the patio at Surf Spotwhere bands typically play blues and rock on weekends. // Surf Spot, 4627 Pacific Coast Hwy. (Pacifica), surfspoteats.com P- Town Cafe Recharge with a coffee from the big red caboose that is P-Town Cafe. This place is a bit touristy, but it's fun to visit and the coffee and breakfast sandwiches are respectable. // P-Town Cafe, 152 Reina del Mar Ave. (Pacifica) Chit Chat Cafe For an all-local experience, check out Chit Chat Cafe where you can get coffee to go for a walk by the water. // Chit Chat Cafe, 5 W Manor Dr. (Pacifica), chitcchatcafe.net Who can resist a sweet treat from Mazzetti's? (Courtesy of mazzettisbakery.com) Mazzetti's Bakery Beloved by Pacifica residents, Mazzetti's Bakery is has your sweet fix with cheesecake, hot cross buns, and their signature derby cake, layered with chocolate and vanilla and topped with whipped cream, strawberries, and bananas. // Mazzetti's Bakery, 101 Manor Dr. (Pacifica), mazzettisbakery.com Tristan Walker is everywhere these days. Turn on NPR, and he's speaking to Kai Ryssdal. Hit up the Essence Festival's Money & Power Expo, and he's in the program. Open an issue of Fortune, The New York Times, GQ, or Fast Company and read all about him. Simply put, the 32-year-old Palo Altobased CEO is H-O-T. (Photography by Guru Khalsa) Of course, we at 7x7 have known this for some time now: Walker made our annual Hot 20 back in 2013 as the founder of CODE2040, a nonprofit that teaches black and Latino kids how to code. But now, Walkerwho did time at both Twitter and Foursquare before landing at Andreessen Horowitz as entrepreneur in residenceis channeling his support for people of color into another endeavor. As CEO of Walker and Company, the founder aims to build "a family of brands designing health and beauty solutions for people of color." The company's first and signature brand, the Bevel Shave System, uses a single-blade safety razor that's proven to reduce razor bumps and prevent irritation in men with coarse, curly hair who are more prone to skin sensitivities and ingrown hairs. Walker credits Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Ben Horowitz with giving him the bit of advice that nudged him to start his very personal biz: "To remain true to my authentic self," Walker recalls. "After hearing that, I knew I wanted to solve this hair removal problem. I am uniquely qualifiedI'm an expert. I know the pain points firsthand, from every day of my shaving life." Just three years in, Bevel is no question a rising star brand, with more than $33 million raised from the likes of Google Ventures and celebs including the rapper Nas; a killer endorsement from Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes; and a big deal with Target that's bringing Bevel razors and shaving products to the masses. Recently, Walker and his team of 32 (mostly based in Palo Alto with a handful in New York) introduced the newest act in the Bevel lineup: the trimmer. "We worked with master barbers and engaged with our customers to get feedback on what was lacking and how we could make it better. The end result is a beautiful product anchored by innovation," says Walker, obviously a proud papa to his baby brand. (Walker also has a lovely wife and a human toddler at home.) So, what's next for Walker Brands? "Our vision is to build the world's most consumer-centric health and beauty products company. We want every single household in the world to know and love our brands." No specifics, but Walker hints that he may have something up his sleeve for folks with sensitive skin. Silicon Valley Style "Patagonia-chic." Jeans and a T-Shirt Guy "I'm more into a simple and neutral look: logoless tees, a great pair of jeans. and some Yeezys!" Design Hero "Pharrell, full stop." At Home With Tristan "My house has very few pieces. It's more muted colors with accents to make it pop. Walker & Company's office style is similarwe didn't want just another sterile Silicon Valley office. One of our brand values is authenticity, and we wanted our space to reflect that." Household Essential "I cannot live without Sonos in my home. That company has changed my life." Eats + Drinks "There's a spot in Palo Alto called Coconuts that I love. It has great Jamaican food and good vibeshighly recommended. Also, I like to take visitors to brunch at Farmer Brown on Sundays. Great food. Good crowd. Dope DJs." Day Off "Family time, for sure. My son is two years old, that age when kids are developing so quickly, learning something new every day. I want to be there to experience all of his stagesit's so cool to see him becoming his own person." Get to know the candidates seeking three spots on Brown Co. Commission Market Research Reports and Industry Analysis OrbisResearch.com has published CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosive) Detection Devices: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022 market report to its research database. The worldwide market for CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosives) at $2.2 billion in 2015 is anticipated to reach $ 9.8 billion by 2022. The worldwide market for CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear And Explosives) at $2.2 billion in 2015 is anticipated to reach $ 9.8 billion by 2022. Market growth is driven by the vulnerability of civilian populations to the whim of terrorist attacks. CBRNE represents a cohesive response to a scattered threat. As such, there are many different detection devices that need to be available in any one place to address safety issues. The 2016 study has 1,208 pages, 512 tables and figures. Worldwide CBRNE markets are poised to achieve significant growth with the use of detectors that are implemented as platforms, many of them handheld, used to help implement precision detection of intent to do harm to civilian populations or military personnel. Market Leaders listed in the CBRNE Detection Devices Market report are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Bruker, Chemring Group PLC, Mirion, Agilent, FLIR, Smiths Group PLC/Smiths Detection, Dragerwerk AG & Co KGaA/Drager, Inficon, Airbus Defense & Space /Cassidian, Canberra, Nexter Group/NBC-Sys, bioMerieux/Biofire Defense, Ludlum Measurements, Air Techniques International, Morphix Technologies, Proengin, Luminix, and Passport Systems, Inc.. Chemical warfare agents (CWAs), toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), toxic industrial materials (TIMs), hazmat agents are problems in civilized society when terrorists target civilian populations as has happened recently in Boston, Paris, Asia, Syria, London, and Belgium. The risks associated with terrorist use of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) warfare are tremendous. Request a sample of this report at http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/111869 . Growing use of CBRNE detection devices to try to protect civilians is encouraging, because it gives a sense of being able to protect people, whereas previously everyone has felt terribly vulnerable. Watchfulness in the context of terrorist threats is encouraging because the terrorist behavior is concerning. Expanding threats require more first responder CBRNE detection devices and more vigilance from the first responders as they learn to use the devices. CBRNE detection teams and hazmat response are provided by first responders to help protect civilian populations. Advanced handheld analytical technology permits first responders to be capable of proactive performance in a hot zone. Handheld devices allow for faster detection, response and continuous monitoring of both conventional and unconventional threats helping to ensure public safety and response team protection. An abundance of new research and development in sensors and technology permits detection of a hazardous substance that may have been planted by a terrorist. Detection and identification of CBRNE at a distance becomes a way to protect first responders responsible for finding the hazmat. The significance of detection is increasing as governments and military organizations recognize the need to more efficiently identify and categorize chemicals, explosives, biological agents, radiology and nuclear materials and other threats. The ability to manage separate detection devices creates the need for device integration. Place a direct purchase order on this report at http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/111869 . Worldwide, government agencies and military branches are tasked with the formidable job of identifying evolving threats to national security such as concealed explosives, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and airborne chemical and biological materials without putting equipment or people in harms way. Lasers and optical techniques are of critical importance as they are used to implement standoff detection technology for their ability to passively and actively probe threats near and far. Threat Detection: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive detection is a fundamental responsibility of governments worldwide. New technology is necessary, less expensive techniques for detection are needed. Domestic and foreign terrorists continue to pose serious threats to the United States. U.S. citizens at home or traveling abroad can be targets, as can infrastructure (roads, bridges, IT systems) and trade ports. CBRNe detection devices are on the front line of evolving protection practices. Some of the Market Participants covered in the report are 20/20 GeneSystems / 20/20 BioResponse, 3M, 908 Devices, 908 Devices Applied Science & Chemistry, Agilent Technologies, AirBoss of America Corporation, Airbus Defense & Space, Airsense Analytics, Air Techniques International, Allen-Vanguard, Argon Electronics Ltd., ATI, Avon Protection, B&W Tek, Batelle, BBI Detection, Berkeley Nucleonics, Bertin Technologies, bioMerieux, BioQuell, Block MEMS LLC, Blucher, Bracco Diagnostics / RSDecon, Bruker Detection, Canadian Technology Systems, Canberra, CBRNE Command, Cegelec, Cepheid, Chemring Group PLC, Cobalt Light Systems, CRISTANINI S.p.A., CUBRC, Daylight Solutions, Defense Collaboration Services / DCS, Decon7 Systems etc. Browse more reports on Defence and Security Industry with Market Size and Share Analysis at http://www.orbisresearch.com/market-reports/defence-and-security.html . About Us: Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients. Media Contact Company Name: Orbis Research Contact Person: Hector Costello Email: sales@orbisresearch.com Phone: +1 (214) 884-6817 Address:4144N Central Expressway, Suite 600 City: Dallas State: Texas Country: United States Website: http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/cbrne-chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear-and-explosive-detection-devices-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2016-to-2022 Formosa Plastics Corporation (TPE:1301), established over sixty years ago in 1954, is currently capitalized at NT$63,657 million. Our main business area is intermediate raw materials for plastics. Our products include PVC resins, VCM, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, MBS, HDPE, EVA/LDPE and LLDPE. Our annual production capacity for PVC resins is 1,265,000 MT. Not only are we the largest producer in Taiwan, if our US operations are also included, but also our total capacity of 3.23 million MT/Y makes us one of the largest manufacturer of PVC resins in the world. Our annual production capacity for VCM is 1,580,000 MT, the largest in Taiwan. Utilizing the ion exchange membrane process instead of mercury in our caustic soda production, Formosa Plastics Corporation boasts an annual production capacity of 1,700,000 MT. With an annual production of MBS at 19,700 MT and PA at 25,000 MT respectively, annual capacity for these products in total is 44,700 MT. Annual production capacity of HDPE currently stands at 566,000 MT, making us the largest producer in Taiwan. Annual production capacity of EVA/LDPE and LLDPE stand at 240,000 and 264,000 MT respectively. September 2016 Investor Roadshow Presentation Brisbane, Sep 20, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP ) ( CPTLF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to provide the Company's September 2016 Investor Roadshow Presentation. Change in NT Government has no impact on Central. Central Petroleum Limited ("Central") is a conventional gas producer and is not affected by the change of government as: - 54%of our staff are locally employed -- If NGP reaches full capacity with CTP gas then this will rise to 75%. - 26% of our staff are indigenous. - 40% of Alice Springs' electricity is generated using CTP gas. - $1.5M extra local economic activity annually. - Over $3M in Northern Territory and CLC Royaltiesthis financial year. -- Only onshore gas pays royalties to the NT. "The markets unlocked by Northern Gas Pipeline will generate further employment opportunity at Central for the people of Alice Springs." Central at a glance. We have technical expertise over the on-shore basins of Central Australia and a distinct competitive advantage in operating efficiencies within the NT giving us the ability to deliver gas to Australia's east coast by 2018. Central's Core Objectives: - Continue to develop technical excellence in Central Australia's oil and gas basins - Create markets to unlock Central Australia's vast on-shore energy potential - Making a positive difference in the communities where we operate Central's Asset Portfolio: 2 major Exploration Joint Ventures: - Total - Santos (~$340M over three phases) 3 Producing Assets: Mereenie, Palm Valley & Dingo Fields. Over 50% of our exploration acreage is held on a 100% basis -Prime gas exploration potential near infrastructure and the AGP & NGP pipelines. Over 75% of current revenue under long-term fixed price gas contracts. Seeking new sales into the Northern Territory and the East Coast gas markets. To view the presentation, please visit: http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/013F96W6 About Central Petroleum Limited Central Petroleum Limited ( ASX:CTP) is a well-established, and emerging ASX-listed Australian oil and gas producer. In our short history, Central has grown to become the largest onshore gas producer in the Northern Territory (NT), supplying industrial customers and senior gas distributors in NT and the wider Australian east coast market. Central is positioned to become a significant domestic energy supplier, with exploration and development plans across 180,000 km2 of tenements in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including some of Australia's largest known onshore conventional gas prospects. Central has also completed an MoU with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) to progress the proposed Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline to a Final Investment Decision. We are also seeking to develop the Range gas project, a new gas field located among proven CSG fields in the Surat Basin, Queensland with 135 PJ (net to Central) of development-pending 2C contingent resource. Xped Signs Joint Venture Agreement for China Expansion Melbourne, Sep 20, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Xped Limited ( ASX:XPE ) ("Xped" or "the Company") wishes to advise that it has executed a Joint Venture agreement ("JV") with "Complex Semiconductor Co Ltd" ("Complex") to jointly develop a sales and manufacturing channel to allow ADRC growth through Xped app subscriber acquisition, device data capture, analytics and product distribution in China and abroad. Highlights - Xped signs JV agreement for China expansion - Xped & Complex Semiconductor to establish new JV entities in China & Hong Kong - Dr Wenjun Sheng to be appointed nominee to China based company board to oversee operations - Company owned manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen China ship annual volumes exceeding 100 million units - Product sales & marketing opportunities together with device data capture and analytics - Acquisition of China based Xped app subscribers for potential recurring revenue streams based on product registration service and product distribution to existing wholesale customer base Under the JV, Xped and Complex will establish newly incorporated entities in Hong Kong and China that will oversee operations in mainland China. Both parties will nominate a Director to the board of these new entities and together jointly manage the operation. Dr Wenjun Sheng has been nominated from Xped as its appointed nominee to oversee this new operation. Dr Sheng has a strong working relationship with Complex Semiconductor (through their wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary) who currently purchase and utilise Telink Bluetooth enabled chipsets within their manufacturing operation. The parties' current intentions with respect to the JV is that: (a) new entities will be established in China with equal ownership primarily to: 1) acquire and accumulate subscribers; 2) advertise and market subscriber based big data or similar data analytics services or products; 3) sell, distribute or market products designated by Complex Semiconductors as covered by this agreement that will incorporate ADRC Technology and utilise Telink Semiconductor chip sets; 4) sell, distribute or market products that Xped designates as covered by this agreement into China; and, 5) leverage or otherwise utilise Complex's wholesale customer base and contacts, and Shenzhen based manufacturing facilities. Complex Semiconductor through its Shenzhen based facility develops, manufactures and distributes a range of consumer electronic, and automotive electronic accessories. This JV agreement provides Complex Semiconductor with access to Xped's ADRC technology, and allows Xped to access China, one of the largest consumer and volume markets in the world. The JV agreement is non-exclusive between Xped and Complex Semiconductor. The Company expects to have other similar agreements in place with other parties in China and abroad, utilising the "joint marketing" approach with Telink Semiconductor that has generated this and other opportunities. The board would also like to welcome Martin Despain, who recently commenced employment with Xped. Martin will be visiting Telink Semiconductor head office in Shanghai, JCT supplier manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen and key fund managers in Asia over the coming week. ABOUT COMPLEX SEMICONDUCTOR Complex Semiconductor has a strong sales network, in the Chinese market and has hundreds of distributors in core brand stores, with an international sales office in Hong Kong allowing it to generate interest from abroad. Complex through its own products brands and manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen have been exporters in more than 50 countries and regions around over the world. About XPED Ltd XPED Ltd (ASX:XPE) is an Australian Internet of Things (IoT) technology business. Xped has developed revolutionary and patent-protected technology that allows any consumer, regardless of their technical capability, to connect, monitor and control devices and appliances found in our everyday environment. Xped provides technology solutions for Smart Home, Smart Building, and Healthcare. At Xped, were Making Technology Easy Again(TM) ACAs library of educational tools help members improve their business practices. ACA also holds the most popular industry conferences and offers credentialing for collectors, attorneys, and more. ACAs Training Zone subscription gives agencies access to almost all of our education for one low cost. A startup technology company, AppZen, has introduced new technology that is leveraging artificial intelligence to examine expense reports for signs of fraud. We are an AI company and weve built a solution for back-office automation, AppZen CEO Anant Kale told me. As part of that, our first focus area is back office expense processing, which is essentially how to find compliance issues within expenses. We are focusing on automating the research and reasoning that human auditors do today and putting it into machines. Kale noted that most companies dont really audit anywhere near all of their expense reports. Today most companies are doing some sort of random sampling or threshold-based expense audits, literally auditing 1 to 15 percent of their expense reports, he said. The problem we are trying to tackle is there are lots of expense automation systems, companies like Concur and Oracle, whom we partner with, which are very good at letting companies put their expense policies in, things like how much you can spend on a meal and when employees exceed that. But what they dont really check is the truthfulness of the data that comes in. Companies expect their managers to do that when they are approving an expense report, and as we all know, managers routinely just approve expense reports. AppZens AI engine checks and reviews the expenses and extracts the data. It will look at receipts to see if alcohol was consumed and if that accords with company policy. Our technology can figure out if a receipt is for a minibar or if it has the names of cocktails, said Kale. It can basically detect between 10,000 different brands of alcohol. The technology also checks to make sure the restaurants claimed on expense reports are legitimate, going so far as scanning social media sites for reviews. For outside people who are claimed as guests at meals, AppZen will check news reports and the list of prohibited people from the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control to find out if they are associated with criminal activity that could get a company in trouble. If youre putting in a $300 expense, nobody knows if the names of the attendees are real or not, said Kale. Its difficult for auditors to check. AppZen estimates that expense report fraud costs companies $10 billion per year, 10 times more than the amount estimated by J.P. Morgan and more than the $6 billion estimated by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. However, AppZens estimates are only based on the expense reports of its 15 original customers (the company now has about two dozen customers). Still, its customer base includes high-profile companies like Comcast, Hitachi and Cantor Fitzgerald. The company launched the product last year and in June it scored a $2.9 million seed round of funding. Our job is to save money for customers and to show that to the company, said Kale. Over a period of time employees know this is going to get caught. Commenting on the appointment, Chaaya Baradhwaaj said, We are focused on building a practice capable of defining the business impact of digital campaigns across client sectors and categories. Im pleased to have discovered a nuanced professional such as Jaydeep to lead this effort. He brings a unique mix of strategic, technical and business experience that will be instrumental as we leverage analytics capabilities for our client portfolio. With over 15 years of experience in the technology industry, Jaydeep comes from an extensive background of helping brands with digital strategy and sales. He has deep knowledge of customer analytics, user experience management (UX), customer experience management (CX) and Usability Science. Most recently, Jaydeep was responsible for digital strategy at Times of Money Ltd. (The Times of India Group). Previously, Jaydeep has held key positions in the technology and product innovation teams at leading companies including TCS, TravelGuru, Harbinger Systems, Linga Interactive, and Satyam Computers. Saurabh Bhatnagar, Sr. Vice President - Sales & Operations and head of the agencys Delhi operations said, The data footprint of the Indian consumer has spread out across a multitude of digital touch points. In order to be closer to them, progressive Indian brands are moving towards digital data analytics in a big way. Im confident that Jaydeeps presence will help us clearly showcase analytics strength and value to clients in a compelling way. Elaborating on his role, Jaydeep states, Analytics is increasingly driving the digital experience as marketers can obtain a single pane view of the customer and build innovative strategies around their needs. It has become critical that creative intelligence and data sense overlap to drive insight driven, personalized digital experiences. BC Web Wise, with its well-rounded client set and integrated capabilities, is the perfect place to apply my experience and collaborate with our clientele for digital innovation. BC Web Wise is best known for its strategic brand solutions and world-class creatives. Founded by Chaaya Baradhwaaj in 2000, the agency has a presence in Mumbai and Delhi. It is amongst the few independent digital agencies in India with a vast and reputed client portfolio including Hero MotoCorp, Hindustan Unilever, ASUS, Pidilite Industries, ICICI Securities, ITC, Godrej Consumer Products, IDFC, Ruchi Soya and Emami among several others. The agencys integrated digital solutions range from web and mobile marketing, UX, and branding to media planning and buying, analytics, e-commerce and extend to web-based outdoor digital installations. Grey Group India has brought on board Aritra Chaudhuri as their new Senior Creative Director in their Bangalore office. Chaudhuri will be responsible for driving the agencys creative mandate for its impressive mix of clients based out of Bangalore. Chaudhuri joins with 10 years of extensive experience in various sectors, including Strategic Planning, Advertising, Integrated Campaign Design, Trans media Storytelling, Digital Marketing, Social Media, Art Direction and Graphic Design. Before joining Grey, he had worked with Leo Burnett as Creative Director, where he was responsible for creating a yardstick and setting up the creative team in Delhi. The brands he had handled there included Olx, Snapdeal, Bacardi and SBI Cards. Enormous, Commonwealth and McCann Worldgroup, Ogilvy and Mather, JWT, and TBWA are the other agencies that he worked with. He has been creatively associated with various brands like SBI, Zaffran, Baskin Robbins, Chevrolet, The Economist, Sony, Taco Bell, Tropicana, Mountain Dew, National Geographic, History Channel, Pedigree, and Adidas, to name a few. Commenting on Chaudhuris appointment, Sandipan Bhattacharyya, Chief Creative Officer, Grey Group India, said, While a lot is said about the need for experimental, medium-bending work in our industry, very few actually walk the talk. Aritra displays that rare knack for exploring the new and finding ways to create pop culture that makes brands famous. On joining the agency, Chaudhuri said, Grey is changing in terms of its people, systems and work culture. I look forward to the new challenges and do some intriguing work in a city that is intriguing in itself as far as business is concerned. Yellow Diamond, one of Indias growing snack makers and the flagship brand of Prataap Snacks, has signed on Indias biggest and most popular Bollywood celebrity Salman Khan, as their brand ambassador. The megastar, fresh from the recent success of Sultan, will be the face of the home-grown brand of potato chips, namkeen and extruded snacks. Interestingly, Khan also shares his famous on-screen moniker, Chulbul Pandey, with one of the most widely appreciated Yellow Diamond snacks, Chulbule (savoury sticks). Salman Khan says, I met with the founders of Prataap Snacks and they shared their journey from small beginnings to becoming one of India's biggest snack food companies a "Make in India" journey. Yellow Diamond snacks seeks to understand the Indian consumer and the Indian palate to help them take on the global giants. It is a pleasure and privilege to be associated with Prataap Snacks as the brand ambassador for Yellow Diamond. Antipodean Currencies Rise; Focus On Central Bank Meetings (RTTNews) - The Australian and the New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday, as investors look forward to key central bank meetings from the Bank of Japan, U.S. Federal Reserve and Reserve Bank of New Zealand this week for clues on global monetary policies. The Australian dollar rose after the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes from its September 6 meeting. The RBA minutes showed that it was comfortable with the current policy after holding rates at a record low of 1.50 percent earlier this month. "Members observed that the data for the international and domestic economies over the past month had been broadly consistent with the forecasts," the minutes said. Traders also await the New Zealand's GlobalDairyTrade auction to be held tonight. In other economic news, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that house prices in Australia were up 2.0 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2016. That missed forecasts for 3.0 percent following the 0.2 percent decline in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, house prices advanced 4.1 percent, missing estimates for 5.2 percent and down from 6.8 percent three months ago. Monday, the Australian dollar rose 0.61 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.24 percent against the yen and 0.34 percent against the euro. The NZ dollar showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the kiwi rose against the euro, it fell against the yen. Meanwhile, the kiwi held steady against the greenback. In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar rose to 1.4798 against the euro and 76.99 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.4829 and 76.77, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.45 against the euro, and 78.00 against the yen. Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie advanced to 0.7553 and 0.9966 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7534 and 0.9945, respectively. The aussie may test resistance around 0.76 against the greenback, and 1.01 against the loonie. The NZ dollar rose to 1.5259 against the euro and 74.62 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.5316 and 74.29, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.50 against the euro, and 76.00 against the yen. Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the kiwi advanced to 0.7321 and 1.0301 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7292 and 1.0326, respectively. The kiwi is likely to find resistance around 0.75 against the greenback and 1.02 against the aussie. Looking ahead, SECO Swiss economic forecasts for September is due to be released in the pre-European session at 1:45 am ET. Swiss trade data and German PPI, for August, are slated for release at 2:00 am ET. In the New York session, U.S. housing starts and building permits for August are set to be published. New Zealand's GlobalDairyTrade auction is due to be held at 8:00 am ET. At 9:10 am ET, Bank of England's executive director Andrew Hauser gives a speech at CREST event, in London. At 12:50 pm ET, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz is expected to speak on "Living With Lower for Longer"at the Chartered Financial Analysts Society, in Quebec. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat, a family owned vacation rental company located in historic Anna Maria Island, Florida, is offering a taste of Old Florida for those looking for a relaxing vacation markedly different from many vacation properties in the state. Beautiful homes owned by Anna Maria Island-residents and husband and wife team, Ben and Keren ten Haaf, offer guests outstanding comfort and relaxation while experiencing the natural beauty of the island. With 15 separate properties to choose from on Anna Maria Island, Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat can help guests create the perfect Florida vacation that offers the ambience and opulence that defines an old school Florida experience. The experience of working with Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is enhanced by the fact that all of these properties are owned by the ten Haaf family, who are dedicated to sharing the traditions and charm of Anna Maria Island with each and every guest that stays at one of their locations. "From the beginning, our plan for Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is to give our guests a great experience every time they stay with us," said Ben ten Haaf. "By managing a small number of family owned rental properties, we are able to make decisions solely with our guests in mind." The innovative approach of owning the Lizzie Lu's properties allows the ten Haaf family to include mobile technology as a component of their guest offerings. With a free mobile app, guests can receive local information directly on their mobile devices while also being able to request needs for their visit. "Being able to use the technology on our app means guests can check in on their own schedule when they arrive on Anna Maria Island, as well as offering easy access to our team in the event that they need anything on the property," said Keren ten Haaf. "As residents of the island, we can offer insights that aren't always available when you are staying with other companies in Florida. Our devotion to the Old Florida Heritage traditions of Anna Maria Island means that we greet our guests personally during their visit, because it is very important to Ben and myself that we make a personal connection with everyone that stays with us!" One of the most important aspects of staying with Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is to create the Old Florida feel of Anna Maria Island. Harkening back to the 1940s and 50s, the vacation homes that are offered allow families the opportunity to explore local beaches where children can run free to play in the water, dig for clams and oysters and stay in the small, ground floor homes that allow for tranquil ocean breezes to gently lull you to sleep each evening. The quiet atmosphere and casual dress that defines Anna Maria Island, along with a slower pace that places a premium on recreating the Old Florida lifestyle, is a defining point for the quintessential Florida experience from generations ago. The vacation rental properties that are a part of Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat feature modern appliances and amenities to offer the comfort of today with an old world charm. Owners Ben and Keren ten Haaf have completed extensive renovations and updates to their rental homes, adding outstanding, modern conveniences to the interiors to ensure that guests are completely comfortable during their stay. Defining the Anna Maria Island experience is The Sand Castle, one of the oldest homes on the Island. Dating to 1924, The Sand Castle takes visitors back to a time on Anna Maria Island where nights were spent on the front porch, enjoying the cool sea breezes. Complete with the original spiral staircase located in turret. The Sand Castle is a renovated marvel, providing a unique perspective at what life looked like on Anna Maria Island almost a century ago. The special care in the renovation process taken by Ben and Keren speaks to their love and appreciation of the old Anna Maria spirit and is a proud inclusion to Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat properties. About Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat The plan for Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat is to give guests a great experience every time they stay with us. By managing a small number of family owned rental properties, we are able to make decisions with you in mind well maintained, meticulously clean, and stocked with everything our guests might need. You can expect the same clean, well furnished, resort like atmosphere in any of our vacation properties as we are able to monitor all the properties and ensure they stay in great shape. For more information about Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat, please visit our website at https://www.amivacationrental.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Ripley Ripley PR 865-977-1973 hripley@ripleypr.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409350LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anna-maria-island-company-offers-old-florida-feel-for-vacation-getaways-300330355.html SOURCE Lizzie Lu's Island Retreat All 18 California school district unlimited tax general obligation (ULTGO) bonds rated to date using an analysis of pledged special revenues have received ratings higher than the Issuer Default Rating (IDR) - some notably so - due to their especially strong legal framework, according to a new Fitch Ratings report. "The dedicated tax bond ratings are higher than the IDR due to the demonstrated strength and resilience of the tax bases from which the pledged revenues are derived, and modest to moderate long-term liability burdens," said Karen Ribble, Senior Director. "Fitch believes the case for pledged special revenue status must be very clear because a distressed municipality will seek to exploit any reasonable doubt about special revenue status in a bankruptcy proceeding." Fitch believes that the legal structure of California school district bonds minimizes the possibility of a legal challenge to the bonds' pledged special revenue status under 902(2)(E). Their ratings are based on an analysis of the strength of the tax base, the unlimited tax pledge and overall tax rates and debt burdens, but do not incorporate the districts' operating risk. Fitch does not consider a fair or plausible argument to be a sufficient basis to deter challenges. The more complex the proceedings and the higher the stakes for other claimants including public employee pension funds, the more likely it is that the status as special revenue bonds would be disputed. Fitch will give credit to pledged special revenue status only if the overall legal framework renders remote a successful challenge to the status of the debt as secured by special revenues. For more information, Fitch's special report titled 'California School Districts: Special Revenue Analysis Supports Strong Ratings' is available on the web site at www.fitchratings.com. Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. Related Research California School Districts: Special Revenue Analysis Yields Strong Ratings https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/887820 ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006611/en/ Fitch Ratings Amy Laskey Managing Director +1-212-908-0568 Fitch Ratings, Inc. 33 Whitehall Street New York, NY 10004 or Karen Ribble Senior Director +1-415-732-5611 or Thomas McCormick Managing Director +1-212-908-0235 or Media Relations Elizabeth Fogerty, +1 212-908-0526 elizabeth.fogerty@fitchratings.com West Palm Beach flight instructor circumnavigates the globe solo, becoming the first Chinese person to fly solo around-the-world; she also becomes the first Chinese woman to pilot an aircraft around-the-world Highlights: Wang returned to Dallas, landing at Addison Airport where she took-off on August 17th, completing her around-the-world journey in 155 hours of flying over 17 days. Westbound route covered over 34,000 kilometers in a single piston-engine propeller aircraft, mostly over open ocean, overflying or landing in 24 countries. Longest leg was from Merced, CA to Honolulu, HI, covering 2,160 nautical miles non-stop in 13.8 hours. Wang is only the ninth woman to fly solo around the world, with three Americans, three British, a French and an Australian preceding her. Wang partnered with Youlian Financial and Changan Ford Automobile Co. to undertake the historic flight; Egypt-based G.A.S.E. provided flight support; Jeppesen, a division of Boeing, provided global navigation data and charting. West Palm Beach-based flight instructor Zheng Julie" Wang landed her single piston-engine propeller aircraft at Addison Airport in Dallas, returning to the place from which she departed thirty-four days ago, to become the first Chinese person to pilot an aircraft around-the-world solo. Wang also becomes the first Chinese woman indeed, the first Asian woman to circumnavigate the globe in an aircraft. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005700/en/ Chief Flight Instructor Julie Wang. (Photo: Business Wire) Wang accomplished the west-bound circumnavigation in 155 hours of flying over 17 days, with just one rest day (in China) after having left the U.S. mainland. Although delays in California installing and obtaining approvals for fuel system modifications that gave the aircraft the range it needed to cross the Pacific left Wang frustrated, she relaxed once she was airborne. Once I made my first HF radio calls and established contact with the oceanic controllers I felt relaxed and energized. The Monterey coast fell away and an expanse of deep blue ocean opened. The frustration of waiting for the various approvals melted away and I was free to do what I love; flying an airplane and appreciating the incredible vistas changing minute-by-minute before my eyes. "I am totally impressed with Julie's solo flight around the world, said Mr. Wei Chen, a member of the Board of Directors of AOPA China who, in 2011, became the first Chinese citizen to circumnavigate the world in a single engine airplane, "Over 60% of her flight was over the oceans and therefore the challenge and risk were much greater compared to more conventional coastline-based routes. Above all, flying the entire trip solo in a single-engine airplane is the biggest challenge even with all the technology aviation has to offer today. Her flight is historic and inspirational to everyone who loves flying. She is a true aviator!" Chen will award Wang 1,000,000 RMB (about $150,000) on behalf of AOPA and AOPA China for being the first Chinese woman to complete an around-the-world flight. Wangs route took her from Dallas first to Los Angeles and then Merced, California, where ferry tanks were installed on the aircraft (and all the passenger seating was removed), and then to Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Guam and the Philippines, before landing at Haikou, China. From China, she overflew Vietnam and Laos to land in Pattaya, Thailand, and then overflew Myanmar and Bangladesh, crossing the Bay of Bengal and then the heart of India, to land at Ahmedabad. From India, she flew through the Middle East, landing only in the U.A.E. (Abu Dhabi) but overflying Pakistan, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and then into and across the Mediterranean, landing at Crete and Malta before reaching the Atlantic coast at Lisbon. I expected the North Atlantic to be dark and nasty compared to the Pacific but the leg to the Azores (Santa Maria Island) and then to Newfoundland (St. Johns) was simply spectacular. Leaving Portugal, the ocean turned a pure deep blue that I had never seen before. Night fell on the way to St Johns and the cloud cover below me was lit by bright moonlight, creating a white carpet to drive on all the way to North America. The relatively smooth journey was not without glitches. On the scheduled day of departure from Merced, the flight computer refused to upload the global navigation database and a full day of troubleshooting ensued. At the Marshall Islands, where there was only 110 gallons of avgas on the entire island, all of it needed to reach Guam, Wang stopped the refueling when she noticed that the avgas fuel was the wrong color. I saw green fuel going into the ferry tank and avgas is blue. It was 100 octane and not the 100 'low-lead' I was expecting. After several calls and texts to and among support team members, the consensus was that the avgas 100 should be fine but that she should watch the engine performance closely. I took off the next morning pulling fuel from one of the main tanks containing 100LL and only switched to the 100 octane in cruise flight so that if the engine quit on the 100, I could immediately switch back to the 100LL and make it back to Majuro, Wang said. Upon arriving at St. Johns, Newfoundland, at midnight, Wang was detained by Canadian Customs and Border Security officers on the ramp, who accused her of landing illegally in Canada, attempting to drop in without prior authorization, despite hours of giving position reports to New York Radio and being cleared to land at St. Johns by controllers at Gander. It turned out that Wangs Canadian handling agent had simply failed to telephone Customs in advance to advise the agents of Wangs arrival. After reviewing Wangs paperwork, the Canada Customs and Border Security officers released her and she departed normally but not without paying an additional $600 charge for calling out the customs agents "after hours. Wang, an Airline Transport Pilot, certified flight instructor, and FAA-designated chief flight instructor for the Part 141 courses offered by Zulutime Pilot at Witham Field in Stuart, Florida, is only the ninth woman to fly solo around the world, with three Americans, three British, a French and an Australian preceding her. A press conference is scheduled to take place this Friday, September 23rd, at 11:00 am in Stuart, Florida at Atlantic Aviation, 2240 SE Witham Field Drive, tel. (772) 781-4720. General Aviation Support Egypt General Aviation Support Egypt G.A.S.E." is unique in flight support circles as a non-profit organization run by aviation professionals for aviators, concentrating especially on general aviation and adventure flights. G.A.S.E. not only arranges permits, overflight clearances, fuel, handling and accommodations, and assists in route planning, but also ensures that our clients get the best services available at the best prices. Our ethos has helped us create a worldwide network of aviation professionals and enthusiasts who will go out of their way to support our client pilots. We have a long portfolio of successful circumnavigations and have supported many more long distance flights. Web: www.gasupportegypt.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/aviationegypt View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005700/en/ Julie Wang and Zulutime Pilot Jim Frechter, 347-681-6688 jim.frechter@zulutimepilot.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/zulutimepilot Web: www.flywithjulie.org LONDON, Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This research study analyzes the industrial boilers market in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The market has been segmented on the basis of capacity and geography. For the research, 2014 has been taken as the base year, while all forecasts have been given for the period from 2015 to 2023. Market data for all the segments has been provided at the regional and state level from 2015 to 2023. The report provides a broad competitive analysis of companies engaged in the industrial boilers business. The report also includes the key market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities affecting the industrial boilers market. These market dynamics were analyzed in detail and are illustrated in the report with the help of supporting graphs and tables. The report also provides a comprehensive industry analysis of industrial boilers with the help of Porter's Five Forces model. This analysis helps in understanding the five major forces that affect the market structure and profitability of the U.S industrial boilers market. The forces analyzed are bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and degree of competition. The high-level analysis in the report provides detailed insights into the industrial boilers business in the U.S. There are currently numerous drivers of the market. One of the most prominent drivers is the stringent regulations for emission control. Market attractiveness analysis was carried out for the industrial boilers market on the basis of revenue realization and industrial growth. Market attractiveness was estimated on the basis of common parameters that directly impact the market in different regions. The industrial boilers market was analyzed across eight regions: South Atlantic(Delaware, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia), West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas), West North Central(Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota), Pacific States(Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington), Mountain States (Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming), North East(Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania), East North Central(Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin), and East South Central(Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee). These regions are further segmented by states and capacity of installed industrial boilers in the U.S. Capacity ranging from (0 to 300 BHP and 301- 600 BHP) has been provided for each states and region. Regional data has been provided for each sub-segment of the industrial boilers market. Key players in the industrial boilers market include Fulton Boiler Works, Inc., Hurst Boiler & Welding Company, Inc., Columbia Boiler Company, Superior Boiler Works, Inc., and Le Groupe Simoneau Inc. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial details, business strategies, and recent developments. U.S Industrial Boilers Market: By Region South Atlantic West North Central West South Central Pacific States Mountain States North East East North Central East South Central U.S Industrial Boilers Market: By Capacity Upto 300 BHP 10-150 BHP 151-300 BHP 300600 BHP Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3999647/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: query@reportbuyer.com Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/industrial-boilers-market-by-capacity---us-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2015---2023-300330580.html SOURCE ReportBuyer SEOUL, South Korea, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- InMobi, a global mobile advertising and discovery platform, announced today that it is launching a mobile remarketing platform, powered by Miip, in South Korea. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150914/266030LOGO ) M-commerce sales in South Korea already account for 50% of overall retail e-commerce sales. Projected to grow to $29 billion over the next 3 years, m-commerce in the country is growing at a CAGR of 26.5%, higher than both e-commerce and retail. InMobi's remarketing solution, powered by Miip, will serve as a catalyst for online retailers to maximize revenues in this vibrant mobile commerce market. Miip includes a series of innovations around ad experiences and targeting to improve user experience and ROI for advertisers. The remarketing platform helps advertisers activate users to make their first purchase, re-target existing users to drive incremental sales and re-activate dormant users. Unlike other solutions, InMobi's Software Development Kit (SDK) is also directly integrated with 30,000+ mobile apps that enable creative control to deliver a compelling storefront-like experience to users through engaging ads. InMobi's remarketing platform has already delivered results exceeding industry benchmarks, for the biggest e-commerce companies globally, including Myntra and PayTM in India, and Nuomi in China. Organizations have seen up to 7% of mobile sales being driven through InMobi's remarketing platform and an ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) of 7. Commenting on the launch of the remarketing platform in South Korea, Jayesh Easwaramony, VP and GM of APAC, Middle East and Africa at at InMobi said, "The remarketing platform will be critical in enabling e-commerce businesses in South Korea to extend beyond driving brand awareness and app installs, to increasing sales and transactions through mobile advertising. InMobi, with its reach of 28 mn unique users, and unique mobile-first advantage will serve as a catalyst for online retailers to scale their mobile revenues." For more information on the remarketing platform, click here. About InMobi InMobi enables consumers to discover new products and services by providing contextual and personalized ad experiences on mobile devices. Through its revolutionary advertising and discovery platform, app developers, merchants and brands can engage mobile consumers globally. Recognized by Fast Company as one amongst the Most Innovative Companies in the world for 2016, InMobi reaches over 1.5+ billion unique mobile devices worldwide. Media Contacts: Supriya Goswami InMobi +91-9845384141 pr@inmobi.com GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- JLofts Greenwich apartmentslocated in the heart of Greenwich, Connecticutfeature a modern design, high ceilings, and wood floors in addition to unique amenities like a club room and roof-top deck. The loft-like rental apartments are conveniently located near Greenwich Avenue, the railroad, and the Long Island Sound Beaches. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409649LOGO JLofts has recently opened and the development is welcoming new residents. These unique rental apartments have brought something completely new, hip, and desirable to Greenwich and are leasing quickly, making JLofts the fastest leasing property in Greenwich, Connecticut. There are a number of interesting floorplans available, from studio, one bedroom, one bedroom with den to two bedrooms, two bedrooms with den, and penthouses. The wide open floor plans have sound attenuation between floors and adjacent homes. 9-foot windows and 10-foot ceilings throughout, paired with exposed metal ductwork create the ultimate loft look and feel. Each of the residences have private balconies, terraces, or decks and in-unit washers and dryers. Visit the website to view a photo gallery of residences or to schedule a visit. Each of the six penthouse residences is equipped with a private rooftop deck, taking modern luxury taken to a new level. These residences have sparked up quite the interest in Greenwich, and there are only two more available. These residences boast a number of amenities. Residents can enjoy the rooftop deck, the J-Roof, with plenty of outdoor seating, an outdoor kitchen for entertaining, dining areas, and a putting green to practice their swing from the top. The Clubroom offers residents everything that they would want in their home, and more, especially when it comes to entertaining as it boasts a pool table, fireplace, flat-screen TV, oversized lounge seating, bar, and outdoor deck. A private dining room with a catering kitchen can be utilized to host dinner parties and impress guests. Dogs are welcome as well, and residents can pamper their pups in the self-service doggie spa. Maid service, a pool membership, spa services, and catering services are also available to residents from JLofts' sister property, the J House. For those looking to move right in and unpack, JLofts offers fully furnished residences. JLofts residences also feature automatic jamb switch closet lighting, Verizon or Optimum Internet/TV/phone, high-efficiency Navian condensing gas boilers for heat and hot water, on-site security camera system, key fob access control, and control center entry for guest arrival and remote entry. With an outstanding walking score of 75, JLofts Greenwich apartments is close to all. Recently named on Money Magazine's list of 'Best Places to Live,' Greenwich has high end shops and boutiques and quality dining options within walking distance. JLofts Greenwich apartments offers young professionals and families a low-key alternative to a more congested urban lifestyle. Media Contact: Scott Darrohn, fishbat, 855-347-4228, press@fishbat.com News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com SOURCE JLOFTS Greenwich apartments First Documentary Film about the Man who Transformed the Southern California Retail and Arts Experiences Premieres on PBS SoCal (KOCE) Sept. 22 PBS SoCal has produced the first documentary film about cultural visionary and philanthropist Henry Segerstrom, who re-invented the shopping experience and brought renowned arts to Southern California. Henry T. Segerstrom: Imagining the Future premieres on PBS SoCal KOCE Thursday, September 22 at 7 p.m. Henry Segerstrom was a local icon whose impact can be felt all over the world, said Andrew Russell, President and CEO of PBS SoCal. Its important we tell the stories of the people who make Southern California special and Mr. Segerstrom is one of them. He leaves behind a proud legacy of community leadership. Narrated by television and Broadway star Matthew Morrison, the film follows the life of the philanthropic entrepreneur who inspired those around him with his vision. He was first known for turning his family land into the world-renowned South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. He convinced Nordstrom to expand beyond the Pacific Northwest and brought exclusive European designers such as Chanel and Hermes to Orange County, revolutionizing the shopping experience and creating one of the highest grossing retail centers in the U.S. A patron of the arts, Mr. Segerstrom became one of Orange Countys top philanthropists. Beginning with a Segerstrom family donation of land and funds to South Coast Repertory, his leadership and generosity led to the creation of The Orange County Performing Arts Center. The Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall followed and the entire complex was renamed the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. He was a friend to influential artists and designers including Isamu Noguchi, Placido Domingo, Richard Serra, Valery Gergiev and Cesar Pelli. As his wife, I know what a great man he was during his lifetime, and how incomparable and positive his imprimatur was on Orange County, said Elizabeth Segerstrom. It makes me prouder than ever to see others recognize and confirm it. Henry T. Segerstrom: Imagining the Future tells Mr. Segerstroms story through his own words and the words of those whose lives he touched. It features archival footage and a host of interviews with notable people including Frank Gehry, Misty Copeland, Renee Fleming, Nigel Lythgoe and Bruce Nordstrom. Henry Segerstrom: Imagining the Future is a PBS SoCal production. Maria Hall-Brown is the Executive Producer. About PBS SoCal KOCE PBS SoCal KOCE is the home to PBS for Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. We deliver the full schedule of high-quality PBS programs, plus content that is for, about and by the people of Southern California. Our content is available free through three broadcast channels, at pbssocal.org, on our mobile apps, and via connected TV services. And we reach into the community through partnerships, events and grassroots outreach, providing early education resources and access to an array of arts and culture experiences. PBS SoCal has offices in Century City, Costa Mesa, and Los Angeles. Connect with us at pbssocal.org and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160919005471/en/ PBS SoCal Jennifer Vides, 310-803-9008 jvides@pbssocal.org or Stacy Shaffer, 714-241-4166 sshaffer@pbssocal.org or South Coast Plaza Debra Gunn Downing, 714-435-2021 downingd@southcoastplaza.com or The Segerstrom Foundation Todd Quartararo, 949-291-1777 Todd@QandAMarketing.com TYSONS CORNER, Va., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Serten Advisors, LLC (www.sertenadvisors.com), a leading commercial real estate advisory firm that provides real estate, brokerage and consulting services, is pleased to announce the completion of a lease transaction for the new headquarters consolidation for Capgemini Government Solutions, LLC, in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Capgemini Government Solutions is part of Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology and outsourcing services, which serves the mission and technology needs of the US Federal and State governments. Serten advised Capgemini Government Solutions on the consolidation of their Washington, DC, and Reston, VA, offices to a central location in Tysons Corner, VA. Capgemini Government Solutions will be moving into 15,301 SF at 1765 Greensboro Station Place, Tysons Corner, VA, a development owned by The Meridian Group. "A thorough financial analysis was conducted to determine the economic impacts of a consolidation. After an exhaustive search and market analysis, Capgemini ultimately selected 1765 Greensboro Station Place because it offered the perfect balance of proximity to Metro, amenity base, economics and the right environment for their employees. Capgemini saw this as a great opportunity to bring their offices together to be more collaborative, allowing Capgemini to better serve their clients' needs," said David Kaizer, Senior Vice President, Serten Advisors. Mr. Kaizer along with Renee Weir, Vice President, Serten Advisors, advised Capgemini Government Solutions, LLC, on this office consolidation. "The new location provides us with the flexibility we need as we continue to expand our US public sector presence," said Doug Lane, President and Chief Executive Officer, Capgemini Government Solutions. "We have added over 100 new employees in the first half of this year, and we expect to see continued growth. Having a consolidated office space enhances our ability to work across market teams in the DC metro region. At Capgemini, collaboration is a pillar of our service delivery, and this space better enables us to serve our clients. Serten Advisors has been proactive in making recommendations that fit our evolving business needs. David Kaizer and Renee Weir have been instrumental in walking us through this process, providing critical insights to help us better understand the financial, legal, and organizational impacts of our decisions and highlighting options, whenever available." The Meridian Group is a real estate investment and development firm based in Bethesda, Md. Since its inception in 1993, Meridian has acquired and developed more than 13 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, mixed-use, and land with a focus on the metropolitan Washington, DC market. To learn more, visit Meridian's website at www.tmgdc.com. ABOUT SERTEN ADVISORS, A MEMBER OF API GLOBAL: Serten Advisors, a member of API Global, is headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C. and is a global real estate advisory and brokerage firm. Serten Advisors is a market leader in independent and conflict-free representation of commercial office space users whose advisors have over 100 years of experience in consultative, multi-faceted engagements advocating for tenants. Our platform, based in research, intellectual capital and information resources, translates into productive and cost-effective ways for our clients to utilize their office space and enhance workplace productivity. The API Global platform serves clients in over 150 markets. Learn more about Serten Advisors by visiting www.sertenadvisors.com. Contact: Steven Hubberman Managing Principal, Serten Advisors shubberman@sertenadvisors.com 571.419.6565 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/serten-advisors-represents-capgemini-government-solutions-llc-in-new-lease-for-over-15000-sf-300330952.html SOURCE Serten Advisors, LLC URBANA, Ill., Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Illinois' Health Communication Online Master of Science (HCOM) program will host a state-of-the-art, 100 percent online conference, titled: Health Communication Barriers, Breakthroughs, and Best Practices (HCB3), March 1-3, 2017, and has issued a call for presentations from academics and professionals engaged in health communication. In addition to presentations exploring current best practices, barriers and breakthroughs within the health communication field, the conference will feature three widely acclaimed keynote speakers with expertise in these topics as they relate to the conference theme. The conference will be appropriate for professionals in many areas of healthcare, particularly those with an interest in the intersections between technology and patient experiences, health literacy, provider-patient communication, cultural health communication, e-health accessibility, and application of theory to real-world practice. "Technology is shaping the future of how professionals in healthcare communicate with each other and provide service to the public. We have seen enormous benefits to recent advances in e-health, but there are also many challenges that inhibit productivity, successful communication, and ultimately, patient care," explained John C. Lammers, Phd., Professor and Director Health Communication Online Master of Science Program. "The goal of this HCB3 conference is to generate discussion to identify which electronically mediated communication strategies and tools enhance the healthcare experience, and which barriers we still have yet to overcome. We hope to unite a community of the great academic and professional minds of our time to solve the problems that currently exist, and help shape the ways that technology and health communication evolve in the years ahead." The open call for presentations invites participation from educators, graduate students, postdoctoral students, researchers, and professionals of all healthcare fields to submit abstracts and presentation proposals for this conference. As HCB3 will be online and asynchronous, Prezi technology will be used to create a dynamic and interactive conference community. Prospective authors may submit their proposals in Prezi format via electronic submission process by November 15, 2016. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by December 1, 2016. During the conference, each presentation will be rated by conference attendees and an award will be given to the top 10 best presentations (determined by number of views and average rating), and the authors of those presentations will be asked to attend a live online Q&A session with viewers to discuss their research in early April 2017. About the HCB3 Sponsor: The HCOM Program The Health Communication Online Master of Science (HCOM) program provides a unique perspective and approach to health communication, recognizing that health outcomes depend significantly on communication processes. The HCOM program is asynchronous and offered 100 percent online with a comprehensive, interdisciplinary mix of health communication specializations including interpersonal, family, organizational, socially mediated, and cultural communication. These specializations appeal to interests in a wide variety of professional healthcare fields, including medicine, nursing, pharmaceuticals, public health, healthcare administration, and patient advocacy. The pace of the program accommodates the lifestyle of the working professional, enabling students to advance their expertise and education without sacrificing work or home life. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160919/409305 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/university-of-illinois-to-host-health-communication-conference-300330805.html SOURCE The University of Illinois APF Ghana builds trust, relationships, interoperability Airmen and 12 African nations concluded an African Partnership Flight in Ghana Sept. 16. Co-hosted by U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa and the Ghanaian air force, the five-day event brought together air forces from around Africa. "APF is really unique because its a military-to-military event, said Capt. Aaron Charbonneau, the USAFE-AFAFRICA APF Ghana mission planner. Typically, during a mil-to-mil event, you go to one country and have one objective but APFs are so diverse and we are able to focus on multiple objectives simultaneously." In all, APF Ghana hosted participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote D'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia to help strengthen relationships and share best practices through classroom instruction and hands-on training. APFs are comprised of multiple workshops designed to provide diverse experiences to different African countries at one time. The events serve as stepping stones to providing persistent diplomatic, informational, humanitarian and economic outreach efforts that support the diverse people and nations in Africa. My goal was to familiarize the partner nations with expeditionary air base defense, said Staff Sgt. Brad Little, the 435th Security Forces Squadron contingency response force team lead. "We went over entry control procedures, small unit tactics and introduction to military operations on urban terrain." APF Ghana also included deployment command and control, airfield standup and operations, airbase logistical support, C-130 tactics, techniques and procedures, and aerial patient movement. In addition, 20 Ghanaian army paratroopers jumped from a C-130J Super Hercules in order to maintain certification on personnel drops. "The dynamic was great, a lot of [partner nations] had similar procedures they did already so it wasn't just teaching, it was sharing their own experiences and techniques, which is what we are here to do," said Little. Two to three APF workshops are held each year in different countries with the goal of promoting regional cooperation to strengthen the interoperability of African militaries. For Mauritania air force 1st Lt. Ramdhane Haimoud, an Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance pilot, the experience provided valuable hands-on instruction not taught back home. "This was my first APF experience and it was a nice one, I learned a lot and will be able to train my friends when I go back home," said Haimoud. "It's was a very interesting, there was a lot of information that was shared between countries and it was a great opportunity for us to get to know each other and train together." AFAFRICA is committed to conducting multilateral military-to-military engagement and security assistance with African air forces in order to build aviation capacity, enhance regional cooperation and increase interoperability. B-21: Modernizing the bomber fleet Following the Air Force secretarys announcement that the new long-range strike bomber would be called the B-21 Raider, Gen. Robin Rand, the Air Force Global Strike Command commander, said during a session at the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference Sept. 19 the name brought the past and present Air Force full circle by linking a success from the past with modernization that is currently taking shape with the new bomber -- and must continue to keep the Air Force ahead of its enemies. What I like about it so much is the 21st century B-21 and the name Raider connects us back to our rich heritage, and theres no richer heritage than what happened on April 18, 1942: 80 brave men in 16 B-25 Mitchells took off from the Hornet and showed the Japanese that we had will, we had fight, and changed, many would say, the course of that war, Rand said. Rand stressed the aging bomber fleet was in need of an upgrade to combat future threats. In an ever increasing anti-access/area denial environment, the Air Forces systems need to be survivable, reliable and efficient. Weve got to modernize, Rand said. The B-21 is going to be a big part of modernization for our Air Force, so that we can continue to do the long-range strike mission. As Americas adversaries continue to update their systems, the U.S. needs to be ready to face them in order to maintain aerial dominance. Consequently, developing new technologies to meet threats is an increasingly relevant endeavor. We set priorities on some systems, and youll hear our senior leaders this week say Hey, our three top (modernization) priorities are the F-35 (Lightning II), the KC-46 (Pegasus) and the B-21, said Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes, the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements and another B-21 panelist. You know what that priority means is that were going to find a way to pay for those and were going to make those a priority in our budget because we need to ensure well be able to penetrate the enemy airspace and hold the targets at risk so the president of the United States has options. Capabilities B-21 capabilities discussed during the panel ranged from whether the bomber would be manned or unmanned, to what kind of munitions it would carry, as well as the number of aircraft being acquisitioned. While Rand stated the number of aircraft to be purchased hasnt been officially decided, he does have a number in mind. Ive been on record saying we need to start with a minimum of a hundred B-21s and my premise for that is looking at combatant commander requirements we currently have, Rand said, adding Air Force officials are also projecting what the next 50 years of combat requirements will be when deciding how many of the new bombers are needed. You have to have a starting point, Rand continued. You have to look at the total existing bomber fleet we have now. We have 158 total bombers, B-52s, B-1s and B-2s and I just, again, for the life of me cant imagine our United States Air Force and our nation can have one less bomber than it currently has today. So, we start with 100, and as we manage the fleet and we manage retiring some aspects of the fleet and bringing the B-21 in, we need to really dig our heels in on what that ceiling should be. The specific competencies the newest bomber will possess are still in discussion, but Randall Walden, the third panelist and the director and program executive officer for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, stated that as of now, one decision whether the B-21 will be manned or unmanned has been roughly decided. Right now its manned, with the option to do unmanned in the future, he elaborated. But, recall this platform is a part of a much larger family of systems, and in that family its going to bring to bear probably some of the best capabilities in the nation. From an unmanned point of view, its got a basic requirement stated. (The) question is, Whats the right timing to bring that level of capability together with this type of platform? Budget All three of our bomber fleets are gainfully employed every single day, Rand said. I sometimes think people need to realize you get a lot of bang for your buck with the bombers. Conventionally were in every combatant commanders (operational) plan. A priority for Air Force leadership, especially with recent years tightening budgets, is finding ways to maintain a strong national defense, while also remaining cost-effective. There are certainly things we need to do to reduce costs on these systems and (long range standoff) will continue to be a topic as we work through the budget process with the department, Holmes said. Well work within the Air Force budget to find ways to fund the nuclear enterprise, which is the foundation of (U.S.) defense. ACC commander: Airmen make a difference daily The success of todays Air Force is a product of the Airmen who are willing to put themselves in harms way for the defense of the nation, the commander of Air Combat Command told thousands of Airmen, members of industry and airpower advocates during the Air, Space and Cyber Conference here Sept. 20. Gen. Hawk Carlisle used the opportunity to speak to this audience to highlight the courageous efforts of innovative Airmen in the joint fight and to praise the Air Forces partnership with industry. We are the greatest Air Force in the world, we have great technology, were doing great things, but its our Airmen and what they do with what (we) give them, Carlisle said. And invariably, whatever industry and our government manages to develop and give to our Airmen, our Airmen take it and make it even better than what we thought (was) possible. During the conference, Carlisle highlighted the actions of two heroic Airmen in particular Airman 1st Class Benjamin Hutchins, a joint terminal air controller, and Capt. Kerrin Caldwell, a weather officer. Their actions earned them the Silver Star and Department of States Meritorious Honor Award, respectively. While under fire in Afghanistan, Hutchins dove into a swift river to rescue two Soldiers who had had been pulled in by a strong current. He drifted northward with just his mouth and nose out of the water as bullets splashed within three meters of his body until he finally reached safety. Caldwell identified a weather analysis and forecasting training and technology gap between the United States and U.S. Southern Command. She shared weather processes and technologies with those in Spanish-speaking countries, and visited several countries to speak on weather issues prevention and preparation techniques. Let there be no doubt Airmen are making a difference on a daily basis, Carlisle said. While Airmen are more than capable of carrying out the mission, the Air Force is also in need of industrys technical capabilities and advancements in order to retain its competitive edge in a world of rapidly-changing threats. What we need industry to do, and what we need our young Airmen to do is help us be creative, Carlisle continued. We have to understand whats going on well ahead of the adversary and be able to react faster. We have to be able to command and control forces across the entire spectrum from the leading tactical edge all the way to the (Combined Air Operations Center) in the rear and operational level of warfare. We have to create the effects on the battlefield, and all that has to operate inside what the adversary can do. As the leader of the Air Forces largest major command, Carlisle ensures combat-ready forces are ready for rapid deployments. The Airmen under his command underwrite the success of warfighting commanders by providing agile combat support, air superiority, global precision attack, personnel recovery, command and control, and global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Maharashtra governments Mangrove Cell will begin an eviction drive of some 1,000 houses from October allegedly encroaching notified mangrove area. Actor Kapil Sharma will be summoned to record his statement on the destruction of mangroves in his bungalows backyard. The Mumbai suburban collector has sought a report from the mangrove cell on whether they have been destroyed by bungalows adjoining Kapils plot in Versova too. Over 50 adjoining bungalows are under the scanner said official sources from the collectors office. The ground-plus-one bungalows, valued around Rs. 4 crore each, stand on MHADA-owned land. BMC has already written to the collector on complaints from locals about the destruction. A case was registered against the actor on Sunday and police will send a notice to him after they gather evidence from the spot where the destruction was reported. This is the second FIR against the actor after his tweet row. The Cell, being an authorised body, can initiate action of demolishing the encroachment on mangrove area. We are waiting for September to get over as monsoon season is going on. The eviction is not initiated on humanitarian grounds, Chief Conservator of Forest, N Vasudevan said. The Cell had already identified 4,000 such houses which have encroached the area. It had initiated action and these houses and constructions have been razed. We will start the next course of action from October, he said. The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms came into effect in 1991 mandating restoration of the mangroves to pre-1991 status. There is 5,469 hectares of mangrove land in Mumbai, which is notified as a reserved forest. Of this, 2-3 per cent is vulnerable to encroachments, said Vasudevan. This is the same area where encroachments have taken place. A Rs. 20 crore project of fencing the same vulnerable area, along with CCTV and satellite-based monitoring has been decided by the Cell, Vasudevan, who heads the Mangrove Cell, said. However, there have been incidents of violations and the Bombay High Court in 2005 had issued directives for avoiding further violation of Environment Protection Act, 1986, the official said. Using Global Positioning System (GPS), officials of the Mangrove Cell surveyed a stretch of more than 400 metres of mangroves in Andheri West and found a majority of the bungalows had encroached mangroves. As per the Environment Protection Act, there has to be a buffer zone of 50 metres to facilitate movement of intertidal water and no construction or dumping of debris is allowed. However, more than 90 per cent of bungalows have violated norms and committed a punishable offence, said Makarand Ghodke, assistant conservator, Mangrove Cell. Most of the mangrove cover diminishes from suburbs According to the reports from an NGO Watchdog Foundation, about 50 per cent of the mangrove cover drop. They said, it has satellite images from October 2013 and June 2016 that shows a decline in forest cover. Reckless developmental activities without any concern for the environment, has led to drop in 50 per cent of mangrove cover at suburban like Khar and Bandra mangrove patch, said Godfrey Pimenta, trustee, Watchdog Foundation. The encroachments on the southern end of the beach have led to the destruction of over 500 to 600 mangrove trees. Syria: A convoy delivering aid to Syrians in Aleppo province was hit by a deadly airstrike hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a week-long ceasefire, with an outraged UN warning it could amount to a war crime. The UN said at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike while UN aid chief Stephen OBrien said initial reports indicated many people were killed or seriously wounded. Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime, OBrien said. The Observatory was unable to confirm if the planes responsible were Syrian or Russian. The UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian mission had sought to take advantage of the ceasefire, which collapsed on Monday night as shells and bombs rained down on Aleppo city and the surrounding province. The Observatory said a total of 36 people had died in the violence across the battleground region. An AFP correspondent inside Aleppo city reported almost non-stop bombardment and constant sirens. Syrias military announced the end to the truce earlier Monday, accusing rebels of more than 300 violations and failing to commit to a single element of the US-Russia deal. The ceasefire, which came into force on 12 September, saw an initial drop in fighting but violence began to escalate late last week and the deal came under severe strain over the weekend. US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that the truce could be the last chance to save the country. Aid under attack The attack on the convoy is likely to provoke anger at the UN General Assembly in New York, with the delivery of aid to desperate Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas stressed as a key condition of the deal by Washington. The US, Russia and other key players are set to gather there on Tuesday for talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions. Our outrage at this attack is enormous, the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters. The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians. The United States said it was outraged at the attack and stressed that the destination of the convoy was known to the Syrian regime and its ally, Russia. Aid distribution to Syrian civilians caught up in the conflict had already faced severe difficulties. The UN held back deliveries destined for Aleppo city because it was unable to obtain security guarantees. Jan Egeland, head of the UN humanitarian task force for Syria, said the convoy was bombed despite aid agencies coordinating their movements with all sides on the ground. A Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouse was also hit, a UN spokesman said. Inside Aleppo, residents in rebel-held areas hunkered down after the end of the ceasefire which had brought only temporary relief to the population of up to 275,000 people trapped there. Sirens wailed as ambulances zipped through the eastern half of the divided city, an AFP correspondent reported. The Observatory said that military planes had carried out more than 40 strikes since the Syrian army announced the end of the truce. Chief US diplomat Kerry will try to speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York before Tuesdays meeting of the International Syria Support Group but statements from Syrian and Russian military officials on the ground appeared to bury the deal. Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally, said Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy. The ceasefire deal had three key components: fighting between government and rebel forces across Syria would halt, although strikes on Islamic State and other jihadists could continue. Humanitarian aid would reach desperate civilians, particularly in devastated eastern Aleppo. And if the ceasefire held, the US was to have set up a joint military cell with Russia to target jihadists. It came under massive strain on Saturday when a US-led coalition strike hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday blasted the air strikes, which he said showed world powers supported terrorist organisations like the Islamic State. His adviser Buthaina Shaaban went further, telling AFP that Damascus believed the raid which killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers had been intentional. The bloodiest day for civilians was Sunday, when a barrel bomb attack killed 10 in a southern rebel-held town and one woman died in the first raids on Aleppo since the truce started. In a first, authorities in the US used a cellphone alert to ask millions of New Yorkers to help nab a 28-year-old naturalised American citizen of Afghan descent wanted for the weekend bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey. The nations Wireless Emergency Alerts system was deployed, believed for the first time ever to issue an alert relating to a terror investigation, very different from the usual weather or abducted children advisory. Cellphones blared with the cacophonous tone of an emergency alert yesterday at around 8 AM and its content caught New Yorkers by surprise. The alert, received by millions on their phones nearly at the same time, was an electronic wanted poster which read WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen. The electronic wanted alert meant the citizens in homes, subways, sidewalks and offices across New York were now part of a massive drive to nab the person wanted for placing bombs, including a pressure cooker that did not detonate, on the busy and crowded streets of Manhattan on a Saturday evening. Rahami was captured just hours after the alert went out, taken into custody following a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. Alerts are usually sent across phone networks warning city residents about extreme weather conditions such as tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons, the AMBER Alerts asking for public help in most serious child-abduction cases and alerts by the President during a national emergency. WEA messages include a special tone and vibration, both repeated twice. Just before the alert, the FBI, New York Police Department and other law enforcement agencies had issued a nation-wide alert asking for help in locating Rahami. Rahami is wanted for questioning in connection with an explosion that occurred on September 17 at approximately 8:30 PM in the vicinity of 135 West 23rd Street, New York. Rahami is a 28-year-old United States citizen of Afghan descent born on January 23, 1988, in Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He is about 5 6 tall and weighs approximately 200 pounds (90 kg). Rahami has brown hair, brown eyes, and brown facial hair, the information released across social media said. A spokesman for the State Police was quoted as saying in the New York Times that the decision to release the message came from the authorities in New York City. The daily said in New York City, the alerts have been used eight times since 2012: three times during Hurricane Sandy, once to alert a travel ban during a 2015 winter storm and twice during the Chelsea bombing. In a shocking and brutal case, a 21-year-old woman was stabbed 28 times by a stalker in Burari on Tuesday morning. The woman succumbed to her injuries, reported Firstpost. The entire incident was caught on a CCTV camera. The CCTV footage shows the school teacher, identified only as Karuna, walking on a busy road as the assailant, Surender Singh, accosts her from behind. He is then seen shoving her to the ground before stabbing and kicking her multiple times. The woman was stabbed publicly in Burari area at 9 am by the accused, named Surender Singh, 34, who was known to her. No one came to her rescue, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma told reporters. He was later chased by the public and beaten up and handed over to police, the officer added. The officer said, The assailant had been troubling the woman since a year or so. The family had lodged a complaint four-five months back and both the families had reached a compromise. The victim was declared brought dead at a trauma centre in ISBT, police said. According to the police, the assailant owns a shop and his divorce case was going on. Family members of the girl gathered outside Sushruta Trauma Centre (ISBT) break down after hearing the news pic.twitter.com/mjz16s67nr ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 The man was harassing my sister for a long time. He stays in Rohini. We had registered a complaint after which he had calmed down until now, ANI quoted the victims brother as saying. Police said Singh was in love with Karuna for over a year and had proposed to her several times. Karuna, however, had turned him down. It was then that Singh started stalking her and even threatened to kill her. A few months ago, Karuna reportedly approached the local police after Singh started harassing her by repeatedly calling her on the phone. She also informed her parents and brother about the harassment. Police said both Karuna and Singh were called to the police station, and the duo compromised as Karunas family members did not want to file a police case. Singh reportedly promised to mend his ways. On Tuesday, however, he followed Karuna and stopped her on her way to school. He then stabbed her more than 20 times before fleeing. The locals gathered at the spot and managed to catch Singh, who was trying to flee. They thrashed him and called the police. He was then handed over to us, an investigator said. He has been arrested and a case of murder has been registered against him. (With Agency Inputs) Donald Trumps eldest son triggered an online storm with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl containing an assortment of tainted and untainted candies. This image says it all, Donald Trump Jr, 38, wrote in a tweet showing a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular, rainbow-colored Skittles candies. Written above the image is: If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? Thats our Syria refugee problem. The Twitter post showing the familiar Trump-Pence 2016 logo with the presidential campaign slogan Make America Great Again! was met with immediate scorn from users of the popular micro-blogging site. Im not even big on Skittles but now I will buy up every single packet, wrote @SarahSahim. Is Donald Trumps new campaign slogan Fear The Rainbow? wrote Twitter user @AngrySalmond. Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has sparked waves of criticism with comments on race, immigrants, and refugees, including calling for a ban on Muslim travelers to the United States. Equally controversial was his pronouncement last year that many Mexican immigrants were drug smugglers and rapists. The brash businessman also is strongly opposed to plans by President Barack Obama to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States by the end of this month. Syria is in the grip of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, amid an exodus of more than 4.8 million fleeing the war-torn country. The United States, which has a long tradition of taking in refugees, has been criticized for its slow response to the Syrian crisis. Riyadh: An alert that prompted Philippine police to surround a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane at Manila airport on Tuesday was a false alarm, an airline spokesman told AFP. There was a false alarm for hijack for Flight 872, the spokesman told AFP in the Saudi capital Riyadh. BREAKING: Philippine airport officials say Saudia Airlines plane mistakenly sent a distress call before landing at Manila's airport. The Associated Press (@AP) September 20, 2016 This is a developing story, more details awaiting. Send us photos/videos related to this article on feedback@afternoonvoice.com or tag us on Twitter @Afternoon_Voice [dropcap]A[/dropcap]ctor Jiah Khans hanging was staged and the marks on her face and neck indicate that its not a simple case of suicide, a British forensic expert has concluded in a report, adding a fresh twist to the three-year-old case. Jason Payne-Jamess findings contradict Indian experts report on Jiahs death, and her mother, Rabia Khan, intends to share them with a city sessions court. We have to look that the court will accept the report by foreign experts who were hired by Rabia, and not the state. The development comes over a month after the CBI told the Bombay High Court that it had ruled out murder in the case. Jiah, who had been dating actor Aditya Pancholis son, Sooraj, was found hanged in her Juhu apartment on June 3, 2013. In December last year, the agency charged Sooraj with abetment to suicide. Unhappy with the probe, Rabia roped in Payne-James of UK-based Forensic Healthcare Services Ltd. Payne-James studied the medical and post-mortem reports, analysed photographs of Jiahs body and reviewed CCTV grabs and pictures of her room for his investigation. State forensic experts had said the ligature marks on Jiahs neck may be caused due to slippage of ligature material [dupatta] slightly downwards or the ligature knot present at that site. But Payne-James concluded that the dupatta could not have created such impressions. The British forensic experts has also ruled out the possibility of the dupatta creating marks on Jiahs lower jaw, contradicting state experts opinion that said the injury may have been caused by multiple knots on the dupatta. He has questioned Indian investigators failure to explore theories other than suicide. The marks on the left arm and the lower lip are consistent with assaultive injuries the marks of ligature and the marks on the chin are not consistent with simple hanging with the dupatta. Payne-James believes Indian forensic experts didnt study medical evidence in the case thoroughly. Khan was in a relationship with Hero actor Sooraj Pancholi. A note recovered from Jiahs apartment after her death had said how she had to undergo an abortion during the course of her relation with Pancholi. The case has seen several twists and turns, with Jiahs mother Rabia alleging that Sooraj was responsible for her daughters death. Pancholi had also been arrested on charges of abetment to suicide. He was later released. Rabia had moved court alleging foul play in Jiahs death, following which the Bombay High Court had assigned the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Bollywood industry is known for their name change and tragedy. Everything is unpredictable here. Nafisa Khan, who was known as Jiah Khan in this industry, was a British-Indian. She made her debut in 1998 as a child artist in Dil Se. Years later; she changed her name to Jiah Khan before making her debut in Nishabd in 2007. She was mostly known for her role in the 2008 film Ghajini. The young actress reportedly hanged herself at her Juhu residence. Jiah was brought up in England and had shifted to Mumbai with her mother Rabiya, recently. She made headlines and heads turn with her sensational debut opposite none other than Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in Nishabd and went on to star in more commercially successful films like Ghajini and Housefull but now shes no more. Calling her full of life and high-spirited, Bollywood celebrities mourned the death of young actress Jiah Khan, but when she was alive the same industry failed to give her work. Jiah hardly had any film projects in hand. She was making small time appearance in fashion shows. This is very cruel industry, here people cry for after somebodys dead but they hardly lend any support when they are alive. The actress made her acting debut with Ram Gopal Varmas Nishabd opposite Amitabh Bachchan in March 2007. Does this make Bollywood responsible for Khans decision to commit suicide? Not directly, in any profession in the world, there are more heartbreaks than there are successes. Different people deal with the knocks in different ways. Most aspiring actors who come to Mumbai dont make it, even though many of them are fair, good-looking, slim and talented. Few get the exposure like Khan received. But you can tell from the Twitter responses from Bollywood that there is a sense of guilt. Its easier for most of the people to understand a young woman would kill herself because she was disappointed in love. But how can one believe that he career was disappointed thats why she committed suicide? That too when youre 25 and young the most important qualification in the world of acting is on her side? That doesnt make any sense to most and it emphasizes how none of her colleagues had realized how seriously she was depressed. Worse, the only way to stand by her now seems to be with something as fleeting as a tweet. Extremely sad and unfortunate that industry does not have a system that one can ask in case of need. Movie making is an industry and a small percentage of net profits can go to establish a system where needs of life other than roti, kapada & makan can be availed when in need. In case of depression, one can approach the best psychiatrist or clinical psychologist to sort out the problem in confidence. Advisory services can be made available. There is no provision in our country to keep someone prone to on suicide watch. With family links stretched to the limit, loneliness, desperation and hopelessness sets in. Some are lucky to find a way out of the cruel situation. Most are accepting to unruliness due to the insolence they experience in their friends and consociates. Family members and friends often feel that resolution can be achieved without much help from their side. They want a hands-off, let us not interfere approach to prevail. Everyone secures their own turf. Untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide. Depressed people are prone to commit suicide for small reasons or perhaps for no reason. However, without reason no one commit suicide. With you even loved ones also become dead and they trap in a lifeless body. This message is to my young readers, by knowingly or unknowingly if you have hurt anybody physically or mentally then please ends your ties happily with him/her. Dont put a situation to him/her that he/she goes into depression or take extreme step. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Days after Maharashtra Minister Vishnu Sawra faced the anger of tribals over malnutrition, the district administration has issued prohibitory orders in two villages for Wednesday in view of Woman and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Mundes scheduled visit there. District Collector Abhijit Bhangar directed for orders under CrPC section 144 to be clamped in a radius of one km of Koch and Kalamwadi villages of Mokhada taluka on Wednesday from 7 AM to 8 PM, an official release said. The prohibitory orders have also been issued as some local activists may disrupt Mundes visit. The order has been issued due to the visit of Munde to the villages to meet the family members of the two children who recently died due to malnutrition, it said. Last week, Sawra had faced the anger of a tribal woman whose two-year-old son died last month apparently due to severe malnutrition in Palghar district, the video of which went viral on social media. The Tribal Development Minister had gone to meet the distraught family members, residing in a thatched house at Khoch village and comfort them. However, the woman, overcome by grief, vented her anger at Sawra, who is also the Guardian Minister of Palghar. The UN humanitarian aid agency suspended all convoys in Syria on Tuesday following deadly airstrikes on aid trucks the previous night that activists said killed at least 12 people, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The attack plunged Syrias U.S.-Russia-brokered cease-fire further into doubt. The Syrian military, just hours earlier, had declared the week-long truce had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia after blaming rebels for the violations suggested it could still be salvaged. In Geneva, spokesman Jens Laerke of OCHA said further aid delivery would hold pending a review of the security situation in Syria in the aftermath of the airstrike. Laerke called it a very, very dark day for humanitarians across the world. The U.N. aid coordinator said the Syria government had granted needed authorizations in recent days to allow for aid convoys to proceed inside Syria. Humanitarian U.N. aid deliveries had stalled in recent weeks amid continued fighting, and the truce had not paved the way for expanded convoys as initially expected. It was not clear who was behind the attack late on Monday, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over Syria, as well as the U.S.-led coalition that is targeting the Islamic State group. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the civil war, and Aleppo-based activist Bahaa al-Halaby both said the attack killed 12 people. Among the victims was Omar Barakat who headed the Red Crescent in the town where the attack occurred, they said. The Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer first responder group also known as the White Helmets, confirmed that casualty figure. The convoy, part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent, was hit in rural western Aleppo province. The White Helmets first responder group posted images of a number of vehicles on fire and a video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitch black area, as ambulances arrive on the scene. U.N. officials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. When asked who was behind the airstrikes, Abdurrahman said Syrian President Bashar Assads regime does not have the capabilities to carry out such airstrikes within two hours. An undertrial allegedly committed suicide in Thane Central Jail, police said. Siraj Alam Shaikh, 27, was found hanging in the jail premises late on Monday evening, they said. Shaikh was arrested for alleged kidnapping and rape of a girl by Mumbai Police and lodged in prison since last year, Thane Nagar police said. He was shifted to Thane Jail only a few days back from the Taloja Jail where he was lodged earlier, they said. During the head count on Monday evening, the jail officials found one of the prisoners missing. During the search, they allegedly found Shaikh hanging in the cell. He was brought down and taken to the jail medical ward where a doctor examined him. He was then rushed to Thane civil hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The body was sent for postmortem, police said, adding that a case has been registered. An Emirati woman has sought leave to have a sex change operation in what would be a first for the United Arab Emirates, newspapers reported on Tuesday. The application to the court in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi comes after a change in the law took effect earlier this month legalising gender reassignment surgery. Lawyer Ali al-Mansouri told Gulf News the 29-year-old woman always felt strongly that she was not the gender she physically appeared to be. Ever since she was three, the woman felt instead that she is actually a male. She would have an intense desire to have a male body and to be accepted by others as a male and would feel her true identity is male, he told the paper. He said his clients feeling that her body does not reflect her true gender caused her severe distress, anxiety and depression. She has been undergoing physical and psychological care since 2012 and a medical commission had recommended that she undergo a sex-change surgery. The court said it would hear the case on September 28. The new Medical Liability Law that came into effect earlier this month allows for sex change operations on medical grounds. The surgical procedure is permitted if it is part of a treatment for gender dysphoria in transgender people, as advised by a medical commission to be set up for this purpose, the law says. A rapidly growing market for global pharmaceuticals, already worth an estimated $1.1trn per annum, will require closer cooperation along the partners in the air cargo cool chain. That was one take-away from the Cool Chain Association (CCA) pharma and biosciences conference in Dubai, along with a heads-up that pharma shippers are widening their criteria for selecting supply chain logistics providers. But perhaps the most comforting news for air cargo pharma specialists was that maritime container carriers are lagging behind in the compliance race for good distribution practices (GDP) certification. The CCA audience heard from Therese Puetz, chief executive of Karavan Management Consulting, that while ocean freight pharma transport averaged a 5% per annum growth over the last decade, just ahead of 4% for airfreight, the maritime sector was gaining in the lower and medium end of the value range. Puetz said that while ocean freight may be on average just 20% of the airfreight cost, it has made most gains on the transatlantic routes, due to better infrastructure available for maritime transport on that trade lane. But she observed that maritime trade has seen some hefty insurance claims due to simple things, such as the incorrect setting of a thermostat. A later speaker at the same event, Andrew Lester, global director for healthcare at logistics company Expeditors, said that ocean freight suffered from a big gap and a lack of understanding about GDP, with the best maritime carrier achieving just 51% compliance with the requirements of GDP and the worst at around 30%, with poor background performance. But there is no room for complacency, with Puetz citing research that the pharma industry suffers total transport losses of around $35bn per year, or 15% of the overall sales value, although some of those losses relate not just to the product value but also includes administration, product replacement and wasted logistics. In response to growing pharma shipper supply chain demands, air cargo has been increasing its supply chain processes over the past decade, said Puetz. She highlighted the emergence of dedicated pharma facilities at airports such as Luxembourg, Hong Kong, London Heathrow, plus the Middle East hubs at Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. For the latter three Gulf hubs, this has been important, with Lester reminding the audience that in the past, it was common to see no Middle East transit as a prior condition of the airfreight booking for pharma. As an interesting sidebar, Puetz said that the growth in Halal pharma, respecting Muslim beliefs relating to the non-use of pork-based gelatine and alcohol in medicines, meant that there would need to be additional segregation of such products from standard pharma goods. Big data and improved technology, such as data loggers which can indicate a temperature spike or excursion in real time rather than after the event, were also themes in the CCA conference. Described as enriching the toolbox for a smart cool chain, reference was made to ULDs with rechargeable batteries, improved covers for protecting the temperature regimes of hot and cold products, plus the use of nearfield communications (NFC) the latter being similar technology to that used for paywave or contactless payments. NFC can be applied in order to provide not just real time temperature tracking but also to control such elements as humidity. Bert Allard Jorritsma, manager special cargo and services delivery with Emirates SkyCargo, made the point that good pharma logistics was more than just specialist handling equipment and warehousing at airports, but was also a process that needed input from the entire supply chain. Im looking at you. We need to align, said Jorritsma, who added that all participants needed to talk about data and also about how to understand and interpret it, to use data as a glue to create a seamless supply chain. The numerous handover points in a pharma supply chain and the complex chunk of data created from those handovers needed to be properly understood in order to maintain the integrity of the product. Data is not just about gathering it, but in how to use data for a purpose, added Jorritsma. In a latter panel discussion, it was said that Customs and food and health inspection authorities should be located within the warehouse, in order to deal quickly with any clearance problems. Shippers are also now asking for requests for solutions rather than just a request for tender, putting greater emphasis on a better and more reliable supply chain, rather than focusing on cost. As one unnamed shipper said from the floor, he concentrated on proper temperature control of his high value goods throughout the supply chain, and was prepared to pay for it. Share this story You might think that in this day and age the exciting growth prospects in cargo are in bellyhold. All those widebody passenger planes with enough hold space to carry a car. But Liege in Belgium is proof that it is still possible for a dedicated freighter airport to thrive. In the ten years to 2015, its cargo throughput grew from 325,712 tonnes to 649,829 tonnes and that is not just or even primarily due to being TNTs European hub. In fact, says Steven Verhasselt, vice president commercial for the airport, whereas TNT was 75% of tonnage in 2005, it is only 35% today. Nor was all the growth before the economic downturn tonnage has risen by 25% since 2008, albeit with some ups and downs in between. Instead, there are two key factors in Lieges favour, and both of them are good old-fashioned arguments used by cargo airports for decades. One is that the airport is focused on freighter flights, along with some low cost and charter passenger operations. The general trend is towards belly cargo but when you are operating a freighter, you want to fly into an airport dedicated to helping that type of cargo, Verhasselt says. In the competition between belly and freighters, we are on the side of the freighters. He contrasts the experience at Liege with a freighter landing at a major passenger hub and probably then facing a 25 minute taxi to a cargo facility hidden behind the passenger terminus. He adds: If we can save you a block hour from not having to taxi or wait for passenger airlines to land first, than that is a real cost saving and more important than cheaper landing or parking rates. The other advantage at Liege is genuine 24 hour operations, an increasing rarity in Europe. This does not just mean that the runway operates through the night but that there are no limits of any kind on the number of night slots that can be offered, and no extra charge for landing then. This has been guaranteed by local government for 30 years and it is backed up by positive action, including purchasing and demolishing some houses under the flight path and spending heavily on noise insulation for others. Verhasselt points out that this is particularly valuable as other airports get more congested. For example the slot situation at Shanghai Pudong is now really tough. If you have finally managed to secure a slot there, you may well find that it does not fit in with the slot you have in Europe. We say to you that you can fly into Liege at any time that suits you. If you want a quick turnaround, we can do that, or if you need to park your freighter to fit in with your next slot, then we have space for that. Liege is marketing this under the brand The Flexport, a concept which also includes a choice of three handlers and an open policy towards fuel providers. It is the airlines decision which fuel supplier or trucker they use, and we see our job as to facilitate that, Verhasselt says. A steady flow of freighter airlines have been attracted to Liege by all this. One of the longest standing ones is Cargo Air Lines of Israel, which has recently upgraded its fleet from two to three Boeing 747-400Fs and which flies from Liege to Tel Aviv, New York JFK and Atlanta. Though they are an Israeli airline, they consider Liege as their home base, says Verhasselt. The B747-400Fs of El Al also call at Liege en route between Tel Aviv and JFK, and Icelandair has long used Liege as the European terminus for its Boeing 757 flights to Keflavik and then destinations in the US and Canada. Emirates has a six times a week Hong Kong-Dubai-Liege-JFK routing, in cooperation with TNT Airways, now ASL Airlines Belgium, and Ukraine International connects Liege with Vienna and St Petersburg. Since 2008, Ethiopian has also made the Belgian airport its European hub and is now a major operator into the airport, flying northbound from Addis Ababa with perishables and then back to destinations such as Lagos and Johannesburg southbound. Verhasselt says there are further plans for the African carrier to use Liege to connect with Asia, China, South America and North America. Ramping up equally rapidly since it arrived with three weekly flights in 2014 is GSA Network Airline Services, which uses African carriers Astral Aviation and Allied Air to fly from Nairobi to Liege with perishables and then back to Lagos with general cargo. Also arriving in 2014 and now a major operator is Qatar Airways, which started with four flights and has already increased those to 14, using a mix of Airbus A330s, B777s and B747s. Verhasselt says it is now seeking the traffic rights to add more services. As for FedEx-TNT, whose merger was completed in late May, Verhasselt sees only upsides for Liege. For a start, the merger agreement included a commitment to maintain a hub at the Belgian airport, and Verhasselt sees no reason why in time it might not become the Memphis of Europe. Yes, Paris and Cologne [FedExs existing European hubs] are both close, but Cologne is also the hub for UPS, and passengers are more important at Paris than freighters. I am not saying it will happen, that we become the main hub, but we will do everything we can to influence them. Meanwhile he is enthusiastic about ASLs purchase of the 35 aircraft freighter fleet of TNT Airways, one of the preconditions for the FedEx-TNT merger, saying that the Dublin-based operator has stated its desire to build up third party traffic such as charters, while still operating FedEx-TNTs flights. We used to have one partner TNT but now we have two, and rather than being just a cost centre for an integrator, ASL is now like a home carrier, he says. We all know what a home carrier can do for a cargo airport you only have to look at Cargolux in Luxembourg. Maybe ASL can be our Cargolux. The airport itself is also doing its part to build up traffic. A re-organisation two years ago saw the former regionally-based business development team divided into one person focused on winning new carriers, one on keeping those carriers already at Liege happy and trying to build traffic with them, and another working to build up the cargo community around the airport. You could say that one person gets the carriers, another one keeps them here, and the third fills them up, Verhasselt says. The third role is particularly tasked with ensuring that there are customers based in and around Liege. To help the process along, the airport is developing 470 ha of land around the airport. It has already opened an office block for freight companies, with another being built, and is constructing the first of several warehouses, with 20,000 sq m due to open by the end of next year. These developments are targeted at particular industry verticals, including pharmaceuticals with local producer Mithra as anchor tenant and e-commerce, with a Chinese-owned company moving in. As Verhasselt puts it: We have always been an airport where cargo arrives, goes through the first line and is soon on its way to its final destination, but we have gone as far as we can go with this business model. To continue to grow we need our own origin and destination cargo. Share this story College students have risen up to fight racism on campuses. But it is often those very same students who subject Jewish students to anti-Semitism. This article is excerpted from a longer piece in the Tower. When Arielle Mokhtarzadeh arrived at University of California, Berkeley, to attend the annual Students of Color Conference, she had no way of knowing that she would be leaving as a victim of anti-Semitism. The conference has maintained a reputation for 27 years as being a safe space where students of color, as well as white progressive allies, can discuss issues of structural and cultural inequality on college campuses. For Mokhtarzadeh, an Iranian Jew at UCLA, her freshman year was punctuated by incidents of anti-Semitism that were both personal and met with national controversy. She was shocked during her first quarter in school, when students entered the Bruin Cafe to see the phrase Hitler did nothing wrong etched into a table. Months later, Mokhtarzadehs friend Rachel Beyda was temporarily denied a student government leadership position based solely on her Jewish identity, an event that made news nationwide. The campus was supposed to be her new home, her new safe space so why didnt she feel that way? She went to the conference hoping for some answers. She was horrified when the discussion became an attack on Israel and soon devolved into attacks on the Jews. But on the first day there, she was horrified when the discussion became an attack on Israel and soon devolved into attacks on the Jews. Over the course of what was probably no longer than an hour, my history was denied, the murder of my people was justified, and a movement whose sole purpose is the destruction of the Jewish homeland was glorified. Statements were made justifying the ruthless murder of innocent Israeli civilians, blatantly denying Jewish indigeneity in the land, and denying the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered, she said. Why anyone in their right mind would accept these slanders as truths baffles me. But they did. These statements, and others, were met with endless snaps and cheers. I was taken aback. Mokhtarzadeh walked out on the verge of tears. It was in that moment, during that conference, that I realized that every identity and every intersection of identity was to be welcomed and championed in progressive spaces except mine. The recent surge of progressive activism on college campuses across the country has led to many debates on the merits of concepts such as microaggressions and safe spaces in educational settings that should respect free speech and dialogue. Student uprisings against racial injustice and discrimination at Yale, the University of Missouri and dozens of other universities have shown the power of students who have banded together against institutionalized racism in academia and the student body. But little has been said about how the idea of intersectionality the idea that all struggles are connected and must be combated by allies has created a dubious bond between the progressive movement and pro-Palestinian activists who often engage in the same racist and discriminatory discourse they claim to fight. As a result of this alliance, progressive Jewish students are often subjected to a double standard not applied to their peers an Israel litmus test to prove their loyalties to social justice. Progressive Jewish students have said they feel like they have to hide their Jewish identity in order to belong in these movements. Such was the case of Michael Stephenson, a Jewish sophomore at the University of Missouri who participated in the racial justice protests last fall, and yet felt his Jewish identity undercut his social justice credibility. He told the Jewish Week newspaper that there were countless moments when his social justice cred was questioned, including statements that bordered on anti-Semitism. The progressive college movement has pushed anti-Semitic rhetoric in the name of progressive values. While the effectiveness of campus protests is worthy of debate, it should remain undeniable and undeniably troubling that the progressive college movement, and specifically pro-Palestinian groups within it, have pushed anti-Semitic rhetoric in the name of progressive values. For example, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Northeastern University likes to fashion itself a progressive organization, but in 2012 the schools SJP adviser was recorded telling members to be proud to be called an anti-Semite to wear it as a sign of distinction. This proves that Im working for the right side, the just cause. The ramifications of ignoring the normalization of anti-Semitism cannot be understated: The most recent FBI hate crime report found that 58.2 percent of hate crimes motivated by religious bias were targeted at Jews. Jews make up 2.2 percent of the American population, so the FBIs statistics make it clear that Jews are the most disproportionately attacked religious group in America. It should be troubling to everyone that an SJP member at Temple University physically assaulted a pro-Israel Jewish student two years ago, calling him a Zionist baby killer. But it should be far more troubling that the SJP chapter at Temple (like all SJP chapters) promotes itself as a progressive organization, claiming solidarity with movements such as Black Lives Matter. Another incident occurred at UC Santa Cruz, when Jewish student Daniel Bernstein, an elected representative on his college council, received a message from the SJP-aligned chair of the student council instructing him to abstain from a vote on divestment from Israel because he was elected with a Jewish agenda. I was literally in awe, Bernstein said. Just the phrase Jewish agenda is so volatile and anti-Semitic. To think that my own council members think that I am unable to uphold their beliefs and ideals in the greater student assembly because I am Jewish is beyond anything I ever thought would be told to me. Northeastern Universitys SJP chapter was so persistent in anti-Semitic harassment from defacing the statue of a Jewish donor to disrupting Holocaust awareness events that the university was forced to temporarily suspend the organization in 2014. The SJP chapter at Vassar College even tweeted Nazi propaganda from 1944. When these events happen, there are no outcries from the progressive community. Tyler Fredricks, a student at Duke, has noticed the variation in responses from the SJP-aligned progressive crowd when instances of anti-Semitism occur. When someone wrote No n s, whites only on a Black Lives Matter flyer, the Duke community held a march where over a hundred students marched and rallied in support. They did the same thing when someone wrote a homophobic slur in the dorms, Fredricks said. When someone wrote anti-Semitic comments on a Duke Friends of Israel flyer, there was no march, rally or campus outrage. This pattern has made Jews of all ages question their place within higher education. Jewish students and their parents are intensely apprehensive and insecure about this movement, Mark Yudof, the former president of the University of California system, told the New York Times. I hear it all the time: Where can I send my kids that will be safe for them as Jews? Two more questions come to mind: If the progressives who have fought against racial injustice and bigotry for so long eventually become the ones who perpetuate it, who will remain to call them out? At this rate, if anti-Semitism is normalized through the efforts of the rising progressive movements on college campuses, what will the future look like for Jewish college students? Outreach is imperative now. This means making the progressive community understand the ramifications of anti-Semitic speech. Engaging this audience through trips to Israel, visits to Holocaust museums, and even simply interacting with Jewish students can help change the narrative. The complete article can be found in the Tower. September 19, 2016 Alain Le Roy, who served as the United Nations undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations and secretary-general of the European External Action Service, has extensive knowledge of international affairs and peacekeeping missions. After leaving his post in Brussels this month, he answered questions in a written interview with Al-Monitor on Sept. 16. Born in February 1953, Le Roy started his career as an engineer in the oil exploration and production industry. He then moved to the French public service. In 1995, he became the UN deputy special coordinator for Sarajevo and continued as UN regional administrator for Kosovo. He was the European Union special representative to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 2001-2002, and returned to the French government in 2002 as director for economic and financial affairs in the French Foreign Ministry. He then served as the French ambassador to Madagascar in 2005-2007, and ambassador in charge of the Union for the Mediterranean project. In 2008, Le Roy was appointed UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations. In this capacity, he supervised many operations all over the world. After serving as the French ambassador to Italy in 2011-2014, he worked the last two years as secretary-general of the European External Action Service (EEAS). Now that he has been succeeded by Helga Schmid of Germany, Le Roy gives us his views at a time when the EU faces a critical moment, not only because of the decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, but also because of tense discussions on its future, on migration and on security issues in particular. The text of the interview follows: Al-Monitor: As former head of the [EEAS], what do you consider to be the first priorities of the EU external policy? Le Roy: Our wider region has become more unstable and more insecure. The crises within and beyond our borders are affecting directly our citizens lives. In challenging times, our first priorities are a common vision, a joined-up approach and ways to act together with credibility. This is the aim of the Global Strategy for European Foreign and Security Policy presented by the High Representative Federica Mogherini to European heads of state and government last June. In this Global Strategy, Europe's neighborhood remains a key strategic priority, and this includes the Middle East. Al-Monitor: Did you have the instruments and financial resources to drive your actions? Le Roy: As the EU member states are saying, "The EEAS, while still a relatively new organization on its way to full maturity, has achieved significant progress in developing into a modern and operational foreign policy service, has increasingly demonstrated its capacity to add value on policy and to strengthen the EU's response to global challenges, and has become a stable feature of the institutional makeup of the European Union." Working closely with the EU member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament, we now have the political and economic means to drive our actions. Al-Monitor: Is the sharing of responsibilities between the council, the member states, the commission and the EEAS clear and satisfactory? Le Roy: Yes, I believe it is the case. There were enormous challenges in the beginning, but now five years after the Lisbon Treaty the sharing of responsibilities is clear. Al-Monitor: Do you believe that the decision by the UK population to leave the EU could have any negative impact on the EU external policy? Le Roy: For sure it will have an impact, as the UK is obviously a very important player in the EU. But the new UK government has already told us that they want to remain as close as possible to the EU's external policy. For sure, we will find ways to associate them as closely as possible. We need them. Al-Monitor: As far as the Middle East is concerned, what do you see as the main achievements of the EEAS? Le Roy: The EU has many delegations in the Middle East run by the EEAS, and a dedicated EU special representative for the Middle East peace process, through which the EU undertakes a range of activities political, economic and practical. The EU continues to work with its Israeli and Palestinian counterparts along with the Quartet and other stakeholders in the region and beyond in order to make progress toward a just and lasting peace based on a two-state solution. The EU is the largest donor to Palestinian state-building efforts aiming at a Palestinian state based on the rule of law and respect of human rights. In the E3/EU+3 Iran talks, it is clear that the expertise of the EEAS has been extremely instrumental. In response to the continuing conflict and its consequences both inside Syria and in neighboring countries, the EU and its member states are implementing a comprehensive EU regional strategy for Syria, Iraq and the Daesh [Islamic State] threat. Al-Monitor: Is the EU a contributor to the resolution of the crisis in Syria? In what way? Le Roy: The EU is an active member of the International Syria Support Group and, in my opinion, should play a more important role than it does today in the resolution of the crisis. The EU is a very important actor in the assistance field and remains a close partner and supporter of UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura. The EU stands ready to provide support to stabilization and reconstruction once a political transition has started. The Syrian crisis has become the world's worst humanitarian disaster. The EU and its member states are the largest donor and have mobilized over 6.4 billion euros [$7.15 billion] in humanitarian aid as well as stabilization and development assistance since the conflict began, to those affected by the conflict inside Syria and refugees and host communities in neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. In December 2014, the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis was established. Al-Monitor: Do you believe that Turkey is a key partner in this conflict and could contribute to soothe the situation? Le Roy: Turkey is an EU candidate country and a very important partner for the EU. We work closely together on a range of common challenges, including to contribute a solution for the Syrian conflict, to which Turkey can bring a lot. Al-Monitor: How does the EEAS evaluate the initiative taken by French diplomacy on the Israel/Palestine conflict? Le Roy: For the EEAS, this initiative is very important as a way to renew the efforts and to contribute to bring together regional and international actors and overcome the status quo. We hope that an international conference can take place by the end of this year. September 19, 2016 A bipartisan group of senators seeking to block US weapons sales to Saudi Arabias war in Yemen are trying to disarm critics by arguing that their effort wont benefit Iran. The four lawmakers and their allies in the human rights community insist that the Saudi-led campaign is a civil war, not a proxy war. The Senate is expected to vote on their measure to block a proposed $1.15 billion sale of tanks and other weapons on Sept. 21. Weve got to do a better job of educating members that this is not a simple proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran, resolution sponsor Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in a conference call with reporters Monday morning. While there are connections between the Houthis and Tehran, he said, It certainly doesnt resemble a command-and-control relationship like some would have you believe. But even for those members who think this is a proxy war, we need to force them to ask a question as to what our priority in the region should be, Murphy added. Is our priority to back Saudi [Arabia] in every single perceived proxy war with the Iranians? Or is our priority to defeat extremism, including al-Qaeda and [the Islamic State]? Murphy reiterated the point during an appearance Monday afternoon at the Center for the National Interest think tank. The first thing to say is this is not a proxy war inside Yemen, he said. To simply view this as a clean, clear fight between the Saudis and the Iranians misunderstands the nature of this conflict. Republican co-sponsor Mike Lee, R-Utah, echoed that sentiment in a Sept. 8 statement announcing the legislation. The measures other co-sponsors are Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Al Franken, D-Minn. Unbeknownst to many Americans, their military has been engaged in the civil war in Yemen throughout this year with very little oversight or authorization from their representatives in Congress, Lee said. The vote comes amid growing criticism that Riyadh has been ignoring US admonishments to avoid civilian casualties. More than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the Saudi intervention to restore ousted President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power began in March 2015, according to the United Nations. Riyadh has long argued that its intervention is aimed to restore the internationally backed president to power and to keep Iran from sowing instability in its back yard. The Barack Obama administration initially gave its blessing to the operation as it sought to assuage Saudi concerns about its nuclear negotiations with Iran, but it has grown more critical as the civilian death toll has increased. Congress was initially largely receptive to concerns about Iranian malfeasance. Iran feels emboldened in Yemen because of the leverage it has gained over the administration through the nuclear negotiations, but I commend that the Gulf countries were taking a strong stance against Iran and stepping up to the plate in Yemen, House Foreign Affairs Middle East panel chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. said at an April 2015 hearing on the issue. Just like in Syria, today Yemen is in utter chaos in large part due to Irans antagonism and meddling. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, echoed the sentiment. I think the thing that is particularly disturbing is the Iranian involvement there and around the region, he said at the time. Four or five capitals now in the region are controlled by the Iranians. Those views have been bolstered by steady reports of intercepted Iranian weapons shipments. Secretary of State John Kerry has personally denounced Irans destabilizing actions in Yemen. Just last week, the US Fifth Fleet, based here in Bahrain, interdicted an arms shipment that originated in Iran with arms that were clearly moving in the direction of Yemen, Kerry said at an appearance with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Manama, Bahrain, this April. We will continue to push back against this kind of provocation in the region. Saudi critics are trying to change that perception ahead of the Sept. 21 vote. The Yemen conflict is often misrepresented in the news as a proxy war between Saudi [Arabia] and Iran, as a Saudi war on Yemen and as a sectarian conflict, Project on Middle East Democracy fellow Nadwa Al-Dawsari said during Mondays call with reporters. This is not a regional or a sectarian conflict. Its a Yemeni conflict. Its internal, driven by local agendas and grievances and is in part a manifestation of power struggles among the traditional elite. Ironically, the Obama administration itself has been making that case ever since hostilities broke out. The conflict in Yemen is enormously complicated and has roots that are largely parochial and locally focused, Gerald Feierstein, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, testified at Ros-Lehtinens April 2015 hearing. Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world with a long history of weak central governance, has for many years struggled to meet the needs of its diverse constituencies and address their grievances. John Sifton, the acting deputy Washington director for Human Rights Watch, said the Saudis themselves are inadvertently turning out to be one of Irans biggest in the conflict. Our researchers on the ground are seeing that these abuses that weve documented are actually making people who dont really support or like the Houthis be more sympathetic to them, Sifton said on the call. So if youre trying to accomplish helping the Saudi-led coalition and youre trying to harm Iran, giving unbridled assistance to the Saudi military seems to be actually accomplishing the exact opposite result. Murphy, a longtime critic of Saudi Arabias support for Wahhabi clerics around the world, acknowledged the difficulty in getting a joint resolution of disapproval through both houses of Congress. He couldnt remember one ever passing both chambers, although the Obama administration did temporarily hold up arms sales to Bahrain after an outcry from Congress over its crackdown on Arab Spring protesters in 2011. What I do know is that we will have a bipartisan group of senators voting for this resolution, which will send a loud signal to both the administration and the Saudis that the conduct of the war inside Yemen has to change, he said. Even if it doesnt [pass], I think it will be impactful. September 19, 2016 The meeting set for Sept. 21 in New York between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be a face-to-face one. Each man will be turned outward to his own domestic audience. Obamas every move, every word and facial expression are being watched. Any inconsistency that emerges from the meeting with the prime minister will be used by Republican candidate Donald Trump to raise a cacophony of slander against enemies of Israel in the White House that includes the presidents colleague and candidate, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Even worse for Clintons campaign, the man who made "Fighting Terrorism" his middle name (and the title of a book he authored) will land in New York the day after it was revealed that the explosion in the city was a terror attack. How could one hurt the American peoples best partner in the fight against the bad guys? Only a week ago they marked 15 years to the terrible massacre perpetrated by al-Qaeda at the Twin Towers. On Oct. 1, Israel will mark a year from the start of the current uprising, when Heitam and Naama Henkins were murdered in the first of a new series of stabbing attacks. Netanyahus face will also be turned toward home, to the Likud Party, most of whose members signed a letter in support of a bill that would prevent homes from being demolished in the controversial West Bank outpost of Amona. His gaze is also turned toward HaBayit HaYehudi, whose leaders, Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, are threatening to advance a law (nicknamed the "law of resolution") that would prevent the evacuation. That bill not only bypasses the High Court, the attorney general and the state prosecutor and violates President George Bushs Roadmap for Peace and Israels written commitment to the United States on a settlement construction freeze, but is also an instrument for the theft of private Palestinian lands. It is a law that disregards the entire enlightened world the world that Netanyahu accused a week ago of wanting the ethnic cleansing of Jews in the West Bank. Netanyahu excels at using pressures at home to ward off pressure from abroad. Obamas interest in blocking Trump aligns with Netanyahus interest in blocking Bennett. The prime ministers problem is that the expiration date of this shared interest is Nov. 8. From that day on, they are expected to set out on a collision course. Netanyahus highest interest has been and remains to maintain the status quo and to be written into Israels history as the leader who saved his people from a second Holocaust, the creation of a Palestinian state on the lands of Judea and Samaria. And Obama does not aspire to enter global history as a leader on whose watch the Palestinian state was ultimately buried under Israeli outposts. Obama is not interested in making the last mark in his Middle East chapter be a fat check for defense aid to Israel a grant that Netanyahu hastened to mark on the credit column in the ledger of his personal accomplishments. The American president quickly handed Netanyahu the note for repayment. While he acknowledged our commitment to Israels long-term security, he made his position clear: The only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine. A senior American official who spoke with Al-Monitor last week said that the Obama administration expressed strong reservations at the opening of a Russian peace channel. Washington recognizes the Russian gesture as an attempt to block the French initiative and the move by the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state. To prove his seriousness about advancing the peace process, Netanyahu will have to provide details to the president regarding the new regional opportunities, he claims to so seek to realize. Obama's ticket out of the political/diplomatic imbroglio lies in his statement, We will also continue to press for a two-state solution. Who will continue to press? Its unlikely to be a president, whose agenda is devoted to the effort to keep the White House in the hands of the Democratic Party and to increase its power on Capitol Hill. Support for a Security Council decision to recognize Palestine at this time would at best be considered ugly, underhanded opportunism on the part of Democrats behind Clintons back. At worst, she could be accused of being part of an anti-Israel conspiracy. Its easy to imagine how Trump would savor such an episode, and its hard to believe that Clinton committed to Obama to continue to press for the two-state solution and to jump into the sick bed of the peace process. We can assume that after her husband was once bitten, shed be twice shy. (I dont dare predict how Trump would act if the title President of the United States were added to his name.) In late 1988, toward the end of his second term, former President Ronald Reagan faced a similar dilemma. On one hand, he could no longer watch the first intifada, which broke out in December 1987, from the sidelines. On the other, he did not want to hurt the modest support of the Jewish community and Jewish donors for Republican candidate George Bush. Reagan found a creative solution. He gave his blessing to the Jewish-American peace activists Democrat Stanley Sheinbaum, the Republican lawyer Rita Hauser and Drora Kass, who then served as the director of the International Center for Peace in the Middle East to make secret contact with late Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat. In a speech he gave in 1989, Sheinbaum, who passed away at the ripe old age of 96 last week, related how Secretary of State James Baker and head of the National Security Council Colin Powell knew about the secret talks. After Bush was elected the 41st American president, he relayed a commitment to Arafat that his administration would start a dialogue with the PLO on condition that the organization lay down its arms and recognize UN Resolution 242 and Israels right to exist. The man who opened the secret channel that led to this breakthrough was late Swedish Foreign Minister Sten Andersson. Starting in January 2017, it will be Swedens turn to act as president of the Security Council. Palestinian, American and Israeli peace activists hope that Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who is known as one of the Western diplomats most critical of the occupation of the territories, will go the way of Andersson. The big, and perhaps decisive, difference is that no leaders now exist of the stature and vision of Arafat and late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who walked the new path mapped in Washington and built the difficult road from Stockholm to Oslo. September 20, 2016 Jordanians go to the polls today to elect their lower house of parliament. Middle East security observers will likely pay little attention. Jordan is not the most powerful state in the region, and its parliament, a traditionally weak institution, was further constrained by constitutional reforms earlier this year that increased the king's powers over the security services. Jordan is, however, a crucial Western ally and has spared many a headache through its ability to sidestep the unrest raging around it. While Jordans security services deserve most of the credit for the relative calm in Jordan, they naturally have little sway over the economic and sociopolitical issues that underwrite the long-term stability of the Hashemite kingdom. Indeed, from Tunisia and Egypt to Syria and Yemen, the greatest recent challenges to Sunni Arab leaders have emerged from domestic grievances. The Arab monarchies have largely avoided this turmoil, but while the Gulf kingdoms enjoy a huge cushion of oil wealth, resource-poor countries like Jordan have greater incentive to develop the structural foundations of long-term stability and prosperity. Jordans approximately 30% youth unemployment rate and public debt totaling more than 90% of gross domestic product bode ill for internal stability. In June, for example, three security personnel were wounded in clashes with protesters demonstrating against unemployment in Dhiban, also the site of Arab Spring protests in 2011. These economic challenges are compounded by the presence of Syrian refugees, estimated by the government to stand at 1.4 million. Many of them live outside camps administered by the United Nations. King Abdullahs appointment in May of a new prime minister, Hani-al-Mulqi, set in motion the first parliamentary elections since 2013. The interim leader is the former head of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, likely signaling the palaces preference for a technocratic government that can manage the economy. Abdullah emphasized as much in his appointment announcement, and Mulqi, in turn, quickly cut energy subsidies and concluded a long-anticipated agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The parliaments authority is limited, to be sure, and some analysts, among them Carnegie Endowment contributor Kirk Sowell, speculate that Mulqis appointment may in fact reflect the palaces desire to distance itself from the tough austerity measures that Jordan can no longer avoid. The extent to which the next prime minister and incoming parliament will be empowered to meaningfully engage their constituents and develop and implement policies to address tough economic times remains an open, and important, question. Perhaps the most interesting dynamic in the upcoming election will be the impact of the new election law on Islamist parties' participation. The statute replaced a single-vote system with a complicated proportional list arrangement. Four Islamist groups are running candidates, including the Muslim Brotherhoods political wing, the Islamic Action Front, which boycotted the previous two elections, in 2010 and 2013. Since 2013, internal Muslim Brotherhood tensions have yielded two new splinter groups, the Muslim Brotherhood Society and the Zamzam Initiative, which will also compete in this months elections. While the electoral performance of these Islamist groups may more serve as a yardstick of popular sentiment than result in significant new legislation, the way in which successful Islamist party-affiliated candidates are integrated into the government will no doubt frame the parties future calculations about preferred channels for political participation. Vulnerable segments of Jordanian society have increasingly proven susceptible to recruitment by violent extremists. Large numbers of fighters from Jordan are reportedly fighting in Syria, and there are troubling reports that both a Jordanian military officer and the son of a member of parliament were killed fighting for the Islamic State. Of course, the traditional armed security threats Jordan faces are potent and will remain so regardless of the outcome of the parliamentary elections. IS claimed responsibility for a car bomb in June that killed seven border security guards. In March, Jordanian security services had engaged a domestic terrorist cell in Irbid, leaving one soldier dead, and in May, a Jordanian national murdered five General Intelligence Directorate personnel at a local directorate office. Jordan finds itself in the unenviable position of continuing to prepare to defend against proximate armed threats while simultaneously trying to improve domestic economic and sociopolitical trend lines that will no less determine long-term stability. The governments contributions to both guiding the public through difficult economic reforms and managing the integration of key Islamist parties into parliament will be critical to Jordanians national security. September 20, 2016 For years, Western policymakers have sought to sweep the post-Moammar Gadhafi mess under the rug. Although they are not primarily responsible for the countrys post-Arab Spring implosion as the recent report by conservative member of UK Parliament Crispin Blunt erroneously implies Western leaders have chosen to keep Libya at arms length by delegating to the United Nations the dirty job of sorting out the warring factions. The UN aim to forge a unity government through negotiation has always been a noble goal, but its approach has often been half-baked and tainted by UN corruption. When the Government of National Accord (GNA) formally came into being in March 2016, it was not representative of Libyas key factions. Instead it was dominated by stakeholders from Misrata and Tripoli, with a sprinkling of Islamists. This compounded fears of political exclusion among Easterners and led to greater support for the anti-Islamist Gen. Khalifa Hifter, who has long sought to upend the UN-backed political framework and establish military rule. After months of a stalemate, Hifter may have finally found the appropriate means to put a nail in the GNAs coffin. On Sept. 11, he wrested the oil crescent away from his federalist opponents in a military offensive, dubbed Operation Sudden Lightning. The Libyan National Armys (LNA) largely bloodless takeover of the oil crescent ports led to the National Oil Corporations (NOC) immediate resumption of exports of stored crude oil. Although these shipments were halted by a federalist and Islamist counterattack on Sidra and Ras Lanuf ports Sept. 18, the LNA swiftly repelled the attack. It is possible to imagine the swift export of all the remaining storage of crude oil. Due to these victories, the power balance has completely shifted in the LNA's favor, further undermining the GNA and their federalist and Islamist allies. Just days after the first tentative exports, the black market value of the Libyan dinar had jumped 20%, signaling the Libyan streets positive reception of recent developments. The most powerful decision-maker in the oil sector, NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah, is not only based in Tripoli, he is nominally the employee of Hifters enemies previously the General National Congress (GNC), and now the GNA. It is superficially surprising, then, that he now appears to support the LNAs takeover of the oil crescent ports and on Sept. 19 called for the long-standing blockades of the pipelines connecting the southwest oil fields to the coast to be lifted. This is because Sanallah wants to decimate all forms of blackmail and extortion in one fell swoop. Hifters ouster of federalist leader Ibrahim Jadhran might provide just the momentum Sanallah needs. Jadhran had long occupied the oil ports and prevented Sanallah from increasing much-needed crude production throughout 2016 by demanding bribes before he would let Libyas oil flow. More surprising than Sanallahs support is that of both the international community and the unity governments Presidential Council (PC), which, after initially condemning the stealthy takeover, appears to have acquiesced to LNA control. The only condition they have issued for their support is that oil exports resume under the banner of the NOC, and not illicitly. Herein lies one answer to the riddle of why the international community and the UN-mediated PC, which it supports, would now agree to support Hifter over the federalists, despite having initially supported the federalists against Hifter: oil. Libyas economy is in dire straits, and the cash from oil exports is needed to support the foundations of a coherent Libyan government. Hence, it now appears that all the mainstream players are willing to accommodate whatever solution can get crude flowing putting funds into Libyas balance sheet. On the one hand, this is quite an about-face. Over the last months, the West has largely opposed Hifter, driving him further into the embrace of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the other hand, it appears that a covert meeting was held in Tunis, Tunisia, on Sept. 8 where Western powers and Hifters envoys discussed the importance of safeguarding the oil ports. It is possible that an understanding was reached vis-a-vis Hifters securing the oil ports against both the Islamic State and Jadhran. Or, more probably, no concrete understanding was reached, but both sides understood a shared interest and each began to act accordingly. The emergence of this tacit understanding would have been the final boomerang from the Wests failed engagement with Jadhran. Early this summer, UN special envoy to Libya Martin Kobler tried to buy Jadhrans support to resume oil exports via his July 21 proposal. This proposal sparked the ire of many, both in Libya and abroad. The backlash from Koblers failed gambit now appears to be a complete reshuffling of the political deck, with Jadhran becoming irrevocably excluded from the negotiating table. Kobler now has his tail between his legs. His meeting a few days ago with the hard-line, anti-GNA House of Representatives President Ageelah Saleh in Cairo in an attempt to find a new compromise agreement on how to salvage the Libyan Political Agreement highlights his belated shift of policy. Another potential explanation for this U-turn is the shifting tide of Libyan public opinion toward Hifter and the LNA. The PC and international backers of the GNA were quick to issue a statement Sept. 12 demanding the LNAs unconditional withdrawal from the oil crescent ports. The following day, Kobler tried to convince the UN Security Council to issue a new resolution with punitive measures against Hifter. However, he was unsuccessful. This negative reaction provoked an angry backlash throughout Libya, with some Libyans seeing this condemnation as interference in Libyan affairs. Angry demonstrations were held in many cities across the country Sept. 16 in support of the LNA. Zintani and Warshefanan militias also threatened to cut the Western pipelines, which take gas to Italy via Mellitah and the Greenstream, if the LNA were attacked. Fayez Serraj, prime minister of the UN-backed Presidential Council, was the first to change his tune, stating Sept. 13 that he would not declare war on another Libyan faction, nor seek foreign intervention. This sentiment was repeated by local officials and city representatives from Misrata, who told Kobler that Misratan forces would not go to war to support Jadhran against the LNA. By Sept. 16, the tone of most international actors had shifted; they welcomed the speedy resumption of exports of stored crude, the handover of oil ports to the NOC and the encouraging of a new round of dialogue. Bizarrely, the traditionally pro-Hifter French have been making the biggest fuss. Libyas current political alliances are not only in flux they are nontransitive. Enemies quite frequently work together on shared objectives, and two allies could have opposite relationships with a third party. Alliances can shift and change within the blink of an eye, with sworn enemies joining forces to confront a threat. In response to this enduring fluidity, the UN-backed political process cannot stick to fixed ideas and needs to bend like a reed in the wind or risk being snapped like a twig in a vice. Working to bring Hifters supporters inside the political dialogue is the right approach. With any luck, it could even culminate in a unity government worthy of the name. September 20, 2016 Saudi newspapers reported Sept. 15 that Shiites are expected to replace their pilgrimage to Mecca with religious visits to Iraqs Karbala instead. According Al-Riyadh newspaper, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa allowing going on pilgrimage to Karbala and other holy shrines in Iraq instead of Mecca this year. The decision came following Khamenei's scathing comments against the Saudi royal family Sept. 7, addressing it as a damned malicious tree and urging the formation of a fact-finding committee to probe last year's hajj stampede in which more than 460 Iranians were killed. Khamenei also denounced what he called the kingdoms poor management of holy places. Last year, Iran and some other Islamic countries called for withdrawing management of the hajj from Saudi Arabia in favor of a joint Islamic management of the pilgrimage affairs. The news has gone viral in the Arab media and was taken as fact without any checking. However, no such fatwa by Khamenei has yet appeared. Al-Azhars Council of Senior Scholars, which is widely respected in the global Sunni community, commented, According to Sharia, pilgrimage ought to be performed at a certain time and to a certain destination. Any visit outside this time frame and location that are set in the Sharia is not considered a valid pilgrimage no matter the fatwas issued to this effect. The Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Sept. 10 that 1 million Iranians had flocked to Karbala to perform their pilgrimage instead of visiting Mecca in the time of hajj. However, according to the Iranian consul in Karbala, there were no more than 60,000 Iranian pilgrims there at the time of the Asharq Al-Awsat report. Notably, visiting Karbala on the Day of Arafa (a day before Eid al-Adha), which is a part of the hajj period, is an old religious tradition among Shiites and could be considered unrelated to the pilgrimage issue and the recent Iranian-Saudi dispute. Nevertheless, it appears that the conflict between the two regional heavyweights has been taken to another level and led to a rivalry between the holy sites of different Islamic sects. While Saudi Arabia seeks to exclude Iranian Shiites from world Muslim circles, Iran is trying to lower Saudi Arabia's religious status through criticism of the Saudi pilgrimage management and calls to form a joint Islamic authority. Although both sides are employing logical religious rhetoric to drum up support for their demands, the conflict remains at its base a political one between Iranian and Saudi authorities. Islamic holy places are clearly being exploited for the political agendas of both parties in the regional competition for political influence over the Islamic world, stretching from Iraq and Syria all the way to Yemen and Bahrain. The same scenario had played out in previous Islamic eras. Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (671-741), an Islamic jurist who was close to the Umayyads, issued a fatwa calling for pilgrimage to Jerusalem instead of Mecca, which at the time was under the control of the Ibn al-Zubayr caliphate, the Umayyads main rival. The situation prompted Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik to build the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for the pilgrimage. The Qarmatians stole the Black Stone of the Kaaba and hid it for 22 years to prevent their Abbasid rivals from reaping the lucrative hajj proceeds. Back then, as today, the conflict was not fundamentally a sectarian struggle. Today, Iran and Saudi Arabia are continuing the tradition of exchanging accusations of using the holy pilgrimage to serve their political interests. Prince Khaled al-Faisal, governor of Mecca and chairman of the Saudi Pilgrimage Committee, attacked the Iranian government Sept. 14, saying it was exploiting the pilgrimage for political ends. Preventing the politicization of the pilgrimage is essential for the best interests of Muslims," Faisal said. "If we give every party free rein to raise slogans and organize marches, how will people be able to perform pilgrimage? He also warned Iranians against carrying out any attack on Saudi Arabia. If [Iranians] are readying an army to invade us, they should know that we are not to be diminished. We will not allow anyone to declare war on us whenever they wish to and with the help of God Almighty, we will deter every aggressor and defend this holy land and our beloved country, he said. A video recently went viral on Iranian social media threatening the Saudis that if the kingdom attacks Iran, Iranians will conquer Saudi Arabia and make Mecca their own capital. In contrast, Iran claims that Saudi Arabia has been exploiting pilgrimage activities to spread and promote its political agenda and its bigoted understanding of Islam through the distribution to pilgrims in Mecca of booklets and pamphlets in different languages that incite against Shiites. Similarly, Iran also accused Saudi Arabia of setting political conditions on Iranian pilgrims, such as banning them from flying on Iranian airlines to enter the kingdom, restricting their religious freedom and slandering them through official religious sermons. For instance, last year, Sheikh Mohammed Al Mohaisany, a Saudi imam, said during his sermon in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, We fervently ask you God to help our mujahedeen brethren in Yemen, the Levant and Iraq to defeat the atheist rejectionists [Shiites], the treacherous Jews and the hateful Christians. He went on, Our war against Iran is a war between Shiites and Sunnis, a war of faith and religions. It is a sectarian war par excellence. Of note, Mohaisany holds several high-level positions in the kingdom. There was also a recent fatwa from the Saudi grand mufti declaring Iranian Shiites infidels. Ultimately, both parties fail to understand that expanding the conflict sphere and exploiting religion will threaten their own domestic security in the long run. In fact, there is a large Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia that shares the same doctrine as Iranian Shiites, while in Iran there is a large Sunni minority that shares the beliefs of Sunni Saudis. September 20, 2016 BAGHDAD If forces in Iraq succeed in liberating Ninevah province and its capital, Mosul, from the Islamic State (IS), many observers fear conflicts are likely to ignite over disputed areas and their management and to pose a threat to minorities as well. People of many different ethnicities, religions and sects reside in the province, including Arabs, Kurds, Sunnis, Shiites, Sabians, Yazidis, Shabak and Christians. Mosul has been under IS control since June 2014. As the liberation effort grows, the controversial idea of dividing up Ninevah province has started to circulate. On Sept. 9, Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former Ninevah governor, told the Turkish Anadolu Agency, A project is underway to divide Ninevah into six or eight provinces, which the local population will be determining. The State of Law Coalition, led by Nouri al-Maliki, also accused Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani of seeking to expand his influence by taking over some parts of Ninevah province. Former press officer of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Srou Kader said Sept. 9, "Barzani has suggested that Ninevah province be divided into three provinces and that a referendum be held in these provinces for the people to vote in favor or against the annexation of the provinces to Kurdistan. Yet he did not reveal the details of Barzanis proposal in terms of the timeline and to whom it was submitted. Ninevah's proximity to Iraq's Kurdistan region has prompted Iraqi political parties to express fears that Kurdish peshmerga forces will remain in the liberated areas in Mosul. The peshmerga forces are trying to reduce these fears, saying they will leave once the IS threat is over. On Sept. 17, Iraqi National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fayad told the press, Ninevah is a cornerstone of the Iraqi state, similarly to Basra and other provinces. Its liberation from terrorism will pave the way for understandings to be reached between all political parties, and the talk of its partition is a mere illusion. Nevertheless, there have been reports that KRG peshmerga forces have managed to liberate northern parts of Ninevah that are close to Kurdistan and are pushing to have these areas administrative units correlated to its government. Arab Iraqi politicians opposing the Kurdish policy such as Nahla al-Halabi, a parliament member from Ninevah say the KDP, led by Barzani, wants to divide Ninevah into eight provinces, half of which would be affiliated with the KRG and the other half with the federal government in Baghdad. Abdul Rahman Alliwayzi, a parliament member from Ninevah, accuses the KDP of preventing Arabs from returning to their liberated villages in the province. This has increased fears that the peshmerga plans to remain in areas under its control to achieve the demographic change that will help Kurds expand geographically. Another aspect related to the idea of dividing Ninevah is the protection of minorities, their rights to manage their areas formally and the formation of military forces to secure them. Conflicting political parties sometimes exploit this subject to pass political agendas. Alliwayzi told Al-Monitor, Massoud Barzani is looking for valid reasons to remain in parts of Ninevah province and annex them to the Kurdistan region, under the pretext of protecting minorities and ending the IS threat. In fact, it is about Barzanis [expansion] ambitions. Referring to the former provincial governor Nujaifi, Alliwayzi added, Parties that are politically bankrupt in Ninevah province are helping Massoud Barzani implement his divisive project that will only work when a demographic change is brought about and people are relocated," because currently the areas' populations are so diverse. Rian Chaldean, a Christian leader of the Popular Mobilization Units hailing from Ninevah province, warned against attempts to divide the province and its administrative units. Chaldean said, We will not allow another occupation; there is no understanding, harmony or exchange of services with IS. Others have pointed out that the idea of dividing Ninevah into eight provinces is impractical, as some areas might lack demographic and economic capabilities. Al-Jazeera recently created a Twitter poll on the idea of dividing Ninevah. Poll results showed that 80% of the 3,000 participants were against dividing the province and believed it would lead Iraq into conflicts that would result in other provinces being partitioned. September 19, 2016 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Frustration and discontent prevailed among Palestinians on Sept. 8, after the High Court of Justice in Ramallah postponed the local elections indefinitely. The court's decision followed a number of appeals presented by several lawyers, challenging the legitimacy of elections that would not include East Jerusalem and the lack of appropriate conditions for holding them. The appeals also challenged the legitimacy of the Gaza courts and judiciary tasked with evaluating them. Mohammed al-Najjar, who sells vegetables in the popular Khan Yunis market west of Gaza City, told Al-Monitor he was angry at the postponement. We were hoping the local elections would lead to legislative and presidential elections that would improve our bad economic situation. My family and I registered to vote, but the elections were unfortunately postponed. Najjar raised his voice for everyone in the market to hear when he added, We want to tell Palestinian officials in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Stop undermining our suffering. If you cannot find a solution for our economic crisis and our psychological suffering, then you should all leave. Yahya Mansour, who works as an accountant for a charity association called Al-Weaam, told Al-Monitor, I expected the local elections to fail from the very start. The political conditions in light of the division between Fatah and Hamas are not suitable to hold elections. The political division is greater than any democratic process. It would be better to form a true national consensus government between Gaza and the West Bank to pave the way for any future democratic process. Mansour added, The local elections would have been a great opportunity for Palestinian municipalities to regain their legitimacy, as the terms of the local councils that are currently operating have ended. However, the decision to postpone the elections proved that no Palestinian political institution is legitimate. They are all expired, starting with the presidential administration, the Palestinian Legislative Council and the local municipalities. Ever since the last legislative elections in 2006, no other legislative or presidential election has been held as a result of the Palestinian division. Three attempts by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to hold local elections failed between 2010 and 2011, but in 2012, local elections were held in the West Bank without Hamas participation. Hamas had sought a reconciliation agreement before those elections were held. Mohamed Shaheen, who has a degree in business management but has been working as a cab driver in Gaza for the past four years, told Al-Monitor, We wasted our youth waiting for the elections. Every time we go register our names to vote, the elections get canceled. This is a political farce. He added, The elections represent a unified stance before the international community that wants to help us, but the division between Gaza and the West Bank is hindering international relief aid for the reconstruction of Gaza, which was destroyed by three wars. Thus we have no job opportunities. This situation will never change unless democratic elections are held. In a report issued by the United Nations on Aug. 26, Robert Piper, the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid and development activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, said, Addressing economic recovery requires much greater financial investments and serious policy changes, including a lifting of restrictions on both imports and exports," and "Improved cooperation between Ramallah and Gaza City is also a prerequisite to get greater momentum. Bushra Zatma, from the Yibna refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor, We are helpless. The postponement of elections shows that the political parties intentions were not sincere, especially those of Fatah and Hamas. The educational and health sectors are suffering along with the deteriorating economy in Gaza. The situation will keep going downhill unless democratic elections put an end to the division. The Palestinian local elections had been scheduled for Oct. 8 in 416 towns and villages spread over 16 provinces in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, at a cost of up to $8 million. The total eligible voters were estimated at nearly 2 million, around 800,000 of them in the Gaza Strip. Abdullah Shakshak, a Hamas government employee in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, Palestinians are concerned and weighed down by pain. They have lost hope and trust in any political faction in the Palestinian arena, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is exclusively making all political decisions with obvious dictatorship and without any consideration for the legislative institutions or the Palestinian judiciary. Thus, the decision to postpone the elections was his and his only. Shakshak added, Any future local elections will be meaningless. We first need presidential and legislative elections before any other election, so as to end the Palestinian crisis of legitimacy when all parties to the conflict accept the official decisions produced by the elections. Journalist Imane Baroud told Al-Monitor, The citizens are the ones most affected by the postponement of the local elections. Unfortunately, officials live peacefully in the West Bank and Gaza and we are the ones suffering from low wages, poor municipal services, poor infrastructure and high taxes, in light of the difficult economic and political situation. The decision to postpone or cancel the elections does not serve anyone. All factions agreed on the democratic process and signed a Charter of Honor to ensure the elections would be held in a timely manner. Baroud called on the international community to pressure all political parties in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to hold the elections under international supervision to ensure the proper conduct of the electoral process, because the citizens are angry at everyone. No one knows when an agreement might be reached to set a new date for the local elections, as the failure of this attempt which was to include Hamas for the first time since it took over Gaza in 2007 revealed the complexity of the internal situation. The biggest loser remains the Palestinian citizens, who are suffering under economic and political conditions that worsen by the day. September 19, 2016 TINDOUF, Algeria After evaluating 25 years of peace, Sahrawi officials and some civil society players agree that armed struggle is the only option they can depend on to reach their goal of independence. Sept. 6 marked the 25th anniversary of the United Nations-sponsored cease-fire agreement in Western Sahara between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi independence movement. The peace accord was supposed to be followed by a referendum in which the Sahrawis would choose their system of governance from three options: integration with Morocco, autonomy or independence. But the planned vote was canceled after Morocco refused to allow any process that would include independence as a choice. The dispute is still ongoing, with continued tension. Bachir Mustafa Sayed, the former Polisario Front foreign minister and the current political adviser for Brahim Ghali, the secretary-general of the Sahrawi liberation movement, was a member of the Sahrawi delegation that signed the cease-fire agreement. At a Sept. 7 discussion panel held in the Rabuni camp in Tindouf, participants reviewed the Sahrawis' status after 25 years of peace. Sayed shared what his thinking had been at the time of the signing of the treaty. He described the situation back then as if the Polisario Front, during the armed struggle, was aboard a dinghy with no knowledge of when the weather might change or where the tide would take it. Meanwhile, the UN represented a large ship in the sea offering them aid. I told them then that they could rope their boat to the UN, but to be careful and expect that [the rope] could be cut or detached at any moment. That is what has happened, Sayed told the gathering, which Al-Monitor attended. The current stalemate has left the movement dead in the water. For 25 years, the UNs efforts have been fruitless for the Sahrawis as they wait for the promised referendum. However, other factors have recently put their cause in the spotlight for example, in March, Morocco expelled the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara from the Western Sahara territory. The incident caused temporary tension that was contained once the UN Security Council voted to restore the mission. Even so, another episode of escalation began recently when Morocco decided to cross its military wall that divides Western Sahara to build a road in the disputed territory on the borders with Mauritania. A UN confidential document obtained Aug. 29 by The Associated Press said the move was a violation of the cease-fire agreement. On the other side, the Polisario Front deployed an estimated 32 personnel to the zone. Sayed said such a decision was very strategic and has shown that the front is self-reliant, reflecting a strong will. Mohamed Lamine El Bouhali, the former defense minister of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), the state the Sahrawi declared in 1976, also spoke during the panel discussion. El Bouhali confessed that signing the peace treaty was a mistake for the Polisario Front. Lets be objective enough to see what such a cease-fire has given us. We should have continued the armed struggle until we liberated every single span of Western Sahara, he said. El Bouhali noted that SADR even gained membership for itself in the African Unity, now the African Union, during the mid-1980s when Sahrawi soldiers were fighting in the battlefield. It is clear that the former military commander does not believe in the ongoing peace process. In addition, he even challenged his colleagues in the leadership to prove him wrong. I want those who agreed on the cease-fire to prove that their claims were right. We were victims of miscalculated steps, El Bouhali said. With stunning frankness, El Bouhali said he still remembers a March 2000 meeting with then-UN envoy to Western Sahara James A. Baker III, alongside then-SADR President Mohamed Abdelaziz. According to El Bouhali, Baker told them, If you can take up arms again, there is nothing better than that for you, and if you cannot, then accept what we offer you. El Bouhali continued, Accepting the Baker plan was stupidity. The Baker plan was designed to enable Morocco to govern Sahrawis, the indigenous people of Western Sahara, for five years, then to organize a referendum based on a UN resolution of the Sahrawi peoples right of self-determination as a people of a non-self-governing territory. If Morocco did not want the Sahrawi people to decide on their political future while fighting and with deadly resistance, why would it accept it when [Sahrawis] are stripped of their weapons and live under its control? El Bouhali said, smiling at his audience in the Rabuni camp. Perhaps this logic is what makes most youth in the Sahrawi refugee camp believe that their peoples quest for independence can only be obtained by force. Musa Salama, 27, lives in the Ausard camp in Tindouf. Salama is also evaluating the value of war versus peace. Our accomplishment during war was an international recognition of our right of self-determination, while there were temporary victories such as the Gdeim Izik [protest camp] in this long 25 years of peace, he told Al-Monitor. I will fight within Sahrawi popular bases to resume the armed struggle, embodying my will for freedom, Salama added. As time passes, todays frozen status of the Western Sahara question is overshadowing its peoples belief that any change will come through a third party such as the UN, which has been supervising this case for such a long time. At 25, Mahfoud Bachri is roughly as old as the peace agreement. He perceives that the lack of any solution is because of the nonviolence policy, which the Sahrawi resistance has observed too well. The Western Sahara plight has not been resolved yet because it is not considered an emergency. Unfortunately, we are in a world that listens to violence only and turns a blind eye to peaceful fights, Bachri told Al-Monitor. Such thinking comes as a result of the hard conditions at the camps, where youth are keen to change things themselves and not wait the rest of their lives for the unknown. It is remarkable that high-ranking officials such as Sayed and El Bouhali held an open discussion without any restraints and even publicly called for the resumption of war, as El Bouhali frankly said in a room full of journalists, Sahrawis, I want to tell you that no one is going to give you anything. It is your cause and you should fight for it. September 19, 2016 King Salman has instituted the most ideological, sectarian and assertive foreign policy in modern Saudi history. After decades of caution and risk aversion in Saudi Arabia, the king and his senior team have emerged as bold gamblers. A year and a half after Salman decided to launch Operation Decisive Storm to halt Shiite Houthi rebels from taking over all of Yemen, Saudi Arabia has become engrossed in the most intense sectarian regional conflict with its historic rival Iran to date. Saudi-Iranian tensions are greater today than ever, and the cost to the entire region is deadly. The Saudi decision to go to war 18 months ago was rushed and poorly thought through, with little concrete planning for how to achieve a decisive victory. The alliance to defeat the Houthis and their ally former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was hastily put together and lacked two critical players: Oman and Pakistan. For Iran, the war has been a very cheap way to bog down its Gulf enemies in an increasingly expensive struggle while it continues to make advances in Iraq and Syria. Tehran's allies in both countries are gaining ground. Iran's role in Yemen has always been limited and inexpensive. The Iranians are quite willing to fight to the last Yemeni. They are also exploiting the war to inflame anger in the Shiite communities in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Meanwhile, the war is damaging the kingdom's image in the West. A major review of the coalition's air campaign concluded this month that one out of three air strikes had hit civilian targets. The sites attacked have included mosques, schools and hospitals. The coalition air campaign depends on support from the United States and the United Kingdom, but there is rising criticism of such support and arms sales to Riyadh on both sides of the Atlantic. A Democratic congressperson has called the coalition's air war illegal and reprehensible. The controversy over the war has added to strong support on Capitol Hill for allowing lawsuits against Saudi officials for alleged involvement in the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks. It is a toxic mixture. Unlike the hajj in 2015, when close to 2,000 pilgrims died, this year's pilgrimage passed without major problems thanks in large part to improved Saudi measures to ensure pilgrims' safety. These included better monitoring of crowds and a sophisticated command center. The annual pilgrimage was, however, marred by an intense war of words between the Saudis and Iranians. Tehran complained that the Saudis' severing diplomatic relations earlier this year had prevented Iranian pilgrims from making the trip. Iran demanded that the Saudis hand over management of the hajj to an international Islamic authority. The response by the Saudi clerical establishment was unprecedented. The kingdom's chief cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, declared that Iranian Shiites are not Muslims and said that they worship the ancient Zoroastrian religion of pre-Islamic Iran. Such rhetoric about Shiites as unbelievers harkens back to the early days of Wahhabism. One senior Saudi official, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, governor of Mecca, called the Iranians liars and slanderers for calling for changes in the administration of the hajj. Both Tehran and Riyadh are pouring gasoline on the sectarian fires in the Islamic world. There is little evidence of second thoughts in Riyadh about its high-stakes diplomacy and rhetoric. Both Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have been staunch supporters of a tough line against Iran. Behind the scenes, there are persistent rumors of criticism of Mohammed bin Salman in his capacity as defense minister for his role in the Yemen conflict. There are not, however, any signs of displeasure from his father, King Salman, and that is the only thing that matters in an absolute monarchy. There are hints that the Saudis want an even more ideological and existential battle with Iran. Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal attended a rally by the Mujaheddin-e-Khalq, the Iranian dissident group, earlier this year in France and all but called for regime change in Tehran. Other Iranian dissidents have since attracted the attention of the Saudi media, including Arab separatists who want an independent Khuzistan. The Saudis have little or no capacity to seriously challenge the Islamic Republic at home, but these moves certainly bait Tehran. Saudi foreign policy had for decades been cautious and risk averse. From King Faisal to King Abdullah, the kingdom avoided conflict if possible and preferred covert action to high-profile military intervention. Faisal fought Egypt in Yemen using proxies (Britain, Jordan and Israel) to arm the royalists. He sought the shah's support for the first Islamic summit. Khaled and Fahd stayed on the sidelines of the Iran-Iraq War, and King Fahd used Riyadh's pocketbook to force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to accept the final cease-fire. In Afghanistan, Fahd funded a war fought by Afghans and Pakistanis. During the Arab Spring, Abdullah worked behind the scenes to oust the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and intervened with force only in tiny Bahrain. With Salman's brothers thus having avoided costly foreign adventures and high-risk interventions, it is a significant departure to move to an ideologically driven sectarian agenda with high-risk adventures like the Yemen war. Salman's aggressive policies will be difficult to sustain, however, especially if oil prices remain depressed. Crown Prince Nayef's visit to New York for the UN General Assembly meeting this month provides a useful opportunity for US officials to press for a settlement of the Yemen conflict and de-escalation of sectarian tensions. September 20, 2016 NEW YORK US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura emerged from a grim meeting of International Syria Support Group (ISSG) foreign ministers this morning declaring the Syrian cease-fire was not dead, a day after airstrikes by the Syrian regime or Russia killed 20 civilians and destroyed 18 trucks in a convoy of humanitarian aid being delivered to western Aleppo. US and international officials, however, are expressing growing doubts about whether the US-Russia agreement to try to stabilize Syria is viable, after struggling to make it take hold since it went into effect Sept. 12. The ceasefire is not dead. That I can tell you, de Mistura said Tuesday after the ISSG morning meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. It was confirmed by everyone around the table. The ceasefire is in danger but the only ones who can announce the ceasefire is dead are the two [US and Russian] co-chairs and they have today not done so, de Mistura said. They want to give it another chance. The ISSG foreign ministers agreed that despite continued violence, there was still an imperative to pursue a nationwide cessation of hostilities based on the arrangement reached last week in Geneva between the United States and Russia, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a read-out Sept. 20. The group will meet later in the week to discuss next steps, he said. No, it is not dead, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told the BBC as he followed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who ignored the question, into the General Assembly meeting Sept. 20. The United Nations announced Sept. 20 that it was suspending already stalled efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria for three days, to protest the suspected Syrian regime or Russian strikes. UN officials said the attack on clearly marked humanitarian vehicles that had received proper government permits could amount to a war crime. I am disgusted and horrified by the news that a United Nations/Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy was hit [Sept. 19] in Urum al-Kubra (Big Orem), northwest of Aleppo city, said UN humanitarian chief Stephen OBrien. Let me be clear: If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime, OBrien said, calling for an immediate investigation. The perpetrators should know that they will one day be held accountable for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies are outraged by last nights horrific attack on a SARC warehouse and an aid convoy in Orem Al Kubra (Big Orem) in rural Aleppo, the groups said in a Sept. 20 press release. Around 20 civilians and one SARC staff member were killed as they were unloading trucks carrying vital humanitarian aid. Much of the aid was destroyed. Were totally devastated by the deaths of so many people, including one of our colleagues, the director of our sub-branch, Omar Barakat, said SARC President Abdulrahman Attar. It is totally unacceptable that our staff and volunteers continue to pay such a high price because of the ongoing fighting. American officials, many accompanying Kerry and President Barack Obama to meetings in New York, were reeling as they tried to process reports of the rapidly collapsing cease-fire Sept. 19, when news of the strike on the aid convoy came in. They hold Russia responsible, even if the strikes were committed by the Syrian regime, for what can only be described as an outrageous attack on non-combatants trying to bring relief in a war zone, one senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told journalists Sept. 19. Officials were also seeking clarity on whether Russia was still committed to the collapsing US-Russia-Syria peace deal, even as they said they increasingly questioned whether Russia was capable of delivering on its end or had lost control. Look, this was a difficult and trying day in Syria that I think raises very serious questions about whether the Russians can deliver their end of the arrangement that weve been negotiating with them and trying to implement, the senior US administration official said. What happened [Sept. 19] has dealt a serious blow to our efforts to bring peace to Syria. It is up to the Russians to demonstrate that this process remains viable. The Kremlin, striking a somewhat defensive note, downplayed the certainty about the circumstances under which the aid convoy was struck, but it said that it too had doubts about the viability of the cease-fire deal. I cannot answer your question unequivocally if the truce in Syria is over, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Sept. 20. For the time being we just state that this obligation of our US counterparts has not been fulfilled. September 20, 2016 Mass protests were staged and violence flared up in the city of Ben Guerdane in southeastern Tunisia on Sept. 6, following the killing of Hussein Mansour, a young man who was shot by a Tunisian military patrol on the border with Libya during a hot pursuit of smuggling vehicles coming from Libyan territory to the military buffer zone in southern Tunisia. Rida al-Najeh, a member of the coalition of civil society groups in Ben Guerdane, told Al-Monitor, The people are calling for alleviating the punishment measures that now include firing live bullets against smugglers in the military buffer zone. The calls are made in light of the deteriorating situation in the city, which forced young [unemployed] men to break the law and get involved in smuggling activities and cross the buffer zone. The state should have provided these citizens with the appropriate living conditions. The Tunisian authorities announced in August 2013 the establishment of a military buffer zone along the eastern border with Libya to prevent the smuggling of arms and ammunition from Libya into the country. Since then, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense has been imposing special procedures for access into the border buffer region, including obtaining prior authorization and subjecting any transgressing party to punishments that may include the use of live bullets in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of the presidential decree on the creation of the buffer zone. Most of the border cities, such as Ben Guerdane and Zahabiya, including those in the buffer zone, lack development and job opportunities for the youth. One of the few ways Tunisian youth make a living is by smuggling of goods and fuel between Tunisia and Libya, which has been threatened by the creation of the buffer zone. Hence, the Tunisian government is now torn between development and security. Najeh said, We are not protesting in Ben Guerdane to defend smuggling or to call for eliminating the buffer zone and jeopardizing the country's security. We are part of this country and we care for its stability. We certainly want it to be subject to the rule of law. He added, But before imposing this buffer zone, the government should have provided a development and employment alternative, since it was perfectly aware that most of the citizens rely on trade with Libya as a source of livelihood. The government should not have neglected these citizens since this pushed desperate young men to take risks and start smuggling goods and fuel into the buffer zone, which in many cases led to their death. This is not the first time that protests were staged in Ben Guerdane over the killing of one of its young men in the buffer zone. Protests flared up in April after the killing of Mukhtar Zaghdoud, a young man who was shot by a military patrol while smuggling fuel from Libya in his vehicle. Muftah al-Aouni, a member of the local coordination unit of the Union of Unemployed Graduates in Ben Guerdane, told Al-Monitor, The youth of the city did not choose to get involved in smuggling activities and expose themselves to life-threatening hazards. They are not organizing recreational trips to the buffer zone. Unemployment and the difficult social and economic situations forced them to take this road. If they can find regular jobs or opportunities to launch small and medium enterprises through loans and grants, they would not risk their lives again. He said, Unfortunately, the state imposes decisions without taking into consideration the difficult circumstances of the people on the border. Even the official crossings with Libya in Ben Guerdane and Zahabiya in the far south are closed sometimes, which leads to semi-permanent protests throughout the year. Aouni added, In our border areas, the state is only present through security and the army. There are no projects and development programs. The number of young people who carried out smuggling activities on a daily basis in the city has dropped after the creation of the buffer zone. Dozens of young men decided to head to Europe illegally mainly to Italy in boats across the Libyan coast. Some of them reached their destination while dozens died on the way, and others fell into the trap of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State [IS], which exploited their difficult economic situation and recruited them into their ranks. Omar al-Kouz, the head of the local authority in Ben Guerdane, told Al-Monitor, The peoples demands of employment and development are legitimate demands. It is the state's duty and responsibility to protect these people and the country from security threats. Creating a buffer zone was not an option for the authorities, but a necessity imposed by the security situation experienced in Libya our neighbor and on its borders. After the fall of Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime in 2011, the borders turned into a pathway for arms to Tunisia as well as a crossing for Tunisian young men joining terrorist groups. This pushed the authorities to create the buffer zone to protect the country. In March, Ben Guerdane was targeted by an IS terrorist attack that killed and wounded dozens of people; IS wanted to establish its own emirate in the city. It should be noted that around 50 IS members from among those who participated in the attack on Ben Guerdane were locals. On Aug. 24, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi decided to extend the duration of the border buffer zone in southern Tunisia for one additional year. In this regard, Kouz said, The need for the state to preserve security does not mean that it should neglect its responsibility to provide employment opportunities and ensure development, which requires a lot of patience. Years of marginalization cannot be erased in a short time, especially in light of the economic difficulties experienced by the country. He added, The state developed programs and projects for the advancement of the region, some of which are in progress, such as the project for the construction of the road that links the Libyan border to the north of the country. This step will facilitate the movement of vehicles, people and goods. There is also the free zone project, which will organize trade operations with Libya and create direct and indirect jobs for the youth. The state also took urgent measures by giving loans and grants for the creation of small- and medium-sized enterprises and funding the establishment of a large industrial area that would create job opportunities and investment potentials of the national and foreign capital. The state set up projects as well to improve infrastructure, such as a sewage treatment plant. In light of the governments promises and the dire situation on the ground, the residents of the border buffer zone in Tunisia especially the youth are now facing the repercussions of long years of lack of development projects and marginalization by the state. Meanwhile, Tunisia stands incapable of finding a balance between imposing security and ensuring the welfare of the residents of Ben Guerdane, who fended off IS and prevented it from taking over their city. September 20, 2016 US assistance to Israel took a partisan turn Sept. 20 as a hawkish group of Senate Republicans tore into President Barack Obama's record-breaking $38 billion aid package. Seven lawmakers signed on to legislation from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would provide an extra $1.5 billion in missile defense and direct assistance to Israel's military next fiscal year. They object to the White House's efforts to short-circuit unsolicited annual aid hikes by Congress as well as the elimination of a 26% carve-out for Israel's domestic defense industry instead of US weapons-makers. "Now is not the time to tell the Iranians that we're going to be less supportive of Israel's ability to defend herself," Graham, the chairman of the Senate spending panel that controls foreign aid, said at a press briefing to unveil his bill. "Now is not the time to say that we're going to nickel and dime Israel." The $1.5 billion aid boost is attached to legislation to renew sanctions on Iran's energy sector that expire at the end of the year. Six other senators have signed on to the bill: Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Mark Kirk, R-Ill.; and Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Graham said he plans to separately introduce legislation to restore the carve-out for the Israeli defense industry. Democrats countered that their Republican colleagues are trying to score political points by trying to appear more pro-Israel than the president weeks before the November election. The United States and Israel signed the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last week, earning public praise from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials. "The president just signed an MOU that shows the extent of our commitment to them, which we will make good on," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Congress has the right to go above and beyond the $38 billion, but probably not in the political atmosphere like [Republicans] seem to be encouraging." Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said her conversations with Israeli officials convinced her that they're "really pleased with what's happening." "If [Republicans] are trying to make this into some partisan bidding war, that's kind of insulting to the relationship between Israel and America," she told Al-Monitor. The Obama administration portrays its effort to restrict congressional add-ons as a way to streamline budgeting and avoid recurring spending fights. As part of the package, Israel signed a letter vowing to return congressional appropriations beyond the MOU's agreed-upon amount during the next two fiscal years. Earlier this year, the White House threatened to veto the House Defense spending bill for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, in part because it allocates $601 million for Israel missile defense, $455 million more than the Pentagon's request. The request for additional funding was made by the government of Israel, according to the report accompanying the Senate's version of the bill. Graham said the $1.5 billion supplemental amounts to about 1% of the windfall Iran is receiving through the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions. He said merging the sanctions renewal and the aid boost makes sense as a dual message to Iran: Cheating on the nuclear deal will carry consequences, and "the more provocative you are toward Israel and our allies in the region, the more we're going to help them." The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations panel, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Congress would be better off reauthorizing the Iran Sanctions Act without extraneous aid provisions. "I think there is an issue here of whether this is a real issue for Israel," he told Al-Monitor, "or whether these are some partisan roadblocks being thrown up." Graham acknowledged that he doesn't know if Israel even wants or needs an extra $1.5 billion. He said he's seen Netanyahu's letter to Secretary of State John Kerry vowing to refund additional congressional appropriations, but he made clear that Congress wasn't bound by that agreement. "The last thing in the world I want to do is do a deal with Israel that shuts off the ability to provide assistance unless the president agrees," he said. September 20, 2016 Many are the regional and international parties involved in the conflict in Syria, yet only two seem capable of making big decisions. On Sept. 10, Russia and the United States reached a tentative agreement for a cease-fire in Syria, imposing full adherence on all involved parties. However, the truce came to an end Sept. 19 as both Washington and Moscow exchanged allegations of noncompliance. Russia raised questions over the Sept. 17 American-led air raid that reportedly killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers in Deir Ez-Zor, suggesting that it might leave the whole peace process in tatters. Meanwhile, the United States held Russia fully responsible for the attack on a United Nations aid convoy near Aleppo by the Syrian air force Sept. 19. There was much hope that Russia and the United States could show more compliance with the agreement to help move toward a new level of understanding a milestone that might facilitate a comprehensive peace plan to end almost six bloody years of a conflict that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands and driven more than half of Syrias population from their homes. Such a goal couldnt be fulfilled without the help of two other main regional players, Iran and Turkey both of which have military presences in Syria and strong influence on militants fighting on opposite sides of the conflict. Theres no reason to believe the Americans. Its only because of our Russian ally that we are ready to cooperate, an Iranian military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. To secure this truce, there were men fighting and dying in Aleppo and they helped make it happen, said the source. Irans official stance, as expressed by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, welcomed the US-Russia deal. On Sept. 11, Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran, Iran has always welcomed a cease-fire in Syria and the facilitation of humanitarian access to all people in this country. He added, The cease-fire needs to be sustainable and enforceable, not providing the terrorists with any opportunity to beef up [their forces] and [re-equip]. Iran is always cautious when dealing with these kinds of situations. Indeed, one previous experience was bloody enough to raise concerns. The Khan Touman battle on May 6, following the Feb. 27 cease-fire, saw dozens of soldiers fighting under Iranian command being ambushed, killed and some captured. Back then, Iranian officials thought that the cease-fire was merely an opportunity for the recruitment and reinvigoration of the terrorist groups by the governments that support them. The Iranian military source who spoke to Al-Monitor stressed that his country isnt ready to tolerate any similar incident, referring to the Sept. 17 US-led raid on the Syrian army. For more than half an hour, the US planes were bombarding the Syrian army while Daesh [Islamic State (IS)] was advancing. Now what can we call this? asked the Iranian military source. Regrets wont bring back the killed soldiers nor the lost positions. What if the Syrian army did a similar mistake? Theyd call them war criminals. Still, this excuse [of a mistaken attack] is frail and implausible." Al-Monitor received Sept. 11 a rare statement from the Syria media warfare group the media wing of the Resistance Axis quoting the field commander for forces allied with Syria, remarking on the Sept. 10 announcement of an impending truce. The statement read, The Syrian army and its allies will continue their open war on takfiri terrorists of [IS] and JFS, calling on the armed opposition to rethink its political calculations and military bets. The Russians and the Americans should make sure all parties are committed to the agreement, yet any violation wont be tolerated and well respond with the maximum power possible, the statement read, concluding, The US-Russian-Turkish-Iranian understanding will uproot the hopes of the terrorists after it was agreed on closing the Turkish borders. On Sept. 17, an Iranian diplomatic source told Al-Monitor that the new truce seemed to be promising, but that the latest raid by the US on the Syrian soldiers makes things more complicated. Another Iranian official who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said, If the US wants others to be committed to the agreement, then they themselves have to commit. The Russians consulted us on the truce, and we had one main concern: The Americans never stick to their word. The Iranian official explained that the only reason his countrys allies agreed to the truce was for humanitarian reasons. Why would we accept a cease-fire when we are advancing and the other side is retreating? It is only because we want to contribute to peace efforts. The only real war taking place is in Aleppo; in the south, theres nothing serious going on. In the countryside of Damascus, agreements are reached with the militants and they are leaving. In Homs, the situation is good; in Hama, the situation was contained. They [militants] have Idlib, and Aleppo is contested. Indeed, the level of optimism in Tehran over Syria has fallen drastically over the past 48 hours. A second Iranian military source who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said that given the latest developments, Its obvious that the US isnt serious about ending the crisis. ... They say the [Sept. 17] attack on the Syrian army was a mistake. Having been a military officer for years, I cant but laugh at such claims. The raid continued for more than 40 minutes. Didnt anyone discover during all these long minutes that they were opening the road for [IS] to advance? I tend to believe that it was the work of the Pentagon, and that Mr. Kerry wasnt aware of what was going on. It might be also that the hawks in Washington are spreading their wings for a new policy under a different administration. These [remaining] few months [of the current US administration] are only for wasting time. Iran is assessing the situation in accordance with its agenda and interests, which may not necessarily be fully congruent with those of Russia but both countries are nevertheless trying to make use of their common interests in Syria to solidify their front. Their main objectives include keeping defiant Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power, preserving the structure of governance in Syria and combating terrorism. One of the main requests the Iranians made during the many negotiations over Syria was the designation of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, previously Jabhat al-Nusra, as a terrorist entity, just like IS; this request was fulfilled in the US-Russia agreement. This step was enough for Tehran to at this stage abide by the deal despite all the concerns, as the latter alone could be seen as a blow to its regional rivals, who saw the rebranding of Jabhat al-Nusra as a way to place it along with other Syrian opposition factions on the other side of the negotiating table. Ultimately, to Iran, the collapse of the US-Russia agreement as the deal itself will not change anything in its only plan on the table, which involves supporting Assad until he survives the tide. Indeed, the visit by Irans Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaber Ansari to Damascus on Sept. 19 reflected this stance. After meeting with Assad, Ansari said, Iran is determined to provide Syria with all the facilities it needs in its critical fight against terrorism." An 8-year employee with CFD Research Corporation is taking over the Huntsville company following President and CEO Joe Cosumano's retirement. Sameer Singhal, vice president and chief operating officer of CFDRC, will replace Cosumano, who retires today after four years leading the business. Cosumano will continue to serve CFDRC as a member of the board of directors. "We are very grateful for Joe's dedication and leadership for successfully building upon CFDRC's core values and technology strengths," said Dr. Ashok Singhal, principal founder and chairman of CFDRC. Singhal, a graduate of Georgia Tech and Stanford University, previously worked for Nitronex Corporation. His job responsibilities at CFDRC include the technical development and commercialization for a portfolio of technologies, developed with the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, and NASA. He helped to commercialize CFDRC's Bio-Battery, SynVivo products, and is leading the development of the company's Thermal Battery technology. "I have been honored to lead this great Company and our employees in providing technology and services that make a difference in both the government and commercial world," Cosumano said. " ... It has been a tremendous experience, and I have full confidence that Sameer Singhal will lead this Company to higher levels of performance and customer satisfaction." Rachel Cruze.png Rachel Cruze (c/o Rachel Cruze) If you've ever felt jealous of someone else's accomplishments and possessions on social media, you're not alone. Just a couple of years ago for instance, two German universities showed that one in three Facebook users felt worse after visiting the website and more dissatisfied with their lives. With the growth of other social outlets like Pinterest and Instagram, those somber feelings are sure to have gotten worse and have likely made many of us poorer in the process. This is because ardent feelings of discontentment can cause us to overextend and overspend ourselves. If we don't put good defense mechanisms in place, we are bound to live a life full of financial ineffectiveness and rampant indebtedness. Luckily, best-selling author Rachel Cruze has a new book coming out in October called "Love Your Life, Not Theirs" that will help prevent that heartbreaking financial outcome. In this new book, Cruze dishes her seven money habits that will aid people of all ages learn how to live lives free of debt, stress, and comparison. Based on review of the advanced press copy, "Love Your Life, Not Theirs" will truly make an immediate impact on people's lives. Much like her previous book "Smart Money Smart Kids," this new book is full of practical tips for winning with money in a world that says winning is no longer possible. "Love Your Life, Not Theirs" comes out October 3 and is available for pre-order now at most major bookstores. In addition, Cruze will be in Alabama on October 6 as part of her "Love Your Life, Not Theirs" book-signing tour. Information for this leg of the tour is as follows: October 6, 2016, 6:00pm Books-A-Million 757 Brookwood Village Birmingham, AL 35209 Macy's (Contributed by Macy's) Seasonal hiring is ramping up in Birmingham and nationwide: Macy's hopes to hire 83,000 workers nationwide, including for its two locations in Birmingham. The Cincinnati-based is hosting its first national hiring day Friday, Sept. 30 between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at all Macy's locations. Its only locations in Alabama are at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover and Brookwood Village shopping center in Homewood and Mountain Brook. If you can't make it to hiring day, you can browse openings here. "We first offer our current associates the opportunity to work extra hours over the holidays, and then supplement our ongoing workforce with seasonal hires," Macy's CEO and chairman Terry Lundgren said in a statement. "This significant increase in staffing allows us to provide additional service to customers, however they engage with us." The job comes with a 20 percent employee discount. Macy's has 880 stores in 45 states and almost 158,000 employees nationwide. Target announced Tuesday it would be hiring 70,000 seasonal workers nationwide. Toys"R"Us announced last week it would hire 400 new workers in Alabama for the holidays. Regions Bank job fair 2012 Regions Bank will be among more than 100 employers at ASU's job fair next week. (File) More than 100 companies will meet with potential employees next week during Alabama State University's fall career fair in Montgomery. The free event will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 29 at the ASU Dunn-Oliver Acadome concourse on 1595 Robert C. Hatch Drive. ASU students, alumni and the general public can attend. Regions Bank, NASA, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama and Waffle House are just four employers who will participate in the job fair. Others include: United States Attorney's Office Pickens County Board of Education Emory University Physician Assistant Program Texas Department of Public Safety Alabama Department of Corrections Charles County Public Schools Alabama Army National Guard Gwinnett County Police Department Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Faulkner University, Jones School of Law ASU said full-time, part-time, co-op and internship opportunities will be available. Attendees should dress professionally, bring several copies of their resume, and prepare for on-the-spot interviews and hiring. For more information, call ASU's Office of Career Services at 334-229-4156. Frankie's cooking.jpg Frankie Little has been playing around in his kitchen at home to create dishes for his new restaurant: charro beans, grilled chicken and steak tacos, pablano and cabbage slaw and sweet spicy Mexican cucumbers. (Photo by Frankie Little) After spending the past 12 years or so working in various bars and restaurants in Mobile, Frankie Little has decided it's time to open his own eatery. Last week, he announced on Facebook that he plans to open Roosters Latin American Food, at 211 Dauphin St. in downtown Mobile. Little worked off and on for years at La Pizzeria, eventually becoming the general manager when the restaurant reopened. He also worked for five years as a bartender at Callaghan's, waited tables and eventually became manager at The Bull, and has worked at Heroes and FIVE Mobile. Frankie Little and his wife, Faye Rose Mahan Even as he worked for others, he was dreaming of opening his own place in downtown Mobile, where he would have "control over the ideas, execution and operation" - and that's what he'll have as owner, manager and chef at Roosters. The second biggest trend in the restaurant industry for 2017, according to the National Restaurant Association's annual list, is the chef-driven, fast-casual concept, Little said: "laid-back atmosphere but fresh-made, delicious food with local ingredients. "That's where people want to dine," he said. Little grew up in Foley, where his only experience with Mexican food was taco night at home - or a trip to the nearest Taco Bell in Pensacola, he recalled in his Facebook post. "Then in my early 20s, I fancied myself a young Jack Kerouac and began to wander around the country, mainly through the Southwest," he wrote. He visited Mexico for the first time, where he was introduced to authentic Mexican food - and he fell in love with it, as well as the hospitality of the people who cooked it. He also spent time in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, where his fondness for Latin American cuisine deepened. He and his wife, Faye Rose Mahan, moved to Austin, Texas, where he said a real estate agent told them they "didn't want to live" on the east side of town. But they found an apartment in the "tortilla district," where it always smelled like fresh corn tortillas. "We were the only English-speaking people in our apartment complex," he said. "People were always grilling. There was a bar down the street that had a food truck late at night, and you had to order in Spanish. It was so amazing. I really love that kind of food." His wife was homesick for Mobile, so they moved back. "When I returned to Alabama, I was left with a longing for the fresh Mexican food that was next to impossible to find," he wrote on Facebook. Roosters will open in January 2017 in downtown Mobile, according to owner/chef Frankie Little. In recent months, Little started to develop a business plan for a restaurant that would feature the kind of food that had ignited his passion: Latin American-inspired dishes made with fresh, local ingredients. He got serious about it when he found the ideal downtown location, across from the Crescent Theater and right between the Soul Kitchen and The Peanut Shop. He secured the help of two silent investors and started planning the menu and designing the space. He plans to close on the space on Oct. 1. Roosters will be a "fast-casual" restaurant with counter service only, and an open kitchen, he said. It will be open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Little hopes to offer "an Alabama boy's twist on Latin food." The menu will be simple, offering tacos, tortas (Mexican sandwiches) and burritos with choices of fillings and toppings, and a handful of sides. He plans to offer daily food specials as well as late-night specials on Thursday through Saturday nights. He will also offer beer and margaritas and a happy hour. The name evokes "the image of a colorful Mexican restaurant." When he was growing up on his parents' farm, he said, roosters ran around in the back yard - a link to the chickens he's seen on dirt roads in Mexico, and on the streets of Key West. Little plans to open in January, but he said it's possible that he could open before Christmas. "I want to engage people," he said. "We're going to be hospitality-driven, where people will remember your name and what you like." Follow Roosters on Facebook to keep up with the restaurant's progress. Two men faces charges of trafficking methamphetamine after a car chase that began in Etowah County and ended in Blount County. Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit Commander Randall Johnson said Richard Gomez Jr., 35, of Norwalk, Calif., and Andres Bravo, 32, of Boaz, have been charged with meth trafficking. Deputy Commander Phil Sims said the arrests came last Thursday when agents went to an Attalla grocery store parking lot to arrange a buy of a quarter-pound of meth. At that time, they arrested Gomez and seized the quarter pound. However, Sims said, agents figured out Bravo was in a Chevrolet Camaro "to establish counter surveillance" of authorities. When they spotted the car, Bravo left and a chase began. The pursuit extended into rural Etowah County before crossing into Blount County and ending at Snead, at the intersection of Alabama 75 and U.S. 278. Bravo was arrested there. "Over the course of the chase, several police vehicles from different agencies were struck by Bravo and two officers deploying spike strips were almost hit," Sims said. Bravo and Gomez are being held in the Etowah County Detention Center, with Bravo also facing charges of attempting to elude and resisting arrest. Bravo's bond is set at $52,000, while Gomez has a $50,000 cash bond. The two may face additional charges. Participating in the operation were Attalla, Altoona and Snead police, the Etowah and Blount County sheriff's offices, ALEA, the Alabama National Guard Counterdrug Program and the FBI North Alabama Safe Streets Task Force. Calhoun County authorities say they have arrested a second juvenile in connection with threats made of clown attacks on schools. Chief Deputy Matthew Wade said investigators have arrested a 17-year-old male from Alexandria in connection with the threats. The juvenile was identified on social media as "Koko the Klown," he said. "He was taken into custody and placed in a state run juvenile facility for the offense of 'child in need of supervision,'" Wade said. "The Sheriff's Office continues to identify suspects who threaten our schools and children." Yesterday, authorities arrested a 16-year-old juvenile from Pleasant Valley on charges of making a terroristic threat, in connection with threats made by "Billy the Klown" to "shoot up" Saks Middle School. These were just a few incidents among many Monday in schools and communities across Alabama. Similar threats were reported in Montgomery, the Birmingham area, Mobile and other communities, many dealing with social media posts and no actual sightings of clowns. The practice of writing a prominent official or scholar for advice dates back hundreds of years, if not more. In the 1690s, for example, Londoners sent letters to the Athenian Mercury, a twice weekly newspaper that published the questions about everything from love to sin. Religious figures have also frequently been sought out for correspondence by people seeking absolution or guidance in times of hardship. Such exchanges have long been a window into societys fears and anxieties. Indeed the same may be true for written correspondence from individuals living in parts of Iraq controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which paints a bleak picture of life for both ISIL members and civilians still living under the its control. The correspondence, obtained by The Intercept and Al Jazeera, was sent to a religious scholar living in Jordan who has been associated with other groups in the past, but is critical of ISIL. The messages come from people in ISIL-held territory, both members of the group and civilians, who are seeking his religious advice. Wanting such counsel from religious figures is common in the Muslim world, but the recipient of these messages in particularly respected among Muslims in Iraq, Syria and Jordan. OPINION: Iraqs regional decentralisation debate is heating up The religious figure is not named here in order to protect his legal status in Jordan. The advice seekers are unrelated: one is an ISIL fighter in Fallujah, and the other is a Sunni Muslim civilian living in Mosul. The correspondence took place from early June to mid August, and coincided with major events in those cities reported by international media including the Iraqi governments offensive to retake Fallujah and the increasing pressure on the inhabitants of Mosul in preparation for the operation. The battle for Fallujah was a success in that it ended with ISIS driven out and a government established that had representation from the local Sunni community, says Nathaniel Rabkin, managing editor of the political risk publication Inside Iraq Politics. Having said that, there was a lot of ugliness associated with the campaign, including damage to infrastructure and allegations of abuses by Shia militia groups. READ MORE: Fallujah fallout More than 700 Sunni men missing The messages from these cities offer a glimpse into the effect of military pressure on ISIL fighters in Iraq, as well as the fears of some Sunni Muslims that they would be the target of reprisals when their cities were recaptured by the government. On June 26, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that Iraqi forces had successfully liberated the city of Fallujah from ISIL. The announcement marked the fourth time that Fallujah had violently changed hands since the American invasion Iraq in 2003. In this case, the city, once known as a centre of Sufi Islam, was retaken only after months of US air raids and besiegement by Iraqi ground troops. Before heavy fighting in the city began this June, an ISIL fighter reached out to the Jordanian religious scholar for advice, saying that members of ISIL had committed mistakes in Fallujah, including acts of murder, and had mistreated the local population. There is no time to indulge in details. However, if I survive this ordeal I might get into details. But lets suppose that the mistakes had to do with murder, what should I do? And if it had to do with violations of Islamic law, what should I do so I face God with clean conscience? Would my repentance for these actions be enough for God to forgive me if I am a member of this group? During the run-up to the battle, the fighter said that ISIL members debated whether to allow their own family members and other civilians to flee Fallujah. He estimated that the group had only around 800 members prepared to defend Fallujah from the Iraqi Army, whose numbers were known to be far greater. We in Fallujah are under siege by the Shia, the [hostile Sunni tribes], and the apostates. We have decided that we should fight to death. Our morale is high, but the city is under siege and no supplies can come in. The enemy the Iraqi army is over 30,000 while the Mujahedeen are only 800 and are shrinking as a result of the air strikes. The American air force bombs us even if someone fires a bullet. After the battle commenced, American air strikes on the city apparently took a significant toll on the ISIL defenders. In just one day, American bombings killed 75 fighters, and on another day they killed and injured over 40, the man wrote. Following the Iraqi armys reclamation of the city in late June, the man lost contact with the religious figure. But he reached out to him again in July, saying that he and other surviving ISIL fighters had fled Fallujah into the surrounding desert: The reason I stopped this communication was because our internet service was cut off after the attack on Fallujah. We were fighting for weeks, many people were killed and injured. The battle was won by the Shia. We fled the city towards the desert which was disastrous due to the conditions we faced afterwards. The US bombing took its toll on us, and killed about 200 more of us. We fled into the desert and I am not sure if God was testing us or punishing us. I am now in the Al Bukamal area and the internet service here is not consistent. READ MORE: ISIL chemical attacks expected as Mosul battle nears He recounted to the religious scholar the suffering that he and other surviving ISIL members had experienced while fleeing Fallujah: First, we suffered great fear because of the American bombings, and thus there was no safe place for us and no place to hide. This took its toll on us. Then we suffered disorientation and confusion, we were lost in this huge desert. Making things worse was the fact that our guide was killed by the air strikes. We stayed 10 days in the desert not knowing where we were going as we were chased by the bombers from the air. We suffered terribly as result of extreme thirst. Many of us died of thirst and I myself almost died of it, if it was not for Gods mercy. It was the most horrific 10 days that I have ever experienced. The man told the scholar that many of the other fighters who had managed to flee Fallujah had instructed their families to leave ISIL territory altogether and move to territories controlled by local Sunni tribes, for fear of what would happen if they were captured by Shia militia groups. Meanwhile, in his new location, still under ISIL control, he claims to have witnessed the same abuses that the group had inflicted in Fallujah. Some of us reached Mosul, others did not. But the same mistakes that were made in Fallujah are being made here all over again. In that I mean the mistreatment of population, disregard to proper strategies and the spread of injustice. If ever want our situation to change, we should start rethinking of our actions and mistakes and revision should be considered at the highest levels. The mans messages cut off some time after that, with his fate unclear. In one of his last messages he again lamented that the group had lost Fallujah, because of the injustices we have committed against the people. INSIDE STORY: Is the Iraqi army ready to liberate Mosul? Mosul is Iraqs second largest city, and has been under the control of ISIL fighters since 2014. The ISIL force that routed the Iraqi Army is believed to have consisted of little more than a thousand fighters, yet it managed to defeat a much larger force over the course of a six-day battle. The unlikely initial success of ISIL in Mosul is believed to be a product of the widespread unpopularity of the Iraqi Army forces that had been stationed in the city. These forces were predominantly Shia, and were alleged to have carried out sectarian abuses against the citys mostly Sunni local population. In a series of messages delivered over the course of the summer, a man currently living in Mosul who reached out to the Jordanian religious scholar described his despair over the future of the city trapped under the harsh governance of ISIL fighters and facing an assault by potentially vengeful Iraqi government forces. I am writing this account because I see our end is near. I live in Mosul, I am a devout Muslim, but not a member of ISIL and I dont intend to join them anytime soon. I am writing this account to explain our dire situation in this city. Although like many residents of Mosul, we saw the Shia government of Baghdad as a bigger danger and a threat to our lives than ISIL. But as our life conditions deteriorate rather rapidly from bad to worse, some have started thinking of what was unthinkable few years ago: preferring Shia Baghdads dangerous rule to ISIL. While the man had once welcomed ISIL as possible liberators from the oppressive central government, the brutal treatment meted out by ISIL members to the local population had changed his perception. OPINION: Irans Shia Liberation Army is par for the course While Mosul is under siege and a war against it is looming in the horizon, the people there have lost trust in everything that comes from ISIL. They even are reluctant to pick up arms to defend the city because of mistreatment and harassment they have been subjected to. We even started hearing those who are saying: it does not matter any more who comes and take over Mosul. [ISILs] behaviour and aggression against the residents of Mosul and their capturing and enslaving women from others faiths has turned people away from them. Peoples morale is down, and I saw that coming, and expected even worse because of how they treated the population and created enemies throughout the region. The situation here is very difficult. I am very confused about the future and often ask myself if we should stay home and await the knives of the Shias when they eventually come to kill us. Should we flee to the desert with our women and children, or keep our families at home and carry arms to defend ourselves? In the autumn of 2015, the Iraqi government stopped paying the salaries of public sector workers living in Mosul. While the decision to starve ISIL-controlled areas of funds made tactical sense, it financially left the citys residents impoverished. People are exhausted by poverty; they desperately need money especially after the Shia rulers of Baghdad cut off the salaries more than a year ago, the man wrote. Eighty percent of the people here are government employees, so they are directly impacted by cutting their salaries off and face severe problems of trying to feed and take care of their families. OPINION: The US, the Peshmerga and Mosul The callous response by ISIL leaders to this apparent suffering had further embittered the man and other Mosul residents. Remarkably, while all this is taking place, ISIS couldnt care less about the people or how they feel or what they are going through. Every Friday during the prayer sermon, their preachers insult the local population and attack them for not going off to Jihad with them and accuse them of being cowards and hypocrites. Their [morality police] is manned by young men and teenagers who insult and attack older and grown men. These young teenagers often issue tickets and fines to elderly men because they for example shaved some of their beards off, even though people barely have money to eat let alone have any to pay imposed fines. They also often yell at women because they slightly showed their faces or eyes from under their veils. In the run-up to the government offensive against Mosul, many Iraqis have reportedly made plans to flee the city by paying local smugglers. In his letters, the man says that ISIL refuses to let people flee the city through normal channels, claiming that those who flee territory under its control are apostates from Islam itself. The man said that he had tried to reason with local ISIL officials on behalf of the women, children and foreigners present in Mosul, to no avail. READ MORE: Fallujah is liberated, now what? I advised some of ISIL men who I knew in the city to let the women and children out of Mosul before the war starts, especially western women French, Swedish, Danish, British and others because they have no place else to go. Unlike what happened in Fallujah where Iraqi women fled to other Sunni areas in advance of the battle and found shelter in tribal areas. Western women and their children have no such option. I told them they should give them back their passports and have them go to Syria or elsewhere before the war starts, because the Kurds and the Shia are coming for revenge and they will murder and rape those women. But they mocked and threatened me and refused to listen. What makes me more confused is that Raqqa is part of House of Islam, [under the control of ISIL] so why cant they allow people to escape there? Furthermore, ISIL allows Syrians to come from Syria to shop and engage in trade in Mosul, but does not allow Iraqis to go to Syria and do the same thing. I, like many other residents of Mosul, find this very troubling. In his last messages, the man said that he initially hoped that ISIL would govern Mosul in accordance with his own understanding of Islamic law. But now, he lamented, what we see here today is everything else but Gods conditions and instructions. We see injustice rule us, we see aggression and murder take place everywhere around us. Under these conditions we live in, I dont think any of us would have the power or the motivation to fight the Shias when they eventually come to destroy us, the man wrote. Our situation is dire and is much bigger than us, we can only ask God for his help and his forgiveness. Follow Ali Younes and Murtaza Hussain on Twitter: @Ali_reports / @MazMHussain World leaders are set to get tough on antibiotic-resistant illnesses on Wednesday. They must get tougher still. New York, United States It resembles the plot of a sci-fi disaster movie: bacteria evolving resistance to modern drugs, doctors scratching their heads as once-curable maladies return and claim lives like they did in centuries past. Everly Macario knows this is all too real. Over several days, she watched her 15-month-old son, Simon, vomit, gasp for breath and break out in blisters as he succumbed to MRSA, a drug-resistant type of staph bacteria. The broad-spectrum antibiotics that doctors prescribed had little effect, 50-year-old Macario, told Al Jazeera. Simon died from sepsis, and the familys life in suburban Chicago came crashing to an end. You have this false sense of security and reliance on modern medicine, says Macario, now a campaigner with Supermoms Against Superbugs. How did we get to the point where we have just squandered this miracle medical gift? On September 21, superbugs get elevated to the top of the global agenda, with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, GlaxoSmithKline drug firm boss Sir Andrew Witty, and others meeting at the United Nations to keep antibiotics and other drugs working for future generations. UN General Assembly health summits are rare and reserved for crises such as HIV and Ebola. Envoys will raise the profile of the threat and launch a coordinating body to help countries act and report back on progress in 2018. Samantha Power, Washingtons UN envoy, said the meeting reflected a newfound sense of urgency on superbugs. She outlined tough talks with drug firms to come. Telling Al Jazeera that a meeting alone, however, will not create a solution to the problem. Resistance to drugs Critics warn that governments still lack the resolve to tackle the issue head-on, for instance by curbing antibiotic use on farms, investing in new drugs and pushing doctors and patients to use medicines sparingly and carefully. Some 700,000 people die from drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, sepsis, diarrhoea and other illnesses each year around the world a figure that could rise to 10 million by 2050, says a UK government review. About 50,000 of the deaths are in Europe and the United States. This week, the World Bank estimated that deaths and medical costs from drug-resistant bugs could cost poor countries 5 percent of their economies by the year 2050 in a global crisis that could be as pricey as the 2008 financial meltdown. Early last century, an infected pinprick could kill. Harnessing penicillins bug-killing powers in the 1940s and the subsequent development of 20-odd classes of antibiotics ushered in a golden age of medicine that saved millions of lives. But bugs fought back, evolving resistance to these miracle cures. This month, Harvard Medical School researchers used a table-sized petri dish to showcase how they mutate to overcome the drugs designed to kill them. READ MORE: Can the US end its addiction to painkillers? Were getting to the point where most people have to do battle with a bacterial infection the way their great-great-grandparents did, health scholar Laurie Garrett, of the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, told Al Jazeera. The presence of antibiotics makes hospitals a fertile ground for superbugs, though they can be caught elsewhere. Medics fear that, one day, caesareans and other operations will be too risky to perform with so many drug-resistant bugs lurking nearby. Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, lauded this weeks meeting as a good start but told Al Jazeera that countries have shied away from setting themselves firm targets. It is an uphill struggle, involving money and research into new drugs and more rules and monitoring on farmers, doctors and patients. This must be done not only in the West, but in poor countries that struggle to keep tabs on every clinic and ranch on their turf. The low-hanging fruit is antibiotics use on farms, both to fight illness and fatten animals, which breeds reservoirs of resistant pathogens, said Garret. In the US, 70 percent of antibiotics sold end up in beasts and fowl, mostly via their water and feed. READ MORE: Is the world losing the fight against superbugs? Politicians can legislate against this, but they run into powerful farming lobbyists who argue persuasively for another good helping working-class families feed themselves cheaply from supermarkets and fast-food joints. This weeks survey by the Natural Resources Defence Council, found that McDonalds and others are using fewer antibiotics in factory farms than before, responding to consumer pressure, while Burger King, Starbucks, KFC and others have yet to make progress. [PDF] Limiting their use in people is another step. The drugs can be bought over-the-counter in many places, meaning that they are used frequently, inappropriately and unnecessarily, raising the risk of bugs developing resistance. In developed countries, patients often desire the validation of an antibiotics script, and will shop around till they find an obliging medic. They are often doled out for viruses, against which they have no effect. Some patients stop their pill courses early upon feeling better, leaving behind small, resistant rump infections. A common misconception persists: that it is the human body not microbes that develop resistance to drugs. A major problem Meanwhile, drugs against parasites, such as malaria, and viruses, like HIV, have similar issues. Cheap, fake antimalarial drugs in Southeast Asia breed resistance and benefit only greedy, exploitative vendors, said Garrett. The final challenge is developing new drugs, as big pharmaceutical firms have halted much research into antibiotics due to poor returns. New drugs are made in small batches to be used as last-ditch weapons against resistant strains. Biotech start-ups could develop drugs with funding from governments, investors or academic prizes. But, as Keiji Fukuda, the World Health Organization envoy on antimicrobials, told Al Jazeera: The answer to that is not clear yet. Down the road, scientists talk of a post-antibiotic era. Antibodies, genomics and phages viruses that prey on bacteria offer hopes of future cures. Others call for more vaccines and their wider use, particularly in poor countries. READ MORE: Take as Prescribed Drug addiction in the US For Amanda Glassman, of the Center for Global Development, the problem is politics, not science. The West deployed troops to halt Ebolas spread in West Africa; there are fewer photo-opportunities fighting superbugs. Its a preventive investment with no immediate benefit, Glassman told Al Jazeera. Youre not saving a life right in front of you; youre saving a potential life that youd have lost in the worst-case scenario. For Mike Schroeder, an American University politics professor, this is a chance for WHO to assert itself after suffering a pretty bad beating over its tardy response and weak leadership in the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Whether it can answer those concerns by taking the lead in public health emergencies while also forging longer-term, multi-stakeholder commitments on antibiotic resistance for 10 years down the road remains a big question, Schroeder told Al Jazeera. Nauman Rana, 35, is hopeful that the UN meeting will spur action. Three years ago, the financial consultant caught a strain of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Diagnosis and treatment were slow as he shed weight, coughed up blood and edged towards despair. Since then, she says she has seen more awareness among politicians and more funding. Im blessed to be alive and healthy, but it really does take two years of your life away, Rana told Al Jazeera. Follow James Reinl on Twitter: @jamesreinl At least 17 people have been killed during clashes between police and anti-government protesters in the Democratic Republic of Congos capital, Kinshasa. The protest, attended by thousands of people, came at a time of growing local and foreign pressure on President Joseph Kabila to step down when his term of office ends in December. The opposition accuses him of plotting to extend his tenure in the central African by delaying elections that were supposed to be held in November until at least next year. His supporters deny that. Angry crowds torched the offices of politicians loyal to Kabila and tore down giant posters of the president, chanting in French, Its over for you and We dont want you. Rights groups reported dozens of arrests of protesters and journalists in the capital as well as in Goma and Kisangani, where anti-government marches also took place. Children forced to flee their homes also end up missing out on schooling. As world leaders gather for US President Barack Obamas Leaders Summit on Refugees on September 20, they should urgently address how to get the more than 3.5 million refugee children around the world who arent getting an education back to school. All children have a legal right to an education. But too often, children forced to flee their home end up missing out on schooling a double blow with dire consequences for their future. Parents trying to shield their children from the horrors of war should not have to watch them grow up without an education. These children are often desperate to learn. Baraa, a 10-year-old Syrian girl I met in an informal refugee camp in Lebanon, wasnt able to enrol in school when she first arrived. So she propped a blackboard against a tree and started teaching children in the camp what she remembered from first grade. Parents have gone to extraordinary lengths to try to keep their children in school, with some even returning to Syria. But too often, the children I meet have been out of school for years. Some have never set foot inside a classroom. Failure to educate One of the goals for Obamas Leaders Summit is to provide access for another million refugee children to education. But that number is less than a third of the refugee children currently missing out on school. In setting such a low goal, world leaders guarantee that we will fail millions of children even if they meet their target. Patting ourselves on the back for meeting low benchmarks is just not good enough. With the average length of a refugee crisis now pushing 20 years, some youngsters can spend their entire childhood displaced (PDF). There are currently 21.3 million refugees in the world more than half of them children (PDF). When they are finally able to return to their homes, it is crucial for them to have the skills to rebuild their war-ravaged countries. Full enrolment for refugee children is feasible but will require bold, decisive action. Without immediate action and sustained support, there is a real danger that recent progress in enrolling refugee children will erode instead of expanding. by Over the past two years, we have documented the barriers keeping nearly 750,000 Syrian refugee children out of school in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. We found that there are concrete steps donor and host countries can take to make sure refugee children can go to school. It is crucial for donors to step up with sustained, multi-year funding, and release that money on time to make planning for each school year possible. With 86 percent of refugees living in developing countries, refugee childrens education often depends on foreign aid. But donors can be slow to fulfil pledges and rarely meet the full need. Failure to commit In February, donors pledged more than $10bn at a London conference for Syria and neighbouring host countries the largest amount ever pledged in a single day in response to a humanitarian crisis. But more than seven months later it is unclear how much of that money has materialised. An August report by the childrens charity Theirworld found that donors have failed to meet even the most basic criteria for transparency. OPINION: International community should not fail children It is particularly important for donors to address the education needs of high-risk populations such as secondary school age children and children with disabilities. In Lebanon, only 5 percent of Syrian refugees aged between 15 and 18 enrolled in secondary school last year. Children with disabilities are often completely left behind. But it is not enough to fund places in schools donor countries also need to help tackle the barriers keeping refugee children out of school in the first place. OPINION: UN refugees and migrants summit All talk, no action Donor countries should pressure hosts to amend counterproductive policies that restrict access to education. Lebanons harsh residency regulations effectively bar many refugees from maintaining legal status driving an estimated two-thirds of Syrians there underground and making it difficult for them work or enrol their children in school (PDF). In Turkey, refugees face months-long delays in obtaining the identification cards required to enrol children in school. Donors should exercise their leverage to ensure that these policies are reversed. Chain reaction Donors should also invest in jobs programmes and partner with the private sector to ensure that refugees, the vast majority of whom live in poverty, can make a living wage and afford to send their children to school. Many families are unable to afford basic school-related costs like transportation or rely on income from child labour to survive. Host countries, concerned about job security for their citizens, often restrict refugees access to work. But such measures make it harder for refugee parents to send their children to school. Jobs programmes can bolster the economy, preserve stability and ensure that children can get an education. Without immediate action and sustained support, there is a real danger that recent progress in enrolling refugee children will erode rather than expand. This summit is an opportunity to focus the worlds attention on refugee children and to make real changes that ensure they can realise their right to an education. The costs of failure child labour, early marriage, and a lost generation are just too high. Bassam Khawaja is the Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch and the author of a recent report, Growing Up Without an Education: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Serious concern of drought raised with five million people suffering through food shortages amid drought and conflict. More than four in 10 Somalis 40 percent of the countrys population dont have enough to eat, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The number of people suffering from the lack of food has increased by 300,000 since February, reaching five million, amid the ongoing conflict between the al-Shabab armed group and Somalias African Union-backed government. The situation is of serious concern and comes at a time when we are already facing multiple drivers of needs, including drought and risk of flooding, conflict and access constraints as well as increased refugee returns, the UN said in a statement. Somali refugees Tens of thousands of refugees have returned to Somalia this year from the worlds largest refugee camp, Dadaab, in Kenya, as the government pushes ahead with plans to close it by November. Kenya claimed Dadaab home to more than 300,000 mostly Somali refugees has been used as a base by al-Shabab in its attacks on Kenyan soil. Many are returning to south-central Somalia, the nations breadbasket, where poor rainfall has reduced cereal production to half the long-term average, the UN said. We decided to return home voluntarily, but that was a wrong decision, said Amina Nur, a mother of six, who returned to Somalia five months ago from Kenya. The small money they gave us ran out, and since then we have no assistance to survive. Some returnees said aid agencies have not provided them with food since their return to Mogadishu and similar camps elsewhere. Life here is a nightmare. Its only between hunger and bombing, said Ahmed Mohamed, whose wife died in a suicide bombing at a Mogadishu hotel one week after their return in August. READ MORE: Al-Shabab attacks in Somalia (2006-2016) The majority of the 260,000 people who died during Somalias 2011 famine were children. More than 300,000 children under five are now acutely malnourished in Somalia, and more than 50,000 are severely malnourished, the UN said, appealing for additional funding to support them. Severely malnourished children are at risk of death unless they receive therapeutic feeding. Hunger is particularly acute among Somalias 1.1 million internally displaced people, many of whom are living in appalling conditions having fled their homes multiple times, the UN said. The displaced are constantly threatened with forced eviction and violence against women is widespread, it said. Violence escalates in DR Congo following allegations that President Joseph Kabila is planning to remain in office. The headquarters of three opposition parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were torched by unidentified assailants on Tuesday, one day after violent protests, leaving at least two dead inside. The renewed violence came after a bloody day on Monday during which opposition groups said more than 50 people had died in protests calling for Kabilas resignation. The targeted buildings included the offices of leading opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), as well as the Forces of Union and Solidarity (FONUS) and the Lumumbist Progressive Movement (MLP). The national secretary of the main opposition group blamed a commando unit from the government for torching the opposition headquarters buildings. Does a normal state respond with reprisals? asked Felix Tshisekedi from the Union for Democracy and Social Progress. READ MORE: Clashes erupt at rally against DRC president Kabila At least two burned bodies could be seen in the fire-ravaged UDPS offices. Two others were burned alive and another injured, AFP journalists said. Flames tore through all three headquarters, located in the capital Kinshasa, throughout the early morning on Tuesday. Fighting through tears, a woman in her 40s told AFP that her husband was inside the UDPS office when attackers hit. Ive just put my husbands body in the morgue. He was killed in the clashes. The arson attacks come a day after the DR Congo government reported at least 17 people were killed in a bloody clash between Congolese police and protesters marching through Kinshasa on Monday, warning the figure could rise. Opposition groups contradicted the death toll, saying at least 50 people were killed as security forces fired live ammunition on protesters in the worst clash the country has witnessed since a bloody police crackdown in January 2015. The violent anti-government protests have intensified in the central African country as pressure mounts on President Kabila to step down from his position when his term ends on December 20. READ MORE: DR Congo police disperse thousands at opposition rally Earlier this year in May, the Constitutional Court claimed that Kabila, who has ruled the region since 2001, could remain in office in a caretaker capacity until an election is held, triggering a wave of angry protests. Kabila was catapulted into power as a young soldier by Kinshasa politicians, a day after his father was assasinated. In 2006, three years after multiple peace deals ended a bloody war that embroiled troops from at least six foreign countries, Kabila won the first free, democratic presidential poll since independence from Belgium in 1960. A large UN peacekeeping force deployed during conflict enabled elections to take place in 2016. The overarching consensus was that these elections were fair. But when Kabila won a second and final five-year term in 2011, his victory was disputed by domestic and foreign observers. Opposition parties accuse Kabila of conspiring to extend his mandate by delaying general elections, initially due to take place in November, to next year at the very least. Government supporters deny the claims. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described the magnitude of the situation in Congo as extremely worrying and very dangerous, adding that European nations will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions. The vast, mineral-rich central African state has never seen a peaceful transition of power. Northern Sherqat is targeted as Iraqi troops and militias move to secure supply lines before the battle for Mosul. Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake a northern town from ISIL, a stepping stone in the campaign to recapture the main city of Mosul before year end. Tens of thousands of civilians are thought to be trapped in Sherqat, which lies on the River Tigris 100km south of Iraqs second-largest city. It has been surrounded by Iraqi troops and militias allied to the government. Iraq war map: Who controls what Officials have warned for months of a humanitarian disaster inside, where residents living under Islamic State of Iraq and the Levants harsh rule say food supplies have dwindled and prices soared. The operation to liberate Sherqat started at 5:30am [0230 GMT] from several directions with the support of coalition forces, Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool told the AFP news agency. We are making good progress. Sherqat is important, we cant move on Mosul and have terrorists control Sherqat. Ahmed al-Assadi, a paramilitary force spokesman, said operation Sherqat Dawn aimed to finish expelling those terrorist gangsters from usurped Iraqi land. Iraqi troops, backed by local police and Sunni tribal fighters, took up positions along five axes on Tuesday and advanced through five villages, but by midday they were still about 13km from the town centre, officials told the AP news agency. There was little resistance so far, apart from some bombs planted along the road. Messages from ISIL territory ask forgiveness for murder Iraqi forces are also moving to retake two areas in the western province of Anbar, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in an televised message from New York, where he attended the UN General Assembly. These operations pave the way for cleansing every inch of Iraqi land and, God willing, its end will be the liberation of Mosul city, he said. Abadi has pledged repeatedly to retake Mosul by years end, and Iraqi commanders have indicated the push could begin by late October, though doubts remain that the necessary troops will be ready. Iraqi and US officials are also concerned there has not been enough planning for how to manage Mosul, a mosaic of ethnic and sectarian groups, if and when ISIL is removed. Jordans Muslim Brotherhood stands a chance to win between 20-30 seats in new parliament, says its spokeswoman. Amman For Dima Tahboub, 40, a candidate of the Islamic Action Front party, IAF, the political arm of Jordans Muslim Brotherhood Movement, Jordan needs a stronger parliament that can reflect peoples concerns and frustrations. Tahboub is a member of an electoral coalition called the National Coalition for Reform that includes besides Islamists like herself Jordanian nationalists, Christians and members of other minority groups. Our Coalition will work to express the best interests of the public, not certain interest groups, Tahboub said. We will be in line with the national agendas of the people of Jordan, added Tahboub during an interview with Al Jazeera at her house in al-Rasheed neighbourhood of Amman last week. The coalition is fielding 120 candidates across the kingdom including 19 women. Of 1,293 candidates competing for 130 seats in Jordans parliament, 82 percent are non-partisan. The Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist parties, while making a strong showing, have been fractured into smaller groups. READ MORE: Jordan set for historic vote This year, Jordan made significant changes to its electoral law, replacing a controversial one-person-one-vote system with a list-based system designed to encourage political parties. The new law requires voters to pick from among pre-set lists of candidates a system that could encourage stronger organising between candidates on ideological or party-based grounds. But Tahboub says the changes have made the law all the more complicated both for voters and even candidates. The current election law is designed by the government so as not to give any political group any majority seats in the parliament, she explained. This law, just like previous election laws, were made so confusing and complicated that no one including some of those running for elections understands them. The resulting votes, Tahboub added, will be calculated in various electoral districts based on complicated mathematical equations and certain calculations to determine who will win a seat in the next parliament. Tahboub, a longtime advocate of women rights, voiced opposition to the quota system and wants women to compete on their own merit rather than being allocated one seat per province. This system is unfair to women, because, for example, it would give women in Amman with a population of four million according to last years census only one seat, says Tahboub, who was recently appointed as a spokeswoman for the IAF. Jordans Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the IAF, is known to be the most organised opposition movement, with a well-oiled political machine lacking in other political groups. The current election law is designed by the government so as not to give any political group any majority seats in the parliament. This law, just like previous election laws, were made so confusing and complicated that no one understands it even some of those running for election. by Dima Tahboub, Islamic Action Front Candidate, Tensions between the government and the Brotherhood have escalated since the closure of the groups branch last April. In 2014, the Jordanian government issued a new law requiring all organisations and political parties to register or renew their licences. Following this development, in March 2015, about a dozen members of the Muslim Brotherhood were expelled because they wanted the organisation to distance itself from its international affiliations. They founded their own group, the government-licensed Muslim Brotherhood Society, which many believe has the backing of the Jordanian regime in order to undermine the original Muslim Brotherhood, established in 1945. Tahboub agrees that winning some seats in the Parliament does not guarantee that her party will gain power or influence in passing any laws or repealing current one. Although we realise that the government has made up its mind on who will or will not be in the parliament, we decided, however, to join because of our moral and religious obligations, as an Islamist movement, to our supporters, she said. She says, however, that the Brotherhoods decision to participate in the election was not a survival strategy, stressing that the Muslim Brotherhood wants to be part of the political system, not outside it. Tahboub seems resigned to the notion that her party, if elected, will be content to only register their opposition to the laws that will be passed anyway. We are thinking that this new parliament is designed to rubber-stamp laws and certain policies that will have serious political ramifications in the region. READ MORE: Rift deepens within Jordans Muslim Brotherhood Tahboub argue that the Brotherhood only opposes certain policies of the regime, not the regime itself. During the Arab Spring protests in Jordan, the Islamic movement [the Muslim Brotherhood] has given the government many assurances that it does not advocate regime change. Instead, we wanted to reform the political system, without including the King or the royal family, said Tahboub. She thinks that her party stands a good chance to win between 20 and 30 seats out of 130 seats in total. Although 20 to 30 seats might constitute the largest bloc in the parliament, this is nowhere near having a majority to block the government from passing laws, let alone repealing old ones. Despite that, Tahboub sounds motivated and hopeful. We would propose laws to reform the state security court, and laws that will encourage domestic investment. We even might try to repeal previous laws such as the $15bn liquid gas agreement with Israel and the canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, she said. But if we ended up unable to do any of these, at least our constituency will see that we have tried to be their voice and the voice of justice in the parliament, she added. Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @Ali_reports New electoral law aims to fix a political system with which many voters have grown disenchanted. Amman Throughout Jordan, street signs have been replaced by beaming campaign posters and car parks filled with rows of seats for rallies. Campaigning reached its peak on Sunday night before lapsing into an enforced silence in preparation for Tuesdays polls, which will be different from other elections in the kingdoms recent past. Jordan made significant changes to its electoral law this year, replacing a controversial one-person-one-vote system with a list-based system designed to encourage political parties. As a result, key opposition groups that previously boycotted the election, including the Muslim Brotherhood, are back. It is a major development at a time when regional wars, an ever-growing refugee crisis and a struggling economy have all converged to threaten Jordans stability. Government spokesman Mohammad Momani has said the 2016 vote would be historic by all means. READ MORE: Jordan We are tired of living like the dead On the streets, however, the response has been muted. For decades, Jordans elections have been greeted with apathy, as parliaments failure to challenge government policies has fostered frustration among voters. Most recently, representatives passed a motion increasing the powers of the king, and in 2013 they failed to select a prime minister despite the kings request that they do so. In past elections, voter turnout has hovered around 55 percent. Most people dont care about the elections, Maha Oudat, an independent candidate running in the southern Maan governorate, told Al Jazeera. I reached out to a lot of people, and most of them dont care. They dont trust in the performance of parliament. A survey by the International Republican Institute (IRI) think-tank conducted this June found that 87 percent of Jordanians believed the most recent parliament had accomplished nothing worthy of commendation, while only 29 percent considered the legislative branch to be effective. More than half of the respondents said they were unlikely to vote. Parliament is a form of theatre, and people know this, political risk analyst Kirk Sowell told Al Jazeera. It cannot choose the government, cannot originate legislation, and although it can amend it, this power is meaningless since the senate can amend its amendments, and the king can also veto. Jordan is often described as a tribal society, where ties to large family groups are crucial in defining who holds power. Citizens are among the first to admit that family and personal loyalties are an important driver for political choices; that sense is echoed by polls and pundits, some of whom have urged citizens to pay attention to policies rather than personal loyalties. Campaigning often involves networking or securing votes through personal assurances, while party programmes or visions for change play a less important role. The one-person-one-vote law, scrapped earlier this year, entrenched that culture by encouraging voting for individuals. It was introduced by King Hussein in response to major Islamist gains after the 1989 election, with subsequent parliaments consisting of individuals rather than parties with a shared programme. We have to regain the trust of the people through our electoral process. This is our goal and this is what we are going to do. by Khaled Kaladeh, president of Jordan's Independent Electoral Commission Supporters say that they hope the new electoral law will help to revive the political system. It requires voters to pick from among pre-set lists of candidates a system that could encourage stronger organising between candidates on ideological or party-based grounds. How this will work in practice, however, remains to be seen. Of 1,293 candidates competing for 130 seats in Jordans parliament, 82 percent are non-partisan. The Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist parties, while making a strong showing, have been fractured into smaller groups. But Khaled Kalaldeh, a former political affairs minister who has since become president of Jordans Independent Electoral Commission, said he was confident in the new system. There is not a single party boycotting this election, he told Al Jazeera. Some didnt present candidates, but all of them they agreed to participate in the election for parliament Our mandate is to run this election with integrity, trust and in an impartial way. We have to regain the trust of the people through our electoral process. This is our goal and this is what we are going to do. COUNTING THE COST: The state of Jordans economy In Maan, Oudat said that reaching out to residents and giving people a reason to engage in politics was crucial to encouraging Jordanian democracy. The region she represents is relatively rural and conservative, outside of the wealthy bubble of West Amman. Economic issues are a top priority for voters in her area, she said, with average unemployment across Jordan reaching nearly 15 percent and double that among young people. We have to increase peoples trust, Oudat said. We need to talk to people, to reach people and to talk about programmes. And I think, hopefully, we can change things. Still, it will be a tough road ahead. Studies by the IRI and the University of Jordan have suggested that the troubled economy is a key cause of voter apathy, while 58 percent of Jordanians were unaware of the new electoral law, the IRI found. In Amman, many voters told Al Jazeera that they did not trust politicians to make decisions that represented their communities. Tim Naser, a business owner in the citys downtown, said he was optimistic about the potential of parliament to bring positive change but major hurdles remain. I know they made many changes, but to be honest I dont know what the changes are, Naser said. Two of my family members are running for seats, so I need to support them. This is Jordan its just how these things work here. The incident that reportedly happened in the West Bank town of Hebron is the latest in a recent surge of violence. A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli soldiers after trying to stab one of them near the West Bank town of Hebron, according to the Israeli army the latest of a recent surge in such incidents. An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab a soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to [the southern town of] Bani Naim, an army statement said on Tuesday morning. Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death. UPDATE: Assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab an IDF soldier near Hebron. Responding to the immediate threat, forces shot assailant Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 20, 2016 Since October, 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to a count by the AFP news agency. Israel says that most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or Israeli air raids on Gaza. Nine attacks on Israeli forces, including this latest one, have been reported since Friday as Israel tightened security before major Jewish holidays in October. The upsurge in bloodshed has shattered several weeks of relative calm. Angry at European denunciations over his bloody drug crackdown, Philippine president tells the Union where to go. Manila, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has unleashed a series of expletives against the European Union after its parliament called on the Philippine government to put an end to the killings of drug suspects. Member countries of the European Union last week called for strict monitoring of human rights abuses in the Philippines following public statements by Duterte on his war on drugs. Since June 30 when Duterte took office, more than 3,500 people have been killed in police operations and attacks by unidentified assailants. I have read the condemnation of the European Union. Im telling them, F**k you,' Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English during a speech to local businessmen in his hometown of Davao City on Tuesday. Barack Obama cancels Rodrigo Duterte talks after insult Describing the EU as hypocrites, Duterte said the grouping has the gall to condemn me despite historical records showing what member countries, such as France and Britain, have done in the Middle East. He said the EU is trying to atone for its sins and guilt feelings over occupying other countries in the past. I repeat it, F**k you!, Duterte said as he raised his right hand and gave a middle finger to applause from the audience. The EU had urged the Philippine government to investigate abuses in full compliance with national and international obligations and respect for human rights. President Duterte repeatedly urged law enforcement agencies and the public to kill suspected drug traffickers who did not surrender, as well as drug users, the EU politicians said in a resolution. President Duterte publicly stated he would not pursue law enforcement officers and citizens who killed drug dealers who resisted arrest. Earlier this month, Duterte directed profanities at UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US President Barack Obama, after they made similar comments about the mounting death toll in the Philippines. Duterte later apologised for calling Obama a son of a whore. Journalist groups express concern for the safety of media workers covering the work of President Dutertes government. Manila, Philippines International and local journalists groups have strongly condemned online threats made by alleged pro-government supporters to at least two female journalists in the Philippines, urging President Rodrigo Duterte to launch an investigation and penalise the perpetrators. The two Manila-based journalist became targets of social media attacks in recent days, receiving threats of rape and harm to them and their families. They had been reporting on Dutertes anti-drug war, as well as the military operation against the armed group Abu Sayyaf. Since June 30, when Duterte took office, more than 3,500 people have been killed in police operations and by unknown attackers. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Tuesday called on Martin Andanar, Dutertes senior spokesperson, to investigate the threats under a special government body, announced by Duterte in July to investigate media killings in the country. The IFJ expresses serious concerns for the safety of media employees working in the Philippines, the groups said in a statement. Threats delivered to journalists via social media must be taken seriously by the government and perpetrators must be penalised accordingly so as to ensure the safety of journalists. Shawn Crispin, senior Southeast Asia representative at Committee to Protect Journalists, told Al Jazeera: We are increasingly concerned by threats made to journalists, including over social media, for their coverage of the drug war in the Philippines. Philippine officials, including President Duterte, have jeopardised the security of journalists by accusing them of misrepresenting or being supported by drug lords to critically portray the campaign. They should immediately cease and desist from such veiled threats and instead work to reveal and punish those who use social media to anonymously threaten journalists. Rodrigo Duterte: Shoot a drug dealer, get a medal In a separate statement, the Philippine journalist group NUJP said that while the media always welcome engagement, including criticism, from their audience, the threats have gone beyond legitimate criticism of their professional output to outright threats on their persons. We will never take any threats, whether of physical harm or to silence us, lightly for we have lost far too many of our colleagues and hardly seen justice for them, NUJP chairman Ryan Rosauro said. The group said it is hoping the special unit formed by Duterte to investigate media killings and other media threats could prove its worth in looking into the latest cases. Corrupt journalists legitimate targets The Philippines remains one of the most dangerous countries for practising journalists, with 145 media workers killed since 1990. Duterte, himself, has been known to denounce journalists for their coverage of his drug war. He has previously cursed foreign journalists for their reporting, and has said that corrupt journalists are legitimate targets of assassination. . A self-confessed hitman from Davao, the hometown of Duterte, recently told a Senate committee hearing that the then-mayor had ordered the killing of a radio commentator who was critical of him. Before taking office, Duterte was also quoted as saying that the commentator, Jun Pala, was a rotten son of a whore, who deserved to be killed. But Duterte previously said that he welcomed questions from the media. I have nothing against you. I am not at liberty to [be] angry at anybody, he said. UN halts all aid deliveries after attack destroys 18 trucks in rebel-held northern Aleppo and kills at least 20 people. Neither Russian nor Syrian aircraft bombed an aid convoy in Syrias Aleppo, Moscow said on Tuesday, as outrage mounted over an attack that some called a war crime. The Red Cross said at least 20 people were killed in the attack on trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian relief to thousands of Syrians. The air forces of Russia and Syria did not conduct any strikes against the UN aid convoy in the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo, defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies. Konashenkov said the attack the previous night doesnt appear to have been from an air strike. The Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group known as the White Helmets that operates in rebel-held areas, posted images of several vehicles on fire. A video of the attack showed huge balls of fire against the night sky as ambulances arrived on the scene. Syria: Air raid hits aid convoy as ceasefire ends The Russian military carefully studied the video recordings of the so-called activists from the scene and found no signs that any munitions hit the convoy, Konashenkov said. Everything shown on the video is the direct consequence of the cargo catching fire, and this began in a strange way simultaneously with militants carrying out a massive offensive in Aleppo. The United Nations has suspended all aid convoys to Syria following the attack on aid trucks, which could amount to a war crime, according to UN official Jens Laerke. Air raids rocked northern Syrias Aleppo province on Tuesday, hours after 18 lorries in the UN convoy were hit in the Uram al-Kubra district west of Aleppo city. A rescue worker who witnessed the convoy attack said more than 20 missiles pounded the area for hours, even hitting his team as they searched the debris for survivors. Hussein Badawi, who leads the White Helmets in Uram al-Kubra, accused Syrian and Russian aircraft of taking part. Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general , speaking at the General Assembly in New York, called those who attacked the convoy cowards. Powerful patrons that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands, Ban said. Blaming the Russians The US said it was unclear if it was a Russian or Syrian plane that hit the 31-truck UN aid convoy late on Monday, but officials placed the blame on Moscow, the key ally of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Americans are firmly blaming the Russians, saying theyre not reining in Damascus, Al Jazeeras Stephanie Dekker reported from Gaziantep, on the Syrian border. The convoy was part of a routine inter-agency dispatch operated by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Following Mondays aid convoy strike, the UN said it was suspending all convoy movement in Syria, and Peter Maurer, the International Committee of the Red Cross president, said the attack could have serious repercussions on humanitarian work in the country. READ MORE: ISIL shoots down Syrian military jet, kills pilot The new wave of bloodshed came after the Syrian army unilaterally declared the end of a week-long truce brokered by the US and Moscow. The government and the rebels traded blame over the collapse, each accusing the other side of hundreds of breaches. If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime, said Stephen OBrien, the top UN humanitarian official, adding the warring parties had been told about the aid convoy. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent was also hit during Mondays strike, as was a warehouse run by the group. SARC volunteers were among at least 28 civilians killed in the Aleppo area in the first hours after violence resumed following the formal end of the truce, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The rebel-held area east of Aleppo city, home to some 300,000 people, has been cut off from aid deliveries since July despite the ceasefire. Ceasefire collapse Ground battles between pro-government forces and rebel fighters raged on Tuesday on the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo city near the strategic Ramosa military complex, according to the Syrian Observatory, as air raids pounded the northern province. READ MORE: Messages from ISIL territory ask forgiveness for murder The ceasefire came into effect on September 12. Under terms of the agreement, the successful completion of seven days of calm and humanitarian aid deliveries would be followed by an ambitious second-stage plan to set up a joint US-Russian coordination centre to plan military strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front. But from the start, the truce was beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations. Outgoing UN secretary-general tells world leaders at the General Assembly to end war, poverty and persecution. With anger in his voice, UN chief Ban Ki-moon criticised world leaders who keep feeding the war machine in Syria in his last speech before the General Assembly as secretary-general. Ban, whose term ends on December 31, said at the opening of the annual meeting on Tuesday that powerful patrons on both sides in the more than five-year Syrian conflict have blood on their hands. Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians, he said. Many groups have killed innocent civilians none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighbourhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees. WATCH: Does the United Nations need a makeover? The secretary-general also angrily denounced those responsible for an attack on an aid convoy delivering relief supplies to Syrian civilians near Aleppo on Monday. At least 20 people were killed in the strike. Just when we think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower, Ban said. The humanitarians delivering life-saving aid were heroes. Those who bombed them were cowards. Ban also accused South Sudans feuding leaders of betraying their people. He expressed regret for sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers in Central African Republic and an outbreak of cholera in Haiti. The despicable acts of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by a number of UN peacekeepers and other personnel have compounded the suffering of people already caught up in armed conflict, and undermined the work done by so many others around the world, Ban said. Protectors must never become predators, he said. In Haiti, Ban is working on a new response to an outbreak of cholera. The country was free of cholera until 2010, when UN peacekeepers dumped infected sewage into a river. On a more personal note, Ban said he was stepping down as the worlds number one diplomat with the conviction that the United Nations can help improve peoples lives. After 10 years in office, I am more convinced than ever that we have the power to end war, poverty and persecution, he said. WATCH UN climate deal: Too little, too late? The Paris climate deal on curbing greenhouse gas emissions stands out as Bans crowning achievement, an ambitious accord that he defended early on in the global push to address climate change. We have no time to lose, Ban told the gathering. I urge you to bring the Paris Agreementinto force this year. More than 3,000 people forced to flee as blaze rips through one of Greeces main refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. Thousands of people were forced to flee to safety on Monday after a fire, set on purpose according to police, tore through a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. No casualties were reported but tents at the Moria camp were almost entirely destroyed and containers that provide additional accommodation and health and registration services were damaged, a police source in Athens told AFP. Greek news agency ANA said the arson began because of fighting between different nationalities in the camp, while Athens-based newspaper Kathimerini said the fires were lit after rumours circulated that refugee deportations to Turkey were being planned. Desperate journeys: 3,034 refugees die in seven months Between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants fled the camp of Moria, to the surrounding fields, with firefighters being hampered by strong winds that fanned the flames, the police source said. Police were sent out after the migrants and were in the process of returning them to the camp, the officer added. The officer said there was no doubt that the fire had been set on purpose by those inside. Some 150 minors housed at the camp were taken to a childrens village on the island, the officer said. Another two fires broke out in the olive groves near Moria but were brought under control before the third blaze erupted at the camp. There are now more than 60,000 refugees and migrants in Greece, most of them seeking to travel to Germany and other EU countries. But they are unable to do so after several eastern European and Balkan states shut their borders earlier this year. Human rights groups have repeatedly criticised the condition of Greek camps for migrants and refugees, pointing to overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions. The situation is particularly acute on Lesbos and other eastern Aegean islands facing Turkey, where most of the refugees and migrants land and are held for registration. Island residents have staged protests to demand the transportation of the migrants to the mainland. The procedure is part of an EU-Turkey deal designed to limit the flow of refugees and migrants to Greeces shores. According to government data, there are more than 13,000 people on five islands in facilities built to house fewer than 8,000. Most of them are Syrian refugees fleeing civil war, in addition to Iraqis, Afghans, and Pakistanis fleeing violence and persecution at home, who, along with others from the Indian subcontinent and north Africa, are not automatically entitled to asylum in Europe. READ MORE: The fishermen of Lesbos saving refugee lives On Lesbos itself there are in excess of 5,600 people, more than 2,000 more than the nominal capacity of the camps. Brawls are common, with many desperate to avoid being returned to Turkey or their home countries after spending a small fortune and risking their lives trying to escape poverty and persecution. The fire comes as UN member states on Monday promised to try to improve the plight of millions of refugees around the world. Speaking at the first UN refugee summit in New York, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned that failure to confront the refugee crisis would unleash xenophobia. If we fail to support this, the political repercussions will be felt not only in Greece but everywhere, he said. We will give space to nationalistic, xenophobic forces to show their face for the first time since World War II. More than 850,000 migrants arrived on the Greek islands last year, many after risking their lives in unseaworthy boats and dinghies. Harare Central Hospital suspends all elective surgeries as public hospitals across country hit hard by economic crisis. Harare, Zimbabwe One of Zimbabwes largest and oldest hospitals in the capital of Harare, has temporarily stopped performing elective surgeries because of a critical shortage of medical supplies. In the latest crisis to hit the cash-strapped African nation, medical staff at the Harare Central hospital have scaled back services. For the time being, they will only treat life-threatening and maternity cases. The hospital is running low on pain medication like pethidine and injectable morphine. Zimbabwe has been undergoing an economic crisis for nearly two decades, and the public health sector, which receives only three percent of the government budget, is struggling. The economic situation is not good at the moment, starting from what we get from treasury, Peggy Zvavamwe, hospital CEO, told Al Jazeera. We cater for that part of the population who rarely can pay for their own medication, she said. You find our funds are dwindling, we try to stretch it as far as possible. READ MORE: Zimbabwe to axe 25,000 government employees Wheat production decreases as temperatures rise After nearly five years of study, UF researchers have predicted that for every degree global temperatures increase, wheat production will decrease about 6 percent. The study came after the researchers collaborated with scientists in 15 countries and used a combination of simulations and statistical methods. The three methods all produced similar results, making them accurate on a global scale, said Senthold Asseng, a UF professor and the leader of the study. In a way, it was positive in general, because it gives us confidence that what we do probably makes sense, Asseng said. He said the predicted decrease in wheat production will present challenges as the global population increases. The simulations focused on wheat, Asseng said, because it is one of the worlds most important food crops and provides 20 percent of the calories humans consume. In the future, scientists plan to expand the study to focus on crops such as maize, rice and soybeans, and they also plan to include other factors besides temperature increase. Asseng said he also hopes to secure direct funding or a grant for their research, which it currently lacks. It has been very difficult for us to get funding, even though I think we are doing really important things, and we are quite successful at delivering results, he said. - Nealy Kehres UF develops technique that detects salmonella more quickly A team of UF researchers have developed a method of testing that detects salmonella more quickly in foods. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now In a recent study, researchers used a signal amplification technique when looking for traces of the bacterias presence in foods. Salmonella is an intestinal bacteria found on contaminated food such as meat, poultry and eggs. It can cause food poisoning and other illnesses. Soohyoun Ahn, an assistant professor in UFs Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, has been working with pathogen testing for more than 15 years. She said the study is one of the first ones she knows of that uses signal amplification and involves using higher signals to improve testing sensitivity. Scientists have worked to improve detection of salmonella and many others pathogens, and any improvement from current detection systems can help enhance public health and food safety, Ahn said. Having already compared the amplification technique to other methods, Ahn said they will now test this method for other types of food products or other foodborne pathogens. - Rosanne Ramraj Researchers warn beekeepers to protect their bees from pesticides UF professors are advising Florida beekeepers to protect their hives from aerial sprays. The sprays are responsible for killing mosquitoes in an effort to stop the spread of the Zika virus. The recommendation came earlier this month after 2.5 million bees were killed in South Carolina as a result of spraying Naled, a pesticide that kills all insects that come into contact with it. The purpose of the aerial spraying of pesticides like Naled is to eliminate the spread of Zika, said William Kern, an associate professor of urban entomology at the UF/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. Kern said commercial beekeepers working on agricultural lands are less susceptible to damage from these sprays because mosquitos are more likely to be present in residential places. Backyard beekeepers in residential areas are the ones that are at the greatest risk, he said, so theyre the ones that really need to think about how theyre going to protect their hives. Backyard beekeepers can help protect their bees by covering hives with cardboard during spraying or using biological pesticide BTI instead of Naled. - Molly Vossler Students living in residence halls will have two chances to meet their Student Government Senate candidates. The Inter-Residence Hall Association is hosting two meet-and-greet events for residents and candidates Wednesday and Thursday nights, said IRHA Vice President Carina Krehl. Wednesdays event will be at Infinity Hall at 7:30 p.m., and Thursdays event will be at 8 p.m. in Weaver Halls basement. The events will give students a chance to ask their candidates questions in an informal, one-on-one setting, Krehl said. Its so (residents) have the ability to ask people things if they feel the need to, she said. Especially in the Fall, when Student Government is choosing residence hall representatives, I think its vital students know the people representing them. In Falls election, only five Student Senate seats are being sought by independent candidates, with four independents hoping to represent residence halls. All other positions are being sought by Impact candidates running unopposed. Were reaching out to all of the on-campus candidates, Krehl said. Were trying to get every candidate there. Riley Bohan, an 18-year-old UF biomedical engineering sophomore, said she would consider attending Thursdays event to meet the candidates. If theres a race, voters should be able to know who the candidates are, said Bohan, who lives in East Hall and would be represented by the Tolbert Area senator. It would probably convince me as to whether or not I would want to vote. Tolbert Area: Amanda Holloway (Impact) and Anthony Zona (Independent) Rawlings Area: Corben Champoux (Impact) and Casey Witte (Independent) Infinity Hall: Kelly Hooper (Impact) and Zachariah Chou (Independent) Beaty Towers: Emily Dunson (Impact) and Jeremy OBrien Murillo (Independent) Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now District D: Livia Ledbetter (Independent) and 13 Impact candidates, running for 13 positions. English News DRC: Authorities must not fan the flames of unrest with violence Alwihda Info | Par Amnesty International - 20 Septembre 2016 The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must show restraint in their handling of protests to ensure that they do not inflame tensions in the country, and conduct thorough, prompt, impartial and transparent investigations into killings and violence that took place at opposition rallies in Kinshasa yesterday, Amnesty International said today. The government has said 17 people, including three police officers, were killed at rallies held to demand that the electoral commission announce the date of the next presidential election, while the opposition parties put the death toll at more than 50 protesters. Credible civil society reports mention 25 deaths, including the three police officers. Yesterdays unlawful killings are just the latest example of the worrying crackdown on the opposition since it became apparent that presidential elections might not be held on time. The authorities must ensure that those suspected of being responsible are brought to justice, said Christian Rumu, Amnesty Internationals Country Campaigner for the DRC. Confronting people exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly with excessive force fans the flames of unrest. The DRC authorities must take immediate steps to halt this escalating tension, and all parties must refrain from violence. Fourteen people also suffered bullet wounds during the protests, and fires broke out at the offices of three opposition political parties in Kinshasa this morning. Amnesty International warned in its latest report on the DRC that the authorities mounting crackdown on the right to freedom of expression could trigger violence in an already tense political climate. Background Yesterday was the constitutional deadline for the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) to announce the date for presidential elections. The opposition parties want elections to be held so that President Joseph Kabila can be replaced when his second term ends on 19 December, but the electoral commission has failed to call the election, citing lack of funds and insufficient time to update the voting register. The constitutional court ruled in May that the incumbent can legally remain in office until his successor is in place, a ruling the opposition rejects. A process called by the government to resolve the impasse, known as the National Dialogue, has been rejected by opposition groups who say it is a ploy to extend Kabilas stay in power. For more information or to arrange an interview, please call Seif Magango on +254 788 343897 or Email: seif.magango@amnesty.org Dans la meme rubrique : < > More robots entering people's daily life China sees accelerated development of express delivery sector in rural areas China's FAST discovers largest atomic cloud in universe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) English News Progress made to end child marriage over the last 5 years, must be matched by action, says new report from Girls Not Brides - 21 Septembre 2016 LONDON Today Girls Not Brides, a global partnership of more than 600 civil society organisations working to end child marriage, has launched its first progress report entitled: It takes a movement: Reflecting five years of progress towards ending child marriage . The report marks the 5th year anniversary of Girls Not Brides and finds that although significant global, regional and national commitments have been made to end child marriage, commitments are yet to be matched by action. Today the 15 million girls who are married each year are no longer invisible and their voices are getting stronger by the day. But this report reminds us that there is still much more to do. We need to focus on creating a groundswell of action, in countries, communities and families around the world. This is the only way we will be able to achieve the type of long-term and tangible changes that will allow girls everywhere in the world to live their lives free from child marriage said Lakshmi Sundaram, Executive Director, Girls Not Brides. Progress to date includes: A rise in the number of global and regional commitments to end child marriage. This was marked by the inclusion of a target to end child marriage in 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, as well as resolutions adopted at the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council. Both the African Union and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation have also set out plans of action to end child marriage. National strategies to end child marriage have either been developed or in the process of being developed in 14 countries, and many other countries have taken steps to strengthen laws to address child marriage. There has been an increase in the number of programmes aimed at addressing child marriage launched by UNICEF, UNFPA, as well as by international NGOs and community based organisations. Girls Not Brides: the Global Partnership to End Child Marriage has grown to over 600 members in over 80 countries, and has support from parliamentarians, youth activists, and celebrities, signifying that child marriage is no longer a taboo subject, but is now an issue of international concern. However, without government accountability, funding, and integrated efforts to address child marriage, including through education, health, and livelihoods programming, the number of girls married as children will hit a staggering 1.2 billion by 2050. The main causes of child marriage are multifaceted and complex. Girls are often perceived as having less value than boys, and are seen as a burden on families. Poverty also drives child marriage as it allows poor families to secure a bride price and reduce family expenses by ensuring they have one less person to feed, clothe and educate. During conflicts or insecurity, parents marry their daughters young because they feel it is in her best interest, often to ensure her safety in areas where girls are at high risk of harassment and physical or sexual assault. Child marriage is also often an unquestioned traditional practice that has happened for generations. In some communities, menstruation marks a girls entry into adulthood, and marriage is traditionally the next step. Seven crucial steps to end child marriage: Governments must be held accountable for their international, regional and national commitments, in particular to developing ambitious plans for implementing target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals with clear indicators for progress. Policies, programmes and plans to end child marriage and support married girls must be developed, implemented and funded , in partnership with civil society and other key stakeholders. This might involve the development of targeted national strategies and/or integration of child marriage into related strategies for girls and children. Case studies showing what works should be shared through the media, civil society organisations and research. These could include individuals overcoming child marriage; communities who have united to promote a better future for their girls, policy change or programmatic initiatives which have had a large-scale impact; and regions and countries where child marriage has been tackled in a holistic and comprehensive manner. The movement to end child marriage must grow and strengthen new stakeholders, such as the private sector, should be engaged; new partnerships developed and young people should continue to be placed front and centre. Sectors, such as those addressing education, health or violence at global, regional, national and local levels, must integrate a focus on ending child marriage into their work. Policy makers and practitioners must learn from what works and what does not so that efforts to end child marriage are based on the latest evidence. Funding for efforts which prevent child marriage and support married girls must be increased, and support must be increased for grassroots groups working directly with those affected. In particular, investment must be targeted towards education and health programmes for girls, as well as in initiatives which tackle social norm change over the long term. Dans la meme rubrique : < > More robots entering people's daily life China sees accelerated development of express delivery sector in rural areas China's FAST discovers largest atomic cloud in universe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena) After training more than 80 EAF personnel across 2015/16 in Counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and close protection, hosted in the UK, Michael Fallon has pledged to continue working alongside the Egyptian military to enable further training. The UK and Egypt have already made great steps through initial train-the-trainer focused work, and are committed to enabling []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... With all the new coverage of Wells Fargo's fake-account debacle, I have yet to see an answer to this pivotal question: How does one simply miss over 5,300 wrongdoers at a bank? How can so many employees across so many branches go off the rails and no one know about it? The easiest answer: This was an ingrained practice. By firing so many employees, Wells has all but acknowledged that unethical behavior was rampant. Rather than a needle in a haystack, the huge number of employees opening sham accounts was an overt sign of an organizational culture problem. Such an entrenched problem at such a large bank suggests the banking industry's ethics are still fundamentally awry eight years after the mortgage meltdown. Perhaps most frightening is that the ethical deficit in business is not limited to banking or to the United States. When you want to ruin a good day, read the Covalence annual ranking of the ethical performance of multinational corporations, or simply Google "most unethical companies." What you will find are only the ethics incidents we know about. So what has caused this ethical breakdown? I would point to two factors in particular. First, the concern for personal careers and corporate profits in many companies crushes everything else. When making numbers and advancing careers is so dominant, you get a Wells Fargo-like debacle and a mortgage crisis, you don't get adherence to the Caux Roundtable standards or Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative principles. The research is clear that industry's focus on materialistic orientations of both the organization and the individual are not associated with ethics and social responsibility. Because materialistic orientations define our modern organizational world, the toxin is embedded within everything we do. Second, ethics and social responsibility are nice concepts for codes of ethics that are published in the light of day. These are the pretty curtains that many organizations use to demonstrate their commitment to the greater good; a commitment that some undoubtedly have. But to many organizations, ethics and social responsibility are no more than impression management and public relations that deflect from the activities actually going on within the organization. In too many organizations, ethical employees are suspect, seen as potentially disloyal because they put moral concerns on an equal footing with financial ones. Those employees are stigmatized for their ethical standards and ultimately leave because they cannot get ahead with their souls in one piece. So who stays? The ones with a more narrowly focused bottom-line orientation. So what can be done? Banks need to implement functioning ethics safeguards and actually use them. First, don't let the wrongdoers into the company. Then, set the ethical standards for new recruits at the start. Screen managers and entry-level personnel carefully. Make clear to employees that the consequences for unethical behavior are real. If in the annals of ethical wrongdoing there are new additions of ruined careers, prison time and financial judgments, we would see a substantive downturn in wrongdoing. Second, set up real avenues for employees to report wrongdoing and get counsel on the reporting process. While companies claim they have these avenues, many have only faux processes in place and they don't work. As a result, reporting unethical behavior can be personally risky, leading to faux results where everything looks fine. Finally (and most critically), set up an exit interview and survey system where employees leaving can report what is really going on. With all the work that I've done in this area, I remain convinced that it is here that employees are most likely to tell you the absolute truth if you establish the process correctly. Yes, this means unethical behavior will still be revealed after it has happened, but hopefully it will be before 2 million fake accounts have been opened and 5,300 needles in a haystack have gone undetected. Robert A. Giacalone is the Daniels Chair in Business Ethics at the University of Denver. He has edited or written numerous books and articles on ethics and values, impression management and exit interviewing. He can be reached at Robert.Giacalone@DU.edu. As reports have rolled in that Wells Fargo employees opened more than 2 million fake accounts to meet sales goals or secure bonuses, and that 5,300 workers were fired, personal failings and human judgment have been at the heart of the debate. Regardless of where the fault lies with branch employees or upper management the failure of humans to act with honesty and integrity raises an oft-repeated question these days: Could technology have prevented the problem? It certainly could have helped Wells put checks in place that would have ensured employees could not set up bogus accounts and could help other banks from following in its footsteps, tech experts say. "Systems that are used to detect fraudulent account openings and transactions can be adapted to detect internal shenanigans as well," said David Mooney, president and chief executive of Alliant Credit Union, which is headquartered in Chicago with members nationwide. "This is a particularly good application for artificial intelligence and intelligent machines, which can scan large amounts of public and internal data and identify patterns." Mooney serves on the advisory board of a company called Datanomers that does this for telecom companies. More on that later. "Whenever incentives-based selling is in place with front-line employees, there should be a series of risk management checks in place, and regular and visible audits to detect abuse," said Al Pascual, head of fraud and security at Javelin Strategy & Research. The accusations against Wells employees included setting up accounts customers did not request, funding those accounts by transferring funds from other accounts without telling customers, creating phony email addresses and setting PIN numbers for unknown and unwanted debit cards. What type of technology would be most effective? There are several options. Analytics and AI Fraud analytics software could be adapted to look for signs of doctored contact information such as fake email addresses like noname@gmail.com. It could be used to flag accounts that have had no activity for a long period of time, a potential sign of a product the customer did not ask for and does not know she has. Pascual, however, does not see traditional fraud analytic tools as an effective deterrent to employee fraud. "They're not necessarily designed to mitigate that kind of risk," he warned. "They're looking for indications that an external bad actor is attempting to act in place of a legitimate customer. How are they supposed to know when it's an employee?" Indeed, FICO confirmed that its popular Falcon fraud-analytics software, used by more than 90% of banks, is typically used to monitor for third-party fraud on existing active accounts, not in-house fraud on dormant accounts. Data monitoring, a related technology sometimes used to protect the improper viewing of sensitive information, could also be applied here. The fintech startup BigID monitors customer data and compares newly entered data against data in archives and applications to find anomalies. A mortgage application might have one set of information about a customer while a credit card application has very different data, for instance, including a different email address. Of course, this is not a sure sign of fraud because many people maintain multiple email accounts. "Email alone is rarely enough to indict anybody, but it may be enough to raise alerts," CEO Dimitri Sirota said. A bank might set an alert that is triggered any time there are three or more data disparities. Such software might also look for a pattern of an email address changing right before a new account is created. "People do this for security today" to detect the work of hackers, Sirota noted. "But now people are thinking about it in terms of personal data privacy and protection." Artificial intelligence is another possible answer. "The fiasco at Wells Fargo is the typical outcome of where you don't know what your baseline, your norm looks like," said Deepak Dube, founder and CEO of Datanomers, an AI spinoff from IPsoft whose technology is used to detect fraud in telcos. "This is prevalent in banks, whether it's the London Whale fraud in London for JPMorgan Chase or fake accounts at Wells Fargo. If you can build for an organization as large as Wells Fargo what your statistical norm looks like, then you can study deviant behavior." An artificial intelligence machine could learn to understand what is normal for accountholder characteristics, including diversity of email addresses, distribution of active versus inactive accounts, and where accounts are typically opened and in what numbers, for instance. Then when patterns of deviation appear, executive management can be alerted there was something funny going on," Dube said. Datanomers also uses a natural-language-processing technology from IPsoft called Amelia that performs semantic analysis on calls, emails and other customer-care interactions to spot themes in complaints. If lots of customers say they are being charged for an account they never wanted, that suggests a pervasive problem. Obtaining Digital Consent Being able to prove customers agreed to a new account or product may become critical in the wake of the scandal. "If I'm the head of retail or the CEO at any bank, I'm looking at what happened to Wells Fargo and thinking, why wouldn't the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] come after me and say hey, you say you have operational controls, show me proof that customers were involved in these transactions?" said David Eads, CEO of Gro Solutions, a provider of account-opening software. "In my experience, about 80% of the products at a bank are sold in the branch, and you have the fox in the henhouse." In Eads' view, the continued use of paper forms and antiquated branch systems provides an opening for fraud. "There's nothing in there that proves the customer authorized the opening of that account," Eads said. "We're taking the employee's word for it, and the employee all the way up to the CEO is incented on the number of accounts and relationships." Electronic signature software could capture the customer's assent to purchase a product. It could be augmented with biometrics such as fingerprint or iris scans to ensure the validity of the customer input. BigID has developed technology that tracks consent agreements. So if a customer looks at a product offer in a web app and clicks "I Agree," the bank will get a record of when and where that consent took place. To prevent an employee from providing the consent, the bank could build in a requirement that it has to come from the customer's desktop or mobile device. The company has reached out to Wells Fargo to offer this software but hadn't gotten a call back yet, its CEO Sirota said. "The issue with electronic signatures is that they still must be authenticated," Mooney pointed out. "One would need to make sure that an employee could not somehow set themselves up as an electronic signatory on the account. It might be a future application for blockchain." Verification and Notifications Identity verification tools could be used to detect the use of made-up contact information that looks real. Emailage, for instance, verifies email addresses. "Even at the most basic level you can look for illegitimate email addresses that don't fit the typical format," Pascual said. Informatica and LexisNexis are among the other providers of services that verify contact information. With the contact information vetted, technology that automatically notifies the customer of account or product changes would also be useful. "You definitely want to have notifications in place," Pascual said. "In a bank that relies heavily on cross-sales, you probably have established relationships where contact information has been on file for a while, so notifying customers whenever a new account of any kind is opened is easy to do. It's also good customer service." The notification should obviously take place in a different channel than the account opening itself. If a new credit card is opened in a branch, the customer could be notified by paper mail, text or email. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf testified before Congress on Tuesday that in the future, the bank will send confirmation emails to customers within one hour of the opening of a new deposit account. Big Brother Is Watching As these technologies are implemented, Pascual recommends telling employees about them, so they know they could get caught. He also stresses the need for clearly defined, communicated and enforced consequences for violations to deter this type of behavior. "If that's not happening, people will run amok," Pascual said. He's loath to blame aggressive sales goals for the problems at Wells Fargo. "It's easy to make that the driving reason, but people could be pressured just by thinking they need money they have bills to pay, they have a sick family member," he said. "The fact is, if people feel like no one's watching, they will try to get away with things," Pascual said. Editor at Large Penny Crosman welcomes feedback at penny.crosman@sourcemedia.com. The Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., has agreed to sell a portfolio of health savings accounts to UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo. The Bancorp, which has $4.4 billion in assets, said in a press release Tuesday that it is selling the $19.7 billion-asset UMB a portfolio with about 40,000 accounts with $76 million in deposits and investment assets. The Bancorp did not disclose the price. "This transaction is yet another important step toward The Bancorp focusing its businesses and increasing the efficiency of its financial service infrastructure," Damian Kozlowski, The Bancorp's president and chief executive, said in the release. "This sale will allow us to continue to streamline our operations and reduce the associated costs and resources supporting a non-core franchise." The Bancorp said it will continue its partnerships with nonbank financial service companies in the health care sector, including card-issuing services for pretax benefit programs. WASHINGTON Virtual currency advocates are hoping a recent surge of support in Congress can help them accomplish a long-sought goal of creating a safe harbor for companies that do not directly hold customers' funds. The House voted last week to approve a nonbinding resolution by Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., to "encourage the development of tools for consumers to learn and protect their assets" through technology in order to "foster future economic growth." It was a small step toward virtual currency firm's eventual goal the creation of an exemption from state money transmission laws for a certain class of bitcoin companies. Many businesses involved in bitcoin or other virtual currencies are "just a conduit," said Aaron J. Wright, a professor at the Cardozo Law School who penned a Medium post last year on the topic. "They just pass it along." To Wright and a number of other virtual currency advocates, bitcoin miners and multisig wallets which allow customers to store their assets, but do not single-handedly control the funds should be able to avoid the state-by-state licensing regime faced by money transmitters. "The question," said Wright, "becomes, 'Should they have the same level of regulation?' " In a recent statement, Coin Center an advocacy group for virtual currency companies argued that those companies should not be on the hook for state-imposed bonding, minimum-capital and consumer protection requirements. "These individuals and businesses do not hold customer funds, therefore they do not pose a solvency risk to consumers," said Peter Van Valkenburgh, Coin Center's director of research. "If such activities were clearly stated as not being subject to licensing there would likely be no enhanced risk of consumer harm." The question of which companies have actual ownership or control of their customers' funds has come up repeatedly in debates over virtual currency regulation. Last month, a California bill to establish a bitcoin license was shelved because of opposition from industry groups over its broadness. Jerry Brito, the director of Coin Center, had told state legislators that the latest version of the bill could hurt a number of companies that do not directly control consumer funds like multisig providers. The plan "not only provides no regulatory clarity, it will likely stifle innovation if enacted unchanged," Brito said in a letter. Meanwhile, industry groups have expressed high hopes for a virtual currency bill being developed by the Chicago-based nonprofit Uniform Law Commission that could serve as model legislation for states. In discussions over the draft law, industry groups have argued extensively about the types of businesses that should be included in any licensing regime. The Digital Chamber of Commerce, an organization that promotes virtual currency, has urged the ULC to ensure that the technology behind bitcoin, the blockchain, would not be regulated. Failing to precisely address blockchain in the law could have a chilling effect on the work of developers who want to advance the technology, or companies that provide simple structural services to the network, said Perianne Boring, the chamber's founder and president. "You wouldn't want to regulate blockchain technology," Boring said. "It's open-source software." But a looming challenge for bitcoin advocates will be to explain these distinctions to policymakers in plain English. "We have states that are trying the best they can with limited staffing, limited resources to sort through these issues," said Carol Van Cleef, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. There are "gaps in understanding some of the nuances related to the technology." Mike Belshe, co-founder and CEO of the multisignature wallet BitGo, tried to break down exactly why his business should not be lumped together with Western Union. For one, he said, "unless you sign a transaction, you the customer, BitGo can't make a transaction happen." Additionally, "BitGo could disappear off the face of the earth, and you would still have all your money," Belshe said. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton released an open letter to Wells Fargo customers Tuesday in which she called the phony account openings "deeply disturbing," defended the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and demanded that individual executives be held accountable. "There is simply no place for this kind of outrageous behavior in America," Clinton said. "Executives should be held individually accountable when rampant illegal activity happens on their watch." The former secretary of state said she would put forward an agenda to hold Wall Street firms accountable, including making sure that no financial institution is too big to manage. "I'll put additional safeguards in place to address the risks that the big banks continue to pose to our system," Clinton said. "And if any bank can't be managed effectively, it should be broken up." Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf is testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. Though Clinton did not name Stumpf, she called for "real consequences" for Wells Fargo executives. She also criticized the reported $125 million payout given to Carrie Tolstedt, the head of Wells' community banking unit, who retired in July. Clinton called for Tolstedt's compensation to be clawed back. She also questioned how rampant illegal activity could happen without top executives knowing about it. "It's frustrating that a bank can simply pay a fine and keep doing business as usual with massive compensation for the executives responsible," she said. "It's hard to imagine that top executives were unaware of a problem that involved thousands of the firm's employees," Clinton said. "After all, they imposed sales targets and compensation incentives in ways that led to this behavior." Wells agreed to pay $190 million in fines and restitution to settle charges that roughly 2 million accounts were opened without proper authorization. Clinton used the Wells enforcement action to slam her rival Donald Trump, noting that the Republican presidential candidate has called for the repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "The unfair and abusive practices at Wells Fargo remind us that we need tough watchdogs looking out for customers," Clinton said. "Donald Trump, the Republican Party and Wall Street lobbyists are desperate to dismantle this effective agency, which is dedicated solely to protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive practices. I won't let them put the CFPB under their thumb. I'll protect the CFPB and make sure it can continue its essential work on behalf of the American people." WASHINGTON Federal regulators and lawmakers raised concerns Tuesday that other institutions may be engaging in the same types of fraudulent activities that caught up Wells Fargo. During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, policymakers repeatedly said that Wells' mistakes couldn't be blamed as the company maintains on rogue employees who opened up some 2 million phony accounts in order to meet sales goals. Instead, they see a cultural problem at the San Francisco bank and wondered whether it extended beyond Wells Fargo. "This is the beginning of a lot of things," said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby. "A lot of us are worried that perhaps there's similar goings-on in other banks." Regulators said they are actively searching for such behavior elsewhere. "We've been looking at these problems in all of the banks and nonbank financial companies," said Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., asked regulators if cross-selling was to blame. "How widespread is the issue of cross-selling, at least in the perverse way that it took place at Wells Fargo?" he said. "Do you have any sense whether this is a one-off or is this an industrywide concern?" Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said the agency was examining cross-selling, particularly incentive compensation practices. "I have directed that we are to do a horizontal review so we will be looking specifically at sales practices at our largest banks and midsized banks," he said. Cordray added that the CFPB will be "doing a joint action" with the OCC on sales practices but added that compensation structures generally will be under the magnifying glass. "I would say the incentive compensation has been a problem we've seen across a number of different markets," Cordray said. "You should be focused on customer satisfaction, not on bare numbers. And there are monitoring systems that can be put in place." Cordray also cited other issues that while not exactly the same nevertheless spoke to institutions forcing additional products onto customers that they either didn't want or didn't need. Enforcement actions against credit card add-on products have "led to billions of dollars in relief for consumers," Cordray said. Overall, Cordray portrayed the industry as rife with scandals that ultimately speak to a poor culture at banks. "What we can see here is there's a very big job to be done to change the culture and practices at the banks," he said. "It doesn't happen oversight. This is on top of the robo-signing mortgage servicing scandal. It's on top of the mortgage origination scandals that led to the financial crisis. It will take considerable time for us to root out all of these things in the financial institutions, banks as well as nonbanks." Regulators spent a chunk of the hearing reacting to testimony that came earlier in the day from Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf, who appeared at a separate panel. During the first part of the hearing, Stumpf said Wells Fargo told the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency about rogue employees opening false accounts as early as 2013 but neglected to tell the CFPB until 2015. That admission clearly angered Cordray, who accused Wells of trying to play regulators off one another. "We had known about these types of problems from our own sources, but if any institution feels that they can divide and conquer among the regulators, they should know that that is a mistake," he said. Cordray also delivered a stark warning to other institutions not to follow Wells' example. "When a bank does not come forward quickly, they should not assume that we are not hearing about it from employees and customers. We are," Cordray said. "It was a very late contact from Wells Fargo on this problem." Still, there is no legal requirement that banks and financial companies report issues such as fraud to the CFPB. In response to a question, Cordray said he could not publicly acknowledge whether the CFPB made a criminal referral to the Justice Department, but then proceeded to read a legal staff sheet describing the CFPB's duties to make a criminal referral, which was widely seen as an acknowledgement one was made. Regulators also criticized Wells for failing to disclose the investigation as part of Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Earlier in the hearing, Stumpf said the bank felt it did not constitute a "material event." But regulators didn't buy that argument. "There's always difficulty when you try to define 'material,' " Curry said. "The OCC's standpoint [is] the fact that 5,300 employees were terminated was material and that there were 2 million accounts that would be material." They also took issue with Stumpf's argument that the problems were not related to Wells' culture, but instead just a few thousand bad actors. "After this extensive public review of the establishment of this high-pressure culture, why would the CEO, after working with you all and having these various letters and so forth, after paying a fine, come in here and say no such thing existed; these were just individual employees who had ethical lapses," asked Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. "Why possibly did we hear that testimony today?" Cordray responded that he didn't know, while Curry said it was "inconsistent with our findings." Jim Clark, the Los Angeles chief deputy city attorney, whose office filed a lawsuit against Wells in 2015, doubted Stumpf's claims that senior executives were not aware this activity was taking place. "It's difficult to believe based on the information we developed in our investigation, both before and after we filed our complaint, that the knowledge of this sort didn't extend far beyond a regional manager level," he said. Lawmakers also were outraged that Wells customers who asked to be refunded any fees from the phony accounts were forced into mandatory arbitration. In May, the CFPB proposed banning the use of arbitration clauses that prevent consumers from bringing class-action lawsuits. The financial industry has fought the arbitration plan. Since the proposal is not yet in effect, it appears Wells consumers would have no other redress. "I believe an arbitration clause here might defeat a class action," Cordray said. "I think that's going to be litigated and courts will decide. But they have often decided that it bars relief on an individual scale through a class-action mechanism." Senators also questioned why regulators had allowed Wells to agree to a $190 million settlement without the bank admitting wrongdoing. Merkley asked whether it would be harder to hold senior executives accountable as a result. "Why was Wells allowed to not admit wrongdoing?" Merkley asked. "Was that debated and wrestled with?" Cordray appeared to punt on the question, saying the consent order against Wells "was very detailed." But Clark said his office wanted to get relief to consumers as fast as possible. "It would have taken years to litigate this case," Clark said. "And the practices had to stop." JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday named Todd Combs, a protege of and possible successor to Warren Buffett, to its board of directors. Combs, 45, is an investment officer with Berkshire Hathaway. He joined the Omaha, Neb., company in 2010 after serving as chief executive and managing partner of Castle Point Capital, a hedge fund he founded in 2005. Earlier in his career he worked as an analyst for Florida's state financial regulator. In a press release, JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon praised Combs' "deep understanding of finance and business." Combs has not yet been appointed to a board committee, according to the release. Notably, the appointment comes as Wells Fargo one of Buffett's favorite banks has come under scrutiny, amid allegations that its bankers created phony customer accounts to meet sales targets. Berkshire Hathaway, which Buffett runs as chairman and CEO, owns about 10% of outstanding shares of Wells Fargo, compared with less than 1% of JPMorgan, according to Bloomberg. Few are likely to mistake New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for the fount of political wisdom. Even those few must have been astonished by his response to the first of the two incidents in his city on September 17, 2016. In his mode of political correctness, he said that the explosion on that day of a device in the Chelsea section of New York that injured 29 people and caused extensive damage, was an intentional act. He refused to acknowledge that the device was a bomb by an Islamist terrorist. One could draw the conclusion that it was really a Chinese firecracker that a joker used to intensify the usual cacophony on 23rd Street in New York on a Saturday evening. Even for the politically correct it is now clear the various attacks or attempted attacks in two days, two in New York, one in Seaside Park in New Jersey, one in Elizabeth, NJ, were perpetrated by individuals linked to or influenced by Radical Islam. Fortunately, no one was killed in the explosions in New York and elsewhere, but the life of the city, its transit system, and its economy have been affected, if only temporally. In addition, the financial cost is high since, along with the physical damage, 1,000 additional NY State Police officers and National Guard troops are being deployed to patrol bus terminals, airports, and subway stations in New York. It is ironic that the major explosion took place a few days before the 71st annual meeting in New York of the United Nations General Assembly beginning on September 19, 2016. The U.S. as host country is responsible for the security of the thousands of dignitaries who are attending the meeting, little more than a mile away from the scene of the explosion at 23rd Street. The General Assembly is due to discuss a number of important global issues, including climate change, and sustainable development. Nevertheless, recent events have made it even more imperative that the UN should spend considerably more time on what should be its immediate priority, responding to international terrorism. It is bewildering that though there are countless proposed definitions of terrorism by organizations and countries throughout the world, the UN has been unable to agree on any binding definition, and consequently unable or unwilling to propose solutions or get agreement to act against the evil of our time. The problem is even more pronounced because the UN is supposed to prevent and combat terrorism, even if undefined. The UN endorsed the Global Control-Terrorism Strategy, and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force. In 2004 the UN Security Council in Resolution 1566 passed a nonbinding resolution on terrorism. It has also been concerned with threats to international peace and security. But the lack of consensus among the countries on what behavior constitutes terrorism prevents action. On the definition of, and the search for the cause and motivation of terrorist acts some clarity is appropriate. Many well-meaning humanitarian organizations often call for inquiry into the root causes of terrorism. As a starting point, they should be aware that terrorism is not to be equated with any of the suggestions that are in effect excuses for violence: armed struggle of people under colonial or foreign domination or occupation; the struggle for liberation and self-determination; the unlawful use of force; poverty, social and economic inequality: racial or religious discrimination; emotional and mental instability. The reality, all too obvious in view of the recurring atrocities aimed at killing innocent civilians, is that the overwhelming terrorism in our age is the result of Radical Islam, whether perpetrated by organizations that may or may not be state-sponsored, or by private individuals, so-called lone wolves. It may be ISIS, or al-Qaeda, or the Nusra Front, or Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or Al Mourabitoun and Boko Haram in Africa, or Ansar al- Shariah in Algeria, or one of the many Islamist groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Or it may be individuals such as Nidal Hassan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in November 2009, or the couple of Pakistani descent who killed 14 in San Bernardino in December 2015, or Dahir Adan, a Somali, who stabbed nine people in a shopping mall in St. Cloud in Minnesota, in September 2016, or Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old Afghan immigrant and citizen of the U.S. who is alleged to have triggered the Chelsea explosion. In all cases, whether or not the individual perpetrator was addressed as soldier of the Islamic state, the objective was the same, to inflict maximum damage on western life and civilians in the name of Islam. The West now appreciates that ISIS has been claiming responsibility for most of the terrorist acts of groups and individuals all over Europe and in the U.S. ISIS and its main competitor Al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups have declared they are at war with the West, and the U.S. is the prime target, the main symbol of liberty, civil and human rights, and of the Enlightenment. Indeed. the most recent ISIS video is titled So take warning, Contrary to President Obama, terrorism has not been contained. A number of actions are necessary to counter it. First, the next president of the U.S. must exercise leadership and willpower, and lead a coalition of interested foreign parties that could include not only the democratic West but also Russia, Turkey, the Kurds, and the Gulf countries. That person has to make clear that the U.S. is responding to and giving priority to the war inflicted on Western civilization, while maintaining the delicate balance between free expression, national security, and protection of the population. ISIS, surviving on extortion, robbery, human trafficking, and oil, must be ended. So must the other groups, especially al-Qaeda, which cut ties with ISIS in February 2014 for tactical and ideological reasons and now is anxious to reassert its influence. A second requirement is to put maximum emphasis on the use of social networks. Cyberspace and new technology must be intensified against ISIS to counter its very effective online propaganda. Perhaps Twitter can be induced to prevent terrorists from misusing it, even removing accounts associated with ISIS from the social media. A third issue is the controversial one of immigration. European countries are troubled by the problem and are seek to control their borders and turn away the many thousands of economic migrants, some posing as refugees, and some perhaps potential terrorists. British Prime Minister Theresa May has declared that the uncontrolled wave of immigrants into Europe is not in the best interests of the UK nor of the countries they have left. The local state election on September 18, 2016 in Berlin has shown the backlash against the generous migrant policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The anti-immigrant party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) founded only in 2013, has had a dramatic rise and won 13 % of the vote in the Berlin Parliament. The candidates in the U.S. presidential election, like the rest of the U.S. population in Chelsea and elsewhere, are aware of these issues. The question is whether they will use them to their electoral advantage. Hillary Clinton is an Alinsky disciple, going back to her Wellesley College days, fifty years ago, long before old age left its indelible marks on her. Half a century ago, Hillary was thoroughly indoctrinated by first-generation feminist leftists, for four whole years, until she wrote her B.A. thesis in praise of Saul Alinsky and his Rules for Radicals. From Goldwater girl to leftist radical in just four years. Alinsky's Rules for Radicals makes a major point of labeling "the enemy." "The enemy," he preached, "is the middle class." That means you and me, guys and gals, all of us, regardless of creed, color, or country of ancestors. Or LBGTQ status, or whatever deplorable basket the left wants to stuff you into. Saul Alinsky was a political hatemonger who inspired a whole generation of leftoids. Hillary is one of them. Obama is another. What makes ordinary middle-class people "the enemy" is not our skin color. Justice Clarence Thomas is a black man who has been viciously scapegoated by the left, ever since he was nominated to the Court by President Bush I. What they hate so much about Justice Thomas is not his color. It's his political stance as a stalwart constitutionalist. What we love and celebrate about Clarence Thomas is exactly what they hate. It's as simple as that. (For the hard left, "enemy" means exactly what "infidel" means to jihad. Jihad and the hard left are war doctrines, plain and simple.) If you think Hillary has mellowed in the half-century since Wellesley College, you haven't read her speech about Trump voters being "a basket of deplorables." For Hillary, "deplorable" doesn't mean what the dictionary says. Nope: she defined her deplorables in her own words. It's her new code word for "racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes, Islamaphobes, you name it." That means you yes, you, the guy or gal who's reading these words. Hillary's "deplorables" are mass haters people who hate not just one person at a time, but whole political categories of people. Blacks, whites, Asians, Muslims, Jews, Unitarians, Michiganders, the whole lot. Clarence Thomas is a deplorable black man. He might even vote for Trump, and that tells you everything you need to know. This is what Hillary's Big Money Donors applauded, because they've been taught to think that way, too. They all understand what she means. When it comes to the hard left, which now constitute the core of the Democratic Party, you have to understand that they really, truly believe they are surrounded by mass haters. Irrational ones, who hate because they are KKKers under the skin. Or maybe they are Nazi haters, but definitely not Communists, because in the fantasy world of the Hillary left, Communists are peace-loving do-gooders. For the hard left, the only answer to alleged hatred is even more hatred. Get it? Hitler said he hated the Jews not because they were Jews, but because they had betrayed Germany. In the same way, Hillary hates you not just because she needs people to hate. No. She hates you because you are evil, and there's nothing you can do to prove your innocence. Psychiatry has a word for those who think in "all good" (us) and "all evil" (them) categories. It's called "Borderline Personality Disorder," (BPD) but maybe it should be called "Extremist Personality Disorder." BPDs often experience the world in extremes, viewing others as either all good or all bad. This is also called "splitting," since these people split the world into absolute good and absolute evil. Totalitarian dictators often show BPD, along with a toxic mixture of other sick personalities. You could just call them "haters." The psychological hypothesis why they hate so much is to stabilize their own impulses and defenses. Like young children, BPDs see the world in terms of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. That is all they ever see. Obama talks in code. Hillary talks in code. The left does it just as much as jihad. Words don't have their dictionary meanings. The left and jihad create their own inner world which is why it is impossible to reason with leftists. Their minds are walled off from reason. Conservatives have a very hard time understanding leftism, ever since 1848 and the Communist Manifesto. If we paid more attention, we would be able to stop them better. Today, the Communist Party of the USA has officially endorsed Hillary for president, and you still think the Democrats are a mainstream political party? Obama acts like V.I. Lenin, and you think he's Hubert Humphrey? We forget at our peril that the hard left always talks in code. Words like "community organizer" are a play on the traditional words "Communist agitator." (Look up the roots of those words, and you'll see). Hillary has followed Saul Alinsky's Rules ever since Wellesley College, then a hotbed of feminist male-hating rage and propaganda. After four years of simmering in that bubbling cauldron, Hillary wrote her bachelor's thesis in praise of Mr. Alinsky. She is a lifelong Alinskyite just like Obama. When you scrape away all the distractions, Hillary has a lifelong ideological enemy, and it's the American middle class. Obama has a nice, big smile. Hillary looks like a middle-class lady. That is not who they are, and you forget that at your peril. There have been two recent instances when major television networks edited out comments made by Bill and Hillary Clinton, respectively, that would harm her chances to win the presidency. Clearly that is precisely why the Pravda-like monitors in the media hit the delete buttons. Bill Clinton said the Hillary Clinton faints frequently. CBS excised that comment completely and the edited version showed Bill Clinton saying she fainted rarely (no doubt because she chooses to power through her various maladies that seems to be the company line all her flacks are using in the media. The second recent editing job occurred in the wake of the terrorism bombings in New York and New Jersey. This time the culprit was CNN (or Clinton News Network). Joe Concha in The Hill: According to an ABC News transcript below, Clinton called the attacks in New York and New Jersey "bombings" before criticizing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump who also referred to the explosion as a "bomb" in an attempt to show contrast between the temperament of the two candidates, who are deadlocked in the polls. Clinton: Ive been briefed about bombings in New York and New Jersey, and the attacks in Minnesota. Obviously, we need to do everything we can to support our first responders, also to pray for the victims. We have to let this investigation unfold. Weve been in touch with various officials, including the mayors office in New York, to learn what they are discovering as they conduct this investigation. And Ill have more to say about it when we actually know the facts. Reporter: Secretary Clinton, do you have any reaction to the fact that Donald Trump, immediately upon taking the stage tonight, called the explosion in New York a bomb ? Clinton: Well, I think its important to know the facts about any incident like this. Thats why its critical to support the first responders, the investigators who are looking into it, trying to determine what did happen. But in showing Clinton's comments moments after they were made, CNN edited out the first sentence when she said, "Ive been briefed about bombings in New York and New Jersey, and the attacks in Minnesota." The soundbite starts with Clinton's call to support first responders. In a CNN.com article entitled "Trump says 'bomb went off in New York,' " reporter Jeremy Diamond doesn't mention Clinton used similar language until the seventh paragraph of the story, after contrasting statements by Trump and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The press has since largely slammed Trump for referring to the explosion as a "bomb" too soon. Other major media outlets also failed to mention Clinton in focusing on Trump: When the two nominees first meet onstage, at the very first opportunity Trump should take control of the debate by turning on the journalists and asking them about these Pravda and 1984-like tactics. Trump should take a page from Saul Alinsky (recall Hillary Clinton, like Barack Obama, was an acolyte of Alinskys): Pick the target, freeze, it, personalize it and polarize it. We know Trump has no compunction on taking on the media. Alinsky also counseled that ridicule was a very effective tactic. Trump could ridicule the excuse CBS offered to explain away the excision of Bill Clintons comment that Hillary faints frequently: that it was used to save time ( 1.7 seconds!) Mitt Romney could and should have responded similarly when Candy Crowley infamously butted in and lied during his debate with Barack Obama in 2008 when she falsely corrected Romneys statement that Barack Obama did not refer to the Benghazi attacks as terrorism. Romney blew it. Trump should learn that lesson. He can also learn a lesson from his adviser Newt Gingrich, who went after CNNs John King during a debate in 2008 when he questioned Gingrich about his ex-wife. Gingrich said he did not want to take time to respond to answer the question but would --and did he ever: I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that," Gingrich said, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd. "I am frankly astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a presidential debate," Gingrich added. The former House Speaker went on to denounce the story as "false" and accuse the media of raising the issue to protect President Obama. "I am tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans," Gingrich said. A ploy like this in the debate (and early on put the media on the defensive and cast skepticism about all their future questions) would most likely be welcomed by much of the public because the public trust for the media is at an all-time low. Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes admitted (almost proudly) that the reason his show as able to land coveted interviews with Barack Obama was because, I think he knows were not going to play gotcha with him. Would Kroft have meant the types of questions candidate George Bush had to deal with during a 1999 surprise quiz when he was asked to name the foreign leaders of a slew of obscure nations? The headline of the Washington Post said it all about the goal of the trivia quiz: Bush Fails Quiz on Foreign Affairs. He failed a quiz on foreign affairs because he could not name the president of Chechnya and other assorted questions that a governor of Texas would not necessarily be expected to have at his fingertips. Did anyone in the media ridicule Barack Obama for saying Hawaii was in Asia or that they speak Austrian in Austria? Will this win the debate or the election for Trump? No, but he will be performing a public service by revealing to all the Americans watching (it is projected to be the most watched presidential debate in history) that the media -- as is true of so many institutions -- has been corrupted by bias and that mainstream media do not have a monopoly on news and certainly cannot be trusted to give Americans the truth, unless one confuses Pravda (translated it means truth) with facts. We just granted citizenship to more than 858 folks who shouldnt have been legalized as in folks who come from countries of concern with respect to our national security and/or nations with high rates of immigration fraud. Apparently the entire batch of 858 had pending deportation orders. But now theyve hit paydirt, and theyre U.S. citizens. Aint that just grand? The Department of Homeland Security, always late to the party, discovered that the gang of 858 slipped through the cracks because their fingerprints were not in DHSs database. As a result, their use of aliases and/or different birthdates on their applications went unchecked. The DHS report doesnt include the names of any of our new little citizen friends, but auditors confirmed that all 858 were from special interest countries. Although the report doesnt identify the specific countries, lets just say special doesnt bode well. As noted at the outset, the countries of origin are places that pose threats to our national security and/or are places where immigration fraud runs rampant. The Associated Press reports: Mistakenly awarding citizenship to someone ordered deported can have serious consequences because U.S. citizens can typically apply for and receive security clearances or take security-sensitive jobs. You dont say! The report continues: At least three of the immigrants-turned-citizens were able to acquire aviation or transportation worker credentials, granting them access to secure areas in airports or maritime facilities and vessels. Their credentials were revoked after they were identified as having been granted citizenship improperly, Roth said in his report. A fourth person is now a law enforcement officer. Excuse me, but why did the three merely have their credentials revoked? Why wasnt their citizenship revoked, followed by a swift boot out of the country? Same goes for the fourth who is in law enforcement. And where might the other 854 be? How fast can we get more stupid? Apparently very. And very. Hat tip: Yahoo News Thomas Lifson adds: Now that we have established the incompetence of DHS vetting of immigrants, can we please start openly laughing at President Obama and Hillary Cinton when they promise that the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugess they want to bring to our shores will be fully vetted? Does anyone expect that there will be anyone fired over this? A federal judge angrily denounced the Justice Department for not leaning on the Department of State to release some Hillary Clinton emails in a more timely manner. U.S. district judge Richard Leon, who is overseeing the release of the emails under the Freedom of Information Act, warned DoJ that the government appears to be withholding information from voters in advance of the election. Washington Times: Judge Leon, who has earned a reputation as a funny but caustic jurist, particularly when he finds government bungling, said the Justice Department, by not forcing the State Department to cooperate better, is risking its own storied reputation. He specifically called out the federal programs branch that acts as the lawyer for the rest of the government, and the head of that division, Marcia Berman. Ms. Berman wasnt in the courtroom Monday, but has been a frequent figure at the courthouse over the last year as the administration has had to defend its handling of Mrs. Clintons emails. Mondayss case, filed by the Daily Caller News Foundation, concerned documents detailing Mrs. Clintons access to top secret programs. The State Department said it has found more than 1,000 documents dealing with the subject, but said it would take nearly a month to process 450 unclassified documents, and couldnt say how long it would take to process the classified ones. The case is one of dozens pending where the department has been accused of slow-walking, keeping information out of public view for far longer than is allowed under the Freedom of Information Act. The State Department says it is overwhelmed by the requests and its own limited budget and manpower. Officials also say the Clinton emails are complicated because they involved classified information that requires a stricter, more time consuming process to clear for the public. But the government has also been reluctant to divulge important details. At one point on Monday the government lawyer on the case, Jason Lee, said he didnt know how many pages were in the documents, sparking the judges ire. Judge Leon ordered a faster production of the 450, and when Mr. Lee said they would do their best, Judge Leon pounced. Do better than your best. Do it, he ordered, then proceeded to scold the government for its bungling, and said it was something other judges at the courthouse had noticed. You have a client that, to say the least, is not impressing the judges on is court at being all that cooperative, he said. This way of doing business needs to stop. It is now obvious that Hillary Clinton is in no shape for the rigors of campaigning, much less the killing responsibilities of the presidency. Wheres the compassion? Hillary Clinton was spotted by Getty Images photographer Justin Sullivan being helped up stairs at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she was making a speech supposedly making a pitch to millenials. But if any suburban moms happened to catch her on the local news and decide to vote for her instead of Trump, why, that would be welcome. But the image of a presidential candidate being helped up stairs, again, is the last thing she needs. We are not allowed to publish Getty images, so I must direct you to Gateway Pundit to see the picture, but under the fair use doctrine, publication of the caption probably will not result in a lawsuit: PHILADELPHIA, PA SEPTEMBER 19: Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is helped up stairs after delivering a millennial speech at Temple University on September 19, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton is campaigning in Pennslyvania [sic]. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) We are nearing the point where torching Hillary dumping her as the candidate late in the race, as happened when Democrats in New Jersey dumped scandal-plagued Senate nominee incumbent Robert Torricelli in early October 2002, barely a month prior to the election is attractive to Dems. As irregular as this may seem, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously supported the move despite no statutory authorization Of course, presidential ballots are a state issue, and there is no guarantee that all 50 state supreme courts will be as accommodating as New Jerseys was to the imperative of Democrats to have an electable candidate. The Democrats never bothered vetting Hillarys health, or anything else about her. Now they are paying the price for running a sick old woman while proclaiming themselves the party of compassion. America has allowed a North Korean fireworks display of self-destruction. But instead of sparklers and harmless firecrackers, Obama has allowed North Korea to detonate its fifth atomic weapon. Like his mini-me, Hillary, Obama lies and boasts that the United States "does not and never will" accept North Korea as a nuclear state. He is about as frightening as Mike Myers playing Dr. Evil. The red line he draws is more like lipstick. Obama won't stop the North Koreans. Obama won't stop anything. He is afraid of Kim Jong-un. He is afraid of everything but his own pretense to seem peaceful, which he embraces to our mutual self-destruction. Obama wasn't the first president to fail to respond to the North Koreans. Carter and Clinton were before him. We have a pack of cowards eating the scraps of a starving Kim regime. And if Obama is the third president to fail with North Korea, how will he end up with Iran? Especially after feeding them billions and lifting their sanctions? Years ago, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu offered to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, and Obama threatened to blow Israel's planes out of the sky. Obama has his allies confused with his enemies like he has the sexes confused in same-sex marriage. Perhaps Obama wants to nuke us. And perhaps the Jews who back him have become insane. They consider being a Democrat more important than saving Jewish lives. If the Obama administration is out to make heroin the #1 drug of choice in the United States, it couldn't be doing a better job. How? By ignoring its open borders policy and placing the majority of blame for the opioid "epidemic" on the nation's physicians. Designating September 18-23 as National Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch told USA Today the DOJ will enlist federal prosecutors to share information on overprescribing doctors in order to curb the use of painkillers. This is a twofer for the regime. First, much as the war on cops has led to increased federal involvement in local law enforcement matters, demonizing all doctors for a few bad apples means more government control over our health care. Second, emphasizing prescription drug abuse distracts the public from our unsecured borders and the free flow of illegals and drugs into the country. The transport and distribution of heroin is a lot easier when border patrol and local law enforcement personnel are told essentially to ignore the drug mules, gang members, and illegals walking into our country. Open borders means more heroin. Naturally, prices drop, and the market expands. In this way, Lynch and the Department of Justice have been instrumental in fueling the heroin "epidemic." According to the CDC, "in 2013, an estimated 517,000 persons reported past-year heroin abuse or dependence, a nearly 150 percent increase since 2007." Lynch, speaking at a Massachusetts Medical Society summit a year ago, focused solely on prescription drugs, doctor shopping, and disrupting online "pill mills." A.G. Lynch boasted about using "every civil, criminal, and administrative tool to dismantle illegal traffic in pharmaceutical controlled substances." She assured her audience of medical professionals she will prosecute those physicians who over-prescribe opioids. We won a conviction in a 49-count case against a former heart surgeon in Georgia who aggressively prescribed controlled narcotics to patients who were addicted to them and who, at one point, received more Oxycodone pills than any other doctor in the state. If only Lynch's DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency would be as tenacious and resolute when it comes to stopping drug traffickers at the border. Not one time in her address did Lynch mention securing our southern border. It's quite an omission, considering that most heroin is smuggled into our country from Mexico, according to the DEA. The president of the Laredo, Texas chapter of the National Border Patrol Council stated that "every single illegal alien that comes into the country goes through the hands of a drug cartel." The U.S Drug Enforcement Administration, an agency under Lynch's supervision, wrote in its 2015 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary that seven Mexican drug cartels control nearly all of the U.S. heroin market. Lynch is expected to announce a new strategy memo to combat the opioid and heroin problem in the U.S. As her boss cuts prison sentences for known drug dealers, and as she refuses to stop illegals from crossing the border with backpacks full of heroin, we can safely assume that doctors seem to be the only ones in Lynch's crosshairs. Back in 2009, a recently elected President Obama raised a lot of expectations. In fact, the world was so high on Obama that they gave him a Nobel Peace Prize over in Stockholm. Don't expect anything near that as Obama addresses the U.N. this week. Even the "Nobelistas" have their regrets. To be fair, some of the high expectations were just plain silly, or more evidence that Bush Derangement Syndrome was not limited to Democrats. What were these people thinking? That he walked on water? That he would fix the world's problems with a speech? This week, Obama won't be saying that he ended wars or made the U.S. more popular. He may try, but no one in that audience will believe him. They are more likely to remember the humiliation by China or a Middle East that does not look as though wars have ended. President Obama is apparently going to make "refugees" his swan song, as we see in this report: The president is expected to announce new commitments from world leaders and business executives to assist refugees -- including a vow to welcome 110,000 into the United States next year -- during a special gathering on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The new U.S. refugee target is nearly a 30 percent increase from 2016. But critics say the summit merely serves to highlight Obamas failings on the issue, including his refusal to use U.S. military power to carve out safe areas for those fleeing the Syrian regimes barrel bombs and artillery attacks. The problem is that President Obama is on the wrong side of history, as the liberals always like to tell us. First, chaotic immigration, or what we are seeing in Europe, has become a political nightmare. Just ask Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. Additionally, it's very difficult to welcome people who don't share Western values (e.g., women's rights) and don't seem very eager to assimilate. As a refugee myself, my family and I came here completely aware that we had a responsibility to learn English and to respect the laws of the country that gave us a second chance at life. We never expected that the U.S. would change to accommodate us. On the contrary, we were eager to change or assimilate. Second, the bombs over the weekend in New Jersey/New York and the stabbing in Minnesota will make it even more difficult to bring refugees to the U.S. We will hear more calls for "vetting" and a second look at bringing people into the country, especially after a story about 800 immigrants mistakenly granted citizenship! Finally, we will give President Obama the benefit of the doubt that he means well and cares about the refugees. Unfortunately, it was his policies, such as the premature withdrawal from Iraq and unwillingness to take down Assad in Syria, that exploded the refugee crisis. So much for legacy and another trip to the U.N.! P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Hillary Clinton evidently is out of her mind (such as it is). In the wake of the most recent terror attacks in New York and New Jersey, she said [t]he language that Mr. Trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries (which is the definition of treason). She described Trump as a recruiting sergeant for ISIS and criticized him for his irresponsible reckless rhetoric. And why is his rhetoric so irresponsible and reckless? Because he says radical Islam is responsible for these attacks. And he says such things over and over again. Apparently, Clinton is hopping mad that Trump didnt get the memo that dhimmitude is all the rage and truth will not be tolerated. Offering an alternative view to Trumps truth, Clinton has assured the American people that she will hunt down only terrorists and not the Muslim religion. (Hey little felon, good luck with that, because the two are inseparable.) But dont be too quick to write off Clintons resolve to defeat the enemy. Shes got something awesome in her arsenal: a new catchphrase that takes smart power to the next level. In her weak, faint, raspy, coughing, phleghmy, lying voice, she is calling for an intelligence surge to win this war. Perhaps she needs one of those for herself. Hat tip: Breitbart In a Washington Post article, "In Israel, 'burkinis' and bikinis have been living side by side," the subheadline reads, "In a nation not known for religious tolerance, many people accept the attire without question." Israel "not known for religious tolerance"? It is the only country in the Middle East that has religious tolerance. Can The Washington Post name one other country in the Middle East where Muslims, Christians, Jews, Baha'is, Circassians, and others can pray in their respective houses of worship without fear of harm? Among the 15-20 countries in the Middle East, would The Washington Post list just one other country besides Israel that could say this? In many Arab countries, conversion from Islam to another religion is considered apostasy and punishable by death, while blasphemy is punishable by imprisonment. Ironically, in Israel, Muslims have greater freedom of religion than in any Arab country. Both Sunni and Shia Muslims can practice as they choose. The Washington Post would have been more accurate if they referred to a region not known for religious tolerance. The only possible reason to say Israel is not known for religious tolerance would be because newspapers like The Washington Post refuse to let their readers know the truth of the most diverse, free, and tolerant country in the Middle East as highlighted by this article: Israel. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said yesterday that the war against the Islamic State is a "narrative battle." Brought on to discuss the bombings in New York and New Jersey and the possible connections to international terrorism, Earnest cautioned against painting with a broad brush regarding terrorism and Islam. When it comes to ISIL, we are in a fight, a narrative fight with them, a narrative battle, and what ISIL wants to do is they want to project that they are an organization that is representing Islam in a fight and a war against the West, and a war against the United States, he said. That is a bankrupt, false narrative. Its a mythology, and we have made progress in debunking that mythology. After laying out advances made militarily against ISIS, which the Obama administration calls ISIL, Earnest again repeated the U.S. had made progress in debunking this mythology. We cant play into this narrative that somehow the United States or the West is fighting against the Muslim religion, he said. The fact is there are millions of patriotic Muslims in this country right now that make our country proud. They serve in our armed services. They serve in our law enforcement These are individuals who make a substantial and positive contribution to our country, and that is an inconvenient fact for the ISIL narrative. Earnest used a similar line earlier on MSNBCs Morning Joe, saying the fight against ISIS was in some ways just a war of narratives. Let's not completely jump down Earnest's throat. He is partially right. The "hearts and minds" argument revolves somewhat, at least, around competing narratives with ISIS in an ascendant position due to reflexive anti-Americanism among most Muslims. But if we're going to fight ISIS only on that level, we're a sure loser, as one wag on Twitter pointed out: "We fight them in the paragraphs, we will fight them in the subtext, we will fight them in the footnote, we will... https://t.co/CRoJgSoUwm Dan Ornelas (@DanielMOrnelas) September 19, 2016 I have seen zero evidence that we are "debunking" the ISIS narrative, and there is some indication that hatred in the Muslim world of the U.S. is growing. This is partially due to the Obama administration throwing longtime allies like Saudi Arabia under the bus by allowing Iran to maintain a robust nuclear program. But in places like Pakistan, where our drone program killed about a thousand civilians in the last seven years, the hate is palpable, and it has radically affected our relationship with the Pakistanis. The White House would prefer to fight a "hearts and minds" war against ISIS because we have been ineffective in our bombing campaign. As propaganda, fighting the narrative war works with many Americans. But to eradicate ISIS, it's going to take a lot more in the military theater than we've been doing. Arctic sea ice is melting, and is currently at the second-lowest on record. The number of smokers in England is at a record low, with just around 17% of adults lighting up. Obama gives his very last address to the United Nations. Hate to break it to you, but the 5-second-rule is a myth. Mark Burton wrongfully files lawsuit against Jim Carrey claiming the actor supplied his girlfriend with prescription drugs that she used to commit suicide. Gas prices spike as a result of a 330,000-gallon pipeline spill in Alabama. Professors at New Mexico Tech are working to recreate the explosion that injured dozens in New York's Chelsea neighborhood. Since trending news is generally depressing and the Internet probably won't put a halt to the constant headlines any time soon, here is a virtual bioluminescent forest for at least some temporary relaxation. Market research company comScore has recently been hard at work gathering and analyzing information for its 2016 US Mobile App Report and has just published its latest findings which concern affluent smartphone users and their app-related habits. As its no secret that the demographics of an audience vary greatly from one app to another, the Reston-based firm decided to explore this in more detail and has started with focusing on the smartphone owners in the higher income brackets in the US. More specifically, comScore drew the line at households whose annual income exceeds $100,000. After identifying representative samples of these households and analyzing them with its proprietary Mobile Metrix method, comScore concluded that rich people are significantly more likely to use apps related to travel, fitness, and dining in comparison to average smartphone owners. According to the research, the app with the highest concentration of high-income household users in the US is OpenTable, a dining app which facilitates the process of locating a restaurant in ones vicinity and booking a table. The second app on the list is Nike+ Running as comScore found that more than 71% of the apps US user base belongs to high-income households. Official United Airlines app concludes the top three on this list while most of the other apps in the top 20 belong to either the fitness, dining, or travel category. Other than that, comScores research reveals that high-income users in the US also seem to be especially fond of a few casual mobile games and are apparently regular New York Times readers. You can see the entire list below. Adam Lella from comScore speculates that the companys findings may suggest a correlation between higher income and health-consciousness. While that may or may not be true, the other two most represented categories on the list are much easier to explain. Namely, as high-income people have more disposable income, and traveling and dining requires disposable income, its reasonable to presume that high-income people travel and dine more often. This research may not reveal any ground-breaking information but theres still no doubt the data within it will be useful to marketers given the fact that people in the higher income brackets are an especially attractive demographic to advertise to. When trying to watch content on sites like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and other services, you may often get an error message about it not being available in your country. This is due to a number of reasons, the most popular one being licensing. But what if you never had to see that error message ever again? Its possible with TNT Stream Unblocker. With this, youll be able to unblock hundreds of streaming services through a worldwide network of servers that are designed to offer IP addresses from 27 countries around the world. This means that youll never miss out on another Netflix show, due to it not being available in your country. With TNT Stream Unblocker, you can use it on up to three devices simultaneously. This includes laptops, Chromebooks, smartphones and tablets. Youll experience an uncensored internet as well, as you are able to bypass the spying of government and ISPs. Making it a great tool to pick up if you are heading to Russia, Turkey or China, where they censor their internet. Youll also be able to browse online with a high-speed connection. As there wont be any throttling done by your ISP. All this for just $39, for a lifetime subscription. Thats a pretty sweet deal. But youd better act now, as it wont be around forever. Two weeks ago, a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee caught fire in St. Petersburg, Florida and its owner blamed his recently purchased Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and its faulty battery for the incident. However, after a thorough investigation which ended yesterday, the St. Petersburg Fire Rescue announced that its investigators failed to find any link between the phablet which was left charging plugged into the vehicles cigarette lighter socket and the fire which occurred shortly after. In an in-depth report which was also made public, the fire investigator in charge of the case stated that he had to classify the fire as undetermined due to its destructive nature which consequently made eliminating multiple other possibilities regarding the ignition source impossible. The investigator adds that while its still possible that the Galaxy Note 7 was the cause of the fire which completely obliterated the Jeep of one Nathan Dornacher, it cannot be proven that the fire was started because of a faulty battery. As stated in the report, charging phones catching fire while being plugged into cigarette lighter sockets of cars in hot weather are a common occurrence and even otherwise perfectly functional batteries arent designed to be charged in such conditions. The investigator concluded his report by stating that the most likely scenario which led to the incident was a minor fire caused by the battery in the Galaxy Note 7 which then proceeded to ignite the car battery which exploded. However, he reiterated that theres no way to prove that the said minor fire was caused by a faulty battery, once again stating that the conditions in which Nathan Dornacher was charging his phone were far from ideal. Samsung is currently in the process of recalling over a million Galaxy Note 7 devices in the US suspected of being shipped with faulty batteries which were manufactured by the companys subsidiary Samsung SDI. All of the major carriers in the country have suspended sales of Samsungs latest flagship until the situation is resolved. As for Mr Dornacher, he can obviously still file a civil lawsuit against the company in hopes of getting something out of this unfortunate incident but due to the lack of conclusive evidence and the fact that Samsung already stated its working with him to resolve the issue, that isnt a likely scenario. Samsung is in currently trying to put the issue cause by faulty Galaxy Note 7 batteries which are prone to catching fire or exploding while charging to bed. While recent reports suggested that the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer is considering including a green battery icon to safe Galaxy Note 7 units, a better look at Googles Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) revealed that Samsung would be breaking the rules Google made for manufacturers of Android devices. Namely, CDD states that all Android devices MUST use white for system status icons. Regardless of that, Samsung proceeded with the plan to denote safe Galaxy Note 7 models as they now display green battery icons on the status bar, the Power Off screen, and the Always On Display screen. Given the fact that Google inspects each and every one of OEM software upgrades, there was some confusion as to how the Mountain View-based tech giant managed to miss such a blatant violation of its own rules. Some industry experts speculated that nothing was missed and that Google made an exception for Samsung which actually turned out to be the truth. Well, kind of. Namely, Hiroshi Lockheimer, senior vice president of Android took to Twitter to confirm that Google was aware of the fact that new Galaxy Note 7 units feature green battery icons when allowing their software version to hit the market. However, Lockheimer claims that this design choice doesnt violate the CDD because all of the green icons feature white borders. The wording of the document itself doesnt exactly imply theres room for such liberal implementation of the rules and this definitely sets a precedent for all of the other Android OEMs but its not surprising Google decided to bend its own rules a little bit just to help Samsung bring the Galaxy Note 7 back to the market as soon as possible. After all, its in Googles best interest to have a the Android flagship back on shelves as soon as possible. Especially when we consider that the Galaxy Note 7 can easily compete with Apples latest iPhone models which launched recently so it really wouldnt make sense for the tech giant to complicate an already complicated situation even further. In case you havent noticed, Google likes helping people get from A to B. If you are looking to get from anywhere to anywhere, Google Maps will almost certain prove helpful. While if you are looking for a flight, Google Flights is there to help and Google Destinations will even help you plan your entire vacation if thats what you want. Not to mention, if you do plan a rather comprehensive itinerary, the likes of Inbox by Gmail will neatly group all your travel arrangements together in one easy to read (and more importantly, easy to find) email chain. Well, it now looks like Google is taking that notion even further as Google today unveiled and made available a new app, called Google Trips. Now this is not the first time this app has come through the news as it has been long-expected to be arriving with various leaks and sneak peaks coming through over the last couple of months. However, for those new to this app, the idea behind Google Trips is that it is the only app that you will ever need when travelling. This is because it comes packed with a number of new tricks. One being the condensing of all your travel information together for when you need it. Another is its use of offline compatibility. As many will know, when travelling (and especially abroad) data adds up and finding the information you need, when you need it, costs in data terms. With the Google Trips app much of this data can be saved as the information is pulled from your Gmail, cached and made available locally on your device, without the need for a cellular or WiFi connection. This includes everything important you will need, such as flight, hotel and car details, reservations, receipts and so on. Of course, these are just the more noteworthy features as the app also comes with a ton of additional information you can make use of as well. Including location information (for the top 200 cities worldwide), like day plans or reservations you might have, things you could do, places to eat, drink, visit, shop, etc. As Google puts it, Google Trips is a personalized tour guide in your pocket. If you are planning on heading away soon (or just want to give the latest Google app a spin), you can find out more about Google Trips by heading through the source link, or downloading Google Trips through the link below, or checking out the new Google Trips promotional video, which is also below. No matter where you are and more specifically, where you drive, parking is usually an issue. Granted, it is more of an issue for those driving in more built-up areas and certainly for those in major cities around the world. In fact, according to data quoted in a new INRIX press release today, the average driver wastes as much as 55 hours per year searching for somewhere to park. Therefore, anything that makes finding a parking space easier, is likely to be welcomed. Speaking of which, that is exactly what INRIX announced today during the same press release. INRIX has now teamed up with Googles Waze to integrate its parking knowledge into the crowd-sourced driving app. So now, as well as Waze being able to provide users with a ton of user-related data (like the ability to alert users of any event-related traffic that might be building up), the app will also be able to help point those same users to the nearest parking space(s) available near their location (or destination). Much of the new functionality will be incorporated into Wazes new Where to Park feature and the way it will work, is that as you approach your destination, the app will advise whether or not you want to be directed to available parking. If yes is selected, then the parking spot will become your ultimate destination. What makes this feature even better is that thanks to the INRIX integration, the results of those parking space suggestions will take into consideration price. Which is an example of the type of clever features that INRIX has been offering for quite some time. In addition to partnering with Samsung early in 2015 to bring additional driving tools to the likes of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, this is also the company who last year picked up ParkMe an app which helps its users find and pay for the perfect spot. So the combination of Waze and Googles already-capable traffic monitoring systems with that of INRIX, is likely to be quite a useful feature for Waze users going forward. If you have yet to download Waze, you can grab a copy of the app through the link below. Samsung Pay is still rolling out new features and getting better with each update, despite being ahead of their closest competitor Android Pay in terms of user adoption. The company rolled out version 2.3 of the Samsung Pay app today, for those with a compatible device you can download it from the Google Play Store. The changelog isnt all that long, with this update. But there are a few noteworthy additions included here. Of course, the biggest feature is iris scanning for authentication. This means if you own the Galaxy Note 7 preferably one thats not defective you can use your eyes to authenticate a purchase. A pretty cool idea, and it adds another level of security to your Samsung Pay account. Of course, if you dont own the Galaxy Note 7, you can also stick with using the fingerprint sensor, found on many other Samsung smartphones. In addition to this, the update also brings cloud sync. What this means is that your card information will be saved to your account (as it should already be anyways), and when you sign back into your Samsung account perhaps after a factory reset of exchanging devices your credit cards, debit cards, membership cards and gift cards will all be there and available for you to use for your purchase. In the Whats New page within the Samsung Pay app, the company lists that you can now add even more gift cards and membership cards to your account. This isnt part of the update (meaning those not on version 2.3 can still add in the new gift cards and such). Its actually part of a server-side update. But its a good idea that Samsung added this to the changelog, so that everyone knows that this is possible. Advertisement Samsung Pay has been pretty popular among consumers and this is likely due to the MST technology that is used in their smartphones. This means that users are able to just tap their phone on the payment terminal and make a payment. This works even on older terminals that dont feature NFC connectivity. Meaning that Samsung Pay is accepted virtually everywhere that takes credit and/or debit cards. Earlier this year Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer LeEco began its journey in the Electric Vehicle (EV) market segment. The company has funded US-based EV startup Faraday Future which is now considered LeEcos automotive arm, and last June it acquired a site in Silicon Valley for R&D purposes, not long before word got out that LeEco is set to invest $1.8 billion in an electric vehicle factory in Las Vegas. Now according to battery industry sources cited by Business Korea, LG Chem has signed a deal with LeEcos EV arm Faraday Future for supplying the company with Li-Ion batteries for EVs. LG Chem is one the largest battery manufacturers for electric vehicles in the world, and it is also one of the main battery suppliers for Tesla Motors one of LeEco and Faraday Futures biggest rivals in the EV market. Now, according to anonymous industry sources cited by South Korean media outlets, LG Chem will become one of the main suppliers of lithium-ion batteries for Faraday Futures electric vehicles. Reportedly, LG Chem and LeEco / Faraday Future have already signed the deal, and LG Chem is expected to supply batteries for the upcoming LeSEE electric sedan unveiled by LeEco earlier in April. The LeSEE will be mass produced by Faraday Future under LeEcos umbrella, and reports suggest that although Faraday Futures initial plans were to have a fully-functional car manufacturing plant in the United States, it would appear that the company will build the LeSEE in a new electric vehicle plant located in Hazhou, Zhejiang Province of China. As for the LeEco LeSEE concept car unveiled earlier in April, the vehicle adopts a minimalist design and aims to become a self-driving car. Its also interesting to note that, earlier in April, word was that LeEco is considering to adopt an unusual marketing strategy for its future autonomous vehicles, in that the company could offer future models for free and treat them as a platform rather than a product, allowing these cars to be shared among multiple customers in favor of much more affordable pricing, which sounds like something along the lines of timeshare properties. In any case, LG Chem didnt reveal any details regarding the alleged deal with LeEco and Faraday Future, adding that we cannot clarify our customer information of EV batteries. Google Fiber is working on rolling out to more areas, both through the use of newly-developed wireless technology and through more traditional means. In both cases, conventional telecoms like Comcast and AT&T are none too happy. In most territories, Googles offer of 1 gigabit per second internet for $70 per month beats local options handily, and adding in a TV option for a relatively cheap extra $40 is salt in the wound. Thus, it stands to reason that telecoms would fight tooth and nail to help slow down or block Fiber. In Nashville, Tennessee, one of the more immediate areas for a planned Fiber release, the Nashville Metro Council is preparing to hand down final approval for Google to start working on getting Fiber into the area, but there may be a bit of a hangup. The current ordinance that the council favors, known as One Touch Make Ready, is rather drastic, calling for local elements to allow Google to simply swoop in and do what they wish with the utility poles, so long as they reasonably avoid disturbing current setups, with or without the help of current pole owners and users. This could, of course, lead to issues with future modifications and new installations, as well as introduce the possibility of magnetic interference from the wires being close together, among other potential issues. To combat this, council member Sheri Weiner partnered up with Comcast and AT&T to put forth a competing ordinance for voting, with voting set for September 20, that would slow Googles plans down a bit in favor of creating a system thats a bit more beneficial all around. The new ordinance would require all companies who own or rent a pole to help in outfitting it optimally for Fiber and for future modifications. It would also call for all of the companies involved to get their work done on a given pole within 45 days of obtaining approval from the Nashville Electric Service, who would have 30 days instead of 45 to hand down said approval. In the case of Google Fiber, should AT&T and Comcasts work present a delay beyond that goal date, Weiner insists on a penalty per pole per month. Currently, the penalty is set at $500 per pole, but Weiner wants the penalty to rise with each month work goes uncompleted. This would encourage companies to adhere to the current work target of 125 outfitted poles per week. While Google worked with the city council to draft up the One Touch Make Ready ordinance, AT&T has threatened to sue if it passes, making Weiners competing ordinance, which AT&T denies writing up, a rather appealing option. Weiner has said that if her ordinance fails or companies fail to adhere to it, she will openly support One Touch Make Ready. The latest issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, US president Barack Obama praised the tech industry for all of the autonomous driving advancements it has managed to achieve in recent years and revealed that he is personally fond of the idea of the future in which cars are driving people instead of the other way around. Obama explained that driverless technology has the potential to not only make transportation safer but also more accessible to the average person as its expected that people wont need a license to use self-driving cars in the future and such vehicles will also be cheaper to rent than what owning and maintaining a car would cost. Coincidentally, this sounds really similar to what Lyfts president said yesterday when predicting the end of personal car ownership. Furthermore, the US president also expressed his bafflement with the current state of the industry by writing that in his two tenures heading the United States, self-driving cars have gone from sci-fi fantasy to an emerging reality with the potential to transform the way we live. Regardless of being excited by the prospect of self-driving vehicles, Obama called for caution and stated that the government will have to play the crucial role in bringing autonomous cars to the market by finding a way to ensure peoples safety without imposing a huge amount of regulations on the industry. He acknowledged that this is currently a really tricky legal area and admitted that government isnt always right when it comes to regulating rapidly changing technologies such as this one. Coincidentally, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) will release a new set of regulatory guidelines for the autonomous driving industry later today. According to unofficial reports, these guidelines will be published in the form of a safety checklist which will consist of 15 points. Like their name suggests, these guidelines are just recommendations for automakers but they are expected to define the authority state and federal governments have in the process of regulating the industry. Its expected that most if not all manufacturers will adhere to the said guidelines put forth by the government. Ever since United Nations teamed up with the virtual reality production company Vrse.works in order to produce and publish a VR documentary, Clouds Over Sidra, in early 2015, the largest international organization has been pushing for more and more content to help its fundraising efforts. Namely, the said mini-documentary about a young Syrian refugee has been a hit that touched the hearts of many and proved that VR headsets have the potential to be the ultimate empathy machines, as one of the Vrse.works employees put it in a recent interview. More specifically, the documentary premiered at last years fundraising conference which managed to raise $3.8 billion in monetary aid, 70% more than UNICEF expected. The organization recently reported that each sixth person who watched the video donated to the cause while traditional fundraisers usually manage to convince every 12th person to make a donation. UNICEF is now taking another step towards realizing its VR ambitions as the organization just announced a VR film app during last weeks Toronto International Film Festival. Along with the app, the fund also introduced a Canadian program of donations for Syrian refugees, adding that the initiative also accepts volunteers. Speaking in Toronto, UNs creative director Gabo Arora revealed that Clouds Over Sidra convinced pretty much everyone in the organization that VR has the potential to move people much more than traditional films. The aforementioned app is currently mostly dedicated to VR and 360-degree videos but it also has a convenient button which allows people to quickly find a way to help refugees in their vicinity. UN celebrated the release of the UNVR app by launching yet another VR movie called Beyond the Lake which follows a group of refugees in Congo. The organization is continuing its close collaboration with the Vrse.works studio which is expected to produce three more films by the end of the year. As Arora revealed in Toronto, the organization will soon allocate resources intended to fund a constant influx of new VR movies produced with the intention to move people and make them empathetic enough to donate. UNs creative director also revealed that Samsung will likely partially fund this program by securing 360-degree cameras for the UN offices involved in the production of VR movies. The Galaxy Note 7 recall is still officially ongoing in the US mostly thanks to the fact that a significant percentage of owners of Samsungs latest phablet arent returning their potentially dangerous devices. Carriers are now turning to more direct means of communicating the importance of replacing the devices which shipped with faulty batteries to their customers. One such method was just adopted by Verizon as the US carrier started rolling out a Galaxy Note 7 update, version VRS2APHE earlier today. What this update does is plaster warnings all over older Galaxy Note 7 models equipped with batteries that have a tendency to catch fire and explode while charging. If you happen to own one of those, youll see a Safety Recall Notice each time you plug in your phone to charge it or reboot the device. The warnings definitely arent subtle but subtle isnt what Verizon was going for anyway considering the fact that the carrier customers safety is at risk. On the other hand, owners of newer, safe Samsung Galaxy Note 7 models will just see the green battery icon which indicates that the device in their hands isnt faulty after they download and install the said update. The color of this icon actually sets a precedent in the Android OEM industry as Google has always insisted on the status bars icons being white but has decided to make an exception due to extraordinary circumstances surrounding the Galaxy Note 7 recall. Verizon isnt the first US carrier to turn to more aggressive methods of reaching out to their customers who purchased the older versions of the Galaxy Note 7 which came packaged with faulty batteries manufactured by Samsung SDI. In fact, it was just yesterday that Sprints CEO Marcelo Claure revealed that Sprint actually started texting and calling the owners of potentially dangerous Galaxy Note 7 models in order to urge them to replace their phones. As Claure put it, consumers have a way of going about their business and they either arent aware or dont really care for ramifications of using faulty devices. Granted, there were only around 100 cases of Galaxy Note 7 batteries catching fire or exploding in the US so far, but 100 is still a 100 too many and theres no doubt that number will keep increasing until all of the suspect hardware has been replaced. Following that blast, the authorities received a call telling them There will be more. The FBI has arrested five more people in connection with that Chelsea bomb. The Press get to work. The Telegraph leads with news that Ahmad Khan Rahami has Islamist links. The paper says he may have been radicalised after making a trip to his native Afghanistan and Pakistan. Which means he may not have been radicalised there. He may have been radicalised in his bedroom. The Times leads with news Rahami is the Afghan gunman. Not quite. He became a naturalised US citizen in 2011. The paper of record adds that Rahamis nickname was Mad. Because hes insane? No. Because Mad is a short version of Ahmad. Ah! (ANSA) - New York, September 20 - Germany is the only EU country that benefits from austerity because it exports so much, but it is not respecting rules on trade surpluses, Premier Matteo renzi told the Council on Foreign Relations Tuesday. "Austerity without vision risks being an incredible mistake and widening the division between countries in difficulty and strong countries," he said. "Who is the only country that receives an advantage from this strategy? The one that exports the most: Germany. But today Germany is not respecting the rules on trade surpluses. I will respect European rules also in the future even though I don't agree. But why doesn't Germany?". Renzi added that austerity would "destroy Europe. He said "the victory of Brexit, of Le Pen, do not come only from migration but also from the lack of hope for new generations. Austerity is not the way for Europe. Stressing austerity means destroying Europe". (ANSA) - Rome, September 20 - Premier Matteo Renzi has welcomed the Constitutional Court's decision to delay a hearing scheduled for October 4 on the legitimacy of his government's Italicum election law. This means the case will probably come up after the referendum on the executive's package to amend the Constitution to revamp Italy's political machinery. "The Constitutional referendum does not regard the election law," Renzi said in New York. "And I consider this development very positive because now we can discuss about the merits (of the reform)". Thee reform includes the controversial transformation of the Senate into an leaner assembly of local-government representatives with limited powers to save money and make passing legislation easier. Renzi has staked his political credibility on pushing the reform through and may quit if he loses the referendum on the revamp, which seeks to end Italy's unusual 'perfect bicameralism' blamed for decades of political gridlock. The reform also does away with the National Council on Economy and Labour (CNEL) - a Constitutional organ with 64 councillors plus a president - and completes the elimination of Italy's 110 provinces. Courts in Turin, Messina and Perugia, meanwhile, have asked the Constitutional Court to look at the Italicum. Several experts have questioned whether the Italicum, which awards a big bonus to winners and does not let voters directly pick all their MPs, complies with Italy's founding charter. (ANSA) - Rome, September 20 - It is "too soon" to "define the circumstances and real background" of the kidnapping of two Italian workers in Libya, the head of the foreign ministry's crisis unit, Claudio Taffuri, said Tuesday. He said the "dynamic" of the abduction "is unfortunately the usual one: cars that block the target's car and make off with the kidnapped". Taffuri added that the Italian government had advised companies working in Libya to equip themselves with security and noted that, in the part of southern Libya where the kidnapping took place, tribes "have been fighting one another for years". Taffuri spoke amid reports that the abduction of Bruno Cacace and Danilo Calonego may have been an act by common criminals who wanted a quick pay-off. Cacace and Calonego were abducted near the southern Libyan city of Ghat Monday evening together with a Canadian national. Ghat is controlled by the Tripoli-based government of national unity. All three kidnapped people worked for a company that performed maintenance operations at Ghat airport - Con.I.Cos, which is based in Mondovi, near the northern Italian city of Cuneo. Cacace is a 56-year-old from Borgo San Dalmazzo, near Cuneo, and Calonego is a 66-year-old from the province of Belluno. Local media said the abduction was not carried out by al-Qaeda. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told Rome-based daily la Repubblica that it was too soon to know what sort of group the kidnappers are. Two Italian workers who were taken hostage in Libya last year were killed in circumstances that have not yet been fully clarified in a firefight in city of Sabratha in March. (ANSA) - Rome, September 20 - Italian banks are still struggling with weak profitability and to resolve the problem they need to take action on several fronts including technological investment, diversification of income sources and cost cuts, the head of the Bank of Italy's financial oversight department Carmelo Barbagallo said Tuesday. Barbagallo told a forum of the union Fisac-Cgil that cost control policies needed to continue and banks had to consider potential reductions in their operational presence across the country, as well as staff cuts. "Energetic cost containment action," is required, he told the forum. Barbagallo also said that the total amount of non-performing loans at Italian banks had nearly tripled since the start of the financial crisis. However, he added that since the start of the modest economic recovery there has been a reduction in deteriorated credit. (ANSA) - Rome, September 20 - It is "too soon" to "define the circumstances and real matrix" of the kidnapping of two Italian workers in Libya, the head of the foreign ministry's crisis unit, Claudio Taffuri, said Tuesday. He said the "dynamic" of the abduction "is unfortunately the usual one: cars that block the target's car and make off with the kidnapped". Taffuri added that the Italian government had advised companies working in Libya to equip themselves with security and noted that, in the part of southern Libya where the kidnapping took place, tribes "have been fighting one another for years". Taffuri spoke amid reports that the abduction of Bruno Cacace and Danilo Calonego may have been an act by common criminals who wanted a quick pay-off. Cacace and Calonego were abducted near the southern Libyan city of Ghat Monday evening together with a Canadian national. Ghat is controlled by the Tripoli-based government of national unity. All three kidnapped people worked for a company that performed maintenance operations at Ghat airport - Con.I.Cos, which is based in Mondovi, near the northern Italian city of Cuneo. Cacace is a 56-year-old from Borgo San Dalmazzo, near Cuneo, and Calonego is a 66-year-old from the province of Belluno. Local media said the abduction was not carried out by al-Qaeda. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told Rome-based daily la Repubblica that it was too soon to know what sort of group the kidnappers are. Two Italian workers who were taken hostage in Libya last year were killed in circumstances that have not yet been fully clarified in a firefight in city of Sabratha in March. Refugees arriving in Europe by sea top 300,000 in 2016 UNHCR registered 520,000 arrivals in first 9 months of last year (ANSAmed) - GENEVA, SEPTEMBER 20 - Over 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers have arrived in Europe by sea since the start of the year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday. The number is significantly lower than the 520,000 arrivals in the first nine months of 2015 but well above the 216,054 arrivals registered in the whole of 2014, UNHCR added. The majority of arrivals were recorded in Greece and Italy. (ANSAmed). Anxiety in Italy over workers kidnapped in southern Libya Gang of criminals suspected (ANSAmed) - ROME, SEPTEMBER 20 - There is considerable anxiety in Italy about the fate of two Italian workers and an Canadian colleague who were kidnapped in Libya on Monday. The workers were abducted by armed men near the southern Libyan city of Ghat, near the Algerian border. Ghat is controlled by the Tripoli-based government of national unity. All three kidnapped people worked for a company that performed maintenance operations at Ghat airport - Con.I.Cos, which is based in Mondovi, near the northern Italian city of Cuneo. Sources said the kidnapped Italians are Bruno Cacace, a 56-year-old from Borgo San Dalmazzo, near Cuneo, and Danilo Calonego, a 66-year-old from the province of Belluno. Local media said the abduction was not carried out by al-Qaeda. Intelligence sources said a local criminal gang may have been planning a fast turnaround of their captives but something went wrong. They said: "A very delicate phase has started which may become dangerous as time goes on". (ANSAmed). Russia-Syria land offensive in Aleppo underway - sources Reports confirm earlier news from activists on social networks (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, SEPTEMBER 20 - Government forces and pro-Iranian militias allied with the Syrian regime launched a land offensive in eastern Aleppo on Tuesday morning with cover from the Russian air force, sources on the ground have said. The reports confirm earlier reports from activists on social networks. The sources said Russian air strikes are underway against the Palestinian refugee camp of Handarat in northeastern Aleppo, while the ground troops are trying to break through the lines of insurgents that control the area. (ANSAmed). BEIRUT - If Monday's air strike on a UN aid convoy in Syria "is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," UN aid chief Stephen O'Brian has said. O'Brian said he was "disgusted" by what happened. Meanwhile Russia has rejected charges of attacking the aid convoy, describing them as 'unfounded'. "I don't think it is possible and fair to reach unfounded conclusions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said. "The information concerning this attack is currently being examined by our military, we hope they receive concrete information from the sources on the ground and afterwards they will be able to issue a statement on the matter," Peskov added. The UN has suspended all movements of humanitarian aid convoys in Syria as a result of the strike, which hit a fleet of trucks carrying food to a rebel-held area near Aleppo. "As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being, pending further assessment of the security situation," the UN humanitarian aid spokesman Jens Laerke said. "However, we remain committed to delivering aid to all the Syrians who need it," he added. The spokesman said the convoy had been authorised by the government and all parties in the conflict, as well as the US and Russia, had been informed. RABAT - Moroccan non-profit groups and newspapers have said that a recent march that was presented as a rally against the "Islamisation" of the country was an "electoral sham". Police sources say about 3,000 people took part in the rally in Casablanca on Sunday, waving protest banners that some could not even read. Some people were protesting against "price hikes decided by the government", while others were angry about "Saudis coming to Morocco to take advantage of prostitution". Some of them, when interviewed by national television stations, said they did not understand the meaning of "Islamisation". "Why am I protesting? In truth I believed I was on a pleasure trip to the city. We were also supposed to go to the beach," said one protester. Another said "I was told to come to Casablanca, and here I am". The protest, presented as a condemnation of a supposed Islamisation drive by the government of Abdelilah Benkirane, was heavily condemned by Moroccan newspapers and on social media. Benkirane's Justice and Development party said, "it's not the first time they target us, this time however we don't know who to get annoyed with, because no one knows who organised this sham". No one has claimed responsibility for the protest, but opposition leaders are facing accusations. The Moroccan Centre for Human Rights described the event as "a march that instigates hate" and that "stirs ghosts against the pacific coexistence and the values that make Morocco a peaceful country". Morocco's elections, due on October 7, are being monitored by 4,000 accredited observers, including 100 foreigners. More than 30 parties are fighting for a place in the second legislature since the so-called Arab Spring. Since then Morocco has had a Constitution and a more modern body of law, although it is still not fully applied. (ANSAmed). GENEVA - Over 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers have arrived in Europe by sea since the start of the year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday. The number is significantly lower than the 520,000 arrivals in the first nine months of 2015 but well above the 216,054 arrivals registered in the whole of 2014, UNHCR added. The majority of arrivals were recorded in Greece and Italy. Syria: 20 dead in strike on UN aid convoy in Aleppo area Flagrant violation of law, says Red Cross (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, SEPTEMBER 20 - The death toll caused by an air strike on a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy in the Aleppo area has risen to 20, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement cited by Arab media. ICRC President Peter Maurer said the attack was "totally unacceptable" and was a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law". The ICRC has affirmed that it will continue to work on sending humanitarian aid to people in need in Syria. "We are not suspending any activity. We will continue to work," ICRC spokesman in Damascus Pawel Krzysiek told ANSA. (ANSAmed). ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean (ANSAmed) - ROME, SEPTEMBER 20 - These are some of the main events scheduled for today in the Euro-Mediterranean area: JORDAN - Parliamentary elections. PARIS - Council of Europe, meeting of the Commission on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development. CATANIA - EU, visit of European Commissioner Phil Hogan who takes part in the conference on 'Policies for agriculture in southern Europe'. BRUSSELS - EU, General Affairs Council. NAPLES - Week of Jewish culture (until September 25). (ANSAmed). BRUSSELS - The Council of the European Union has launched membership proceedings for Bosnia-Herzegovina as set out under Article 49 of the treaty. The European Commission will have to express an opinion in coming months on whether the conditions are in place to give Bosnia candidate country status. The request for membership was presented on February 15 by Dragan Covic, the chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency. Bosnian Premier Denis Zvizdic responded with satisfaction to the Council's decision. "The go-ahead from the Council is a historic moment for the European way and the future of Bosnia in Europe," he was quoted as saying by Bosnian media. "The phase we have worked on over the last 14 months has concluded with success today and this is really one of the most positive pieces of news for all Bosnians and in particular young people who will soon live in a Bosnia which is a member of the European Union," he added. Jordanians begin voting in parliament elections Islamist movement hopes to hit jackpot after years of boycotting (ANSAmed) - AMMAN, SEPTEMBER 20 - Parliamentary elections kicked off in Jordan on Tuesday with hundreds of thousands heading to the polls, as the Islamist movement hopes for a strong showing after more than a decade of boycotting the polls. The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, forged alliances with independent candidates hoping to rebuild its tarnished reputation after years of internal strife and systematic targeting by the government and its supporters. But the Islamist movement remains concerned about honesty in the electoral process. The group is expected to win more than two dozen seats in a parliament that will probably be a carbon copy of previous parliaments, according to observers. Influential businessmen, tribal leaders and former security officers are expected to be the major players in the parliament. Meanwhile, polling centres are witnessing a big voter turnout in the early hours of the day, election observers said. Security forces struggled to contain angry supporters who used machine guns near polling stations in some parts of the kingdom, including the western city of Salt, (30 km west Amman) and southern region. The government said it deployed more than 50,000 policemen around the kingdom to secure stations, according to official statement. (ANSAmed). NAPLES - Turkey is an "Islamofascist regime in the heart of Europe, a country in which over 100 journalists are in prison", said journalist and former member of the Turkish Workers' Party Dogan Ozguden on Tuesday. Ozguden, 81, was speaking at the opening of 'Imbavagliati', the international festival of civil journalism running in Naples until September 24. "The coup in July has only served to legitimise a repression that was already underway, while Turkey continues to sit on the Council of Europe and its entry into the EU is still under discussion," the former reporter for Milliyet and Sabah and editor of left-wing daily Aksam said. Ozguden recounted his professional history and the forms of censorship to which he was subjected, leading to several trials for thought crimes that obliged him to flee to Belgium. However, "nothing irreversible", he said. "Turkey is a great country with many young people, many ethnic groups and religions and a non-rigid form of Islam, even if the majority is Sunni," Ozguden said. (By Paul Virgo) (ANSAmed) - ROME, SEPTEMBER 20 - Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday that the international community was committed to combatting terrorism after arriving in a New York City still in shock after last weekend's explosion in which 29 people were injured and the discovery of more devises. "We are here to highlight with great power the fight against international terrorism," said Renzi, who is in New York to take part in the United Nations General Assembly and a summit on the refugee crisis. "It's still early to analyse what has happened in New York, but everyone of devoting the maximum attention and everyone is making every effort for prevention and the eradication of the culture of death". Renzi also reiterated his disappointment at Friday's EU summit in Bratislava, which concluded with him openly coming out against Germany's and France's stance on migrants and economic growth for the bloc's post-Brexit future. "If Europe continues like this, we'll have to get organised and act autonomously on immigration," Renzi said. "This is the only new development to come from Bratislava, where there were so many words, but we weren't capable to saying anything clear about the issue of Africa. "That's why, to use a euphemism, we didn't take it well. "(European Commission President Jean-Claude) Juncker says lots of wonderful things, but we don't see actions. "This is one of Europe's problems. Italy will go it alone. "It is capable of doing it, but this is a problem for the EU". Renzi wants the EU to work harder on cooperation with African States to stop the refugee and migrant flows at the source. "Our priority is relations with Africa, which is what we tried to say in Bratislava," Renzi said. Italy is the destination for most of the migrants using the so-called central Mediterranean route to enter Europe, which means it is feeling the strain of the crisis especially hard. Renzi added that it was wrong to link migration with terrorism. "Establishing a link between security and immigration does not correspond to reality," Renzi said. "The terrorists who came to Europe didn't travel on migrant boats but in comfortable flights. The 11 September ones travelled in business class". Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, meanwhile, highlighted Italy's efforts to rescue asylum seekers in the southern Mediterranean and receive the thousands of people to reach the country each year as he addressed the United Nations summit on migration. "I'm here at the United Nations as a witness to the generosity of the Italian people in receiving those who land on out coasts," he said. NEW YORK - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday accused the government of Bashar al Assad of killing more civilians than any other group in Syria. "Many groups have killed many civilians in Syria, but no one has killed as many as the Syrian government, which continues to bomb neighbourhoods and torture thousands of prisoners," Ban said during the opening of the UN General Assembly. Ban launched an appeal to "all those who have influence to stop the fighting and start negotiations". "The political transition has been awaited for a long time, after so much violence the future of Syria cannot remain the destiny of just one man," Ban said, reaffirming that "there is no military solution to the crisis". 20 dead in strike on UN aid convoy in Aleppo area. Flagrant violation of law, says Red Cross BEIRUT - The death toll caused by an air strike on a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy in the Aleppo area has risen to 20, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement cited by Arab media. ICRC President Peter Maurer said the attack was "totally unacceptable" and was a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law". The ICRC has affirmed that it will continue to work on sending humanitarian aid to people in need in Syria. "We are not suspending any activity. We will continue to work," ICRC spokesman in Damascus Pawel Krzysiek told ANSA. If deliberate, air strike on aid convoy 'a war crime', says UN which suspends suspends humanitarian convoys If Monday's air strike on a UN aid convoy in Syria "is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," UN aid chief Stephen O'Brian has said. O'Brian said he was "disgusted" by what happened. The UN has suspended all movements of humanitarian aid convoys in Syria as a result of the strike, which hit a fleet of trucks carrying food to a rebel-held area near Aleppo. "As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being, pending further assessment of the security situation," the UN humanitarian aid spokesman Jens Laerke said. "However, we remain committed to delivering aid to all the Syrians who need it," he added. The spokesman said the convoy had been authorised by the government and all parties in the conflict, as well as the US and Russia, had been informed. Meanwhile Russia has rejected charges of attacking the aid convoy, describing them as 'unfounded'. "I don't think it is possible and fair to reach unfounded conclusions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said. "The information concerning this attack is currently being examined by our military, we hope they receive concrete information from the sources on the ground and afterwards they will be able to issue a statement on the matter," Peskov added. ROME - Italian President emeritus of the Republic Giorgio Napoletano has been awarded the 'Dimitris Tsatsos' prize by the Tsatsos Foundation in Athens and the Tsatsos Institute at Hagen University in Germany for his contribution to greater European unity. The former head of state received the award at a special ceremony at the Greek embassy in Rome on Monday. The prize is in recognition of Napolitano's "deep committment to the idea of European integration and considerable influence towards its implementation in the political process", the motivation read. "He has promoted the European cause and defended it against its detractors, a valid example for the future generations." In accepting the award Napolitano said he would try to "work in continuity with what I have done and what I represent today, directing my energy in the service of the European cause." This, he said, is "seriously suffering" and must manage to "harness the best of its experience, renewing it in a changing global context". The annual five-day weekend featuring Santa Fe restaurants and world-class wineries. The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta is an annual five-day weekend of events featuring the culinary artistry found in Santa Fe, New Mexicos many excellent restaurants coupled with the sophistication and wines of national wineries. By bringing 90 national wineries to Santa Fe to partner with 75 of Santa Fes best restaurants, a five day schedule of food and wine events is created featuring cooking demos, wine seminars, winery luncheons and dinners. The weekend culminates with the Grand Tasting at the Santa Fe Opera where all 75 participating Santa Fe restaurants and all 90 wineries serve samples of their best food and wine. One event, The SFWC Fiesta Live Auction raises money to sponsor Santa Fe restaurant community events. Proceeds from the live auction help sponsor culinary classes such as restaurant service classes, wine and cooking classes. As well the Live Auction helps sponsor other community events involving our restaurants and chefs such as Santa Fes Cooking with Kids program and Santa Fe Restaurant Week. By reinvesting resources and education into the Santa Fe restaurant community, we serve our mission of the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta keeping Santa Fe on the map as a world-class culinary destination. Thank you to all the sponsors, local restaurants and wineries who help to make this happen. And a great thank you to all the food and wine enthusiasts who keep returning to Santa Fe supporting our great restaurants! Launched in 2006, the tenth CEO Middle East Awards recognise and reward the most successful and innovative CEOs in the Middle East based on their accomplishments in 14 categories. The award recognised the achievements and exceptional performance that McLoughlin has demonstrated during the past year at Dubai Duty Free. McLoughlin said: I am extremely honoured to receive this industry distinction from the CEO Middle East Awards. This award reaffirms our commitment to shaping the duty free and travel retail sector particularly in the Middle East. I would like to thank our Chairman, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free and our 6,000 employees at Dubai Duty Free, who do a great job in delivering an excellent retail experience. After 33 years at Dubai Duty Free, I still believe I have one of the most exciting jobs in the industry, with the best team. added McLoughlin. The award was presented to Colm McLoughlin by Ali Akwai, Managing Director, ITP Publishing. McLoughlin was accompanied by his wife Breeda. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the possibility of establishing an MRO joint venture at a globally competitive location. First decisions will be made by the end of the year. The joint venture could handle a substantial amount of GTF shop visits already in the first few years of business. In the industrys highly cost-competitive environment, the objective of setting up a joint facility is to generate opportunities for synergy and scale for both companies. Lufthansa Technik has been maintaining various Pratt & Whitney engine types for decades. Just recently, in July, Lufthansa Technik became a member of the aftersales service network for the U.S. companys geared turbofan (GTF) engines. The network offers the whole range of MRO services for PW1000G engines. With Lufthansa being the first airline to put a GTFpowered jet into commercial service, Lufthansa Technik is excellently positioned as an MRO services provider for GTF engine operators. The move will not affect the further development of LHTs existing facilities. MTU Aero Engines is a partner of Pratt & Whitney in the PW1000G program; the engines have been selected as the propulsion systems for new aircraft programs launched by five different aircraft manufacturers. To date, airlines around the world have ordered about 8,200 of the engines incorporating geared turbofan technology to modernise their fleets. Over the coming decade, the high-volume engine program will contribute substantially to MTU Maintenances revenues. Thanks to MTUs broad portfolio of other engines, the existing facilities will have a sufficient workload also in the years to come. The two companies have been partnering in a successful, 50/50 joint venture in Malaysia since 2003. Airfoil Services Sdn. Bhd. (ASSB) near Kuala Lumpur specializes in the repair of low-pressure turbine and high-pressure compressor airfoils. The upcoming Chaldean synod will focus on a new bishop for the Diocese of San Diego, liturgy renewal, help for Mosul refugees, and beatification of Chaldean martyrs. For the Chaldean primate, closer and more effective action among bishops and a united position on the countrys political future and the role of Christians are needed. Erbil (AsiaNews) The Chaldean Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael Sako is currently taking part in a spiritual retreat with all the clergy of Iraq ahead of next synod set for 22-28 September in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. Speaking to AsiaNews, the prelate said that the synod is "important" to boost Chaldean Church "unity", starting with the "choice of a new bishop" for the Diocese of San Diego, which has been caught up in a dispute that pitted it against the patriarchate, as well as action to "stop the flight of priests and monks from Iraq". Such a trend is grave and "should not happen again. As the Patriarch requested, the meeting will focus on "unity and communion among dioceses" for the "good of the faithful." Likewise, he urges "priests to help displaced families support the burden of their condition." The discussion will also cover initiatives in favour of refugees from Mosul and the Nineveh plain, the beatification of Chaldean martyrs and the still present challenge of emigration. Other issues are the renewal of the liturgy and the future of the plain of Nineveh, which the Chaldean Patriarch recently addressed in an appeal. The Chaldean clergy is meeting in a spiritual retreat before the Erbil synod to remind the priests to rediscover the value of silence, thanks to which one can fully enjoy the deep sense of reflection and prayer. At the same time, this can highlight the meaning of confession, repentance and change that can be achieved only in the rediscovery of a deeper faith. In the Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Francis, a merciful style of living is a "sacred duty", which comes with the task of educating the flock. "Priests hold compassion, Mar Sako noted, and must know how to love and forgive as God loves and forgives." The Chaldean Synod will also address with particular attention the issue of the new bishop of the Diocese of St Peter the Apostle in San Diego, United States, currently led by Mgr Shlemon Audish Warduni, the long time auxiliary bishop of Baghdad and prominent figure in the Iraqi Church. Mgr Warduni replaced "rebel" bishop Sarhad Y. Jammo, who left recently upon reaching the age of retirement of 75. The diocese has long been at the centre of tensions with the Chaldean Patriarchate leadership for accepting priests and monks who left Iraq without the permission of their bishops and superiors. The Chaldean patriarch calls on the faithful in San Diego "to pray for the choice of the new bishop," that he may provide steadfast and strong "intellectual, spiritual and pastoral guidance". He also called for renewed unity after months of tensions that had taken the semblance of mini-schism. Another topic that will take centre stage is the beatification of Chaldean martyrs. They include the victims of the Assyrian-Chaldean genocide of 1915 in what is now modern Turkey, as well as the more recent martyrs, including Fr Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean priest killed in Mosul in front of his church in 2007, and Mgr Paulos Faraj Rahho, then archbishop of the diocese, who died in captivity a year later. Looking at the topics, Mar Sako said that it is important to rethink "the organisation of the Chaldean Church, the links among dioceses, and closer and more effective action among bishops, to meet the pastoral needs of the faithful and displaced families." For the prelate, another important issue "is the political situation in Iraq," to which the Synod and the Christian leadership must respond with "a wise, realistic and clear position" ahead of the liberation of Mosul. The Chaldean patriarch warns that "Christians will have big problems if they do not find a unified position." He does not spare criticism for those from the "outside" who propose solutions like the idea, recently revived by a group of US lawmakers, of creating an enclave for religious minorities, including Christians in the Nineveh plain "without a real grasp of reality." "One thing is the media and plans when the situation in practice is quite different" he warns. Issues like security and local administration must be addressed in a still fragile political and social context. "Iraqis must talk to each other, the patriarch said, discuss and decide what to do, [choose] a federation, a unitary state or separation. However, even before all this, there must be liberation" from terrorism and internal and external violence. "We must be united to throw out the terrorists and reclaim the land, then prepare a national dialogue to find the most appropriate solutions." On 25 September, a meeting will be held as part of the Erbil Synod to discuss the Chaldean League, an organisation Mar Sako has forcefully pushed for, set up in July 2015 to protect and promote the "social, political, and economic" rights of the Chaldean community, whilst remaining separate from political parties or movements involving individual Christian activists. Francis says his meditation at the Thirst for Peace: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue meeting. "The victims of war, which sullies people with hate and the earth with arms, plead for peace; our brothers and sisters, who live under the threat of bombs and are forced to leave their homes into the unknown, stripped of everything, plead for peace. Assisi (AsiaNews) Pope Francis called on Christians to live next "to those who are now living crucified," those who "crave peace", calling for help, but are not heeded. The pontiff delivered his meditation to Christians gathered in the Lower Basilica of St Francis during an ecumenical prayer, the first public event of his visit to the meeting "Thirst for Peace: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue", organised by the Sant'Egidio Community, the diocese of the Umbrian city and the Franciscan Family, on the 30th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer peace convened by John Paul II on 27 October 1986. After he arrived in the late morning, Francis had lunch at the Sacred Convent with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Efrem, Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman and 12 refugees from war-torn countries. One of them, a woman from Aleppo, told her story. During the meal, Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Community of Sant'Egidio, mentioned the 25th anniversary of Patriarch Bartholomew I. After lunch, the pope individually met Bartholomew I, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Ephrem II, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Church of England Justin Welby, Zygmunt Bauman, Indonesian Ulema Council chief Din Syamsuddin and the Grand Rabbi of Israel David Rosen. The representatives of different religions prayed for peace in different places in Assisi. All the Christians gathered in the Lower Basilica of St Francis for an ecumenical prayer, during which all the countries at war were mentioned and a candle was lit for each. The words "I am thirsty" cited in Revelation by the crucified Jesus inspired the meditations of the Francis and Bartholomew. "We have come to this holy city from various corners of the world, said the patriarch, and we stand together, as Christians, in this holy place to invoke from the Lord the greatest of His gifts, Peace, from him who is the King of Peace. Yes, because the Lord bore witness with his own life, the love incarnate peace among men, the inner love, the peace of God, the love of the Cross and the Resurrection the cosmic peace." "Today, he went on to say, Christians are called to martyria, a witness of communion: This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn, 13:35). What word of peace can be offered to the other, the different, the distant, the stranger, the one who stands between us, if that word of peace is not a real experience of communion with the Radiant Light of the Morning? How can we offer peace, which is love, without the real testimony that is martyrdom? Without the living icons of the Trinitarian communion in God and neighbour?" Gathered before Jesus crucified, said Francis, we hear his words ring out also for us: I thirst (Jn 19:28). Thirst, more than hunger, is the greatest need of humanity, and also its greatest suffering. Let us contemplate then the mystery of Almighty God, who in his mercy became poor among men. What does the Lord thirst for? Certainly for water, that element essential for life. But above all for love, that element no less essential for living. He thirsts to give us the living waters of his love, but also to receive our love. The prophet Jeremiah expressed Gods appreciation of our love: I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride (Jer 2:2). But he also gave voice to divine suffering, when ungrateful man abandoned love it seems as if the Lord is also speaking these words today they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water (v. 13). It is the tragedy of the withered heart, of love not requited, a tragedy that unfolds again in the Gospel, when in response to Jesus thirst man offers him vinegar, spoiled wine. As the psalmist prophetically lamented: For my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Ps 69:21). Love is not loved, the pontiff noted, this reality, according to some accounts, is what upset Saint Francis of Assisi. For love of the suffering Lord, he was not ashamed to cry out and grieve loudly (cf. Fonti Francescane, no. 1413). This same reality must be in our hearts as we contemplate Christ Crucified, he who thirsts for love. Mother Teresa of Calcutta desired that in the chapel of every community of her sisters the words I thirst would be written next to the crucifix. Her response was to quench Jesus thirst for love on the Cross through service to the poorest of the poor. The Lords thirst is indeed quenched by our compassionate love; he is consoled when, in his name, we bend down to anothers suffering. On the day of judgment they will be called blessed who gave drink to those who were thirsty, who offered true gestures of love to those in need: As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me (Mt 25:40). Jesus words challenge us, they seek a place in our heart and a response that involves our whole life. In his I thirst we can hear the voice of the suffering, the hidden cry of the little innocent ones to whom the light of this world is denied, the sorrowful plea of the poor and those most in need of peace. The victims of war, which sullies people with hate and the earth with arms, plead for peace; our brothers and sisters, who live under the threat of bombs and are forced to leave their homes into the unknown, stripped of everything, plead for peace. They are all brothers and sisters of the Crucified One, the little ones of his Kingdom, the wounded and parched members of his body. They thirst. But they are frequently given, like Jesus, the bitter vinegar of rejection. Who listens to them? Who bothers responding to them? Far too often they encounter the deafening silence of indifference, the selfishness of those annoyed at being pestered, the coldness of those who silence their cry for help with the same ease with which television channels are changed. Before Christ Crucified, the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24), we Christians are called to contemplate the mystery of Love not loved and to pour out mercy upon the world. On the cross, the tree of life, evil was transformed into good; we too, as disciples of the Crucified One, are called to be trees of life that absorb the contamination of indifference and restore the pure air of love to the world. From the side of Christ on the Cross water flowed, that symbol of the Spirit who gives life (cf. Jn 19:34); so that from us, his faithful, compassion may flow forth for all who thirst today. Like Mary by the Cross, may the Lord grant us to be united to him and close to those who suffer. Drawing near to those living as crucified, and strengthened by the love of Jesus Crucified and Risen, may our harmony and communion deepen even more. For he is our peace (Eph 2:14), he who came to preach peace to those near and far (cf. v. 17). May he keep us all in his love and unite us, so that we may be one (Jn 17:21) as he desires." by Nirmala Carvalho Today the universal Church is united with the Pope, who has asked that September 20 become a "world day of prayer for peace". The archbishop of Mumbai is in Bangalore for a meeting of the Episcopal Conference of Bishops of the Latin rite, which he chairs. The Church in India "welcomes everyone, without discrimination." The work of Catholic health care facilities and education of young people. Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Indian Church is united with Catholics throughout the world who today are praying for peace in the world, at the invitation of Pope Francis. In India Card. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Episcopal Conference of the Bishops of Latin Rite (CCBI), celebrated Mass and prayed for peace. Ahead of the Bishops of the CCBI Standing Committee he said: "Today the Catholic Church in India wants to be a visible sign of unity in prayer." The Cardinal called on all parishes, church associations and institutions to observe the day of prayer and to spend time praying for peace. The archbishop recalled the soldiers who were victims of the recent armed attack in Uri, Kashmir, where separatists broke into a military base and killed 18 men. "The attack - he said - has resulted in anguish and pain, and 18 of our brave soldiers lost their lives. We pray that God may grant them eternal rest and comfort for their families. We pray for peace in our country, in Asia and around the world. " The cardinal also emphasized the role of the Catholic Church in India in service to the poor, sick and suffering, and the work of Catholic schools and institutions that offer education and hospitality "without discrimination of caste, culture or creed." Speaking of medical treatment, he said: "Our health services, led by Christian teachings, are places of interreligious and intercultural dialogue. The Church opens its medical facilities to all, regardless of age, gender, religion, class, caste, ethnicity, or other socio-economic, political or cultural backgrounds. A special emphasis is given to disadvantaged groups such as tribals, Dalits, migrants, refugees and the disabled. " Christian educational institutions, he concluded, "are classes of pluralism and harmony, where children of different faiths and cultures learn to communicate and to share universal values such as solidarity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence in India. This creates an environment that allows students to better understand the life and the culture of society". The Archbishop of Cotabato, in the heart of the predominantly Muslim Mindanao, condemns the actions of Abu Sayyaf, calling its members practical atheists who have inadequate knowledge of their own religion. Many Christians also do not know the Bible very well. They say they know Christ and his teachings but show a stark dichotomy between belief and practice. Assisi (AsiaNews/CBCP) Card Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato told religious leaders gathered in Assisi (Italy) for a meeting titled Thirst for Peace that Abu Sayyaf bandits are practical atheists. Saying that one cannot wage war in the name of God, he said the terroristic activities of the violent jihadist group in southern Philippines manifests a denial of God. The prelate, a well-known advocate of peace between rebel Islamic groups and the Filipino government, sought to emphasise, however, another aspect, namely Abu Sayyafs inadequate knowledge of the Quran. Another is its selective knowledge and understanding of the Holy Book to justify what is not justifiable. The same is true also for many Christians who do not know the Bible very well, he noted. While believing in Christ and his teachings, they show a stark dichotomy between belief and practice. This is one of the roots of violence and the lack of peace in Mindanao. What we need is a new evangelisation in order to respond to this problem." The cardinal then called on religious leaders to learn from Pope Francis who refused to identify Islam and any religion with terrorism and his belief that dialogue is the only path to peace. Pope Francis has spoken of extremists in various religions. We should not identify extremism with religion itself, said Cardinal Quevedo. That is why "we must not doubt of those leaders and those Muslims who continue to condemn sincerely Islamic extremism. For the churches and different religious faiths, the call is for both intra-religious and inter-religious dialogue so that religious beliefs are not distorted and Gods name is not invoked for the sake of violence, he said. Abu Sayyaf is the smallest of Muslim movements fighting for the independence of southern Philippines; however, it is the most dangerous and violent. It is most active in the provinces of Basilan and Sulu (whose capital is Jolo, a jihadi stronghold). The Mindanao Muslim Autonomous Region comprises five provinces (Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi) in the southern part of the country. It has its own government, based in Cotabato City. 4.1 million eligible voters out of a total of 6.6 million inhabitants. They will have to choose between 1,252 candidates, for a total of 130 seats. Highest abstention figure yet, around 42%. Experts predict Islamic Action Front will win 20 seats and become the leading opposition party. Amman (AsiaNews / Agencies) - This morning polls opened at 7 in Jordan - a constitutional monarchy in legislative elections to renew Parliament. They are about 4.1 million eligible voters out of a total of about 6.6 million inhabitants, who will be called to choose between 1,252 candidates, for a total of 130 seats. The election has not sparked great interest given that Parliament has limited powers and is dominated by representatives of two tribal groups loyal to the Hashemite monarchy. However, today's vote marks the return of the Muslim Brotherhood who boycotted the two previous ballots. There were 15 women, nine Christians and three representatives of ethnic minorities among the deputies elected in the last parliamentary term of four years. Analysts and experts point out that the real surprise of this vote will be the turnout. According to a recent survey developed by the Jordanian Phenis Center for Studies and Research, 42% of voters plan to boycott the polls. Among those who will go to vote, 32.6% will choose first and foremost a member of their own tribe or family. The only unknown factor remains tied to the number of votes that will go to the Islamic Action Front (FAI), the local political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. For experts on, the movement linked to Islamic extremism should get a maximum of 20 seats, becoming the first political opposition force in Parliament. FAI had deserted the elections of 2010 and 2013, in protest against alleged fraud and irregularities in the voting process. Last June, the pro-extremist Islamic movement had announced their intention to compete at the polls, although weakened by internal divisions and the increasing repression of the authorities. An active member of the international coalition that is fighting against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, Jordan has continually denounced jihadist infiltration of its territory and the danger of a growing influence of extremist groups and fighters. In February 2015 an Air Force pilot was captured by Daesh [Arabic acronym for the IS] in Syria and the pilot was burned alive, in the context of a grisly execution that has horrified the world. The jihadist challenge combines the enormous effort made by the country which has opened its doors and welcomed over a million refugees, 20% of the population. This combined with the struggle of the government and the monarchy against Islamic extremism and the brotherhood itself. In April police shut down the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, in Amman. In 2012, the Parliament voted to ban the political wing of the brotherhood, FAI. A measure in a package of electoral reforms called after the protests of 2011 related to the Arab Spring, organized by the democratic parties, and later taken over the Islamist opposition. by Nina Achmatova Putin's party, United Russia, gets 76% of the seats and now will unilaterally carry out constitutional reforms. But experts say this is not the goal: the vote gave further legitimacy to regime ahead of the presidential vote in 2018. Experts: "The system as it is cannot last long. Today in Russia, Parliament is not the place to resolve conflicts, as in other democracies". Moscow (AsiaNews) An overwhelming majority for Putin's United Russia party, the declining interest of citizens towards politics, four old parties and the total absence of any real opposition. This is a summary of the new State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, following the September 18 elections and where the majority party will occupy 76% of the seats. With 99% of votes now counted , the Central Election Commission (CEC) said that United Russia dominates with 54.7% of the votes, the Communist Party (KPFR) is second with 13.3%, just below the Ldpr nationalists with 13.18%. The fourth party is Fair Russia with 6.21% of preferences. Only two deputies from the many small parties have won a seat: Civic Platform and Rodina (Motherland). These political formations are distant from the Kremlin, especially in foreign policy. United Russia has "unexpectedly" gained a two thirds majority - as admitted by the chairman of the CEC, Ella Pamfilova - a (343 seats out of 450), needed to change the constitution. The vote delievered a resounding defeat to the two main liberal opposition parties, pro-Western and non-parliamentary Yabloko and Parnas (of the murdered former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov), who stopped well below the 5% election threshold and that of 3% for public funding. Fragmented and fractious, but also disadvantaged by little media exposure, the opposition failed to mobilize the electorate and exploit the weak openings left by the Kremlin with the new electoral law and the parties. Declining turnout, but "clean" vote Another surprise was the fall in voter turnout below 50% compared to 60.1% five years ago. This confirms the great apathy in Russian society towards politics, but according to experts it also indicates that a large segment of the electorate are uncertain about the future. According to some observers, the figure declined also because this year - with the Kremlin determined to take home clean elections to avoid a repeat of the protests of 2011 there were no so-called 'administrative resources' that is, the practices to 'encourage' public employees to vote, either through rewards or intimidation. Nonetheless OSCE observers - in their preliminary report - have called the vote "ordered" and praised the fact that the complaints of irregularities were addressed in a "transparent" manner. Head observer Jan Peterson, however, stressed that "control of the media and civil society" in part prevented the Russian voters from making an "informed choice." The Duma and Presidency According to the director of the Center for Political Technologies in Moscow, Boris Makarenko, this homogeneous Duma devoid of the slightest opposition will augment the policies of the "Putin regime", in view of his re-election to the Kremlin. The presidential elections are scheduled for March 2018, but may also be held earlier, and Vladimir Vladimirovich says "then it will count on the support not only of those who vote for United Russia now, but also the electorate." The next Duma, also could become the reservoir from which to draw members of the team of the future new president, chiefly composed of young and obedient bureaucrats replacing the old circle of friends linked to the FSB. The elections have given the regime "further confirmation of its legitimacy and it is now ready for the presidential vote, according to Andrei Kalesnikov from Carnegie Moscow. He believes the vote was a purely technical exercise: to preserve the Duma for the four parties as it had been so far. This model will last until 2021, continues the analyst, but has now run its course: purely personalistic parties devoid of any ideology, with aging leaders now sit in Parliament. "It is a system that will hold for the medium term, but not in the long run," noted Kalesnikov. This was echoed by Makarenko, who has highlighted the risks of not making reforms. "Democracy is not characterized only by free elections, but also on the ability to solve conflicts between different interests, in a peaceful way. This is not possible today in Russia and it is dangerous, because there are major challenges ahead, such as the reform of economic and social development system New York (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A young American born in Afghanistan is the suspected author of a bomb that wounded 29 people in New York on the evening of last September 17 and for other ordnances around the metropolis and in New Jersey. The young man, Rahami Ahmad Khan, 28, of Elizabeth (New Jersey), was arrested yesterday in Linden after a shootout with police. Rahami was sleeping in the doorway of a building, when the police went to investigate, and recognized him. The young man pulled a gun and shot at a policeman wounding him. Other policemen wounded the suspect and arrested him as he was being transported to hospital (see photo). After two days of caution, police are finally describing the bomb blast and scattered bombs "a terrorist act". Rahami was charged with attempted murder of a representative of the law; illegal possession of weapons and possession of weapons for illegal purposes. Rahami lived in Elizabeth (New Jersey), where he worked at a family owned restaurant. Those who know him speak of him as a kind, enthusiastic and friendly person. But some point out that his lifestyle has changed after a trip to Afghanistan in 2014: He became more serious, growing a full beard and began wearing oriental clothes. The Rahami family has had problems with the police. In 2011, the police wanted the restaurant owned by them closed at 10 pm, but the family objected, accusing neighbors who complained of discriminating against them "because we are Muslims." The population of the United States, which recently recalled the attack on the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001, fears that terrorist cells are present in the country ready to strike. Meanwhile, the police are investigating another attack took place on the evening of September 17. A young Somali, disguised as a security guard, entered into a mall and wounded nine people with a kitchen knife in St Cloud (Minnesota). The police chief said that the man made at least once a reference to Allah and asked the victims if they were Muslim, before attacking them. The man was killed by an off-duty policeman. None of the injured are in a serious condition. by Michael MataFighting the state for compensation over her suspension from Crown Law has proved to be a costly endeavour for Siobhan Parer.According to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Parer, who is Acting Assistant Crown Solicitor, was suspended on full pay on June 12, 2015, and has since spent $258,000 in legal costs.Unfortunately, that wasnt the end of Parers financial woes: According to her solicitor Susan Moriarty, Parers Brisbane home burned down a week after giving evidence to the commission.Following her suspension, Parer was asked to show cause as to why she shouldnt be disciplined over her alleged negligent supervision of another solicitor, Jeremy Weston, and a junior solicitor. Jim Murdoch QC said that Westons failings were so complete and systematic that they justified Parer being asked to show cause in relation to her failings as his supervisor.In contrast, Parer claims that her suspension was a prohibited action, calling it an act of reprisal after she complained about Deputy Crown Solicitor Helen Fremantle. Parer is seeking reinstatement, as well as compensation for damages to her professional reputation and for psychological injury. She is also asking for the state to receive a penalty.Parer is the niece of the late former senator and Howard government minister Warwick Parer. She joined Crown Law in 2001 and has practiced exclusively in the area of litigation, with the majority of her work relating to personal injury law. According to her profile on Crown Laws website, Parer has defended some of Queenslands most complex and sensitive litigation matters and continues to act on behalf of the State in many significant litigation claims.The state is being represented by Murdoch and is being instructed by Minter Ellison.The case is being presided over by Commissioner Glenys Fisher. Free newsletter Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole. Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer. Janders Dean has announced an exclusive partnership with not-for-profit The Legal Forecast, an organisation that seeks to facilitate innovation in firms and law students with programs like hackathons. We will be working with TFL team to help them in a number of ways - including helping them secure funding from corporate sponsors and future partners from both the law firm area and other areas such as the technology industry, North told Australasian Lawyer. The partnership includes the appointment of firm founder Justin North to the organisations advisory board, to mentor the leadership team and help to grow the organisations presence. Currently based in Brisbane, The Legal Forecast will look to expand to Sydney, Canberra and Perth in early 2017. We also strongly believe in giving back to emerging organisations, and we have always tried to help smaller vendors and companies as they enter the legal market, North said. The organisation recently hosted a Disrupting Law event, supported by a number of firms where 70 students and lawyers came together pitching ideas with the potential to impact the legal industry. It will look to host events raising awareness for mental health in the industry as the organisation grows. The intersection of innovation and law is not just about buzzwords and billing practices. It's about finding new and affordable ways to provide legal help to those who need it most in our community said The Legal Forecast founder Milan Gandhi. There are few that have demonstrated their true understanding of this, while also taking action to drive and support real change in the industry, with Janders Dean being one of the leaders of the few. Were looking forward to this partnership and working together with Justin and the team. Slater & Gordon has announced its intention to file claims against the Watchstone Group, the relic of UK company Quindell which it paid $1.3b last year to acquire its professional services division.Slater & Gordon said in an ASX announcement that it has notified Watchstone it intends to bring a claim against the group arising from the purchase of Quindells Professional Services Division. It said 50m ($86.5m) is set aside from the purchase price for warranty claims.The law firm, now having the unfortunate title of recording the largest loss in the worlds legal sector yet, did not indicate whether the claim will be filed in the UK or in Australia.Most of the value of the Quindell purchase was written off by Slater & Gordon in its latest full year fiscal report. For fiscal 2016, it posted a $1.02b loss which includes $879.5m non-cash goodwill impairment.For the first half of 2016, the firm recorded a $958.3m loss while it posted a $59.3m net loss before tax for the second half. Non-GAAP revenue for the whole fiscal year stood at $908.2m.The claim will be another challenge Watchstone faces. Just months after the acquisition of Quindells Professional Services Division, the UKs Serious Fraud Office investigated the firm for accounting practices, forcing it to restate its 2013 accounts.Meanwhile, Slater & Gordon which recently dumped its conveyancing business in Australia as part of its numerous cost-cutting steps has also been reported to undergo a board shakeup which saw only one director from three who left replaced.Slater & Gordon, the first law firm to be listed on a stock market, has seen its stock price fall from a high of over $8 per share last year on the ASX for a market cap of $2.8b. The stock closed at $0.4 yesterday valuing the company at a relatively measly $141m. By Steven Freeland, Professor of International Law, Western Sydney University Shutterstock/Rustam Zagidullin When the worlds first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, was launched on October 4, 1957, it heralded the need for legal regulation of the exploration and use of outer space. Since then international law has been developed to facilitate the use of technologies such as satellite telecommunications, global positioning systems, remote sensing technology for weather forecasting and disaster management, and television broadcast from satellites. In this regard, space law has played a positive role by allowing for and not unduly restricting the development of space-related technology. At the same time, the existing legal regime has not prevented the development of military technology capable of utilising outer space. There are some restrictions, but these were specified in the space law treaties in relatively general terms and were open to interpretation as to what they did (and did not) prohibit. This is not entirely surprising. The development of space-related technology was inextricably related to military strength, both in reality and to influence the perception of others. Cold War tensions It is no coincidence that the space race emerged at the height of the Cold War when both the United States and the Soviet Union strove to flex their technological muscles. The early stages of human space activity coincided with a period of quite considerable tension. The possibility of large scale and potentially highly destructive military conflict between the (space) superpowers always lurked in the background. The successful launch of Sputnik generated unease in the western world because the technology used was similar to that for ballistic missiles. It was crucial that efforts were made by the international community to regulate this new frontier in order to avoid a build-up of weapons and armed conflict in space. The obligations and restrictions were eventually agreed and codified in five major United Nations space treaties. They addressed, in part, some specific military and weapons-related aspects of space activities. Every year since the early 1980s, the United Nations (UN) has passed a resolution on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space. But these initiatives were neither entirely clear nor sufficiently comprehensive to meet all of these challenges. The deployment of weapons of mass destruction in Earths orbit was banned but this did not extend to other weapons or military systems. Outer space for peaceful purposes As far back as 1967, the UN recognised the common interest of all mankind in the progress of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. It also declared that the moon and celestial bodies must be explored and used exclusively for peaceful purposes. Most space law scholars would interpret this as prohibiting military activities in outer space. But this was not followed by those who actually had space capability. It is now clear that space has been used for military activities almost from the start of the space age. Some of this may be termed passive military activities in outer space. This includes the provision of supporting communications, imaging and location assistance through satellite technology. But many countries are now increasingly using space technology as part of active engagement in the conduct of armed conflict on land, at sea and in the air in the terrestrial context. The use of GPS-satellite guided missiles is now common-place in modern conflicts. Even more worrying, recent trends in technological development have underlined that serious threats to global security exist in this final frontier. This is due to the strategic value of outer space and the dependence of militaries on space assets for their operations. All major space powers are working to develop space-based weapons systems and many now suggest that a war in space is inevitable. No peace deal, yet The law of armed conflict is a major source of restraint regarding military operations on Earth. But there is barely any reference to outer space in many of the treaties that codify that body of law. Efforts to broker international agreement to stem the weaponisation of outer space, or agree on rules to safeguard space sustainability and security, have so far stalled. An agreed statement and clarification of the limitations international law places on the military use of outer space is now an urgent priority. In this regard, a group of more than 40 international experts are about to embark on a three-year research project that will culminate in a Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space ([MILAMOShttps://www.mcgill.ca/milamos/home). The group will include ourselves and other lawyers, scientists, diplomats, military personnel and technicians, all working in their personal capacity. The vision of the MILAMOS Project is to ensure space activities are conducted in accordance with the rule of law. This will involve a consideration of the existing international rules on outer space. It will also involve integration with international humanitarian law and the rules prohibiting the use of force. The drafting of the rules will involve many meetings, heated discussions and compromises. It is envisaged that at the end of the project the applicable rules will be agreed on the basis of consensus. The MILAMOS Project is not an effort to condone warfare in outer space. On the contrary, it seeks to prevent armed conflict and minimise the devastating impact that space technology and military operations may have on the long-term and peaceful use of outer space. Steven Freeland is on the Management Board of the MILAMOS project. The MILAMOS project has received funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Dale Stephens is a member of the MILAMOS Management Board and is Editor in Chief of the McGil Manual Project. The project has received funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Dale Stephens is employed as an Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide which is co-partnering with McGill University in leading this research effort. Ram S. Jakhu is Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law of McGill University. He is the Chair of the MILAMOS Project, which has received funding from McGill University and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Originally published in The Conversation. Leading academics and politicians in Australia are to take part in an innovative new conference in November designed to drive change for multicultural women.The National Multicultural Women's Conference 2016 in Sydney aims to share knowledge and celebrate the outstanding contributions women from diverse backgrounds make to Australian society. According to Violet Roumeliotis, chief executive officer of humanitarian organisation Settlement Services International (SSI), the conference is set for a lively and productive dialogue about the unique experiences of multicultural women and hopes to influence how women are supported and recognised in Australia.'Women from diverse backgrounds contribute so much vitality, talent and enthusiasm to our communities. They are nurturing mothers, inspirational leaders and talented entrepreneurs, and yet the challenges and opportunities they face are often unique to their male counterpart,' she said.'The conference will provide a unique platform to share perspectives, innovations and approaches affecting women, and drive further collaboration and change across sectors,' she added.Meanwhile, young refugees needing help with their school education and adults seeking local recognition for their qualifications will be among those eligible for new scholarships worth more than $90,000.Allianz Australia and SSI are offering the scholarships to help refugees settle in the community and 46 scholarships, ranging from $500 to $5,000, will be offered in five categories, including primary and secondary school, vocational training, tertiary qualification and skills recognition.Roumeliotis said that from her experience, which is supported by research, refugees who settle in Australia have a high motivation to work, but this didn't automatically lead to employment.'Refugees who lack Australian work experience, affordable options for the recognition of their skills and qualifications, and limited access to English language tuition, face barriers in the employment market,' she explained.Allianz Australia's managing director, Niran Peiris, said he was proud to help refugees receive an education and contribute to business. 'This scholarship programme is about offering the support and opportunity for refugees to really make a difference at school, work and in the community,' he explained.'This scholarship reflects Allianz's absolute commitment to diversity. We know that a diverse workforce is a better workforce,' he added. Earlier this year Allianz recruited nine new employees from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Vietnam, who came to Australia as refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Dear , I applied for a student visa on 18 august but without any interview call my visa get refused due to GTE so is there any chance to re apply and get a visa. JandE said: If you have good evidence, the age difference appears not to be relevant. Our age difference is more than yours, but has never been a worry to me as I know of many that have been successful with such age differences and larger. We also got the PMV and 820 with no real problems. They did ring us once, to chase us for some documents that we hadn't submitted. Click to expand... Hi! Due to my past circumstances with my ex, we had to keep our relationship rather low key as It would have impacted my son. We did have photos, emails etc. The lawyers on our behalf submitted ample evidence of our relationship but border protection decided it was not sufficient so we had to take our case to the migration tribunal and won.The whole process took a huge toll on our relationship, I suffered anxiety attacks and was diagnosed with depression. I would get angry easily over little things. on one occasion we had a massive row and the police were called which led to the police lodging an avo against my partner on my behalf which I did not agree to.My partner and I kept in touch after that incident so the police decided he breached the avo and convicted him in the magistrates court and was fined. In the meantime I revoked the avo and my partner completed an anger management course.Our problem now is that my partner had AFP checks done recently and it showed he was convicted of breaching the avo and was fined. Now we are back to being stressed and worried again. Will our visa application is going to get rejected because of this? That's our predicament. One silly mistake and we don't know if we ever going to have a future together. Hey Guys, I posted a thread before about marrying someone from Morocco. I understand that I have two options PMV and partner visa after marriage and I was advised to lodge a PMV Now I know this question has been asked several times before but the answer still unclear to me Should I apply for a family sponsored visa if she is my partner or tourism visa. Any chance she could grand any of these? If I sponsor her here and pay bond or anything else required. All I want is she to be able to stay with me at least 3 months in Australia (the longer the better while PMV is processing) For visitor visa I know it's important to proof that she will return back to her country but she's going to quit her job for that long time. Does this mean family sponsored visa is the best option for her? Cheers Suka *Misunderstanding Hello Before I start writing my story I'd like to say that I understand how the Immigration department works here in Australia and therefore I honestly think there's nothing I can do rather than leave the country with a 3 year ban. But I really want to fight till the end because I love this country. I came to Australia this year and stayed for 4 months on a Visitor Visa, a visa than ran out at the beginning of June. Just one day before my visa expired I applied for a Student Visa onshore. As I didn't have enough money on my account yet, I went to the immigration office and told them that I wanted to apply for a Bridging Visa D. Reason is that I didn't have the money to pay for the Student Visa at that moment, but a transfer from my Spanish bank account was on its way so I would be able to pay for it a few days later. I was told in the office that I should apply for a Student Visa instead. They told me that if I applied right there in the office, I wouldn't need the CoE and that's what I did. A few days later I received a notification saying that my application was invalid because they couldn't take the money from my credit card. I went to the bank and they told me that my credit card was blocked because they detected a scamming device in one of the ATM's I used to withdraw my money and that a new credit card would take a few days to arrive to my bank branch. I explained this by email to immigration and told them that I could pay cash or bank transfer, but my new credit card would take a few days to arrive. They told me that credit card was the only valid method, so my application was declared invalid. I went to immigration to fill the application again and this time I received an email saying that the application was invalid again because without a CoE they could not grant me a visa (they told me a totally different thing in the office) and that because of the application being invalid I was not under and bridging visa and therefore I was an unlawful citizen That same day I paid the CoE and answered the email providing my CoE number hoping that everything was fine. Never got an answer back. Now I realize that my mistake was providing my CoE by answering the email instead of filling the Student Visa form again with everything updated. My course started just a few days after and I've been attending to school since then. I have 80% attendance and I'm really interested in this course because I need it to find a job in my home country. But because a big misunderstanding I'm currently under no visa I'm aware that many people come to Australia and try to overstay to earn more money or whatever. But that's clearly not my case. I can prove that all the details from my story are 100% true. I can provide a certificate from my NAB bank confirming that the credit card story is true I can provide a certificate from a Hotel in the Canary Islands in which one of the managers confirms that with this course I would be offered a job there I can prove that my school attendance is satisfactory I've spent a lot of money on my course and I really need the certificate before I go back to my country. And I have the feeling that the visa was going to be granted with no problem at all. It was just invalid for a reason that I couldn't predict and a big misunderstanding I know that I should've contacted the immigration office earlier, but I was really scared as I was unlawful citizen out of nowhere and I've never had any kind of problem with police or something. I really didn't know what to do. Now that my first school term is over I have time to solve this situation. I'm not one of those overstayers who plays the "oh, I didn't realize I had to leave" card. My situation is very different and I've spent a lot of money and effort to study that course as it would open many doors for me back in my country. Is there really no chance to fix my situation here? HOV Up to this point, the Mirai could be had in one of four colors: Nautical Blue Metallic (pictured), Crystal White, Elemental Silver, and Celestial Black. The new model year brings Atmospheric Blue, a color the manufacturer has forgot to detail in official images. Still, at least the price remains put.At $57,500 plus $865 in destination and delivery, the Mirai is an expensive car for its size. But then again, dont forget that its powered by a hydrogen fuel cell , the type of eco-friendly technology that costs a lot of money to research, develop, and produce. On the upside, buying the Mirai has its perks.Not only do customers enjoy a federal tax credit of up to $8,000, but Californian customers are also offered a $5,000 rebate. As if that wasnt enough to soften the blow of the Mirais price tag, the high-tech model is granted access to thecarpool lane. And that, as Im sure you know, is a valuable asset in the heavily congested state of California.Other than the car itself, that apparently enormous bundle of green dollar bills grants the owner three years worth of complimentary fuel or $15,000 maximum, whichever comes first, three years of 24/7 customer call support, a complimentary rental experience for seven days per year for three years, no cost service plan and roadside assistance, as well as 8 years or 100,000 miles of warranty on key components, including the hydrogen tank and battery.If youre not sure about the 2017 Toyota Mirai, then youd better wait for the model year 2018. That's when the South Korean juggernaut Hyundai will debut all-new fuel cell vehicle, set to replace the ix35 FCV The ones I remember looked just like toys, with massive car doors for arms and bumpers over the chest area. They also had the boldest lights and paintjobs in the world. If you've been a good boy and saved all your pennies, there's a company in Turkey that can even a full-scale version based all the coolest BMWs.Their demo car builds on the E92 BMW 3 Series Coupe , and it's got that classic vibe about it. Hydraulic pumps pop the doors out, lift the body of the robot and pop a head out between the windshield and the hood. Of course, it's only got the outer shell of an E92, as the engine and interior would have gotten in the way.Letvision, the Turkish company in question, has also published digital sketches of what the Transformers would look like if they were based on the X6, M4, M5 and 1 Series Coupe. Our favorite has to be the X6, which is like Optimus Prime crossed with Captain America.This is about as close as you can get to looking inside the brain of a kid in the 90s. I don't know about you, but I think that the Transformers franchise has taken a turn for the worse since then. I mean, instead of cheap robots that transform into cars, Hasbro pretty much sells fixed action figures these days that might shoot the occasional rocket. According to Beshear, owners of Dieselgate-affected cars must be very cautious when they have been proposed a trade-in, buyback, or whatever deal related to their automobiles.As some of you already know, Volkswagen has a settlement plan lined up for its customers in the USA that has purchased a car fitted with a 2.0-liter TDI engine that had a device to cheat emissions tests.The settlement plan does not apply for all of the owners of the vehicles, as those that have purchased a car after the settlement plan was approved, or other conditions, are not eligible for a pecuniary compensation, but their vehicles will be fixed for free once authorities accept a proposal.The idea with the settlement scheme is that it is expected to receive the final approval in October. Until then, there is no reimbursement available, so owners must steer clear of those that try to propose them any deal involving a buyback, or other plans that promise a great deal for whatever reason.As WTVQ notes, scammers are currently seeking ways to acquire cars from owners so that they can profit from the buyback after purchasing a Dieselgate -affected vehicle.The Federal Trade Commission is also aware of these scamming attempts. The Attorney General of Kentucky wants to be sure that all the citizens of his state that are eligible for a settlement will be informed and adequately compensated.Scammers can be avoided, but owners will have to be extremely cautious with buyers or potential clients for their cars that want to seal the deal quickly. That is a red flag in any proposal, if you ask us.Another tip is to check Volkswagens Court Settlement Web Site. Owners are instructed to avoid any offers that require spending buyback compensation for a new car, as well as offers that are not affiliated with the official settlement.Any limits suggested on the buyback plan are bogus, and the Attorney General of Kentucky asked residents to report any suspicious offers that might suggest that or that might lure people to sell their cars before the settlement gets approved and begins.As usual with scams, avoid any deal that requires you to act fast, and use common sense and better judgment before signing or agreeing to anything. Never forget the number one rule with scams - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true. Dont get conned. Needless to say that it very nearly ended in tears as once somebody proposed the name Boaty McBoatface , it immediately became the most voted option by far. Probably foreseeing something like this (or maybe even worse), the organizers left the final decision to an official panel, so all the commotion eventually turned out to be in vain.If asking the people to name a $290 million boat seems like a risky decision, how about what the United States Air Force did just days later? Confronted with an inspirational block, it invited people to send in names for its still in development B-21 stealth bomber - a project that's believed to cost in the region of $42 billion (and when we say "in the region," we mean "definitely no less than").The USAF was a little bit more careful, and it only opened up the voting to people enrolled in the air force and their family members, so coming up with an insulting name could have gotten you court-martialed. In the end, the USAF received over 4,600 entries from which to choose, and its name was just announced this morning: sadly, it doesn't follow the "Blablay McBlaBlaFace" scheme.After the B-2 Spirit, the US pilots will get to fly the B-21 Raider. The $550 million plane (the estimated cost for each unit) will not be ready until the mid-2020s when the USAF is expected to order over 100 of them. Which is all very nice, but what we'd really like to know is what other names have been considered or, better yet, we'd like to see the whole list of submissions. We don't want to be buzz killers, but we're absolutely convinced there were better options than "Raider." Gizmodo seems to share our suspicion and has asked the USAF to release the full list of names invoking the Freedom of Information Act, but since this is the government, its request was denied. However, the Air Force confirmed it would release the shortlist of considered names sometime in the future. Well, that should be interesting too. We're dealing with a 997.1 Turbo, with the Neunelfer having received plenty of aftermarket touches. It's enough to check out the Purple hue of the senior supercar, as well as its custom wheels, to understand that drawing attention was a priority for this project. Oh, and let's not forget those straight pipes.As for the track adventure of the rear-engined coupe, we're glad the photoshoot involving this didn't convince the owner to drive onto a line that's actually used by trains - as you'll get to see in the video below, the industrial line used appears to be safe.It's almost amusing when you think that, back in the day, owning a Porsche was all about enjoying its understated nature, dipping into the performance without too many people noticing.Many people who adorn their driveways with Zuffenhausen machines nowadays steer clear of that path and don't imagine this only involves guys and girls who grab used Porsches and want to turn them into attention magnets. Oh no.For one thing, when you dress up your already flamboyant-looking 911 GT3 RS PDK in Rosso Corsa (allow us to remind you this is Ferrari's signature color), you're definitely crossing understatement borders.But perhaps the most common form of making a GT3 RS stand out, even among its kind, is to turn to the wrap industry. Whether we're talking about a new age take on the good old Martini Livery of a completely crazy approach involving a World War II Shark Teeth Fighter theme and a custom 19-inch wheel setup, there are plenty of such examples out there.P.S.: While this guy probably only risked his Porsche, here's a Ferrari Enzo driver and tuning shop owner who blocked traffic in Monterey, California, only to have his Carbon Enzo photographed. EV kWh NEDC You could argue that its poor sales outside France were down to the weird design that Renault insisted on calling "bold" or the fact that it went against the larger Nissan LEAF, but at the end of the day, when it comes to electric vehicles, it's all down to their maximum range.Even though a lot of people don't ever need all the miles of their's maximum range, it's still a matter of psychological comfort. And it's a very strong one: take the anxiety you feel when the fuel tank gauge nears the "empty" position and multiply it by ten. And that's largely because charging stations aren't nearly as abundant as their gas counterparts.Since carmakers don't do infrastructure - well, some of them do, but they're in the minority - the only possible way they can ease the minds of their prospective clients is by increasing the distance their vehicles can travel between charges. For years, Tesla has been the only manufacturer that offered an electric car capable of covering more than 200 miles (320 km) on a full battery, but that is about to change.More and more models are joining the 200-miles plus club, either de facto (Bolt + Ampera-e) or declaratively (Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen and just about every other brand you can think of), and it would have been ridiculous for a company with Renault's history in the field to be left out. Which is precisely why the French manufacturer plans to release a 220-miles ZOE at next month's Paris Motor Show.The report comes from French publication BMFBusiness which doesn't reveal one of the most important aspects: what will the capacity of the new battery be? The ZOE currently uses a 22battery pack that manages to offer 150-miles () of maximum range (that's nearly 250 miles). Still, considering the European standard is a lot more optimistical than the EPA-enforced one, the real-world autonomy is roughly two-thirds that.The ZOE's battery will be modified (even though it most likely won't be swapped for the 60 kWh unit powering the next Nissan LEAF ), but the range increase will also come from increased efficiency. The changes will be radical such as the completely new electric motor, or more discreet like the heating/cooling system or the LED lights.We don't expect the sales of Renault ZOE to explode overnight, but it's nice to see that things are starting to heat up in the EV market. And the route chosen by Renault for its ZOE hatchback is also encouraging: instead of stacking more cells into the battery, the engineers tried to find other solutions to increase the range. That's the kind of forward-thinking this yet niche market needs right now. Merchants Fleet Management is accomplishing its goal of building and maintaining a fulfilling and rewarding corporate culture as the company experiences double-digit growth, the fleet management company announced. Headquartered in New Hampshire since 1962, Merchants has grown into a national organization currently employing more than 300 people, a 33% increase over the last 24 months. The company provides leases and services for more than 35,000 business and government vehicles across the U.S. Throughout its expansion, the company's leadership made employee satisfaction a priority and has seen the benefits of those efforts in attracting new talent, achieving a 90% employee retention rate, and receiving numerous business awards. Merchants Fleet Management is committed to a corporate culture that fosters community involvement, investment, volunteerism, and support for its employees. Significant employee benefits include professional development and support programs, wellness initiatives, and perks such as free breakfasts and snacks, discounted event tickets, free car washes and discounts on vehicle maintenance and purchases. The company provides a free training program and tuition reimbursement for career advancement, and employees facing hardships may receive up to $1,500 through Merchant's Helping Hands program. Its ongoing investment in making Merchants a great place to work has garnered awards and recognition including: Great Place to Work Accreditation (June of 2016) Best Companies to Work For (Business NH 2015 and 2016) CEO Roundtable on Cancer (Annual Accreditation since 2013) "Our values guide our dedication to our employees and our customers," said Glen Villano, CEO. "We go out of our way to help our employees thrive in their positions and grow in their careers. Our success proves that a supportive corporate culture benefits everyone." The efforts have paid off as Merchants continues to grow. Last year, in an independent survey, more than 90 percent of Merchants Fleet Management employees reported they feel supported and challenged and that the company truly cares about them. Automotive Fleet Editor Mike Antich presents at the 2016 AFLA Conference. Photo courtesy of AFLA. The 2016 Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) annual conference, which will be held Sept. 18-21, 2016, in San Diego, got off to a strong start with a series of opening day presentations. The conference attracted more than 500 fleet managers and industry professionals. The theme for the 2016 conference is Mission Possible: Identify, Engage, Execute. Keynote speaker Dave Rutherford discussed how to use in business the values and lessons learned as a Navy Seal. Photo courtesy of AFLA. The opening day keynote speaker was David Rutherford, a former Navy Seal, who provided insight into living a team-oriented lifestyle necessary to achieve elite levels of success. Another opening day speaker was Ken Kies, managing director of the Federal Policy Group, who examined the current political environment in U.S. and how the upcoming elections will affect the industry in the future. Attendees were entertained Monday evening on a dinner cruise of San Diego harbor. Photo courtesy of AFLA. This presentation was followed by a panel discussion entitled, "5 Trends of the Fleet Industry" featured five presenters: CAFE Regulations Bo Saulsbury of Oak Ridge National Lab Fleet Safety Chris Stites of SambaSafety Global Fleet Michael Bieger of ADP Outsourcing Mark Smith of Element Fleet Management Technology as a Change Agent Mike Antich of Automotive Fleet Attendees were entertained Monday evening on a dinner cruise of San Diego harbor. A Uber user requests a ride through the app. Photo courtesy of Uber. Singapores rental car population continues to expand due to the popularity of car-hailing companies such as Uber and Grab, according to a report by The Strait Times. There are now over 40,000 rental cars in Singapore, according to the latest figures from the Land Transport Authority. This is 40% more than the end of 2015, according to the report. Singapores rental car fleet has expanded by 173% since 2012, the year before Uber and Grab started, according to the report. Uber accounts for nearly 15,000 vehicles while Grab accounts for around 10,000 vehicles. Currently, Singapores car-hailing segment is almost the size of the cab population of 28,000 vehicles, says the report. Click here for the full Straits Times report. Back row (l to r): Peter Smith, vice president of global franchising; Pam Nicholson, CEO and president; Andrew Taylor, executive chairman; Isidro Loaiza, regional director of Latin America and Caribbean; Don Ross, vice chairman; Front Row (l to r): Sabine Aengenendt-Hart, general manager of Curacao franchise; Bert Aengenendt, senior manager of Curacao franchise Enterprise Holdings franchisee in Curacao is celebrating its 40th year of business. The franchise now represents all three of the Enterprise brands (National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car) the Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand just went live on Sept. 13, according to Isidro Loaiza, regional director of Latin America and Caribbean for Enterprise Holdings. The franchise has several rental locations on the island of Curacao, including the airport and at many of the hotels. Forty years ago, Richard Hart bought the National Car Rental franchise airport location. He started the company with 12 old vehicles at the Curacao airport location, said Loaiza. He then refreshed his fleet and hired a general manager from a car rental competitor. Today, Hart is one of the leaders of the car rental market in Curacao. CONTACT Call: 0412 068 463 Email: Please Click Here to email or use the form provided Kia had just release official photos, specs and other information about the 2017 Kia Rio ahead of its debut at the Paris Motor Show. The Kia Rio 2017 is Kia's big bet for the Paris Motor Show 2016 and for the entire European market next year. It looks like Kia will achieved their goals as the new Rio is set to impress. Design Changes Although the new Kia Rio will be built at the Korean plant Sohari, its design has been carried out in centers that the firm has in Germany and California so expect high-end design of the 2017 Kia RIo. The front of the Rio is the most awesome design in Kia models. It is wider yet thin and has a background of a shiny black plastic grille The hood also has undergone significant changes as it now is or at least it seems much longer than the predecessor model. The new Kia Rio 2017 also is larger than its predecessor, with 4,065 mm long, has 15 mm more at this level, but is somewhat lower, since their height reaches 1,450 mm, 5 mm less than before. This makes more space for the passenger because the legroom, especially in the front row, now reaches 1,120 mm and the trunk increases with 37 liters more than in the previous Rio, now reaches 325 liters and has a double bottom for carrying small objects with more comfort. At the rear, the tailgate and rear window are now down almost vertically, so the rear overhang of the previous model has disappeared. Of course, the light signature front and rear has changed radically and LEDs tend to be thinner and with a design shaped arrow, as you can see in the photo gallery of the Kia Rio 2017 here. The interior of the new Kia Rio is also dominated by straight lines and some shiny black plastic at the front. In the center, there is a 5.0 - inch touch screen. Kia Rio Engine The range of engines Kia Rio 2017 will start with petrol engine 1.0L T-GDI three - cylinder and will be available in two strengths: 100 hp and 120 hp. The Kia Rio 1.0 T-GDI 100 hp offers a maximum torque of 172 Nm at between 1,500 and 4,000 rpm, while the Kia Rio 1.0 T-GDI 120 hp provide maximum power at 4,500 rpm and the same torque, available to 6,000 rpm. The new Kia Rio diesel will be based on a single propeller 1.4 liter with two power options: 70 or 90 CV, the brand aims to harmonize with emissions below 90 g / km. The two mechanical diesel and petrol variant of 120 hp will be associated with a manual gearbox six relations, while the rest of the range will carry a five. Last but not the least, the 2017 Kia Rip will be introducing autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian recognition a first in Rios class, Kia claims. Let's wait and see if this works well at the Paris Motor Show. The automobile industry has set forth a deadline for selling gas cars by the year 2035. Although this step is in compliance with the Paris Summit held last December, reports indicated that the goal is unrealistic and may not be possible to achieve within the time frame allotted. Compliance of Automobile Industry In Reduction of Carbon Emissions It has been a given fact that the automobile industry had been in unison with climate motoring heralding to promote a greener world for future generations with the creation of electric cars. These creations not only diminish the carbon emissions that affect the world's climate negatively but also enable to consumers to be more responsible when it comes to adjusting their lifestyle for the betterment of the world's climate. Paris Summit Objective Updates As reported by Motor Trend, a study was conducted by the climate monitoring group to have a concrete deadline on how to diminish carbon emissions by compelling the automobile industry to eradicate the sale of gas cars. It was revealed that by virtue of the Paris Summit, the automobile industry are to cut the sale of gas cars by the year 2035. In order to meet this demand, the manufacturers would need to create electric cars that are created with a greener concept. They were deemed to generate energy without power based on fossil fuels and to that effect, automobiles would decrease carbon emissions significantly by then. Although the effort is concrete on the positive effect it will have for the world's atmosphere, many believed that it was an over-ambitious goal for the automobile industry. In fact, China itself had promised that they will cut carbon emissions by 2030, not eradicate the use of fossil fuels in the production of automobiles. Furthermore, the industry's top seller, Toyota, has also promised to cut emissions by only 90% by 2050 - 25 years more of the allotted lodged deadline for creating gasless cars. Green Car Phase Out By 2035 An Unrealistic Goal In other news, Seeking Alpha reported that the said green move to a better global environment was wishful thinking. Although oil companies were reported to be threatened by this development, the target period would render them secured for the coming years ahead, especially since automobile companies had shown less compliance with the Paris Summit findings. Additionally, four research organizations revealed that actions by 32 companies party to the Paris Summit were reviewed. Results showed that the last vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine were found to still be sold by the year 2035. With this, the source concluded that the goal is unrealistic and only an appeal to the emotions of those supporting the cause than basing terms in fact and logic. Although the Paris Summit had suggested that several countries comply with 80% reduction on carbon gas emissions, the automobile companies may not be able to achieve the goal by creating green cars that are electrically powered due to the fact that the goal is unrealistic, ambitious, and that the industry change would be an expensive move. Furthermore, customers were deemed to buy larger vehicles when oil prices decline which would mirror the efforts as an impossible goal with such a small amount of time lodged for the objective. Tesla has been the leading brand when it comes to selling electric cars. However, there is one U.S. state which is not convinced. Michigan government blocked the automaker from offering the vehicles to their people. Detroit News reported that the state denied the application. The license was denied because according to Michigan law, a dealer must have a contract with an auto manufacturer. Notably, Tesla is acting as both. Thus far, the company's way of selling its vehicle directly to consumers is considered illegal. Furthermore, the Director of Michigan Department of State Communications Gisgie Davila Gendreau seconded and explained the decision via email. "The license was denied because state law explicitly requires a dealer to have a bona fide contract with an auto manufacturer to sell its vehicles. Tesla has told the department it does not have one, and cannot comply with that requirement," the director said. On the other hand, a Tesla spokesperson stated that the company will continue to convince the Michigan government. But did not provide any specifics about the next move. But for those who are living in Michigan but want to buy a model from Tesla may still purchase online. They can either pick it up at a certified Tesla store or have it delivered. So far, closest stores to Detroit are Cleveland and Columbus. Meanwhile, Green Car Reports revealed that there has been a battle ongoing between Elon Musk's car company and the Michigan government. Tesla has been trying to surpass the rule for over two years. In other news, the car company reveals the Model X Mania during a tour, according to online journal The Motley Fool. It certainly appears that Tesla's efforts to offer their line of electric cars has been expanding despite the issues concerning some of the models. Check out Auto World News for more updates regarding Tesla and other car companies. President Serzh Sarkisian on Tuesday appointed the first six members of Armenias new government which is being formed by Prime Minister Karen Karapetian. Four of them are new figures that have not held ministerial positions in the past. They will run the Armenian ministries of finance, energy, agriculture, and transport and communications. The newly appointed Finance Minister Vartan Aramian was until now the first deputy chief of Sarkisians staff. He had previously worked as deputy finance minister. The new Agriculture Minister Ignati Arakelian, Energy Minister Ashot Manukian and Transport and Communications Minister Vahan Martirosian are also technocrats, having held senior executive positions in enterprises involved in their respective new areas of responsibility. The two members of the outgoing Armenian cabinet who retained their posts are Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielian and Davit Harutiunian, the chief of the government staff who has a ministerial rank. Gabrielian will also continue to serve as minister for international economic integration and reforms. Sarkisian has not yet named other members of Karapetians cabinet. It thus remains to be seen whether Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian will be re-appointed. There have been conflicting reports about Nalbandians and Ohanians political future since Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian resigned on September 8. Sarkisian stressed the importance of speeding up economic reforms in Armenia when he announced his decision to replace Abrahamian by Karapetian later on that day. The president singled out the need to improve Armenias business environment. Speaking in the National Assembly on September 14, Karapetian said that he will embark on systemic changes to try to improve what he called a very grave economic situation in the country. The new premier his governments key economic priority will be to put in place maximally favorable conditions for those who create added value. Two U.S. generals will watch a military parade that will be held in Yerevan on Wednesday as part of official ceremonies to mark the 25th anniversary of Armenias declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Major General John Gronski, a deputy commander of U.S. Army Europe, and Major General Lee Tafanelli, the Kansas adjutant general, met with Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian on Tuesday at the start of a visit to Armenia highlighting growing U.S.-Armenian military cooperation. A statement by the Armenian Defense Ministry said the U.S. military delegation headed by Gronski and Tafanelli will take part tomorrow in festivities dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenias independence. The ministry spokesman, Artsrun Hovannisian, said separately that they will attend the military parade in Yerevans central Republic Square along with other foreign dignitaries. The parade will involve hundreds of Armenian soldiers as well as tanks, artillery systems and other military hardware. A smaller number of Russian troops stationed in Armenia will also march through the sprawling square. Hovannisian stressed that the main purpose of the U.S. delegations trip is to review growing military ties between Armenia and the United States. Despite its military alliance with Russia, Armenia has stepped up defense cooperation with NATO and the U.S. in particular over the past decade. It has contributed troops to NATO-led missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan and increasingly participated in multinational exercises organized by the U.S. military in Europe. The Defense Ministry statement said Ohanian and the U.S. generals praised the Armenian militarys ongoing cooperation programs with U.S. Army Europe and the Kansas National Guard, which is overseen by Tafanelli. The statement added that Tafanelli, Gronski and U.S. officers accompanying them are also scheduled to watch a session of the latest training course held by U.S. instructors for Armenian army sappers. The latter are being trained to detect and defuse improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The statement further said the U.S. delegation will visit the Armenian armys paramedic school that was opened last year. The first group of its 12 teaching personnel was trained by U.S. instructors. The training programs stem from Yerevans plans to join in the near future more multinational peacekeeping missions abroad with medical and demining units specializing in IEDs. A total of about 130 Armenian soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Lebanon. The U.S. has also been helping Armenia to recruit and train more non-commissioned contract officers in line with ongoing defense reforms supported by NATO. As part of that effort, 25 Armenian army sergeants underwent further training in Kansas last month. 20 September 2016 17:54 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The Senate of France has recently struck another blow to Armenia on its ambitions on the fictional "Armenian genocide". On September 13, the Special Commission of Equality and Citizenship of the Senate of France decided to withdraw the article on criminalization of the denial of Armenian genocide from the amendments to the relevant law. According to the Constitution of France, the bill will be sent to the Parliament for discussion. It is noteworthy that this amendment did not last three months. The French National Assembly (lower house of Parliament) had adopted a bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide in early June; and in mid-September, the Assembly decided to abandon this solution. The amendment to the bill of "Equality and Citizenship" included punishment by deprivation of liberty for one year and a fine of 45,000 euro for negation or attempted belittling of the significance of various forms of crime against humanity and war crimes, including the denial of the Armenian genocide. Moreover, the adoption of this bill was among the campaign promises of French President Francois Hollande. Obviously, the Senate's decision caused despondency in Armenian community of France. In its message in this regard, the Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France (CCAF), expressed regret at this step of the Senate. Apparently, after an unsuccessful attempt of Switzerland to criminalize the so-called Armenian genocide, France also decided to eliminate the controversial amendment. Meanwhile, last week Armenia again faced another unpleasant decision. In particular, the Supreme Court of Switzerland has cancelled its earlier decision, according to which a Turkish politician and the leader of the Labour Party of Turkey Dogu Perincek was fined for denying the so-called Armenian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. The court's decision was revised after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) admitted denial of the Armenian genocide referring to freedom of speech. The Federal Government of Switzerland and Association Switzerland-Armenia were obliged to pay $2,560 to Perincek. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 19:06 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Ambassador of Indonesia to Azerbaijan Husnan Bey Fananie has met with a delegation of Caspian Energy International Media Group headed by its President Natalya Aliyeva on September 20. During the meeting he proposed to open direct flights between Azerbaijan and Indonesia. For me and for our country Azerbaijan is obviously a strategically important country, not only within its region, but also across Central and Eastern Europe, the Ambassador of Indonesia said. In that regard, he expressed hope that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will visit Indonesia later this year, and the next year will be followed by the visit of the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo to Azerbaijan. From Azerbaijan we annually import from 400,000 up to 600,000 barrels of oil. That is why, in recent years Indonesia has been the third largest trade partner of Azerbaijan, after Italy and Germany, the Ambassador noted. In addition, Indonesia buys mazut oil from Azerbaijan. Husnan Bey Fananie emphasized that due to those certain facts, Azerbaijan will continue to be an important business partner, as well as an important partner in the field of energy security for Indonesia. The Ambassador also underlined the importance of business contacts between the two countries. It is very important to strengthen our relations, our trade, and to encourage the visit of Azerbaijani investors to Indonesia, and Indonesian investors to Azerbaijan to further discuss investment-related matters, Husnan Bey Fananie said, adding that this will make it possible to establish a mutual business cooperation between Indonesian investors and Azerbaijan companies. Speaking about the future of the bilateral cooperation, he added that direct transportation links should be established between Baku and Jakarta, and Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) and Indonesian Airlines should work on that issue. We can attract many Indonesian tourists to Azerbaijan. It is what President Ilham Aliyev mentioned while stressing the necessity of increasing flow of tourists from Indonesia to Azerbaijan, the Ambassador noted. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 19:38 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Official exchange rate of Azerbaijans national currency, the manat, against the US dollar was set at 1.6331 for Sept. 21, said Azerbaijans Central Bank (CBA) on September 20. Thus, manats rate against the US dollar increased by 0.24 compared to the rate on September 20 The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $72.4 million to 20 banks through an auction held by the CBA on September 20. As much as $100 million was put up for the auction. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 19:47 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova The solemn ceremony dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the State Song and Dance Ensemble named after Fikret Amirov took place at Azerbaijan State Philharmonic. The joyous festivity was held as part of the 8th Uzeyir Hajibeyli International Music Festival, Trend Life reported. The event participants were shown a slideshow that feature ensemble's photographs. Addressing the evening, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Adalat Valiyev said that the team, founded by prominent composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli, during its 80 years of activity came a long way in art. Great composers such as Said Rustamov, Jahangir Jahangirov, Vasif Adigozalov, Haji Khanmammadov, Telman Hajiyev and Ramiz Mirishli managed the ensemble along with Hajibeyov at various times. Prominent dance masters such as Amina Dilbazi, Tutu Hamidova, Boyukagha Mammadov, Roza Jalilova, Aliya Ramazanova, Afag Melikova, Kamil Dadashov, Alikram Aslanov, Nadir Mammadov and others were trained by the choreographic group of the ensemble. In 1958, the ensemble awarded the honorary title "Honored team". Since 1992, the ensemble is named after the prominent Azerbaijani composer Fikret Amirov. Amirov created the first Azerbaijani lyrical-psychological opera on a contemporary theme. Moreover, he is the author of the first instrumental concert, and a fairytale ballet in Azerbaijan. His works revolve around social and ethical issues, disclose the spiritual world of the people and record their life in the past and present. Mankinds inner world with all its joys and sorrows takes a special place in his works. In his speech Azerbaijani representative at TURKSOY Elchin Gafarli congratulated the ensemble on behalf of organization's General Secretary Dusen Kaseinov. Elchin Gafarli handed the artistic Director of the ensemble, people's artist of Azerbaijan, Professor Agaverdi Pashayev medal of TURKSOY and the veterans of the team - certificates of gratitude. Director of the ensemble, people's artist of Azerbaijan, Agaverdi Pashayev awarded the medal, while the ensemble participants were given diplomas of gratitude. The anniversary event featured video greetings from the Chairman of the Committee on Culture Rafael Huseynov, MP Aydin Mirzazadeh, Rector of Uzeyir Hajibayli Baku Music Academy Farhad Badalbeyli, rector of the National Conservatory of Azerbaijan, People's Artist Siyavush Karimi and many others. Dance ensembles, including "Gunay", "Qulbanu", "Shr" (Iran), the ballet troupe of Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, Turkish Folk Dance came to congratulate the ensemble. The joyous event continued with amazing performances of the State Song and Dance Ensemble named after Fikret Amirov. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 13:28 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov A Contact Group on the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, which was established within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has held its first meeting on the sidelines of the 71st Regular Session of the UN General Assembly. The meeting was chaired by OIC Secretary-General Iyad bin Amin Madani. The Contact Group includes seven states Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Gambia and Djibouti, Azertac reported. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, addressing the event, provided an insight into the history of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Mammadyarov said that Armenia unleashed the war and used force against Azerbaijan, occupied almost one fifth of its territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent regions, carried out ethnic cleansing of the seized areas by expelling about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes and committed other serious crimes during the conflict. He drew the audience's attention to the fact that international community has consistently condemned the use of military force against Azerbaijan and the resulting occupation of its territories. "The UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), condemning the use of force against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories and reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders. In those resolutions, the Security Council reaffirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is part of Azerbaijan and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, he said. Mammadyarov emphasized that since the eruption of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, OIC, on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, has explicitly determined the actions of Armenia on the territory of Azerbaijan as aggression and condemned in the strongest possible terms the use of force against Azerbaijan and the occupation of its territories. "Twenty-four years have past since the beginning of the armed conflict. However, in total disregard of the demands of UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions, decisions of OIC and other international organizations and positions of individual States, and in flagrant violation of the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, Armenia continues to unlawfully occupy the territories of Azerbaijan." The Azerbaijani minister underlined that Armenia continued to undertake efforts aimed at further consolidating the current status quo of the occupation, strengthening its military build-up in the seized territories, changing their demographic, cultural and physical character and preventing the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani forcibly displaced persons from returning to their homes and properties in those areas. Mammadyarov also provided an insight into the regular ceasefire violations, attacks on the towns and villages in Azerbaijan situated along the line of contact by the armed forces of Armenia, saying the border between the two countries have become more violent in recent times, resulting in the killing and injuring of many Azerbaijani civilians. "Most recently, Armenia conducted large-scale attacks against the civilian population of Azerbaijan in early April of this year," he said, stressing that Armenia must realize that relying on the status quo and armed provocations is a grave miscalculation. Azerbaijan expects from Armenia to halt its military build-up in occupied territories, and engage in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith so as to find a political solution to the conflict, which is long overdue. The sooner Armenia withdraws its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the better it is for the regional security," Mammadyarov added. Mammadyarov emphasized that the establishment of the OIC Contact Group and its effective functioning was of pivotal importance, considering the urgent need for more concerted efforts to force Armenia to comply with its international obligations and the persistent calls of the OIC to its Member States and the international community to use such effective political and economic measures in order to put an end to the Armenian aggression and occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan He expressed his confidence that the deliberations within this Contact Group would contribute to the implementation of the relevant OIC resolutions and help to harmonize the individual and joint efforts of the OIC Member States to this end. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 14:28 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijani Embassy in Hungary held a presentation of documentary "Traces of the Historical Truth" about Armenian vandalism, Trend reported. Documentary cycle is prepared by professor of Baku Slavic University Shelale Hasanova with the financial support of Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Based on references to American, European, and Armenian authors, the first movie debunks myths about the so-called "the first Christian country in the Caucasus". The second film "Traces of Azerbaijanism in Yerevan" attracts the attention of the audience with the original soundtrack - rap song "Iravan", written specially for this documentary. It combines facts, bearing traces of Armenian vandalism against the cultural layer of the medieval town of Iravan. The event was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, science and culture of Hungarian Diaspora organizations. Introductory remarks were made by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Hungary Vilayat Guliyev, who noted the importance of documentary films and books targeted for exposing the Armenian falsifications. Overall, since the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and occupation of Azerbaijani territories, Armenian aggressors destroyed 1,200 historical and architectural monuments, looted 27 museums, over 100,000 items were exported to Armenia. In addition, the Armenian occupiers destroyed 152 religious monuments and 62 mosques, 4.6 million books in 927 libraries, including the Holy Koran and rare Islamic manuscripts. One of the manifestations of Armenian vandalism is altering the historical toponyms of Karabakh. For instance, they call the palace complex Shahbulagh as "Surenavan", and Aghdam as Akna. There are myriads of such examples of erasing the traces of genuine Azerbaijani history. Another evidence of the Armenian crimes against the Azerbaijani culture is the export to Armenia of historical items found in more than 15 destroyed and looted mounds in the occupied Aghdam region of Azerbaijan. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 12:40 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli National Day of Afghanistan was marked in Baku on September 19 at a solemn ceremony organized by the countrys Embassy in Azerbaijan. A grand reception brought together the heads of diplomatic corpus accredited in Azerbaijan, representatives of the Afghan diaspora and public figures of Azerbaijan. In his welcoming speech the Afghan Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Taqi Khalili said that Afghanistan goes a long way to prosperity. Security remains our biggest impediment to growth, the ambassador noted We know this. Our partners confirm this, he said. Mohammad Khalili pointed out that a key to overcoming this barrier is the support of the international community. Mindful of how key this support will be safeguard the security of our nation, I would like to take this moment to express my gratitude to President Aliyev and the Azerbaijani government for the ever-increasing strength of our bilateral alliance, the ambassador said. Khalili emphasized that these ties and this friendship continue to be reflected in many ways in the support provided to the defense and other security forces. Overall, the afghan people in Azerbaijan and at home have been aided through training and education in a range of institutions, and for this, we are truly grateful, he noted. The Afghan diaspora is embraced all over the world, Khalili stressed, but especially in Azerbaijan, through our ties of charity and bonds of filial brotherhood as fellow Islamic nations. The ambassador also touched upon the recently signing of the memorandum of understanding between ASAN Xidmat (ASAN Service) and Afghan Ministry of Finance, noting that, despite e country's will to ensure the integrity of Afghanistan, the country still has obstacles. A memorandum on creating a public service delivery mechanism in Afghanistan based on Azerbaijani model was inked earlier in July. ASAN service is an innovative Azerbaijani model of public service delivery. Speaking at the ceremony, Azerbaijans Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev, congratulated Afghan people. He said that the two countries fruitfully cooperate in many fields, including economy, energy, culture and education. The two sides also successfully cooperate at the level of international organizations, according to the minister. Afghanistan recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991 and the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1994. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan was $23.47 million in the first half of 2016, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee, and the entire amount accounted for the export of Azerbaijani goods to Afghanistan. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 16:07 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijani MPs Sevinj Fataliyeva and Qanira Pasahyeva will visit Paris, France, to attend the meeting of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development on September 20, Azertac reported. The meeting will feature discussions on human rights and ethical issues related to surrogacy, the need for fiscal and social justice, and public trust in our democratic, financial and tax system, Female genital mutilation in Europe, developments in the social functioning of trade unions/an urgent call for increased solidarity: the right to work, the right to strike, Ensuring access to healthcare for all children in Europe, the employment rights of female workers from Eastern Europe, and other issues. Azerbaijani MP, chairperson of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons Sahiba Gafarova will attend the meeting of the Committee she leads. The meeting will see discussions on the impact of European population dynamics on migration policies, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, migration as an opportunity for European development, humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Ukraine and other issues. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 15:46 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova Azerbaijan, which is famous as the oil country in the entire world celebrates, Oil Workers Day - professional holiday of workers of oil and gas industry on September 20, commemorating 22nd anniversary of the signing of a landmark production sharing agreement between Azerbaijan and a consortium of foreign oil companies. The contract, also known as the Contract of the Century due to its tremendous importance, became the first offshore PSA agreement of the country. It covered the development of three major oil fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, including Azeri (113 km), Chirag (94 km) and Deepwater portion of the Gunashli field (82 km). The historic document could become the biggest deal ever signed by Azerbaijan on the development of its major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields, thus reviving the oil and gas industry in the country and ensured further growth of the well-being and prosperity of Azerbaijani citizens, gave a powerful impetus to the development of the country's oil industry and transformed the country into a major global energy supplier. As many as 13 companies, including Amoco, BP, McDermott, Unocal, SOCAR, Lukoil, Statoil, Exxon, Turkish petroleum, Penzoil, Itochu, Remko, Delta representing eight countries, Azerbaijan, the USA, Great Britain, Russia, Turkey, Norway, Japan, Saudi Arabia participated in the Contract of the Century. Excursion to history Azerbaijan has been linked with oil for centuries, while the history of the oil industry of Azerbaijan dates back to the ancient period. Medieval travelers and scholars pointed out abundant resources of oil in the country. A turning point in oil production was reached in the 19th Century, when the country was by far the frontrunner in the world's oil and gas industry. The world's first oil well was drilled at the Bibi-Heybat field in 1847, and turned Baku into a center of world oil trade, allowing it to exert an incredible influence on the economic development of entire Caucasus. The country attracted world oil investors, who gained millions on this industry. The Nobel brothers were the first to invest in oil extraction in Azerbaijan, making a great contribution to the development of the oil industry by establishing the Nobel Brothers Oil Extracting Partnership in 1873. The Rothschild Company and Shell led by Samuel Markus were also involved in oil production in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan produced some 11.5 million tons of oil and was the world's leading oil producer in 1901. Moreover, the country produced 23.5 million tons of oil, which amounted to 71.4 percent of the Soviet Union's production in 1941, while the production guaranteed the victory of the Soviet Union in World War II and turned oil into an extremely important factor of the national economy. The country was also the world's first offshore oil producer. Azerbaijan and the Caspian became known all over the world with the discovery of the Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks) field 40 km offshore and 90 km from Baku on November, 1949. Later on, such fields as Gurgan-deniz, Pirallahy, and Jilov adasy were developed. The Azeri, Chirag, Kapaz, and Gunashli fields were discovered at the depth of 80 to 350 meters in the late 1970s and early 1980s. New page in development of petroleum industry The signing of the contract with international oil companies and its implementation was a triumphant result of the policy based on the oil strategy pursued by Heydar Aliyev, paving the way for bolstering the country's geo-political standing and economic integration. Azerbaijan opened its doors to foreign investments, after the signing of the Contract of the Century, as oil can be profitable only when it is accompanied by an operational mechanism, while foreign investment is considered to be an essential component of that mechanism. The agreement boosted the confidence of the world's leading countries in Azerbaijan, encouraged oil companies to invest in the country and increased the prestige of Azerbaijan in the international arena. The contract proved to be a benchmark of the new economy of independent Azerbaijan, its energy security and economic stability. The Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field, which lies 120km off the coast of Azerbaijan is considered to be the largest oilfield in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Azeri Light oil grade that Azerbaijan sells to the world market is being produced at the field, while the daily oil output stood at 651,000 barrels in the first quarter of 2016. The crude produced in this field is among the lightest in the world, which is considered to be an advantageous quality, as it is less expensive to refine. New economic strategy Today Azerbaijan is the leading country in the region and oil factor still bears a great importance for the development of its economy. Fully ensuring its energy security, Azerbaijan is also one of the major energy suppliers to Europe. The oil and gas sector is considered to be the engine of Azerbaijan's economy today. Oil has made its tremendous contribution to the nation and ensured its well-being for decades, occupying a lions share in Azerbaijans exports. The energy sphere gave Azerbaijan a lot, but it is high time to switch to something new, as the current tendencies in the world economy are forcing many countries to keep focus on the development of non-oil sector, putting oil and gas industry on the back burner. Azerbaijan is paying special attention to diversification of its economy and is seeking to enter a qualitatively new stage of its development with a view to minimize its dependence on hydrocarbon resources. The country is aimed to pursue a policy, which will ensure sustainable economic growth and development of auxiliary sectors of economy, as well as will create a new export-oriented economic model not depending on energy sphere. September 20 is marked as the Day of Oil Workers in Azerbaijan, under a decree signed by President Heydar Aliyev.. -- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 14:51 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova Shah Deniz Stage 2 gas development project, one of the largest gas developments in the world is complete by almost 80 percent in terms of engineering, procurement and construction operations, said Rovnag Abdullayev, head of SOCAR. We have already drilled some 10 wells by means of Heydar Aliyev and Istiqlal drilling rigs to transport the first volumes of gas and create a basis for the increase of extraction in the future," he stressed. Moreover, submarine infrastructure is being created in the Caspian for the first time. "We are engaged in the construction of a special vessel Khankendi, which will implement all underwater operations. The construction of the vessel, which is expected to be completed by early 2017, is being implemented in SOCARs shipbuilding yard, he added. The yard also participated in the construction of a sixth-generation half-plunge drilling rig, while the financing for the project was provided by the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ). The rig will allow SOCAR to stir up drilling operations in the Caspian. The Shah Deniz field, discovered in 1999, is considered to be one of the worlds largest gas-condensate fields, with the estimated reserves standing at 1.2 tcm. The country has so far extracted some 75 bcm of gas and 19 million tons of condensate at the field, which is located on the deep water shelf of the Caspian Sea, 70 km south-east of Baku, in water depths ranging from 50 to 500 meters. Some 9.9 bcm of gas and 2.3 million tons of condensate were extracted last year, while the capacity of Shah Deniz rigs stands at approximately 29.5 bcm of gas per day or 10.8 bcm per year, he emphasized. The cost of Shah Deniz 2 development is estimated at $25 billion, while the fist volume of gas at the field is expected to be produced in 2018. A giant project will add a further 16 billion cubic meters of gas production per year to the approximate volume of 9 bcm produced by Shah Deniz Stage 1. As part of the Stage 2, gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and finalizing the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Azerbaijan will export 6 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year of Shah Deniz gas to Turkey and 10 bcm to the European market increasing its energy security. The contract for development of the Shah Deniz offshore field was signed on June 4, 1996. The shareholders in the contract are BP (operator with a stake of 28.8 percent), AzSD (10 percent), SGC Upstream (6.7 percent), Petronas (15.5 percent), Lukoil (10 percent), NIOC (10 percent) and TPAO (19 percent). --- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 18:21 (UTC+04:00) By Nigar Abbasova Oil prices fell on September 20 amid an expected increase in U.S. crude oil stocks and comments of Venezuela that the oil market remains oversupplied by 10 percent. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell by $0.37 to trade at $45.58 per barrel, while the WTI grade stood at $42.97 recording a decrease of $0.33. The price of a barrel of Azeri Light crude oil increased $0.75 to stand at $47.73 in the world markets. The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $42.09 a barrel on September 19. Oil prices reacted to comments of Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino that global production is at 94 million barrels per day, while it is needed to reduce the volume by 9 million barrels per day to sustain the level of consumption. OPEC members and other oil producers are set to hold an informal gathering in Algeria, while the oil market hopes it could lead to an agreement to freeze production levels. OPEC producers are currently pumping nearly 33.2 million barrels per day. Analysts, however, remain skeptical of the ability of countries to reach an output freeze deal, as some players of the market seek to reserve a right of production growth. Libya, for instance, has already said it wont cut production. The countrys official envoy to OPEC, Mohamed Oun said the country wont stop increasing output until it reaches 1.6 million bpd -- the level last seen during Gaddafis rule, while the current production stands at 300,000 bpd. "We see no chance of a production freeze agreement materializing. If a deal should materialize it would be a conditional deal where Iran, Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela are allowed to lift their production, said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Nordic bank SEB. Algeria's Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa earlier said he was "optimistic" participants would reach consensus on how to prop up the oil market. Attention of traders is also focused on the American Petroleum Institutes (API) weekly crude stocks data, which will be released in the short run, while analysts expect that the data will reveal a growth of approximately 2.3 million barrels. Increase in U.S. commercial crude may pave the way for further decrease in oil prices as rise in stocks indicates growing oversupply. Meanwhile, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said he is confident the cartel will reach an informal supply agreement, mentioning that currently, some 3 billion barrels of crude oil remain unrealized. He added that an extraordinary meeting of the cartel could happen if the Algeria conference produced a consensus, as Algeria meeting is for consultations and not decision-making. -- Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 10:41 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev will not attend the 71st session of the UN general Assembly in New York due to health problems, a statement on his official website said Monday. Atambayev suddenly felt ill on the way to New York and was advised by his doctors to pass a preliminary medical exam. "After the exam, the doctors decided that Atambayev, who complained about chest pains, should undergo a thorough examination as the symptoms of possible heart problems had been discovered," the statement said. According to the statement, the Kyrgyz delegation at the UN General Assembly will be led by Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 17:47 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Hasanova The United States and Turkey are NATO allies, so the U.S. should extradite Gulen, who is directly connected with the attempt of a military coup in the country, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on September 20, the Turkish newspaper Yenisafak reported. So far the Turkish authorities have sent two requests for extradition of Gulen from the U.S. However, the sides were not able to agree on the issue. Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state. Moreover, supporters of the Gulen movement, who is involved in the military coup attempt, are reported to get into a number of public structures in Turkey. The Turkish President made a proposal to ban the worldwide activities of the Gulen movement. The Istanbul court ordered the arrest of Gulen after the July 15 attempt of military coup in Turkey. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in turn, said Turkey had sent all the evidence proving the involvement of Gulen to the military coup attempt. In an interview with CNN International Cavusoglu noted that Previously, a technical delegation consisting of experts of U.S. Department of Justice held meetings with the Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs of Turkey to study the evidence regarding the involvement of Gulen in the failed coup attempt. He said the failure of the U.S. authorities to comply with the demands of Ankara regarding the extradition of Gulen disappointed Turkey. "Despite this, the relations between Ankara and Washington are continuing, but Turkey is waiting for Gulens extradition," Cavusoglu said. Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that this issue was discussed during the visit of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Turkey on August 24. The July 15 coup attempt occurred when rogue elements in the Turkish military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government. Turkey's government has repeatedly said the deadly plot, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 2,000 others, was organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. The General Staff of Turkish Armed Forces has said that 8,651 servicemen of the armed forces participated in the military coup attempt in the country. The rebels used 35 planes, 37 helicopters, 246 tanks and three vessels during the military coup attempt in Turkey. Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20. Recently he said that the state of emergency may be prolonged due to the fight with Gulen movement. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 20 September 2016 16:17 (UTC+04:00) By Gunay Hasanova Kyrgyzstans President Almazbek Atambayev has been taken to a hospital in Turkey, RIA Novosti reports citing the Sozcu newspaper. Earlier, the Kyrgyz presidential press service said Atambayev took a short vacation to undergo a medical examination. The vacation will presumably last until October 1, 2016, the press service added. Sixty-year old Atambayev suddenly felt ill on September 19 on the way to New York and was advised by his doctors to pass a preliminary medical exam. The exam discovered some symptoms of possible heart problems. He had to cancel the visit to the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Kyrgyz delegation in the UN General Assembly will be led by Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev. Almazbek Atambayev has been the President of Kyrgyzstan since December 1, 2011. Before becoming the President he served as the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from December 2010 to December 2011. He created history by becoming the first peacefully inaugurated President in the post-Communist Kyrgyzstan. Being in the presidential post, he left no stone unturned to establish the economic independence of Kyrgyzstan by strengthening trade relations with Turkey and Russia. In 2011 soon after becoming President, Atambayev traveled to Turkey and signed an agreement with the Turkish President to increase trade from $300 million in 2011 to $1 billion by 2015, also to attract Turkish investment to Kyrgyzstan to the amount of $450 million within the next few years. In addition, he has announced Kyrgyzstans entry into the Customs Union, secured the withdrawal of the American military base from the country in 2014. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz President Ian Khama of Botswana said on Tuesday he had ordered the arrest and deportation of U.S. pastor Steven Anderson, who was banned from neighboring South Africa last week over his extreme and dangerous anti-gay views. He was picked up at the radio station. I said they should pick him up and show him out of the country, Khama said in an interview. We dont want hate speech in this country. Let him do it in his own country. Anderson denied he was being deported. I am not being arrested. I am leaving Botswana voluntarily, he told witnesses at the radio station. Anderson who described the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Fla., as disgusting homosexuals who the Bible says were worthy of death also told a radio station during an interview on Tuesday that the Botswanan government should kill gays and lesbians. described the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Fla., as disgusting homosexuals who the Bible says were worthy of death. Anderson, who is a pastor at the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Ariz., arrived in Botswana on Sept. 15. The government of neighboring South Africa announced earlier this month that it had banned him from entering their countries. Anderson said he had arrived in Botswana last Thursday from Ethiopia. Share this: Tweet More Email Print 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW: Todays guide to the obscure, the possibly relevant and things in between Convenience food and cakes and desserts manufacturer Greencore Group has appointed Eoin Tonge as chief financial officer and as a director of the group with effect from 3 October 2016. Tonge will replace Alan Williams who will be leaving Greencore after nearly six years to become CFO of Travis Perkins. Williams will step down as a director of the group, but will continue to work closely with Tong until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition period. Tonge joined Greencore in 2006 and, since 2014, has been managing director of the company Grocery Division in the UK. He will be replaced in that role by Nigel Blakey, who is currently the divisions finance director. Greencore chief executive Patrick Coveney said: We are delighted to welcome Eoin to the board of Greencore and the role of CFO. In addition to his strong operations leadership of our Grocery Division, Eoin has played a critical role in shaping our groups food-to-go strategy, led the delivery of the Uniq acquisition, executed several key acquisitions in the US and spent nearly four years as a leader in our central finance team. As new managing director of Greencore Grocery, Nigel Blakey is a thoughtful, widely respected leader in our group with a deep knowledge of all aspects of this division. In July Greencore acquired The Sandwich Factory from sausage firm Cranswick. Advertiser Disclosure We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence. Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. How We Make Money The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. The nation is watching the 13th Congressional District race and Pinellas voters got a chance to see the candidates, Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly and Democrat former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, face off in a heated debate Monday night. David Jolly-Charlie Crist debate quickly turned testy Jolly attacked Crist on party switch Crist hit at Jolly about recent St. Petersburg sewer situation Jolly wasted no time attacking Crist for changing his party and his positions. Charlie just because youve been a member of both parties doesnt make you bipartisan, Jolly said. Crist attacked Jolly for not trying to get federal money to help fix leaky pipes that have spilled more than 100 million gallons of sewage into the Bay. What I dont understand is why our member of congress, our Representative of Pinellas County which is the epicenter of this problem, isnt advocating day after day after day for federal emergency help to get this cleaned up? asked Crist. It is because the mayor who has endorsed you, who oversaw this catastrophe, has not asked for it, Jolly replied. If you have to be asked for help when the people of your district are suffering, something is wrong, Crist said. Do you need an invitation to serve? Both candidates directly faced each other when going on the attack. The debate got heated when the moderator asked the candidates if they support a womans right to choose an abortion if shes carrying a fetus with Zika. I think its a womans choice to make across the board as it relates to her health decisions, Crist said. My opponent doesnt feel the same way. Mr. Crist this is why we cant believe what you say. You were pro-choice, then you were pro-life, then you were pro-choice, Jolly said. I think there should be exceptions permitted to terminate the pregnancy. Jolly also attacked Crist for waiting until the Florida Supreme Court redrew the congressional lines making it tilt democratic before getting into the race. Mr. Crist you told Politico because the lines changed you saw the opportunity. Theres a difference between seeing the opportunity and being an opportunist, he said. I got into this race despite the fact the lines changed because we are changing politics right now as a Republican in a Democratic leaning district. I got into this race because before the lines changed I didnt live in the district, Crist replied. You bought a house to be in the district in St. Pete Beach, Jolly said. My wife bought that house on the beach as an investment, Crist said. Jolly said he still hasnt decided whether or not to vote for Donald Trump and isnt sure hell make a decision by the election. Crist said hes voting for Hillary Clinton. Both candidates were asked to give President Obama a grade. Crist gave Obama an A, while Jolly said he doesnt give out grades but would put the President in the Jimmy Carter catergory. Oregon Coast Hwy Latest: Should One Beach Change Its Name? Published 09/19/2016 at 5:21 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Newport, Oregon) A major development this week for the Newport area of the central Oregon coast: there is a proposal to change the name of a beach access in town. (Above: Agate Beach in Newport). The Oregon Transportation Commission is now considering a proposal to change of the name of Newport's Agate Beach Wayside to the Ernest Bloch Memorial Wayside, in honor of the famed composer who lived in that area. The Ernest Bloch Legacy Project created the proposal. This wayside is located a few hundred feet from the home where the Blochs lived near NW Lighthouse Drive and U.S. 101. This does not mean Agate Beach in general would change its name. Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer who gained recognition worldwide for his musical accomplishments. After traveling the world, Bloch and his wife became U.S. citizens and settled in Agate Beach in 1941. Bloch continued to compose, creating nearly a third of his overall work in Agate Beach. The name change was proposed to honor Blochs contributions, which have had a lasting historical impact on Oregon. If approved, the Ernest Bloch Memorial currently located at the City of Newports Performing Arts Center will be moved to the wayside. The Ernest Bloch Legacy Project provided evidence of local support for the naming, including letters of support from legislators, a county commissioner, the City of Newport, a number of symphonies, and others. If you would like to make comment on this proposed name change, send an e-mail to [email protected] or a letter to Oregon Transportation Commission, 355 Capitol St NE MS 11, Salem, OR 97301 by September 30. . Oregon Coast Lodgings for this - Where to eat - Maps and Virtual Tours. More on Newport below: 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 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The case against Alexandria Vera, the middle school teacher accused of having a long-term sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy, will continue after being rescheduled by a judge Tuesday. The 24-year-old former Aldine ISD teacher is free on a $100,000 bail, but has to wear a GPS ankle monitor, stay away from schools and have no contact with the teen who allegedly impregnated her. State District Judge Michael McSpadden, who set conditions of her bond, including an 8 p.m. curfew and limited internet use after she was arraigned in June, approved the continuance Tuesday. READ MORE: Ex-teacher allegedly impregnated by teen faces judge over curfew violation Suspects in Harris County criminal cases typically appear in court on a monthly basis as defense attorneys and prosecutors meet to exchange evidence and try to work out plea deal. In general, judges want to see suspects regularly who are free on bail to make sure they are complying with the conditions of their bond. Vera faces a punishment range of 25 years in prison to life if convicted of continuous sexual assault of a child, a felony with a heightened punishment, even for first offenders READ MORE: Teacher accused of sex with teen student turns herself in Prosecutors have said officials with Child Protective Services were notified about a possible sexual relationship and found out during their investigation that Vera had an abortion after being impregnated by the teen. Vera and the underage student apparently met when he was a student of hers in summer school last year at Stovall Middle School, according to court records. READ MORE: Teacher accused in sex case ordered to stay away from schools The pair's relationship apparently had the blessing of the boy's family, the documents show. Vera had been wanted by officials since May 27 on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child. In early June, she turned herself in at the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office in Conroe and posted bail. Because the alleged crime happened in Harris County, she had to be arraigned at the criminal courthouse in downtown Houston. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A little more than a month has passed since a 24-year-old woman was left widowed and forced to deliver her unborn son after to a deadly car crash allegedly caused by a Texas State student who had just come off the river in San Marcos. Shana Elliott, a 21-year-old senior, was heading home from floating the river Aug. 2 where police say she admitted to drinking when her car veered across the center line on Highway 21 in San Marcos and collided with Kristian Guerrero, 24, and her husband Fabian Guerrero-Morenos vehicle, according to an affidavit obtained by mySA.com. RELATED: Driver accused in San Marcos crash still jailed, mother who lost husband, child planning funeral Guerrero-Moreno was killed in the crash and his wife was hospitalized with a brain bleed. Two days later, doctors induced Guerrero and she gave birth to her 19-week-old baby boy Aug. 5, who she named Fabian James after his father. A joint funeral for Guerrero-Moreno and his son was held Aug. 12 in Bryan. I could have died Aug. 2 but God had other plans, Guerrero wrote on Facebook Sunday, sharing a photo of herself holding her baby in the hospital. Im left behind to fight this fight for my husband and my son. RELATED: Police: Drunk Texas State student, 21, caused wreck that killed man, injured pregnant wife She urged readers to think before getting into a car after drinking, saying it was mature and okay to ask for a ride or take a friends car keys from them. This is me being able to hold my son. This is what being in an induced labor for almost 24 hours after surviving a car crash that killed my husband and my son looks like, she said in the post that received more than 2,000 shares. All because someone thought it was okay to get wasted and drive. Elliott remains in Hays County Jail Monday on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter and one charge of intoxication assault with a vehicle. Her bond amounts total $385,000. RELATED: Family shares photos, heartbreaking details about young couple in fatal San Marcos wreck Elliott was arrested twice before, once in March and again in May, on felony drug charges. On March 22, she was arrested on three felony charges of possession of controlled substances and marijuana. On May 2, she was arrested on two felony charges of possession of controlled substances, according to county records. I will continue to spread awareness and share this story until the day I die in hopes it prevents anyone else from feeling the pain I walk around with every day, Guerrero said. I refuse to let my husband and my sons deaths to be in vain. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 Medical practices should seek ways to manage anesthesiologists' physician burnout, according to a recent industry and market news alert by Anesthesia Business Consultants CEO and president Tony Mira. Here's what you need to know: 1. The symptoms of physician burnout include physical and emotional exhaustion; tendency to evaluate one's own work negatively; and the development of a negative attitude toward one's patients. The risk factors include consistently working under high stress, operating in a chaotic practice and having poor work-life balance. 2. Fifty percent of anesthesiologists reported experiencing physician burnout this past year, an increase from a 44 percent physician burnout rate for anesthesiology in 2015, according to the Medscape Lifestyle Report 2016. 3. This increase in burnout rates has been seen across medical specialties. Mr. Mira suggests this trend may reflect additional burdens placed on physicians, for example, the growing burden of reporting quality measures. 4. Recent research has found that physician burnout negatively affects clinical quality. A study published in Psychiatric Services reported that 58 percent of physicians described burnout as reducing their energy, patience and communication skills. A study out of the Mayo Clinic concluded that burnout is negatively correlated with professional work effort. 5. Mr. Mira concludes by discussing an American Medical Association program developed by Mark Linzer, MD, called Steps Forward. It recommends seven steps to combat physician burnout, including starting a wellness committee, distributing an annual wellness survey and developing data-driven wellness interventions. Alvaro Liceaga, MD, of Regional Pain Treatment Medical Center in Fullerton, Calif., discusses how outpatient surgery has affected anesthesia practices and how the field will continue to evolve. Question: What spurred you to found the Alliance Surgery Center and Orangewood Surgical Center? Dr. Al Liceaga: Independence from the hospital, efficiency, profitability and patient satisfaction. Q: How has outpatient surgery impacted anesthesia and pain management practices? AL: ASCs have allowed all surgical practitioners to participate in healthcare without the shackles of a hospital bureaucracy. The needs of physicians and patients are better addressed when the doctor is allowed to participate and decide the quality of care that is rendered at their center. Q: How do you think the anesthesiology field will evolve in the next five years? AL: Many anesthesia providers will retire as is. Independence within a regional pain group should replace individual MD independence. Anesthesia and pain management physicians, in large part, will need to consolidate into regional corporate practices in order to compete with the stresses of the ACA, consolidation of the ASC business model, competition and political changes. Pain Management physicians are now more than anesthesiology. Pain boards have been offering certification for physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, etc. Cooperation between all is essential to maintain the ability to provide pain management technologies to our patients. Inclusion of individual skill sets for these providers in a cooperative group setting will allow future access to treatment. Joint group cooperation in administration, facility and marketing will be beneficial. Learn more from Dr. Al Liceaga at the 15th Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The Future of Spine in June 2017! Click here for more information. The sixth most common principal diagnosis, sepsis, also takes the title as the most expensive inpatient diagnosis, racking up about $20 billion in hospitals' aggregated annual costs. Sepsis isn't backing down, wreaking havoc on patients' health and dwindling hospital funds. Long immersed in the infectious disease space, Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific is committed to combating the poor outcomes associated with sepsis. It is imperative providers treat septic patients early and with the proper management, but the early signs of sepsis are not exclusive to the infection, presenting challenging tasks for providers. Additionally, patients with sepsis likely possess confounding comorbidities. That's why Thermo Fisher was the first to offer the BRAHMS procalcitonin assay for providers in the intensive care unit, emergency department and hospital wards. Procalcitonin is a biomarker associated with the inflammatory response to bacterial infection that rises rapidly (within six to12 hours) after an infectious bacterial insult with systemic consequences such as sepsis. The test takes only 20 minutes to perform, providing physicians with quick information to act. "When we talk about risk assessment, it's really enabling physicians to understand the bacterial load and severity of infection," explains Sherrie Smartt, MSN, MHA, RN, medical director for the biomarker business of North America and manager of clinical studies and regulatory affairs, Thermo Fisher. Procalcitonin serves as part of the body's intrinsic response to a bacterial infection, so its accurate measurement offers a physician critical feedback on the cause of the inflammatory reaction and the effectiveness of the source control of the infection. The BRAHMS PCT helps physicians understand how a patient is responding to the infection allowing physicians to choose the most successful treatment regimen. Utilizing the BRAHMS PCT, providers can assess an initial procalcitonin measurement. Patients with procalcitonin levels above 0.5 ng/L should be considered at risk of developing severe sepsis or septic shock, while levels above 2 ng/mL are at the greatest risk. . "It's important for physicians to understand the implications when they see procalcitonin and see the kinetic responses," says Ms. Smartt. "That gives them confidence that they are managing that patient appropriately." Appropriate management is essential, because with every passing hour, mortality increases by 8 percent for a patient with sepsis. "It's very, very important to intervene early, because it becomes almost impossible to intervene later," Ms. Smartt emphasizes. "One of the biggest challenges is identifying those patients earlier and delivering the right treatment. Procalcitonin, along with the clinical assessment and other laboratory findings, helps with understanding when we're delivering the right treatment and if we are we managing these patients effectively." MOSES study In 2014, Thermo Fisher completed a U.S. multicenter clinical trial called Procalcitonin MOnitoring SEpsis Study, to validate the ability of BRAHMS PCT to aid in the mortality risk assessment of septic patients. The MOSES study found a change in procalcitonin over time helped assess cumulative 28-day risk of mortality for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. The study revealed a two-fold risk of death for patients with a decrease in procalcitonin less than or equal to 80 percent, when compared to patients with a procalcitonin decrease of more than 80 percent during the first four days after diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic shock. In addition, the combination of the first PCT level (< 2.0 ng/L or > 2.0 ng/L) upon initial diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic shock, along with the patient's clinical course and change in PCT level over time until day four provided important additional information about the mortality risk. The company allowed its license partners, Roche Diagnostics USA and bioMerieux, to use the MOSES patient samples assessed on the Thermo Fisher platform to test their own licensed B.R.A.H.M.S PCT assays on their respective laboratory platforms. The "universal analysis" showed the equivalence of the license partners' assays to Thermo Fisher's FDA-approved BRAHMS PCT sensitive KRYPTOR. "What's unique about this trial, was to share the clinical samples with licensed partners so they could run the same patient samples on their own unique platforms, and significantly decrease their time in the FDA review process," says Ms. Smartt. While Thermo Fisher first paved the way through a year-long review process allowing Roche Diagnostics USA and bioMerieux to both receive FDA approval for their assays within 90 days. "It allowed clinical performance evaluation across platforms with the same samples on a shared clinical database. This allowed clinicians to have clinically relevant cutoffs that are standardized across platforms," says Ms. Smartt. Fighting sepsis on all fronts CMS is establishing incentives for hospitals to manage sepsis patients through core measures formed from the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and CDC sepsis protocols. The CMS core measures emphasize managing fluid resuscitation and initiating empiric antibiotic therapy, but Ms. Smartt says placing equal weight on host response biomarkers is warranted to create a complete sepsis management initiative. Thermo Fisher wants to emphasize the importance of assessing procalcitonin levels alongside other assessments when testing for sepsis, noting the importance of a patient's response to a bacterial infection as well as the response to antimicrobial treatment. "It's important to identify and initiate therapy, but it's also important to identify how patients are responding to the management," explains Ms. Smartt. Providers may consider adding BRAHMS PCT when treating septic patients, as it will help create confidence in their management of the patients. More on quality & infection control: Zika-exposed fetuses are 50 times more likely to develop microcephaly 5 things to know Sen. Bernie Sanders and others leading campaign to offer public option on ACA: 5 things to know 4 things to know about the top 5 vendors and the future of the global insurance market Adding a nurse navigator or a care coordinator to a center's staff is an expense that could reap massive benefits when done correctly. Theresa Stern, nurse patient navigator and program director for the Orange Coast Memorial Center for Spine Health at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, in Fountain Valley, Calif., made the decision to become a navigator after she suffered a neck injury resulting in herniated cervical discs. Now Mrs. Stern is an integral part of the center. She is an advocate for patients, and a necessity for physicians. Spine center development company Prizm Development's President Bob Reznik described the position best through an analogy: navigators are the air traffic controllers for surgery centers. Air traffic control ensures airports run smoothly and effectively by having the right planes land on the right runways. "You put the single engine planes on the outside of the airport and you save the big runways for the 747s," Mr. Reznik says. The nurse navigators operate at spine centers around a similar idea; they serve as the first point of contact in a patient experience. Nurse navigators are the front-line of spine and ambulatory surgery centers. The navigator can ask diagnostic question and prioritize patients to ensure a physician makes the best use of their time. Similar to how you wouldn't land a 747 on a runway for a single engine plane, patients with emergency symptoms need to be seen the same day to prevent lifelong problems. "With back and neck problems, if the patient tells the RN he or she has weakness or numbness in a hand or foot or worse, loss of control of bowel or bladder that person needs to be seen immediately to prevent permanent paralysis of those nerves, Mr. Reznik explains. It's no different than an airport matching the inbound planes to the right runways. A person with serious herniated disc symptoms is better matched with a spine surgeon, while less serious strain is better managed by a physical medicine physician who can try non-surgical treatment options. Some organizations call these RNs nurse navigators and others call them clinical coordinators but the function is the same. In the centers Prizm develops, Mr. Reznik has "never had an organization regret bringing in a clinical coordinator. If you put a person like this in who is smart and well trained, they will have an impact on the organization far beyond basic scheduling. Sadly, healthcare in the past has done poorly by putting the least trained, least knowledgeable person at the front lines. The future of healthcare with bundled case rates for episodes of care will require more expertise at the front end to ensure the patient flows through the system efficiently." Mrs. Stern is that person for her facility. She uses her experience as a physical therapist and a former patient to help patients with their decisions. Before a physician sees a patient, she collects complete medical histories for providers, conducts functional assessments and coordinates physical examinations to create propose an individualized treatment plans. After a physician sees the patient, and diagnoses them, she pivots and focuses entirely on the patient. She helps educate them on their diagnosis. She assists with setting up the appointments with specialists or surgeons and she follows up with them at one, three, six and 12 months intervals to ensure their recovery goes according to plan. "The idea of the nurse navigator is that the patient has somebody from the minute they call the spine center," Mrs. Stern says. A nurse navigator was part of the conceptual idea for her facility. Mrs. Stern was the candidate center owners wanted to help them craft a navigator program. She said the center saw the nurse navigator program as a market differentiator. In addition to her work with patients, Mrs. Stern is also the first contact for physicians because she can efficiently communicate medical information accurately. Her position can eliminate fragmented communication between providers and center employees. The facility is seeing positive results too. Since Ms. Stern stepped into the center, it has received more positive feedback from patients over their experience, and clinical outcomes levels have positively progressed. More news related to healthcare: Physicians give insight into Hillary Clinton's health records & what the records are missing 6 thoughts Johnson & Johnson expands into ophthalmology through Abbott Medical Optics acquisition 4 things to know Sen. John McCain cosponsors bill requiring pharmaceutical companies to justify their pricing: 5 takeaways A TD Bank survey found the nature of physician ownership has changed within the last several years, with more females becoming owners of physician practices, according to NJ Biz. The survey analyzed 340 U.S. small medical practices. Here are five findings: 1. The survey found 36 percent of women reported being practice owners for less than five years. Dan Croft, TD Bank's head of healthcare practice solutions, attributed the rise of female ownership to more female college graduates. 2. Forty-seven percent of male respondents have been in practice for more than 20 years. 3. While respondents reported rising expenses, 30 percent to 50 percent of the practices remained profitable. 4. Based on respondents' feedback, TD Bank concluded the physician practice outlook is generally positive with many younger physicians and female physicians using technology to improve efficiency. 5. Merely 14 percent of respondents expected to shut down their practice. More healthcare news: Nobilis acquires Texas ASC; expands into Houston market; Tenet's market cap totals $2.45B & more 5 key notes on ASC companies Explosions in NY, NJ; stabbings in MN: 8 things to know about this weekend's violence Is Chicago ready for a WS appearance? Cubs are 1st to clinch division title in 2016 6 highlights Pittsburgh-based UMPC has scrapped plans to build a hospital in the Pleasant Hills borough of Pennsylvania, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times. Earlier this year, UPMC announced plans to build a 300,000-square-foot hospital called UPMC South in Pleasant Hills. However, UPMC has dropped that plan and is looking for other sites to build on. UPMC is "in the process of assessing other sites throughout the South Hills area that have subsequently emerged that are better suited and offer more space to construct modern and technologically state-of-the-art facilities to accommodate the inpatient, outpatient, diagnostic testing, advanced imaging, comprehensive primary care, senior care and other needs of our patients," UPMC spokesman Paul Wood told Pittsburgh Business Times. UPMC's plan to build a hospital in Pleasant Hills was strongly opposed by Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network, as the site for UPMC's hospital was less than one mile from AHN's Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Pa. More articles on facilities management: Green Medical Arts Center to undergo $4.2M renovation Holy Cross Hospital in Florida gets $7M boost for neurological care 18 hospitals planning facility upgrades, expansions Under 3 percent of Massachusetts residents were uninsured in 2015, the lowest proportion ever, according to The Boston Globe. Data released last week from the U.S. Census Bureau show just 2.8 percent of Massachusetts residents were uninsured last year. Massachusetts, which served as a model for President Barack Obama's signature health reform law, maintains its standing as the state with the smallest proportion of uninsured residents, according to the report. The state enacted its own law to expand accessibility to healthcare coverage to nearly all of its residents years before the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2010. Its uninsured rate in 2010 had already declined to 4.4 percent. The rate has continued to fall as a result of several factors, Noah Berger, president of Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, told The Boston Globe. One reason is the state's thriving economy and the lowest unemployment rate in 15 years. More employed people means more employer-sponsored health plans, according to Mr. Berger. Other possible reasons include higher enrollment in Medicaid or subsidized health insurance, and the expansion of MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program. Enrollment in MassHealth increased from 1.4 million in 2013 to 1.8 million in 2015, according to the report. In April 2014, Boston Children's Hospital was struck with a series of cyberattacks attempting to infiltrate and crash the hospital's website by overwhelming its capacity. The cyberattacks were in response to a high-profile case involving a 15-year-old patient in which the court took away parental custody, citing medical child abuse. Now, the mastermind behind the attack has spoken out, detailing why he initiated the attack. Immediately following the attack, the hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility for it. The group indicated the hack was in support of Justina Pelletier, the patient whose parents were under investigation for medical child abuse. Her parents took her to Boston Children's to treat intestinal problems but physicians at the hospital said Ms. Pelletier's symptoms were mainly psychiatric, according to The Boston Globe. The hospital filed medical child abuse charges alleging the parents were seeking unnecessary medical interventions, an allegation upheld by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Ms. Pelletier spent much of her 16-months in state custody in a locked psychiatric ward, reports The Boston Globe. Martin Gottesfeld was arrested in February for his connection to the attack, and he recently issued a statement to The Huffington Post about why he initiated the cyberattack that eventually shut down the hospital's website and email systems. "The answer is simpler than you might think: The defense of an innocent, learning disabled, 15-year-old girl," Mr. Gottesfeld wrote in his statement. He outlined allegations of patient abuse and said the way she was treated was "torture." Ms. Pelletier's parents in February sued Boston Children's, accusing the system of gross negligence and civil rights violations. At a press conference discussing the lawsuit, Ms. Pelletier said she was mistreated while in the care of Boston Children's. "They really treated me badly," she said at the press conference, according to The Boston Globe. Boston Children's Hospital said in comments in February, "We are committed to the best interests of our patients' health and well-being, according to the high standards we follow for every patient placed in our care," reports The Boston Globe. The hospital said it could not provide further comment out of respect for the patient's privacy and the ongoing legal process. Mr. Gottesfeld said in his statement that he launched the cyberattack on the hospital to dissuade the hospital from these "parentectomies" in the future. He targeted the hospital's donation page, as to "hit BCH where they appear to care the most, the pocket book and reputation," according to his statement. He said patients would not be harmed if he targeted the hospital website. And, Mr. Gottesfeld indicates the steps he took were successful. "There have been no such egregious parentectomies published at BCH since," he wrote. Click here to read Mr. Gottesfeld's full statement. Becker's has reached out to Boston Children's for comment. This story will be updated as more information is available. More articles on cybersecurity: World Anti-Doping Agency: Hackers leaked Simon Biles', Serena Williams' medical records Why cyberattacks aren't harming hospital finances Will 'digital fingerprint' forensics thwart the data thieves lurking in hospital EHR corridors? Three news organizations have filed a lawsuit against the FBI for not sharing information related to how it unlocked the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino gunmen in March. The lawsuit seeks to require the FBI to disclose the documents. The Associated Press, USA Today and Vice News filed the lawsuit Friday after the FBI denied each of their Freedom of Information Act requests seeking documentation on the business arrangement between the FBI and the hackers and how much the bureau spent on the tool that unlocked the phone, according to a statement from Vice. The FBI denied the organizations' FOIA requests, saying the documents in question were exempt from disclosure, as they were "compiled for law enforcement purposes" and that disclosing them "could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings," according to Vice's statement. However, the lawsuit says the requested information regarding the iPhone hack is in the public interest, and the FBI has "no lawful basis" for denying the requests. "The public is entitled to know the nature of the vendors the Government finds it necessary to deal with in cases of access to private information, including whether or not the FBI feels compelled to contract with groups of hackers with suspect reputations, because it will inform the public debate over whether the current legislative apparatus is sufficient to meet the Government's needs for such information," according to the lawsuit. Additionally, the lawsuit said disclosing the documentation is a matter of transparency, especially as the government has not officially revealed how much it paid for the tool to unlock the phone. "Understanding the amount that the FBI deemed appropriate to spend on the tool, as well as the identity and reputation of the vendor it did business with, is essential for the public to provide effective oversight of government functions and help guard against potential improprieties," reads the complaint. While the FBI has not disclosed the exact amount paid, FBI Director James Comey suggested during a cybersecurity panel in April the bureau paid more than $1 million for the tool. The FBI in February ordered Apple to unlock the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the shooters of the attack in San Bernardino, Calif., in December that killed 14 people and wounded 22 more. The FBI was unable to access data on the phone due to Apple's security features. When Apple said it would not comply with the order, it set off a debate on balancing companies' role in safeguarding consumer information with federal investigations. More articles on cybersecurity: Some hackers say hospitals are off-limits for ransomware attacks The role all executives play in cybersecurity Why cyberattacks aren't harming hospital finances The biggest threat for a security breach is not imposed by nefarious hackers or catastrophic technology failures. It's an organization's own workforce, according to the Harvard Business Review. Employees play a significant role in an organization's vulnerability to a security breach. Nearly 60 percent of all attacks are carried out by insiders, according to the 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index by IBM, Harvard Business Review reported. Three-quarters of these attacks are fueled by malicious intent, and one-quarter are caused by inadvertent actors. There are three primary types of insider risks to be aware of, according to the Harvard Business Review. 1. Human error. Accidents such as misaddressed emails, stolen devices and confidential data sent to insecure home systems can lead to costly situations. The group of employees at highest risk for committing such errors are IT administrators, "whose complete access to company infrastructure can turn a small mistake into a catastrophe," according to the report. 2. Malicious employees. Unfortunately, sometimes employees aim to steal competitive information, sell data or intelligence or just have a vendetta against the organization. 3. Cyber criminals who steal employees' identities. Cyber criminals can hijack employees' identities through malware or phishing schemes, giving them access to secured information. The most perilous aspect of insider threats is such attacks come from trusted systems and can fly under the radar. Therefore, managers must be aware of what signals to look for and how to focus their security efforts. Here are four tips from the Harvard Business Review. 1. Protect the most important assets. Malicious actors are interested in access to the business' "crown jewels." After identifying the most valuable systems and data, give them the strongest defense and most frequent monitoring. 2. Leverage deep analytics. Deep analytics can reveal deviations from normal behavior in how employees interact with technology, which could indicate if and when a system has been compromised. 3. Get to know your employees. Knowing the employees who have the greatest potential for damage and addressing the security risks these people represent is crucial. IT administrators, top executives, key vendors and at-risk employees should be monitored with enhanced vigilance, according to the report. 4. Remember the basics. New technology and tools are revered in the IT world, but sticking to the basics is important for protection. For example, enforcing strong standards for user identities and passwords makes stealing credentials much more difficult. Culture. Productivity. Strategy. Execution. These ideas will never go out of style for hospital and health system leaders. The following leadership articles were published by Becker's Hospital Review in the last week. 1. How better writing can help your bottom line Concise, clear writing makes communication more efficient and improves productivity across all levels of an organization, according to Harvard Business Review and Advisory Board. 2. Helping the helpers: Support for caregivers gives health systems competitive advantage Almost 40 million Americans are family caregivers, providing assistance and support to a loved one. It's a responsibility with enormous stress and one for which most are unprepared. 3. 55 employers with the best healthy lifestyle initiatives Fifty-five U.S. employers committed to improving employee health, efficiency and overall quality of life were selected by the National Business Group on Health for its 2016 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles Awards. 4. 4 ways executives find time to be creative The No. 1 most in-demand characteristic CEOs look for in new hires is not intelligence, discipline or even emotional intelligence, according to an IBM survey of more than 1,500 CEOs across 33 industries and 60 countries. It's creativity, the Harvard Business Review reported. 5. Up for the challenge: How Allegheny Health's CEO plans to make healthcare more convenient in Pittsburgh Cynthia Hundorfean went out on a limb when she interviewed for Allegheny Health Network's president and CEO position she had never been to Pittsburgh, where the system is headquartered, but she was looking for a new challenge after more than three decades working in Cleveland. 6. Walking during meetings yields positive health benefits, study shows Walking meetings, whether outside or just down the office hallway, are a solid form of exercise that lend attendees real physical and mental health benefits, according to The Wall Street Journal. 7. How 3 health system executives weighed decisions about armed security Violence in hospitals is a growing public health concern. In recent years, attacks on patients and providers in the healthcare setting, particularly those perpetrated by patients and visitors, have impelled administrators to consider ways to enhance systemwide security models. 8. Nuggets of wisdom 5 hospital CEOs pass on advice to graduates These hospital CEOs delivered college or medical school commencement speeches, offering their best counsel and encouragement for the graduates beginning their own journeys. 9. Why retiring after age 65 could help you live longer Most people retire around age 65. But when people retire at age 66 instead, their mortality rates drop by 11 percent, according to a statistical analysis at Oregon State University, the Harvard Business Review reported. 10. 5 thoughts on hospital leadership with Bronx-Lebanon administrator Chrissy Manning At New York City-based Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, Practice Administrator and Department Director Chrissy Manning manages more than 50 people with inpatient and outpatient responsibilities. With the facility's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery seeing more than 35,000 outpatient visits and performing 2,000 operations per year, Ms. Manning has worked with physicians to improve care quality and productivity. 11. The 'engage me' generation: 16 things to know about baby boomers & healthcare The influx of baby boomers reaching retirement may pose challenges for the healthcare landscape. 12. Why your kids should know your income When 15-year-old Daniel Parker saw his dad spill one month's salary about $10,000 on the kitchen table, he thought his father had robbed a bank. Instead, Scott Parker was initiating a lesson on the value of money, according to The New York Times. 13. Want to be a CEO? Diversify your experience, study says Imagine three workers: Richard, Charles and Anne. Richard has a bachelor's degree, lives in Tulsa, Okla., and has worked in finance for three companies across three different industries. Charles earned his bachelor's from a top international school and also holds a master's degree in computer science. He lives in London and has worked in IT and sales for two different companies across two different industries. Anne completed her undergraduate education and an MBA in two of the top five in the U.S. programs, lives in New York and has worked in four different job functions at four companies, all in the same industry. Who is most likely to become CEO? 14. What hospitals executives can learn from the insurance industry with regard to patient privacy/insider threat risk mitigation The drum beat of hospital PHI breaches marches on. Every day there seems to be another news article on a hospital being hit with a ransomware attack. 15. Corner office: Virginia Mason Health System Chairman and CEO Dr. Gary S. Kaplan on relentlessly fighting waste and what he learned working in a hardware store Providing high-quality healthcare requires a balance between clinical expertise, technical management systems and effective communication. Gary S. Kaplan, MD, a self-proclaimed "optimistic extrovert," wants his health system to ace each of these elements. Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine, has laid off 31 employees, including people in building maintenance, housekeeping, clinical and administrative positions, according to the Portland Press Herald. The hospital, which employs about 1,500 full-time workers, announced the layoffs nearly two months after it offered retirement buyouts to 99 employees, according to the report. Forty-seven accepted the early retirement incentive offered in July, which included one week's pay for each year worked. The incentive was offered to selected employees over age 60. Wayne Clark, a Mercy spokesperson, said the layoffs were necessary because not enough people accepted the early retirement offer. "While it is difficult to see colleagues leave, it is necessary if we are to realize our vision of a strong Mercy Hospital," Mr. Clark said in a statement, according to the report. "This is a way to size our workforce to fit market demands. Of course, we will not compromise the quality and personal nature of the care we're known for." Mr. Clark said shrinking the workforce is part of the hospital's strategy to consolidate operations at Mercy's new Fore River complex. The hospital's main location on State Street will close after the Fore River complex expansion is completed in about three years. Tulare (Calif.) Regional Medical Center and its parent company, HealthCare Conglomerate Associates, laid off nearly 30 employees earlier this month, reports Visalia Times-Delta. HCCA vice president of marketing Kathleen Johnson did not specifically mention the layoffs in a news release sent to the Visalia Times-Delta. However, she said the "actions taken recently are in accordance with our planned and ongoing strategic realignment of the hospital's operations. We continue to streamline operations, improve efficiencies and healthcare delivery to our community." She declined to tell the publication how many people were laid off, but other local healthcare professionals estimate the number to be 29, according to the article. Affected employees include nurses and others with patient care responsibilities, as well as people in the hospital's lab and pharmacy. The layoffs follow the failure last month of Tulare Local HealthCare District's $55 million bond measure, which was to complete the hospital's stalled tower project, reports Visalia Times-Delta. More articles on leadership and management: Kaiser Permanente grants Morehouse School of Medicine $3M Mike Pence releases physician's note Biden plans to dedicate career to cancer research post-White House The following healthcare mergers, acquisitions and general partnerships took place or were announced in the past week. 1. 3 New Hampshire hospitals propose affiliation Three hospitals in New Hampshire are eyeing an affiliation that would create an overarching entity to approve individual budgets and share services. 2. Genesis Healthcare, University of New Mexico Health System to partner The Albuquerque-based University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and Kennett Square, Pa.-based Genesis Healthcare will partner on an initiative to develop new clinical programs aimed at improving patient care and easing the process for hospitals transitioning to post-acute care facilities. 3. Niagara University, Niagara Falls Memorial embark on workforce development program Lewiston, N.Y.-based Niagara University and Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Memorial Medical Center plan to collaborate on a joint venture to promote economic growth, enhance workforce development and expand medical tourism opportunities. 4. Rhode Island AG approves Westerly Hospital, Yale-New Haven merger The Rhode Island attorney general approved the affiliation proposal designed by Westerly (R.I.) Hospital and Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Health Services. 5. Renown Health partners with Nevada emergency services provider REMSA Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health agreed to finance three community health programs created by the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority, also in Reno, that focus on delivering healthcare services and reducing out-of-pocket costs for community members in the Reno area. 6. Texas Children's purchases 2 Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center buildings Texas Children's Hospital in Houston closed on an agreement with Houston-based Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center on the purchase of two St. Luke's buildings: the Baylor Clinic Building and the O'Quinn Medical Tower. 7. Dickinson Center, Journey Health System to affiliate Ridgway, Pa.-based DickinsonCenter will affiliate with Bradford, Pa.-based Journey Health System. The affiliation will make Journey Health System the largest and most comprehensive behavioral health service provider in the northwestern region of the state. 8. MD Anderson Cancer Center to partner with Lourdes Hospital Binghamton, N.Y.-based Lourdes Hospital became a certified member of the MD Anderson Cancer Network, facilitated by the Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center, to offer local communities enhanced cancer care closer to home. 9. Exeter Health Resources to join Granite Health: 4 things to know Exeter (N.H.) Health Resources will join Concord, N.H.-based Granite Health in a partnership agreement between five New Hampshire healthcare systems. 10. LVHN wraps up Schuylkill Health System deal Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network officials said the merger between LVHN and Pottsville, Pa.-based Schuylkill Health will take effect Sept. 16. 11. Carolinas Hospital System joins Mayo Clinic Care Network Florence, S.C.-based Carolinas Hospital System will join the more than 40 national and international hospitals and health systems that make up the Mayo Clinic Care Network, formed by the Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic. 12. Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center to acquire local nursing home facility Patchogue, N.Y.-based Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center finalized its acquisition of the property formerly belonging to the Yaphank, N.Y.-based John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Home Facility. 13. Mountain States, Wellmont unveil new name for proposed merger Johnson City, Tenn.-based Mountain States Health Alliance executives revealed the name of the new health system created through its merger with Kingsport, Tenn.-based Wellmont Health System, pending state approval of the merger. 14. Albany Med, Saratoga Hospital deal moves forward Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center's acquisition of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based Saratoga Hospital reached its final steps in the transaction process and is awaiting state approval. 15. 4 Delaware systems form statewide alliance Four leading hospital systems in Delaware formed a strategic partnership to increase access to healthcare services and to improve the quality and affordability of care to residents of the state. 16. Essent Healthcare to affiliate with Health Quest LaGrangeville, N.Y.-based Health Quest entered into a preliminary agreement with Nashville, Tenn.-based Essent Healthcare to affiliate with one of Essent's Connecticut hospitals. 17. Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center partners with MUSC Health Hartsville, S.C.-based Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center will partner with Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina to bring tele-ICU services to Carolina Pines. 18. University of Michigan Health, Metro Health sign definitive merger agreement Directors at Cleveland-based Metro Health and regents at the Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Health System each approved an agreement to form an affiliation. Private equity firm Apollo Global Management is in discussions to acquire the assets of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. That news comes after CHS said Monday it is exploring options with "financial sponsors," which it didn't name, and other alternatives. Sources told Bloomberg the for-profit hospital operator is exploring the possible sale of its business. Apollo's interest in CHS comes as the private equity firm is seeking to expand RegionalCare Hospital Partners, its Brentwood, Tenn.-based portfolio company, sources told Reuters. In May, RegionalCare significantly expanded its scale with the acquisition of Franklin, Tenn.-based Capella Healthcare. In addition to Apollo, sources told Reuters some real estate investment trusts are also eyeing CHS' assets. On Monday, CHS said all discussions are at a preliminary stage, and there is no certainty the talks will result in any kind of transaction. CHS owns, leases or operates 158 hospitals across the U.S. The company has a market capitalization of $1.3 billion and total debt of more than $15 billion, according to Reuters. More articles on healthcare transactions: Albany Med, Saratoga Hospital deal moves forward Mountain States, Wellmont unveil new name for proposed merger Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center to acquire local nursing home facility Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health officials apologized to the last living plaintiff involved in a lawsuit that desegregated hospitals nationwide. Officials commemorated the occasion with the creation of a scholarship fund to honor those involved. Officials reached out to Alvin Blount, MD, one of nine African American physicians and dentists who, along with two patients, sued Cone Health and Wesley Long Hospital, also in Greensboro, in 1962 on allegations of racial discrimination. According to a press release from Cone Health, the plaintiffs in the case sought professional employment at and medical treatment from the health organization, but were barred based upon their race. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "separate but equal" did not apply to public hospitals and so violated laws of equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. The decision allowed African American practioners and patients to treat and be treated at public hospitals nationwide. Cone Health officials plan to contribute $250,000 in hospital funds toward a scholarship honoring Dr. Blount and the other plaintiffs. The Greensboro Medical Society will use the funds to award scholarships to students pursuing careers in healthcare, according to the press release. "It seemed to me, and to our medical and dental staff, that we needed to take an opportunity to apologize for our role in this chapter of our history and to honor these individuals for challenging us to be our best selves and for their foresight and courage in changing America," said Cone Health CEO Terry Akin. A Kansas union alleges Larned (Kan.) State Hospital unfairly kept workers from receiving "exceptional" ratings on annual performance reviews, reports The Topeka Capital-Journal. The Kansas Organization of State Employees, which represents LSH employees, contends hospital supervisors rated some employees "exceptional," but that the ratings were overruled by central office administrators at the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, according to the article. Rebecca Proctor, the employee union's executive director, told The Topeka Capital-Journal two mid-level hospital supervisors, reportedly executives at KDADS, were responsible for lowering staff ratings from "exceptional." She told the publication an internal hospital document also showed the issue was discussed at an LSH management meeting in May. Tim Keck, who was appointed secretary of KDADS in August after serving on an interim basis since January, rebutted the accusations. He said in the article he did not issue a directive to lower workers' annual evaluation scores, as doing so would undermine employee relations. Kraig Knowlton, director of personnel services in the state's Department of Administration, also said in the article he didn't know of any formal attempt to cut the number of state employees earning an "exceptional" rating. Ms. Proctor said documents from LSH related to revision of ratings were submitted to Kansas lawmakers responsible for making recommendations on regulatory reforms sought by the Department of Administration, according to the report. Ms. Proctor said she was told during a meeting with Mr. Keck and other top KDADS officials that some state employee evaluations had been returned to supervisors because of insufficient documentation as to why certain ratings were awarded, the report states. According to the report, controversy regarding the rating system for Kansas government employees arose as Kansas Gov. Sam Brownbacks administration called for the approval of regulatory reforms that would halt certain rating appeals made by employees. Minneapolis-based Allina Health and its striking nurses both refuse to budge first as the walkout enters its third week, reports Star Tribune. The workers, who are represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association, began their second strike of the summer on Labor Day at five Minnesota hospitals Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United Hospital in St. Paul, Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and Unity Hospital in Fridley. As workers began the strike, Allina brought in 1,500 replacement nurses. More than two weeks later, the strike is at a standstill with no future talks scheduled. Allina claims more than 500 of the 4,800 union nurses have indicated they want to return to work at the five affected hospitals, according to the article. The union questions those numbers. The union, meanwhile, said it was reported that an intensive care unit closed at Abbott Northwestern, amid turnover in replacement nurses, reports Star Tribune. In a statement to the publication, Allina spokesman David Kanihan confirmed an ICU unit at Abbott Northwestern closed to new patients last weekend due to the number of patients and the severity of their conditions, but said the temporary closure was not uncommon or related to the walkout. The article states both sides believe the other is responsible to restart talks, which have primarily revolved around the nurses' health insurance. Allina wanted to eliminate the nurses' four union-backed health plans, which include high premiums but low or no deductibles, and move the nurses to its corporate plans, reports the Star Tribune. Allina has estimated that eliminating the nurses' four union-backed health plans would save the health system $10 million per year. As the strike moves on, The MNA has a hardship fund of more than $4 million for nurses struggling with the loss of income during the walkout, according to the Star Tribune. The article states Allina CEO Penny Wheeler, MD, has also appealed to nurses to come back to work, pointing out that as of Oct. 1, striking nurses will temporarily lose their health insurance and have to buy more expensive coverage. The latest strike is the second since an initial seven-day strike in June. The June strike cost Allina $20.4 million. East Houston Regional Medical Center was on lockdown following reported gunfire outside the facility's emergency department, though the lockdown has now been lifted, KHOU reports. Officials responded to the area after 2 p.m. Monday. Witnesses reported at least 10 shots fired by a drive-by shooter. According to official accounts, a 17-year-old suffering gun shot wounds from a different location exited a Ford Explorer and ran into the hospital. A man driving the Ford Explorer was seen with a gun, but officials do not think he fired any shots. Another individual in a red SUV was seen holding a gun out of the car window as he drove by. Officials said they think he was aiming shots at the Ford Explorer that brought the 17-year-old to the hospital. Witnesses reported bullets hitting several cars, including one with a man and a woman in it. The couple had just pulled up to the medical center to pick up a friend before the shooting occurred, according to the report. The couple and many others left the parking lot uninjured after the shooting. Police are looking for the driver of the red SUV who fired the shots and possibly a third SUV that could be involved. The story is still developing. This story was updated at 7:41 a.m. CST to reflect new developments. More articles about healthcare news and analysis: UPMC looks for new site to build hospital FBI urges ransomware victims to report attacks to federal law enforcement Drugmakers push back against opioid limitation measures: 3 things to know The New Jersey police officers and the man tied to bombings in New York City and Seaside Park, N.J., were taken to University Hospital in Newark, N.J., following a shootout during which the suspect was apprehended, according to a My Central Jersey report. The suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, is believed to have set off pipe-bomb style devices in New Jersey and New York City, injuring 29 people, on Sept. 17, according to USA Today. Additionally, the FBI found more pipe bombs in Elizabeth, N.J., on Sept. 18. Mr. Rahami was found asleep outside a tavern in Linden, N.J., on Sept. 19 morning. The tavern owner alerted the police, according to My Central Jersey. A shootout then ensued, during which two police officers and Mr. Rahami were injured. Officer Angel Padilla was struck in the torso, while Officer Peter Hammer "was grazed in the head from a bullet or debris." Officer Hammer was released after spending the night at the hospital, while Officer Padilla was transferred to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway (N.J.), where he was treated and then discharged. Mr. Rahami, who was shot in the arm and leg, underwent surgery at University Hospital and is still there, according to the report. It is unclear at this point whether Mr. Rahami acted alone. The motive is also unknown. After a two-year hiatus, NemoursAlfredI.duPontHospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., and UnitedHealthcare of Delaware reached a network agreement Monday. The contract will not affect Nemours' ongoing lawsuit against the insurer over unpaid medical bills, however, reports Delaware Online. Beneficiaries with private or employer-sponsored coverage will have in-network access to Nemours Children's services beginning Oct. 1, according to hospital officials. Coverage includes services provided by Nemours Children's-affiliated physicians in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The agreement affects about 240,000 UnitedHealthcare enrollees. Contract aside, Nemours Children's plans to move forward with a suit filed against UnitedHealthcare of Delaware in 2015 seeking $15 million in damages for unpaid healthcare services to Medicaid beneficiaries. The suit alleges UnitedHealthcare of Delware's Medicaid contract with the state was not adequate because it excluded Nemour's duPontHospital, the only pediatric-focused hospital in the state, from it's network. As a result, UnitedHealthcare forced Nemour's duPontHospital to take on millions in uncompensated care costs, the suit argues. NemoursduPontHospital won settlements against UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania, UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of New Jersey in the last five years. Amid growing concern over the national prescription opioid and heroin epidemic, President Barack Obama has designated a week to remember those affected and raise awareness of the public health crisis. Sept. 18-24 has been proclaimed Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week by the president. "During Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, we pause to remember all those we have lost to opioid use disorder, we stand with the courageous individuals in recovery, and we recognize the importance of raising awareness of this epidemic," he said in the proclamation. In light of this week, here are five things to know about the opioid epidemic: 1. More Americans die annually from drug overdoses than in traffic accidents, and more than three out of five of these deaths involve an opioid, President Obama's proclamation states. 2. Nationwide, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids, including prescription opioid pain relievers, heroin and fentanyl, has nearly quadrupled since 1999. 3. Many of the recent overdoses and deaths in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia have been attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl or its analogues, which include carfentanil, being mixed into heroin. Carfentanil is 10,000 times stronger than morphine. 4. The federal government also plans to take "enhanced measures" with China to combat the supply of fentanyl as well as analogues of the drug. 5. The abuse and misuse of opioids costs the U.S. about $78.5 billion a year for healthcare and addiction treatment costs, lost work productivity and criminal justice system expenses, according to a study published in Medical Care. Click here to learn more about federal efforts to fight the national prescription opioid and heroin epidemic. More articles on population health: CDC: Brain cancer now killing more children than leukemia Michael Bloomberg donates $300M to Johns Hopkins School of Public Health to address opioid, gun crises Nevada research institute, Renown Health partner with 23andMe on community health studies West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) launched an investigation on Mylan over potential antitrust violations and state Medicaid fraud, reported USA Today. Mr. Morrisey issued a subpoena to Mylan on Aug. 26 seeking answers over EpiPen price hikes, but the drugmaker failed to provide all requested information by the Sep. 7 deadline. In response, Mr. Morrisey filed a petition on Tuesday in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County requesting court enforcement of the subpoena. The subpoena calls for information that would prove whether Mylan underpaid for rebate amounts needed to participate in West Virginia's Medicaid program, according to the report. It also asks for information regarding the drastic price increase of EpiPens. "I have a statutory responsibility to investigate any potential antitrust violation," Mr. Morrisey said in a written statement. "My office owes it to consumers to be their watchdog and turn over every rock to ensure fair play." Canonsburg, Pa.-based Mylan claimed it could not provide Mr. Morrisey with further information until after its Capitol Hill hearings, which "could continue for weeks," the petition said. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch is due to appear before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Wednesday to explain why EpiPens, which cost $57 per pen in 2007, now run for more than $600 for a two-pack. More articles on supply chain: Siemens CEO: Geopolitical instability will hurt business J&J to acquire Abbott's eye surgery unit: 5 things to know Jimmy Kimmel's EpiPen joke calls out high drug prices at Emmys This past weekend saw three bomb attempts in two states and a spate of stabbings in a Midwestern mall. A total of 29 individuals were injured in the bomb explosions and nine individuals were injured in the stabbing attack. Details are still unfolding, but here's what you need to know: 1. A "pipe-bomb style device" exploded in a garbage can at a Marine Corps charity race in Seaside Park, N.J., on the morning of Sat., Sept. 17, according to USA Today. No one was injured. 2. Another explosion took place Sat., Sept. 17, evening, in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Twenty-nine people were injured, all of whom were released from the hospital by the following morning, according to the New York Times. 3. The FBI was called in to investigate a suspicious package which was found to contain five bombs at a train station Sun., Sept. 18, evening in Elizabeth, N.J. One bomb was accidentally detonated, however, no one was injured, according to NPR. 4. Although these three attacks have similarities, officials emphasized that additional analysis of the bombs was necessary before drawing any conclusions, according to a New York Times report from Sun., Sept. 18. 5. Police arrested 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami in New York after a shootout, Mon., Sept. 19, morning, according to the Washington Post. At present, he is the sole suspect for the New York and New Jersey bombings, though his motive is unknown, according to the New York Times. 6. A spate of violence also took place in Minnesota this weekend, when a 22-year-old named Dahir Adan dressed in a security uniform and proceeded to stab nine people in a mall, Sat., Sept. 17, evening, according to the Washington Post. 7. All nine of the individuals injured in the stabbing attack are expected to survive, according to NPR. 8. An Islamic State-run news agency claimed that Mr. Adan was a member of the Islamic State, leading the FBI to investigate the stabbings as an act of terrorism, according to the AP. However, the FBI determined that he seems to have acted alone, according to the Washington Post. Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman thinks political candidates sharing their medical records will "cause more harm than good," and made his point in a blog post on The Wall Street Journal. Here are four key reasons why Mr. Altman isn't in favor of more transparency when it comes to medical records for political candidates: 1. The focus of attack ads and social media smear campaigns become more about the candidates' health than their ability to lead the country. Mr. Altman proposes a formalized process for reporting medical information, including information that could prevent the candidates from completing a term in office. 2. Medical records could show a candidate was treated for depression or sexually transmitted diseases that become a privacy violation, as these treatments wouldn't prevent the candidates from fulfilling the responsibilities of their office. 3. The focus on health and age is unwarranted, Mr. Altman argued, because a young, healthy person can suffer debilitating or fatal conditions, such as a heart attack. Mr. Altman offered the youngest person elected president, John F. Kennedy, as an example. Mr. Kennedy had serious health conditions, but was still able to run the country. 4. If the true goal of divulging medical records is to ensure candidates don't create undue risk on the presidency with an unreported medical condition, then a panel of physicians could review medical records without making the information public and distracting from other issues. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below A delegation from Belfast City Council is being sent to the French Riviera for the second time next year, following a 60,000 visit in March. The council sent seven representatives as part of a joint public-private sector trade mission to the glamorous beach resort of Cannes for MIPIM - one of the world's biggest property expos - in a bid to attract major investors to the city. Now, the council is tendering for next year's event, and said it remains "committed" to sending another delegation to the event hosted in the playground of the rich and famous. A spokeswoman for Belfast City Council said: "Belfast City Council is committed to leading a Belfast consortium, made up of private sector, public sector and education representatives amongst others, to attend MIPIM in 2017. "Details for next year's event are still being developed and will be made public when finalised. "Following Brexit, the need for city regions to market themselves and attract investment and potential employers has never been greater. "With most other major cities competing for investment present at MIPIM - such as Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield - it is vital that Belfast has a strong presence to promote itself in a proactive and positive way with a view to securing investment that will help ensure the economic growth of our city and the region." In March, seven council staff formed part of a 50-strong delegation during the first trip to the trade show since the property crash. They stayed at the two-star Hotel Esperanto in the resort town for five nights - with costs covered by ratepayers. The rest of the funding for the trip came from the 30 local businesses involved. Those participating this year included McAleer and Rushe, as well as other major local developers. The council said the aim of the trip was to attract 1bn of investment to Belfast over the next five years and the creation of 30,000 jobs. The council was campaigning and selling Belfast based on a range of areas, including low corporation tax. Speaking ahead of the trip earlier this year, chief executive Suzanne Wylie said: "Belfast's reputation as a leading hub for foreign direct investment and technology, alongside our world-class pool of talent, our low rate of corporation tax from April 2018 and a wealth of other opportunities for international investors, means that the city's attractiveness as a place to invest is only going to grow. "We believe that a target of 1bn of investment and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs is within our reach. "We can transform the city and move it on to a new level to be competitive on a global stage." Crucial investments remain on hold within Northern Ireland's manufacturing sector due to the lack of a clear post-Brexit plan, it has been warned. And Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, said that three months on since the EU vote, the "future remains as yet unclear" for firms here. "Government needs to inject confidence. For many, investments are on hold until there is clarity on future trading relationships and wider economic conditions will be," he said. "This impacts on GDP, but more critically every day a manufacturer holds off investing in plant and machinery is a day closer to being uncompetitive or indeed to closure. "A stimulus is required - some tools to provide confidence and begin spending." But he said, what was emerging was an "understanding of the huge complexity and dangers of taking Northern Ireland out of the EU, and less quickly, a list of solutions and indeed opportunities which may exist post-EU exit". Northern Ireland's manufacturing sector has suffered several major hits in the last year. Earlier this month, Caterpillar revealed it was closing its Monkstown site and letting 250 staff go. Meanwhile, 1,080 jobs are going at Canadian-owned aerospace giant Bombardier, around 860 posts are set to go at Ballymena's Michelin, and a similar number have been lost at cigarette-maker JTI Gallaher. "We can begin taking steps now by ensuring there's more Northern Ireland content in public procurement at home and across the UK," Mr Kelly said. "We need to maximise our take from EU funds, before Brexit particularly, for important infrastructural projects, but that must come with quicker decisions, planning and delivery." He said, by the end of the autumn, the UK, including Northern Ireland, must have a "refreshed economic strategy, but this must account for a post-Brexit environment". "It should focus on making Northern Ireland a competitive, export focused and innovative economy," Mr Kelly said. "Brexit is bigger than politics and the business community has offered use of its networks and to play an active part in supporting the Executive and others achieve a sensible outcome which will allow business to grow and get more people into work. "Whilst there is frustration at the pace of arriving at a Northern Ireland position, there is a degree of understanding given the nature of how the referendum was fought, what a heavy load exiting the EU will bring, and indeed a lack of clarity on what the UK government's preferred position will be once Article 50 is triggered. "For manufacturing, concerns remain on getting access to the single market and skilled, semi-skilled and flexible labour." A report commissioned earlier this year pointed the finger at huge energy costs as a major problem facing the manufacturing industry here. And following the latest Caterpillar job cuts, there were fresh calls for a dedicated manufacturing strategy. However, Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said that those who have used the latest job losses to "attack the Northern Ireland Executive do a disservice" to workers losing their jobs. He has ruled out a dedicated scheme to tackle issues facing the sector here. Stephen Kelly said any post-Brexit landscape must be "tariff free" and include the "unhindered movement of goods across the border and into the rest of the EU is a must". "Reports of a Downing Street desire to leave the customs union are alarming as is the suggestion the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is looking at the Norwegian/Swedish Border being a potential model for any UK border in Ireland," he said. "Reassurance from the Secretary of State and other UK ministers on the Common Travel Area and 'no hard border' are irrelevant in this context." Recently published HMRC export statistics show a rise in the value of sales, but a 5% drop in the number of exporters. Mr Kelly said that few businesses here "believe suggestions that a post-Brexit trading environment would improve the Northern Ireland economy". He added: "Business is asking for honesty and a collective and creative approach to getting the best deal for Northern Ireland. "A special status is likely to be required as is a sharp focus on improving competitiveness by reducing the costs of doing business." Danske Bank to rent out two floors of its offices in Belfast city centre Danske Bank is moving staff out of its landmark Donegall Square home and putting part of the property on the rental market, it has emerged. The bank confirmed it has moved a number of employees into other premises outside the city, leading to the second and third floors now going on the lettings market. But it's understood no jobs are being lost in the process. The bank did not say how many staff have been relocated. In an advertisement today, the bank said the letting was "a unique opportunity to acquire offices on the square". The Danish-owned bank will also be building a new lobby for use of tenants as part of the letting, described as Grade A office space. But speaking to Business Telegraph, the bank denied the move was the start of a departure from its Donegall Square West home - the scene in 2004 of the audacious IRA theft of 26.4m. The theft from the then Northern Bank headquarters was the biggest bank robbery on the island of Ireland. A spokesman for Danske Bank confirmed it was looking into renting out some of its property. It employs 1,400 people across Northern Ireland at 46 branches - compared to 83 six years ago - and four regional finance centres. The spokesman said: "We have a large portfolio of property assets and, as a prudent business, we need to make sure that our properties are utilised to the best advantage of the bank and its staff. "As such, we are looking at the potential to lease space in our buildings to external parties. With good quality office space at a premium, letting the space makes good business sense and we expect there to be a lot of interest. "At the same time we are also looking to invest in, and improve, the quality of our workplaces for all staff." It's understood some of Danske Bank's head-office functions will be moving over the next few months to an existing Danske building at Killeaton House in Dunmurry, where a large number of staff already work. The Donegall Square West premises offers 26,782 sq ft of office space over two floors, with views over Belfast City Hall. The site is available to let through Osborne King. Director Richard McCaig said: "This is an exceptionally rare opportunity for an occupier to acquire Grade A office accommodation in the city's most prominent commercial location. "The lack of available Grade A office space in Belfast has been well publicised and we believe that the location, combined with the quality of the building, will prove attractive to the market." Three years ago, Ulster Bank said it would be putting its landmark headquarters - which face Danske Bank on the other side of Donegall Square - on the market. The bank was to enter into a sale and leaseback-type agreement, and proceeded to advertise the premises for sale at 19.4m. But around nine months later, the bank withdrew the Donegall Place premises from the market. Parent company Royal Bank of Scotland considered the sale of large swathes of its property portfolio following its 45bn taxpayer bail-out in 2008. In 2014, it sold the London headquarters of its subsidiary, Coutts - known as the Queen's bank - for 175m. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has announced there will be an EU probe into alleged sweetheart tax agreements received by French utility Engie from the government of Luxembourg The European Union has launched an in-depth probe into alleged sweetheart tax agreements received by French utility Engie from the government of Luxembourg. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager announced the move on a trip to Washington DC, where she faced pressure from US policy makers and business leaders over her controversial ruling that US tech icon Apple had received favourable tax terms that amounted to state aid and ordered it to repay 13bn (11bn) in back taxes in Ireland. The Republic's government insists no tax is due and said it will challenge the ruling. Given the timing on her US visit, the move against Engie - formerly GDF Suez - is likely to be seen as a sop to American audiences. Commissioner Vestager herself linked the cases in a speech delivered in Washington, referring to it after insisting that the Apple ruling was correct. "Just today, we opened an in-depth investigation into Luxembourg's tax treatment of the French electric utility company GDF Suez group - now known as Engie," she said. "Our concern is that tax rulings issued by Luxembourg may have given GDF Suez an unfair advantage over other companies, in breach of EU state aid rules." A number of law firms with bases in Belfast are eyeing up new offices in Dublin. It's understood that includes Allen & Overy, which employs more than 400 staff in legal services here, and Pinsent Masons. Allen & Overy did not wish to comment on whether there were any concerns it could move some of its operations to the Republic in the wake of Brexit. A spokesman for Pinsent Masons said: "We have a market-leading Northern Ireland presence which naturally lends itself to elements of cross-border work and a number of important relationships in the Republic of Ireland. It is true that Dublin is an important legal market and will continue to be so in light of Brexit. We won't rule out anything that enhances our ability to service the global sectors in which we operate however at this stage we're comfortable with our existing and very successful platform - particularly in Belfast where we recently took new and expanded premises as part of the firm's growth and investment strategy." It comes after First Minister Arlene Foster met with a series of law firms during an event in New York. "I am delighted to have the opportunity to address the major International Bar Association Conference in Washington where I will be telling over 6,000 delegates that legal services is one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy," she said. "Northern Ireland now has an international and comprehensive legal cluster which includes top firms including Citi, Herbert Smith Freehills, Allen & Overy, Axiom Law and Baker & McKenzie." An artist's impression of the proposed new Lanyon development in Belfast The developer behind a proposed new 55m office building for Belfast says he already has interest from a business in taking it over. The Lanyon Central development which would sit beside Central Station in Belfast was given the green light at Tuesday's planning committee meeting. It's due to be made up of four separate buildings, including 14-storey and 10-storey office buildings, along with two smaller buildings. Property developer Paddy Kearney is planning to develop a series of huge office buildings across the city over the next few years, in order to help meet a severe shortage of top-end office space in Belfast. A decision on whether to approve the series of buildings had previously been deferred, and also received opposition from local residents. Those living around the area fear the development will overshadow the existing houses. Kilmona, the firm behind the scheme, said the investment is worth 55m, and could create as many as 350 construction jobs over a two-year period. It says the buildings would be able to hold 2,500 workers once completed. It would be one of the largest single office developments proposed for the city in more than a decade. The development will also feature retail units, car parking at lower ground floor level with an external plaza and landscaping. The new buildings will sit on an empty brownfield site beside Central Station. But the major development has received several objections from residents, as well as from Sinn Fein MLA Mairtin O Muilleoir, who is now Finance Minister. In a letter to planners, he said: "I believe that the planned development would totally dominate the residential properties in the immediate area." And Alliance MLA for South Belfast, Paula Bradshaw, also said she supports a campaign from residents in the Markets area of the city to reject the application. Elsewhere in the city, Paddy Kearney has applied for planning permission to build another new office development. His company is planning to knock down Scottish Amicable House at Donegall Square South, beside his hotel Ten Square, and build a nine-storey office development. He had originally applied for permission to use the building as another extension to the hotel, asking to add another 66 bedrooms. The firm says it hasn't withdrawn that application, and instead is adding "options at this site". A spokesman had told the Belfast Telegraph the application "is a response to the pent-up office demand in Belfast". Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary speaks to the media at a Press conference at Titanic Belfast. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary speaks to the media at a Press conference at Titanic Belfast. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary says remaining domestic flights from City of Derry airport could be moved to Belfast unless Stormont cuts air passenger duty. Mr O'Leary said if the Executive had removed the 13 a flight duty, Ryanair would not have cut its City of Derry to Stansted flights. He says the low cost airline would have added a fourth plane to Belfast if the UK hadn't voted for Brexit. "We were certainly planning to put a fourth aircraft in to Belfast International. We have been made nervous by Brexit," he said. Mr O'Leary says the scrapping of APD would be "huge" and could double the number of passengers flying in to Belfast through Ryanair. "If APD had been scrapped we wouldn't be closing the Derry to Londonderry route," he said. He believes a combined 16m aimed at boosting City of Derry airport and subsidising the United Belfast to Newark route could be better spent on dealing with the loss of APD. Speaking about the United route, he said: "They throw more good money after bad." "That 1.1 million passengers would double to 2 million, just from Ryanair, if APD was scrapped." Cold Feet star Robert Bathurst has blamed being bullied at boarding school for him becoming a "wary" and "very private" person. The English actor was sent to a boarding school run by Benedictine monks at eight, and says he was bullied by staff and older pupils. He told the Radio Times that when he was filming Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie in Ireland, he hired a car to revisit the school but was "hyperventilating" as he went up the drive. Bathurst said: "Your letters were read and if you said anything against the school, you were beaten. "It has forced me to be very private. "You become cannier about how much you show and how much you display. I don't announce any ambition in advance of doing something. "You become very much more watchful and more calculating. "You're wary; you anticipate trouble. You work out how things might play and decide whether or not to show your hand." Bathurst, who plays management consultant David in Cold Feet, also spoke about sometimes feeling "underused and underrated" in his career. He said: "In the early 1990s, in the annual round-up, someone referred to me as the most underrated actor. "But then I've never met anyone in the profession of any standing who isn't a bit gnarly about what parts they could have done." The star also revealed he is often sceptical about how his fellow actors present themselves. He said: "Everything is done for effect, with one eye on how it's going to be received. "I never trust what an actor says." :: This week's Radio Times is on sale on Tuesday. Sir Terry Wogan's "living memorial" should be his work with Children in Need, says Lord Grade Former BBC chairman Lord Michael Grade has paid tribute to Sir Terry Wogan ahead of the memorial for the late broadcaster. Lord Grade, who had worked with Sir Terry since the 1980s, told the Radio Times he was "authentic - the real deal". He said the service at Westminster Abbey on September 27 would be a fitting tribute to the presenter - who died on January 31 aged 77, after a short battle with cancer - and that Sir Terry's "living memorial" was Children in Need. Lord Grade said: "Over the years Children in Need has raised over 638 million, but today it's easy to forget that giving on such a scale had never happened before in British broadcasting - and finding someone viewers would give their money to wasn't easy. "Of course, once Terry got hold of Children in Need, it just took off and he was so proud of what it became." Lord Grade attributes Sir Terry's success to his wit, the fact he was a good listener and that people trusted him. He went on: "I suppose you could say he was a TV personality. I hate that phrase because it rather undersells his talent. "He was a great broadcaster and absolutely nothing could throw him. "One of his great strengths was that if things were going wrong, he'd own up. He wouldn't try and pretend to the viewers that everything was fine. He told you the truth - even if it made him look silly. "That was the beauty of him hosting the Eurovision Song Contest. He told the truth. He did it with charm and dignity but he'd say - 'Well, this is a load of old tosh, isn't it?' And we'd say, 'You're absolutely right, Terry'." "He was a joy to work with, a joy to be with socially," Lord Grade added. :: This week's Radio Times is on sale on Tuesday. The Dundonald centres project was put on ice two years ago The Dundonald centres project was put on ice two years ago An aborted plan to redevelop Dundonald International Ice Bowl left ratepayers with a 1.5m bill, a report has revealed. Proposals to rebuild the ice rink and bowling alley on the outskirts of Belfast were shelved two years ago. Castlereagh Borough Council had entered into a contract without gaining consent from the new shadow council which would replace it. And when councillors finally called a halt to the project, it led to a seven-figure write-off. Today's report focuses on the final year of Northern Ireland's 26 councils before they were replaced by 11 new bodies in April 2015. Local Government Auditor Louise Mason examined the accounts of the 26 former councils and various other bodies set up as part of the transition. In total, audit opinions were issued on 68 sets of financial statements from the 2014/15 financial year. Ms Mason's report flags up controversy surrounding the Ice Bowl. The complex opened in 1986 and has around 600,000 visitors every year. In September 2013 the Department of the Environment told councils to seek consent from their transition committee before entering into a capital contract of 250,000 or more. Castlereagh Borough Council argued that such consent was not required as the contract was in place prior to the September 2013 direction. But the project was ultimately aborted by the shadow council with a 1.5m write-off. Today's report also reveals that absenteeism at councils hit a seven-year high. The average sickness absence rate in 2014/15 was 12.32 days a year - up 6% per employee on the previous year and the highest since 2008/09. The former Larne Borough Council recorded the highest absentee rate at 17.42 days per worker. In 2014/15, councils agreed 169 exit packages for departing staff at a cost of 8.7m - 22 of them were over 100,000. This represents a significant increase (120) in the number of packages from 2013/14 due to the move to 11 councils. Of the 8.7m, nearly 70% was paid by five councils. A Ballymena teenager who started smoking cannabis aged 12 is warning others not to use drugs as a coping mechanism. Aaron Kinney, 16, was left feeling paranoid to leave his house after smoking 15 joints a day. He has now kicked the habit and turned his life around. He has made a film with young peoples charity Fixers to show the effects the drug had on his life as a warning to others to get out of the fog and lose the smoke. Aaron began using cannabis recreationally until a personal tragedy saw him smoking more. My uncle died and I couldnt cope. He was taking heroin and it killed him. We were really close and I was devastated, he explained. Because I was so young I didnt know about his addiction. I only found out a few years later when I started asking questions. It was hard to deal with. I missed him and couldnt seem to talk to anyone so I smoked to make myself happy. As I got older my depression got worse, so I smoked more. Aaron found himself using larger amounts to get the same high. It got to a point where I would be smoking 15 joints every day around the age of 15. I felt my mind slipping away from me, Aaron recalled. I never wanted to go out, because I was feeling so anxious and paranoid all the time. I just wanted to stay in and smoke and I would spend weeks at a time indoors. Expand Close Aaron Kinney has made a video warning young people not to use drugs. Fixers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Aaron Kinney has made a video warning young people not to use drugs. All my money was going to buy smoke so I never had any cash, but the cycle meant I needed to find some to buy more weed and that sometimes meant taking my mums money and doing other things Im not proud of. He added: I fell out with my family because of the things I was doing and I was failing at school. I didnt like who I was anymore. He says the turning point came when the police got involved when he was 15. He then got help from a doctor, was referred for counselling and was able to use a self-help service for drug addiction. Since quitting cannabis, Aaron said he has noticed positive changes and will be starting a hairdressing course at college in September next year. Im a lot happier now. Ive got new friends now who dont smoke or do drugs, and Im dealing with my issues, Aaron commented. Fixers works with young people aged 16-25 across the UK by providing them with resources to help them campaign on issues they feel strongly about. The charity has helped more than 19,000 youngsters across the UK to have a voice in their community on issues such as cyber-bullying, self-harm, suicide or transphobia. The SDLP aide, who once won a placement as a 'Clintern' in Washington, is planning a tribute night to the US presidential front runner having idolised her since she visited Northern Ireland on that special night in 1995. Belfast is set to give Hillary Clinton a very special pre-election boost ... thanks to who has to be her biggest fan this side of the Atlantic: high-flying barrister and political advisor Caroline McNeill. A huge party, which will be attended by a host of local dignitaries - with a special message from the Democratic presidential nominee herself - is currently consuming every minute of Caroline's spare time as she works to ensure that '21 Years of Friendship - Belfast's Tribute to Hillary Clinton' is a night to remember. By her own admission, Caroline (32) has been obsessed with Hillary since the age of 11, when she first saw her standing with her husband, President Bill Clinton, on stage at Belfast City Hall 21 years ago. Every detail of that freezing November night in 1995, as she sat on her dad's shoulders furiously waving her plastic US flag among a crowd of thousands, is for ever etched in her memory. Such was the impact on the awestruck child that the historic moment in local history proved to be life-defining for her. Consumed by Hillary's career ever since, she even managed to secure a place as an intern in the Clinton office in Washington, where she finally got to meet her role model. Her own career has also been influenced by her great admiration for the presidential candidate and despite gaining a reputation as a skilful barrister in London, she has given up law to pursue her passion for politics, working as a special advisor to SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell. Organising her tribute night, which will be staged in the Europa Hotel on October 20, seems a natural outlet for Caroline's passion for her heroine. She says: "I just wanted to do something tangible for her campaign and it is also a celebration of the fact that it is 21 years since that visit in 1995. "When I am not working, organising the tribute night is taking up all my free time, but I am so passionate about her that it feels very natural to be working late hours to do this. It is shaping up to be a very special night. "Hillary inspired a lot of people here and we have people from different political parties attending as well as local people who she worked with, such as May Blood and Naomi Long. It is also open to anyone whose life has been touched by Hillary's work." And she adds: "As it is being held a couple of days before the election, Hillary obviously can't be there herself, but we hope to have her there via videolink with a special message, so she will be in the room, too." Caroline has been following Hillary's race for the White House as closely as she has followed her throughout her career. As shocked as anyone by Hillary's recent near-collapse at the 9/11 memorial service in New York, she says she is confident that rumours that she might have to pull out of the race are completely unfounded. She says: "Pneumonia is not an insignificant illness, but nowadays it can be got over with antibiotics and a couple of days' rest and, obviously, that is what Hillary did and she is back on the campaign trail. "She has been in the public eye for 25 years and is not afraid of hard work and her schedule is absolutely gruelling and would challenge any one of us and she recognised she needed a couple of days off. "I've seen her up close and personal and she has exceptional attention to detail and incredible intellect and the idea that she is not fit for the job is just ludicrous." Throughout the race for the White House, Republican rival Donald Trump has relentlessly launched scathing personal attacks on Mrs Clinton, describing her as "unstable", "unbalanced" a "liar" and even calling her "robot Clinton". Caroline sees Trump as an anti-political campaigner, who is using his attacks on Hillary to tap into people's fears. She says: "We are living in such strange times politically when people like Donald Trump, who are anti-establishment, are trying to tap into the fears of people. It is unthinkable to me that he could be president of the US - a democracy which is looked up to across the world. "He is trying to paint a picture of Hillary that the facts don't bear out. These kinds of cliches don't wash in terms of her commitment to America and her dedication to her life in politics and her hopes to engender change and inspire women, which she has done in Belfast and across the world. "Cruel jibes coming from someone with Donald Trump's reputation are not going to put her back too much." While Mrs Clinton can't be in Belfast personally, due to her hectic schedule, Jim Lyons, a former special advisor on Northern Ireland affairs for President Bill Clinton and an advisor on Hillary's campaign, will represent her. Caroline is also thrilled that local singing star Brian Kennedy (below), who is currently going through treatment for cancer, has also agreed to sing at the tribute night. For Caroline, who is from Belfast, every detail of the first time she set eyes on Hillary and Bill Clinton during that historic Christmas visit in 1995 is for ever fixed in her memory. Like many thousands of others from all across Ireland, she went along with her parents and three brothers to see the US President and his wife switch on the Belfast Christmas lights. In what she describes as a "magical" experience, she recalls: "I couldn't see very much because of the crowds as we were way at the back standing near McDonald's. I asked my dad to lift me onto his shoulders so that I could see and I remember Hillary and Bill standing behind bulletproof glass in front of the City Hall. "I remember waving my wee plastic American flag, which I still have in my bedroom at my parents' home and which I will have with me at the tribute night. I remember Bill Clinton's southern drawl and just how magical it all was. "I remember when I was studying at Trinity College Dublin for my finals, I was reading Hillary's autobiography for the fourth time." While studying for her degree, she applied for the chance to be part of a special Washington/Ireland programme offering 30 young people the opportunity to work as interns in Washington. Naturally, she applied for the Clinton office. Much to her delight, she succeeded in securing a placement and finally got the chance to meet the woman who had been her role model for so long - although she hadn't expected to reduce this hardened politician to tears. "As 'Clinterns', most of us had no access to her at all and I met her by pure chance one day and got to tell her my story. "I told her about seeing her when I was 11 and being inspired by her and she started to cry and said that she couldn't believe that a girl from Belfast was in her office. "The next day, I came into the packed intern office on Capitol Hill, still on a high from my meeting with Hillary, when an aide came into the office and said, 'Senator Clinton wants to see the Irish girl'. All heads turned to me and the next thing I knew I was being brought down a corridor in the Russell Building and her aide pushed the door open and Hillary said: 'Here she is now. Caroline, this is your new Executive'. And she was sitting with the First Minister, Peter Robinson, and Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness." Caroline returned to Dublin to finish her degree, went on to study law and moved to London, where she worked with a top legal firm as a barrister. Always determined to follow in her role model's footsteps, she left law in 2011 to work with the three SDLP MPs as a researcher and writer at Westminster. Last year, she became special advisor to the party's leader, Dr McDonnell. "I enjoy the courtroom, but no one who knows me will be surprised that I have gone into politics. Growing up, all my friends would have constantly asked, 'What's the crack with you and politics', because I was always watching and reading about it and lapping it all up. "I love being around political events and when you look back and see the changes that have happened in our society, I think we should be proud that we've done well and that has been with the help of people like the Clintons." Caroline is familiar with the many scandals and controversies which at times clouded the Clinton administration. But she has nothing but admiration for the way in which Hillary has survived the many storms. "You've just got to look at Bill Clinton's record. He had a second term in the White House. The proof is in the pudding. Despite the allegations and scandals, he left office with a high approval rating," she says. "What he did domestically put the American economy back on track and what he did in the Middle East and Northern Ireland gave him a record he can look back on with pride. Very few politicians can do that. "Hillary had to weather the storms, too. You really have to believe in something to continue to put yourself through it and she obviously does. She inspires people to do better and women to be whatever they want to be." Martin McGuinness has insisted there was no secrecy or "underhand dealings" in the appointment of Stormont's new 75,000-a-year Press secretary. Quizzed by angry MLAs, the Deputy First Minister said David Gordon brought "a different level of expertise ... to a very difficult job." Nonetheless, controversy around the appointment of the former Stephen Nolan show editor is growing, almost a week after it was first announced. The decision made by Mr McGuinness and First Minister Arlene Foster - using special legal powers - is now to be probed by an Assembly committee. Stormont Speaker Robin Newton yesterday prevented it being debated in the Assembly - and came in for criticism - only for it then to be raised at Question Time with Mr McGuinness. To laughter from Ulster Unionists, Mr McGuinness said: "There was absolutely no secrecy or underhand dealings." TUV leader Jim Allister shouted: "Except when you changed the law." Mr McGuinness retorted: "Some minority Members can laugh all they like, but the appointment of the Press secretary was legally compliant." Referring to the use of the royal prerogative powers to avoid advertising the post, Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long referred to Mr McGuinness as "your highness". The UUP's Jo-Anne Dobson asked him how "as a proud republican" it felt to act like a Monarch. "I feel grand, absolutely grand," Mr McGuinness replied, and added he was confident Mr Gordon (below) would work well with the existing 55 Press officers in the Executive Information Service to help put the Assembly "in a good light". Mrs Dobson said it was a lesson in how to "spin a spin-doctor". Then reflecting his party leader Mike Nesbitt's jibe that the Executive is using "North Korean levels of secrecy", the UUP's Steve Aiken asked Mr McGuinness "what further advice we can expect from Kim Jong-un on message management within the Northern Ireland Executive?" The DFM responded: "This is all nonsense, it is all a two-day wonder. We have every confidence in (David Gordon) to do his job, and that is what is frightening the opposition parties the most." Outside the chamber, Mr McGuinness argued the Executive had been within its rights not to advertise the role, which largely replaces the out-going Director of Communications, Stephen Grimason . Mr McGuinness stressed: "The position was dealt with in a way that was absolutely and totally legal." Mr Gordon, who remains a BBC employee at present, was not available for comment yesterday as the storm over his appointment also embroiled Speaker Newton. Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long said when he replaced Mitchel McLaughlin, Mr Newton publicly recognised his role includes protecting "the interests, integrity and procedures of the (Assembly)." TUV leader Jim Allister asked the Speaker whether it was appropriate that prerogative powers "should be used to upstage the House". Mr Newton, however, insisted the subject of the appointment was "clearly out of line" with issues which can be raised as a 'matter of the day', adding: "My decisions are no more open to challenge or debate than my predecessors, nor do I intend to allow Members to try to draw me into areas of party-political debate." A Shih Tzu named Lucy Lou who was near death after three years on a Co Tyrone puppy farm has been named as a finalist for Northern Ireland's first ever hero pet of the year. Nine courageous pets have been shortlisted for the prize, including Nelson, a one-eyed Husky from Belfast, and Poppy, a life-saving labrador from Bangor who makes sure her epileptic owner gets to a safe place during seizures. Lucy Lou's owner, Sandra Bothwell from Carrickfergus, told the Belfast Telegraph about her brave Shih Tzu. "She was used for breeding for three years on a dirty old puppy farm. When I first saw her it was horrible, she was full of fleas and lice and her coat was green and smelly," she said. After being re-homed the pooch also endured a vicious attack from a German Shepard while out walking. "I had to bring her to the vet every day for treatment. Lucy went through an awful lot but she's the best wee dog," her owner said. Nelson the Husky was on death row in a Monaghan dog pound after being beaten so badly he lost an eye. But he now has a happy new home with Belfast owners Tracy McCaughey and her husband Paul. "It makes me cry. The injury to his eye was that bad they couldn't save it," said Tracy. "Apparently he was an internet sensation with a Monaghan dog pound before we got him because he's so gorgeous." She added: "They say rescued dogs make the best pets because they know they've been given a second chance." Other hero pets on the shortlist include Lisburn labrador Ara who saved her family by waking them during a caravan fire. Meanwhile, Jamie, a caring cat from Newtownabbey, still visits his previous owner in a nursing home. And therapy dogs Spot and Ted in Craigavon are favourites with school children with special needs. Honey, a Ballymena labrador, has been a life changer for his family's young autistic daughter Becca. Ripley, a Belfast pug, supported her owner through difficult times, and Alfie, a King Charles Spaniel from Lisburn, bounced back from what was thought to be terminal cancer. Carrickfergus-based vet Kerensa Scott said: "For most owners their pets are a member of the family and a source of companionship, but for some owners, their pet is also a one-of-a-kind hero." Officers accused of being "aggressive and overly forceful" when dealing with a young female threatening to jump from a south Belfast bridge have been cleared by the Police Ombudsman. The incident, which happened in April this year on the Ormeau Bridge in south Belfast, was witnessed by a member of the public who later complained about the officers handling of the incident. She said a male officer had grabbed the girl by the arm, trailed her to a police car and then shoved her inside. She also alleged that a female officer had been aggressive and had made an inappropriate comment to the girl. When interviewed, the officers denied the allegations and said that a degree of force had been necessary as the girl had struggled continuously and was threatening to escape and jump from the bridge. They said she had to be lifted to be placed into the police vehicle for her own safety, where she continued to struggle, requiring them to apply handcuffs. She was said to have calmed down after a while, before apologising for her actions. Both officers denied having made any inappropriate comments at any stage of the incident. Police Ombudsman investigators also spoke to a civilian witness who had earlier called police to report his concerns for the girls safety. He said he had no issues about the way police had handled the incident and said that the girl had been hysterical and that he believed the officers needed to take her to the police car for her own safety. He also stated that he had not heard either of the officers make any inappropriate comments during the incident. Having reviewed the evidence, a Police Ombudsman investigator concluded that police had used a minimal level of force in the circumstances and that this had been justified in order to prevent the girl harming herself. Officials found more than 3,000 examples of inmates receiving benefits while in jail. File image Prisoners were handed more than 800,000 in benefits - even though they were banged up in jail. Officials found over 3,000 examples of inmates wrongly claiming cash in three years. In hundreds of cases they were receiving Jobseeker's Allowance and Carer's Allowance - despite being locked up for committing serious crimes. Officials were unable to confirm if all of the money has been recovered. The chair of Stormont's spending watchdog has written to the Northern Ireland Audit Office to demand an investigation into how the blunder occurred. UUP MLA Robin Swann, who heads the Public Accounts Committee, said he was astonished by the revelation. The payments occurred under the watch of the former Department for Social Development (DSD). The benefits system now falls under the remit of the Department for Communities. Mr Swann told the Belfast Telegraph: "I am amazed that DSD did not catch on that they were paying people inside prison Incapacity Benefit, Carer's Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance and other benefits - how did the department believe they were performing these tasks?" The department said money is recovered only where "reasonable and cost effective to do so". Details of the payments emerged after a Freedom of Information request from this newspaper to the Department for Communities. In three years to April 2014, a total of 801,596 was wrongly paid out to prisoners. Officials found 3,299 examples - an average of 242 each. These include: 583 cases of prisoners receiving Jobseeker's Allowance - a total of 58,550; 1,269 cases of prisoners receiving Employment Support Allowance - a total of 368,171; 583 cases of prisoners receiving Income Support - a total of 110,130; And 130 cases of prisoners receiving Carer's Allowance - a total of 20,848. Mr Swann said the blunders must be urgently investigated. "I have written to the Comptroller & Auditor General to request that the remit of the National Fraud Initiative be extended to include a forensic look at the failures that allowed these monies to be paid," he added. "I, like other MLAs, often have to fight and struggle to get constituents access to the benefits they are entitled to, so to see this flagrant abuse of the benefits system is appalling. "I also hope that the current Department for Communities takes immediate action to recoup these monies where paid in error." Mr Swann said he would be pressing for more information. "The tax-paying public deserve to know what category of prisoner these benefits were paid to and what sentences they were serving," he added. The department was unable to provide information for the last two years because of a system upgrade in 2014, which means the data is not held in the same way as previously. A spokesman said: "Overpayment figures for 2014/15 and 2015/16 are available, however, as we cannot specifically identify the rationale for the overpayment we are therefore unable to report on a comparable basis." Previously, the amount wrongly paid to prisoners had been growing rapidly. The 1,004 cases identified in 2011/12 amounted to a total of 198,300. But in 2013/14 this had spiralled to 346,625, albeit the number of cases (1,017) had only increased slightly. It suggests prisoners were receiving even more money they were not entitled to. A spokesperson for the Department for Communities said details of all prison committals and releases are received twice weekly and checked to establish those in receipt of benefit. The relevant benefit-paying office is then notified of the date of committal and release. She said: "A number of factors therefore can influence the frequency or amount of benefit which may be paid in these circumstances (including) the administrative process required from the point of committal, notification, review of benefit entitlement to payment adjustment. "In some cases benefits are paid in advance and will inevitably require to be recovered. "There are particular rules around the payments of benefits to persons in custody. For example, a person held on remand but not yet sentenced will have benefit paid pending trial, which will be retrospectively recovered in the event of a guilty verdict. "The department has a duty to protect public funds and to recover overpayments of benefit where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. This is undertaken in accordance with current legislation, policy and procedures." In July a report by the Audit Office found millions of pounds in benefits had been wrongly paid in Northern Ireland. Housing benefit fraud and overpayments amounted to over 1.2m. Suspected fraud, error and overpayment in relation to pensions totalled more than 1.4m. The announcement follows Ryanair's decision to axe its service between City of Derry Airport and London Stansted The UK Government has signalled it could subsidise an air route between Londonderry and London. The announcement follows Ryanair's recent decision to axe its service from City of Derry Airport to London Stansted. After the move, Derry City and Strabane District Council called for a Public Service Obligation (PSO) commitment from the Government to keep a route open. It would be the first such PSO in Northern Ireland. The Government has invited the council to put forward proposals to maintain a London service. The announcement comes in the week the Northern Ireland Executive pledged 7 million to help support the troubled airport. The Government said a Derry-London route is a significant link for local businesses and the tourism industry. It said the council could undertake a tender process to appoint an airline to maintain the route, which is used by more than 125,000 people a year. Minister for aviation Lord Ahmad said: "Our airports are vital in supporting local economies, providing connections in the UK and opening up new opportunities. "That is why the UK Government has agreed in principle to support the air route between City of Derry Airport and London. In terms of process, it is important that Derry City and Strabane District Council take forward the tender process to secure this route." Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire said it was "good news" for travellers in the north west of Northern Ireland and the wider regional economy. Expand Close City of Derry Airport's future was dealt a heavy blow with Ryanair's decision to cut its services to London Stansted and Faro / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp City of Derry Airport's future was dealt a heavy blow with Ryanair's decision to cut its services to London Stansted and Faro "Having talked to local business leaders I know the air link with London plays a vital role," he said. "I am pleased the UK Government has been able to step in to help, as part of our commitment to build a Northern Ireland that works for everyone." The Government maintains regional airport links through the Regional Air Connectivity Fund, which can be used to protect services at risk of being lost. Stormont parties have clashed bitterly over the way forward in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. But an Ulster Unionist blueprint involving the entire province becoming an enterprise zone and trebling of spending on infrastructure was strongly rejected. The rebuff came despite the UUP saying it accepted the "democratic wish" following the June referendum to leave the European Union. In contrast, Stormont's other opposition parties - the SDLP, Alliance and Greens - have launched a court attempt to stymie the decision in relation to Northern Ireland. Opening the debate, the UUP's Steve Aiken argued: "We have a divided Government, pretending to give a facade of unity but still with no proposals or plans." He said potential investors would discover the province's universities are underfunded by 55m and "dropping like stones in the global rankings" while 38% of the brightest youngsters are exported each year, along with the second highest costs of energy in western Europe and "appalling" infrastructure. "Now, we have no plan for Brexit," he went on. "We need to build a more positive vision. The border between two great economic groupings can provide considerable economic potential. We have a strong case, if made properly, to become an enterprise zone that could harmonise EU/UK trading positions." But Christopher Stalford of the DUP countered that those who had been on the "Remain" side of the campaign had shown a public display of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance. "I welcome that Mr Aiken has been dragged kicking and screaming to the final stage: acceptance. I wish the same could be said for the other opposition parties because there seems to be opposition within the opposition to accepting the outcome of the result," he said. "Some of our more enthusiastic Europhile friends are still in denial. Some are very, very angry, largely with the people who beat them through argument during the campaign." Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd asked: "Will somebody please draw me a diagram of what Brexit means? To date, no one has been able to confirm what Brexit means. "Is there a done deal on Brexit? No, there is not. Is there a unified view about Brexit in what is known as the United Kingdom? No, there is not. Is there everything to play for? Of course there is. We are at the start of a journey here," he argued. Former Executive Minister Stephen Farry of the Alliance Party argued there can still be "some type of special arrangement or status for Northern Ireland, whether that is in terms of preferential access or indeed as a region within the European Union". SDLP MLA Claire Hanna said her party remained determined to prevent NI leaving the EU. "It is our duty to do all we can to prevent this unnecessary change from happening," she added. TUV leader Jim Allister said at least the UUP had produced a plan while the DUP and Sinn Fein were "pulling in opposite directions". Green Party leader Steven Agnew claimed the UUP plan for NI to become an enterprise zone involved a deregulation of planning laws. "Those planning functions are there to protect our environment - do we want to protect or deregulate? The two rarely go hand-in-hand." Finance Minister Michael Noonan said Limerick 'is proud to be host to such an innovative company' A healthcare company has announced plans to create 300 jobs. US-based Fazzi Healthcare Services is to set up a new base in Limerick, taking on employees over the next five years. The company is involved in medical coding to international standards. Its work is overseen by the World Health Organisation as it transforms data on diagnoses, treatments, procedures, outcomes and services into alphanumeric codes, known as ICD. Most countries, including Ireland, use the system, with the latest edition having codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. The investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland. Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor described the sector as a new and emerging business. "I am very keen to pursue opportunities for investment and job creation in new sectors, these are increasingly possible with our infrastructure and talented workforce, which enables companies like Fazzi to undertake work for customers in different parts of the world," she said. Finance Minister Michael Noonan said: "It's great to see Fazzi Healthcare Services grow their presence in Limerick, which is proud to be host to such an innovative company that combines healthcare and software." Mehmet Irmak and Sinan Irmak have been charged in connection with the fatal stabbing of Dublin man John Donnelly Two brothers have been detained in custody in Turkey for the murder of Irish theatre director John Donnelly. Mr Donnelly (64) was found dead in an apartment he was renting on June 3 after police were alerted to a bloodied knife outside the building. Brothers Mehmet Irmak (28) and Sinan Irmak (20) have been charged in connection with the fatal stabbing of the Dublin man according to Turkish media. News organisation Hurriyet reported that two other men were released without charge by the prosecutors office following questioning. No date for a court appearance has yet been announced but the trial is expected to be a lengthy process according to Voices newspaper, an English-language media organisation located in Turkey. Mr Donnelly was a bachelor who lived most of his life in Dublin. He had close associations with Wexford Light Opera and many other musical societies. The 64-year-old was reportedly found lying on the floor of his apartment on the morning following the attack, having died from a single stab wound. Back in June, police in Bodrum were quoted as saying they had hoped to make arrests following the release of CCTV images which showed two men leaving the apartment building on the night Mr Donnelly was murdered. The police also said Mr Donnelly's apartment had been ransacked and robbery was a possible motive. Mr Donnelly had travelled to Turkey on holiday shortly after producing hit Wexford Light Opera Society musical Evita. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will make an official trip to the Middle East this autumn on behalf of the Government, Clarence House has announced. Charles and Camilla will travel to Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates in November. Bahrain's government, dominated by members of its royal family, has in the past been accused by campaigning groups of human rights abuses since pro-democracy protesters were violently suppressed during the Arab Spring of 2011. Clarence House said in a statement: "On behalf of the British Government, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will undertake official visits to the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates in November 2016. "The tour will help to strengthen the United Kingdom's warm bilateral relations with key partners in the region." The British Government's relationship with Bahrain was criticised in a report by the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee published in April. MPs said there was ''plainly a perception'' that the issue of human rights had been downgraded in the Government's dealings with countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain. The then foreign secretary Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond defended his department, saying: " Improving human rights is a core function of the Foreign Office and is the responsibility of every British diplomat around the world." The royal family has a strong and close relationship with many Middle Eastern countries that are ruled by Arab royalty. Friendships have built up over many decades and the UK's ability to interact with nations like Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman - royal to royal - is likely to be seen as an asset by the Foreign Office. Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has known the Queen's family for many years, and met her at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May. He also chatted to the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York there, where his son Sheikh Nasser was competing, and was a guest in the royal box at an equestrian themed show celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday. The UK's ambassador to Bahrain Simon Martin said of the forthcoming visit: "I am absolutely delighted that this important and historic visit is crowning a year in which we are celebrating the 200th-year anniversary of UK-Bahrain relations. "This gives us a wonderful opportunity to showcase the deep and wide-ranging relationship between our two countries". The campaigning organisation Human Rights Watch has described Bahrain's human rights climate as remaining "highly problematic" on its website. It added: "The country's courts convict and imprison peaceful dissenters and have failed to hold officials accountable for torture and other serious rights violations. "There is evidence that the security forces continue to use disproportionate force to quell unrest. Human rights activists and members of the political opposition face arrest and prosecution and dozens have been stripped of their citizenship." Charles and Camilla last visited Bahrain and the UAE together in 2007, and Oman in 2013, but the prince has made numerous solo trips to all three countries on the schedule. He toured the UAE last year and in 2014 and that year also visited Bahrain by himself. Oman's ruler and head of state Sultan Qaboos bin Said returned from Germany earlier this year where he spent eight months receiving medical treatment, reportedly for bowel cancer. Oman has been transformed since the sultan seized power in a bloodless coup against his father, Said bin Taimur, in 1970. Despite his lack of a democratic government, the ruler's policies have proved popular and he has used the wealth generated by the country's oil reserves to develop its infrastructure and other services. Britain has close links with the UAE, which is one of its largest trading partners in the Gulf region, and the nation's Sheikh Mansour is owner of the Premier League leaders Manchester City. The UAE was created in 1971 by the Trucial States which had gained their independence from the UK. It is formed of seven states - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al Qaiwain - which are governed by a supreme council of rulers made up of the seven emirs, who appoint the prime minister and the cabinet, its president is Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The UAE is famed for its extravagant property developments, like the man-made palm islands at Dubai and the seemingly endless skyscrapers that emerge from the sands. The prince's visits to UAE and Bahrain in 2014 and 2015 were very brief, with the heir to the throne spending just hours in the nations visiting senior figures. In 2014 in Abu Dhabi, he called on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces. While in the capital of Bahrain, Manama, he was welcomed by Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain, also during 2014 - and then called on King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Teachers at Christian fundamentalist schools in the UK allegedly performed exorcisms on pupils, beat children in religious rituals and groomed girls for marriage, according to former students who say they have decided to speak out now after years of suffering in silence. The former pupils told The Independent such treatment of children was a terrifying part of life at schools in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s in an environment where they felt too afraid to complain for fear of retribution from school staff, evangelical parents and their close-knit Baptist faith community. One former pupil alleged that in the 1990s pupils at school assemblies would start convulsing amid blood curdling screams as prayers were said for the holy spirit to rid children of demons. The alleged abuse is said to have taken place many years ago at a number of schools in the UK that follow the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum, a form of learning that originated in the southern Baptist states of the US. The former pupils contacted The Independent after reading our June report revealing that some of these schools still teach children that girls must submit to men, homosexuality is unnatural and that creationism is a fact. They said the article jolted their memories of their own experiences. More than 1,000 4-18 year olds are currently taught in 30 ACE schools in the UK, all of them registered as private institutions. Although the schools are bound by the same safeguarding and child protection regulations as the state sector, former pupils want assurances that monitoring of these schools is more effective than when they attended. One told The Independent that during his time at an ACE school in the 1990s: We were told that we were the children of God and the world was out to get us. So we were isolated and couldnt speak out. There was nobody checking on us. I just took it. Pupils who have traditionally attended the schools tend to come from Christian families who follow a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible. Former pupils said many of the children will have limited interaction with mainstream society. One former pupil, who attended a school in the 1990s and who has asked not to be named, said: Exorcisms used to happen at school assemblies sometimes. There would be 20 or so children and perhaps five adults. We were told that the holy spirit would come through children. I started convulsing and I couldnt stop. Even when I went to bed I kept convulsing. I was terrified, I really thought it was the holy spirit. Read more Read More We would all begin convulsing. I remember them screaming blood curdling screams and then wed all pray rigorously to get the demons out. Teachers would physically push us. Theyd lay their hands on us when we prayed and theyd push us down. If you didnt fall it was said that you werent really feeling the Lord. It was a very dark thing. It really was insanity. It got completely out of control. Two other former pupils from the 1990s and 2000s alleged they witnessed exorcisms performed on some occasions at other schools, where children were encouraged to speak in tongues. Allegations from ex-pupils include other potential concerns. At some schools, girls were groomed for marriage from a young age, two former students said. They claimed the grooming was done by the church communities that run the schools and by teachers. Methods were said to include controlling girls sexuality and isolating them from boys their own age so they might later be married to much older male members of the church groups. In some schools they were allegedly encouraged to marry soon after they turned 16, as church leaders told them it was Gods will. One woman, who attended a school between the late 1990s and early 2000s, said: There was one girl I knew who married someone more than 20 years older. The man she married had known her since she was seven years old and he was 30. Shed sit on his knee when she was a child. Hed played with her when she was a child. Now theyre married. Its just really creepy. Read more Read More As a young girl, you were told you were not allowed to talk to boys your own age, you had to stand six inches apart from boys at all times at schools, teachers told you theyd hit you with a wooden paddle if you kiss a boy. So you didnt get to meet anyone else and then youre shown sexual interest for the first time and its some creepy old man. It was so sexualised, they were sexualising children. Another former pupil who attended an ACE school in the 1990s said a girl at her school had married a man at 16, when he was in his 40s, and who she had met when he began teaching at her school. She said: You were told from a young age that your role is to support a man and God will lead you to him. The role of women in these religious groups is quite clear. Youre told God has chosen a husband for you and God will lead this man to you. But in reality, pastors and church leaders guide men to you. Its grooming. She added: When I was 18, I experienced it. From the age of 14, the church had been pushing me towards a man in the church group who was eight years older. I was actively encouraged to work with him. They were very pushy about marriage, it was very intimidating. Its very closed and isolating. As a girl, youre left feeling redundant if you dont get married. Youre told its Gods will and youre just wasting time until you get married its your ultimate goal. She said that none of the girls married before the legal age of consent, adding: They are very keen to ensure nothing illegal happened, but the conditioning was around a long time before that. Although all the claims made by former pupils for this article relate to historic incidents, textbooks still used by the schools and seen by The Independent raise current concerns. The books suggest pupils are still taught that the wife is to obey, respect and submit to the leadership of her husband, serving as a helper to him and God desires for [women] to submit to husband[s]. Other pupils told The Independent there were also historic concerns about corporal punishment, which they say took on a religious characteristic at the ACE schools. They claimed children were beaten with a wooden paddle and then forced into a ritualised religious quasi-ceremony in which prayers were said for their salvation in the 1980s and 1990s. They said that the church groups believed at the time that corporal punishment was Gods will as it stopped children from sinning. Corporal punishment was outlawed in UK private schools in 1998 and there is no suggestion the ACE schools breached that law. David Waldock who attended an ACE school between the ages of 11 and 16 prior to 1998 said: I was beaten with a cane by teachers while a pupil at an ACE school. The school was in the basement of the church. The cane was kept in the vestry. You would be led up to the vestry to a fold down desk, inside was a cardboard case and in that was the cane. The teachers explained to you your offence. You were told to take your trousers down. Then you were bent over a chair with your trousers down and wearing just your underwear. Then you were caned. And then you prayed for forgiveness. It was very ritualised. It was a ritual of confession, administration and prayer for forgiveness. One former pupil who attended an ACE school in the 1990s said a four-year-old boy at her school had special needs which caused him to urinate and defecate uncontrollably in class. She claims the child would be routinely taken to be beaten by the headmaster with a wooden paddle to punish this bad behaviour. She says knowing corporal punishment was happening to other children was extremely distressing: I remember feeling sick. I was so frightened I dug my nails into my hands. A 1993 copy of the ACE teachers training manual, seen by The Independent, appears to instruct teachers in how to administer corporal punishment when children have sinned in ritualised religious ceremonies. It says: Demerits are for procedural violations; the paddle is for moral violations. The manual then lists a step by step process for hitting children. Using Bible verses, explain to the child the principles he has violated. Make sure he clearly understands what he has done wrong position the child so he is leaning forward with his hands on a desk or chair and with his feet spread. Keep the paddle, switch, or belt low to avoid hitting the spine. Pray with the child following corporal correction. Review the offense and show him Hebrews 13.17. Request that he ask the Lord to forgive him for _____ (name the violation) and help him obey Gods Word and those people God has placed in his life to train him. An updated edition of the teacher training manual compiled after 1998 stops advocating corporal punishment by teachers at ACE schools. Christian Education Europe, an organisational body that runs and promotes ACE schools, say stocks of teaching manuals are regularly checked to ensure they are up to date. A former pupil who attended an ACE school in the 1990s said: The kind of people who send their children to schools like these believe in it absolutely. The pastor had absolute power and they could do anything. Many of the former pupils quoted in this article have left the church groups and largely lead secular lives, meaning they have been ostracised by the church and some family members. A spokesperson for Christian Education Europe said they were shocked by the allegations of the former pupils. The spokesperson said they were a provider of an extensive range of curriculum material and services but not responsible for the governance of individual schools and added that it facilitates training to ensure that safeguarding procedures are in place. They said: Christian Education Europe inspects all the schools using the ACE programme and, running parallel with that, Ofsted has carried out official government inspections on all the schools also. We are delighted to confirm to you that findings meet government regulations and standards. We are aware, from safeguarding standards, it would be a criminal offence for information regarding known abuse not to be reported to the authorities. Regarding our resources, CEE regularly reviews the stock we hold to ensure all our materials comply with current legislation. Angela Rayner, Labours shadow Education Secretary, said: These allegations are extremely disturbing and there must be an urgent Government investigation. Jay Harman, faith schools and education campaigner at the British Humanist Association, told The Independent: These are not problems specific to any one religion or to any one type of school, and wherever they are found they threaten the rights and well-being of children just as much as they may do our security. The sooner the authorities recognise that the better. A spokesperson for the Department for Education, said: Schools are held to account much more rigorously than was the case some 30 years ago and every institution, independent or state, must promote the fundamental British values of democracy and mutual respect for all. They are also required to adhere to the Equalities Act. Any allegation that those values are not being promoted or discrimination of any kind is taking place in the classroom will be investigated. If upheld, we will take swift action including, where necessary, the removal of an institution from the register of independent schools. A spokesperson for Ofsted, said: The Department for Education is the registration authority for all independent schools. It has laid down a set of standards that independent schools, including faith schools, are required to meet. Ofsted inspects these schools against these standards, at the request of the DfE. Schools must comply with the standards in order to continue as a registered independent school. Independent schools are not required to follow the national curriculum, but they are required to teach a curriculum that encourages respect for other people. A Belfast woman broke down in tears in court yesterday as she gave evidence against an English policeman accused of pushing her into bushes, physically attacking and sexually assaulting her. Martin Asantaempaduh has denied attacking the woman after she was ejected from a nightclub in the early hours of August 5, 2012. A jury of seven women and five men were informed that the case against the West Midlands police officer has taken a considerable time to come to court as the accused is "somebody who does not enjoy good health". Asantaempaduh, from Campville Grove in Birmingham, is accused of both sexually assaulting the woman, and assaulting her occasioning actual bodily harm. Belfast Crown Court heard that the woman came into contact with Asantaempaduh (40) after she was ejected by bouncers at The Eglantine Bar, Belfast. She said she witnessed a bottle being thrown in the women's toilets and, when she informed the door staff, she was thrown out of the premises. The woman said that after leaving The Eglantine, she wanted to get something to eat, then get a taxi home. As she left the club, she walked across the road where she came into contact with Asantaempaduh who, on the night in question, was staying at Queen's Elms. She claimed he said he was an undercover police officer, showed her his badge and asked if he could walk with her. The woman - who prior to the encounter had consumed a bottle of wine, two vodkas and two ciders - said she then asked a passer-by for directions, which prompted her to start walking towards Windsor Park. As she and Asantaempaduh walked down Windsor Park, the woman said she wanted to turn back as the street was getting more dimly-lit - and at this point Asantaempaduh attacked her. In tears, the woman told the jury: "I wanted to turn back. I said I didn't want to go this way and he said, 'You are going this way', and he pushed me in to the bushes and I fell on the back of my head and he put his hand over my mouth. "I let out a scream and I could feel the weight of his body on me. "I begged and pleaded with him, 'Please, please, please don't hurt me, please, please, please don't rape me, you don't want to go to jail for this'." She said she was able to get to her feet, that Asantaempaduh was still "close" to her and that he made her kiss him. She told the court that, at this point, she ran up the street and to a filling station on the Malone Road. A resident from an apartment on Malone Road called the PSNI after they heard a woman screaming. Officers located the woman at the filling station, and arrested Asantaempaduh a short time later. The alleged injured party sustained injuries in the incident including a scrape to her face and neck, as well as bruising to her back. When he was arrested and interviewed, Asantaempaduh said he had been talking to a woman in the area and had tried to get her a taxi, but denied assaulting her in the bushes. Defence barrister Ian Turkington, representing Asantaempaduh, made the case that his client was walking back to his accommodation at Queen's Elms when he was approached by the woman. Mr Turkington put it to her that "you followed him rather than he followed you", and said it was Asantaempaduh's case that, as he tried to get her a taxi, "you kissed him on the cheek as a thank you, he wanted to have a pee behind a van and you grabbed him on the arm." The woman denied this, but Mr Turkington continued: "You grabbed him on the arm, he pushed you over, you fell and he believed you were knocked out." She denied these claims, and said it was her belief that the only thing that stopped her being raped was the fact she was wearing an all-in-one trouser suit. Mr Turkington also put it to her: "I would suggest that you were not sexually assaulted on this evening in question. Any injuries you suffered were accidental, when you approached him from behind and he pushed you over." She responded: "That's not true." The case continues. Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after the shoot-out (NJ Advance Media/AP) The father of a man arrested over the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey called the FBI in 2014 to say his son was a terrorist but later retracted the claim, a law enforcement official has said. The father contacted the FBI after Ahmad Khan Rahami was charged with stabbing his brother, according to the official, who was not named. The official said the FBI looked into the matter, but that the father, Mohammad Rahami, retracted his comment and said he meant his son was spending time with the wrong crowd. The FBI reviewed its databases and found no credible connection to terrorism or threat to the US from the son, the official said. The information emerged as Rahami, 28, was being held on 5.2 million dollar (4 million) bail, charged with five counts of attempted murder of police officers following the shoot-out that led to his capture. Federal prosecutors said they were considering charges over the bombings that wounded 29 people. Rahami, a US citizen born in Afghanistan, remained in hospital after surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg. He was arrested in Linden, New Jersey, after he was found sleeping in the doorway of a bar. His father told reporters outside the family's fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that he called the FBI two years ago. But asked whether he thought his son was a terrorist, the father said: "No. And the FBI, they know that." Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested in 2014 on charges of stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm. A grand jury declined to indict him, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was probably "a danger to himself or others". William Sweeney, the FBI's assistant director in New York, said the FBI had received a report of a domestic incident involving Rahami some time ago, but the allegations had been recanted, and "there's nothing to indicate that currently he was on our radar". The bombing investigation began when a pipe bomb blew up on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines. No one was injured. Then a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb exploded on Saturday night in New York's Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found blocks away. Late on Sunday night, five explosive devices were found in a rubbish bin at an Elizabeth train station. Investigators have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices. Rahami provided investigators with a wealth of clues that led to his arrest just 50 hours after the first explosion, according to three law enforcement officials. His fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of the Manhattan bombing, they said. His face was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the spot of the blast. Electronic toll records show a car to which he had access was driven from New Jersey to Manhattan and back to New Jersey on the day of the bombing, according to the officials. Those and other clues prompted officials to release his name and photo on Monday morning. "A lot of technology was involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too," New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill said. Officials said they have no other suspects at large but added they are still investigating. Rahami was not on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes while travelling between the US and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. Rahami and his family live above their restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, and the family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints. AP President Barack Obama conceded that the United States and other world powers have limited ability to solve the most profound challenges facing the world, while calling for a "course correction" for globalisation to ensure that nations do not retreat into a more sharply divided world. Mr Obama, in his final speech to the UN General Assembly, acknowledged that the extremist and sectarian violence wreaking havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed". Still, he stuck faithfully to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria's civil war and other conflicts. "If we are honest, we know that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long," Mr Obama said. "Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer." In a less-than-subtle jab at Donald Trump, the Republican running to replace him, Mr Obama said: "The world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent (extremism) from affecting our own societies." The president was unabashed in his critique of Russia as he laid out his diagnosis of the world's ills. Mr Obama's long-standing differences with Russian president Vladimir Putin over his actions in Ukraine have accompanied intense disagreement over Syria's future and a series of failed attempts by Russia and the US to resolve the civil war there together. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Mr Obama said. The tough talk about Russia illustrated how little progress has been made in reconciling the diverging interests among the two powers that has allowed the Syria crisis to continue to fester. A year ago, Mr Obama stood at the same podium and declared anew that Syrian president Bashar Assad must leave power, while Mr Putin gave a duelling speech warning it would be a mistake to abandon Mr Assad. In the year since, Moscow's leverage in the conflict has strengthened significantly. Russia's military intervention in Syria has helped bolster Mr Assad's standing without pulling it into the military "quagmire" that Mr Obama had predicted. Mr Obama sought to use his last appearance before the global body to define how his leadership had put the world on a better trajectory over the last eight years. At the heart of that approach, Mr Obama said, is the notion that the biggest conflicts are best solved when nations cooperate rather than tackle them individually. It is a theme that Democrat Hillary Clinton has put at the forefront of her campaign for president, casting herself as the natural continuation of Mr Obama's legacy. In another apparent reference to Mr Trump, Mr Obama bemoaned how terrorist networks had spread their ideology on social media, spurring anger toward "innocent immigrants and Muslims". Mr Obama lamented that the world has become safer and more prosperous at the same time that nations are struggling with a devastating refugee crisis, terrorism and a breakdown in basic order in the Middle East. He said governing had become more difficult as people lose faith in public institutions and tensions among nations spiral out of control more rapidly. "This is the paradox that defines the world today," Mr Obama said. "We must go forward, and not backward." The president cited his administration's outreach to former adversaries Cuba and Myanmar as key examples of progress, along with global cooperation to cut emissions blamed for global warming. At the same time, he said he sought not to "whitewash" challenges across the globe, some of which he attributed to deepening anxieties about the profound shifts inflicted by technology and growing international interdependence. "In order to move forward though, we do have to acknowledge that the existing path to global integration requires a course correction," Mr Obama said. Mr Obama told world leaders they have to do more to open their hearts to refugees who are desperate for a home. He said the world is more secure if leaders are prepared to help people in need, but they have to follow through even when the politics are hard. He said leaders must have the empathy to imagine what it would be like for their families if the unspeakable were to happen. Seemingly speaking of the US, Mr Obama said there are a lot of nations doing the right thing, but many countries, particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of geography, can do more to help. The UN estimates that there are about bout 21.3 million refugees forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution. AP Countries participating in Mr Obama's summit are announcing individual pledges in line with a US goal of increasing humanitarian aid by three billion dollars (2.3 billion), doubling resettlement and providing access to jobs and education. Mr Obama welcomed the pledges of increased assistance. "In the eyes of innocent men and women and children who through no fault of their own have had to flee everything that they know, everything that they love, we have to have the empathy to see ourselves," Mr Obama said in his address to world leaders. "We have to imagine what it would be like for our families, for our children, if the unspeakable happened to us." He said the world will be more secure if nations are prepared to help those in need and urged countries to follow through on their pledges "even when the politics are hard". Theresa May said the UK would "never intentionally strike or focus on Syrian forces" after Britain admitted being part of a coalition air attack that is claimed to have killed dozens of President Bashar al-Assad's troops. The Prime Minister said the UK would co-operate with the investigation by the US-led coalition into the attack on Saturday near the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. The United States has accepted its aircraft may have accidentally hit a Syrian government position during an attack on Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh, which is not covered by the ceasefire agreement. It is understood Britain's participation involved an unmanned RAF Reaper drone. Speaking at the United Nations HQ in New York, Mrs May told broadcasters: "The UK was part of the coalition air strike that took place. We are now part of the investigation and it's right that this is properly investigated. "But, from the UK's point of view, we are there to deal with Daesh, to deal with the terrorist threat that is Daesh. "We would never intentionally strike or focus on Syrian forces." Russia, president Bashar al-Assad's main foreign backer, said it had been told by the Syrian government that 62 of its troops had been killed in the strike. The Syrian military said the coalition aircraft had hit a base which was surrounded by IS - enabling the militants to overrun their positions. The incident led to furious exchanges between Russia and the US at the UN, with the ambassadors of both countries storming out of an emergency session of the Security Council. Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador who called the meeting, said it was suspicious the incident had happened just two days before US and Russian forces were supposed to begin co-ordinated strikes against IS and that it had left a "very big question mark" over the peace deal. The plane mistakenly sent a distress call before landing at Manila's airport The flight crew of a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane mistakenly pressed a hijack warning button as it approached Manila's airport, causing airport officials to mobilise security forces and isolate the jet after it landed, Philippine officials said. Manila airport manager Eddie Monreal and other officials said Flight SV872 from Jiddah made the distress call about 30 miles from the airport. Airport authorities asked for a verification of the emergency message and the flight crew confirmed the distress call twice, he said. It was not immediately clear how the confirmation was made, he said. However, the captain later told the control tower that a button indicating that a hijacking was in progress had been pushed by accident, Mr Monreal said. He said the Boeing 777 was isolated after it landed and security personnel were deployed as a precaution. The passengers were later allowed to disembark. Monreal said the plane was carrying 410 passengers and 21 crew members. The incident came after Phillipine officials in February announced they had strengthened security for Saudi Arabia's embassy in Manila and its national airline because of a possible threat. At the time, officials also said additional armed officers were posted in the boarding area for the Saudi flag carrier and to guard the airline's luggage. It did not elaborate on the threat. However, it came as the Sunni-ruled kingdom has been on increasingly hostile terms with Shiite power Iran. AP Officials have identified the funders of a terrorist attack at a Dhaka cafe in July, police said Tuesday, adding that the money arrived in Bangladesh via an informal money transfer from the United Arab Emirates. We have identified the financier of the Holey Artisan cafe attack. The suspect whose name was used for funds transfer is also known. Efforts continue to arrest them, Sanwar Hossain, an additional deputy commissioner of the Bangladeshi police counter-terrorism and transnational crimes unit, told BenarNews. He did not reveal the names of the suspects. A day earlier, police said that money that helped fund the July 1 attack was sent to Bangladesh via an unregulated international monetary transfer instrument known as Hundi. The money used in the attack came through hundi. The amount is 1.4 million taka (U.S. $17,850), Monirul Islam, head of the polices counter-terrorist unit, told reporters on Monday. He said the money was transferred from a Middle Eastern country. A senior official in the police department told BenarNews that the money came from the United Arab Emirates. Militants used the money to pay their rent and acquire weapons that were used in the attack, he said. Investigators believe the weapons came to Bangladesh through India. But, according to Islam, the arms used in the attack bear no country of origin. The extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and released photos of the attackers. Government officials blame homegrown terrorists linked to Neo-JMB, a faction of the Jamaat-ul-Bangladesh organization that nurtures IS ideology in Bangladesh. Islam said that 60 percent to 70 percent of the JMB had been destroyed. The commanding level leaders, coordinators and trainers of the Neo-JMB were killed. Many of them have been arrested. Some of them have been under police surveillance. Now we are searching for their financiers, Islam said. Since the Holey Artisan attack, Bangladesh police have killed at least 20 suspected militants linked to a series of attacks or planned attacks in the country. A police source told BenarNews that slain militant suspect and former army Major Zahidul Islam helped finance the Neo-JMB. Another slain suspect, former banker Tanvir Qadri, sold his flat in Dhakas Uttara and donated the money to the organization, the source said. Audits needed Abul Barkat, an economics professor at Dhaka University, told BenarNews that fundamentalist organizations should be audited to detect whether they are funding militants. Fundamentalists own 231 trusts and foundations in Bangladesh, he said. A former president of the Bangladesh Economics Association, Barkat said, The fundamentalists have invested in nine big sectors such as education, health, the bank, insurance and other financial institutions. There should be a third-party audit of these institutions. Fire fighters take a break as they battle a peatland fire on the outskirts of Palangka Raya city, Central Kalimantan, Oct. 27, 2015. Haze from thousands of peatland and timber fires in Indonesia last year may lead to as many as 100,000 deaths, U.S. researchers claimed in a report issued Monday. Scientists from Harvard and Columbia universities used new analytical tools, satellite observations, and population information to locate the source of fires, gauge the toxicity of emissions and estimate the resulting morbidity and premature mortality in downwind populations, according to a study published in Environmental Research Letters. We estimate that haze in 2015 resulted in 100,300 excess deaths across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, more than double those of the 2006 event, with much of the increase due to fires in Indonesia's South Sumatra Province, said the study, titled Public Health Impacts of the Severe Haze in Equatorial Asia in September-October 2015: Demonstration of a New Framework for Informing Fire Management Strategies to Reduce Downwind Smoke Exposure. A combination of the El Nino weather phenomenon and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (pIOD), where the western portion of the ocean becomes warmer than the eastern portion, promoted drought in September and October 2015 and greatly enhanced fire danger in the region, the study said. 2015 saw the worst Southeast Asia haze crisis since 1997, but since modern satellite technology was not available then, researchers compared 2015 to another large smoke episode in 2006 that caused 37,000 excess deaths, according to the study. The degraded peatlands that typically burn during such episodes contain significant combustible organic material and so release large amounts of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), the leading cause of global pollution-related mortality, the study said. As in previous episodes, the prevailing winds in 2015 transported the smoke to densely populated areas across Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula, including Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Child mortality not counted However, most of the deaths occurred in Indonesia, according to the study. Using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for unhealthy air, and based on projected smoke exposure in 2015, the researchers concluded that excess deaths linked to the 2015 haze could be 91,600 in Indonesia, 6,500 in Malaysia and 2,200 in Singapore. The projection ignored potential child deaths. We also focus only on adult mortality due to lack of knowledge on the effects of air pollution on child mortality, even though impacts on children are likely significant, the study said. Across Indonesia, fires are used to burn agricultural residue, clear forests, or prepare land for plantations. Satellite imaging showed that many of the fires in Sumatra were linked to timber operations and peatlands, although peat fires can be difficult to spot. Peat fires can smolder in the subsurface for weeks to months after ignition, often at temperatures too low to be detected accurately from space, the report said. At the height of the fire season in October 2015, Indonesias National Board for Disaster Management blamed the resulting haze for killing 10 people and making thousands sick. The long-term impact could also be serious illness such as lung cancer. The government needs to anticipate potential secondary hazards like this, Nanang Subana, director of Oxfam in Indonesia, told BenarNews in October 2015. Real action needed In an angry reaction to the numbers contained in the study Monday, environmental group Greenpeace said failing to prevent further deaths would be criminal. As last years fires raged, the Indonesian government said that 43 million people were exposed to smoke across the country, and half a million suffered from smoke-related respiratory illness. Now that we know the scale of the death toll, failure to act immediately to stem the loss of life would be a crime, said Yuyun Indradi, a Greenpeace forest campaigner in Indonesia. Now fires are back again. If nothing changes, this killer haze will carry on taking a terrible toll, year after year. Industry and government must take real action to stop forest clearing and peatland drainage for plantations, he said. Dr. Nursyam Ibrahim, deputy director of the West Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesian Medical Association, said the elderly and children were most at risk from haze. Kalimantan, or Indonesian Borneo, is another key area for agricultural burning. The greatest impact from breathing particles from peat fire smoke falls on vulnerable groups such as the elderly, pregnant women, babies and children. What is at stake is a decline in the quality of Indonesias future human resources, he was quoted as saying by Greenpeace. We are the doctors who care for the vulnerable groups exposed to toxic smoke in every medical center, and we know how awful it is to see the disease symptoms experienced by babies and children in our care, he said. Three Indonesians (far left, front row) and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad join Moro National Liberation Front leader Nur Misuari and others after their release by the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu province, southern Philippines, Sept. 18, 2016. Three Indonesian sailors held hostage for 10 weeks by Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) militants in the southern Philippines were freed over the weekend without any ransom being paid, Indonesias defense minister said. They regained their freedom a day after the militant group released Norwegian national Kjartan Sekkingstad, according to reports. I feel so relieved that now we are free because I was thinking that I would be beheaded, Freed Indonesian hostage Teodorus Kopong Koten, 42, said according to Philippine news website Inquirer.net. ASG, which has pledged its allegiance to Islamic State (IS), is still holding six Indonesians captive. Five crew members of the Charles tugboat, who were kidnapped in the waters of Tawi-Tawi in the southern Philippines on June 20, are identified as Ferry Arifin, Muh Mahbrur Dahri, Edi Suryono, Muh Nasir and Robin Piter. Two of their crew, Ismail and Muhamad Sofyan, reportedly escaped from ASG custody on Aug. 17. Another Indonesian, Herman Manggak, the captain of a Malaysian-flagged ship, was abducted at sea on Aug. 3. Among other hostages, five Malaysians who were abducted from their ship off the coast of the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah remain in the hands of Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines, Wan Abdul Bari Abdul Khalid, who heads the Eastern Sabah Security Command, told BenarNews on Monday. He said the captives were alive but he could not provide more details. The release of the Norwegian hostage and three Indonesians occurred even as the Philippines and neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia have yet to begin joint maritime patrols to halt kidnappings by ASG and other militant groups in the Sulu and Celebes seas that separate the countries. In June, the three nations agreed to coordinate such efforts. Abu Sayyaf has a reputation for executing hostages when its ransom demands are not met. Within the past year, ASG beheaded two Canadians and a Malaysian, Bernard Then. Sekkingstad was abducted from a Philippine resort a year ago along with John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, the Canadians who were later beheaded by their ASG captors, Agence France-Presse reported. When the two were killed in April and June, the Norwegian said he was close enough that you could hear the cries when it happened, AFP quoted him as saying. Very hard life The three freed Indonesians, Lorens Lagadoni Koten, 34, Teodorus Kopong Koten, 42, and Emanuel Arakian Maran, 46, are residents of East Nusa Tenggara province. They were among the crew of a Malaysian tug boat who were kidnapped in the waters of Lahad Datu, Sabah state, on July 9. After their release, Teodorus told reporters of their life in captivity, Inquirer.net reported. That is why we request the Philippine and Indonesian governments keep conducting operations and as soon as possible to crush the ASG, he said. The hostages were turned over to envoy Jesus Dureza on Jolo island, according to AFP. The transfer took place at the heavily guarded camp of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari, whose group assisted in the release, according to Philippine officials. Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, who traveled to Zamboanga, Philippines, thanked Nurs group. We appreciate the assistance of the MNLF. They know very well the terrain, they are very professional and they know what to do, Ryamizard told reporters on Sunday night, according to Inquirer.net. Cooperation Ryamizard said the release resulted from cooperation between both countries militaries and ministries of defense. This is a realization of the follow-up on the trilateral agreement between Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia that signed in Bali some time ago, he said in an official press release, in which he stated that no ransom was paid to secure the sailors freedom. What is for sure that the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines did not spend any penny to pay the ransom, Ryamizard said. If we obey them [their demand to pay a ransom], it means we are under their power, Ryamizard said. Still, media in the Philippines reported that a ransom of about 30 million Philippines pesos (8.2 billion Indonesian rupiah; U.S. $620,000) had been paid to ASG. Ryamizard said the three released hostages immediately returned to Indonesia. Meanwhile, efforts continue to free the remaining hostages. Muzliza Mustaffa in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. 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Whether you are a nontraditional student starting or restarting your education, or an active-military or Veteran student, we can assist you in navigating the application process and easing your transition to BGSU. Advisors are also available to assist current students. We can help you discover and utilize campus resources and develop programs to best meet your needs. First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain. Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details. If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For Immediate Release, September 20, 2016 Contact: Randi Spivak, (310) 779-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org Analysis: Company Behind Controversial Dakota Access Pipeline Has Record of Spills, Property Damage WASHINGTON Energy Transfer Partners, the conglomerate behind the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline, is responsible for 29 pipeline safety incidents since 2006, in which 9,555 barrels of hazardous liquids were leaked, according to a new analysis of federal data by the Center for Biological Diversity. Those spills resulted in $9.5 million in property damage, according to information from the U.S. Department of Transportations Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Energy Transfer Partners is attempting to build a 1,172-mile pipeline to ship Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. With the effects of climate change already being felt, we cant afford to lock in more oil infrastructure in North Dakota, or anywhere else, that will prolong our dependence on dirty fuels, said Randi Spivak, public lands program director at the Center. Like Keystone XL before it, this pipeline should not be allowed to go forward. More than 100 tribes, led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, are fighting the Dakota Access pipeline, which would desecrate sacred lands essential to the Sioux Nation's history, culture and identity, and threaten the water supply of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The Obama administration recently halted construction pending reevaluation of the Army Corps of Engineers permit. A 2013 study reveals a deeply troubling history of pipeline accidents in the United States. This independent analysis of federal records found that since 1986, oil and gas pipeline leaks, spills and other safety incidents have resulted in nearly $7 billion in damages, more than 2,000 injuries and more than 500 deaths. A time-lapse video documents every significant pipeline incident in the continental United States along with their human and financial costs from 1986 through May 2013 On average one significant pipeline incident occurred in the country every 30 hours, according to the data. Pipelines have a long history of spills, damage and injuries, Spivak said. Not only does the oil in these pipelines pose a very real threat to our climate, but spills are a fact of life when pipelines fail and that puts water, wildlife and people directly in harms way. The way to protect our climate, water, wildlife and indigenous lands is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The Center and other environmental organizations have pledged their support for the Standing Rock Sioux in their fight to stop the pipeline, which cuts across more than 200 federal water crossings owned by all Americans. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. For Immediate Release, September 20, 2016 Contact: Taylor McKinnon, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org Appeal Halts Lease Sale of Utah National Forests for Coal Mining SALT LAKE CITY An appeal by the Center for Biological Diversity and allies has halted the controversial lease auction of national forest lands in Utah for coal mining. In response to the conservation groups appeal, the Bureau of Land Management postponed Thursdays scheduled auction of the Greens Hollow Coal Lease Tract beneath Utahs Fishlake and Manti-La Sal national forests. Leasing Utahs national forests for coal mining is a terrible idea. Its bad for our air, bad for the climate, and bad for endangered fish and imperiled birds, said Taylor McKinnon of the Center. The Interior secretary has put most federal coal leasing on hold to review a badly broken program thats completely inconsistent with this countrys climate goals. It makes no sense to make an exception to that leasing moratorium to enable a Utah mine that will hurt important sage grouse habitat and pollute our air and rivers. The Greens Hollow Coal Lease Tract would supply approximately 55 million new tons of coal to the Sufco mine. Because already-leased federal coal supplies exceed what we can afford to burn while meeting our Paris climate commitments, any new federal coal leases are inconsistent with avoiding the worst effects of climate change. Besides disrupting important habitat for greater sage grouse, mining of the Greens Hollow Tract would also degrade Utahs air quality and exacerbate mercury poisoning that affects endangered fish in the Green River. The appeal was filed by the Center, WildEarth Guardians, Grand Canyon Trust and the Sierra Club; the BLMs decision to postpone its coal-lease auction buys a needed reprieve for the people, fish and birds that depend on clean air, clean water, undisturbed forests and a stable climate. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. For Immediate Release, September 20, 2016 Contact: Tierra Curry, (928) 522-3681, tcurry@biologicaldiversity.org Mississippi Fish Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection After 25 Years On Waiting List JACKSON, Miss. In response to a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed protections for 757 species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed today to protect the Pearl darter as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The small fish has been wiped out of its namesake watershed, the Pearl River, and now survives only in the Pascagoula River basin in the southeast portion of the state. Endangered Species Act protection is the best hope for saving this beautiful little fish from the very big threats its facing, said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center. Spending 25 years on a waiting list allowed the fish to be wiped out from nearly two-thirds of its range, so its a relief that it has finally been proposed for the protection it needs to survive. The darters future is threatened by water pollution from oil and gas development, sand and gravel mining, urbanization and agriculture. Darters live on the river bottom and use the spaces between rocks for hiding and breeding. But habitat destruction causes erosion that fills these spaces with silt, and pollution and silt harm the insects the darters need for food. Other threats include the proposed damming of Little and Big Cedar creeks, tributaries to the Pascagoula River which would cause downstream water-quality degradation as well as climate change, hurricanes and other catastrophic events. The species historical range was approximately 775 river miles in Mississippi and Louisiana. It has been extirpated from all 440 river miles where it was once found in the Pearl River watershed. Of the 335 river miles where it was once found in the Pascagoula watershed, it is now thought to survive in scattered populations along 279 river miles in the Pascagoula, Chickasawhay, Chunky, Leaf and Bouie rivers, though it hasnt been confirmed in the Bouie or Chunky rivers in 15 years. Overall the species has been lost from at least 64 percent of its historic range. The Southeastern Fishes Council names the Pearl darter as one of the 12 most endangered fish in the southeastern United States. The darter was first placed on the candidate waiting list for federal protection in 1991; the Center petitioned for its protection in 2004. In 2011 the Center and the Service reached a landmark agreement requiring the agency to make decisions on all of the plants and animals on the candidate waiting list by the end of this fiscal year. Under the agreement, 148 species have gained protection and 40 have been proposed for protection. The Pearl darter is about 2.5 inches long, and males develop showy patterns during the breeding season. It has a blunt snout, large eyes located high on its head, and a black spot at the base of its tail fin. Following todays proposed protection, the Service will accept public comment before finalizing protection for the fish in one year. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. For Immediate Release, September 20, 2016 Contact: Jenny Loda, (510) 844-7100 x 336, jloda@biologicaldiversity.org Arizona's Sonoyta Mud Turtle Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection After Waiting for 19 Years TUCSON, Ariz. In accordance with a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed protections for 757 species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed Endangered Species Act protection for the Sonoyta mud turtle, which was first identified as a candidate for federal protection in 1997. These highly aquatic turtles are found only in Pima County, Ariz. and Sonora, Mexico. Sonoyta mud turtle photo courtesy National Park Service. These turtles have been pushed to the brink as their aquatic habitats have been degraded and destroyed, said Jenny Loda, a biologist and attorney with the Center who focuses on protecting rare amphibians and reptiles. Endangered Species Act protection is our best hope for saving these guys, since the Act has a nearly perfect record of preventing plants and animals from going extinct. With webbed feet and an innate ability to swim, the Sonoyta mud turtle has evolved to be highly aquatic in one of the driest parts of the Sonoran Desert. Diversion of surface water and pumping of groundwater have led to the loss of much of this habitat, which the turtle needs to survive. The problem has been exacerbated by drought conditions that have persisted for the past 20 years. Long stretches of dry streams have isolated populations of the turtles, limiting opportunities for migration. I'm so happy to see Endangered Species Act protection for these turtles move forward after an almost 20-year wait, said Loda. With dry conditions in the desert expected to worsen with climate change, the Act is hands down our best tool for saving these guys. In the United States, the Sonoyta mud turtle has been reduced to a single reservoir called Quitobaquito Springs within Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Four populations are currently known in Mexico, but the loss of the turtle has already been reported from an additional site. At all of these sites the number of turtles has declined as aquatic habitat has been reduced. To date 147 plants and animals have received protection as a result of the Centers 2011 agreement, and another 40 are proposed for protection. Read more about the Centers 757 agreement and its campaign to address the amphibian and reptile extinction crisis. The public has 60 days to comment on todays proposed listing. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. Studies show that lithium contained in drinking water lowers suicide rates. This still holds true when taking account of drug residues of lithium prescriptions, as has been shown by a current study for Austria within the context of a project supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. Can it be true or is it a coincidence, pondered the psychiatric consultant Nestor Kapusta when learning of a Japanese study showing that the lithium level in drinking water has an impact on suicide rates. This implies that regions where more of the lightweight alkali metal can be detected in drinking water register fewer cases of suicide. That was in 2009. Meanwhile, research has advanced, and several studies worldwide confirm this connection which could be of great importance for suicide prevention. Geographical investigations started Researchers from the Suicide Research Group in the Department for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy at the Medical University of Vienna have made a major contribution to these insights and were able to provide evidence for the impact of lithium from natural sources on suicide mortality in Austria. In their most recent investigations, a team led by Nestor Kapusta also explored the impact of lithium prescriptions lithium being a drug successfully used for many years for treating affective disorders on lithium levels in drinking water in a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. More than 6,000 drinking water samples We were able to show even back in 2011 that the correlation between lithium in the drinking water and suicide rates remained significant even if taking into consideration a regions socio-economic and other factors, such as unemployment, per-capita income, access to health care or gender distribution, notes Kapusta. In this major study undertaken by the Medical University of Vienna, an interdisciplinary team investigated the connection between the lithium levels found in 6,460 drinking water samples and suicide rates in all Austrian districts. Unanswered question: drug residues The scholar notes that one question had remained unanswered, viz. whether the lithium prescriptions might have an impact on the results in Austria, where the drug has been used successfully for decades to treat recurring depression and bipolar (manic-depressive) disorders. On the one hand, these drugs are taken by persons at risk in relatively high doses which improves their preventive effect against suicide; on the other hand, they are excreted again by the patients and thus find their way back into drinking water like other drugs. Therapeutic dosage is higher by a factor of one thousand than the traces of lithium naturally occurring in drinking water, explains Kapusta. In this way, residues found in the water might also have a positive impact on the population at large. Existing knowledge not invalidated In order to determine the impact of lithium prescriptions on the incidence of lithium in drinking water, the suicide researcher and his colleagues used data on the geographic distribution of lithium prescriptions in Austria and applied these data to the existing results. As it turned out, the lithium level in Austrian drinking water is hardly influenced at all by prescriptions. Suicide rates also remained unchanged on a statistical average when the researchers included prescriptions in the computations. Hence, existing knowledge, according to which the lithium in drinking water stems from natural sources but still has an impact on suicide mortality, has not been contradicted, states Kapusta. Lithium not a panacea In medical terms, the project findings indicate that researchers should continue to investigate lithium and seek to determine what influence micro-doses of the substance, as occurring in drinking water, have on the human organism. At the same time, Nestor Kapusta warns against considering lithium as a panacea, as some reports suggest. According to Kapusta, suicide is always a multi-factor phenomenon, and the scholar is not in favour of current considerations to deliberately add the substance to drinking water. We dont know what the influence of such low doses might be on pregnant women or children. Lithium also affects thyroid function. We would need further basic research to understand whether adding it to drinking water is innocuous. Researchers perceive potential benefits According to Kapusta, many ongoing investigations prove that lithium has aroused the interest of researchers. It was found, for instance, that even small amounts of the alkali metal slow down the progress of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers by inhibiting the decay of brain cells. Nestor Kapusta and his colleagues, together with Gerda Egger from the Clinical Institute of Pathology and Daniel Konig from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, are also conducting investigations on a specific type of brain cell, the neuroblastoma cells. Studies on single-cell organisms show that by regulating the GSK-3 enzyme lithium extends the life span of these organisms by five percent. That is an amazing effect of a simple, naturally occurring ion, comments Kapusta. Mewing is a TikTok trend that has blown up in the last few months. It is claimed that it can help shape your jawline as well as cure other ailments by actively pressing your tongue to the roof 45 METU students sentenced to jail for protesting against Erdogan - A + In December of 2012, a group of students at Middle Eastern Technical University (METU) had held a demonstration to protest then Prime Minister Erdogan while he was visiting their campus to attend a meeting at TUBITAK-Space in regards to the launching of Gokturk-2 satellite. Having gathered in front of one of the campus buildings, protesting students had wanted to march to the TUBITAK-Space building on their campus. Their demonstration had been blocked by the police who used tear gas and water cannon against the students. As skirmishes and clashes began between the police forces and the students, several additional police units were transported to the campus. According to the reports of soL news portal, Ankara 14th Penal Court of First Instance has ordered the final decision on the case against the protesting students. The court has sentenced each of the 45 students to 10 months in jail based on charges on going against the law on meetings and assembling and on resisting against public officers in order to prevent them from doing their jobs. Lawyers of the sentenced students have defended their clients by asserting they were not guilty of a crime and requested for their release. Source: http://www.birgun.net/haber- detay/45-odtu-luye-hapis- cezasi-128742.html Primedia OOH Africa recently launched a new Super-LED screen in the heart of Nairobi, Kenya's capital city and the economic hub of East Africa. Primedia OOH Africa The screen measures 12m x 9m, and is the largest to be installed anywhere across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. In fact, the screen is 33% larger than the 4.5m x 18m Super-LED screens found on the N1 and M1 Highways in Johannesburg and Centurion. Located on the busy Uhuru highway leading into the Nairobi central business district, just north of the University of Nairobis main campus, the Super-LED screen is a first for Kenya with its world class technology, reliability and innovative booking options, said Patricia Menge, general manager for Primedia Kenya. It is manufactured by the worlds premier LED manufacturer, Daktronics, a South Dakota based company whose screens appear everywhere from Piccadilly Circus to Times Square, and which has previously supplied many of the LED screens for events such as the Olympics. The Super-LED went live on 8 September 2016, and offers an unprecedented opportunity for marketers looking for new opportunities in Nairobi. The city is home to more than 3.5 million people, thousands of Kenyan businesses, and more than 100 international companies and organisations, as well as one of Africas largest exchanges - the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The Super-LEDs launch has been met with excitement by our clients both in South Africa and in Kenya, said Peter Lindstrom, sales executive for Primedia Outdoor. The size, location and versatility offered by digital technology combine to make this a fantastic inclusion to our East African holdings. A United Nations panel has called for pharmaceutical companies and governments to be more transparent about drug prices and closed door trade agreements it says are working to keep pills priced out of patients' hands, according to a new report In November, United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, launched a high-level panel to investigate access to medicine globally. A large part of the work focused on how to balance the economic interests of governments and manufacturers keen to, for instance, retain patent protection on drugs with public health needs. Governments seek the economic benefits of increased trade. On the other hand, the imperative to respect patents on health technologies could, in certain instances, create obstacles to the public health objectives and the right to health, Ruth Dreifuss, panel co-chair and former president of the Swiss Confederation, explained in a statement. Dreifuss chaired the group alongside former Botswana president, Festus Mogae. In 10 months, the UN body gathered more than 6,000 contributions from governments, the private sector and civil society. It also held international consultations in Johannesburg and London. In a report, the group called for far-reaching changes to increase transparency about not only how drug prices are set but also how countries such as the United States negotiated free trade agreements that often put patent protection in the spotlight. What companies spend on research and development and how much this contributes to drug prices often remain closely guarded secrets. The report notes that the average cost of a 12-week course of the hepatitis C drug Sofosbuvir costs about $42,017, according to a survey of 26 countries. But the study also found wide variations in national prices for the drug, with US patients paying about 70% more for the drug than those in Japan. The panel notes that without access to information about how drug prices are set, countries have varying success in negotiating affordable drug prices. It argues that governments should require manufacturers to disclose not only how much of drug prices are driven by the need to recoup costs but also how public funding, including tax incentives, contribute to drug development. Report comes as South African patent reform drags on In 2011, South Africa was able to halve the price of HIV treatment after it required that companies tendering to supply HIV drugs submit detailed breakdowns of drug costs, listing the proportion of costs associated with production from active ingredient purchases and drug formulation to shipping. Following testimonies made in Johannesburg from patients, the panel has also recommended that patent laws be amended to prevent abuse, in particular instances in which older drugs are given new patents in a process called evergreening. Babalwa Malgas told the panel that when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, medical aid denied her treatment with the recommended drug, Herceptin because of its high costs. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has argued that South African patents on the drug expire at least 10 years later than they do in the United Kingdom or the US as a result of unmerited patent extensions in South Africa. After more than four years reviewing its patent policy, South Africas department of trade and industry released what it is calling a consultative framework for public comment on Friday. Although the document is not a policy, it does say that adopting a more rigours patent examination is crucial. It also notes that making the process more transparent and allowing third parties to contest patents before they are issued, as is done in India would help the country ensure awarded patents were merited. Further UN action urged In April, MSF also raised the alarm over what it believed was calls by the European Union for India to tighten its patent regime during bilateral trade talks. With a long history of generic medicine production, India provides many of the affordable antiretrovirals that HIV-stricken countries in Africa depend on. While the European Union and India remain in negotiations, the new UN report has slammed tactics and threats it says have been used in such trade talks to elicit patent protection gains that run contrary to international intellectual property laws that protect public health interests. MSF has welcomed the report. (The report) puts forth actionable recommendations to help overcome the challenges that our medical teams have faced for decades being left essentially empty-handed when the medicines, vaccines and diagnostics we need for our patients dont exist, or are too expensive," said Rohit Malpani, director of policy and analysis for the organisation's Access Campaign. "The reports global scope recognises that today all countries face challenges in ensuring availability and affordable access to the medical tools that people need to live healthy and productive lives." The panel has called on Ban to establish an independent review body to monitor progress in access to medicines and the implementations of recommendations made in the report. It has also asked that a special UN session on the topic be held by 2018. Douglas Green has introduced its first authentic Spanish Sherry range comprising a Pale Cream, Medium Dry and Cream Sherry, each produced and bottled in Spain and fully imported for sale at selected outlets throughout South Africa under the Douglas Green brand. This move by Douglas Green was born in the wake of South Africas trade agreement with the European Union of October 1999 that came into force in May 2004. It dictates that within 12 years from this date, the term Sherry can only be used for authentic Sherries from Spains Sherry Triangle the only wine growing area in the world permitted to label its products as Sherry. The Sherries were sourced from the bodegas (wine cellars) of Caballero in Spains foremost Sherry districts, Sanlucar de Barrameda, Puerto de Santa Maria and Jerez de la Frontera. Caballero, a world-renowned Sherry producer, is known for setting the benchmark of quality for Sherries around the world, and counts being named 2011 Best Spanish Wine Producer and 2014 Best Sherry Producer in the prestigious International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC) among its impressive list of accolades. Retiring DGB marketing director Jacques Roux is a Sherry devotee himself and was instrumental in bringing this authentic Sherry range to the Douglas Green stable. In recent years, Sherry has made a magnificent comeback, thanks to a wave of high-end releases that have reinvigorated interest in the category among foodies and fine wine drinkers, he says. We have been watching this with interest, and the upshot of it is that we are now seeing an increasing resurgence of the various styles of Sherry on wine lists and in craft cocktails. We knew the timing was right to introduce a superior range of Sherries into the South African market. Douglas Green Wines is also known for providing great value, and Roux and his team have painstakingly assembled a trio of outstanding Sherries that do just that. When we sourced the Sherries from Caballero, we carefully selected those styles that met the rigorous standards of the worlds best Sherry producers, while striking the sought-after balance between exceptional quality and an affordable price point, he explains. The Douglas Green Sherries are aged in wood, and are pure non-vintage Sherries made in the traditional criadera method where flor (the veil or thin layer of indigenous yeast cells that forms on top of Sherry to protect it from air contact) yeast is allowed to slowly permeate the young wine before blending in the solera method. With young and mature wines of a uniform quality blended in the same style, for slow and consistent maturation, the benefit of the solera method is that it delivers a consistent quality each and every time. The story behind the Douglas Green Sherry range reads like an adventure novel. It is inspired by real life hero Douglas Green Snr. who started the business back in 1942. Determined to strike a balance between exceptional quality and an affordable price point, he travelled the length and breadth of the Cape Winelands, seeking out parcels of perfect grapes that would deliver the style of wine that he knew his clients were seeking. Over 70 years later, his vision lives on under the stewardship of his son Douglas Jnr., and it is in this spirit that the team made their way to the home of Sherry in Spain to carefully select Sherries from the magical cellars of Caballero. According to the tastemakers the sommeliers who sell Sherry daily young wine enthusiasts are rapidly discovering Sherrys myriad styles and flavours, especially when the wines are made in tiny batches by bodegas. No doubt then that the three complex traditional beauties introduced by Douglas Green will be inspiring more than a few wine lovers and epicurean explorers to convert to this most versatile of fortified table wines. After snapping up L'Avenir and Le Bonheur in Stellenbosch, French wine giant AdVini has bought 50% of Forrester Vineyards, aiming to double its sales in the next few years. Advini will distribute Ken Forrester wines in mainland Europe and Asia, while Forrester - who is staying on as CEO and retains ownership of his property - and his team will drive sales in the North American and English markets. Forrester, often referred to as the "King of Chenin", said: "The deal with AdVini is a fantastic opportunity for me to tie up with a massive distribution network and one which is especially strong in new markets for me, such as Europe and, in particular, Asia." The former restaurateur started his winery in 1994 when he bought a farm in the Helderberg. "I began talking to AdVini about four years ago when I was looking for a network to help me to expand into Asia," Forrester said, adding that the aim was to increase sales from 80,000 cases a year to more than 200,000 within five years. AdVini marketing manager Jean-Pierre Durand said the decision to focus on South Africa began with the purchase of the Laroche brand in 2010. BRUSSELS - The European Union on Monday opened a probe into Poland's new tax on supermarkets, risking to worsen a row with conservative-led Warsaw. Poland imposed a new tax in July that affects larger, foreign-owned supermarkets in an effort to finance social programmes and broaden popular support for the Law and Justice (PiS) government. The new tax largely targets big groups such as France's Auchan and Carrefour and Germany's Lidl or Metro, sparing locally-owned retailers. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, "has concerns that the progressive rates based on turnover give companies with a low turnover a selective advantage over their competitors in breach of EU state aid rules," a statement said. It ordered the tax to be immediately suspended. Brussels and conservative-led Poland have been caught up in bitter feud over a wave of populist reforms that the EU warns threaten democracy and the rule of law in the ex-communist EU and NATO state. Wazupa is a new app that connects 'home chefs' to 'grazers' and creates a convenient location-based marketplace where you can collect your meal, or have it delivered for a fee. Grazers can get homemade meals by going onto the app and checking what each home chef has available. You can order any food type from banting to dairy free, Asian to seafood, halaal, kosher or vegetarian. The app uses a rating system for each chef. Until recently, Wazupa was only available in Joburg and Pretoria where it was piloted, but it is now available nationwide. Lance Baum, CEO of Wazupa explains his inspiration for this local innovation. When my wife had a baby, our friends used to drop off home cooked meals. I found it so exciting to try someone elses delicious food in my own home. I realised that its also a tremendous opportunity to help people do what they love and be able to earn a secondary income from it. People want to eat healthier, and we can help remove the guilt of junk takeaways, as many of us are just too busy. Wazupa can help get families around the table at meal times again. The Wazupa platform allows South Africans to set up their own food businesses by simply creating a profile and then setting out menu items by photographing and pricing their best dishes. Each chef can also specify working hours. Wazupa earns 15% off the retail selling price of the transaction, but carries the credit card and other processing fees. The recently launched app has seen tremendous interest and growth. Since it became available in July, it has already activated 150 chefs and more than 650 grazers. Over 2,000 menu items have been loaded. Wazupa is available in app stores for iPhone and for Android or online at www.wazupa.com. A militant group on Monday claimed an attack on a crude oil pipeline in Delta state, southern Nigeria, in the second attack on the same line in less than a week. In an emailed statement, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM) spokesman Aldo Agbalaja said "Opudo strike force, at about 11.30pm on Sunday, September 18, 2016, struck the Afiesere-Ekiugbo delivery line in Ughelli, operated by NPDC/Shoreline." The rebel group hit the same pipeline last Tuesday and vowed to "ground" the Nigerian economy, which is already in recession, in large part due to plummeting oil exports as a result of sabotage. The NDGJM has stepped up its attacks after rival group the Niger Delta Avengers declared a ceasefire in August and entered talks with the Nigerian government. "All agrarian products in the area surrounding the scene of the incident have been damaged as a result of the blast," a resident of the nearby Ekuigbo community, Efemena Akposire, said. A military officer added: "Unlike previous attacks carried out by the group where they hack-sawed the pipelines, dynamite was used in this case." Nigeria's military has boosted its presence in the oil-producing southern swamplands in response to the attacks, raiding suspected militant camps and clamping down on illegal oil refineries. Various rebel groups have complained about poor living conditions in the area, where despite massive oil wealth most people live in poverty without access to basic services such as education and healthcare. Distrust in the Nigerian security forces is widespread in the region. Last week the NDGJM complained of intimidation and vowed to "match force with the oppressor's brutality". Ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut Nigeria's credit rating last week, saying the "marked contraction" in oil production from an average of 2,1m barrels per day to 1,7 was hurting its economic prospects. Launched in 2005, JAM South Africa now supports more than 1,700 early childhood development (ECD) centres across seven provinces. Through its various partnerships it helps feed almost 90,000 school children. On Thursday, 15 September, JAM launched its 'Real Amazing' campaign at a fundraising event held at the Avianto Wedding Venue. We interviewed JAM founder Peter Pretorius to find out more about the campaign, the impact of poverty on the African economy, and how business can get on board to assist the NGO with its school feeding and education programmes. JAM founder Peter Pretorius What does the Real Amazing campaign entail? The Real Amazing campaign was launched in September to a star-studded gathering at a glittering fundraising event. Guests were pleasantly surprised to find that they themselves are the heart of JAMs new campaign. They are the amazing. JAM is the real. The message is clear: JAM and its donors make a powerful combination. JAM are creating awareness around the harsh reality of malnutrition in this country, and are asking their guests and the public to do something amazing and help a starving child. Be it donating R2 per day, giving time, capital, skills, expertise, or even just their unique networks. We can all together do something amazing! The reality is that our planet produces enough food to feed every single man, woman, and child on it. We just need to develop the conscience and the logistics to deliver that food right to their doorsteps. And the results will be amazing. What are some of the stats on the inroads JAM has made in addressing poverty in SA? JAM South Africa is currently helping to feed close to 90,000 preschool children in care centres every day. 26% of preschool children in South Africa are stunted - this means their brains and bodies will be underdeveloped and they will be unable to learn and play as children should, and as children deserve to do. What impact does poverty have on the economy of an African country? Poverty results in under nutrition and this has a massive impact on education. Without education children will battle to take their rightful place in society, they will not be able to live and produce, they will not be able to earn and will be trapped in poverty. How can business come on board? Business can come on board by partnering with JAM. This can be in any or in all the aspects of our work - feeding children, improving the educational infrastructure of ECD centres and funding the training of ECD practitioners. This can be done as CSR / CSI funding and can also involve challenging employees to commit to helping to feed children (R50 per month feeds a child) with business matching any funding from their employees. The infrastructure upgrades of centres creates opportunities for businesses to challenge their employees to volunteer to be part of the upgrade work. Would you say malnutrition is at the root of Africa's socio-economic challenges? There exists a multitude of both historical and current issues which bring about Africa's socio-economic challenges, and I would say malnutrition is a result of historic challenges, but is a major factor which contributes to perpetuating the cycle of poverty. FirstRand became the the first banking group to launch a secure electronic rewards currency in Botswana, when the FNB eBucks programme went live on 19 September. We are very proud and excited to expand and introduce the programme into the Botswana market, says Johan Moolman, chief executive officer of eBucks Rewards South Africa. "Essentially, the better you bank with FNB, whether via ATM deposits or purchases using our electronic channels, the more you earn and save on your monthly budget, he says. The programme works pretty much the same way as it does in South Africa. Clients earn eBucks by using FNB products which they can redeem for items such as prepaid airtime and prepaid electricity. The timing for launch coincides with the banks 25th Anniversary celebrations in Botswana and marking the countries 50th year of independence. Worleyparsons RSA, part of Australia-listed global engineering company WorleyParsons, has formed iX Engineers, a black-owned consulting engineering company focusing on SA's public infrastructure sector. The new company has been established following the incorporation of WorleyParsons' public infrastructure business in SA with Black Jills Engineers, one of the first participating companies in WorleyParsons' enterprise development programme. MD of Black Jills Engineers Lebo Leshabane will be CEO of iX Engineers, with 53% equity held by black employees. 35% of those shares are owned by black women. "This transaction is only linked to divesting from the municipal (infrastructure) market (in SA). We can no longer compete in that space," Denver Dreyer, CEO of WorleyParsons RSA, said on Monday, 19 September. He said that thousands of smaller companies now competed for municipal and other government infrastructure spend relating to human settlements. "(iX Engineers) will have no link to us whatsoever," he said. But he acknowledged that the deal would provide some procurement and localisation benefits for WorleyParsons RSA, but that iX Engineers was not geared for mega-projects, such as a nuclear build. Effective from October 1, iX Engineers will provide professional services for the design, development and maintenance of public infrastructure, including roads, dams, water supply, water treatment, sewerage, power transmission and distribution infrastructure. Dreyer said that iX Engineers was not a WorleyParsons subsidiary, but a complete "break-away" company, of which 47% would be held by senior management from WorleyParsons' existing public infrastructure business who would be moving over to iX Engineers. All of WorleyParsons' existing public infrastructure projects will be transferred to iX Engineers, so that the company started with a full order book. "Where projects are not ceded to iX, we will continue to stand behind our customers and will subcontract to iX as they build their own project pipeline going forward. "This is a success story not only for enterprise development, but also for the employees who now have a stakehold in one of the largest majority black-owned consulting engineering companies in the public infrastructure space," Dreyer said. Source: BDpro South African businesses depend on mobile phones, computers and telecom services to keep their businesses running smoothly. Depending on whether the devices are employer- or employee-owned (as well as who pays for airtime and internet access), this reality brings with it a range of implications for payroll calculations as well as the employee's take-home pay. In many cases, employers have adopted bring-your-own-device (BYOD) strategies to allow employees flexibility in choosing the devices and contracts that meet their personal and business needs. In this case, they might give employees a regular allowance for their costs or ask employees to claim their business expenses each month. In other cases though increasingly rare employers take out the mobile or broadband contract in the businesss name and give employees access to a company-owned device. The payroll department needs to look carefully at each of these scenarios to ensure that the business complies with tax regulations with the least effort, cost and risk. The basic principle is simple: the use of the employers mobile device, or the provision of a communication service such as the internet or a telephone service, is tax-free if used for business purposes, but the personal use is taxable. The difficult (and sometimes admin-intensive) part is separating personal from business usage, so that personal use can be taxed as a fringe benefit. Lets look at how this works in practice... Employer-owned devices When the employer provides the employee with a device that is leased, rented or fully owned, personal use by the employee should be treated as a fringe benefit. The value of the fringe benefit is calculated as follows: If the mobile device is leased or hired by the employer, it is valued as the amount of the lease or rental payments. If the device is owned by the employer, 15% per annum of the lesser between the cost of the asset and the market value at the start of the period of use. If the employee is granted the sole right of the use of the device over its useful lifetime (or over a major portion thereof), the cost of the mobile device on the date on which the employee was first granted the right of use. Employers may deduct any amount spent by the employee on the maintenance or repair of the asset as well as their work usage from the fringe benefit valuation. The good news is that if the employee uses the device mainly (more than 50%) for business purposes, there is no fringe benefit to declare. Employer-provided communication services When an employee has personal use of a communication service (home broadband, mobile internet, internet connectivity, voice lines etc.) provided by his or her employer, this should be treated as a fringe benefit. The initial value is the cost to the employer of providing the service. Again, the fringe benefit has no value if the service is used mainly (more than 50%) for business purposes. This also applies to personal use of a telecommunications service made available at work, for example personal calls made from the office using the employers fixed line service. Employee-owned device and communication services Employers generally compensate employees for business-related device expenditure by way of reimbursements (or advances) and allowances. Reimbursement Reimbursements of business-related expenditure are not taxable if the expenses are incurred on the instruction of the employer, and the employee provides the employer with proof of the expense. In the case of mobile devices, the proof would be in the form of an itemised billing statement. The difficulty with the calculation of the reimbursement value of the business use of the mobile device is items such as free minutes and the fixed contract amount. Heres an example of a calculation that SARS will accept: Subscription: R600 per month (includes the mobile device and 500 free minutes per month) Total bill: R600 February use: 150 minutes for business use, and 300 minutes for private use February business use value: R600 x 150 / (150 + 300) = R200 Thus, the employee may be reimbursed up to R200 tax free. If more than R200 is reimbursed, the excess amount above R200 is taxable and must be reported on the tax certificate against code 3713 (taxable allowance). A valid reimbursement for business-related mobile expenses is not remuneration and is therefore not used for the calculation of SDL or UIF. Allowance If the employer is satisfied that the employee will incur business-related mobile expenses an allowance can be paid to compensate the employee for incurring the employers expense. The value of the allowance must be in line with the expected business use value. The allowance is remuneration and the full value is subject to PAYE, SDL and UIF. Furthermore, no deduction may be claimed against this allowance on assessment, even if the employee is paid mainly (more than 50%) by way of commission. If the employer reimburses the employee for business calls above the allowance value, then this portion of the compensation is treated as a reimbursement. Closing words Companies spend a lot of time considering the technical and accounting aspects of the ownership and payment models they follow for communication devices and services. However, the implications for the payroll should not be neglected if a company is looking at implementing a BYOD strategy or reverting to an employer-owned approach. SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has suffered another court defeat after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed his application for leave to appeal a ruling by the High Court in Cape Town, which effectively set aside his permanent appointment. In May, the High Court dismissed with costs an application by Motsoeneng and the SABC for leave to appeal against a ruling that invalidated his permanent appointment. Motsoeneng, Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and the broadcaster subsequently approached the Supreme Court. In its ruling, the appeal court stated that "the application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs on the grounds that there is no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason why it should be heard". In his initial ruling late last year, High Court Judge Dennis Davis said the information before Muthambi at the time of Motsoeneng's promotion was "muddled and unclear", and put her "in no position to exercise a rational decision to elevate him". The case was brought to the court by the DA, based on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's findings against him in 2014. In her report, When Governance and Ethics Fail, Madonsela found Motsoeneng had fabricated his matric qualification and had increased his salary irregularly, from R1.5m to R2.4m in one year. Motsoeneng's battle to retain his job at the broadcaster has dragged on for more than two years. It has played out in the High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and in the Constitutional Court, where it had an abortive stint. James Selfe, chairman of the DA's federal executive, said on Monday that, "effectively Motsoeneng will have no joy from our courts and must vacate the SABC without delay". Motsoeneng, Muthambi and the SABC "have been unsuccessful in almost all courts in which he has sought to keep his job," Selfe said. "He and his band of protectors now need to abandon this abuse of our judicial system," which had already cost taxpayers' millions, he said. "The DA calls on Mr Motsoeneng and the SABC to stop their vexatious litigation and not approach the Constitutional Court, and to tender his resignation effective immediately. This is the only way that the process to restore the SABC's credibility can begin." Source: BDpro via I-Net Bridge The idea of having a home built to their exact specifications is an exciting notion for many prospective homeowners. However, although building a home does have numerous benefits, there are also several vital aspects that should be considered before the project is started such as cost, time and personal preference. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that certain owners opt to build their own home is the fact that they can customise it to suit their individual preferences. He adds that a new home is also more energy efficient, especially with more energy-saving elements being introduced to the market in recent years. Opting for a new home can also be a health benefit, as purchasing an older home the owner runs the risk of being exposed to certain toxic materials, such as asbestos, lead paint and mould. Downside to building a home Despite the perks, there is also a downside to building a home, such as the fact that often the estimated costs are rarely accurate and the project can cost substantially more than initially expected. There is also the task of finding the right contractor for the job. One of the first aspects that need to be considered and researched thoroughly is the competency of the builder. The success of a building project will largely be based on how competent the contractor is to complete the endeavour in a professional manner and within the allotted time period. Regardless of whether it is building a home from the ground up or merely taking on a renovation project using the right contractor is essential. Perhaps the riskiest part of building a home is the construction, which is why it is so important to scrutinise the builders credentials and track record. Below standard workmanship will cause issues down the road and will be costly to rectify at a later stage not to mention the fact that the home will be unsafe for its occupants. If an owner has decided to build their home, they should ensure that the builder they chose to work with is certified with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC). The aim of the NHBRC is to reduce the risk of subpar workmanship as much as possible and ensure that only qualified and experienced contractors are used to build homes. For their own protection homeowners should only use building contractors who are affiliated to the organisation. To a large degree this will ensure that the standard of workmanship is up to standard and provide some protection against defects occurring from substandard building. In the instance where the build has been financed, the bank will insist that the builder is a registered member of the NHBRC before releasing the necessary money. Cost implications of delays Timing is another aspect that requires careful consideration. If the property has not been completed within the expected time frame, it can have some harsh financial implications. During the time that the home is being built, the owner will require accommodation until the property is habitable. Either the owner needs to stay with friends or family, which is cost effective but sometimes inconvenient, or the owner will have to incur the additional cost of renting a home while they wait - bearing in mind that the owner will also be paying for the land and building costs of their new property. A delay in the project can cause a financial setback if the owner is not prepared, as they will be liable for the additional expenses over a longer time period than what they originally anticipated. If a bank is financing a building project, the owner is required to provide several documents such as the building plans, which should include a schedule of finishes to determine the propertys market-related value once it is complete. These documents will be used to determine the size of the loan granted within the parameters of the banks credit policy. Irrespective of whether buyers decide to purchase an existing home or build one, in most cases they will be required to have a deposit. However, due to the higher risk involved with building a home, the deposit required in order to finance the build of a home will be higher. Creative freedom Along with the risk involved in building, there is also the chance that the cost of the project will be greater than what the buyer would pay if they had to purchase an existing property with similar features. Numerous factors can have an influence on the cost of the project and need to be taken into account before any decision is made. However, despite the risk and possible complexities of building a home, many owners would still prefer to have the creative freedom to design their own home, even if the financial cost is higher. Both building a home and buying an existing home have their pros and cons. The answer to what would be a better option will be based on the owners personal preference, individual requirements and financial situation. Regardless of the option that the owner chooses, property should always be viewed as a long-term investment and the necessary research should be done in order to make an informed decision. Jumia Travel has rejuvenated its partnerships with travel and tourism promotion company, Afro Tourism , which promotes travel to and within Africa through a series of travel literature and an intuitive website. Rohan_Reddy via pixabay - Zanzibar This booking solution from Jumia Travel had always existed on the Afro Tourism website but is now richer with more hotel options and discounts for travellers to and within Africa. "With the economic crisis in the world today, travel companies like ours have to promote and encourage pan-African travel through the ease of technology," Kushal Dutta, managing director of Jumia Travel said. "We want Afro Tourism to be a one-stop website for information and hotel bookings for the African traveller," said Funsho Peters, chief operating officer at Afro Tourism. Whether travellers are looking for a quick resource or information towards their travel plans, or for a holistic travel planning solution, Jumia Travels partnership with Afro Tourism will ensure that travellers get a good bounce for their ounce. Users can enjoy an additional discount with hotels in Africa using Jumia Travel on the Afro Tourism website while getting expert advice on where to cast their travel oars. "Jumia Travel is all about putting the customer first, said Dutta. Together with Afro Tourism, we are creating avenues for the average traveller to easily find hotels across Africa and even beyond." Peters also added, We are happy to partner with Jumia Travel as a means of providing visitors to Africa access to various kinds of hotel accommodation. Incorporating their booking engine into our website empowers the traveller to take actionable decisions regarding where to stay, anywhere on the continent that we offer invaluable information on or make recommendations to visit via our trip ideas or travelogue. In the spirit of heritage month, the 24th Arts Alive Festival brings a diverse musical offering, including Rock, Reggae, Hip Hop, Kwaito, Jazz, House, Blues, Folk and Traditional music, to The Mandela, Joburg Theatre on 24 September. Kicking off at 8pm, Arts Alive organised internationally successful SA talent from Dan Patlansky, who has been voted as the fourth best rock guitarist in the world. Dan Patlansky & Friends - Rocking the Folk The line-up will include the folk duo named the Collaboration of the Year and the first of its kind on SA soil, Laurie Levine and Josie Field. Dan Patlansky will be joined on stage by friends Dave Ferguson, a talented blues harmonica player together with acclaimed guitarist Mauritz Lotzand Namibian sensation Andra in a one time Rock, Blues & Folk expression. 2016 SAMA winner of the Best Alternative Album, Nakhane Toure will round off the evening. Ticket details Tickets cost R150 and are available online at www.joburgtheatre.com/rocking-folk-info through Webtickets or any Pick n Pay stores. To book tickets telephonically call 0861 670 670 or 011 877 6855 www.arts-alive.co.za/rockingthefolk.html FRANKFURT: One year ago, Volkswagen's cheating on emissions tests for millions of its diesel cars erupted into public view, leaving the mammoth carmaker battling an unprecedented crisis. Fresh twist in saga Barely a week has passed since that has not seen a fresh twist in the saga, which has tarnished Germany's proud auto industry and called the future of diesel as a whole into question. On Friday alone, two heavyweight legal claims landed on Volkswagen's doorstep, with Blackrock - the world's largest investment manager - saying it would pursue legal action against the car giant for misleading shareholders, echoed by the German federal state of Hesse. Volkswagen has sought to make amends with mass recalls and a fresh focus on building cleaner cars, but a mountain of legal complaints and ever-louder demands for compensation have made it difficult for the auto giant to turn the corner. The scandal "has had huge effects on Volkswagen and the whole sector", said industry expert Stefan Bratzel of Germany's Center for Automotive Management. VW built itself over decades into Europe's car champion and now sells vehicles under 12 separate brands - from Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen to luxury brands Audi and Porsche. The firm rakes in 200 billion euros ($225 billion) in sales each year and employs 600,000 people globally. But the Wolfsburg-based group was rocked to its core when US regulators on 18 September 2015 accused it of deliberately skewing emissions data. VW then publicly admitted it had installed so-called "defeat devices" in 11 million diesel-powered vehicles around the world. The software is able to detect when cars are undergoing regulatory tests and lowers their emissions accordingly, giving them the appearance of being less polluting than they really are. In response to the revelations, Martin Winterkorn resigned as chief executive while insisting he had known nothing of the scheme, leaving then-Porsche boss Matthias Mueller to take over the whole group. But no change of the guard could protect VW from a barrage of lawsuits and compensation claims from the authorities, customers and investors. So far VW has put aside 18 billion euros in legal provisions, which pushed the company last year into its first annual loss in more than 20 years. When the crisis broke, investors watched in horror as VW stock lost 40% of its value in just two days - burning up 30 billion euros of market capitalisation. One year on... One year on, VW remains valued around 20% lower than it was before last September. The scandal didn't trigger a collapse in sales for the Volkswagen brand, which reported on Friday it saw sales fall by just 0.2 worldwide in January-August 2016 compared with the same period in 2015. That period, though, saw 30,000 fewer cars with the famous circular VW logo drive off lots in the United States - a drop of 13%. "One year after 'dieselgate', Volkswagen has maybe gone 50-60% of the way, but there's still a lot to do," Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen told AFP. In the United States, the firm was able to reach a deal settling some of the claims, agreeing to pay almost $15 billion in fines and in compensation to some 480,000 car owners. But VW still faces other legal claims in the United States as well as lawsuits and probes around the world, including in Australia, South Korea, Germany, France and Italy. And European authorities are stirring in Brussels, animated by the charge that American VW customers are being treated better than EU citizens affected by the scandal. So far, VW has refused to compensate Europeans or buy back their vehicles. Instead, it plans to retrofit the 8.5 million vehicles concerned to meet emissions standards. Experts predict the total bill for Volkswagen could reach between 25 and 35 billion euros, leaving the firm once again raiding its piggy bank but not threatening its survival. A possible boon Dudenhoeffer suggests that 'dieselgate' could in the end be a "boon for Volkswagen". New CEO Mueller has adopted a bold strategy, promising dozens of new electric vehicles in coming years as well as pushing into fields like car-sharing services and self-driving cars. VW's cheating has also seen regulators step up scrutiny of the whole industry, shining a spotlight on the harmful effects of polluting engines. The scandal has been a "turning point for diesel", said Bratzel of Germany's Center for Automotive Management. From September 2017, carmakers will submit vehicles for on-road testing as well as laboratory probes, forcing them to invest in more effective anti-pollution systems. With time, European roads - where diesels have long held a larger market share than elsewhere - will see fewer such vehicles as the technology becomes more expensive, leaving an opening likely to be filled by electric cars. Source: AFP Alongside the sci-fi-looking solar vehicles at this year's Sasol Solar Challenge will be the zingBug, a VW Beetle from the 70s with an electric motor at its heart. Santa Scheepers is the woman behind this electric car, and participating in the Challenge forms part of her research and development into converting Beetles into affordable electric vehicles. In 2015 her zingBug was named Best Female-led Project in the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme in South Africa (GCIP-SA). The GCIP-SA is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with funding by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). In South Africa, UNIDO is partnering with the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) as the execution and hosting institution for the GCIP, while the US-based Cleantech Open serves as the main knowledge partner of the global programme. Two other GCIP-supported innovators will complete Scheepers' team in the Challenge, and will also be using the event for further testing of their technologies. The ZingBug has a 48-volt electric motor, but due to the draw on battery reserves in stop-start conditions, Andre Reyneke of Miser Hybrid Transmissions, a semi-finalist in the 2016 GCIP-SA programme, is supplying a hydraulic motor to assist the electric motor. The hydraulic motor stores energy, from both engine optimisation and regenerative braking, as compressed gas in an accumulator. The computerised Miser management system then decides which power source to use. The ZingBug takes part in the Sustainability Fleet class and is allowed to recharge at any time. Andre Nel of Green Tower, a runner-up in the 2015 GCIP-SA programme, developed technology to enhance the efficiency of solar power and will supply the management system that will optimise the solar-panel side of the recharging station. About the Sasol Solar Challenge The Sasol Solar Challenge is a biennial competition aimed at showcasing the power of alternative energy. Emphasising engineering and design, the competition gives South African and international innovators and university students in the disciplines of science, engineering and technology an opportunity to showcase their ingenuity by designing world-class solar-powered vehicles. Participating teams are expected to design, build, and manage their solar-powered vehicles as they race across the South African terrain, covering a distance of at least 1,000km of varying road conditions. Eight of this years 14 entries are from South Africa. The Challenge starts on 24 September in Pretoria and draws to a close in Cape Town on 1 October, taking teams through Kroonstad, Bloemfontein, Graaff-Reinet, Port Elizabeth, Sedgefield and Swellendam along the way. The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) established a partnership with Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG) of South Africa to co-invest $700m in real estate and agriculture development projects. Image Source: African Agri Council - From left: Chief Investment Officer, Old Mutual Investment Group, Hywei George; Chief Executive Officer of the Group, Diane Radley; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji, at the agreement-signing ceremony. Premium Times reported that the NSIA, which is managing Nigerias sovereign wealth fund, said at the agreement signing ceremony in Abuja that $500m would go into real estates, while $200m would be for agriculture development. The partnership would be established as a private investment holding company, jointly owned by NSIA and Old Mutual Property (OMP,) with each party committed to an initial funding of $50m, and opportunity to increase capital to $100m each. The managing director/CEO of NSIA, Uche Orji, said third party investors would be sought to offer them opportunity to access high yield retail and commercial real estate investments in Nigeria, leveraging NSIAs market presence, with an experienced co-sponsor real estate team. The OMP has been involved in real estates, landmark shopping centres, industrial parks and major office blocks development in Africa for over 40 years, with estimated assets under management (AUM) of $1.3bn as at April 2015. NSIAs investment would be made through its wholly owned subsidiary, NSIA Property Investment Company Limited (NPIC,) while OMPs investment would be through its subsidiaries. Agriculture investment On agriculture, Orji said the Nigerian investment agencys commitment would be $25m, with matching capital of about $50m from OMIG, and additional capital of about $150m expected from third party investors, raising the final funding to $200m. He said the agriculture investment will be managed in conjunction with OMIG subsidiary, UFF African Agri Investment (UFF) and would focus on primary production, processing, and logistics, as an important social investment component, in rural development, food security, import substitution, and other areas within the sector beneficial to Nigerians. UFF is a specialist advisor in agriculture investments in Africa, providing expertise in both production (farmland) and investment within the sector. Orji said there was a significant level of interest for both funds, ensuring that getting the fund size would not be a challenge. The new investment is significant, considering NSIA's three pillars to execute its infrastructure strategy, namely investing directly into projects, creating co-investment funds to mobilise third-party capital, and bring expertise into areas the agency does not have enough, particularly in agriculture and real estates, and creating enabling institutions that would help drive investments in infrastructure, he said. Mobilising funds for real estate and agriculture Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, described the agreement signing ceremony as the beginning of a journey to mobilise funds for real estate and agriculture. Government, she said, had the intention of diversifying the countrys economy, which requires investment in the countrys infrastructure. Lack of infrastructure is the real reason the country has not grown the way it should have. Although government was committing to raising about N1.8tn of capital investment in the 2016 budget, it was not enough to take care of the problem. This must be supplemented with private capital, she said. OMIG CEO, Diane Radley, said the partnership with NSIA was a critical step in the development of its commercial real estate and agriculture strategies in Africa. As the largest manager of real assets in Africa, we believe in the opportunities in agricultural and real estate investment across the African continent. Our dealings with agriculture as an asset class has shown that it has already gained huge momentum globally but is still in its infancy in Africa. This presents a significant investment opportunity for both local and international investors, Radley said. Premium Times Coca-Cola has rebranded its variants, namely Coca-Cola Original, Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Life, according to its One Brand strategy. This global marketing approach aims to incorporate all of Coca-Cola's variants under the same brand, making consumers aware of the entire trademark and particularly the low kilojoule variants. In South Africa the first phase of the One Brand strategy kicked off with the launch of the Enjoy the Feeling campaign that established the brands new positioning and included all the Coca-Cola variants in the communication. This new brand positioning combines both the intrinsic benefits of the taste and refreshment with the extrinsic brand values of optimism and authenticity. The campaign launched in March 2016 and used universal storytelling and everyday moments to connect with consumers around the world. It featured the product at the heart of the creative and celebrated the experience of drinking any ice-cold Coca-Cola. The second phase of the One Brand strategy launched this month with a full campaign that establishes the Coca-Cola trademark and highlights the new packaging graphics which feature the iconic Coca-Cola Red Disc more prominently on all variants. The aim behind the new design is to ensure a single visual identity system which features Coca-Cola Red as a unifying colour. To help consumers identify the different products, the signature colours of each variant will be featured throughout the packs: black for Zero, silver for Light and green for Life. Included in the new look and feel are the unique benefits of each variant on the front of the pack. This ensures consumers are able to choose their preferred Coca-Cola for that moment. Coca-Cola Life During the month of September, the brand will be launching Coca-Cola Life. This is the Companys first reduced-kilojoule sparkling beverage sweetened with cane sugar and stevia leaf extract, and it contains 37% less sugar than Coca-Cola Original. The sweetener is made by extracting and purifying the high intensity sweet components from the leaf of the stevia plant, which together with sugar, gives Coca-Cola Life its sweetness. Stevia is a zero kilojoule sweetening ingredient which is used in food and beverages around the globe. This innovative variant will be rolling out in stores and retailers in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth from mid-September 2016. For more information about Coca-Colas global One Brand Strategy, visit www.coke.co.za. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #EnjoyTheFeeling. The Committee to Protect Journalists this week called on authorities in South Sudan to immediately reopen the Nation Mirror newspaper. Security services ordered the independent daily to close last week, according to news reports. Image by 123RF The newspaper's editor, Aurelions Simon Cholee, told Reuters that security officials summoned editors and accused them of "engaging in activities that are incompatible with [the newspaper's registration] status," but did not offer further explanation. Cholee said that authorities ordered the Nation Mirror closed and did not specify when it would be able to resume publication. The paper's website appeared to be last updated on September 13, 2016. President Salva Kiir's government should immediately allow the Nation Mirror to resume publication In its most recent edition, the Nation Mirror covered a report by The Sentry, a Washington advocacy group, which alleged that President Salva Kiir and his rival, the former vice president Riek Machar, had amassed enormous wealth and invested it in multimillion dollar properties abroad - while a conflict triggered by a dispute between the pair has left many citizens in South Sudan living in poverty. "President Salva Kiir's government should immediately allow the Nation Mirror to resume publication," said Murithi Mutiga, CPJ's East Africa representative. "South Sudan needs more, not fewer, independent and critical voices. Preventing professional journalists from doing their work will not advance efforts to build a democratic and stable South Sudan." Paul Jacob Kumbo, South Sudan's director general of information, told CPJ he did not know why the paper was closed or how long it would remain shuttered. "This was a decision by the security officials and I am still waiting for more information on it," he said. The Nation Mirror was closed before. In February 2015, CPJ documented how National Security Service agents seized a print run and issued a publishing ban after the paper was accused of printing anti-government reports. The media environment in South Sudan has deteriorated in recent months. CPJ reported in July that the major daily, Juba Monitor, was ordered closed and its editor, Alfred Taban, was arrested after he wrote a column critical of both Kiir and Machar. Deloitte Digital Africa has appointed Gareth Rees as the leader of the firm's digital transformation practice, which interrogates disruption and innovation in this, the fourth industrial revolution. Gareth Rees A specialist in rapidly bringing new products or services to market, Rees adds to the firms leadership team a wealth of experience in helping companies devise innovative strategies and business models to survive and grow in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world. New, exponential technologies are being introduced at fast and rapidly accelerating rates, leaving no business untouched. Because of this, companies everywhere that have been successful for decades, can now come under pressure from or even be unseated by a week-old start-up. Our digital transformation practice continues to help clients capitalise on these technologies to disrupt before they get disrupted, says Rees. Rees says that the rate and volume of technological breakthroughs heralds the start of the fourth industrial revolution, which will have a systemic impact on global business and create new opportunities for those with the right acuity. We are at a point where digital transformation shouldnt merely be a part of strategy - it should be the strategy. Businesses that will continue to exist over the next few decades are those that have taken this to heart. Gareths appointment strengthens Deloitte Digitals capabilities to not only provide clients strategic advice to guide them through these uncertain and fast-changing times, but also to build the technical solutions that back the strategy, and creatively drive their acceptance in the market, explained Valter Adao, lead director at Deloitte Digital Africa and innovation leader for Deloitte. Rees has been at Deloitte for four years and also heads up the firms rapid commercialisation practice, which identifies unique high-potential start-up businesses and rapidly scales them through leveraging skills, insights, support capacity and market access from across the Deloitte network. He also supports the firms corporate innovation and growth practice. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Africa's foremost thinkers on migration will convene in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the 10th African Development Forum (ADF), from 15-17 November 2016, on the theme, 'Migration and Africa's transformation'. Image by 123RF Jointly convened by the Economic Commission for Africa in partnership with the African Union and the African Development Bank, the Forum has become a unique platform for business, civil society and political leaders to thrash out some of the most pressing issues relating to Africa's transformation. The theme stems from the recognition of the central role of migration as an important enabler for inclusive and sustainable development. We seek to raise awareness and deepen understanding of the role of international migration in promoting inclusive growth and transformation in Africa, said ECAs chief economist and deputy executive secretary, Abdalla Hamdok. Hamdok added that the forum will provide an opportunity for African policy makers to analyse issues, review progress, discuss policy options, strengthen partnerships and explore consensus on devising suitable strategies for making migration work for Africas transformation. The central premise guiding the discussions at the forum is that international migration plays a critical role in the continents endeavour to develop and improve welfare, peace and stability and provide jobs for our growing population, he underlines. He noted that migration continues to shape dynamics across countries with the youth, mostly migrating in search of jobs and education. The issue of migration has become a major subject of debate internationally. According to experts, some reports in the media have fed into existing stereotypes, especially on the numbers of Africans leaving the continent; the links to criminality; global asylum; and related issues. This has entrenched a lopsided approach to the issue. Hamdok expects the forum to elevate the discussion and aim to emerge with a deeper understanding of the issue. Expected at the 10th edition of the ADF are African heads of state and government, policy makers, representatives from development partners, UN agencies, academia, civil society organisations and the private sector. A number of parallel events will take place from 13-14 November 2016, the aim of which will be to shape the outcomes of the forum. As in past such forums, a consensus on a number of key questions of regional mobility on the continent; demographic dividend; skills; and employment creation, is expected. In addition, participants are expected to touch on leveraging human and financial resources of Africas diaspora and address new directions and trends in African migration. Subscribe to daily business and company news across 19 industries SUBSCRIBE Regarding the statement Mann Aung Pyi Soe, a KUPC member said to KIC: The public is suffering because of the recent skirmishes. They affect peace, we are worried. The only way [to find a solution] is to hold negotiations about this issue, so that is what we have requested. In the statement the KUPC urged the groups involved in the fighting to reach an understanding and use negotiations to find a solution rather than trying to solve the conflict using weapons. The Karen National Party (KNP)s general secretary Mann Kyaw Nyein said there had been civil war in Burma for 67 years and he wants the fighting to stop because it causes an increase in internally displaced persons (IDPs). He said: There shouldnt be war in our country anymore. Only the public suffers. I want them to stop the war in consideration of the public. Mann Aung Pyi Soe said that the KUPC planned to donate 2 million kyats (approx. $1,600 USD) to the IDPs sheltering at in Myaing Gyi Ngu on 16 September. The KUPC was established with 37 members in 2012 at at Zwegabin Hall in Hpa-an, Karen State. Currently it has 70 members made up from Karen religious leaders, Karen armed groups, Karen political parties, Karen social organisations, and Karen parliamentary representatives. Reporting by Saw Nyunt Thaung for KIC News Translated by Thida Linn Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI Family members say they have not been in contact with 13 Arakanese from Haigyi Island in Ayeyarwady Region for more than a month, after they were... A Zimbabwean double amputee, who received a lot of public sympathy after a farmer, Keitumetse Khunou shot him in 2013 over a payment dispute thereafter losing both arms, is appealing the high court verdict. Gift Ncube, an illegal immigrant, had sued the farmer for attempting to kill him and lost the case. The shooting incident is said to have happened at Khunous ploughing field at Diphateng lands near Radisele where he had temporarily engaged Ncube to debush his field. In his grounds of appeal, Moffat Dick said that the court erred in law when it made a finding the effect of which was to say the respondent acted in self-defence, without fully discussing the law of self-defence as governed by Section 16 of the Penal Code. Court erred in law when it held that an intention to kill, and not any other means would suffice for a conviction for attempted murder. (When the intention required by the law should be at least to cause grievous bodily harm) said Dick. He said in his grounds of appeal that the court suggested that an explanation had to be given as to why the accused would shoot at the complainant hence confusing the issue of motive and intention.Court erred in law by replying on the evidence of a witness who was initially admitted as per the joint minute in terms of Order 68 (4) (3) of the rules of the High Court but later withdrawn by the applicant at the start of the trial, he said. In his verdict, Zibani Makwade said that the accused did not intend to kill Ncube but he only wanted to scare him. He added that it was the first time the farmer engaged the illegal immigrant. He said that days before Ncube was shot, Khunuo engaged him along with Shepherd Ncube who was also a Zimbabwean. Shepherd left before the completion of the work. Victor Sibanda was then roped in to complete the work with Ncube. Upon completion of the work, the accused gave Sibanda P500. The complainant refused to take the money from Sibanda saying that he was not hired by Sibanda and it was the accused person who was supposed to pay him, said Makhwade. He said that on the said date of the attempted murder, Ncube resided at one of the farmers residence in Radisele with his girlfriend, Magdeline Letlhogile.It is not in dispute that a few days before the incident that gave rise to the charge, police went to Khunous field in search of Ncube and Shepherd, Makhwade said. He said that the two were allegedly wanted in connection with theft at one Rra Peters place.He added that witnesses who testified about this incident said Ncube and Shepherd ran away but returned after the police had left. He said that it was alleged that the two had threatened to kill Rra Peter when he confronted them about theft at his place. There is no doubt that there was a breakdown of trust between Ncube and Khunou because of the visit by the police, the judge said. Makhwade said that taking into account what transpired between the parties, there was no doubt that the complainant was angry stating that either a Zimbabwean or Motswana was going to die. First he refused to take his share of money from Victor. On two occasions he refused to take a ride in the accuseds motor vehicle stating that he has never bought a vehicle. He refused to go and meet with Victor and the accused person to resolve the issue of payment.He also said that Ncube refused to hand over the keys to the accuseds house and that there was no explanation given as to why the accused suddenly shot Ncube. Makhwade concluded: I cannot find as a fact that the accused fired four shots at the complainant. I also find it reasonably true that the shots were fired with the intent to scare rather than to kill the complainant.In an interview with Botswana Guardian, the limbless Ncube said that he prays for justice to prevail. My life has been a living hell since the incident, I cannot do anything for myself and I am also finding it hard to accept myself, Ncube said.He said that the government has not made any efforts to help him. The only help I receive is the donations I get from Good Samaritans, Ncube said adding that the hospital had at some point said they will give him artificial hands, Unfortunately those hands were straight, they could not bend or anything, therefore I turned them down as they were of no use. Kgololesego Segabo who is representing the accused in this matter is yet to file his heads in response to the state. Last week, University of Botswana historian, who is also the director of Confucius Institute, Professor Part Mgadla shocked the nation when he presented a paper stating that the decision to have Gaborone as the city of Botswana was a big error by the Legislative Council before the country became independent. Mgadla, a historian of note at the UB says this in his paper entitled A very grave and expensive error? The choice of a new site for capital of Botswana 1958-65. He argues that the minority members of the LegCo did point out that Gaborone had limited land in terms of expansion, predicting at the time that in future, it would not be able to expand to the north, east, south, or west without encroaching on tribal lands. Today, fifty years later, that prediction could not have been more on the mark, he says, emphasising that the decision to find an appropriate place for the location of the capital of Botswana was rushed on both part of the administration and members of the LegCo. It is arguable whether if the capital had been located elsewhere other than Gaborone, so much money would be spent and continue to be spent on ferrying water supplies to sustain Gaborone He also feels Gaborone is not central. The lecture attracted not only UB staff but also members of the public, among them elders such as Gobe Matenge and David Magang. Mgadla managed to keep his audience glued as he explained how the LegCo members that decided on choosing Gaborone over other areas used majority rule. His argument is that majority is not always right. But again, his main emphasis is that due to the pledged R4 million from the British government, the LegCo was under immense pressure. Taking too long to reach a decision either by undertaking expensive and complicated water explorations of the Okavango or those of Francistown area, and making other decisions did not guarantee that the British government would withhold its pledge indefinitely, he says. In response, technocrat Matenge said he admired the hard work of the Legislative Council that chose Gaborone as the capital city. He said that he was impressed by their efforts and noted that at that time, there was no room to make national future plans. They did what they were supposed to do. There was nothing wrong with the decision taken that time. Three years was long for us to hang that long, he said about the duration given by the British government regarding the pledged R4 million. Matenge added that members of the Council deliberated without fear or favour and came to a reasonable conclusion. For his part, former cabinet minister and businessman Magang said it was not time to decry so much the old but to move forward. He said there was nothing sinister about the decision since experts involved were foreigners. At the time, reports appeared to be correct. The committee did not anticipate that the population would grow from a mere 5000 people back then, he said. Former ambassador of Botswana to Namibia Chakabaka Matenge supported the two national elders and challenged Mgadla to focus on what is next. Are you saying we should relocate it? What are we going to do with the billions spent on ferrying of water? he asked. Former UB vice chancellor Bojosi Otlhogile said that even though he agreed with the professors arguments on water, land and visibility, he however felt centrality was not an issue. How many of the worlds capitals have taken centrality as a requirement? he asked, revealing that Gaborone was located in the right place. According to Otlhogile, the Legislative Council chose the wrong place for the right reasons but did not choose the right place for wrong reasons.Mgadla strongly felt that Gaborone is a wrong capital city and that if government had enough funds, they could move it and find a place that is near central. Can we imagine what will happen 50 years from now? If we dont consider moving it, we are still going to spend millions and billions on ferrying water, he said. Altogether, a total of nine sites were considered, most of them along the railway line. The sites included Lobatse, Manyana, Gaborone, Bokaa/Pilane, Dibete, Mahalapye, Tuli Block, Shashe and Francistown. Minority in the LegCo felt Mahalapye would be the right capital city. In many ways, the appointment of Advocate Thulisile Madonsela to the position of responsibility made her to accept it with a trembling heart. The joys were alluring, the challenges so great. But, once she started snooping into the offices and streets, she got exposed to all sorts of challenges including from the appointing authorities. As South Africas Public Prosecutor who performs diligently, on many times, the outgoing Madonsela found herself and her entire office staff being subjects of abuse that included acts of violence, death threats, intimidation and being held hostage. However, that never distraught her, instead the spiritual Madonsela took solace in her belief that in whatever responsibility that we are given, we all can go forward in victory if together we hold fast to the Lord, trusting Him to lead us and give us the courage and strength we need. Madonsela was in the country last week Friday at the invitation of the Law Society of Botswana (LSB) as a guest of honour at a dinner whose aim was to create a platform for interaction between legal practitioners and their stakeholders. It goes without saying that her performance in the public office has earned her international recognition and accolades, the latest being the honorary membership of the Law Society of Botswana given in recognition of her unwavering and courageous defence of the strong and independent public institutions. LSB chairman, Lawrence Lecha says his Society considers strong independent public institutions as one of the most important pillars of a viable and vibrant constitutional democracy. In this regard and as part of its mandate, the Society has consistently engaged its stakeholders on the need for strong public institutions and the centrality of independence to achieving such objective. Our position in this area as it relates to the Judiciary is unwavering and indeed well chronicled. Some have unfortunately sought to find mischief in the interest of the Law Society in matters such as the above. This is furthest from the truth, said Lecha last week during the dinner hosted under the theme: the case for strong and independent public institution. Whilst the mandate of the Society as set out in the Act is primarily to ensure and enhance professional standards for the benefit of the public and the profession itself, the Society is also enjoined to ensure and enhance the supremacy of the Rule of Law and Democracy. In this regard the Society, as with all others around the world, must be in the forefront of advocating for legal reform, justice, the rule of law, good governance, democracy and access to justice. Lecha said it is for the above reason that the Law Society believes that it couldnt have found better company than the Public Protector as her belief in the above principles have been recorded and well publicised. It is our further belief that the presence and words of wisdom from such a distinguished Public Protector will find fertile ground in most as they discharge responsibilities similar to hers. Meanhwile, Madonsela says that although she is concerned about the death threats against her, equally she does not easily get intimidated because she is a spiritual person who believes we all ought to die one day. She believes that no one can leave a minute longer or die a minute later than the time decided by the Creator. The gentle giant human rights lawyer and Equality Expert whose most powerful tool is her soft voice and calmness irrespective of the situation, fielded questions with ease and answered sincerely.She Madonsela congratulated Botswana for her golden jubilee celebration saying that the celebrations are for the entire continent because those countries that were first to gain independence gave us hope and example that you can get independence, but not only get independent, but you can also govern properly. We are grateful that this opportunity presented for a specific purpose, but has also allowed us to meet with our colleague the ombudsman of Botswana and have benchmarking session, she said. Madonsela advocates for strong and independent institutions because they are the foundation of a strong democracy. Often you get people who say we do not need strong democracies, but we need strong men and I disagree with that talk because while men come and go institutions are there to stay.According to her, institutions are more true to the essence of democracy which is the government of the people by the people. When people govern it means they are involved in determining the future of a group, whether country or community. It means people responsible in determining who they will entrust with their collective power. It also means those who are entrusted with power and resources will be accountable to the majority and lastly they will handle that power and resources with care because it does not belong to them; it belongs to the majority. You have to have institutions that ensure accountability and continuous involvement of the people, she said, adding that in many of the modern states those institutions are entrenched in the constitution. In South Africa for instance the key institutions are entrenched in Chapter 9 of the constitution which specifically refers to them as institutions to support and strengthen constitutional democracy. So you need them strong so that they can play a role in supporting and strengthening constitutional democracy, she said. Not an ANC member Madonsela denied being a member of the African National Congress (ANC). I think on the internet it says that. Its not true I am not a card carrying member of the ANC, but at the time I was appointed I was an ANC supporter because I have been a card carrying member until 2007. Having been part of the ANC, she says, and being a colleague to people who are in governance gave her leverage because people knew that these things that I am saying, I am not saying them because I am now Public Protector, I have always believed in good governance and transparency. I have been party to those who drafted the constitution. She states that the ANC for example, did not want to replace the apartheid government not because the people were white, it was because it claimed that it had higher morals to govern the people properly and govern by the peoples constitution. So that allowed me to always go back to Nelson Mandela and say, we said we are better than them not because we have a different colour, but because we will govern in accordance with the universal rights of the constitution and we are not for one person, we are for one, said Modonsela. She said a related challenge as Public Protector is that you make the decision that shows you are independent, and then ANC colleagues will ask, are you now hitting hard at us to show that you are independent. I still think that when you have been colleagues its more of a facilitator rather than an impediment, but you have a choice though and say because these people were colleagues, I am going to decide in their favour, trust is they will be the first to despise you. She describes her relationship with the ANC as marvellous. In South Africa, the average person is excited to see me at the mall and rural areas even ANC supporters, in fact if you look at my twitter account, some endorse ANC logo on them. So the average person in the ANC honestly wants to do the right thing, they want a South Africa for all where public resources and power are used to advance the interest of the national democratic revolution, they are happy when I draw back the money that had gone anywhere else other than advancing everyones plight. She also notes that the average leader in the ANC applauds her work. When I was a member of the ANC, I was in the Gauteng branch, and I have never met a single leader who is unhappy with me. The Gauteng ANC branch has endorsed my work openly in the last seven years, not secretly because there are people who support me secretly. When there was this debate about whether the findings of the Public Protector are binding or not, and whether government should implement, David Makhura issued a statement -and that was at the height of Nkandla debate- to say they will implement everything and that helped us. At national level, a lot of them gave me a pat on the back. On death threats She confirmed that over the years she has been concerned about the threats and also about the implications for her children. As I said after I issued the first reports I invited sour grapes. Life is in the hands of God. We all ought to die, and its a question of when I told myself that if I had to die I will die, but also I am a very spiritual person and I do believe that I cannot stay a minute longer than my Creator wants me to stay, and I also cannot leave a minute earlier. One of her many tweets reads, At times we have to stand alone with only hope as our companion. If you stand for the truth and do so long enough hope does eventually pay. The Registrar of the Engineer Registration Board (ERB) Dennis Olaotse has urged engineers to register with the Board. Speaking during a press conference by ERB to launch Engineers Registration Regulations 2016, Olaotse said statistics shows that out of an estimated 5500 engineers in Botswana, the Board registered close to 41 percent as at 12 September 2016. The engineers are registered in various categories and disciplines. Most are Batswana and only a few percentage share international engineers. However, the board does not take any disciplinary action against unregistered engineers. Olaotse said the regulations are to facilitate for the operationalisation of the Engineers Registration Act and provide guidelines of how best to regulate the activities and conduct of engineering profession. The profession has been faced with a lot of challenges including fraudsters, forging of ERB certificates to secure employment and people using ERB certificate for procurement of works. The regulation is expected to address all these issues. The Regulations provide for the categories of registration and its procedures, issuance of practicing certificates and most mentions the importance of compliance by engineering professionals to the set Code of Conduct and Ethics. Failure to comply with the code may result in the Board instituting an inquiry into the conduct of the engineering professional which may lead to an investigation and disciplinary action taken against such a professional. Olaotse said there are other initiatives that go hand in hand with implementation of the regulations, which are the implementation of the Continued Professional Development (CPD) Policy and the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. The objective of the CPD Policy is to assist engineering professionals to systematically acquire knowledge and skills and develop personal qualities in order to maintain and enhance their professional competence. National Development Bank, the state-controlled bank has made an impassioned plea to government to inject P1 billon into its coffers to bring it back to life, its Chief Executive, Lorato Morapedi told a select parliamentary committee. The NDB top executives request comes hot on the heels of yet another demand of the same amount, this time from Botswana Development Corporation (BDC), an investment arm of government. Morapedi, who has been at the banks hot seat for more than six years, told the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies and Public Enterprises at Parliament when she appeared before them this week. Currently we have requested P400 million for this first year, second year we will need P165 million and the last one will be P250 million, said Morapedi adding that they will also look at their options for funding. She did not elaborate more on these options which are available for the bank to tap on. The bank has previously issued bonds to raise cash on the debt market. Our focus is agriculture and SMMEs, she said. According to Morapedi the current loan book of the bank is at P1.3 billion and 40 percent will never be recovered. A visibly incensed Chairman of the committee, Guma Moyo at this point asked the NDB boss why they should be trusted with funding. We have a lot of expertise and robust Information Technology and have improved in monitoring. We have been able to get to the bottom of these problems and we have been able to establish that some loans were given way back in 2009,said Morapedi who has been given a fresh mandate to lead as from the bank last year. A look at NDBs executive summary prepared to the committee shows that the bank recorded a total loss of P48.4 million for the year to March 2015 compared to P87.8 million in the previous year. During the period, overall comprehensive loss was P56.9 million from P69.2 million in the previous year. Impairments charge for March 2015 reduced by 48 percent when compared to the previous financial year figures. This is an indication of recovery. In the report which Botswana Guardian has seen, Morapedi said during the financial year 31 March 2015 the bank was faced with challenges such as; non-performing loan book, tight liquidity, high cost of funding, over borrowed customers and slow recovery of the economy. The bank which turns 53 this year, also reported that 38 percent of its loan book fell into non-performing loans status during the year under review (2014/15). This negatively affected the Banks liquidity position, said the NDB report. The bank has since intensified its collections efforts and cost containment strategies. The bank said it needs more money to increase its loan book. Going forward, the bank will start investing in high margin portfolios as well as improving operational efficiency. Earlier this year, government suspended the banks privatisation citing a number of challenges such as decline in profitability, reduced banking rates and strained disposable income. Like BTCL, NDBs privatisation process would also see the bank floating 49 percent shares in the domestic bourse.Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Kenneth Matambo said, these challenges, unfortunately, delayed the privatisation of the bank. To this end, a decision has been taken to first allow for the commercialisation of the bank and return it to profitability before embarking on a privatisation exercise. The minister did not specify when the privatisation process of the bank would be reinstated. Matambo said the banks profitability decline over the years is because NDB supports start-up businesses as well as finance agricultural projects, which are periodically affected by drought and livestock disease. Botswana National Front (BNF) leader Duma Boko seems to be headed for another litmus test, this time over the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) membership card. The card is said to have divided the party and there are growing fears that may tear the BNF into factions. BNF rank and file are worried that proper or adequate consultations was not done and the UDC membership is aimed at annihilating the movement (BNF) that many are very much attached to. The members are questioning the UDC application form, which talks about ones previous party arguing that technically it renders ones membership of either the BNF, BMD or BPP null and void. Boko is widely credited for keeping BNF united- a party, which is synonymous with vicious factions. This would not be the first time for Boko who is also the President of UDC to fight a battle of this nature. He once fought a legal battle against some BNF activists who were against the use of BNF symbol in the UDC emblem. Insiders within the BNF have informed Botswana Guardian that the UDC membership card has divided the BNF even at central committee level, as some members believe the masses were not taken on board on the matter. Ever since UDC Secretary General Ndaba Gaolathe issued a letter regarding the UDC card the BNF central committee is still yet to meet and deliberate on the matter. Some BNF members are of the opinion that the party should take its time to educate members on how things would work once they have the UDC membership cards. We do not argue that the congress as the supreme body of the party could have endorsed the UDC Constitution but the fact is that fellow comrades especially those who did not attend the Gantsi congress and those who cannot convincingly interpret legal instruments like the constitution should not be left behind. The party leadership was supposed to embark on educational campaign about the UDC Constitution and its structures including this card, said a source within the BNF Central Committee.Another member of the BNF said the issue has to be clarified to the membership because as the UDC contracting party they need the card. For instance, logically all the council and Parliamentary candidates contested under UDC so we need this card, said the member. Currently the issue of the card is said to be a heated debate in the ongoing regional meetings that are being conducted by the party led by Secretary General Moeti Mohwasa. Latest FREMM frigate "Bretagne" being floated out. A DCNS photo LORIENT, FRANCE (BNS): Shipbuilder DCNS has floated out the fifth FREMM multi-role frigate being built for the French Navy. The new warship, named "Bretagne", was floated at DCNS's Lorient facility on September 16. "This floating, six months after the delivery of the FREMM "Languedoc" on 16 March 2016, demonstrates DCNS's capacity to carry out efficient series production, ensuring that it can deliver six frigates to the French Navy before mid-2019," the shipbuilder said. The French Navy has already received first three frigates of the class "Aquitaine" in 2012, "Provence" in 2015 and "Languedoc" in 2016. The fourth frigate, "Auvergne", is getting ready to start sea trials at the end of September 2016, while the assembly for the sixth and final frigate, "Normandie", is about to start. "Bretagne" is the seventh frigate in the FREMM programme and fifth in the series ordered by OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) on behalf of the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) for the French Navy. The two other such platforms have been sold to export customers the Royal Moroccan Navy and the Egyptian Navy. The FREMM family of frigates with technically advanced features is being built to counter all threats emanating from air, sea or land. With a displacement of 6,000 tons and a length of 142-m, the vessel can cruise at a speed of 27 knots. Each warship will carry state-of-the-art weapons and systems including the MdCN cruise missiles, Aster anti-air missiles, Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles and MU90 torpedoes. The sensor suite of the frigate is designed around the Herakles multi-function radar with a range of more than 250 kilometres. The last two frigate for the French Navy would incorporate enhanced anti-aircraft capabilities, according to the shipbuilder. An internet imagery. VISAKHAPATNAM (PTI): The Indian Navy has agreed to hand over INS Viraat to Andhra Pradesh government after its decommissioning and the aircraft carrier will berth on the coast here by mid-2017, Flag Officer Commanding-In-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral H C S Bisht has said. The AP government had shown a keen interest in getting INS Viraat, the oldest aircraft carrier operated by Indian Navy, to berth in Vizag for promotion of tourism after its decommissioning, he said. He was speaking to reporters after taking part in the International Coastal Cleanup Day at R K Beach here on 17 September. Viraat is likely to be decommissioned by end of 2016 after 55 years of service, including 27 years with the Royal Navy (British Navy), he said. SEOUL (AFP): North Korea has successfully tested a new, high-powered rocket engine, state media said on Tuesday, a move Seoul said was designed to showcase its progress towards being able to target the US east coast. The ground test comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang detonated what it said was a miniaturised atomic bomb. Taken together, the two tests raise the prospect that the isolated state could be inching towards its ultimate goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could hit Washington DC. State-run news agency KCNA trumpeted the engine test, which it said would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites". Rocket engines are easily re-purposed for use in missiles, and outside observers say that Pyongyang's space programme is a fig leaf for weapons tests. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un hailed the test and called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come", KCNA said. A geostationary satellite must be propelled to an altitude of 36,000 kilometres, a Unification Ministry official was quoted as saying by South Korea's official Yonhap news agency. "The distance to the eastern part of the United States is some 12,000 kilometres. The North is thus showing off its ability" to hit the US east coast, the official added. Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at the South's Korea Aerospace Research Institute said such an engine would represent "a technical leap forward" in developing launch vehicles. It suggests the North is "coming close to having an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland". Pyongyang regularly parades homegrown missiles and boasts of its plan to develop long-range missiles capable of targeting America. It has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches, most recently in February, and has fired missiles from a submarine. A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile system would allow deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a "second-strike" capability in the event of an attack on the North's military bases. After supervising the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians "to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible", KCNA reported. Kim "expressed great satisfaction" with the results of the test, according to KCNA, and said the North had made cutting-edge scientific advances despite difficult economic conditions. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The public got to weigh in Monday on what should be done to alleviate the bottleneck at Brandons most notorious traffic jam. A small crowd trickled into Trails West Inn for the first of two open houses Monday to provide their thoughts on the major $60-million expansion to the Daly Overpass thats expected to continue frustrating motorists for a few more years, since construction is only slated to start in late 2018. Those who gathered for the open house said they were curious what would be done with the much-maligned overpass, but there was little to offer thoughts on without a proposal in place. Charles Tweed/The Brandon Sun Manitoba Infrastructure project design engineer Brent Hartmann and technical service engineer Denise Jubenvill discuss the new Daly Overpass with a concerned ratepayer yesterday afternoon. There was agreement from the crowd, though, that the current three-lane overpass is too small for the growing citys needsand has been for some time. I think most local people have figured out other ways to get around town, said Jane Brunet, a resident who lives near the Daly Overpass and crosses the railway on 26th Street instead. As one of the overpass neighbours, Brunet was part of a private consultation round in recent weeks. She came to Mondays open house because she is interested in her neighbourhoods development. She said her preference for the overpass is the safest way possible and the least bothersome to the traffic. The new overpass will be divided into two separate structures, each with two lanes. The slope of the bridge will be more gradual than it currently is to improve sightlines and safety for drivers. There will also be a multi-use pathway on each structure for pedestrians. The expansion is now scheduled to begin in fall 2018, though last summer it was estimated it could begin as soon as late 2017. A engineering team will be retained before the end of this year for the project. Plans for how the overpass may look will be shown to the public in early 2017, which will be ironed out in a more detailed design later that year and into 2018. Donovan Toews, a communications consultant with Landmark Planning and Design, conceded this is a complicated expansion to undertake. Youve got a lot of buildings that were built close to the street and in close proximity to the bridge, then you add the railing thats there, youve got all of these uses in tight to where the bridge is and all of them need access in some form or another to the street system, he said. So weve got to give a lot of consideration to these accesses. He said it is to be determined what will happen to the nearest buildings on either side of the overpass southern entrance, Advance Auto Body and Glass to the west and an abandoned warehouse to the east. Toews did not know if last summers $60-million price tag was still an accurate figure for the project. Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer said he would leave it to the engineers to determine how this overpass is conceived. He said he appreciates that the publics input is being sought. File Vehicles heading north on 18th Street merge into a single lane at the entrance to the Daly Overpass in this August 2013 photo. Theyre putting a lot of foresight into this project to make sure that the public knows what the process may be. Also mentioned at the open house was the City of Brandons plans to extend Pacific Avenue west to 26th Street. The city put that project on hold so it could be considered alongside the revamped Daly Overpass. Construction on the Daly Overpass will not be completed until the rehabilitation work on First Street bridge is complete, the province has said. The federal Tories agreed last summer to partner with the Manitoba government to fund the $60-million expansion designed to increase traffic capacity and reduce congestion. The feds pledged $19.2 million themselves, which will complement the remaining $40 million the province has set aside. The city wanted reconstruction work to begin on the Daly Overpass before the First Street bridge, but those plans were reversed when the province surprised city administration in 2014 by saying the First Street bridge is the most pressing need. ifroese@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ianfroese Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A judge wants to know if theres a treatment bed available before he decides whether to grant bail to a woman who was allegedly five times the legal limit when she crashed a van. Judge John Combs said he was left to choose between putting a person with an alcohol addiction on an abstain condition which is generally considered setting a person up for failure or not imposing an abstain condition, which would effectively ignore the reasons behind the alleged offending. I would be much more comfortable if the concept of a residential treatment plan was looked at, Combs said. Crown attorney Marnie Evans said that, shortly after 6 p.m. on May 5, police received a 911 call from a man whose van was stolen from behind a Brandon home. It was last seen heading east along Lorne Avenue. Three minutes after that call, another man called police to report an erratic or impaired driver who was swerving in and out of lanes on the 3300 block of Victoria Avenue East. The licence plate number matched that of the stolen van. The witness then saw the van hit the ditch in front of the hydro plant. Numerous officers responded and executed a high-risk takedown, which typically means a gunpoint arrest. It seems they were concerned about the vans heavily tinted windows, as they couldnt see whether anyone else was in the vehicle. The driver, the only person in the van, was so intoxicated that she couldnt get out by herself. Police smashed the drivers side window for officer safety given the tinted windows, removed the woman from the drivers seat and arrested her. Police noted that the womans eyes were rolling into the back of her head. She was incoherent, her breath stank of alcohol, and she had to lie down in the back of the cruiser. An ambulance was called to check her condition. Evans said blood tests would later show she was five times the legal limit. Police didnt know that at the time, and they released the suspect. She was then arrested for failing to attend court and released again after a bail hearing with conditions to abstain from alcohol and to not be at bars. She appeared in custody on Monday as a result of her arrest on Sept. 13. An employee at the Crystal Hotel called police when an intoxicated woman fell in the parking lot and didnt get up. The employee said the woman had stayed in the hotel bar all morning, even after staff had asked her to leave. She must have got up, as police found her at the 7th Street Health Access Centre and arrested her for breaching her bail. During Mondays bail hearing, Combs gave her lawyer, Ryan Fawcett, a chance to look into treatment options. Janice Allison Franklin, 30, is charged with drunk driving and Highway Traffic Act offences, car theft, fail to attend court, and bail breaches. Her bail application will continue next Monday. ihitchen@brandonsun.com Twitter: @IanHitchen Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Renaissance Brandon has launched a brand-new program with a goal of sprucing up downtown storefronts. Funded through the Province of Manitoba, the Downtown Facade and Storefront Improvement Program will provide matching funds up to $15,000. The intent is to assist property owners or tenants, to contribute to a vibrant urban place for downtown Brandon, and our board felt that these kinds of improvements would really impact the vitality and street feel of the downtown, said Elisabeth Saftiuk, Renaissance Brandon executive director. Jillian Austin/The Brandon Sun Renaissance Brandon executive director Elisabeth Saftiuk presents to council about the launch of the Downtown Facade and Storefront Improvement Program. Applications will be evaluated by a review committee, comprised of representatives from the province, the city, Renaissance Brandon and Brandon Downtown Biz. The deadline is Oct. 7 and applications are available at renaissancebrandon.ca or by phoning 204-720-0342. Attractive buildings enhance the character of a neighbourhood and draw more people to the community, which helps local businesses to thrive, said Municipal Relations Minister Eileen Clarke in a press release. Manitobas new government is pleased to work together with our partners to make this urban centre a more appealing place to live, work and spend time with family and friends. According to the downtown development corporation, the intent of the program is to support the creation of a more vibrant, attractive and pedestrian-oriented environment within the downtown, while also helping to leverage retail and business investment in the area. The program will provide funding to: preserve the historical integrity of buildings in the downtown area; contribute to a high quality pedestrian environment; encourage the development of distinct character areas; improve perceptions of safety; improve accessibility; and add diversity and interest to retail streets, according to Renaissance Brandon. The applicant must either be the property owner or the main floor commercial tenant. Government offices and agencies, as well as major chain franchises are not eligible. There has been a great deal of interest, so were certainly hoping that the uptake is going to be considerable, Saftiuk said. If we find there are too many applications and we dont have enough money to fund, then would look into offering another intake. Properties within the Downtown HUB boundaries are eligible for the program. In order to receive the maximum grant available, an applicant must have a minimum of three design interventions, which can include items such as new/additional lighting, signage, brick or masonry restoration, new windows/doors, new awnings/canopies, facade cleaning, etc. If a building is located on a corner, they may qualify for additional funding. We are very much looking forward to the work being conducted, Saftiuk said. Were looking forward to providing these business owners, or building owners with support in the way of this grant, and looking forward to the impact that their renovations will have on downtown. jaustin@brandonsun.com Twitter: @jillianaustin Already have an account? Log in here The personal stories of Catholic sisters who contributed to the historical success of Manitobas health, education and social services sector are now on display. We need your support! Local journalism needs your support! As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Already have an account? Log in here Brandonite Jordy Stallard had two shots on goal but was held pointless on Monday as the Winnipeg Jets fell 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, B.C. We need your support! Local journalism needs your support! As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 20/09/2016 (2231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. If the discovery of the wreckage of the two ships belonging to Sir John Franklin underscores anything, its the value of indigenous knowledge. Earlier this month, the long-lost ship the HMS Terror was found at the bottom of an Arctic Ocean bay. Almost two years ago to the day, a search vessel discovered the location of Sir Franklins flagship, the HMS Erebus. In both cases, the discoveries were aided by Inuit knowledge. The Guardian reported this weekends discovery was because of a tip from an Inuit crew member. Sammy Kogvik of Gjoa Haven said he and a friend had found a wooden object that looked like a mast sticking out of the ice on Terror Bay. He took a photo of it, but when his camera got lost, he took it as an omen of bad spirits. He pledged to keep the location a secret. But, heres the thing: when he told his story to one of his colleagues on board the expedition, it wasnt dismissed as Inuit oral history often is; instead, it was taken seriously, and the crew made the decision to search the area Mr. Kogvik described. The ship itself is in pristine condition and its discovery challenges our history books on polar exploration. In 2014, when HMS Erebus was found, Inuit oral history guided explorers to its location. The Inuit for years had suggested one of their hunters saw the ship in that part of the passage, abandoned. It ended up being exactly where they said it would be. The two ships disappeared in 1845 as the Franklin expedition attempted to search for the Northwest Passage. All 129 men on board both ships died. The decision to search for the Franklin ships was a pet project of former prime minister Stephen Harper that began in 2008. He deserves credit for pressing for the search for the two and for raising the profile of the Arctic region. As prime minister, he visited the North more times than any of his predecessors, seeing the area as an issue of Canadian sovereignty and identity. Millions of dollars were poured into the Franklin project, which many discounted as an effort by the Prime Ministers Office in militarization and branding. But the discoveries are important for the future. For example, the fact that this area in the Arctic is now an integral part of Canadas history could threaten the ability for any company to open a drilling platform there. One of the private partners in the search for Erebus was Shell Canada, who suggested it was a natural fit for partnering on the project given its strong presence in the North. Ironically, the discoveries may limit the companys ability to extract oil. Those decisions of course, remain up for debate. For now, Canada should be proud of the role it played in this important historical discovery, but more to the point, as author David Woodman points out in a CBC interview: It took 200 years for our technology to get good enough to tell us that Inuit were telling us the truth. Winnipeg Free Press Three hundred new jobs are being announced in the health sector in Limerick. Fazzi Healthcare Services is setting up a base to provide medical coding for the US homecare and hospice sector. The project is supported by the Department of Jobs through the IDA. Founded in 1978, parent company Fazzi Associates is headquartered in Northampton, Massachusetts. It also operates in the areas of consulting, education, benchmarking and research. Making todays announcement, Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell OConnor said: "This is a very significant announcement for Limerick with the creation of 300 new jobs in a new and emerging business activity for the medical sector. "I am very keen to pursue opportunities for investment and job creation in new sectors, these are increasingly possible with our infrastructure and talented workforce which enables companies like Fazzi to undertake work for customers in different parts of the world. "It is also very heartening that such a large project has been secured for a regional centre which represents the ongoing success of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs initiative, particularly the new Regional Action Plan for the Mid West". IDAs CEO Martin Shanahan said: "This is terrific news for Limerick and for the entire region as the creation of 300 jobs is substantial and will spread the benefit over a wide area. "There is a growing number of Healthcare Services located here and Fazzi, as the first company to engage in medical coding services in Ireland, is a positive addition to the Life Sciences profile of the Mid West. "I wish Dennis and his team every success." A post by Redditor, DaveFlanagan, has asked an interesting question on reddit. Listing a few criteria to determine the most remote point in the country, Dave surmised in his blog that a boggy hillside in the Nephin Beg mountains in Co. Mayo, fits the bill. His criteria? * Distance to the nearest road * It has to be on the mainland, ie no islands * It must be on land, ie anywhere in the middle of a lake doesn't count The site is just under 8km from the nearest road, according to Dave, and lies close to two walking routes, the Bangor Trail and the Western Way. Not bad when you compare the size of Ireland (around 70,000 square kilometres) to Alaska (more than 1.7 million square kilometres) and consider that the remotest place in Alaska is 45kms from a road, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Around 16,000 hectares (160 square kilometres) of the surrounding Mayo countryside recently became Ireland's first ever wilderness area, called Wild Nephin, meaning the bog and forest has been allowed to revert back to a natural state. According to Coillte, it was once described as the loneliest place in Ireland by a man called Robert Lloyd Praeger who qualified his comment by saying that the loneliness was "not depressing but inspiring". Can you think of somewhere in Ireland to beat it? H/T: Reddit. Update 4pm, by Eoin English: An internal family dispute is believed to have triggered a tense four-hour hostage stand-off on the northside of Cork city this morning which resulted in armed gardai making a forced entry into a house and tasering a man. Two brothers in their 20s were arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, and their mother and her partner, both in their 50s, were taken to hospital with superficial injuries after gardai smashed in the front door, and managed to overpower the suspects and bring the incident to a successful conclusion just before 9am. The alarm was raised at around 4.30am when gardai were alerted that a 28-year-old, who is known to gardai, had taken members of his own family hostage in his family home at St Marys Place, off Cathedral Road. The man had barricaded himself into a room inside with his older brother, his mother, and her partner held hostage, and was engaging in threatening behaviour, a senior garda spokesman said. It is understood that the man had threatened to harm his mother and her partner, and that gardai would discover a horror scene if they came into the house. 'At one stage, we were concerned that they were all dead' Gardai, including members of the armed Regional Support Unit (RSU), rushed to the scene and threw a cordon around nearby streets. They also imposed a media blackout while a trained garda negotiator tried to make contact with the suspect. Paramedics and fire crews were on standby nearby while gas company workers were asked to check the gas supply to the house amid concerns that an attempt could be made to trigger an explosion. However, all attempts to negotiate with the suspect, either by telephone or through family members, were unsuccessful. We had little interaction with him at the scene, the garda spokesman said. He was threatening in his manner and we were genuinely concerned for the safety of the people inside the house. At one stage, we were concerned that they were all dead. When it became clear that negotiations werent progressing, senior gardai in consultation with the on-scene commander and the inspector in charge of the RSU, made a decision to make a forced-entry into the house. Members of the RSU smashed down the front door and entered the house, where they came under attack from upstairs, where the suspect was believed to be holding his brother, his mother and her partner hostage in a bedroom. Gas bottles, dumbbells and mirrors were thrown down the stairs at them before another standoff ensued. Over the next few minutes, gardai managed to negotiate the release of the suspects mother, who, despite being bloodied from several cuts to her head, was able to walk from the house. She was taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment. Gardai then forced their way upstairs, and into the bedroom where they tasered the suspect. His brother, while not tasered, also had to be overpowered. Both men were medically assessed and arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment before being taken to Mayfield Garda Station where they are still being detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. They can be held for up to 24-hours before being charged or released. Their mothers partner was also taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment for what were described as minor injuries. Update 12.33pm: Two brothers have been arrested after they barricaded themselves in a house where a woman was with her partner, it has emerged. Gardai said the woman and her partner were injured in the incident on St Mary's Avenue, off Cathedral Road, in Cork city. The alarm was raised at about 4.30am after reports that two men had barricaded themselves and others inside. The incident led to a stand-off lasting more than four hours with the arrests made at around 9am. Uniformed and armed officers and emergency services including ambulances attended the house along with a garda negotiator. The road was sealed off for several hours while the operation was underway. The two brothers, both in their 20s, were taken to Mayfield garda station under arrest for questioning after gardai made their way into the house. The woman and the third man involved in the incident, both in their 50s, were taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment. Their injuries were described as minor. Thomas Gould, a local Cork City Councillor, said the area where the incident took place is quiet, residential and safe. "It's a quiet resident area with a mixture of older people and younger families who have moved in," he said. Mr Gould was driving his children to a nearby school when the incident was drawing to a close. "I've personally never heard of a situation like that in Cork," he said. From talking to people this morning they were shocked. They would not be used to this kind of thing happening. This is an area that you could walk day or night. I hope everyone is OK; the main thing is that everyone is alright." Earlier: Two men have been arrested in connection what gardai have described as a "barricade incident" at a house in Cork city this morning. At approximately 4.30am this morning, gardai were alerted to the incident at a house on St Mary's Avenue, Cork. A Garda negotiator attended the scene. Three men and one woman were reported as being in the house. The incident concluded shortly after 9am this morning. Two men aged in their 20s were arrested and brought to Mayfield Garda Station where they are now being detained. A man and a woman in their 50s were taken to Cork University Hospital with injuries described as minor. Irish Water has pleaded guilty to failing to implement a plan to improve drinking water quality in Carraroe in Co Galway and was ordered to give 3,000 to charity to avoid a criminal conviction. The company is being prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a delay in completing a 1m project to deal with a water quality problem in Carraroe. Earlier this year residents in the Connemara village received boil water notices. The prosecution was listed before Judge John O'Neill today at Dublin District Court. Irish Water pleaded guilty to charges under EU (drinking water) regulations that between December 1, 2015 and January 8 last it failed to comply with a directive issued by the EPA to implement an action programme approved by the agency for the improvement of the quality of water for human consumption from Carraroe public water supply, to react to parametric values specified for trihalomethanes (THMs). THMs are a group of organic chemicals formed when chlorine is used to disinfect water and reacts with naturally occurring organic matter in raw water. An action plan had been approved by the environmental watchdog agency on Septemebr 9, 2014 but the required work was not completed by Irish Water until this year. Prosecution solicitor Maeve Larkin said the offence can carry a class A fine of 5,000. Darragh Page, a senior inspector with the EPA, told the court that in drinking water there should be no more than 100mgs of THMs per litre to be safe. However tests indicated the levels in the water in Carraroe were in excess. There had been an elevated level for several years until recently, he said. He agreed with Ms Larkin that the solution was to pre-treat the water using filtration to take out colour or organic matter before using chlorine so the by-product THMs are not formed. An action plan was agreed with Irish Water but it was not fully complied with until this year, the court heard. In January, five weeks after the deadline, Mr Page visited the treatment plant and saw that it had been unchanged and the level of THMs still exceeded the standards expected. The court heard Irish Water had no prior criminal convictions. However, in an earlier prosecution by the EPA they were given the benefit of the Probation Act for a charge connected to discharge in a Co. Louth stream. Defence counsel Eoghan Cole said the action plan was drafted in good faith and it included a time-frame which was thought realistic. However, unforeseen problems developed and this was exacerbated by Irish Water through a breakdown in communicating that to the EPA. The delay was caused by difficulties with planning permission, the court heard. However, Irish Water have now completed the upgrades at a cost of 1m, counsel said. Mr Cole also told the court that the problem with the THM levels had persisted for a number of years and it was one which was inherited by Irish Water from Galway County Council. Irish Water also agreed to pay the EPA's legal and investigation costs and they co-operated with the EPA, the defence barrister said, adding that the court has discretion to consider not recording a conviction. Judge O'Neill said it was not right that Irish Water took for granted that there would not be planning permission difficulties. However, he agreed to order them make a charitable contribution rather than imposing a conviction. He ordered that 3,000 must go to local charity, Aras an Dara in Carraroe , which helps elderly people with dementia. Adjourning the case he said that if the money is donated by September 30 he would apply the Probation Act, which would spare Irish Water a conviction. I will keep my options open if that is not done, he added. Actor Jim Carrey is facing a wrongful death lawsuit over the suicide of his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White. Mark Burton, the estranged husband of Ms White, has lodged a complaint claiming the 54-year-old star of The Mask used his "immense wealth and celebrity status" to illegally obtain and distribute prescription drugs involved in her death. In papers filed with Los Angeles Superior Court, Mr Burton alleged that Carrey provided the drugs to Ms White despite knowing she was "ill-equipped" to take them, prone to depression and she had previously tried to take her own life. The complaint states: "After her death, Mr Carrey took steps to conceal an obfuscate his involvement and culpability in Ms White's untimely and tragic death." In response, Carrey described the lawsuit as a "heartless attempt" to exploit him and "the woman I loved". Ms White, a make-up artist from Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, Ireland, was found dead at her Los Angeles home in September 2015 after overdosing on prescription drugs. She had broken up with Carrey a week before her death and left a suicide note addressed to the actor saying she was "just not for this world". In the lawsuit, Mr Burton claims Carrey had an "obsession with controlling and manipulating" Ms White and used surveillance cameras on her home to monitor her. The prescription drugs Ambien, Popranolol and Percocet that caused Ms White's death were not prescribed to her and Carrey had obtained them under the bogus name Arthur King, the complaint states. According to a coroner's report released in July, Carrey sent a text message to Ms White a day before her body was found asking where his painkillers had gone from under his sink. Mr Burton claims Carrey's message was a "bogus text ... in an effort to cover up his conduct and complicity in her death" by "pretending as though he had misplaced the drugs and insinuating White may have taken them from Carrey without his knowledge". The complaint says: "If Carrey legitimately believed White had taken the drugs from him and she had subsequently gone missing for days with no contact, then why would Carrey not immediately request law enforcement to check on her well-being after she did not return his text?" Mr Burton also alleges Carrey "continued his charade" by publically offering to pay for Ms White's funeral in Cappawhite, where the actor was a pallbearer. "In reality, Carrey never paid a dime of funeral expenses," the complaint states. Mr Burton, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is suing for violation of the drug dealer liabilty act and wrongful death. He is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial in the case. In a statement, Carrey said: "What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honour against the evil in this world. "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. "Cat's troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone's control. "I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace." Finance Minister Michael Noonan has tonight bowed to pressure and will now appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over Nama's controversial sale of its Northern Ireland loan book, writes Daniel McConnell. The Irish Examiner understands that Mr Noonan was told by Independent Ministers including Finian McGrath and Shane Ross at Cabinet today that it would be better if he attended the committee and try and kill off the controversy. While ministers agreed that it was Mr Noonan's decision to make, he was left in no doubt as to the feelings of his colleagues, sources have said. I have today decided to accept the invitation of the Committee of Public Accounts to assist the Committee in its examination of the C&AGs Special Report on the National Asset Management Agencys sale of Project Eagle, Mr Noonan said in a statement. I intend to reply by letter to the Committee of Public Accounts to confirm this and to request assurances from the Committee that the proceedings of the Committee will be conducted in line with its terms of reference, he added. Members of the PAC welcomed Mr Noonan's announcement. Sinn Fein Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald TD said his decision to face questions is in the public interest. "After a weekend of stalling, Minister Noonan has reversed his decision and has agreed to come before the Public Accounts Committee to address concerns regarding the sale of NAMA's northern loan-book. I welcome his decision as it is, without question, in the public interest that he explain why he failed to suspend to sale when he became aware of the operation of fixer fees, she said. "He must explain why he, as Minister for Finance, failed to protect the interests of the citizens of this state. Minister Noonan now needs to open the books, assist the PAC inquiry, and not engage in further prevarication, she added. Last week, Nama rejected a report which says that it could have sold loans based in Northern Ireland for more than 1.32 billion. The long-awaited Comptroller and Auditor Generals (C&AG) report into the sale of Project Eagle was published today, saying that the agency could have made more than that. The report found that the State lost around 190 million (220 million). The C&AG report found that Nama had over-discounted the loans, giving 10-15% discounts where 5.5% would be more applicable. It added that NAMA did not keep an adequate record of key decisions and events even though the sales process deviated from standard. Update 10.38am: The UN humanitarian aid agency has temporarily suspended all convoys in Syria following a deadly air strike on aid trucks the previous night. Spokesman Jens Laerke, of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the temporary suspension of the aid deliveries would hold pending a review of the security situation in Syria. Mr Laerke said yesterday that the UN aid coordinator had received needed authorisations from the Syrian government in recent days to allow for aid convoys to proceed within Syria. He said it's "a very, very dark day... for humanitarians across the world". The attack late last night came just hours after the Syrian military declared the week-long US-Russian brokered ceasefire had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia - after blaming rebels for the violations - suggested it could still be salvaged. Earlier: A United Nations humanitarian aid convoy in Syria has been hit by air strikes with reports of many dead and seriously wounded as the Syrian military declared that a US-Russian brokered ceasefire had failed. The US initially brushed off Damascus' assertions and said it was prepared to extend the agreement, while Russia - after blaming rebels for the violations - suggested the truce could still be salvaged. But late last night US State Department spokesman John Kirby called the convoy attack an "egregious violation" of the week-long ceasefire and said America "will reassess the future prospects for co-operation with Russia". UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated many were killed or seriously injured in the convoy attack, including Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers. VIDEO: Footage by @SyriaCivilDef at the warehouse in Aleppo, Syria where a UN aid convoy was hit by airstrikes tonight. pic.twitter.com/h32f280aMf Conflict News (@Conflicts) September 19, 2016 A Red Crescent warehouse was also hit and a Red Crescent health clinic was reported to be seriously damaged, he said. Mr O'Brien called the attacks "sickening" and said he was "disgusted and horrified". He stressed that all parties were notified of the convoy, which was carrying aid for about 78,000 people. PHOTO: First daylight pictures of the aid trucks hit by Russian/Syrian regime airstrikes last night - @markito0171 pic.twitter.com/Cp0YgokzEJ Gissur Simonarson (@GissiSim) September 20, 2016 UN officials said the world body and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance to the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city. Initial estimates indicated that at least 18 of the 31 lorries in the convoy were hit. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly lorry drivers and Red Crescent workers. PHOTOS: Scene where humanitarian aid convoy struck by Russian/Syrian airstrike in #Aleppo countryside - @arabthomness pic.twitter.com/XLENEA9Qx7 Conflict News (@Conflicts) September 19, 2016 The Syrian Civil Defence, the volunteer first responder group also known as the White Helmets, posted images of a number of vehicles on fire. A video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitch-black area as ambulances arrived on the scene. Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid co-ordinator in the office of the UN envoy for Syria, said the convoy was "bombarded". "It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses," he said. Mr O'Brien said there is no excuse "for waging war on brave and selfless humanitarian workers" and warned that if they were targeted deliberately "it would amount to a war crime". Elsewhere at least 20 civilians, including a one-year-old girl, were killed in fresh air strikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and surrounding areas, according to the Observatory. Doctors from @sams_usa say this baby's mum is among dozens killed in air strikes in #Aleppo tonight #Syriaceasefire pic.twitter.com/bP9Mko3sWD Sophie McNeill (@Sophiemcneill) September 19, 2016 And Russia said government positions in south-western Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets. The week-old ceasefire had brought a brief respite to at least some parts of the war-torn country. Its future will be at the top of the agenda of a meeting on Tuesday of about 20 countries supporting opposing sides in the conflict, including the US and Russia, that belong to the International Syria Support Group. In the wake of the Syrian military declaration, US secretary of state John Kerry acknowledged that the first stage of the truce - which called for a week of calm and the delivery of humanitarian aid to several besieged communities - had never really come to fruition. Earlier Mr Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that the truce was "holding but fragile". The State Department initially said it was ready to work with Russia to strengthen terms of the agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid and Mr Kirby called on Russia, which is responsible for ensuring Syria's compliance, to clarify the Syrian position. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement late last night appeared to signal that the deal could still be salvaged, saying that the failure by the rebels in Syria to respect the ceasefire threatened to thwart the agreement. The ceasefire came into effect on September 12. Under terms of the agreement, the successful completion of seven days of calm and humanitarian aid deliveries would be followed by an ambitious second-stage plan to set up a joint US-Russian co-ordination centre to plan military strikes against the Islamic State group and a powerful al Qaida-linked militant faction. Terrified, injured kids - This is how the end of the #Syriaceasefire looks like right now in East #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/aPzLHvlldw Sophie McNeill (@Sophiemcneill) September 19, 2016 But from the start, the truce has been beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations. Aid deliveries to the besieged eastern districts of Aleppo have not reached their destination. The UN accused the government of obstructing the delivery while Russian officials said rebels opened fire at the delivery roads. Rebel forces and activists say government planes have bombed areas that are under the truce agreement, including rebel-held parts of Aleppo. At least 22 civilians were killed in government bombings over the last week, according to the Syrian Observatory, and four civilians were killed in government-held areas. There were no independent reports of civilian deaths on the government side since the ceasefire came into effect. By Monday, both the Syrian government and prominent opposition activists were speaking of the truce as if it had already failed. George Sabra, of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, said the ceasefire had been broken repeatedly and did not succeed in its main objective or opening roads for aid. "Hundreds of thousands of people in Aleppo are waiting for this truce to allow aid to enter the city," he said. "I believe that the truce is clinically dead." The Syrian military statement blamed rebel groups. Damascus refers to all armed opposition groups as terrorists. "This step (ceasefire) was to constitute a real chance to stop the bloodshed. But the armed terrorist groups didn't take it seriously and didn't commit to any of its articles," the military command statement said. "The armed terrorist groups took advantage of the declared truce system and mobilised terrorists and weapons and regrouped to continue its attacks on civilian and military areas." The man suspected of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey provided investigators with a wealth of clues that led to his arrest some 50 hours after the first explosion, officials have said. Ahmad Khan Rahami's fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of the Manhattan bombing, according to three law enforcement officials. His uncovered face was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the spot of the blast, and electronic toll records showed that a car to which he had access was driven from New Jersey to Manhattan and back to New Jersey on the day of the bombing, according to the officials. Those and other clues spurred officials to publicise his name and photo on Monday morning, asking for help finding Rahami, 28, a US citizen born in Afghanistan, who lives with his Muslim family in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Hours later, a police officer in Linden, New Jersey, recognised Rahami after finding him sleeping in a doorway, prompting a confrontation and shootout that led to his capture. "A lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too," said New York police commissioner James O'Neill. He said investigators would "make sure that we get to the bottom of who's involved and why". After surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg, Rahami was being held on $5.2m bail, charged with five counts of attempted murder of police officers. Federal prosecutors said they were still weighing up charges over the bombings. Rahami remains in hospital. With Rahami's arrest, officials said they had no other suspects at large, but cautioned that they were still investigating. The bombing spread fear across the New York area and revived anxiety about homegrown terrorism across the country. As the east coast was rattled by the bombings, a man who authorities say referred to Allah wounded nine people in a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota shopping centre on Saturday before being shot dead by an off-duty police officer. Authorities are investigating the stabbings as a possible terrorist attack but have not drawn any connection between the bloodshed there and the bombings. William Sweeney Jr, the FBI's assistant director in New York, said there was no indication so far that the bombings were the work of a larger terror cell. Rahami was not on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes travelling between the US and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. Rahami and his family live above their fried-chicken restaurant - called First American Fried Chicken - and the family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints, which the Rahamis said in a lawsuit were tinged with anti-Muslim sentiment. The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 because one of Rahami's brothers had pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing closing hours at the restaurant. 'A friendly guy - that's whats so scary' A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. Still, some of the family restaurant's customers said Rahami was more likely to talk about his interest in cars than to mention faith. "He's a very friendly guy," patron Ryan McCann said. "That's what's so scary." Sequence of events The investigation began when a pipe bomb blew up on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines. No one was injured. Then a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb exploded on Saturday night in New York's Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found streets away. Late on Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a rubbish bin at an Elizabeth train station, about three miles from where Rahami was later found asleep in the doorway of a bar. Investigators are still gathering evidence and have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices, though Mr Sweeney noted they are not "ruling anything out". The bombs discovered on Saturday all used flip mobile phones as a trigger and were all made with easily purchasable materials, a federal law enforcement official said. After zeroing in on Rahami and learning of the car that had travelled between New Jersey and New York, authorities pulled it over on Sunday night after it headed in the direction of Kennedy airport. The law enforcement officials said at least one of Rahami's relatives was in the car. All five were questioned and released, Mr Sweeney said. He declined to say whether they might later face charges. Linden mayor Derek Armstead said the break in the case came on Monday morning when a bar owner reported someone asleep in his doorway. An officer arrived and confronted Rahami, who pulled a gun and fired, authorities said. The officer was saved by his bulletproof vest. More officers joined in a battle that spilled into the street. Another police officer was grazed by a bullet. The officers' injuries were not life-threatening. Around the time Rahami was captured, US president Barack Obama was in New York on a previously scheduled visit for a meeting of the UN General Assembly. He called on Americans to show the world "we will never give in to fear". LONDON: OPEC is likely to maintain its view world oil demand will rise for another decade, longer than many other... PERTH: Indias batting coach said on Saturday that his side is not fazed by fast bowling as it prepared to face... NEAR KHERSON FRONTLINE: Russian forces are digging in for the heaviest of battles in the strategic southern region... ACT Health has rejected claims the directorate is looking for at least $90 million in 'savings' to be imposed on The Canberra Hospital's budget over three years. Fairfax Media has been told by several sources the health directorate was looking for between $90 million and $96 million in savings at the hospital. ACT Health has rejected reports of a potential target of $90 million in 'savings' for the Canberra Hospital. A new paediatric emergency department ward (pictured) opened at the hospital in May. Credit:Jamila Toderas The savings drive was understood to be part of a broad-reaching drive for efficiencies across the Territory's health system under the directorate's Health Innovation Program. Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation ACT executive officer Stephen Crook said he was told of the $90 million-plus savings figure during a meeting with senior ACT Health managers in late August. A two-month old baby girl from Canberra who died in 2012 suffered head and neck injuries that were most likely non-accidental, a Coroner has found. An inquest into the death of the infant, whose name has been suppressed, was halted two years ago when Coroner Bernadette Boss found there were reasonable grounds to believe an indictable offence had been committed by a person. Coroner Bernadette Boss said the death of a child was always "a matter of significant concern and distress". Credit:Jay Cronan But the ACT Coroner's Court on Tuesday heard while the baby's mother and father had been interviewed by police, no-one would face criminal charges over her death. In handing down her findings, Dr Boss said the baby died from head and neck injuries after she was dropped, fell or was thrown, possibly from a lounge, and landed on the floor. Some of the world's biggest fashion weeks are in full swing in the northern hemisphere, and one of them even had a dose of Canberra. Fashion designer Emma O'Rourke sent her new collection from The Label down the runway at Vancouver Fashion Week. Canberra fashion designer Emma O'Rourke's The Label on the runway at Vancouver Fashion Week. Credit:Daniel Haponik Chatting from Vancouver just after she'd left the runway on Monday night Vancouver-time, O'Rourke said she was thrilled with how it went. "Obviously fashion week is always quite a busy and exciting time, but it went really, really well," she said. "It felt great. I think there's a little bit of a rush before you get onto the runway and then I think as soon as you see [your label] there you feel a sense of calm and you can go, 'Oh my God'. It's definitely an exhilarating feeling." It was the first international show for the designer, who launched The Label in 2015. It focuses on garments designed and constructed using minimal waste techniques. And it seems her show impressed the Canadians. "We had a few buyers talk to us after. And as I was awkwardly walking off the runway I'm a very awkward human, I'm certainly not model-like I had a buyer in the front row be like, 'I love your stuff, I'd love to talk to you after'," she said. O'Rourke was approached in July to participate in Vancouver Fashion Week as part of their international contingent of designers. She's been the face of Canberra's ABC TV News for more than 15 years, but now Virginia Haussegger has vacated the chair, who will be the next to sit in it? The veteran television presenter announced she was leaving the news desk on Monday to head up a new foundation dedicated to increasing the number of female policymakers. ABC TV News presenter Virginia Haussegger will step down to head up a new foundation to improve the representation of women in the public service and in government. The longtime current affairs journalist will present her last bulletin on October 7 to take up the role of director at the University of Canberra's 50/50 by 2030 Foundation. Canberra's weekend newsreader Craig Allen will present Monday to Friday while they seek a replacement for Haussegger. The number of actively trading businesses in Australia has increased for the second year in a row, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. More than 2.1 million people either own or operate one or more businesses in Australia, according to figures released, with family-operated ventures accounting for more than 70 per cent of all businesses. Formal meetings are a good idea, even if you talk about the family business around the kitchen table. Only 20 per cent of these businesses have a succession plan with less than a third of businesses continuing to the second generation; and of those only 10-15 per cent reach the third generation. While many business owners are often too busy dealing with today's operations to worry about tomorrow, putting off establishing a clear-cut business continuity plan in a family business can lead to future problems and can cause a strain on family relationships, even in the closest of families. Belle Gibson as she appeared in a media coaching video with Penguin publishers. "Do you take all information you are given at face value?" one wrote to the publisher. The internal files also show Penguin committed to paying $15,000 for a "home economist" to help Ms Gibson - who has no training as a cook or nutritionist - develop recipes for the book. Belle Gibson's book, The Whole Pantry. They even detail the media storm from which Penguin tried to distance itself, after Fairfax Media first revealed Ms Gibson had failed to hand over money she raised in the name of charity. In the days immediately after the story broke, when doubts were raised about her health claims, Ms Gibson was still trying to convince those around her that she was sick and appeared to believe the scandal would blow over. Belle may even face criminal charges so the quicker Penguin is distanced from her the better. But the publisher quickly made it clear to Ms Gibson that it was cutting her loose. "The media situation has escalated and this is now out of my hands as we have a situation of corporate risk," said Ms Gibbs, the publishing veteran who led The Whole Pantry project. The advice to Penguin from the Sydney public relations firm was that, in order to "get on the front foot", it needed to dump the book at once. "You may still get questions about how much Penguin knew in advance (which you can decline to respond to)," the publisher was told. "Belle may even face criminal charges so the quicker Penguin is distanced from her the better." Within days Penguin had drafted the media lines it rolled out during the first week of the scandal: first, that it was seeking an explanation from Ms Gibson; second, that it was waiting for her response and considering its options; and third, that the book would be withdrawn. Penguin was eventually forced to pulp Ms Gibson's debut cook book after she failed to defend accusations of falsely claiming to have cancer and could not explain why she withheld charitable donations. But the new documents reveal there were signs of trouble in October 2014, on the eve of the book's release, when Ms Gibson told Ms Gibbs that a jealous friend had "turned on her". Penguin's files show Ms Gibbs understood that to mean allegations were being made to the effect that "Gibson had fabricated part or all of her illness". In late October, Penguin's PR agency went as far as to prepare a "contingency" communications document in preparation for such a scandal. By then, the The Whole Pantry had already been in bookshops for a week. Going back even earlier, to May 2014, a senior editor emailed Ms Gibbs about concerns over the book's draft spanning Ms Gibson's personal story, employment and medical history. "Julie - I think the main thing to warn Belle about is that there are a few 'gaps' which journalists might probe," she cautioned. Just before the book's release, Penguin questioned Ms Gibson on camera for 90 minutes about the disparities in her story in a bid to manage questions from media. Penguin has since admitted it did not fact-check Ms Gibson's book, in which she lies about about her medical status and philanthropy, including to have cured herself of terminal brain cancer with a healthy lifestyle. The publisher was ordered to pay $30,000 over its part in the deception, which is still playing out before the courts in action led by Consumer Affairs Victoria. The documents show that on the Friday before the Monday that the book was finally pulled from shelves, Penguin's communications manager emailed the team: "The story has taken a turn towards investigating Belle's 'friends' and past, meaning that we are not under the same scrutiny we were 24 hours ago. "We would like to avoid inserting ourselves into the ongoing conversation, particularly as we enter the weekend where increased coverage is likely." Plans for further expansion are under way for Chadstone Shopping Centre, even as it unveils its new $660 million wing, anchored by a soaring 31-metre-high atrium under a dramatically curved 1000 tonnes gridshell roof. It's the fortieth stage in the shopping centre's evolution since the Gandel Group bought the centre in 1983 when it was already 23 years old. View from the top: A new food court at ground level is part of the latest expansion of Chadstone. Credit:Joe Armao No longer just a shopping centre, Chadstone is becoming its own city, with office buildings and a hotel ready to emerge on the horizon. It will maintain its position as one of the biggest shopping centres in the southern hemisphere at a time when all the big centres are growing larger. Vicinity boss Angus McNaughton revealed the company has another four or five stages in planning for the centre, which is about to tip the scales at more than 210,000 square metres, 10,000 car parks, a value of $5 billion and a yield of 6 per cent. Supermarket concerns So how did the warring parties "resolve and settle the dispute" over the Giralang shops site ("Appeal against Giralang shops plan dismissed", September 10, p6)? While the ACT Court of Appeal has effectively upheld Simon Corbell's 2012 decision to approve a development including a 1500-square-metre supermarket, the current government has decided to approve only a 1000-square-metre supermarket together with other yet-to-be-disclosed alterations to the previously approved Development Application. And the previously identified supermarket operator has withdrawn its interest in the site. Residents are concerned that a supermarket of that size is likely to be unviable and so far no operator has been named. Additionally, it is rumoured that the settlement could include up to 40 residential units. The government is urging the commercial parties to reach agreement on a new development proposal but when will it seek input from the residents? Or is this to be another example of trying to foist on the community a cosy plan to benefit a developer and other commercial interests (eg. planned Manuka Oval, West Basin and Dickson redevelopments)? David Smith, Giralang Trams better value The anti-tram mob goes on endlessly about the project's cost. Yet hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the Majura Parkway, and no one objected to that. And those who advocate boosting Rapid Bus Transit in preference to light rail ignore the ongoing costs of buses. A bus holds 70 people max, a tram double that with the same ongoing cost i.e. one driver. In times of peak demand, capacity can be doubled by hooking up a second carriage, with the same ongoing cost. On Friday, I saw two blocks of Mort Street in gridlock as buses tried to get past the lights. Clearly buses, be they rapid or regular, won't meet the needs of the present, let alone the future. Robert Henderson, Lyneham Re-leash the dogs Are dog owners a different breed of human ("Unleash the hounds ... and you likely won't get caught", September 19, p3). I regularly walk at the Red Hill Nature Reserve. Several signs at the entrance indicate that dogs must be kept on leash. However, virtually every day there are one or more dog owners with their dogs running free. When I politely mention that dogs are to be kept on leash in the nature reserve, their owners often refuse to put their pets on leash and then say something quite negative directed towards me. Pamela Collett, Narrabundah Cease cherry-picking Jeff Day (Letters, September 19) asks global warming theorists to explain the coolness of Canberra's weather on September 15. According to the Bureau of Meteorology's records for the Canberra airport weather station, the minimum temperature at that location on that date was 6.0 degrees, some 2.9 degrees more than its historical average of 3.1 degree for that day of the year. I'm therefore wondering what it is about that particular day that Mr Day thinks a theorist of global warming needs to explain. Global non-warming theorists will no doubt object very properly that the datum of minimum temperature has been cherry-picked solely for its rhetorical value, and that its evidentiary value for the subject of global warming is nil. But then, precisely the same thing is true of the specific date, September 15, singled out by Mr Day, even if the maximum temperature of 12.9 degrees on that date did happen to be some 3.2 degrees less than its historical average of 16.1 degrees for that day of the year. David Wilson, Braddon Cruelty nothing to crow about Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton are in New York at the UN Refugee Summit, boasting of Australia's border protection policy as "the best in the world". If it weren't so tragic, it would be laughable. If ever there were an example of failed public policy, this is it. For the past four years, as part of its policy of deterrence by cruelty, Australia has paid Papua New Guinea and Nauru to warehouse asylum seekers in secrecy on remote islands where conditions do not meet even basic humanitarian standards. Australia's treatment of asylum seekers has been condemned by the UN and many human rights organisations as tantamount to torture. Inquiries have consistently revealed horrifying levels of neglect, abuse, suicide and self-harm in immigration detention centres. The management and provision of health, education and welfare services in the offshore centres are a shambles, with Broadspectrum and Wilsons Security, as well as all the major service providers on Nauru, announcing plans to not renew their contracts. There are currently more than 3000 people being held in these centres (onshore and offshore), many with approved refugee status. They will remain incarcerated indefinitely because there are no viable resettlement options for them. Australia refuses to resettle them here, and all attempts to negotiate resettlement deals with third countries have failed. This has cost the Australian taxpayer nearly $10 billion, so far. In addition to these human and economic costs, Australia's unilateral border protection approach has jeopardised relations with our regional neighbours and is an impediment to the creation of sustainable, cooperative arrangements, which are essential to addressing this humanitarian crisis effectively. This is "the best in the world"? Eileen O'Brien, Kambah Jordan and Lebanon are much poorer than Australia and are located in a zone that has experienced savage warfare for several decades. It is scarcely surprising that their refugee camps are less than perfect. Australia should be able to provide humane treatment of all people that come into our care, even if they are "illegal maritime arrivals". Peter Dutton should strive for best practice, not be satisfied with third worst. Mike Reddy, Curtin Casual approach Wonderful to see Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd keen to expose the federal bureaucracy to the reality of private sector employment practices by extending the life of casual contracts ("Unions slam changes to temporary to PS contracts", September 19, p2). Given that Mr Lloyd really believes that such flat-earth initiatives will reduce "administrative burden" and "attract new talent", why not convert the entire public service to casual employment, leading by example with his own role? John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW Religious violence Peta Betanski's historical research (Letters, September 17) seems to be highly selective. From what I have read, the followers of the man they like to call the Prince of Peace (Jesus of Nazareth, died circa Good Friday, 33AD) have been responsible for the most appalling sectarian massacres as well as brutal judicial executions and punishments for those they consider heretics. Not to mention massacres of those they consider pagans, for example the crusades against Albigensians and Muslims and pogroms against the Jews. If the violence of the adherents to a creed is an excuse for their expulsion, I should imagine that the only Christians allowed to remain in Australia would be the Quakers. Barbara Fisher, Cook Boost for inequality We need to keep the recent changes to superannuation in context. By reducing benefits to the top 1 per cent of super account holders, the measures will save some $3.1 billion over four years. But the super tax concessions cost about $30 billion a year. Most of that goes to those that will save for their (comfortable) retirement anyway. Even part of the current cost would fully fund Gonski, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, etc, and allow plenty for budget repair. The major parties have, in effect, agreed to continue spending this huge amount to basically reinforce inequality. Tim Field, Barton Different reality Where on earth did Rosemary Walters (Letters, September 17) get the fatuous assumption that, prior to the same-sex marriage plebiscite, lots of gay people will "have been insulted and attacked a conservative spite-fest". Probably from Bill Shorten and Penny Wong, who have been effectively scaremongering about the plebiscite. An image has been created of hordes of abusive heterosexuals chasing terrified, screaming gays through Civic, while the night sky is lit by the flames of burning boutique coffee shops and the Chief Minister desperately tries to contact the Defence Minister to send in the troops. The current reality is quite different. Gone are the days when one could enthral an entire rugby club dinner with jokes about queers, dumb blondes, tight-fisted Jews and Indians with Peter Sellers accents. Now, fearing being labelled homophobic, sexist, anti-Semitic, racist or subject to the strictures of the dreaded Section 18(c), a risque joke can only be passed on with impunity quietly between close friends after either a quick look around or having instant access to the delete key. And are the LGBTI community such stupid, snow-flake sensitive weaklings they can't reply in kind to insults? O tempora, O mores. Bill Deane, Chapman Correcting dates John Perkins' dates (Letters, September 19) were out by 12 months. The last Infantry Battalion 4 RAR (minus D Company) left SVN in early December 1971 (not 1972). Other elements of 1 ATF Nui Dat and Vung Tau left SVN by early March 1972. Gough Whitlam was elected to power in December 1972 and was responsible for ending National Service and for bringing home the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam. Bert Blink, Scullin TO THE POINT ABBOTT'S SUBTLE SLIGHT In New York, Tony Abbott has likened the flow of asylum seekers to a peaceful invasion. Using this metaphor likens asylum seekers to peaceful invaders. The label "invaders", peaceful or otherwise, demonises asylum seekers. Clever work, Tony, you are much more subtle and effective than Pauline. Oleh Lukomskyj, Evatt OVERLOOKING REALITY Of course flogging refugees with 25 lashes is better than flogging them with 50 lashes ("Islands 'better than' camps near Syria", September 19, p5) Self-delusion thy names are Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton. Graham Macafee, Latham SICKENING RESPONSE The moral outrage in response to the accidental bombing of Syrian government troops by coalition planes is so confected as to be sickening. It's a shame that a few tonnes of ordnance weren't released over the air field housing Russian warplanes that regularly target civilians. James Allan, Narrabundah REMOVE ROTTEN TREES Anyone can bang on about trees being removed for the tramway. So be it. However, experts acknowledge this city is riddled with rotten trees needing removal. Why wait for accidents; please remove them. Linus Cole, Palmerston ELECTION QUESTIONS Can ACT election candidates tell us what they would do about youth homelessness and unemployment, youth drug and alcohol related violence, student violence in schools, falling academic standards, and questionable course content in schools? Arthur Connor, Weston DEFINITIONS HOLD KEY Jeff Day (Letters, September 19) should look up the definitions of climate and weather. If he understands there is a difference, he will no longer be puzzled. Mick Callinan, Waramanga A quick check of 72 years of records shows, Jeff Day, the minimum averages three degrees for September 15, three degrees colder than it was on Thursday; that is three degrees of heating. Rod Banyard, Isaacs Richard Whittington-Egan, who has died aged 91, was a journalist, biographer, literary critic, historian of British crime and a towering authority on Jack the Ripper; his work was as remarkable for its singularly convoluted style as it was for his probing, almost obsessive, research. A kinsman of Dick Whittington, the 14th-century Lord Mayor of London, Whittington-Egan, with his signature pipe, stiffly starched collar and lined cape, cut an old-world figure of studied manner and speech. To some, however, his rich prose was no less fussy and idiosyncratic: a contemporary marked him out as "one of the last surviving and most expert exponents of the broderie anglaise style of writing". Engraving showing "Jack The Ripper", the East End murderer of prostitutes in the 19th century. Credit:Hulton Archive/Getty A typically melodramatic example was his appraisal of Scotland Yard's Black Museum: "A thing of the Sherlock Holmes period, the exhibits winking wickedly under the gas-light, the fog rolling in from the nearby Thames and swirling in thick spiral and thin arabesque about the high shelves where the Newgate death-masks of the hanged stare through the dull plaster of closed eyelids, and the noosed ropes creak their frightful memories in the river wind." But despite the stylistic curlicues, Whittington-Egan was a shrewd analyst of the criminal mind. He developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Jack the Ripper killings in the East End of London in the autumn of 1888, and was a dissenting voice when, in 1965, the American author Tom Cullen identified the Ripper as an obscure barrister, Montague John Druitt. "It won't do," complained Whittington-Egan, "it simply won't do". Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton must look like a laughing stock lecturing UN about management of tens of millions of refugees around the world. Fact is that the developing countries are disproportionately sharing the refugee burden with scarce resources compare to rich countries. For rich countries, it's like insurance giving some aid to developing countries to do whatever they want to do with refugees provided they don't send refugees to our shores. Unless there's practical solutions including stopping the wars and not starting the new ones, which is the root cause of the refugee problem, we will be still talking about the same issue for years to come. Countries responsible for starting wars have a moral responsibility to settle them first before unloading the problem to other countries. Mukul Desai Hunters Hill One can only agree with Michael Gordon that "Australia's badge of honour is really a badge of shame" in relation to our refugee policy. Both our major political parties have pandered to our baser elements. They weep crocodile tears over lives lost at sea, but demonstrate their true values by imposing inhumane and intolerable conditions on the very same people if they have the temerity to survive the journey and reach our shores. They have convinced a fearful electorate that the ends justify the means. As a nation we are truly diminished by these shameful policies. Neil Ormerod, Professor of Theology, Australian Catholic University, Strathfield Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton and Malcolm Turnbull (hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil) seem to think that they have the right to lecture the world on border protection as if Australia's policy mix is something to be proud of. Have they explained that we cruelly punish innocent victims, ignore international agreements, keep outcomes secret, that the cost is outrageously expensive and it's all done to win a few votes from rednecks in marginal seats? Hardly something to be proud of, let alone recommended. John Grinter Katoomba Malcolm Turnbull has urged world leaders to follow Australia's example in implementing similar refugee detention policies. What clever strategy to deflect world condemnation of our shameful "border protection policy" devoid of humanitarian and human rights concerns. I guess it would then be very difficult for nations to be critical of each other if we are all in the same boat (no pun intended). Leo Sorbello Leichhardt I guess we're lucky, Grahame Marks (Letters, Sept 20), that Tony Abbott's "turn back the boats" policy didn't include the Manly ferry! John Byrne Randwick Studying HSC maths not essential to future success We learn the percentage of students studying mathematics at HSC level has fallen to its lowest level since the exam was established 50 years ago. ("HSC maths enrolments lowest in 50 years as interest lifts in VET courses", September 20.) I do not see this as a problem when students are choosing subjects they enjoy or are relevant to their future careers. Why should students be compelled to study mathematics at the HSC level when they know their Year 10 mathematics is adequate. One of my daughters did not study mathematics for the HSC but excelled in statistics at university. HSC mathematics was not needed for her degree in HR management nor her very successful career in human resources. Another daughter studied Maths and Society at HSC level but it did not contribute to her TER. She did not need HSC mathematics to study journalism and has not needed HSC mathematics in her journalism career. It is perfectly understandable students are choosing VET courses because they are looking to the future and choosing subjects they know will be of assistance when they leave school. Far too much emphasis has been placed on students being made to study maths and science at HSC level and at last students are seeing they can achieve highly without maths or science. Robyn Lewis Raglan False economy to focus just on prison costs Congratulations on a good news story from our embattled prisons ("Teachers fear prison education cuts will lead to reoffending", September 20). It is very encouraging to read that access to art classes gave one inmate a reason for living, and skills for a job on the outside. As a result he will be most unlikely to re-offend and be part of the high recidivism rate in NSW. In its review of education courses in prisons the Baird government has been critical of the emphasis given to art and music by teachers employed by Corrective Services. They wish to cut all such cultural areas and after terminating the positions for qualified teachers, advertise contracts to private providers. Although this may cuts costs it is false economy. Experience in privatising vocational courses at the expense of TAFE colleges has been a disaster. These profit-making companies will be asked to employ "training clerks" who will focus on literacy and numeracy. Important as these skills are there must still be a place for teaching that will inspire creativity, and give hope to those who have lost the will to succeed. Doug Hewitt Hamilton After the demonstrated problems with privatising/outsourcing Vocational Education and Training, the NSW government seems determined to repeat its mistakes. Replacing professional teachers with less qualified "training clerks" and using organisations whose primary function is making a profit to educate the dysfunctional, the vulnerable and the hardest to help, who inhabit our prisons, is short-sighted. To rehabilitate inmates and reduce recidivism requires the greatest professionalism, commitment and accountability. Poor education is a leading predictor of criminality. Keeping one person in prison for a year costs roughly the same as a qualified teacher's annual salary, including on-costs. Yet the government probably sees this dilution of service as "economic rationalism"! Al Svirskis Mount Druitt Everyone doesn't do it If I may adapt the selective logic of Chris McGillion and Damian Grace ("Fallible but not exceptional", September 20), non-Catholic institutions (or schools) should have generated three or four times as many reports to the royal commission as Catholic institutions (or schools), reflecting proportions in the general population. Without wishing to replay the end-credits of Spotlight, why not deal with the unremarkable proposition that the Catholic Church has had a systemic, millennial, worldwide problem with the sex abuse of children? It is demeaning when key debates are reduced to that "everyone does it" argument of politicians and their donations. Stephen Saunders O'Connor ACT Critical moment for arts We are in a sorry state when a second-year printmaker shows more sense and decency than the managing body of Sydney University and the entire state government ("Sydney's toxic message to young artists must change", September 20). When I was part of the first intake of students to start their art career at the new Rozelle campus I felt connected to a long history of commitment to learning and excellence.I came to realise over my years of study that the main campus had little regard for Sydney College of the Arts, including the student union who only ever showed up around election time. Regardless we continued to build a culture of collegiate support that continues today. Just in my year alone several significant figures in Australian art emerged from this supportive and rigorous environment. Meanwhile Sydney University continued a trajectory toward churning out more lawyers and business people to feed the ever beckoning gullet of big business. Somewhere along the way the university seems to have adopted the stark rationalism of business that values only the bland meat and potatoes of wealth creation, no doubt assisted by the slow removal of federal support.I hope that all previous students of Sydney College of the Arts and all who love to make, look at and buy art stand together with the students at this critical moment in our state's cultural history. Colin Stokes Glebe Carr claim incorrect Bob Carr's claim that Rupert Murdoch donated $15 million to set up the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney is incorrect ("Australia needs a think tank that sees hope in partnership with China", September 12.) The centre was established in 2006, funded by a $25 million endowment from the Australian government with additional funding from the University of Sydney, the NSW government, and the American Australian Association through contributions from business and private individuals. Many corporations have contributed to the centre, including Dow Chemical, News Corporation and Pratt Industries. Corporate contributions amount to less than 12 per cent of all sources of financial support for the centre since its founding. The contribution from New Corp amounts to 3.2 per cent of all sources of financial support for the centre. Simon Jackman chief executive, the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney A tad confused Halfway through Rob Moran's (September) review of Jimmy Barnes' book, Working Class Boy, Moran tells us the book's focus is "on his Glasgow childhood rather than his rock'n'roll days" (Barnesy's mea culpa for a life on the run," September 20.) Yet a couple of paragraphs further up, he says the book is "a near mea culpa from Barnes", mentioning his "booze-fuelled days in Chisel". So which is it? And I wonder if it goes into Barnes' bankruptcy in 2006? Tim Egan Mosman Economy or astrology, it's all crystal balls The real worry for Australia is that living one's life according to someone else's superstitious beliefs might just make sense. For in an anti-intellectual climate where Joe Hockey and Scott Morrison can be successive as opposed to successful federal treasurers, why wouldn't the markets look to astrology for direction ("The psychic, the stockbroker and the corporate collapse", September 20)? On the plus side, even an extreme sceptic like myself can foresee that business for pet shop owners and unemployed augurs might be about to take off, too. Tom Falkingham Edgecliff The late great economist J.K. Galbraith once remarked: "The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable." It's only fair that an astrologer return the compliment. Max Frew Newcastle No class without cash With the announcement "CSIRO is to be the world's best" (September 20), I await with bated breath the announcement that funding will be restored to Trove, the National Library's fabulous database, which was to be defunded prior to the election. The Turnbull government is preparing to outline a fresh attempt to break the cycle of welfare dependency by targeting key groups including young carers and young parents. Social Services Minister Christian Porter will tell the National Press Club on Tuesday there is "nothing morally superior or progressive" about handing out more money if it only serves to entrench the cycle of social security dependence. But the government's first move will be to create a $96 million honey pot - the Try, Test and Learn Fund - to trial experimental initiatives aimed at getting key groups off the public books and into employment. "Anyone who can see these human stories playing out on the ground can come to us with an idea," Mr Porter told ABC radio on Tuesday. "We will fund those solutions and measure them". Bill Shorten, who declares himself opposed to Malcolm Turnbull's plebiscite on gay marriage because of its potential to cause social torment and because of its price tag, is having his own mini-plebiscite on the matter. He is travelling the country listening to arguments against the idea before finally - you'd have to bet - announcing that his party will kill the whole scheme. If this sounds like dragging out a decision on an emotionally-charged debate for political purposes, like keeping Malcolm Turnbull on toast for as long as possible, wash out your mouth. "No," said Mr Shorten on Tuesday after attending, with several of his frontbenchers, an equal-marriage forum in Carlton. If Malcolm Turnbull's offer to help the United States resettle Central American refugees being held in Costa Rica isn't the start of a solution for those on Nauru and Manus Island, it should be. There is a logical quid pro quo here: that if Australia helps the US by resettling refugees being held in Latin America, they should do the same for Australia by resettling refugees detained on tiny islands. Tragically, the only logic underpinning Australia's asylum seeker policy in recent years has been the tougher the policy, the less likely people are to seek protection without an invitation. That logic has condemned more than 2000 people to three years of misery in limbo, purely to present a message of deterrence to would-be arrivals. But when they're celebrating the reduction in epidurals and C-sections, then we have to question what sort of "options" women are really presented with. Essentially, there is the Correct Option of a no-intervention vaginal birth, and then there's the back-up plan for the women who can't hack it. Anything other than a "natural" birth is so NOT AN ACCEPTABLE OPTION that the NSW government even created hospital targets for vaginal births, thereby making it blatantly clear that childbirth is far more about bureaucratic Key Performance Indicators than patient choice. The midwife who led my birthing class told me about research showing that sheep that have epidurals don't bond with their lambs - as if the experience of livestock was somehow related to me. Seven years later, I can confirm that despite my epidural I did bond with my daughter. And she turned out not to be a lamb, either. Culturally, we're obsessed with women suffering as much as possible during childbirth. I've lost count how many times I've been asked if I had an epidural. Nobody has ever asked me about pain relief for any other medical procedure. You might say that childbirth is different because it's not a medical procedure. There's that whole movement against the medicalisation of birth. Sure, fine. But when you're in excruciating pain, requiring the assistance of medically-trained professionals and facing the very real possibility that you might die or suffer life-long injuries, you really couldn't care less about semantics. He wanted to try on the glittery shirts and poofy skirts. Without hesitation, the store manager on duty guided him to the racks and stayed with him as he put on the clothes in a dressing room. When Charlie was about 2 years old, she took him and his older brother and sister to Target to pick out a toy with their Christmas money. She directed Charlie to the aisle with the toys for young boys, but he had no interest in them. Then she took him to where his older brother was choosing between trucks and LEGO sets, but Charlie just sat on the cold floor tugging at the Velcro on his shoe, she said. Then she asked him: "Charlie, which aisle do you want to look at?" His face brightened and he led her to the aisle filled with princess toys and pointed to a big oval mirror like the one from Snow White that responds when asked, "Who is the fairest one of all?" He looked up at his mother and said, "I want this." For many years, Sirois assumed her son was gay, never considering that he was actually struggling with his gender identity. But as he got older, it became clearer that Charlie was happiest when wearing and playing with things made for girls. At home, he would wear her old dresses and princess costumes, lying around the house in them while watching TV. It wasn't until he was in the fourth grade that Charlie began to wear his girl things in public. His parents took him to buy a new backpack for school, and he led them to one that Sirois describes as a "glittery explosion of rainbows and hearts." At first, her heart sank, imagining the cruelty her son would endure by carrying it. But she bought it for him. She couldn't reconcile telling him to be himself, and then telling him he couldn't have the bag he really wanted. "We have to embrace him everywhere, not just behind closed doors in our home," Sirois said she and her husband agreed. The first Australian showing of a film by a disgraced former doctor whose "fraudulent" research underpinned the anti-vaccination movement has drawn a firestorm of outrage to a small film festival in country Victoria. Since announcing an upcoming screening of "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe", the organisers of the Castlemaine Local and International Film Festival say they have been hacked and subjected to relentless harassment. But unlike Robert De Niro, who cut the film from the Tribeca Film Festival in New York under pressure from scientists and other filmmakers, the Castlemaine festival is standing by Vaxxed, which is still due to show at the town's Theatre Royal next month. It has been advertised as an airing of allegations by former employee William Thompson that US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covered up information about autism research, which suggested a causal link with the three-shot vaccine. Gold Coast beachgoers received a stripy surprise on Monday morning when a tiger hit the surf. Handlers from theme park Dreamworld headed to Main Beach at dawn to give tiger cub Adira an experience she and onlookers are unlikely to forget. Experiencing the sand between her claws and salt in her fur, Adira bounded along the water's edge to help raise awareness of the plight of tigers in the wild. Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation director Al Mucci said the excursion was a great way to engage residents and tourists with the theme park's conservation initiatives. The Queensland family in the horrific car crash in New Zealand on Monday had been on their way to visit relatives for the holidays, their neighbour has said. Stephen Phillips, 54 and his two stepsons were killed when the rental car they were travelling in collided with a truck on State Highway 1 at Huntly on Monday afternoon. The boys' mother Belinda Williams, who was in the car at the time of the crash, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition along with her daughter Tessa, who survived the crash. The family had left their home on Monday morning to spend two weeks visiting Ms Williams' family in New Zealand for a big family reunion during the holidays and had left their home in the hands of their neighbour, Billy Azad. Stop me if you've heard this one before: what does a former fish and chip shop owner, a broadcaster and a lawyer have in common? It's not actually a riddle; I am of course talking about Pauline Hanson, Derryn Hinch and Nick Xenophon; a trio who, when it comes to identifying similarities notwithstanding their membership to the Senate can hardly be described as being separated at birth. But one of the commonalities they and their fellow independent and micro-party senators do share, is their pragmatic approach to small business. Like most of the Senate's crossbench, Senator Pauline Hanson and Senator Derryn Hinch can be expected to help encourage small businesses. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Described by the media and political pundits as an "unwieldly" and "feral collection", the Senate with its 11-member crossbench is expected to put the Government's negotiating skills to the test when it comes to passing the Coalition's legislative agenda. But the one thing the Government is unlikely to have to horse-trade over, is small business "friendly" legislation. Violence, sadness and madness; it's all there in one shift. Then there's what can happen afterwards: stress, anxiety, insomnia, drinking, disconnection, depression. The wellbeing app was the brainchild of Police Association secretary Ron Iddles. Credit:Simon Schluter Police are trained in how to manage a crisis, but they are not taught how to manage their own mental health. A mobile phone app developed by Victorian police for officers and their families aims to change that. The wellbeing app was the brainchild of Police Association secretary Ron Iddles, who launched it on Tuesday with Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton and Police Minister Lisa Neville as part of efforts to improve police mental health. A 56-year-old man has fronted court after being charged with murdering a man whose body was found dumped outside a preschool. A passerby found the body lying next to a fence in the car park of Upper Ferntree Gully Preschool on Rollings Road just after 3pm on Saturday. Cameron Harris was found dead behind a preschool in Upper Ferntree Gully on September 17. Credit:Paul Jeffers The body has since been identified as 39-year-old Noble Park man Cameron Harris. Homicide squad detectives set up a crime scene at at the car park on Saturday evening. University students will soon be able to check the potency and content of their party drugs, with pill-testing kits being distributed on campus. In what is believed to be an Australian first, the University of Melbourne Student Union will hand out kits that include advice on safer drug use and reagent tests to help students understand what their pills contain. It comes as debate rages about the legality of pill testing, which will soon be investigated by a Victorian parliamentary committee. It will examine the laws for illicit and synthetic substances, drug treatment and harm-reduction programs, roadside testing and sniffer dogs at music festivals. It was 27 years ago, but Lecki Ord vividly remembers the evening she was voted Melbourne's first female lord mayor. "It was quite a night" said the 68-year-old. Lecki Ord (left), Olivia Ball and Winsome McCaughey (right). Credit:Eddie Jim "The whole council chamber was packed, and everyone just stood up and screamed." Jump forward three decades and Ms Ord, and the woman who followed her, Winsome McCaughey, remain Melbourne's only female lord mayors. Perth travellers now have the option of stopping over in Abu Dhabi to reach holiday destinations in Europe. Virgin Australia has announced new flights will commence in June between Perth and Abu Dhabi, providing passengers a wide range connections to the rest of the world. Perth passengers will now have access to Etihad's extensive network of destinations around the world. Credit: AFR Virgin Australian Group CEO John Borghetti said Virgin's A330 aircraft will usher in the new service. "Our A330 aircraft will be deployed on a long-haul international route for the first time on flights between Perth and Abu Dhabi, which increases the number of services offered on route from seven to 10 per week," he said. Eight men have been arrested after a terror attack in the French city of Nice in July which killed 86 people and injured hundreds more. French newspaper Le Monde reported the men were arrested late on Monday night in Nice and the nearby towns of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer. A man walks past French flags flying at half mast on the Promenade des Anglais in July. Credit:Getty Images Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, was shot dead by police after he drove a truck down the Promenade des Anglais, where tens of thousands of people had gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks. Bouhlel was French-Tunisian, with Le Monde reporting those arrested on Monday are also of French and Tunisian origin. Athens: Thousands of people fled from a fire at a migrant camp on Lesbos on Monday night, a police official on the Greek island said, noting that there had been noticeable tension among residents earlier in the evening, before the blaze started. The fire brigade was investigating the cause of the fire, the official said. Frontex police escort migrants being deported from Lesbos on Monday. Greek authorities say they do not have enough resources to continue operations. Credit:Getty Images "There is a big fire at the hot spot [migrant camp]. Almost all the migrants evacuated," said the official, who declined to be named. "There was tension in the evening. Our main concern is the safety of the people. The fire is quite big." Arlington: Civil liberty advocates in Oklahoma have demanded criminal charges be filed against police officers whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black man last week was caught on video. Ryan Kiesel, executive director of The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, accused Tulsa police of shirking their "legal and moral obligation" by failing to render aid to Crutcher, 40, immediately after the shooting. "A Tulsa Police officer murdered Terence Crutcher in cold blood," Kiesel said. "Each of the officers present were complicit in the unconscionable, reprehensible and disgusting killing of this unarmed, defenseless man." But the lawyer for Officer Betty Shelby claims Crutcher repeatedly ignored his client's commands and behaved like a person under the influence of PCP. Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police in New Jersey. Credit:AP Trump's "we'll-nail-the-bastards'-assholes-to-a-wall" rhetoric has more appeal to Americans who are angry and afraid, than Clinton's "we'll-get-the-guys-from-Silicon-Valley" to help in strategising. Trump talks about doing something. Clinton talks about talking about doing something. Hillary Clinton says the US must reject Donald Trump's approach to terrorism Credit:Bloomberg It remains to be seen which of them can reassure. In a recent poll for ABC News and The Washington Post, Clinton came out on top 50-36 as better trusted to deal with terrorist attacks. Similarly her sober response to the June massacre in Orlando was much preferred 46-28. Respondents to the poll judged Clinton to have the better temperament for the job and expressed greater confidence in her strategies to counter terrorism even if 66 per cent had "little or no confidence" that government can prevent such attacks. Donald Trump during a event with The Remembrance Project, on Saturday. Credit:AP Trump is impetuous. He thinks it's smart to call an issue before the experts do but as president he likely would formulate a response and reaction to domestic and global events with similar snap judgments. But "looks like a duck, must be a duck," is a dangerous basis for decision-making in the Oval Office. At the same time, attempting to parse the difference between homegrown or "lone-wolf" attacks and those that are orchestrated and managed from abroad for a skittish electorate is challenging. A police officer stands guard over an injured Ahmad Khan Rahami before he was taken away from the scene of a shootout with police on Monday. Credit:Boston Herald/AP Investigators will take time to piece together a narrative that explains the New York bombs. But Trump continues to jump to conclusions such as on an international connection, on which he then resorts Facebook and Twitter to amp up his mantra attacks on "them" and "the other". "I think there is, I think there's many foreign connections," he told Fox News on Monday morning. "This is one group, but you have many, many groups because we are allowing these people to come into our country and destroy our country and make it unsafe for people. We're allowing these people to come in. We don't want to do any profiling." On Twitter: "Once again someone we were told is ok turns out to be a terrorist who wants to destroy our country & its people - how did he get thru system?" Then this on Facebook: "Hillary Clinton's weakness while she was Secretary of State, has emboldened terrorists all over the world to attack the US, even on our own soil. They are hoping and praying that Hillary Clinton becomes President - so that they can continue their savagery and murder." Despite the remarkable and speedy success in capturing the New York suspect, Trump insisted in the Fox News interview: "If somebody looks like he's got a massive bomb on his back, we don't go up to the person and say, 'I'm sorry' because if he looks like he comes from that part of the world. We're not allowed to profile. Give me a break." That's not what the New York cops did they got the guy's fingerprints, they identified him, they chased him down and when he ran, they shot him. And questioned on Fox News about his call that the New York explosion was "a bomb," before investigators had ruled out leaking gas or other possibilities, Trump was unabashed - "I should be a newscaster," he said. "I called it before the news". That any of his premature calls have been wrong is long forgotten a man who rushed the stage during one of his rallies in Ohio was not linked to ISIS, as he claimed; his claim that neighbours saw the San Bernardino killers assembling bombs was unfounded; nobody else saw the thousands of Muslims he claimed celebrated the September 11 attacks; and there is still no proof for his claim that Egypt Air Flight 804 "was blown out of the sky". Clinton, on the other hand, opted for steady, steely determination, appealing for Americans to show "courage and vigilance," to not to demonise Muslims or Americans of foreign origin. "I am the only candidate in this race who has been at the heart of decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield," she told reporters in New York. And she lectured Trump on his dangerous rhetoric. "We know a lot of the rhetoric we've heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular ISIS, because they are looking to make this into a war against Islam," she said. The Trump's argument that she and President Barack Obama were responsible for the proliferation of such attacks were, she said, "like so much else he's said, not grounded in fact, but meant to make some kind of demagogic point." And with New York's crisis weekend still a hot news topic, she added: "We're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them, but we're not going to go after an entire religion." Also in New York, where he is to speak at the United Nations, Obama warned of the price of Trump's demand that the US go on lock-down, with all Muslims as suspect -"[terrorist movements] are trying to disrupt the way we live. [but] showing the entire world that as Americans we do not, and never will give in to fear, is going to be the most important ingredient to defeating those who would carry out attacks against us". In a recent op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, former Defence Secretary and CIA chief Robert Gates, faulted both Trump and Clinton on foreign policy and security, saying that neither had done much to inspire confidence. He criticised Clinton's record in Libya and her overall vagueness. Describing Trump as "in a league of his own" Gates slammed his "record of insults to servicemen, their families and the military;" his demeaning of Senator John McCain for being taken as a prisoner of war; his contempt for the Muslim Gold Star parents who spoke at the Democratic convention; and is advocacy of fighting terror organisations by targeting their families. Clinton took it all in her stride. Trump lashed out like a petulant bully who had been slighted: "We had a clown today, an absolute clown, Robert Gates. He's supposed to be an expert. He's been there forever and he goes out and he says negative things about me. I never met him. I never talked to him. Believe me, I am so much better at what he's doing than he is." Here's one of Clinton's problems it's hard to be the responsible adult in the room, when all eyes are on the noisy upstart who just came through the door. Here's another she has yet to prove herself as a winner in the era of campaigning by tweet. Latest News Lendi Group settles $33.6 billion in FY22 Ambitious target of a deal a day for brokers APRA announces new appointments The prudential regulator has a new chair, deputy chair, and members Aggregator eChoice has expanded its lender panel after entering into a new industry partnership with non-major lender Bank Australia.The aggregator announced the partnership yesterday and said Bank Australias focus on digital innovation was a key driver behind the decision.Bank Australia has an established reputation in the industry for continually developing ways to incorporate digital efficiencies into their processes to set new industry benchmarks, eChoice general manager of aggregation Blake Buchanan said.And now, by combining that level of experience and support with their quality product offering, eChoice brokers can offer customers the opportunity to benefit through this latest, key addition to our partner program, Buchanan said.Earlier this month, Bank Australia claimed to have made history in the mortgage industry, completing what is believed to have been Australias first ever electronic mortgage Both Bank Australia and eChoice believe that technology holds numerous benefits for brokers and consumers and is a key step in streamlining the mortgage process.Richard Irving, head of third party banking at Bank Australia, said the lender views the partnership with eChoice as an opportunity for it to continue to develop its offerings to better suit the needs of brokers and consumers.We look forward to partnering with eChoice to further develop our approach with brokers to ensure we meet the evolving needs of a consumer-driven environment, Irving said.The announcement of the partnership between eChoice and Bank Australia follows the aggregators announcement that it has recently launched a new online refinancing porta l, with it expecting a spike in the number of borrowers looking to change their current loan arrangements. Latest News Lendi Group settles $33.6 billion in FY22 Ambitious target of a deal a day for brokers APRA announces new appointments The prudential regulator has a new chair, deputy chair, and members The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia ( MFAA ) has used a recent meeting with Australias Minister for Small Business as an opportunity to highlight the positive role brokers play in the financial service industry.MFAA chairman Cynthia Grisbrook last week met with Minister Michael McCormack in Canberra as part of efforts to bring politicians and the broking sector closer together.It was a great opportunity to outline the benefits that mortgage broking brings to customers. Things like the access they provide to financial services and the greater competition that results from that, Grisbrook told Australian Broker.It was part of a wider program to bring our mortgage brokers together with a parliamentarian. Minister McCormack as the Minister for Small Business works closely with [Minister for Revenue and Financial Services] Kelly ODwyer, so it was a great way to get our message across to both of them, she said.Grisbrook described the meeting as constructive and believes the minister left with a greater understanding of the broking industry.I think the work were doing at the moment is really educating politicians [about how brokers operate]. Its really allowing us to ensure they do have a proper understanding of what brokers do, she told Australian Broker.The other thing is that 75% of businesses in Australia are small businesses and we have a significant portion of that in our membership base, so it was a good opportunity for us to meet with the minister from that point of view as well.With a broker remuneration currently a hot button issue, as well as the continued possibility of a Royal Commission into Australias banking sector, Grisbrook said the MFAA is committed to ensuring politicians also see the benefit for the current remuneration structure.The MFAA has always welcomed the review into remuneration.Its important that politicians do understand the benefits the remunerations system provides to the consumer. Astros strike back to win Game 2 vs. Phillies, evening up World Series The Houston Astros won Game 2 on Saturday night to send the World Series back to Philadelphia at 1-1. latest news October 3, 2022 Dee Gambit Hundreds if not thousands of new and returning TV shows and movies are released every month your options of what to watch are endless. Variety, they say is ... Abbot Point Operations Pty Ltd (APO), the Australian subsidiary of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire ownership of Abbot Point Bulkcoal Pty Ltd (APB). Post agreement, APO would be acquiring 100 per cent shares in APB, an Australian registered company performing the operations and maintenance activities of Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Queensland, Australia, from Glencore Coal Queensland Pty Limited upon receiving certain approvals. Foreign lender Standard Chartered has announced that Amit Saxena will be heading the Standard Chartered Investments and Loans (SCILL). This SCILL IS the non-banking financial (NBFC) platform of Standard Chartered. The lender says that it aims to focus on the large retail lending and wealth products distribution opportunity in the market. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. (CIL) is looking for newer ways to invest its surplus into technological innovations. It plans to invest Rs 10,000-12,000 crore over the next three to four years in producing hydrocarbons from coal. The state-owned firm is likely to tie up with Sasol of South Africa, a leader in coal to liquid (CTL) technology. Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) issued its maiden bonds worth Rs 500 crore in the domestic market to investors on private placement basis at a coupon rate of 8.07 per cent a year. The proceeds would be used to fund energy efficiency projects in India, said the company in the media statement. With lenders set to take control of Infrastructure by conversion of debt into equity, the stage is set for group founder, Manoj Tirodkar, to finally exit the telecom tower company that he built from scratch. The sale would help Tirodkar to raise funds to fix his group flagship Ltds debt problems that sank the entire group over the past six years. Indias biggest car recall, announced nine months ago by India, is stuck as the necessary approvals from the research and testing agency Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) have not yet come. Volkswagens recall of 323,700 cars was to begin by September. Private steel major will pay out a total Rs 130 crore as annual bonus to its eligible employees for the year 2015-16. A memorandum of settlement was signed today between and the Tata Workers' Union, for annual bonus for 2015-2016, a company release said. As per the memorandum of settlement, the annual bonus payout for 28,436 eligible employees of all applicable divisions and units of the company for 2015-16 would be Rs 130 crore. Out of this, for divisions at Jamshedpur, including the Tubes Division, an amount of Rs 75.77 crore would be distributed as annual bonus among 15,575 employees. The minimum and maximum annual bonus payable for 2015-16 would be Rs 16,800 and Rs 12,1365, respectively, the release said. "Since majority of our employees of the steel company are drawing salary or wages higher than the limit laid down in the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, they are not eligible for bonus under the Act. However, respecting our old traditions, the company is going to pay bonus to all employees in the unionised category," the release said. The settlement was signed today by T V Narendran, managing director, (India and South East Asia), Tata Steel; Anand Sen, president (TQM & SB); S D Tripath, vice-president (HRM) and other senior executives; and R Ravi Prasad, president; Sanjeev K Choudhary, deputy president; and B K Dinda, general secretary, on behalf of Tata Workers' Union and the other office bearers. American taxi aggregation company is looking at start-ups with a social impact in the next phase of its mentoring programme. The San Francisco-headquartered company started an exchange programme for start-ups in India earlier this year, coinciding with the Startup India initiative, a flagship scheme of the Narendra Modi government. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "strongly condemned" Sunday's cross-border terror attack in Uri and conveyed his country's solidarity with India in the fight against terror. "President Ghani strongly condemned the cross-border terror attack and conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India against all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. "President Ghani expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers," it said. Modi thanked Ghani for Afghanistan's support, it added. Ghani was in New Delhi last week during which he held talks with Modi. Punjab Congress chief on Monday suggested a strong two-pronged retaliatory strategy against Pakistan and extremist separatist groups in Kashmir for "permanent peace" and preventing terror strikes. "All retaliatory options short of war must be explored and executed," he said, adding the issue is to maintain the morale of the Army. "This is absolutely unacceptable," Amarinder said suggesting India should explore the option of preemptive strikes like those carried out by Israel. Amarinder attributed the "weak and soft policy" adopted by the government toward the Kashmiri separatists for the rise of such incidents. "Until you break the back of the militancy in Kashmir, those aiding and guiding it will not come to the negotiating table," he said, calling to end the appeasement policy. Amarinder demanded an inquiry into "lapses" that led to the attack on the Army base in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will on Thursday inaugurate a seminar on infrastructure financing and scope for public-private-partnership projects in the group that comprises five nations. The (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit will be held next month in Goa and as a lead up to that India has initiated a number of events within the spirit of the . Jaitley will inaugurate the one day seminar on 'Best Practices in PPPs and Long-term Infrastructure Financing of BRICS Countries' on September 22, said a Finance Ministry statement. The Seminar, which will have DEA Secretary Shaktikanta Das and representatives from BRICS nations, is being organised by the Department of Economic Affairs, in collaboration with industry chamber CII. The seminar will have 3 technical sessions: regulatory issues and financing of infrastructure; innovative investment vehicles for long term infrastructure investment; and PPP Project Delivery and Post Award Contract management. "Outcomes of this seminar could go a long way in better understanding and optimally utilising the Best Practices in PPPs and long-term infrastructure financing involving BRICS member states," the statement said. Infrastructure development involves long gestation periods, and faces many challenges including in regulatory matters. Emerging economies are in the process of creating an effective regulatory framework across infrastructure sectors. That apart, the seminar will discuss issues pertaining to PPP contracts that are often complex, where both parties are expected to manage the uncertainties and complexities that arise over the long-term concession period of 15-30 years. Security has been beefed up in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mandya ahead of a crucial Supreme Court hearing on the Cauvery dispute on Tuesday, even as Bengaluru police have banned liquor sales in India's tech hub on Tuesday as a precautionary measure. Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya said that the high-powered committee headed by him, has cleared the redevelopment proposals of the BDD chawls at Naigaon and at N M Joshi Marg in the city. The administration made this announcement, even as the BJP-led state government was gearing up to announce a decision to this effect as the issue has assumed political significance. There has been a plan to redevelop 207 BDD chawls, which are more than 93 years old. "The redevelopment proposals of both Naigaon and N M Joshi Marg BDD chawls have been referred to the Chief Minister for his final approval. Once the proposal is cleared redevelopment work shall commence in six months time," he told reporters. Kshatriya said the proposal to redevelop the BDD chawls at Worli could not be cleared as the issue is locked in a legal tangle. "After the redevelopment, tenants of the BDD chawls will get flats of 500 sq ft of built up area. The flat will have one master bedroom, one toilet, bathroom, dinning room cum hall," he said. He said that the saleable area, besides what has been earmarked for the BDD tenants will constitute of 60 per cent for middle income group (MIG) families, 30 per cent for high income group (HIG) and 10 per cent of the stock will be for commercial use. He said that the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) will be the nodal agency for the redevelopment project. "Necessary amendments are being made to the Development Control Rules (DC Rule) 33(9) with a new amendment (A) being added to it," he said. Kshatriya said since the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is the planning authority, the DC Rules will have to be amended first. He further said that the approval of the Centre's Environment Committee will have to be sought as the redevelopment covers more than 20,000 sq ft. Kshatriya's announcement comes before the BJP-led government had planned to hold a grand rally in Worli some time later this month to make the same announcement. Minister for Housing Prakash Mehta had hinted at the possibility of the government announcing the redevelopment of BDD chawls just ahead of the 2017 elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). He had then said that the state government will have to amend the Development Control Rules (DCR) 33(9) to enable four FSI (floor space index) for redevelopment of the BDD chawls and provide the tenants with bigger homes. However, a section of the BDD chawl residents associations have voiced their opposition to the appointment of MHADA as the nodal agency. The British had constructed the 207 BDD chawls around 1920 as low-cost housing for mill workers, dock workers, civic and other government employees. The BDD chawls are spread over 93 acres and comprise 207 ground plus 3-storey buildings having 16,557 flats measuring 160 sq ft. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday hit out at Delhi Police over the murder of a 21-year-old woman in Burari, saying the force should "focus" on ensuring security of people rather than "harassing" AAP legislators. The woman was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight by her 34-year-old stalker, who attacked her nearly 22 times this morning as passersby looked on. "Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-year old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizen's security than harassing AAP MLAs (sic)," Sisodia tweeted. At least 11 AAP MLAs have been arrested by the Delhi Police since the party came to power in the capital in February last year. In July, Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested after a woman alleged that a vehicle he was sitting in tried to mow her down. Deoli MLA Prakash Jarwal was arrested on charges of misbehaving with a woman the same month. Another party MLA Dinesh Mohaniya was arrested in June on charges of molestation and sexual harassment amid high drama when he was addressing a press conference. Much of the Opposition, including the Congress, on Tuesday issued their support to the government if it were to take any decision in the interest in the wake of Sunday's terror attack in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed. As the Supreme Court is expected to take up the Cauvery water dispute case between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the Janata Dal (Secular) on Tuesday said the decision to Tamil Nadu in spite of there not being enough water for Karnataka, reflected the latter's total failure. "We all know the data. It is going to be a total failure of the current Congress which has failed to express the problem of Karnataka farmers. The Congress government has proved that they are not capable of to handling the issue," JDS leader Tanveer Ahmad told ANI. Describing the decision as absolutely anti-Karnataka and anti- Kannadiga, Ahmad said it will be suicidal for the farmers of Karnataka. JDS leader Zafarulla Khan said, "I don't think the decision will come in our favour, as the presentation of the Karnataka government is totally a failure." Congress leader VS Ugrappa said, "It is the responsibility of the State and the Union government. The Union government has failed to take the note of the actual picture. In spite of reparative intervention of Karnataka Chief Minister the Prime Minister neither intervened into this matter nor has instructed the concerned authorities to help Karnataka." "The committee has passed an order at the instance of some other forces, maybe at the instance of the Union Government. It shows their unilateral approach," he added. While Congress leader Subhas Aggrawal said that the government has no other options except to go to Supreme Court with a plea to look into the matter and hoped that the apex court will provide justice to Karnataka. Water from Mettur Dam for delta irrigation is being released in Tamil Nadu, from Tuesday. The Karnataka government is moving the Supreme Court today to challenge the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's order asking the state to release 3,000 cusecs of water per day from tomorrow till September 30. Karnataka's Home Minister G Parameshwar said that the state is not in a position to release Cauvery water due to shortage being faced by them. The Cauvery Supervisory Committee, which met in New Delhi on Monday, directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water per day for ten days beginning tomorrow. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar said that there was no consensus between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu regarding the release of water. He said, Karnataka's chief secretary is opposed to the release of water on ground's of scarcity. Tamil Nadu chief secretary has however, requested for the release of water as ordered by the Supreme Court. Shekhar said the committee has taken the decision keeping in mind the interest of all stake holders as well as rainfall scenario. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is on a two-day visit to the USA, reached San Francisco tonight. He arrived in the US to participate in the Oracle Open World 2016. He's the first CM invited to deliver a keynote address before global tech experts. Fadnavis tweeted, "Reached San Francisco. Looking forward to visit @HP & series of meetings. Agenda: Maharashtra's economic growth & employment generation." Oracle will sign an Memorandum of Understanding with the state government to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for Smart City initiative, which includes funding and nurturing 3 smart cities Kalyan Dombivali, Mira Bhayander & Pimpri Chinchwad. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-Delhi) has slipped six places to the 185th position in the recently released Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings. Although IIT-Delhi scored well on academic reputation, as its citation per faculty was higher than its Asian competitor University of Singapore (NUS) with its individual departments being among the top 100 schools, it lost marks on international students and faculty. Kashmiri activist Sushil Pandit has urged that India must not observe restraint and seek retribution against Pakistan for Sunday's terror strike in Uri. Pandit said, "This attack merits a very serious retaliation from the government. India must no longer observe the restraint that it has shown over the past so many decades. Pakistan does not merit Indian restraint anymore. This toll is likely to go higher because there are several injured soldiers in critical condition. The coffins have begun to reach their families. This nation wants retribution." India is to present all actionable evidence against Pakistan if required at international bodies. Sources state that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will strongly emphasise on Pakistan's involvement in the attack in her UNGA speech on September 26. Pakistan has, however, flatly refused New Delhi's claims of Islamabad's involvement in the Uri terror attack, stating that it has become India's traditional tendency to point fingers on them after each terrorist attack. The Karnataka government will move Supreme Court on Tuesday to challenge the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's order asking the state to release 3,000 cusecs of water per day from Wednesday till 30th of this month. Karnataka's Home Minister G. Parameshwar said that the state is not in a position to release Cauvery water due to shortage being faced by them. The Cauvery Supervisory Committee, which met in New Delhi on Monday, directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water per day for ten days beginning tomorrow. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar said that there was no consensus between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu regarding the release of water. He said, the Karnataka Chief Secretary opposed the release of water on the ground that they are also facing huge scarcity. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary requested for the release of water as ordered by the Supreme Court. Shekhar said the Committee has taken the decision keeping in mind the interest of all stake holders as well as rainfall scenario. The Supreme Court on September 5 asked Tamil Nadu to approach the Supervisory Committee in this regard. The Apex Court had also asked Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water per day till today. More than 800 people, mostly children, complained of irritation of eyes after being exposed to high resolution halogen lamps during cultural programmes in two villages of Chhattisgarh's Balod district in the past three days, officials said. The condition of all of them was reported to be normal now. "While 398 people complained of irritation in their eyes at Ghotia village, 405 people at Biretara made same complaint after watching a dance programme at night," Balod Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Surya Prasad Saxena told PTI. At Ghotia village, the programme was held last night to mark Vishwakarma puja, whereas on September 16, a function was organised at Biretara as a part of Ganeshotsav festival. About the incident at Ghotia, Dr Saxena said villagers watched the dance show until early this morning, following which they complained of irritation, redness and watering in the eyes. A team of doctors and ophthalmologists immediately rushed to spot and organised a check-up camp there. Villagers were given medicines including antibiotics following which the irritation eased and they were sent home, Dr Saxena said, adding there was no need to panic. "The viewers were exposed to high resolution halogen lights for about 8-9 hours. Besides, smoke of Chinese electronic fireworks was also there. These things might have affected the eyes," he said. Biretara case was similar, he added. "The situation is normal at both the places now and there is nothing to worry. Exact cause was being ascertained," he said. Meanwhile, a team of doctors from the capital Raipur also visited both the villages today. Balod collector Rajesh Singh Rana said that although situation in both the villages was now normal, doctors have been deployed there as a precautionary measure. Police were asked to check if halogen lamps with the strength beyond permissible capacity were used, he said. Amidst the ongoing hostility over terror attack in Uri, Pakistan has decided not to send its intelligence chief to India to attend a conference of top security experts of countries beginning Thursday. Director General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan Aftab Sultan will not attend the meeting and that country will be represented by an official of the Pakistan High Commission, a Home Ministry official said. The two-day conference of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, to be held here, is being hosted by Director of Intelligence Bureau Dineshwar Sharma and intelligence chiefs of all other nations Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives besides India will participate it. Sunday's terror attack at a military station in Uri, where 18 soldiers were killed, and the continuing unrest in Kashmir Valley for more than two months after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani led to deterioration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. The four terrorists who attacked Uri had come from Pakistan and Islamabad had openly eulogised Wani's acts, inviting sharp reactions from India. According to a statement issued by the Home Ministry, the second meeting of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from SAARC countries will be held on September 22 and 23. The aim of the meeting is to strengthen SAARC anti-terror mechanism, it said. The first such meeting was held in New Delhi in February 2012. The agenda of the meeting includes functioning of SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk (SDOMD), countering terrorism and strengthening anti-terrorism mechanisms in SAARC, intelligence sharing and police cooperation, human resource development and relationship building, combating corruption and cyber crimes, among others. The Patna high court on Tuesday dismissed a seeking its direction to the central government for implementation of the special package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar which was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during last Assembly polls. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmad Ansari and Justice Anjan Mishra dismissed the filed by advocate Anil Kumar Mukund who sought direction for implementation of special package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar. The bench said that it could not pass such an order and the petitioner could approach other forum for redressal of grievances. The court dismissed the after hearing both the counsel for the central and the state governments, besides that of the petitioner. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a special package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar at a public meeting at Ara in the run-up to the Assembly polls in the state last year. In Tamil Nadu, water from Mettur Dam for delta irrigation is being released from Tuesday morning, according to orders from Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. In the function to be held at Mettur Dam, state Ministers Edapady Palanichamy P Thankamani, Saroja, Karupannan alongwith Salem Collector Sampath will be present. According to Supreme Court orders Karnataka has to release 12000 cusecs of Cauvery water to till Tuesday. More than 5000 cusecs of water will be released from Mettur Dam for delta irrigation and this will be raised upto 15,000 cusecs according to the need of delta farmers. The water released from Mettur will first reach Upper Anaicatu Mukombu in Tiruchirapalli and from there to Grand Anaicutu Kallanai by weekend. From Kallanai, water will be released for samba crops in delta districts of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur. This year release of water from Mettur has been considerably delayed due to lack of water in Cauvery. Delta farmers hope that north east monsoon will start by third week of next month to save samba crops. The mortal remains of Sepoy Biswajit Gharai, who was martyred in Sunday's terrorist attack at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, were today consigned to flames with full state honours today. As the sounds of gun salute by 12 armymen reverberated in the area, the 22-year-old martyr's mother Rekha Gharai, who came to the cremation ground from Sridham village, fainted. His father Rabindranath Gharai, a farmer, managed to control his emotion and said, "My younger son died while protecting the honour of the country. We are grief stricken, but the country's security is much more important." Thousands of people from nearby areas congregated in the area where the martyr's body was brought in a helicopter from Kolkata. Led by Maj S K Mahapatra, a team of 50 armymen came here with the coffin carrying the body of Gharai. On behalf of the state government, Fire and Emergency Services and Environment Minister Shobhan Chatterjee placed a wreath on the coffin covered by the tricolour. Chatterjee said he would propose to the government that the nearby temporary fire brigade station be named after Biswajit Gharai. Superintendent of Police Sunil Chowdhury, Sub-divisional Officer Rahul Nath and other officials and people's representatives were also present there. The late Sepoy was survived by his parents, a brother and a sister. His two cousins were also in the Army and posted in Uri army base which was stormed by suspected militants of Pakistan-based JeM in the wee hours of Sunday. Sepoy KV Janardhan on Monday succumbed to injuries sustained during Sunday morning's attack on an Indian Army camp near the border town of Uri in Jammu & Kashmir by suspected Pakistan-based terrorists, taking the number of martyrs to 18. Strongly condemning the terrorist attack on an army camp in North Kashmir's Uri town that killed 17 soldiers, top American lawmakers across the aisle have called for bringing the perpetrators of the crime to justice. "I condemn the horrible terror attack against an Indian Army Base in Uri in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, which resulted in the death of 17 Indian soldiers. The terrorists who perpetrated this cowardly act must be brought to justice," said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus yesterday . "I extend condolences to the family and friends of the soldiers who lost their lives in the attack," Warner said. Republican Senator Tom Cotton said the pre-dawn attack on Indian troops while they slept was a cowardly act, one that deserves the strongest condemnation. "I extend my condolences to the Indian government and to the families of the fallen," he said. "The US and India share a vital interest in defending our democracies from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Both our nations must commit fully to deepening our security partnership so that radical jihadists are defeated and stability in the region is maintained," Cotton said. "I strongly condemn yesterday's terrorist attack in NW India. We will not let these attacks affect our united fight against terrorism," said Congressman Pete Sessions, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules. The is a reminder to democracies the world over that terrorism seeks to destroy peace loving societies everywhere, said Republican Congressman Ted Poe. "It is still unclear which terrorist group carried out this cowardly attack, but one thing is certain. This is just the latest consequence of Pakistan's longstanding irresponsible policy of supporting and providing operational space for all stripes of jihadi terrorist groups," he said. Pakistan's reckless behaviour in this regard is a serious security risk to its neighbours and India unfortunately pays the price all too often, he said. Poe is Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non Proliferation and Trade. "We condemn this tragic attack, as well as Pakistan's support for many criminals like the ones who carried it out, and stand firm in our commitment to our friends in India. A threat to democracy in India is a threat to democracy everywhere. And that's just the way it is," Poe said. The Uri terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the threat international terrorism poses, said Congressman Brad Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. "I strongly encourage the governments in the region to make every effort to find the terrorists that carried out these attacks and bring them to justice. The US should continue to assist these governments and ensure they can eliminate terrorist threats," Sherman said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the army in recent years, 17 soldiers were killed and 19 others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in North Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the army. The Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, stirred a hornet's nest two weeks ago when it moved on two cases related to two companies promoted by Jignesh Shah's Financial Technologies. It filed a first information report, or FIR, in the widely investigated case of National Spot Exchange in which investors, mostly high net worth individuals, are said to have lost Rs 5,574 crore. Shah has been named in this FIR. Another was a preliminary enquiry against CB Bhave, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, and KM Abraham, former Sebi member, in relation to MCX-SX, the stock exchange of Financial Technologies. While many saw the FIR on the National Spot Exchange case coming, it was the preliminary enquiry against Bhave (a former bureaucrat) and Abraham (a serving bureaucrat from the Kerala cadre), who are considered men of high integrity, that surprised everyone - more so because Bhave and his team at Sebi had declared Shah and Financial Technologies not "fit and proper" to set up a stock exchange. Their stand was well known; and that's what shocked people about the preliminary enquiry. Bhave has strongly opposed the enquiry and has said that if CBI fails to come up with evidence against him, it should tender an apology. Others too have lent their strong support to the former Sebi chief. HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said the move was "creating fear psychosis for public officers" and the probe against such "upright" officers would further vitiate the decision-making environment in the country. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called it "shocking and appalling" and said "some larger forces" seemed at work: "This fishing expedition by CBI is detrimental to decision-making in public domain... All decision-making will come to a halt this way," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told The Indian Express: "I have been briefed on the case. I don't think the entire facts are yet before CBI." For its part, CBI has indicated that it will not buckle under pressure. "It is too early to think of closure in this matter," CBI Director Ranjit Sinha told Business Standard. Since the case is six years old and has generated a lot of heat, it is worthwhile to find out what had actually happened in those days. Venkat R Chary, the former chairman of Multi Commodity Exchange, or MCX, anchored by Financial Technologies, says: "When the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, first set up a joint committee of Sebi and its officials for working out the modalities for exchange-traded currency derivatives in early 2008, MCX was of the opinion that commodity traders need to have a natural hedge for currency risks and a commodity derivative regulator should also be a part of the joint committee (so that exchanges regulated by it can also offer the product)." However, this suggestion was not accepted and the decision was taken that only stock exchanges will be allowed to offer trading in currency derivatives. Troubled start This decision of RBI gave birth to MCX-SX. Sebi, according to a regulatory official, "was in those days of the opinion that there was a need to impart competition in securities trading because one exchange (the National Stock Exchange) had a virtual monopoly and the other exchanges were not able to compete. Hence, Sebi gave permission to MCX and Financial Technologies to set up the stock exchange in 2008." However, prior to that, in mid-2007, MCX was investigated by the income-tax department but nothing incriminating was found against it. According to Chary, MCX had fully cooperated with the income-tax department and "it is a well-known fact now that they found nothing adverse against MCX". "Then director general of (the) income-tax (department) told me that they had not found anything adverse against MCX or Financial Technologies. He, however, told me he could not give anything in writing to me," says Chary, a former bureaucrat. "That incident was another proof that our competitors may have misguided the income-tax department by feeding it false information. After my meeting with the director general, I wrote to the consumer affairs (the administrative ministry) secretary to inform him of what transpired in my meeting and to place the facts on record." With this clean chit, when Financial Technologies wanted to take stakes in two regional exchanges which were in the process of demutualising themselves, Sebi agreed. The finance ministry, however, wrote to Sebi that MCX was being investigated and hence not "fit and proper" to hold shares in any stock exchange. Sebi, which is always mindful of its status as an independent regulator, replied saying that "a mere raid is not a reason for declaring someone not fit." So was there an attempt by rivals to checkmate Financial Technologies? Chary has alleged that a senior finance ministry officer had recommended in December 2007 that state-owned Life Insurance Corporation and Nabard reduce their stake in NCDEX (a private exchange that competed with MCX) from 15 per cent to 5 or 6 per cent each in favour of the National Stock Exchange in order to help NSE "steer NCDEX to compete better with MCX". According to Chary, he wrote to the Central Vigilance Commission, the anti-corruption wing of CBI, the finance ministry and even the prime minister's office but to no avail. Chidambaram has said that MCX and Financial Technologies were initially allowed currency trading and not equity trading. However, securities market professionals and even regulatory officials are not buying this argument. According to a senior executive with a stock exchange, "A stock exchange is a wider term and equity is only one of its segments, though it is a glamourous segment." He prefers anonymity because CBI is investigating the matter. "Bhave, the then Sebi chairman, had told us, 'Remember, you are recognised as a stock exchange. Do not deny yourself the right to be in all segments that a stock exchange can be in,'" says Chary. A new start MCX-SX, the stock exchange, started functioning in late 2008, when the global financial crisis had just begun. The permission was granted on the condition that the promoters of the stock exchange, who owned 100 per cent stake, would reduce their holding to 5 per cent within a year to comply with the Sebi norms. But, the company could only partly dilute its equity and was given one more year to complete the restructuring. However, "when Financial Technologies restructured the capital base by cancelling the shares held by it and MCX, the rift with Sebi seems to have begun," recollects a veteran capital market observer. What really happened? In a departure from what is normally done to lower a promoter's stake, Financial Technologies and MCX brought down their stake not by bringing in new investors but by converting their shares into warrants without voting rights and dividends. While the capital of other investors was retained, Sebi felt that the warrants allowed the promoters to hold substantial economic interest in the exchange even after they had lowered their stake. In September 2010, Sebi gave another extension to Financial Technologies to restructure. However, in three months, Financial Technologies was declared not "fit and proper" by Sebi. This was challenged by Financial Technologies and ultimately when the Supreme Court ruled in the company's favour, Sebi had to grant permission to the stock exchange for equity trading also. MCX-SX begun trading in equity in early 2013. However, had this competition been introduced five years ago, the exchange scene in the country could have been different. The regulatory official quoted earlier says that, "MCX-SX when permitted to launch equity segment couldn't do much now as the time for it had lapsed a few years ago." MCX-SX originally wanted to start equity trading in 2009 to compete with NSE, but that did not materialise. Though MCX-SX had cleared this hurdle and equity trading on MCX-SX was inaugurated on February 9, 2013, more trouble was brewing for Financial Technologies - something that would seriously impact its cash flows. First, on February 28, 2013, in the budget for 2013-14, commodity transaction tax on non-farm commodities was introduced. In this space, MCX had most of the volumes. So, it was the first to be affected by this tax. Later, on 25 April, RBI issued a guideline asking overseas corporate bodies with Indian investments to take its permission for offering any equity or equity-related product in the overseas market. As a result, the exchange set up by Financial Technologies in Bahrain offering rupee-dollar futures lost most of its volumes. The National Spot Exchange default in July 2013 was the final nail in the coffin. Settlement talk with NSEL investors at stake While the fate of MCX-SX depends on the probe by CBI, the promoters of the stock exchange are facing challenges of their own. One of its promoters, MCX, is facing pressure from the Forward Market Commission, the regulator for trading in commodities derivatives in the country, to ensure that the stake of its anchor investor, Financial Technologies which also happens to be a promoter in the MCX stock exchange, is reduced from 26 per cent to 2 per cent in accordance with the law. Financial Technologies, meanwhile, has declared its intention to exit all stock exchanges, including MCX and MCX-SX. There is also a turf war raging at Financial Technologies. Some of its closest supporters, Ravi Sheth and Bharat Sheth, who hold nearly 8 per cent stake each along with private equity firm Blackstone, have joined hands to oust the company's group chief executive and promoter, . They are also building pressure on Shah to sell stake to a particular company (sources say it is Tech Mahindra) when it goes for stake dilution. Financial Technologies has said that it wants to bring in a strategic investor with 26 per cent stake and the decision on who to sell the stake to will be taken by a high- level committee. Many fear the cross currents playing out at the company could derail the settlement talk with National Spot Exchange investors which is in the final stage. Shah has offered to pay 20 per cent, or Rs 1100 crore, of the Rs 5,574 crore the exchange owes to its investors. Ravi Sheth and Bharat Sheth, have said they will oppose the deal when it comes for approval to the Financial Technologies board. Accusing Pakistan of supporting terrorism against India, Union minister on Tuesday said the entire world has come together to isolate Islamabad on the issue even as he asserted Jammu-Kashmir is an integral part of India and there could be "no compromise" on it. "Our neighbour is aiding, abetting, funding, trading terrorists. They have made terrorism a state policy. Entire world has come together to isolate Pakistan and condemn Pakistan(-backed) terrorism. Terrorism is not acceptable at all. We have been very clear about it," he said, without making direct mention of Uri terror attack. The Union Urban Development Minister said, "(no matter) how many times they (Pakistan) raise the Kashmir issue, Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India and there is no question of compromise on it." Naidu made these remarks during an event in which he renamed the Paryavaran Bhawan, located in Central Government Offices (CGO) Complex, as 'Pundit Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan'. Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also attended the event to mark the birth centenary of BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay. He said that the NDA government does not work on communal line and added that a terrorist is "neither a Hindu nor Muslim" as he pitched for "integrated nationalism". "We should seek inspiration from our history. You may (religion wise) be Hindu, Muslim, Christian, but we all are Indians. Our ancestors are one," he said. Naidu, while referring to the debate on nationalism, said the slogan of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' is not a dialogue of any film but an act of "uplifting poorest of poor" of the country. The Minister also took a veiled dig at Gandhi family for allegedly naming majority of country's memorials, projects and institutes after its members. He termed first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a "great patriot", but added Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose "too were great patriots". Naidu further said the NDA government is trying to name memorials, institutes and government structures after "forgotten heroes" of the country. He also lauded BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay for "guiding" people "to work for uplift of the last person in the society" as he defined the concept of 'antyodaya'. The building, which houses Minority Affairs Ministry and other government offices, has been renamed after former Union Minister Najma Heptulla made a proposal to this regard in March this year. The building was named as Paryavaran Bhawan as it would earlier house offices of Environment Ministry. The Environment Ministry offices were shifted to a separate building called Indira Paryavaran Bhawan located in Jor Bagh in 2014. The finance ministry on Tuesday promised to look into some taxation issues raised by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and also certain suggestions made by them such as permitting them in short-term corporate paper.Some of these suggestions could be reflected in the Budget as well. The government on Tuesday reviewed India's existing (FTAs) and their impact on domestic economy and employment generation. The move comes after growing concerns from exporters pointed that these pacts may be helping trading partners more than India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Jharkhand on Tuesday released policies for six sectors information technology (IT) & IT-enabled services (ITeS); business process outsourcing (BPO); electronic system design & manufacturing (ESDM); start-up; automobile & auto component; and textile. During a road show here on Tuesday, the state government signed agreements worth Rs 5,000 crore in the areas of textile, health, IT, and . These investments are expected to create 20,000 jobs in three years. Having ratified the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill for roll out of the Goods & Service Tax (GST), Odisha has revisited its old demand for compensation against loss suffered by states due to curtailment of CST (central sales tax) rate. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has sought the attention of Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on pending compensation of states. The Centre on Tuesday announced the third list of 27 cities for financing under the Government flagship Mission, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parliamentary constituency Varanasi. Announcing the list of the urban centres, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that a total investment of Rs.1, 44, 742 crores has been proposed by 60 cities under plans. "63 cities have so far participated in three rounds of competition, 27 of 63 participating cities have qualified. 27 new batch of smart cities are from 12 states," Naidu told a press briefing. The list of the 27 Smart cities include-Agra, Ajmer, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Gwalior, Hubli-Dharwad, Jalandhar, Kalyan-Dombiwali, Kanpur, Kohima, Kota, Madurai, Mangaluru, Nagpur, Namchi ,Nashik, Rourkela, Salem, Shivamogga, Thane, Thanjavur, Tirupati,Tumakuru, Ujjain, Vadodara, Varanasi and Vellore. As per the Mission guidelines, as many as 40 cities have to be announced during this financial year, as the government had already announced 13 cities in May. In January, the government had announced a list of 20 cities for partial funding to be developed as smart cities, which would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. Each city will receive Central assistance of Rs. 200 crores in the first year and Rs. 100 crores over the three subsequent financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre's contribution. The Government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Centre providing financial support of Rs. 48,000 crores over five years. Prime Minister Narendra Modis ambitious scheme that promised lowest premia for farmers seems to have started on a slow note in 2016 kharif season, partly due to delayed notification by states. Some experts said the decision to keep sugarcane out of the schemes ambit may have impacted its coverage in states like Uttar Pradesh. The Centre on Tuesday announced the third list of 27 cities for financing under the Government flagship Mission, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parliamentary constituency Varanasi. Announcing the list of the urban centres, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that a total investment of Rs.1, 44, 742 crores has been proposed by 60 cities under plans. "63 cities have so far participated in three rounds of competition, 27 of 63 participating cities have qualified. 27 new batch of smart cities are from 12 states," Naidu told a press briefing. The list of the 27 Smart cities include-Agra, Ajmer, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Gwalior, Hubli-Dharwad, Jalandhar, Kalyan-Dombiwali, Kanpur, Kohima, Kota, Madurai, Mangaluru, Nagpur, Namchi ,Nashik, Rourkela, Salem, Shivamogga, Thane, Thanjavur, Tirupati,Tumakuru, Ujjain, Vadodara, Varanasi and Vellore. As per the Mission guidelines, as many as 40 cities have to be announced during this financial year, as the government had already announced 13 cities in May. In January, the government had announced a list of 20 cities for partial funding to be developed as smart cities, which would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. Each city will receive Central assistance of Rs. 200 crores in the first year and Rs. 100 crores over the three subsequent financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre's contribution. The Government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Centre providing financial support of Rs. 48,000 crores over five years. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Western Fleet Ships visit South Africa (20 - 23 September 2016) In a demonstration of Indias commitment to its ties with South Africa and to the maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, Indian Naval Ships Kolkata, Trikand and Aditya under the Command of the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh, NM have arrived at Durban on 20 Sep 16 for a three day visit. The ships are part of the Indian Navys Western Fleet based at Mumbai under the Western Naval Command and are on a two month long deployment to the Western Indian Ocean. INS Kolkata is commanded by Captain Rahul Vilas Gokhale, INS Trikand is commanded by Captain Arjun Dev Nair and INS Aditya is commanded by Captain Vidyanshu Srivastava. During the visit, the warships will have professional interactions with the South African Naval Forces (SAN) for enhancing co-operation and sharing the nuances of naval operations including combating maritime threats of terrorism and piracy. Calls on senior Government and military authorities, training and technical cooperation measures with SAN, sporting and cultural interactions, aimed at strengthening ties and mutual understanding between the two forces, are also planned. India and South Africa have very close and cordial political and diplomatic relations with a sizeable settlement of people of Indian origin in South Africa. The frequent cross visits by high level delegations including the Heads of State have further strengthened the bilateral relations. The recently concluded visit of Indias Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi provided fresh impetus to the relationship between the two countries. Co-operation in the field of defence, especially maritime security and training has been identified as a key avenue for promoting such ties. The last visit by an Indian Naval ship to South Africa was in November 2014, when Indian Naval Ship Teg made port call at Simons Town and Cape Town as part of Exercise IBSAMAR, a trilateral maritime exercise involving navies of Brazil, India and South Africa. SAN also participated in International Fleet Review hosted by India in February 2016 and was represented by SAN ship Spioenkop. The current visit seeks to strengthen the existing bonds of friendship between India and South Africa and underscore Indias peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly countries of the region. DKS/GY European Union regulators stand accused of unfairly targeting American companies in a series of inquiries. So with the region's antitrust chief visiting the United States this week, the bloc's officials said on Monday that they were investigating whether a French company signed a sweetheart tax deal with Luxembourg. One of Greece's main migrant camps on the island of Lesbos suffered extensive damage in a fire apparently set on purpose, with thousands forced to flee to safety, police said. Tents at the camp of Moria were "almost entirely destroyed" and containers that provide additional accommodation and health and registration services were damaged, a police source in Athens told AFP. Firefighters were prevented from tackling the fire early on by clashes that broke out among rival nationalities in the camp, reports said. With the flames fanned by strong winds, up to 4,000 people are believed to have fled to the surrounding fields, the police source said on Monday. However, once inside the firefighters were able to bring the fire under control. Police were sent out after the and were in the process of returning them to the camp, the officer added. He said there was "no doubt" that the fire had been set on purpose by those inside. Some 150 minors housed at the camp were evacuated to a children's village on the island, the officer said. There are now over 60,000 refugees and in Greece, most of them seeking to travel to Germany and other affluent EU countries. But they are unable to do so after several eastern European and Balkan states shut their borders earlier this year. Human rights groups have repeatedly criticised the condition of Greek migrant camps, pointing to overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions. The situation is particularly acute on Lesbos and other eastern Aegean islands facing Turkey, where most of the land and are held for registration. Island residents have also staged protests to demand the transportation of the migrants to the mainland. The procedure is part of an EU-Turkey deal designed to limit the flow of refugees and migrants to Greece's shores. According to government data, there are over 13,000 people on five islands in facilities built to house fewer than 8,000. Most of them are Syrian refugees fleeing civil war, in addition to Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis and from the Indian subcontinent and north Africa considered to be economic migrants, and as such not automatically entitled to asylum in Europe. Iranian President arrived in Cuba where he met with his counterpart, Raul Castro, and the Cuban president's older brother and predecessor, Fidel Castro. Rouhani had said ahead of the one-day visit that he wanted to stop in Cuba, a "friendly and revolutionary country," on his way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The yesterday's visit follows one in August by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said Iran sees this as "a very opportune moment" to reinforce its ties with the communist island. Officials are due to sign a series of deals, expected to include one on energy. Cuba is keen for oil as its key supplier, Venezuela, has dramatically cut its once generous discount sales amid an economic crisis. United mainly by their shared history of enmity with the United States, Iran and Cuba often back each other in the arena. Tehran has vocally condemned the US embargo on Cuba, and Havana has supported Iran's right to a civilian nuclear program. The Castro regime's resentment over the more than five- decade embargo, which remains in place, is still strong despite the renewal of diplomatic ties with Washington last year. accused Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps the Islamic State group and other militants such as ISIS recruit new fighters. But Trump hit back, saying his Democratic rival and the Obama administration hadn't done enough to quell the group's rise. "Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monster of evil on us and on the world," said Trump at a packed Florida rally, referring to Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. He also insisted the US should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As several Trump supporters shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate bemoaned the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old US citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalise on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point." "I'm the only candidate in this race who's been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield," Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. "I know how to do this." The possibility of a home-grown terrorist plot cast a new shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates' attention from the daily controversies of the campaign and giving them a high-profile opportunity to make their case to undecided voters. US Secretary of State has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, as he expressed strong concern over the violence in Kashmir particularly the terror attack on an Indian army base. Kerry met Sharif yesterday on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir and sought American help to resolve the Kashmir issue. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counter terrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. Later, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence." "The Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions," he said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif asked the "US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India." In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the alleged use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. Sharif alleged that human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the community to "ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that "if the community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu & Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities. Pakistani Prime Minister has held separate meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry and his British counterpart Theresa May during which he urged the two countries to help resolve issues between Islamabad and New Delhi. Sharif held the meetings on Monday night on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's 71st session in New York, Geo News reported. The people of Jammu and Kashmir must be allowed to choose their destiny and that the longstanding resolutions of the UN Security Council on the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented, he said during his meeting with May. "If the community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir, then this would encourage India to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities," Sharif added. He met Kerry earlier on Monday where he said "I still remember (former) president (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India," Dawn online reported "I expect the US administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help resolve issues between Pakistan and India." Both Kerry and May appreciated Pakistan's role in eradicating terrorism and extremism from the country. The British Prime Minister lauded the economic turnaround achieved by the present democratic government achieving growth targets and putting the country on the path of development. Secretary Kerry appreciated the efforts of the armed forces of Pakistan, security institutions and police in rooting out terrorism and extremism. Kerry said that Pakistan and Afghanistan have mutual interests concerning regional peace and security. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry were also present in the meetings. Also on Monday, Sharif called on the five permanent members of the UN demanding that India should be forced to stop its brutalities in Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister arrived in New York on Sunday. He is scheduled to address the session on Wednesday where he would specifically focus on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He will also hold bilateral meetings with President of Iran, Prime Ministers of Japan, New Zealand, Nepal, Romania and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Federal auto safety regulators on Monday made it official: They are betting the nation's highways will be safer with more cars driven by machines and not people. Here is the derivative strategies on Infosys from Sacchitanand Uttekar of Motilal Oswal for trade today: Option Strategy : INFY (Long Call Condor Spread) Buy 1060 CE Sep 1 lot Sell 1080 CE Sep 1 lot Sell 1100 CE Sep 1 lot Buy 1120 CE Sep 1 lot Target: Rs 7750 (Between 1080-1100) Maximum Loss: Rs 2250 Rational: Infy is consolidating in band of 1020-1060 Unwinding in 1060 CE could propel momentum on higher side Considering we are playing momentum, low risk Long Call Condor Strategy is recommended Disclaimer: Motilal Oswal Securities ( MOSL ) is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India ("SEBI") and is licensed to carry on the business of broking, depository services and related activities. MOSL is in the process of getting registered under SEBI - Research Analyst Regulations. MOSL, the spokesperson or his relatives, do not have financial interest in the securities mentioned above. The spokesperson has not served as a director, employee or officer at the subject company in the last 12 months. MOSL or its associate might be involved in market making for the subject company or have potential conflict of interest. has slipped 8% to Rs 924 on the BSE in early morning trade after the company announced that Ajay Kaul, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) cum Wholetime Director of the company resigned. The stock was trading close to its 52-week low of Rs 897 hit on February 12, 2016 in intra-day trade. As the US (Fed) started its two-day meeting on Tuesday, consensus factors in a no hike in rates from this meet. As the Street awaits the outcome of this meet on Wednesday, a look at the historical correlation between a Fed rate hike and the performance of Indian throws some interesting insights. Highlighting the issue of enforced disappearances and custodial killings by Pakistani Security Forces in Balochistan, Representative of the Baloch Republican Party at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Abdul Nawaz Bugti said that the worsening human rights situation in requires immediate attention of the council. He said in his speech that the military has intensified its operations against the civilian populace as well, adding that Dera Bugti and Naseerabad areas have been under continuous siege and attacks by Pakistani forces for weeks. Giving an account of the rampant human rights violations there, Bugti said, "Gunship helicopters were used against civil populace resulting in killing of more 100 Baloch civilians, including women and children. 260 people, mostly women, have been abducted during the operations since 13 August." He added that a mass grave was discovered in Sui area where 12 dead bodies of previously abducted Baloch civilians were found. He further said that on September 6, Pakistani forces besieged the house of a Baloch political activist Pirjan Baloch in Turbat and continued the siege for seven days, forcing the women and children inside the house to starve. He said that the forces finally ended the siege only after abducting the activist's wife along with her two infants. "We have reported 650 cases of enforced disappearances and 230 cases of extrajudicial murders in since January," he said. "Pakistani forces claimed to have arrested more than 13000 people from since 2015 but not a single case was brought in any court of law. This further exposes the impunity with which the Pakistani forces operate and carry out a systematic genocide in Balochistan," he added. He said that Balochistan is facing a complete blackout by the Pakistani media which keeps the community in dark about situation prevailing on ground. He also welcomed the statement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and permanent mission of India to highlight Pakistani atrocities in Balochistan and added that he hopes the member states of the council will follow the suit. "We call on this council to take immediate measures to stop the systematic genocide of Baloch people by Pakistani state," he said. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Myanmar State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the New York where they agreed to resolve all bilateral issues through dialogues. After the meeting, Hasina's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said the two leaders discussed outstanding issues between the two neighbouring countries and agreed to resolve all bilateral issues through dialogues, reports the Dhaka Tribune. During the meeting, the Hasina welcomed the Kofi Annan led commission for the Rakhine state on issues of Rohingya. She also reiterated her "zero tolerance" stance on terrorism and said Bangladesh soil will never be allowed for carrying out terrorist activities against any countries. She said Bangladesh has set an example of effective cooperation with its other neighbours in combating terrorism and violent extremism. She invited the Myanmar leader to visit Bangladesh, which Suu Kyi accepted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Baloch Republican Party chief Brahamdagh Bugti has visited the Indian consulate in Geneva to inquire about the process of asylum in India. Bugti had yesterday announced that he would appeal for a political asylum in India, adding the decision in this regard was taken in his party's central committee meeting. "The meeting of our central committee ended... And in the meeting the members of the central committee have decided with majority that I will appeal for a political asylum in India," Bugti told ANI. He had earlier said that he would certainly consider it if given an opportunity in the future. "Our people in Balochistan and Afghanistan are in a very difficult situation. Very few of them are able to come to Europe, rest are living there only. So, we want that the Indian Government should open there doors for them and provide them access, including myself. Right now, I'm here (Switzerland), but I face problem regarding my travel. So, if I get an option to be in India, I will definitely go there," Bugti told ANI. When asked as to why he is seeking asylum in India, Bugti said, "India is our neighboring country. In Europe, even if a government or the immigration department knows the problem, the people don't. But in India, the people know about our problems, we will have their support. We share the same culture. We will be closer to our people and our people can easily seek asylum there, and it is easier for them to reach there with their families." The Baloch activists and leaders have continuously maintained that Pakistan is involved in the genocide of the Baloch people and added that human rights violations are rampant in the region there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government of lacking the gumption, conviction and courage to be able to meet out the treatment to Pakistan for the killing of 18 army personnel at Uri. Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI that there will not be any cohesive response from this government for the Uri attack. "Pakistan has been a perpetual and permanent offender now for over three decades. But the irony is that notwithstanding with all the Bellicosity. There will not be any cohesive response or military response from this government for the Uri attack because the Modi government does not have what it takes," Tewari said. "Already excuses are being trotted out, stories are being planted that commanders are being advising against rash actions...but, the country wants the government to take action. Which commander is going to advise restraint, especially when 18 our soldiers, 18 people have been butchered in cold blood," he added. Tewari further said that the government does not have the gumption, conviction and courage to be able to meet out the treatment to Pakistan of what it deserves and that is why Nawaaz Sharif is cocking a snook. Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had highlighted Islamabad's commitment to peacefully resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. The Prime Minister has called upon the permanent members of the Security Council to fulfill their responsibility with regard to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which is one of the oldest internationally recognized unresolved disputes on the agenda of the UN Security Council. The Prime Minister has stated that the non resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a constant source of tension and instability in the region and a threat to international peace and security. The Prime Minister has written letters to the heads of government/state of the permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russian Federation, UK and the USA) The Indian Permanent Mission is to issue a statement taking on Islamabad soon after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will make his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Evidence of Pakistan's hand in Uri attack i.e. GPS tracker movements that go back to starting point in Pakistan, Pashto literature, Pakistan Army marked arms will be given to Islamabad at the DGMO level, sources add. India is set to raise Uri attack at the 71st UNGA and highlight Pakistan's involvement into the deadly terror strike. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expressing shock over the stabbing of a 21-year old woman in North Delhi's Burari area, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said the police should focus on the security of people rather than harassing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs. "Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-yr old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizen's security than harassing AAP MLAs," Sisodia tweeted. The woman was mercilessly stabbed to death in broad daylight by a man, who had been stalking her for months. The woman, Karuna, worked as a teacher at the Novel Reaches School. DCP (North) Madhur Verma said the assailant had been troubling the woman since a year. Following this, the victim's family had lodged a complaint four to five months back following which both families had reached a compromise. Meanwhile, the family members of the woman held protest and made a human chain outside the Sushruta Trauma Centre near ISBT demanding justice. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Baloch Republican Party (BRP) chief Brahamdagh Bugti, who visited the Indian consulate in Geneva to inquire about the process of seeking asylum in India, said the discussion in this regard was very fruitful and hoped that things would go well in the process. "We met officials and the discussion has been very fruitful. We discussed about the political asylum and other issues. I hope everything will go well," Bugti told ANI, adding that it would be immature to talk about it now. Though he cited travel problems as the reason for the asylum, he said further discussions will be held. Meanwhile, Mehran Marri, the Baloch representative to the European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who was also present there said, "We can't discuss much now. We just came to find out the procedure of the application. As Mr. Bugti said the discussion was very fruitful and we will continue to have further discussion on this topic." Bugti had yesterday announced that he would appeal for a political asylum in India, adding the decision in this regard was taken in his party's central committee meeting. "The meeting of our central committee ended... And in the meeting the members of the central committee have decided with majority that I will appeal for a political asylum in India," Bugti told ANI. He had earlier said that he would certainly consider it if given an opportunity in the future. "Our people in Balochistan and Afghanistan are in a very difficult situation. Very few of them are able to come to Europe, rest are living there only. So, we want that the Indian Government should open there doors for them and provide them access, including myself. Right now, I'm here (Switzerland), but I face problem regarding my travel. So, if I get an option to be in India, I will definitely go there," Bugti told ANI. When asked as to why he is seeking asylum in India, Bugti said, "India is our neighboring country. In Europe, even if a government or the immigration department knows the problem, the people don't. But in India, the people know about our problems, we will have their support. We share the same culture. We will be closer to our people and our people can easily seek asylum there, and it is easier for them to reach there with their families." The Baloch activists and leaders have continuously maintained that Pakistan is involved in the genocide of the Baloch people and added that human rights violations are rampant in the region there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as eight terrorists, trying to cross over to the Indian side from Pakistan, have been killed by the army in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri region of Baramulla district on Tuesday. As per the latest reports, the encounter is currently underway between the security forces and the militants. The encounter comes just two days after four heavily armed militants had stormed the battalion headquarters of the Army in Uri, close to the Line of Control (LoC), in the wee hours on Sunday, killing 18 jawans and injuring more than 20 other personnel. In the encounter, the security forces neutralised all of them within hours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday assured the nation that those behind this will not go unpunished. In a series of tweets after the attack, the Prime Minister said: "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished". He added, "We salute all those martyred in Uri. Their services to the nation will always be remembered. My thoughts are with the bereaved families (of the Army jawans)". Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh branded Islamabad as a terrorist state and said the Asian neighbour should be isolated and sanctioned at international platforms. Pakistan has, however, flatly rejected New Delhi's claims of involvement in the Uri terror attack, stating that the latter has a traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) European diplomatic missions in Bangalore - representing the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, and France - along with Fraunhofer, are organising 'The European Climate Action Day The event will bring together sectoral technology experts, researchers and decision-makers, who will discuss innovative solutions to limit climate change impact with main focus on Karnataka. The event will include two very topical panel discussions on 'Energy and Water: Critical Factors in Climate Change' and ' Innovative Solutions to Mitigate Climate Change'. The panellists are renowned industry experts, who have been invited to shed light on the global and local scenario in the core area of "Climate Control" and suggest measures for the road ahead for international cooperation. The experts will also highlight specific technology solutions, as well as existing projects and activities for mitigating such challenges. The event is inaugurated by the Guest of Honour, Shri. Dinesh Gundu Rao, President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and Chairman of Climate Parliament Steering Committee, Karnataka Chapter, with keynote address and special address by Prof. P S Goel, Dr Raja Ramanna Chair Professor at NIAS and formerly, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute. This event is a follow-up of the discussions that were held at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21: held in Paris, from 30th November 2015 to 12th December 2015), which negotiated the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which aims at capping the rise of temperatures below 2C by the end of this century, and, if possible, below 1.5C. Europe is engaged in a low-carbon transition. European Member-States, taking concrete implementation very seriously, are moving forward with ambitious domestic climate policies, incorporating new proposals to help meet the emissions reduction target of at least 40 percent by 2030 and further drive the transition to a low-carbon economy. European Member-States are also committed to providing assistance to developing countries in areas such as finance, technology and capacity building. India has set itself ambitious targets that will have a significant impact on tackling climate change, such as 100GW of solar energy before 2022. India has also declared that 40 percent of its electricity mix will be sourced from non-fossil fuels by 2030. India has also announced the launch of the International Solar Alliance, which aims at facilitating the deployment of solar energy worldwide. European Member-States are committed to contributing to all these ambitious targets and initiatives taken by India. Citizens and NGOs are not the only ones to truly care about a responsible environmental policy; entrepreneurs care, too. Ahead of this event, there was a call for poster abstracts on 'Innovative Solutions to Climate Change', from Masters, Ph.D., and first postdoc-level researchers from Karnataka. The top three winners of the competition will be awarded and their posters displayed on 21st September at the event. Dr. Balz Strasser, Consul General of Switzerland, said, "Climate change is an issue that affects and concerns us all. It's a global phenomenon that needs to be tackled by every country as well as by international cooperation. Good practices, effective technologies and successful approaches from Europe need to be shared with India and other parts of the world. In Switzerland, for example, new buildings are consuming four times less energy than 40 years ago. The expertise and knowhow that was developed in this field can help India to achieve its goals related to improving energy efficiency of its building stock and ensuring energy security for all." Commenting on the main focus of the event, Ms. Margit Hellwig-Botte, Consul General in Bangalore said, "Climate change is high on Germany's agenda. Changing weather patterns and unexpected floods threaten Germany like any other country in the world. Climate change is a global phenomenon and thus needs to be addressed by all of us in a joined effort. For Germany the three key elements to mitigate the effects of climate change are: First minimising Green House Gases. Second promoting the use of sustainable resources. And last but not least increasing energy efficiency. We are looking forward to partner with India's highly skilled R and D experts to work together for a better future and to find innovative and comprehensive solutions to deal with the consequences of climate change" Mr. Dominic McAllister, Deputy High Commissioner, British Deputy High Commission said, "The UK remains committed to tackling climate change at home and to supporting developing nations realize their climate change targets. The British High Commission works closely with European missions and other partners across India and Karnataka with this aim. Globally the low carbon sector is growing strongly. The UK's low carbon economy has been valued at 122 billion pounds and employs 269,800 people directly, and a further 190,800 indirectly within the low carbon supply chain. Over the next 5 years the UK has committed 5.8 billion in climate finance support to climate change vulnerable nations. In India some of the areas we are working on include energy access, energy storage, renewables and smart grids, climate finance and climate smart urban development. This year's European Climate Action Day in Bengaluru will help identify the challenges we face, local innovative solutions, and ways we can work together to tackle climate change." Mr. Francois Gautier, Consul General of France said, "Climate change is an issue that affects every living being on our planet. It is a collective responsibility of all to work together to bring about good practices that will impact future generations. France is already one of the lowest greenhouse gas emitters among developed nations and we plan to further bring down such emissions by 60% by 2040. One decisive and historical step towards this objective was the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement by 195 countries last December following COP21. In India, and especially here in Bangalore, we work in close partnership to advance together further in this direction: collaborations such as the Indo-French Water Network, the International Solar Alliance, the partnering of Indian and French companies over water use and management, and French funding of the Namma Metro are clear indications of our commitment in this area. " Ms. Anandi Iyer, Director, Fraunhofer Office India, "The international diffusion of climate technologies is key to addressing climate change at a global level. While Climate technologies are currently, for the most part, being developed in many countries, the scale and speed of diffusion are insufficient, considering that in the case of a global public "bad" such as climate change, all countries would benefit from reduced emissions from the wide diffusion of climate technologies and knowledge. Therefore, accelerating international technology transfer is seen as a requirement to provide newly industrializing countries (NIC) and developing countries (DC) with the best technological options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to adapt to climatic changes. Based on article 4.5 of the UNFCCC, the debate on international climate negotiations increasingly turns on financial schemes to facilitate technology transfer. However, the international transfer of climate technologies depends on various influences and is not only a question of the availability of funds. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ace filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala is going to be felicitated by the French government today for his contribution to Indian cinema. They recognized Nadiadwala's outstanding achievement as a producer and his commitment to Indo-French relations. On a related note, the producer had shot for a small portion of 'Tamasha' in Corsica last year, after which it became a very popular destination for the Indians. With his Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone starrer flick, Nadiadwala tapped into a virgin location, Corsica for shooting his film, post which a lot of other producers are planning to shoot their films in France. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The nation is paying an emotional tribute to all the 18 Indian Army bravehearts, who lost their lives in Sunday's dastardly militant attack in Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district. The mortal remains of all the Uri bravehearts have been taken to their ancestral places for the last rites. Yesterday, they were given an emotional farewell at the Army Headquarters in Badamibagh by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, senior Army and police officials. Mehbooba visited the injured soldiers at the 92 Base Hospital of the Army in Srinagar post the wreath laying ceremony. Several jawans continue to battle serious injuries. Subedar K Singh, Havildar NS Rawat, Havildar R Paul, Naik SK Vidhyarthi, Havildar Ashok Kumar, Sepoy N Kujur, Sepoy U Janrao, Sepoy RK Singh, Sepoy H Yadav, Lance Naik RK Ydadav, Sepoy G Shankar, Sepoy KV Janardhan, Sepoy G Dalui, Sepoy R Singh, Sepoy B Ghorai, Lance Naik G Shankar, Sepoy TS Somnath and Sepoy J Munda are the 18 bravehearts, who lost their lives in the service of the nation. Four heavily armed militants had stormed the battalion headquarters of the Army in Uri, close to the Line of Control (LoC), in the wee hours on Sunday, killing 18 jawans and injuring more than 20 other personnel. In the encounter, the security forces neutralised all of them within hours. The terrorists, who attacked the military base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Following crucial meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his key ministers received counsel against rash military action. Top military commanders warned that Pakistan's Army had raised its defensive posture along the LoC. Few details emerged from the meeting, but senior government figures pushed back against calls from their ranks for immediate military strikes against Pakistan. The meeting attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, heard from Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Army chief General Dalbir Singh on possible long-term options to retaliate against jihadist logistics and the Pakistani military infrastructure. The Prime Minister briefed President Pranab Mukherjee on the discussions late Monday. Prime Minister Modi and the Home Minister strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Uri. Prime Minister Modi assured the nation that those behind this will not go unpunished. In a series of tweets after the attack, the Prime Minister said: "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished". He added, "We salute all those martyred in Uri. Their services to the nation will always be remembered. My thoughts are with the bereaved families (of the Army jawans)". Rajnath branded Islamabad as a terrorist state and said the Asian neighbour should be isolated and sanctioned at international platforms. Pakistan has, however, flatly rejected New Delhi's claims of involvement in the Uri terror attack, stating that the latter has a traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil. Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh yesterday warned Pakistan in the wake of the Uri strike and said India reserves the right to respond to any act of the adversary. "We have the desired capability to reply to such blatant act of violence in a manner as deemed appropriate by us. We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," he told the media in New Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Baloch people, Kashmiris from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Sindhi community held a joint protest in front of the UN office in Geneva on Tuesday to highlight the atrocities on its people by Pakistan and also to oppose the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) . Protesters held up banners reading "No to CPEC, We want freedom, go back China". Some protesters shouted, "Sindhi people say no to CPEC." Nasir Aziz Khan, spokesperson of the United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP), said that Pakistan is systematically eliminating those who raise their voices against atrocities committed on them. "We are protesting here right in front of the UN Human Rights office because we are the deprived people from Sindh, from Balochistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), Gilgit-Baltistan. People don't have basic rights and Pakistan is systematically eliminating the nationalists," he said. They also made a reference to former politician Arif Shahid, Khan, saying a very progressive and secular person was assassinated for protesting for rights and no action was taken by the Pakistani authorities. "They [Pakistan] don't want to see our voices abroad and they are threatening our people back home and they want to eliminate each and every voice," he added. Taking a jibe at both China and Pakistan for the CPEC project, human right activist Charles Graves said the two nations have no respect from ethnic people. "Now unfortunately Pakistan have a good alliance with China which dates a long time and the Chinese we know have very little interest in ethnic rights and ethnic minority as we have seen in China with Uighurs and Tibetans. So now the silk route which is stretching from Karakoram down to the Indian Ocean is a way of bringing fuel into China without any particular respect of the people of Gilgit or people of Balochistan," he said. He was of the view that Pakistan is taking advantage of Chinese money for installation of electricity in the country. "China and Pakistan is not showing respect for the rights of ethnic people and unless China changes its view on the ethnic people it is going to continue and Pakistan is taking advantage of China and Chinese money for installation of electricity. So, economics is not taking into consideration of people's rights," he added. The Baloch people have been protesting alleging Pakistan of being only concerned about the resources in Balochistan and not its people and exploiting the region's resources and trading it to Beijing. Considered to be a part of China's One Belt, One Road initiative, the USD 46 billion project covers Balochistan and Sindh provinces and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). India has formally opposed the CPEC because it runs through PoK. Meanwhile, Lakhu Luhana, the chairman of the Sindhi Congress, said, "If you look at the Human Rights Charter then every human right written in that charter is being violated. Sindhi people are being marginalized and designs are to eliminated them completely." He said that the protest is to call to international community that the people need their help. "There are huge huge issues including enforced disappearances , extra judicial killings ..violence against religious minorities have reached to the unprecedented levels and that is why we are getting out.. this is an SOS call to international community that we need your help now," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, while promoting the upcoming horror-comedy 'Tutakk Tutak Tutiya', expressed her fan moment for actor Prabhu Deva. The 29-year-old actress narrated an incident of her childhood and said she has been a fan of the actor's dancing knack ever since she was a teenager. "When I was small, I was a huge fan of 'K Sera Sera' and at that time because we had no music channel or internet or anything, so it we use to wait for the song on (Chitrahar). We used to keep holding our breaths that the song just appears on it. I use to be a huge fan," said the 'Gangster' actress. Adding, "And today I'm sitting with him, it's such an uncanny moment, he looks like he is not aged, not even one day. He looks the same and that's amazing." Talking about how she has always admired Prabhu's dancing skills, the actress said, "The best thing about Prabhu sir's step is they are full of so much fun. There is a lot of humor and quirk in it, even the way he is sliding and the way he does one movement and everybody just falls on the floor. There is no rule to his dancing, which I really love and I don't know if anybody can ever copy it because they are just impulses that are translated into movements." On the professional front while Kangana will next be seen in Vishal Bhardwaj directorial 'Rangoon' along with Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. 'Tutak Tutak Tutiya' starring Sonu Sood, Prabhu Deva and Tamannaah Bhatia, will be released in three languages, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu on October 7. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Even as the terrorist attack on an army camp at Uri in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir claimed the lives of 18 soldiers, further widening the existing gulf between India and Pakistan, 'Karwan-e-Aman', a bus service plying between Srinagar and Muzffarabad, the capital city of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), left Uri on Monday morning, rekindling hope for a new dawn in the troubled bilateral relationship. The weekly bus service has been reuniting thousands of families divided by the Line of Control (LoC) after India and Pakistan agreed to allow state subjects from both sides to travel on travel permits instead of passports since April 7, 2005. One of the travellers from PoK told ANI, "The situation is a bit bad, otherwise, I would have stayed here for a fortnight, but I now am going back." When asked about the terrorist attack on the army camp, he said, "It's not good, because such things, whether that side or this side of the Line of Control (LoC), disrupts the peace process." At least 18 soldiers lost their lives and over 20 others injured during the terror strike on an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Baramulla district on Sunday. Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh said the four terrorists, who attacked the military base in Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Evidence of Pakistan's hand in the Uri attack, including GPS tracker movements that go back to starting point in Pakistan, Pashto literature, Pakistan Army marked arms will be given to Islamabad at the DGMO level, sources add. India is set to raise Uri attack at the 71st UNGA and highlight Pakistan's involvement into the deadly terror strike. Sources said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will strongly emphasise on Pakistan's involvement in the attack during her UNGA speech on September 26. This development comes after the Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting at his official 7, Race Course Road residence in New Delhi. After giving an assurance of going after the perpetrators of the deadly Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gave the green signal to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping. Pakistan has flatly rejected New Delhi's claims of Islamabad's involvement in the Uri terror attack, stating it is the latter's traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil. "Pointing fingers at Pakistan has become a traditional tendency of India after each terrorist attack," the Dawn quoted Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, as saying. "In the past many Indians were involved in the terrorist acts for which India had blamed Pakistan," he asserted. Director General of Military operations , Lt. Ranbir Singh yesterday said that the four terrorists, who attacked the military base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Global pioneering internet and technology company LeEco's electric car division SEE Plan (Super Electric Ecosystem Plan) has completed its first round of funding with USD 1.08 billion. Amongst the investors are Chinese state-own finance institutions as well as conglomerates in the private sector Yingda Capital Management Co. Ltd., co-owned by the State Grid Corporation of China, China Communication Construction Ltd., and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., Legend Holdings, a leading Chinese technology investment companies that also controls global technology giant Lenovo Group amongst others. "The USD 1.08 funding amount has set a new benchmark for the global automobile industry. This is a milestone for us. The participation of major institutions is a testament of their appreciation of the ecosystem model and global strategy of LeEco," said Founder and CEO LeEco, YT Jia. "From this point on, LeSee will accelerate towards its goal of building a global electric transportation ecosystem powered by smart internet technology," added YT Jia. Earlier this year, LeEco's had showcased its EV concept LeSEE featuring groundbreaking, fully autonomous capabilities including machine learning of facial, emotion, system, and path recognition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A joint study by a team of Indian and Canadian scientists has suggested that traditional medicines with Ashoka (botanical name Saraca asoca) as an ingredient are mostly adulterated. The bark extracts of Ashoka tree are used for the treatment of leucorrhea and other uterine disorders. It also has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-pyretic, anti-helminthic and analgesic characteristics. The study carried out by scientists from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, Kuvempu University, Shimoga, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, Punjab and University of Guelph, Toronto, Canada, analysed samples from outlets in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and found 80 percent of the samples were spurious. This is the first comprehensive and large-scale study to demonstrate the widespread adulteration of market samples of Ashoka in India. The study was published in International Journal of Legal Medicine. "In this paper, we have confined only to the bark extracts of Ashoka where we found 80 percent are spurious. In other medicinal plants, the adulteration ranges from 20 to 100 percent ," Dr. G. Ravikanth, Associate Professor at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore told Indian Science Journal. Indiscriminate and rampant extraction of the wood of Ashoka to meet the ever-increasing market demand has led to a sharp decline of the plant population. Consequently, it has recently been classified as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). "In the absence of any regulatory agency to check the quality of traditional medicines, no studies have been carried out in India to assess the implication of adulterations," said Dr. Ravikanth. He added, "Studies abroad have shown adverse consequences of adulteration in Indian traditional medicines. For example, more than 100 women suffered kidney failures due to admixtures of roots of anti-inflammatory agent 'Stephania tetrandra' by the roots of a toxic herb Aristolochia fangchi in the United States. Similarly, Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) barks that were adulterated with C.Cassia and C. Malabatrum have a bitter and burning flavour. C.cassia contains 1 per cent coumarin, a naturally occurring flavouring substance, which causes hepatotoxicity." The researchers suggested DNA bar coding to detect and quantify adulteration in raw herbal trade of a variety of medicinal plants. A limitation of this technique, however, is the raw herbal trade material is in the form of powder, billets, or even dried plant material and is extremely recalcitrant to extraction. In such cases, chemical fingerprinting, using techniques such as NMR spectroscopy could be used in conjunction with DNA bar coding to identify herb species and admixtures. In recent years, there has been great demand for medicinal plants as alternative care system. India exports over 5000 metric tonnes of herbal products annually and the demand is growing approximately by 10-15 percent. Most of the herbal medicines are used in the crude forms (unlike the chemical drugs) and have to be taken for a prolonged period. There are no regulatory standards for traditional medicines, as in the case of modern pharmaceutical drugs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The deadly terror attack in Uri which claimed the life of 18 army soldiers threw the entire in shock on a Sunday morning, but no one was more crushed and broken that Naik S.K. Vidarthi's father who is still mourning the loss of his son. An enraged Mathura Yadav has stated that he won't let any of his sons join the Indian Army, if the government does not take stern action against Pakistan, who is the perpetrator of the dastardly attack. "Pakistan should be given strict punishment. If the government fails to take stern action, I will never let any of my sons join army again," he told ANI. The distraught yet proud daughter of the slain soldier, Aarti Kumari said if she gets the opportunity, she would join the army herself. "I would request the government that if they (Pakistan) attack us once, we should give them a befitting reply. I am proud of my father because he did not die.he sacrificed his life for the nation. I wanted to join IIT, Delhi.now I don't know whether it will be possible. If I get the opportunity, I would surely join the army," she added. Vidharthi, who joined the army in 1999 has left behind his wife and four children namely Aarti, Anshu, Anshika and Aryan. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday announced an ex-gratia of Rs. five lakh to Vidharthi's family. Meanwhile, India is to present all actionable evidence against Pakistan if required at international bodies. Evidence of Pakistan's hand in the Uri attack, including GPS tracker movements that go back to a starting point in Pakistan, Pashto literature, Pakistan Army marked arms will be given to Islamabad at the DGMO level, sources said. According to sources, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will strongly emphasize on Pakistan's involvement in the attack in her UNGA speech on September 26. This development comes after the Prime Minister yesterday chaired a high-level meeting at his official residence at 7 Race Course Road here. Pakistan has, however, flatly rejected New Delhi's claims of Islamabad's involvement in the Uri terror attack, saying it is the latter's traditional tendency to point fingers at the former whenever a terror attack takes place on Indian soil. Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh earlier said that the four terrorists who attacked the military base in Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Baloch Republican Party chief Brahamdagh Bugti said Tuesday that presently there is a war like situation in Balochistan, as there is a heavy presence of military forces in the region and human rights violations are rampant. "In Balochistan, it is a war like situation. There is a huge presence of military and Frontier Corps (FC) in areas like Quetta. And they pick up people for slightest of political activity," Bugti told ANI. He said that there are no political rights as Baloch political parties can't operate because of the present situation. "Whatever we can do is only through social media or other secure channels. The people there are frustrated and don't want to be a part of Pakistan," he added. "There are just a few people there in the government, that too in fear or because of their greed. Whichever government is formed in Balochistan, there is no opposition party." He said that the strings are pulled from the Centre and that a chief minister is appointed as a mere face. "They appoint the chief minister just to put forward a face and show that everything is fine the government. The ministers in Quetta, including the chief minister himself cannot step out of Quetta, if they do, then only under heavy army security," said Bugti. Reiterating his gratitude towards Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian media to highlight the Balochistan rights issue he said, "It is very encouraging, as now more and more people know about it. The Pak media, its government, the military, intelligence agencies, all are trying to hide the genocide that is going on in Pakistan right now so that no one knows and no one talks about it." He said that media or NGOs are denied access to the region and citing an earlier Human Rights Watch (HRW) report he said, "The HRW report says that human rights violations are being committed in Quetta and that Pakistan army and the FC is involved in it. They have also mentioned in their report that in areas like Dera Bugti were not given access to and that they know the causalities there are higher." He added that the people of Balochistan have long tried to be a part of Pakistan but have always been exploited. "When we were forcibly merged with Pakistan we tried to stay with it and be given equal rights but whenever we talked about our rights, military operations were conducted and our people were killed. This is the fifth military operation and is being done since ten years. Our language is different, culture is different, code of life is different so there is no point that we stay with them forcibly," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former union home secretary and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader R.K. Singh on Tuesday said that India needs to be far more aggressive towards Pakistan to dissuade it from continuing with its terror activities. Singh told ANI that isolating Pakistan is not a sufficient sort of a response. "A sufficient response would only be if you are able to hit back and extract at least double the amount of casualties which they inflicted upon you. The response has to be dissuasive. The Government should hit back. If Pakistan wants to escalate that, let them escalate, we should be ready for it. If they want to escalate it to war, then fine. But threat of war should not dissuade you from hitting back," he added. Further escalating his attack on Pakistan, Singh the attack should be in physical terms as the Uri attack was a physical one. "So, diplomacy and all that is okay but that's not going to actually assuage the heart of the nation. This is a terror attack on India. The location happened to be Uri but the terrorists who were sent across by Pakistan Army were from Pakistan. They are not from Kashmir. they are from Pakistan. The location just happened to be Uri. Before that, it was Pathankot, Mumbai.so it's a terror attack on India," he added. Singh said all the political parties should come together and join hands in fighting terrorism. "You hit back, if they escalate it, you be ready to escalate it higher. You can never hermitically seal the LoC or any border for that matter. Determined infiltrators will cross. You can't prevent all infiltration. The way to stop this is to hit back so that the other party thinks twice before trying it again," he added. Singh said the government has some advisors with low Intelligent Quotient and because of that India's response has not been what it should have been over the years. "Our response should have been more robust. I believe that after the attack on the Parliament, we should have hit at Pakistan, we should have gone to war if necessary. Most countries were fully expecting us to attack. We should have done it," he added. In one of the worst attacks in recent times, as many as 18 soldiers were killed and over 20 others got injured post the terror strike on an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Baramulla district on Sunday. After giving an assurance of going after the perpetrators of the deadly Uri attack in which 18 army soldiers were killed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday gave the green signal to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping. According to sources, India is to present all actionable evidence against Pakistan if required at international bodies. The Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier today filed an FIR in the terror strike case and a six-member team will soon visit the site of the attack to collect the evidence in the matter. According to sources, the NIA will collect the blood samples and finger prints of the four killed terrorists in Uri. The Army is set to handover all items recovered from the killed terrorists including weapons, navigation maps to the NIA for further investigation. The NIA will also send the GPS and icon satellite set to the United States for forensic investigation to find out what route the terrorists chose and when and how they entered Indian territory. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high-level security review meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir post Uri terror attack. Meanwhile, the nation is paying an emotional tribute to all the 18 Indian Army bravehearts, who lost their lives in Sunday's dastardly militant attack in Uri. The mortal remains of all the Uri bravehearts have been taken to their ancestral places for the last rites. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is presently in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), has urged the United States to help resolve disputes between Islamabad and New Delhi. During his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry here yesterday, Sharif highlighted the Kashmir issue and criticized India's attempt to implicate it in connection with Sunday's militant attack in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir in which 18 Indian soldiers lost their lives, reports the Dawn. Sharif said, "Pakistan has always fought terrorism as a moral obligation. I have always reached out to neighboring countries for regional peace, stability and prosperity." "I still remember (former) president (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." he added. "I expect the US administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help resolve issues between Pakistan and India," said a statement released by his office. Sharif's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry were also present in the meeting. Sharif also emphasised that strong relations between Pakistan and the United States remained a mutual desire and said this partnership was critical to ensuring regional peace and stability. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday condoled the terror attack on an Army Base Camp in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district during his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ghani strongly condemned the cross border attack and conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India against all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism. Afghanistan's Ambassador to India, Shaida Mohd Abdali, also condemned the attack yesterday and said all terrorist groups are coming from the same source but with different names. The envoy called upon India, Afghanistan and the world community to come up with a joint strategy to fight terrorism out. In one of the worst attacks in recent times, as many as 18 soldiers were killed and over 20 others got injured post the terror strike on an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri on Sunday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday morning chaired a high-level security review meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir post Uri terror attack. NSA Ajit Doval, Director of Intelligence Bureau, RAW Chief, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, Minister of State in Prime Minister Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh and other senior MHA and MoD officials were in attendance. Yesterday also, the Union Home Minister, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and top security brass of the country had met to review the security situation in the violence-hit state. After giving an assurance of going after the perpetrators of the deadly Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday gave the green signal to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping. In one of the worst attack in recent times, at least 18 soldiers lost their lives and over 20 others got injured post the terror strike on an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Baramulla district. Director General of Military operation Lt. Ranbir Singh has said that the four terrorists, who attacked the military base in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, belonged to Pakistan's banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jim Carrey recently released an emotional statement while defending his role in the death of former girlfriend, Cathriona White. The 54-year-old Canadian-American actor has fired back with a powerful statement after being accused by her estranged husband, Mark Burton, of facilitating his ex-girlfriend's death, reports the Mirror. On the same note, Burton has filed a lawsuit against Carrey. The 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' actor, in his statement, said, "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved." "What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world," the actor added. In September 2015, the young girlfriend had died from an overdose on Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet. Later the same year, the husband allegedly claimed that Carrey had provided the pills that killed her. "Cat's troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone's control. I really hope someday soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace," the 'The Mask' actor said in his defense. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved $631 million in loans and grants to develop the first key 800-kilometer section of a planned 2,500-kilometer-long East Coast Economic Corridor that will spur development on India's eastern coast and create seamless trade links with other parts of South and Southeast Asia. The Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor section of the East Coast Economic Corridor, connecting four economic hubs and nine industrial clusters, will mark the first industrial corridor developed along India's coast. The East Coast Economic Corridor will ultimately extend from Kolkata in West Bengal in the northeast of India to Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu near the southern-most point of the country. By combining state-of-the-art industrial clusters, efficient transport, and reliable water and power supplies with a skilled workforce and good business policies, we expect the Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor to become a favored investment destination, said Manoj Sharma, Principal Urban Development Specialist, in ADB's South Asia Department. We estimate that by 2025, annual industrial output along the corridor will increase fourfold to $64 billion from about $16 billion in 2015 if investment opportunities are maximized over the coming 10 years. The Indian government is keen to encourage manufacturing, including through its Make in India initiative, to maintain strong economic growth over the longer term and to create productive, well-paying jobs for a labor force that is growing by around 12 million people per year. Currently, manufacturing provides around 15% of India's gross domestic product (GDP) and around 12% in Andhra Pradesh where the new corridor will be developed. India's National Manufacturing Policy is targeting manufacturing contributing at least 25% of GDP by 2022, much the same as in the People's Republic of China, Malaysia, and Viet Nam now. ADB's loans and grants comprise a $500 million two-tranche facility to build key infrastructure and a $125 million two-tranche loan to help with industrial policies and business promotion. There will also be a $5 million grant from the multi-donor Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund that is managed by ADB to build climate change resilient infrastructure and a $1 million technical assistance to help the Andhra Pradesh local government manage the corridor. The Indian government will provide extra funding of $215 million to the $846 million project. The new infrastructure will be built in the four main centers along the corridor - Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Amaravati, and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti - as well as in nearby industrial areas. It will include 138 kilometers of state highways and roads, effluent and water treatment plants, 488 kilometers of drinking water pipes, 47 kilometers of storm drains, 10 power substations, and 281 kilometers of power transmission and distribution lines. The program will also focus on increasing women's participation in the industrial workforce. Skills training for 25,000 male and female workers, entrepreneurs, and students along with an investor promotion plan is expected to help develop businesses along the corridor. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Canara Bank gained 1.22% to Rs 306.40 at 11:15 IST on BSE after the bank said that its board of directors at a meeting on 23 September 2016 will consider raising of capital by way of a rights issue. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 84.67 points or 0.3% at 28,549.83. On BSE, so far 1.22 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 4.55 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 308 and a low of Rs 303.25 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 316.75 on 9 September 2016. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 156.20 on 29 February 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 19 September 2016, rising 13.69% compared with Sensex's 1.99% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, surging 49.19% as against Sensex's 7.54% rise. The large-cap PSU bank has equity capital of Rs 542.99 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Canara Bank said that the board of directors of the bank at a meeting scheduled on 23 September 2016 will note the consent of the Government of India on infusion of capital and rights issue. The board will also consider raising of capital by way of a rights issue and strengthening of capital to risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of the bank in that meet. Canara Bank's net profit fell 52.2% to Rs 228.95 crore on 3.8% decline in total income to Rs 11786.35 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. The Government of India held 66.3% stake in Canara Bank as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 June 2016. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dr Reddy's Laboratories said it launched Paricalcitol injection, USP, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Zemplar (paricalcitol) injection in the United States market approved by the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA). The Zemplar brand and generic had US sales of approximately $22.5 million MAT for the most recent twelve months ending in July 2016 according to IMS Health. Dr. Reddy's Paricalcitol Injection is available in 2 mcg, 5 mcg, and 10 mcg, and is the first ANDA product launched in the US market. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Asian Paints announced after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016, that as a part of the company's plan to consolidate its investments in the overseas subsidiaries, Asian Paints (International) (APIL), Mauritius, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has transferred its entire holding of 99.18% held in the subsidiary company, Asian Paints (Lanka), Sri Lanka, to Berger International, Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of APIL. The transfer process has been completed on 19 September 2016. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) announced that India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has assigned 'Provisional IND AAA' rating with stable outlook for the company's proposed issue of Rs 475 crore non-convertible debentures. The ratings agency has also assigned 'IND A1+' rating for the company's proposed issue of Rs 700 crore commercial papers. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Oriental Bank of Commerce said that the issue of Basel III Compliant Additional Tier 1 Bonds (private placement) was opened on 16 September 2016. The issue was fully subscribed to the extent of Rs 1000 crore and bonds were allotted on 16 September 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Canara Bank said that at a meeting of the board of directors of the bank is scheduled on 23 September 2016, note the consent of the Government of India on infusion of capital and rights issue. The bank will consider raising of capital by way of a rights issue and strengthening of Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of the bank. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Reliance Infrastructure announced that the board of directors of the company approved to amend the Object Clause of the Memorandum of Association of the company to include new activities relating to setting up any Trust, Funds including Venture Capital Funds, Infrastructure Investment Trust and Real Estate Investment Trust and other Alternative Investment Funds and defence business. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Karur Vysya Bank said that the board of directors of the bank has considered and approved a 5-for-1 stock split. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. K.P.R. Mill has scheduled a board meeting on 5 October 2016, to consider stock-split proposal. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Fiem Industries said that the fund raising committee of the board of directors approved allotment of 11.97 lakh equity shares of face value of 10 each to qualified institutional buyers at the issue price of Rs 1002 per share, aggregating to Rs 119.99 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Mangalam Cement said it has commenced commercial production of the new cement grinding unit with a capacity of 0.75 million ton per annum (MTPA) at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. The overall capacity is now enhanced from 3.25 MTPA to 4.00 MTPA. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mr. K K Jalan, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), today urged the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country to update the details of their enterprises on the MSME data bank. This, he said was mandatory the updated data would be used for evolving parameters for the growth of MSMEs in the country. Mr. Jalan said that the government was also planning to identify 25-30 sub-sectors in MSMEs and focus on these sectors for raising productivity and enhancing the overall landscape of MSMEs. Mr. Jalan said that there was a need to carry out academic work in the space to understand the challenges and issues of the sector. He suggested that FICCI should come out with knowledge papers focusing on the specific concerns of the sector. Speaking about the financing aspect of the MSMEs, Mr. Jalan said that there was a need to carry out research in this area as it has been seen that SME credit by banks was going down. He suggested that for MSMEs, a dedicated financing institute could be established like private sector non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). Mr. Jalan said that in the MSMEs, manufacturing has been the focus area but now was the time to look at MSME in a holistic perspective. MSMEs in services, training, retail and wholesale and ancillary industries of big companies, traditional set ups, should also be given due importance. He added that employment generation and import substitution should also be focused on. Ms. Pannuda Boonpala, Director, ILO India, said that In India, the Government's efforts to support the MSME sector through initiatives such as Make in India or Start Up India reflect the importance of this sector to national development, and hold great promise. As part of its contribution to strengthening the MSME sector, the ILO in India has introduced programmes such as the 'Start and Improve Your Business' (SIYB) to help set up micro- and small enterprises and to run and expand them successfully, and, for more established SMEs, the 'Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises' or SCORE programme, which helps improve productivity, competitiveness and job quality of SMEs. Ms. Boonpala said that about 10,000 persons have been trained in SIYB, with an average business start-up rate of about 55%, and a job creation rate of 2.4 jobs per enterprise, while beneficiaries of the SCORE programme, which has so far been implemented in 100 factories thanks to a network of 20 trainers, have reported improvements of 20% or more against key industry benchmarks such as process efficiency, reduction in defects, or on-time delivery. She added that the key objective for the coming years will now be to upscale these programmes and to ensure their sustainable implementation. Highlighting the challenges for MSME sector, Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, President, FICCI-CMSME and Managing Director, Hindustan Tin Works, said that to propel MSMEs there was a need to build an enabling environment for MSMEs. The Government was already working on a MSME Policy, but he suggested that the MSME Policy document must contain some provision for sector specific dedicated industrial estate/ clusters for MSMEs with the support from State Government. Also, micro enterprises should be exempted from all compliance, inspection and labour laws for certain period. A guide could be provided to them on the compliances that they need to adhere to in those years. In order to make MSMEs grow vertically, MSMEs should be facilitated with the tax benefits linked to direct employment generated by MSMEs and Start-up businesses. As per policy benefits, MSMEs adopting latest clean and green technologies across sectors should be incentivized by the government. The Government should look for a possible collaboration with institutions which can help MSMEs in their R&D activities. Mr. Bhatia said that financial assistance should be provided to those units who have successfully adopted and are adopting Quality Standards (TQM), energy efficiency standards and environmental norms, etc. Going forward, units which complied with the latest systems and standards should be encouraged to participate in Government/PSU tenders by providing them the incentives such as EMD/ Security deposit exemptions. In his concluding remarks Mr. R Narayan, Vice-President, FICCI-CMSME and Founder & CEO, Power2 SME, said that the IT had the power to propel MSME growth with the ability to extend revenue-making opportunities by selling products and services online. MSMEs could also utilize modern technology and the internet as the medium to reduce procurement costs and thus reduce overall cost of goods sold to improve profitability. Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI & FICCI-CMSME, said that the programme 'Make in India' should focus on MSMEs as it is the sector which will generate employment and not the big industries where manpower was being replaced with technology. He added that the objective of the summit was to create awareness and understanding among the Indian MSMEs on the various schemes and initiatives being taken by the government and private institutions/organizations for the development of MSME sector. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jubilant FoodWorks declined 6.48% to Rs 940.10 at 14:15 IST on BSE after the board of directors announced that Ajay Kaul decided to step down as the CEO cum whole time director of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 September 2016. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 151.92 points or 0.53% at 28,482.58. On BSE, so far 3.58 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 44,498 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 950 and a low of Rs 923.50 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 896.65 on 12 February 2016. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,689.30 on 6 October 2015. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 19 September 2016, falling 18.03% compared with Sensex's 1.99% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 6.71% as against Sensex's 7.54% rise. The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 65.84 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Jubilant FoodWorks said that the board of directors of the company at a meeting held on 19 September accepted resignation of Ajay Kaul as the chief executive officer (CEO) cum whole time director of the company. He has decided to step down as the CEO cum whole time director of the company to evaluate and pursue opportunities outside the Jubilant Bhartia group. Ajay Kaul will continue in his current role till 31 March 2017. The company has also initiated the process of identifying his successor. Jubilant FoodWorks' net profit declined 31.1% to Rs 19 crore on 6.7% growth in net sales to Rs 608.76 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. Jubilant FoodWorks and its subsidiary operates Domino's Pizza brand with the exclusive rights for India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With effect from 15 September 2016 Kesar Terminals & Infrastructure announced that Dilip Maharana has resigned from the post of Company Secretary of the Company. The Company has accepted his resignation and relieved him from the services of the Company from the closing hours of 15 September 2016. Consequent to his resignation as Company Secretary, Dilip Maharana also ceases to be the Compliance Officer of the Company. His successor shall be appointed shortly and the same shall be intimated to the Stock Exchange. Further the Company has informed that, Vipul Doshi, Chief Financial Officer of the Company will be the Compliance Officer of the Company till such time the qualified Company Secretary is appointed by the Company. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Worth Rs 1726 crore The construction arm of Larsen & Toubro has won orders worth Rs 1726 crore across business segments. These include a prestigious order worth Rs 687 crore in the defence sector under the heavy civil infrastructure business; an order worth Rs 421 crore from Bharat Sanchar Nigam under the smart world and communications business; an order worth Rs 245 crore from Pune Municipal Corporation under water and effluent treatment business; and orders worth Rs 373 crore under power transmission and distribution business. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Held on 20 September 2016 PVR announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 20 September 2016 has transacted the following - Took note of the Order of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi entailing merger of Bijli Holdings with the Company effective from 01 January 2016. Allotted 61,19,719 and 38,12,086 fully paid up equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each of PVR to Ajay Bijli and Sanjeev Kumar respectively, cancelled and extinguished 1,00,31,805 equity shares of the Company held by BHPL in accordance with the said Order. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shri Venkaiah Naidu asks NDMA and BMPTC to take digital maps to public To enable earthquake resistant construction, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Building Materials Technology Promotion Council (BMPTC) have come out with 'easy to use' Earthquake Hazard Zoning Maps at the Country, State and District level incorporating Tehsil level features. These maps were released here today by the Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu. The colour coded maps easily convey location in five different Zones of earthquake intensity which helps in planning for disaster resistant construction with necessary technical assistance. BMPTC of the Ministry of HUPA has prepared these maps at the behest of NDMA. Appreciating the joint effort of NDMA and BMPTC, Shri Naidu urged both the agencies to ensure digitization of these maps at the earliest so that they could be used by the public. He also suggested evolving Mobile App based on these maps. He said that the maps would be of significant help to architects, engineers, land use planners, insurance agencies and those involved in disaster mitigation and emergency planning and management. Shri Sailesh Agarwal, Executive Director of BMPTC said on the occasion that out of the 304 million households in the country, about 95% are vulnerable to earthquakes in different degree. BMPTC prepared the maps using the data available with the Survey of India, Geological Survey of India, Meteorological Department and Census of India. The additional features of these maps include housing and population data, railway lines, expressways and highways, rivers, waterbodies, geological fault lines etc. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Corp has predicted a sharp drop in the traditional IT spending of businesses across the globe over the next decade, making way for cloud services and leaving more room for innovation than hardware and software maintenance. The forecast comes even as Corp has acquired a US-based cloud security start-up founded by two techies of Indian origin, Rohit Gupta and Ganesh Kirti. "By 2025, 80 per cent of IT budgets will be spent on cloud, and not on traditional IT. Almost all of the new applications will be on SaaS (Software as a Service) applications by 2025," Corp CEO Mark V Hurd told reporters here. "The spending on cloud infrastructure will continue to accelerate. It will not again be linear. It will be geometric in terms of the speed by which it will move," Hurd said at the Oracle OpenWorld 2016 Conference here. The US-headquartered company, which claims to be the fastest growing cloud firm, reported an 82 per cent revenue growth in its SaaS and related services at $815 million for June-August quarter. Oracle, which has a total of 20,000 cloud customers, said increasingly more and more will rely on cloud. He said there were also no security issues in cloud, which is a major concern for the future. "I felt one other important thing was almost everybody mentioned security in the context of their decision-making by which they decided to move to the cloud," he said. With the shift to the cloud services, Hurd said, the number of corporate-owned datacenters will also drop by 80 per cent by 2025. "Everything else, even new applications that can potentially be homegrown, will be run on platforms that sit in cloud. Eighty per cent of datacenters gone -- and this will facilitate the flip of the budget from maintenance to innovation," he said. "The technical impact, not just the innovation that comes with it, but also the change in the business model, there is going to be a geometric climb in the amount of speed that business pick up," he added. The daughter of a flamboyant British baron was shot to death in Quezon city amid a brutal crackdown against drugs in the Philippines, media reported. The 45-year-old Maria Aurora Moynihan was shot five times in the chest and was dumped on a street in Manila on September 10 though her name was not on their "watchlist", Stuff news quoted the Quezon police as saying. Filipino-British Moynihan was the daughter of Baron Antony Moynihan, an international figure implicated in the infamous 1988 arrest of convicted British drug smuggler and author Howard Marks. Baron Moynihan, who ran brothels and was linked to drug trafficking, was accused of fraud in Britain and fled to the Philippines in the 1960s and died here in 1991. Her attackers left a cardboard sign leaning against her, which allegedly said "Drug pusher to the celebrities". She had been accused of involvement in the drug business and was on bail on a suspected possession charge, the Guardian reported. The killing appears to be the latest casualty in a government-led move to eradicate drugs and combat crime in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte has led a campaign to kill drug dealers and users, sparking widespread human rights' concerns. Since Duterte assumed office on June 30, over 700,000 drug users and pushers have surrendered to authorities while more than 3,000 drug suspects have been killed. The President has also sought a six-month extension to end the illegal drugs problem in the country from his initial target of three to six months. --IANS sm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Cabinet Committee on Security is likely to discuss the attack in uri on Wednesday, informed sources said. The CCS, which comprises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to meet before the union cabinet meet, said sources. The attack at an Army camp in Uri on Sunday left 18 soldiers dead. Four terrorists who were killed were carrying food and medicine packets with Pakistan markings on it and preliminary investigation suggested the terrorists are from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad. India has launched an effort at international level to isolate Pakistan for supporting terror. As a practice, the Director General of Military Operations will also be handing over documents proving Pakistan's involvement in the attack to his Pakistani counterpart. --IANS ao/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas on Tuesday announced a plan to build up to 16,000 new jail cells by 2025 to tackle prison overcrowding, media reported. During a visit to Fresnes jail in Val d'Oise, the French minister unveiled a "precise, concrete and ambitious project" aimed at "ending prison overcrowding and guaranteeing individual cells", Xinhua news agency reported. Overcrowded prisons are considered to be a breeding ground for radicalisation and militants being recruited into terrorist groups. "We cannot wait more. We want to reach 80 per cent of individual cells to be able to respect inmate dignity and also to prevent a swing to fanaticism," Urvoas said. He said the plan was to build between 10,300 and 16,143 new cells by 2025 with 3,900 being constructed in 2017 in Ile de France, Toulouse, southern France and the Alpes Provence, Cote d' Azur region where "needs are urgent and crucial". The project will cost 1.1 billion euros (about $1.228 billion), according to the minister. France has 187 prisons whose occupancy rate stands at 138 per cent. --IANS sm/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A phone call threatening a blast in an Air India flight about to depart from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here on Tuesday had the security personnel on tenterhooks. However, after a thorough search of the Guwahati-bound flight AI-729, with 114 passengers on board, the call was found to be a hoax, airport officials said. A woman has been arrested in this connection, police said. At around 8.20 a.m. the Air India check-in counter received an anonymous call from a woman informing of a possible blast in the flight scheduled to take off at 9.45 a.m. Boarding to the plane was immediately suspended and the aircraft taken to an isolation bay for checking. However, nothing threatening was found and the flight finally took off at 11.45 a.m. after a 115-minute delay. This is the second hoax call to the city airport within 13 days, the previous one being received on September 7. --IANS mgr-ssp/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has called for greater agricultural ties with Israel, an official said here on Tuesday. Singh, who is leading a four-member delegation on a three-day visit to Israel, made these remarks in interaction with his Israeli counterpart Uri Ariel and other Israeli representatives on Monday. Ariel also "concurred" that the potential between the two countries in agriculture was untapped. During his interaction, Singh also focused on aquaculture and research collaboration. He also mentioned that there was potential for further collaboration in areas such as dairy farming. --IANS nd/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala government on Tuesday objected to Genetically-Modified (GM) mustard being considered for commercial cultivation in India. "We are not for AGM mustard as it has been proved to be unhealthy. We will inform the Centre that this should not be given the nod for it to be cultivated in India," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here after the weekly cabinet meeting. This is the first time that the Kerala government has openly expressed its concern about GM mustard. --IANS sg/lok/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, on an official visit to New Zealand, raised the issue of state-sponsored terrorism with acting Prime Minister of New Zealand Bill English, an official statement said. Mahajan, who is leading an Indian parliamentary delegation to New Zealand, called on English on Tuesday. During the meeting, she raised the issue of state-sponsored terrorism, stating that India has long been a victim of the dastardly attacks by cross-border terrorists. The Lok Sabha Speaker urged that all the peace loving countries in the world should come together to fight terrorism and stressed that it is time to isolate the countries which harbour terrorists. She added that India is historically and traditionally a follower of non-violence, which believes in living together in harmony to promote prosperity, friendship and peace across the world. In her meeting with Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives David Carter, Mahajan noted that both India and New Zealand have a healthy tradition of parliamentary exchanges and cooperation. The Speaker said this has added to the friendship and goodwill between the two countries and India looks forward to sustaining this momentum. She also commended the Indian diaspora for playing a constructive and meaningful role in strengthening the bilateral relationship. --IANS ao/lok/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Mahaakshay Chakraborty, best known by his nickname Mimoh, has returned from the US after getting training in dance and martial arts techniques for over a month. Mahaakshay, son of veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, says he loves to dance and has also been practicing martial arts for years now. "It's been so much fun being in the US and learning dance and martial arts techniques there which I did not know about," Mahaakshay said in a statement. "I have also visited an acting academy there to improve my comic timing. It was an overwhelming experience for me. I am back in the city now. This visit was truly enlightening and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My passion for acting has only grown and it's been an absolute pleasure, and one of my life's most memorable trips," added the 32-year-old, who has appeared in films like "Jimmy," "Haunted 3D" and "Ishqedarriyaan". Mahaakshay said he had enrolled himself at the International Dance Academy at Hollywood. "When I went there on day one to the beginner's class, the instructor saw my moves and told me to train at the advance level. I'm also part of the CrossFit society and the big UFC Gym from where all the leading UFC fighters come," Mahaakshay said. "Besides that, I'm also doing a two-month comedy improvement workshop at the Upright Citizens Brigade which has been founded by Amy Poehler and many other comedians have come out from it," he added. --IANS sas/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Army soldier Sandeep Somnath Thok, who was martyred in a terror attack in Uri on Sunday, was cremated in his native Khadangli village early on Tuesday morning with full military honours. The 24-year-old Sandeep Thok's village resounded with cries of 'Shahid Sandeep Thok Amar Rahe', 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', 'Pakistan Murdabad' as thousands of grieving locals and people from surrounding hamlets queued up to pay their last respects. Barely two months later, around Diwali, the Thok family was preparing to conduct the wedding of Sandeep, the youngest of four siblings, but that dream would remain unfulfilled. Besides his aged parents, Thok is survived by his elder brother Yogesh and two older married sisters. Sandeep Thok had made at least 10 unsuccessful attempts to join the army, and it was on his 11th attempt that he succeeded in July 2014. According to local media reports, he is the fifth soldier from the picturesque Sinnar sub-district to have perished in action, while another 10 youths from the same village with a population of around 1,600 are serving currently in the armed forces. The Maharashtra Government has announced an aid of Rs 15 lakh to the families of the four soldiers martyred in the latest terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir. --IANS qn/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday took over the investigation into the attack on the army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri town in which 18 soldiers were killed and 30 others injured. The NIA team headed by an Inspector General is camping at Uri town to collect evidence from the site of the attack. The team, which took over the case from the Jammu and Kashmir Police that had registered an FIR into the attack on Sunday, has also taken into its possession various items of investigation recovered from the possession of the four suicide attackers who were killed in a gunfight after they entered the administrative base of an infantry battalion in Uri town. The items taken into possession by the NIA team include two Global Positioning Systems (GPS), one of which was charred in the attack while the other is intact, according to sources. "Pictures of two slain terrorists whose faces can be recognized would be shown to some Jaish terrorists who are in jails to identify the terrorists," said sources, adding that the faces of the other two terrorists were charred beyond recognition. The sources said that the in tact GPS would be examined by experts to ascertain the route taken by the attackers and also to find out if they had any local accomplice who helped them to carry out the attack. "DNA samples of the slain terrorists are also being collected," a source said. --IANS sq/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday took over the probe into the terror attack on the Uri army camp in Jammu and Kashmir that left 18 soldiers dead, official sources said. Informed sources said a six-member NIA team, led by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer, has started its probe after filing a First Information Report (FIR) in the terror attack case. The NIA team reached Uri from Srinagar. Eighteen army soldiers were killed on Sunday in a terror strike allegedly carried out by four militants associated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad. All four militants were killed by security forces in a gun battle that lasted for three hours. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Norwegian editor who successfully took on Facebook over its censorship of the famous "napalm girl" photograph has challenged Mark Zuckerberg to publicly face up to his responsibility as one of the worlds most powerful people. Espen Egil Hansen, whose newspaper Aftenposten helped force the social site to back down in it decision to remove "The Terror of War" image from Facebook versions of its articles, accused Zuckerberg of ducking the debate. The Pulitzer prize-winning image was originally taken by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, and shows a naked nine-year-old Kim Phuc fleeing from a napalm bombing along with other children during the Vietnam War in 1972. He branded Facebook a "frenemy of the people" because of the way it dominates the internet. The company has relied instead on anonymous quotes released by a Swedish PR firm, Hansen told the Guardian on Tuesday. Hansen urged Zuckerberg to stop hiding behind the company's powerful algorithms and personally engage in this issue. He added that Zuckerberg's passive approach so far was "bad for democracy" and could be bad for the social giant in the long run. "Zuckerberg is de facto the most powerful editor-in-chief on the globe. His influence is greater than all the Rupert Murdochs of this world could dream about ? We have now arrived at the point where Facebook, by controlling what they show to more than 1 billion people every day, has aggregated so much editorial power that Zuckerberg must acknowledge his responsibility and take part in the discussion," Hansen said. The image, along with six more, was posted on Facebook by Norwegian writer Tom Egeland in a discussion of photographs that changed the history of warfare. --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's address at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly on September 26, overseas Pakistanis are planning to protest against the alleged "brutalities" by Indian security forces in Kashmir. As Pakistan lobbies for the support of the international community on the Kashmir issue -- the main agenda of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's speech at the UNGA on Wednesday -- Kashmiris from across the border will protest to "express their solidarity" with people of the valley, said Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, former Prime Minister of Pakistan-held Kashmir. "India has been committing grave human rights violations in Kashmir for 72 days and killing innocent Kashmiri women and children. Kashmiris from all over the world would unmask Indian brutality before the world community," Dawn online quoted Mahmood as telling the media. According to him, permission for the protest had already been sought. "We are also trying to stage a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in Canada or Canadian parliament in protest against human rights violations in Kashmir," he said. According to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader, Sharif's address at the UNGA would be an exercise in futility. "Kashmiris want him to truly represent sentiments of 200 million Pakistanis and Kashmiris instead of delivering a formal speech." Mahmood also criticised Sharif for what he called his decision to send some members of the National Assembly for "joyrides" abroad in the name of projecting the Kashmir cause. While the premier is set to highlight the Kashmir issue on Wednesday, India is preparing to raise the September 18 attack by four terrorists -- suspected to be from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group -- at the Uri Army camp which left 18 soldiers dead and over 30 injured. --IANS py/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor has praised megastar Amitabh Bachchan by calling him "the best" for his effortless portrayal of a lawyer in the film "Pink". "'Pink'...That is why he is Amitabh Bachchan...the best," Rishi, who has shared screen space with Big B in films like "Naseeb" and "Amar Akbar Anthony", tweeted. Also starring Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Angad Bedi, Andrea Tariang, Piyush Mishra and Dhritiman Chatterjee, the film released on September 16. The "Kapoor & Sons" star even praised the entire star cast of the film and has called them "terrific actors". "'Pink'...All actors terrific. Tapsee, Kirti loved you! Angad you held your own. Dad must be so proud. Director, background music, writer score A1," Rishi added. Directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, "Pink", a social drama have been lauded by film critics, actors and actress. The film has been called a "movement" by some. "Pink" is about a story revolving around a sexual assault case involving three girls and a boy coming from a powerful background. --IANS dc/nv/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu every day till September 27, overriding the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's order of 3,000 cusecs. The bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, giving the direction to Karnataka, also directed the central government to constitute a Cauvery Management Board in four weeks' time and report to the court with notification of it being set up. The order for releasing 6,000 cusecs is double the 3,000 cusecs ordered by the Cauvery Supervisory Committee (CSC), but half of the 12,000 cusecs the court had ordered on September 12 for Karnataka to release till September 20. The matter will come up for further hearing on September 27. Before the court could pass the order, senior counsel Fali Nariman made an impassioned plea not to ask Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu as it needed water for drinking purposes. He said Tamil Nadu could not ask for irrigation purposes the water Karnataka needed for drinking in Bengaluru and other places. "Now we have to supply (to Tamil Nadu) from our drinking water. I can't give any water. You issue an order. It will have its consequences," Nariman told the court, pointing to the agitation that had engulfed both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu recently. "I need water for my Samba crop from the South-West monsoon as I get my water from North-East monsoon in October only. I need water before October 15," senior counsel Shekhar Nahade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the bench. Making light of Karnataka's argument that Tamil Nadu should take whatever has been given to it and the rest would be provided after the end of the monsoon based on calculation of deficit rainfall, Naphade said, "It is like telling a camel that you consume (water) now, and the rest (would get it) at the end." Taking exception to Karnataka's argument on the consequences of the court's order, senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi said: "I don't know on what basis they are saying so (on being deprived of drinking water). It is some kind of terror. You are carrying on street war in the court." Not missing the obvious threat behind the word "consequences", the court recalled in its order about obligation of people to obey its order and reminded the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments of their constitutional obligation to see that law and order prevails. Noting that it has not been disputed by all the concerned that Cauvery Management Board (CMB) has to constituted, Justice Misra said: "It is the duty of the Central government to constitute the CMB under the award by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. You are bound to do it. You have not constituted it so far. You did not constitute it." As Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand defended inaction on the part of the government, saying that the Cauvery award was under challenge before the apex court, the bench said: "We did not stay it (the award). You constitute the CMB. If they (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) challenge it, (then) we will see." In an order passed after over two hour long hearing, the court permitted both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu -- who had said that they were aggrieved by the Supervisory Committee (CSC) order of September 19 -- to file their objections before the Committee within three days time. Karnataka said that the CSC while directing it to release 3,000 cusecs of water every day to Tamil Nadu hasn't given any reasons, and from the tenor of the order it appears as if it is the view expressed by the Chairman. The court noted that Tamil Nadu was aggrieved on the quantum of water that CSC has asked Karnataka to release to Tamil Nadu. --IANS pk/rn/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven Uttar Pradesh residents have been arrested on the charge of kidnapping a Delhi-based doctor and his compounder for ransom, police said on Tuesday. The duo has been rescued. Ram Besh, 30, Rahul, 28, Chattar Pal, 27, Manish, 26, Mukesh, 24, Gaurav, 24 and Vipin, 19, were arrested from different places in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh by Delhi Police in raids conducted on Sunday and Monday. The police said eight of their accomplices were still absconding. The accused had kidnapped Dr Vinod Kumar Verma and his compounder Ajay on the intervening night of September 12-13 a few km from their clinic in south Delhi's Jaitpur area. "We filed a case on the complaint of Vinod's father Anand Kumar who received a ransom call for Rs 25 crore for the release of the duo. Sensing Anand's inability to pay, the kidnappers finally settled the deal at Rs 30 lakh," Joint Commissioner of Police R.P. Upadhyay said. The officer said the victims were rescued on Sunday from a forested area in Uttar Pradesh. "Two kidnappers were arrested from Uttar Pradesh, and on their tip-off the other accused were held from Gurgaon (Haryana) and Delhi," the officer said. Manish, who was living in a rented accommodation near the doctor's clinic, along with his friends Mukesh, Gaurav and Rahul, planned the crime to make easy money. "As planned, the accused chased the doctor's car on two motorcycles. They intentionally hit the car more than three times. When the doctor alighted from the car and entered into an argument with them, they injected him with a sedative to knock him unconscious. They forced the compounder to accompany them at gunpoint to Uttar Pradesh," the JCP said. --IANS sp-rak/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Syrian army on Tuesday denied it had launched air strikes on UN humanitarian aid convoys in the Aleppo province, media reported. The army said the reports about air strikes on an aid convoy in the northern countryside of Aleppo were baseless, Xinhua news agency reported. UN officials said the UN and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city. Initial estimates indicate that at least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 persons were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. In a joint statement, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said they were outraged by the "horrific attack". "The attack deprived thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance," the joint statement said. UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura said: "Our outrage at this attack is enormous ... the convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians," Press TV reported. On Tuesday, SARC said it will suspend operations for three days as a result of the attack. All UN humanitarian operations on Syrian territory are to remain suspended following an attack against an aid convoy, said a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday. The incident came at the end of a week-long ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia. --IANS sm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Thai court on Tuesday found a British activist guilty of defamation, following his research into human rights violations at a pineapple processing plant in the Southeast Asian nation. The Bangkok South Criminal Court announced the verdict in the case filed against Andy Hall by Natural Fruit Company Ltd., and sentenced him to four years in prison and ofined him 150,000 baht ($4,305), EFE news reported. In a tweet following the verdict, the British activist wrote: "I fully respect court decision today but strongly disagree with the decision also. Shall use my right of appeal to fight to clear my name." He also tweeted that his four-year prison sentence was suspended for three years "as the court considered my work as a human rights activist was beneficial to Thai society" and because he cooperated in the court proceedings. The case against Hall was linked to a 2013 report written by Finnish NGO Finnwatch called "Cheap Has a High Price". It described what Finnwatch said were serious rights violations of migrant workers at Natural Fruit's pineapple processing plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. In a news release by the NGO on Tuesday, Finnwatch Executive Director Sonja Vartiala said, "We are shocked by today's verdict. The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it. Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights." --IANS ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A father-son duo and one of their close relatives were brutally murdered and two others injured while they were asleep at their house in east Delhi, police said on Tuesday. Ram Kishan, in his late 50s, his son Raju and Ram Kishan's son-in-law Kishan Pal died of injuries inflicted with blunt weapons on Monday night. Tarun, 25, and Vineet, 14 were injured. According to police, the five were sleeping on the roof of their two-storey house in Nand Nagari while the female members of the family were sleeping downstairs. "All five were attacked with a wooden log or iron rod on their heads," a senior police officer told IANS. "Tarun is critical but Vineet is out of danger," the officer added. The officer said it was early to comment on the motive behind the murder. "We have taken a person in custody and are questioning him." The officer said there was no evidence of forced entry into the house. --IANS aks/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two Indian Army men from the Vidarbha region in eastern Maharashtra, who were among the 18 soldiers killed in the Uri terror strike, were cremated with full military honours in their native villages in Amravati and Yavatmal districts on Tuesday afternoon. While Vikas Janardhan Kudmethe hailed from Purad village of Yavatmal, Punjab Janrao Uike was from Nandgaon-Khandeshwar in Amravati. Their bodies were brought by flight to Nagpur early on Tuesday and later kept for thousands of people to pay their last respects to the departed heroes. Later, the funeral corteges were taken in solemn processions to their respective villages where many thousands awaited with teary eyes received them amdist cries of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Vikas Kudmethe Amar Rahe", and "Punjab Uike Amar Rahe" respectively. Uike, 26 is survived his his father Janrao who served the army for 34 years before retiring from the Nagpur Ordnance Factory last year, his mother Bebitai, a brother and a sister whose husband Gajanan Kirapte is in the Border Security Force. His uncle Narayan had retired from the army last year. However, Uike's decision to join the army was opposed by his family, but he insisted and finally he joined the defence forces in 2009 after keeping it a secret from them. It was only after he was posted with the Bihar Regiment that the family learnt of his move and they accepted it. Incidentally, years ago when Janrao was posted in Punjab, Uike was born there so his family named him 'Punjab', said his grieving mother Bebitai. Last week, he had spoken with his family members and informed them that he had been transferred to Uri barely a fortnight ago. He was planning to get engaged around Diwali and marry later for which the entire family was very excited. Kudmethe, 27, of Amravati had joined the army five years ago and was married two years back. He is survived by his parents who work as labourers, his wife, an eight-month old daughter, and a sister who is married. His parents recalled how, during his last vacation at home two months ago, Kudmethe was eagerly looking forward to coming home for the first birthday celebrations of his daughter later this year. Hundreds of villagers of Nandgaon-Khandeshwar came out to support the family ever since the news of his killing reached here late on Sunday. At the funerals in Amravati and Yavatmal, a large of civil and military officials, elected representatives and local villagers were present to bid a final farewell to the two heroes. --IANS qn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP Delhi unit on Tuesday said it will urge Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to dismiss Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal after she was booked on various charges. "We are going to meet the Lt. Governor to demand her dismissal as no permission on the appointments (in the DCW) was taken from him," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit chief Satish Upadhyay told IANS. "These appointments are completely illegal and no procedures were followed," the BJP leader alleged. "I also want to congratulate (ACB chief M.K.) Meena for doing a fine job," he added. Maliwal was booked under Sections 13 (Criminal misconduct by a public servant) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Monday night, the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Delhi government said. On Monday morning, the ACB questioned Maliwal for over two hours. The complaint was filed on August 12 by Delhi Congress leader and former DCW head Barkha Singh Shukla who alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders were appointing their associates to the DCW and giving them financial benefits. Shukla had named Prabhsahay Kaur, daughter of senior AAP leader H.S. Phoolka, DCW Adviser Raj Mangal Prasad and 83 others as beneficiaries. "There is no criteria for salaries and even advertisements were not given out for making appointments which is mandatory under law," Upadhyay said, adding "she illegally appointed her party workers and relatives". "They also increased the budget. In the last 10 years, the commission budget was Rs 3.5 crore but now it is almost double. And for all this, no permission from the Lt. Governor has been taken. These are all irregularities," he said. The BJP leader said almost all female staff at the DCW was dismissed while about 80 per cent fresh appointments made were of men from amongst AAP cadres. --IANS aks/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A terrorist attack of the kind on a military establishment in Uri is unheard of. The Uri establishment is not some expansive Air Force station like the one in Pathankot and the attack on it was not like the one on five-star hotel,s as the November 2008 Mumbai attacks were. One may call Uri a transit camp or an administrative base but it is clearly a high-profile Army establishment and for four militants to violate it, is unimaginable. The argument that the evil deed was carried out in the early hours when security is lax is a lame excuse. It speaks poorly of the Indian Armys readiness if a motley group of four, even if equipped with AK 47s and grenades,can do what they did. The Congress leadership believes there was no "enough reason" for former Karnataka Minister K J George to resign, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said today, hinting at his likely return into the Siddaramaiah cabinet. "As far as we are concerned, merely a complaint or statement by a person who commits suicide is not enough reason for anyone to resign," the party General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Affairs told PTI here. Singh was asked if the Congress leadership has approved the reinstatement of George in the wake of Karnataka CID earlier this month giving a clean chit to him and two senior police officers in connection with the alleged suicide of Dy SP M K Ganapathy. "There was no reason for him (George) to resign in the first place but on his personal thing he resigned. As far as the high command is concerned, there is nothing against George," the two-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said. Asked if the party high command has given green signal for the re-entry of George, Singh said, "That is for the Chief Minister to decide. It is the prerogative of the Chief Minister. We do not interfere in these matters." Ganapathy was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room at a lodge in Madikeri on July 7, prior to which he had in an interview to a local TV channel said the Minister and the two senior police officers, A M Prasad and Pranab Mohanty, would be responsible "if anything happens to me". George had on July 18 resigned after a court directed police to register an FIR against him and the two police officers in connection with the matter. On criticism in some quarters that Karanataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not handle the situation well on September 12 when Bengaluru witnessed largescale violence over the Cauvery water sharing row with Tamil Nadu, Singh admitted the state government was "not very stringent" on that day. "The agitation is by farmers. No government, when it's a sensitive issue of water, can be seen to be aggressively taking action against genuine demands of farmers which the government also feels the same way. So, the Karnataka government was sort of not very stringent on the first day. So, some violence did happen. From second day onwards, it was controlled," he said. today on Tuesday a swipe at NCP supremo Sharad Pawar over the 'silent marches' being taken out by Maratha community across the state, asking why his party did not do anything to meet the demands of the community while it was in power in Maharashtra and at the Centre. Leaders in Maharashtra have to decide now whether to create an understanding among people or fuel fire over this issue, the party cautioned. The Maratha community, a dominant force in Maharashtra politics, has been taking out silent marches in various towns in the state over the last one month, following the rape and murder of a girl at Kopardi in Ahmednagar district two months ago. The victim belongs to a Maratha community, while the culprits are Dalits. Also, in an oblique reference to the outside support extended by the NCP to the BJP after 2014 assembly polls, the Sena aslo asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to be wary of "allies" trying to weaken his position. Taking potshots at Pawar, the Sena said his party, while in power for 15 years in the state, should have taken firm decisions over issues being raised by the Maratha community. "The ongoing Maratha agitation is like a storm which nobody in Maharashtra is capable of handling. Leaders in Maharashtra have to decide now whether to create an understanding among people or fuel fire over this issue," an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said. If Pawar thinks that the current Maratha stir is a result of people's lack of faith in the government over issues like agriculture and reservation, his thinking is flawed, the Sena said. "It was Pawar's government in the state and at the Centre until yesterday, in which he was the Agriculture Minister for 10 years. The Congress and the NCP had the opportunity to take a decision on reservation for 15 years," it said. "Why did they not take a decision then ? It would be good if the agitators understood this question. When Pawar says the government should take a decision over the issue, he is conceding that they (NCP and Congress) wasted 15 years," the Sena said. The ruling alliance partner futher said that the issue is being milked by vested interests and trying to make the chief minister vulnerable. "Never has a CM lost his chair due to morchas being taken out against the government. The CM only needs to make sure that this issue is not being used by allies to weaken his chair," the Sena said. Yesterday, the community members took out a huge 'silent protest march' ("Muk Morcha") at Jalna in Marathwada. Notably, in a move aimed at countering the silent morchas of the Maratha community, the state government had yesterday appointed Rajya Sabha member and heir of Warrior King Chattrapati Shivaji, Sambhajiraje Bhosale as its tourism brand ambassador. Two children were killed and dozens of people injured when the roof of a mosque and seminary collapsed in Pakistan's largest city today. Rescue workers were still clearing the rubble and debris of the collapsed roof and searching for survivors in Karachi's Malir area. A rescue official said that apparently a huge water tank placed on the roof of the mosque had caused the cave-in as the roof was not constructed with proper material. The incident happened when people were praying in the Madina mosque. In June in another similar incident six worshippers were killed when the roof of a mosque collapsed after Friday prayers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Barely two days after the terror attack in Uri, two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir on Tuesday but they were foiled by the Army in an encounter in which 10 terrorists and a jawan were killed even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions. As the Government mulled various options on India's response to the cross-border terror attack on Sunday in which 18 jawans were killed, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) has been convened on Wednesday. "Two infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control(LoC) have been foiled in Uri and Nowgam sectors on Tuesday. At both places the operations are in progress," an army spokesman said in Srinagar. The spokesman refused to comment on the number of militants killed in the ongoing operations so far, saying details will be made public in due course. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi, however, said that 10 terrorists were killed in the encounter with the army in the Uri sector. The bodies have not yet been recovered, they added. The sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting in Delhi with top officials, including NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. Separately, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues. On the ceasefire violation incident, an army official in Srinagar said the firing from across the LoC took place between 1.10 pm and 1.30 pm. However, there was no damage in the incident, he said. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon," the official said in Srinagar. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. The infiltration bids and the ceasefire violation came two days after four militants of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad stormed an army base in Uri Sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four militants were also killed. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. At the meeting convened by Rajnath Singh, Doval and top officials of the ministries of Home and Defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed him on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the LoC, official sources said. The presence of the Foreign Secretary at the meeting is significant as government plans to launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. The second round of peace talks between the Mizoram government and Manipur-based Hmar People's Convention (Democratic), initially slated to be held in Aizawl by mid-September, is likely to be postponed to the last week of the month or first week of October, a senior Home department official today said. The official said the delay was unavoidable and the date would soon be fixed after state Home Minister R Lalzirliana held consultations with Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla on the five-point demands of the HPC (D) delegation. The meeting of senior home department officials chaired by Lalzirliana today deliberated on the demands of the Hmar militant outfit and decided to consult the Chief Minister, the official said. Sources in the HPC (D) delegation said the main demand of the militant group was according higher autonomy and power to the Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC), constituted in accordance with the accord inked between the state government and the erstwhile underground HPC in 1994. The first round of negotiations was held in Aizawl on August 10 under cordial atmosphere and mutual trust on both sides, the top state official said. The SHDC was established in the areas where Hmar community were in majority. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 50 people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, opposition groups said, calling for further anti-government demonstrations. The government earlier said that at least 17 had died in the violence in Kinshasa ahead of a planned opposition rally, but had warned that the death toll could rise. "The coalition (of opposition groups) deplores the number of victims, more than 50 dead at this point, victims of the firing of real bullets by the police and the republican guard," it said in a statement yesterday. It also called on people to gather on Tuesday "to keep up without hesitation the demands made today." The rally, which the authorities cancelled, had been called to demand the resignation of President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001. Opponents fear he is planning to extend his rule unconstitutionally. The clashes Monday were the worst violence in the capital since January 2015 when a police crackdown on another opposition protest left several dozen people dead. Interior Minister Evariste Boshab described the violence as an attempted "uprising" and said the victims included three police officers. The main opposition parties had called for a nationwide demonstration to "give notice" to Kabila, whose mandate expires on December 20. Although Kabila is banned by the constitution from running again, he has not made any move to schedule elections, fuelling fears he will seek to extend his stay in office. In May, the Constitutional Court said Kabila could remain in office in a caretaker capacity until an election is held, triggering a wave of angry protests. France yesterday described the unrest as "very dangerous and extremely worrying" and urged Kabila to lay out a clear timetable for a vote. "What matters is the date of elections," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "If they're delayed endlessly, that means that Kabila intends to stay in power," he said. "That's a situation that is not acceptable." Former colonial power Belgium called in a foreign ministry statement for "restraint" and urged all political groups to "quickly" organise elections. So far, there has been no move to schedule elections and at this stage, it appears practically impossible to organise a poll before the end of the year. Over 60 per cent packs of cigarette and 46 per cent of smokeless tobacco are complying with the Centre's mandated 85 per cent pictorial warning requirements, according to a nationwide survey which asserted that contrary to claims of major tobacco companies, printing of the new warnings was "feasible". For Delhi, the study found that 54 per cent of the cigarette packs and 55 per cent of smokeless tobacco packs were fully compliant with all the labeling requirements mandated under the the law. The study conducted by Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) and other health bodies urged the government to strictly enforce the new rules, saying health warnings on tobacco packages are a "direct and cost-effective" means of communication to inform about the health risks of tobacco. "67 per cent of the cigarette packs were fully compliant with all the labeling requirements of the law - graphic, text content, location and size (85 per cent of the principal display area) of the health warning labels. 16 per cent of the bidi packs displayed a pictorial and text health warning label that covered 85 per cent. "46 per cent of the smokeless tobacco packs displayed a pictorial and text health warning label that covered 85 per cent of the principal display area of both sides of the pack," the study said. The data was collected during June-July, two months after implementation of the new rules on April 1 this year in eight states - Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Tobacco-related diseases kill about 2,500 Indians daily and over 10 lakh every year and it is estimated that about 5,500 youth and children initiate tobacco use daily while India has 12 crore tobacco users, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. "The data collected demonstrates that contrary to the claim of major tobacco companies, printing the new 85 per cent warnings is practically feasible on all tobacco products. "The evidence is indisputable and shows that tobacco manufacturers are capable of complying with all the provisions of the government's mandate," the study said. During this study, a total of 786 cigarette packs were observed from 24 brands of four tobacco companies and 665 packs were observed from seven different smokeless tobacco products from 48 brands of 36 tobacco companies and 20 brands of non-identified tobacco companies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Swine flu, dengue and other seasonal diseases have claimed over 60 lives in different parts of even as authorities claim the situation is under control. A total of 14 deaths have occurred due to swine flu while scrub typhus has claimed 14 lives. Dengue has also caused six deaths this year, Director (Public Health) Medical and Department B R Meena told PTI. He said a maximum of 4,839 cases of malaria were reported this year which was followed by 588 reported cases of dengue in which six deaths have occurred. The number of chikungunya cases were 122. A total of 325 people suffered from scrub typhus and 14 of them have died, he said. Jaipur, Dausa, Alwar and Bharatpur are among the 14 districts which are affected by the infectious mite-borne disease of scrub typhus. Meena said the situation of seasonal diseases is under control as compared to last year as all the necessary steps have been taken up. "Last year, 1,010 cases of dengue were reported and three deaths occurred whereas only nine cases of chinkungunya were reported. The total number of malaria patients were 5,392 while 6,708 people were tested positive of swine flue and 438 of them had died," he said. The officer said that all the necessary measures have been taken up and tests for chikungunya and scrub typhus have been made free in the government medical colleges and associated hospitals. "We have deputed 15 extra doctors in SMS hospital. Instead of one unit, two outdoor units for seasonal diseases are working in the hospital. "Timings of dispensaries across the state have also been extended by two hours per day. Stock of medicines has also been ensured," he informed. Ninety per cent of the cigarette products sold across Assam comply with the new rule mandating 85 per cent of package surface area to carry pictorial health warning on tobacco packets, according to a recent survey. The survey found that all leading brands of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco and bidis sold across Assam follow the guidelines mandated by central government since April 1 this year. The survey conducted by the Voluntary Health Association of Assam (VHAA), Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) and several other local bodies was carried out in eight states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The survey results showed that printing the new 85 per cent warnings is practically feasible on all tobacco products, a VHAA release said here today. Appreciating VHAA for the survey, state Nodal Officer of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) Assam, Arundhati Deka said the health department and other enforcement agencies are trying their best to make 100 per cent compliance of the new pictorial health warning. "The survey proved that pictorial warning covering 85 per cent of the pack area can be printed on tobacco products, contrary to claims made by the tobacco industry that it is practically not feasible," Deka said. The ministry of health and family welfare has already issued directions to the authorities concerned in this regard. The Assam home department recently issued instruction to all superintendents of police and deputy commissioners to implement the new pictorial rule in "letter and spirit". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to come out with documents for seeking bids from private players for operating and managing terminals at Jaipur and Ahmedabad aerodromes by November, months after rejecting a proposal in this regard from Singapore's Changi Airport. Seeking to revive the long pending plans to hand over the terminals of the two airports to private players, AAI Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra today said the proposal is to go for public private partnership. "We have to go to the Finance ministry since these are the PPP projects. We are working this out and hope the proposal goes to the Finance Ministry by this month end," he said here. Mohapatra said that AAI expects to float the bid documents, which would also be open for foreign entities, by November. This year, AAI rejected twice Singapore's Changi Airport's proposal to operate and maintain Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports. The proposal to rope in Singapore's Changi airport for the projects was first floated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the island nation last November. The revised plan from Changi Airport, owned by the Singapore government, also sought a "higher" quantum of revenue in managing Jaipur and Ahmedabad aerodromes. This is "unfeasible" and not commercially viable for AAI, sources had said earlier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Working on ways to increase its revenues, Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to partially monetise around 55,000 hectares of land owned by it in urban areas. The proposed move is part of AAI's larger efforts to enhance non-aeronautical revenues, which currently account for around 19 per cent of its annual top line. In his first media interaction after taking over as chairman of the national airports operator here today, Guruprasad Mohapatra outlined the future road map for AAI, which has envisaged a capital expenditure of Rs 17,500 crore over the five year period till March 2020. "We have a huge chunk of land on the city side which we have not been able to monetise... That is where we are focusing now," he said. Land is proposed to be utilised for commercial activities, including for hospitality business and warehousing. Towards land monetisation, Mohapatra said all options such as leasing and revenue-sharing models would be explored. The priority is to increase non-aeronautical revenues which is also the mandate for AAI from the PMO and Niti Aayog, especially since "there is a limit to revenues from the aeronautical side". Bolstered by higher passenger traffic, AAI saw its profit after tax soar nearly 30 per cent to Rs 2,537.36 crore in the last fiscal. According to Mohapatra, there is approximately 55,000 hectares of urban land with AAI and a part of it can be monetised. "We are working on it but there is no target," he added. Recently, AAI floated a proposal for city-side development of Bhubaneswar airport as part of land monetisation efforts. "We will replicate such a model at other airports also. There is an opportune time for going for it," Mohapatra said. AAI manages 125 airports, including 11 international ones, besides providing Air Traffic Management Services (ATMS) over entire Indian air space and adjoining oceanic areas. In 2015-16, AAI raked in profit after tax of Rs 2,537.36 crore on revenues of Rs 10,824.50 crore. "Increase in passenger numbers, marginal increase of User Development Fee (UDF) charges in AAI airports, Passenger Service Fee (Facilitation Component) and increase in lease revenue from Delhi and Mumbai airports have contributed to the increase in AAI revenues," the government told the Parliament last month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) AAP MLA Surinder Singh on Tuesday said he would oppose the move to rename Race Course Road, on which the Prime Minister's official residence is located, as Ekatma Marg and demanded that it be rechristened after a martyr. Singh, a former Security Guard (NSG) commando who suffered injury in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, said several veterans have approached him saying if the road is to be renamed then it should be done to honour martyred soldiers. Singh, a New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) member, said he would raise the issue in the Council meeting tomorrow. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is also a member of NDMC. "Race Course Road should be renamed after any soldier. I propose that it should be renamed after 1965 war hero Flt Lt Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, who sacrificed his life for the nation. Renaming of road should not reflect the ideology of the RSS," Singh said. He said Race Course Road also houses two air force stations. "I have been approached by several veterans in my constituency. They want to the road to be renamed after any solider," the Delhi Cantonment MLA said. BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi has proposed to NDMC to rename Race Course Road as Ekatma Marg based on the philosophy of her party's ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay. She said that the existing name, Race Course Road, "does not match with Indian culture". Upadhyay is remembered by his followers for his concept of 'antyodaya' (serving the last man in the queue) and 'ekatma' (integral humanism). Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off Upadhyay's 100th birth anniversary celebrations on September 25. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and condemned the "cross border attack" in Uri while expressing solidarity with India to eliminate the threat of terrorism. President Ghani strongly condemned the cross-border terror attack and conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India for all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism, a PMO statement said. Heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based JeM had stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir on Sunday, killing 18 jawans. President Ghani also expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers. The Prime Minister thanked President Ghani for Afghanistan's support. BJP President Amit Shah today held a review meeting with all party general secretaries in connection with the three-day National Council meet being organised later this week. The meeting also discussed the current political issues which may come up at the meet and the party's stand which would be articulated by the BJP top brass, party sources said. BJP would emphasise on 'garib kalyan' agenda, besides the contributions made by its ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay whose birthday falls on September 25. The Uri attack and its aftermath was also believed to have been discussed and the party is likely to articulate its view on the subject. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : The Army widows here demanded "blood for blood" in retaliation to the deadly attack in Uri which claimed lives of 18 Army personnel. "Sushma Swaraj, in January 2013 had assured me of bringing ten heads if her party comes to power," Dharmavati whose husband was beheaded on January 8, 2013 said, adding that now at least 36 heads must be brought in turn for the killings of 18 army personnel. Ravita, the widow of Babloo kumar who was martyred in Jammu on July 30, held Centre "responsible" for its "unstable policies." "Army should be given free hand to counter such cowardice act," Kamlesh Devi, widow of Soran Singh who was martyred in Kargil in 1999, stated. Seema Chaudhary, wife of martyr Shaheed Samod Kumar Chaudhary asked for "direct action" in such incidents. "I can feel the pain and separation widows of killed army personnel of Dogra regiment are experiencing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kamakhya Temple will become a prime example of cleanliness among all the 10 iconic places chosen for the 'Swachta Abhiyan' scheme in the country, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said today. "The government along with the civil society will achieve Gandhiji's dream of a 'Clean India' and Assam will have to lead by example in cleanliness and hygienic practices in the country," Sonowal said after inaugurating the 'Swachta Abhiyan' programme at the Kamakhya Temple atop the Nilachal Hills here. 'Swachta Abhiyan' is a target specific pilot project under 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' which will be carried out in ten iconic places, spread all over the country, primarily having religious and spiritual significance. The places which have been selected are Kamakhya Temple in Assam, Vaishno Devi Temple in Jammu and Kashmir, Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, Golden Temple in Punjab, Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, Jagannath Temple in Odisha, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Maharashtra, Manikarnika Ghat in Uttar Pradesh, Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu. A total of 100 such iconic places are planned for 'Swachta Abhiyan' and after completion of scheme in the initial 10 places it will be rolled out to 90 such places. Sonowal thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for choosing to start the national programme from Kamakhya Temple. "Goddess Kamakhya's blessings will guide everyone to make this cleanliness drive a grand success and Assam will strive hard to make Prime Minster Modi's dream of clean India a reality," he said. (Reopens CES11) Reiterating that cleanliness is next to godliness, Chief Minister said that, Kamakhya Temple is visited every year by thousands of national and international tourists and devotees and it is everyone's prime duty to keep the shrine clean to spread the message of 'Swachta Abhiyan', he said. People's behaviour will have to change for inculcating the habit of clean and hygienic living and awareness campaign would be carried out for this purpose under 'Swachta Abhiyan', he said. The Chief Minister also called upon the priests of the shrine to make the scheme a success. Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar, who was also present on the occasion, said that all members of the civil society must cooperate with the government agencies to make 'Swachta Abhiyan' a great success. Union Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kripal Yadav, Assam PHED Minister Rihon Daimary and PHED Minister Naba Kumar Doley and senior officials of the state government were also present on the occasion. A citizens' group led by philanthropist Kiran Mazumdar Shaw today moved the Supreme Court seeking intervention in the ongoing legal battle between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over distribution of Cauvery water and protection of drinking water rights of residents of Bengaluru and surrounding districts. Noting that it was a dispute between two states, an apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said it would decide whether the citizens' group can be allowed to intervene in the matter on the next date of hearing. "We will hear you on September 27, the next date of hearing of the main petition," the bench, also comprising Justice U U Lalit, said. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) in which Shaw is President and Mohandas Pai the Vice President, said the citizens of Bengaluru need adequate drinking water and their right to life needed to be protected by this court. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, opposed the submission saying these kind of pleas cannot be entertained in an inter-state dispute of this nature. "That the present application is being filed by the applicant in the aftermath of the violence that took place in the city of Bengaluru, since the applicant is of the belief that there are extra-ordinary circumstances in the city and its adjoining areas which needs to be addressed through the intervention of this Hon'ble Court," the BPAC plea said. "There is an acute drinking water problem in the city of Bengaluru and certain other districts of South Karnataka. The annual requirement of Bengaluru city alone is more than 19 TMC of water to be supplied to the citizens by the authorities of the State of Karnataka. The annual drinking water requirements of the Cauvery basin districts including the Bengaluru is roughly about 26 TMC (approximately)," it said. The apex court today asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from tomorrow till September 27. Yesterday, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee had asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu. BPAC, in its plea filed through lawyer Aparna Bhat, said "the southwest monsoon for the year 2016-17 has miserably failed over most parts of Karnataka and especially in the catchment areas of the Cauvery River. The lack of rainfall is also evident by the reservoir levels in the major reservoirs of the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, which have a huge shortfall of inflows, and thereby the drastic decrease in the storage capacities of the respective reservoirs." "The approximate live storage of Karnataka's reservoirs (Harangi, Hemavathi, K.R.S and Kabini) as on 16.09.2016 is only 28.77 TMC as against the total drinking water requirements of Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and other Cauvery basin districts which is 26 TMC (approximately)," it said. If further releases are made to Tamil Nadu, then there would not be enough water available in these reservoirs for supply to the citizens of Bengaluru and other towns, it said. "This is indeed an alarming situation which requires urgent attention of the relevant authorities, and it is also the need of the hour that the present scenario is brought to the notice of this court," the plea said. Baloch activists will hold protests outside the UN General Assembly headquarters here tomorrow during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the General Debate, to highlight "atrocities" and human rights violations by Pakistani forces in Balochistan. The 'Coalition of American Friends of Balochistan' and Indian-American Organisations said they will hold a "peaceful protest" against Pakistan for "its state sponsored atrocities and terrorism on the people of Balochistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir and minorities". The Baloch National Movement of North America (BNM) said a joint protest of Baloch and Sindhi activists will be held outside the UN headquarters to protest the "ongoing military operations" in Sindh and Balochistan. "Baloch people have welcomed and are grateful for the support extended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at such a critical juncture when our nation is struggling to be free from the illegal military occupation of Pakistan since 1948," BNM said in a statement. Sharif will address the General Debate tomorrow and has said he will raise the Kashmir issue at the UN. The group said that since 2003, more than 20,000 Baloch political activists have gone missing, "illegally abducted" by the Pakistani state security forces and victims of enforced disappearances are being "tortured and executed" in custody. The group also blamed China for joining hands with Pakistan and causing displacement of people living in the tribal and coastal areas with its economic activity. "China is Pakistan's strategic partner in the economic plundering and mass murder of Baloch civilians, particularly in the coastal belt of the Makran region of Balochistan," it said. Strongly criticising the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the group said thousands of Baloch tribal people have been dislocated due to the development of the corridor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Exiled Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti, heading the movement in Balochistan, today approached the Indian Embassy here seeking asylum in India and exuded confidence of a positive response from New Delhi. Bugti, who is leader of Baloch Republican Party (BRP), said he held talks with top Indian diplomats here about his asylum as well as that of a number of other Baloch leaders currently staying in Balochistan, Afghanistan and in some other countries. "I went to the Indian embassy and held talks with Indian officials about it (asylum). I am confident that something positive will come out," Bugti told PTI. Asked whether he filed required papers for his asylum, Bugti, the grandson of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who was killed by Pakistani forces 10 years ago, refused to share details saying the matter was very sensitive. He said India's encouragement to the Baloch movement mean a lot for people of Balochistan and that in the meeting, various aspects of the entire issue were discussed. "I am thankful to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of Balochistan in his Independence Day speech. It is a very good move. We are hopeful of India's continued support," he said. Bugti said he will file the asylum application to the Indian government through the country's embassy here within next 3-4 days. "We have decided to formally file asylum papers to Indian government soon. We will follow the legal process for the application," Bugti told reporters here. He is currently living in exile in Switzerland. Yesterday, the Baloch leader had appealed to India to come out with a policy initiative so that people facing "atrocities" in Balochistan can come and feel secure in India. He said many more Baloch leaders may seek asylum in India and added "we will see who all will need asylum (in India)". Bugti had gone into exile in Afghanistan after the death of Akbar Bugti in 2006. The Pakistani government had pressured Afghanistan to extradite him following which Bugti shifted to Switzerland in 2010. He had reportedly survived multiple attempts on his life in Afghanistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today made no reference to Kashmir and the situation in the Valley in his last address despite Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's repeated calls to the world body to help resolve the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. In his final address as the UN chief to the opening session of the General Debate here, Ban touched upon a plethora of global issues including the crisis in Syria, the Palestinian issue, the situation in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, the refugee and migrant movements. He also addressed tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East, the South Sudan tensions, violent extremism and its impact on regions from Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. However, Ban did not make any mention of Kashmir or the tensions in the Valley, that have escalated in the recent months, even as Pakistan made repeated pleas to the UN to help resolve the dispute between India and Pakistan. Kashmir will be the focal point of Sharif's address to the General Assembly tomorrow. Tensions are particularly running high between India and Pakistan in the wake of the attack by heavily-armed militants from Pakistan-based JeM on an army base in Uri on Sunday that killed 18 jawans. Ban's office has repeatedly said that the UN chief's "good offices" are available to help resolve the Kashmir issue, only if both India and Pakistan request for it, a clear message that it is a bilateral issue and should be solved by the two countries. Last month, Sharif had written two letters to Ban asking him to intervene in the Kashmir issue. The letters were among the many that Islamabad had shot off to the UN, calling for the world body to take up the Kashmir issue. However, in his long and final address to the world leaders, Ban did not make one reference to Kashmir while highlighting the issues on the UN agenda. In his address, Ban referred to the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement on climate change, security threats by armed conflicts and its "tragic consequences" which are on brutal display from Yemen to Libya and Iraq, from Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. He also spoke about the conflict in Syria, which "is taking the greatest number of lives and sowing the widest instability". Ban also touched upon the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying "replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation". "In Myanmar, the transition has entered a promising new phase. In Sri Lanka, post-war healing efforts have deepened. In both countries, true reconciliation rests on ensuring that all communities, minorities and majorities alike, are included in building a new union," he said. The second five-year term of Ban is expiring on December 31. (Reopens FGN26) On the refugees and migrants situation, he said: "Muslims, in particular, are being targeted by stereotyping and suspicion that have haunting echoes of the dark past. "I say to political leaders and candidates: do not engage in the cynical and dangerous political math that says you add votes by dividing people and multiplying fear. The world must stand up against lies and distortions of truth, and reject all forms of discrimination." Ban said "time and again, I have seen essential action and good ideas blocked in the Security Council. Blocked in the General Assembly. Blocked in the budget process, blocked in the Conference on Disarmament and other bodies". "Is it fair in this complicated 21st century for any one country or few countries to yield such disproportionate power, and hold the world hostage on so many important issues," he added. His address also touched on the situation in Cyprus, violence against women and empowerment of girls, rights of gays and lesbians, "regardless of ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation" as well reform of the Security Council. On the Korean Peninsula, he said the fifth nuclear test by North Korea has "again threatened regional and international security". His speech also referred to the situation in Ukraine and South Sudan. Ban also spoke about the advancement of technology in the last 10 years since he has been UN chief and its unfortunate use by extremists. "Our phones and social media have connected the world in ways that were unimaginable when I took office. Yes, they have been abused by extremists and hate groups. But they have also created a world of new communities and opportunities," he said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the annual General Assembly debate today with a call to end the fighting in Syria as he condemned the "sickening, savage" attack on an aid convoy. "I appeal to all those with influence to end the fighting and get talks started," Ban said in his farewell address. The former South Korean foreign minister is stepping down on December 31 after 10 years in what has been widely described as the world's most impossible job. Now in its sixth year with over 300,000 dead, the war in Syria is dominating this year's gathering of world leaders. Ban denounced the "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack" on an aid convoy and confirmed that the United Nations had suspended deliveries of humanitarian assistance. "Just when you think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower," he added. The UN chief hailed the aid workers on the convoy to Aleppo province as "heroes" and said "those who bombed them were cowards" before calling for accountability for crimes committed in the war. Ban blamed all sides for killing innocent people, but "none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees." He took a swipe at "powerful patrons" who are fueling the conflict and attending the General Assembly debate this week in New York. "Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of he Syria conflict against Syrian civilians", he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Junaid Ahmad has become the World Bank's Country Director for India, replacing Onno Ruhl who served a four-year term based out of the national capital. Hailing from Bangladesh, Ahmad was Chief of Staff to the Group President Jim Yong Kim before being elevated to the current position. "An economist by training, Ahmad brings with him broad development experience. After joining the in 1991 as a young professional, he worked on infrastructure development in Africa and Eastern Europe," a release said. "India's recent growth and development has been one of the most significant achievements of our time. With historic changes unfolding and new opportunities emerging, Junaid will bring to this key position strategic leadership along with considerable experience of working in both India and South Asia to support this transformation," Kim stated. Annette Dixon, World Bank Vice-President for South Asia said: "Junaid's strong experience in the critical areas of water, urbanisation, and social development will ensure that the Bank's future strategy for India is formulated and implemented in line with the country's own development goals." Ahmad holds a PhD in Applied Economics from Stanford University, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, and a BA in Economics from Brown University. India is the World Bank Group's largest client, it said. As of June 2016, the bank's net commitments to India stood at $27 billion (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development $16 billion, International Development Association $11 billion) across 95 projects. Curfew was on Tuesday lifted across Kashmir, except from six police station areas of Srinagar, in view of the improving situation, even as normal life remained disrupted in the Valley for the 74th straight day. Curfew remains in force in five police station areas of downtown (interior city) and Harwan in Srinagar, while the curbs have been lifted from elsewhere in the Valley, a police official said. He said curfew was clamped in Harwan Police Station areas on Tuesday in view of the fourth day of mourning of a boy killed in security forces' action on Friday. The official said the curbs on the movement of people were lifted, from other areas where curfew was in force on Monday, because of the improving situation. Barring stray incidents of stone pelting in Sopore and Shopian, overall situation remained under control across the Valley yesterday and there was increased traffic and movement of people between various districts and towns of the Valley including in some areas of Srinagar city, the official said. He, however, said that restrictions on the assembly of people under Section 144 CrPc continued to remain in force in the Valley. Meanwhile, normal life continued to remain paralysed in for the 74th consecutive day due to restrictions and separatist sponsored strike. The separatists, who are spearheading the current agitation in the Valley, have extended the protest programme till September 22. They have also asked people to observe today as Women's Day. They have not announced any period of relaxation in the strike for the week. Shops, business establishments and petrol pumps continued to remain shut, while public transport was off the roads. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions also continued to remain shut. Postpaid mobile telephony services were restored last night, while the outgoing calls on prepaid numbers continued to remain snapped across the Valley. Mobile Internet services also remained suspended. As many as 81 people, including two cops, have been killed in the unrest that broke out a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in South on July 8. With the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the state falling to 28 in 2014 from 32 in 2011, West Bengal has achieved the highest decline in the country in this regard, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today. "(West) Bengal has achieved the highest decline in the country in IMR as a big state and has been appreciated with Trophy and Certificate of Merit in the National Summit on Best Practices and Innovations in Public Healthcare Systems in India," Banerjee wrote on her Facebook wall. The summit was organised by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at Tirupati during August 29-31. "The IMR in Bengal, which was 32 in 2011, has declined to 28 in 2014, as per the recent SRS data published in July, 2016," the post read. "The corresponding figures of IMR of the country as a whole are 44 in 2011 and 39 in 2014. Thus, Bengal is far ahead of the country as a whole in terms of this critical health parameter," she said. Describing it as a "social revolution in child care sector under the state's health system", Banerjee congratulated health workers as well as doctors for the feat. "This achievement is due to hard work and dedication of doctors, officials and workers of our health sector. We are committed to do much more work for the society. I congratulate my health and other related departments," she wrote. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Nitish Kumar cabinet today announced to enhance ex-gratia amount to Rs 11 lakh each which will be paid to kin of three soldiers, hailing from Bihar and killed in a terror attack on an army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had yesterday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the three soldiers which was enhanced to Rs 11 lakh each today. The decision to scale up ex-gratia amount to Rs 11 lakh each was taken at a meeting of state Cabinet chaired by Kumar. Three martyred soldiers of Bihar are S K Vidyarthi from Gaya, Rakesh Singh from Kaimur and Ashok Kumar Singh from Ara in Bhojpur district. Saluting bravery of the soldiers who were killed in the terror attack at Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, the CM had announced to accord full state honour to the three martyred soldiers of the Bihar regiment. Three ministers attended the funeral ceremony of the as many martyred at different places. In other important decisions, the Bihar cabinet gave its nod for signing of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central Board of Excise And Customs (CBEC), Governmenmt of India, for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), likely to be rolled out from April 1, 2017. "The state cabinet today gave its nod for signing of an MoU between state's Commercial Taxes Department and Central Board of Excise And Customs (CBEC), Ministry of Finance, Governmenmt of India. The decision would help in sharing of data with each other," Cabinet Secretariat Department's Principal Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters in a post cabinet briefing here. Now the MoU will be sent to the Government of India which would approve it, Mehrotra said, adding that Bihar would share various details such as tax collected on items, volume of taxes, number of those under VAT and other tax net in state. The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 2100 crore as subsidy for Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Ltd and its two subsidiary companies - North and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd- on account of making payment for power purchase from NTPC in the current financial year of 2016-17. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bihar government today made a strong presentation before a committee constituted by Union Water Resources ministry to show how siltation in Ganga river due to Farakka dam led to rise in water level of the river at several points resulting in flood. Principal Secretary of Bihar Water Resources Department Arun Kumar Singh made a power point presentation before Madhav Chittle committee, an official statement said here. The committee was formed at the initiative of the Bihar government. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had drawn his attention towards siltation triggered by Farakka dam resulting in rise in water level in Ganga and resulting in flood every year. He had urged the PM for a deep study of the situation and formulate a national silt policy. The Bihar government's presentation in national capital was attended by Secretary of Union Water Resources ministry Shashi Sekhar and IIT Delhi Professor A K Gosain. In his presentation, Singh showed how due to siltation caused by Farakka dam resulted in record rise in water level in Ganga at Patna, Hathidah and Bhagalpur this year causing widespread destruction. He demanded decommissioning of Farakka dam due to its bad impact. The officer also made a strong case for formulation of national silt policy. Newly appointed Vice President of Bihar State Disaster Management Authority Vyasji was present in the function. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A fisherman has been reported missing while five others were rescued after the boat they had set out for deep sea fishing, capsized off Alivebagilu near Ullal here. While five fishers in the boat were rescued by travellers in another boat, a search has been launched by the Coast Guard for the missing fisherman. The incident occurred when the boat in which the fishermen had gone fishing on September 16, hit a rock near breakwater close to the Old Port while returning to the port and began to sink due to flooding last evening, a release from the Coast Guard said today. The Coast Guard had dispatched its ship Amartya apart fromits hovercraft to search for the missing fisherman, the releaseadded. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A little-known group demanding free education for all Nepalese children exploded cylinder bombs outside three schools here today, causing minor damage. No one was injured in the explosion, police said, adding unexploded bombs were also found at five other schools in the city. "Cylinder bombs exploded at Akash Deep Boarding School and Manakamana Higher Secondary School in Jorpati, Kathmandu, at around 3:45 this morning. The unexploded devices found in front of five other schools in Kathmandu were either detonated or removed," police chief SP Bikram Singh Thapa was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. Nepal Army bomb disposal team have been mobilised on the schools to defuse the bombs. Two persons were arrested on suspicion of being behind the blasts. Pamphlets were found near the blast sites and attached to the unexploded devices from a little-known group demanding free education for all Nepalese children, Thapa said. No injuries were reported, and that the explosions caused minor damage to the schools' gates, he added. (Reopens FES 71) Meanwhile, the private school operators have condemned the bombings and demanded stern action against those involved in the planting of bombs in school premises. The chairpersons of all three organisations of private schools - HISSAN, PABSON and NPABSON - slammed the government for its failure to provide security to the schools and warned of agitation if the authorities failed to book the perpetrators. Talking to reporters, Karna Bahadur Shahi, the chairperson of National Private and Boarding Schools' Organisation in Nepal (NPABSON), held theMinistry of Education responsible for today's coordinated bombings in schools. British Prime Minister has dismissed threats by some EU countries to veto Brexit negotiations with the UK and stressed that all 27 member states will sign up to a deal with Britain. Her comments came after Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico on Monday said that four central European countries - Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - were willing to block talks unless their citizens retained their rights to work in the UK after the country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23. "The 27 will sign up to a deal with us. We will be negotiating with them. We will be ambitious in what we want to see for the UK. A good deal for the UK can also be a good deal for the other member states because I believe in good trading relations and I have said I want the UK to be a global leader in free trade," May said on Monday just before she flew out to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session. "This is not just about us, it's actually about their relationships and trading within that European arena," she added. Fico had said that member states intend to make it "very difficult for the UK" and said Britain is "bluffing" when it says it can get a good Brexit deal. "I had very constructive meetings with [Mr Fico] when I was doing my visits earlier in the summer. I've said what I want to see is the deal that's right for the UK. I think that will also be a deal that's good for the member states of the European Union," May said. May is accompanied on the trip by her Indian-origin minister for international development Priti Patel and UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson. The Cabinet Committee on Security is likely to meet tomorrow to discuss the situation arising out of the Uri terror attack. Sources said the Cabinet Committee will meet tomorrow morning ahead of the meeting of the Union Cabinet. The issue of terror strike on an army camp in Uri which led to the death of 18 soldiers will figure in the meeting. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has discussed the terror attack with top ministers, the CCS will formally discuss the issue. The CCS could also have other agenda besides the Uri strike. Sources in the government said that though such security-related issues are not discussed in the Union Cabinet, the issue of Uri attack could find a mention tomorrow. Top brass of the government is convinced that India has to launch a calibrated, multi-layered and strategic response and expose Pakistan in international forums like the UN, whose General Assembly is in session, official sources said. As part of the plans, the Director General of Military Operations will hand over all the evidence linking Pakistan's involvement in Uri attack to his Pakistani counterpart shortly. Heavily-armed terrorists, believed to be from Pakistan-based JeM, had on Sunday stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir, killing 18 jawans. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Cabinet is likely to consider tomorrow a proposal for enhancing telecom connectivity to Andaman and Nicobar Islands through a submarine cable network to augment the present connectivity through satellites. The Cabinet is also likely to discuss fund for supporting rural landline services installed before April 1, 2002. "Cabinet may discuss the project of providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands by laying an undersea cable between Chennai and Port Blair," a source told PTI. Government has decided to lay submarine optical fibre cable from Chennai to Port Blair. To improve connectivity in A&N islands, the Telecom Commission in April gave nod to laying of submarine cable which will cost around Rs 1,000 crore. At present, telecom services are provided through satellites in the islands. The panel has also approved increasing satellite bandwidth three times for Lakshadweep islands from 100 mbps to 300 mbps. Telecom regulator TRAI has recommended an initial plan costing about Rs 2,400 crore to connect Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep which at present rely on connectivity through satellites. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) 29 out of 576 islands are inhabited and 90 per cent of the population lives in three islands - North, Middle and South Andaman Islands alone. In Lakshadweep, 11 out of 36 are inhabited and 10 of the inhabited islands have population above 100. For Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the regulator has suggested connecting 22 islands, which included 18 islands with population of above 100 and four islands which have presence of police, forest camps and tourists. For Lakshadweep, the regulator has factored connectivity at 10 inhabited villages. Besides, the cabinet may discuss fund support to BSNL for managing Rural Direct Exchange Lines that provide landline connections in rural area. Trai has earlier recommended support of Rs 2,750 crore for two years ending 2013 and asked BSNL to make landline connections in rural area broadband enabled. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The captain of a boat that sunk on a swollen river in central Thailand did not have a valid licence, an official said today, as the death toll rose to twenty-six including several children. The accident happened on the Chao Phraya river on Sunday afternoon near the ancient city of Ayutthaya, when a boat packed with Muslim pilgrims returning from a mosque hit a concrete bank in strong currents. The boat, which was carrying double its 50 passenger capacity, sunk in seconds. Ayutthaya deputy governor Rewat Prasong said the captain faces charges including having an expired licence, allowing too many passengers on board and negligence that led to death. The toll rose overnight to 26 with eight children confirmed among the dead. "We are still looking for three people -- two women and a girl -- who have been reported missing by relatives," he said. Safety regulations are poorly enforced in Thailand, including on boats, with overcrowding, sinkings and crashes common -- particularly in busy tourist areas. According to the World Health Organization, Thailand has the world's second highest road fatality rate after Libya. The Thai junta has got tough on breaches of many laws, but has yet to addressed chronic safety lapses in the country's transport system. But the dire safety record has not deterred tourists from visiting the kingdom. Nearly 30 million visitors did so in 2015, a number boosted by a surge in mainland Chinese tourists. The junta expects tourism to account for as much as 17 percent of GDP this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cattle smuggling, which is the "root cause" for firing incidents across the Indo- Bangla border, has dwindled to about one per cent in the past one year after India's clampdown on the illegal trade, top Bangladeshi border guard officials said today. Commander of the Border Guard Bangladesh's (BGB) South West Region Md Khalilur Rahman told a visiting group of Indian journalists here that cattle, especially cow, is "not being received" from the Indian side and such incidents have gone down by 99 per cent in the last one year. The Additional Director General rank officer of the BGB commands the second largest frontier of the country (opposite North 24 Parganas in West Bengal) and is the most notorious area between the two neighbours in terms of cattle smuggling and other criminal activities. "Cow smuggling incidents across the Indo-Bangla border have come down to about 1 per cent as compared to the statistics of sometime back. To give an example, last year in a particular area we had about 11,000 cattle coming in a day but now this time the figures are only about 200-300. "We are not getting any cattle from India now and this has prompted us to ask our countrymen to rear our own cattle. "During the recent Eid celebrations we could see the huge difference in cost of the cattle in our markets," Rahman said when questioned by PTI at the frontier headquarters here, over 200 kms from national capital Dhaka. BGB Director (Operations) of the South-West Region, Maksud Ahmed said a major "irritant" in the cordial ties between the two border guard forces has been the killing and injury to Bangladeshi people in border areas by the BSF. "Cattle smuggling is the root cause for border firing. We are undertaking joint operations with BSF to minimise and totally bring an end to these cases," he said. Since taking over, the Modi government had stressed on curbing this issue of cattle with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh exhorting Border Security Force (BSF) personnel to ensure a complete clampdown on cattle smuggling to Bangladesh. Rahman, however, claimed that Bangladesh now had a surplus of home-reared cattle during this Eid. The price, he said, which had shot up to Rs 80,000 to 1 lakh per head after the clampdown on cow smuggling by BSF, has now come down to Rs 50,000-60,000, as the indigenous industry was producing good number of cattle. The BGB commander said they have decided to cooperate with their counterparts on the border-- the BSF -- and will not allow any smuggled cows to pass through the areas under their control. (Reopens FGN 13) "All this is happening as we are not getting any cows from India (as part of smuggling). We have now decided to rear our own cattle and meet our demands," Rahman said. Rahman added they have conveyed to BSF that a majority of this cattle and cow which is illegally pushed across the border is "not cultivated" in India's frontier areas but travels to these places from the hinterland and central Indian states and they should curb this. He said with cattle smuggling coming down, the incidents of killing of Bangladeshi nationals on the border are also expected to go as down as earlier when "this business (cattle smuggling) was going on, a huge number of cowboys would go across the border and get caught by BSF who tortured them and at times shot them down." As per BSF authorities manning the border under the South Bengal frontier opposite this area, they have seized a total of 1,18,711 cattle heads till August this year, which is 70 per cent less than last year, before they could be smuggled across the border. Rahman, however, claimed his force has not encountered any cases of fake Indian currency notes in their area and there is no big challenge posed by the smuggling of arms and ammunition in the areas under his command like Khulna and Kushtia at this border too. Political parties and farmers in Tamil Nadu today termed as historic, the Supreme Court verdict directing the Centre to constitute Cauvery Management Board and urged the Union government to set up the body sans delay. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa also came in for praise for her pursuit of legal measures over the Cauvery issue, which eventually led to the ruling. President of Tamil Nadu All Farmers' Federations, P R Pandian said "I welcome the verdict whole heartedly, all the farmers are very happy." "We thank Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the legal measures she undertook to secure the Apex Court verdict," he told PTI,adding the ruling also comes after a slew of protests over several years by Tamil Nadu farmers, supported by all sections of people, political parties and traders. He said farmers are now confident that the Cauvery Board would order release of water to ryots in accordance with the needs and without any political interference. Farmers wing of CPI(M), Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam urged the Centre to implement the order without delay and the state government to make efforts to get additional quantum of water as 6,000 cusecs will not be sufficient. PMK chief Ramadoss said, "though the Supreme Court direction to release 6000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu per day from tomorrow till September 27 is not sufficient, the ruling to constitute CMB is historic and we welcome it whole heartedly." He said the order has given joy and confidence to lakhs of farmers that now "doing farming is possible in Cauvery Delta districts of Tamil Nadu." He wanted the Centre to take immediate steps for setting up CMB. Welcoming the ruling, CPI(M) State Secretary G Ramakrishnan and CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan urged the Centre to implement the order without any delay. Ramakrishnan said 6,000 cusecs would not be sufficient and that at least 12,000 cusecs should be released till the month end. MDMK chief Vaiko said the Apex Court through its order has upheld the rights of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery waters. He too demanded the Centre immediately constitute Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority. (REOPENS MDS8) All India National League Party chief S J Inayatullah said the "verdict is a huge victory for Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who has been in pursuit of a legal struggle on the issue," and greeted her for the apex court ruling. Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi chief Velmurugan said his party welcomed the announcement and thanked Jayalalithaa for taking appropriate legal steps to obtain the court order. Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi chief E R Easwaran said the order was a culmination of a long time struggle. He also wanted the authorities to ensure the safety of Tamils in Karnataka. He also wanted Karnataka to ensure safety and security of Tamils living there as protests have begun in some places following the apex court verdict. CBI today carried out searches at nine locations, including the office of commodity bourse MCX and Jignesh Shah promoted FTIL, in connection with a case related to granting license to MCX-SX to operate as a private stock exchange in alleged violation of law. The searches were spread across the offices of MCX, MCX-SX (now known as Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited) and erstwhile FTIL, sources said. The agency had registered a case in 2014 against FTIL promoter Shah, MCX and FTIL among others for allegedly violating law to get extension to MCX-SX to function as a private stock exchange. MCX-SX started operations in 2013. The sources said agency had carried out searches after some inputs about material which could act as evidence in the case. They refused to give any further details as the search operation is still going on. Meanwhile, 63 moons (formerly known as FTIL), said in a statement, "pursuant to the applicable regulations of SEBI (LODR), Regulations 2015, please be informed that Central Bureau of Investigation, Economic Offence Wing, Mumbai, is conducting search in connection with FIR...Relating to recognition granted by SEBI to MCX-SX (now Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited)." MCX also gave a statement on BSE, saying the CBI search is going on in respect of recognition granted by SEBI to Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited (formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange Limited) for starting its stock exchange in trading in currency and other segments in respect of case. no. RC 9/E/2014". CBI had filed the FIR in the case against under IPC Sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating besides provisions of Prevention of Corruption for alleged abuse of official position. The agency had alleged that the promoters of MCX-SX had entered into a buy back arrangement with a nationalised bank in violation of Securities Contract Regulation Act, 1956 and Securities Contract (Regulation) (Manner of Increasing and Maintaining Public Shareholdings in Recognised Stock Exchanges) Regulation, 2006. CBI had said in its FIR that the accused allegedly in connivance with SEBI officials, deliberately suppressed this material fact while applying for extension of recognition of the Stock Exchange, to conduct trade in currency derivatives, and, fraudulently obtained the extension of recognition of the exchange in the year 2009 by cheating SEBI. The agency further alleged that SEBI officials deliberately did not issue notice to the stock exchange for cancellation of its recognition in the currency derivatives, when SEBI had already rejected request of the same stock exchange for trading in other segments. MCX-SX was initially given licence to operate in a limited segment of currency derivatives in 2008, but SEBI had refused permission to allow it to act as a full-fledged bourse for years as it was not found to be in compliance with existing regulations for the same. A senior SEBI official in September 2010 had rejected MCX-SX application for a full-fledged exchange, saying it was not in compliance with shareholding regulations and it was not a 'fit and proper' entity for such a business. MCX-SX could launch services as a full-fledged bourse only in 2013 after it met all the necessary regulations and conditions imposed by SEBI. on Monday slammed the European Parliament leaders for receiving the Dalai Lama and warned that the meeting between them has harmed Beijing's "core interests" in Tibet. It was reported that European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Elmar Brok, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, met with the Dalai Lama on September 15 despite strong opposition from the Chinese side. "They have broken the promises the EU made to on Tibet," spokesperson Lu Kang told a press conference. "Tibet issues are core interests of China," Lu said, stressing that the Chinese government is firmly against separatism. Dalai Lama has been living in India since he escaped after the failed uprising of 1959. China opposes the Dalai Lama's visits in any name or capacity to any country or organisation to engage in separatist activities, Lu said. China is also opposed to any contact between the Dalai Lama and officials from any country or organisation. China-EU ties are at a new stage, and relations between the parliaments are sound, but the meeting between the European Parliament's leaders and the Dalai Lama harms China's core interests and the political foundation of inter- parliamentary communication, Lu said. China demands that the EU side take measures to nullify the negative effects of the meeting, he said. Irked by Prachanda's visit to New Delhi, state-run Chinese media today criticised India for trying to "turn tables" against China and lashed out at the new Nepal Prime Minister for "tricking" Beijing and putting bilateral ties on "back burner" at the behest of India. China "feels tricked" that Nepal got close to Beijing to "relieve pressure" from India and signed a number of crucial agreements with Beijing to help get rid of its reliance on New Delhi but later put ties on "back-burner" after the "pressure" somewhat relaxed, an article in state-run Global Times said. In a scathing attack on Prachanda and India, two articles in the newspaper pointed to China's anger over the regime change in Kathmandu replacing pro-China former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. "Prachanda is no more "furious" as he was once described, but rather has more realistic considerations for political interest," one article said, recalling his choice to visit China first in 2008 during his previous tenure. During his tour to India this time, the Pancheshwar Project, reconstruction after the earthquake and the East-West Railway programme were on the agenda of high-level meetings. However, all those are among the "core subjects" of China's Belt and Road (Silk Road) initiative that can benefit Nepal, it said. "Against such a backdrop, people cannot help but ask whether Prachanda is seeking reconciliation with New Delhi or maintaining Nepal's status of being controlled by India," it said. "It seems that the relationship between Nepal and China stalled abruptly, and a visit by Chinese leaders to Nepal has allegedly been suspended - an unprecedented situation," it said, without directly referring to postponement of Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned to visit to Kathmandu next month. The article said that the bilateral relationship between China and Nepal seems to have "suddenly turned fragile and sensitive". "Obviously, China feels tricked. When Kathmandu needed Beijing to relieve pressure from New Delhi, it got close to China and signed a series of crucial agreements with Beijing which would help Nepal get rid of its reliance on India. "But once India's attitude toward Kathmandu relaxed a bit and the former made some promises to the latter, Nepalese politicians immediately put the nation's ties with China on the back burner," it said. The article added that in the Sino-Nepalese relationship, Kathmandu is the "one that always gets more. Beijing will lose nothing, but it is Nepal that needs to consider whether it will miss more opportunities". Another article in the same daily titled "Good ties with China, India in Nepal's best interest" accused India of 'turning tables' against China. "Alarmed by China's rising influence in Nepal, India is now trying to turn the tables. But such narrow-minded geopolitical logic will do favour to nobody," it said. (Reopens FGN18) "Perhaps these politicians have not intended to treat Beijing as a tool to counterbalance New Delhi, but apart from pressure on Nepal from India, Nepalese politicians' realistic short-sighted motives are also influencing Beijing-Kathmandu relations," the first article said. "Taking China as a bargaining chip with India, instead of sincerely developing ties with Beijing, will fundamentally hurt Nepal's independence and reputation. Compared with relations between India and Nepal, where there is no defence force along the borders and many channels of communication, China's ties with Nepal are not as nearly as good. "That means if Beijing and Kathmandu want to seek a balance between the three parties, the two must develop ties very quickly," it said. Prachanda had once gone very far on this path in 2008 and Oli has inherited this strategic reform. However, "under pressure" from India, Prachanda is likely to derail the process, it added. "Has he forgotten his initial determination? People are waiting for an answer," it said. "But whatever the answer will be, China will stay aloof from it." During the tenure of Oli, China and Nepal inked a number of agreements including extending China's Tibet railway network to Kathmandu, establishing special economic zones for Chinese companies in Nepal and a long-term petroleum deal for Nepal to import fuel from China. "All those have made New Delhi worried," the second article said. If Nepal wants to gain maximum benefit from the situation and thrive, it "must not let itself turn into any side's pawn". Keeping good relations with both China and India is Kathmandu's "optimal choice", it said. It added: "China also welcomes India's increasing support to Nepal's development. If New Delhi insists to see it as Beijing's attempt to cozy up to Kathmandu, India should at least realise the fact that China's support to Nepal has stimulated India to increase its assistance to Kathmandu, which means that this is nothing but a healthy competition. "Times have changed, and adhering to the outdated mindset of scrambling for spheres of influence will not only win no hearts, but also disrupt one's own development. Climate change and a lack of significant improvement in technology may lead to fall in global crop yield, forcing production to move to new areas, a study today warned. With a worldwide population projected to top nine billion in next 30 years, the amount of food produced globally will need to double. The study by a team of researchers led by UK's University of Birmingham showed that much of the land currently used to grow wheat, maize and rice is vulnerable to climate change. This could lead to a major drop in productivity of these areas by 2050, along with a corresponding increase in potential productivity of many previously-unused areas - a major shift in the map of global food production. The study, published in Nature Communications, used a new approach combining standard climate change models with maximum land productivity data, to predict how the potential productivity of cropland is likely to change over the next 50-100 years as a result of climate change. The results show that: Nearly half of all maize produced in the world (43 per cent), and a third of all wheat and rice (33 per cent and 37 per cent respectively), is grown in areas vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Croplands in tropical areas, including Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and the Eastern US, are likely to experience the most drastic reductions in their potential to grow these crops. Croplands in temperate areas, including western and central Russia and central Canada, are likely to experience an increase in yield potential, leading to many new opportunities for agriculture. While the effects of climate change are usually expected to be greatest in the world's poorest areas, this study suggested that developed countries may be equally affected. Highly-developed countries already have a very small yield gap, so the negative effects of climate change on potential yield are likely to be felt more acutely in these areas. "Our model shows that on many areas of land currently used to grow crops, the potential to improve yields is greatly decreased as a result of the effects of climate change," said lead researcher and the university's academic Tom Pugh. "But it raises an interesting opportunity for some countries in temperate areas, where the suitability of climate to grow these major crops is likely to increase over the same time period," Pugh said. The political, social and cultural effects of these major changes to the distribution of global cropland would be profound, as currently productive regions become net importers and vice versa. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian-American community has asked the US government to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism and impose sanctions on it following the terror attack in Uri that killed 18 soldiers. "Enough is enough. It is time that Pakistan be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism," said Jagdish Sewhani president of American India Public Affairs Committee. Referring to various unilateral peace initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after coming to power in May 2014 including the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to his swearing in ceremony and Lahore visit last December, Sewhani said Islamabad had interpreted these overtures as India's weakness. "Leaders of Pakistan need to understand the price they might have to pay for their continuing support to terrorist activities in India," Sewhani said, adding that both the Obama administration and the US Congress needed to send a strong message to Pakistan by declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism and impose sanctions on it. "The ability of groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad to operate freely and with impunity in Pakistan are a direct indication of state sponsored terrorism by the country's intelligence services and military apparatus," said Samir Kalra, senior director and Human Rights Fellow at the Hindu American Foundation. The foundation said the attack was allegedly carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based militant group and a US designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation, believed to receive military and logistical support from the Pakistani army. "Since 1989, a militant insurgency supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency has left thousands of Hindus dead, and has driven out more than 350,000 people from the Kashmiri Pandit community from the Kashmir Valley," it alleged. "It is time for the US to take a serious look at the foreign military assistance to Pakistan and how those resources are being diverted to cross-border terrorism and other nefarious activities," said Indian National Overseas Congress, USA. "We join the civilised people everywhere in condemning this dastardly attack across the border from Pakistan and offer our condolences and prayers to families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives," said George Abraham, chairman, INOC, USA. "We also call upon Pakistan to stop exporting terrorism and return the region to relative peace and tranquility," Abraham said. Eighteen soldiers were killed and over a dozen others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in North Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Army. (REOPENS FES 38) "This is the beginning of a new era, new dawn of new (India-US) relationship," Indian-American Digvijay Singh "Danny" Gaekwad from Florida told Concerned over rise in dengue and chikungunya cases which have claimed several lives, Delhi High Court today asked city hospitals run by the Centre and AAP government not to deny treatment to patients as it passed a slew of directions in the matter. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal ordered that steps be taken by both governments to increase the strength of doctors, nurses and other staff in their hospitals by engaging "retired personnel, if so required, to meet the exigencies". "The Government of India as well as Government of NCT of Delhi shall take effective steps to ensure that the dengue/ chikungunya patients are not denied treatment/admission in any of the hospital (government/private) of Delhi. ...Assistance of NGOs who are involved in such activities may also be taken," the court said. The direction came on a plea filed by advocate Shahid Ali, who has accused the two governments and the municipal corporations here of not acting vigilantly and responsibly to control dengue, a mosquito-borne tropical disease. On August 17, the court had disposed of two petitions on the same issue observing that several measures stated to have been undertaken have not reached the public at large and the spread of the diseases was playing havoc with the lives of the inhabitants of Delhi. "Dengue is one of the major public health challenges in Delhi especially during Monsoon and the prevailing situation in relation to dengue, in our considered opinion, needs more effective steps to control the damage," it had said. The court had also directed the authorities concerned to take appropriate steps for periodical visits of houses, more particularly those located in slum areas, for prevention of mosquito breeding by adopting necessary measures such as fogging and spraying of insecticides by the municipal bodies. The earlier order had said, "The Government of India/ GNCTD/Municipal Corporations of Delhi/NDMC shall conduct awareness campaigns and advertise through various modes viz. hoardings, television, newspapers, radio etc. To make the public aware of the life threatening disease and preventive measures to be taken to control dengue cases in Delhi." Similar directions were today issued by the bench in Ali's plea which was disposed of by the court while asking the governments to follow its orders in future also as these diseases occured every year. It said that all the measures taken by Delhi government shall continue for ensuring that proper medical care is provided to the needy public. "Delhi government shall consider the feasibility of the implementation of the various measures suggested by petitioner (Ali) and take an appropriate decision within four weeks from today," the court said. The petitioner has suggested additional measures like sub-dividing of existing muinicipal wards for identification and implementation of preventive measures to combat dengue and other vector-borne diseases. "A dedicated complaint board may be constituted and the same be empowered to take punitive actions against the guilty and negligent officials/safai karacharis. The occupants of the house/premises where the breedings of mosquiots is reported by the checking officials be heavily penalised. "Fogging/spraying of anti-mosquito chemicals should be directed to be commenced every year with effect from June. More places should be provided with proper maintenance and all the nalas should be ordered to be covered," the petitioner had suggested. He had further suggested that the polyclinics in each and every ward should be provided and properly maintained. Two persons charged by the police with unlawfully transporting a camel to the city and slaughtering it along a main road during Bakrid in violation of a September 9 court order, today moved the Madras High Court bench here, seeking anticipatory bail. Justice Gokuldas, before whom the matter came up, directed Madurai City police to file a counter by September 29. Petitioners Atham Bava and Khalid Mohammed submitted that they had purchased a camel from Andhra Pradesh and brought it to the city on September 15. Police seized it following the September 9 Madras High Court order, banning camel-slaughter. Later, police took the camel in a truck to release it outside Tamil Nadu, but ill-treated it, as a result of which it died, they said and alleged that a "false case" was foisted on them to ensure that "the police escaped blame". The two filed anticipatory bail applications before the bench and agreed to furnish sureties. On September 9, the principal bench of the Madras High Court in Chennai had declined to lift its earlier order, banning camel slaughter in Tamil Nadu, and directed the state government to ensure that its orders were not violated. It had dismissed a fresh plea, seeking a direction to authorities to create facilities in the state for slaughtering camels, and also made it clear that police officers would be held responsible if camels were brought and slaughtered within their jurisdiction. It had also dismissed the argument that camel-slaughter came under "essential religious practices". The court had also said its August 18 order, prohibiting slaughtering of camels in the state, was passed after hearing all the stakeholders and could not entertain petitions that sought to circumvent its earlier orders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists have precisely dated the world's oldest rock at 4.02 billion years old, which suggests that early Earth was largely covered with an oceanic crust-like surface. "It gives us important information about how the early continents formed," said lead author Jesse Reimink, a post-doctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institute for Science in the US. "Because it's so far back in time, we have to grasp at every piece of evidence we can. We have very few data points with which to evaluate what was happening on Earth at this time," said Reimink. Only three locations worldwide exist with rocks or minerals older than 4 billion years old: one from Northern Quebec, mineral grains from Western Australia, and the rock formation from Canada's Northwest Territories examined in this study. While it is well known that the oldest rocks formed prior to 4 billion years ago, the unique twist on Reimink's rock is the presence of well-preserved grains of the mineral zircon, leaving no doubt about the date it formed. The sample in question was found during fieldwork by Reimink's PhD supervisor, Tom Chacko, in an area roughly 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife in Canada. "Rocks and zircon together give us much more information than either on their own. Zircon retains its chemical signature and records age information that doesn't get reset by later geological events, while the rock itself records chemical information that the zircon grains don't," said Reimink, who completed his PhD at the University of Alberta in Canada. He noted that the chemistry of the rock itself looks like rocks that are forming today in modern Iceland, which is transitional between oceanic and continental crust. In fact, Iceland has been hypothesised as an analog for how continental crusts started to form. "We examined the rock itself to analyse those chemical signatures to explore the way that the magma intrudes into the surrounding rock," Reimink said. One signature in particular recorded the assimilation step of magma from Earth's crust, researchers said. "While the magma cooled, it simultaneously heated up and melted the rock around it, and we have evidence for that," Reimink said. The research appears in the journal Nature Geoscience. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trade between India and Sri Lanka is set to improve as the two countries are engaged in discussion over signing of Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement, a top Sri Lankan official said here today. "We were the first to sign the Free Trade Agreement with India in 2000. Now, the process for signing the ETCA (Economic and Technology Cooperation) Agreement are on. It is still under discussion," Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner V Krishnamoorthy told reporters. "We are good at garments. We have good knowledge and we are good at technical skills. You (India) have an advantage both technically and scientifically. For that we want to formalise an agreement," he said. Trade between the two countries was expected to reach USD six billion this year from USD 4.9 billion registered last year, he said while delivering the keynote address at a conference organised by CII. "Total trade between the two countries has risen tremendously to reach USD 4.9 billion by December 2015 from a mere USD 0.56 billion in 1999. I am confident that it will cross USD 6 billion this year", he said. Exports from the island nation had increased substantially from USD 35.3 million in 1999 to USD 643 million in 2015, he said, adding "India has emerged the third largest export market for Sri Lanka". "Our present task is to explore this huge potential. I think, the potential should be investigated with the assistance of the business community," Krishnamoorthy said. He said Indian automobile manufacturers are importing automotive electronic and automotive parts for their products from other countries. "Due to some unknown reasons, either the automobile manufacturers or importers who are in the supply chain of these giant automobile manufacturers have not noticed the definite advantage of importing these automobile parts from Sri Lanka," he said. A business delegation from Sri Lanka would undertake a two day visit with their counterparts in Chennai and Bengaluru, besides visiting factories of various automobile manufacturers, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unidentified persons stole a bag containing Rs 20 lakh from the car of a retired armyman in north Delhi's Timarpur area, police said today. Ravinder was on way to his to Panipat in Haryana with his friend Ashok in his car when they were stopped by two bike-borne men around 4.56 pm near Majnu Ka Tila, who told him that the car had hit a man, a police official said. Ravinder told police that their car had "touched" a man but when the bike-borne men told him that the man was injured, he locked his car and went to help him. When they returned, they found a window of their car smashed and the bag with Rs 20 lakh cash missing, he said. Ravinder said he had given Rs 20 lakh that he had got after retirement to his maternal uncle in Gurgaon who is a property dealer. The uncle had been asking him to come and collect the money from the last few days, the official said. Today, he collected the money from his uncle in Gurgaon and came to Delhi to meet a friend at India before leaving for Panipat, he added. Police is suspecting that the two bike-borne men might have been following Ravinder from Gurgaon. We are also probing whether someone known to the armymanis involved in the theft, the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police in north Maharashtra today lathicharged farmers demanding release of water from a dam, after the protesters pelted stones at cops and some vehicles in the District Collectorate office at Dhule. At least 22 people, including police personnel, were injured in the stone pelting, police said. Farmers were protesting outside the Collectorate, seeking discharge of water from canal of Akkalpada dam to nearby villages, they said. The injured also include farmers and Collectorate employees, added police. Farmers had protested on April 20 with the same demand and asked the District Collector to finish the work on the last stage of the dam by September 30. However, concerned officials had informed the farmers that the work could not be completed within the stipulated time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saudi Riyals and UAE Dirhams worth nearly Rs 23 lakhs were seized from a Dubai-bound flier, who was allegedly trying to export the foreign illegally, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, DRI officials said on Monday. The passenger was intercepted on a tip-off by sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence after he had cleared immigration and security checks was to board an Air India flight last night, DRI (Hyderabad Zonal Unit) Additional Director General M K Singh said. On examination of his baggage, foreign in the form of Saudi Riyals and UAE Dirhams was found, and the passenger on interrogation stated that the was obtained from unauthorised dealers and does not belong to him, Singh said in a release. He further stated that it was being carried on behest of someone for delivery in Dubai. The foreign currency was obtained from unauthorised dealers or persons in violation of FEMA and regulations made there under and was attempted to be exported illegally, in contravention of the prohibition imposed under Customs Act, the senior officer said. "The foreign currency, worth around Rs 23 lakh in Indian rupees, was seized. Further investigation in the case is in progress," Singh added. A former Sri Lankan Air Force chief who led the forces in defeating the Tamil Tigers was today questioned by investigators in connection with a controversial USD 10 million deal to buy four MiG-27 fighter jets in 2006. Sri Lankan police's Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) recorded Roshan Goonetileke's statement as part of its probe into the controversial deal. The Sri Lankan Air Force had signed an agreement with Ukrainian firm Ukrinmash to buy four MiG fighters at a cost of USD 2.462 million each as well as overhauling four existing SLAF MiG-27 aircraft. SLAF signed the deal on behalf of then Lankan government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Rajapaksa administration has been accused of corruption by then opposition parties in the deal. The then opposition parties filed a complaint in the Bribery Commission against the MiG deal. The Rajapaksa family has faced many cases of alleged wrongdoings during the decade when they were in power. However, Rajapaksa supporters accuse the FCID and the government of carrying out a politically-motivated investigation against the former Sinhala strong man and his family. In July, the FCID had also sought a court order to get Interpol assistance in arresting former Lankan Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, in connection with the deal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) French President today appealed for an end to the carnage in Syria, telling the United Nations: "Enough is enough". "The Syrian tragedy will be seen by history as a disgrace for the community if we do not end it quickly," Hollande told the General Assembly. The French leader described Aleppo, which has once again come under a barrage of air strikes, as a "martyred city" and blamed the Syrian regime for the collapse of a US-Russian ceasefire. "Thousands of children have died in bombings, whole populations are starving, humanitarian convoys are being attacked, chemical weapons are being used." "I have one thing to say here: enough is enough," he said. The war in Syria, now in its sixth year with over 300,000 dead, is dominating this week's gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. US President Barack Obama earlier took the podium to declare that diplomacy was the only way to end the devastating war. The United States and Russia, the regime's ally in the war, earlier chaired a brief meeting of the 23-nation group backing the Syrian peace process, but there was no breakthrough. Tomorrow, the UN Security Council is to meet to discuss the Syria crisis, with distrust between Washington and Moscow running high. Addressing Russia and Iran, President Bashar al-Assad's backers, Hollande said they must compel the regime to make peace, warning that "if not, they will also, alongside the regime, bear the responsibility for the division and chaos in Syria. Two French engineering companies formally signed a contract in Sudan today to carry out environmental impact studies on Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam project on the river Nile, officials said. The French firms BRL and Artelia were chosen late last year to carry out technical studies on the project following a meeting between top diplomats from Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. BRL Director General Gilles Rocquelain told AFP after the contract was signed in Khartoum that the studies will begin after two months and "will take 11 months to complete". The Egyptian, Ethiopian and Sudanese water ministers also attended today's signing ceremony. Ethiopia began building the huge dam on the Blue Nile in 2012, and when completed in 2017 it will be Africa's largest. However, the three countries have since failed to overcome their differences about sharing the water. Egypt, which is almost totally reliant on the Nile for agriculture and drinking water, fears that the Grand Renaissance Dam will hit supplies hard. It draws 87 percent of its water from the Nile, which runs north from Khartoum where the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers converge. Ethiopia had said the project would not adversely affect Egypt's share, but Cairo has maintained its "historic rights" to the Nile, which it says are guaranteed by treaties from 1929 and 1959. These grant it 87 percent of the river's flow, as well as the power to veto upstream projects. Today, however, the three water ministers said they were optimistic about the project. "We are keen to have everyone satisfied with what we are doing... We are for regional integration and prosperity," Egypt's Water Resources Minister Mohamed Abdel Aati said. The dam is designed to feed a hydroelectric project that will produce 6,000 megawatts of power. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The historic Rajghat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, is being properly maintained despite the normal wear and tear due to daily visits by thousands of people, Delhi High Court was told today. The Rajghat Samadhi Committee, entrusted with maintaining the memorial, submitted before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that Central Public Works Department (CPWD) was responsible for its upkeep and it has rectified all deficiencies at the site. The committee's submission was made in an affidavit in response to allegations in a PIL that the monument was not being properly maintained. The committee has sought dismissal of the plea contending it was an "abuse of process of court" as the petitioner, Shyam Narayan Chouksey, had an alternative remedy of raising the issue. It also contended that the petition was "infructuous" now as the alleged deficiencies in the upkeep of the monument have already been rectified by CPWD. The 'samadhi' and its premises were "proper and well maintained", it said. It further said that procedure was in place for maintenance of the monument and therefore the plea for day-to-day superintendence by the court of the upkeep the site was "neither possible, nor permissible under the law". The petitioner has alleged that the Gandhi Samadhi "was not at all being properly and cleanly maintained" and despite bringing it to the committee's attention, there was no change in the situation. He also sought directions to the Rajghat Samadhi Committee "to carry out repair and maintenance work". The petitioner alleged that there were betel stains at the entrance to the memorial, floor tiles were broken, rubbish was found lying around, white marble had gone black due to lack of cleaning and the green carpet laid for visitors to walk was damaged. All the allegations have been refuted by the panel in its affidavit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 39-year-old garment trader was shot dead by two unidentified bike-borne assailants in Prasad Nagar area of central Delhi this evening. The victim, Pradip Kapoor, who had a garment shop in Karol Bagh, was going back home on his bike when the accused shot him around 8 PM, a police officer said. A police team reached the spot after getting a PCR call and rushed Kapoor to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The matter is being probed, police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP today alleged that the Kerala government's agreement with self-financing medical college managements on seat sharing and fee structure for MBBS and dental courses was against the spirit of the recent Supreme Court order that the state has power to regulate admissions and fix fees in such institutes. Levelling serious corruption charges against the government over the matter, senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan demanded immediate resignation of Health Minister K K Shailaja. Shailaja held meetings with private medical managements association representatives, based on which both parties agreed to increase existing fees for all, barring 20 per cent seats allocated for students belonging to BPL category. Muraleedharan, also a former president of the state BJP unit, said the apex court's Constitution Bench had on May 2 said that "fundamental rights of private unaided professional colleges must yield to public interest and rights of the students at large." He alleged that the state government deliberately did not cite this key judgement before Kerala High Court when it considered a petition by private medical college managements, challenging the government order, directing the Commissioner for Entrance Examination to hold admission to all seats, including NRI and management, in self-financing medical and dental colleges in the state. "By doing so, the state government was indirectly helping private medical college managements to win the case," he said. "Later, the agreement reached between the state government and private medical college managements paved the way for them to amass huge capitation fees from students from all sections. It is scandalous," he said. Muraleedharan said the Central government and Supreme Court had said that admission for medical and dental courses shall be conducted from the NEET list on the basis of merit. "But here in Kerala, the stands taken by the Central government and the apex court on the issue are violated," Muraleedharan argued. Terming the agreement between the state government and self-financing college managements as "illegal", he said the state BJP would seek all legal options to challenge it before the court of law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ministry has brought more grades -- cold-reduced (CR) low carbon sheets and strips, hard-drawn wire and cold-rolled strips -- under the Quality Control (QC) order. The move is expected to check the rampant import of cheap products into the country, especially from China, Japan and South Korea. Under the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) (Second Amendment) Order, 2016, which amended the Steel and Steel Products (QC) Order, 2015, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has increased the grades of CR low-carbon, CR strips and hard-drawn steel wire, a fresh notification said. This is the second amendment. The original notification, which was first published in December 2015, was earlier amended in March 2016. Under the latest amendment, the ministry has included all grades of hard-drawn steel wire, certain grades of CR low carbon steel sheets and strips and those of CR steel strips. To ensure only quality steel is produced or imported into the country, the government notified Steel and Steel Products (QC) Orders, 2012 in March 2012 and Steel and Steel Products (QC) Orders, 2015. To check imports, India had slapped a minimum import price (MIP) on 173 steel grades in February this year, but shrank the list to 66 while extending the safeguard measures in August. Now, it is bringing the steel products excluded from the MIP under the anti-dumping duty ambit. The positive impact of various safeguard measures taken to check surge in imports is being reflected in in-bound shipments of the metal declining 34.5 per cent to 3.01 million tonnes (mt) in April-August of 2016-17 compared with the year-ago period. Import in August fell 36 per cent to 0.62 mt over August 2015 and 2.2 per cent over July 2016. The government today reviewed the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on the domestic economy and employment generation amid concerns that these pacts may be helping trading partners more than India. The meeting of various ministries to discuss the preliminary findings of a report on these pacts was chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. During the meeting, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian gave a presentation on the working of FTAs. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who attended the meeting, said the review of FTAs is a continuous process and "this one was also" on those lines. According to sources, in his presentation Subramanian highlighted the impact of FTAs on employment generation. It was also decided in the meeting to hold stakeholder consultations to assess the impact of these pacts on employment generation. Industry representatives including exporters have time and again raised concerns that these agreements implemented by India with other nations has benefited more to its trading partners than the domestic industry. India has implemented these agreements with several countries including Japan, Korea and Singapore as well as the Asean group. It is also negotiating similar pacts with several regions, including the European Union, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. When asked whether there was any discussion related to devaluation of rupee to promote exports, Sitharaman said: "I have not said and I am not saying anything on devaluation". "There was nothing discussed on it," she said. Worried over continuous slowdown in exports, the Commerce Ministry is pressing for better exchange rate policy, alignment of freight rates with global standards and a liberalised visa regime to boost shipments. As part of the strategy to boost both exports of goods and services in the long run, the ministry is working on the three important pillars -- exchange rate, visa regime and freight rates. Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia and other senior officials attended the meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to promote export finance, the government recently constituted a panel headed by the finance secretary to look into various issues, including higher capital infusion in Exim Bank. The panel, which will submit its report to the government in six weeks, will also examine the issue of capital support for Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC). The 10-member panel approved by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also includes economic affairs secretary, commerce secretary, financial services secretary and disinvestment secretary, sources said. As per the terms of reference, the panel will examine the need for capital infusion by the government in Exim Bank (Export Import Bank of India) and ECGC. The committee will also look into aspects relating to quantum of dividend to be paid by Exim Bank and ECGC. The panel has been entrusted with the job of examining issues related to widening the role of ECGC by addressing regulatory constraints and also suggesting separate prudential norms and policy guidelines for Exim Bank to be framed by RBI under the master directions. Exim Bank was formed with a mandate to not just boost exports from India, but integrate the country's foreign trade and investment with the overall economic growth. It has been both a catalyst and a key player in the promotion of cross-border trade and investment. ECGC, wholly-owned by the central government, was set up with the objective of promoting exports by providing credit risk insurance and related services. Over the years, it has designed different export credit risk insurance products to suit requirements of Indian exporters and commercial banks extending export credit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Grab, a ride-hailing app that competes with Uber in the Southeast Asian market, has raised USD 750 million (about Rs 5,027 crore) in a funding round led by SoftBank. The funding, which increases Grab's total capital position to over USD 1 billion, also saw participation from new and existing investors. The fresh fund infusion is expected to further heat up competition with the US-based Uber that seeks to expand its operations in the Southeast Asian region after exiting China recently. Interestingly, Japan's SoftBank has also invested a significant amount in Bengaluru-based Ola, which also at competition with Uber in the Indian market. "This latest funding, the largest in the history of Southeast Asia consumer technology, strengthens our ability to pursue those long-term goals as we continue to build on our market leadership," Grab Group CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan said. He added that the company is particularly excited about the growth opportunity in Indonesia, where it sees an almost USD 15 billion market for ride-hailing services alone, as well as the potential to extend GrabPay's platform regionally. Previously, Grab has received investment from Coatue Management (a US investment firm), China's sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation and Didi Kuaidi. In December, Grab had partnered India's Ola, US-based Lyft and China's Didi for collaborating and leveraging each other's technology, local market knowledge and business resources. Since its Series E funding in August 2015, Grab has nearly quadrupled its total number of drivers and active users, as well as rides volume. The Grab app has been downloaded onto over 21 million mobile devices and users have access to over 4 lakh drivers. With up to 1.5 million daily bookings, Grab offers private car, motorbike, taxi, and carpooling services across six countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam in 31 cities in Southeast Asia. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Greek police arrested nine migrants after clashes and a huge fire at an asylum seekers' camp, as the UN warned today that 2016 could be the deadliest year yet for refugees trying to reach Europe. Some 5,000 migrants fled yesterday when dozens of tents and shelters at the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos were torched, in a blaze sparked when migrants of different nationalities got into a brawl. The people arrested - including Afghans, Iraqis as well as one national each from Senegal, Syria and Cameroon - were taken into custody over the violence that led to the fire, a police source said. "Calm has returned to the (island), but the situation is still changing," the source said, adding 40 riot police had been sent to Lesbos. The Moria unrest underscored the ongoing urgency of Europe's biggest refugee crisis since World War II as the UN refugee agency warned fatalities in the Mediterranean could outstrip last year's total of almost 4,000. Billionaire investor George Soros also waded into the fray today by saying he was investing USD 500 million in migrant start-ups. Greek police said the Moria fire destroyed 60 pre-fabricated structures, 100 tents and three shipping containers that housed camp services. "My tent burned down. I've nothing left but the clothes on my back," Hamid, a young Iranian, told AFP. Greek media showed images of women fleeing with babies in their arms although no injuries were reported. A ministerial source said the camp would be rebuilt as soon as possible but in the meantime authorities were placing families in another camp on Lesbos, where there are in excess of 5,600 people, over 2,000 above nominal capacity. Brawls are common among people desperate to avoid being returned to Turkey or their home countries after spending a small fortune and risking their lives trying to escape poverty and persecution. "It is not surprising," said Roland Schoenbauer, a UNHCR representative in Greece, pointing to a "lack of security" at the camp. He reiterated UNHCR's calls for the swift transfer of some migrants on the Greek islands to mainland Europe, saying the island camps had some 6,000 more people to find places for than capacity allowed. Greece overall currently hosts more than 60,000 refugees and migrants, most looking to travel to Germany and other affluent EU countries. But they are unable to do so after several eastern European and Balkan states shut their borders earlier this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government on Tuesday handed over to CBI the double-murder case of a couple and alleged gangrape of two girls in which their kin had alleged the role of cow vigilantes in Mewat district. The probe in the incident has been transferred to the CBI, official sources said here. After the incident last month, Police had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. The Police had come under criticism and public outrage, following the brutal incident that took place in a house located near Manesar-Palwal expressway in a village in Mewat last month. On August 28, Haryana Police had arrested four youths in connection with murder of a couple and gang-rape of two girls after the accused had barged into the family's house in the wee hours on August 25 in a village in Mewat district. On the fateful night, the assailants had first killed the couple, who were 40 years of age, with sharp edged weapons and then injured six other members of the family, all of whom were sleeping in the house, located near the fields in the village. They had also ransacked the house, an isolated structure located in the middle of farmland, and fled with some valuables including cash, police had said earlier. Among the injured included two women, aged 18 and 22 years, who were sexually assaulted by the assailants. They were relatives of the couple, according to police. After committing the crime, the accused had tied the injured with ropes and escaped from the spot. Some residents living nearby found the injured after which the police had been informed about the incident. The family of the victims had alleged that they had informed the police personnel about the cow vigilantes but they chose to ignore it. "They (attackers) asked us 'you eat cow meat'. We said 'no'. They then said 'you eat cow meat'. They said 'we are killing you because you eat cow'. "We told this to the police but they are not doing anything," one of the two victims had claimed. On Tuesday, BSP president Mayawati had lashed out at Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for terming the Mewat gang-rape and double-murder case a "small issue" and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take note of "anti- woman" mentality of a "person occupying such a high post". The Haryana government today handed over to CBI the murder case of a couple and the alleged gangrape of two girls in Mewat district last month in which their kin had suspected the role of cow vigilantes. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has approved the proposal to transfer the case to the central investigating agency, an official spokesperson said. "Keeping in view the demand of the complainant and sentiments of public at large, it was decided to transfer the investigation to the CBI," the official said. The Haryana Police had come under criticism following the brutal incident that took place in a house located near Manesar-Palwal expressway in a village in Mewat on August 25, prompting it to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. On August 28, the police had arrested four youths who had allegedly barged into the family's house and first killed the couple, who were 40 years of age, with sharp edged weapons and then injured six other members of the family, all of whom were sleeping in the house located near the fields in the village. They had also ransacked the house, an isolated structure located in the middle of farmland, and fled with valuables, including cash, police had said earlier. The injured included two women, aged 18 and 22 years, who were allegedly sexually assaulted by the assailants. They were relatives of the couple, according to police. After committing the crime, the accused had tied the injured with ropes and escaped from the spot. Some residents living nearby found the injured after which the police had been informed about the incident. The family of the victims had alleged that they had informed the police personnel about the suspected cow vigilantes but they chose to ignore it. "They (attackers) asked us 'you eat cow meat?'. We said 'no'. They then said 'you eat cow meat'. They said 'we are killing you because you eat cow'. "We told this to the police but they are not doing anything," one of the two victims had claimed. However, the police had said they did not find any evidence supporting the claim. Yesterday, BSP president Mayawati had lashed out at the Haryana Chief Minister for terming the Mewat gangrape and double-murder case as a "small issue" and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take note of "anti-woman" mentality of a "person occupying such a high post". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court today dismissed a petition filed by the father of a teenage girl seeking termination of her pregnancy as she was allegedly "kidnapped, raped and made pregnant". Dismissing the plea, Justice S Vimala said under the IPC, termination of pregnancy was an offence. Besides, in this case, the girl had not given her consent and in fact, wanted to carry the foetus as she had later married the accused. When the consent of the girl could not be dispensed with while aborting pregnancy, the court had no option but decline permission to terminate it, she said. Besides, the right to motherhood was for empowerment of women. Thus, the foetus could not be ordered to be aborted against the wishes of the girl, the judge ruled. The girl, a minor at the time of the crime in February, is a major now and has married the boy accused of raping her. The judge also said it was appropriate that there should be teams of experts comprising doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors in schools and colleges to guide teenagers. "As teenage pregnancy has many problems associated with it, there is a need to create awareness about the same." Referring to the contention of the petitioner that under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the consent of the girl (for sex) was immaterial till the age of 18, the judge said there were some contradictions between certain provisions of the Act and other statutes such as the Child Marriage Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). While as per the IPC, sex with wife (aged 15-18) would not amount to rape, the POCSO does not provide for any such exemption. Such contradictions touched upon the Constitutional validity of the POCSO Act but it could only be decided by a division bench, the judge said, adding, "If deemed appropriate, the Chief Justice could consider posting this matter before a division bench." The petitioner had submitted that his minor daughter was kidnapped on February 13 and rescued subsequently and the accused was arrested. Later, during medical examination, the girl was found to be pregnant. Contending that his daughter became pregnant on account of "rape", he had sought termination of her pregnancy. However, during the hearing of the petition, the girl and the boy appeared in the court and the former said the pregnancy was "not out of coercion" and there should be no order for abortion. Noting that the girl and the boy were married now, the judge said when the marriage was not shown to be void, the plea of the petitioner to terminate her daughter's pregnancy without her consent could not be entertained. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In view of the attacks on some office bearers of Hindu outfits in the state, Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) today sought protection to its leaders in the district. In a petition to the District Collector, the outfit cited incidents of hurling of bomb on the residence of its president, Arjun Sampath and attacks on other leaders, police said. Considering the increased attacks on leaders of Hindu outfits, the authorities should provide protection to HMK leaders, the petition said. The organisation has also urged the administration to bring to book those behind the attacks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake of the Uri terror attack, overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir was reviewed today as Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi met Governor N N Vohra as well as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here. Mehrishi arrived here early this morning, two days after four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists stormed the army base in Uri sector of Baramulla district and killed 18 soldiers, officials said here. During his day-long visit, he called on the Governor and the Chief Minister and discussed the security scenario in the Valley with them. "The Union Home Secretary discussed the matters pertaining to the prevailing situation in the Valley with the Governor and the Chief Minister," they said. Mehrishi held a security review meeting which was attended by top officials from security forces, police and intelligence agencies. The deadly Uri attack and ongoing unrest in Kashmir, which began a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8, were the focus of discussions, the officials said. He was scheduled to arrive here yesterday but postponed the visit by one day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Describing terrorism as an "existential threat", India has said that "hypocrisy" towards the menace is unacceptable and underlined that terrorism is the "principle cause" of the large-scale refugee movement. "It is important to stress that today the geo-politics of the crisis points and proves that terrorism is the principle cause of refugee movements. Can we ignore this fact, we cannot. We do so at our peril," Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar said in his address to the UN General Assembly's first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants here yesterday. Akbar asserted that terrorism is an "existential threat" and "hypocrisy towards this crisis will not do." He underscored that for the millions of people fleeing conflict, war and poverty, terrorism is not characterised as good or bad. "There is no good terrorism or bad terrorism and if you do not know the answer to this question, all you have to do is ask the refugee if he considers any terrorism to be good or bad," Akbar said. Stressing that terrorism is the "biggest danger" to human rights, Akbar said large movements of people across borders serve as a reminder that the world has become a global village. "We can only prosper or perish together, it is best that we learn to live in peace, prosperity and amity," he said. Underlining that "prevention is better than cure", Akbar said the international community has to address issues like terrorism, prevent armed conflict and facilitate development, which will help ensure people are not forced to flee their homeland. "We have to find out what drives them towards seeking refuge. Prevention is better than cure. Perhaps prevention is the only cure," he said adding that preventing armed conflict, countering terrorism, building and sustaining peace to facilitating sustainable development and governance will prevent people from being forced to leave their homeland. Terming the present refugee crisis as "unprecedented," Akbar said the number of people on the move globally is estimated at close to 250 million or one in every 30 persons and three-fourths of all refugees come from just 11 countries. Akabar noted that it is disconcerting that just seven countries host more than half of all refugees and now almost 90 per cent of all refugees are hosted in developing nations. He said it is wrong to assume that host nations do not want refugees. "It is assumed that only host nations do not want refugees. I ask do refugees also want to become refugees. They don't," he said. He said the problem of the refugee crisis has been with the world for a very long time. "Refugees are as old as war. The first consequence of war is death and the second is refugees. There is another kind of person seeking a new haven - the migrant driven by a second cruelty, hunger or economic aspiration, and both phenomenon are visible in the present crisis." Akbar referred to India's "long history" of welcoming people seeking refuge from conflict, war, tyranny and poverty. "India offers refuge not because it has a large bank balance but because it has a large heart," he said. He cited the tumultuous year of 1971 when Bangladesh was fighting for independence and more than a million people from the neighbouring nation took refuge in India to escape the "genocide" that they were facing at home. "People seeking shelter in our country have never been turned back. Our record has been unique," he said. Akbar said nationalism is the "contemporary architecture" of stability and "we understand its importance. "The intersection of human need in a refugee crisis and national imperatives make this a complex issue," he added. Akbar also recalled Mahatma Gandhi's "seminal contribution" to abolishing indentured labour 100 years ago. He said in more recent times, Indian migrants, including a cross section of professionals, skilled and less-skilled workers, have migrated to countries around the world and offered a "positive contribution to the diaspora". He voiced India's commitment to working with all partners beginning next year in developing a global compact to ensuring a safe and orderly migration that is in the interest of all people. (Reopens FGN 5) Akbar also held meetings with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bulgaria's Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov and Guyana Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly yesterday. Sources told An inter-state arms and ammunition supplier who allegedly supplied illegal weapons and hand grenades to Naxals in Jharkhand and gangsters of Najafgarh has been arrested here, police said today. The accused, Raj Kumar Yadav, 27, who was carrying a reward of Rs one lakh on his head, was arrested by a Crime Branch team near Dwarka Sector 18 cremation ground on Sunday, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime branch) Ravindra Yadav said. A pistol, which he tried to fire while he was being nabbed was seized from him along with three live cartridges. Investigations are on to find out his contacts with other gangsters and Naxalites in Jharkhand, the officer said. During interrogation, Yadav said that he was arrested for the first time in 2009 in an Arms Act case registered against him at Uttam Nagar police station. Yadav said that he was lured into supply of illegal arms by one Harcharan Singh. Gradually he came in contact with the gangs of Najafgarh and supplied arms to gangster Vikas Dagar through Harcharan. He said that he had supplied hand grenades to Vikas to eliminate his rival Kishan Pahalwan in Najafgarh, the officer said. He also claimed to have contacts with Left wing extremists in Jharkhand whom he supplied arms and ammunition, the officer added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the first time, a US President was not the second speaker at UN's annual General Assembly's General Debate as Barack Obama arrived late for his last address as the Head of State. Obama missed his turn as the second speaker which promoted President of the General Assembly to call Chad's leader, who was the next speaker on the list, to make his national statement. The US has traditionally been the second speaker in the General Debate after Brazil. Today's address was Obama's eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as America's Commander-in-Chief. After Brazil's President Michel Temer finished his address, President of the General Assembly Peter Thomson said Obama is delayed and has not yet arrived for his speech to the General Assembly. Not waiting for the US President to show up, Thomson proceeded on to the next speaker on the list, inviting Chad's leader to make his address. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Israel have scope for increasing cooperation in areas such as agri-research, dairy and aquaculture, Agriculture Minister said. Singh, who concluded his three-day visit to Israel on Tuesday, led a four-member official delegation to deepen bilateral ties in agriculture. In his interaction with Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel on Monday, Singh emphasised that there is potential for further collaboration in areas such as research, dairy and aquaculture, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. His Israeli counterpart concurred that the potential between the two countries in agriculture is untapped. Singh visited Israel's premium agri institute, Agricultural Research Organisation, where he was briefed about post-harvesting technologies and food processing, areas which offer bright prospects to Indian farmers. The Minister also visited dairy facilities and a desert agriculture facility. Since productivity levels of Israeli dairy is higher, Singh felt that Indian dairy growers can benefit from Israeli expertise. Singh also visited the Shafdan water treatment plant, which is Tel Aviv's main treatment plant that also treats waste water from seven surrounding cities. He discussed the possibility of joining hands with the plant on flagship schemes such as Make in India and smart cities. Agriculture has been a key area of cooperation between the two countries ever since diplomatic ties were established in 1992. Under a bilateral agreement, various Israeli centers of excellence have been set up in India covering a wide span of fields such as fruits, vegetables and horticulture. Against the backdrop of Uri attack, India today apprised New Zealand about Pakistan- sponsored terrorism and pitched for isolating such countries which harbour terrorists. The issue came up when Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is leading an Indian Parliamentary delegation to New Zealand, called on Acting Prime Minister Bill English here. With obvious reference to Pakistan, she raised the issue of state-sponsored terrorism and said India has long been a victim of the dastardly attacks by cross-border terrorists. In this regard, she said all peace-loving countries in the world should come together to fight terrorism. She stressed that time had come to isolate the countries which harbour terrorists, a statement from her office said. India witnessed the latest terror attack emanating from Pakistan on Sunday when four terrorists struck at an army camp in Uri in Kashmir, killing 18 soldiers and injuring about 25. Mahajan noted that India, historically and traditionally, has been a follower of non-violence, believing in living together in harmony to promote prosperity, friendship and peace across the world, the statement said. The Speaker also sought New Zeland's support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a bid for which failed at the June meeting of the grouping. The membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group is imperative for India's clean energy, she told English while noting that nuclear energy is an important component for achieving the goals of sustainable development. India's NSG membership would, therefore, strengthen global non-proliferation objectives and, in that context, India looks forward to the support and cooperation of New Zealand, Mahajan added. With regard to India's candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, the Speaker appreciated New Zealand's recognition of India's credentials. She said both the countries realize the inadequacy of the existing UN systems to respond to challenges that confront the international community. Complementing New Zealand's achievements in dairy and food processing industries, Mahajan said India needs to learn from their remarkable experiences in this particular sector. She invited investors and entrepreneurs from New Zealand to join Indian counterparts in the "Make in India" programme. She further noted that the progress of the FTA negotiations between India and New Zealand has been very encouraging. In her meeting with David Carter, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, Mahajan noted that both India and New Zealand have a healthy tradition of parliamentary exchanges and cooperation. This has added to the friendship and goodwill between the two countries and India looks forward to sustaining this momentum, she said. She commended the Indian Diaspora for playing a constructive and meaningful role in strengthening the bilateral relationship. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) International community continued to condemn the dastardly Uri attack with Germany and Japan today asserting that they stand resolutely with India in its fight against terrorism. Sri Lanka and Bhutan also strongly condemned the terror attack that left 18 soldiers dead and called for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. In a statement, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, without taking Pakistan's name, said every country is responsible for taking decisive action against terrorism emanating from its territory. "Germany stands resolutely at India's side in the fight against terrorism. At the Indo-German counter terrorism consultations, which will take place in a few days' time, we will further discuss the threat to our two countries' societies," he said. He further said, "As is often the case, the terrorists' aim is for the situation to escalate. They want to trigger a spiral of violence. We must not give in to this logic, including in conflicts between India and Pakistan." In its statement, Japan said it condemned terrorism in all forms regardless of its purposes, and strongly reiterated that no act of terrorism can be justified. "Japan expresses its solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. Strongly condemning the terror attack, Sri Lanka said there was an urgent need for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. "In the hour of grief, the Government of Sri Lanka offers its condolences to the families of the victims of the attack," the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said adding the country had grappled with the challenge of terrorism for three decades. Expressing solidarity, Bhutan said it stands with India in the fight against terrorism. "Such heinous acts of terrorism call for the need to step up international cooperation to combat the scourge of terrorism that poses a severe threat to the peace and stability of all countries," the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The US, UK, Russia, France, Canada and Afghanistan have already condemned Sunday's attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scores of candlelight marches were held in Jammu today in remembrance of the 18 soldiers who were martyred in Uri terror attack even as people raised anti-Pakistan slogans and demanded stern action against "those sponsoring terrorism". On Sunday, heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had stormed the army base in Uri in Kashmir killing 18 jawans. Expressing their anguish over the attack, the protesters demanded strong action by India in retaliation to the attack in order "to teach Pakistan a lesson". Members of the civil society, trade associations and religious organisations came out in large numbers at several places in the city to pay their respects to the slain soldiers. "Pakistan has been continuously stabbing India in the back, be it Samba, Kathua, Gurdaspur, Udhampur, Pathankot and now Uri and we are tolerating all this without doing anything," a protestor Pardeep Gupta said. "Every time we are attacked by Pakistan-sponsored, trained and funded terrorists we adopt a week-kneed approach, but this time the Indian government should show some guts and punish those responsible for the killing of our soldiers," he added. The protesters also set on fire an effigy of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. They said the entire country would stand behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi "if he decides to take strong step to teach Pakistan a lesson". Taranjeet Singh, a resident of Vijaypur, said "India is fed up with the daily pin pricks by Pakistan and its threshold of patience has been breached". "If the killing of 18 soldiers does not wake us, nothing else ever will. The incubator of terrorism should be taught a lesson. India must target Pakistan diplomatically and strategically to avenge the killings of our 18 brave men," said Singh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said the state with rich resources was fast emerging as the "gateway of Make in India". "While Mumbai, the Gateway of India, Jharkhand is fast emerging as the gateway of Make in India. Our campaign (Make in India) took off seven months ago with the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this city (Mumbai), during the Make in India week," a press release said quoting Das. Addressing the Road Show -- Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors's Summit 2017, in Mumbai, Das said, "It was the vision of our foremost industrial pioneers, Jamshedji Tata which set the tone for Make in India back in 1907, in Jamshedpur. "Jharkhand has incomparable natural beauty. Its beauty has the potential to pull people from across the oceaons. Jharkhand's people and insitutions, you can witness here amongst us, have made a global mark in areas from manufacturing, to education and sports," he said. "Jharkhand is a rich land. But poverty still looms large within. It is our mission to bring our people out of this poverty. You, the industry and investors, are our partners in this mission. Our governance is policy-driven and one of high integrity," he said. "We call upon one and all to be part of our Mission Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors's Summit 2017, as a team," Das said, reiterating his resolve to synergise education, skill, development, infrastructural development and livelihood generation to empower the youth of Jharkhand and prevent further 'attrition of its human resource'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Launching a road show named 'Momentum Jharkhand' in Mumbai, the Jharkhand government signed eight MoUs with different companies in the western metropolis. The state has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Orient Craft Limited in the textile sector worth Rs 1,500 crore for construction of two parks across a 140-acre land, an official release said. In the education sector, the state signed an MoU worth Rs 350 crore with MNR Education Trust Integrated Medical and Para-medical Education Campus and it would be set up in the next five years on an 80-acre land, it said. According to the MoU with Tata Steel Limited, training would be imparted to youth in soft skill system, in mining and meteorological sector under the CSR, the release said. For a student exchange programme, the state signed an MoU with Tech Mahindra (IT-ITES) for skill development, robotics and cloud computing, apart from setting up incubation centre and BPO. MoU with Desun Hospital & Heart Research Institution is for a 500-bed multi-specialty hospital and for setting up a 300-seat nursing institution and a paramedical institution. The MoU with Fuel would in skill development for the next ten years and another MoU was signed with a company in the e-governance sector. Bokaro Seva Trust and Rama University in Kanpur signed a MoU for a super specialty hospital and medical research worth Rs 100 crore. (REOPENS CES14) The release said the government held its seminal investment promotion road show in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Mumbai, under the banner - Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors' Summit 2017. It was the campaign's second rendezvous with Mumbai following the maiden meeting of the Jharkhand Investment Promotion Board (JIPB) in July this year. "JIPB is a special body for planning and executing strategies to enhance Jharkhand's position as a global business centre," the release said. Speaking on the occasion Jharkhand Urban Development minister Chandreshwar Prasad Singh said "The government of Raghubar Das, on being given the people's mandate, in a matter of just 20 months, achieved political stability for the state. "Our governance systems are focusing on making Jharkhand cities more amenable to housing global communities of investors through a strong focus on the social sector, principally healthcare, education and public recreation." "We call upon investors to invest in our smart city project on Public-Private Partnership basis," he said. Besides solid waste management, multi-modal urban transport and housing for all were key sectors in which the government was soliciting investments, the release said. Speaking on the occasion, Jharkhand HRD minister Neera Yadav stressed on the centrality of the skills development agenda of the government in this campaign. "MoUs have been signed with CISCO, ORACLE and Hewlett Packard among global corporations in the field of skills development, so that Jharkhand is ready for the next phase of technology leveraged industrial diversification. "This strategy will greatly develop the support system that Jharkhand's key industries need to compete globally. Jharkhand's present higher education gross enrolment ratio is 16.1 per cent. "But, I am convinced that soon we will vault over the national average and start aspiring to better global standards. We aim to set up over 600 institutions of higher education over the coming years. I call upon private institutions to partner with us in our mission," she said. In her keynote address, Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma said "Given that Mumbai accounts for a large chunk of the country's industrial output and national GDP, we have come here again to make Jharkhand more visible to the investors of this city." Verma also highlighted some recent MoUs signed by the government of Jharkhand. "We have successfully matched investment opportunities with global industry trends - through focused and dynamic policies catering to a wide spectrum of sectors. These policies are indicative of the larger intent of business reforms," she said adding Jharkhand was about to launch a dedicated Start-up Policy and a highly responsive e-mentoring system for start-up entrepreneurs, and that the Chief Minister recently supervised the inking of MoUs with 42 service providers in the area of skills development. Jharkhand Industries Secretary Sunil Kumar Barnwal presented the state's diverse investment opportunities to the audience, the release said. "The Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, 2016 forms the basic framework of our mission to make Jharkhand the most business friendly state in India. There are several investment ready projects, information on which is publicly through our publication. "The projects span across sectors such as smart city development, electronic manufacturing, BPO, food processing, industrial parks, healthcare and education, etc. We have succeeded in concurrently establishing thriving systems of single window clearance, time bound grievance redress, industry consultation mechanisms and multi-pronged incentive schemes," he said. Barnwal said Jharkhand's air-cargo hub would be inaugurated soon. On the start-up front, Barnwal said the state government has brought on board a team from IIM Ahmedabad to help set up a centralised Start-up Incubation Facility. On the sidelines of the roadshow, the government was scheduled to interact with several venture capitalists to promote the government's Start-up strategy, the release added. Jammu and Kashmir Vichar Manch (JKVM) today condemned the terror attack on the army camp at Uri and demanded "snapping" of diplomatic relations with Pakistan. "We demand snapping of diplomatic relations with terrorism-sponsoring Pakistan by recalling the High Commissioner," a JKVM spokesman said, adding the Central government should declare Pakistan High Commissioner as "persona non grata". "Inflict adequate injury on the enemy (Pakistan) in the retaliatory action and destroy terror infrastructure across LoC and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir," the spokesman said. JKVM said the "preventive steps claimed to have been taken" are proving inadequate to stop Pakistan from carrying out terror strikes repeatedly on the Indian soil. "It is no doubt a failure of the administration to prevent such attacks," he said. JKVM said the attack is a warning sign for the BJP-led NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on several occasions had promised people of the country a retaliation for such acts to stop Pakistan not to repeat its misadventure. "Pakistan had chosen to pay no heed thereby conveying to the India that it does not take the country seriously," the spokesman said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police today said it would file a charge sheet in a rape case against JNU student Anmol Ratan within ten days, as a Delhi court decided to hear his bail plea on October one. Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit fixed the matter for the next date after the counsel for Ratan, accused of raping a 28-year-old fellow student in university hostel, told the court that he will argue on the matter once the final report is filed in the case. Ratan, accused of raping a first-year Ph.D student on August 20, had surrendered before the police on August 25 and is currently in judicial custody. The victim in her complaint at Vasant Kunj (North) police station had said she had posted on her Facebook that she wanted to watch a movie and had asked if anyone had its CD. Ratan apparently messaged her saying he had a copy. Later, he picked her up on August 20 on the pretext of giving her the CD and took her to Brahamputra Hostel, where he stayed. There he allegedly offered her a spiked drink and raped her. Ratan, an AISA activist, was expelled from the association after being accused of rape. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A division bench of the Madras High Court today referred to the Chief Justice an appeal filed by the father of the sole accused in the murder of a woman techie, challenging a single judge's order, rejecting the plea for a doctor of his choice to be present during the autopsy of his son, who allegedly committed suicide in prison. The bench of Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice S Vaidyanathan, who differed in their views on the prayer of appellant R Paramasivan, father of P Ramkumar, directed that the appeal be placed before the Chief Justice for getting the opinion of a third judge. Justice TS Sivagnanam had yesterday turned down the plea of the petitioner and appointed a panel of four government doctors to conduct the autopsy on the body of Ramkumar, who died on September 18 after reportedly biting a live wire at Puzhal Central Prison, where he was lodged. Challenging the order, Ramkumar's father filed the appeal seeking a direction that one of the doctors during the post-mortem should be of his choice to ensure transparency since it was a custodial death. He wanted Dr P Sampathkumar, Vice Principal andHoD, Ramachandra Medical College, Porur, to be present during the post-mortem. When the bench said the doctor was from a private institution, the appellant's counsel cited Supreme Court judgments, allowing the presence of a doctor of the victims' choice. Opposing this, Additional Advocate General Mani said the government had nominated reputed doctors. If the appellant had any doubt, he could challenge the post-mortem report but could not seek a doctor of his choice on "mere apprehension". Besides, he said, the appellant had not questioned the competency of the doctors appointed by the government. After the submissions, the judges expressed a difference of opinion on allowing a doctor of the appellant's choice. Justice Ramesh was for allowing an independent forensic expert to be present during the autopsy, saying it would be in no way prejudicial to the case of the prosecution and would, in effect, fortify the stand of the state about its fairness. However, Justice Vaidyanathan, concurring with the view of the AAG, said an independent person with forensic knowledge would, in fact, lead to creating a doubt in the minds of the public about the arbitrary nature of the conduct of the state machinery. He suggested one more government doctor in the panel, instead of an independent person of the appellant's choice. "Since there exists a difference of opinion with regard to appointment of an independent person to be present at the time of autopsy, between us, Registry is directed to place the matter before the Hon'ble Chief Justice for listing it before a third Hon'ble judge for his opinion," the bench said. It also ordered that the autopsy be not conducted till the decision was taken by the third judge. Ramkumar was arrested for allegedly hacking to death Swathi, a software engineer, on June 24 at Nungambakkam suburban railway station here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today termed the Supreme Court's fresh order on release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as "unimplementable" and called an all party and cabinet meeting tomorrow to decide the next step, even as prohibitory orders were enforced across Bengaluru. As he faced a fresh challenge on the raging Cauvery row at a time when the protests were abating, Siddaramaiah said the Supreme Court has passed an order, since we do not have water, it is very difficult to implement it. It is an "unimplementable order." The Cauvery Supervisory Committee had yesterday asked Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs per day from September 21 to 30 but the apex court today doubled the quantum to 6,000 cusecs till September 27 after Tamil Nadu pressed for water to save its samba paddy crop. The chief minister said Karnataka had placed certain facts based on ground reality before the Cauvery Supervisory Committee but it still passed an order directing the state to release 3,000 cusecs per day between September 21 and 30. He said the Supervisory Committee was constituted by the apex court only which had given a direction on September 5 to Tamil Nadu to approach the panel and also asked Karnataka to file a response to the neighbouring state's plea. Despite all this, the Supreme Court has passed an order today, Siddaramaiah told reporters here, stressing it was "unimplementable". Meanwhile, police have been deployed all over the city to ensure that no untoward incidents happen, a senior Bengaluru Police official said. Karnataka State Reserve Police, City Armed Reserve Police, Rapid Action Force and Quick Reaction Teams have been deployed all over the city, where prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrpC are in force, he said. Siddaramaiah said the state government was awaiting the copy of the Supreme Court order and the state cabinet will meet tomorrow followed by an all party meeting to chalk out the future course of action after consulting legal experts. "... We will discuss the pros and cons of this order. After taking views and opinion of leaders from all parties we will proceed further," he added. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit has also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks, the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award. Keeping in mind the last week's widespread violence over the Cauvery issue in Bengaluru, Siddarmaiah said, "I appeal to the people, especially to people from Cauvery basin to maintain peace; they should not get carried away by emotions". "Government is committed to protect the interest of the state, its people and its farmers. Every one should cooperate," he said. Soon after the Supreme Court's order, Siddaramaiah held meetings with senior Ministers and officials. As the Supreme Court order came, sporadic protests erupted in Mandya, Mysuru, Srirangapatna and nearby areas with farmers demonstrating on the streets. In Mandya district, the epicenter of Cauvery agitation, protesters at several places blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place across the state, especially in the Cauvery basin area to ensure there is no repeat of the September 12 like situation, in which violence erupted in the city following reports of of attack on Kannadigas and their properties inTamil Nadu and the apex court's direction to release 12,000cusecs of water to the lower reparian state then. "We have made all the necessary arrangements to maintain law and order. I humbly request people to maintain peace," Home Minister G Parameshwara said. He said the government is with the people and assured that that it is committed to protect Karnataka's land and water. Both the opposition parties -- BJP and JD(S) have demanded that the state government immediately convene a Assembly session to discuss the issue. Terming the Supreme Court order as "unfortunate", state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa said "I am terribly disappointed by this most impractical, unscientific and grossly unfair verdict which seems to have been given without taking into consideration the genuine plight being faced by Karnataka on many fronts, including inadequate water for drinking water purpose to six major cities and 600 villages". He also held the state government singularly responsible for this "disastrous consequence". Calling the order as "death blow" to the state, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy expressed unhappiness about the "injustice" caused to the state in the federal system. "...Judgement needs to be appealed to a fuller bench. Perhaps, the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court itself must sit now and look into the constitutional aspects of what is involved in this pervert judgement," Congress leader S M Krishna said. Asked whether he thinks the Prime Minister should intervene, he said, "This is the matter between the Supreme Court, the tribunal; I don't know how government of India comes into picture". Commonwealth Games champion P Kashyap advanced to the main draw of the men's singles competition of Japan Super Series after registering twin victories in the two rounds of the qualifiers here today. In the opening match, Kashyap hardly had to break any sweat as his opponent Austria's David Obernosterer retired while lagging 3-11 in the first game to hand over victory to the Indian. In the second match, Kashyap brushed aside Denmark's Anders Antonsen, seeded fourth, 21-18 21-12 to set up a clash with fellow Indian K Srikanth in the main draw. However, in women's singles, Tanvi Lad fought hard before going down 21-19 18-21 9-21 against Japan's Chisato Hoshi. Besides Srikanth, H S Prannoy, Ajay Jayaram, B Sai Praneeth will start their campaign in the main draw tomorrow at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik today said the Raj Bhavan was "keeping a close watch" on the volatile political situation in the state, resulting from a bitter internal feud in the ruling Samajwadi Party but ruled out ordering a floor test as demanded by opposition parties. "We are keeping a close watch... This is being done so that we may intervene effectively in case of a crisis", Naik told reporters. He was replying to queries about the ongoing political tug of war between factions led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle and senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav. In reply to another query, the Governor said "there have been demands by some parties for a floor test. Their contention is that due to the rift within the ruling party, the government in the state has ceased to enjoy the confidence of a majority of the members of the state assembly". "But we need to remember that this is election season for UP and in times like these parties tend to make contentions that are over the top", he added. The Governor, who was here to take part in the convocation ceremony at an agricultural institute on the outskirts of the city, refused to speak further on the issue. "I am holding a constitutional post and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the affairs of a political party," Naik added Yesterday, Shivpal, who has been made SP's state unit chief by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in place of Akhilesh, expelled seven party functionaries, including three MLCs, considered close to Akhilesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jubilation marked Kohima, the capital city of Nagaland as it was included among the third list of 27 cities to be taken up as Smart City announced by the Centre today. Nagaland Parliamentary Secretary for Municipal Affairs, R Tohanba termed the inclusion of Kohima into the Smart Cities list as "great achievement". "We are very happy and proud to be listed for the project," he said. He also attributed the achievement to cooperation and support of the people of state capital, including Naga Mothers' Association, Naga Students' Federation and citizens of Kohima Village under whose jurisdiction Kohima City falls. Acknowledging Central government for selecting Kohima for the Smart City project, he expressed hope of reaching the citizens with improved infrastructure and facilities. Under the project, the city will have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, improved transportation, IT connectivity, e-governance, better security, public parks among others. As part of the project each city will receive Central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore over the three subsequent financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre's contribution. The government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the Container Corporation (Concor) introducing a direct freight train from Nagpur ICD to Krishnapatnam Port, the private sector facility is looking to attract importers and exporters from Vidarbha and the neighbouring Chhattisgarh. Its location with vast hinterland around makes Krishnapatnam Port -- 180 km off Chennai -- a natural choice for cargo originating from and destined for Southern and Central regions. The port has a dedicated four-lane road connecting NH-5 which is capable of handling 8,000 trucks per day and a 23-km double line rail with an on-dock rail adjacent to the container yard which provides rail connectivity between the port and the Chennai-Kolkata rail network. The road and rail connectivity provides seamless movement of cargo from the port to hinterlands of southern Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, eastern Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and eastern Maharashtra, and we are keen to look at the businessmen from these regions to improve traffic, Krishnapatnam Port Company chief executive Anil Yendluri said here. Krishnapatnam is a multi-port and specialises in all commodities and handles bulk cargo like coal, iron ore, fertilisers, minerals, agri products; liquid cargo like edible oils, project cargo, containerised cargo and so on, said its director Vinita Venkatesh. The port has specifically built infrastructure around customer needs for these cargoes, she added. Yendluri further said all cargo into and out of Nagpur so far have been moving in the wrong direction-higher cost and time but lower efficiency. Moving the same through Krishnapatnam Port can take care of this he said, adding the same is the case with cargo coming in from China and other south Asian countries to Nagpur and the surrounding regions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Kuwaiti court sentenced a ruling family member to three years in prison today on charges of insulting the Gulf state's ruler and other royals. Any criticism of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah can result in charges of insulting him. Dozens of opposition activists have been jailed for the offence in recent years. The charges against Sheikh Abdullah Salem Al-Sabah, grandson of the emir's late half-brother Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, stemmed from video messages he posted on Snapchat early last year in which he strongly criticised the functioning of the government. Al-Sabah family members hold all the main cabinet posts and Sheikh Abdullah singled out several of them for criticism. The court ordered that he pay $16,500 in damages to one of them. He can appeal his conviction. It is not Sheikh Abdullah's first run-in with the Kuwaiti authorities. In 2012, he was questioned for posting comments on Twitter deemed sympathetic to the opposition and critical of the emir. In June last year, he was detained for 10 days pending interrogation for criticising the emir. The following month, a court acquitted him in a similar case. Among the dozens of dissidents jailed for criticising the emir in recent years is prominent opposition leader and former MP Mussallam al-Barrak, who is serving a two-year term for comments he made at a public rally. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The LDF government today announced a comprehensive housing plan for the homeless, educational sector reforms, schemes to modernise public health system and a project to preserve water sources and develop agriculture. The requisite funds would be partly mobilised from the public, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. The housing scheme envisages a complete livelihood package for the homeless and landless in the next five years, he said. Giving details of the projects during the cabinet briefing here, Vijayan said government planned to implement the schemes through people's participation. "The projects cannot be implemented with government funds alone. So the resources for them will be mobilised from the public. Anyone can contribute for the projects", he said when asked the source of funds for the schemes. For resource mobilisation and implementation of projects, a special task force would be constituted. A state-level Empowered Committee would co-ordinate the projects, he said. The committee has been asked to prepare detailed project reports for cabinet approval before November 1, he added. There would be state-level, district level and civic level committees to implement the schemes, he added. Under the programme, a string of model residential complexes, where a large number of people can be accommodated together, will be constructed in select locations to overcome the issue of shortage of availability of land, he said. On the education sector, besides the already announced programme to upgrade 1,000 public schools to International standards, schools in the higher education sector would be made high-tech, he said. "Along with giving importance to the mother tongue Malayalam, prominence will also be given to promote English language," the CM said. Efforts would be made to improve internet connectivity in government schools to make them more IT friendly, he added. PHCs would be modernised and as a first step, basic infrastructure of medical colleges would be upgraded, he said. Under the 'haritha Keralam' project, emphasis would be to preserve water sources and develop agriculture, especially organic farming and schemes for waste disposal, Vijayan said. "Government wants to implement all the schemes with the full people's participation', he said. (REOPEN MDS7) The Cabinet also decided to appoint Sushil Khanna, professor at IIM, Kolkata, as a consultant to study the issues of the ailing Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. "He has been asked to give a report within three months', Vijayan said. Operation management, financial management and HR management are some mattersin the terms and reference, he added. Actor Liam Hemsworth says he indulged himself in a workout session to prepare for his shirtless scene in "The Dressmaker". The 26-year-old actor, plays Kate Winslet's love interest in the upcoming movie, reported E! online. "I didn't eat for weeks," Hemsworth jokingly said. The Australian actor, however, did do a mini-workout before shooting his shirtless scenes. "I did some push-ups in my trailer. Anytime you're going to come out and take your top off, it's good to do a couple of push-ups. It's very difficult to come out and just take your clothes off." Hemsworth says after he wrapped up the filming he celebrated with burgers and fries. "I think I ate a lot of chips after that day. As soon as you get your shirt off scene done you're like, all right, let's head to McDonald's or wherever. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra government is expected to join hands with Hewlett Packard Enterprise with an aim to digitally transform 28,000 villages across the state. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is on a two day tour to the USA, visited HP in San Francisco and had a meeting with CEO Meg Whiteman. "HP is keen to partner with Govt of Maharashtra for MahaNet-an ambitious program of GOM to take digital fibre to 28,000 Gram panchayats," the CM said on Twitter. By digitally empowering these 28,000 villages, it will ensure efficient governance, best healthcare and education facilities, Fadnavis tweeted. The Chief Minister,who left for the trip on Sunday night, reached San Francisco late yesterday. He is in the US to participate in the Oracle Open World 2016. Fadnavis is the first CM invited there to deliver a keynote address before the global tech experts. Fadnavis on reaching San Francisco said the agenda of his visit was "Maharashtra's economic growth and employment generation." Oracle will sign an MOU with the state government to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for Smart City initiative (which includes funding and nurturing three smart cities of Kalyan-Dombivali, Mira Bhayander & Pimpri Chinchwad). (REOPENS BES19) Meanwhile, Monique Meche from Amazon met Fadnavis and announced that Amazon web services will partner with the Maharashtra government to create ecosystem for startups at Pune. "Government of Maharashtra & @amazon will also work to create an eMarkert for small farmers with a backup of supply chain," Fadnavis tweeted. "This will give market access to small farmers to enable better product realisation and to give a better value to their products," the Chief Minister said in another tweet. A local court on Tuesday posted to September 22 the two cheque bounce cases filed against businessman by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. Third Special Court Magistrate M Krishna Rao had on April 20 convicted Mallya, A Raghunathan, a senior official of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, in connection with two cheque bounce cases involving Rs 50 lakh each, under relevant sections of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The matter relates to cheques issued by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), which operates Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, towards charges for using the facilities at the airport for Kingfisher Airlines flights. A member of the legal team representing GHIAL on Tuesday submitted before the court that fresh addresses of the Kingfisher Airlines and have to be secured. The court was further informed that Raghunathan had appeared before different courts here in the past few days in connection with NBWs issued against him after he had moved the High Court, and got the warrants recalled. "However, as regards Raghunathan, he has not appeared before this court. For this the complainant wants the case to be posted to September 22 as Raghunathan is to appear in some other courts in the (same) court complex premises on that date. On the request of complainant, call on September 22," the Magistrate said. Hence, the order on quantum of punishment was again adjourned as the warrant issued against Raghunathan was still pending. The court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against Kingfisher Airlines, its chairman Mallya and Raghunathan on the ground of dishonouring the two cheques.It had earlier said that before imposing the quantum of punishment, it would hear the plea of the convicts (Mallya and others, who have so far not appeared/attended the court), and then pass its order with) regard to sentencing them or imposing fine or both. As per the GMR counsel, a total of 17 cases have been filed against Kingfisher Airlines in different courts over outstanding amount of Rs. 22.5 crore, which it owes to GMR. The cases are in different stages of trial. Amid rising unrest among tribals of Palghar over deaths of children due to malnutrition, Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde is scheduled to visit the district tomorrow. In view of her visit, Palghar district administration has issued prohibitory orders in two villages in view of Munde's visit. Another state minister Vishnu Savra had recently faced the wrath of tribals over malnutrition deaths. Talking to reporters here, Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya said, "Pankaja Munde would be visiting Jawhar and Mokhada talukas of Palghar district tomorrow along with some of our officials to take stock of the situation there. They would be interacting with district officials and also listen to the villagers." He added that the state is preparing a policy that will be aimed at balancing the infant mortality rate and reduce malnutrition in the district. "To prepare a strategy for the policy, the Health and Women and Child Development departments will come together and suggest ways that will be aimed at stopping deaths due to malnutrition," Kshatriya said. According to him, the government would also seek help from civil society groups and NGOs for the preparation of the policy. District Collector Abhijit Bhangar directed for orders under CrPC section 144 to be clamped in a radius of one km of Koch and Kalamwadi villages of Mokhada taluka tomorrow from 7 am to 8 pm, an official release said. Prohibitory orders have also been issued considering that some local activists may disrupt her visit. "The order was issued due to the visit of Munde to the villages to meet the family members of the two children who recently died due to malnutrition," the statement said. Tribal Affairs minister Vishnu Savra, who is also the Guardian minister of Palghar district, had recently faced the anger of a tribal woman whose two-year-old son died last month apparently due to malnutrition. During his visit to the grief-stricken family in Mokhada taluka, villagers claimed over 600 children had died in the tribal-dominated district due to malnutrition since January last. (Reopens BES 43) Meanwhile, the Shramajivi Sanghatana late tonight warned that they would not let minister Vishnu Savra enter Mokhada taluka during Munde's scheduled visit tomorrow. The statement issued by Palghar unit chief of the Sanghatana, Suresh Renjad, also said that the prohibitory orders, which will be in force in two villages of Palghar district tomorrow, snatches away the constitutional rights of people. An arms smuggler was today arrested with eight illegal weapons in Karauli district of Rajasthan, police said. Following a tip off, the accused Ashok was held from Shri Mahaveerji railway station and eight illegal firearms (country-made pistols and guns) were seized from his possession, IG ADG Crime Pankaj Singh said. He is currently being interrogated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The man, who had allegedly thrown ink at Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia outside the Lieutenant Governor's office yesterday, was today sent to judicial custody for a day by a Delhi court. Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh remanded 42-year-old Brijesh Shukla in judicial custody till tomorrow when he was produced before the court by police and his counsel moved a bail application. The court also fixed hearing of Shukla's bail plea for tomorrow in which he has claimed that the allegations against him were "false and fabricated" and he had not created any hurdle for public servant in performing duty. The application filed through advocate Rajesh Kumar said his client's custody was no more required as the investigation of police was almost complete and recovery has also been made. Shukla, a resident of Karawal Nagar in north east Delhi and President of Swaraj Janta Party, told the reporters outside the courtroom that he does not regret throwing ink at Sisodia. Shukla, who was arrested yesterday for allegedly thrown copious amount of ink at Sisodia, had then said he was angry with the Deputy CM for his Finland tour at a time when the city was grappling with a health crisis. Shukla has been booked under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC. Police has also alleged that the accused had manhandled the constable on duty. The complaint against Shukla was filed by C Arvind, the secretary of the Deputy Chief Minister. Shukla been actively engaged in protests against the AAP government over various issues and has also filed a complaint in court against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maratha Surajya Sangh, an organisation working for the welfare of Maratha community, today announced to hold rallies in three districts of the Konkan region on September 27 to press for various demands. "We have named this silent rally as 'Maratha Kranti Morcha' and it would be held on September 27 in three districts- Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. The objective is to sensitise the government and other machinery about our demands," state head of the organisation Pranay Sawant said. He hold Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar responsible for the "plight" of the community, which comprises "33 per cent of the total population" in the state. "Pawar is responsible for the backwardness of the community, which comprises one third population of the state. Despite being the most influential leader, he did nothing for his own brothers and the demand for Maratha reservation took a backseat under his regime," he alleged. The community, which is pre-dominant in Maharashtra politics, has been taking out silent marches in various towns in the state over the last one month, following the alleged rape and murder of a girl in Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district, two months ago. The victim was a Maratha, while the accused were Dalits. The community leaders have been demanding scrapping of the the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), saying it is grossly misused, and also reservations for Marathas in educational institutes and government jobs. On September 3, lakhs of people attended the rally in Parbhani and silently protested against the rape and murder of the 14-year-old Maratha girl on 13 July. Similar silent protests were held in Jalna and Latur cities yesterday, reportedly attended by several lakhs of people collectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of Home Affairs, which has approved the Road Map-V for Bru Repatriation proposed to commence from November first week, will soon release funds for expenses of the process, Mizoram Home department's Additional Secretary Lalbiakzama today said. Lalbiakzama told PTI that the state government prepared Road Map-IV for Bru Repatriation last year for which Rs 68 crore expenditure was projected. The state government incurred an expense of few crores of rupees as the actual repatriation, proposed to be undertaken between June 2 and September 4 last year, failed to be implemented as not a single Bru came forward to be identified as bona fide resident of Mizoram. Lalbiakzama said that the Ministry of Home Affairs had released around Rs 9 crore for last year's process. The proposed repatriation process this year (Roadmap V) would begin by conducting identification of bona fide residents of Mizoram in the relief camps by officials from the first week of November. Lalbiakzama said a large number of Mizoram government officials would go to the relief camps in groups and conduct identification process in all the camps simultaneously to save time and ensure early commencement of the actual repatriation. Identification process would be conducted in Naisingpara, Asapara, Kaskau, Khakchangpara, Hamsapara and Hazacherra relief camps and those willing to return would be re-settled in 13 villages in Mizoram-Tripura-Bangladesh border Mamit district. Brus, who migrated en masse from Mizoram to Tripura after the murder of a forest guard inside Mizoram-Bangladesh-Tripura border Dampa Tiger Reserve on October 21, 1997 by Bru militants, have been lodged in the six relief camps in North Tripura district since then. While a number of families have returned, many of them chose to remain in the relief camps, making a series of demands as conditions for their return to Mizoram. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) City town planning authority MMRDA today said it has appointed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as the interim consultant for the 23.6-km DN Nagar to Mandale Metro-2B and the 32-km Wadala-Ghatkopar-Mulund-Thane -Kasarvadavli Metro-4 corridors. The Executive Committee of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), headed by Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya accorded administrative approval to the appointment of DMRC as the interim consultant for the two metros. The Committee also approved the appointment of Ayesha Ingenieria Y Arquitectura SAU as the general consultants for the 16.5-km Andheri (East) to Dahisar (East) Metro-7 corridor and the 23.6-km DN Nagar to Mandale Metro-2B corridor. "DMRC is expected to prepare tender documents, invite tenders and assist MMRDA in evaluation of the tenders for the two metros while Ayesha are expected to supervise construction at various levels including depot and systems work for them," MMRDA said in a statement issued here. "Considering the ever growing population, growing number of vehicles in the city, overcrowded suburban rails and the loss of human life caused by the congestion in local trains; Metro rail appears to be the perfect solution and that is what the state is catering to," Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan said. The Committee has further given its approval for appointing Simplex Infrastructure to construct two flyovers and a road (in the first phase) to decongest the Kalanagar junction. It also approved the appointment of Padeco Co as general consultants to monitor and supervise design and construction of two elevated roads--1.3km elevated road from MTNL junction to LBS Flyover and the 3.89-km elevated road from Kurla (Kapadia Nagar) to Vakola near Western Express Highway, to clear traffic congestion at Bandra-Kurla Complex and Santacruz-Chembur junctions. The MMRDA has planned four flyovers and a road at Dharavi to decongest the Kalanagar junction. In the first phase there will be two flyovers--one from BKC to Bandra-Worli sea link and another from the link to BKC, which will be constructed to be supported by a stilt road, on a government land, that will run from Dharavi towards the link. The two other flyovers--one from BKC to Western Express Highway and another from Dharavi to Western Express Highway - will be implemented in the second phase. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expressing displeasure over the progress in the probe in a case of alleged molestation of a TMC student leader and her mother by goons, the Calcutta High Court today directed the SP of North 24 Parganas district to file a report on the role of the inspector in-charge and investigating officer. Hearing a petition by the girl alleging police inaction, Justice Dipankar Dutta directed the SP to file the report on the role of the two officers of Madhyamgram police station in North 24 Parganas district by Tuesday, when the matter would be taken up for hearing again. Justice Dutta expressed surprise at the police failing to record the girl's statement before a judicial magistrate under section 164 of CrPC. Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee, counsel for the girl, submitted that a statement before a magistrate was mandatory if an accused is charged under section 354(B) (assault on woman with intention to outrage her modesty) of IPC, which is the case herein. The judge also voiced displeasure over lack of proper security to the girl and her mother and on the progress in the investigation despite the incident having taken place on May four this year. Two FIRs have been logded against the alleged perpetrators who had reportedly been demanding a hefty sum from the family of the girl, who is an elected leader of Trinamool Congress Students Union of Sarojini Naidu College in the district, for having done some construction work in their house. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Country's MSME sector requires more financial support from the banks to set up businesses, but the business proposals will have to be viable to attract funding from the banks, a senior government official has said. "The MSME sector requires more financial support from the banks to set up businesses. Since credit facilities are not easily available for the sector, MSME business proposals have to be viable enough to attract funding from the banks," S N Tripathi, Union Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, said here today. Speaking at the 7th National Conference on 'MSME Financing and Strengthening MSME Linkages' organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Tripathi said "it is therefore very important for the new startups to ensure that they come up with good and viable proposals which have a lot of potential and future sustainability." Describing the MSME sector as backbone of India's economic growth, Tripathi also highlighted the schemes and new policies introduced by the Centre to promote the MSME sector and new start-ups in the country. The Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small enterprises (CGTMSE) had already been launched with an objective to make credit available to Micro and Small Enterprises for loans upto Rs 100 lakh without collateral or third party guarantees, Tripathi said. Stating that Indian banks prefer to give asset-based loan and not proposal-based funding to new businesses, Tripathi suggested to the banks to focus more on good proposals to encourage new businesses to come forward. Talking about various schemes and support, he informed that the Centre has approved "Technology Centre Systems Programme (TCSP)", under which 15 new technology centres would be developed and other existing centres would be upgraded. To make the MSME sector more competitive, the ministry has given infrastructure assistance to develop clusters under the lean manufacturing scheme. Also schemes have been introduced for training and research purposes to enhance competitiveness of the sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) has successfully tested a new, high-powered rocket engine, state media said on Tuesday, a move Seoul said was designed to showcase its progress towards being able to target the US east coast. The ground test comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang detonated what it said was a miniaturised atomic bomb. Taken together, the two tests raise the prospect that the isolated state could be inching towards its ultimate goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could hit Washington DC. State-run news agency KCNA trumpeted the engine test, which it said would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites". Rocket engines are easily re-purposed for use in missiles, and outside observers say that Pyongyang's space programme is a fig leaf for weapons tests. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un hailed the test and called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come", KCNA said. A geostationary satellite must be propelled to an altitude of 36,000 kilometres, a Unification Ministry official was quoted as saying by South Korea's official Yonhap news agency. "The distance to the eastern part of the United States is some 12,000 kilometres. The North is thus showing off its ability" to hit the US east coast, the official added. Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at the South's Korea Aerospace Research Institute said such an engine would represent "a technical leap forward" in developing launch vehicles. It suggests the North is "coming close to having an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland". Pyongyang regularly parades homegrown missiles and boasts of its plan to develop long-range missiles capable of targeting America. It has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches, most recently in February, and has fired missiles from a submarine. A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile system would allow deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a "second-strike" capability in the event of an attack on the North's military bases. After supervising the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians "to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible", KCNA reported. Kim "expressed great satisfaction" with the results of the test, according to KCNA, and said the North had made cutting-edge scientific advances despite difficult economic conditions. US President Barack Obama today asked nations engaged in "proxy wars" to end them, warning that if communities are not allowed to co-exist, the "embers of extremism will continue to burn" causing sufferings to countless human beings and export of extremism overseas. In his eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as the US President, Obama admitted that the extremist and sectarian violence destabilising the Middle East and spreading elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed." "No external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long," Obama told the world leaders gathered here for the 71st UN General Assembly session. "Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer and extremism will continue to be exported overseas," he warned. "Across-the-regions conflicts, we have to insist that all parties recognise a common humanity and the nations end proxy wars that fuel disorders," he said. India accuses Pakistan of waging a proxy war by supporting, arming and training militant groups like Jaish-e- Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba who launch cross border attacks. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed by heavily armed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militants who stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Obama's remarks a day after his Secretary of State John Kerry asked Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using his country's territory as safe havens. In his speech, Obama recounted the progress made in the last eight years of his presidency and said "from the depths of the greatest financial crisis of our times we coordinated a response to avoid further catastrophe and return the global economy to growth." "We have taken away terroristsafe havens, strengthened the non-proliferation regime, resolved the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba...And we welcome a democratically elected leader of Myanmar to this Assembly," he said. Obama said that the international community must reject any forms of fundamentalism, racism or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity. "Instead we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings," he said. He said the collapse of colonialism and communism has allowed more people than ever before to live with the freedom to choose their leaders. "Despite the real and troubling areas where freedom appears in retreat, the fact remains that the number of democracies around the world has nearly doubled in the last 25 years," he said. The US President accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of trying to recover power through force. "In a world that left the age of Empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force, Asian powers debate competing claims of history. There is no easy answer to resolving all these social forces," he said. "If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbours, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervour for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure," he said. Obama said that in the South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarisation of a few rocks and reefs. "We are all stakeholders in this international system, and it calls upon all of us to invest in the success of institutions to which we belong. And the good is, is that many nations have shown what kind of progress is possible when we make those commitments," he said. Obama urged the world leaders to bring the Paris climate change deal into force as soon as possible, saying "If we don't act boldly, the bill that could come due will be mass migrations and cities submerged and nations displaced and food supplies decimated and conflicted born of despair." On the Syrian crisis, Obama insisted that diplomacy is the only way to end the brutal five-year conflict. "There's no ultimate military victory to be won, we're going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence," he said. He also called for the international community to step up aid for refugees, saying "We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home." On North Korea's recent move to test nuclear bomb, Obama said such steps "endangers all of us" and any country that endangers global security must face consequences. "Those nations with these weapons, like the United States, have a unique responsibility to pursue the path of reducing our stockpiles, and reaffirming basic norms like the commitment to never test them again," he added. The controversy over which lawyer would represent sacked Delhi minister Sandeep Kumar, arrested on rape charges, came to an end today after the AAP MLA told a special court that he has neither changed his advocate, nor was he assaulted inside the Tihar jail. The issue had cropped up when an advocate had last week claimed that he was authorised by Kumar to represent him and that the legislator was beaten up in jail. This was denied the same day by the MLA's wife who had said it was a "political conspiracy" as the lawyer had not been appointed by him. Kumar, who is in judicial custody, was today produced before Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry, who had issued production warrant on the application of his counsel Pradeep Rana to clarify on the issue. When the court asked Kumar as to who is his counsel, Pradeep Rana or A P Singh, the MLA replied he had engaged Rana who was still his counsel. Clarifying on the issue, the MLA said that advocate Singh had come to meet him in jail where he had claimed he was an associate of advocate Rana and asked for his signatures on 'Vakalatnama'. Singh, however, claimed that Kumar had authorised him to file the application seeking security due to purported threat to his life. "Since, you (Singh) are not his counsel, how can you argue on his behalf? You withdraw the application," the court said. The court then dismissed as withdrawn Singh's plea and obseved that "due to this, an unnecessary difficulty has been caused to everybody". "Accused on being asked as to who has been engaged and authorised to appear on his behalf, states that he has engaged Pradeep Rana advocate. In view of submissions made by accused, the application moved by A P Singh seeking direction to jail authorities is dismissed as withdrawn," the judge said. The court also extended the judicial custody of Kumar till October 14. Kumar was arrested on September 3 after a woman had approached Sultanpuri police station in North Delhi complaining of sexual harassment against the ex-Social Welfare and Women and Child Development minister, following which a case was filed. The woman had figured in an objectionable video with him. The MLA from Sultanpur Majra was removed from AAP government on August 31 by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the CD surfaced. He had defended himself saying he has been targeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court today refused to stay its order directing demolition of top three floors of a residential building near the international airport here due to height regulation violations. A division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade dismissed an application filed by SAILEE Developers Pvt Ltd, which is constructing the six-storey building, seeking stay on the HC order. "The developer had endangered the life of not only those people who travel by flights but also of the occupants of the building. The developer committed fraud by misrepresenting facts before the concerned authorities and procured NOC," the court said. On the last few hearings in the case, the court had said zero tolerance would be adopted for any kind of construction violative of height rules near both domestic and international airports in the city. The court had asked BMC to demolish the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the building. The bench was today informed that demolition of a water tank on the terrace of the building is over and demolition process of the fifth and sixth floor was on. Advocate Rizwan Merchant, appearing for the developer, urged the court to grant them a last chance and approach the BMC for re-verification of the height. Merchant claimed that as per law the fourth floor will fall within the height limits. Advocates S U Kamdar and Praveen Samdani, appearing for Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), however, said the developer was already given a hearing by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) following which the NOC granted to them was revoked. "This matter is much more serious. Our anxiety is only that some untoward incident should not occur," the court said. The court was also told by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) advocates that action is being taken against 112 other structures which are violative of height regulations. The court then directed AAI to conduct an inquiry to ascertain which officer is granting NOCs to such constructions and initiate action against the errant officials. The court was hearing a public interest litigation on the issue and posted the matter for further hearing on October 13. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following the arrests of local city Congress corporator Shamim Ullaha and City Youth Congress vice president Ghulam Uddin, the striking doctors and staff of the state-run City Hospital here called off their indefinite strike today. The doctors and staff were on strike since Monday afternoon demanding adequate security and action against those who had allegedly assaulted one of the medical officers and ransacked the Hospital on Monday. Some people had barged into the Hospital, allegedly manhandled ADMO Abhaya Kumar Patnaik and ransacked the hospital properties when several Congress activists were staging a dharna in front of the Hospital on Monday morning as part of the party's state-wide programme to highlight the deteriorating healthcare facilities in the State. While City Congress chief Md Moqim had denied any role of their party workers in the incident, the doctors and staff of the hospital resorted to cease work demanding action against those involved after registering a police complaint. The city police late on Monday night arrested the Congress corporator and the other party worker on charges of rioting, deter public servant from discharging duty, criminal intimidation and house trespass and forwarded them to court. Condemning the arrests, Congress leader Moqim said his party workers were not involved in Monday's incident. "The police arrested the Congress leaders under pressure from their political bosses and we will fight it out legally and politically", Moqim asserted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A notorious criminal was today arrested and booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) in Bari Brahmna area of Samba district here, a police officer said. Vipan Kumar Gupta was found involved various criminals activities and drug peddling, he said. "Gupta had not only created multifarious law and order problems, but also disturbing the peace and tranquillity in the area. He formed a gang of criminals and was expanding it, and had become a role model for the youth who were interested in indulging in such activities and could go to any extent in order to spread their activities, if he was allowed to go scot-free," the officer said. He said to curtail Gupta's activities, Samba police compiled all his records from various police stations of Samba and other districts and prepared his dossier and get issued warrant under PSA from District Magistrate, Samba for his arrest, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The suspect held on suspicion of carrying out weekend bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey is in critical but stable condition in a hospital, police said today. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was wounded in a shootout yesterday with police in Linden, New Jersey, just four hours after the FBI released his mugshot and sent text message alerts to millions of people. "Critical but stable," New York police commissioner James O'Neill told CBS when asked if the suspect would likely survive. Rahami was shot multiple times and underwent surgery yesterday, the local prosecutor said. He has been charged on five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two unlawful weapons counts. Police are still investigating the motives behind Saturday's bombings in the New York neighborhood of Chelsea, which injured 29 people, and a pipe blast at a US Marine Corps race on the Jersey shore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistani-origin wife of New York and New Jersey bombings suspect left the US just days before the attacks and authorities are now working with Pakistani and UAE officials to get access to her, media reports said today. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born naturalised US citizen since 2011, had married a Pakistani woman and had made at least three months-long trips to both Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2014. US authorities are working with his wife's home country of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates in order to question the woman about what she might have known about the acts of terror, CNN reported, quoting an unnamed official as saying. His wife, whose name has not been revealed, was able to enter the country but left the US just days before the terrorist attacks her husband is suspected of carrying out. What was his motive? Was he working alone? Why did he make lengthy trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan? These are among the questions that have emerged in the wake of the capture of the man suspected of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, the report said. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said. Authorities believe the "main guy" has been caught but the investigation continues to determine if Rahami had help, the report quoted sources as saying. Though FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr., said there is "no indication" of an active operating terror cell in the New York area, evidence suggests Rahami was not acting alone, sources said. Authorities said Rahami is "directly linked" to bombings on Saturday in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, and he is believed to be connected to pipe bombs found in a backpack Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Rahami was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose on Monday, according to the Union County (New Jersey) prosecutor's office. Rahami was wounded in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, yesterday. Rahami was identified through a fingerprint, a senior law enforcement official said. Evidence from the cell phone on the pressure cooker also led to Rahami's identification. Rahami first came to the United States in 1995 as a child, after his father arrived seeking asylum, and became a naturalised US citizen in 2011, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed his travel and immigration record. Rahami traveled for long periods to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last five years, officials said. While in Pakistan in July 2011, he married a Pakistani woman. Two years later, in April 2013, he went to Pakistan and remained there until March 2014, visiting Afghanistan before returning to the United States. Upon returning from both visits he told officials he was visiting family, satisfying any concerns immigration officials had at the time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has backed Pakistan and called on India to immediately cease "atrocities" in Kashmir and peacefully settle the issue in accordance with wishes of Kashmiri people and the UNSC resolutions. OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani yesterday expressed concern over the situation in Kashmir and called for an immediate cessation of atrocities by India, urging the Indian government forpeaceful settlement of the dispute "in accordance with wishes of Kashmiri people and the UNSC resolutions". Expressing their solidarity with the Kashmiri people, the OIC group "reaffirmed their resolve to remain the voice of the Kashmiris' at the international stage." Madani's remarks came after Pakistan Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz addressed a meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir. Aziz referred to the killing of "youth leader" Burhan Wani and the use of pellet guns by Indian forces against Kashmiri protesters following his death. Wani was killed by security forces on July 8. Aziz said such measures cannot break the spirit of the Kashmiri people and their legitimate struggle for self-determination. "Underscoring that the Kashmir dispute remains central to lasting peace and stability in South Asia, the Adviser regretted that India had failed to reciprocate Pakistan's proposal of meaningful engagement for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," according to a statement by the OIC contact group. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Within four months of issuing guidelines related to virtual network operator, the government has received over 70 applications seeking permission to provide telecom services. "Over 70 companies have applied for VNO licence. In this, around 10 applications are for pan-India service," Telecom Secretary J S Deepak told PTI. The virtual network operator (VNO) will be an entity providing telecom services like mobile landline and Internet, but only as a retailer for full-fledged telecom operators such as BSNL, MTNL, Airtel and the like. The entry of VNOs is expected to push down the cost of offering telecom services for the companies and even give them room to slash tariff. As per a DoT official, the list of applicants for pan-India permit includes mobile device maker Datawind, Netraj Technology, Ometa Net Private Ltd, Sistemos Information Technology, Adpay Mobile Payment India, Powerner Communications, Tashee Buildcon, AK Edu Technologies, Intech Infratel and Varoaan Services. When contacted, Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli said the VNO service will have far-reaching implications which will create innovation and opportunity in the sector. "We hope that the processes will expedite and we would be able to offer bandwidth cost advantage to consumers since there is a need to deliver affordable Internet access for the common man. We eagerly look forward to the approvals from the government," he said. For securing a VNO licence, interested companies will need to pay a one-time non-refundable entry fee for authorisation of each service they want to provide and for each service area where they wish to operate. The total amount of entry fee shall be subject to a maximum of Rs 7.5 crore as per the guidelines. "VNO shall use underutilised telecom infrastructure of national telecom operators. This will reduce cost of ownership on telecom companies to provide telecom services at more affordable rates," Internet firm Bluetown's Country MD Satya N Gupta said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan will not succumb to the threats by India and would continue to support Kashmiris' struggle for self-determination, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan said today. "Kashmiris' legitimate and just struggle for self-determination cannot be suppressed by state repression," Khan told Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider Khan who called on him here. According an official statement, the two leaders held detailed discussion on the alleged oppression of innocent Kashmiris by India and the continuing human rights abuses. "Pakistan will not succumb to threats by India and will not shy away from providing political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of occupied Kashmir," he said. He said that the violation of human rights in Kashmir and rejection by India of the UN resolution was a challenge not only for the UN but also for other countries which are considered as champions of democratic values. He said the Indian attitude of hurling baseless allegation at Pakistan and its avoidance to hold meaningful talks with Pakistan are the main hurdle for peace in the region. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Indian Army. India's DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has said all the four killed militants were foreign terrorists and had carried with them items which had Pakistani markings and that initial reports indicated that they belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-E-Mohammed terrorist group. "We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," Lt Gen Singh had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh today said the international community should declare Pakistan a "terrorist state". "Killing soldiers in their sleep is an act of extreme cowardice. India should seal its border," the sect leader said. Singh said a lot of statements have been made across the world about Pakistan but nothing has been done so far. "Statements are not enough. It is time that India moved the international fora to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. Only when their foreign funding is stopped, they might be forced to mend their ways," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two days after the terror attack in Uri, Pakistani troops today violated the border ceasefire in the same sector of Kashmir, targeting Indian army positions with small firearms. However, there was no damage in the incident, army said. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon," an army official said. He said the firing from across the Line of Control took place between 1.10 pm and 1. 30 pm. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. The ceasefire violation comes two days after four Jaish- e-Mohammad militants stormed an army base in Uri Sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four militants were also killed. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Action star Vin Diesel says his "Fast & Furious" costar and friend Paul Walker persuaded him to have children. The 49-year-old actor said his late co-star was instrumental in encouraging him to start a family, reported Female First. "He must've been God-sent because he put me on the right path. He set me up. And when we did the first 'Fast & Furious', I was already 30 years old or something, but he was a father. "When we were in the cars in between takes, he would tell me, 'Hey, Vin, it's not a scary thing to become a father' [and] give me all the good advice. Next thing I know, I am a dad ... (He) is why I named my daughter Pauline because of the credit that Paul Walker deserves in my personal life," Diesel said. The "xXx" star said it was Paul who told him to go to hospital and be there for the birth of Pauline, now 18 months. "Paul was very instrumental in my segue into fatherhood. He was the one that told me to go to the hospital. "He's the one that told me to cut the umbilical cord. He told me to cut the umbilical cord! (He was) the only person, in California, that knew I was about to have a child. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hundreds of physically-challenged persons today protested at the state secretariat here for alleged under-payment of allowance to a visually-impaired couple under the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojna (SGNY). The protesters alleged that the couple was supposed to get Rs 1,200 (Rs 600 each), but was given Rs 900 only. The protest was organised by the Wangani-based National Foundation of Visual Impaired Persons. As the protesters gathered at the Secretariat gate, they started singing 'bhajans' and raised slogans against Maharashtra government, even as the police personnel tried to stop their protest. The police officers led the agitators to Under Secretary of Social Justice department Rajesh Mohite, who assured them a meeting with Minister of State for Social Justice Dilip Kamble on October 4. According to the Association's President Sambhaji Badar, earlier the allowance of SGNY was deposited in their bank accounts directly. "Since last four years, the state has appointed a top private sector bank to disburse the allowance using biometric proofs. It becomes very hectic for us as a bank personnel comes in the village for two or three days," Badar said. "Many a times, normal persons get their allowance with priority and visually-impaired persons are left behind," he claimed. Badar also claimed that in one case, a beneficiary visually-impaired women was forced to come with her 13-day-old child to collect cash as the officials did not give it to her husband. Badar claimed that a bank employee distributed only Rs 900 for a visually impaired couple that should have got Rs 1,200. Badar demanded that their allowance should be deposited directly in their bank accounts. He threatened to block traffic in the city if the Minister does not resolve their issues in the next meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kozhikode in Kerala on September 24 to attend the BJP's three-day national council meeting, a senior party leader said here today. "Upon his arrival in the city in the evening, the Prime Minister will address a public meeting being organised as part of the national council," senior BJP leader and party's former Kerala unit president, V Muraleedharan said. The Prime Minister will attend the BJP meetings on September 24 and 25. Modi will also inaugurate the birth centenary celebrations of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, former Jan Sangh president, at a special function on September 25 evening, he said. The Prime Minister will return to New Delhi after the function, he said. Muraleedharan said BJP Chief Amit Shah would arrive in Kozhikode on September 22 to give leadership to the meetings being organised to mark the centenary year of Deendayal Upadhyayay. Around 1,700 leaders, including Union ministers, Chief Ministers of party-ruled states, MPs, MLAs, party's national leaders and top leaders of the party's various state units will attend the meeting from September 23, said Muraleedharan. Kozhikode was chosen for the national council meeting as Deendayal Upadhayay was elected Jan Sangh president at the party's conclave in that city in December 1967. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala Police today dismissed claims by Ameerul Islam, lone accused in the rape and murder of a Dalit woman law student, that he has no role in the brutal crime and it was committed by one Anarul Islam. When he was produced before the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court, Ameerul Islam denied his role in the rape and murder of the law student at nearby Perumbavoor in April this year. Dismissing his claim, Ernakulam Rural SP P N Unnirajan said all scientific evidence, including DNA analysis and statements given by witnesses had confirmed that the heinous crime was committed by Ameerul Islam himself. Unnirajan, a key member in the SIT headed by ADGP B Sandhya, told a Malayalam TV channel that it was revealed in detailed probe that the person called Anarul Islam was not in Kerala when the incident took place at her small house. "It is quite natural. An accused will always deny his role in a crime. In this case, all scientific and technical evidence clearly suggest that the crime was committed by Ameerul Islam," he said. Meanwhile, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court dismissed Ameerul's bail plea in wake of chargesheet filed in the court. The chargesheet named Ameerul Islam, a native of Assam who was arrested in June as the lone accused in the case and charged him with offences, including rape and murder. Ameerul was arrested on June 16, 50 days after the murder of the 30-year-old law student, which became a major issue in the run-up to the Kerala Assembly election this May. The woman, hailing from a poor family, was raped and brutally assaulted with sharp weapons, before being murdered at her residence on April 28. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi Police team probing the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, is in the US to collect her viscera samples that have been lying with an FBI lab for nearly a year now. The team is likely to return by the end of the week. The US agency has already given its report which will be discussed with a medical board, a senior police officer said. It is just a routine exercise to bring back the samples lying with the FBI lab. The team will also seek details on some points mentioned in the US probe agency's lab report, he said. The step was taken after the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter reminded Delhi Police to get the samples back as was asked by the FBI lab. 51-year-old Sunanda was found dead at a suite in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014, a day after her spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on Twitter over her alleged affair with Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Delhi Police had in January last year registered a case of murder in connection with Sunanda's death. An AIIMS medical board had earlier found poisoning as reason for her death following which the police had sent her viscera samples to the FBI lab in the US. The FBI lab report, sent to Delhi Police in November last year, endorsed the findings of the AIIMS forensic report. As police could not firm up about cause of the death based on the FBI report, they requested a medical board of AIIMS to analyse its content. Several persons including Shashi Tharoor have been questioned in connection with Sunanda's death. The police have also conducted polygraph test on six persons, all prime witnesses in the case, including Tharoor's domestic help Narayan Singh, driver Bajrangi and Sanjay Dewan, a close friend of the couple. In February, Tarar was questioned about her relation with the Congress leader and his wife, her fight with Sunanda over Twitter, and other issues revolving around Sunanda's death. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apolice jawan allegedly committed suicide byshooting himselfwith his service weapon in Chhattisgarh's worst insurgency-hit Sukma district, police said today. The constable Dhirendra Kant (32), who was posted with Kukanar police station, ended his life by shooting himself with his service rifle at his government quarters, adjacent to his work place last evening,Sukma Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela told PTI. When Kant's colleagues heard the gunshot from his room they rushed to the place and found him lying in a pool of blood. Immediately, he was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead, the SP said. A native of Pamgarh area in Janjgir-Champa district, the constable had sustained a fracture injury in his thigh after an incident while he was posted with Golapalli police station of Sukma few months back, the SP said. Considering his request for the transfer, he was recently shifted to Kukanar located on main the road close to Jagdalpur. Kant had returned after leave on September 16 last week, he added. No suicide note was recovered from the spot, the SP said, adding the exact reason which prompted him to take the extreme step was yet to be ascertained. A case has been registered in this connection, he added. Kant's family members were informed and all arrangements have been done to send the body to his native place, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake up Uri attack, Presidents of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka today called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to condemn the "cross-border" terror strike and shared the resolve for sustained efforts to eliminate the threat of terrorism. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani made a phone call to the Prime Minister this morning and expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers. Ghani strongly condemned the cross-border terror attack and conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India for all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism, a PMO statement said. Modi thanked Ghani for Afghanistan's support. Later in the day, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena called up Modi to express condolences over the loss of lives in the Uri attack. Sirisena strongly condemned the cross-border terrorist attack and offered condolences to the families of the victims, the PMO said. The leaders spoke of the need for sustained cooperation among countries of the region to end the scourge of terrorism in the region. Heavily-armed terrorists suspected to be from Pakistan- based JeM stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir on Sunday, killing 18 jawans. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's Prince William today spoke about the "sad, dark moments" he went through in the course of his job as an air ambulance rescue pilot. The second in line to Britain's throne made the comments during an online BBC documentary chronicling his work as a pilot with East Anglian Air Ambulance(EAAA) and the service the charity provides. In reference to one of his toughest rescue missions so far, the 34-year-old royal said: "I think my most challenging one was to do with burns. "There's one job in particular that was really quite nasty and I don't know how the medical crew dealt with it either because they came to the rescue and did everything they (could) and sadly the casualty was beyond help. "Yeah, there are some very sad, dark moments and you know we talk about it a lot. That's the best way of dealing with some of the situations is you talk." The Duke of Cambridge was filmed sitting on the open side end of an air ambulance with co-pilot Captain James Pusey. "I really look forward to coming here every day. And I love working as a team: that's something that my other job [royal duties] doesn't necessarily do: you are more out there on your own a little bit," said the prince, who completed his tour of duty as a Royal Air Force (RAF) search and rescue pilot in 2013. "I want to be a valuable member of the team. At the end of the day (I want to) feel like I have made a difference and a contribution to whatever it is I've done that day," said Pilot William Wales, as he is known at work. The documentary has been released to mark the UK's National Air Ambulance Week and is described as a multi-media portrait of the EAAA and its staff. In the last year the East Anglian Air Ambulance attended 2,085 incidents with cases including patients injured in fires, horse riding accidents, industrial accidents and road trafficcollisions. The BBC documentary also features still photographs of the Duke at work and he is filmed refuelling a helicopter and helping to take equipment on board. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) today arrested the Principal of Dharmendrasinhji College in Rajkot for allegedly accepting Rs 2,500 from a law student for granting him admission. Along with Principal Chandrikaben Vadher(56), ACB officials also arrested college peon Arvind Jadav during a trap laid in his office today, said a statement by the ACB. The trap was laid after a third semester LLB student of AMP Law College in Rajkot complained that Vadher, who was in-charge of the college till September 2, had been demanding Rs 4,000 through Jadav as bribe for granting him admission in third semester of LLB. The student's identity has been withheld by ACB. "The student comes from a very humble family. He completed two semesters from a private college and decided to move to government-run AMP college, as the fee was cheaper there. Vadher was in-charge of that college for three years before the charge was withdrawn on September 2," said police inspector with Rajkot ACB HP Doshi. "When the student applied for admission in August, Jadav told him that he would get admission only after paying Rs 4,000 to Vadher as bribe. Since the youngster did not have money at that time, he requested Vadher to first confirm his admission and promised to pay the money later," said Doshi. After the student got admission last month, Jadav allegedly started pressuring him to meet Vadher and pay the promised sum. Fed up by the constant harassment, the student then contacted ACB, said Doshi. "Jadav asked the student to pay Rs 2,500 today and the remaining sum of Rs 1,500 later. We have caught Vadher and Jadav red-handed. Vadher is a class-I government officer whose salary is more than Rs 1.2 lakh," said Doshi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tax evasion to the tune of Rs 23 crore has been unearthed by Punjab Excise and Taxation Department with a firm allegedly found to be depositing fake forms to evade tax. A Mandi Gobindgarh-based firm in Punjab had submitted fake C-form worth around Rs 23 crore with regard to sale of steel chairs, said J K Jain, Deputy Excise & Taxation Commissioner (DETC), Ludhiana. According to Jain said, the company had supplied steel chairs to some Delhi-based firms. "When a company supplies some products to some firm outside the state (which in this case is Delhi), that firm is charged tax at 2 per cent rate as per the section 8(4) and rule 12(1) of Central Sales Tax Act 1956," he said. He further explained that "for availing this concession rate, the seller is to submit a C-Form (which in this case are found to be fake). In the absence of C-Form's, the firm has to deposit VAT at 14.3 per cent." The firm in question had submitted 11 different C-form's worth Rs 22.53 crore with the department and on the basis of this deposited VAT at 2 per cent, Jain informed. Jain said the department got suspicious and got the C-Form's submitted by the company scrutinised from Trade & Taxes Department, New Delhi. Assistant Commissioner, Trade and Taxes Department, New Delhi, has confirmed that the C-Form's mentioned by the firm were never issued by the Department, he said. Had the company submitted genuine C-Form's, they would have been entitled for depositing VAT at 2 percent but as the C-Form's mentioned by them were found to be fake, they would have paid VAT at 14.3 percent, Jain said. The department has written to the SHO of Mandi Gobindgarh town of Punjab to register an FIR against the company. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rahul Gandhi today accused Pakistan of being responsible for the Uri terror attack while apportioning blame on the NDA government's "politics" for it. "The first responsibility is on Pakistan and the government's politics," he told reporters referring to the attack on the brigade headquarters near the Line of Control in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed. The Congress vice president said while the UPA government spent nine years fighting terrorism and curbing it, the BJP-PDP alliance has "opened space" for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "short-sighted" political alliance with the PDP "opened the space" for terrorism in Kashmir. "I stand by our soldiers and I condemn what has been done to them by the Pakistanis. However, the space for that has been created by the politics that the NDA has carried out in Jammu and Kashmir," he said. Alleging that the NDA had "no strategy" as regards Kashmir, Gandhi targeted the Prime Minister, saying he "goes from one event to another and this is no way of handling national security". "National security cannot be handled like public meetings. This is a serious matter," he said. In a tweet, the Congress vice president said, "FYI Modiji: a Kashmir strategy cannot be developed using selfies and sound bites." Recalling his meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sometime back, Gandhi claimed he categorically told him that the country was heading towards a "very serious trouble" in Kashmir. "The Finance Minister brushed me aside and told me there was no problem in Kashmir," he said. Gandhi said Congress was ready to help in "whatever way possible". "However, we would like a concrete strategy, a long-term strategy. Not this event-based activities. Because, this is extremely dangerous for the country," he said. (REOPENS DEL 77) Earlier, at Konch (Jalaun) yesterday, Rahul paid homage to the soldiers who lost their lives in the Uri terror attack and also observed a two-minute silence in their memory. The Congress leader continued his attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, asking him why did he "tolerate" corrupt ministers for over four years and was again taking them back after dismissing them. He also criticised the BSP, saying that its "elephant ate away all the money meant for development" and accused the BJP of "instigating riots for winning elections". "If there is any party which can challenge the BJP, it is the Congress which takes everyone along," he stressed. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will hold a roadshow in Kanpur tomorrow, as part of his ongoing 'Deoria to Dilli kisan yatra'. Congress city chief H P Agnihotri said Rahul's roadshow will enter Kanpur tomorrow evening from Shastri Nagar and will reach Phool Bagh after passing through various routes. A "khat sabha" will also be organised before the roadshow at Ghatampur, 60 km from here. Rahul will spend the night at Kanpur's circuit house and will leave for Unnao on Thursday, he said. The party workers will welcome the Congress vice president who will take part in "nukkad sabhas" at various stops during his roadshow, Agnihotri said. Security arrangements by the Special Protection Group (SPG) and district authorities have been put in place for Rahul's visit tomorrow. Gandhi is making an aggressive pitch to woo voters in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday said is not reluctant to take over as Congress president and his sister Priyanka cannot be forced into active politics, though most of the party workers want her to do so. "He (Rahul) is not reluctant. It's a question of timing. Let him choose his own timing. In politics, timing is important. So, let the leadership decide on its own timing," the party General Secretary told PTI in an interview. "It should happen, but we have to allow him to choose his timing," the two-time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh said when asked if Rahul would be taking over as Congress president this year. "As far as Priyanka Gandhi is concerned, she is not yet in ...Can't really force her to come into politics, it's her own personal decision and we should respect that," Singh said. Most of the "Congress people" want her to come into politics, and there is no doubt about it, but the actual timing has to be decided by her, not "by us", he said. Asked about his remark that there was a need for a "major surgery" in Congress in the wake of disappointing results in the Assembly polls in four states earlier this year, he said there are "major challenges" in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa, which will go to polls next year. "In the meantime (after he made the suggestion), Congress president fell ill...Unwell. So, changes have to come, there is no doubt about it. Timing has to be decided by Congress president and vice-president. Every one feels that changes have to be made. They are long overdue. Final decision has to be taken by the Congress president," he said. Asked if he was disappointed or frustrated that these changes are not happening at a pace he desired, Singh said there is no frustration in . "One has to learn to live in difficult situations. When there are good times, there are bad times also in . So, we have to convert the adversity into opportunity. This is an opportunity, this is a period of adversity. We have to redraw our strategy which the Congress party is doing," he said. On the Antony Committee report on 2014 Congress debacle, Singh said the party vice-president had wider consultations, including with state leaders. "All that's ready, it's only a question of setting it (the report) off the ground," he added. Rajasthan government has served a notice to Ola Cabs asking the company to explain the ground of deciding peak-hour rates. Principal Secretary Food and Civil Supply Subodh Agarwal gave the direction to the deputy director of the department to issue a notice to the company yesterday. "The company has been asked to explain the ground of deciding peak-hour rates and which authority has approved it. It has also been asked that who decides about peak hours," Sajay Jhala, deputy director of the department said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of students and academics at the Ghana University are demanding the removal of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, acccusing him of racism. Students and teachers argue that Gandhi's reference to black Africans as "kaffir" in some of his early writings reflected his 'racist' mindset. Gandhi's statue, which was a gift from the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during his recent visit to Ghana, is currently installed in the premises of the varsity. The campaign has been led by Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, former director of the Institute of African Studies. The students and teachers have also launched an online petition, asking authorities to facilitate "the removal of the statue of Gandhi" at the earliest. "How will the historian teach and explain that Gandhi was uncharitable in his attitude towards the black race and see that we're glorifying him by erecting a statue on our campus?" wrote a professor in the petition. The campaigners have been raising slogans like 'Gandhi Must Fall' and 'Gandhi For Come Down'. Ampofo is urging members of the University of Ghana Council to take heed of the petition, arguing among other things that, Gandhi was a racist as he was prejudiced against black people and honouring him will set a wrong example for students, as per local media in Ghana. But there have been voices which oppose the demand. Ocqauye, a professor of political science and a lawyer, said a decision to demolish the statue might have implications on diplomatic ties between Ghana and India. "It will be most unnecessary, most uncalled for and not in the supreme interest of Ghanaians and we must know what serves our interest best," he said. The petitioners referred to Gandhi's open letter to "The Natal Mercury" in 1894, where he used a the tem "kaffir", a derogatory term for black people, for dark-skinned Africans. "A general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir," they quoted Gandhi as saying in the letter. Russia said today its military was looking into "information" about an air strike on a UN aid convoy in Syria after the regime announced an end to a week-long ceasefire. "I don't think it is possible or correct to make any unsubstantiated conclusions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "Our military is currently verifying information about this strike and I hope they will receive concrete information from the ground and can then release a statement." The UN said at least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday as they were en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra, killing a Red Crescent staff member and civilians. Russia is flying a bombing campaign in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad, and there are suspicions that either Moscow or the Syrian forces it supports were responsible for the strike. Washington expressed outrage over the attack, stressing that the convoy's destination was known to both the regime and to Russia. The United Nations has since suspended all humanitarian aid convoys for security reasons. The incident came hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a week-long truce brokered by the Moscow and Washington earlier this month in an attempt to end the five-year war. Peskov said that hope for a renewal of the ceasefire was "for now, very weak", stressing that a truce could only be resumed if "terrorists" halted their alleged bombardments of government forces. "The conditions are very simple. The shooting needs to stop and the terrorists need to stop attacking Syrian troops," he said. "And, of course, it wouldn't hurt if our American colleagues didn't accidentally bomb the Syrians," he added, referring to a US-led coalition strike last week that Moscow said had killed at least 62 Syrian servicemen. Russia and the United States have persistently blamed each other for not doing enough to fulfil the deal. Moscow insists that Syrian troops had fully respected the truce - which was meant to end hostilities and ensure aid deliveries - but that the rebels had kept up their bombardments. Russia's defence ministry said yesterday that the week-long truce had been violated 302 times and that 63 civilians had been killed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of civil society bodies will launch an online campaign in support of a woman doctor, whose eight-year-old struggle for justice against "illegal sex determination" of her twin daughters, ended on a bleak note. Mitu Khurana, 40, said to be the first woman in the country to file case against her husband and in-laws under the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PC-PNDT), 1994, has exhausted her legal recourse after the Supreme Court recently dismissed her case. "My in-laws had illegally determined the sex of the foetus, and after finding that I was carrying twin daughters, forced me to abort them," she alleged. "I fought this battle from the lower court to the Supreme Court. My fight was not just for myself but also for my daughters and for many women who continue to suffer harassment. Was it my fault that I fought back and struggled for justice," she said. A few representatives from different civil societies and women rights' bodies today held a press conference here in the presence of Khurana, a physician, and appealed to people to support her cause. "After losing in court, we would now go to people's court. Some of the organisations fighting for women's right have decided to rally behind this cause and very soon we are going to launch an online campaign seeking justice for her," President, Forum Against Corruption and Threats, Indu Prakah Singh told reporters. Advocates Anu Narula and Indira Unninyar also addressed the press conference and pledged support to Khurana. "If the court says our case was bad, we wish it would tell us the lacunae in it. But, her case of struggle for eight-long years just being summarily rejected, makes us feel sad," Narula said. Khurana's cause has been supported by various well-know NGOs like ActionAid, AIDWA and Girls Count, Singh said. The alleged incident took place in 2005 here and Khurana claimed that in the list of 103 patients, for whom Form F were submitted in April 2005, her name was not there. "This form is a necessary document before conducting any such test. And, so not having my consent before conducting it, itself makes it illegal," she said. "The fight for justice will continue as this is not just for Mitu but several other women like her, who have come out and admitted the harassment they are being subjected to," Singh said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Sikh bar owner in the US is being hailed as a hero for helping capture the 28-year old Afghan- American wanted for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. Harinder Bains, the owner of a bar in Linden found Ahmad Khan Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his bar yesterday. Bains said he was watching on TV on his laptop from another business across the street. At first, he thought he was some "drunk guy" resting in the vestibule but then recognised Rahami and called police. "I'm just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do. Cops are the real heroes, law enforcement are the real heroes," Bains told. When officers responded, Rahami pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking an officer in the chest. A foot chase ensued, during which Rahami shot at a police car, causing a bullet to graze another office in the face. The chase ended when Rahami was shot multiple times. He was taken to a hospital for surgery. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said. Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra told PTI that Bains "dared to honour his Oath of Citizenship to protect & defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic - and it's turns out that the Chelsea Pressure Cooker Bomber suspect, a naturalised citizen, is caught by another immigrant, an Indian-American Hero-Sikh." In a statement, the National Sikh Campaign said this was brave and courageous act by Bains. "A Sikh helps police get to the terrorist involved in New York and New Jersey bombing over the weekend," it said. "He heroically helped save many innocent lives and yet gave credit to law enforcement officers. Harinder Bains certainly did what every responsible citizen in America ought to do. Brave and courageous act!" said the National Sikh Campaign. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Parents, take note! Every reduced hour of sleep at the age of 11 accelerates the first use of alcohol or cannabis in adolescence by 20 per cent, a new study warns. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in the US suggest a link between the sleep duration and quality, both during the late childhood with the alcohol and cannabis use later in adolescence. "Treating problems with drugs and alcohol once they exist and preventing them can be challenging, and we are always looking for modifiable risk factors," said Brant P Hasler, assistant professor at UPMC. "Doing what we can to ensure sufficient sleep duration and improve sleep quality during late childhood may have benefits in terms of reducing the use of these substances later in life," said Hasler. Researchers analysed 186 boys, whose mothers completed the Child Sleep Questionnaire as part of a larger longitudinal study of low-income boys examining factors associated with vulnerability and resilience. Based on questionnaire results from when the boys were 11 years old, their sleep time and sleep quality were calculated. At ages 20 and 22, the young men were interviewed about lifetime cannabis and alcohol use. After accounting for race, socioeconomic problems, neighborhood danger, self-regulation, and internalising and externalising problems, both sleep duration and sleep quality at age 11 were associated with early substance use throughout adolescence. The study participants who slept the least, compared to the participants who slept the most, were more likely to report earlier use, intoxication and repeated use of both alcohol and cannabis. Every hour less of sleep at age 11 was associated with 20 per cent acceleration to the first use of alcohol and/or cannabis, Hasler added. Worse sleep quality was associated with earlier alcohol use, intoxication and repeated use. It was also associated with earlier cannabis intoxication and repeated use, but not first use. "After considering other possible influences, we were able to determine that sleep problems are preceding the substance use problems. Addressing sleep may now be something we can add into the package of our substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts," Hasler added. The study appears in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) No-frills carrier SpiceJet will launch a direct flight from the national capital to Jodhpur from October 30. The airline is already operating daily flights to Jaipur and Udaipur. In a release today, SpiceJet said that under the winter schedule it would start direct flight on Delhi-Jodhpur-Delhi sector from October 30. With introduction of this flight, Jodhpur will be connected with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata, it added. "In our endeavour to continuously reach out to underserved destinations we are excited to initiate our services to Jodhpur. The new flight will present passengers with more travel options especially during the peak season," SpiceJet's Senior VP (Commercial) Shilpa Bhatia said. The airline operates 298 daily flights to 41 destinations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Syrian opposition leader Riad Hijab today accused world powers of showing "total weakness" in the face of the Syrian regime's renewed attacks and the collapse of a ceasefire. Hijab told reporters that Russian and Syrian planes bombed an aid convoy that was en route to Aleppo to deliver food and other basic supplies to 78,000 civilians. "Regime and Russian planes are responsible for this attack. No one else has aircraft in that area," said Hijab, who is the coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) seeking agreement on a political transition. Hijab said a HNC member who was escorting the convoy had provided him with photographs of the attack that he described as "very precise." Russia and have denied any involvement in the strike yesterday that destroyed 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy. "Through this tragic incident it is the United Nations that is directly hit," Hijab said. "But there are no consequences. It is yet another illustration of the total weakness of the community," he added. The war in Syria, now in its sixth year with 300,000 dead, is dominating this week's General Assembly debate at the United Nations. The United States and Russia, the regime's ally in the war, earlier chaired a brief meeting of the 23-nation group backing the Syrian peace process, but there was no breakthrough. The opposition leader accused Russia of having an "exclusively military strategy" to end the war and said the community had failed since the beginning of the conflict to recognise the seriousness of the crisis. An emotional farewell was given to four valiant army jawans from Maharashtra, who lost their lives in the Uri attack, as their last rites were performed in their respective native villages with full military and state honours. Sandip Somnath Thok (24) from Nashik district, Chandrakant Shankar Galande from Satara, Vikas Janardhan Kulmethe (27) from Yavatmal district and Panjab alias Vikas Janrao Uike (26) from Amravati lost their lives in the terror attack on Sunday. Amid slogans in his praise by thousands of emotional villagers and family members, the mortal remains of Army jawan Sandip Thok were consigned to flames at his native Khadangli village in Nashik district. The body of Sandip, who is survived by parents, elder brother Yogesh and two married sisters, was yesterday brought to Ojhar Airport in Nashik district in an IAF plane from Srinagar and then taken to his native village last night. His parents, relatives and villagers broke down on seeing the valiant soldier's body. A procession was also taken out in the village as state Rural Development Minister Dadaji Bhuse, District Collector Radhakrishnan B, Sub-Divisional Officer Mahesh Patil, Tehsildar Manoj Khairnar and others paid rich tributes to the martyr. The jawan was bid farewell amid chants of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Sandeep Thok amar rahein' by grief-stricken villagers as his mortal remains were cremated late last night with full military honours. Galande's body was brought to his native Jashi village in Satara this morning where his last rites were performed with full military honours. Thousands of villagers and teary-eyed family members gathered at the site to pay their last respects. A large procession was carried out by villagers. Satara Guardian Minister Vijay Shivtare, state Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister Girish Bapat, and several others paid tributes to the jawan. Galande had joined the Army in 2004 as soon as he completed his education. He is survived by his wife, two sons, parents and two brothers. His parents, while talking to reporters yesterday, had demanded stern action against Pakistan. Meanwhile, bodies of Vikas Kulmethe and Vikas Uike were flown to Nagpur airport. While Kulmethe's body was brought to Nagpur last night, Uike's mortal remains were brought there this morning. After the Army officials paid homage to the two martyrs this morning, their bodies were taken to their native places. Kulmethe's body reached his native Purad village in Wani at about 2.15 pm and was received by Union Minister Hansraj Ahir. The body was then kept at his house for the public to pay their last respects. An emotional farewell was given to Kulmethe, where thousands turned up. The entire tehsil observed bandh for the day. Vikas, who joined the army in 2008 and was transferred to the camp at Uri six months ago, got married two years back. He is survived by his wife Sneha (23), a four-month-old daughter, a younger brother and parents. Mortal remains of Vikas Uike from Nandgaon Khandeshwar town in Amravati district, were consigned to flames this afternoon. His family members and villagers could not hold back tears as his elder brother lit the funeral pyre amid the gun salute and full state honours. Before the body was brought to the town, residents burnt the effigy of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in protest. When the van carrying Uike's body reached the home town, his family members broke down, even as slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Shahid Vikas Amar Rahe' rent the air. The market remained closed today while thousands lined the road to bid adieu to Uike. He had joined the Bihar Battalion of the army at Chandrapur in 2009, served at Assam and West Bengal, before being posted at Jammu and Kashmir three months ago. He left behind parents, a brother and a married sister. His father Janrao had earlier said that they were planning to marry him off soon. "We had planned to solemnise the engagement on Diwali but all our plans have been shattered," he had told An emotional farewell was today given to Uri martyrs with the last rites of the fallen soldiers being performed in their native villages with state honour. Amid slogans by villagers who took out processions, tearful family members bid goodbye to their loved ones as the bodies of army personnel killed in the terror attack at Brigade headquarters in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, were brought to their respective villages. Rich tributes were paid in Maharashtra to Sandip Somnath Thok from Nashik district, Chandrakant Shankar Galande (Satara), Vikas Janardhan Kulmethe (Yavatmal) and Panjab alias Vikas Janrao Uike (Amravati) as their mortal remains were brought. They were given a gun salute. In Jharkhand, a candlelight march was taken out in memory of Nayaman Kujur of Gumla and Javra Munda of Khunti -- who were among the 18 killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists and their last rites were performed with state honour. The mortal remains of N S Rawat were consigned to flames with full military honour in his native village in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan. There was hardly a dry eye when Rawat's five-year-old son, Chandan Singh lit the funeral pyre with the soldier's daughters standing nearby. Three soldiers from Bihar -- S K Vidyarthi (Gaya), Rakesh Singh (Kaimur) and Ashok Kumar Singh (Ara) were given farewell with state ministers attending their funeral. Jawans Gangadhar Dolui and Biswajit Ghorai, who were from West Bengal, were also accorded a gun salute during their last rites. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The porty city of Visakhapatnam is gearing up to host the three-day International Seafood show here from September 23. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will inaugurate the event, which will see the participation of 2,000 delegates from India besides 200 from abroad who will hold group discussions and technical sessions to share their experience, according to District Collector Praveen Kumar. The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Union Commerce Ministry is organising the three-day event in association with the Seafood Exporters Association of India, he said. Themed 'Safe and Sustainable Indian Aquaculture', the event will have discussion on technological advances and sustainable practices followed in fisheries capture and culture to ensure quality of seafood for both domestic and export markets. National President of Seafood Exporters Association V Padmanabham said the event is mainly held in Visakhapatnam to showcase the Andhra Pradesh potential on seafood exports. He said that at present seafood exports from India stood at Rs 33,000 crore and Andhra Pradesh holds the number one position in shrimp exports in the country. The show will be thrown open to public on September 25. Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitaraman will also take part in the event. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Tourism Ministry is "examining" a proposal from Invest India to set up an Investment Desk at the Tourism Ministry for project monitoring and follow up actions. "Invest India has given us an offer to set up an invest desk. We are examining the proposal and looking into the modalities. With the investment desk in place in the Tourism ministry, we will continue not only conceiving various projects and organising meetings (with states and potential investors) but also hand-hold the state and see that things get culminated into actual projects," Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi told reporters told here. He was interacting with media on the eve of the first Incredible India Tourism Investors Summit, which will inaugurated by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tomorrow. Invest India is a not-for-profit joint venture between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, state governments and industry body Ficci. The three-day first-of-its kind summit, is being organised in association with industry body CII and Tourism Finance Corporation of India. It is expected to attract investments to the tune of over Rs 50,000 crore from around 700 investable projects. Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma, Civil Aviation Minister Ahok Gajapathi Raju, Chief Ministers and Tourism Ministers of a states will also participate in the mega investors summit. Besides, the Summit would also see as many as 3,000 B2B (business-to-business) and B2G (business-to-Government) meetings, Zutshi said. Some 250 investors from across the globe including those from China, Dubai, Hong Kong, Qatar, and Singapore, among others, are expected to discuss various investment proposals during the event. Zutshi said that the investment desk would have some 4-5 people drawn from the industry and institutes like IIMs and IITs and they will work under the Tourism ministry in consultation with Invest India. "These people will develop the cell (desk) in a manner that all the project, which are received during the summit, are followed up and taken to logical conclusion. It will be a continuous exercise of generating investable projects on side and looking for domestic and international potential investors on the other side," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three employees of a trader were robbed of Rs 70 lakh at gunpoint by unidentified men at Karol Bagh area of central Delhi today, police said. As per the complaint, Heeralal and two of his colleagues were carrying two bags containing Rs 70 lakh. Their car was intercepted by the accused around 2.30 PM, they said. The robbers then looted the bags at gunpoint and fled from the spot, police said. A case has been registered, they said, adding CCTV footage is being inspected to identify the culprits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Donald Trump's eldest son triggered an online storm with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl containing an assortment of tainted and untainted candies. "This image says it all," Donald Trump Jr, 38, wrote yesterday, in a tweet showing a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular, rainbow-colored Skittles candies. Written above the image is: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syria refugee problem." The Twitter post - showing the familiar Trump-Pence 2016 logo with the presidential campaign slogan Make America Great Again! - was met with immediate scorn from users of the popular micro-blogging site. "I'm not even big on Skittles but now I will buy up every single packet," wrote @SarahSahim. "Is Donald Trump's new campaign slogan 'Fear The Rainbow'"? wrote Twitter user @AngrySalmond. Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has sparked waves of criticism with comments on race, immigrants and refugees, including calling for a ban on Muslim travelers to the United States. Equally controversial was his pronouncement last year that many Mexican immigrants were drug smugglers and rapists. The brash businessman also is strongly opposed to plans by President Barack Obama to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States by the end of this month. Syria is in the grip of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, amid an exodus of more than 4.8 million fleeing the war-torn country. The United States, which has a long tradition of taking in refugees, has been criticized for its slow response to the Syrian crisis. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two of China's top steelmakers announced plans to merge on Tuesday,creating the world's second-largest manufacturer of the commodity as markets struggle with a glut caused by Chinese overcapacity. The world's second largest economy is trying to overhaul its lumbering state sector and especially its industry, by using mergers and restructuring to cut chronic overproduction and create world-beating mills. Baosteel Group, China's second-largest steelmaker, will issue new stock to existing shareholders of Wuhan Iron and Group to absorb the other company, the state-owned said in separate statements to the Shanghai bourse, where they are listed. They did not give details. The two firms rank fifth and 11th respectively in world production capacity. The merger will form a new firm called China Baowu Iron and Group, China Business News reported on late Monday, adding the state asset watchdog had already okayed the plan and submitted it to the State Council China's cabinet for final approval. The combined production capacity of the two firms reached 60.7 million tonnes last year, data from the World Steel Association showed, which would make the new entity the world's second biggest producer by capacity, behind ArcelorMittal. Chinese steel demand has slumped as economic growth slows and the global steel industry is assailed by overcapacity. The crisis has seen manufacturers in Asia, Europe and the US suffer huge losses and led to political rows and accusations of dumping. Shanghai-based Baosteel's net profit plummeted 83 percent to 1.0 billion yuan ($150 million) last year, while Wuhan Steel lost 7.5 billion yuan, compared with a 1.3 billion yuan net profit in 2014. An analyst said the merger between Baosteel and WISG was merely the beginning of more such moves in China's steel industry. "Restructuring in China's steel industry is the trend and it's an unstoppable one," Chen Bingkun, an analyst at Minmetals and Jingyi Futures, told AFP. Restructuring of another two Chinese steel giants both based in northeastern province of Liaoning Ansteel and Benxi Steel Group is next on the agenda, Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday. It quoted Chi Jingdong, vice secretary general of the China Iron and Steel Association. Ansteel is the world's seventh biggest mill and Benxi Steel ranks 21st. The UN today said it was "extremely concerned" by a Cairo court's decision to freeze the assets of five prominent human rights activists and three NGOs. The decision, which was taken on Saturday, has been widely criticised by global rights groups, and stoked fears of an intensified crackdown on Egyptian civil society. "We are extremely concerned by the recent decision of a Cairo Criminal Court to freeze the assets of five prominent human rights activists," UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters. The rights activists are Hossam Bahgat, who founded the leading Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights NGO, Gamal Eid, Bahey el-Din Hassan, Mostafa al-Hassan and Abdel Hafez al-Tayel. The court also froze the assets of Bahey el-Din Hassan's Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Mostafa al-Hassan's Hisham Mubarak Law Centre and the Egyptian Centre for the Right to Education. The move was linked to a long-running investigation into the foreign funding of Egyptian civil society which began in 2011 and has stoked diplomatic tensions with Washington. Under Egyptian law, members of rights groups operating without registration or accepting foreign funding without government permission could be jailed for life, which in Egypt amounts to 25 years. It is not clear whether the freeze would also apply to two other NGOs partly owned by Bahgat and Eid: the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Colville said. "We are particularly concerned that this decision by the court now opens the way for further criminal proceedings against the defendants who, if found guilty, could be sentenced to life in prison," he said. Bahgat and Eid are among 12 human rights who, since February, have reportedly been subjected to a travel ban linked to ongoing investigations, Colville said. "The High Commissioner is alarmed by the continuing closure or intimidation of numerous human rights NGOs, and prosecution of their staff, by the Egyptian authorities," he added. Such acts harmed their legitimate right to freedom of expression and of association, thereby undermining the rights of the population at large. The UN also urged Cairo to make good on a pledge to adopt a new NGO law, calling for it to be legislation which "fully complies with Egypt's international human rights obligations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Nations suspended all humanitarian convoys in Syria today following a deadly air strike on aid trucks, as fighting intensified after the regime declared an end to a week-long truce. Both Syria and Russia denied they were behind the raid on the convoy near northern city Aleppo, which the Red Cross said killed "around 20 civilians" including an employee of the Syrian Red Crescent. Air raids and shelling meanwhile pounded key battlefronts across the country -- dimming hopes that the fraught ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Washington could be revived. Key players including the United States and Russia were meeting in New York today in an effort to salvage the peace process, which US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned could be the "last chance" to end Syria's civil war. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov opened a meeting of the 23-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in New York, where world leaders have gathered for the UN General Assembly. UN chief Ban Ki-moon opened the assembly debate with a call to end the fighting in Syria. "I appeal to all those with influence to end the fighting and get talks started," Ban said. Yesterday's strike on the aid convoy provoked outrage from UN officials, with aid chief Stephen O'Brien warning that if deliberate "it would amount to a war crime". The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said last night's raid destroyed at least 18 of 31 vehicles, as well as a Red Crescent warehouse in Orum al-Kubra in Syria's Aleppo province. "Much of the aid was destroyed," the IFRC said in a statement, stressing that "the attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance." Omar Barakat, who headed the local Red Crescent branch, was wounded in the strike and later died, IFRC spokesman Benoit Carpentier told reporters in Geneva. UN humanitarian agency OCHA said that the movements of all aid convoys in Syria had been suspended as an "immediate security measure" after the raid. The attack marked a "very, very dark day for humanitarians in Syria and indeed across the world," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said, adding that it was "paramount that we are able to establish the facts through an independent investigation." A Syrian military source denied any regime involvement, telling state media: "There is no truth to media reports that the Syrian army targeted a convoy of humanitarian aid in Aleppo province." The Russian defence ministry also said that both its forces and the Syrian air force "did not conduct any strikes against the UN aid convoy." The strike came just a few hours after the Syrian army announced the end of the truce last night, accusing rebels of failing to "commit to a single element" of the US-Russia deal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An undertrial allegedly committed suicide in Thane Central Jail, police said today. Siraj Alam Shaikh, 27, was found hanging in the jail premises late last evening, they said. Shaikh was arrested for alleged kidnapping and rape of a girl by Mumbai Police and lodged in prison since last year, Thane Nagar police said. He was shifted to Thane Jail only a few days back from the Taloja Jail where he was lodged earlier, they said. During the head count last evening, the jail officials found one of the prisoners missing. During the search, they allegedly found Shaikh hanging in the cell. He was brought down and taken to the jail medical ward where a doctor examined him. He was then rushed to Thane civil hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The body was sent for postmortem, police said, adding that a case has been registered. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Afghan-origin terror suspect in the bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey had travelled to Pakistan's Quetta, a stronghold of the Taliban, and was questioned every time he returned to the US but was not on the radar, American officials said. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old naturalised American citizen of Afghan descent, was born in Afghanistan and majored in criminal justice at Middlesex County College in New Jersey, according to the FBI. Investigators are probing whether he was radicalised overseas before returning to the US in 2014. In 2011, Rahami spent several weeks in Quetta, considered a stronghold of the Taliban and married a Pakistani woman, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed his travel and immigration record, CNN reported today. Upon his return to the US, he had to go through secondary screening for visiting an area of Pakistan known for its Taliban presence. At that time, he told immigration officials he was visiting family and attending his uncle's wedding and renewing his Pakistani visa, officials said. In 2013, Rahami went to Pakistan and remained there for a year. His brother also travelled to Pakistan around the same time and posted on Facebook that they heard seven bomb blasts over 24 hours at one point in Quetta, the report said. Official said Rahami travelled by car to Afghanistan from Quetta. When he returned to the US, he was once again taken into secondary questioning but told officials he was visiting his wife, as well as his uncles and aunts. Each time Rahami was taken to secondary screening, he satisfied whatever concerns immigration officials had. He was questioned every time he returned to the US, as is standard procedure, but was not on the radar as someone who might have been radicalised, the official said. He applied to bring his wife to the US in 2011 which was approved but it was unclear if she ever came to the US. In 2014, Rahami contacted Congressman Albio Sires' office from Islamabad for his wife's passport which was expired. Once it was renewed, she became pregnant and officials told her they would not give a visa until she had the baby. Rahami, who became a naturalised US citizen in 2011, once said the consulate told him to go back to Karachi, but he claimed it was too dangerous to go there. Rahami's family, who runs a 24-hour chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, has a history of clashes with neighbours over the timing of the eatery. They alleged discrimination and harassment in a lawsuit filed against the city and police department, and also accused a neighbouring business owner of saying, "Muslims make too much trouble in this country" and "Muslims don't belong here". A ruling later favoured the city, saying the restaurant was "disruptive in the city for many, many years". In a Facebook post, a family member asked for privacy. Rahami, who authorities said is "directly linked" to the bombings in New York and New Jersey in which nearly 30 people were injured, was captured yesterday after a shootout and charged with five counts of attempted murder. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi along with holy cities of Amritsar and Ajmer has made it to the list of 27 smart cities announced today. Under the Smart City Mission, the government aims to have 100 smart cities by 2022. Sixty have been chosen so far, including 20 in January and 13 in May this year. The remaining will be picked by 2018. The residents of the cities which are selected under the mission, will enjoy uninterrupted power and water supply, Internet connectivity, e-governance along with quality infrastructure. "I am happy to inform that the transformational Smart City Plan is running ahead of schedule. In the latest round of selection, we have shortlisted 27 cities under this plan," Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here. For these 27 cities, the proposed investment will be Rs 66,883 crore, he said. With this new batch of 27 cities, the mission has spread to 27 states and only nine states are left out. In this round of competition, Nagaland and Sikkim have made it to the implementation stage of the mission. In the latest round of selection, five cities are from Maharashtra, four each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, three from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, two each from Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Nagaland and Sikkim. Amritsar scored the highest marks while almost half of the shortlisted cities are from NDA-ruled states. Under the mission, each city will receive central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore over the three subsequent financial years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Vietnamese court sentenced a land activist to 20 months in prison today for public disorder, her lawyer said, the second time she has been jailed for accusing authorities of snatching farmland for developers. Land is wholly owned by the state in Vietnam and is a flashpoint issue. Regular protests are held in Hanoi by residents who accuse the government of snatching valuable plots. Can Thi Theu, 54, was arrested in June after protesting in the capital, accusing the government of unfairly compensating residents for land in the Duong Noi area on the outskirts of Hanoi. She was charged with public disorder and today "the court sentenced her to 20 months in jail," her lawyer Ha Huy Son told AFP, calling the penalty unjust. A handful of supporters gathered outside the Hanoi court ahead of the verdict, while uniformed and plainclothes police lingered nearby, according to an AFP reporter. This is Theu's second conviction for her activism. In 2014 she was sentenced to 15 months in jail for a protest against government seizure of land in Duong Noi. Human Rights Watch condemned the sentence, accusing the government of a "systematic denial of the right of peaceful protest". Activists have said millions of rural tenants are vulnerable to land reclamation, which local officials can justify with vaguely defined public interest reasons. Vietnam has come under fire for its crackdown on dissent, jailing scores of bloggers and activists in recent years. On a visit to the country this month, French President Francois Hollande called for the release of four dissidents, including a land activist, though their names were not made public. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vigilance sleuths today arrested an upper division clerk on graft charge from Bihar's Arwal district, Vigilance department release said. A Vigilance Investigation Bureau caught an upper division clerk Premchandra Tiwari posted with Circle office, Arwal, red handed while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs one lakh. A flying squad team under Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijay Kumar Singh raided and caught Tiwari red-handed while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs one lakh from his rented accomodation near Block Colony in Arwal. The accused would be produced before a Special Vigilance Court (I) at Patna after interrogation, the release said. Altogether 83 persons have been arrested in 76 trap cases laid by the Bureau so far in 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu today opened the sluice gates of the Mettur Reservoir here to enable farmers take up cultivation of the samba paddy crop in the delta districts. In much relief to the farmers in this region, water was released for irrigating about 12 lakh acres as the sluice gates were opened in the presence of senior AIADMK Ministers Edappadi K Palaniswamy and P Thangamani, among others. Palaniswamy told reporters that initially 2000 cusecs was being released and this would be gradually be increased to 12,000 cusecs by the evening. Keeping with the usual practice, flowers were dropped into the gushing waters. Water from the dam is generally released on June 12 but this year it could not be done following low storage levels even as the AIADMK government had approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to Karnataka to release 50 tmcft to it. While the court had on September 5 ordered 15,000 cusecs daily for ten days, it later modified its order, asking Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs till today (September 20). Yesterday, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee in Delhi had ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water per day to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and September 30. With Mettur Dam witnessing steady inflows following Karnataka's release of water from the Cauvery River, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had on September 16 ordered opening its sluice gates for irrigating samba crops in delta districts. She had then said the decision to release water was based on factors like the dam touching 84.76 feet (capacity 120 ft) and likelihood of receiving more water from Karnataka reservoirs in view of the apex court order and an anticipated normal north east monsoon. In August, Jayalalithaa had announced a Rs 64 crore special plan for farmers of delta districts to take up samba cultivation, and this included subsidy for various farm activities such as procurement of quality seeds, mechanised sowing and planting operations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Demanding appointment of doctors at the bus stations and all the government buses, the Punjab Congress today said if voted to power, the party will provide the facility for free. "The state government must appoint medical staff or a doctor in each government bus. The govt collects the full fare from the public, but who will care about their health?" Avtar Henry, Vice-President, Punjab Congress asked. "There is a lack of quality hospitals and clinics in the state and yet this shameless government is sending doctors to each and every trains and buses for 'teerthdarshan' (religious tours) for vote bank," he said. Henry's response came when he was asked to comment on state government's initiative where government-run buses are utilised for free religious tours. Under this initiative, a doctor is also travelling along with the pilgrims in buses/trains. Earlier, BJP leader Laxmikanta Chawla too criticised the government and wrote a letter to the chief minister Prakash Singh Badal in this regard. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hitting out at Mayawati ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, RPI leader and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale today accused BSP of having "grabbed" his party's elephant poll symbol and vowed to "snatch" it back. "Originally the elephant was the symbol of Republican Party of India, but following the split in RPI and the rise of BSP, Mayawati grabbed it," said the Dalit leader, who is also Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Stating that he would be visiting Uttar Pradesh where elections are due next year, Athawale said all out efforts would be made to "snatch the elephant symbol" back from BSP. Claiming that RPI was expanding its presence in states like Odisha, West Bengal and Assam apart from Maharashtra, Athawale said he was the first to find a berth in union ministry after B R Amedbkar, who was a Minister in the first cabinet headed by Jawaharlal Nehru. While Narendra Modi government is taking a slew of measures for the welfare of Dalits and curb atrocities on them, BSP's base has witnessed a decline and RPI would gain from the present scenario, he said. Stating that RPI is much older than BSP with strong roots in Uttar Pradesh, he said the party had 16 MLAs in UP in 1967 and four of its members were ministers. It is now time for RPI to retrieve its political base and work wholeheartedly to elevate the status of Dalits in the society and ensure their constitutional rights, he said. Athawale praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said several steps have been taken as a mark of honour to Ambedkar and for the Dalits. Referring to the terrorist attack on an Army base in Uri in north Kashmir, the union minister said it was part of a conspiracy by Pakistan which should be taught a lesson. While India is in favour of friendly ties, Pakistan is fully responsible for creating trouble in Kashmir by misguiding the youths, he said. Describing Pak-occupied Kashmir as a part of India, he said Pakistan should return PoK. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress today said it was with the government over "any meaningful action" in the interest of national security in the wake of the Uri terror attack. At the same time, party spokesman RPN Singh told reporters the "flip-flop" of the government on foreign policy has come to "haunt" the country. He said Congress will be in solidarity with government on "any meaningful action" in the interest of national security. Singh said since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, there has have "over 900 ceasefire violations" by Pakistan and the country is fomenting unrest in the Kashmir valley. As against this, the Congress-led UPA had succeeded in putting Pakistan in a corner in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Wonderla Holidays Ltd plans to build an amusement park in Andhra Pradesh, and is also looking to expand the resort business to meet increasing demand, a top company official said today. At present, the company has amusement parks in Bengaluru, Kochi and Hyderabad. "We have been approached by many state governments. We are talking to Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa. We have an MoU with Andhra Pradesh government. We are seeing how we can do it. That (location in Andhra Pradesh) is not yet decided," Wonderla MD Arun K Chittilappilly told PTI when asked if the firm is looking at more cities to build amusement parks. The company is in the process of acquiring 60 acres of land on Old Mahabalipuram Road in Chennai, where it plans to build a Rs 80-crore amusement park. The construction is expected to begin in the next financial year. "We might do a resort project in Hyderabad also at some stage, may be one or two years down the line, not immediately", Chittilappilly said. The company is looking at expanding its Bengaluru resort and amusement park over a two-year time horizon. "There is demand from MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions). We have earmarked Rs 30 crore-40 crore (for these expansion activities)," Chittilappilly added. Meanwhile, Wonderla today inaugurated a solar power generation plant at its amusement park here. "We have designed the plant for one mega watt. Right now, we have approval for 500 kw, eventually it will become one mega watt within one year or so. That will take care of 80 per cent of our load (power requirements at the amusement park)," Chittilappilly said. The company has already started work on building similar solar plants at its Bengaluru and Kochi amusement parks, he said, adding it would soon introduce new rides at its Hyderabad facility. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood scriptwriter Salim Khan has slammed Pakitani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, two days after the terrorist attack on a battalion headquarters of the Army in North Kashmir's Uri town. Heavily armed militants stormed the headquarters in the wee hours of September 18, killing 17 jawans and injuring 19 other personnel in the terror strike in which four ultras were neutralised. In a series of tweets, the "Sholay" writer, father of superstar Salman Khan, wrote, "Beg your pardon Mr Sharif, If people those who gave you your name knew what your characteristics would be, they would have named you Be-Nawaz Sharir (sic). "A big blunder has been committed. It's your own admission that no one listens to you in Pakistan be it your army, your parliament or your people. Wonder if your respected family listens to you? Ironic then that you are going around the world complaining about India. Is anyone listening??" Khan posted. Many Bollywood celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Randeep Hooda, Riteish Deshmukh and Madhur Bhandarkar have condemned the attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday it had chosen its head of consumer healthcare, Emma Walmsley, as its new chief executive, after considering internal and external candidates. She will become the first woman to head a top global pharmaceutical company and only the sixth to lead a business in Britain's FTSE 100 index. Walmsley, 47, joined Britain's biggest drugmaker in 2010 from L'Oreal and will replace Andrew Witty, who hadpreviously announced his decision to retire on March 31, 2017. She will join the board from January. The decision will disappoint investors such as Neil Woodford, a top shareholder and a critic of the drugmaker's current structure, who wanted to see an outsider appointed to overhaul the company. However, Walmsley had always been tipped as a strong internal candidate, along with pharmaceuticals boss Abbas Hussain and manufacturing head Roger Connor. Her appointment is likely to be seen as a signal that GSK will retain the consumer business as a core part of its operations. "Under Andrew's leadership, GSK has successfully developed into a company with market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare," chairman Philip Hampton said in a company statement. "These provide excellent platforms for sustainable, long-term growth, and we are confident Emma will successfully build on these strengths." Shares in GSK fell around 1 percent in early trading. At the helm since 2008, Witty has struggled with flagging sales and profits, although the picture is now improving. Some investors and analysts have questioned his focus on a consumer health business that ranges from headache pills to toothpaste. Other drugmakers have enjoyed better share price performance in recent years by riding a wave of innovation in disease areas such as cancer. GSK has chosen to largely sit out a wave of acquisitions in the pharmaceuticals industry, which has seen rivals spending billions of dollars on promising experimental medicines. Analysts believe that a change of CEO might lead to more deal-making at GSK but the appointment of an insider suggests an evolution of the current strategy is more likely than major change. A $20 billion asset swap with Novartis, completed last year, which involved the exchange of cancer drugs for the Swiss group's consumer health products and vaccines, was a centrepiece of Witty's time in charge. The deal crystallised the company's idea of reducing exposure to premium-priced pharmaceuticals and increasing sales of over-the-counter products, as well as selling more lower-priced medicines in emerging markets. Walmsley has been intimately involved in that strategy as head of consumer and, like Hampton, she sees the breadth of GSK's portfolio as a key strength. "We have momentum in the group and as the demand for medical innovation and trusted healthcare products continues to rise, we have the opportunity and the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders," she said in the statement. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely and Sonya Hepinstall) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's biggest refiner Ltd and gas transporter Gail (India) Ltd are set to take a stake in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal being built in the eastern state of Odisha. The two will sign an agreement on Wednesday with coal trader Adani Enterprises Ltd , which will be building the five million tonne LNG regasification terminal, Indian Oil said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement did not specify what stake Indian Oil and Gail would be taking though company officials have previously indicated that they might buy 49 per cent of the terminal. Factories and vehicles are expected to need more and more natural gas in coming years and Indian Oil has been aggressively booking capacities in LNG terminals across the country. The company, which is setting up its own 5 million tonne terminal in the east coast, wants its gas trading business to contribute 15 per cent of revenues by 2021. Commercial Feature is a Business Standard Digital Marketing Initiative. The Editorial/Content team at Business Standard has not contributed to writing or editing these articles. For further information, please write to assist@bsmail.in With the festive season round the corner, ecommerce firms are drawing big plans to lure customers and set their cash counters ringing. Flipkart on Monday announced it would hold its Big Billion day sale from October 2. Its closest rivals Snapdeal and Amazon are yet to announce the sale schedule. The Amazon India sale, too, is expected to start in the first week of October. We take a look at how the Indian arm of the US-based firm is gearing up for the big event. Seller network The firm boasts of 250 per cent (year on year) growth in seller network and reached 1.2 lakh sellers mark in the April-June quarter. Amazon has added 20,000 sellers in the last 1.5 months. The rise in the number of sellers has led to an increase in the number of listed products on Amazon India to 80 million, say media reports. Flipkart, its closest rival, has around 1 lakh sellers to gain traction in the market. Both lag behind Snapdeal, which has around 3 lakh sellers. Emphasis on delivery The firm recently announced expansion of its delivery network with addition of over 10,000 stores under its 'I Have Space' programme, taking the total to 12,500. The expansion will enable Amazon.in to efficiently manage deliveries across 22 states and union territories this festive season. Under the 'I Have Space' programme, Amazon India partners with local store owners across different cities to deliver products to customers within a 2-4 km radius of their store. Some of these stores also double up as pick-up points and receive deliveries on behalf of customers. Incentives to sellers The firm is holding events in India to impart training to sellers for the festive season. Incentives to sellers have been announced who display highly viewed products on their platforms. This will help the firm and sellers align their priorities to achieve revenue and sales target. Amazon Seller Cafes The online retailer is opening seller cafes across 24 cities and towns to offer on-ground help to merchants on its platform ahead of the festive season. The firm aims to make India its largest market after the US. The move will allow sellers to set up a new account for imaging or cataloguing help, or any other issues that they face. Funding plans Amazon's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos committed $3 billion in June 2016 for its Indian operations. A major portion of this expenditure is expected to be spent on the festive season sale. The company is expected to spend Rs 125-130 crore in marketing and advertising budget. In 2014, the firm had invested $2 billion in India operations. CBI on Tuesday arrested promoter of FTIL and commodity bourse MCX Jignesh Shah in a case of alleged cheating and suppression of facts in getting SEBI extension to MCX-SX to continue as a private stock exchange in violation of norms. "The Central Bureau of Investigation has today arrested a promoter of two private companies and conducted searches at nine places in Mumbai, including the residence and office premises of the said promoter of Mumbai-based two private companies," CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said on Tuesday. ALSO READ: Govt announces 3rd Smart City list, Varanasi makes the cut The move came after CBI searches at nine locations, including the premises of Shah, FTIL, MCX, senior SEBI officials --Executive Director Muralidhar Rao, DGM Rajesh Dangeti and AGM Vishakha More-- and a former Executive Director of SEBI, J N Gupta, in connection with the case registered two years ago, the sources said. MCX-SX had started functioning as a stock exchange in 2013 after a long legal battle with SEBI. Meanwhile, 63 moons (formerly known as FTIL), said in a statement, "Pursuant to the applicable regulations of SEBI (LODR), Regulations 2015, please be informed that Central Bureau of Investigation, Economic Offence Wing, Mumbai, is conducting search in connection with FIR ... relating to recognition granted by SEBI to MCX-SX (now Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited)." MCX also gave a statement to BSE, saying the CBI search is going on in respect of recognition granted by SEBI to Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Limited (formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange Limited) for starting its stock exchange in trading in currency and other segments in respect of case no. RC 9/E/2014". CBI had filed the FIR in the case under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating besides provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged abuse of official position. The agency had alleged that the promoters of MCX-SX had entered into a buy back arrangement with a nationalised bank in violation of Securities Contract Regulation Act, 1956 and Securities Contract (Regulation) (Manner of Increasing and Maintaining Public Shareholdings in Recognised Stock Exchanges) Regulation, 2006. CBI had alleged that Shah, in connivance with SEBI officials, deliberately suppressed this material fact while applying for extension of recognition of the stock exchange, to conduct trade in currency derivatives, and fraudulently obtained the extension of recognition of the exchange in the year 2009 by cheating SEBI. The agency further alleged that the SEBI officials deliberately did not issue notice to the stock exchange for cancellation of its recognition in the currency derivatives, when SEBI had already rejected request of the same stock exchange for trading in other segments. The government today made 27 new additions to the Smart Cities Mission. The fresh list includes Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cumulative number of cities selected under the Smart City programme has gone up to 60, and a sum of Rs 1,44,742 crore is envisaged for financing of the smart city plan. Eight prominent cities of pilgrim and tourism importance that have made to the third list are Ujjain, Tirupati, Agra, Nashik, Madurai, Thanjavur, and Ajmer, besides Varanasi. Vadodara, Nagpur, Amritsar, Gwalior and Thane are some of the other cities to be developed as smart cities in the future. Announcing the cities that were selected in a competition among 63 cities, Minister of Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu today said: "The willingness and enthusiasm among cities to participate in more than one round of competition is a clear evidence of the urban renaissance set in motion. Competition-based selection has made the cities rediscover themselves as they are undertaking a thorough assessment of gaps in the present levels of infrastructure and service delivery, and come out with comprehensive, credible and actionable plans for area based development and technology-based pan-city solutions." So far, the 60 cities selected by the ministry in three rounds cover 27 states and Union Territories. Only nine more states and UTs are still to get on board, including Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, the ministry said in a statement. The 27 smart cities announced today are from 12 States including five from Maharashtra, four each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, three from Uttar Pradesh and two each from Punjab and Rajasthan. Nagaland and Sikkim have made it to the smart city list for the first time. Stating that the Smart City Mission is running ahead of schedule, Naidu informed that the next round of competition to select the remaining 40 cities would begin in January next year. Trade, it seems, is the only aspect of Indo-Pak relations that has not been hit by the deteriorating ties between the two countries. It rose 6.1 per cent to $409.96 million in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. In 2015/16, both countries had traded goods worth $5.31 billion, down from $6.71 billion in 2014/15. In the aftermath of Sunday's Uri attack which killed 18 soldiers and injured dozens. Traders across the country have called for severing all business ties with the neighbouring country. ALSO READ: Ready to suspend trade with Pak if asked: Tea association "Time has come for India to take strict and swift action against Pakistan which is responsible for the Uri terror attack that left our several soldiers dead," Amritsar-based trader and President of Federation of Dry Fruit and Haryana Commercial Association, Anil Mehra told PTI. "We urge the Centre to even stop trade with Pakistan through Attar-Wagah land route. We are ready for ending trade ties with the neighbouring country, which is responsible for such an attack. For us, the country comes first and then comes trade. We will do something else for our livelihood," Mehra added. This year the trade may not surpass the 2014/15 numbers, it is projected to cross last year's level comfortably. It usually surges in winter when demand for fresh fruit, meat, nuts and other agriculture products increases on both sides. Pakistan, which has one of the largest textile industries in the world, is facing a cotton crisis. Cotton production in Pakistan has fallen 35 per cent this year and imports from India turn out to be much cheaper than from Australia and Africa. Incidentally, Pakistan was the largest buyer of Indian cotton in the 2015/16 season (October-September). It bought 2.5 millon bales (one bale is 170 kg); India's total cotton exports were 6.5 million bales. Just as Pakistan is facing a cotton crisis, India has of late been unable to produce sufficient cement due to shortage of fly ash supplied by thermal power units. This has triggered a surge in cement imports from Pakistan. Cement from Pakistan turns out to be cheaper. The average price of a sack of an Indian brand is around Rs 550 but Pakistani supplies are sold at Rs 480-500. Cement imports do not attract basic Customs duty but all major inputs such as limestone, gypsum and pet coke do. Indian cement makers have been pushing for additional duties on imported cement. India has also seen a surge in demand for its sugar. In 2015/16, Indian mills had exported sugar worth $46.46 million to Pakistan. In the first three months of 2015/16 itself, the exports had touched $31.78 million. India has been traditionally supplying meat, chemicals, artefacts, medicines and agriculture products to Pakistan. This year, there has been a surge in demand for Indian cotton, dairy products and sugar, too. India buys nuts, fruit, cement, leather products, some chemicals and rare earth materials from Pakistan. India has been pushing Pakistan for normalisation of trade on the basis of the September 2012 roadmap that mentioned removal of all restrictions on trade through the Attari/Wagah border and grant of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India by December 2012. Pakistan, however, did not adhere to the timeline. India has already given Pakistan the MFN status - which is nothing but a promise not to discriminate against imports from the country that has got the status. Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from Wednesday till September 27, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while raising the quantum the fixed by the Supervisory Committee by 3000 cusecs. The apex court also gave liberty to both states to file objections against the directions of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Monday, asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and 30. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award. It also directed the Centre to produce before it on the next date of hearing, the notification indicating that CWMB has been constituted and said, if required, further direction can be passed by the apex court to the CWMB. "How long will the two states keep fighting? This dispute is there from 1894. Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) is an expert body and it needs to be constituted. Just because the problem had not arisen earlier doesn't mean that the problem will never arise in future," the bench told ASG Pinky Anand, appearing for Centre. The apex court took note of the fact that no consensus was reached among the states before the Supervisory Committee and Union Water Resources Secretary and Chairman of the Committee Shashi Shekhar used his power to ask Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu. Senior advocate and noted jurist FS Nariman, appearing for Karnataka, opposed the supervisory committee order and said the state was aggrieved by the order. "We cannot give water to Tamil Nadu from our drinking water supply," Nariman said while opposing any interim arrangement for release of Cauvery water. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, also opposed the directions, saying the supervisory committee has not considered all aspects while passing the order. He said the committee had failed to consider the fact that it was a rain deficient year and the quantum of water to be released has to be done proportionally. "We need water here and now otherwise our Samba crops which are planted in August-September and harvested in December will be destroyed," Naphade said. Officials in Beijing, adept at keeping their words vague, may not always admit to competition from India in the manufacturing sector, but the Chinese media has begun to take note of a shift in momentum. An article in the country's mouthpiece, the Global Times newspaper, has admitted to the competition the country faces from India and the urgent need to take necessary steps to stay ahead. "The increasing competition from India raises a tough question for China's manufacturing sector of how to keep its competitive edge at a time when the nation's labor cost advantage is shrinking rapidly," the paper's reporter Hu Weijia wrote in the article. The concern expressed in the article comes a couple of days after Indian media reports suggested Chinese telecom equipment company Huawei will start manufacturing smartphones in India by September-end. The Shenzhen-based company's will be partnering with electronics manufacturer Flextronics to produce the smartphones in India, reports said. A formal announcement is yet to be made. India is fast becoming a favourite for Chinese smartphone makers due to a slowdown in economy back home, and the Chinese media seem to be keeping a track of the changing fortune. "India is one of the few spots still buzzing with high growth in the global smartphone landscape, and has thereby increasingly become a magnet for smartphone makers from its giant northeastern neighbor, China, where the market for smartphones has now hit a plateau after years of explosive growth," another article published in the Global Times earlier this month said. The latest article also noted: "China's low-end manufacturing industry is experiencing hard times as some multinationals move production from China to other Asian countries, India included". Chinese smartphone makers Vivo, Oppo, LeEco and Gionee are some of the new entrants in the Indian market. These firms are giving a tough time to competitors in India such as Micromax, Intex, Lava and Karbonn Mobiles, but the media in Beijing seem to suggest it may not necessarily be a good sign. "India's low labor cost advantage has rung an alarm for China's manufacturing sector. Now it is time for China to map out concrete measures to reduce production costs for manufacturers," the article in the Global Times said. It also expressed concern about foreign brands being more interested in India. "Additionally, as some foreign-backed companies show an increasing interest in India over China, the country should promote the development of its local manufacturers and encourage them to build plants in less-developed central and western regions where labor costs are relatively lower," it said. But the article finished off by saying "despite India being more attractive to manufacturers than ever, it will be difficult for the country to build a complete industrial chain overnight". National carrier Air India is going full throttle ahead to expand its foreign operations. The national carrier has plans to launch new flights to all major cities across the US and Europe as well as West Asia , Gulf, East Asia and Australia in the Pacific region in the next one year and increase the frequency of its flights where demand is surging. We are increasing our thrice-a-week flight to San Francisco to six days a week and for our direct connect Melbourne and Sydney are soon going to become five day-aweek schedule instead of the earlier three and four days schedule respectively,'' Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani told Mail Today. With 21 new 787 Dreamliners in place and six more to arrive soon, Air India is venturing into more foreign markets. There is also a compelling reason for Air India to expand its foreign market share to take on tough competition from Emirates, which has an almost equal market share in terms of flyers going abroad from Indian cities. We are soon connecting to Madrid in December and may open up our new destination in the United States on East Coast in Washington DC in April 2017. And in between that, we are mulling over opening one more sector which could be either Copenhagen or Stockholm to cater to Indians who love Scandinavia and vice-versa. This operation may work out by January to February 2017,'' Lohani said. There are a few new destinations loved by Indians which are being considered and one among that is Nairobi, he said adding, ``we are looking at the market input and will take a call on that soon.'' Battling initial hiccups and snags affecting its Dreamliners, the national carrier is steadily raising its foreign market share. Air India's Director (commercial) Pankaj Shrivastava adds, The demand is growing for Air India when we launched our Vienna sector, we were almost booked for three months last season. This prompted us to venture into more European destinations.'' Interestingly while India plans a direct port to port link with Iran, Air India is planning a direct flight to Tehran. ``Most flights are via Dubai a direct connection between Delhi and Tehran or Mumbai and Tehran is needed with demand growing from budget and skilled workers going there,'' Lohani said. AI CMD, who has spent a considerable time in the tourism sector and has been the force behind the Madhya Pradesh tourism turnaround, is connecting his sectoral operations with tourism potential. We are also eyeing a big chunk of north Indian travelers from Punjab, Himachal, Haryana and Kashmir for Singapore and Bangkok,he added. In association with Mail Today Bureau Seems likeMicrosoft won't let the Nokia brand fade away. The Redmond giant has released anew phone, Nokia 216 Dual SIM. The devicehas been launched at a price of Rs 2,495 and will be available in India from October24. The phonewill be internet-enabled and will come with an Opera Mobile Store. The companyhas also released a few offers along with the device. The users will be able todownload one free Gameloft game every month for a year. ALSO READ: The iPhone 7 jet black won't make a good new phone, here's why The phonewill come with a memory card slot that can support cards up to 32GB. It alsofeatures a rear facing VGA camera and a front facing VGA camera. The deviceis built with a durable polycarbonate shell, which the company claims, houses an outstandingbattery. The front panel of the device houses a 2.4 inch QVGA display. Thecandybar form factor of Nokia 216 is reminiscent of Nokia's golden years in thephone-biz. The phone will be available in Blue, Grey and Black. ALSO READ: Samsung launches J7 Prime with 8MP front camera and 3GB RAM It was announced today that Deloitte has commenced its search to fill 280 graduate positions through its graduate recruitment campaign What impact will you make?. The professional services and consulting firm has created opportunities across Ireland in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast and Galway. This will include a diverse range of opportunities for graduates across a number of service areas including audit & assurance, risk advisory, corporate finance, restructuring and forensic services, tax services and consulting services. Furthermore, the Deloitte technology programmes also include a number of graduate positions in cyber risk, Deloitte Digital, information management & analytics and systems integration. Students from all academic disciplines are encouraged to apply including accounting, business, law, science, technology, engineering, maths, amongst others. Speaking about the graduate programme, Brendan Jennings, Managing Partner, Deloitte said, "Through this programme, we are offering graduates across many different disciplines the chance to experience and work in a global firm that develops graduates to achieve their full potential." He added, "Our programme allows graduates to grow and develop unique skills and leadership capabilities. We are excited to have graduates join us to build our team and to collaborate with us to deliver exceptional work to our clients." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us US-based Fazzi Healthcare Services has established a new Irish based coding and healthcare services company in Limerick creating 300 jobs over five years it was announced today. Founded in 1978, parent company Fazzi Associates is headquartered in Northampton, Massachusetts. They specialize in medical coding, a regulated process in the transformation of healthcare diagnoses, treatments, procedures, outcomes and services into universal medical alphanumeric codes known as ICD. It is the international standard used for health information purposes in primary, secondary, tertiary and public health settings. The process is defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The new Irish company has already begun providing ICD-10 coding services to the US homecare and hospice sector. Additionally, expansion plans are in the works to add billing and distance learning offerings for International-based insurance companies and governmental healthcare entities. Furthermore, the company also operates in the areas of consulting, education, benchmarking and research. It operates through two additional sites in India. Speaking today, Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan said, "Its great to see Fazzi Healthcare Services grow their presence in Limerick which is proud to be host to such an innovative company that combines healthcare and software. There will be many more opportunities now to join this company which places great value in its employees." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us Alcon yesterday celebrated 25 years at its plant in the IDA Business & Technology Park on Model Farm Road in Cork. Starting with just 13 employees in 1991, Alcon Ireland has transformed into Alcons European flagship manufacturing site for AcrySof intraocular lenses (IOLs) which replace the eyes natural lens during cataract surgery. Alcons AcrySof IOLs are the most frequently implanted lenses worldwide with more than 90 million implants1 since their introduction. The Alcon Ireland manufacturing plant operates 24 hours per day, 5 days per week and employs more than 450 associates who support Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Procurement, IT, HR, Health and Safety and Finance. Tenure at the plant ranges from 2 months to 25 years. In 2008, Alcon Ireland began its first phase of expansion when then Minister for Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin, officially opened an expansion of 15.6 million. He later announced a further investment of 21 million and the creation of 186 new jobs. The Cork plant has continued its growth and expansion trend, backed by a further 30M endorsement, which has been approved since 2009. General Manager, Jackie Murphy said, "This is a great day for the employees at Cork, who work hard every day to ensure patients and customers receive only the highest quality products. The plant has managed through some difficult economic times over the years, but the dedication and professionalism of our associates has made Alcon Ireland a success story." Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O Connor added, "It's a great tribute to the workers that this company has both survived and thrived through tough times to become the global leader in eye care that it is today." Source: www.businessworld.ie The 25th annual Allianz Business to Arts Awards ceremony took place at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre last night. This years Allianz Business to Arts Awards attracted a record number of nominations with over 15% related to the 1916 commemorations. The Awards recognise businesses, artists and arts organisations that develop creative partnerships to bring businesses and the arts into mutually beneficial relationships across society. The evening was a celebration of the most innovative and creative partnerships in Ireland which use the arts to enhance communities and working environments. Sky Arts/Sky Ireland, Cartoon Saloon, Bank of Ireland, An Post and ESB were among the winners in 12 categories. In addition to the award winners, RTE received the 25th Anniversary Special Award from Allianz and Business to Arts in recognition of its long-term contribution to the development, support and promotion of the arts during the 25-year history of the awards. Chief Executive of Business to Arts, Andrew Hetherington said, "In this year of Commemoration, the cultural sector has been an important part of State and corporate events. The winners shine a spotlight on what can be achieved by working with artists to the interpret and re-imagine our heritage." He added, "Each year of the Allianz Business to Arts Awards builds on the previous, and it is always inspiring to see organisations from diverse sectors push boundaries and create world-class art." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us It was announced today that the An Post Grow My Business conference will be returning to Cork on 20 October 2016, running from 7:30am to 1pm in the Clarion Hotel, Cork. The An Post Grow My Business conference is designed to support business owners and entrepreneurs in the region and will also feature an introduction to AdMailer.ie An Posts online direct mail tool that allows businesses to reach new customers for less than the price of a stamp. Alison Cowzer who is the newest investor on RTEs Dragons Den programme and Marketing and Innovation Director of Irelands largest indigenous biscuit manufacturer, East Coast Bakehouse will speak at the conference. Cowzer, who has years of experience in food manufacturing and marketing, will talk about the important role of innovation in business. Director of the Small Firms Association, Patricia Callan will help business navigate and sustain growth when faced with the issues of rising business costs, particularly wage pressures, skills shortages and employee retention. She will also discuss Brexit and its implications for Europe's stability and our direct trading relationship overall. Speaking at the launch, Head of Post Media with An Post, Fiona Heffernan said, "This years line up of speakers include some of Irelands best business minds and marketeers, making this a must-attend event for business owners in the Munster region." She added, "Our focus for this years event is idea generation for innovation, business development and marketing, as well as the very important and current issue of Brexit implications for Irish exporting and local companies." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us It was announced this month that Benefit Cosmetics has recently opened a new 2,124 sq.ft. store in Dublin having agreed a new lease at Unit 6, The Times Building, owned by Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Plc. Benefit Cosmetics LLC is a manufacturer of cosmetics founded and headquartered in San Francisco, California which sells at over 2,000 counters in more than 30 countries. It is a subsidiary of LVMH. The company was founded in the mid-1970s by twin sisters Jean and Jane Ford. With over 1,400 locations all over the world, Benefit BrowBar beauty lounges are feel-good spots dedicated to beauty services for all kinds of women. The Times Building, located on DOlier Street, Dublin 2, is named after its once longstanding occupant, The Irish Times, and comprises 51,000 sq.ft. of office accommodation with 7 ground floor retail units, where tenants include Medley and House of Colour hair salon. The property was restored in 2010 retaining many of its original features, including neo-Georgian facades. Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate purchased The Times Building last year and together with its agent, CBRE, has targeted retailers who will complement each other and provide a high quality retail destination in the centre of Dublin. Senior Director of letting agent CBRE, Bernadine Hogan commented, "Benefit Cosmetics is a fantastic, popular, fun brand and is a perfect fit for our plans for the other retail units in The Times Building. We have seen tremendous interest from new dynamic occupiers, which was our main target and we should be confirming more exciting occupiers shortly." Source: www.businessworld.ie About us SHARE Joshua Lynn Wilson By Julie Garcia of the Caller-Times A man was taken into custody after he swung his 2-year-old son in front of officers, a police news release states. About 12:29 a.m. Tuesday, Corpus Christi police arrived in the 10500 block of Heizer Drive to see a 28-year-old man holding a child with another child walking behind him while leaving an apartment. The man told officers a woman was trying "to run out with the children and he wasn't going to let that happen." The woman told police an argument began when she was having trouble breathing and started coughing. While looking for her inhaler, the man "told her to shut up and not wake the kids" before he told her to "just go ahead and die," the news release states. The woman tried to leave with the children, but she said the man grabbed her by the hair and took one of the kids from her arms. Then she said he punched her in the forehead. Police said he used the 2-year-old boy as a barrier between him and the officers and began swinging him back and forth. Two officers grabbed the man, and a third officer safely removed the child. During handcuffing, the man resisted and officers used a Taser on him, the release states. Joshua Lynn Wilson, 28, was arrested on suspicion of abandoning/endangering a child criminal negligence, resisting arrest and assault causing bodily injury family violence. He is at Nueces County Jail with bail set at $5,500. Twitter: @Caller_Jules Natalia Contreras/Caller-Times The Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority officials and the eighth annual Walk n' Roll Celebration committee unveiled two buses wrapped to bring awareness for the Americans with Disabilities Act. SHARE Natalia Contreras/Caller-Times Matty Silva, 4, is one of nine people featured on the buses to bring awareness for the Americans with Disabilities Act. By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times Wheelchair ramps, sloped curbs and lifts on buses were not a common sight before the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed and passed in 1990. On Monday, the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority Officials and the eighth annual Walk n' Roll Celebration committee unveiled buses to bring awareness for the ADA. Two buses are wrapped with a photo of residents who represent the progress, and workers with disabilities, Corpus Christi RTA CEO Jorge Cruz-Aedo said. "At the RTA we are committed to improvements and providing access to the community is high up in our lists to do," Cruz-Aedo said. "Every bus and vehicle we have is equipped with wheelchair accessibility. We want to go above and beyond to provide access to those with a disability." Cruz-Aedo said the wrap will remain on the buses through October, which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. About 50 people, including elected officials, attended the event at the Corpus Christi RTA Operations Center on Bear Lane. Lex Frieden, disability rights activist and past chairman of the American Association of People with Disabilities said after 26 years it's important to celebrate the progress made and to continue creating an accessible and inclusive society for future generations. "Young people see the wheelchair ramps, the curb cuts and they think that's normal. But more than 20 years ago, they weren't there," Frieden said. "Now we see people with disabilities going to work and it is because of communities like this one working together. When you make plans for this community, when you do community service, think of people with disabilities. Be inclusive," Frieden said. Matty Silva is one of the nine people featured on the bus. The four-year-old was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. His mom, Geneva Elizarraraz, said seeing his photo on the bus is a reflection of the community's support to people with disabilities. "It's a blessing. Matty is a blessing to our entire family," Elizarraraz said. "We have such a great support system but there's still a lot to be done. We had a hard time finding a day care for him, so we know there's progress to be made." The Coastal Bend Walk n' Roll Celebration will be at 8 a.m. Saturday at Bayfront Water Park. Twitter: @CallerNatalia David Strickland SHARE Molli Olgin Mary Kristene Chapa By Krista M. Torralva of the Caller-Times SINTON Portland police's lead suspect for two years in a fatal shooting made statements after failing a polygraph test that lawyers say indicate his guilt. Defense lawyers for David Malcom Strickland want the audio interview with that man played for a San Patricio County jury. Prosecutor Sam Smith objected to the audio and a judge is expected to make a decision before the jury returns Wednesday morning. Strickland is charged with capital murder for the 2012 double shooting that killed Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, and seriously injured Mary Kristene Chapa at a Portland park. Strickland, 30, was arrested in 2014 after a letter meant for Chapa's father led authorities to Strickland. But for two years before authorities got the letter, they suspected a Nevada man who was in Portland the summer of 2012. That man was staying with a family friend while he awaited sentencing in a home invasion to which he pleaded guilty. He testified against his co-conspirators. Strickland's defense lawyers subpoenaed the Nevada man but a judge in Clark County, Nevada rejected it because of a misspelling, defense lawyer Jimmy Granberry told visiting Judge Philip Kazen of San Antonio. Kazen is presiding over the trial. "A large part of our defense is they got the wrong guy," Granberry said. But playing the audio gives the defense an unfair advantage and shouldn't be allowed under rules about what is hearsay, Smith argued. "They want to get hearsay in that I don't get to cross examine (him)," Smith said. The first suspect's DNA was found on cigarette butts and a drink can near the women's bodies. But he is about a foot taller than Chapa, who described the attacker to police as being about her height, Officer Roland Chavez testified Tuesday. The first suspect's father, an arson investigator in Henderson, Nevada, called Chavez when he learned his son was a suspect. At the time, Chavez told the father the height discrepancy didn't bother him because the height from the overlook the women were first on and the brush where their bodies were left is more than 11 inches tall, Chavez said under defense lawyers' questioning. In the home invasion, the attackers wore masks and bound a family including a child with duct tape, Chavez said. But there wasn't a sexual assault, like in the Portland park attack, and the Nevada crime was for money, and the Portland park attack was not, Chavez said. The violence in Portland was much more heinous, Chavez said. There was a similarity Portland police were initially interested in: The attackers in Nevada referred to themselves by numbers. The attacker in the Portland park shooting called Olgin and Chapa "Girl 1" and "Girl 2," Chavez said. That detail was never released to the public, Chavez said. Olgin, 19, died at the scene and Chapa lost functionality to the left side of her body. She had to relearn to walk and talk. The couple were found by a husband and wife who testified Monday they spotted the pair while bird watching. Two days after the shooting, Portland police were called to a lake about shots fired. Police found the first suspect walking along the road by the water. The officer stopped him and told him he was investigating shots fired in the area. The suspect asked if he was referring to the park incident two nights before. That was initially suspicious to Chavez, he testified. About a month later, police went to the Portland park for another call of shots fired. Officers found the man on the overlook above where Olgin and Chapa were found. This time he was with a partially-clothed woman, Chavez said. Besides capital murder, Strickland faces several other charges related to the incident. Prosecutors and defense lawyers have said they anticipate the trial lasting 2-3 weeks. Strickland and his wife were arrested in their Helotes apartment in 2014. Charges were later dropped against the wife, Laura Strickland, who had been charged with tampering with evidence. Portland police said she wrote the letter addressed to Chapa's father detailing the assaults and shooting written from the perspective of a hit man. Prosecutors have said the letter contained information not publicly released. Parts of the letter were found on Strickland's computer after his arrest, according to testimony. Initially, it was widely believed Chapa and Olgin were targeted because of their sexuality. Vigils were hosted in their honor across the country, and last year Chapa was a presenter and speaker at the annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards in New York. But police and prosecutors have said evidence does not support the hate crime narrative and the charges against Strickland do not include a hate crime. In addition to capital murder, Strickland is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the gunshot to Chapa, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and terroristic threat. Twitter: @CallerKMT SHARE Oscar Merado Chapa By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times Corpus Christi police issued a warrant Monday for man accused of shooting another in the stomach. Police believe Oscar Merado Chapa, 35, kicked in the front door of a home in the 4900 block of Olympia Drive about 9:25 a.m. Sunday and shot a 30-year-old man in the stomach, according to a police news release. Merado Chapa is described as about 6 feet tall and about 185 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He faces charges of burglary with intent to commit a felony and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Bond was set at $40,000, the release states. Anyone with information about this case can call 361-886-2600 or Crime Stoppers at 361-888-TIPS. Under the Bridge The new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge cuts near the once bustling Hillcrest neighborhood. For those who didn't move away this is what life is like now. Paul Iverson/Special to the Caller-Times Corpus Christi Police Lt. Chuck Freeman is escorted to breakfast by St. John Paul II High School student Sarah Lee Sang (14, left), while other students wave flags to greet visitors during The Voices That Care Club's Appreciation Breakfast at the school for police, firefighters, and military men and women. SHARE Paul Iverson/Special to the Caller-Times Corpus Christi Police Chief Mike Markle poses with students Jackie Conde (left), 16, and Mia Alvarado, 15, for a photo taken by student Abby Trevino, 15, during an appreciation breakfast Monday at St. John Paul II High School for police, firefighters, and military men and women. Paul Iverson/Special to the Caller-Times Members of the Corpus Christi Police Department Rick Soliz (left), Mark Schauer (foreground), Mike Alanis, Mark Gutierrez, and John Houston eat breakfast and talk with St. John Paul II High School student Bridget Lee Sang. The event on Monday was put on by the Voices That Care Club to honor police, firefighters, and military men and women. Paul Iverson/Special to the Caller-Times The "Voices That Care" Club at St. John Paul II High School hosted an appreciation breakfast on Monday at the school for police, firefighters, and military men and women. Julianna Gomez (right), 14, waits in the area where students lined up with balloons and flags to welcome the visitors. Paul Iverson/Special to the Caller-Times Corpus Christi firefighters Aurelio De La Garza (middle) and Leroy Barbosa (right) are escorted by students Sara Lee Sang, 14, during an appreciation breakfast at St. John Paul II High School for police, firefighters, and military men and women. By Julie Garcia of the Caller-Times A smorgasbord of food lined the front desk at the library in St. John Paul II High School. Muffins, bagels, tacos, doughnuts, juice it was all there for the city's police officers, firefighters and military personnel Monday morning. Voices That Care, a school club geared toward community service and creating opportunities for people with special needs, hosted an appreciation breakfast for the personnel to "let them know (they) care." "I think if we grow up showing our appreciation, we will be better people," said event chairwoman Natalia Lopez. "We just wanted to let them know that we care and appreciate everything they do for us." Retired Corpus Christi firefighter Lionel Lopez and his son-in-law and current firefighter Robert Cruz attended the breakfast with Cruz's daughter, Jaci. She said it made her feel good to celebrate her family along with her classmates. "It's very special for them to give back and give something to us," Cruz said after finishing up his breakfast. "It was like a buffet in here." Corpus Christi Police Chief Mike Markle posed for a photo with the club and thanked them for hosting the breakfast. "It's a great way to start the week," he wrote. Club president Bridget Lee Sang said with relations between police and citizens changing nationwide it's important to stand behind the officers. "Especially in the news, they get a negative reputation," she said. "Some may have faults, but the majority of them are good. They risk their lives for us and are here for us." Voices That Care hosts different events throughout the school year, including a Special Hearts prom for special needs students at the school, A Cut Above hair-cutting program that donates hair to made into wigs for cancer patients and a Trunk-or-Treat next month. Twitter: @Caller_Jules JOHN MORITZ/CALLER-TIMES State Rep. Garnet Coleman SHARE By John C. Moritz, USA TODAY NETWORK AUSTIN Sandra Bland, the African-American woman who committed suicide in a Texas jail after a traffic stop turned confrontational last year, likely would not have died had the state trooper not been looking for a pretext to pull her over, a key state lawmaker said Tuesday. State Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat who chairs the Texas House County Affairs Committee, said "pretext stops" are used by law enforcement officers to target motorists they believe might be wanted for a more serious matter. "If a pretext stop wasn't used with Sandra Bland, she probably wouldn't have been arrested," Coleman said. "And I think it's clear that those stops are used to fish for greater crimes." Such stops are more frequently directed at members of ethnic and racial minorities than at while motorists, Coleman said as he began the hearing at the state Capitol. He is considering filing legislation next year to address race and traffic stops. Bland was stopped by a DPS trooper near Houston. During the July 2015 stop, which was captured on the trooper's in-car-video, showed the trooper loudly arguing with her over her cigarette. The officer removed from her car and used forced to subdue her. She later was found dead in her Waller County jail cell. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the committee that the trooper who arrested Bland acted inappropriately. He was later fired. The job of all troopers, McCraw said, "is to treat everyone with dignity and respect." Later, McCraw and Coleman exchanged heated words over whether troopers are too quick to use what Coleman called "a command voice" to demonstrate that they are in charge of a given situation. McCraw rejected any assertion that troopers use such a voice to harass or intimidate ordinary citizens. But when dealing with an aggressive individual suspected of a serious crime, he said, troopers must be allowed to use the voice necessary to force compliance. Meanwhile, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill political science professor who has conducted extensive studies of traffic stops and race, said his findings show that black motorists are far more likely than whites to be treated harshly by law enforcement officers during traffic stops. "The Texas Department of Public Safety is not a particular outlier on this issue," said Professor Frank Baumgartner, who testified by way of Skype. "This is a national issue that is a concern to every police department everywhere." Twitter:@JohnnieMo DPS traffic stop data For 2015 data on DPS traffic stops, click here. SHARE Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa Dr. Hector Garcia Day Dear Family & Friends of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, It was an honor to author Senate Bill 495, the legislation that brings us all together on the third Wednesday of September of every year, to honor and remember Dr. Hector P. Garcia, a true American hero who made sacrifices for everyone. Today we honor a man who was not afraid to speak up. Dr. Garcia was a fearless physician and World War II veteran who fought for the rights of Hispanics and veterans who were denied educational, medical and housing opportunities. As a private American citizen, Dr. Garcia exercised his constitutional rights to elevate awareness about the plight of neglected Americans. As a physician, he provided access to medical care to a traditionally under-served community. As a soldier, he demonstrated valor and sacrifice as he fought to protect our liberties. On this day, we remember that Dr. Garcia taught us that serving our community is an act of selflessness and sacrifice. He taught us to serve and advocate for the most vulnerable and under-served in our communities. We recognize that Dr. Garcia's contributions earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and military decorations for protecting our way of life. We are also proud that Dr. Garcia was as an adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter and served as the first Hispanic on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Today, tomorrow, and forever, our Texas youth will learn about a man who dedicated his life to public service and who broke down the barriers that existed at the time. Our future generations will know that Dr. Garcia was able to advance the interests of Hispanics and made a significant difference in the freedoms we now enjoy. We will never forget Dr. Garcia's selflessness and public service and his legacy and memory serve as lessons to us all. SHARE Natalie Villarreal Justice not served Imagine: you're at a party, probably had a few drinks, and next thing you know you're in the hospital being told you've just been the victim of sexual assault. Life as you know it has changed for the worst and for the rest of your life you'll have to hear from others about an event you don't even remember happening because you were unconscious for most of it. Oh, and the guy who did it to you? All he gets is three months in jail (it was initially six months but he got out early for "good behavior") and expulsion from Stanford University. Cases like this happen frequently and are rarely reported. According to rainn.org, every 109 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted with only 6 out of every 1,000 perpetrators ending up in prison. Too few victims report these incidences because of the underwhelming consequences for the perpetrator, leading to more problems between the rapist and his/her victim and even more detrimental effects on the victim's psyche. The criminal justice system must be re-evaluated to serve justice. An article by Attn.com compared Jeff Mizanskey's life sentence with no parole for nonviolent marijuana offenses to Brock Turner's six-month (only served three) sentence for sexual assault/rape of an unconscious woman. So I ask, what do you think America's priorities are? SHARE Alamzeb Khan, Montgomery Making America great Recently an Arab man was shot to death in Oklahoma by his neighbor. The killer was known to police for using ethnic and racial slurs. Similarly, a Muslim Imam and his assistant were killed in New York, which appears to be yet another crime rooted in Islamophobia. Five Dallas police officers were murdered in cold blood and around the nation unarmed black men are being unjustly killed. As an Ahmadi Muslim I am greatly saddened by all the untimely deaths. While I pray for them, I hope that justice is served. But what has become of our beautiful country? This used to be the land of the free and home of the brave, a place where whether we agreed or not we defended each other's right to disagree. And now look at what we have become. I can see the allure of the slogan "make America great again" because every single one of us wants to bring back that America where peace reigned. And yet the very slogan is spread with divisive rhetoric. Instead of calling for bans on individuals of entire religions, labeling whole groups, and threatening each other, those in positions of influence should call for peace and understanding amongst the various sections of our American society. That's how we can make America great. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups A man is standing trial accused of death by dangerous driving after allegedly making a 'split second decision' and causing a head-on collision which killed a teenager. Adrian Fry, 51 of Briars End Way in Witchford, Ely, denies the charge - which relates to a fatal crash on the A1123 at Hill Row Causeway on January 22, 2015 but admits death by careless driving. The crash resulted in the death of young motorcyclist Karl Langley, from Sutton, who had been to visit friends at Willow Hall Farm. The 19-year-old had travelled just 277metres from the farm when he collided head-on with a Ford Focus driven by Fry, which was on his side of the road. Opening the trial to a jury at Cambridge Crown Court today (Tuesday), prosecutor Caroline Allison said: Karl Langley had been at an agricultural show before returning to the farm at 6pm. At 6.50pm he was involved in a crash on an unlit stretch of the westbound carriageway of the A1223. Paramedics attended but unfortunately he died at the scene. A police officer spoke to the defendant, who confirmed he was the driver of the car involved but was adamant the motorcyclist was on the wrong side of the road." A vehicle examiner concluded there were no defects to either vehicle involved but that the motorcycle's headlights would have been on at the time of the crash. Further evidence showed Mr Langley was driving at no more than 49mph but the defendant was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the impact, the court was told. (Image: Keith Jones) On April 1 the defendant was interviewed. He told police he approached the corner of the bend when he saw a light coming towards him but didn't know what it was. He said the light was on the wrong side of the road and was coming towards him at a considerable speed but he made a 'split second decision' and decided to try and avoid the vehicle. He performed a right turn into the opposite carriageway and thereafter the impact took place. Fry said he blacked out twice before waking up in a ditch. He told police the bike was travelling at 70mph and he didn't have time to avoid the accident. Miss Allison said the crown did not accept Fry's guilty plea of careless driving, because had the motorcyclist been in the wrong lane he would have had to manoeuvre into the correct lane before the crash. She said Langley had a very short space of time to do this and if he did, the movement of the headlights would have been seen by Fry. Michael Bromley-Martin, defending, told jurors that the bend in the road was 'reasonably gentle' at a 30 degree angle in open flat countryside. He added: The prosecution say my client cut the corner like a formula one racing driver but we say he misperceived the position of the motorbike and swerved to avoid it and we say that was careless, not dangerous." The trial continues. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups A Cambridge scientist says he has succeeded where the FBI failed and bypassed the Apple iPhone's security code system. Dr Sergei Skorobogatov has released a research paper detailing how he cloned an iPhone 5c memory chip, allowing him unlimited attempts at guessing the device's password. The FBI famously said this approach did not work when trying to gain access to the phone of Syed Rizwan Farook, the San Bernadino gunman. At the time it was trying to put pressure on Apple to give it a software 'backdoor' into the device, so it could access information about Farook's collaborators. The technology firm resisted. However, computer scientist Dr Skorobogatov says he made a breakthrough by removing the Nand chip, the iPhone's main memory storage system. He then copied this, and modified the handset so that the chip was connected to an external unit, allowing cloned versions to be swapped in and out while trying to guess the password. Apparently Dr Skorobogatov spent four months building the testing rig for the phone, but actually cracking of the four-digit code took about 40 hours. "The process does not require any expensive and sophisticated equipment," he said. "All needed parts are low cost and were obtained from local electronics distributors. By using the described and successful hardware mirroring process it was possible to bypass the limit on passcode retry attempts." The FBI is thought to have paid a security company $1m to access the data on the phone of Farook, who together with his wife murdered 14 people in the Californian city of San Bernadino last December. CAMEROUN :: Cameroon: Massive Anti-Biya Protests Could Force Electoral Reforms Before 2018 - Exiled Varsity Leader Former founding-leader of the students parliament of the University of Yaounde , Corantin Talla, popularly known as General Schwarzkopft is expressing fears for Cameroon as the country prepares for the 2018 quadruple elections.For his role in creation of the student parliament General Schwaztkopf, who was dismissed from all Cameroonian universities in 1993 has declared his candidacy for the 2018 presidential elections, calls on Cameroonians to mobilise themselves and participate in bringing about the change he says is overdue. In this exclusive interview he says the protest against President Paul Biyas presence in New York would not have the same impact, if it took place in Cameroon. Excerpts: What has become of General Schwarzkopf after 24 years in exile? General Schwaztkopf has remained active during his 24 years in exile in the USA. He is the President of a non-profit Organisation, Conscience du Cameroun and Coordinator of the United Front of Cameroons Diaspora for Democratic Change in Cameroon. DR CORANTIN TALLA General Schwaztkopf holds a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration and several Oracle Technological Degrees and Certification. I became a Software Engineer and Sr. Oracle Database Consultant with more than 14 years of experience. I own an Information Consulting Firm called Talla Consultancy Services Inc. As you may observe I have kept up the struggle to build our country. Protests have been planned by Cameroonians in New York against President Biyas presence as he takes part in the September 2016, 71st UN General Assembly. Are you one of the organisers? Conscience du Cameroon which staged several protests in the past here in USA will not be involved in protests this time around. These overseas protests seem not to have the desired impacts for a change of attitude or the regime in Yaounde. They are however successful because they are not prohibited in democratic countries. We think that massive protests in Cameroon would be more effective to cause electoral and constitutional reforms and for the construction of a strong democracy. We read that you are candidate for the 2018 elections. What is motivating you to want that job amid a myriad of candidates? I want to be the President of Cameroon because of my history of fighting for social justice in my country, my consistency and integrity. I thought I was the better candidate that can carry the aspirations of Cameroonians compared to many other candidates. Some are opportunists, others do not know exactly the plight of Cameroonians like I do because I have been there. I fought for them and I continue to fight for them. I am not so sure whether some are candidates because they want to serve the people of Cameroon or they want to please themselves. Because in the past, they have showed that they could change as quick as possible. Some candidates are in the government already, some have received money from the government. Some candidates have been thinking that they can use France or America to get to power in Cameroon. Such candidates can only serve their own interests and the interests of the powers that helped them get to power in Cameroon. So I am the only candidate of the real change and the candidate of the Cameroonian people. GENERAL SCHWAZTKOPF (L) LEADING PROTEST Many seem to agree that Cameroon is not too well economically, politically and socially. What would prioritise should you take power in Cameroon? I intend to address or reduce poverty and corruption two concepts that are intimately linked. When I talk about poverty, I am talking about how to make sure that all Cameroonians have equal opportunity for jobs, health care, and education which is not the case right now. In Cameroon we have very high unemployment and poverty rates. Around 40%. Even though our economy is growing at around 5.8% and 6%, people are getting poorer and poorer. It therefore means that some people, a minority, are getting all the benefits of the economic growth. It does not trickle down to the majority of Cameroonians. My goal will be to do redistributive, social and economic justice of Cameroonian wealth to every Cameroonian. I cannot say that I am going to be cutting pay cheques to every Cameroonian. At least for the youths we are going to be providing jobs, and make sure that we build very nice hospitals. We would attract our best nurses and doctors that are living abroad by increasing their wages and creating better working conditions. It means I have to leverage the knowledge of the diaspora to develop Cameroon and to transform Cameroonians politically, economically, socially. How do you intend to fight corruption, bribery and brazen theft of public funds which seem to be the major problem in Cameroon? C.E.O :TALLA CONSULTANCY SERVICES INC. Corruption is a serious problem that affects Cameroonians especially the vulnerable sector of the population. Theres a theory of a principal and her agents when it comes to corruption. Unfortunately in Cameroon almost everybody is corrupt. You dont know who is an agent of corruption and who is a principal fighter of corruption. Those institutions that have been created to fight corruption are by themselves managed by corrupt people. So I will appeal to education, I will appeal to the collective consciousness of Cameroonians which is by education. You cannot fight corruption now by creating those institutions. You have to educate people especially those in primary schools that corruption is not good and that it is a sin. They have to grow up knowing that corruption affects all of us. Even though we are calling for collective consciousness it does not mean that those who are involved in corruption will not be punished. Laws will be enforced, the constitution would apply and we will try different efficient ways to get back all what they have stolen. We would seriously reprimand corruption even if it means building more prisons. We would also be rewarding those who are fighting against corruption and upholding their integrity. Is it not still possible to bring regime change in Cameroon through the ballot box even with the inefficiencies of the election management body, Elections Cameroon, Elecam? Is there risk of electoral tension in 2018? Given the present situation we will not have any change. We cannot even hope to have any change in Cameroon in 2018 because Elecam is the structure that organises and controls the elections. Elecam is not consensual and was mostly created by the regime in place without consulting other political associations that matter in social fabric of Cameroon. We need a forum where discussions would lead to the creation of another structure that can guarantee the neutrality and the fairness in the conduct of the elections. Secondly,the electoral code needs to provide for the use of the single ballot and the entire electoral process needs to be computerised. We need to stop, prevent, and forbid any political party in the competition to use the means/media of the state to conduct his campaign. That gives unfair advantage to the ruling party. Those are the reforms which need to be done. If not, I fear for Cameroon in 2018. Everyone seems to blame Elecam. Are Cameroonians not themselves responsible for the current stalemate in the country? LIST OF Y'DE DISMISSED STUDENTS That is important. What makes matters worse is the behaviour of Cameroonians. They seem not to be interested in change or even in fighting for their own rights, because of some reasons I dont know. Apart from distrust for some political leaders, I can say that I am very disappointed at the way Cameroonians are acting now. I have seen Cameroonians mobilise in Cameroon to welcome some crooks as if they were the head of state. But when you ask them to mobilise themselves to fight for themselves and their rights they will say no, unless you give them some money. Money has become a problem in Cameroon. Materialistic values have become the order of the day. So they only way to wake Cameroonians up is to educate, make them have a conscience for the need for change in Cameroon. But how do we do that? Thats what we are working on now. Thats our dilemma right now. Ahead of 2018, some are talking about regime change and others are preaching transition. Where do you find yourself in all these? When I look at how the country has been mismanaged, the objective and goal is regime change. Transition is just one of such means to arrive at that point. A transitional government is aimed at creating a neutral authority that can reform the current electoral law without bias so that the competition after the transition will be fair. We have seen cases like that in Guinea and Burkina Faso where people in the transition are not allowed to compete. We need to create a strong democracy in which there would be peaceful regular change like every five years without people fighting for power or whatever. Cameroon needs a political system that can promote a strong democracy and citizen participation in the political process and free and fair elections. We dont have to let one person decide when we have to go in for elections. The transition is just the means and the main goal is the change in power. When you look at what has happened in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and today in Gabon with post electoral conflicts, do you have any worry when compared to Cameroon? If it should become violent, I will tell you that the level of violence will surpass the ones we have seen in Cote DIvoire or in Gabon because Cameroon is a complex society. Cameroonians have been very anxious about the situation in Cameroon. When you refuse or prevent the people from expressing their minds peacefully for a long time you compound their frustrations. And thats the case in Cameroon. If Paul Biyas regime does not make sure that we have free and fair elections in 2018, the situation might get out of control. Thats what I fear. Thats why any moment from now I appeal to the party in power and other political parties and associations that will participate in the political process for us to discuss and find a common ground to improve our political process in such a way that it doesnt bring violence now or in the future. Thats what we should be doing now. Those people who think that they love Cameroon have to accept to sit down on a table to discuss a way forward that can promote peaceful transitions or peaceful political change. It is being observed that Cameroonians are so disinterested in politics, especially at University milieu where we have the academia. Could our universities not play a role in bringing change like it did in the 1990s? Some Cameroonian opposition leaders have failed to implement what they said they would do. They have shown some opportunistic attitudes. We saw how some of them abandoned the 1992 coalition and joined the government. We have some people like Fru Ndi, who doesnt really seem to be an incarnation of the opposition now. Some people even allege that has been used to making sure that we have a semblance of democracy in Cameroon. SCHWARZKOPF, (M) OTHER Y'DE STUDENT LEADERS(1993) There is also the issue of poverty and misery that has grown in Cameroon and is affecting the mental state of Cameroonians. People dont have what to eat or what to drink, they dont even think about something that is right. They have to fight and struggle every day to find what to eat so talking about politics to them is secondary. But what they fail to understand is that if you dont sacrifice and fight for political change your situation will never improve. Apart from that the government has created a system of intimidation using the army, abusing human rights and preventing people from speaking or assembling freely. For instance, you can go to the television, talk, shout and insult him with no problem. You will not be arrested or sent to prison. But when you decide to organise a single meeting or rally, the Divisional Officer will prevent you from holding that meeting on grounds that you are there to disturb public safety and peace. They dont want people to assemble and to think. But if it was a meeting in support of the ruling CPDM like recently the students went on the streets to thank Mr Biya for the five thousand laptops it poses no problem. With all these people are no longer interested in political issues. LEADING PROTEST IN WASHINGTON (2008) Talking about university students, we must understand that the mentality of Cameroonians has changed drastically for the worse because most people now are interested in material things. Youths in Cameroon are interested just in getting money. But in our time we used to fight first for the love of the nation. We were patriots. We didnt fight because we wanted to receive money. In 2008 people were organised but demanded money when they were asked to go and protest. What we need now is massive education. We have to educate our population especially the students on patriotism. Maybe they need patriotism courses so that they can understand the use of sacrificing for your country. The University students really have to redirect their attention towards citizen participation. How do you look at Cameroon after the Biya regime? It depends on the kind of change we want to have. Whether we want to have a change in continuity with the current regime would depend on Cameroonians. We change not only the people that have been in the system, but we change the ways and policies of the current system in such a way to improve our democracy. Citizens have to participate in the electoral and decision making process. We have to witness an improvement in the delivery of public services by creating laws that can promote transparency and accountability in the delivery of those public services. We would need an electronic government, technology to leverage those change and reforms in our administrative and political system. We need to abandon progressively the informal and manual system that breeds corruption. There are people in the current government that have good intention and could join us to bring about a positive transformation in the social, economic and political development of Cameroon. I and my team have the capacity to bring change with the support of the youths I have been fighting for since my early 20s. I think our country would improve after Biya. Cameroonian youths are in a situation where a majority want to leave the country. Is there any reason why the youths should stay home? The youths of Cameroon should wake up, think about our country. Dont only think leaving your country is necessary. Think about what you can do to make the country better. Wake up let us fight for your rights to effect political change that will provide opportunities in the future, not only for you but also for future generations. We will not abandon the Cameroon ship in the hands of grand bandits because they will be happy and take everything. Cameroon is like a grandmother that is been hijacked, vandalised and we cannot pass by and leave that grandmother and run away. Cameroonians should wake up and join Conscience du Cameroun as well as other progressive forces so that together we can change the regime, the political system and put in place laws that will foster social justice, opportunity for all, integral development, respect for Cameroon and the dignity of Cameroonians all over the world. The should not have any defeatist, fatalist attitudes. | BY Ricki Green | Following the success of last years event, the Account Management Groups 7 Minute Mentoring returns to Sydney and Melbourne this week, offering the industrys rising stars a chance to gain one-on-one guidance from not just one, but a room full of advertising and marketing leaders. In a speed-dating style session, attendees will be given seven minutes at a time to quiz agency and business leads on their experience, ask advice, and find out what makes them tick. Melbourne Time: 6.30pm 8.30pm Date: Wednesday 21 September Venue: BWM Dentsu, 116 122 Chapel St Melbourne Tickets: Members $10 / Non Members $40 Sydney Time: 6.30pm 8.30pm Date: Thursday 22 September Venue: BWM Dentsu, 46 52 Mountain St Ultimo Tickets: Members $10 / Non Members $40 Melbourne Wednesday 21 September Belinda Murray, Client Services Director, BWM Dentsu (Mentoring in Sydney and Melbourne) Paul McMillan, Managing Director, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne Amy Holiier, Creative Director, BWM Dentsu Emma Bullen, Senior Manager, ANZ Kathryn Weatherlake, Business Director, PHD Ashlin Moore, Senior Mgr, Brand & Advertising, Fiat Chrysler Jude Lamb, Product & Marketing Manager, Renault Alex Lefley, Director Brand, Edelman Mark Watkin, Managing Director, BWM Dentsu Sydney Thursday 22 September Dan Smith, Managing Director, Havas Worldwide Emily Perrett, Managing Director, Clemenger BBDO Aden Hepburn, Managing Director, VML Mim Haysom, General Manager, M&C Saatchi Dan Beaumont, Managing Director, The Royals Alex Carr, Managing Director, BWM Dentsu Sarah Palmer, Head of Talent, Leo Burnett Paul Coles, Group Head, M&C Saatchi Louie Skinner, Managing Director, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness Tamsyn Alley, Managing Director, Porter Novelli Paul Nagy, Executive Creative Director, Clemenger BBDO Nicole Taylor, Managing Director, DDB Sydney Lisa Ramsey, Head of Content Management, The Monkeys Simon Hadfield, Leadership Consultant, Hourigan International Polly Atherton, Managing Director, Frank PR Says Belinda Murray, chair of the AMG and client services director at BWM Dentsu: The last time we ran the speed mentoring session we were overwhelmed with the response. The enthusiasm of the mentees and the generosity of the mentors makes for a truly unique experience for our members to learn from the best in our business. This year we have an outstanding line up of mentors in both Melbourne and Sydney, and we look forward to a night of swapping stories, learning from mistakes and sharing tips on how to become the best in the business. I would encourage any junior mid level teams across agency departments to join us, its an event not to be missed. The AMG is a community group within The Communications Council for Account Management professionals within marketing communications. The group champions leadership, professionalism and business creativity in the discipline of effective account management. | BY Ricki Green | OMDs work on the National Pyjama Day campaign has seen the media agency contribute $1.6m in value to young people living in foster care. The annual fundraising event hosted by UnLtds charity partner, The Pyjama Foundation, sees donors register online and activate their friends and work colleagues, to wear pyjamas for the day and donate funds. UnLtd CEO Paul Fisher said the total value of OMDs support including value of media secured and creative services totaled more than $1.6m. Says Fisher: Through UnLtd connecting OMD with The Pyjama Foundation, OMD was able to unite their partners to provide highly valuable media exposure across; TV, radio, print, digital and outdoor. And the results in terms of fundraising and participation are outstanding. The impressive campaign results included a 100% increase donations and over 75,000 participants nationally (an increase of 90% YoY). In addition, the exposure secured by OMD has seen 10 potential new businesses and three high net worth philanthropists connect with The Pyjama Foundation, with interest to support the charity financially. Pyjama Foundation founder and CEO, Bronwyn Sheehan, said the funds raised from this campaign would enable them to place 200 more Pyjama Angels with young children in foster care. Says Sheehan: More than 90% of children living in foster care have below average literacy skills. The goal of our foundation is to provide every child in care with a pyjama angel, to improve their reading and writing skills, and to help them fall in love with learning. The Pyjama Foundation trains volunteers called Pyjama Angels who visit the same child every week to read books, play educational games and help them with their homework. For many kids who move from foster home to foster home in their life, their Pyjama Angel becomes one of their only constant role models. Says Aimee Buchanan, managing director, OMD Sydney: At OMD, we believe that it is our responsibility to give back to the community. We facilitate and prioritise our peoples efforts by sharing time, talent, resources and expertise for community projects. We encourage every employee to utilise their time to help an organisation. We started working with The Pyjama Foundation earlier this year, and are looking forward to achieving great things together. | BY Ricki Green | After a competitive pitch process that commenced in June, Simplot has appointed J. Walter Thompson Melbourne as its lead creative agency across key brands Birds Eye, Leggos, Lean Cuisine and I&J. Says Michael Godwin, MD, J. Walter Thompson Melbourne: On a number of fronts this is a most exciting outcome for us. It means we get to work on some much loved brands. Its an endorsement that our investment in building an outstanding in-house Shopper Marketing capability is beneficial to clients like Simplot. And finally, despite the artificial constraints of a pitch process, our team felt a really positive chemistry with the Simplot team at every interaction such an important foundation to any successful relationship. We cant wait to build on this positivity now that were on board as their partners. Says Suzanne Harman, GM marketing, Simplot Australia: Simplot is thrilled to be working with the talented team at J. Walter Thompson Melbourne, their people and process were the perfect fit for us. We look forward to a long and successful relationship with them, said Suzanne Harman, GM Marketing Simplot Australia. | BY Lynchy | Norman Pearlstine, vice-chairman of Time Inc., will be president of the international Epica Awards jury this year. Founded in 1987, Epica is the only global creative prize judged by an independent jury of journalists working for the worlds best marketing and communications titles, including Campaign Brief publisher and editor Michael Lynch, representing Australia and New Zealand. A highly experienced journalist, during his career Pearlstine has held posts including Managing Editor and then Executive Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc., Chief Content Officer of Bloomberg L.P. and Chief Content Officer of Time Inc. Says Pearlstine: For a media brand to thrive, it needs great content, best produced by talented and exacting journalists; and supportive advertisers and sponsors. When superb content is complemented by creative advertising, magic can happen. It is my pleasure to be President of the Jury at The Epica Awards this November in Amsterdam, where journalists from around the globe who are specialists in the field celebrate creative advertising. As this year marks the 30th Anniversary of The Epica Awards my only question is, why didnt you invite me sooner? | BY Lynchy | BBDO Proximity Malaysias dominant performance at the top global and Asia Pacific regional award shows over the past 12 months has has seen the agency easily top our Country Creative Rankings for Malaysia. The agency was a clear #1 in Malaysia in terms of award show wins, and as such is a very worthy winner of Campaign Brief Asias 2016 Malaysia Creative Agency of the Year title. BBDO Proximity Malaysia amassed 840 Creative Ranking points over the past 12 months from award wins at London International Awards (LIA), AWARD, Ad Stars and Spikes Asia. Their great performance at London International Awards in October last year contributed more than half their points tally, with their KFC print campaign picking up multiple awards. BBDO Malaysias performance at awards places the agency the Top 12 overall in our Asia-wide Campaign Brief Creative Rankings Table. Former executive creative director at BBDO Malaysia, CK Tan, has recently left to re-join Ogilvy & Mather and he has been replaced by VJ Anand. Y&R Malaysia was Malaysias #2 ranked agency in this years Malaysian chart. The agency scored 235 points across AdFest, Spikes Asia, D&AD, London International Awards and Clio. Like BBDO Proximity Malaysia, London International Awards contributed more than half their points tally. Third placed in the Malaysia Country Creative Rankings is TBWA Kuala Lumpur with 145 points. Previously #1, TBWA Kuala Lumpur had wins at AdFest, Spikes Asia, London International Awards and New York Festivals. A full ranking of all of the 8 Malaysian agencies to feature in this years Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings is included in the special edition of Campaign Brief available to all delegates at Spikes Asia and on the Free PDF that can be downloaded later in the week. Make sure you dont miss out on this free PDF of our complete coverage Register FREE for the Campaign Brief Asia Daily News Email and a link will be sent to you for the free download. REGISTER FREE HERE NOW (It takes just 30 seconds). Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 1:07PM Apple has started to roll out macOS Sierra, a free update to the El Capitan operating system that powers Apple notebooks and desktops. macOS Sierra brings various performance enhancements, the most notable being the Siri voice assistant which has been made available on the desktop for the first time. Other key features include a universal clipboard function, the ability to unlock a desktop with a nearby Apple Watch, a vastly improved search and UI for Photos App, plus the ability to access files on your desktop using a connected iPhone or iPad. In tune with the recent iOS 10 update on mobile devices, the macOS Sierra's Messages app now includes more comprehensive links including embedded webpages, graphics, images or video. macOS now offers picture in picture capabilites plus Apple Pay on supported websites. To enable the update, make sure you have a recent backup, ensure your Mac is plugged in, click the Apple logo on the left hand side > About this Mac > and under Overview, click on Software Update. macOS Sierra is available as a free update starting today from the Mac App Store. macOS Sierra supports all Macs introduced since late 2009. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages. For more information, please visit: www.apple.com/ca/macos/sierra. Johan Dennelind, who was appointed CEO to help clear up the scandal, admitted wrongdoings and unethical behaviour in a conference call this morning. Telia Companys board learned of the scale of the proposed fine last night and reacted this morning after an overnight board meeting. The proposal covers as far as we understand all existing investigations. It is a very high amount. The companys chairman, Marie Ehrling, shared Dennelinds view of the scale of the fine. Our initial reaction to the proposal is that the amount is very high. We will now have to analyse the information and decide on how to proceed with the ongoing discussions with the authorities, she said in a prepared statement. But she also admitted that the company previously called TeliaSonera had been wrong. I have said on many occasions in the past that Telia Companys entry into Uzbekistan was done in an unethical and wrongful way and we are prepared to take full responsibility. We are cooperating fully with the authorities to bring clarity to the matter. General counsel Jonas Bengtsson said that Telia has been cooperating with Swedish, Dutch and US authorities. The new board, appointed at the 2013 annual general meeting, determined to change the company fundamentally, he said, and decided to cooperate with all investigating authorities. The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice started investigating in early 2014, followed by the Dutch authorities. Telia was not questioning their jurisdiction over the matter, said Bengtsson. Telia has cooperated with these authorities. It is an extensive cooperation. Telia is hoping that the proposed fine will be an end to the matter. The proposal as far as we understand it covers all interests the authorities have in Telia Companys activities, he said. Dennelind was unclear on how the level of the fine was set. We have just received the information and have to analyse it, he said. But he added that the company hasnt had an expectation of the level in advance. We simply state it is a big number. Telia Company announced earlier in 2016 that it intends to dispose of all its central Asian interests, though Dennelind said he understands that there is no investigation into investments outside Uzbekistan. Earlier this month Telia sold its 60% stake in Tajikistan operator Tcell for $39 million to the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, which owns the other 40%. The Uzbekistan scandal dates back to what was then TeliaSoneras acquisition of Uzbekistan operator Coscom later rebranded as Ucell in July 2007. TeliaSonera did not conduct a sufficiently in-depth analysis into the identity of our local partner in Uzbekistan before we invested in the country or into how this partner came to own the assets that were later obtained by TeliaSonera, said then CEO Lars Nyberg in his 2013 resignation statement. A report by Swedish Television in September 2012 alleged that TeliaSonera paid $320 million for its Uzbekistan licences through Gayane Avakyan, an Uzbek woman in her late 20s described as having close ties to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Islam Karimov, who had been president of Uzbekistan since 1991. Karimov died on 2 September 2016. After the allegations emerged, TeliaSonera commissioned a Swedish law firm, Mannheimer Swartling, to investigate. The company also fired Per-Arne Blomquist, the CFO, and three other senior executives after it received Mannheimer Swartlings report. Uzbekistan has not been a good investment for other foreign telecoms companies. In February 2016 VimpelCom agreed to pay $835 million in settlement fees to US and Dutch authorities after admitting it paid huge bribes to enter the Uzbekistan telecoms market. Telenor this week started to sell its stake in VimpelCom. In August 2016 Russias MTS left the Uzbekistan market after selling its 50.1% stake in Universal Mobile Systems to the state for an undisclosed amount. Four years earlier the Uzbekistan government confiscated MTSs assets in the country and arrested executives. This morning Dennelind told financial analysts that the fine would not affect Telia Companys dividend policy. A group blog to promote discussion, debate and insight into the history, particularly religious, of America's founding. Any observations, questions, or comments relating to the blog's theme are welcomed. 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. The exam dates for the entrance exam for admissions into the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology has been announced. In a recent meeting of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) held at IIT Madras, it was decided that the IIT JEE Advanced 2017 will be held on May 21, 2017. For 2017, upto 2,20,000 candidates will be taking up the JEE Main examination. New in JEE Advanced 2017 According to reports, the caste certification for the OBC NCL issued after April 1 will be considered valid for JEE Advanced 2017. Also, the cut-off for the aggregate marks in Class XII for SC and ST candidates has been reduced from 70% to 65%. In the meeting, it was also decided that various interactive features would be developed to make the process of registration, fee payment, result announcement, choice filling etc. "less strenuous and hassle free', the faculty shared. Features like short video tutorial and SMS services will be used extensively to help the candidates. How to crack JEE Advanced? Gulftainer USA leased a 40,000-square-foot warehouse from Port Canaveral near its new container terminal that opened in June 2015. Gulftainer USA (GT USA) has leased a 40,000-square-foot warehouse from Port Canaveral near its new container terminal to meet the needs of current and future customers with import and export consolidation and deconsolidation, the company said. The Port Canaveral Authority granted GT USA a 35-year concession to operate and invest in the new container terminal, which opened in June 2015. GT USAs warehouse will offer cross docking, storage, inventory control and last-mile distribution, with about a 45-minute drive to the Orlando area. It features three drive-in doors, six loading docks and new paving. In addition, the warehouse is in the process of becoming bonded for customs purposes. GT USA partnered with Avalon Wheeler Freight Services to manage and operate the warehouse. Avalon will also use the facility for domestic cargo. In January, GT USA secured the new container terminals first customer, Streamlines, N.V., part of the Dutch Seatrade Group. The carrier began calling the Central Florida port on a weekly basis with its Blue Stream Service. According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, the loop has a rotation of Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Tilbury, United Kingdom; Rouen, France; Pointe-a Pitre, Guadeloupe; Fort-de-France, Martinique; St. Maarten; Moin Bay, Costa Rica; Puerto Barrios, Guatemala; Puerto Cortes, Honduras; Port Canaveral and Rotterdam. It operates with five vessels with an average capacity of 1,413 TEUs. Through August, GT USA has handled under 5,000 TEUs, Commercial Manager Joe Cruise said in a phone interview. He said Streamlines is anticipating a productive melon season out of Central America that should boost cargo volumes in the coming months. Port Canaveral and GT USA are trying to open a new niche for fast service to Central America, but are flanked by large container ports in Jacksonville and South Florida. Zurich Insurance Group disclosed plans to combine its Corporate and Commercial businesses into a single Commercial Insurance unit, and a former AIG executive will help lead it. James Shea will be Zurichs CEO Commercial Insurance. He was previously AIGs president of Global Financial Lines, according to the Zurich announcement. Zurichs move fulfills part of a promise new CEO Mario Greco made upon his arrival at the company in March to begin simplifying Zurichs organizational chart. In June, Greco, the former head of Italys Assicurazioni Generali SpA, later suggested that Zurich Global Corpoate and Zurichs General Insurance would be combined at some point into a unified commercial business. Greco has a mandate to overhaul Zurich Switzerlands largest insurer and boost profitability. That has translated into cutting jobs, asset sales, stricter underwriting guidelines and streamlining of various units. Zurichs General insurance arm reported $1.2 billion in profit during the 2016 first half, a 3 percent rise. Net income declined to $739 million, versus $840 million over the same period in 2015, due, in part to natural disaster claims and restructuring charges. Greco said that combining Zurichs Corporate and Commercial arms simply made sense on a practical level. The move allows us to better utilize our skills, systems and capabilities in the individual countries and across the world, and to unite our customer interaction and go-to-market approach worldwide, Greco said in prepared remarks. Zurichs combined Commercial Insurance arm has a reach of five continents, the insurer said. The move comes, however, as U.S. commercial insurance prices continue to remain stagnant. Prices in aggregate for the sector ticked up by less than 1 percent in the 2016 second quarter, similar to the pace set in Q1, according to Willis Towers Watsons latest Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey. As part of the reorganization, Zurich said it established a new Global Specialty Lines function within Commercial Insurance that will handle credit lines (Political Risk, Surety and Trade Credit), Marine, Aviation and Energy. Also, Sheas arrival means that Thomas Hurlimann will be leaving his role as CEO of Global Corporate after more than 10 years with the division, and five as its leader. Hell remain to ensure a smooth transition and then work on special projects, reporting to the group CEO, Zurich said. Meanwhile Zurichs Board of Directors made the following appointments to its Executive Committee, effective Oct. 1: Shea, Zurich Latin American CEO Claudia Dill, and Zurich Asia Pacific CEO Jack Howell. Source: Zurich Insurance Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens. As'ad's Bio As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants. Both Lamborghini and Bentley are skipping next weeks Paris Auto Show as the Volkswagen Group looks for ways to save money after dieselgate. In a statement, Lamborghini revealed that it is reconsidering and changing its strategy on future auto show attendence. Bentley is doing the same, planning to focus on smaller events in the immediate future which better directly target its buyers, reports Reuters. Volkswagen AG chief executive Matthias Muller said in a German staff meeting last week that A crisis can lead to marginalisation, but it can also mark the turning point for something better, for a real change of tack. We need to rejig the group. Lamborghini and Bentley arent the only high-profile automakers to pull out of this years Paris show, held once every two years. Ford, Rolls-Royce, Volvo and Aston Martin all recently confirmed that they wouldnt be attending, citing various reasons including preferring to reach consumers through social media and blogs. While some big names wont be in Paris, the show will host a selection of important world debuts. These will include the Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, Honda Civic Hatch, Hyundai i10 and i30, Land Rover Discovery, Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain and the Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster. PHOTO GALLERY Peugeot have officially announced their lineup for this years Paris Auto Show, which will include the 2008, 3008 and 5008. Unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show and assembled in Mulhouse, the facelifted Peugeot 2008 is equipped with a long list of features that include Apple CarPlay, MirrorLink, rearview camera, Active City Brake and Park Assist. Power comes from a range of PureTech and BlueHDi engines, which are Euro 6 compliant. Peugeots answer to the Nissan Qashqai and Renault Kadjar is called 3008 and it was presented at the end of spring. The compact SUV is put together in Sochaux and offers customers the opportunity to go for either a folding electric scooter or a folding bicycle, both of which are designed to integrate perfectly into the boot and have the vehicle recharge their batteries when running. Fitted with a long list of active safety systems, the new 3008 will be presented in Paris too, and the first deliveries will start towards the end of the year. Carrying the same name, but a completely different design, the new Peugeot 5008 is on the companys list of premieres as well. It is underpinned by the same modular EMP2 platform as the new 3008 and it comes with more generous proportions over its predecessor, being positioned in the large seven-seater C segment, according to the automaker. Produced in Rennes, the all-new 5008 will hit international markets next spring. Designed in collaboration with Peugeot Style Center, the new Peugeot 3008 DKR will be present under the spotlight in the French capital, before racing in the 2017 Dakar Rally. Serving as a replacement for the 2008 DKR, the racer resembles the 3008 crossover and is powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 diesel engine. Grabbing the wheel in Morocco next month, where the team will put it through its paces, will be Carlos Sainz. Peugeot will also display, during the 2016 Paris Auto Show, the 108 Top and 208 Roland Garros, the Traveller, 508 Business, iOn and a bicycle with electric assist. Moreover, the French will bring the Fractal Concept car to the event too, an electric vehicle with a futuristic design, which was unveiled last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The 208 GTi, 308 GTi and 208 WRX will be visible on the brands stand as well, and so will the i-Cockpit, which was launched in the new 3008 and 5008. Visitors to Peugeots booth will get to test its driving aids with a virtual reality headset and then to experience the Focal hi-fi sound system, which is featured in the new 3008, while heading to the lounge area, they will discover all the services offered by MyPeugeot. PHOTO GALLERY Set to be unveiled on September 29, during the first press day of the French automotive event, Renaults fresh study is offering a preview of the brands future. No images or details on the as-of-yet-unnamed concept car have been released so far, and all the automaker has to say about it is that it marks the beginning of a new cycle of Renault car design, and that it explores the essence and technologies, inspiring upcoming models. Joining the study in Renaults 4,000-square meter booth, in Hall 1, will be the Koleos Initiale Paris, a high-end version of the model that will go on sale in most European markets next spring. The D-segment SUV was unveiled in Beijing, earlier this year, and it carries a familiar design language, sitting on top of the Kadjar and underpinned by the same platform as the Nissan X-Trail. The Alaskan pickup truck, the Grand Scenic, Megane Sedan and facelifted Clio will also be on display at the brands stand, while neighboring Dacia will present facelifted versions of the Sandero, Sandero Stepway, Logan, and Logan MCV. Renaults press conference, led by Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and by Laurens van den Acker, SVP Corporate Design, will commence at 9:15 am CET (3.15 am EST). The Dacia press conference will kick off at 10:45 am CET (4.45 am EST) and will be led by Jean-Christophe Kugler, Chairman of the European Region. PHOTO GALLERY BMWs new Z5 Roadster was captured by our spy photographers while getting some laps on the Nurburgring, though this time we got a sneak peak at its cabin. The Mercedes-Benz SLC, Audi TT & Porsche 718 Boxster rival is already known to share the same platform as the next Toyota Supra, plus a multitude of components, some of which are even visible in these images. While this is the first time were seeing its interior and there are sure to be differences between the Z5 and the Supra, we cant help but notice the layout for the climate control and how it looks pretty much the same on both cars. Same goes for the air vents beneath the sat-nav display and perhaps even the steering wheel and the wipers/turn signal stalk. On the outside, BMW will be ditching the Z4s hard-top roof to go with a soft top in the Z5, which makes for both a more traditional look as well as a lighter car which in turn helps with performance. Speaking of which, BMW might be inclined to use a hybrid powertrain with an optional AWD system at one point, according to some rumors, though more mainstream power units such as the Bavarians newest turbocharged four-cylinder and inline-six engines will probably arrive first. In terms of its appearance (on the outside), the Z5 will surely not resemble its Japanese cousin, which is something we can already deduce by comparing both models side by side, despite all the camouflage. The BMW is also said to be lighter and have a smaller footprint than the Supra. The German automaker is expected to unveil the Z5 Roadster towards the end of 2017. Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops PHOTO GALLERY Sometimes, the fashion and automotive industries work hand in hand, as weve seen many apparel companies (and designers) leaving their distinctive style on various limited edition automobiles. This time, however, the roles have changed, as a London-based fashion house presented a carbon-fiber dress, inspired by BMWs i program and specifically, the i8. 24-years ago, the McLaren F1 was the first production car to use a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis, back when the standard grade compounds cost was prohibitive for most vehicles. Nowadays, thanks to the advances in technology, the material has become more accessible and malleable, being used for a variety of purposes. Even so, the fully sustainable material is not yet available to the fashion industry in large quantities, thats why the Carbon Dress was created using carbon from BMWs i plant. The dress took over 100 hours to make and carbon material makes up 97% of it. It features a unique texture and provides a futuristic finish, remaining lightweight and strong, as Daniela and Annette Felder the twin design duo responsible for the dress commented: The carbon fabrics are amazing and unlike anything weve used before we are honoured to be given access to them before anyone else. The woven fibre allows us to do more with the designs and push the boundaries of sustainable fashion. This is the second year Felder Felder has collaborated with the German car company in order to create a sustainable, greener collection. So, if the missus is saying shes got nothing lightweight and strong to wear, point her to the nearest BMW carbon-fiber plant. PHOTO GALLERY Photo: Contributed Can we sit down and talk? A deer caught in the headlights, the 44-year-old in the video complies with the request. The much younger woman he is meeting, Shoni McBee, then introduces herself: Im Shoni, with Creep Catchers He had expected to meet with someone much, much younger. Shoni portrayed herself online as a 14-year-old girl. A disturbing texting exchange between the two, published online along with the video, gives the play by play leading up to the meeting. It was no innocent encounter. The texting starts with the man confirming her age as 14. Within a few minutes, he sends a photo of himself wearing only underwear. Later, he sends photos of his penis. He asks her to reciprocate. He starts asking for a picture of her naked, then asks for pictures with only a bikini or bra and panties. Far from leading him on, Shoni portrays as an innocent young girl who feels her parents dont care about her, looking for someone to talk to. When asked if she masturbates, she responds with: Thats personal, and Ive never even talked like that before. When she reveals her sad feelings about her parents not paying enough attention to her, he responds with Awe thats sad, followed immediately by What about me teaching you how to have sex? Shonis responses: idk maybe, I think itll hurt; and Im nervous to have sex. His texting focus is on the two of them getting together. If anything, Shoni portrays reluctance. She refuses his suggestion that she skip school. When he proposes a 10 p.m. meeting, she responds: Its a little late, but okay. So there they are at the scheduled meeting, sitting across from each other on an outside patio. Shoni lays into him. Every time he tries to deny the full extent of what hes done, Shoni verbally smacks him down, reminding him that she has the chat logs. She explains that most young girls on whatever Internet site he was on are there because they are not getting love at home where they should be. She accuses him of taking advantage of that vulnerability. She very poignantly shares her own story of that dynamic leading to herself having a sexual encounter with a man when she was 14 and how it ruins you. He is reduced to an apologetic, pathetic, broken man, exposed in his sexual aberration as if he was sitting there, naked. On his commitment that he will never do this kind of thing again, she commits to sending him contact numbers for free counselling and support group services so that he can get help. He is obviously hopeful that his commitments will keep this sting confidential. His plea about not wanting this to get back to his wife falls on deaf ears: What, is it going to ruin your life? But you were just about to ruin a little girls life. The video was published Sept. 9, 2016. By now, his whole world knows. I cannot help but feel sick to my stomach with empathy about the devastation ripping through his life: marriage; employment; friends; relationship with his 16-year-old daughter. Yes, a 16-year-old daughter. That, and hearing Shoni share her story, work as a stomach stabilizer. According to the media, police forces are against this vigilantism, which has hit the media recently with high profile stings involving a former British Columbia deputy sheriff, and a Surrey RCMP officer. Absolutely, this kind of thing is dangerous as all hell. Someone is going to get hurt, or worse. There is risk of mistaken identity and unfair outing which can cause unjust devastation. Also, its possible the RCMP would have nailed this fellow independently. Perhaps the evidence obtained by Shoni will be useless in a criminal prosecution, and she has compromised any prospect of this fellow facing criminal consequences. But in this very particular situation, where the creep catcher had herself been a victimized 14-year-old girl, and where nothing was done to entrap the fellow in our common sense of the word, it seems justice has been served in about as swift and effective a manner possible. I am reluctant to offer any level of endorsement for the creep-catcher movement, but I confess feeling a sense of security, for the safety of my early-teen daughters, that Shoni in particular is doing the work she is doing. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: Getty Images Prepare to stop when yellow lights are flashing When my father-in-law from Quebec visited us years ago, he was impressed with the overhead sign with flashing amber lights marked Prepare to Stop prior to signalized intersections. He thought these signs made it much easier for the driver to prepare for a safe stop in advance of the signal changing to red. At that time this type of signal was not used where he lived. Fast forward to today and Kate, a reader, asks, When your light is green on the highway, but above you the overhead warning lights have just begun should you be braking on a green light? The Learn to Drive Smart manual deals with this by presenting a picture of the signal and identifying it with Signal lights ahead prepare to stop when lights are flashing on page 33. There is no indication given about the state of the traffic lights at the intersection ahead. A yellow light tends to be perceived by drivers as a cautionary indication that they may either pay attention to or ignore depending on their experience and the road conditions at the time. This is generally true when the yellow light is flashing. The Motor Vehicle Act tells us that the driver of a vehicle facing the flashes of yellow light may cause it to enter the intersection and proceed only with caution, but must yield the right of way to pedestrians lawfully in the intersection or an adjacent crosswalk. However, a solid yellow light at an intersection tells a driver to stop. There is one exception to this rule and that is when stopping for the yellow light cannot be done safely. Examples of unsafe situations would include being too close to the intersection when the yellow light illuminates or when you are being followed too closely by another vehicle. Kates question really has two parts, the flashing yellow lights and the green light at the intersection. As you approach the intersection, you face the overhead warning light first and the intersection signal second. You are required to take each signal into account as you approach it, so the green light doesnt play any part in the equation until after you have passed the yellow flashing lights. The overhead warning lights are timed such that a driver approaching them may see them illuminate and know that the green light ahead will be yellow when they get to the intersection. The driver will be required to stop and have the time to realize it, prepare and come to a comfortable stop before the crosswalk. The system is a good one if you are not the first driver in line when the flashing yellow lights come on. You know that the driver in front of you should stop, so you prepare to stop too. Follow the routine and you will be at a reduced risk for collision because the first driver is less likely to brake suddenly as they might be with a yellow or red light alone. When I used an unmarked car for traffic enforcement, I would watch the overhead lights come on, slow to a stop and fairly often ticket the driver behind me in the other lane who blew through without stopping. The judicial justice in traffic court was comfortable convicting that driver with only these circumstances. To comment or learn more, please visit DriveSmartBC.ca. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: Contributed It looks like the justice system has some work to do to win over Castanet readers. Last week, the executive director of a prominent victim-support group in the Okanagan said the rise of the Creep Catchers vigilante group is a sign the public is losing faith in the justice system. A Castanet poll that garnered nearly 6,500 votes shows readers seem to concur. The poll found close to 70 per cent have no faith at all in either the courts or the police to catch and prosecute pedophiles. The other 30 per cent has more faith in the police than the court, with 18 per cent saying they had faith in police, 1.5 per cent saying they had faith in the courts and 12.5 per cent saying they had faith in both. Members of Creep Catchers, also known as Creep Hunters, are baiting men who prey on underage girls, then exposing and shaming them by posting videos to Facebook. The RCMP has warned the group that they may be putting active investigations in jeopardy. Citing safety concerns, police say the groups should leave crimefighting to the professionals. Photo: Flickr/BC gov't More of Kamloops' back alleys are going to be turned into art galleries. The Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association is receiving $19,000 in provincial funding to continue its Back Alley Art Gallery job creation project, which gives two people work experience while helping to beautify the downtown core. The project encourages pedestrian traffic and reduces vandalism in high graffiti areas. "Not only is it an integral part of our complete streets initiative public spaces that are friendly, supportive, appealing and safe but it has become a great tourism product, welcoming thousands of visitors and art appreciators each year," said Gay Pooler, general manager of KCBIA. Mural locations for this year's project are behind Red Collar Brewing Co., Service Canada and Carlos O'Bryan's Pub. The previous round of funding created murals at All Aboard Games, the Fremont Block building and at Hampton Gallery. Todd Stone, MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson, said: "Two people are getting a great chance to play key roles in a project that will be an important factor in the beautification of Kamloops. I can't wait to see the finished result and see these two residents become part of our growing economy." Photo: Facebook The royal visit is just a week away and enthusiasts are getting excited to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but will they get a chance? Prince William and Kate Middleton will visit UBC Okanagan and Mission Hill Winery during their half-day visit on Sept. 27. Both locations will give some people a chance to see the royal couple, but there will not be a large public event. UBC is going to be the only chance for the public to see them, unless something else is announced, said Kelowna royals expert and blogger Jamie Samhan, assistant editor at Royal Central. There could possibly be a surprise event announced the day of, but if that doesn't happen UBC will be the only chance to publicly see them. At UBCO, the couple will dedicate a new aboriginal art installation and take in an exhibition match of the campus nationally ranked womens volleyball team. They are a very active couple so that is something that is important to them, said Samhan. Their Royal Highnesses will then head to Mission Hill Winery to sample the Okanagan's "world-class wine, cheese, and food" and meet with local young people who are learning about potential careers in food and agriculture. I was honestly surprised it was Mission Hill given Sophie just did that one, but I guess it is an easy choice and a proven choice. Another piece of possible bad news for royal watchers, Samhan does not think the royal couple will be bringing Prince George or Princess Charlotte to the Interior. The kids won't do the entire tour, I think they will make one appearance, maybe two. I don't see them coming to Kelowna, said Samhan. I think they will stay in Victoria with a nanny while their parents come to Kelowna and up to the Yukon. The last time the royal couple was in Canada was in 2011, but this visit marks the first for their two young children. The family will be based in Victoria on their trip, spending the first full day in Vancouver at a civic welcome downtown before visiting the Downtown Eastside charity Sheway, which helps mothers fighting addiction. Samhan adds that to get Canadians ready for the impending visit, royal blogs Royal Central and What Would Kate Do? are hosting a charity high tea on Sept. 24 in Vancouver. For more info, click here. Photo: City of Kelowna A downtown business owner likes what what the city has done with the Bernard Avenue laneway next to his property. In fact, Bill Scutt likes it so much he is willing to pay to turn it into a permanent feature. He owns the property on either side of the lane. City council gave staff the green light back in the spring to beautify the lane across from The Sails. They did so by painting the lane, erecting lights, adding musical programming and closing the lane to traffic. The project got positive reviews from visitors to the area as well as businesses. A five-year Licence of Occupation has been drawn up between the two parties. Scutt would pay the city $10,000 a year to licence the concession portion of the laneway. As part of permanent improvements to the lane, the city is proposing: Ample lighting to enhance public safety in the evenings and highlight the eastern heritage wall. A large public realm at the Bernard Avenue interface designed with the ability to host programmed events such as live music or visual art performances A small commercial vendor with some outdoor seating within a well-defined space at the rear of the laneway. The installation of a number of strong physical components such as an overhead canopy of lights, columnar trees to provide color and natural influence, signage and vibrant colours worked into the surface. Staff stated changes made this past spring created a brighter, safer thoroughfare from Bernard Avenue to Lawrence Avenue. As well, the improvements have led to increased pride of ownership from the adjacent business and members of the public, resulting in less debris, trash, and undesirable behaviour. Photo: City of Kelowna It's been a long, arduous battle, but Charlie Hodge finally got his wish. Kelowna city council has agreed to add two permanent dog beaches and a third on a two-year trial basis. A fourth, at Cedar Avenue, will be studied further before a final decision on that location is made. This all hinges on council approving the funds necessary in its 2017 budget. "I guess it goes without saying I'm happy to have this report in front of us. It's a report I've actually been looking for, for seven years," said Hodge. "No matter what we do today... we're not going to make everybody happy because it's one of those controversial issues. Everybody wants to walk a dog, but nobody wants it done in their own backyard." The ones that won't be happy are residents around the Lake Avenue Beach Access, commonly referred to as Mushroom Beach. About 80 per cent of residents in that area opposed using the area as an off-leash dog beach. Information will be gathered during the course of a two-year trial before determining whether it will be made a permanent dog beach. Council did agree to make permanent a dog beach in a small area of Poplar Point which has been unofficially used for some time. A second small dog beach at the edge of City Park next to The Sails was also agreed upon. That area will have restrictions as to when dogs will be allowed on or off-leash. Dogs will be allowed to go into the water without a leash during lower traffic times between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. An additional off-leash proposal for Munson Pond was turned down by council. The decisions by council are in line with results of a statistically valid survey conducted by the city. In that survey, 76 per cent of residents support creation of an off-leash beach park in their neighbourhood, while 53 per cent believed it was not unreasonable to pay an addition $10 to $12 a year in taxes to pay for it. Changes would not occur until next year. Photo: Contributed It's now official, the Central Okanagan triplets will all seek re-election when B.C. voters go to the polls next May. Kelowna-Mission MLA Steve Thomson will join his two Central Okanagan colleagues in looking to reclaim his seat. It was announced Monday night Thomson, who also serves as Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, had been acclaimed as the Liberal candidate in the Kelowna riding. He joins Premier Christy Clark (Kelowna West) and Norm Letnick (Kelowna-Lake Country), who have both been confirmed for the election. "We have worked hard as a team to deliver a bright future for families in Kelowna-Mission communities, and have seen some great results, said Thomson. It has been an honour to serve and be your voice and I look forward to working to get even more accomplished in 2017 and beyond. Thomson is seeking a third term as MLA. He was first elected in May of 2009, then re-elected in 2013. As the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations, one of Thomsons proudest accomplishments was the completion of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement, a globally unique solution for a globally unique part of our province. B.C. voters go to the polls May 9, 2017. Photo: The Canadian Press Authorities on the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland after a fire gutted a detention camp following protests. Nine migrants suspected of starting fire have been arrested, authorities said Tuesday. Regional governor Christiana Kalogirou said she had repeatedly warned the government that camps on the east Aegean Sea islands were dangerously overcrowded. More than 4,000 people were housed at the camp at Moria on Lesbos where fire which broke out late Monday destroyed or damaged tents and trailers. There were no reports of any migrants being injured. The nine migrants were arrested on public disturbance charges after the chaotic scenes at the camp, about eight kilometres north of the island's main town. Families with young children hastily packed up their belongings and fled into the nearby fields as the fire raged. Many were later given shelter at volunteer-run camps. The government is expected to charter passenger ferries to provide temporary accommodation, and to increase the police presence on the five islands where refugees are being held. More than 60,000 migrants and refugees are stranded in transit in Greece, and those who arrived after March 20 have been restricted to five Aegean islands under a European Union-brokered deal to deport them back to Turkey. But the agreement has been fraught with delays. Photo: The Canadian Press The United Nations humanitarian aid agency suspended all convoys in Syria on Tuesday following deadly airstrikes on aid trucks the previous night that activists said killed at least 12 people, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The attack plunged Syria's U.S.-Russia-brokered cease-fire further into doubt. The Syrian military, just hours earlier, had declared the week-long truce had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia after blaming rebels for the violations suggested it could still be salvaged. It was not clear who was behind the attack late on Monday, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over the province, while the U.S.-led coalition targets the Islamic State group in other parts of the country. In Geneva, spokesman Jens Laerke of OCHA said on Tuesday that further aid delivery would hold pending a review of the security situation in Syria in the aftermath of the airstrikes. Laerke called it "a very, very dark day... for humanitarians across the world." But a member of the Syrian Civil Defence a group of volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets criticized the U.N. humanitarian aid agency for suspending the convoys. Ibrahim Alhaj told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Syrian civilians will pay the price for the decision and that the U.N. should have condemned the attacks on the convoy rather than suspending aid. Photo: The Canadian Press French authorities have made eight new arrests in connection with the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that left 86 people dead, the Paris prosecutor's office said Tuesday. The office said the suspects detained Monday were French and Tunisian and had links to the attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who plowed a 19-ton truck down Nice's Promenade des Anglais and into a crowd assembled for a July 14 fireworks display. All eight were arrested in the Alpes-Maritimes region in the southeastern corner of France that includes Nice. At least five people already face preliminary terrorism charges in the attack, and are accused of helping Bouhlel obtain a pistol and providing other support. It wasn't immediately clear what the men arrested this week are suspected of. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the July 14 attack. French authorities say Bouhlel, a Tunisian with French residency, was inspired by the extremist group's propaganda, but they say no evidence has been found that IS orchestrated the attack. France remains under a state of emergency after the Nice killings and IS attacks on Paris last year. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday that the threat to France is higher than ever. He said about 300 people have been arrested in investigations into extremist networks so far this year, according to his office. Also Tuesday, authorities detained two boys, 14 and 17, in an investigation into a hoax hostage alert at a Paris church, the prosecutor's office said. The false alarm Saturday prompted a big police deployment and activation of an app-based terrorism alert system. A 16-year-old detained Monday remains in custody. The government is seeking financial compensation from the perpetrators for wasting security services' time and money, and scaring the public unnecessarily. Obs magazine reported it was a case of "swatting," where hoaxers make anonymous threats to trigger a response from police and SWAT teams. Photo: Contributed Penticton RCMP are seeking information on two suspects in a home invasion robbery last week. Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth says two men entered a residence on Fairway Avenue through an open front patio door, before going upstairs and bear spraying the occupants. One man was struck in the legs with a baton, and a second suspect threatened the residents with a plumbing wrench. A PlayStation 4 and cellphone were taken, as well as bank cards. Surveillance footage later captured images of one of the suspects in Summerland. The suspects are not known to police, and it seemed like a crime of opportunity, Wrigglesworth said. Victims services has since been working with the two male roommates, in their thirties. Anyone with information is asked to contact Penticton RCMP or CrimeStoppers. Photo: The Canadian Press A law enforcement official says the father of the man suspected in bombings in New York City and New Jersey had contacted the FBI following a 2014 stabbing to express concerns that his son was a terrorist. The official says the FBI looked into the matter, but that Mohammad Rahami later retracted his comment and said he meant that his son was hanging out with the wrong crowd, including gangs. Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested for stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014. But a grand jury declined to indict him, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was likely "a danger to himself or others." The official who spoke to AP insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Mohammad Rahami told reporters outside his chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on Tuesday morning that he called law enforcement twice. He didn't elaborate. Photo: Facebook - Critter Care An orphaned bear has been killed by conservation officers after getting into people's food. aThe cub broke into an outdoor fridge on Vancouver's North Shore after spending last winter at Critter Care Wildlife Society. Its mother was destroyed by COs last fall. The bear was released in the spring, but got into human conflict after only a few months. It opened my fridge door and took all the frozen food out, Gerry Wong told CTV. Since the bear stayed, eventually it's going to hurt somebody so they had to put him away." Conservation officers determined the animal had become too habituated to people. Residents could have done more to keep bears away by clearing rotting fruit from yards. "It didn't have a chance, people didn't allow it to have a chance, said Sgt. Todd Hunter. We tried to give it the opportunity, and it found its way getting at those easy meals, that unsecured food waste." with files from CTV Vancouver Photo: Facebook - Kelowna International Airport - YLW A mock security threat exercise will be held at Kelowna International Airport this week, complete with flames, smoke and plenty of emergency vehicles. The drill will run Thursday, between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Similar exercises are held every four years to test the airport's emergency plan, along with the response from firefighters, police and ambulance paramedics. More than 20 different agencies will be involved in the exercise. The drill will include mock casualties and a simulated aircraft fire, complete with real flames. The airport says no flights will be impacted by the drill. Photo: Contributed A legal challenge of a British Columbia levy on foreign home buyers has been filed in Vancouver, seeking a class-action lawsuit on behalf of those forced to pay the 15 per cent tax. Lawyer Luciana Brasil says the notice of civil claim alleges B.C. acted outside its jurisdiction when the Property Transfer Tax Act was amended in July, targeting the country of origin or nationality of home buyers across Metro Vancouver. She says the revised legislation violates over 30 international treaties where Canada has committed to treat foreign nationals just as favourably as citizens of this country. If the class-action lawsuit is approved by the court, Brasil says it seeks to overturn the legislation and demands repayment of any tax added to the purchase price of a home because of the buyer's nationality. The lead plaintiff is 29-year-old Chinese student Jing Li, who Brasil says has been studying in Canada since 2013 but had not become a permanent resident by Aug. 2, when the new tax impeded her purchase of a Langley, B.C., home. A judge must still decide if the class action application can proceed and Brasil says it could take six months to a year to set a hearing date for the lawsuit. Photo: Getty Images Anyone who has dealt with social anxiety knows how debilitating it can be. But help is available through UBC. Researchers say its common for people to suffer from social anxiety, and the UBC Okanagan Interprofessional Clinic is offering a seven-week Social Anxiety Group Treatment Program and is looking for participants. Group treatment is for those who experience intense anxiety in social situations, struggle when interacting with others, worry about being judged or try to avoid social situations altogether. The group sessions run from mid-October to the end of November and are available in the morning or evening. Group therapy is considered one of the most effective ways to treat social anxiety. Cognitive-behavioural techniques will be used to teach skills and reduced symptoms of social anxiety. Cost for the treatment is $70. For more information about the program, or to register, call 250-807-8241 or email [email protected] Photo: Contributed Police say a 2-year-old Pennsylvania girl has been pinned against a barn by a minivan and died. Tuesday's accident happened on the same block where a toddler was struck and killed by a piece of farm equipment in November. LNP reports a 23-year-old woman was behind the wheel of the minivan when it "somehow went forward" and struck the child. West Earl Township Police Chief Brian Brandt says the girl and driver were visiting family at the farm. She was taken to a hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead. The driver has been interviewed by police. The van will be inspected to see if it was running properly. In November, a 19-month-old girl was struck and killed by a skid loader on her family's farm on the same block. Photo: NewsKamloops.com UPDATE: 1:50 p.m. Kamloops RCMP say they received a call Tuesday at 11:40 a.m. saying there was a bomb at Northills Mall. Police immediately evacuated it. "Officers and a police dog searched the mall and determined that there was no threat inside of the mall," said police in a statement. "The investigation is ongoing to identify who made the phone call." Employees and customers were allowed back into stores at 1:25 pm. ORIGINAL: 1 p.m. A report of a bomb threat forced police to block access to the Northills Shopping Centre at midday Tuesday. The threat originated with either Your Independent Grocers or the TD Canada branch at the mall. Both access roads on the south side of the mall were temporarily closed off with police tape shortly after noon as police investigated the incident. No other details were immediately available. NewsKamloops.com Photo: NewsKamloops.com Federal funding is the final piece in a $30-million investment at Thompson Rivers University. A new Industrial Training and Technology Centre will be built with $13.25 million in federal cash, combined with $7 million from the province, $7.7 million from the university and $9.7 million from Western Economic Diversification. The 5,344-square-metre centre will allow the university to expand its trades and technology programs into areas such as refrigeration, air conditioning and power engineering. It will also allow the school to expand its Red Seal program. Space in the existing trades and technology building will also be renovated. There's been a renaissance of interest in trades training in the past five years, TRU president Alan Shaver said Tuesday. It will not only change the landscape of TRU physically, but it will increase the training by 550 new seats, he said as about 200 students gathered for the news. That will bring the trades training capacity in Kamloops to 2,050 full-time equivalent seats. Construction is expected to get underway in early 2017 with substantial completion by spring 2018 and occupancy in the fall of 2018. We are No. 1 in the country in economic growth, which means we are No. 1 in the country in job creation, said MLA Todd Stone while announcing the project. We have to make sure the training and education are there for individuals to take the jobs and seize the opportunity. Construction of the new centre is expected to generate 108 direct and 82 indirect jobs in the region. NewsKamloops.com Answers Africa is one of a kind platform created for Africans both locally and in the diaspora and those seeking for more in-depth information about Africa. We have always focused on creating the highest quality informational contents right from the beginning. We share the most relevant information on the latest and trending news, events, people, and places in Africa. We produce contents across various categories including Politics, People, Love and Romance, Nature, Entertainment, Technology and pretty much everything else that Africans may find relevant. We aim to answer the most relevant questions about Africa in areas of entertainment, famous people, emerging technologies while we also engage with various distribution capabilities to connect with Africans in need of information who rely on our website to keep in touch with the world that is changing so fast. These are some of the articles you may be interested in reading: 10 Famous TV Personalities Born In Ethiopia Ethiopia is a country best known for its fast athletes like Dibaba and Bekele, breathtaking models like Liya Kebede and of course Haile Selassie but there are also famous TV personalities who are doing a great job in entertainment and pushing the country to civilization. The following is a list of ten most famous TV ... 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Nayyera Haqs Bio What To Know About Her Husband, Parents And Family Nayyera Haq can take anyone on political debates as well as discussions on social issues affecting many. Her ability to masterfully deliver her stance on every issue or political debate has made her a regular face in morning and evening news media platforms. This is not a common feat especially for someone from her kind ... Inside Guy Fieris Family With Wife, Kids and Sister Who Died of Cancer Over the years we have seen men dominate the kitchen and churn out amazing delicacies from it. Some do it way better than their female counterparts and one of such men is Guy Ramsay Fieri an American TV host, celebrity chef, restaurant owner, bestselling author of four culinary books, and game show host. His ... Meet Phil Mudd of CNN The Former CIA and FBI Exec, Is He Married, Who Is The Wife? When it comes to discussing issues surrounding terrorism, American Counterterrorism and National Security Expert, Phil Mudd, occupies a globally significant position. He has voiced his interest in the fight against terrorism and insecurity on many popular media platforms, both print and broadcast, such as CNN, BBC, CBS, MSNBC, al-Jazeera, ABC, NBC, Fox, The New York Times, ... Jim Hoffer: Biography, Wife Mika Brzezinski, Children and Net Worth Jim Hoffer is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works as an investigative reporter for Eyewitness News, New York City. In his over two decades of investigative journalism, Hoffer has been at the front lines of several crucial stories from the 9/11 attack to the crash of American Flight 587 to the 2003 Blackout. On top of ... 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Malawi: Minister applauds CPL investment 20 September 2016 The Minister of Natural Resources and Mining, Bright Msaka, has spoken on Cement Products Ltds (CPL) multi-million investment in its Njereza Plant in Mangochi. Mr Msaka said how the venture has the potential to contribute to Malawis economic growth and is a sign that the company is embracing the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) government objective. Mr Msaka assured CPL that the government would continue providing all necessary technical support. Asaalam Abdul Gaffer, CPL chairperson, said the company is making the investments in the Njereza plant in an attempt to reduce an influx of poor-quality imported cement products, that are sold at lower prices to locals. Mr Gaffar disclosed that the price of a bag of cement would decrease from MWK5900 (US$8.18) to K4000 when the new facility enters service. Published under Uganda: Hima Cement US$40m expansion 20 September 2016 Hima Cement has said that the ongoing capacity expansion project at its new plant under construction in the Eastern district of Tororo will see an additional 1.9Mta of cement enter the local market. Hima CEO, Daniel Patterson, said that by the end of 2016 the company will have invested US$40m into the project. Published under Peru's cement market shows minor decline in August ICR Newsroom By 20 September 2016 In August Peruvian cement demand reached 0.868Mt, representing 4.3 per cent decline YoY, according to Asocem, the country's cement association. To complement local output, around 43,000t of cement and 87,000t of clinker were imported. Domestic output reached 0.922Mt, the supply surplus being largely absorbed by exports, which reached 0.05Mt in the same month. In addition to 54,000t of cement passing through the countrys border controls - a YoY doubling of volumes, some 22,000t of clinker (down 22 per cent) were delivered to overseas customers. In the 12-month period to August 2016 consumption Peru noted a 1.5 per cent fall to 10.264Mt while output remained largely stable, up only slightly by 0.1 per cent to 10.78Mt. Exports reached 0.396Mt. Published under Kenyan cement firms feel the squeeze 16 September 2016 This week the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics announced that KES2.2bn (US$21.7m) of cement was imported from China in the 1H16 - a 10-fold YoY increase. While full-year domestic cement consumption is forecast at 6Mta and installed production capacity is at 8Mta, cement imports appear surplus to the building sectors needs. Although Chinese construction companies claim to source their building materials locally, their impact on local production is becoming increasingly clear. Lafarge and ARM have already expressed their dismay at having been overlooked for large railway infrastructure projects, according to Bloomberg. In addition , Kenyan Ports Authority reported the import of 7000t of building materials by the China Road & Bridge Corp by July. China's investment and expertise is wanted by Kenya In December 2015 President Kenyatta welcomed Chinas support to Kenyas development agenda, particularly in infrastructure and industrialisation. "My government is keen on the implementation of the various projects signed with China, particularly, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), which is critical in the realisation of Kenyas development blue print Vision 2030," Mr Kenyatta said. He noted that the SGR project has achieved significant progress and more than 25,000 Kenyan engineers and workers are employed with their Chinese counterparts to build the railway. More cement capacity due Meanwhile, domestic cement capacity-building continues apace. Chinese turnkey supplier CITIC is currently building the delayed 1.2Mta West Pokot cement plant for Sanghi Cement, a subsidiary of Cemtech India. The facility will include an integrated kiln line and grinding unit as well as a 30MW power plant. Dangote Cement has been importing cement from Ethiopia with plans to build its own 3Mta Kitui cement plant in Kenya for start-up in 2019. Dangote can export at US$74/t, 40 per cent below the price charged by locally-manufactured brands, reports The Nation. Local cement producer ARM has plans to add to its current 1.2Mta clinker capacity in Nairobi with a new integrated plant at Kitui. ARM made a pretax loss of KES473.5m (US$4.5m) in 1H16 but was boosted by a US$140m investment from CDC in April to expand its cement production in Mwingi, Kitui County. Limestone reserves have been discovered at Ngaaie which will supply the new plant. Bamburi Cement comes under pressure The 1H16 results revealed that Kenya's market leader, LafargeHolcim-owned Bamburi Cement, saw its net profits decline to KES2.9m (US$28,633) on lower cement demand from the housing sector and construction markets. Local producers fight back In response to the anticipated rise in competition, domestic cement producers are upgrading their production facilities. At the end of 2015, East Africa Portland Cement installed a new baghouse to replace its existing electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) at its Athi River plant, as well as retro-fitted a new raw mill gear box and replaced three sections of the kiln shell. It also upgraded its bagging plant with new conveyors and electrical upgrades. Meanwhile, Mombassa Cement has improved operations at its recently-expanded Vipingo plant in Kilifi County in April and is now targeting a clinker output of 9000tpd. Savannah Cement has also added a new roller press at its Athi River plant along with a new kiln feed and bucket elevator earlier this year. Published under A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory letter to President of the South Ossetian Republic Leonid Tibilov in connection with the Independence day on September 20, press service of the NKR Presidential administration informed Armenpress. The letter reads: "Respectful Mr. Tibilov, On behalf of the people and authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and personally myself I extend my cordial congratulations to You and the whole people of South Ossetia on the 26th anniversary of the Independence. South Ossetia is a fraternal state for us with which we have much in common in history, culture and national traditions. Your friendship is highly appreciated in Nagorno Karabakh. During the formation of its independent statehood South Ossetia has passed a difficult and glorious way demonstrating a true example of endurance and heroism. I once again congratulate You, Your Excellency, and the whole people of South Ossetia on this great holiday. Peace, prosperity and further successes to the fraternal South Ossetia". [] : 20160920 18:02:22 Stock Code: 000530, 200530 Notice No: 2016-070 Short Form of the Stock: Daleng Gufen; Daleng B Dalian Refrigeration Co., Ltd. Resolution of 9th Meeting of 7th Session of the Board Dalian Refrigeration Co., Ltd. (the Company) and its whole members of Board of Directors ensure that the public notice is real, accurate and complete, and there are no any important omissions, fictitious statements or serious misleading carried in this notice. I. Calling of the Board meeting 1. The Notice on holding the Board meeting was served by written form on 14 September 2016. 2. The Board meeting held through communication voting dated 20 September 2016. 3. Eight directors should present for voting and all of them are present actually. 4. The meeting was regarded as abiding the relevant laws, administrative regulation, department rules, normative documents as well as the Article of Association. II. Deliberation of the Board meeting 1. The report on granting the restricted stock to the incentive object. According to the Listed Company Equity Incentive Management Measures , the relevant provisions of the 2016 restricted stock incentive plan of the Company and the authorization of 3rd Extraordinary Shareholders General Meeting of 2016, the Board convinced that the granting conditions according to restricted stock incentive plan of the Company have been achieved, thus agreed to make the grant day on 20 September 2016, and granted 12,884 thousand shares restricted stock to the incentive object. Independent directors showed approval for the above mentioned proposal and air independent opinions. Directors of the Company, Mr. Ding Jie were related directors due to incentive object, and conducted obviation in examining the above matters. (For details, see http://www.cninfo.com.cn.) With 8 votes for, 0 vote against and 0 vote as abstention. III. Documents available for reference 1. Proposal of the meeting with signature of attended directors and seal of the Board 2. Opinions from independent directors Board of Directors of Dalian Refrigeration Co., Ltd. 21 September 2016 Stock Code: 000530, 200530 Notice No: 2016-070Short Form of the Stock: Daleng Gufen; Daleng BDalian Refrigeration Co., Ltd.Resolution of 9th Meeting of 7th Session of the BoardDalian Refrigeration Co., Ltd. (the Company) and its whole members of Board ofDirectors ensure that the public notice is real, accurate and complete, and there areno any important omissions, fictitious statements or serious misleading carried in thisnotice.I. Calling of the Board meeting1. The Notice on holding the Board meeting was served by written form on 14September 2016.2. The Board meeting held through communication voting dated 20 September 2016.3. Eight directors should present for voting and all of them are present actually.4. The meeting was regarded as abiding the relevant laws, administrative regulation,department rules, normative documents as well as the Article of Association.II. Deliberation of the Board meeting1. The report on granting the restricted stock to the incentive object.According to the Listed Company Equity Incentive Management Measures , therelevant provisions of the 2016 restricted stock incentive plan of the Company and theauthorization of 3rd Extraordinary Shareholders General Meeting of 2016, the Boardconvinced that the granting conditions according to restricted stock incentive plan ofthe Company have been achieved, thus agreed to make the grant day on 20 September2016, and granted 12,884 thousand shares restricted stock to the incentive object.Independent directors showed approval for the above mentioned proposal and airindependent opinions.Directors of the Company, Mr. Ding Jie were related directors due to incentive object,and conducted obviation in examining the above matters.(For details, see http://www.cninfo.com.cn.)With 8 votes for, 0 vote against and 0 vote as abstention.III. Documents available for reference1. Proposal of the meeting with signature of attended directors and seal of the Board2. Opinions from independent directorsBoard of Directors ofDalian Refrigeration Co., Ltd.21 September 2016 YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. The person who provoked unrest against Armenians in the Netherlands will stand trial, Chairman of the Federation of Armenian Organizations in the Netherlands Mato Hakhverdyan said in an interview with Armenpress. He said this is the first time such case happens in the Netherlands when the person who demonstrated hatred against Armenians stands trial. He said the incident took place in 2014 when the Turks organized a large protest in Almelo city against the Memorial devoted to the Armenian Genocide victims located in the territory of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Almelo. During the protest a citizen said Karabakh will become the tomb of Armenians. During that protest they delivered a speech with the Ottoman costumes stating that Genocide didnt take place. That person who said Karabakh will become the tomb of Armenians, is the Chairman of a Turkish-Azerbaijani organization which operates in Hague. Then we protested, all materials provided to the Prosecution. For over two years that materials were examined in details, the speeches delivered two times in Turkish were translated by different people. And after the examination the Prosecution finds that the offense committed against Armenians is punishable. Now the Prosecution decided to listen to that person, but in any case, the case will reach to the court, he said. The judge will make final decision, it is possible the person will be arrested, or maybe there will be monetary compensation or penalty. Hakhverdyan said it is of course important, but if the Azerbaijani stands in trial, it is already a serious step. The phenomenon is the most important. It means that anyone will make such statements will stand trial. In other words, this case may be a deterrent. Such process is the first time in the Netherlands and can be precedent for the Netherlands, as well as for other European states, he said. He also informed that person made such a statement in April during the protest in connection with events in Nagorno Karabakh. Referring to the Turkish-Azerbaijani lobby activities he said certain activity is being realized, but the Azerbaijanis are famous for spreading false information. Catholic Family News A Monthly Journal Preserving our Catholic Faith and Heritage Home Latest Archives Subscribe CFN Media - videos Contact Us CFN Bookstore Oltyn Library Services 2017 CFN Daily Blog Originally started as a daily Blog update of news reports on the Papal Conclave and ongoing news on Pope Francis, it is now a general Blog updated daily on traditional Catholic topics Updated Regularly Book mark this page click here Luxury hotels in the historic center for a Catholic family. Only luxury hotels can provide a paradisiacal vacation for a big Catholic family. A high-level vacation for families, children and not only. The gorgeous views, divine service, and the best location are all luxury hotels. Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and more. Everyone will find their place in this corner of paradise. Popular destinations Breckenridge, CO, United States In Breckenridge, Colorado, there are plenty of places to visit, whether you're a nature lover or thrill seeker. For nature lovers, the Blue River runs right through town and there are plenty of trails to explore. If you're looking for a thrill, Breckenridge is home to some of the best skiing and snowboarding in the country. There's also plenty of shopping and dining options in town, so you'll never run out of things to do. 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And if you're looking for a little nature, Minsk has parks and gardens to enjoy. Here are just a few of the places you can visit in Minsk: The Holy Spirit Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Minsk, is a must-visit for history buffs. The National Library of Belarus is a huge library with more than 18 million items in its collection. The Opera and Ballet Theatre is a beautiful building that hosts performances of both opera and ballet. The Victory Park is a large park with a war memorial, a children's playground, and a lake. And for a little bit of nature in the heart of the city, the Botanical Garden is a great place to relax and take a break from the hustle and bustle of Minsk. Minsk Luxury Hotels Jaipur, India Jaipur is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. It is the capital of the state of Rajasthan and is known for its palaces, forts and temples. Some of the places to visit in Jaipur include the Amber Fort, the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar Observatory and the Hawa Mahal. Jaipur is also a great place to shop for traditional Indian handicrafts. Jaipur Luxury Hotels Chicago, IL, United States Chicago is a city full of culture and history. There are plenty of places to visit, such as the Willis Tower, Buckingham Fountain, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago is also home to many restaurants and bars, so there is something for everyone. Chicago Luxury Hotels Auckland, New Zealand Auckland is a beautiful city located on the north island of New Zealand. There are many places to visit in Auckland, including the Sky Tower, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and the Auckland Domain. The beaches in Auckland are also worth visiting, especially Karekare and Piha. Auckland is a great place to visit, and I highly recommend it!. Auckland Luxury Hotels Auckland Luxury Villas Amsterdam, Netherlands If you're looking for a city that's got it all, Amsterdam should be your go-to destination. From the city's lively and vibrant nightlife to its charming and quiet neighborhoods, Amsterdam has something for everyone. Be sure to check out the Anne Frank Huis, the Rijksmuseum, and the Van Gogh Museum, as these are some of the most popular attractions in the city. And if you're looking for a little bit of nature, be sure to take a walk or bike ride through Amsterdam's many parks. Amsterdam Luxury Hotels Berlin, Germany There are so many great places to visit in Berlin that it can be hard to know where to start. From the iconic Brandenburg Gate to the fascinating Reichstag Building, there's something for everyone in this vibrant city. If you're looking for a bit of history, make sure to check out the Berlin Wall Memorial or the DDR Museum. And for those looking for a bit more fun, there's always the Alexanderplatz Christmas Market or the Zoologischer Garten. No matter what your interests, Berlin is a city you won't want to miss. Berlin Luxury Hotels Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok is a city of contrasts with its gleaming temples and skyscrapers, chaotic markets and tranquil canals. While it's a popular tourist destination, Bangkok is a city that can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages. Some of the top places to visit in Bangkok include the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, the floating markets and the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Bangkok Luxury Hotels Bangkok Luxury Resorts Bangkok Luxury Villas Bruges, Belgium Bruges is a city in Belgium that is worth visiting. It is full of medieval charm and there are a lot of things to see and do. Some of the places to visit include the Markt, the Belfry, and the Begijnhof. Bruges Luxury Hotels Brussels, Belgium Brussels is a city in Belgium that is best known for its chocolate, waffles, and beer. But there is much more to see and do in Brussels than just indulge in the local cuisine. There are a number of interesting historical landmarks to visit, such as the Grand Place and the Atomium, as well as a variety of parks and gardens. And, of course, Brussels is also a great city to explore on foot. Brussels Luxury Hotels Budapest, Hungary Budapest, Hungary's capital, is a city of thermal baths and medival, baroque and art nouveau architecture. Crowded with tourists, the city is bisected by the Danube River into the hilly Buda and the more developed and flat Pest. Among the main places of interest are the neo-Gothic Parliament, the Chain Bridge linking Buda and Pest, the Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda bank, and the State Opera House and Heroes' Square on the Pest side. Budapest Luxury Hotels Playa del Carmen, Mexico Home to some of the best beaches in Mexico, Playa del Carmen is a favorite tourist destination for visitors from all over the world. With its lively nightlife, gorgeous coastline and ample shopping opportunities, there's something for everyone in this tropical paradise. Don't miss the opportunity to visit some of the area's most popular attractions, such as the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum and Coba, or the eco-friendly Turtle Beach. With its friendly people, delicious food and stunning scenery, Playa del Carmen is a place you'll never want to leave. Playa del Carmen Luxury Hotels Playa del Carmen Luxury Resorts Playa del Carmen Luxury Villas Denver, CO, United States Denver is a great city for visitors. There are so many places to see and things to do. Some of the top places to visit include the 16th Street Mall, the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Denver Art Museum, and the Colorado State Capitol. There are also plenty of great restaurants and shops to explore. Denver is definitely a city worth visiting!. Denver Luxury Hotels Dublin, Ireland Dublin is a city located in Ireland. It's a city full of culture, with plenty of places to visit. Some popular tourist spots are the Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, and the Dublin Castle. There are also plenty of pubs and restaurants to discover. Dublin Luxury Hotels Dusseldorf, Germany Dusseldorf, Germany is a city with many different places to visit. The city has a mix of old and new buildings, and a variety of activities to do. The best places to visit in Dusseldorf are the Konigsallee, the Rhine Tower, and the Oktoberfest. The Konigsallee is an open-air shopping mall that has many high-end stores. The Rhine Tower is the tallest building in the city and offers great views of Dusseldorf. The Oktoberfest is a week-long festival that celebrates German culture and food. Dusseldorf Luxury Hotels Edinburgh, United Kingdom Edinburgh, Scotland is a beautiful city to visit. The architecture is very old and unique, and there are plenty of historical places to visit, like Edinburgh Castle. There are also plenty of parks and gardens, and lots of shops and restaurants. Edinburgh Luxury Hotels Rome, Italy Rome is a city rich in history and filled with beautiful places to visit. Make sure to stop by the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon. Also be sure to visit St. Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel while in Rome. If youre looking for a little more nature in your trip, head to the Villa Borghese gardens or the Janiculum Hill for some wonderful views of the city. And of course, no trip to Rome is complete without a gelato!. Rome Luxury Hotels Rome Luxury Villas New York, NY, United States There are many amazing places to visit in New York State. Some of my favorites are the Niagara Falls, the Adirondack Mountains, and the Finger Lakes. If you're looking for a city break, New York City is definitely worth a visit. There's endless things to see and do, from touring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to visiting world-famous museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. No matter what your interests are, you'll be able to find something to enjoy in New York State. New York Luxury Hotels New York Luxury Villas London, United Kingdom London is a city rich in history and full of amazing places to visit. Some of my favorite places are Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London. There is so much to see and do in London, you could spend weeks here and never run out of things to do. If you're looking for a city full of culture and history, London is the place for you. London Luxury Hotels London Luxury Cottages Madrid, Spain Madrid is one of the most beautiful and culturally rich cities in the world. From the Royal Palace to the Prado Museum, theres plenty to see and do in Madrid. If youre looking for a little bit of nature, Madrid has plenty of parks, like the Buen Retiro Park, to relax in. And dont forget to try some of the delicious tapas and wine while youre in town. Madrid Luxury Hotels Memphis, TN, United States The birthplace of rock 'n' roll, Memphis is a city rich in history and culture. From Graceland to Beale Street, there are plenty of places to visit in Memphis. Be sure to check out Sun Studio, where rock 'n' roll was born, and the National Civil Rights Museum, which tells the story of the African-American civil rights movement. Memphis is also home to some amazing food, so be sure to try some of the city's famous barbecue and soul food. Memphis Luxury Hotels Miami Beach, FL, United States There is much to explore in Miami Beach, from the famous Art Deco district to the vast beaches and crystal-clear waters. Outdoor enthusiasts will love the opportunities for fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding, while history buffs can explore the ancient burial mounds at Miami Beach. Shoppers and foodies will find plenty to keep them busy, with vibrant neighborhoods like Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive offering unique boutiques and award-winning restaurants. And of course, no trip to Miami Beach is complete without a visit to world-famous South Beach. Miami Beach Luxury Hotels Miami Beach Luxury Resorts New Orleans, LA, United States You can't visit New Orleans without trying some of the local food. Beignets, Po' Boys, and gumbo are just a few of the must-try dishes. While you're in town, be sure to check out the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and St. Louis Cathedral. If you're looking for some nightlife, Bourbon Street is the place to be. And, of course, no trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to Mardi Gras!. New Orleans Luxury Hotels Milan, Italy Milan is a city located in the Lombardy region of Italy. It is a popular tourist destination because of its historical and artistic heritage. Some of the places you should visit while in Milan are the Duomo, La Scala, and Castello Sforzesco. Milan Luxury Hotels Naples, Italy Naples is one of the most beautiful and historic cities in Italy. There are countless places to visit, such as the Royal Palace, the Museum of San Martino, and the Church of Gesu Nuovo. Naples is also home to excellent shopping and dining options. Be sure to enjoy a cup of coffee at one of the city's many cafes and take a stroll through the picturesque streets. Naples Luxury Hotels Paris, France Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. It's home to iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, as well as a thriving nightlife and restaurant scene. If you're looking to explore all that Paris has to offer, here are some of the top places to visit: The Eiffel Tower: This iconic landmark is a must-see in Paris. Climb to the top for stunning views of the city, or take a ride on the elevator to the bottom for a closer look at the structure. The Louvre Museum: This world-famous museum is home to some of the most famous works of art in the world, including the Mona Lisa. The Notre Dame Cathedral: This beautiful cathedral is one of the most famous landmarks in Paris. Make sure to climb to the top for some amazing views of the city. The Champs-Elysees: This famous avenue is a popular destination for shopping and dining. Be sure to wander down the street and take in all the sights and sounds. The Arc de Triomphe: This towering arch is another iconic landmark in Paris. Climb to the top for some amazing views of the city. Paris Luxury Hotels Paris Luxury Villas Prague, Czech Republic Prague is a city rich in history and culture. There are plenty of places to visit, including the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and the Old Town Square. There are also plenty of restaurants and bars to enjoy, and the nightlife is vibrant. Prague is a truly unique city and a must-visit for anyone traveling to the Czech Republic. Prague Luxury Hotels Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Located on the easternmost tip of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana is known for its beautiful beaches and turquoise waters. This paradise is a favorite destination for travelers looking for a Caribbean getaway. Punta Cana is home to a wide variety of resorts and activities, from enjoying the sand and surf to golfing, spas, and shopping. Nature lovers can also explore the areas jungles, caves, and waterfalls. Punta Cana Luxury Hotels Punta Cana Luxury Resorts Punta Cana Luxury Villas Marbella, Spain If you're looking for an idyllic and luxurious Spanish escape, look no further than Marbella. Located on the country's Costa del Sol, Marbella is home to stunning beaches, top-notch resorts, world-class golfing, and much more. A visit to Marbella is the perfect way to experience all that Spain has to offer. Marbella Luxury Hotels Marbella Luxury Villas Marrakesh, Morocco Marrakesh is a city in Morocco that is full of culture and history. There are several places to visit in Marrakesh, including the Palace of the Bahia, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, and the Saadian Tombs. The souks (markets) are also a must-see, where you can find everything from souvenirs to spices to traditional clothing. Be sure to enjoy a meal in one of the many restaurants or cafes in Marrakesh; the food is delicious and the atmosphere is always lively. Marrakesh is a wonderful city to explore and definitely worth a visit!. Marrakesh Luxury Hotels San Francisco, CA, United States San Francisco is a popular tourist destination, and for good reason. There are plenty of things to see and do in this vibrant city. Here are some of the top places to visit: 1. Fisherman's Wharf: This neighborhood is home to a variety of shops and restaurants, as well as a popular pier where you can enjoy views of the bay. 2. The Golden Gate Bridge: This iconic bridge is a must-see for any visitor to San Francisco. 3. Alcatraz Island: This former federal prison is now a popular tourist attraction. It's a must-see for fans of history and crime dramas. 4. Chinatown: This colorful neighborhood is home to some of the best food in San Francisco. Be sure to check out the Dragon Gate entrance. 5. The Mission District: This trendy neighborhood is home to hip restaurants, bars, and art galleries. San Francisco Luxury Hotels Moscow, Russia Moscow, Russia is a beautiful city with plenty of places to visit. Some of the most popular tourist attractions are the Kremlin, Red Square, and Saint Basil's Cathedral. Other great places to see include the Bolshoi Theatre, Gorky Park, and the Tretyakov Gallery. There are also many churches and other historical buildings to explore. Moscow is a lively city with a lot of culture and nightlife. There is something for everyone to enjoy in Moscow. Moscow Luxury Hotels Venice, Italy Venice is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The city is built on a lagoon in northeast Italy and is known for its canals and gondolas. There are many places to visit in Venice, including the Grand Canal, St. Marks Square, and the Rialto Bridge. Venice is also home to many museums, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Venice Luxury Hotels Vienna, Austria Vienna, Austria is a city with a long and rich history. There are many places to visit in Vienna, including the Hofburg Palace, the Ringstrasse, and St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna is also home to some of the world's best shopping, including the Karntner Strasse and the Graben. Finally, no visit to Vienna is complete without experiencing the city's world-famous nightlife. Vienna Luxury Hotels Zurich, Switzerland Zurich is a marvelous city located in the heart of Switzerland. It is a city that has something to offer for everyone. From amazing restaurants and beautiful architecture to exciting nightlife and gorgeous parks, Zurich has something for everyone. Some of the most popular places to visit in Zurich include the Bahnhofstrasse, which is the city's most famous shopping street, the Lindenhof, which is a beautiful park with amazing views of the city, and Grossmunster, which is a stunning Romanesque church. Zurich is also home to some of the best museums in the world, including the famed Museum of Art and the Swiss National Museum. With its mix of old-world charm and modern amenities, Zurich is a city that is definitely worth exploring. Zurich Luxury Hotels Acapulco, Mexico If you're looking for a Mexican vacation spot with plenty of history and culture to explore, Acapulco is a great option. From the archeological wonders of the ancient city to the stunning coastal views, there's something for everyone in Acapulco. Plus, with its temperate climate, it's a great escape from colder winter weather. Acapulco Luxury Hotels Acapulco Luxury Resorts Acapulco Luxury Villas Nashville, TN, United States One of the United States' most interesting places to visit is Nashville, Tennessee. There's plenty to see and do there, from the Grand Ole Opry to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Music is a big part of the city's history and culture, so be sure to catch a show while you're in town. Other popular attractions include the Ryman Auditorium, the Parthenon, and the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Nashville is also a great place to eat, with a wide variety of restaurants serving up everything from barbecue to Mexican food. So if you're looking for an exciting and diverse city to visit, be sure to add Nashville to your list. Nashville Luxury Hotels Nashville Luxury Villas Atlanta, GA, United States What's not to love about Atlanta? From the iconic Georgia Aquarium to the World of Coke, from the Fox Theatre to Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta offers a wealth of destinations for tourists. Sports fans will want to check out the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and history buffs will enjoy the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Braves fans can take a tour of SunTrust Park, and shoppers will enjoy the many boutiques and malls in the city. There's also a great restaurant scene in Atlanta, and music lovers will want to check out the many venues offering live music. Whether you're looking for a fun family vacation spot or a place to explore on your own, Atlanta is a great choice!. Atlanta Luxury Hotels Miami, FL, United States The Magic City is a top tourist destination for a reasonthere are endless things to do in Miami! From exploring the trendy neighborhoods and dazzling beaches to soaking up the Latin culture and nightlife, Miami is jam-packed with amazing places to visit. Here are a few of our favorites: 1. Wynwood Walls: This outdoor art exhibit is a must-see for any art lover. The colorful murals are awe-inspiring and definitely Instagram-worthy. 2. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: This estate is dripping with luxury and opulence, from the grandiose architecture to the expansive gardens. It's the perfect place for a day of relaxation. 3. South Beach: This world-famous beach is a must-visit for any sun-seeker. The crystal-clear water and soft sand make for the perfect day-long beach getaway. 4. Little Havana: Experience Cuban culture at its best in Little Havana. From delicious food to lively music and dance, there's something for everyone in this vibrant district. 5. Art Deco District: This district is home to Miami's most iconic architecture. Take a stroll down the charming streets and admire the colorful buildings that make Miami so unique. Miami Luxury Hotels Miami Luxury Villas Tokyo, Japan Tokyo is a must-see destination in Japan. There are endless places to explore in this city - temples, shrines, gardens, and more. The Shinjuku district is a great place to start, with its neon-lit streets and myriad shops and restaurants. For a taste of traditional Japan, visit the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa or the Imperial Palace. Nature lovers will enjoy the Hamarikyu Gardens or the Hama-rikyu Teien Garden. And for a unique experience, take a trip to Mount Fuji. Tokyo Luxury Hotels Tokyo Luxury Villas Buenos Aires, Argentina There are plenty of places to visit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some popular tourist destinations include the obelisk, the Casa Rosada, and the Puerto Madero district. Every barrio (neighborhood) has its own unique culture and flavor. San Telmo, La Boca, and Palermo are some of the most popular barrios. There are also many parks and plazas, such as Plaza de Mayo and Plaza de la Republica, that are worth checking out. Buenos Aires Luxury Hotels Hamburg, Germany One of the most popular tourist destinations in Germany is Hamburg. From the lively and colorful harbor district to the grandiose City Hall, there is plenty to see and do in Hamburg. Some of the other popular places to visit include the Reeperbahn district with its pubs and nightlife, the Planten un Blomen botanical gardens, and the architecturally stunning Rathausmarkt square. Hamburg Luxury Hotels Lisbon, Portugal The capital of Portugal, Lisbon is a city of fascinating contrasts. From its coastal location, visitors can enjoy stunning ocean views, while its hilly, narrow streets are home to a maze of charming traditional homes and lively nightlife. A city of 7 hills, Lisbon is a bustling metropolis with something for everyone. Here are some of the top places to visit: The Belem Tower, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Lisbons most iconic landmarks. This 16th-century fortress and lighthouse is a must-see for visitors. The Alfama district, with its winding streets and tile-roofed homes, is the oldest district in Lisbon. This is the perfect place to get lost and explore the citys history. The Lisbon Zoo is a great place to enjoy a day out with the family, with over 2,000 animals from around the world. The Christ the King statue, located atop a hill in the suburb of Almada, offers impressive views of Lisbon and the river Tagus. The Lisbon Oceanarium, located in the Parque das Nacoes district, is home to more than 12,000 marine creatures and is one of the largest aquariums in Europe. Lisbon Luxury Hotels Lisbon Luxury Villas Malaga, Spain Malaga is an attractive seaside city in southern Spain with a long history. There are many places to visit in Malaga, including the Gibralfaro Castle, the Alcazaba fortress, and the Malaga Cathedral. Malaga is also home to a variety of museums, including the Picasso Museum. The city is well known for its beaches, and there are many delightful places to relax and enjoy the sun and the sea. Malaga Luxury Hotels Malaga Luxury Villas Munich, Germany When planning a vacation to Munich, Germany, be sure to include these top places to visit: The Marienplatz is a must-see square in the city center, featuring a beautiful Glockenspiel show and the Old and New Town Halls. The Englisher Garten, Europes largest city park, is a great place for a relaxing stroll or a picnic. OlympiaPark is home to the famous 1972 Olympic Stadium as well as a huge amusement park. The Frauenkirche is a stunning church in the old town with a Glockenspiel of its own. Beer lovers will want to visit the Hofbrauhaus, the worlds most famous beer hall. For a bit of history and culture, check out the LudwigMaximilians-University and the Deutsches Museum. There is so much to see and do in Munich these are just a few highlights!. Munich Luxury Hotels Granada, Spain Granada is a city in southern Spain that is known for its Moorish architecture and history. The city is home to the Alhambra, a palace and fortress that was constructed in the late 1300s. Visitors can also enjoy the citys many churches, including the Cathedral of Granada. Granada is also a convenient base for exploring the other cities and towns in Andalusia. Granada Luxury Hotels Bucharest, Romania Bucharest is a city full of history and culture. There are many places to visit, such as the Palace of Parliament, which is the world's largest civilian building. Other places to visit include the old city center, which is full of charming streets and buildings, and the Botanical Garden, which is the largest botanical garden in Romania. Bucharest Luxury Hotels Bologna, Italy Bologna, Italy is a beautiful city with plenty of places to visit. Some popular tourist destinations include the Piazza Maggiore, the Tower of Asinelli, and the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. There are also plenty of museums and churches to explore, and the city is full of charming restaurants and cafes. Bologna is an excellent destination for a vacation, and there is something for everyone to enjoy in this amazing city. Bologna Luxury Hotels Porto, Portugal Porto is a port city in Portugal that is well known for its wine. It's also a city with a long and rich history. There are many places to visit in Porto, including the old city center, the Dom Luis I Bridge, and the Clerigos Tower. Porto is also home to the famous Port wine caves, which are a must-visit for wine lovers. Porto Luxury Hotels Cologne, Germany Cologne, located on the Rhine River in western Germany, is a city well worth visiting. The city has a long and rich history, dating back to the time of the Roman Empire. Some of the city's most popular tourist attractions include the Cologne Cathedral, Hohenzollern Bridge, and the RheinEnergieStadion. Additionally, Cologne is home to a wide variety of museums, shops, and restaurants. In fact, the city has been ranked as one of the best places to live in Germany. So, if you're looking for a great European city to visit, be sure to add Cologne to your list. Cologne Luxury Hotels Istanbul, Turkey If you're looking for an exotic and affordable vacation destination, look no further than Istanbul, Turkey. Filled with historical places to visit and bargains to be found, Istanbul offers something for everyone. Be sure to visit the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and the Blue Mosque while you're there. Don't forget to bargain for the best prices when shopping in the bazaars, and enjoy some delicious Turkish cuisine while you're at it. Istanbul is sure to leave you with a lasting impression. Istanbul Luxury Hotels Istanbul Luxury Villas Dubai, United Arab Emirates Dubai is a fascinating and exotic city that offers visitors a mix of traditional Middle Eastern culture and modern, cosmopolitan life. There are plenty of places to visit in Dubai, from the towering skyscrapers of Downtown Dubai to the luxury shopping malls and luxurious hotels of the Palm Jumeirah. Don't miss a chance to experience an Arabian night out on an epic dhow cruise, or take a trip out into the Arabian Desert to see the stunning sand dunes. Dubai Luxury Hotels Dubai Luxury Resorts Dubai Luxury Villas Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp is a city located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital of the province of Antwerp and has a population of over half a million people. Antwerp is a popular tourist destination due to its many historical buildings, museums, and art galleries. Some of the most popular places to visit in Antwerp are the Cathedral of Our Lady, the City Hall, the Rubenshuis, and the Antwerp Zoo. Antwerp Luxury Hotels Lyon, France Lyon is a beautiful city in the south of France that is full of culture and places to visit. Some of the most popular places to visit in Lyon are the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere, the Place Bellecour, and the Vieux Lyon. The Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere is a beautiful cathedral that is a must-see when visiting Lyon. The Place Bellecour is a large square in the heart of Lyon that is full of restaurants and cafes. The Vieux Lyon is a district in Lyon that is full of old buildings and is a great place to wander around and take in the sights. Lyon Luxury Hotels Athens, Greece If you find yourself in Athens, there are definitely some spots you won't want to miss. The Acropolis, Parthenon, and Olympic Stadium are all essential stops, but there are plenty of others, too. If you're looking for a bit of history, the National Archaeological Museum is a must-see, while nature lovers will enjoy a visit to the botanical gardens. If you're looking to relax, take a walk along the beach in Glyfada or head to the Plaka district for a charming and picturesque setting. No matter what you're interested in, Athens has something for you. Athens Luxury Hotels Athens Luxury Villas Helsinki, Finland While in Helsinki, make sure to visit these popular tourist destinations: The Senate Square and Lutheran Cathedral The Sibelius Monument Ateneum Art Museum Market Square Helsinki Zoo. Helsinki Luxury Hotels Vilnius, Lithuania The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is a picturesque city with a rich history. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is full of charming churches, narrow streets, and pretty squares. There are also lots of museums and other places of interest to visit, including the Hill of Crosses, Gediminas Tower, and the Presidential Palace. Vilnius is a great city to explore on foot, and there are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and bars to enjoy in the evening. Vilnius Luxury Hotels Reykjavik, Iceland A city of remote beauty, Reykjavik is teeming with interesting places to visit. One of the worlds most northern capitals, Reykjavik offers stunning landscapes and a wealth of cultural experiences. From the iconic Hallgrimskirkja church to the popular Golden Circle tour, theres plenty to see and do in Reykjavik. Be sure to check out the citys lively nightlife scene, too you wont be disappointed!. Reykjavik Luxury Hotels Glasgow, United Kingdom Some of the most popular places to visit in Glasgow include the Gallery of Modern Art, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Riverside Museum, and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. There are also many wonderful parks and gardens to explore, including the Botanic Gardens and Glasgow Green. For those interested in history and architecture, there are many fascinating old buildings to see, such as the Glasgow Cathedral and the University of Glasgow. And for those looking for a lively nightlife, Glasgow has no shortage of pubs, clubs, and restaurants. Glasgow Luxury Hotels Los Angeles, CA, United States As the birthplace of Hollywood and home to some of the world's most recognisable landmarks, there's no shortage of places to visit in Los Angeles. Start by exploring the city's iconic neighbourhoods like Beverly Hills and Hollywood, then venture out to attractions like the Griffith Observatory, Venice Beach and Disneyland. And don't forget to savour the city's world-famous cultural scene, with its abundance of museums, theatres and restaurants. Los Angeles Luxury Hotels Los Angeles Luxury Villas San Diego, CA, United States San Diego is a city located in California and is a major tourist destination. One of the main reasons people visit the city is for its many beaches. Coronado Beach, Mission Beach, and Pacific Beach are some of the most popular and are all within close proximity to the city center. Other attractions in San Diego include the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and the USS Midway Museum. Restaurants, bars, and shopping can be found throughout the city, and world-renowned museums, like the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, are also located in San Diego. San Diego Luxury Hotels San Diego Luxury Resorts San Diego Luxury Villas Washington, DC, United States Washington, D.C. is a city full of history and places to visit. Some popular places to visit are the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, and the Smithsonian. D.C. is also home to a number of monuments and memorials, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. There are also a number of museums in D.C., like the American History Museum and the National Air and Space Museum. Washington Luxury Hotels Cancun, Mexico Cancun is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. Aside from its beautiful beaches, there are plenty of places to visit and things to do in Cancun. Some of the most popular attractions include the ancient ruins of Chichen Itza, the eco-park Xcaret, and the nightclubs and bars in the resort district. Cancun Luxury Hotels Cancun Luxury Resorts Cancun Luxury Villas Virginia Beach, VA, United States Virginia Beach is one of the top tourist destinations on the East Coast. From the Virginia Beach Boardwalk to the miles of sandy beaches, there's something for everyone to enjoy. There are also plenty of restaurants, shops, and other attractions to keep visitors busy. Some of the most popular places to visit in Virginia Beach include: The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center : This aquarium is home to more than 20,000 animals, including sharks, dolphins, and rays. : This aquarium is home to more than 20,000 animals, including sharks, dolphins, and rays. The Virginia Beach Boardwalk: This 3.5-mile boardwalk is one of the most popular attractions in Virginia Beach. It features a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and amusements. This 3.5-mile boardwalk is one of the most popular attractions in Virginia Beach. It features a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and amusements. First Landing State Park: This park offers miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as a beachfront area for swimming and sunbathing. This park offers miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as a beachfront area for swimming and sunbathing. Cape Henry Lighthouse: This lighthouse is one of the oldest in the country and offers stunning views of the Chesapeake Bay. There are plenty of other things to do in Virginia Beach, including dolphin and whale watching tours, kayaking, and golfing. Whether you're looking for a fun family vacation or a romantic getaway, Virginia Beach is sure to please. Virginia Beach Luxury Hotels Virginia Beach Luxury Resorts Beijing, China If you're looking for an amazing cultural experience, be sure to add Beijing, China to your travel bucket list! With beautiful temples, charming hutongs (traditional alleyways), and a lively food scene, there's something for everyone in this bustling city. Plus, Beijing is home to some of the most iconic attractions in China, like the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. So if you're looking for an unforgettable East Asian adventure, be sure to add Beijing to your list!. Beijing Luxury Hotels Seoul, South Korea Seoul is a metropolitan city that is home to over 10 million people. It is a city full of culture, history, and a vibrant nightlife. There are plenty of places to visit in Seoul, including the Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, and N Seoul Tower. The Jeongdongne district is a must-see for anyone interested in art and culture, and the Itaewon district is a great place to go for a night on the town. Seoul Luxury Hotels South Lake Tahoe, CA, United States Known for its dramatic lake and mountain scenery, South Lake Tahoe offers visitors plenty of places to visit and things to do. Some of the most popular attractions include floating down the river on a tube, hiking the trails in the summer and skiing or snowboarding the slopes in the winter. The city also has a variety of restaurants and nightlife options, as well as casinos for those looking to try their luck. South Lake Tahoe Luxury Hotels South Lake Tahoe Luxury Resorts Daytona Beach, FL, United States Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is approximately 40 miles northeast of Orlando, and 85 miles southeast of Jacksonville. The city is known as "The World's Most Famous Beach." Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida. The Daytona Beach area is a popular tourist destination. It is well known for its beaches, sports events, and motorsports. Daytona Beach was the birthplace of NASCAR and home to its first track, Daytona International Speedway. Dayton Beach also features a large number of tourist-oriented businesses, such as motels, restaurants, and bars. Daytona Beach Luxury Hotels Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The coastline of Rio de Janeiro is breathtaking, and the views from Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain are unforgettable. Rio's world-famous beaches are the perfect place to relax and enjoy the sun and the surf. The city's rich culture and history can be experienced in its many museums and in the lively nightlife. Rio is also a great place to shop for souvenirs. Rio de Janeiro Luxury Hotels Rio de Janeiro Luxury Villas Jaco, Costa Rica Jaco is a town on the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. It's about an hour drive from San Jose and is a popular spot for surfers, sunbathers, and tourists. There are a number of beaches in the area, as well as restaurants, bars, and hotels. If you're looking for a place to relax and enjoy the Costa Rican sun and beaches, Jaco is a great option. Jaco Luxury Hotels Oslo, Norway Oslo, Norway is a city with plenty of places to visit. You can find the peace and tranquility of nature parks and green spaces, experience the city's vibrant nightlife, or take in the historical and cultural sights. Here are a few of the top places to visit in Oslo: The Royal Palace: Oslo's Royal Palace is the official residence of Norway's king and queen. The palace is open to the public year-round, and offers a glimpse into the lives of the royal family. Oslo's Royal Palace is the official residence of Norway's king and queen. The palace is open to the public year-round, and offers a glimpse into the lives of the royal family. Vigeland Park: Considered one of Oslo's most popular tourist destinations, Vigeland Park is home to over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The park is a great place to spend a sunny day outdoors. Considered one of Oslo's most popular tourist destinations, Vigeland Park is home to over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The park is a great place to spend a sunny day outdoors. The Maritime Museum: This museum is home to a variety of exhibits on Norway's maritime history. Visitors can explore everything from Viking ships to modern submarines. This museum is home to a variety of exhibits on Norway's maritime history. Visitors can explore everything from Viking ships to modern submarines. The National Gallery: The National Gallery is Norway's largest art museum, and home to a vast collection of paintings and sculptures from the country's most famous artists. The National Gallery is Norway's largest art museum, and home to a vast collection of paintings and sculptures from the country's most famous artists. Aker Brygge: Aker Brygge is a popular waterfront district in Oslo, home to a variety of bars, restaurants, and shops. The area is a great place to people watch and enjoy the view of the Oslo Fjord. Oslo Luxury Hotels Lima, Peru If you're looking for a city that's bursting with culture and flavor, Lima, Peru is the place for you! This vibrant destination is home to some of the most amazing places to visit in all of South America. From ancient ruins to lush rainforests, there's something for everyone in Lima. Here are just a few of the must-see attractions in this amazing city: The Larco Museum is one of Lima's top tourist destinations. This incredible museum is home to one of the largest collections of pre-Columbian art in the world. The Historic Center of Lima is a must-see for any history lover. This vibrant area is home to some of the oldest architecture in Lima, including the iconic San Francisco Monastery. If you're looking for a little bit of jungle in the city, head to the Parque de la Reserva. This lush park is home to beautiful gardens, a zoo, and even a butterfly farm! No trip to Lima would be complete without a visit to Machu Picchu. This ancient Inca citadel is one of the most iconic sites in all of South America. Lima Luxury Hotels Ankara, Turkey Ankara is the cultural and political center of Turkey. The city is home to many museums, including the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, and is a popular destination for tourists. The Citadel, the Ataturk Mausoleum, and the War of Independence Museum are all popular tourist destinations in Ankara. The city is also home to a vibrant nightlife and is a popular destination for students. Ankara Luxury Hotels Birmingham, United Kingdom There are plenty of great places to visit in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Some of the most popular places to go include the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and the Black Country Living Museum. These places are all great for tourists, as they offer a variety of attractions, including beautiful gardens, interesting art, and a recreation of an old-fashioned town. Additionally, there are plenty of other great places to visit in Birmingham, such as the Jewellery Quarter and the German Christmas Market. Birmingham Luxury Hotels York, United Kingdom With a rich history that spans back over 1,000 years, York is a must-visit destination in the United Kingdom. Explore the city's medieval architecture and narrow cobblestone streets, or enjoy a leisurely walk along the River Ouse. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of cultural experiences, such as the York Minster cathedral, the Jorvik Viking Centre, and the National Railway Museum. There are also plenty of shops and restaurants to enjoy in York. York Luxury Hotels Inverness, United Kingdom Inverness, Scotland is a must-see destination on any traveler's list. Filled with rolling green hills, historical sites, and plenty of outdoor activities, there's something for everyone in this charming town. Start by exploring the city center, which is home to a variety of shops and restaurants. Make sure to check out the Inverness Castle, which offers commanding views of the area, and the Inverness Cathedral, a beautiful example of medieval architecture. Outside of the city center, there are plenty of other attractions to explore. The Loch Ness Monster is said to make its home in the loch here, and visitors can take boat tours to hunt for the mythical creature. If you're looking for a more active adventure, take a hike in the hills or go fishing on the loch. No matter what you choose to do, Inverness is a beautiful and welcoming town that is sure to charm you. Inverness Luxury Hotels Marseille, France The Vieux Port (Old Harbor) is the oldest port in France. It is a beautiful place to visit with its sailboats, restaurants, and cafes. The Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica is also worth a visit. It offers stunning views of the city. If you're looking for a more lively atmosphere, head to the La Canebiere. It's a wide avenue with plenty of shops and restaurants. Marseille Luxury Hotels Marseille Luxury Villas Honolulu, HI, United States Honolulu is a city located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, United States. It is the most populous city in the state of Hawaii and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu. Honolulu is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is one of the most famous beaches in the world and is located in Honolulu. Other places to visit in Honolulu include Diamond Head, the USS Arizona Memorial, and Hanauma Bay. Honolulu Luxury Hotels Honolulu Luxury Resorts Honolulu Luxury Villas Bar Harbor, ME, United States Famous for lobster and stunning ocean views, Bar Harbor is a popular destination in Maine. There are plenty of things to do in the town and its surroundings, including hiking, biking, whale watching, and exploring Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor Luxury Hotels Colorado Springs, CO, United States There are many places to visit in Colorado Springs. Garden of the Gods is a popular park with beautiful rock formations. Pike's Peak is a 14,115 foot mountain that offers great views and outdoor activities. The Broadmoor is a world-renowned resort with lovely gardens and a championship golf course. Royal Gorge Bridge is the world's highest suspension bridge and a popular tourist spot. Colorado Springs Luxury Hotels Fort Myers Beach, FL, United States Just an hours drive from the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach is a popular tourist spot, especially in the winter when the snowbirds migrate down. The seven-mile-long beach is known for its white sand and clear water and is a popular spot for swimming, sunbathing, fishing, and kayaking. There are also a number of restaurants and bars in the area, as well as a few stores. Fort Myers Beach Luxury Hotels Biloxi, MS, United States There are plenty of places to explore in Biloxi, Mississippi from the citys iconic Beaches to the picturesque Bay Saint Louis. Venture into the citys downtown area to check out the many shops and restaurants, or take a walk along the shoreline. No matter what you choose to do, youre sure to have a great time in Biloxi. Biloxi Luxury Hotels Palermo, Italy If you're looking for a city with a rich and diverse history, Palermo is the place for you. This coastal city in Italy is teeming with medieval architecture, churches, and cathedrals. Be sure to check out the Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Europe, and the Palazzo dei Normanni, the seat of the Sicilian government. Don't miss out on the city's vibrant nightlife and vast array of restaurants that serve up some of the best food in the country. Palermo Luxury Hotels Palermo Luxury Villas Manila, Philippines The capital of the Philippines, Manila is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant culture. There are plenty of places to visit in Manila, including the walled city of Intramuros, the Rizal Park, and the Manila Bay. The city is also home to a large number of churches, including the Manila Cathedral and the San Agustin Church. Manila is a great city to explore on foot, and there are plenty of restaurants and shops to enjoy. Manila Luxury Hotels Zermatt, Switzerland Zermatt is an alpine village in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is famous for its ski resort, mountaineering and hiking trails. The views of the Matterhorn from Zermatt are iconic. The village is car-free, making it a cyclists' and pedestrians' paradise. There are many places to visit in Zermatt, including the village's beautiful churches, impressive museums, and great restaurants. Zermatt Luxury Hotels Basel, Switzerland Basel is a city located in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel has a population of about 176,000 and is the third most populous city in Switzerland. Basel has many interesting places to visit, including the Basel Munster, the Basel Rathaus (town hall), the Basel Zoo, and the Munsterhof, the old town square. Basel also has a number of art museums, including the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Fondation Beyeler, and the Schaulager. Basel is a great city to visit, and I highly recommend it!. Basel Luxury Hotels Copenhagen, Denmark There are a number of places to visit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Some of the most popular tourist destinations include Tivoli Gardens, Nyhavn, and the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. Tivoli Gardens is a beautiful amusement park that has something for everyone. It is perfect for a day of fun with family or friends. Nyhavn is a charming canal district that is popular for its brightly colored houses and lively atmosphere. Visitors can enjoy a relaxing cruise down the canal or take a seat in one of the many cafes and restaurants. The Rosenborg Castle Gardens are home to a majestic castle as well as beautifully landscaped gardens. There is plenty to see and do in Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen Luxury Hotels Steamboat Springs, CO, United States Steamboat Springs is located in northwestern Colorado. The town is named for the steamboats that traveled up the Yampa River in the 1800s. Today, the town is a popular tourist destination, known for its skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and rafting. Steamboat Springs Luxury Hotels Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and is home to many tourist attractions. Some popular places to visit in Abu Dhabi include the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Ferrari World Theme Park, and the Yas Island Waterpark. There are also a number of museums and shopping malls in Abu Dhabi, making it a great destination for those looking for a mix of culture and leisure. Abu Dhabi Luxury Hotels Abu Dhabi Luxury Resorts Abu Dhabi Luxury Villas Bogota, Colombia There's a lot to see and do in Bogota. Some of the top places to visit include the historical La Candelaria district, the cobblestone streets of Plaza de Bolivar, the Monserrate mountain, the Bogota Botanical Garden, and the Gold Museum. La Candelaria is home to many brightly-colored colonial buildings, churches, and plazas. Plaza de Bolivar is the center of Bogota and is surrounded by important landmarks like the Presidential Palace and the National Capitol. The Monserrate mountain is a popular tourist destination due to its stunning views of Bogota. The Bogota Botanical Garden is the largest in Colombia and features a wide variety of plants and trees. The Gold Museum is home to the largest collection of Pre-Columbian gold artifacts in the world. Bogota Luxury Hotels Cebu, Philippines Due to its location and its rich history, there are plenty of places to visit in Cebu. Some of the most popular tourist destinations include the Cebu Taoist Temple, the Fort San Pedro, the Yap-San Diego Ancestral House, and the Magellan's Cross. Cebu Luxury Hotels Cebu Luxury Resorts Lagos, Portugal Lagos is a small town in Portugal with a population of around 22,000. It's located in the Algarve region and is a popular tourist destination. Some of the places to visit in Lagos are the beaches, the old town, and the Marina. The beaches are beautiful and there are a lot of them to choose from. The old town is a maze of narrow streets and alleyways with lots of shops and restaurants. The Marina is a great place to walk around and watch the boats. Lagos Luxury Hotels Medellin, Colombia Some places to visit in Medellin, Colombia are: the Botanical Garden, the Ethnographic Museum, the Jardin Botanico, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Park of Lights, and the San Pedro Claver Church. Medellin Luxury Hotels Genoa, Italy While there are many places to visit in Genoa, one of the must-sees is the city's cathedral. Dedicated to San Lorenzo, the church features an intricate Gothic facade and a Renaissance interior. If you're looking for a place to take in some stunning views, head to the Genoa Aquarium, which is located on the promenade stretching along the city's harbor. Genoa Luxury Hotels Hoi An, Vietnam Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vietnam. Its a bridge town thats best explored on foot. The narrow streets are a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese architecture. There are tailors, artisans, and lantern shops galore. The food is also some of the best in Vietnam. Be sure to try the local specialties, like Cao Lau and White Rose dumplings. Hoi An Luxury Hotels Hoi An Luxury Resorts Baku, Azerbaijan Baku, Azerbaijan is a city with a lot of culture and history. There are a lot of places to visit, like the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower. There are also a lot of great restaurants, like the Flame Club, which has a great atmosphere and delicious food. Baku Luxury Hotels San Luis Obispo, CA, United States San Luis Obispo is a city located in the central coast of California. It's known for its natural beauty, relaxed vibe, and abundance of things to do. Some of the top places to visit in San Luis Obispo include the Madonna Inn, Hearst Castle, and the Paso Robles wine country. The city is also home to a variety of beaches, parks, and other attractions. In addition, San Luis Obispo is a great place to live, with plenty of restaurants, shops, and other amenities. San Luis Obispo Luxury Hotels Colombo, Sri Lanka Colombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The city is located on the west coast of the island and is the administrative, commercial, and industrial center of Sri Lanka. Colombo is also the center of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, with numerous Buddhist temples. There are a number of places to visit in Colombo, including the Galle Face Green, the Dutch fort, the Pettah Bazaar, and the Sri Lankan National Museum. Colombo Luxury Hotels Yogyakarta, Indonesia The city of Yogyakarta in Indonesia is home to some of the most stunning temples and historical landmarks in the country. The city is also a great place to enjoy traditional Javanese culture and cuisine. Some of the must-see places in Yogyakarta include the Borobudur Temple, the Prambanan Temple, and the Sultan's Palace. Yogyakarta Luxury Hotels Cefalu, Italy Looking for a beautiful and historic place to visit in Italy? Look no further than Cefalu. This town is teeming with history and stunning architecture, and its location on the coast makes it the perfect place to relax and take in the stunning scenery. Don't miss the Duomo di Cefalu, a 12th century Norman church that is definitely worth a visit, or the Palazzo dei Normanni, a former royal palace. Cefalu Luxury Hotels San Jose, CA, United States San Jose, California, is home to a variety of tourist destinations. Some popular places to visit include the Winchester Mystery House, the Tech Museum of Innovation, and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. There are also a number of lovely parks, such as Kelley Park and Plaza de Cesar Chavez, that are well worth a visit. San Jose is also home to a number of great restaurants, so be sure to check out the local cuisine. Whatever your interests, San Jose has something to offer visitors. San Jose Luxury Hotels Hong Kong, China Hong Kong is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in China. There are many places to visit in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Victoria Peak, and the Temple Street Night Market. Hong Kong is also a great place to shop, with many high-end malls and markets. Hong Kong Luxury Hotels Hong Kong Luxury Resorts Orlando, FL, United States Orlando is a city in the central region of Florida, in the United States. The city is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the metropolitan area also known as Greater Orlando. Orlando is well known for its theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld Orlando. Other tourist destinations in Orlando include the Holy Land Experience, the Orlando Science Center, and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the United States. Orlando Luxury Hotels Orlando Luxury Resorts Orlando Luxury Villas Philadelphia, PA, United States If youre looking for a place thats rich in history and culture, Philadelphia is the place for you. The city is home to numerous iconic landmarks, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Theres also a great variety of museums and other attractions to explore, such as the Philadelphia Zoo and the Please Touch Museum. And, of course, Philly is the birthplace of Americas favorite sandwich, the cheesesteak. So why not visit Americas most historic city and see for yourself what all the fuss is about?. Philadelphia Luxury Hotels Nice, France France is known for its many beautiful places to visit, and Nice is no exception. With its stunning coastline and mild climate, Nice is a popular tourist destination. Some of the most popular places to visit in Nice include the Promenade des Anglais, the Castle Hill, and the Old Town. There is also a wide variety of shops and restaurants to enjoy in Nice. If you're looking for a beautiful and relaxing place to visit in France, Nice is definitely worth considering. Nice Luxury Hotels Nice Luxury Villas Singapore, Singapore Singapore is a popular tourist destination, brimming with cultural and natural attractions. From award-winning restaurants to serene gardens and pristine beaches, there is much to explore in this diverse city-state. Here are some of the top places to visit in Singapore: 1. Marina Bay: This iconic waterfront district is home to stunning architecture, world-class landmarks, and a vibrant nightlife. 2. Gardens by the Bay: These stunning gardens feature a mix of plants from around the world, as well as towering sculptures and a biodome. 3. Chinatown: This lively district is home to traditional Chinese shops and restaurants, as well as vibrant street markets. 4. Little India: This neighborhood is known for its vibrant culture and colorful temples. 5. Sentosa Island: This resort island is home to sandy beaches, lush rainforests, and a variety of entertainment options. Singapore Luxury Hotels Singapore Luxury Resorts Nottingham, United Kingdom Nottingham is a city in the East Midlands of England. It is one of the United Kingdom's major cities, with a population of over 321,000. The city is home to two universities, Queen's Medical Centre, and seven football grounds. Nottingham is known for its lace-making and bicycle manufacturing. The city has a rich history, dating back to the Bronze Age. There are plenty of places to visit in Nottingham, including the Nottingham Castle, the Sherwood Forest, and the National Ice Centre. The city also has a lively nightlife, with a variety of pubs and bars. Nottingham Luxury Hotels Cannes, France Cannes is a city located in the south of France. Some of the places to visit in Cannes are the Palais des Festivals et des Congres, the Boulevard de la Croisette, and Le Suquet. Cannes Luxury Hotels Cannes Luxury Villas Park City, UT, United States Park City, Utah, offers visitors a wealth of places to visit and things to do. Main Street, with its charming shops and restaurants, is a must-see. The Park City Museum tells the town's fascinating history, and the Park City Utah Temple is a beautiful sight. For outdoor enthusiasts, there's plenty of skiing and snowboarding in the winter and hiking and mountain biking in the summer. And don't forget to visit the Olympic Park, where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held. Park City Luxury Hotels Park City Luxury Resorts Port Angeles, WA, United States If you're looking for a quaint, small town to visit in the US, Port Angeles is worth a stop. Located in the state of Washington, it's right on the Pacific coast with stunning views of the Olympic Mountains. There's plenty of things to do in the area, from hiking and fishing to whale watching and enjoying the local restaurants and breweries. Port Angeles Luxury Hotels Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States If you're looking for a fun-filled Florida getaway, look no further than Fort Lauderdale! With its miles of pristine beaches, world-famous shopping and vibrant nightlife, there's something for everyone in this seaside city. Here are some of the top places to visit in Fort Lauderdale: Las Olas Boulevard: This popular shopping and dining district is home to some of Fort Lauderdale's most upscale boutiques and restaurants. The Beach: With its wide, sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters, Fort Lauderdale's beach is a major draw for visitors. The Everglades: Just a short drive from Fort Lauderdale, the Everglades are home to an abundance of wildlife, including alligators, bald eagles and manatees. The Broward Center for the Performing Arts: This world-class performing arts center is home to a variety of theater, dance and music performances. So what are you waiting for? Book your trip to Fort Lauderdale today!. Fort Lauderdale Luxury Hotels Fort Lauderdale Luxury Resorts Myrtle Beach, SC, United States Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a popular tourist destination. There are plenty of places to visit in the area, including amusement parks, beaches, and golf courses. Myrtle Beach also has a lively nightlife, with plenty of bars and restaurants. Myrtle Beach Luxury Hotels Myrtle Beach Luxury Resorts Salzburg, Austria Salzburg is one of the most visited places in Austria. It is a city rich in history and culture. There are many places to visit, such as the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the Mirabell Palace, and the Salzburg Cathedral. There are also many hiking trails and parks to enjoy. Salzburg Luxury Hotels Pattaya, Thailand Pattaya is an amazing city with plenty of places to visit and things to do. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand, Pattaya offers something for everyone. There are lovely beaches, interesting temples, great shopping, and exciting nightlife. With its moderate climate and affordable prices, it's no wonder Pattaya is a favorite destination for tourists from all over the world. Pattaya Luxury Hotels Pattaya Luxury Resorts Pattaya Luxury Villas Dallas, TX, United States Dallas is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the ninth most populous city in the United States and the third most populous city in the state of Texas. Dallas is also the main city of the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. The city's prominence arose from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, and its position as a major transportation hub for the South. Dallas is home to the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. The city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare and medical research, and transportation. The city is home to the world's largest airline hub and the third largest cargo airport in the United States. Dallas Luxury Hotels Kolkata, India Kolkata, also known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. The city is located on the east bank of the Hooghly River. It is the second most populous city in India, after Mumbai, and the third most populous metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi. The city is notable for its colonial architecture, art and culture, and for its overwhelming poverty. Kolkata is home to the Indian Museum, the Calcutta Stock Exchange, the National Library of India, and the Indian Statistical Institute. Kolkata Luxury Hotels San Antonio, TX, United States San Antonio is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Texas. There are plenty of places to visit in this city, from the well-known River Walk to the exquisite Spanish missions. If you're looking for a fun place to spend the day, you can't go wrong with San Antonio. San Antonio Luxury Hotels Seattle, WA, United States There are many wonderful places to visit in Seattle, Washington. Some of the most popular attractions include Pike Place Market, the Seattle Space Needle, and the Museum of Pop Culture. There are also many parks and gardens, such as Volunteer Park and Seattle Chinese Garden, as well as plenty of restaurants and shops. Located on the other side of the world, Western Australia is a great place to visit for those looking for something different. Some of the most popular attractions include Rottnest Island, the Margaret River region, and Monkey Mia. There are also plenty of beautiful parks and gardens, such as Kings Park and Botanic Garden, as well as restaurants and shops. Seattle Luxury Hotels Liverpool, United Kingdom Liverpool is a city located in North West England and is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom. The city is known for its football teams Liverpool and Everton, The Beatles, and its maritime history. Liverpool is a popular tourist destination and is home to various tourist attractions including Mersey Ferry, Liverpool Cathedral, and Albert Dock. Liverpool Luxury Hotels Malmo, Sweden Malmo is Sweden's third largest city with a population of over 310,000. It is located in the province of Scania on the country's southern tip. Malmo is a vibrant city with a strong arts and cultural scene. There are plenty of places to visit in Malmo, including the Malmo Castle, the Botanical Gardens, and the Turning Torso skyscraper. Malmo is also home to a large shopping district and a lively nightlife. Malmo Luxury Hotels Gothenburg, Sweden Goteborg, Sweden's second largest city, is a major port on the country's west coast. It's a popular tourist destination, known for its lively nightlife, beautiful architecture and delicious seafood. Some of the city's highlights include the Liseberg amusement park, the Botanical Garden, and the charming old town district. Goteborg is also home to a large number of museums, including the Volvo Museum, the Maritime Museum and the Universeum science center. Gothenburg Luxury Hotels Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana is the capital city of Slovenia and is a city full of culture and history. There are many places to visit in Ljubljana, such as the castle, the old town, and the cathedral. The city is also home to many museums, art galleries, and parks. Ljubljana is a great city to explore on foot, and there are many restaurants and cafes to enjoy. Ljubljana Luxury Hotels Sydney, NSW, Australia Australia is a vast country with plenty of stunning places to visit, but Sydney is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist destinations on the continent. From the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the beautiful beaches and lush national parks, there's something for everyone in this lively city. There's also a thriving food and nightlife scene, so you'll never run out of things to do in Sydney. Sydney Luxury Hotels Sydney Luxury Villas Melbourne, VIC, Australia There's a lot to love about Melbourne its lively arts and culture scene, its parks and gardens, its diverse range of restaurants and cafes, and its stunning architecture. Here are some of the best places to visit in Melbourne: - Federation Square: This iconic square is a great place to people-watch and take in the city's impressive architecture. It's also home to a number of museums and galleries, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the National Gallery of Victoria. - Queen Victoria Market: This vibrant market is a must-visit for foodies and shoppers alike. It's the largest open-air market in the Southern Hemisphere, and offers a vast array of fresh produce, meat, seafood, and souvenirs. - Melbourne Cricket Ground: If you're a sports fan, be sure to check out the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the largest cricket stadium in the world. It's also home to the Australian Football League, and has hosted a number of major sporting events, including the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby Union World Cup. - Royal Botanic Gardens: These beautiful gardens are a great place to relax and take in some of Melbourne's natural beauty. They're home to a number of different gardens, including the Australian Garden, the Sculpture Garden, and the Japanese Garden. Melbourne Luxury Hotels Melbourne Luxury Villas Vancouver, BC, Canada The top places to visit in Vancouver are Stanley Park, Granville Island, Gastown, and Chinatown. These are all must-see attractions that offer an array of activities, scenery, and history. Stanley Park is a world-famous urban park that features greenery, beaches, gardens, and a stunning view of the North Shore Mountains. Granville Island is a vibrant neighbourhood with unique shops, restaurants, and art galleries. Gastown is the city's oldest neighbourhood and is home to charming cobblestone streets and funky boutiques. Chinatown is one of the largest and most vibrant Chinatowns in North America and offers delicious food, interesting history, and vibrant culture. Vancouver Luxury Hotels Toronto, ON, Canada From the CN Tower and Hockey Hall of Fame to the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Distillery District, there are plenty of amazing places to visit in Toronto, Canada. With something for everyone, Toronto is a great city to explore. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your trip today!. Toronto Luxury Hotels Montreal, QC, Canada Montreal is a vibrant city with something for everyone. There are plenty of places to visit, including the Notre Dame Basilica, the Olympic Stadium, and Mount Royal. The city is also home to a lively arts and culture scene, with theatres, art galleries, and music venues. Montreal is a great place to visit year-round, with festivals and events happening throughout the year. Montreal Luxury Hotels Seville, Spain Seville is one of the most visited places in Spain for a plethora of reasons: its stunning architecture, tapas bars, flamenco and great weather. The Giralda Tower is a must-see when in Seville as is the Plaza de Espana. Andalusian culture is heavily present in the city and is best experienced by wandering the narrow streets and alleyways, popping into a lively tapas bar for a drink and some snacks or enjoying a flamenco show. Seville Luxury Hotels Seville Luxury Villas Ocean City, MD, United States Ocean City is a seaside resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, on the Atlantic coast. It is well known for its long promenade, its fishing, and its crab cuisine. There are plenty of places to visit in Ocean City, including the boardwalk, amusement rides, shopping, and restaurants. You can also visit the Assateague Island National Seashore, which is home to wild horses, or head to the nearby town of Berlin for more shopping and dining options. Ocean City Luxury Hotels Cambridge, MA, United States If you're looking for a quintessential New England town to visit, Cambridge, Massachusetts is the place for you. With its elaborate architecture and Colonial history, Cambridge is a lively town with plenty of things to see and do - perfect for a weekend getaway. Some of the places you won't want to miss include the Harvard University campus, the charming and lively shops and restaurants in Harvard Square, and the leafy paths of the Cambridge Common. Cambridge Luxury Hotels Laguna Beach, CA, United States Laguna Beach, California is a place known for its stunningly beautiful coastline, excellent restaurants, and art galleries. But there's more to Laguna Beach than meets the eye. Here are some of the best places to visit in Laguna Beach: Crystal Cove State Park: This state park is known for its coves, tidepools, and bluffs. It's a great place to go hiking, swimming, and snorkeling. Heisler Park: This park is a great place for a walk or a picnic. It's also home to some of the best views of the Pacific Coast. Downtown Laguna Beach: This charming downtown area is home to art galleries, boutique shops, and excellent restaurants. Aliso Beach: This beach is known for its excellent surfing and swimming conditions. It's also a great place to take a walk or enjoy a picnic. Laguna Beach Luxury Hotels Hot Springs, AR, United States In downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas, you'll find historic buildings, antique shops, and art galleries. For nature lovers, there are also plenty of places to visit, including the Garland County Arboretum, Ouachita National Forest, and Hot Springs National Park. Spa enthusiasts can enjoy a relaxing day in one of the area's hot springs. And no trip to Hot Springs is complete without a visit to the world-famous Bathhouse Row. Hot Springs Luxury Hotels Sedona, AZ, United States There are many places to visit in Sedona, Arizona. Among the most popular are the Chapel of the Holy Cross, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, and Boynton Canyon. The town's unique red-rock formations and ancient ruins offer plenty of photo opportunities. Visitors can also enjoy hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Sedona is a great place to relax and take in the natural beauty of the Southwest. Sedona Luxury Hotels Sedona Luxury Resorts Boulder, CO, United States Boulder, Colorado is a breathtaking city nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The city is home to stunning views, ample outdoor recreation, and a lively arts scene. Outdoor enthusiasts will love exploring the city's many trails, parks, and open spaces. History buffs will enjoy checking out the city's museums and historic sites. Culture seekers will appreciate the city's many theaters, art galleries, and restaurants. No matter what your interests, you'll find something to love in Boulder. Boulder Luxury Hotels Key West, FL, United States Key West is a small island off the coast of Florida that is filled with history, charm, and fun places to visit. Its lush tropical setting and the laid-back vibe of the island make it a popular destination for those looking for a relaxing getaway. There are plenty of places to explore in Key West, from the charming historic district to the crystal-clear waters of the Florida Keys. Here are some of the top places to visit in Key West: -The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum: This iconic museum is dedicated to the life and work of Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Key West for over 20 years. -Duval Street: This lively street is the heart of Key West's nightlife and is home to many bars and restaurants. -The Southernmost Point: This landmark is located at the end of Duval Street and is the southernmost point in the continental United States. -The Key West Lighthouse: This picturesque lighthouse is a popular spot for tourists and offers stunning views of the island. -The African American Heritage House: This museum is dedicated to the history and culture of African Americans in Key West. -The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory: This attraction is home to over 2,000 butterflies and a variety of other tropical plants and animals. Key West Luxury Hotels Key West Luxury Resorts Key West Luxury Cottages Key West Luxury Villas Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm, Sweden is a city with many places to visit. One place is the Vasa Museum, which is home to a ship that sunk in 1628 and was raised from the ocean floor 333 years later. The ship is preserved and on display in the museum. Another place to visit is the Royal Palace, the official residence of the Swedish monarch. The palace is open for tours, and visitors can see the royal apartments, the throne room, and the Hall of State. Stockholm Luxury Hotels Destin, FL, United States Looking for a place to visit in Florida? Look no further than Destin! This city is home to beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants, and plenty of places to shop. No matter what you're looking for, you can find it in Destin. Be sure to check out the Destin Harbor and the fishing pier for amazing views and plenty of things to do. If you're looking for a place to relax, head to the beach and enjoy the sun and sand. There's something for everyone in Destin, so be sure to visit this amazing city!. Destin Luxury Hotels Destin Luxury Resorts Ashland, OR, United States There are many places to visit in Ashland, Oregon. Some of the most popular places are the Shakespeare Festival, Lithia Park, and Mt. Ashland. The Shakespeare Festival is a great place to see some of the best plays in the world. Lithia Park is a beautiful park with a river running through it. Mt. Ashland is a great place to go skiing in the winter. Ashland Luxury Hotels Seaside, OR, United States One of the most beautiful places on the Oregon Coast is Seaside. With its wide, sandy beach and majestic promenade, Seaside is a popular tourist destination. There are plenty of places to eat and shop, and the Seaside Aquarium is a must-see. Visitors can also enjoy fishing, whale watching, or just taking a leisurely stroll along the beach. Seaside Luxury Hotels Newport, RI, United States Newport is a picturesque town located in southern Rhode Island that is home to some of the most visited tourist destinations in the United States. The city is known for its miles of beaches and historic mansions that line the coast. Some popular places to visit in Newport include the Cliff Walk, the Breakers Mansion, the Museum of Yachting, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Newport Luxury Hotels Siena, Italy Siena, Italy is a popular tourist destination, thanks to its well-preserved medieval city center. The city is famous for its art, food, and wine. Siena is located in the heart of Tuscany, making it the perfect base for exploring this beautiful region of Italy. Don't miss the Duomo (cathedral), the Piazza del Campo, and the Torre del Mangia. Siena Luxury Hotels Reno, NV, United States Home to the University of Nevada, Reno and a wide variety of cultural and natural attractions, Reno is a great place to visit. Some of the top places to see in Reno include the Nevada Museum of Art, the Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center, and the Reno Events Center. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy hiking and skiing at Lake Tahoe and biking and kayaking on the Truckee River. In addition, Reno is home to a diverse array of restaurants and nightlife venues. Reno Luxury Hotels Atlantic City, NJ, United States Atlantic City is a popular East Coast tourist destination, known for its boardwalks, beaches and casinos. There are plenty of places to visit in Atlantic City, from the Boardwalk Hall and the Absecon Lighthouse to the Atlantic City Aquarium and Lucy the Elephant. For a more thrilling experience, head to one of the city's casinos, where you can try your hand at blackjack, slots, roulette and more. Atlantic City also offers a wide variety of restaurants, from seafood spots to pizza places, so you're sure to find something to your taste. And if you're looking for some nightlife action, the city has you covered there too. Atlantic City is definitely a place worth visiting!. Atlantic City Luxury Hotels Atlantic City Luxury Resorts Lake George, NY, United States Looking for a place to visit in upstate New York? Look no further than the stunning Lake George. This picturesque locale is located in the heart of the Adirondacks and is known for its pristine beauty and terrific recreational opportunities. Visitors can enjoy hiking, biking, boating, fishing, and skiing, among other activities. Don't miss the chance to take in the spectacular views from the summit of Prospect Mountain or from the water's edge. Lake George Luxury Hotels Buffalo, NY, United States If you're looking for a city that has it all, Buffalo is the place to be. From its vibrant downtown district to its abundance of parks and nature preserves, there's something for everyone in Buffalo. Here are some of the top places to visit in Buffalo: 1. The Buffalo Zoo - One of the top zoos in the country, the Buffalo Zoo is a must-visit for animal lovers of all ages. 2. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery - Buffalo's answer to the Louvre, the Albright-Knox is home to some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. 3. The Buffalo-Niagara Heritage Village - This living history museum offers a glimpse into what life was like in Buffalo in the 1800s. 4. The Buffalo River - Take a walk or bike ride along the Buffalo River, one of the city's most picturesque areas. 5. Delaware Park - This large park is home to a variety of attractions, including a zoo, a golf course, and a nature preserve. Buffalo Luxury Hotels Rochester, MN, United States Rochester, Minnesota is a city with plenty of places to visit. There's the Mayo Clinic, the Apache Mall, and several other shopping areas, as well as a variety of restaurants. There are also a few parks and golf courses. For those who love the outdoors, Rochester is also close to several state parks and the Mississippi River. Rochester Luxury Hotels Duluth, MN, United States If you're looking for an amazing place to visit, Duluth, Minnesota should definitely be at the top of your list. This city is home to some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States, and there are plenty of things to do here that will keep you entertained for days on end. Some of the most popular places to visit in Duluth include the Aerial Lift Bridge, the Glensheen Mansion, and Chester Creek Park. Additionally, there are a number of excellent restaurants and shopping areas in the city, so be sure to explore everything that Duluth has to offer. Duluth Luxury Hotels Maputo, Mozambique Maputo is the capital of Mozambique and a city full of culture and history. There are many places to visit in Maputo, such as the Jose Eduardo dos Santos Museum, the Maputo Cathedral, and the Rua da Independencia. Maputo is also home to the Maputo Bay, which offers beautiful beaches and great seafood. Maputo Luxury Hotels Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, located on the northeast coast of Spain, is a renowned tourist destination and one of the most popular cities in the world. There are plenty of places to visit in Barcelona, such as the Gothic Quarter, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Parc Guell, La Sagrada Familia, and more. The city is also home to a lively nightlife and some of the best restaurants in the country. Barcelona Luxury Hotels Barcelona Luxury Villas Split, Croatia Split is a city on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It is the second-largest city in Croatia and the largest city in Dalmatia. It has a population of over 200,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area, which includes the City of Split and the surrounding towns, has a population of over 330,000. Split is a popular tourist destination and is the home of the Diocletian's Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other popular tourist destinations include the Riva, the Peristyle, the Cathedral of Saint Domnius, and Sustipan. Split Luxury Hotels Split Luxury Villas Dubrovnik, Croatia Dubrovnik is a city on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, a seaport and the administrative center of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Dubrovnik is nicknamed "The Pearl of the Adriatic". Dubrovnik Luxury Hotels Dubrovnik Luxury Villas Byron Bay, NSW, Australia Byron Bay is a magical place. It's no wonder that it's one of the most popular destinations in Australia. The town is set in a beautiful location, surrounded by rolling green hills and the bright blue ocean. There's plenty to do in Byron Bay, whether you're looking for a relaxing beach holiday or an adventure-filled trip. Some of the top places to visit in Byron Bay include the iconic lighthouse, the stunning beaches, and the lush rainforest. There's also a great nightlife and plenty of restaurants and cafes to enjoy. If you're looking for an amazing Australian getaway, be sure to add Byron Bay to your list!. Byron Bay Luxury Hotels Wellington, New Zealand If you're looking for a little slice of heaven on earth, look no further than Wellington, New Zealand. With its gorgeous landscape and plethora of activities, there's something for everyone here. Whether you're a nature lover or a city slicker, Wellington has something special to offer. Top Wellington attractions include the Zealandia eco-sanctuary, the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens, and the sprawling Te Papa museum. For those who love getting out into the great outdoors, there are plenty of hiking and biking trails, as well as lovely seaside towns and villages to explore. And of course, no trip to Wellington would be complete without trying some of the delicious local cuisine be sure to sample a traditional Maori hangi feast! So what are you waiting for? Book your flight to Wellington today and start planning your perfect holiday!. Wellington Luxury Hotels Saint Louis, MO, United States If you're looking for a fun place to visit with a rich history and plenty of things to see and do, look no further than Saint Louis, Missouri. This vibrant city is home to a variety of interesting attractions, including the Gateway Arch, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. There's also no shortage of restaurants and shopping options in Saint Louis. So, whether you're looking for a place to explore new cultures and cuisines or you're just looking for a place to have some fun, Saint Louis is a great option. Saint Louis Luxury Hotels Bloomington, IN, United States The city of Bloomington, Indiana is home to a variety of attractions and places to visit. The Indiana University campus is a popular destination, as is the city's historic downtown district. Monroe County Courthouse YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. The Andean Parliament, control body of the Andean Community, formed by Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, adopted unanimously a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, in a session held in Montevideo, Uruguay, last Saturday 17 September, Prensa Armenia reported. The project was presented by Pedro De la Cruz, a member of the body representing Ecuador. On 24 April 2016, was the commemoration of 101 anniversary of the Genocide of the Armenian people, perpetrated between 1915-1923, when the authorities of the Ottoman Empire carried out a program of arrest and deportation and later killing of civilians in the territories of Western Armenia and Anatolia; with the tragic result of more than 1,5 million people killed, highlights the text, and resolves: ARTICLE ONE: Condemn international crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression committed against different peoples and communities. ARTICLE TWO: Recognize the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 1923 and express solidarity with the Armenian people and their descendants, who make up the Armenian communities in the world. Therefore condemn any denial policy regarding the Armenian Genocide and crimes against humanity suffered by the Armenian nation. ARTICLE THREE: Urge the international community to move forward in implementing the principle adopted in the framework of the United Nations entitled Responsibility to Protect, with which seeks to protect citizens against genocide, crimes against humanity and all kinds of serious violation of human rights and adopt measures to prevent the different communities, peoples and nations, the suffering as a result of the atrocities of violence. Also, ask the International Community to recognize the Genocide of the Armenian people as a historical fact, and support the search for truth and justice as a form of rejection of such acts that shame humanity. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. While on a working visit to New York, Armenian acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian met Foreign Minister of Canada Stephane Dion on September 19, press service of the Armenian MFA told Armenpress. The acting FM said he is happy to meet Stephane Dion and to continue the dialogue over the comprehensive development of bilateral relations. The Canadian FM congratulated on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Armenias Independence and said he will continue efforts aimed at comprehensive deepening of cooperation with Armenia. The sides discussed a number of issues related to the Armenian-Canadian agenda, the inter-parliamentary ties, the expansion of legal framework, facilitation of visa regime. They both underscored the active role of the Armenian community of Canada on deepening the relations between the two states. Issues related to the mutual cooperation on the sidelines of the UN, OSCE and the International Organization of La Francophonie were discussed at the meeting. Edward Nalbandian presented to his Canadian partner the consequences of the large-scale military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh in April, 2016 and the efforts aimed at implementing the agreements reached in the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits in order to eliminate that consequences. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Catholicos Vazgen I (name Levon Garabed Baljian) today would turn 108 years old. He is the 130th Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Vazgen was born in Bucharest to a family belonging to the Armenian-Romanian community. His father was a shoemaker and his mother was a schoolteacher. The young Levon Baljian did not initially pursue the Church as a profession, instead graduating from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. After graduation, he became a philosopher and published a series of scholarly articles. As his interests began to shift from philosophy to theology, Baljian studied Armenian Apostolic Theology and Divinity in Athens, Greece. He eventually gained the title of vardapet, an ecclesiastical rank for learned preachers and teachers in the Armenian Apostolic Church roughly equivalent to receiving a doctorate in theology. In the 1940s, he became a bishop, and then the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Romania. His rise through the hierarchy of the Church culminated in 1955 when he was elected Catholicos, becoming one of the youngest Catholicos in the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He would reign until his death in 1994. From then on, he was very busy renewing ancient Armenian churches and reviving institutions of the church. He saved a number of church treasures by establishing the Alex Manoogian Museum of the Mother Church. Vazgen intensified contacts with the Armenian Catholic Church, with the aim of reuniting both wings of Armenian Christianity. He died on August 18, 1994 after suffering from a long-term illness. Biography according to Wikipedia free encyclopedia YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and that his activities should be banned around the world. Reuters reports Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in Turkey's failed coup in July and Washington has said it will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence, much to the Turkish government's frustration. Erdogan said Washington had "no excuse" for keeping Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who Turkish officials say has built up a network of followers over decades inside the armed forces and civil service to take over Turkey. "If the U.S. is our strategic ally and our NATO partner ... then they should not let a terrorist like Gulen run his organization," Erdogan said, in an interview on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Erdogan said an initial three months state of emergency, declared in the wake of the coup, could be extended if necessary. Critics say extending the state of emergency will give Erdogan a freer hand to limit or suspend freedoms, to bypass the parliament as well as taking swift measures against his opponents. "It can be extended for three months or one month or even more ... Gulen's people have infiltrated everywhere ... we will continue to identify and arrest the plotters ... extending the state of emergency will help this process," Erdogan said. Authorities have cracked down on schools, media and businesses run by Gulen since the July coup. Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 100,000 soldiers, police and civil servants since the failed coup on suspicion of links to Gulen's network. At least 40,000 have been detained. Some of Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups have accused Erdogan of using the putsch and the purge that has followed to suppress any opposition. Turkey has accused the EU of double standards in criticizing the crackdown while showing hesitation in condemning the coup that killed about 240 people. Erdogan said the EU had failed to meet its obligations despite Turkey's decades-long efforts to join the trading bloc. "Turkey has kept its promises regarding the EU membership process ... it is a two-way street and the EU should fulfill its promises ... We have not concluded this process ... we want the EU to be honest about this process," he said. Turkey's ties with the United States also are strained over Washington's support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers a terrorist group. The YPG has been among the most effective partners on the ground in the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State militias. Erdogan said no lasting peace could be achieved in Syria without removal of President Bashar al-Assad from power. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. European Heritage Days project will be held in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh on September 24-25 under the heading Heritage and Communities, press service of the Armenian Ministry of Culture informed Armenpress. A number of ceremonies including exhibitions, concerts, meeting-discussions, lectures, movie screenings, literary-musical events, educational, interactive programs will be held within the framework of the project. European Heritage Days project is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenias Independence. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev has been hospitalized in one of Turkey's hospitals on the Aegean coast, local media said Tuesday, reports Sputnik News. Atambayev's press service said earlier in the day the head of state was on a short-term vacation for medical examinations in Turkey and planned to get back to work on October 1. Atambayev's plane landed in Istanbul en route to the UN General Assembly in New York late Monday and the Central Asian leader was hospitalized, according to sources cited by Turkey's Sozcu newspaper. The outlet added that he was scheduled to undergo a detailed medical examination for potential heart problems and would be monitored by doctors. The Haberler news portal, meanwhile, said Atambayev stayed at the Sheraton hotel in the resort town of Cesme west of Izmir. Most read of the week Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenia strictly condemns the terror attack in Kashmir, Armenian MFAs Spokesman Tigran Balayan writes on Facebook, reports Armenpress. We strictly condemn and extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and friendly people of India, Balayan wrote. Earlier Reuters reported India said it had the right to respond when and where it chose to a deadly attack on an army base in Kashmir, after blaming Pakistan for the raid that killed 18 soldiers. The assault, in which four gunmen burst into a brigade headquarters in the town of Uri before dawn on Sunday, was among the deadliest in the disputed Himalayan region and has sharply raised tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Army officials said the critically wounded had been flown to New Delhi and one had died in hospital. Most of dead and wounded suffered severe burns after their tents and temporary shelters caught fire from incendiary ammunition while they were sleeping. Senior Indian politicians, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh who called Pakistan "a terrorist state", were quick to warn of action against Islamabad, putting pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a tough line. The head of military operations of the Indian army, Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, said India had the desired capability to respond, without elaborating. "We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at a time and place of our own choosing," Ranbir Singh told reporters, adding that the army had seized equipment from the Uri base with Pakistani markings. Pakistan accused India of apportioning blame before it had properly investigated. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of the State Council of China, Prime Ministers of Belarus and Georgia sent congratulatory letters to Karen Karapetyan on the occasion of being appointed Prime Minister of Armenia, press service of the Armenian Government informed Armenpress. The Chinese PM Li Keqiangs letter reads: Your Excellency, On behalf of the Government and people of China and personally myself, I sincerely congratulate You on being appointed Prime Minister of Armenia. In recent years there has been a positive development trend of the Armenian-Chinese friendly relations and cooperation. High-level close contacts are being held between the sides, the level of political mutual trust is unsteadily rising, and the practical cooperation in various sectors is expanding. It causes us to feel satisfied. I highly appreciate the development of Armenian-Chinese relations and I am ready to closely cooperate with You for moving forward the Armenian-Chinese friendly cooperation for the benefit of our states and people. I wish You good health and further achievements, prosperity to friendly Armenia, happiness and welfare to its people. *** Belarusian PM Andrey Kobyakovs letter reads: Dear Mr. Karapetyan, On behalf of the Government of Belarus and personally myself, I sincerely congratulate You on Your appointment as Prime Minister of Armenia. I am confident Your knowledge, rich experience and high professionalism will contribute to the development and prosperity of friendly Armenia, the expansion of the mutually beneficial cooperation between our states in all sectors. I sincerely wish You good health, happiness, success. *** Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvilis letter reads: Your Excellency, On behalf of the Government of Georgia and personally myself let me sincerely congratulate You on being appointed Prime Minister of Armenia and wish You success in the state activity. I am confident our cooperation and joint efforts will serve the basis for further deepening the existing close ties and traditional friendly relations between Georgia and Armenia. I want once again to express my deepest respect and wish You productive work in the PMs post. Bradley County Schools will host a green shovel event on Friday at 10 a.m. at Prospect Elementary School. The event will celebrate the upcoming Green Energy Project in Bradley County Schools. Officials said the project reflects Bradley County Schools are committed to being good stewards of the environment and taxpayer money. There will be speakers, a ribbon cutting and a reception on Friday. photo by Tennessee Aquarium photo by Tennessee Aquarium photo by Tennessee Aquarium photo by Tennessee Aquarium photo by Tennessee Aquarium photo by Tennessee Aquarium Previous Next If you happen to see some massive fish in downtown Chattanooga over the next few days, your eyes arent deceiving you. The first huge crates, containing the components to the new National Geographic Monster Fish exhibit, started arriving at the Tennessee Aquarium on Monday. Five tractor trailer loads, one arriving each day this week, have traveled nearly 2,300 miles to bring this exciting new exhibit to Chattanooga from Reno, Ne., the home base Dr. Zeb Hogan, University of Nevada Aquatic Ecologist and National Geographic Fellow. Team members from Bellhops, a local moving company, are helping unload and unpack the crates. Skilled workers from Local 140 IATSE Labor Union, who provide assistance to the visual arts community, are installing the exhibits. In all, more than 40 containers will arrive packed with life-sized replicas of some of the worlds largest freshwater fish, video displays, hands-on interactive installations, and photographic panels of Monster Fish from around the world. Dr. Hogan, host of Monster Fish on Nat Geo WILD, will be in Chattanooga on Friday, Sept. 30, for a special grand opening event. Register online at https://community.tnaqua.org/e vents/member-programs/summer/2 016/monster-fish-event Monster Fish: In Search of the Last River Giants will open in the River Place building on Saturday, Oct. 1. This special exhibition will be free with regular aquarium admission. Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian discussed cooperation issues with Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior of Iran, as he met him in Tehran on the sidelines of a working visit. September 20, 2016, 10:17 Armenian-Iranian cooperation discussed in Tehran STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 20, ARTSAKHPRESS: They discussed the avenues for further development of good neighborly relations between the two countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed. Nalbandian and Fazli also conferred on the ways for further expanding collaboration between the Police of Armenia, and the Ministry of Interior of Iran. In addition, they recorded that the mutual visits between Armenia and Iran have increased considerably ever since the entering into force of the memorandum on lifting visa requirements between the two countries. Ground turkey is considerably less popular than its beefy counterpart, but the mixture of light and dark turkey meat is generally healthier and less expensive than ground beef. As long as you buy your ground turkey lean, you can cook up nutritious and delicious dishes with your meat, while also saving yourself money. Whats more, ground turkey is surprisingly versatile and can star in a number of protein-packed recipes, seven of which were highlighting for you today. Grab your ground turkey and get ready to enjoy a deviation from your typical ground beef dinners. 1. Penne with Turkey and Broccolini First up is a pasta dish from Rachael Ray. Combine carbs, veggies, and meat, and youve officially covered all the food bases. This penne with ground turkey and broccolini is easy on both your waistline and your wallet, and its fast and flavorful, too. The light lunch or dinner requires only a handful of ingredients most of which you likely already have in your pantry and it can be prepared in 20 minutes or less. Ingredients: pound penne cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 bunch broccolini, tough ends trimmed, stalks, and florets chopped into 1-inch pieces Salt and pepper 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced teaspoon crushed red pepper 1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat Directions: In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the penne until al dente, 11 to 13 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the broccolini and season with salt and pepper. Stir in 2 tablespoons water, cover and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Lower the heat to medium, add the remaining olive oil and the onion and cook until soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Push the onion to the side of the pan, increase the heat to medium-high and crumble in the turkey; season. Cook, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the pasta, broccolini, and three-quarters of the reserved pasta water to the turkey; toss well. Add the remaining pasta water if needed to thin the sauce. 2. Turkey Empanadas with Salad Ready for more of a challenge? Try these turkey empanadas from Real Simple. Theyre actually not difficult to make as long as you can seal the edges of turkey-filled pie crust, but the empanadas still come out of the oven looking striking and sophisticated. Your dinner guests will inevitably request your secret recipe when they realize that ground turkey can be fun when its enlisted in empanadas. Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil pound ground turkey 1 onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon cumin cup raisins cup pitted olives kosher salt and black pepper 2 refrigerated rolled pie crusts, halved 4 cups mixed greens small English cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced 4 radishes, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar Directions: Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey, onion, garlic, and cumin and cook, breaking the meat up with a spoon, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the raisins and olives; season with teaspoon salt and teaspoon pepper. Top the 4 piecrust halves with the turkey mixture; fold in half and seal the edges. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the greens, cucumber, and radishes with the vinegar and the remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Serve with the empanadas. 3. Turkey Sloppy Joes Heres a slightly less sophisticated (but still satisfying) dish from Taste of Home. Turkey sloppy joes are just as meaty and messy as their beefy counterparts, but theyre made with ground turkey along with a sauce that combines ketchup, vinegar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Serve your protein-packed meat on buns or a bed of greens and youre sure to please all carnivores. Ingredients: 1 pound lean ground turkey cup chopped onion cup no-salt-added ketchup 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce 1 tablespoon white vinegar 1 tablespoon prepared mustard 1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce teaspoon celery seed teaspoon pepper 6 whole-wheat hamburger buns, split Directions: In a nonstick skillet, cook turkey and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Stir in the ketchup, barbecue sauce, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, celery seed, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve on buns. 4. Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs Up next is a fun spin on traditional meatballs. Introducing turkey meatballs, featured on Epicurious, which come on a bed of carbs, but they also can be enjoyed alone, on a bun, or on a salad. This food formula serves 8 and the meatballs couldnt be easier to make. Simply combine soaked bread, ground turkey, salt, and one egg, and roll your mixture into 16 meatballs before you introduce them to the (whole-wheat) carbs. Enjoy your spaghetti with meatballs while making responsible choices, too. Ingredients: 8 pounds tomatoes, cut into chunks 1 large onion, chopped cup plus 1 tablespoons olive oil, divided 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 small dried hot pepper, chopped 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt, divided 2 cups Italian bread, torn into bite-size pieces cup 1 percent milk 1 pound ground turkey 1 egg, beaten pound whole-wheat spaghetti Grated Parmesan or Romano (optional) Directions: Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large baking dish, combine tomatoes, onion, cup oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and 1 tablespoon salt; cover; roast 45 minutes. Remove dish from oven; mash mixture to break down tomatoes. Cook, uncovered, until sauce is thick and reduced, 45 minutes. In a bowl, soak bread in milk until it absorbs liquid, 10 minutes; add turkey, egg, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt; mix until just combined. Gently roll meat mixture into 16 equal-sized balls. In a large nonstick saucepan, heat remaining 1 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Saute meatballs, turning occasionally, until light brown, 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce to meatballs; reduce heat; simmer until cooked through, 20 minutes. Cook pasta as directed on package. Serve sauce over pasta; top with cheese, if desired. 5. Asian Turkey Lettuce Cups Heres a dish on the healthier side from Cooking Light. Asian turkey lettuce cups are fun, fast, and boast an enjoyable Asian flare thanks to cilantro, mint, sesame oil, and fish sauce. Though the vehicle for the Asian-flavored ground turkey is lettuce cups rather than carbs, the dinner is still wholly refreshing, satisfying, and spicy. Ingredients: 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger 1 pounds ground turkey cup thinly sliced green onions 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoons fish sauce 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped 12 large napa (Chinese) cabbage leaves cup chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts Directions: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and turkey to pan; cook 7 minutes or until turkey is done, stirring frequently. Drain turkey mixture; place in a large bowl. Add green onions and next 8 ingredients; toss well. Spoon cup turkey mixture into each cabbage leaf. Top with peanuts. 6. Turkey Spinach Sliders Many carnivores serve their patties with ground beef, but heres a twist on the typical burger recipe from Bon Appetit. These turkey spinach sliders are not only leaner and meaner than your typical beef burger, theyre packed full of protein and greens, too. Garlic, cumin, spinach, scallions, and turkey make up the burgers, and because Bon Appetits recipe serves 4 with the food formula yielding 12 slider-sized patties, each one of your dinner guests will get three of their very own burgers. Ingredients: bunch flat-leaf spinach, thick stems removed, leaves chopped 4 scallions, thinly sliced 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 pound ground turkey teaspoon ground cumin Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil 12 slider buns or small dinner rolls, split, lightly toasted Mayonnaise, sliced red onion, and pickle slices Directions: Combine spinach, scallions, garlic, turkey, and cumin in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Using a fork, mix gently just to combine. Form turkey mixture into twelve -inch-thick patties. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, cook patties until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Serve turkey-spinach patties on buns with mayonnaise, onion, and pickles. 7. Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas Our last recipe from Skinny Taste puts a Mexican spin on ground turkey. Take your turkey and mix it with beans to yield these enchiladas that come with a kick. This dish proves that Mexican comfort food doesnt have to be unhealthy. The enchiladas are full of fiber and protein, and they can be served alongside a salad or on their own. They promise to fill you up without sacrificing your wallet or your waistline. Ingredients: 1 pound extra lean ground turkey 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes 2 cloves garlic cup chopped onion cup chopped cilantro 1 to 2 teaspoons cumin teaspoon chili powder Salt 8 low-carb whole-wheat flour tortillas 1 cup reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese nonstick cooking spray Enchilada Sauce 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 to 2 tablespoons chipotle chiles in adobe sauce 1 cups tomato sauce teaspoon chipotle chili powder teaspoon ground cumin cup fat free chicken broth Kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste Directions: In a medium saucepan, spray cooking spray and saute garlic. Add chiles, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside until ready to use. In a large skillet, brown the turkey and season with salt. When the turkey is browned, add onion, garlic, black beans, cilantro, green chiles, diced tomatoes, cumin, and chili powder. Mix well and simmer on low, covered for 20 minutes. Remove lid and simmer an additional 5 to 10 minutes to reduce the liquid. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Put cup turkey mixture into each tortilla and roll it. Place on baking dish seam side down. Top with enchilada sauce and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes. Top with low fat sour cream, cilantro, or scallions if you wish. More from Culture Cheat Sheet: The 6th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress (ECC) was held in Seville, Spain, from September 1115, at the Seville Exhibition and Conference center FIBES. Approximately 1800 attendees from around the world discussed the latest research in chemistry and its applications in approx. 700 talks and had the possibility to visit the exhibition of 26 companies and organizations, network with the other participants, and enjoy the culture and history of Seville. Impressions of Seville. Opening Ceremony The event was organized this time by the National Association of Spanish Chemists (ANQUE) together with EuCheMS. The conference opened with addresses from Professor Carlos Negro, Congress Co-Chair and Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, Professor David Cole-Hamilton, EuCheMS President and School of Chemistry University of St. Andrews, UK, Ernesto Castaneda, ANQUE President, Jose Sanches Maldonado, Minister of the Government of Andalucia, Spain, Professor Peter Edwards, Scientific Committee Chair and University of Oxford, UK, Maria Carmen Clarisa Castreno Lucas, First Deputy Mayor of the city of Seville, Sren Bwadt, EUs DG Research & Innovation, and Pedro Miro, CEO of the Spanish multinational oil and gas company Cepsa. Each welcomed the attendees and expressed their belief in the quality of science to be presented over the next few days and emphasized the important role science, and chemistry in particular, plays in solving the challenges of todays society. Left: Professor Carlos Negro, Representative of the Organizing Committee at the opening ceremony; right: Professor Richard R. Schrock during his talk on olefin metathesis. The congress opened with a lecture by Professor Richard R. Schrock, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA, and 2005 Nobel Laureate. He spoke about early metathesis chemistry and how it has led to what he is doing now. The research goes back to the 1950s; in 1964, the first paper was published, but it did not get much attention. The discovery of how important the reaction is for organic chemistry came later. Yves Chauvin was the first to write down the reaction mechanism of such a reaction in which olefins are chopped in half and redistributed to form new olefins. This then led to the development of a variety of highly efficient and selective catalysts in the Schrock laboratory. At the end of his talk, Schrock had good news for those who consider it too hard to make a Schrock catalyst themselves: The catalyst will soon be commercially available in a paraffin capsule, thus removing the need to perform all the reactions in a dry box. Talks Professor Nazario Martin, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain, gave a plenary lecture in honor of the 1996 Nobel Laureate Harry Kroto, discoverer of Buckminsterfullerene, who recently passed away. According to Martin, Harry Krotos legacy to science is comparable to that of Kekules discovery of benzene. Martin outlined many similarities between both scientists and their famous molecules both started a real revolution in chemistry. Another highlight was the plenary lecture by Nobel Prize winner Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, Laboratory of Supramolecular Chemistry, Strasbourg, France, to a packed auditorium at 8:30 am. He described the history of the chemistry developed in his laboratory over the last fifty years. Lehn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 together with Donald J. Cram and Charles J. Pedersen for their work on the development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity. Lehn specifically was honored for his development of cryptands, three-dimensional multidentate ligands. His later research focuses on self-organization processes and constitutional dynamic chemistry. Professor Jean-Marie Lehn during his plenary lecture. Professor Molly Stevens, Imperial College London, UK, gave a very impressive plenary lecture on the application of materials in medicine. She showed how even simple materials can elicit powerful biological responses and how in vivo bioreactors can be used for bone regeneration. There were many more excellent talks presented at the eight different themed sessions. A selection of the topics covered can be found in the special issues of Angewandte Chemie and Chemistry A European Journal that were prepared for the congress. Awards Awards presented during the congress included the EuCheMS Award for Service to Professor Helena Grennberg, Uppsala University, Sweden, and President of the Swedish Chemical Society. Professor Ben Feringa, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, received the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal 2016 from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society). Professor Gerard Ferey, University of Versailles, France, who was a joint recipient of the EuCheMS Lecture in 2014 together with Professor Christina Moberg, Royal Institute of Stockholm, Sweden, presented his EuCheMS Lecture on this occasion. The Spiers Memorial Award 2016 from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) was awarded to Professor Avelino Corma, CSIC-Polytechnical University of Valencia, Italy. Avelino Corma was recognized for the introduction of new concepts for the synthesis of microporous and mesoporous inorganic materials and their application in heterogeneous catalysis, which have resulted in an extensive range of industrial applications. The European Young Chemist Award 2016 showcases and recognizes the excellent research of young scientists. This year, the gold medal went to Dr. Maria Escudero-Escribano, Postdoc from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), while the Ph.D. level gold medal was won by Giulio Ragazzon from Bologna University, Italy. The award was initiated by the Italian Chemical Society (SCI) and the Consiglio Nazionale di Chimici (CNC) and this year it was organized by the CNC and ANQUE and coordinated by Professor Bruno Pignataro, University of Palermo, Italy. The Finalists of the European Young Chemist Award 2016 (from left to right): Alessio Paternoo, Pavel Mykhailiuk, Mercedes Zurro de la Fuente, Ignacio Funes-Ardoiz, Veronica Postilis Ribo, Federico Bella, Alessandro DUrso, Camilla Parmeggiani, Maria Escudero-Escribano (Gold medal winner, under 35 level), Filippo Monti, Silvia Osuna, Hugo Gattuso, Giulio Ragazzon (Gold medal winner, Ph.D. level), Bill Morandi, Daniele Leonori, Filippo Mangolini, Seraphine V. Wegner, Guillermo Minguez Espallargas (not in the picture: Ruben Costa). Chemquackers This year the team of ChemPubSoc Europe editors was supported by the ChemPubSoc Europe/ChemistryViews.org duck (#chemquackers) at the EuCheMs meeting. The little #chemquackers duck really stole the show in the exhibition hall. Throughout the conference people were queuing at the ChemPubSoc Europe/Wiley-VCH stand to try and win one. Chemquackers in the exhibition hall. The ducks adventures in Seville and back home in the lab are being posted on social media. What experiments will be carried out? Which duck will travel the furthest? Follow #chemquackers on twitter to find out! Talk to your Editor A Talk to your Editor event organized at the ChemPubSoc Europe stand gave Neville Compton (Chemistry A European Journal), Anne Deveson (ChemistrySelect), Karen Hindson (European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry and ChemistryOpen), Marisa Spiniello (ChemPlusChem), and Vera Koester (ChemViews Magazine) the opportunity to talk with authors and board members about all issues related to publishing in the ChemPubSocEurope family of journals and their magazine. Top left: Talk to your Editor event in the exhibition hall; top right: Dr. Anne Deveson, ChemistrySelect, and Professor Jesus Jimenez Barbero, CIB Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas, Madrid, and President of the Real Sociedad Espanola de Quimica (RSEQ); bottom (from left to right): Professor Livia Simon Sarkadi, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, and President of the Hungarian Chemical Society, Professor Philippe Garrigues, Universite de Bordeaux, France, and Vice-President of the Societe Chimique de France (SCF), Dr. Neville Compton, Chemistry A European Journal, Professor Henryk Kozlowski, University of Wroclaw, Poland, and Editorial Board Member of ChemPlusChem, Dr. Vera Koester, ChemViews Magazine. ChemPubSoc Europe Dinner The ChemPubSoc Europe Fellows were celebrated at the ChemPubSoc Europe dinner on Tuesday evening. The event brought together several Fellows, Editorial Board Members, and Editors of the ChemPubSoc Europe Journals, including ChemViews.org, the magazine of ChemPubSoc Europe; as well as a good number of young chemists from both the European Young Chemists Network (EYCN) and the newly launched International Young Chemists Network (IYCN). The setting for this was the Casa Manolo Leon, a fantastic tapas bar tucked away in a narrow street by the river with a beautiful courtyard. At the ChemPubSoc Europe Dinner. The guests were welcomed by Dr. Eva Wille (pictured center), Wiley-VCH, Germany, and Professor Luis Oro (pictured right), ChemPubSoc Europe Honorary Fellow and University of Zaragoza, Spain. It was a great opportunity for the Fellows to share their experiences and stories with young chemists from around the world. Dalton Symposium During the congress, a one-day symposium in honor of the 250th anniversary of John Daltons birth was held. The morning session was convened by Professor Mats Tilset, University of Oslo, Norway. The symposium began appropriately with a 45-minute lecture by science historian Rachel Dunn, Durham University, UK, on the life and scientific career of John Dalton. She packed much information and anecdotes into her presentation to give a lively impression of a most remarkable man. As a Quaker, who remained committed to his religion all his life, Dalton was soberly dressed in dark colors. Once the rule was broken in public, when he was awarded an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1832, for which he was given a red robe to wear. When asked afterward how he could reconcile the vibrant color with his faith, his response was that though others may call it scarlet, he saw it as brown-green, the color of nature. He was color-blind! Daltons wide scientific studies stretched from physics and chemistry through colour-blindness to meteorology. He was also committed to the communication of science in an efficient way, with succinct language and visualization, for example, of the elements and their combination in chemistry. This lecture set the tone for the chemistry slam session in which eleven candidates were selected from the Dalton Symposium poster session. The participants had four minutes each to present the link between Dalton and their chemistry. The winner was Karolin Materne, who showed parallels between her incipient career in science and the character and early career of Dalton. The afternoon session was organized by Professor Sylviane Sabo-Etienne, Toulouse, France. Two additional historical lectures gave the background and the reason for the initially slow reception of Mendeleevs periodic table (given by Dr. Brigitte van Tiggelen, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, USA) and the innovation of Berthollets chemical affinities at the turn of the 19th century (presented by Professor Pere Grapi, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain). The symposium was rounded off with four oral presentations of 15 minutes each by young chemists. European Young Chemists Network (EYCN) Program The European Young Chemists Network (EYCN) unites the divisions of the young members of 25 chemical societies in Europe. Under the title Creating a Successful Career, the EYCN hosted a three-day program which was well received not only by the young chemists. Topics included science communication, applying for a job, scientific writing, and how to become an entrepreneur. We are in a bubble: There is a big gap between research at university and the needs of society. Another big gap is between academia and industry. In the opinion of Professor Javier Garcia-Martinez, University of Alicante, Spain, and co-founder of Rive Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, academic entrepreneurship can bridge these gaps. A good example to prove this is, in his opinion, Professor George M. Whitesides, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, one of the most influential chemists in the world today. He received the highest Hirsch index rating of all living chemists in 2011, holds 130 patents, and has been a part of the start-up team for a number of companies. Fernando Gomollon-Bel, Belgium, spoke about sharing your love for chemistry and innovative ideas in science communication. He started with saying that When you are in love, you want to tell everybody. We as chemists are in love with chemistry, but it seems chemists like to see the glass half empty, he continues. We think the general public sees us as weird or strange, but a recent RSC survey showed, that only 12 % of the society think so. 84 % think that chemists make major valuable contributions to society. So, we should think like a proton always positive, Fernando Gomollon-Bel recommends. He continued by introducing innovative ideas on how to interest society in science and chemistry. Examples included science communication on twitter (e.g., tweet about your paper to get more visibility or #scicomm), combining art and science (e.g., www.principia.io), and a local tv program showing experiments in the supermarket and on the street. So lets all start spreading the good news about chemistry to our families and friends. Social Program There were many opportunities to socialize in the evenings after the lectures. These included an organ concert with pieces from Bach and some modern variations given in the Seville Cathedral. The young chemists could attend the Career Networking reception sponsored by the GDCh (German Chemical Society) to learn about job opportunities and requirements and to make first contacts. The EYCN also started an experiment in science communication to the public with great success by organizing talks about science in a bar in Seville on Tuesday evening (Science Cafe). The grand finale was provided by the two congress farewell dinners one at the World Heritage site of the Royal Alcazar of Seville (a royal palace originally developed by Moorish Muslim kings) and the other at the Abades Triana Terrace (a restaurant with a nice view). These unique settings provided an unforgettable evening for all those who attended. Left: Royal Alcazar of Seville; right: View from Abades Triana Terrace overlooking the Torre del Oro. EuCheMS Personnel After long years serving this community, Professor Ulrich Schubert, Past President of EuCheMS and Vienna University of Technology, Austria, and Professor Franco De Angelis, Treasurer and University of LAquila, Italy, will be retiring from official EuCheMS service. Professor Pilar Goya, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, is the new President-Elect of EuCheMS. She is the first women in this position. The new treasurer, starting January 1, 2017, will be Professor Eckart Ruhl, Free University, Berlin, Germany. Next EuCheMS Congress Each EuCheMS Congress is held by a different country to allow the host country to present their scientific, technical, and cultural abilities. The 7th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress will take place in Liverpool, UK, 2630 August 2018. The theme will be Molecular Frontiers and Global Challenges. We look forward to the exciting new chemistry discoveries en route to this event. EuCheMS Award for Service, ChemViews Mag. 2016 . Helena Grennberg honored for outstanding commitment to fostering chemistry and molecular sciences in Europe ChemViews Mag. . Helena Grennberg honored for outstanding commitment to fostering chemistry and molecular sciences in Europe August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal for Ben Feringa, ChemViews Mag. 2016 . Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) honors outstanding achievements in chemistry ChemViews Mag. . Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) honors outstanding achievements in chemistry ChemPubSoc Europe Fellows Program, Eva E. Wille, Secretary Fellows Program of ChemPubSoc Europe, ChemViews Mag. 2015. A Unique Experiment A Unique Success: European Chemical Societies Instigate Honors Program Also of Interest STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 20, ARTSAKHPRESS: His full speech is presented below: Honorable Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, The convening of this meeting at such a high level indicates the growing prominence of the problem of migrants and refugees on the global agenda, including within the UN system and the strong determination to tackle it. Armenia has been facing the challenges relating to refugee hosting for almost 3 decades. In the late 80s and beginning of 90s Armenians were massacred and expelled from their homes in Azerbaijan and found refuge in Armenia. This year again, in early April Azerbaijan unleashed another large-scale military offensive against Nagorno Karabakh that resulted in a number of casualties among civilians and another wave of displacement. In this context we would like to stress the significance of addressing the root causes of large movements of people through the prevention of conflicts and crisis situations, peaceful settlement of disputes and achievement of long-term political solutions. Likewise, we would like to highlight the importance of providing equal, prompt and unhindered access to international humanitarian assistance for refugees and displaced persons in all affected parts of the world, without distinction to their current political status. Mr. President, Armenia is deeply concerned by the situation in our immediate neighborhood - the Middle East. On numerous occasions Armenia has condemned the crimes committed by DAESH and other terrorist groups, which threaten the people of the region and beyond. The war in Syria has a devastating impact on its civilian population, including national and religious minorities who face existential threats due to identity based crimes perpetrated by terrorists and foreign fighters. The violence in the Middle East has not bypassed Syrian Armenians, many of whom lost their lives in terrorist attacks. The Armenian settlements, churches, schools and cultural institutions were destroyed. One hundred years ago Armenian refugees found shelter in many Arab countries after the Armenian Genocide. Today thousands of Armenians, together with other people of the Middle East, again are forced to abandon their places of residence. From Syria alone more than 20 thousand Armenians found refuge in Armenia, making our country the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe on per capita basis. Therefore, we have first-hand knowledge about what it means to be a refugee and to host refugees. The challenges of receiving, accommodating and integrating refugees from Syria are high on the agenda of the Armenian Government. We have been offering a variety of protection options of accelerated asylum procedures, facilitated provision of residence permits and naturalization. The State supports them in setting up businesses, provides durable housing, free medical assistance and scholarships. Armenia is committed to making its utmost to address the issues of Syrian refugees, however no one State can manage such large movements on its own. We believe that greater international cooperation is needed to assist host countries. To this end, we welcome the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and believe that the full implementation of our collective commitments, particularly those referring to a more equitable sharing of the burden and responsibility, could make a real difference for the benefit of refugees. Nothing about a Washington state lawsuit called B.E. v. Teeter is as simple as it seems. It was filed this year by two hepatitis C patients against the state's Medicaid program to help the poor gain access to drugs such as Gilead Sciences Inc.'s $1,000-a-pill cure. But behind the team bringing the case is Gilead itself. While the drug giant isn't involved in the lawsuit, the company and its foundation have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the researchers, lawyers, patient advocates and medical expert who have helped build the case. Gilead said its donations have nothing to do with the legal fight. If the plaintiffs prevail, however, Gilead and other drug companies stand to make billions because Washington's Medicaid program would be forced to cover expensive treatments -- and other states may be pressured to follow suit. With the controversy swirling around high drug costs, the case in Washington comes as the pharmaceutical industry and some pharma-backed advocates are trying to shift the debate from price to the tight-fisted insurers and bureaucrats who are denying patients life-saving drugs. The Biotechnology Innovation Organization, an industry lobbying group, gave members talking points in June focusing on access to drugs over their price tags. Or, as Robert Greenwald said in a 2015 PowerPoint presentation on the new class of hepatitis C drugs put it: "Reframe the response. Shift the focus from cost to cure." The presentation sought to make people aware the disease has a cure, not just that it was costly to treat, said Greenwald. He runs the Harvard Law School center that's representing the Washington plaintiffs. It's also partially funded by Gilead and other drugmakers. The Washington case illustrates a dilemma some patient advocates face: Many have few funding options beyond pharmaceutical firms, putting them in a ticklish position when criticizing prices. Gilead is the hepatitis C market leader, but rivals including AbbVie and Merck & Co. contribute to some of the same groups. "We the payers need the advocates on our side to put pressure on either the manufacturers to bring the price down or on the federal government to help find some affordability solutions," said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. "But they are not going to do that if they are beholden to the pharmaceutical industry for money." Gilead said there wasn't a quid pro quo with its grant recipients and that none of its contributions were intended for litigation against Washington state. Amy Flood, a Gilead spokeswoman, said it wasn't surprising that some grant recipients are fighting restrictions on hepatitis C drugs, which she described as "questionable policy for medications that are cost-effective, save the health-care system money and cure patients of a deadly and debilitating disease." Gilead's drugs are less expensive than treatments, such as liver transplants, that may be needed if the disease progresses. Gilead rejects the "implication that providing funding for one project or activity translates to financing, influencing or endorsing everything an organization does," Flood said in an email. "Gilead's grant program is not a commercial strategy." Brook Baker, a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston focused on international access to medicine, called it "very cynical" of Gilead to be providing money to the players involved in a lawsuit that "benefits them financially in the name of patient access." "The real issue is, with the price as high as it is, it's a budget breaker," Baker said. "Gilead has priced this in a way to wring every penny out of the system that it can." Merck's donations are "an important way to advance our mutual objectives to improve health and advance patient care," spokeswoman Doris Li said in an email. Merck's policies ensure its grants aren't promotional or "provided to induce or reward prescription of our products." AbbVie declined to comment. Sovaldi debuted in 2013 and was the first reliable hepatitis C cure. It became one of the fastest-selling drugs in history despite its price: $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, the equivalent of $1,000 a pill. Even with discounts, it was so successful that profits for the Foster City, California-based drugmaker nearly quadrupled in 2014. Its successor, Harvoni, has a higher sticker price: $94,500. Today, Gilead boasts a market value of $104 billion, bigger than McDonald's. But the prices touched off a firestorm that engulfed the industry. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called out Gilead for criticism. A Senate investigation concluded "fostering broad, affordable access was not a key consideration in the process of setting the wholesale prices." There are more expensive drugs, but most of them treat rare disorders -- roughly 3.5 million Americans have hepatitis C, a slowly advancing liver virus that many contract from sharing needles. From 2012 to 2015 Gilead's lobbying budget more than doubled to about $3 million a year. That went to hepatitis C education and increasing drug access among government health programs, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Less than two years ago, as regulators approved sale of competing hepatitis C treatments, Gilead began negotiating steeper discounts. Under the law, Medicaid receives rebates and can try to negotiate further. Gilead says Medicaid programs get discounts "in excess of 50 percent" on Harvoni. Still, the price remains high even after discounts for Medicaid, and some state-run health-care programs including Washington's have rationed treatments to the sickest patients. In court, lawyers for the state defended its approach, saying the drugs' long-term risks aren't known and some patients may never develop cirrhosis or cancer, which the disease puts them at higher risk for. In a major victory for the plaintiffs, a judge ruled in May that Washington state must provide all hepatitis C patients covered by Medicaid with treatment while the case proceeds. That sent the state's Medicaid budget for hepatitis C treatment from $24 million in 2015 to $222 million by 2017. Washington gets help from the federal government funding Medicaid, but the state will still see its hepatitis C-drugs bill rise to $48 million in 2017 from $6 million in 2015. "We are in a bit of pickle," said Robert Crittenden, special assistant for health reform for Gov. Jay Inslee. "We are going to have to cut programs or raise taxes." Matthew Harrison, a Morgan Stanley analyst, estimated that if all state Medicaid restrictions were lifted and all patients from those plans were treated over a three-year period, $18 billion of additional revenue could be unlocked for Gilead, and another $12 billion if state-prison populations had full access to the drugs. At least four suits are pending over inmates with hepatitis C. Could state lawsuits "be the growth the doctor ordered?" Harrison asked in a June note to investors. The Senate Finance Committee reported last year that while Gilead publicly said it prioritized patient access, the drugmaker set prices so high that many couldn't afford treatment. Citing internal Gilead documents, the committee said it found "the company needed 'access and advocacy' to eliminate 'barriers' to treatment," and that Gilead had enlisted influential opinion leaders "to advocate on behalf of their products." Gilead's Flood said its work with patient advocates was to help educate people at risk for hepatitis C, "which suffers from stigma, lack of diagnosis and other challenges." Gilead gave almost $500 million in 2015 to groups including those devoted to increasing patient access to drugs, according to the company website. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked it the top corporate cash donor in the U.S. that year. Several advocates who accepted grants said money is scarce since hepatitis C afflicts marginalized populations, so they can't afford to be picky about their donors. "You will not find a hepatitis organization that is not heavily funded or exclusively funded by pharmaceutical companies," said Ryan Clary, who runs the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable. Though other major hepatitis C drugmakers give to Clary's group, Gilead and its foundation donated $140,000 in 2015, covering about 22 percent of its budget. It isn't involved in the Washington state lawsuit. Few have been as outspoken about drug access as Greenwald, the director of the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation who made the "reframe the response" PowerPoint presentation. Greenwald, a lawyer who teaches public health law, co-authored a study last year concluding state restrictions on hepatitis C drugs were likely illegal. That helped lay the groundwork for the claims against Washington state. Four of the six researchers, including Greenwald, disclosed financial relationships with Gilead. Gilead had no involvement in the study, said Jason Grebely, one of the researchers who got grants. The Harvard center receives 20 percent to 25 percent of its funding from pharmaceutical companies, Greenwald said in an email, but declined to provide additional detail. Pharmaceutical money isn't used for litigation and the center didn't coordinate with the companies in urging states to lift restrictions on hepatitis drugs. "I don't have the right to sue pharma," Greenwald said in an interview. "They're not doing anything that's in violation of the law, as egregious as people think their drug prices are. I do have the right to hold the Medicaid programs accountable." Greenwald persuaded fellow members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS to write federal regulators calling restrictions on hepatitis C drugs "unreasonable and discriminatory." Clary's network sent a similar letter. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed, and its November 2015 guidance to the states became an important piece of evidence in the Washington lawsuit. Clary has publicly bemoaned the media "obsession" with the $1,000 sticker price of Gilead's pill and urged advocates to focus on the value of a cure. In an interview, he said he's been critical of drug prices but is more effective focusing on patient access. He credited recent decisions by some states to remove or reduce barriers to hepatitis C drugs to the threat of litigation and advocacy efforts. "It's pressure that's working," he said. Michael Ninburg, who runs the Seattle-based Hepatitis Education Project, helped attorneys in Washington state find a patient on Medicaid who'd been denied access to Harvoni to act as plaintiff. Public records show the group received $50,000 from Gilead's foundation in 2014 for a program to treat prisoners with the disease. Ninburg said the group receives as much as 50 percent of its funding from pharmaceutical companies including Gilead and declined to provide further specifics. Two of three medical advisers and at least one board member received money from pharmaceutical companies including Gilead. "It doesn't go unnoticed that there is that tension between the work that we do on access and the companies that make the drugs," said Ninburg, who has also criticized drug prices. "We're advocates. We're working to get people tested, treated and cured so they don't die a miserable death." The plaintiffs' medical expert is Robert Gish, a liver-disease specialist. He got payments of about $750,000 from pharmaceutical companies in the three years ending in 2015; of that, $198,000 came from Gilead, according to government records. Gish said in an interview that he's received money from Gilead and other drugmakers for such things as research and speaking fees, but said the government data is vastly inflated. He estimated he was paid about a third as much and spent it on research, education and advocacy. "I have a firewall in my brain that's made of brick and mortar that keeps me from being influenced by these pharma dollars," Gish said, adding that he's been consistently critical of high drug prices. Dana Van Gorder, executive director of HIV and hepatitis C advocate Project Inform, said groups like his face a "delicate dance." While Project Inform isn't involved in the Washington state lawsuit, it's been supportive of such efforts. But it's also been critical of Gilead's prices, saying last December that "access to hepatitis C cures has been severely limited because of a damaging pricing strategy by Gilead." Gilead's donations to Project Inform, which had been on a steady upward trajectory, have fallen by about a third since then, he said. Gilead's Flood said the company gets 4,000 grant requests a year and can't fund them all. "There seemed to be some connection to the concerns we'd expressed about pricing," Van Gorder said. Caroline Chen and Joe Schneider contributed Master tailor Michael Shahwan, rear, watches junior tailors Rugyyah Karim, left, and Zena Salam, both fashion design school graduates, on Sept. 19, 2016, at the Peter Field menswear store at 185 N. Franklin St. in Chicago's Loop. Peter Field won a contest and will be opening a pop-up store in Block 37. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Chicago menswear brand Peter Field is the winner of Block 37's annual pop-up shop contest, giving the tailor and accessories designer a second downtown location inside the State Street shopping and dining center. Peter Field won about five weeks' free rent in a 1,441-square-foot retail space on Block 37's first floor, along with $2,500 to help with build-out expenses. Advertisement "It gives us a risk-free opportunity to try something new, and it puts us in front of thousands of people every day who wouldn't otherwise see us," said founder and CEO Nicholas Monterotti. Chicago menswear tailor and accessories maker Peter Field is the winner of Block 37's annual pop-up shop contest. Sept. 20, 2016. (Lauren Zumbach / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) Monterotti was working at a logistics firm when he started designing and selling neckties to wedding parties. After a few years, a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter helped Monterotti and business partner Ben Wilson whose middle names gave the company its name open their first Chicago store in 2013, selling a range of menswear accessories and tailoring services. Advertisement Peter Field has since moved into a larger shop at 185 N. Franklin St., added a second store in New York and grown to 25 employees, Monterotti said. Monterotti describes Peter Field's aesthetic as a heritage brand that's also in touch with current trends. All of the brand's products are made in the U.S., mostly in-house in Chicago, he said. The pop-up will have Peter Field's new season of accessories, and new tote and gym bags. Some sewing work will be done on-site "to showcase the actual craftsmanship of the products," he said. The Block 37 contest, in its third year, had offered space during the holidays but this year's event was moved up as Block 37's retail space will be fully leased this holiday season. The pop-up space also was moved from the second floor to a larger street-level shop. Block 37 said it plans to continue the contest each year, though timing may vary depending on when space is available. Master tailor Michael Shahwan, rear, watches junior tailors Rugyyah Karim, left, and Zena Salam, both fashion design school graduates, on Sept. 19, 2016, at the Peter Field menswear store at 185 N. Franklin St. in Chicago's Loop. Peter Field won a contest and will be opening a pop-up store in Block 37. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Lindzi Shanks, owner of last year's winner, The Trendy Sparrow, said the exposure of a brick-and-mortar store and attention from the contest helped "dramatically grow" her online-only business. "When you're online-only and small, the name of your business doesn't carry a lot of weight," she said. The Block 37 location and news reports about the contest lent extra legitimacy, she said. Shanks is hoping to hold another pop-up shop this holiday season selling The Trendy Sparrow's clothing, mugs, notebooks and art prints. The contest also helped her find a partner for a new business. When one of three temporary employees hired to help staff the Block 37 pop-up mentioned a marshmallow-making hobby, Shanks asked her to make some champagne-flavored marshmallows to sell with The Trendy Sparrow's mugs. Advertisement They did well, and Shanks and Kat Connor have since launched XO Marshmallow, selling gourmet handmade marshmallows and "monuts" doughnut-shaped marshmallows designed to float atop a mug of coffee or hot chocolate. Peter Field's Block 37 pop-up will be open Friday to Oct. 31. The four other finalists in the pop-up contest were: online clothing and accessories shop Alice & Wonder, men's skin care brand Oars & Alps, women's brand Suki & Solaine and Standout Style Boutique, a shop in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood that caters to plus-size women. lzumbach@chicagotribune.com Twitter @laurenzumbach Daunted by all the decisions you need to make before you retire? Some employers bring retirement advice to the workplace. Several years ago, Barbara Linnehan-Smith, a teacher in Portland, Maine, began attending retirement seminars offered through her union to learn about her pension formula, Social Security eligibility and retiree health insurance. Advertisement Although Linnehan-Smith, 61, has no immediate plans to retire, "it was really important to get a feel for the whole process," she says. Your company 401(k) plan may also be a source of help. Increasingly, plans offer online tools and one-on-one phone conversations with financial planners to deal with everything from Social Security strategies to retirement spending to asset allocation. Some will even set up a retirement paycheck for you. Advertisement Almost half of employers in a recent survey by Aon Hewitt, a human resources consultant, allow 401(k) participants to choose an automatic payment from the plan in retirement, and 30 percent offer a professionally managed account with a drawdown feature. About 9 percent offer a managed payout fund, which uses a withdrawal strategy designed to produce lifelong paychecks (but without the guarantee of an annuity). If you're deciding between leaving your money in the plan and rolling it over, you'll have to weigh the costs, services and convenience of your 401(k) against the flexibility and wider range of investment choices in an IRA. Keep in mind that large plans have access to institutional pricing, which means lower fees. Also, ensure your retirement date doesn't cause you to leave money on the table. Here's what to consider: Employer 401(k) matches and bonuses: Most employers match contributions throughout the year, says Carol Sladek, head of work-life consulting at Aon Hewitt, but a few make a single contribution in December. Profit-sharing and bonuses are generally awarded at year-end. If you're due a cash payment, set your retirement date accordingly. Unused vacation: At most companies, vacation days accrue over the course of a year. To get paid for any days you didn't use, retire at the end of the year; otherwise, you may not be compensated for those days. If your employer is one of the few that still allots your full vacation at the beginning of the year and lets you take it at any time, ask your benefits manager whether you'll be fully compensated if you retire after January 1. Medical benefits: Be sure to use all the money you've contributed to your medical flexible spending account before you leave the company; otherwise, you'll lose it. While you're still on employer group coverage, take care of doctor visits and necessary medical procedures. Jane Bennett Clark is a senior editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com. Pork cutlets are wrapped in plenty of bacon, then grilled until done inside and the bacon is crispy. (Chicago Tribune) If everything is better with bacon, and if wine makes everything better, than what happens when you have wine with bacon? The mind boggles. Since your boggled brain will now be unable to pick wines with this dish of bacon-wrapped pork chops, we have choices for you: MAKE THIS Advertisement Bacon-wrapped pork cutlets Prepare a grill for indirect, medium heat. Rub 4 boneless pork chops (each about 1 1/2-inches thick) with your favorite Southwest-style seasoning blend. (You will need about 2 tablespoons.) Wrap each cutlet in bacon to cover. (You will need 12 slices bacon, about 1/2 pound.) Let rest 10 minutes. Grill chops until cooked through (155 degrees) and bacon is crisp, about 6 minutes per side. Makes: 4 servings Advertisement Recipe by Bill Daley Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > DRINK THIS Pairings by sommelier Rachael Lowe of Spiaggia, as told to Michael Austin: 2013 Supernatural Spook Light Skin-Fermented Pinot Gris, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand: Pinot Gris is a pink grape varietal, so when it is skin-fermented, it extends a beautiful pink hue to the wine, as well as additional texture. With aromas of red cherry, red currant, macerated strawberries and a slight minerality, this wine's ripe texture and slight tannin will stand up well to the richness of the bacon, while still being light enough to accommodate the pork. 2010 Giorgio Odero Frecciarossa Pinot Nero, Oltrepo Pavese, Lombardy, Italy: From a tiny-production winery in a region known for sparkling wines, this is a lovely representation of Italian pinot noir. Aged in (smaller) oak barriques for 12 months before release, this wine shows notes of brambly raspberry, smoke, violets and spice. The slight tannin will cut through the bacon fat, while the smoke will complement the meats and spice in the Southwest seasoning. 2012 Hedges Family Cuvee Marcel Dupont Syrah, Red Mountain, Washington: This wine is an homage to the family of one of the owners, who grew up in Champagne, France. A wonderful cross between New World and Old World styles, the wine's aromas of blackberry, plum, black currant, leather and black pepper come together well. The wine's texture is rich enough to stand up to the spices and meatiness of the bacon while not overwhelming the pork. food@chicagotribune.com Twitter @pour_man A casual Italian restaurant that will feature Roman-inspired dishes and an eclectic selection of "global" meatballs aims to debut in late October in Andersonville. Bar Roma is the brainchild of Julia Zhu, a recently retired commercial banker who was a one-time partner at Oysy Sushi. But she has a lot of friends. Advertisement Her longtime companion, restaurateur Howard Davis (Gioco), consulted on the project. Sommelier Bob Bansberg (Gabriel's) crafted the wine list and other beverage options. The executive chef will be Fred Ramos (Angelina Ristorante, Gioco). Not a bad team for a first-time restaurateur. Advertisement "I've dreamed of opening my own place," Zhu said. "A place where I can have good food and drink with friends. Just a neighborhood place with good food and service and affordable prices." After several years of searching, Zhu found a place to her liking at 5101 N. Clark St. and purchased the space. Most restaurateurs prefer to rent, rather than tying up capital, but again: commercial banker. "I figured out with the mortgage and everything, it was half the price of the rental," she said. "I thought the neighborhood was interesting, very young and old, international. I want the crowd to be mixed." The menu will feature Roman cuisine Zhu is already touting the artichokes alla giudia with housemade pastas. Also look for an eclectic assortment of meatballs; think veal-sweetbread meatballs, chicken meatballs topped with fried eggs, Shanghai-style meatballs and, of course, Swedish meatballs in a nod to the Andersonville neighborhood. "The chef and I went to New York, visited meatball shops all over the city," Zhu said. "Everything is pulling together. I'm very excited." Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic. pvettel@chicagotribune.com Twitter @philvettel Hannah Shapiro said she started watching "Survivor" when she was 14 years old and mixed gummy worms with smashed Oreos to simulate the experience of island life at her viewing parties. She wrote her college application essay about her desire to be on "Survivor" because she enjoys challenging herself. She enrolled in a "Survivor" class at Northwestern University, where she dug through bushes and picked an office lock in her search for a "hidden immunity idol" that would give her an advantage in the competition. Advertisement Now Shapiro's "Survivor" skills and knowledge will really be put to the test. The Boston-area native is a cast member on the CBS series' 33rd season, which is set to premiere 7 p.m. Wednesday. Shapiro, 24, is one of 20 castaways battling for a million-dollar prize in Fiji. "This is the completion of my 'Survivor' journey," Shapiro told the Tribune by phone. Advertisement Shapiro said this was her second time applying for the show. She tried out a few years ago for extra credit for former Northwestern communications professor Max Dawson's "Survivor" class. Dawson's course explored the impact of reality shows on the television industry with "Survivor" as the focus. The students, who were divided into tribes, competed against each other for immunity. Dawson told the Tribune that Shapiro's "Survivor" super fandom helped her stand out among the other students. "I owe Northwestern and that class a lot," Shapiro said. After completing her media studies at Northwestern in 2014, Shapiro moved to the Los Angeles area, where she writes and works on and off as a barista. She said she had a "gut feeling" when she started the casting process for Season 33 that she would land a spot on the show. After securing her place in the competition, Shapiro said she started working out at the gym for the first time to ready her body for battle. "I was sort of making sure I wouldn't immediately die," Shapiro said. This season is generation-themed, with the Millennial "Vanua" tribe facing the Generation X "Takali" tribe. Shapiro, a member of Vanua, said she has a few fears, including bugs and the dark, but she was more worried about her game. "I was more scared of failure than bugs, fear of bugs too, sure, but I'm scared of failure. I'm scared of taking a risk and publicly failing," Shapiro said. Advertisement Dawson, a Season-30-castaway-turned-media-consultant, said if Shapiro is herself, she will go far in the competition. Shapiro said she tried to "approach the show with as much authenticity as possible." "I might be goofy, I might be silly ... but I'm also more perceptive than I may seem and ready to play 'Survivor,'" Shapiro said. If a jury of contestants votes for her to win the show, Shapiro said she would use the prize money to fund her creative goals and cancer programs. Shapiro said her mom is a cancer survivor. She went back-and-forth when asked if she would give money back to Northwestern, perhaps as payback for all the holes she dug around campus for the "Survivor" class. "I think Northwestern has a ton of money," Shapiro joked. Trombonist Luke Malewicz leads the East Hubbard Jazz Orchestra during a recent Tuesday night gig at Andy's Jazz Club. The big band, founded by Malewicz, will be playing Tuesdays at Andy's through the end of the year. (Kristen Norman / for the Chicago Tribune) It's late Tuesday night at Andy's Jazz Club, on East Hubbard Street, and there isn't a spare seat in the house. On stage, a group of 20- and 30-somethings are blasting away at music written decades before they were born and playing it as if it had been penned yesterday. Advertisement In effect, an ensemble of accomplished young musicians is reaffirming one of the eternal verities of jazz: There's nothing more exciting than hearing a big band in a small room. The aptly named East Hubbard Jazz Orchestra launched its weekly residency at Andy's over the summer and clearly has built a following. For good reason: These musicians dispatch music of Thad Jones, Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington and others with obvious verve and with zero interest in nostalgia. Advertisement To them, the canon of big band repertory feels fresh and vital, in part because they've had so few opportunities to play it. "It's something that they don't do often," says trombonist and East Hubbard Jazz Orchestra founder Luke Malewicz. "There's established guys that play big band music they get called (for jobs) more often than the other guys. "Some of my guys didn't grow up listening to big band music. More of the young guys listen to small-group stuff. "I wanted to get those guys." And indeed he has, in a comparatively short period of time enabling them to come together as a cohesive ensemble. On this particular evening, the band opens with a brassy, sassy version of Harold Arlen's "Blues in the Night," then dips into the ancient (1928) "When You're Smiling." MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR Advertisement Then the musicians push forward into the work of Jones, a composer-arranger who with Mel Lewis in the 1960s and '70s redefined how large-ensemble jazz could sound. In Jones' "Don't Get Sassy" which definitely does alto saxophonist Corbin Andrick produces a slyly insinuating solo while the rest of the reed section finesses tricky, ferociously syncopated rhythm. The band summons a mighty orchestral sound in Jones' "Backbone," with a robust solo from trombonist-leader Malewicz and an earthy, gritty ensemble growl in Jones' "Quietude." Though some of the band's players are well-known to serious Chicago listeners among them the adroit drummer Jon Deitemyer and the lyrical trumpeter Chad McCullough others stand as emerging voices. But nearly everything about this ensemble exudes youthful enthusiasm, down to the introductions. Rather than take the emceeing honors for himself, Malewicz passes the microphone around the band, various players introducing once section of the ensemble or another, and generally in decidedly light-hearted, satirical fashion. Bandleader Malewicz has taken a circuitous route to arrive at this juncture in his musical life. Born in Poland, he began musical training there at age 7 and discovered big band jazz after moving to the Chicago area at age 11. He signed up for band his first day at Argo Community High School, in Summit, and found his calling when the band director played a recording of Buddy Rich's version of Gershwin's "My Man's Gone Now," from "Porgy and Bess." After studying jazz at Indiana University, Malewicz did graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music and spent Monday nights where else? at the Village Vanguard listening to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (which originated with Jones and Lewis). Advertisement Malewicz returned to Chicago in 2009 "I do miss New York, as anyone would, but not enough to live there," he says and began dreaming of creating a weekly big band show here. "I heard the Vanguard band almost every Monday night," remembers Malewicz. "To me, that's always been missing in Chicago, a band that's somewhere (continuously) every week, that becomes the place that people go to." Of course Jeff Lindberg's Chicago Jazz Orchestra has enjoyed long residencies at Andy's, the Alan Gresik Swing Shift Orchestra plays Thursdays at the Green Mill Jazz Club and a rotating lineup of big bands plays FitzGerald's, in Berwyn, on Sundays. But Malewicz and friends seem to be onto something new, and they've been extended at Andy's through the end of the year. "I'm learning how to put together the set list, how to make the music flow, how to keep the guys not get the guys tired," says Malewicz. They certainly sound wide awake on this night. Advertisement The East Hubbard Jazz Orchestra plays sets at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Andy's Jazz Club, 11 E. Hubbard St.; $10; 312-642-6805 or www.andysjazzclub.com. Miguel Zenon world premiere To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival commissioned alto saxophonist and MacArthur Fellowship winner Miguel Zenon to create a work he could perform with Chicago's Spektral Quartet. The world premiere of "Yo Soy La Tradicion" ("I Am Tradition") will start at 7:15 p.m. Saturday at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts. "I've been exploring certain musical and cultural traditions that are connected to the rural areas of the island," says Zenon, in an email, in explaining the origins of a piece inspired by his native Puerto Rico. "Some (sources) are specifically music 'Rosario Cantado,' for example, is a musicalized version of the 'Holy Rosary,' which varies greatly depending on the town or area where it takes place. And others involve music but are more general 'Promesa de Reyes,' for example, is a tradition that has to do with making a specific promise to the 'Three Kings' in return for a specific thing: curing a sickness, solving a problem., etc. I've been researching a lot of these traditions for a while, and a lot of this went into the music for this commission. " Advertisement But this time Zenon will be on stage with a string quartet and minus drums, bass and other key elements of jazz performance. "The challenging thing for me is that everything had to be written down, which is not something I'm used to as a composer," writes Zenon. "If I'm working with a jazz rhythm section, I will generally write a part that serves as a guideline for them, and they'll improvise a lot of what they play using that. "For this commission everything has to be written very specifically: articulation, dynamics, everything that happens under improvised sections," adds Zenon, referring to solos he will invent on the spot. "So it took more time from my part to put the whole thing together." We'll soon hear the results. The Hyde Park Jazz Festival runs from 1 p.m. to midnight Saturday across Hyde Park and from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday on the Midway Plaisance; for details, visit www.hydeparkjazzfestival.org. Advertisement Howard Reich is a Tribune critic. hreich@chicagotribune.com Twitter @howardreich MORE FROM HOWARD REICH: Vijay Iyer and Fareed Haque in an eloquent double bill From Freddy Cole to Omara Portuondo to Vijay Iyer, a robust Chicago jazz season Advertisement Redman, Mehldau, Glasper and Ulery among new fall jazz releases Amy Iwano makes Logan Center a jazz hot spot Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) For the fifth year, the Navy SEAL Foundation's Evening of Tribute gala was a sellout honoring Navy SEALs, the Naval Special Warfare community and their families. The Sept. 14 event attracted a patriotic crowd of over 600 to the Hilton Chicago for a dinner program that featured Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as keynote speaker. Edward C. Byers Jr., a senior special warfare operator and recent Medal of Honor recipient, offered a toast to the fallen during his rousing speech. The evening began with a private VIP roundtable discussion, conducted by Dempsey, during which he shared his thoughts on the current international climate. Then, following a short cocktail reception, guests convened in the Grand Ballroom for dinner. Advertisement Reeve Waud, event chair along with his wife, Melissa, welcomed guests and asked the more than 100 active-duty, retired and Gold Star family members in the audience to stand and be recognized. Dempsey shared testimonials from those who had lost loved ones about the impact the foundation has had on their lives. He ended his speech by singing Frank Sinatra's "My Kind of Town" as the audience sang along. Advertisement Gold Star widow Keri Mills talks about losing her Navy Seal husband at Navy Seal Foundation Gala. (Chicago Tribune) Keri Mills, a Gold Star widow, lost her husband, Special Warfare Chief Petty Officer Stephen Matthew "Matt" Mills, when he was killed in the downing of a military helicopter while on a mission in Afghanistan. "In the breath of a sentence and six months after our wedding, I went from wife to widow, then to single parent," she said. She lauded the foundation for its ongoing support and the sense of community it provides. In a video, Byers, the most decorated living Navy SEAL, shared details of the mission that earned him the Medal of Honor. A long standing ovation and whistles greeted his appearance onstage, where he thanked the families and spoke about the tight brotherhood of Navy SEALs. "They're the toughest guys on the face of this planet, and any mission they're given, they will succeed at. They're our brothers and, if need be, they will die for you." He added, "SEALs get a chill down their spines when they stand for the national anthem and hear the words coursing through their veins. They believe in this country and her values." He offered a toast to the fallen, calling them "the 286 men who willingly gave all, true warriors." The event, emceed by Sylvia Perez, raised $3.3 million for the foundation that provides the Naval Special Warfare community and its families the critical support and assistance they need during times of illness, injury and loss, through more than 35 tailored programs. Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events she covers. More coverage Find more photos and events at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace. Visit Candid Candace's website at www.candidcandace.com, or follow her on Twitter @CandidCandace. RELATED STORIES: Catholic Charities gala supports 'neediest of the needy' Advertisement Red Sky Night, sailors delight in blood cancer fight Frankie Knuckles Foundation's 1st gala a musical tribute Donald Trump Jr.'s decision to tweet a meme comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of poisoned Skittles drew widespread condemnation Monday even from Chicago candy-maker Wrigley itself. This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 But if you were placing a bet on which Illinois politician might leap to the defense of the younger Trump for his tasteless tweet, you'd probably back former Illinois congressman turned talk radio host Joe Walsh. Advertisement And Walsh, bless him, didn't disappoint. After Trump Jr. on Monday tweeted an image that read, "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?" alongside the comment "That's our Syrian refugee problem," Walsh quickly tried to claim the credit for the crass analogy. Advertisement Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month. Glad you agree. pic.twitter.com/Nssw6KC1HY Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) September 20, 2016 As any Twitter addict knows, there's nothing more irritating than some johnny-come-lately appropriating your killer tweet and getting all the likes and re-tweets that were rightfully yours. So Walsh wasn't shy in letting Trump Jr. know. "Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month," Walsh tweeted next to an image of a near identical tweet he sent out Aug. 13. "Glad you agree." If I had a bowl of Skittles and told you 3 of them would kill you: Would you eat a handful? No? This is our refugee problem. Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 13, 2016 Trump's father has advocated ideological vetting for Muslim visitors to the U.S. and for a moratorium on immigration from war-torn Syria, accusing opponent Hillary Clinton of advocating acceptance of tens of thousands of refugees. But Skittles parent company Wrigley didn't approve of Trump Jr.'s premise. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," Wrigley spokeswoman Denise Young said in a statement of the obvious. "We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." Wrigley, alas, declined to respond to Walsh's claim to have got there first. But Walsh, whose Twitter account was suspended for tweeting apparent threats of violence against President Barack Obama and Black Lives Matters activists, told Chicago Inc. he "wished (Trump Jr.) hadn't posted my tweet word for word." Around 4.8 million refugees have been forced to flee Syria, mostly to neighboring Muslim countries, due to Syria's brutal and ongoing civil conflict. As of July, just over 7,000 vetted Syrian refugees had settled in the U.S., according to the U.S. State Department. But Walsh told Chicago Inc. on Tuesday, "Muslim countries have to stand up and do more." And he said he'd tell a refugee who was trying to bring their family to safety and found his Skittle analogy to be witless: "Tough." Advertisement His favorite Skittles are the purple ones, he said. kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews Nancy Munoz was coming home from a Bears game just before 11 p.m. Monday when she saw a large fire behind her parents' West Town home. She called her mother and told her to get out. Already in bed, her mother was shocked to see the flames behind her home. "I saw a lot of fire," Munoz said. "It was huge already." Munoz and her parents were three of six people displaced by an extra-alarm fire that started in the yard of a pallet company near Damen Avenue and Ferdinand Street. No one was injured. Advertisement 3-alarm fire in the 400 block of North Damen Avenue, Monday, Sept. 20, 2016, Chicago. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) Chicago Fire Department Assistant Fire Commissioner William Vogt said the fire had spread by the time firefighters arrived, and it was quickly raised to a 3-11 alarm to call in extra firefighters and equipment. Vogt said the department's main concern was exposure to three nearby buildings, including the two-story home where Munoz lives with her parents. "We were concerned for those buildings because we didn't want the fire to spread to them," he said. "We made an aggressive attack, elevating the alarms at that time." About 100 firefighters responded. Vogt said the department used tower ladders to reach inside the pallet yard. The pallets produced a lot of heat, making it difficult for firefighters. Propane tanks at the business also were exploding. Three firefighters rest after working to extinguish a 3-alarm fire in the 400 block of North Damen Avenue early on Sept. 20, 2016, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) Just before 1 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters were beginning to walk inside the yard to put out small pockets of fire, Vogt said. Two of the nearby buildings weren't damaged, but the fire did spread to the attic of Munoz's parents' home. A firefighter was seen bringing a pink suitcase from the home to Munoz and her parents. Standing near where firefighters were working, Munoz held her cat Sophie as she said her family planned to spend the night with her brother, who lives nearby. Sophie and a dog named Jordy made it safely out of the fire, she said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The number of unauthorized immigrants residing in Illinois dropped by 10 percent, or 50,000 people, between 2009 and 2014 something experts say has been key to Chicago's recent population loss. "So much of the population growth in this region was based on legal and undocumented immigration. This closes the plug on the growth we've had," said Rob Paral, a Chicago-based demographer who advises nonprofits and community groups. "Undocumented immigrants were a substantial piece of the picture, and that era is behind us." Advertisement In 2014, about 450,000 unauthorized immigrants lived in Illinois, compared with about 500,000 in 2009, according to a study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. While most states saw no significant change in their unauthorized immigrant populations during the five-year period, Illinois is among seven states that saw their populations decline, primarily due to a drop in the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico. The population of unauthorized Mexican immigrants has declined nationwide as well because of the sluggish U.S. economic recovery and stricter border enforcement. But the country's overall count of unauthorized immigrants remained stable through 2014 due to a spike in unauthorized immigrants from Asia, Central America and sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report, which bases its findings on data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Advertisement In 2014, the 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. accounted for 3.5 percent of the overall population, and 26 percent of the country's 43.6 million foreign-born residents. Of those unauthorized immigrants, however, Mexican immigrants were still the majority at 52 percent. In Illinois, unauthorized immigrants make up 3.5 percent of the population and 24 percent of all foreign-born residents, according to the study. About 71 percent of the state's unauthorized immigrants are Mexican. The report said the number of unauthorized immigrants from other countries stayed about the same in Illinois. By almost every metric, the state's population as a whole is rapidly declining, and the Chicago area in 2015 lost an estimated 6,263 residents, the greatest loss of any metropolitan area in the country. Large numbers of residents leaving the region have traditionally been offset by births and new residents, but those new residents, particularly Mexican immigrants, are no longer moving into the state. More than any other city, Chicago has long depended on Mexican immigrants, both legal and unauthorized, to balance the sluggish growth of its native-born population. Mexican immigration peaked in 2007, after which falling Mexican-born populations became a trend across the country's major metropolitan areas. While most of those cities made up for the loss with the growth of their native populations or immigrants from other countries, Chicago didn't. The slowdown of unauthorized immigration likely means population loss for some of Chicago's neighborhoods, too, which used to serve as ports of entry for families, Paral said. South Lawndale and Pilsen, for example, had for years been bolstered by steady immigration. "For Chicago, the picture is becoming one where the Latino population generally consists increasingly of people born here and not immigrants. That's a big effect." Idalia Cervantes, a program manager at Red Mexicana, an immigrant advocacy organization, said unauthorized immigrants in Illinois have suffered from budget cuts to community outreach programs that offer information and support on how to apply for temporary driver's' licenses and scholarships for college. "A lot of people, if they leave, it's really because they don't have resources and they don't have anybody reaching out to them about what is available to them as undocumented immigrants," she said. "If all they hear in the media is an anti-immigrant rhetoric over and over, well, they're gonna be afraid." Advertisement Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The pattern is part of a greater trend in which more Mexicans are leaving than moving into the U.S., reversing the flow of a half-century of mass migration, according to a Pew study published in November. More than 1 million Mexicans and their families, including American-born children, left the U.S. for Mexico between 2009 and 2014, while 870,000 Mexicans came to the U.S. Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said many factors may have contributed to the decline of unauthorized people in Illinois, including an aggressive enforcement of immigration law over the past several years and emigration to neighboring states. "The undocumented population of Indiana seems to have grown over the last two years, and there's a small increase in Wisconsin," he said. "So it's possible they're moving to other states. The decline could be a matter of some undocumented immigrants finally having the opportunity to gain lawful status, whether it's through a marriage or winning an asylum case." Tsao said recent statistics shed light on concerns that the U.S. is being overwhelmed with unauthorized immigrants. "If anything, the numbers are declining. And the report also lays out that a significant share of the undocumented population has been here more than 10 years," he said. "One could imagine that they have families here in the U.S. that have homes and jobs and have developed roots in this country. Because of that they should be afforded the opportunity to gain lawful status and eventually citizenship." meltagouri@chicagotribune.com Advertisement nmoreno@chicagotribune.com Keith Cooper, 49, of Country Club Hills, talks about being granted an Indiana gubernatorial pardon on Feb. 10, 2017. His attorney Elliot Slosar is at left and his wife Nicole Cooper at right. Newly elected Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb granted Keith Cooper a pardon for a 1996 armed robbery that ended in a shooting. It is believed to be that state's first gubernatorial pardon based on actual innocence. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has declined to rule on a historic pardon request involving the wrongful conviction of an Illinois man. In a letter Tuesday, the governor's general counsel told Keith Cooper's attorney they first must exhaust all possible judicial options for appeal. The letter essentially allows the Republican vice presidential candidate to avoid ruling on the Country Club Hills man's claim of innocence until a new Indiana governor takes over in January. Advertisement "It crushed me a little bit," Cooper, a 49-year-old forklift operator, said after reading the letter. "I haven't give up hope. My hope is what keeps me strong, but I'm human and it hurts." Cooper spent nearly 10 years in prison for a 1996 armed robbery in Indiana before a co-defendant's conviction was reversed. Cooper was offered a deal in 2006 to take his chances at a new trial or be freed from prison with a felony conviction on his record. He chose immediate release, but Cooper said he struggles as a convicted felon to find a better paying job. Advertisement DNA evidence points to another man in the armed robbery, and the victims and former Elkhart County prosecutor who helped convict him now say Cooper is innocent. The Indiana Parole Board recommended in March 2014 that Pence grant the pardon, which experts believe would be the first pardon based on a claim of innocence in state history. "Although the judicial system may not be perfect, given the extraordinary nature of Mr. Cooper's request, we need to be certain the judicial process is complete and has been given every opportunity to address any error that may have occurred," general counsel Mark Ahearn wrote on behalf of Pence. "When Mr. Cooper made a deal to be released from prison he withdrew his pending post-conviction relief petition, but it is unclear from the official record whether this precludes Mr. Cooper from refiling a petition." The letter continued, "Out of respect for the judicial process, before this office will consider Mr. Cooper's request further, he will need to exhaust his judicial remedies." Attorney Elliot Slosar, who represents Cooper, said the letter was not an outright denial. Still, Slosar described it as a delay tactic that has the potential to prolong Cooper's quest to clear his name for several years. Slosar said it's unclear whether they will be allowed to file another post-conviction petition after the original was withdrawn. Even if they overcome that hurdle, Slosar said, prosecutors may argue the new evidence is too old to meet the requirement of being new. "He's punting to the next governor," said Slosar, an attorney with Loevy & Loevy in Chicago. "It's so punitive for them to hold on to a pardon petition this long and may prevent him from getting justice in court." Late Tuesday, a Pence spokesman reiterated that the governor has not ruled yet on Cooper's pardon request. "When Mr. Ahearn talked with Mr. Slosar (Tuesday) he made clear that this is not a final decision from the governor," said Matt Lloyd, the governor's deputy chief of taff. "He also made clear that because of the unique circumstances regarding this request, the nature of which are outlined in the letter, Mr. Slosar must exhaust all of the possible judicial options for appeal before the governor can consider the pardon request." Given the Donald Trump-Mike Pence ticket's "Make America Safe Again" theme, delivered amid a difficult time of violence and unrest nationwide with police shootings and racial tensions, political pundits say granting a pardon even one based on innocence may be tricky. Advertisement Keith Cooper speaks during a Feb. 3, 2014, Indiana Parole Board hearing. (Courtesy of Eliot Slosar of Loevy & Loevy) (Courtesy Of Eliot Slosar Of Loevy & Loevy/Chicago Tribune) The pardon request also has possible political implications for Curtis Hill, the Republican nominee in the race for Indiana attorney general. Hill, an Elkhart County prosecutor, was not involved in Cooper's conviction but he did play a role years later when Cooper was offered the deal. Cooper was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the robbery, in which a teen survived being shot in the stomach. The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned a co-defendant's conviction in 2005 and prosecutors dropped charges against him when he elected for a new trial. The man later received a nearly $5 million settlement in a civil rights case against police. Cooper, though, said he chose to go home to his wife and three young children who at times were homeless during his incarceration. Cooper said he does not regret his decision, but living with the felony conviction on his record has stunted his ability to earn a better living. Slosar argues that Cooper was wrongly imprisoned based on flawed police work, tainted witness identifications, an unreliable jailhouse snitch and a trial attorney who mishandled key DNA evidence. The witnesses and the snitch later recanted. Now, long after advances in DNA testing and a nationwide offender database excluded him as the perpetrator and identified another man, which sparked eyewitness recantations, even the original trial prosecutor who secured Cooper's conviction urged Pence to support the pardon. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Cooper began his pardon quest about four years ago. More than 100,000 supporters have signed an online petition at change.org. Cooper also has an active social media following. Advertisement The case was the subject of a Chicago Tribune investigation last year. The Tribune's review of trial transcripts, police reports, witness interviews and depositions showed the case was fraught with problems. For example, Cooper's former defense attorney agreed to a stipulation that DNA test results from inside the sweatband of the shooter's hat showed Cooper could not be excluded as a suspect. But the Indiana State Police lab report stated the opposite. Years later, the DNA evidence was linked to a man serving a prison term in Michigan for his role in a 2002 murder. He has denied involvement in the Elkhart case and has not been charged. Pence has pardoned three people, none claiming actual innocence, since he became governor in 2013. His predecessor, Republican Mitch Daniels, pardoned more than 60 people during his eight years in office. "This doesn't make sense," Cooper said. "How can you pardon guilty people and here I'm innocent and you pass it forward? I just hope I'll still be alive (when pardoned) because I'm tired of walking around with the stigma of being a convicted felon." cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com Twitter @christygutowski1 At first, the woman thought the two men were breaking into cars along her block in the Back of the Yards early Wednesday. They seemed to signal each other and walked away in opposite directions in the 5100 block of South Honore Street. But then there was a gunshot and a man screamed. A 51-year-old man had been shot in the abdomen after getting into an argument with someone around 12:35 a.m., police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The woman who had spotted the men stood outside her home along with her boyfriend. They and other neighbors watched as officers with flashlights searched for evidence. A bicycle could be seen inside the crime scene. The couple have lived on the block with their two daughters for about four years. The woman's boyfriend said it seems the violence has been getting worse in the past few weeks. They said their 9-year-old daughter is still shaken from hearing gunfire this week while she was watching cartoons. "We have children here, the children are scared," she said in Spanish, asking that her name not be used. "My girl is scared." Another woman wearing a long shirt bent over as she walked into a home within the crime scene. "I'm tired, I'm tired of this (expletive)," she said as a man helped her inside. The man was one of three people killed in shootings in Chicago early Wednesday. Six other people were wounded since Tuesday afternoon, police said. About five minutes after the Back of the Yards shooting, two men were killed in a shootout with each other in front of a bowling alley in the 12300 block of South Halsted Street in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said. A 34-year-old man in an SUV began firing at a 28-year-old man standing on the street, police said. The older man was shot in the head and was found by officers at a gas station in the 700 block of East 111th Street, police said. The SUV's windows were shot out and a man could be seen slumped over in the backseat. The younger man was shot in the chest. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Other shootings: Around 1:40 a.m., a 33-year-old man was shot in the hip and feet in the 3300 block of West Harrison Street in the Homan Square neighborhood, police said. The man was able to give officers a description of the shooter's vehicle and the direction it was last seen traveling. Officers tracked down the vehicle as it was entering Interstate 290. People in the vehicle were seen tossing guns out of the window, police said. The driver lost control and crashed into a pole, and there was a foot chase. Two people who were inside the vehicle were arrested. Criminal charges were pending. The 33-year-old man was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was listed in good condition. In the Englewood neighborhood about 1:10 a.m., a 30-year-old man shot himself in the leg while he was inside his home in the 5500 block of South Bishop Street, police said. His condition was stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital. About 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, a 26-year-old man was riding a bicycle in the 8000 block of South Ellis Avenue in the Chatham neighborhood when someone fired shots at him, police said. He was shot in the ankle and was taken to Jackson Park Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. About 3:45 p.m. in the 5700 block of South Prairie Avenue, in the Washington Park neighborhood, a 44-year-old man and an 18-year-old man were shot, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a police spokeswoman. The 44-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the right arm, and he was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. The younger man suffered gunshot wounds to his right leg, and his friend took him to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized, Tannehill said. About 2:45 p.m. in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, a 65-year-old man was shot in the left arm while working on a car. Someone in a dark-colored car opened fire and hit the man in the 1400 block of North Homan Avenue, Tannehill said. He was taken in good condition to Norwegian-American Hospital. WGN-TV contributed. Undercover FBI video captured Illinois National Guard specialist Hasan Edmonds on a surveillance mission in March 2015 outside the Joliet Armory where his unit was stationed. Edmonds was sentenced to 30 years in prison Sept. 20, 2016, for plotting an attack on the armory and trying to fly overseas to fight for Islamic State. (Video provided by the U.S. attorneys office) (Video provided by the U.S. Attorneys Office/Chicago Tribune) Sitting in a car outside the Joliet Armory last year, then-National Guard specialist Hasan Edmonds stroked his chin and calmly sipped a soda as he described how a terror plot on the base would be most effective if higher-ranking soldiers were killed first. "The first person to take the reins is going to be the first sergeant," Edmonds said to his cousin Jonas and another man as the three staked out the armory in March 2015. "And then if he steps off, it's gonna be the company commander. That's the head. Kill the head, body follows ... see the stripes, take the shot." Advertisement Edmonds went on to describe in a matter-of-fact tone the layout of the building and where soldiers would be lining up for drills. He assured his accomplices that none of the victims would be armed and most would have their cellphones off, so warnings of the attack would be slow to spread. He even suggested a gunman position himself near a particular exit to ambush fleeing soldiers. Moments after the chilling undercover video was played Tuesday for the first time in a federal courtroom, U.S. District Judge John Lee sentenced Edmonds to the maximum of 30 years in prison for plotting the Islamic State-inspired attack, telling him it was "difficult to think of a more pernicious crime than a soldier betraying his country." Advertisement "You took an oath to safeguard this country, its citizens and residents, as well as your fellow soldiers ... soldiers that you later planned to kill in cold blood," the judge said to Edmonds, who was arrested the day after the video was recorded while trying to board a jet to join the Islamic State overseas. Earlier Tuesday, the judge handed down a 21-year prison sentence for Edmonds' older cousin, Jonas, who was going to don his cousin's uniform and carry out the attack they hoped would kill as many as 150 in the National Guard facility. The sentences for the Aurora cousins came as the nation grapples with the latest acts of terrorism weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey that led to the arrest of Afghani-born Ahmad Khan Rahami and a stabbing spree at a Minnesota mall that has been linked to a wing of Islamic State. The cousins' prison terms also marked two of the harshest penalties ever handed down for a terrorism-related case in Chicago's federal court. The 30-year term for Hasan Edmonds was believed to be second only to the 35 years given to David Coleman Headley for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans. Highlighting the hearings Tuesday was testimony from two sergeants in Hasan Edmonds' former unit, both of whom described their shock upon learning that the mild-mannered supply clerk had planned to kill them in the name of Islamic terrorists. "I was literally speechless," said Staff Sgt. Colleen Cummings, who described Edmonds as so respected that to this day some soldiers in her unit still refuse to speak negatively about him. "I felt betrayed by someone I would trust with my life." Standing at a lectern in full uniform, Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Sherman turned to Edmonds and shook with anger as he recalled Edmonds coming into the base on his day off and casually asking for a training schedule which prosecutors said was part of the plan to ensure the most casualties in the attack. Sherman wondered aloud whether Edmonds would lie awake at night thinking about their fellow soldiers dying. Sherman said he still couldn't believe Edmonds had fallen for the "murderous" propaganda of Islamic State. Advertisement "How could you be so naive?" Sherman asked Edmonds, who sat at the defense table in an orange jail jumpsuit and gazed back without expression. "They would've strapped a bomb to your chest and sent you out to kill Shiites. They are not holy warriors. They are murderous bullies, and you would have just been a pawn to them." The cousins were arrested in March 2015 after Jonas Edmonds dropped off his cousin at Midway Airport and Hasan Edmonds went through security and tried to board a flight to Detroit with connections to Egypt, federal prosecutors said. The day before, the two had traveled to the Joliet Armory where Hasan Edmonds had trained with the Joliet-based 634th Brigade Support Battalion to scout the facility for an attack with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, according to a criminal complaint. Hasan Edmonds told his cousin where soldiers would be training inside the facility and where "ranking" members would be located, prosecutors said. According to the charges, the FBI began investigating the cousins in 2014 when agents discovered they had devised a plan for Hasan Edmonds to travel overseas and use his military training to fight for Islamic State. Beginning in January 2015, Hasan Edmonds had several online exchanges with a person he thought was an Islamic State fighter in Libya, saying that if he was unable to get to Syria, he would stay in the U.S. and "fight and die here in the name of Allah," according to the charges. In a message Jan. 30, he told the contact who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent that the best way to beat the U.S. and its Army was to "break their will," according to the complaint. Advertisement "With the U.S., no matter how many you kill they will keep coming unless the soldiers and the American public no longer have the will to fight," Edmonds wrote, according to the complaint. "If we can break their spirits we will win." That February, Hasan Edmonds contacted the undercover agent again and said his cousin was willing to carry out the attack on U.S. soil. "Honestly we would love to do something like the brother in Paris did," Hasan Edmonds allegedly wrote in a reference to the January 2015 terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine's headquarters in France in which 16 people were slain. The next month, the cousins were introduced to a person they thought was an Islamic State sympathizer looking to carry out an attack but who was actually an undercover FBI employee, according to court records. On March 24, as the three traveled to Joliet to stake out the armory, the undercover employee captured Hasan Edmonds on a hidden video recorder talking about the logistics of the operation. "Straight through the lobby are two gym doors and, uh, once you go through those doors is where you find everyone in formation standing at parade rest," Hasan Edmonds said in one clip played in court Tuesday. Wearing a Michael Jordan hat and dark-rimmed glasses, Edmonds leaned forward in the car and peered out the window at times as he spoke. He told his cousin and their accomplice that members of his unit likely would not be armed during the intended attack and that "the most you have to worry about is someone gettin' up on you." Advertisement Later, he talked about the bulletproof vests some soldiers wear, smacking his chest as he said the armor could "sustain about two slugs to center mass" but that the third bullet almost always went through. Lawyers for the cousins each asked the judge for leniency. In a recent court filing asking for 15 years behind bars, attorney Paul Flynn, who represents Hasan Edmonds, wrote that Hasan was scarred by a terrible childhood, including physical and mental abuse by his father, who allegedly was a drug addict and gang member. The abuse was so severe that Edmonds' mother shot his father after he had tried to force her into prostitution, Flynn said. Hasan converted to Islam after his father had done so in prison, according to Flynn. Eventually he moved into his grandmother's house in Aurora, where he joined the National Guard and fell under the influence of his older cousin, Flynn said. "But for Jonas Edmonds' fanaticism, Hasan most likely would have continued down the path of an honorable soldier and model citizen," Flynn wrote. Hasan's father, Lieukennye Edmonds, has since been released from prison and attended Tuesday's sentencing hearing but did not speak in court. Afterward, he told reporters in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse that the amount of time his son received was "all the way wrong." "It was gross entrapment," the father said. "There is no way, shape or form they would have carried it out." Advertisement Jonas Edmonds' lawyer, James Graham, said his client was smoking a lot of marijuana and talking a big game but that he had no weapons and never would have gone through with the attack. "Terrible decision on my part ... but the person they're trying to make me into, I'm not that person," Jonas Edmonds told the judge moments before he was sentenced. Hasan Edmonds chose not to make a statement before he was sentenced, relying instead on a letter he wrote to the court last month stating he realized now that he was "led astray by the hateful rhetoric" of Islamic State. "My involvement in this debacle is a mixture of confusion, guilt, anger, idealism and naivete," he wrote. "In hindsight, it appears I have jeopardized my life and my freedom for what was tantamount to a fool's errand." But Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas said he took "great issue" with the idea that the cousins weren't serious about carrying out an attack. In court, Jonas held up a black duffel bag found in the older cousin's truck the night he was arrested. It was filled with Hasan Edmonds' National Guard uniforms, which Jonas Edmonds had planned to wear to help him blend in and gain access to the armory for the attack, the prosecutor said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > "Thank God the FBI was there to stop him," Jonas said. Advertisement The Edmondses' are among a string of terrorism-related cases stemming from Chicago's suburbs. In 2012, Hillside resident Adel Daoud, then 18, was arrested as he allegedly tried to detonate what he thought was a car bomb outside a bar in the Loop. The next year, federal authorities charged Daoud's friend, Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, of Aurora, with providing material support to terrorists after he allegedly pledged on a fake recruitment website secretly operated by the FBI to join terrorists in Syria. In 2014, Bolingbrook teen Mohammed Hamzah Khan was charged with plotting to join Islamic State after he was arrested at O'Hare International Airport, where authorities alleged he and his two younger siblings were about to board a flight to Istanbul. jmeisner@chicagotribune.com Twitter @jmetr22b Gov. Bruce Rauner wouldn't talk about the fall of his former ally state Rep. Ron Sandack during a news conference in Springfield on Sept. 19, 2016. (Seth Perlman / AP) Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Topspin Former Rep. Ron Sandack may have taken the bait when contacted online by an unknown woman as part of an alleged extortion scheme, but Gov. Bruce Rauner isn't following suit, refusing to weigh in Monday on the downfall of his one-time ally. Advertisement Sandack, the firebrand Republican known for his passionate support of Rauner on the House floor and via social media accounts, announced Friday that he resigned after becoming embroiled in a scam in which he twice wired money to the Philippines after engaging in "inappropriate online conversations" with a woman who contacted him on Facebook. Sandack said he fell for the scam "hook, line and sinker." The admission comes after weeks of Capitol speculation about Sandack's departure after the former Downers Grove mayor abruptly stepped down from the Illinois House in July citing cybersecurity issues. As questions swirled, Rauner refused to comment on the situation. Advertisement The governor stuck by that strategy Monday despite the new, widely reported revelations from Sandack and Downers Grove police. "I really can't comment on that. I don't know all the facts on that," Rauner told reporters after talking up the state's advances in technology. Rauner was a lot more glowing when discussing the recent departure of another ally, state Sen. Matt Murphy, who joined a public affairs firm. (Monique Garcia) What's on tap *Mayor Rahm Emanuel has no public schedule. *Gov. Bruce Rauner will answer questions during a Facebook Live event that's scheduled to begin at noon. Submit questions for consideration on Twitter using #RaunerLive. What we're writing *Emanuel delays major police speech as he searches for right message. *U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth blasts immigration reform foes as "racists and fear-mongerers." *Ex-top cop Garry McCarthy: Anti-police sentiment empowering criminals. Advertisement *CPS inspector general blasts Forrest Claypool's shadow audit operation. What we're reading *As Illinois' coal country teeters on brink, next president may tip balance. *Does Chicago hot dog king have WWII Japanese admiral's gold tooth? *A game, a shooting and the downfall of Chicago's Hubbard Park. From the notebook *Dueling pension plan peeves Emanuel aides: State legislators on Monday discussed an alternate plan to fix the city's ailing municipal working pension plan, leaving Mayor Emanuel's top financial officials none too pleased. Advertisement Administration officials showed up at a House Personnel and Pensions Committee hearing to oppose the plan put forward by the Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund, contending the resulting cost would be too much for city taxpayers to bear. "We wanted to be able to design a payment plan that put the fund on a path to solvency without diminishing services and without (putting) too big of a burden on our taxpayers," city Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown told state representatives at the hearing. Last week, the City Council voted 40-10 to approve a new 30 percent-plus tax on water and sewer service that will be phased in over the next four years. That money plus additional funds from existing city revenue sources would be used to dramatically increase city contributions to the municipal fund under legislation the city plans to introduce in Springfield "in the coming weeks." But that new tax revenue would fall short of what's sought in the municipal fund proposal, which calls for a much quicker ramping up of taxpayer contributions to the fund. Jim Mohler, executive director of the municipal fund, said that the retirement account's balance could fall precariously low under the city's plan in the coming years if the rate of return on investment continues to be low. "We have to prepare for the worst," Mohler said. "We (have a) $600 million deficit on an annual basis and growing, and only $4.4 billion in assets. It's not going to last long." At the end of the so-called "subject matter hearing," which resulted in no action, Committee Chairwoman Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, avoided taking sides. Advertisement "We'll look forward to seeing your legislation," she told Brown. "I'm not going to get into a debate over it until we actually see something in writing." (Hal Dardick) *On second thought, again: After calling off an earlier protest over the status of contract negotiations with the Emanuel administration, a city workers' union has rescheduled the event. Service Employees International Union Local 73 plans to stage its protest Tuesday morning at the Thompson Center before a delegation walks across the street for a scheduled meeting at City Hall. The union has been seeking a one-year contract extension with dual 1 percent raises, but it now wants more, given slightly higher raises secured by other unions, a Local 73 spokesman said. Local 73 represents about 2,000 workers, including crossing guards, aviation officers, police detention aides, animal care and control workers, traffic control aides and parking enforcement aides. (Hal Dardick) Follow the money Advertisement *House Speaker Michael Madigan moved $500,000 from his namesake fund to the Democratic Party of Illinois account. Madigan has been getting millions of dollars from labor unions in his various political funds as he tries to defend House Democratic seats against an onslaught from Republican Gov. Rauner and his pro-business allies. *Republican state Rep. Dwight Kay reported $270,000 in help from the state GOP and House Republican Organization, a lot of it for TV ads. Kay is being challenged by Democrat Katie Stuart in a district near St. Louis. *Republican Michelle Smith reported $72,000 in help from the state GOP for direct mail. Smith is challenging Democratic Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant of Shorewood. *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *Suspect in N.Y., N.J. bombings arrested after shootout. What WaPo knows about the suspect. *Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump clash on battling terrorism after bombings. Advertisement *President Barack Obama, Iraqi leader to strategize on fight to reclaim Mosul. *Prosecutor says Gov. Chris Christie was told about plans to close bridge lanes. Mayor Emanuel talks Sept. 19, 2016, in South Shore about moving back his public safety speech that had been set for the next day. (John Byrne / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) Mayor Rahm Emanuel has delayed his major speech on policing a couple of days as he and top aides privately grapple with how to put together and present what he's called a multifaceted plan to address the city's surge in violent crime, one that's expected to include hiring more police officers. "You want to get it right and you want to make sure everybody has a chance to weigh in on what they think is important," Emanuel said Monday while leaving an event to name a South Shore water filtration plant after former mayor Eugene Sawyer. "And I'm continuing my community meetings throughout the process, listening to people about successes they're having and how do we kind of take what is a success in a neighborhood on public safety and scale it up to a city effort rather than a neighborhood effort." Advertisement Instead of Tuesday, Emanuel now plans to deliver his speech at 6 p.m. Thursday at Malcolm X College. The change allows the mayor more time to figure out how many new cops the city can afford to hire and what he'll say on a hot-button issue. It also offers Emanuel some distance from former top cop Garry McCarthy's own speech on policing Monday. After prior speeches on Chicago's challenges with disadvantaged youth and Police Department issues, Emanuel is in position to say something new on a violence problem that has gotten worse in his second term while also trying not to further alienate many African-American residents who regard him and the Police Department with deep distrust. Advertisement The messaging challenge has left Emanuel and his staff continuing to revise his big speech, sources close to the administration said. At the same time, aides continue to work on determining how many more officers the mayor can afford to hire and how he'll pay for them, the sources said. Emanuel has told aldermen he plans to hire more cops next year, but the numbers he has cited have differed. Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, said he spoke with an Emanuel aide Friday to discuss police hiring plans. "It's going to be in the ballpark of 500, but they haven't yet firmed up the number," Moore said. In recent years, Emanuel has been hiring police officers to keep up with attrition in the ranks, but it's unclear how he would go beyond that without yet again significantly raising taxes, fines or fees. Earlier this month, CPD officials acknowledged that the department is about 468 cops short of full staffing, which is 12,600 sworn officers. Hiring an additional 500 officers on top of what the city currently budgets for would cost about $50 million, City Hall officials have said. During his first term, Emanuel became known for ramrodding issues through the City Council on his own timeline. In the fallout of the Laquan McDonald police shooting controversy, the mayor has tried to appear more responsive to the criticism that he sought very little input when it came to crafting policies as mayor. Moving back the speech is just the latest in several delays Emanuel has taken on policing issues in recent months in the name of soliciting more public feedback. Emanuel first announced he'd introduce his plan to revamp oversight of the Chicago Police Department in time for a June City Council meeting, but pushed it back to July after the chairwoman of his police accountability task force called for more hearings and aldermen agreed to hold two in City Council chambers. Advertisement The mayor again delayed the release of his plan from July until August after community groups complained aldermen had not made a great enough effort to solicit public input. City Council chairmen responded by holding three neighborhood hearings and two more at City Hall. Once Emanuel detailed his plan to scrap the police oversight agency in favor of a new Civilian Office of Police Accountability, he said he'd push for passage of it at the regular Sept. 14 City Council meeting. But the mayor quickly agreed to move back that time frame after aldermen complained that they needed more time to consider the issue. So Emanuel arranged for a special City Council meeting Sept. 29 for a vote. Asked if that meeting was still on schedule, Emanuel communications director Adam Collins did not respond. Emanuel had spent weeks talking up what was supposed to be Tuesday's speech after announcing it late last month during one of his periodic appearances on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight." "As I said the other day, on Sept. 20 I'm going to give a major address on public safety," Emanuel told reporters Sept. 2. "It's a complex problem that requires a comprehensive solution." During subsequent news conferences, the mayor was asked about specific points he would touch on in his remarks, and repeatedly told reporters they would need to tune in Sept. 20 to find out. The decision to push the speech back two days also came as McCarthy, who was the mayor's police superintendent for more than four years, gave a speech on policing Monday to the City Club of Chicago. Advertisement Though he didn't mention Emanuel by name, McCarthy criticized the mayor's new emphasis on body cameras for officers and his new policy to quickly release video of police-involved shootings. Emanuel fired McCarthy on Dec. 1 amid the fallout after the release of the McDonald police shooting video. Officer Jason Van Dyke shot McDonald 16 times in the middle of the street as the black teenager held a folding knife and walked away from the white officer, the footage showed. For much of a year, Emanuel's administration fought the video's release, but a judge ultimately ordered the mayor to make it public. On the same day, prosecutors charged Van Dyke with murder, more than a year after the shooting. McCarthy said Emanuel's new policy to quickly release videos in response to the McDonald controversy amounts to "empowering criminals" and said too much of the focus in Chicago has been on police, instead of the actions of criminals. Chicago Tribune's Hal Dardick contributed. jebyrne@chicagotribune.com Advertisement bruthhart@chicagotribune.com Reporting from ABOVE NORTHERN IRAQ The pilots stared ahead at the night sky, their eyes scanning an expanse of black that was interrupted by the glittering outlines of northern Iraq's cities and towns. On the plane's port side, a large spiderweb of yellow and neon lights came into view. Advertisement "That's Mosul," said Col. Thaer Hussein, commander of the C-130J Super Hercules turboprop lumbering toward Islamic State's Iraqi capital. In the plane's loading bay, Crew Chief Sadeq Abbass and Maj. Mohammad Ismail attached themselves to cables clipped to the floor, donned gray oxygen masks and heaved the aircraft's side doors open. Advertisement As the wind roared through the plane's belly, bringing down the temperature to 23 degrees and leaving the air thin, the two officers turned to their cargo: hundreds of boxes of leaflets, divided into three large piles. Over the next hour, they would throw them over 16 cities and towns in Nineveh province, all held by Islamic State, as part of the government's largest "psy-ops" offensive against the militant group. In the battle to defeat Islamic State, which the government calls "Daesh," Iraqi forces have taken aim at the militants not only with bombs and bullets, but also through a multi-pronged media war to deflate the group's "bogeyman" image. The efforts serve as a counterweight to Islamic State's media machine, a juggernaut that produces high-quality videos, photo essays and magazines disseminated via a Hydra-like social media network. Even now, despite clearly being on the back foot in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the militants maintain their media presence and have vowed that, if ousted from their bastions, they will revert to a shadowy insurgency while continuing to push disciples in the West to conduct "lone-wolf" attacks. It was a little more than two years ago that Islamic State stormed Mosul, prompting tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers to flee for their lives in the face of an onslaught by a ragtag army of about 1,500 militants in pickups. "What happened in June 2014 was a function of psychological operations by Daesh that were able to cast terror, fear and confusion among both the armed forces and our society," said Said Jayashi, a consultant to the Iraqi government's Psychological Warfare division, in a phone interview on Wednesday. The easy capture of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, pushed the extremist group to proclaim the establishment of its caliphate over swaths of Iraq and Syria a few weeks later. Advertisement It also prompted the Iraqi government to bring together "a group of experts, composed of university professors, specialists in psychological, social and media sciences as well as intelligence and security personnel," said Jayashi. They were tasked with producing propaganda to counter Islamic State. Much of the pro-government propaganda is woven into everyday life in government-controlled areas of the country: Songs mock Islamic State (one of them, "Daesh the Dirty," insists its fighters smell and flee at the sight of loofahs), stern-eyed generals and analysts perennially predict the group's demise on talk shows, and billboards extol the heroism of Iraq's security forces. As the battles to take back Islamic State areas began in 2015, Jayashi said, "military operations had to be supported by media and psychological operations to confuse the enemy" and to reach residents living under Islamic State rule. To do this, the government uses text messages, radio and leaflets. The leaflets, especially, have played a central role. Over the last two years, the government says, its planes have cast more than 40 million of them over Islamic State areas. As the government's campaign has progressed, the airdrops have served as a prelude to the security forces' advance, leaving a paper trail extending from parts of the Syrian-Iraqi border to Salahuddin province, Ramadi and Fallujah. With the government poised to launch its offensive on Nineveh province, Jayashi said, "we are covering Mosul and surrounding areas." Advertisement The leaflets bear different messages. Some, Jayashi said, "expose the defeats of the enemy so as to confuse them, and show the truth of what is happening outside these cities." One leaflet, distributed over Mosul in June, told beleaguered residents that it was "high time that you all stand on the land of your pure city as one hand against Islamic State" and "rule the city and decide its fate." Others give more practical advice, such as those informing people of the location of humanitarian corridors or reminding them to take personal documents before evacuating their homes. Those are usually thrown 72 hours before ground forces begin their incursion on a city. The mission Tuesday, according to Hussein, the C-130J pilot, set out to drop 7 million leaflets 400 cartons. One side of the leaflet was dominated by the Iraqi flag. On its back were dates of the government's victories since October 2014. An arrow pointed to a clock with the words "Mosul: The Hour of Victory" emblazoned on top. The text at the bottom warned residents to stay away from "the headquarters of the terrorist Daesh" and to cooperate with security forces when they arrive "to bring life back to normal" in the city. Advertisement Although the leafleting would not involve direct clashes with Islamic State, it was not without danger. In a ground briefing before the flight, Hussein told reporters that he would not descend below 16,000 feet so as to avoid ground fire. "Daesh has Chinese-made antiaircraft missiles, so we don't want to risk getting hit," he said. With the plane in position over its target, officers Abbass and Ismail began to grab boxes and throw them out of the side door. Ismail explained there was no danger of the cartons falling and killing unsuspecting citizens below; the wind would quickly rip them apart. Events soon proved he was right: One of the boxes hit the lip of the doors, tearing its side and spewing leaflets in a whirling vortex of paper. Suddenly, an unintelligible message came over the plane's public address system, followed by an abrupt movement. In the cockpit, Hussein, seeing the flashes of what appeared to be antiaircraft fire, had taken the plane up to safety. Although only a little more than two-thirds of the boxes had been deployed, the mission was over. Advertisement The next day, the local news outlet Sumariyah News quoted a source in Nineveh province who said that Islamic State had mobilized its cadres to collect and destroy all the leaflets in their areas. Any resident found with a leaflet, the source said, would be lashed 20 times. One of Cayuga County's most prominent companies will have a major presence inside del Lago Resort & Casino in Tyre, Seneca County. MacKenzie-Childs, which is based in Aurora, will open a 2,000-square-foot store in the new casino. The outlet, named "Savor New York MacKenzie-Childs at del Lago," will feature the company's products and offer a selection of Finger Lakes beers, spirits, wines and cheeses. Jeff Babinski, del Lago's executive vice president and general manager, said casino officials contacted MacKenzie-Childs in April to gauge the company's interest in operating the retail outlet. "We were trying to figure out who to partner with and who would really be able to manage and take control of (Savor New York)," Babinski said. "We were throwing around different ideas and then it came to us." John Ling, CEO of MacKenzie-Childs' parent company Aurora Holdings, said they were "immediately interested." "One due to the location being close to our headquarters and being in an area with the customer base that's very familiar with our product, and one that is most likely coming to that area because of the draw of the casino but also the draw of the Finger Lakes region, which we're so very much an important part of," Ling said. Another factor in MacKenzie-Childs' decision was its past experience operating small shops in casinos. Ling said they previously had outlets in the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The company currently has a shop inside the Motor City Casino in Detroit. MacKenzie-Childs will help boost the Savor New York space, which was always a part of del Lago's plans. The area will be located just inside the main entrance to the casino. Until Tuesday's announcement, Babinski said Savor New York was lacking an identity. "MacKenzie-Childs provides that automatically," he said. "You look at the various things the region has to offer the wines, the beers, the cheese MacKenzie-Childs offers all of that that goes along with it. They make wine glasses, foodware, cookware, table and kitchen items, furniture. What better product to highlight your wine if you're drinking it out of a MacKenzie-Childs wine glass? "It basically takes it to another level and provides an even bigger draw than we could've done on our own because MacKenzie-Childs has such a huge following." Ling said the outlet will feature MacKenzie-Childs products and the Jay Strongwater brand of home furnishings. Select Finger Lakes breweries, cheesemakers and wineries will be showcased in the store. The current plan, according to Ling, is rotate some of the beverage and food producers in and out. "Del Lago is really letting us take the lead from a retail perspective," Ling said. "We have to both mutually approve which brands will be represented as part of the collection, but being the experts in the area we're really driving that piece of it and making sure that we try to get the best cross-section and representation of brands from around the Finger Lakes region." Babinski added, "They're a well-known brand. It's quality. To me, it was perfect for the area and a perfect way to highlight everything this region has to offer. And they're right there in our backyard." The casino and store will open in February. The resort's 205-room hotel is scheduled to open in July 2017. TULSA, Okla. Investigators found the drug PCP in the vehicle of an unarmed black man fatally shot by a white officer, according to Oklahoma police, but attorneys for the slain man's family say a discussion of drugs distracts from questions about the use of deadly force. Tulsa Sgt. Dave Walker told the Tulsa World on Tuesday that investigators recovered one vial of PCP in Terence Crutcher's SUV, but he declined to say where in the vehicle it was found or whether officers determined if Crutcher used it Friday night. Walker confirmed to The Associated Press that what he told the newspaper was true, but declined further comment. Advertisement A spokeswoman for the state medical examiner's office said autopsy and toxicology results for Crutcher are pending, and police said Tuesday the toxicology report could take several weeks. Attorneys for Crutcher's family said the man's relatives did not know whether drugs were found in his vehicle and, even if they were, that wouldn't justify his fatal shooting. Advertisement "Let us not be throwing a red herring, and to say because something was found in the car that was justification to shoot him," said attorney Benjamin Crump, one of the family's lawyers. Crump compared Crutcher's shooting to Monday's arrest of New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, who police say engaged officers in a shootout. "He wasn't killed. So why was an unarmed black man who has committed no crime, who only needs a hand, given bullets in his lungs?" Crump said. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby fatally shot the 40-year-old on Friday after responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Sgt. Shane Tuell said Tuesday that Shelby had a stun gun at the time but did not use it. Officer Tyler Turnbough, who is also white, used a stun gun on Crutcher, police said. Two 911 calls described an SUV that had been abandoned in the middle of the road. One unidentified caller said the driver was acting strangely, adding, "I think he's smoking something." PCP or phencyclidine, also called angel dust, can cause slurred speech, loss of coordination and a sense of strength or invulnerability, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. At high doses, it can cause hallucinations and paranoia. Oklahoma prison officials confirmed Tuesday that Crutcher served four years in prison on a drug conviction from 2007 to 2011. But Damario Solomon-Simmons, another attorney for Crutcher's family, said Shelby and other officers had no way of knowing about Crutcher's background or the potential for drugs in his vehicle when they approached him Friday. Advertisement "It's undisputed that the officers on the scene had no idea what may be in Terence's car," Solomon-Simmons said. "At that particular moment that he was shot, he was not a suspect for any crime. Period." Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot. It's not clear from dashcam and aerial footage what led Shelby to draw her gun or what orders officers gave Crutcher. Shelby's attorney, Scott Wood, said Crutcher was not following the officers' commands and that Shelby was concerned because he kept reaching for his pocket as if he was carrying a weapon. "He has his hands up and is facing the car and looks at Shelby, and his left hand goes through the car window, and that's when she fired her shot," Wood told the Tulsa World. But attorneys for Crutcher's family challenged that claim Tuesday, presenting an enlarged photo from the police footage that appeared to show that Crutcher's window was rolled up. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted and whether Crutcher's civil rights were violated. Advertisement Hundreds of protesters rallied Tuesday night outside police headquarters in downtown Tulsa calling for Shelby to be fired. "Police treated Crutcher differently than they would if a white person had been stopped in a similar instance," said Sharon Smith, 60, an African-American resident of the suburb of Broken Arrow. Organizers urged participants to remain peaceful, and the protesters dispersed before nightfall without any incidents. Police helicopter footage was among several clips released Monday that show the shooting and aftermath. A man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying "time for a Taser" and then: "That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something." Betty Shelby's mother-in-law, Lois Shelby, said the officer is grieving for Crutcher's family and isn't prejudiced. She told the AP in a phone interview Tuesday that Shelby "thought she had to protect her own life" when she shot Crutcher. "She wouldn't harm anyone. We're all sick. We feel for the (Crutcher) family," Lois Shelby said. "But, you know, we have a family that goes out every day and faces life and death. And when she is being accused of things she didn't do wrong, it's too much, and they don't think about our family." Advertisement Betty Shelby declined comment, referring calls to her attorney. Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female officer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the driver's side of the SUV, more officers arrive and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle before the officers surround him. Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, "I think he may have just been tasered." Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, "Shots fired!" and Crutcher is left lying in the street. Shelby's attorney, Wood, said Turnbough fired the stun gun at the same time Shelby opened fire because both perceived a threat. The shooting comes four months after ex-Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction in an unarmed black man's 2015 death. Bates said he mistakenly grabbed his gun instead of his Taser. Shelby worked as a Tulsa County sheriff's deputy for four years before joining the Tulsa Police Department in December 2011, officials said. She has been placed on paid leave. Associated Press Hillary Clinton tells us she is recovering from a mild case of pneumonia, but less than half of American voters believe her belated explanation of why she appeared to faint leaving a 9/11 commemoration. If she wants to understand why, she can find the answer in a children's poem. In his 1907 classic, "Matilda Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death," Hilaire Belloc tells the story of a young girl who "told such Dreadful Lies, It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes." One day Matilda calls in a false alarm to London's fire brigade, and as punishment is left home alone while her aunt goes to the theater: Advertisement That Night a Fire did break out-- You should have heard Matilda Shout! Advertisement You should have heard her Scream and Bawl, And throw the window up and call To People passing in the Street ... but all in vain! For every time She shouted "Fire!" They only answered "Little Liar!" And therefore when her Aunt returned, Matilda, and the House, were Burned. Today, it is the American people who have been burned, time and again, by Hillary Clinton's dreadful lies. Let's review just a few examples of her serial dishonesty: Advertisement She lied repeatedly about her emails. She lied when she said she had "turned over everything I was obligated to turn over" (FBI Director James Comey said the FBI "discovered several thousand work-related e-mails that were not among the group of 30,000 e-mails returned by Secretary Clinton to state in 2014"). She lied when she said there was "no classified material" in her private emails ... that there was nothing "classified at the time" ... and that there was nothing "marked classified" in her private emails all of which the FBI director said were untrue. And, to top it all off, she lied about her lies declaring on national television that "Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people" a claim The Post's Fact Checker gave "Four Pinocchios." Clinton lied to the American people about Benghazi. At 10:08 p.m. the night of the attack, she issued a statement that blamed the attack on "inflammatory material posted on the Internet" with no mention of terrorism or al-Qaeda. But an hour later, at 11:12 p.m. she emailed her daughter, Chelsea: "Two of our officers were killed in Benghazi by an Al Queda-like [sic] group." The next day in a phone call with the Egyptian prime minister, Clinton said: "We know the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest." Yet two days later, as she welcomed the caskets of the fallen in Dover, Del., she blamed that attack on "an awful Internet video that we had nothing to do with." She lied about a trip she made to Bosnia, claiming that she and her team arrived "under sniper fire," skipped the arrival ceremony and "just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." In fact, a video shows her being greeted on the tarmac by Bosnian officials and an 8-year-old Muslim girl, Emina Bicakcic, who read a poem in English and told Clinton, "There is peace now." She lied about her family history. In 2015, she said she could relate to illegal immigrants because "all my grandparents" immigrated to the United States. When BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski pointed out that three of Clinton's four grandparents were born in the United States, a Clinton spokesman said "her grandparents always spoke about the immigrant experience and, as a result she has always thought of them as immigrants." And her dishonesty stretches back decades. As the late, great William Safire pointed out in a 1996 New York Times column, she delivered a "blizzard of lies" as first lady about Whitewater, the firing of White House travel aides, her representation of a criminal enterprise known as the Madison S&L and how she made a 10,000 percent profit in 1979 commodity trading simply by studying the Wall Street Journal. Even back then, Safire concluded, Clinton was "a congenital liar." Today, the American people agree. A recent NBC News poll found that just 11 percent of Americans say Clinton is honest and trustworthy. To put that in perspective, 14 percent of American voters believe in Bigfoot. In other words, more Americans believe that a large, hairy, hominoid creature inhabits the forest of North America than believe that Hillary Clinton tells the truth. Advertisement So if Clinton wonders why so many believe she is lying about her health, it is because she has lied so many times, about so many things, that most Americans no longer believe a word she says even if she's telling the truth. When she opens her mouth, people look at her like Belloc's Matilda and say, "Little Liar." Washington Post Marc A. Thiessen, a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and former chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush, writes a weekly online column for The Post. Fighters with Islamic State are seen marching in Raqqa, Syria, in an undated photo posted on an extremist website Jan. 14, 2014. (Militant website via AP) I used to tell jokes about my lady mustache. I thought it was important to let everyone know about my struggle to rip follicles from the root of my face, armpit and chest every three weeks at a cost of 50 pounds a go. It was a frivolous routine, but that's how I liked my comedy then apolitical and areligious. As a British woman of Pakistani Muslim descent, there was always a pressure to explain "my people" so occasionally I'd liven it up with a few jokes about suicide bombers or arranged marriage, but mostly I stuck to the superficial. Advertisement One day after doing a show that I thought was funny, a journalist asked why I was making jokes about something as trivial as my mustache. This certainly wasn't the first time someone's expected me to be a professional full-time representative of my religion, and, as always, it was too much. I wanted to joke about what I wanted to joke about. So I continued to seek refuge in my mustache and revert to mundane material. I was just like everyone else, which is exactly what I wanted. Advertisement It went on like this until February 2015, when three teenage girls from London packed up their bags and went to join the Islamic State. The news created a media firestorm across the United Kingdom. Most teenagers were reading "Harry Potter" or watching "RuPaul's Drag Race," but these girls decided to join the world's worst most barbaric terrorist group? The story, however, rang differently for me. I immediately thought I knew why they had gone, and felt I had to say something. So I made it an entire comedy routine. I had known girls like this. As a native Brit, I had been brought up like these young women, and I instinctively realized that their rash decision had nothing to do with religion. This feeling was confirmed as I watched one of the girls' sisters explain. "My sister was into normal teenage things," she said, "She used to watch 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians.'" Yes, I thought, that's probably exactly why they left. I wrote a show about the episode dubbed, of course, "The Kardashians Made Me Do It" and based my material on actual things the girls said and did. For instance, police investigating the families' homes found a handwritten checklist one of the girls made of things to buy before she left: makeup, body lotion ... and an electric hair remover. "Wait, you're going to join a sixth-century barbaric terrorist organization, and you are thinking of doing your bikini line? They're not going to let you out of the cave, never mind let you shave your legs. And if you're doing your bikini line, you're probably too old for them anyway." In this way, my show makes clear that the reason I think these girls have gone is not radicalization; it's sexualization. They've seen these ISIS guys on TV, and yes, they're barbaric. But they're also macho, they've got a rebellious cause they're hot! These girls think they're going to get an AK-toting Muslim version of Brad Pitt. Oh how wrong they are. There's nothing new about being attracted to the bad boys, even if they are barbaric men. They're just the latest to join the unfortunate club. After taking the show public, I expected hate mail. Instead, the overwhelming response to my show has been audience members telling me things like, "I never saw it that way, you made me see things differently," or "I was laughing. I didn't expect to be laughing at this!" The only serious backlash I've received for the show has come from the right-wing media, who have suggested I was a terrorist sympathizer. Ironically, those same right-wing mouthpieces expect "my people" to condemn violence committed by any Muslim-identified terrorist anywhere in the world. Yet when I speak up to belittle and satirize ISIS for the absurdity of the fake jihad-chic lifestyle they sell, I get told to shut up. Advertisement It made me realize that when media talking heads say, "Why aren't Muslims speaking up?" they don't really want us to speak up. We ruin their tidy us-vs.-them narrative. It's not that they don't want to hear jokes about ISIS; it's just that they want to hear them from comics like Louis C.K., Bill Burr and Daniel Tosh safe white guys they can relate to and feel comfortable with. I'm a brown Muslim woman who is suggesting other ways to look at these situations. Fortunately, freedom of speech that valuable touchstone of Western democracy usually comes around to making room for new voices. This is especially true in comedy. The Jews were able to make fun of the Holocaust. The Irish were able to make fun of the Irish Republican Army. Now it's time for Muslims to be funny. Let us fight the war on terror with laughter it may work even better than the bombs. Zocalo Public Square Shazia Mirza is a U.K.-based stand-up comedian and writer now on tour with her show, "The Kardashians Made Me Do It." I moderated presidential debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012. It's an experience like no other. People don't believe me when I say I don't get nervous on television, but I don't. I've done it so long that it has become second nature to me, like a veteran ballplayer getting so zoned in that he forgets he's playing in front of a crowd. Advertisement But as I was standing backstage before my first debate George W. Bush and John Kerry in 2004 I looked down at my hands and realized I was shaking like a leaf. I hadn't had stage fright in 30 years. Yet, as I stood there thinking how the race for the most powerful office in the world could be influenced by what happened that night while millions upon millions of people were watching, it made me a nervous wreck. Then it came to me. For sure, this was the World Series of politics, but the people who should be nervous were the players. I was just the umpire. With that in mind, I settled my nerves. Advertisement It's also why I believe the most important advice I can give to a moderator is this: Remember that nobody goes to a ballgame to watch the umpire. We're not electing a national moderator; we're electing a president. If you keep that in mind, the whole thing gets easier. Over the years, I've been asked to define the moderator's role. To me, the moderator's main responsibility is to give the viewers a better and more complete understanding of who the candidates are, and it's more than where they stand on issues. Television journalist Bob Schieffer, center, moderates a 2012 presidential debate between President Barack Obama, right, and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Oct. 22, 2012, at the start of the third presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. (Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images) A vote for president is different from any other vote we cast. We often vote for local government candidates strictly on issues. Candidate A wants to put a stoplight at a certain intersection, for example. If we're for that, we vote for him; if we're against it, we vote for the other person. Not so for presidential elections. Issues are important. Party affiliation is important. But in presidential elections, I believe most Americans cast their votes for the person they feel most comfortable with in time of crisis. So the moderators must do their best to help viewers understand not only where the candidates come down on the issues but also how they react under pressure, whether they seem to know their stuff and whether they appear to have the poise and, yes, the courage to handle the awesome responsibilities of the presidency. In the 2004 debate, I noted that like me, both Bush and Kerry were married to smart women and had two daughters. So I asked, "What is the most important thing you've learned from these smart women?" Bush said "to listen to them." Advertisement Referring to his wealthy wife, Kerry brought down the house when he said, "The president and you and I are three examples of lucky people who married up. And some would say maybe me more so than others." I thought it showed a side of both men we hadn't seen. A good laugh also keeps people awake. One of the toughest assignments for the moderators is fact-checking in real time when they don't have the luxury of looking something up. All the moderators this year are veteran journalists, so I'm confident they will have done their homework and be familiar with the issues before the debates. But it's more complicated than that. I believe the chief fact-checkers are the candidates. If one of them says something that is dead wrong or inconsistent with what he or she has said previously, the other candidate should have the first opportunity to call his or her opponent on it. Advertisement This gives the viewers a chance to judge how knowledgeable both of the candidates are. If neither candidate catches the inaccuracy, then the moderator must step in, set the record straight and, if necessary, ask a question about it. With more and more misleading, distorted and downright wrong information finding its way into campaign dialogue this year, moderators should be prepared to say, "Candidates, for the record, there is no evidence to support that," or words to that effect. The moderators' greatest challenge in this year's debates may not be fact-checking but keeping the candidates from hogging the 15 minutes allotted to discuss each of the 10 topics. The last two debates I moderated, I sat at a table with the candidates. Having them in close proximity made reining them in easier. Maybe I'm wrong, but I also thought it made them more reluctant to hurl personal insults. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump so despise each other, I doubt either would agree to sit at the same table. If they do get out of line, the moderator must remind them forcefully, if necessary that voters expect them to abide by rules they both agreed to. Advertisement And one final tip to moderators: If the candidates start throwing things, just dive under the table. Considering what we've seen this year, we'll all understand. Washington Post Bob Schieffer, a political contributor to CBS News, hosted "Face the Nation" from 1991 to 2015. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, shown via video link from Russia in 2015, has suggested that he would like to return to the U.S. if his lawyers could negotiate a plea deal. (Frederick Florin / Getty-AFP) Over the weekend, the new Oliver Stone movie on National Security Agency leaker-extraordinaire Edward Snowden clunked into theaters and drew tepid crowds. At the same time, the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have launched what they bill as a major effort to persuade President Barack Obama to pardon Snowden. Advertisement The Snowdenites hope that the fawning movie will spare their hero from espionage charges. To gin up some urgency, the pardonsnowden.org website countdown clock is ticking off the days, minutes and seconds until Obama leaves office. The Snowden apologists evidently realize that President Hillary Clinton or President Donald Trump wouldn't risk the political backlash if they were to go easy on Snowden. Advertisement Our capsule review of this effort: Two thumbs down. Snowden has suggested that he would like to return to the United States if his lawyers could negotiate a plea deal. Presumably Snowden has grown weary of Russian President Vladimir Putin's hospitality and, we're guessing, the intense scrutiny under which he undoubtedly finds himself. Snowden says he would consider serving a prison term as part of a plea bargain arranged before he leaves his Russian sanctuary, The New York Times reports. How magnanimous. As we said in 2014 when Snowden supporters first dangled the issue of amnesty: Come home, Ed. We'll welcome you with open arms and a pair of handcuffs. We can show you all the damage you caused. And maybe we'll let a judge and jury decide your fate. Then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder took the right approach in 2014: He rejected amnesty for Snowden but did not rule out the possibility of plea negotiations, if Snowden returns. "If Mr. Snowden wanted to come back to the United States and enter a plea, we would engage with his lawyers," Holder said. Two years later, we would support the same deal: No amnesty, no pardon. Snowden should return to the U.S. and face whatever charges the Department of Justice levies. If his lawyers think they can limit those charges in return for his surrender, they're welcome to try. It's a free country. (The U.S., that is.) Snowden's actions caused immense damage to America's national security interests. A day before the movie's release, a House Intelligence Committee report debunked the myth of Snowden The Noble Whistleblower who did more good than harm. "Snowden's actions did severe damage to U.S. national security, compromising the Intelligence Community's anti-terror efforts and endangering the security of the American people as well as active-duty U.S. troops," the committee said. American intelligence officials still don't know the full extent of the harm, the report says. Some of the damage may not be known for years. The government has, however, spent hundreds of millions of dollars and eventually will spend billions to clean up the mess and "mitigate the damage" Snowden caused. Advertisement The 22 House committee members sent a unanimous, bipartisan letter to Obama urging him not to pardon Snowden. Bulletin: Democrats and Republicans agreed. "Edward Snowden is no hero he's a traitor who willfully betrayed his colleagues and his country," Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the committee chairman, said in a statement. Snowden's argument that he acted to defend Americans' privacy were "self-serving and false," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member of the committee. "While those disclosures did spark a useful public debate, the collateral damage has been extraordinary." Three years ago, a self-satisfied Snowden declared victory. "For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished," he told The Washington Post. "I already won." That victory may not be so sweet any more. Not when the reward is a permanent address under Putin's thumb. Snowden stole and released thousands of pages of documents that endangered likely still endanger U.S. lives. He exposed secrets whose impact he could not possibly comprehend. That's what he calls winning. Advertisement To us, that doesn't sound like a whistleblower who should be celebrated. That sounds like someone who should be in a U.S. prison. Come home, Ed. Make your case. Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook. Voting booths are set up for early voting at the Black Hawk County Courthouse on Sept. 27, 2012, in Waterloo, Iowa. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) Really? Are there really undecided voters left? Yes, as hard as it may be for most of us to believe, after putting up with the ads and soundbites of the presidential race for more than a year, polls show almost 10 percent of voters still haven't made up their minds. Advertisement That's typical. I used to make fun of such voters. I thought they were pathologically indecisive, like people in a supermarket checkout line who go into paralysis when asked to choose paper or plastic. But give them some respect. With national polls and some crucial battleground states tightening, the holdouts deserve new respect. There are more than enough of them to decide whether experienced Democrat Hillary Clinton or entertaining Republican Donald Trump will be our next president. Advertisement To get more insight into their frame of mind, I spent Friday evening with a roomful of undecided voters on the other side of a one-way mirror from me and about a dozen other journalists. Republican pollster Frank Luntz, a superstar convener of focus groups, organized the three-hour session for AARP in Alexandria, a pearl on the Potomac River in the important battleground state of Virginia. The group consisted of 30 people, including 11 women, a range of age brackets and a sprinkling of black, Hispanic and Asian-Americans. Ten said they voted for President Barack Obama twice, 15 voted against him twice, four said they had voted for him once. (The last was a first-time voter.) One of the black men said he voted for Republican Sen. John McCain in 2008. That surprised me for a moment. Blacks who voted against Obama even once and admit it are almost as rare as unicorns. But getting past our stereotypes to find out how voters really feel is why we turn to focus groups. This group of voters was fed up, and they let us know it. They didn't like either major party's nominee. When Luntz asked for one-word descriptions of Clinton, participants called out responses like "deceitful," "slimy," "liar," "untrustworthy" and "corruption." Trump was described as "crazy," "unstable," "unbalanced," "arrogant," "a bigot," a "buffoon" and "megalomaniac." A few said without enthusiasm that they might consider an alternative party's candidate, such as Libertarian Gary Johnson or the Green Party's Jill Stein, although neither was catching fire with this group. The group was shown an array of attack ads and feel-good spots for both candidates and asked to rate each one, moment-to-moment with hand-held dials. Advertisement They liked an ad in which Clinton promised to work with Republicans. But they also liked an anti-Clinton ad that featured a retired naval officer challenging Clinton about her emails and national security asked during NBC's recent "Commander-in-Chief Forum." "It's on the spot," one participant said. "It's not staged. There's no performance." At one point near the end, Luntz left the room briefly to talk to the journos in the observation room. "We have now reached the point," he said, "when even the standard soundbites do not work." They've heard it all before, over and over again, Luntz said. Most of the group was disturbed by Trump's negative ads and actions, such as his criticism of the Muslim parents of a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq. They were no less troubled by Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. The ad with the naval officer connected because it featured a real person earnestly asking a real question, instead of a professional announcer. As the late comedian George Burns used to say, the secret to success in life is sincerity: "If you can fake that, you've got it made." Undecided voters, as evidenced by Luntz's group, are turned off by the fakery, attack ads and attack soundbites. They're looking for solutions. Trump's ads offered more diagnoses than prescriptions. Clinton offered proposals but without a unifying or inspiring theme. For both, positive messages were more welcome than negative ones but also more rare. Advertisement Luntz suggested the election may well come down to who Americans would rather wake up to as their next president on the morning after Election Day. If so, I think Clinton's best hope may be that undecided voters choose the flawed candidate they know over the flawed newcomer they don't. Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage. cpage@chicagotribune.com Twitter @cptime Construction of the $440 million casino in Seneca County is entering its final phase. Jeff Babinski, executive vice president and general manager of del Lago Resort & Casino, said Tuesday that construction of the facility is about 74 percent complete. The most recent progress at the site includes the placement of the hotel's exterior, which Babinski said "went up overnight." "The whole plan is to get that enclosed so that once winter hits, we're not focused on the outside. We're focused on the interior of the casino and the hotel," he said. According to Babinski, there are more than 600 construction workers on site daily. The casino is on track to open in February. The 205-room hotel should open four to six months after that, he said. "I'm very happy with the way construction is going," Babinski said. With construction progressing, Babinski and the management team are focusing on hiring for various positions within the casino. Del Lago recently held job fairs in Auburn and Geneva to provide more information about available positions, specifically dealers for poker and other table games. The casino will hold two dealer schools for trainees over the next two months. The first session begins Oct. 3, Babinski said. The second will start on Nov. 28. The dealer school is free for the roughly 480 people who will be admitted into the training program. Students who successfully finish dealer school will be given an opportunity to apply and audition for a job at del Lago. Del Lago will hire close to 500 full- and part-time dealers. The casino is expected to have 1,800 total employees. There has been significant interest in positions at del Lago, especially from those who live close to the casino. "Over half of our applications are from within a 20-mile radius of the casino, so we're really excited about that," Babinski said. U.S. Rep. John Katko is urging two federal commissions to quickly review and approve the transfer of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Oswego County. Exelon agreed to acquire FitzPatrick from Entergy in August. The $110 million transaction is subject to the approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Katko, R-Camillus, sent letters to both commissions calling for the "prompt transfer" of the plant, which employs more than 600 people. "I join FitzPatrick employees, their families and community leaders throughout Oswego County and central New York in celebrating the news that FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant will remain open yet, approval by these federal decision-makers is the final hurdle in ensuring that the plant remains operational," Katko said. FitzPatrick's future was in doubt after Entergy announced in November 2015 its intent to close the plant. The company cited financial conditions for the potential closure of the facility in Scriba, a town in Oswego County. Negotiations between state officials and Entergy weren't successful, so the company moved forward with plans to close the plant in January 2017. Earlier this summer, Entergy announced that it was discussing the potential sale of FitzPatrick with Exelon, an energy company with upstate New York properties. In August, the companies announced that Exelon would acquire FitzPatrick from Entergy and continue to operate the Scriba plant. A major factor in the negotiations was the state's adoption of a Clean Energy Standard, which would provide support for struggling nuclear power plants. "We look forward to bringing FitzPatrick's highly skilled team of professionals into the Exelon Generation nuclear program, and to continue delivering to New York the environmental, economic and grid reliability benefits of this important energy asset," Exelon President and CEO Chris Crane said in a statement. But before the deal is finalized, it must be reviewed by federal regulators. Katko said he's hopeful that the commissions "will act swiftly and fairly" in its assessment of the transfer. "Final approval of this agreement will ensure that the hundreds of skilled, well-paying jobs remain stable and that FitzPatrick's reliable, emissions-free generating capacity is maintained," he said. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik's chided Democratic challenger Mike Derrick for a comment made by one of his campaign surrogates Friday that both sides agree was inappropriate. A speaker at the opening of Derrick's campaign office in St. Lawrence County said, "We do not need a congresswoman like Elsie Stefanik, or Elsie the Cow, whatever you want to call her." The remarks can be heard in a video that was posted to YouTube Monday. It's not clear from the video who the speaker was, but the Watertown Daily Times reported it was Ernest LaBaff, president emeritus of the Aluminum, Brick and Glassworkers International Union. Stefanik's campaign issued a statement calling the comments "unacceptable and completely inappropriate." "Equally unacceptable is the fact that Mike Derrick stood silently by and failed to immediately repudiate the personal slur," the campaign said. "This individual should be reprimanded and asked to resign from his leadership position, and Mike Derrick should immediately ensure he has no future association with his campaign." Derrick agreed that LaBaff's comment was inappropriate. He said in a statement that his campaign doesn't condone "any language that disparages women." He added, "There's never room for name-calling in our political discourse, plain and simple. I encourage Congresswoman Stefanik to take her own advice here and repudiate her support for Donald Trump and the sexist name-calling that permeates his campaign. If she takes issue with this kind of language, how can she support a presidential candidate who has a consistent record of objectifying and belitting women, not to mention veterans and Gold Star families?" It's not the first time Republicans have accused Derrick's campaign of sexism. A letter to the editor published in July and reposted on Derrick's campaign Facebook page referred to Stefanik as an "errand girl" and questioned whether she wanted to get close to "the cologne zone of dream date Paul Ryan." The letter drew criticism from the GOP. Derrick didn't remove the post from his Facebook page. Aurora police are asking the public for help locating a 24-year-old man charged with killing a man Sept. 4 outside a girl's third birthday party in the city. Efrain Salgado, whose last known address is in the 500 block of Aurora's Oakwood Avenue, is wanted for first-degree murder in the shooting death of Andres Ochoa, 31, of the 900 block of Solfisburg Avenue, police announced Tuesday. Advertisement Police responded to a shooting at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 4 in the 600 block of High Street and found Ochoa unconscious and apparently struck by gunfire, according to an Aurora Police Department news release. Paramedics took Ochoa to Presence Mercy Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. During their investigation, police learned that both Ochoa and Salgado had been at a family gathering when a disturbance broke out, according to the news release. Sometime during that disturbance, Salgado fired a shot at Ochoa, striking him in his upper body, according to police. Advertisement The day after the shooting, police secured the murder charge through the Kane County state's attorney's office and a sealed arrest warrant was issued for Salgado, according to police. Police say they have not been able to find Salgado "despite an immense search." Salgado is described in the news release as a male Hispanic, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Police say Salgado should be considered armed and dangerous, and anyone who comes into contact with him should call 911 immediately and not attempt to detain him. Salgado is currently on parole through the Illinois Department of Corrections, which currently lists him as an "absconder." State records show he was taken into custody in August 2011, admitted to prison in January 2013, and released on parole in December 2014. Available records state his projected discharge date for that sentence is "to be determined." He was sentenced in 2012 to concurrent sentences of two years and six years in state prison, according to Kane County records. For an offense he committed as a juvenile, Salgado had been confined to his home with electronic device monitoring, and the only reason he was allowed to leave home was to seek employment, according to an indictment in that case. In 2010, he was charged with escape. In 2011, he was charged with escape or violating monitoring while in possession of a weapon, records show. Advertisement Salgado was found to be away from home on Aug. 22, 2011, not seeking employment, knowingly carrying a gun and ammunition while on land "other than his own," according to charging documents. Charging documents in that case also state that Salgado was the member of a street gang. However, police believe the recent shooting was motivated by a personal dispute that was not gang-related, spokesman Dan Ferrelli said in an email. No other arrests have been made in connection to the Sept. 4 disturbance and shooting, but they have not been ruled out, Ferrelli said. Family and friends interviewed by the Beacon-News said Ochoa had been at a child's birthday party at a dance studio moments before the shooting. He had a 10-year-old daughter and a baby boy due in December, the Beacon-News previously reported. Police ask anyone with information about Salgado's whereabouts to call Aurora police investigators at 630-256-5500 or Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and qualify for a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to any arrests. Advertisement People also can submit tips through the Aurora Police Department's free My PD app available through iTunes, the Android Market or Amazon App Store. hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone A group of students from Bednarcik Junior High School being honored by the Aurora City Council for their work on energy conservation. (Steve Lord/Chicago Tribune) It was a good first year for a group of students concerned about energy conservation at Bednarcik Junior High School in Oswego. The group, part of the National Energy Education Development program, which is funded by energy companies, got to travel to Washington, D.C., and was recognized as the rookie group of the year by the national program. That earned them some recent accolades from the city of Aurora and the Aurora City Council. Advertisement "Most junior high kids this summer they were looking at, what water park do I go to," said Alderman Edward Bugg, 9th Ward. "They weren't thinking about energy conservation and going to Washington, D.C., and picking up a rookie of the year award. Kris Bryant was a rookie of the year, and they're talking about him being MVP ... we might be looking at some MVPs next year." Students at Bednarcik Junior High School in Oswego get certificates from the Aurora City Coucil praising their work in the National Energy Education Development program. (Steve Lord / The Beacon-News) Amy Truemper, a teacher at Bednarcik who got the students interested in energy conservation, said the NEED program was developed to foster "energy education in schools." The students hosted an energy fair dedicated to looking at ways to reduce energy consumption, she said. Advertisement "I'm so proud of the work they got done in just a couple of weeks' time," she said. Bednarcik Junior High is in the Oswego School District, but is made up of students who live in Aurora, in the southeast corner of the city, in the 9th Ward. slord@tribpub.com Longtime Aurora resident Jose Luis Del Bosque has announced he will run for mayor of Aurora in the April 2017 municipal election. "This campaign is about bringing to the citizens of Aurora a clear message about the important issues that need to be addressed and talked about in the election of our next mayor," Del Bosque said. Advertisement He said "the infrastructure and the continued growth of our city is vital to every citizen of Aurora, neighboring suburbs and our state." If he and the other four candidates who have declared they would run all file in December, it would force a February 2017 primary election, because there would be five candidates. Four candidates would not force a primary.The other potential candidates are: state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora; Rick Guzman, assistant chief to current Mayor Tom Weisner; Ald. Richard Irvin, at large, and Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward. Advertisement In his announcement, Del Bosque said one of the reasons he is running is he believes "having a fifth candidate is important for Aurora, so that we can have a primary election process " He hopes a primary will "focus on the issues facing our city today, and the future of Aurora." Del Bosque said his campaign will include events such as forums across the city inviting community leaders, church pastors, small business owners and residents of all ages to learn about the vision he has for keeping Aurora a "great city." "Aurora is a great city, thanks to Mayor Tom Weisner and the city workers that keep us safe," he said. "I am running for mayor because I believe the people of this great city need to hear the voice of those who also would like to lead Aurora into a possible great future with their plans and vision." This is Del Bosque's second foray into politics. In 2010, he ran for Kane County clerk on the Green Party ticket. Del Bosque said he has been active in his church, Sacred Heart in Aurora, for many years, helping form a youth group to battle gang membership in the city. At one time, the group had more than 100 youth members, he said. He fought for more than 14 years to have his church rebuilt after a fire destroyed it. Del Bosque is a member of Family Focus, where he helped get a grant for the organization, which allowed him to head a program called The New Americans Initiative. He has been a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, and helped to open the Habitat for Humanity Restore located at the Fox Valley mall, where he has been head cashier and helped write and implement policies and procedures for that department. Advertisement Del Bosque is a graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School and went to Waubonsee Community College for computer programming. He has lived in Aurora since 1972. Mayor Weisner has announced he is not running for re-election due to health reasons. slord@tribpub.com All was quiet as Rabia Haj Ali walked through Aurora last week. Pausing to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, she watched as the only other moving presence - a small black squirrel - lolloped across the neatly cut lawns. For Rabia, the silence felt unnerving. In her Syrian hometown of Daraa, a quiet street signaled danger and the need to move inside. "It's hard to believe you're safe when the brain is still on high alert," she said. "This takes some getting used to." Advertisement Two months ago, 36-year-old Rabia and her family had never heard of Aurora. And yet here they were, the state's newest arrivals in a nationwide resettlement program that last month reached its goal of welcoming 10,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year. The issue of what to do about Syria's refugee crisis - the worst globally since World War II - takes center stage Monday and Tuesday in New York as leaders gather at the U.N. General Assembly for the first global summit on migration. Advertisement After a slow start, the pace of resettlement across 231 U.S. municipalities now averages 2,200 Syrian refugees a month. On Thursday, the White House signaled that rate was set to increase in the new fiscal cycle, as the United States prepares to admit an additional 110,000 refugees, including but not only Syrians, in the year beginning Oct. 1. But while refugee advocates welcome that commitment, in states like Illinois, the increase in numbers has put pressure on resettlement groups, leaving some families without formal housing on arrival, even as staff and volunteers work overtime to make the entry of large and often traumatized families run as smoothly as possible. After spending their first week in a small house with their cousins - already a family of seven - the seven Haj Alis are now living in temporary accommodation while resettlement agencies search for a permanent home. "We want to welcome people and to place them on a path to thrive. But our willingness to help and our capacity are two very different things," said Melineh Kano, the executive director of Refugee One, one of the main groups working with refugees in the Chicago area. Fouad Haj Ali holds prayer beads his family brought from Syria. (Kristen Norman / The Washington Post) Rooms in the Haj Ali household are spartan but clean - Rabia makes sure of it - and are filled mostly with toys and books donated by the community. The five children are learning English and getting used to life in different schools across the city. For Boshra, the youngest at 8, it's a bewildering experience. As the only Arabic speaker in her school, she understands little, but her teachers are using an array of translation devices to help her settle in. Shy with dark brown eyes like her mother's, Boshra shoots out of the school gates as she sees her parents approach. She has something to report. "They're calling it an 'iPad,' " she whispered to Rabia, cocking an eyebrow as she sounded out the syllables. "None of them find this easy, but we know this is the best place for our children," said Rabia, speaking through a translator. "These schools will give them a chance we could never give them once the war started. That is worth everything." Advertisement The acceptance of families like the Haj Alis has become a campaign issue, and Donald Trump insists that the United States knows little about the refugees it accepts. "We don't know where these people come from," he told supporters Wednesday night in Canton, Ohio. "We don't know if they have love or hate in their heart, and there's no way to tell." Rabia countered with a laugh that, "If there's a detail about me the Americans don't know, then I probably don't know it myself." To qualify for resettlement in the United States, a refugee must first be identified by the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR as one of the most vulnerable cases among the 4.8 million to have been registered since the Syrian crisis began in 2011. Next, refugee specialists with the Departments of State and Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center collect basic biographical information, running names, birth dates and fingerprints through databases, and assess the plausibility of the background story. Only then will the family make it to a face-to-face interview in either Jordan, Lebanon or Turkey, where most Syrian refugees live. Three years after fleeing Daraa with just a set of house keys and the clothes on their backs, the Haj Alis' interview took place amid the tightest security they had ever seen. "It was like they were scared of us," said Rabia's husband, Fouad. "It was funny, really, because that whole time we were scared of them, too." For months, President Barack Obama's promise to admit 10,000 refugees this year had seemed like a distant dream, as tight vetting procedures stemmed the monthly flow to the low hundreds. But the numbers increased in May, after the administration beefed up resources devoted to resettlement. Advertisement Crucial to this effort was the establishment of a temporary "surge" center in the Jordanian capital, Amman, that helped cut the average acceptance period from 24 to 12 months, interviewing about 600 Syrians each day. An interview can last from dawn to dusk, breaking only for a lunch of rice, beans and Coca Cola, with four separate screening panels. "They asked us everything," said a former Syrian restaurant owner from the capital, Damascus, who now lives two blocks from the Haj Ali family in Aurora. "They asked about my politics and my personal life. They asked about life in Syria and of course they asked why I left." The answers are carved deep into his body, a patchwork of fresh skin still knitting over deep wounds sustained during torture. He asked that he not be identified by name as he still has relatives in Damascus. Arrested in November 2012 for serving rebel fighters at his Damascus restaurant - "our food smelled like home," he remembers - the man spent nine months in Branch 235, a notorious military intelligence-run prison where thousands of Syrians have died through abuse or starvation. A local prisoner amnesty secured his eventual release. The resettlement of Syrians presents a depth of medical challenges that is unusual, even among new refugees. Local doctors discovered that some of the Syrians still carried shrapnel in their bodies; less visible but more pervasive is the trauma. Advertisement Rabia Haj Ali plays with her daughter Boshra, 8, after picking her up from school in Aurora. (Kristen Norman / The Washington Post) Nights in Branch 235 were sleepless, the prisoners packed so tight that they had to tessellate their knees as they crouched. The Syrian's hands shook as he described the dying moments of three prisoners close by in the darkness - two had succumbed to their injuries, the third to madness. "We see it in everyone, and that is going to take a long time to heal," said Suzanne Akhras Sahloul, the founder and president of the Syrian Community Network, a grass-roots initiative staffed by Syrians that has stepped in to fill the linguistic and cultural gaps that larger agencies are unable to address. "These people have spent a long time surrounded by communities where PTSD has become normal. The challenge now is getting them into therapy and allowing them to start talking through the nightmare." For the Syrian families, there's also a determination to make their new lives work. They've started English lessons, the men have applied for jobs, and the bus timetable is slowly but surely being memorized. But Syria will be preserved in the small customs. Over the weekend, that meant baking the coconut and cardamom biscuits that would always fill the restaurant owner's Damascus home for the Muslim religious festival of Eid. His wife has adapted the family recipe to fit the ingredients they found at a 7-Eleven. "They're good, aren't they?" she said. "I can work with this." Grabbing one on his way out to the evening shift at a photocopying firm, the former Damascus resident paused at the sight of three sticky notes with his children's names - Judi, Batool and Mohammed - felt-tipped carefully in big English letters. Their prospects are some compensation for the sheer monotony of his own work, standing on a production line turning pages for hours on end. "You know, they're in school for the first time since we left Syria," he said. "Life is hard here for us, their parents, but for them this chance is everything. " At the end of last week, it appeared Tom Dadey would face a challenge in his bid for another term as Onondaga County Republican chairman. By Monday, an agreement was reached to assure Dadey of another two-year term as the party's leader. Onondaga County Legislator Dave Knapp initially planned to challenge Dadey, but bowed out of the race Monday. Dadey will appoint Knapp as vice chairman at the party's reorganizational meeting Tuesday. The deal was hashed out during a meeting Sunday between Dadey, Knapp, Onondaga County Comptroller Bob Antonacci and Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon. Dadey said in a phone interview that they talked for more than three hours. One of the issues floated was Dadey's strong support for Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee. Two notable Onondaga County Republicans U.S. Rep. John Katko and Joanie Mahoney, the county executive haven't endorsed Trump. Dadey doesn't believe his support for Trump he was the first New York county GOP chairman to endorse the Manhattan real estate mogul was a major problem for him. "There are a lot of rank-and-file Republican committee members who support Trump," he said. "My strong support of Trump solidifed support with those people in our party that were strong Trump supporters." He added, "The Trump people some people who I disagreed with in the past who I thought might not necessarily be supporting me for re-election couldn't wait to go vote for me because of my affiliation and support of Trump. It put Onondaga County on the map by supporting Trump as early as I did." Dadey noted that the benefits from his early endorsement were on display at the GOP convention in Cleveland. He was named to the Republican National Committee's platform committee and Onondaga County Clerk Lisa Dell, another Trump delegate, served on the credentials committee. Looking ahead, Dadey says he'll focus on keeping the Republican supermajority in the county Legislature and retaining GOP control of 18 of the 19 town boards. The Syracuse mayoral race is also a priority. With current Mayor Stephanie Miner unable to run for re-election due to term limits, the open seat will give Republicans an opportunity a chance to compete. The city hasn't had a GOP mayor since 2001, when Roy Bernardi held the post. For now, though, Dadey's main concern is the upcoming election. And that's where he found common ground with Knapp. "Dave and I both knew that (the campaign for chair) was being a distraction," he said. "We want to do what we can for the Trump campaign. We wantto make sure that we re-elect John Katko. We want ot make sure that we send Gary Finch back to Albany. We want to make sure that we elect our judge candidates that are all on the ballot. Our first priority is to make sure that we have good, solid Republican victories on Nov. 8." East Aurora School District 131 board members Monday approved $7.1 million to build a new high school stadium, with much of the money expected to come from reserves. The stadium will feature an artificial turf field, an 8-lane track that meets Illinois High School Association standards, bleachers and a concession building. Advertisement The stadium is part of more than $70 million in construction and related expenses planned across East Aurora, including a roughly $46 million expansion and renovation at East Aurora High School. Some construction work at the high school was approved Monday as was the budget for this fiscal year. East Aurora is planning to cover $50 million of the work with bonds that are essentially interest-free to the district, and draw the remaining amount from its reserves. The stadium work is not eligible to be covered by the bonds and is expected to come almost entirely from the fund balance, though officials have said previously they planned to apply for grants or use other sources to cover some of the expenses. Advertisement School board member John Laesch voted against a district budget that was approved Monday night largely because of the planned construction, he said. He said he felt the district was planning to "max out the credit card" with construction, and he would have liked to see construction costs reduced by about a third. He said district and board officials often mention East Aurora's dependency on state funding, yet in the past the state hasn't come through with all of its funding. Community members view information about construction at East Aurora High School during an open house on September 7. (Sarah Freishtat / The Beacon-News) East Aurora High School's old stadium, built in the 1920s, was demolished over the summer. Work on the new stadium is expected to begin in October and finish in July 2017, according to information provided by the district's architects. Work on the high school will occur simultaneously, with the last pieces of the expansion and renovation expected to be complete in August 2018. sfreishtat@tribpub.com Twitter @srfreish Robert Davis, councillor for the city of Westminster, invites the Barrington High School marching band to London's New Year's Day Parade in 2018. Sept. 20, 2016. (Todd Shields / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune) For the second time since 2014, the Barrington High School Marching Band will parade through the streets of Westminster, a central borough in London, on New Year's Day 2018. Wearing a long red coat with a fur-lined collar, Robert Davis, a city councillor and former Lord Mayor of Westminster, traveled overseas and formally delivered the parade invitation Monday to an audience at the Barrington High School auditorium. Advertisement Standing on a stage decorated with Union Jack flags the national flag of the United Kingdom Davis described the London parade's three-hour route past Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall Road, Parliament Square and other historical markers and buildings. "We do our best to make sure we choose only the best," Davis said. "We knew from before that Barrington High School was a great success, so we invited them back for a second time." Advertisement In all, 16 high school marching bands from the U.S. were selected to march in the New Year's Day parade in London and take part in the 32nd annual procession in 2018. About 500,000 spectators will see the parade, and more than 300 million around the world will watch it on TV, said Bob Bone, executive director for the parade. In Barrington on Monday, Kyle Kick, president of Barrington High School Band Spirit Club, watched Davis' announcement along with her freshman daughter, Mackenzie, who plays flute in the marching band. Robert Davis, city councillor and former Lord Mayor of Westminster, was at Barrington High School Monday evening to invite the school marching band to perform in the London New Year's Day Parade in 2018. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press) "They get to participate in an international event and travel overseas," Kyle Kick said. "They also get to tour London where they will be for six days." Junior Jonathon Pike, who plays alto saxophone in the band, said he is looking forward to the trip to London. "It will be a cool experience going with all my friends. We want to see Big Ben," he said, referring to the landmark clock tower in London. Marching band director Randy Karon said the school band brought 90 students to the London parade in 2014. The band currently has 160 members, he said, although he wasn't sure yet how many students will make the return trip to the United Kingdom. Advertisement Robert Davis, city councillor and former Lord Mayor of Westminster, talks with Brigid Tileston, District 220 director of arts, and Barrington High School Principal Steve McWilliams on Monday evening. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press) "We're honored to be invited," Karon said. "The first time, (we) got our foot in the door and we're hoping this trip will even better." Now in his 25th year at Barrington High School, Karon said the school band also marched twice in Disney's Thanksgiving Parade of Bands in Orlando, Fla., back in 2011 and 2015. South Barrington resident Susan Barrera (center) stands next to U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton, during a lobbying trip organized by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. (Clare Thibodeaux / Pioneer Press) Joining an advocacy group in Washington, D.C., a South Barrington resident recently left the nation's capitol satisifed after an Illinois senator agreed to support legistlation that would expand job and training opportunities for end-of-life caregivers. As part of a lobbying trip organized by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, South Barrington resident Susan Barrera and 21 other volunteers from Illinois met with U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton, and aides to Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin during the four-day trip earlier this month. Advertisement They highlighted three bills in Congress that would increase funding for cancer research and care, as well as remove barriers to colon-cancer screenings. The group eventually earned support on one bill from Kirk, who agreed to to cosponsor the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act, Barrera said. The bill that won Kirk's support would provide palliative care and hospice education centers with financial assistance and provide additional training opportunties for professionals in palliative care, as well as promote education and research in palliative care and hospice. Advertisement "This is an important bill because it improves the quality of life for those suffering from cancer and other chronic diseases," Barrera said. "We are happy to have (Kirk's) support," she said. Barrera's father died of pancreatic cancer in 1989 at the age of 57. Since 2011, she has traveled to Washington, D.C. seven times, urging lawmakers to support funding for cancer awareness and research. Sarah Dolan, a press secretary to Kirk, said studies have shown that cancer patients experience a higher quality of life when receiving palliative care, which also can lower healthcare costs. "This will become increasingly important as baby boomers retire and our population ages," she said. Maggie Osborne, a Buffalo Grove resident, is the Illinois manager for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Overall, more than 700 cancer patients, survivors, volunteers and staff from across the country traveled to Washington, D.C. during the network's lobbying trip. She said the advocacy group worked for three years to secure Kirk's support for the the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act. "Our entire purpose for these issues is to show that cancer funding needs to be a top, national priority," Osborne said. That type of advocacy is needed to raise awareness about the ways cancer can affect individuals, she said. Advertisement An estimated 65,000 Illinoisans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and more than 24,000 will die from it, according to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. "When people are dealing with cancer, they are dealing with the unknown, and later they are hit with pain," she said. "Palliative care allows them to focus on simple things, like what's around them rather than pain and nausea." tshields@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @tshields19 A Wheaton man charged this week with the August robbery of a bank in Clarendon Hills is considered a suspect in several other recent robberies in the western suburbs, federal authorities said Tuesday. Kevin Brooks, 41, appeared Monday in federal court in Chicago, where he is charged with bank robbery for the Aug. 5 holdup of a PNC branch at 300 Holmes Ave., according to an affidavit filed by the FBI. Advertisement Garrett Croon, spokesman for the Chicago office of the FBI, said the bureau "considers Brooks a suspect in other bank robberies." Croon cited information on the FBI website bandittrackerchicago.com that links the Clarendon Hills robbery to six other robberies dating back to June. Authorities allege that Brooks walked into the Clarendon Hills bank just before noon and handed a teller a note demanding cash, and that he lifted his shirt slightly to display a handgun tucked into his pants. The robber got away with just under $2,900 in cash, the affidavit said. Advertisement Security footage taken at a nearby grocery showed a man who matched the description of the robber arriving in the parking lot a few minutes before the robbery and then driving away in a silver Volvo just after the holdup, federal authorities said. The car had a temporary license tag that FBI agents traced to a Melrose Park dealership, which says that it sold a 2002 silver Volvo to Brooks in July, the affidavit said. The teller and bank manager picked Brooks out of a photo lineup, though neither was 100 percent sure that Brooks was the same man who robbed the bank, the affidavit said. However, a probation officer who monitored Brooks earlier this year positively identified him as the man in the surveillance footage, authorities said. He is in federal custody and is scheduled to appear Wednesday at a detention hearing. According to the FBI, the other bank robberies in which Brooks is suspected were at US Bank in Berkeley on June 22, Chase in Hoffman Estates on Aug. 13, BMO Harris in Addison on Aug. 23, West Suburban Bank in Oakbrook Terrace on Sept. 2, Chase in Glendale Heights on Sept. 6, and Citibank in Streamwood on Sept. 13. Clifford Ward is a freelance writer. Mudgeon Quinn and her family have operated Quinn's Coffee House for 30 years. (Chuck Fieldman / Chicago Tribune) Clarendon Hills Village Board member Greg Jordan found a rather unique way to handle the concern brought to the board Monday by a longtime business operator. Mudgeon Quinn, whose family has owned and operated Quinn's Coffee House for the past 30 years at 2 S. Prospect Ave., addressed the board with tears in her eyes after recently receiving four parking tickets. Advertisement The citations were for leaving her car parked in front of the downtown business for more than the allowed two consecutive hours. Quinn said she never had received a ticket before about a month ago. The two-hour limit is to prevent commuters riding Metra trains from filling downtown Clarendon Hills parking spaces, leaving none for shoppers. Advertisement Jordan's solution was to offer to personally pay the $50 fee per six months for a permit allowing Quinn to park nearby the coffee shop in a designated permit parking area. "The problem is not you, but I don't feel it's right for the village to make an exception," Jordan told Quinn. "Your business is an institution in town and a real credit to the community." Quinn, who also lives in Clarendon Hills, said she was made aware at the Clarendon Hills Police Department of the village's Blue Dot parking permit program, which allows employees of downtown businesses to purchase a permit to park in designated areas, one of which is around the corner from Quinn's Coffee House. That is where the permit Jordan said he will purchase will allow Quinn to park. Village Board member Carol Jorissen also expressed support for Quinn. "Given the amount you've given back to the community, maybe you should have your own space," she said. Quinn said she doesn't believe she should have to pay the $50 permit fee. "I feel like I have done enough," she said, saying that the coffee house has donated more than $60,000 over the past 30 years to local causes through a charity bucket in which customers put donations. "I don't feel I should have to pay to park to provide the service to the town." Quinn said she plans to continue parking in front of the coffee shop when she arrives at 4:30 a.m., but will later move her car. Advertisement "I don't feel comfortable not parking right in front when I come to the store at 4:30," she said. Police Chief Boyd Farmer said the tires of vehicles parked downtown are marked with chalk to note the time, beginning about 9 a.m., by a community service officer, who writes tickets to those parked beyond the two-hour limit. Farmer said Quinn only recently has received parking tickets because a new community service officer has been writing them. "The previous person didn't really do their job," he said. He didn't know why Quinn didn't receive tickets going back several years. cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com Advertisement Twitter @chuckwriting Sept. 20, 1936 Frank Semple, World War veteran and Legion of Valor hero, will be the guest of honor of the Seventh District, American Legion at the national convention of the order now in progress in Cleveland, O. When the members of W. Mynderse Rice Post Drum Corps board their chartered bus at 8 o'clock this evening at the club rooms in William Street, they will be accompanied by Legionnaire Semple, County Commander James R. Sterling and Holdredge M. Sinclair, commander of Rice Post. William E. Walsh who is the delegate from Rice Post, left for the convention city yesterday. Many legionnaires from Auburn and the county have gone or will leave over night for Cleveland. Sept. 20, 1961 Dr. Austin J. Clary of Auburn was honored at a dinner dance last night at the Manger-Rochester Hotel when the Seventh District Dental Society presented him with the Dr. George B. Greenwood award. The award is given each year to a dentist who have given long leadership in the society, in his community and in dentistry. Dr. Clary has been a member of the society 35 years, serving as president in 1941. He has been supervising dentist for Auburn public schools, has long been an active proponent of fluoridation of drinking water, has been a director of the Neighborhood House in Auburn and on the dental staffs of Auburn Memorial and Mercy hospitals. Sept. 20, 2006 Cayuga County Water and Soil stands a few steps away from getting funds that will pay for a structure to reduce phosphorous levels in Owasco Lake. Recently, high phosphorous levels entering the lake have negatively affected the lake's health. On Tuesday, Cayuga County Parks Commission members approved a resolution to install a water control structure that will reduce water, sediment and phosphorous flow from Owasco Flats into Owasco Lake. Members discussed a resolution that will be presented to the county Legislature that seeks approval for the Owasco Flats Reserve to receive $12,320 from the Five-Star Restoration Challenge Grant Program. Grant money will pay to install a structure that will help the flats perform its natural buffer function. The structure will reduce the speed of water released into the lake from the flats area, located at the southern end of Owasco Lake. One member explained that phosphorous gets into the lake when it ties up with soil and sediments. The device will also reduce the sediment flow into the lake. Sept. 20, 2011 A Southern Cayuga High School junior was selected to attend a meeting with U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials in Boston to discuss regulations for marketing tobacco products and their relation to the nation's youth. Adrianna Greco, 15, was invited to represent the youth of New York state at a stakeholders meeting Tuesday with the FDA Center for Tobacco Products. Greco, a member of the Cayuga, Onondaga and Oswego (CO2) Reality Check Program, along with Megan Rogers of the Madison, Oneida and Herkimer County program, discussed the new regulations put in place by the FDA with Dr. Lawrence Deyton, the director of the Center for Tobacco Products. A Florida man whose criminal past reportedly includes stolen items worth millions repeatedly interrupted a pretrial hearing in DuPage County on Monday, prompting the judge to move the proceeding to a courtroom outfitted with a soundproof booth. After Judge Liam Brennan threatened to confine him to the booth, Ignatius Pollara managed to comport himself to the point where he was able to make it through the remainder of hearing in the burglary case pending against him. Advertisement Pollara, 50, has been in the County Jail since July 2015 since he was arrested outside a Lombard store in the theft of an art pencil set. He has a conviction in his home state of Florida, which authorities say was the home base for Pollara's extensive shoplifting career, which included stealing high-end toys, including expensive Lego sets. After being tipped by Florida authorities that Pollara was flying to the Chicago area, police tailed Pollara to about 20 stores that he visited over two days. Authorities allege that he stole items from four stores. But prosecutors want to include information at trial about the overall total surveillance, something Pollara's attorney said would be prejudicial. Advertisement During Monday's hearing, Pollara repeatedly interrupted the proceeding, interjecting that he was the victim of a conspiracy. "I'm being railroaded and it's so sad," he said before turning to Assistant State's Attorney Shanti Kulkarni. And he added, "Is someone paying you to prosecute me? I'm sure they are." At that, the judge, who had already admonished Pollara numerous times over his outbursts, halted the hearing and moved it down the hall to the courtroom with the booth. Once the hearing reconvened, Brennan told Pollara that he would give him one more chance before putting him in the booth. Pollara, who was found in contempt of court in April by another DuPage judge for a profanity-laced outburst, was better behaved from that point. In addition to the surveillance information, prosecutors are seeking to admit video statements Pollara gave to local police following his arrest and to Florida authorities in 2012. In the statements, prosecutors say, Pollara discusses "how he made a business out of committing large-scale retail theft." The hearing did not conclude Monday, and both sides were expected back in court for a brief hearing Tuesday to set a date to continue. Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter. A janitor at Marya Yates Elementary School has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl at the school over the summer, police said. Jeffrey Hensel, 53, of Oak Forest, allegedly reached down inside the back of the girl's shirt and rubbed his lower body on her leg when they were at the school on July 22, according to a police report. Advertisement The girl was at the school accompanying someone else who worked there. According to the report, that employee went to the bathroom and left the girl in a staff lounge where Hensel was at the time. He then started touching her inappropriately, police said. He subsequently followed her to another part of the building, and again touched her inappropriately, the report said. The other employee said she noticed the girl was upset and crying before she left the building. Advertisement Police said that Hensel became defensive when they first questioned him about the incident, and that he denied touching the girl. However, police said they later received video surveillance footage from the school which showed the incident in its entirety and confirmed the girl's account. Hensel was first charged with battery and then the charge was formally upgraded to criminal sexual abuse on Sept. 13. Matteson School Board District 159 President Traycee Fox said Hensel is no longer employed by the district, but declined further comment. Interim Superintendent John Sawyer III was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon. Hensel was booked at Cook County Jail on Wednesday and bail was set at $100,000. His next court date is Oct. 3. Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. In the midst of a heated presidential election, Orland Township voters will face another interesting question on the November ballot should the entire township be transferred from Cook County to adjacent Will County? It is one of many referendums facing voters throughout suburban Cook County as local governments take advantage of the expected high voter turnout in the November presidential election to get answers to pressing local issues. Advertisement In addition to the Orland Township referendum, voters also will be asked about term limits, tax hikes and consolidation issues in several communities. The Orland Township referendum is only an advisory question, meaning the township will stay in Cook County for the time being no matter the result of the vote, according to Township Supervisor Paul O'Grady. However, he said it is an issue he has heard about regularly from constituents. Advertisement "When (Cook County) raised the sales tax, it drove people into Will County," he said. "Businesses are hurting. People have grave concerns about taxes, sales tax, property tax. They feel they are not getting their money's worth." While he is unsure of the legalities, the concept is "worth exploring," he said. "If nothing else, it will show how we feel about raising sales tax." It is also a matter of geography. O'Grady noted that the township borders Will County on its south and west sides, and Will's government services are more accessible than those in Cook County. Orland Township is comprised of three municipalities Orland Hills, Orland Park and Tinley Park, with the latter two being partially within Will County, he said. According to statement issued by state Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Orland Hills, the secession issue has popped up before and failed, and he expects it will fail again. "It's basically a disgruntled group of people who are sick of dealing with the county, but don't have any real support," the senator said in a statement. O'Grady said there is no organized group behind the referendum. "It's just people talking about it," he said. "Anything is possible, right?" Advertisement Similar referendums to disconnect from Cook County were overwhelmingly approved by voters in Barrington, Hanover and Palatine Townships in 2009, also triggered by the sales tax hike. However, seven years later, those communities are still in Cook County. Before the referendum, the Village of Palatine also passed a resolution urging lawmakers in Springfield to pass legislation to allow Palatine to secede and govern itself, and Todd Stroger, then the Cook County Board president, said he would not oppose such legislation, according to a Chicago Tribune article. The referendum is the "first step," O'Grady said. If it is successful, he said he will meet with Will County Executive Larry Walsh to see if that county would agree to take in Orland Township. "I think I already know what Cook County would say," he said. In addition to seceding from Cook County, Orland Township voters will also be asked if their Congressional representatives should sponsor and support measures acknowledging, the "serious threat posed by climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a clear, transparent and effective way?" An identical measure is also on the ballot in Berwyn Township. Advertisement O'Grady said a citizens group came to the township's annual town meeting and proposed the climate change advisory referendum. "There is no reason not to support this. It's a critical issue for all of us," he said. "We want to let (Congress) know we take this seriously." And while Orland Township is trying to make a statement against high sales tax, Olympia Fields will ask its voters if they should impose a one percent non-home-rule sales tax in order to fund road and infrastructure improvements. If successful, it would increase the total sales tax in that village from nine to 10 percent, and generate an additional $750,000 in annual revenue for the village, Village Administrator David Mekarski said. The village now receives about $700,000 annually in sales tax, and the new Walmart at U.S. 30 and Western Avenue, is expected to generate another $500,000, he said. The sales tax would mostly be paid by non-residents, Mekarski said, adding that 90 percent of those who shop in the village are non-residents. Advertisement The increased sales tax would not apply to groceries, prescription and non-prescription drugs, he said. State law restricts non-home-rule communities to using the sales tax only for capital projects, and Mekarski said village officials will also pass a resolution stating the funds will not be used for salaries or fringe benefits. The village has a list of projects it hopes to finance with the additional sales tax revenue, including paving six miles of roads, replacing old water mains and paying for its three-percent share of the $211 million in improvements to the water system it uses with Oak Lawn and Chicago. Without a sales tax increase, the village will be forced to raise water rates, Mekarski said. Term limits also continue to be a hot topic with towns such as Crestwood, Harvey, Calumet City and Broadview, with all asking if terms for elected officials should be limited, beginning with the April 2017 election. Crestwood would restrict all elected officials to three consecutive terms, while Harvey, Calumet City and Broadview would set a limit of four consecutive terms. Other issues on the November ballot include: Advertisement Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > A proposed property tax rate increase in Merrionette Park to provide $500,000 annually for a part-time fire department, or $700,000 for a full-time fire department. The town of 1,900 residents now has a paid, on-call volunteer Fire Department. A request to create a dog park on village-owned land in Merrionette Park. Questions in Thornton Township, asking voters if the township should provide emergency housing shelter, establish a mental health committee and partner with agencies offering mental health services; and seek new partnerships with colleges and high schools to provide educational and employment opportunities for youths. Consolidating local entities in the town of Cicero combining the Hawthorne and Clyde park districts into one district, and consolidating the Cicero Public Library with the Town of Cicero. Offering a weekly free skate night at the Bobby Hull Ice Rink for Cicero residents. Allowing taverns in Calumet City to remain open until 2 a.m. on weekends. Advertisement slafferty@tribpub.com The Republicans have been saying behind the scenes that they have put four Democratic state senators "on the bubble" Tom Cullerton in DuPage County, Melinda Bush in Lake County, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant in Will County and Gary Forby in deep Southern Illinois. Understandably, Senate President John Cullerton does not agree. Advertisement "If it wasn't for Donald Trump, maybe four would be on the bubble," Cullerton told me the other day. Cullerton claimed that the one-two punch of Trump and Gov. Bruce Rauner was hurting Republicans in contested districts everywhere. "Downstate, Trump's popular," he admitted, "But Rauner's not." In Sen. Forby's heavily targeted district, Cullerton said, "Rauner's hated down there." Advertisement People in Forby's district may have voted for Rauner two years ago, but in reality, Cullerton claimed, "They were voting against Pat Quinn." And the same goes, he said, for the contested neighboring open-seat race currently held by retiring Sen. Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville). In the suburbs, Cullerton said, Rauner and Trump are both very unpopular, "Maybe Trump is a bit more unpopular," he averred. But that still works to the Democrats' advantage, Cullerton said. Noting that his operation only surveys contested "swing" districts, Cullerton claimed that the governor's poll numbers are "underwater everywhere." And while Rauner "picked up a few points" after the governor and the General Assembly agreed to a stopgap budget in June, Rauner's "job performance is still way underwater." Cullerton did not share any specific numbers, but what he said matches with what I've been hearing from others, including a few Republicans. And that may also be part of the reason why Rauner continues to tell reporters that he isn't much involved in legislative campaigns, even though GOP sources say he is involved. Personally interviewing candidates to replace retired state Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), along with his former chief of staff as well as what appears to be his favorite adviser John Tillman of the Illinois Policy Institute was more than just a clue that his interest approaches granularity levels. Admitting to actually being heavily involved would result in news stories about how he's strongly influencing specific local races, however. The Republicans have been tying House Speaker Michael Madigan to Democrats in both chambers in their mail and in their TV ads, but the Senate president claimed, "The Madigan stuff doesn't rub off on Democratic candidates," then backed up a bit to say he was only familiar with polling for senators and Senate candidates. "It doesn't work on the senators," he said. But, what if he's wrong? What if Rauner's vast wealth and his field operation manage to break through the extreme white noise of a presidential election, and the Republicans do actually pick off several Democratic seats? Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Well, a million dollars spent on Chicago broadcast TV ads hasn't managed to propel Rep. Michael McAuliffe (R-Chicago) over 50 percent, according to the Republicans' own polling, and his margin has actually shrunk since July. President Obama won McAuliffe's district in 2012 by eight points, 53-45, according to data compiled by pollster We Ask America. Structural presidential year turnout like that is very difficult to overcome, and that includes those Senate races. Advertisement Still, I've been asking Democratic operatives lately what is keeping them awake at night, and they've all had about the same basic answer. Targeted legislative races can often be decided by just a handful of votes. Rep. Kate Cloonen (D-Kankakee) is the most extreme example of this, winning by an average of about 100 votes the last two cycles. Rep. Mike Smiddy (D-Hillsdale) won his 2014 race by 314 votes. Former Democratic Rep. Frank Mautino won his last race two years ago by 337 votes. The biggest potential problem is the unpredictability of Donald Trump's supporters. Some Dems believe his support is actually higher than the polls are currently showing. And in any given district, 500 (or even fewer) Trump-backers who rarely vote, and therefore haven't been personally contacted much, if at all, by either side, could decide to head to the polls on Election Day and then continue supporting Republican candidates straight down the ticket and create some upsets. Gov. Rauner's unprecedented campaign spending and his emphasis on a ground game, along with Trump's huge popularity with white working class voters (who dominate all of the Democrats' contested Downstate districts) are making this presidential cycle extremely unusual and, to an extent, unpredictable. So, no matter what Cullerton says, the Democrats are worried that they may actually lose some seats. Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com. As sunset draws close these two deer browse near the entrance to the north unit of the Adeline Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park in Zion. (Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun) The hunting season is underway. But to be an active hunter, a license is required. And it may mean taking a class. Advertisement As found on the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website, anyone born since 1980 may not be issued a hunting license unless he or she presents a valid Hunter Education Certificate of Competency from the state's DNR's safety division or another state. To help hunters, the state DNR offers classes. Advertisement The DNR also routinely offers safety classes for boating and snow mobile riding. Locally, Bill Brady, who is a master instructor, volunteers for training and educating prospective hunters. Brady also is a comedian and driver for the Orland Township Senior Transportation services. Brady said the hunting classes are free and open to everyone. To take the class, prospective hunters don't need not own a firearm. In fact, no personal firearms are allowed in the class. Brady and other instructors teach basics, including holding a gun and safely carrying a firearm (they are heavy). A Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) also is not necessary for registration for this course, however, it is mandatory to purchase or own a firearm; and also mandatory for carrying a firearm and hunting. During the course (which is 10 hours and usually conducted over a weekend) instructors will observe prospective hunters attitudes. Small tests also will be given along the way. Brady would like to remind hunters the importance of the class. Advertisement He also acknowledged that much has changed since he started teaching the class 40 years ago. But he said, hunters should still always carry a compass. A GPS system and cell phone might not always get reception. Instructors are volunteers and fellow hunters. They had take a hunting course and a DNR instructor class. A book for the course is titled "Today's Hunter in Illinois: A Guide to Hunting Responsibility and Safely." It provides information on laws, types of ammunition used; seasons for certain game; and how to distinguish a male from female game (by markings). To pass the course, students will have a review after each chapter. There will be written tests; however, attitude, dexterity, comprehension, and observation by instructors will all be used to evaluate the student. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Upon successful completion of the course, state residents get hunting certificate. Once you receive your card, you need not take the class again, it lasts indefinitely. Advertisement Remember, the hunting of game can be more than simple recreation. It also can help with conservation and preservation efforts of animals. Too many or too few of a certain animal can upset the delicate balance of nature. For example, in Orland Park, construction in the area has led to overcrowding of deer. As a result, the animals have struggled to have proper food, water, and even space to roam. Locally, classes can be found and registered at: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/safety/Pages/ListOfEducationCoursesByCounty.aspx For more information, visit the Illinois DNR website at: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/Pages/default.aspx or call (800) 832-2599. Deerfield Road remains closed westbound at Waukegan Road while reconstruction of the roadway takes place under the railroad viaduct. (Steve Sadin / Pioneer Press) Despite a three-week delay in the Deerfield Road construction project, officials say the stretch of road between Highway 41 and the Deerfield Metra viaduct will be a fully operational four-lane street by Thanksgiving. The $18.2 million project ran into delays because of the state's budget impasse, but a stepped-up work schedule will get the underpass open by the end of September and the project substantially finished by Thanksgiving, according to Assistant Village Manager Andrew Lichterman. Advertisement When the project began, the village set a schedule to assure it was done by the end of the 2016 construction season, according to Bob Phillips, Deerfield's deputy director of public works and engineering. "There will be a paved four-lane road open by Thanksgiving," Phillips said. "Some work may extend into 2017 like landscaping and restoration of sidewalks." Advertisement He said there could still some periodic lane closures early next year. When the Illinois Department of Transportation faced a June 30 work stoppage because of the lack of a state budget, crews set to work filling all holes that had been dug and took other measures to make the road safe for a long term shutdown, according to Lichterman. "They had to proceed as if they were going to have to keep it in safe mode for an indefinite period," Lichterman said. The initial move took a week. When Illinois passed a stop-gap budget in late June, IDOT had to undo the safety measures before crews could continue with the project, which added a second week to the delay, Lichterman said. Weather tacked on another week. Mayor Harriet Rosenthal was not happy with how it looked to residents. "What we had were two delays because of the state and that was very frustrating," Rosenthal said. "People saw the holes being filled and then they saw them being dug out again." Though the work under the viaduct was supposed to be done by Labor Day, workers discovered the gas main was not deep enough, according to Lichterman. He said North Shore Gas had to lay the main further below ground. Another gas main was set for abandonment, but when the digging began Phillips said it was found to be wrapped in asbestos necessitating hazardous waste removal procedures that added to the time of the project. Advertisement To keep the project on schedule, Phillips said construction crews will work from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and work later into the evening on weekdays. "They'll work until they feel they've reached a point where they can stop working," Phillips said. "Longer days could last until 5 or 6 (p.m.)" There will be overnight work done for the next four weeks as well to keep things on schedule. Crews will work from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays, according to Phillips. Lichterman said this will allow preparation for paving on the north side of the roadway while the south portion is paved. "We didn't want this project to extend into next season," Phillips said explaining the reason for the extra shifts. "This was an aggressive project to start with." Rosenthal said the push for one construction season was a priority. The village wanted the work done in one year to minimize the inconvenience to residents and businesses. The Lake Cook Road project several years ago ran into a number of delays during its first phase before Deerfield officials stepped in and took control of management. Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. HIT: To the Jordan Fall Festival, which this year hit an impressive milestone. The weekend celebration that wrapped up Sunday afternoon in the village of Jordan marked its 70th year in existence. That's a testament to the tremendous community spirit that pervades Jordan, and to the long list of dedicated volunteers who have given time and money to pull the festival off year after year. The festival may be best known for the greased pole climbing competition, a huge attraction that is certainly one of the most unique spectacles you'll find in central New York. But the Jordan Fall Festival is also about families coming out for some great food and fun as they look forward to the weeks of autumn ahead. MISS: To a fatal vehicle crash in the northern part of Cayuga County last weekend. State police said two vehicles collided on state Route 104 at the intersection with State Barn Road on Saturday afternoon. The impact of the crash killed a driver who had been heading west. HIT: To the annual Book Lovers Ball in Aurora, a yearly black-tie gathering of community residents to raise funds for the local library. State and county budget cuts over the years have impacted the small-town libraries that play a pivotal role as community centers and places for families to help their children develop a love of reading. In Aurora, this event is a pivotal source of funding for the Aurora Free Library. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped organize the 12th ball, which took place on Friday. Carpentersville police are looking for a suspect involved in a robbery at Oscarin's Computer off the 1600 block of Ravine Lane. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News) An arrest warrant has been issued for a Chicago man facing a murder charge in connection with a fatal Carpentersville burglary. Bobby Heard, 32, has been charged with felony murder and armed robbery with a firearm, according to the Kane County Circuit Clerk's website. Advertisement About 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7, Carpentersville police officers were called to Oscarin's Computer Store, 1646 Ravine Lane, for a report of a robbery with shots fired, officials said. Initial reports indicated that two men armed with handguns entered the store and restrained the two employees with zip ties. Prior to exiting the store, one of the suspects struck an employee with a pistol to the back of the head, said Carpentersville Police Chief Michael Kilbourne. Advertisement One of the employees was able to free himself from the zip ties, Kilbourne said, and as the suspects were fleeing the store with an unknown amount of cash and phones he was able to retrieve a handgun and follow the suspects into the parking lot where an unknown number of rounds were fired. Suspect Kenyon Slater, 37, of Chicago was killed during the robbery. Officials have set Heard's bail at $3 million. An unidentified third suspect is still being sought, according to officials. Anyone with any information about Heard or the third suspect is asked to call Carpentersville Police Cmdr. Paul Brandt at 224-293-1676. Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. East Dundee is considering offering TIF funds to help a prospective buyer of the former Haeger Potteries factory at 7 Maiden Lane. (Erin Sauder / The Courier-News) East Dundee officials have agreed to consider giving financial incentives to a Carpentersville manufacturing company that wants to relocate to the former Haeger Potteries factory. Gene Staples of Golden Plastics USA, formerly Golden Bag Company, said at a trustees' meeting Monday the 145,000-square-foot factory would need about $1.2 million in upgrades. He said if negotiations to purchase the site are successful, he would seek financial assistance from the village in the form of tax increment financing district funds. Advertisement Staples said the company's current 35,000-square-foot facility at 290 Illinois St. cannot accommodate expected growth. The company specializes in film and plastic bag processing, he said. A TIF freezes property taxes at the level paid before development. The monies generated by the difference between the property tax bill before development and after development the increment can then be used for improvements to the land. Advertisement Trustees voted to approve an inducement resolution with Golden Plastics LLC. That does not mean the money will be allocated, but that officials are willing to move the project forward for more discussion, Village President Lael Miller said. Trustee Rob Gorman abstained from voting because he owns property in that TIF district. Trustee Allen Skillicorn voted against the resolution due to the request of TIF funding. "I love the idea of a plastics company replacing Haeger pottery, but I dislike the idea of the taxpayers subsidizing it," he said. Miller called the proposal from Golden Plastics "a good opportunity." While there had been discussion about converting the factory to residences, he said developers would likely find that too costly. Haeger Potteries closed at the end of July after 145 years in business. "I've said from the beginning there's only a couple of options for the site," Miller said. "The No. 1 preference would be that someone put in a residential component, but that's the less likely outcome. I wish it was a big, modern three-story factory building. But it has low ceiling heights, so it's not suitable for loft condos as is. And it goes to a room to a room to a room. It was added on from 1870 to 1960 so there's no clean way of doing this." He added that remediating the building's likely environmental concerns also would be expensive. Advertisement "It's one of those scenarios where, do you take what you can get to keep the lights on and welcome a new business to town or sit and wait and hope someone with a lot of money and a vision comes in a year or two?" Miller said. Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. Retired Lt. Rick Heine (from left) and firefighters Jon Collins and Derick Kameyer grill up hot dogs outside at the Hampshire firehouse. (Denise Moran / The Courier-News) A monument installed to honor the 85th anniversary of the Hampshire Fire Protection District and the firefighters who have served the community was unveiled before a large crowd on Saturday afternoon at Ralph Seyller Community Park in Hampshire. The "Last Alarm" bronze statue by Paul Olesniewicz displays a firefighter's helmet and turnout gear atop a pair of boots. Advertisement The monument is part of the new playground that was installed this year by the Hampshire Township Park District on the east side of the park near the parking lot of Little People Playtime Preschool. "Since it is the Hampshire Fire Protection District's 85th anniversary, we decided to go with a fire truck theme," said Laura Schraw, Hampshire Township Park District executive director. "Kids love this playground. It's beautiful especially because of the memorial." Advertisement The brick tower holding the statue carries two plaques. The first plaque reads: "This monument is dedicated to those members of the Hampshire Fire Protection District who have served the district for the last 85 years with dedication, courage, heroism, honor and pride and to those members who will continue that tradition. 1931-2016." The second plaque displays the "Firefighter's Prayer." The playground includes fire truck-themed playground equipment, a picnic table and four benches. A walkway features brick pavers inscribed with the names of past and present firefighters and members of the Hampshire Fire Protection District, including Hampshire's first fire chief, Ernie Gustafson. "We started raising money for the playground in May 2015," said Schraw. The Hampshire Park District Foundation exceeded its original goal of $15,000 by raising over $20,000, according to Schraw. Little People Playtime Preschool held a community garage sale and sold Yankee Candles and cookbooks. The foundation ran a fundraiser that included a raffle, silent auction, dinner and drawdown. Rosemary Kesse, the park district's director of youth education at Little People Playtime Preschool, said that the playground is popular with children. "Any time you look at it, there is someone playing there," she said. Advertisement The Hampshire firefighter memorial dedication ceremony on Saturday included: presentation of the colors by the Hampshire Fire Department Honor Guard, singing of "The National Anthem" by the Hampshire High School chorus, invocation and prayer by Chaplain Thomas Yang, "America the Beautiful" performed by the Hampshire High School band, comments by Schraw and Hampshire Fire District Trustee President Tim Thompson, a memorial roll call by Deputy Chief Trevor Herrmann while members of the Northern Illinois Pipes & Drums played "Going Home" on bagpipes, a reading of the "Fireman's Prayer" by firefighter/paramedic Sherilee Stadie, the Bell Ceremony by Lt. John DePauw, and taps by firefighter/paramedic Scott McBride and Matthew Marckini. "We remember all who came before us," said Yang. "We honor their sacrifice." Betty Smith of Montgomery, Texas, came to Seyller Park, 400 East Jefferson Avenue, on Saturday with her son, Kurt. Deputy Chief Herrmann is her nephew. "My father, John Herrmann, was one of the founders of the Hampshire Fire Department," she said. "My husband, George, once served as a Hampshire volunteer fireman." Jean Scoughton of DeKalb, a graduate of Hampshire High School, enjoyed the memorial dedication. "It was a wonderful service," Scoughton said. "It really got to my heart." Advertisement Following the ceremony at the park, an open house was held at the Hampshire firehouse. Fire district officials said that more than 75 people attended. There was a bounce house and fire safety house for the children plus rides in the 1931 Model A fire truck that John Herrmann brought many years ago from Chicago to Hampshire. It served as the village's first fire truck. Hampshire's fire district was formed after a fire in 1929 that destroyed one third of the businesses in the village's downtown area, according to Herrmann. Twenty-five volunteers originally signed up to serve as firefighters. The first firehouse was in the building along State Street that now houses the village hall. The current firehouse along Washington Avenue was built in 1962. Denise Moran is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. Listings are subject to change. Please call the venue in advance. To submit items to the calendar, go to newssunonline.com/community Wednesday Advertisement Deerbrook Park Toastmasters Club: Improve public speaking, communication, and leadership skills. The Club meets the first and third Wednesday of every month. 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, Deerfield Public Library, 920 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, free, 847-537-6438 Highland Park/Ravinia Farmers Market: Shop for fresh and organic produce, baked goods, meat, flowers, crafts and more at the weekly market that runs through the end of October. 7 a.m. Wednesday, Dean Ave. and Roger Williams Ave., 475 Roger Williams Ave., Highland Park, free Advertisement Live Jazz: Join us at 210 Restaurant and Live Music Lounge in Highwood every Wednesday and Thursday night for some of the best jazz that Chicagoland has to offer. 7 p.m. Wednesday and 7 p.m. Thursday, 210 Restaurant, 210 Green Bay Road, Highwood, free, 847-433-0304 Zumba Gold at the Lake Forest Rec Center: Zumba Gold is a crazy, fun dance exercise class without impact on the joints. It's for everyone. The fees are: $138 persession for members; $172-$207 per sessionfor non-members. 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Lake Forest Recreation Center, 400 Hastings Road, Lake Forest, $138-$207 per session, 847-810-3935 Quilting and More: Join friends for quilting and discussion. 9 a.m. Wednesday, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 29700 N St. Marys Road, Libertyville, free, 773-523-3838 Mosaic Beaded Bracelet: This is a one-night class for you to create a trendy Chan-Lu inspired mosaic beaded bracelet in a color palette of your choice. All materials, tools, and step-by-step instruction are supplied and included. This is for experienced beaders or those who have "never-ever" to learn the Laddering technique as well as Macrame, with both men's and women's styles offered. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Libertyville High School, 708 W. Park Ave., Libertyville, $35, 847-247-4576 Identity Theft Fraud and Scams: This free class highlights how to identify potential scams and fraud and protect yourself from identity theft. Registration is required by going online through District 128's Community Education Department website or by calling. Take Charge Illinois, is a financial literacy program launched by Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Libertyville High School, 708 W. Park Ave., Libertyville, free, 847-247-4576 The Brave Way: Self Defense Training For Families: In two hours we will teach you and your family members how to defend yourselves. This system is not a martial art, and no previous self-defense training is required to master the techniques taught. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Vernon Hills High School, 145 Lakeview Parkway, Vernon Hills, $25, 847-247-4576 Fire Behavior and Using Extinguishers: Tony Rodkey from Countryside Fire Protection District demonstrates how household items cause fires. The presentation reinforces the proper use of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and discusses heat sources in your home, and burn prevention. Class includes hands-on fire extinguisher training. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Vernon Hills High School, 145 Lakeview Parkway, Vernon Hills, $5, 847-247-4576 Thursday Advertisement Antioch Farmers Market: Shop for fresh veggies, fruits, bread, flowers, meat and more. 3 p.m. Thursday, Municipal Parking Lot, 854 Main St., Antioch, free, 847-395-2160 LFCDS Special Speaker Series: LFCDS welcomes two best-selling authors and child development experts, Dr. David Walsh, on Sept. 22 and Columnist Jessica Lahey, Oct. 27. Reserve your seat for one or both of these events. 10 a.m. Thursday, Lake Forest Country Day School, 145 South Green Bay Road, Lake Forest, free, 847-234-2350 Faith On Tap: Faith On Tap, a group for ages 21-35, meets to discuss current events and faith issues at various locations each month. Call Rev. Emily Mitchell or email: PastorEmily@stpeterlz.org for meeting location. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, St. Peter United Church of Christ, 47 Church St., Lake Zurich, free, 847-438-6441 Libertyville Farmers Market: Now in its 36th year, the annual market features fresh produce, meat, bread and goods for sale, as well as special weekly events such as balloon sculpting, live music, juggling and magic. 7 a.m. Thursday, Downtown Libertyville, 100 E. Church St., Libertyville, free, 847-680-0336 Make and Take Pet First Aid: Are you prepared for a pet emergency? In this hands-on and interactive class, learn how to perform basic CPR and first aid techniques on your pet, using the live therapy dogs. Also, make a first-aid kit to take home. Class is appropriate for families with children ages 10 and up with adults accompanying children at all times. Class is taught by Dr. Jami-Lyn Derse, DVM. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Our House of Hope K9 Rescue, Suite 330, 1840 Industrial Dr, Libertyville, $30, 847-247-4576 FaceTime on the iPhone and iPad: FaceTime and video chatting are easy to use and enable you to talk "face to face" with relatives in other countries or other states. Bring your device with you to class. This course shows you how to video chat with others who do not have an iPhone or iPad as well. 6 a.m. Thursday, Libertyville High School, 708 W. Park Ave., Libertyville, $25, 847-247-4576 Advertisement Adult Coloring: Coloring for adults is a popular way to reduce stress and relax. Coloring sheets and colored pencils will be provided to both children and adults, and there will be refreshments. 6 p.m. Thursday, North Chicago Public Library, 2100 Argonne Drive, North Chicago, free, 847-689-0125 Tea 101: Not all tea is the same. Tea comes in many varieties and is grown in many countries. This class teaches the art of brewing tea in all its forms from black to green to white to herbal. The history of tea drinking is discussed and various types are sampled. 7 p.m. Thursday, Vernon Hills High School, 145 Lakeview Parkway, Vernon Hills, $29, 847-247-4576 Brain Gym Exercise Your Brain: Brain Gym develops the brain's neural pathways through gentle body movements. Used worldwide, it improves memory, focus, listening, vision, cognitive and physical coordination skills. An optional manual may be purchased for $30. Registration is required. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Vernon Hills High School, 145 Lakeview Parkway, Vernon Hills, $35, 847-247-4576 Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Spend the night with Alice Cooper and his rock-psycho drama, featuring his greatest hits. 8 p.m. Thursday, Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan, $43-$83, 847-782-2366 Friday Taste of Shabbat Service and Program: Congregation Ahavat Olam gathers on the second and fourth Fridays of the month to celebrate Shabbat with a warm, very musical and participatory service led by Cantor (soon to be Rabbi-Cantor) Nancy Landsman. "Taste of Shabbat" is a very brief service on the 4th Friday of each month. A very brief service without prayer books, followed by a discussion with different guest speakers on a variety of topics. Open to the public. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Christ United Methodist Church of Deerfield, 600 Deerfield Road, Deerfield, free, 312-431-3632 Advertisement Gurnee Farmers Market: Residents can shop for fruit, veggies, flowers, bread, baked goods, eggs, pre-cooked snacks and more at the weekly market hosted by the Gurnee Park District. 8 a.m. Friday, Esper Peterson Park, 4698 Old Grand Ave., Gurnee, free, 847-623-7788 Har Shalom's Shabbat Service: All are welcome to Har Shalom's weekly Shabbat Service each Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.Join our email list for details about monthly special Shabbat program for young families and other events. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Har Shalom at Lakeside, 1221 Lake Cook Road, Highland Park, free, 847-814-7456 Ravinia District's 2nd Annual Harvest and Harmony Fest: The exciting music line up for this fest features: performances by Sam Llanas, formerly of the critically acclaimed rock band the BoDeans, and inspirational rocker and Chicago native, Michael McDermott. The free live outdoor music festival takes place along Dean Ave. in Highland Park. 4 p.m. Friday, Jens Jensen Park, 486 Roger Williams Ave., Highland Park, free, 847-432-6000 Lake Bluff Farmers Market: The annual market features summer flowers, baked goods, fresh fruits, veggies and more for sale. 7 a.m. Friday, Village Green, 1 E. Scranton Ave., Lake Bluff, free, 847-234-0774 Author Suzanne Marrs: Join Welty Foundation Scholar, Suzanne Marrs discuss and sign copies of the letter collection of Ross MacDonald and Eudora Welty. 6 p.m. Friday, Lake Forest Book Store, 662 N Western Ave., Lake Forest, free, 847-234-4420 Mundelein Farmers Market: Shop for fruits, vegetables, cheese, flowers, jams, rum cakes and more. Friday, June 19, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and continues through October 9., Santa Maria Del Popolo Catholic Church, 116 N. Lake St., Mundelein, free, 847-970-9235 Advertisement Crystal Bowl Meditation: Experience deep relaxation to the sound of the crystal bowls. 7 p.m. Friday, Round Lake Area Public Library, 906 Hart Road, Round Lake, free, 847-546-7060 Josh Turner: With special guest Raquel Cole. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan, $33-$53, 847-782-2366 Saturday Deerfield Farmers Market: Shop for locally grown fruits and vegetables, plus flowers, potted plants, bread, cheese, maple syrup and honey. 7 a.m. Saturday, Deerfield Road and Robert York Ave., 860 Deerfield Road, Deerfield, free Ravinia District's 2nd Annual Harvest and Harmony Fest: The exciting music line up for this fest features: performances by Sam Llanas, formerly of the critically acclaimed rock band the BoDeans, and inspirational rocker and Chicago native, Michael McDermott. The free live outdoor music festival takes place along Dean Ave. in Highland Park. 11 a.m. Saturday, Jens Jensen Park, 486 Roger Williams Ave., Highland Park, free, 847-432-6000 Starving Artists Show: The is a different type of show. Sell your odd pieces and clear your inventory at this end-of-season outdoor show. 10 a.m. Saturday, Starving Artists Show, 431 Sheridan Road, Highwood, free, 847-926-4300 Advertisement Tour of Ragdale Artists Retreat: Ragdale, the acclaimed artists' retreat offers monthly docent-led tours from June through September, for individuals and groups. 10 a.m. Saturday, Ragdale Foundation, 1260 Green Bay Road, Lake Forest, $10 per person, 847-234-1063 Roald Dahl Splendiferous Showdown: Join the Lake Forest Book Store and Gorton Community Center in celebrating the 100th birthday of legendary author Roald Dahl in a fast-paced, live interactive trivia event. Purchase tickets at Gortoncenter.org. 10 a.m. Saturday, Gorton Community Center, 400 E. Illinois Road, Lake Forest, Multiple ticket prices, 847-234-6060 Marty's Barn Party: Marty's Barn Party is an annual fundraising concert for Equestrian Connection, a therapeutic riding center in Lake Forest. Three-time Grammy winner Keb' Mo' is theguest performer this year! Join in for food, drinks, friends, family and fun, all while helping a great cause! 6 p.m. Saturday, Equestrian Connection, 600 N Bradley Road, Lake Forest, $175, 847-615-8696 Lake Forest Farmers Market: Shop for fresh veggies, fruit, bread, meat and dairy products at the annual market that features over 20 vendors. 8 a.m. Saturday, Lake Forest Metra Station, 671 N. Western Ave., Lake Forest, free, 847-613-7005 Down Sizing Is it Time?: Tired of the snow, high taxes, and maintenance of your home? Ready to move to another area, townhouse, or condo? This class goes over some of the things you need to do to prepare for your move, what your options are, what you need to do to prepare your house, and more. Registration is required. 10 a.m. Saturday, Vernon Hills High School, 145 Lakeview Parkway, Vernon Hills, $19, 847-247-4576 Charles Esten and Clare Bowen: Stars from the show "Nashville" perform. 8 p.m. Saturday, Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan, $43-$63, 847-782-2366 PADS Lake County clients board a bus that would take them from a Waukegan resource center an overnight shelter in April 2016. (Joel Williams / PADS Lake County) A task force aimed at addressing how Waukegan handles issues pertaining to homeless people held its first meeting Monday, months after the mayor created it in the wake of suspending the license of Lake County's main resource center for the homeless. The group invited state, county and local elected officials, for-profit and not-for-profit developers, and service providers to the meeting which lasted nearly four hours. Advertisement Among other things, the meeting was intended, "to get a sense of where we're going," said Waukegan Mayor Wayne Motley, who created the task force in April. Residents and business owners located near PADS Lake County's daytime resource center on Grand Avenue raised concerns about drug use, panhandling and littering in the area, prompting Motley to shut the center down for a day. Advertisement The Monday-morning gathering at Waukegan City Hall was the first public event staged by the task force, which currently consists of Lake County Continuum of Care Program Coordinator Brenda O'Connell and Waukegan resident John Fallon, a senior program manager with the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Fallon is serving on the task force in a volunteer capacity and not through his employer. The focus was on sharing information about initiatives already underway in Lake County and establishing the groundwork for future conversations, said Fallon, who is an advocate for the housing-first model that gets people into housing and then provides the support and services they need to remain housed. "We covered a lot of issues," said Fallon, noting that the event had 12 speakers, representing affordable housing developers, law enforcement, the county health department and service providers. Motley said he hopes people, especially elected officials from across the county, got the "opportunity to interact and have open dialogue about this issue." He said it's instrumental for the mayors and village presidents to learn about what various agencies are proposing so that they can have open and honest conversations on the topic moving forward. Richard Sciortino, a founding principal of Brinshore Development, stressed the importance of support from elected officials. Sciortino said officials need to stand up for affordable housing despite concerns from some residents, and pointed to his own experience as a resident of Wilmette when affordable housing was proposed for his community. "As a member of that community, I was ashamed of what I heard come out of people's mouths," he said. Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor announced plans to establish his own task force in October that will focus on facilitating a more coordinated approach to homelessness across the county. He said he intends the membership to be comprehensive, representing the circuit court, housing providers, the sheriff's office and the health department along with an education component. The approach makes sense to Fallon, who sees Waukegan continuing on with its own initiatives while still working in conjunction with the county. Advertisement Another meeting is planned for after the November and April elections when Lake County officials and mayors and village presidents will come together again to talk about long-term housing, Fallon said. The city of Waukegan may meet in the meantime with landlords. PADS Lake County Executive Director Joel Williams said he hopes the work will continue over the coming months, adding that it's too soon to know if the conversations will translate into tangible changes in the county. "You have to be optimistic in this business," Williams said. PADS Lake County has its own neighborhood forum planned for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 824 N. Lewis Ave., which will be the second forum to be co-hosted by the nonprofit and St. Paul's in the wake of the April closure. The stated goal is to inform neighborhood residents of changes PADS is implementing, give residents a forum to voice their concerns and teach residents how they can respond to people in their neighborhoods who are homeless or nearly homeless. emcoleman@tribpub.com Advertisement Twitter @mekcoleman Raw video: Six cars and a semi crashed on the Tri-State Tollway near Gurnee. Sept. 19, 2016. (WGN-TV) (Chicago Tribune) Eight people were injured in a multi-vehicle accident involving a semi-truck Monday evening on Interstate 94 in Gurnee. Gurnee Fire Department Battalion Chief, James Pellitteri, said the seven-vehicle crash happened on westbound I-94, just south of Grand Avenue, at approximately 5:40 p.m. Advertisement It took the fire department 30 minutes to extricate one of the injured from a vehicle. Pellitteri said that person was sent to Advocate Condell Medical Hospital in Libertyville in critical condition. A second person who also was extricated from another vehicle sustained minor injuries, Pellitteri said. Advertisement A total of six people were sent to Advocate with minor injuries, one in critical condition, and an eighth was was transported to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan with minor injuries. "There was extensive, heavy damage to the vehicles," Pellitteri said. The Illinois State Police is investigating the cause of the crash. Yadira Sanchez Olson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun. Naper Settlement hopes to break ground as early as next year on a $4 million agriculture center that will educate students on the region's vital farming roots and highlight agriculture as a career. "They don't realize, because they don't see farms now, that Naperville was very agrarian based," said Debbie Grinnell, vice president of advancement and campus development at Naper Settlement. More than 33,000 students and teachers pass through the facilities each year. "How can we share this story with them?" Advertisement While conversation around the center began years ago, fundraising begins in earnest this fall with a $250/plate dinner in November. When construction can start depends largely on how long it takes for money to be raised, Grinnell said, adding that most of it is expected through smaller donations and grants, rather than one large endowment or award.. The 5,000 square-foot center will sit on Naper Settlement land that backs up to a Naperville Central High School parking lot. The shady spot now is covered with grass and picnic tables. Advertisement A thresher from 1912 will be featured. A thresher separates harvested grain from its stalks and husks. This one was acquired, along with other antique farming equipment, from the Wheatland Plowing Match Association after it disbanded in 2014 after 127 years. Last week, the Naperville Heritage Society, administrator of Naper Settlement, received a $72,209 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to restore it. This section of Naper Settlement could be the site of a new agriculture center. (Genevieve Bookwalter / Naperville Sun) Exhibits will take visitors through DuPage and Will counties' farming history, from the families who built Naperville to their shift from manpower to machine power, according to settlement plans. The lifestyles of early farm residents and how their fields eventually gave way to today's neighborhood subdivisions will be detailed.. Exhibits also will explain the technology used in farming equipment; the business of raising crops, and include more modern advancements, such as genetically-modified seeds, among other features, according to settlement plans. "The Naper Settlement agricultural center will preserve our city's farming heritage and create a new learning experience to support one of Illinois' largest industries," said Mayor Steve Chirico, who sits on the facility's board of directors. With so many Illinois families tracing their histories back to farming, Nata-Leigh Preas, Naper Settlement corporate relations and sponsorship coordinator, hopes there's a good turnout for fundraisers and other means to help preserve those stories in Naperville. "We would really like the community to come together and help us build this barn," Preas said. gbookwalter@tribpub.com Twitter @GenevieveBook Safety seems to not be a concern nowadays. In the past, many children when entering kindergarten were taught the safety rules when crossing the street by their teacher. At this very tender age their individual teachers guided them through the safety hazards involving vehicular traffic. These children were taught that a child, or anyone else for that matter, needs to stop walking when the end of the sidewalk or curb has been reached. Then they are taught before crossing the street they should first look to their left, then to their right, and again to their right. When it is safe, they can continue crossing the street. Is this safety education not taught and practiced anymore? Many parents believe that this process should only be responsibility of their children's teachers. No parents, the responsibility for your children's safety is in your corner, period! Many parents seem to be unconcerned about the safety of their children. This is especially evident when parents leave a store and walk into the road on which many vehicles travel, but aren't concerned about their safety or that of their children by wantonly walking into the road traversed by many vehicles and step precariously into the road without looking, often engaging in conversation with another adult in the process. We all are aware of the reckless drivers, but because of our nonchalance about the safety of ourselves and our children, that makes us more reckless many times over than those drivers. This neglectful attitude seems to permeate our Auburn community. A few years ago, a noteworthy Auburnian took his neglectful safety attitude to the streets of Washington, and tried to cross a four-lane street with the same disdain that he practiced in Auburn. He was dead wrong and never lived to learn his lesson. Michael Ricci Auburn Evanston officials could begin supplying water to Morton Grove and Niles by late 2018. With administrators from the two communities in the audience Monday at Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, Dave Stoneback, director of the Evanston public works agency, described negotiations with both villages as moving along well. Advertisement Evanston officials said they hope to execute water sale contracts with Morton Grove and Niles by the end of the year after they embarked six years ago on an aggressive campaign to market its lake water to outside communities since Chicago a seller to many was expected to hike its rates. Evanston could see $1.1 million more in revenue in 2019 and by 2021, the figure could increase to $1.3 million, Stoneback said. Advertisement Morton Grove and Niles currently purchase water from Chicago at a rate of $3.81 per 1,000 gallons, Stoneback said. Evanston is offering a wholesale water rate to the communities of 93 cents per 1,000 gallons, he said. The city prepared the rate based on the American Water Works Association model that allows for a 10 percent return on rate, he said. In addition to the offered rate, the two communities will receive debt service on a $100 million project to receive Evanston's water and then the maintenance of the new infrastructure, Stoneback said. Ralph Czerwinski, village administrator of Morton Grove, indicated that obtaining a fair rate was the village's first objective. "We understand that water is a high quality item for our residents," he said. "We want to make sure we get the best quality water and that we get the best possible rate for our constituents and that we have a highly reliable source for our water, and we think Evanston can provide us that." Before moving forward on negotiations with Evanston, officials in Morton Grove also reviewed information from Chicago and Wilmette, Czerwinski said. Steven Vinezeano, the village manager of Niles, also said the rate of 93 cents was attractive. "You need a favorable rate to make it work because there's a large capital outlay, so it has got to make sense," he said. Advertisement In coming months, officials will have to do a route study, assessing how the water will be transported to their communities, Vinezeano said. Earlier in the meeting, Evanston officials talked about improvements to the city's water and sewer systems. Regarding the city's water main improvement program, the majority of the distribution system is over 80 years old, said Lara Biggs, city engineering and capital planning bureau chief. Cast iron pipes generally have a useful life of 100 years, she said. The city has been replacing about one percent of the aging system, she said. Generally, the city spends an average about $6 million outside of major projects annually, Stoneback told aldermen. With debt service increasing significantly, the city is looking at a decrease in sewer rates and a hike in water rates that "would be revenue neutral to the homeowner," he said. Advertisement bseidenberg@pioneerlocal.com Twitter:@evanstonscribe The Niles Public Library District is asking kids why they would want to be a library president for a new contest. (Pioneer Press / Pioneer Press) Younger patrons at the Niles Public Library District are competing in an essay contest for the notable distinction of becoming a library board president for a day. It's a new library contest for kids, said Sasha Vasilic, public relations and marketing supervisor for the library district. Children in grades Kindergarten through eight are invited to fill out an entry form located in the KidSpace department and write five to 10 sentences about why they're best suited to lead the library district as its top elected official, he said. Advertisement Eligible participates include students with a Niles Public Library District card or those who attend a school served by the district, including all East Maine District 63 schools. Children began submitting their essays Sept. 1. The contest will run through Oct. 23. The winner will be announced on Election Day, Nov. 8, and they must be able to attend a board meeting scheduled for Nov. 16, Vasilic said. Advertisement Vasilic said he wanted to host a more topical contest for the library's youth patrons this year, noting how the idea was inspired by the ongoing national campaigns for president and other offices. "It's the first time we've ever done it and I'm not sure if any library I know of has done such a thing," he said. The contest works especially well for Niles, he said, because unlike other libraries, the district elects a library board and a president is chosen to oversee board operations. The winner will be recognized at the November board meeting, receive a symbolic "key to the library," reserved seats for a special library event, select their favorite books, movies and music for a display in their honor and choose a family movie that will play on the library's big screen. "You don't know how successful or cool something will be until you unleash it," Vasilic said. "We've gotten a dozen responses (to the contest) and it's only been two weeks." Anyone interested in participating in the contest can download the entry form at www.nileslibrary.org/kids. All essays should be dropped off in the KidSpace department. Lee V. Gaines is a freelancer reporter for Pioneer Press. So the lazy days of summer are behind us and it's back to juggling schedules and meals. You might have to eat on the run, but that meal-on-the-go doesn't have to be stale or boring. From Cuban red wine-soaked beefy empanadas to a meat pie steeped in British history or an all-American egg dish, here are some fun, simple ideas for meals on the go from local home cooks and chefs. Author Betsy Storm, a newcomer to Evanston, has a fun, flavorful go-to lately for getting a complete meal a vegetable frittata made in individual muffin cups. The little egg cups are so versatile she calls them "As You Like It." Advertisement "They're like an omelet in your hand," Storm said of the tiny, pop-able egg muffins. The frittatas can be made with any number of favorite fresh ingredients. You can make them with chopped zucchini, mushrooms, onions, colorful bell peppers, any of your weekly farmer's market finds. It's a great, filling way to get your five a day in one happy mouthful. Advertisement "They're versatile," Storm said. "You could add yellow squash, zucchini, fresh herbs of choice, even grated carrots or a bit of sun-dried tomato. You could also add ham, bacon or other meats." The mini omelets are perfect for packing up and eating on the go. But they are also just as ideal for relaxing with the newspaper on an easy Sunday morning. "Serve them as quickly as possible, for maximum puffiness," Storm suggested. Empanadas are another ideal way to get a complete meal on the fly. "They are great for on the go and they can be made in any size and travel very well," said Jamie Alvarez, co-owner of Taste of Cuba Cafe in Lincolnwood. "Empanadas are great options for snacks, lunch time or even for dinner. They're like little pockets of love that provide endless comfort." Her favorite empanada is the picadillo empanada made with ground beef stewed with Taste of Cuba Cafe's own house criollo sauce and other house-blended seasonings and Malbec wine. Bell peppers, garlic, onions and raisins are cooked down with the beef. Everything is blended together with cheddar cheese. "If I can take a bite and feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia or comfort then I know it's the real deal," Alvarez said. She also loves empanadas for their versatility. "They can be filled with just about anything from breakfast ingredients like ham, eggs and cheese to more savory choices like the picadillo empanada," she said. Alvarez raised the bar on her own cooking skills when she met her husband. "I realized early on that in a Cuban family I would have to earn my cooking chops," she said. "So despite some language barriers (she did not speak Spanish) I was able to learn from some of the best cooks in the world his entire Cuban family. Along the way I was able to expand upon what they taught me." "Empanadas are tricky to make," Alvarez said, "however once you learn the technique they'll become your go-to recipe." She said the filling and cooking time is the trickiest part. "You want a nice flaky outside with a hot, steamy, gooey inside." Advertisement The same is true with savory meat pies, which are akin to empanadas. Art and Chelsea Jackson got inspired to start a business making meat pies five years ago after visiting the Sheffield area of England, where Art's family originated. Art and Chelsea operate Pleasant House Pub in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. For a crispy, flaky meat pie crust, Art recommended keeping all of the ingredients extra cold, even using ice water, before it goes into the oven. The most popular pies at Pleasant House Pub are steak and ale, chicken balti and mushroom and kale. The mushroom and kale is made with fresh kale, fresh thyme, shallots, Parmesan cheese and creamy bechamel sauce. "Chelsea says it's probably the most crave-able pie we have," Art said. "The mushroom and kale in the pie is in every way what a savory pie should be." "A pie is a surprise," he said, "you put one in front of someone and it's exciting to see what comes out." 'As You Like It' Veggie Frittata Cups Yield: 10 muffins Advertisement Cooking spray (enough to lightly coat 10 medium-size muffin cups) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup chopped fresh asparagus 1 cup chopped mushrooms 1/4 cup chopped green, red or orange bell pepper 2 tablespoons chopped red or green onions Advertisement Garlic, chopped (to taste) (optional) 6 extra large eggs 1/2 cup whole milk 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried) Advertisement 1 cup shredded cheddar, jack or fontina cheese Maurice Sporting Goods, with more than 5 acres of land for sale at 1825 Shermer Road in Northbrook, will soon lay off 49 employees as it moves some operations south. (Irv Leavitt / Pioneer Press) A big Northbrook-based wholesale company is downsizing its local operations, leading to a layoff of 49 workers. Maurice Sporting Goods, a 93-year-old family business, is closing its Northbrook warehouse at 1825 Shermer Road. Three other nearby Maurice buildings will remain, including the one at 1910 Techny Road that serves as the headquarters, company principal Michael Olshansky said Monday. Advertisement Much of the operations will be switched to the Atlanta area, where an existing 175,000-square-foot warehouse will be replaced in October by a 300,000-square-foot building in McDonough, Ga., Olshansky said. The change to the wholesaler comes largely, he said, because many of the company's customers' stores are in Florida and elsewhere on the East Coast, closer to Georgia than Illinois. Another warehouse, in Reno, Nev., will remain, he said. The company also has two distribution centers in Canada. Advertisement The old warehouse's 26-foot ceilings will be replaced in Atlanta with 35-foot clearances, more efficient for use to move merchandise quickly and efficiently to respond to digital and big-box customers with demands for speed and price, Olshansky said. The closure of the Northbrook warehouse has long been signaled, as the 4.9 acres it sits on has been for sale for two years. Northbrook's Jacobs Companies submitted preliminary plans to build 40 town houses there in the summer of 2015, but dropped them as the firm concentrated on a bigger downtown Northbrook town house project. The Hanover Company dropped a bid to build 312 apartments on the property April 27, the day after Northbrook trustees panned the project as too crowded. Olshansky said that employees were told about a year ago that layoffs will come between Oct. 21 and Nov. 3 of this year, and many of them decided to ride out the time in Maurice's employ. He said the company regretted the layoffs: "This is a very, very difficult thing for my partners and I to go through. "I can't disclose the terms of the severance because of a confidentiality agreement," Olshansky said. "It's something the union agreed to, signed off on, and thought was fair." Teamsters Local 743, which represents the workers, did not return calls seeking comment. Olshansky said 225 employees will remain in Northbrook. In all, about 900 people work for the firm, he said. The firm was founded by the late Maurice Olshansky in a Maxwell Street push cart, according to company lore. It moved to Northbrook in the early 1980s, Olshansky said. The firm, which claims to be the nation's largest sporting goods wholesaler, sells merchandise such as camouflage toilet paper and shooters' duck blinds. The company switched from retailing to wholesaling decades ago, and now manufacturers a segment of its products in China, Olshansky said. Advertisement ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @IrvLeavitt Signs like this one at the Lombard Metra station may seek to reduce the incidence of suicide by train. (Denise Palesch / Pioneer Press) The woman, 39, walked around the Northbrook train station in great distress for hours before she stepped in front of an Amtrak train Sept. 9. That was what witnesses said later, according to Illinois Commerce Commission rail safety expert Chip Pew. Advertisement Could she be alive if she had been given some hope or alternative before she made that final decision? It's hard, Pew said, for a stranger to interfere in somebody else's problems without being asked. But it's possible, he said, that a sign, or a trained observer, might make a difference. Advertisement Signs that say, "There is help. Call us. 1-800-273-8255. National Suicide Prevention Hotline" have been posted since early 2010 in and around Lombard and Villa Park Metra stations, where suicide by train has been a bigger problem than in Northbrook. Do they help? Sgt. Bill Lyons of the Villa Park Police Department thinks so. "There's been a definite decrease in incidents," he said." According to the DuPage County Coroner's Office, there were two suicides on the Villa Park tracks in 2010, and two in the six years since then. Northbrook just had its first such obvious suicide in Village President Sandy Frum's memory, but she said that such signs were something to consider for her town: "Even one is too many," Frum said. She said that she would check to see what Metra thought about such tactics. "If a community wants to do something like that, we support them in it," Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said. "We're still looking for efforts that are more comprehensive than that." Advertisement Metra's new approach last fall has been to provide training to a thousand engineers, conductors and station agents to notice certain behaviors of people hanging around stations, and also how to talk with these people, Reile said. In January, Rob Tellin, a Metra road foreman, saw a man on the tracks in Elgin, she said. Tellin didn't have time to exchange more than a couple of sentences before he just grabbed the man and pulled him out of the path of an approaching Metra train. Lyons said that the Villa Park department has a similar approach to back up the signs. "In one instance, officers observed an individual pacing around the rails," he said. "After being approached by our officer, the individual said he was going to stand in front of the next train. In that case, our training saved a life." Scott Gabree, a rail safety researcher for Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center in Massachusetts, said that suicide hotline signs may indeed affect suicide rates just because "a lot of people see them in the rail environment." "I don't think there's a lot of hard evidence about what those signs can do," he said. Advertisement That may come soon, he said, with a Boston study that began in January. People manning a suicide hotline are asking callers about whether they were encouraged by similar signs to call, and what their mindset was when they saw them. Gabree said he likes the Metra approach. "I think it's really great that they're doing that. It's something they've been doing in the UK for a while, and it's had tremendous success," he said. There's more at stake, he said, than just the lives of the suicidal people and their loved ones. A 2011 study of U.S. transit workers found that about one in five suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders caused by being involved in incidents involving the death of people on the tracks. Emergency responders suffer, too. And so do witnesses. In Northbrook, they include Christopher Devine, whose Metra commuter train passed through the scene slowly Sept. 9, showing him things he never thought he'd see. Advertisement "I don't think this is something I'm going to get over," he said. Northbrook's Jon Nielsen walked up to the station at about the same time. "It was the most awful thing I've ever seen," he said. Would describing in the media what they saw discourage people from committing suicide in such a way? Gabree, one of the nation's top experts in rail safety, said it's hard to say. "It's a fine line about making people aware of it," he said. In some cases, people may be discouraged by the description, he said. In others, there may be "contagion" caused just by airing an alternative for some desperate people. Advertisement In the United States, a lot of people choose such methods of suicide. An average of 267 over the last five years have died, according to the Federal Railway Administration. Many more, Gabree said, may have been classified as accidents. Illinois, with its confluence of rail lines, is always a leader, with 32 such deaths in 2015. ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com Twitter @IrvLeavitt Workers are removing plastic bags and other non-recyclable objects during sorting at the Waste Management's CID Recycling Center on the Chicago's South Side in 2015. Oak Park officials are seeking to enact a fee on single-use shopping bags within the village. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Rather than model its ordinance after Chicago or Evanston's plastic shopping bag ban, the village of Oak Park will instead pursue a fee on single-use bags. The village's Environmental and Energy Commission began to study the issue in May 2014, and it came back with its recommendation to the Oak Park Village Board on Sept. 19. Advertisement "The reason we're recommending a fee is it has more of an effect on people's behavior from the other cities' experiences," said commission member Carolyn Cullen. According to commission members, its studies show single-use bag fees have been shown to decrease single-use shopping bag usage by more than 50 percent. Advertisement "What Chicago's ordinance did was officially ban thin plastic bags but permitted thicker bags, sometimes three to four times thicker, with the thinking they would be reusable," Cullen said, adding the reuse rate of those thicker bags was not as good as commission members had hoped. A village memo said a business survey yielded 63 responses, with several businesses indicating a concern over the environmental impact of single-use bags, while others were concerned about the costs. According to Cullen, paper bags could cost up to 10 cents each, while plastic bags average between 2 and 3 cents each. According to a village memo, a meeting was held July 13 with store owners and managers of businesses that generate a large number of carryout single-use bags. Representatives from Jewel-Osco requested the village delay any action while the state considers legislation, the memo said. A community survey included 612 completed surveys, with the top responses being to either ban single-use bags entirely or charge for plastic and/or paper single-use bags. According to commission members, it studied various regulations of single-use bags in Boulder, Colo., Seattle, San Jose, Washington, D.C., and some countries in Europe. Evanston's head of sustainability Catherine Hurley said the city has seen 100 percent compliance from businesses since Evanston's ordinance was adopted last year, but added several stores are now offering thicker plastic bags that are deemed reusable. "Many businesses are giving away bags that meet the ordinance's language, but it looks like the old plastic bags," Hurley said. "At the time we created it, there wasn't a thicker plastic bag that was cost-effective." Hurley said the city's environmental groups are interested in revisiting the issue to look at the thicker plastic bags. Hurley also said she supported Oak Park's plans. Advertisement She said she's seen many Evanston customers complying with the ordinance. "Absolutely, people are using reusable bags," Hurley said. "Any store you go into, especially the larger stores, a lot more people are bringing their own bags. The old plastic bags got caught in our storm sewers and caught in trees, and the more communities that have a type of action to reduce using a disposable shopping bag, the better." Oak Park Trustee Andrea Ott said she was supportive of the fee model. She said opting for the thicker plastic bags that some Chicago and Evanston stores are using would go completely against why such ordinances are created in the first place. "[Chicago's plan] defeats the purpose of having an ordinance," Ott said. "In Washington, D.C., it's amazing when you're at the counter and they say it's going to be 5 cents for that bag, that you say no." Trustee Peter Barber said he would support moving the proposal forward for village staff to bring back an ordinance for discussion, but said he would have more questions when the ordinance is up for a vote. Barber said he had an issue with the proposal, including fees on paper bags, which he felt were more environmentally friendly than plastic bags. Advertisement "I can understand it on the plastic bags," Barber said. "You absolutely want to discourage that. I'm just not seeing it the same way you and the commission are seeing it on the paper side." Commission members estimate Oak Park's 52,000 residents use about 17.5 million single-use bags each year. Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said staff would begin writing an ordinance to bring back to the village board for discussion at a future date. Final inputs are expected to be used to determine how much the fee would actually be, which businesses would be affected by the ordinance, where revenues would be distributed and considerations for low-income residents. sschering@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @steveschering The Park Ridge Bike Task Force is looking at ways to improve biking and walking in Park Ridge, and the group got the wheels turning last week. "The overarching goal is for the city to have a plan," said Jim O'Donnell who chaired the group's first meeting, which took place Sept. 14. "It's discouraging that we had a group that laid the groundwork for a bike plan (from 2005), and that work got stuck in a drawer. We can't have that. We need a living plan, so that someone steps up during (transportation) construction and says 'how does that fit with our bike plan?'" Advertisement There are groups doing bike planning all over and organizations that help cities do that, O'Donnell said. "I was encouraged by the variety of skill sets in our members," he said. Advertisement The group's members will have to educate themselves and coordinate with other municipalities and biking groups such as Ride Illinois, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Active Transportation Alliance, O'Donnell said, as well as attending meetings such as a walk audit with public health, planning, and transportation consultant Mark Fenton. "We got him to agree to come to Park Ridge and do a two-hour walk audit with us," O'Donnell said. Park Ridge 4th Ward Ald. Roger Shubert attended. Shubert said October will be a good month to get the task force really freewheeling, with the start of the strategic planning process in the city to specifics and incorporate those into the budget for 2018, starting in May. Shubert, who is the Public Works committee chairman as well as an avid biker, said that Park Ridge has some wide streets that lend themselves well to biking, but there's no way to cleanly link the north side to the south side of town. In fact, one of the major recommendations from the prior bike task force was for expanded paths on the north-south Western Avenue and Busse Road, which is more east-west. "That gives us some perspective and some plan of attack in connecting areas," he said. "We've seen a lot of support from commuters and residents, especially Melissa Hulting." Hulting, who also is on the task force, started the Facebook group Bike and Walk Park Ridge. "Park Ridge is a typical inner ring suburb," she said. "Our land use is more dense than is typical of outer ring suburbs, so the bones are there for a bikeable place to live. We don't have a lot of the big four-lane, car-dominated roads, not a lot of big box retail development, spread out strip malls or industry. It's a more intimate commercial and retail environment, so it's more amenable to bikeability." The city has had a lot of parking issues with new development in town, but the more people on bikes, the less need there will be for parking, Hulting said. Advertisement "What we need is to create a biking and walking culture," she said. "We might need changes in lanes and signage and more bike racks short term, but getting people biking again will ease some of the congestion problems and have a 'traffic calming' effect on people speeding." Hulting said she bikes for her commute, but she wants to see more children biking more safely. That idea rode in tandem with a lot of residents' desires for a bike task force at the June 13 meeting of the City Council. Resident Steven Schilling, who was at the bike task force meeting, said he lives close to the situation on Talcott Road where a video posted to YouTube showed a Maine South High School student nearly struck by a pickup truck in August. "I would like my kids to bike to school," he said. "I try to ride to keep the weight off. So I'd like to see safer routes for kids and for everybody else, too." Mario Bartoletti is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. Seven Gary Community School Corporation middle school students and two adults suffered minor injuries on Monday morning when the bus they were traveling in collided with another vehicle. Around 7:55 a.m., a bus carrying students to Williams Annex was traveling in the neighborhood near the Frankie Woods McCullough Academy for Girls when the crash occurred. Advertisement First responders to the scene included the Gary Fire Department, Gary Police Department and EMTs with ambulances. The students along with the bus driver and the bus attendant were taken to Methodist Hospitals Southlake for evaluation. Advertisement "We are just glad that all of the kids and everybody will be OK," said Gary Bus Transportation Coordinator April Smith in a statement. Illinois Central handles bus transportation for the Gary schools, and Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said district-appointed bus attendants are present to ensure safe transportation for students. Devin Martin, 6, tries his hand at a contest using chopsticks to move beans from one bowl to another while Keqi Zhang, a Valparaiso University visiting business scholar, gives encouragement. Zhang was working the Conficius Institute booth at the eighth annual World Cultural Festival held by the Valparaiso International Center at Valparaiso's Central Park on Saturday. (James D. Wolf Jr. / Post-Tribune) Arshad Mosleh was having his photo taken in Valparaiso Saturday with as many people in their country's native costumes as possible. He returned the favor for many of those at the eighth annual World Cultural Festival, often with those photographed holding the full-sized Iraqi flag that Mosleh and other Iraqi students and descendants carried during the Parade of Nations that wound through Central Park to the stage. Advertisement He also held others' flags in photos and, although this was the second year he attended the Valparaiso International Center's major event, Mosleh was very enthusiastic about it and the people of Valparaiso. "They are nice people, and they want to know everything about the world," the second-year Valparaiso University law student said. "It's a good opportunity to know all the cultures." Advertisement He found it indicative of the United States, where "it's very different here -- The black, the white, Everyone is welcome," regardless of religion, language or other differences, he said. This was the fifth year the festival took place in Central Park, moving from the side street where it started at the Valparaiso International Center's home at 309 East Lincolnway, said Center Founder and festival coordinator Duane Davison. "We've grown leaps and bounds," he said, noting the roughly 15 acts that included South Korean dancing from Chicago's Global Pungmul Institute this year alongside Greek, Serbian, Indian and Mexican dancers, Puerto Rican music and American blues. There were also 35 booths, including cultural offerings from groups like the Valparaiso High School Latin and Spanish clubs, The Confucius Institute of Valparaiso University, and countries represented included Pakistan, Japan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Khurdistan and Kenya. "Our goal is to connect the world to Valparaiso, figuratively and literally," Davison said. Aida Lugo McAllister, the new President of Indiana's National Conference of Puerto Rican Woman, brought the group this year and has sold her cookbook "Aida's Kitchen a lo Boricua" for a third year to educate on her native culture. People know about Italian, Chinese and Mexican cuisine, but "when it comes to Puerto Rican, people haven't the slightest idea of the ingredients," McAllister said. Viviana Ramirez, 16 , of Valparaiso, said the festival had much more to offer than it did when she attended two years before, and she received a henna Mehandi tattoo from Ramya Kota, A Valparaiso University student who has done the traditional wedding body decorating for 10 years. Advertisement Carmelita Gonzalez, who moved to Valparaiso in July, compared the festival to a Japanese one in her native Champaign-Urbana but said, "It's more fun because you have different cultures." James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Automakers in China generally have the intention to launch price reduction by the end of the year. How is the price reduction amid the global financial crisis this year? What are the causes and the characteristics of price reduction adopted by automakers in China? We had an exclusive interview with Klaus Paur, Regional Director of TNS North Asia. Gasgoo.com: Do you think the auto OEMs will begin with price cuts by the end of the year? Klaus Paur: They have already begun with the price reduction. The price reduction will certainly continue to the end of the year and I'm pretty sure it will continue also to the next year. Obviously it depends on how the market will develop and how consumers react. As you know the market is slowing down, and price reduction will obviously be an opportunity for the car manufacturers to push their cars into the market and to attract more buyers. The price reduction has become a very common tool in China market. Car manufacturers already started to use it well before the financial crisis. Gasgoo.com: Normally in China, who are the initiators and followers in price battle? Klaus Paur: It depends, price reductions are depending on different models. Car manufacturers who have relatively old models in the market start to use price reduction typically. As an example, you would have General Motors selling its lower-middle segment car Excelle with a reduced price. Because the price reduction is offered, most of the competitors have to follow suit otherwise their prices are seen too high. It really depends very much on how the model is and how the situation is. And you would also have the situation, for example, that car manufacturers don't have old models but the sales are not ideal, then a price reduction will be used to attract consumers. Take C-Triomphe as an example, the manufacturer tried with price reduction to attract consumers. Thirdly, Chinese car manufacturers attract overall speaking price sensitive group, and this is why they are also very active in reducing price even for model which is not yet long launched into the market. For example, the BYD F3 is basically quite newly launched but already enjoyed some price reduction. SPACE FOR PRICE REDUCTION Gasgoo.com: For the third aspect, you say some car manufacturers cut price for the newly-launched model. Some say it is not good for the brand and the profit, how do you think? Klaus Paur: Absolutely. But it is a very difficult situation for car manufacturers. On one hand, lower prices attract more consumers, the probabilities to sell more cars are bigger; on the other hand, lower prices eats into the profit. And now as the raw materials are getting expensive, the profit margin becomes very small. And as you mentioned earlier it is not good for the perception of the brand, as people perceive the price as an indicator of quality, at the moment when you're going down with your price too quickly, you're hurting your brand image. If you want to build up a brand image, a price reduction is not helpful. Gasgoo.com: Which segment do you think is the most crowded? Klaus Paur: The lower-medium segment is the most competitive one. There are cars that are basically starting from around 100,000 RMB, up to roundabout 160,000-170,000 RMB. This segment is the most crowded in China car market. Gasgoo.com: And this segment is the price battle happened most often? Klaus Paur: Certainly. Because you have strong competition and very crowded market, you would find a lot of price active car manufacturers play in order to attract consumers. STRATEGIES ON PRICE REDUCTION Gasgoo.com: Can you explain the strategies of price reduction adopted by car manufacturers such as Japanese carmakers, the US, German? Klaus Paur: As I said earlier, it always depends on the different situation. Price reduction overall speaking is focused on the model. For example, for C-Triomphe, we find a lot of price cut, but at the same time, Citroen's newly launched C-Quatre enjoys much less price reduction. Among all, Chinese car manufacturers would be the most price-active because they are attracting consumers mostly with price. American car manufacturer like GM is quite active in price reduction with its two brands in China, Buick and Chevrolet. German car manufacturer VW is reacting on price decreases, they are trying to avoid price reduction by introducing new models into the market. If you constantly launch new models into the market, then you become attractive to consumers not because the price is low but because the models are appealing. Japanese car manufacturers are basically very successful not only in the upper-medium segment, but also in the lower-medium segment and even in the smaller car market. They are doing two things: firstly, they bring very attractively designed cars into the market, mostly the latest model they have; secondly, they offer a very good interior. Besides, they're offering attractive price, and the overall package attracts Chinese consumers. Even they came later into the market compared to VW and GM, they are extremely successful. SUCCESSFUL MARKETING ON PRICE REDUCTION Gasgoo.com: So to some extent, do you think Japanese carmakers have no need on price reduction? Klaus Paur: To some extent, it is. If you didn't price you model too high, then there's no need to consider price reduction in your strategy. However, if your competitors cut prices, you will need to react otherwise your models will be perceived too expensive which will affect your sales. In this case, I would think Japanese carmakers are followers for price reduction rather than initiators. Gasgoo.com: Who is the winner or loser in the price battle? Klaus Paur: Generally speaking, we don't think there is the winner or loser in the price battle. It all depends on whether carmakers are clear about consumers' needs, whether their products appeal to consumers and whether the prices satisfy consumers. If they meet consumers' demand, we could say the car manufacturers are successful. If they don't, and only compete with low price, we can say the manufacturers are loosing out in a long run. Gasgoo.com: What are your views on successful price marketing? Klaus Paur: Price reduction is just one part. A proper strategy is the most important such as a clear brand position as well as long-term view of trends and tendencies in the market. Lake County's elected officials will see an across-the-board 5 percent increase in their pay next year, under the proposed 2017 budget. Members of the Lake County Council approved the increase in a 4-2 vote Monday in lieu of the requested pay raises submitted by some elected officials at the beginning of the budget process that ranged from $3,918 to $11,749 a year. Councilman Dan Derncul, R-Highland, and Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, voted against the plan. Advertisement The raises will cost the county an additional $64,223 including salary and contributions to the Public Employees Retirement Fund and FICA. Raises for the county clerk, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, coroner, assessor, commissioners and council, and the five township assessors will range from $1,556 a year to $2,887. Councilwoman Elsie Franklin, D-Gary, said over the years she has served on the council, officials have directed their limited ability to increase pay to the county's workers. Advertisement "At some point we should do something for the elected officials," Franklin said, adding for most officials, serving is a 24-hour-a-day job that does not end when meetings are over. Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said officials need to consider pay for elected offices to keep the positions competitive and of interest to potential officeholders. "If you want your best and brightest to run, you have to pay a competitive wage," Bilski said. The Lake County clerk, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, coroner, and assessor would see their pay climb from $57,732 in 2016 to $60,610 in 2017, a $2,887 a year difference. County commissioners would see their pay increase from $57,732 to $60,619, a $2,887 difference, while council members would go from $31,125 to $32,681, an increase of $1,556, under the measure. Township assessors, who sought the largest increase in an attempt to bring their salaries on par with countywide office-holders, are included in the 5 percent increase. The Calumet Township assessor would see a pay increase from $55,937 to $58,734, an increase of $2,797. Center, Hobart, Ross and St. John Township assessors' pay would increase from $50,751 to $53,289 a difference of $2,538. According to the Association of Indiana Counties 2016 Salary and Wages report, Allen County, which is closest in population to Lake County with 355,329 residents to Lake's 496,005, commissioners earn $70,815; council members, $16,455; treasurer, $74,318; auditor, $84,482; clerk, $76,420; assessor, $84,482; recorder, $69,255; and surveyor, $69,255. In neighboring Porter County, with a population of 164,343 residents, commissioners are paid $38,301; council members, $14,895; treasurer, $53,869; auditor, $56,000; clerk, $53,934; assessor $59,912; recorder $51,069; and surveyor, $63,185, according to the report. Advertisement Officials are expected to discuss salary for non-union employees at the next budget workshop. Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post Tribune. A female Aedes aegypti mosquito, known to be a carrier of the Zika virus, acquires a blood meal on the arm of a researcher. Lake County plans to hire a mosquito control specialist in coming weeks. (Andre Penner / AP) Health Department officials are looking to take the sting out of Lake County's mosquito population with the planned hire of the department's first vector control director. The Lake County Council recently granted Health Department Director Nick Doffin permission to use funds it has accumulated from the tobacco settlement grant to pay for the position. Advertisement Doffin said the department will conduct a search for the new vector director that includes posting the job in sites such as universities that offer study programs in insect control. Salary for the new position is $42,000 He said he has enough money accumulated in the fund to pay for the position for five to six years. "We want the best person possible," Doffin said. The new vector control director will be tasked with overseeing the department's mosquito control crew and developing a plan to best manage the mosquito population. Advertisement The search will begin immediately, though hiring the new director will have little impact on this year's mosquito season since the new employee would be arriving on the tail end of mosquito season. Currently officials are battling a late season boost in nuisance mosquitoes, whose populations have been bolstered by heavy rains. Nuisance mosquitoes thrive in standing water after rains but do not carry disease. Vector mosquitoes are the type that thrive in long-standing dirty water and have been responsible for the spread of West Nile virus. Concern about vector-style mosquitoes first surfaced in the wake of a 1976 mosquito-borne encephalitis outbreak in St. Louis, prompting federal officials to look into vector control programs and encourage local health departments to consider vector control, Doffin said. When West Nile virus first came on the scene in 1999 and 2000, the need for vector control intensified. Doffin said staying on top of vector style mosquitoes will be important as the Zika virus begins to spread north. "I doubt (Zika) will have a significant impact up here," Doffin said, but a strategy for combating vector mosquitoes would be helpful if things were to change. This year the instances of reported cases of West Nile virus in people are down. Keith Letta, administrator with the Porter County Health Department, said so far his department has not seen any West Nile cases. Doffin said he is still waiting on testing for some suspected cases in Lake County, but the number is on the decline. "We haven't had a West Nile case in a couple years," Letta said. He credits towns and cities for keeping up with mosquito abatement at sites prone to vector populations such drainage systems where standing water accumulates. The Health Department focuses on eliminating potential breeding grounds for vector mosquitoes and is particularly alert for reports of failed septic systems. Letta said he also is not concerned about the spread of the Zika virus in northwest Indiana at this time but said it probably will make its way here eventually. He is waiting for direction from the Indiana Department of Health on sample collecting and its plan and will follow those guidelines. Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. So, Donald Trump thought he'd have a little fun this weekend with the idea of Hillary Clinton being assassinated. The Republican presidential nominee suggested that, because Clinton favors restrictions on guns, her security detail should be disarmed. "Take their guns away," he proposed. "Let's see what happens to her." Advertisement There was a time when fantasizing aloud about the murder of your opponent would have been beyond the pale but not anymore. "Absolutely nonsense," Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, told ABC News when asked if such a message could incite violence. If Trump's "let's see what happens to her" suggestion were a one-off, there might be an argument for giving him the benefit of the doubt. The tendency to regard each Trump outrage in isolation is what allows him to become normalized. But look at the comprehensive output of Trump who freely admitted to The Washington Post that "I bring rage out" in people and there's no escaping the conclusion that he winks, and sometimes smiles, at political violence. Advertisement Does Pence also find it "nonsense" to question why, on the very day he defended Trump's assassination talk, the Trump campaign posted on its YouTube channel a video featuring rocker Ted Nugent? Nugent earlier this year called for Clinton and President Obama to be "tried for treason and hung," and he posted on his Facebook page a spoof video of Bernie Sanders gunning down Clinton. Did Pence think it poppycock to doubt Trump's intent when he suggested last month that gun owners could murder either Clinton or her judicial appointees? "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks," he said. "Although, the Second Amendment people, maybe there is." Did Pence find it balderdash to question Trump's assertion that "you would have riots" and "bad things would happen" if Trump were denied the GOP nomination? But before long all this baloney and drivel reaches critical mass, and you realize that Trump regards violence as a legitimate political tool. He defended Vladimir Putin against accusations that the Russian dictator has killed journalists, saying that "in all fairness," he hasn't seen proof. He said of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un that "you've got to give him credit" for maintaining power. He saluted the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for being "damn good at killing terrorists," and years ago he said the Chinese government's bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square "shows you the power of strength." He said he would bring back waterboarding and "much worse," figuring terrorism suspects "deserve it." He said that he would "bomb the s -- " out of the Islamic State and that "I love war, in a certain way, but only when we win." Some threats are vague: "We're going to have to do something" if Muslims in America don't turn over suspected terrorists, and "we're going to do things" to end protests and division. He pretended to consider killing journalists before promising, "I would never do that." Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > His longtime confidant Roger Stone has talked about a "bloodbath" rhetorical, he insists if Trump loses, and Stone has suggested that Clinton should be "executed." There have been a score of violent confrontations at Trump events, among supporters, opponents, journalists and staff. Shouts of "hang the bitch" are not uncommon at Trump rallies. Advertisement What's more troubling than what his backers do is how Trump backs them when they do it. He has said of protesters: "Maybe he should have been roughed up" and "I'd like to punch him in the face." He has promised to pay the legal fees of supporters who would "knock the crap out of" anybody getting ready to throw a tomato, and he has spoken fondly of the days when protesters "would be carried out on a stretcher." He said it was "very, very appropriate" when his supporters hit back at a demonstrator, and he lamented that it takes a long time to eject protesters because "nobody wants to hurt each other anymore." He has complained that there aren't "consequences" for the demonstrators, saying "we have to toughen up." After Trump proposed Friday evening that Clinton be denied armed protection, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd told CNN the next day that she had told Trump "it was wrong that there was violence being incited at his rallies." Trump, in Dowd's telling, "disagreed and said he thought the violence added a frisson of excitement." Trump, in response, fired off tweets calling Dowd a "neurotic dope." At least he didn't propose Second Amendment remedies. Dana Milbank is a columnist for the Washington Post. What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com. When people want to invite you to a gift required event, they will move heaven and earth to find your address. But they can't seem to find a thank you note and stamp after the fact. Advertisement Trump now says "President Obama was born in the United States, period." Trump just made the birther movement look like a "basket of deplorables." The glory days after World War II are long gone and they're not coming back. Selling off all these companies to foreign countries like the steel mills and BP, to name a few, was a bad idea. You can wish all you want, those days are gone. Get over it and move on. Advertisement In response to a previous quip, "Libertarian Gary Johnson asks 'What is Aleppo.' Are you sure he is a viable presidential candidate?" There is only one way to find out. Let Gary Johnson debate. Remember when everyone was saying how wonderful the Trump kids were? Not anymore. "Barack Obama was born in the United States, period." After promoting birtherism for five years, Donald Trump took 30 seconds to disavow it. He now wants us to forget the whole thing, but in November we'll remember. Trump's economic plan is just more of the same old GOP trickle down that gives huge tax cuts to the wealthy and sticks it to the middle class. Again. Gee, that worked so well for George W. Bush. It contributed to the great recession. Three Dog Net was a computer repair business in Hobart awhile ago, used them all the time. If anyone knows where they went please let me know. If not could someone suggest a reliable repair shop? So many people act before they think and Cedar Lake has more than its share. I worked for a union for over 35 years. There is no such thing as pay for no work. Congrats to the Chicago Cubs on clinching the National League East. Go Cubs Go. Advertisement Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > This Republican presidential candidate is not a republican, conservative or Christian. It is all about him and him alone. Donald Trump is interviewing for the job of president. The American people would be his boss. But he's never had a boss in his life! How is he going to answer to the American people when he's never had to answer to anyone? If John Gregg gets elected Governor in November, will the Quickly editor allow the same amount of daily Gregg-bashing comments that they have allowed the Daniels and Pence bashing over the years? Finally the politicians wish to align with will of the people. All public tax dollars should go into improving public schools, not to fund charter schools. This gives me a good reason to move to Valparaiso. All people should be able to afford to retire at age 65. If they cannot, we need to evaluate what is wrong with our system and make needed changes to allow this to be a normal retirement age. This will make employment opportunities for our youth. So under pressure Donald Trump has finally conceded that our President was born in the U.S. He's like a scientist who has just rejected the flat earth theory. Advertisement Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com. Carl Blount allegedly shot Jeffrey Westerfield, a Gary police officer, but, yet, Blount's defense team is worrying about his rights and challenging the constitutionality of Indiana's death penalty law. Go figure. What were the rights of that poor policeman who was shot to death multiple times in his car? Advertisement Merrillville should do something for the people who pay the taxes. Where are the speed signs that light up telling you how fast you are going? Have a day at the Public Works Department to take your old televisions and used oil. How about painting the lines on the streets before winter gets here? I was reading in the Post-Tribune that more women are getting gun permits. That's good. If it was up to me, it would be mandatory for every woman in America to carry a pistol with them. Maybe if people could shoot back, there wouldn't be so much trouble with these gangsters out here. Advertisement The only thing that I can say is I am so embarrassed for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. He is not a gentleman. He is the first person I've ever known to consider himself a gentleman and talk about a woman like he is. He's degrading. He has no common sense. Has he ever seen a gentleman talk about a lady like she's a dog? What a total waste of gasoline. I was sitting in the parking lot at Wal-Mart. One guy walked around and blew the trash into the middle of the road. Then another vehicle came along and attempted to suck up the paper that the guy had blown out into the middle of the road. Here's the catch. The vehicle circled around two or three pieces of paper like 13 times and still didn't get the paper sucked into the truck. Why can't they just walk, pick up the paper and put it in the sack? Everyone's forgetting what the million-dollar question is here about the lead contamination at the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, and the million-dollar question is who the heck builds homes on the former site of the U.S.S. Lead facility? Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > I read that the No. 1 fear of the average person is public speaking or getting up in front of a group and giving a message or a talk. The No. 2 fear is death. I guess what that means to the average person is if you were going to be at a funeral, then you would rather be in the casket than to talk about the person in the casket. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump talks about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton taking your guns away. In a separate speech, one of the first things she said is: "I'm not going to take your guns away. I believe in the Second Amendment." Like everything else Donald comes up with, he doesn't understand the logistics or how to do anything. You're going to send people to the doors of people who have guns and take them away, huh? How many people are going to die trying to take your guns away This twice-wounded U.S. Marine combat veteran cannot vote for presidential nominee Hillary Clinton because of Democratic policies. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says that she has taken full responsibility for her misuse of her personal servers while emailing as U.S. secretary of state. What do you think would happen to you or me if we would have done the same thing while in the military or if we were working for a corporation who wanted to keep their things that they're doing secret? Do you think we would still be around? Why did the libraries allow cell phones? It's very annoying. Libraries were always peaceful but they're not quiet anymore. Advertisement This is in response to the politicians visiting the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago. To my sisters and brothers: Do you really think that the politicians care about you? I can answer that. No, they do not. Now there are a few politicians that really have others' interests at heart, but most politicians only show up when they need your vote. Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly. If the tweaked 2016-17 final budget for Skokie School District 68 were a contest of sorts, it would end in a draw. Since the tentative budget was first put on display a few months ago, total expenses are down $151,197, but total revenue is also down $150,500. That makes the district's estimated $2 million budget gap roughly the same as it was when the draft budget was first introduced. Advertisement The Skokie School District 68 Board unanimously approved the final $35 million budget last week at its Sept. 15 meeting. Ryan Berry, chief school business official for business services, said the reduction in the budget mostly comes from the transportation fund. The final budget also reflects updated staffing and salary information, as well as material adjustments based on final enrollment figures, he said. Advertisement "Lower technology costs accounted for the largest changes to the budget," he said in his report to the board. "Last year, the district launched our Tli68 initiative (iPads for everyone) and upgraded our network capabilities. Not only are capital expenses reduced in 2017, but so are support, software, and equipment maintenance costs." In an effort to improve the district's fee waiver process for parents and employees, he said, the administration is looking at moving the fee payment schedule back to the fall. "Therefore, in 2017, there would not be a full billing cycle, reducing projected revenue in the education fund," he said. On the other hand, Berry said, when fees were first moved to the spring in 2013, the district collected two years' worth of fees in one fiscal year. The district started the fiscal year with reserves at $36 million, which officials say allows them to absorb the budget gap well. The education fund, where day-to-day spending occurs, shows spending at nearly $25.7 million and revenue at nearly $24.3 million. The education fund is considered the fund where day-to-day spending occurs and is by far the costliest fund in the budget. misaacs@pioneerlocal.com Twitter: @SKReview_Mike Wael Farouk will perform with the New Philharmonic Sept. 24-25 at McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn. (McAninch Arts Center / Handout) As a child, Wael Farouk was denied admission to a music conservatory because his hands were too small. Now, he is a piano virtuoso. The Egyptian-born Farouk was born with shortened ligaments in his hands and small fingers. A doctor recommended exercising his hands, so his parents bought him a toy piano. The attraction was immediate, and at age 7, he auditioned for the Cairo Conservatory. Despite testing well, he was refused admission. His father intervened on his behalf, and Farouk was given a three-month trial. Advertisement He has since become one of the conservatory's most distinguished alumni, performing in such venues as the White Hall in St. Petersburg, Schumann's house in Leipzig and Carnegie Hall in New York. During the 2013-2014 concert season, Farouk performed a five-recital series featuring the complete solo works of Rachmaninoff, something few other pianists have accomplished. Advertisement Farouk has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Saint-Etienne National Orchestra, the Manhattan Symphony and the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. In 2004, he was given the honor of playing on Tchaikovsky's piano. He serves on the faculty of Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., and with the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He will perform with the New Philharmonic under the direction of Kirk Muspratt this weekend at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. The show, titled "Passionate Virtuosity Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky," marks the beginning of the New Philharmonic's 40th season. Conductor laureate Harold Bauer will open the program by guest-conducting selections from the first work played in New Philharmonic's inaugural concert from November 1977. Bauer will conduct the 1st and 3rd movements from Bach's Sinfonia in D. op. 18, no. 4. Then Muspratt will man the podium to conduct Prokofiev's Concerto no.1, op. 10 featuring Farouk. The first half will end with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Following intermission, Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 6 op. 74 in B minor, Pathetique will complete the concert. Mac Chats will precede each concert beginning at 6 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. respectively. Muspratt is pleased Bauer will be on hand. "He's the man who had the vision and started the orchestra and did all the hard work to sustain it and grow it," he said. Muspratt took over when Bauer retired in 2004. Today, New Philharmonic employs more than 60 professional musicians. Advertisement Muspratt met Farouk through Henry Fogel, dean of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt College and former president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Farouk will perform Prokofiev's earliest concerto. Prokofiev wrote it when he was still a student, for his graduation from St. Petersburg Conservatory. Muspratt hopes people leave the concert both moved and inspired. "(I hope) it's something personal that they can feel. Tchaikovsky premiered this piece just 19 days before he committed suicide the pain of his life is in this piece. "The last movement of the Tchaikovsky is extremely wrenching and extremely deeply felt. It is dark and full of sorrowful pacing and thoughtfulness. We have to realize that just a few weeks later, Tchaikovsky is going to be dead, and he had lived very tragically because of his homosexuality. He was a very tortured guy. Many artists are tortured and that's why they create such beauty," Muspratt said. "It's going to be a very beautiful concert and a meaningful concert." Advertisement Annie Alleman is a freelance writer. New Philharmonic: Passionate Virtuosity Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday Where: McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn Tickets: $49 Information: 630-942-4000; AtTheMac.org New Trier Township High School District 203's search for a new superintendent is off to a good start, despite nobody showing for a community forum last week, Board President Greg Robitaille said. The 6 p.m. forum Thursday at New Trier's Northfield campus was one of 19 focus groups conducted by the search firm School Exec Connect, Robitaille said. Advertisement "Of the 19 focus groups, we had about 180 participants, so it's surprising to hear that no one showed up for one," he said. In addition to the focus groups, 379 people have responded to an online survey seeking input from the entire school community on the search, according to a School Exec Conduct report on the district's website. Advertisement "You always want more, but we think it was statistically significant," Robitaille said. "It's not a scientific survey, but we think we've got a good sense of various constituents, including parents and teachers. We have good representation across the groups." The board plans to announce the new superintendent in mid-December, he said. School Exec Connect was the board's top choice to conduct the search, Robitaille said. "They've had extensive experience in superintendent recruiting, in particular, and on the North Shore and in northern Illinois, in particular," he said. "In addition, a few of our board members have worked with them before and had a very good experience." The board is scheduled to interview five or six candidates on Oct. 18 and 19 and to narrow the field to three finalists after the last interview on Oct. 19. Both the board and community and staff are scheduled to interview the three finalists on Nov. 1-3. According to the School Exec Connect report, the focus groups and survey were intended to gather input from staff, parents, students and community members. The information will be used to create a profile of the new superintendent, the report said. Among the survey respondents, 183 are parents, 136 staff members, 41 students and nine community members, it said. Ten were categorized as "other." Advertisement At least 25 percent of respondents said the new superintendent's priorities should be the emotional well-being of students, student growth and achievement, professional development for staff, facilities improvement, opportunities that follow student interest and financial oversight, the report said. The top three characteristics or skills needed for the new superintendent are collaborating and including others, leading and inspiring others with a clear vision, and knowing curriculum, instruction and assessment, it said. Phil Rockrohr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press. By Patrick Schreiber As of July 25, 2016, Chinese border control extended the Automated Passenger Clearance System service to foreigners at many frequently used border crossing points across the country. The e-channel service has been used in Hong Kong and Macau since 2002 and limited to Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau identity card holders, but due to the recent increase of foreign travelers crossing between borders, the option is also available for foreigners who are in possession of an e-passport and a long term visa. The e-channel service can now be found at airport immigration points and at the Mainland China-Hong Kong border, simplifying border crossing procedures for foreign business people and long-term residents, significantly reducing crossing time. Application process Application for the e-channel facility can be made at several border offices. Registration is free, but the application procedure and all customer related communication is only provided in Chinese. Applicants are required to be in possession of: A new biometric passport (e-passport): this can be identified by the microchip symbol on the front. A valid visa with at least six months of validity and its corresponding residence permit. The application process includes filling out and signing an application form, having a photograph taken of the applicants face, and scanning both thumb prints. After successful registration, applicants will be able to use the e-channel the next day without further requirements, as information will be stored in the passport microchip. For cancellation of the e-channel service, the frequent visitor is able to apply for a cancellation form and can submit it to the immigration staff at the e-Channel Enrolment Office. Additionally, further documents may be required for proof of identity of the submitting person. It must be noted that certain types of passports are not compatible with the e-channel system. RELATED: Payroll and Human Resource Services Using the e-channel At the e-channel terminal, travelers are required to scan the passport photo page at the receptacle. This will open the door to the e-channel. Inside, a scan of ones face will be taken as well as of the thumbs on a fingerprint scanner. Once successfully scanned and proven a match, the exit doors will open, and the traveler can proceed over the border. In case of any problems at the e-channel, the normal border crossing channel will need to be taken. Takeaways Chinas entry and exit figures have grown by over 50 percent since 2008, but border control have only hired 20 percent more personnel. Expansion of the e-channel system will not only alleviate the work load for border control, but will also cut border crossing times and facilitate faster flow of travelers. For foreign business executives who are on a working visa or residence permit in China, the new system will guarantee a much smoother experience. However, it is important to understand the visa requirements and passport compatibility for the e-channel before applying at the customs office. About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. Human Resources and Payroll in China 2016-2017 A firm understanding of Chinas laws and regulations related to human resources and payroll management is absolutely necessary for foreign businesses in China. This edition of HR and Payroll, updated for 2016/17, navigates Chinas laws and regulations related to HR and payroll management essential information for foreign investors looking to establish or already running a foreign-invested entity in China. An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2016 Doing Business in China 2016 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in June 2016, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes An Introduction to Doing Business in Hong Kong 2016 Doing Business in Hong Kong 2016 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in Hong Kong. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Hong Kong market, but also for companies that already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes. After five years of toiling in the alternative energy trenches, Biyadi (BYD) is set to introduce its new model, the F3DM plug-in hybrid car. With this launch, BYD will reach the hybrid market, will indeed originate it, two to three years earlier in China than the overseas auto giants. For the first time, a Chinese automaker is leading in auto technology and China's electric car market may become the new battlefield of global car producers. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently added the F3DM into its new car catalog, and will allow its sale in 14 cities in China. BYD announced it will hit the market on December 15. Wang Jianjun, assistant to general manager of BYD, said the price had not been finally decided upon, but the rumored 15,000 yuan was certainly too low. But, Wang said, the F3DM is very advanced in technology and will be highly competitive with any rivals in costs, since the company has stuck to a vertically integrated production chain. He said the company hopes the central government will support the new car model through taxation, usage, and in other ways, just as European countries and the US have done with some of their own models. Wang said that every battery costs about 50,000 yuan before mass production, but that the price will drop to about 30,000 yuan when the production volume reaches 100,000. Despite its leading position and the hope of favorable government policies, for BYD, there's still a long way to go. Price and consumer demand are the biggest obstacles for acceptance of the F3DM. In the traditional auto area, BYD can always follow the leading companies in their market approach, but as the new leader in the new Chinese electric car market, BYD will need to define and explore the market on its own. BYD has followed leading companies after entering the auto industry with its and its successful F3 and F0 series in the small and medium car area with high quality and low price. In the medium and high class auto market, which is not price sensitive, its F6 series has faced greater obstacles. Fierce Competition On New Energy Car BYD General Manager Xia Zhibing has spoken several times over the past five years of the company's detailed plans for production of a completely electric car. It has, in fact, been manufacturing traditional cars to finance such a vehicle. Along side of this, BYD has also become the world's leading battery producer. But at least for the moment, the electric car is still in the lab, with difficulties to overcome for mass production. The hybrid car is a transitional model before the new energy vehicle can be widely produced. Toyota's Prius hybrid, going on 11 years old next month, faced serious doubts when it was first launched on the market, but it has now been accepted by the US mainstream and occupies 50% share of the US alternative energy car market. Despite of the influence of the financial crisis and market decline, the auto giants have poured money into the development of the new energy cars in order to gain a favorable position in what is sure to be a competitive market after the crisis. Electricity is becoming more and more important among development channels for new energy automobiles. According to a recent McKinsey research report, the electric car is the best new energy development. A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, declared in the research report released during Guangzhou Auto Show that electric cars will be mainstream on the market by 2020 due to high oil price and supportive policies. Toyota will move its focus back to an all-electric car this year. Toyota declared in August that it was developing a new type of small electric car, and would be put into production in 2010. A Prius hybrid car with rechargeable battery, originally to be launched in 2010, will be on the market in 2009. GM's withdrawal from the new energy car area in 1999 ceded to Toyota leadership in this area. However, due to the current crisis, GM's development of its own electric car, the VOLT, is crucial for the company's future. In June this year GM's board approved the mass production of VOLT. The car is scheduled to be launched on the US market in 2010 and the Chinese market in 2011. BYD's F3DM, on the market next month, has at least a two-year lead on it. No wonder Warren Buffett bought into BYD. A cluster of splendid new casinos on the way to Macao highlights the operators' efforts to lure gamblers back. Hopes are high for a recovery in the gaming industry. Some think it is probably on the cards. That may be because Macao's casino operators had another busy year of constructions. The world's largest gaming hub last month added its most expensive casinothe $4.2 billion Wynn Palace from the stable of US casino mogul Steve Wynn. Just a month after that, American billionaire Sheldon Adelson's $2.9 billion Parisian Macao opened. MGM Resorts will follow next year with the $3.1 billion MGM Cotai, while SJM Holdings is on track to open the $3.9 billion Grand Lisboa Palace in 2018. Such a hive of new casinos comes after Macao's gross gaming revenue fell 4.5 percent in July to $2.2 billion, stretching declines for the 26th month in a row. However, July's revenue beat analysts' estimate of 5.5 percent drop, fitting the optimistic tone of casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and JP Morgan Chase that sees signs of a turnaround on the horizon. Gaming has been part and parcel of Macao since the 1850s, when Portuguese administrators made it legal and taxable. Local gaming industry has exploded after foreign casino operators were allowed into the market in 2002. According to global ratings agency Moody's, gaming accounts for 58.3 percent of Macao's gross domestic product and contributed to roughly 75 percent of total government revenues. Macao is the only place in China where gambling is legal. The territory cemented its status as the world's No 1 gaming center in 2006, when its gambling revenues outstripped that of Las Vegas for the first time. During that time, the city's casinos pulled in a record $4.57 billion in revenue in a single month. The Las Vegas of Asia started to lose some shine since 2014, however, when Beijing's crackdown on corruption and extravagance amid floundering mainland economy scared mainland high-rollers away to other regional gaming destinations. Cambodia comes as an emerging rival, whose Hong Kong-listed casino operator NagaCorp posted a 24-percent surge in net profit to $125.2 million for the first half of 2016, with a shiny new casino of 200 gaming tables on the way in 2017. This compares Wynn Macao's 20.6 percent tumble in net profit to $1.14 billion, and Sands China's 25 percent decrease in net profit to $551 million over the same period. Stanley Au Chong-kit, chairman of Macao-based bank Delta Asia Financial Group believes policymakers' tough stance on curbing gambling growth is a sure thing for the foreseeable future. "By 2018, at the latest, some casinos failing to make ends meet would be forced to restructure," he said. "But the point is, why does the market cling to the hope of a turnaround, defying the fact that the gambling business has already developed excessively in Macao?" Even when a whopping 34.3 percent drop in profit sent jitters across local casino operators last year, the territory's $29 billion gross gaming revenue is still three times that of Las Vegas, six times of Singapore, and ten times of South Korea and the Philippines, said Macao Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on. For the first half of 2016, Macao's $13.5 billion gross gaming revenue was down 13 percent from a year earlier, but is still more than any others across the globe. China's e-commerce powerhouse Taobao has surpassed Tencent to become the nation's most valuable brand, according to a report published Tuesday. Taobao's brand value stands at 230 billion yuan (US$34 billion), followed by China Mobile at 227 billion yuan, and Baidu at 218 billion yuan, according to Hurun Research Institute. Last year's champion Tencent fell to fifth position at 210 billion yuan, as its instant messaging service WeChat was counted independently this year. Wechat, which has 700 million users, debuted at seventh place on the list, with a brand value of 132 billion yuan. The combined brand value of the 200 Chinese companies listed in the report reached 4.6 trillion yuan, up 7 percent year on year, and a record high. Of the 200 companies listed, 139 have seen their brand values grow, and 97 are private businesses. The value of state-owned brands has decreased by about 3 percent on average, while those of private businesses are up by about 20 percent on average. Financial and property sectors have the most brands on the list, but technology brands recorded the biggest rise, with their average value increasing by about 59 percent. The rapid expansion of China's technology industry in recent years contributed to the growth, according to the institute. East China's Jiangxi province has started to install face recognition technology in internet cafes across the province to stop entry of children, thepaper.cn reported. The online real name registration system, which is also being installed, will help trace the authenticity of the users' ID. Once child logs on to one of the more than 5,000 monitored internet cafes, the system will immediately report it to the authority and retain evidence. China banned internet cafes from allowing anyone below the age of 18 in 2002 and every customer was required to show ID before entering the bars. The system aims to use technology rather than human check to implement the regulation. It is expected to finish installation before the end of October and finish trial run before the end of November. Media has been reporting the violation of rules both by children and internet cafes for years. On Oct 19, 2015, a 16-year-old student, surnamed Zhou, skipped classes and surfed the internet in a cafe for about seven hours before passing out and later dying in Hongze county, Huaian city of East China's Jiangsu province. On Dec 28, 2014, a 17-year-old boarding school student Xiao Lei, alias, went to an internet cafe with friends after drinking and fainted at 3.32 am in front of the computer before dying two hours later in Liuzhou, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. A scientist from Hong Kong and another from the Chinese mainland have each been awarded one million dollars along with the first-ever Future Science Prize for their outstanding achievements in life science and material science. A news conference announces winners of the first Future Science Prize in Beijing, on Monday, September 19, 2016. [Photo: gmw.cn] The life science prize went to Professor Lu Yuming with The University of Hong Kong and the material science prize was awarded to Professor Xue Qikun with Tsinghua University. Established in January 2016, the Future Science Prize is considered to be the first private science award cosponsored by Chinese mainland entrepreneurs and scientists. The Future Science Prize consists of two annual prizes for life science and material science. The prize honors individuals who finish their scientific work on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan, and their work has resulted in significant international impact. A prize-giving ceremony of the first Future Science Prize will be held on January 15, 2017. You are here: Home Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Sunday that the mainland will adopt eight measures to promote exchanges with eight Taiwan cities and counties, commenting after officials from both sides met in Beijing. Chinese mainland's top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng (R) meets with Taiwan official on Sunday, September 18, 2016 in Beijing. [Photo: CCTV] Among the measures, Ma said Taiwan counties are welcome to hold farm produce fairs on the mainland, while mainland enterprises are encouraged to visit their Taiwan counterparts to purchase agricultural products. The mainland will promote cooperation with Taiwan on green and high-tech sectors, smart cities and other fields; And the mainland will support Taiwan counties that promote tourism products to mainlanders. The trade and personnel exchanges between Taiwan and the mainland's coastal regions of Fujian Province, Kinmen and Matsu counties are also set to be expanded. Also, youth exchanges and cross-Strait cultural communications will also be upheld. The eight cities and counties from Taiwan are New Taipei City and the counties of Hsinchu, Hualien, Taitung, Kinmen, Lienchiang, Miaoli and Nantou. When meeting with officials from the eight places, the mainland's top political advisor, Yu Zhengsheng, praised their adherence to the 1992 Consensus, which affirms that both sides of the Strait belong to one China. As Taiwan's current administration refuses to recognize the Consensus, Yu said the mainland will never tolerate any secessionist activities for Taiwan independence. You are here: Home China plans to build more than 60 nuclear power plants over the next 10 years. The pressure valve of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is installed at the Huaneng Shidao Bay nuclear power plant, Shandong Province, March 20, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua] The country's three major nuclear companiesState Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC), China National Nuclear Corporation, and China General Nuclear Power Corporation will each build at least two nuclear power plants annually. SNPTC vice president Zheng Guangming made the announcement at the World Nuclear Association Symposium in London. Among the 60 plants, Zheng said six to ten will use Chinese-developed CAP1400 technology. At present, two CAP1400 nuclear reactors are under construction in Sanmen county, Zhejiang province. Orient Securities, a securities trading and financing services provider, estimated that China's nuclear facilities will have a 20 billion yuan (3 billion USD) market in the next five years. China now has 30 nuclear reactors in operation and another 21 under construction. According to the plan, China will allocate 570 billion US dollars to set up new nuclear plants, aiming to derive 10 percent of its energy from nuclear power by 2030. As of the end of 2015, 66 percent of China's energy came from coal, 35 percentage points higher than the world average. China needs more cyber security specialists, according to a national cyber security awareness event held yesterday in Wuhan, capital of the central province of Hubei. Urgent need for cyber security specialists Sources at the event, which was sponsored by the China Cyberspace Administration, said China currently needs 700,000 cyber security specialists, which might rise to 1.4 million by 2020. This is the third annual National Cyber Security Awareness Week. The aim is to engage and educate the public and the private sectors about cyber security through various initiatives. This year, for the first time, 19 individuals were selected for the outstanding contributions they have made to cyber security. Each was awarded up to 1 million yuan (US$150,000). Shen Changxiang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, received the top prize for his work on a cloud service for Windows XP users in China. He was the lead scientist on the team. About 15,000 students majored in information security are graduated from Chinese higher learning institutes every year. The figure, however, is far from being enough to satisfy the countrys growing need. In July, the cyberspace administration, along with the ministries of education, science and technology, industry and information technology, announced that cyber security education and training would become a national strategy. In a country of 700 million Internet users, core information and cyber security technologies must be improved, sources said. Shanghai, December 3 (Gasgoo.com) Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., a leading automaker in China, is seeking to acquire at least some assects of General Motors (GM) through contact with financial advisors close to the US auto giant, SinoCast reported today citing unnamed sources. Hu Xindong, secretary to chairman of Dongfeng, declined to comment yesterday. But he earlier said the nation's third biggest car maker has been contacted by financial groups which have close relationships with GM over a possible takeover, according to National Business Daily. The management of Dongfeng Motor, however, has not confirmed the saying. "It has not started formal discussion yet," disclosed Hu. "For the moment, Dongfeng Motor has had no intent to take over GM, but it is still looking for opportunities to acquire overseas assets, including auto parts and powertrain operations," the secretary said. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) yesterday denied it is considering buying GM, citing GM's huge costs of compensating workers and other follow-up expenditure as barriers. The three U.S. automakers Tuesday submitted detailed plans to Congress on how they would use $25 billion of loans they say urgently need. The companies also reported sharply reduced sales in November as the effects of the credit squeeze and worsening consumer sentiment weighed on their business. Premier Li embarked on a very significant tour on the 18th of September. The tour comprises of visits to New York to attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly and pay official visits to Canada and Cuba upon the invitations from the respective countries. The 71st session of the UN General Assembly will be an important one. Every session of the UN General Assembly is an historic moment, but among other things the 71st session will be the last one attended by US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as both are about to leave office. Thus, along with discussions of global matters, the assembled leaders will also bid farewell to two of the most famous and powerful leaders among them. The UN General Assembly session is usually the biggest multilateral event of the calendar year, with most of the top world leaders in attendance. It makes it a perfect opportunity for leaders to meet each other on the side-lines to discuss matters and touch base on past, present and future agreements and understandings between countries. Being the Premier of the second largest economy in the world, Premier Li will most definitely have a very hectic few days in New York meeting his counterparts from other countries and streamlining and strengthening communications with them while attending various engagements at the UN headquarters. At the General Assembly session during the general debates, the premier will sketch out China's stance on global governance and international order in front of other global leaders and he will highlight measures for coping with global challenges. Regarding the Premier's trip to New York, Vice Foreign Minister of China Li Baodong stated that "China hopes to take the premier's UN tour as an opportunity to strengthen communication with other sides and underline the basic norms of international relations. The international community should jointly establish a new international order with cooperation and reciprocity at its core." After attending the 71st UN General Assembly meetings, the Premier will head to Canada on the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This visit to Canada is the first one in 13 years by a Chinese Premier and is going to hold tremendous meaning, as this state visit is being reciprocated immediately after Mr. Trudeau's recent visit to China to attend the G20 summit. Trudeau's visit was a sparkling affair between the two countries as it resulted in the signing of agreements of cooperation in 17 different areas. With Premier Li's visit one can only expect greater things to come. Over all, relations with Canada are very healthy. Officially, diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1970 and they have been growing continuously every year. This enduring and comprehensive relationship between the People's Republic of China and Canada runs at many levels and covers various arenas, including trade, governance and values, health, education and culture. People to people exchanges are very high, with over 1.3 million Canadian residents being of Chinese origin, and with over 110,000 Chinese students at Canadian educational institutions in 2014. Chinese is Canada's third most spoken language after English and French. Pierre-Elliott Trudeau was elected prime minister of Canada in June of 1968, and one of his major foreign policy objectives was to establish diplomatic relations between Canada and the Peoples' Republic of China. Now his son Justin Trudeau is doing the same, carrying on in his father's footsteps and advancing relations with China, even as a feasibility study is being conducted regarding a free trade agreement between the two countries. China is Canada's second-largest single-country trading partner and two-way merchandise trade between the two countries reached nearly $85.8 billion in 2015, up 10.1 per cent from the figures of 2014. Trudeau said he is pleased to welcome Li and said, "Together, we will build on the progress made during my visit to China, deepening understanding between our two countries, and working on growing our economies and strengthening the middle class." Premier Li's trip to Canada is scheduled to conclude on the 24th of September. After the trip to Canada, the Premier is scheduled to fly to Cuba. This will be an historic trip as Cuba was the first country in Latin America to recognize and form diplomatic ties with China and this will be the first visit by a Chinese premier since the two countries established diplomatic ties 56 years ago. Premier Li is going to visit Cuba upon the invitation of President Raul Castro and the two countries are set to sign cooperation documents in areas such as the economy, technology, new energy, industry and environmental protection. The important thing to note is that China is Cuba's second largest trading partner so far and there is tremendous room for growth in this aspect. Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca recently called Premier Li's upcoming visit a "very important visit and a great step in bilateral relations," adding that "Chinese investments in our nation are starting to blossom and we have a joint strategic vision for the future." Shafei Moiz Hali has a master's degree from George Mason University, Virginia, USA in the field of International Commerce and Public Policy. Mr. Hali has been working as an Assistant Professor at the National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, Pakistan with the department of Government and Public Policy Since 2009. Currently he is pursuing his PhD from the College of Public Administration at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China. A spring-cleaning [By Zhai Haijun/China.org.cn] China saw the establishment of its first website specializing in exposing fallacious rumors in Beijing in August, 2013. In the following two years, 45 websites, newspaper and TV stations became partners, refuting more than one million items of rumors of various kinds. Here are some cases showing how the website functions. In April 2015, some media outlets reported strawberries produced in North China had excessive amounts of residue of a certain kind of herbicide, acetochlor, which causes cancer. These reports dampened the market, leading to heavy loss for farmers who insisted they did not use acetochlor in strawberry planting. The rumor-fighting website worked with some professional testing agencies, experts, agricultural administrative departments and farmers to test the "cancer-causing" strawberries, and found none of over 200 samples showed any sign of the herbicide. After that, the rumor disappeared gradually, according to the Beijing Internet Information Office. This case showed how the rumor-dousing website is playing an important role in raising people's awareness of verifying authenticity of any information they come across on the internet. The Tianjin port blast in August 2015 was followed by many rumors, alleging that Beijing's environment was affected, and urging people to buy gas masks. Qianlong.com, a news portal in Beijing, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau and Beijing Meteorological Bureau quickly responded to public concerns, and published real-time air quality data for southeast Beijing, where the capital borders Tianjin. Monitoring showed Beijing's air quality had not been influenced by the accident. The rumors soon died out. According to Sina.com, the operator of Weibo, a popular micro blog in China, it received many public reports of every rumor after the Tianjin blast, showing how important it was for public consciousness to be raised to fight rumors. Under the support of the rumor-fighting website, Sougou.com, a Chinese online search engine, published a report on spam short message and phone scam in February 2015, to which the administrative authorities actively responded by launching a large-scale campaign nationwide to deal with the problem and tracking down the fraudsters. The website also helps drug control. Baidu.com, the largest online search engine in China, together with the Beijing Internet Information Office and drug-control social organizations in the capital, published the top 10 questions raised by netizens regarding drug control from 2005 to 2014, which shows the changing trends of drug problems in China. The rumor-fighting website published the report as well. Drug-control officials in Beijing appreciated the media organizations' contribution to the public cause. Despite its fast development, media experts say the rumor-fighting website still needs to strengthen cooperation with relevant parties and take advantage of advanced big-data technology to douse rumors as soon as they surface, taking preemptive actions to prevent and control their spread. The author is an associate researcher of Beijing Internet Information office The article was translated by Jason Lee. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang addresses the Summit for Refugees and Migrants of the on-going U.N. General Assembly in New York, the United States, Sept. 19, 2016. [Xinhua/Li Tao] China's opening-up to the world has been a significant national strategy in recent years. Aspects and the results of this strategy become apparent every time a Chinese leader participates in international organizations or pays an official visit to foreign countries. Premier Li Keqiang's attendance at the 71st UN General Assembly, in parallel with his visits to Canada and Cuba, is no exception. His presence in New York, in particular, has revitalized the debate about China's UN policy. One year after the historical speech made by President Xi Jinping on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the UN, Li has picked up the baton to confirm Beijing's interest in becoming more actively involved in the world body. According to recent data, China is contributing 2,639 male and female police officers, military experts and troops to UN military and police operations. Ethiopia leads this category with 8,326 assignees; meanwhile, China, along with Ghana occupy eighth place as contributors of military personnel, with over 2,400 troops, following Ethiopia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Nepal, Indonesia and Burkina Faso. As far as financing peacekeeping operations is concerned, China is the second largest contributor for 2016 with 10.26 percent of the total funding, following the 28.57 percent of the United States. Relevant resolutions of the General Assembly demonstrate that percentages will not change much in 2017 and 2018. All this suggests that China is seeking to be a globally responsible actor and even operate in challenging environments. Although this year marks the 45th anniversary of the country's return to the UN, it started to endorse UN peacekeeping operations since the late 1980s. Subsequently, in 1992, it sent its first company of engineers to Cambodia. Now, 24 years later, Beijing's traditional suspicion and hesitation have completely disappeared, as it participates in several missions, including MINURSO in Western Sahara, MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo, UNIFIL in Lebanon and UNTSO in the wider Middle East region. However, China's involvement at the UN level is not only confined to peacekeeping missions. While it regards the Security Council as the primary organ of international peace and security, it seeks a modest reform on the basis of ongoing international developments. In particular, it seeks a restructuring of world governance - including a potential new shape of the Security Council - which will reflect the growing economic power of developing countries. A better geographical distribution is also proposed whereby different countries and civilizations, for example African states as well as North and South American ones, will have a greater say. The process is certainly not an easy one due to existing contradictory views. Above all, it requires exhaustive deliberations among different countries and a wide consensus on Beijing's aspirations. Going further, China places particular emphasis on the implementation of economic goals set by the UN. Therefore, it is endeavoring to promote the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Premier Li's decision to chair a relevant symposium on the margins of the General Assembly marks China's determination to further support UN work just two weeks after the successful G20 Summit in Hangzhou. The principle of international cooperation is the necessary pre-requisite and the "New Normal" remains the principal priority. All in all, China's approach to the UN goes beyond abstract future plans, which often are not of interest to public opinion but only for the elite. In particular, it is working in practical ways to work against inequality in order to eliminate poverty. In collaboration with the UN Development Program (UNDP) the Chinese government is in the process of improving the quality of life of its citizens. Having already lifted more than 500 million people out of extreme poverty over the last three decades, it looks towards the future by either applying relocation schemes from rural areas to city centers or by allocating more financial resources at the local level. China is still a developing country with 70 million people living under the poverty line, especially in its central and western areas. Its continuous success in creating a better perspective for them will serve its own humanitarian goals and will highlight its commitment to UN ideals. George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. You are here: Home Flash The Saudi Interior Ministry announced Monday the country has dismantled three terror cells affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The authorities arrested 16 men and a woman, including 14 Saudis, a Yemeni, an Egyptian and a Palestinian, the ministry said on its Twitter account. The cells were planning four suicide attacks targetting citizens, religious scholars, security personnel and various security, military and economic establishments, the ministry tweeted. Al Arabiya, a local news outlet, said the suspects have reached "advanced stages" of preparing for these suicide attacks. Police found high explosives, explosive belts, bomb-making materials, weapons and ammunition in raids on the cells. These sleeper cells, like many other busted ones in Saudi Arabia in recent years, were involved in making explosive belts and bombs. They also sheltered fugitives and provided them with money, weapons and transport services. Flash China on Monday stressed that a political solution to the Syrian issue is fundamental to protecting human rights in the country which has suffered more than five years of armed conflicts. Speaking during an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, a Chinese diplomat also noted that it had provided bilateral aid to help the people of Syria, and would work with the international community to move the humanitarian situation in Syria toward a positive outcome. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, presented the Commission's latest report on Monday to the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, saying that all parties to the conflict need to show that they were genuinely committed to protecting the people they claimed they were fighting for. According to the latest report of the Commission, which covers the Jan. 10 to July 20, 2016 period, Syrian civilians were bearing the brunt of an upsurge in violence since a ceasefire was brokered in February this year. Enforced disappearances, summary executions and other crimes committed by warring factions have been recorded by the Commission set up in 2011 to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March 2011 in the war-torn country. The report found that both pro-government forces and rebel groups were responsible for attacks targeting civilians and key civilian infrastructure, which have led to scores of deaths and injuries. Speaking on Monday, Syrian representatives said that this past Saturday's U.S.-led coalition air strike that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers in Deir al-Zour facilitated Daesh's control of a strongpoint, and that was also evidence that the Alliance established by the United States was "in fact colluding with the terrorist group." Syria also criticized the report for not mentioning that several other states had transferred arms to the parties in Syria valued at 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. Flash Chinese Premier Li Keqiang addresses the Summit for Refugees and Migrants of the on-going U.N. General Assembly in New York, the United States, Sept. 19, 2016. [Xinhua] China pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid on Monday to help countries and international organizations to resolve refugee and migrant crises and will consider additional support measures. The vow was made by Premier Li Keqiang when he addressed a meeting at the United Nations on refugees and migrants. Li said China would also consider using part of the China-UN peace and development fund to support refugee and migrant work in developing countries, and to explore ways to enhance cooperation with developing countries and international agencies. President Xi Jinping announced China's decision to establish a 10-year, $1 billion China-UN peace and development fund during the 70th session of the UN General Assembly last year. Li said resolution of the refugee and migrant issue calls for ramped-up international cooperation and efforts by native countries of refugees and migrants. He said China has actively joined efforts to resolve refugee and migrant issues. The number of displaced people reached a record 65.3 million at the end of last year, an increase of more than 5 million from 2014, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. They include 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers and 40.8 million migrants. Opening the daylong session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to commit to "upholding the rights and dignity of everyone forced by circumstance to flee their homes in search of a better life." Li arrived in New York with his wife, Cheng Hong, on Sunday afternoon, marking his first visit to UN headquarters as premier. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the restoration of China's rightful seat at the UN. China was one of the founding members of the international organization, but until 1971 its seat was held, with help from the United States and its allies, by authorities of China's island of Taiwan. In July, Li met with Ban, and in August he met with Peter Thomson, president of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, when they visited Beijing. During his four-day stay in the city, Li is expected to offer China's viewpoints on major issues regarding the international order, global governance and peace and development. "An active supporter of all causes of the UN, China strongly defends the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and actively participates in the work of the UN as a permanent member of its Security Council," Li said upon his arrival. "China is willing to work with all sides to make contributions to better address global challenges and promote world peace and development." The premier is scheduled to attend the annual general debate and roll out a raft of pragmatic measures to support the UN's work in coping with global challenges, such as terrorism and the refugee crisis, according to the Foreign Ministry. Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, said Li would offer measures to help promote peace and development throughout the international community. Flash The U.S. State Department said on Monday the United States was prepared to extend the weeklong U.S.-Russian brokered truce in Syria after the Syrian army announced that the truce was over. "We are prepared to extend the cessation of hostilities, while working to strengthen it and expand deliveries of assistance," said State Department spokesman John Kirby in a statement. "We will be consulting with our Russian counterparts to continue to urge them to use their influence on (Syrian President) Assad to these ends," said Kirby. The Syrian army announced Monday the end of the Russian-U.S. brokered truce in Syria, without talking about possible extension, according to the state news agency SANA. Still, the army didn't speak of any possible extension to the week-long truce, but accused the rebels of committing over 300 violations to the truce. The statement said the military forces have practiced high self-restraint, and responded in a few cases when it had to do so to silence the fire sources of the rebels. You are here: Home Flash UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday met with William Ruto, the deputy president of Kenya, and the two discussed the issues of peace and development in the Horn of Africa region. During the meeting, Ban and Ruto exchanged views on the main peace, security and humanitarian challenges facing the Horn of Africa region, including developments in Somalia, South Sudan and Burundi, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here. The secretary-general commended Kenya's generosity and continued commitment to lasting peace and stability in Somalia, South Sudan and Burundi, the spokesman said. The meeting took place as world leaders are gathering at UN Headquarters in New York for the annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly, which is set to kick off here Tuesday. Ban expressed appreciation for Kenya's remarkable role as a refugee hosting nation and welcomed Kenya's commitment to abiding by its international obligations regarding the repatriation of refugees, the spokesman said. The secretary-general also encouraged Kenya to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change, he added. Shanghai, December 3 (Gasgoo.com) Source from Ford (China) Co and Volvo China said production of Volvo cars at Chongqing plant will not be affected by the possible sale of the brand by its US parent. Volvo Car's Chinese partner, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA) will start production of Volvo S80 next year, and this plan is unlikely to be affected by the change, Volvo China stated. CFMA currently makes the Volvo S40 at its Chongqing plant in Southwest China. Sales of the China-made car model reached 3,181 units in the Chinese market in the first half of 2008, inching up by 1.4 percent year on year. On the other side of the Atlantic, Ford submitted today detailed plans to Congress to ask for loans. In it Ford reaffirmed that it is "exploring strategic alternatives for Volvo" in an effort to help its overall liquidity. A Bloomberg report cites an industry insider as saying Chinese automakers are among possible bidders for the European luxury brand, "None of the European manufacturers would have a need or a likely interest in Volvo," said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan, "The only thing I could see is an Indian company or perhaps a Chinese company." Flash South Sudan said on Monday that Sudan was wrong to threaten to close their common border and that border and security issues between the two should be discussed through established mechanisms. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Mawien Makol told Xinhua in an interview that Khartoum was wrong to use threats of border closure over longstanding tit-for-tat accusations of supporting rebels between the two countries. Sudan on Sunday threatened to close its border with South Sudan if Juba fails to expel Sudanese rebel groups from its soil, as agreed upon between the two countries, within 21 days. Makol said there was a "forum", or security mechanism agreed upon in 2012, for the two to discuss these issues and that Sudan's move "will not help sort these issues." South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after more than two decades of civil war. Their relations had long been tense due to disputes over several issues, but South Sudan's First Vice President Taban Deng Gai's visit to Khartoum last month was then seen by some as marking the beginning of a thaw between the two. "South Sudan wants to build on the basis of the first vice president's visit to Sudan that was very successful," Makol said. During Gai's August visit, the two countries agreed to deny bases to rebel forces across their border, and signed several bilateral agreements on oil, mining and security. South Sudan vowed not to harbour rebel groups based in Sudan's South Kordofan, Darfur and Blue Nile regions which border South Sudan. Sudan opened its border with South Sudan in January 2016 for the first time since South Sudan's independence in 2011. Oil-rich South Sudan has been relying on pipelines in Sudan to export its crude oil. The world's youngest nation has also been wracked by a civil war between its rival leaders that broke out in December 2013. You are here: Home Flash Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called upon China and the United States to step up efforts to promote economic and trade ties between the two countries. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang(R) meets with U.S. President Barack Obamain New York Sept. 19, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] The statement was made when Li met with US President Barack Obama in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly that opened earlier last week. Economic and trade cooperation is the "cornerstone" and "propeller" of China-US relations, Li said. The two sides should work together to ensure an early conclusion of negotiations on a China-US bilateral investment treaty (BIT), expand market access to each other, and create better business environment and better cooperation prospect for enterprises from both sides, the premier said. The two sides should also properly handle economic and trade frictions to prevent bilateral economic and trade ties from suffering unnecessary distractions, he added. Meanwhile, the premier urged the US side to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China. For his part, Obama said economic relations are the stabilizing factor of US-China ties. The US president added that the US side supports China's reform process, hoping the two sides make further progress in BIT negotiations. You are here: Home Flash A joint anti-terrorism drill was held by Chinese and Vietnamese police Tuesday, in an effort to combat violent cross-border terrorism. The drill started at 9:20 a.m. in southwest China's Yunnan Province and northwest Vietnam's Lao Cai Province. A total of 260 police officers from Honghe Prefecture in Yunnan and Lao Cai participated in the 80-minute drill. The officers simulated several scenarios, including arresting nine terrorists, shooting one dead, arresting an illegal Vietnamese shipper, seizing five homemade explosives and a gun, and rescuing a hijacked ship, Chinese police said. The drill is expected to boost the ability of the two sides to respond to terrorist attacks in the border area, police said. Flash Iraqi security forces said it launched two operations to free the town of Shirqat in Salahudin province and two areas in Anbar province from Islamic State (IS) militants, security sources said. In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, the troops and allied paramilitary Sunni tribal fighters began at dawn the advance toward the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, from three directions following heavy artillery and mortar barrage, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The troops will continue their advance toward the center of the town, the source said. The liberation of the town, which is the last one under the IS control in Salahudin province, is part of a major offensive to liberate the major IS stronghold in Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh. Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, is the second largest city in Iraq. It has been under the IS control for more than two years since the extremist group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014. In the western province of Anbar, the security forces and allied Sunni tribal fighters launched another offensive to free sprawling agricultural area of Jazirat Haditha near the town of Haditha, some 200 km northwest of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, and the nearby rural area of Jazirat al-Baghdadi, from IS militants, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua. The operations in the province came as the Iraqi security forces and allied units are fighting to drive IS militants out of the province after they reclaimed key cities and towns, including the provincial capital of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, the source said. The reports of the provincial security sources came hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launching of the operations in the two provinces, in a televised message from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. Iraqi security forces and allied units have been battling IS militants for retaking large territories in northern and western Iraq that was seized by the IS since June 2014. You are here: Home Flash A possible hijacked Saudi Arabian plane with unknown number of passengers landed on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, local media reported. The Manila airport authorities have yet to confirm if the airline is indeed being hijacked. News reports said before landing, the plane's pilots have told the Manila airport control tower that the plane was "under threat" and asked for emergency assistance, saying emergency 4, a code that could mean possible hijacking in airline jargon. TV footage showed emergency service vehicles are scrambled as the plane touched down around 3 p.m. local time Tuesday, escorting the jet to a secure area. Media reports said the aircraft was being held "in total isolation." Airport authorities have been trying to establish communication with the pilots. The airport authorities have yet to issue an official statement on the incident. Flash Troops of India and Pakistan Tuesday targeted each other's positions on the Line of Control (LoC), dividing Kashmir, officials said. The two sides exchanged fire in village Latchipora of Uri sector in frontier Baramulla district, 125 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on our positions in Uri sector this afternoon and we have retaliated to it," Indian military spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia told Xinhua. "The firing between two sides is going on. There were no reports of any damage or causality on either side." On Sunday, four gunmen stormed an Indian army base in Uri, killing 18 troopers and wounding over 20 others. The attack considered to be deadliest in the recent past in the restive region has heightened tensions in India with some Indian politicians and retired military officials demanding a strong reaction. New Delhi blames Islamabad for the attack and accuses Pakistan-based militants of carrying it out. Pakistan however has strongly rejected the accusations of India. Indian government and its top officials have been meeting continuously ever since the attack in a bid to plan its diplomatic and strategic response to the attack on Uri. Indian army said on Monday that it will decide the time and place to respond to the Uri attack. The Swiss automobile industry constitutes one of the mainstays of the economy; the Swiss economy is mainly dependent upon the production of automotive systems and parts. Switzerland has nearly saturated market. At present, sales volume in Switzerland reached 300,000 units, averagely, 0.5 unit per capital. Prominent automobiles such as the Mercedes or BMW may have been assembled in Germany and elsewhere but their components such as doors, heating and insulation systems, safety belts, etc. may have been developed and produced in Switzerland. Switzerland's auto-part manufacturing companies are export oriented. Major Players on the Swiss Market Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said Wednesday the company's sweeping turnaround plan remained on track but the automaker needed to pursue consolidations within its dealership network to improve its fortunes. Mulally, speaking to reporters at the New York International Auto Show, also suggested "our wages and benefits are not where they need to be to be competitive" in advance of significant contract talks this summer with the United Auto Workers. "If there is not a competitive Ford, it's not going to be OK for anyone," Mulally said. Ford Motor Co., which has announced plans to shutter 16 plants, lost $12.7 billion last year and mortgaged its factories, brand names and other items to secure a $23.4 billion line of credit to fund its restructuring plan and cover losses expected until 2009. In a speech opening the auto show, Mulally billed it "the biggest home improvement loan in the history of mankind." Mulally said the company's restructuring was going pretty well, but described some steps the venerable automaker needs to take to make itself more competitive. He cited "overcapacity in our distribution network" and said when that occurs, "you need to consolidate to match capacity to demand." The automaker has more than 4,000 dealerships across the nation, but Mulally declined to cite a target number of reductions. Mulally said buyouts would not be a likely option, saying "there isn't enough money in the world to do something like that." Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, said the company had a "good dialogue" with dealers but asserted that "if you don't have a profitable and healthy distribution network, you're going to see unhappy customers" and lower resale values. "That will trash your brand, trash your product, trash your residuals," he said. Richard Bazzy, owner of Shults Ford in the Pittsburgh area, recently consolidated with a competitor and said he was supportive of the company's approach. In his first full month following the consolidation, he had his best-selling March ever, even with 8,000 fewer cars and trucks, he said. Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford announced last month that it was selling a controlling stake in Aston Martin in a deal valued at $925 million. The sale has spawned speculation among analysts that Ford may sell its Jaguar brand, but Mulally said Ford was "100 percent behind it." Mulally said the ongoing restructuring plan represented a "tremendous upheaval for the employees of Ford," paring its work force from 100,000 to 65,000 to 70,000 workers. Heading into major contract talks with the UAW this summer, Mulally said he "couldn't be more pleased about the relationship" with union leaders. He said the contract talks need to lead to an "economic element for competition." His remarks followed comments last week from UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who said the union had already made major concessions on retiree health care obligations. A message left Wednesday with a UAW spokesman was not immediately returned. Ford's sales have remained sluggish. The automaker's March sales were down 9 percent, but Mulally noted good sales for its new mid-size cars, including the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ, as well as its new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers. Mulally said the company was moving away from its past reliance upon trucks and sport utility vehicles and was stabilizing its market share to about 14 to 15 percent. During the show, Ford showed off its new crossover vehicle, the Ford Flex, and some limited edition vehicles, including the Shelby GT500KR Mustang, to attract fans of custom vehicles. Fields said the Flex, featuring three-row seating for seven passengers and unique attributes such as a small refrigerator, would be a "game-changer" in the crossover segment. "Ford intends to be the defining crossover company this decade, just as we defined SUVs in the 1990s," Fields declared. Ford has faced increasing competition from overseas rivals and may relinquish the No. 2 sales spot in the United States to Toyota Motor Corp. Mulally, who studied Toyota's lean manufacturing system while a top executive at Boeing Co., said he was "in awe" of Toyota and said, "if you're in manufacturing you should be because it is the machine that changed the world. They set the standard on making things that people really want." Flashing a mischievous smile, Mulally recounted his recent meeting with President Bush at the White House, where he showed the president Ford's Edge HySeries with a plug-in hydrogen fuel cell. Mulally said, "the most important thing is that I wanted the president to make sure that he plugged into the electricity and not into the hydrogen," he said to laughs. "I'm going to pay for that - this is all off the record, right?" The former aviation executive also recounted his work at Ford dealerships around the country in the last few weeks to become more intimately involved in the car business. He described winning over a couple who were wary about trading in their F-Series pickup truck for a new one. Bosch Group to double investment in China From Xinhua | May 18 , 2007 15:37 BJT share tweet share share The Bosch Group, the world's leading supplier of auto parts, is to double its investment in China, injecting 620 million euros by 2008. Bosch would not be making the additional investment if there had been no increase in profits, said Peng Deyuan, president of Bosch (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Since the beginning of the 2006, the auto parts giant has invested 160 million euros in building two plants in Changsha, in central China's Hunan Province and Suzhou, in eastern Jiangsu Province. Another 100 million euros will be used to expand the two plants, Shanghai Securities News reported. Peng said that Bosch will increase its sales in the Asia-Pacific region to 25 percent of its global sales within eight years. China and India are two of Bosch's fastest growing markets, with China currently accounting for 15 percent of its Asia-Pacific sales and 2.5 percent of global sales. China's auto parts industry is expected to be worth 800 billion yuan (100 billion U.S. dollars) in 2010, making the country the world's largest destination of foreign investment in the sector, the report says. With the world's major automakers showing off their new models at the Beijing Auto Show last year, international auto parts giants such as Bosch, Denso, Michelin and Siemens are vying for a share in the vast Chinese market. A number of auto parts suppliers have moved some of their plants to China in order to reduce production costs. Chinese automakers purchase 80 billion yuan worth of auto parts every year. This year, Delphi, Magna and other auto parts giants have set up ten production bases across China, 90 percent of which are fully owned subsidiaries. These multinationals have also invested hundreds of millions of yuan in building their own research and development centers in the country. There were 4,447 auto parts producers in China in 2005, with a total sales volume of 344.9 billion yuan and profits of 20 billion yuan, accounting for 29 percent and 38 percent of the country's auto industry, according to the China Automotive Industry Association. Meanwhile, many foreign automakers have begun purchasing auto parts from China, giving an impetus to the country's auto parts exports, which reached 8.53 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, outperforming imports of 8.38 billion U.S. dollars for the first time. Gasgoo not only offers timely news and profound insight about China auto industry, but also help with business connection and expansion for suppliers and purchasers via multiple channels and methods. Buyer service:buyer-support@gasgoo.comSeller Service:seller-support@gasgoo.com A visitor poses in front of an artist impersonating French emperor Napoleon inside Parisian Macao, which is part of the Las Vegas Sands development in Macao. REUTERS Old and new casinos pour in billions of dollars into local economy, promising to reverse recent slump A cluster of splendid new casinos on the way to Macao highlights the operators' efforts to lure gamblers back. Hopes are high for a recovery in the gaming industry. Some think it is probably on the cards. That may be because Macao's casino operators had another busy year of constructions. The world's largest gaming hub last month added its most expensive casinothe $4.2 billion Wynn Palace from the stable of US casino mogul Steve Wynn. Just a month after that, American billionaire Sheldon Adelson's $2.9 billion Parisian Macao opened. MGM Resorts will follow next year with the $3.1 billion MGM Cotai, while SJM Holdings is on track to open the $3.9 billion Grand Lisboa Palace in 2018. Such a hive of new casinos comes after Macao's gross gaming revenue fell 4.5 percent in July to $2.2 billion, stretching declines for the 26th month in a row. However, July's revenue beat analysts' estimate of 5.5 percent drop, fitting the optimistic tone of casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and JP Morgan Chase that sees signs of a turnaround on the horizon. Gaming has been part and parcel of Macao since the 1850s, when Portuguese administrators made it legal and taxable. Local gaming industry has exploded after foreign casino operators were allowed into the market in 2002. According to global ratings agency Moody's, gaming accounts for 58.3 percent of Macao's gross domestic product and contributed to roughly 75 percent of total government revenues. Macao is the only place in China where gambling is legal. The territory cemented its status as the world's No 1 gaming center in 2006, when its gambling revenues outstripped that of Las Vegas for the first time. During that time, the city's casinos pulled in a record $4.57 billion in revenue in a single month. The Las Vegas of Asia started to lose some shine since 2014, however, when Beijing's crackdown on corruption and extravagance amid floundering mainland economy scared mainland high-rollers away to other regional gaming destinations. Cambodia comes as an emerging rival, whose Hong Kong-listed casino operator NagaCorp posted a 24-percent surge in net profit to $125.2 million for the first half of 2016, with a shiny new casino of 200 gaming tables on the way in 2017. This compares Wynn Macao's 20.6 percent tumble in net profit to $1.14 billion, and Sands China's 25 percent decrease in net profit to $551 million over the same period. Stanley Au Chong-kit, chairman of Macao-based bank Delta Asia Financial Group believes policymakers' tough stance on curbing gambling growth is a sure thing for the foreseeable future. "By 2018, at the latest, some casinos failing to make ends meet would be forced to restructure," he said. "But the point is, why does the market cling to the hope of a turnaround, defying the fact that the gambling business has already developed excessively in Macao?" Even when a whopping 34.3 percent drop in profit sent jitters across local casino operators last year, the territory's $29 billion gross gaming revenue is still three times that of Las Vegas, six times of Singapore, and ten times of South Korea and the Philippines, said Macao Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on. For the first half of 2016, Macao's $13.5 billion gross gaming revenue was down 13 percent from a year earlier, but is still more than any others across the globe. NEW YORK -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called upon China and the United States to step up efforts to promote economic and trade ties between the two countries. The statement was made when Li met with US President Barack Obama in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly that opened earlier last week. Economic and trade cooperation is the "cornerstone" and "propeller" of China-US relations, Li said. The two sides should work together to ensure an early conclusion of negotiations on a China-US bilateral investment treaty (BIT), expand market access to each other, and create better business environment and better cooperation prospect for enterprises from both sides, the premier said. The two sides should also properly handle economic and trade frictions to prevent bilateral economic and trade ties from suffering unnecessary distractions, he added. Meanwhile, the premier urged the US side to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China. For his part, Obama said economic relations are the stabilizing factor of US-China ties. The US president added that the US side supports China's reform process, hoping the two sides make further progress in BIT negotiations. Chinese mainland investors are snapping up the shares of mainland-based banks listed in Hong Kong for their high dividends and low valuations, putting aside concerns for now over rising bad debts as the economy slows. The rush into mainland banks has coincided with a pickup in flows via a cross-border stock link, but analysts and traders said banks are outperforming as mainland investors shift away from volatile growth stocks to dividend plays. Investors buying Hong Kong-listed shares, or H shares, of the major commercial banks have narrowed the valuation gap between stocks that trade on both bourses to a 21-month low, as measured by an index that tracks dual-listed stocks. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's shares have risen more than 4 percent relative to the Hang Seng Index, and Agricultural Bank of China more than 8 percent, since end-July. "In Hong Kong, there are many stocks with relatively higher yields, lower valuations and relatively sound balance sheets," said Lu Wenjie, a strategist at UBS AG. "They're attractive to Chinese mainland investors in terms of allocations due to yuan depreciation pressures and low bond yields at home," Lu said. Foreign investors have long steered clear of the mainland's biggest banks because of concerns over the broader economy, which means that H shares have been trading at steep discounts to their mainland counterparts. The Hong Kong-listed banks are thus good value, especially for their dividends of nearly 6 percent. The Big Four - ICBC, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and AgBank - have an average price to book of 0.84 compared with 1.2 times for the broader Hong Kong market, according to Thomson Reuters data. The banks offer an average dividend yield of 5.6 percent compared with 2.1 percent for Shanghai-listed stocks and around 3.4 percent for 5-year China AAA corporate debt. According to JPMorgan Chase & Co, only 18 stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen offer a dividend of more than 5 percent. And while banks' bad debts have risen, investors said there are signs Beijing is stepping in to help with recapitalization. "Investors had been too negative on bad debt problem and felt that poor loan quality could lead to systemic failure, however, recent economic data showed that there is progress in the underlying economy due to the government's effort on supply-side reforms and industry restructuring," said Pauline Dan, head of China equities at Pictet Asset Management. Over the past two months, stock investment flows from the mainland to Hong Kong accelerated sharply, partly on optimism over the upcoming launch of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect program. BEIJING -- China's coal output fell 10.2 percent year on year to 2.18 billion tons during the first eight months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday. The fall eased from the previous three months, but it still marked the fifth consecutive month of declines over 10 percent. Coal imports rose 12.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.56 trillion tons during the eight-month period on surging demand, according to a statement on the website of the bureau. In August alone, coal imports surged 52.1 percent year on year to 265.9 billion tons. The statement added that stockpiles at coal companies amounted to 460 million tons at the end of August, down 12.2 percent year on year. It is the 10th monthly drop of coal stockpiles since November 2015, said the statement. BEIJING - China's foreign trade remains under considerable pressure as uncertainties mount, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday, describing the current situation as "complicated and severe." Although trade data in August suggests an improving trend, China should not be "blindly optimistic" on its outlook, and further measures need to be taken to stabilize growth, MOC spokesman Shen Danyang told a press conference. Official data showed China's foreign trade improved markedly in August due to stronger domestic and external demand. Yuan-denominated exports rose 5.9 percent year on year, while imports increased 10.8 percent. But in the first eight months of the year, foreign trade was down 1.8 percent from a year earlier, with exports dropping 1 percent and imports falling 2.9 percent. The weak performance comes against a backdrop of flagging trade growth worldwide. Last year was the fourth-consecutive year that global trade growth was below GDP growth, according to the World Trade Organization. Alongside the prolonged downturn, protectionism is on the rise. Shen said that in the first eight months of the year, China was subject to 85 trade remedy probes, an increase of 49 percent year on year. The probes involved trade of $10.32 billion, an increase of 94 percent year on year. "Relentlessly resorting to trade remedies won't help economic recovery. ... China is willing to resolve the disputes through dialogue and cooperation to create a better environment for growth," Shen said. In Hangzhou earlier this month, leaders of the G20 members, which account for 80 percent of the world's trade, agreed to promote growth by formulating a strategy for global trade and creating guiding principles for global investment policy-making. Criticism that China's investment environment for foreign businesses had worsened was rejected by the MOC as biased. Some foreign companies that rely on low costs and preferential policies are struggling, but this is because of intensified competition and slowing economic growth, not a worsening investment climate, Shen said. Foreign companies that rely on preferential treatment to make easy money may feel the investment environment has deteriorated, but companies with foresight and competitiveness will feel the environment has improved, Shen added. Shen said the Chinese government remains committed to creating an open and transparent investment environment for overseas companies. Models of residential buildings are seen at a property showroom in Binjiang district of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Sept 14, 2016. The Chinese characters on the boards read "sold out". HANGZHOU - Hangzhou, a major city in eastern China, has followed several other first and second-tier Chinese cities and initiated measures to cool the housing market. From Monday, people without a local hukou (household registration certificate) cannot buy a second home in the city. The restriction is a far cry from two years ago when the city was attempting to pep up a stagnant property market by making access to housing easier. "The policy is relatively mild and leaves room for further tightening," said Fang Zhangjie, head of research at property tracking website tmsf.com. On Sunday, when the change was announced, many home purchases in the city were sealed late in the night, setting a daily sales record of 5,105 houses. To curb speculation Pang, a property speculator from Shanghai, rushed to Hangzhou on Sunday night to buy a second home. "We didn't expect the rule change, so we had to sign the contract in a hurry," she said. House prices in Hangzhou have risen 20 percent in the last year. "The market in Hangzhou as a whole is healthy, but there have been signs of speculation," said Yu Xiaofen, head of the real estate research institute at Zhejiang University of Technology. "Excessive speculation raises the cost of living and starting a business. It reduces the city's allure and hurts its long-term prospects." In August, one third of Hangzhou homes were sold to outsiders. In the week after the G20 Hangzhou summit the figure was closer to 40 percent, according to tmsf.com. "The restriction may affect some non-residents, but many have already bought houses and received local hukou certificates along with them," said a local housing agent. "The policy may have some impact, but not much." "The new homes inventory in Hangzhou is low, so the local government needs to sell land to put new homes on the market," said Jia Shenghua, head of Zhejiang University's real estate research center. Feeding frenzy "The new round of tightening in big cities is all about avoiding a property bubble," said Li Mingyan of Zhejiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. Easy credit and low mortgage rates mean housing prices in big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, but also places like Xiamen, Hefei and Zhengzhou have been soaring for more than a year. Of 70 cities surveyed, 64 reported new home price rises in August, up from 51 in July and 55 in June. But despite this, many are still rushing to buy. Liu Cu, a Zhengzhou real estate agent, is surprised by the clamor to buy. "An old woman from Shanghai bought three apartments in Zhengzhou some months ago and has told me to reserve another three," he said. In Beijing, prices of some homes have more than doubled over the past year, prompting glee in some quarters and groans in others. Sales of resold homes in Beijing are currently rising by 16.5 percent month on month. Xiao Yang has just bought a one-bed apartment in south Beijing after 18 months of indecision. "I could not afford the houses that I liked, so I waited and waited. As prices rose, my expectations had to fall," he said. "Last year, the price was 43,000 yuan ($6,450) per square meter, and it was 58,000 yuan per square meter in August when I finally bought. Over the past three weeks, the price has risen by another 3,000 yuan. I need to borrow more from the bank." More to follow Ni Pengfei, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said despite downward economic pressure, more people were now optimistic about the housing market in big cities. "This is rather an odd cycle as people from all walks of life have set their sights on the property market," Ni said. Some buy on expectation of further price rises, and others buy because they fear if they do not move fast they will not be able to afford it in the future, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst with Centaline Property. Zhang said the control measures will only have a slight impact if authorities do not tighten credit. More cities may start to tighten in the future, and if these measures fail to cool the market even harsher measures can be expected, said Ding Zuyu, executive president for the research center of China Real Estate Information. In the past few months, other cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Xiamen, Hefei and Zhengzhou have unveiled measures to cool the housing market, including purchase restrictions and higher downpayments. "As more policies begin to take effect and purchasing power is depleted, housing sales might decline in the last few months of the year," Ding said. An advertisement for online shopping site Taobao.com of Alibaba Group is seen at a metro station in Shanghai, Nov 12, 2014. [Photo/IC] HANGZHOU -- China's e-commerce powerhouse Taobao has surpassed Tencent to become the nation's most valuable brand, according to a report published Tuesday. Taobao's brand value stands at 230 billion yuan (34 billion U.S. dollars), followed by China Mobile at 227 billion yuan, and Baidu at 218 billion yuan, according to Hurun Research Institute. Last year's champion Tencent fell to fifth position at 210 billion yuan, as its instant messaging service WeChat was counted independently this year. Wechat, which has 700 million users, debuted at seventh place on the list, with a brand value of 132 billion yuan. The combined brand value of the 200 Chinese companies listed in the report reached 4.6 trillion yuan, up 7 percent year on year, and a record high. Of the 200 companies listed, 139 have seen their brand values grow, and 97 are private businesses. The value of state-owned brands has decreased by about 3 percent on average, while those of private businesses are up by about 20 percent on average. Financial and property sectors have the most brands on the list, but technology brands recorded the biggest rise, with their average value increasing by about 59 percent. The rapid expansion of China's technology industry in recent years contributed to the growth, according to the institute. GERMANY: Market still in decline From just-auto.com | May 16 , 2007 13:24 BJT share tweet share share The VDA reported a further decline in passenger car registrations in Germany in April. Registrations were down 7% compared to a year ago to 265,000 units. Production managed to grow. Output was up 10% to 451,100 units, thanks to a 14% increase in exports to 334,800 units. In the first four months of the year passenger car registrations were down 9% at 982,500 units. The decline is attributable mainly to an increase in the rate of VAT from 1st January which persuaded an estimated 100,000 customers to bring purchases forward in to the end of 2006. Discounts and incentives offered by vehicle manufacturers appear to have slowed the decline in sales in April, although the effect of the VAT rise should start to be wearing off soon anyway. The VDA is forecasting that for the full year the German car market will be 3.3m units, down from 3.47m a year ago. Order intakes in April will still 3% down on a year ago, confirming the VDA's view that there is some underlying weakness in the market. Production in the first four months was up 8% to 1,977,700 cars, with exports up 12% to 1,497,400. The automotive industry employs 750,000 people in Germany, and the strong level of exports can be seen as a sign that Germany is a competitive production location. Employees should seek reassurance from this, said the VDA in a statement. Gasgoo not only offers timely news and profound insight about China auto industry, but also help with business connection and expansion for suppliers and purchasers via multiple channels and methods. Buyer service:buyer-support@gasgoo.comSeller Service:seller-support@gasgoo.com A worker takes quality samples of molten iron from a furnace at Wuhan Iron & Steel Group Corp in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Provided to China Daily] Baosteel to merge with Wuhan Iron & Steel in key part of plan to consolidate sector, cut overcapacity Two of China's biggest steelmakers agreed to merge their listed units, moving a step closer to a union that would create the world's second-biggest mill. The publicly traded arm of Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp, China's largest steel company, will swap shares with the listed unit of Wuhan Iron & Steel Group Corp, China's sixth-largest steelmaker, the smaller company said in a statement on Tuesday. The parent firms remain in talks about restructuring, Wuhan Iron & Steel said, without elaborating. The plan is part of the government's push to consolidate the steel industry to combat overcapacity. The merger of Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel is a major move in the transition from low-end supply to high quality manufacturing, said Li Xinchuang, president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute. "The steel industry is a sector playing a major role in China's capacity downsizing. Through the merger, the two companies will draw on each other's respective strengths," said Li. Baosteel has its presence in the Yangtze Delta Region, the Pearl River Delta Region and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Wuhan Iron and Steel has its major bases in Hubei and Yunnan provinces, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The combination of the two companies will connect their scattered production bases into one organic whole, said Li. According to a report by Everbright Securities, the merger of Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel will usher in a period of more rational development in China's steel industry. The report said that State-owned enterprises account for 46 percent of China's crude steel output, but their losses take up more than 90 percent of the total. Baosteel is the world's fifth-largest steel company by output. It achieved net profits of 1.8 billion yuan ($269.9 million) in 2015, down 78 percent year-on-year. Wuhan Iron & Steel registered losses of 7.5 billion yuan last year. Wang Guoqing, director of Lange Steel Information Center, an industrial consultancy in Beijing, said that the merger of the two companies will bring down production costs. "Both Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel have factories in urban areas, which contributes to increased traffic jams and pollution. As a result, they will be moved elsewhere sooner or later. As one group, if they are to relocate the factories to places closer to sea ports, or in other words, Baosteel to Zhanjiang Port in Guangdong province and Wuhan Iron and Steel to Fangcheng Port in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, it will greatly reduce their transportation costs," said Wang. Du Juan contributed to this story Crew members of a Lufthansa Airbus dressed in typical Bavarian costume pose at the airfield of Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport in Munich, southern Germany. [Photo/Agencies] Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air China Ltd signed a cooperation agreement that will enable the two members of the Star Alliance group to take on competition from the rival Skyteam partnership and boost earnings. The flag carriers of Germany and China plan to share revenue on China-Europe routes when the venture takes off next year, the two airlines said in a statement distributed in Beijing on Tuesday. The joint venture is the closest the two carriers can get under restrictions on foreign control of Chinese airlines. The agreement, after two years of negotiations, gives Lufthansa and Air China a better grip to operate China-Europe routes together, after rival Skyteam members formed a partnership earlier. Air France-KLM Group already has joint ventures with Skyteam alliance partners China Southern Airlines Cothe biggest Asian airline by passengersand China Eastern Airlines Corp that involve timetable harmonization and cost- and revenue-sharing on some routes. The deal will help Air China reduce its reliance on the domestic market, which accounts for more than 60 percent of revenue. Lufthansa and Air China plan to coordinate flight schedules under the venture whose preliminary agreement was announced in 2014. The partnership will allow Lufthansa to extend its reach in a country poised to overtake the US as the world's largest air-travel market. It also adds to Lufthansa's network of revenue-sharing agreements for major markets as it seeks to fend off threats including from Gulf carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways. The German carrier last year struck a similar revenue-sharing pact with Singapore Airlines. Bloomberg A Wensli silk scarf adds a distinctive color to the professional attire of Christine Lagarde, IMF president, at the B20 and G20 Hangzhou Summit. [Photo/Xinhua] During the G20 Hangzhou summit, IMF president Christine Lagarde chose a Chinese brand to add a distinctive touch to her attire. Winning the favor of the financial fashion icon was a Hangzhou-based silk brand, Wensli. Lagarde wore it exclusively at her appearances in Hangzhou, while on most international occasions she wears only Hermes. "She recognizes our design and appreciates our products," said Li Jianhua, CEO of Wensli Group, a major silk products provider for the B20 and G20 Hangzhou summit, in an interview with CCTV News. "She bought three scarves and said she would wear more Wensli scarves in the future." Celebrity effect has proved a golden opportunity for the company. Many national and international leaders and dignitaries have worn its silk clothes on formal occasions, including the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing. But Li's wife, Tu Hongyan, chairwoman of the company, has a long-term vision. She is committed to building a time-honored brand in the global Chinese silk culture market. The chairwoman, with black short hair and elegant makeup, wears a floral-patterned yellow and brown silk scarf to accent a fitted blue dress. She sits on a splendid sofa, leaning against Chinese-painting decorated silk-made cushions, with a rather European air. She speaks in a fast, determined, but soft tone, and sometimes wears a business-like smile. "We have paved our way in China's sericulture industry over the past ten years, but we need to keep one thing in mind -- brand building. There is only one brand, 'made-in-China', and no sound Chinese local brands," said Tu. "But you see Chinese consumers are willing to pay a higher price in order to enjoy a wider selection of goods when overseas, so [we] manufacturers need to produce high-quality goods to meet their tastes." Tu is used to being in the media spotlight; taking questions from journalists is part of her life. On the eve of the B20 and G20 summit, she has given a large number of interviews "to better promote the brand". Her affection for silk products derives from the commercial environment in Hangzhou, a major silk production workshop in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and up until now, a major manufacturer in the global sericulture industry, equivalent to Lyon in France. Tu Hongyan is descended on her mother's side from a silk production family in Hangzhou dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Her mother, Shen Aiqin, set up the Jianqiao silk factory in 1975, and managed to turn it into a giant group with several billion dollars' worth of assets over the past four decades. Shen sent her daughter to Japan where Tu spent one-year in a textile company after her college graduation in the early 1990s, a time when Japan was gaining a reputation for good-quality textiles and other products. "I learned the spirit of craftsmanship there, and I've applied it to everything in life, to my products and my company," said Tu. After returning, Tu did every single job in her mother's company until she took over the business four years ago to focus on one thing -- brand building. The acquisition of Marc Rozier, going global China is now globally the biggest producer and exporter of raw silk and silk yarn. It creates 70 percent of the worlds high-end raw silk, a major material in women's fashion. Many Hangzhou-based silk factories and companies elsewhere in China have long done OEM (original equipment manufacturer) production for foreign brands, as has Wensli over the past 15 years for Prada, Gucci and Dior. Tu Hongyan, chairwoman of Wensli Group, suggests the word "silk" or as the best short descriptor for Zhejiang province, at Wensli headquarter, in Hangzhou. [Photo by Wang Zhen / China Daily] "You see, China exports high quality fabrics, not brands, partly because companies here haven't paid enough attention to R&D, and to building self-run brands," said Tu in an interview with China National Radio. "We've done the bulk of the work but earned the least of the money. Tu and her management team have set two ambitious goals -- to make the world love Chinese silk and to make Wensli a leading brand in China. They recently took a significant step forward. In 2013, just one year after Tu took over the business from her mother, Wensli purchased Marc Rozier, an old established French silk firm located in Lyon, a historically renowned base for silk weaving. "We bought it to find out how the French make the world's best luxury goods," said Tu in an interview with China National Radio. But that acquisition stumbled until the former owner of Marc Rozier, at the urging of Tu's French friends, finally agreed to pay a visit to Wensli headquarters in Hangzhou. "Marc Rozier had a history of 126 years, but the late owner decided he didn't want to run the business anymore. So now we have injected new blood into it," said Tu. Wensli's supply-chain expertise and cash are helping the French company expand globally. "I hope the acquisition is helping us improve quality and develop a global brand in turn," she added. Making new interpretation of silk Chinese silk fabrics were one of the major products traded along extensive transcontinental routes under one overarching umbrella, the Silk Road, beginning during the Han Dynasty (206 BC -220 AD). Silk fabric, particularly in garments, was for years exclusively for royal families and noble classes in China due to the scarcity of materials and sophisticated silk waving techniques. "You see the silk velvet garment, made of a type of woven tufted fabric," said Tong Yuge, an English interpreter in the Wensli Silk Cultural Museum. "That was for Emperor Qianlong to keep warm in winter time; feel how dense it is." Despite that history and the fabric's aura of nobility and luxury, silk clothes and related products are now common. "Actually, our understanding of silk has been changing," said Li Jianhua, speaking with CCTV news. "It comes up with lifestyle, more than fabric. We happen to have the opportunity to send the message to our consumers worldwide through world leaders and dignities during the G20 Hangzhou summit." As a major silk souvenir supplier, Wensli spared no efforts to publicize its silk-made items, including wallpaper, artistic works, bed items, invitations, and of course, its classic -- scarves. "All women love scarves, doesn't matter from the west or east," said Tu. Scarves were chosen as gifts for B20 guests and G20 summit guest's spouses. "You'll see lots of silk elements, as we've reinterpreted silk in many different ways for the G20 summit." And, the company is developing more lifestyle products, like silk masks, mulberry tea, and wedding items, because the fabric itself is a natural product with no harmful chemicals. It does not deteriorate over time. "We used to regard silk as a fabric, and material only, but now we see silk as a lifestyle, a combination of Chinese traditional culture with the pursuit of a healthy life," said Tong Yuge, a project manager in Wensli's financial department. "As long as we constantly explore the value of silk, its healthy elements, its cultural aspects, we can go faster. But, we need to be bold, and to make it real," said Tu. Chinese elements, international design From Tu's perspective, Chinese silk products need to provide something new while entering the global market, and the question is how to incorporate Chinese elements into international thinking. "Look, I've got a scarf with a phoenix pattern, a typical Chinese element, right? But it doesn't look chic enough, so I invite French designers to do color matching, and the final product turns out to have both Chinese elements and international expression," said Tu. Two years ago, Wensli design teams in China and France were asked to design a scarf with a theme of "the Silk Road". Many Chinese designers put highlights of the vicissitudes of that period of history, with wandering camels strolling on the yellow sand, whereas French designers focused on more than Chinese history. Their design showed a plump lady from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) on one side of the scarf, with another elegant French lady on the reverse, connected by camels and exotic scenery: a cultural blending from the east to the west. "So now, we are encouraging designers in China and France to work together on a series of high-end silk products to make products that are competitive in the global market," said Tu. Two Marc Rozier design books are on display in Wensli's Silk Culture Museum. "You see these worn pages, on which they recorded every single pattern designed over the past 126 years," said Tong Yuge. "That's pretty impressive and respectable." In comparison with century-old brands in Europe, Tu said her company needs to spend a longer time on brand building with the use of craftsmanship and innovation. "We're still young, and we have a long way to go," said Tu. "You know what, Boss Tu's mother, Shen Aiqing, passed away last month, a heavy blow to Boss Tu and her company, but Boss Tu has to cheer up," she added quietly. After a group interview just two days ahead of the B20 summit, Tu said she had to dash for anther social activity that night. "Boss Tu has got a tight schedule these days, as she is a participant of B20, you know, and Wensli is also a supplier for the summit," explained her assistant who handed another scarf to Tu before her departure. My boss wears different Wensli-made scarves accordingly, trying her best to advertise our products on different occasions, she added. Before taking the last question of the interview, Tu had paused a few seconds before saying, "Doesn't matter how much money I've earned at the end of the day, what matters to me most is that Wensli will one day be respected by consumers. I'd be more than happy to see that, as it would reward the efforts my mother and I have made." Nikolai Setzer, a member of the executive board and head of Tire Division, Continental AG, speaks at the new product launch ceremony on Sept 14, 2016, in eastern Zhejiang province. [Photo Provided To China Daily] Continental Tires has put its global experience and German technology into its new Anhui production base, following the "Vision 2025" strategy, expecting the Asia-Pacific region to drive the company's growth as the world's market is bumpy. The leading German tire maker's launch of the Generation 6 products - UltraContact UC6 and ComfortContact CC6 - on Sept 12 in eastern Zhejiang province demonstrate Continental Tires' relentless drive to redefine technology for their Asia-Pacific customers. "Vision 2025" of Continental AG's Tire Division, also known as Continental Tires, will enter its third stage in 2017. It sees Asia-Pacific as the company's key driver for future growth. The Tire Division expects the Hefei plant, in Anhui province, will help extend advantages in the region, and the Chinese market to double the sales volume to 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion) by 2020. "We see the Asia-Pacific region demonstrating huge potential and becoming a key driver of Continental Tires' future growth," said Nikolai Setzer, a member of the executive board and head of Tire Division, Continental AG. "The new products, featuring cutting-edge German technology, is a technology milestone in the Asia-Pacific region and serves as a further testament to our commitment to the region. It takes Continental Tires a step closer to our 'Vision 2025'." "Continental Tires put global experience and intelligence into the product design, and resulted in the Generation 6 products being perfectly balanced with safety, fuel eficiency, riding comfort and noise control," Setzer told China Daily. Continental Tires has tailored its next generation of products to the Asia-Pacific region, and started domestic production in Hefei city after starting a local training and testing center - the first in the region. Continental Tires invested heavily in research and development for the Generation 6 products, and conducted extensive tests to deliver the premium quality product that the brand represents. UltraContact UC6 and ComfortContact CC6 have been designed based on an in-depth understanding of the needs and driving habits of drivers in the Asia-Pacific region. The Tire Division, having 24 production and development locations worldwide, achieved sales of 10.4 billion euros in 2015. The broad product range and continuous investments in R&D make major contributions to cost-efective and ecologically efficient mobility. Continental Tires' running shoe outsole products are on display at the event in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on Sept 14, 2016. [Photo Provided To China Daily] In the market, for the market The Generation 6 products are designed to deliver better driving experience and braking performance, especially on wet ground. They react more precisely while braking, and more accurate response to steering. "In line with our guiding principle'in the market, for the market', the new Generation 6 products will be produced in plants in the Asia-Pacific region and will follow global standards," Philipp von Hirschheydt, executive vice-president, Passenger and Light Truck Replacement Tires Asia-Pacific, said. Setzer envisions further expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in China, as a proactive reaction to the possible future. He decided to offer a more balanced portfolio to customers in the region to better suit the local demands. "We are laying a strong foundation through investments in both technologies and the markets. Continental Tires has never made such a huge investment before as in the Hefei plant," Setzer said. Continental Tires will double its local productivity in Hefei, Anhui province, to 14 million tires annually by 2019 with investments in capacity and high-tech projects totaling more than 2 billion euros, the company announced in July last year. The Hefei plant is giving Continental Tires the unique opportunity to create local product packages customized on the understanding of the local customers' demands. Continental Tires is expected to continue expansion of its product portfolio to further drive market share in the region and to generate more positive value for both consumers and relevant stakeholders. Continental AG has expanded its presence in 26 production locations and 17 research and development centers, representing a workforce of over 24,000 in the country. Continental put into operation its Yancheng test center in Jiangsu province, in cooperation with China Automotive Technology & Research Center in July. The test center will mainly support the testing and validation of Continental safety products and systems, including tires and advanced driver assistance systems. The UltraContact UC6, one of the two Continental Tires' Generation 6 products, is on display at the event in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on Sept 14, 2016.. [Photo Provided To China Daily] Tire business is people's business Continental AG's Tire Division opened its new training center, covering more than 1,000 square meters in Hefei city's HiTech Zone, to the business partners and employees in July. The Hefei training center, the first in the Asia-Pacific region with 20 million yuan ($2.99 million) in investment, is part of the company's global scheme, as the unified comprehensive training is one of the critical factors for Continental Tires' success, according to Setzer. "Continental Tires targets value chain integrations including production, R&D, and professional training, and we have achieved a phased goal in the region," he remarked. The Hefei training center will help the business partners and relatively young talents from the plant, R&D and sales forces to know the right thing to do in the right way, with the right tools on site. The company is expecting to have more and more local tire talents ready, to get involved in the swiftly developing Chinese market. Setzer believes the business on the Chinese market is making changes every day, and recognizes 90 percent of the new business was unexpected. "Every employee is encouraged to pop up ideas to help the business get better. So we have the culture that everyone has the freedom to act, and the passion to win," he stressed. "Every day we need to learn, and we are transferring the learning into daily life." ComfortContact CC6, one the Continental Tires' two Generation 6 products, is on display at the event in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on Sept 14, 2016. [Photo Provided To China Daily] Product highlights UltraContact UC6: Enhanced driving experience balanced across all performance features High safety levels maintained even on wet roads Adaptive Diamond Blend Compound combines grip and mileage Decreased noise levels Wide range of sizes ComfortContact CC6: Superior comfort Low noise levels Flexible compound absorbs road bumps High mileage performance Wide range of sizes A worker at a Red Flag H7 production line of FAW Car Co Ltd in Changchun, Jilin province. The listed carmaker plans to sell the Red Flag business to its parent company. WANG HAOFEI/XINHUA Big losses suffered by the flagship Hongqi maker prove to be unsustainable for the listed company FAW Car Co Ltd plans to sell its Hongqi business, known for the Red Flag limousine used by Chinese political leaders, to its controlling parent automaker - hoping to reverse its $127 million loss by the end of the year. "Hongqi, as a luxury brand, is in its introduction stage, and the lineups have not realized economies of scale," the Shenzhen bourse-listed passenger car company said on Monday. "The company's profitability was influenced to some extent and the development costs forced the company to shoulder certain pressures." The targeted buyer of the business unit is its controlling parent FAW Co Ltd, a State-owned carmaking giant, but the transaction has not been finalized because it requires a valuation assessment. FAW Car suffered great losses and plunging revenue. According to its interim report of Aug 27, its net profit plummeted 613.6 percent with a loss 849.1 million yuan ($127 million) in the first half, while the operating income dropped 38.3 percent to 8.5 billion yuan. About 80,700 FAW branded cars were sold, 33.2 percent less than the volume in the first six months last year. Securities analysts said the action may boost FAW Car's income in the coming months, to make up the deficit in the first half and result in black financial statements. "It's a good deal for the listed company. It will dump the loss-making unit, and receive a one-time gain. The Hongqi business unit loses money every year, but its assets would be valued at a level at least similar to the listed company's current loss." About 2,200 H7 sedans, Hongqi brand's only mass model, were sold in the first seven months of the year. Last year, 5,037 units of the model were sold, according to local media reports. Hongqi L5, the model serving political leaders and diplomatic events, is available in bespoke orders. "The research and development cost would be unaffordable for the listed company," said Zheng Yun, executive director of the automotive practice at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. "A Hongqi branch or subsidiary company is possible in the future, and the R&D investment into the luxury brand should climb." Zheng told China Daily: "FAW Group hoped that Hongqi would lay golden eggs, so FAW Car has to pay an amount of royalty fees for selling the sedans with the badge." China is looking to accelerate the creation of an "information Silk Road" between countries encompassed by the Belt and Road Initiative, a high-level Chinese official told an international forum on Monday. Cui Yuying, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said the plan is needed to break down communication barriers between Asian and European nations. The initiative is meant to join these areas and others through investment and trade. Cui spoke at the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Information during the Fifth China-Eurasia Expo held in Urumqi, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Media outlets have a big responsibility in pushing forward the information Silk Road and should "set up (information) sharing platforms to help each other with areas that are lacking." Countries along the initiative's routes should work together to uncover the value in information and facilitate its flow, to better serve economic and trade exchanges. Media outlets from different countries should also enhance cooperation, share new media experience and jointly push innovation in media production, transmission and presentation, she said. More than 100 countries and international organizations have taken part in building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the two key components of the initiative unveiled by President Xi Jinping during visits to Central and Southeast Asia in 2013. China has invested $51.1 billion in countries along the initiative's route and has signed related cooperation agreements with more than 30 countries, Cui said. Representatives from 14 countries and international organizations took part in the forum. Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the Pakistani Parliamentary Committee on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, said on the sidelines that an information Silk Road will support the connectivity of economies by enabling more media and academic exchanges. Jean-Jacques de Dardel, Swiss ambassador to China, said bringing Europe and Asia closer requires more than investments in trade, roads, bridges and airports. "It should also include closer collaboration on a cultural level, and definitely collaboration between the media. Approaching another culture is always connected to exchange of different ideas, and invention of new ways of cooperating with each other. "Indeed, we welcome all efforts to assist the work of the media. ... We believe this is the best way to enhance connectivity," he said. Chen Yong, a postal worker, receives packages delivered by a drone in Anji county, Zhejiang province, on Monday. Yu Lebin / For China Daily A successful package delivery by drone on Monday bodes well for the commercial use of unmanned aircraft in the logistics sector, but more tests are needed, according to those involved with the test. As a six-propeller China Post drone carrying a package landed smoothly on a playground in Qiguan village, Anji county, Zhejiang province, to the cheers and applause of a group of residents that included local postal worker Chen Yong. The package was the first to be delivered by drone in the rugged mountain area. "It came way faster than I expected," Chen said, after collecting newspapers and mail delivered by the drone 10 minutes after leaving the town 10 kilometers away. It was the first successful trial by China Post on its proposed unmanned aircraft delivery route, as it faces the challenge of rising delivery costs in rural areas, where demand for faster and safer delivery has taken off with e-commerce. Zhang Lifeng, general manager of China Post's Anji county branch, said the trial will run for three months as part of a feasibility analysis for future long-term operations. "It was conducted for testing the possibility of flying delivery drones on carefully designed fixed routes in this mountainous region," he said. "Still, we need more research and observation regarding the drone's power supply, the stability of the online control system and the operational cost to know whether the technology is reliable and practical," he said. The drone, together with a remote control system, which was provided by an unmanned aircraft manufacturer in Hangzhou, can fly as long as 30 minutes - a total range of 20 kilometers - on each battery recharge, according to the county post office. "What also caters to rural needs is that the drone will fly on pre-established, fixed routes control operations that are not too complicated," Zhang said. Two more trial routes connecting the town's post office with two remote villages, Dongling and Daxi, will be opened soon, according to the county government. "It will for sure bring more convenience for local residents and promote efficiency in logistical services in the long term," said Xia Liang, chief of Hanggai township, which governs Qiguan village. A hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, is taking a new approach to the treatment of intestinal disorders that could make some people squeamish: using fecal bacteria. "Fecal bacteria, which is purified and extracted from human stool, could be helpful in restoring natural and healthy digestion. It is being increasingly used as an effective method to treat digestive diseases, such as inflamed ulcers," said Zhou Yongjian, a physician with the Guangzhou First People's Hospital. The hospital has been encouraging people, those aged 12 to 18 in particular, to donate stool for the research. "We need to conduct more clinical research into transplanting fecal bacteria, which has been identified globally as an emerging technology in the treatment of digestive diseases," Zhou said. "When the intestinal flora (bacteria that aids digestion) has been damaged and germs attach to the body, and if nothing else works, a bacterial treatment should provide a remedy." According to Zhou, a number of physicians in the United States, Canada and Australia have successfully employed the method. The hospital has so far attracted 50 potential young donors, of whom only two were qualified. The hospital will provide a free medical examination worth of 4,000 yuan ($600) and 200 yuan in subsidies for each donor. A number of patients with digestive problems have been successfully treated with the new technology since the hospital began clinical research last year. "It was very helpful. My digestion is now in good condition," said a female patient surnamed Li, 40, who had chronic inflammation for three years before she was treated in August. 1. East: Xikou Scenic Spot in Fenghua, about 40 kilometers southwest of Ningbo. In recent history, it was home to Chiang Kai-shek, former leader of the Kuomintang, making it a treasure house for research into some of China's history. The scenic area of Xikou is 85 sq km, with four main attractions-the former residence of the Chiang family, the tomb of Chiang's mother, Xuedou Hill and Tingxia Lake. 2.Northeast: Wuzhen in Jiaxing, Wuzhen is a beautiful area that is representative of Jiangnan and its old towns in a general area south of the Yangtze River. Wuzhen was established more than 1,300 years ago. It has been home to many famous people and is rich in culture and folk customs. It is surrounded by a canal and crisscrossed by rivers, with gates at all prime compass points. It has maintained a number of unique Jiangnan-style residences that date back to two dynasties, the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911). 3.North: Historical Cultural City Attraction of Huzhou. The attractions boast a Lotus Village, the Chinese Hu Writing Brush Museum, the Home of Chen Yingshi, Feiying Park, the Feiying Tower and the Temple of the Iron Buddha. It has a long and rich history with pro-found cultural connotations. 4. Southeast: Former residence of Lu Xun in Shaoxing. In January 1953, the Shaoxing Lu Xun Memorial Hall was created in honor of the literary pioneer. Lu Xun was the pen name of Zhou Shuren, who wrote to inspire the conscience of the people. It was the first museum after 1949 founded to commemorate a celebrity in Zhejiang province. The former residence of Lu Xun anchors a historic street that reflects the unique southern Yangtze cultural glamour and is a place where people can find authentic interpretations of the writer's works. The natural scenery is also worth seeing. 5.West: Confucius Family Temple of Nanzong in Quzhou. As one of only two Confucius family temples in China, the Nanzong temple has a history that can be traced back more than 800 years. It is a national historical and cultural site under State protection and has been praised as the "holy land" of Confucius in southern China and as the philosopher's south-east ancestral home. Priceless treasures in the temple include a wooden sculpture of Confucius and his wife, Qiguan. 6. South: Xiandu Scenic Spot in Jinyun, Lishui. Located in Jinyun county, the Xiandu Scenic Spot gets its name from the writings of emperor Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The attraction consists of four main scenic areas with mutually complementary winding waters, elegant landscapes, gauzy mist, rural scenery and rustic charm. - Wang Zhenghua Having spent almost four decades fooling lawbreakers, an officer in Wuhan will finally return to his bed at night Over the past 38 years, Wang Jianjun has pretended to be a beggar, a gambler and a hooligan, and has even learned to speak different dialects, leading to him being called an "Oscar-winning actor" for performances that have fooled many. The 60-year-old is not an actor, but a policeman in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province. However, he is more devoted to his "play" than any other actors. In the 1990s, a gang of thieves often disposed of their stolen goods with the help of a group of beggars. To investigate the case, Wang disguised himself and joined the beggars, eating and sleeping with them for more than one month. Though from Shanxi province, his convincing Henan dialect soon won him the trust of many of the beggars, who were from Henan province. Wearing shorts and a pair of old slippers, all Wang had with him was a dirty sleeping mat, giving him the appearance of a genuine beggar. "I often invited them to drink spirits. Once they were drunk, they began to talk a lot," Wang recalled, adding that he noted down what the beggars said by excusing himself to use the toilet, and then sent the information back to his colleagues. Although the gang, which had more than 20 members, was busted, Wang suffered an infection of lice for his troubles. Many other cases Wang participated in were a lot more dangerous. Before he was transferred to the narcotics squad as a director in 2008, Wang caught several hundred criminals involved in murders or robberies. While attempting to solve a case in the 1990s, Wang slipped into the home of a man involved in a criminal syndicate. Wang was discovered by the criminal and both men aimed guns at each other. After a brief standoff, the criminal dropped his weapon. "He said: 'I know you are Wang Jianjun, who has been dealing with us for many years. I admire you very much'," Wang recalled. Despite becoming a director and having the liberty of stepping back from the front line, Wang still choose to tackle criminals. In summer 2014, the narcotics squad received a tip-off that drug dealers would do a deal near a park by the Yangtze River in Wuhan. Dressed in a sleeveless shirt, shorts and slippers, and wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, Wang took on the appearance of a senior citizen who was resting in the shade on a hot day. "The drug dealer glanced at me, so I pretended to make a phone call to a friend in the Shanxi dialect," Wang recalled. Wang and his colleagues launched a sudden attack while the criminals were making the deal and seized 2 kg of narcotics. Wang has mastered at least four Chinese dialects, including Sichuan and Henan, and his ability to change his accent has helped him in his job. Wang, who is often in dangerous situations, is also a judo master and practices the martial art every morning. "As long as we are close to each other, no criminal can escape from me," he said. When attempting to arrest a 1.8-meter-tall drug dealer in 2012, several of his colleagues failed to control the suspect. Wang stepped in and used a series of wrestling holds to restrain the man. Wang's courage won him several honors, including a National May Day Laborer Medal and 11 Citations for Merit. However, his family has sacrificed a lot. Wang seldom returned home on weekdays, usually sleeping on the sofa in his office. He still maintains the habit, although he is due to retire this month. "On touching the sofa, I fall sleep. I feel more comfortable sleeping on the sofa than on my bed," he said. Another habit Wang has kept since getting married in 1984 is to call his wife at 5 pm every day. "If I have to work at the time, I will tell her in advance," he said. "My wife is an innocent woman who leads a frugal life. I don't want to make her worried." Wang said he had to keep information about his family secret to ensure their safety. During the period from 1995 to 2003, China's automotive components industry made great progress. The average annual growth rate (AAGR) was 23.7%. Given anticipated growth of the Chinese market, the country's low labor costs, and expected improvements in quality, there have been numerous press announcements regarding plans for greatly increased Chinese automotive components purchasing by vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. These claims, along with China's growing competitiveness, are generating rising concerns by worldwide suppliers and manufacturers. According to a published report China's Role in World Auto Components Market from BCC Research (www.bccresearch.com), the Chinese auto components consumption was $28.8 billion in 2004. Expected to grow at an AAGR of 15%, this market will reach $58 billion by 2009. According to classifications of the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers(CAAM), auto components are placed into five categories, namely, engine parts, chassis parts, automotive body, electrical systems and general parts. In the engine parts sector, China's local production cannot meet domestic demand due to a lack of competition. In terms of value, the import of engine parts has been a major category within the importing of all auto components. Based on the introduced technologies and cooperation with foreign companies, China is gradually strengthening its capacity. Expected to grow at an AAGR of 15%, this sector will reach $8.7 billion by 2009. In the chassis parts sector, the manual transmission and automatic transmission are the largest of all chassis parts being brought into the country, in term of value. Except for these two parts, China's competition is strong with regard to other parts, due to their low technology requirements. In the future, China's export will grow rapidly due to its labor cost advantage. This sector is expected to reach $27.6 billion by 2009 as it grows at an AAGR of 14.3%. In general, China's production of body parts can meet domestic demand except for some high-end markets. For example, the safety airbag has been a large import item. At present, China has not formed a large-scale export capacity. In 2003, its total exports of body parts represented only 15% of all imports. Expected to grow at an AAGR of 13.4%, this sector will reach $4.9 billion by 2009. Except for high-end products, China's local production of electrical systems can meet domestic demands. Imports of automotive electrical systems are not large, and are only about 50% of total exports in 2003. In the worldwide market, the proportion of electrical parts in a whole automobile is increasing. In China, this sector will grow at the fastest rate, with an AAGR of 20%reaching $9.3 billion by 2009. China's domestic production can meet in-country demand except for certain high-end products in the general parts sector. Imports of general parts are small when compared with the large domestic demand, and are smaller than the exports. Expected to grow at an AAGR of 13.4%, this sector will reach $7.6 billion by 2009. As foreign vehicle makers stake their claims in China, so, too, have international components suppliers such as Delphi, Bridgestone and Bosch. Strong demand for vehicles in China has led to a corresponding increase in the level of auto components. American and European components suppliers have been leading the charge, but with Japanese and South Korean car makers setting up recent joint ventures in China, more components players are expected. A drone patrols above a high way in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, May 2, 2016. The traffic police used drones to help them patrol during the three-day May Day holiday.[Photo/Xinhua] A 4-year-old girl in Northwest China's Shaanxi province missing for 77 hours finally was found, thanks to a drone, on Wednesday, according to Chinese Business View. Police in Hancheng city found the girl in a deep ditch and said she suffered no serious injuries except for scratches and dehydration. The girl, Xuanxuan, went missing from home in Macun village, Hancheng, at around 10 am on Sept 11. Her grandfather, surnamed Gao, called the police. Gao said he got up at 6 am and went to the village committee while his granddaughter was still asleep. But when he came back, the girl was gone without her shoes. People working in nearby fields told Gao they heard a child crying 10 minutes earlier, but the family found nothing except some children's footprints. When searching for Xuanxuan, the police also heard what they suspected was a crying child, but they failed to locate the girl. On Sept13, police found an inaccessible ditch and decided to use a drone to search it. Xuanxuan was finally recovered in the ditch at noon on Sept 14. Police said the child's disappearance appears to be accidental and it likely happened when Xuanxuan woke up, found she was alone and tried to find her family. The girl is now in a hospital and the case is still under investigation. During recent years, drones have been used more often by police in their work. Police in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province established a drone squadron last year. The squadron, consisting of seven drones, is responsible for city patrols, crowd monitoring at major events, chasing crime suspects and disaster relief. The drones, equipped with HD cameras and 4G transmission technology, can reach a height of over 100 meters and fly about 20 minutes uninterrupted. In June, police in Southwest China's Sichuan began to use drones to detect traffic violations, such as illegal parking and occupying emergency lanes. The drones also are used to monitor traffic jams to help direct traffic flow. War hero awared appology, 1 yuan compensation for insult (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-09-20 16:06 BEIJING - A local court in Beijing on Tuesday ordered Internet celebrity Sun Jie and Hong Kong-based herbal drink maker Jiaduobao Group (JDB), to apologize to the family of deceased war hero Qiu Shaoyun for microblog posts that the court said infringed on Qiu's rights to reputation and honor. Daxing District People's Court said that Sun and JDB must publicly issue apologies on five consecutive days, and pay mental compensation of 1 yuan (about 15 U.S. cents) as requested to the plaintiff Qiu Shaohua, brother of Qiu Shaoyun. Qiu, who Chinese children are taught about at school, is a hero of the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea (1950-1953). The story goes that Qiu, 26, was concealed in the grass on Hill 391 before a general attack, but an American incendiary bomb was dropped nearby, and instead of betraying his position, and that of hundreds of fellow Chinese soldiers, he was burned to death. Skeptical of the official story, Sun Jie mocked Qiu Shaoyun as "barbecued meat" in a post in 2013 on Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, to his over six million followers, saying that "consumers refused to pay for [Qiu's meat] as it was only half roasted." "They think the barbecued meat of Lai Ning is better," he continued, referring to a 14-year-old Chinese middle school student who died trying to help put out a forest fire in 1988. The post caused quite a stir before Sun deleted it the next day. In April 2015, the JDB referenced the controversy again by promising in its own Weibo post to give 100,000 cans of herbal tea to Sun should he open a barbecue shop. The beverage group issued a statement of apology quickly after the post, but Qiu Shaoyun's brother, Qiu Shaohua, filed a lawsuit against Sun and JDB in June 2015, demanding "the immediate cessation of the infringement, elimination of ill effects, apologies and mental compensation of one yuan." In its verdict, Daxing District People's Court said Sun's comments were intentionally derogatory and humiliating. The spread of such comments online had "a negative influence, had harmed public sentiment and undermined public interests, and had caused Qiu's family psychological damage," it said. JDB's comments, meanwhile, had "a relatively large negative influence, and caused Qiu's family psychological damage," the verdict read. It added that as a household name in China, JDB had failed to fulfill its obligation to exercise due discretion in its marketing campaigns and thus should bear legal responsibility. Credit card crime has been on the rise in the capital in recent years, a Beijing court said on Tuesday. According to official statistics, Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court heard just 22 criminal cases relating to credit cards in the whole of 2014, yet has dealt with 15 such cases in the first eight months of this year. "Credit cards have become a necessity in people's daily life, as they are convenient form of payment. But offenses or violations related to these cards have been also increasing," said Yang Ziliang, deputy chief judge of the court's criminal tribunal. Over the past three years, the court has heard 56 credit card cases, 52 of which related to fraud. "Some convicts made credit cards to cheat others out of huge amounts of money, while some used fake identities to apply for cards from banks," said Yang. Many of the offenders were migrant workers in their 30s who often pleaded guilty during case hearings, he said. Some intended to earn money legally, but resorted to credit card fraud because they needed quick cash and didn't have a stable job. "But considering their confession to the crimes, most of them were given lenient penalties less than five years in prison," said Yang, who identified supervisory loopholes at some banks as a reason for the increase in fraud. "A bank cannot only allocate credit cards, but also make a stricter system to verify card holders' identities," he said. caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn A new index to assess the productivity of the world's top research institutions, developed independently by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Information Center for Life Sciences, was launched on Monday. Known as the "P Index", the metric of research productivity in the field of life and basic medical sciences aims to provide an objective standard based upon an assessment of a select group of scientific journals in which research papers are published and of authors' contributions to such papers. A report on the research productivity of global life and basic medical sciences institutions was also released. It includes a list of the world's top 100 research institutes that performed best on the P Index last year. A total of 48 institutions on the list, including Harvard University, the National Institutes of Health, and Stanford University, are in the United States. The United Kingdom comes in second place with 10 institutions while France came in third with eight. Three institutions in China are on the list: the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Tsinghua University. zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn By Zhao Huanxin in New York and Hu Yongqi in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2016-09-20 07:08 Premier Li says $100 million earmarked for countries and international groups China pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid on Monday to help countries and international organizations to resolve refugee and migrant crises and will consider additional support measures. The vow was made by Premier Li Keqiang when he addressed a meeting at the United Nations on refugees and migrants. Beijing says nation's 'core interests' ignored, parliamentary actions deemed 'irresponsible' China said the recent meeting of leaders of the European Parliament with the Dalai Lama has damaged China's core interests and severely impaired the political basis of interparliamentary exchanges between China and the European Union. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks on Monday, after the Dalai Lama visited the European Parliament and met with its president, Martin Schulz, and its foreign affairs committee chair, Elmar Brok, on Thursday. The deadly terrorist attacks on Brussels airport and metro on March 22 are still taking a toll on Belgium's economy. Police and emergency forces are still stationed in cities, especially in Brussels and the major port city of Antwerp. In fact, Belgium has deployed nearly all of its security forces to patrol the streets and kept the risk alert at the third level, just one step below maximum, making security procedures, including bag checks, mandatory even at book fairs and concerts in the parks. Tourists, especially those from outside Europe, still hesitate to visit Belgium. The August data show a year-on-year drop of 6.7 percent in the number of passengers flying into and out of Brussels airport, partly because Asian and American tourists are avoiding Belgium. In August, the airport received just more than 2.3 million passengers, a year-on-year decrease of 4.6 percent. The number of international tourists visiting Brugge, a picturesque destination, declined by 20 percent this summer. The year-on-year decrease in the number of people visiting Brussels is even higher. The sharp drop in the number of foreign visitors has prompted the Belgian authorities to attract more visitors from abroad, especially China. For example, the French-speaking Belgian region of Wallonia has introduced a new tourism certification system for Chinese visitors, under which hotels avoid assigning rooms on the fourth floor to Chinese tourists, because 4, similar to 13 in Western culture, is not a good number for many people in China. Providing enough hot water and green vegetables for Chinese visitors is also part of the new package. In a speech delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies during her recent visit to the United States, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said Japan will increase its engagement in the South China Sea by jointly patrolling the waters with the US. Inada's statement has once again put the so-called joint patrols in the South China Sea in public spotlight. A senior US navy official first talked about such patrols in Malaysia in March 2015, sparking intense debates in Japan, Australia and Singapore. Compared with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations whose response has been lukewarm, the proposal has gained the support of some Japanese given the fanned-up prevalence of the "China's threat" theory in Japan. As the anti-China wave following an arbitration tribunal's ruling on China's disputes with the Philippines in the South China Sea subsides, China's joint efforts with ASEAN to resolve the South China Sea issue has made significant progress and the security situation in the waters has begun evolving to the region's advantage. These developments are in total contrast to the tension-building attempts of the US and Japan to pressure China through multilateral channels. Inada's latest "joint patrol" remark demonstrates that Japan has not abandoned its attempt to intervene in the South China Sea issue. A device explodes as bomb squad tries to disable it near New Jersey station Authorities are looking for a naturalized citizen from Afghanistan for questioning in a weekend explosion in a Manhattan neighborhood that injured 29 people as the governor conceded on Monday that investigators could no longer rule out international terrorism. The man sought for questioning was identified as 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he could be armed and dangerous. By Agence France-Presse in in Ayutthaya, Thailand | China Daily | Updated: 2016-09-20 07:11 Many of the dead were trapped on the lower deck of the pilgrim boat Divers pulled at least two bodies from the bowels of a submerged river boat Monday after the overcrowded vessel carrying Muslim pilgrims sank on Thailand's Chao Phraya river, leaving 18 people dead. The accident happened on Sunday afternoon near the ancient city of Ayutthaya, when a boat packed with pilgrims returning from a mosque hit a concrete bank in strong currents. Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - With dual-clutch transmissions the focus of so much negative public reception, why are more and more manufacturers choosing to use them for their vehicles? Most of the new models debuting this summer, like the new Changan CS15, are all powered by dual-clutch transmissions, which have raised the eyebrows of many consumers in China. These transmissions are also heavily praised by the media as better suited for the stop-and-go traffic of Chinese cities than manual transmissions. Most of the negative image associated with dual-clutch transmissions is a result of VWs issues with its DSG vehicles, where the manufacturers was eventually forced to recall vehicles, admitting that there were risks with the transmissions failing when the vehicles were being driven. Although VW suffered a lot of criticism, they went through a lot of trouble to resolve the issue. VW is still and industry leader when it comes to automatic transmissions, with its newest iteration of the DSG transmission on the new Magotan. VW has a lot of technical expertise in their field, which has been proven in spite of consumer skepticism. While in the past dual-clutch transmissions were critiqued for not accelerating as smoothly as other transmissions, they have come a long way having been on the market for decades. As an example, Porsches Cayenne (pictured below) used a PDK dual-clutch transmission that feels every bit as smooth as a normal automatic transmission. That said, the Porsche Cayenne is out of the price range for many typical Chinese buyers. However, many own brands are using this technology for their considerably more affordable models. An example of this is this years Guangqi GS4 (pictured below), which uses a dual-clutch transmission that is considerably smooth, a noticeable improvement from the transmission used in the previous Guangqi GS4. As technology advances, these transmissions have shown themselves to be very reliable. When compared to normal automatic transmissions, dual-clutch transmissions deliver quicker gear shifting times and smoother acceleration. Depending on the model used, dual-clutch transmissions offer gear shifting times that are 5 to 10 times faster than the average automatic transmission. Dual-clutch transmissions do cost more than typical automatic transmissions. However, their technological advancements have been making them more appealing for automobile manufacturers, including Chinese own brand manufacturers. Hondas domestic Acura CDX (pictured above) is an example of this, with previous choices of automatic and CVT transmissions being ditched for a 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. Honda is hardly alone in embracing dual-clutch transmission technology. As this technology become more and more mature, it will increasingly become more mainstream in the upcoming years. Lebanon's Caracalla Dance Theater is now exploring the story of the Silk Road - traveling through history and geography to revive an ancient path that has united people of different cultures. Sailing Through Time tells the story of Taymour, a Baalbek native who - in the prime of life - sets out along the Silk Road in search of China. The show premiered in July at the Bacchus Temple, in Baalbek, Lebanon. The show Remaining Music Charms of Huaxia sheds new light on the evolution of music in China.[Photo provided to China Daily] China's ancient music may no longer be heard, but its instruments can be seen at an ongoing show at Peking University. The exhibition Remaining Music Charms of Huaxia at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology displays dozens of unearthed instruments and items related to dancing. The pieces are on loan from the Henan Museum in Zhengzhou, where decades of excavations have shown the richness and longevity of China's musical traditions. The show runs through Dec 15 as part of the 34th World Congress of Art History held at Peking University and Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts that ends on Sept 20. Exhibits include several iconic items that trace music's evolution from prehistory through the prosperous Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, says the museum's director, Hang Kan. One of the earliest discoveries displayed - dating to about seven millennia ago - is a Neolithic flute fashioned from a crane's leg bone. It can produce a diatonic (seven-note) scale and flies in the face of previous perceptions that ancient Chinese music relied on five notes. The flute unearthed in 1986 is consequently hailed as "the origin of Chinese music". Music evolved over the centuries into yayue (elegant music) - ritualistic classical genres performed at imperial courts. Yayue was established in the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-771 BC) - along with laws and rituals - to form the aristocratic order's foundation. Bronze chimes are perhaps the best-known representative of high-class ceremonial instrumentation. The show features one engraved with dragon pat-terns discovered in a royal tomb belonging to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). Many displays go beyond court music to show how music was enjoyed by masses. One such piece is a colorful porcelain pillow from the Song Dynasty that features a vivid painting of children manipulating a marionette, striking a drum and playing a flute while dancing. A parallel exhibition at the museum also offers insights into the development of China's song and dance. Dunhuang of a Thousand Years celebrates Dunhuang's cave art through about 40 high-definition digital prints of the city's fragile and immovable murals. The exhibition through Dec 18 is also part of the congress. Dunhuang Academy of China's honorary president Fan Jinshi says musical motifs adorn over 200 caves in Dunhuang. They depict dancers performing for courts or ordinary people, as well as in other worlds. If you go 9 am-4:30 pm. Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6275-9784. Artists perform original traditional music at the concert. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn] A grand traditional orchestra concert was held on Monday at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, and was the first traditional music work created jointly by musicians, writers and historians in the country. The concert, called "ImagePure Land" ("Yi Xiang Jing Tu" in Chinese), was held by the Chinese Conservatory of Music, Jing Wen Hua Classical Music Research Center and Academy of Chinese Traditional Poetry, and was funded by the Chinese National Endowment for the Arts. The event was to mark the 65th anniversary of the university, attracting audiences from all walks of life. A scene from The Battle before Dawn. [Photo provided to China Daily] Dongjiang Column, one of the major forces fighting against Japanese invaders in southern China from 1938 to 1945, inspires a new hit TV series. The Battle before Dawn, a 40-episode series, is based on the story of the legendary troop in Guangdong province. The series has run on Beijing Satellite TV since Sept 14. Five Chinese intelligence agents all members of the guerrilla force risk their lives to deliver confidential informations, as the director Ba Te'er revealed the storyline in a recent news conference. "We've tried our best to being faithful to the history, as well as adding some twists for modern appeals," he said. The protagonist star, Zhang Guoqiang, practiced his tongue on speaking Mandarin with Cantonese accent. Zhang Luyi, playing one of the five agents, said big-explosion scenarios had been the largest challenge for the cast and the crew. Related: 'Veep's Julia Louis-Dreyfus wins again as Emmys gets political The first Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo opens at the Dunhuang International Conference and Exhibition Center. [Photo/Xinhua] The first Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo opened in Gansu province's Dunhuang city this morning. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his congratulations. He accentuated the significance of the cultural feast in building friendships and making the world a better place. Vice Premier Liu Yandong attended and delivered the keynote speech. As the only high-level forum and exhibition platform organized by the Chinese government for cultural exchanges among countries and regions along the ''Belt and Road", the expo attracted 95 foreign delegations from 85 countries and five international organizations. Coupled with 66 overseas establishments, a total of more than 1000 guests attended the expo. The expo is centered on cultural exchanges and cooperation. It carries forward the Silk Road spirit of "peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit". And, following the principles of negotiation, joint development and sharing, the Dunhuang Declaration will also be drawn up and released. It is going to be one of the expo's most important achievements. Over the next few days, one main summit, five sub summits, five special summits and various cultural activities will be held. More than 8000 precious cultural heritages from 60 countries will be on display. Art performances, including the long-awaited dance drama Silk Road, Flower Rain, will be staged. According to deputy director Liang Yanshun of expo's executive committee, the Gansu provincial government is expected to sign a dozen agreements and work on 90 cultural projects with foreign countries, regions and international organizations. The amount of contracts are tipped to amount to100 billion yuan. The gala See You in Dunhuang will be held and broadcast live on Gansu TV at 8 pm tomorrow. Visitors get up close and personal with contemporary art at the Yinchuan Biennale, a major art event in northwestern China.[Photo provided to China Daily] A biennial aims to promote international and contemporary art among residents of Northwest China. Lin Qi reports from Yinchuan. Xie Suchen says she often awoke with anxiety during the eight months of planning the Yinchuan Biennale. The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan's artistic director led a young and inexperienced team for the museum's first biennial - an event for which most establishments spend two years preparing. The MOCA Yinchuan opened a year ago in a commercial compound along the Yellow River, about one hour's drive from the downtown of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region's capital. "People in Northwest China have the same privileges to enjoy art as people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou," says Xie, who's from Taiwan. "They're as curious and passionate about art." She invited Mumbai-based artist Bose Krishnamachari to curate the event. He founded India's first biennial, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, in 2012, that advanced contemporary art in Kochi city. Xie hopes his experiences can be transplanted in Yinchuan, a critical node of the ancient Silk Road. The Capital Cities of the Yuan Dynasty retraces Beijing's development to the present day.[Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily] Many people take Beijing's metropolitan status for granted. An ongoing exhibition at the city's Capital Museum examines the process by which it became the national capital. The Capital Cities of the Yuan Dynasty, which runs through December, displays 160 sets of relics from the Capital Museum and 14 other museums and research institutions across northern China. It marks the 740th anniversary of construction of Khanbaliq, the predecessor of today's Beijing, which was also known as Dadu (meaning "the great capital"). It was one of the capitals of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), which was founded by Mongol ruler Kublai Khan five years later. Because the empire was based upon the nomadic life-style of the grasslands, Yuan rulers established two capitals. The other is Xanadu or Shangdu (the upper capital) in what is today the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Xilin Gol League. According to the exhibition's curator, Tan Xiaoling, emperors headed to Xanadu in March or April for the sum-mer. They returned to Beijing in August or September. The dynasty planned to build a third capital, Zhongdu (the middle capital), in today's Zhangbei county, Hebei province. But construction was suspended. Cultural relics revealing the vicissitudes of all three capitals are juxtaposed at the exhibition. "We want to show the dynasty's history and customs from a comprehensive perspective, from urban construction and the rulers' palace lives to various aspects of ordinary people's daily lives," says Tan. "This is an unprecedented event to examine the Yuan's history by bringing so many precious items together. It'd be boring to simply introduce the three cities' history. That's why we focus on human stories. No matter how a city flourishes, its people are most important." This is why the exhibition highlights Liu Bingzhong, the official who led Khanbaliq's construction, and Zhang Hongfan, a general once stationed in the city. Displays include porcelain, textiles, gold artifacts, construction materials and figurines. Many items have never been exhibited publicly. Others are familiar to those with a basic knowledge of China's fine art history. Chinese and Singaporean artists are presenting a show featuring sustainability in Shanghai Dayuntang Art Museum through Sept 25. [Photo provided to China Daily] Chinese and Singaporean artists are presenting a show featuring sustainability in Shanghai Dayuntang Art Museum through Sept 25. Four artists from Singapore and four from China came together for the project upon invitation of Singapore International Foundation. They made visits to each other's home city, discussing the problems of city life, which culminated in the joint exhibition titled Pulse of a City. The shows curator, Fu Jun, who's also deputy director of Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute Art Museum, said that she wanted the exhibition to be a cultural initiative calling for sustainability and diversity, bringing a feel of warmth for urban dwellers. One of the four artists from Singapore, Didier Ng went to the Shanghai Fei Ye Art Special Education for Children and Shanghai Xingyu Intellectual Training Center, as well as Ang Mo Kio district in Singapore, where she taught the residents and children with special needs to weave recycled fabric for her installation piece named Ripple. Ng said the forms made from used plastic bottles and old clothes are based on stalactites and stalagmites in natural caves. The art piece is also meant to remind people that more consumption leads to more waste, she said. Allan Lim, the curator of the Singaporean part, said that the collection of installations by Singaporean artists as a whole, "examines the different issues of urban living, with a special focus on engaging the community by involving them in the actual creation of the artworks, or through inviting them to participate in the artwork to spread awareness about key issues faced by our cities". In contrast to the community involvement of Singaporeans, the four Chinese artists have shown remarkable techniques and mature expressions. Mao Donghua, an ink artist, presented a series of water-ink paintings of antique buildings on the Bund. She used a unique painting skill in traditional Chinese ink art, named "Mo Gu", where the architecture structures are depicted through ink stains, without any solid outline. The light and shade is also realized through different intensity of the ink. "I hope to present the classical, Western-style granite buildings using the gentle and soft ink paintings techniques, so as to find heartfelt warmth hidden behind the cold architecture," she said. IF YOU GO Pulse of a City 10 am-4:30 pm, through Sept 25. Dayuntang Art Museum, 1F, Building 5, the Old Wharf, 725 Wai Malu, Huangpu district, Shanghai. 021-6312-9003. Related: Exhibition on ancient crown kicks off in E China This tenmoku "oil spot" Jian tea bowl set an auction record for a Jian kiln item. [Photo/christies.com] A tenmoku "oil spot" Jian tea bowl dating from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) sold for more than $11.7 million at auction Thursday, setting a new world record for a Jian kiln item, during Christie's Asian Art Week in New York. . The tea bowl, with thick iridescent black glaze suffused with a dense pattern of variegated iridescent "oil spots", has a mouth rim mounted with a metal band. The bowl was owned by the Japanese Kuroda family and auctioned at the sale, The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: The Linyushanren Collection, Part II. The auction presented 28 lots from ancient China's most notable kilns, including the Jun, Ding, Yue, Longquan and Jizhou, spanning the centuries from the Five Dynasties (AD 907-960) to the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Jian zhan, or Jian tea cup (bowl) was an imperial tea set used by the royal court. Tea bowls produced by the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279)'s Jian kiln are always regarded as highly precious due to their elegant appearance, innovative craft and rich cultural connotation. There are only dozens of precious "oil spot" tea bowls left and most are in collections in Japan. According to Peking Times, the tea bowl's buyer is said to be a Chinese collector. Another highlight of Christie's Asian Art Week, is Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which offered over 400 lots of fine Chinese ceramics ranging from Song Dynasty Jun ware, to blue-and-white porcelains from the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and domestic and export items from the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, didn't perform quite as well. According to art connoisseur and investment advisor Liang Xiaoxin, the auction lots from the Met's sale are above average quality in a whole, and except for several pieces, like peachbloom-glazed vases from the Kangxi period and several large five-color porcelains, others are below average in quality. "The Chinese porcelains from the Met are almost all from donations, with different qualities and varieties", Liang said. A street snap during London Fashion Week. [Photo/IC] It has never been so easy to sense the arrival of London Fashion Week. All of a sudden, sequined blazers, golden boots, and purple lipstick can be easily spotted around underground stations near the major catwalk venues, for example in, London's busy Piccadilly Circus and Liverpool Street, since the London Fashion Week opened on Friday. Camera-savvy people wearing these items stop and pose as if they are walking on a red carpet, causing temporary traffic jams in the area. So if you ever wondered how the "spontaneous" street snaps which often feature in newspapers and magazines during fashion week are created, the answer is that these days they are mass manufactured. If you intentionally or unintentionally turn a blind eye to the various outlandish outfits, you can hardly miss them on the internet, because the next step on the assembly line is that by posting photos on social media, such as Instagram, these street posers become instant fashion bloggers. The rise of such photo-centric bloggers coincides with the rise of social media, where they can generate a substantial fan base and therefore wield an influence equal to a Hollywood actress, enough to ensnare marketing-savvy brands and earn an invitation to a catwalk show. From an outsider to insider, a significant career jump is completed. Fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni poses for a street snap during New York Fashion Week on Sept 15, 2016. [Photo/IC] Some enormously popular bloggers, such as Chiara Ferragni, can be granted a coveted front-row seat, a prerogative that used to be reserved for media moguls such as US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, pop divas like Taylor Swift and powerful retailers. In an industry which celebrates a well-established hierarchy, these bloggers have crashed into the upper class like nouveau riche. Ferragni, who some say is the most famous fashion blogger in the world, does more than blogging now. The Milanese-born beauty has launched a footwear collection, turning her 6.6 million followers into potential clients. Her eponymous shoe brand, according to Women's Wear Daily, created a staggering $10 million in sales last year and allowed her to move to a lavishly-decorated Beverly Hills house. Ferragni's self-built successful career story has become an inspiration for many of other bloggers, including Ivy Ekong. Nigerian-born Ekong is also planning to launch her own brand. The London-based blogger has 395,000 followers on Instagram. Both Ferragni and Ekong are eager to prove that they do more than look good, although everything, including fans, money and fame, comes after looking good. Thanks to these fashion blogger-turned- entrepreneurs, street style has become an industry that increasingly betrays its original intention. At the first street style won over average people because it offers something daily commuters can look to for wardrobe tips. Seen a compromise to inaccessibly expensive and unwearable catwalk looks, street style sent a message to fashion-wise yet tight-pocketed people: you don't have to be Hollywood royalty to look smart. The essence of the original street snaps, which reached its prime time through the work of the late New York photographer Bill Cunningham, lies on its spontaneity, meaning that they can be anything but staged. Many of those who featured in Cunningham's photos didn't even know that they were being photographed, appearing as they did with a cab or a construction site in the background. Nowadays street photos capture people sashaying in an empty street, as impeccably dressed as models, making you wonder: who actually wears this? The same critique used to be applied only to catwalk looks. When the once down-to-earth street snaps are replaced by pre-orchestrated versions trying to create an illusion of being effortlessly chic, as in, 'Oh, I only had five minutes to decide what to wear this morning', then street style starts to lose its value. Dressed in, a blonde strolled outside London's Spitalfields Market, where Topshop held its show on Sunday, and smiled to the dozens of cameras shooting her every move. As the crowds gathered, one of the passers-by muttered: "Fashion is such a lie." To contact the reporter: zhangsiyuan@chinadaily.com.cn Gasgoo (Shanghai, August 23)SAIC YueJin the second commercial vehicle subsidiary of SAIC Group in China, may be established in November of this year. Yuejin has separated from Iveco in terms of business since July, 2016, becoming a subsidiary of SAIC. Now, it has been a business unit of the company. Performance of Yuejin reportedly led to decrease in revenue of Nanjing Iveco, resulting in separation on one hand. Moreover, SAIC has been not satisfied with the way Iveco has run business of Yuejin. Though achieving a yearly rise of 51.5% in sales in July, Yuejin hasnt made great profit due to low price and product layout. However, focusing on light duty truck, Yuejin may increase product lines of CV in SAIC, improving sales. SAIC may be able to provide support in terms of technology, resources, talents, marketing strategies, power train, and supply chain for the development of Yuejin. Yuejin may tap markets including pickup, SUV, and MPV, making great progress, according to insiders of SAIC. Great growth in industries of high added value, including E-commercial express, cold chain, health care and others, logistic companies have emphasized on improvement in transportation efficiency and decrease in cost, leading to that low-end LDT may fail to meet the market demands. After becoming a part of SAIC, Yuejin may be able to seize the opportunity when LDT market is developing into high-end market. However, governmental policies may have great impact on sales of truck, as pointed out some analysts in China. Decrease in the number of infrastructure programs may led to decrease in the number of users. Moreover, development in emission standards has led to increase in cost. Development of mini truck has led to decrease in demands of LDT of some types to certain extents. As a result, improvement in production and sales of products of Yuejin may not take place in a short time. On the contrary, long-term development may be better choice for the brand. French chef Cyril Rouquet-Prevost introduces French food to Chinese people in a way that highlights its lighthearted and uncomplicated side.[Photo provided to China Daily] He's waving a French flag, and throwing little Eiffel Tower key chains to the audience. Suddenly, he bursts into song, with a rendition of Edith Piaf's La Vie en Rose, accompanied by a tiny crank music box. French chef Cyril Rouquet-Prevost is something of an ambassador for his countryparticularly its foodbut he's surely having more fun than the average diplomat. One way he tells the story of his country's cuisine is through a long-running, humorous cooking "duel" with British chef James McIntosh. The Brit dismisses French food as pretentious, and the Frenchman expresses mock astonishment that there might be such a thing as British cuisine. The two kept an audience laughing at the recent Beijing International Book Fair, where they prepared a series of dishes together onstage at the fair's show kitchenincluding a mango dessert famously prepared for Queen Elizabeth II. Once he was done with his own presentation, Rouquet lingered in the show kitchen to assist other chefs with their own demonstrations, including Malaysia's Chef Wan, with whom Rouquet had previously worked with to cook for the Queen of Malaysia. Though Rouquet proudly represented French cuisine, he also embraces Chinese culture. A nurse talks with a child of the Qiong ethnic group, who just had a surgical operation for congenital heart disease, at the Chengdu Military General Hospital.[Photo by Huang Zhiling/China Daily] A NEW medical campus, built at the cost of 4.85 billion yuan ($800 million), of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in Henan province started operation on Sept 16. Although the number of beds in the hospital has increased to 10,000, the highest in the country, the hospital remains overwhelmed by patients. Ifeng.com commented on Monday: The hospital is still overcrowded with patients because it is difficult to see a doctor at countyor town-level hospitals. Such hospitals have limited capacities to admit and treat patients. Major hospitals are always full of patients because they also have to treat patients who could have received medical attention at lower-level hospitals. Big hospitals provide medical treatment for a large number of patients but face a shortage of medical resources. To solve the problem, the authorities have to develop and upgrade community health facilities and refer as many patients as possible to them for treatment. This will help them provide better medical treatment to more patients. The wayward development of large or major hospitals is also part of the problem. Patients who can afford the medical bills ignore the smaller hospitals and flock to major ones. As result, the large hospitals are overcrowded and the smaller ones see their medical staff exiting. Besides, large hospitals gradually form a monopoly in a region, which means a decline in medical services and more difficulty in seeing a doctor. The CCTV headquarters is shrouded in heavy smog in the central business district in Beijing, China Dec 7, 2015.[Photo/Xinhua] A DEPUTY MAYOR OF ANYANG, Central China's Henan province, leading an inspection team to investigate the cause of industrial dust, was denied entry to a construction site for over half an hour recently. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Monday: That the Anyang deputy mayor was kept waiting at a construction site, which apparently failed to keep its dust emission in check, offers a glimpse into the difficulties facing the fight against air pollution. To maximize their profits, some local enterprises have tried to bypass pollution checks by installing inferior dust-proof facilities or not installing any at all. Their disregard for public health has a lot to do with the deteriorating air quality. Local environment authorities are also to blame for their lax management and inefficient enforcement of the new environment protection law, which allows them to impose fines on enterprises causing dust pollution. However, in most cases, the punishments were basically confined to vocal warnings. That explains why the Anyang construction site turned a deaf ear to public complaints against its illegal operations. The construction company should be held accountable for the air pollution, so should the incompetent officials who failed to do their job. Anyang is not a stranger to severe air pollution, though. The Ministry of Environmental Protection had urged the city to improve the poor air quality less than two years ago. After shutting down more than 100 polluting enterprises and holding accountable dozens of relevant officials, the city authorities gifted residents a blue sky in just 200 days. But soon tons of industrial waste and serious air pollution returned to the city through the south end of the Jingjinji (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) economic circle. Pollutants can travel with the wind to large swathes of northern China and cause breathing problems for many people. And because the collective heating system in the North is mostly fueled by coal, and pollution is likely to intensify as winter approaches, more concerted efforts should be made to keep major polluters in check. Residences facing the sea pictured in Sha Tau Kok, a town in Yantian District, Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province, on January 21, 2016. [Photo/VCG] THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF HANGZHOU, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, implemented a new housing policy on Monday, barring families that already own one or more houses from buying another. Will that help cool the overheated realty market? Beijing News comments: Hangzhou is not the only city that has implemented a restrictive housing policy. With housing prices continuing to increase sharply, several second-tier cities such as Nanjing, Wuhan and Hefei have taken similar measures. Yet such moves have failed to cool the market. Instead, just the opposite has happened. Expecting realty prices to rise more sharply, people have invested more aggressively in properties. Three days before the Hangzhou authorities implemented the policy, people made a beeline to buy housesalmost 2,000 houses were bought in three days. Data show that 40 percent of the buyers are not Hangzhou residents, which means many, if not most, of the people invested in real estate, rather than buying the houses as residence, in the hope of making profits by selling them in the future. Houses are no longer only for residing, but also for investment and speculation. Perhaps some local governments have to take the blame for this, because by selling land for commercial use at very high prices they earn huge revenues and, in turn, push up realty prices increasingly higher. Worse, as local governments depend largely on land for their incomes, they are tied to the real estate market. That's why some of them implement restrictive policies when realty prices rise abruptly, but take measures to encourage the realty market when prices fall. Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province, reportedly encouraged college and technical school students to buy houses with a zero-down-payment policy when realty prices fell. So the restrictive measure Hangzhou has taken may not be truly restrictive, because it will only "suspend" the house rush, not reverse people's expectations of higher realty prices. It is also necessary to take monetary and financial measures, such as deleveraging the realty market, so that speculative capital can hardly enter the realty sector. Some media reports say Shanghai will launch a pilot program for progressive old-age insurance as an important part of income tax reform before the end of the year. According to the program, if individuals purchase commercial old-age insurance, the premium they pay will be deducted from their income tax base until they retire and get old-age pension. The deduction from the income tax is equal to getting money from the government for old-age pension. The pilot program will be launched 10 years after it was designed, because it will greatly increase the government's fiscal expenditure. The government already faces huge fiscal revenue pressure, and the program will further reduce its income tax revenue. But since China also faces an aging society, the government is under great pressure to provide support for senior citizens. That's why it is necessary to implement the income tax reform and old-age insurance pilot program. According to a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report on China's old-age pension development in 2015, the gap in urban employees' basic pension insurance was as high as 1 trillion yuan ($150 billion). The move could encourage individuals to purchase commercial old-age insurance, as well as support China's old-age security system. The pilot program should be promoted nationwide, but the authorities should guarantee fairness in its implementation. More importantly, integrating the urban and rural pension insurance systems should be the goal of old-age insurance program. Migrants are rescued during a MOAS operation off the coast of Libya August 18, 2016 in this handout picture courtesy of the Italian Red Cross released on August 19, 2016. Picture taken August 18, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Bill Clinton won his presidential campaign on the slogan "it's the economy, stupid!" in 1992. Those who are engaged in resettling refugees and returning migrants may have to adopt the same approach, substituting "job" for "economy". Recent United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees data show there are more than 65.3 million refugees worldwide, more than that in the immediate aftermath of World War II. In 2015 alone, more than 1 million refugees fled to Europe. Refugee-related violence has put many countries' public security apparatus on serious test. And the asylum seekers have left the host countries trapped in a moral dilemma. Stopping the refugees at the border and forcibly repatriating them is not a durable solution, nor is it in line with the basic norms of international humanitarian law. Very soon, world leaders will gather in New York for the UN General Assembly and try to find ways to resolve the refugee crisis. Among the first few things that may come to their minds is peace and stability. By silencing the guns and restoring peace in the Middle East and much of the troubled regions in Africa, they could stem the flow of refugees at the root. But jobs have to be created, in large numbers, in the Middle East and African countries to hold back the tidal waves of refugees flowing into Europe and other parts of the developed world. Last month, together with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn and other leaders, I attended the completion ceremony of the Addis Ababa Outer Ring Road Project, executed by a Chinese company. We were informed that several thousand workers have been employed for the project, and well over 90 percent of them are local people. For another bigger projectthe Addis Ababa to Djbouti Railwaywhich will officially start operating next month, almost 40,000 local jobs have been created. Chinese companies, like others including Indian, Turkish and European, have not only contributed to the economic development and social progress of Ethiopia, but also helped create much-needed jobs for the country's youth who are most likely to migrate to developed countries. More than 3,000 Chinese enterprises have invested in Africa, including 400 in Ethiopia. On average each Chinese could generate 15 to 20 local jobs. With the total number of Chinese doing business in Ethiopia exceeding 50,000, it means that nearly 1 million local jobs have been created. Recently, during my conversation with International Organization for Migration's local representative Maureen Achieng, issues were raised about how China could contribute to the resettlement of returned migrants. IOM has spent huge amounts of money to train Ethiopian returned migrants in some basic skills. But they could venture abroad again if there are no job prospects. We explored the possibility of holding a job fair for the returned migrants. After discussing the issue with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia, over 20 of the member enterprises offered more than 1,000 jobs ranging from office clerks to drivers to laborers on construction sites. And we are more than happy to organize a job fair next week in Addis Ababa thanks to the enthusiasm and support of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. After some European embassies here came to know about the development, they have shown interest in contributing to the process by encouraging their own chambers of commerce to follow their Chinese counterpart's example. I do hope the job fair helps mitigate, even in a small measure, the migration and refugee problem. And I do believe that others will follow. It is a problem for all of us. The author is China's ambassador to Ethiopia. A girl chooses diary products at a supermarket in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, August 9, 2016. [Photo/VCG] More than half of China's dairy farms are reportedly incurring losses because of a steady decline in dairy product prices since early 2015. In March, the number of cows in stock dropped by nearly 12 percent year-on-year. And some dairy farmers culled their cows or fed unsold fresh milk to pigs to reduce their losses. Chinese dairy farms are facing this problem because their products, despite being overstocked, cost more than imported ones. Imported milk powder, for example, reportedly cost 18,000 yuan ($2,700) per ton on average, while the domestic varieties can cost as much as 30,000 yuan a ton. Compounding the dairy farms' problem is the falling consumption of dairy products in China. The average annual increase in the sale of milk was 11.1 percent from 2006 to 2010, but it dropped almost by half during the next five years. The oversupply of milk seems weird in a country where the per capita consumption of dairy products is only one-third of the world's average. With more than 10 million cows in stock last year, the production of fresh milk and dairy products reached more than 38 million tons and 27 million tons, making China's output of dairy products the third-largest in the world. The prices of dairy products, like that of other animal husbandry products, lack elasticity. In other words, the dairy industry experiences periodic cyclesfrom cutting prices because of overstock and culling cows to reduce losses to increasing milk price and repurchasing cows, and ending with another round of overcapacity. Selling milk is arguably the trickiest part of the dairy industry's chain. Chinese dairy farmers will suffer when exported milk cost much less than that produced domestically. Besides, many consumers have become skeptical of domestic dairy products after the 2008 scandalinfant formula adulterated with melamine that left at least four babies dead and thousands seriously ill. And thus people are more likely to buy foreign milk products, especially for infants. However, that does not mean China's dairy industry is doomed, because among the rural population, which accounts for almost half of the country's total, only a few have the luxury or the habit of drinking milk. Their demand remains untapped and could be huge. What Chinese dairies should do is to restore customers' faith in their products. Especially because the quality of domestic milk products has improved substantially. About 99.67 percent of the dairy products measured up to government standards last year, and no illegal additives, such as melamine, have been detected in fresh milk over the past seven years, according to a report issued by the Dairy Association of China in August. To convince consumers of this reassuring change, the dairy industry has to use effective promotion. Better management and streamlined operations are important, too, in resuscitating China's dairy market. To do that, dairies have to optimize the division of labor, more closely integrate dairy farming and production, and provide proper training to dairy farmers. The establishment of the D20 Alliance, comprising 20 leading Chinese dairy companies last year, is a promising start in this direction. It is also worth noting that China's dairy farming is undergoing a change that will see the exit of small dairies which only own a limited number of free-range cows. Offering dairy insurance and subsidies to the struggling farmers, or erecting trade barriers against imported dairy products, will make little difference to the market's decisions. The author is a professor at the School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics. Shanghai, April 30 (Gasgoo.com) Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile (ZNA) took part in the 2008 Beijing auto show (April 20-28) along with Nissan Motor Co., and the question whether the ZNA will produce the Nissan concept car NV200 has attracted much media attention. ZNA's chairman Zhu Fushou said that the Nissan venture will launch a model based on the NV200 in 2009 to cement the dual-brand LCV (light commercial vehicles) strategy in the partnership between Nissan and Dongfeng. NV200 In September 2007, the Nissan Yumsun MPV and Dongfeng Oting SVU, both produced by ZNA, were launched together and made ZNA a major manufacturer of light commercial vehicles of Nissan and Dongfeng brands. With the release of Nissan's F91A light truck and X11M crossover MPV, and Dongfeng's C16A MPV in 2009, the product portfolio of ZNA will be further expanded. As Nissan's most important China-based facility making commercial vehicles, ZNA has 51% stake of the venture, Dongfeng 28.651%, and Nissan 20.349%. Each of the three partners has their strong resources backing, and its majority shareholding will guarantee the rapid and healthy growth of ZNA in the auto industry. As a Canadian residing in China for almost 14 years, I consider China to be my home away from home. Therefore, Im always interested in any news related to the historical relations between the two nations. Premier Li Keqiangs upcoming visit to Ottawa and Montreal, during his 11-day tour to US, Canada and Cuba, captured my attention enough to pen down this article. By now everybody is aware that China has become a major player on the world stage and its initiative, to help the less-developed countries, that was pledged by President Xi Jinping at the last meeting of the UN general assembly, solidifies its influential role around the globe. Premier Li, during chairing the symposium on the implementation of 2030 Chinas agenda, will discuss effective and pragmatic means of achieving Chinas goals of getting rid of poverty and hunger by the year 2030. He will also touch on the challenges that are faced by the UN, such as international terrorism, during his speech. All countries in general and Canada in particular put tremendous emphasis on establishing solid relations with China due to the fact that China, as one of the major powers, can maintain the balance that is essential for avoiding major conflicts. After a close look at the development of the relation between China and Canada, one can conclude that the ties are on the right track. It is well-known that Canadians are fond of their Chinese counterparts and they are well-aware of the importance of keeping a strong relation with the largest market in the world. As a Canadian, I am familiar with and proud of the role that the late Doctor Norman Bethune played in effectively bringing modern medicine to rural parts of China and treating sick people in villages that prompted Chairman Mao Zedong to write an eulogy for him which is memorized by millions of Chinese. Canada was one of the first developed nations to welcome Chinas initiative to open up to the world and followed it by establishing numerous collaborative agreements with China during the visits of former prime ministers and premiers from several provinces in Canada. Chinese Canadians are active participants in developing the Canadian economy and their contribution is greatly appreciated by most Canadians. During the latest meeting of the G20, China and Canada renewed their commitment to sustaining the unbreakable and historical relations between the two nations by holding regular annual meeting to figure out new means of expanding the aspects and fields of collaboration. Premier Li will meet with his Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to cement the ties between the two countries. Their meeting will mark the official launch of the regular dialogue in which they will explore strategies to maintain the relations between China and Canada solid and steady. Premier Li and Prime Minister Trudeau will explore the venues through which China and Canada can boost bilateral collaboration. Premier Li will attend the Economic and Trade Forum in Montreal before heading to Cuba. Without any doubt, Premier Li Keqiangs visit to Ottawa and Montreal is a positive step in cementing the historical ties between China and Canada. Sava Hassan is a Canadian Egyptian educator. The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of China Daily website. The 30th World Union of Wholesale Markets Congress will be convened at Changsha Red Star International Exhibition Center from Sept 22 to 25. More than 100 wholesale markets from 40 countries, including France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Turkey, and Australia will exhibit and sell their distinctive agricultural products at the event, which will also act as a platform for leaders and managers of many of the world's largest markets to discuss the development and prospects of the industry. This undated photo was snapped by Italian photographer Enrico Barletta, during a business trip to China. The unique aerial views of the paddy fields, which are in Yuanyang, Southwest China's Yunnan province, show the beautiful patterns created by the growing rice. [Photo/IC] Earlier this year, an anonymous tweet titled "Do we still need so-called community leaders? caused a stir among Chinese Americans. The author claimed that "community leader" is an outdated concept, and we dont need to follow the leader any more. Supporters believe community leaders used to play an important role in guiding the off-the-boat immigrants to better assimilate to the new environment. Several decades ago, resources were limited, and many of the immigrants had to start from scratch as laborers to survive. Now, a majority of the immigrants are well-educated individuals who are more independent and cherish the value of critical thinking. They dont need anyone to tell them to do anything in the name of compatriotism and ethnical bonds. However, opponents of this claim said that in order to unite overseas Chinese, someone must take the initiative to organize activities, sponsor events and raise awareness so that they maintain access to their Chinese heritage. Ultimately, they would be more likely to appreciate Chinese culture and civilization and feel proud of their ancestors and roots. He Konghua is such an initiator and community leader. Like many grassroots Chinese American community leaders, He believes overseas Chinese Americans should help refine the China-US relationship and promote bilateral understanding between peoples of the two worlds largest economies on several fronts China-US cultural exchanges, the Cross-Strait relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, and people-to-people exchanges. The chairwoman of the Greater China Women's Association, a board member of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, vice-president of the Silicon Valley People's Republic of China Celebration Committee and a founding member and vice-president of Chinese for Peaceful Unification-Northern California, He for 20 years has been orchestrating "China Night, a variety show celebrating Chinas National Day Holiday on Oct 1, in the Bay Area. This year, she and her team of volunteers spent four months putting together a three-hour program and presented it on Sunday at the Visual and Performing Arts Center at Chabot College in Hayward. At 7 pm, the lights faded as the curtains opened. The audience waited in silence. When a young girl about 10 years old in a red dress finished her last note of a Chinese classic lyric, Ode to the Red Flag, the crowd of 1,500 broke into thunderous applause. In a turquoise suit, He walked onto the stage to give her heartfelt thanks to the audiences and her supporters. "Its not an easy job to continuously organize an annual event on this scale for 20 years, He said. "However, Im prompted by the inner urge, as a Chinese immigrant to the US, that I should take this opportunity and use the Chinese National Day as a topic to help boost the China-US friendship and understanding. Through the China Night platform, overseas Chinese can actively integrate into American mainstream society, respect local customs and get along with people of other races. "We actually showcase our capacity to promote the social and economic development of the local communities, she said. With outreach to other communities, "we not only popularize the Chinese culture, deepen American peoples understanding about China, but also help consolidate public support for the China-US relationship, He said. Luo Linquan, Chinese consul general in San Francisco, applauded the contributions the China Night team has made. "The China-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world, and each and every overseas Chinese should help sustain the strong bilateral momentum, the ambassador said in his speech. "May the China-US tree of friendship [be] evergreen! Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com Security concerns are plaguing the United States on Monday after bombings rocked New York and New Jersey over the weekend in what officials linked to act of terrorism. The New York City Police Department released a photograph of a 28-year-old Afghanistan-born American wanted for questioning in connection with both the blast that injured 29 people in the bustling Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea Saturday night and the pipe bombing earlier that day in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized US citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was taken into custody after a shoot-out with police, local police said, more than two hours after the release of his photo. The attacks, occurred just days after the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, sparked fears among the population of more than 8 million in New York City. At 7:55 a.m. on Monday, residents in the US financial capital were alarmed with an emergency alert urging them to contact authorities if they see Rahami or have any information about him. The klaxon-like alarm that usually sounded for flash flood warnings was sent to New Yorkers' cell phones, in a sign of the urgency authorities felt in chasing down the suspect and preventing additional bombings. The bombings put enormous pressure on the city's law enforcement as world leaders are gathering this week at the United Nations headquarters for the annual General Assembly meeting and a UN high-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants. About 135 heads of state or government are expected to attend this week's event at the United Nations. "We're going to have more security personnel than ever assembled over this next week during the UN General Assembly," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in interviews with CNN on Monday morning. City authorities said they had bolstered an already heavy security force with 1,000 more uniformed police officers and National Guard members. Rahami should be considered "armed and dangerous," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in one of a series of TV appearances minutes after the release of the photo. Early Monday, FBI agents flocked to an apartment above a fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth that the authorities said was tied to Rahami. Just hours earlier, one of the five explosive devices discovered Sunday night at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded when investigators were trying to defuse it with a robot. Rahami, whose fingerprint was found on an unexploded device, was manhunted in connection with the blasts that provoked suspicions of a local terror cell, according to federal officials. In addition to the Chelsea blast on Saturday night, another unexploded device apparently made out of a pressure cooker was found several blocks away. On the immediate heels of the blast, both New York city mayor de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo were cautious about linking the attacks to international terrorism. However, both struck a different tone on Monday morning. "I suspect there may be a foreign connection," Cuomo told CBS News. "That's what we are hearing today, as the investigation goes on." On Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded in a garbage pail along the route of a five-km charity run sponsored by the US Marine in New Jersey's Seaside Park, the Ocean County, about 129 km south of New York City. The explosive device went off before the road run, thus inflicting no injuries or damages, according to local authorities. Also on Saturday, a man stabbed and injured nine people at a mall in the northern US state of Minnesota before a police officer fatally shot him. The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) quickly claimed responsibility for the Minnesota attack. The incident was investigated as potential acts of terrorism, but did not appear to be linked with the series of bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey, according to police. Rahami was identified by investigators using the cellphone attached on the explosive device made out from a pressure cooker, as well as his fingerprints left on the device, according to authorities. Rahami was wounded after exchanging fire with police officers on East Elizabeth Ave in Linden, while two police officers were also reportedly injured during the shootout. Police had also found a suspicious package and required bomb squad and police dogs to the scene. The investigation was still underway and it's not clear if there were other suspects involved in the bombings. US President Barack Obama, who is now in New York City for the annual UN General Assembly, delivered his first statement since the attacks on Monday morning, commending law enforcement officers and first responders for their professionalism and quick response, and urged Americans not to "succumb to the fear." "The threat to the United States is serious," Robert Shapiro, professor and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, told Xinhua. Prof. Shapiro, however, believed it was "not an existential national threat unless there might be chemical or other large-scale attacks." "I don't think the timing is related to the UN meeting but perhaps to the US elections," he said. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Monday welcomed the just adopted New York Declaration as "a first step in addressing the unprecedented level of human mobility the world is facing." A statement, issued here by UNICEF, said, "The declaration outlines a more comprehensive, predictable and sustainable response to forced displacement, and a system of governance for international migration." Its emphasis on the need for Member States to comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a crucial step toward securing the rights of all children on the move, the statement said. "The Declaration underscores the acute risks faced by refugee and migrant children, particularly those traveling on their own, and the need to provide them with specialized protection," the statement noted. "It includes, crucially, a commitment to making sure they can quickly go back to school once they have reached their destination countries, and outlines measures to keep families together and counter xenophobia." Over the next two years, UNICEF will work with Member States, United Nations partners, civil society, and children, to spell out specific and measurable actions to protect all children uprooted from their homes,the statement said. Meanwhile, UNICEF called on the international community to focus on six specific actions to help displaced, refugee and migrant children: -- Protect child refugees and migrants, particularly unaccompanied children, from exploitation and violence. -- End the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating by introducing a range of practical alternatives. -- Keep families together as the best way to protect children and give children legal status. -- Keep refugee and migrant children learning and giving them access to health and other quality services. -- Press for action on the underlying causes of large-scale movements of refugees and migrants. -- Promote measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and marginalization. At the UN General Assembly's first-ever high-level meeting on refugees and migrants, world leaders on Monday adopted the New York Declaration, which expresses their political will to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale. The meeting was held against a backdrop that more people are forced to flee their homes than at any time since World War II. The 41st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) wrapped up with a couple of Chinese movies getting awards at a ceremony on Sunday in Toronto. Feng Xiaogangs I Am Not Madame Bovary won the International Federation of Film Critics prize for special presentations. Johnny Mas Old Stone (Lao Shi) got the City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. Chinese actor Zhang Ziyi presented the Toronto Platform Prize to Pablo Larrain for Jackie. This was the sophomore year for the Platform Prize, the festivals juried programme that champions directors cinema from around the world. "A huge amount of Chinese films, talent and audience showed up at this festival, Piers Handling, CEO and director of TIFF told China Daily. "I think Chinese films are moving away from a domestic market to an international one. Chinese film companies and investors have been actively pursuing opportunities to co-produce and finance North American films, with a vested interest in films with crossover appeal. The trend could be seen in such selections as Birth of the Dragon, Mad World, The Hedonists and Old Stone during the 11-day festival. "Chinas market is massive and the Canadian film market is much smaller by comparison, Handling added. "Hopefully more Canadian films can go to Chinas market and Chinas films can take on the North American market. According to Handling, a lot of selling was going on in Toronto during the TIFF at least 20 films have been sold around the world and more deals will be signed in the coming days. "Its a major healthy year for film sales, he said. This was the 39th year that Toronto audiences were able to cast a ballot for their favourite film of the festival for the Grolsch Peoples Choice Award. This year the award went to Damien Chazelles La La Land. renali@chinadailyusa.com Syrian children slide down rubble of destroyed a building in the rebel-held city of Daraa, in southwestern Syria on September 12, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] DAMASCUS -- The Syrian army announced Monday the end of the Russian-US brokered truce in Syria, without talking about possible extension, according to the state news agency SANA. The Syrian army said the seven-day truce that was brokered by the United States and Russia ended Monday, as previously declared. Still, the army didn't speak of any possible extension to the week-long truce, but accused the rebels of committing over 300 violations to the truce. "The terrorists have taken advantage of the ceasefire to amass themselves and continue to attack residential areas and military positions, mainly in the provinces of Hama, Qunaitera, and Aleppo," the military statement said. The statement said the military forces have practiced high self-restraint, and responded in a few cases when it had to do so to silence the fire sources of the rebels. It renewed old pledges that the army will continue to fight terrorism until restoring peace and stability to Syria. Last Monday, a Russian-US ceasefire was implemented in Syria, bringing relative calm to the most troubled areas, including Aleppo. Still, both warring parties traded accusations of breaching the ceasefire, which was deemed as a good chance to bring the bloodletting in Syria to a close. Law enforcement officers mark evidence near the site where Ahmad Khan Rahami, sought in connection with a bombing in New York, was taken into custody in Linden, New Jersey, US, September 19, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] NEW YORK - Security concerns are plaguing the United States on Monday after bombings rocked New York and New Jersey over the weekend in what officials linked to act of terrorism. The New York City Police Department released a photograph of a 28-year-old Afghanistan-born American wanted for questioning in connection with both the blast that injured 29 people in the bustling Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea Saturday night and the pipe bombing earlier that day in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized US citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was taken into custody after a shoot-out with police, local police said, more than two hours after the release of his photo. The attacks, occurred just days after the 15th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks on the United States, sparked fears among the population of more than 8 million in New York City. At 7:55 am on Monday, residents in the US financial capital were alarmed with an emergency alert urging them to contact authorities if they see Rahami or have any information about him. The klaxon-like alarm that usually sounded for flash flood warnings was sent to New Yorkers' cell phones, in a sign of the urgency authorities felt in chasing down the suspect and preventing additional bombings. The bombings put enormous pressure on the city's law enforcement as world leaders are gathering this week at the United Nations headquarters for the annual General Assembly meeting and a UN high-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants. About 135 heads of state or government are expected to attend this week's event at the United Nations. "We're going to have more security personnel than ever assembled over this next week during the UN General Assembly," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in interviews with CNN on Monday morning. City authorities said they had bolstered an already heavy security force with 1,000 more uniformed police officers and National Guard members. Rose Pak, a longtime activist in Chinatown and the Chinese-American community in San Francisco, died at the age of 68 on Sept 18. Pak died of natural causes in her home in Chinatown. She had spent several months in China for a kidney transplant before returning to San Francisco in May. Though she had never held elective office, she was known for her advocacy for the Chinatown community and her influence on city politics. Pak served as a decades-long consultant to the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce and organizer of San Francisco's annual Chinese New Year's Parade. She also organized the campaign to save the San Francisco Chinese Hospital from closure, an institution she remained devoted to until the end. Born in 1948, Pak grew up in Hong Kong and was educated there and in Macao before coming to California on a scholarship to study communications at the San Francisco College for Women. After receiving a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University in New York City, she returned to San Francisco in 1974 to work as a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. She was the first female Asian-American journalist at the newspaper. Eight years later, she became a full-time social activist. Her first project was to save the Chinese Hospital, an underfunded medical center that served the Cantonese-speaking population in and around Chinatown with physicians and medical professionals who spoke their language. She helped raise funds for the new patient tower to replace the original 1925 hospital building. As of 2016, the hospital had raised nearly $200 million for the building construction. The new building opened in April. "People give me more power than I really have," she said in a 2013 interview with the Chronicle, "and half of the crap I'm not even remotely interested in. All I'm interested in is advancing my community." San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee ordered flags to be displayed at half-staff and City Hall to be lit in white light in Pak's honor. ELIZABETH, NJ/WASHINGTON - The father of the Afghan-born man arrested after weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey reported concerns about his son to the FBI in 2014, but officials took no action after reviewing the complaint, the father and law enforcement officials said on Tuesday. US authorities on Tuesday investigated whether Ahmad Khan Rahami, the naturalized American citizen captured on Monday in New Jersey after a shootout with police, had accomplices in the bombings or if he was radicalized during trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The investigation is active and ongoing, and it is being investigated as an act of terror," US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in Lexington, Kentucky. Rahami was suspected in weekend bombings, including a blast on Saturday night in New York's crowded Chelsea neighborhood that wounded 29 people, and two in suburban New Jersey including one earlier on Saturday near a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park that caused no injuries. His father, Mohammad Rahami, briefly emerged on Tuesday from the family's restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, telling reporters, "I called the FBI two years ago." A US law enforcement official confirmed the elder Rahami had twice met with the FBI, first saying that he was worried his son was hanging out with people who might have connections to militants, but two weeks later contending his real concern was that the son was associating with criminals. The FBI tried to check out the father's story, and conducted what officials now describe as an "assessment" of that information. However, investigators found no evidence to prompt a full-scale investigation into the son, and the initial investigation was closed without action, the law enforcement official said. At the time, the son was being held on an assault charge for stabbing his brother during a domestic dispute, another law enforcement official said. Rahami, 28, was arrested on Monday in Linden, New Jersey, not far from Elizabeth, where his family lived above their storefront First American Fried Chicken restaurant. The family was known to local authorities for frequent disputes related to the restaurant, which had received noise complaints for staying open very late into the night. The bombings put New York, the largest US city, on edge and fueled a political debate about US security seven weeks before the presidential election, with candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton again clashing on the threat posed by Islamic militants. Two US officials said Rahami had traveled to Afghanistan and to Quetta, Pakistan. The official, and other US security sources, said Rahami underwent additional security screening upon returning from abroad but passed on every occasion. One of the officials, who specializes in counter-terrorism, said the "secondary" screening included asking Rahami where he had gone and for what purpose. "There could have been a more intensive holding and screening in that situation," US Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, told CNN. "The problem is what happened next didn't really go into any depth." Rahami's wife left the United States a few days before the bombings, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source. Rahami had emailed US Representative Albio Sires of New Jersey, whose congressional district includes Elizabeth, in 2014 from Pakistan, raising concerns about his wife's visa issues, said Mark Gyorfy, a spokesman for the congressman. On the morning of 19 September, while attending the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang spoke at the High-level Plenary Meeting on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants to expound on the Chinese government's position and policy initiatives regarding this issue. Li Keqiang said, the issue of refugees and migrants is a matter concerning world peace and development. It is an issue of both regional and global dimensions that no country can stay away from. Every life is precious and the dignity of each individual must be preserved. The humanitarian spirit must be upheld, and the bottom line of morality and justice must not be lost. The current priority is to pool financial and material resources to ensure basic living for refugees. The differentiated interests and concerns of refugees and migrants should be taken into account and arrangements should be made accordingly in terms of policy making, financial input and social security. Li Keqiang pointed out that international cooperation should be strengthened to address the issue of refugees and migrants. The international community should work together to expand legal channels for migration and combat illegal migration, human trafficking and terrorism. Comprehensive and systematic solutions should be formulated and implemented under the UN framework. The principle of "non-refoulement" established in the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees must be fully respected. While attention is being given to addressing the refugee crisis in Europe, it is also important not to lose sight of the disaster caused by this refugee issue in source countries. The transit and destination countries for refugees and migrants must play their due part in light of their respective capabilities. Source countries must work with the international community to address the root causes such as wars and conflicts, poverty and underdevelopment. The purpose is to achieve enduring peace and stability, inclusive growth and harmony. Li Keqiang stressed that China takes the issue of refugees and migrants seriously, and has taken an active part in its solution. China will take up its responsibility within its capability as a developing country. Li announced that China will, on the basis of existing assistance, provide an additional US$100 million humanitarian assistance to related countries and international organizations and will also consider further support measures. China will actively study the possibility of leveraging the China-UN Peace and Development Fund to support refugee and migrant work in developing countries. And China will actively explore third-party cooperation with relevant international institutions and developing countries. Li said that he hopes parties concerned will build consensus, form synergy and work out comprehensive and lasting solutions to the issue of large global movements of refugees and migrants at an early date. UNITED NATIONS -- China's annual total donation to UN agencies on development in 2020 will be $100 million more compared to the amount in 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced here on Monday. Li made the remarks when he chaired a roundtable on the Sustainable Development Goals in the United Nations. He also announced that China's donation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will reach 18 million U.S. dollars in next three years. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday meets with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). [Photo/Xinhua] NEW YORK -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called upon China and the United States to step up efforts to promote economic and trade ties between the two countries. The statement was made when Li met with US President Barack Obama in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly that opened earlier last week. Economic and trade cooperation is the "cornerstone" and "propeller" of China-US relations, Li said. The two sides should work together to ensure an early conclusion of negotiations on a China-US bilateral investment treaty (BIT), expand market access to each other, and create better business environment and better cooperation prospect for enterprises from both sides, the premier said. The two sides should also properly handle economic and trade frictions to prevent bilateral economic and trade ties from suffering unnecessary distractions, he added. Meanwhile, the premier urged the US side to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China. For his part, Obama said economic relations are the stabilizing factor of US-China ties. The US president added that the US side supports China's reform process, hoping the two sides make further progress in BIT negotiations. Premier Li Keqiang met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Sept 19. [Photo/english.gov.cn] Premier Li said that China is not only a supporter and participant of the UN cause, but also a staunch defender of the principles of the UN Charter. China will continue its support for the UN to play an important role and make contributions to world peace and development. The Premier said that 2016 marks the start of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. China, as the biggest developing country, is willing to work with other countries, take up responsibilities compatible with our abilities and make continuous efforts to improve global governance and reap mutual benefits, said the Premier. Premier Li Keqiang met with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in New York on Sept 19, and discussed relations between China and New Zealand. Currently, China-New Zealand relations have good momentum. Economic and trade cooperation is proceeding well, and the two countries have good communication in international and regional affairs, according to Premier Li. China is willing to make joint efforts with New Zealand to promote political mutual trust, maintain high-level exchanges, further pragmatic cooperation in economy and trade, strengthen law enforcement cooperation, and maintain close communication and coordination in multilateral affairs, he said. Key said that China-New Zealand relations are developing smoothly and the two countries saw frequent high-level exchanges. New Zealand attaches great importance to its relations with China and is willing to strengthen cooperation in sectors such as economy and trade and law enforcement, promoting further development of bilateral relations. As the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, New Zealand speaks highly of Chinas constructive role in international affairs, he said. They also exchanged views on the Syria issue and the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and Premier Li stated Chinas principled position on those issues. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the US on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua] Premier Li Keqiang voiced Beijing's opposition to the plan by Washington and Seoul to deploy an advanced missile-defense system in the Republic of Korea while meeting with US President Barack Obama in New York. Li said "it is hoped that all parties will avoid taking actions that lead to escalation of the tense situation". He and Obama met on the sidelines of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday. Earlier this year, Washington and Seoul agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, angering Beijing and Moscow. The system's radar has a maximum reach of 2,000 km and could cover parts of China and Russia. Earlier this month, tension rose anew on the Korean Peninsula after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea conducted a nuclear test in an area near the China-DPRK border. Li said China endorses the UN Security Council's plan to further respond to the nuclear test by the DPRK. Beijing remains committed to denuclearization of the peninsula, ensuring peace and stability, and resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation, Li said. A White House statement released later on Monday said Obama and Li "resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula". Zhang Tuosheng, director of the research department at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, said China should continue tackling two tasks simultaneously counteracting the THAAD deployment plan as well as strengthening cooperation with the US and the ROK in boosting denuclearization of the peninsula. "No efforts should be spared to resume the Six-Party Talks, and even if the resumption is unlikely, support should be given to other dialogue promoting peace on the peninsula and denuclearization," Zhang said. Jia Xiudong, a senior researcher in international affairs at the China Institute of International Studies, said the DPRK nuclear tests and the US-ROK plan to deploy THAAD are "pushing the peninsula situation to a deadlock, which serves no interest of any party". The root cause of the nuclear issue is the mutual distrust between the US and the DPRK, and the only way out is to resume dialogue, Jia said. During their talk, Li and Obama also touched upon bilateral trade and investment, as well as global issues including sustainable development, refugee crises and peacekeeping. Contact the writers at zhaohuanxin@chinadaily.com.cn UNITED NATIONS -- UN member states should strengthen efforts to bring the Paris Agreement on climate change into force by the end of the year in order to build a world of sustainable growth, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday. "With the Paris Agreement on climate change, we are tackling the defining challenge of our time," the secretary-general said at the opening of the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, a week-long annual high-level event at UN headquarters in New York. "We have no time to lose," Ban said. "I urge you, leaders, to bring the Paris Agreement into force before the end of this year." "We need just 26 countries more, representing just 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "I ask you to help lead us to a world of low-carbon growth, increased resilience and greater opportunity and well-being for our children," he added. The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, needs 55 nations that together account for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions to ratify before it can enter into force. On Sept. 3, the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, ratified the agreement, a significant international legal document that outlines post-2020 global climate governance. The much-anticipated Paris Agreement is the third document to attempt to address climate change, following the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Chinas Regulation on Paid Annual Leave for Employees () entitles employees (including dispatched workers) who have worked continuously for one year to paid annual leave. Their statutory vacation period is as follows: More than 1 and less than 10 years service: 1 week (5 days) vacation More than 10 and less than 20 years service: 2 weeks (10 days) vacation More than 20 years service: 3 weeks (15 days) vacation To be clear, the statutory limits set forth above are for the employees total years of employment with anyone. In other words, the years of service are based on the date your employee started in the workforce, regardless of employer. This means that even your employees on probation are entitled to take annual leave, so long as they have worked continuously for one year. During your employees annual leave, you as the employer must pay your employees the same amount of wages you would have paid each of them during the normal working period. If you wish to provide more vacation time than the required time set forth above, you will need to specify that additional vacation time in writing, typically in your companys rules and regulations. But note that once you specify in writing that you will be providing additional vacation time, you will be required to provide the more generous vacation time exactly as specified. Employers are required to make arrangements for employees to take vacation time each year. Though it is permissible for your employees to carryover their annual leave for one year, this can be done only with the employees consent. Unused vacation time in one year can be carried over only to the next year; any carryover beyond that year is prohibited. It is generally not a good idea to allow your employees to carry over their annual leave because doing so can make tracking difficult and can increase your exposure to penalties if the employee later sues claiming never to have agreed to carry over his or her vacation. An employer that fails to allow an employee to take annual leave must pay that employee 300% of the employees daily wages for each unused vacation day. The daily wage is calculated by dividing the employees monthly wage by 21.75, with the monthly wage usually defined as the employees average monthly wage (excluding overtime pay) over the 12 months prior to the date on which the employer pays the compensation for unused vacation time. If the employee has worked for the employer for less than 12 months, the average monthly wage will be based on the actual number of months of employee service. If an employer arranges for the employee to take vacation days and the employee submits a written request expressly stating that he or she will not take those days, the employer is obligated only to pay the employee his or her normal daily wage for the unused vacation days. Bottom line: Your employees are entitled to a yearly vacation and you as their employer should not stand in the way of this, unless you are not worried about having to pay a big penalty. In China, an open-term labor contract () is a contract where an employer and its employee agree there is no definitive ending date for the labor relationship. Such a contract generally means the employer must retain the employee until his or her retirement age, though the employee can terminate at any time, with no restriction or penalty. The PRC Labor Contract Law provides that after execution of two consecutive fixed-term labor contracts, an employee can request an open-term contract (unless grounds for termination exists). However, as is typical of so much relating to Chinas employment laws, different places in China have different interpretations. For example, Beijing allows an employer to terminate the employee at the end of the first contract term. But if the employer does not terminate the employee at that time, the contract automatically becomes an open-term contract. This is another reason why my law firms China employment lawyers usually advise our employer clients to use an initial employment term of three years and a probation period of six months (the longest probation period possible) for their new employees, because in cities like Beijing, employers get only one shot at fixed-term employment. In Shanghai, once an employee has completed two fixed-term contracts for an employer, the employee is entitled to an open-ended contract. But Shanghais interpretation is different from Beijing in that an employer in Shanghai is free to decide not to retain the employee after the second term. Note though, the employers decision to let the employee go is not without monetary obligations: it must pay economic compensation to the employee. Generally, the employer must pay one months salary for every full year the employee has worked for the employer and half of a months salary for less than six months service. If the employee has worked for more than six months but less than one year, it is treated as though he or she had worked for a full year. To sum up, employees in China are generally entitled to an open-ended contract, provided the following conditions have been met: The employee has completed two consecutive fixed-term contracts (but note how Beijing is different on this). The employer has no statutory grounds for terminating its employee. BOTH parties agree to renew the contract for a third time, and The employee requests an open-ended contract. To repeat, an open-ended term usually will not happen unless both the employer and the employee agree to renew the contract after completion of two terms. Thus, if the employer wants to re-hire the employee but refuses to do so on an open-term basis, the employee will not be able to force the employer to hire him or her on an open-ended basis. So in Shanghai, once the employee has completed two fixed-term contracts, the employer has three options: Let the employee go and pay the applicable compensation. Enter into an open-term contract with the employee that provides for lifetime employment. Persuade the employee to voluntarily accept a third fixed-term contract. It is the rare employee that turns down lifetime employment in favor of a fixed-term contract without added monetary incentives. It is far cheaper in the long run to avoid China employment law problems than to have to deal with one that has arisen. If you follow the following eight rules, your chances of having a China employment problem will markedly decrease. 1. Use written employment contracts. Chinas employment system is a contract employment system. This makes it a very different system from the United States, where U.S., employers can terminate employees pretty much at any time and for any reason. The U.S. system is called employment at will. China is most assuredly not an at-will employment jurisdiction, and American companies often get themselves in legal trouble in China for failing to realize this. As a China employer, you must have written employment contracts with all of your full-time employees. China employers without a written employment contract are exposing themselves to penalties, administrative fines and the risk of being deemed to have entered into an open-term employment contract with their employees, which essentially means no definitive end date to the labor relationship. If an employer goes more than a month (note that this period is shorter in some municipalities) without having a written employment contract with an employee, the employer will be required to pay its employee double the employees monthly wage. In addition to having to paying double the employees monthly wage, the employer must immediately execute a written employment contract with the employee. If an employer goes more than a year without having a written employment contract with an employee, the employee lacking the written employment contract will be deemed to have entered into an open-term employment contract with his or her employer. Such a contract generally means the employer must retain the employee until his or her retirement age. As explained below, once an employee has completed his or her probation period, it is very difficult to terminate the employee during the term of the employment contract. It is even more difficult to terminate an employee on an open-term contract. 2. Put the mandatory provisions in your China employment contracts. Chinas Labor Contract Law mandates that employment contracts contain the following provisions: Basic information about the employer and the employee (the employers name, address and legal representative or person-in-charge, and the employees name, address and national ID/passport number) The explicit term/duration of the employment contract (and any probation period) A description of the work the employee will be performing The place of work The working hours Rest and leave time Salary Social insurance Applicable labor protections and labor conditions and protection against occupational hazards Other matters required by relevant laws and regulations Many locales also require employers put additional provisions in the contract, and in addition to what is mandated by law, employers generally should be sure to include provisions describing any additional benefits they provide to particular employees, 3. Be clear with the term of your employment contracts and your probation periods. It often makes sense to include in your employment contract with any new employee a probation period to give the employer (mostly) and the employee time to test each other out. Generally speaking, the longer the initial employment term, the longer the probation period may be. The general rule is that for employment terms of more than three months but less than one year, you may set a probation period of no more than one month; for employment terms of more than one year but less than three years, the probation period cannot exceed two months and for employment terms of more than three years or for an open-term employment arrangement, the probation period cannot be longer than six months. You may use only one probation period for the same employee. Since it is difficult to terminate an employee who has completed his or her probation period, we usually recommend an initial term of three years because that allows you to provide a six month probation period (the longest period permitted under Chinese law), during which time you can relatively easily terminate an employee. This approach also makes sense because in most places in China the employee will automatically be converted into an employee with an open contract term when you re-hire the employee pursuant to a second fixed term contract. Terminating an employee on an open term contract is much more difficult than terminating one on a fixed term. Having a long probation period will delay the onset of the open term period so you can take advantage of this period to determine whether you should convert the employee to a lifetime employee. But just like pretty much everything having to do with China employment law, the general rule is just that; it is not the right way to go in every circumstance since every company is different, every employee is different, and, most importantly, Chinas employment laws vary by jurisdiction. See China Employment Law: Local and Not So Simple. 4. Know Chinas working hour rules. In China, most municipalities enforce an 8-hour work day and 40-hour work week, which is called the standard working hours system. There are two primary exceptions to this system: the flexible working hours system and the comprehensive working hours system. The flexible working hours system is akin to the U.S. salaried employee system and applies to certain categories of employees such as senior management and sales personnel. The specific categories of eligible employees are defined in local rules. The flexible working hours system can benefit employers needing greater employee hour flexibility, without having to pay overtime every time one of their employees works outside the basic hours. Under the comprehensive working hours system, employers may have their employees work beyond eight hours a day or 40 hours a week without having to pay overtime wages, however, the total working hours over a given period must not exceed the applicable limit under the standard working hours system. But with very limited exceptions, before a China employer can implement either a flexible working hours system or a comprehensive working hours system, it must secure prior approval from the local labor bureau and such approval does not last indefinitely: you need to submit an application for renewal before the expiration of the term specified in the government approval letter. Regardless of which working hours system you as a China employer choose to implement, the safest approach (to avoid having to pay overtime) is not to have any employee work on Chinese national holidays, if at all possible. 5. Know Chinas rest time and vacation rules. Every employee will have two rest days, typically Saturday and Sunday. Employees who have worked continuously for one year are entitled to paid annual leave. The statutory vacation period, based on the employees total years of service (with anyone, not just for you), is as follows: More than 1 and less than 10 years service: 5 days vacation More than 10 and less than 20 years service: 10 days vacation More than 20 years service: 15 days vacation Employers are required to make arrangements for employees to take vacation time each year. Unused vacation time in one year may be carried over to the next year, but not beyond that one year. An employer who fails to allow an employee to take annual leave must pay that employee 300% of the employees daily wages for each unused vacation day. And trust us when we tell you that Chinese employees are well aware of this law and they virtually always seek the 300% owed to them (and more) when they leave your employment. 6. Get clear on your salaries. Your written employment contract must set forth a salary. One issue to consider is whether to pay a 13th month in salary, which is customary in many parts of China, and is typically paid out before the Chinese New Year. This 13th month of salary is not required, but if you decide to do it, you will want to specify clearly and in writing the conditions for receiving this 13th month of salary or you may have to pay this bonus forever even though you wanted to preserve your option to do otherwise. It also makes sense for you to determine early on whether you are going to pay this extra month because many a foreign company doing business in China has felt compelled to add this 13th month only after calculating their expenditures based on a 12 month system. If you are going to have a bonus system for your employees, you should set out its parameters in the employment contracts. For example, instead of paying a higher salary but no annual bonus, you may want a lower salary structure with an annual bonus which is usually paid in the early part of the following year. This will add no cost to you, but your China employee can benefit from the preferential tax treatment on his or her annual bonus, which means less individual income tax burden for the employee. 7. Get clear on social insurance and housing fund payments. As a China employer, you must contribute to social insurance (which usually includes pension, medical, work-related injury, maternity and unemployment insurance) and to the housing fund for all your China employees. The exact type of social insurance you must pay depends on the local rules. Whether this contribution must be made for your expat employees will depend on the local requirements at your (the employers) location. Do not make the common mistake of paying for your expat employees social insurance when you do not have to do so or the equally common mistake of failing to pay for your expat employees social insurance when you are required to do so, as both mistakes can be very costly. 8. Use Chinese as your employment contracts governing language. We recommend making clear in your employment contracts that Chinese is the governing language, rather than using a dual-language contract. The advantage of a one-language contract is that it eliminates costly disputes between the two official languages which happens pretty much every time with dual language contracts. Equally importantly, it makes things clearer for both you and your employees. Nonetheless, even though the English language portion is not an official version, we still draft our China employment contracts in English as well so that our clients who do not read Chinese can figure out what it says both when we draft it and in the future. It is common to the point of cliche for stories about research on animal emotions to start by saying that until recently, scientists objected to ascribing emotions to animals, but a surprising new study reveals that animals actually do experience them. This angle is antiquated to the point of absurdity. Its the biological equivalenton a smaller time scaleof beginning a discussion of astronomy by claiming that until recently, scientists rejected the idea that the earth is round or that it revolves around the sun, but surprising new evidence has challenged those views. There has been ample evidence of emotions in a wide variety of animals for a long time, extending back to Charles Darwins 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. In this classic work, Darwin made the case that similar behavior in humans and other animals indicated similar internal emotional states, including emotions such as anger, fear, surprise, happiness, disappointment and love. He presented photographic evidence that humans and other animals reveal their emotions through similar facial expressions and behaviors. He argued that emotions are biological processes that occur in many species, NOT just in humans, and that differences between human and animal emotions are not differences in kind, but of degree. Other areas of research also provide evidence of animal emotions. Animals possess the same brain structures that are key for the expression and experience of emotions in humans. The limbic system of mammals brains includes the amygdala which determines the emotional significance of sensory information, the hippocampus which integrates fear-related information with stored memories and the hypothalamus, which mediates emotional responses. Neurological pathways in the limbic system are crucial for the regulation and perception of emotions, and those of many animals are similar to those of people. Humans and other animals also share neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, whose role in influencing and regulating emotions in many species is well documented. With all of these similarities in expressions, behaviors, physiology and brain structure, its cumbersome, scientifically speaking, to suggest that the emotional lives of animals bear no resemblance to our own. Its far more logical and parsimonious to acknowledge that we inherited our emotions from our common ancestors, as did other animals. Its no different than understanding that a common evolutionary heritage is the reason we share other traits such as a backbone, four limbs, jaws and a multi-chambered heart. Emotions are psychological traits that allow humans and other animals to make advantageous behavioral decisions in the face of ever-changing conditions and situations. Love encourages animals to maintain close proximity to another individual, fear results in avoidance or defensive behavior and anger can result in a confrontation. Its easy to be misled about emotions in animals or about how universally its accepted in the scientific world that animals have them. The existence of emotions in animals is not disputed by mainstream scientists, even though we are still regularly told the exciting news that surprising new evidence challenges the belief that animals lack emotions. A Hotevilla man will spend nearly seven years behind bars for a stabbing on the Hopi Reservation. U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow sentenced Ronald Talashoma, 37, on Monday to 81 months in prison after Talashoma pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Talashoma had also admitted to violating his conditions of supervised release from a prior case. According to the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Talashoma chased and stabbed a fellow member of the Hopi Tribe in Hotevilla in September 2015. At the time, Talashoma was on supervised release for an unrelated 2011 voluntary manslaughter conviction. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services Hopi Agency conducted the stabbing investigation. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Samuels. (Photo : Getty Images) China has voiced disapproval of European leaders' decision to allow the Dalai Lama deliver a speech at the EU parliament last week. Advertisement China on Monday expressed anger over the Dalai Lama's speech at the European Union's (EU) parliament last week and his meeting with EU President Martin Schulz. "China is resolutely opposed to the mistaken actions of the European Parliament," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. He insisted that EU leaders are making a wrong stand on the Tibet issue. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Lu added that China cannot remain oblivious, and will make correct choices in accordance with the demands of the situation. However, he refused to elaborate on what actions the Chinese government may take. While speaking at the European Union parliament last week in the French city of Strasbourg, the Dalai Lama said that he hopes that the decade-old issue of Tibet's independence is resolved peacefully. He urged the European Union and the world at large not to hesitate from criticizing China. Reuters reported that the 80-year-old monk also held meeting with the European Union Parliament's foreign affairs chairman Elmar Brok. China's reaction to the Dalai Lama's speech comes barely a week after Beijing warned Taiwan to cancel the Tibetan spiritual leader's possible visit to the island nation. The warning was issued after high profile Taiwanese legislator Freddy Lim forwarded an invitation to the Dalai Lama to visit the island nation. China considers the Dalai Lama as a separatists leader, whose sole concern is to secede Tibet from mainland China. The Tibetan spiritual leader fled to India in 1959, after leading a failed uprising against China. The Dalai Lama claims that China has forcefully suppressed Tibet's cultural and spiritual identity. The allegation has been outrightly rejected by China. Beijing has noted that its rule has brought economic prosperity and stability in the Himalayan region. Over the years, several global leaders have been hesitant in meeting the exiled Tibetan leader, for fear of provoking China. Advertisement TagsDalai Lama, china, Dalai Lama and China, Tibet Issue, Tibet, Tibet and China (Photo : GettyImages/Sean Gallup) China's tariff cuts on a wide range of technology products is likely to give push to industrial innovation in the country. Advertisement China has announced that it is cutting tariffs on a wide range of technology products. The cuts are likely to give a push to industrial innovation in the country. According to China's Ministry of Finance, the tariff cuts were brought about in line with the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), a global technology trade pact under the World Trade Organization. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Some of the products included in such tariff cuts are medical devices, semiconductors, touch screens and integrated circuits. The Chinese government has also pledged to reduce tariffs on these products to zero within the seven years. According to CIOL, the global trade of these 201 IT products included in the list amounts to $1.3 trillion. This also constitutes about 10 percent of the world's total trade. According to Economic Times, the decision to eliminate duties on these products will cost China $2.24 billion (15 billion yuan) annually. The country's potential tariff revenue losses are likely to be as much as $7 billion (52 billion yuan) annually. China's legislature passed a bill earlier this month to ratify an amendment to the ITA. The National People's Congress Foreign Affairs Committee in a review report said that such ratification would help China build an open economic system. It also said that the ratification would also boost the development of the country's IT industry. The ITA agreement was made by more than 50 countries last year at a WTO meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. The member countries agreed to implement their tariff commitments by July 1, 2016. Advertisement TagsInformation Technology Agreement, World Trade Organization, The National People's Congress Foreign Affairs Committee (Photo : GettyImages/FengLi) Home prices continued to surge in China in the month of August. Advertisement China reported yet another aggressive growth rate in its home prices last month. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average prices of new homes in China's 70 major cities increased by 9.2 percent in August from the corresponding period last year. On a month-on-month basis, the index showed 1.5 percent growth. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The report also showed an increase in home prices in Tier 1 cities. Compared to a year ago, home prices in Shanghai grew by 31.2 percent, while Shenzhen recorded a 36.8 percent increase. Second tier cities such as Nanjing experienced a 36.7 percent increase in home prices. Southern coastal cities such as Xiamen recorded a 43.8 percent increase in home prices. According to Barrons, China is looking to rein in its red-hot property market. A chief economist at the People's Bank of China recently called on authorities to control the excessive financing flowing into the real estate sector. At the same time, China's central bank is not looking to relax its monetary conditions. Reuters reported that 64 out of the total of 70 cities tracked showed an increase on a year-over-year basis. In the month of July, only 51 cities had reported an increase. Overall, Shenzhen topped the list again. The ciy has been showing the highest growth in home prices since April 2015. The increase in home prices continues despite various measures undertaken by Chinese authorities. Shenzhen and Shanghai recently tightened their down payment requirements. Housing authorities from the eastern city of Hangzhou also announced that they would begin restricting home purchases. According to official data, mortgage loans constituted 70 percent of the total loans in August. Advertisement TagsNational Bureau of Statistics, people's bank of china, Shenzhen (Photo : GettyImages/Pool) The US and China are seeking to take actions against the North Korean government and Chinese companies accused of supporting Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. Advertisement Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and US President Barack Obama have agreed to increase the level of cooperation between both countries in law enforcement issues as well as in the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The move comes in the wake of North Korea's fifth nuclear test. UN diplomats said that the two countries are contemplating a possible UN sanctions resolution against North Korea. Pyongyang conducted its fifth nuclear test earlier this month. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement China has not officially indicated whether it will support tougher measures against North Korea. Obama and Li met during the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. According to Reuters, China is one of the very few allies of North Korea. Beijing is also North Korea's biggest trading partner. While China has agreed to impose sanctions on North Korea, Beijing has made it clear that such steps are not a permanent solution. China has instead called for the resumption of talks with the North Korean government. Market Watch reported that the US and China are investigating Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. The firm is suspected of supporting the North Korean government's nuclear weapons program. Earlier this year, the US Congress passed legislation requiring Washington to take action against Chinese firms carrying out business with North Korea. Police in Liaoning province announced that they are investing the company for "serious economic crimes." However, no other details have been provided. Advertisement TagsLi Keqiang, Barack Obama, North Korea, Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. (Photo : Getty Images) Chinese and US authorities are investigating a Chinese firm suspected of aiding North Korea's nuclear program Advertisement China and the United States have joined forces to track Chinese companies suspected of funding North Korea's nuclear program and financially aiding Kim Jong-un's regime. Washington and Beijing are currently zeroing in on the finances of a large company owned by a Communist Party member, who US President Barack Obama said has been financially supporting Pyongyang's expansion of its nuclear arsenal. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. is the target of joint US-China investigations for allegedly aiding North Korea's nuclear program. Investigation The investigation is considered the most important collaboration between the two nations to hunt Chinese companies and businesspeople financing Kim Jong-un's nuclear program. Earlier this month, North Korea launched its fifth missile test prompting the US and the international community to call on China to slap painful sanctions on the isolated nation. US lawmakers passed a law this year which requires Washington to impose heavy sanctions on Chinese companies engaged in business with the North Korean government. Hongxiang Industrial The Chinese police have started investigating Ma Xiaohong, owner of Hongxiang Industrial, for allegedly being involved in "serious economic crimes" in the course of his company's trading activities with the North. High-ranking Chinese financial officials said they have frozen the assets of Ma as well as those of her business associates and relatives, who are believed to have also been offering financial support to North Korea. According to US officials, prosecutors from the US Department of Justice alerted Chinese authorities about the criminal activities of Ma and her company, Hongxiang Industrial, last month. The prosecutors said there is enough evidence to pin Ma and her company for aiding North Korea's nuclear program and helping Kim evade UN sanctions. Financial sanctions U.S. officials on Saturday welcomed China's cooperation in investigating Ma and her associates although they said Beijing could do more to rein in Pyongyang by imposing diplomatic and financial sanctions on the belligerent state. The US has been putting pressure on China to "reverse the course" on Pyongyang following Kim's latest missile launch. President Obama said Beijing "bears the responsibility" for reining in North Korea and halting its missile tests given its influence over Kim's government. North Korean refugees Analysts say it is highly unlikely that Beijing would slap severe sanctions on the North citing the grim scenarios it will face if the Pyongyang government collapses. Analysts have said that if the North Korea regime collapses, Beijing could face a humanitarian crisis with North Korean refugees thronging to China. The US and South Korea have agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to Korea to counter Pyongyang's missile tests despite China's vehement opposition. China has repeatedly said that the THAAD deployment would jeopardize the security in the Korean Peninsula and could be used against China. Advertisement TagsNorth Korea nuclear program, missile tests, US-China investigations, Chinese Firms, Korean peninsula, North Korea, South Korea, Washington, china, Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. (Photo : Getty Images ) China has accused Japan of acting abnormally by choosing to get involved in the South China Sea dispute. Advertisement China has slammed Japan over its stance on the South China Sea dispute, accusing Japan of acting abnormally on the issue. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Monday that Tokyo has been engaged in a negative publicity campaign to stir up trouble in the disputed region. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "Japan launched a negative publicity campaign to stir up troubles in the South China Sea while claiming to represent the international community," Lu said. "Realizing that few countries were on its side, Japan enlisted another seven or eight countries to cheer for its actions." Beijing's reaction comes after Japan's new defense minister Tomomi Inada announced that Tokyo would participate in joint naval exercises with the United States in the South China Sea. "Japan will increase its engagement in the South China Sea through, for example, Maritime Self-Defense Force joint training cruises with the US Navy and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies," Inada, a well-known critic of China, said in a speech at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies last week. In July, the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled against China for the Philippines in a long-standing dispute over territories in the South China Sea. Japan is one of the nations that has asked China to recognize the ruling. Beijing and Tokyo are engaged in a dispute over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which is under the control of Japan. Advertisement TagsSouth China Sea, South China Sea Dispute, china, Japan, Senkaku Islands (Photo : Getty Images ) China has condemned the terrorist attack on an Indian military brigade headquarters in Kashmir Valley on Sunday. Advertisement China on Monday condemned the terror attack in India's Kashmir region that led to the deaths of 20 military personnel. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang has said that Beijing is shocked by this attack and strongly condemns all forms of terrorism. "We have noted relevant reports. We are shocked by this attack and express our deep sympathy and condolences to the bereaved families and the injured," Lu said during a regular press briefing in Beijing on Monday. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Beijing also expressed concern over the current situation in the northern Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Lu called on India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through dialogue and consultations. "We are concerned about such rising temperature surrounding the Kashmir region," Lu said. "We also hope that all relevant parties can resolve differences through dialogue and consultation and enhance counter-terrorism cooperation, jointly maintain peace and security in the region." Earlier this year, China blocked India's bid to impose blacklist Masoor Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based notorious terror group Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is believed to be behind the Kashmir terror attack. Twenty Indian army men were killed, and twenty-five others were injured in the terrorist attack on Uri brigade headquarters in Kashmir Valley on Sunday. All four attackers were killed in counter-attack operations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the attack as an act of "cowardice" and assured the nation that those behind the despicable incident would not go unpunished. We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Uri. I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 18, 2016 We salute all those martyred in Uri. Their service to the nation will always be remembered. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 18, 2016 Advertisement Tagschina, India, Pakistan, kashmir, terror attack, Masood Azhar., Jaish-e-Mohammad (Photo : Getty Images) China has slammed Japan for intervening in the South China Sea conflict by planning joint patrols with the US and military exercises with regional navies Advertisement China on Monday lambasted Japan following a recent announcement that Tokyo will step up its presence in the South China Sea. Beijing said such actions, in the pretense of upholding the interests of the international community, would only lead to further confusion in the disputed region. "Let's have a look at the results of Japan's throwing things into disorder over this same time period ... trying to confuse the South China Sea situation under the pretence of acting for the international community," China's foreign ministry's spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a press briefing, Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Japan's new defense minister Tomomi Inada recently announced that Japanese forces would increase their presence in the South China Sea by participating in freedom of navigation patrols with the US and multilateral military exercises with regional navies. Coastal states Inada told the media during her first visit to Washington last week that Japan will also help to build the military capacities of coastal nations in the strategic waterway. The bilateral ties between China and Japan have long been strained by disputes over their wartime history and territorial spats in the East China Sea. China is laying claim to the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Islands in China) in the East China Sea. China has conducted patrols near the area, angering Tokyo. Tokyo has repeatedly lodged diplomatic protests with the Chinese consulate over Beijing's incursions into Japan's waters. Japanese ships In response to Tokyo's latest decision, Beijing warned that Chinese military forces would target Japanese ships conducting joint patrols with the US in the disputed South China Sea. Beijing has repeatedly denounced the US' and Japan's intervention in the South China Sea row as both nations are not parties to the ongoing dispute. Lu said China and the claimant-countries in the region have agreed to settle their disputes through bilateral talks. Consensus He said that Beijing and Southeast Asian nations have also reached a consensus to maintain peace and security in the disputed region. "China is resolute in its determination to protect its sovereignty and maritime interests," Lu said. China has warned that if the US-led freedom of navigation patrols involve several countries and destabilizes the region, Beijing would have no choice but to declare a South China Sea air defense identification zone (ADIZ). "By then, China will have a system of a cluster of militarized islands and air defense identification zones to counter US and Japanese warships, which could become China's strategic progress," the military-backed Global Times stated. Advertisement TagsSouth China Sea, US-Japan joint patrols, Military exercises, Defense Minister Tomoni Inada, China-Japan relations, Japan, china (Photo : Russian Ground Forces) Russia's Ratnik-2 personal combat uniform kit. Advertisement Personal armor protection for Russian soldiers will be bolstered by new lightweight but tough body armor vests and by bulletproof battle dress uniforms, the first for any army. Russia's Ministry of Defense said the new bulletproof vest made of ultra-light and high-strength material will be 30 percent lighter than the current model. This new vest is being developed as part of the "Ratnik-3 personal combat uniform kit" for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The current bulletproof vest weighs some 15 kilograms, including protection for the groin, forearms and neck. Ratnik-3 body armor, including the ballistic inserts, will be up to 30 percent lighter. Work on Ratnik-3 was officially launched last January and aims to develop third-generation soldier equipment using advanced materials. The new materials will slash the weight of bulletproof vests without sacrificing its durability. Unique among world armies will be the development of a battle dress uniform made from aramid fibers (the same material from which Kevlar is made). Bulletproof vests and combat helmets will be made from new armor ceramics containing boron carbide, one of the hardest known materials. Boron-carbon ceramic and covalent materials used in Russian tank armor are already in production. The new body armor will be used both for the existing Ratnik-2 and the upcoming Ratnik-3 infantry combat kits. While work on Ratnik-3 is in progress, the armed forces continue outfitting more soldiers with Ratnik-2, which is also referred to as the "soldier of the future" gear. Russian Ground Forces commander Col. Gen. Oleg Salyukov said more than 80,000 Russian servicemen were equipped with Ratnik-2 in 2015. Russia claims Ratnik-2 boosts its soldier's combat efficiency and survivability because it weight only 20 kilograms, or half as much as its predecessor. Ratnik-2 is mainly designed for snipers, riflemen, armored vehicle drivers and airborne combat vehicle gunners. Ratnik also helps soldiers maintain stable radio contact and receive continuously updated reconnaissance data about enemy positions and the overall combat situation. Advertisement Tagsbody armor, Ratnik-3 personal combat uniform kit, Russian soldiers, Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Col. Gen. Oleg Salyukov GOP VP candidate Gov. Mike Pence shares faith, urges prayer Editorial Staff | 19 September, 2016 by Joni B. Hannigan JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Christian Examiner) Marking his first visit to an evangelical church other than his own since becoming the GOP vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence visited First Baptist Church Jacksonville, Florida Sept. 19, where he shared details about his own spiritual journey and talked about the urgency of prayer and the need for voter savvy in morning worship. "In these troubled times at home and abroad these challenging times for American families it's still true that if His people who are called by His name, will humble themselves and pray, we will again hear from heaven and I know and I know and I know, He will heal our land," Pence told a large crowd in a question-and-answer session with the church's pastor, Mac Brunson. Seated just a few rows from the front of the cavernous 7,700-seat auditorium, Indiana's first lady, Karen Pence, sat with Brunson's wife Debbie, while the preacher posed broad questions to the politician beginning with a request for Pence to share his personal testimony. "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican," Pence quipped, "in that order." RESPONSE TO A WEEKEND OF VIOLENCE Looking out over the lively audience that had erupted in applause, Pence drew a breath before talking about the weekend terror attacks in New York and New Jersey. "Obviously we're all troubled, we're all troubled in our hearts by the events that took place in New York last night, yesterday in New Jersey and yesterday in Minnesota," Pence told the congregation. Withholding any labels early Sunday since there was an ongoing investigation, Pence encouraged prayers for the wounded, the investigators, and the first responders who would be exposed to the "acts of violence." "Prayer and vigilance is the order of the day," Pence said. "And it is how Americans have ever bravely responded to such acts, whatever the cause whether it was terrorist attacks, whether it was inspired by terrorists abroad as you experienced here in Florida not long ago, or whether it was home-grown violence we urge prayer and vigilance." 'I GAVE MY LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST' Pence told the congregation in Jacksonville that he was "blessed" to be raised in a home where his family had a strong faith and was in church every Sunday. College was a turning point, however, and gave him the opportunity to walk away from that faith and into a group of friends who were members of a non-denominational fellowship group. "I found that something was missing as I came up," Pence recalled. An older friend, now a pastor in Indianapolis, inspired him initially to "be Christian," Pence said. He talked with his friend about the Bible and the claims it had for him "personally." He also greatly admired his friend's cross and asked for a catalog in order to buy one for himself. "That was before you could order everything on your phone." "I was gonna be Christian," Pence said. "He turned and looked at me and said, 'You know, you've got to wear it in the heart before you wear it around your neck.'" Just a few months later at a Christian music festival at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, Pence said he heard one preacher after another "not talk to me so much about what Jesus had done to save the world, but what Jesus had done, he'd done for me; and my heart broke with gratitude and I gave my heart to Jesus Christ." REMEMBERING 9/11 Painting a vivid picture of what it was like to be at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on 9/11 when terrorists stuck the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York City, Pence said he assembled his staff for a "quick prayer" before directing them to move away from the building before he walked onto the Capitol grounds in an erstwhile effort to "report for duty." Later Pence would discover that if the plane headed for the Capitol had not crashed in Pennsylvania, he would have been directly in its path. With "half of the sky ... filled with mud-brown columns of smoke billowing out of the Pentagon, jet aircraft flying at low levels, sirens everywhere [and] pandemonium," Pence said he stood still and thought of Jeremiah 26:3, "The Lord will surround in perfect peace the man who will trust Him." The 57-year-old father of three, said he had an unusual assurance that everything would turn out OK. "I had peace in the midst of that pandemonium, and I'll carry that the rest of my life," Pence said. "The peace that even in the midst of that, that God's grace was extending not only to my whole family but to this nation and in the 15 years that have followed I truly do believe that His grace has continued to protect our nation and it ever shall." PARTICIPATE AND PRAY Noting his father is a combat veteran who served in Korea, Pence said it is the duty of American citizens to consider the importance of the national election, to pray and to vote. "It is our duty to participate and to pray and the choice in this election couldn't be more clear on the issues regarding the sanctity of life, the freedoms enshrined in our Bill of Rights, and even all the choices about national security and a stronger America in all the world and a prosperous America at home," Pence said. Noting he and his wife have prayed with Donald Trump, his running mate, the GOP nominee for president, Pence called him "a man who was raised in a family of faith." "He's got a faith in God, faith in the American people," Pence said of Trump. Despite any debate, however, Pence encouraged the congregation gathered to become active in Florida in the election and to pray. Pray "for all of those who are in public service; whatever their politics, whatever their philosophy of government; because I really do believe that at the end of the day that participation is important," Pence said, "prayer even more so." Israelis have experienced an increase in terror attacks in recent days, and are fearful that the trend may continue. CBN News reports that there were six attacks within 48 hours in Israel. The escalation in attacks began Friday with incidents of a car ramming and an attempted stabbing attack. The most noteworthy attack occurred on Monday morning when a Jordanian national attempted to stab to death two Israeli border police. The suspect stabbed the two officers in the upper body before they were able to repel his attack. The officers shot and critically wounded the attacker. He later died from his wounds in the hospital. One Israeli officer is in critical condition from her wounds. The other officer sustained less serious wounds, and he is expected to fully recover. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the increase in attacks: "Ahead of the Tishrei holidays, the risk threshold has risen. The IDF and the Israel Police are boosting their forces," Netanyahu said. "The security forces are on heightened alert and I will meet with them today in order to ensure that we will be ready to defend our people during this sensitive period. At the same time our eyes are on the north. We will not allow an additional front to be opened against the State of Israel on the Golan Heights, not there and not anywhere else." Publication date: September 20, 2016 I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up. Suspected animal abuse Flagstaff police are investigating a report of suspected animal abuse. According to the police report, a woman told police she saw a man abusing his cocker spaniel at a home in the 2100 block of North Third Street at about 6:30 p.m. last Tuesday. The reporting party said the suspect punched the dog approximately 10 to 15 times. She also said the suspect picked up the small dog and slammed it against the fence in the back yard. The suspect's nose was bleeding when the police arrived. He told officers the dog was "being a brat" and had bitten him in the nose when he tried to pick it up to go inside. He said he kicked at the grass to get the dog to go inside but denied actually kicking the dog. He also said he may have been "overly rough" with the dog because he was irritated but said he was not trying to hurt the animal. The case has been sent to the City Attorney's Office for review. Charged with DUI Jarvis Dallas, 39, of South Burlington Street was arrested by Flagstaff Police Department on a DUI charge at 1:46 a.m. Friday. City and county residents who want to report a crime but wish to remain anonymous may call Silent Witness at 774-6111 or (877) 29-CRIME, submit a tip online at www.coconinosilentwitness.org, or text the word Flagtip along with your information to 274637 (CRIMES). Rewards of up to $2,000 are given for information that leads to an arrest. CINCINNATI What do a middle-aged transvestite cabaret performer, a millennial adoptee from South Korea, a former prison inmate, and a city councilmember all have in common? It may sound like the beginning of an off-color joke, but its a serious question that the co-founders of Cincy Stories can answer, because theyve met each of them. Executive Director Shawn Braley and Creative Director Chris Ashwell know that these peoplewith such diverse interests and backgroundsshare geographical space in central Cincinnati. Thats not where their connections end, however: They all have stories to tell and much to learn from one another. The idea of a storytelling event series began in November 2014, when Braley, a non-denominational pastor, was brainstorming about connecting with his unchurched or de-churched neighbors. He knew they wouldnt be interested in any religious activities hosted by Sanctuary Over the Rhine, a church plant Braley co-leads. He would have to find another way, and it might not look like anything hed ever seen a church do. Braley said listening to StoryCorps and The Moth podcastshearing strangers stories that caused him to empathize with those whose lives looked much different from hisinspired him to consider another approach to community building and outreach. Braley and Greg Knake, a fellow leader at Sanctuary OTR, hosted the first Cincy Stories live event at a nearby pub on February 3, 2015. That night, Knake and Braley saw potential in recording and sharing the stories from the stage. Thats how Ashwell got involved. At the time, Braley worked at a restaurant with Ashwell, but they didnt spend time together outside ... 1 Alisa Massey Releases Devotional for Hope and Healing Contact: Alisa Massey, 580-977-8482, LAHOMA, Okla., Sept. 20, 2016 / "The constant cycle of destruction and evil is ever present around us as the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for people to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Don't be fooled. In the end, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of Davidthat is, Jesus Christtriumphs (Revelation 5:5). Start today the healthiest habit of allquiet time with the Lord in devotion and prayerand tower above the chaos. Commit yourself daily to this simple act of solitude, and no matter what dangers swarm around you, Jesus Christ provides us with hope in His written word and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit." Alisa says that "Even now, we can have peace and hope in this present life and as we await the next. Make a fresh start here by committing yourself to ninety days of devotion and prayer. See how your life changes for the better as you acquire a lifetime habit of peace in a turbulent world!" Alisa's first release in 2012 Redeemed was a touching memoir on the devastation of addiction she encountered. Most Americans know someone who has been deeply affected by alcohol. Their lives are often broken, and recovery seems nearly impossible. However, Massey describes that after her failing attempts at sobriety, she discovered that she was unable to put her life back together on her own; she needed something or someone who was bigger than she was. Redeemed provides an honest look at the devastation that alcoholism can bring, but it also offers a taste of the sweetness that freedom from addiction brings. Massey proves that no one is too far gone to be redeemed. There is always hope. At her lowest point, Massey encountered love in a way that she never had. God met her in her brokenness and led her out of it. She found hope and purpose for life and began to live again. Because of God's grace, she was able to recover and start a new life with a new identity. She truly became Redeemed. Alisa did not stop there but proceeds with the calling on her life to help others discover a relationship with Jesus Christ through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and her gift of writing, and as a result, Finding Hope in a Turbulent World: A Ninety-Day Devotional was born. If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Alisa Massey, please call Alisa Massey at 580.977.8482 or contact her at About the Author: A Christian author, entrepreneur, and speaker, Alisa Massey has her master's degree in pastoral ministry as well as a master's in organizational leadership. Massey is also a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, the Association of Independent Authors, and Toastmasters International. She lives in Lahoma, Oklahoma, with her husband, Dusty, and together they have five lovely children. Massey enjoys traveling with her family, preaching, reading, writing, and helping others. More About This Title: Finding Hope in a Turbulent World: A Ninety-Day Devotional by Alisa Massey was released by CreateSpace on June 17, 2016. Finding Hope 978-1530891283has 198 pages and is being sold as a paperback for $11.99 and Kindle for $7.99. Check out Alisa's new book at Share Tweet Contact: Alisa Massey, 580-977-8482, contact@alisamassey.org LAHOMA, Okla., Sept. 20, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- Alisa Massey, LLC's ( alisamassey.org ) new release Finding Hope in a Turbulent World: A Ninety-Day Devotional by Alisa Massey demonstrates that we can have faith that, in the end, no matter what troubles assail us today, we have hope for better things to come."The constant cycle of destruction and evil is ever present around us as the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for people to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Don't be fooled. In the end, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of Davidthat is, Jesus Christtriumphs (Revelation 5:5).Start today the healthiest habit of allquiet time with the Lord in devotion and prayerand tower above the chaos. Commit yourself daily to this simple act of solitude, and no matter what dangers swarm around you, Jesus Christ provides us with hope in His written word and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."Alisa says that "Even now, we can have peace and hope in this present life and as we await the next. Make a fresh start here by committing yourself to ninety days of devotion and prayer. See how your life changes for the better as you acquire a lifetime habit of peace in a turbulent world!"Alisa's first release in 2012 Redeemed was a touching memoir on the devastation of addiction she encountered. Most Americans know someone who has been deeply affected by alcohol. Their lives are often broken, and recovery seems nearly impossible. However, Massey describes that after her failing attempts at sobriety, she discovered that she was unable to put her life back together on her own; she needed something or someone who was bigger than she was.Redeemed provides an honest look at the devastation that alcoholism can bring, but it also offers a taste of the sweetness that freedom from addiction brings. Massey proves that no one is too far gone to be redeemed. There is always hope. At her lowest point, Massey encountered love in a way that she never had. God met her in her brokenness and led her out of it. She found hope and purpose for life and began to live again. Because of God's grace, she was able to recover and start a new life with a new identity. She truly became Redeemed.Alisa did not stop there but proceeds with the calling on her life to help others discover a relationship with Jesus Christ through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and her gift of writing, and as a result, Finding Hope in a Turbulent World: A Ninety-Day Devotional was born.If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Alisa Massey, please call Alisa Massey at 580.977.8482 or contact her at contact@alisamassey.org About the Author:A Christian author, entrepreneur, and speaker, Alisa Massey has her master's degree in pastoral ministry as well as a master's in organizational leadership. Massey is also a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, the Association of Independent Authors, and Toastmasters International. She lives in Lahoma, Oklahoma, with her husband, Dusty, and together they have five lovely children. Massey enjoys traveling with her family, preaching, reading, writing, and helping others.More About This Title:Finding Hope in a Turbulent World: A Ninety-Day Devotional by Alisa Massey was released by CreateSpace on June 17, 2016. Finding Hope 978-1530891283has 198 pages and is being sold as a paperback for $11.99 and Kindle for $7.99.Check out Alisa's new book at alisamassey.org Boat captain goes on trial for murder after six Christian migrants died at sea A boat captain faces a prison sentence of up to 90 years in Spain after being charged with murdering six Christian migrants by allegedly throwing them off a boat. Prosecutors in Almeria have asked for 15 years for each of the offences. If convicted, he would in effect serve 45 of the 90 years behind bars. The captain, named as Alain NB, from Cameroon, was one of two people arrested in 2014. A second man died in prison. A jury gathered in the second section of the Provincial Court of Almeria to begin deciding the case yesterday. According to the indictment, the six Nigerian Christians were allegedly killed in a religious confrontation in December 2014 when the captain and his colleague attacked them because they believed their prayers had provoked a storm that capsized the boat. Algeciras police state in the indictment that the attackers pulled back slats and beat the Christians, then threw them into the "raging sea", where they were lost. One body was found off the coast of Granada a few days later. Alain NB has denied all charges and is represented by the well-known criminal lawyer Esteban Hernandez Thiel. Thiel has condemned the case against his client as "an absolute procedural botch", according to La Voz, and has complained of inconsistencies in witness statements. There were about 50 migrants on board the inflatable boat, which had no motor, when the bad weather hit. The Nigerian pastor and his fellow migrants allegedly began praying for the bad weather to cease. Suspicions about what happened next were aroused when survivors arrived in Spain and seemed frightened. The migrants had left Morocco on 3 December 2014 to make the nine-mile journey across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain. The boat with 29 survivors was found adrift off the coast of Almeria a few days later. Some passengers died because of the bad weather. The prosecution said that Alain NB "was aware that the victims could not possibly survive and that they would die, either by drowning, from the cold, or from the physical injuries they had suffered. He was aware of the low temperature, the rough seas and the great distance from the coast and the absence of any nearby boats which could rescue them," the Telegraph reported. Latest figures show that more than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far in 2016. More than 3,000 have died attempting to make the crossing. Most, nearly a quarter, are from Syria, with Afghanistan, Iraq and Nigeria the next most numerous. Canterbury Cathedral gets armed patrol as part of anti-terror drive Armed police will now routinely patrol Canterbury Cathedral as part of an anti-terror drive in Kent. Kent police said yesterday that a number of locations would see an increase in armed patrols, including the Bluewater shopping centre and the port at Dover. "As of today we will deploying armed officers at a number of iconic site across the county," Kent deputy chief constable Paul Brandon told KentOnline. "We're doing the initial patrolling today [Monday] from within the resources we have, supplemented with overtime, but are actually in the process of recruiting a number of new firearms officers to be deployed to other parts of the county." The Home Office previously announced that police forces across England and Wales should increase the number of armed policemen on patrols. Brandon said police were "not expecting a direct threat to the country" but wanted "to make sure that should circumstances change quickly, we are adequately prepared". The move has seen some criticism, with commentators warning that a large increase in the number of gun-carrying police officers could cause public alarm. "I would rather Kent Police had a more low-key approach," Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, told the BBC. "The real deterrent is always behind-the-scenes, intelligence-led policing." The current threat level for international terrorism in the UK is "severe", meaning an attack is considered highly likely. Nearby France has seen a number of high-profile terror attacks in the past few months, including the Paris attacks which killed 130 people in November, and the deaths of more than 80 people in Nice in July. French priest Father Jacques Hamel was murdered by Islamists in his church in Rouen as he celebrated mass on July 26. In the wake of these attacks, churches in the UK have been urged to take security measures against a possible incident on home soil. Guidelines issued to churches by National Churchwatch warn of an "escalating problem" and say clergy should take steps to protect themselves and their congregations against terrorists armed with guns or knives. Every church has been advised to install CCTV and use a single public entrance that can be shut securely in the event of an attack. Christian girls 'systematically' being abducted, abused in Pakistan with police covering up crimes, rights activists say Christian girls are being "systematically" kidnapped and abuse in Pakistan, according to human rights activists, prompting a Supreme Court justice to express alarm. But as far as the Pakistani police and government are concerned, this is not happening. They are claiming that the more than 1,000 children reported missing last year in just one province alone, in Punjab, actually left their home on their own free will, The Christian Post reports. In turn, the activists are accusing the authorities of lying and covering up the kidnappings. According to Haider Ashraf, the deputy inspector general of operations for the police department in Lahore, 90 percent of the 1,134 children reported to have been abducted in 2015 actually left their homes on their own accord after being admonished by their parents. Ashraf further claimed that 929 of the abducted children have returned home and that only about four children remained missing. However, Pakistani Christian human rights activist Mehwish Bhatti told The Christian Post that Ashraf was not telling the truth. She said most Christian families are not getting police assistance in finding their missing children. Families who were able to secure the release of their children usually had to pay a "heavy price," Bhatti said. Bhatti said in many cases, Christian teenage girls are abducted by Muslims to be raped or forced into Islamic marriage. When the families of these girls go to the police to seek help, they are prevented from filing cases, she said. The British Pakistani Christian Association has joined the clamour for the Pakistani government to stop the systematic abduction and kidnapping of Christian girls. The group has come up with an online petition urging the Pakistani government to stop the impunity of Muslim abductors. The kidnappings have become so alarming that even Pakistan Supreme Court Justice Saqib Nisar has reportedly voiced concerns. "It has been highlighted that such abductions are orchestrated with the nefarious object of extracting vital body organs of the abductees; while another attribution is for sexual abuse and / or beggary, etc., through the children," the justice wrote in a court notice on July 26. "That in any case such large scale abduction, if so, of children in a short span of time is a matter of immense concern and alarm." Christians in Egypt still being attacked 'with impunity' despite new church law Egyptian authorities are "sending a message that Christians can be attacked with impunity" despite the passage of a new law that purportedly aims to protect churches. The charge was made by Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, who said that despite the law, long-standing restrictions on church construction remain in place, The Christian Post reports. "Many Egyptians hoped that governments would respect and protect freedom of religion, including for Christians, after the 2011 [Arab Spring] uprising," he said. "Instead, the authorities are ignoring the underlying systemic issues and sending a message that Christians can be attacked with impunity" since little is being done to guarantee that radicals who attack Christians will be punished, he added. The law on Christian houses of worship, which Egypt's parliament passed on Aug. 30, has drawn conflicting interpretations. To the Coptic Catholic Church, the law is good news, saying in a statement last week that at least it forces regional governors to provide a "justified decision," subject to appeal, if they refuse authorisation for new church-building projects. "There have been some criticisms, but the government has tried to resolve any problems, and we now have a law which meets modern needs," said Father Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Coptic Catholic Church as quoted by the Catholic Herald. The important thing, he said, is that the law "seeks to avoid sectarian enmities." However, Human Rights Watch has a different view on the matter. It points out that although the Coptic Church has expressed support for the law, "other Coptic priests, activists, local human rights groups, and some Coptic members of parliament criticised the restrictions that continue to discriminate against Christians." Moreover, the new law is not expected to resolve the status of hundreds of unlicensed Coptic churches, thus discriminating against believers, the human rights body added. According to persecution watchdog groups, an increasing number of Christian families have been suffering from violent attacks from Islamic radicals. Last year, the homes of many of these Christian families were burned down by Muslim mobs who accused them of trying to build new churches. Christian Solidarity Worldwide, one of the persecution watchdog groups, says victims of such sectarian violence are not receiving any justice since the government is not lifting a finger against the perpetrators. Human Rights Watch says the new law fails to address the question on how it will address the "climate of impunity for violent crimes," noting that while authorities have made many arrests, offenders are rarely prosecuted. Christians urged to join Lib Dems for 'real opposition' to Tories Christians discontented with politics were told they could find a home in the Liberal Democrats as Tim Farron urged Labour and Conservative moderates to consider a switch of allegiances. An evangelical Christian, Farron used his conference speech in Brighton on Tuesday to pitch his party as "the real opposition" to the Conservative government amid Labour infighting. He made an unashamed plea for Labour voters by praising Tony Blair's record on the national minimum wage, tax credits and the NHS. "I respect him for believing that the point of being in politics is to get stuff done, and you can only get stuff done if you win. Otherwise you're letting your opponent get stuff done instead," said Farron. "The only thing standing between the Conservatives and a majority at the next election is the revival of the Liberal Democrats," he went on. He claimed winning elections was "not a priority" for Corbyn said British politics was crying out for a real opposition. "Having fine principles but no power is just turning your backs on the people who need you the most, its letting someone else win the day," he said. "The Corbyn crowd like to talk in terms of loyalty and betrayal. Well, there is no surer way to betray the people you represent than to let your opponents win." Earlier on Tuesday at a Liberal Democrat Christian Forum breakfast, the party's president Baroness Brinton said Jesus' forgiveness was needed in politics, especially in light of the levels of abuse within the Labour party. Sarah Dickson, director of the LDCF, told Christian Today the party was about "putting people before party politics". She spoke of the "political chaos" happening in other parties and emphasised the Lib Dems were "united and ready to continue standing up for people, not focus on our own party's internal politics." She said: "My faith-inspired passion to serve people through making structures and systems work better for them found a home in the Lib Dems." Dickson echoed Farron's call to other parties and added: "Anyone looking for a party to do that is very welcome." In his speech Farron repeated his calls for another referendum on "the as-yet-unknown Brexit deal". He accused Prime Minister Theresa May of having "no plan, no vision, no clue and no leadership". He said: "Theresa May did so little in the Remain campaign that she actually made it look like Jeremy Corbyn pulled a shift." A seasoned advocate of the UK accepting more refugees, he lambasted the Conservative government for "not pulling its weight" and doing "the bare minimum" over the crisis. "They have barely lifted a finger," he said, adding he was "ashamed" of the government's record which he said was down to a "short-termist" attitude. "This government wants us to forget this crisis, it's too difficult to solve, too risky to take a lead. "But we have not forgotten, we will not forget, those children could be our children, how dare the Government abandon them." Fined for evangelism: How US missionary Don Ossewaarde is challenging Putin's regime Russia's so-called Yarovaya Law was signed by President Vladimir Putin on July 7. Named after one of its creators, Irina Yarovaya, it's a sweeping expansion of anti-terror and public safety measures. Among its provisions are a draconian clampdown on evangelism and missionary activity. The law has drawn domestic and world-wide protests, so far without results. One of its first victims was US citizen Don Ossewaarde, who has lived in the town of Oryol for 14 years. He and his wife Ruth are independent missionaries not affiliated to an organisation, a fact crucial to his defence when he was accused of proselytism and fined 40,000 roubles (around $700). While the Ossewaardes have decided to bring their ministry to a close because of the case, Don has remained in Oryol to fight an appeal. His account of yesterday's hearing paints a picture of a law that's barely even understood by Russia's police and judiciary. The judge was nervous and postponed the hearing to reconvene with (unnecessary) witnesses Ossewaarde's lawyer is convinced she needed to consult with higher authorities. The presence of representatives from the US State Department, who told him they were interested in his case because it would have "a great influence on the future of religious freedom in Russia", might have had an effect on her composure. The police captain's presentation, says Ossewaarde, was "unprofessional and unconvincing, but of course I am biased a little bit". He was adamant Ossewaarde had broken the law against proselytising for a missionary organisation, even though he doesn't work for a missionary organisation but just holds Bible studies in his home. But what's behind the Yarovaya law, and what effect is it going to have on evangelism in Russia? Ossewaarde told Christian Today: "Even though the new law is poorly drafted and should prove to be largely ineffective, it is my opinion that this law reveals a clear intention by the authorities in Russia to eliminate foreign religious activity. The state and the Orthodox Church work hand in hand to keep the people under the 'patriotic control' of the ruling party. "President Putin has talked in the past about his plan of "managed democracy". In other words, let the people have freedom, but guide them to make the 'correct' free choices. My case in particular is a test of whether such a blatantly unconstitutional law can stand up to a challenge in court." He's convinced that in spite of the overt intention of the law, to combat Islamist extremism, those who wrote the anti missionary part of the law were clearly targeting non-orthodox evangelicals. "The Orthodox Church seems to be supportive of the law, as it serves their purpose to keep a religious monopoly," he says. The Ossewaardes are deeply saddened at the end of their ministry in Oryol. "We have been involved in ministry to the former Soviet Union since my first evangelistic trip to Belarus in 1994," Ossewaarde says. "It has been the central motivating purpose of our lives for almost 22 years. We have lived in this same city for 14 of those years, so our roots are quite deep, and of course we dearly love the people who have come to Christ here." During those years they've seen the religious climate in Russia change. "In the early 1990s, Russians were very enthusiastic about the new freedom to finally learn about God and the Bible. I vividly remember visits to Belarus in 1994 and 1995, when we literally distributed truckloads of Bibles on the streets," he says. "People mobbed us with outstretched arms, pleading for a copy of God's Word." Later, enthusiasm cooled as consumerism began to make an impact. During most of their 14 years of ministry in Oryol, people would accept an offered gospel tract or a New Testament "politely, but more or less indifferently". However, he says: "In the last two years of international conflict between Russia and the West, it has been more common to have our literature rejected when offered." In some smaller towns there has been anti-Western hostility toward missionaries, though they haven't experienced much themselves. It seems Ossewaarde and evangelicals generally in Russia are experiencing the fallout from wider geopolitical tensions. An authoritarian regime determined to brook no dissent, renewed confrontation with the West, fear of internal terror and an Orthodox Church intent on asserting its spiritual authority all of these factors have converged on a courtroom in a small provincial town. On September 30 the date of the next hearing Ossewaarde, and all of Russia's evangelicals, will find out exactly how the state intends to use the Yarovaya Law. If he loses, so will religious freedom in Russia. Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods Coconino County Parks and Recreation and the Leupp Chapter of the Navajo Nation have partnered to create a new interpretive site at Grand Falls on the Little Colorado River northwest of Leupp. The new site features a ramada, waterless restrooms and interpretive panels explaining cultural components of Northern Arizona and Navajo (Dine) culture for local, national and international visitors. The ramada is shaped like a hogan and the floor features a concrete stamp that includes the four sacred Navajo plants of maize, beans, tobacco and squash. The construction was also preceded by a traditional Navajo blessing ceremony. Two other Navajo Nation sites, Antelope Canyon near Page and the Little Colorado Overlook near Cameron, have also been upgraded with new interpretive panels and ramadas. The upgrades got funding through the Coconino Parks and Open Space initiative established in 2002. Google Pixel, Pixel XL release date, rumors: New flagships available after October 2016 launch? While Google is expected to debut the new Pixel and Pixel XL flagships next month, there are still no confirmed details on when the new devices will be out in the market. Speculations suggest that Google will make the Pixel and Pixel XL available right after the alleged October launch. According to TechnoBuffalo, fans expect the new Google flagships in a press event on October 4. Since it is early in the month that the Pixel and Pixel XL will be unveiled, it is highly likely that Google will release the new flagships out in the market even before October ends. In addition, Google has its own online store where it can immediately list unlocked versions of the Pixel and Pixel XL right after their debut. It is even rumored that pre-orders for the new flagships will go live on the unveiling day itself, with the devices shipping out just weeks after its October 4 unveiling. The industry follower also underscored speculations that Google has already entered third-party releases for the upcoming flagships. Reportedly, one noted mobile carrier, Telstra, will have exclusive rights to the Pixel lineup in Australia and may even start pre-orders also on the devices' debut. Meanwhile, although Google has yet to come out with confirmed details on the new flagships, supposed leaks of the features and specs of Pixel and Pixel XL have already come out. Dubbed previously as the 2016 editions of the Nexus lineup, the rebranded devices will almost have similar top-tier specs, although the Pixel will serve as the base model version with a 5.0-inch display. The larger Pixel XL, on the other hand, will feature a 5.5-inch screen. Both models are expected to carry a Snapdragon 821 processor, paired with 4 GB of RAM. Rumors also say that instead of the base version platform, Google will feature an updated Android 7.1 Nougat right out of their boxes. Is 'evangelical' a word beyond redemption? What do you do when you find someone in your family behaving badly and bringing the family name into disrepute? There are two main strategies: either you can try and reason with them to bring them round and restore your shared reputation, or you can leave the family, change your name and hope that the bad publicity stays at a distance. Tony Campolo has decided to follow the second strategy. He has announced that he "did not want to be known as an evangelical Christian any more". In doing this, he appears to have two kinds of concerns. The first is reputational: the term has too many negative connotations, especially among non-Christians. But Campolo also feels that evangelicals in the United States are simply not being true to the teaching of Jesus: "Evangelicals in the United States are anti-environment... If you say you're an evangelical you're anti-gay, you're anti-women, you're pro-war...In the southern states, 80 per cent of the people go to church at least once a month [and yet it's] the strongest supporter for capital punishment. "How do you reconcile evangelicals favouring capital punishment when Jesus said: 'blessed are the merciful'?" But is Campolo's decision going to achieve what he wants? Campolo wants to focus on the teaching of Jesus, not least through his participation in the 'Red Letter Christian' movement which focuses on Jesus' words in the Gospels. But in dispensing with the label 'evangelical' he appears to be contradicting his own convictions. Evangelicals (broadly speaking) see the Scriptures, and particularly the teachings of the New Testament, as the decisive authority for life and faith. This is in contrast to liberals, who (broadly speaking) look to reason and experience to determine belief, and Catholics who (broadly speaking) look to the teaching ministry of the Church to determine what they should believe. So if might be that if Campolo is simply shedding the label, he isn't achieving very much. If his concern is that US evangelicals (and others) are not following the teaching of Jesus, then his concern is not that they are being too evangelical but that they are not being evangelical enough. And by putting distance between himself and their views, he is actually throwing away any hope of engagement and debate. Surely a more fruitful strategy would be to agree that the New Testament needs to shape us and take the discussion from there? I doubt that ditching the label is really going to help the PR either. I wonder how much difference it makes to non-Christians for us to say to them "Oh, I'm not a horrible Christian like those miserable evangelicals! No, I am a nice kind of Christian you can trust me!" I am not sure that those outside the Christian faith find it quite so easy to draw these neat lines and I am pretty sure that God doesn't. We might like to carve ourselves up into different groups, traditions and denominations; I have a suspicion that such divisions are ones that God doesn't take too much notice of. I wonder how far Campolo's strategy for reading the New Testament will get him anyway? So called 'Red Letter Christians' focus on Jesus' teaching, and Campolo thinks that focusing on Jesus' teaching will enable us to focus on mercy and love. He is quite right that Jesus' emphasises non-violence in personal relationships and that it is very hard to justify the kind of nationalist militarism (often based on American Exceptionalism and the myth of redemptive violence) that is found in many parts of the Bible belt. But the Jesus who said "Turn the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39) also said that those who don't believe will be "thrown into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:42). The one who was "gentle and humble in spirit" (Matthew 11:29) also thought that those who mislead "little ones" (those who are vulnerable in the faith) should have "a large millstone were hung around their neck' and should be 'drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matthew 18:6). If we want our Jesus meek and mild, then we are going to have to cut out a lot more than the black letters. And here's the heart of the difficulty: if we start cutting down our Bibles to remove the awkward bits, or the bits that we think others are interpreting wrongly, there is no knowing where it will take us. Steve Chalke is quite clear: the writers of parts of the Old Testament were mistaken in their description of God, since it doesn't match with his notion of the loving Jesus he follows. But in fact, Luke also makes the same mistakes, in writing about Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. So perhaps Luke is also wrong in writing down some of Jesus' own teaching that we find difficult? It turns out rather quickly that we have stopped following Jesus, and starting asking Jesus to follow us. When we separate the Jesus of history from the Christ of faith, then we are worshipping a god of our own creation. The Bible calls that idolatry, and has some fairly strong things to say about it. Focusing on the red letters actually undermines historic Christian belief. Many of the non-canonical writings, such as the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, are collections of Jesus' teaching, and some of them aren't too far away from Jesus' teaching in the canonical Gospels. But that is only one part of the good news, and misses out on the most important. Jesus didn't simply come to be a wise teacher and enlighten us with spiritual knowledge; he came to do something for us that we could not do to be a "ransom for many" (Mark 10:45) by "dying for our sins, according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3). That means that the red letters actually don't make sense without the black letters around them and that neither makes complete sense without that long introduction that Christians call the Old Testament, which is what Paul is referring to when he talks of "the Scriptures". The consistent mark of authentic early Christian teaching was that it understood all that God had done through Jesus as a fulfilment of what God had done before among his people Israel. To be evangelical means to see the Bible, rightly interpreted, as the supreme authority in matters of life and faith. If my fellow evangelicals are giving the family a bad name by their misreading, then I need to stay in the family and have the conversation. And, guess what? There are some red letters about that: "If a brother or sister sins, go and point out the fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over" (Matthew 18:15). Rev Dr Ian Paul is a member of the Archbishops' Council, and blogs at www.psephizo.com Lee Abbey, the world-famous Christian retreat centre, celebrates 70 years Founded in the aftermath of the Second World War to help the country learn to live in peace, Lee Abbey in Devon is coming into its own once more as it marks its 70th birthday. The world-famous Christian retreat, conference and holiday centre in Devon is helping bring solace and renewal to people and refugees from across the world traumatised by the wars of today. This week, Lee Abbey celebrated its 70th birthday with a reception at the House of Lords. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton, who is president of Lee Abbey, said: "It's doing a wonderful job in promoting the Christian faith in a non-threatening way in beautiful surroundings." He said Lee Abbey was ideal for people coming from conflict zones. "I met some refugees last year. To see Lee Abbey through their eyes was wonderful because all they know of is war. There is Lee Abbey, a place of peace, non-threatening." Lee Abbey also has a student hostel in London and "missional" communities in Bristol, Birmingham and London. Lord Carey told Christian Today "It's a very effective Christian organisation which I think is supplementing the main ministry of the Church in its Sunday duties but this takes the Christian faith deeper in teaching and in renewal of life. "You get people from different parts of the world who are there and being trained themselves. People coming away from the world can rediscover their roots once again. That's one important thing. But also it's a very strong vocational centre in terms of ordinands in terms of particular professional instruction, it has a really important role to play." Sometimes, Lord Carey said, the Church has to catch up with what the world is doing. "But also I think it needs to go deeper in many areas of the world in terms of spiritual values. You can't exist simply on here and now because I think actually that's really unsatisfying. So taking it deeper and supplementing the wider ministry of the church is what Lee Abbey is for." Simon Holland, the warden, said Lee Abbey began in the aftermath of a war when many were lost and suffering. "It's a very thin place where God is encountered and in that encounter, lives are transformed. it is a place of prayer where people can meet God more easily." There are still many places of war and hostility. Holland said: "Here we learn to do relationship rooted in the love of Christ. This is how we can be together where these barriers come down, the walls come down and we begin to relate to one another in ways that normally wouldn't happen." He sees people at Lee Abbey whose lives have fallen apart, and who are at the end of their tether - people with a lot of brokenness. Holland said: "It is a safe place for people to rebuild their lives and find new hope and new purpose. It makes people feel we are there for them." That says that God is there for them at a time when they may be thinking: "Where is God in all of this?" Community members of all ages live there for between one and five years. There is no mobile telephone reception so it is a true retreat from the modern world. People serve three months' probation and make ten promises in front of the rest of the community. "It is about surrendering time, talents and relationships to God," said Holland. Simon Holland, the warden, said Lee Abbey began in the aftermath of a war when many were lost and suffering. "It's a very thin place where God is encountered and in that encounter, lives are transformed. it is a place of prayer where people can meet God more easily." There are still many places of war and hostility. Holland said: "Here we learn to do relationship rooted in the love of Christ. This is how we can be together where these barriers come down, the walls come down and we begin to relate to one another in ways that normally wouldn't happen." He sees people at Lee Abbey whose lives have fallen apart, and who are at the end of their tether - people with a lot of brokenness. Holland said: "It is a safe place for people to rebuild their lives and find new hope and new purpose. It makes people feel we are there for them." That says that God is there for them at a time when they may be thinking: "Where is God in all of this?" Community members of all ages live there for between one and five years. There is no mobile telephone reception so it is a true retreat from the modern world. People serve three months' probation and make ten promises in front of the rest of the community. "It is about surrendering time, talents and relationships to God," said Holland. Archbishop tells UN: You have to fix refugee crisis Refugees and migrants are "treasured human beings made in the image of God" who deserve "safety, freedom and the opportunity to flourish", according to the Archbishop of Central Africa. Most Rev Albert Chama wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Ban is hosting the Global Summit Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants this week at the UN General Assembly in New York. Reflecting on the global reaction to the crisis, Chama called for a "much more intentional and robust collective response in which the churches and other faith communities are more than ready to take their place". He said refugees and migrants "deserve safety, freedom and the opportunity to flourish. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people on the move, but we know that each of them is not only another number in a huge statistic but also an individual who brings a unique story of displacement, a unique potential to flourish and a unique ability to contribute to the common good." In a sharp criticism of some European governments, Chama said that "there are still governments around the world that are reluctant to accord such people any national legal protection or to recognise their status". "This only serves to exacerbate their situation, placing them at the mercy of human traffickers, smugglers and others who would exploit their predicament for profit," he said, adding that Anglican churches "aim to contribute where possible to a durable solution that is based on appreciation of the dignity of the individual and respect for human rights". Chama said: "In today's world hospitality, reconciliation and love are our most formidable weapons against hatred and extremism." Muslims in CAR 'slaughter 26 Christians in door-to-door village attack' Muslim militants killed 26 civilians in a predominantly Christian village in the Central African Republic (CAR) after going door-to-door seeking out Christians to slaughter, Morning Star News reported. In what was reportedly the worst violence in the country for months, rebels from the former Seleka group an alliance of rebel militia factions that overthrew the CAR government in March 2013 attacked the village of Ndomete, about 220 miles north of the capital city of Bangui on Friday. Hostility between Seleka, officially disbanded in 2013, and Christian "anti-Balaka" militias who emerged after the 2013 coup - has increased in the past year, but government and UN officials said the attack targeted civilians. One Christian leader from the area cast doubt on the country's ability to bring order, telling Morning Star News: "If the government is not going to beef up the security, then we are going to defend ourselves. We shall not keep quiet as our brothers are dying." Fighting between Muslims and Christians worsened in 2013, when Seleka deposed the then-President Francois Bozize and installed Michel Djotodia, a Muslim. Djotodia announced the disbanding of Seleka in September 2013, but rebels have since rampaged throughout the country, killing Christians and political enemies. Christian militia groups have formed in response. Human Rights Watch has documented executions, rape and looting by ex-Seleka fighters. In May 2014, rebels killed 11 people in a grenade and shooting attack at the Church of Fatima in Bangui. In February, the former prime minister Faustin-Archange Touadera was elected president, bringing hope that political and religious conflict would subside. But rebel and militia fighters are still active throughout the country outside the capital. Paris teenager arrested over false security alert at church Police in Paris have arrested a teenager believed to have been behind a false security alert at a church over the weekend that triggered a major police operation, a judicial source has said. More than 100 police officers, including elite units, rushed to the capital's busy Chatelet shopping district on Saturday after a call that claimed hostages had been taken inside the Saint Leu church. Deadly attacks by Islamist militants including bombings and shootings in Paris which killed 130 people last November, and, in July, a truck attack in Nice killing more than 80 and the murder of French priest Jacques Hamel in his Normandy church have raised tensions between communities in France. "In these tense times, those who come up with these sick jokes...deserve to be punished severely," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters. French weekly L'Obs on Sunday said on its website that it had made contact with two teenagers believed to be 16 and 17-year-olds, who played the news magazine a tape of what they said was their call to the police. "The initial idea was to 'swat' a mosque, but after Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray we figured it would work better if we targeted a church," the pair said, referring to the town in Normandy where two would-be jihadists murdered the priest. The act of "swatting" involves deceiving the security forces into deploying emergency teams by raising a false alarm. The latest incident came as a new poll in France showed that 29 per cent of French Muslims favour sharia law to the secular laws of the Republic. Asked if they considered the Islamic legal and moral code of sharia to be more important than the French Republic's laws, 29 per cent of respondents answered "yes". The poll found that 20 per cent of male Muslim respondents and 28 percent of female Muslim respondents were in favour of the face veil, the niqab, and the burqa. Meanwhile, 60 per cent said they were in favour of letting girls and women wear a head scarf at schools and universities, which is forbidden at France's secular public institutions. Additional reporting by Reuters. Pope greets Archbishop Welby in Assisi for day of prayer for peace The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was today among religious leaders alongside refugees to be greeted by Pope Francis in Assisi in a day of prayer for peace. After shaking hands and chatting with dozens of participants, the Pope sat down for lunch with them in the Franciscan convent in the Umbrian hill town where St Francis was born. The guests included 12 refugees who fled war and conflicts in Nigeria, Eritrea, Mali and Syria - which was represented by three Christians who fled the besieged city of Aleppo. Among those dining with Francis in Assisi was a 23-year-old man from Mali, who survived a voyage on a fishing boat from Libya to Sicily. The gathering marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the inter-religious day of prayer by Pope John Paul II in 1986. The closing event later today gathers all participants in Assisi's main square for speeches by the Pope, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, a representative from Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, and sees remarks from a victim of war. The participants were due to pause for a moment of silence for victims of war worldwide, and exchange a sign of peace with one another. The theme of the meeting is 'Thirst for Peace. Religions and Cultures in Dialogue'. The Pope was welcomed in Assisi by Welby, Father Mauro Gambetti, Custodian of the Holy Convent, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, the Syro-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Efrem II, Jewish and Muslim representatives and the Supreme Head of Tendai Buddhism. Pope Francis was due to speak individually with Welby, among other religious leaders this afternoon. The Archbishop tweeted from the gathering that he was privileged to be chairing a panel discussion in honour of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Great privilege to chair panel at #Assisi30 honouring the Ecumenical Patriarch #PeaceIsPossible #Thirst4Peace pic.twitter.com/KFiqT9r9vu Justin Welby (@JustinWelby) 20 September 2016 Earlier this morning, during Mass at the Vatican, The Pope said that, "today, men and women of all religions, we will go to Assisi - not to make a show: simply to pray and to pray for peace." He recalled inviting to today's gathering "Catholics, Christians, believers and all men and women of good will, of any religion, to pray for peace," because, he exclaimed, "the world is at war! The world is suffering!" Priests in deprived area of Mexico found murdered Two priests who were violently abducted from their church in Mexico on Sunday have been found murdered. The priests, Alejo Nabor Jimenez Juarez and Jose Alfredo Juarez de la Cruz, are the latest victims of extremes of violence and bloodshed that has become endemic in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz in east Mexico. The violence has cost the lives of at least 17 journalists since 2010 as well as many others. The Mexico Conference of Bishops said in a statement that bodies of the two priests were found just one day after the abduction from their Catholic church in a deprived area of Poza Rica. They were found on a main road between Poza Rica and Papantla, according to the Catholic Herald. The priest's driver was found unharmed but has been placed under police protection. The Mexican bishops said in their statement that felt "pain and outrage" at the violence against the priests. "In this time of grief, helplessness and tragedy caused by violence, we raise our prayer to heaven for the eternal rest of our brothers," they said. They implored God for the "conversion" of the murderers, and said they were waiting to learn more about what happened and for justice to take its course. "We pray the Lord bless our beloved country, and asked for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of Peace, so that together we seek the integrity and progress of our people," the bishops said. They also posted condolences and sorrow on social media around the world. Syria: Bloody end to ceasefire as airstrikes destroy aid convoy Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday and killed 12 people, according to a war monitor, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce brokered by the United States and Russia over. The United Nations confirmed the convoy was hit but gave no details on who carried out the attack or how many died as world leaders converged on New York for their annual UN gathering under the shadow of fresh violence in the Syrian civil war. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the attacks were carried out by either Syrian or Russian aircraft, adding that there had been 35 strikes in and around Aleppo since the truce ended. A humanitarian aid group said the death toll was higher. Fourteen Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers were killed, Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told a UN summit. At least 18 of 31 trucks in a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) convoy were hit along with an SARC warehouse, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The convoy was delivering aid for 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra in Aleppo Governorate, he said. UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated many people had been killed or seriously wounded, including SARC volunteers, and that if the "callous attack" was found to be deliberate it amount to a war crime. "Notification of the convoy... had been provided to all parties to the conflict and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian," he said in a statement, calling for an immediate, independent investigation. The attack appeared to signal the imminent collapse of the latest effort by the United States and Russia to halt Syria's five-and-a-half-year-old civil war. "We don't know if it can be salvaged," said a senior Obama administration official of the effort by the United States and Russia, which back opposite sides in the conflict. "At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage," the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added. Moscow supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with its air force. The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment on the attack. But Syria's army said the seven-day truce period had ended. It accused "terrorist groups" a term the government uses for all insurgents, of exploiting the calm to rearm while violating the ceasefire 300 times, and vowed to "continue fulfilling its national duties in fighting terrorism in order to bring back security and stability". A local resident told Reuters by phone that the trucks were hit by about five missile strikes while parked in a centre belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent in Urm al-Kubra, a town near Aleppo. The head of the centre and several others were badly injured. Kerry's gamble The week-old attempt at a ceasefire, negotiated by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, could be the final attempt by US President Barack Obama to negotiate an end to Syria's civil war. Kerry called on Moscow to halt Syrian government air strikes, including on aid convoys, and indicated that the United States had not received official word from Russia that the ceasefire deal was dead. "The Russians made the agreement. So we need to see what the Russians say," Kerry said before meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in New York. "But the point the important thing is the Russians need to control Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys." The United Nations said that only Washington and Moscow could declare it over, as they were the ones who originally forged the deal. The air strikes appeared particularly heavy in insurgent-held areas west of Aleppo, near the rebel stronghold of Idlib province. And in eastern Aleppo, a resident reached by Reuters said there had been dozens of blasts. "It started with an hour of extremely fierce bombing," said Besher Hawi, the former spokesman for the opposition's Aleppo city council. "Now I can hear the sound of helicopters overhead. The last two were barrel bombs," he said, the sound of an explosion audible in the background. Abu al-Baraa al-Hamawi, a rebel commander, said the most intense bombardments had taken place in areas west of Aleppo, the same area where the aid convoy was hit. "The regime and Russians are taking revenge on all the areas," he said. Russian and US officials met in Geneva on Monday to try to extend the truce, and the International Syria Support Group the countries backing the Syria peace process was scheduled to meet on Tuesday in New York to assess the agreement. Return to the battlefield But like the Syrian army, the rebels spoke of returning to the battlefield. The coordinator of Syria's main opposition group said on Monday the ceasefire never took hold and called on the world to put an end to the "criminality" of the Syrian government. "There was no ceasefire to begin with for us to say whether it failed or succeeded," Riad Hijab, general coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee, told reporters. Aid was delivered to the besieged town of Talbiseh in Homs province on Monday, the Red Cross said, for the first time since July. The convoy brought in food, water and hygiene supplies for up to 84,000 people, it said. But most aid shipments envisaged under the truce have yet to go in. The United Nations said it had received government approval to reach nearly all the besieged and hard-to-reach areas where it sought to bring aid, but access to many areas was still constrained by fighting, insecurity and administrative delays. Already widely violated since it took effect, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russia said jets from the US-led coalition against Islamic State killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria. Assad called that incident "flagrant aggression". Washington called it a mistake. The ceasefire is the second negotiated by Washington and Moscow since Russia joined the war in September 2015. But while it led to a significant reduction in fighting at the outset, violence has increased in recent days and aid has mostly failed to arrive. Plans to evacuate several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held district of Homs city have also overshadowed the agreement, with rebels saying it would amount to the government declaring the ceasefire over. The Homs governor said the plan had been postponed from Monday to Tuesday. Washington and Moscow back opposite sides in the war between Assad's government and the insurgents, while both oppose the Islamic State jihadist group. Russia joined the war a year ago on Assad's side, tipping it firmly in his favour. The legacy of the 'war on terror': a more dangerous world and the loss of moral high ground The atrocity of September 11, 2001 was the formative event of my lifetime. No-one who watched live as the second plane flew into the Twin Towers in New York, will ever forget the sight. But it was not just the shocking images that were implanted into the mind. It was also the desire for a proper response. Just as you didn't have to be a foreign policy 'hawk' to support the idea of military and diplomatic reprisals, you did not have to be a 'dove' to oppose the cornerstone of the subsequent reaction: the invasion of Iraq. It is 15 years to the day since George W Bush launched his "war on terror". In a landmark speech to Congress nine days after the attacks, he said: "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated." At the time, it was virtually impossible to argue with that, and Bush along with Tony Blair, who stood "shoulder to shoulder" with him and flew around the world acting as his unofficial envoy had a huge amount of international goodwill. Yet meanwhile, within days of 9/11, Bush and his team were attempting to find a link between that event and Saddam Hussein's albeit barbaric but broadly secular regime, a regime that then had nothing to do with al Qaeda or its leader, Osama bin Laden. The drum-beat to war on Baghdad lasted only until March 2003, when the US and UK launched their hastily planned and disastrous "shock and awe" war. As a response to 9/11 it was, for want of an infinitely stronger word, wholly inappropriate. Arguably, the previous war in Afghanistan, from which the Iraq adventure drew resources, was an ill-advised reaction too. True, there were reportedly al Qaeda training grounds in the notoriously treacherous terrain of Afghanistan. But wiping out the Taliban was never a realistic aim, and meanwhile it appeared to escape the notice of the West that some 15 of the 19 suicide hijackers from that day were from Saudi Arabia, which to this day mysteriously remains a key ally of the US and the UK. Yes, the Saudi regime claims to be battling against al Qaeda itself. But what bigger event could there have been to instigate a rethink of relations with this anti-democratic, oil-rich nation? If that was too much to ask, was there not a case for the West retaining the moral high ground which it lost with Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and other war crimes, by simply treating the hijackers as the low-life criminals that they were and, when it came to a military response, turning the other cheek? Instead, the US launched two bloody wars, the implications of which, despite the withdrawal of US and UK troops, are far from over. Yes, bin Laden has finally been killed, as have a range of other terrorist leaders. But on its own terms, Bush's mission outlined 15 years ago has failed, because to state the obvious, new terrorist organisations, notably Islamic State, have emerged from the chaotic vacuum of war, replacing al Qaeda with an even more brutal style of terror, especially in Syria. It is estimated that at least 1.3 million lives have been lost and that almost $2 trillion has been spent on the ongoing "war on terror", though President Barack Obama does not use the term. The tragedy of the reaction to 9/11, as well as that staggering death toll, is that the West does indeed no longer clearly retain the moral high ground in the world, much as it believes that it does. That moral high ground is to be mourned, not least because it kept us safe and secure. It's worth remembering, for example, that although hawks like to point out that 9/11 happened before the invasion of Iraq, the UK, for example, was never an al Qaeda target before the Iraq war. Further, the West has in the past 15 years done virtually nothing to promote a peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, progress on which could have done so much to ease Muslim suspicion over US and European foreign policy. On that terrible day in September, 15 years ago, you would have either to be a saint or have a heart of stone not to seek some kind of retribution, or at least a reordering of the West's allies. Yet today, in London as it braces itself for what authorities say is another probable terror attack, it's easy to reflect back on the "war on terror" with scepticism and even sadness. Three Christians attacked in India for distributing Christian literature Three Christians have been attacked by a mob who believed they were trying to convert Hindus, according to reports coming out of India. Pastor Prashant Bhatnagar, aged 45, and two others from his church were distributing Christian literature in Khargar and Taloja in the city of Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra, India when they were verbally and physically abused. One of those attacked has been admitted to hospital, The Times of India reports, while Pastor Bhatnagar was taken in a car to the site of a nearby prison, threatened with a revolver and told he would be set on fire if he did not stop giving out the Christian pamphlets. Several unidentified men have been booked by police for rioting and for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings. Abraham Mathai, former vice-chairman of Maharashtra Minorities Commission, told The Times of India: "This is a grave criminal act to assault a peaceful group so badly and to threaten them with a gun. The police must book and arrest all the culprits in this case." The three Christians were calling people to church for Sunday prayer, Two Circles reported, which listed the charges as including "outraging religious feelings", "kidnapping or abducting", "outraging modesty of women" and "causing injury by weapon". The other two were named as Sachin Shenge and his wife Manisha. According to this report, the pastor, a child psychologist, was also urinated on. Writing about the attack, the Word of God website states: "Three Christians, including a pastor and two church members, were assaulted by a group of unidentified men while distributing Christian literature in Kharghar last Friday. According to reports, the Christians were severely beaten when the assailants objected to their distribution of literature. Attacks on Christians and their places of worship have skyrocketed since 2014, when the Hindu nationalists BJP took power in the federal government. Many claim that the ruling party's Hindu nationalist platform and the government's inability or unwillingness to confront religious intolerance are major contributing factors to the rise in attacks on Christians." Translation wars: Why critics are turning on the English Standard version Does it really matter which version of the Bible you use? Most pastors are just thankful if their congregations read it at all. But sometimes translations get a bit controversial. The English Standard Version's translators and publishing board have announced that they won't be producing any more revisions to its text, and that its next version is the fixed and final one ("in much the same way that the King James Version (KJV) has remained unchanged ever since the final KJV text was established almost 250 years ago ", it says in a rather daring comparison). There aren't many changes from the one before, and it helpfully lists them. Most of them are uncontroversial, but one in particular has set the theological world abuzz. Just tell me why the ESV matters, though, first? It doesn't have the clout of giants like the New International Version, but it's beloved by conservatives because it adheres to a "word for word" translation philosophy it tries, as far as it can, to make one English word stand for one Hebrew or Greek word, rather than going for a more idiomatic translation like the NIV. That makes it rather clumsy to read, but some conservatives think they're getting closer to the original meaning of the text. Kevin DeYoung, who blogs for The Gospel Coalition, wrote a pamphlet praising it and saying why his church had switched. He compared it unfavourably with the NIV, citing as one of his examples 1 Timothy 2:12 (stay with me on this, it's important). The 2011 NIV has Paul saying "I do not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man" (implying, he says, that she has grasped at it in a domineering way); the ESV just says "exercise authority" (implying she shouldn't have it at all). DeYoung says: "Any pastor who prefers the complementarian view of male and female roles but who preaches from the NIV is left with the task of 'correcting' the translation of this key passage." Go on then what have they done? It's Genesis 3:16, God talking to Eve after the fall. Previous version: "Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." Authorised version: "Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you." Is that really significant? Think it through. "For" could mean various things in this context, but it's hard to make it mean "contrary to". The latter means women are going to want different things from men and rebel against their husbands' authority. But it's OK, because their husbands will rule over them ie, they can rebel all they want but they aren't going to win. That doesn't sound very enlightened. More than one scholar has noted that. Scot McKnight, for instance, a respected teacher and commentator, said ESV had "sneaked in a translation that is not only mistaken but potentially dangerously wrong". McKnight says he's discussed this with complementarians (the rather generous word used for those who believe men and women have different, God-given roles and that women are under men's authority) and they all think the verses are prescriptive: "Which means this is God's curse on all women for all time (until heaven and maybe then too). Women will need to be ruled over by their men (and many think this is true both about home and society, though not all) because women, evidently, acted out of order when Eve did what she did." So, says McKnight, "This translation turns women and men into contrarians by divine design. The fall means women are to submit to men and men are to rule women, but women will resist the rule. This has moved from subordinationism to female resistance to subordinationism." Now it's sounding absolutely horrific. Is there any justification for the new translation? Categorically not. Another critic cited by McKnight, Sam Powell, notes that the basic meaning of the word ['el] is "to, or towards. Sometimes, if the context and the verb used are hostile, 'against' would be a proper meaning. But this does not mean that we can pick and choose whatever meaning we want. 'Contrary to', in the context of Genesis 3:16 or 4:7, cannot be justified." So the ESV translators have deliberately twisted the meaning of the Bible to make it say what they want it to say? Not deliberately, perhaps, but they have chosen a translation that's way out on the margins of probability because it fits a certain theological viewpoint, when this wouldn't be anything like the natural way of reading the text. As another scholar, teacher and Christian Today contributor Ian Paul, says, the ESV translators "appear to have decided, on other grounds, what the text of the Bible needs to say, and by golly they are going to help it say that. They truly are attempting to 'fix' the Bible." In a damning judgment, he concludes: "I am seriously tempted to prohibit its use in my classes, not because it is a poor word-for-word translation (which mostly it isn't), but because its existence now represents a contradiction to the key principle that evangelicals, of all people, should be standing up for." I think I'll stick with the NIV. What an unfortunate example to choose. Most if not all translations show some degree of bias, but the NIV more so than most. British scholar NT Wright once wrote (in Justification : God's Plan and Paul's Vision): "Again and again, with the Greek text in front of me and the NIV beside it, I discovered that the translators had had another principle, considerably higher than the stated one: to make sure that Paul should say what the broadly Protestant and evangelical tradition said he said ... [I]f a church only, or mainly, relies on the NIV it will, quite simply, never understand what Paul was talking about." So what's an ordinary Christian to do? A good start would be to have three or four translations and compare them when you're in any doubt. But another, as mission specialist Eddie Arthur points out, is to get this whole thing into perspective. He says: "This whole debate is about one translation in one language at a time when there are still around 1,800 languages which don't have a single word of Scripture available to them." Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods Unarmed black pastor shot dead by police despite having hands up The sister of a black pastor who was shot dead by a white police officer despite being unarmed and having his hands up has appealed for justice, saying he did "absolutely nothing wrong". Terence Crutcher, 40, was first tasered and then shot dead in Tulsa, Oklahoma after police arrived at the scene of his broken down SUV vehicle at around 8pm on Friday. Officer Betty Shelby shot Crutcher, who was making his way slowly to his car with his hands up. The victim was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries. Police had claimed that Crutcher was reaching inside his car without his hands up. But footage released by Tulsa Police Department clearly shows the pastor with his hands in the air and his back to the officers. In footage taken from a police helicopter, an officer can be heard saying: "He's got his hands up there for her now...This guy is still walking and following commands." But Crutcher was then tasered and shot. A criminal investigation into the shooting has been opened by the police department, and the federal Justice Department has opened a separate civil rights investigation. Officer Shelby has given a statement to homicide detectives and been placed on paid administrative leave, according to a police spokesman. Crutcher's twin sister Tiffany told a press conference of how an officer could be heard in the footage calling her brother a "big, bad, dude". She said: "I lost my brother, my twin brother who was doing nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing wrong and I truly believe in accountability...We just want answers, we want to know what happened, there's a lot of speculation, but there is one thing, one fact that I do know is that my brother was unarmed. I'm just devastated." She said her brother had left a class at Tulsa Community College before his SUV stalled on East 36th Street North. The Crutcher family's legal team, represented by attorney Melvin C Hall, said: "This man had not committed a crime. He was not approached because we suspected of having committed a crime. He was having some difficulty with his vehicle and that's it." Describing the footage, attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said: "We saw that Terence was not being belligerent. We did not see Terence reach into the car. We did not see Terence attacking the officers." Crutcher's family has appealed for any protests over his death to be held peacefully. The family were shown the footage on Sunday ahead of its public release yesterday. Tulsa police chief Chuck Jones sought to assure the community that justice would be served and there would be accountability over the incident. Before releasing the video, he said: "I'm going to tell you right now, there was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect's vehicle. I want to assure our community and I want to assure all of you and people across the nation watching this: We will achieve justice." He added that he found the video "very disturbing, very difficult to watch." "It will come out," Jordan said of the details surrounding the fatal shooting, according to Tulsa World. "I will make this promise to you: We will achieve justice in this case." Campaigning black pastor Jamal Bryant tweeted: "Enough is enough! #terrancecrutcher was killed with his only crime being black in America". The Tulsa shooting comes after mass protests over black men being shot by police in Minnesota, Florida and Louisiana. Local activist group We the People called for the immediate arrest of Officer Shelby. Its leader Marq Lewis issued the demand during a news conference yesterday afternoon outside the Tulsa County Courthouse, two hours after the footage was released. "Tulsa Police Department, you need to arrest her immediately. We don't need to play any longer. You just need to arrest her," Lewis said. Which country has the fastest-growing church in the world? Christians in Iran face relentless persecution. Ranked ninth on Open Doors' list of countries where it's most dangerous to be a Christian, open churches are forbidden and converting from Islam the state religion is punishable by death for men, and life imprisonment for women. Last year more than 100 Christians were arrested or imprisoned and allegations of torture have emerged. And yet, the church in Iran is thriving. In 2015, mission organisation Operation World named Iran as having the fastest growing evangelical population in the world, with an estimated annual growth of 19.6 per cent. According to Mark Howard of Elam Ministries, an organisation founded by Iranian church leaders with the purpose of expanding the church in Iran, more Iranians have become Christians in the last two decades than in the previous 13 centuries combined. "In 1979, there were an estimated 500 Christians from a Muslim background in Iran," he says. "Today, there are hundreds of thousands some say more than one million. Whatever the exact number, many Iranians are turning to Jesus as Lord and Saviour." So what's causing this growth? The problems for Iranian Christians began in 1979. The Iranian revolution of that year resulted in the creation of a hard-line Islamic regime with a very strict interpretation of Shia Islam. Since then religious minorities, including Christians, Baha'is and Sunni Muslims, have been targeted by successive governments. "Religious minorities are generally viewed with suspicion and treated as a threat to the regime," a country expert told Christian Today. The source, a researcher for religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), who remained anonymous for security reasons, said minorities regularly face harassment, imprisonment, torture and even death. Article 23 of the Iranian constitution states that "the investigation of an individual's belief is forbidden and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding certain beliefs", but the reality for religious minorities is very different. "Iran considers the Twelver school of Islam the official religion of the country, and therefore adherents to different sects or faiths are usually discriminated against," the source said. "The Iranian Constitution recognises Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians as protected religious minorities, but the government has designed and continues to use special religious laws to oppress reformers, political activists, human rights defenders and religious minorities. So although religious freedom is somehow protected in the constitution in theory, in practice this doesn't happen." Under President Hassan Rouhani, human rights violations including the right to freedom of religious belief have rapidly deteriorated. Iran executes more people per capita than any other country in the world, and a large proportion of those executed belong to religious minority groups. In total, around 120,000 people are believed to have been executed since 1981 for their political or religious beliefs, 2,500 of whom have been hanged since Rouhani came to power in 2013. He promised to protect human rights and equality for all citizens of Iran, but has ostensibly failed to do so. Campaigners have regularly urged international governments to hold Iran to account over its human rights violations, but so far feel their voices have gone unheard. Of particular contention was the absence of any mention of the worsening climate from Iran's landmark nuclear deal with the US secured last year. This was "absolutely a failure," CSW's researcher said. "Because of that deal, Iran was able to get hold of a huge amount of funds after the lifting of the sanctions, lots of Iranian money and assets that had been frozen were made available to the authorities. We're talking about billions of dollars. That deal has made it much easier for the Iranian regime to continue its unacceptable and appalling behaviour towards religious minorities, and not only religious minorities, but to all Iranian people, because they are held hostage by this religious dictatorship." President Obama received particular criticism for having failed to use the nuclear deal to secure the release of jailed US citizens in Iran, including Saeed Abedini a high profile case that saw the Christian pastor become a poster child for religious freedom activists, and especially among the religious right in America. He was eventually released as part of a prisoner swap in January this year, but his imprisonment and torture in Iran is not a unique case, and many more Christians remain behind bars. His colleague Maryam Naghash Zargaran is currently serving a four-year sentence in connection with her work at an orphanage alongside Abedini. Christians in Iran typically face charges including actions against national security or espionage that was the case with Pastor Saeed. Other typical allegations include enmity of God, apostasy and blasphemy. "These are the usual charges used by Iranian authorities to crackdown on religious freedom and freedom of speech in general," the CSW researcher said. These allegations are usually "totally fabricated", he added. Judges have a list of "standard charges that... [they] pick and choose from". In some cases, the source said, the intelligence services order judges to choose a particular charge to suit their intentions. The whole process is controlled by the security services, an am of the government which is "heavily influenced by the clerical establishment". Not all Christians end up in jail, of course, but just living as a Christian in public is "difficult and intimidating," the source said. They regularly face having their property confiscated, and some have even been arrested for using wine during Communion. Christians from a Muslim background face especially harsh punishments. "It is dangerous and unpredictable," the source said. "You never know when the security services might arrest you, and you never know what you could be charged with." Within that context, the growth of Iran's Christian population is remarkable. Though it is difficult to measure because of restrictions put in place by the regime, "Iranians are becoming Christians in their thousands, so I would say yes it probably is the fastest growing church in the world," CSW's researcher said. This growth isn't limited to Iran. The church is also growing within the Iranian diaspora in countries such as the UK, the USA, Turkey, Germany and Canada where Iranian Christians are very active through media. There are a number of satellite TV channels that broadcast the gospel message in Farsi, which has led the Iranian government to crackdown on citizens with satellite receiver dishes. The source attributed this rapid growth to the difficulties Christians in Iran face. "Historically, the church flourishes in times of persecution and danger, and Iran is definitely a place of persecution for the church, so it's not a surprise for me that the church is growing in Iran," he said. "Another factor would be the ugly image that the Mullah regime has given about Islam. With all the restrictions on freedom of speech, women's rights, violence, cracking down on human rights and journalists, it all gives a very unpleasant image about Islam, so this probably triggered lots of Iranians, especially younger generations, to search for an alternative, to search for the truth, and to question Islam." The future of the church in Iran, he says, looks bright. "The Iranian church will continue growing and eventually Iran will open up. They cannot keep going like this forever they have to [open up]. If they want to be accepted and integrated within the international community then they have to introduce changes, and once they start introducing changes, the whole structure will crumble down. One thing will lead to another." He continued: "It is our human nature to seek freedom and freedom of speech, religion and belief, and to be open to the outside world. I think the process may take time, and may be a long one, but I am sure that this will happen... and the church will be victorious in the end." Understated elegance: A First Ladys Jewelry and Handbags Our selection of 10 accessories from the auction and online sales of The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan epitomises the former First Lady's classic taste 1 A diamond and gold lion pendant-brooch necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels This versatile lion pendant-brooch necklace was worn repeatedly by Mrs. Reagan in each of its various forms as both longer and shorter necklaces, with and without the pendant brooch and/or the matching earrings. Each quarter section of chain can also be worn as a bracelet. The First Lady was famously photographed alongside Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wearing this necklace during a state visit to the United Kingdom in 1988. 2 A shiny black porosus crocodile Mini Kelly 20 shoulder bag by Hermes There is no bag more iconic, coveted or collectible than the Hermes Kelly bag. This beautiful, exotic crocodile iteration in the petite 20cm size makes this particular Kelly an eloquent statement piece typical of Mrs. Reagans sophisticated style. 3 An American flag diamond, sapphire and ruby ring by Bulgari The Italian jewel house was a favourite of Mrs. Reagan and she was often adorned with Bulgari jewellery for state dinners and formal White House functions. This ring was worn on 4 July 1986 for Liberty Weekend celebrations aboard the USS Iowa in New York Harbor. 4 A cream satin envelope clutch bag by Judith Leiber A patron of American fashion houses and designers, the First Lady chose one of her favourite accessories designers, Judith Leiber, to design purses for the inauguration dinners in 1981 and 1984. This crystal Art Deco ornament handbag is a copy of the original Leiber bag created to be worn with the First Ladys white ensemble during the second inauguration ball in 1984. 5 A diamond, sapphire and ruby pendant necklace by Oscar Heyman & Brothers This patriotic pendant necklace by American jeweller Oscar Heyman & Bros. is inscribed on the reverse, NANCY, LOVE DEEDIE-TOM, and was almost certainly a gift to Mrs. Reagan from Tom and Deedie Chauncey. Dated to 1976, it was perhaps offered to mark the end of her successful tenure as First Lady of California. The Chaunceys were family friends of the Reagans who lived in Arizona. The Reagans often visited Arizona to see Mrs. Reagans mother Edith and stepfather Dr. Loyal Davis, and during these trips they would also spend time with the Chaunceys. Tom Chauncey owned a radio station, and Deedie was a member of the Wrigley gum family of Chicago. The Chaunceys were passionate about horses, which no doubt forged a bond with the Reagans, who purchased horses from them over the years. 6 A red satin tassel boroso clutch bag by Judith Leiber and Yves Saint Laurent Mrs. Reagan regularly chose a petite evening clutch over a larger top handle or shoulder bag to accompany her stylish ensembles while performing her duties as First Lady. She was often seen toting a Judith Leiber clutch in her favoured colour, Nancy Reagan red. 7 A coral, diamond and gold brooch by Ruser Renowned Beverly Hills jeweller William Ruser was a favourite of Mrs. Reagan, and she had a number of his pieces in her collection. She wore this coral, diamond and gold brooch in a 1965 portrait of her family at the Reagans California ranch, seen above. Coral is well represented in the former First Ladys collection and she collected various shades, from pink-suffused angel skin coral to the deep red variety seen here. The red coral accents on this brooch by Ruser recall Mrs. Reagans signature red that carried through much of her wardrobe and accessories. One of President Reagans earliest gifts to his wife was from William Ruser: a gold key necklace to congratulate her on getting her own dressing room at MGM. 8 A silver and turquoise Navajo concho belt by C.M. Yazzie Open a larger version of this image A silver and turquoise Navajo concho belt, C.M. Yazzie. Estimate: $200-300. This lot is offered in the Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan Online Auction, 19-28 September President and Mrs. Reagan spent much of their free time at their beloved Ranch House near Santa Barbara, Rancho del Cielo. The First Lady adapted her style to reflect life on the Santa Ynez mountain range, incorporating silver jewellery such as this beloved Navajo concho belt. 9 Cultured pearl and diamond necklace Open a larger version of this image Cultured pearl and diamond necklace. Designed as a strand of cultured pearls with a diamond and white-gold clasp. Metal: 18k. Diamonds: 11 round diamonds with approximate total weight of 0.15 carats. Cultured pearls: 41 round cultured pearl beads measuring approximately 8.5 mm. 16 inches in length. Marks: ITALY, 18K. Gross Weight: 41.9 grams. Estimate: $1,000-$1,500. This lot is offered in the Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan Online Auction, 19-28 September Where would a First Lady be without her pearls? Mrs. Reagan wore hers often and wore them well. She had a variety of pearl necklaces, and this one is a classic graduated single-strand. Pearls are among the oldest and most universal of gems, worn by royalty and nobility throughout history, and desired not only for their rarity but also for their whiteness a symbol of purity. 10 A trio of Chanel flap bags Open a larger version of this image A black and cream lambskin leather single flap bag, a navy quilted clutch bag and a light brown leather single flap bag, Chanel, 1990s. Estimate: $500-700. This lot is offered in the Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan Online Auction, 19-28 September This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Katherine Feser/Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Katherine Feser/Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Downtown Houston's Magnolia Hotel will become the first Texas hotel in Starwood Hotels & Resorts' expanding Tribute Portfolio brand in January. The 314-room hotel is among seven hotels, including other Magnolia hotels in St. Louis and Denver, that recently signed deals to align with the brand, Tribute Portfolio announced Tuesday. The affiliation will allow customers to benefit from the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program. Tim Boyle/Getty Images Texas officials are in Chicago this week to try to lure Windy City jobs and investment to the Lone Star State. The two-day trip was organized by the Texas Economic Development Corp. and Gov. Greg Abbott's office and includes a corporate reception, a roundtable with consular officials and investors, a luncheon and meetings with site-selection consultants. It looks like a Louisiana man gained "superhuman strength" after smoking drugs. According to WAFB in Louisiana, Jeremy Wayne Saylor, 35, was arrested for attempted murder of a police officer while he was high on the narcotic "Mojo." READ MORE: Face-biting suspect's dad says he believes son was poisoned Baton Rouge police were called to a mobile home park on Saturday after receiving complaints that Saylor was screaming at people and attacking family members, according to a probable cause report obtained by the news station. According to the report, Saylor was wearing only red underwear and charged at police when they arrived. WAFB reports Saylor started beating on the hood of an officer's vehicle and tried to attack the officer when he got out of his vehicle. Officers shocked Saylor with a stun gun at least four times but still weren't able to stop him, the news station reports. A probable cause report states Saylor "had superhuman strength," "pushed officers off of him" and was able to get into a police vehicle, according to WAFB. Saylor allegedly put the vehicle in reverse and tried to run over officers. He allegedly crashed the police vehicle into a trailer and was then detained by officers. Saylor now faces five counts of attempted murder of a police officer, resisting with violence, theft and felony damage to property. According to Spice Addictions Support, Mojo is a type of synthetic marijuana similar to K2 and Spice and can cause extreme side effects. Kush and synthetic marijuana has been a big issue for the city of Houston, with police recently arresting more people in a crackdown. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Police have arrested three people linked to threatening Facebook posts involving "creepy clowns" that caused some Alabama schools to go on lockdown last week. On Sept. 15, 22-year-old Makayla Smith, of Flomaton, Alabama, and two juveniles were arrested. Smith is charged with making a terroristic threat, according to a press release from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office. Smith is in police custody on $200,000 bond, according to the Sheriff's Office. If she pays her bond, she's barred from any electronic device that has the internet or any device that allows access to the internet, according to AL.com. The Facebook accounts, "FLOMO KLOWN" and "Shoota Cllown," posted threats that warned that "clowns" might show up at the Flomaton school campus, but after a sweep around the entire campus, police cleared the area. Another "Flomo Klown" account appeared on Facebook the day after the three suspects were taken into custody, making similar threats. The Calhoun County Sheriff's Office in central Alabama has received similar threats and took to Facebook to warn the public. "The Sheriff's Office has received numerous reports of social media posts of individuals making threats under the auspice of being clowns. These threats under Alabama Law could result in arrest for 'Making a Terroristic Threat' which is a felony," the Facebook post reads. "School resource officers have identified several suspects that were making the posts and an investigation is currently ongoing." The Escambia County Sheriff's Office issued a statement, saying, "This type of crime will not be tolerated in Escambia Co. Alabama and we will ask that all involved parties be punished to the full extent of the law." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A wrongful-death lawsuit filed Monday claims that actor Jim Carrey supplied his late girlfriend with the powerful prescription drugs she used to commit suicide. Cathriona White, 30, was found dead in a Sherman Oaks, California, residence in September 2015. The lawsuit, filed by her husband, Mark Burton, in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Carrey used a fake name and "his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances." Burton, through the lawsuit, also alleges Carrey supplied White with prescription drugs despite knowing she was "prone to depression" and had previous suicide attempts. Representatives for Carrey did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shortly after White's death, reports emerged that White was still married but had been estranged from her husband. Burton attorney Michael Avenatti told The Washington Post that White and Burton had been married since January 2013, but the lawyer declined to comment on the nature of their relationship at the time of her death "because it distracts from what this case is really about, which is Mr. Carrey's conduct." The lawsuit alleges Carrey violated California's Drug Dealer Liability Act, which allows people to file civil lawsuits against suppliers for harm caused by illegal drug use, and seeks unspecified damages. An autopsy showed White "had taken her own life by overdosing on a lethal amount of prescription drugs," including Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet, all of which Carrey got using the fake name "Arthur King," according to the lawsuit. Shortly after White's death, Carrey said in a statement that he was "shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of my sweet Cathriona. She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled." Carrey's statement in 2015 continued: "My heart goes out to her family and friends and to everyone who loved and cared about her. We have all been hit with a lightning bolt." The actor attended White's funeral, and a photo published by People shows him helping to carry the casket. But the lawsuit, which seeks burial and funeral expenses, claims that Carrey offered to help pay for the funeral (a story line that surfaced in TMZ) and never did. White, an Irish makeup artist, had been romantically linked with Carrey on and off since 2012. Details from her autopsy were reported by various outlets this summer, including what drugs were found in her system and a note she had written to Carrey. The actor then released a statement lamenting the public release of her autopsy. "When I came to Hollywood to make it as a comedian, I soon learned that the details of my private life would be handed out to the media like free dinner vouchers. I never dreamed that the people I love most in the world would also be on the menu," Carrey said in a July statement. "What a shame." The lineup is set for this weekend's first ever the Woodlands BBQ Festival with 15 area barbecue purveyors ready to smoke up a storm. The festival, at Town Green Park, kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Police are searching for three men suspected in an aggravated robbery at a convenience store earlier this month in northwest Houston. The heist happened about 3:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at a Shell gas station at 2300 West Sam Houston Parkway North near Hammerly, according to the Houston police Department. Police said two of the suspects waked into the store, looked around and then left. Moments later, two of them dashed back inside, rushed behind the counter and confronted a worker, One of the suspects pressed a gun to the back of the man's head and demanded he open the cash register. The other suspect grabbed money from two registers and a pack of cigarettes. They also snatched the employee's cell phone. A third suspect stood at the door as a lookout. Then the suspects ran outside, climbed into a waiting 2004 white Ford F-150 pickup and sped away. The truck was later found abandoned and investigators determined in had been stolen in a another aggravated robbery incident. No information about that incident was released. The men, each between 16 and 19 years old, were between about 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and they weighed about 170 pounds. The suspects who confronted the worker wore clothing to conceal their faces. The man with the gun wore a black T-shirt and light-colored shorts. The other suspect wore a black hoodie, gray shorts and sandals. The suspect who stood at the door as the lookout wore a gray hoodie and blue shorts. The store's surveillance camera recorded the suspects' images. Anyone with information about the suspects' identities is urged to contact the HPD Robbery Division at 713-308-0700 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. Enrollment at Lone Star College, the public funded two-year community college system, has reached a record 85,661 students this semester, college officials said. That enrollment level represents a 2 percent increase from 83,932 students during last school year. The student population at Lone Star has increased 86 percent since 2006, when 46,058 students were enrolled. The biggest jumps in enrollment were in 2010 and 2014, when 10,495 and 5,197 additional students enrolled, respectively. Now, around Houston, five Lone Star campuses enroll more than 12,000 people each. LSC-CyFair has more than 21,600 students on campus, Lone Star said Monday. The growth comes amid a national decline in community college enrollment, which followed higher student counts during the economic recession, according to a March report from the American Association of Community Colleges. Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a piece for Civil Eats asking a question that had been on my mind for several years: Why are school breakfasts often loaded with added sugars, even after the implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act nutritional reforms? That question was prompted by seeing the breakfasts served in my own district, Houston ISD, where a child selecting from the daily menu offerings could easily choose a meal like this: Graphic by Bettina Elias Siegel In general, I dont like to publicly chastise Houston ISD for flaws in its meal program. For one thing, I genuinely like the people who run the department and dont want to embarrass them. More importantly, though, I feel that most of those deficiencies reflect larger forces that are in no way unique to my district. So while I used HISD menus as an example in the Civil Eats piece, I also gave our districts senior administrator for Nutrition Services an opportunity to comment on them, and I took pains in the story to make clear that sugary school breakfasts are a national problem, borne of a variety of factors which I examined in detail. The Civil Eats story reached an unusually wide audience, having been picked up by both Yahoo! News and the Houston Chronicle, and despite my efforts to be as even-handed as possible, HISD Nutrition Services management must have felt that its reputation had been damaged. Soon after the Civil Eats piece came out, four Nutrition Services employees devoted what must have been considerable time and effort (not to mention the taxpayer dollars that directly pay their salaries) to write a scholarly article for the Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk entitled Sugar In School Breakfasts: A School District s Perspective. The piece was essentially the districts apologia for its sugar-laden school breakfasts, citing many of the same factors I discussed in Civil Eats. I was somewhat surprised to learn of the journal article, which my friend and colleague Casey Hinds tweeted to me; no mention of it had ever been made during several Nutrition Services Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings discussing sugary breakfasts. But I decided not to comment on the matter one way or the other, because I was so pleased by the districts promises for significant reform. Specifically, as I happily reported on my blog The Lunch Tray in October 2015: After hearing the concerns of the HISD Nutrition Services Parent Advisory Committee, our school food department informed us yesterday that it has already reduced the number of times juice is served to our children from five days a week to three, that its switching over to a lower-sugar (but not artificially sweetened) juice, and that its entirely eliminating Craisins (which contain six teaspoons of sugar per serving) from the breakfast menu. This means our kids are now getting more fresh fruit each week, in the form of apple slices, bananas and whole apples. The district also promises to introduce more protein entrees in the coming months, in lieu of sweetened grain items. Those reforms were all implemented with surprising speed, and I thought the worst of our sugary breakfast problem was behind us. Now look at this photo of one childs HISD school breakfast, served this morning: Courtesy The Lunch Tray A glance at HISDs posted breakfast menus confirms that this meal is not an aberration. Sugar-sweetened Craisins, which were supposed to be entirely eliminated, are now back on the menu along with their six teaspoons of added sugar, the maximum amount recommended for children by the American Heart Association for an entire day. Further examination of the breakfast menu reveals that the promise to reduce the appearance of juice from five days to three has also been broken. Next week, a fruit juice blend is served every single day; during other weeks, juice appears a minimum of four times. And while the promised protein entrees do appear on the menu, out of 44 entrees offered in the month of October (children may choose from two options each day), only 11 are protein entrees. The remaining 33 entrees are still sugar-sweetened, grain-based items. To be clear, having researched this topic in detail for Civil Eats last year, Im perhaps more sympathetic than most advocates to the real difficulties HISD and other districts face when trying to reduce the sugar content of their breakfast menus. What has me deeply concerned this morning is my districts quiet rolling back of express promises made to PAC members, perhaps with the hope that none of us would even notice. Screenshot, HISD breakfast menu As I mentioned here last month, as of this fall, both of my children are in a private high school. Technically speaking, this means I should no longer be able to serve on the Nutrition Services PAC, of which Ive been a member since 2010. But when I raised this issue at a meeting last spring, I was surprised when members of the Nutrition Services staff urged me to stay on the committee, even if Im not technically a parent under its charter. I was pleased by this outcome, as my interest in Houston school food reform has never been motivated by my own kids, who generally preferred the packed lunches I was happy to provide. But in recent days, Ive been seriously questioning this decision to stay on the PAC. By filling one of five slots afforded to my district trustee, Mike Lunceford, I may well be keeping other, active HISD parents away from important discussions that directly affect their kids. Indeed, just last week, I spoke to a concerned parent at an elementary school in Luncefords district who would be a perfect candidate for the PAC, but its my understanding that she can join only if I step down. And then theres that sentence I wrote at the start of this post: I genuinely like the people who run the department and dont want to embarrass them. The hard truth is, sometimes school district employees even very nice ones need to be called out for breaches of trust and for practices that fail to promote the health of the children in their care. And Im starting to realize that my personal relationships with the people running our school food department may be impeding my ability to speak out as forcefully as I should about some of the very real problems I see. Paul Viant So, with this post, Im hereby resigning from the PAC. I do so with some regret, in part because I will lose regular access to information about HISD that has informed my general understanding of how large urban school food programs operate. But I like to think Ive reached a point in my advocacy and writing career where I can rely on school food professionals around the country, not just those in HISD, to help me fill in those blanks. At any rate, I hope so. I will, however, continue to serve on HISDs School Health Advisory Council, of which Ive also been a member since 2010, as my official status on that committee has always been community member rather than HISD parent. This committee also has direct impact on school nutrition in HISD, including through the drafting of a new district wellness policy. Before closing, I must recognize two of my fellow PAC members, Lisa Brooks and Stephanie Dubroff-Acosta, who are the only other parents who have been on the committee with me since its inception. Weve seen a lot of parents drift in and out of the PAC over the years, some managing to attend only one or two meetings before dropping out, and our little trio has been the only constant over the last six years. Im so sorry to reduce you to a duo this morning, but I hope youll continue to offer your valuable insights and suggestions on the PAC for the good of HISDs kids. Bettina Elias Siegel is a nationally recognized writer and commentator on issues relating to children and food, with a particular interest in school food reform. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Houston Chronicle, the Huffington Post and many other publications. This post first appeared on her blog The Lunch Tray. Bookmark Gray Matters. Even if you're not technically a "parent" under its charter. Police have released surveillance photographs of a car possibly used in an apparent "jugging" robbery earlier this month after the victim left a bank with cash in La Porte. The incident happened about 10:20 a.m. Sept. 2 in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store at 1300 West Fairmont Boulevard, according to the La Porte Police Department. First State Bank Nebraska is welcoming Julie Feist as Branch Manager. Feist brings more than 25 combined years of experience in banking, lending and title insurance fields and holds a State of Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance Executive Officers license. Originally from the southeast Nebraska area, Feist and her husband Pat, live in Beatrice and have two sons, Jesse and Luke. Feist is active in the Beatrice community, volunteering on several organizations including Main Street Beatrice, Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce, Homestead Running Club, Homestead Conservation Trails Association, Gage County 4-H and St. Josephs Catholic Church. Feist will be the Branch Manager at the First State Beatrice branch located at 560 Sargent Street, which opened Oct. 3. This new location is a full service branch, including banking, insurance and retail mortgage representatives. I am excited to be part of a community bank that offers a personalized customer experience and is invested in Beatrice, the surrounding communities and rural areas," Feist said. First State Bank Nebraska is a $475 million bank with locations in Beatrice, Cortland, DeWitt, Dorchester, Filley, Firth, Hallam, Hickman, Lincoln, Pickrell, Valley, Waverly, Western, Wilber and Yutan and employees approximately 150 people. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A so-called "civility ordinance" that prohibits sitting, laying or sleeping on sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. in six central Houston areas could be extended to the Near Northside community where an 11-year-old was stabbed to death in May while walking home from school. The city regulation, designed to decrease vagrancy, has been requested by residents of the neighborhood and appears on this week's Houston City Council agenda. A June letter to Mayor Sylvester Turner attached to signed petitions said that residents were "alarmed by the recent murder of Josue Flores" and that the "problems of vagrancy, loitering, prostitution, trespassing and drug dealing [in the area] ... have reached the point of being intolerable and unacceptable." Near Northside neighbors have expressed concerns about the Metro light rail line that opened in the area in December 2013 brought homeless people and drug users into the community. Since 2002, the civility ordinance has been enacted to include the Central Business District, Midtown, Old Sixth Ward, Avondale and Greater Hyde Park. The East Downtown Management District area known as EaDo was added most recently in 2011. Andre Timothy Jackson Jr., 27, has been charged with murder in Josue's death and remains in the Harris County Jail on $100,000 bail. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran previously resided at a transitional housing center for homeless veterans. Jackson was arrested at The Salvation Army, 2407 N. Main, where he had maintained a room since mid-April, according to authorities. Police arrested a different man the day following the May 17 killing, but he was released two days later after providing a solid alibi. At a June news conference announcing Jackson's arrest, Turner warned against "generalizing" about potential crime beyond individuals or linking a person's socioeconomic circumstance to unlawful behavior. Acting Houston Police Department Chief Martha Montalvo told reporters then that her agency was working with law enforcement authorities who overlap in the area to provide more "visibility" and have made arrests. Josue wanted to become a physician. The sixth-grader was walking the seven blocks home from Marshall Middle School after staying a little late for a Science Club year-end party when witnesses said he was accosted by a man who stabbed him repeatedly, then fled on foot. The number of immigrants who are illegally in the United States has stabilized to about 11.1 million in the past few years with those from Mexico declining to its lowest level in almost a decade, about 5.8 million, according to a new report Tuesday. The figure peaked at 12.2 million in 2007, then has steadily declined and stayed around 11 million since the end of the recession in 2009. Mexicans make up about half of the residents in the country illegally and have been a focus of the presidential campaign, in which Republican nominee Donald Trump has likened them to criminals and rapists and promised to build a border wall to shield off the neighboring nation. But the new data from the Pew Research Center, a think tank in Washington D.C., shows that in fact the number of Mexicans living illegally in the United States dropped by about half a million people in 2014 compared to 2009. The number of immigrants illegally here from Asia and Central America grew by about 325,000 in that time period to 5.3 million, partially making up for the decline in Mexican immigrants. The analysis of Census data also shows that about half of the people illegally in the United States have lived here for about 14 years. The data shows a new paradigm in border enforcement, said Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs the Migration Policy Institute, a research group in Washington D.C. The majority of immigrants crossing the southern border used to be Mexican men, many of them looking for employment. Now it is mostly Central American immigrants, about half of them consisting of families and children. "The vast majority are crossing the border into Mexico first before they get into the U.S.," Capps said. "So we need to be working jointly with Mexico on their own border enforcement .... This is the way forward, not building a bigger wall." The increase of immigrants who are here illegally from Asia, led by China and India, means the U.S. needs better tracking and enforcement of those coming here legally on visas, then overstaying them, he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Houston painter has been charged with aggravated assault, accused of running over a former employee four times in a truck with his painting company's name on the side, prosecutors said Tuesday. Rogelio Alberto Guardado, 69, appeared in magistrate court after being arrested Monday in connection with an incident at 11 p.m. Sept. 11 in an apartment complex at 6767 Long Drive. Prosecutors said Guardado was in a tan Nissan pickup truck with a camper shell with "Rogelio's Painting" on the side when he ran over 41-year-old San Juanita Herrera. READ MORE: Man arrested after woman run over 4 times with pickup in SE Houston A witness told police that they saw the truck run over Herrera at the entrance of the southeast Houston apartment complex. The suspect turned around in another part of the parking lot, revved his engine and ran over her again, police said. The driver then reversed his truck and ran over Herrera a third time. Then he sped out of the parking lot, running over Herrera for a fourth time. Herrera was critically injured, but was able to tell police she believed it was Guardado, a former employer. She was rushed to a nearby hospital. Details of her injuries were not released, but police said she is in critical condition. She later told police where Guardado lived, and when they arrived at his home in northwest Houston on Sept. 12, they found the truck that had been described. Guardado said he did not loan out his truck and denied being involved, prosecutors said. READ MORE: Police find pickup used to run over woman 4 times in SE Houston Guardado is being held in the Harris County jail in lieu of $30,000 bail. He is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted of the second-degree felony, he could face a maximum of 20 years in prison. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SWAT teams will swarm to selected targets, parts of hospitals will become triage centers and hazmat teams will search for dangerous substances. If it sounds like a lot of commotion, it is. But, it is just a drill, part of Big X 2016, a training session for first responders from state, local and federal agencies expected to go off in North Texas. Jade Helm Part II, it isn't. READ MORE: Jade Helm 15: The long Texas nightmare ended a year ago The multi-state military exercise in 2015 drew howls from the conspiracy-minded and even Gov. Greg Abbott, who ordered the Texas State Guard to keep watch on the U.S. military as it went through maneuvers. Some were afraid Jade Helm was a plot by President Barack Obama to disarm Texans, impose martial law and generally act like a dictator over the Lone Star State. The protests and online posts were much ado about nothing. Jade Helm, for all the hot air expended on it, was just what the military said it was - a training exercise. READ MORE: Jade Helm has ended - you can come out of your Texas bunkers now And, that's what Big X 2016 is set to be.The North Central Texas Council of Governments and dozens of other federal, state and local agencies scheduled the tactics as a follow-up to the Urban Shield exercise in 2013. The massive training session in multiple North Texas towns will include 44 total scenarios at 36 estimated venues. READ MORE: Texas preacher warns next Jade Helm could wipe Texas off map Taking part will be 21 SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams, 17 area emergency-management departments, 15 CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) teams, 12 USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) teams, 10 HazMat (hazardous materials) teams and three area hospitals. Big X 2016 is scheduled for Nov. 11-13. And, it doesn't appear that anyone will be keeping watch over it. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate At a gas station off Interstate 10, you may not be able to put a tiger in your tank, but you certainly can see a live one while topping yours off. Tony is a real tiger, living in a real cage at a real gas station about 20 miles west of Baton Rouge. And, his fate has been the epicenter of a five-year fight over whether the tiger should be kept in captivity at the truck stop in Grosse Tete, a village of 670 people whose name means "Big Head." The Bengal tiger has been living at Tiger Truck Stop for 16 years and spends his day as a roadside attraction that is odd, even by Louisiana standards. The truck stop revels in the notoriety, selling T-shirts reading "Animal Rights Activists Taste Like Chicken." READ MORE: Animal welfare group threatens Houston restaurant giant over white tigers at aquarium But, Tony's fate - and the fate of any potential replacement - has been the subject of lawsuits and legislation. Truck stop owner Mike Sandlin has had Tony for 16 years and has said repeatedly he takes good care of the big cat and genuinely cares about the animal's welfare. Tony lives in an enclosure with toys, shade and water. In pictures, Tony's enclosure appears to be cleaner and more orderly than most truck stop bathrooms. "Tony is happy and healthy at the truck stop in his 3,200-square-foot habitat," Sandlin told The Times-Picayune/Nola.com. READ MORE: Conroe Police release 911 call that alerted authorities to loose tiger But, Sandlin's detractors have gone to court to try and free Tony the Tiger, saying a truck stop is no place for a big cat to live. Gas fumes, noise and little room to roam, they say, are tough on a tiger. "For us it's absolutely about the welfare for Tony," Animal Legal Defense Fund lawyer Matthew Liebman told a Louisiana legislative committee in 2014. (This is the same group threatening to sue Houston billionaire Tillman Fertitta over four white tigers living at the downtown aquarium.) There's a Facebook group hoping to free Tony along with multiple petitions aimed at doing the same thing, but thus far, they haven't had much success. And, Tony has drawn fans from around the country, some of whom have gotten tattoos or painted murals of the cat. READ MORE: The Houston Zoo's 18-year-old male lion has died Court rulings against Sandlin were thwarted in 2014 by then-Gov. Bobby Jindal (he of the short-lived 2016 presidential run). Jindal signed into law a legislative nose-thumbing at animal rights activists aimed at helping Sandlin. In short, the law overturned rulings barring corporate ownership of big cats and other exotic animals and exempts Sandlin from the state's ban on owning big cats. None of this impacts the Louisiana State University mascot, Mike the Tiger, and the on-campus enclosure. "The threat of him being drug away to some strange place -- never petted, never sweet-talked to again...I would not stand by and see that happen to that tiger," Sandlin told the New Orleans newspaper. "To have these idiots, these nuts that think they know more about tigers than I do -- I can't stand it." "She sent me to New Bedford, Massachusetts, to go door to door looking for children who weren't in school. That was back before we had a legal requirement that every child, regardless of disability, deserved to get an education. I met a young girl in New Bedford and sat and talked with her on the small back porch of her house. She told me how badly she wanted to learn, but couldn't because schools weren't accessible or welcoming." - Hillary Clinton, Black Women's Agenda Symposium, Sept. 16, 2016 "She sent me door to door in New Bedford, Massachusetts on behalf of children with disabilities who weren't able at that time to attend public schools." - Clinton, National Baptist Convention in Missouri, Sept. 8, 2016 "I went to work for the Children's Defense Fund, going door to door in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on behalf of children with disabilities who were denied the chance to go to school. I remember meeting a young girl in a wheelchair on the small back porch of her house. She told me how badly she wanted to go to school - it just didn't seem possible." - Clinton, acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, July 28, 2016 --- Clinton has told this story in numerous speeches and even wrote about it in her 2003 memoir, "Living History." In these quotes, the woman sending Clinton to New Bedford is Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund, an organization Clinton worked for in the 1970s. Some New Bedford officials were "livid" at Clinton's portrayal of their home town in the DNC speech, while others were "really proud." Then a former New Bedford mayor told local news outlets that Clinton's claim was incorrect, as his city provided transportation for children with disabilities in the 1970s. Several readers asked us to check it out to see who's correct, so we looked into it. --- From July 1973 to March 1974, staff members of the Children's Defense Fund worked with local organizations in 30 areas in nine states, including in New Bedford, to study just how many children didn't or couldn't go to school. The 1970 Census had found that nearly 2 million children between 7 and 17 years old were not enrolled. But the census data didn't fully capture the problem. For example, children weren't included in the data if they were expelled for disciplinary reasons or reported as receiving home or alternative education because they were pregnant or had a disability. The Children's Defense Fund wanted to get a better sense of all the barriers that kept children from attending school. Matt Rourke/AP Among other things, the organization found that children with special needs or physical or mental disabilities were being excluded from school. Some parents elected not to send their children to school. Some public schools denied these children admission. At the time, 48 states (including Massachusetts) had compulsory attendance laws but also had statutes exempting children with disabilities. "The exclusion of handicapped children has grown out of the view that they are ineducable," read the Children's Defense Fund's 1974 report. Hillary Rodham is listed as a staff member who worked on this project. Her campaign said she worked on the project in New Bedford in 1973. In 2008, the Boston Globe interviewed Bill do Carmo, then head of the local NAACP, who recalled meeting Clinton in New Bedford. But few others remembered her there, the Globe reported, as researchers were always coming to the city to study its high rates of poverty and school dropouts, especially among Portuguese immigrants. John Markey, the city's mayor from 1972 to 1982, told The Fact Checker that New Bedford contracted with a bus company to provide transportation for children with disabilities. He took issue with Clinton's highlighting the lack of access that New Bedford children faced in the 1970s. The service was already available when he was elected in 1971, and it kept running while he was mayor, Markey said. "It provided for every handicapped child," said Markey, 81, and a lifelong Democrat. "There could be a lot of people who elected not to send their kids to school. But if a child wanted to go to school, we provided transportation." Neither Clinton nor Markey is incorrect, said Jonathan Carvalho, spokesman for New Bedford Public Schools. The school system couldn't track down a bus contract in the 1970s, but Carvalho said it's reasonable to believe that some students with disabilities had access to school transportation, while other children with disabilities stayed at home. It's not unique to New Bedford and is a reflection of the lack of compulsory attendance enforcement, Carvalho said. Thanks to ace researcher Alice Crites, we found contemporaneous news articles confirming that not all children with disabilities in Massachusetts had access to school. In July 1974 - four months after the Children's Defense Fund staffers finished their field research - state newspaper the Lowell Sun published an article about a law set to take effect that September, mandating that all schools provide education to children with special needs. "Technically, most states have required education for some types of handicapped children. The difficulty has been that this legislation was fragmented, dealing with various disabilities separately, and was seldom enforced," the article reads. In September 1978, a Massachusetts law took effect requiring all "mainstream" schools to educate children with disabilities. That was three years after the federal government passed a law requiring all states to educate children with disabilities through the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). --- Based on contemporaneous news coverage and the 1974 Children's Defense Fund report published after the project carrying Clinton's name, it's clear that not all children in New Bedford (and elsewhere in the country) attended school if they had a disability or any other physical or economic barrier. That is not surprising, given that the federal law requiring all states to educate children with disabilities didn't pass until 1975. The former New Bedford mayor acknowledged that not all students with disabilities may have taken advantage of the transportation service the city provided in the 1970s. That essentially renders concerns about the veracity of Clinton's story moot. Based on the information available from the time, there's no reason to doubt Clinton's story of meeting children in New Bedford in 1973 who didn't or couldn't go to school because of a disability. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN -- Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller will not face charges for using taxpayer money on two out-of-state trips that included personal activities, the Houston Chronicle has learned. Travis County prosecutors decided not to press charges over the trips to Oklahoma and Mississippi after getting Miller to refund an additional $498 to the state, according to a memo obtained by the Chronicle. "Our office has determined that criminal intent would be difficult to prove in this case," Assistant District Attorney Susan Oswalt said in the memo to the Texas Department of Public Safety. "Additionally, the total amount spent on the trips was relatively small, the state has been refunded all the money it expended on these trips, and the facts have been made known publicly so that Commissioner Miller is likely to be more careful in the future." The decision frees Miller from legal trouble over the trips, which both took place in February 2015, the Republican's first full month as agriculture commissioner. Miller had said publicly that he had been invited to Oklahoma and Mississippi to meet with officials in those states. In reality, he competed in a rodeo in Mississippi, winning $880 in prize money, and he appears to have obtained a medical injection known as "The Jesus Shot" in Oklahoma. The injection is administered by a convicted felon who says that it takes away all pain for life. Miller refunded most of the at least $2,000 in costs after the trips were revealed by the Chronicle in the spring. He refunded the additional $498 during the course of the investigation by the Department of Public Safety. The agriculture commissioner told investigators that he did not understand how some expenditures were supposed to have been handled and that the personal activities were "incidental to official travel to meet state officials," according to the memo. The Department of Public Safety closed its investigation upon receipt of the memo, spokesman Tom Vinger confirmed. In a statement to the Chronicle, Miller spokesman Mark Loeffler said the agriculture commissioner was "pleased this process is now complete." "Commissioner Miller would also like to thank the Travis County District Attorney and the Texas Rangers for their professionalism and integrity throughout this process," Loeffler said. In light of continued developments, primarily since 2008, there exists in these United States a Legal System which operates on a proved Two Tiered approach to justice rendered, which primarily benefits Democratic Elites and Woke Ideological Virtue Signalers, representing their co-dependent wards, to the expressed exclusion of normal hardworking American citizens: What is your suggestion in remedying this widespread injustice and, if not corrected, its existential outcome for our Constitutional Republic? Complete overhaul of the Department of Justice and their enforcers - the FBI - to reflect a far more honest justice system to keep patriots remaining calm. Disband the FBI, and request that congress investigate all unethical and non patriotic practices to partially right the wrongs of a distrusted and politically weaponized "Department of Justice." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate This presidential campaign season has been filled with plenty of outrageous remarks and the latest political commentary came not from Donald Trump, but his son, Donald Trump Jr. In a tweet on Monday, Trump, Jr., posted a photo of a bowl of Skittles, which read, "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful?" "That's our Syrian refugee problem," the photo concludes. In the accompanying message, he wrote: "This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first." Twitter reacted immediately. Some posted memes and photos mocking the analogy with humor and derision. Others simply posted graphic photos of Syrian children from the news, with the word, "Skittles." The tweet follows the arrest of New York and New Jersey bombing suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, an immigrant from Afghanistan. Rahami was charged with five counts of attempted murder, stemming from a shootout with police officers during his capture Monday morning. Update: Wrigley America, the company that owns Skittles, issued the following statement in response on Tuesday: Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it is an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing. Scroll through the slideshow above to see a variety of reactions to the Skittles tweet from Donald Trump Jr. "Senator Burr's passion for improving the lives of the men and women who have served or currently serve our country in the military is second to none. From authoring the Veterans Choice Program to fighting successfully to bring 19 new VA medical facilities to North Carolina, Senator Burr has led the charge on giving veterans the care they deserve when they return home. That's why it's imperative we fight for him this fall, so he can continue to fight for us in the Senate." The campaign of U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has picked a local resident for a veterans' group. Vietnam veteran and retired Army Sgt. Rodney Cress was one of nine people picked by the Burr campaign to serve on the Veterans for Burr leadership team. The group is the fourth such leadership team named by the campaign. ... Cress penned an online letter this week about the importance of making veterans a priority. The letter includes an endorsement of Burr on veterans issues. "The VA has been marred by gross mismanagement, and Senator Burr has proven he is not afraid to hold their feet to the fire," Cress wrote in his online letter. "As the former ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, he fought to expose the VA health care scandal. And he helped to pass reforms in 2014 that allow veterans to see a doctor of their choosing if they are on a waitlist or live far from a VA facility." "Last week, the Republican senator's campaign announced a "Veterans for Burr" leadership team, comprising 10 retired military officers. The campaign said they support his reelection because he "led the charge" in holding the Veterans Administration accountable for mismanagement, including addressing a national controversy over sick vets' long wait times for medical care. "On a campaign conference call with news reporters on Friday, Pete Hegseth, an infantry officer in the Army National Guard and former head of the Concerned Veterans of America, gushed over Burr's support for veterans while he served as the ranking Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee. Burr gave up that post when he was named chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee last year." Contact: Jesse Hunt Jesse Hunt jhunt@burrforsenate.com Raleigh, NC This week, the Burr campaign continued to roll out important leadership teams that are committed to helping Senator Burr win this fall. Meanwhile, Deborah Ross continued her pattern of silence when it comes to critical matters of national security. On the news of two more former Guantanamo Bay detainees rejoining radical terror groups in the Middle East, Ross-as she customarily does-refused to use this an opportunity to state her position on an issue of consequence, this time being the Obama administration's plans to close GITMO.On Monday, the campaign announced the " Veterans for Burr" leadership team that consists of leading veterans' advocacy figures in North Carolina. Many cited Senator Burr's leading role in holding the VA accountable and his continued efforts to provide veterans with greater choice when it comes to health care. Maj. Gen. Hugh Overholt, Co-Chair of the "Veterans for Burr" leadership team, had this to say about Senator Burr:The campaign also pointed out Deborah Ross' refusal to state whether she believes the specific $400 million cash payment to Iran constituted a ransom payment . Ross also hasn't mentioned whether she continues to support the Iran Nuclear Deal.Retired U.S. Army Sergeant Rodney Cress, a "Veterans for Burr" leadership member and a leading veterans advocate in North Carolina, penned a Medium post on Wednesday in support of Senator Burr. Cress cited Senator Burr's successful fight to bring more VA medical facilities to North Carolina as motivating factor for his support. Cress' hometown paper, the Salisbury Post covered his role on Senator Burr's leadership team:On Thursday, with the news of two former Guantanamo Bay detainees rejoining terror groups in the Middle East, the Burr campaign pointed out that Deborah Ross has no position of record when it comes to the Obama administration's plan to close the prison. North Carolina voters need to know whether Ross believes terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay should be released back into the Middle East and held in U.S. prisons.On Friday, the Burr campaign held a press call with Pete Hegseth, a Fox News contributor and former CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, to highlight the differences between Senator Burr and Deborah Ross on veterans issues and national security. The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. County imposed ban in some areas in attempt to reduce greenhouse gases; opponents cite hardships to elderly, disabled Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs urges colleagues at a Sept. 12 meeting to maintain a ban on drive-up facilities in some parts of the county. (CJ photo by Dan Way) Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs says the county has a duty to help Americans lose weight and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, so he wants to preserve a drive-thru business window ban. Other commissioners say the prohibition is anti-business, and a lawyer for a national law firm fighting for economic liberty agrees.Jacobs said at the county commissioners' quarterly public hearing Sept. 12 at which land use plans for the Hillsborough Economic Development District were discussed.Jacobs and Commissioners Bernadette Pelissier and Penny Rich spoke in favor of keeping the drive-thru prohibition. Commissioners Mark Dorosin, Renee Price, Mia Burroughs, and Earl McKee spoke against the restriction.Dorosin said.Justin Pearson, managing attorney for the Florida office of the Institute for Justice, told Carolina Journal in response to Jacobs' justifications for maintaining drive-thru window bans.Several cities in Canada and the United States have imposed limits on drive-thru facilities, citing a host of reasons, including cutting carbon emissions, reducing obesity, and encouraging more bicycle and pedestrian traffic in central business districts.Pearson said.Pearson said.After extended debate commissioners decided to delay any vote on the matter.County Planning Department staff are reviewing the table of permitted land uses in the Hillsborough Economic Development District in the Interstate 40/Old NC Highway 86 area.The county wants to use quarter-cent sales tax revenue to extend town water and sewer services there, and to update land use and zoning regulations to expand the tax base by luring large-scale commercial, industrial, retail, and residential development on a few hundred acres of property in the immediate future."There is not a countywide ban, within our planning jurisdiction, on drive-thru facilities," said Michael Harvey, county current planning supervisor. "Drive-thru facilities are prohibited from being developed within the various Hillsborough Economic Development Districts, and for properties located within the Efland-Cheeks Highway 70 Corridor Overlay District."The prohibition "is not necessarily connected to a specific land use," Harvey said. Rather, it relates only to the actual facility. As examples, a bank, fast-food restaurant, or pharmacy might be allowed in those development districts, but they would be barred from having a drive-up component.Price raised the drive-thru ban issue, asking if it would apply to the Hillsborough district, which is envisioned to include upscale development, such as technology research and development businesses or a medical park.She said she backs the ban on drive-up businesses. Customers who park their cars and walk into a business minimize "extra pollution" when drive-thru lanes back up. But she is concerned that eliminating drive-thru windows hamper the elderly, disabled, and people with special-needs children, among others.Perdita Holtz, county planning systems coordinator, said the staff was not planning to strike the prohibition.Holtz said, seeking direction from the commissioners. Alternatively, she said, the commissioners could rewrite regulations to allow a business to seek a case-by-case exception to the drive-thru prohibition.Jacobs said the county commissioners denied drive-thru businesses at Buckhorn Village in 2008,Developers eventually withdrew their plans for that mixed-use megamall along Interstate 85 near Mebane.Jacobs said granting exceptions on a case-by-case would be preferable to eliminating the restriction.Rich said.of attempts to reduce the county's carbon footprint, and increase personal health.Pearson warned against that approach, which is widely used by cities in FloridaLarge chains often prevail, he said. Mom-and-pop stores generally do not.Pearson said.he said.Brent Lane, director of the UNC Center for Competitive Economies, told CJ.Orange County commissionersLane said.at the ballot box if they disagree.The Town of Carrboro also has a drive-thru ban. Hillsborough has some areas in town where they are allowed, and some where they are proscribed.Mark Marcopolos told commissioners during Monday's meeting that when he was a member of the county Economic Development Commission in 2010 there was a recommendation to allow drive-thru business features, in conjunction with coordinated education campaigns, signs, and contests warning about pollution from idling cars.Marcopolos said. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Governor McCrory Provides Update on Fuel Situation Press Release: Colonial Pipeline bypass completed; Still several days for fuel flow to return to normal Raleigh, N.C. Governor Pat McCrory announced today that Colonial Pipeline has completed construction and positioning of the bypass pipeline in Alabama, but it will still take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal in North Carolina. "I'm pleased to report that Colonial Pipeline has now completed construction and positioning of the bypass pipeline," Governor McCrory said. "Colonial engineers are testing the pipeline today and upon successful completion, will prepare for a safe restart of the main fuel line. The company says the line should restart tomorrow, but it will take several days for fuel delivery to return to normal in North Carolina." Colonial Pipeline officials discovered a leak in the pipeline in Helena, Alabama where an estimated 252,000 gallons were spilled. As a result, North Carolina is currently receiving about one-third of the state's normal supply of fuel. After the leak, Colonial Pipeline started constructing the bypass line around the leak site and announced today that that bypass line was completed. The governor said his primary focus remains ensuring that our first responders have sufficient fuel to do their jobs. The governor said that several counties in North Carolina have been reporting intermittent fuel outages or low supplies, but that many of the outages are due to people topping off their tanks and extra fill ups. "We've successfully weathered fuel shortages before and we will do it again," Governor McCrory said. "Now is the time to pull together as a state and to conserve fuel when it's possible. We look forward to returning to business as usual in the near future." On Monday, Governor McCrory instructed state agencies to consider options to limit fuel usage, including curtailing non-essential travel for state employees. Today, he also encouraged the private sector and North Carolina motorists to follow the state's example by conserving fuel whenever possible. Achizitie de Servicii Tehnice de creare a plantatiilor forestiere de protectie din cadrul primariei Andrusul de Jos si a primariei Vadul lui Isac, r. Cahul Before Donald Trump disavowed birtherism during a media-enabled infomercial for his hotel on Friday, BuzzFeed was already calling him out. Three lies about birtherism to look out for in Donald Trumps speech, read the title of its preview. The headline of a front-page analysis in Saturdays New York Times used similar language: Trump Gives Up A Lie but Refuses to Repent. The next day, Sunday talk show anchors, including CBSs John Dickerson and CNNs Jake Tapper, similarly called birtherism a lie, the latter in an interview with campaign surrogate Chris Christie, who dutifully insisted Trump hadnt been pushing the conspiracy regularly since 2011. Regular readers know we shy away from using the word lie, The Washington Posts Glenn Kessler wrote soon after, but clearly Christie is either lying or he is so misinformed that he has no business appearing on television. All politicians bend the truth to some extent, though such communications typically earn passive descriptors such as untruths, falsehoods, or the like. The argument is that its impossible for journalists get inside inside a subjects head to gauge intent. With Trump, for example, its difficult to say whether he is actively deceptive or just so shamelessly unprepared that it gives off the tangerine-colored aura of deception. Trump broke that systemyou cant say its a lie because you dont know his motivationswith something that was so blatant there was no other explanation, Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University, says of the birther episode. He blew it up. In a way, it was inevitable that we come to this moment, because there were underlying norms that allowed this system to exist. Among them: That politicians stay within acceptable bounds of verification, while journalists largely refrain from passing judgement on borderline truthfulness. Trumps campaign has pushed the bounds of this understanding with a steady accumulation of innuendo and falsehoods over the past year. His birther lie went over the edge not only because it was demonstrably false, but also for the zeal with which Trump had repeated it contrary to all available evidence. His audacity was akin to when South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford insisted he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, when President Bill Clinton said he didnt have sexual relations with that woman, and when President Richard Nixon claimed he wasnt a crook. You cant say that smoking doesnt harm your health, Rosen says, because then youre insulting the journalist. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Trumps campaign would appear to be an opening for news organizations to add value for their audiences by coming to firmer conclusions on politicians statements. Or, to borrow a phrase often bastardized by outsider politicians, telling it like it is. There is certainly some movement in this direction. The Times published another story in Saturdays paper calling out Trump for a trillion-dollar lie when telling different interest groups different tax policy proposals. As Times Editor Dean Baquet explained in a Quartz interview Tuesday, the newsroom has decided to be more direct in calling things out when a candidate actually lies.It is a real word and we will use it when warranted. Public Editor Liz Spayd, former editor and publisher of CJR, added in a column that lie was warranted in the case of birtherism but should be used rarely. The long-running saga over Barack Obamas birth certificate was clearly a lie, says the Posts Kessler. The first fact-check I did of Donald Trump [at the Post] was about the birth certificateit was 2011.Obviously the more frequently someone says something that is clearly factually false, the stronger the case is that the person should realize that or know they are lying. Digital media that are often more openly opinionated in their news coverage, including The Huffington Post, have embraced the term in describing Trumps campaign. Take the Republicans insistence in a NBC presidential forum this month that he initially opposed the Iraq War, a statement disproven countless times. Whereas the Posts news story and fact check debunked it as a false claim, Vox described it as blatant lying. [Trump] may well have convinced himself he was against the war, and he hasnt bothered to go back and read what he said, Kessler says, allowing Trump the utmost benefit of the doubt. At this point, he should know that theres a lot of dispute about this statement. So when he says it, you could probably make the case that hes lying. You could make a similar case when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton claimed twice this summer that the FBI said that her answers about using a private email server were truthful. Clinton later backpedaled on the statement, which received four Pinocchios from Kessler, by saying she had short-circuited her answer. Clinton similarly acknowledged she made a misstatement in 2008 when falsely describing how she landed under sniper fire in Bosnia in 1996. And so on. But the trick is in weighing the magnitude of Clintons collective truth-bending to that of Trump. The Republican candidate has drawn an unprecedented number of Pinocchios and Pants-on-Fire ratingsboth convey lying, albeit indirectly. Politifact, keeper of the latter designation, even honored Trump with its 2015 Lie of the Year as a sort of a campaign-long achievement award. Since Friday, Trump hasnt clarified when and why he decided Obama is an American citizen. Its almost as if hes caught in a lie thats foundational to his political support. Despite the recent round of liar, liar, however, most mainstream journalists continue to tread lightly. Similar care is taken with labels like racist and sexist, despite the fact that Trump has said many objectively racist and sexist things. They are charged terms, to be sure. But they also connote final judgment: Once a liar, always a liar. Trump hasnt yet crossed mainstream medias thresholds for such terms because those thresholds dont yet exist. His birther lie sparked that conversation en massethe first brick, to speak in Trumps terms, in a wall between truth and deceit. The border will be porous until that big, beautiful project is complete. *Correction: The article originally stated Clinton said she short-circuited during a description of the FBIs findings on her private email server. She actually said she short-circuited the description itself. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti. Hudson Insurance Group Launches New Commercial Excess and Umbrella Unit New York City-based Hudson Insurance Group announced the launch of its new Commercial Excess and Umbrella business. The new unit will provide coverage on a non-admitted basis in all 50 states. Led by Thomas Farrell, the unit will operate on a limited brokerage basis that focuses on small, regional producers. Offering limits up to $5 million, Hudsons target risk appetite includes Manufacturing, Contracting, Habitational, Hospitality, Lessors Risk and Transportation classes of business. Farrell has more than 15 years experience in the commercial excess and umbrella market. He most recently served as regional vice president at Berkley Excess Managers, a W.R. Berkley Company. Prior to this, he led the northeast branch of Admiral Insurance Groups Excess Division. He is based in Stamford, Conn., and reports to Bill Schmidt, senior vice president, Hudson Insurance Group. iovation Acquires LaunchKey iovation, a provider of device-based solutions for authentication and fraud prevention, announced the acquisition of multifactor authentication company LaunchKey. The acquisition of LaunchKey brings together three proven next-generation technologiesLaunchKeys interactive multifactor authentication (MFA), iovations transparent device-based authentication and iovations global fraud database. The move also marks the launch of the new iovation LaunchKey MFA solution, a flexible all-in-one toolkit that gives businesses the right authentication method for every touchpoint in their customers journey, including online, mobile, call center and in-person. Verisk Insurance Solutions Launches New Energy Insurance Unit Verisk Insurance Solutions, a Verisk Analytics business, has launched a new energy insurance unit focused on transforming risk assessment, rating, and risk modeling for the oil and gas, petrochemicals, power generation, and metals and mining industries. Drawingon domain expertise and proprietary data across Verisk businesses, including ISO, AIR Worldwide, and Wood Mackenzie, the unit will develop data analytics solutions available to the global property/casualty insurance industry. Leading the new unit is Elizabeth Casas, who joined Verisk Insurance Solutions this year as managing director of energy and insurance. Casas has significant experience in energy insurance and reinsurance in New York, Houston, London, Colombia, and Mexico, serving most recently as vice president and senior energy underwriter at Swiss Re Houston. She started her career as an engineer at Ecopetrol in Colombia. Understory Offers Messaging to Assist Insurers With Policyholders Understory, Inc., a weather network and analytics company, announced the launch of its messaging platform designed to help insurance companies better engage with their policyholders regarding weather-related insurance claims. The new platform allows insurers to personalize communications with their policyholders with unique real-time, ground-level weather data ensuring that claims are accurate and thus, decreasing the turnaround time on claims resolution. Understorys data is offered on an address-specific basis in cities where their RTi sensors are currently deployed. The geographic specificity of the Understory data is not available from any other weather data platform. The company continues to aggressively roll out additional cities, prioritizing those prone to severe weather. Insurance companies are continuously seeking out innovative ways to provide high value communications to policyholders as part of their digital outreach. The Understory data-driven messaging platform can be integrated within insurers existing digital strategies via an easy-to-use API or deployed as a standalone app. The data provides an accurate account of how conditions are affecting policyholders property as weather events unfold, making it easy for insurers to engage in higher-value interactions with policyholders in a way that is tailored to their unique needs and situations. The makers of prescription painkillers have adopted a 50-state strategy that includes hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids, the drugs at the heart of a crisis that has cost 165,000 Americans their lives and pushed countless more to crippling addiction. The drugmakers vow theyre combating the addiction epidemic, but The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that they often employ a statehouse playbook of delay and defend that includes funding advocacy groups that use the veneer of independence to fight limits on the drugs, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and fentanyl, the narcotic linked to Princes death. The mother of Cameron Weiss was no match for the industrys high-powered lobbyists when she plunged into the corridors of New Mexicos Legislature, crusading for a measure she fervently believed would have saved her sons life. It was a heroin overdose that eventually killed Cameron, not long before he would have turned 19. But his slippery descent to death started a few years earlier, when a hospital sent him home with a bottle of Percocet after he broke his collarbone in wrestling practice. Jennifer Weiss-Burke pushed for a bill limiting initial prescriptions of opioid painkillers for acute pain to seven days. The bill exempted people with chronic pain, but opponents still fought back, with lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry quietly mobilizing in increased numbers to quash the measure. They didnt speak up in legislative hearings. They were going individually talking to senators and representatives one-on-one, Weiss-Burke said. Unknowingly, she had taken on a political powerhouse that spent more than $880 million nationwide on lobbying and campaign contributions from 2006 through 2015 more than 200 times what those advocating for stricter policies spent and more than eight times what the formidable gun lobby recorded for similar activities during that same period. The pharmaceutical companies and allied groups have a number of legislative interests in addition to opioids that account for a portion of their political activity, but their steady presence in state capitals means theyre poised to jump in quickly on any debate that affects them. Collectively, the AP and the Center for Public Integrity found, the drugmakers and allied advocacy groups employed an annual average of 1,350 lobbyists in legislative hubs from 2006 through 2015, when opioids addictive nature came under increasing scrutiny. The opioid lobby has been doing everything it can to preserve the status quo of aggressive prescribing, said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and an outspoken advocate for opioid reform. They are reaping enormous profits from aggressive prescribing. The drug companies say they are committed to solving the problems linked to their painkillers. Major opioid-makers have launched initiatives to, among other things, encourage more cautious prescribing, allow states to share databases of prescriptions and help stop drug dealers from obtaining pills. And the industry and its allies have not been alone in fighting restrictions on opioids. Powerful doctors groups are part of the fight in several states, arguing that lawmakers should not tell them how to practice medicine. While drug regulation is usually handled at the federal level where the makers of painkillers also have pushed back against attempts to impose restrictions ordinary citizens struggling with the opioid crisis in their neighborhoods have looked to their state capitals for solutions. Hundreds of opioid-related bills have been introduced at the state level just in the last several years. The few groups pleading for tighter prescription restrictions are mostly fledgling mom-and-pop organizations formed by families of young people killed by opioids. Together, they spent about $4 million nationwide at the state and federal level on political contributions and lobbying from 2006 through 2015 and employed an average of eight state lobbyists each year. Prescription opioids are the synthetic cousins of heroin and morphine, prescribed to relieve pain. Sales of the drugs have boomed _quadrupling from 1999 to 2010 _ and overdose deaths rose just as fast, totaling 165,000 this millennium. Last year, 227 million opioid prescriptions were doled out in the U.S., enough to hand a bottle of pills to nine out of every 10 American adults. The drugmakers revenues are robust, too: Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin and one of the largest opioid producers by sales, pulled in an estimated $2.4 billion from opioids last year alone, according to estimates from health care information company IMS Health. Thats even after executives pleaded guilty to misleading the public about OxyContins risk of addiction in 2007 and the company agreed to pay more than $600 million in fines. Opioids can be dangerous even for people who follow doctors orders, though they also help millions of people manage pain associated with cancer, injuries, surgeries and end-of-life care. The industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America issued a statement saying, We and our members stand with patients, providers, law enforcement, policymakers and others in calling for and supporting national policies and action to address opioid abuse. And Purdue said: Purdue does not oppose either directly or indirectly policies that improve the way opioids are prescribed, including when those policies may result in decreased opioid use. One of the chief solutions the drugmakers actively promote now are new formulations that make their products harder to crush or dissolve, thwarting abusers who want to snort or inject painkillers. But the new versions also extend the life of their profits with fresh patents, and some experts question their overall effectiveness. A FOCUS ON PAIN TREATMENT An analysis of state records collected by the National Institute on Money in State Politics provides a snapshot of the drugmakers battles to limit opioids. For instance, they show that pharmaceutical companies and their allies ramped up their lobbying and campaign contributions in New Mexico in 2012 as lawmakers considered and ultimately killed the bill backed by Cameron Weiss mother. But one of the drug companies most powerful engines of political might isnt part of the public record a largely unknown network of opioid-friendly nonprofits they help fund and meet with monthly known as the Pain Care Forum, formed more than a decade ago. Combined, its participants contributed more than $24 million to 7,100 candidates for state-level offices from 2006 through 2015, with the largest amounts going to governors and the lawmakers who control legislative agendas, such as house speakers, senate presidents and health committee chairs. Theyve gotten involved in nitty-gritty fights even beyond legislatures. After Washington state leaders drafted the nations first set of medical guidelines urging doctors not to prescribe high doses of opioids in 2007, the Pain Care Forum hired a public relations firm to convince the state medical board that the guidelines would hurt patients with chronic pain. A sizable slice of the drugmakers battles are carried out by pharma-funded advocates spreading opioid-friendly narratives with their links to drug companies going unmentioned or by persuading pharma-friendly lawmakers to introduce legislation drafted by the industry. Two years ago, it was a major patient organization receiving grants from the opioid industry, the American Cancer Societys Cancer Action Network, that led the fight against a measure in Tennessee aimed at reducing the number of babies born addicted to narcotics. And in Maine last year, drugmakers persuaded a state representative to successfully push a bill drafted by the industry requiring insurers to cover so-called abuse-deterrent painkillers, the new forms of opioids that are harder to abuse. Legislatures have begun considering limits on the length of first-time opioid prescriptions. But the new laws and proposals in states including Connecticut and Massachusetts carve out a common exception: They do not apply to chronic pain patients. Drugmaker-funded pain groups, which can mobilize patients to appear at legislative hearings, advocate for the exceptions. Many patients vouch that opioids have given them a better quality of life. Theres such a hysteria going on about those who have died from overdoses, said Barby Ingle, president of the International Pain Foundation, which receives pharmaceutical company funding. There are millions who are living a better life who are on the medications long term. Thats contrary to what researchers are increasingly saying, however. Studies have shown weak or no evidence that opioids are effective ways to treat routine chronic pain. And one 2015 study from a hospital system in Pennsylvania found about 40 percent of chronic non-cancer pain patients receiving opioids had some signs of addiction and 4 percent had serious problems. You can create an awful lot of harm with seven days of opioid therapy, said Dr. David Juurlink, a toxicology expert at the University of Toronto. You can send people down the pathway to addiction. when they never would have been sent there otherwise. A SURPRISING OPPONENT Letting advocacy groups do the talking can be an especially effective tactic in state legislatures, where many lawmakers serve only part time and juggle complicated issues. Lawmakers in Massachusetts, for example, said they didnt hear directly from pharmaceutical lobbyists when they took up opioid prescribing issues this year. But they did hear from a patient advocate with ongoing back pain who works with and volunteers for groups that receive some of their funding from pharmaceutical companies. She also brought in patients to meet with them. A lot of times those legislators, they dont have the ability to really thoroughly look into who these organizations are and whos funding them, said Edward Walker of the University of California Los Angeles, who studies grassroots groups. Nonprofit advocacy groups led the countercharge in Tennessee in 2014 when Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams began work to stanch the flow of prescription painkillers, alarmed by a rapidly rising number of drug-addicted babies, who suffer from withdrawal in their first weeks of life and complications long after they leave the hospital. More than 900 babies had been born addicted in Tennessee the year before, many of them hooked on the prescription opioids their mothers had taken. That number had climbed steadily since 2001, when there were fewer than 100. Whitney Moore and her husband adopted two girls born addicted to prescription opioids and other drugs in eastern Tennessee, and she still remembers her older daughters cries in the hospital, the most high-pitched scream youve ever heard in your life- a common symptom in babies in the throes of withdrawal. Doctors gave Moores infant daughter morphine to ease her seizures, vomiting and diarrhea, and she stayed in a neonatal intensive care unit more than a month. Now 3 years old, she still suffers from gastrointestinal problems and remains sensitive to loud noises. When Williams was mulling potential legislation, doctors told him that part of Tennessees problem was a 2001 law similar to measures on the books in more than a dozen states that made it difficult to discipline doctors for dispensing opioids and allowed clinicians to refuse to prescribe powerful narcotics only if they steered patients to an opioid-friendly doctor. The result, according to the experts Williams worked with, was a rash of prescribing, even for pregnant women. In 2014, Tennessee ranked third in the country for per-capita opioid prescriptions, with roughly 1.3 prescriptions doled out for every person in the state, according to an analysis of prescription data from IMS Health. Williams mission to repeal the law failed that year, and he was shocked by the group that came out in opposition the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the advocacy arm of one of the countrys biggest and best-known charities. Two Cancer Society lobbyists worked against the bill, even though prescribing painkillers for cancer patients is a widely accepted medical practice that would have remained legal. We injected ourselves into the debate because we did not want cancer patients to not be able to have access to their medication, said Theodore Morrison, a lobbyist working for the network that year. The societys annual ranks of about 200 lobbyists around the country have taken similar positions elsewhere, defending rules that some argue encourage extensive prescriptions and opposing opioid measures even if the proposed legislation specifically exempted cancer patients. The Cancer Action Network listed four major opioid makers that provided funding of at least $100,000 in 2015, in addition to five that contributed at least $25,000. Companies that donate such sums get one-on-one meetings with the groups leaders and other chances to discuss policy. The network said only 6 percent of its funding last year came from drugmakers and that its ties to drug companies do not influence the positions it takes. ACS CANs only constituents are cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones nationwide, spokesman Dave Woodmansee said. The network said it advocates for certain measures despite exemptions for cancer because some patients continue to experience pain even after their cancer is gone. ACS CAN teamed up with another group to defend the Tennessee painkiller law the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, an association of doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists and others who treat pain, until recently known as the American Academy of Pain Management. The group promotes access to pain drugs as well as non-pharmaceutical treatments such as acupuncture. Seven of the academys nine corporate council members listed online are opioid makers. The other two are AstraZeneca, which has invested heavily in a drug to treat opioid-induced constipation, and Medtronic, which makes implantable devices that deliver pain medicine. The academys executive director, Bob Twillman, said his organization receives 15 percent of its funding from pharmaceutical companies, not including revenue from advertisements in its publications. Its state advocacy project is 100 percent funded by drugmakers and their allies, but he said that does not mean it is beholden to pharmaceutical interests. We dont always do the things they want us to do, he said. Most of the time were saying, Gosh, yes, there should be some limits on opioid prescribing, reasonable limits, but I dont think they would be in favor of that. Both the academy and the cancer group have been active across the country, making the case that lawmakers should balance efforts to address the opioid crisis with the needs of chronic pain patients. Between them, they have contacted legislators and other officials about opioid-related measures in at least 18 states. In Massachusetts this year, they helped persuade lawmakers to soften strict proposals that would have limited first-time opioid prescriptions to three days worth. They also have weighed in on how often doctors should be required to check prescription-monitoring databases, which can help crack down on prescription-shopping with multiple doctors. The academy reported on its website that, since 2013, its state advocacy network had provided extensive comments on clinician guidelines in New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Indiana and elsewhere; issued action alerts resulting in more than 300 emails and phone calls to more than 80 legislators in 2014 alone; and held teleconferences with more than 100 advocates. Purdue, which gives to both the academy and the cancer network, said it contributes to a range of advocacy groups, including some with differing views on opioid policy. It is imperative that we have legitimate policy debates without trying to silence those with whom we disagree. Thats the American political system at work, the company said in a statement. As for Williams, he tried again last year to repeal Tennessees intractable pain law and won unanimous approval in both houses. The extra year had given Williams and his co-sponsor time to help educate their fellow lawmakers, he said, even though the Cancer Society still opposed the repeal. LOBBYISTS WERE KILLING IT The tried-and-true tactics of lobbying and campaign contributions remain a major plank of the pharmaceutical playbook. In 2014 alone, for instance, participants in the Pain Care Forum spent at least $14 million nationwide on state-level lobbying. Two years earlier facing the threat of limits on opioid-prescribing forum members had upped their number of lobbyists in New Mexico, which is second only to West Virginia in per-capita deaths primarily due to prescription and illegal opioid drugs, according to the most recent federal data available. The aim of the bill Jennifer Weiss-Burke backed was to limit initial prescriptions of opioids for acute pain to seven days to make addictions less likely and produce fewer leftover pills that could be peddled illegally. After her son had left the hospital with his first bottle of Percocet in 2009 at the age of 16, the Albuquerque teen had suffered two more injuries and gotten two more prescriptions. He also took pills he found at his grandparents house. Less than a year later, he started smoking heroin, which costs less than black-market prescription drugs. He repeatedly went into rehab, and just as repeatedly relapsed. In August 2011, his mother found him at home, dead. Weiss-Burke said she didnt realize how dangerous prescription pills could be until her son already had moved on to heroin, a tortuous progression mirrored by the downward spirals of tens of thousands of other people across the country. Heeding concerns from the state medical society, the bills sponsors amended it to allow the boards overseeing doctors and other prescribers to set their own limits. Still, the bill died in the House Judiciary Committee. The lobbyists behind the scenes were killing it, said Bernadette Sanchez, the Democratic state senator who sponsored the measure. Lobbyists for three Pain Care Forum members declined to comment, saying they were not authorized to speak about their clients work. Forum participants had 15 lobbyists registered in New Mexico that year, up from nine the previous year. One was reported to be working out of the office of a high-ranking lawmaker; another was a former lawmaker himself. Pfizer said that its two lobbyists in Santa Fe up from one reflected a change in firms, not an addition, and that the company did not lobby on opioid restrictions. Still, the majority of the judiciary committee received drug industry contributions in 2012. Overall that year, drug companies and their employees contributed nearly $40,000 to New Mexico campaigns roughly 70 percent more than in previous years with no governors race on the ballot. In New Mexico alone, opioid makers spent $32,000 lobbying in 2012 more than double their outlay the year before. Restrictions like the ones considered in New Mexico did not become law anywhere until this year, after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for even tighter restrictions. In 2016, they have been adopted in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island, all with exceptions for patients with chronic pain. THE NEXT FRONTIER Now, pharmaceutical companies are directing their lobbying efforts to their new legislative frontier in the states medicines known as abuse-deterrent formulations. These drugs ultimately are more lucrative, since theyre protected by patent and do not yet have generic competitors. They cost insurers more than generic opioids without the tamper-resistant technology. Skeptics warn that they carry the same risks of addiction as other opioid versions, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration noted that they dont prevent the most common form of abuse swallowing pills whole. This is a way that the pharmaceutical industry can evade responsibility, get new patents and continue to pump pills into the system, said Dr. Anna Lembke, chief of addiction medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and author of a book on the opioid epidemic. Opioid-makers have especially courted attorneys general, who have helped spread tamper-resistant opioid talking points. Since 2006, Pain Care Forum participants have given more than $600,000 in campaign contributions to attorneys general candidates, and another $1.6 million to the Republican and Democratic attorneys general associations. Purdue, with $100,000 in 2015 alone, tied with four other entities for top contributor to the Democratic Attorneys General Association; it was among the top 10 donors to the Republican group, giving more than $200,000. In 2013, Alabamas Republican attorney general, Luther Strange, helped spearhead a letter to the FDA recommending the agency not approve new generic versions of opioids without tamper-resistant technology, which effectively would give the market to brand-name drug companies such as Purdue and Pfizer for several years. In all, 48 attorneys general, including Strange, signed the letter. Strange has received $50,000 in campaign contributions from Pain Care Forum members, more than any other attorney general from 2006 through 2015, with more than $20,000 of that coming from Pfizer. As Attorney General, I will not apologize for my efforts to protect Alabamians from a drug abuse epidemic that is claiming more lives than automobile accidents in my state, Strange said. More than 100 bills related to abuse-deterrent opioids have been introduced in various states thus far, at least 81 of them since January 2015, according to the legislative tracking service Quorum. At least 21 of the recent bills featured nearly identical language, and several of their sponsors said they received the wording from pharmaceutical lobbyists. In Maine last year, a measure that required insurers to cover abuse-deterrent opioids at more favorable rates was introduced at the request of a lobbyist and sailed through the Legislature, after overdose deaths in the state hit a record peak. Insurance lobbyists argued in vain against the measure, saying it would allow drug companies to raise prices and push up insurance premiums. The bills sponsor, Democratic Rep. Barry Hobbins, has a family member struggling with opioid addiction and said he was asked to introduce the bill by a longtime acquaintance who also lobbies for Pfizer. Everyone was trying to figure out a way to do anything they could to address this major health crisis, Hobbins said. I was asked to sponsor that bill because of my personal family issues. Pushing for the legislation was a team effort: Pfizers director of U.S. policy testified in favor of the bill, citing a study that showed it would help curb abuse. But he neglected to say the study was co-authored by employees of Purdue, which also sent a lobbyist to push for the bill. The drugmakers tried similar tactics in New Mexico earlier this year, with less success. Randy Marshall, director of the New Mexico Medical Society, which represents doctors, said he turned down a request from a Purdue lobbyist that he introduce a measure calling for tamper-resistant drugs to be covered by insurers. He said he was told that if he testified, the company would lobby behind the scenes. But the New Mexico Osteopathic Medical Association did help at the request of a Pfizer lobbyist, said the groups executive director, Ralph McClish. In response to a question about its role in that legislation, Pfizer issued a statement that it works with many different stakeholders on areas of mutual interest. A Purdue statement acknowledged that the abuse-deterrent pills wont stop all misuse, but added, They are an important part of the comprehensive approach needed to address this public health issue. The New Mexico measure failed, and McClish said that the perceived self-interest of the drug companies was key to its defeat. People were sitting there going, `Pharma is going to make a lot of money off of these drugs, he said. (Associated Press health writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this article.) Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The State of Oregon has filed lawsuits against people it says were responsible for starting two forest fires. The state filed one suit against a man who is accused of napping while his campfire sparked a 200-acre Southern Oregon blaze, according to the Oregonian/OregonLive. In that case filed against Joe Thurmond Askins, his wife and step-daughter, the state is seeking almost $900,000 to cover the costs of extinguishing the July 2014 fire. The suit accuses them of building the campfire in July 2014 despite a ban in place because of extremely dry conditions. The state also filed a $3.6 million lawsuit against an Eastern Oregon rancher who investigators say negligently drove a utility vehicle across fields of bone-dry grass igniting what became a 2,700-acre wildfire in Grant County in August 2014. According to the second lawsuit, rancher John Lee Habberstad should have known that the exhaust system on his utility vehicle posed a fire hazard. The system reached temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the suit said. None of the defendants listed in this weeks lawsuits could be reached for comment. The Oregon Department of Forestry says about two-thirds of wildfires are started by humans. The other third is caused by lightning. The state is required by law to try to recover wildfire-fighting costs, said Jeff Bonebrake, the departments investigation and cost recovery coordinator. That includes the costs of helicopters, bulldozers and paying and feeding firefighters. Bonebrake said he has more than 100 open cases and most are settled before the state gets to the point of filing lawsuits. Often, settlements are covered by insurance companies, but they also can be paid by individuals, Bonebrake said. The Southern Oregon lawsuit accuses the three campers of building a campfire ring out of rocks in Klamath County. They were on their own private land, but the campfire ban still applied to them, the lawsuit states. The suit says Askins was napping while the other two family members went to a store. Askins reportedly told investigators, Ill take all the blame for the fire, the suit said. In October 2014, Askins was charged in state circuit court with misdemeanor reckless burning. The following month he failed to appear for a hearing, according to court records. A judge issued a warrant for his arrest, which still appears to be active. Askins lives in Nevada with his wife and stepdaughter, according to his court file. He wrote a letter to the Klamath County district attorney a month after the warrant was issued pleading for the case to be dropped. The other lawsuit says Habberstad was a part owner of China Peak Ranch in Grant County and should have known the danger of driving his 2013 Honda Big Red utility vehicle across large portions of the ranch. Dry weeds or grass snagged on the vehicles exhaust system, and smoldering debris fell from the vehicle onto 2-foot-tall grass he drove across, igniting fire, the suit said. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Strongsville Middle School 11.JPG The Strongsville schools proudly opened its brand new Strongsville Middle School last month. Now the district hopes to improve its scores on the state report card. (Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com) BRECKSVILLE, Ohio - Mark Jantzen, president of the Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board, said he was thrilled to learn last week that the district ranked eighth in Ohio on the 2016 state report cards. However, Jantzen was cautious. He said Ohio has changed the tests used to measure student performance three times in three years, making it hard to know how school districts have progressed. "This (report card) is kind of in a vacuum because this is the first time this set of goal posts have been used by the state, so we are still digesting the information," Jantzen told cleveland.com Tuesday. Still, Brecksville-Broadview Heights' achievement is notable. The district met 29 of 29 state standards and received A's in achievement, which measures the percentage of students who passed state tests and how they performed on those tests; overall graduation rate; and four-year and five-year graduation rates. The district also scored A's in the overall value-added category, which measures student progress; value-added for gifted students; value-added for students with disabilities; and for student progress, which takes in all value-added categories. The Brecksville-Broadview Heights district did not receive any F's but was given two D's, one for gap closing, which measures progress of pupils in various demographic groups, including those who are economically disadvantaged and those who are struggling academically; and another for annual measurable objectives, which show how district pupils are achieving compared to state goals. Jantzen said the high ranking doesn't surprise him, given the quality of the district's educators, administrators and parents. "I'm not speaking from a position of arrogance, but that's what our people expect, and what our parents and families expect from us," Jantzen said. "So the grades are rewarding and we're happy with that, but the culture of our district is to examine how we can receive this input, digest it and make improvements." North Royalton City Schools North Royalton met 22 of 29 state standards on the 2016 report card and ranked 10th in Cuyahoga County. Like Brecksville-Broadview Heights and Strongsville, it received straight A's on the three graduation-rate scores. The district also received A's on overall value-added and value-added for gifted students. The district scored B's in achievement, progress and performance index, which calculates student performance on state assessments. It received F's in annual measurable objectives and gap closing, along with two D's - one in valued-added for the lowest 20 percent of the class and another for K-3 literacy. North Royalton schools Superintendent Greg Gurka agreed with Jantzen that it's difficult to measure student progress when state tests continue to change. "I am all for accountability but we need an accountability system that makes sense," Gurka said. "The state has changed the assessments three times in the last three years. To give grades based on that does not make sense to me. "But if this (latest) system is the one we are going to use, then this is the benchmark," Gurka said. "We will work hard to meet that bar or rise above it." Gurka said the D grade in K-3 literacy doesn't accurately reflect student performance in the North Royalton district. "It makes it sound like our students are not achieving, but less than 10 percent of our students in elementary school were deemed not on track," Gurka said. "We have great students and this (state report card) doesn't mean they no longer know how to learn," Gurka said. Strongsville City Schools Strongsville schools met 21 of 30 state standards on the 2016 report card and ranked 13th in Cuyahoga County. The district scored A's in the three graduation-rate categories and B's in overall value-added; value-added for gifted students; and student progress. At the other extreme, the Strongsville district received F's in gap closing and annual measurable objectives, and a D in value-added for students with disabilities. "I'm disappointed with the results for our district but I'm not disappointed with our teachers and administrators who put in so much work to make sure our students receive a high-quality education," said Strongsville schools Superintendent Cameron Ryba. "We take the grades seriously and will work toward meeting (state) standards," Ryba said. Ryba said the state scores are just one factor the district uses to measure student achievement. He added that the F in gap closing is not an unusual grade for other Ohio districts this year. Ryba said the district is proud of its graduation rate. He said 93 percent of the 2016 senior class is now attending a four-year or two-year college. BRUNSWICK --- The Brunswick City Schools' Bright Beginnings Preschool program has been given a five-star rating by the Ohio Department of Education's Step Up To Quality system. "This is the first year we have been a part of it and we received the highest rating," Bright Beginnings intervention specialist, Mandy Codding, said at the Sept. 19 Brunswick Board of Education meeting. Step Up To Quality is a quality rating and improvement system, administered by the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, that recognizes and promotes learning and development programs that meet quality program standards and exceed licensing health and safety regulations. All Early Childhood Education and Preschool Special Education programs funded by the Ohio Department of Education are mandated to participate in Step Up To Quality and are required to achieve a rating of 3, 4, or 5 to maintain state funding. Bright Beginnings Preschool serves approximately 150 students, both special needs and typically developing, with a staff that includes intervention specialists, occupational therapists, and school psychologists. The SUTQ rating, Codding said, was based upon three areas; learning and development, administration and leadership, and family and community partnership. Superintendent Michael Mayell commended the work of the Bright Beginnings staff, roughly a third of which was in attendance at the school board meeting. "This really speaks to the time and dedication of all the preschool staff," Mayell said. School board vice president, Nancy Zelei, agreed, based upon personal experience. "As someone with a child who went through Bright Beginnings, I can say you are outstanding," Zelei said. Online courses approved Board members approved an agreement with Discovery Education Services for digital curriculum services, Science and Social Studies "techbook" packages, and professional development services beginning Sept. 15, 2016 through Sept. 14, 2023. The seven-year contract will cost the district $666,911.60, the balance of which is due on or before Oct. 15, 2021. Board members discussed the agreement at a Sept. 6 work session. District communications director, Amy Rutledge said the program is expected to be rolled out by the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. PSAT schedule Oct. 19 The board also approved a request from the Brunswick High School administration for an altered school day Oct. 19. All freshman, sophomore and junior students will take the PSAT from 7:25 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. that day, with buses taking students home at 12:45 p.m. Seniors are not required to attend on the altered school day. High school field trips Board members approved two field trips in November for high students. Twenty-eight Brunswick High School yearbook staff students and three district chaperones will visit the Jostens printing plant in Nashville, Tennessee Nov. 6 through Nov. 8. Mayell called the trip a unique and exciting opportunity for the students and board president, Richard Nowak pointed out that the trip comes at no cost to the board. BHS juniors will participate in the High School College Knowledge Field trip to six Ohio universities Nov. 7 through 9, again at no cost to the board. "This is the second year we are doing this and feedback from the students has been wonderful," Mayell said. Roughly 26 students participated in the program last year, Mayell said. Nowak said the trip is particularly beneficial to students since it includes tours of a wide range of campuses, both large and small. Valerie Thompson Cleveland police officer Valerie Thompson, right, pleaded not guilty to felony obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence charges in Cleveland Municipal Court Monday, May 23, 2016. Thompson, shown here next to her attorney, Henry Hilow, is accused of ordering the deletion of video that showed an April assault at a West Park bar while she was working off-duty. (Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com) This story was updated in March 2020 to remove an identity under cleveland.coms Right to be Forgotten policy. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland police officer accused of covering up a bar fight by deleting video and leaving details out of a police report now faces additional felony charges. A grand jury indicted Cleveland police officer Valerie Thompson Friday on two additional counts of tampering with evidence, adding to existing tampering and dereliction of duty charges. Prosecutors say Veronica Thompson stood idly by April 2 as a bouncer got in a fight with a patron at West Park Station. Thompson was working an off-duty security shift at the bar and filed a police report that named a patron as the lone assailant. She wrote that the patron turned without provocation and punched the bouncer, as staff prepared to close the bar around 2 a.m. The patron was charged with felonious assault for delivering a punch that broke a bouncers nose, but prosecutors later charged Thompson for ordering someone to delete video that apparently showed that the bouncer Kevin Brenis attacking Heben. A grand jury initially indicted Thompson in May. She pleaded not guilty. Along with the new charges against Thompson, Brenis was also indicted on charges of tampering with evidence, tampering with records and misdemeanor assault. The grand jury also indicted the patron for misdemeanor assault and named him as a victim. Its the first time patron has been charged at the county level for his suspected involvement with the bar fight. The original tampering case case is set for trial Oct. 19, however it will likely be dropped or merged into the new charges. All parties are scheduled to be arraigned on the newly indicted charges on Sept. 30. If youd like to comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comment section. Bill aims to head off battle over dredging Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has again sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over dredging of the the Cuyahoga River shipping channel. (Plain Dealer file photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Ohio Attorney General's Office on Monday filed a new lawsuit asking a federal judge to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the Cleveland Harbor and Cuyahoga River shipping channel this year, after the judge refused their request on technical grounds. The new lawsuit was filed a week after U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent in Cleveland ruled that the state's request to force the Army Corps to dredge this year could not be brought within a lawsuit it filed against the Army Corps in 2015. He said he ruled this way because the new request pertains to events and claims not brought within the first lawsuit. The latest lawsuit's demands are similar to those brought in the 2015 lawsuit. The Army Corps has said it wants to dump the Cuyahoga River sediment in the Lake Erie and contends that it is not toxic. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says dumping the sediment in the lake would prove harmful to the lake's ecosystem and is demanding that the sediment be removed from the river and dumped in a disposal facility. The Army Corps says it should not have to foot that bill, which would be substantially higher than dumping the dredged materials into the lake. The new lawsuit says the Army Corps was also wrong to cut the budget for the Cleveland dredging project. A Senate investigations committee co-chaired by Ohio Sen. Rob Portman is investigating Army officials' actions. The Army Corps has dredged the harbor nearly every year for the past 80 years. It would have dredged in May during a typical year, though low rainfall and high lake levels have not made it necessary. Even though the shipping channel is largely passable, some freight carriers have reported difficulty passing through parts of the channel. Port officials have said rain storms could push more sediment into the channel land render it unnavigable. Nugent in May 2015 issued a scathing opinion that forced the Army Corps to dredge that year. He also presides over the new lawsuit. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A private Rocky River Montessori school agreed Tuesday to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit with the U.S. Justice Department after the mother of a student accused the school of kicking out her son with autism. Under the settlement agreement, Ruffing Montessori School agreed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and make changes to its nondiscrimination policies to ensure that reasonable accommodations are made for any student with a disability. The school agreed to train staff on how to educate children with disabilities. It will report to the Justice Department for three years on its handling of applications from students with disabilities, requests for modifications for disabled students and on students with disabilities who leave the school. Ruffing has also agreed to pay $45,000 in damages to three families of those who say they were kicked out of the school because of a child's learning disabilities. Rebekah McClelland, a Cleveland Heights woman who first brought the lawsuit, said Tuesday that $40,000 of that amount will go to her family. The school will also pay a $3,000 fine. Settlement talks between the school and Justice Department have been ongoing for months. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster must sign off on the settlement before it is final. McClelland filed suit in September 2015. She said the school told her that her autistic son, 11-year-old Manny DeJesus IV, could not return because class sizes were too large to accommodate his needs. The Justice Department intervened in the case in March on behalf of DeJesus and two other children. "This settlement protects the rights of students with disabilities to access the educational opportunities offered by private schools, including Montessori schools," U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon said in a statement. "This settlement is an important reminder that the ADA's obligations extend to private schools and their treatment of students with disabilities." Ruffing issued a statement Tuesday afternoon that says it denies the allegations made in the lawsuit. The settlement agreement also says that the school maintains it did not discriminate against any child because of a disability. "We have chosen to settle the lawsuit to avoid protracted and expensive litigation and to minimize distractions for our faculty, students, alumni and families who have all been incredibly supportive of our mission during this difficult time," the statement says. McClelland moved to Cleveland Heights so her children could attend the Lillian and Betty Ratner School, a private school in Pepper Pike. She said in an email Tuesday that she was pleased with the changes the school has agreed to make. "I am thrilled at the opportunity this opens up in the Rocky River area for children who aren't typical thinkers and doers," McClelland said. "And finally, I am beyond excited to get back to my life with my two boys." This story has been updated to clarify McClelland's feelings on the settlement. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section. Montana has the distinction of ranking No. 2 in the nation for auto versus deer, elk or moose collisions, according to a report by State Farm insurance company based on the number of claims filed. State Farm calculated the odds at 1 in 58 that a Montana driver will collide with one of the large ungulates and file an insurance claim for damage. West Virginia took the top spot in the United States with a 1 in 41 chance of an auto striking a deer. Coming in third was Pennsylvania with a 1 in 67 chance. Wyoming moved up to No. 8 in this years statistics with a 1 in 85 chance. According to State Farm the national average cost per claim for 2015-2016 was $3,995.08, down just slightly from $4,135 in 2014-2015. We know there is an increased risk of collision with deer around dawn and dusk, and also during the October-December breeding season, said Chris Mullen, director of Technology Research at State Farm, in a press release. However, drivers should be engaged, alert and on the lookout at all times, because you never know when you may need to react to a deer or any other obstacle that may suddenly be in your path. Montana has about 400,000 fewer licensed drivers than West Virginia. The high incidence of wildlife versus auto collisions in Montana came as no surprise to Lori Ryan, a public information officer for the Montana Department of Transportation. She said that Highway 83, which divides the Swan and Mission mountain ranges in northwestern Montana, is well known for its excess of wildlife versus automobile collisions. The evidence is also found in the number of carcasses that MDT crews pick up along the state's highways. Between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2014, more than 29,500 animals were picked up. The majority were taken from along Interstate 90, more than 4,000, followed by Highway 2 across the northern tier of the state and Highway 93 near Missoula. More than 21,000 white-tailed deer were counted in the tally. The high number of such large wildlife killed on Montana roadways prompted a legislator to carry and pass a bill that took effect in 2013, allowing people to pick up the animals their autos have struck to try and save some of the meat for consumption. The roadkill law requires those folks to log on to a computer to acquire a permit for the meat. In the first year, more than 180 people claimed roadkill, based on the number of permits issued. That figure climbed to more than 1,000 in 2014, more than 1,200 by 2015 and already almost 480 so far this year. In each year more than half of the permits were issued for white-tailed deer, followed by a close tie for second between mule deer and elk. Moose have accounted for just over 100 of the tags in the entire time period, 2013-2016. Some lawmakers and game wardens were worried that when the bill was passed it would encourage drivers to try and strike wildlife to claim the carcass. But even with a stout grill guard or bumper, Bob Barthel of Rocky Mountain Truck in Billings wouldnt encourage such an act. Those grill guards can only take so much, he said. The company gets a lot of references from body shops after someone hits a deer and is looking to beef up their vehicle before another accident. The guards start at around $500 and go up, he said, much cheaper than replacing the front end of a car or truck if State Farms calculations are accurate. In the Billings area, Highway 78 between Columbus and Absarokee, as well as Highway 212 between Laurel and Red Lodge are known for a high number of deer versus auto collisions. Both areas harbor plenty of white-tailed deer, the primary victims. That prompted Stillwater Mining Co., which operates shuttles to its Nye-area mine, to equip its vehicles with stronger front-end protection, Barthel said. The primary time of year that vehicles collide with wildlife are the months of November, October and December, all months when deer especially bucks are moving more during their annual mating season. MarijanawithClient.jpeg Marijana Bosiljcic is one of the refugees featured in Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland's film series, "From Refugee to Neighbor: Enriching Cleveland's Workforce." Bosiljcic is an employee of Bella Capelli Sanctuario salon. Photo - Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland (Nikki Delamotte, cleveland.com) FILM PREVIEW From Refugee to Neighbor: Enriching Cleveland's Workforce Thursday, Sept. 22, 6 p.m. Rade Dining Hall on the St. Ignatius Campus CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The value Cleveland refugees bring to the economy will take center stage in a new series of five short documentaries by local filmmakers. "From Refugee to Neighbor: Enriching Cleveland's Workforce" will be shown at a free public screening on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 6 p.m. at the Rade Dining Hall on the St. Ignatius Campus. Filmmakers include Robert Banks, Chelsie Corso, Jake Hochendoner, Chris Langer and Babaak Parcham. The film series was commissioned by Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland (RSC), a group of organizations that have joined forces to place more than 1,000 refugees on new career paths. Each film follows a different subject. The series, now in its second year, will focus on the diversity and talent that refugees can add to the workplace. "We want to show people that refugees are here legally, they want to be part of the community and many bring solid skill sets that can be used in business and industry here," says Janus Small, a facilitator to RSC. Cleveland is expected to welcome nearly 1,000 refugees in 2016. As resettlement rates continue to rise, employers and agencies look to ways that job opportunities can fuel the local economy. From employees to entrepreneurs, the films tell the stories of refugees at different points in their careers. Marijana Bosiljcic's boss at Bella Capelli Sanctuario salon in Westlake describes her as having "discipline beyond measure." Anees Alnaseri built a successful tool-and-die manufacturing company in Willoughby. Though they work in vastly different industries on opposite sides of the city, one common thread binds them: They're both refugees. "In Marijana's film, she talks about how she's so alone, and once she's went to work, it's given her connections," says Small. "Her customers have become like family. She's growing and thriving in the country." The films not only follow refugees working in Cleveland, but employers who have invested in hiring refugees as well. National Safety Apparel and Oatey Company are among the companies prominently featured. RSC's own study, released in 2012, found that refugee resettlement in Cleveland generated $48 million in total annual economic activity that year, supported 650 jobs in Cuyahoga County and spawned nearly $2.8 million in taxes for state and local authorities. After the preview screening, RSC's goal is to have the films screened throughout the community. "I'm hoping the audience see what assets refugees are in our community and any myths they have will be dispelled," says Small. "The films show refugees are people just like you and me who live, work and volunteer in our neighborhood." Preview Marijana Bosiljcic's feature "Crossing the Bridge" by local filmmaker Chelsie Corso. Crossing the Bridge from Chelsie Corso on Vimeo. watercrib.jpeg The Cleveland Water Department obtains drinking water for its 1.4 million customers from Lake Erie. Among the nation's water systems serving more than 1 million customers, Cleveland's water contained the 15th highest concentration of Chromium 6, according to a study released Wednesday. (Lisa DeJong/Plain Dealer file photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - Drinking water tainted with a cancer-causing toxin made famous by the environmental activist Erin Brockovich was found in all but one of the 30 water systems in Northeast Ohio, according to a report released today. The Environmental Working Group, a health research and advocacy organization, said its report marked the first time widespread contamination by Chromium 6 had been documented in the drinking water of more than 200 million Americans in every state in the U.S. None of the levels of Chromium 6 found in the water tested exceeded California's legal limit of 10 parts per billion. But many of the samples tested in Northeast Ohio and throughout the country exceeded the 0.02 parts per billion considered safe by public health scientists in California, New Jersey and North Carolina, the study found. Erin Brockovich continues to work as an advocate on behalf of environmental causes. Of all the water systems in Northeast Ohio, only Streetsboro's, which services a population of 13,347, tested negative for Chromium 6 in four tests in 2015, according to the study. An interactive map of Chromium 6 test levels in Ohio and the entire country can be found here. Lorain County's water had the lowest amounts of Chromium 6 with an average of 0.0891 parts per billion, the report said. The six water systems in Cuyahoga County averaged 0.108 parts per billion of Chromium 6 in 20 tests conducted from 2013-2015, and never exceeded 0.39 PPB. Other Northeast Ohio water tests included: Summit County (five water systems) 0.0757 PPB average, with a high of 1.4 PPB in Cuyahoga Falls in June 2015; Medina County (four water systems) 0.131 PPB average, with a high of 0.350 in Northwest Medina County in November 2014; Lorain County (seven water systems) 0.0891 PPB average, with a high of 0.20 PPB in Avon in June 2013; Lake County (four water systems) 0.114 PPB average, with a high of 0.240 PPB at the Eastern Lake County facility in September 2014; Portage County (four water systems) 0.312 average, with highs of 1.13 PPB and 1.0 PPB at two sites in Ravenna in August 2015. Among the nation's water systems serving more than 1 million customers, Cleveland's water contained the 15th highest concentration of Chromium 6 with an average of 0.102 PPB, according to the study. Columbus was 9th highest with 0.207 PPB. Phoenix had the highest amount in the country, by far, with 7.853 PPB. Jason Wood, chief of public affairs at the Cleveland Water department, said he had not seen the report. But he noted that the city's drinking water meets and exceeds all state and federal standards established by the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Ohio EPA. "The safety of our customers is our top priority," Wood said. "As such, we continuously monitor and test our raw and finished water to ensure that what we deliver is safe, quality water that meets and exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards." Chromium 6 is widely used in dyes, paints, inks, and plastics. It also is used in metal plating, stainless steel production, wood preservation, and textile manufacturing, and is contained in the ash from coal-burning power plants. California is the only state with a standard for Chromium 6. The law was passed after Erin Brockovich won a $333 million settlement in 1996 on behalf of the 600 residents of Hinkley, Calif., which has the highest level of Chromium 6 in groundwater in the country. A movie based on the case was released in 2000. Hinkley's ground water contained concentrations as high as 580 PPB, more than 10 times California's drinking water standard of 50 PPB. The national standard is 100 PPB. "This is quite shocking, to be honest," Brockovich told Newsweek. She has dealt with issues involving Chromium 6 for 25 years, and said she knew "it was always lurking around," but she was unaware the problem was this widespread. "It's inexcusable that the government has done so little to protect us from this chemical that has been shown to cause cancer at even insanely low levels," Brockovich told the Environmental Working Group. In 2008, a two-year study by the National Toxicology Program found that drinking water with Chromium 6 caused cancer in laboratory rats and mice. In 2010, scientists in California, New Jersey and North Carolina concluded that drinking water with even tiny amounts of Chromium 6 could cause cancer, and they recommended public health goals of 0.02 parts per billion. Those were the only three states to pursue the reduced limits. The 0.02 PPB "public health goal" is the level below which California's state scientists believe there is no more than a one-in-a-million risk of a person developing cancer over their lifetime. The U.S. EPA subsequently ordered local water companies to begin testing for Chromium 6. From 2013-2015, the utilities collected more than 60,000 samples, and found Chromium 6 in more than 75 percent of them. The Environmental Working Group used the data to compile its report. Based largely on the new cancer findings, California and U.S. EPA officials are reevaluating what Chromium 6 concentrations should be considered safe in drinking water. California is expected to propose new health guidelines soon. But the Environmental Working Group fears the EPA may bow to pressure from industry and do nothing. Cleaning up water contaminated with Chromium 6 will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, the group says. "But the answer to high costs is not allowing exposures at unsafe levels while pretending water is safe," the group concluded. "Instead, the EPA and state regulators must set drinking water standards to protect the public ... and Chromium 6 polluters must be held accountable and pay their shares of cleanup costs." KevinKelley.JPG Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley told members of City Council on Monday that he is still interested in the potential for a merger with impoverished East Cleveland. But several important questions must be answered first. (Plain Dealer file photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley said Monday that he must figure out how to go about studying the pros and cons of annexing impoverished neighbor East Cleveland -- without locking Cleveland into a plan to do so. During a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday, Kelley told his colleagues that the city must be certain it wants to move forward with a merger before formally expressing that interest through legislation, because after that, Cleveland can no longer opt out. Here is what you need to know about where the two cities stand on the annexation question: East Cleveland hits reset button East Cleveland City Council last month hit the reset button on its so-far botched attempt at initiating a merger with Cleveland. During an emergency council meeting, members voted to adopt new legislation appointing three representatives to a commission empaneled to negotiate the annexation. The ordinance replaces one passed earlier this summer, which was tied to an ill-advised list of conditions that Kelley rejected out of hand as "a non-starter." What happens next? After a brief public notice and comment period, East Cleveland will deliver the legislation to Cleveland City Council. Per the Ohio Revised Code, council members then will have 30 days to decide if they also will pass legislation appointing three panelists to the commission. If the 30 days lapse, the initiative must start over with the circulation of new signature petitions. If council does act, however, the cities are locked in - committed to submitting some kind of plan for annexation. Failure to do so would warrant a judge's intervention, Kelley told his colleagues Monday. The commission would have 120 days to draft the terms of the merger that East Cleveland voters would consider. Cleveland City Council members would then either vote to adopt the plan or send the issue to the ballot. What's the hold-up? Kelley said three principles will guide Cleveland in its decision on whether to pursue the merger: There must be a funding source available - preferably from the state -- to cover East Cleveland's capital needs. The suburb's millions of dollars in liabilities - which include debt, court judgments and settlements - must be resolved. The merger must not harm Cleveland's current residents, or the level of service they receive, in any way. So far, Kelley said, he has received no reassurances on any of those concerns. How will Cleveland figure it out? Kelley said he does not believe 30 days - or even 120 days, for that matter - will be enough time to determine the cost of addressing East Cleveland's problems with infrastructure or who would pay for them. So it's likely that Cleveland will let the 30 days lapse and revisit the idea when the questions are answered. In the meantime, Kelley said, he would like to assemble a committee made up of engineers, lawyers and municipal finance experts to dive into East Cleveland's assets and liabilities before council formally appoints commission members and commits the city to an annexation plan. How do other council members feel about where the issue stands? Some members present at Monday's meeting said they still support annexation and see the benefit to both cities. Others, including Councilmen Michael Polensek and TJ Dow, passed along constituents' concerns that a merger would siphon resources and services from Cleveland neighborhoods. Councilman Matt Zone said council should be "laser-focused" on the November election and a ballot that includes a school levy renewal, a proposed city income tax increase and a City Charter amendment related to police reform. All agreed that council should take its time exploring the merger. Cleveland woman shot in abandoned building Cleveland police are investigating after a woman was shot in an abandoned building on the city's East Side. (Adam Ferrise, cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland Heights man is accused of shooting a prostitute several times in a vacant home after they got into an argument over who would take the last few crumbs of their crack cocaine, according to court records. Paul White, 27, is charged with felonious assault. He is not in police custody and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The 45-year-old woman has been convicted of prostitution charges yearly from 2011 to 2015 and once in 2008. Neighbors said she lives in the home and often takes clients from a nearby motel to a vacant building on Euclid Avenue and Urbana Road. The woman met White about 8:30 a.m. Friday in front of the same motel, police reports say. The two bought crack cocaine on Euclid and Alcoy Road from a drug dealer whose street name is B-Murder, police said. They drove back to the vacant building to smoke it, according to police reports. White asked the woman if he could take the leftover crack with him when he left and she refused, police said. White pulled out a handgun and shot her three times, once in the chest, knee and left elbow, police reports say. White ran to his car and drove off. Police and emergency medical workers found the woman bloodied in home and yelling for help, neighbors said. To comment on this story, visit Monday's crime and courts comments section. Demetrion Gross CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man accused of shooting his girlfriend three times Sunday after an argument that started over a cellphone was convicted in 2002 in another shooting. Demetrion Gross, 37, is now being held in a Cleveland jail cell on $500,000 bond on a felonious assault charge. Police say Gross got into an argument with his 34-year-old girlfriend over a cellphone at their house on Ridgeton Drive. The argument escalated, and Gross pulled a pistol and shot her several times in an upstairs bedroom, police said. Gross drove away from the scene and was arrested in a car about a mile from the home. Gross did not enter a plea in court Tuesday. His case will be presented to a grand jury. Gross has a criminal history that dates to 1999, when the then-21-year-old was sentenced to two years probation after on attempted felonious assault, endangering children and carrying a concealed weapon charges. He was pleaded guilty in 2002 shooting and spent three years prison. In 2007, a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority police officer spotted Gross sleeping in the passenger seat of a running car in the back of a housing complex. The officer parked behind the car, blocking him into the spot, and walked up to the window. He later learned Gross had a warrant out for his arrest on a gun charge and took him into custody. Gross set off a metal detector at the county jail several times, but officers could not find what was setting the machine off, records say. He then asked to use the bathroom, and jail security later found a loaded .380 pistol in the bathroom that he used, according to court records. He later admitted that the gun was his. He was charged federally and sentenced to 15 years in prison for being a career criminal possession of a firearm. He appealed, and the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found in 2011 that the officer did not have probable cause to block the vehicle into the spot and begin an investigatory stop, because there was no evidence that a crime was being committed. The judges ruled prosecutors could not use the gun as evidence against Gross, and sent the case back to the U.S. District Court for re-sentencing. Federal prosecutors dismissed the charges against Gross, after he had already spent three years in custody, and he was released. He was arrested in 2013 on a drug possession charge and sentenced to 6 months in prison, and arrested again in 2015 on drug trafficking charges. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and court comment page. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 23-year-old man beat a bystander unconscious and struck another with a bar stool during a violent fight at a West Side pub earlier this month, police said. Eugene Smith and a second, unidentified man "attacked anyone within striking distance" on Sept. 5 after bartenders tried to kick them out of Kelley's Pub on Lakewood Heights Boulevard, according to court records filed Monday. Smith is wanted on a felonious assault charge after Cleveland police got an anonymous tip from a person who named him a suspect in the attack, court records say. Smith and the man got into a heated argument at the bar, police said. Employees and customers at the bar tried to calm the men, police said. Bar employees told the man to leave when they remained irate. Smith and the other man exploded in a fit of violence, records say. They attacked a customer and knocked him unconscious, and as another customer came to help the wounded man, they beat him with a bar stool, records say. The assailants continued to beat both customers before they eventually ran from the bar. Police got an anonymous call in the days after the attack. The caller identified Smith. They took a photo lineup to employees and customers who witnessed the attack, and they identified Smith, records say. Smith is currently on probation for a 2014 burglary and attempted grand theft conviction where he stole $20,000 worth of items from a woman's home in Cleveland. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and court comment page. uakron2.JPG The fourth University of Akron administrator hired by former President Scott Scarborough is leaving. (Karen Farkas, cleveland.com) AKRON, Ohio- The fourth high-level administrator hired by former University of Akron President Scott Scarborough is leaving. Jeff Hoffman, founding director of the Experiential Learning Center for Entrepreneurship and Civic Engagement, submitted his resignation and will leave Sept. 30. The Chicago entrepreneur who served on the founding team of Priceline.com was paid $190,000 a year. The center connects students to internships, cooperative work assignments, service learning opportunities and entrepreneurial activities. The university has not said if Hoffman's position will be filled. The school is developing a plan of action, it said in a statement. "We appreciate all that Jeff did in launching the EX[L] Center and we wish him well going forward," interim UA President Matt Wilson said in a statement. Hoffman was hired in 2015 by Scarborough as part of his plan to transform UA into a "Great Public University" and Ohio's Polytechnic University. Scarborough resigned May 31. Since then nearly all of his administrative hires have announced they are leaving or have been asked to leave. Here's who else has left: Todd Rickel: In July the university terminated without cause the contract of Rickel, vice provost and dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology. Rickel was placed on paid leave for four months and relieved of all duties, the university said. He was paid $295,000 a year. Lawrence Burns: Burns, former vice president of advancement, reached an agreement in July with trustees to leave. He was paid $285,000 a year. Mario Garzia: Garzia, executive director of the Center for Data Science, Analytics and Information Technology, announced in August that he would resign effective Dec. 9. Garzia, a UA alum and former Microsoft executive, was hired by former president Scott Scarborough in 2015 to lead one of two new centers. Garzia earns $295,000 a year. Two of Scarborough's hires remain at UA: Lakeesha Ransom, vice provost and dean of the Honors College, and Godfrey Ovwigho, chief information officer. Scarborough hired both from the University of Toledo, where he worked prior to becoming UA president in 2014. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A doctor gave a then-16-year-old Brandi Bradley her first prescription for pain pills in 1996 after she was diagnosed with chronic pain and depression following the birth of her first child. "They prescribed her Vicodin, Xanax and Ambien," her sister Karrie Bradley said. "We're talking about a 16 year old." Within a year, she was an addict. When doctors stopped prescribing her pills, she bought them on the street. When the street drugs became too expensive, she switched to heroin. Two weeks after her son graduated from high school, on June 30, 2015, he found her lying face down on the bathroom floor. She wasn't breathing. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at the age of 34. She also left behind a 5-year-old daughter who just finished kindergarten. Brandy Bradley was one of 228 people in Cuyahoga County to die from an overdose heroin, fentanyl or a combination last year, according to the Cuyahoga County medical examiner. Her death also underscores that many of the people dying amid northeast Ohio's worst drug epidemic leave behind a generation of children who experience their parents' battle with addiction first hand. "It's the children left behind that are hurt the most," her sister said. "The children who go through it and see this progressing, being scared and knowing one day their mother is not going to come back from that bathroom." Brandi's story Brandi Bradley was the middle child of three girls. She made friends, but often struggled with feeling loved, Karrie Bradley said. Middle school classmates teased her about her weight, and she desperately sought the attention of boys, her sister said. Brandi Bradley got pregnant when she was 15 years old, and gave birth to her son at an age when most of her peers were learning to drive. She was later diagnosed with fibromyalgia and depression. The new mother, then 16, left her doctor's office after her diagnoses with a prescription for Vicodin for the pain, Xanax for her depression and Ambien to help her sleep. She got hooked on the drugs within a year, her sister said. Brandi Bradley's moods became erratic when she was off the drugs, and she often spoke of how her world was dark and meaningless. When she was on them, everything seemed perfect, her sister recalled. Brandi Bradley dropped out of school and eventually got her GED. The only jobs she could get involved a lot of standing, and the pain was too much to bear. She lived with her mother and younger sister well into adulthood. Crackdown leads to other sources Officials nationwide began cracking down on prescription drugs amid widespread abuse in the 2000s. Brandi Bradley's doctors started to ween her off her medication, but it was too late, Karrie Bradley said. Her sister was already addicted. Like most painkiller addicts, Brandi started to "doctor shop" -- when she ran out of pills before the doctor would give her a refill, she would find another doctor and get a new prescription. State regulators created a tracking system to prevent that practice, so she began buying the drugs from friends and on the street. When law enforcement started going after street dealers, the street price of the drugs soared to almost $50 a pill. A friend told Brandi Bradley that a day's worth of heroin went for just $20, so she made the switch. The final dose About the time she started using heroin, Brandi and Karrie Bradley's mother died unexpectedly in her sleep. About a year later, Karrie Bradley moved out of the house and in with her fiance, leaving Brandi Bradley alone with her children. Three months later, Brandi Bradley's 18-year-old son found her lying face-down in the bathroom. She took fatal cocktail of heroin, anti-depressants and sleeping pills, and she wasn't breathing. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She was 34. Like many family members who've lost someone to addiction, Karrie Bradley looks back and asks herself what she could have done differently. The decision to move out and move on with her life still haunts her. "Sometimes I wonder, if I hadn't gone on and done me, would this have happened?" Karrie Bradley said, crying. Parents lost in addiction Brandi Bradley's path to addiction highlights the unintended consequences of both the overprescribing of painkillers in the 1990s and the subsequent efforts to curtail the problem in the 2000s. But her story also highlights addictions' frightening power to convince parents who love their children to flirt with their own death every day. Officials in East Liverpool sparked national controversy last week by making public photographs of an overdosed couple in the front seat of a car as a toddler sat in the backseat. Many people who saw the photographs castigated the addicts and questioned harshly how any loving parent could use drugs around their child. But Karrie Bradley saw the same grip on her sister. She could see that Brandi Bradley loved her children. But no matter how much her kids showed her that they loved her back and they needed her, it wasn't enough to kick her addiction, Karrie Bradley said. Her sister's addiction, coupled with her depression, were too much for her sister to overcome. "The only thing she thought that understood her was the heroin," she said. She said she hopes her sister's story inspires just one parent to seek out recovery services. "The hurt that the addict feels if they do have children, magnify that by a million, because when you don't wake up that one time, that's exactly how your babies are going to feel," she said. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Icebreaker, Ohio's promising offshore wind-energy project, is moving ahead as evidenced by recent foundation work being carried out in Lake Erie. Tom McNeilan, an engineering consultant hired to analyze the lake bed, believes that in the past two years the Icebreaker project has gone from something that "could happen" to a something that "will happen." The project calls for six turbines to be built in Lake Erie eight to 11 miles from the Cleveland harbor. Developers recently received a huge boost when the U.S. Department of Energy extended a $40 million grant for the project's design and construction. Construction is not expected to begin until 2018. The project still needs approval from the Ohio Power Siting Board, said Lorry Wagner, president of the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., or LEEDCo. Developers of any "major utility" or "economically significant wind farm" in the state must obtain a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need from the siting board, according to the board's website. If all goes according to plan, LEEDCo expects to hand over the project to Fred.Olsen /renewables USA, a Cleveland-based subsidiary of a Norwegian wind developer. Fred.Olsen will provide additional equity and secure private financing, Wagner said. Wagner said Cleveland Public Power and others have committed to buy a majority of the power that Icebreaker would generate. During a recent boat ride into the lake, I witnessed McNeilan and a team from TDI-Brooks International of Texas taking a soil sample from the lake bed. That sample and others will be used to determine the best route for the cable that will be buried beneath the lake bed and connect the wind turbines to the Cleveland Public Power substation on North Marginal Road, just east of Burke Lakefront Airport. McNeilan, who is leading the investigation of the lake bed for LEEDCo, has done similar work all over the world. While working for Fugro, a Dutch-based multinational company, he lead a team that studied the seabed prior to the construction of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, he said. This video is the latest installment in cleveland.com's series entitled Impact 2016: The path to green energy. For more stories and videos in the series, click here. lakewood-mayor-michael-summers-with-fire-chief-scott-gilman.jpg More than half the patients transported by Lakewood paramedics end up going to the Emergency Department at the hospital, which remained open after the facility closed its inpatient beds in February. But Mayor Michael Summers and Fire Chief Scott Gilman say some residents have the false impression that the ER closed with the rest of the hospital. (Robert Higgs, cleveland.com) LAKEWOOD, Ohio - Months after Lakewood Hospital closed, and more than a month before a vote on its future, Lakewood Mayor Michael Summers and Fire Chief Scott Gilman on Tuesday called a news conference to dispel rumors about ambulance response times and emergency medical care. More than half the patients transported by Lakewood paramedics go to the hospital Emergency Department, which remained open after the facility closed its inpatient beds in February. Gilman and Summers said some residents have the false impression that the ER closed with the rest of the hospital. Some residents have vehemently opposed the hospital closure, which came after a year of hot debate. A year after voters upheld the closure, another ballot issue in November will ask them to affirm the city's decision and an agreement with the Cleveland Clinic to build a health center across from the hospital. "I am deeply disturbed by the allegations and untruths being spread by people in our community who are politically motivated and are trying to scare others by attacking our emergency services here I Lakewood," Summers said at a news conference at Fire Station No. 1. Here's some things to know. How do paramedics decide where to take patients? Paramedics consider multiple factors when deciding where to transport a patient, Gilman said. Key among them is what the patient prefers. But the decision also considers what care is needed, Gilman said. Paramedics can feed live-time medical data from the ambulance to doctors at Lakewood Emergency Department and to hospitals. In the case of a heart-attack patient, for example, doctors can review EKG data while the ambulance is in route, and decide, based on that live data, if the patient needs to go to the emergency room or straight to a nearby hospital that can do with a heart catheterization. "Our services are here for the citizens," Gilman said. "Our interests are in providing he best care for our citizens and making sure we get the best treatment possible and get them to the most appropriate facility." Did those options change with the closing of Lakewood Hospital? The options are essentially the same, Gilman said. Lakewood's ER remains open, and will be expanded when the Cleveland Clinic's new outpatient facility is built. Other hospitals have not changed, Gilman said. Fairview Hospital, Lutheran Hospital and St. John West Shore Hospital are the one's most used. Fairview is 3.2 miles from Lakewood Hospital and actually closer for some Lakewood residents, Summers said. More than 50 percent of the ambulance runs end up at Lakewood Emergency Department. More could be taken there, Gilman said, but some patients mistakenly believe the emergency room closed with inpatient services in February. Through Monday the city had made 3,026 emergency medical service runs. Of those, 1,565 led to transporting a patient to Lakewood Emergency Department. How often do transported patients get admitted? When residents call for an EMS squad, they generally have a medical emergency that needs addressed quickly. But that doesn't mean they'll need to be hospitalized, Gilman said. A child with a broken arm, for example, may be taken to the ER initially, but then would be referred to an orthopedic doctor for outpatient care. Fewer than 40 percent of the patients who are transported by EMS are subsequently admitted to the hospital, Gilman said. How have changes in health care changed the market in Lakewood? Lakewood Hospital had seen a steady decline in patients for some time. A big part of that is because health care has changed, Summers said. Key health issues of the day include conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and obesity issues. "None of these are conditions that you'd lay in a bed to fix," Summers said. Hospital and health care have been changing for years, he said. "We're just trying to follow that path." What is the ballot issue? Lakewood voters will decide on an issue in November that asks them whether the agreement the city negotiated with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for the new health center in exchange for the closure of inpatient services at Lakewood Hospital should be affirmed. City Council put the agreement on the ballot after residents collected signatures for the referendum issue - an initiative they hope will repeal the city's deal. But it is unclear what would happen if voters don't approve the issue and affirm the agreement. City Law Director Kevin Butler has said he believes courts would hold it is too late to reverse the in-process closure plans despite the outcome of a public vote. Members of Save Lakewood Hospital, who sought their own initiative, have maintained a public vote could reverse the process. Follow me on Facebook. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is lifting the fishing closure on the Big Hole River from Maiden Rock fishing access site to Notch Bottom FAS. With improved flows, this reach has met the criteria for reopening set by the Big Hole Watershed Drought Management Plan. Two reaches of the Big Hole remain closed to all fishing: Big Hole River from Saginaw Bridge on Skinner Meadows Road to the confluence of the North Fork Big Hole River; Big Hole River from Notch Bottom FAS to confluence with the Beaverhead River. Also in Region 3 the Yellowstone River remains under emergency closure from Pine Creek FAS to Emigrant FAS. Akron police.JPG Philip Hasan, 61, died Sunday after an Akron police shot him in the chest in the parking lot of his Florida Avenue apartment building. Police said Hasan was pulling an assault rifle from his van when a second-year officer opened fire. (File photo) AKRON, Ohio -- The 61-year-old man shot dead by an Akron police officer Sunday has been identified. Philip Hasan, of Akron, died at Akron General Medical Center Sunday after he was shot in the parking lot of his Florida Avenue apartment building, the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office said. Hasan was shot once in the chest, the medical examiner's office said. The incident started about 3:30 p.m. Sunday when officers were called to an apartment building in the 1000 block of Florida Avenue for reports of a fight, Akron police said in a statement. The caller told police that his 61-year-old neighbor had slammed his arm in the car door, police said. Officers found the neighbor in the parking lot behind the building. As they approached him, he walked to his car and reached for an assault rifle, police said. The man ignored officers' commands to stop, and started to pull the gun from the car, police said. One officer then fired several shots, hitting the man, police said. The officer, in his second year on the force, has been placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. To comment on this story, please visit our crime and court comment page. Cleveland police tape 3 A 29-year-old man was shot in the shoulder Monday night outside a convenience store near the border of East Cleveland, police said. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - A man was shot Monday night outside a convenience store on Cleveland's East Side, police said. The shooting happened about 8:15 p.m. outside of the USA Food Mart in the 110 block of East 123rd Street in the city's Glenville neighborhood. A 59-year-old woman told police that she was sitting in her car in the parking lot of the convenience store, rifling through her purse, when she heard several gunshots. She ducked and a bullet shattered her passenger window, police said. The woman told police a green van was parked next to her but had left the lot shortly after the shooting. She suffered no injuries. The officers learned a short time later that a 29-year-old man with a gunshot wound had just arrived at University Hospitals in a green van, Ciaccia said. Officers went to the hospital to meet with the victim to suffered a single gunshot wound. He told police that he was sitting in the van while his mother was inside the store, Ciaccia said. The victim told investigators that he did not know who shot him, Ciaccia said. No suspects have been publicly identified. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. tricmetro.jpg Cuyahoga Community College's enrollment this fall includes more than 3,100 high school students participating in the state's College Credit Plus program, an increase of nearly 15 percent from 2015. (Cuyahoga Community College) CLEVELAND, Ohio - More than 52,000 Ohio high school students took college classes last year for free, to get a head start on a degree, official said. Those students in public, private and in-home schools participated in the first full academic year of the College Credit Plus program and saved a a total of more than $110 million in tuition, said the Ohio Department of Higher Education. The program allows middle and high school students the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school. The state pays for the classes, with tuition rates negotiated with colleges. There is little or no cost to the families of participating students. Once students decide what courses to take, they have to apply for admission to the college. School districts and colleges provide extensive information. Credit they earn can be transferred to other colleges. Classes are offered at the colleges, online or in the high schools. The program has helped community colleges maintain enrollment levels that had dropped after the recession ended. Here's College Credit Plus information for the 2015-16 school year by the numbers: 15 - Percent of Ohio juniors and seniors who took advantage of the program. 90 - Percent of those students who received a passing grade. 66 - Percent of students who took classes from community colleges. 23 - Percent of students who took classes from public university main and branch campuses. The remainder of students took classes at private colleges. 56 - Percent of students who are female. 5 - Percent of high school students who participated in the former dual enrollment program. For more information about College Credit Plus, visit ohiohighered.org/ccp. The Billings City Council may decide Monday whether to appeal a judges decision requiring the city to pay more than $2.7 million to police officers in past due wages, benefits, attorneys fees and penalties. In a memo, City Administrator Tina Volek wrote that city attorneys and staff believe that significant errors of fact and law were made in the decision, especially in the ruling that a police officer should be paid longevity from his or her first day of employment. Longevity pay, which recognizes employment experience, traditionally was paid after completion of one year of employment in previous collective bargaining agreements, she wrote, and is paid after the completion of six years for employees hired after approval of the current CBA. Park County District Judge Brenda R. Gilbert ruled Sept. 8 that the city must pay about $933,000 in past due wages and benefits to more than 140 officers, as well as about $1.03 million in penalties, about $653,000 in attorneys fees and about $126,000 in plaintiffs costs. According to Billings Finance Director Pat Weber, the city has already spent $299,476 in outside attorneys fees defending itself against the lawsuit, first brought by Ernie Watters and 26 fellow officers in January 2009 and later granted class-action status. Whether to appeal or to pay the judgment is the final item of business scheduled for the Sept. 26 meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 220 N. 27th St. Before their work session Monday, council members offered up a split verdict on whether they planned to authorize the appeal. City Councilman Mike Yakawich said he has reservations about authorizing the appeal, which would be decided by the Montana Supreme Court. Im thinking we should settle. Is it best to settle now and avoid the greater cost of lawyers on both sides? he asked. We may not win the case. His colleague, Chris Friedel, said he believes we have a good shot of winning an appeal. If we win, he said, we will have saved the taxpayers $2.7 million. I think we have better than a 50-percent shot. Councilman Ryan Sullivan said he wants to hear the opinion of a third-party appellate attorney before making any decisions. Councilman Dick Clark said that at this minute, if I voted I would vote to appeal. Councilman Shaun Brown said that unless he hears information to the contrary, I would not vote to appeal it. Democrats have raised more money than Republicans in three of five campaigns for statewide office during a campaign season on track to set new spending records, according to campaign filings. Republican leaders have asked supporters to step up their game. The truth is, were being outgunned by the Democrats in terms of money and field support, GOP Chairman Jeff Essmann wrote in a recent email to party supporters. In an interview, he later added, Its OK to raise a little fear in your own supporters to get them motivated. It is tough to tell until elections are over how much the money mattered and to what degree the calls for more contributions were born out of desperation rather than a simple motivational tactic. Nonetheless, political scientists monitor fundraising as a barometer of support for candidates and watch for loans or personal contributions that might suggest a struggling campaign. The degree to which opposing campaigns raise similar funds or approach historical records also can signal how competitive a particular race is and whether one name will flood TVs and mailboxes more than another. Who has independently spent money to support candidates also can reveal how a state competition fits into a partys or an industrys national strategy. I suspect both parties will have sufficient funds for their candidates to get their names out, Carroll College Political Scientist Jeremy Johnson said. Its hard, especially in a presidential election year, to get voters focused on down-ticket races. Nonetheless, he said the fact Democrats are competitive with Republicans in so many top-of-the-ticket races fits a larger national trend. Go back to the 1980s, Republicans had a large advantage over Democrats nationally in fundraising, he said. Thats going away even with the overturning of various campaign finance laws. Through the end of August, candidates for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction have collected more than $8.2 million in contributions and have spent $5.8 million of it. As a whole, the collections are split almost evenly between each party, but Democrats have twice as much left in the bank to spend before Election Day. Four independent committees also have reported spending another $2.2 million through the end of August to influence partisan, statewide races. Bullock vs. Gianforte The most expensive race is between incumbent Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock and Bozeman businessman Greg Gianforte, a Republican. Collectively, the candidates are on track to almost double the states previous fundraising record for a gubernatorial race. In 2012, Bullock and Republican Rick Hill spent $3.9 million in a heated open contest. With two months to go, Bullock and Gianforte have raised almost $7 million. Bullock holds an advantage heading toward Election Day with almost $1.3 million left in his war chest compared to the $342,994 Gianforte still has in the bank. Gianforte has raised $100,000 more than Bullock since announcing his candidacy a year ago, although he has relied heavily on his own money. Of the $3.4 million in contributions reported by Gianforte through the end of August, $1.6 million came from the candidate himself, a mix of cash and in-kind contributions such as the use of his personal airplane. Gianforte also has loaned his campaign $200,000, which has yet to be paid back. A little less than half of his financial support, $1.6 million, has come from nearly 6,000 individual contributions from almost as many households, according to campaign finance records and an analysis of home addresses. By comparison, about 67 percent of Bullocks campaign cash, about $2.2 million, has come from about 14,000 contributions from about 6,100 households. Montana Democratic Party Executive Director Nancy Keenan criticized Gianfortes reliance on his personal fortune, as well as other candidates who have made personal contributions or taken out loans. If you talk to Montanans, theyre tired of people thinking they can buy elections, she said. Campaign Manager Amy Lunde defended Gianfortes decision to match dollar-for-dollar the individual contributions made to his campaign and shot down accusations that he was trying to buy the race. Thats a typical response, she said. Greg obviously has been a successful businessman and wanted to show hes just as invested as everyone hes asking to support his candidacy. Essmann fired back at the Democratic party with an attack that has featured prominently in the governors race, among others. Obviously, a lot of outside interest groups, extremist environmental groups, labor unions, big corporations, big wall street corporations have dropped money into the campaigns of Montana Democrats, he said. Gianforte has declined to accept any contributions from outside groups such as unions or business organizations. To date, Bullocks campaign has collected almost $110,000 from such groups directly, which is about 3 percent of his total fundraising. Its a bogus argument in the sense that all of it is reportable, all of it is legal, Keenan said. And oftentimes when people are making minimum wage and work for a union, its a way for them to gather their resources and have a little bit of impact. Its very different someone being able to go to their personal bank account. State records show contributions to Bullocks campaign have come from a variety of advocacy organizations, unions and the political committees of companies, such as: Montana Conservation Voters, the Montana Gas and Oil PAC, the unions of construction workers and teachers, company committees ranging from Microsoft and Pfizer to Conocophillips and the Corrections Corporation of America. While Gianforte is not accepting money from such groups, nothing stops those donors from contributing to independent committees, which can support his candidacy with fewer spending limits so long as it does not coordinate with his campaign. The biggest such spenders this cycle include a PAC affiliated with the Republican Governors Association, which has raised almost $60 million to spend in campaigns nationwide this election cycle, according to IRS records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. In Montana, it has spent more than $458,000 on ads that attack Bullocks record as governor. Similarly, the Democratic Governors Association, for which Bullock had raised millions as its previous president, has built up $35 million to spend in this election. More than $1.5 million has been used to purchase anti-Gianforte advertising and research. Top contributors to the Republican group include a number of corporations, often those with ties to party super donors, such as Koch Industries run by Charles and David Koch; Sheldon Adelsons Las Vegas Sands; Mountaire Corp, an agricultural processing company owned by Ron Cameron; Alliance Coal; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Democrats heaviest contributors include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Wal-Mart Stores; Duke Energy; and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Of the top 20 donors to each of the governors organizations, six were the same: Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Pfizer, the American Beverage Association, Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, Rail Services Company and Comprehensive Health Management. Arntzen vs. Romano The next largest chunk of independent spending in a statewide race has also been in the contest with the closest fundraising footrace. The MEA-MFT, Montanas union for educators, has reported spending more than $163,000 on billboard, television, radio and Facebook advertising to support Helena teacher and Democrat Melissa Romanos bid to become State Superintendent in her first run for public office. At about $451,000 collected to date, only the gubernatorial candidates have raised more than Romano and Republican Elsie Arntzen, a state legislator and former Billings teacher. Romanos filings show she has edged out Arntzen in overall fundraising although she has less money left in the bank for the final two months of the campaign. Her latest filings show she has raised just $1,000 more overall but only has about $70,000 left. Arntzen reported having about $105,000 still available at the start of the month. Unlike her opponent, she has taken out $58,000 in loans to fund her campaign, which will erase her cash-in-bank lead without additional significant fundraising. Laslovich vs. Rosendale The next most expensive contest is the battle between Republican Matt Rosendale of Glendive and Democrat Jesse Laslovich of Helena to become state auditor, a post that does not actually audit state agencies but regulates the insurance and securities industries. Rosendale, a former Maryland real estate developer who moved to Glendive in 2002, served as the Senate Majority Leader in the last legislative session. He has pulled in almost $77,000, about $53,000 of which he still has left to spend. The vast majority of that came from 271 individual contributors, but he also has been supported with more than $10,000 from seven county GOP groups. Laslovich, who is chief legal counsel for the current state auditor, has raised more than Rosendale, most of which he has not yet reported spending. He reports having $223,357 left in the bank of the more than $266,000 he has collected. Most of his campaign cash came from 1,783 individual contributions while $17,750 of it was donated by unions and the political committees of insurance companies such as Liberty Mutual and Allstate. Lindeen vs. Stapleton Big money also remains to be spent in the Secretary of State race, whose candidates have collectively amassed more than $325,000. State Auditor Monica Lindeen, a Democrat who is term-limited from seeking that office again, reported collecting more than $173,000 compared to the roughly $153,000 raised by Corey Stapleton, a Billings financial adviser who has previously served in the Legislature. But Lindeen only has $47,000 left, while Stapleton has nearly $130,000 to spend before Election Day. The only partisan statewide race that many political observers do not consider financially competitive is the Attorney General contest. Fox vs. Jent Incumbent Tim Fox has not campaigned as heavily as other Republicans at the top of the state ballot, but has still collected much more than his opponent, Larry Jent, an attorney and former state legislator. Fox reports having about $209,000 left of the more than $280,000 he has raised, while Jent has about $27,000 left out of $35,000 collected. Johnson, the political scientist, said the fundraising this cycle has stacked up to be one of the most competitive in recent memory across multiple campaigns. But just because you have the most money doesnt mean youre going to win the election, he said. It gives you an advantage, but its not the end all be all. There are plenty of candidates who raised the most money and have gone on to lose." Southeast Asian ride-hailing company, Grab Tuesday said it raised $750 million in equity financing, bringing its total cash pile to over $1 billion. Japanese telecommunication giant SoftBank led the funding round, with both new and existing investors participating, Grab said in a statement, without disclosing the names of other investors in the round. Grab said the funds would be used to continue expanding into the highly lucrative Southeast Asian market, particularly in Indonesia. The company said in the first half of 2016, its GrabCar and GrabBike services grew by 250 times on-year in Indonesia. "We see [Indonesia as] an almost $15 billion market for ride-hailing services alone," said Anthony Tan, group CEO and co-founder of Grab, in a media statement. Grab also plans to expand its mobile payments service, GrabPay, regionally. Recently, Grab partnered with Citibank to allow cardholders to use Citibank points to pay for their rides. The service is currently available in Singapore and is expected to be available in four other markets including Indonesia and the Philippines. Last month, rivals Uber sold its China business to domestic competitor Didi Chuxing, with some suggesting the company was better off focusing on other potential markets such as India. Didi Chuxing previously invested in Grab last August in a funding round that saw the company raise over $350 million from investors that also included U.S. investment firm Coatue Management and Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation. It's also likely that Uber might turn its focus onto Southeast Asia, given the region boasts a growing, internet-savvy middle class. Grab has an expansive transportation network in Southeast Asia, with over 400,000 drivers and up to 1.5 million daily bookings, according to the company. It offers various transportation modes including private cars, motorbikes, taxis and carpooling services in 31 cities across the region. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. Great partnerships are often forged when each party enjoys a surplus of something the other needs and there's little conflict in their ambitions. By that logic, two of Silicon Valley's best-known firms, Apple and Tesla Motors , really need each other right now. An investment in Tesla by Apple in return for some of the carmaker's innovation dust might be just the ticket. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook is revamping the company's approach to self-driving cars and the gadgetmaker's broader role in the future of transportation. He just fired some of the company's autonomous car team, according to the New York Times. Along the highway at Tesla, founder Elon Musk needs billions of dollars of capital as he ramps the company up toward making a targeted 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018. He could also use an injection of corporate credibility as his proposed deal to buy his solar-panel venture SolarCity , also publicly traded, appears to be running into unanticipated headwinds. The idea of Apple acquiring Tesla in its entirety isn't new. It surfaced even before Cook poached some of Musk's engineers a year ago. That move prompted Musk to tell a German newspaper: "If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple." But it might not require a full purchase to address the two companies' strategic challenges which, arguably, are each becoming most prominent in areas where the other could fairly easily help. Musk's hurdles are the most obvious. The entrepreneur who runs the $30 billion-odd Tesla is struggling to persuade investors of the merits of his plan for Tesla to acquire SolarCity. The deal, worth $2.6 billion when announced in early August, is supposed to create a "vertically integrated sustainable energy company." Last week the deal was publicly panned by Jim Chanos , a prominent hedge-fund manager. By the math of the all-share deal, its market-implied chances of success have been falling, too. Shares of the solar-panel installer closed on Monday nearly 25 percent below Tesla's offer price. More from Breakingviews : Stumpf digs deeper hole for Wells andhimself The acquisition and the potential ownership and family conflicts it throws up are a distraction for Musk from Tesla's car making ambitions, not to mention the task of proving the safety of the company's Autopilot feature after a fatal crash in May. Even if investors decide to back him in buying SolarCity, any slippage in either company's plan could hurt their ability to hit up investors for additional funding. Both need regular cash injections over $2 billion each last year to fund operating and capital investment outflows. Apple could easily address Tesla's capital problem by buying, say, a 20 percent stake. While dilutive to existing owners including Musk, who owns around 21 percent that would bring in nearly $8 billion at $215 a share, just under a 5 percent premium to Monday's market closing price. That would take the question of capital off the table at Tesla for years to come. It would more than cover the negative free-cash flow estimated at $4 billion through 2020 by researchers at Auburn University, in a report entitled "Driving off a cliff: The case against Tesla," plus any extra needed for the accelerated production targets the company has since announced. For Apple, with more than $230 billion of idle cash, the investment would be close to a rounding error. Its shareholders would probably rejoice at converting a sliver of money in the bank for a placeholder in an emerging leader in self-driving cars. Unlike a full purchase, buying a minority stake won't dilute Apple's profitability either. The company has projected gross margins of around 38 percent in its next fiscal quarter. Meanwhile, what could Tesla do for Apple? With a market capitalization north of $600 billion, Cook's business is doing fine at the moment. Shares of the company have gained some 5 percent since unveiling the iPhone 7 earlier this month. Pre-orders for the new handset have been robust despite reviews that largely called it an incremental advance on its predecessor. Features like wireless ear buds are novel, but hardly game-changing. But many analysts, investors and observers want Apple to develop more new products. Its last big launch, of watches, was a relative dud. Since they went on sale in April 2015, shares of Google parent Alphabet have rallied by nearly 50 percent and Apple's are down 8 percent, in part because investors fret the company is running short of new ideas. One obvious potential area, where Alphabet appears to be further ahead, is in self-driving vehicles. Apple doesn't talk publicly about its plans in the car business. But earlier this month it fired dozens of staffers and closed down parts of its so-called Titan project, focused on autonomous cars. Ideas are something Musk has in abundance. In addition to running Tesla and creating SolarCity, he's trying to make a going concern of intergalactic travel and freight through Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX. In his spare time, he also hatched the Hyperloop, an idea to use air pressure to speed human beings through tubes at extraordinary speeds. In that respect, he resembles Steve Jobs. Even when Apple was in its relative infancy in 1986, its co-founder bankrolled the creation of Pixar, the animation studio. For two decades, that side project put him in conflict with some of the media companies whose content would become a key attraction for iPhone users. In 2006, a year before launching the handset that changed the world, Jobs sold Pixar to Disney for $7.4 billion in stock. Disney put him on its board. With competition no longer an issue, Jobs became a consigliere to Disney boss Bob Iger , who told Fortune after the Apple founder died that "we would stand in front of a white board and talk about ideas. And every once in a while he'd come to me thinking the sky's falling apart and that our business was screwed. And I'd say, 'tell me how.'" That sort of relationship would probably be hard to develop between a chief executive and a subordinate one argument against Apple swallowing Tesla whole. But as a collaboration, with shared goals and running businesses that work together rather than competing for talent and customers, a functional Cook-Musk partnership might serve both companies' shareholders. As part of the deal, Apple could fold its wobbly car operations into a joint venture with Tesla, add a couple of directors to Tesla's board helping to handle deals with the likes of SolarCity and bring Musk onto its own. Of course, the two executives would have to be capable of playing nice. Musk might have to walk back his crack last year that Apple is the "Tesla graveyard." For more independent commentary and analysis from Reuters Breakingviews, visit breakingviews.com . Elon Musk James Glover II | Reuters Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect in a series of explosions in New York and New Jersey, was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer in a shootout with police Monday morning in New Jersey. (NBC News) Authorities said the key to breaking the case was a fingerprint found on an unexploded bomb in New York. Meanwhile, flip phones used on devices Chelsea and Seaside, New Jersey were both bought at same store last year. (NBC News) President Barack Obama plans to push world leaders today to do more to meet the needs of the world's refugees, in his final address as president to the annual United Nations summit in New York. (USA Today) Against the backdrop of the U.N. gathering, billionaire investor George Soros is pledging to invest up to $500 million in programs and companies benefiting migrants and refugees fleeing life threatening situations. (CNBC) Donald Trump Jr. set off Twitter outrage, comparing Syrian refugees to poisonous Skittles candy. His tweet read: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." (CNBC) The possibility of a Donald Trump victory over Hillary Clinton, although still small, has risen among U.S.-based business leaders, while expectations that Clinton will assume the presidency have fallen. (CNBC) George H.W. Bush, who lost his presidential re-election campaign to Bill Clinton in 1992, plans to vote for Hillary Clinton. That's according to Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former Maryland lieutenant governor. (Politico) The federal government is issuing new self-driving vehicle guidelines. Effective immediately, the rules tell automakers, suppliers, and tech firms what's expected as they develop and deploy automated technologies. (CNBC) In prepared testimony, Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John Stumpf plans to tell the Senate Banking Committee at a hearing today he's "deeply sorry" for the unauthorized account scandal, and takes "full responsibility." (NY Times) Samsung said its investigation into one of two reports of Galaxy Note 7 fires in China found no battery problem. The electronics giant announced a global recall of 2.5 million devices due to complaints of batteries burning up. (AP) Wal-Mart (WMT) has completed its $3 billion acquisition of internet retailer Jet.com. Jet's founder Marc Lore, who's joining Wal-Mart as head of U.S. e-commerce, gets a huge payday from the deal. (Reuters) As General Motors (GM) looks to take on Tesla's (TSLA) upcoming Model 3 mass market electric car, it set the price on the Chevrolet Bolt at $37,495, below $30,000 once a federal tax credit is applied. (USA Today) GM and the Canadian autoworkers union announced a tentative contract deal early this morning, averting a 3,900-worker strike that would have shut some manufacturing facilities north of the border. (Reuters) American Airlines (AAL) employees today start wearing a new uniform, the first in nearly three decades, representing one of the last transitions of the American-US Airways merger, which closed in late 2013. (USA Today) Cars lined up to get gas at a Costco in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Sept. 19, 2016. "As such, some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions. Colonial continues to move as much gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal," the company said. The company said it plans to test a 500-foot bypass section, and if it is ready for operation, it anticipates it will be connected to Line 1 and operating Wednesday. Colonial said it should take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal. Colonial's Line 1, which takes fuel from Gulf Coast refineries across the South and up to the mid-Atlantic region, has been down since Sept. 9 when a leak was discovered in Alabama. Colonial Pipeline said Tuesday it expects to restore service to its leaking pipeline Wednesday, which would bring some much needed fuel to the Southeast, where gas prices have been spiking. Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, estimated it may take until October for the logistics to return to normal. "The lack of Gulf Coast gasoline coming north has manifested itself from Alabama to Virginia, a lot less when you get to other points, like Delaware and New Jersey," he said. He said while RBOB gasoline futures were plunging Tuesday, wholesalers were still seeing prices of 40 cents to 50 cents above futures prices. RBOB futures for October fell 4.7 percent to $1.39 per gallon. "I still think there's going to be drama in the downstream market with no gasoline or ridiculous prices. Let's hope Colonial gets that pipeline restarted because we really need it," said Kloza. Gas prices continued rising at the pump overnight, and shortages became more apparent in the 11th day of the outage Tuesday. Drivers in Georgia are seeing some of the biggest increases statewide. Prices at the pump in Georgia jumped to an average $2.36 per gallon, a hike of 5 cents since Monday for unleaded gasoline, now up 23 cent per gallon since Friday. Experts believe the price hikes will get worse before they get better even if the pipeline is fixed this week. "It's still going to be a mess in most of the those states, I think through September," Kloza said. In North Carolina, the price is now $2.19 per gallon, a 6-cent jump since Sunday, and in South Carolina, prices are up at $2.08 per gallon, a jump of 15 cents since Friday. The worst hit states are in the Southeast, but Delaware saw an overnight price jump of 3 cents per gallon, and gasoline Tuesday was 10 cents more expensive than last week at an average $2.18 per gallon. San Francisco, California September 7, 2016 - The Sohn Conference Foundation is proud to announce the speaker lineup for the 7th Annual Sohn San Francisco Investment Conference, presented by Excellence in Investing for Children's Causes Foundation, to be held on October 5th at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. At the Conference, speakers reveal their best investment ideas and raise money for charity. The Conference, in partnership with CNBC, benefits Bay Area organizations improving educational opportunities for underserved youth and pediatric cancer research and treatment. "As home to many hedge funds, private equity firms and prominent tech start-up companies, Sohn San Francisco provides an invaluable opportunity to hear compelling investment ideas from some of the world's top financial investors," said Douglas Hirsch, Co-Chair of the Sohn Conference Foundation. "The remarkable expansion of the Conference has allowed the Foundation to fund the most innovative initiatives to benefit children's causes around the world." "We're extremely pleased with the success of the Conference on the West Coast and the standout quality of the speakers that our forum attracts," said Patrick Wolff, Principal and Co- Founder of the Excellence in Investing for Children's Causes Foundation. "Since inception, the Excellence in Investing for Children's Causes Foundation has raised over $1 million dollars to support low income areas in education and pediatric cancer care. We look forward to making an impact again this year." Current speakers include: Carson Block, Chief Investment Officer, Muddy Waters Capital LLC Arjun Divecha, Chairman, Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Joseph Lawler, Founder, Portfolio Manager, JFL Capital Management, LLC Chris Lord, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Criterion Capital Management, LLC Mick McGuire, Founder & Managing Partner, Marcato Capital Management G. Mason Morfit, President, ValueAct Capital Jeff Osher, Portfolio Manager, Harvest Small Cap Partners Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Social Capital LP Peter Palmedo, President, Sun Valley Gold, LLC Alvin Roth, Professor of Economics, Nobel Laureate, Stanford University Mihir Worah, Chief Investment Officer Real Return & Asset Allocation, Pimco In addition to the main conference program, George Fox, President and CoFounder of Titan Advisors, will again moderate the Sohn San Francisco Next Wave panel for emerging funds. Next Wave Sohn is the premier platform for the brightest rising stars in the global financial community to share their best investment picks, paralleling the distinctive format of the Sohn Investment Conference. Next Wave Sohn is sponsored by Titan Advisors and conference attendees are welcome to RSVP at no additional cost. Next Wave speakers include: Joel Drescher,Founder, Drescher Capital, L.P. Scott Kaufman, Partner and Founding Member, Hillair Capital Management, LLC John Melsom, Chief Investment Officer and Founder, Omni Event Fund John W. Rende, Founder and Portfolio Manager, Copernicus Capital Management, LLC For more information on Sohn including the current agenda and confirmed speaker faculty to date please visit http://www.sohnsf.org. Also, follow Sohn Twitter at @SohnConfhashtag #SohnSF2016 for meeting updates,news and highlights. About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 386 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBC programming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; a suite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com. About The Sohn Conference Foundation: The Sohn Conference Foundation is dedicated to the treatment and cure of pediatric cancer and other childhood diseases. The Foundation supports cutting-edge medical research, state-of-the-art research equipment, and innovative programs to ensure that children with cancer survive and thrive. The Foundation raises its funds through premier investment conferences and special events, including its renowned annual New York Sohn Investment Conference. Founded in 1995, the Conference honors the memory of Ira Sohn, a Wall Street professional who lost his battle with cancer at age 29. The Foundation has expanded its reach to include the Sohn Canada Conference, Sohn Hong Kong Conference, Sohn India, Sohn London Conference, Sohn San Francisco Conference and Sohn Tel Aviv Conference. To date, the Foundation has raised more than $70 million. More information on the Sohn Conference Foundation can be found here: www.sohnconference.org. About Excellence in Investing for Children's Causes Foundation: The Excellence in Investing for Children's Causes Foundation produces the Sohn San Francisco Investment Conference and has raised over $1 million dollars to support Bay Area organizations focused on improving educational opportunities and life outcomes for underserved youth. http://www.excellencesf.org Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday called for a criminal investigation into Wells Fargo executives over the cross-selling scandal that has engulfed the bank and told CEO John Stumpf he should resign. As her colleagues grilled Stumpf, Warren lit into the head of the nation's second-largest bank, saying reform won't come to the industry until executives are sent to jail. "This is about accountability," she said. "You should resign, you should give back the money you took while this scam was going on and you should be criminally investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission." "The only way that Wall Street will change is if executives face jail time when they preside over massive frauds," she added. "Until then it will be business as usual, and at giant banks like Wells Fargo, that seems to mean cheating as many customers, investors and employees as they possibly can." As Warren accused Stumpf of "gutless leadership," Wells Fargo's stock price dipped. By midday. it was at $46.20 a share, up 0.43 percent. Warren's comments came amid testy questioning of Stumpf, who presided over what authorities have labeled as illegal cross-selling to millions of customers who often were enrolled into programs without their knowledge. She ripped into the culture that created the scandal. "If one of your tellers took a handful of 20-dollar bills out of the cash drawer, they'd probably be looking at criminal charges for theft," she said. "They could end up in prison, but you squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they could cheat customers and you could drive up the value of hyour stock and put hundreds of millions of dollars in your pocket." "It wasn't a scam, and cross-selling is a way of deepening relationships," Stumpf said. Warren, who earned her reputation on Capitol Hill as a crusader for Americans against the financial services industry, is one of the scant few on the Senate banking committee who has not been cut a check by Wells Fargo's political action committee. Jon Marino contributed to this report. Billionaire investor George Soros pledged on Tuesday to invest up to $500 million in programs and companies benefiting migrants and refugees fleeing life-threatening situations. Announced against the backdrop of an ongoing United Nations (U.N.) summit in New York, Soros explained that he wished to harness the power of the private sector for public good. "We will invest in startups, established companies, social impact initiatives, and businesses started by migrants and refugees. These investments are intended to be successful. But our primary focus is to create products and services that truly benefit migrants and host communities," the 86-year-old said in an official statement. "I hope my commitment will inspire other investors to pursue the same mission." On Monday, the U.N. opened its first summit addressing the current refugee and migrant crisis. The U.N. and Unicef calculate that a record 65 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes in 2015, with more than half from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia, Reuters reported. Traders signal offers in the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index options pit at the Chicago Board Options Exchange following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Chicago. Traders, trusting your "gut instinct" could be backed up by science after all, according to research conducted on the trading floor of a City of London hedge fund. Researchers from the universities of Cambridge, Sussex and the Queensland University of Technology found in a study that traders' ability to sense their own heartbeats was directly correlated to their success in the financial markets. Physiologists link "gut feelings" to "interoception," a term which refers to the detection of physiological signals from inside the body, as heart rate, hunger or pain. "People with greater sensitivity to interoceptive signals perform better in laboratory studies of risky decision-making," the report said. Eighteen male traders engaged in high frequency trading were studied by the researchers. Their financial compensation for their work was entirely dependent on individual trading profits. Traders were also monitored during a particularly unstable period: the latter stages of Europe's sovereign debt crisis. According to the researchers' rationale, this meant that "the performance of each trader reflected his ability to make money during periods of extreme uncertainty." The traders' ability to detect interoceptive signals was measured in two tasks that measure how accurately an individual at rest can perceive his or her heart beating. Traders were asked to silently count their heartbeats without touching their chest or a pulse point, over varied time intervals. This was compared with the true value. After each count, the traders were asked to rate their confidence in their heartbeat detection. Also, the traders were asked to judge if auditory tones were played synchronously with their own heartbeats. Overall, the researchers from Cambridge, Queensland and Sussex discovered that the traders were better able to perceive their own heartbeats than non-traders participating in a control test. Also, "the interoceptive ability of the traders predicted their relative profitability, and strikingly, how long they survived in the financial markets." Other studies have found that higher scores on heartbeat detection predict superior performance on some laboratory gambling tasks. Previously, it has been found that the heartbeat detection ability is increased by stress levels. This could mean that experienced traders taking larger risks, and therefore subjected to greater stress, would be better at interoception and achieving trading success. The researchers did acknowledge that the interoception might not directly link to trading success, and that there may be alternative factors also at play. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook. MISSOULA Perennial Libertarian candidate Michael C. Fellows, 59, of Missoula, was killed in two-vehicle crash near Potomac on Monday night. "We believe he was coming back from a political event," said Missoula County Undersheriff Jason Johnson. Fellows, a congressional candidate, participated in a Monday night forum hosted by the Seeley Lake Community Council. Fellows has run for office every year since 1996, when he ran for Montana House. He ran for the U.S. House in 1998, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010; for Secretary of State in 2000, and for the Montana Supreme Court in 2012. He was unsuccessful every time. Fellows, who chaired the Montana Libertarian Party and was on the board of the Libertarian National Committee, wrote on his website that "Government is simply force with a little mob rule thrown in." Crash The Montana Highway Patrol reported that the wreck occurred on Highway 200 near mile marker 17. Fellows was driving a Lexus westbound on Hwy. 200, when he apparently crossed the center line into the path of an oncoming Subaru Forester driven by a 58-year-old woman from Potomac. The Subaru attempted to avoid collision by moving to the right, but the Lexus and the Subaru collided in a partial overlap head-on impact. Both cars went off the right shoulder for eastbound traffic. Fellows was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the Subaru was injured and taken to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. Road conditions were bare and dry, and both drivers were wearing seatbelts. Fellows was transported to the Montana State Medical Examiner's office in order to determine a cause of the incident. Reaction His House race opponents, Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau, a Democrat, offered their condolences in a joint statement Tuesday afternoon. "My sincerest condolences to the Fellows family, his friends, and followers. Mike was a true advocate for the Libertarian cause and a good man. He had incredible passion for his platform and he will be missed in Montana," Zinke said. "I'm shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Mike Fellows," said Juneau. "My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. Mike was a passionate advocate for his values, and I have always admired his courage and dedication to serving Montana. He will be missed." U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., extended his sympathies to the Fellows family, adding in a statement that "Montana will miss his contributions to our democracy and our way of life. His death was met with similar regret by Kay Rabil, who served with Fellows on the board of Missoula Community Access TV. "Mike was a dedicated member of the MCAT board, and he will be greatly missed, Rabil said. His passion for our community was evident in everything he did. He was our friend." Gov. Steve Bullock and running mate Mike Cooney in a statement thanked Fellows for his service and lauded his commitment to the Libertarian cause. Secretary of State Linda McCulloch also offered her condolences. She said the Libertarian Party will have until 5 p.m. Monday to provide the name of a candidate to replace Fellows on upcoming general election ballots. Fellows' House race opponents and others tweeted condolences Tuesday morning: The silhouette of a contractor is seen hammering wood framing for a house under construction in the Norton Commons subdivision of Louisville, Kentucky. Homebuilder stocks tumbled Tuesday as disappointing monthly housing data and slowing orders at builder Lennar weighed on the sector. Housing starts in the U.S. came in at an annualized rate of 1.14 million in August, well below the expected 1.19 million. Construction permits fell 0.4 percent to a 1.14 million-unit rate last month. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) fell about 0.91 percent on the day. Lennar and Pulte shares dropped about 3.5 and 2.9 percent respectively, erasing the prior day's gains. Homebuilders had surged on Monday after a monthly survey of builder confidence jumped a striking six points in September to the highest level in nearly a year. On Tuesday, Lennar shares reversed course. The stock fell more than 4 percent at its low, for its biggest intraday percentage loss in more than 7 months. The homebuilder's third quarter report showed its slowest growth in orders in more than a year. Lennar pointed to a downturn in its Houston market. "The decrease in home deliveries in Houston was primarily due to less demand in the higher priced communities driven by volatility in the energy sector," the company said in its quarterly release. Orders, a key indicator of future revenue for homebuilders, fell 14 percent in Houston, accounting for 7.4 percent of the total orders during the quarter. Lennar's total orders rose 8.1 percent to 7,018 homes in the three months ended Aug. 31. Despite this, Lennar's profit and revenue topped Wall Street's estimates for the third quarter as it sold more homes at higher prices. Meanwhile, KB Home and DR Horton were rated "outperform" in new coverage at Wedbush. The firm said DR Horton isn't cheap relative to the group but feels the stock is worth a look based on the consistency of performance. It also said KB Home might benefit from any loosening of lending standards, among other factors. KB Home is set to report quarterly results after the closing bell Tuesday, offering another indication of the health of the housing market. Reuters contributed to this report. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, is sworn in before testifying at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing in Dirksen Building, September 20, 2016. of low-ranking Wells Fargo staffers may be getting blamed by CEO John Stumpf for fake consumer accounts, but they can't take the blame for his bandaged hand. That gets chalked up to Stumpf playing with his grandchildren, according to a spokeswoman for the bank. She declined to provide specifics on how it happened. Although Stumpf's hand was wrapped with enough bandages to make him look like an injured athlete, it probably was not the biggest source of pain for the Wells Fargo CEO on Tuesday. The hearing on Capitol Hill where Stumpf testified showcased lawmakers eager to dig into the bank's business practices that led to a $185 million fine from agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday told the CEO he should be "criminally investigated" for his role in the bank's faked accounts, and Sen. Robert Menendez called the bank's sales and management culture "despicable." watch now Jack Welch, the former GE chief and longtime Republican supporter, told CNBC on Tuesday he's voting for Donald Trump because he likes the real estate mogul's policies on tax reform, government regulations and national security more than those of Hillary Clinton. Welch was late to the Trump camp, first supporting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who failed to secure the GOP presidential nomination. In a "Squawk Box" interview, Welch provided a detailed argument for Trump's policies. "I have no ax to grind with the Clintons. ... I'm supporting an agenda. It's Donald Trump's agenda, and I'm for it," he said. "I like starting here, and fighting like hell for it, because I know it will grow the economy 4 percent-plus." On taxes, Welch said Trump's federal corporate tax cut from 35 percent to 15 percent would be better for the economy. "I want a strong economy that creates jobs," he said, comparing the Democratic presidency of Jimmy Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan. "I saw the incredible surge" under Reagan. On regulation, Welch said he favors Trump's stance on reviewing or repealing a host of government regulations, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act. Clinton's plan on regulations would be "Obama plus," he said, adding the U.S. is being "drown in regulation and you haven't seen anything yet." Welch, a senior advisor at private equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice, said he sees regulations hurting business. On energy, the Jack Welch Management Institute executive chairman said he likes Trump's support of fracking and the Keystone pipeline. On the environment, Welch said supports Trump's plans to reform the EPA and modify the climate change agreement reached in Paris. "The EPA is out of control," he said. On national security, Welch said Trump has a more aggressive stance than Clinton's Obama-like mentality. watch now Welch also feels Trump's immigration and strict border ideas would keep Americans safer. "I like restricting [immigrants] until they know who they are," he added. On the military, Trump needs to explain who he's going to pay for the buildup and modernization he wants, Welch said. On education, Welch said Trump supports expanded choice, while accusing Clinton of being "beholden to the unions." On entitlements, Welch said Trump calls for no changes in Medicare, while looking to repeal and reform Obamacare. Clinton supports adding the so-called "public option" government-run health insurance offerings to Obamacare. The startup that wants to make flying in a private jet feel affordable is partnering with one of the industry's largest private jet-charter companies. JetSmarter, often called the Uber of private aviation, has teamed up with XOJet, so for an annual membership fee and one-time initiation fee, members of JetSmarter will get unlimited access to flights in North America, Europe and the Middle East, including on XOJet's aircraft. A Gulfstream G650 private jet Source: Gulfstream The new deal means XOJet is giving exclusive use of its inventory to JetSmarter's digital distribution channel. In return, XOJet's more than 5,000 clients will have access to JetSmarter's range of services, including its concierge offering. "Private aviation customers are becoming much smarter today and want alternatives on a trip-by-trip basis," Sergey Petrossov, JetSmarter's founder, told CNBC. "Even private jet owners can't always justify flying their own aircraft, either due to route or passenger amount." JetSmarter was started in 2012 after Petrossov saw major inefficiencies in the marketplace. According to Petrossov, the average private plane has less than 30 percent load factor during trips, while 35 percent of trips are completely empty. Load factor is a measure of how well an airline is utilizing its capacity, and is used to assess how efficiently an airline operator is filling seats in return for fares. watch now Probuphine, a buprenorphine implant for long-term maintenance treatment of opioid addiction. Source: Braeburn Pharmaceuticals This effective weapon in the fight against opioid addiction often isn't being used. A study released Tuesday found that doctors authorized to prescribe a drug that has shown success at curbing opioid cravings actually tend to prescribe the medication to significantly fewer patients than they potentially could despite an ongoing painkiller overdose epidemic that kills more than 60 Americans every day. CNBC separately has learned that fewer than 250 patients nationally have actually received a new long-acting implantable version of that drug, buprenorphine, in the two months since it has been available, even though more than 2,400 doctors have been trained in the implants. "There seems to be, despite us being in the middle of a horrible epidemic, a missing sense of urgency in getting access for [addicted] people, and ... opening up treatment pathways for people," said Behshad Sheldon, CEO of Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, whose implantable product Probuphine was approved for use earlier this year. The study findings and sales figures come as President Barack Obama designated this week as Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week to focus attention on efforts to stem the rate of painkiller addiction and the resultant death toll, which has more than quadrupled since 1999. During the time, buprenorphine, often sold under the brand name Suboxone, has become an increasingly popular tool to treat opioid addicts, by eliminating their withdrawal symptoms. About a quarter of the 2.8 million people or so people diagnosed with opioid abuse disorder take buprenorphine, typically in oral form. But only about 2 percent of the nation's doctors are authorized to prescribe the drug, and only about one-fifth of those waivered doctors write around 90 percent of all buprenorphine prescriptions. The low rate of authorized doctors, and a 100-patient maximum cap on the number of patients an authorized doctor can treat, have been blamed for preventing wider use of buprenorphine, even in the face of evidence that opioid addicts are much less likely to relapse if they are placed on medication to manage their addiction. In response to those concerns, the federal government this summer raised the maximum cap to 275 patients a single physician can treat with the drug. Since July, 1,275 practitioners have applied for and been approved for the new maximum, federal officials said Monday. However, the Rand Corp. study released Tuesday suggested that even the doctors allowed to prescribe buprenorphine aren't coming close to the number of patients they could be treating. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that from 2010 to 2013 more than 20 percent of the doctors authorized to prescribe buprenorphine to opioid addicts were treating three or fewer patients with that drug. And fewer than 10 percent of such doctors were treating more than 75 patients. The research also found that the median number of opioid addicted patients being treated by an authorized doctor with buprenorphine is often 11 or even fewer patients in 5 of the 7 states with the most physicians with such waivers. In California, the median number of patients was just seven for authorized doctors. Those medians are well below the 30-patient cap that doctors initially faced when they were authorized to prescribe the medication. And it's much lower than the 100-patient maximum that until this summer was the limit for doctors who applied for that new cap after holding a buprenorphine waiver for at least a year "We were rather surprised to see such a large number of physicians treating relatively few patients," said Dr. Bradley Stein, senior physician scientist at Rand, and senior author of the study. "We were really surprised that slightly more than 20 percent ... are treating only three or fewer patients per month." "They certainly are not prescribing to what might be their capacity," he said. Stein said he and his fellow authors also were surprised by the study's findings that the median duration for buprenorphine treatment per patient was just 53 days. That was "lower than expected given clinical recommendations of maintenance treatment for up to 12 months and evidence linking longer treatments to better outcomes," the study said. Novice prescribers cited insufficient access to doctors with more experience prescribing buprenorphoine as well as "insufficient access to substance-abuse counseling for patients" as "barriers to treating more patients" in their own practice, Stein said. He said that programs that offer mentoring to those doctors with less experience prescribing buprehnorphine and web-based or telephone counseling for patients might be ways to address those concerns, and increase prescription levels. Microsoft is still making Nokia phones. In a surprise announcement this morning, the software giant unveiled its latest Nokia 216 feature phone. Despite announcing plans to sell its feature phone business to FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn, for $350 million earlier this year, Microsoft is still launching new Nokia phones. The new Nokia 216 is one of the most basic phones that Microsoft manufactures, and it will be available in India next month for around $37. It includes a 2.4-inch QVGA display, with 0.3-megapixel cameras at the front and rear, running on the Series 30 OS with the Opera mini browser. It even has a headphone jack. It's easy to understand why Microsoft continues to create feature phones, as the company still sells millions of them every month. Microsoft previously hoped that feature phone users would create a Microsoft account and become part of the Microsoft ecosystem, but it's not clear whether the millions of feature phone users ever actually did that. Microsoft hinted earlier this year that it's planning to kill off its Lumia smartphones, and recent rumors have suggested that the Lumia brand will die off towards the end of the year. More from The Verge: Is this Google's Pixel smartphone? Sony's A99 II is a powerhouse of a pro camera If you want the jet black iPhone, learn to love the scratches Rumors suggest that Microsoft is planning a Surface-branded phone for next year. In the mean time, Microsoft's Lumia and Windows Phone strategy has not succeeded, and both sales and Windows Phone market share have declined since the company's mobile restructuring last year. Microsoft has significantly scaled back its phone business, and laid off thousands of employees as part of a $7.6 billion write off for acquiring Nokia's phone business. North Korean military participates in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 12, 2015. KCNA | Reuters North Korea's nuclear test this month was its fifth in only 10 years, but technological advances by the isolated communist state have former diplomats concerned that the latest blast is anything but more of the same. Only eight months passed between North Korea's most recent test and its fourth, held in January, and that tight time frame indicates the country is accelerating its development of nuclear weapons, said Ambassador Sung-hwan Kim, South Korea's former minister of foreign affairs and trade. The amount of time that passed between the first four tests ranged between 31 months and 44 months. Kim spoke along with a group of other experts, most of them former diplomats, at the Asia Society in New York on Monday night. Aside from the faster weapons development, the panel pointed to a number of other relatively new developments: North Korea is getting closer to standardizing its nukes, which could make mass production possible. The country's nuclear weapons are getting smaller. It's now developing longer-range rockets that could be used to attack the U.S. It's working on solid-fuel rockets, which can be prepared and launched on shorter notice than liquid-fuel rockets. North Korea's nuclear program has bedeviled four U.S. presidential administrations going back to at least 1991, when the North and South agreed to ban nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula. Within a couple years, North Korea began advancing its development of nuclear devices and missiles, in fits and starts at first but more consistently as time went by. Part of the reason the situation with North Korea has been allowed to escalate over the years is that the U.S. and South Korea have hoped that the North Korean regime would eventually implode on its own. That hasn't happened. "We have done wishful thinking that North Korea would collapse, and this has shaped our negotiations with them," said Chung-in Moon, distinguished professor emeritus at Yonsei University and former South Korean ambassador for international security affairs. "We must face reality." Here's what really worries China All the panel members agreed that China has to play a large role in fixing the problems on the Korean Peninsula. The world's second-largest economy is North Korea's biggest trade partner by far and its only ally. But it has not pressured North Korea at least not publicly to rid itself of nuclear weapons. "We need to find out what China's real worries are, and find an end-game they like," said Christopher Hill, who led the U.S. delegation to the Six Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear program while he served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Part of the challenge with China, however, is that it doesn't agree with the U.S. on what the main problem is, said Yun Sun, an expert on Chinese foreign policy who works as senior associate with the East Asia Program at the Henry L. Stimson Center. She said the U.S. sees North Korean nukes as the primary threat in the region, but China is more afraid of having U.S. troops on its border if the North Korean state were to collapse and, presumably, end up folded into a unified Korea that's dominated by the South. watch now As police staffing ramps up, Billings police officers will continue to enforce the citys ban on using cellphones while driving. Do we have significant compliance? Absolutely not, but I recommend not backing off from that public safety statement the city council made in 2010 when enacting a ban on both texting and talking on a handheld phone, Police Chief Rich St. John said during Mondays city council work session. We will continue our efforts with education and enforcement, St. John said, and with additional staffing we think we can continue to peck away at this. Since the ban was enacted, police have given warnings or issued citations on 4,502 occasions, St. John said. Educational outreach to Billings visitors must continue, he said, because many drivers who dont live in Billings dont realize the ban is in place within city limits. Enforcement can be difficult, he said. Officers look for what St. John called a red light prayer, in which drivers are looking down at their phone while waiting for the light to turn green. A blue light in a darkened car or repeated glances down and away from the road are other indications that the ban is not being followed, he said. As St. John pointed out in a memo to the city council, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution precludes officers from confiscating or looking at a phone to see if someone was texting, unless the driver consents. Other news Before hearing that report, the city council consented to a Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Department request to complete construction on the Rose Park Pool bathhouse and operations during the current fiscal year. The work is expected to cost $1.29 million. The city council also agreed to a Public Works Department plan to designate a one-mile corridor of Orchard Lane to feature a two-way left-turn lane, rather than parking on either side. Both sides will have sidewalks, and no bicycle lanes are planned. Staff Engineer Erin Claunch said that while the turning lane option will eliminate some on-street parking, the safety feature will eliminate an estimated 100 crashes over the next 20 years. Assistant City Administrator Bruce McCandless said the most recent National Citizens Survey, answered by almost 400 residents, produced many of the same results as the 2012 survey. But there was one exception 39 percent of respondents said the most pressing issue for city government to address is public safety, an increase of about 14 percentage points over the 2012 total. McCandless said it may take community conversations or focus groups to figure out why the uptick occurred, but it could relate to public safety concerns outside Billings, such as terrorist attacks, police shootings, and police officers being shot. All of those, he said, can have an effect on how people respond to a local survey here in Billings. Fire investigators continued Monday to sift through the remains of a Shepherd home that burned to the ground Sunday, killing 13 pets and leaving the family homeless. Officials still aren't sure what started the fire. The fire was reported at about 4:30 p.m., destroying the home on Jaret Street, east of Highway 87. Initial investigation points to electrical issues, but the cause of the fire has not been determined. The fire remains under investigation by the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Department, said Sheriff Mike Linder. Joseph and Kristen Garcia rented the house and lived there with their four kids. Josephs father lived in a basement apartment on the property. Everyone made it out of the house safely. Joseph Garcia said it was a typical windy Sunday afternoon until he looked out on his deck and saw smoke. By the time I got to the backyard the whole back of the house was engulfed in flames. There was nothing we could do but get away, he said Monday. Joseph Garcia rushed into the burning home and with Kristen Garcia gathered the children and little else. They watched flames devour the house and all their possessions while waiting for firefighters to respond. He said the Shepherd Volunteer Fire Department responded in about 20 minutes, but it was too late. They fought the fire for about five hours but mostly worked to keep it from spreading. Three dogs and 10 cats died in the fire. The children, all younger than 8, found the loss of their pets to be the most difficult part of the devastation, Joseph said. The fire also consumed two trucks, an SUV, an ATV, a minibike and a lawn mower. Joseph Garcia works as an automotive technician and Kristen Garcia runs a photography business from home. The fire consumed a large portion of Joseph Garcias collection of Snap-On tools and Kristen Garcias camera equipment. The contents of the home were not insured. The American Red Cross of Montana assisted the Garcias with a hotel room Sunday night and they will stay with a family member in Bridger going forward. The two oldest children will likely have to transfer to that school district. Joseph said he was surprised with the amount of support his family is receiving from friends and relatives. People are stepping up to provide the basic necessities like clothes and toiletries. A friend from the couples hometown of Red Lodge has also setup a GoFundMe page to help the family. Every round of store closings sends the same whispers echoing through Wall Street how much longer can Sears hang on? Yet despite the latest chatter about the chain's inevitable demise, sparked this time by news it will shutter 64 more Kmart stores in mid-December, analysts say the company has plenty of levers to pull to stay afloat this Christmas and beyond. They include a robust real estate portfolio estimated to be worth roughly $4.5 billion; the prospect of additional cash infusions from CEO Eddie Lampert's hedge fund ESL Investments; and a potential sale of its Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands. That's not to say the company isn't edging closer toward a potential bankruptcy. Sears has $3.5 billion in long-term debt on its balance sheet, and is expected to report a $1.5 billion loss in operating cash flow this year, according to Moody's. That's on top of a $2.2 billion deficit last year, the ratings agency said. The once-venerable department store chain also owes a minimum $596 million in pension contributions for 2016 and 2017 combined, and has a total unfunded pension and post-retirement obligation of $2.1 billion, according to Moody's. The firm last week downgraded its speculative-grade liquidity rating on Sears, saying it's uncertain about Kmart's long-term viability. "They continue to work on the gap and reduce costs, but challenges still remain," Christina Boni, a vice president and senior analyst at Moody's, told CNBC. In a presentation for investors at the end of its second quarter, Sears said it had raised $9.1 billion in liquidity from 2012 through the three-month period ended in July. Its financial maneuvers include last July's $2.7 billion sale of 235 Sears- and Kmart-branded stores to Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust Lampert spun off from the retailer. Sears maintained leases at the majority of those properties; but under its agreement with Seritage, it maintained the option to exit an unprofitable store by paying an amount equal to one year's rent. On Friday, Seritage filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying the retailer had exercised its right to terminate the leases at 17 unprofitable stores. "We have been strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity, and will be accelerating the closing of unprofitable stores as we have previously announced," Sears spokesman Howard Riefs said in a statement. The aggregate base rent at those 17 stores is roughly $5.8 million, or just below 3 percent of the chain's annual base as of June 30, according to the filing. Sears will continue to pay rent until it exits the stores, which is expected to occur in January. Riefs declined to say how much the decision would save the company or how much revenue the stores generate. Previously, the company has said the amount it pays in rent to Seritage and through joint ventures with General Growth Properties , Simon Property Group and The Macerich Co. will decline over time. In the second quarter, it incurred an additional $48 million in rent expense. Separately, a source familiar with the situation told CNBC that Sears plans to close 64 total Kmart stores, including the 17 listed in the SEC filing, in mid-December. Riefs said the company would provide an updated store count in its next quarterly filing. Sears has already slashed its store base by more than half over the past five years. The company operated 4,010 locations in 2011, including 1,338 specialty stores that were spun off as Sears Hometown and Outlet in 2012. That number shrank to 1,672 in 2015, according to the company's latest annual filing with the SEC, and 1,592 as of its latest earnings report in August. Sears owned 414 of those locations, the majority of which were under its namesake brand, as of its latest report. Based off its recent transactions, Debtwire senior analyst Philip Emma estimates the rest of its real estate holdings are worth some $4.5 billion. The company also has the option to proactively give leased space back to property owners. It's used this tactic before, like when it sold back its Ala Moana lease in Hawaii to owner General Growth Properties for more than $200 million, Emma said. Sears is also in talks to potentially sell off its Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands, as well as its Sears Home Services businesses. The company told investors last month that it has received interest "from a variety of potential partners." Yet for Emma, who likened the dwindling asset-rich business to that of now-defunct grocer A&P, Sears' tactics are simply a matter of "kicking the can down the road." "You're running against the clock eventually," he said, noting that all of Sears' secured loans and bonds mature in a three-year window beginning in July. "Absent a miraculous turnaround in operations, Sears will need to continue engaging in a series of transactions to meet maturity obligations." Most recently, the company said it had raised an additional $300 million loan from ESL, secured by a junior lien against its inventory, receivables and other working capital. The company's nearest big maturity, which lands in July, is a secured loan facility of $500 million that it should be able to refinance, Emma said. And a look at the debt market shows investors are not forecasting an imminent bankruptcy, Emma added, saying the yields have not yet reached the mid- to high-teen levels typically associated with imminent distress. Holders of the company's stock haven't been so lucky. Shares of Sears, whose revenue cratered from $41.6 billion in 2011 to $25.1 billion in 2015, were trading below $12 on Tuesday, compared with roughly $43 five years ago. Sears, which is frequently ridiculed for failing to invest in its store fleet, has repeatedly said it is shifting into a member-centric model that focuses on its loyalty shoppers, best stores and top categories. In May, it opened a small, 10,000-square-foot store dedicated to appliances, in Fort Collins, Colorado. "As we have stated publicly we continue to focus on the funding of our transformation while meeting all of our financial obligations," Riefs told CNBC in a statement. In its latest investor presentation, Sears said it is focused on profitability, and generating positive adjusted EBITDA in the second half. Though this metric improved by $35 million in the second quarter, it deteriorated $1.56 billion from 2011 through 2015, according to its latest annual report. "I don't know what they're referencing that would result in that," Emma said. "Never say never, but it seems fairly abrupt to go from the kind of numbers they've been [reporting] to all of a sudden doing a whole lot better." The scope and length of time of the unsolicited account mess at Wells Fargo needs to be investigated, Sen. Bob Corker told CNBC on Tuesday, ahead of the morning hearing before his Senate Banking Committee panel. The Tennessee Republican said there are "legitimate concerns" over the practices that led to the bank's $185 million settlement with regulators earlier this month over charges employees boosted their sales targets and bonuses by opening accounts for unsuspecting customers. Corker said he wants to get to the bottom of how these kind of practices "could have been going on and for so long with so many people in the bank." "It was kind of interesting that internal controls didn't flag what was happening here," he added. In prepared testimony, Wells Fargo Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf said he's "deeply sorry" for the unauthorized account scandal, and takes "full responsibility." Last week, Stumpf told CNBC's "Mad Money" he holds himself accountable, but does not plan to resign. Corker said a focus will also be on Carrie Tolstedt, the Wells Fargo executive in charge of the unit where employees opened as many as 2 million unauthorized customer accounts. She retires at the end of the year, according to a bank announcement in July. There are accounts Tolstedt was a "workaholic," Corker said, adding she was reported to be "very, very micro-focused, and yet at the same time systemically there was something happening at the bank." According to a Wells Fargo proxy statement, Tolstedt accumulated stock and options over the course of her career at the bank of $95 million, based on when the stock was trading around $49 per share. "There are also questions about what the role the regulators played. Was this really something an LA Times reporter figured out was occurring or did our folks involved in regulating this actually play a role?" Corker said. Wells Fargo last Tuesday said it would eliminate retail banking product sales goals, starting next year. Hours later, CFO John Shrewsberry blamed underperforming employees struggling to meet goals for the lapses. Speaking at a banking conference in New York, he said 10 percent of the 5,300 employees fired were branch managers or more senior staffers. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors were investigating Wells Fargo over the unauthorized accounts. The investigation is in its early stages and prosecutors have yet to decide whether they would pursue a civil or criminal case, if either, according to the Journal. That stance is indicative of how she would go about dealing with Moscow if she is elected U.S. president on Nov. 8, aides to both Clinton and Obama told Reuters. But while Clinton became implementer-in-chief for one of Obama's signature first-term initiatives, she was consistently more skeptical than most of his top aides about how far Russian leader Vladimir Putin was prepared to go in turning the page, according to current and former U.S. officials. When Hillary Clinton attended her first major White House meeting on Russia in February 2009, the new secretary of state insisted that she wanted to play a leading role in President Barack Obama's effort to "reset" U.S. relations with Moscow. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) meets with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (R) outside Moscow in Novo-Ogarevo on March 19, 2010. With U.S. relations with Moscow already plumbing post-Cold War lows, the aides and veteran Russia watchers said she would likely take a harder line than Obama or Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has praised Putin as a strong leader. Dealing with Putin, who is flexing his geopolitical muscle from Ukraine to Syria to cyberspace, will be among Clinton's biggest foreign policy challenges one made more daunting by the personal bad blood between them. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department aide and now senior Clinton campaign advisor, said Clinton could consider the shipping of lethal arms to Ukraine government forces and the creation of no-fly or safe zones in Syria. Obama has rejected both ideas. While such moves could further stoke tensions and might even face resistance from some U.S. allies, Sullivan said in an interview with Reuters that Clinton could manage ties with Russia effectively because Putin would "respect her as U.S. president, her strength, her clarity, her predictability." According to current and former Clinton advisers, she could consider other policy moves such as stiffer sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and doing more to wean Russia's neighbors off reliance on Moscow's energy supplies. Russia is watching warily. "She is not perceived by many people as the Kremlin's preferred candidate," said Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry. "Many here believe that she would be tougher on Russia than Obama," he said. Clinton's first fence-mending effort in March 2009 was not so much a show of strength than of diplomatic clumsiness. She handed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a red button that was supposed to have the word "reset" on it. Instead, it was labeled with the Russian word meaning "overcharged." Clinton's distrust of Putin deepened, mirrored by his growing list of grievances against her. By the time she prepared to leave the State Department in early 2013, former officials said, she wrote at least two confidential memos to Obama urging a more hard-nosed approach. At the time, many in the president's inner circle were not convinced the reset had run its course, they said. Since Clinton's departure, Putin has reasserted Russia on the world stage, seizing Ukraine's Crimea region and intervening militarily in Syria's civil war. U.S. officials have linked the hacking of Democratic Party computers to the Russian government which the Kremlin denies. 'Not as if she went grumpily' Like most national security policies under Obama, the attempt to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations was managed from the White House by the president himself, along with aides from his 2008 campaign, including Russia specialist Michael McFaul. "No one should pretend that this wasn't an Obama-driven policy," said Philip Gordon, Clinton's top Europe adviser at the State Department. "But it's also not as if she went grumpily to the table and was told by the president 'you're doing it' ... She thought it had logic." McFaul, who later became ambassador to Russia, said in an interview that from the first White House meeting on Russia in early 2009 Clinton was skeptical of the prospects for transforming U.S.-Russian relations in a way that "some of us aspired to back then." Two other officials backed up his account. The first fruits of the reset were promising. Putin had temporarily, it turned out stepped down as president, with the younger, reform-minded Dmitry Medvedev in his place. Obama and Medvedev signed a new strategic nuclear arms control pact, cooperated to sanction Iran for its nuclear program and agreed to let U.S. troops and equipment transit Russia to support a American military "surge" in Afghanistan. But after little more than two years, the "reset" ran out of steam. By mid-2011, it was clear that Putin was returning to the presidency. A decade of broadsides Clinton first met Putin at his residence outside Moscow in March 2010. She persuaded him to back tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran, according to two people with knowledge of the session. In front of the TV cameras, however, Putin railed against U.S. trade and economic policies as Clinton watched. Clinton and Putin have been exchanging broadsides for nearly a decade. Putin, a former KGB agent, "doesn't have a soul," Clinton quipped on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary, riffing off of President George W. Bush's comment seven years earlier that he had looked into Putin's eyes and seen his soul. The Russian leader retorted: "At a minimum, a head of state should have a head." A U.S. official who was involved in Russia policymaking said Clinton sometimes chose her words poorly, inflaming Russian resentment over its perceived post-Cold War humiliation, a nationalist strain that Putin has long used to his advantage. "She played into that," said the official, who requested anonymity. The most serious rift of Clinton's tenure occurred in late 2011, as crowds filled the streets of Russian cities protesting parliamentary elections marred by allegations of voting fraud. Clinton, in a statement approved by the White House, called the election "neither free nor fair." Putin, who was preparing to retake the presidency, accused her of trying to foment a new Russian revolution. A steady slide in contacts between Clinton and the Russian leadership and in overall relations followed. "Secretary Clinton's views on Russia were always a little harder-edged than President Obama's," said John Beyrle, Obama's first ambassador to Moscow. That partly reflected a "splitting up of responsibilities," he said. Obama cooperated with Medvedev; Clinton grappled with Lavrov and Putin. Some Russia watchers say Clinton's record was mixed. "The reset was the right approach," said Thomas Graham, former Russia adviser under Bush's Republican administration. But he faulted Clinton and Obama's team for not doing more to "actively reach out to Putin and open lines of communication." While there are still some unanswered questions surrounding the Wells Fargo scandal, it is clear that the bank didn't live up to a standard of trust, Sen. Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said Tuesday. Earlier in the day, CEO John Stumpf faced a grilling by the panel about the opening of authorized accounts for customers. "When you have employees, up to 5,000 that they terminated for bringing forth fraudulent accounts, there's something wrong with the culture and there's something wrong with the bank," the Republican senator from Alabama said in an interview with CNBC's "Power Lunch" after the hearing on the matter. Stumpf told the committee he was "deeply sorry" and said Wells Fargo is committed to fixing what went wrong. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for a criminal investigation into Wells Fargo executives, as well as Stumpf's resignation. However, Shelby wouldn't say if he agreed that the CEO should be fired, noting that it was up to the board to decide. "Mr. Stumpf has been recognized as a good banker for a long time but when things happen on your watch, you do have to have responsibility for it and there's got to be an accounting for it and I'm not sure that's happened yet," he said. Shelby also said regulators didn't look into problems at the bank soon enough. The case was initiated by the Los Angeles city attorney's office after a report in the Los Angeles Times, not by the comptroller of the currency or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he said. "They were late to the party. That was obvious. I think they're trying to claim a lot of credit that's not due to them." The "Fast Money" traders debated which traditional media companies are the best investments as consumers are increasingly likely to cut the cord. Trader Dan Nathan said that, as a stock, Time Warner looks very attractive especially since it owns powerhouse HBO, which recently netted 22 Primetime Emmy Awards, the most of any network. "That stock trades below market multiple ... It's a cheap stock and they have HBO," Nathan said. "That is the delivery mechanism that you want. HBO has figured it out [with] HBO Now and HBO Go, so that's a good model for the others. Trader Tim Seymour agreed, saying it "trades cheap to the parts" on a valuation basis. "Bottom line here, Time Warner is the name to play in the cord-cutting space," he said. Trader Pete Najarian disagreed, saying that content seems more important and for that reason he prefers Disney . CLSA's Michael Mayo ripped into Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf's planned apology on Capitol Hill literally. The bank analyst tore up a copy of a list of the issues during an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box." The scripted apology fails to answer important questions about the bank's fake accounts scandal, Mayo said Tuesday. Stumpf will answer questions before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday following the revelation that Wells Fargo employees opened as many as 2 million accounts on behalf of customers without their consent, resulting in a $185 million fine from regulators including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Stumpf is planning to apologize and take full responsibility, according to prepared remarks. But the statement fails to address why it took Wells Fargo so long to halt the behavior, where the checks and balances were applied, and what the repercussions will be for executives, Mayo said. "Where's the rest? Where's the meat?" he asked. "It doesn't really say anything. It doesn't answer the questions that he's going to be grilled on today." Mayo said the company should claw back pay for Stumpf and Carrie Tolstedt, the head of community banking who is scheduled to retire at year's end. Still, Stumpf should stay on as chief executive, he added. The bank remains a well-managed enterprise and has outperformed its peers in recent years under Stumpf, according to Mayo. After speaking to Wells Fargo customers, Mayo said he is convinced they will not leave the bank. CLSA has left its earnings estimates for the company unchanged, he added. "As far as a financial event, it's not a big deal," he said, though he acknowledged it is a significant public relations setback. Former General Electric Chairman and CEO Jack Welch also said the case was not significant from a financial perspective. But he added there is no question Wells Fargo did not act swiftly enough and suffered a breakdown in culture that put pressure on employees to sell more products and incentivized bad behavior. "You get the behavior you measure and reward. That's just a fact," he told "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. "If you want more accounts, you put some weight on that, but you put more weight on customer satisfaction, customer growth." Wells Fargo fired about 5,300 employees who were believed to have been involved in the practice during the last several years. Last week, the bank said it will eliminate its product sales goals for retail bankers. Embroiled in controversy over his bank's deceptive sales practices, Wells Fargo CEO John G. Stumpf apologized to a Senate panel on Tuesday and said the bank is committed to fixing what went wrong. With the bank on the hot seat and some investors calling for his resignation, Stumpf looked to strike a conciliatory tone. He said he is "deeply sorry" for conduct that "failed to fulfill our responsibilities to our customers, our team members and the American public." "In this case, we let our customers down," he said. The bank paid $185 million in a settlement related to the charges. Senators fired questions at Stumpf, some centering on why the bank allowed the problems to fester for years before taking action. More than 5,000 Wells Fargo workers ultimately were fired in connection with the issues. "Where was management when so many thousands of people were fired, stories were written, regulators were starting to come?" asked Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Sen. John Ester said the bank's actions "have done something that hasn't happened in the last 10 years and united this committee on a major topic and not in a good way." As Stumpf spoke, Wells Fargo shares gained less than 1 percent in early trading, off its high for the session. Stumpf vowed that the corporate culture will change and said the bank has eliminated the sales goals that led to the problems, which entailed employees cross-selling products to customers, who often were unaware that they had been signed up. "This is not good for our customers and that is not good for our business," he said. "It's against everything we stand for as a company. That said, I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices in our retail banking business, and I am fully committed to fixing this issue, strengthening our culture and taking the necessary actions to restore our company's trust." "I was stunned when I learned the breadth and duration of the fraud committed by Wells Fargo," Brown said. "I hope today we can understand what went wrong and what needs to be done." Stumpf admitted that the company was lax in catching the problems, and said it was looking back as far as 2009 when the bank absorbed Wachovia during the financial crisis. "We just don't want to leave any stone unturned," he said. Wells Fargo's move to terminate thousands of staffers while simultaneously defending senior executives in the wake of its fake accounts scandal was "despicable," Sen. Robert Menendez said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill hearing. "I am personally appalled by the size, the scope, the duration and the impact of the scandal, and I must say that I'm shocked and incredibly disappointed by the response of Wells Fargo's corporate executives," the New Jersey Democrat told CEO John Stumpf. "In the last week you and your chief financial officer have taken to the press and laid the blame squarely on low-paid retail bank employees, and while I don't excuse what they did by any stretch of the imagination, I find that despicable." Wells Fargo 's CEO pledged changes before the Senate Banking Committee investigating the bank's account fraud scandal, but he stopped short of saying executive pay should be clawed back, or that staffers had committed fraud. Menendez criticized a sales culture where he said managers would be "breathing down your neck to meet sales quotas." It's a different spin on the system of "checks and balances." Wells Fargo has cut checks to the congressional campaigns of politicians on both sides of the aisle, including some who are questioning CEO John Stumpf on Capitol Hill Tuesday. The Wells Fargo and Company Employee PAC has made donations to 20 of 22 members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, including ranking Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby, according to a review of Federal Election Commission data. Among the GOP committee members, only Louisiana Sen. David Vitter did not receive a donation from Wells Fargo's PAC, and among Democrats, only Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has not been the recipient of any PAC cash. CEO Stumpf has also donated personally to several senators who will grill him on Wells Fargo's fake account scandal on Tuesday morning. ACT college entrance test scores have become important numbers for Montana and Wyoming students, their high schools and our state. A students high scores can show that he is prepared for college success that he hadnt even considered. A lower score shows the student and his parents that theres a lot more work to do to prepare for post-secondary education and career. Three years ago, the Montana Office of Public Instruction and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education secured a grant to provider the ACT at no charge to every high school senior in Montana public schools. Previously only 60 to 70 percent of Montana students took the ACT. Since 2014, 100 percent have tested, so ACT scores give a fuller picture of student preparedness. Double-duty testing Starting this year, Montana will use ACT scores to fulfill a federal testing requirement and eliminate another test that all 11th graders previously were required to take. That is one good step toward reducing the plethora of standardized tests that has been eating into instructional time in our classrooms. The state of Wyoming also administers the ACT to all juniors and uses those scores in determining whether schools meet academic expectations at the state level. In comparing these neighbor states, data from ACT shows the average 2016 scores are similar. All of the average scores for Montana and Wyoming are slightly below national averages because nationally, only 52 percent of students in the class of 2016 took the ACT. In other states, students not already planning to attend college usually dont take the test. The ACT 2016 report on Montana notes: Even as the size of the states graduating class taking the ACT has grown, the average ACT Composite score has only slightly decreased from 20.4 to 20.3. This is normal, as average scores tend to decrease with a broadening of the testing base. Among Wyoming students who indicated they had no college plans, 22 percent had a composite score of 20 or higher. This represents an opportunity to explore initiatives to increase the college-going rate of Wyoming students, ACT said. Healthy aspirations Montana economists have projected that our state will need more than 1,100 new health care workers every year for the next decade as our population ages rapidly, pushing up demand for care. With a health care workforce shortage already evident in Billings and growing throughout the state and nation, ACT data show a significant opportunity to encourage bright young people into this critical field. In the 2016 Montana graduating class, 1,587 students indicated they planned to major in health sciences and technologies. Students aiming for health careers had average composite scores of 21, slightly above the state average. Health science and technologies also was the most popular career field among 2016 Wyoming graduates. Leaders in both states must ensure those students who were interested in health careers before high school graduation get the help they need to fulfill their dreams. Among ACTs 2016 recommendations for all states, these stand out: Dont over-test students. Focus on effective high-quality teaching, which requires investment in post-secondary teaching programs, professional development and kindergarten through college collaboration. Additionally, success in K-12 math is crucial. Students cant take a year or two break from math and expect to do well in post-secondary math. At the same time, students must be able to see the relevancy of their math classes. One great example of making math meaningful is the construction geometry class offered at Billings Career Center. Those students learn math skills they apply to building a real house. Standardized tests certainly dont tell us everything we need to know about educational attainment. But when parents, teachers, employers and policy-makers look at the big picture of data with open minds, Montana and Wyoming can learn to do better. Some of the miracles of Jesus in the Bible ought to come with a disclaimer Dont try this at home. A 35-year-old pastor in Gabon, Franck Kabele, has died while trying to take after Jesus in the Bible. Reports claim that Kabele told his congregation that he was capable of reenacting the same miracles of Jesus Christ in the Bible. He decided to make it clear through way of demonstration on Gabons beach in the capital city of Libreville. Using Matthew 14:22-33 as reference, Kabele said that he received a revelation which told him that with enough faith he could achieve what Jesus did also. Eyewitnesses say that Kabele took his congregation out to the beach. He told them that he would cross the Kombo estuary by foot, which is normally a 20-minute boat ride. Sadly by the second step into the water, Kabele found himself completely submerged. He never returned. This is not the first incident of this nature in Africa. At Ibadan zoo in south-west Nigeria, a self-proclaimed prophet claimed to be able to do what the Daniel of the bible did by walking into a den full of lions. Though he was warned numerous times by zoo keepers, the prophet thought of them as nothing more than enemies of progress. The prophet, with a crowd of people watching, put on a long red robe and proceeded to enter the cage full of lions. HE was ripped apart from flesh to bone within seconds of entrance into the lions den. The U.S. Mint struck a bronze medal in 1993 to mark the bureau's 200th anniversary in 1992. Both the Commission of Fine Arts and Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee recommended this design for the reverse of the 1792-2017 American Liberty High Relief $100 gold coin, but U.S. Mint officials have yet to disclose whether it is the approved design. Images from U.S. Mint promotional brochure for the 1792-2017 American Liberty High Relief $100 gold coin depict the approved obverse and part of the raised edge device. The 2017 American Liberty gold $100 coin will be promoted by the U.S. Mint as part of its celebration marking the bureaus 225th anniversary. During the closed administration portion of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee Sept. 16 meeting, members were provided information on the 225th anniversary coin currently being developed by the Mint and were also shown a test strike of the coin, U.S. Mint spokeswoman Sharon McPike confirmed to Coin World Sept. 19. However, given that this was during the portion of the meeting not open to the public, it would not be appropriate to share any of the information or images of the test strike at this time, McPike said. The coin seen in the administrative meeting is a research strike. Manufacturing is still proving out the technology required to execute this coin in high relief and with raised edge lettering. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Coin World was able to obtain a copy of a promotional flyer that illustrates the adopted obverse for the high relief 1-ounce .9999 fine gold coin and a portion of the raised edge lettering design. The adopted obverse, which has not been officially announced by the U.S. Mint, is the design recommended in March 2016 by both the CCAC and the Commission of Fine Arts, dual-dated 1792 and 2017. The design depicts Liberty as an African-American woman, facing left, wearing a crown of stars as an homage to the Statue of Freedom atop the U.S. Capitol dome. Reaction to the design: A bold recommendation for American Liberty African American Liberty portrait recommendation draws criticism Both design review panels also recommended the same eagle-in-flight design for the reverse of the gold $100 coin. The Mints promotional flyer does not illustrate an approved reverse, and U.S. Mint officials declined to provide an illustration or disclose the design at this time. It is not known whether the reverse design recommended by both advisory panels is the design adopted for the coin. Based on the promotional flyer illustrations for the gold coin, the obverse bears the designers initials for U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program designer Justin Kunz and U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill, who sculptured Kunzs design. What is visible from the edge illustration is ? 225th ANNIVERSARY ? apparently from one of three edge segments that form the collar die. Stars also appear to flank whatever text is to appear on the remaining two edge segments of which only a tantalizing but unreadable bit is visible in the flyer illustration. According to the promotional flyer, the U.S. Mint plans a year-long initiative to educate the public about the Mint and to engage new customers. Throughout the year, we will host a number of outreach specific events, to include a one-day Numismatic Forum (which will be focused on reinvigorating the numismatic hobby), a First Strike Media Day (where we will unveil the 225th Anniversary American Liberty 24K High Relief Gold Coin) and a bureau-wide celebration on April 2, 2017, the official 225th anniversary of the United States Mint, according to the Mint. The Bureau of the Mint was congressionally established on April 2, 1792. After the U.S. Mints 200th anniversary in 1992, the Mint issued a bronze Bicentennial medal in 1993. Import restrictions imposed by the government have severely limited the availability of restricted types of ancient Greek coins here even though such coins remain legally available for sale overseas. Similar restrictions are ow under consideration for coins of Cyprus. Peter Tompa is an attorney and a board member of the Cultural Policy Research Institute and the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild. On July 14, 2016, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild filed a motion for summary judgment in a forfeiture case that relates to undocumented ancient coins from Cyprus and China. On Aug. 8, 2016, the U.S. State Department announced a public comment period for the proposed renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Republic of Cyprus that authorizes import restrictions on undocumented Cypriot coins. That same week, the Cyprus Mail reported that the mayor of Paphos, Cyprus, accused museum workers of stealing and selling artifacts. However, the Cypriot antiquities authority that runs the museum has denied the thefts. Instead, its spokesperson says the artifacts are not missing, but merely undocumented due to large backlog in museum storage. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter The term undocumented is the common thread in all these stories. To archaeologists who advocate on behalf of the countries in which they excavate, the term undocumented has taken on a sinister connotation, i.e., artifacts without provable collection histories back before 1970 the date of the UNESCO Convention that must be stolen from archaeological sites. To the U.S. government, the term has a related connotation. Artifacts that cannot be traced to back before an MOU is entered with another UNESCO state party are deemed looted and are hence subject to detention, seizure, forfeiture, and repatriation. However, as the plea of Paphos museum workers demonstrates, undocumented does not necessarily mean stolen. Rather, its quite possible that an artifact long out of the ground lacks proper documentation either because no one thought it important enough to prepare at the time or because any paperwork that once existed was subsequently lost or destroyed. All this takes us back to the Cyprus MOU renewal request and the ACCGs motion for summary judgment. For some 25 years after the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation act went into effect, there were no import restrictions on coins. This was no surprise; ancient coins first circulated widely as currency and then as collectibles making it hard to tie them to any one modern nation state. Indeed, when queried specifically about the issue, Mark Feldman, a top State Department lawyer, stated on the record to Congress that it would be hard to imagine a case where coins would be restricted. However, in 2007, when a Cypriot MOU came up for renewal, behind-the-scenes lobbying by well-connected archaeological activists won the day. As a result, according to Jay Kislak, CPACs chairman at the time, the State Department rejected his committees recommendations against import restrictions on coins and then went on to mislead the public and Congress about it. Based on that precedent, the State Department next imposed import restrictions on certain coin types from Iraq (2008), China (2009), Italy (2011), Greece (2011), Bulgaria (2014), and Syria (2016). ACCG decided not to accept the fait accompli. So, it imported undocumented ancient coins to test the regulations in court, but the judiciary instead decided that the matter was a political question outside its competence. Now, seven years later, the ACCG is still fighting a related forfeiture case involving the coins it imported for standing purposes. In that case, the issue of undocumented coins which predominate in the market has once again come up. The ACCG has argued that even assuming the applicable import regulations are valid, the government must still show that the coins were first discovered within and subject to the export control of either Cyprus or China before they can be forfeited. The case remains ongoing before a federal court in Baltimore. Meanwhile, the ACCG needs your help. Please express concerns about the Cypriot MOU and import restrictions. Why? Because they have severely limited the availability of restricted types here even though such coins remain legally available for sale overseas. And while certain Greek, Roman Republican, Roman Provincial and Chinese coin types have been restricted, other popular Roman Imperial and Byzantine issues found in Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy have remained off the designated lists until now and hence remain available to be imported in quantity. To comment on the regulations.gov website, go here. Comments are due on or before Sept. 30, 2016. Silence will only be taken as acquiescence by those who advocate for further restrictions. HELENA In the hours leading up to the second debate between Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who is running for re-election, and Republican businessman Greg Gianforte, both parties pulled the dust off some attacks from earlier in the campaign. Since last spring Bullock and Gianforte have traded jabs over a lawsuit Gianforte filed to remove an easement that provided access to the Gallatin River near his home and the governors use of a private email account to conduct state business and the deletion of emails from Bullocks state account from when he was attorney general. Bullock has used the lawsuit to paint Gianforte as anti-public lands, and Gianforte has used the email flap to tie the governor to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was in hot water earlier this year over her use of a personal email server during her time as secretary of state. Easement The Montana Democrats on Monday released an email sent in March 2008 with a passage that says Gianforte, a tech entrepreneur, had gated and put up signs to keep the public off an easement that allowed access to the Gallatin River near his home in Bozeman. Gianforte has said he never actively blocked access to the easement. Correspondence released Monday by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks department contained an email from then-regional parks manager Jerry Walker saying the Gianfortes fenced the easement and actively excluded the public from accessing this property. Additional documents included an April 2008 letter Bozeman attorney Art Wittich sent on behalf of several landowners near the access area asking the department to relinquish the easement in order to avoid litigating this issue. Gianfortes East Gallatin LLC sued Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in May 2009 to remove an easement that provided public access along the East Gallatin River, arguing that users were damaging adjacent land, the original 1993 agreement by a previous owner was invalid and that the public had sufficient access via two other nearby sites. The complaint was filed to create a foothold for a case, but the papers were never served to the agency. In May, Gianfortes campaign defended the candidate. Greg and Susan have been strong supporters of stream access, spokesman Aaron Flint wrote in an email. Greg and Susan have always welcomed anglers on their property and generally have three to five cars everyday in the summer accessing the river on their property just north of Bozeman. On Monday, he said Democrats were just trying to revive an old, settled issue and distract from discussion of the states poor economy. Flint said the fence had been there when the Gianfortes bought the property. It had been a barbed wire fence. They improved it and put in a post fence because they had horses on the property, he said. Emails Standing outside Petro Hall on the Montana State University Billings campus where the gubernatorial debate would be held hours later, GOP Chairman and legislator Jeff Essmann announced Monday that he was sending a letter asking Bullock to preserve email records in his office related to six recent noteworthy events that have come out of that office and are subject to some public scrutiny right now. He raised questions about the resignation of former Lt. Gov. Angela McLean, funds spent by the Department of Public Health and Human Services that employees had flagged as potentially illegal, alleged retaliation against agency employees who raised questions about spending, travel on the state plane to campaign stops or events that were not clearly for a governmental purpose, travel with state employees related to his tenure as president of the Democratic Governors Association and his role in the decision to award a $7 million contract to a Wisconsin firm for marketing state tourism that Republicans have said has family ties to a state employee. The reason this letter is necessary is the fact that it has been reported that when he departed the attorney generals office Bullock deleted all emails of himself and his senior staff, Essmann said. We have a national conversation going on about Hillary Clinton deleting some of her emails from her service at the state department, but Steve Bullock has deleted all of his from when he was serving as attorney general. The Great Falls Tribune has previously reported that emails from Bullocks tenure as attorney general from 2009 to 2013 were deleted without any record of the office seeking prior approval from the state records retention committee as outlined in state policy. Essmann argued that the deletion violated Montana statutes and record retention policy, critical components of the publics right to know enshrined in the state Constitution. How do you exercise the right know if public documents are hidden or destroyed? You cant. This is a serious matter and I hope its attended to, he said. For one, he should apologize for violating the law. And he should promise not to do it again. Essmann said the party has no pending records requests for emails from the governors office at this time even about the events listed in his letter. Moments into Essmans press conference Monday, the Gianforte campaign emailed a statement calling for an immediate investigation. This appears to be a massive breach of the public trust, Gianforte said in the written statement. Its time career politicians are held accountable. Response Montana Democratic Party Spokesman Jason Pitt accused Gianforte and the GOP of lying. Greg Gianforte will make up anything to bury the news that he has just been caught misleading voters yet again, Pitt said, referencing the easement dispute. Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel said Essmann did not have the facts of the situation and that the governor had done nothing wrong. The emails in question qualify as a type of public information that is not subject to the states most stringent records retention rules that Essmann and others have cited, according to the Department of Administration's information technology department. Transparency is one of Gov. Bullocks highest priorities. But lets be clear, the governor did not delete emails from an account that was created eight years ago, she said in a written statement. The email account no longer exists, just like accounts from former Attorney Generals Marc Racicot or Joe Mazurek no longer exist, and thousands of other state employees who move between branches or leave state government whose accounts are ended. Asked if Essmann knew about the practice of previous attorney generals, the party chairman shifted focus back to Bullock. Well, it clearly wasnt permitted by law, he said. Steve Bullock was at the time the chief law enforcement officer for the state. Of anybody, he shouldve been aware of what the requirements of state law were and followed them and I dont think he did. But staff from the Department of Administration, which manages state email accounts, said the deletion of emails from Bullocks tenure as attorney general is par for the course. Closing an email account is normal procedure when an employee leaves State employment or moves between branches or agencies, Montanas Chief Information Security Officer Lynne Pizzini said in an emailed statement. The state does not store emails from thousands of former state employees and former elected elected officials due to the high volume and cost of that storage. Although Essmann said he was aware of the deletions as early as 2014 when Republican Tim Fox succeeded Bullock as attorney general, the GOP chairman said the significance of the matter only became apparent to him recently. He dismissed the suggestion that Mondays announcement was only a campaign stunt. At the time, I dont think I realized the scope of the deletions nor had it been publicly reported, he said. I think weve got some serious issues going forward if some of these allegations turn out to be true theyll have serious consequences. Ellen is an assistant city editor for spring 2017. She has reported on the Missouri General Assembly and Columbia city government for the Missourian. Reach her at: eccg25@mail.missouri.edu or in the newsroom at (573) 882-5720 Follow this search Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today BUTTE Jurors on Monday in Butte district court convicted a Texas man for the fatal shooting of a Whitehall man and wounding two other men on a remote road southeast of Butte in 2015. In less than four hours, the jury of six men and six women found Tony Dwade Sawyer guilty of deliberate homicide and two counts of attempted deliberate homicide, all felonies, in connection with a late-night triple shooting that killed 37-year-old Joe Powers on Nov. 3. The 48-year-old, flanked by public defenders Ed Sheehy and Catherine Rickett, sat stone-faced and lowered his eyes while the verdict was read. Powers parents, Tom and Zelda, sat quietly behind prosecutors along with other family members. They declined comment. Presiding Judge Brad Newman ordered a presentence investigation, and the sentencing was slated for Nov. 7. Sheehy said his client may be facing a throat cancer diagnosis and asked the judge that his client receive a medical evaluation while incarcerated in the county jail, which Newman ordered. After the judge adjourned court, family members of Joe Powers embraced County Attorney Eileen Joyce and her co-counsel, Ann Shea and Michael Clague, both deputy county attorneys. Joyce and her team spent at least 100 hours in preparation for the trial. She wasnt surprised that jurors returned a quick verdict. We believe that the jury reached the correct verdict, and were happy justice was served for all the victims and Joe Powers family, Joyce said. In instructing jurors before closing arguments Monday morning, Newman said their task was to deliberate if Sawyer was guilty of the more serious charges or the lesser offenses of mitigated deliberate homicide regarding Powers and attempted mitigated deliberate homicide regarding Whitehall residents Steve Drury and Hunter Smith. If jurors opted for the lesser offense regarding Drury and Smiths injuries, they would also consider an offense of assault with a weapon. In an hour-long closing argument to a packed courtroom, Deputy County Attorney Michael Clague faced the jury, saying the case was about a choice Sawyer made and a choice he took away from Powers, who was shot in the back and left face down in a snowy ditch on Fish Creek Road. Four men got into a car on Nov. 3, 2015, and only one man returned in the vehicle to Drurys residence, Clague continued. No matter the amount of methamphetamine and number of guns, the facts in the case could not be denied that Tony Sawyer took away these three mens choices. Clague dismissed the defenses contention that Sawyer was acting in self-defense. If a person acts in self-defense, he argued, then that person would likely turn himself in. Sawyer was apprehended a day after the shooting in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The prosecutor said testimony showed there was no danger to Sawyer as it related to Powers and Smith. He said the defense wanted the jury to believe danger existed. When Sawyer ran up to Drury, this was not the action of a scared man, Clague said. Rather, it was the behavior of a man running to a fight. Clague argued the security footage at Drury's house shows Sawyer was not scared when he helped load the Chevy Equinox the four men rode in to go skeet shooting. After the shooting, when Sawyer returned to Drury's house, he took 45 minutes to methodically pack another vehicle, a Mitsubishi, before he fled, Clague said, adding that the security footage did not support Sawyer's admission that he was scared or suffering severe emotional distress. Sheehy, in his closing, said the five days of testimony showed his client feared for his life the night the shootings occurred and that his use of force was justified. Sheehy said testimony based on Sawyers interviews with Idaho law enforcement, Butte police Detective Anthony Jurenic and clinical psychologist Loretta L. Bolyard indicated he fired shots because he feared for his life or serious bodily injury. As the situation escalated on Fish Creek Road that night, Sawyer questioned You guys aint going to kill me? And then, when the need for self-defense became apparent, said Please, please, please dont make me do it. That, said Sheehy, indicated Sawyer was doing what he could to save his own life. In the prosecutions rebuttal, Shea said this is a case of choices and those choices revolved around the defendants choices. When Sawyer left Texas for Montana, he set in motion a chain of events that changed Powers family forever and took away Joe Powers life, she said. 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. Family starts over after losing home, pets in Wooldridge fire The McComb family called Wooldridge home before losing everything material to wildfire. What hurt the most was the loss of their pet dog Olaf. MISSOULA John Craighead, who with twin brother Frank will forever be linked with American conservation, its wild rivers and a seminal study of grizzly bears, died in his sleep Sunday morning at his home in south Missoula. Craighead turned 100 on Aug. 14 and had been ailing for a number of years, though his children said he didnt stop spending as many hours as he could in all seasons in the tepee in his yard until last year. It was unexpected but expected, said son Johnny, who has been the primary caregiver for his father and mother Margaret, 96. When he went to sleep Saturday night we didnt expect it to happen, but we expected it to happen sometime soon. He was going and weve been grieving for a long time. Craighead founded the Craighead Wildlife-Wildands Institute in 1958. In a 25-year career as leader of the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Montana, he helped establish UM's wildlife biology program as one of the tops in the nation. He and brother Frank were born in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 14, 1916. They went to Penn State University and, at age 20, published their first of 14 articles for National Geographic Society titled "Adventures with Birds of Prey." They began their work in wildlife research in Wyoming and Montana in the 1940s. The Craighead brothers wrote much of the text for the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act that was passed in 1965, even as they conducted a 12-year study of grizzly bears in Yellowstone that is credited with helping save the bears from extinction. In 1998 the twins were named among America's top scientists of the 20th century by the Audubon Society. UM endowed the John J. Craighead Chair in Wildlife Biology in 2005. Frank Craighead was diagnosed with Parkinson's desease in 1987. He died in 2001 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the age of 85. In addition to his wife Margaret, John Craighead is survived by children Karen, Derek and Johnny. Where the Southern Cross the Yellow Dog, 1965, painting by Carroll Cloar By Fredric Koeppel, richens@commercialappeal.com Carroll Cloar remains one of the most beloved and widely recognized artists of the South, even after his death in 1993. Born in 1913, reared near Earle, Arkansas, and a resident of Memphis for most of his life, Cloar drew on memories of his rural childhood and the tales and customs of country and small-town folks to create paintings whose realism was tempered with touches of whimsy, folklore and mystery. He often started a piece with an old photograph that he would transpose into something akin to dream and fable. More than 20 years after his death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the artist's work is highly collectible. In a move certain to delight devotees of his efforts, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art has opened a gallery dedicated to Cloar's work, of which the institution owns a choice trove. In fact, over the years, the Brooks assembled a collection, through bequest or purchase, that includes some of Cloar's most iconic pieces, such as "Halloween," "My Father Was Big as a Tree," "Story Told by My Mother" and "Where the Southern Cross the Yellow Dog." The Cloar Gallery opens to the public Saturday. The project was overseen by Stanton Thomas, the museum's curator of European and decorative art. Thomas readily admits that the parameters of his job description don't lean toward regional artists of the American South, but, he said, "I fell in love with 'Where the Southern Cross the Yellow Dog' when I came to the Brooks. It was a love that developed more during 'The Summer of Cloar' in 2013." That city-wide and cross-city event West Memphis was included celebrated the anniversaries of the artist's birth and death with exhibitions in a variety of venues. Plans for the gallery dictated the destruction of several walls and the rearrangement of some original intentions at the east side of the Brooks overlooking Overton Park. What was The Brushmark restaurant is now the Terrace Room, slated for special events. The adjacent rooms where the museum's board met and the niche where a grand piano stood are now incorporated into the Cloar Gallery. The Brooks owns 32 pieces by Cloar. For what Thomas called "the near future two, three, four years," those works will be displayed on a rotating basis, augmented by loans of other Cloar works. "We're interested in using the space for other regional artists also," Thomas said. The gallery will be adorned with pieces of rare antique Tennessee furniture. Carroll Cloar began his career as a lithographer in the late 1930s, showing the influence of the prevailing style of Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. Trips to Mexico in 1941 and 1946-47, under a fellowship while he was studying in New York, and to Latin America and Europe in 1954, revealed much in the way of sophisticated technique to the artist but confirmed him in his choice of subject matter: the rural South where he had grown up. After returning to Memphis in the mid-1950s, Cloar concentrated on painting in casein tempera, a difficult medium that lent his work its transparency of color. In the mid-1960s, he switched to acrylic, a shift some observers felt diluted the power of his color, though the artist's popularity never diminished. Several honors came to Cloar toward the end of his life. In March 1991, the University Gallery at Memphis State University (now the Art Museum at the University of Memphis) mounted a retrospective exhibition, which included 70 paintings, drawings and lithographs selected by the artist. In conjunction with the exhibition, Cloar was given the 1991 Distinguished Achievement Award for the Creative and Performing Arts, the highest award the university gives; he was the first visual artist to receive the award since it was launched in 1979. ''Everyone will wonder what I'm doing in that list of musicians,'' Cloar said then. ''They don't know I'm the only one of them that plays the ukelele.'' David Lusk, whose eponymous gallery in Memphis represents Cloar's estate on behalf of his widow, Patricia Cloar Milsted, noted that the artist's reputation is "ever-expanding, though he continues to be recognized as a regional artist with a national standing." Although most of Cloar's work is in private hands, in addition to the Brooks and to the Art Museum of the University of Memphis, which owns Cloar's studio and numerous artifacts, several of his pieces are in the collection of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. While at the time of his death, prices for Cloar's works hovered around $25,000 for the best paintings and about $3,000 for drawings, those figures have escalated to three times that now. "There is great demand," Lusk said, "especially for older paintings. We're seeing prices in the high five digits and occasionally the low six figures. Drawings are usually about $3,000 to $12,000, depending on age and condition." Cloar's pencil sketches on paper were not so much preparatory drawings as tracings whose lines indicated the placement of buildings, figures, objects and landscape elements for the paintings. Since a drawing exists for almost every painting, and since the supply of paintings is finite and mostly spoken for, the drawings offer the opportunity for collectors to acquire a work by Cloar without expending, as Lusk said, "high five digits." A gallery dedicated to this popular and essential artist was an idea whose time was pertinent and appropriate, Thomas said. "Cloar's appeal is broader than ever. There's really a need, a demand, that his work be seen." September 15, 2016- Stephen Jones, right, with with his attorney Brian Faughnan, left, appears in the Historic Courtroom at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in the disciplinary matter of Assistant District Attorney Stephen Jones for his conduct in Noura Jackson's case. (Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal) By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal Disciplinary proceedings will continue against Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Stephen P. Jones on charges he violated two rules of professional conduct in the prosecution of Noura Jackson, according to an order released Tuesday. A panel of attorneys denied Jones' motion for judgment in his favor on allegations he violated a rule about special responsibilities of a prosecutor and a rule about misconduct. The panel granted judgment in his favor on a third rule of fairness to the opposing party. "The hearing panel will schedule a conference call to discuss scheduling a trial and establishing a deadline for pretrial matters," according to the order. Jones and Amy Weirich, now Shelby County district attorney general, prosecuted Jackson in 2009 for the killing of her mother, Jennifer Jackson. Her mother, a 39-year-old bond trader, was stabbed more than 50 times in June 2005 at their East Memphis home. The Tennessee Supreme Court in 2014 threw out Noura Jackson's second-degree murder conviction, and ordered a new trial. She entered an Alford plea on a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter last year. She was released from prison Aug. 7 and has maintained that she's innocent. Jones was co-counsel in the case and Weirich was the lead prosecutor. A disciplinary case against Weirich, in which the Board of Professional Responsibility charged that Weirich improperly commented on Jackson's right to remain silent, is pending. In a previous statement, Weirich said nothing done by Jones or herself at trial should warrant discipline. The Board of Professional Responsibility charged that Jones failed to provide a statement by an important witness, Andrew Hammack, to the defense until after the trial. The statement "gave a completely different account of what happened on the night of the murder from the testimony by Mr. Hammack at trial," according to the petition against Jones. Attorney Brian S. Faughnan argued Jones made an inadvertent mistake that he owned up to and that he did not knowingly withhold the document. Noura Jackson told reporters after a hearing that the prosecution denied the witness statement's existence and "this should never be allowed." The panel of attorneys hearing the disciplinary case Hayden Lait as chairman, Leland McNabb and Michael Tauer found that Jones did not violate a rule of fairness to the opposing party. There is a procedural rule about lawyers being ordered to turn over any statement of a witness in their possession after the witness testifies, but the panel found that Jackson's counsel did not move for production of statements by the witness after he testified. Deputy Chief Disciplinary Counsel Krisann Hodges wrote in a filing that the defense made multiple pretrial requests for statements by Hammack, as well as a motion midtrial for exculpatory evidence. On the other two allegations of professional violations, the panel denied Jones' motion for judgment in his favor, and the panel called for an evidentiary hearing. "Intent can be difficult to prove by direct evidence, and the board has presented a largely circumstantial argument that (Jones') actions were either intentional or knowing," the panel found, citing examples that Jones made a cursory review of the statement, concluded it was a "non-issue" and put it in a notebook. "Although this recitation of events could be consistent with (Jones') position that his failure to turn over the statement to the defense was inadvertent, it could also be consistent with a knowing, or even intentional, course of conduct," the panel found. September 20, 2016 - Former Grizzlies announcer Rick Trotter makes a quick stop in court for a hearing that was reset on charges that he photographed someone without their consent at the Downtown Church. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal) By Kayleigh Skinner of The Commercial Appeal Former Memphis Grizzlies announcer Rick Trotter appeared in court Tuesday, where his lawyer reset his court date for next month. It doesnt look like were going to be able to negotiate anything today, so I reset the court date for October 24, said Marty McAfee. Trotter, whose legal name is Dwayne Trotter, faces four counts that he photographed individuals without their consent. He was arrested Aug. 9 and booked into the Shelby County Jail, where he was released the next day on a $70,000 bond. Prior to his arrest, police issued an arrest warrant on charges that he photographed someone without their consent at the Downtown Church, where he was formerly an employee. According to arrest affidavits, Trotter was caught kneeling behind a woman during worship service holding a cell phone taking videos underneath her dress. On May 21, four women signed a statement confirming they were the individuals on the videos found on Trotters church-issued laptop. Trotter waived his rights and gave a signed, written statement admitting he took the videos of each woman, the affidavit said. MT Waterworks LLC, a Billings water pipe supply company, paid a $350,000 fine last week during its sentencing on corruption charges in U.S. District Court in Great Falls. The company in May admitted criminal charges that it falsely claimed an Indian preference to get federal and tribal contracts, including more than $3.3 million from the Chippewa Cree Tribe for work on a federally funded water project in north central Montana. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Great Falls followed a plea agreement during a Sept. 15 sentencing hearing and imposed the fine. He also dismissed an additional charge and three other counts in a separate indictment as part of the plea deal. MT Waterworks attorney, Mark Parker of Billings, gave the court clerk a check for the full amount of the fine. Kent Boos, the companys president, attended the hearing. Mt Waterworks pleaded guilty to a scheme to defraud the Chippewa Cree Tribe and to making false and fraudulent statements to the United States. The company faced a maximum $500,000 fine on each count. Federal prosecutors said MT Waterworks, formed in 2010 by Boos, convicted tribal official and former state legislator Tony Belcourt and Kevin McGovern, a Billings contractor who is charged in separate indictments, falsely certified it was a minority-owned disadvantaged company and claimed an Indian preference in contracts. The company, prosecutors said, then used that certification to block legitimate competition and to leverage its Indian preference to secure a majority, if not virtual monopoly of the business in pipe and pipe supplies on the Rocky Boys Indian Reservation, where the Chippewa Cree Tribe is located. MT Waterworks received more than $3.3 million from the tribes Chippewa Cree Construction Corp., which was headed by Belcourt, for work on the Rocky Boys North Central Montana Regional Water System Project. The project, known as the Tiber project, is a large, federally funded project to bring drinking water to the reservation from the Tiber Reservoir. MT Waterworks also used its minority-owned status to get special treatment on contracts with the federal General Services Administration, prosecutors said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Dake of Great Falls said in a sentencing memo that the seriousness of the offense cannot be overlooked. MT Waterworks clearly took advantage of a preference designed to provide benefits for those who truly meet the requirements, Dake said. Instead, MT Waterworks LLC claimed a preference it was not entitled to receive, thereby improperly obtaining business opportunities, he said. Businesses attempting to fleece the system and claim benefits for which they should not receive will not be tolerated. Neither will providing false information to the governments, Dake said in asking the judge to follow the plea agreement. Parker also asked the judge to accept the deal. As a result of the case, he said in court records, the company has largely ceased to exist as a going concern. The principals have reconfigured their enterprise and will hopefully successfully proceed. This proceeding has been a long, complicated, expensive and harsh four years for MTW and its principals, Parker said in court records. On Tuesday, Parker said, Were glad its over. As with any settlement, finality eventually becomes the principal metric by which we measure success. In reaching a plea agreement, the parties agreed to no restitution because determining the amount would have been extremely complicated and prolonged the sentencing. The federal preference provision provides that contracting officers may include in contracts an incentive payment equal to 5 percent of the contract amount. To claim a preference, a disadvantaged business must be 51 percent owned, controlled and managed by those claiming the entitlement. The Chippewa Crees Tribal Employment Rights Office and construction company both required contract preference be given to Indian-owned companies, prosecutors said. When Belcourt, Boos and McGovern created MT Waterworks, it claimed an Indian preference, saying Belcourt had 51 percent ownership. Belcourt bought into the company using $101,000 in federal stimulus money he embezzled with another business partner from the Tiber Project. In reality, prosecutors said, the three men had equal ownership in the company and Boos, not Belcourt, was responsible for the day-to-day operations. The MT Waterworks prosecution is part of a massive corruption investigation into activities involving the tribe and has led to convictions of numerous tribal and nontribal members. Belcourt is serving a seven-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $667,000 restitution for his conviction on corruption-related charges in other cases. SHARE By Stephanie Norton of The Commercial Appeal Two Memphians were recently sentenced for defrauding the government of more than $100,000. Kevin Travell Gray, 45, and Mary Payne Curtis, 54, prepared fraudulent income tax returns between 2011 and 2015, according to a statement Tuesday from the office of Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Curtis, who operated Right Now Taxes in Memphis, conspired with Gray to use the company to prepare fraudulent income tax returns. An investigation revealed that more than $100,000 in false claims were filed, the statement said. Gray and Curtis pleaded guilty in May. In August, Curtis was sentenced to nine months of home detention and ordered to pay $105,555 in restitution. Gray was sentenced Tuesday to 33 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $151,552 in restitution. SHARE Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, speaks during a session of the Tennessee Senate, Monday, March 21, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) By Clay Bailey of The Commercial Appeal The Tennessee Black Caucus supports pot decriminalization ordinances in Memphis and Nashville as part of an ongoing effort to reform the criminal justice system across the state that we feel has gotten out of whack, Rep. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville, said Tuesday morning. Gilmore and other caucus members speaking across the city at a series of press events emphasized their effort is not about legalizing marijuana, but offering a second chance for low-income violators to avoid the cycle of a criminal justice system they perceive as discriminatory to African-Americans. The caucus scheduled a 12:30 p.m. press conference at Memphis City Hall to support the ordinance sponsored by Councilman Berlin Boyd. Tennessees two largest cities have ordinances moving through the local legislative bodies that would provide law enforcement officers the option of charging people in possession of a half-ounce or less of marijuana a $50 fine or community service as opposed to the states criminal law. Under Tennessee law, violators face a Class A misdemeanor charge punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. State Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, said criminal records for African-Americans associated with small amounts of marijuana thwarts the future of a minority middle class. In the city of Memphis one of the things we lack is an African-American middle class, Harris said, later adding: This is a cycle that weve got try to get out of if were going to create an African-American middle class. Gilmore, the caucus chairwoman, said their effort on the proposed marijuana law and other criminal justice reforms is to make sure African-Americans are on a level playing field when it comes to enforcement compared to white and affluent offenders. State Rep. Johnnie Turner, D-Memphis, recalled a scenario where the parent of a young white offender was called to come get him rather than authorities charging the youth after a stolen car incident. Turner sees that as a double standard to how minority youths are treated in similar circumstances. That motivated me more than almost any incident about the inequity in the enforcement of law, Turner said. If that had been a black boy. ... It was just not fair. Some opponents have argued that taking a more lenient approach to punishment of marijuana possession could contribute to larger problems. They contend marijuana is a gateway to other, stronger drugs. Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, perceives the problem differently. Id say the gateway we need to be conscious of is one we already have, Hardaway said. Having these heavy penalties (is) a gateway to poverty, the gateway to illiteracy, the gateway to homelessness. Thats whats really going to be your gateway to increased drug use. Barney Sellers/The Commercial Appeal files Kenny Broadaway of Bono, Arkansas, brushes his pen pals on Sept. 20, 1973, at the Mid-South Fair. SHARE Sept. 20 25 years ago: 1991 Jimmie Covington, a 30-year journalist at The Commercial Appeal, will be honored today for his coverage of local government issues. The Tennessee Planning Association will present Covington its 1991 Excellence in Journalism award at the Radisson Hotel downtown. The association chose Covington for a series of articles on the impact of the U.S. Census on Memphis and Shelby County, as well as his reporting on government, education and local planning issues. The awards jury noted that "when the 'Jimmie Covington' byline appears it is certain the reader will be presented with a well-researched, concise report that will no doubt influence us as planning professionals, as well as have an impact on the governance of our city and county." 50 years ago: 1966 Eugene L. Barksdale, a Police Department vice squad inspector with 10,000 hours of civilian and military flying time, is scheduled to become executive director of Memphis Metropolitan Airport tomorrow morning. Commissioner L.D. "Dutch" Erwin, liaison contact with the Airport Commission, announced at noon yesterday he has commitments from all other commissioners to support Mr. Barksdale's formal appointment today. As airport executive director, Mr. Barksdale, 44, will be paid $14,400 a year. After 19 years as a policeman, he now is paid $10,500 a year. 75 years ago: 1941 An offer to turn over Oakville Sanatorium without cost to the State of Tennessee to become a state operated tuberculosis hospital, will be made to Governor Cooper by Mayor Chandler and County Commission Chairman Hale upon the recommendation of E.H. Crump. 100 years ago: 1916 Deputies out for a sightseeing trip along the Parkway had a race with a saloon on wheels yesterday. The traveling saloon was a small automobile with an ice box fitted into the back. It did not get caught. 125 years ago: 1891 "Memphis is good enough for me," remarked Capt. Ed R. Thomas. "I have just returned from a six weeks trip through the Northwest" and "have come back to Memphis better satisfied than ever." SHARE Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig) By Jennifer Pignolet of The Commercial Appeal Gov. Bill Haslam told a crowd of Memphis educators and business leaders Monday night that Tennessee historically has not spent enough on education, credited one of President Barack Obama's education policies for national growth, and criticized both political party nominees for not talking more about education. The event was a joint venture by Leadership Tennessee and a new statewide education nonprofit, Complete Tennessee, which plans to focus communities on the best ways to connect businesses with educators to increase college completion rates. Haslam gave a 15-minute speech outlining the problems that come with so few students in the state being ready for college and the increased need for an educated workforce, and the need for careful allocation of resources. "Now if you're an educator saying, 'Well, you're not putting enough money in' ... you're right, as a state we historically have not put enough money but we're changing that," Haslam said. "We're one of the top 10 states now in increased funding toward education. We have to do that if we're going to compete. But we also have to expect outcomes for that." Several school districts in Tennessee, including Shelby County Schools, are suing the state for what local officials have called a dramatic underfunding of kindergarten-through-12th-grade education. Haslam's budget this year included more than $200 million of extra funding, however, and the state's first official response to the SCS funding lawsuit claimed the current formula to fund schools meets the state's legal obligations. When asked after his speech about his funding-level comments and whether he now believes the state is allocating enough money for education, Haslam responded, "We're in the process of doing that." "But again, I think it's a factor that historically in Tennessee we haven't put enough value on education and we're trying to change that," Haslam said. "That means a lot of things, but one of the things is putting some dollars behind it." Asked about the validity of the school funding suits as a result, Haslam said, "obviously anyone can sue over anything they want." "But it's kind of strange when we're making historic investments in K-12 education, it feels like it sends the wrong message to do that," he said. On the leadership at the top of both presidential tickets this fall, Haslam noted the first 20 or so primary debates amassed, by his count, about four minutes of conversation about education. "The candidate on my side, his total conversation about education has been to say two things," Haslam said of Republican nominee Donald Trump. "We need to end Common Core he missed the fact that we passed (the Every Students Succeeds Act) last year and we need to open up the environment for more choice in schools. OK, that's the summation of his conversation about education." He also criticized the Democratic party's platform to separate teacher evaluations from student performance, something he praised Obama for supporting. "I think it's one of the reasons you have seen some movement in education results in K-12 in the country," Haslam said. "I know it is in Tennessee." Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, standing right, sits down as Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, standing left, seeks recognition to speak during debate on Watson's deannexation bill Monday, March 21, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Yager successfully argued that the bill approved by the House last Monday is substantially different from the bill recommended by his committee last year. The Senate voted to send the bill back to committee for review, delaying a Senate floor vote at least until Thursday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) SHARE The uncertainty about whether home values in de-annexed areas would be positively or negatively impacted adds another crucial reason why more study is needed before the Legislature pulls the trigger on legislation that would allow areas to separate from a municipality. Shelby County Property Assessor Cheyenne Johnson said she doesn't know. Suburban real estate agent Kent Anderson told The Commercial Appeal in a Sept. 11 story, "It's such a complex issue, I don't even know if I have an opinion.'' In the same story, Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, who is leading the charge in the General Assembly to allow neighborhoods to de-annex themselves by referendum, said, "I have no studies nor any information on the effect of deannexation.'' He added, "I think that it would be incredibly speculative since there is not a de-annexation statute ... However, the studies show annexation devalues the home.'' Since homeownership is an important component of family's financial net worth there needs to be a clear answer to that question, along with other municipal concerns, before some members of the General Assembly make another attempt to bulldoze a de-annexation bill through next year's legislative session. The de-annexation proposal passed in the House last session, but failed in the Senate. We frequently have used this space, to no avail, to criticize the Republican-dominated General Assembly for meddling in the affairs of local governments. The de-annexation push is yet another example of the party of less-government-interference-is- the-best government refusing to follow it's own doctrine. Still, since there is dogged determination to make de-annexation possible, we again urge the Legislature to really do its homework while proceeding in an orderly manner to fully understand and anticipate any negative repercussions that could result from allowing an area to break away from a city. As currently structured, the de-annexation proposal would allow areas annexed since 1998 to de-annex themselves by referendum. If every area of Memphis that has been annexed since that time voted to break away, Memphis could lose up to 111,228 residents and $28 million a year in residential property tax revenue. On the other hand, a city like Memphis, which is trying to provide a high level of services to the same land area while its tax base is eroding, possibly could benefit from de-annexation. With that in mind, Mayor Jim Strickland has said he would be open to the possibility of South Cordova, Southwind and Windyke leaving Memphis. Residents in those are pushing to break away from Memphis. On its surface, being able to break away from any city homeowners did not want to join to begin with is an attractive proposition. But at what cost? Will the value of homes go up or down? At some point, de-annexed residents won't have to pay city taxes, but any legislation almost certainly would require owners of de-annexed houses to repay Memphis for their share of the $1.2 billion debt the city has incurred for services and infrastructure. This is legislation that could have a monumental impact on cities and residents who want to de-annex. That's why any de-annexation legislation should be based on hard research, not emotion. SHARE By Dahleen Glanton It is clear that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s children never really knew their father. Perhaps it is because they were so young when an assassin's bullet took him away. How could we forget the iconic picture of little Bernice at the funeral, with her pigtails and white petticoat dress, and her head resting on her mother's lap? She was 5 years old. Her sister, Yolanda, was 12, Dexter was 7 and Martin III, 10. On that day in 1968, the nation mourned the death of a legend who always had seemed larger than life. But our grief could never come close to that of the children he left behind. King gave so much of himself to us that most African-Americans feel as though he was ours. But his children have guarded his legacy as if it belonged to them only. It is hard to imagine an African-American museum that does not pay homage to King. And while the Smithsonian's long-awaited National Museum of African-American History and Culture will feature a program from his funeral, photos of the civil rights leader, newspaper clippings and commemorative buttons bearing his name, there is nothing of substance that belonged to King. The two most notable possessions his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal and the Bible he carried with him everywhere will remain locked in a vault in Atlanta. His children refused to let them go. Over the years, we have watched the family discord unfold in the courts, almost always over money and wealth the two things King valued the least. No one, especially African-Americans, dared to criticize them publicly, for these were the children of a martyr. We forgave them for their selfish behavior because, in many ways, they had sacrificed as much as he did. So we merely held our heads down in dismay when they turned on actor Harry Belafonte, a dedicated supporter of the civil rights movement and close family friend who used his celebrity to raise funds to keep the movement going. In her autobiography, Coretta Scott King wrote about Belafonte's place in the movement: "Whenever we got into trouble or when tragedy struck, Harry has always come to our aid, his generous heart wide open." King depended on Belafonte to break through financial barriers that he could not. While King was jailed in Birmingham, Ala., Belafonte raised $50,000 to keep the campaign going in a city that had become the trademark for segregation and bigotry. In 2008, when Belafonte decided to auction items that King or his wife, Coretta, had given him, the siblings halted the auction by, in effect, claiming that he had stolen them. They later went after Andrew Young, a longtime family friend who had worked side by side with King in the movement and was with him in Memphis the day he was killed. Again and again, they also turned on each other. The most recent dispute was over the Bible and the Nobel medal. Dexter and Martin wanted to sell them to the highest bidder. Bernice called the items "sacred." The case ended up in court and before it was all over the brothers prevailed, clearing the way for a possible sale. An article in The Washington Post recently laid out how a curator for the African-American museum had traveled to Atlanta to meet with the siblings, in hopes of reaching a deal to display the artifacts in the nation's first museum honoring the contributions of blacks. It isn't clear exactly what happened, but he went back to Washington empty-handed. No one would be surprised if there had been a demand for money. The siblings were paid $800,000 to allow their father's image to be carved on the King Memorial in Washington. They got $32 million after then-Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin obtained a loan so the city could buy King's personal papers that were about to be auctioned off at Sotheby's. It was a lot easier to empathize with the siblings before that multimillion-dollar payoff in 2006. Unlike Caroline and John Kennedy, who also lost their father at a young age, King's children had no trust funds or family wealth to fall back on. King died, for the most part, a pauper without a will. It's not that he didn't make money during his lifetime he wrote five books, was a highly sought-after speaker and took home the $54,600 that went along with the Nobel Peace Prize. But rather than putting money away for his family, he donated everything he had to the movement. It was Belafonte, in fact, who helped pay for the children's education and other necessities after King's death. The absence of a will perhaps has been the greatest detriment to King's legacy. Without a written testament as to how his intellectual properties would be managed, his children have had to figure it out for themselves. Coretta Scott King's death in 2006 and the death of the oldest child, Yolanda, the following year, gave way to more bitter disagreements among the surviving siblings. But even without a will, it is obvious what King would have wanted. He would insist that the world share in the bounty from his teachings, his sacrifices and his unbridled commitment to achieving racial and economic parity. He spent his life telling us so. And if there is doubt even after that, all Martin III, Dexter and Bernice have to do is listen to the words their father spoke in 1963 while standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: "I have a dream," he said, "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Dahleen Glanton is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Contact her at dglanton@chicagotribune.com. SHARE By Jacquielynn Floyd The hate-crazed misanthrope who planted do-it-yourself bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey over the weekend has already failed in his primary mission. The damage he did was mercifully limited. More than two dozen people were injured when a pressure-cooker bomb exploded beneath a garbage bin in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, but no one was killed or permanently maimed. Police, who conducted a rapid and efficient sweep of the area, located a second bomb a few blocks away. A pipe bomb exploded Saturday in nearby Seaside Park, N.J., but no one was injured. The suspect in the bombings was arrested Monday following a shooting in which two police officers suffered minor injuries. Thankfully, he didn't get the high body count he craved. It's hard to predict the wider fallout, though. Fear brings out the worst in people, and fear is the more lasting damage that these awful incidents create: the disorienting sense that no place is safe, that there could be terrorists around every corner, mass killers behind every shrub. Statistically speaking, we're relatively safe from random violence, but there's enough public mayhem out there to keep those who feel vulnerable steeped in dread. That's what the suspect identified as a naturalized U.S. citizen of Afghan descent probably will manage to achieve. More dread, more fury, more rage directed at blameless immigrants, Muslims and refugees. More fear. More people determined to carry guns everywhere they go; more elaborate security apparatus created to keep the guns out. These are understandable human responses to a threat that, by definition, cannot be predicted, the desire of lunatics to sow mayhem and grief. What if we could just decide to stop being afraid? Or maybe even to be a little less afraid, to stop trying to imagine every possible doomsday scenario that deranged brains might devise? Obviously, there are sensible security measures we can take, that we expect the government to provide. But as long as every new headline and act of idiot violence creates a fresh round of panic, all we're going to get is a domestic arms race that can never be won. A professional tour guide in Washington, D.C., wrote a thoughtful essay that appeared in Monday's Washington Post, decrying the ever-increasing effort to "harden" potential targets in the nation's capital. "Every year brings a new closure, a new checkpoint, a little less freedom than the year before," guide and author Tim Kress wrote. Too often, a day intended as a visit to some of our national treasures, he says, becomes a miserable series of long security lines, searches, X-rays, metal detectors. Yet, as the weekend explosion showed, it is impossible to keep guns and bombs out of public places. Security screenings don't prevent attacks they just make them happen somewhere else. I am not saying please don't make me use all caps not saying that we should abandon security screening, or that private citizens should not have access to firearms. But I just don't believe that a panicky more-is-better response to every scary headline does us any good. The fact is that no weapon, no system, no strip-and-frisk-'em protocol can guarantee seamless security in an ostensibly free society. At some point, we have to decide how frightened we're going to be, how safe we need to feel. That's a subjective standard. Do we want to put passengers through metal detectors to board a city bus? Police checkpoints at state lines? Do we want every adult American to feel the need to be armed everywhere he or she goes? How does any of that prevent a determined lunatic from shooting up a nightclub or planting a bomb on a public street? A comment posted to a New York Times story about the bombing caught my eye. It was written by a Manhattan resident whose terrified out-of-town aunt was sending panic-stricken texts about the incident. "It is a bit strange that a resident of Ohio is more fearful of what is going on than someone who lives close by," the commenter said. "Courage no longer seems to be much of an American virtue. We don't even aim for it." That's a sad observation, and one I hope isn't true. Yes, we need reasonable security. And yes, terrible people plan and carry out dreadful atrocities. How scared should we be? That's up to us. Jacquielynn Floyd is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News. Contact her at jfloyd@dallasnews.com. Tesla Motors is considered one of the most cybersecurity-conscious car manufacturers in the world -- among other things, it has a bug bounty program. But that doesn't mean the software in its cars is free of security flaws. Researchers from Chinese technology company Tencent found a series of vulnerabilities that, when combined, allowed them to remotely take over a Tesla Model S car and control its sunroof, central display, door locks and even the braking system. The attack allowed the researchers to access the cars controller area network (CAN) bus, which lets the vehicles specialized computers communicate with each other. "As far as we know, this is the first case of remote attack which compromises CAN Bus to achieve remote controls on Tesla cars," the researchers from Tencent's Keen Security Lab said in a blog post Monday. "We have verified the attack vector on multiple varieties of Tesla Model S. It is reasonable to assume that other Tesla models are affected." The blog post is accompanied by a demonstration video in which the researchers show what they can achieve through their attack, which works either while the car is parked or being driven. First, while the car was parked, the researchers used a laptop to remotely open its sunroof, activate the steering light, reposition the driver's seat, take over the dashboard and central display and unlock the car. In a second demonstration, they turned on the windshield wipers while the car was being driven at low speed in a parking lot for demonstration purposes. They also showed that they can open the trunk and fold the side-view mirror when the driver is trying to change lanes. While these operations can be distracting to the driver in certain situations, causing a safety risk, the most dangerous thing they were able to do was to engage the car's braking from 12 miles away. Such an attack, performed against a car being driven at high speed on a highway, could result in a serious rear-end collision. The researchers reported all of the vulnerabilities through Tesla's bug bounty program. Fortunately, Tesla cars can receive firmware updates remotely and Tesla car owners are advised to make sure that their vehicles are always running the latest software version. Within 10 days of being notified, Tesla released an over-the-air software update (v7.1, 2.36.31) to fix these security vulnerabilities, a Tesla representative said via email. "The issue demonstrated is only triggered when the web browser is used, and also required the car to be physically near to and connected to a malicious Wi-Fi hotspot," the representative said. "Our realistic estimate is that the risk to our customers was very low, but this did not stop us from responding quickly." Car hacking has become a hot topic in recent years among security researchers, regulators and car manufacturers themselves. As cars become more interconnected, the ways in which they can be remotely hacked will only increase, so it's important that the computers handling critical safety features are isolated and protected. Swift is introducing a new reporting system to help banks identify fraudulent payments made over its financial transfer network -- but the reports will arrive up to a day too late to stop them. Over the last year, cybercriminals have hacked systems at a number of banks, using their credentials to issue fraudulent payment instructions over the Swift network. Swift's network wasn't comprimised, but because genuine credentials were used on authorized bank terminals, no alarms were raised until some time after the transfers were made, leaving victims struggling to recover their funds from the destination accounts. From December, Swift will send banks a Daily Validation Report, summarizing activity across currencies, countries and counterparts (destination banks), and also highlighting large or unusual payments and new combinations of payment parties. Banks can then reconcile details of such payments with their own records of the transfers they intended to make. Any discrepancies would provide warning of fraudulent activity, increasing banks' chances of cancelling the transfers. But critics might say the report is just a way to shut the stable door a little sooner after the horse has bolted. Criminals timing their illicit transfers for just after Swift generates its daily reports could have a whole day to empty the destination account and make off with the proceeds. In the attack on Bangladesh Bank disclosed in February, thieves initially sought to transfer $951 million, and ultimately got away with $81 million of that. The other transfers were blocked or cancelled, or the funds returned. Swift plans to send the summaries via a different channel to the one used to make payments. That way, if criminals have compromised a bank's Swift terminal to the point where they can hide locally generated reconciliation records, they will not also be able to intercept and tamper with the validation report. That, security researchers said in April, was what the Bangladesh Bank attackers tried to do with some custom malware. In May, Swift said attackers had sought to cover up their actions in a similar way at a second of its customers, widely believed to be a commercial bank in Vietnam. HELENA, Mont. There's good reason for two Montana State Hospital patients to be held in long-term isolation, two psychiatrists testified Monday. Dr. Liviu Goia testified during a hearing in which the patients, represented by Disability Rights Montana, sought a court order to return them to the general population while their lawsuit against the state health department and several state hospital employees moves forward. Bridgitt Erickson, an attorney for DRM, argued that numerous professional organizations have said that placing patients in long-term isolation is archaic and detrimental to their mental health. A lawsuit filed against the last month argued isolating the patients has worsened their conditions and caused them psychological and emotional harm. They are seeking a jury trial and damages. Montana State law says patients have the right to be free from physical restraint and isolation, except for in emergency situations in which it is likely the patient could harm themselves or others. Erickson argued the long-term situation is not an emergency. Curt Drake, who is representing the state hospital and several employees, argued that under state law patients can be held in isolation if the decision is based on a physician's professional judgment with a written order that explains the action. Orders to hold patients in isolation must be reviewed every 24 hours, under state law. Goia testified that the male patient in this case has schizophrenia that is resistant to anti-psychotic medications, has delusional thoughts and is impulsively violent. He had tried to kill people and himself, Goia said, and easily becomes overwhelmed and lashes out. Doctors have been unable to find a combination of mediations to help the female patient, who has a disorganized thought process, is "unable to formulate anything coherent for more than a few seconds," Goia said. She exhibits other highly inappropriate behavior and can be impulsively violent. Drake elicited testimony from both Goia and Dr. Joseph Frechen that they used their professional judgment in extending isolation orders for both patients. "I haven't seen seclusion used to this extent before," Frechen said, but added that he hadn't had a patient like the male patient before. The hearing before District Judge Kathy Seeley is scheduled to continue on Tuesday. Google released an intriguing new video on prime time TV Monday that hints of an Oct. 4 announcement of two new smartphones -- the Pixel X and Pixel XL. The 30-second spot, also posted on Google-owned YouTube, shows a search bar rectangle that morphs into the shape of a smartphone accompanied by the 1974 hit single, Come and Get Your Love by the rock band Redbone. A separate website, madeby.google.com with much the same content shows the smartphone shape with color photos and a place to sign up for email alerts for more information. Fans of the Google Nexus phones will notice the URL refers to made by Google as well. Billboards in New York City are also showing the promotion. The promotion was also backed up by invitations to some media outlets for a Google event in San Francisco on Oct. 4. Reports suggest that Google will announce two new smartphones that day, the Pixel X with a 5-in. screen, and the larger 5.5-in. Pixel XL. They would presumably run a custom version of the latest Android OS, 7.0 dubbed Nougat. The phones would be manufactured by HTC. Other reports indicate Google is dropping the Nexus name for Pixel, and plans to announce other products on Oct. 4, such as its Daydream virtual reality device and Google Home, an answer to the Amazon Echo. The significance of the video and the reports of new smartphones should not be lost on average smartphone users. Android phones dominate the global smartphone market, with an 85% share that is predicted to continue through 2020, according to research firm IDC. However, Google and even many Android phone makers, are clearly interested in keeping Android users updated with the latest operating system, along with the latest processors, cameras, sleek designs and other updates. The Nexus line, going back to the Nexus One in 2009, has been one way that Google could show the best designs and uses for pure Android, even as it has served a small group of customers -- mainly tech-savvy users. Googles goal with Nexus, or now Pixel phones, is the same as always: an alternative to Samsung smartphones in the high end which can really show off Android and Googles ecosystem, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies. So far, Nexus devices have not helped because of the limited sales channel, meaning they are mainly sold unlocked on the web. Google needs wider distribution, but cant really afford to work with carriers and mass retailers because doing so would increase Googles costs and upset other Android phone manufacturers, Milanesi said. Milanesi said another report thats circulating is that Google will bring its pure Android approach through Nexus in-house completely and close it off to other partner/manufacturers. Alienating partners no longer seems to be a concern, she added. Under that scenario, Google could make its Google Mobile Services (GMS) including Google Search, Gmail, Chrome and Google Maps proprietary, in order to simplify the process of getting devices updated to the latest version of Android. That would be so pure innovation actually makes it into consumers hands, she said. GMS is available only through a license with Google, according to the Android website, although installing it on devices requires no license fee. More details may be forthcoming on Oct. 4 about a GMS that is more proprietary, expensive or restrictive for licensees. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told The Verge on June 1 that his company would be more opinionated about the design of the phones, particularly where Google sees a need to push the devices forward. Pichai said then that Google would not create its own phones from scratch, and said Googles plan was still to work with OEMs to make phones. While Android already dominates the smartphone market, Google has to make Android evolve to keep up with the market and create interest when a new OS version is released, said Jack Gold, an analyst at J.Gold Associates. Google needs to show continued improvements, if not outright innovation, if it wants to maintain its market share, Gold said. Google often creates flagship devices that are meant to stimulate the market and get vendors creative juices flowing. It will continue to do so. Gold said he hopes that Google will announce an evolution of its core search capabilities with artificial intelligence with new interfaces for users. The latest Google video promotion with TV and billboard ads shows a marketing willingness to take the Nexus concept for innovation to the mass market and beyond the niche of technophiles that have purchased the devices online. On the other hand, Google faces a balancing act as it enlarges its market reach, said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. Google always needs to be cautious that Android doesnt get cheapened as a phone platform, especially as Apple gobbles up so much of the premium tier, Moorhead said. They should charge as high a price as they can without getting piggish on profits. The worst that could happen is if Android smartphones become a commodity with little pizazz and innovation. Commoditization doesnt just happen; industries allow themselves to be commoditized, Moorhead said. Case in point -- the PC market. The PC market reduced investing then started to get commoditized and had to spend even more to decrease the slide. Jonathan Carr-West is the Chief Executive of the Local Government Information Unit. You know summer is really over when you start packing your bags for party conference season. Aside from warm white wine and curling sandwiches, what can we expect at each conference this year and what is the outlook for local government the Autumn after a tumultuous summer? The Liberal Democrats may be few in number but high in spirit. In many ways, their conference will be the cheeriest of the three: they have a stable, if not universally loved leadership; they are the only party with an unequivocally anti-Brexit stance to take to the 48 per cent and Labour are vacating the centre ground. But they start from a low base. They have neither the boots on the ground nor the space on the airwaves to get their message across at scale. They risk being outflanked by Theresa Mays emphasis on social justice and life chances. Liberal Democrat councils are focused on the need to deliver: to get on with running places as well as they can and rebuilding the partys reputation for competence and integrity one resident at a time. For Labour it is, just as it was last year, all about the leadership contest. And the best betting is that the result will be just the same as last year too. Having said that, some in the Owen Smith camp claim that many of Labours 25 sign ups are Save Labour Smith supporters. The GMB are hitting the phone banks hard to work for a Smith victory and there are rumours that UNITE officials are sitting on their hands in defiance of Len McCluskeys backing for Corbyn. Nonetheless, youd be brave to bet against the man from Islington North and the conference looks likely to be a tense affair with Corbynites exultant and the parliamentary party licking its wounds. What next? Even a small reduction in Corbyns mandate will be interpreted by some as a setback for the hard left project but the reality is that he will have tightened his grip on the Labour Party. Some Labour MPs will drift back in line; others will drift away. Talk of a split in the party feels increasingly desultory and New, New Labour or Old New Labour or whatever they call themselves would struggle to get control of the Short Money and they wouldnt own the door to door electoral data that can win elections on the ground. It feels like a dead end. For Labour, local government increases the tension between pragmatic, non-ideological, local leaders and the party they are nominally part of. Of course all of this leaves the field clear for Prime Minister May. She will need a clear field if she is to pull off one of the trickiest balancing acts in British political history, negotiating a version of Brexit that satisfies voters and protects the economy. For local government the challenge is more about what isnt there than what it is. So much of the agenda for the last six years has been dominated by George Osborne, that it now feels as though we are operating in a vacuum. Major issues such as devolution and finance reform now feel up in the air. Does the government still welcome devolution bids? Do they still require an elected mayor? Are we still on track to phase out the Rate Support Grant and retain all business rates by 2020? Sajid Javid has been silent on all these issues. Everyone recognises that Brexit is going to occupy most of the Governments energies and most of the civil services capacity. Local government does not need its hand held, but it does need the Secretary of State to give a clear steer about the direction of policy travel. Conference would be the ideal time for him to do so. Earlier this week, the press reported the startling news that not only was Ruth Davidson polling more highly amongst Scots than Nicola Sturgeon, but so was Theresa May. This highlights the very important, time-limited opportunity the Prime Minister has to make a first impression in Scotland on her own terms, and build a direct relationship with Scottish voters. Despite the many distractions posed by Government, not least those she has created herself, its essential that May seizes this opportunity. She must above all else resist the urge to outsource Scotland wholesale to Ruth Davidson. The Scottish Conservative leader has proven a formidable champion of the conservative and unionist causes north of the border, and helped oversee the start of a Tory revival many had given up hope of seeing. But one thing Davidson is not is a representative of the British Government and state, which are so central to the British nation. Her successes are very important, but they do not rehabilitate the British dimension in Scottish political life that has been so assiduously eroded by decades of Labour and SNP complaints about the democratic deficit. That job falls to Theresa May, and Brexit makes it more important than ever. As I wrote last week, the EU vote does not currently seem to have been playing out nearly so badly for the Union as many on the Remain side predicted. Theres disagreement about why this is: I posited that it was simply difficult to see how Brexit made it anything other than more difficult for the separatists to win over swing voters. Torcuil Crighton argues in the Daily Record that the First Minister lacked the courage to seize the moment and try to bounce Westminster into a second referendum in the immediate aftermath of the vote, hoping for a surprise result in the heat of the moment. On the other hand Alex Massie, keeper of the flame of Europhile unionist pessimism, believes that blood may not be rushing to the heads of the Scottish electorate but it will get there eventually, and that they will only disregard the blunt economic realities of post-Brexit independence once those details are spelled out. But whilst they might not be seeing the hoped-for shift in public opinion yet, its clear the SNP want to cite Brexit as the latest evidence for the democratic deficit myth. In response, unionists will be forced to do something they have fallen out of the habit of doing and often seem uncomfortable trying: defending the rightness and legitimacy of British-level decision making, even when Scotland voted the other way. Not that this involves talking constantly about the EU. Rather, it means that British ministers and the Prime Minister most of all should make a habit of regular visits to Scotland (and Wales, and Northern Ireland), take an active interest in local issues there, and build direct relationships with voters. They should do this so often that a visit to Scotland by May is no longer newsworthy in itself (although what she does in Scotland ought to be). Such visits also ought not to be heralded by a visit to Sturgeon, as if the Prime Minister were on an overseas tour. They may also have a political dividend, even if theyre more often than not governmental in nature: the Prime Minister is usually news, and my own experience in Northern Ireland is that interest from national figures can lift a local campaign. After asking about for a few suggestions as to what Number Ten could cover on such trips, I turned up some useful ideas, including a visit to Aberdeen to discuss the oil industrys troubles and meetings with Glasgow leaders about a rail link between that city and its airport, which is apparently being delayed by foot-dragging on the part of an SNP-influenced quango. Not that Brexit should be neglected entirely: as I wrote previously, four in ten Scots voted Leave and with official Scotland almost uniformly pro-Remain a practical, accepting approach to leaving the EU could win the Tories new converts from this un-fished pool. A visit to the ardently pro-Leave Scottish Fishermens Federation might provide a welcoming backdrop to such a visit. There are almost certainly a wide variety of other instances and places where the Government can emphasise, in Scotland, its interest in infrastructure, industrial policy, and making Brexit work including places where there is a Tory vote to nurture. Devolution might severely limit the number of areas in which a UK politician can engage in Scotland but only for the timid. Ministers should not be afraid to contrast how Westminster and Holyrood are tackling different policy challenges, praise Scottish institutions where they are taking the lead, and criticise Scottish Government policies where they are producing poorer results. This sort of comparative criticism will likely elicit squeals of outrage, both from capital-N Nationalists and, as Michael Gove discovered, a certain sort of fifth-rate unionist politician. But it is essential if devolution is not to rob us of the pooling and sharing of wisdom and experience that is afforded when we make decisions together in Westminster and also helps combat the tendency of devolved administrations to conflate themselves with the nations they govern. Downing Street does not have time to waste: the SNP will already be trying to frame May as simply another remote and foreign potentate. If she is to live up to her words on the steps of Number Ten, and govern the entire nation as the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, the Prime Minister must build her own direct relationship with the Scotland. MISSOULA Eastern Orthodox believers are patiently moving forward with plans to build a monastery in Montana. Though the timetable will depend on issues such as funding, members of St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church in Bozeman already have donated land near the base of Montanas Tobacco Root Mountains especially for the monastery. The property is near Harrison on Harrison Lake, also known as Willow Creek Reservoir. Its already in a conservation easement which stipulates that nothing can be built on the land other than an Eastern Orthodox monastery, said David Hicks, a member of St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church in Bozeman. The property is a 1,000-acre tract on the north shore of the lake. West of the Moon David Hicks and his wife, Betsy, gave the parcel from what they called their West of the Moon ranch for the purpose of building St. Peters Monastery, as it is called. The West of the Moon name of the ranch comes from an old jazz standard East of the Sun (and West of the Moon), written by Princeton undergraduate Brooks Bowman and published in 1934, Hicks explained. The monastery was formally established in 2014 and the St. Peters Monastery Foundation, which is guiding the effort to build it, is recognized by the state of Montana as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 foundation. We have been so blessed to live at West of the Moon and in our beautiful state, Hicks told the Missoulian in an email. No one owns anything anyway. That's just a fiction to appease the ego. It's all on temporary loan. We are just the stewards in the parables told by Jesus, someday to give an account to the owner. Hicks, who is secretary of the foundation, noted that in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the new monastery may start out as a skete essentially a little monastery associated with a larger one. A website at stpetersmonastery.com discusses details. Alone with God in wilderness Father Hieromonk Innocent, the superior of St. John Monastery in Manton, California, has led three delegations of monks to Harrison in recent years to get work started on the actual building of the monastery. Innocent said Montana is in line with what monasteries have traditionally been in Orthodox tradition. In the history of monasteries, the monks were actually trying to flee from the cities in order to be alone with God in the wilderness, he said. The monks will be praying for the good of America, for Montana and for people everywhere, Innocent said. And he added that as of now, the Orthodox Church has not yet formally released any monks to come to Montana to live permanently. I would venture to estimate that within four or five years, we may be able to do that, but its in Gods hands, he said. He added that the plan is for the monks to support themselves by making fine furniture, since there is a master craftsman in the Bozeman congregation who can teach them. Architects view Also in the Bozeman congregation of St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church is an architect, Mark Headley. Hes the architect for the new library in Bozeman and his latest project is the new Missoula College building in Missoula. He also designed the Don Anderson Hall on the University of Montana campus, as well as UMs Interdisciplinary Science Building. Headley converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in 2008 and has done the design work for St. Peters Monastery after visiting the famous Mount Athos Monastery in Greece. There are five or six or seven distinct architectural Orthodox styles around the world, Russian, Georgian, Serbian, etcetera, but this one will be particularly Greek, Headley said. We will use a lot of rock at the base that is collected at the site. It is kind of classical in its organization. The building creates a square, enclosed courtyard. So it will be protected from the winter winds which are very, very strong out there. It is on a sloped part of the site so the architectural design makes use of that site in placing the church sanctuary itself at the top of the site. The symbolism there is that the Orthodox believe that the faith is not a one-time thing. They dont believe in an instantaneous salvation and youre saved forever, they believe its a lifelong struggle and lasts until your last breath. Its truly an ascent to God, and thats the very obvious reason that temples are placed like that, Headley said. Life of prayer Father David Morrison of St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church in Bozeman noted that its only about a 45-minute drive from Bozeman to the site of the monastery. That means it will be close enough for Orthodox believers from the Bozeman congregation or from elsewhere to visit for spiritual encouragement, as many do. It also will be open for people of other faiths to visit, if they choose. Such visitors will be welcome, he said. Its my experience that there are plenty of people who are Protestants who are trying to find that sacred space and are willing to cross those lines, Morrison said. Our understanding of monasticism and monasteries is that its an essential aspect of Christianity. People in those monasteries have given themselves to pray for the life of the world. In setting apart land, there is space on the planet that is dedicated to prayer. SUBSCRIBE Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates straight in your inbox. POLSON A small local subsidiary of the tribally owned S&K Technologies is taking one of the worlds largest corporations to court. Adelos, headquartered in Polson, alleges that Halliburton, the oilfield services giant, received proprietary technology information from Adelos under the guise of acquiring the rights to it, but has since tried to pass it off as its own by incorporating the technology into its own products and services, and secretly filing patent applications for it. The lawsuit was filed last week in federal court in Missoula by attorney Randy Cox of the Boone Karlberg law firm. It seeks a judgment that declares Halliburton has directly and willfully infringed on the asserted claims of the asserted patents, that the conversion of Adeloss property was committed with actual fraud and/or malice, and a judgment that would triple the amount of any damages awarded. Emily Mir, director of public relations for Halliburton, said the company does not comment on pending litigation. Development The technology involved turns ordinary fiber optic cable into a highly adept sensing device capable of detecting real-time, location-specific changes related to sound, pressure and temperature. Its potential applications range from oil and gas exploration, to homeland security. First developed by the U.S. Navy as a way to locate enemy submarines, the commercial potential of the highly classified technology was eventually recognized. The Navy, according to the lawsuit, chose Adelos as its partner and exclusive licensee of the Navy patents. Since then, the lawsuit says, Adelos has further developed the Navy technology. For example, Adelos has created systems directed toward perimeter and homeland security operations, where the sensitive detector can hear intruder or troop movements along vast borders, the complaint says. Adelos has also developed the capability to listen to geological features and movements, opening the capability to hear down oil well bores and extract valuable data about underground gas and petroleum conditions. The lawsuit says the current market for the technology is estimated at $586 million, and is expected to approach $1.2 billion in the next three years. The technology apparently caught the eye of Halliburton. Potential business In 2011, the lawsuit says, Halliburton contacted the Navy and expressed an interest in acquiring the fiber optic sensing technology. The Navy told Halliburton it needed to talk with Adelos, the S&K Technologies subsidiary located on the Flathead Indian Reservation. S&K Technologies is owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Shortly thereafter, Halliburton and Adelos began discussions regarding Hallibutons interest in the Adelos proprietary technology, the lawsuit says. Halliburton expressed its disappointment with its current fiber optic sensing system and represented that it was interested in establishing a business relationship with Adelos. For approximately two years, the lawsuit alleges, Halliburton proceeded to extract detailed technical information about the technology. Believing that Halliburton was acting in good faith and intending to enter into a business relationship with Adelos, Adelos provided details in an effort to facilitate this potential business relationship, it goes on. In addition to requests for technical information, Halliburton also demanded that it be allowed to observe multiple tests of Adelos fiber optic sensing systems, the lawsuit says. In May 2012, it says Christopher Stokely and David Barfoot of Halliburton visited Adelos headquarters in Polson for two days of intense, detailed technical discussion. Patent By September of that year, the lawsuit alleges, Halliburton said it would have to postpone further discussions because of budget concerns. But in early 2013, Halliburton was again contacting the Navy about a potential business relationship involving the technology The Navy again directed Halliburton to talk with Adelos. Discussions were restarted, but the lawsuit says after Stokely asked for more field testing, Adelos was unable to contact Stokely, or any other Halliburton representative. Instead, it says that in August 2013, Halliburton surreptitiously filed an international patent application disclosing the technology that is the heart and soul of Adelos fiber optic sensing technology. Halliburton falsely claimed in this application that its agents, including Christopher Stokely, were the sole inventors of the technology, the lawsuit says. Neither did the company disclose any of the Navy patents on the technology, it adds. After the international patent application was rejected, the lawsuit says Halliburton again entered into discussions with Adelos, but eventually broke off the talks. This time, the lawsuit says, Halliburton tried to claim the technology as its own in a U.S. patent application. Halliburton is now marketing and selling services and products involving the technology, according to the complaint. Adelos is asking also asking for temporary and permanent injunctions to prevent Halliburton from continuing to benefit from the technology. In addition to Boone Karlberg, the company is represented by law firms in Atlanta and Seattle. In addition to Halliburton, defendants include Halliburton Energy Service and three companies that Halliburton has acquired in the past eight years: Optiphase, SensorTran and Pinnacle Technologies. Close With some men experiencing low sex drive and testosterone, an experiment was recently made in a bid to address this concern. This condition reportedly caused the low satisfaction rate among affected men when it comes to sex. Considering the reported cases, the University of Siena in Italy spearheaded the conduct of the experiment wherein 38 men were randomly picked as samples. In the controlled experiment, it was noted that the satisfaction rate among men with low sex drive increased substantially after the treatment. What could be this reported "effective" treatment then? According to Medical Daily, the experiment hinted that exposure to light has something to do with the improvement. In doing it, the samples were exposed to different levels of light for two weeks, 50 percent was exposed to light that "mimicked natural outdoor sunlight" for half an hour every morning, while the others were exposed to a much lower level. In a statement, senior author Professor Andrea Fagiolini, director of the Department of Mental Health and of the School of Specialization in Psychiatry at Siena, revealed that "Before treatment, both groups averaged a sexual satisfaction score of around 2 out of 10, but after treatment the group exposed to the bright light was scoring sexual satisfaction scores of around 6.3 - a more than 3-fold increase on the scale we used." It was further dished that the controlled group of men with low sex drive "only showed an average score of around 2.7 after treatment." While the sample size is just a small scale, the report pointed out that a previous study has provided evidence of light therapy as the treatment for low libido. In the meantime, the Good Men Project recommended that apart from treatment, the affected male population may also try other means to address their condition. It was suggested that men with low sex drive or lower libido may assess possible factors that could have caused it like stress. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare BISMARCK, N.D. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II on Tuesday brought the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline to Geneva, Switzerland, asking members of the U.N. Human Rights Commission to condemn the deliberate destruction of our sacred places. Archambault told the commission the 1,172-mile, $3.8 billion pipeline that would move 450,000 barrels of crude daily from the Bakken oil fields to a hub in Illinois threatens our communities, the river and the earth. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has paused pipeline construction where it would cross Lake Oahe a dammed section of the Missouri River less than a mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in south-central North Dakota until the Corps can determine whether it should reconsider its previous decisions about the lake crossing. The tribe is suing the Corps for permitting the pipeline, claiming the tribe wasnt properly consulted. Our nation is working to protect our waters and our sacred places for the benefit of our children not yet born. But the oil companies and the government of the United States have failed to respect our sovereign rights, Archambault told the commission in a video shared by the tribe. Archambault made multiple mentions of the destruction of sacred sites and burial grounds, referring to how Dakota Access bulldozed a section of pipeline route on Sept. 3 that the tribe had identified a day earlier in a court filing as containing graves and other sacred sites. This company has also used attack dogs to harm individuals who tried to protect our water and sacred sites, he said, referring to the violent clash Sept. 3 between protesters who broke through a fence onto the construction site and the pipelines private security personnel armed with guard dogs and pepper spray. Archambault said a child was bitten and injured by a guard dog. Dakota Access has said in court filings that several security personnel were attacked by protesters and that the construction didnt destroy any important historical sites. Archambault called on the commission and its members to condemn the destruction of our sacred places and to support our nations efforts to ensure that our sovereign rights are respected. We ask that you call upon all parties to stop the construction of Dakota Access Pipeline and to protect the environment, our nations future, our culture and our way of life, he said. MISSOULA The Missoula County Sheriffs Office has identified the woman found dead in her apartment at the Lewis and Clark Village on Saturday evening as 22-year-old Rhianna Leigh Dilworth of Kalispell. University of Montana Police were called to the apartment around 5:15 p.m. Saturday after the womans roommate found her dead in the apartment, said Missoula police public information officer Sgt. Travis Welsh. The Missoula Police Department is investigating the death, but Welsh said they do not believe there is any danger to the public. The sheriffs office did not release a cause of death, pending the completion of autopsy and toxicology reports. Head trauma caused the death of Michael Smuin, the plant worker who died Wednesday at the Williams Opal natural gas processing plant in Lincoln County. The 36-year-old from Kemmerer suffered a cranial fracture and died instantly, said Lincoln County Coroner Michael Richins. Smuin was thrown off his feet and into surrounding structures, resulting in the head injury, the coroner said. He never knew what happened, he said. Smuin also suffered burns, but those did not contribute to his death, Richins concluded. Circumstances leading to the incident are under investigation. Preliminary reports from state regulators said Smuin was found near a burst pipe. A witness to the incident reported seeing a cloud of natural gas. Smuin was doing routine maintenance when he died. He had worked for the company for eight years, according to a company statement. An investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration began on scene Wednesday evening. Those findings are sealed until the investigation is complete, and that could take weeks. The Lincoln County sheriffs office has not responded to messages left Wednesday, Thursday and Monday. The plant issued a statement Wednesday saying there had been no fire or explosion, expressing condolences to Smuins family and offering counseling services to plant workers. The processing plant is back online and operating at normal capacity, after a brief shutdown Wednesday and Thursday due to the incident, a company spokeswoman confirmed. The Williams plant is an important natural gas hub in the Rocky Mountain region, collecting and purifying natural gas in preparation for interstate pipeline transport. Opal is a gathering point for natural gas from the Greater Green River Basin, Big Piney, Pinedale and Green River areas. The plant also produces natural gas liquids such as natural gasoline, propane and ethane. Wednesdays incident was not the first to strike the small town of Opal. On April 23, 2014, an explosion ignited one of the plants five processing trains. The resulting fire caused a 20-hour evacuation of the town. The blaze burned for five days. Continue Reading Below Advertisement It was only during his second term that the "Bush did 9/11" conspiracy train switched tracks from Crazytown to FuckThatGuyville. In April 2005, the first cut of Loose Change -- essentially Blackfish for the tinfoil hat brigade -- was released to widespread acclaim from people who don't know how science works, while the government became so inundated with conspiratorial bullshit that they had to create a website specially dedicated to debunking it all. These conspiracy theories had formed a movement so powerful and unstoppable that ... it pretty much collapsed after Bush left office in 2008. Huh. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Whenever you look at these types of conspiracies in detail, you'll find that the obsession with truth, justice, and restoring the system only extends as far as the presidential career of their target. It's not as if GWB is shackled up in a black site as punishment for apparently coordinating the worst terrorist attack in history. He retired to Texas and took up painting. And we'd probably be looking at the end of birther conspiracies if Donald Trump hadn't gone on to make them a mainstay of his political career. Jason Miller Little did we know that he was doing us all a favor the whole time. Continue Reading Below Advertisement And that's the point. We use conspiracy theories like these to keep us from going crazy with the knowledge that we're being led by people we didn't vote for. As long as we hold these cardboard battleaxes over their heads, they'll never be "real" presidents in our minds -- just a bunch of criminals who undermined the democratic process and will be kicked out once the "true" president arrives. It's no accident that this is nearly always a candidate from our side of the political spectrum; the intense "you're either with us or against us" dichotomy of our system provides a fertile breeding ground for lunatic rhetoric, and perhaps it's why you don't hear much about overseas political conspiracies. A vast number of political systems in the world consist of three or more parties, so any insane outbursts are the equivalent of peeing in a swimming pool as opposed to a drinking glass; it gets diluted into nothingness. But at least Breitbart changed their future headlines about the story ... to start including homophobic overtones. Continue Reading Below Advertisement After the SPLC's criticism, they changed their title to something less screamingly insane, but you see what's scary here. The Council of Conservative Citizens and Stormfront measure their regular readers in the tens of thousands, and they are clearly racist websites. Breitbart reaches millions and looks like a normal news site. Breitbart Continue Reading Below Advertisement Well, almost. They may inspire thousands of psychopaths to ruin people's lives, but there's almost nothing you can do about it. People have the right to write incendiary crap as long as they don't explicitly call for violence. Implying it is fine and dandy. Once Laila's tweet about 9/11 showed up on The Daily Caller -- again, two years after it was made -- Breitbart picked up the story ... and in came the death threats. "I mean, I went to the police. I really didn't want to go ... I thought it would die down. And in my head, I was like ... I'm a young Muslim-American woman ... I am visibly Muslim and just so happen to be affiliated with the DHS. I was advised by the DHS ... they said don't respond to tweets, and don't talk to the media ..." Continue Reading Below Advertisement Eventually, Laila called the police. And it didn't do much good: "there's this look on her face like, 'What the hell?' She didn't understand what online harassment meant ... I was showing her the death threats and ... she just kind of waved it off. One of the tweets ... said 'Your death will change the world for good.' She was like, 'Well everyone's going to die eventually ...'" New Formula 1 Chairman Chase Carey has indicated it is his intention to further expand the sport in crucial American and Asian markets as he looks to take it to 'another level'. Speaking publicly for the first time since American firm Liberty Media assumed a controlling stake in Formula 1 ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Carey - who has been chosen as the man to take charge of F1 - says he wants to observe and learn initially before outlining a strategy for the sport's future. "For the first few months - call it 100 days - it is largely listening and meeting - and digesting," he told the BBC. "And then come out of that phase with a degree of visions that continue to be shaped. Nothing is ever written in stone. Bernie is the CEO, so Bernie is going to lead it and I will work with Bernie to establish some kind of strategic plan to where you want to go." The deal is seen by many as F1's opportunity to get a foothold in the huge US market having struggled to do so over the years relative to other intentional sporting brands. Indeed, Carey suggests this will be one of his main focuses, hinting there could be more events in locations as 'Los Angeles, New York and Miami' to capitalise on F1's 'premium brand'. "It is too early to have a clear plan, but we clearly will have a plan to develop America, to be in the right market. There is a big untapped audience in the US. I don't want to criticise the efforts in the past, because I don't know the efforts in the past. "Formula 1 is a great premium brand and that means to me that you want to be at a location like Los Angeles, New York or Miami. Ideally in the great cities in the world." Though F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone remains in charge 'day-to-day' for the time being there has been no formal indication of how long he will remain at the helm. Furthermore, with many expecting a definitive shift towards a broader digital marketing platform - which would likely loosen Ecclestone famously firm grip on television rights - it could signal a change at the top. "I believe that a good digital product makes the television product more rewarding," Carey continued. "Marketing the sport, in telling the story of the stars and heroes and the incredible machines. Then strengthen it geographically. So there is not 'the cash cow', but there is growth possibility in every area." Latest Tweets from Crash.net & GPF1rst Less than one week on from Suzuki's first dry weather win in the MotoGP class since 2000, Crash.net spoke to Jose Manuel Cazeaux, crew chief of Maverick Vi?ales, at Misano about the full extent of the 21-year old's talent and managing his rider's expectations... Crash.net: Has the fact that you're a MotoGP race winner as a crew chief sunk in yet? Have you had to pinch yourself in the week between Silverstone and Misano? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: No. Actually we believe since the first moment that Maverick was one of the good ones. For us it was like an obligation to find the way to give him a bike that allows him to win. When you have that chance, unfortunately it's not for every manufacturer. When you have the chance to have one of the good ones you have to take it. I think in Japan they did a great job but also the team give the right feedback. It was like a nice mix of team engineers and factory designers and engineers that allows us to be at this level. Crash.net: Maverick's race at Silverstone was so impressive in many respects. Were you surprised at how cool he remained ahead of the restart? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Yes, we know that the bike is performing in the first laps. There were some weak points that still we have to work on. For example in Austria, because of the characteristic of the track there was too much acceleration. We were still not competitive to win at the front, and also tyre life was going down after half a race distance making the thing even more difficult. But we work a lot on that area in Brno and I think in Brno we did another step. We couldn't demonstrate it there because then the race finally was in wet conditions, but we were pretty convinced that that package would have been very competitive in Silverstone. Indeed it was. Also Maverick said to the press he was coming to Silverstone with the idea of having the possibility to win. Maybe everybody was not laughing, but saying maybe it is too much. At the end he did it. Crash.net: At the beginning of 2016 Maverick said regular top sixes and an occasional podium were the targets. Yet you can see his frustration when he's not fighting for the win. Did you have to manage his expectations this year to some extent? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Of course. As I said before he's one of those 'aliens.' When you have one of them, he's expecting to win and when there is something that is stopping him, not only the bike, I mean also maybe riding technique. He wants to do everything quick to be there in the top. He knows he has that talent, but when it's not coming, sometimes he gets angry. More than angry, it's a kind of frustration. He knows he has the potential. So we work a lot in parallel, on his riding style, his technique, improving in every detail, and at the same time the bike. So of course compared to 2015 we did a huge jump in acceleration. The engine now is competitive as much as the others, except Ducati that has a little bit more compared to other manufacturers. With a seamless gearbox we were able also to match the acceleration when shifting gears. There were still some details that I think we were able to improve in the last races so I'm curious to see in the following races if we can keep the momentum. Crash.net: Maverick has mentioned finding some solutions that can aid tyre life and maintain pace in the second half of the race in Brno. Are you able to say what you found? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: A little bit of everything, even rider gas control. Crash.net: It's interesting you said you saw instantly that Maverick was special. Was it the first test you noticed that you really had a real talent on your hands? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Yes. Crash.net: What was it that he did? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: The way of riding the bike. When a rider takes off his helmet you can understand how much margin he has: if he's doing it naturally or forcing it too much. The way he was controlling the throttle from the first time on a MotoGP bike, the way he adapted to the carbon brakes so quick, we knew that he was special. Crash.net: You mentioned Suzuki made really big improvements from 2015 to '16 with the seamless gearbox and top speed. Did you notice a change in Maverick from the end of testing in 2015 to the start of this year? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: He felt very good with the first Michelin tyres. Then Michelin changed the rear tyre because of other problems. Then we struggle a little bit to adapt to the new spec, but at the beginning it was like all the problems we had with 2015 bike disappeared immediately with those set of tyres. Then we make a step backwards and then again working little by little we catch again the front line. Crash.net: Someone from the team told me that whenever Maverick comes into the garage he always shakes his head, like he's frustrated. He seems so focused all the time. Is that what he's like to work with? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Like many riders, the position depends more than lap time. So if he doesn't see himself in the top three or the first one, there is something wrong. This is good because we try to achieve perfection, but with experience he will learn also to stay calm because in some conditions you are with a full tank, for example, with the race distance on the tyres. You are lapping half a second slower than one with less than half a tank of fuel with new tyres. It can be a huge disadvantage but in reality you are going faster than him. So lap time analysis is not trivial and you cannot do it in the moment that things are happening. You have to stop, to see which tyres people are using, to know how much fuel they have in their bikes. So the truth is in the race. You have to patient, to believe in yourself. Crash.net: So this is one of the areas that Maverick can still improve? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Yeah, for sure. Crash.net: Working alongside Maverick, this is your first job as a crew chief. Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Yeah, I was electronic engineer until 2015 season. Crash.net: How was the step up for you? Was it a big transition? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Actually no. It was not even my idea. I was happy with my previous job. Then there were a couple of mechanics that were making the jumps to Suzuki. Mechanics with whom I worked with many years in Ducati. They were convinced I could do that kind of job, so they proposed me. We spoke with Davide [Brivio]. He also believed in that idea. OK, we start talking. It was a nice challenge and finally we did it. Crash.net: It's been a big of a crazy season: seven race winners in seven races [the interview was conducted on the Thursday of the Misano weekend]. Is this partly because of circumstance and partly because of the new rules bringing everything closer together? How do you explain this? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: The way I see it is, the win of Jack, who still has not been much competitive in dry, was because he has lot of talent and he was able to demonstrate that talent in the special conditions like rain. He did a great race. But dry is different. The limit is different. He still has to work on himself and his bike I think. The same thing for Cal. It was in the wet and Cal is a really good rider in the wet. But he was struggling up to that moment also in the dry. Now it looks like he's taken advantage of the momentum. He was also competitive in the dry in Silverstone. Finally Ducati winning. I think they have a competitive bike. We have to accept that because it's clear. And they win in a track that is really different from the other tracks, where the strong points of Ducati were very useful. This is the concept in that track. You stay very few times cornering. There are just a few corners. You pick up very quick the bike and accelerate with the bike straight. They did a great job with aerodynamic winglets, which allow them to put too much force on the wheel and accelerate too much before the bike wheelies. So the bikes are wheelying before them, with less acceleration. So I think still to be competitive for winning at another race tracks, they still have to make a little bit of improvement. Probably. I'm not there any more! Crash.net: You mentioned winglets. Obviously you guys have used winglets before. Ducati are always very hesitant about saying whether it has a big advantage or disadvantage, but I think we understand now that they have a big advantage with these, no? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: In the straights, you can accelerate much more. It's like aerodynamics was historically - this is my opinion, maybe it's wrong - not so important for bikes because you cannot use them to create a downforce for cornering. That is where in Formula 1 basically it is useful. So finally it was discovered that using in the straights where maybe Formula you don't like, you have more drag. Because in Formula 1 you don't have wheelies. Here is helping to keep the bike low and increase acceleration. So now everybody understands this. Most of the riders don't like the wings because it's not aesthetically nice, but everybody's using them because there is a couple of tenths at least in the lap times only for that. Crash.net: In terms of the electronics, do you feel that the common ECU has helped Suzuki a lot this year? Is that one of the factors why Suzuki is as competitive as it is? Jose Manuel Cazeaux: Yeah, this is another reason of the level of everybody being more close. I think Honda, Ducati and Yamaha were improving for many years the factory electronics and they were at a very good level. With this software, it is a good level because it was not a big step backwards. I think for sure for Ducati and Yamaha - Honda usually tell that they are struggling to find the right setup. Maybe because their philosophy was different. It's like going from iPhone to Android. You have to find the way to do the same things. But for us, our factory software was not as competitive as the other ones. It was like a way to be at the same level as the others. At 6 a.m. Monday, the time when Brian Scott Gamroth would normally begin his morning radio show, there was only silence. Then, after a few moments, Garth Brooks The Dance played on K2 Radio and all of its sister stations in Casper. For a moment, all the world was right, Brooks crooned. How could I have known that youd ever say goodbye? Scott died Sunday in a motorcycle crash near Lewistown, Montana. He was arguably Wyomings most well-known media figure, with a devoted following that tuned in each morning to hear him interview anyone from Gov. Matt Mead to ranchers in rural towns like Kaycee and Muddy Gap. On Monday morning, it fell to the stations general manager, Bob Price, to host Scotts program. I have been in this chair many times, and of all the days, this would be the day I would not want to be in this chair, Price said. Price told listeners the radio station would keep the phone lines open all morning. While he was sure they would hear from dignitaries, more importantly to Brian was you, the listener. Our charge today is to share our memories of Brian. Scott billed himself as a morning radio announcer, but to people in central Wyoming, he was more than that. Family man. Community booster. Downtown supporter. Fundraiser emcee. Arts patron. Hunter. Biker. Scott used his local celebrity to raise money for organizations around Wyoming, from Casper College to the Wyoming Symphony. He was much more than a helping hand he helped raise millions and millions of dollars in the community, and no one told him to do that, Price said. The broadcast brimmed with both sorrow and laughter. Callers sobbed on the air, but they also shared lighthearted moments. At one point, Chad Lore, a local musician and regular on the show, arrived at the station to perform a song hed written that morning. Lore is known for his boisterous performances, clicking his feet while energetically strumming his acoustic guitar. But on this day, his song was slow and somber. When he was done, Lore stood and hugged Prices wife, Jana, and quietly sobbed. Scott is survived by his wife, three sons and four grandchildren. Star-Tribune reporter Sally Ann Shurmur contributed to this report. North Dakota state government is way off track. We could have had safe, rational, cost-effective strategies for transporting oil and gas, preventing spills, and storing radioactive waste. Corporations could have been held accountable for their conduct instead of leaving us holding the bag. Our most vulnerable citizens could have been spared preventable budget cuts. We could have had a resilient state financial system instead of a roller coaster. Now the world is watching more state government failures unfold. Who would ever have expected our government to treat North Dakota citizens and their guests as if all of them were thugs bent on destruction? So many preventable problems, so little leadership. We are entitled to foresight, engagement, collaboration, integrity, respect, and accountability from our elected officials. Marvin Nelson is that leader. As a lifelong agriculturalist with ties throughout the state, Nelson knows the issues, options, and people of our primary enduring industry. As a highly engaged legislator, he has a solid track record of sensible, constructive solutions. He is the only state leader to go see for himself the people at Standing Rock. He has the problem-solving skills to support the energy industry without sacrificing the interests of North Dakota citizens. Nelson is the leader we need now. Elect Nelson and the Democratic-NPL slate. Two candidates are challenging incumbent Kelly Schmidt for the office of state treasurer in the November election. Both Democratic candidate Tim Mathern, of the Dem-NPL, and Eric Olson, a Libertarian, support eliminating the office. Kelly Schmidt, Republican Republican State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt says her experience working closely with local government and the people are strengths in her bid for a fourth term. Schmidt was first elected state treasurer in 2004. Since then, the cost of the offices operations has increased by 1 percent, according to Schmidt, who says she has worked to improve efficiencies in the office and implemented a new software system to handle tax distributions. I think the people of North Dakota recognize that weve done well, she said of her office. On the campaign trail, she said the main issues of concern from people are the state budget and the North Dakota Legacy Fund, which was approved by voters in 2010. Thirty percent of all oil and gas production and extraction tax revenue go into the Legacy Fund, which cant be accessed until June 30. Schmidt this spring asked for an attorney generals opinion on whether the earnings to date would be accessible through a simple majority vote of the Legislative Assembly or be considered principal and require a two-thirds vote. It will be some interesting discussions, Schmidt said of the next session. She has dismissed abolishing the office as campaign rhetoric. Tim Mathern, Dem-NPL Longtime Dem-NPL Sen. Tim Mathern, of Fargo, is challenging Schmidt with the goal of eliminating the office and transferring its functions to other agencies. Mathern, elected to the state Senate in 1986, said he would introduce an agency bill to do so if elected. He said the treasurers office is one of the smaller state agencies, and he considers the office redundant. This seemed the opportune time to actually make a systemic change, Mathern said. People (are) intrigued by an actual idea behind lets cut government. Functions could be divided between the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget and the Bank of North Dakota, he said. If elected and if his bill is passed by lawmakers, Mathern said the treasurer would remain in office until the transition is complete. The remaining staff could move on to other agencies and fill open positions that fit their skill sets. When you are in a tough position, you have to make cuts. You have to hack out a piece, said Mathern, who indicated that having a Democrat willing to get rid of the office could entice Republicans to move on the idea. Eric Olson, Libertarian Transparency and improving processes of the office of state treasurer are the main reasons Libertarian Party candidate Eric Olson says he is running. Olson, a small business owner in Fargo, said he wishes to improve, if elected, is accessibility to information on the agencys website. He said its difficult to track data on various state funds. It doesnt say where the moneys going. I think the office could do a lot better job on sharing that information, said Olson, adding that his main goal in office would be to improve transparency. I can definitely write checks, he said, pointing out that the office is not complex to operate. Olson said he agrees the treasurers office should be eliminated to avoid duplication of services. His level of campaigning was somewhat minimal over the summer because he has been working to support Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson, according to Olson. Its difficult to get people to get interested in the smaller offices, he said. Two criminal justice reform bills up for debate in the next legislature will feature some changes meant to curb a growing prison population but few recommended by researchers who crunched the numbers during the past year. "It's a start," said Sen. Ron Carlisle, R-Bismarck, chairman of the Incarceration Issues Committee, which met jointly with the Alternatives to Incarceration Commission on Monday to consider provisions suggested by committee members and researchers from the Council of State Governments Justice Center. But another legislator, Sen. Terry Wanzek, R-Jamestown, noted that by holding tight to tough drug laws and not making some of the changes suggested by the researchers, it could be more difficult to make the investments many say are necessary to finally slow growing crime and incarceration rates. "If we don't do some of these things, where are we going to find the savings? I thought that was the whole purpose here, to try to find some savings in those areas where it makes sense. If we're not going to find the savings, how are we ever going to generate money for behavior health or addiction problems?" he asked the committee. Among the ideas approved by the groups of legislators, lawyers and judges were proposals to limit penalties for some drug users, but keep them tough for dealers. The group agreed to decrease penalties for first-timers accused of ingesting drugs or possessing paraphernalia, scrap rules that kept drug offenders from welfare and food stamps, limit mandatory minimum drug sentences to dealers who have been convicted of dealing in the past and shrink drug-free school zones. "If we want them to have a shot at not going back to that life, one way to facilitate that is to make sure they have support when they get out," said Adams County State Attorney Aaron Roseland of the idea to allow drug offenders access to benefits. But suggestions meant to cut sentences more substantially such as ones proposed by Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Leann Bertsch to get rid of mandatory minimums for people accused of dealing drugs and 85 percent laws were swatted down by others on the committee. Eighty-five percent laws mandate that offenders accused of the most serious, violent crimes serve almost their entire sentence before they can be released. "To eliminate the minimum mandatories and not stay tough on drug dealers is going to have a negative impact on our communities," said Ward County State's Attorney Rozanne Larson. One provision suggested by the Council of State Governments researchers, who have spent the past eight months studying the system, made it into one of the bill drafts: A proposal to make probation the presumptive sentence for first-time, low-level felons. The proposal was part of a framework suggested by the group to slow the number of people going to prison by putting more people on probation and making the supervision more effective, in the hopes of saving $36.3 million over the next five years to reinvest into drug and behavioral health treatment. In broad stroke discussions, Bertsch had criticized the idea of pushing more offenders towards supervision, saying it put a lot of pressure on the probation and parole systems, which cannot operate better without more funding. "If you don't give us the resources, it will be like a broken circle once again," she said. Provisions spelling out the research group's policy options had been included in an earlier form of the bill that was addressed in July, but they were not discussed and not presented again Monday. The committees did, however, vote to include the group's policy recommendations in its legislative report to be presented this November. Marc Pelka, deputy director of the Justice Reinvestment initiative, said after the meeting his group plans to work with individual legislators to bring some of their policy suggestions into debate in the upcoming session. He said the group will also study the savings or costs associated with the policies agreed upon Monday. North Dakotas top oil regulator says he is disappointed new rules for gathering pipelines wont take effect Oct. 1 as proposed, missing a prime construction period. Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, said the decision last week by a legislative committee to delay action on some oil rules means pipelines installed this fall wont be subject to a sweeping new set of regulations approved by the North Dakota Industrial Commission. The Legislatures Administrative Rules Committee postponed action on the pipeline regulations until its December meeting, which means the earliest the rules could take effect is now Jan. 1. The proposed rules include requirements for pipeline installation designed to reduce pipeline spills. Helms estimates that about 75 percent of North Dakota gathering pipeline installation occurs in the fall after crops are harvested and before the ground freezes. There likely would have been 1,500 miles that would have been subject to the rules versus wont be, Helms said. Sen. Kelly Armstrong, R-Dickinson, vice chairman of the Administrative Rules Committee, said the committee did not void the proposed rules, but needs to get clarification on some areas before they move forward. This is groundbreaking regulation and we want to make sure we get it right, said Armstrong, adding that the committee did allow several other oil rules to move forward. The proposed pipeline rules, approved unanimously by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, apply to smaller gathering pipelines that transport oil and produced water a waste byproduct of oil production from the well to processing facilities. The Laborers International Union of North America supported the new pipeline regulations and also wanted to see them take effect Oct. 1. We dont understand why the committee blocked common sense rules designed to prevent harmful spills and tragic accidents, said spokesman Kevin Pranis. We strongly support energy development and are tired of seeing our industrys reputation damaged by shoddy work. The rules, which were prompted by high-profile pipeline spills in North Dakota, would require companies to notify state regulators prior to starting pipeline construction or repairs. Gathering pipelines would also need to be inspected by qualified third-party inspectors. In addition, there are new requirements that aim to minimize impacts to wetlands and sensitive areas and standards for how the soil is handled during construction and reclamation. Troy Coons, chairman of the Northwest Landowners Association, said the time is now to implement the new rules. A lot of those relate to the safety or the security that the property owner, the farmer, the rancher needs to feel to sign an easement, Coons said. You need to feel like somebodys looking out for you. North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness called some of the rules arbitrary and capricious during the committee meeting last week and said some rules would create confusion. Legislative committee members questioned whether regulators overstepped their authority and legislative intent when adopting the rules. Armstrong said legislators also need to research whether any of the rules, including a rule requiring berms around well sites to contain spills, can be applied retroactively. The Industrial Commission has said the perimeter berm requirement is aimed to contain spills on location, but the Petroleum Council has said the berms are not practical or beneficial in some locations. Helms said he is waiting for a letter from Legislative Council to outline what specifically needs to be addressed in the rules that were held over for the December meeting. I do think there will likely have to be a lot of give and take in order to craft five or six sections of rules that the Administrative Rules Committee is happy with, Helms said. I think there will be significant changes in order to make that happen. NEW TOWN Federal pipeline regulators will be in North Dakota this week investigating complaints about an oil pipeline recently installed under Lake Sakakawea. Personnel from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration are investigating claims from former crew members on the Sacagawea Pipeline that the coating of the pipe was not properly inspected before it was installed under the lake. The federal agency is expected to conduct interviews in North Dakota this week to investigate the complaints. The owner of the pipeline contracting company has said they are false accusations made by workers who were fired. The North Dakota Public Service Commission also has jurisdiction over the oil pipeline, but the safety allegations fall under the federal agencys area of authority, said PSC Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak. So far, the federal regulators have not notified state regulators whether the Sacagawea Pipeline is out of compliance, Fedorchak said on Monday. Our staff has been pushing them to keep us informed on whats going on, Fedorchak said. The Public Service Commission is investigating other complaints about the Sacagawea Pipeline related to construction practices and reclamation. Fedorchak said she expects staff to complete a report about those concerns soon. Meanwhile, officials from the Three Affiliated Tribes are appealing a federal judges decision involving the oil pipeline and a companion natural gas gathering pipeline thats currently under construction. Paradigm Energy Partners, the company constructing the 70-mile pipelines, filed the case in U.S. District Court after tribal officials issued a cease and desist order to stop pipeline construction. Tribal officials say the company was required to get the tribes permission to begin pipeline installation under Lake Sakakawea, but failed to do so. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland recently granted Paradigms request for a preliminary injunction, which prevents tribal officials from interfering with pipeline construction. In his ruling, Hovland wrote that Paradigm had the necessary permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to drill under the lake and was not required to get consent of the tribe. Tribal officials have filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The pipelines will transport oil and natural gas from McKenzie County to Mountrail County, crossing Lake Sakakawea south of New Town. The 16-inch steel pipelines will be installed at least 100 feet below the lakebed. The oil pipeline, which will transport 140,000 barrels of oil per day, is complete, while the natural gas pipeline is in earlier stages of construction, according to court records. Cloud News Oracle Delivers Artifical Intelligence Solutions To Partners Joseph Tsidulko Share this Oracle dived into the rapidly heating market for artificially intelligent business solutions Monday with the release of extensions infusing several traditional enterprise applications with machine-learning capabilities. The new Adaptive Intelligent Applications, enhancements of several Oracle Software-as-a-Service products, expose the data they generate, in concert with external data sets, to machine-learning algorithms that derive insight for optimizing those business processes. Oracle simultaneously enhanced its Analytics Cloud, a platform for advanced data processing that buttresses the self-learning apps with back-end cloud infrastructure, libraries of machine-learning algorithms, big data frameworks and a massive trove of data sets. [Related: Oracle's Ellison Takes Aim At Fresh Targets: AWS, Workday] "We're putting machine learning into core business processes," Rich Clayton, Oracle's vice president of business analytics, told CRN. "This is an evolution of what we currently do. We have business intelligence embedded in those processes, but we're putting more intelligence into it through machine learning." Oracle unveiled its machine-learning portfolio as a number of rival enterprise IT vendors are also planting their stakes in the market. Salesforce Monday delivered its Einstein platform for customer relations enhanced by artificial intelligence. Oracle's intelligent applications combine internal and external data sources with real-time analytics and "behavioral inputs." Once trained through analysis of existing data sets and continual use, the applications are geared to recommend actions for users working across several divisions of the business: HR, finance, marketing and supply chain. Edward Roske, CEO of interRel, Oracle's Global Business Intelligence Partner of the Year, based in Arlington, Texas, told CRN that customers around the world understand the potential benefits of cloud, big data and predictive analytics solutions, even if they are uncertain about how to implement the underlying technologies. "The interest in intelligent applications that can learn is huge," Roske told CRN. "And what's amazing is it doesnt matter the size of the company." The technology Oracle is unleashing in the business intelligence space around machine learning provides partners a great opportunity to dive into data they've been collecting on behalf of clients for years and identify valuable patterns, he said. Such predictive capabilities were, until recently, available only in the realm of complex custom solutions. "It's an idea thats needed and a company that can make it happen in the business world," Roske said. "You know the market has really matured when a company the size of Oracle says it's going to make an application with it." Oracle's solutions will help partners know where to start in bringing artificial intelligence to market, he said. "The next big gold rush" will involve analyzing customer data with those techniques, and before long, "all channel partners are going to have a practice around business analytics, just like they do with databases," Roske said. Oracle's intelligent apps feed on a collection of more than 5 billion anonymized consumer and business profiles stored in Oracle's Data Clouda collection of Oracle data sets and those curated by third parties. At the same time, Oracle upgraded its Analytics Cloud around predictive and machine learning, mobile capabilities and visualization, said Clayton. That service unifies Oracle's budding IaaS cloud, analytics platforms including Hadoop and Spark, and storage solutions that accommodate big data sets. "The key thing that fascinates me is how algorithms and human judgment are going to work together," Clayton said of the new offerings, and overall industry adoption of machine-learning methods. "Algorithms need oversight, and judgment needs data. So it's really about the two together." Roske, of interRel, described machine learning as "a technology that no one entirely understands, and everyone is afraid they'll be the last one to understand it." Security News Cryptzone Launches New Channel Enhancements, Incentives As It Looks To Grow Business Through Partners Sarah Kuranda Share this Cryptzone is accelerating its push into the channel with the launch this week of the next wave of enhancements and incentives to its growing partner program. Cryptzone, based in Waltham, Mass., offers a portfolio of network security products, including a software-defined perimeter offering for network access control called AppGate, a data loss prevention product for SharePoint called Security Sheriff, and a web compliance tool called Compliance Sheriff. Under the new program enhancements, launching Tuesday, Cryptzone will have two types of partners: strategic alliances and traditional channel partners. The company's strategic alliances include top-tier consultants like Honeywell Technology Solutions, and OEMs like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. [Related: Webroot Expands Network Security, IoT Capabilities With Acquisition Of CyberFlow Analytics] Cryptzone has brought on cloud-focused distributor Avant Communications to help drive traditional channel partner sales, which include both security-focused solution providers and resellers looking to get into security for the first time. The program has three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold, with corresponding incentives for certification, co-marketing dollars, and margins based on annual revenue quotas. The program also includes certification programs, business planning, channel seeding initiatives, additional sales promotions, automation of opportunities and scoring for leads. However, where the program distinguishes itself with what it calls "Plan Ahead Marketing Development Funds," which include significant investments in pre-sale activities, said Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances Tina Gravel. "These are not all new, but I think for our size it is really aggressive and really, really expensive," Gravel said. "But, it is well worth it. I am excited about it and I think the awareness of Cryptzone should be coming up through all of this." Drew Lydecker, president and co-founder of Avant, said the company has seen "explosive growth in cloud-based security services," which is why the company is looking to partner with Cryptzone to help bring its offerings to more partners and enhance its own security portfolio. "Cryptzone's security solutions complement our cloud portfolio of services for our channel sales partners. We are excited to add Cryptzone's channel program to our Sales Enablement-as-a-Service methodology to further help enable channel sales people to sell IT services to enterprise customers," Lydecker said in an email. Gravel joined Cryptzone in September 2015 from Dimension Data, where she was vice president and general manager of cloud services, charged with ramping up the company's efforts around the channel. The company currently does around 40 percent of its business through the channel and is looking to grow that percentage, Gravel said. "I think it will be a relatively easy sale for partners. I can't guarantee every customer will want to go through a partner, but we want to do channel first. Every time we do a deal, we want to assign it so a partner can learn and work with us," Gravel said. Gravel said she believes that channel push will help distinguish Cryptzone from its competitors in the increasingly noisy security market. She said a strong channel ecosystem will appeal to experienced security players, like Optiv, and those looking for someone to guide them through how to build a booming business in security. "We consider ourselves 'channel first,'" Gravel said. "There is no way we could hire enough people to extend out to all the different sizes of companies out there Theres no telling what partners can do for us." One of the next major steps in the Chinese cruise market will be a significant push to send more Chinese cruise passengers outbound, on fly/cruise packages. According to multiple sources speaking with Cruise Industry News, ships fully tailored to Chinese guests could be the next step, especially in the Mediterranean. Cruise lines and ports are already aggressively pushing government agencies to relax visa policies for Chinese cruise passengers in Europe. A dedicated Chinese ship would enable cruise companies to tailor the full hotel product to Chinese guests, and may make the prospect of a cruise in Europe more appealing to outbound Chinese travelers. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings today announced strategic changes to its brand leadership team to "further align the Company's organizational structure with its goal to drive sustained growth and profitability." Bob Binder has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Oceania Cruises, in addition to his current role as Vice Chairman of Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which he has held since 2011. Prior to that, Binder served as President of Oceania Cruises. Andy Stuart, President of Norwegian Cruise line, and Jason Montague, President of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, will add the title of Chief Executive Officer to their expanded roles with their respective brands, effective immediately, according to a statement. "One of Norwegian's main strengths is the strong and deep bench of talent across our executive team," said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. "The focus and dedication that these leadership changes bring to each of our brands will further align our organizational structure with the unique needs of each brand and will enhance the overall performance of our company by creating even more exceptional vacation experiences across our fleets, strengthening our relationships with our travel partners and optimizing results to position the company for future growth." The dedicated brand executives will oversee sales, marketing, passenger services and revenue management for each of their respective brands, said Norwegian in a statement. All three will continue to report directly to del Rio. "With Bob Binder, a co-founder of Oceania Cruises, we bring a uniquely qualified industry veteran to strengthen and grow the Oceania brand and further enhance its position as the leading upper-premium cruise line," said Del Rio. "We are also capitalizing on the talents and contributions of two key executives, Andy Stuart and Jason Montague, with their expanded roles as Chief Executive Officers within their respective brands." WASHINGTON Families of 9/11 victims joined Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday outside the U.S. Capitol to urge President Barack Obama not to veto legislation that would permit lawsuits against Saudi Arabia or any other foreign actors suspected of complicity in the attacks. I respect him and his office and his reasons, Blumenthal, D-Conn., said of Obama, who is pondering a veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which passed both House and Senate. But I disagree strongly and powerfully with those reasons. Surrounding Blumenthal were nearly 100 family members of 9/11 victims who held up signs imploring the president not to veto the bill, known by the acronym JASTA. Failing that, survivor families are asking Congress to override the veto. More than 160 victims of 9/11 had Connecticut connections. Among those speaking Tuesday was Kaitlyn Strada, a 19-year-old freshman at Fairfield University, who was 4 when her father, Tom, a corporate bond specialist at Cantor Fitzgerald, died at the World Trade Center. My father will never see me graduate college or walk me down the aisle one day, she said, standing just in front of her mother, Terry, who chairs the organization 9/11 Families & Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism. I and the thousands of other children who lost their mother or father, parents who lost their children . . . all deserve opportunities to hold those (who aided in the attacks) responsible for the death, pain and suffering inflicted on all of us at the hands of terrorism, she said. JASTA grew out of suspicions that Saudi agents or government officials gave the 9/11 hijackers invaluable logistical aid in carrying out their deadly plot, which brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center and badly damaged the Pentagon. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi. If enacted, JASTA would change the law surrounding sovereign immunity the doctrine that immunizes foreign states and agents for acts committed outside U.S. boundaries. Everybody deserves a day in court, Blumenthal said. The courtroom doors ought to be open to everyone. In July, Congress released 24 classified pages of its 2004 9/11 report, relating to Saudi connections to the hijackers. While the pages contain no smoking gun, there were tantalizing references to Saudis with possible government links helping the hijackers to achieve their insidious goals. Obama has until Friday to decide whether to veto the bill. White House press secretary Josh Earnest last week said that among other reasons for a possible veto, the president is concerned that foreign governments might use it to sue the United States. The concept of sovereign immunity is one that protects the United States as much as any other country in the world, he said. But Blumenthal insisted that JASTA would not unfairly target Saudi Arabia, which has been a steadfast ally of the U.S. in the Middle East despite its embrace of an extreme form of Islam Wahhabism that considers unbelievers to be heathens. If the Saudi government is innocent, it has nothing to fear from a day in court, Blumenthal said. If it is culpable, it should be held accountable. Blumenthal said he was confident Congress would and could override a presidential veto, if it comes to that. Asked by a reporter whether hed had any communication with the White House that led him to believe Obama would not veto JASTA, he replied: I have no additional information on the record. After the news conference, Blumenthal said he did not know which way Obama would go. My guess is hes wrestling with it, Blumenthal said. Hes committed to morality and justice, but he has diplomats and foreign policy experts advising him on the other side. Being president is the toughest job in the world. dan@hearstdc.com Juli Marks doesnt often buy frozen waffles for her family. But when the Shelton resident does purchase the breakfast treat, she often picks whole wheat waffles from breakfast food giant Eggo. I thought they were a little bit better for you, she said. Now shes resolved not to purchase the product again, following the recall of 10,000 cases of Kelloggs Eggo Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat Waffles due to possible contamination with the bacteria listeria monocytogenes. Kelloggs officials claim there have been no reports of illness from the product, but the company is pulling the product as part of its commitment to the health and safety of the people who eat its foods, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations recall notice. The recalled products were distributed in 25 states, including Connecticut. Some local parents were disturbed by the news, including Marks, who mainly fed the waffles to her 2-year-old daughter. Im obviously not buying those any more, Marks said. I guess well have to find something else to make for breakfast. Its too bad, because its so quick and easy in the morning. In healthy people, listeria infection can cause short-term symptoms, including high fever, severe headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. But it can be serious, and sometimes fatal, in young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, and can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. Katie McGonigal of Woodbridge became a passionate advocate for informing people about foodborne bacteria outbreaks, after her daughter was stillborn last year. During her pregnancy, McGonigal became sick with a listeria infection, which led to the stillbirth. She still doesnt know what caused her illness, and now religiously follows the FDAs recalls, and shares the information via social media. One of the scariest aspects of listeria infection is that the bacteria can seemingly pop up anywhere, McGonigal said. The Eggo recall is particularly jarring as frozen Eggo waffles are a staple in most households with children, she said. McGonigal has since given birth to a healthy child, but her experience has made her hyper-vigilant about foodborne illness. Its scary, she said. You dont want to make people paranoid but its important to share the information. Kellogg is asking that people who purchased affected product discard it and contact the company for a full refund. Consumers can call 800-962-1413, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday or visit https://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/contact-us.html. STRATFORD Two Republicans have pulled out of the fall elections, and GOP party officials say that there is scant hope for finding replacement candidates. Both Republican candidates James Duffy for Town Council Dist. 5 and Jason Santi for the 121st House seat cited the commitments of time and energy needed to carry out those elected positions. The Duffy withdrawal means that Democrat Greg Cann will only have to face petitioning candidate John Dempsey in an Oct. 13 special election. Dempsey had hoped to challenge Cann in a Democratic primary, but he didnt get his papers in on time. Coming into the race, I have been well aware of the time commitments that would be expected of me in order to effectively fulfill my role in representing the district, said Duffy in his letter to Republican Town Committee Chairman Louis DeCilio. Unfortunately, recent work and family situations have come to light that will prevent me from giving the time, effort, and energy required to both effectively represent and improve the district and the town. Town officials and a number of Town Council members have said that being a councilperson requires a significant commitment of time and energy that few people in town seem to appreciate. In addition to serving on the council, they also must serve as the Water Pollution Control Authority board and sit on several committees as well. Also, unlike many city and town councils in the state, they also must function as their own board of finance. Its a little like taking a vacation in Afghanistan, DeCilio said, who is also the Republican registrars of voters in Town Hall. He also notes that in Stratford, the Town Council is a volunteer position. The District 5 election, along with an election in District 2, will take place on Thursday, Oct. 13. These special elections were precipitated by two earlier resignations, Joe Gresko in District 5 and Mark Dumas in District 2. Gresko resigned to assume the 121st House seat that for years was occupied by the late Terry Backer who died of brain cancer in December 2015. Dumas resigned citing family commitments. Santi said that he, too, had to pull out because he couldnt spare the time needed to perform as a member of the Legislature. Between family commitments and the fact that I just began a new job, it would be all but impossible for me, at this point, to serve up in Hartford, Santi said. The pullout if Santi means that Gresko will be running unopposed on Nov. 8. jburgeson@ctpost.com STORY LINK Could GBP AUD & GBP NZD Exchange Rates Spike on ?Black Swan? Event? Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate Forecast: Black Swan Event Ahead? GBP to AUD, NZD Exchange Rates Supported by UK House Price Data GBP AUD, GBP NZD Exchange Rates Forecast to Jump Higher? Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP AUD) exchange rate fell 0.4% on Monday while the Pound New Zealand Dollar (GBP NZD) exchange rate also declined - but is a recovery ahead?By definition, you dont see a Black Swan Event until it is upon you; however, analysts were quick to spot the next potential threat to the global financial system following a recent report from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).The BIS issued a stark warning about the levels of indebtedness in Chinas vast economy in its Quarterly Review, published over the weekend. The widely-respected authority noted that the total amount of combined debt held by households, business and the government had rocketed to 255% of Chinas Gross Domestic Product in 2015. This represented a significant increase from 220% during 2013 and led the BIS to warn of a heightened potential of a full-blown banking crisis in the worlds second most developed economy. The BIS went on to note that the total aggregated amount of outstanding Chinese loans, at the latest count, tipped the scales at a heady $28 trillion.Declines in the Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP AUD) and Pound Sterling to New Zealand Dollar (GBP NZD) exchange rates weren't as severe as they might have been on Monday as GBP garnered support from the UK's latest house price figures.However, the missive from the BIS built on a theme raised by an unnamed, but very authoritative figure in China, as reported by the nations Peoples Daily newspaper, earlier in 2016. The senior spokesman noted that Chinas debt burden is, growing like a tree in the air. This simile suggests an impending fall for the Chinese economy, possibly followed by a 2007-09 style credit contraction which could potentially bring the global economy to its knees.Claudio Borio of the BIS noted in the text which accompanied the report that the sharp increase in asset prices across the board may be about to move into reverse. Borio noted that, there has been a distinctly mixed feel to the recent rally more stick than carrot, more push than pull, more frustration than joy. This explains the nagging question of whether market prices fully reflect the risks ahead.Borio went on to observe that,The apparent dissonance between record low bond yields, and sharply higher stock prices with subdued volatility cast a pall over such valuations. Banks depressed equity prices and budding signs of tension in bank funding markets added another sobering note.If the BIS is proved to be well-founded in its fears, then analysts forecast that the Pound Sterling (currency : GBP) may spike in value against the high-yielding Commodity Dollars, sending the GBP AUD, GBP NZD and GBP CAD exchange rates sharply higher. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Currency Predictions Daily Currency Updates Poun Forecasts These real PA creatures could become cryptids if we don't save them Boo! What are the scariest spots in Lake County? The old courthouse. A tea room in Mount Dora. Lake County has several places that are thought to be haunted. University of Memphis campus police transported a student to a mental health treatment facility in August, just one of what university officials say is a growing number of students needing such help early this fall. Police responded to a call from psychologist Umieca Hankton from the Counseling Center who said that the student was ahaving thoughts of harming herself,a according to the U of M campus police report. In the past month, at least five students from the university have been sent to treatment for mental health evaluations, said Robert Maichrowicz, associate director of counseling, tutoring and testing at the U of M. aThose numbers are increasing because students in general are under greater stressors and maybe donat have the coping skills,a Maichrowicz said. aTen to 15 years ago, we could go a whole year and only send about five people to be evaluated. Last February, we sent maybe eight to 10 in one month.a Surveys show that suicide and suicidal thoughts among college students are more common now than ever before. The 2015 American College Health Associationas National College Health Assessment reported that, of the 22,931 surveyed students, almost 50 percent have felt that things were hopeless. Around 10 percent had seriously considered suicide, and 1.6 percent had attempted suicide. In the University of Texasa study aNew Data on the Nature of Suicidal Crises in College Students: Shifting the Paradigm,a they surveyed 108,536 students across 70 U.S. colleges and universities. In the past 12 months, 37 percent of undergraduate students thought aI wish this all would end.a Thirty-one percent have thought of suicide at least once, and 65 percent felt like committing suicide due to emotional or physical pain. aTen to 15 years ago, we could go a whole year and only send about five people to be evaluated. Last February, we sent maybe eight to 10 in one month.a - Robert Maichrowicz, associate director of counseling The study reported that suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old, and is believed to be the second leading cause of death for college students. The incident on Aug. 9 was filed under an aemergency committal.a Derek Myers, chief of police, said that this classification happens when a student is thought to be a harm to themselves and others. aUnder Tennessee state law, we have to immediately take the person into custody and into treatment,a Myers said. aItas a medical report, but since an arrest was made, we have a report on it.a Myers said that due to federal privacy laws, he was unable to discuss the specific situation or identify the student. aWe have officers on every shift that have been Crisis Intervention Team trained to deal with people in a mental illness crisis,a Myers said. aAs part of our duties, we do respond to Counseling Services to transport people in crisis for inpatient treatment. So far this year, we have responded to 38 calls of this type. Twenty-three of those calls came from Counseling Services.a Campus police can be called to transport a student even when the harm is not deliberate, Maichrowicz said. Jeff B. Carter Photo illustration of a stressed brain. aWeare looking at if the student is in danger of harming themselves or others,a Maichrowicz said. aThey may be off their medicine or they need to be on medicine. They have an altered mental state where they are not thinking clearly.a Students who may be in danger of self-harming may change their behavior or hygiene patterns, cry a lot or skip school, Maichrowicz said. aIs their performance in school going down? Are they sleeping too much or too little? Are they losing interest in things? These things highlight serious depression, which increases suicidal thoughts,a Maichrowicz said. Everyone needs to pay attention to how the people around them act so they know whether someone is experiencing suicidal thoughts or tendencies, Maichrowicz said. aYou canat paint a picture that describes everyone, because everyone responds differently,a Maichrowicz said. aIf something doesnat feel right, itas worth checking out.a The first time I met Theresa May back in 1999 she was rather dowdy and thats being polite. She was the newly appointed Shadow Education Secretary. I was William Hagues spin doctor and he pleaded with me to give this grey field mouse some advice before her first appearance on BBC1s Question Time. After suggesting that for television she wore something a bit brighter and sharper than the shapeless grey trouser suit in which she sat before me, stooped over and crumpled up, I was given one of those withering May ripostes: People are interested in what I say, not how I look, she said. Scroll down for vieo PM who means business: Amanda noticed Theresa May wears a very similar power suit to her own Three years later, in 2002, and as the partys newly appointed chairwoman, she stunned delegates with a brave denunciation of the partys past sins with her nasty party speech and also an incredible pair of kitten heels. Obviously, some of my earlier words had sunk in. Roll forward 14 years and, shoe by shoe, suit by suit, her transformation has been incredible. Ive watched in stunned amazement as this rather understated blue-stocking metamorphosed into the sophisticated style icon she is today a modern-day Margaret Thatcher, never a victim to fashion but always subtly on trend. And why? I am not wishing to be boastful, but it would seem that Theresa May has stolen my style. Turning on the TV only two weeks ago, my admiration turned to shock as I watched her climb out of a Land Rover in a very familiar suit. It was black, with a matching, slinky back-zip skirt and padded jacket over the top. I recognised it because it was made by one of my favourite designers Amanda Wakeley and also because I have an identical one hanging in my wardrobe. This former frump is a high powered version of me Amanda Platell And this wasnt the first time the Prime Minister and I have chosen the same outfit. We seem to be doubling up almost constantly. Should I be flattered? Or ashamed that this one-time frump is morphing into a more high-powered version of me? You tell me. I certainly sympathised with her earlier this year when she was filmed, bosom spilling out of a beautiful orangey-red dress during Prime Ministers Questions. Inevitably, all those present were focused on her decolletage and not, as she had earlier preached, on what she had to say. A flash of the legs: like Amanda, she's not afraid to show a hint of leg in this unzipped number I knew exactly how she felt. I, too, have exposed more bosom than I would like whenever I have worn that very dress. Not for the first time I felt more than a little unnerved. Only months before, Id seen pictures of Theresa in my beautiful red slinky ruched evening frock. Then there were the pictures of her wearing my panelled taupe-patterned frock in July. And to think there could have been more occasions where we had doubled up in the style stakes. I almost bought the black and banana three-quarter coat she wore on her first Press call outside Downing Street as the countrys new Prime Minister this year. I have the same beautifully cut A-lined, three-quarter coat in a patterned grey and white. I can only come to the conclusion that perhaps the little chat that she so coolly dismissed all those years ago had sunk in. When she chooses a dress nowadays, is she privately thinking: What would Amanda do? I like to flatter myself and hope that she does. Belle of the ball: Mrs May was a Tory lady in red when she wore a ruched Amanda Wakeley piece for a charity ball, and Amanda Platell in the same dress Not that I can blame Theresa for her love of Amanda Wakeley, who has a knack of designing clothes for real women with curves. And she understands powerful dressing for professional women. Like me, Theresa has obviously discovered that even her most figure-hugging frocks have panels designed to suck in even the most obstinate of a ladys most loathed bits. No wonder the other Amanda was Theresas go to girl. All the designers I love dont dress girls, they dress women. And Amanda is the ultimate feminist frockster. I am glad Theresa agrees with me that a strong and bold woman needs to wear strong and bold colours to reflect her personality. There is also some shrewd thinking behind Theresas choice of designer in this case. First, shes British; second, shes a woman. And one suspects the Prime Minister gets the celebrity treatment, with outfits delivered to her home, now in Downing Street, for her to peruse and choose in the privacy of her own boudoir. And possibly at a hefty discount. Just one thing Mrs May - stop hamming it up! Amanda Platell Whether she wears Wakeley, High Street or other designers, if Theresa really wants to take a leaf out of my style book, I would tell her respectfully, of course that she must stop hamming it up by over-accessorising her outfits. Smart and svelte and slimming: a panelled dress and the PM's trademark kitten heels but Amanda's seen it somewhere before The chunky necklaces and matching bracelets she favours, often with a brooch thrown in, break the clean lines and make her outfits look too fussy, especially when she adds her signature look, a pair of animal print or embroidered shoes. She seems not to follow the maxim of Coco Chanel, who used to say that a woman should get dressed, then take off at least one piece of jewellery. I would never wear a cheap clunky necklace on a low-cut red designer dress. The genius of the pure lines would be ruined. Why attract attention to a 59-year-old turkey neck with a big necklace? The dresses we love so much are cleverly crafted, usually panelled in such a way that they give any woman an hour-glass figure, often even taking two dress sizes off her. So Theresa needs to learn the very simple lesson that style-lovers like me have known since we bought our first disco dress in Top Shop: less is more. For instance, even though I own the matching orange dress and jacket she wore to Prime Ministers Questions before she became leader, I wouldnt, in a month of Sundays, wear them together. Too much of a good thing, Theresa! But even though I have so much to teach her, the transformation of Theresa cannot for a minute just be down to me. Power dressing with pizazz: at the top table, the PM meets Obama at the G20 in China in a red suit the Mail's own Amanda would be proud of I am convinced there is a very clever stylist helping her choose those outfits, accessories and her new chic, two-toned hairstyle, which is perfect on every occasion. After all, Theresa May who used to appear in his-and-her matching home-knitted purple jumpers with husband Philip could not have engineered this on her own. Even Lady Thatcher had her Crawfie personal assistant Cynthia Crawford who persuaded the formidable PM to leave behind those fussy, Sloane Ranger pussy bows and wear Aquascutum instead. It was she who could claim credit for Lady Ts Cossack hat in Russia, and that magnificent picture of her in a cream headscarf and jacket driving a tank during her visit to the British forces in Germany in 1986. So who is Theresas Crawfie? Does she even exist? Is she even a she? At the moment, everyone is keeping schtum its one of the best kept secrets in Westminster. In the meantime, I shall be wearing the outfits we both adore with a renewed pride. An outraged food blogger who alleges fitness guru Ashy Bines ripped-off her recipes is gearing up for a legal battle with the Instagram star. Personal trainer Allie Dodds, 25, alleges that in 2012 Bines published recipes from her Mealspiration food blog without crediting her or asking for permission. Bines is a Gold Coast businesswoman and social media celebrity who shot to fame with her series of 'bikini body' workout plans and 'clean eating' healthy recipes. Scroll down for video Outraged: A Sydney-based food blogger alleges that Ashy Bines (pictured) ripped-off her recipes 'Really nasty': Allie Dodds (pictured) was stunned when she realised her recipes had appeared in a Clean Eating book under Ashy Bines' name Ms Dodds regularly published recipes for her friends and family on her Mealspiration blog before she started her business, Sweets and Sweat. In 2012 Bines reportedly contacted her asking if she could share some of her recipes online with her Facebook fan base and Ms Dodds agreed. 'I thought, that was OK she's going to share a couple of my recipes, give me some credit and that was it,' she told Daily Mail Australia last year. But Ms Dodds was stunned when a friend noticed her Salmon and Cauliflower Sushi recipe in a 2012 edition of Bines' Clean Eating Recipe Book. 'I said 'can you show me?' and it was my pictures and my recipe. 'I just couldn't believe it... That's really nasty. 'It was just Ashy's guidelines and zero mention of my name or my blog and I was just like ''you're kidding me''. 'At first I was a little bit excited and then I was pretty devastated (not to be credited).' Ms Dodds said other recipes inside the guide included her kangaroo rolls and chicken mince quiche. She contacted Ms Bines in July 2013 to question her use of recipes and photos but says she never heard back. Social media starlet: Ashy Bines is a Gold Coast businesswoman with over two million followers on social media Bad taste: The recipe above appeared in Ashy Bines' Clean Eating e-book in 2012 Questionable: An identical recipe first appeared on Ms Dodds' Mealspiration blog Ms Dodds was now raising money to fund legal action against Bines. 'My name is Allie and I started a food blog back in 2012 called Mealspiration. 'I found a passion for healthy food and fell in love with creating meals of my own,' she wrote on GoFundMe. 'It was a few months later when a colleague of mine said she saw my blog post - word for word and my images - used in Ashy Bines' clean eating guidelines. 'I then realised there were at least eight recipes copied and pasted into the e-book which sold for $70 to $100 online. 'I am not trying to personally attack Ashy Bines in any way, I am simply seeking compensation for what was rightfully my copyright.' Naive: Bines released a video after the allegations were first made last year, in which she said an outsourced independent nutritionist had ripped-off the recipes for inclusion in her book Unfortunate: Bines (left) said she was trying to give her customers the best information and it was unfortunate she did not check the origins of all the recipes Bines released a video in April last year admitting to plagiarism after Ms Dodds first made the allegations. 'As a businesswoman I often outsource projects to experts and people better qualified to give you the best information,' Bines explained in the video. 'And by outsourcing [the book] to a nutritionist I was trying to give you all something of value and to come up with delicious recipes from the food that I suggested. 'Unfortunately, I may have been too naive to think that I wouldn't have to check the origins of each recipe. 'It's recently come to my attention that some of these recipes were not originals at all and have been copied from other sources.' When questioned about the video Bines would not say whether it specifically referred to Ms Dodds' claims. Bines told the Courier Mail the Clean Eating book had been compiled by a nutritionist who had, without her knowledge, 'plagiarised a number of recipes'. Bines said: 'I would never have used the recipes [had I known] and would have immediately ceased to engage this consultant.' She added the recipes were removed immediately after she was made aware of the plagiarism. A university student who did not know she was pregnant until she went into labour has spoken about making the overwhelming decision to keep her baby boy. Megan Bradford, from Melbourne's southeast, began dating Matt Paolini after the pair met while working at a record store and although she was on the pill, began suffering sporadic abdominal cramps. A pregnancy test returned a negative result and as the 22-year-old was taking the pill, she 'carried on with her life' until she woke up with debilitating stomach pain on February 3, 2015, and was rushed to hospital. 'The nurses came into the room, did an ultrasound and an internal examination and said they were concerned I might be in labour,' Ms Bradford told Daily Mail Australia. Megan Bradford and Matt Paolini (both pictured), from Melbourne's southeast, had no idea Ms Bradford was pregnant until she went into labour in 2015 After sufferin stomach pain, Ms Bradford was rushed to the maternity ward birthing suite at Sandringham Hospital and gave birth to Theodore Jack Paolini at 11.39pm on February 3, 2015 Ms Bradford and Mr Paolini, from Clayton, immediately went into shock and began to cry as the news settled in. Ms Bradford was rushed to the maternity ward birthing suite at Sandringham Hospital and gave birth to Theodore Jack Paolini at 11.39pm. He was born at a healthy weight of 3.49 kilograms, despite the fact Ms Bradford had been drinking throughout the pregnancy. 'I didn't have a crazy lifestyle and never really drank in excess, but every time I did drink after falling pregnant it was as if my body was rejecting it and I would throw up,' she said. Theodore was born at a healthy weight of 3.49 kilograms, despite the fact Ms Bradford had been drinking throughout the pregnancy The business student said she noticed her breasts were swollen toward the end of the pregnancy and gained around five kilograms, but otherwise had no idea she was pregnant After the surprise birth, Ms Bradford and Theodore's father Matt Paolini had to make the difficult decision whether to give the baby boy up 'I don't think that much [alcohol] really went into my body'. The business student said she noticed her breasts were swollen toward the end of the pregnancy and gained around five kilograms, but had friends tell her she looked as if she was losing weight. 'A lot of people were telling me I was losing weight as I guess the baby was taking nutrients from my body,' she said. 'I still wear the same jeans I wore when I was pregnant'. After the surprise birth, Ms Bradford and Mr Paolini had to make the difficult decision whether to give their baby boy up. The pair left the hospital on February 6 and placed Theodore into temporary foster care for a week while they made a decision The couple decided they could not live without their little boy and moved him back in with them after one week Ms Bradford said although Theo has been an adjustment, the couple have still been able to enjoy overseas holidays and resume normal life with the help of their families Ms Bradford was rushed to the maternity ward birthing suite at Sandringham Hospital and gave birth to Theodore Jack Paolini at 11.39pm The pair left the hospital on February 6 and placed Theodore into temporary foster care for a week while they made a decision. 'Matt was feeling quite helpless, I think he felt if I made the decision he would just have to live with it, which can be unfortunate for the men,' Ms Bradford said. 'But we spent more and more time with [Theo] and I felt a sense of pride when my friends got to meet him. 'I knew there was no way I could give him up'. The couple have since moved in together and while the adjustment has been difficult, family support has helped them through. Ms Bradford said when her and Mr Paolini are financially stable they would love to have more children. A concealed or unknown pregnancy occurs in about one in 500 cases. The couple have since moved in together and while the adjustment has been difficult, family support has helped them through A woman has spoken out after a doctor refused to renew her contraceptive pill prescription. Olive Lockett, 19, from Bathurst, New South Wales, claims she was visiting a medical centre for a checkup on her glandular fever and while there, requested a new script. 'I don't have a regular GP so I just go to medical centres. I booked a doctor online and after speaking to her about the glandular fever I asked for my prescription to be renewed,' Ms Lockett told Daily Mail Australia. 'Her face dropped, she paused and just said "oh".' Olive Lockett, 19, says a doctor at a medical centre refused to prescribe her the contraceptive pill due to 'religious reasons' Ms Lockett, who has been on the contraceptive pill since she was 14 due to painful periods, said the doctor's 'eyes widened' when she said she wasn't in a stable relationship. 'She was just shocked to find out that I was on the pill and not in a relationship and I didn't even have time to explain that I've been on it all this time because I have such unstable awful periods,' she said. 'It felt like she was a teacher who was really disappointed in me... I felt like I was in the principal's office. She just assumed I was having casual sex. 'Then she started asking whether I used other kinds of protection and I felt like I was 15 just starting to talk about sex. I'm 19.' Ms Lockett said the doctor 'scathed' her for not being in a relationship and proceeded to ask her questions about contraception Ms Lockett said the doctor continued to talk about contraception and likened it to a 'lecture.' 'I asked her why she wouldn't prescribe it and she said "for my own religious reasons" which is completely fine but there was no sign or anything. 'The way she treated me and the tone she was speaking in made me feel absolutely sick and it was humiliating, I felt so degraded. 'It wasn't handled professionally, it was extreme. Everything I said was wrong in her eyes and she ended up having to call the clinic I went to last time and I had to go across town to get the prescription.' Ms Lockett said the whole experience left her in shock. 'It felt like she was a teacher who was really disappointed in me... I felt like I was in the principal's office. She just assumed I was having casual sex,' she said 'My periods are so bad, there have been times where I have been pacing my room in the middle of the night for hours in the most unimaginable pain. I need this and the fact that she'd deny that is just ridiculous to me,' she said. To experience this just makes me feel so bad for others who deal with this every single day. Olive Lockett The university student posted about her experience on Facebook and was backed by hundreds of her friends. 'I think I accidentally slipped and fell into a time machine because I just had a medical doctor scathe me for not being in a relationship and asking her for a repeat pill prescription,' she wrote. 'She didn't even give it to me in the end due to "religious reasons". I honestly thought myself lucky to not have to ever encounter things like this in my life, but I cannot imagine what it's like for girls to have to feel this anger every day of their lives.' ARE DOCTORS ALLOWED TO REFUSE TO PRESCRIBE THE CONTRACEPTIVE PILL? According to the Australian Medical Association, there may be times where a doctors personal beliefs conflict with their peer-based professional practice. In exceptional circumstances, and as a last resort, a doctor may refuse to provide, or participate in, certain medical treatments or procedures that conflict with his or her own personal beliefs. A conscientious objection is based on sincerely-held beliefs and moral concerns, not self-interest or discrimination. A doctor should always provide medically appropriate treatment in an emergency situation, even if that treatment conflicts with the doctors personal beliefs and values. When a doctor refuses to provide, or participate in, a medically appropriate treatment or procedure based on a conscientious objection, it affects and potentially disrupts the patients access to care. In accordance with the Medical Board of Australia, doctors should: - be aware of their right to not provide or directly participate in treatments to which they conscientiously object - inform their patients and, if relevant, colleagues, of their objection, and not use their objection to impede access to treatments that are legal If a doctor has an objection, they are required to: - inform their patient of their objection as soon as possible and that they have the right to see another doctor - take whatever steps necessary to ensure their patient's access to care is not impeded - continue to treat their patient with dignity and respect, even if they object to the treatment or procedure they are seeking - refrain from expressing their own personal beliefs in a way that may cause their patient distress Source: The Australian Medical Association Advertisement Ms Lockett said no woman should be made to feel this way by a medical professional. 'I always see stories in the media about women who are declined access to these things by pharmacists and doctors overseas and I was shocked by what they had to put up with,' she said. 'It always seemed so far away and I thought I lived in a country where I shouldn't have to deal with that. So to experience this just makes me feel so bad for others who deal with this every single day... it was fascinating to just get a taste of that.' Australian doctors do have a right to object to prescribing certain medications. According to the Australian Medical Association, if a doctor's personal values or beliefs conflict with their practice, then they may 'conscientiously object.' 'There may be times where a doctors personal beliefs conflict with their peer-based professional practice,' they explain in their position statement. 'In exceptional circumstances, and as a last resort, a doctor may refuse to provide, or participate in, certain medical treatments or procedures that conflict with his or her own personal beliefs.' Ms Lockett said she wasn't able to explain that the reason she needed the pill was due to the extremely painful periods she's been experiencing since the age of 14 These objections must be based on 'sincerely-held beliefs' and 'moral concerns' and must never be based on 'self-interest' or 'discrimination.' If this occurs, doctors must always inform their patient of the objection as soon as possible, as well as making sure they have taken 'whatever steps necessary' to ensure their patient's access to care is not impeded. Morally however, they are not entitled to express their own personal beliefs 'in a way that may cause them distress.' It's terribly embarrassing and the basis of all doctor and patient relationships should be trust. Dr Beth Wilson Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the Vice President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Tony Bartone, said doctors should never 'push our belief onto the patient.' 'Humiliation doesn't work, no matter what the end plan is. I would have thought that this is no longer the mode or the vehicle for delivery of health care advice in our land,' he said. 'At the end of the day my beliefs - I park them in a corner and I treat the patient as Western standards would require and demand. And if there's a particular religious reason as to why I can't proceed down a certain line I need to declare that and I need to make sure that I am giving the patient an alternative way forward.' In Australia doctors are able to conscientiously object to prescribing medications if it goes against their morals or beliefs Dr Beth Wilson, the former Health Services Commissioner in Victoria, is outraged that women are experiencing these kinds of interactions. 'I personally think this is outrageous - that doctors should be permitted to refuse a legitimate health service to a patient,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'It's terribly embarrassing and the basis of all doctor and patient relationships should be trust. If you are getting this moral outrage and scolding it's just belittling and putting the patient down is just inappropriate. The happy couple are now on a honeymoon in Capri, Florence and Milan The wedding had its own hashtag and the couple had 120 guests flown in As any fashion stylist worth her salt knows, if you want all-out glamour, then you can't go far wrong with Italy. Which is perhaps why the Sydney-based stylist, Jess Pecoraro, jetted off in that direction when it came to tying the knot last weekend. The bride donned a stunning dress by the homegrown designer, Steven Khalil, in a Sicilian-based lavish ceremony that has been storming Instagram ever since. Scroll down for video When in Sicily: Australian fashion stylist supremo, Jess Pecoraro (pictured), got married in Sicily last weekend in a lavish ceremony Stunning: For the occasion, the bride wore a custom-made off-the-shoulder gown by Australian designer, Steven Khalil The ceremony and celebrations happened on September 10, when the bride-to-be assembled a series of photogenic guests in the town of Taormina for her beautiful fairy-lit nuptials. It was totally magical... an absolute dream After a family breakfast at the Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo, where the couple later hosted their reception, Ms Pecoraro slipped into a custom off-the-shoulder gown with delicate floral details by Steven Khalil. Meanwhile, her bridesmaids - who included her model relative, Roberta Pecoraro - wore sheer, backless, baby blue dresses, as they led the bride into the Italian sun. The ceremony itself later took place at the Santa Caterina church, with 120 specially-flown in guests from Australia. Ms Pecoraro told the Daily Mail that the whole thing was 'totally magical'. 'It was an absolute dream really,' she said. Princess: The ceremony and celebrations happened on September 10, when the bride-to-be assembled a series of photogenic guests in the town of Taormina for her fairy-lit nuptials First things first: She had a family breakfast at the Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo (pictured), where the couple later hosted their reception Special: The ceremony itself later took place at the Santa Caterina church, with 120 specially-flown in guests from Australia Absolute dream: Ms Pecoraro told Daily Mail Australia that the whole thing was 'totally magical' - posing with both her father (left) and cutting the cake (right) Matching: Ms Pecoraro's bridesmaids - who included her model relative, Roberta Pecoraro (pictured) - wore sheer, backless, baby blue dresses, as they led the bride into the Italian sun Guest list: The wedding party's sartorial splendour was clearly not lost on Ms Pecoraro's guests either, who were a stylish assortment of editors, buyers and models Instagram ready: The wedding had its own hashtag - #jpxsmwedding2016 - which countless people posted with The wedding party's sartorial splendour was clearly not lost on Ms Pecoraro's guests either, who were a stylish assortment of editors, buyers and models also keen to post about the #jpxsmwedding2016 hashtagged festivities. 'Most beautiful bride,' one person posted, alongside a photo of herself with Ms Pecoraro. 'Wedding of the year,' someone else added. La Dolce Vita: Since their breathtakingly beautiful ceremony, Jess Pecoraro and her husband have been travelling around Italy for their honeymoon (pictured) Travels: Since the nuptials (left), the pair have been to Capri and Positano (right) - they are now in Florence and will finish in Milan for Fashion Week before returning to Australia Since their breathtakingly beautiful ceremony, Jess Pecoraro and her husband have been travelling around Italy for their honeymoon. 'We started in Capri and Positano,' Ms Pecoraro told Daily Mail Australia. Colds and migraines among the least Bosses were asked what reasons for days off made them suspicious Bosses are more than used to taking morning calls from employees who sound like they're at death's door. Dramatic voices aside, some sick day excuses are simply more believable than others, according to employers. Telling your boss that you're suffering from anxiety, for example, might not always get a sympathetic response...but if you say it's evolved into influenza, you can rest easy that the people who pay your wages aren't questioning you. Scroll down for video Got the flu? You'll be fine...but suffer a bad cold and your boss might think you're just looking for a day, new research found They can't argue with surgery! Bosses said they rarely questioned employees who said they were having an operation When 1,000 bosses were asked about the excuses they listen to that really have them convinced, they said a dose of the flu, back pain or some sort of bodily injury often did the trick. Other reasons cited by the business leaders that sounded perfectly plausible they said included stress, depression and surgery. But if you're just pulling a fast one and just fancy a day snuggled under the duvet after a heavy night then saying you're suffering from a 'common cold' probably won't leave your employer impressed. Back pain is plausible, research conducted by AXA PPP found, as is surgery...but if you're feeling anxious, you're less likely to find sympathy Elsewhere, migraines and anxiety also left company heads' sceptical about an employee's inability to work. The research, conducted by AXA PPP Healthcare, found that while many of us are happy to relay the details of a physical problem to our employers, we're far more reluctant to divulge mental health problems. Some 80 per cent of workers questioned said had felt keen to lie about being affected by mental health issues for fear of being judged. Advertisement Prince Harry has revealed his Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst helped him build his confidence as he spoke about losing his mother at a young age. He was speaking at a youth mentor training event at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, part of The Diana Award set up in memory of his mother who died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997 when Harry was only 12 years old. Sitting in a circle with mentors and trainees, he said his Colour Sergeant from his 2005 entry to Sandhurst military academy was his mentor and credited him with giving him 'confidence to look forward'. Scroll down for video The Prince named his Colour Sergeant from Sandhurst as his mentor during an activity with students Cheeky Prince Harry shows off his fun side as he high fives a young royal fan at the Streetsport initiative at Robert Gordon University Harry shows off his football skills on a visit to Aberdeen with volunteer Nordean Elouissi, who praised the Prince for being a good sport Prince Harry alongside Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive of the Diana Awards. He explained that his colour sergeant at Sandhurst had helped give him confidence after his mother died in 1997 He said: 'I was at a stage in my life when I was probably lacking a bit in guidance. I lost my mum when I was very young and suddenly I was surrounded by a huge number of men in the army. 'He was someone who teased me at the right moments and gave me the confidence to look forward, to actually have that confidence in yourself to know who you are and to push forward and try to help others.' He said he had not revealed the sergeant's name as 'he wouldn't want me to'. Prince Harry, 32, met 60 youngsters who are training to become mentors in their schools. Prince Harry couldn't hide his delight as he was introduced to pupils at the Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire this morning The Prince chats to a young hockey player before they embark on a game A hockey game with youngsters was part of a day of engagements for Prince Harry, focusing on youth mentoring and sport He also met recipients of The Diana Award, including Jamie McIntosh, 17, from Edinburgh, who received the award for writing a book to help teenagers deal with grief after the death of his mother, Monica, to breast cancer. He told the prince he decided to write the book after looking for help and finding nothing aimed at helping teenagers through loss. Harry praised him for trying to help others deal with grief. The royal, dressed in a blue open-necked shirt with rolled-up sleeves and navy trousers, tried his hand at mini tennis Harry tries out mini tennis with a young sports fan, who uses the services of Streetsports which offers free weekly athletic activities The popular prince high fives young children who are involved with the Streetsport initiative An enthusiastic young athlete gets passionate during a game of street hockey with Prince Harry Game on Harry! The sporty royal looked determined to put in a good performance in a game of street hockey He said: 'That's what's it all about, it's trying to stop other kids in your position having to go through what you had to go through and now your book is going to help everyone around you. 'If anybody around me ever has any grief, especially close family, you feel as though you can help because you've got the experience and that's what mentoring is all about.' Harry later worked up a light sweat when he paid a visit to a youth sports initiative at Robert Gordon University (RGU). The Streetsport scheme sees volunteers take free weekly sports and art sessions into communities within Aberdeen as a means of tackling anti-social behaviour. Volunteer Nordean Elouissi plays panna knockout football with Prince Harry Getting competitive: Harry tries to swoop in but his opponent Nordean Elouissi manages to gain control of the ball Prince Harry shows off his tennis skills as he visits Streetsport at Robert Gordon University Harry meets young people at Streetsport, an initiative of the Denis Law Legacy Trust which delivers sport and creative activities with the aim of reducing youth crime and anti-social behaviour Jolly hockey sticks: The fun-loving royal gears up for a game as he visits an initiative to combat anti-social behaviour The prince spent over an hour learning about the 10-year-old project - run in partnership with Sported and the Denis Law Legacy Trust - and could not resist having a go at some of the sports on offer. The royal, dressed in a blue open-necked shirt with rolled-up sleeves and navy trousers, tried his hand at mini tennis, street hockey and a form of one-on-one football known as Panna KO. His presence appeared popular with the schoolchildren gathered for the event, who cheered and high-fived the prince at the end of his visit. Sporty youngsters gesture to the camera as they line up for an official photo with Prince Harry in Aberdeen Prince Harry looked like he was imitating Usain Bolt's famous lightening bolt pose as he chatted with youngsters A serious-looking Prince Harry eyes up the ball as he focuses his attention on a game of hockey Never a dull moment! A game of hockey was a fun addition to Prince Harry's day of royal engagements Everyone was eager to get a high five from the royal visitor in Aberdeen Harry was also presented with a signed Denis Law Scotland football shirt upon his departure. His football opponent, volunteer Nordean Elouissi, said afterwards: 'It was good fun, he's a good sport.' RGU principal Ferdinand Von Prondzynski said: 'It's a really good day for the university but also for Aberdeen, because this is about creating a sense of community, particularly in less advantaged communities.' The royal flashes his trademark cheeky grin as he's introduced to young athletes at Streetsport at Robert Gordon University The royal was his usual high-spirited self as he arrived at the academy to experience a Diana Award Mentoring training day Pupils at the Mackie Academy crowded around the windows to get a glimpse of the royal visitor Phones at the ready! Staff from Mackie Academy in Stonehaven were eager to snap a photo of the royal visitor Harry did his best to greet as many young royal fans as he could manage Prince Harry's final engagement in Aberdeen was a visit to Transition Extreme Sports. He watched pupils from Walker Road Primary School in Torry showing off their skills on the high ropes, rock climbing walls and skatepark in the centre near Aberdeen beach. Harry praised the centre and its supporters for their 'interest and care' in helping youngsters transform their lives. He said: 'It shows that actually if you do put a little bit of effort in to them at a young age, that they will follow the right paths. Prince Harry watched pupils from Walker Road Primary School in Torry showing off their skills on rock climbing walls at Transition Extreme Sports centre near Aberdeen beach Prince Harry chats to young people at Transition Extreme Sports in Aberdeen as they prepare to show off their skills on the climbing wall 'You've got to give them opportunities, that's what it's all about.' Harry stepped in to help out one of the pupils himself, untangling her climbing harness. Katie Nagamura, 11, said: "He just asked if I needed a hand so I said yes. It was a honour to meet him. It's not every day you get to meet a prince." Fifth in line to the throne Harry, who celebrated his 32nd birthday last week, was said to be delighted to be visiting the city and is looking forward to the day. The former soldier returned to the UK after spending the summer in southern Africa, where he was helping with a project to transfer 500 tranquillised elephants hundreds of miles to save them from poachers. The popular prince leans in to shake hands with an eager crowd of pupils from Mackie Academy Prince Harry chats to Jamie Macintosh (left) and Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive of the Diana Awards Prince Harry gestures with his hands as he engages in an animated chat with pupils outside the Mackie Academy in Stonehaven Eager teenagers had their phones at the ready to snap a photo of the royal guest Today's engagement is well timed for Harry who spent the weekend at the Queen's Balmoral estate, celebrating his 32nd birthday. The royal was joined by his cousin Princess Eugenie and her boyfriend Jack Brooksbank and other members of the royal family for a shooting party. Harry, fifth in line to the throne, is also busy preparing for a high-profile foreign tour in the autumn when he heads to the Caribbean on behalf of his grandmother the Queen. Prince Harry has his picture taken alongside Tessy Ojo (third from the left), Chief Executive of the Diana Awards as well as staff and pupils from Mackie Academy Harry greets pupils before meeting with 60 young Scots who are being trained to become youth mentors in their schools Better than lessons: Eager pupils extend their hands to the royal visitor on an exciting morning at Mackie Academy in Aberdeen Prince Harry listens to a discussion on the value of mentoring, during a MY Mentor reflection activity at Mackie Academy The island-hopping trip will take him to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. He is also said to be looking to buy his first home - in Norfolk, close to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their family. The prince, who left the Army last year after 10 years as an officer, has spoken in the past of how he found it difficult to find the right job after leaving the forces, as he attempts to settle on his future career. He admitted most jobs he looked at 'were not going to work' alongside royal duties and others were 'not even on the table'. Harry has stepped up his work supporting the fight against HIV in recent months, speaking at an international conference in South Africa to warn against the threat of complacency. She may have recently called time on her long-term relationship but Princess Beatrice certainly isn't at home moping. The party-loving Princess has been using London Fashion Week's festivities as the perfect time to let her hair down. The 28-year-old, who has a serious passion for fashion, joined the style set at the star-studded LOVE magazine and Marc Jacobs party at Loulou's in London on Monday night. Newly single Princess Beatrice, 28, looked chic in a figure-hugging dress as she joined her royal relatives at the star-studded LOVE magazine party Showing off her trim figure in a grey pleated dress, Beatrice worked the room and chatted to stars and pals including Cara Delevingne, Amber Heard and Bella Hadid. She also rubbed shoulders with royal family members, including Lady Kitty Spencer and Lady Amelia Windsor. Beatrice also looked to be in great spirits as she joked around with Saloni presentation with friend Marissa Montgomery, a TV presenter and founder of the fashion brand Rotten Roach, earlier in the day. The pair were joined by stylist and girl-about-town Olivia Buckingham. Showing off her trim figure in a grey pleated dress, Beatrice worked the room and chatted to stars and pals including Cara Delevingne, Amber Heard and Bella Hadid She also rubbed shoulders with royal family members, including Lady Kitty Spencer, left, and Lady Amelia Windsor, right Earlier in the day, Princess Beatrice showed how to nail trans-seasonal dressing in a nautical inspired ensemble at London Fashion Week Beatrice was showing no sign of her recent heartache as she joked around with friends. She split from her long-term boyfriend Dave Clarke last month after 10 years together Despite recently splitting from her long-term boyfriend Dave Clarke, Beatrice was showing no sign of recent heartache, as she waved her arms about in a cheering motion while laughing with her friends. However, she does appear to have taken the age-old step of getting a new post break-up hairdo. The royal's distinctive auburn locks were looking noticably lighter, appearing almost blonde as her hair tumbled around her shoulders. Princess Beatrice of York with TV presenter and designer Marissa Montgomery and stylist Olivia Buckingham Beatrice's auburn locks were looking noticably lighter, perhaps after opting for a post break-up hairdo She's also following the tried-and-tested formula of keeping busy, attending Dave Gardner's 40th birthday at Mayfair's LouLou's this weekend with her mother Sarah Ferguson. The previous weekend the social butterfly was spotted taking in the U.S. Open men's final in New York. After 10 years together, Beatrice called time on her relationship with Dave Clark, The Mail On Sunday reported last month. The couple reportedly quietly called time on their romance a month ago after the failure of long and exasperated 'make or break' talks centred on whether or not they should get married A source said: 'After ten years together, Beatrice and Dave had to wonder why they were not married. Clarence House today confirmed that the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will head back to the Middle East for an official royal visit this November. Prince Charles, who has been a frequent visitor to the region, and Camilla will this time tour the UAE, Oman and Bahrain. Choosing to visit the latter is likely to cause some controversy; Bahrain's government has been accused by campaigning groups of human rights abuses since pro-democracy protesters were violently suppressed during the Arab Spring of 2011. Scroll down for video Autumn warmth! Charles and Camilla are heading back to the Middle East, pictured above during their last visit to the Middle East in 2013, when they spent time in Oman In a statement released this afternoon, Clarence House said: 'On behalf of the British Government, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will undertake official visits to the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates in November 2016. 'The tour will help to strengthen the United Kingdom's warm bilateral relations with key partners in the region.' Camilla (pictured with Syrian refugees near the country's border in 2013) and Charles will also visit Bahrain, which was criticised earlier this year for human rights Charles enjoyed learning about local traditions with Omanis during their last visit to the region, which took the couple to Jordan, Qatar, Saudia Arabia and Oman The couple have taken several trips to the Middle East in recent years; with Charles notching up four visits to the UAE in the last ten years. The British Government's relationship with Bahrain has faced frequent criticism, including in a report by the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee published in April. MPs said there was 'plainly a perception' that the issue of human rights had been downgraded in the Government's dealings with countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain. With two members-only fashion stores to her name and a knack of making women across the globe want to dress like her, Princess Deena of Saudi Arabia certainly has impressive couture credentials. So the news that the super glamorous working mother-of-three is to take the helm at the Middle East's first Vogue magazine as editor-in-chief hardly came as a surprise. Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, 41, is currently gathering a team of fashion's biggest movers and shakers in the region as she prepares to take the editorial helm next month on a publication that she's calling a 'love letter to Arabia.' Scroll down for video Tour de force: Princess Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, 41, married into the Saudi royal family when she wed Prince Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud in 1998. This autumn, she'll take the helm of Vogue Arabia, the first Middle Eastern edition of the fashion bible Her own style is edgy, so how will it translate to a much more conservative audience FROW-go! Deena (second from left) is a regular on the front row, seen here with CR magazine editor-in-chief Carine Restoin-Roitfeld (second from right) Dividing her time between New York and Riyadh, the mother-of-three says that she'll take a 'common sense' approach to publishing a magazine that pushes the boundaries of daring in the Middle East Princess Deena, as she's known, divides her time between New York and her native Riyadh, and is described as the new cross-cultural ambassadress of East-meets-West style. Her fairytale ascension began when she married into the Saudi Royal Family when she wed Sultan bin Fahad bin Nasser in 1998. A chance meeting saw her wooed by the super-rich prince and two years of dating followed before they were wed. Her bridal gown was, of course, a couture creation; designed by Azzedine AlaIa. She does observe the strict sartorial codes of Saudi when she's in the strict conservative country, telling the Telegraph she likes: 'suitable clothing worn in a super-stylish way.' A-list friends: Alicia Keys and Deena cosy up at the Autumn Winter Tom Ford cocktail party last month The edition will be based in Dubai, with a digital version of Vogue Arabia launching in autumn and then a print edition next spring Modesty abounds: While Deena doesn't wear traditional Arabic dress outside of her home country, she does wear 'suitable clothing' Brought up in the Saudi capital, Deena's eye was caught by Western fashion houses early on, as she devoured fashion bibles such as Vogue and Tatler, alongside television brands such as MTV. Her own retail brand, D'NA, has seen her champion young London designers, stocking Erdem, Roksanda Ilincic, Mary Katrantzou, and Osman, providing a quiet education to fledging talents. Jet-setting between New York and Riyadh sees Deena (far left) inhabiting two different worlds The fashionista has been praised for supporting young designers via her D'NA brand and is currently building an impressive team of journalists to publish Vogue Arabia Brought up on a diet of western fashion magazines, Princess Deena has established herself as a leading voice thanks to her two members-only couture stores D'NA The biggest question over Princess Deena's appointment is how she'll translate Vogue's often daring editorial to a much more chaste audience. She says 'common sense' will dictate how the magazine operates, saying: 'The Arab world has 250 million women. There are certain things that unify the Arab experience and there are differences throughout the region but I know those, and there are certain parameters that make sense culturally. Nudity is offensive as is religious symbolism. Its common sense really.' As models are taking to the catwalk for London Fashion Week, women are being asked to share photos of their clothing labels on social media. The Women's Equality Party (WEP) are hoping to show the wild variation in women's clothing sizes and want to challenge what they claim is the fashion industry's skewed approach to body image. According to the WEP, one in five women in the UK cut the label out of their clothes - with 70 per cent of these stating they do so out of shame and embarrassment at their size. Designer Isatu Harrison, pictured above, from fashion brand Izelia shared her label on Instagram for the Women's Equality Party (WEP) They say they want to 'overturn the trend of label shame' and tell women: 'Don't hide your label - share it!' By joining the campaign, the WEP says that you will be sending a clear message to the fashion industry that it is time that it reflected the diversity of British women. Designer Isatu Harrison from fashion brand Izelia shared her label on Instagram for the WEP and asked other women to join in so that #NoSizeFitsAll can get the movement going by overturning the trend of label shame. Women on social media are sharing their dress sizes during London Fashion week and are joining together with the WEP to make a change. They also use the hashtag to highlight the noticeable difference in women's dress sizes depending on the clothing brand. They can, for example, be a small in one shop and a large in another. According to the WEP, one-in-five women in the UK cut the label out of their clothes - with 70% stating they do so out of shame and embarrassment at their size Women engaging with the campaign have also pointed out that their size varies widley across different brands and types of clothes Twitter user Salima said: 'Today I'm wearing sizes 12, 14 and 16 - embodying the principle of #NoSizeFitsAll'. The WEP is a politcal party co-founded by Sandi Toksvig and author Catherine Meyer last year and their aim is to fight inequality in all areas of life. They say of their campaign: ' The softly, softly approach has been tried for years and is not working. The body positive campaign has been garnering plenty of support on social media 'Instead of waiting for industry-led change, it is about taking the initiative. 'The time has come to demand change.' Linguists and cryptographers are familiar with the 600 year old Voynich manuscript, a book most famous because no one knows how to read it. Originally belonging to Italian Jesuits, it was discovered in 1912 by Polish antique bookseller, Wilfrid Voynich, and today is housed at Yale Universitys Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The books 250 vellum pages (from the French veau and referring to a parchment made from calf skin) are written in a language consisting of 20-25 unique characters placed in an indecipherable order and have never been seen in any other known text. It is illustrated with vividly colored images of medicinal herbs, plants, Zodiac symbols and naked women. Carbon dating has shown that the book dates back to the 15th century, and researchers believe it was written in Central Europe. In February 2014, LiveScience reported that Stephen Bax, a professor of applied linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire in England, had deciphered 10 words and 14 characters of the script and can read a handful of items in the medieval text, such as the words for coriander, hellebore and juniper next to drawings of the plants. Long-time Voynich Manuscript researcher and uber-skeptic Rene Zandbergen has spent years analyzing the writings from many angles, and today is one of the best-known authorities on the book. In his blog, Voynich.nu, he says he believes the manuscript originated North or South of the Alps and is the work of one brain. He also suggests it could have been created by someone who wanted to attract clients to his medications. Or, it could be a masterpiece belonging to one of the secret societies of the time. No one knows. Yale University reportedly receives thousands of messages every month from people claiming to have cracked the code through studying images of the manuscript available online, but none have proved to be legitimate. A 2013 study published in the journal, PLOS ONE, claimed that Voynichese statistically adhered to linguistic rules. Although the study authors couldnt decode any words, they could at least tell that the pattern of letters followed Zipfs Law the most common word in a language will appear about twice as often as the second most common word and three times as much as the third most common word, etc. 898 Copies of the Voynich Manuscript to be Printed Now, The Guardian reports, a publisher called Siloe based in Burgos, Spain, will produce 898 copies of the Voynich manuscript, replicating every detail down to the pages stains and tears. The process will take 18 months to make the first facsimiles and the printed pages will be aged and every stain, hole and sewn-up tear in the parchment reproduced. The publisher reportedly plans to sell each of the facsimiles for about $7,900 to $9,000 (7,000 to 8,000 Euros). Described by some skeptics as an ancient hoax, others who love languages and unraveling puzzles, and have the money, will no doubt rush to get their hands on a copy once Siloe makes them available. And then spend the rest of their life trying to make sense of it. Read the full report: Tiny Spanish publisher wins rights to Voynich manuscript the book no one can read. Advertisement Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander enjoyed one of the most formal days in the Dutch royal calendar this afternoon as they arrived in The Hague for the official state opening of parliament. The Dutch royals donned their finery for the political address, with Queen Maxima opting for an extravagant gold floor-length A-line skirt with a cobalt blue silk blouse and her favourite wide-brimmed hat. A pair of dazzling sapphire drop earrings, navy peep-toe platforms and a ceremonial blue and yellow sash finished the look for a day that is rich in pageantry and tradition. Scroll down for video A day rich in pomp and ceremony: Dutch royals King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima wave at well-wishers from the Knight's Hall in The Hague after the official state opening of parliament Prinsjesdag (Princes Day), held every year on the third Tuesday in September marks the opening of parliament and sees the Dutch monarch address politicians and dignitaries. The couple arrived looking resplendent in a red and gold carriage The hat is back: Queen Maxima wore one of her favourite hats, with blue and gold ceremonial pins in it teamed with an A-line floor-length dress. The royal looked thoughtful as she listened to King Willem-Alexander speak about the year ahead for Holland Prinsjesdag (Princes Day) saw the couple looking at their most regal as they arrived in a shining red and gold carriage at the historic Hall of Knights. Amid tight security, King and Queen Maxima were driven in an ornate, horse-drawn carriage to parliament from a royal palace in the heart of The Hague, passing through streets lined with cheering crowds. The traditional opening of the Dutch parliamentary year takes place every year on the third Tuesday of September and Maxima and Willem-Alexander's arrival was greeted by legions of well-wishers. A footman helps King Willem-Alexander disembark the royal carriage at Knight's Hall The couple arrive for one of the most formal days in the Dutch calendar The couple walk down the red carpet on the historic cobbled square at Knight's Hall, as Dutch guards look on The carriage that is normally used to bring the King and Queen to Prince's Day, passed down from Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, is currently undergoing a four-year maintenance programme, although its replacement vehicle looked just as lavish. While Maxima looked on, Willem-Alexander told politicians and dignitaries that better days were ahead for the Netherlands. He said: 'Over the past few years the Netherlands has got back on firmer ground,' the monarch said. 'The financial and economic crisis is behind us.' A cheery salute! Maxima offers a wave to the gathered crowd, who salute her back All rise! The audience take part in the waving as the King and Queen take their seats Flowers from Amsterdam? Maxima stares into the distance as Willem-Alexander starts his address The fact we have a body clock that determines when we feel sleepy or alert is well known and most people, if pushed, would guess it's in our brain. But did you know you also have a 'clock' in your spine? In fact, scientists have discovered clocks (or circadian rhythms) in other organs, from the liver to skin. 'Our body clocks regulate almost every aspect of health and wellness,' says Professor Satchidananda Panda of the Salk Institute in California and one of the world's leading experts in chronobiology the study of body clocks. Understanding how our many body clocks work could, for example, determine the best time to take certain medication. So what are the clocks, and what effect do they have? Scroll down for video The body clock in our brain is the master clock that regulates, among other things, when we wake up and when we fall asleep BRAIN CLOCK UPSET BY WEEKEND LIE-INS The body clock in our brain is the master clock that regulates, among other things, when we wake up and when we fall asleep. This 'clock' is a cluster of about 50,000 nerve cells in the hypothalamus, an area roughly the size of a cherry behind the eyes. Known as the suprachiasmatic nuclei, or SCN, this central clock is set by daylight hitting the back of the eye in the morning. This signals to the SCN when to release hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which speed up the body and promote wakefulness, and melatonin, which slows it down ready for sleep. The SCN governs clocks in other organs, telling them when to turn on key activities. 'These clocks stop processes such as the release of hormones, the processing of food and the release of energy in the blood happening at the same time and make sure they take place in the right order,' says Russell Foster, a professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford University. Our body clocks are disrupted by erratic sleep habits and eating at random times of the day and night. 'Paying attention to when and how much we sleep or when we eat can maintain a healthy clock and prevent diseases such as diabetes and obesity,' says Professor Panda. In terms of our wake/sleep cycle, that's why it's important to get up and go to bed at the same time and explains why a lie-in on the weekend may affect the quality of your sleep and freshness on a Monday. Similarly, turning on the bathroom or bedroom lights when you wake up in the night can disrupt healthy sleep. WOMEN PRIMED FOR SEX AT 10PM Even our libido is subject to the forces of an internal clock. Overnight, the levels of testosterone, the main sex hormone that governs sex drive in men, rise. 'When a man wakes up his levels of testosterone are about 25 per cent higher than later in the day,' says Ashley Grossman, a professor of endocrinology at Oxford University. Anthropologists believe this surge is timed to co-ordinate with sunrise. Testosterone would have driven our caveman ancestors to get up, catch food and fight off attackers. Even our libido is subject to the forces of an internal clock. Overnight, the levels of testosterone, the main sex hormone that governs sex drive in men, rise Testosterone is produced in response to a pulse in the pituitary gland in the brain. 'However, it stays in the blood a fairly long time, so after the high levels in the morning, there is not much variation in levels during the day,' says Professor Grossman. By contrast, woman's sex hormones such as oestrogen are at their lowest when they wake up and rise gradually through the day. By 10pm, levels of testosterone in men are at their lowest while a woman's sex hormones are peaking, but because men have much higher levels than women to begin with, their levels are now matched enough for this to be the time of day when most couples have sex. 'Even though male testosterone may have dipped, their levels are running as high as a woman's, so men are still responsive,' says Gabrielle Downey, a consultant gynaecologist at Sandwell and West Brimingham Hospitals NHS Trust and BMI Healthcare. Cells in the discs between the vertebrae have their own clocks and a new study published last month found that these under instruction from the SCN make a protein called cryptochrome while we sleep BACK PAIN TURNS OFF AT NIGHT If you suffer with a bad back and find that it is worse in the mornings, it could be due to the 'clock' in the spine. Cells in the discs between the vertebrae have their own clocks and a new study published last month found that these under instruction from the SCN make a protein called cryptochrome while we sleep. This protein appears to dampen down inflammation in the discs. But it wears off as morning approaches, which is why stiffness and pain return, according to the study published in the journal Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. So regularly getting a good night's sleep may help ease back pain, says Dr Qing-Jun Meng, a chronobiology expert at Manchester University. 'In future, it might also have implications for when we take pain relief medication.' SKIN LOOKS BEST IN THE MORNING There's a reason our skin has more of a natural glow in the morning. Professor Panda has found there is a strong circadian rhythm in skin and hair. 'If you take mice and in the morning give them radiation therapy, they lose 85 per cent of their hair,' he says. 'If you give the same radiation in the evening, they keep 85 per cent of their hair because the hair and skin repair mechanism is much stronger in the evening.' Similar timings appear to happen in humans. During deep sleep, the growth hormone DHEA produced by the adrenal glands above the kidneys triggers skin cells to start replicating themselves. Professor Panda says that in the future, it might mean cancer patients could be given radiation in the evening so they suffer less skin damage. EATING LATE MAKES YOU FAT When you go to bed, your digestive system sleeps too, thanks to a mixture of messages from SCN and other factors, such as the lack of gastric acid because no food is entering the body. With no food coming in, the liver switches from burning sugar for energy to burning the fats it has stored during the day. When you go to bed, your digestive system sleeps too, thanks to a mixture of messages But if this cycle is disrupted by eating close to bedtime, reawakening the digestive system, the liver is forced to a go back to storing fat instead of burning it, which can lead to weight gain. This means midnight snacking may be even worse than previously suspected, according to Professor Panda. Indeed, avoiding all food between 7pm and 6am helps people lose almost a pound a fortnight, according to 2013 research at Brigham Young University in Utah. Professor Panda adds: 'So if you don't want to gain weight, it's best not to eat late at night and if possible try and go for 12 hours without eating overnight to allow the liver to do its job.' VIRUS ATTACK IN THE EVENING Our immune system also runs to a timer, and new research has found it may be easier to catch viruses at the start of the day than the end. When researchers infected mice with a herpes virus at different times of the day for a study last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the virus multiplied ten times as quickly in animals given it at sunrise compared with those infected later in the day. 'Since our cells are miniature factories, making things that the virus must have to copy itself, the virus is less likely to succeed when the cells' production lines are shut down,' says Professor Akhilesh Reddy, a neuroscientist at the department of clinical neuroscience at Cambridge University. 'Just before dusk the cell is winding down. If a virus comes along then, it will not have a favourable environment to copy itself. But if the viruses hit the cells in the morning, they have everything they need.' This may mean it's most useful to take anti-viral medicines in the morning, though more research is needed. EYES HATE BRIGHT LIGHT AT NIGHT Light passing through the eye is one of the main ways the body sets the time for the day. But as well as sending messages to the body clock of the brain, the eyes have their own internal body timings. When it is daylight, we use more of the photoreceptors at the back of eyes that allow us to see colour in bright light. At night, we make more use of different receptors that help us see in lower light, but do not allow colour vision. While electricity extends the hours of light, the eye has evolved to expect darkness when the sun goes down. So in the evenings, our eyes don't respond as well to light as they do during the day, says Stuart Peirson, an associate professor of neuroscience at Oxford University. In particular the switch between the different receptors may make it harder to see contrasts between light and dark at night during activities such as driving, so it's wise to allow your eyes to adjust. This switch between the different types of photoceptors is driven by a clock found in the retina. Levels of the stress hormone adrenaline, which is produced by the adrenal glands and keeps the airways open, peak mid-afternoon, making breathing easier RISK OF ASTHMA IN EARLY HOURS Levels of the stress hormone adrenaline, which is produced by the adrenal glands and keeps the airways open, peak mid-afternoon, making breathing easier. The levels drop during the night to allow us to sleep but this makes the airways constrict, which is why asthma attacks are more common at night. This is compounded by the fact the hormone cortisol, also released by the adrenal glands, peaks in the early morning, and drops during the night to allow us to sleep. Cortisol dampens the immune response and inflammation so the drop in levels also makes asthma attacks more likely in the night. Research by the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver found asthma symptoms were worse between 10pm and 7am, peaking between 2am and 4am. 'Allergies such as asthma are an immune response and our immune systems may have evolved to work harder when in the past we were hunkering down with others who may have had infections and diseases,' says Professor Foster. He suggests it may help asthma patients to take medication when it is needed most: 'last thing at night'. MORNINGS BAD FOR HEART ATTACKS When we sleep, our heart beats at its slowest from 2am to 4am ten to 30 beats a minute lower than our average daytime rate because we do not need as much blood circulating. But before we stir, the SCN sends signals to the adrenal glands to raise levels of waking-up hormones, such as cortisol, and your heart rate starts to rise. This dawn kick-start means the morning is also the most likely time for heart attacks because small clots may have formed during the night and when blood pressure rises in the morning, these may then move. 'Studies have shown there is a 49 per cent greater chance of having a stroke or heart attack at this time of the day,' says Professor Foster. In the evening, the SCN will kick in again, dropping cortisol levels and preparing the body for sleep. Professor Panda has developed an app to help you understand your body clock rhythms: mycircadian clock.org The Food and Drug Administration, which also oversees the safety and efficacy of cleaning products in the U.S., has banned the use of 19 common active ingredients in antibacterial soaps Whether it's a splodge of hand gel after a commute or a squirt of cleaning spray on kitchen counters after cooking, chances are you are one of the millions who uses some form of antibacterial product. They have become a handbag and household staple sales of germ-killing cleaners hit an estimated 239 million in 2013, according to Mintel. But do they really help protect us from getting ill and spreading germs? And could they actually be bad for us? These are questions raised by the decision earlier this month by U.S. authorities to ban certain chemicals used in the soaps, with some British experts saying the same should happen here. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which also oversees the safety and efficacy of cleaning products in the U.S., has banned the use of 19 common active ingredients in antibacterial soaps. This includes bar soaps, liquid soaps and body washes (products that don't use the ingredients aren't banned, nor are hand gels the FDA has deferred a review of three other chemicals, which may affect hand gels). The FDA says there's no scientific evidence these chemicals are better than plain soap and water at killing germs, and manufacturers had not demonstrated their safety for long-term use. It expressed concern that some of the chemicals may disrupt hormone levels. Furthermore, it cited research suggesting these could also be making bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Most people would associate antibiotic resistance with over-prescribing by doctors, but emerging evidence suggests antibacterials are also a risk. This was confirmed by a study this month by the University of Oregon. Scientists analysed dust samples and found those that contained high levels of anti-microbial chemicals also contained genes linked to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In particular, they found triclosan (now banned by the FDA) affected a gene in the bacteria that helps make it resistant to several antibiotics, reported the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Triclosan is a powerful antibacterial used in domestic products that can also have mild anti-inflammatory effects. It's used in toothpastes to reduce gum inflammation, for example. The problem is the way some chemicals such as triclosan kill off bacteria is very similar to the way antibiotics do. The FDA says there's no scientific evidence these chemicals are better than plain soap and water at killing germs, and manufacturers had not demonstrated their safety for long-term use Triclosan, for instance, targets a specific enzyme that's involved in bacteria's metabolism, helping keep a number of bacteria alive. Many antibiotics also work by targeting this enzyme; these include isoniazid, used to treat TB. So as the bacteria learn to resist the antibacterial chemical, they become resistant to antibiotics that work in a similar way. This has raised concerns that widespread use of triclosan (it's also used in kitchenware, furniture and toys) could lead to growing resistance in bacteria. Mark Webber, a senior research fellow at the University of Birmingham who researches anti-microbial action, says his work shows that 'if we expose bugs to triclosan in a lab, they can become resistant to it, but worryingly also to some antibiotics'. Triclosan has also been identified as an 'endocrine disruptor' meaning it interferes with hormone levels in more than 200 animal studies, and linked to a raised risk of cancers such as breast or thyroid. In a U.S. study in 2014, mice exposed to triclosan for six months had liver damage and were prone to liver tumours, according to the journal PNAS. The researchers said it caused this damage via mechanisms that are also relevant in humans, and that increasingly broad use presents a 'very real risk' of liver toxicity, particularly when combined with other compounds with similar action. To use anti-microbial soap effectively you have to scrub your hands for one minute for the chemicals to kill the organisms Jean-Yves Maillard, professor of pharmaceutical microbiology 'The structure of triclosan is similar to chemicals called PCBs, which were banned in the Seventies for being bioaccumulative (they build up in the body over time) and toxic to humans. It beats me why it is still allowed to be used widely,' says Professor Philippa Darbre, an adviser on the EC committee on health and environmental risks and lecturer in oncology at the University of Reading. Another chemical, triclocarban (also now banned by the FDA), which works similarly to triclosan, was shown in 2008 to raise levels of testosterone in male animals. More recently it was shown to raise testosterone production by 130 per cent. This could harm the reproductive system and promote breast and prostate cancers. It's important to stress no human studies have proven a direct link, and on the whole these ingredients are safe for day-to-day use the issue is what happens with prolonged exposure. The lack of data means no one knows. We also don't know if the data from animal and lab studies applies to humans, too. But a more immediate question is whether antibacterial products or soaps at least stop disease. The FDA suggests ingredients used in many have not been shown to do so. Most everyday illnesses colds, stomach bugs, sore throats are caused by viruses, not bacteria, so antibacterial products won't protect against them (just as antibiotics wouldn't, either). But what about tackling bacteria? Last year, a Korean study showed that for handwashing, using antibacterial soap does not kill more bacteria than plain soap, reported the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Jean-Yves Maillard, a professor of pharmaceutical microbiology at Cardiff University, suggests this may be because people don't scrub for long enough. 'To use anti-microbial soap effectively you have to scrub your hands for one minute for the chemicals to kill the organisms,' he says, adding that most people wash for only ten seconds. 'With standard handwashing, it is the mechanical removal that cleans hands straight away.' It is the same with antibacterial gels, he says. Most people rub these in for five seconds, but the active chemicals need to be on the skin for 30 seconds to kill the bacteria. It's a more complicated story with alcohol-based sanitisers, which kill germs by attacking their outer membrane. These are less of a risk for antibacterial resistance because they kill bacteria in a different way from antibiotics. To be effective they need to contain a high concentration of alcohol, and this can make hands dry and exacerbate skin problems. Manufacturers often reduce the alcohol content to make the product evaporate quickly, but Professor Maillard says fast evaporation means it's less effective. Given the FDA action, is it time to ban antibacterial ingredients in Britain, too? In fact, the chemicals used in hygiene products are regulated by two different EU bodies. One has already decided to ban triclosan and triclocarban in products such as washing powders and cleaning sprays though their use is being phased out, not stopped overnight. With cosmetics (which under EU definition includes hand soap), triclosan and triclocarban are allowed in set amounts, but some UK experts believe that there should be a wider ban on antibacterial ingredients generally. Nigel Brown, emeritus professor of molecular microbiology at Edinburgh University, says: 'I am alarmed by the rise in resistance from widespread use of these products. 'There is a problem with using things that are 'antibacterial' for everything when they should be reserved for treating diseases in hospital.' He says if he had to use an antibacterial product, he would 'make sure it's an alcohol-based one and does not contain triclosan'. Even without a ban, there is little need to have antibacterial products, says Mark Webber: 'Their use is nonsensical. Soap and water is fine. If we need to wipe surfaces at home we use bleach, which kills bacteria and doesn't cause resistance.' A spokesperson for the UK Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) says: 'In respect of the 19 chemicals included in the FDA announcement, the majority are banned under the EU Cosmetic Products Regulation. The others must be safe to use otherwise they would be banned.' Dr Chris Flower, director-general of the CTPA, adds: 'The industry and regulators are aware of concerns regarding possible endocrine effects and if such a risk was present from cosmetic products, action would have been taken to deal with it.' Junior doctors are being questioned by their union to see if they still want to go ahead with the latest controversial strikes, leaked emails reveal. A memo sent to thousands of doctors highlight fears many no longer back the industrial action and are not willing to take part. In emails obtained by The Telegraph, suggest the week-long strikes - planned every month until Christmas - may be dropped unless members show their support. The British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors committee has now began surveying medics to determine if they are backing the proposed industrial action. Scroll down for video Junior doctors are being questioned by their union to see if they still want to go ahead with the controversial strikes, leaked emails obtained by The Telegraph reveal It comes as a hearing brought by campaign group Justice for Health started its second day in High Court. One email sent to 9,000 junior doctors in the South Thames area, from member Dr Kitty Mohan, read: 'Since the most recent programme of industrial action was announced last month, many have written to us individually, or informed either the BMA centrally, your hospital junior doc reps, or your trainee group that your views may have changed. 'If you do not respond, we will have no choice but to presume you are not willing to take part in further [industrial action] and wish the dispute to end,' documents seen by the newspaper revealed. Other regional committees are believed to have started questioning junior doctors to assess the desire to strike. But the email from Dr Mohan should not be taken as a signal that the BMA 'trying to back out of' industrial action, The Telegraph reported. The first in the wave of new strikes - planned by the British Medical Association - was called off earlier this month after fears of patient safety. But the junior doctors committee said they would presume not responding to the email showed an unwillingness to take part in further industrial action Ellen McCourt, the chairwoman of the junior doctors committee at the BMA, previously said: 'We have to listen to our colleagues when they tell us that they need more time to keep patients safe. 'The BMA is therefore suspending the industrial action planned for the week of 12 September. The remaining programme of industrial action stays in place.' But she remained adamant the rest of the planned strike action - due to resume in October - will go ahead if Mr Hunt refuses to make concessions. Health leaders have already warned junior doctors who strike for more than two weeks could face competency assessments and be red-flagged by the General Medical Council. If you do not respond, we will have no choice but to presume you are not willing to take part in further [industrial action] and wish the dispute to end. Dr Kitty Mohan, member of the junior doctors committee Strikes could lead to a 'loss of training experience', Health Education England (HEE) say. The leaked emails come after junior doctors took their fight to the High Court yesterday in a bid to block the Government's decision to introduce a controversial new contract. Campaign group Justice for Health accused Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt of seeking to impose 'unsafe and unsustainable' terms and conditions as part of his plans for seven-day NHS services in England. In a two-day hearing in London, lawyers for the doctors say that Mr Hunt has not only acted unlawfully but 'misled Parliament'. The medics contend his decision to impose the contract lacks a sound or rational foundation. But Mr Hunt hit back at the accusations on Monday night, saying the High Court challenge should be dismissed. The dispute over the contracts has already led to thousands of operations and appointments being cancelled since strikes started in January. The campaign group raised more than 150,000 through crowdfunding to bring their case to High Court Until now, the longest strike has only last two days. But next month, when the new contract is due to be introduced, thousands of junior doctors are planning the first five-day walk-out. But the medics are arguing although Mr Hunt is entitled to 'recommend' a new contract, he is attempting to go significantly further even though he has no power to decide the terms and conditions under which the NHS and other bodies should employ junior doctors. The group's founding members are all junior doctors - Dr Nadia Masood, Dr Ben White, Dr Fran Silman, Dr Amar Mashru and Dr Marie-Estella McVeigh. They raised 151,625 from 5,113 donations from a crowdfunding page to bring a High Court judicial review. Their solicitor Saimo Chahal, from law firm Bindmans, described them as 'incredibly brave' in seeking to hold Mr Hunt to account. Ms Chahal said: 'They are fighting not about conditions of employment but about issues which lie at the heart and soul of the NHS.' Dr Silman said: 'We have spent the last year trying to explain to Jeremy Hunt why the contract is flawed, and why it is irrational to continue with imposition, given the current staffing and funding crisis in the NHS. 'Mr Hunt has ignored doctors' concerns, and so we are forced to turn to the courts.' Their dispute with the Government led to the first full walkout strikes of their kind in British history. Junior doctors rejected the latest contract offer put to a referendum by the British Medical Association (BMA) in June. The Health Secretary decided to impose the contract, leaving junior doctors complaining that their concerns had been ignored. Mr Hunt told Parliament that the NHS needed certainty, including in light of the UK's decision to leave the EU. Responding to the latest development on Monday, Barrister Clive Sheldon QC, who led Mr Hunt's legal team, told Mr Justice Green in a written statement: 'The claim is wholly without substance.' He said Mr Hunt had felt that a new contract should be introduced by the NHS. Wearing their identical red dresses, identical twins Rabia and Rukia even have matching beauty spots. But tragically for these twins, their closeness is also putting their lives in danger. The sisters were born joined at the head at a clinic in Pabna, Bangladesh, in July. Parents Taslima Khatun Uno and Mohammed Rafiqul Islam didn't learn that the twins were conjoined until after the birth. They were delivered by Caesarean and spent two weeks in intensive care as doctors checked they were otherwise healthy. Now the family face an agonising wait to see if surgeons can operate to separate the pair - but have been warned it could be two years even to take a decision. Scroll down for video The baby girls, Rabia and Rukia, were born conjoined at the head and spent their first few weeks in intensive care Mother Taslima cradles her baby daughters who were born by Caesarean in Bangladesh Their mother, Taslima, had enjoyed a normal pregnancy until around a month before their due date. She was referred to the PDC Clinic in northern Bangladesh for a Caesarean section. It was only during delivery that she had any inkling that something could be wrong. 'Suddenly the doctor shouted ''Two babies! Give them medicine, we have to save their lives,'' she said. 'That was when I started to worry that I had given birth to babies who were conjoined. 'The whole night I heard the two crying sounds. I first saw them the next morning when I had recovered. 'The only thing on my mind was ''How will I hold them? How will I feed them? How will I take care of them?'' I worried about these things at the time.' Rabia and Rukia will need to undergo a 45-60 minute MRI scan and medics also need to confirm if the blood circulating between the twins' brains is separate or shared Taslima, 28, had even continued to teach in the local school and look after the couples' seven-year-old daughter Rafia. Her ultrasounds revealed no abnormalities but in the penultimate month of her pregnancy, Taslima started to experience pain. When doctors performed another ultra sonogram, there were concerns the baby's heads were too big - but doctors thought it was a result of water on the brain. She was given medicine to take for to try and reduce the size. Even as Taslima went into labour doctors hadn't spotted that she was carrying conjoined twins. Once born and still drowsy from the anaesthetic, it took a day for Taslima to learn her newborn babies' condition. Husband Rafiqul, 27, remembers walking into the operating theatre and being told about his baby girls' condition. Mother Taslima Khatun, also pictured with her daughter Rafia, knew she was expecting twins but had no idea they were conjoined until surgery He said: 'The doctors told me here are your twins, they are conjoined from the head. I had never seen babies like this and I was nervous.' Rabia and Rukia spent 15 days in an intensive care unit before their parents were able to take the twins home to meet their older sister. Taslima said: 'After first seeing them Rafia was asking me why are they like this? They don't look good, why are their heads together? Please separate their heads. So, I told her that both babies are beautiful. I will take them to Dhaka for an operation to separate their heads; after that you can hold them.' Doctors are monitoring the twins' health and assessing if and when surgical separation is possible. The twin girls have been allowed home and are doing well. Doctors will decide whether surgery to try to separate them is viable in the next two years Professor Rohu Rahim, pediatric surgeon from Banghabandhu Sheik Murjib Medical University, who is consulting the family, said there was hope. 'The babies' heads are joined side by side, in other kids we can see their heads are joined front to back, which creates movement problems,' he said. 'As their heads are joined side by side it makes physical movement, such as bending the neck, easier.' Rabia and Rukia will need to undergo a 45-60 minute MRI scan and medics also need to confirm if the blood circulating between the twins' brains is separate or shared. Taslima added: 'For their future it's necessary to separate the girls - they are not having a healthy life. If I don't separate them now maybe in future they will ask why I didn't separate them?' Professor Rahim says the team will wait up to two years before making a final decision on separating Rabia and Rukia. Surgeons will carry out a detailed scan to determine whether blood supply to their brains is separate or shared before deciding whether they can operate Planting a kiss on one of her twins, Taslima said: 'I pray to God that both my babies should stay alive after surgery and they can lead beautiful lives ' He said: 'This is not like any other surgery. It is a difficult and complicated operation and will be a team effort.' Until a decision is made, Taslima and Mohammed face an agonising wait, with their family's fate in the surgeons' hands. Rafiqul said: 'If doctors say operate them then we definitely will, if doctors say no then we can't do anything.' The baby girls have also undergone tests and been treated for jaundice. The parents, who are both teachers, worry they won't be able to fund the surgery themselves and have made a plea to the Bangladeshi government to financially support the operations. Mohammed said: 'Surgery will be costly and it's not possible for us to bear this cost so we are asking the government to help us.' Taslima added: 'To live healthy lives surgery is important, I pray to God that both my babies should stay alive after surgery and they can lead beautiful lives.' Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt did not go beyond the 'scope of his powers' when approving a new NHS work contract opposed by junior doctors, it has been heard Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt did not go beyond the 'scope of his powers' when approving a new NHS work contract opposed by junior doctors, it has been heard. Barrister Clive Sheldon QC told a High Court judge Mr Hunt had been clear about what his powers were. He was speaking on the second day of a hearing in London after a campaign group mounted a legal challenge against the new deal planned by the Government. Mr Sheldon told Mr Justice Green: 'The Secretary of State has not gone outside the scope of his powers. 'The Secretary of State has been clear about what his powers are.' Mr Justice Green has been asked to decide whether Mr Hunt approved a national NHS staffing contract or whether he compelled employers to adopt the new contract. Justice for Health, a group founded by five junior doctors, says the contract put forward by Mr Hunt is unsafe and unsustainable. Founded by Dr Nadia Masood, Dr Ben White, Dr Fran Silman, Dr Amar Mashru and Dr Marie-Estella McVeigh - they say his decision to impose the contract lacks a sound or rational foundation. But Mr Hunt argues the complaint is 'without substance'. Mr Justice Green is due to finish analysing evidence within the next few hours and is expected to deliver a ruling in the near future. Justice for Health, a group founded by five junior doctors, says the contract put forward by Mr Hunt is unsafe and unsustainable The litigation marks the latest stage of opposition to Mr Hunt's plans for seven-day NHS services in England. DO JUNIOR DOCTORS STILL WANT TO STRIKE? Junior doctors are being questioned by their union to see if they still want to go ahead with the latest controversial strikes, leaked emails reveal. A memo sent to thousands of doctors highlight fears many no longer back the industrial action and are not willing to take part. Emails obtained by The Telegraph, suggest the week-long strikes - planned every month until Christmas - may be dropped unless members show their support. Advertisement Junior doctors began strikes - the longest of which has lasted two days - in January. The first in the wave of new strikes - planned by the British Medical Association - was called off earlier this month after fears of patient safety. But next month, when the contract is due to be introduced, thousands are planning the first five-day walkout. Justice for Health Barrister Jenni Richards QC, who is leading Justice for Health's legal team, has told Mr Justice Green the contract decision should be quashed. She argues Mr Hunt could recommend a new contract but had 'no power' to impose a new contract. She says he 'acted in breach' of the 'requirements of transparency, certainty and clarity' and acted 'irrationally'. Jeremy Hunt has given NICE up until April 2017 to draw up fairer rules A postcode lottery that deprives cataract sufferers of vital surgery is to end. The rationing body NICE has been given until April to draw up fairer rules that will apply nationwide. The official guidance will stipulate that patients everywhere must get the best treatment as early as possible. Jeremy Hunt (pictured) said: 'For too long, as the Mail has highlighted, some patients with cataracts have had to endure lengthy waits for treatment' Many are denied surgery altogether, or made to wait up to 15 months. The shake-up was not due before 2018 but Jeremy Hunt has rushed it forward following a Daily Mail campaign. The Health Secretary said: For too long, as the Mail has highlighted, some patients with cataracts have had to endure lengthy waits for treatment and unacceptable variations in care. 'I am taking steps to end this. This will help to ensure patients, many of whom will be elderly, get the standard of care we would all want for our parents and grandparents effective treatment as early as possible. Some people had been informed they were not entitled to surgery just because they had laser treatment on their eyes 16 years ago FILE IMAGE The Mail has exposed the ordeal of tens of thousands of elderly cataract sufferers who are routinely denied crucial surgery by cost-cutting NHS managers. Three quarters of hospitals refuse to refer patients for the 1,000 operation unless they can prove their vision is very poor. Most stipulate that they must score extremely badly in sight tests and many state both eyes must be affected. Even then, patients are told to prove their vision is severely affecting their daily lives by completing forms stating how often they fall over. A damning report today highlights the scale of the problem. It reveals how those fortunate enough to be offered NHS surgery face further delays of up to 15 months. According to Royal National Institute for the Blind, patients in Enfield, north London, typically wait 467 days between their first hospital appointment and the eye operation. This compares with just 15 days in Luton, according to freedom of information responses from NHS clinical commissioning groups. Many of the problems are caused by the fact there are no national NHS guidelines setting out who is eligible for surgery and who is not. Former care worker Daphne Buxton was told by her optician to buy darker sunglasses, rather than have surgery This means cost-cutting health trusts are left to make up their own criteria. But the new rules from NICE will attempt to end this postcode lottery and ensure many more patients benefit. They will instruct ophthalmologists to refer patients for treatment if their cataracts are affecting their daily life, such as when driving or reading. Contrary to health trusts own guidelines, the rules will state that patients do not need to have a certain sight score before being considered. Instead, ophthalmologists will be told to consider each patient individually and weigh up their overall health and individual circumstances. They will be urged to prioritise patients who live alone, care for loved-ones or who are at high risk of falls. NICE is planning to publish a draft of the guidelines in April followed by the final version next October, after it has been through a consultation. Mark Baker, director of the centre for guidelines at NICE, said: The Secretary of State has asked us to bring forward publication of our guideline on the management of cataracts in adults. WHAT IS A CATARACT? A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision. It can affect one or both eyes. The first ever cataract operation was performed in 1950 by Harold Ridley, replacing the eye's natural lens with one made out of plastic. At the time the operation was very controversial, many of Mr Ridley's contemporaries disapproved. However the surgery he pioneered has saved the sight of more than 200 million people worldwide. Advertisement We will now aim to publish the guideline in October 2017, six months earlier than previously planned. Draft recommendations will be ready by Easter next year. We will aim to complete this substantial and complex piece of work sooner because the NHS needs guidance on when to refer patients with cataracts for surgery. More than half of the over-65s in England about 4.5million people suffer to some degree from cataracts which occur when the lens in front of the eye becomes cloudy with age. They get gradually worse with time and some patients are so severely affected they cannot read, watch television, recognise faces or drive at night. The condition is easily treatable with a 30-minute operation to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a plastic implant. It costs less than 1,000 per eye and many patients say it transforms their lives and grants them renewed independence. But despite this, the surgery is often one of the first treatments to be rationed by cash-strapped health bosses. Many hospitals even encourage patients to queue jump by paying privately at up to 3,000 per eye. Many who live alone have lost their social lives and can no longer go out with friends in the evenings as they cannot drive at night The UK performs fewer cataract operations per head than most other developed countries including Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Portugal. The Mails revelations prompted hundreds of patients to come forward with their personal stories of how they had been refused operations. One woman with desperately poor sight told how she had been advised by her doctor to wear dark glasses. Many others said they had been informed their only hope was to pay privately. The scale of the crisis is revealed in the report today from the RNIB. It says there is a postcode lottery of care across England, with patients in some regions being able to access surgery promptly while others are forced to wait for months before they are treated. Fazilet Hadi of the RNIB said: The postcode lottery of services means patients with cataracts are regularly being denied access to timely treatment on the basis of where they live. When a cataract begins to affect a persons sight, their vision only gets worse. The impact of delaying cataract surgery puts people at risk of injury through falls, makes doing everyday things difficult or impossible, and can lead to feelings of isolation. These consequences can lead to health and social care expenditure, which is more than the cost of cataract treatment. Fateful broadcast: Jawaharlal Nehru It was a deja vu of sorts when the Modi government launched a website and mobile app for All India Radios (AIR) Balochi service. More than 68 years ago, it was the same AIR and its fateful broadcast on March 27, 1948, that sealed the fate of Balochistan and its people. The very next day, the Pakistani military moved in with tanks, ships and aircraft, and Balochis lost their freedom forever. Indias Balochistan story may not be well-known today but, historically and strategically, it has been as indicting as the great Nehruvian gaffe on Kashmir. Out of a misplaced sense of priority and strategic myopia, the Nehru government refused to help the then Baloch state of Kalat, which was trying to strike a deal with New Delhi to avoid Pakistani occupation. Hindu Sena activists stage a protest in support of the Balochistan Freedom Struggle at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in August (file photo) The story goes that the Khan of Kalat was in discussion with the top Congress leadership on the issue of Balochistan in 1946. In fact, one of his representatives even met Abul Kalam Azad, the then Congress president, but the Maulana questioned the very idea of Balochistan as an independent nation. Worse, if a report by a Britain-based think tank, Foreign Policy Centre, is to be believed, Nehru returned the accession papers signed by the Khan of Kalat in 1947. Kalat, which comprised nearly all of Balochistan barring three minor principalities, was an independent nation when the British left the subcontinent. Ironically, it was Jinnah who had helped the Khan of Kalat, in his capacity as a lawyer, to prepare his brief for Balochistans independence. The Baloch freedom movement thank Modi for his support What provoked Jinnah into immediate action was an AIR broadcast on March 27, 1948, which reported a press conference by VP Menon, a civil servant who played a key role during Indias Partition, saying the Khan was pressing India to accept Kalats accession, but India would have nothing to do with it. The very next day, Sardar Patel issued a clarification saying no such request had come, but the damage was already done. Modi: Launched an app for All India Radio The Pakistani Army had already reached Kalat, which was forcibly converted into a province of Pakistan. All India could do was watch the annexation. Maybe the Nehru government failed to see the strategic significance of an independent Balochistan. Or maybe the Indian establishment genuinely wanted it to be merged with Pakistan. After all, Indias foreign policy at that time was dictated by moral values and ideological moorings, rather than pragmatic demands. (Remember, how we had snubbed the US for offering us a permanent membership of the UN Security Council, in favour of China!) The first AIR broadcast sealed the fate of the Baluchis. "US President Barack Obama founded the ISIS! Crooked Hillary Clinton is the co-founder!" - quipped the presidential nominee of the Republican Party, Donald Trump. Hillary hit back, saying Trump is unfit to be the US President. His supporters are racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobics! Blame Trump is wrong. Obama didnt create the ISIS. President George W Bush did. America's war on terror is about to elect a new leader and both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would do well to learn from the mistakes made by George W Bush and Barack Obama However, Obama must take the blame for mishandling developments in Iraq, Libya and Syria that facilitated rapid expansion of ISIS, declaration of a Caliphate and degeneration of Libya and Syria into safe haven for jihadi fighters. He should also own up the responsibility for failing to bring the regional players on board to fight ISIS together. The seeds for the birth of ISIS in Iraq were sown by the US invasion in 2003. Saddam Hussein was charged with having amassed huge quantities of WMDs and posing an immediate threat to the US national interests. Occupation of Iraq, disbanding of the Baath party and the Iraqi Army, destruction of Saddams secular state machinery and its replacement by a predominantly Shiite regime, among others, acted as exacerbating factors in the emergence of ISIS. Obama must take the blame for mishandling developments in Iraq, Libya and Syria that facilitated rapid expansion of ISIS, declaration of a Caliphate and degeneration of Libya and Syria into safe haven for jihadi fighters Deep angst, seething anger and palpitating hatred manifested in widespread Sunni discontent against the US and the West; it prompted hundreds to embrace Al Qaeda in Iraq. Disbanded soldiers and officers of Saddams Army parted with weapons and joined the ranks of the opponents of the US occupation. Iraqi prisons became the recruiting and training grounds of fighters. Abu Masab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist who ran paramilitary camps in Afghanistan, arrived in Iraq and sensing American invasion started setting up sleeper cells in 2002. Vehemently opposed to American occupation, he carried out daring attacks against American forces and Shiite leaders. Despite differences, Osama bin Laden gave him the title of Emir of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and was Zarqawi who first spoke of establishing the Caliphate and widened Sunni-Shia schism through his brutal killings. The US government had announced a reward of $25 million for information leading to his capture. On June 7, 2006, the US forces killed him by bombing the house where he was conducting a meeting. Deep angst, seething anger and palpitating hatred manifested in widespread Sunni discontent against the US and the West; it prompted hundreds to embrace Al Qaeda in Iraq His successors rebranded Al-Qaeda Iraq as ISIS. After Nouri al-Malikis re-election in 2010, ISIS brutally killed hundreds of tribal leaders; a fact royally ignored by the US Administration. Only the capture of Mosul in 2014, followed by the fall of 10 other towns in quick succession, made the world sit up and take note of the ISIS. It used Iraqi prisons as recruiting camps; Abu Bakr Baghdadi was one of the prisoners freed from Abu Ghraib in a prison attack; he later succeeded Zarqawi and fulfilled his dream of establishing a Caliphate in June 2014. With each successful attack, ISIS ranks swelled. Witnessing the chaos in the border towns of Syria following (Syrian president) Assads attacks against his own people, ISIS stepped in and captured sizeable portion of Syrian territory. With 8-9 million populations, the territory under ISIS from Diyala in Iraq to Aleppo in Syria is the same size as the UK. It raises $2 billion annually from extortions, sale of oil, taxes, loot of government properties and has an army of 30,000 fighters. Muslim victimhood, American invasion of Iraq and NATOs intervention in Libya filled the Muslim youth with urge to take revenge against the Western powers. Suddenly, Iraq, Libya and Syria - which never had Al Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist groups - became their safe havens. With 8-9 million populations, the territory under ISIS from Diyala in Iraq to Aleppo in Syria is the same size as the UK Internet ISIS has mastered Internet technology and used it extensively to recruit impressionable youth from across the world. Arab specialist Talmiz Ahmad feels that they find a sense of purpose in the ISIS websites, which create for them a welcoming virtual community, channeling their anger into an assault on the enemies of their faith, and imparting them a sense of fulfilling a higher destiny. Hillary Clinton will do well to learn from the mistakes made by George W Bush and Barack Obama Syria has become a theatre of a proxy war being fought by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar on one side (supported by the US and the West wanting to oust Assad) and Iran, Russia and China trying to bolster him. Turkey, a NATO ally, has played a duplicitous role: it has bombed PKK which has fought the ISIS effectively and allegedly bought oil from the ISIS. Setback Though ISIS has recently suffered some setbacks largely from Russian bombings in Syria, it remains a global menace. So, as Modi said, it must be combated globally in a well-coordinated manner. Let the world treat it as enemy No 1. If Saudi Arabia and Iran come on the same page and the US and Russia get over their mistrust and attack the ISIS centres jointly, they could inflict terminal damage. Turkey must not get away with its duplicitous role. The West must counter the ISIS Internet propaganda with persuasive narrative stressing how retrograde is the idea of a Caliphate and how un-Islamic are the acts of violence against innocent people. It must not hesitate admitting past mistakes and should promise a course correction. Despotic rulers in the Arab world must introduce democracy in a phased manner for their own sake. A lasting solution of Israeli-Palestinian conflict will help immensely. Time for empty words is over. Only concrete results on the ground will carry conviction. A strategy to defeat ISIS will require unflinching political will, honesty, trust, focus and close coordination and execution of military missions. The government has indicated that it has a number of options when formulating the best possible response to the terrorist attack on the Uri Army base where 18 soldiers lost their lives. The options range from diplomatic isolation of Pakistan; to a spectrum of military and intelligence offensives. Top-level sources in the security apparatus told Mail Today that Indias response will be at multiple levels and not restricted to a tactical operation on or across the Line of Control (LoC). The government has indicated that it has a number of options when formulating the best possible response to the terrorist attack on the Uri Army base where 18 soldiers lost their lives (pictured - the 17 soldiers who died instantly after the attack) The sources pointed out that the political atmosphere was charged and there was intense pressure on the government to act. Besides, there was the question of redeeming Indian Armys pride after suffering one of the worst casualties in Jammu and Kashmir in more than two decades. Director General Military Operations (DGMO) lieutenant general Ranbir Singh, confirmed after a series of meetings held at various levels starting from the Prime Minister, that: We (India) reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at a time and place of own choosing". Prime Minister Narendra Modi who remained busy throughout the day, meeting with officials of various ministries and heads of the three defence services, later briefed President Pranab Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, on the governments planned strategy. Jammu: An army officer paying tribute to the soldiers who were killed in Uri attack, at a wreath laying ceremony Aggression "The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in the hinterland, said Lieutenant General Singh. He stressed that the army had the desired capability to respond to such blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us. The sources referred to the incident when the Indian Army avenged the beheading of its soldiers in 2013 through a tactical operation that was never publicised. Top-level sources in the security apparatus told Mail Today that Indias response will be at multiple levels and not restricted to a tactical operation on or across the Line of Control However, this time the situation was different, they said, and the response had to be in measure with the casualties inflicted by the enemy. The sources said all the military options have their own advantages and pitfalls. It is felt by officials that crossing the Line of Control (LoC) for surgical military operations could lead to escalation. Although, a special forces operation has not yet been ruled out. Eighteen soldiers died in one of the worst terrorist attacks on the Indian Armed Forces in recent years The surgical strikes by Indian Air Force across the border would require precise identification of targets. The officials said that acquisition of targets like terrorist training camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) continues to be a challenge. At the tactical level, the army can increase firing on the border targeting vulnerable Pakistan army posts. The army said that it had managed to foil 17 infiltration bids on the Line of Control this year and had killed four terrorists each in Punch on September 11 and Uri on September 18. Meanwhile, the combing operation around the army camp in Uri was called off on Monday evening and the area was declared secured after the recovery of 39 under barrel grenade launchers, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPs, two map sheets, two matrix sheets a mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets bearing Pakistani markings. The death toll for Sundays pre-dawn Uri strike by Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists near the Line of Control has gone up to 18 after an injured soldier died of his wounds at an army hospital in New Delhi. MOSS POINT, Miss. -- The Moss Point chapter of Parents for Public Schools is hosting a series of community conversations to address concerns regarding education legislation that impacts public schools. President of the Moss Point chapter, Gail Smith said the meeting is being held to address issues with education and to bridge the gap between parents and legislators. "First and foremost, our residents need to know who their representatives are," Smith said. "Secondly, we want to find out what is our legislature's agenda as far as funding education and where they stand on public education. Thirdly, we want to know what we as residents can do to gain our legislators support and have them more actively involved in education." Presenters Adrian Shipman and Angelique Lee will be on hand from the Mississippi Parents Campaign to inform the public and moderate conversation between community and elected officials. Smith said she feels the legislators have not been as involved as they should and their first meeting will provide an opportunity for meaningful conversation that will shed light onto their decision-making. "They have not been and that is indicative to the fact that they have not fully funded education," Smith said. "Particularly, Moss Point does not have a substantial tax base and that effects our public education fund in a negative way." Parents for Public Schools is a national non-profit organization of community-based chapters working with public school parents and other supporters to improve and strengthen local public schools. Founded in Jackson in 1989, there are 17 PPS chapters in 12 states. Moss Point is the first on the Mississippi coast. Their goals are embedded in educating, engaging, and mobilizing parents to recognize their importance in the upbringing of their children. Joann Mickens, Director of Chapter Services said, "we believe the parents are the third leg of the stool responsible for educating our children. There is the home, the community, and then there are the parents. Parents are essential because we provide the raw materials." The first meeting to kick off the series will be held on Sept. 26 in the meeting room of the Ina Thompson Moss Point Library. Registration will be held from 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 pm. The event is open to the public. he was duped of $5,000 Dass was arrested at the complaint of Sanjay Dutt Sharma, the field executive of a foreign exchange firm who Delhi police have arrested a high-profile fraudster for allegedly cheating foreign exchange dealers by renting out posh offices, ordering bags of cash for delivery and then absconding. Delhi police have arrested a high-profile fraudster for allegedly cheating foreign exchange dealers. The accused, Sourav Dass, who studied at the prestigious IMT Ghaziabad management institute and is well-versed in several foreign languages, used his polished manners to fool unsuspecting victims, police said. The 28-year-old Dass was arrested at the complaint of Sanjay Dutt Sharma, the field executive of a foreign exchange firm who was duped of $5,000. According to police, Dass had been duping money exchangers for last several months and the crime branch were on the lookout for him. Police said Dass would rent offices at posh commercial areas like Connaught Place on hourly basis, and then asked foreign exchange companies to deliver money to his office. He would move out with the currency bags on the pretext of getting them checked, requesting the exchanger executives to wait in office. Police said they were surprised at Dasss professional antecedents. Dass studied international business from IMT Ghaziabad and was employed with many prestigious IT companies. He is an engineer by profession, with a degree from Vishwarya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, in electronic and computer sciences in 2008, Ravindra Yadav, joint commissioner, crime branch, said. He has worked with Accenture and CISCO Systems and National Geographic Channel as system analysts. "The accused is fluent in Russian, Hebrew, Spanish and Italian along with English", Yadav said. According to police, they received the complaint by Sharma on September 5 and formed a team to trace the fraudster on the basis of his phone number. The surveillance found that the accused was in Goa. A team went to Goa and arrested the accused on Sunday and brought back to Delhi, Yadav said. Police said the accused has confessed to his crime but did not give details of his past involvements. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhis municipal corporation appears to be a divided house ahead of the crucial civic polls slated early next year. This was evident on Monday when a long-standing financial dispute between the North and the South Delhi municipal corporations resulted in the sealing of the office of the SDMC commissioners personal secretary by North MCD officials. Even though the cash-strapped North MCD is trying to make ends meet, such an extreme step will only serve to aggravate the rift between the two civic bodies, insiders said. The North MCD claims that it is the rightful owner of the 28-storey MCD Civic Centre in the heart of the city and the SDMC was a tenant in the building. It said the south corporation owes Rs 810 crore towards rent and licensing fee that were due since 2012. South MCD officials said they were taken aback when they found the office of Mangal Singh, the PS to SDMC Commissioner Punit Goel, sealed in the morning. By 11.30am, the seal was found broken and the south corporation resumed its work. SDMC leaders, who reportedly broke the seal, sought to put the blame on the bureaucrats saying the move by North MCD officials did not have political backing. There is no dispute between the leaders. The office was sealed by bureaucrats without sanction from the political heads, said SDMC Mayor Shyam Sharma. A long-standing financial dispute between the North and the South Delhi municipal corporations resulted in the sealing of an office Currently, both the north and south corporations are functioning from the Civic Centre, which falls in the jurisdiction of the North MCD. While the East Delhi Municipal Corporation is headquartered in East Delhis Patparganj, the SDMC is yet to get its headquarters that is proposed to be built in Dwarka. According to North MCD, the south corporation has set up its office on its property and hence owes it a due of Rs 810 as rent. The amount is pending from May 2012 till present. Several notices were sent to the commissioner of South MCD to clear its dues. When a senior official was asked why the office of the personal secretary was sealed and not of the commissioner itself, the Mail Today was told: The office of the personal secretary to the commissioner is the key functionary. "All communications to the commissioner are carried out through his office. The sealing of his office would have stalled the work in the commissioners office. The north corporation in its recent letter to South MCD sent on September 1 had granted them seven days to clear the dues. The letter said that if the dues are not cleared in time, they would begin sealing the south MCD office. Wails of grief, confusion and anger echo across the small room that has been lit up by camera lights at Havildar Ashok Kumar Singhs home. Tears cover wrinkled face as a cacophony of sorrowful chants fill the air at Raktu Tola village in Bihars Bhojpur district. Babbua, sobs the mother for her fallen son. The family of fallen soldier Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh, who died in the Uri attacks on the LoC in Kashmir, express their grief as his young son promises to follow in his father's footsteps At a corner of the room, her widowed daughter-in-law mourns inconsolably, her arm attached to an intravenous drip as all the energy has drained from her body. But Havildar Singhs teenage son, Vishal Singh, controls his sobs to pledge to follow his fathers footsteps, as he waited for the body to arrive. "I will join the army," he said. As Vishal struggled to hold backs his tears, he expressed his frustration at the system. Fallen soldier Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh We don't give them (terrorists) a fitting reply. We must, the young boy lamented. Raktu Tola stands out as a village of soldiers in Bihar's Bhojpur district. Out of its 100 houses, at least 25 have one or more family members serving in the Indian army. The loss the family has suffered has not deterred its male members from joining the forces. Havildar Singhs brother Kamta Singh died in action as part of the Bihar Regiment in 1986 in Rajasthan. The Uri soldier's elder son, Vikas Singh, and his two nephews are in the army. His mother, Sangeeta Singh, was resentful of New Delhis handling of terror. The government has failed. Had it stayed alert, this wouldn't have happened, she said. A team of the National Investigation Agency arrived in Srinagar on Monday to take over the investigation of the Uri terror attack, which is the biggest attack on the Army in for 27 years. The attack left 18 army men dead and 19 others were wounded. An NIA spokesperson told reporters that the next course of action would begin after direction from the Ministry of Home Affairs. A team of the National Investigation Agency arrived in Srinagar on Monday to take over the investigation of the Uri terror attack, which is the biggest attack on the Army in for 27 years A combing operation at the Army base was conducted on Monday after reports that two more militants could be hiding in the vicinity, but the search was later called off. The army found 39 under-barrel grenade-launchers, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPs, two map sheets, two matrix sheets a mobile phone in the search operation. The NIA team is expected to start its probe once the army base has been sanitised and the Army gives its go ahead, sources said. According to the preliminary investigations by the Army, the four militants belonged to the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad. The militants had managed to slip in at the rear of the army base at dawn and strike with incendiary ammunition. Army personnel in action inside the Army Brigade camp during a terror attack in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir All the four militants were killed after a three-hour gun battle. The intelligence agency will find out the lapses that allowed the terrorists to breach the army base and slip past the security at both the LOC and the base compound wall. There were also clear intelligence inputs that militants were planning a strike to take advantage of the unrest in Kashmir for the last two months. On Monday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti visited the headquarters of the Chinar Corps at Badamibagh and laid wreaths on the coffins of the soldiers killed in Sundays Uri attack. General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Chinar Corps, Lt General Satish Dua, and Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar were among senior officers present at the somber ceremony to pay their respects. The CM later visited the 92 Base Hospital of the Army to enquire about the welfare of the soldiers injured in the deadly attack. In a brazen attack on the streets of India's capital, a 21-year-old known only as Karuna, was stopped in broad-daylight and stabbed repeatedly by a man as pedestrians as bystanders look on In a brazen attack on the streets of India's capital, a 21-year-old woman was stopped in broad-daylight and stabbed repeatedly by a man as pedestrians and bystanders looked on. The victim, known only as Karuna, was stabbed to death by the stalker identified as Surendar Singh, 34, who pounced on her at 9am in north Delhis Burari area. Karuna, who taught in a school, was allegedly being troubled by the man for nearly a year. According to the victims friend who was with her at the time of the attack, passers-by watched the incident, but did nothing to rescue the victim. Like any other day, Karuna and I were going to the school. Surendar stopped us and stabbed Karuna many times. "While he was stabbing her, people cried for help but they themselves did not try to rescue her, alleged Karunas friend Neha. Delhi Police have registered a case against accused Surendar who has been admitted to hospital as he was later thrashed by a group of nearby labourers. The incident took place at a crowded market, in front of 25-30 people. Locals claimed that the accused kicked Karuna after stabbing her, and then again stabbed her. He also took photographs. About 50 people gathered at the spot, but Karuna wasnt rushed to the hospital immediately. Scroll down for video... Locals claimed that the accused kicked Karuna thrice after stabbing her and then stabbed her again. He also took photographs. According to the victims family, a good samaritan ultimately made a PCR call but strangely no police official arrived at the scene. Finally, the man took Karuna to the hospital where she succumbed to grievous injuries. Karuna was lying unconscious but no one tried to help. "Someone made a PCR call as well but no one reached the spot even when police station was just 200 metres away from the place of the incident, Karunas uncle Nikhil claimed. According to the police, the crime is being investigated. Additional DCP-1, North, Esha Pandey told reporters: Karuna was stabbed with a portion of scissor by one Surendar Singh at 9 am. She was a teacher at Novel Reaches School. "The assailant had been troubling her for a year. Her family had lodged a complaint 4-5 months back and both the families had reached a compromise. The assailant is 34. According to the police, accused Surendar was not happy because the victim sent photographs to one of his friends. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the Delhi Police. The compensation offered by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the families of the soldiers who died in the Uri terror attack has left a grieving wife upset. Sangeeta, wife of Havaldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life in the terror attack refused to accept Rs 5 lakh compensation calling it disrespectful to the family. Was my husband a drunkard who lost his life falling in a drain? Common men in the state who die in accidents get Rs 4 lakh as compensation. My husband is a martyr. I dont need Nitish Kumar's financial assistance, said an angry Sangeeta Devi. Sangeeta (pictured) wife of Havaldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life in the terror attack refused to accept Rs 5 lakh compensation calling it disrespectful to the family Sangeeta Devi said that the compensation announced by other state governments like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh was much more than what the Bihar government was providing. We are not beggars who need peanuts from the government. We are self sufficient. Nitish Kumar should be ashamed of what he is giving us, said wife of the dead soldier. Bihars Science and Technology Minister, Jai Kumar Singh, who was nominated by the chief minister to participate in the funeral of Havaldar Ashok chose not to meet Sangeeta Devi when he came to know about the grievance. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is under pressure over the amount of compensation offered to the families of those who died in the Uri attack Singh immediately spoke to the chief minister about the issue after which he announced that all the three dead soldiers from the state would be now provided Rs 11 lakh as compensation. I have spoken to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and he immediately said that the compensation money to be increased to Rs 11 lakh. "It was the state government policy of 2013 which had a provision to provide Rs 5 lakh as compensation to martyrs," said the Bihar minister. Havaldar Ashok Kumar Singh who was posted in 6th battalion of Bihar Regiment was killed by fidayeen terrorists in Uri in Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday. Barely a few days after leaders hit Delhis streets with fumigators apparently to fight off dengue and chikungunya, an India Today investigation has found their action to be nothing more than political posing. Worse is that the neighbourhoods they visited with hordes of supporters and TV cameras, are almost totally abdicated by municipal inspectors and bosses now. Fetid water pools in the streets as swarms of mosquitoes buzz over in parts of Malviya Nagar, the ward of Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay. A woman covers her face as a municipal worker fumigates a residential area to check the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in New Delhi On September 15, the councillor walked around his municipal borough with SDMC chief Puneet Goel, fogging streets and homes, as media crews filmed his health drive. Indian homeless people burn rubbish as the smoke helps to deter mosquitoes in New Delhi. Despite fumigating vast areas several Indian cities battle dengue fever and other diseases On Tuesday the same streets looked as unsanitary and neglected as before. The present situation, however, suggests that his action was a one-day ritual for journalists to photograph. Mosquitos are rife in New Delhi Fumigation isnt done on a regular basis here. It's done occasionally when sanctioned by politicians, complained a resident, while others echoed his views. The scene is no different at Sonia Vihar in northeast Delhi, where AAP MLA Kapil Mishra and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari joined together to rid the area of mosquitoes, after being stung by the massive criticism of politicking over the outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya. Their bipartisan endeavour received widespread coverage in mainstream and social media. And that's where it ended. India Today's reality check on Tuesday found filth and stagnant water in Sonia Vihar, with mosquitoes flying over them. A cosmetic exercise? Residents say the one-day exercise was a 'bluff' Its a cosmetic exercise (fogging) they carry out on peripheries. No one comes inside where a large number of people live, said a resident. Indian troops engaged in gun battles with two groups of terrorists in Kashmir on Tuesday, while New Delhi launched a diplomatic offensive to encircle Islamabad. The new development in the troubled Kashmir Valley comes just days after 18 soldiers were killed in an audacious attack by Pakistan-linked Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists on a key Indian military base in J&K. The flare-up in violence came on a day Pakistani forces broke the 2003 ceasefire pact by firing on Indian posts along the Line of Control in the Uri sector in a bid to push through militant infiltrators. Indian troops engaged in gun battles with two groups of terrorists in Kashmir on Tuesday as New Delhi launched a diplomatic offensive to encircle Islamabad Indian officials have categorically blamed Sundays attack on the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist group, which was also implicated in an assault on Punjabs Pathankot airbase in January. It left seven soldiers dead and dashed hopes of a revival in peace talks, which have been on ice ever since. Bangladesh and Afghanistan have backed Indias position rendering the November South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit a non event due to Pakistan's continued support to terrorism threatening the entire region. Launching one of the biggest anti-infiltration operations in the Uri sector around 100 km northwest of Srinagar, the Indian Army is believed to have gunned down at least 10 terrorists though the 'kills' were yet to be confirmed. The infiltrators were intercepted in Mayan Kartl area near Line of Control (LoC). Northern Command officials confirmed: Troops deployed in Uri sector, J&K reacting to a suspicious movement intercepted a group of terrorists near the line of control and foiled an infiltration bid". Sources said the operation continued late and the bodies were yet to be recovered. Sources said the fresh infiltration is part of the Pakistan militarys plan to strengthen the presence of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army is believed to have gunned down at least 10 terrorists though the 'kills' were yet to be confirmed Its a preemptive move as the Pakistan forces fear that India is planning a major offensive, said an officer. The terrorists are a Pakistani assets inside Indian territory and such tactics were used in the 1965 and 1947 wars. The general pattern of infiltration is to send terrorists in small groups but this time the numbers were unusually high. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took up the investigation of the Uri attack on Tuesday as it collected two damaged global positioning system (GPS) sets. These would be sent to the US to retrieve the data to find out the route the attackers took to infiltrate into Kashmir before striking the army installation. The agency has taken up the probe from the Jammu and Kashmir police and registered the case to investigate the attack. Several top officials of the NIA are on route to Uri hoping to collect evidence about Sundays deadly strike. An Indian army soldier takes up a position near the site of a gun battle between Indian army soldiers and rebels inside an army brigade headquarters near the border with Pakistan Sources said the agency would circulate pictures of JeM militants lodged in various jails of J&K to try to ascertain their identity. The NIA would also look into the role of locals and porters working with the army for providing the information about the tents in which the soldiers were camping before change of guard, sources said. Union home minister Rajnath Singh again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting in Delhi with top officials, including NSA Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S Jaishankar. Separately, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues. At the meeting convened by Singh, Doval and top officials of the ministries of home and defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed him on the prevailing situation in the Valley as well as along the LoC, sources said. India is working on a multi-pronged response to isolate Pakistan globally, and also to pursue the military option if needs be. Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: 'Pakistan is a terrorist state and should be identified and isolated as such' The evidence of Pakistans involvement in the Uri attack will be made public, said sources. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will lead the charge in the UN general assembly. She is expected to make a hard-hitting statement on Pakistan's involvement in the terror strike. J&K unrest gives boost to militancy By Ashraf Wani Indian intelligence agencies are warning of a major terror menace brewing inside Kashmir Valley, coupled with the external threat from across the border in Pakistan. According to highly-placed security sources, more than 60 local young men have joined anti-India militant outfits. Most of these recruitments have taken place in South Kashmir over the past 73 days of unrest, the sources told India Today. A Kashmiri throws back a tear gas canister at Indian security personnel during a protest after Eid al-Adha prayers in Srinagar Militants also raided two police posts on Monday night at Langate in Kupwara and Keller village in Shopian. Top government sources say insurgents target security facilities and make off with stockpiles of weapons. Militants mostly attack pickets protecting political leaders and minority communities, the sources said. Over the past fortnight, militants have plundered at least 10 assault rifles and ammunition in South Kashmir. India has unleashed a massive diplomatic exercise to isolate and expose Pakistan on the global stage for what it believes to be a brand of state-sponsored terrorism. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will spearhead Indias charge at the United Nations General Assembly to share evidence of Pakistan state involvement in terror. Gen (retd) VK Singh, minister of state, external affairs told Mail Today in an exclusive interview: Sushma Swaraj will very vigorously, effectively - and in a forthright manner - present Indias case against terrorism at the UN. Just wait and watch." External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will spearhead Indias massive diplomatic exercise to isolate and expose Pakistan on the global stage for its state-sponsored terror India is also getting support from its neighbours Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who have launched frontal attacks to expose Pakistans involvement in terror in their countries. New Delhi believes that Pakistans sudden terror push into Kashmir concerns the new resident at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. General Raheel Sharif is on his way out. He wants to heighten tension with India, hoping for an extension. "Has he put a gun to Nawaz Sharifs head? Is that the reason that Nawaz Sharif is repeatedly raking up Kashmir internationally, Gen VK Singh asked. The government will also hold bilateral meetings to gather support and it has already received support with Russia, Germany, UK and France among other nations offering support to India. India has found the strongest support from Afghanistan and Bangladesh, both victims of Pakistan terror. The two SAARC nations want to use the regional platform to further expose state sponsored terror. Dr Shaida Abdali, Afghanistans ambassador to India told Mail Today: There should be a regional conference on state sponsored terror. All regional partners should come forward and expose the one country in our region supporting terror. Bangladeshs High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem said: As a close friend and neighbour we will continue to work together in our common endeavour to eradicate the menace of cross border terrorism. Mother-of-three Dinya Farmer, 49, was driving down State Route 51 in Phoenix, when she was followed by a truck before crashing into a freeway median. She later died in hospital Police have released a transcript of the 911 call made by a terminally ill woman who was killed after being chased along a freeway by three men in a pick-up truck. Mother-of-three Dinya Farmer, 49, was driving down State Route 51 in Phoenix, Arizona, in the middle of rush hour, when she made the emergency call saying she was being followed by a white pick-up truck. She later died in hospital after gunshots were fired and she crashed into a freeway median. Police are still trying to determine the motive behind the attack earlier this month, and investigators have said the circumstances of the shooting do not point to random violence or a traffic dispute. Now police have released a transcript of the 911 call Farmer made while she was being followed by the truck. It reveals that she gave the operator a description of the suspicious vehicle before saying she was nervous and asked: 'What should I do?' She said the men tried to approach her earlier and that they kept following her on the freeway. Finally, she shouts, 'They're right next to me.' The transcript said a noise could be heard on the phone. The operator asked repeatedly, 'Ma'am, are you there?' But police said 911 operator could hear gunshots before the call was disconnected. After the crash, Farmer was rushed to hospital in an extremely critical condition, where she died from her injuries. She had recently been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. Debris is seen around Farmer's car as police investigate the scene. Police have released a transcript of the 911 call Farmer made while she was being followed by the truck A bullet hole is seen in one of the window's of Farmer's vehicle. She asked the 911 operator what to do while she was being followed, just moments before she was shot Police and emergency workers are seen covering the scene with a yellow sheet on the road Authorities are now hunting for the truck, which was described as having ladder racks and a toolbox on it. Police said Farmer described the suspects to be three Hispanic males. Four other vehicles involved in two to three other minor collisions related to the shooting were also found by police, Sgt Johnathan Howard told Fox 10 Phoenix. Howard said two of the vehicles' occupants were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries. Meanwhile Farmer's aunt, Debra Beldone spoke out saying she had been left devastated by her niece's murder. Farmer had been living with Beldone for the last year following her cancer diagnosis. 'I can't believe it, I'm still numb, I don't know whether to cry, laugh or run into the wall,' she told KPHO. Beldone said Farmer, who had three daughters aged 16, 17 and 25, was on her way home when she was killed. Authorities are now hunting for the truck, which was described as having ladder racks and a toolbox on it 'Its just sad for me, to have someone to take her life on the way home, she was by herself.' 'When she got diagnosed with this cancer and it didnt seem to get any better, we just knew shed have loved ones around her when the time came.' 'To be on the 51, by herself, afraid, and I know she was, it's just devastating.' Beldone said Farmer was stylish and 'always smelled great', a designer who loved to decorate and 'loved her girls, loved her family'. 12672888-standard.jpg Country music recording artist Vince Gill is on stage Thursday, May 2, 2013, at the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile, Ala., during an event benefitting the Mobile Rescue Mission. (Mike Brantley/mbrantley@al.com) A pair of country music artists that have combined to sell millions of records over the years will both appear in concert at different casinos in Biloxi later this week. Vince Gill headlines two nights at the Beau Rivage Thursday and Friday, while Clint Black plays the IP Casino an Resort on Friday night. Gill began his career four decades ago as the front man for country rock band Pure Prairie League before converting to a solo career in the early 1980's. He has recorded more than 20 studio albums, charted over 40 singles on the U.S. Billboard chart, and has sold more than 26 million albums. He has been honored by the Country Music Association with 18 CMA Awards, including two Entertainer of the Year awards and five Male Vocalist of the year Awards. Gill has also won 20 Grammy Awards, more than any other male country music artist. In 2007 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. "Forty years into this, it's still as much fun as it's ever been to play music," Gill said, on his website. "At the end of the day, what I get excited about is doing something I haven't done before. When I record a song, I feel successful if I've accomplished something new." Among Gill's more popular hits from his catalog include "Don't let our love start slipping away", "When I call your name", "One more last chance" and "Go rest high on that mountain," as well as "I still believe in you" and "I don't need your rockin' chair", a collaboration with Black and others. He is married to contemporary christian music artist and sometimes country contributor Amy Grant. Both shows begin at 8 p.m., and tickets are still available for both the Thursday and Friday show. Black will headline IP's Studio A at 8 p.m., Friday night. Tickets are still available for that show as well. More than 20 million of his albums have been sold worldwide, thanks to hits such as "Killin' time", "A better man" and "Same old train", as well as "Like the rain" and "When I said I do" a duet with his actress wife Lisa Hartman. He also scaled the top of the charts by trading lines with Jimmy Buffett, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney on the Hank Williams classic "Hey Good Looking". He has had more than 30 singles on the US Billboard country charts, twenty-two of which have reached number one. Hillary Clinton promised Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko Monday that she would stand with the country against 'Russian aggression.' The Ukrainian leader and Clinton had an 'in-depth discussion of the crisis' in the country, her campaign said after their meeting, during which they talked also about 'Russia's broader attempts to weaken Europe and destabilize its periphery.' A readout of the 75-minute meeting from Clinton's team mentioned Russia four times as it remonstrated with Republican Donald Trump's friendly attitude toward the country's foe. Scroll down for video Hillary Clinton promised Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko Monday that she would stand with the country against 'Russian aggression' The Ukrainian leader and Clinton had an 'in-depth discussion of the crisis' in the country, her campaign said after their meeting A readout of the 75-minute meeting from Clinton's team mentioned Russia four times as it remonstrated with Republican Donald Trump's friendly attitude toward the country's foe 'Secretary Clinton stressed her commitment to stand with the government and people of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, and discussed ways to help Ukraine strengthen and defend itself,' the statement said. Clinton likewise 'stressed her commitment to cooperation with our partners and allies to deal with a wide range of challenges, including Russia. 'They discussed implementation of the Minsk agreement, Ukraine's programs on reforms, and ways the US can help support investment in Ukraine,' her campaign said, 'and she outlined her clear-eyed approach to Russia.' Adding, 'If elected, she looks forward to deepening and intensifying cooperation with Ukraine.' Clinton routinely berates Trump for pursuing foreign policies that align with the Kremlin's global goals and for asserting in an interview that Russia wouldn't invade Ukraine. Russian separatists have occupied the Crimean Peninsula for two years now in spite of a peace deal ordering troops out. Poroshenko has blamed the incursion for the economic downturn in his country. And yet, Trump has been commendatory of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he says he admires for his 'very strong control' over his country and high approval ratings within. The Republican White House candidate said this month at a forum that admires Putin more than U.S. President Barack Obama because the Russian autocrat is 'a leader.' Poroshenko, says he invited both candidates to meet with him during his visit this week to New York but only Clinton accepted. The former U.S. secretary of state put her familiarity with foreign leaders on display Monday evening as she held talks with several visiting dignitaries. World leaders are in New York City this week for the United Nations General Assembly. Clinton had meetings with three on the sidelines of the summit. She sat down with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Poroshenko for back-to-back discussions. Trump also met with Sisi Monday evening. Clinton attends a bilateral meeting with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the Palace Hotel in New York Clinton arrives for her meeting with Sisi. Reporters caught but a glimpse of both Clinton's and Trump's meetings with Sisi based on the autocratic government's strict rules He wouldn't confirm the meeting with Sisi Monday morning but said he made 'a lot of calls' to foreign government, and some were responsive. The Republican has said he'll work with Sisi, someone he said understands 'this ideology of death that must be extinguished.' Sisi took power in 2013 in response to protests against elected leader Mohamed Morsi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi was elected after an uprising pushed out Hosni Mubarak, a longtime ally of the U.S. government. Trump said last year that he would temporarily bar foreign Muslims from entering the United States in response to the country's terror crisis. He's since limited the temporary ban to countries linked to terrorism. At UNGA two years ago, Sisi's first, the Egyptian president sat down with Clinton and her husband, Bill. Today's meeting was their second one on the edges of the summit. Reporters caught but a glimpse of both Clinton's and Trump's meetings with Sisi. The Egyptian leader was speaking when the candidates' travelling press corps entered and reporters were booted by Egyptian officials moments later. Sisi told Clinton he wanted to speak to her 'about the path that we are taking in order to build up a new civil society, a new modern country that upholds the rule of law, that respects human rights and liberties. 'And as a matter of fact we are taking this path that is eventually leading up to this target,' he stated. Her campaign said afterward that they had a 'constructive discussion about bilateral ties and cooperation on a wide range of issues, including counterterrorism.' Trump also met with Sisi Monday evening in New York City on the sidelines of the United Nation General Assembly Clinton pushed for a tightening of the bond between the U.S. and Egypt and Egypt and Isreal when it comes to fighting ISIS and other terrorist groups. 'Secretary Clinton emphasized the importance of respect for rule of law and human rights to Egypt's future progress,' the readout also said. 'Secretary Clinton called for the release of U.S. citizen Aya Hijazi and raised concerns about prosecution of Egyptian human rights organizations and activists.' Sagging in the polls fewer than 50 days out from the election, Clinton is eager to remind voters today that she's had to make tough calls from the Situation Room as well as the negotiating table when she served in Obama's cabinet. She delivered a statement on the attacks over the weekend New York and Minnesota and took questions on her anti-terror strategy before she boarded her campaign plane for Philadelphia late Monday morning and met with visiting heads of state. The former secretary of state's first sit down this evening was with Abe. Clinton exited Obama's cabinet soon after Abe was elected in 2013. The Japanese prime minister joined her for a conversation the following fall at the Clinton Global Initiative summit and said today that it was a 'great pleasure' to see her again. They exchanged compliments at the beginning of the meeting before reporters were sent out of the room, saving a discussion of the South China Sea and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Trump and Clinton have both said they'd like to renegotiate, for their private chat. (L-R) General Michael Flynn,Ret, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump look on as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi speaks during a meeting at the Palace Hotel in New York on Thursday Clinton frankly told Poroshenko, whom she worked with as secretary of state for four years, at the beginning of their talk that she would talk to him about 'the very real problems and threats from Russian aggression' and said she was 'anxious to know how we can be supportive of those efforts.' Trump met with just one foreign leader, sitting with Sisi and five of his advisers after Clinton moved on to Poroshenko. Journalists were allowed to listen in and take photographs for less than 1 minute while Sisi spoke to the Republican in Arabic. 'All the world is suffering from the crisis of extremist thought,' the Egyptian president told him, according to a Reuters reporter who translated. A pool reporter watched as Trump nodded along, but noted that he was probably waiting for a translation: Trump had no earpiece to listen to an English-language version of what Sisi was saying. In a readout provided to the press, the Trump campaign wrote that the businessman 'expressed to President Sisi his strong support for Egypts war on terrorism, and how under a Trump Administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead.' Clinton sat down with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Ab (pictured), Sisi and Poroshenko for back-to-back discussions Trump took the meeting along with retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, both of whom have advised him on the nexus between immigration and national security. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and press secretary Hope Hicks waited outside. Conway told a Bloomberg Politics reporter that she wasn't aware whether Trump and Sisi would discuss the GOP nominee's early dalliance with a 'complete and total ban' on Muslims entering the United States amid a spike in foreign terror attacks. Trump has since moderated his position, saying he would implement a country-specific policy of 'extreme vetting,' targeting nations where terrorism and other spates of Islamist violence have made entire populations too risky to admit to the U.S. The readout said Trump 'emphasized to President el-Sisi his high regard for peace-loving Muslims.' Grinning North Korean despot Kim Jong Un has sparked fresh alarm after he directed a new high-powered rocket engine test - prompting fears the country is edging closer to a banned long-range missile launch. The autocratic leader oversaw a ground test of a new rocket engine, and called for a satellite launch as soon as possible, state media reports. The United Nations views the space launch project as a cover for nuclear missile technology research, as ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un directed the test of a new rocket engine for the geo-stationary satellite at Sohae Space Center Kim Jong Un has called for a North Korean satellite launch as soon as possible, amid fears of it is planning a banned long-range missile launch North Korea is openly working on developing nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking the US mainland. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports that Kim directed the ground test of a high-powered engine of a carrier rocket for a geo-stationary satellite, but it is unclear when it was carried out. KCNA said the engine would give the country 'sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites'. The test was carried out by North Korean researchers, who were praised by the secretive country's leader Kim grins and is applauded by military figures as the test is hailed as a success by the North Korean leader Kim 'expressed great satisfaction' with the results of the engine test, it said, praising the cutting edge advantages made 'despite the difficult economic conditions of the country'. KCNA reported that Kim called on scientists 'to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible'. The North Korean leader also called called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a 'possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come'. The test was carried out at the Sohae Space Center in the northwest of the country. North Korean military personnel cheer during the demonstration of a new rocket engine, which was overseen by leader Kim Jong Un The despot follows the progress of the test in an exercise which he directed, and called for a satellite launch as soon as possible Kim Jong Un was pictured at the space centre smiling after the succesful launch - the letters read 'Kim Jong Un directed the ground test of a high-powered enging of a carrier rocket for a geo-stationary satellite' It has sparked alarm across the world, with experts believing North Korea is developing a weapon that could strike the US mainland. Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at the South's Korea Aerospace Research Institute said with the new engine, the North is 'coming close to having an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland'. And he continued: 'North Korea's space programme is focused on developing launch vehicles that can easily be used for missiles rather than developing decent satellites.' Kim was quoted as ordering officials and scientists to complete preparations for a satellite launch as soon as possible, amid 'the enemies' harsh sanctions and moves to stifle' his country. Kim Jong Un (pictured during a multiple-rocket launching drill in April) has sparked fresh alarm, with outside observers believing the latest programme is a cover for developing nuclear technology TV news covering the high-powered engine test at Sohae Space Centre, which has prompted fresh alarm Jeon Ha-kyu, a spokesman for neighbouring South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said South Korea believes the test was for a new engine for a long-range missile. Media in South Korea speculated the North could conduct a long-range rocket launch around October 10, which is the 71st founding anniversary for the North's ruling Workers' Party. Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test, prompting South Korean and US officials to vow to apply more sanctions and pressure on the North. The test explosion, the most powerful to date, was conducted on the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's government. A North Korean defector holds a banner condemning Kim during a rally this month denouncing North Korea's latest nuclear test, in Paju, South Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the ground jet test of a new high-powered inter-continental ballistic rocket engine at the Sohae Space Center in North Pyongan Province, in April this year The North has already been slapped with the toughest UN sanctions in two decades following its fourth nuclear test in January. Since late 2012, the North put two satellites into orbit with long-range rockets, each time inviting international sanctions and worldwide condemnation. The US-Korea Institute said on its closely-watched website, 38North, said this test represents a 'significant step' in the continued development of larger, more advanced space launch vehicles. Alarm: A ground jet test of a high-power engine of inter-continental ballistic rocket at the Sohae Space Center in North Korea's North Pyongan Province, in April this year North Korea has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches, most recently in February. It has also fired missiles from a submarine. A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile system would allow deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a 'second-strike' capability in the event of an attack on the North's military bases. Earlier this month it said an underground nuclear test - its most powerful yet - was of a miniaturised device that could be mounted on a missile. North Korea has said it needs nuclear weapons and missiles to cope with US military threats. In March this image of a new large-caliber multiple rocket launching system was released Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said the North had set a five-year space development programme that ends this year. 'This new test heralds an upcoming landmark ICBM test. The next test, disguised as a satellite launch, is likely to come when the UN Security Council adopts new sanctions over its last nuclear test or around the time when the US presidential election takes place in November', he said. About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The United States has a range of missile-defence technologies at its disposal, including the Aegis Combat System, Patriot missiles and sophisticated radars. Washington is also working with Seoul to install a missile defence system known as THAAD in South Korea, though the move has infuriated Beijing, which says the hardware poses a significant threat to regional security. The US has a range of missile-defence technologies at its disposal, including the Aegis Combat System (pictured during a launch), Patriot missiles and sophisticated radars A new fashion accessory for sale means the owner won't have to worry about letting the cat out of the bag - because the cat is the bag. The bizarre and possibly morbid item - including the intact cat's head - is up for sale on New Zealand auction site TradeMe - for a whopping $1,400 starting price. A description provided with the 'one-off, glamour puss' bag says it was made by professional taxidermist Clare Hobbs and 'expresses her artistic passions and desire to engineer the surreal, particularly using feral and domestic felines'. This 'glamour puss' hand bag made from a taxidermy cat has been listed for sale on an auction site The hand bag has been listed for sale at a starting price of $1400 It also stated no animals were killed for Ms Hobbs' work. Spokesperson for the website, Logan Mudge, said the company took assurances no cruelty was involved 'at face value', Stuff.co.nz reported. 'It is certainly a statement bag and while it's not for me, we suspect there will be a buyer out there who is keen. This is a pretty unusual bag and we expect the auction will attract a lot of attention over the next few days.' Despite that, opponents have condemned the bag. Save Animals From Exploitation director Hans Kriek said the bag was in 'poor taste' and 'disrespectful', Stuff reported. 'If you were to do these with people it would be absolutely not acceptable ... is turning a cat into a handbag any worse than turning an elephant's foot into an umbrella stand?' A description of the bag says: 'professionally trained taxidermist Clare Hobbs expresses her artistic passions and desire to engineer the surreal, particularly using feral and domestic felines' In New Zealand, carrying out taxidermy on animals that had died naturally or been euthanased was legal. No-one commenting on the auction had a problem with a cat getting their tongue, either, with the bag dividing opinions. Some saw it as a joke - one person asked if they could be made into a bag, too. Others questioned how the animal died, while another asked outright: 'what the hell is wrong with you?'. But at least one described it as 'beautiful'. There doesn't appear to be any question the bag uses a real cat. The auction ends on Wednesday evening. The auction has inspired a range of reactions from people who were horrified or impressed The summit was held in New York on Monday Malcolm Turnbull has told his world counterparts that the need to build community support for migration has never been clearer at this time of global uncertainty about border control. Addressing the United Nations summit on refugees and migration on Monday afternoon in New York, the prime minister shared the Australian story and called for more international co-operation in dealing with the movement of people globally. 'At a time when global concern around immigration and border control is rising, the need to build community support for migration has never been clearer,' he said. Scroll down for video Australian Prime Minister Macolm Turnbull urged world leaders to look at Australia's border control policies at the UN summit on refugees and migration on Monday in New York 'Addressing irregular migration by securing borders has been essential in creating confidence that the Australian government can deal with migration that focuses on those who need humanitarian assistance the most. 'Without this confidence, we would not have been able to increase our intake of refugees - the world's third largest permanent resettlement program - by more than 35 per cent,' Mr Turnbull told the gathering, citing the decision to accept an additional 12,000 Syrian refugees. He conceded that not every country is an island and each must put in place policies to deal with its own circumstances. 'But the reality of people smuggling is one of profit from, and exploitation of, some of the most vulnerable people on earth,' he said. Mr Turnbull said 'At a time when global concern around immigration and border control is rising, the need to build community support for migration has never been clearer' Mr Turnbull said 'Addressing irregular migration by securing borders has been essential in creating confidence that the Australian government can deal with migration' 'And we are all too familiar with the tragedy of lives lost at sea.' The prime minister talked up the need for strong international co-operation to help refugees migrate, as well as returning those who can go home safely. 'Australia is committed to playing a role that provides resettlement options to genuine refugees, that sees our multicultural society grow from strength to strength, and that supports international efforts to help the most vulnerable.' Mr Turnbull heralded Australia as being one of the most successful multicultural societies in the world, with almost every UN member state represented in the population. 'Diversity is an investment against marginalisation and extremism. It helps our community unite against extremism, rather than be divided by it.' he said. The prime minister talked up the need for strong international co-operation to help refugees migrate, as well as returning those who can go home safely. 'Australians are not defined by religion or race; we are defined by a common commitment to shared political values, democracy, freedom and the rule of law, underpinned by mutual respect. 'These values drive our approach to migration. We invite 190,000 migrants each year to join our nation of 24 million people. And our commitment to refugees is longstanding our humanitarian resettlement program dates back to 1947. Drawing upon the success of SBS, he will spoke of the public broadcaster's role in entertaining Australians by reflecting diversity, thus helping the community unite against extremism rather than be divided by it. The summit, was also attended by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, in a precursor to President Obama's high-level, invitation-only meeting on refugees to be held on Tuesday (local time) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Prince William has opened up about the 'dark and sad moments' he has endured while racing to save lives through his role as a pilot for East Anglia Air Ambulance. The Duke of Cambridge works alongside a trauma team attending some of the most shocking and serious incidents, helping victims of car crashes and fires and aiming to get them within a 'golden hour' that can mean the difference between life and death. William revealed the horrors they see can be so tough that the only way the team can get through them is to give each other counselling - along with a healthy dose of gallows humour. He said: 'There are some very sad, dark moments. We talk about it a lot, and thats the best way of dealing with some of these situations. But its hard It can be quite difficult.' It comes as a new BBC Future feature today offers an insight into the clinicians, tools and technology that help EAAA reach anywhere in its area of more than 5,000 square miles within 25 minutes. Scroll down for video Prince William, pictured, has revealed he has been through some 'dark times' in his role as a pilot for East Anglia Air Ambulance The Duke of Cambridge started his role in July 2015 and said it was a 'rewarding job' A new BBC documentary reveals more about his role at the charity, in which he attends serious incidents to help victims of car crashes, industrial accidents and fires William, pictured right with his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, joined up with the air ambulance after the birth of his daughter The Prince opens up about the emotional trauma the medics and flight crew go through when attending serious incidents Known as Pilot William Wales to colleagues, the second-in-line to the throne added he found the job 'rewarding' and said patients 'don't care who turns up' as long as they get the help they need. The Prince said: 'When I put my air ambulance hat on, and I come here and I fly, Im one of the team. 'I want to be a valuable member of the team and I want to get the job the done, and at the end of the day feel like Ive made a difference and a contribution to whatever it is Ive done that day.' William works around 80 hours a month with the charity, with shift patterns usually working out at four days on, four days off. Earlier this year he was accused of being 'workshy', but sources close to the royal defended him as a 'modern working father and husband' whose hours are in line with Civil Aviation Authority guidelines. A source close to the charity also suggested he was 'hardly ever on shift', but in the documentary members of the team reject this idea and said he quickly impressed them. Critical care paramedic Jemma Varela said: 'There was a tiny bit of nervousness having never met the Duke before, but within 10 minutes, he was just another member of the team. Hes a very popular member of the team. He works hard.' CAA rules dictate that 800 hours is the maximum flying time in a 12-month period. In the feature the future king, right, can be seen laughing and joking around with crew members, including Captain James Pusey, left William has previous been accused of being 'workshy' but Kensington Palace says he works 80 hours per month in line with Civil Aviation Authority guidelines His colleagues at the charity added he was a 'popular' member of the team who 'works hard' The Duke said he suffered anxieties about the job early on but quickly overcame them The air ambulance aims to reach patients within a 'golden hour' which can mean the difference between life and death William is one of 12 pilots who respond to around five calls a day with the EAAA, which employs both full and part-time pilots. Despite the trials that come with the job, The Duke of Cambridge said he found it a rewarding endeavor, despite suffering anxieties early on. He said: 'I look forward to coming here every day, whether its at 5:30am or going to bed at 2am. 'The shift work is exciting And the fact that I love working in a team, and thats something that my other job doesnt necessarily do. You are more out there on your own a little bit.' William added his fame as a royal does not affect his job with very little regard paid by patients and witnesses to the pilot of the helicopter during an incident. He said: 'Fortunately they [patients] dont really care who turns up as long as theyre getting the care and the help that they need. He said he looked forward to coming to work every day and wants to become a 'valuable member of the team' To help reduce stress, William said the crew, pictured, enjoy playing ping pong and 'chasing each other around with mini drones', as well as talking things out The Prince, pictured, said he was anxious about starting the role but that it had 'turned out better than he could have possibly thought' The Duke of Cambridge, pictured with his family on holiday, added he felt like he 'made a difference' through his work with the charity 'I have to say I was a little bit anxious of some of that when I first started, because I didnt want to bring any chaos or any sort of unhelpfulness to the scene. 'And actually, its worked out better than I could possibly have thought.' William said the rest of the crew were intimidated initially upon his arrival as to how relaxed they could be around him, but 'within an hour' they were laughing and joking with him. He said: 'When I turned up people were a little bit unsure of how to be around me. They were not quite sure how far they could push it. 'But it became fairly obvious you can go quite far with me and I can take most things and give most things. '[When I first got here] it was polite but now it's a lot worse as they have got to know me and you get worse and worse nicknames.' The Prince declined to reveal what his nickname is, but does have the moniker Will.I.Am engraved on his coffee mug. Air Ambulance captain James Pusey also revealed the royal enjoys horsing around with his colleagues to relax, whether it is playing ping pong or chasing each other around a room with mini drones. The feature showed William has established a clear rapport with Capt Pusey and others, joking with the former about their lack of hair. He also quipped he could be a professional skydiver or 'International Man of Mystery' if he was not a pilot. The future king also gushed about the helicopter - the H-145 which has a maximum speed of 170mph and can be on the scene of an incident in East Anglia within a matter of minutes. William, pictured left and right with Kate, balances his time with the charity alongside his royal engagements The Duke and his family often meet foreign diplomats and leaders, including US President Barack Obama who visited Kensington Palace earlier this year William, pictured with the Royal Family during Charlotte's christening, has quickly impressed the other members of his team, according to his colleagues The state-of-the-art aircrafts cabin is five yards long and has room for a doctor, critical-care paramedic, patient, extra passenger and two pilots. He said: 'What this aircraft brings is a critical care paramedic and doctor to the scene a lot faster than you could possibly do by road or by any other means. Its effectively bringing a hospital [emergency department] to the casualty. 'The power of information at our fingertips it sounds a bit corny and cliche but its actually amazing.' The programme reveals how quickly doctors can perform potentially life saving procedures at the scene of an accident. THE PRINCE'S HELICOPTER In the BBC feature the Prince gushed about the H-145 helicopter he pilots. The aircraft has a top speed of 145mph and can reach incidents around East Anglia in a matter of minutes. It can accommodate six people, including two pilots, a doctor, paramedic, patient and extra passenger. The helicopter has twin engines and has been in production since 1999 by Airbus Helicopters, previously known as Eurocopters. Advertisement Doctor Adam Chesters said: 'If the phone goes were airborne in four minutes, it could be five, six minutes of flying, on the scene in one minute, and then opening a chest and doing open heart surgery two minutes after that. 'We are a team, a functional unit. It doesnt matter what your personality type is, who you are, where youve come from, what your background is. 'They understand that this is the important thing they are doing now. And when theyre here, they are part of the team.' With peoples lives in their hands, the team also spoke of the challenges of carrying out procedures and the importance of being able to read each other, from a look or sudden silence, to assessing the situation both on the ground and in the air to ensure they deliver the best possible care to patients. Ms Varela said: 'Its a very different environment. You miss out on a lot of little cues and things that you cant have because youve got a huge helmet on thats making your head heavy, making you hot. And you can only hear through your earpieces.' Dr Chesters added 'And the adrenaline control As soon as that phone goes, the heart rate goes up and when you get stressed and that adrenaline response, it can limit your motor skills. 'You can get a shake Add to that to the noise, the vibrations, the motion sickness. Its quite a challenge to condition yourself to that.' The Prince is no stranger to helicopters, pictured here in the Royal Helicopter as a boy in 1986 Prince William and his air ambulance trauma team will feature in a new documentary looking inside their race against time to reach patients in the 'golden hour'. Stock image It offers an insight into the clinicians, tools and technology that help East Anglia Air Ambulance Service (pictured, with Prince William, centre, in blue) reach anywhere in its area of more than 5,000 square miles within 25 minutes The documentary looks at the life-saving work of the service, which last year attended 2,085 incidents, including fires, road traffic collisions, horse riding falls and industrial accidents. Shown online on the BBC website today as part of National Air Ambulance Week, aims to promote the often forgotten work of the service, which Prince William proudly joined in 2015. EAAA chief executive Patrick Peal said: 'We are delighted to promote the lifesaving work of air ambulance charities and to celebrate the contribution of all our supporters throughout the country.' Clive Dicken, national director of the Association of Air Ambulances, added: 'Today on average 70 patients will be treated by air ambulances and during this, National Air Ambulance Week, we are asking the general public to support their local air ambulance charities and ambulance services.' Featuring the Duke of Cambridge (pictured in uniform), known as Pilot William Wales to colleagues, it follows the trauma team in their dramatic rescues and race towards patients The documentary will look at the life-saving work of the service, which last year attended 2,085 incidents, including fires, traffic collisions, horse riding falls and industrial accidents The Prince earned his wings as a search and rescue pilot with the RAF, serving between 2009 and 2014 when it was announced he would train to be an air ambulance pilot. He flew his first successful mission in the role - believed to come with a 40,000-a-year salary that will be donated to the Air Ambulance charity - in July 2015 as he returned to work after the birth of Princess Charlotte. Another of his first jobs was a suicide and he has since campaigned to highlight the issues surrounding male suicide, talking at a mental health charity event in March this year. The Prince has also been called to a stabbing and even a prison, as the team treated an inmate at HMP Highpoint in September last year - where four jail staff guarded the royal. As well as flying rescue missions, the prince helps with fueling and maintenance work on the vehicles at his base in Cambridge As well as flying rescue missions, the prince is expected to help with fueling and maintenance work on the vehicles at his base in Cambridge, near the Georgian country house where he lives with the family. He and the Duchess, along with their children George and Charlotte, live in the home, which had a 1.5million refit before he started the job, paid for with the Royal Family's private funds. Since its launch in 2000, East Anglia Air Ambulance Service has attended over 19,000 lifesaving missions, touching the lives of thousands of people and their families. Doctors and critical-care paramedic teams treat patients with life-threatening or life-changing emergencies at the scene of their accident or emergency, taking the emergency department to the patients. The crews are specially trained doctors and critical-care paramedics, who play a crucial role in the provision of trauma care, with two helicopters operating across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. They transfer patients to the appropriate hospital rapidly, when necessary, and can fly to the most inaccessible places, often unreachable by ambulances. But despite offering a vital lifesaving service every day of the year, it is a charity funded by the local people of East Anglia. Celebrity make-up artist Kerry Billett told police she was 'not a bad mum' after she was involved in a crash while she was drink driving with her children in the car. Billett, 37, admitted to negligent driving and not handing over her details to an owner of damaged property in Waverley Local Court, in Sydney's east, The Daily Telegraph reported. The mother also pleaded guilty to high-range drink driving and will appear again for sentencing on October 11. The charges related to an incident where she hit a stationary car so hard with her own that it ended up on the footpath in February, and to a more recent crash in August when her Audi A5 collided head-on with another car in Edgecliff while her six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son were in the luxury vehicle, police say. Celebrity make-up artist Kerry Billett (pictured with Mel Gibson) told police she was 'not a bad mum' after she was involved in a crash while she was drunk driving with her children in the car Billett and her young children walked away unscathed from the August 2 crash, but the woman driving the other car suffered bruises to her upper body. At the time, she informed police she had been driving the Audi and 'police noticed when the accused spoke there was a very strong smell of intoxicating liquor surrounding the accused and her speech was slurred', court documents said. The make-up artist, who had previously worked on set for Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge, submitted to a breath test at Rose Bay police station and returned a reading of 0.182 - which was almost four times the legal limit. She immediately had her licence suspended but Billett protested and told police: 'I'm not a criminal, I'm not a bad mum, this isn't right.' The charges related to an incident where she hit a stationary car so hard with her own that it ended up on the footpath in February, and to a more recent crash in August During August 2 incident, Billett (pictured here with Bondi Vet Chris Brown and renowned chef Miguel Maestre) was drink drinking with her children in the car Billett, the owner of Face by KB, has been involved in the film industry for seven years and prides herself with having worked with stars including Mel Gibson, Bondi Vet Chris Brown and renowned chef Miguel Maestre. 'Caught up with this talented man last night. Look forward to seeing my work on his film,' she said on her Facebook account after spending time with Mel Gibson. 'I'm proud to announce that I will be working on the WW11 hacksaw ridge film starring Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn. I love Vince!' she said in September. Her website has an extensive portfolio showcasing her work in fashion, bridal, hair, and theatrical and casualty. Her Audi A5 collided head-on with another car in Edgecliff on August 2. Pictured is a Google street view of the scene 'Everybody is a beautiful individual and Kerry Billett is an expert at bringing out the beauty in her clients with makeup and styling,' her Face By KB website reads. 'There is nothing that Kerry is more passionate about than providing her clients with the confidence to shine. Investigators believe they have uncovered six extra seconds of audio from a 911 call related to the JonBenet Ramsey murder case that could suggest her family were involved. JonBenet's mother Patsy Ramsey called 911 on December 26, 1996 to report that her six-year-old daughter had been kidnapped from her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. Using modern technology, a team of investigators say they uncovered the voices of three people having a conversation after Ms Ramsey thought she had hung up after calling police 20 years ago. Scroll down for video JonBenet, a child beauty queen, was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996 Former FBI special agent Jim Clemente and a team of original investigators and new experts revealed the explosive new evidence during the first instalment of the four-hour CBS documentary The Case of JonBenet Ramsey on Sunday. Three phrases can allegedly be heard during the extra six seconds of 911 audio, which are believed to have come from JonBenet's parents John and Patsy Ramsey and her older brother Burke. Investigators believe they can hear Mr Ramsey's voice saying 'we're not speaking to you', before Ms Ramsey allegedly asks: 'What did you do? Help me, Jesus'. They claim JonBenet's brother Burke can then be heard asking 'what did you find?' - even though his parents have always claimed he was asleep at the time. JonBenet, a child beauty queen, was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996. No charges have ever been filed in her murder. Her body was found on the floor of the family's cellar several hours after the 911 call was placed. The 911 operator who took the call, Kim Archuletta, has also spoken for the first time and revealed she felt the call sounded rehearsed. 'It sounded like she said, 'Okay, we've called the police, now what?' and that disturbed me,' Ms Archuletta said. Three phrases can allegedly be heard during the extra six seconds of 911 audio, which are believed to have come from JonBenet's parents John and Patsy Ramsey and her older brother Burke They claim JonBenet's brother Burke can then be heard asking 'what did you find?' - even though his parents have always claimed he was asleep at the time JonBenet's mother Patsy Ramsey (right) called 911 on December 26, 1996 to report that her six-year-old daughter had been kidnapped from her family's home in Boulder, Colorado 'So I remained on the phone trying to listen to what was being said. It sounded like there were two voices in the room, maybe three. Different ones. I had a bad feeling about this, to me it sounded rehearsed.' Ms Archuletta said an investigator later visited her home to inform her there was a gag order regarding the case until it went to court, which never happened. She alleges she was never asked to testify on the grand jury in 1999. 'One of the reasons why I even stayed on until they disconnected (was) because there were things being said that people needed to know,' she said. 'It was never addressed. I think it really would have turned the case around.' The lengthy ransom note that was found inside the family's home was also re-examined by forensic linguistic James Fitzgerald who claimed it was clearly staged and had deliberate spelling mistakes. The three-page ransom note claimed to have been written by a 'group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction'. It asked for $118,000 for the safe return of JonBenet, which is almost the exact value of a bonus that her father John Ramsey had received earlier that year. However, not many people knew that the father had received the bonus. The note read in part: 'Mr. Ramsey, Listen carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We respect your bussiness (sic) but not the country that it serves. At this time we have your daughter in our posession (sic). 'She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter.' No charges have ever been laid in her murder. Her body was found on the floor of the family's cellar several hours after the 911 call was placed The three-page ransom note claimed to have been written by a 'group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction' The length ransom note found inside the home was also re-examined by forensic linguistic James Fitzgerald who claimed it was clearly staged and had deliberate spelling mistakes FULL TEXT OF THE ORIGINAL JONBENET RANSOM LETTER Mr. Ramsey, Listen carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We respect your bussiness (sic) but not the country that it serves. At this time we have your daughter in our posession (sic). She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter. You will withdraw $118,000.00 from your account. $100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank. When you get home you will put the money in a brown paper bag. I will call you between 8 and 10 am tomorrow to instruct you on delivery. The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested. If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence a earlier pick-up of your daughter. Any deviation of my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains for proper burial. The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do (not) particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them. Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as Police, F.B.I., etc., will result in your daughter being beheaded. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies. If you alert bank authorities, she dies. If the money is in any way marked or tampered with, she dies. You will be scanned for electronic devices and if any are found, she dies. You can try to deceive us but be warned that we are familiar with law enforcement countermeasures and tactics. You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to out smart (sic) us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back. You and your family are under constant scrutiny as well as the authorities. Don't try to grow a brain John. You are not the only fat cat around so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us John. Use that good southern common sense of yours. It is up to you now John! Victory! S.B.T.C Advertisement Fitzgerald said the first two words of the note, 'Listen carefully,' struck out as unusual during the investigation. 'Right away, I said, 'This doesn't even make sense.' Grammatically it's correct, the words were spelled right, but it was an unusual way to begin an alleged ransom communication,' he said. Ramsey also pointed out that after claiming they were a foreign faction, they misspelled the words business and possession. 'I believe both words were misspelled on purpose, because they both had to do with the double consonant 's,' he told Yahoo TV. 'If you're going to misspell one word, you're probably going to, almost by accident, get the other word right.' He said at that point, he knew they had someone pretending to be someone they were not, noting within the first three sentences he was convinced it was not an 'authentic kidnapper.' 'This was someone doing his or her best to make themselves appear to be one of those entities, but it was clear that that was not the case,' he said. At the time the note was discovered JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, told police she found it on the stairway, which led to the discovery that JonBenet was missing from her bed. Fitzgerald (pictured), who helped seek out Ted Kaczynski as the Unabomber, was involved in JonBenet's case as an FBI profiler and a forensic linguistic, focusing on the ransom note A replica of rooms in the house has been constructed in a 50,000-square-foot warehouse Despite the letter explicitly saying not to notify authorities, and despite the couple withdrawing the ransom money, Patsy still called 911 and frantically reported her daughter had been kidnapped. As the morning passed, the expected phone call from the kidnappers never arrived, and a few hours later, the child's body was located on the floor of the wine cellar. It was later determined the letter had been written on paper ripped from a notebook that Patsy kept in the kitchen. Fitzgerald said in the end of the re-investigation, he believes he and his colleagues have found the suspect in the unsolved murder case Experts had previously said the note was of similar handwriting to Patsy Ramsey but could not unequivocally say she was the one to have written it. Fitzgerald told Yahoo TV that investigators later learned the Ramseys financially could have paid a million dollars but noted the $118,000 was not a coincidence. He believes it was a 'red herring by the author' to make it look like it was an inside job, referencing the fact the amount was the same as John Ramsey's bonus. When concluding what the ransom note meant in terms of understanding who might have been involved in the murder, Fitzgerald noted the length of the letter suggested it was not a 'real criminal or real kidnapper.' He said while other ransom notes over the years have been about 50 to 60 words long, or shorter, the Ramsey note had about 385 words. 'It's clear that all of it could have been written in about three sentences,' Fitzgerald told Yahoo TV. 'This thing, instead, read like a Stephen King novelette, with people being beheaded and all kinds of nasty things happening to people,' he continued. 'The person who was writing this was truly out of his or her element, in terms of trying to be a real criminal or a real kidnapper.' CBS is investigating the JonBenet Ramsey murder in an upcoming six-part docuseries. Here John and Patsy Ramsey leave their lawyers office in 2000 Experts have also recreated the Boulder home of the Ramsey family to conduct their investigations. Here they look at a recreation of the smashed basement window Fitzgerald also noted the ransom letter was not ever a ransom letter and was 'part of a staged crime scene.' In the trailer of the miniseries, Fitzgerald says the series will hope to present a solution to one of the biggest U.S. crime mysteries. 'This little girl's homicide to this date has not been resolved. In my opinion, I think we can change that right now,' he says in the trailer. Fitzgerald told Yahoo TV that in the end of the re-investigation, he believes he and his colleagues have found the suspect in the unsolved murder case. He said taking a suspect into custody and convicting them in a court of law would be the ultimate end. 'Whether that happens or not is up to other people above and beyond the seven experts who worked on this show,' he said. But based on all the evidence, he said they feel 'very firm and very much convinced [about] who it is we're going to name at the end,' according to Yahoo TV. 'We feel very firm in rendering an opinion within the last 15 minutes of the show,' he added. As for why investigators feel it important to re-examine the case 20 years later, Fitzgerald said this is the closet thing they can get to justice being served or not. Investigators to be featured include retired FBI special agent Jim Clemente, forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee and James Kolar, the former chief investigation for the District Attorney in Boulder. The Case Of: JonBenet Ramsey will air in two parts. It will conclude on Monday, September 19 (9-11PM, ET/PT), on CBS. Colin Firth and his wife Livia arrived at London Fashion Week in an Audi She is renowned as the wife of Oscar-winning film star Colin Firth and has been leading the campaign for sustainable fashion for years. However, on Sunday, Livia Firth's eco-credentials took a dent as she arrived at her own Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) at London Fashion Week with her husband in a diesel-guzzling Audi. Worse still, while her celebrity guests including Anna Wintour, Victoria Beckham and Keira Knightley were dressed in sustainably sourced outfits, many had also been chauffeured to the bash in 62,690, top-of-the-range Audi A8s, laid on for VIPs free of charge. Livia's campaign, which promotes ethical fashion, yesterday passed the buck on to Bafta, which was its official collaborator for the night. A GCC spokesperson tells me: 'Audi are the official event partner for Bafta and, as such, provide VIP transport for special events.' This is not the first time Livia, 47, has been accused of double standards. Last year, she racked up more than 95,000 air miles the equivalent of almost four trips around the globe to lecture about the perils of High Street clothing. 'We need to act responsibly in order to protect the planet,' she once said. 'If we don't do this, then we are all going to destroy it.' Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey wants to revive the popular sitcom, but co-star Martin Clunes says it would be impossible because the characters' laddish behaviour would look seedy now they're middle-aged. 'I don't think it'll happen,' Clunes says. 'We're all in our 50s, and post-Operation Yewtree I think it'll all be a bit something else. And, let's face it, the others haven't aged as well as me either! Mrs Watson's bag stolen as she picks up Sherlock Emmy Call for Sherlock! Amanda Abbington fears she had her bag stolen at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles when she went on stage to accept the Outstanding TV Movie award for Sherlock: The Abominable Bride. 'We went up to collect the Emmy, did some press, came back to my seat and some b*****d had nicked my purse from under my seat,' says Abbington, who plays the on-screen wife of her off-screen partner Martin Freeman in Sherlock. 'Nice. Had my phone and driver's licence in it. So whoever took my purse, I hope some terrible karmic s*** happens to you. How cr***y is that.' Alas, she was unable to count on the sleuthing skills of Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, who is on a family holiday. Nor could she be rescued by Freeman, aka Dr Watson, as he is filming in Australia. Abbington knows all about karma when it comes to driving. In February, she was fined 600 with six points for two consecutive speeding offences. Sophie in 'mad' bike challenge Never one to mince his words, Prince Philip told the Countess of Wessex she was 'mad' before she headed off on a 450-mile Edinburgh to London cycle ride yesterday. But there are advantages to carrying out the gruelling challenge in support of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, of which her husband, Prince Edward, is a trustee. Sophie, 51, who's due to arrive at Buckingham Palace this weekend, described how she was 'complimented' on her newly honed figure by a motorist who had no idea he was chatting up the Queen's daughter-in-law. 'If anyone tells me I look good in Lycra, I'll be really happy,' she said. 'I think it's highly unlikely, although I did get a very nice compliment from behind from a man in a car.' The shock-jock's ex partner said he down played his alcohol consumption He says he asked doctors for permission to drink again after the operation Natasha Chadwick, 36, claims he has been drinking for more than a year Hinch's former flame revealed he was off the wagon on Sunday night Senator Derryn Hinch has been slammed by his ex-partner for 'playing down' his use of alcohol after he admitted to drinking watered down wine on special occasions less than five years after a life-saving liver transplant. The controversial senator, 72, also claimed his surgeon gave him permission to drink again - Mike Ahern, the chairman of the Australian Liver Foundation said no competent doctor would give that advice and Hinch needs to respect his second chance at life. 'It is not a question of a new liver, a new life and now that clears the slate and I can start it all over again that's not any advice a competent doctor would give anyone,' Mr Ahern said. Scroll down for video Derryn Hinch (left) admitted he has fallen off the wagon after his ex-girlfriend Natasha Chadwick (right) exposed his drinking habits five years after his lifesaving liver transplant Natasha Chadwick has slammed Derryn Hinch's claims he only had watered down drinks on special occasions Mike Ahern, the chairman for the Australian Liver Foundation Mr Ahern said Hinch needs to admit he is an alcoholic and 'get off the booze completely' after the former shock-jock admitted to falling off the wagon when his former flame Natasha Chadwick, 36, exposed his drinking habits on Twitter. 'When you are lucky enough to get a liver transplant it is universally accepted and counselled to you that you are lucky, you are fortunate and you should respect the person that has given it to you,' Mr Ahern said. 'There is a list of people on priority who are waiting and some of those won't get a liver because there is not enough.' Mr Ahern said anyone with alcoholic liver disease is an alcoholic and they have to stop drinking or they will go back down the same path and damage their new liver. Ms Chadwick publically shamed Senator Hinch for disregarding the vow he made to stop drinking after his alcoholism almost took his life. 'Derryn Hinch has been back on booze 12+ months. So much for respecting organ donors gift of life. Fave wine, cheap Gossips. No loyalty,' she posted on Sunday. When Hinch attempted to clarify how much he drank by saying it was watered down and for special occasions Ms Chadwick hit back. 'Playing it down. Not surprised. Not always diluted. Not only special occasions. But he's a politician. Lies are acceptable,' she wrote. He was outed on Twitter by his former flame who shamed Senator Hinch for disregarding the vow he made to stop drinking after his alcoholism almost took his life Senator Hinch has continued the public stoush by telling 3AW he is being subjected to the 'bunny boiler' treatment. Senator Hinch conceded he had enjoyed a tipple since receiving Heath Gardner's liver, but clarified that it was watered down and he had sought his surgeon's permission before doing so, the Herald Sun reported. But Ms Chadwick and Mr Ahern have both hit out against Senator Hinch's claims. 'I've had the odd glass of wine, perhaps one-third wine and two-thirds water, with Natasha at birthdays and at events like Christmas,' Senator Hinch said. Ms Chadwick, who spent two years with Hinch, said they recently shared a wine and she had seen him drink a light beer on the night of his maiden speech, where he humbly acknowledged the sacrifice his donor's had family made to save his life. Drinking once receiving a liver transplant is considered 'contraindications' and recipients are advised to abstain permanently from alcohol after the surgery, according to the Transplant Society of Australia and New Zealand. Senator Hinch conceded he had enjoyed a tipple since receiving Heath Gardner's liver, but clarified that it was watered down and he had sought his surgeon's permission before doing so But Ms Chadwick said they recently shared a wine and she had seen him drink a light beer on the night of his maiden speech (pictured), where he acknowledged the sacrifice his donor's had family made to save his life Hinch required the transplant after his alcoholism caused him to develop advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer Hinch required the transplant after his alcoholism caused him to develop advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer. Ms Chadwick, who now lives in New Zealand, said Senator Hinch followed protocol and stuck to non-alcoholic beer and wine after the surgery but had started adding alcohol to his drinks after their dramatic break up in March. 'Since then he's been back on it regularly, starting the day with non-alcoholic beer for breakfast, then moving to his Edenvale non-alcoholic wine and then moving on to harder stuff,' a source told the Herald Sun. 'He's even spent an afternoon at a pub in Redfern in Sydney and come home stinking of alcohol,' they added. Ms Chadwick said Senator Hinch followed protocol and stuck to non-alcoholic beverages after the surgery but had started adding alcohol to his drinks after their dramatic break up in March The television producer stood by Hinch when he served 50 days in prison at the beginning of 2014 for refusing to pay a fine 'on principle' he incurred after breaching a suppression order about the killer of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher. She posted 37 loved-up photographs of their relationship to social media following their 2015 break up along with a warm message acknowledging their time together. 'A look back at some highlights and low points of the last two years with the beautiful DH,' she wrote, adding she was 'devastated' but ready to rebuild her life. The producer stood by Hinch when he served 50 days in prison in 2014 for refusing to pay a fine he incurred after breaching a suppression order about Jill Meagher's killer She posted 37 loved-up photographs of their relationship to social media following their 2015 break up along with a warm message acknowledging their time together But her support appears to have turned to disdain, with the 36-year-old posting a cryptic tweet on Monday night making another reference to 'loyalty', as she did on Sunday when revealing Hinch's drinking habits. 'Loyalty is a two way street. Treat people the way you like to be treated & don't mistake kindness for weakness,' she wrote alongside an image that said: 'There's something wrong with your character if 'opportunity' controls your loyalty.' Ms Chadwick has not commented on Hinch's drinking habits since posting the tweets. Her naked body was found washed on the banks of a river a week later Palmer was last seen in Logan south of Brisbane in October last year He told reporters he had nothing to say and to speak to Crime Commission A forensic examination is being conducted on the blue Ford XR6 sedan The foster father of murdered schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer said he has 'nothing to say' after a car he previously owned was seized by police as part of their investigation. The blue Ford XR6 sedan was taken by Queensland police for forensic examination last week and detectives confirmed the current owner of the vehicle is not linked to the investigation. After being asked why the car was taken for forensic examination, the Logan foster parent told reporters to speak to the 'Crime and Corruption Commission,' Nine News reported. Scroll down for video The foster father of murdered schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer said he has 'nothing to say' after a car he used to own was seized by police as part of their investigation A blue Ford XR6 sedan, previously owned by the foster father of murdered schoolgirl Tialeigh Palmer, was seized by police last week Tiahleigh, 12, was last seen being dropped off by her foster carer in the morning at Marsden State High School, south of Brisbane on October 30 last year. The schoolgirl's naked decomposing body was found on November 5, along the banks of the Pimpana River, 40 minutes away from her school. On Monday, D etective Inspector Damien Hansen said police were 'very happy' with the progress of the investigation after 11 months. ' I'm happy with the the progress of the investigation. I just ask that you respect that and as the investigation progresses, we will provide further updates,' he told reporters. Police are asking anyone who saw the vehicle on a road near the Pimpama River last October to come forward. Detective Inspector Mark White ruled out the current owner of the vehicle being a suspect. 'As a result of extensive ongoing investigations police have today seized a vehicle of interest which will be forensically examined.' Det Supt White said. There were at least 20 officers working on the high-profile case on a day-to-day basis. After being why the car was taken for forensic examination, the Logan foster parent told reporters to speak to the 'Crime and Corruption Commission' Police are conducting a forensic examination of the vehicle in relation to the death of Tialeigh (pictured) whose body was found a week later on the banks of the Pimpana River A group of fishermen found the 12-year-old's naked decomposing body on the banks of the Pimpama River in south-east Queensland on November 5 'There's still a lot of work to be done. Today's development is only one small step in the direction we are going.' He reiterated there was a $250,000 reward for information leading to the successful prosecution of those responsible, which includes an indemnity but not for the principle offender. 'We have conducted numerous enquiries, different lines of enquires, this (asking if anyone saw the car) is just one those enquiries,' he told reporters. He said there had been a number of people identified as persons of interest. Julie Pemberton, Tiahleigh's former foster carer previously told Daily Mail Australia the late child had run away on occasion while she was in her care. A $250,000 reward is on offer for information leading to the successful prosecution of those responsible for the 12-year-old's death 'She did run away a couple of times in my care like most kids do but she was never gone for more than two hours,' Ms Pemberton said 'She'd been running away a lot more frequently this year and I don't know why,' she added. Tiahleigh's death resulted in a review earlier this year leading to a change in reforms for children who go missing from out-of-home care, reported Nine news. Under the existing protocols police took almost a week before they released a missing persons alert. But all 29 recommendations admitted in a Queensland Family and Child Commission report were implemented. 'The report highlights that more can be done to improve whole-of-government systems and ensure more timely and co-ordinated responses for children missing from out-of-home care,' Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in July. The Facebook page that was set up to find Tiahleigh when she was still considered a missing person is still operational. This is deplorable. Kate like many democrats gets outside money. Governor Brown plans on enacting executive orders and legislation in 2017 to turn Oregon into California when it comes to gun rights. Vote her out in November. Vote Bud Pierce for Governor Advertisement A month since the devastating earthquake that brought it to its knees, Amatrice, in Italy, is rebuilding. On August 24, a 6.1 earthquake struck central Italy, just after 3.30am and was felt across a broad section including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic centre felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. Nearly 300 died when the quake flattened three medieval towns near the rugged Apennines while more than 400 were injured. Scroll down for video The aftermath of a devastating 6.1 magnitude earthquake which brought villages in central Italy to their knees in August Civil defence services have set up camp and are fighting to preserve the heritage buildings of the town The death toll from the earthquake stands at 297, with some even questioning if the Mafia was to blame for such a high number The mayor of Amatrice near Rieti, Sergio Pirozzi said: 'The town isn't here anymore.' Wooden huts were built for 2,500 people who were left homeless by the quake. The little shelters feature a kitchen, bathroom and one or two bedrooms. Many survivors wanted to be near the remnants as it emerged that looters were stealing from the rubble. Temporary shelters have been set up to help the survivors run by volunteers as the towns rebuild The mayor of Amatrice near Rieti, Sergio Pirozzi said: 'The town isn't here anymore' after the quake, hitting 6.1 on the Richter scale Amazingly, animals were pulled from the rubble days after the quake hit, including one cat called Pietro pulled out 16 days later An Italian flag is held down to the rubble by a stone in the central village of Amatrice. The quake claimed 297 lives Thousands of artefacts are being removed from the historical buildings and churches of the town, according to the New York Times A worker uses a small digger to get around the damaged site, moving rubble and attempting to find anything salvageable Amazingly, a dog and a cat survived for several days under the rubble. A golden retriever called Romeo was pulled from the rubble of Italy's earthquake, more than nine days after he was given up for dead. A cat called Pietro was found 16 days after the quake hit, surviving on drops of rain as it waited for rescue. As well as the staggering death toll, 4,000 people were left homeless by the earthquake, living in shelters with a bathroom and kitchen since then A state funeral was held for the man victims in the days following the devastating disaster. A number of foreigners were among the dead, including 11 Romanians and three Britons The funerals of the first people whose bodies were recovered were held within sight of the flattened buildings as families came to term with their losses Of the 292 found dead in the early days after the disaster, 231 were found in Amatrice. One month on, the death toll is 297. A number of foreigners were among the dead, including 11 Romanians and three Britons. Many newer buildings in Italy had been upgraded in an attempt to make them earthquake proof after devastation in 2009, so locals were furious when they collapsed In tents put up in Amatrice after the disaster, volunteers dish up specialty pasta dishes and wine to keep spirits up Romolo Capranica school in Amatrice was destroyed by earthquake, but a 13th century bell tower in the same town fared much better Workers have been recovering all they can from the village's many historic buildings, seeking to preserve as much as possible Religious icons and pieces have been priorities in the recovery, and this church fared better against the quake than many newer buildings in the village Italian officials have been traveling to the towns to make sure the progress and priorities of the recovery is good Volunteers put together food and supplies packages as they try to feed the 4,000 left homeless and in mourning The town's children returned to school in mid-September after classrooms were put up in containers in the villages. The country's education minister was on hand for the reopening ceremony, praising the 'extraordinary work' to erect classrooms in such a short period and pledging it would just be a first step. But many villagers were left angry and confused by apparent measures taken after the 2009 earthquake to bolster the buildings against future disaster. In Amatrice, a 13th century bell tower stayed standing while a school which had 700,000 Eur investment against crumbling fell. Some 170 pupils were able to return to school on September 13 after classrooms were set up in containers in the village Italy's education minister was on hand for the reopening ceremony, praising the 'extraordinary work' to erect classrooms in such a short period and pledging it would just be a first step Italian police warned people to be aware of potential scammers raising money to help with the rebuilding efforts In one instance, a website claiming to be selling t-shirts to send money to Amatrice was deemed to be fake, as local councillors had never heard of it There were even reports that tourists were going to the devastated villages and taking pictures of themselves smiling in front of the rubble, criticised as distasteful The thousands who have been left homeless are living in makeshift shelters which have a kitchen, bathroom and one or two bedrooms A wealthy businessman has had his 'prenup' torn up in court because he had forced his live-in girlfriend to sign it just three days after she gave birth to their baby. The Sydney man, managing director of his own company, admitted in the Family Court he had told the woman she and their newborn baby daughter, who were completely financially dependent on him, would have to move out if she did not sign the domestic agreement. The woman, who cannot be identified but is known in court documents as Ms Zagar, had discovered she was pregnant shortly after they split up in early 2005. He had originally told her to have an abortion, however she decided she wanted continue with the pregnancy and he later invited her to move in on the proviso she sign a 'prenup' which would leave her and their baby with nothing. A Sydney businessman forced his live-in girlfriend to sign a 'prenup' under duress, just three days after she gave birth to their baby (stock image) Ms Zagar told him: 'You have assets and I will be left with nothing. How can I sign a document like that? I need to provide for my future,' the Family Court heard. The man, now 53, is worth about $4.375 million, while she had just $3,000 and was $5,000 in debt in credit cards at the time of their discussions in 2005. Ms Zagar, now 42, had no support network in Sydney. The man admitted in court saying something along the lines of: 'You came into this relationship with nothing. Why should you be entitled to anything if the relationship ends.' 'You have to sign the agreement or you will have to move out of my house.' She did not sign the prenup on her lawyer's advice, and the man later offered her $25,000 in shares if the relationship broke down. The man, managing director of his own company, admitted in the Family Court (pictured) he had told the woman she and their newborn baby daughter would have to move out if she did not sign the domestic agreement When Ms Zagar was 37-weeks pregnant, her lawyer strongly advised her not to sign the agreement. But three days after she gave birth to their baby girl and just one day after she was released from hospital the man allegedly told her to sign the agreement or move out. In his deliberation, Justice Robert McClelland said the offer of $25,000 in shares was a 'carrot intended to influence the applicant to sign the agreement'. Justice McClelland added the offer was not 'sufficient to justify the applicant contracting out of her legislative rights, such that it would render the agreement fair, just and reasonable'. The man engaged in 'conduct that was, in all circumstances, unconscionable' to procure the agreement, Justice McClelland said. He said there was a 'material inequality in the bargaining power' of the pair, and that Ms Zagar had signed the agreement because she believed, in the circumstances, she had no other alternative. Justice McClelland (pictured) said there was a 'material inequality in the bargaining power' of the pair, and that Ms Zagar had signed the agreement because she believed, in the circumstances, she had no other alternative Ms Zagar's circumstances had 'seriously affected' her ability 'to make a judgement as to her own best interests'. 'She signed the agreement despite the clear advice of her lawyers not to do so.' He said it was voidable and ordered it be set aside. The pair split up in September 2013, and she was sent a letter of demand to vacate their home within weeks. The man also terminated her employment at his business, where she had been working in a development role 'at his discretion and under his control'. In April 2014, interim parenting and property orders were made. The orders required the man lease a two bedroom apartment for Ms Zagar and his child, which he would pay the rent and bond for until final property orders are made. He has also been paying $1,000 a month in child support for their daughter, now aged 11. Ms Zagar is now working as a retail sales assistant. An emotional Bill Clinton began saying goodbye to the Clinton Global Initiative as the first night of the three day conference drew to a close with an awards ceremony, complete with an open bar, aging rock stars and models. 'I look forward to this night every year and I was sitting here thinking, boy I'm going to miss this,' Bill Clinton said once it was his turn to take the stage during the evening's Global Citizens Awards in New York City. The night started with a quick speech by Sting and concluded with a performance by Jon Bon Jovi, while U2's Bono appeared on a panel discussion earlier in the day. David Bowie's widow, the model Iman, gave away one of the awards to 'Somalia's Mother Teresa' while Dutch beauty Doutzen Kroes walked the blue carpet. Scroll down for video Former President Bill Clinton's final Clinton Global Initiative attracted a trio of rock stars and several models to the confab's first day Rocker Jon Bon Jovi (left) joined Bill Clinton (right) onstage as he credited the ex-president for opening his eyes to charitable giving Aging rock stars who appeared at today's Clinton Global Initiative included U2's Bono (left), Sting (center) and Jon Bon Jovi (right) They were joined by models including Dutch beauty Doutzen Kroes (left) and Iman (right), David Bowie's widow who's known the Clintons since the 1990s Guests of the conference, which was funded by a number of corporate donors including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, McDonald's, Western Union and Diageo enjoyed an open bar and could drink red or white wine from purple souvenir sippy cups that were being handed out. As part of Bill Clinton parting ways with his own foundation, a move to prepare for the outcome that Hillary Clinton wins the White House in November, the Clinton Global Initiative will cease to exist after this year. For the first 10 years the conference attracted the rich and powerful, with members of both political parties, dozens of CEOs and celebrities in attendance. But last year, participation began to fall off, mainly due to the partisan nature of a presidential campaign, with one candidate's name branding the confab. Now, with Republicans suggesting that the Clinton Foundation, which the Clinton Global Initiative is part of, was a pay-to-play set-up when Hillary Clinton was at the State Department, even more people have backed off. Hillary Clinton would skip the conference for a second year in a row. Those attending the Clinton Global Initative's Global Citizens Awards were given sippy cups to slurp up red or white wine The nighttime program for Bill Clinton's final Clinton Global Initiative featured an open bar as Diageo was a sponsor Left, were longtime allies of the Clintons. Bon Jovi, accepting one of the evening's awards for his decade of work with the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, attributed his philanthropic awakening to Bill Clinton. 'I loved him from the moment I saw him on television campaigning for president in 1992,' Bon Jovi told reporters before the evening's affairs. 'When he first came onto the national scene he inspired my generation to get involved in community. It was a younger energy that came into the White House.' It was Clinton's 1993 inaugural that became the mantra for the rocker's future charity work. 'Many years ago when he said, "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America," it was inspiration to the Soul Foundation and its inception,' Bon Jovi said. While Jon Bon Jovi happily appeared at tonight's Clinton Global Citizens Awards, part of the Clinton Global Initiative, he wouldn't talk about criticism being hurled at the foundation from Republicans including Donald Trump Earlier in the day, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (left) moderated a panel that featured the rock star Bono (right) He noted how Clinton had appeared at one of Bon Jovi's first charity events in Philadelphia and 'remains a believer' today. Asked by Dailymail.com on the blue carpet to address the Clinton Foundation controversy and the comments made by Donald Trump and Republicans, the rocker demurred and wagged a finger. 'I'm not here for that,' he said and grinned. After a brief appearance from Iman, which Clinton commended reminding the audience that 'she and David [Bowie] were out with us the weekend before the election in 1992,' Bon Jovi performed for the crowd. He did a cover of the Beatles song 'Help' and later his own hit, 'Livin' on a Prayer.' When it was Clinton's turn to close out the program, he briefly got emotional talking about how the CGI was winding down. He talked about some of the people who had spoken before the confab today, including Nadia Murad, a Yazidi human rights activist who could have been killed by ISIS. 'And, I think it's fair to say, that most of you felt like me, I couldn't breathe when Nadia talked,' the former president testified. 'I literally was afraid to breathe.' 'She struggled with her English and her emotions I think more with the latter than the former,' he noted. 'We're glad Nadia survived, aren't we?' Clinton said. He complimented the Voices of Haiti choir, a group made up of only children, who accompanied the famous tenor Andrea Bocelli, and also performed. 'God those kids were great,' Clinton remarked. Rock star Jon Bon Jovi attributed Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural speech for transforming him into a philanthropist Bill Clinton was sometimes emotional during the evening's event, with one speaker - Nadia Murad - having esaped from the clutches of ISIS Rocker Jon Bon Jovi, one of the award recipients at the Clinton Global Initiative tonight, performed 'Help' by the Beatles and also 'Livin' on a Prayer' But his final comments went back to Bon Jovi. 'And one of the great gifts I'll just make this last point and we'll go home that Jon Bon Jovi has is that he can make more out of a Beatles song than anybody I know.' Clinton shared that he, his daughter Chelsea and her husband Marc had gone to the Rainbow Room for a 'delayed 70th birthday party.' The former president turned 70 on August 19. 'And if you're my age you know the lyrics to at least two dozen songs,' Clinton continued. He noted how the rocker could have sang any one of his own songs. 'But Bon Jovi sang for me on my birthday something that all our honorees have had to live by and learn,' Clinton said. 'In the darkest of times, with the deepest of divisions, with the bitterness of hatred and the stupidness of short-sightedness, the only great hit written by George Harrison: "Here Comes the Sun,"' Clinton concluded. Advertisement All that glitters is certainly not gold especially when it comes to Las Vegas. Thats what Swiss photographer Christian Lutz discovered when he visited Sin City in the winter of 2011 when it had become the unemployment capital of the country after the recession. I came at the peak of the crisis, Lutz told Time magazine. The situation would not leave me alone. I had to photograph it. So he did returning every year to roam the city at night, capturing the city's impoverished residents who live unseen, often on the street, just a stone's throw from the glitz and glamor of the Strip. His photographs are published in a new book called Insert Coins a reference to the blinking neon words that flash across slot machines in an attempt to convince patrons that they can find a shortcut to the American Dream. These images of homeless people begging on the street, a sleeping couple covered in gold paint and a sad child clutching a teddy bear - capture the reality of life beyond Vegass dazzling mirage Swiss photographer Christian Lutz captured a series of photographs showing life during the recession in Las Vegas. Above, a man wrapped in a first aid blanket and carrying a suitcase is pictured looking at one of the city's huge billboards Another photograph featured in the book 'Insert Coins' shows a man in a dress sitting in the street Swiss photographer Christian Lutz captured this image of a sad child clutching a teddy bear as he drinks a slushie A young couple are seen walking past a homeless man on a deserted street on the Las Vegas Strip The legs of a scantily clad woman are seen standing on a bar - an example of the kind of employment those who arrived in Vegas hoping to break into the entertainment industry end up doing for cash A couple are pictured sleeping on the street covered in fading gold paint in one of the striking images featured in Lutz's book I came at the peak of the crisis, Lutz said. The situation would not leave me alone. I had to photograph it His photographs are published in a new book called Insert Coins a reference to the blinking neon words that flash across slot machines in an attempt to convince patrons that they can always find a shortcut to the American Dream Another photograph shows a pair dressed in duck costumes lying on the ground with bottles of beer in their hands The father of a gay man has slammed conservative MP George Christensen for his 'homophobic' comments about lowering the legal age for anal sex. Peter Roberts, who lives in Mr Christensen's north Queensland electorate of Dawson and is a Nationals supporter, took to the MP's Facebook page to hit out at the politician who said the law change meant older men could 'prey and groom' on 16-year-old boys. 'A few Anzac years ago you bought me a beer, as a 20 plus veteran with two tours of Vietnam. If you did it now I would tip the bloody thing over your head,' Mr Roberts wrote while using his wife's Facebook account. Queensland father Peter Roberts (left with his wife, Mary, and son Dale) slammed conservative MP George Christensen on his stance on lowering the age of consent for anal sex 'The typical homophobic, they must be paedophiles. So it is alright for old men like me to try and find a younger women but not a gay man. 'I have a gay son who I am so proud of what he has achieved in his life. 'His condition, or what you want to call it, came from my father's ancestry so I have passed it on to him. 'He should have the same rights as I have to marry, to adopt if he and his partner wants to and not have clowns like you who live in the past helping to run this country and make decision for us and him. 'If you decide to come to the Reef Gateway Hotel at Cannonvale for an Anzac Day please ask for me. 'I have hacked my wife's Facebook for this as she probably would be harsher.' Roberts, who lives in Mr Christensen's north Queensland electorate of Dawson and is a Nationals supporter, made the above post on his wife's account on the MP's Facebook page Mr Robert's son Dale posted his father's comment on Twitter and since last Friday it has been retweeted almost 900 times and liked 1,700 times. He said he was 'lucky' to call Mr Roberts his parent and shared a photo of his father and mother wearing North Queensland Cowboys jerseys. Mr Roberts' response was sparked by Mr Christensen posting a story about the Queensland Government lowering the age of consent for anal sex. 'So the State Labor government just made it legal for 50 year old men to have sex with 16 year old boys,' the MP wrote. Mr Roberts' response was sparked by Mr Christensen (pictured) posting a story about the Queensland Government lowering the age of consent for anal sex 'I don't ever recall having a constituent advocate for the anal sex age of consent to be lowered nor have I ever seen a petition or protest on this issue. Where are the State Government's priorities at? 'And do we really want 16 year old boys being preyed upon and groomed by much older men for what is now legal sex?' After Mr Roberts commented on the post, Mr Christensen said he appreciated the father taking the time, adding: 'Can I assure you that my comments are not an attack on people who are same sex attracted, despite the fact they have been interpreted [mainly by the media] as such. 'I am concerned that what they have done is legalise predatory behaviour. On Tuesday NY Governor Andrew Cuomo said that all citizens - Rahami included - were innocent until proven guilty Later on Monday, Trump's campaign said the Republican nominee told Egypt's president that he has 'high regard for peace-loving Muslims' Other Republicans asked the Obama administration to classify Rahami as an enemy combatant, which would remove his constitutional rights Rahami, who is a U.S. citizen, has the right to due process under the Fifth Amendment presidential candidate also said Rahami would be treated by 'some of the best doctors in the world' and represented by ' Donald Trump spoke to a crowd in Florida on Monday telling them that under U.S. law, bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami would receive 'amazing' care while hospitalized. Trump claimed that Rahami would even 'get room service' while he is treated for gunshot wounds, which he received on Monday while being taken into custody. He also lambasted the fact Rahami, an American citizen, will be represented by a lawyer when he is tried on attempted murder charges. 'Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world,' Trump said in Fort Myers, Florida. Scroll down for video Donald Trump seemed to condemn the fact that suspected bomber Ahmad Rahami will be treated for gunshot wounds and will be appointed a lawyer Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world,' Trump said in Fort Myers, Florida Trump continued by saying Rahami 'will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room, and he'll probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is. 'On top of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer.' Because Rahami is a U.S. citizen, he is afforded his constitutional right to due process as stated and guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. Rahami faces five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two gun charges, authorities said Monday afternoon. Bail has been set at $5.2 million and he remains in hospital. Trump continued by saying Rahami 'will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room, and he'll probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is' Federal charges in the bombings have yet to be filed. Because Rahami (pictured) is a U.S. citizen, he is afforded his constitutional right to due process as stated and guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment The 28-year-old was arrested around 11am on Monday, after a bar owner in Linden, New Jersey, found him passed out in the waterproofed lobby entrance to his business and called 911. When police arrived on the scene, Rahami is said to have brandished a weapon and started shooting at the cops. Officers shot Rahami in the right shoulder and leg, and he was taken from the scene in an ambulance, handcuffed to a stretcher. Police released Rahami's picture Monday morning, saying he was wanted for questioning in connection to the Saturday bombings in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, as well as the foiled bombing of the Elizabeth, New Jersey train station on Sunday. Law enforcement say it was fingerprints left behind on an unexploded pressure cooker bomb in Manhattan that led them to him. Twenty-nine people were injured when another bomb placed a few blocks away was detonated Saturday night. The 28-year-old Rahami (pictured) was arrested around 11am on Monday, after a bar owner in Linden, New Jersey, found him passed out in the waterproofed lobby entrance to his business and called 911 'His case will go through the various court systems for years. And in the end, people will forget, and his punishment won't be what it once would have been,' Trump said. 'What a sad situation.' South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham echoed Trump's sentiments and asked the Obama administration to suspend Rahami's constitutional rights. If labeled an enemy combatant, Rahami would lose his rights to a lawyer. However, on Tuesday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said all American citizens - Rahami included - should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty and allowed a fair trial. I understand the anger that Donald Trump is feeling,' he told CNN. But, he continued, 'this is America, this is our system, and you are innocent until proven guilty and you have a right to counsel. 'And that is the Constitution of the United States of America. And that is what makes us who we are. That's what makes us special. If that right is given up, he said, 'then you have defeated yourself. That is the code of democracy and freedom. That is what (terrorists) resent about us. So don't lose your soul in the process. 'Because that is the soul of America.' He concluded by saying that he was an attorney general and assistant district attorney. 'Maybe the government is wrong. It's possible. So you give him a trial.' 'Whatever happens after, that's not who we are,' he concluded. Later in the day, Trump's campaign said the Republican nominee told Egypt's president that he has 'high regard for peace-loving Muslims' And on Monday Senator Elizabeth Warren bemoaned Trump's attitude to MSNBC. 'This is what we fight for. We fight for our Constitution. We fight for our basic humanity. 'And Donald Trump says "Let's throw all that out the window and let's do the maximum amount of fearmongering, let's do the maximum amount of turn each other against each other." 'That's what Donald Trump wants,' she said, 'because for Donald Trump it's all politics, all the time. And that's why he can't be President of the United States.' Later Monday, Trump's campaign said the Republican nominee told Egypt's president that he has 'high regard for peace-loving Muslims.' Trump met Monday night with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at the United Nations General Assembly. Trump promised El-Sissi that, were he to be elected, the United States would be 'a loyal friend' to Egypt, according to a readout of the meeting provided by the Republican's campaign. He also said they shared a 'common enemy' when fighting 'radical Islamic terrorism.' The summary of the meeting makes no mention of whether Trump discussed his plan to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from entering the United States. This is the astonishing moment shocked onlookers at an air show watch a fighter jet disintegrate right in front of their eyes. Fortunately it is just a very large and realistic model, so no-one is inside. A dramatic video shows the 1:2 scale version of a Saab Gripen fighter plane crumbling mid-flight. A 1:2 scale model of a Saab Gripen fighter plane enters the runaway at an air show A viral video shows the model jet taking off smoothly at what seems to be a German airfield It appears to be taking part in a show for model airplanes at a German airfield. At first it takes off smoothly and completes several basic aerial manoeuvres. But something at the rear of the plane suddenly breaks off, and soon the rest follows. Cries can be heard from the crowd as the whole jet fragments into a mass of debris. The XXXL model completes several basic aerial manoeuvres in front of the crowd below Suddenly something at the rear of the plane breaks off, and soon the rest follows As a group rush over towards the scattered remains of the plane, a man says over the speakers: 'Sorry for this mishap the emergency team is on the way.' The video of the half-scale plane's destruction was posted to YouTube by RC Media World on September 17. It currently has over 700,000 views. The description of the video states the model is the XXXL Scale Model Turbine Jet Saab Gripen, weighing 100kg and measuring 8 metres in length. Cries can be heard from the crowd as the whole jet fragments into a mass of debris The video of the half-scale plane's destruction currently has over 700,000 views The full size Gripen is a Swedish fighter jet manufactured by the aerospace company Saab. A real estate agent has been jailed for at least 18 years for beating his former partner to death in a frenzied attack while she was asleep in her bed. Ricardo Francis Dasilva, 66, was found guilty of using an unidentified weapon to murder well-regarded teacher Amanda Carter, 46, in May 2010 at her NSW Central Coast home after becoming angry over the ending of their relationship. In sentencing him on Tuesday, Justice Ian Harrison said during the violent attack Ms Carter's face was 'beaten so ferociously her face was unrecognisable'. A real estate agent has been jailed for at least 18 years for beating his former partner and well-regarded teacher Amanda Carter (pictured) to death in a frenzied attack while she slept Ms Carter's son Shaun spoke to media outside the Supreme Court after Dasilva was jailed Her daughter found her body a day after the attack and called paramedics who were unable to save the mother-of-three. Dasilva will not be eligible for parole until 2031 and said he would appeal the conviction, The ABC reported. The court heard Dasilva sent anonymous letters to newspapers and to Ms Carter's school claiming she was in a sexual relationship with a student. The mathematics teacher ended the relationship after suspecting he had an affair, but Dasilva broke into her house on two occasions. Dasilva (pictured) will not be eligible for parole until 2031 and said he would appeal the conviction A pregnant young woman will give birth behind bars after being convicted for dealing meth to the tune of a $3000 profit per week. In the Bundaberg Supreme Court on Monday, Jessica Anne Robertson, whose baby is due in November, pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine during a three-month period. The 24-year-old dealt the drug to as many as 20 people and when her property was raided in September 2014, police found 5.9 grams of it, plus records of debts and payments, the News Mail reported. Jessica Anne Robertson, 24, will give birth in prison after pleading guilty to dealing drugs Police also found a 'tick sheet' detailing transactions which showed she was waiting on payment of about $2300 by customers and owed suppliers about $4500. About 12,800 messages on her phone detailed drug transactions. However, the quantity was acknowledged as 'street level'. The court heard how Robertson's life had began a downward spiral when she was about 18, after becoming friends with the wrong crowd. She later lost her job as a real estate agent and began dealing in July 2014 to support her own habit. A statement from her mother detailed how she'd physically changed, developing sores on her face and also estranged herself from her family, News Mail reported. Judge Debra Mullins said: 'It must have been very difficult for her to describe her daughter as a junkie in order to rationalise your behaviour towards her while you were in the the throes of your addition to methamphetmine'. The court also heard she had checked in to a live-in rehabilitation clinic for three months and was committing to getting clean. 'Hopefully you will be able to use motherhood as another incentive to remain drug free,' Judge Mullins said. She was sentenced to three years, nine months prison, suspended after a year. Robertson was sentenced in the Bundaberg Supreme Court on Monday The 24-year-old dealt methamphetamine (pictured) to as many as 20 people and when her property was raided in September 2014, police found 5.9 grams of it, plus records of debts and payments Man in Perth withdrew money for a homeless woman to travel home in NZ In a random act of kindness a man withdrew enough cash for a homeless Australian woman to travel home to her family in New Zealand. Footage of the touching moment in Northbridge, Perth, on Saturday was captured by a member of the Brothers and Sisters group which aims to make a difference in this world. A member of the public Daniel Roose met Jess just moments before he went to a nearby ATM to withdraw a wad of $50 notes. Daniel Roose (left) withdrew enough money to send a homeless woman (right) home to see her family in New Zealand Jess is a Kiwi. We had seen her before in the inner part of Perth and were surprised to see her in Northbridge, homeless advocate, Siham Carollisen said. As it turned out, Jess is on a mission right now. Having recently reconnected with her family back home after being estranged for a long time, she has decided it is time to return to New Zealand. She was out in the streets of Perth, begging in the hopes of raising money. If not for a place to live, then for a ticket home. Ms Carollison explained Jess is unable to receive any support from the government due to not being an Australian resident. As we sat we were approached by a man. At first taken aback by his direct approach, he asked why she was there, why we were with her and what we get out of it, Ms Carollisen said. He listened, and without another word, held out his hand and said come with me Ill sort you out He led her to an ATM and gave her enough money for one ticket home. Jess (right) is unable to receive benefits from the Australian government due to not being a citizen Siham Carollisen (left) and Mirwan Carollisen (right) from Brothers and Sisters are pictured in Northbridge, Perth, aiding the homeless Mr Roose was not approached by the group but curiously asked about Jess's circumstances before deciding to help her. We did not influence him. We barely spoke to him. As Jess told him stories of the reality of living on the streets it was clear he was affected,' Ms Carollisen said. In response to the video going viral Mr Roose was humble noting he simply wanted to help Jess. A man or human doesn't need recognition for a good deed. Just the thought of helping someone can be a priceless act, Mr Roose said. I hope she made it home and I wish I could of [sic] done more for others. Good luck missy I hope it's a start of good things for you. In response to the video going viral Mr Roose was humble noting he simply wanted to help Jess Having recently reconnected with her family back home after being estranged for a long time, Jess (above) decided it was time to return to New Zealand Users on social media who had met Jess were happy to learn she was heading back home. 'I know Jess - I had regularly bought her food and coffee and talked to her, got to know her,' Ms Newson said. 'I can genuinely say that she has had a really tough life, through little fault of her own and has been battling for the last few years to get back on her feet. 'I'm glad she has reconnected with her family and I hope she gets home and off the streets.' Many users also praised Mr Roose for his kindness. 'I love that he wasnt looking for recognition, just being an awesome man,' Mr Rosset said. 'What a lovely thing to do, I hope he gets it back tenfold,' Ms Larkin said. Users on social media praised Mr Roose for doing such an act without the want of recognition Legal notices 1) The material on this blog has been created by W. Blake Gray, is protected under US copyright law and cannot be used without his permission. 2) To the FTC: In the course of my work, I accept free samples, meals and other considerations. I do not trade positive reviews or coverage for money or any financial considerations, unlike certain famous print publications which have for-profit wine clubs but, because they are not classified as "bloggers," are not required by the FTC to post a notice like this. Her naked body was found washed on the banks of a river a week later Tiahleigh was last seen in Logan south of Brisbane in October last year He has also been arrested for attempting to pervert the course of justice A 19-year-old man has been arrested for incest and two charges of perjury Tiahleigh Palmer's foster father, 56, is to be charged with alleged murder Tiahleigh Palmer's foster father has been charged with murder and his 19-year-old son has been charged with incest. Rick Thorburn, 56, collapsed shortly after he was charged with the 12-year-old school girl's murder and interfering with a corpse at the Beenleigh Watch House, south of Brisbane, just before 4pm on Tuesday. Police said his 19-year-old son, Tialeigh's foster brother, was also charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury. This comes 11 months after Tiahleigh's naked and decomposing body was found dumped on a river bank, sparking outcry from the tight-knit community in Logan. Tiahleigh's foster mother, 54-year-old Julene Thorburn, and her other foster brother, aged 20, were also arrested and are continuing to assist police with their inquiries. Scroll down for video Four people have been taken into police custody over the murder of Tiahleigh Palmer, 12 A 56-year-old man is pictured being taken into police custody on Tuesday morning Tiahleigh Palmer's foster father has been charged with her alleged murder as three others remain in custody for questioning The foster father is pictured being taken away in a police van to the Police Watchhouse in Brisbane to be charged with murder The 56-year-old foster carer was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition after losing consciousness while in custody, while the rest of the family remain at the Beenleigh Watch House. Both men are due to appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday. They were denied bail and remanded in custody. Detective Inspector Damien Hansen said Mr Thorburn had not told police anything, while his wife, who has not been charged, is cooperating at this stage. Police confirmed the blue Ford XR6 seized by police for forensic examination last week belonged to the 56-year-old foster father. The 2009 model car had been sold and police confirmed its current owner was not connected. The foster parents were taken into custody wearing handcuffs on Tuesday. A woman is taken into police custody wearing handcuffs on Tuesday An unidentified man is taken into custody on Tuesday as four people speak with police All four people are known to one another and Tiahleigh, Det Insp Hansen confirmed, adding that they were all located at various addresses in Logan on Tuesday morning. Det Insp Hansen said it was a tragic event and said he was pleased with the way the investigation had developed. The Det Insp later told a press conference, about 4pm Tuesday, police had received more than 3,500 separate lines of enquiry during the investigation. He said the investigation had taken 11-months to ensure they had sufficient evidence to go before a court. 'Some jobs aren't easy. It was a real whodunit type investigation. 'As far as were looking at Tias death, at this stage, is by no means is this over. Theres a lot of work to go over yet.' Detective Inspector Damien Hansen said the foster father had not told police anything Tiahleigh's foster father, 56, is escorted by police from the Logan Central Police Station to the Police Watchhouse in Brisbane The man is arrested to be charged with Tiahleigh's alleged murder Det Insp Hansen thanked the Logan community for being 'fantastic' and 'strong'. He said the murder investigation had 'galvanised the community'. South Eastern Regional Crime Coordinator Superintendent Kerry Johnson said detectives had been working for 11-months towards this outcome. 'A team of dedicated detectives and police officers from the Homicide Group and the Logan District have been working long and endless hours to locate those responsible for her death,' Detective Superintendent Johnson said. 'Make no mistake, this is an investigation that is close to the hearts of all officers whose sole aim was to bring her alleged killer to justice. 'The QPS values its relationship with the media and recognises that a strong two-way partnership is vital in order to appeal for public's help in solving crime. A woman is pictured being taken into police custody on Tuesday morning 'We want to thank them and the public for their assistance in this matter. 'I also want to particularly thank the Crime and Corruption Commission for their continuing support and assistance.' Tiahleigh, 12, was last seen being dropped off by her foster carer in the morning at Marsden State High School, south of Brisbane on October 30 last year. The schoolgirl's naked decomposing body was found on November 5, along the banks of the Pimpana River, 40 minutes away from her school. Tiahleigh's death resulted in a review earlier this year leading to a change in reforms for children who go missing from out-of-home care, reported Nine News. Last week, a blue Ford XR6 sedan was taken by Queensland Police for forensic examination Search crews are pictured scouring bushland during the investigation last year Tiahleigh's body was found on the bank of Pimpana River, 40 minutes away from her school where she was last seen a week prior Under the existing protocols police took almost a week before they released a missing persons alert. But all 29 recommendations admitted in a Queensland Family and Child Commission report were implemented. 'The report highlights that more can be done to improve whole-of-government systems and ensure more timely and co-ordinated responses for children missing from out-of-home care,' Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in July. The Facebook page that was set up to find Tiahleigh when she was still considered a missing person is still operational. Tiahleigh, 12, was last seen being dropped off by her foster carer in the morning at Marsden State High School, south of Brisbane on October 30 last year TIMELINE OF TIAHLEIGH PALMER'S MURDER October 30, 2015: Tiahleigh was last seen about 8.10am when her foster father dropped her off near Marsden State High School. November 5: Police appealed to the public for information on her disappearance and released an image of the 12-year-old. November 6: Fisherman found her body on the banks of Pimpama River. She was no longer wearing her school uniform. November 14: About 600 people attended her funeral. February 15, 2016: A $250,000 reward for information which would lead to an arrest was offered by police. March 23: Police forensically examined an empty house in Logan. July 11: Queensland schools became required to inform parents and carers if a child was absent. September 13: A blue Ford XR6 was seized by police and forensically examined. September 19: Tiahleigh's mother said the car belonged to her foster carers. September 20: Four people were taken into custody and her foster father was charged with her alleged murder. Advertisement The schoolgirl's naked decomposing body was found on November 5, along the banks of the Pimpana River, 40 minutes away from her school Alecia Schmuhl (above) cried as she pleaded guilty to five charges relating to an attack on her former boss and his wife A fired lawyer cried as she pleaded guilty to five charges relating to a brutal revenge attack on her former boss and his wife. Alecia Schmuhl, 32, of Springfield, Virginia, sobbed as she entered her guilty pleas in a Fairfax County courtroom on Monday. Her plea agreement with prosecutors means she faces a prison sentence of 10 to 45 years - far less than the two life terms plus 98 years that her husband Andrew Schmuhl was handed after a lengthy trial in June, according to the Washington Post. He was found guilty of aggravated malicious wounding, using a firearm and burglary in the incident on November 9, 2014. 'Both Alecia and Andrew Schmuhl are deeply culpable,' Casey Lingan, chief deputy commonwealth's attorney for Fairfax County, said after the hearing. 'They brought that terror on November 9.' Alecia and Andrew Schmuhl (pictured) were arrested and charged for an attack on Alecia's former boss and his wife in November 2014 But Andrew's lawyer claimed that Alecia was the 'mastermind of the attack' on Leo Fisher and Susan Duncan and had been outside the home directing her husband by cell phone. The Schmuls were accused of invading the home of Susan Duncan and Leo Fisher and subjecting them to a three-hour torture session, leaving them both for dead. Andrew was later arrested wearing just an adult diaper and told the court that he didn't remember the events due to being on a cocktail of 14 prescription drugs. He told the court that he didn't deny the attacks - but that medication taken for chronic back pain, high blood pressure, persistent insomnia, incontinence and uncontrollable sweat meant he didn't remember them either, The Post reported. 'I typically don't break into people's houses,' Schmuhl said from the witness stand as he testified in his own defense. Andrew Schmuhl (left) says that a mix of 14 prescription drugs means he didn't remember the attack on Leo Fisher (right) and his wife in November 2014. Fisher had fired Schmuhl's wife weeks earlier 'I don't really remember wearing a diaper,' he said. 'Honestly I could have been wearing a dress and not realized it.' In fact, he said he didn't remember any of the details that Duncan and Fisher had relayed to police after surviving the attacks: tasering Fisher, tying the couple up with zip ties, shooting Duncan in the arm and stabbing them both. When presented with evidence that he and his wife - who prosecutors said was outside when the attacks occurred - had spent November 7 to 9, 2014, buying disposable cell phones, a taser and diapers, he said he couldn't recall that either. His lawyers tried to build a defense of 'involuntary intoxication' in the hope of helping Schmuhl avoid up to 108 years in prison. It was claimed that Schmuhl was taking painkillers Fentanyl and Dilaudid for a back injury sustained while in the army, as well as Xanax for insomnia and Clomid for low testosterone. He said that Clomid gave him a 'weird, disconnected, fuzzy feeling, on top of the confusion the other drugs were causing. It was weirdness on top of weirdness.' But the judge ruled that his lawyers' story was too similar to an insanity defense - something they had not given enough notice for. So when a psychiatrist from the University of Virginia stepped up to give testimony about the cocktail of drugs Schmuhl was taking, she could not talk specifically about his case. Andrew said that he suffers a debilitating physical pains that began when he hurt his back doing push-ups on ice while in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps in 2010; he left the army in 2012. He did not explain how the exercise was performed or how that had led to him taking a cocktail of 14 different drugs. However, when questioned by the prosecution he admitted remembering repairing his roof with his mother two weeks before the attacks, and playing in a kickball tournament in the summer of 2014. According to Duncan and Fisher, the events of November 9 began when Andrew rang their doorbell. Fisher opened the door only to be hit with taser darts that felled him. He and his wife were then up with tied with zip-ties and taken to their bedroom. It was at that point, Fisher said, that he recognized him as the husband of Alecia Schmuhl, whom he had fired from Bean, Kinney & Korman, the law firm of which he is a partner, weeks earlier. Fisher and wife Susan Duncan were found at their $1 million McLean home (pictured) with multiple stab wounds to their upper bodies in November 2014. Duncan had been shot in the arm and Fisher was tasered He made them lie on the bed while he quizzed them about the law firm and Fisher's supposed ties to a Mexican cartel and a murder-for-hire plot. Duncan was allowed to go to the bathroom, but no returned she said she found Schmuhl on top of her husband, cutting his throat. In May, a weeping Duncan told the court: 'I saw he had a gun in his hand. I felt the bullet. I fell down on the floor.' The man then left the bedroom, she said, according to The Washington Post.. Duncan had been grazed by the shot. But when she began crawling across the bed to reach a phone, Andrew jumped on her and began stabbing her repeatedly. He got off, then got back on top and began stabbing again. This repeated four times, said Duncan. Finally, she played dead and the man left the room. Duncan then pressed the home panic button and called 911, but said she saw Andrew was still in the $1million home, on the 900 block of Spencer Rd. The Schmuhls were eventually found by police in a car at a Springfield strip mall. Andrew was found wearing only a diaper, while his bloody clothes, a taser, and a shopping list of assault items were found stashed elsewhere in the vehicle. Police did not expect Duncan and Fisher to survive, but trauma surgeons at Inova Fairfax Hospital saved their lives. In May, Andrew's lawyer argued that his actions during the three-hour attack were 'so absurd' that he was obviously unaware of what he was doing. The man accused of tipping hydrochloric acid into a lubricant dispenser at a Sydney gay sex club has appeared in court. Hengky Irawan, 62, tried to hide behind a yellow envelope as he emerged from Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday morning. Police allege Mr Irawan entered the suburban Aarows sex club on Bridge St at Rydalmere, in Sydney's north-west, a month ago and attempted to pour the acid into the dispensers. Hengky Irawan, 62, tried to hide behind a yellow envelope as he emerged from Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday morning However, police said the dispensers were alarmed and he was caught by security guards at the 24-hour 'discreet gay, bi and swingers club'. The Mortdale man's lawyer asked the court for a six-week adjournment so he could undergo a psychiatric assessment for a mental health application. He has been charged with administering poisons with intent to cause pain, entering a licensed premises to commit an indictable offence and intentionally or recklessly damaging the dispenser. Police allege he drove to the Bridge St property on a suspended driver's licence at 10pm on August 27. He has also been charged with driving on a suspended licence. The man is accused of tipping hydrochloric acid into a lubricant dispenser at a Sydney gay sex club has appeared in court Police allege Mr Irawan entered the suburban Aarows sex club (pictured) on Bridge St, Rydalmere a month ago and attempted to pour the acid into the dispensers But police said the dispensers were alarmed and he was caught by security guards at the 24-hour club. Pictured is inside the club He then allegedly entered the multi-storey club, which has a sauna, a spa and room to work out, charge sheets show. Investigators allege he tried to administer the acid in the dispenser about an hour and 40 minutes later, at 11.48pm, and damaged the device in the process. In a desperate bid to stop himself being recognised, after court on Monday Mr Irawan fled down the streets of the city and darted into stores. He appeared at court alone, in a white dress shirt and dark pants and declined to comment. The matter returns to court November 1. He has been charged with administering poisons with intent to cause pain and entering a licensed premises to commit an indictable offence Inside one of the rooms at Aarows Nightclub which is a 'discreet gay, bi and swingers club' A notorious cult leader convicted of child sex offences has revealed what went on behind bars as he proclaimed his innocence in a bizarre YouTube video. Shoalhaven cult leader William 'Little Pebble' Kamm described how he had human faeces and urine thrown at him by fellow inmates in Goulburn jail when he was serving nine years for raping two 15-year-old girls. In a 37-minute video, titled 'Conversation with William Kamm', the 66-year-old spoke out about how he was treated inside the walls of the prison cell. Scroll down for video Cult leader and convicted sex offender William 'Little Pebble' Kamm (pictured) has released a bizarre video detailing his time behind bars and how he was treated by fellow inmates He described Goulburn jail as 'one of the worst jails in Australia' and believed he was targeted because of his 'high-profile' status. 'As soon as you're tagged with a sexual offence you're honoured as the worst of the worst,' Kamm said in the video, which was uploaded on August 23. 'Inmates would then climb up the fence - about 15 to 20 feet high - and take rocks, milk cartons with urine and hard apples and throw it at you and excretions (sic) at you while you were walking to get to the visiting area. 'They did this to me many times and the [prison] officers just stood back [and] did nothing.' Kamm also revealed how he would receive death threats from other inmates - and when he notified authorities, they simply told him to 'just watch your back'. 'Well it's not exactly easy to watch your back when half of the place hates your guts,' he said. The cult leader (pictured being interviewed on A Current Affair) was released from prison last year after serving nine years for raping two 15-year-old girls He described how he had human faeces and urine thrown at him by fellow inmates in jail Kamm claimed he was placed in a cell with another prisoner, who had murdered his fellow inmate after cutting him up into pieces before discarding his body. 'I was placed in a cell with a person who had murdered his inmate, cut him into pieces and flushed him down the toilet,' he claimed. 'And the only reason they could find out that that actually happened was, the bones were too big to flush down the toilet so they placed me in the cell with that person. They don't really care, there's no real welfare for the inmates.' He also shifted the blame on the media for his conviction, claiming his trials were overshadowed by the media coverage that was made against him. 'We fought strenuously in court but we had really no chance because of the media, who publicised (the case) constantly,' he claimed. 'Therefore to have a fair trial would be impossible but we couldn't do anything about it and we already knew afterwards there would be no chance for me in the court.' Last month, Kamm made an appeal in the NSW Supreme Court to stop monitoring his movements after he was ordered to wear an electronic tracing device Last month, Kamm made an appeal in the NSW Supreme Court to stop monitoring his movements after he was ordered to wear an electronic tracing device. He placed under a supervision order over concerns he could reoffend or rejoin with members of his sect on the South Coast. As part of his strict parole conditions, Kamm must also stay away from females under the age of 17, adhere to a curfew and remain in NSW but avoid Nowra. However, Kamm appeared confident in the video, claiming his supervision order could be overturned in the next year. 'My understanding through my lawyers and through those higher up is that my conviction should be overturned in these next 12 months or so,' he said. The family of Derryn's donor are disappointed his liver is being polluted The shock-jock's ex partner said he down played his alcohol consumption He says he asked doctors for permission to drink again after the operation Natasha Chadwick, 36, claims he has been drinking for more than a year Hinch's former flame revealed he was 'off the wagon' on Sunday night The sister of the man whose liver was donated to Senator Derryn Hinch says she is upset the former alcoholic was drinking less than five years after her received a life-saving liver transplant. Hinch, 72, was two weeks away from death when he received a second chance from Heath Gardners family in the form of a healthy liver in 2011. Heaths sister, Kimberly Gardner, has admitted she is disappointed Hinch is back on the booze. It is upsetting to think he may be polluting my brothers liver, Ms Gardner said. Mr Gardner's death was sudden and unexpected, and left his mother, father and two sisters devastated. Scroll down for video Derryn Hinch (left) admitted he has fallen off the wagon after his ex-girlfriend Natasha Chadwick (right) exposed his drinking habits five years after his lifesaving liver transplant Natasha Chadwick has slammed Derryn Hinch's claims he only had watered down drinks on special occasions Heath Gardner passed away at 27, his sister Kimberly has said she trusts Derryn to make better decisions going forward But she was also willing to give the former shock-jock - who claimed to only drink watered down wine on special occasions - the benefit of doubt. Alcoholism is a tough addiction to kick, although Derryn came very close to his own death, I suppose it is easy to fall back into your old ways. I have all faith in Derryn and the choices and decisions he will continue to make in the future. Mr Gardner's other sister, Melanie, has also reacted to the news Hinch is drinking again. 'Thanks to my brother Derryn has a second chance at life and I hope he takes it and makes the most of it.' Mr Gardner's mother Lynda Yendall described Derryn as 'a human being who has and will have a life time battle with alcoholism' before speaking out to support him. 'I do not regret for 1 (sic) second that he received Heath's liver as there are far more positive things that have come out of it,' she wrote. Hinchs drinking habits were thrust into the spotlight when his former flame, Natasha Chadwick, Tweeted he had been back on booze for over 12 months. Natasha Chadwick appears to share a drink with Derryn Hinch in November 2014 Kimberly Gardner, pictured, said Alcoholism is a tough addiction to kick, although Derryn came very close to his own death, I suppose it is easy to fall back into your old ways'. Ms Gardner admitted she was disappointed Hinch had been drinking but also acknowledged his drinking habit would be tough to beat Hinch, who is a self-confessed alcoholic, then came out to claim he only drank watered down alcohol and he gained permission from his doctor, The Herald Sun reports. This claim has been slammed by the chairman of the Australian Liver Foundation, Mike Ahern, who told Daily Mail Australia no doctor would advise anyone with a liver transplant to consume alcohol. He is never going to win the argument that it is okay to drink after a liver transplant, Mr Ahern said. He says Senator Hinch needs to respect his second chance at life. 'It is not a question of a new liver, a new life and now that clears the slate and I can start it all over again that's not any advice a competent doctor would give anyone,' Mr Ahern said. He was outed on Twitter by his former flame who shamed Senator Hinch for disregarding the vow he made to stop drinking after his alcoholism almost took his life Mr Ahern also said Hinch needs to admit he is an alcoholic and 'get off the booze completely' after the former shock-jock admitted to falling off the wagon when his former flame Natasha Chadwick, 36, exposed his drinking habits on Twitter. 'When you are lucky enough to get a liver transplant it is universally accepted and counselled to you that you are lucky, you are fortunate and you should respect the person that has given it to you,' Mr Ahern said. Mike Ahern, the chairman for the Australian Liver Foundation 'There is a list of people on priority who are waiting and some of those won't get a liver because there is not enough.' Mr Ahern said anyone with alcoholic liver disease is an alcoholic and they have to stop drinking or they will go back down the same path and damage their new liver. Ms Chadwick publicly shamed Senator Hinch for disregarding the vow he made to stop drinking after his alcoholism almost took his life. 'Derryn Hinch has been back on booze 12+ months. So much for respecting organ donors gift of life. Fave wine, cheap Gossips. No loyalty,' she posted on Sunday. When Hinch attempted to clarify how much he drank by saying it was watered down and for special occasions Ms Chadwick hit back. 'Playing it down. Not surprised. Not always diluted. Not only special occasions. But he's a politician. Lies are acceptable,' she wrote. Senator Hinch has continued the public stoush by telling 3AW he is being subjected to the 'bunny boiler' treatment. Senator Hinch conceded he had enjoyed a tipple since receiving Heath Gardner's liver, but clarified that it was watered down and he had sought his surgeon's permission before doing so, the Herald Sun reported. Senator Hinch conceded he had enjoyed a tipple since receiving Heath Gardner's liver, but clarified that it was watered down and he had sought his surgeon's permission before doing so But Ms Chadwick and Mr Ahern have both hit out against Senator Hinch's claims. 'I've had the odd glass of wine, perhaps one-third wine and two-thirds water, with Natasha at birthdays and at events like Christmas,' Senator Hinch said. Ms Chadwick, who spent two years with Hinch, said they recently shared a wine and she had seen him drink a light beer on the night of his maiden speech, where he humbly acknowledged the sacrifice his donor's had family made to save his life. Drinking once receiving a liver transplant is considered 'contraindications' and recipients are advised to abstain permanently from alcohol after the surgery, according to the Transplant Society of Australia and New Zealand. But Ms Chadwick said they recently shared a wine and she had seen him drink a light beer on the night of his maiden speech (pictured), where he acknowledged the sacrifice his donor's had family made to save his life Hinch required the transplant after his alcoholism caused him to develop advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer Hinch required the transplant after his alcoholism caused him to develop advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer. Ms Chadwick, who now lives in New Zealand, said Senator Hinch followed protocol and stuck to non-alcoholic beer and wine after the surgery but had started adding alcohol to his drinks after their dramatic break up in March. 'Since then he's been back on it regularly, starting the day with non-alcoholic beer for breakfast, then moving to his Edenvale non-alcoholic wine and then moving on to harder stuff,' a source told the Herald Sun. 'He's even spent an afternoon at a pub in Redfern in Sydney and come home stinking of alcohol,' they added. Ms Chadwick said Senator Hinch followed protocol and stuck to non-alcoholic beverages after the surgery but had started adding alcohol to his drinks after their dramatic break up in March The television producer stood by Hinch when he served 50 days in prison at the beginning of 2014 for refusing to pay a fine 'on principle' he incurred after breaching a suppression order about the killer of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher. She posted 37 loved-up photographs of their relationship to social media following their 2015 break up along with a warm message acknowledging their time together. 'A look back at some highlights and low points of the last two years with the beautiful DH,' she wrote, adding she was 'devastated' but ready to rebuild her life. The producer stood by Hinch when he served 50 days in prison in 2014 for refusing to pay a fine he incurred after breaching a suppression order about Jill Meagher's killer She posted 37 loved-up photographs of their relationship to social media following their 2015 break up along with a warm message acknowledging their time together But her support appears to have turned to disdain, with the 36-year-old posting a cryptic tweet on Monday night making another reference to 'loyalty', as she did on Sunday when revealing Hinch's drinking habits. 'Loyalty is a two way street. Treat people the way you like to be treated & don't mistake kindness for weakness,' she wrote alongside an image that said: 'There's something wrong with your character if 'opportunity' controls your loyalty.' Ms Chadwick has not commented on Hinch's drinking habits since posting the tweets. There are no clues as to how six staffordshire terrier puppies died after they were abandoned in a box by the side of a road. Only one of the litter of pups survived the shocking incident in June, after she chewed her way free from the vacuum cleaner box left on the side of Mt Larcom Road, in the Queensland city of Gladstone. Her new owner, who didn't wished to be named, told the Gladstone Observer that the little staffy was doing well after her traumatic start in life. 'She was still so skinny and timid, but, after a few days of constant cuddles and being with us, she settled right in,' she said. Only one staffordshire terrier puppy survived after being abandoned on the side of the road. Jessie's (pictured) six brothers and sisters died after they were left in a vacuum cleaner box Jessie chewed her way free from the vacuum cleaner box left on the side of Mt Larcom Road, in the Queensland city of Gladstone (pictured) RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty told Daily Mail Australia there had been no new leads since the gruesome discovery. 'We often have to rely on people coming forward for cases like this,' he said. Facebook user Pedro de Pacas found the box containing the litter, after seeing it by the side of the road for three days. 'It's hard to believe that filth like you exist in today's society when there are so many other options available to dispose of unwanted pets humanely.' Autopsies on the puppies revealed no new information, but it's believed they succumbed to dehydration and starvation while trapped inside the box. The surviving puppy, named Jessie, is growing well and is healthy according to her new owner, and she even gets on well with their other staffy Jake. '(They) get along fantastic, although the cats don't see the chasing as such a catch but they love each other,' her owner said. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through their news agency Dahir Ahmed Adan moved to the US from Somalia aged 3 months The family of an ISIS knifeman who was shot dead by an off duty police officer after stabbing ten people in a Minnesota mall described him as 'the most assimilated guy in the neighborhood'. Somali born Dahir Ahmed Adan told his family he was going out to pick up a new iPhone, but instead put on a security guard uniform and attacked random strangers in the mall. The 22-year-old attacker armed himself with a kitchen knife before making his way to the mall. A spokesman for the family of 22-year-old Dahir Adan, he man believed to be responsible for the stabbings at a Minnesota mall on Saturday, read from a statement Monday that said the family is 'devastated by the incomprehensible tragic event' Members of the Somali community in St Cloud, Minnesota, pictured, held a press conference where they expressed their regret over last Saturday's attack by Dahir Adan During Saturday's frenzied attack, Adan wounded ten people before he was shot dead by an off-duty officer. Friends have described him as an honor student in high school who worked part time as a security guard. Abdul Kulane, a community advocate for St Cloud's Somali community said: 'We have a thirst for answers. What was his motivation? What happened?' Authorities have released little information about Adan but say they are investigating the attacks as a potential act of terrorism. An ISIS-run news agency claimed the attacker was a 'soldier' for the group. One victim, Ryan Schliep, told WCCO-TV that Adan 'just walked right at me' before quickly stabbing Schliep in the head. 'He looked just blank in the eyes like he wasn't even there,' Schliep said. Abdulwahid Osman, the lawyer for the family of Dahir Ahmed Adan released a statement claiming they are deeply sorry for their son's actions and said they are devastated by his death Jama Alimad, a Somali community advocate and friend of the family, told the Star Tribune that Adan was more into sports than religion, describing him as 'the most assimilated kid in the neighborhood'. 'He was an A student. He was a tutor. He was employed,' Alimad told the newspaper. A spokesman for the family, Abdi Wahid Osman, read from a statement expressing condolences for the injured and anyone else who was impacted. 'As we mourn the death of our son, Dahir Adan, who was very dear to us, we are in deep shock as everyone else is in the state of Minnesota,' the statement said. Adan had been recently worked part-time by the security firm Securitas, and he was assigned for a few months to an Electrolux factory near the mall, Electrolux spokeswoman Eloise Hale said. A statement from Securitas said he resigned from the company in June. A spokesman for St. Cloud State University confirmed Adan was a student majoring in information systems, but hasn't been enrolled since the spring semester. St. Cloud, Minnesota Police Chief William Blair Anderson said Adan was working alone St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said the attacker began stabbing people right after entering the mall. The victims included eight men, one woman and a 15-year-old girl. Anderson also said the attack appeared to be the work of one person and there was no sign the attacker was radicalized or communicated with any terrorist group. FBI Special Agent in Charge Rick Thornton said the attack is being investigated as a 'potential act of terrorism'. Authorities were digging into Adan's background and possible motives, looking at social media accounts and electronic devices and talking to his associates, Thornton said. Haji Yusuf, who is part of UniteCloud, a local group founded to tackle racial and ethnic tension in the city, said he spoke with Adan's parents and was told Adan went to the mall to pick up an iPhone. Yusuf said Adan seemed happy when left the home, and that was the last time his parents saw him. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, left, has warned against any backlash targeting the state's 57,000 Somali community which is the largest in the United States with many in St Cloud A person at the T-Mobile store where Yusuf said Adan had gone declined to comment or take a message for his supervisor. If the stabbings are ultimately deemed a terrorist act, it would be the first carried out by a Somali on US soil. President Barack Obama said the stabbings had no apparent connection to weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. Minnesota has the nation's largest Somali population, an estimated 57,000 people. Both Anderson and Governor Mark Dayton warned against a possible backlash due to the stabbings, especially in St. Cloud, where Somalis in the 65,000-resident city about 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis have spoken about mistreatment in the past. Yusuf said: 'It's going to be tough times. We know it's going to be a long winter for this community.' Haji Yusuf, a community activist, said Adan had gone to the mall to pick up an iPhone Yusuf, community director for the social tolerance group UniteCloud, has been working with Adan's family. Yusuf told WCCO-TV that Adan had gone to Crossroads Center to get a new phone and 'was very happy' upon leaving home. He says Adan's family doesn't know what happened. A person who answered the phone at the T-Mobile store where Yusuf said Adan had ordered the phone declined to comment or take a message for his supervisor, according to the Associated Press. Police also identified a tenth stabbing victim on Monday. St. Cloud police say that while they were reviewing security footage as part of their investigation into Saturday's stabbing at Crossroads Center mall, they found another man had been hurt. Isis released a statement today claiming responsibility for the rampage, which left seven men, a woman and a 15-year-old girl injured The suspect who went on a stabbing spree in a Minnesota mall on Saturday night was identified by his father as Dahir Adan, a 22-year-old college student Due to the nature of his injuries, the 21-year-old man did not tell police or initially seek medical attention. The other nine victims have all been released from the hospital. The attack ended when the suspect was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Federal investigators say they're looking at the attack as a potential act of terrorism. Adan was said to be a 'soldier of the Islamic state', according to an ISIS-linked news agency. A black and white photo from Adan's Facebook and reported by local media put a face to the name for the first time since Saturday night's attack. Adan immigrated to the United States from Africa, according to his father, and is of Somali descent. His father, Ahmed Adan, said Adan was born in Mombasa, Kenya, but did not say where the family immigrated from. He said they have lived in the United States for approximately 15 years and Adan was beginning his third year as a student at St. Cloud State University. Dahir reportedly asked people whether they were Muslim before stabbing those who didn't align themselves with the religion, a law enforcement source told CBS Adan's father claimed no ties to ISIS or terrorism. Ahmed Adan's apartment, where his son lived with him, was raided by police on Sunday, according to the Star Tribune. ISIS-linked Amaq agency, which follows a pattern of ISIS-related media, claimed the attack was the doing of the terrorist group. Independent media groups in the United States were unable to verify the claims. After reports of Adan being of Somali descent began to disseminate, the Somali and Muslim communities held press conferences expressing their sorrow for the victims. Mohamoud Mohamed, a spokesman for the Central Minnesota Islamic Center in St. Cloud, said the community in Minnesota had 'no connection' to ISIS. 'We are the victims of those terrorist groups. Islam is peace... I pray for the victims,' he said. The St. Cloud area is home to one of the state's largest Muslim immigrant populations and tensions have flared in the past. 'This has been a dark day; it is a day we will never forget. 'Let us unite as one Minnesota... Please let's spread love instead of hate. ISIS does not represent us. It does not represent Islam, and it does not represent Somalis,' community member Lul Hersi said. Nine people were injured at the Crossroads Mall in St Cloud, Minnesota, before the assailant was shot dead by an off-duty Avon officer Jason Falconer (pictured left and right) The state has been federally investigated in the past for having communities with ties to ISIS recruitment. According to CNN, earlier this year nine Somali-Minnesotans were convicted or pleaded guilty in a plot to travel to Syria and join ISIS. In previous years, a group of men left to join Al-Shabaab, a group which seeks to turn Somali into an Islamist state, CNN reported. 'We still don't have anything substantive that would suggest anything more than what we know already, which is this was a lone attacker and right now, we're trying to get to the bottom of his motivations,' St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson told CNN. The FBI has labeled the attack a 'potential act of terrorism'. If Saturday's stabbings are ultimately deemed a terrorist act, it would be the first carried out by a Somali on US soil, said Karen Greenburg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University School of Law. The victims included seven men, one woman and a 15-year-old girl. Witness and police claim Adan made a reference to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslim before attacking nine people in Crossroads Mall on Saturday at 8pm. Adan allegedly had three previous encounters with police but most were minor traffic violations and none resulted in arrest. A hero cop shot Adan dead after he injured nine people during the knife attack. Off-duty policeman Jason Falconer opened fire at Adan, killing him. St Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said Falconer, a part-time officer in the nearby city of Avon who also owns a firearms training company, shot and killed the attacker five minutes after authorities received the first 911 call. Falconer (pictured) opened fire, but the attacker, who lunged at him with a knife, got up three more times, the police chief said Falconer opened fire, but the attacker, who lunged at him with a knife, got up three more times, the police chief said. 'He clearly prevented additional injuries and potential loss of life,' Anderson said. Falconer, who was praised for being 'at the right time and place,' specializes in training law enforcement and personal security guards, according to his company website Tactical Advantage. Abdul Kulane credited Dahir with being a good student who worked part time as a security guard, the St Cloud Times reported. Kulane also told the newspaper Dahir was last seen around 6pm when he said he was going to buy an iPhone from the mall. He added: 'The entire community are shocked by this incident...We would like to offer our sympathies to those affected, their families and the entire St. Cloud community. St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson declined to call the attacks an act of terrorism on Saturday night, saying the motive for the attacks is unclear 'He was helpful to his family and as far as we know, he never had a violent history, as far as his family and the community can remember. He was a friendly and active community member. 'As far as the incident goes, we don't know what happened. All the information circulating in the media are speculations. It could involve a fight that led to this incident. It could be anything,' he said. St Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said the lone assailant, who was dressed in a 'private security uniform', entered Crossroads mall around 8pm last night. Sydney Weires saw one man with the back of his shirt drenched in blood, while another man who was bleeding from the face screamed: 'Get the f*** out!', she told the St Cloud Times 'That individual made some references to Allah and we confirmed that he asked at least one person if they were Muslim before assaulting them,' he added. Authorities have no reason to believe anyone else was involved in the attack. Three people remain in the hospital, with one victim suffering from life-threatening injuries, Mayor Dave Kleis said. Employees and shoppers were released after the mall was put on lockdown. It will remain closed on Sunday while the investigation continues with the help of the FBI. Authorities said the attack was not related to two separate explosions reported in New York City and the Jersey Shore on Saturday. Sydney Weires told the St Cloud Times she saw a security guard sprinting and yelling, 'Call the cops! Call the cops!,' after a loud scream broke out in the mall. She later saw one man with the back of his shirt drenched in blood, while another man who was bleeding from the face screamed: 'Get the f*** out!', Weires told the local paper. Danny Carranza grabbed his children from the play area near Macy's when he saw others running, the St Cloud Times reported. St. Cloud Hospital spokeswoman, Chris Nelson, said five victims were released and three remain hospitalized. All had non-life threatening injuries He made it out of the mall right after gunshots broke out, but his wife remained inside for several hours while the mall was on lockdown. Harley Exsted, who was traveling from Isle, Minnesota with Tama Exted, said: 'All of a sudden I heard 'pop, pop, pop'. 'I thought someone tipped over a shelf. All of a sudden these people started running. I just saw everybody running our way.' The couple were unharmed and said they helped another woman who was running from the scene to her car. Ashley Bayne was in the mall and told WCCO: 'I went closer to the mall entrance by J.C. Penney's and I was looking at some jeans and all the sudden people were just running in chaos. 'They were screaming, 'Someone's stabbing people in the mall,' and people were just really frantic and were running.' She recalled to the news outlet: 'When I got in my car to get out people were speeding out of there. 'By the time I left my coworker had texted me saying they had all gone into lockdown in the mall. As a result the 40-year-old was able to claim A woman has been jailed for fraudulently claiming $64,937 from Medicare A 40-year-old woman fraudulently claimed $64,937 in one year by completing health care plans for patients despite not being a doctor. Narelle Gourley pleaded guilty to 55 counts of fraud committed between January to December 2012 at Rockhampton District Court, east of Queensland on Thursday. The mother-of-two completed health assessments, including for those with chronic diseases as well as health plans for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, reported The Morning Bulletin. Narelle Gourley (pictured) was found guilty of fraudulent activity after she managed to rort Medicare out of $64,937 Gourley was sentenced to two years behind bars with a minimum of six-months. She will be released on a $1000 bond Gourley who was sole signatory of the rebates given by Medicare invested the money into her practice, Ross Medical Centre, which she purchased in early 2012 for $150,000. After relocating the practice to Mount Morgan she had it renamed it to Mount Morgan Medical Centre. But the lack of willingness by doctors to travel to the new location resulted in Gourley having to offer wages of around $5000 a week including hiring cars which workers could use for transportation. The practice was eventually sold in June 2013 for $250,000 before she claimed bankruptcy in June this year. Gourley who was sole signatory of the rebates given by Medicare invested the money into her practice (pictured) Centrelink was forced to launch an investigation into the claims committed by Gourley during ownership of the practice as a result of numerous complaints. Patients noted claims were made on their behalf without their recognition whilst others noted they had not been consulted by the practitioner. One complaint was made by a doctor for Gourleys practice who noted services were being billed despite never having consulted the patients. Whilst another doctor who did not work at the practice recognised 19 claims, totalling $18, 971, was processed under his provider number. Gourley was sentenced to two years behind bars but will be released in six months on a $1000 bond with a good behaviour period of four years. It is still unknown whether Centrelink will take civil action. by his employers to return to work while getting treatment, and said it delayed his healing process He said he felt pressure and was A paramedic has called on more support for ambulance workers in Australia, after a traumatic suicide triggered his post traumatic stress disorder. John McCormack, who works as a paramedic for Ambulance NSW and for the Australian Paramedic Association, responded to a 'concern for welfare' with a colleague last year. The incident, where a man had taken his own life by blowing his own head off with a shotgun, triggered Mr McCormack's breakdown. Paramedic and APA delegate John McCormack (right) has spoke out about suffering with post traumatic stress disorder, after attending the scene of a distressing suicide last year Mr McCormack told Daily Mail Australia he had been in his role for about eight years, working in Sydney and also country areas. He said it was 'a long time' to be exposed to some 'pretty nasty stuff'. 'Initially I didn't know or I didn't believe that I had any problems until that job I went to - that was the tipping point for me,' Mr McCormack said. 'I think in hindsight before that leading up to that point I wasn't enjoying anything in life,' he said. 'It was affecting everything, I was very sad and I was very low - I wasn't even enjoying my kids which is very sad.' Mr McCormack took six months off work to recover but he said his employers asked if he could come back and do light duties. He said he couldn't even cope with that, because being around the ambulances, sirens and even phones ringing was a huge trigger for what he was going through. 'When I initially acknowledged I had issues and I made the ambulance management aware I went off pretty much straight away after job,' he said. 'I felt a lot of pressure while I was undergoing my treatment, a lot of harassing phone calls from the ambulance management insurance company, return to work coordinators - just constant pressure for a couple of months , calls once every other day - it was a lot,' he said. Mr McCormack, who took six months off work after the incident, said he felt a lot of pressure from his employers to return to work during this period and has called for more support for colleagues in the industry Mr McCormack said the pressure hindered his recovery process. 'All the phone calls and asking specialists and doctors behind my back, I felt that I was kind of being watched and I wasn't supported at all form my employers at the time,' he said. It comes as claims of bullying and harassment have emerged from employees in NSW Ambulance, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Mr McCormack has called for a change of culture in the industry, saying it needs to come from the top. 'Unfortunately at the moment the culture is instilled and passed on throughout generations,' he said. 'It needs to start from the top, I understand the CEO is attempting to change it but there's a lot of management from him down to our level that needs to change.' Ambulance CEO Dominic Morgan has said he will be focusing on addressing any issues surrounding the mental health and wellbeing of his frontline staff His advice to other paramedics who may be experiencing similar issues is to 'speak up' and 'get help'. 'You're not on your own,' he said. 'It was only the support from my colleagues and other paramedics that made me aware I needed to get help,' he said. 'If it's not your employers that will help you, other people out there definitely will. 'I really want to help other people out there who are going though the same thing and change that stigma surrounding mental health.' In a statement, NSW Ambulance told Daily Mail Australia that the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of staff is a key focus of the service , with numerous support and educational strategies and and training in place to reduce risk and maintain resilience in the workforce. 'NSW Ambulance is committed to tackling head on the difficult issue of stigma around mental health related issues, and has made significant steps to further reduce risk and maintain reslience in our workforce,' the statement said. A British activist was adorned with garlands by locals as he was found guilty of defaming a fruit canning firm for lifting the lid on low pay and poor work conditions. Andy Hall investigated Natural Fruit Company Ltd for Finnish consumer organisation Finnwatch, who had alleged abuse of migrant workers' rights. The resulting report included allegations migrants had their passports illegally confiscated, were being paid below minimum wage and worked long hours at factories. Bangkok South Criminal Court sentenced Mr Hall to three years in jail for criminal defamation against the company in connection with the 2013 report, underlining complaints that Thailand's defamation laws can be used to silence whistle-blowers. Supporters give flowers to British human rights activist Andy Hall as he arrives at Bangkok South Criminal Court for his verdict on criminal and civil defamation cases filed against him, in Bangkok, Thailand Andy Hall investigated Natural Fruit Company Ltd for Finnish consumer organisation Finnwatch, who had alleged abuse of migrant workers' rights The law carried a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment. Hall has been active for several years in Thailand in labor rights advocacy, especially involving migrant workers, who lack protections both in practice and under the law. He was also found guilty of violating the Computer Crimes Act because the information was posted on the internet. Hall was given a suspended sentence of three years with a probationary period of two years, and a fine of 150,000 baht ($4,300). He said he will appeal the ruling. He was allowed to go free after his fine was paid. Two civil suits by the company against him are pending, as is an appeal against his acquittal on a previous criminal defamation charge. 'I don't feel any shame, I don't feel any regret. 'But I feel it is an injustice, what's happened here today,' Hall said. 'I respect the decision of the court, but I feel real injustice, not for me, it's not about me, this case was never about me, it was never about Andy Hall doing research about migrant workers. 'It was about a human rights activist doing research for the public interest.' Hall was given a suspended sentence of three years with a probationary period of two years, and a fine of 150,000 baht ($4,300) The court originally sentenced Hall to four years in prison and a 200,000 baht ($5,715) fine, but reduced the sentence because he cooperated with the proceedings and had no prior criminal record. Lawyers and right groups have long been critical of Thailand's criminal defamation law, which is seen as inhibiting free speech. In a statement earlier this week, Amnesty International called on Thai authorities to remove criminal penalties for defamation and 'ensure that such charges are not used to restrict the right to freedom of expression.' Sonja Vartiala, executive director of Finnwatch, said her organization was 'shocked by today's verdict.' 'The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it,' Vartiala said. 'Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights.' 'This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand,' Vartiala said. 'We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling.' Supporters hold flowers and and placards as the British human rights activist Andy Hall arrives at Bangkok South Criminal Court for his verdict on criminal and civil defamation cases filed against him, in Bangkok, Thailand Finnwatch was not sued, nor was the Al Jazeera news network, to whom Hall gave an interview that was the basis for part of the cases against him. Virat Piyapornpaiboon, the owner of Natural Fruit, said justice was done. 'I think that it's not important whether he goes to jail or not, but what's important is whether or not what he said was true,' Virat said. 'This is proof that no matter who you are, if you are not just and you make up stories and cause damage to others, you must be punished.' Britain's Foreign Office expressed its concern in a statement issued after the verdict. 'The UK supports the right of Human Rights Defenders to raise concerns about human rights violations without fear of reprisals or legal action to prevent public participation,' it said. By Debbie Lord Cox Media Group National Content Desk President Obama spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. Here is his speech. "Mr. President; Mr. Secretary General; fellow delegates; ladies and gentlemen: As I address this hall as President for the final time, let me recount the progress that weve made these last eight years. From the depths of the greatest financial crisis of our time, we coordinated our response to avoid further catastrophe and return the global economy to growth. Weve taken away terrorist safe havens, strengthened the nonproliferation regime, resolved the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba, helped Colombia end Latin Americas longest warm, and we welcome a democratically elected leader of Myanmar to this Assembly. Our assistance is helping people feed themselves, care for the sick, power communities across Africa, and promote models of development rather than dependence. And we have made international institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund more representative, while establishing a framework to protect our planet from the ravages of climate change. This is important work. It has made a real difference in the lives of our people. And it could not have happened had we not worked together. And yet, around the globe we are seeing the same forces of global integration that have made us interdependent also expose deep fault lines in the existing international order. We see it in the headlines every day. Around the world, refugees flow across borders in flight from brutal conflict. Financial disruptions continue to weigh upon our workers and entire communities. Across vast swaths of the Middle East, basic security, basic order has broken down. We see too many governments muzzling journalists, and quashing dissent, and censoring the flow of information. Terrorist networks use social media to prey upon the minds of our youth, endangering open societies and spurring anger against innocent immigrants and Muslims. Powerful nations contest the constraints placed on them by international law. This is the paradox that defines our world today. A quarter century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before, and yet our societies are filled with uncertainty, and unease, and strife. Despite enormous progress, as people lose trust in institutions, governing becomes more difficult and tensions between nations become more quick to surface. And so I believe that at this moment we all face a choice. We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration. Or we can retreat into a world sharply divided, and ultimately in conflict, along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion. I want to suggest to you today that we must go forward, and not backward. I believe that as imperfect as they are, the principles of open markets and accountable governance, of democracy and human rights and international law that we have forged remain the firmest foundation for human progress in this century. I make this argument not based on theory or ideology, but on facts -- facts that all too often, we forget in the immediacy of current events. Heres the most important fact: The integration of our global economy has made life better for billions of men, women and children. Over the last 25 years, the number of people living in extreme poverty has been cut from nearly 40 percent of humanity to under 10 percent. That's unprecedented. And it's not an abstraction. It means children have enough to eat; mothers dont die in childbirth. Meanwhile, cracking the genetic code promises to cure diseases that have plagued us for centuries. The Internet can deliver the entirety of human knowledge to a young girl in a remote village on a single hand-held device. In medicine and in manufacturing, in education and communications, were experiencing a transformation of how human beings live on a scale that recalls the revolutions in agriculture and industry. And as a result, a person born today is more likely to be healthy, to live longer, and to have access to opportunity than at any time in human history. Moreover, the collapse of colonialism and communism has allowed more people than ever before to live with the freedom to choose their leaders. Despite the real and troubling areas where freedom appears in retreat, the fact remains that the number of democracies around the world has nearly doubled in the last 25 years. In remote corners of the world, citizens are demanding respect for the dignity of all people no matter their gender, or race, or religion, or disability, or sexual orientation, and those who deny others dignity are subject to public reproach. An explosion of social media has given ordinary people more ways to express themselves, and has raised peoples expectations for those of us in power. Indeed, our international order has been so successful that we take it as a given that great powers no longer fight world wars; that the end of the Cold War lifted the shadow of nuclear Armageddon; that the battlefields of Europe have been replaced by peaceful union; that China and India remain on a path of remarkable growth. I say all this not to whitewash the challenges we face, or to suggest complacency. Rather, I believe that we need to acknowledge these achievements in order to summon the confidence to carry this progress forward and to make sure that we do not abandon those very things that have delivered this progress. In order to move forward, though, we do have to acknowledge that the existing path to global integration requires a course correction. As too often, those trumpeting the benefits of globalization have ignored inequality within and among nations; have ignored the enduring appeal of ethnic and sectarian identities; have left international institutions ill-equipped, underfunded, under-resourced, in order to handle transnational challenges. And as these real problems have been neglected, alternative visions of the world have pressed forward both in the wealthiest countries and in the poorest: Religious fundamentalism; the politics of ethnicity, or tribe, or sect; aggressive nationalism; a crude populism -- sometimes from the far left, but more often from the far right -- which seeks to restore what they believe was a better, simpler age free of outside contamination. We cannot dismiss these visions. They are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction among too many of our citizens. I do not believe those visions can deliver security or prosperity over the long term, but I do believe that these visions fail to recognize, at a very basic level, our common humanity. Moreover, I believe that the acceleration of travel and technology and telecommunications -- together with a global economy that depends on a global supply chain -- makes it self-defeating ultimately for those who seek to reverse this progress. Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself. So the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are broadly shared, and that the disruptions -- economic, political, and cultural -- that are caused by integration are squarely addressed. This is not the place for a detailed policy blueprint, but let me offer in broad strokes those areas where I believe we must do better together. It starts with making the global economy work better for all people and not just for those at the top. While open markets, capitalism have raised standards of living around the globe, globalization combined with rapid progress and technology has also weakened the position of workers and their ability to secure a decent wage. In advanced economies like my own, unions have been undermined, and many manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Often, those who benefit most from globalization have used their political power to further undermine the position of workers. In developing countries, labor organizations have often been suppressed, and the growth of the middle class has been held back by corruption and underinvestment. Mercantilist policies pursued by governments with export-driven models threaten to undermine the consensus that underpins global trade. And meanwhile, global capital is too often unaccountable -- nearly $8 trillion stashed away in tax havens, a shadow banking system that grows beyond the reach of effective oversight. A world in which one percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never be stable. I understand that the gaps between rich and poor are not new, but just as the child in a slum today can see the skyscraper nearby, technology now allows any person with a smartphone to see how the most privileged among us live and the contrast between their own lives and others. Expectations rise, then, faster than governments can deliver, and a pervasive sense of injustice undermine peoples faith in the system. So how do we fix this imbalance? We cannot unwind integration any more than we can stuff technology back into a box. Nor can we look to failed models of the past. If we start resorting to trade wars, market distorting subsidies, beggar thy neighbor policies, an overreliance on natural resources instead of innovation -- these approaches will make us poorer, collectively, and they are more like to lead to conflict. And the stark contrast between, say, the success of the Republic of Korea and the wasteland of North Korea shows that central, planned control of the economy is a dead end. But I do believe theres another path -- one that fuels growth and innovation, and offers the clearest route to individual opportunity and national success. It does not require succumbing to a soulless capitalism that benefits only the few, but rather recognizes that economies are more successful when we close the gap between rich and poor, and growth is broadly based. And that means respecting the rights of workers so they can organize into independent unions and earn a living wage. It means investing in our people -- their skills, their education, their capacity to take an idea and turn it into a business. It means strengthening the safety net that protects our people from hardship and allows them to take more risks -- to look for a new job, or start a new venture. These are the policies that Ive pursued here in the United States, and with clear results. American businesses have created now 15 million new jobs. After the recession, the top one percent of Americans were capturing more than 90 percent of income growth. But today, that's down to about half. Last year, poverty in this country fell at the fastest rate in nearly 50 years. And with further investment in infrastructure and early childhood education and basic research, Im confident that such progress will continue. So just as Ive pursued these measures here at home, so has the United States worked with many nations to curb the excesses of capitalism -- not to punish wealth, but to prevent repeated crises that can destroy it. Thats why weve worked with other nations to create higher and clearer standards for banking and taxation -- because a society that asks less of oligarchs than ordinary citizens will rot from within. Thats why weve pushed for transparency and cooperation in rooting out corruption, and tracking illicit dollars, because markets create more jobs when they're fueled by hard work, and not the capacity to extort a bribe. Thats why weve worked to reach trade agreements that raise labor standards and raise environmental standards, as we've done with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, so that the benefits are more broadly shared. And just as we benefit by combatting inequality within our countries, I believe advanced economies still need to do more to close the gap between rich and poor nations around the globe. This is difficult politically. It's difficult to spend on foreign assistance. But I do not believe this is charity. For the small fraction of what we spent at war in Iraq we could support institutions so that fragile states dont collapse in the first place, and invest in emerging economies that become markets for our goods. It's not just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. And thats why we need to follow through on our efforts to combat climate change. If we don't act boldly, the bill that could come due will be mass migrations, and cities submerged and nations displaced, and food supplies decimated, and conflicts born of despair. The Paris Agreement gives us a framework to act, but only if we scale up our ambition. And there must be a sense of urgency about bringing the agreement into force, and helping poorer countries leapfrog destructive forms of energy. So, for the wealthiest countries, a Green Climate Fund should only be the beginning. We need to invest in research and provide market incentives to develop new technologies, and then make these technologies accessible and affordable for poorer countries. And only then can we continue lifting all people up from poverty without condemning our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair. So we need new models for the global marketplace, models that are inclusive and sustainable. And in the same way, we need models of governance that are inclusive and accountable to ordinary people. I recognize not every country in this hall is going to follow the same model of governance. I do not think that America can -- or should -- impose our system of government on other countries. But there appears to be growing contest between authoritarianism and liberalism right now. And I want everybody to understand, I am not neutral in that contest. I believe in a liberal political order -- an order built not just through elections and representative government, but also through respect for human rights and civil society, and independent judiciaries and the rule of law. I know that some countries, which now recognize the power of free markets, still reject the model of free societies. And perhaps those of us who have been promoting democracy feel somewhat discouraged since the end of the Cold War, because we've learned that liberal democracy will not just wash across the globe in a single wave. It turns out building accountable institutions is hard work -- the work of generations. The gains are often fragile. Sometimes we take one step forward and then two steps back. In countries held together by borders drawn by colonial powers, with ethnic enclaves and tribal divisions, politics and elections can sometimes appear to be a zero-sum game. And so, given the difficulty in forging true democracy in the face of these pressures, its no surprise that some argue the future favors the strongman, a top-down model, rather than strong, democratic institutions. But I believe this thinking is wrong. I believe the road of true democracy remains the better path. I believe that in the 21st century, economies can only grow to a certain point until they need to open up -- because entrepreneurs need to access information in order to invent; young people need a global education in order to thrive; independent media needs to check the abuses of power. Without this evolution, ultimately expectations of people will not be met; suppression and stagnation will set in. And history shows that strongmen are then left with two paths -- permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war. Now, I will admit, my belief that governments serve the individual, and not the other way around, is shaped by Americas story. Our nation began with a promise of freedom that applied only to the few. But because of our democratic Constitution, because of our Bill of Rights, because of our ideals, ordinary people were able to organize, and march, and protest, and ultimately, those ideals won out -- opened doors for women and minorities and workers in ways that made our economy more productive and turned our diversity into a strength; that gave innovators the chance to transform every area of human endeavor; that made it possible for someone like me to be elected President of the United States. So, yes, my views are shaped by the specific experiences of America, but I do not think this story is unique to America. Look at the transformation that's taken place in countries as different as Japan and Chile, Indonesia, Botswana. The countries that have succeeded are ones in which people feel they have a stake. In Europe, the progress of those countries in the former Soviet bloc that embraced democracy stand in clear contrast to those that did not. After all, the people of Ukraine did not take to the streets because of some plot imposed from abroad. They took to the streets because their leadership was for sale and they had no recourse. They demanded change because they saw life get better for people in the Baltics and in Poland, societies that were more liberal, and democratic, and open than their own. So those of us who believe in democracy, we need to speak out forcefully, because both the facts and history, I believe, are on our side. That doesnt mean democracies are without flaws. It does mean that the cure for what ails our democracies is greater engagement by our citizens -- not less. Yes, in America, there is too much money in politics; too much entrenched partisanship; too little participation by citizens, in part because of a patchwork of laws that makes it harder to vote. In Europe, a well-intentioned Brussels often became too isolated from the normal push and pull of national politics. Too often, in capitals, decision-makers have forgotten that democracy needs to be driven by civic engagement from the bottom up, not governance by experts from the top down. And so these are real problems, and as leaders of democratic governments make the case for democracy abroad, we better strive harder to set a better example at home. Moreover, every country will organize its government informed by centuries of history, and the circumstances of geography, and the deeply held beliefs of its people. So I recognize a traditional society may value unity and cohesion more than a diverse country like my own, which was founded upon what, at the time, was a radical idea -- the idea of the liberty of individual human beings endowed with certain God-given rights. But that does not mean that ordinary people in Asia, or Africa, or the Middle East somehow prefer arbitrary rule that denies them a voice in the decisions that can shape their lives. I believe that spirit is universal. And if any of you doubt the universality of that desire, listen to the voices of young people everywhere who call out for freedom, and dignity, and the opportunity to control their own lives. This leads me to the third thing we need to do: We must reject any forms of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity. Instead we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings. Its a truism that global integration has led to a collision of cultures; trade, migration, the Internet, all these things can challenge and unsettle our most cherished identities. We see liberal societies express opposition when women choose to cover themselves. We see protests responding to Western newspaper cartoons that caricature the Prophet Muhammad. In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force. Asian powers debate competing claims of history. And in Europe and the United States, you see people wrestle with concerns about immigration and changing demographics, and suggesting that somehow people who look different are corrupting the character of our countries. Now, theres no easy answer for resolving all these social forces, and we must respect the meaning that people draw from their own traditions -- from their religion, from their ethnicity, from their sense of nationhood. But I do not believe progress is possible if our desire to preserve our identities gives way to an impulse to dehumanize or dominate another group. If our religion leads us to persecute those of another faith, if we jail or beat people who are gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls from going to school, if we discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or ethnicity, then the fragile bonds of civilization will fray. The world is too small, we are too packed together, for us to be able to resort to those old ways of thinking. We see this mindset in too many parts of the Middle East. There, so much of the collapse in order has been fueled because leaders sought legitimacy not because of policies or programs but by resorting to persecuting political opposition, or demonizing other religious sects, by narrowing the public space to the mosque, where in too many places perversions of a great faith were tolerated. These forces built up for years, and are now at work helping to fuel both Syrias tragic civil war and the mindless, medieval menace of ISIL. The mindset of sectarianism, and extremism, and bloodletting, and retribution that has been taking place will not be quickly reversed. And if we are honest, we understand that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long. But I do believe we have to be honest about the nature of these conflicts, and our international community must continue to work with those who seek to build rather than to destroy. And there is a military component to that. It means being united and relentless in destroying networks like ISIL, which show no respect for human life. But it also means that in a place like Syria, where theres no ultimate military victory to be won, were going to have to pursue the hard work of diplomacy that aims to stop the violence, and deliver aid to those in need, and support those who pursue a political settlement and can see those who are not like themselves as worthy of dignity and respect. Across the regions conflicts, we have to insist that all parties recognize a common humanity and that nations end proxy wars that fuel disorder. Because until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn, countless human beings will suffer -- most of all in that region -- but extremism will continue to be exported overseas. And the world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent it from affecting our own societies. And what is true in the Middle East is true for all of us. Surely, religious traditions can be honored and upheld while teaching young people science and math, rather than intolerance. Surely, we can sustain our unique traditions while giving women their full and rightful role in the politics and economics of a nation. Surely, we can rally our nations to solidarity while recognizing equal treatment for all communities -- whether its a religious minority in Myanmar, or an ethnic minority in Burundi, or a racial minority right here in the United States. And surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land. We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down, rather than encouraging, a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others. And this leads me to the fourth and final thing we need to do, and that is sustain our commitment to international cooperation rooted in the rights and responsibilities of nations. As President of the United States, I know that for most of human history, power has not been unipolar. The end of the Cold War may have led too many to forget this truth. Ive noticed as President that at times, both Americas adversaries and some of our allies believe that all problems were either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington -- and perhaps too many in Washington believed that as well. (Laughter.) But I believe America has been a rare superpower in human history insofar as it has been willing to think beyond narrow self-interest; that while weve made our share of mistakes over these last 25 years -- and Ive acknowledged some -- we have strived, sometimes at great sacrifice, to align better our actions with our ideals. And as a consequence, I believe we have been a force for good. We have secured allies. Weve acted to protect the vulnerable. We supported human rights and welcomed scrutiny of our own actions. Weve bound our power to international laws and institutions. When we've made mistakes, we've tried to acknowledge them. We have worked to roll back poverty and hunger and disease beyond our borders, not just within our borders. I'm proud of that. But I also know that we can't do this alone. And I believe that if we're to meet the challenges of this century, we are all going to have to do more to build up international capacity. We cannot escape the prospect of nuclear war unless we all commit to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and pursuing a world without them. When Iran agrees to accept constraints on its nuclear program that enhances global security and enhances Iran's ability to work with other nations. On the other hand, when North Korea tests a bomb that endangers all of us. And any country that breaks this basic bargain must face consequences. And those nations with these weapons, like the United States, have a unique responsibility to pursue the path of reducing our stockpiles, and reaffirming basic norms like the commitment to never test them again. We can't combat a disease like Zika that recognizes no borders -- mosquitos don't respect walls -- unless we make permanent the same urgency that we brought to bear against Ebola -- by strengthening our own systems of public health, by investing in cures and rolling back the root causes of disease, and helping poorer countries develop a public health infrastructure. We can only eliminate extreme poverty if the sustainable development goals that we have set are more than words on paper. Human ingenuity now gives us the capacity to feed the hungry and give all of our children -- including our girls -- the education that is the foundation for opportunity in our world. But we have to put our money where our mouths are. And we can only realize the promise of this institutions founding -- to replace the ravages of war with cooperation -- if powerful nations like my own accept constraints. Sometimes I'm criticized in my own country for professing a belief in international norms and multilateral institutions. But I am convinced that in the long run, giving up some freedom of action -- not giving up our ability to protect ourselves or pursue our core interests, but binding ourselves to international rules over the long term -- enhances our security. And I think that's not just true for us. If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure. In the South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs. We are all stakeholders in this international system, and it calls upon all of us to invest in the success of institutions to which we belong. And the good news is, is that many nations have shown what kind of progress is possible when we make those commitments. Consider what weve accomplished here over the past few years. Together, we mobilized some 50,000 additional troops for U.N. peacekeeping, making them nimble, better equipped, better prepared to deal with emergencies. Together, we established an Open Government Partnership so that, increasingly, transparency empowers more and more people around the globe. And together, now, we have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home. We should all welcome the pledges of increased assistance that have been made at this General Assembly gathering. I'll be discussing that more this afternoon. But we have to follow through, even when the politics are hard. Because in the eyes of innocent men and women and children who, through no fault of their own, have had to flee everything that they know, everything that they love, we have to have the empathy to see ourselves. We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children, if the unspeakable happened to us. And we should all understand that, ultimately, our world will be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need and the nations who are carrying the largest burden with respect to accommodating these refugees. There are a lot of nations right now that are doing the right thing. But many nations -- particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of geography -- that can do more to offer a hand, even if they also insist that refugees who come to our countries have to do more to adapt to the customs and conventions of the communities that are now providing them a home. Let me conclude by saying that I recognize history tells a different story than the one that I've talked about here today. There's a much darker and more cynical view of history that we can adopt. Human beings are too often motivated by greed and by power. Big countries for most of history have pushed smaller ones around. Tribes and ethnic groups and nation states have very often found it most convenient to define themselves by what they hate and not just those ideas that bind them together. Time and again, human beings have believed that they finally arrived at a period of enlightenment only to repeat, then, cycles of conflict and suffering. Perhaps that's our fate. We have to remember that the choices of individual human beings led to repeated world war. But we also have to remember that the choices of individual human beings created a United Nations, so that a war like that would never happen again. Each of us as leaders, each nation can choose to reject those who appeal to our worst impulses and embrace those who appeal to our best. For we have shown that we can choose a better history. Sitting in a prison cell, a young Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that, Human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God. And during the course of these eight years, as I've traveled to many of your nations, I have seen that spirit in our young people, who are more educated and more tolerant, and more inclusive and more diverse, and more creative than our generation; who are more empathetic and compassionate towards their fellow human beings than previous generations. And, yes, some of that comes with the idealism of youth. But it also comes with young peoples access to information about other peoples and places -- an understanding unique in human history that their future is bound with the fates of other human beings on the other side of the world. I think of the thousands of health care workers from around the world who volunteered to fight Ebola. I remember the young entrepreneurs I met who are now starting new businesses in Cuba, the parliamentarians who used to be just a few years ago political prisoners in Myanmar. I think of the girls who have braved taunts or violence just to go to school in Afghanistan, and the university students who started programs online to reject the extremism of organizations like ISIL. I draw strength from the young Americans -- entrepreneurs, activists, soldiers, new citizens -- who are remaking our nation once again, who are unconstrained by old habits and old conventions, and unencumbered by what is, but are instead ready to seize what ought to be. My own family is a made up of the flesh and blood and traditions and cultures and faiths from a lot of different parts of the world -- just as America has been built by immigrants from every shore. And in my own life, in this country, and as President, I have learned that our identities do not have to be defined by putting someone else down, but can be enhanced by lifting somebody else up. They dont have to be defined in opposition to others, but rather by a belief in liberty and equality and justice and fairness. And the embrace of these principles as universal doesn't weaken my particular pride, my particular love for America -- it strengthens it. My belief that these ideals apply everywhere doesnt lessen my commitment to help those who look like me, or pray as I do, or pledge allegiance to my flag. But my faith in those principles does force me to expand my moral imagination and to recognize that I can best serve my own people, I can best look after my own daughters, by making sure that my actions seek what is right for all people and all children, and your daughters and your sons. This is what I believe: that all of us can be co-workers with God. And our leadership, and our governments, and this United Nations should reflect this irreducible truth. Thank you very much." Rock legend Jimmy Barnes has revealed the vile death threats he received after he told groups like Reclaim Australia to stop using his music at their rallies. The Australian musician appeared on the ABC's Q & A on Monday and claimed that when he asked the groups to stop using songs like Khe Sanh and Working Class Man, the threats poured in. 'The comments I got on Facebook and Twitter were absolutely horrific, people threatening my children. 'Because I didn't want my songs associated with hate speech... they said I was supporting radical Islam and I should be killed.' Scroll down for video Jimmy Barnes told Q & A he had received death threats after asking he songs not be used at anti-immigration rallies Barnes revealed that both he and his children had received 'horrific' death threats Protesters hold signs during a Reclaim Australia Rally at Martin Place in Sydney Barnes told the show that his request - made in July 2015 - was made because those attending the rallies didn't represent him, his views, or the Australia he knew. 'When Reclaim Australia started... I was watching the news and there was Khe Sanh or Working Class Man being played.. while people were marching around yelling hate - and the thing that really annoyed me was they were all draped in the Australian flag.' He'd told the story in relation to a conversation about Senator Pauline Hanson and her maiden speech comments about Australia being 'swamped by Muslims'. Barnes said free speech and hate speech - which he associated Ms Hanson with - 'didn't go hand in hand'. Jimmy Barnes made this post last year asking for groups - like Reclaim Australia Singer Jimmy Barnes and his wife Jane attend an event together When he told Reclaim Australia to stop using his music, he wrote a Facebook post denouncing it. 'It has come to my attention that certain groups of people have been using my voice as their anthems at rallies,' Barnes wrote. 'I only want to say the Australia I belong to and love is a tolerant Australia,' Barnes added. 'A place that is open and giving. It is a place that embraces all sorts of different people, in fact it is made stronger by the diversity of its people. 'If you look at my family you can see we are a multicultural family,' he wrote. 'Australia needs to stand up for Love and Tolerance in these modern times. 'None of these people represent me and I do not support them,' Barnes' post concluded. His post from last year attracted almost 3000 comments and was 'liked' 38,000 times. Police are investigating whether the armed robbery and pursuit are related Following the pursuit, a man in his 20s was A desperate police officer has been filmed trying to smash the car window of a suspected armed robber in the middle of busy Sydney road. The alleged robber had just held up a pharmacy on Tuesday morning in McMahons Point with knife - before fleeing in a luxury black Audi A3 pursued by five police cars and a helicopter. This is where eyewitnesses say they saw police attempt to smash the front windows of the suspect's car with what appears to be his bare fist before the driver sped off, In The Cove reports. A man in his 20's was arrested in nearby bushland where he was hiding behind some trees and taken to North Sydney Police Station Eyewitnesses say they saw police attempt to smash the front windows of the suspect's car The large scale police operation involved at least 12 police cars, the police dog squad and Airwing of the NSW police force PolAir. Nearby residents were told not to enter their homes during the operation, while others were warned to stay inside with the doors locked and Greenwich Public School was put into lock-down. Following the pursuit, police found the suspect's car on a nearby street in which drugs and money were allegedly found and seized for forensic examination. A man in his 20's was arrested in nearby bushland where he was hiding behind some trees and taken to North Sydney Police Station. Police are now investigating whether the armed robbery and pursuit are related. The incident occurred after a man allegedly held up a pharmacy with a knife in the harbourside suburb of McMahons Point on the lower North Shore of Sydney on Tuesday morning Even former President George H.W. Bush is with her! The 92-year-old reportedly told Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, the former Maryland lieutenant governor and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy that he would be casting his vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to POLITICO. Townsend posted a photo on her Facebook page shaking hands with Bush. George H.W. Bush (left) reportedly told Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend (right), the former Maryland lieutenant governor and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy that he would be casting his vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to her Facebook post Townsend (pictured in 2015) said on Monday that she had met with Bush in Maine, where she said he told her that he was voting for Clinton The caption read: 'The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!' She told Politico on Monday that she had met with Bush in Maine, where she said he told her that he was voting for Clinton. Bush's spokesman said in an email that the vote Bush will 'cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days' 'That's what he said,' she told the site. The announcement is all the more surprising given that President Bush's White House career was ended after only four years when he was defeated in the 1992 election by Hillary's husband, Bill Clinton. But Bush's spokesman, Jim McGrath, told Politico in an email that the vote Bush will 'cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days'. McGrath went on to say that the former president won't be commenting on the presidential race between Clinton and her rival Donald Trump. And Bush seems to want to remain private on the election as he's stayed silent on the political debate since earlier this year when he and his wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush, campaigned for their son Jeb. Bush was also not present at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland where Trump accepted the nomination. Hillary Clinton is telling Wells Fargo customers she will work to protect them in the wake of allegations that bank employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. In a letter to the bank's customers to be released on Tuesday, the Democratic presidential candidate says she was 'deeply disturbed' by the allegations. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will appear before Congress on Tuesday. The bank has previously paid her husband $200,000 for a speech in October 2011 in New York. The candidate herself has been paid for speeches by a series of banks - including $675,000 from Goldman Sachs for three speaking engagements - and has never revealed the contents of what she said. Scroll down for video Hillary Clinton (above) is telling Wells Fargo customers she will work to protect them in the wake of allegations that bank employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf (left) will appear before Congress on Tuesday Clinton, who faced accusations during her party's primary elections of representing Wall Street's interests, said in the letter that Stumpf 'owes all of you a clear explanation as to how this happened under his watch.' Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators announced a $185 million settlement with the bank for creating two million phantom accounts under actual customers' names in a bid to meet internal sales goals. In the letter, Clinton laid out a three-prong plan to address what she called 'the culture of misconduct' in the banking system. It included 'clawing back' the compensation of individual executives involved in wrongdoing and breaking up big banks that are not managed effectively. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a $185 million settlement with Wells Fargo (above, file photo) for creating two million phantom accounts under actual customers' names in a bid to meet internal sales goals She said that while the country's economy relies on a strong and safe banking system, the 'recklessness' that preceded the 2008 financial crisis 'too often persists.' 'Our economy depends on a strong and safe banking system to help keep it moving,' Clinton wrote. 'But even after Americans spent years working hard to recover from the Great Recession, the culture of misconduct and recklessness that preceded that crisis too often persists.' Clinton is pledging to offer 'real consequences' for Wall Street firms that break the law and to make sure no financial institution is 'too big to manage.' A few unsettling photos have emerged of what appears to be a fried rat's head. Rosemary Thomas, posted the photos to Facebook, claiming that she discovered the so-called rat's head in her Popeyes chicken. The incident allegedly occurred at a Harlem Popeyes restaurant located at 2730 Frederick Douglass Boulevard on West 145th Street. Thomas wrote in the post that she was at the fast food chain with her sister, daughter and niece. A few unsettling photos have emerged of what appears to be a fried rat's head. Rosemary Thomas, posted the photos to Facebook, claiming that she discovered the so-called rat's head in her Popeyes chicken. Pictured is the alleged rat head found in a chicken meal Thomas (pictured) wrote in the post that she was at the fast food chain with her sister, daughter and niece when the incident occurred 'This is clearly a rat and they have the nerve to have a 5 rating by the department of health,' she wrote in the Facebook post. 'My daughter is traumatized. I had to take her to urgent care last night, vomited with diarrhea all day.' Thomas also wrote that she sent the photos to local news outlets but received no response. The restaurant was last inspected in April of this year and received an 'A' grade, according to the New York City Department of Health's website. In 2014, inspectors noted a critical violation that said there was 'evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas'. Also in 2014, as well as 2015, inspectors wrote that the restaurant was 'not vermin proof' and had 'conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist', the website shows. The health department told DNAinfo that they received a 311 complaint Monday morning about the restaurant and sent an someone to investigate. The restaurant was last inspected in April of this year and received an 'A' grade, according to the New York City Department of Health's website. In 2015, inspectors wrote that the restaurant was 'not vermin proof'. Pictured is the alleged rat head The incident allegedly occurred at a Harlem Popeyes restaurant (pictured) located at 2730 Frederick Douglass Boulevard on West 145th Street Renee Kopowski, a spokeswoman for Popeyes, told DNAinfo that the corporate office has reached out to the franchise owner about the incident. She told the site that it's not common to find unusual items in the chain's chicken, adding that most times they turn out to be chicken organs. Kopowski said the company will be in contact with the supplier to figure out what happened. She told DNAinfo that the franchise owner is upset regarding the incident. According to Kopowski, the health department had not found anything unusual in the restaurant. Advertisement Welcome to Wittenoom, a village so devastatingly ravaged by a rare form of asbestos called 'blue death' that all but three of its inhabitants have fled. The remote mining town was once bustling with a population of more than 20,000 but has since been reduced to a ghost town thanks to the deadly dust. Lorraine Thomas is the last woman standing in the barren settlement to the north east of Perth, but she says she has no plans on leaving - even if the authorities try to force her. 'I've been here for 36 years and no-one is going to drive me out, no government, no company, no individual,' Mrs Thomas, 73, told MailOnline on Tuesday after hearing of another threat by officials to drive her out of the Western Australia desert town. The blue asbestos that surrounds Wittenoom is so deadly that the state government has literally taken the village off the face of the map, hoping that tourists won't be able to find it. But they do find it - and even camp in the nearby gorges where for more than 30 years asbestos dust swirled, condemning the hundreds of men that mined it and would later die after the deadly fibres pierced their lungs. Lorraine Thomas (pictured) refuses to leave Wittenoom ghost town despite authorities threatening to drive her out The 73-year-old has lived at the Western Australia desert town dubbed 'blue death' for over 36 years 'They call this a ghost town, but if there are any ghosts of miners who have passed on, I certainly haven't seen any,' says Mrs Thomas, who shares the village with just two other men - who she does not get along with. Before the deadly dust - in which children played and laughingly smothered themselves in it - began killing miners, the streets of outback Wittenoom were literally paved with asbestos. 'Oh, there's lots of asbestos in the ground for as far as the eye can see, but it's all right - it's only the dust that kills and there's no dust here any more,' says Mrs Thomas, who decided Wittenoom was the peaceful little town she and her now-late husband wanted to live in with her three daughters after visiting the area in 1970. 'You've got to pound it and pound it to create the dust but no-one's doing that any more. Besides, I'm living proof that it's not a dangerous place - I've had check-ups and I'm healthy apart from a bad back from an injury going back decades.' In its heyday in the 1950s Wittenoom had a population of 20,000, made up entirely of workers in the mines, the closest of which was less than 10 miles away. But when the mine closed in 1966 the miners and their familes began packing up and the population fell into rapid decline. The town is said to be so deadly due to blue asbestos the state government has literally taken it off the map Mrs Thomas denies there is any danger, saying she is 'living proof' the deadly dust has settled for good Before the deadly dust - in which children played and laughingly smothered themselves in it - began killing miners, the streets of outback Wittenoom were literally paved with asbestos No-one knew that many of those who left were doomed to die decades later from the asbestos in their lungs. 'When I came here 36 years ago there were only 100 residents left and now it's down to the three of us, but I don't get on with the two men who live here - one who is always away - so I'm the last woman in town. 'Even then, on my arrival here, the state government was pulling down buildings, but they've stopped at my house and three other places that I own. It's the same with the two other residents who have houses here, but the government's determined to drive us out because I suppose they don't want us dying on them. 'But we've all been here a long time and we're still here.' Yet Mr Larry Graham, a former MP for the Pilbara region, 1,106km (687 miles) north east of Perth, has described Wittenoom as 'extraordinarily dangerous - the most contaminated place on the planet.' The government had considered cleaning up the town - ridding it of the smallest traces of asbestos - but decided it was safer and cheaper to simply abandon the the place and turn it into a ghost town with no-one living there. But they didn't consider the determination of Lorraine Thomas and the two other residents, Mario Hartmann, who has lived in Wittenoom for 27 years, and Peter Heyward, a 24-year resident. The government had considered cleaning up the town - ridding it of the smallest traces of asbestos - but decided it was safer and cheaper to simply abandon the the place and turn it into a ghost town with no-one living there In an effort to drive residents out, electricity was cut, but that was easily overcome - generators now provide power - and there is still a solar-powered telephone line In an effort to drive them out, electricity was cut, but that was easily overcome - generators now provide power - and there is still a solar-powered telephone line. 'I grow my own vegetables, I have fruit and I draw water from a bore - and for basic groceries I drive 120 miles to the town of Tom Price,' Mrs Thomas told MailOnLine. 'You'd be surprised at the number of tourists who come through, just out of curiosity. Some have even asked if they can stay in one of my four houses but I haven't opened any of them up for that. 'As well as the humans, there are kangaroos that sometimes come bounding through. And the birdlife and the flowers just add to the beauty of this area.' Ironically, when government and private company geologists visit the area they are under orders to wear full safety gear like 'men walking on the moon' says Mrs Thomas - while she and the two other residents happily move around in their light clothing to provide relief from the desert heat. 'I grow my own vegetables, I have fruit and I draw water from a bore - and for basic groceries I drive 120 miles to the town of Tom Price,' Mrs Thomas told MailOnLine The state government has drafted legislation to allow the forcibly removal of Mrs Thomas and the two other residents The government has offered money to Mrs Thomas and the two other residents for their homes, so they can move out and the buildings can be demolished bringing an end to the very existence of Wittenoom. But they all say the offered price isn't enough to drive them from an area that - despite their inability to get on with one another - they all agree is a beautiful place to live in. Mr Hartmann says that despite the hardships of life, cut off from the rest of the world, he enjoys the absence of crowds and the silence. Mr Heyward says he enjoys the ancient 'feel' of the land around him and the fact that if he so cares he doesn't have to see another human being for as long as he decides. The state government has drafted legislation to allow the forcibly removal of Mrs Thomas and the two other residents. Lands Minister Terry Redman said: 'If we can't convince them to leave, we need special powers to force them out. 'We need to resolve this once and for all.' A man who was shot by his meth-addict son and placed in a coma with a punctured spleen, fractured ribs and injured diaphragm has defended his son in court. Lee Dennis Avery, 31, shot his father, 70-year-old Dennis, in a state of drug-induced paranoia and was so high he may not have realised he was carrying a loaded gun, Bundaberg Supreme Court has heard, Northern Star reported. In the days leading up to the July 17 shooting last year, Avery had grown increasingly paranoid and believed people on the roof were shooting at him. Dennis Avery (pictured), 70, defended his son in court after 31-year-old Lee Dennis Avery shot him while high on meth The 31-year-old was sentenced to three years jail with immediate parole at the Bundaberg Supreme Court (pictured) on Monday A shotgun in his pocket discharged and shot through his hand. Avery then went to speak with his father, who had been trying to help him, at the landing of the stairs. He accidentally discharged the shotgun and it struck Dennis down the left side of his body. Dennis drove himself to Bundaberg Hospital, 45 minutes up the coast, about 3am with life-threatening injuries and was placed in an induced coma within hours. The 70-year-old (pictured) supported his 31-year-old son during his sentencing The 70-year-old supported his 31-year-old son when he was sentenced at the Bundaberg Supreme Court on Monday. He pleaded guilty on the basis he was criminally negligent to one count of grievous bodily harm and possessing weapons. He also pleaded guilty to nine summary offences including drug possession. The court accepted Avery did not intend to cause harm and may not have been aware he was carrying a loaded gun. His meth use had increased over the months prior after a relationship breakdown. Three police officers were injured in the confrontation with Rahami These are the three heroic cops who risked their lives to take down the Manhattan and New Jersey bomber after a bar owner found him asleep in a doorway. Police officers Angel Padilla, Peter Hammer and Mark Kahana were all injured in the line of duty during a shootout with Ahmad Khan Rahami in Linden, New Jersey, on Monday as he was arrested. The 28-year-old suspect has since been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two gun charges. His bail has been set at $5.2 million and he remains in hospital after he was shot in the leg. Scroll down for video Meet the three heroic cops who risked their lives to take down the Manhattan and New Jersey bomber. Left is Angel Padilla and right, Peter Hammer. Hammer left hospital Tuesday at noon Mark Kahana was taken to University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, for high blood pressure after the shootout The shootout came after a bar owner in Linden spotted a man sleeping in a doorway and realized it was Rahami. As officers rushed in to apprehend him, he started shooting indiscriminately. Officials say Padilla, a 14-year veteran of the force, was shot in the mid section and had to be transported to Rahway Hospital. His brother Eddie Padilla, a lieutenant with the Perth Amboy Police Department, said his sibling was in a stable condition and was grateful he was wearing a bullet-proof vest. He told NJ.com: 'We do our job on a day to day basis, but you never think it's going to hit home. 'When it's your brother, the first thing that came to mind was, "Is he OK? Is he dead?" 'It's shocking. It's nerve-racking. But thankfully, he wore his vest. The vest saved his life.' Officer Hammer was then rushed to University Hospital in New Jersey after being hit in the eyes with shrapnel as he approached the scene to back up fellow officers. It is believed a bullet went through the window of the police cruiser he was in and either that bullet or a piece of glass grazed Hammer's head. But despite suffering 'significant bleeding' from his graze wound, CNN said, Hammer left hospital around noon Tuesday. Officer Kahana, who joined the force in 1997, was taken to the same hospital to be treated for high blood pressure. Ahmad Rahami (left, and in his arrest mugshot for attempted murder, right) has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two gun charges after he was captured in an FBI shootout following the terror attacks One patient at University Hospital told PIX11: 'I hope the officers will be OK. And the first responders who put themselves on the line for us all the time. 'We just got to be vigilant and we just got to keep living. They ain't going to do that over here and stop us especially not New York and New Jersey.' Earlier on Monday morning, police had released a picture of Rahami who was wanted for the Manhattan bombing which left 29 people injured on Saturday evening. He was also wanted in connection with a pipe bomb which blew up Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines, and a foiled bomb plot at the Elizabeth, New Jersey train station on Sunday. Witnesses told DailyMail.com that Rahami was found sleeping in the vestibule of a bar called Merdie's on Elizabeth Avenue. Bar owner Harry Bains asked Rahami to move because he didn't want him to get injured by some broken glass on the ground. He said he spoke to Rahami in Spanish, and Rahami answered in English. According to the New York Post after Bains tried to wake Rahami, he shouted: 'Go f*** yourself! Im sleeping.' Bar owner Harry Bains called the police after he saw the emergency alert and recognized the man sleeping in the hallway of his establishment as the suspected bomber He said he had been watching the news on his laptop when he looked up to see a man who looked almost identical to Rahami asleep in the vestibule across from him But when the two locked eyes, the bar owner recognized the man's face and ran across the street to another business he owns to call 911, neighbor Sandy Percoski said. Bains told CNN he had been watching the news on his laptop moments before speaking to the man. When police arrived, in under five minutes, and went to wake up the sleeping man, the action was immediate. Bains said: 'He reached to his left side and right away, he pulled out a gun and shot at him. It was fast. It happened in like 15 or 20 seconds.' The witness said that the suspect shot twice, smashing through the window, and hitting one of the cops. Rahami is pictured slumped over in Linden, New Jersey after his arrest on Monday Rahami was born in Afghanistan but spent most of his life in the U.S. and has since become an American citizen. A friend told reporters that he changed two years ago, after taking a trip to his native Afghanistan Rahami was taken into custody on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. He is seen above being taken from the scene on a stretcher The terrified bar owner, who says he was 'shaking a little' dived for cover but as he saw Rahami start to run away, he said: 'I opened the door and yelled at the cop. I said, 'He's the guy you guys have been looking for, he's the guy.' Bains said he saw Rahami running down the street, dodging between cars and 'firing in the air.' Cops were able to catch up with Rahami, who sustained gunshot wounds and was taken to University Hospital for surgery after the shootout. His move prompted lockdown at the hospital. President Barack Obama said this afternoon that he spoke on the phone with the officers who apprehended Rahami. Above, the bar where Rahami was found Monday morning. The owner found the suspect sleeping in the vestibule, which is the weatherproofing anteroom seen covering the front door above 'They are going to be fine, they sustained some modest injuries but ones that they'll rapidly recover from,' Obama said. 'They were in good spirits and I communicated to them of how appreciative the American people are.' Bains dismissed the idea that his actions had been responsible for the capture of the bomber. 'I'm not a hero,' he told CNN. 'I'm just a regular citizen, doing what a citizen should do. 'When you see something, you should say something.' Instead Hasit graduated in 2005 and wrote his thesis on Israeli hip-hop Young co-founders said Hasit didn't have anything to offer at the company Will serve in small Israeli town Mazkeret Batya, where he moved in August Arie Hasit, 33, from New Jersey, was ordained in Jerusalem on Wednesday When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg launched a social media revolution 12 years ago, one of his fellow students at Harvard University was pursuing a different status: becoming a rabbi in Israel. Arie Hasit achieved his dream Wednesday when, after years studying Jewish texts and passing a final exam, he was ordained at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. For the last decade, the 33-year-old native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, has faced constant questions from peers and strangers about his life path. Many asked if he missed an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a company that has grown into a $360 billion behemoth. Arie Hasit (center), who was Mark Zuckerberg's roommate at Harvard University, achieved his dream Wednesday when he was ordained at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem Hasit admitted to occasionally wondering what might have been had he joined the tiny startup that Zuckerberg and three other friends were working on. Zuckerberg's net worth has been estimated by Forbes magazine at over $55 billion. In 2004, Hasit became Facebook's fourth user, after Zuckerberg and co-founders Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz. As the site became popular at Harvard, Hasit said he approached them and offered to help. Hasit, a student of history and modern Hebrew with no interest in computer science, was gently rebuffed. 'They were like, "Arie, we like you and you're our friend," and that was definitely true, we'd continue to hang out socially, "but no, you don't have anything to offer here,"' Hasit recalled. He took their comments in stride and continued to ignore his parents' urging that he study computer science. He was busy leading a Jewish prayer community on campus and writing for the Harvard Political Review. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard at the end of that school year and moved to Silicon Valley. Hasit graduated in 2005 with a double major in history and Near Eastern languages and civilizations. He wrote his thesis on Israeli hip-hop. 'The real question was, was he going to be the Israeli hip-hop professor or a rabbi?' said Zach Bercu, who studied at Harvard and met Hasit through the Jewish community. 'I don't think there was another route.' Hasit met Zuckerberg through the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi. Facebook's young co-founders later gently rebuffed him, telling him he couldn't join the company Just a year before he lived with Zuckerberg, Hasit was having trouble with the dorm lottery system, which allows students to request to live in the same building. Hasit said some friends backed out at the last minute. So he collected money from friends and published an enormous ad in the Harvard Crimson newspaper soliciting candidates. The paper called it 'the most unabashedly desperate and intrepid' housing lottery move. Through the ad, he met a close friend, and through the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, he met Zuckerberg. In Hasit's junior year, the three decided to live together in a suite with four other men. Four of the seven would go on to found the social networking giant. While watching Facebook grow from a distance, Hasit immigrated to Israel after graduation and enlisted in the army, where he worked as a spokesman to foreign media. He never bragged about his famous college roommate, but word eventually got out. 'People said, "You're nuts. What happened to you?"' said Aliza Landes, a fellow American who served with Hasit. During her time in the military, Landes founded the Israeli army's social media desk. Hasit, she said, did not get involved. Hasit did experience a moment of brief stardom. Benjy Rutland, an officer in his unit, said he remembers Hasit's delight when he watched The Social Network, a Hollywood film about Facebook's launch at Harvard, and caught a glimpse of a minor character in the film wearing a skullcap and playing drums. Hasit, himself an amateur drummer, said it was a 'plausible' representation of him. 'He was happy there was something he could sort of hang his hat on,' Rutland said. Although he didn't become a founder, Hasit said he has managed to cash in somewhat on the global phenomenon born in his college dorm. Zuckerberg (pictured in June) dropped out of Harvard and moved to Silicon Valley, while Hasit graduated in 2005 after writing his thesis on Israeli hip-hop In 2004, Hasit became Facebook's fourth user, after Zuckerberg and co-founders Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz. Jesse Eisenberg is pictured second from right playing a young Zuckerberg in The Social Network Shortly after Facebook's initial public offering in May 2012, Hasit said he bought shares that have 'done well'. He has also used Facebook to attract 93,000 followers to read his posts, which reflect his liberal take on Jewish tradition. In a recent Facebook missive, Hasit argued for tolerance in Judaism of gay men a position that put him at odds with the country's Orthodox rabbinic establishment. He based his view on a verse in Genesis that says: 'It is not good for a human to be alone.' A Jewish gay couple contacted him after reading the post, and he officiated their wedding, he said. Hasit last week completed a five-year rabbinical study program that included a master's degree in the Talmud. As a Conservative rabbi, he faces a significant challenge in Israel. Although the Reform and Conservative movements are dominant among American Jews, they have struggled for recognition in Israel, where ultra-Orthodox rabbinic authorities hold a monopoly over religious affairs. The smaller movements take more liberal positions on traditional religious issues, such as tolerance for homosexuality and rejecting gender segregation. Hasit recently married, has a baby girl, and in August moved to the small Israeli town of Mazkeret Batya, where he will serve as rabbi to a fledgling congregation. He says he'll make about $25,000 a year after taxes, standard for a starting Conservative rabbi in Israel. Zuckerberg, via Facebook, declined an interview request. Hasit also declined to discuss their relationship or say the last time they spoke. But he said his time living with Facebook's founders remains an influence, and he sometimes wonders how things might have been different if he had taken a different path. A man has successfully patented a 'Hamdog' - a combination of a hamburger and a hotdog all in the one bun - and the fast food is set to go on sale for $8. Mark Murray took his culinary revolution onto reality television show Shark Tank last year, asking panel members $1 for a 25 per cent share of all rights and revenue the burger generates. The Perth-based entrepreneur was told the fast food idea was impossible to patent because he would need to invest millions of dollars to get the business off the ground with a 'patent lawyer'. Scroll down for video A man has successfully patented a 'Hamdog' - a combination of a hamburger and a hotdog The buns, which are hand-made to order, comes complete with a Bunbury beef patty cut in half and a Hunsa frankfurt placed in the middle - and topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles and three sauces - American mustard, tomato sauce and mayonnaise 'Even [Shank Tank judge] Janine Allis told me that it was impossible to patent. She'll be eating her words now,' Mr Murray told News Corp. The pitch comes after he successfully secured a United States patent for the cross between the 'hamburger hot dog bread bun' in 2009. And now, the fast food is set to hit the market across Perth, gracing menus at events, including local markets, shows and races. The buns, which are hand-made to order, comes complete with a Bunbury beef patty cut in half and a Hunsa frankfurt placed in the middle - and topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles and three sauces - American mustard, tomato sauce and mayonnaise. The buns comes complete with a Bunbury beef patty, a Hunsa frankfurt, cheese and pickles The pitch comes after he successfully secured a United States patent for the 'combination hamburger hot dog bread bun' in 2009 Mr Murray is also asking people for a cash injection of $10,000 to become a franchise so the Hamdog can be sold around the country 'At the moment there is a fair bit of labour involved in making the buns because they're made by people, not machines. We're still developing a way to semi automate production.' Mr Murray is also asking people for a cash injection of $10,000 to become a franchise so the Hamdog can be sold around the country. For now, the Hamdog is the only fast food listed up for sale, but Mr Murray said the team is interested in expanding the menu. 'Once the product is out there and that process is sorted, well start experimenting,' he said. Thanks for supporting PPS airsoft in the past. 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With excellent quality and highperformance to service our customer with all our heart. A prominent violinist and his two stepsons have died in a horrific car crash just hours into a family holiday. Queensland Symphony Orchestra violinist Stephen Phillips, 54, and his stepsons, aged 12 and 14, were killed in the crash in Huntly in New Zealand's North Island on Monday afternoon. The boys' mother, Belinda Williams, and her daughter Tessa, 9, were injured and rushed to hospital, according to the Courier Mail. Queensland Symphony Orchestra violinist Stephen Phillips, 54, (pictured) and his stepsons, aged 12 and 14, were killed in the crash in Huntly in New Zealand's North Island on Monday afternoon The Nissan the family-of-five were travelling in crossed the centre line and collided with a truck. Police believe Mr Phillips was driving at the time (Emergency crews are pictured at the scene) The family had picked up a rental car after flying into Auckland from Brisbane on Monday morning. They planned to spend two weeks visiting Belinda Williams' family, Stuff reported. The Nissan the family-of-five were travelling in crossed the centre line and collided with a truck. Police believe Mr Phillips was driving at the time. Mr Phillips was Queensland Symphony Orchestra's First Violinist, and had been a member since 1987. QSO Chairman Greg Wanchap said: 'The family was tragically involved in a car accident while in New Zealand on holidays yesterday and sadly Stephen passed away. 'Stephen had been a member of the QSO since 1987 and Belinda has played with the QSO since 2002.' The Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter (pictured) airlifted the woman and nine-year-old girl to Waikato Hospital on Monday Ms Williams remains in a serious condition, while her daughter is in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital. The truck driver was uninjured, police said. Inspector Freda Grace, Road Policing Manager for Waikato District said the crash was another reminder to drive safely. An Uber driver has been charged with the sexual assault of a woman in Sydney's North Shore on Saturday night. The 26-year-old woman ordered a car from the ride-sharing service on Saturday night in West Pennant Hills and got into a red Nissan Micra driven by a man. During the drive home the man allegedly pulled the car over in Carlingford and sexually assaulted the passenger, before taking her home. A 30-year-old Uber driver from Rooty Hill has been charged with sexual assault and indecent assault of a 26-year-old woman in Sydney's North Shore on Saturday night (stock image) The woman reported the incident to police who followed up with an investigation. Police arrested a 30-year-old man at a house on Acropolis Avenue in Rooty Hill about 9.20am on Tuesday morning. Police also used a search warrant to search the man's home and seized items for forensic testing. The 30-year-old man was taken to Mr Druitt police station and charged with sexual assault and indecent assault. He was refused bail and appeared in Mr Druitt Local Court on Tuesday. An Uber spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia their thoughts were with the woman and her family. The woman was picked up by the man in West Pennant Hills on Saturday about 11pm. He allegedly stopped the car in Carlingford and assaulted her, before driving her home. The man appeared in Mt Druitt Local Court on Tuesday 'As soon as we were alerted to the alleged incident, we immediately removed the driver from the platform and we have been working with the authorities to provide information for their investigation,' the spokesperson said. An ex-Army officer has won 5,000 compensation after her breasts were allegedly exposed in a wrongful arrest by officers investigating historical abuses by UK troops. Rachel Webster, once praised by former prime minister Tony Blair for her efforts in Iraq, was left 'shocked' by the rough way she was restrained in her own home. She branded her treatment as 'tantamount to being kidnapped by the state' and felt 'humiliated' by the ordeal. 'Humiliated': Rachel Webster, once praised by former prime minister Tony Blair (pictured together left), was left 'shocked' by the rough way she was restrained in her own home Ms Webster's payout is understood to be the first time the Ministry of Defence has offered compensation to serving or former personnel affected by its inquiries into alleged abuses The 48-year-old also claimed she was later denied access to the toilet when she became unwell, according to Claire Newell and Ben Farmer at the Daily Telegraph. Ms Webster's payout is understood to be the first time the Ministry of Defence has offered compensation to serving or former personnel affected by its inquiries into alleged abuses. Dating back more than a decade, the investigations have proved controversial and details of this case will only serve to raise more questions about the conduct of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT). MP Johnny Mercer, a former soldier, told the Telegraph: 'The whole thing is a disgrace. I am ashamed that the Government and MoD is continuing to treat soldiers who have served this country in this manner.' Ms Webster was initially contacted by IHAT officers in October 2013. She was asked to give a witness statement about the activities of a former colleague but declined. Three months later she was arrested following a dawn raid on her home on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. After being detained for hours of questioning she was released without charge. Ms Webster (pictured receiving thanks from a girl for rebuilding a school in Iraq) branded her treatment as 'tantamount to being kidnapped by the state' and felt 'humiliated' by the ordeal Career: Ms Webster, originally from Brigg in Lincolnshire, served in the Army for 24 years Military recognition: In 2003, while serving in Iraq, Sgt Webster met Tony Blair when he visited Basra soon after the invasion. She left the Army in 2013 and now works in finance Ms Webster, originally from Brigg in north Lincolnshire, served in the Army for 24 years. She joined in 1989 and rose to the rank of Captain. In 1999, while a corporal serving in central Kosovo, she was given an award for her role in maintaining law and order and shutting down an illegal police station. Four years later, while serving in Iraq, Sgt Webster met Tony Blair when he visited Basra soon after the invasion. She left the Army in 2013 and now works in finance. Ms Webster said in a statement: 'Since my arrest I have waited over two years to clear my name. 'It's finally over and I can move on. Justice does prevail but at what cost!' The MoD denies Ms Webster was prevented from using a toilet but a spokeswoman said: 'A compensation claim made following an arrest in 2014 has been settled. A newlywed hoping to enjoy a trip-of-a-lifetime to Mexico with her new husband was left distraught after developing deep vein thrombosis just four days into the holiday and being told her travel insurance firm wouldn't cover the 3,000 bill. Michelle Green, 44, from North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, travelled to the Riviera Maya on August 27 after tying the knot with her long-term partner Dave Cowell. But their trip turned into the honeymoon from hell when her leg started to swell up. Michelle Green, 44, from North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, travelled to Mexico after tying the knot with her partner Dave Cowell but developed deep vein thrombosis just four days into the trip-of-a-lifetime. She claims her travel insurance firm is refusing to help cover medical costs She was taken to hospital and diagnosed with pulmonary artery disease, but staff at the hospital demanded 3,000 up front before she could be treated. Her sister Jackie Welford said: 'She couldn't get hold of the insurance company and she rang me in tears in the middle of the night saying she needed money for treatment. 'We managed to get the money to her the next day and she was put on treatment.' But Ms Green's condition worsened and turned to deep vein thrombosis, the family said. When she was readmitted to hospital on September 9, her family say that she was unable to walk more than a few feet, and her left leg was 7cm bigger than the right. Ms Welford said: 'Being in the hospital was really stressful for her because of the language barrier - she would ring for water but still not have any hours later.' Ms Green was eventually discharged from hospital four days later, having missed their flights home on September 11. Michelle Green, 44, married partner Dave Cowell (pictured on their wedding day in August) and was hoping for a dream honeymoon but was struck down with deep vein thrombosis But the newlyweds were horrified to be told that their insurance company, PayingTooMuch.com, would not pay for any further medical bills, accommodation or their tickets to get home. As such they have had to fork out hundreds of pounds for an extra six nights' accommodation and for their flights back to the UK. Ms Welford has accused the company of 'continually looking for ways not to pay out'. She said: 'The reason they gave eventually was that she didn't have worldwide cover, but Michelle called in July to upgrade the annual policy to include Mexico and was told she was already covered for Mexico but not America.' Three weeks after going to Mexico, the honeymooners flew back to Frankfurt and are due to catch a connection to Manchester Airport arriving home in Wallsend tonight. They had to borrow money to cover the cost. The couple were just four days into their holiday in Riviera Maya, Mexico (pictured) when Ms Green had to be admitted to hospital for a swollen leg. The medical costs were at least 3,000 Their family have now started an online fundraising page. Ms Welford said: 'She had a fabulous wedding day and it's such a shame that their honeymoon has been such a disaster.' A PayingTooMuch.com spokesman said the firm is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and follows its complaints procedure. This can end with intervention from the Financial Ombudsman, which can settle a claim if a mistake is made. A man and a woman were recovering in hospital this morning after they were ambushed and shot moments after getting off a flight into Las Vegas McCarran Airport. The couple were shot in the long term parking garage attached to the airport by a man who is believed to have been previously in a relationship with the woman. Officials are stressing the shooting is being regarded as a 'domestic violence incident'. A couple were shot and wounded after they were ambushed in the car park of Las Vegas McCarran Airport by a suspect who had previously been in a relationship with the woman Both victims were conscious when taken to hospital and are believed to have been in a stable condition. Nevada law allows the open carrying of firearms and people can bring a gun to the airport as long as they are not trying to pass through the TSA checkpoint. Las Vegas Police Department confirmed one suspect was taken into custody from the VA Medical Center without incident. Captain Vincent Cannito of the Metropolitan Police Department told the Las Vegas Review Journal: 'There has been no significant threat to this airport.' Video courtesy of KLAS Las Vegas Now McCarran airport was not evacuated following the shooting although access to the parking garage was restricted for several hours while officers hunted down the gunman It is understood a man and a woman arrived at McCarran airport on Monday evening and made their way to the long term parking area when the shooting happened. A tourist elephant used to carry backpackers to a popular waterfall trampled a man to death before running off into the jungle after a female. Punters stared in horror as the animal tossed its owner, 55-year-old Pop Sreang, into the air, gored him with its tusks and fatally stomped him. It then ran off into the Cambodian forest near the Bousra Waterfall, in the Pech Chreada district of remote eastern Mondulkiri province, to chase a female elephant and has still not been found. Punters stared in horror as the animal tossed its owner, 55-year-old Pop Sreang, into the air, gored him with its tusks and fatally stomped him A tourist elephant like the one pictured used to carry backpackers to a popular waterfall trampled a man to death before running off into the jungle after a female It ran off into the Cambodian forest near the Bousra Waterfall (pictured) in the Pech Chreada district of remote eastern Mondulkiri province, to chase a female elephant and has still not been found A hunt is on for the angry, but supposedly smitten elephant, with rangers hoping to capture it by bringing it down with tranquilisers. The elephant was being beaten before it ran off into the forest in pursuit of a female elephant, said local police chief Pich Sotheary. The drama started when Mr Sreang went into the elephants compound in order to lead it to a group of tourists waiting to ride to the waterfall. But, the Cambodia Daily reported today, the elephant became angry and Mr Sreang had difficulty controlling it. Up to 15 police officers, members of Mr Sreangs family and tourists watched as the mahout finally managed to clamber onto the animals back where, said the daily, he struck a metal hook into its head in an attempt to calm it and start its tourist-carrying duties. The rampaging elephant threw the owner into the sky and onto the ground, said district governor Nuon Saron. Then it stabbed him with his tusks and trampled him to death. It looked like a movie. A hunt is on for the angry, but supposedly smitten elephant, with rangers hoping to capture it by bringing it down with tranquilisers Officials said the crowd shouted at the elephant to try to scare it off. We couldnt help the victim at all because we didnt have a gun to shoot and scare it, said commune police chief Ra Borith. He told the daily that when it became clear there was no hope for Pop Sreang, the group of onlookers fled in fear for their own lives. Police chased the elephant for about 100 yards but then it vanished into the jungle. Official said the elephant had run off from the beating it was receiving and had gone off pursuit of a female it knew was in the forest - and this is the mating season. Police have been patrolling the area around the waterfall to warn touirists and villagers to stay away. The elephant has been missing for a week and theres still no sign of it, said a police officer. Jeremy Corbyn has made a bizarre vow to nationalise The Great British Bake Off during an election rally. The veteran left-winger complained that the public had 'lost ownership' of the hit show because the BBC used private production companies. 'Shall we get it back?' he said to cheers from supporters. The promise comes despite Mr Corbyn revealing yesterday that he did not eat biscuits because he is 'anti-sugar'. Campaign: Jeremy Corbyn (left) noticed a jokey banner (right) waved by a supporter in Birminghams Centenary Square bearing the message Nationalise Bake Off during a speech Listening: Hundreds of supporters had gathered in Birmingham for the Labour leadership rally, with others waving Tories out banners and pro-Corbyn badges The 67-year-old noticed a jokey banner waved by a supporter in Birminghams Centenary Square bearing the message Nationalise Bake Off during his speech last night. Praising the sign, he said: The fate of Bake Off is what happens when the BBC was allowed to contract out its programme-making somewhere else. Thus the public lost ownership of Bake Off. Shall we get it back? His comments - to loud cheers - came after it was revealed last week that the BBC had lost the rights to broadcast the cookery show and it will now move to Channel 4. The BBC declined to pay the reported 25million per year demanded by Bake Off makers Love Productions, and instead allegedly offered 15 million to keep it. Presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc have announced they are leaving the show when it moves to Channel 4 at the end of the current series. Judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood are yet to confirm if they will follow after Channel 4 signed a three-year agreement with Love Productions. Moving: Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc are leaving The Great British Bake Off when it moves to Channel 4, while judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood are yet to confirm if they will follow Contest: The leadership ballot between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith closes tomorrow and the result will be revealed on Saturday Hundreds of supporters had gathered in Birmingham for the Labour leadership rally, with others waving Tories out banners and pro-Corbyn badges. His speech included attacks on austerity policies, calls for better mental health services and an appeal to Labour to come together after the leadership contest. Mr Corbyn attracted ridicule yesterday for the way he answered the traditional light-hearted question about his favourite biscuit during a Mumsnet webchat. The MP said he avoided biscuits because he was 'anti-sugar on health grounds'. But other users were quick to point out that Mr Corbyn is a keen jam-maker - which usually involves huge amounts of sugar. The leadership ballot between Owen Smith and Mr Corbyn closes tomorrow and the result will be revealed on Saturday. Both politicians are today making a final push for votes against the backdrop of a crunch party meeting on who decides their shadow cabinet. Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke told MailOnline said: 'This prize pudding wants to ban the BBC from using independent production companies. Europe's aristocracy fell over itself trying to support and promote Adolf Hitler (pictured) during the Third Reich, a new book published in Germany has revealed Europe's aristocracy fell over itself trying to support and promote Adolf Hitler during the Third Reich, a new book published in Germany has revealed. The Nazi dictator even granted 'honorary Ayran' status to a Jewish princess because of her social contacts which Hitler craved to turn to political advantage. He was obsessed with the British royal family and went out of his way to cultivate contacts with European bluebloods who had links to the House of Windsor, the book claims. 'Hitler's Secret Helpers' by historian Karina Urbach chronicles how the noble families of Germany and Austria were vital to the ambitions of the guttersnipe ex-corporal in his rise to the top. 'Many of them helped in the rise of Hitler and gave him support in the social arena with the glare of publicity falling upon them,' said Frau Urbach. Despite her Jewish origins, Hitler was particularly spellbound by a woman he called his 'Dear Princess' - Stephanie von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg Schillingsfurst who died in 1972. The dictator personally gave her the coveted Gold Medal of the Nazi Party for her services to the Reich in 1938 and bestowed on her the Ayran status, even though she was born a Jewish commoner and married into the Austrian nobility. 'She was rewarded because she used her good relations in the nobility for years behind the scenes to open doors for Hitler allowing him to hold political talks with influential people,' said the historian whose work has been received with positive critical acclaim. Despite her Jewish origins, Hitler was particularly spellbound by a woman he called his 'Dear Princess' - Stephanie von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg Schillingsfurst (pictured) who died in 1972 'Like many other aristocrats, she was one of Hitler's secret helpers.' Although Hitler boasted that Nazism was the true classless society, where worker and industrialist, aristocrat and bank clerk were equal, it was a myth. 'Due to their close friendship and kinship relationships across national borders, they formed an international network which Hitler used,' added the author. Another noble he courted and used for his contacts was Prince Max Egon zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who lived until 1968. His family had served the German Kaiser, a French marshall, a Cardinal in Rome, numerous Austro-Hungarian generals and field marshalls and even the Russian czars. 'The prince used his international connections in the service of Hitler,' said Frau Urbach. 'There were differences between the Catholic and the Protestant nobility. The former focused on the Imperial Court of the Habsburgs in Vienna, the latter on the royal family in London. 'No matter what prayer book they took on Sunday at the Church, they all could participate if they wanted to in country house diplomacy.' Although Hitler boasted that Nazism was the true classless society, where worker and industrialist, aristocrat and bank clerk were equal, it was a myth, the book says The relationship between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy was aided by Prince Philipp von Hessen who led secret German foreign office missions for Hitler which included talks with Pope Pius XII. 'The Hessen prince was married to a daughter of the Italian king and therefore all doors in Rome stood open for him,' said the author. 'At the same time he was close with the British Royal family's relation Carl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a Nazi since the beginning and the main conduit iof Hitler to the English Kings Edward VIII and George VI. related such as also Carl Eduard. 'He tried with his shuttle diplomacy tirelessly to pull England on to the side of Germany.' Details of German contacts to the British royal family are mostly sealed in archives, as are many of the histories of the German aristocracy. Urbach finds this 'an intolerable situation' and is fighting for access to the secret of the House of Windsor as well as those of her noble countrymen. According to her research the age of secret diplomacy ended for the nobility with the end of the Second World War. David Cameron privately recorded hours of 'frank' interviews while he was Prime Minister in preparation for writing his memoirs. Mr Cameron spent an hour every month discussing the details of his life in Downing Street with long-standing friend and journalist Lord Finkelstein. Concerned about secrecy, the pair are said to have taped the encounters on MiniDisc - reputed to be virtually unhackable - and Mr Cameron kept all the copies. David Cameron recorded detailed interviews every month during his six year spell as PM The sessions covered his experiences during the coalition with the Liberal Democrats, which lasted from May 2010 to 2015. And they continued through the Tories' surprise general election victory, Mr Cameron's efforts to renegotiate new EU membership terms, and his failure to convince the British public to stick with the Brussels club. The premier and Lord Finkelstein - a former Conservative Party strategist - would generally meet in the Camerons' Downing Street flat in the evenings, according to The Times. However, they also recorded some interviews over lunch. Mr Cameron was apparently 'calm and reasonable' and did not get angry about the frequently turbulent events he was having to deal with. But is said to have been 'frank' about the individuals with whom he was dealing. There will be great interest about Mr Cameron's verdict on foreign leaders such as President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin. He could also lay out his candid views on Cabinet colleagues including his successor as PM, Theresa May. Allies of Mr Cameron had hoped he could top the 4.6million book deal secured by Tony Blair. However, he has a far lower profile in the US than his Labour predecessor and industry experts believe the final figure will be more like 1million. Frontrunners among the publishing houses include Viking, part of Penguin, and Macmillan. Mr Cameron spent around an hour a month chatting with Lord Finkelstein, pictured, a former Tory strategist, about his life in Downing Street Courtney Matthews (pictured) charged with killing a policeman's daughter in a horrific car crash could have her charges downgraded A babysitter charged with killing a policeman's four-year-old daughter in a horrific car crash could have her charges downgraded if she is found to have not been dangerous driving. Courtney Matthews, 19, was driving a Red Mazda 323 when it collided with a Subaru Liberty near Casino in northern New South Wales on December 18 last year. Sergeant Steve Underhill, who was called to the crash scene, had discovered his daughter Elle died after being trapped inside the wreckage. On Tuesday, Magistrate David Heilpern ordered prosecutors and defence lawyers for the teenage driver to begin negotiation to determine 'whether or not there was dangerous driving', The Courier-Mail reported. Matthews, who had her driver's license suspended, was charged with with dangerous driving occasioning death, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and negligent driving causing death. Sergeant Steve Underhill, who was called to the crash scene, had discovered his four-year-old daughter Elle (pictured) died after being trapped inside the wreckage Magistrate Heilpern ordered police to produce their brief by October 18 - and the case has been adjourned until November 8. The grieving father of the little girl appeared in Lismore Local Court with his wife Michelle on Tuesday for Matthews' latest appearance. The court case comes after Matthews made an appeal in court, asking to have her license reinstated because she needed to attend dance competitions. However, Magistrate Heilpern refused to lift the suspension on the teen's licence, saying she had not proved the 'exceptional circumstances' required. U.S. Secretary John B. King Jr. just completed his firstand likely his lastannual Education Department bus tour, visiting half a dozen states across the South, stopping off at an early-learning program in Arkansas, and a university thats made progress in graduating historically disadvantaged groups of students. The theme of the tour, the last for the Obama administration, Opportunity Across America and students decorated the bus along with the way with drawings depicting what opportunity means to them. (Check out the before and after pictures below.) We joined King on the last day of the week-long trek, for three stops in Louisiana. Read our Q & A here . University Terrace Elementary School, Baton Rouge, La. Louisiana has been pummeled by heavy rainfall and flooding this summer, meaning that some students and teachers here have had to leave their homes, right as the school year is beginning. King told the students at University Terrace Elementary School that he and his bossPresident Barack Obamawere thinking of them and wanted to them to continue learning and working hard in school. And he told them your teachers are heroes for keeping their eyes on their students education even as they are dealing with fallout from the storms in their personal lives. Before King arrived at the school, Jodi Burson, who teaches 3rd grade science and social studies, had to execute a quick move when her home flooded. She and her husband are now using donated furniture, sleeping on an air mattress ,and coping without internet capabilityfar from ideal circumstances at the start of the school year. She shared her story with her students. And for the most part, they were sympathetic, she said. Most of them understood. And while only a handful of her students were also flooded out of their homes, theyve all been effected by it, she said. For instance, some students have had displaced relatives come and stay with them. During Kings visit, the department announced that its giving a $1.5 million to the Louisiana Department of Education to help schools and students deal with fallout from the storm. And Yoobi, a school supplies company offered the students free boxes of colored pencils and other supplies. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. President Barack Obama has made it his goal that the United States will (again) lead the world in college completion by 2020. And the president and both of his education secretaries (King and his predecessor, Arne Duncan) have stressed the importance of making sure that universities enroll and graduate more students of color, those that come from low-income families, and those in special education. So hows that going? There are definitely some universities that are leaders here, including LSU, King said. Its not enough for students to start college, King said. They have to finish. This is especially true for students who have to take out loans to pay for college. If they dont complete a degree, they end up worse off than had they never gone to college, because they wind up saddled by debts that often they cannot pay. The Obama administration, and Congress, have been trying to tackle the access and information barriers. Theyve released a college scorecard to help students weigh different prospective schools, streamlined the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA, and have allowed graduates to make loan payments based on their income, among other action. But even those steps havent gone far enough. One former financial aid administrator and educator in the audience told King about his familys frustration filling out the FAFSA. And another audience member asked whether King favored making federal college-access programs, like TRIO, available to undocumented immigrants. King said he was all for that. In fact, hed like to see all sorts of higher education assistance become available for those students. But he acknowledged that there are significant political obstacles in the way of that. And he added, To me the broader question is should we as country create a caste system, where some folks, because of their migration status, dont have access to opportunity ... Its short-sighted because these are our students in our schools they are part of our community. This, to me, is a critical issue moving forward. How do you turn around a perennially failing school? No one has found the magic bullet, but this school, which was restarted as a charter several years ago, seems to be on the right track. Cohen College Prep, which went from an F to a B on the states accountability system, was part of New Schools for New Orleans nearly $30 million federal grant through the Investing in Innovation program. The grant was aimed at investigating whether low-performing schools can get better when they are reimagined as charters. As part of the turnaround, the school brought in new leadership and some new staff, but continued some long-standing traditions, including an emphasis on music and band. The school also puts a premium on a college-going cultureits had a 100 percent college acceptance rate for the past three school years. On the day of Kings visit, the department unveiled guidance on using evidence-based interventions to improve struggling schools under the new Every Student Succeeds Act. You can read it here . Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . 'But I believe this thinking is wrong. I believe the road of true democracy remains the better path' Obama made several references to Trump, as well as Putin; said 'it's no surprise that some argue the future favors a strongman' He said North Korea and Russia need to be put in check and argued that the Iran deal is good for every country Lecturing heads of state he said, 'We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down...a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others' Brutish nationalistic tendencies cannot be ignored - 'they are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction from too many of our citizens,' he advised and democracy and try to force a 'course correction' US president took one last opportunity to promote President Barack used his last address to the United Nations to bat down the kind of 'crude populism' he's accused Donald Trump of adopting. 'Today a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself,' Obama said before the UN's General Assembly. Obama warned that 'alternative visions of the world' will succeed if heads of state don't force a 'course correction' from the current path of globalization. Scroll down for video President Barack used his last address to the United Nations to bat down the kind of 'crude populism' he's accused Donald Trump of adopting 'Today a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself,' Obama said before the UN's General Assembly Standing before the United Nations for the last time as president, Obama impressed upon world leaders that there must be a 'course correction' for globalization Delivering remarks to dignitaries at the United Nations gathering for his last time as President of the United States, Obama aggressively pushed for global unification and the spread of liberal democracy. He said 'real problems' with globalization have been neglected and that has given rise to 'religious fundamentalism, the politics of ethnicity tribe or sect, aggressive nationalism' and 'crude populism.' The embrace of brutish nationalistic tendencies comes 'sometimes from the far left but more often from the far right,' he contended, 'which seeks to restore what they believe was a better simpler age free of outside contamination.' 'We cannot dismiss these visions; they are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction from too many of our citizens,' he advised. The exiting U.S. president said he does not believe that positioning will bring about security and prosperity because those visions 'fail to recognize at a very basic level our common humanity.' Technological advances that have accelerated technology and communication have made it impossible to retreat into isolation, Obama argued. 'So the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration.' Obama said societies must 'reject any forms of fundamentalism or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity.' 'Instead we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings.' Russia has acted out by 'attempting to recover lost glory through force' and Asian powers by debating 'competing claims of history,' he said, making reference to fights over the South China Sea. In Europe and United States 'you see people wrestle with concerns about immigration and changing demographics and suggesting somehow that people who look different are corrupting the character of our countries.' The liberal leader there's 'no easy answer for resolving all these social forces.' 'But I do not believe progress is possible if our desire to preserve our identities gives way to our impulse to dehumanize or dominate another group,' he asserted, in a grand rejection of Trump's candidacy. Lecturing fellow heads of state he said, 'We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down rather than encouraging a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others.' Iranian diplomats listen as Obama addresses the 71st session of the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday He invoked his own struggle with racism as he said, 'in my own life, in this country, and as President, I have learned that our identities do not have to be defined by putting someone else down, but can be enhanced by lifting somebody else up. 'They dont have to be defined in opposition to others, but rather by a belief in liberty and equality and justice and fairness.' Obama repeatedly argued that there's no hiding from global amalgamation. 'The world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent it from affecting our own societies,' he declared. 'We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down rather than encouraging a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others' - Barack Obama to the United Nations General Assembly Member nations will not be able to meet the challenges of the 21st century alone, he said. 'We cannot escape the prospect of nuclear war unless all commit to pursuing world without them.' The Iran deal 'enhances global security,' he said, and that country's 'ability to work with other nations.' When North Korea tests a bomb, that endangers all of us,' he similarly said, and it 'must face consequences.' Illnesses like Zika will afflict multiple nations in a region. 'Mosquitoes don't respect walls,' he stated in another jab at Trump. The U.S. president acknowledged that America's own system of government has flaws but said the 'cure is greater engagement by our citizens not less.' 'Yes in America there is too much money in politics, too much entrenched partisanship, too little participation by citizens, in part because of a patchwork of laws that makes it harder to vote.' Furthermore, that does not mean that people 'prefer arbitrary rule,' he said. If anyone doubts that, they should 'listen to the voices of young people everywhere.' Just as Obama and fellow heads of state were gathering Monday, Syria's military declared the week-old cease-fire over following numerous breaches and deadly airstrikes that hit an aid convoy, leading the U.N. to suspend all aid convoys in Syria. The Syrian delegation is pictured listening to Obama's speech today 'There appears to be a growing contest between authoritarianism and liberalism right now, and I want everybody to understand that I am not neutral in that contest,' he said. Nation building is hard work, Obama said, and 'those promoting democracy feel somewhat discouraged since the end of the Cold War' because the West has learned that 'liberal democracy will not just wash across the globe in a single wave.' Given the difficulty of setting up governments that hold free and fair elections, 'it's no surprise that some argue the future favors a strongman' he said, and a 'top down model.' 'But I believe this thinking is wrong. I believe the road of true democracy remains the better path.' Obama's speech is always a focal point of the annual U.N. General Assembly, but his address Tuesday marked his swan song on the international stage. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not present for Obama's remarks, many of which were directed at him in addition to Trump. 'If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure,' Obama said near the end of his remarks. Continuing, he said, 'In the South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs.' First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden listen to President Barack Obama's address at the UN today Months from his constitutionally-mandated retirement, Obama made a final attempt at leaving his mark on global affairs. He stepped into his role eight years ago with sky-high expectations and has struggled to deliver when it comes to solving global problems partially beyond America's control. Obama reassured foreign leaders in the speech that the world is better equipped to tackle its challenges than at almost any point in history despite a cascade of harrowing crises that seem devoid of viable solutions. Just as Obama and fellow heads of state were gathering Monday, Syria's military declared the week-old cease-fire over following numerous breaches and deadly airstrikes that hit an aid convoy, leading the UN to suspend all aid convoys in Syria. The setbacks were fresh indicators that even the most hard-fought diplomatic gambles have failed to lessen the violence in Syria for any lasting stretch of time. And hanging over the UN gathering was a weekend bombing a short subway ride away that New York's mayor has declared an act of terror. Security in Manhattan, already high in light of the U.N. summit, was further tightened. Obama's other major priority at the UN his year was to force more aggressive action to mitigate the worst refugee crisis since World War II, stemming in large part from the Syria war. In addition to his speech, Obama on Tuesday planned to host a summit on refugees. ''We should all understand that, ultimately, our world will be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need and the nations who are carrying the largest burden with respect to accommodating these refugees,' he said in his address. The idea is for nations to show up with concrete commitments to accept and support more refugees, and Obama's U.N. ambassador, Samantha Power, said the U.S. told several nations that their initial offers were insufficient. The Obama administration has emphasized that a half-dozen other countries including Germany and Jordan are co-hosting the refugee summit, but it's largely been a U.S.-driven endeavor. It's a haven of sin in the most unsuspecting of places - bursting with sex clubs, 'erotic massage parlours' and a super-sized adult store. Far from the bright lights of the big city, the industrial western Sydney suburb of Rydalmere has become an X-rated fantasyland for the city's working class. Daily Mail Australia visited the suburb on Tuesday to hear from locals after a twisted alleged incident at Aarows Nightclub, one of the area's most popular establishments. The industrial western Sydney suburb of Rydalmere has become an X-rated fantasyland (pictured, 'erotic massage parlour' named Yokos) Far from the bright lights of the big city, Rydalmere is bursting with sex clubs and adult stores (pictured) On the main strip of Rydalmere there are a number of brothels, including a venue named Lipstick (pictured) Daily Mail Australia visited the suburb on Tuesday after an incident last month in the Aarow 'gay, bi and swingers' social club'. A 62-year-old man was charged after he allegedly poured hydrochloric acid in a lubricant dispenser (pictured) with the intent to harm Police and news crews swarmed the premises last month after Hengky Irawan, 62, allegedly attempted to sabotage a lubricant dispenser inside the '24 hour gay, bi and swingers' social club'. Detectives allege he poured hydrochloric acid in a lubricant dispenser with intent to harm. They come and go 24/7 ... It blows me away - blokes you wouldn't pick. But the alleged incident - coming years after a shooting on the premises which was captured in graphic CCTV - doesn't seem to have affected foot traffic. 'We're in the wrong business mate,' said a local businessman, who asked not be named. 'They come and go 24/7... It blows me away'. He said the street front was packed with cars every weekend and said the establishment was largely frequented by tradesmen and businessmen. Often he would see men walk up the street and suddenly duck down the driveway - 'blokes you wouldn't pick', he said. Freshly washed bed sheets hang to dry in the concrete backyard of an erotic massage parlour A local businessman said the street front of Aarows night club was packed with cars every weekend and the establishment was largely frequented by tradesmen and businessmen A Honda Jazz sits parked outside a nondescript building, with a solitary red door for clients Yokos, on Bridge Street in Rydalmere, is described in classifieds as an 'erotic massage parlour' where a 60 minute 'full service' with a local girl is listed at $120 The building has a large car park out the back which was packed on Tuesday. And Daily Mail Australia witnessed several clients leaving the property in quick succession when it requested to speak to the owners. The 'recreation club' is just up the road from 'Yokos', described in classifieds as an 'erotic massage parlour' where a 60 minute 'full service' with a local girl is listed at $120. White bedsheets were seen hanging on the clothes line out the back and an online advertisement asked customers to imagine they were the 'emperor' and could 'choose your delight for the night'. On the same block are the brothels 19A Lipstick and 22 Rydalmere on the main road, Brodie St. One purports to have '6 star facilities and 6 star quality girls' . Then there's the Sexsy Adult Concepts store around the corner, standing metres away from the offices of Christian mission Scripture Union Australia. 'Toys' were the most popular product at the store, according to the owner, Paul. Businessman interested in the services of local brothel Lipstick can discretely park out back A local businessman said that often he would see men walk up the street and suddenly duck down the driveway of Aarows night club - 'blokes you wouldn't pick' Local businessmen said they were not overly troubled by the sinful dens on their block - but did have some amusing stories to tell. Edgard Sayegh, the owner of local Cafe Brodie for the past year, told a funny tale of a couple of young men visiting for breakfast recently. 'I opened early (one morning) and these blokes came up to me (and) asked if the grill will be ready when they came back,' he said. Why, where are you going? he asked. 'They said we're going to a brothel.' 'They must have spent all their money They didn't come back!' Mr Sayegh, who has ran his cafe opposite the train station for less than a year, also said he had been a 'bit surprised' to see a woman standing on the street in a nightgown recently. But he said the establishments hadn't really affected him, and he hadn't had any problems. 'I've never experienced anything bad,' he said. Hengky Irawan, 62, tried to hide behind a yellow envelope while leaving Parramatta Court on Tuesday morning after his alleged involvement in attempting to sabotage the dispensers at Aarows night club The Aarows club describes itself as 'Sydney's gay and bi social club' and it features group showering rooms, a large cage (pictured) and multiple sex rooms As all the station doors open outward, they are now blocked shut The platform at Bad Bentheim was raised 41cm in order to make it more accessible to disabled people It is not the start to the day most commuters would hope for. Bungled renovations at a station in Germany mean passengers have had to climb through a window to get to the platform. Ironically the mistake was made during a programme called 'access for all', which was supposed to make it easier for disabled travellers to catch trains. Commuters at Bad Bentheim station in northwest Germany cannot get through the doors after bungled renovation work The work has left commuters furious, after the raised platform meant doors will now not open The work was carried out at Bad Bentheim station, in north west Germany, where the platform was raised 41cm. Unfortunately everything else at the station remained untouched - meaning that the higher platform now blocks the doors. For a while resourceful passengers used two chairs to climb up and out of a window onto the platform - until health and safety officials decided after several months that this was too dangerous and sealed the window off. Passengers were left bemused by the work at Bad Bentheim station, with the blunder blamed on a bureaucratic mix-up The town's mayor, Volker Pannen, said: 'I guess it's just one of those funny things that happen in life.' Now the only way for all passengers to access the platform is to walk right around the station building and through a small gate at the side. The whole problem has been caused in an apparent bureaucratic mix-up. In March the Deutsche Bahn, which is responsible for maintaining the platform, decided to raise it from 35cm to 76cm to make it easier for disabled passengers to board trains. The sign on the platform door, which no longer opens, declares it is 'defekt' and 'kaputt' at Bad Bentheim Station However, the station building itself belongs to the town of Bad Bentheim, which is aiming to sell it on to the Bentheimer Eisenbahn. The sale is delaying a 900,000 state grant (1.1 million Euros) that Bad Bentheim needs to complete the work. The town's mayor, Volker Pannen, told local media that if they began the work too early they could even miss out on the grant altogether. Commuter Tobias Blenke declared: 'I have never known anything so stupid' Pannen said: 'We are still waiting on the grant's approval. If you start the renovations too soon, you lose your eligibility for the grant.' In the meantime, Deutsche Bahn claimed they could not hold off on the platform renovations and carried out their work. As the station doors all open outwards, they have now effectively been sealed shut by the platform. Inside the station where a barrier blocks the door which now does not open because the platform has been raised 41cm There is now a gap between the platform and the building, and doors cannot now open since the renovation work The mayor has remained largely calm about the situation. Pannen told local media: 'It is as it is. I cannot and could not change it. With that in mind, I guess it's just one of those funny things that happen in life.' Passengers are not talking it so light-heartedly. Tobias Blenke, a 20-year-old physics students, was quoted as saying: 'I have never known anything so stupid,' before dragging his suitcase through the window. Another man told local television: 'Through the window? I don't believe it that's a joke.' Work on the station is expected to be completed by 2017. What a joke: The bungled work means that doors at the station in northwest Germany no longer open outward Customers have been left bemused by the mistake, which meant they had to climb through a window in order to catch their trains Controversial: The work was supposed to make life easier for disabled passengers, but has instead caused chaos at the station The picturesque exterior of Bad Bentheim station gives little indication of the controversy within after a bungled renovation work blocked doors to the platform position of chief when his uncle died in 2015 A landscaper who left Canada last year to become a chief of his tribe in Ghana has returned to his old job. Eric Manu left his landscaping post in 2015 to assume his rightful position as chief of the Akan tribe in the West African nation however he decided to return to his old job in British Columbia in order to raise vital funds for the tribe. In an interview with CBC Manu said he was disturbed by the tribe's poor facilities and the indifference showed to them by the Ghanaian government. Tribe chief. Eric Manu in his tribal attire address his people in Ghana recently. He has temporarily relinquished control of the Akan tribe in order to raise money them in Canada 'The [Ghanaian] government wasn't really concentrating on those villages, cottages or hinterlands. Their focus was mainly in the cities. And that was really, really, really disturbing,' he told the On The Coast show. 'They were having challenges with their borehole water system, electricity, telecommunications network the hospital, poor facilities.' The landscaper left his home country in 2012 after a marrying a Canadian woman whom he met in Ghana. He inherited the position of chief when his uncle died last year and said moving back to lead his people taught him many life lessons. 'I feel like I am for the people and I'm accountable and responsible and they look up to me,' he said. Eric Manu left British Columbia to become chief of his tribe after his uncle died last year. However he feels he can better serve his people by raising money in Canada Back to work. Manu has gone back to his old landscaping job despite have a taste of royal life in his native Ghana 'It makes me a totally changed person. 'I feel more mature. It gives me a broadened idea and mind to think far and accept people, irrespective of who they are. Either young or old, physically challenged or able. Everybody.' Man was is charge of this small community in Ghana's hinterland. Behinds are boxes and bags donated from To the Moon and Back Foundation Manu's return has surprised many in his community although he says he has only temporarily relinquished his tribal duties in Ghana. 'Sometimes we go to the (job) site and they say, "You are the chief. I saw you on TV. Why are you doing the landscaping?"' he told CTV News. 'This is humbleness you understand. Anytime I'm in Canada, I'm proud to work for my boss.' Manu's boss Susan Watson started the To the Moon and Back Foundation to raise money and donations to the tribe before he left last year Manu and his Canadian boss Susan Watson started the To the Moon and Back Foundation to raise money and donations for the tribe before he left last year. The foundation already shipped a container with medical supplies, school materials and clothing that arrived in Ghana this spring. 'The whole village was quite poor. The clinic only has a midwife and a few nurses. There is no doctor on site,' said Watson. The pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight who accidentally pressed a hijack alarm and triggered a major police operation could faces punishment, it has emerged. Police isolated and surrounded the Saudia flight after it landed at Manila airport in the Philippines moments after one of its pilots issued a distress signal indicating a hijack was underway. Hundreds of passengers aboard the Boeing 777 flight from the Red Sea city of Jeddah were forced to remain on the plane for more than two hours, but were allowed to disembark at about 5pm after it was confirmed there was no threat. Soon after the distress signal was activated, authorities at Manila control tower obtained a verbal confirmation from the pilot that he had triggered it although he did not say why at the time, Manila airport aviation security chief Mao Aplasca told reporters. Scroll down for video The pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight who accidentally pressed a hijack alarm and triggered a major police operation could faces punishment, it has emerged. Security personnel are pictured on the stairs of the aircraft Police isolated and surrounded the Saudia flight after it landed at Manila airport in the Philippines moments after one of its pilots issued a distress signal indicating a hijack was underway. Passengers are pictured after disembarking Hundreds of passengers aboard the Boeing 777 flight from the Red Sea city of Jeddah were forced to remain on the plane for more than two hours, but were allowed to disembark at about 5pm after it was confirmed there was no threat 'It was only after the plane was parked for some time that he said it was a false alarm,' Aplasca added. In Saudi Arabia, an airline spokesman also told AFP there was no security threat. 'False alarm for hijack for Flight 872,' the spokesman said. The Philippines' aviation authority said in a statement the distress signal pressed by the pilot alerted authorities 'that a hijacking incident is on progress on board'. 'Immediately the flight was given priority landing by airport authorities... and was directed to park on the remote bay and isolated for security procedures,' the statement said. Authorities said an investigation would still be needed to confirm why the distress signal was pressed Pictures show the Saudi Arabia Airlines passenger plane pictured on the tarmac of Ninoy Aquino International airport Passengers greet each other at the arrival area at Manila airport after one of its pilots released a distress signal prior to landing in Manila Passengers had to undergo body checks after getting off the plane to ensure no one was carrying weapons 'Apparently the pilot committed an error activating the 7500 squawking signal,' the statement said, referring to the hijack alarm. It said an investigation would still be needed to confirm why the distress signal was pressed. 'Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if the result is indeed a human error,' it said. There were 410 passengers on board plus four pilots and 17 crew members, airport general manager Ed Monreal told reporters. Many of them were returning from the annual Islamic pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. One of the passengers, Aida Majud, said they were not told why they were being kept on the plane. 'When we saw the armed men we thought, what's the problem? We wanted to know what was happening,' Majud told ABS-CBN television network. There were 410 passengers on board plus four pilots and 17 crew members, the airport general manager said A crew member joins security personnel as they disembark from the jet earlier today But she said the atmosphere was calm, with some speculating President Rodrigo Duterte had come to the airport to welcome the pilgrims home and that the armed men surrounding the plane were his security personnel. Majud said passengers had to undergo body checks after getting off the plane to ensure no one was carrying weapons. Airport officials said there were no major disruptions to traffic, with planes continuing to land and take off, because the Saudia aircraft had been kept at an isolated area. Nicolas Sarkozy (pictured on Tuesday) has demanded all immigrants living in France must 'live like the French' Nicolas Sarkozy has demanded that all immigrants residing in France must 'live like the French' and speak the language. The former French president, who wants to return to the top job in 2017, declared war on Islamist terrorism and said women should ditch the 'medieval' burkini. Speaking at a public meeting in the northern Paris suburb of Franconville on Tuesday, he said immigrants granted citizenship in France must integrate with the community. 'If you want to become French, you speak French, you live like the French. We will no longer settle for integration that does not work, we will require assimilation,' he said. 'Once you become French, your ancestors are the Gauls. 'I love France, I learned the history of France, I see myself as French',' is what you must say.' He denounced the 'tyranny of minorities' and said in France the only community that matters is the French community. 'If we say we can no longer continue with immigration (...) then it is racist. It's unbearable,' he said. 'I want to be the voice of the silent majority,' Mr Sarkozy added to applause. The former French president wants to return to the top job in 2017, pictured with Herve Marseille and Francois Hollande (right) at a ceremony to pay tribute to terror attack victims He said women should ditch the 'medieval' burkini, pictured are police enforcing the controversial ban on burkinis in Nice The presidential hopeful promised to lead a 'merciless war' on Islamist terrorism in response to the deadly Nice and Paris terror attacks. 'I will be the president of action, I do not accept the 238' victims of attacks in France since January 2015, he added. 'I will not accept the medieval behaviour that wants men to swim in swimsuits while the women are locked up' in burkinis. Mayors in around 30 towns this summer cited France's century-old secular laws in banning head-to-toe swimwear on their beaches, unleashing a furore. 'I will not accept the medieval behaviour that wants men to swim in swimsuits while the women are locked up' in burkinis, the former president said FRANCE'S BURKINI BAN The mayors of around 30 French coastal resorts banned the burkini in the wake of the terror attack on Nice's promenade this summer. The move proved to be divisive after photographs emerged of women being forced to remove the garments in front of beach-goers. Several of the towns later revoked the bans after France's highest administrative court ruled they were a 'serious' violation of basic freedoms. The controversy over the swimwear, coupled with several Islamist militant attacks in France since January 2015, has filtered into early campaigning for the April 2017 presidential election. Advertisement Mr Sarkozy, who was President of France between 2007 and 2012, is running for the centre right Les Republicains party nomination. Polls over the past few weeks have consistently shown that Mr Sarkozy is close on the heels of the frontrunner for the party nomination, ex-Prime Minister Alain Juppe. His popularity showed no sign of taking a hit after a state prosecutor said the former leader should stand trial over funding irregularities in his failed 2012 re-election bid. Mr Sarkozy was accused of 'knowingly underestimating' elements of his campaign financing. The prosecutor's office recommended earlier this month that he stand trial with 13 others in the so-called Bygmalion Affair, involving spending overruns and allegedly illegal financing. But the former French President dismissed the allegations as 'shameful' and said he wouldn't be deterred from running in the presidential race. People lay flowers and light candles in tribute for the victims of the November terror attacks in Paris He also came under fire last week which he said world population growth is a bigger problem than climate change. Speaking on a late night TV talk show, he acknowledged climate change was 'a very serious challenge', but added: 'The real challenge is that of demographic change.' Mr Sarkozy was also quoted in a weekly publication as saying 'only man could be so arrogant to think that it is us who is changing the climate.' Many New Yorkers say they were left furious after authorities issued a terror alert to every inhabitant's phone - with some even claiming it made them feel less safe and it could lead to racial profiling. Early yesterday morning, millions of people in the city and in New Jersey received the urgent message telling them to be on the look out for Ahmad Khan Rahami. Authorities had launched a huge manhunt for Rahami after he was declared a suspect in the Chelsea and New Jersey bombings. Millions of New Yorkers received an alert (pictured) on their cellphones Monday morning shortly before 8 am, telling them to look out for a suspect in the Manhattan and New Jersey bombings The message came shortly before 8am with a piercing ring - the same that usually signals an Amber alert or tornado advisory. But this time, authorities used the service to identify a possible terror suspect. The message read: 'Emergency Alert. WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen.' And with everybody's cellphone pinging off at the same time, New Yorkers said it led to a sense of panic across the city, especially as the alert did not include a link or a picture of the wanted man. Taking to Twitter Lance Ulanoff wrote: 'If commuters weren't already on edge today, this alert which just rang through the entire train just got us there.' Anil Dash tweeted: 'Great way to terrorize a full bus of schoolkids is having all their parents' phones blare a scary alarm they can't do anything about. ' While Tony Romm added: 'Friends tell me entire cars of trains and street corners and the like erupted in alerts, scaring the s*** out of everyone.' Meanwhile, other New Yorkers were concerned the alert would make certain ethnic minorities a victim of racial profiling, as the message did not include a picture of Rahami. Kenyatta Cheese wrote on Twitter: 'Shoutout to my fellow brown persons who had originally planned on taking the subway to the airport today with luggage.' Many people were concerned that the alert only included the wanted man's name and not his picture Shuja Haider, who lives in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn, said when he saw Rahami's name and age he immediately searched for an image to see if the suspect looked like him. He was relieved to see no resemblance. He told the New York Times: 'Today, brown guys like me are walking around worrying about the threat of terrorism like everyone else. 'But we're also worried about being blamed for it.' And Bandana Kar, a professor of geography at the University of Southern Mississippi, who has studied the alert, also told the paper: 'It was very troublesome. By encouraging people to go to the media to look at a picture, what if someone had identified the wrong person?' Notify NYC, the alert system, began in 2007 after several incidents, including tornadoes, a steam pipe explosion and crane collapses. It has since relayed thousands of notifications to New Yorkers about emergencies in the city. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was taken into custody Monday in Linden, New Jersey just hours after the alert was sent New York residents are automatically registered for emergency alerts. This is why many received the message on Monday morning even though they never subscribed to the service. This is possibly one of the first times the system has been used to send out information about a potential terror suspect. They can also subscribe to other types of messages on Notify NYC to be alerted of events of a lesser degree of emergency, such as power outages and transit disruptions. A watch command team at the city's office of emergency management monitors emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days of week. That team is in charge of sending emergency notifications to the public. Rahami (pictured after his capture Monday) was born on January 23, 1988, in Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey These alerts usually include tornado alerts, instruction for mandatory evacuations (as was the case during hurricanes Sandy and Irene), Amber alerts and alerts for missing people in imminent danger. Meanwhile, authorities credited the alert with helping them located Rahami, 28, in Linden, New Jersey, where he was taken into custody after a shootout. He is the suspect in the bombing that occurred in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night and in New Jersey's Seaside Park earlier that day, as well as an attempted bombing in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Five explosive devices were found near a train station in Elizabeth on Sunday night. Rahami was born on January 23, 1988, in Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth. A 30-year-old love rat teacher has been struck off after 'having sex with a 17-year-old female pupil in his marital bed' while his newlywed wife was at work at the BBC. Richard Shore, 30, was working at Radyr Comprehensive School in Cardiff, South Wales, when he invited the teenage pupil back to his marital home 'five or six times'. He is said to have developed an 'intimate relationship' with the girl after they went on a school trip together to the U.S. and they began seeing each other upon return. He kept the affair secret from his wife of less than a year, Cerys, 28, but ended up confessing during a blazing row at their Cardiff Bay home when she confronted him. She reported him to education chiefs and he has since been struck off indefinitely. Richard Shore, 30 (right), was working at Radyr Comprehensive School in Cardiff, South Wales, when he invited the teenage pupil back to his marital home 'five or six times'. It is claimed they had sex in his marital bed while his newlywed wife Cerys, 28, (left) was at work Shore kept the affair secret from his wife of less than a year, Cerys, 28 (pictured), but ended up confessing during a blazing row at their home in Cardiff Bay when she confronted him The IT teacher's disciplinary hearing heard how he took the pupil to his marital home 'for sex five or six times' while his wife was out at work for the BBC. Presenting officer Carys Williams told the hearing that he had struck up a close 'intimate' relationship with the teenage pupil during a school trip to California. She said: 'When they returned from the trip their contact escalated by way of texts and it led to a full romantic and intimate relationship. 'It was clearly an inappropriate relationship and it is clear that the actions of Mr Shore were sexually motivated. 'His conduct constituted unacceptable professional conduct.' Their romance began when the pair went jogging together in California on the 700 school trip from Radyr Comprehensive School in Cardiff, South Wales. The teacher began texting the girl - known only as Learner A - using a code name in his text messages to her to try to hide his five-month affair. Miss Williams said: 'It seems he had a code name for Learner A - it was Chris.' Miss Williams said that Shore's wife Cerys made a statement to the investigators about how she confronted him at their home in Cardiff Bay. Cerys (left) gave key evidence to a disciplinary hearing revealing her husband Richard, 30, (right) admitted having the extra-marital affair with the schoolgirl during a row at their home She told the hearing: 'She said her husband had confessed he had had sex with the girl. 'She said their marriage had been in difficulties.' She said that Shore accepted that he said 'I love you' to the girl. Social worker Theresa Derbeyshire told the hearing that the girl told her that she was in love with Shore even though she knew he was married. She said: 'They became friends on the school trip to California and it became sexual when they returned to Cardiff. 'The girl said sex took place at his house and her mother's house. The relationship was physical and sexual.' BBC marketing worker Cerys and Shore lived in a waterside apartment in Cardiff Bay - and the hearing was told he had taken the girl there and she had showered. Shore, 30, is said to have taken the 17-year-old pupil back to his marital home in Cardiff Bay (situated in this block of flats, pictured) while his wife of less than a year was out at work Shore was later arrested and interviewed by police. He admitted to police that he had invited the girl - referred to as Learner A - into his home five or six times and allowed her to use his shower. But the hearing was told he denied having sex and the Crown Prosecution Service decided to take no further action. The Education Workforce Council hearing in Cardiff was told Shore was suspended by the 1,400-pupil school before resigning. Fellow IT teacher Richard Edmunds said his suspicions were raised about the pair when they had gone jogging on their own during the California trip in October 2014. He said Shore later swapped seats on the plane home so he could sit in the same row as the girl. Shore did not attend the Cardiff hearing, instead sending an email to say he was out of the country. It is believed he could be teaching abroad. Shore was accused of seven cases of 'inappropriate' behaviour with the schoolgirl. These included 'engaging in text communication', seeing her unaccompanied on a social basis outside of school, buying her gift and hugging her. Shore was working at Radyr Comprehensive School in Cardiff, Wales, when the affair occurred He also invited her to his home, allowed her to shower in his home, discussed a physical relationship, told her 'I love you' and engaged in sexual intercourse. He was found to be unfit to practise by the disciplinary hearing because his actions were 'sexually motivated.' The Fitness to Practise Committee removed Shore from the teaching register indefinitely. It also decided he cannot reapply for five years. A spokesman for the Education Workforce Council said: 'Mr Shore has the right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days.' Yet more rain is forecast across Australia overnight and through tomorrow, with more than 20mm set to fall over across the country. Parts of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania will face the brunt of the bad weather throughout the next 24 hours as rain sweeps down the east coast. The deluge comes after the Northern Territory was battered by rain in recent days, with up to 100mm falling in some places in just a day - five times the September average. There could be showers in Sydney until the weekend, with rain expected every day until Saturday (file picture) Yet more rain is forecast across Australia overnight and through tomorrow, with more than 20mm set to fall across the country. Pictured, rain in Adelaide Hills last week Parts of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania will face the brunt of the bad weather throughout the next 24 hours. Pictured, rain in Adelaide Hills last week Melbourne will be even less lucky, with the rain continuing until the weekend, albeit with a cold but relatively dry Friday. Pictured, floods in Victoria There are 32 flood warnings in effect across the country overnight as the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) warned residents who live near rivers to be alert of dangerous conditions. They are centered in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, while fierce winds and storms are also expected in South Australia. Weatherzone senior forecaster Graeme Britton told News.com.au that the rain would last for days. 'It's certainly going to be a wet couple of days across the eastern states,' he said. 'A front moving east over South Australia will bring more rain over Victoria and NSW, and this will link with a trough over QLD bringing heavy falls.' There could be showers in Sydney until the weekend, with rain expected every day until Saturday. Australia has been pounded with rain and fierce winds over the last week, causing this landslide in Adelaide Hills Cricket was most definitely not going ahead at this pitch in Darwin after heavy showers The deluge comes after the Northern Territory was battered over the rain in recent days, with up to 100mm falling in some places in just a day Melbourne will be even less lucky, with the rain continuing until the weekend, albeit with a cold but relatively dry Friday. Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart are also set for showers over the next few days, with even sunny Perth forecast to be struck by storms and torrential rain. It has been one of the wettest Septembers in recent years, with record rainfall on parts of the east coast and in the north. The Northern Territory and Queensland have faced an unseasonal amount of rain in the last week, the BoM said. 'A broad swathe of Australia's tropical region, extending from the Northern Territory's Top End to inland southern Queensland, received between 50 and 100mm,' a spokesman said. 'Many sites observed record September daily rainfall totals and many more are on track to have their highest September rainfall on record. Several sites in the central Top End had daily falls of more than 100mm.' These parts of northern Australia would usually see between 5 and 20mm of rain in September. A BBC actress is locked in a bitter custody dispute with her ex-partner after he accused her of abducting their child from Australia A BBC actress is locked in a bitter international custody dispute with her ex-partner after he accused her of abducting their child from Australia. She is said to have fled the country shortly after messaging him to say: 'I know everything', despite allegedly agreeing to start a new life in Sydney. The star will now appear at the Family Division of the High Court in London to plead her case. She and her former partner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met while filming a television show in Africa and had a child in Britain three years later, according to The Times. The father, a documentary maker, claims that when his ex-partner was pregnant she agreed to apply for Australian citizenship and start a family life on the other side of the world. The BBC star later resigned from the corporation and moved to Australia, court documents say, before allegedly disappearing four days later. She reportedly sent the father of her child a cryptic message reading: 'I know everything' and when he contacted police he found she had left the country. The documentary maker is trying to have his access to the child restored with the help of the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction. He claims that the pair's agreement to permanently move to Australia meant the child was legally habitually resident there. The star will now appear at the Family Division of the High Court in London to plead her case The father also says that last year he found out the BBC star was having an affair with another man but they agreed to continue their relationship. He claims that since she returned to London he has had only 11 hours of meetings with his child. The BBC actress claims that she was visiting Sydney on an extended holiday and had already booked a return flight. Legal decisions on the custody of a child are decided by a court in a country where the child is considered to be legally habitually resident, according to the Hague Convention. Lets say you were a mayor who wanted to find out how your citys schools stacked up against similar-sized cities in math and reading proficiency, teacher absenteeism, access to Advanced Placement courses, per-pupil spending, and enrollment in early childhood programs. Where would you go to find all that information? Youd have to head to a variety of different sources, and, in many cases, you wouldnt be able to easily make side-by-side comparisons with the data that you find. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings believes there ought to be easy access to a trove of such data for mayors with a vested interest in education. This country should know the top urban school districts that are improving just like they know who won the Super Bowl last year, said Rawlings, who chairs the Educational Excellence Task Force at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Education is too important to not be clear about it. I am a big believer that... people inherently want to be better, he said in an interview with Education Week. And [if] you know the other guy is doing better than you are, there is motivation for the city to try to get the bar higher. Rawlings has spent the last two years working with researchers at the George W. Bush Institute to do just that. The resultan interactive website of education data in 114 cities in 49 states and the District of Columbiawill be unveiled by the Bush Institute at a roundtable of Texas mayors and school superintendents Tuesday. (Hawaii, which functions as a single statewide school district, was not included in the database.) The data trove, called State of Our Cities , could not come at a better time, as states, districts, and local policymakers will have a lot more say about how their schools are run under the new federal K-12 education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, said Holly Kuzmich, executive director of the George W. Bush Institute and a former deputy chief of staff for policy and programs in the U.S. Department of Education during the Bush administration. Kuzmich sees the site as a valuable asset for local and state officials who are thinking about where to invest their time and resources and where in the country they may be able to find examples of methods and strategies that are dealing successful results for children and youths. But the collection of data can be useful to parents, community advocates, and anyone with a stake in education, she said. Users of the new interactive website will be able to compare their citys performance against others using more than a dozen different indicators. Among them: teacher salaries, percentage of new teachers, chronic student absenteeism, high school graduation rates, completion of federal financial aid forms, performance on state tests in reading and math, and middle school algebra completion rates. The site also provides city-level information on early-childhood programs, including enrollment and eligibility. Users will also be able to see how their citys performance in reading and math stacks up against the Global Report Card, an index created by the George W. Bush Institute that ranks district performance against those of 25 developed countries. And they can also see the performance of groups of students in cities that participate in the Trial Urban District Assessment Program, the national report card for a select group of urban school systems. A citys profile page gives a snapshot of the city, with the number of schools and public school students, district size in comparison to the state and the nation, median income, and child poverty rate. Users will also be able to compare cities by geographic region, population, race, child-poverty rates, median income, and charter school enrollment. The cities in the data collection include some of the biggest, such as New York, Chicago, and Atlanta. But numerous smaller cities are included too, such as Mesa, Ariz.; Boise, Idaho; Paterson, N.J., and Green Bay, Wis. The data come from a number of sources, many of them collected by various divisions in the U.S. Department of Education, including the federal Common Core of Data, the Civil Rights Data Collection, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), EdFacts, and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data. Information from the U.S. Census and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will also be available through the site. The Bush Institute plans to update the data set every two years. But a spotlight section, which highlights cities that are doing notable work in a particular area and provides deeper dives into some topics, will be constantly updated. The first spotlight section looks at after-school and summer-learning access and programs in Dallas; Louisville, Ky.; Boston; Fort Worth, Texas; and St. Paul, Minn. Now city leaders have an easy way to compare Dallas and Denver, Nashville and Chicago and say Who is doing something well, and how do we learn from that? Mayor Rawlings said of the site. Even with the Bush Institutes manpower it was challenging gathering all of the data and putting it together. SAT scores, for example, were not included for all cities because the Bush Institute had to contact the individual school districts for that information. Not all the districts responded. Collecting information on early-childhood education was also difficult because no single organization collected that kind of data, Kuzmich said. And even in cases where the data existed, they were not necessarily comparable across state lines, she said. As a result, the Institute did not assign grades to cities. Instead, it provides site users with the raw data and leaves it up to them to do the rest. Its helping them to have a good base of information to understand where they are succeeding and where they have challenges, she said of the key target audience, mayors and local policymakers. And while the Institute did not analyze or grade the cities as part of its project, the sites executive summary provides an analysis of what researchers found in compiling the data. San Diego stood out as a bright spot across a number of indicators, including a graduation rate for black and Hispanic students that was higher than the national average and math and reading proficiency rates that exceeded the average in California. The city also gained plaudits for middle school algebra competition. The executive summary also singles out Cleveland, which lagged state averages in reading and math proficiency on Ohio assessments. The city also had one of the highest teacher-absenteeism rates of the 114 cities profiled, according to the summary. But data showed that despite the challenges, the city was making strides in improving graduation rates, which has increased by 14 percent since 2010, according to the Institute. Rawlings, a businessman who once served as the CEO of Pizza Hut, said he believes that data help make better decisions. Whether its criminal justice, public safety, we need better and more data to make decisions, he said. As decision makers, too much has been done on policy and on academic research versus real world results. And thats what this ultimately shows. Image Source: The George W. Bush Institute, State of Our Cities University can be 'psychologically destructive' for black students because they study so many white Europeans, according to the leader of the NUS. Undergraduates with a non-white or non-European heritage found it difficult to 'relate to' their subjects, Malia Bouattia said. It is the latest in a line of controversies for the 28-year-old - the first female black Muslim to be elected president of the National Union of Students. Malia Bouattia said undergraduates with a non-white or non-European heritage found it difficult to 'relate to' their subjects She was previously condemned for arguing that it is Islamophobic to oppose ISIS and described one university as a 'Zionist outpost' because it has a large Jewish society. In May while she was in charge of the NUS black students conference it called for prisons to be abolished because they are 'sexist and racist'. An in an interview with the Guardian, Ms Bouattia - who last year ran a campaign titled 'Why is my curriculum white?' - renewed her attack on universities for entrenching racial divides. 'Even if people have accessed higher education, they've accumulated vast amounts of debt,' she said. 'And have they had a positive experience, being forced to engage with content that doesn't relate to them, and perhaps is psychologically destructive? 'When we look at the incredibly Eurocentric curriculum, where people don't see themselves in what they're studying, and can't relate to it, and feel that their European counterparts hit the ground running, they can't see themselves advancing in the subjects.' The comments come as universities try to meet a government target to increase numbers of black and minority ethnic undergraduates by a fifth by 2020. Ms Bouattia was born in Algeria but grew up in Birmingham. She has spoken of feeling alienated after suffering online abuse from Islamophobes. In her interview, she denied ever having said anything antisemitic despite being given an official warning while she was NUS black students' officer for pejorative use of the term 'zionism'. The black students conference which Ms Bouattia previously headed called for prisons to be abolished because they were 'sexist and racist' Ms Bouattia also called for the abolition of the government's counter-extremism Prevent strategy, instead urging more youth centres and job opportunities for young people. 'When we think about the context in which we're in, where there's demonisation of being politically active, you've got the Prevent agenda, which is hunting down students that choose to be politicised, particularly those who are racialised.' Emran Mian, director of the Social Market think tank, told the Times: 'About 14 per cent of academic staff in UK universities identify as being from a black or minority ethnic background and almost 17 per cent of students. RECORD OF CONTROVERSY NUS president Malia Bouattia is no stranger to controversy. While at Birmingham University she opposed efforts for the union to issue a formal condemnation of ISIS because it would be a 'justification for war and blatant Islamophobia'. She also described the university as a 'Zionist outpost' because it had a large Jewish society. In May while Ms Bouattia was in charge of the NUS black students conference it called for prisons to be abolished because they are 'sexist and racist'. Advertisement 'While senior academic ranks may still be insufficiently diverse, the representation of minority perspectives in UK higher education should be improving.' One of the motions passed at the NUS black students conference in May was titled 'Prisons are Obsolete! Abolish Them Now!'. It resolved to 'call for the abolition of the prison-industrial complex'. The motion, which pointed to high rates of re-offending and the disproportionate number of black people in jail, concluded: 'Prisons are sexist and racist.' Ms Bouattia once described her own university, Birmingham, as a 'Zionist outpost in British higher education', and opposed efforts for the union to issue a formal condemnation of ISIS because it would be a 'justification for war and blatant Islamophobia'. Following her election in April, Labour MP and former NUS leader Wes Streeting said the union was 'lost', while his colleague John Mann said he was 'aghast' at her statements. A number of children across the South A number of Alabama schools were on lockdown on Monday after a series of Facebook posts from users posing as clowns threatened local children with violence. Posts on the group 'Flomo Klown' warned that clowns may show up at two schools in the Birmingham area and one student alerted local police. James Lewis, a school resource officer with Irondale Police, was alerted to the messages by a student at Shades Valley High School although he said there 'was no threat.' The now defunct Facebook page posted cryptic messages and disturbing pictures of clowns Extra police officers patrolled Shades Valley High School, pictured, on Monday after bizarre threats to children via the Facebook group Det. Sgt. Michael Mangina assigned the school extra officers to patrol the campus as a precaution-in addition to the two school resource officers. Holy Family Cristo Rey High School, in Birmingham, also received a call saying that a clown was coming to the school to lure children to woods. But local police said no threat was posed to the student's well being. An example of a post from the group. Now a woman and two juveniles have been arrested in connection with the threats Holy Family Cristo Rey High School (seen on the left) also had a lockdown after trolls from 'Flomo Klown' targeted some of its students Students from a number of other schools in the state and across the South have received similar cryptic messages from the group with one minor even receiving a Facebook call and messages saying 'we want to play' followed by gun symbols. Etowah County Schools Superintendent Alan Cosby said officers were on campus on Monday morning at Rainbow Middle School and John Jones Elementary after threats. The Escambia County Sheriff's Office announced last week the arrests of a 22-year-old woman and two juveniles in connection with the disturbing messages. A student received this personal Facebook message from the group. Police in a number of schools across Alabama and states across the southeast were alerted by the supposed threats Mangina said police will continue to monitor the situation but they don't believe the Facebook posts will translate into violence against children. 'Part of the problem is the fact this stuff gets on social media and it explodes and it alarms people and it just spreads,' he said. 'In today's climate, we're better safe than sorry.' The detective who was forced out of the police after getting Christopher Halliwell to admit killing Becky Godden is now working in Somalia. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher got the taxi driver to take him to Becky's shallow grave but the initial case fell apart after the killer's admission was ruled inadmissible because Mr Fulcher failed to caution him correctly. Mr Fulcher resigned after he was disciplined for misconduct over the issue and he is now working as a consultant to a neighbourhood watch project in the eastern African country. Former detective superintendent Steve Fulcher (left) is to release a book telling his side of the story on the investigation into double killer Christopher Halliwell (right) Mr Fulcher was praised by Miss Godden's mother yesterday and said in a statement that Halliwell's first victim would still be missing if he hadn't acted the way he did. Halliwell, who is already serving a life sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Sian O'Callaghan, was convicted of Becky's murder yesterday after a 13-year wait for justice. His second murder conviction came five years after he abducted and murdered Swindon nightclubber Miss O'Callaghan and dumped her body close to the ancient chalk horse in Uffington, Oxfordshire. After arresting him in 2011, Mr Fulcher demanded Halliwell reveal where Miss O'Callaghan was, before the killer, who described himself as 'sick', asked for a chat with the detective. Over a cigarette, father-of-three Halliwell then confessed to 'another one' and led the detective to the spot in rural Gloucestershire where he had buried Miss Godden in a shallow grave after strangling her eight years earlier. But a judge ruled the confession inadmissible because Mr Fulcher had repeatedly failed to correctly caution the killer and questioned him without a lawyer. Police are concerned about an eight-year gap between the murders of Becky Godden (left) and Sian O'Callaghan (right) and are now looking into what Halliwell did in those years Mr Fulcher, who joined the police in 1986, faced an Independent Police Complaints Commission report into his conduct in 2013. The watchdog found a 'case to answer' for gross misconduct and, after a formal conduct hearing in 2014 he was handed a final written warning. Following Halliwell's conviction yesterday, it emerged Mr Fulcher is now penning a book to tell his side of the story. The book, to be called To Catch A Serial Killer, is expected to be released next summer. It is understood a fee has not yet been agreed. Detective Superintendent Sean Memory, who led the latest investigation against him, said police will now be looking at cases around Britain which are similar to that of Miss Godden and Halliwell's other victim, Sian O'Callaghan Details of the planned book emerged as police warned that Halliwell may have victims in other areas of Britain. Detective Superintendent Sean Memory, from Wiltshire Police, said this morning: 'I will now go away and look at the timeline of Christopher Halliwell. 'He's been a taxi driver up and down the country, he's been a ground worker up and down the country, and I'll look to other police forces to find out if they have missing people in very similar circumstances.' He said the apparent eight year gap between the killing of Miss Godden and Halliwell's other victim, Sian O'Callaghan, was concerning. He also questioned why Halliwell had tried to strike a deal with police in which he said he would confess to Miss Godden's killing if granted immunity from future prosecutions. Halliwell, 52, tried to portray himself as a normal family man, claiming he was 'quiet and reserved' - but behind the caring image lay a sinister past. To the outside world he was a responsible father-of-three and hard-working taxi driver, running his own business yet behind closed doors he hid the fact he had killed two women and dumped their bodies. He had started paying Swindon prostitutes for sex after his wife had their third child in 1996 and split from his wife in 2005. Halliwell had drifted from job to job, including spells working as a window cleaner and in the building and construction trade. Miss Godden's mother Karen Edwards yesterday paid tribute to Mr Fulcher outside court He became a taxi driver and then ran his own chauffeur business but in January 2010 he was declared bankrupt and returned to private hire cabs. Halliwell had only been working for Five Star private hire for a couple of weeks when he murdered Sian O'Callaghan. Halliwell, who is already serving a life sentence for Miss O'Callaghan's murder, will be sentenced over the killing of Miss Godden on Friday. A UK wildlife park is understood to have offered to rehome the 'world's saddest polar bear' from an aquarium in China. The bear, named Pizza, made headlines earlier this year when pictures emerged of the creature slumped on its side looking miserable in its small, windowless enclosure, drawing criticism from across the globe. Now animal activists say Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster offered to adopt Pizza on condition that he not be replaced by another bear at Grandview Aquarium in Guangzhou. Scroll down for video 'Pizza' the polar bear pictured inside his enclosure at the Grandview Aquarium in Guangzhou The animal, pictured, came to international attention after he was pictured looking miserable in his small enclosure earlier this year Charity Animals Asia says Yorkshire Wildlife Park has offered to adopt Pizza and take him away from his enclosure in China But bosses at the aquarium said there had been no offer and added there was 'no need for foreign organisations' to get involved The park in Doncaster is already home to England's only polar bears Victor and Pixel, pictured Charity Animals Asia said it would raise the cash to cover the cost of transporting the bear over the 6,200-mile distance between the city in southern China and Doncaster. Animal welfare director Dave Neale said: 'The good news now for Grandview is that they now have the chance to put their mistake right. 'Thanks to this incredible offer from Yorkshire Wildlife Park there can be a happy ending and the negative publicity they have suffered can yet be turned into a positive news story. 'From talking to them I know they know that mistakes have been made in terms of their animal facilities and ongoing care. 'As an organisation that works with animal carers to provide the best possible environment for animals, we have to say that we would be delighted to see Pizza end up at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. 'There he would not only enjoy incredible facilities, he would also be part of a community of bears.' The charity said it would not pay a fee for Pizza, pictured, due to 'fears the money would be used to purchase more animals' Animals Asia said it would be 'delighted' to see Pizza move to Yorkshire because the park 'provides the best possible environment for animals' The charity said it is now pushing for a meeting with the aquarium in the hopes of getting a response to their offer. But it added it would not pay a fee for the bear due to 'fears that any funds could be used to buy more animals'. Animals Asia, based in Hong Kong, have been circulating a petition calling for the attraction to close, which has gathered more than 500,000 signatures. But the zoo declined to comment or confirm the offer while the aquarium operator said no one had contacted him about taking the bear, adding they 'have no need for foreign organisations to get involved'. Animals Asia has circulated a petition calling for the closure of Grandview Aquarium, with more than 500,000 people signing it Pizza lives in a cramped space where he is a popular attraction for visitors, pictured 'Yorkshire Wildlife Park has not contacted us,' said the general manager of the aquarium, who refused to give his full name other than his surname, 'Fan'. 'We are a legally compliant aquarium, run according to Chinese standards and protecting animal rights. The Latvian father of a starved newborn baby fled to his native country shortly before his girlfriend was jailed two years for leaving their son weeks from death. Aleksandrs Vitte, 22, went on the run during court proceedings after being accused of neglecting the boy by not adequately feeding him. His girlfriend believed formula milk to be 'poisonous', a court heard, but the lack of intake saw the couple's child suffer such severe weight loss his bones could be seen. Aleksandrs Vitte (pictured left), 22, the Latvian father of a starved newborn baby, fled to his native country shortly before his girlfriend Olga Karnopele (right) was jailed for two years Vitte, of Kirkham, Lancashire, was found guilty after a trial in his absence. He was handed a 32-month sentence while the mother of his child, 22-year-old plant nursery worker Olga Karnopele, was sent to prison. She was charged with Vitte after health staff found the couple were failing to feed their baby properly. The pair discharged their son from hospital against medical advice, promising to supplement his feeds, but did not, and he continued to lose weight. Judge James Adkin said: 'This case concerns serious cruelty to a newborn child. 'Records reveal he lost 250g in a week, his condition was evidenced by photographs. He was emaciated, in distress and he was quite literally starving. 'A police protection order was immediately sought by doctors. 'You had been told your breastfeeding had to be supplemented with formula. But you ignored that agreement, you stubbornly believing that you knew best. 'You must have known and deliberately ignored the fact he was not thriving.' He added: 'Had the consultant not intervened and sought an order, and had you continued in the manner you had, he would almost certainly have died. 'You ignored advice from professionals and you breached agreements with doctors and removed that child from hospital when he was very poorly indeed.' Karnopele cried in the dock at Preston Crown Court (pictured) as defending, James Heyworth, described their conduct as an 'inexplicable stubbornness' Karnopele, who pleaded guilty to neglect, had referred to formula milk as 'poisonous' after concerns were raised by health visitors about his weight, and they saw she had no sterilising equipment in the house. The baby, who weighed 6lb at birth, is said to have lost almost a quarter of his weight after he was born last November. Karnoplele sat with a Russian interpreter in the dock as Richard Archer, prosecuting, said: 'He was within the normal range for birth weight but a little over a month later on December 30 he weighed just below his 4.98lb. 'It had been established he had lost more than 20 per cent of his birth weight. 'The bones around his chest were visible, he was described as being lethargic and looking jaundiced and it is clear the photographs tell their own tale, he had lost fat from his face, arms and thighs and appeared to be very hungry. He was emaciated, in distress and he was quite literally starving Judge James Adkin on the baby boy 'The doctor's assessment was it was due to an inadequate intake of milk. 'He was admitted to hospital and given formula feeds and his weight gained rapidly. 'In January his weight had increased by half a kilo in a week and it was clear there was nothing medically wrong with him that stopped him gaining weight.' The baby was taken to hospital on December 15 and the couple took him from the ward against medical advice, and agreed to supplement his feeds. But they made no attempts to bottle feed him. By December 30, a midwife found him to be 'pale and scraggy' and he was taken by ambulance to hospital. Despite being told the seriousness of his condition his parents refused to let him stay at hospital, resulting in him being taken into care. Karnopele cried in the dock at Preston Crown Court as defending, James Heyworth, described their conduct as an 'inexplicable stubbornness'. He added: 'There is a degree of human tragedy for whatever the reason for their conduct, 10 years from now they may go on to regret the fact that not only did they fail him, they will never know him and the little boy will never know them. Advertisement A stunning collection of rare glass slides of a British expedition to the North Pole in 1875 has been uncovered. The remarkable images from the early days of photography depict the brave men and their Inuit guides. They endured sub-zero temperatures 141 years ago in their bid to become the first people to reach the North Pole. Captain Sir George Nares led the British Arctic Expedition which came within 400 miles of their historic objective. However they had to turn back after a third of the crew went down with scurvy, which later led to public outrage. Rare image: This glass slide depicting the British expedition to the North Pole in 1875 shows the explorers approaching the freezing waters of Greenland. The remarkable images from the early days of photography have been found 140 years later Group photo: The brave men and their Inuit guides (pictured) endured sub-zero temperatures to try to become the first people to reach the North Pole in 1875.Photographers Thomas Mitchell and George White went on the failed expedition Killed: The crew hunted this walrus for food and fuel, which was pictured in one of 42 glass slides found in a box during a house clearance in Cornwall. The photos are now going under the hammer at The Penzance Auction House tomorrow Teamwork: Captain Sir George Nares led the British Arctic Expedition more than 140 years ago which came within 400 miles of their historic objective. The crew are pictured on their expedition to the North Pole with their ships locked into the ice Digging deep: The images show some of the harsh conditions the men faced in their quest to reach the North Pole. They eventually had to turn back after a third of the crew went down with scurvy, which later led to public outrage Photographers Thomas Mitchell and George White went on the expedition and took dozens of images. The images show some of the harsh conditions the men faced in their quest to reach the North Pole. One image depicts a number of crew using pick axes to try and free their ship that had become trapped by ice. Another shows bearded men with dirty faces wrapped up in fur coats and thick jumpers sat on a sled. Other images show a large walrus the men killed for food and a huge ice boulder with a cleft in the middle of it. Stuck: The crew constructed outbuildings from ice after their ships were frozen in and they overwintered in the Arctic Dog sleds on ice: The images were the earliest photographic images of polar exploration and set a precedent in photography Split through the centre: The remarkable images from 1875 include this one of a huge ice boulder with a cleft in the middle Dangerous: The crew attempted to reach the North Pole and initially received a heros welcome upon their return to Britain Surrounded by ice: Queen Victoria sent a congratulatory telegram after the men travelled further north than any other human Also pictured are some of the outbuildings the team had to build while they overwintered in the Arctic. The images were the earliest photographic images of polar exploration and set a precedent in photography. This was followed by professionals such as Herbert Ponting who was on the 1911 Scott of the Antarctic expedition. The three-inch square glass slides were found concealed in a small box during a house clearance in Cornwall. They are now being sold at auction tomorrow by The Penzance Auction House. Not moving: In the winter of the 1875 expedition the ships were frozen into the ice sheet in Greenland and became stuck Impressive achievement: The crews made it further north than any other human and had mapped the coast of Greenland Dating back 14 decades: The local Innuit population acted as guides for the British expedition to the North Pole in 1875 On the boat: Public opinion on the achievement changed when it was realised several crew members had died from scurvy Dog teams attempting to reach the Pole: Sir George was accused of not doing enough to protect his men from scurvy Innuit guides: The Arctic images were 'probably produced for lecture purposes', according to The Penzance Auction House WHO WAS FIRST PERSON TO REACH NORTH POLE? The first person to reach the North Pole is the subject a fierce debate that has been raging for decades. Robert Peary claimed to have to made it there in April 1909, but his fellow American Frederick Cook said he had made it in April 1908. Investigations into the claims both at the time and since have never proven who was the first man. But it is agreed that the first person to reach the North Pole on foot with dogs and airdrops - was Sir Wally Herbert of Britain in 1969. Advertisement Mimi Connel-Lay from the auction house, said: These fascinating early Arctic images were probably produced for lecture purposes. '(They) show us in excellent quality all manner of expedition details such as clothing, equipment, the parties involved as well as some remarkable images of the indigenous Greenlanders. They carry an estimate of 500 to 1000, so they are certainly not the most wildly valuable of items. 'But for teaching us about a forgotten moment in our history, they are rather priceless and I am delighted we were asked to sell them. Initially, the expedition team received a heros welcome upon their return to Britain and Queen Victoria sent a congratulatory telegram. This came after the men travelled further north than any other human and had mapped the coast of Greenland. But public opinion soon changed when it was realised several crew members had died from scurvy on the trip. This is the shocking moment that a boy - reportedly aged just eight years old - was filmed smoking. The incident is believed to have happened at a school in Kazakhstan and the video is thought to have been filmed by the schoolchildren themselves who then posted it online. It shows a young unnamed boy dressed in a school uniform dragging on a cigarette and breathing in the smoke. The little boy looks like he knows what he's doing as he takes a drag on the cigarette The children in the group, who are speaking Kazakh, can be heard laughing. Kazakhstan media said the authorities were investigating the incident and attempting to identify the 'smoking boy' as well as his parents and teachers. They said that if they do so, the adults involved could face fines. One online viewer who saw the video commented: 'Looks to me like adults are involved in this and are probably making him do it for likes.' Another added: 'Maybe his parents smoke and he just wanted to be like them, wanted to feel like an adult. Everybody tried smoking at a young age.' A third shocked viewer remarked: 'The worst thing about this is that he is not the only little boy who smokes in Kazakhstan.' The boy looks up and smiles at the camera at one point - it's feared that adults encouraged him According to a report from the World Health Organisation last year, 42 per cent of adults in Kazakhstan smoke. Meanwhile more than three per cent of 13 to 15 year-olds smoke, despite there being a ban on smoking in schools. Over 25,000 people in the country die from tobacco-related illnesses there every year according to a report issued by the news website Tengrinews.kz to coincide with World No Tobacco Day in 2011. A Rhode Island mother is in jail after police say she hurled her twin toddler sons out of a first-floor window at their apartment in Providence Sunday. Benita Barbour, 37, was arraigned Monday on charges of disorderly conduct in Providence District Court. She may face additional counts. Police say a neighbor reported to the state Department of Children, Youth and Families that she saw Barbour toss both of her 2-year-old boys out of a window onto the front porch of their apartment building at 129 Alverson Avenue. Scroll down for video Parenting fail: Benita Barbour (left), 37, of Rhode Island, is accused of tossing her toddler sons (right) out of a first-floor window in a drunken rage Crime scene: The mother allegedly threw her children out of a window onto the front porch of their apartment building at 129 Alverson Avenue in Providence The mother allegedly turned on her kids while arguing with her boyfriend, 37-year-old Michael Watts, reported the Providence Journal. According to police, Watts attempted to push the boys back into the apartment through the front door, but Barbour slammed it shut in their faces, knocking down one of the twins. When officers responded to the couple's home, an arrest report states that they found the children in their pajamas, crying in the middle of the street, with their mother trying to get them inside the apartment. By the time police arrived, Watts, who is the the twins' father, had left. They were looking to interview him Monday. Couple's quarrel: Barbour (left) allegedly turned on her kids while fighting with her boyfriend, 37-year-old Michael Watts (right) Caught on camera: Some of the incident was captured on cellphone video, which was turned over to authorities Watts is seen in this screenshot from the video attempting to usher the children back into the apartment, only to have Barbour slam the door in their faces Police say the officers encountered an intoxicated and belligerent Barbour. They reported she showed no remorse at the scene. Some of the incident was captured on cellphone video, which was turned over to authorities and also shared with the station ABC6. The woman's sons were taken to Hasbro Children's Hospital, where they were treated for scrapes and bruises and released into the custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families. Barbour's criminal record includes convictions for robbery with a hypodermic needle and domestic felony assault. Video courtesy of ABC 6 A chiropractor planned to incinerate his fiancee's ex-boyfriend on a rural property after having him drugged, a court has heard. Adrian Oorloff, 48, has pleaded guilty to hiring an undercover police officer to kidnap the man, the Herald Sun reported. Oorloff conspired to murder his fiancee's former partner by having him drugged with GHB and then incinerated at a semi-rural property in Skye, 40 kilometres southeast of Melbourne, Victoria County Court judge Michael Bourke heard on Tuesday. A chiropractor planned to incinerate his fiancee's ex-boyfriend on a rural property after having him drugged, Victoria County Court (pictured) heard 'Essentially, he's going to disappear without a trace,' Oorloff told the officer he had hired to kidnap the man when they first met in July last year. Oorloff told the undercover cop he had put GPS tracking devices on the man's siblings' cars to monitor their movements, and that he had spent $40,000 on surveillance, and would pay $20,000 to have the man kidnapped. Oorloff was arrested on August 22, one day after he met with the officer at Luna Park and gave him $5,000 and two syringes filled with GHB. When police raided Oorloff's home they found cable ties, a tracking device, and a large quantity of methylamphetamine, the Herald Sun reported. He has pleaded guilty to preparing to kidnap the man, possessing ammunition and trafficking methylamphetamine, and a number of other charges. Oorloff will be sentenced at a later date. Left all alone in a locked car while his mother went partying with friends, this two-year-old boy sparked a rescue operation after passers-by heard his screams. Now a 25-year-old woman faces child neglect charges after leaving the toddler in the car while she went out clubbing. It happened in Schaffheausen in northern Switzerland, where police had to call a mechanic to free the child. The child was left alone in the car while his mother went clubbing with work colleagues His mother did not reappear until after midnight, when she told police she had been clubbing with workmates. One witness was so angry by the woman's actions that he attacked the car in fury, police said. It happened in the early hours of Sunday, when people walking along the street heard the cries of the unsupervised toddler. A group of helpers went looking around the area trying to find the car's owner, but called police when their efforts came to nothing. Officers called a car mechanic immediately after arriving at the scene, but his mother turned up 20 minutes later, just as the specialist got there. In a statement, Schaffhausen police said the woman had left her child so she could go clubbing with her workmates. The statement said she would face charges for 'dereliction of the duty of care of her child'. One man was reported to police by the boy's mother after he flew into a rage and damaged her car. The police statement said the man 'could not hold back his anger'. Whats the only thing worse than being the new kid in 8th grade? Being the new kid in 6th grade. Amy Ellen Schwartzs quip sounds like a joke, but its not. The Syracuse University economics professor and her colleagues have found theres truth to the old top dog, bottom dog theory of the campus pecking order: A schools grade structure significantly affects its student hierarchy. As students move through grades, they gain social power, becoming more likely to take on leadership positions and less likely to be bullied. Theres evidence that separating students into a shorter 6-8 grade span in middle school intensifies bullying of lower-grade students and makes them feel less connected to school. Educators have known middle school is a problem area for a long time; prior studies have found the transition from elementary to middle school can be harder on students than the transition to high school . When students move from 5th grade to 6th, they report higher rates of bullying, drops in math and reading achievement, more absenteeism, and less of a sense of connection to school. But why? Is it just the perfect storm of raging hormones meeting rising standards? If its just miserable to be 12 and better to be 15, thats not about the school, Schwartz said. But thats not it. It matters where you stand in the grade span. And part of the reason grade span matters is you are grouping kids together in ways that create a top and a bottom. Whos Top Dog? In their new study in the latest issue of the American Educational Research Journal, Schwartz and colleagues at Syracuse and New York University studied 500 New York City schools, which in the mid-2000s, created hundreds of small schools in K-8, K-6, 6-8, 5-8, and 6-12 configurations. The researchers analyzed reports of bullying, feelings of belonging, and engagement in schools by more than 90,000 students in schools of different grade spans. They tracked students who transferred between schools as well as those who progressed through grades at one school or feeder pattern, to compare the differences between being a new kid at school generally to being a member of an entry grade. They also looked at students relative height, weight, and age, to determine whether school hierarchy was influenced by a students experience in school or level of physical development. They found that even after controlling for students background characteristics, class sizes, and school types, 6th grade students at K-8 and 6-12 schools were less likely to report bullying, fighting, and gang activity, and more likely to report feeling safe and welcome at school and that they participate in school activities than did 6th grade students at 6-8 schools. As the chart below shows, the fewer the grade levels below the top dog grade in a school, the bigger the gap between students in the top grade and bottom grade on the school pecking order when it came to bullying, fights, gang activity, and whether students felt safe, welcome, and known at school. The researchers also separately compared students who were new in any grade, and students who were relatively taller than other students. While being the new kid did seem to lower students sense of belonging at any grade, a students grade level had a stronger effect than whether he was new or smaller than other students. It could just be that you are bullied by other kids when you start, and over time you develop stronger social relationships in your school, Schwartz said. By the time you get to the top, you have developed bonds that protect you. That could also help explain why, in schools with a larger grade span, 6th and 7th graders felt better about the school environment, but the youngest students didnt have a worse experience. Students might be kinder to students far below them than those who are only slightly beneath them on the pecking order : Eighth graders are not going to pick on a bunch of 1st graders; 12th graders are not going to pick on 6th graders, because they are just so much younger, Schwartz said. The findings build on a 2010 study, also in New York City schools, which found that students who attended K-8 schools were higher-achieving academically by the end of 8th grade than those who attended K-5 and then 6-8 schools. Its not clear from the findings how much the age range of the grade span makes a difference; there were not enough 6-12 schools to analyze whether 6th graders would be better off in a K-8 versus a 6-12 school. But the findings do suggest that a schools grade structure could play a bigger role than previously thought in the volatile climate of middle school. Chart Source: Amy Ellen Schwartz, American Educational Research Journal. Related: This is the olive grove in Kos where police believe they may finally discover the remains of missing Ben Needham - just yards from the farm house his family was staying in. Police are preparing to carry out a fresh dig to find the youngster's body, 25 years after he disappeared on the Greek holiday island. One of the plots they are targeting is a dusty olive grove on a two-and-a-half acre patch of land close to the home the family was staying in at the time of his disappearance in 1991. It comes amid claims the youngster may have been accidentally crushed by a digger and buried. Pictures show the olive grove in Kos where police believe they may finally discover the remains of missing Ben Needham - just yards from the farm house his family was staying in One of the plots they are targeting is a dusty olive grove on a two-and-a-half acre patch of land close to the home the family was staying in at the time of his disappearance in 1991 Tragedy: Ben Needham (left) vanished in 1991 - a new witness has claimed that 'Dino Barkas (pictured), who died of cancer last year, may have killed him in an accident with his JCB digger The plot due for excavation is not far from the farmhouse (pictured) the family was staying in at the time of Ben's disappearance 25 years ago South Yorkshire Police, who are carrying out a new 1million inquiry to solve the mystery, have told mother Kerry Needham to 'prepare for the worst'. Detectives are planning excavations on the island 'within weeks' to find Ben's remains. According to the Daily Mirror, the owner of the plot of land police are preparing to dig up said he was contacted by officers who asked permission to carry out the dig. Stefano Troumouhis, 33, told the newspaper: 'I was called recently and asked if the police would be able to return to look at the land. They asked for permission to dig. Obviously I have agreed. 'But I don't think they will find Ben. I just hope he is alive somewhere and his mother can be reunited with her son. That would be fantastic if that happens.' Detectives are planning excavations on the island 'within weeks' to find Ben's remains Bereft: Ben's mother Kerry (pictured) said she now truly fears her son is dead after 25 years believing he was still alive Digger driver Konstantinos Barkas, known as Dino, was working near the farmhouse where Ben went missing in 1991. Last week, the Daily Mirror reported a friend of Mr Barkas as claiming the driver may be responsible. Mr Barkas was questioned at the time Ben went missing but he died from cancer last year. The new witness has been questioned by South Yorkshire Police. The digger's son Valandis has insisted his father had done all he could to help police with their inquiries when the 21-month-old went missing and 'wouldn't harm an ant, let alone a little child'. BEN NEEDHAM: HOW THE TRAGEDY UNFOLDED July 24, 1991 - Ben vanished around 2.30pm while playing outside the farmhouse in the village of Iraklis where his mother Kerry and grandparents were staying on holiday. His disappearance was reported to Greek police, who failed to put in place checks on ferries leaving the island for the mainland. July 25 - Builders working nearby give a statement saying they had seen a car, possibly a Suzuki Alto, parked near the farmhouse the day before. A woman was sitting in the back and two men in the front. That car has never been traced. July 26 - The police finally notify the authorities at the island's airport. A woman working at the airport recalls seeing a boy fitting Ben's description in the terminal on the day he went missing. September - The family finally return to England but the search for Ben goes on for the next 25 years. Advertisement The youngster vanished on July 24, 1991, when Miss Needham, who was 19 at the time, left him with her parents Eddie and Christine Needham who had emigrated to Kos while she worked at a local hotel. Ben wandered off at around 2.30pm but police were not contacted for at least three hours because the grandparents thought he must have gone with Kerry's 17-year-old brother Stephen. Kerry Needham said last week she was angry that the new witness had kept quiet for so long, adding: 'He could have ended this 25 years ago. 'I could have done something with my life instead of having my life on hold and not being able to do anything or focus on anything and living this nightmare. 'I could have probably forgiven that person back then but now, no. It's 25 years of misery to find out this ending. It's going to be difficult.' Miss Needham and her family are now steeling themselves for the possibility that police will finally solve the mystery and find Ben's remains. South Yorkshire Police have not spoken about the new information they have received but have confirmed a fresh dig will take place. Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick, who is leading the inquiry, said: 'There will be planned operational activity at two locations on the island that have been identified as areas of interest to the investigation. Eight men have been arrested in connection with the Bastille Day massacre in the French city of Nice, prosecutors announced today. The suspects are all former associates of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian who used a 19 tonne lorry to slaughter 86 people on July 14. His attack was later claimed by ISIS, as the terror organisation said the bloodshed was all part of its ongoing murderous campaign against France. The suspects are former associates of killer Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who used a 19 tonne lorry to plough down his victims Paris prosecutors said coordinated raids across the south of France on Monday led to the eight men, who are of Tunisian and French nationality, being taken into custody. Six people are already under formal criminal investigation in relation to the case, meaning the total of suspects is now 14. The identities of those arrested this week in Nice, Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer have not been revealed. Eighty-six people were killed in July's Bastille Day attack in Nice, which ISIS has claimed credit for But the others include Chokri C., Mohamed Oualid G. and Ramzi A., who face criminal trial for 'complicity to kill as part of gang related to a terrorist enterprise'. All three are said to have spent time with Lahouaiej-Bouhlel in the days leading up to the attack on a crowd of some 30,000 people attending a fireworks display. Another suspect called Hamdi Z. is under investigation for 'criminal association in relation to a terrorist enterprise' after appearing in a 'selfie' photo taken by Lahouaiej-Bouhlel in the truck, just before the attack was launched. Terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead at the scene of the Nice atrocity on July 14 Ramzi A. has also been indicted for firearms offences, along with an Albanian couple - Artan H. and Enkeledja Z. - who are said to have supplied a pistol to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, which he fired at police. Police have come under severe criticism for allowing the atrocity to happen, on what was France's biggest national holiday of the year. All trucks were meant to be banned from the seafront at Nice, yet Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's vehicle was effectively unchallenged as it set off along the Promenade des Anglais. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel suffered from psychological problems, and showed very little interest in religion, but had started to read about terrorist extremism on the internet just before his death. He has often been portrayed a lone wolf killer, but anti-terrorist investigators are convinced that others knew what he was planning. France remains under a state of emergency following a series of Isis atrocities over the past year, including the November 13th attacks on Paris. Clarissa McGhee, 21, is the main suspect in the shooting death of Jordan Collins Police in Georgia suspect a woman lured a man she met on a dating app to a house and had him killed. Authorities believe Clarissa McGhee, a 21-year-old woman from the Atlanta suburb of McDonough, invited Jordan Collins to a home under the pretense of a date in nearby Redan, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Monday. According to initial findings of a police investigation, McGhee lured Jordan, 23, outside, where he was gunned down and killed. The two are reported to have met on the online app Plenty Of Fish. In statements to police, Chad Collins said that he and his brother were at the home of an unidentified woman who was said to be out of town. At one point, Chad said that his brother, Jordan, was asked by McGhee to go outside to quiet a barking dog. Jordan obliged and moments later, Chad heard his brother say, Chill out before a gunshot rang out. Shortly afterward, Chad rushed outside to help his brother, and was shot five times. He was taken to hospital. Jordan (left) and his brother, Chad (right), were at a home near Atlanta when they were both shot. Chad was wounded multiple times when he came to his brother's aid Investigators found a cell phone at the scene which led them to McGhee, who was arrested by police on Saturday. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of four others who were at the house during the September 1 incident. Investigators say that more details of their probe will be released later this week. A man whose foster daughter's naked body was found dumped on a river bank almost a year ago has collapsed after police charged him with her murder. Rick Thorburn fainted as he was charged with the murder of his foster daughter Tiahleigh Palmer whose decomposing body was found a week after she vanished from Marsden State High School, south of Brisbane on October 30 last year. The 56-year-old carer, who has also been charged with interfering with a corpse, was transported from Beenleigh Watch House to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition at about 4pm on Tuesday following the medical episode. Scroll down for video Rick Thorburn (pictured) fainted as he was charged with the murder of his foster daughter Tiahleigh Palmer on Tuesday Tiahliegh's (left) naked body was found decomposing along the banks of the Pimpana River 40 minutes from where Mr Thorburn (right) was allegedly last seen dropping her at school He was denied bail and has not disclosed anything to detectives investigating the alleged murder, which rocked the Logan community and resulted in a review that lead to a change in reforms for children who go missing from out-of-home care. Mr Thorburn was the last person to see Tiahleigh alive, with almost a week passing before fishermen spotted her decomposing body laying on the banks of the Pimpana River, 40 minutes from her school. A blue 2009 Ford XR6 sedan was taken by Queensland Police for forensic examination last week, which detectives confirmed was owned by Mr Thorburn on Tuesday, ahead of his arrest. Three other members of Mr Thorburn's family were also arrested on Tuesday, but only one other has been charged. The 56-year-old carer was transported from Beenleigh Watch House to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition on Tuesday afternoon following the medical episode Last week, a blue Ford XR6 sedan was taken by Queensland Police for forensic examination A woman is taken into police custody wearing handcuffs on Tuesday Tiahleigh, 12, was last seen being dropped off by her foster carer in the morning at Marsden State High School, south of Brisbane on October 30 last year Mr Thorburn's 19-year-old son, Tialeigh's foster brother, was charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury at Beenleigh Watch House on Tuesday. Tiahleigh's foster mother, Julene Thorburn, 54, and her other foster brother, aged 20, are continuing to assist police with their inquiries but have not been charged. The whole family have been refused police bail, with Mr Thorburn and his 19-year-old son expected to face Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday. He then allegedly got into a drunken altercation with security staff The NRL career of Gold Coast star Greg Bird is under a cloud after revelations he is being investigated over an alleged drunken incident at a Brunswick Heads pub. The Nine Network reported on Tuesday evening that Bird was refused entry at Hotel Brunswick near Byron Bay last weekend and had an altercation with security staff. The Titans have confirmed the governing body has begun looking into the incident, which is believed to have occurred during Titans winger Anthony Don's bucks party. The NRL career of Gold Coast star Greg Bird is in doubt after he was allegedly involved in a drunken altercation with security at a Brunswick Heads pub The alleged incident is now being investigated by the NRL governing body (Bird pictured with his wife Becky) The alleged altercation is believed to have occurred during Titans winger Anthony Don's bucks party (pictured centre, with Bird and friends during bucks weekend) 'The club is aware of an investigation currently underway by the NRL integrity unit regarding an alleged incident at a hotel in northern NSW last weekend,' the Titans said in a statement. The latest drama could be another strike on a long list of off-field indiscretions involving Bird (pictured with wife on red carpet at 2014 Dally M awards) 'At this stage, those investigations are yet to be completed so the club is not in a position to comment further until the outcome has been determined.' The NRL said the Titans would decide on a course of action for their player. 'Integrity unit investigators will prepare a report on the incident and provide it to the Gold Coast Titans, who will determine what, if any, actions is required,' a NRL spokesperson told AAP. The latest drama could be another strike on a long list of off-field indiscretions involving Bird, which includes being stripped of the Titans' captaincy in 2014 for urinating beside an unmarked police car. He was also one of seven Gold Coast players charged with, but later acquitted of, possession and supply of cocaine early in 2015. Bird, 31, is contracted to the Titans until the end of 2017 however has been linked with moves in the off-season to Newcastle and Manly. Mrs Pierce from North Caroline had been devastated over her death It happened just a few days after Sadie passed away aged nearly 13 on video as she played with new puppy A bereaved dog owner believes that a mysterious apparition she caught on camera is the ghost of her deceased pet coming back to forgive her for having it put down. The spooky footage shows what appears to be a dog-shaped apparition run across the room as the owner films her new little puppy. Kimberley Pearce, 40, from North Carolina, US, was videoing the puppy, Bella, scampering around the house when she believes her beloved cocker spaniel Sadie, who had to be put down just one week earlier, returned to comfort her. She said: 'It was only a few days after when I was showing the video to a friend that I saw her appear. I just knew it was her. That was my dog. 'I was in shock - I went outside and started to cry. But then I started to smile. I had been begging for her to give me a sign. Before I kind of did and didn't believe in ghosts. Now I really do believe Grieving dog owner Kimberley Pearce 'You can see it's a white and caramel colour, and so was my little girl. 'The video had been taken around lunchtime and no cars go past my house to make a reflection, and no birds for a shadow or anything. We live quite far out in the country. 'There was nothing else it could have been. Before I kind of did and didn't believe in ghosts. Now I really do believe.' Mrs Pearce made the heartbreaking decision to have Sadie the cocker spaniel (left) put to sleep just days before her 13th birthday. She felt guilty at having made the decision but believes she caught Sadie as a ghost on film (right) coming back to forgive her for it Mrs Pearce lives with her husband Chad, Golden Retriever Rosco and Bella, who is a Morkie puppy - a cross between a Yorkshire terrier and a Maltese. She was grief-stricken at the loss of 12-year-old Sadie, who passed away just three days before her 13th birthday. She said: 'It might sound strange, but a couple of days after Sadie died I finally went and sat out on the porch and had a half hour conversation with her. 'I felt so guilty because I was the one who made that decision to have her put down. I signed the papers. I was shaking even just writing my name on them. And I just wanted to tell her, 'Sadie, I'm so, so sorry and please forgive me for what I've done'. 'In that conversation I just begged and begged for her or God to send me a sign so that I knew she was okay.' Mrs Pearce (left) suffers from severe depression and anxiety attacks and her husband bought her Bella, a Morkie puppy (right) to try to lift her spirits after her beloved Sadie was put to sleep 'My husband got me Bella the morkie puppy because I hadn't stopped crying since Sadie died and it was to try and help. 'I already suffer from severe depression and anxiety attacks, and through the months of Sadie's illness I was getting worse and worse.' The bereaved florist's initial emotional outburst at seeing the footage soon changed to a sense of joy, which she says has eased her pain deeply. Shortly after the 'ghost' of Sadie appears on the video, Bella comes running past the same spot Mrs Pearce said: 'Sadie was sweet as she could be. She was a momma's girl. 'I think her appearing was her telling me, 'It's okay, momma, I'm here. I'm not mad at you. I will be here waiting for you. Now go play with that little 'un'. 'It warmed my heart. A psychic has also told me that she walks around with me. Nobody knew how badly I'd felt. I don't feel bad anymore and I can play with Bella. 'It's just like her. She was such a loving dog. She used to sleep with me, she'd be curled up around my head and my husband said it looked like she was a hat.' 'When we were home she used to follow me around. She was always at my feet. Whoever walked through the door, whether she knew you or not, she was your best friend. She never snapped or bit or growled.' But Kimberly believes this was a one-off visitation from her companion. Kimberly said: 'I'm not holding out for Sadie to appear again, I think she was just answering me after our conversation out on the porch. A region in Russia is to slaughter a quarter of a million reindeer by Christmas because it has 'too many animals'. The current population of 730,000 is 'unsustainable' and risks new outbreaks of deadly anthrax disease unless there is a rapid cull, say officials in the region of Yamelo-Nenets. The reindeer will be electrocuted by a high voltage charge to the forehead to immobilise them before their antlers are removed, and their throats slit. The reindeer will be electrocuted by a high voltage charge to the forehead to immobilise them before their antlers are removed, and their throats slit The current population of 730,000 is 'unsustainable' and risks new outbreaks of deadly anthrax disease unless there is a rapid cull, say officials in the region of Yamelo-Nenets Blood is often drained from the animals and sold to China for use in traditional medicines, including impotence cures for men. The massive cull in the region - which straddles the Arctic and is larger than France - follows three separate summer outbreaks of anthrax, which led to the death of a 12-year-old boy and 2,349 reindeer. The cause was a hot weather which awoke an infection buried in the permafrost more than 70 years ago. The region, which includes the gas-rich Yamal Peninsula, is famed for its nomadic reindeer herders, and there are warnings that this traditional way of life, which survived the Soviet era, is now under threat. Nikolai Vlasov, deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia's state veterinary service, said: 'Reindeer livestock numbers in Yamal are too high.' Strict new quotas were needed to stop the spread of disease, he said, according to The Siberian Times. 'The denser the animal population is, the worse the transfer of disease,' he said. The number of animals should not surpass the new target. 'Otherwise, they will kill the pastures and later destroy the indigenous minorities of the North who will have nothing to live on. ' Yamal was 'reaching a dangerous milestone', he said. A region in Russia is to slaughter a quarter of a million reindeer by Christmas because it has 'too many animals' Moss on which the reindeer feed has already been widely destroyed. Another option is to persuade herders to sell their prized reindeer in exchange for affordable mortgages on apartments, ending their centuries-old nomadic existence. Anthropologist Olga Murashko warned: 'I am very worried about the fate of the private herders, who still perpetuate the tradition of family and clan based reindeer herding. 'Most of them have small herds of about a hundred deer. 'A huge number of nomads on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas will lose their means of existence and opportunities to maintain their traditional way of life.' The proposals are due to be implemented within weeks yet so far there has been no outcry from animal rights groups. Advertisement Mexican fast food chain Guzman y Gomez has released pictures of the serene mountain farm where the chickens that supply their stores are allowed to roam free. The brand, which has 74 stores across Australia, announced last week it has switched from barn-raised chickens to free range chickens because 'animals should be in a natural environment.' The Free Range Egg & Poultry Australia farm, which is nestled in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, is home to hundreds of chickens who are free to wander around large, open green fields. The chickens, which are released every morning from the barn where they sleep, are seen eating under shaded huts on land sprinkled with hay barrels. Scroll down for video Fast food chain Guzman y Gomez has released pictures of the serene Blue Mountains farm (pictured) where the chickens that supply their stores roam free after announcing a switch to free range farming The brand, which has 74 stores across Australia, revealed last week it has switched from barn-raised chickens to free range chickens (pictured) because 'animals should be in a natural environment' The Free Range Egg & Poultry Australia farm is home to hundreds of chickens who have been pictured wandering around large, open green fields (pictured) The idyllic photos are a stark contrast to the horrific conditions of a Victoria caged hen farm that was raided by Animal Liberation Victoria activists in March 2015. Activists said the birds were living in terrible conditions, with many of suffering from deformations and missing feathers. 'Photos and video were taken of hens with eyeballs hanging out, with mangled beaks, and completely defeathered hens,' Noah Hannibal, president of Animal Liberation Victoria, told Daily Mail Australia. 'Hens spend over a year in small wire cages, as is standard practice in the egg industry. When they are no longer 'profitable' they are sent to the slaughterhouse. The chickens, which are released from the barn where they sleep every morning, are seen eating under shaded huts on land sprinkled with hay barrels (pictured) Steven Marks, co-founder and Managing Director of Guzman y Gomez, said he decided his company should make the switch when he spent time on a free range farm and saw the drastic difference compared to barn-raised Steven Marks, co-founder and Managing Director of Guzman y Gomez, said he decided his company should make the switch when he spent time on a free range farm and saw the drastic difference compared to barn-raised. 'I saw a free range farm about a year ago and it just kind of changed my life and my perspective on things,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'Sometimes unless you really start to look into what your buying you're not aware of it I was spending more and more time on these farms I thought we have to go where this way.' 'Sometimes unless you really start to look into what your buying you're not aware of it I was spending more and more time on these farms I thought we have to go where this way,' Mr Marks said Free range chickens cannot be given growth antibiotics and are fitted 30 to every square metre The chain goes through at least 80,000 kilograms of chicken every month and will see a price increase of around $1.2 million every year - $100,000 a month - but Mr Marks (pictured) said the cost of the customer's food will not increase Barn-raised chickens are fitted 40 to every square metre, are not allowed to go outside and can be given antibiotics, Mr Marks said. Free range chickens cannot be given growth antibiotics and are fitted 30 to every square metre, he said. 'All 74 stores sells free range chicken its Australian unprocessed and freshly delivered to our restaurants,' he said. The idyllic photos are a stark contrast to the horrific conditions of a Victoria caged hen farm in Victoria that was raided by Animal Liberation Victoria activists in March 2015 (pictured) Activists said the birds were living in terrible conditions, with many of suffering from deformations and missing feathers (pictured) The chain goes through at least 80,000 kilograms of chicken every month and will see a price increase of around $1.2 million every year - $100,000 a month - but Mr Marks said the cost of the customer's food will not increase. 'Free range is more expensive because the demand isn't there yet. We need guests to take a stand and say that is what they want,' Mr Marks said, adding that a higher demand for free range chicken will help decrease the price. The fast food chain is now working to switch to 100 percent grass fed and hormone free beef by 2017, Mr Marks said. Donald Trump repeated his call for 'profiling' of people who might pose a terror threat, but said authorities should not target people by faith but instead go after people who 'look suspicious.' Trump made his pitch for the controversial policing tactic in an appearance on the 'O'Reilly Factor,' hours after making a sustained case for profiling in a televised appearance Monday morning just as authorities closed in on the alleged bomber. Host Bill O'Reilly asked Trump if he was worried about millions of 'peaceful muslims' becoming victim of a backlash, and that he might be 'lumping everybody into the terror jar.' 'First of all, I never said the term Muslim,' Trump responded. 'You said that. Im saying youre going to profile people that maybe look suspicious. I didnt say they were Muslims or not. You said that, Bill.' Asked how the profiling would work, Trump said, 'I dont know. These are experts. Thats what they do, they profile.' Scroll down for video Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Germain Arena in Fort Myers, Florida. He is calling for 'profiling,' but said it should not involve religion 'You go to Israel and you should study. Israel has done a phenomenal job at this and they profile. Theyre not happy about it, but they do it. And people arent complaining about it, but we have to profile. We have to look at whos coming into our country.' O'Reilly said almost all of the terror attacks are being committed by 'Muslim fanatics,' and observed: 'Youre not gonna be profiling guys with leather jackets and blue eyes at this point.' 'Honestly, whatever it is, but Im not using the term Muslim,' Trump said. 'Im saying youre going to have to profile. Were going to have to start profiling. I dont know if it thats bad, but certainly its not a wonderful thing.' 'We have a country to keep safe and were not going to keep our country safe. We see this happening and you know and I know its going to get worse unless Im president,' he added. Trump, who has a track record of using a team of lawyers to protect his interests whenever they are threatened, then said bomb suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami might have been kept off a terror watch list because of his propensity to sue, a reference to lawsuits he filed charging discrimination reported by DailyMail.com. Trump campaigned in Ft. Myers, Florida on Monday night, hours after authorities arrested a suspect in the New York bombing The guy over the chicken stand brought litigation a lot of litigation against different people,' he said in reference to Rahami. 'Ill bet you thats why he was on no list. He was on no list they probably didnt want to put him because they didnt want to get sued. They probably saw he was a litigious guy and they dont want to get sued so they left him alone. Who knows what the reason is. But whatever the reason is its no good.' 'We have to end this. Its horrible and one thing I will say, I think they have gained great respect for ISIS and the leaders of ISIS and you see it all the time. Theyre being radicalized and Bill, its going to get worse with this administration certainly with the way its gone and with Hillary Clinton who is so weak.' Hillary Clinton said Monday that Trump's rhetoric 'has been seized on by terrorists' 'I get a kick where Hillary Clinton says I will this and I will that whats she been doing for the last 30 years. Number one she voted for the war, but whats she been doing for the past 30 years?' Trump said. Hillary Clinton blasted Trump Monday for some of his rhetoric. 'We know that a lot of the rhetoric we've heard from Donald Trump has been seized on by terrorists,' Clinton said. 'We're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them but we're not going to go after an entire religion,' she added. Clinton said millions of Muslims and naturalized citizens were 'law-abiding' people. Professor Ian Swingland OBE, 69 (pictured outside the Old Bailey, London), was one of six who allegedly took part in a three-year scam which helped wealthy investors avoid paying 40 per cent tax on their income A world-renowned conservation professor is accused of taking part in a 60million tax dodge that tempted wealthy investors to pay into schemes tackling climate change and the spread of HIV. Professor Ian Swingland OBE, 69, who set up the acclaimed Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent in 1989, allegedly took part in a three-year scam which helped wealthy investors avoid paying 40 per cent tax on their income. The prosecution alleges that Swingland, along with five others - Anthony Blakey, 65, John Banyard, 67, Martin King, 54, and Andrew Bascombe, 58 was involved in a scheme that 'sheltered' investors' money so they could avoid paying the higher tax bracket. They are accused of using 'lies and deceit' to attract investors and of failing to inform the HMRC about exactly what was going on instead 'window dressing' certain opportunities rather than acting legitimately. It is claimed they gave falsified accounts on behalf of clients to HMRC because they 'knew the tax advantages were dependent on a false account being given'. The six men are all on trial at the Old Bailey, central London, accused of cheating the public revenue. Outlining the case, Julian Christopher QC, prosecuting, said: 'The central allegation in this case is that these five defendants were all involved in different ways in the promotion of a series of dishonest tax schemes. 'They were opportunities to invest in research designed to counteract the effects of climate change and to find a cure for HIV. 'They were designed to be attractive to people who had a large amount of income that they would rather not pay tax on. 'The prosecution allegation is that the tax advantages were entirely dependent on a false account being given to HMRC and the prosecution allege that each of these five defendants knew that the tax advantages were dependent on a false account being given.' The court heard how the scheme operated using a 'sideways tax relief' system in which losses from one business are offset against profit from another, resulting in what appears to be less profit being made. Mr Christopher said: 'For it to work and be legitimate the loss has to be made in the course of trade which is being carried out commercially and with a view to making a profit.' Anthony Blakey (pictured leaving court) is among those accused of being involved in a scheme that 'sheltered' investors' money so they could avoid paying the higher tax bracket The defendants' scheme was said to have been trading in carbon credits - the removing of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 'The business idea was that money would be invested in research into reforestation, in other words growing trees in areas where they had been cut down,' Mr Christopher added. 'Because of that they would be absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.' This was a 'suitable' plan as it meant lots of money would be spent at the outset before any returns were made, the court heard. 'The long term idea is that money will be spent in growing trees which will earn carbon credits which can then later on be traded.' Mr Christopher said that the scheme was 'sheltering' investors' money so that they could avoid the then 40 per cent income tax rate. 'As you would be saving 40,000 by not having to pay tax on it even if you had to pay say 25,000 for doing so you would still be better off. You would be saving the tax at the 40% rate.' The prosecution allegation is that the tax advantages were entirely dependent on a false account being given to HMRC and the prosecution allege that each of these five defendants knew that the tax advantages were dependent on a false account being given Julian Christopher QC, prosecuting The prosecutor explained that many people who make their living by 'providing high net worth individuals with ways to shelter their income and reducing their tax bills'. 'It is perfectly legal to make a living in this way, helping people pay less tax, provided that the ways which are devised of reducing a client's tax bill are genuinely legitimate and do not rely on telling lies about what is actually going on. Jurors were told these defendants had used 'lies and deceit' in the schemes. 'This case is concerned with the people whose role was to devise, sell and support the schemes. 'No doubt the clients believed when they made use of the schemes that they were entitled to make claims. 'What matters is whether those claims for tax relief were in fact, as the prosecution allege, based on lies by these defendants as to how much money had in fact been spent and what it had been spent on.' Mr Christopher added that the alleged amount of tax avoided was 'over 60million'. Mr Christopher used an example of a banker who had been paid a 1milliom bonus to illustrate how the alleged scam worked. By parting with around 230,000 the banker would 'loan' the rest of the cash from a lender connected to the scheme. As a result he would only pay out the 230,000 rather than the 400,000 he would usually pay in tax as he had 'lost' 1million in investment, the prosecutor outlined. Some investors would form groups to invest as a company or LLP. Blakey and Banyard controlled these companies and had 'complete control' involving tax returns, jurors heard. Mr Christopher claimed that 'nothing like' the amount said to have been being spent on environmental research was actually spent. A company based in Mauritius called Carbon Research and Development Ltd (CRD) was said to have been used to carry out some of the environmental contracts. 'The prosecution suggest that it was nothing actually more than a bank account operated by a management services company. 'The prosecution suggests that it appears to have been operated on the instructions of Mr Blakey and Mr Banyard.' Up to two hectares of land in Northern Brazil was said to be involved in that company planting of up to half a million trees. 'The prosecution allege that in fact CRD owned no land in Brazil, or anywhere else for that matter.' Swingland, of Canterbury, Kent, denies cheating the public revenue and conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. Bascombe, of East Putney, southwest London, and Banyard, of Horsham, West Sussex, each deny two counts of cheating the public revenue. Blakey, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, and King, of Beckenham, Kent, deny two counts of cheating the public revenue and one of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. The scam allegedly ran between 2005 and 2008. A commission convened by the Aspen Institute will kick off a multi-year endeavor in November to explore how educators, policymakers, and researchers can more thoroughly incorporate students social and emotional development into the work of schools. The aim of the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, which has members from all three sectors, is to advance a new vision for what consitutes success in schools: the full integration of social, emotional, and academic development to ensure every student is prepared to thrive in school and in life, the Aspen Insitute said in a news release announcing the groups formation. That work, which will culminate in a list of specific recommendations in late 2018, builds on steps already taken by individual research and advocacy groups that seek to advance the mission of public schools beyond traditional academics to include a focus on issues like a students ability to recognize and respond to his or her own emotions, to form effective peer relationships, and to persevere through difficulty. The field includes various overlapping approaches which each come with their own names, including social-emotional learning, character education, noncognitive skills, and soft skills. Advocates and researchers say nurturing students social and emotional skills will boost their achievement in the classroom and help prepare them to meet the needs of a changing economy as they enter the work force. I do think we are at a unique moment where parents are asking for this, educators are asking for this, employers are asking for this, and science is telling us we need to do this, Ross Wiener, executive director of the education and society program at the Aspen Insitute, said in an interview. Lots of forces are converging to suggest that its an important time to go from whether we should do this to how we should do this. The commission will be co-chaired by three familiar names to anyone who is active in the social-emotional learning field: Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University professor and the president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute; John Engler, the president of the Business Roundtable and former three-term governor of Michigan; and Tim Shriver, co-founder and chair of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and chairman of the Special Olympics. The commissions members, recruited in part by the three chairs, include two sitting governorsVirginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican. Members also include Laszlo Bock, a senior adviser at Google; Atlanta schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphan; Oakland, Calif., schools Superintendent Antwan Wilson; Camille Farrington, the managing director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research; Gen. Craig McKinley, a retired U.S. Air Force general and president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association; Ellen Moir, CEO of the New Teacher Center; Pedro Noguera, education professor at the University of California Los Angeles; James Shelton, the president of education for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; and Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York. The group convenes as a new federal education law turns schools focus to a broader set of whole child issues. The Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, requires states to add an additional indicator to their school accountability systems in addition to traditional factors, like student test scores. Some have suggested states use the new law as an impetus to encourage or require schools to emphasize students social-emotional skills. Leaders of the commission said it will watch states new accountability plans for lessons as it completes its recommendations. But, if advocates cant even agree on what to call these skills and traits, how will they come up with a uniform set of recommendations? Commission organizers intentionally sought to bring together diverse voices from different organizations, streams of research, and interest groups to build natural allies and to break down some of those silos, said Shirley Brandman, the executive director of the commission and a past president of the school board in Montgomery County, Md. Our expectation is that this group is going to take a really deliberate look at what we know and take a look at the gap between what we know and what we do, she said. Recommendations could include a road map of how skills could be strengthened among children of different ages, new directions for research, and practical steps for policymakers. To be sure, there are some sticky issues the group will have to tackle, especially in the politically sensitive environment that has followed several years of heated debates over the Common Core State Standards. CASEL saw this first-hand recently when Tennessee dropped out of its multi-state collaborative that is set to explore standards for teaching social-emotional learning in schools. As Chalkbeat Tennessee reported, the decision to withdraw from the collaborative followed a flurry of complaints from Tennessee lawmakers charging that the standards were an overreach by the state, even though they would have been voluntary and never would have been assessed. Some groups and bloggers also joined in, charging that the federal government is seeking to track and manipulate kids feelings and relationships, Chalkbeat reported. Brandman said the commission sought to address those type of concerns by recruiting a diverse group of members who can help inform conversations about messaging, policy, and the needs of schools and students throughout the process. The commission will also take advice from a group of youth advisers, a council of educators, and a council of scientists formed to support its work. We have people from all different perspectives... so that we dont have these conversations without being really aware of whats happening in these communities, Brandman said. Related reading on social-emotional learning and non-cognitive skills: Follow @evieblad on Twitter or subscribe to Rules for Engagement to get blog posts delivered directly to your inbox. Alicia Hernandez, 33, from Denver, who has been charged with sexual assault after starting a relationship with a 14-year-old A mother of two has been arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting an underage boy and having two children with him. Alicia Hernandez, 33, from Denver has been charged with sex assault on a child and sex assault after police received a report of an inappropriate relationship from Denver Department of Human Services. According to court documents, the victim, who is now 18, began the relationship with Hernandez four years ago when he was just 14. Hernandez was 29 at the time, making her 15 years older than him. According to NBC11, the victim told police he met the 33-year-old at Garfield Park in Denver, and told her he was 18. After a year of dating, police believe the couple began to have sex, with Hernandez becoming pregnant and giving birth to their first child in June 2013. The victim told police that he met Hernandez at Garfield Park in Denver, pictured and the couple went on to have two children now aged one and three Court records also show that Hernandez became pregnant again and their second child was born in January 2015. Police say she admitted that she did meet the victim at the park and officers believe she conceived their first child in 2012. The Denver District Attorney confirmed that Hernandez has been released from custody and is on a $50,000 bond. A 15-year-old Muslim schoolboy will be forced to shake hands with his female teachers after he refused to do so because of his religious beliefs. Amer Salhani lost his appeal on Monday after his school in Switzerland rejected his argument that the Swiss tradition of handshake greetings went against Islam. The teenager and his older brother sparked a fiery debate earlier this year when they said they could not shake their teacher's hand because their religion forbids physical contact with a member of the opposite sex - unless they are family. Amer Salhani, 15, lost his appeal on Monday after his school in Therwil, Switzerland, rejected his argument that the Swiss tradition of handshake greetings went against Islam Their high school in Therwil, Basel-Country, initially agreed to exempt the brothers. But this move sparked so much outrage that the school board ruled the boys would face disciplinary measures and a fine of up to 5,000 francs if they did not co-operate. This week, the school rejected a complaint by the parents over the disciplinary measures taken against their youngest son. The school said it was the teachers' right to demand a handshake, according to Blick. Amer reportedly started this school year refusing to participate in the Swiss custom. His older brother left the school at the end of the last academic year in June. The school's decision was welcomed by Monica Gschwind, head of Basel-Country's education department. She said in a statement that shaking hands with teachers is 'deeply rooted in our society and culture', according to The Local. Sebastian Marroquin - who changed his name after his father's death, was a teenager when Escobar was gunned down Since his notorious father was gunned down in 1993, Sebastian Marroquin has lived a life of contradictions. The son of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar has in turns distanced himself from the sins of his elders - fleeing to Mozambique and subsequently living in exile in Argentina under his current name - and also confronted the terror he unleashed head-on. The family has even tried - unsuccessfully - to register Escobar's name as a brand. Now, with interest in Escobar reaching new heights with Netflix series Narcos attracting millions of viewers across the planet, Marroquin has just released his second book about the cartel kingpin. Marroquin, who has previously returned to Colombia to meet the victims of Escobar's reign of terror, lived a life of opulence through his childhood, even as his father was on the run from authorities and rival cartels. Escobar, who died at the age of 44, has been linked to around 7,000 deaths, having ruthlessly killed rivals, law enforcers and hundreds of civilians caught in the crossfire of his bloody drug wars. As a child, Escobar and his family lived in opulence, with the drug kingpin estimated to be the seventh richest man in the world in 1987 Now working as an architect and raising a family of his own, Marroquin, 39, said it came at too heavy a price. He told NPR: 'I feel I have a moral responsibility to go before society, recognize my father's crimes and to apologize to the victims of these crimes.' Marroquin sought out Jorge Lara, son of Colombian justice minister Rodrigo Lara. Moral responsibility: Marroquin said he feels it is his duty to recognise his father's crimes Jorge watched on in horror as his father's corpse was taken from the car in which he had been assassinated at Escobar's command in 1984. The two have struck up an unlikely friendship, which Jorge stating: 'People tell me sometimes: "How can you talk to that guy?" 'But he's traveling around, talking about it. He's not hiding. So, he's a very brave guy. But he's got a very difficult life.' Escobar was one of the world's most notorious criminals, and has been linked to 7,000 killings Marroquin was under no illusions as a child about where the money came from. As head of the Medellin cartel, Escobar was listed as the seventh richest man in the world by Forbes magazine in 1987, which estimated his personal wealth at around $3 billion. In an interview with The Mirror, Marroquin said: 'When I was seven or eight years old, we were in Panama and my dad said to me "son, I am a professional criminal". 'Ever since I was young, my dad always told me clearly about what he was involved in, but of course at the age of seven, you dont realise the magnitude of what these words mean. '[Pablo] warned me about drugs from an early age.' The high life: Escobar's son Sebastian recalls his youth as a time when there were 'no limits' as his father built up his drug empire At the age of nine, he was taken to one of Escobar's cocaine factories. Yet despite drawing his income from the insatiable demand for the drug, Escobar the father was adamant that his son should not become a user. 'He wanted me to be very clear of the dangers of drugs, impressing onto me that he who doesn't try them is the brave one... and yet paradoxically, he was the most important drug dealers of the last century,' he said. It was a life with no limits as Escobar junior grew up. Marroquin recalls spending much of his childhood on the run, and being moved between houses wearing a blindfold He recalled: 'We had houses, apartments, planes, cars, motorbikes, 4x4s, jetskis... The huge "finca" where my dad built a zoo and an airport, artificial lakes, we had more than 600 employees, 60 vehicles, 10 houses... there were no limits.' Yet as Escobar's notoriety grew, so did the ferocity with which was searched, and his family bore the brunt, spending years moving from home-to-home trying to avoid his enemies. Such was the cold pragmatism with which he approached his situation, Marroquin revealed, he was rarely aware of where he was. Escobar was killed by Colombian special forces after being discovered hiding in a house in Medellin on December 2, 1993 'I didnt know where exactly (we were) because they always moved us with blindfolds over our eyes,' he said. 'My dad preferred it this way just in case the police captured us and tortured us, we couldnt tell them where we were staying because we didnt know.' Surrounded by police on one occasion, their perilous situation was all too clear for the impressionable youngster. The entrance to Escobar's former home is a Colombian landmark Marroquin said: 'All we had left was millions of dollars in cash but we were dying of hunger... we couldnt leave the house even though we could have bought an entire supermarket.' Marroquin has written two books about his notorious father It was this that hammered home the reality of the life his father had chosen. 'It was during these moments that I realised whats the point of drug money if you dont have the freedom to leave the house?' he said. Escobar's son said he credits being alive today with his decision not to follow his father into the drug business. Yet from his own experience, the ruthless drug lord was not all bad, Marroquin believes. 'I think my dad had just as much good as bad in him,' he said. 'He was a very complex, contradictory person... his story kept changing with time. He was difficult to understand. A school cafeteria worker quit her job after a new policy forced her to take away a first grader's hot meal. Stacy Koltiska, who worked at Wylandville Elementary School in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, said the boys' eyes filled with tears after she had to deny him chicken. The policy, enacted this year by the Canon-McMillan School District, says that students lose their right to a hot meal if their parents owe more than $25. Children from kindergarten through sixth grade can have a cold sandwich, fruit and milk instead, which get charged to their meal accounts. Older students get nothing. Scroll down for video Cafeteria worker Stacy Koltiska (pictured), who worked at Wylandville Elementary School in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, quit her job last week after having to take away a first grader's meal The cafeteria was so busy last week that Koltiska said she didn't realize she was supposed to give the boy a cold sandwich instead of a hot meal. Another cafeteria worker noticed the mistake. 'The woman I was working with was trying to get my attention, but I didn't see because we're serving so many kids, to tell me before I gave him the chicken to give him the cheese. But it was too late. He already had his tray,' Koltiska told CBS. Koltiska had to go to the boy and take the meal away. 'His eyes welled up with tears. I'll never forget his name, the look on his face,' she said. The policy doesn't target those who qualify for financial assistance with school lunches, but is meant to make sure parents who have the ability to pay stay current. The district set it up to deal with a backlog of about 300 families who owed tens of thousands of dollars. A new policy at Wylandville Elementary School (pictured) states that children cannot have a hot meal if their parents owe more than $25 The Canon-McMillan School District (whose offices are pictured) enforced the policy, which doesn't target those who qualify for financial assistance, to keeps parents on track It has cut down drastically on parents who don't keep current on lunch accounts for their children and isn't meant to embarrass anyone, District Superintendent Matthew Daniels said. 'There has never been the intent with the adoption of this polity to shame or embarrass a child,' he added. The 300-plus families who were in arrears before the policy was implemented owed the district between $60,000 to $100,000 annually. Now, fewer than 70 families have unpaid lunch tabs totaling less than $20,000, Daniels said. Koltiska understands the problem the district is trying to address, but believes the children shouldn't be embarrassed or punished if the accounts fall into debt. Disney has been accused of cultural appropriation after it started selling a costume with brown skin and tattoos from the upcoming film Moana. Moana was lauded for its female lead and representation of Pacific Islanders until a costume of Maui, a character in the film based on a demigod in Polynesian mythology, appeared on the Disney store website. People took to Twitter to express their outrage, declaring, 'Our brown skin is NOT a costume,' while another wrote, 'Some islander tattoos are very sacred, this costume is literally mocking our traditions'. Moana was lauded for its female lead (right) and representation of Pacific Islanders until a costume of Maui (left) appeared on the Disney store website According to the Disney store website, 'Your little one will set off on adventures in this Maui Costume featuring the demigods signature tattoos, rope necklace and island-style skirt' People expressed their outrage, declaring, 'Our brown skin is NOT a costume,' while another wrote, 'Some islander tattoos are very sacred, this costume is literally mocking our traditions' Moana was initially hailed for breaking new ground by featuring the first-ever Polynesian Disney princess and the first princess without a romantic interest. In the film, a teenage girl Moana, voiced by Hawaiian native Aulii Cravalho, joins forces with the demigod Maui on a dangerous mission to save her island tribe. But excitement turned to outrage when the costume emerged, featuring tattoos, a rope necklace, 'island-style skirt' and 'photorealistic teeth art appliques', according to the product description. Some took offense to the colored 'skin' being used as a literal costume, while others said it was disrespectful to many Polynesian cultures, where tattoos are sacred. It was also noted that Maui is an actual demigod in Polynesian mythology and not a character created by Disney. One user tweeting under the account @TaleiFiji wrote: 'Dear Disney, our brown skin is not a costume. Get outta here with that cr*p. Sincerely, a furious brown skinned Pacific Islander.' Grace Darienzo chimed in, tweeting: 'This is just a mess. Brown skin and tattoos that are sacred to a certain culture? That's not a costume.' It was also noted that Maui is an actual demigod in Polynesian mythology and not a character created by Disney This isn't the film's first controversy. In the run-up to Moana's release on November 23, it has already divided audiences, receiving both praise and harsh criticism. Disney was lauded for hiring people of color to voice its characters. In addition to 14-year-old Cravalho as the title character, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who is of Samoan descent, was chosen to voice Maui. But others took issue with the way Maui was represented. Jenny Salesa, a member of New Zealand's parliament, made a Facebook post in June contrasting the attractiveness of three Polynesian actors to the cartoon character, who she said looked like a 'half pig half hippo.' Moana was initially hailed for breaking new ground by featuring the first-ever Polynesian Disney princess and the first princess without a romantic interest Construction workers building the new US embassy in Oslo had to evacuate the site after security officials found a 'suspicious device' which later turned out to be an elaborate hoax. Norwegian security officials sent in a bomb disposal robot to inspect the object before declaring the area secure. The US State Department is currently building a new embassy on the outskirts of Olso. Norwegian police sent in a bomb disposal robot to inspect the suspicious robot discovered this morning at the construction site at the new embassy on the outskirts of Oslo Officials believe the new facility will be larger and more secure than their current city centre location. Police spokesman Christian Krohn Engeseth said: 'It was not a dangerous object. What we can say, is that it was an object capable of spreading fear. 'The investigation continues, and we'll gather material from video surveillance.' House Republicans are investigating a post on Reddit asking for advice on how to scrub a 'VERY VIP' client's email address from an archive based on evidence that suggests they were written by the computer technician who deleted Hillary Clinton's emails. The posts were made by user 'stonetear,' an alias known to be used online by IT expert Paul Combetta, the Platte River Networks specialist who destroyed Clinton's emails after she was ordered by Congress to preserve the records. He was received an immunity deal from the Justice Department for his testimony in the Clinton case. House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee chairman Mark Meadows told The Hill, 'The Reddit post issue and its connection to Paul Combetta is currently being reviewed by OGR staff and evaluations are being made as to the authenticity of the post.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO House Republicans are investigating a post on Reddit asking for advice on how to scrub a 'VERY VIP' client's email address from an archive based on evidence that suggests they were written by the computer technician who deleted Hillary Clinton's emails, Paul Combetta. He's pictured above at a House hearing last week The Reddit post referenced by Meadows was deleted from the platform. It has been archived in images, however, The Hill reports. It said, 'I may be facing a very interesting situation where I need to strip out a VIPs (VERY VIP) email address from a bunch of archived email Basically, they dont want the VIPs email address exposed to anyone, and want to be able to either strip out or replace the email address in the to/from fields in all of the emails we want to send out.' It asked, 'Does anyone have experience with something like this, and/or suggestions on how this might be accomplished?' The message was posted on July 23, 2014. A day prior the State Department had agreed to turn over to the Oversight Committee records related to the Benghazi terrorist attack. 'If it is determined that the request to change email addresses was made by someone so closely aligned with the Secretary's IT operation as Mr. Combetta, then it will certainly prompt additional inquiry,' Meadows told The Hill in an interview. 'The date of the Reddit post in relationship to the establishment of the Select Committee on Benghazi is also troubling.' Combetta and 'stonetear' are thought to be one in the same. An account on Etsy with the username stonetear is linked to a Paul Combetta. The web address combetta.com, now inactive, is tied to stonetear@gmail.com, The Hill points out. A Nexis file on Combetta lists the stonetear address as a possible e-mail as well. And a Facebook page discovered by DailyMail.com earlier this month that has since been altered also affirms Combetta's identity. A photo of Combetta posted to the social networking platform by a man listed as a relative in Nexis on August of 2014 was tagged with the name 'Paul Stonetear' during a DailyMail.com search on Sept. 9. Combetta appears to have altered his name on Facebook to 'Paul Hamilton' in the 11 days in between. BEFORE: Reddit post was made by user 'stonetear.' A Facebook page discovered by DailyMail.com earlier this month that has since been altered also affirms Combetta's identity. He's seen above in a photo on that Facebook page, tagged as 'Paul Stonetear' AFTER: Combetta appears to have altered his name on Facebook to 'Paul Hamilton' in the 11 days in between The picture, posted to user Carl Kloster's page, is however, of Combetta, who appeared four days later before the House's Oversight committee in compliance with a subpoena. At the hearing Combetta asserted his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self incrimination and was excused by legislators. He is the second, known IT specialist who handled Clinton's emails to have been granted legal protection by the Justice Department in exchange for his testimony. The former campaign staffer and State Department employee who set up Clinton's server, Bryan Pagliano, was the first. House Republicans have already asked the Obama administration to launch an obstruction of justice investigation into Combetta. But the legal agreement protecting the computer guru means that outcome is tricky. Investigators would have to prove Combetta violated the terms of the immunity deal. Combetta was not named in the FBI report detailing the incident with Clinton's emails, described as an 'oh s***' moment in the redacted text. He was outed in a New York Times article after the fact as the employee who made the error. After the news outlet reported in 2012 that Clinton had a secret server in the basement of her New York home that contained work-related emails from the time she served as secretary of state, the House's Benghazi committee subpoenaed the pertinent messages. On the left is a picture of 'Paul Stonetear' on Facebook in 2014. On the right is Paul Combetta last week at a hearing in Washington D.C. on Clinton's emails. The photos are evidence that 'Stonetear' and Combetta are one in the same Witnesses, from left, Paul Combetta, Platte River Networks' Bill Thornton and Justin Cooper are sworn in on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Bryan Pagliano, who ran Hillary Clinton's server, didn't appear. Combetta asserted his Fifth Amendment right not to testify Around the same time, a redacted individual realized that he had not, as he'd been instructed several months before, deleted an archive of Clinton's emails, an FBI summary of the case said. The individual 'indicated he believed he had an "oh s***' moment and sometime between March 25-31, 2015 deleted the Clinton archive mailbox from the PRN server and used BleachBit to delete the exported .PST files he had created on the server system containing Clintons e-mails.' PRN stands for Platte River Networks, Combetta's employer. Combetta first told the Justice Department that he didn't remember deleting the emails but changed his story several months later. He also said, 'he was aware of the existence of the preservation request and the fact that it meant he should not disturb Clintons email data.' Benghazi committee chairman Trey Gowdy, a former prosecutor, told Fox News it was 'stunning' that DOJ would have given Combetta a get-out-of-jail free card. 'This is prosecutor 101. You don't give immunity to the person who actually robbed the bank,' he exclaimed after the immunity deal was revealed. Gowdy said the FBI 'blew it.' 'They gave immunity to the very person you would most want to prosecute, which is the person who destroyed official public records after there was a subpoena and after there was a prosecution order,' the Republican congressman stated. The Republican-run House Oversight and Government has launched its own investigation into the 'circumstances leading to the failure to preserve federal records during Hillary Clintons tenure as Secretary of State.' It compelled Pagliano, Combetta, longtime Clinton hand Justin Cooper and Platte River's Bill Thornton to testify last week. Combetta and Thornton, showed, but exercised their constitutional right not to testify. Pagliano skipped it altogether, angering lawmakers. Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said he was 'thumbing his nose at Congress.' Cooper monitored the server and set up Clinton's email on her cellular devices. He told Meadows during the hearing that he had no knowledge about the deletion of Clinton's emails. Clinton's presidential campaign has said additional investigations into the way the records were preserved are unnecessary. The matter was 'thoroughly examined by the FBI prior to its decision to close out this case.' Buying a beach adjacent home in Sydney for less than $500,000 sounds too good to be true and it might be just that. Two one-bedroom apartments on Sydney's north shore are being offered for between $350,000 to just over $400,000 but are so small mortgage brokers are refusing to loan the money to potential buyers, according to The Daily Telegraph. The apartments, which sit just 15 minutes from Manly beach in the suburb of Freshwater, would be a prime opportunity for first-time buyers but will likely be sold to investors, Executive director of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia Limited, Peter White, said. Two one-bedroom apartments (pictured is unit one) on Sydney's north shore are being offered for less than $500,000 but are so small mortgage brokers are refusing to loan the money to potential buyers Unit eight (pictured) in 47 Polomar Pde is just under 34sq metres but extends to 53sq metres if the garage is included Unit one in the same block (pictured) is smaller with just 29sq metres of space. The block houses 16 apartments Unit eight in 47 Polomar Pde is just under 34sq metres but extends to 53sq metres if the garage is included. The 'bargain' apartment is being offered for $350,000 but is expected to be sold for closer to $400,000 and has a leasing potential of $400 a week, according to real estate agent Tulo Sila. Unit one in the same block is smaller with just 29sq metres of space but is expected to sell for more than $400,000. The apartments sit just 15 minutes from Manly beach in the suburb of Freshwater Unit eight has a north-facing combined living and dining area with a small breakfast bar (pictured) Homes must be at least 50sq metres to be approved for a loan, Mr White told The Daily Telegraph. 'But there are some second-tier lenders who will consider 38sq m including balconies.' 'It's unfair. If the first-home buyers were able to buy into it, it would be worth more. It's a chicken and an egg situation,' he said. 'It's a genuine one bedroom it's definitely the smallest one I have seen.' The bedroom has a built-in wardrobe and an ensuite bathroom (pictured) The block houses 16 apartments. Unit eight has a north-facing combined living and dining area with a small breakfast bar. The bedroom has a built-in wardrobe and an ensuite bathroom. Unit one's bedroom also has an ensuite bathroom and a larger living room with a compact kitchen. Emma Walmsley has been appointed chief executive at drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline The daughter of a Royal Navy sailor and a mother to four young children, this is the high-flying career woman who is about to become the most powerful female in the FTSE 100. Emma Walmsley has been appointed chief executive at drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline after being promoted from heading up the firm's 6billion consumer healthcare arm. The married 47-year-old, who is the mother to four children of primary school age, will replace Sir Andrew Witty when he retires next March. He brought her onboard after meeting her over lunch while she was running L'Oreal's business in Shanghai. Her appointment means she joins a small band of women at the top of some of the UK's biggest listed companies, becoming only the seventh female FTSE 100 chief executive. The other successful businesswomen are at the helm of easyJet, Imperial Brands, Whitbread, Royal Mail, Kingfisher and Severn Trent. But with Glaxo's mammoth 80billion stock market value dwarfing the other female-led FTSE 100 firms, she is likely to be the most powerful woman in the top tier. A lover of Bikram yoga and Italian red wine, Mrs Walmsley has long been juggling her career with motherhood and maintains that marrying her husband David and having their four children was the 'best decision she ever made'. Born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria to a Royal Navy seaman, Mrs Walmsley grew up in Kent before studying classics and modern languages at the University of Oxford. From a family largely of 'academics, doctors and farmers', she started her career in consulting before moving to L'Oreal where she worked for 17 years in a variety of marketing and general management roles which took her to Europe, the U.S. and China. She joined Glaxo six years ago and has spent the last decade juggling her career with family life saying she is 'doing her best as a parent'. Speaking in a previous interview after being promoted to head up Glaxo's healthcare arm, she said: 'It remains the second best decision I have ever made (after marrying David). Mrs Walmsley has long been juggling her career with motherhood and maintains that marrying her husband David and having four children was the 'best decision she ever made' 'Three years later, I'm amazed how much we've achieved in driving change and achieving results. 'I know my kids are fine with us doing our best as parents. They're proud of their mum and although she's on a plane a lot, she makes as many school plays, matches and parent evenings as she can. 'As for me, I'm starting to be convinced I have a right to be at the top table in business and am genuinely happy in my new company where I know I'm making a difference.' Glaxo chairman Sir Philip Hampton, who is leading a Government-commissioned review into boosting the number of women in executive posts at top UK companies, said Mrs Walmsley's appointment to chief executive follows a 'very thorough and rigorous' selection process. He added: 'Emma is an outstanding leader with highly valuable experience of building and running major global businesses and a strong track record of delivering growth and driving performance in healthcare.' Mrs Walmsley, who has headed Glaxo's consumer healthcare arm since it was created in March last year as part of a joint venture with Novartis, has been a member of Glaxo's corporate executive team since 2011. Emma Walmsley will replace current chief executive Sir Andrew Witty (pictured) She said: 'I am delighted and honoured to be appointed GSK's next chief executive. 'GSK is a company that leads both in science and in the way it does business. We have momentum in the group and as the demand for medical innovation and trusted healthcare products continues to rise, we have the opportunity and the potential to create meaningful benefits for patients, consumers and our shareholders.' She is likely to take a no-nonsense approach, having previously admitted she 'doesn't like the pomposity of big business language and excessive PowerPoints'. In one interview, she said: 'A good decision taken early is better than faffing around and not doing anything, so we will encourage that.' Speaking of her competition in the business world, she has previously confessed that she has no concerns, saying: 'I sleep extremely well. I respect my competition but I don't worry about them. I am more interested in watching the consumer than watching the competitor.' Sir Andrew announced plans earlier this year to retire on March 31, 2017, ending nearly nine years at the helm and more than three decades with Britain's biggest drugs company. Glaxo said Mrs Walmsley's salary will be announced on January 1, following a group-wide review of executive pay, while her total pay package will be set out in the firm's next annual report. It comes as the group's executive pay is in the spotlight after it was disclosed that Sir Andrew's total pay surged by 71% to 6.7million last year, despite falling core earnings and sales. He was paid a salary of just under 1.1million for 2015, and was also handed an annual bonus payment of 2.2million and long-term share awards worth 2.6million, although 25% of his annual bonus is deferred. Pirate Party politician Gerwald Claus-Brunner, 44, (pictured) was found dead in his Berlin apartment on Monday One of the most prominent figures in Germany's Pirate Party is believed to have taken his own life hours after losing his seat in Berlin's regional parliament. Gerwald Claus-Brunner, 44, was found dead in his apartment in the suburb of Stieglitz, alongside the body of a younger man who had apparently been beaten to death. The well-known politician was reportedly battling with an 'incurable illness' when he took his life, according to his social-liberal party. His had also voiced his concerns about the party's dwindling voting numbers in the past few months ahead of Sunday's election - which saw him lose his seat to a rival. Detectives are probing the deaths and officers said evidence suggested a murder-suicide. The Pirate Party wrote on its website that Mr Claus-Brunner had been suffering from an 'incurable illness'. 'We do not know the exact circumstances, but we know that it was indeed an incurable sickness,' the party said. They described the 44-year-old, who often sported a head scarf and overalls in parliament, as 'controversial'. Mr Claus-Brunner, 44, was found dead in his apartment in Steglitz, south-west Berlin, alongside the body of another man, pictured are officials removing one of the bodies The well-known politician was reportedly battling with an 'incurable illness' when he took his life, according to his social-liberal party 'Faxe, as we all called him, was always controversial, never simple and did not have it easy. Every one of us has a story to tell about him,' the statement read. They signed off the message with 'Fare well, Faxe! We will miss you.' The day before his death, the Pirates won just 1.7 per cent of the vote in the Berlin regional election, losing its seats in the assembly. Detectives are probing the deaths and officers said evidence suggests the men committed suicide The Pirates entered the regional parliament for Berlin's city state in 2011 and after Mr Claus-Brunner finished his first term, sources claimed he was 'morally and spiritually finished.' Tagesspiegel reported that he hinted about his own demise during his last appearance at the assembly in June. He said: 'In this current legislature, you will also stand up and have a minute of silence for me at the beginning of the plenary meeting.' Asked what he meant, he added: 'You will light a candle for me. Something like that.' He predicted the Pirate Party - which campaigns for total freedom on the internet - would no longer be part of the parliament due to their poor polling numbers. Teachers, bus drivers and cafeteria workers come across students who are dealing with trauma in their own lives every day, and districts and states need to make sure they know how to respond, U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr., said at a White House conference Monday. King talked about his own experiences growing up with a father who had undiagnosed Alzheimers disease. His teachers made sure that he felt safe and challenged at school, ultimately putting him on the track to success. Todays conversation is about policy, King told attendees of a White House event on dealing with student trauma, but its also about how we create school environments that save kids lives. The White House conference, titled Trauma-Informed Approaches in School: Supporting Girls of Color and Rethinking Discipline sought to find solutions for disproportionately high suspension rates among black girls. Black girls represent 8 percent of enrolled students, but are 14 percent of students receiving one or more out-of-school suspensions. It was sponsored by the White House Council on Women and Girls, together with the U.S. Department of Education, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, and The National Crittenton Foundation. Trauma could be part of the reason, and experts enumerated ideas for helping to alleviate its impacteverything from dance and movement therapy to mentoring and counseling. The Education Department also released some new resources to help districts combat the problem, including Safe Place to Learn, an online toolkit that includes information about trauma sensitivity and online training programs to help educators learn how to work with kids who may be suffering from trauma. And the administration developed guidance to help district officials figure out how to protect K-12 students from sexual assault. Ideas include bringing in a wide range of voices to draft policies to address the issue (including students and experts), allowing community members and educators to vet the policy before it becomes final, and providing extensive training to staff on implementation. The Republican told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly he's 'looking to do that to Bill' Donald Trump meets Hillary Clinton for the first presidential debate on Monday in New York It's up to Hillary Clinton whether or not the first presidential debate ends up including an exchange over her husband's White House affair with Monica Lewinsky, Republican Donald Trump said Monday night. 'I don't think I'm looking to do that,' Trump told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly when asked whether he was planning to bring up the affair something Trump raised in media interviews during the primaries. 'I don't know what I'm going to do that exactly. It depends on what level she hits you with, if she's fair, if it's unfair,' Trump said. 'But certainly I'm not looking to do that.' Trump, who slashed through his GOP opponents one-by-one in televised debates during the primaries, said he'll decide on the spot whether to launch personal attacks on Hillary Clinton based on whether she treats him with 'respect.' 'I have absolutely no idea. I think this. If she treats me with respect, I will treat her with respect. It really depends,' Trump said. Scroll down for video Republican Donald Trump says he's not 'looking' to bring up Bill Clinton's infidelity during his debate with Hillary Clinton next week 'People ask me that question, 'oh you're going to go out there and do this and that. I really don't know that. You're going to have to feel it out when you're out there. She's got to treat me with respect. I'm going to treat her with respect. I'd like to start off by saying that because that would be my intention,' he said. One longtime Clinton advisor isn't so sure Trump will unilaterally disarm when it comes to Lewinsky. 'You can't put it beyond Trump that Monica Lewinsky will play a role in this debate,' former Clinton and White House counsel Greg Craig told Politico in August. 'She's got to be prepared to deal with the [Clinton] Foundation and Wall Street and super PACs and all of that. They need to be less focused on dealing with his policy proposals and more on dealing with the unexpected. He's going to be in attack mode, probably the whole time,' Craig said. At several stages in the campaign, Trump has brought up Lewsinsky, Bill Clinton rape accuser Juanita Broderick, Whitewater, the death of former Clinton aide Vince Foster, and other 90s era scandals and allegations. WINGING IT: Trump says he'll decide what topics to raise based on how the debate proceeds. 'You're going to have to feel it out when you're out there' R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Trump said it is up to Hillary Clinton how he behaves. 'If she treats me with respect, I will treat her with respect. It really depends,' he said IT COULD HAPPEN: Trump said when asked about bringing up Bill Clinton's infidelity during the presidential debate Monday: 'I don't think I'm looking to do that' Trump brought up Lewinsky in January during the primaries. After Hillary Clinton said Trump had a 'penchant for sexism,' Trump called Bill Clinton 'one of the great woman abusers of all time.' A lot of things happened that were very seedy. He was impeached for heaven's sake,' Trump said of Bill Clinton's tenure in the White House. Trump's own conduct toward women could certainly come up, as it did in the first Fox News primary debate when moderator Megyn Kelly asked him about some of his harsh language. Trump in the Monday interview brought up a months' old New York Times story that charged Trump treated women poorly in his personal life and hinted 'we're going to take that up with them at a later date.' 'Well, you know the New York Times wrote a story about me and women and it turned out that it was a false story and honestly we're going to take that up with them at a little bit later date,' Trump said. Trump called NBC News anchor Lester Holt, who is moderating the first debate, a 'professional' 'We'll get rid of this first, we'll go through this little process first which I think is going to end very successfully on November 8th.' 'The New York Times wrote a story about women and the women called the office and said, 'We never said that about Donald Trump. We really like him. He's really good.' They quoted women and they never even said it. It was on the front page, centerfold, massive big color picture. It was disgraceful.' 'There is nobody that respects women more than Donald Trump,' Trump said. 'That I can tell you. I'll help women because we have the women's health problems. We have a lot of problems and I will help a lot more than Hillary can. That I can tell you.' Trump telegraphed some of the attacks he is likely to make. 'I can talk about her deleting emails after she gets a subpoena from Congress and lots of other things. I mean I can talk about her record which is a disaster,' he said. 'I can talk about all shes done to help ISIS become the terror that theyve become and I will be doing that. So I mean were going to go back and forth and shes got a lot of baggage.' He continued: 'Shes been there a long time and we need change in this country. I mean shes been there, Bill, a long time. When I hear her talking about what shes planning to do why hasnt she done it for the last 30 years?' Trump called NBC host Lester Holt a 'professional,' and said 'Today Show' host Matt Lauer, who got panned for how he hosted a two-candidate forum with Trump and Clinton, a 'pro' who 'did a great job.' 'I do and I have respect for Lester. Well, I mean the only problem is Matt Lauer is a pro and he did a great job ... I think Matt did a fantastic job last week Im sure you read about it. They came down on Matt. Matt was very tough on me and he was tough on her. I thought he was equally tough, maybe even tougher on me,' Trump said. 'What they are doing is they are gaming the system, like gaming the ref. They are also going after Lester. Theyre trying to intimidate Lester and I think the world is going to be watching that. Lester is a professional, but well see what happens,' Trump said. Then Trump engaged in a bit of gaming himself as he weighed in on each of the moderators. 'By the way, Lester is a Democrat. Its a phony system. They are all Democrats. Its a very unfair system,' Trump said. He said he's not 'okay' with ABC News' correspondent Martha Raddatz. 'No, not really. Im not okay with Anderson Cooper because I think he treats me very unfairly at CNN. I think hes very unfair on CNN.' Of the final presidential moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, Trump said: 'Hes fair, hes tough. Hes fair. I dont mind. As long as hes fair and Ive done a lot of work with Chris and Ive never had a problem with him.' Trump himself repeatedly commented on whether Lauer would be fair to him during the forum in advance of the event. Hillary Clinton, appearing on the Steve Harvey radio show indicated on Tuesday she is ready for whatever Trump dishes out. 'I am going to do my very best to communicate as clearly and fearlessly as I can in the face of the insults and the attacks and the bullying and the bigotry that we have seen coming from my opponent,' Clinton said Police allege he killed the girl to protect his son Trent, charged with incest Her foster father Rick Thorburn has been charged with the girl's murder Tiahleigh Palmer's foster father allegedly murdered her to protect his 19-year-old son who had allegedly been sexually abusing the 12-year-old schoolgirl. Police will allege Rick Thorburn, 56, took his foster daughter's life after finding out his son Trent, 19, had been sexually assaulting her during the ten months she had been in the family's care, the Courier Mail reported. Mr Thorburn is believed by police to have feared his son could be convicted under the Queensland Criminal Code, which states a sexual relationship between siblings - including foster, step or de facto circumstances - is considered incest, which can attract a life sentence. Scroll for video Rick Thorburn (left), his wife Julene (middle right) and two sons, Josh (middle left) and Trent (right) have been charged with a string of offences in relation to the death of Tiahleigh Palmer Tiahleigh's (pictured) naked body was found decomposing along the banks of the Pimpana River 40 minutes from where Mr Thorburn was allegedly last seen dropping her at school Thorburn, a former long-haul truck driver turned food truck owner, was charged with murder and interfering with a corpse at Beenleigh Watch House on Tuesday following a highly publicised 11-month-long investigation into the schoolgirl's death. He was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital following a suspected self-harm attempt at the Watch House once charges were laid against him on Tuesday afternoon. A court heard on Wednesday that Thorburn was in an induced coma and would not be facing court. Police have not disclosed details of what prompted the hospitalisation and his lawyer Kelly Thompson would not confirm if her client's condition was caused by self-harm. Thorburn's son Trent, a metal fabrication apprentice and classic car builder, was charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury. His older brother Joshua, 20, has been charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury, along with his mother Julene, who is believed to be assisting police. According to the Courier Mail, the perjury charges relate to the family providing false testimony to the Crime and Corruption Commission during a secret hearing relating to Tiahleigh's death earlier this year. Detective Inspector Damien Hansen said Ms Thorburn and her two children were expected to be 'key witnesses' in the murder trial and confirmed she was 'co-operating' with police as they continued their investigation. Trent Thorburn, a metal fabrication apprentice and classic car builder, was charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury His older brother Joshua (pictured) has been charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury, along with his mother Julene Julene Thorburn (left), the foster mother of murdered schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, is providing evidence to police on her husband (right) Rick's alleged involvement in the 12-year-old's death Julene Thorburn (pictured) was not initially charged when she was arrested alongside her husband and two sons but was charged later that night with perjury and perverting justice Rick Thorburn (pictured), a former interstate truck driver, collapsed when he was charged with murder and interfering with a corpse on Tuesday afternoon Ms Thorburn is providing evidence to police about the investigation into the death of her foster daughter, Tiahleigh Palmer (pictured left and right) 'She hasn't been charged with anything, she is co-operating with us at this stage,' he said after the family were remanded in custody at the Beenleigh Watch House, south of Brisbane. He would not confirm if Ms Thorburn was seeking the $250,000 reward or immunity from prosecution in exchange for information leading to the prosecution of Tialeigh's killer, but did not exclude it from possibility. 'We will work that out,' Inspector Hansen said. Thorburn was denied bail and has reportedly not disclosed anything to detectives investigating the alleged murder, which rocked the Logan community and resulted in a review that lead to a change in reforms for children who go missing from out-of-home care. CHARGES LAID OVER TIAHLEIGH PALMER'S MURDER FOSTER FATHER RICK THORBURN: Charged with murder and interfering with a corpse. The 56-year-old was due to face court on Wednesday but is in an induced coma after collapsing while in custody. FOSTER BROTHER TRENT THORBURN: Charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury. The 19-year-old was denied bail on Wednesday after a court heard he had admitted on Facebook Messenger to having sex with Tiahleigh and was worried she might be pregnant. FOSTER BROTHER JOSH THORBURN: Charged with perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The 20-year-old is on bail and due to face court on October 10. FOSTER MOTHER JULENE THORBURN: Charged with perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The 54-year-old is on bail and due to face court on October 10. Advertisement Mr Thorburn was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition after losing consciousness at the Beenleigh Watch House once charges were laid against him on Tuesday afternoon He was denied bail and has reportedly not disclosed anything to detectives investigating the alleged murder Tiahleigh's murder rocked mourners from the Logan community and resulted in a review that lead to a change in reforms for children who go missing from out-of-home care Mourners laid flowers outside Marsden State School (pictured) where Tiahleigh was last seen Inspector Hansen said Mr Thorburn did have a blue card, a requirement under Queensland law if you want to provide foster care or work with children, when Tiahleigh was sent to them but could not confirm if it was still valid. It has also not been confirmed how many children have been under Mr Thorburn's supervision during his time as a registered foster carer. The dramatic arrest comes 11 months after Tiahleigh's naked and decomposing body was found by fishermen dumped by the banks of the Pimpana River, 40 minutes from where she was last seen with Mr Thorburn at Marsden State School. She was gone for six days before she was registered missing by police and an alert was issued about her disappearance. The dramatic arrest comes 11 months after Tiahleigh's naked and decomposing body was found by fishermen dumped the banks of the Pimpana River (pictured) She was gone for six days before she was registered as missing by police and an alert was issued about her disappearance Tiahleigh' mother Cyndi Palmer spearheaded an online campaign to bring her daughter's killers to justice, but has asked for privacy since Tiahleigh's foster family were taken into custody The schoolgirl's biological mother Cyndi Palmer spearheaded an online campaign to bring her daughter's killers to justice, but has asked for privacy since Tiahleigh's foster family were taken into custody. 'This has been very traumatic for her, she has been asked to be left alone, it has affected her greatly and affected the family,' Inspector Hanson said. She was pictured sobbing at her daughter's funeral, where mourners donned purple and released hundreds of balloons at the end of the service. Mr Thorburn was selected to be a pallbearer at the young girl's memorial and wept as he carried her body from the funeral home. 'He cried big crocodile tears, bordered on hysterics and entrenched himself in the grief, her friends and events,' a source close to the family told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Thorburn (second left) was selected to be a pallbearer at the young girl's memorial service and wept as he carried her body from the funeral home Mr Thorburn was denied bail and has reportedly not disclosed anything to detectives investigating the alleged murder Search crews are pictured scouring bushland during the investigation last year Last week, a blue Ford XR6 sedan was taken by Queensland Police for forensic examination Police followed up with more than 3,500 separate lines of enquiry during the investigation, which resulted in detectives seizing Mr Thorburn's car last week. The blue 2009 Ford XR6 sedan was forensically examined, with police revealing it was the foster carer's vehicle ahead of his arrest on Tuesday. Mr Thorburn and his son Trent will appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Ms Thorburn and her eldest son Joshua are expected to appear in the same court house on October 10. A drug cook and his girlfriend were allegedly murdered over the theft of large quantity of ice they stole from a female drug lord. Kevin Ly is charged with murdering Son Thanh Nguyen, 39, and his girlfriend Thi Kim Lien Do, 35, in 2013, before wrapping their bodies in bedsheets and dumping them in separate locations in Sydney. Police will allege the double execution was carried out after Ly was paid by female crime boss Dung Thi Ngo, 40, in 2013. Scroll down for video Homicide squad detectives arrested 25-year-old Kevin Ly on Monday and have charged him with two counts of murder The body of Son Thanh Nguyen (right) was discovered bound and dumped in a gutter on Antwerp Street at Bankstown, Sydney's southwest, in April 2013 and in January the following year, the body of his girlfriend Thi Kim Lien Do (left) was found wrapped in a sheet Ngo is also under investigation for the murders of two other men, The Daily Telegraph reported. She is currently in jail on drug supply charges and is due for release in 2017. Investigators believe Mr Nguyen was a methamphetamine 'cook', and that he and Ms Do were murdered inside a Canley Vale rental home that doubled as a clandestine laboratory. 'She (Ms Do) may well may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but certainly our information is that Mr Nguyen was involved in a dispute with a group which has led to his death over drugs,' Detective Superintendent Mick Willing said. It is alleged that Mr Nguyen had stolen a quantity of methamphetamine from his female boss, and that Ly - the woman's 'henchman' - had lured him back to the Canley Vale house that day on her instructions. It will be alleged that after the pair arrived at the property Ly emerged from a bedroom with a shotgun, flanked by two others armed with a samurai sword and a revolver. Investigators believe both deceased were bound and that Ms Do was heard pleading: 'Please forgive me. I didn't do anything. I know nothing. Please don't kill me.' In another room, Mr Nguyen's boss is said to have warned him: 'Return it. If you return it, Lien will stay alive. If you did it, you have to bear the consequences.' A pair of farmers stumbled across Ms Do's body in a gutter while repairing a fence in 2013. Pictured is the man arrested on Monday Moments later, it is alleged, she turned to Ly and said: 'Just do it.' Police will allege she then handed one of Ly's associates a case of $50 notes as payment for the murders. It will be alleged Ly then ordered one of his male associates to help dispose of the bodies, saying: 'You have to do it for me to trust you.' Police documents viewed by AAP reveal that a key piece of evidence - a photograph showing the suspected syndicate boss's car parked outside the Canley Vale house on the day of the murders - was unearthed because a Google Street View camera happened to pass through on that day. Late on April 10, an off-duty ambulance officer was driving through Bankstown when she spotted a pair of legs poking out of a pile of sheets on the side of the street. The grim bundle hid Mr Nguyen's body- his wrists were tied behind his back with cable ties and blood-soaked tissues were stuffed in his mouth. The day after Mr Nguyen's body was discovered, his girlfriend was reported missing. But her fate was not known until early 2014, when a home owner repairing a fence near West Hoxton came upon what he thought was a dead animal. What he found instead was a human skull, wrapped in bedding. Ly's case returns to Central Local Court in November. His solicitor Richard Cummins said he planned to apply for bail. In January the following year, the body of his girlfriend Thi Kim Lien Do, 35, was found wrapped in a sheet in bushland in West Hoxton (police pictured at the scene) European Jews are too afraid to go to the synagogue on religious holidays because of the rise in anti-semitic attacks and terror threats, a poll has revealed. The survey found that 70 per cent of Jews will avoid going to the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this year - despite increased security measures. It was based on the answers from 78 rabbis and Jewish community leaders throughout Europe - from Britain to Ukraine. Jews look at Jerusalem's Old City walls illuminated by the colors of the French national flag in solidarity with France after attacks in Paris Some 75 per cent said they had noticed heightened security at Jewish schools and synagogues in response to the increase in terror attacks and hate crimes. The survey was carried out by the European Jewish Association (EJA) and the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE). It also showed the number of active members in Jewish communities is dwindling with around half of leaders saying they had noticed a decrease. Just 11 per cent reported a rise and 39 per cent reported no change. An anti-semitic gunmen shot dead three visitors at a Holocaust museum in Brussels in 2014 EJA and RCE General Director Rabbi Menachem Margolin told the Jerusalem Post that he believes the sharp drop in attendance is a result of anti-Semitism. 'The challenge for most of the Jewish communities has doubled in recent months,' he said. 'Currently the focus of the extreme right and their activity is focused on Islamophobia, but testimonies of rabbis and community leaders show a great deal of concern about growing nationalism and xenophobia, also against the Jews of Europe,' Rabbi Margolin warned. He called for governments to tackle the problem at the 'root' with education. 'Counter-terrorism is of course an important measure to save lives - but not enough to solve the problem from the root,' he said. In January this year, a gunman entered Paris Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket, taking hostages and killing four Jewish men. A month later, another gunman opened fire at Copenhagens great synagogue, killing Danish-Israeli guard Dan Uzan, who was providing security for a bat mitzva. is set to face the courts next He will be sentenced in October. His From prison Rosebrook arranged the murder of the 'grass'-Daniel C. Ott of Rosebrook but went to the police A notorious Ohio criminal was found guilty of orchestrating a murder from his prison cell although his hired assassin shot and killed the wrong person. Joe Rosebrook, from Logan County, was found guilty of all counts against him, including aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and kidnapping in connection with the May 26, 2006, shooting of Daniel E. Ott. Ott was murdered in his rural home in case of mistaken identity. Rosebrook ordered a hit on a criminal adversary however the hired assassin, Chad South, shot the wrong Daniel Ott. Joe Rosebrook looks on during the 3 hour long trial. He was finally found guilty of aggrevated murder 10 years after the crime Rosebrook with his attorneys. He is a notorious criminal in the area and has already served time in prison South, who was sentenced to 28 years in prison for murder and kidnapping in May, was meant to take out a Daniel C. Ott-a man who Rosebrook had hired to kill one of his business associates-Curtis Frazier. Frazier was involved in a stolen car parts ring with Rosebrook but he had been providing information to the Logan County Sheriff's Office about the former's illicit activities. Back to prison. The decade long case looks to finally be solved. Chad South has already been imprisoned for killing Ott Ott didn't go through with the killing and instead gave evidence against the criminal businessman sending him to prison for 10 years for an attempted murder-for-hire-plot. The slayed Daniel E. Ott was a greenhouse worker and had no known criminal connections. It took a Geauga County jury of eight men and four women just over three hours to convict Rosebrook for the mistaken-identity murder. 'It was a lot of hard work and really a team effort that put this together,' Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz said of the investigation. Wrong target: Daniel Ott (pictured), 31, was killed by a hit man but the shooter killed the wrong Daniel Ott 'This is the most complex investigation that I've ever seen, with some of the challenges involved, because the actual victim was totally unrelated to any of these people and because the mistaken identity really presented some challenges that we don't see in other cases,' he added. Prosecutors said South realized he had accosted the wrong Ott so tied him up. He managed to break free and confront the gunman which led to a scuffle and a fatal shot to the chest. Charged: Carl 'Jeff' Rosebrook, 57, Chad South, 45, and Joseph Rosebrook, 59, were indicted on charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit aggravated murder against Daniel Ott The victim's parents, Leroy and Linda, who were sat in the front row for the five day trial said they were 'so happy' with the verdict. Rosebrook's brother, Jeff, is still set to stand trial after being accused of overseeing his brothers criminal dealings-even paying South for the slaying-while he was incarcerated. Prosecutors say Rosebrook, who was released from his previous stint in prison in 2014, was a chief suspect from early on but Geauga Maple Leaf say key witnesses such as Daniel C. Ott refused to testify. Nigel Farage played a game of 'snog, marry, avoid' on ITV's Loose Women Nigel Farage has said he would marry Theresa May - but warned that will not stop him holding her to account if she fails to deliver on Brexit. The former Ukip leader admitted he had a soft spot for the Prime Minister as he played a game of 'snog, marry avoid' during an interview. He made clear he would avoid US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, and said the last time he saw German Chancellor Angela Merkel she'looked like she was swallowing a lemon'. But he suggested Mrs May was marriage material - and even speculated that she might theoretically be up for the match. The remarks came as Mr Farage, who is married, appeared on ITV's Loose Women show after stepping down from his role at the head of Ukip. The MEP was replaced by Diane James at the helm of the party at the weekend, and said he felt his 'job is done' in domestic politics after helping to secure the historic Brexit vote. I'm going to have some fun for the next couple of years. Why shouldn't I? I've been working 24/7 for a long, long time,' he said. Mr Farage said he was now free to do 'normal things that I simply haven't done for years', like this week taking his daughters to school. He admitted the strains of his political career had an impact on his children. 'The problem is the surname,' he said. 'It's a pretty unusual surname so there isn't much hiding from it.' Mr Farage was then asked if his children had asked to be dropped off away from school. Mr Farage said Angela Merkel looked like she had 'swallowed a lemon' last time he saw her, but Theresa May would probably give him the 'benefit of the doubt' Mr Farage said he would steer well clear of US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton He said: 'The only proviso was I didn't get out of the car.' The former Ukip leader also addressed persistent rumours of a potential appearance on reality television. He confirmed he has had 'a few conversations' but that he does not 'reveal private conversations'. He added: 'I have spoken to a few of them. I have declined for the moment to do that.' But Mr Farage also made clear that he could return if the process for cutting ties with Brussels did not go as he wanted. 'If the Government fail and don't deliver Brexit, and don't do the job properly, and don't get our British passports back, and don't get our fishing waters back, and don't do what 17 and a half million people have asked them to do, well then I suppose I'd be forced to have a think about going again,' he said. Clarifying what a potential return could entail, he added: 'If I make a comeback, I'm not saying I would come back as leader, I'd come back and support the leader.' Mr Farage was given the options of Mrs May, Mrs Merkel and Mrs Clinton for a light-hearted game of 'snog, marry, avoid'. 'Well, Hillary hates me,' he said. 'The last time I met Angela Merkel face-to-face, she looked like she was swallowing a lemon. Mr Farage stood down as Ukip leader over the weekend after Diane James was elected to replace him But the MEP did not rule out a return to front line politics if the government failed to deliver on the historic Brexit vote Mr Farage was grilled by presenter Coleen Nolan during the episode of Loose Women 'Theresa May would probably give me the benefit of the doubt, I guess.' Mr Farage then agreed he would opt to marry Mrs May. 'I just wouldn't want to get involved with Hillary at all,' he said. Mr Farage celebrated his final party conference as Ukip leader by going for a late-night swim in the sea off Bournemouth. His friend and Ukip financial baker Arron Banks said they 'went skinny dipping off the Bournemouth pier' on the eve of the conference after a late-night drinking session. However, Mr Farage has insisted he kept his underpants on. EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured in Strasbourg last week) said Switzerland can introduce the rules restricting recruitment from abroad without being kicked out of the Single Market Brussels has approved Swiss plans to prioritise local people over foreigners for jobs in an agreement that could pave the way for a British deal on curbing migration. EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Switzerland can introduce the rules restricting recruitment from abroad without being kicked out of the Single Market. The European Commission president made the concession as he signalled he also wanted a fair deal with Britain that recognises how the continent owes a great deal to the country. We are not at war with the UK, we are not looking for revenge, we are not enemies, he said during a visit to Zurich. Our continent owes a great deal to Britain you should not forget that despite all possible anger around recent referendums. I would therefore like a fair deal with Britain that takes into account everything that has to be taken into account so that Europe can continue to thrive and evolve. But the rules are the same for everyone. EU officials have been at loggerheads with Switzerland on how they can limit migration since voters backed a referendum in February 2014 demanding a cap on numbers. Mr Juncker said he would accept a compromise where Swiss citizens get first refusal on all job vacancies. Under the plan, Swiss firms would have to prioritise local people on the jobs market. Any vacancies cannot be filled will have to be advertised in the countrys job centres before recruitment is open up to those abroad. Mr Juncker said: This will be possible without a doubt. Jean-Claude Juncker's deal came days after the Swiss province of Ticino was set to limit foreigners' access to jobs in order to 'protect home grown talent', in another blow to Europe's chaotic open borders policy A referendum is being held later this month in the southern canton of Ticino that, if successful, will restrict the number of people from outside the country from getting a job Two years ago, 50.3 per cent of Swiss citizens voted for a limit on the number of workers allowed into Switzerland from the EU. Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but has access to the Single Market thanks to a series of bilateral agreements with Brussels. The EU has refused to let the country bring in a cap on numbers claiming this would breach its requirement for all countries inside the Single Market to accept the free movement on people. The negotiations show how the EU could offer Britain a compromise on migration, however, something similar to the Swiss plan is unlikely to be sufficient for many Brexit campaigners. Mr Juncker made clear that neither Switzerland or Britain would be able to get around the EU rules on freedom of movement. You cannot divide the single market as it suits you. If you want access to the single market, you have to comply with its principles, he said. This applies to the British, and not just to them. You have to also know that the concept of cherry picking is not compatible with our single market. Mr Juncker added that he was surprised that Theresa May had still not invoked Article 50, the formal two-year process for exiting the EU. Once it arrives, we will enter into these negotiations with our British friends, he said. A Pakistani supermodel has claimed she could not have been part of the murder of a customs inspector because she was in prison when he was shot. Model Ayyan Ali, who is under trial in a money laundering case, told a joint investigation team (JIT) she had no ties to the murder of Chaudhry Ejaz Mahmood outside his Rawalpindi in June last year. She is currently on trial for a money laundering case after Inspector Mahmood seized $500,000 from her carry-on luggage at Islamabad airport in March 2015. His widow insisted her husband was killed to protect the model, known as Ayyan, because he was a prosecution witness. The Pakistani supermodel was arrested in connection with the murder of a customs inspector who would have been a key witness in a money laundering case against her Pakistan's top model pictued after pleading not guilty to smuggling $500,000 out of the country in controversial case Model Ayyan Ali, who is under trial in a money laundering case, told a joint investigation team (JIT) she had no ties to the murder of Chaudhry Ejaz Mahmood outside his Rawalpindi in June last year The widow claims customs inspector was killed to protect Ayyan, pictured here getting her hair done Currently on bail, the model claimed that she has been wrongly accused in the murder, according to The Tribune. Inspector Mahmood was shot by two unknown men outside his Waris Khan house in Rawalpindi on June 2 and died of his injuries two days later. Back in March 2015, Ayyan was arrested by customs officials at Islamabad airport after $506,800 was found in her carry on bag - more than 50 times the $10,000 legal limit. Mahmood was the man who seized the cash. She was released after spending four months in Adiala prison in Rawalpindi denying any role in money laundering. Inspector Mahmood was in charge of the PIA cargo air freight unit (AFU) state warehouse at Benazir Bhutto International Airport last year. His wife told police Mahmood admitted feeling under a lot of pressure due to his connection with the case. The customs inspector's widow alleged the supermodel, known as Ayyan, was responsible for the murder Back in March 2015, Ayyan was arrested by customs officials at Islamabad airport after $506,800 was found in her carry on bag - more than 50 times the $10,000 legal limit Mahmood told his wife some men had told him to give false information on record to protect the supermodel or make the case against her weaker, said the Tribune. She added that her husband had told her they had threatened to kill him if he did not do as he was told. The slain inspector's brother Chaudhry Riaz Afzal also pinned the blame on Ayyan, and said that doctors at Benazir Bhutto Hospital had assured him his brother was out of danger before he was taken to the operating theatre at the request of customs officials. He died two days later on June 4. A woman was horrified to find a live locust crawling about in her lunch from a popular sandwich shop. Rebecca Twomey, 32, bought her favourite crayfish and avocado salad from Pret A Manger on Shaftesbury Avenue in central London. However, she has been put off the healthy pre-prepared box as she discovered an insect in it. She had already taken three bites of her lunch when she saw the creepy-crawly. A woman was horrified to find a locust crawling about in her lunch from a popular sandwich shop The writer from Battersea told MailOnline: 'I had opened the box and taken three bites out of it. 'I put it to one side as I typed on my computer, but then I heard something buzzing. 'At first I thought it was the paper on my desk, but then I saw this locust coming out of my salad. 'I freaked out and pushed my chair away from my desk. I picked up the box and chucked it in the bin. 'I didn't eat again that day as I had the thought and taste in my mouth, which put me off. 'It's put me off salads from Pret. I used to go there almost every day. I haven't been since last Wednesday when it happened.' When Ms Twomey contacted the sandwich shop chain, they investigated her complaint and responded this week. An apology letter was sent to her with a 30 gift card for the Pret, but the office worker was not overly impressed with the way the situation was dealt with. The letter read: 'Thank you for your patience whilst our Food Team completed its investigation. 'Please let me apologise once again for the insect you found in your crayfish and avocado salad. We take food quality and safety extremely seriously and we really appreciate you taking the time to send us photos of the insect so that we could investigate properly. An apology letter was sent to her with a 30 gift card for the Pret, but the office worker was not overly impressed with the way the situation was dealt with 'Our Food Team determined that the insect is in fact a moth, which came from the salad leaves used in the product. 'Farmers both in the UK and Europe are actively encouraged to have a bank of ground around their fields which encourages wildlife to remain in these areas and not to wander out onto the fields and mix with the crop. To keep insect numbers down, our leaves are covered with nets. These come off the night before harvest, to allow the leaves to dry. Although very rare, it is at this time that wildlife can get into the crop. 'Our salad leaves are picked by a harvester, who gives them a good shake to get rid of any large pieces of mud or objects. The salad leaves are then taken to our picking factory and given a thorough triple wash in lightly chlorinated water to remove all but the most stubborn foreign objects. The leaves then go through a human check before being packed in small, transparent bags for delivery to our shops. 'Once inside the Pret kitchens, our team members transfer the leaves into a big bowl to give them one last check before they're used to make our salads and sandwiches. 'Disappointingly, this moth was identified in neither the supplier's nor the shop's checks. The salad specialist within our Food Team has followed up with our supplier and please rest assured that our Safety Team has contacted the general manager of our shop on Shaftesbury Avenue. The kitchen team has been re-briefed on the importance of food safety and all current control procedures have been reinforced. 'I do hope this unpleasant experience won't stop you from visiting us again in the future. We would love to welcome you back with a topped up Pret Card by way of an apology and we hope you'll enjoy your next few lunches on us.' Ms Twomey wasn't satisfied with the letter from the customer services team. She added: 'It was all a bit matter of fact with them. They went on to explain in a lot of detail and said that it was a moth. It looked very generic, as if it was a copy and paste job. 'I've had some really good experiences with Pret in the past and they pride themselves on being caring - but this letter doesn't reflect that side. A mother was washing her SUV when the car rolled backwards and crushed her 18-month-old daughter, police said. The 25-year-old woman's older daughter, five, unknowingly pulled the gear shift from park to neutral in Ruckersville, Virginia, on Monday, according to police. The Ford Explorer rolled onto toddler Aeayla A. Camacho, who died at the scene despite the mother's desperate attempts to pull her to safety. A mother was washing her Ford Explorer (pictured) when her older daughter, five, unknowingly pulled the gear shift from park to neutral in Ruckersville, Virginia, on Monday The car rolled onto toddler Aeayla A. Camacho, who died at the scene (pictured), despite the mother's desperate attempts to pull her to safety The mother-of-three, who remains unnamed, had briefly turned away from the vehicle parked on Daniels Park Road when her older daughter got into the front seat and moved the gear shift. She was unable to pull Aeayla from underneath the car. The toddler was pronounced dead after State Trooper T.M. Smith arrived to administer CPR. Aeayla's remains will undergo an autopsy at the medical examiner's office in Richmond. The mother was sent to a University of Virginia hospital after suffering a minor ankle i injury trying to rescue her daughter, NBC reported. The woman's two other daughters, who were both in the car at the time, were not injured. Investigators say the gear shift could easily be moved without applying the brake or turning on the vehicle. Cops say they will not be filing charges at this time. A majority of Detroit teachers voted last week to ratify their new contract with the citys nascent school district. Just about 60 percent of educators voted in favor of the short-term contract, which is valid through December but allows a newly-elected school board to extend it through the end of the school year, reports the Detroit Free Press. Before the vote, several teachers had came forth to complain that the deal doesnt include permanent salary increases but instead relies solely on one-time bonuses to increase their sagging wages. But apparently many teachers saw the deal as a sign of progress. This contract isnt everything we wanted, but we are glad our members saw this ratification vote as a step forward for our union, our students and the future of Detroits public schools, said Detroit Federation of Teachers president Ivy Bailey in a statement following the vote . This contract provides some important improvements for our members, our students and their families, but there is still work that must be done to improve public education in the city of Detroit. Union leaders say the new contract is just the first step in improving the citys long-struggling schools. Theyre hoping that a federal lawsuit filed by parents looking to force the state to invest more in city schools and upcoming school board elections will lead to better support for Detroit schools. But it wasnt just teachers who are upset with the contract; Republican state legislative leaders also condemned the agreement, bucking the states Republican governor. They unsuccesfully urged a state financial board with authority over the city and school board to veto the contract. Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof called the deal financially irresponsible. These are the incredible scenes after a instructor pilot landed his aircraft on a French motorway after the engine packed up in mid air. The pilot, who had two students aboard, was flying the aircraft when the engine is believed to have cut out above the A8 motorway near Brignoles in the south of France. The aircraft took off shortly shortly beforehand from Aerodrome Cuers Pierrefeu some ten miles away. The aircraft landed in the middle of the motorway on the A8 in Brignoles in the south of France It is understood the aircraft suffered engine failure forcing the pilot to land on the motorway as the area was surrounded by houses and heavy woodland which would have led to disaster After getting into trouble the pilot searched for an area where he could safely land and determined the A8 motorway was the only safe location. On one side of the road there was heavy woodland and to the other, there were houses and shops. Instead, the pilot picked a gap in the traffic below and touched down before coming safely to a halt. The aircraft was a Robin DR-400 and registered to a flying club at the aerodrome. According to police, the pilot was taking the two students on a 'tourism' flight when he got into difficult. The pilot and his two passengers escaped from the aircraft uninjured. Following the emergency, a group of technicians dismantled the aircraft which could not be flown from the motorway and removed it on a truck. The aircraft came to a halt on the motorway following this afternoon's emergency Aircraft engineers began dismantling the aircraft which could not be flown from the site Within a few hours, engineers were able to remove the take and the aircraft's wings The sections of the aircraft were loaded onto the back of a truck to be taken away for repairs A woman died after she lit 17 candles for a romantic evening with her imaginary boyfriend - and accidentally set her flat on fire, an inquest heard today. Jane Ellis, 46, believed she was in a relationship with a man called 'Ian' and she would light candles to summon him, a coroner's court was told. She lit 17 of them for a meeting last year but inadvertently set her house on fire. A woman set her flat on fire after lighting candles for a romantic evening with her imaginary boyfriend, an inquest at Reading Coroner's Court has heard Neighbours in the flats rushed round to tell her the building was on fire but she slammed the door shut and ignored their warnings. She was later found lying face-down on the bathroom floor. The 46-year-old was airlifted to hospital in an induced coma but died on February 8 last year. She died of brain injuries from smoke inhalation and burns. Her brother-in-law, Andrew Manley, told the coroner: 'In my opinion this was an entirely preventable incident had Jane been put in a safe place and adequately monitored until she became well. 'We were pleading to speak to the assessor to give further information about her and we were refused point blank from doing so. 'If the candles were being used to contact an imaginary boyfriend you can at least appreciate that there is some risk there.' On the first day of a three-day inquest in Reading, the court heard how she was due to meet her friend, Susan Arnett, on February 6 before driving to Bristol for a Christian conference with her sister Elizabeth Manley. Ms Arnett told police she had known Ms Ellis for 20 years and she had a history of mental illness. She recalled how she was due to pick her up from her mother's house the day before the fire. She told the court: 'Jane texted back saying "we are just getting ready". I presumed she meant her and her mother but in hindsight she probably meant her and Ian.' Neighbours in the flats rushed round to tell her the building on Oxford Road, Sandhurst, in Berkshire (pictured) was on fire but she slammed the door shut and ignored their warnings She arrived to find Ms Ellis was not at her mother's home and the two drove round to her flat where they found her sitting on the pavement with a plastic carrier bag. 'Jane said she was just waiting for Ian and then we could go', she said. Ms Arnett said she had never heard of Ian but her friend told her they were planning to get married and go on a honeymoon to Egypt. 'He was never a boyfriend...they had known a man called Ian when they lived in Gloucester,' she added. Ms Arnett called her friend's GP surgery - which had been responsible for her care after she was discharged from a mental health service team in July 2014. Dr Deepak Goyal, from Sandhurst Group Practice, came up with a ruse for Ms Arnett to tell Ms Ellis 'Ian' was waiting at his practice, the inquest heard. The pair went to the surgery and when Ms Ellis saw Dr Goyal she 'almost ran towards him with arms open as if she was going to hug him.' Ms Arnett, who was still speaking to Mrs Manley over the phone, rang police after Ms Ellis later came out of the surgery. Three police officers arrived and Ms Ellis went back to the surgery after one spoke to her, the coroner was told. She added: 'Dr Goyal said Jane appeared to need sectioning. 'I heard the police say that they would have difficulties sectioning Jane because she did not appear to be in danger of immediate harm to herself.' Tony Blair has accused Jeremy Corbyn of turning Britain into a 'one party state' because he is so unelectable. The former Prime Minister complained that Labour was turning into a 'party of protest' as he voiced fears about a wave of populist politics in Western democracies. He said the structures that dictated the way the country was run since the 19th century could be breaking down altogether. Tony Blair, pictured during the interview in New York, said the dreadful condition of Labour meant that Britain was at risk of being a 'one party state' The comments came in an interview with Reuters editor-at-large Sir Harold Evans in in New York, where the UN general assembly is being held. Mr Blair has also announced he is winding up his money-making empire - which has brought him a reputed 50million fortune. Instead he will focus on 'not-for-profit' activities, pumping 'substantial reserves' from his commercial business into the operations. In his interview, Mr Blair said Britain had become 'virtually a one-party state due to the state of my party'. He said the left was divided between the 'culture of protest' represented by demonstrators waving placards, and a 'culture of government' represented by those they are campaigning against. 'I'm the face on the placard. I'm that b*****d, let's get rid of him. The other culture is the guys holding the placard. 'They don't really want to be in power, they want to make the people in power respond to their concerns. 'It's a different culture. These two different cultures are trying to cohabit in the same organisation. I don't see how these two cultures cohabit, because the guy holding the placard hates the guy whose face is on the placard.' Mr Blair insisted: 'When you're in power, okay, you alienate people - but you get things done.' While making clear a split would be a disaster, Mr Blair said: 'The Labour Party's mission historically from its very foundation was to be a party of government, not a party of protest. I think we should remain true to our founding principles.' Mr Blair said the political landscape had shifted since his time in office, with moderate parties on right and left facing challenges from opponents on the extremes, thanks in part to a collapse in faith in traditional politics following the 2008 crash and in part to the emergence of social media and the 'tyranny of the Twitter feed'. Veteran left-winger Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of incompetent leadership by MPs He dodged questions about Donald Trump's bid for the US presidency, but left no doubt of his support for Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, describing her as 'someone in my view who I would personally trust completely ... I think she has got enormous wisdom, common sense and integrity'. But he made clear that he fears voters in the US and elsewhere might opt for populist solutions which would not be 'sensible' for their countries. 'This is nothing to do with the British Labour Party, but I have this fear that this populism is something we are going to have to experience before we realise it is not very sensible,' he said. Mr Blair repeated his claim that the UK could hold a second referendum on its withdrawal from the European Union. The June 23 vote was the equivalent of buying a house without having seen it, and voters' views may change once they see the deal that emerges from Brexit negotiations, he said. 'My point is very simple,' said Mr Blair. 'This can't be changed without (being) clear that, once they see the alternative they take a different view - or sufficient numbers do.' Prime Minister Theresa May is sticking to her 'Brexit means Brexit' mantra to maintain unity in Tory ranks, he said, adding: 'My view is we should keep an open mind, we should see how these guys get on. An Austrian man accused of driving his 4x4 through a busy shopping street killing three has claimed he thought he was being chased. Alen R's trial started today after he allegedly hurtled down the street in Graz last year, injuring more than 100 people. The defendant, dressed all in white, told the court in the southern city that he thought he was being chased, had heard gunshots and that his car had mechanical problems. Alen Rizvanovic (pictured, centre) went on trial today accused of driving his 4x4 at high speed down a crowded pedestrian street in the city of Graz last year, killing three people including a four-year-old The defendant, dressed all in white, told the court in the southern city that he thought he was being chased, had heard gunshots and that his car had mechanical problems 'I didn't want to run anyone over, I just wanted to get away so that I didn't get shot,' the 27-year-old told the court. 'I felt like I was being chased.' 'I didn't want to run anyone over, I just wanted to get away so that I didn't get shot,' the 27-year-old told the court. 'I felt like I was being chased.' Prosecutors are not pushing for murder charges but want to send the accused to a mental institution. A trial jury is now tasked with deciding whether the father-of-two lorry driver was sound of mind at the time of the incident. Two psychological reports have concluded he was not criminally responsible, while a third said he was. Public prosecutor Rudolf Fauler told the trial that the man sped down Herrengasse in central Graz, busy with Saturday afternoon shoppers, on June 20, 2015 at up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour. A four-year-old boy hit by the vehicle died at the scene as did a woman, 24 and a man, 28. More than 100 others were injured. The defendant also allegedly attacked a couple with a knife. Police last year quickly ruled out 'terrorism' as a motive. A Texas family are outraged after they say a funeral director made a mockery of their relative's somber memorial service by posing for a selfie with the deceased man's casket. Rose Molina says she was shocked when she caught David L. Jones, a funeral director at Leal Funeral Home in the Houston suburb of Jacinto City, angling his cellphone while apparently posing for a photo in front a hearse carrying her loved ones body. The incident took place on Saturday during the funeral for Molinas cousin, who passed away on September 4 at age 32, according to social media postings. Scroll down for video Funeral director in trouble: David L. Jones, a funeral director from Texas, has landed in hot water after a family accused him of snapping a selfie with their loved one's hearse. The images above, taken from his Facebook page, show Jones posing in front of a hearse and a casket Somber event: Rose Molina and her family were at Leal Funeral Home in Jacinto City Saturday to bif a final farewell to her 32-year-old cousin Molina tells the station KTRK that when she confronted Jones about the alleged selfie, the funeral director denied posing with the hearse and claimed that he used the camera on his phone to straighten his tie. When Ms Molina went on Facebook and looked up Jones' social media account, she was appalled to discover numerous selfies depicting the immaculately dressed and groomed funeral director posing in front of caskets and hearses. His macabre online album, reviewed by Daily Mail Tuesday, includes photos showing Jones in front of a stretcher covered in red velvet being loaded into a hearse, as well as advertisements for various caskets. Molina shows her late cousin's photo on the left. The screenshot on the right depicts her reenacting how Jones was holding his cellphone while standing in front of her cousin's hearse Macabre photography: When Ms Molina went on Facebook and looked up Jones' social media account, she was appalled to discover numerous selfies depicting him posing in front of caskets and hearses Morbid fascination: The dapper mortician has been sharing online self-portraits featuring coffins and hearse since at least June In one photo, the bespectacled mortician is seen wearing a novelty Superman T-shirt that reads: 'Im a funeral director. What's your superpower?' According to his Facebook account, Jones is a Freemason and member of the Order of the Eastern Star, which is a masonic institution that is open to both men and women and is based on Biblical teachings. One photo in his account depicts the funeral director in his full Masonic regalia, complete with a blue-and-white apron emblazoned with the star and compasses emblem and a pair of white gloves. Leal Funeral Home's owner, Joaquin Leal, told KTRK Jones is an independent contractor, but he called his behavior 'unacceptable.' Leal also said he called the family of the deceased man to apologize on Jones' behalf. Costume changes: According to his Facebook account, Jones is a Freemason, and the image on the left shows him in his masonic apron. On the right, he is seen in a novelty T-shirt celebrating his profession We were mourning the loss of my cousin, to be a very family event, private event, it's tainted. He disrespected this day in my family's life, said Rose Molina. Jones is a graduate of Texas Southern University who studied funeral directing and embalming at the Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Services. He is a licensed funeral director with the State of Texas who has had no complaints so far. A teenager who was kicked unconscious by a man and woman outside a nightclub was left so badly injured that he had to take a month off work, a court heard today. CCTV footage shows how Megan Allen, 22, chased her victim Jay Bennett into the street - kicking him unconscious and breaking his jaw when he tripped over. Allen, of Islington, North London, and her friend Liam Nagle, 25, of Bedford, left Mr Bennett, 19, unconscious in the brutal and cowardly attack in Swansea. Jailed for 36 weeks each: Megan Allen (left), 22, and her friend Liam Nagle (right), 25, kicked their victim unconscious in the 'brutal and cowardly' attack in Swansea city centre at 5am Shocking: Allen was caught on CCTV kicking her victim unconscious and breaking his jaw Two other men also joined in the city centre attack at 5am. Swansea Crown Court heard Allen had been involved in a row in the Oxygen nightclub. But Mr Bennett left alone - before being chased by Allen and her gang. His mother Melanie Penk, 45, said: The girl stamped and stamped on his head. Nagle and Allen pleaded guilty to assault after the attack in June 2015 and were each jailed for 36 weeks. But support worker Ms Penk slammed the sentences. She said: The whole thing is a shambles - I feel just total outrage. The sentencing has upset my son as he feels it was a waste of time to go to court in the first place. Sickening: Allen, of Islington, North London, and her friend Liam Nagle, 25, of Bedford, left Mr Bennett, 19, unconscious in the brutal and cowardly attack in Swansea in June 2015 Attack scene: Nagle and Allen pleaded guilty to assault and were each jailed for 36 weeks Where it began: The court heard Allen had been involved in a row in the Oxygen nightclub I am disappointed about the way we have been let down by the system. CCTV footage shows how Allen (pictured) chased her victim Jay Bennett into the street 'I have written a complaint to the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service). There was video evidence that was seen by everyone and shared by social media. Ms Penk said the family were told prosecutors they were willing to accept a plea to a charge of assault instead of grievous bodily harm. She said: We weren't asked whether we wanted to do it and haven't been kept in the loop over what's happening. This outcome, I can't come to terms with it - they could be out in 18 weeks. People are so outraged at this. There is a lot of strong feeling about this. Former New York police chief Ray Kelly has blasted the city's mayor Bill De Blasio suggesting he is too politically correct to be tough on terror Former New York police chief Ray Kelly has blasted the city's mayor Bill De Blasio suggesting he is too politically correct to be tough on terror. The ex-police commissioner has been praising officers for their hard work in apprehending Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspected Chelsea and New Jersey bomber. They arrested the 28-year-old following a city-wide manhunt and a shootout at a bar in Linden, New Jersey. But despite Rahami now being in custody, Kelly has blasted his old rival De Blasio, for playing down the possibility of the bombs being terrorism in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. He told The Daily Beast: 'They always have these elected people who want to downplay the potential threat. But it is De Blasio's watch, so now he wants to.' Asked if he believed city officials had been too 'politically correct' in dealing with the situation, he added: 'I think we've been that way for a while.' However, it is not the first time that Kelly, the city's longest serving police commissioner, has criticised the New York mayor. Scroll down for video In 2013, he accused De Blasio, who at the time was running for office of stabbing him in the back over his stop and frisk policy. The NYPD had come under scrutiny for its 'stop and frisk' policy, which several minority groups contended was an unlawful discriminatory practice. In 2013, Kelly also accused De Blasio, centre, who at the time was running for office of stabbing him in the back over his stop and frisk policy One of the planks of De Blasio's campaign, for which he was elected, was to promote the end of stop and frisk which he called a violation of civil rights. Meanwhile in 2014, De Blasio's then police commissioner Bill Bratton disbanded the NYPD's Demographics Unit, which Kelly created in 2003 in the aftermath of 9/11. Its role was to seek out potential terrorists by infiltrating Muslim student groups, putting informants in mosques and sending operatives into Muslim businesses to listen to conversation. The tactics, when revealed, left many in the Muslim community feeling distrustful of the police. Howver the ex-police commissioner has been praising officers for their hard work in apprehending Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspected Chelsea and New Jersey bomber But since the latest attacks on New York, Kelly told the Daily Beast the decision to disband the unit was 'dumb, quite frankly.' Kelly's comments come as Rahami's father Mohammad Rahami Sr, said he warned authorities two years ago that his son had become violent. He said that he had called the FBI and informed them that he feared the 28-year-old was becoming radicalised. Donald Trump's presidential campaign is calling it 'deeply disturbing' that a Palestinian teacher who's husband was convicted of aiding a deadly 1980 terror attack in Hebron is speaking at a Clinton Global Initiative dinner Tuesday. The decision to honor Palestinian teacher Hanan al-Hroub, who won a $1 million teaching prize, shows a 'complete lack of judgement,' according to the Trump camp. Hanan al-Hroub's husband, Omar al-Hroub, was convicted in aiding a terror attack in the West Bank city of Hebron that killed Israelis in 1980 as an accomplice who provided chemicals used in making the bomb, the Wall Street Journal reported. He has since indicated support for the peace process and joined the government of Mahmoud Abbass as a minister of the Palestinian Authority. Word of the speech comes just days after a bomb attack in New York injured 29 people. Hanan al-Hroub's husband, who won a $1 million teaching prize and whose husband Omar al-Hroub was convicted ofaiding a terror attack in the West Bank city of Hebron, is participating in a Clinton Global Initiative dinner 'Today's report that the Clinton Foundation is feting the wife of a Palestinian man convicted of helping bomb innocent Israeli citizens is deeply disturbing, especially in the wake of this weekend's attacks,' said Trump campaign spokesman Jason Alexander in a statement. 'The decision to honor the wife of a terrorist by Hillary Clinton's foundation shows a complete lack of judgment and a callousness that should disqualify her from holding the presidency,' Miller said. The Trump release was titled, 'Statement on Clinton Fondation honoring wife of Palestinian terrorist.' Han al-Hroub is to participate in a dinner Tuesday in what is the final year of the Clinton Global Initiative. The Clinton Foundation announced plans to end the program, where donors make commitments to engage in charity works, amid scrutiny of connections between the foundation and Hillary Clinton's work as secretary of state as well as possible future conflicts of interest. Hanan al-Hroub, a Palestinian teacher who won the $1 million Global Teacher award, is to participate at a Clinton Global Initiative dinner Tuesday night Bill Clinton was paid more than $6 million for consulting work on behalf of GEMS Education, a for-profit private education firm that funds the foundation that gave the award Palestinians watch on a screen in the West Bank city of Ramallah in March as primary school teacher Hanan al-Hroub, whose husband was convicted of aiding a bomb attack, receives the Million Dollar Teacher award Al-Hroub was awarded a $1 million Global Teacher Prize by the Varkey Foundation, the charity arm of GEMS Education, a global for-profit education company. The firm has paid Bill Clinton more than $6 million for consulting, while also contributing between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. According to a biography on the Varkey Foundation's web site, 'Hanan grew up in the Palestinian refugee camp, Bethlehem, where she was regularly exposed to acts of violence.' 'She went into primary education after her children were left deeply traumatized by a shooting incident they witnessed on their way home from school. Her experiences in meetings and consultations to discuss her childrens behavior, development and academic performance in the years that followed led Hanan to try to help others who, having grown up in similar circumstances, require special handling at school,' the bio continues. She was given the award this year in Dubai after developing a curriculum called 'No to violence.' When the Journal asked the the Clinton Foundation for comment, it provided a statement from foundation donor Haim Saban. 'Hanan al-Hroub is a beacon of hope in a part of the world that is very dear to me and in desperate need of more hope,' Saban said. 'I only wish more people honored her and the cause that she embodies.' Qadura Faris, director of a Palestinian prisoners association, told the Associated Press that Omar al-Hroub accepted the 1993 Oslo Accords and backs a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. The Qatari newspaper al-Araby al-Jadid praised Omar al-Hroub as a "freedom fighter ... who took part in one of the most daring guerrilla operations in the occupied territories,' the AP reported. Or they were born to Australian women who fled to become Jihadi brides Several kids were taken to Iraq and Syria by their IS supporting parents Australian children who have lived in war-torn Syria and Iraq under Islamic State control may return home with a myriad of physical, emotional and psychology issues, federal authorities have discussed. Government and state officials, as well as representatives from the departments of education and health, police and community services, began a workshop several weeks ago to look into how to help and reintegrate those kids looking to flee the persistent fighting, according to The Australian. Dozens of children are believed to have been exposed to the violent war since it began in 2011, either when they moved there with their parents who support ISIS, or by being born into the conflict by Australian women who travelled to the Middle East to become a Jihadi brides. Australian children who have lived in the Middle East under Islamic State control may return home with a myriad of physical, emotional and psychology issues, federal authorities have discussed (stock image) Government and state officials began a workshop several weeks ago to look into how to help and reintegrate those kids looking to flee the persistent fighting (stock image) There are about 110 Australians fighting with IS, some of which may have fathered children with local women in Syria and Iraq. Expecting several of those children to claim Australian citizenship despite ever living in the country, the government is now preparing itself to handle the potential influx. 'Should the children of foreign fighters return to Australia, the government would work closely with relevant state or territory governments to manage their return on a case-by-case basis and with appropriate safeguards,' Attorney-General George Brandis told The Australian. Sydney terrorist Khaled Sharrouf (pictured) and his wife Tara Nettleton took their five children to Syria after becoming radicalised two years ago Some of the children have become orphaned and are expected to be allowed into the country without their parents A total of 200 Australians are reported to have travelled to the Middle East to fight for Islamic State and about 40 have returned home, while an estimated 67 are said to have been killed. Some of the children have become orphaned and are expected to be allowed into the country without their parents, The Australian reported. Sydney terrorist Khaled Sharrouf and his wife Tara Nettleton took their five children to Syria after becoming radicalised two years ago. Zaynab Sahrrouf, 14, married her father's friend, Sydney terrorist Mohamed Elomar (pictured), who was 17 years her senior, but he and her father both died in battle last year The eldest daughter, Zaynab Sahrrouf, 14, married her father's friend, Sydney terrorist Mohamed Elomar, who was 17 years her senior, but he and her father both died in battle last year and her mother died soon after from appendicitis. She gave birth to Elomar's daughter and is also in charge of her five siblings. Her grandmother Karen Nettleton said she is fearful for her grandchildren and new great-granddaughter now that their mother is dead but failed to bring the children back to Australia after a recent trip to Syria. Amal Clooney has called on the UK to take more refugees from Syria. The human rights lawyer urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to press the UN to tackle ISIS, just a day after announcing her intention to mount a legal case against the jihadist group on behalf of a Yazidi sex slave, Nadia Murad. The wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney also said she would be 'delighted' to work on a prosecution of Syrian president Bashar Assad over crimes against humanity and war crimes. Demand: Amal Clooney has called on the UK to do more to help Syrian refugees. She is pictured here with George Clooney at a roundtable event during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York Retaliation: Clooney said that bombing the group was not enough and that the trial was needed because it is impossible to 'kill an idea' (above at the UN last week) In awe: 'I don't think anybody can feel that they're being courageous compared to what Nadia's doing. It's no joke. This is ISIS,' said Clooney Pictured is the Calais refugee camp which has been infamously named as the Jungle Speaking to Channel 4 News alongside Nadia, Mrs Clooney said: 'I would hope that more could be taken in. 'There has been one Yazidi family that has been given asylum so far in the UK. 'You have had a million refugees accepted in Germany in the last year and 70,000 of those have been Yazidis. 'In every other country it's been literally a handful, so I'm hoping that can improve. 'Actually one of the positive signs is that Prime Minister May when she was Home Secretary had instituted the idea that there should be the ability for private sponsorship. 'That is something that my husband and I are doing in the US, for example, with the International Rescue Committees. If the Government disappoints then at least they should empower you to make a difference.' But Sir Gerald Howarth, MP for Aldershot, said it was important to consider the concerns of voters. 'Our people have for years been denounced as racists if they have dared to express concern about immigration. 'But perhaps those who criticise the British governments should do more to urge foreign leaders to stop corruption and make their countries more worth living.' He added that the UK had done 'more than anyone' to help refugees based in Jordan and other countries surrounding Syria. 'As PM said, we do these people no favours through decanting them into the UK. 'If Brexit was about anything, it was about controlling our border. We are full up, that is what most of my constituents tell me.' Horrors: 'I'm ashamed as a human being that we ignore their cries for help,' said Clooney (Nadia above) Brave women: Clooney said Nadia was taken captive as a sex slave at the age of 19 and at times raped by two men at once until she fell unconscious (Nadia and Clooney above) Mrs Clooney's newest client Nadia was captured by ISIS when she was just 19 and became a sex slave. Clooney spoke about how Nadia was at times raped by two men at a time until she 'fell unconscious.' Sir Gerald Howarth: Britain does not need to be 'lectured' about immigration Nadia said that ISIS members killed six of her eight brothers and her mother when they stormed her town in the northern Iraq two years ago during the Yazidi genocide. The high-profile lawyer and her husband have taken Nadia into the care of their own home. She said during an interview yesterday that the risks that come with taking on the brutal terrorist group are far outweighed by the urgency to combat their unconscionable treatment of people, specifically women. Today, she was critical of the UN's failure to take stronger action against ISIS: 'There's obviously situations that have called for action by the Security Council where there has been inaction and so you can't say that the UN is fulfilling the role that it's supposed to be playing. 'There is no reason why the council should be paralysed. Isis has actually confessed to its crimes online. That's why when I spoke at the UN it was not my intention to speak in terms of congratulations, thank you for calling it genocide. 'The point is, what is the UN going to do about it? And I do hope that with the leadership of the UK this can actually be pushed forward.' Reasons: 'This is my job,' said Clooney when asked why she took on the case, who added that she discussed the risks with husband George (couple above in May) Mrs Clooney was also keen to take Syrian president Assad to task - and wants to be part of it. She added: 'If there is a prosecution of President Assad I would be delighted to work on it. I think the UN has concluded that the Syrian government has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. Federal auto safety regulators today said that self-driving cars "will save time, money and lives," but also sent a clear signal that they want the power to inspect and approve technology before it hits the highways, rather than each U.S. state setting its own safety standards. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on a press call today that a new federal premarket approval system "would require a lot more upfront discussion, dialogue and staffing on our part." The government's statement today is big news for Uber, Google, Apple, and other Silicon Valley firms pouring millions of R&D dollars into figuring out how to swap human drivers for smart machines, or at least allow us to share control in "semiautonomous" setups. The Obama administration promises "strong safety oversight, but sent a clear signal to automakers that the door was wide open for driverless cars," reports the New York Times: "We envision in the future, you can take your hands off the wheel, and your commute becomes restful or productive instead of frustrating and exhausting," said Jeffrey Zients, director of the National Economic Council, adding that highly automated vehicles "will save time, money and lives." The statements were the most aggressive signal yet by federal regulators that they see automated car technology as a win for auto safety. Yet having officially endorsed the fast-evolving technology, regulators must now balance the commercial interests of companies including Tesla, Google and Uber with concerns over public safety, especially in light of recent crashes involving semiautonomous cars. The policies unveiled on Monday were designed to walk that line. In a joint appearance, Mr. Zients and Anthony Foxx, secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, released the first guidelines, which outlined safety standards and encouraged uniform rules for the nascent technology. The instructions signaled to motorists that automated vehicles would not be a wild west where companies can try anything without oversight, but were also vague enough that automakers and technology companies would not fear over-regulation. And from Reuters, on why the federal vs. state question matters so much to Google: Andy Richter, the comedian best known for his work as Conan O'Brien's longtime sidekick on late night television, revealed his wife aborted their baby before they got married. Richter poignantly recalled the episode with his then girlfriend Sarah Thyre as he played host to a star-studded gala in Los Angeles to benefit Planned Parenthood on September 10, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 'I'd like to share a story,' Richter told the audience at Planned Parenthood's Sexy Beast gala at The Theater at Ace Hotel. Andy Richter (left) and Sarah Thyre (right) were two struggling comedians in the early 1990s 'In 1992, my girlfriend and I were having a rough time. We'd been performing in a show together for a couple of years, but it had come to an end, and we found ourselves living apart.' Richter and Thyre, who is also a comedian, starred in Jill Soloway's stage production of The Brady Bunch. 'She was in New York City working three jobs; I was in Chicago jobless and sleeping on my mother's couch,' Richter said. 'The strain of living apart, and the stress of being two young people attempting to make a living as performers and writers was really taking a toll on the relationship. 'So when she called me to tell me that she was pregnant, it was not exactly happy news.' 'Luckily for us Planned Parenthood existed.' Richter (left) was jobless and sleeping on his mother's couch in Chicago, while Thyre was working three jobs in New York Planned Parenthood provides abortions, screening for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing and other services, according to its website. It has 700 health centers throughout the US. 'My girlfriend knew that she was not ready for motherhood, and I knew that I was in no way prepared to be a father,' Richter said. 'I drove from Chicago in my battered old Toyota pick-up to be with her when she went to Planned Parenthood to terminate her pregnancy.' 'Her choice to get an abortion was a choice that she made with assuredness. 'She knew that she was doing the right thing for everyone involved. But I can't say it was easy. She was sad, and I was sad, and it was sad. But to this day, I know that she will tell you that she made the right decision.' Richter credits Planned Parenthood with saving his relationship with Thyre, with whom he's been married for 22 years. 'Planned Parenthood gave two young struggling people the ability to do the thing that is in their name: We got to plan parenthood,' Richter said. 'When we could barely care for ourselves, much less a newborn, we were able to choose the time when we brought a child into our lives,' the comedian said. 'Planned Parenthood allowed my wife to make the decisions she needed to make in order to control her body and her health, and maintain her life and her future. And for that, I will be eternally grateful.' Richter was chosen to host the Planned Parenthood event after he came out in support of the organization last year, when a pro-life group alleged that it was involved in the illegal sale of fetus anatomy. Richter (left, with late night host Conan O'Brien) credits Planned Parenthood for saving the relationship with his girlfriend, with whom he has been married for the past 22 years The Center for Medical Progress released a series of short films about the sexual health clinic and abortion provider in a bid to show the organization was harvesting organs. It sparked international outcry, with Republicans calling for Planned Parenthood to be shuttered. However, a grand jury in Houston concluded Planned Parenthood did nothing illegal - and instead indicted members of the anti-abortion group. In November of last year, an anti-abortion activist, Robert Dear, was indicted for killing three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Nine others were also injured in the brutal attacks. In remarks to The Hollywood Reporter, Richter was defiant in his outspoken backing for Planned Parenthood. 'Planned Parenthood helps a ton of people, and if [some] don't agree with that, f*** 'em,' he said. 'You can quote me on that. Tell them I said, 'f*** 'em.' The 16-year-old girl told police in April that she escaped from Willis' van after he pointed a gun at her Willis was arrested in May in connection to murder of female jogger Rebekah Bletsch, 36, in 2014 and attempted abduction of a teen girl Prosecutors believe Heeringa died within 48 hours of her abduction, but her body is still missing Heeringa, 25, vanished from gas station in Norton Shores, Michigan, in April 2013, never to be seen again Jeffrey Willis, 46, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to new charges of kidnapping and murder in A man already jailed in connection to two separate abduction cases in Michigan was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk, whose body was never found. Jessica Heeringa, 25, vanished without a trace from the Exxon Mobile gas station where she worked in Norton Shores, near Muskegon, as she was about to close up for the night. Investigators weren't able to crack the case until Jeffrey Willis, 46, was arrested in May in connection to a different case. 'We found Jessica's killer,' Muskegon County prosecutor D.J. Hilson told reporters, adding that Heeringa likely died within 48 hours of her abduction. 'Monster' charged: Jeffrey Willis (left), seen in court in May 2016, was charged Tuesday with kidnapping and murder in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa (right) Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson, center,announces new charges in the homicide of Jessica Heeringa during a press conference on Tuesday Willis is charged with kidnapping and murder. He's already facing charges in two more local cases: the fatal shooting of female jogger Rebekah Bletsch, 36, in 2014 and the attempted abduction of a teenage girl in April. A chained Willis was led into Muskegon County Court Tuesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping and murder counts in Heeringa's case, reported WOOD-TV. His lawyer, Paula Baker Mathes, declined to comment on the new charges. At a news conference, Hilson repeatedly rebuffed questions about the evidence against Willis or whether he knew Heeringa. 'Mr. Willis is a monster,' Hilson said. 'He certainly is an individual that I wouldn't let any of my children around, much less any female around. 'What his total motivation was, that's only for him to say. Ultimately, I think this was part of who he was as a person.' Police said they found a pistol, rope, chains, handcuffs, syringes and photos of bound women in Willis' van when they arrested him in the spring. Second victim: Willis (left) was arrested in May in connection to the shooting death of female jogger Rebekah Bletsch (right), 36, in 2014 This map shows the scenes of the three crimes with which Jeffrey Willis has now been charged Willis' 22-caliber handgun seized from his vehicle matched bullets used to kill Rebekah Bletsch, as well as shell casings found at the crime scene, reported Mlive.com. Bletsch, a mother-of-one, was found dead on the side of Automobile Road after being shot in the head multiple times in June 2014 while she was out jogging. Search warrant documents that were released in July said that pages of women's names and telephone numbers were among items seized from Willis' Muskegon Township home. If convicted, he faces life in prison without a chance for parole. Willis is due back in court September 28. The Norton Shores police chief, Jon Gale, said the charges are 'one step towards justice,' but he added that he won't be satisfied until Jessica Heeringa's body is found and returned to her family. Hilson said Willis' cousin, 47-year-old Kevin Bluhm, was charged with being an accessory. He has already pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. Bluhm initially told police he helped Willis 'take care of' Heeringa and had seen her lifeless body in the basement of a home once owned by Willis' grandfather, but then said he made the story up. Strong words: Muskegon County prosecutor D.J. Hilson called Willis, seen here in court in June a 'monster' whom he would not have let anywhere near his own children The prosecutor again praised the 16-year-old girl who escaped from Willis' van in April, an incident that brought Willis to the attention of police. 'I consider that young lady a hero,' Hilson said. 'Her bravery and her willingness to really put her life on the line that fateful early morning has opened the doors to a lot of different things.' The girl told officers she was lost along a rural road on April 16 when Willis pulled over and offered her the use of his cell phone. After climbing inside his minivan, a 2006 Dodge Caravan, the girl says he pointed a gun at her and locked the doors before driving away. She was jailed for a year while he got a nine-month suspended sentence Anita Offe, 23, passed mobile phones, sim cards and charges to Elijah Mochia, 22, while he was a prisoner in Thameside Prison in southeast London An equality and diversity prison officer who was dubbed 'black beauty' by an inmate she smuggled mobile phones into jail for has been sentenced to a year behind bars. Anita Offe, 23, passed mobile phones, sim cards and charges to Elijah Mochia, 22, while he was a prisoner in Thameside Prison in southeast London. The court heard records of 4,500 calls between the two had been discovered on the phones and they had exchanged romantic texts. One deleted text on Offe's phone, from Mochia, read: 'Black beauty of my life, I never thought in prison I could meet a black beauty like you.' The love poem was signed off 'From E'. The pair were caught when they were spotted on CCTV meeting in a stairwell on January 20. Alex Matic, for the prosecution, said: 'It was noticed on CCTV that Miss Offe appeared to be acting in an unusual manner. 'Miss Offe had concealed items on her person and took them out of the CCTV area. 'She put them in a bag and Mr Mochia then left with them.' Mr Matic added: 'These are people who should be aware to the possibility of being corrupted and should be in a position to resist.' Inside the bag were phones, charges, USB sticks and sim cards. Offe was caught when the pair were spotted on CCTV meeting in a stairwell on January 20 Offe had initially denied the relationship between the pair but later pleaded guilty. Michael Smith, for the mitigation, said: 'She has lost her career and lost her good name.' Sentencing, Judge Anthony Leonard QC said: 'You began some sort of relationship with him, you knew you should resist and report any such contact.' Offe was imprisoned for a year. Finnish authorities have arrested a 21-year-old woman they believe was plotting a massacre at a school. Police said the unnamed woman had made 'extensive and careful planning' for the attack before her arrest last week. Detective Superintendent Jonna Turunen said the school had been informed but they would not identify it or the woman. Finland has suffered two school massacres in recent years. In 2008 ten people were killed in a shooting at this college in Kauhajoki Matti Juhani Sauri (pictured, wearing a t-shirt with a telling message), killed 10 people at his college in 2008 A Helsinki court remanded the 21-year-old in custody until November 1 on suspicion of planning a 'life-threatening crime' over 18 months. There is no suggestion the incident had anything to do with terrorism or with Islamist groups like ISIS. Finland saw its first school massacre in 2007, when Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed eight people at his high school before turning the gun on himself. An Iowa mother has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl and throwing several drugs-and-alcohol fueled parties for teens at her home this summer. Darcy Ann Duncan, 48, of Ankeny, was taken into custody Thursday and booked into the Polk County Jail on nearly two dozen criminal counts, including third-degree sexual abuse, distributing drugs to people younger than 18, supplying alcohol to people younger than 18 and neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. According to court filings, between June 1 and August 24, Duncan hosted several gatherings at her residence, where teenage guests were offered to buy marijuana and alcohol. Darcy Ann Duncan, 48, of Ankeny, Iowa, is accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl during a party at her home and selling teens drugs and alcohol The most serious charges against Duncan stem from an alleged incident involving a 14-year-old girl who accused the woman of sexual abuse. The criminal complaint, cited by the Des Moines Register, offers graphic details of the encounter, describing how Duncan allegedly had ordered two teens to hold down the 14-year-old on her bed, and she then used a vibrator to perform a sexual act over the girl's leggings. The girl was eventually able to escape to another room in Duncans house, it is claimed. Her story was later corroborated by one of the teens who had been instructed to restrain the 14-year-old, the court documents state. Laundry-list of charges: Duncan, who has a teenage daughter, is facing nearly two dozen criminal counts, including third-degree sexual abuse, distributing drugs to people younger than 18 and supplying alcohol to people younger than 18 According to one 14-year-old guest at Duncan's home, the woman sold her Bacardi rum and Coke for $15 and let her smoke marijuana from a glass bong for $11. Another 14-year-old told police she also smoked marijuana at Duncan's house, after which she fell ill and sought medical treatment at a hospital, where she tested positive for THC - a key chemical in marijuana. The criminal complaint lists at least a dozen underage victims, among them students at Centennial High School or Southview Middle School. When questioned by police, Duncan, who has a teenage daughter, admitted to possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, but denied offering them to teens, according to the court filings. The 48-year-old suspect has been barred from having contact with anyone younger than 18 years old. She is being held on $1.4million bail, and her next court appearance is scheduled for September 26. Duncan's criminal record includes a conviction on harassment and assault charges stemming from an October 2015 incident in which she showed up at a kids' party, where she clashed with a girl and threatened to break her jaw after she made fun of the woman's weight. Liam Fee was found beaten to death by his mother Rachel and her lesbian partner Nyomi in March 2014 The social worker in charge of murdered toddler Liam Fee's case has been struck off due to 'serious misconduct' that amounted to neglect of 15 children. A watchdog panel today sacked Lesley Bate, who had worked for the Fife Council team when Liam was found beaten to death with more than 30 injuries by his mother Rachel Fee and her partner Nyomi in March 2014. The watchdog heard how Bate, who was overseeing his case, had ignored reports that the boy was bruised on numerous occasions, before his case then 'dropped off the radar'. She was found guilty of 12 charges of misconduct relating to 15 children including Liam, who a judge said was subjected to a 'cruel and pitiless regime of ill-treatment and neglect,' when he jailed Rachel and Nyomi for life in July. The council also tried to cover up its mistakes and the committee branded staff, including Bates' boss Karen Pedder, 'defensive' and 'evasive' in giving evidence to the hearing. It said the council was 'less reliable than might reasonably have been expected' when failures were being investigated. Fife Council tonight said the findings of the sub-committee 'do not reflect our current practice or the high standard of professionalism we expect from staff'. During his Rachel and Nyomi Fee's trial, the court had heard how defenceless Liam died from 'car crash-style injuries' including a ruptured heart as a result of severe blunt force trauma to his body. The trial heard how the two killers, originally from Ryton, Tyne and Wear, carried out two years of sustained attacks on the toddler and two other boys as social services repeatedly failed to act. The pair's depraved abuse included imprisoning one boy in a cage made from a fire guard, using cable ties to bind his hands behind his back. They also tied another boy naked to a chair in a dark room with nine snakes and several rats, forcing him to eat his own vomit and telling him a boa constrictor 'ate naughty little boys'. They also forced the youngsters to take cold showers when they wet the bed. But Fife Council's Childrens Services missed a host of opportunities to intervene before Liam was eventually found dead, with an untreated broken leg. Rachel Fee or Trelfa (left), 31, who was jailed for 23-and-a-half years, and her partner Nyomi Fee, 28, who was jailed for life and ordered to spend a minimum of 24 years in prison In a lengthy judgement given on the seventh day of the hearing today, sub-commitee convenor Catherine Duthie said Bate left Liam Fee - referred to only as FF in SSSC documents - at 'actual or potential risk of harm'. Directly addressing the Fee case, the sub-committee found Bate had failed to follow up with Liam's health visitor after a referral on January 15 2013 because he had bruising to his face, or to record any such follow up. Liam's childminder Heather Farmer then reported concern that Liam had a sore neck, but Bate again failed to follow up on the concerns to consider if an 'Initial Referral Discussion' was required, or record any follow up. The sub-committee said Bate 'failed to take necessary steps to minimise actual or potential risk of harm, failed to maintain clear and accurate records and failed to meet relevant standards of practice.' The hearing earlier heard from a string of Bate's colleagues who described the child protection team as 'split' by internal friction, with staff 'more interested in childish games' than acting professionally. Today, the social services worker in charge of Liam's (pictured) case was struck off for misconduct that put him at risk In relation to Liam's case, the official who investigated Bate's conduct said she failed to follow up on the case or make notes relating to it on council computer systems despite two referrals being made in a matter of weeks. The hearing was told how Liam's mother, referred to as RT at the hearing, had fled an abusive relationship in Newcastle to settle with Nyomi Fee in Thornton, Fife. Miss Burke said the case had been allocated to Lesley Bate after he had been referred to the department by the childminder on January 15, 2013, with unexplained bruises. Liam presented as 'unsteady on his feet and with bruising on his back. He also had a black eye,' she said, which his mother explained had happened when he fell while playing. On another occasion, the childminder reported that FF had a 'massive bruise' on his forehead and bruising on both legs. The child's mother had said he had fallen out of his cot and she had found him asleep on the floor in the morning. The childminder had raised concerns about whether the child had been knocked unconscious, Miss Burke stated. At the time of her initial joint investigation with a police officer into the family's circumstances, Miss Bate had noted that during their home visit, they found the mum's account to be 'plausible' and recommended that a health visitor at school should be contacted. However there was to be no further role undertaken by the social work department, the note said. Miss Bate's manager, Karen Pedder - who gave evidence at the Fee murder trial that the tot had 'fallen off the radar of social work' - had instructed her to speak to the childminder again to gain some information and to discuss with her senior manager whether referral to the department was required. Police found a homemade cage (pictured) believed to have been used for the young boy at the house after his tragic murder There were also chains at the house, which police believe were used to tie up the toddler However, there was no note of any update on that, Miss Burke discovered. Committee convenor Catherine Duthie said that her misconduct 'could have been addressed more effectively' by the council. She said: 'That is not to say that more effective management intervention would have prevented all of your misconduct but it may have prevented the pattern of misconduct that developed. 'However, whilst systemic failures may have been a factor in the frequency and the duration of your misconduct it does not relieve you of your repsonsibilities as a social worker and does not excuse your misconduct.' She added: 'Your failures repeatedly placed very vulnerable service users at risk of harm, including physical and emotional harm. Lesley Bate ignored reports from his health visitor that Liam (pictured) had bruising to his face in 2013 'The sub-committee is in no doubt that your misconduct is of such a serious nature that it is likely to damage public confidence in social services. The damage may be considerable. 'The sub-committee is persuaded that this behaviour occurred with such frequency that it amounts to the neglect of service users. 'Whilst you may not have intended to harm service users your actions exposed them to unnecessary harm.' A spokeswoman for Fife Council said: 'We welcome the findings of the tribunal. 'While we cannot discuss the details of current or former employees, we would reassure that the practice highlighted in this case is historic in nature and was dealt with robustly at the time. 'The case was first reported by the Council, to the SSSC, over three years ago and this week's hearing is the conclusion of that referral. 'This case does not reflect our current practice or the high standard of professionalism which we expect and receive from our social work staff. 'Fife Council's Children's Services were subject to a joint inspection earlier this year by the Care Inspectorate, Education Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and HMI of Constabulary for Scotland, who evaluated services in Fife very positively. 'It remains extremely important that we continuously scrutinise the work that we do. 'Significant case reviews, such as that underway into the death of Liam Fee, contribute to this scrutiny and we look forward to promoting any learning from this review as widely as possible, to help improve practice across agencies.' Senator Elizabeth Warren savaged Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf's 'gutless leadership' on Capitol Hill Tuesday as he answered questions about the bank's bogus account scandal. Warren (D-MA) excoriated Stumpf for what she saw as a failure to take responsibility for the work atmosphere that led to employees creating more than 2million unauthorized accounts to meet sales targets. 'This is about accountability,' Warren said, adding that he should pay back money and resign - and, she added, 'you should be criminally investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.' Scroll down for video Savage: Elizabeth Warren savaged Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf Tuesday, saying he should take responsibility for his bank's recent scandal, resign and face a criminal investigation 'Gutless': Stump was criticized for 'gutless leadership' in the rant, which came after 3,500 Wells Fargo employees were fired for starting more than 2million bogus accounts The bank was fined $158million earlier this month after it emerged that employees had created 1.5million checking and savings accounts and 500,000 credit card accounts to meet high sales targets. Stumpf, who appeared with a bandage on his hand - a result of playing with grandkids, according to CNBC - said the bank had addressed the problem as it learned of the bogus accounts, firing 5,300 employees over a five-year period. It also made some incremental policy changes, such as reducing the link between sales goals and compensation, he said. He also admitted that the bank should have eliminated sales targets for retail bankers, a policy shift announced last week, sooner. And he promised that customers whose credit ratings had been damaged by bogus accounts would be compensated. 'I apologize to all of the American people and our customers, and I will make it right,' he said. But Warren wasn't impressed by what she saw as Stumpf throwing lower-level staff under the bus while he and other executives shirked blame. 'This just isn't right,' she said. 'A cashier who steals a handful of $20s is held accountable, but Wall Street executives almost never hold themselves accountable, not now and not in 2008 when they crushed the worldwide economy.' Problems: Stumpf (right), who had hurt his hand playing with grandkids, said the bank addressed the problems but admitted it hadn't gone far enough soon enough She blamed Stumpf and other executives for creating a system in which low-paid employees were incentivized to cheat, even if employees were never told by senior executives to do so. The senator also noted that Wells Fargo had touted its strong sales results as key to boosting its share price, helping to lift Stumpf's personal wealth by more than $200million, according to her estimates. Warren wasn't alone in her condemnation. After Stump apologized, members of the powerful Senate Banking Committee called on Stumpf to use Wells Fargo's own rules to 'claw back' compensation from top executives allegedly responsible for the scandal. Clawback: The panel said the company should claw back money from Stumpf and other execs, which it has the right to do. Stumpf said that was for an independent HR committee to decide The hearing focused on a former senior executive in community banking, Carrie Tolstedt, who left the bank recently with a reported $125million retirement package as regulators were probing the bogus accounts. 'To not invoke some kind of clawback for yourself and others is a malpractice just from the standpoint of public relations,' said Republican Senator Bob Corker. Stumpf declined to offer an opinion on whether he, Tolstedt or other top executives should be forced to pay back compensation. 'I'm not on the human resources committee,' Stumpf said. 'It's an independent committee. They will take under deliberation.' He said some members of senior executive management had suffered financial consequences and could face additional penalties. These include officials in charge of risk in the retail bank and regional presidents, he said. He had also attacked his wife with a cooking pot after she stood up to him A Syrian migrant threw his three young children out of a window in a rage after his wife insisted on being treated like a European woman, a trial has heard. The children survived the shocking incident at a house in Lohmar, near Cologne, earlier this year. The trial in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia heard the woman had made it clear she was not prepared to accept the traditional role of a subservient Arab wife and this had infuriated her husband. Police and ambulance crews outside the home in Lohmar after the incident in February The prosecutor said the 36-year-old man, identified only as Hassan Z, threw his three children out of the first-floor window of the house, a former Chinese restaurant which had been converted into refugee accommodation. His seven-year-old daughter and his son, who was five, suffered fractured skulls and other broken bones. His youngest daughter, who was only one, survived with only bruises. Hassan Z, pictured, knelt on the floor with his shirt over his head at one point as a protest on the first day of his trial The man has admitted throwing them but denies attempted murder. The couple clashed frequently because she insisted on being treated equally and on February 1 this year he allegedly hit her in the face with a cooking pot. It was not the first time he had attacked her, the court heard. The man left Syria in 2014 and travelled to France, via the Balkans route, before moving to Germany. His family travelled later to join him in Lohmar. On the first day of his trial Hassan Z knelt on the floor with his t-shirt pulled over his head as a protest at his plight. The trial continues. A New York University student was forced to perform oral sex by a man she thought was a cab driver just moments before he raped her, according to a report in the New York Daily News. The woman, a 21-year-old college student, told police the incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday. After spending an evening out, the woman was trying to hail a cab on 33rd Street in Manhattan. At around 1am, she was picked up by a van, though it is unclear if it was a licensed taxi. The woman says she was picked up by a driver in Midtown Manhattan at around 1am on Saturday. She doesn't know if it was a licensed taxi. The driver then drove her to a secluded area and raped her (stock image) The driver of the van took the woman to a secluded area and forced her to perform oral sex, she claims. Then, according to a police statement, he raped her. The woman was not able to remember key details of the incident, including where the rape took place and the exact area where she was picked up. She was also unable to provide a description of the rapist. After the incident, she was dropped off on a street in the East Village. That was when she called the police. Emergency services rushed her to Beth Israel Medical Center for treatment. Doctors noticed bruises on her face which she says resulted from the encounter with the rapist. A Texas ranger discovered the remains of a young girl while mowing his pasture. He found the decomposing remains Saturday on his property near Madisonville, about 85 miles northwest of Houston. The rancher also uncovered what authorities described as medical apparatus commonly used with a feeding tube. A Texas ranger found the decomposing remains of a girl aged 2 to 5 years old Saturday while mowing his pasture near Madisonville, Texas (pictured on a map) The death has been ruled a homicide. Preliminary autopsy results Monday indicate the victim was female, aged 2 to 5 years, with black hair more than a foot long. The child has not been identified. Deputies are searching national databases for missing children. The remains were found inside a container that was likely dumped several months ago, Madison County sheriff Travis Neeley said. He did not describe the container nor provide details about the medical apparatus found with the remains. WARNING: The video in this post is graphic and documents a violent death. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, police have released video that shows a white police officer shooting and killing an unarmed black man. In the video, Terence Crutcher can be seen raising his hands above his head. "The incident started as a response to a call of a stalled vehicle near 36th Street North on Friday evening," Tulsa police told KJRH TV in Tulsa. Tulsa's police chief confirmed today that Crutcher was not carrying a weapon on his person, nor were there any weapons in his SUV. Tulsa's police department has opened a criminal investigation which will be reviewed by the Tulsa County district attorney. Separately, the U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation. Tulsa World TV published the Tulsa police department's dashcam video just after authorities released the footage. (WARNING: This video contains graphic footage.) From the New York Times: During the encounter, which took place around 7:40 p.m. Friday, Terence Crutcher, 40, was shot once and killed by Betty Shelby, a Tulsa police officer since 2011, after the police received reports of an abandoned vehicle blocking a road, the department said. Video recorded by a police helicopter and a patrol car's dashboard camera shows Mr. Crutcher raising his hands, walking toward a car and leaning against it. He was then Tasered by one officer, Tyler Turnbough, and fatally shot by Officer Shelby, the department said, though the view from both cameras is obstructed in the moments before those actions. Tulsa's police chief, Chuck Jordan, said at a news conference Monday that Mr. Crutcher was unarmed and did not have a weapon in his vehicle. Shane Tuell, a police spokesman, said Officer Shelby gave a statement to homicide detectives on Monday morning. She is on paid administrative leave, the department said. Mr. Crutcher's surviving family told a local Tulsa TV news reporter they are a peaceful family who want justice. Tiffany Crutcher, the deceased man's sister, wants criminal charges filed against Betty Shelby, the Tulsa police officer who shot and killed her 40 year old brother Terence. Also advocating the UK take more The honeymoon may technically be over but George and Amal Clooney acted like newlyweds in New York on Tuesday. Attending a roundtable with CEOs and President Obama on refugees, the Clooneys held hands while seated by side, with George, 55, casting adoring looks at his stunning human rights lawyer wife, 38. The actor also thanked the President for commitments of $650-million in commitments for refugee assistance. Honeymoon not over! George Clooney and his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney held hands as they attended a CEO Roundtable on the sidelines of the United Nations on Tuesday The actor couldn't stop looking at his stunning wife - who has been advocating for a former Yazidi sex slave in her capacity as human rights lawyer Mrs Clooney beamed as her husband spoke, no doubt happy to have him by her side Mr Clooney has also been working for human rights, unveiling last week a report on the rampant corruption in South Sudan. Amal Clooney has called on the UK to take more refugees from Syria and is currently to mounting a legal case against ISIS on behalf of a Yazidi sex slave, Nadia Murad. She also said she would be 'delighted' to work on a prosecution of Syrian president Bashar Assad over crimes against humanity and war crimes. George was able to tear his eyes away from his gorgeous wife to turn to President Obama at one point - but kept holding tight Holding hands: The heat between the two is clear- nearly two years after they wed The pair let go of each other long enough for a round of applause at the CEO roundtable The pair wed in Venice on September 27, 2014. Here they are about to take their seat in the UN on Tuesday The actor appeared to be a fantastic mood as he took a seat by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Speaking to Channel 4 News alongside Nadia, Mrs Clooney said: 'I would hope that more could be taken in. 'There has been one Yazidi family that has been given asylum so far in the UK. 'You have had a million refugees accepted in Germany in the last year and 70,000 of those have been Yazidis. 'In every other country it's been literally a handful, so I'm hoping that can improve. 'That is something that my husband and I are doing in the US, for example, with the International Rescue Committees. If the Government disappoints then at least they should empower you to make a difference.' Reasons: 'This is my job,' said Clooney when asked why she took on the case against ISIS, who added that she discussed the risks with husband George Earlier the human rights lawyer covered up in a chic coat on her way into the UN Mrs Clooney's newest client Nadia was captured by ISIS when she was just 19 and became a sex slave. Clooney spoke on the Today show about how Nadia was at times raped by two men at a time until she 'fell unconscious.' Nadia said that ISIS members killed six of her eight brothers and her mother when they stormed her town in the northern Iraq two years ago during the Yazidi genocide. The high-profile lawyer and her husband have taken Nadia into the care of their own home. Mrs Clooney has been very busy. In addition to speaking at the UN and doing multiple television appearances to promote Nadia's cause, the pair also met with the French Foreign Minister on Monday, seen here The Clooneys have even taken Nadia into their home Brave women: Clooney said Nadia was taken captive as a sex slave at the age of 19 and at times raped by two men at once until she fell unconscious (Nadia and Clooney above) She said during an interview yesterday that the risks that come with taking on the brutal terrorist group are far outweighed by the urgency to combat their unconscionable treatment of people, specifically women. Today, she was critical of the UN's failure to take stronger action against ISIS: 'There's obviously situations that have called for action by the Security Council where there has been inaction and so you can't say that the UN is fulfilling the role that it's supposed to be playing. 'There is no reason why the council should be paralysed. Isis has actually confessed to its crimes online. That's why when I spoke at the UN it was not my intention to speak in terms of congratulations, thank you for calling it genocide. 'The point is, what is the UN going to do about it? And I do hope that with the leadership of the UK this can actually be pushed forward.' Retaliation: Clooney said that bombing the group was not enough and that the trial was needed because it is impossible to 'kill an idea' (above at the UN last week) Mrs Clooney is also seen to President Assad on trial - saying 'If there is a prosecution of President Assad I would be delighted to work on it' Mrs Clooney was also keen to take Syrian president Assad to task - and wants to be part of it. She added: 'If there is a prosecution of President Assad I would be delighted to work on it. I think the UN has concluded that the Syrian government has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. The last of the three police officers hospitalized after the shootout with terror suspect Ahmad Rahami was released on Tuesday. Late this morning, Officer Peter Hammer left University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey in a wheelchair to applause from his fellow officers. Hammer suffered a graze wound from a bullet, and was held at the hospital overnight for observation. Two other officers in the shooting were also hospitalized on Monday but were released the same day. Officer Angel Padilla was shot in the abdomen, but he was wearing a bullet proof vest at the time. Officer Mark Kahana was admitted for high blood pressure after the stressful shootout. 'We thank all the well-wishers who have called and emailed us praying for our officers. God Bless You All!' the Linden Police Department said in a statement. Scroll down for video Linden Police Officer Peter Hammer (pictured) left the hospital on Tuesday after suffering a minor wound in a shootout with terror suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami on Monday Meanwhile, terror suspect Rahami continues to recover in the hospital after undergoing surgery on Monday. The 28-year-old suspect has since been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two gun charges. His bail has been set at $5.2 million and he remains in hospital after he was shot in the leg. Meet the heroic cops who risked their lives to take down the Manhattan and New Jersey bomber. Left is Angel Padilla and right, Peter Hammer Mark Kahana was taken to University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, for high blood pressure after the shootout The shootout came after a bar owner in Linden spotted a man sleeping in a doorway and realized it was Rahami. As officers rushed in to apprehend him, he started shooting indiscriminately. Officials say Padilla, a 14-year veteran of the force, was shot in the mid section and had to be transported to Rahway Hospital. His brother Eddie Padilla, a lieutenant with the Perth Amboy Police Department, said his sibling was in a stable condition and was grateful he was wearing a bullet-proof vest. He told NJ.com: 'We do our job on a day to day basis, but you never think it's going to hit home. 'When it's your brother, the first thing that came to mind was, "Is he OK? Is he dead?" 'It's shocking. It's nerve-racking. But thankfully, he wore his vest. The vest saved his life.' Officer Hammer was then rushed to University Hospital in New Jersey after being hit in the eyes with shrapnel as he approached the scene to back up fellow officers. It is believed a bullet went through the window of the police cruiser he was in and either that bullet or a piece of glass grazed Hammer's head. He suffered 'significant bleeding'. Officer Kahana, who joined the force in 1997, was taken to the same hospital to be treated for high blood pressure. Ahmad Rahami (left, and in his arrest mugshot for attempted murder, right) has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two gun charges after he was captured in an FBI shootout following the terror attacks One patient at University Hospital told PIX11: 'I hope the officers will be OK. And the first responders who put themselves on the line for us all the time. 'We just got to be vigilant and we just got to keep living. They ain't going to do that over here and stop us especially not New York and New Jersey.' Earlier on Monday morning, police had released a picture of Rahami who was wanted for the Manhattan bombing which left 29 people injured on Saturday evening. He was also wanted in connection with a pipe bomb which blew up Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines, and a foiled bomb plot at the Elizabeth, New Jersey train station on Sunday. Witnesses told DailyMail.com that Rahami was found sleeping in the vestibule of a bar called Merdie's on Elizabeth Avenue. Bar owner Harry Bains asked Rahami to move because he didn't want him to get injured by some broken glass on the ground. He said he spoke to Rahami in Spanish, and Rahami answered in English. According to the New York Post after Bains tried to wake Rahami, he shouted: 'Go f*** yourself! Im sleeping.' Bar owner Harry Bains called the police after he saw the emergency alert and recognized the man sleeping in the hallway of his establishment as the suspected bomber He said he had been watching the news on his laptop when he looked up to see a man who looked almost identical to Rahami asleep in the vestibule across from him But when the two locked eyes, the bar owner recognized the man's face and ran across the street to another business he owns to call 911, neighbor Sandy Percoski said. Bains told CNN he had been watching the news on his laptop moments before speaking to the man. When police arrived, in under five minutes, and went to wake up the sleeping man, the action was immediate. Bains said: 'He reached to his left side and right away, he pulled out a gun and shot at him. It was fast. It happened in like 15 or 20 seconds.' The witness said that the suspect shot twice, smashing through the window, and hitting one of the cops. Rahami is pictured slumped over in Linden, New Jersey after his arrest on Monday Rahami was born in Afghanistan but spent most of his life in the U.S. and has since become an American citizen. A friend told reporters that he changed two years ago, after taking a trip to his native Afghanistan Rahami was taken into custody on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. He is seen above being taken from the scene on a stretcher The terrified bar owner, who says he was 'shaking a little' dived for cover but as he saw Rahami start to run away, he said: 'I opened the door and yelled at the cop. I said, "He's the guy you guys have been looking for, he's the guy."' Bains said he saw Rahami running down the street, dodging between cars and 'firing in the air.' Cops were able to catch up with Rahami, who sustained gunshot wounds and was taken to University Hospital for surgery after the shootout. His move prompted lockdown at the hospital. President Barack Obama said this afternoon that he spoke on the phone with the officers who apprehended Rahami. Above, the bar where Rahami was found Monday morning. The owner found the suspect sleeping in the vestibule, which is the weatherproofing anteroom seen covering the front door above 'They are going to be fine, they sustained some modest injuries but ones that they'll rapidly recover from,' Obama said. 'They were in good spirits and I communicated to them of how appreciative the American people are.' Bains dismissed the idea that his actions had been responsible for the capture of the bomber. 'I'm not a hero,' he told CNN. 'I'm just a regular citizen, doing what a citizen should do. 'When you see something, you should say something.' He revealed that aged six he himself was a refugee from Turkey's 1974 occupation of northern Cyprus, which led to ethnic Greeks fleeing Kittos told the BBC that he did not give his permission for use of the image and that he does not support Trump's politics UK-based David Kittos was the original photographer of the six-year-old Skittles image, which he posted onto photo-sharing site Flickr Donald Trump Jr tweeted asking if you would eat from a bowl of Skittles if 'three would kill you' - and comparing it to Syrian refugees The photographer behind the image of a bowl of Skittles used in Donald Trump Jr's tweet about Syrian refugees has expressed his disapproval of the post - and said that he had been a refugee himself. Six years ago David Kittos posted a photograph of a bowl of Skittles onto Flickr. That image has become the center of a media firestorm after the son of the Republican presidential candidate used it in a post about refugees. The image was captioned, 'If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. [sic] Would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem.' Kittos, who lives in the UK, told the BBC that Trump had not asked for his permission for the image. 'This was not done with my permission, I don't support his politics and I would never take his money to use it,' he told the BBC. Donald Trump Jr. has come under fire after comparing Syrian refugees fleeing violence to a bowl of poisoned Skittles David Kittos, the Skittles photographer, said he fled from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus in 1974 and so would never have approved use of the image by Donald Trump Jr The son of the Republican candidate sparked outrage with his post Kittos then revealed he had personal reasons for not supporting the tweet. 'In 1974, when I was six years old, I was a refugee from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus so I would never approve the use of this image against refugees.' 'We lived in the area of Cyprus that is now under Turkish military control. We had to leave everything behind overnight. Our property and our possessions.' Turkey invaded the northern part of the Mediterranean island in 1974 after a military coup deposed the then-president. It took over around a third of the nation in an attack which resulted in alleged atrocities on both sides and caused almost 200,000 people to flee. In 2014 Turkey was ordered to pay Cyprus 90 million euros for the invasion, in which an estimated 3,000 died and over a thousand more went missing. Kittos said he was not sure whether he would pursue the Trump campaign over copyright infringement. 'This isn't about the money for me. They could have just bought a cheap image from a micro stock library. This is pure greed from them. I don't think they care about my feelings. They should not be stealing an image full stop.' Trump Jr. originally posted the meme with the caption: 'This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016.' The tweet has sparked outrage for its comparison of refugees fleeing their war torn countries with poisoned Skittles. Some posted pictures of child refugees with the caption 'Not Skittles'. Others criticized the poor grammar and punctuation of the message, while some openly mocked the statement. Nick Merrill, a press secretary for Hillary Clinton, branded the remark 'disgusting' on Twitter.' Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence said he thought the attention was misplaced. 'It is remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by Don Jr. when Hillary Clinton is calling for a 550 percent increase in the Syrian refugee program,' Pence said in an interview with MSNBC. 'All the while our FBI and public safety officials tell us we can't know for sure who those people are coming into this country.' Trump Jr's tweet was posted while the first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York got underway at the United Nations Denise Young, VP of Corporate Affairs, Wrigley Americas which own Skittles released a statement. 'Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy. 'We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing.' The tweet, which falls in line with Trump Jr's father's stance on immigration, was posted while the first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York got underway at the United Nations. On Monday, world leaders adopted a 'New York Declaration' under which they committed to addressing the crisis which has seen a record 65 million people forced to flee their homes, with 4.9 million of those people coming from Syria. The controversy comes just days after Trump's eldest son entered a war of words about antisemitism by saying that journalists covering his father would be 'warming up the gas chamber' if Hillary Clinton were a Republican. Talking about the media's so-called bias towards the Democratic candidate, he said: 'T he media has built her up. They've let her slide on every indiscrepancy, on every lie, on every DNC game trying to get Bernie Sanders out of the thing.' The controversy comes just days after Trump's eldest son enterewar of words about antisemitism by saying that journalists covering his father would be 'warming up the gas chamber' if Hillary Clinton were a Republican. Gas chambers are used for executions in five U.S. states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, but only 11 criminals have met their fate that way since 1976. 'Trivialization of the Holocaust and gas chambers is NEVER okay,' the Jewish advocacy group proclaimed on Twitter. 'We hope you understand the sensitivity and hurt of making Holocaust jokes,' the group added in another tweet. 'We hope you retract.' But t he Trump campaign leaped to defend Don Jr., blaming reporters for stirring the pot. 'The liberal, dishonest media is so quick to attack one of the Trumps that they never let the truth get in the way of a good smear,' Trump senior communications adviser Jason Miller said in a statement. Britain is to send hundreds of troops to Somalia and plough almost 750million of foreign aid into immigration hotspots, Theresa May announced last night. In her first major foreign policy speech, the Prime Minister said the aim was to keep Britain safe from Islamist terrorists while reducing unprecedented levels of migration to Europe and the UK. The hundreds of millions of pounds of aid will be targeted on helping refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Somalia rather than risk them making the journey to Europe instead. Theresa May (pictured meeting Brexit critic Barack Obama at the UN in New York today) announced that Britain will send hundreds of troops into Somalia and plough 750million of foreign aid into immigration hotspots At the same time, she committed the UK to send hundreds of troops to Somalia to help in the fight against the resurgent Al-Shabaab terror group. Up to 30 military units, made up of between five and 15 soldiers each, will be deployed to what is one of the worlds most dangerous countries to train its security forces. No.10 said that, at any one time, there would be no more than 70 troops in a country notorious for the deaths of 18 US servicemen in the Black Hawk Down incident in 1993. A senior No.10 source said the aim of yesterdays announcements, and Mrs Mays foreign policy in general, was guided by how best to serve Britains interests. She is determined to use the 12billion annual aid budget to protect the country from terrorism and regain control of our borders. She also favours early intervention to deal with problems before they reach Britains shores, sources said. Mrs May told the UN General Assembly in New York: We must never forget that we stand here, at this United Nations, as servants of the men and women that we represent back at home. She added that it was vital that Britain helps to build the capacity of the Somalian security services against Al-Shabaab. The fanatical Islamist group has plotted a string of atrocities against UK targets, both at home and abroad, and was responsible for the attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Kenya which killed 67 people in 2013. Delivering her first major foreign policy speech at the UN in New York, Theresa May (pictured at the UN in New York tonight) launched a coded attack on the EU by saying international institutions must adapt to the 21st century to 'ensure they do not become irrelevant'. The so-called British white widow, Samantha Lewthwaite, is a key member of the group. Mrs May restated her commitment to Britain spending 2 per cent of its GDP on defence and, controversially, 0.7 per cent of GDP in overseas aid. Yesterdays latest pledges on humanitarian aid for refugees much of it targeted at Syria take the total which has been spent since the crisis first erupted to 1.5billion. Of the new money, around 660million will go into a general pot to fund humanitarian causes, mostly centred on Syria and neighbouring countries. Some 20million will go on allowing refugees who have fled Somalia to return from neighbouring Kenya, where 300,000 of them are currently living, create jobs and provide food and education. A further 80million of aid will be targeted at Ethiopia, much of which is intended to create jobs for refugees living in the country. Mrs May told the UN there was a need for robust action to restore faith in the global immigration system. She called on the organisation to be guided by three key principles when deciding on policy for immigration and refugees, starting with the idea that every nation has the right to control its borders. She also demanded that a distinction is drawn between genuine refugees fleeing persecution or war and economic migrants. The third rule is a declaration that refugees should remain in the first safe country they reach rather than making perilous journeys to Europe. The UK will be a 'confident, strong and dependable partner internationally' after Brexit, Theresa May (pictured alongside Barack Obama in New York today) told world leaders tonight Mrs May said: By ensuring a managed and controlled international migration response and at the same time investing to tackle the underlying drivers of displacement and migration at source we can reject isolationism and xenophobia, achieving better outcomes for all of our citizens and particularly for the most vulnerable. In her first speech to the UN as Prime Minister, she presented Britain as a 'confident, strong and dependable partner' on the world stage as she attempted to convince world leaders of the nation's post-Brexit significance. In a firm rebuttal to many of her international counterparts who told British voters not to leave the EU, she said Britain would be 'more global' after cutting ties with Brussels. She also launched a coded attack on the EU by saying international institutions must adapt to the 21st century to 'ensure they do not become irrelevant'. As she pledged the multi-million pot, she told world leaders - including Brexit critics Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - that despite Junes historic vote, Britain would actually play a larger part in global issues. But with her renewed promise over foreign aid, she risks generating a backlash from Tory backbenchers who are furious at the burgeoning budget fr overseas projects - as Britain's finances remain in deficit. Theresa May pledged Britain would be 'more global' after leaving the EU as she addressed the UN in New York tonight In her first major foreign policy speech Theresa May (pictured delivering her speech at the UN in New York tonight) sought to reassure her global counterparts that Junes historic Brexit vote was not a vote to turn inwards or walk away from any of our partners in the world but instead a desire among voters for greater control of their lives Her comments build on her defiant message yesterday when she told the EU's posturing leaders that they will have no choice but to agree a trade deal with Brexit Britain. The Prime Minister said it was firmly in the interests of the 27 remaining members of the Brussels club to conclude successful talks with the UK. She was immediately backed up by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, who said the EU has far and away the most to lose if no deal on trade is reached. He pointed out that we import much more from EU countries than we sell to them. Mrs May's comments on trade are a rebuttal to the EU chiefs and national leaders who have been sabre-rattling over the UK's chances of securing a post-Brexit deal. Explaining the motives behind the Brexit vote to world leaders at the UN tonight, Mrs May said: 'When the British people voted to leave the EU, they did not vote to turn inwards or walk away from any of our partners in the world. 'Faced with challenges like migration, a desire for greater control of their country and a mounting sense that globalisation is leaving working people behind. Theresa May announce that Britain will send hundreds of troops into Somalia and plough 750million of foreign aid into immigration hotspots as she gave her speech to the UN in New York today (pictured) Theresa May held a string of bilateral meetings with world leaders at the UN summit in New York, including Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe 'They demanded a politics that is more in touch with their concerns and bold action to address them. 'But that action must be more global, not less because the biggest threats to our prosperity and security do not recognise or respect international borders and if we only focus on what we do at home, the job is barely half done. 'So this is not the time to move away from our United Nations, it is the time to turn towards it. 'Only we, as members of this community of nations, can act to ensure this great institution becomes as relevant to our future as it has been in our past. Theresa May (second left) met Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi (third right alongside his aides) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York today Mrs May (pictured left making her speech to the UN tonight) will have her first meeting with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani (pictured in Cuba on Monday) the margins of the summit in New York Theresa May met a range of global leaders at the UN in New York today, including New Zealand prime minister John Keys, who warned British voters not to back Brexit during the referendum campaign Eritreans - having fled their homeland - often head for Europe, with significant numbers claiming asylum in the UK. Of the 124,000 refugees that crossed the Mediterranean to Italy between Jan 2016 and last week, 12 per cent were Eritrean - second only to Nigeria who made up 20 per cent of the numbers crossing. The Prime Minister said the world was experiencing unprecedented levels of immigration (pictured, a lorry in Calais) Mrs May told the UN there was a need for robust action to restore faith in the global immigration system. She called called on the organisation to be guided by three key principles when deciding on policy for immigration and refugees - starting with the idea that every nation has the 'right' to control its borders. She also demanded that a distinction is drawn between genuine refugees fleeing persecution or war and economic migrants. The third rule is a declaration that refugees should remain in the first safe country they reach - rather than making perilous journeys to Europe. Mrs May said: 'By ensuring a managed and controlled international migration response - and at the same time investing to tackle the underlying drivers of displacement and migration at source - we can reject isolationism and xenophobia, achieving better outcomes for all of our citizens and particularly for the most vulnerable.' The PM went on: 'We are seeing an unprecedented movement of people in search of greater economic opportunities through the same unmanaged channels. 'This affects all of us, and it is the responsibility of all of us all to take action. We cannot ignore this challenge, or allow it to continue unmanaged. We need to do better. Better for the countries people leave, for the countries they move through, for the countries they try to get to and most of all, better for the migrants and refugees themselves. 'We should be clear that there is nothing wrong with the desire to migrate for a better life. And also that controlled, legal, safe, economic migration brings benefits to our economies. 'But countries have to be able to exercise control over their borders. The failure to do so erodes public confidence, fuels international crime, damages economies and reduces the resources for those who genuinely need protection and whose rights under the Refugee Convention should always be fulfilled. 'We must all do more to support countries where the refugees first arrive - to provide the necessary protection and assistance for refugees safely and swiftly, and to help countries adapt to the huge economic impact that refugees can have including on their existing population. 'As we are seeing in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, when the right assistance is provided, solutions that provide sanctuary and opportunity to refugees, and opportunities for those hosting them, can be found. This is also good for the refugees and the countries they come from because the closer they stay to home, the easier it will be for them to return and rebuild after the conflict.' Theresa May (pictured delivering her speech at the UN in New York tonight) promised that Britain would be more global after Brexit. She urged a string of world leaders to do more to tackle the problem at its sources pledging tens of millions of pounds of British aid to those who agree to help. 'Just as the criminals cross borders, so we need a radical new approach that crosses borders sharing intelligence and joining up investigations,' Mrs May said. 'This is standard in the case of drugs trafficking and the trade in illegal firearms and there is no excuse for our law enforcement authorities failing to do this when it comes to modern slavery. 'We owe it to the innocent men, women and children tricked into a life of hard labour and abuse to rid our world of this evil. 'Just as it was Britain that took an historic stand to ban slavery two centuries ago, I am determined that the United Kingdom will once again lead the way in defeating modern slavery and preserving the freedoms and values that have defined our country for generations.' The Home Office estimates there were between 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims of modern slavery in the UK in 2013. Theresa May (pictured speaking at the UN in New York tonight) Tsaid Britain will remain a 'dependable' partner on the international stage after Brexit Mrs May revealed she has set up a Government task force to deal specifically with the problem. It will include Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Justice Secretary Liz Truss, Attorney General Jeremy Wright, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid and Aid Secretary Priti Patel. Also present will be the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, Charles Farr. Those who have agreed to help include Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, MI5 head Andrew Parker, MI6 boss Alex Younger and GCHQ director Robert Hannigan. Interpol and Europol are also signed up despite claims before the referendum that Brexit could end co-operation. Mrs May will announce that the Government is pouring 33million from the foreign aid budget into high-risk countries, from where victims are smuggled into the UK. In her maiden speech to the UN today, the Prime Minister will insist Britain will not turn its back on the world post-Brexit. She will also say the UN has a vital role in tackling the 'greatest threats', such as global terrorism. Mrs May will add: 'We need not just to work together to prevent conflict and instability but act globally to disrupt the networks terrorist groups use to finance their operations and recruit to their ranks.' Theresa May (pictured at the UN in New York tonight) urged the UN to forge closer ties to tackle global challenges such as the migration crisis and international terrorism that does not recognise or respect international borders Theresa May meets with foreign dignitaries at the UN in New York today - her first trip as PM Mrs May will have her first meeting with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in the margins of the summit in New York. UK officials said the talks would focus on Britain's relationship with Tehran and progress on the nuclear agreement. The Prime Minister is expected to raise consular issues during the talks, which comes just days after it was reported that British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been jailed for five years after being accused of trying to topple the ruling regime. The meeting will come after Mrs May has delivered her first speech to the UN general assembly, where she will insist that the Brexit vote does not mean that the UK is turning its back on the world. In her historic first UN address Mrs May said the UK will ratify the Paris climate change agreement by the end of the year as she gave her first address to the United Nations. She used the appearance at the UN general assembly to stress the need for international action to tackle crises including war and mass migration. The Prime Minister told the gathering in New York that the UK would be a 'dependable partner' on the world stage. She said: 'Some of the threats that we face together today are familiar to those founding leaders: war, political instability, abuses of human rights and poverty. ' 'Others are new: global terrorism, climate change, and unprecedented mass movements of people. 'We gather here today because we know that such challenges do not respect the borders of our individual nations and that only by working together shall we overcome them.' The Catholic Church has denied rumours that it acquitted an HIV-infected priest who admitted to raping close to 30 young girls between the ages of five and 10 years old, calling the claims 'irresponsible and malicious'. A bombshell report was published by the Spanish-language news site Urgente24.com claiming that the priest, Jose Garcia Ataulfo, was absolved of any wrongdoing by the Archdiocese of Mexico. Ataulfo was alleged to have admitted sexually assaulting indigenous young girls from Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico known for its large indigenous population. However, this has been firmly denied by the Archdiocese of Mexico, who told the Catholic News Agency that they could find no records of any priest matching his description. Ataulfo was alleged to have admitted sexually assaulting indigenous young girls from Oaxaca The report, picked up from the website of Anonymous Mexico, said that Ataulfo had faced no criminal charges, claiming this was most likely due to the significant influence that the Catholic Church wields in Mexico, particularly in areas populated by indigenous ethnic groups. A spokesman for the Archdiocese stated that the the priest 'does not belong to the Archdiocese of Mexico as Anonymous Mexico asserts much less has he been let off'. The Archbishop of Antequera, Oaxaca, Jose Luis Chavez Botello, told CNA: 'I don't know him, he's not from the archdiocese.' Since publishing the claims, Anonymous Mexico did not follow up on the subject, and their website has since been taken offline. Archdiocese of Mexico states that there are no records matching the description of the priest to be behind two bombings and one attempted bombing in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend Rahami was arrested Monday in a shootout with police in New Jersey When Rahami was trying to move his wife to the U.S. in 2014, he petitioned a local senator to help her with a visa since she was pregnant Rahami has since remarried a Pakistani woman who he is believed to have at least one child with Mena, 26, previously had to sue Rahami for nearly $1,000 in child support The two had a daughter while still in high school and later broke up Maria Mena filed for full custody of her nine-year-old daughter on Tuesday The ex-girlfriend of chicken shop terrorist Ahmad Khan Rahami filed for full custody of their nine-year-old daughter on Tuesday. In court papers obtained by DailyMail.com, Maria Mena petitions the court to be the sole guardian of their daughter due to the ongoing criminal case. 'Requesting full custody, defendant has been charged with police attempted murder, and is currently under protective services after possible terrorist related activity in NYC,' Mena writes in the latest court documents. Scroll down for video Maria Mena, the ex-girlfriend of suspected terrorist Ahmad Rahami, filed for full custody of their nine-year-old daugher on Tuesday. Above, a police officer stands guard outside Mena's home in New Jersey on Tuesday It's unclear how active 28-year-old Rahami had been in his daughter's life. Mena claimed in previous interviews that she hadn't seen him in two years, after seeing him become more anti-American. Rahami (pictured in his year book in 2007) met Mena at Edison High School. The couple had a child while still in school Mena and Rahami dated while attending Edison High School, and classmates said she was pregnant at prom. Their young love was apparently not well received by Rahami's father, who organized for him to visit Afghanistan right before their daughter was born. While he was critical of American culture compared to the strict Islamic rules of his homeland, Maria never believed he'd never go as far as to hurt innocent people. 'He seemed standoffish to American culture, but I never thought he would cross the line,' she said. 'I never thought he would do something like this,' she said through tears. 'I think he was brainwashed.' They broke up sometime after the child was born, and after Rahami returned from Afghanistan he stopped paying for child support as he took longer and longer trips back to the Middle East. At one point, Mena had to sue him for nearly $1,000 in child support. The last trip that Maria, 26, was aware of, Rahami brought back a wife and child. Rahami was arrested on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey Rahami (pictured on Monday) is suspected in two bombings and an attempted bombing over the weekend in New York City and New Jersey The Rahami family business is searched on Monday in Elizabeth, New Jersey While they were together, she says he would often compared American culture to life in Afghanistan, saying how 'there weren't homosexuals in Afghanistan.' He was also heavily critical of the military, once pointing out a military character as 'the bad person' to his young daughter. Maria wouldn't reveal why she and Rahami broke up but did say that she did not want him anywhere near their daughter. 'I didn't want him to see my daughter,' she said. 'If he loved her, he would have paid child support. My greatest fear is that he would try to take my daughter.' The teenage foster brother of Tiahleigh Palmer who allegedly sexually assaulted the Queensland schoolgirl before she was found dead was a break dancer and car enthusiast. Trent Thorburn, 19, is accused of having an illegal sexual relationship with the 12-year-old during the 10 months she had been in the family's care last year. Police charged Trent on Tuesday with incest, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice over Tiahleigh's death - 11 months after her body was found dumped beside a Brisbane river. Scroll down for video Trent Thorburn, 19, allegedly sexually assaulted his foster sister Tiahleigh Palmer during the 10 months she had been in his Queensland family's care last year Tiahleigh Palmer's body was found dumped by a Brisbane river a week after she was last seen alive on October 30 last year when she was dropped off at school Trent's father, Rick Thorburn, was charged with Tiahleigh's murder a week after homicide detectives seized a car he owned at the time of the 12-year-old's death. The 56-year-old was one of the pallbearers at her funeral. Police will allege Thorburn murdered his foster daughter after finding out Trent was allegedly sexually abusing her, the Courier Mail reports. They allege he feared his son could be convicted under the Queensland Criminal Code, which states a sexual relationship between siblings - including foster, step or de facto circumstances - is considered incest, which can attract a life sentence. Trent describes himself on social media as a dancer, metal fabrication apprentice and classic car builder. His social media is flooded with photos of selfies, car parts and him dancing. Police charged Trent on Tuesday with incest, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice over Tiahleigh's death Tiahleigh's (pictured) naked body was found decomposing along the banks of a river last year Thorburn's wife Julene, 54, and another son, Josh, 20, have been charged with perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Tiahleigh was last seen alive on October 30 last year when she was dropped off at Marsden State High School, south of Brisbane, by her foster father. A missing person alert was only issued six days later, hours before an unidentified body was found by three fishermen on the banks of the Pimpama River. Decomposition and damage caused to Tiahleigh's body from being in water hindered what Detective Inspector Damien Hansen described as one of the most difficult cases he had ever worked on. Trent Thorburn describes himself on social media as a dancer, metal fabrication apprentice and classic car builder Trent Thorburn, a metal fabrication apprentice and classic car builder, was charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury Rick Thorburn (left), his wife Julene (middle right) and two sons, Josh (middle) and Trent (right) have been charged with a string of offences in relation to the death of Tiahleigh Palmer Police knew Tiahleigh was planning to meet someone on the morning she disappeared but the breakthrough in the case happened last week when they seized a blue Ford sedan for forensic examination. The revelation that the car was previously owned by Tiahleigh's foster father came after her biological mother Cindy Palmer posted about it on Facebook. Police admitted the post forced them to move quicker than they wanted to but were pleased with the way the investigation had gone. Ms Palmer has not spoken publicly since the foster father's arrest but police say it has been a very traumatic time for her. Rick Thorburn (second left) was selected to be a pallbearer at the young girl's memorial service and wept as he carried her body from the funeral home Rick Thorburn (pictured), a former interstate truck driver, collapsed when he was charged with murder and interfering with a corpse on Tuesday afternoon Trent's older brother Joshua (pictured) has been charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury, along with his mother Julene Julene Thorburn (pictured) was not initially charged when she was arrested alongside her husband and two sons but was charged later that night with perjury and perverting justice She last saw Tiahleigh a week before her disappearance and previously said there was nothing unusual about her behaviour. 'She was good, she was her normal self, fighting with her brother, giving him a hard time,' she said in March. Ms Palmer described her daughter as a loveable, caring girl who had aspirations to become a dancer. 'She didn't deserve what happened to her.' Thousands of Britons including many pensioners have lost millions of pounds in a secret fraud known as binary options investments. British police receive an average of two such fraud reports a day and victims have lost up to 200,000. Insiders at one call centre behind the scam revealed staff were ordered to rape clients of their cash. MY WEDDING FUND WAS RAIDED AFTER TRADER'S CALL Stephen Taylor, with partner Kim Lorry driver Stephen Taylor, pictured with partner Kim, lost cash saved for their wedding. Binary options sounded like a good idea. It wasnt, he said. Mr Taylor, 59, had received a cold call from an Inside Option trader. His first investment was 200 followed by 800. He then got a call from AA Option, a subsidiary of a company registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Mr Taylor, from the Scottish Highlands, said: I gave him my debit card details but told him I only wanted a very small amount taken out. Then his banks fraud detection team told him his account had been emptied of 2,400. The Bank of Scotland eventually returned the cash. Mr Taylor decided to withdraw the 1,000 placed with Inside Option. Initially, it refused but after months of emailing, Inside Option paid back the sum. AA Option and Inside Option did not respond to requests for a comment. Advertisement And some brokers involved have swapped tales of people committing suicide after realising they have been duped. Companies lure victims by scam emails, with high-pressure salesmen persuading responders to invest small sums such as 250. A second team then lean on these investors to put in thousands more. Meanwhile further thousands are charged to their credit cards without authorisation. The schemes are regulated or banned in the US, Israel and Belgium, and other nations are looking at following suit. But the British government has, so far, refused to take action. Binary option investments involve betting on whether financial assets, such as shares, currencies or commodities, will rise or fall over a time period. Schemes are presented as regulated investments, a better option than leaving cash in a savings account or pension. Pensioners are not the only targets, with a rising number of young adults duped by bogus get-rich-quick promises. Investors who try to access winnings hit a brick wall. The scandal has been revealed in a joint investigation by the Daily Mail and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The Bureau received leaked files detailing hundreds of UK victims and how much they lost. One investor had put in 200,000 and many lost tens of thousands. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureaus head of crime, Det Chief Insp Andy Fyfe, said the sale of binary options by some off-shore operators is now the biggest fraud in the UK. An average investor lost 16,000, but this was just the tip of the iceberg. He warned: People have been persuaded to cash in some of their pensions and invest in rubbish. The vast majority of the non-UK based binary firms are operating from Israel. Many are also registered in Cyprus Once registered in a EU country they are, in theory, allowed to target Britons and others. A legal loophole means there is no effective regulation. City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority wants to regulate the sector, but the Treasury and Government have failed to act. An FCA spokesman warned: Most consumers describe having lost substantial sums of money. The binary options firms promise excellent returns to customers by betting on stocks 'While this might be expected given the high-risk, win-or-lose nature of the activity, we are particularly concerned about the experiences many consumers report to us when trying to deal with unauthorised or unlicensed binary options firms. We regularly hear about such firms suddenly closing consumers trading accounts, refusing to pay back their funds and ceasing any further contact. In theory, binary option investments are policed by the Gambling Commission, but it only covers firms registered in the UK. One binary options firm called Inside Option left a UK family unable to access their 80,000 investment said to have grown to 500,000. On its website, Inside Option states it is owned by The Masters Association, a firm based in St Vincent and the Grenadines. In fact, the company operates from a call centre in Israel. InsideOption.coms domain is registered to Emir Yedibaslar, a Turkish businessman who has used Facebook to recruit traders for firms including Inside Option. He denied any connection with it. He said he is involved in many businesses, including registering and selling domain names, one of which was Inside Option. But he added: I have not worked there never in my life. Inside Option did not respond to requests for a comment. Californian's don't love Hillary Clinton, and many of them don't like her, but come November, they say they'll be supporting her over Donald Trump. A survey of the state's voters conducted by the University of California, Berkeley that came out Tuesday had Clinton with a 53 percent disapproval rating in the ultra-liberal state when Green Party candidate Jill Stein polls ahead of Libertarian Gary Johnson. Half of all California voters say they're planning to cast a ballot for Clinton in November, however. A third said they're backing Donald Trump. Californian's don't love Hillary Clinton, and many of them don't like her, but come November, they say they'll be supporting her over Donald Trump A survey of the state's voters conducted by the University of California, Berkeley that came out Tuesday had Clinton with a 53 percent disapproval rating in the ultra-liberal state Clinton's share of the vote in California has remained steady since July. She's at 50 percent in the state with the most electoral votes, 55, to distribute on Election Day. Trump has increased his standing there by eight points from 26 percent to 33 percent as undecideds have swung his way. Clinton still leads him by 17 even with those gains. Stein now has six percent of the vote in California. She wasn't included in UC-Berkeley poll taken in July, so it's unclear how her support might have changed in the past two months. Johnson's seen his cut in half, though, from 10 percent down to five percent. Just six percent of voters said in the online poll, conducted through YouGov, that they were still deciding which White House candidate to vote for. Clinton is on track to win the state even though voters are displeased with her. Four in 10 residents of the state said they have a very unfavorable view of the Democratic presidential candidate. Combined with the 12 percent who said they have a somewhat negative view of her, she nets a 53 percent dissatisfaction score. In July it was the other way around - 53 percent of Californians said they were happy with her. Now, 27 percent say they are very happy with and 20 percent say they are satisfied, with 47 percent saying they view her positively. Her saving grace is that residents of The Golden State dislike Trump more. Her saving grace is that residents of The Golden State dislike Trump more. A full 69 percent of voters there said he leaves a bad taste in their mouth A full 69 percent of voters there said he leaves a bad taste in their mouth, with 56 percent saying they really do not like him and 13 percent say he's only slightly irritating. He's improved his image since July, however. Then, 73 percent had bad things to say about him and 24 percent were laudatory. The September poll had him winning over seven percent more voters. Altogether 31 percent said he'd made a good impression on them, with 14 percent saying they're big fans of his and 17 percent giving him a good score. Much has been made of Clinton's battle to win back the young people who voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but UC-Berkeley's survey shows good news for Clinton on that front. The 18-29 demographic is Clinton's strongest in the state. Trump is winning 16 percent of students and recent college grads, and Stein and Johnson have nine and six percent of the vote, respectively. Clinton's at 62 percent. One man insisted he was doing the right thing by posting a 'Muslims Get Out' sign outside his restaurant in response to a knife attack at a Minnesota mall on Saturday. Dan Ruedinger claimed everyone was welcome at Treats Family Restaurant in Lonsdale, where business is booming after he put up the sign to 'stand up' against the violence 100 miles away in St Cloud on Saturday, CBS reported. Dahir Adan, 22, was branded a 'soldier of the Islamic State' by the terror group following a knife attack at Crossroads Center that injured 10 before he was shot dead by an off-duty cop. Dan Ruedinger insisted he was doing the right thing by posting a 'Muslims Get Out' sign outside his restaurant in Lonsdale, Minnesota, in response to a knife attack in St Cloud A knife attack at Crossroads Center injured 10 before knifeman Dahir Adan, who was identified by his own father, was shot dead by an off-duty cop 'It's time that people started standing up, not worrying about the PC crowd and do what is right,' Ruedinger told CBS. 'And I feel what we're doing is right.' Despite using the three words 'Muslims Get Out', Ruedinger said: 'We are not targeting the Muslims in general, just the extremists.' He also said he would welcome any and all patrons 'no matter their ethnicity or race' as long as 'they come in here and be nice', the Star Tribune reported. Adan (pictured) was branded a 'soldier of the Islamic State' by the terror group on Sunday While Ruedinger claims he has had to hire three more employees to keep up with the spike in business after putting up the sign, he's also had to face protesters and vandals. Protesters stood outside the restaurant and held up signs like 'Love trumps hate' and 'Racism will not solve any problem', while one person broke a window by throwing soda bottles at the restaurant. A 'hate note' was also left at the scene and police chief Jason Shmitz said an investigation is ongoing. According to St Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson, the assailant in Saturday's attack reportedly made references to Allah and asked at least one person whether they were Muslim. Isis released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack and the FBI is investigating it as a 'potential act of terrorism'. While initial reports stated nine people were injured, police reviewed surveillance footage that showed a 10th victim who did not initially seek out medical attention or notify police due to the nature of his injuries. After knifeman Dahir Adan's identity was revealed by his own father, the Somali community condemned his actions and braced for backlash. In St Cloud, eyewitnesses reported on Sunday evening that a handful of pickup trucks, some flying American and Confederate flags, buzzed by apartment complexes where many Somali-Americans live. Community advocates like Lul Hersi were getting texts Sunday night from frightened residents. 'One person does something, and the whole community pays for that one person's actions,' she said. The perpetrators were employing 'racial slurs, various hand gestures,' said community activist Justin Michael, who was working with the St. Cloud Police Department to help prevent further incidents. 'It's time that people started standing up, not worrying about the PC crowd and do what is right,' Ruedinger (pictured) told CBS After knifeman Dahir Adan's identity was revealed by his own father, the Somali community condemned his actions and braced for backlash (pictured, Crossroads Center after the attack) St. Cloud's Somali population has its roots in the 1990s and has grown rapidly in the last 10 years. The state of Minnesota is home to a third of the more than 85,000 Somalian refugees resettled in the country, according to the US Census. Twenty percent of students in St. Cloud's school district are from a home where the primary language is Somali, according to the St. Cloud Times. Ismail Ali, a student at St. Cloud State University where Adan attended college, said the city was at a crossroads. The amazing internal anatomy of the clitoris is a mystery that has surfaced and vanished in history, coming into focus in 2005 (!), when Royal Melbourne Hospital urologist Helen O'Connell published her groundbreaking MRI studies. Now, a French sociomedical researcher named Odile Fillod has sculpted a detailed anatomical model of the clitoris and all its structures, which is available to be 3D printed and used as a classroom aid in French classrooms. An anti-sexist web TV production company called V.Ideaux has worked with Fillod on the project, which was realised on the machines in Paris's Fab Lab. Fillod's 3D clit has come in the nick of time. This June, Haut Conseil a l'Egalite, a government body monitoring gender equality in public life, published a damning report on the state of sex ed in France. The report revealed that sex education is rife with sexism. Current official guidelines state that young boys are more "focused on genital sexuality", while girls "attach more importance to love". Clitoris activism is hot in France right now. The feminist group Osez Le Feminisme has been vocal in combatting the silence around it since 2011. While in Nice, a group of sex-positive feminists, Les Infemmes, has created a "sensual counter culture" fanzine called L'Antiseche du Clito or The Idiot's Guide to the Clit. There are funny drawings of "Punk Clit," "Dracula Clit" and "Freud Clit", as well as facts about the organ. How a 3D clitoris will help teach French schoolchildren about sex [Stephanie Theobald/The Guardian] Thorburn pictured in November as the grieving pallbearer at the funeral Police allege he killed the girl to protect his son Trent, charged with incest Her foster father Rick Thorburn has been charged with the girl's murder Almost a year after he was pictured as the grieving pallbearer at her funeral in front of hundreds of mourners, Rick Thorburn was charged with Tiahleigh Palmer's murder. Thorburn, 56, allegedly took the 12-year-old's life after finding out his son Trent, 19, had been sexually assaulting her during the ten months she had been in the foster family's care and was charged with with murder and interfering with a corpse on Tuesday. Tiahleigh's badly decomposed body was discovered in the Pimpama River in south-east Queensland on November 5, a week after she vanished from Marsden State High School. Thorburn donned a shirt in Tiahleigh's favourite colour purple and joined the 600 mourners, including the child's distraught parents, at the Te Rau Oriwa Brisbane Anglican Maori Mission on November 14 as police desperately searched for her killer. Scroll for video Rick Thorburn (pictured, left) was the pallbearer at Tiahleigh Palmer's funeral, a year before he was charged with her murder Rick Thorburn (pictured), a former interstate truck driver, collapsed when he was charged with murder and interfering with a corpse on Tuesday afternoon The schoolgirl was farewelled with a procession of Maori hakas and a performance by her dance troop from the Fitness and Dance Logan West. Thorburn was one of six pallbearers in purple t-shirts, emblazoned with 'RIP Tiahleigh'. The former long-haul truck driver turned food truck owner was charged with murder and interfering with a corpse at Beenleigh Watch House on Tuesday following a highly publicised 11-month-long investigation into the schoolgirl's death. After he was charged, Thorburn collapsed and was rushed in hospital where he was in stable condition ahead of an expected court appearance on Wednesday morning. Thorburn is believed to have feared his son could be convicted under the Queensland Criminal Code, which states a sexual relationship between siblings - including foster, step or de facto circumstances - is considered incest, which can attract a life sentence, the Courier Mail reported. Trent Thorburn, a metal fabrication apprentice and classic car builder, was charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury. His older brother Joshua, 20, has been charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury, along with his mother Julene, who is believed to be providing evidence to police about her husband's involvement in the case. Thorburn was one of six pallbearers in purple t-shirts, emblazoned with 'RIP Tiahleigh' Rick Thorburn (left), his wife Julene (middle right) and two sons, Josh (middle left) and Trent (right) have been charged with a string of offences in relation to the death of Tiahleigh Palmer Tiahleigh's (pictured) naked body was found decomposing along the banks of the Pimpana River 40 minutes from where Thorburn was allegedly last seen dropping her at school Trent Thorburn, a metal fabrication apprentice and classic car builder, was charged with incest, attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of perjury His older brother Joshua (pictured) has been charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury, along with his mother Julene Julene Thorburn (left), the foster mother of murdered schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, is providing evidence to police on her husband (right) Rick's alleged involvement in the 12-year-old's death Julene Thorburn (pictured) was not initially charged when she was arrested alongside her husband and two sons but was charged later that night with perjury and perverting justice Ms Thorburn is providing evidence to police about the investigation into the death of her foster daughter, Tiahleigh Palmer (pictured left and right) According to the Courier Mail, the perjury charges relate to the family providing false testimony to the Crime and Corruption Commission during a secret hearing relating to Tiahleigh's death earlier this year. Detective Inspector Damien Hansen said Ms Thorburn and her two children were expected to be 'key witnesses' in the murder trial and confirmed she was 'co-operating' with police as they continued their investigation. 'She hasn't been charged with anything, she is co-operating with us at this stage,' he said after the family were remanded in custody at the Beenleigh Watch House, south of Brisbane. He would not confirm if Ms Thorburn was seeking the $250,000 reward or immunity from prosecution in exchange for information leading to the prosecution of Tialeigh's killer, but did not exclude it from possibility. 'We will work that out,' Inspector Hansen said. Mr Thorburn was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition after losing consciousness at the Beenleigh Watch House once charges were laid against him on Tuesday afternoon. He was denied bail and has reportedly not disclosed anything to detectives investigating the alleged murder, which rocked the Logan community and resulted in a review that lead to a change in reforms for children who go missing from out-of-home care. Mr Thorburn was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition after losing consciousness at the Beenleigh Watch House once charges were laid against him on Tuesday afternoon He was denied bail and has reportedly not disclosed anything to detectives investigating the alleged murder Tiahleigh's murder rocked mourners from the Logan community and resulted in a review that lead to a change in reforms for children who go missing from out-of-home care Mourners laid flowers outside Marsden State School (pictured) where Tiahleigh was last seen Inspector Hansen said Mr Thornburn did have a blue card, a requirement under Queensland law if you want to provide foster care or work with children, when Tiahleigh was sent to them but could not confirm if it was still valid. It has also not been confirmed how many children have been under Mr Thorburn's supervision during his time as a registered foster carer. The dramatic arrest comes 11 months after Tiahleigh's naked and decomposing body was found by fishermen dumped by the banks of the Pimpana River, 40 minutes from where she was last seen with Mr Thorburn at Marsden State School. She was gone for six days before she was registered missing by police and an alert was issued about her disappearance. The dramatic arrest comes 11 months after Tiahleigh's naked and decomposing body was found by fishermen dumped the banks of the Pimpana River (pictured) She was gone for six days before she was registered as missing by police and an alert was issued about her disappearance Tiahleigh' mother Cyndi Palmer spearheaded an online campaign to bring her daughter's killers to justice, but has asked for privacy since Tiahleigh's foster family were taken into custody The schoolgirl's biological mother Cyndi Palmer spearheaded an online campaign to bring her daughter's killers to justice, but has asked for privacy since Tiahleigh's foster family were taken into custody. 'This has been very traumatic for her, she has been asked to be left alone, it has affected her greatly and affected the family,' Inspector Hanson said. She was pictured sobbing at her daughter's funeral, where mourners donned purple and released hundreds of balloons at the end of the service. Mr Thorburn was selected to be a pallbearer at the young girl's memorial and wept as he carried her body from the funeral home. 'He cried big crocodile tears, bordered on hysterics and entrenched himself in the grief, her friends and events,' a source close to the family told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Thorburn (second left) was selected to be a pallbearer at the young girl's memorial service and wept as he carried her body from the funeral home Mr Thorburn was denied bail and has reportedly not disclosed anything to detectives investigating the alleged murder Search crews are pictured scouring bushland during the investigation last year Last week, a blue Ford XR6 sedan was taken by Queensland Police for forensic examination Police followed up with more than 3,500 separate lines of enquiry during the investigation, which resulted in detectives seizing Mr Thorburn's car last week. The blue 2009 Ford XR6 sedan was forensically examined, with police revealing it was the foster carer's vehicle ahead of his arrest on Tuesday. Mr Thorburn and his son Trent will appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Ms Thorburn and her eldest son Joshua are expected to appear in the same court house on October 10. Parents of an aspiring Apex gang member are chaining their 16-year-old son to his bed to prevent him from sneaking out at night to go on crime sprees. The Melbourne mum told the Herald Sun she and her husband were using a chain designed for securing a motorbike to lock up their son. The unnamed mother said her son was a 'smart boy doing silly things' and she felt sick when she heard his rap sheet. Parents of an aspiring Apex gang member are chaining their 16-year-old son to his bed with a motorbike chain (pictured is a stock image) 'He keeps saying, "I'm a G, I don't get caught". It's some gangster bulls*** slang. Prior to this, he was always a caring sort of kid,' she said. The 16-year-old boy is back in custody after he admitted to being part of a police chase while he was allegedly high. Before that the teenager had been granted bail and his parents felt they had no other choice but to lock him up. 'Then we could sleep at night, instead of not knowing if he's going out or not,' the mother told the Herald Sun. One end of the chain is wrapped around the teenager's bed frame and the other is put around his leg. The lock up is to prevent him from sneaking out at night to go on crime sprees. He previously did not have a criminal history until the Moomba riots in March (pictured) The teenager has been accused of taking part in violent burglaries and carjackings with Apex gang members (pictured are two members back in July) The mother said she believed her son knew they were at the end of their tether and this was how it had to be. The teenager did not have a criminal history before the Moomba riots in March, but since then he had been behind bars twice for his part in violent burglaries and car thefts. Most recently the Apex gang were linked to a hammer attack on a young pregnant woman, and a youth detention riot where terrified staff were forced to barricade themselves in an office to escape armed children. A founding member of the notorious gang revealed the rules to committing a carjacking. Taking cars just for the thrill of it and burning them is a waste and is considered wrong, John*, 21, told Daily Mail Australia in an exclusive interview in July. A founding member of the notorious gang revealed the rules to committing a carjacking Most recently the Apex gang were linked to a hammer attack on a young pregnant woman. Pictured are two members in July 'The people that do it right take the cars - for the thrill - but then they make money by chopping it up and selling it.' The gang has grown its membership to between 400 to 500 members since it started in 2013 in Hamilton Park in Melbourne's south-east and have honed their technique when picking out victims. Members of the gang select their victims by carefully watching the behaviour of people in wealthy suburbs, keeping an eye out for anyone who is flashing large amounts of cash or throwing out expensive items like computers on the city's junk pick up days. They target areas away from Dandenong and south-east Melbourne, John said. 'You see some people with bundles of cash and just say "f*** it - go for it and they give you stuff,' he said. The former girlfriend of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch was charged Tuesday with stealing from a military charity she led. Patricia Driscoll faces seven federal charges after for stealing from the Armed Forces Foundation, whose mission is to support service members, veterans and their families. Court documents don't say how much prosecutors believe she took from the DC-based organization, but a 2014 tax form for the nonprofit says that the 'foundation has become aware of suspected misappropriations' by Driscoll totaling more than $599,000 for the years 2006 to 2014. It says the 38-year-old misused money for meals, travel, parking tickets, makeup and personal gifts. The former girlfriend of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch (right) was charged Tuesday with stealing from a military charity she led. Patricia Driscoll (left) faces seven federal charges after for stealing from the Armed Forces Foundation between 2006 and 2014 Driscoll was indicted on two counts each of wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax evasion, and one count of attempts to interfere with administration of Internal Revenue laws. She also faces a first degree fraud charge under DC law. Driscoll was indicted on two counts each of wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax evasion, and one count of attempts to interfere with administration of Internal Revenue laws An 11-page indictment charges Driscoll with using foundation money to pay her personal bills, diverting foundation funds to her personal bank account and lying to the Internal Revenue Service about her salary and benefits. Driscoll, of Ellicott City, Maryland, declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday. A telephone message seeking comment left by The Associated Press for her attorney, Barry J. Pollack, was not immediately returned. Driscoll had resigned from the charity in 2015 amid an internal investigation into published reports alleging that she used foundation funds for her personal expenses. By the time she left, she had been president of the foundation for 12 years. Driscoll and Bush had a very public breakup in 2014 after she accused him of physically and verbally abusing her about a week after they split. She said Busch smashed her head into a bedroom wall and choked her in his motorhome at Dover International Speedway in Delaware. Law enforcement officials said there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against him, but a family court commissioner in the state ultimately granted her request for a protective order requiring Busch to stay away from her. As a result, NASCAR suspended Busch two days before the Daytona 500. He sat out the first three races of the 2015 season before being reinstated. One pilot was killed and another injured on Tuesday when a U-2 spy plane crashed in Northern California just after takeoff, the military said at a briefing. According to military officials the crash occurred just north of the state capital of Sacramento at 9am on Tuesday. Just before the aircraft went down, the pilots ejected. Initially, the Air Force said the crew had 'safely ejected,' and the pilots had escaped unharmed. However, a later tweet confirmed that one of the pilots had died. The military have not revealed the identities of the two involved in the crash and gave no indication of the condition of the other pilot. Debris of the crash. One of pilots died while another is in hospital. The full extent of their injuries have yet to be released The remains of the crashed U-2 spy plane are seen on hilly terrain just north of California's capital, Sacramento Col. Larry Broadwell, the base commander, speaking to the press on Tuesday said the flight, including its flight path was routine before the crash. He pledged to support the family of the deceased pilot and said surveillance pilots will mourn the loss. 'These incidents, while extremely tragic and hard for us to overcome, they're incidents that we do overcome,' Broadwell said. 'I am confident that the U-2 squadrons here and the U-2 squadrons around the world are going to come off the mat stronger than they were before.' Base commander, Col. Larry Broadwell, spoke to the press on Tuesday morning but identities of the two pilots were not disclosed 'There's always inherent dangers in an ejection. The technology is fantastic, but it's not foolproof,' he added. The U-2 'Dragon Lady' is a surveillance and reconnaissance plane capable of flying above 70,000 feet (21,336 meters), an extremely high altitude that's twice as high as a typical commercial airliner flies. The U-2 is known as one of the most difficult aircraft to fly at low altitudes due to the characteristics that allow it to travel near space, according to an Air Force fact sheet. The U-2 has been around since the 1950s. Originally, it was designed to fly high altitudes in order to avoid detection by America's Cold War foe, the now-defunct Soviet Union The original model has been updated and reconfigured 33 times since its inception, according to the Times. Beale Air Force Base is home to the Air Force's fleet of single-seat U-2s and a double-seat variant used for training pilots to fly the specialized aircraft. It also is the base for the T-38 Talon, a training aircraft, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned surveillance drone. It houses 4,500 military personnel. 'We are saddened by our Airman's death & offer condolences to the family & all who are mourning this tremendous loss,' Gen. Dave Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said on Twitter. Ejection seats allow military pilots to get out of a stricken plane and parachute safely to the ground. After the death in this instance, military investigators will look into whether the chute properly deployed and whether the pilot hit debris after ejecting, said Michael Barr, an aviation safety instructor at University of Southern California who flew fighter missions in Vietnam. An aerial view of the crash site. Both pilots ejected from their seats but a military commander said the ejection method is not 'foolproof' 'If the chute didn't properly deploy, that would be fatal,' Barr said. The U-2 aircraft are slated for retirement in 2019 as the military relies increasingly on unmanned aircraft for intelligence gathering, though senior U.S. lawmakers from California are pressuring the Air Force to delay the retirement. A U-2 based at Beale crashed in 1996 and slammed into the parking lot of a newspaper in Oroville, California. The pilot and a woman who had just renewed her newspaper subscription were killed. In 1960, the Soviets downed a U-2 spy plane and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Shoppers are being duped into supporting the illegal ivory trade and the slaughter of elephants. An investigation found that products made from ivory collected by poachers are finding their way into the UK through market stalls and websites. Under international laws to protect African elephants, it is illegal to sell ivory products created or carved after 1947. Shoppers are being duped into supporting the illegal ivory trade and the slaughter of elephants However, an investigation led by TV chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall found items on sale that tests showed were produced after this date, including salt and pepper pots, handles for a shaving brush and razor, a candle holder, a key ring fob and carved figures. Campaigners now want a total ban on selling ivory. Fearnley-Whittingstall, whose investigation was carried out for a BBC1 documentary to be screened this autumn, accused ministers of dragging their feet. We know that significant amounts of ivory sold here is then being smuggled to Asia, where it helps fuel the very market which is killing Africas elephants, he said. An estimated 30,000 elephants are killed in Africa each year. an investigation led by TV chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall found items on sale that tests showed were produced after 1947. He is pictured here filming the Ingenious Animals series World leaders will meet in South Africa on Saturday to vote on shutting down ivory markets. Women in the UK are more likely to be killed in an accident on a rural road than those living in Europe, a road safety report for MPs reveals today. It warns that women have a disproportionately higher risk of dying on the nations country lanes compared to roads almost anywhere else in the EU. By contrast, men are more likely to die in road accidents in towns and cities, according to the report commissioned by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. Women in the UK are more likely to be killed in an accident on a rural road than those living in Europe, a road safety report for MPs reveals today (file image) Experts say this could be because women are more dependent on their cars than men when living in rural areas, where homes and shops are further apart and public transport is scarce. The study also said that although Britains roads are among the safest in the world, this is not the case for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists, where Britain has a relatively poor record. Experts say the results could be because women are more dependent on their cars It said this indicates that improvements in road safety over the last ten years have not been evenly spread and that the Government must do better. The report by the Transport Research Laboratory calls for ministers to investigate why a disproportionate number of women are dying on country roads. It said: A death on a rural road is more likely to be female than almost anywhere else in the EU. The authors also warned that though rural roads carry just 53 per cent of traffic, they account for 66 per cent of road deaths making country lanes 25 per cent riskier than the average road. areas and breasts during treatment, was visibly aroused and made The doctor to the nation's Olympic gymnasts for 20 years has been fired from his post at Michigan State University as allegations of sexual misconduct continue to swirl around him. The school has terminated Dr. Larry Nassar's employment after learning that he was violating 'certain employment requirements' put into place after a misconduct complaint was lodged by a recent graduate in 2014. Although a 2014 investigation did not result in any charges, in recent weeks, two more gymnasts, one of whom is an Olympic medalist have accused him of molesting them in the past. A member of the 2000 U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics team has claimed she was sexually abused by team doctor Larry G. Nassar. The team pictured from left to right: Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Dominique Dawes, Kristen Maloney, Elise Ray and Morgan White When the claims were made public, MSU reassigned Nassar's clinical and teaching duties. Prosecutors say an undisclosed number of other women have also made complaints against Nassar, who was the team doctor for USA Gymnastics from 1996 to 2015. Nassar, has denied any abuse through his legal team, and has not been charged with a crime. MSU told NBC News said Nassar 'was not forthcoming when questioned about other previous allegations.' Rachael Denhollander (left) came forward last month to accuse Larry G. Nassar (right) of abuse The Olympian, who has been named only as Jane J. D. Doe, filed a lawsuit last year which alleges that Nassar sexually abused her for six years - beginning when she was just 12-year-old in 1994. As a medal-winning member of the U.S. team that competed at the Sydney Games, it could be any of the six women who were on the team that year, since Team USA won Bronze in the team all-around competition. The members of that team were Amy Chow, Elise Ray, Jamie Dantzscher, Kristin Maloney, Tasha Schwikert and Dominique Dawes. Her suit also claims that USA Gymnastics were aware of the abuse but failed to take action because it feared a sex abuse scandal. 'It f elt like a privilege to be seen by him,' she told The Indy Star. 'I trusted him.' Denhollander said he assaulted her five times while she was being treated for back pain at Michigan State University by the doctor, as a teenage athlete in 2000 Her lawsuit said Nassar carried out procedures that were 'well outside any recognized and/or accepted technique and were done for the Perpetrator's own sexual gratification.' Fellow gymnast Rachael Denhollander came forward last month to accuse Nassar of abuse. She said he assaulted her five times while she was being treated for back pain at Michigan State University by the doctor, as a teenage athlete in 2000. Denhollander said she was 'terrified' by Nassar's abuse, NY Daily News reports. 'I was ashamed,' she said. 'I was very embarrassed. And I was very confused, trying to reconcile what was happening with the person he was supposed to be,' she said. The 2000 team was awarded bronze in the team all-around in 2010 (above), after China was eventually disqualified. From left to right: Tascha Schwikert, Elise Ray, Kristen Maloney, Dominique Dawes, Jamie Dantzscher and Amy Chow 'He's this famous team doctor. He's trusted by my friends. He's trusted by these other gymnasts. How could he reach this position in the medical profession? How could he reach this kind of prominence and stature if this is who he is?' Denhollander said she was just 15 at the time of the abuse which took place while her mother was in the room. But she said the doctor positioned himself in such a way that her mother was unable to see what was going on. Both women say Nassar fondled their genitals and breasts during treatment. The unnamed victim said the doctor had made inappropriate comments about oral sex while Denhollander said he'd had an erection during treatment. Lawyers for Nassar told The Indianapolis Star that their client denies any wrongdoing. Lawyer for Nassar told The Indianapolis Star that their client denies any wrongdoing Nassar has been a highly respected doctor in the field for decades and has treated numerous Olympic athletes. USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny even praised him as being 'instrumental to the success of USA Gymnastics at many levels, both on and off the field of play. USA Gymnastics said in a statement they had notified law enforcement after it learned about the allegation against Nassar in the summer of 2015. 'We also relieved Dr. Nassar of his duties, and he ceased to be affiliated with USA Gymnastics,' the statement said. Lawyer for Nassar told The Indianapolis Star that their client denies any wrongdoing 'USA Gymnastics has cooperated fully with the law enforcement agency since we first notified them of the matter, including-at their request refraining from making further statements or taking any other action that might interfere with the agency's investigation.' However, a Star investigation found USA Gymnastics failed to report or document sexual abuse allegations for decades. USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for the sport and is responsible for selecting the Olympic team. Nassar resigned from the organization last year but had continued to work as a faculty member at Michigan State's College of Osteopathic Medicine, and team physician at Twistars Gymnastics Club USA, Michigan State University and Holt High School. Australia will take refugees from Central America as part of a US-led program, and maintain its plan to increase overall resettlement numbers to almost 19,000 in two years. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made the announcement during a speech to President Barack Obama's invitation-only high-level summit on refugees and migration in New York on Tuesday. The initiative was revealed alongside a commitment by Australia to maintain its increased refugees resettlement intake at 18,750 from mid-2018, up from about 14,000 now. Malcolm Turnbull has increased Australia's refugee intake from 13,750 to 18,750 and pledged a further $130 million dollars to support peace building and assistance to refugees 'We will also participate in the US-led program to resettle Central American refugees currently in a resettlement centre in Costa Rica,' Mr Turnbull said on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting. Australia will also commit a further $130 million dollars over three years to support peace building and assistance to refugees, forcibly displaced communities and host countries. This builds on an already announced $220 million commitment to humanitarian and resilience needs in Syria and its neighbouring countries. In his speech, Mr Turnbull urged world leaders to do more to address the underlying causes of displacement, including providing more assistance in home countries. Australia's humanitarian intake will to rise to 18,750 in 2018-19, in addition to 12,000 places from Syria and Iraq In his speech, Mr Turnbull urged world leaders to do more to address the underlying causes of displacement, including providing more assistance in home countries He reiterated Australia's successful attempts to halt stop asylum seekers trying to reach the country by boat, saying it paved the way for one of the world's most generous humanitarian regimes. 'Australians support these actions because they have confidence that our migration system is well managed,' he said. 'This confidence is a key pillar on which our successful multicultural society is built.' Mr Turnbull said Australia will now take in Central American refugees who are currently in a resettlement centre in Costa Rica Central American refugees making their way to refugee camps in Columbia Australia's humanitarian intake will to rise to 18,750 in 2018-19, in addition to 12,000 places from Syria and Iraq. The government doesn't have any plans to increase that figure, but could if circumstances change. Britain may have to abandon its opposition to Bashar Al-Assad if it wants to defeat Islamic State, MPs will warn today. In a critical report, the Commons defence committee questions the UKs strategy, saying bombing campaigns in Syria and Iraq cannot defeat the terror group. MPs, who heard evidence that the war against IS could take more than 50 years, call for the battle against the jihadists to be extended to Afghanistan, Libya, Nigeria and other fragile states in Africa. A Free Syrian Army rebel stands by ISIS graffiti on a wall in Jarabulus near Aleppo, Syria, after it was recaptured from Daesh They warn that the gains being made in the military campaign risk being undermined by a lack of progress on the political side. And they suggest Britain will have to drop its insistence that Assad must go as the price of any peace deal. David Cameron refused to countenance any talks that would allow him to stay on as Syrian president, arguing that a dictator who has butchered tens of thousands of his own people could not be part of any new future for the country. But todays report suggests beating IS should be the priority. It says if the West finds itself reduced to a binary choice between an Assad-style dictatorship or a revolutionary Islamist alternative, there will need to be a hard-headed evaluation of which of the unpalatable prospects poses the lesser threat to our national interests. Todays report also warns that military co-operation with Russia may be the only way to defeat IS. MPs were told that IS appeared to be putting down roots in Afghanistan, were training Libyan extremists as they spread along the North African coast and were strengthening ties with Boko Haram in Nigeria. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon also told the inquiry it was worrying IS known by the Arabic name Daesh had grown rapidly in northern Libya. An RAF Tornado lands at its base in Cyprus. Since December 2015, there have been 550 RAF airstrikes in Iraq and 65 in Syria, but only a handful have been in support of forces on the ground Published two years after Britain joined the air war against IS in the Middle East, the report says: The rapid increase in Daesh-affiliated groups should be a cause for grave concern. 'The danger posed by the majority of these Daesh-affiliated groups may be minimal at present but the evidence presented to us suggests that, if unchecked, they could form yet another front in the battle against international Islamist terrorism. The study warns that the current military strategy in Iraq and Syria relies on the removal of territory from Daesh in order to eliminate it. That is a necessary, but not sufficient, strategy. It adds: Our counter-Daesh strategy should be as effective in Nigeria, Afghanistan, or Libya as it is in Iraq and Syria. There needs to be a grand strategic discussion about the threat posed by Daesh and how we can defeat it. Dr Julian Lewis, the committees Tory chairman, stated: Whilst substantial progress in eliminating Daesh is clearly being achieved in Iraq, the situation in Syria is far more complex. We have to focus too on what happens next - both in other countries to which Daesh may migrate, and in Syria especially where there is no shortage of other Islamist groups, just as dangerous, which are planning to take control Dr Julian Lewis MP Assuming Daesh is squeezed out of both countries, we have to focus too on what happens next - both in other countries to which Daesh may migrate, and in Syria especially where there is no shortage of other Islamist groups, just as dangerous, which are planning to take control. Figures reveal the UKs war against IS in Iraq and Syria cost around 250million between August 2014 and March 2016 at least five times the amount spent on political stabilisation. Since December 2015, there have been 550 airstrikes by the UK in Iraq and 65 in Syria. The inquiry found only a minority of the latter appeared to be in support of opposition forces on the ground. Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told the inquiry the war against IS could take decades unless the West got its strategy right now. There certainly is a recognition although this is whispered that this is going to be a generational struggle, he said. It absolutely is it will probably be longer than 50 years, but it might not only be against Isis. A government spokesman said: 'The UK is at the forefront of efforts to defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria. We have conducted over 1,000 airstrikes, which is second only to the US in both countries, and have helped train more than 25,000 Iraqi forces. As a result, Daesh is losing territory in Iraq and Syria. Refugee children are so desperate to escape the Calais Jungle that they are risking their lives every night to reach Britain, the anti-slavery commissioner has warned. Minors are turning to smuggling gangs amid frustration at official routes for claiming asylum or joining relatives who are already in this country, Kevin Hyland warned. He said that frustration with the family reunification programme was leading to risk-taking. Refugee children are so desperate to escape the Calais Jungle that they are risking their lives every night to reach Britain, the anti-slavery commissioner has warned Youngsters were gambling with their lives to reach Britain despite many having a legal right to come here under the EU convention which allows asylum claims to be transferred to other countries if children have relatives there. In a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Mr Hyland said that frustration with the pace of this was one of the key motivators behind risk taking behaviour, which leads to higher exposure to modern slavery and exploitation. His warning came after a 14-year-old Afghan boy died trying to reach Britain. He fell as he tried to climb into a lorry roof. The youngster had a legal right to be in Britain. David Cameron, the former prime minister, agreed to take more child refugees but progress has been slow Mr Hyland suggested that a fast-track system should be considered for youngsters. Children are not waiting, he wrote. Every night they go to their smugglers who have promised to get them across the Channel. 'Every night they think that this time they will be lucky. 'However, every night each of these children are at risk of exploitation and sadly even dying as they take huge risks to reach the UK. The Daily Mail and other campaigners have urged the government to take more lone child refugees. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a corporation that manages one of the critical, centralized pieces of the internet's underlying infrastructure, the domain name system's root. Historically, ICANN has been under US government authority, but under a longstanding agreement it is due to be turned over to an international consortium for management on Oct 1, something that has incensed Ted Cruz, who has railed against non-US management in domain names because this could enable censorship (something that Cruz is apparently against, some of the time). But as World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and MIT Professor (and former White House CTO) Daniel Weitzner explain to Senator Cruz in an op-ed, that's not really how internet censorship works. Mostly, net censorship is accomplished with national firewalls (and, I might add, massive armies of trolls for hire and other astroturfers, as well as copyright abuse), and the domain system plays little role in censorship. The authors argue that keeping ICANN as a US affair won't prevent mass censorship, but it will build the case for moving the net away from the custodianship of multi-stakeholder, technologist-centered groups to a Balkanized state-by-state approach. They also tell Cruz that he's wrong about who made the net: it wasn't (just) Americans; Berners-Lee is a Briton who was working in Switzerland when he invented the web. Repressive governments expend a great deal of energy censoring speech online but they do so entirely without ICANN. Those governments oppress their people the old-fashioned way, by disregarding human rights and undermining the rule of law. Let's consider the most egregious threats to free speech and human rights online. Egypt shuts down nearly all Internet traffic during the Arab Spring to disrupt citizen's right to oppose the government. Pakistan blocks access to entire platforms such as YouTube because they host a few offending videos, with the result that a huge amount of speech is suppressed. ICANN had no role in these shutdowns nor could it prevent them. Countries such as China and Iran operate large-scale firewalls controlling nearly all of the Internet's content within their countries and restricting what information can cross the border. ICANN cannot shut down these firewalls. And Russia routinely mounts attacks on web sites of opposition groups inside and outside the country, leading to suppression of democratic discourse. ICANN has no role in preventing this kind of hacking. Ted Cruz is wrong about how free speech is censored on the Internet [Tim Berners-Lee and Daniel Weitzner/Washington Post] Miraculously, all of them escaped with broken bones and scratches The three boys were sitting on the floor when they were struck by vehicle Children were run over at a car park in Shenzhen, China, on September 17 Disturbing footage has emerged of the moment three toddlers are knocked over by a careless driver in Shenzhen, China. The children were playing in the middle of a car park on September 17 when the incident occurred, reports the People's Daily Online. All three children miraculously survived in the incident. It's reported that they have broken bones and scratches. Terrifying moment: The car drove over the three toddlers playing on the floor at a car park Squashed: The two five-year old and one six-year old were pulled under the wheels The 33-second video was posted on social media site Weibo on an account managed by Shenzhen traffic police. In the footage, two children, reportedly five years old, and one child, thought to be six years old, can be seen playing on the floor of a car park. The trio were mowed down and pulled under the wheels. The car stopped after driving over one of the toddlers. In photos of the accident scene, child size slippers can be seen left on the blood stained floor. The driver surnamed Zeng was turning her car around and had not noticed the children on the floor, according to reports. Shocking incident: The car stopped immediately after running over the three boys Tragic: Photos of the aftermath were posted online to Shenzhen traffic police's website Zeng was tested for alcohol but she had none in her system. Some internet sources suggested that the accident was caused by distraction from the use of mobile phone. Shenzhen traffic police said they are still investigating if mobile phone contributes to the accident. It is not stated whether the driver will be charged over the incident. A schoolboy in China has died after falling four storeys in an attempt to get into his house and retrieve keys that had been left behind on September 19. The child had been lowered down by his grandparents on a rope after they had left their keys inside their house in Xuanhan, China's Sichuan province, reports the People's Daily Online. The 11-year-old was being looked after by his grandparents while his parents worked elsewhere in China He was killed instantly. Horrifying accident: The 11-year-old boy was instantly killed when he fell four storeys According to the report, the boy's grandparents had locked their keys inside their apartment. They took their grandson up to the building's roof, tied a rope around him and asked him to climb down to one of the windows in their apartment. However when he reached the fourth floor, the rope snagged and broke causing the boy to fall to the ground. He was killed instantly by the force of the fall. Police attended the scene and at the time said that the boy's death was an accident. According to local residents, the boy was in the fifth grade at school. His parents had divorced and remarried this year. The boy was sent to live with his grandparents while his parents worked far away. The child's parents are on their way back to the village, the report said. Photos show the dramatic moment a three-year-old girl is rescued from a plastic ledge at three storeys high in Huangshan City, China. The girl had managed to climb onto the balcony some 10 metres high (33 feet) on September 15, reports the People's Daily Online. Upon seeing the girl, a passerby climbed up to the canopy and rescued the young girl. Traumatic: The police officer climbed up onto the ledge to save the young girl Unsafe weather: According to reports, it was raining at the time of the incident Working together: The man managed to push the girl through the window to neighbours It's claimed that the daughter had been left sleeping at home alone by her parents. According to reports, the girl climbed onto the balcony by herself and was left stuck in the rain. Pictures show the moment the girl was spotted by the police officer who then climbed up onto the canopy which was made of plastic. Reports suggest that the canopy was very unstable. The man grabbed hold of the girl and pushed her up towards a window where her neighbours were waiting to grab hold of her. It took ten minutes for the police officer to rescue the girl. She was then taken to the police station and was reunited with her family shortly after. Horrifying images: The girl was spotted sitting on a plastic ledge as it rained Residents in a Chinese village were stunned last week when a car landed on the roof of one of their houses. The driver allegedly lost control of the car while reversing the vehicle on a steep road next to the house on September 16, reported the People's Daily Online. No one was injured during the accident which occurred in the village of Diaolongzui, Qingdao, the report said. How did it get up there? A car has landed on a roof in a Chinese village after driver lost control Smashed: The driver of the Skoda reportedly mistook the accelerator for the brake The car in question appeared to be a Skoda, but the driver is yet to be identified. Eyewitnesses told a reporter from iqilu.com that the driver had mistaken the accelerator for the brake. A video, released by CCTV News, showed the aftermaths of the accident. Part of the roof can be seen smashed by the impact of the collision and the car was suspended between the roof and a wall. The window of the house also appeared to be broken. However, it is unclear whether or not this was caused by the crash. Suspended: The car smashed into the roof of a village house and was left stuck Aftermaths: Fortunately, no injuries has been reported as a result of the accident Pictures of the bizarre scene were uploaded onto Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, and have sparked discussion. Many Weibo users found it impressive. One such user said 'it must be stunt driving' while another one commented 'the move is difficult to replicate'. However, some were puzzled by the incident. One user asked: 'This picture has not been photoshopped, has it?' Another one said: 'Does it fly up to the roof?' A brand new see-through bridge in a nearby city has recently been forced to close due to safety concerns Workers replaced the panels one by one and had to stand on tiny metal beams to check the frame The 984ft walkway in China's Shiniuzhai Geopark is the world's first glass-bottomed suspension bridge Advertisement Standing on glass-bottomed bridge at nearly 600 feet high is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Chinese workers have been replacing the panels of a see-through suspension bridge ahead of a national holiday when tens of thousands of tourists are expected to visit the glass platform, reported People's Daily Online. This 984-foot-long walkway, said to be the world's first glass-bottomed suspension bridge, has been a hugely popular attraction since it opened last September in the Shiniuzhai Geopark, Hunan province. Scroll down for video A bridge too far: Workers have been replacing the glass panels on a transparent bridge in central China's Shiniuzhai Geopark Nerves of steel: The daredevil workers sometimes need to step on the tiny metal bar after they remove the bridge panels Dangerous: The maintenance work is carried out ahead of the Chinese National Day holiday when tens of thousands of people are expected to visit the bridge The amazing construction is dubbed 'hero bridge' because of the amount of courage required to cross it. Striking pictures, taken on September 19, showed these daredevil workers changing the panel by removing and replacing them one by one. Sometimes, they had to stand on the tiny metal beams supporting the panels as they checked the safety of the frame at 590 feet high. Media reports suggested that this was a regular safety check carried out by the authority of the park in preparation of the Chinese National Day holiday starting from October 1. The seven-day national break will see millions of people travelling within China and overseas. Last year, the Shiniuzhai glass-bottomed bridge received around 20,000 visitors a day during the National Day holiday, according to Xinhua News Agency, which is twice as many as what the bridge was designed to receive. Hero bridge: This 984-foot-long walkway is said to be the first glass-bottomed suspension bridge in the world Courageous: Last year, the Shiniuzhai glass bridge received around 20,000 visitors a day during the National Day holiday Impressive: The number of visitors during last year's National Day holiday was twice as many as the bridge's daily capacity Difficult job: Media reports suggested that this was a regular safety check carried out by the authority of the park Safety first: The glass panes forming the footpath are said to be 25 times stronger than regular window glass Last October, a group of Chinese tourists were left screaming in terror on the side of a 3,540-foot-high cliff in central China's Henan province, after a glass pane on a new transparent walkway suddenly shattered. Just two weeks ago, a new glass-bottomed bridge in the nearby Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon was forced to close after an overwhelming number of tourists had flocked to walk across the transparent structure standing some 980 feet high. The terrifying transparent walkway opened with great fanfare last September. Images taken during the opening showed the visitors gripped with fear and frozen in awe while standing on the glass platform. One female tourist is seen clutching to the handrail tightly and had to be dragged along by her friend. The bridge had previously been a wooden overpass that linked two peaks of Stone Buddha Mountain in Shiniuzhai Geopark but is now a 984-foot-long glass walkway. World's first glass-bottom bridge: The bridge stands at nearly 600 feet high at the Shiniuzhai Geopark in Hunan province Spectacular: The bridge had previously been a wooden overpass that linked two peaks of Stone Buddha Mountain Terrifying: Images taken during the opening showed the visitors gripped with fear and frozen in awe while standing on the glass platform. Picture taken in September, 2015 Walk as quickly as you can: Some were seen holding on to each other as well as to the railings as they made the crossing. Picture taken in September, 2015 Challenging: Many people were gripped by fear as they tried not to look down to the steep drop below. Picture taken in September, 2015 Part of the bridge had already been replaced with a glass cutout in 2014, attracting hordes of fearless tourists. A total of 11 engineers worked on the bridge over a few months in 2015 to replace all the wooden planks with glass panes, transforming the bridge into the world's first glass-bottomed suspension bridge. The bridge was said to wobble slightly when people walked across it, adding to the fear-factor of the frightening ordeal. However, as part of the scenic site, it also offered incredible views over the geopark and the landscape below. The glass panes forming the footpath are said to be 25 times stronger than regular window glass. Wearers can see health status on a smartphone or tablet in real-time Sweat isn't just made of water - it contains vital information about your health and can even reveal cancer risks or when you're ovulating. And a Cincinnati startup has discovered a method to harvest this data in order to monitor an individual's health before illness or injury occur. Using disposable patches, Eccrine Systems is able to analyze sweat biomarkers and transmits the wearer's biochemical status to a smartphone or tablet where the data can be read in real-time. Scroll down for video Sweat isn't just made of water, minerals and compounds, it contains vital information. Using disposable patches, Eccrine Systems is able to analyze sweat biomarkers and transmits the wearer's biochemical status to a smartphone or tablet where the data can be read in real-time HOW DOES IT WORK? Eccerine Systems has designed a method that extracts health data from sweat. The firm offers a Sweatronics platform, which is a system that measures and transmits real-time data about human sweat. This system shares the data wirelessly via a transceiver to a smartphone or tablet. Eccerine is about 18 months from producing its first wearable, but has not clarified where it will be located. One application is a headband that sits under a hard hat and measures chemical and environmental toxins. Advertisement Eccrine is working on a line of wristbands, headbands and skin patches that they hope will transform wearables into mini-laboratories, reports The Washington Post. Sweat comes from eccrine glands in the skin, which researchers say contains valuable information about physiological performance and dysfunction. And what makes Eccrine's method so attractive is that sweat can be captured discreetly and non-invasively. 'Sweat holds great promise as the best non-invasive source for real-time trending and analysis of molecular biomarkers that can be directly correlated with blood biomarkers, and other gold standard references, and translated into meaningful results and actionable information,' Eccrine Systems explains on their website. This cutting edge methods consists of a Sweatronics platform, which is the complete system that measures and transmits real-time data about human sweat. This system shares the data wirelessly via a transceiver to a smartphone or tablet. 'The whole goal is non-invasive measure of bio-molecules that can inform us about physical functions and dysfunctions and medical conditions,' said Robert Beech, chairman and co-founder of Eccrine Systems, told The Washington Post. Video courtesy of Tech Ohio This cutting edge methods consists of a Sweatronics platform, which is the complete system that measures and transmits real-time data about human sweat. This system shares the data wirelessly via a transceiver to a smartphone or tablet 'The goal is not to have to stick needles and catheters into people.' 'In the context of daily life, work, sleep, play, the goal is to be to have a window into the current physiological status of the wearer.' The firm is about 18 months from producing its first wearable, but has not clarified whether it will be fitted on the arm, wrist or head. what makes Eccrine's method so attractive is that sweat can be captured discreetly and non-invasively. Pictured is the patch attached to the transceiver that sends the wearer's health status to a smartphone or tablet NEW PATCHES CONVERT BODY HEAT INTO ELECTRICTY Researchers are currently developing a new design that harvests body heat and converts it into electricity that can power wearables and smartphones. The system uses a body-conforming patch with a conductive layer that forces body heat through a centrally-located wearable thermoelectric generator, where it is converted into electricity. This innovation derives from North Carolina State University, who states their prototype can generate far more electricity than previous lightweight heat harvesting technologies - 20 W per centimeter squared, compared to 1 microwatt or less. Other researchers are developing patches (pictured) that harvests body heat and converts it into electricity to power wearables. The system uses a body-conforming patch with a conductive layer that forces body heat through a thermoelectric generator The team began with a layer of thermally conductive material that rests on the skin and spreads out the heat. A polymer layer was then placed on top to prevent heat from escaping from the body. This components also forces the body heat to pass through a centrally-located TEG that is one cm2. Heat that is not converted into electricity passes through the TEG into an outer layer of thermally conductive material, which rapidly dissipates outside the body. This new system is just 2 millimeters thick and the team says it is also very flexible. Advertisement However, the team has discussed one possible application: a headband, which sits under a hard hat and measures chemical and environmental toxins. Eccrine is also working with the military as a way to help the agency monitor pilots. The U.S. Air Force Researcher Lab awarded the firm a $3.69 million contract last month to continue a five-year effort to make real-time 'monitoring and augmentation' of ground troops and pilots a reality, reports Bloomberg. The firm is about 18 months from producing its first wearable, but has not clarified whether it will be fitted on the arm, wrist or head. However, the team has discussed one application that a headband, which sits under a hard hat and measures chemical and environmental toxins Air Force researchers want a dependable way 'to get down to that molecular level and being able to quantify what's going on in the body, but not having to draw blood to do it,' Joshua Hagen, a civilian chemist and engineer with the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, told Bloomberg. This is the first time that the headset has been available outside of US The VR headset was launched in the US in March 2016 The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is finally available in the UK after launching in the US earlier this year. This is the first time that the the VR device has been available to buyers outside of the US since its launch in March. The headset from the Facebook-owned firm comes with a price tag of 549, while it costs $599 in the US. Scroll down for video The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is finally available in the UK after launching in the US earlier this year. This is the first time that the the VR device has been available to buyers outside of the US since its launch in March MEETINGS OF THE FUTURE After the idea first surfaced in the 1980s, virtual reality has finally started to take off - having established its place in video gaming, social networks and even porn. Now experts say soon VR could be coming to the workplace. Virtual business meetings will replace conference calls, as the technology has started to be tested in offices worldwide - and this could happen in the next couple of years. Andrew Glennerster, professor of visual neuroscience at Reading University told MailOnline he is certain VR will replace conference calls in offices across the world. Advertisement The company will be offering demos at numerous retailers so that potential buyers can try it out before committing with their hard-earned cash. Every Rift will come with the VR platform game Lucky's Tale, as well as hundreds of free 3D 360 videos, plus access to the rapidly expanding selection of VR games and videos on the Oculus Store. Demo titles available at launch will include, Emmy award-winning VR film Henry, planetary experience Farlands and thrill-seeking The Climb. Buyers can check that their current PC is up to the task of running Oculus' VR software using the firm's online compatibility tool. The company has also partnered with several major manufacturers to offer 'Oculus Ready PCs' that have been certified as powerful enough to cope with the headset's demands. There are more than 100 VR games and 'experiences' already available for the Rift, with more than 30 new titles scheduled to launch this year. UK consumers can easily test their current PC with Oculus compatibility tool to make sure they have everything needed to power their Rift experience. For those requiring a new PC, the company has partnered with the worlds best manufacturers including Dell, HP and Asus to offer Oculus Ready PCs, proven to deliver the highest VR performance available. UK customers will be able to buy the Oculus Rift from John Lewis, Currys PCWorld, GAME Digital, Harrods and Amazon. The Oculus Rift first landed on Kickstarter in 2012 and after a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, it was finally bought by Facebook in 2014. The company will be offering demos of the Oculus Rift headset at numerous retailers so that potential buyers can try it out before committing with their hard-earned cash There's still some concern that the immersive technology could be uncomfortable for some. VR developers are trying to combat this by limiting movement in virtual worlds and not inundating players with head-spinning stimuli. 'If you have something for your brain to fixate on as the thing that matches similar inputs you're given when sitting in the real world, you're going to be feeling a lot better,' said Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Oculus, which ignited the latest VR revolution in 2012. A controversial neurosurgeon who wants to carry out the first human head transplant has outlined plans to conduct 'Frankenstein' experiments to reanimate human corpses to test his technique. Dr Sergio Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, and his collaborators believe they may be able to conduct the first human head transplant next year. They have outlined plans to test whether it is possible to reconnect the spinal cord of a head to another body with tests that will stimulate the nervous system in fresh human corpses with electrical pulses. However, the Russian man who has volunteered to have the first transplant has also revealed that his girlfriend is opposed to him having the operation. Scroll down for video Dr Sergio Canavero plans to conduct tests on human corpses before performing a human head transplant next year. Russian Valery Spiridonov has volunteered to be the first person to have the operation (pictured right with Dr Canavero, centre, on Good Morning Britain) The aim of the surgery is to first cut the spinal cord and then repair it before using electrical or magnetic stimulation to 'reanimate' the nerves and even movement in the corpse. In an article for the Surgical Neurology International, Dr Canavero and his colleague in South Korea and China drew parallels to the infamous story of Frankenstein, where electricity is used to reanimate the fictional monster. He pointed to experiments conducted in the 1800s using the corpses of criminals who had been hung as proof such tests could be successful. Dr Canavero and his colleagues said: 'A fresh cadaver might act as a proxy for a live subject as long as a window of opportunity is respected (a few hours). Dr Sergio Canavero (pictured) has revealed he and his colleagues will first conduct tests using fresh human corpses that they will 'reanimate' using electrical pulses to test if the spinal cord can be reconnected GIRLFRIEND OPPOSES PATIENT'S HEAD TRANSPLANT PLAN The man who has volunteered to undergo the first human head transplant in the world has said his girlfriend does not want him to have the controversial surgery. Valery Spiridonov suffers from a genetic disorder that means he is wheelchair bound and physically unable to take care of himself without constant assistance. He has offered to be the first to undergo the controversial procedure proposed by Dr Sergio Canavero which would see him being decapitated and then his head being reattached to a donors body. But Mr Spiridonov told ITV's Good Morning Britain that his girlfriend is opposed to the operation. He said: 'She supports me in all what I do, but she doesn't think that I need to change, she accepts me the way I am. She doesn't think that I need the surgery. 'My motivation personally is about improving my own life conditions and to go to the stage where I will be able to take care of myself, where I will be independent from other people. 'I need people to help me everyday, even twice a day because I need someone to take me off my bed and put me in my wheelchair, so it makes my life pretty dependable on other people and if there will be a way to change this I believe it should be tried.' Advertisement 'It also implies that the process of deathly disintegration is not an immediate process. We name this effect the "Frankenstein effect". It comes as Dr Canavero and his colleagues have announced the results of experiments to show they can reconnect the spinal cord after it was severed in a dog. A series of research papers published today detail how the animal was able to walk and wag its tail three weeks after being paralysed from the neck down. Dr Canavero claims the results prove the technique used, known as GEMINI spinal cord fusion, will also work in humans to fuse two ends of a spinal cord together. This could then be used to connect a transplanted head to a donor body, allowing a paralysed patient regain control of a body. Valery Spiridonov (pictured) hopes to be the first person to undergo a head transplant but he has revealed that his girlfriend is opposed to him having the operation Valery Spiridonov, a 30-year-old Russian computer programmer suffering from a form of spinal muscular atrophy called Werdnig-Hoffmann, has volunteered to undergo the surgery. CRITICS OPPOSE PROPOSED HEAD TRANSPLANTS Critics say Dr Canavero's plans are 'pure fantasy'. The Italian has been compared to the fictional gothic-horror character Dr Frankenstein and Arthur Caplan, the director of medical ethics at New York University's Langone Medical Centre, has described Dr Canavero as 'nuts'. Dr Hunt Batjer, president elect of the American Association for Neurological Surgeons, told CNN: 'I would not wish this on anyone. I would not allow anyone to do it to me as there are a lot of things worse than death.' Advertisement However, the claims have been met with scepticism by many in the scientific community who warn the experiments in animals do not yet prove a head transplant will work in humans. It is unclear exactly how completely the dog's spinal cord was severed before it was treated and its injury is some way from having a total head transplant. Writing in the journal Surgical Neurology International, Dr Canavero said the results of the experiments should dispel the hysteria around full head transplants 'once and for all'. He said: 'While of course these results are in need of duplication, there can be no doubt that this new batch of data confirm that a spinal cord, once severed, can be refused with useful behavioral recovery. 'Despite these exciting animal experiments, the proof of the pudding rests in human studies.' He said that initial tests will be carried out using the bodies of brain dead organ donors where the spinal cord will be severed and treated to see if it can be repaired. Dr Canavero's plans for a human head transplant (Dr Canavero posing in a photoshoot) have met with criticism from many scientists and his plans remain controversial. He insists, however, the research could help patients with spinal cord injuries He explained how techniques, such as electrically stimulating movements through the spinal cord or with magnets applied to the brain, known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, will be used to test the connections. If the spinal cord has reconnected, such stimulation should produce tiny electrical pulses in the nerves further beneath the point where the spinal cord was cut. Dr Canavero said: 'We believe this has a neuropathological basis.' He first announced his plans to conduct head or body transplant in 2013 and he in 2015 he believed the challenges involved were surmountable. Together with colleagues in South Korea, China and the US, he set up the head anastomosis venture, or HEAVEN, project to develop the techniques needed to carry out such an operation. Earlier this year, Dr Canavero claimed scientists in China had performed a head transplant on a monkey where they connected up the blood supply between the head and the new body. Earlier this year researchers in China announced they had performed a head transplant on a monkey, reattaching the blood supply from the head of one monkey to the body of another (pictured). They did not, however, attempt to reattach the spinal cord Valery Spiridonov suffers from a genetic disorder that has left him wheelchair bound. He told Good Morning Britain (pictured) that he hopes having a head transplant will allow him to regain his independence In a newly published paper, scientists from South Korea claimed to have severed the spinal cord of a dog before injecting it with the PEG solution (pictured). They say the dog regained the ability to walk and wag its tail within three weeks They did not, however, reconnect the spinal cord and the animal was unable to regain movement. Dr XiaoPing Ren, a neurosurgeon in China who Dr Canavero claimed had conducted the work later said it could be some time before the first transplant in humans will be carried out. Speaking last year he said that experiments in rats have only had a 30 per cent to 50 per cent survival rate. He told Xinhuanet.com: 'Some rats survived a few hours, the longest is one day.' In a new set of papers published in the journal Surgical Neurology International and edited by Dr Canavero, researchers in South Korea and the US claim to have reconnected the spinal cords in mice and in a dog. Dr C-Yoon Kim, a neurosurgeon at Konkuk University in Seoul who has been collaborating with Dr Canavero, severed the spinal cords of 16 mice. Dr Canavero (pictured) said the first operation on a human would only be carried out once surgeons were sure there was a 90 per cent chance of success. They hope to test some of the techniques needed to reconnect the spinal cord using fresh human cadavers They injected a chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG) into the gap between the cut spinal cord in half of the mice. After four weeks, five of the eight mice who received PEG regained some ability to move but three of the mice died. Those who did not receive PEG also died. Similar tests using an enhanced version of PEG was given to five rats with severed spinal cords and the South Korean researchers showed electrical signals passed down it after treatment. However, four of the rats were killed in a flood at the team's laboratory and so they were not able to see if movement was restored. HOW TO TRANSPLANT A HUMAN HEAD Dr Sergio Canavero and his colleagues have set up the head anastomosis venture, or HEAVEN, project to develop the techniques needed to perform a head transplant. A new body would need to be obtained from a transplant donor who has been declared brain dead. Using an ultra-sharp blade, the head of both patient and donor would need to be severed a the same time to give a clean cut. The patient's head would then be attached to the donor body with the help of a solution known as polyethylene gylcol. This would be injected between the two ends of the spinal cord to help them fuse together. Muscles and the blood supply would be stitched together while the patient is put into a coma to allow them to heal. During that time the patient would be given small electric shocks to stimulate their spinal cord and strengthen the connections between their head and new body. As the patient is brought out of their medically-induced coma, it is hoped they would be able to move, feel their face, and even speak with the same voice. Powerful immunosuppressant drugs would need to be prescribed, however, to stop the new body from being rejected. It is also likely that the patient would require intensive psychological support. Advertisement In a final experiment the South Korean team tested the PEG solution in a dog after it's spinal cord was almost completely severed. They claim 90 per cent of the cord had been severed. While the dog was initially paralysed, three days later the team report it was able to move its limbs. By three weeks it could walk and wag its tail. There was no control in the experiments. According to New Scientist, however, other scientists have raised serious concerns about the results. Dr Jerry Silver, a neuroscientist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, told the magazine: 'These papers do not support moving forward in humans. 'They claim they cut the cervical cord 90 per cent but there's no evidence of that in the paper, just some crude pictures.' Dr Canavero has described his plans to take advantage of the 'Frankenstein effect' where the muscles of a dead body can be reanimated using electrical or magnetic stimulation. He says he hopes this could be used to test the techniques to reconnect the spinal cord Others said it could still at least eight years before a human head transplant could realistically be carried out. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, however, Dr Canavero said his team intended to conduct experiments on dead bodies before attempting ahead transplant with Valery Spiridonov. He said the operation on a living patient would only go ahead when there was at least a 90 per cent chance of them surviving the procedure. He said: 'The first humans to receive this sort of head transplant will not be Valery, but we will just be performing the first on brain dead organ donors, so the first live head transplant will come about somewhere where we'll be able to transfer the head of a brain dead organ donor onto the body of a decapitated, brain dead organ donor. 'So only after extensive cadaveric rehearsals and this final proof of principle surgery on brain dead organ donors we will move on Valery. 'Actually the list of patients is so long that we can't actually begin to give you all the names including several patients from England.' Next step is working out a code so this can be compared to a diseased cell Have already developed software that mimics healthy behavior of a cell These cells will then be programmed to treat diseases like cancer A research lab is looking into ways to make cells into living computers The company is best known for its computers and phones. But Microsoft is now setting its sights on one of the most important questions in science - how to cure cancer. One of its research labs aims to tackle the disease as if it were a bug in a computer system, with the hopes of being able to make cells into living computers that can 'reprogramme' cancer cells within the decade. Microsoft is now setting its sights on one of the most important questions in science - how to cure cancer. The company aims to use a computer code to treat the disease like a computer virus, 'reprogramme' diseased cells. A SEM image of cancer cells is shown MAKING CELLS INTO LIVING COMPUTERS At the Microsoft Research lab, based in the UK university city of Cambridge, 150 scientists and software developers are working on a wide variety of projects as part of a 'biological computation' unit. The company says its eventual goal is to make cells into living computers. The idea is these cells could be programmed, and reprogrammed, to treat diseases like cancer. 'I think it will be technically possible in five to 10 years time to put in a smart molecular system that can detect disease,' Andrew Philips, head of the group, said. Advertisement 'The field of biology and the field of computation might seem like chalk and cheese,' Chris Bishop, head of Microsoft Research's lab, told Fast Company. 'But the complex processes that happen in cells have some similarity to those that happen in a standard desktop computer.' At the Microsoft Research lab, based in the university city of Cambridge, 150 scientists and software developers are working on a wide variety of projects as part of a 'biological computation' unit. The lab includes some of the world's best biologists, programmers and engineers who are tackling cancer as if it were a virus in a computer system. The company says its eventual goal is to make cells into living computers. The company says its eventual goal is to make cells into living computers. The idea is these cells could be programmed, and reprogrammed, to treat diseases like cancer. Illustration pictured HOW WILL IT BE DONE? The Microsoft programming group has already developed a software that mimics the healthy behavior of a cell. The next step is working out a code so the cells can be compared to that of a diseased cell, to work out where the problem occurred and how it can be fixed. Dr Jasmin Fisher, senior researcher and an associate professor at Cambridge University, told The Telegraph: 'If we are able to control and regulate cancer then it becomes like any chronic disease and then the problem is solved.' 'I think for some of the cancers five years, but definitely within a decade. Then we will probably have a century free of cancer.' Advertisement The idea is these cells could be programmed, and reprogrammed, to treat diseases like cancer. Some might say this is a dramatic change in direction for the company, but Mr Bishop does not agree. 'I think it's a very natural thing for Microsoft to be looking at because we have tremendous expertise in computer science and what is going on in cancer is a computational problem,' he said. Microsoft's overarching philosophy toward solving cancer focuses on two basic approaches, said Jeannette Wing, Microsoft's corporate vice president in charge of the company's research labs. One approach is rooted in the idea that cancer and other biological processes are information processing systems - like the research the Cambridge lab is looking into. Another is based on the idea that researchers can apply techniques such as machine learning to the plethora of biological data that has suddenly become available. 'The collaboration between biologists and computer scientists is actually key to making this work,' Wing said. In the shorter term, the Cambridge team's computer models are assisting pharmaceutical companies in developing medicines. At the Microsoft Research lab, based in Cambridge, 150 scientists and software developers are working on a wide variety of projects as part of a 'biological computation' unit (stock image) The field of computational biology took off in 2012 when researchers at Stanford University developed the first complete computer model of an organism. The 'complete' model of the 'Mycoplasma genitalium' bacteria behaved exactly like the real thing (SEM image pictured) 'It's long term, but I think it will be technically possible in five to 10 years time to put in a smart molecular system that can detect disease,' Andrew Philips, head of the group, said. The field of computational biology took off in 2012 when researchers at Stanford University developed the first complete computer model of an organism. The 'complete' model of the 'Mycoplasma genitalium' bacteria behaved exactly like the real thing - based on data from 900 scientific papers. Every chemical change inside the bacteria is simulated at the molecular level. Being able to 'simulate' life allows researchers to perform far more complex experiments than were previously possible. Microsoft's senior researcher Dr Jasmin Fisher describes this process as 'connecting the puzzle pieces.' The Microsoft programming group has already developed software that mimics the healthy behavior of a cell. The next step is working out a code so the cells can be compared to that of a diseased cell, to work out where the problem occurred and how it can be fixed. Dr Jasmin Fisher, an associate professor at Cambridge University, told The Telegraph: 'If we are able to control and regulate cancer then it becomes like any chronic disease and then the problem is solved.' They may only grow to be 38 millimetres in length, but these toxic caterpillars can cause permanent damage to humans. Brown-tail moth caterpillars have millions of tiny barbed hairs on the bodies, which can fly off and cause skin inflammation, respiratory problems and even blindness. And the creepy crawlies have sparked fears among residents in Heybridge Basin, Essex, where they have begun creating cocoons in bushes. The brown-tail moth caterpillars have sparked fears among residents in Heybridge Basin, Essex, where they have begun creating cocoons in bushes WHAT ARE BROWN-TAIL MOTH CATERPILLARS? Brown tail moth is an insect native to the UK that has hairy black caterpillars. The caterpillars have millions of tiny barbed hairs on the bodies, which can fly off and cause skin inflammation, respiratory problems and even blindness. Just touching a small amount of their two million tiny barbed hairs is enough to cause a reaction and the only way to get rid of them is to destroy them in rubbish bags, or burn them. The barbed hairs can cause skin inflammation, respiratory problems and even blindness. Advertisement Just touching a small amount of their two million tiny barbed hairs is enough to cause a reaction and the only way to get rid of them is to destroy them in rubbish bags, or burn them. Derek Fox, a resident in Heybridge Basin, said: 'They make cocoons in shrubs and trees and each cocoon will hold a couple of thousand caterpillars. 'We are looking at them running into the billions. 'It's such a risk to health, the many hairs that come out of the caterpillars get stuck in the skin and that's where the rash comes from. The caterpillars, which have two distinctive orange dots on their backs will eventually become pure white moths, and are covered in the barbs to deter predators. But on a windy day the hairs can fly off and cause skin inflammation and respiratory problems if inhaled. Mr Fox, who captured these images of the cocoons, said: 'The caterpillars destroy the bush and trees they are up in - they are all now brown and dead' The caterpillars have begun to set up cocoons in Heybridge Basin, in Essex Mr Fox's partner, Jill Doubtfire, said: 'One of them landed on my neck, it must have fallen on me from a tree, I only noticed it when I got inside and thought nothing of it. 'Within hours I thought I had been bitten by the most aggressive gnat, the itching was so bad it kept be up for two nights and the really hot, burning sensation did not go away for weeks. 'People need to be aware of this problem, you would not want you or your child to get pricked by one of them, it would be unpleasant to say the least.' Mr Fox said he called Maldon District Council to make them aware of the problem and they sent him an advice sheet. The caterpillars, which have two distinctive orange dots on their backs will eventually become pure white moths, and are covered in the barbs to deter predators But he disputes some information on there about the caterpillars, which normally emerge from their 'silken tent' cocoons in the springtime and eat the leaves on trees. Mr Fox said: 'The information says it is a condition that will last a couple of hours but it isn't. It was a problem for close to a week when my partner got it. 'It can be particularly dangerous for asthma sufferers. The barbed hairs can fly off and cause skin inflammation, respiratory problems and even blindness. Pictured is an unnamed resident in Alphington showing his skin rash following an infestation in 2012 'At the same time, the caterpillars destroy the bush and trees they are up in - they are all now brown and dead.' A spokesman for Maldon District Council said: 'Our environmental health team have received notification of sightings of the brown tail moth in the Heybridge area and appropriate advice has been provided as a result. 'The council does not provide a treatment service for this particular pest but are happy to provide the public with general advice.' The information sheet gave advice such as why they are a problem and how to deal with them in both the summer and winter months. The caterpillars normally emerge from their 'silken tent' cocoons in the springtime and eat the leaves on trees 'When the caterpillars are active, contact chemical sprays may give some immediate control, but as only some 10 per cent of the caterpillars leave the confines of the tents at most times, this is not an effective option overall,' it said. 'What is necessary is a residual poison which can adhere to the leaves of the tree so that as the caterpillars venture out, the means of control is in place to eliminate them over a prolonged period. 'Great care should be taken to avoid touching the caterpillars and in cases of large infestations, it would be wise to keep windows closed to prevent caterpillars entering into your house. Anyone attempting to prune out winter cocoons should wear strong, impervious protective clothing, cover as much bare skin as possible, and remove the cocoons with secateurs from the tree or shrub by cutting the branch or twig to which it is attached 'The only certain way of eliminating any infestation is by pruning out and burning the cocoons during the autumn/winter period when the caterpillars are sheltered within.' Anyone attempting to prune out winter cocoons should wear strong, impervious protective clothing, cover as much bare skin as possible, and remove the cocoons from the tree or shrub by cutting the branch or twig to which it is attached. They should then be placed in plastic bags, sealed tightly and put in refuse bins. In 2013, Mike Zuckerman, a self-described culture hacker, attended the White House's National Day of Civic Hacking. Inspired by what he'd learned there, Mike returned to San Francisco and founded [freespace], an organization that focuses on sustainability and urban tactical development. In the spring of 2016, Mike went to Greece where he spent four months rehabilitating an abandoned clothing factory in the industrial sector of Thessaloniki, turning it into a humane shelter that he and his colleagues named Elpida. Unlike the official migrant camps in Greece, where refugees have little say in the day-to-day operations of the camp, Elpida put its 140 residents in charge, and the results were remarkable. Not only is Elpida much less expensive to run on a per person basis than official camps in Greece, the residents don't suffer from boredom, restlessness, and disengagement like they do at NGO-run camps. As a pilot model, Elpida offers hope and improved living conditions for refugees in a place where no other NGO was able to provide in this kind of support. Mike has been working with Institute for the Future (where I'm on staff) as an affiliate since 2014 and recently accepted an IFTF fellowship to help uncover and study new paradigms for restoring vulnerable places and space, such as post-disaster sites, informal refugee settlements, and decaying urban neighborhoods. I spoke to Mike about his work at Elpida in August, 2016, just days after he returned from Greece. Listen to the audio podcast interview with Mike Zuckerman here. Subscribe to the IFTF podcast on iTunes | RSS | Soundcloud | Download MP3 Millions of New York residents helped police in the search for the suspect behind the explosions at the weekend, with the help of technology. Residents received an alert on their phones yesterday morning shortly before 08:00 (13:00 GMT), telling them to look out for a suspect in the Manhattan and New Jersey bombings. Within three hours, the suspect was found. But some have criticised the message alert system, suggesting the messages can be 'confusing' and 'fear-inducing'. Scroll down for video Millions of New Yorkers received an alert (pictured) on their phones yesterday morning shortly before 08:00 (13:00 GMT), telling them to look out for a suspect in the Manhattan and New Jersey bombings FUTURE OF SURVEILLANCE The NYPD began using advanced video analytic software in select cameras feeds in 2010. It is looking at expanding the system of surveillance even more, according to former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton. 'We're currently looking at street light technology where you could put literally in every street light a camera system, so we're in the early stages of looking at that type of system,' Bratton told WNBC. Advertisement After identifying the bombing suspect as Ahmad Khan Rahami, the police took to the public to help find him, using a text message system that has previously been used for hurricane alerts and notices of missing people. The message came shortly before 08:00 (13:00 GMT) with a ring that was previously used to signals an Amber alert or a tornado warning. But this time, authorities used the service to identify a possible terror suspect. The message read: 'Emergency Alert. WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen.' Just hours after the alert was sent, Raham was taken into custody yesterday in Linden, New Jersey. New York's advancing security technology played a large part in finding the suspect. More than 8,000 new cameras and identification software, that were added to the city's streets after the September 11 terror attacks as part of New York's security initiative called the 'Ring of Steel', helped identify the suspect. In the 15 years since the attack on the World Trade Center, the number of cameras across New York has been steadily growing. Now the police's ability to monitor the city is more sophisticated than ever before. More than 8,000 cameras have been added to New York streets since the September 11 attacks as part of what has become known as the 'Ring of Steel.' Over 8,000 new cameras were added to the city's streets after the September 11 terror attacks, as part of New York's security initiative, helped identify the suspect. Pictured is a surveillance camera on the Federal Reserve Bank building in Manhattan NOTIFY NYC TEXT ALERTS Notify NYC, the alert system, began in 2007 after several incidents, including tornadoes, a steam pipe explosion and crane collapses. New York residents are automatically registered for emergency alerts. This is why many received the message even though they never subscribed to the service. This is possibly one of the first times the system has been used to send out information about a potential terror suspect. 'This is a tool we will use again in the future,' Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said at a news conference. 'No more wanted posters on the precinct house wall. This is a modern approach that really engaged a whole community.' Advertisement With help from these cameras, the New York Police Department (NYPD) was able to identify the suspect of two bombings - one in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night and another in New Jersey's Seaside Park earlier that day, as well as an attempted bombing in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Data from the cameras and the detectors, as well as emergency calls, more than 200 license plate readers and crime databases is fed into a map-based database called the Domain Awareness System (DAS). This analyses the information and law enforcement an overview of correlated information and potential threats. Launched in early August 2012, DAS regularly adds new data sources to its network. The NYPD began using advanced video analytic software in select cameras feeds in 2010. 'That's the world we're living in now. Any street, any incident in New York City you get to - most of the time - that gets captured on video surveillance,' New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a press conference yesterday. New York's 'Ring of Steel' initiative was inspired by London's Ring of Steel - increased surveillance in the City of London area that was introduced by the police in the 1990s. Artificial Intelligence software uses algorithms that can search video images for specific shapes, sizes, and colours. The software can also spot unattended packages or suspicious behaviour, like a vehicle moving against traffic. The DAS also analyses data from biological, chemical and radiological sensors. The NYPD is now also looking at expanding the system of surveillance even more, according to former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton. 'We're currently looking at street light technology where you could put literally in every street light a camera system, so we're in the early stages of looking at that type of system,' Bratton told WNBC. Rahami (pictured after his capture Monday) was born on January 23, 1988, in Afghanistan. His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Notify NYC, the alert system, began in 2007 after several incidents, including tornadoes, a steam pipe explosion and crane collapses ARE THE TEXT ALERTS 'CONFUSING' AND 'FEAR-INDUCING'? The police took to the public to help find the suspect, using a text message system that has previously been used for hurricane alerts and notices of missing people. Rahami, 28, was taken into custody Monday in Linden, New Jersey after a shootout with police, just hours after the alert was sent. But not everyone believes the use of these alerts is appropriate. In a paper recently published in the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, researchers look into how people interpreted the alerts during an unfamiliar event. This included a fictional situation in which a dirty bomb went off. Study participants found the messages, which are limited to 90 characters, confusing and well as fear-inducing. 'It was very troublesome,' Bandana Kar, a professor of geography at the University of Southern Mississippi who has studied the alert system told the New York Times. 'The alert was very unspecific and open-ended,' she added. 'By encouraging people to go to the media to look at a picture, what if someone had identified the wrong person?' When Shuja Haider heard the alert in his home in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, he told the New York Times he panicked, wondering if his building was on fire or under imminent threat. His parents called from Pakistan, concerned that he might have been in the area of the blast. But they had also expressed concern that their son might be affected by racial targeting in the aftermath. 'Today, brown guys like me are walking around worrying about the threat of terrorism like everyone else,' Mr Haider told the New York Times. 'But we're also worried about being blamed for it.' Advertisement After identifying the suspect as Ahmad Khan Rahami (pictured) the police took to the public to help find him, using a text message system that has previously been used for hurricane alerts and notices of missing people Ahmad Khan Rahami was seen by several of these cameras on Saturday. Along with these photographs, fingerprints on an explosive device and license plate readers at an undisclosed location helped identify and track the suspect. Notify NYC, the alert system, began in 2007 after a series of incidents including tornadoes, a steam pipe explosion and crane collapses. It has since relayed thousands of notifications to residents about emergencies in the city. New York residents are automatically registered for emergency alerts. This is why many received the message even though they never subscribed to the service. This is possibly one of the first times the system has been used to send out information about a potential terror suspect. The emergency alert sent out Monday morning asked witnesses to come forward if they saw Rahami. He is pictured after his arrest, following a shootout with police 'This is a tool we will use again in the future,' Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said at a news conference. 'No more wanted posters on the precinct house wall. This is a modern approach that really engaged a whole community.' But not everyone believes the use of these alerts is appropriate. In a paper recently published in the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, researchers looked into how people interpreted the alerts during an unfamiliar event. This included a fictional situation in which a dirty bomb went off. Study participants found the messages, which are limited to 90 characters, confusing and fear-inducing. Professor Hamilton Bean, from the University of Colorado in Denver, and his co-authors wrote in the paper the messages were 'often deemed confusing, difficult to believe and impersonal'. 'Participants also consistently found WEAs and tweets to be fear inducing and uninformative.' The police said the decision to send the alert on Monday required a high degree of evidence Mr Rahami was connected to the bombing. A watch command team at the city's office of emergency management monitors emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days of week. That team is in charge of sending emergency notifications to the public. These alerts usually include tornado alerts, instruction for mandatory evacuations (as was the case during hurricanes Sandy and Irene), Amber alerts and alerts for missing persons in imminent danger. In March this year, the FBI reportedly paid a security firm $1.3 million (900,000) to bypass the passcode of an iPhone 5C belonging to San Bernardino gunman, Syed Rizwan Farook. And it seems that it may have been ripped off as a security researcher has revealed how to do the same thing for just 75 ($98). Dr Sergi Skorobogatov, from the University of Cambridge's computer lab, has posted his findings on YouTube, showing just how easy it is to break the passcode. Scroll down for video The FBI unlocked an iPhone belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook (pictured right, with Tashfeen Malik, another terror suspect) who was one of two gunmen that killed 14 people in a mass shooting in San Bernardino in December HOW WAS IT DONE? Dr Skorobogatov effectively mirrored the NAND Flash chip a memory unit inside the iPhone onto a second chip. With most iPhones, ten unsuccessful attempts to guess the passcode will result in the user being locked out of the phone. But by tweaking the second mirrored chip, this allowed him unlimited attempts to guess the passcode. Having mirrored the NAND chip, Dr Skorobogatov reset the passcode guess attempts to zero. From there, he could cycle through passcode guess attempts until he found the code that unlocked the phone. He estimates that it takes around 20 hours to break a four digit code, and three months to break a six digit one. Advertisement In February, the US court ordered Apple to unlock an iPhone belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook who was one of two gunmen that killed 14 people in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California back in December. But when the FBI found a security firm who could unlock the phone for an estimated $1.3 million (900,000), it dropped the court case. The estimated figure was calculated based on comments by James Comey, the director of the FBI. He said that the agency had paid more to hack the iPhone 5C than he 'will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months'. According to public filings, Mr Comey makes $183,300 (127,800) a year, which would mean the cost of the iPhone hack was $1.3 million - the largest publicised fee ever paid for a hacking job. Now, Dr Skorobogatov has shown how it is possible to break the passcode on an iPhone, using just 75 worth of equipment. The video shows how Dr Skorobogatov effectively mirrored the NAND Flash chip a memory unit inside the iPhone onto a second chip. With most iPhones, ten unsuccessful attempts to guess the passcode will result in the user being locked out of the phone. With most iPhones, ten unsuccessful attempts to guess the passcode will result in the user being locked out of the phone But by tweaking the second mirrored chip, this allowed him unlimited attempts to guess the passcode. In an accompanying paper, published on Arxiv, Dr Skorobogatov said: 'The process does not require any expensive and sophisticated equipment. 'All needed parts are low cost and were obtained from local electronics distributors.' Having mirrored the NAND chip, Dr Skorobogatov reset the passcode guess attempts to zero. From there, he could cycle through passcode guess attempts until he found the code that unlocked the phone. He estimates that it takes around 20 hours to break a four digit code, and three months to break a six digit one. Technology experts have backed-up Dr Skorobogatov's method, with Sophos security blog saying: 'the phone's contents could have been retrieved without all the drama and all the headlines.' The science fiction author Isaac Asimov first proposed the 'Three Laws of Robotics' in a short story published in 1942 as a way of ensuring the machines would not rise up to overthrow humanity. But with robots now starting to appear in people's homes and artificial intelligence developing, a group of experts have drawn up a new list of rules to protect humanity from their creations. The British Standards Institution, which develops technical and quality guidelines for goods sold in the UK and issues the famous Kitemark certificate, has drawn up a new standard for robots. The British Standards Institution have drawn up new guidelines for robotics designers to help ensure robots do not cause a risk to humans. They say the growing use of robots in homes, shops (robot shop assistant Pepper pictured) and industry poses an 'ethical hazard' It states that robots should not be designed to kill or harm humans, echoing Asimov's first law of robotics. The new BSI Standard, named BS 8611, also highlights the need for robots and autonomous systems have protective measures built into their design to ensure they do not pose a hazard to humans. The standard states that robots present 'significant ethical hazards' in many applications but also warns that they could also bring psychological hazards such as 'associated fear and stress'. It provides guidelines to robot manufacturers and designers to identify where potential harm may occur in various robot applications and how to tackle that. The standards states that robots should not be designed to be deceptive and that there should always be a human who is responsible for the behaviour of a robot. Science fiction author Isaac Asimov first wrote the Three Laws of Robotics in a short story that was adapted to become i, Robot staring Will Smith. These laws were designed to stop robots harming humans, but the BSI has now published a new set of guidelines The standards state: 'Robots should not be designed solely or primarily to kill or harm humans. 'Robots as products should be designed to be safe, secure and fit for purpose.' The new standard was drawn up by a committee of scientists, philosophers and ethicists. However, they are unlikely to allay the fears of those who worry that robots may rise up and overthrow humans if they acquire the ability to think for themselves. While the standard does briefly mention the potential physical harm that robots could cause, the ethical and societal impact of robots might be more significant. STEPHEN HAWKING WARNS OF A ROBOTIC UPRISING Our desire to create helpful digital assistants and self-driving vehicles could bring about our demise. Professor Stephen Hawking warned that humanity faces an uncertain future as technology learns to think for itself and adapt to its environment. Speaking at event in London, the physicist told the BBC: 'The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.' This echoes claims he made earlier in the year when he said success in creating AI 'would be the biggest event in human history, [but] unfortunately, it might also be the last.' He argues that developments in digital personal assistants Siri, Google Now and Cortana are merely symptoms of an IT arms race which 'pale against what the coming decades will bring.' But Professor Hawking noted other potential benefits of this technology could also be significant, with the potential to eradicate, war, disease and poverty. 'Looking further ahead, there are no fundamental limits to what can be achieved,' continued Professor Hawking. 'There is no physical law precluding particles from being organised in ways that perform even more advanced computations than the arrangements of particles in human brains.' Advertisement It warns about the risk of robots leading to social displacement and unemployment and urges they be designed to only take on unsocial or hazardous roles. The guidelines, which cost 158 ($208), examine the impacts of a range of robotic and autonomous technologies including self-driving cars, medical robots, industrial robots and those used in the home for personal care. Dan Palmer, head of market development at the British Standards Institution, said the expanding use of robots had been the main motivation to draw up the standards. He told Digital Trends: 'Robots have been used in manufacturing for a long time, but what we're seeing now are more robots interacting with people.' Some scientistshave warned of the risk posed by artificial intelligence and robotics if care is not taken when developing the technology. The new guidelines say robots should not be designed to deliberately harm humans, as they were in the film Terminator (pictured) It feels like were on Mars! I heard someone say, as we snaked along the carpet of black lava with giant piles of volcanic rock toppled precariously around us. I had to agree, the barren crater of Kilauea Iki in Hawaiis Volcanoes National Park felt like nowhere else Id been on earth. It was wickedly desolate and I felt pretty insignificant as if I could get swallowed up by the expanding and contracting ground below me at any time. Open expanse: The barren crater of Kilauea Iki in Hawaiis Volcanoes National Park is one of the more stunning places for hiking Mystical: A rainbow shines over the Halema'uma'u Crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, visible from the Jagger Museum lookout Pu'u O'o volcano erupts in the Volcanoes National Park Island Lava flows enter the ocean in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park As we made our way across the crater floor it last erupted in 1959 spewing up 580m-high lava fountains we even spotted a large crevice with piping hot steam coming out. We should have brought our bag of marshmallows to toast after all! our tour leader Chad Keiser said, as we gathered around to survey the smoking hole. I had joined eight other people on an eight-day camping trip around Hawaiis Big Island organised by the outdoor expedition company, TrekAmerica. The timing of the trip meant my visit would also coincide with the 100th anniversary of the National Park system, which added to the appeal. Vibrant: A gecko rests on a Red Torch Ginger Lily in the gardens of the Akaka Falls State Park Majestic: Wild horses stop to say hello in the misty basin of the Waipio Valley Our jam-packed itinerary took us through a range of volcanic landscapes, from dormant calderas to craggy outcrops by the ocean. And it included a visit to the foothills of the tallest mountain in the world, Mauna Kea. The often snow-capped peak rises more than 10,000m when measured from its base on the ocean floor, making it significantly greater than the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level. Our Kilauea Iki crater hike took place on day three of the trip but we started the first day with a snorkelling expedition. On the move: TrekAmerica's jam-packed itinerary took the group through a range of volcanic landscapes, from dormant calderas to craggy outcrops by the ocean Natural destruction: The Chain of Craters Road has been buried by lava flows several times, this stretch of tarmac was buried in the late 70s Swimming just by the spot where Captain Cook died on February 14, 1779, I was mesmerised by the abundance of fish before me. One moment, shoals of bright yellow were sailing by and then another second a giant conger eel was slinking below, through the maze of rock and corals. The snorkelling trip marked the first of many incredible wildlife encounters in Hawaii. Apparently we'd missed dolphin season which happens between January and March but on our second day, we saw a group of majestic sea turtles. The creatures had come up to sunbathe on a black sand beach just a stones throw from where we had set up camp on a windy shoreline the night before. These weren't the only animals we encountered, during our trip we went on a safari tour through the jungle, meeting a herd of wise-looking wild horses as we went. Secluded: The Big Island features dozens of stunning beaches This way! Chad Kieser, a guide for TrekAmerica, leads the group on a trek through the park All ears: Tour leader Chad reads out some facts as the group traverse the crater of Kilauea Iki in Hawaiis Volcanoes National Park On the weather front, I blindly expected it to be constant sunshine on the U.S.s 50th state - packing five bikinis in my case - but I was surprised by how difficult it was to get to grips with the Hawaiian weather. Out of the 13 climates in the world, Hawaii has 11. This meant in some spots it could actually be cold and rainy. However, a ten-minute drive down the road would take you to bright sunshine and 30C heat. Mind your step: The crater of Kilauea Iki features piles of broken rock Come rain, come shine: Out of the 13 climates in the world, Hawaii has 11 - making it a tricky vacation to pack for Despite the varied climate, the majority of the camping nights were pretty balmy, with the sleeping bag getting kicked off during the night. However, during our two-day stay on the grounds of Volcanoes National Park I actually got pretty cold something I hadnt bargained on. Despite feeling nippy, I was determined to get out and see the glowing caldera by night. Wearing my sleeping bag as a makeshift cape, I headed out to the viewing point at the Volcanoes National Parks, Jagger Museum for sunset. The overlook outside of the museum offers a breath-taking panoramic view of Kilauea Caldera with several displays inside the complex about Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes. Over 245 years there have been 62 eruptions and the current eruption started in January of 1983 and has been continuous ever since. From the overlook, you can see the on-going gas eruption of Halema'uma'u crater, which is a giant pit crater located within the summit of Kilauea. On the night we visited it was pretty misty with rain peppering the air but we were still able to see the molten lava spit and bubble, like a giant stewpot of flaming chilli. Lots to see: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is easily visited by car in just a few hours or may be explored over several days View from the top: Hikers will find an abundance of trails to satisfy their curiosity Bubbling away: On a clear night, the view of the erupting Halema'uma'u crater from the Jaggar Museum Overlook can be quite spectacular The next night offered even better views, not just of the crater, but of the dazzling patchwork of stars in the night sky. Another spot worth visiting in Volcanoes National Park is the Thurston Lava Tube, located close to the Kilauea Iki crater trail. The short hike takes you through the heart of a 500-year old lava cave, with ripples of dried rock running from floor to ceiling. And if, for the caving fanatics, I recommend you head to the Kaumana Caves. A man-made stairway leads you down into a 25-mile-long lava tube, which feels wildly untouched. I had to use the torch on my iPhone to navigate the dank tunnels channeling through the earths crust. At one point we all turned our lights out and there was nothing but silence and the pitch black. To get a real feel of the more-recent devastation caused by the volcanoes on Hawaii, we headed back into the daylight and drove to the Chain of Craters scenic road, which meanders from an altitude of 4,000ft to sea level and back again. Along the way there are a range of different terrains, from the Mars-like surfaces seen at Kilauea Iki crater to sloping hills peppered with vegetation and lava running down to the ocean. Watercolour wash: Watching the sun set from the top of Puu Kalepeamoa, near the Maunakea Visitor Center on the Big Island, is well-worth doing The often snow-capped peak of Mauna Kea rises more than 10,000m when measured from its base on the ocean floor, making it greater than the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level Lava flow as seen along the Chain of Craters scenic drive Parts of the road system still remain buried by lava from Kilauea's Puu Oo vent that seeped out between 1986 and August, 2013. One bit of road we stopped by is nicknamed the 'Road to Nowhere' because it was demolished by lava flow and only a little patch of tarmac remains today with the central white line markings still visible. At the bottom of the scenic drive, we hopped out of our tour van to have a look at the Holei Sea Arch, which stands around 90ft high. Here the powerful waves crashed against the jagged rock. At one point the splashes were so forceful that they came over the cliff edge and soaked some of the group. In a bid to get out of soaking range and to take in some of country's spectacular waterfalls from above, we had the option of taking a helicopter excursion (it was pricey but well worth doing). During the 40-minute flight, we flew into deep valleys, grazed sea cliffs and hovered over dozens of abundant cattle ranches. From the air: TrekAmerica offered the option of taking a helicopter excursion Stomach-churning: During the 40-minute flight, the helicopter flew into deep valleys, grazed sea cliffs and hovered over dozens of cattle ranches Hovering above: Some of the Big Island's most breathtaking and accessible waterfalls can be discovered along the northeastern coast of the island, along the Hilo and Hamakua Coast Black sand safari: In Hawaii, the green sea turtle is referred to as 'honu' and is a symbol of good luck and longevity Lastly I headed to Oahu, the third largest island in Hawaii and also the most populated. Here I was keen to visit one of Hawaiis other National Parks, Pearl Harbour. After checking into the chic Vive Boutique Hotel in downtown Honolulu a welcome treat after multiple days camping in the wilds I headed over to the historic site. The Arizona Memorial is a sobering but worthwhile visit. The complex has been well thought out and the history is easy to digest. On the hiking front there are dozens of great trails to do on Oahu, including the popular Diamond Head summit hike, which offers spectacular views over Honolulu and the sky-blue oceans. Other spots worth visiting include the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve and the Nuuanu Pali outlook, which boasts mountain-side panoramas of the lush green below. Reach for the sky: The Diamond Head Summit trail hike is likely the most popular hike in Oahu, Hawaii Slice of history: Pearl Harbour's Arizona memorial is a sobering but worthwhile visit From left: Amelia Patten, Anna and Jenny Lindell, Debbie Tanner and Sadie Whitelocks strike a pose above the volcanic plains All smiles: Sadie said she would love to return to Hawaii and check out the other six islands she didn't get chance to visit At the end of my time in Hawaii it felt like Id been away for months because of the sheer number of activities I'd enjoyed from snorkelling to hiking to caving and helicoptering. And the dreamy scenery was almost enough to tempt me to emigrate. But in a fervent effort to keep the Hawaiian spirit going strong, the moment I landed I pulled out a couple of leis and adorned my wardrobe in rainy London with them. Mahola Hawaii - I will definitely be back one day as despite seeing so much on two islands, I still have a staggering six more in the state to visit. The inky night sky was ablaze with colour. The bright streaks shot far and wide, sizzling and popping so wildly that the spectators transfixed fell into the water. It was a big night for the Gota Canal, the historic cross-country waterway that links Stockholm with Gothenburg through the southern sections of Sweden. The year was 1832 and the pioneering project was newly completed. It had taken 22 long years and had seen 58,000 workers hand-excavate a 100-mile route that would link canals to rivers and lakes and in the process, unite the countrys principle metropolises by flow of water. The Gota canal had taken 22 long years and had seen 58,000 workers hand-excavate a 100-mile route that would link canals to rivers and lakes and in the process, unite the countrys principle metropolises by flow of water Even now, 184 years on, many regard it as Swedens greatest achievement. One person who did not end up with soggy shoes that night was King Carl XIV. As guest of honour, he passed through on his private yacht. Nearly two centuries later, I am on the Gota Canal in the silent dark, with not a fiery spark or a Catherine wheel to be seen. I begin my three-night voyage in Gothenburg. After a couple of days exploring Swedens handsome second city an urban gem on the Kattegat Sea which offers canals and islets of its own the vintage MS Juno awaits. Here is a good thing in a small package. With only 29 cosy cabins split across three decks, each kitted out with bunk beds, wooden panels and brass fittings, it is simple but chic. The ship dates back to 1874, making it the worlds oldest registered passenger vessel with accommodation. Quite the claim to fame, and I find myself wondering whether such a stately lady should be wandering these twisting channels when she could be enjoying her retirement as a gilded museum piece. ALL ABOARD The King of Sweden called on Scotsman Thomas Telford to design the impressive Gota Canal in 1806 Advertisement Happily, the figure at the helm, Captain Fredrik Bjorkander, is a man who is fully capable of looking after his precious charge not least because he has spent a significant chunk of his life travelling back and forth across his homelands internal waterways. Its a glorious way to experience a part of Sweden that very few ever see, he says as we negotiate the first of the 66 locks in our path. The King of Sweden called on Scotsman Thomas Telford to design the impressive Gota Canal in 1806. Even now, 184 years on, many regard it as Swedens greatest achievement Lunch (locally caught cod casserole very tasty) is served in the quaint, period-style dining room, the small tables adorned with crystal glasses and fine china. It is my first opportunity to meet my fellow sailors: smitten couples, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, people celebrating milestone anniversaries and locals ticking off their bucket lists. MARVEL AT WHALES OR MASTER A THAI CURRY Whale of a time There is something utterly glorious about seeing whales in their natural habitat and you dont need to go hundreds of miles out to sea to catch a glimpse. Canadas St Lawrence River, which swishes through Quebec, attracts 13 species of marine mammal, including humpback, beluga and blue whales. Keep watch for them on a six-night voyage from Quebec City, downstream to Kingston via Montreal. Details: St Lawrence Cruise Lines (stlawrencerivercruise.com, 001 613 549 8091) offers a six-night river cruise from CAD$2,286pp (1,319). Return flights to Montreal start at 586 with Air Canada (aircanada.com, 0871 220 1111). Tasty Thailand Food is a huge part of any trip. But in Thailand, it can take top billing. Discover the countrys rich culinary culture on a three-day cruise around Bangkok on the luxurious Anantara Song a restored century-old rice barge with four ensuite cabins. The journey starts beside one of the capitals most iconic landmarks, the Temple of Dawn. Sailing onwards on the Chao Phraya River, there are chances to sample the best Thai cuisine and learn to cook it yourself with the on-board chef. Details: Anantara Cruises (bangkok-cruises.anantara.com, 0066 2476 0022) has a three-day cruise from 1,436pp. Return flights from Heathrow to Bangkok with Thai Airways (thaiairways.com, 0330 400 4022) start from 463. Captain Your Ship Wannabe cruise captains can test their skills on a self-guided jaunt through the Norfolk Broads. Take command of the Absolute Freedom river cruiser (which sleeps up to seven people) and set sail through some of Britains finest scenery. With more than 200 miles of waterways awash with windmills and walking trails, this is a trip that can be tailored to suit you. Details: A seven-night break on the Absolute Freedom costs from 1,100 via Freedom Boating Holidays (freedomboatingholidays.co.uk, 01603 858453). Follow the Mandalay Myanmar or Burma as it was formerly known has become a popular destination since it opened for tourism in 2012. There is no more rewarding way to see it than by sailing the Irrawaddy River. Visit fabled Mandalay, wander remote monasteries and cruise Inle Lake. Be astounded by Bagan, where crumbling temples and pagodas fill the flatlands. Details: Viking River Cruises (vikingrivercruises.co.uk, 0800 319 6660) lists a 15-day trip, starting at Bangkok. It includes a seven-night cruise on the Irrawaddy. From 5,699pp including most meals. Return Heathrow to Bangkok flights start at 463 with Thai Airways (thaiairways.com, 0330 400 4022). Advertisement Ive longed to take this journey my whole life, says one native, Bo. But the thing that strikes me the most? Everyone is talking. There is not a mobile phone nor a selfie stick to be seen. Such things simply dont belong on the MS Juno. Mobile phones are confined to cabins and you will not find anything as distracting as a radio or TV on board. Wi-fi? Forget it. Instead, days are filled with walks and bike rides on the banks of the canal, playing card games, or delving into books borrowed from the small library while sipping a drink from the honesty bar. It takes me a little while to relax into life in the slow lane. I spend the first few hours itching to check my phone, but I soon embrace the digital detox and come to terms with the leisurely pace. We could go a lot faster, but whats the rush? says the skipper, as we slice through fields and flatlands and lagoons dotted with lily pads on our way to Stockholm. For many, the highlight of the voyage is crossing Swedens largest body of water, Lake Vanern. I sit on the deck and watch the sprinkling of forested islands come and go as the day comes to a striking end, the sky splashed with warm tones of pink and orange. The lake darkens and countless choppy ripples dance across the surface. Below us, the decaying remains of around 10,000 shipwrecks occupy their watery graves. The following day I stretch my legs with a long walk along the canalside to the nearby 12th-century Vreta Abbey while the Juno has a more arduous morning, passing through a series of complex and lengthy locks with a descent of 40m. When I return to the boat, a large crowd has gathered. People come out of their homes to wave and take photos as we progress further. Even after all these years, the Juno attracts an audience. The largest swell of happy faces is congregated at Forsvik, where a group are singing hymns and playing accordions while holding flowers in their hands. It is a tradition thats been taking place since 1915, when local man Henry Kindbom decided to bless passing ships. The Gota Canal has history at every turn, but is arguably at its most interesting in Birka, a community that, founded in the eighth century, would go on to become the first town in Sweden. Back in its formative years, it was home to Vikings. It is now considered to be the best-preserved reminder of this warlike but often misunderstood people. I walk across its sprawling grasslands and spongy hills, under which are hundreds of Viking graves. Birka may be where Sweden started, but all roads or rather, rivers and canals lead to Stockholm. The sight of the capitals skyline pointy church towers and medieval pastel buildings looming on the horizon marks the end of my adventure. We rejoin the 21st century the moment we hop ashore in the old town district of Gamla stan, where the traffic is loud, pedestrians move at speed and mobile-phone use is no longer discouraged. But the magic of the Gota Canal lingers a while longer even without a firework display to salute its wonder. all roads or rather, rivers and canals lead to Stockholm. The sight of the capitals skyline pointy church towers and medieval pastel buildings looming on the horizon marks the end of my adventure Advertisement The surface of the water is so still the lake and the sky seem to become one - a dazzling array of twinkling stars against a deep blue backdrop - as a lone kayaker gently drifts across. A stunning series of pictures show photographer and kayaker Paul Zizka paddling through calm waters against the beautiful backdrop of the Canadian Rockies. In one stunning image he's bathed in the eerie glow of the Northern Lights. He had been planning the trip for a while, and after checking the weather would be just right he set up his camera and took to the water to create stunning self-portraits. Zizka, from Alberta, Canada, said: 'It was an incredibly still, clear night - the stars danced across the surface of Goat Pond in Kananaskis, making it seem like I was paddling through the night sky. 'The clear, dark skies and no wind meant the stars reflected perfectly on the water. 'The main challenge was keeping myself and the kayak still enough so I would appear sharp in the image. I'm really happy with the result.' Bathed in the eerie glow of the Northern Lights, a stunning series of pictures show photographer and kayaker Paul Zizka paddling through calm waters against the beautiful backdrop of the Canadian Rockies He had been planning the trip for a while, and after checking the weather would be just right he set up his camera and took to the water to create stunning self-portraits 'The clear, dark skies and no wind meant the stars reflected perfectly on the water,' Zizka said of his night-time journey Zizka, from Alberta, Canada, added: 'It was an incredibly still, clear night - the stars danced across the surface of Goat Pond in Kananaskis, making it seem like I was paddling through the night sky' 'The main challenge was keeping myself and the kayak still enough so I would appear sharp in the image. I'm really happy with the result,' Zizka concluded Two female passengers were removed from a Flybe flight recently for allegedly treating the plane like a giant colouring-in book. The women were scheduled to fly from Southampton to La Rochelle in the south of France last Wednesday. But they were escorted back to the terminal after the captain saw them drawing on the body of the plane in felt tip pen. Two female passengers were removed from a Flybe flight recently after the captain saw them allegedly drawing on the body of the plane in felt tip pen (stock image) After being instructed to remove the markings and discovering that they would not come off, they were reported to the authorities. The two ladies, said to be in their forties, had reportedly been on their way to a wedding. A police spokesperson later revealed that no arrests had been made though. A Flybe spokesperson told MailOnline Travel that the women were removed from the flight for the protection of the other passengers and the crew. The women were reported to the authorities. Flybe said it had a zero-tolerance policy towards potential criminal behaviour (stock image) The source said: 'Immediately prior to and during boarding, the captain of the flight witnessed two passengers writing with felt pens on two items of equipment that included the body of the aircraft. 'In the interest of maintaining safety and security for the protection of its passengers and crew, Flybe has a zero tolerance policy towards any potential criminal behaviour. 'The incidents were therefore reported to the authorities who attended the aircraft and took the perpetrators away for questioning. She was feted with the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series award at Sunday night's Emmy Awards. While Dame Maggie Smith could not accept the award in person, the show's host Jimmy Kimmel drew huge attention to her absence as he stormed the stage saying: 'Maggie, if you want this, it will be in the lost and found.' The 81-year-old actress, given the nod for her work in Downton Abbey, has now shown her wicked sense of humour as she hit back at the US funnyman in a hilarious acceptance speech. Scroll down for video One is not amused: Dame Maggie Smith could not accept the award in person, the show's host Jimmy Kimmel drew huge attention to her absence as he stormed the stage saying: 'Maggie, if you want this, it will be in the lost and found' Jimmy took aim at Maggie in his opening monologue due to the fact she has now-won four Emmys and been nominated for a whopping nine - yet never attended the ceremony, much to the chagrin of the host. As Minnie Driver and Michael Weatherly presented the award to the star remotely, he stormed the stage, grabbed the award saying: 'Maggie, if you want this, it will be in the lost and found.' Since Sunday night's award show, Maggie, who is famed for playing Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton, gave an incredibly witty response to Jimmy's raging speech regarding her absence. In her remote acceptance speech she wrote: 'I was very astonished and pleased to win the award. I feel the Emmys have been overly generous to me. If Mr. Kimmel could please direct me to the lost and found office I will try and be on the next flight. Love, Old Maggie.' Cheeky! The 81-year-old actress, given the nod for her work in Downton Abbey, has now shown her wicked sense of humour as she hit back at the US funnyman in a hilarious acceptance speech Astonished! She made her remote acceptance speech she wrote: 'I was very astonished and pleased to win the award. I feel the Emmys have been overly generous to me. If Mr. Kimmel could please direct me to the lost and found office I will try and be on the next flight. Love, Old Maggie' The tongue-in-cheek mutiny between the pair reached fever pitch during Jimmy's opening speech in which he spent over a minute of the seven minute monologue discussing her absence. He said: 'This year for the first time ever, you must be present to win. If we call your name and you're not here to accept the Emmy goes to the next person on the list - it's called the Maggie Smith rule. 'This, if you don't know, is she's been nominated nine times, won three times (prior to Sunday's win). How many times do you think she turned up to accept the award? That's right, no times. This time she had a Sunday ceramics class she couldn't get out of. 'When Maggie Smith finds out she's been awarded with an Emmy she has the same reaction we get when we get Bed Bath And Beyond coupons in the mail. Right in the garbage. Not happy: The tongue-in-cheek mutiny between the pair reached fever pitch during Jimmy's opening speech in which he spent over a minute of the seven minute monologue discussing her absence New rules: He said: 'This year for the first time ever, you must be present to win. If we call your name and you're not here to accept the Emmy goes to the next person on the list - it's called the Maggie Smith rule' 'She goes to other awards! She went to the Oscars to get an Oscar. She went to the Tonys. She goes to the Soul Train Awards every year. But is she here in this audience tonight? I don't see her. She's Downton Absent, is what she is for the ninth time. What is wrong with us why do we keep nominating her? She's treating us like the People's Choice Awards. 'I have a message for you lame Maggie Smith if you're bothering to watch. If you want an Emmy you better get on a plane and get your Dowager Countess ass over here.' Sunday night's win was the actress' fourth, having won twice before for her performance as Violet Crawley in Masterpiece Theatre's costume drama, as well as taking home the outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie for My House In Umbria in 2003. Kimmel pointed out to the audience that Smith had shown up to collect her two Academy Awards, for The Prime Of Miss Brodie and California Suite back in the 1970s, and also picked up her Tony Award in 1990 for the Broadway play Lettice and Lovage. They got engaged earlier this year following a six year courtship. And now, in a rare interview about her personal life, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 29, has described her handsome actor fiance Jason Statham, 49, as one of the 'greatest influences' in her life. 'I have an amazing relationship with my partner,' the former Victoria's Secret Angel tells Harper's Bazaar Australia. Scroll down for video Rare interview: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 29, has described her handsome actor fiance Jason Statham, 49, as one of the 'greatest influences' in her life in an interview with Harper's Bazaar Australia Ready for her close-up: Rosie graces the cover of Harper's Bazaar Australia's October issue 'He's by far the greatest influence in my life.' Jason proposed to the blonde beauty last January with a five-carat Neil Lane diamond ring. The happy couple announced their engagement at the Golden Globes in 2016, with Rosie flashing the bling on the red carpet. So far the happy couple have both kept tight-lipped about any wedding plans. Power couple: Rosie and Jason have been dating for more than six years, with the actor proposing to the model in January 2016 They currently reside in a modern two-storey, five-bedroom home in Beverly Hills. They also own a Malibu beach house, where they were spotted in late August, enjoying wine with friends. Rosie has been busy jet-setting around the world for modelling and fashion duties. When's the big date? So far the happy couple have both kept tight-lipped about any wedding plans The blonde beauty attended New York Fashion Week - including at the coveted Ralph Lauren show, where she shared the front row spotlight with Ricky Lauren, Julianne Moore, Dylan Lauren, Annabelle Wallis and Jessica Alba. She then globe trotted her way to London Fashion Week over the weekend. Of late, the supermodel has landed campaigns with some of the world's biggest brands, including Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger and Topshop to name a few. She is currently a spokes-model for UGG and just released her newest shades of lip shines from her Rosie for Autograph make-up collection. Loved-up: The couple are pictured on a romantic holiday in Thailand last December In the past, Rosie has spoken about how it is impossible to do "normal stuff" with her fiance, due to Jason's huge fan base. 'People go crazy for Jason. It can become a frenzy walking down the street with him,' she told The Edit. He's become 'Australia's most hated man' following his quest to find love. And Richie Strahan is now also the target of ruthless online trolling from disgruntled viewers. The 32-year-old's latest social media post featuring his 25-year-old girlfriend Alex Nation has garnered over 1,000 comments in a matter of hours, with fans expressing more disgust at the couple's romance. Scroll down for video Backlash! Richie Strahan's latest loved-up post featuring his love Alex Nation has been targeted by online trolls Unpopular: The rig worker's post has been slammed with over 1,000 comments from angry fans, with one writing 'Just vomited a little' One Instagram user didn't hold back, bluntly writing: 'Just vomited a little (sic).' Another tagged her friends and wrote: 'Everything about this makes me feel sick.' This person is clearly not a fan of the rope technician and the mother-of-one: 'U guys r fkd (sic).' Not happy: Another person said 'everything about this makes me feel sick' underneath the couple's photo Repulsed: One fan took it upon themselves to declare 'yuck yuck yuck this is disgusting' Not holding back: Another simply wrote 'U guys r f*****' And another accused the pair of being ingenuine, writing: 'Yeah keep playin it up for the cameras! We all know it's over between the two of u (sic).' 'Yuck yuck yuck this is disgusting,' one disappointed fan shared. In the black-and-white photo, Richie is seen lying in bed and smiling while Alex plants a big kiss on his cheek. Not a fan: Another tagged their friend and said 'I hate them' about Alex and Richie Unfazed: Despite the backlash from fans, the Chadwick model and the mother-of-one haven't been shy about flaunting their love online 'Moments like this,' the rig worker captioned his post. The comments also took aim at Alex, who is mother to a five-year-old boy named Elijah. 'Oh my god go home to your kid bruh (sic),' someone pleaded. While another wrote: 'Go home to your kid s***.' Away from home: Fans have questioned why Alex isn't spending time with her son Elijah after months of being away from the five-year-old Advice: One person wrote 'Oh my god go home to your kid bruh (sic)' Another fan told Alex to 'go look after your kid s***' Reality: Someone else was quick to offer Richie a reality check, writing 'He hasn't even met her child yet boom your little world is about to change kids (sic)' Richie's fellow Bachelorette contestant Davey Lloyd jumped to his pal's defence with some heated words of his own. Directing his remark to another commenter, Davey wrote: '@tiffa2806 maybe you should stop worrying about there life and concentrate on your own. You dead sh** (sic).' The picture comes just days after Alex shared her first social media post of the couple, since the grand finale episode. Defensive: Richie's pal and former Bachelorette contestant Davey Lloyd hit back at haters with his own heated words Taking to Instagram, the 25-year-old mother-of-one shared a loved-up snap of the pair, in which Alex's arms were seen wrapped around her 32-year-old boyfriend. 'In a weird and wonderful world, I found you. I found love, friendship and happiness (sic). 'Rich, I wouldn't change a thing! Here is to many more adventures and experiencing life together. I'M SO BLOODY EXCITED!!! I love you. 'I followed my heart': The Bachelor Richie broke his silence about the controversial season finale on The Project on Friday, revealing he does not understand the fan backlash 'To our family and friends and to all those who have supported us, we honestly can not thank you enough. It truly means the world to us.' In the image, Alex was seen wearing a striped sweater, while Richie appeared to be sporting a grey T-Shirt. The post comes after Richie was dubbed 'Australia's most hated man' by online trolls after choosing Alex over fan favourite Nikki Gogan on The Bachelor finale. 'I came to this experience not knowing what to expect': Alex Nation (right) was also quizzed about the negative online response to the final result Richie finally broke his silence during an interview with The Project, revealing he does not understand why there is so much negative feedback. 'I have gone down this pathway twice now in the hope of falling in love and meeting a remarkable woman. 'And now I've done that and I've met Alex and followed my heart, and people are upset and saying things like 'you've made the wrong decision. Burn! Similar comments flooded Richie's Instagram page, with one fan writing: 'Richie lost' 'I only had one decision to make, and that was Alex,' he added, beaming at his new girlfriend. 'You should have consulted Twitter as well as your heart', one panelist joked. Richie and Alex have received thousands of abusive messages on social media since Thursday night. 'They're two young people in love': When asked on Channel Ten's The Project whether the backlash against Richie's and Alex was deserved, Nikki quickly replied: 'No' Runner-up: Richie ditched Nikki Gogan (pictured) and chose Alex instead in the finale And many angry fans claimed Richie made the wrong decision by rejecting Nikki. Alex was also quizzed about the negative backlash from Bachelor fans and said: 'For me, I came onto this experience not knowing what to expect. 'I met an incredible man and at the end of the day this was Richie's journey and he had to follow his heart,' she added. Torn apart: The emotional final episode saw a tearful Nikki admit she hopes that Alex and Richie will be 'incredibly happy together' After The Bachelor finale aired on Thursday, disgruntled fans 'trolled' Richie and Alex on social media about his 'poor decision'. 'How does it feel being the most hated man in Australia?' asked one disgruntled fan in a comment to Instagram. Another fan commented: 'Richie lost.' 'It was a different energy': The Bachelor's Nikki Gogan (left) realised she was not the winner the moment she held Richie Strahan's hands on Thursday night's finale Despite the public backlash runner-up Nikki Gogan has remained gracious in her defeat and even supported the new couple although adding that she is 'still raw' from the experience. 'Oh, no, Richie and Alex don't deserve any sort of backlash. They're two young people in love and that's a beautiful thing. 'I'm sure that once the nation gets over the shock, they'll start backing the beautiful couple they are 100 per cent.' He had split with famous girlfriend Taylor Swift just a week prior. And it didn't take Tom Hiddleston very long to get flirty with a pretty blonde. The 35-year-old actor was recently seen chatting it up with a mystery woman while grabbing coffee in Broadbeach, Australia. Scroll down for video Filling that Blank Space?: Tom Hiddleston was recently seen chatting it up with a mystery woman while grabbing coffee in Broadbeach, Australia Tom definitely upped the charm as he took off the shades shortly after meeting the lovely lady in the suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland. He even shared a laugh with the woman after she showed him something on her mobile phone. The Avengers star certainly appeared to be flirting it up with the stunner as they shared a few moments together before going their separate ways. Fancy meeting you here: The 35-year-old actor greeted the young woman with a handshake Fast friends: He and the pretty blonde seemed to be getting along Interesting: The mystery woman showed her something on her mobile Glee: Tom's face lit up when he saw what was on the woman's phone Good spirits: Tom definitely seemed to be in a good mood despite his recent break-up Tom looked dapper in a navy blue cashmere coat over a grey heather top and jeans. He also wore a pair of black Ray-Ban aviator shades and a watch while holding onto a red leather book and his coffee. The mystery woman rocked a black top with an entirely see-through mesh back and tiny grey sweat shorts. Parting is such sweet sorrow: Tom and the pretty blonde went their seperate ways after the meeting Dapper: Tom looked good in a navy cashmere coat, grey shirt and jeans Tom seems to be enjoying the single life as he was spotted putting on a flirty display with Priyanka Chopra, 34, at the AMC Emmys afterparty after getting close while presenting an award earlier in the night. A source told the E!: 'Tom had his arm around her and held her close. Afterwards, Tom and Priyanka talked closely and were holding hands at one point for a few moments. 'Priyanka fixed Tom's bow-tie and then the two kissed on both cheeks. They proceeded to put their phone numbers in each other's phones before embracing in a 'long hug' and 'several kisses on the cheek'. Cute: Tom has been enjoying the single life as he and and Priyanka Chopra were said to have put on a VERY flirty display at the Emmys afterparty on Sunday night after presenting an award earlier on They're getting along nicely: According to E!, viewers spotted the gorgeous pair adopting a little twirl as they made their way onto the stage Suits you: The pair held hands as they took to the stage in their very dashing ensembles 'She and Tom said goodbye and she told him that she will see him later. They left the event about a minute after each other.' Tom and Taylor Swift broke up earlier this month after a brief three month romance. Very soon after Taylor's break-up with Calvin Harris after a year of being together, Tom and Taylor confirmed their relationship and were pictured together on several occasions. On Sunday evening she glittered like a goddess in her silver gown at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Downtown Los Angeles. On Monday, it was back to normal for Robin Wright as she was spotted jetting out of LAX. The 50-year-old House Of Cards star looked casual and comfy in her travelling outfit as she opted to go makeup free. Scroll down for video She's on a roll: Robin Wright wheeled her own luggage when she turned up at LAX on Monday morning to catch a flight home to New York She wore a long-sleeved white sweater with faded grey skinny jeans turned up at the ankle and matching Converse sneakers. The actress toted a black backpack and rolled her own luggage through the terminal as she prepared to fly home to New York. Robin tucked her blonde, bob-cut hair behind her ears and covered her eyes with dark glasses. She didn't appear to be wearing much in the way of make-up beyond some pink lipstick. And she gamely stopped to sign autographs for fans in the terminal. Travelling ensemble: The 50-year-old wore a long-sleeved white sweater with faded grey skinny jeans turned up at the ankle and matching Converse sneakers. She's gotta ticket to ride: The actress clutched her ticket in her hand as she walked across the concourse. Robin was in LA for the Emmy's on Sunday evening House Of Cards was Emmy nominated in two categories - Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series for Robin's role as Claire Underwood. But the political satire was beaten by Game Of Thrones in the first race while Robin lost out to Ophan Black's Tatiana Maslany in the second category But Robin looked every inch a winner as she showed off her flawless figure in a silver Reem Acra gown with black lacing for the awards show at the Microsoft Theatre in the LA live section of the city. Time for her fans: The House Of Cards actress gamely stopped to sign an autograph for a young woman who recognised her in the terminal Meanwhile, Robin has two projects in the offing. She is set to play General Antiope in Wonder Woman, opposite Gal Gadot as the Amazonian princess and Chris Pine, due out on June 2. And she is also attached to the as-yet-untitled sequel to Blade Runner, with Harrison Ford reprising his role Rick Deckard 34 years he first played the private eye hired to hunt down humanoid robot replicants. Daisy Lowe had her dancing shoes on as she attended a LOVE Magazine party at the exclusive private members club Loulou's during London Fashion Week. Attending with her new model boyfriend Bradley 'Frankie' Wade, she seemed perfectly loved up as they were pictured holding hands outside the venue. Daisy slipped into a delightful pink and black wrap dress that looked sexy and playful at the same time on Monday night. Colourful: On Monday evening model Daisy Lowe attended a LOVE Magazine party at the exclusive private members club Loulou's during London Fashion Week Holding hands: She had her model boyfriend Bradley 'Frankie' Wade by her side for the occasion The 27-year-old carried her essentials in a small black bag with a hand strap, helping her carry the bag with ease. The 5ft 10in stunner elongated her endlessly lithe legs in a pair of black stilettos, which helped define her defined calves even further. The daughter of rocker Gavin Rossdale worked a dramatic eye, created with lashings of mascara and an extra helping of kohl eyeliner. Daisy has been dating her new man since she split from Darius Campbell following a six week romance. She has been dating her new beau since the start of the month. Camera-ready: Daisy slipped into a delightful pink and black wrap dress that looked sexy and playful at the same time Sitting pretty: Daisy put on a very leggy display as she mingled at the glam bash New romance: Daisy and her new beau have been dating since the start of the month, with the model splitting from Darius Campbell a little before Cute: They were every inch the good looking couple as their evening came to an end Walking in step: Daisy's friend was close by as they pounded the pavement together Not now! Daisy shielded her face as she sat in her waiting car ready to go home Daisy, who has worked for top-flight brands including Chanel, will compete on Strictly with Aljaz Skorjanec, a professional dancer from Slovenia. As she throws herself into the show's intense rehearsal schedule and high-profile billing on the BBC, Daisy has admitted that she needs to take a break from her partying ways. Speaking to the Radio Times she admitted that she had been celebrating hard in the run up to the competition. Winning combo: Miss Lowe, a model, has been paired with Aljaz Skorjanec (above) and the two are said to have struck up a close friendship But she added that she understands her limits: 'I knew once the show started Id have to knuckle down. No more partying! But Miss Lowe, 27, shows no sign of letting up, appearing at no less than five glittering events in as many days. She also told the publication that she has an alarm that goes off at 11am every day. 'It goes off every day to remind me how lucky I am to have doors opening for me,' she said. Daisy also said she's bucking the Strictly trend of having super dark spray tans. 'I don't think I will have one,' she said. 'I like being Snow White.' Last Wednesday her good friend Georgia May Foote uploaded Instagram snaps of the pair enjoying a bottle of wine. Guzzlers: Last Wednesday the model appeared to be out with her good friend Georgia May Foote drinking wine 'I like being Snow White': Daisy spoke to Radio Times about her Strictly Come Dancing experiences and said she will be refusing to have a spray tan John Schneider has been ordered to pay his estranged wife $18,911 in monthly spousal support. The 56-year-old Dukes Of Hazzard star was ordered to pay Elly Castle the amount as part of ongoing divorce proceedings, according to an article on Monday by TMZ. Elly, also known as Elvira Schneider, filed for in December 2014 after 21 years of marriage. Divorce proceedings: John Schneider, shwn with estranged wife Elly Castle in October 2007 in Los Angeles, has been ordered to pay her $18,911 in monthly spousal support The couple married in 1993 and share three adult children, including Leah and Chasen from Castle's first marriage and their daughter Karis. Castle cited irreconcilable differences in her divorce filing that also sought spousal report. She filed legal documents earlier this year seeking $31,000 a month in temporary spousal support. Castle stated in court papers that she was a stay at home mother throughout their marriage and no longer had the skills to compete in the modern workforce. Prolific actor: The Dukes Of Hazzard star is shown earlier this year in New York City promoting The Haves And The Have Nots Legal documents added they had homes in both California and Louisiana and maintained 'an affluent lifestyle throughout the entirety of their marriage.' Castle further claimed that Schneider earns more than $83,000 a month. The court ordered the lower spousal support amount of $18,911 after Schneider said he earned $40,487 last month. Happier times: Elly and John are shown in January 2010 in Hollywood Schneider owns a production company where he writes, directs and produces projects. He also has been steadily working in film and television since the end of The Dukes Of Hazzard in 1985. Schneider played Bo Duke in the CBS comedy-drama The Dukes Of Hazzard opposite Tom Wopat as as his older cousin Luke Duke. TV star: John is shown in a 2006 still from Smallville Sharon Stone can breathe easier for at least the next five years. A judge on Monday issued a stiff restraining order toward Phillip Barnes, a man who sent the Basic Instinct star, 58, a series of unnerving letters over the course of years, TMZ reported. For the next five years, Barnes cannot go within 100 yards of the actress or her three sons: Roan, aged 16 years, Laird, aged 11 years and Quinn, aged 10 years, according to the court. A reason to smile: Sharon Stone, seen here last month at a United Nations event in Los Angeles, was granted a five-year restraining order against a man who sent her disturbing letters and showed up at her home The restraining order includes provisions for places all four of the people, as Barnes is also restricted from approaching their house, schools, job sites or vehicles. The court will be able to extend the order as long as five years when it reviews the case again in 2021, according to the outlet. Barnes had been sending the Casino beauty many of the creepy correspondences from the psych ward or the prison he's been in, and is tentatively slated to be released within the next four months. Can't be too careful: Stone, seen here with her son Roan in 2010, has dealt with multiple stalkers through the legal system over the past 15 years Among the unusual ramblings in Barnes' letters, TMZ reported, included a line that read: 'I have 11 wifes picked out and would cause about 18 kids ... you would sit at the other head of the dineing table. (sic)' Barnes, two years ago, wrote Stone asking her to send him $20 billion in checks from the Department of Treasury, a gun silencer and bags full of diamonds, according to the outlet. The actress initially received a restraining order against Barnes when he was milling at the entrance of her gated Hollywood Hills home in August of 2011, claiming he had kids with her and that he was instrumental in that year's killing of Osama bin Laden, E! News reported. Passion: Stone played opposite Michael Douglas in the sexy smash hit Basic Instinct While she wasn't there during the incident, he did come back several times and sent her another letter demanding she not date people. Eventually, his antics landed him in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department, who gave him a psych evaluation. The Oscar-nominated actress subsequently listed the Southern California mansion on the real estate market at a $2 million loss from what she paid for it. Unfortunately, it's not the first experience with stalkers for the actress, who skyrocketed to international fame playing dangerous temptress Catherine Tramell, opposite Michael Douglas, in the 1992 thriller Basic Instinct. She's had to go to court twice - in 2001 and 2011 - for similar orders involving other overzealous admirers. She's an ageless beauty with impeccable style. And Cindy Crawford did not disappoint on Monday while sporting a white blouse tucked into skinny jeans and wedges. The supermodel, 50, showed off her long legs and small waist in the fitted look during her solo outing in Malibu. Chic and stylish: Cindy Crawford did not disappoint on Monday in Malibu while sporting a white blouse tucked skinny jeans and wedges The icon stepped out in skintight medium wash denim bottoms with a tan belt that highlighted her trim waist. Cindy hit the pavement in tan wedged heels with open toes, revealing her neutral polished toes. The legendary runway star complimented the casual bottoms with a button up blouse that featured three-quarter length sleeves. The mother of two added a touch of sparkle with a large gold pendant necklace and delicate earrings. Looking incredible: The supermodel, 50, showed off her long legs and small waist in the fitted look during her solo outing The beautiful star carried a snakeskin patterned purse over one shoulder while toting her smart phone and keys. Cindy covered up her coffee colored eyes with brown tinted sunglasses. She wore her long brunette tresses loose, opting for a sleek style. Beautiful lady: The legendary runway star complimented the casual bottoms with a button up blouse that featured three-quarter length sleeves What a stunner: Cindy hit the pavement in tan wedged heels with open toes, revealing her neutral polished toes The fashion starlet wore just a hint of makeup, opting to show off her natural beauty. On Monday evening, Cindy shared a stunning photo of herself to Instagram while posing in front of the sunset. She recently returned home to LA following a whirlwind trip with her husband Rande Gerber to New York Fashion Week as well as to Monaco. The beautiful model traveled to Monaco for the launch of photographer Marco Glaviano's book. The brunette is mom to two children: son Presley, 17, and daughter Kaia, 15, with husband Rande, 54. Views: Cindy shared a stunning photo of herself while posing in front of the sunset on Monday evening to her Instagram Writings on the wall: The beautiful model traveled to Monaco for the launch of photographer Marco Glaviano's book Emily Maynard Johnson welcomed her third child and second son, Gibson Kyle, with husband Tyler Johnson on Saturday. The proud mother shared the news of the happy event in an Instagram snap she posted the same day, showing herself in hospital with Tyler and her children, 14-month-old Jennings and Ricki, her 11-year-old daughter by the late Ricky Hendrick. The family revealed the newborn's name in an interview with People. Scroll down for video '...oh heavenly day...': On Saturday, Emily Maynard Johnson gave birth to her third child and second son, announcing the happy news via an Instagram photo with her whole family Gibson is Emilys middle name and her mothers maiden name, while Kyle is Jennings's grandmothers last name. The tot, who measured 21 inches long, weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 9ozs and is already firm friends with his older brother. Emily posted an Instagram video clip showing Jennings kissing the tot as he lay in his father's arms. Loving welcome: Their son 14-month-old son Jennings leaned in to give his baby brother Gibson a kiss as he lay in his father's arms in a video clip Emily posted Father and sons: The toddler, who was wearing a T-shirt with the words Big Brothers Rock on the front, stood next to his dad, Tyler, who couldn't wipe the smile off his face best friends already A video posted by Emily Maynard Johnson (@emilygmaynard) on Sep 19, 2016 at 8:17am PDT And Ricki iobviously adores her baby brother as she cradled him in her arms in the happy family snap as Emily sat behind her in burgundy pyjamas, beaming. The family's dashing patriarch stands at the back, grinning broadly and leaning into the frame. In her caption, the 30-year-old wrote: '...oh heavenly day... God is good! {Ricki and I are officially outnumbered!}' 'Last picture as a family of 4!': The 30-year-old and Tyler with Jennings and Emily's 11-year-old daughter Ricki by the late Ricky Hendrick After a pair of short-lived engagements resulting from stints on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Emily turned to religion, met her current husband in 2013 and married him the next year. This March, in a People blog announcing she was expecting, she acknowledged how quickly she and Johnson had churned out their progeny. She quipped that 'before you even say anything, yes, I realise I just had Jennings like, two seconds ago. I guess I shouldve read that part in the baby handbook that says youre super fertile after giving birth, huh?' Ready to pop: Five days before her latest delivery, the Morgantown native posted a photo of herself showing off her bulging baby bump in her husband's T-shirt Emily conceded: 'When this baby gets here, Jennings will be about 15 months old and even though Im sure hell have no clue whats going on, I feel a little guilty just because he didnt get to be a baby for very long!' Five days before the delivery, Emily posted a mirror selfie on Instagram in which she showed off her bulging bump in a baggy black T-shirt and capris. A knowing look on her face, she wrote a caption comprised of a string of hashtags: '#9monthspregnant #ootd #fashionblogger #husbandsclothes #nothingfits'. On Labor Day, she uploaded a photo of herself with her husband and her two children, writing: 'Labor Day Dove Hunt at the farm and quite possibly our last picture as a family of 4! #stillnotready #imarriedaredneck @mtylerjohnson'. She's made a successful career out of her model looks. But Sophie Monk proved that she's more than just a pretty face, as she tackled sister Lucy to the ground in a hilarious clip shared to Instagram on Monday. The 36-year-old media personality was seen dressed in a tight red number while wrestling her sibling in a UFC style take-down in the family's backyard before being jumped on by her nieces and nephews. Scroll down for video Not just a pretty face: Sophie Monk (R) 36, was seen tackling her sister Lucy to the ground in a hilarious clip shared to Instagram on Monday The blonde beauty sporting a body-hugging burnt orange dress, was seen pulling out an impressive move, with her sister ending up laying on the grass. 'I got you, I'm the winner,' Sophie is heard saying. But moments later, an army of Sophie's nieces and nephews run to Lucy's defence, pinning the actress to the ground. 'Oh no you're not, ouch,' she then says. All in good fun: The blonde beauty sporting a body-hugging burnt orange dress, was seen pulling out an impressive move, with her sister ending up laying on the grass 'I got you, I'm the winner': Sophie was claimed victorious after lightheartedly pinning her sibling to the ground Not so fast! But moments later, an army of Sophie's nieces and nephews run to Lucy's defence, pinning the actress to the ground Sophie has relocated to the Gold Coast, after reportedly dropping $1.1 million on a 4000 square metre mansion back in April. The luxury home boasts five bedrooms, three bathrooms, horse stables, a swimming pool and direct ocean access. Sophie can enjoy cooking in her all-white open kitchen and views of a nearby river. Close: The actress has a great relationship with her sister, often sharing humorous snaps to social media The actress, who previously spoke of her desire to 'settle down,' relocated to Sydney in recent years after having lived in Los Angeles for work. She moved into a new home in 2014 although she now appears to be ready for a another change, making a permanent move to the Gold Coast. 'Theres no time to really think about (a relationship) but Id like to eventually settle down in maybe a year or so but I better hurry up,' she told News Corp earlier this year. Her parents live within minutes from her new pad. In the genes: All three sisters sport blonde hair and striking eyes. Pictured with Angelique Ahearn (L) and Lucy Monk (R) It's a rarity in Hollywood. But married couple of seven years Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard looked very much in love as they attended the premiere for Peter's new film, The Magnificent Seven, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on Monday. The 38-year-old New York City native looked amazing as she strode the red carpet, clad in a long olive green dress with a sheer shawl. The Donnie Darko beauty wore her brownish-auburn tresses down to the formal event, rounding things out with heels. Scroll down for video A magnificent seven years: Peter Sarsgaard, 45, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, 38 - who have been married since 2009 - looked every bit the happy couple walking the red carpet at The Magnificent Seven premiere Monday at NYC's Museum of Modern Art Sarsgaard, 45, kept things simple in a classic black suit with white dress shirt underneath. The actor, who plays villainous Bartholomew Bogue in the Antoine Fuqua-directed motion picture, sported a shaggy, wavy 'do and a full beard. The Western, which is headlined by Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, features an ensemble cast of actors including Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee and Matt Bomer, among others. Sarsgaard, who tweeted earlier Monday that he 'always wanted to be a cowboy' in anticipation of the film's premiere, told Latino Review Media that he's always maintained an interest in the Western genre. 'I do have something in my head from being a kid,' he said. 'Like Sunday mornings, I used to watch a lot of Westerns, a lot of King Kong, Godzilla, all that kind of stuff. Tarzan. So I watched that every Sunday, so I had a lot of not-classic Westerns in my head.' Look of love: The couple, who have two daughters, shared a special moment as shutterbugs snapped away In demand: Both stars are sought-after in the entertainment industry, working steadily on strong projects Gorgeous in green: Maggie looked beautiful in this long olive green dress at the premiere Winning smile: The actress is currently working on The Deuce, an HBO series starring James Franco and created by The Wire's David Simon and George Pelecanos Bad guy: In the Western, the veteran actor plays bad guy Bartholomew Bogue He continued: 'I think in college I got more interested in them from a theory point of view, and I took a film class and was interested in the idea of a Western and what it means and that idea of the vigilante, which this movie totally has.' In the exchange, the actor, who's also been seen in Green Lantern, Orphan and Jarhead (alongside his wife's brother Jake Gyllenhaal) explained how he's been finicky in accepting roles as of late. 'Im looking for something,' he said. 'There are very few projects that you think, 'God, I really want to be in that,' you know what I mean? Star-studded: Denzel Washington (second from left) headlines an All-Star cast in the Western Winning combo: The film reunites Denzel with director Antoine Fuqua and actor Ethan Hawke, who he worked with on Training Day, the film that garnered him an Academy Award 'I dont feel like working in something Im not passionate about even satisfies the urge to work, so I just dont do it.' Maggie, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her work in 2009's Crazy Heart, has been working on The Deuce, a period piece on HBO about New York and the porn industry in the 70s and 80s. The series, which casts Maggie as a sex worker named Eileen 'Candy' Merrell, also stars James Franco and was created by David Simon and George Pelecanos, the minds behind HBO's brilliant series The Wire. The Magnificent Seven opens in theaters everywhere Friday. Big Apple beauties: Actress Alix Angelis, who appears in the film, and Unwritten singer Natasha Bedingfield were also in attendance for the event Fashionista: Haley Bennett, who plays Emma Cullen in the film, amazed in a patterned blue dress as she walked the red carpet Smokin' guns: Actors Billy Slaughter and Clint James, who both appear in the film, enjoyed a lighter moment at the swanky event Simply stylish: Natasha went for a simple-yet-stylish look for her night out at the premiere Work it! The singer rocked a high-waisted leather skirt, with a grey tank top and white heels Tress-ed to impress: The beauty's platinum tresses rested siftly on her shoulders It runs in the family: Natasha is the younger sister of fellow singer Daniel Bedingfield Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests They say diamonds are a girls best friend. And that certainly seems to be the case with Kim Kardashian as her husband Kanye West gave her a second diamond engagement ring. The Yeezus rapper's gift closely resembles the original engagement band he gave his wife back in 2013 - the massive 15 carat Lorraine Schwartz design. Scroll down for video Miami heat! Kim Kardashian kept up with her braless trend on Monday night As social media erupted over the gorgeous sparkler the 35-year-old, who has forsaken bras of late, was spotted heading out for a night on the town in Miami. The stunner wore a skimpy crop top and pencil skirt, which showed off her incredibly taut tummy and bountiful cleavage. The reality star wore her dark brunette locks down in sexy waves over her shoulders. Earlier that day Kim gave onlookers an eyeful as she headed to a spa in the Florida city. The 35-year-old's outings come the same day she shared a new post to her website, in which she declared her love for sheer clothing. Sparing now expense: The Yeezus rapper's gift closely resembles the original engagement band he gave his wife back in 2013 - the massive 15 carat Lorraine Schwartz design Scorching! The 35-year-old, who has forsaken bras of late, was spotted heading out for a night on the town in Miami Slim: The stunner wore a skimpy crop top and pencil skirt, which showed off her incredibly taut tummy and bountiful cleavage Brunette bombshell: The reality star wore her dark brunette locks down in sexy waves over her shoulders And while Kim's top on Monday was certainly not see-through, the outfit all but hid her fantastic and fit physique. Clinging to her cleavage, Kim's plunging black top hugged her waist as it was tucked into a pair of high waist and skin tight black trousers that were laced up at the side. She wore her locks up into an ultra high ponytail while looking almost entirely makeup-free, with just a pair of sunglasses concealing her face. Curves ahead! Kim was a vision in white Stunning! The star's hair fell past her hips The reality star stepped out in a pair of fluffy sliders while carrying a lime green shopping bag, her purse, and a water bottle. Monday marked yet another day of Kim going bra-free. Kim hasn't looked back since ditching her underwear this summer, for a series of outfits in which her skintight sheer clothing is worn without underwear. After years of relying on push-up bras and even taping her breasts to get the perfect cleavage, she has unashamedly gone au naturel. And it's clear the mother-of-two has no regrets about her racy attire, taking to her paid-for blog on Monday to boast about her 'nipple vibes'. 'I have always loved sheerI just don't GAF, LOL,' she wrote. Without support! Kim eschewed her bra following a spa treatment earlier that day Not her first! The 35-year-old has been ditching bras as part of her latest style trend, and recently penned a post to her website in which she declared her love for sheer clothing She's the busty model who missed out on love on The Bachelor. But Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris appears to still be hopeful in finding 'the one' as she has signed up for dating app Bumble. The 28-year-old has been spotted with a profile on the app, which is aimed at empowering women to be the first to strike up conversation with potential suitors. Scroll down for video Swipe right for love: Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris has been spotted on the dating app Bumble In Kiki's profile, the former Zoo model lists herself as an 'Executive assistant' as she flaunts her plump pout. With her hair worn to the side in glamourous curls, the Sydney-based beauty sports a bright shade of pink lipstick and heavy blush on her cheeks. She amplified her look with false eyelashes and fully-groomed eyebrows. Out with the girls: It comes after the 28-year-old was spotted attending a lunch to help promote the app alongside fellow bachelorette Noni Janur The former reality contestant flashes her ample cleavage in a black bra and denim shirt in the snap. On Saturday, Kiki attended a special lunch for Bumble, hosted by fellow Bachelor evictee Keira Maguire. The daytime bash also attracted the likes of Noni Janur, Rachael Gouvignon, Marja Jacobsen and season one star Zilda Williams. Eligible bachelorettes: Rachael Gouvignon, Marja Jacobsen and season one star Zilda Williams also attended the event hosted by Keira Maguire Not her type: The personal assistant revealed Richie Strahan wasn't her usual type after being sent home on The Bachelor Meanwhile, despite being sent home without a rose quite far into the competition, Kiki insisted she knew there wasn't a romantic connection with Richie Strahan. 'I knew that my relationship with Richie hadn't progressed like the other girls,' the busty model told Popsugar. 'He's not normally my type and personality-wise. Loves a bad boy: New Idea claimed the reality star previously dated Kings Cross bad boy Mark Judge He's a very light-hearted, jokester kind of person and I look for quite a deep intellectual connection as well as a physical one, as well as a humourous one.' Back in July, New Idea claimed Kiki once dated Mark Judge - the Kings Cross bad boy who once survived being stabbed nine times during an attack in 2011. Friends close to Kiki told the mag she has an affinity for bad boys, but is still looking forward to settling down with marriage and children. She has worn risky outfits on red carpets in the past. And on Monday, Nicole Trunfio was at it again as she attended the Deepwater Horizon movie premiere in New Orleans with her husband Gary Clark Jr. For the event, the Australian model went without underwear as she slipped into a black dress, which featured multiple sheer panels. Showing what she's got: Nicole Trunfio left little to the imagination on Monday as she slipped into a black dress, which featured sheer panels at the Deepwater Horizon movie premiere The one-shoulder ensemble hugged tightly around her slender frame before cutting off at the upper thigh. Nicole added some height with strappy black heels while she accessorised with large silver hoop earrings and a choker necklace. She kept her flawless complexion on show as she pulled her brunette hair back and tied them into a tight top-knot. All eyes on her: The Australia model kept the attention on her killer figure on the night as she pulled her brunette hair back and tied them into a tight top-knot While keeping her makeup natural, the mother-of-one defined her cheekbones with a deep bronzer while highlighting her lips with a glossy nude lipstick. Nicole also outlined her hazel eyes with a light pink shadow and a thick black winged eyeliner. Her husband matched her on the evening as he also opted from an all-black attire. Matching: Her husband matched her on the evening as he also opted from an all-black attire As he posed with his arm wrapped around his wife, Gary hid his thick black curls under a grey cowboy-styled hat. Earlier in the day, Nicole revealed she is set to meet the US President in the coming days. She posted to Instagram, 'Guess who we're going to see on Fridays,' along with hashtags for 'Mr President', 'White House' and 'Vibes'. Excited: Earlier in the day, she revealed she is set to meet the US President in the coming days While it is unclear what Friday's encounter will involve, the US President has made no secret of his love for the star musician. Gary, who Obama once labelled 'the future' of blues music, performed at the White House in 2012. The President was seen singing along to his rendition of hit track Catfish Blues during the performance. Amber Heard was spotted out on the town with Cara Delevingne. The two blonde beauties painted the town red in London along with mutual friend and model Clara Paget late Monday evening. Amber, 30, looked rather worse for wear on the outing while making her exit out of a private members' club LouLou's after their the girls' night out at the LOVE magazine and Marc Jacobs London Fashion Week dinner. Scroll down for video On the prowl: Amber Heard (left) was spotted out with Cara Delevingne (right) late on Monday night after attending the LOVE magazine and Marc Jacobs London Fashion Week dinner The Magic Mike XXL star luckily had someone to lean on as she grabbed onto Clara's arm along with another male pal before hopping into a car together. Amber appeared to be in high spirits as she was dressed casual cool in a black, blue and purple checked button-down leather trousers and black leather heels. Her blonde locks were worn down flowing over her shoulders as she finished off her make-up with a swipe of bright red lip. Rough night: The 30-year-old actress looked rather worse for wear Helping hand: She was also joined by model Clara Paget Follow the leader: Amber held hands with the model while following closely behind Three's a crowd: They were also joined by a male pal Busy night? The trio made their way through the busy streets of London Support system: Amber seemed to rely heavily on Clara Cara, 24, went for a more edgy look as she sported a black biker jacket over a patterned bodysuit. She tucked the clinging garment into a pair of black skinny jeans and finished off the look with a pair of black Fenty by Rihanna Puma creepers. Her platinum blonde locks were worn down in a middle-part as her make-up was topped off with shiny pink eyeshadow. Casual customer: She wore a checked button down top for the outing Going hell: She also sported leather trousers with matching ankle booties Tired? It seemed like the flashing lights were too much for Amber as she looked in high spirits Here we go: The ladies were arm-in-arm while out in the city for London Fashion Week Pretty: Amber wore her blonde locks down and make-up topped off with bright red lip Blonde beauties: They were joined by another stunner with similar hair colour Clara looked absolutely stunning in a patterned green double-breasted trench dress with black suede ankle booties. The group was said to have attended the Burberry show before heading to the LoveMagazine party and LouLouis all as part of London Fashion Week. Amber has kept a relatively low profile since settling her divorce with ex Johnny Depp. Gorgeous: Cara, 24, went for a more edgy look as she sported a black biker jacket over a patterned bodysuit Stunning: Her platinum blonde locks were worn down in a middle-part as her make-up was topped off with shiny pink eyeshadow Heading out: Clara helped Amber hop into their pick-up vehicle Goodnight: The group was said to have attended the Burberry show before heading to the LoveMagazine party and LouLouis all as part of London Fashion Week She married the 43-year-old actor, her Rum Diary co-star , in Ferbuary 2015 following his split from longtime love Vanessa Paradis, with whom he has two children Lily-Rose and Jack. Heard filed for divorce in May, appearing in court in Los Angeles with a bruised face to seek a temporary restraining order against the Hollywood star whom she accused of abuse. The former spouses reached a settlement on August 16 in which the restraining order was dismissed and Heard received $7 million, which she then donated to charity. Forward march: Cara led the way as her group of pals made their exit from the exclusive bash What a petal! The stunning supermodel was seen clutching a pink rose as she headed home High brow: The star's signature eyebrows were in their usual perfect shape for her night out You've got to hand it to her: She was carefullly guided to a waiting vehicle by a handler Fans of BBC period drama Poldark have taken to social media in their droves to mock a new characters dubious Scottish accent. The show returned to British television with a second series on September 4 after a wildly successful debut season helped turn show regulars Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson into household names. But it was the dashing Captain McNeil, played by Bristol born actor Henry Garrett, who prompted a reaction from fans following his introduction to the show on Sunday evening. Uproar: Fans of BBC period drama Poldark have taken to social media in their droves to mock new character Captain McNeil's dubious Scottish accent Taking to Twitter viewers expressed disdain at his inauthentic Scots brogue, with Loose Women star Kaye Burley writing: This is weird, I cant understand the Scottish accent on Poldark. I thought I was Scottish. Elsewhere fan Natalie Heydon summed up the collective opinion, tweeting: Had Captain McNeil been teaching at the face accent university?! Meanwhile Eileen Cumisky saw the funny side, humorously comparing McNeils accent with that of a rather more popular Scottish character. Captain McNeil channelling his inner Taggart with the cry of murder theres been a murder this past night, she wrote. The floodgates are open: The character prompted a negative reaction from fans following his introduction to the show on Sunday evening Say what you mean: Lynn McPherson didn't hold back in the criticism of McNeil Popular: The show returned to British television with a second series on September 4 after a wildly successful debut season helped turn show regular Aidan Turner into a household name Weighing in: Loose Women star Kaye Adams and her followers were also quick to express their opinions on Sunday evening Comparison: One fan compared his Scottish brogue to that of popular Glaswegian detective Taggart But while many fans savages his accent, others were equally unimpressed with his overall look. Im sorry but captain McNeil looks just like a comedy character I keep waiting for the punchline, wrote Alexandra Hague. Margy Pell concurred, adding: Captain McNeil needs to get a better wig. Joke Fans were merciless in their criticism of McNeil following Sunday's episode Comedy gold: While many fans savages his accent, others were equally unimpressed with his overall look. Here we go: Everything from his hair to his mustache was savaged by viewers on social media Stand and Deliver: One fan claimed he looked like an extra in an Adam Ant video Others claimed he looked like an extra in an Adam Ant video, while another described his moustache as deeply untrustworthy. However there was some love reserved for the character, with an impressed Mary Busher writing: 'The actor who plays Captain McNeil is GOOD. The law is a twisted and cranky old thing. Poldark fan Isobel added: 'Captain McNeil has replaced any place Ross Poldark had in my heart.' Leading man Aidan has previously expressed his relief at not having to adopt a traditional Cornish accent for his role as Ross Poldark. 'Poldark is a Cornish character, but the family was wealthy and well respected and Ross would have probably done to public school, so he probably wouldn't have had a Cornish accent,' he told The Sun. 'It made more sense not to have it. And I'm sure it made my life easier.' She's pleased: However not everyone was unimpressed with McNeil Can't wait: Poldark fan Rita admitted she was 'excited' about the character's arrival Special place: Isobel appeared to be rather taken with the dashing McNeil He's been at the centre of a transatlantic custody battle for most of the year. But following the settlement reached earlier this month by his parents, Rocco Ritchie looked delighted to be back home in London. Making the most of the capital's lauded Fashion Week, the 16-year-old and a female friend headed to LouLou's private members club for the LOVE magazine party, only to be turned away because he was too young. Scroll down for video Celebrating? Following the settlement reached earlier this month by his parents, Rocco Ritchie looked delighted to be back home in London Rocco cut a rather relaxed figure at the bash, which attended by the great and the good of the fashion pack. And it seems that he was keen to have some company for his evening out, as the teen was accompanied by a glamorous female friend. Opting to dress down in his usual skater-meets-hipster style, the teenager certainly stood out from the crowd in his Black Watch windbreaker and black flares. Madonna and Guy Ritchie's eldest child rounded off his dressed down look with a pair of VANS old skool skate trainers. In good company: Making the most of the capital's lauded Fashion Week, the 16-year-old and a female friend headed to LouLou's private members club for the LOVE magazine party Though he was attending one of the most talked about events in the capital, Rocco appeared keen to keep some semblance of a low-profile at the event. Wearing a blue cap pulled low over his brow and a pair of dark sunglasses (despite the night well and truly having set in) the teen only served to pull more attention to himself. Laughing and flashing a beaming smile as he and his friend left the bash, Rocco was clearly having a whale of a time. His companion beamed as she walked a couple of paces behind him, though it seems the pretty brunette had opted to show off her stylish streak at the event. Happy to be home: It seems that he was keen to have some company for his evening out, as the teen was accompanied by a glamorous female friend Keeping it casual: Opting to dress down in his usual skater-meets-hipster style, the teenager certainly stood out from the crowd in his Black Watch windbreaker and black flares Going incognito? Wearing a blue cap and a pair of dark sunglasses (despite the night well and truly having set in) the teen only served to pull more attention to himself. Clad in an all-black ensemble, she teamed a mini dress with a quirky padded jacket and a pair of suede NikeSB kicks. Rocco's outing in the capital comes just weeks after his father Guy Ritchie and mother Madonna settled a protracted and fraught battle for custody of the teen. Earlier this month the 48-year-old Snatch director and the pop star, 58, agreed that their son (the only genetic child from their eight-year union) would reside in London with Guy and his second wife, Jacqui Ainsley. The exes had been involved in a protracted battle since December 2015 as to where Rocco should live, when the teen abandoned his mother's Rebel Hearts world tour to stay with his father. Having a blast! Laughing and flashing a beaming smile as he and his friend left the bash, Rocco was clearly having a whale of a time Chic companion: His companion beamed as she walked a couple of paces behind him, though it seems the pretty brunette had opted to show off her stylish streak at the event Fashionable pals: Clad in an all-black ensemble, she teamed a mini dress with a quirky padded jacket and a pair of suede NikeSB kicks Speaking outside the court in New York where a hearing was due to take place on September 7, Guy's lawyer, Peter Bronstein, announced the teenager would continue to live with his father in London. According to Page Six, Bronstein said: 'The case is settled and everyone agrees that Roccos needs changed and hes going to be living with dad. 'Everyones agreed to that and theres no further need for any kind of a court case.' Court spokesman Lucian Chalfen confirmed Madonna and Guy had reached a settlement, which was filed the previous day on September 6. Peace at last: Rocco's outing in the capital comes just weeks after his father Guy Ritchie and mother Madonna settled a protracted and fraught battle for custody of the teen At the time of the announcement Madonna's attorney declined to comment on the matter. Though MailOnline contacted representatives for both the British director and the American pop star for comment on the settlement. Court documents obtained by TMZ claimed the exes were scheduled to attend another hearing on Wednesday but did indeed resolve their differences 'hours before' the hearing. Rocco, who will regularly see his mother (who is mainly based in New York), will now be a permanent fixture in London; residing with Guy and Jacqui's young family. The Sherlock Holmes director and the 34-year-old model have three children: two boys, five-year-old Rafael and Levi, two, and three-year-old daughter Rivka. She left the soap 13 years ago after causing mayhem across the cobbles. But now Georgia Taylor will make a sensational return to Coronation Street to reprise her role as troublesome Toyah Battersby later this year. The now 36-year-old will be reunited with her on-screen sister Leanne Battersby, played by Jane Danson, for an explosive storyline. Scroll down for video Cobbles comeback! Georgia Taylor, 36, will make a sensational return to Coronation Street to reprise her role as Toyah Battersby later this year Troublesome Toyah left Weatherfield back in 2003 after discovering her college lecturer boyfriend had impregnated her best friend Maria Sutherland. But the mouthy character, who is mentioned regularly by her half-sister, is set for a fiery return in December after over a decade away. It's not yet clear whether Toyah is here to stay, but Georgia - who went on to appear in Casualty and Law & Order - says she's 'delighted' to be back in the role. The actress gushed over her imminent return: 'I am thrilled to be re-joining my old friends on the cobbles and hugely excited to be given the opportunity to explore the character of Toyah 13 years on. Back in the day: Toyah left Weatherfield back in 2003 after discovering her college lecturer boyfriend had impregnated her best friend Maria Sutherland 'Coronation Street has always had a place in my heart and I'm delighted to be working again with my good friend Jane Danson and bringing the Battersby sisters back together. 'The script writers and producers have come up with some fantastic, clever, and detailed story-lines that have inspired me and I feel excited to get started.' During her time on the soap, Georgia's character was involved in an unlikely romance with Emily Bishop's lovable nephew Geoffrey 'Spider' Nugent. Troublesome twosome: The now 36-year-old will be reunited with her on-screen sister Leanne Battersby, played by Jane Danson, for an explosive storyline But Toyah's life was turned upside down when she was beaten and raped by Phil Simmonds in 2001, for which the actress won the best dramatic performance award at the British Soap Awards. Producer Kate Oates said: 'I am delighted that Georgia Taylor has agreed to return to the role of Toyah. She is a talented actress who has had great success since leaving the show in 2003. 'Family relationships are the lifeblood of soap operas and I am excited to explore the drama that Toyah will bring with her to the cobbles. She has led an interesting life away from Weatherfield and she has secrets she has kept even from Leanne. 'Her arrival this Christmas looks set to put the cat amongst the Coronation Street pigeons.' He might be feeling under the weather, but that hasn't affected Piers Morgan's cheeky side. The Good Morning Britain presenter has a penchant for joking that his co-host Susanna Reid fancies him, and on Tuesday morning's show he asked Corrie stalwart Sue Cleaver, who's training as a psychotherapist, for her opinion on their relationship. Piers asked Sue, who plays Eileen Grimshaw, what she would say to a woman in her 40s who's in denial with her feelings at work. Scroll down for video Second opinion: Piers Morgan asked Corrie stalwart Sue Cleaver, who's training as a psychotherapist, for her opinion on his relationship with Susanna Reid Sue diplomatically said: 'I think you should rely on your own instincts and stick with that.' Always one to give as good as she gets, Susanna hit back: 'What advice would you give to somebody who's constantly being told they're in love with somebody when they absolutely know they're not?' Unfortunately, her question baffled Sue, who said, 'say that again?' before bursting out laughing. Cheeky: Piers asked Sue, who plays Eileen Grimshaw, what she would say to a woman in her 40s who's in denial with her feelings at work Susanna replied: 'It's obviously a personal issue between me and Piers...' Not content to let things lie, Piers added: 'Well, Sarah Jessica Parker actually hinted at this the other day in your interview. She started grilling Susanna about the quite obvious vibe she was picking up, and I just think Susanna's in denial about it.' The Corrie star had the final word, when she said: 'I would trust your instincts,' causing the hosts to break into giggles. Sue, who's had to put her studies on hold due to her current storyline on Corrie, also had her say on Russian Valery Spiridonov's controversial plans to become the first person to have a head transplant. Playing it safe: Sue diplomatically said: 'I think you should rely on your own instincts and stick with that' Describing the procedure as 'scary', she said: 'He obviously knows what he wants. 'I kind of struggled a little bit with the surgeon. It was quite cavalier the way he was talking about it. 'I can't imagine this will ever go through the ethics board.' The show's resident doctor, Hilary Jones, also shared Sue's thoughts, claiming the difficulty in finding a country to host the operation could render it a 'non-starter'. However, Italian surgeon Dr Sergio Canvero, who will oversee the procedure, said Hilary didn't know what he was talking about it. She's been linked to both Leonardo DiCaprio and Lewis Hamilton. And Barbara Palvin showed the heartthrobs what they were missing as she stepped out at the Goat premiere in New York on Monday. Putting on a racy display in a floor-length black Moschino dress, the 22-year-old model brought red carpet glamour to the event. Scroll down for video Sizzling! Barbara Palvin showed her former flames what they were missing as she stepped out at the Goat premiere in New York on Monday The gown featured a long side cut-out panel, held together by the designer's gold hardware letters. The one-shoulder piece showed off her toned upper body. Wearing her glossy brunette hair in loose tousled waves, Barbara accentuated her stunning blue eyes with a touch of eyeliner. Man of the night: Showing off his statement moustache, James Franko, 38, sported a silk blue bomber jacket and jeans Suave: Stars of the film James and Nick Jonas brought a touch of dapper to the event Stars of the film James Franko and Nick Jonas brought a touch of dapper to the event. Showing off his statement moustache, James, 38, sported a silk blue bomber jacket and jeans. Nick, 24, looked suave in a fitted khaki jacket with leather-sleeves and collar. Joining the duo was 26-year-old co-star Ben Schnetzer, who looked smart in a pinstripe suit. Trendy trio: Joining the duo was 26-year-old co-star Ben Schnetzer, who looked smart in a pinstripe suit Proud: : Director Andrew Neel joined his stars for a picture opportunity Leigh Lezark also attended, showed off her baby bump in a floral dress opting for comfort in flat pumps. The 32-year-old DJ, who recently announced her engagement and pregnancy, put in an appearance with fiance Randy D'Amico. Randy looked suave in an-all black ensemble and Dr Martin style boots. Also present were filmmaker Crystal Moselle and Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor. Crystal kept it casual in a black dress and leather jacket, while Atlanta rocked jeans and a checked red shirt. Loved up: Leigh Lezark also attended, showed off her baby bump in a floral dress opting for comfort in flat pumps Joining the fun: Also present were filmmaker Crystal Moselle and Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor Louisa Krause also put in an appearance in a stain moss-green dress with black horizontal stripes. Rocking a feathered midnight blue clutch, the blonde beauty added to the night's glamour. Barbara was linked to Lewis after the two reportedly met at Cannes Film Festival this year and she has since supported him at the trackside during the European Grand Prix, Monaco Grand Prix and Hungarian Grand Prix. However a representative for Lewis has since insisted that the two are just 'good friends'. Meanwhile she has been announced as the face of Amazon Fashion's European Fall 2016 campaign. The model-and-actress - who has worked for Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu and Victoria's Secret in the past - will be featured on the online retailer's print advertising and social media campaign across Europe and is 'thrilled' to be associated with the brand which encourages and promotes individuality. Of the partnership, Barbara said: 'I'm delighted to be working with Amazon Fashion. 'I think the meaning behind the campaign strapline is really important, and it's about embracing being an individual and encouraging personal expression through fashion, so I am thrilled to be part of Amazon Fashion's Autumn/Winter 16 campaign.' Commenting on the appointment of Barbara, the Marketing Director of Amazon Fashion Europe, Juliet Warkentin, said: 'Barbara is a great advocate for our 'Don't look like me, look like you' campaign. She has lots of energy and a fresh style, that shines off the page and in our video.' He's the picture-perfect husband and doting dad best known as the star of Channel Seven's ratings juggernaut My Kitchen Rules. And on Tuesday, Manu Feildel was spotted spending some quality time with fiancee Clarissa Weerasena as the pair headed out on a date in Sydney's Double Bay. The happy couple left daughter Charlee at home to step out as a twosome in the trendy suburb, where they were spotted walking hand-in-hand as they enjoyed the lovely spring weather. Lovely: Manu Feildel was spotted spending some quality time with fiancee Clarissa Weerasena as the pair headed out on a date in Sydney's Double Bay on Tuesday While it's long been rumoured that Manu and Clarissa had a secret Malaysian wedding, the TV chef recently confirmed that the pair are still engaged by referring to his beautiful partner as his 'fiancee' on Instagram. The 42-year-old revealed the status of their relationship in a post to plug a new cookbook that the pair have written together called More Please!: My Family Recipes You'll Love to Cook and Share. 'So excited to receive the first copy of my new book - More Please!,' wrote Manu. Don't let go: The loved-up duo held hands as they made their way through the trendy suburb He continued: 'Written with my gorgeous fiancee Clarissa.' The famed chef finished: 'Pre-sales info to follow soon. In stores from 1st November.' Despite Manu popping the question to Clarissa in 2013, after two years of dating, the pair are yet to make concrete plans for their special day. Earlier this year he told TV Week that finding the time to walk down the aisle has been hard, with work and family commitments getting in the way. 'Written with my gorgeous fiancee Clarissa:' The My Kitchen Rules judge has penned a new cookbook with Clarissa The European gourmand and Clarissa welcomed their first daughter, Charlee Ariya in February last year. While the daughter was Clarissa's first child, Manu has an 12-year-old son Jonti from a previous marriage. Manu separated from son Jonti's mum Ronnie Morshead in 2009 after 12 years together. Featured Post Standing Rock: Six Years Later -- Militarized Police, Cover-ups and the Fight for Justice "Today we stood strong against this Nazi oil bought police force. They set off LRAD on us, hit us, maced us, arrested our grandmothers,... 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She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the mainstream media for 14 years. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com Translate She has a flair for alternative, edgy fashion statements. But Frances Bean Cobains usually unrivalled sense of style was equalled on Monday evening as she made an appearance at the Marc Jacobs LOVE Magazine party on the arm of her mother, Courtney Love. The 24-year old was on-trend in a grungy plaid shirt and pleated skirt ahead of her appearance at the London Fashion Week event. Scroll down for video Night out: Frances Bean Cobains usually unrivalled sense of style was equalled on Monday evening as she made an appearance at the Marc Jacobs LOVE Magazine party on the arm of her mother, Courtney Love. Frances completed her look with a pair of black suede boots, while a choker necklace and beaded chains proved to be distinctive accessories. The brunettes gothic look was underscored by her liberal use of striking black eye-liner, ghostly foundation and deep red lipstick. Meanwhile mother Courtney, 52, matched her alternative style in a printed black skirt and T-shirt ensemble. Edgy: The 24-year old was on-trend in a grungy plaid shirt and pleated skirt ahead of her appearance at the London Fashion Week event Gothic style: Frances completed her look with a pair of black suede boots, while a choker necklace and beaded chains proved to be distinctive accessories as she made her way inside with her mother Striking: Frances' gothic look was underscored by her liberal use of striking black eye-liner, ghostly foundation and deep red lipstick The former hell-raiser completed her look with a chocolate brown overcoat, while her tousled hair was casually maintained with a simple centre-parting. Mingling with guests including Bella Hadid, Stella Maxwell, Poppy Delevingne and Kate Moss, Frances and Courtney were in high spirits as they made their way inside Mayfair venue LouLou's ahead of the one-off event. Earlier this year, Frances announced the end of her marriage to Isaiah Silva after two years. Good times: Courtney was in high spirits as she mingled with guests on Monday evening Say cheese: (L-R) Stella Maxwell, Jesse Jo Stark, Bella Hadid, Frances Bean Cobain and Courtney Love The couple's relationship officially went off the rails in March, with Frances filing for divorce after just 21 months. The daughter of Courtney and the late Kurt was reported to be the one who filed the paperwork to end her marriage with Isaiah - though TMZ reported she made it clear Kurt's money was off the table at the time. It is quite a sum as the former Nirvana frontman's estate is valued at around $450million, according to the gossip site. The union only came to light late last year as many outlets had reported the couple enjoyed a secret ceremony in September. They have no children together and been together a total of five years, with four of those spent engaged. Close: Frances and mother Courtney were inseparable during their appearance at the event She's the leading judge on Australia's Next Top Model. And Jennifer Hawkins, 32, made sure to lead by example while attending a photocall at Foxtel headquarters in Sydney on Monday. The former Miss Universe Australia turned heads outside the North Ryde studios in a plunging black jumpsuit, that showcased her ample assets and slender frame, ahead of Australia's Next Top Model Season 10, which airs on Tuesday. Scroll down for video Leading by example: Jennifer Hawkins oozed confidence and glamour while attending a photocall for Australia's Next Top Model at Foxtel headquarters in Sydney on Monday The chic number featured side cut-outs and an oversized flap across her hip region. She paired the elegant look with matching pointed-toe heels as she clutched an iPhone. Her long blonde tresses were worn loosely and neatly parted at the centre and the Myer ambassador opted for heavy make-up, consisting of smokey eyes, bronzer and nude lipstick. Glamour girl: The former Miss Universe Australia stepped out in a plunging black jumpsuit, that showcased her ample assets and slender frame ahead of Australia's Next Top Model Season 10, which airs on Tuesday Style: The chic number featured side cut-outs and an oversized flap across her hip region. She paired the elegant look with matching point-toe strappy heels as she clutched an iPhone Stunning: Myer ambassador Jennifer is known for her statuesque frame and flawless bikini body Jennifer was joined by fellow judges Megan Gale and Alex Perry for a day of promotional activities and interviews to promote the upcoming series return. This season, all three will be joined by Cheyenne Tozzi as well as modelling twins Jordan and Zac Stenmark, who will be mentoring the contestants. The statuesque blonde will soon mark 10 years as the face Myer and last month, she signed on for another two years. Smokin! Her long blonde tresses were worn loosely and neatly parted at the centre as she strutted outside the studio 'It's such an amazing feeling that you represent that brand and you embody it in your every day life. So that was an amazing feeling to actually hit 10 years and then to sign up for another two,' she said. In addition to her career success, Jennifer and her husband of three-years Jake, who wed in Bali in 2013, launched their own brand of tequila, Sesion, which was four years in the making, earlier this year. They're also in the process of building a $6 million home in Newport although the entrepreneur confirmed they have no immediate plans to start a family. Famous faces: Jennifer was joined by fellow judges Megan Gale and Alex Perry at the promo event She's put her best fashion foot forward when attending both London and New York's fashion week. And once again on Monday, ex-Neighbours star Sarah Ellen cut a stylish figure when attending the Burberry show in London. The 18-year-old flaunted her trim pins in a short patterned dress and a $3,850 military-style jacket from the British fashion house, looking effortlessly chic. Scroll down for video Dressed to impress: On Monday, ex-Neighbours star Sarah Ellen cut a stylish figure when attending the Burberry show in London Sarah showed off a golden glow on the day and carried a Burberry bag, estimated to cost upwards of $3,500. The blonde beauty also wore the same sparkly gold heels she donned on Sunday for another show during fashion week. Her short hair was in loose tousled curls and her top layers were pulled back off her face. Suits you! The 18-year-old flaunted her trim pins in a short patterned dress and a $3,850 military-style Burberry jacket, looking effortlessly chic The actress' make-up was flawless and she wore foundation, bronzer and lashings of mascara with a pink lip. She appeared in high spirits to be at the event, smiling as she made her way through the crowd. Just weeks prior, she attended New York Fashion Week and took in shows including the Marissa Webb show. Favorite pair? The blonde beauty also wore sparkly gold heels which she wore on Sunday at Fashion Week So nice, she wore it twice: The sparkly shoes were also on her feet on Sunday for another Fashion Week show Sarah is best known for her role on Neighbors, where she played the daughter of Scott and Charlene Robinson, with Charlene being previously played by Kylie Minogue. Kylie previously wished her well, telling News Corp Australia: 'Congratulations on your first acting job Sarah and welcome to the neighbourhood!' 'A lot has changed since I was in Neighbours, but I have no doubt the family spirit of the cast and crew remains the same,' Kylie said. She added: 'Have a great time'. She's been settling into the quiet life in the coastal town of Byron Bay. And on Tuesday, Elsa Pataky was spotted shopping at her favourite Byron Bay clothing boutique, Spell. The wife of Chris Hemsworth was seen trying on some stock in the store, including a pair of figure-hugging denim overalls. Stylish: Elsa Pataky was spotted trying on some new stock in her favourite Byron Bay boutique, Spell, on Tuesday Spell's official Instagram account shared a sweet snap of the actress flashing a peace sign as she sported the stylish attire. 'Gorgeous @elsapatakyconfidential checking our our new Oracle range and looking amazing in our Azalea Overalls and Gypsy Dancer Blouse,' wrote Spell's social media manager. Elsa has done a great job at settling into Byron Bay since she and Chris relocated there from Los Angeles with their family last year. Last Wednesday, the blonde beauty took to Instagram to show off a secluded hair salon in the town that she's been using. Free spirit: Elsa revealed the secluded hair salon behind her silky blonde mane in an Instagram post last week, which she said is located 'in the middle of the forest' at Byron Bay The 40-year-old Spanish actress described it as 'in the middle of the forest' near her Byron Bay abode. 'Arriving to my hairstylist to do my Color, best salon in the world just in the middle of the forest, me and breezycosmicavalon,' she wrote, tagging the stylist in her post. Writing in her native Spanish, Elsa also told her 970,000 followers that she enjoys being 'surrounded by nature just me and @ breezycosmicavalon' while she gets her hair done. The Fast & Furious star, who shares three children with Chris, 33, is often spotted around Byron Bay where she lives with her actor husband and their three children. Stunning: The Spanish actress is rarely seen without a hair in place on the red carpet Earlier this year, Chris explained why he and Elsa left Hollywood to raise daughter India, four, and 18-month-old twin sons Tristan and Sasha in Australia. 'It's no longer all about me, which is quite refreshing,' he told Modern Luxury magazine. 'Acting is the most self-absorbed world, where you are thinking about your feelings. Once the kids arrived, I was like, 'Wow, this is what life is about.'' Adapting: A keen beach-goer, Elsa recently shared this cheeky snap of herself before a surfing session Love birds: Elsa and Chris are often pictured bonding in Byron Bay He continued: 'L.A. is a tough place to get around with kids. There's not a whole lot of foot traffic. It was all about loading up the car and car seats,' he explained. 'We were living shoulder to shoulder in the suburbs and thought that's not how we want our kids to grow up.' Elsa, who was born in Madrid, wed Australian actor Chris in a private ceremony in 2010. Content: Elsa and Chris Hemsworth previously left Hollywood to raise their three children in Australia In a blog post for Spain's Glamour magazine, Elsa said their new home on the east coast of Australia is 'special' and that her style has been influenced by her new surroundings. 'As there is a tropical climate and a hippie lifestyle, you often see people walking barefoot on the street,' she said. 'I was quite surprised at first, but now even I walk barefoot sometimes!' Since making a huge splash in the modelling world, Doutzen Kroes has become a regular face in philanthropic circles, lending her name to many a good cause. And on Monday night, the 31-year-old Dutch model stepped out with her husband Sunnery James to attend the 10th annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards. The couple looked stylish as they made their way over to the Sheraton New York Times Square for the event's opening night, hosted by former President Bill Clinton. Good cause: Doutzen Kroes and her husband Sunnery James attended the 10th annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards, held at the Sheraton New York Times Square on Monday night Victoria's Secret beauty Doutzen wowed as she arrived at the event in a black slimline dress, which boasted a daring neck-to-waist peephole. With her golden locks coiffed to perfection and resting on her shoulders, the mother-of-two enhanced her natural beauty with a light dusting of makeup. Her husband Sunnery looked equally eye-catching, donning a powder pink velvet blazer over a white shirt with black fitted trousers. Stunning: Victoria's Secret beauty Doutzen wowed as she arrived at the event in a black slimline dress, which boasted a daring neck-to-waist peephole Waist not...: Her high-waisted outfit was cinched at the waist with a broad matching belt The lovebirds hugged up as they posed on a customised blue carpet for the event, which drew the likes of Jon Bon Jovi, Sting, U2's Bono and veteran model Iman. In the summer, Doutzen travelled to France's Cote D'Azur region on behalf of Elephant Crisis Fund and Save The Elephants. She helped to raise money and awareness for the charities at Leonardo DiCaprio's LDF Gala 2016. Stage: She took to the stage, where she joined Iain Douglas-Hamilton and Chelsea Clinton Change clothes: She switched outfits for her moment on the stage, wearing a black jumpsuit On the night, the gala, which has been running annually since 2014, is said to have raised $45 million in 2016. Helping to raise the profile of the event, the models were out in force, including Constance Jablonski, Joan Smalls, Lily Donaldson, Naomi Campbell, Coco Rocha, Barbara Palvin and Petra Nemcova. Doutzen and Sunnery, who tied the knot in 2010, have two children together: son, Phyllon Joy Gorre, five, and two-year-old daughter, Myllena Mae Gorre. She's one of Australia's top model exports. And on Monday, former Victoria's Secret star Jessica Hart rubbed shoulders with fellow model Poppy Delevingne and enjoyed some downtime with her possible future sister-in-law, Eugenie Niarchos. The 30-year-old, who's reportedly engaged to Stavros Niarchos, looked lovely in a sheer lace dress as the beauties attended the LOVE Magazine and Marc Jacobs' London Fashion Week party at Loulou's in London. Scroll down for video In good company: On Monday, former Victoria's Secret star Jessica Hart (R) rubbed shoulders with fellow model Poppy Delevingne (L) and enjoyed some downtime with her boyfriend's sister, Eugenie Niarchos Jessica stunned in her frock, which featured long-sleeves, a high neck and a full skirt. The statuesque beauty layered a black bra and high-waisted brief underneath with the sheer material showing off her choice of underwear clearly. Her skin glowed and she wore dewy foundation with a deep red lip and lashings of mascara for the daytime event. Sitting pretty: The 30-year-old looked lovely in a sheer lace dress (Seen here with Eugenie) Details: She also carried a Charlotte Olympia black and white feline shoulder bag that retails between $725- $903 AUD Going strong: Jessica is dating Eugenie's brother, Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III since 2011 and it has long been reported the pair are engaged She also carried a Charlotte Olympia black and white feline shoulder bag that retails between $725- $903 AUD. Poppy - who is Cara Delevingne's older sister - looked chic in a short black dress and an almost purple coloured vampy lip. Eugenie, the sister of Jessica's rumoured fiance Stavros Niarchos III, also wore black, with her collared dress a mix of sheer material, crepe and sequins. Jessica has been dating the Greek shipping heir since 2011 and it has long been reported the pair are planning to marry. Shenanigans: Poppy - who is Cara Delevingne's older sister - looked chic in a short black dress and an almost purple coloured vampy lip Jessica meanwhile on Monday also joined a host of celebrities to take in the Burberry show at London Fashion Week. She stunned in a sheer khaki and purple flowing skirt and a khaki singlet top. The personality has been a fixture at both London and New York Fashion Week, stepping out and attending a variety of shows. Same day, another event! Jessica meanwhile on Monday also joined a host of celebrities to take in the Burberry show at London Fashion Week She's the fresh-faced beauty who like many before her, decided to try her luck on Australia's Next Top Model. But during Tuesday's Season Ten premiere, 17-year-old Sofie revealed her decision to appear on the show came after a life-changing battled with a severe case of meningitis. 'My life could have been cut short so quickly,' the blonde beauty admitted of the illness, which left her learning to speak again. Scroll down for video Gone: Australia's Next Top Model's Sofie, 17, (L) was eliminated during Tuesday night's Season Ten premiere after being in the bottom two with Summer (R). Sofie also revealed her battle with meningitis during the episode The illness and her recovery made her realise how fragile like could be and she subsequently vowed to embrace every opportunity available to her 'I had to learn to pronounce words again. It was a huge eye-opener and my life could have been cut short so quickly.' 'It taught me I have to grab every opportunity and this show's a good way to do it.' However Sofie, who hails from Tasmania, was eliminated from the show during Tuesday's debut episode, which included two challenges. Life-threatening: 'I had to learn to pronounce words again. It was a huge eye opener and my life could have been cut short so quickly,' Sofie said The elimination came after the 17-year-old struggled to walk in high heels during the runway challenge, as she modelled judge Alex Perry's designs. Later in the episode, Sofie took part in a photoshoot with former ANTM winner Montana Cox, however, her final shot didn't impress the judges. The Tasmanian-born beauty was left in the bottom two with fellow contestant Summer, 19, after they scored the lowest. Upon hearing she was going home, Sofie graciously said: 'I'm definitely not angry,' adding she won't hold a grudge against Summer for beating her. 'I have to take it as it comes, take it on the chin and keep moving forward.' Bottom two: Her elimination came after she found it difficult to walk in high heels while walking the runway for judge Alex Perry's show and a photoshoot with former ANTM winner Montana Cox 'Getting my time cut short really sucks...looking back there were things I could have done better,' she said. Adding defiantly: 'I'm going to keep going definitely.' Host Jennifer Hawkins told Sofie her image in the photoshoot lacked a presence, saying: 'There's no energy coming back at me, it's not really grabbing me'. Jennifer, Megan Gale and Alex Perry each scored her a four for the shot. 'There's no energy': Host Jennifer Hawkins told Sofie about her photo shoot that she lacked a presence in the photo She also scored a six for the runway show, bringing her tally to 18 while Summer got a combined score of 18.5. During the fashion show, Sofie complained about her feet hurting which didn't go down well with mentor Cheyenne Tozzi. 'My feet hurt. My body began to shut down because of nerves and all that,' Sofie said in a piece to camera before strutting her stuff. Cheyenne was brutally honest and told her to suck it up. 'I'm a size ten and Ive worn a size four before, thats what you do,' she said to Jordan and Zac Stenmark. She recently revealed that she became a supermodel by chance. But Ajak Deng proved that she was destined to model as she dazzled at The Business of Fashion's #BoF500 gala dinner in London on Monday night. Dressed in a bold ensemble, that featured sparkling fabric and tulle, the 26-year-old Melbourne beauty posed up a storm at the Gala Dinner hosted by The London Edition. Stunning: Ajak Deng proved that she was destined to model as she dazzled at The Business of Fashion's #BoF500 gala dinner in London on Monday night She paired a sparkling blazer with a shiny black princess skirt and red heels. As Ajak flashed her pearly whites for the camera, her radiant glow did not go unnoticed. She opted to wear minimal makeup, consisting of foundation, mascara and lipstick, to showcase her natural beauty. Turning heads: Dressed in a bold ensemble that featured sparkles and tulle, the 26-year-old Melbourne beauty posed up a storm at the Gala Dinner hosted by The London Edition Natural beauty: As Ajak flashed her pearly whites for the camera, her radiant glow did not go unnoticed. Social butterfly: The stunner mingled with fellow IMG model Taylor Hill and others Her trademark cropped do added an overall less-is-more element to the chic look. At one point, the Sudanese-born stunner was seen clutching a glamorous Louis Vuitton monogram purse a the star-studded event, also attended by the likes of Kate Moss and Alexa Chung. Earlier this month, successful model Ajak, who first burst onto the modelling scene five years ago, the revealed that it was never her plan to became a model. Blowing kisses: Ajak appeared to be in a playful mood at the star-studded event Glowing: Her trademark cropped do added an overall less-is-more element to the chic look 'Modeling as [sic] made me meet the most amazing souls in the world and I wouldn't change a thing about it, it was never my dream but i am glad it works out...,' she wrote on Instagram. Just days prior, the beauty, who has walked international runways for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Lanvin among others, revealed a brand new hairstyle. Ajak ditched her trademark short hairdo and revealed shoulder-length twists, and the look took hours to achieve. By chance: Last week, she revealed that it was never her plan to became a model New do: The Sudanese-born stunner, who has walked international runways for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Lanvin among others, revealed a brand new hairstyle this week Beaming: Ajak ditched her trademark short hairdo and revealed shoulder-length twists, and the look took hours to achieve 'Thanks to these two loves for spending the morning and day doing my hair..,' she captioned a photo of her hairdressers. The statuesque beauty, who is based in New York, has become a staple on the fashion runway in recent years, and has worked in campaigns for Dior, Valentino, Marc Jacobs, Chloe and Jean Paul Gaultier. She has also starred in campaigns for Topshop, Barneys, MAC and Levis. Despite her continued success, Ajak has faced several bumps in the road over the years which resulted in her quitting the fashion industry in February. Celebrity pals: The statuesque beauty, who is based in New York, has become a staple on the fashion runway in recent years, and has worked in campaigns for Dior, Valentino, Marc Jacobs, Chloe and Jean Paul Gaultier. She is pictured here with Naomi Campbell '[I'm] officially done with the fashion industry,' she wrote on Instagram. Adding: 'I will be moving back to Australia In order to live the life that I fully deserved. Which is real life,' the model wrote. 'I can no longer deal with the fakes and the lies. My life is too short for this dramatic life.' Just two years prior, she expressed frustration with Australia after being subject to racism for years. Uphill battle: Despite her continued success, Ajak has faced several bumps in the road over the years which resulted in her quitting the fashion industry in February Focused: Despite the challenges, Ajak's career continues to flourish as the beauty recently appeared in a campaign for French fashion magazine L'Officiel 'I go back to Melbourne and think I'm going home and someone will say "You don't belong here" and I'm like "Well I grew up here. What do you mean I don't belong here?"' she told Elle magazine in 2014. Ajak and her family fled Sudan as refugees in 2005. Her mother died of malaria in a refugee camp in Kenya. Despite the challenges, Ajak's career continues to flourish as the beauty recently appeared in a campaign for French fashion magazine L'Officiel. There are 13 women in the running to be Australia's Next Top Model. But one of those girls, Daisy, has revealed her motives for winning the competition lie beyond a possible international modelling career. During Tuesday night's Season Ten premiere, the 19-year-old confessed: 'Ever since I was little I always wanted to be in the spotlight'. Scroll down for video 'I always wanted to be in the spotlight': Australia's Next Top Model contestant Daisy confessed during Tuesday night's Season Ten premiere episode, she entered the competition to become famous 'You're not on this show just to become famous?' Jennifer Hawkins (left) was visibly concerned by Daisy's confession and checked the 19-year-old (right) was in the competition for the right reasons 'And however I'm going to do that, I'm gonna keep knocking on doors until one opens I guess,' she added defiantly during the final judging round of the episode. But her honesty left the judges, especially Jennifer Hawkins, less than impressed and questioning her motives for being on the show. 'Oh! But you're not on this show just to become famous [are you]? Or, you wanna be a model?' Jen asked with a raised eyebrow. 'Not just to become famous, I want to be a model. I want to be a model (slash actress),' she confessed, adding her acting ambitions almost under her breath. However, the contestants and judges all heard and were left looking at each other with shocked expressions as her true ambitions were revealed. 'I'm gonna keep knocking on doors until one opens': The teenager spoke about her desire to be famous, seemingly at any cost Not impressed: The other girls weren't too impressed hearing that Daisy hopes to become a 'model slash actress' by appearing on the show While model judge Megan Gale sensed fear in the blonde beauty's photo alongside Montana Cox, Daisy begged to differ. 'My nerves just went away as soon as I was up there,' the New South Wales contestant said of the photoshoot. 'But I also felt really good doing the catwalk and I wasn't happy with my [score of] seven, so it's weird, I don't know how I went,' she added. 'My nerves just went away as soon as I was up there': The News South Wales model denied the judges comments that she was nervous on set, alongside Montana Cox Not buying it: The blonde beauty's pleas made no difference to judge Megan Gale (pictured), who scored Daisy's picture a four out of ten Going home? Daisy's low scores, a total of 27 out of 40, put her at risk of being eliminated and left her in tears But her pleas made no difference to Megan, who scored Daisy's picture a four out of ten. Daisy's low scores, a total of 27 out of 40, put her at risk of being eliminated and left her in tears. But luckily for the ambitious teen, Sofie and Summer were in the bottom two and left battling it out to stay in the competition, with 17-year-old Sofie eventually sent home. Australia's Next Top Model continues Tuesday 7.30pm, Fox 8. She often poses with her model daughter Kaia Gerber. But over the weekend Cindy Crawford took time out for another family member - her grandmother Dorothy Walker. The supermodel even shared a photo with the 97-year-old during a rare trip home to Illinois where she presented an award to fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski at the Fifth Star Awards at Millennium Park in Chicago. Bonding with the fam: Cindy Crawford cozied up to her grandmother Dorothy Walker in a very rare photo Cindy looked to be joining Walker in the lobby of a hotel. The Vogue darling had on no makeup and wore a denim shirt with a gold chain as she posed up to Dorothy, who looked happy to see her famous granddaughter. Crawford grew up in DeKalb in Illinois and briefly attended Northwestern University. A new look: Crawford laughed at the Fifth Star Awards at Millennium Park in Chicago on Wednesday For her pal: The Vogue favorite was on hand to present an award to her old foe turned friend, fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski The model looked stunning during her appearance at the awards show. The pinup looked pretty in a blue halter pantsuit that showed off her yoga-toned arms. The wife of Rande Gerber had her highlighted hair in soft curls that caressed her shoulders/ Gold hoop earrings added a Jenny From The Block feel. It's a nice change for Cindy to be presenting an award to Skrebneski because for years they were not talking. Stylish: The pinup looked pretty in a blue halter pantsuit that showed off her yoga-toned arms The man who gave her a hard time: Victor, seen here in 2013, told Cindy she was not easy to photograph, which is difficult to comprehend given her stunning features That photographer, who is now 86, refused to work with Crawford after she ditched one of his shoots in the 1980s. At the time he was Chicago's most famous advertising photographer who worked for Estee Lauder and Chanel. He also has carved out a niche with his black-and-white celebrity portraits of actresses such as Sharon Stone. Victor helped Cindy in her early years. They met when she was 17. Back in the Bu! The leggy wonder was seen at Cross Creek Mall in Malibu on Monday She loves Cali! Here the mannequin is posed up on the balcony of her home 'He knows exactly what he wants. It's hard to describe exactly how I feel about him, except I know I respect him as much as I've ever respected anyone,' Crawford, then 19, told the Chicago Tribune in a 1985 story. But when Cindy skipped out on a catalog shoot with Victor because she landed a job in Egypt that lasted 10 days, he cut her off. 'I had been scared to rock the boat but had hoped that the studio would be gracious and let me go. Instead, I was told that if I didn't do the catalogue shoot, Victor would never work with me again. Ever,' Crawford wrote in her 2015 book Becoming. The new Cindy! The star's mini me daughter Kaia is already a star in the modeling world; here they are seen last week 'Victor also told me that I didn't have an easy face to photograph and that he was the only photographer who knew how to make me look good. To this day, sometimes on set I still have to fight the thought that I don't have an easy face to photograph.' They didn't talk for 15 years. But then he asked her to shoot a poster for the Chicago International Film Festival and they became friends again. The star told the Chicago Tribune last week: 'I think sometimes we forget -Midwesterners and Chicagoans - how much talent we have right in our own city. It's great to celebrate it and I'm happy to be back and be part of that.' Advertisement Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt on Monday, citing irreconcilable differences. They have been married for only two years. But the 41-year-old Oscar winner and the 52-year-old actor have been together for 12 years and have acquired a mass of wealth during that time. They also started the Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2006. Their combined wealth has been estimated at $400 million with much of it tied up in property they've collected all over the world. Their top property: Angelina Jolie, who filed for divorce from Brad Pitt on Monday, owns several properties with the actor; here is their Hollywood spread Room to play for their six kids: There is a pool and park on the grounds No longer Brangelina: The actors have been together for 12 years but only married two years ago; here they are seen in November Jolie, who is asking for physical custody of the couple's six children (Maddox, aged 15, Pax, aged 12, Zahara, aged 11, Shiloh, aged 10, and twins Vivienne and Knox, aged eight), is believed to be on the title of all the properties. Their main residence is in the Eastern part of Hollywood, which borders on Los Feliz. The property contains several homes which have been acquired over time, making their fence line expand as the years roll on. Big and beautiful: Though the Hollywood estate is massive, it is small compared with their estate Chateau Miraval in France All the Pitts could live there: All the homes have a combined 35 bedrooms A massive project: The $60m Miraval was torn apart and reworked, which took years Acres and acres: The 1,000 acres also features a large lake and a vineyard which produces the couple's rose Miraval The main home is a traditional Craftsmans house that Brad bought in 1994 from Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark for a reported $1.7m. He lived their with wife Jennifer Aniston until they divorced in 2005 after five years of marriage. He has since redone the home extensively. Brad bought two to three properties next to the main residence to add more living quarters. The Fight Club actor also added a sprawling park for the children complete with slides and sand box, and an area they can ride their ATVs. Another Cali pad: The two also have a $5 million home in Santa Barbara that sits on 11 acres Another look at the place: There is plenty of beach for the kids to play on; Maddox has been seen riding his ATV there Though the Hollywood estate is massive, it is small compared with their estate Chateau Miraval in France. The property is located in a village called Brignol, near from Aix-en-Provence. It was reported that they purchased the spread together for $60 million dollars in 2008. It is also where they wed - as their six children looked on - in August 2014. Bye bye? Pitt has been trying to sell his New Orleans home since 2015; it's worth almost $6m Living large: The star couple bought the renovated 1830s home in late 2006 for Pitts filming of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It has five bedrooms and five bathrooms Miraval has several homes that have a total of 35 bedrooms. The 1,000 acres also features a large lake and a vineyard which produces the couple's rose Miraval. The grounds also have an outdoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi, an indoor swimming, fountains and aqueducts. Also featured in the main home is a billiards room, his and hers gyms, and a large banquet hall. A getaway pad? In 2007 it was reported that Jolie purchased this home in Laurel Canyon Jolie has said she likes to be in France because it makes her feel close to her late mother Marcheline Bertrand. who died in 2007. Though they don't stay there as often, the two also have a $5 million home in Santa Barbara that sits on 11 acres. The coastal ranch is next to Gaviota State Park where the beaches are some of the most naturally preserved areas in the world. The Fury star bought the property for $4 million in 2000 and the family uses it mainly as a vacation home. No longer his: Pitt used to own a home in Malibu but he sold it to Ellen DeGeneres who sold it in 2012 for $13m Brad and Maddox have been seen riding their ATVs on the beach. The home is about a two hour drive from downtown Los Angeles. Pitt has been trying to sell his New Orleans home since 2015. They originally listed their French Quarter mansion for $6.5 million, then slashed the asking price on their Big Easy home by $850,000, bringing it to $5.65 million. The star couple bought the renovated 1830s home in late 2006 for Pitts filming of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The home has Venetian plastered walls, marble mantles and fireplaces, crown moldings, a grand spiral staircase and an elevator. That's not all, folks: They also started the Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2006; here they are seen in 2010 in Cannes The brood: They have six children - Maddox, aged 15, Pax, aged 12, Zahara, aged 11, Shiloh, aged 10, and twins Vivienne and Knox, aged eight; here they are seen in June 2015 Theres also a two-story guesthouse. His pal Jonah Hill live there when he was filming 21 Jump Street. In 2007 it was reported Jolie bought a home in Laurel Canyon. It is not known if she still has it. ABC News reported in 2007 the actors 'acquired' an apartment in the Waldorf Astoria Towers, adjacent to the famed hotel, in New York City. The two are not only linked by homes and children. They also started the Jolie-Pitt Foundation together in 2006. The foundation has donated millions of dollars to such diverse causes as efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina and the tornado that ravaged Joplin, Missouri; childrens health centers in Ethiopia and Cambodia; the N/aan ku se Foundation in Namibia; GlobaL Action for Children; the HALO Trust; and Doctors Without Borders. The foundation's site has been taken down for 'renovation.' Jolie, who is also a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2013 for her work with the foundation. Tension from a co-star? InTouch Weekly reported Pitt grew close to Marion Cotillard on the set of Allied this spring which led to fights; PageSix has added Jolie hired a private investigator to see if he was having a romance with the French star; here Pitt and Cotillard are seen on set in England in March This will be the third divorce for Jolie, who was previously married to Elementary star Jonny Lee Miller, 43, for three years after the pair met on the set of the 1995 film Hackers. She later wed Billy Bob Thornton just two months after the pair began dating when they met on the set of 1999's Pushing Tin. Thornton had been engaged to actress Laura Dern at the time. Pitt's first marriage to actress Aniston ended in 2005, with rumors swirling at the time that it was because of his relationship with Jolie, who he met when the two worked on the 2005 film Mr And Mrs Smith. A source close to the couple told TMZ that Jolie made the decision to file because of the way 'Brad was parenting the children,' adding that 'she was extremely upset with his methods.' He's shed his heroic musketeer image for the chance to play a wheeler-dealer alongside Rupert Grint in the Snatch TV series. And it seems that Luke Pasqualino's Albert Hall is set to be every-inch the slick-rick as he filmed scenes for the follow-up to Guy Ritchie's cockney crime romp. Filming scenes in Manchester at strip club, the 26-year-old actor - who first shot to fame in E4's SKINS - found himself surrounded by a bevy of scantily-clad women and bikers. Slick rick: It seems that Luke Pasqualino's Albert Hall is set to be every-inch the slick-rick as he filmed scenes for the follow-up to Guy Ritchie's cockney crime romp Sipping a coffee as he strolled around in the sun-filled car park outside of the 'members only' club, Luke looked to be easing himself into the shoot. Clad in a checked shirt, wool trousers, tobacco boots and a navy peacoat, the actor certainly cut a rakish figure as he prepared to film some action-packed scenes - adding a pair of Cutler and Gross shades to the mix. The Peterbrough native found himself amongst a bevy of extras and supporting actresses dressed in a range of skimpy lingerie to play a number of dancing girls. Showing some skin: Filming scenes in Manchester at strip club, the actor, 26 - who first shot to fame in E4's SKINS - found himself surrounded by a bevy of scantily-clad women and bikers But it seemed that the shoot wouldn't be including any saucy lap dances or striptease, as the girls were seen sprinting out of the club as gas poured out of the door. Arriving outside as the smoke went off and the girls took their cue to run, a gang of bikers (and cameramen) swarmed in. Tearing in on chopper-style motorbikes, the men appeared to be a gang of toughs intent on causing some mayhem; with the men carrying uzi sub-machine guns. Girls, Girls, Girls: The Peterbrough native found himself amongst a bevy of extras and supporting actresses dressed in a range of skimpy lingerie to play a number of dancing girls Action-packed: It seemed that the shoot wouldn't be including any saucy lap dances or striptease, as the girls were seen sprinting out of the club as gas poured out of the door Fleeing the scene: Arriving outside as the smoke went off and the girls took their cue to run, a gang of bikers (and cameramen) swarmed in It's a raid! Tearing in on chopper-style motorbikes, the men appeared to be a gang of toughs intent on causing some mayhem; with the men carrying uzi sub-machine guns Causing mayhem: Extras scattered as the bikers pulled up - steaming past the camera crew capturing close-ups Something which hadn't escaped the notice of Luke or his co-star Rupert Grint, who were pictured sprinting to cover behind a wall during the scene. Harry Potter star Rupert, 28, was clad in his usual costume of a tweed blazer and waistcoat combo. Better known to the world as Ron Weasley, the actor is now playing the lead role of Charlie Cavendish. Leg it! Luke and his co-star Rupert Grint, who were pictured sprinting to cover behind a wall during the scene Hiding out? The stars were soon hidden behind some wheelie bins as the gang made their entrance The show is scheduled to air on the Sony owned streaming service Crackle - currently unavailable in the UK. Other actors set to feature in the forthcoming show include Dougray Scott as jailbird Vic Hill and former Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick as club owner Sonny Castillo. Snatch will adopt a formula previously employed to great success by the makers of cult show Fargo by using a film of the same name as a jumping off point for a new range of characters and plot developments. Now then Charlie! Harry Potter star Rupert, 28, was clad in his usual costume of a tweed blazer and waistcoat combo Pals: The two stars look to be getting on famously, and the duo were seen chatting away off camera However unlike Fargo, which enjoyed critical and commercial acclaim after airing on FX and Channel 4, Snatch will be harder for British viewers to access. Speaking to The Independent, a Crackle spokesperson said the show would likely air in Britain 'at some point, but it's too soon to say where yet. 'Similar to the programs produced by Sony Pictures Television, will be sold around the world by our international distribution team.' Principal photography began in Manchester in August, with the show expected to air in 2017. Advertisement They were widely considered to be one of the strongest couples in Hollywood. But Angelina Jolie shocked the world on Tuesday when it was revealed that she has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt after two years of marriage. Now DailyMail.com looks back at the stars' 12-year romance, which began with them meeting on Mr. & Mrs. Smith when Brad was still married to Jennifer Aniston, and led to them sharing six children together. Calling it quits: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have split 12 years after meeting on the set of 2005's Mr. & Mrs. Smith (pictured) Romance rumours: Brad was still married to first wife Jennifer Aniston when he started working with Angelina on the movie (seen 2004), however that didn't stop rumours of an on-set romance from swirling May 2004: Brad Pitt was still married to first wife Jennifer Aniston when he started working with Angelina Jolie on Mr. & Mrs. Smith, however that didn't stop rumours of an on-set romance from swirling. January 2005: After four and a half years of marriage, Brad and Jennifer announce in a joint statement that they have decided to split after 'much thoughtful consideration'. They add: 'We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another.' March 2005: Jennifer files for divorce from Brad and cites 'irreconcilable differences', as speculation surrounding his romance with Angelina continues to grow. April 2005: Although they are yet to publicly address romance rumours, Brad and Angelina's relationship is confirmed after they are photographed on holiday in Kenya with her son Maddox. May 2005: While admitting that they 'got on great', Angelina denies she had a relationship with Brad during filming, telling Marie Claire: 'To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not, could not look at myself in the morning if I did that.' No longer hiding their romance: The pair's relationship was confirmed in April 2005, two months before Mr. & Mrs. Smith hit cinemas 'Domestic Bliss': Brad and Angelina took part in a 2005 photo shoot for W magazine which depicted them as a couple with children, and Jennifer was allegedly 'heartbroken' after seeing the images June 2005: Mr. & Mrs. Smith hits cinemas. July 2005: Brad and Angelina take part in a photo shoot for W magazine which is entitled Domestic Bliss and depicts them as a couple with children. It's claimed Jennifer is 'heartbroken' after seeing the images, which were taken the previous March. Later that month Angelina adopts her daughter Zahara, her second child, from Ethiopia. September 2005: During an interview with Vanity Fair, Jennifer slams Brad for having a 'sensitivity chip missing' after brainstorming the W magazine shoot. She adds of the photos of him and Angelina in Kenya: 'I can't say it was one of the highlights of my year. Who would deal with that and say, "Isn't that sweet! That looks like fun?" But s**t happens. You joke and say, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."' October 2005: Brad and Jennifer's divorce is finalised. Daddy duty: Brad applied to adopt Maddox and Zahara in January 2006 (they are shown here in November of that year) Growing family: Brad and Angelina welcomed daughter Shiloh together in May 2006. They are seen with Shiloh, Zahara and Maddox in September 2007 January 2006: Brad and Angelina announce that they are expecting their first child together, and he files paperwork to formally adopt Maddox and Zahara. May 2006: Angelina gives birth to the couple's first biological child Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt in Swakopmund, Namibia. She and Brad couple sell the first pictures of their baby to People and Hello! magazines, and donate all of the proceeds (which totalled over $7million) to charity. December 2006: Discussing working on Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Brad, Angelina tells People: 'I think a few months in I realised, "God, I can't wait to get to work." ... Anything we had to do with each other, we just found a lot of joy in it together and a lot of real teamwork. We just became kind of a pair.' She adds: 'It took until, really, the end of the shoot for us, I think, to realise that it might mean something more than we'd earlier allowed ourselves to believe. And both knowing that the reality of that was a big thing, something that was going to take a lot of serious consideration.' Two years later Jennifer Aniston says it was 'uncool' of Angelina to make those comments. March 2007: Angelina adopts three-year-old Pax Thien from Vietnam. Brad adopts him the following February. Party of eight: Angelina confirmed at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008 (pictured) that she was expecting twins with Brad Proud parents: The stars welcomed Knox and Vivienne two months later in July 2008 May 2008: Angelina confirms at the Cannes Film Festival that she is expecting twins with Brad, after her Kung Fu Panda co-star Jack Black accidentally lets the news slip during a joint interview with Today. July 2008: The couple welcome son Knox Leon and daughter Vivienne Marcheline in Nice, France. They receive an alleged $14million for jointly selling the first photos of the twins to People and Hello!, and once again donate the money to charity. October 2008: Angelina tells the New York Times that she and Brad 'fell in love' while working on Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Up until this point they had insisted their relationship only began after his split from Jennifer Aniston. December 2008: Brad echoes the same sentiment in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying that Mr. & Mrs. Smith is his favourite Angelina Jolie film 'because you know... six kids. Because I fell in love.' September 2011: Brad tells Parade magazine of his marriage to Jennifer: 'I wasn't living an interesting life myself. I think that my marriage had something to do with it. Trying to pretend the marriage was something that it wasn't.' He says that he is finally 'a satisfied man' with Angelina, adding: 'One of the greatest, smartest things I ever did was give my kids Angie as their mom. She's such a great mom. Oh, man, I'm so happy to have her. With a partner like Angie, I know that when I'm working, the kids are happy, safe, and prospering. And when Angies working, she knows she has the same.' Charitable stars: Brad and Angelina shared the first photos of the twins (L) for an alleged $14million and donated the money to charity, as they had also done after welcoming Shiloh (R) No surprises there: In 2008, the pair (pictured in 2009) finally confirmed that they 'fell in love' on set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith Crazy about each other: In 2011, Brad said he is finally 'a satisfied man' with Angelina. They are pictured that year at the Cannes Film Festival December 2011/January 2012: Brad and Angelina reveal in separate interviews that their children are encouraging them to marry. While they had planned to wait until gay marriage was legal before tying the knot, they admit that there is a lot of pressure from their children. Angelina says: 'The kids asked me the other day, and I asked them if it was just because they wanted to have a big cake. They see movies that have the people getting married ... you know, the happily ever after. Shrek and Fiona are married. We've explained to them that our commitment when we decided to start a family was the greatest commitment you could possibly have. Once you have six children you're committed.' And Brad says: 'Marriage seems to mean more and more to our kids. We made this declaration some time ago that we weren't going to do it 'til everyone can. But I don't think we'll be able to hold out.' April 2012: The couple reveal their engagement. Brad's spokesperson says: 'Yes, it's confirmed. It is a promise for the future and their kids are very happy. There's no date set at this time.' Giving them a push: The couple, seen in February 2012, said earlier that year that their children were piling on the pressure to convince them to marry Making it official: The stars, who had planned to wait until gay marriage was legal before marrying, confirmed their engagement in April 2012. They are seen here the previous month February 2013: Angelina undergoes a secret double mastectomy after discovering she was at a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers due to a defective BRCA-1 gene. May 2013: The star bravely talks about her surgery in an op-ed for the New York Times, and praises Brad for his support. She writes: 'I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. 'Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has.' The following month, he says that Angelina 'has always been the brave, bold individual that I fell for - and sexy as ever.' By her side: Brad is pictured with Angelina in June 2013, a month after she bravely penned an op-ed about undergoing a double mastectomy So in love: Brad and Angelina put on an adorable display of affection at the 2014 Oscars Our family: Pax, Brad, Zahara, Knox, Shiloh and Maddox all supported Angelina at the premiere of Maleficent in May 2014 July 2014: It is announced that Brad and Angelina will be working on a movie together for the first time since Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The couple reveal they are co-starring in By The Sea, which Angelina also wrote and is directing, and depicts a married couple whose relationship is on the rocks. August 2014: Brad and Angelina tie the knot in a secret ceremony at their French estate Chateau Miraval, with the Salt star wearing a dress that her children helped to design and celebrating with a cake made by son Pax. After a short family honeymoon in Nice, the newlyweds arrive in Malta to start filming By The Sea. November 2014: The couple are photographed in what appears to be a heated exchange on their hotel balcony during a trip to Sydney, Australia. Tying the knot: Brad and Angelina married in a secret ceremony at Chateau Miraval in France in August 2014 First signs of trouble in paradise?: The couple were photographed in what appeared to be a heated exchange on their hotel balcony during a trip to Sydney, Australia in November 2014 March 2015: In a second op-ed for the New York Times, Angelina reveals she has had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. She writes: 'I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren. I called my husband in France, who was on a plane within hours. 'The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarising, and it is peaceful ... I know my children will never have to say, "Mom died of ovarian cancer."' November 2015: By The Sea is released to negative reviews, and fails to make up its budget at the box office. That same month, Angelina tells the Daily Mirror: 'The film says, "Whatever you go through, weather the storm and stick together." Brad and I have fights and problems like any other couple. 'We have days when we drive each other absolutely mad and want space. So it was kind of a message to each other that we are going to weather whatever comes and stick together.' What a difference 10 months make: The pair's last red carpet appearance together was at AFI Fest to promote By The Sea in November Did life imitate art?: The movie, which was written and directed by Angelina, depicted a married couple whose relationship is on the rocks 'Brad and I have fights and problems like any other couple': The actress said the film was 'kind of a message to each other that we are going to weather whatever comes and stick together' July 2016: Brad and Angelina pictured seen together for the last time before their divorce announcement. They are spotted taking Knox and Vivienne to brunch to celebrate their eighth birthday, before doing some shopping at a local pharmacy. September 2016: Angelina files for divorce from Brad, requesting sole physical custody of their six children with visitation rights for Brad. He tells DailyMail.com in a statement: 'I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time.' Robert Offer, an attorney for Angelina, says in a statement that she filed for divorce 'for the health of the family', while her manager Geyer Kosinski adds that 'Angelina will always do what's in the best interest to protect her children.' Final photo: Brad and Angelina were seen together for the last time before their divorce announcement in July, when they took Knox and Vivienne out to celebrate their eighth birthday Her Fashion Week ensembles are only getting sexier. And Charlotte Dawson upped the glamour once more as she sported an entirely sheer gown with a Versace-inspired jacket at the Fun Affair show on day three of London Fashion Week on Tuesday. The 23-year-old beauty was not only flashing her assets but also proving her penchant for style in her outfit which made the most of her spectacular looks. Scroll down for video Legs eleven: Charlotte Dawson upped the glamour once more as she sported an entirely sheer gown with a Versace-inspired jacket at the Fun Affair show on day three of London Fashion Week on Tuesday Charlotte, who is the daughter of late comedy legend Les, wowed in her chic ensemble which showed off her entire physique due to its sheer material. The dress featured slashed sides rising up to her waist which gave a glimpse of her legs and bust with the help of her cleavage-enhancing push-up bra. She gave a splash of colour to the look with her Versace-inspired jacket featuring the brand's classic print complete with gold coin prints and bright pink and green covers. Charlotte boosted her height with a pair of heeled ankle boots with a peep toe and perspex heel while she also accessorised with a thick black choker. Sizzling: The 23-year-old beauty was not only flashing her assets but also proving her penchant for style in her outfit which made the most of her spectacular looks Cheeky! The dress featured slashed sides rising up to her waist which gave a glimpse of her legs and bust with the help of her cleavage-enhancing push-up bra She toted a bright orange handbag with a thin chain strap while also rocking a dazzling diamond ring. Having worn her hair in loose waves a day before, she opted to scrape her locks into a high ponytail slicked in a wet look style. Her make-up was heavy-handed with lashings of highlighter emphasising her high cheekbones and a smudge of pink lipstick. Wowzers! She also toted a bright orange handbag with a thin chain strap while also rocking a dazzling diamond ring Dolled up: Her make-up was heavy handed with lashings of highlighter emphasising her high cheekbones and a smudge of pink lipstick As ever Charlotte was flanked by her Big Brother star BFF Sam Geffin, who featured in her Instagram snaps prior to the show before also starring with her on the FROW. Also at the bash was stunning X Factor reject Chloe Paige who was certainly more demure than Charlotte in a black jumpsuit paired with a yellow biker jacket. Her bleach blonde tresses were scraped into a high-bun while she highlighted her pout with a coral lipstick. Bessies: As ever Charlotte was flanked by her Big Brother star BFF Sam Geffin, who featured in her Instagram snaps prior to the show before also starring with her on the FROW Daring to bare: Charlotte flaunted her chest in the sheer dress with stripe detailing Legs for days: The stunning star displayed her endless legs in the daring garment Strike a pose: Charlotte and former X Factor star Chloe couldn't resist pouting for the cameras Ready, set, go! Charlotte was littering her Instagram accounts with sizzling snaps Versace: Charlotte's look was retro in style Mellow yellow: Also at the bash was stunning X Factor reject Chloe Paige who was certainly more demure than Charlotte in a black jumpsuit paired with a yellow biker jacket Just a day before Charlotte was out on the town once more, this time with Olivia Buckland, as they headed to the Vin & Omi showcase at the Trade Union Congress on Monday night. Charlotte wore a boldly-coloured mini dress adorned with patchwork detail while her Love Island companion, 24, went super sexy in a royal blue velvet blazer dress. Charlotte was bound to make an impact on the star-studded show as she wowed in the bold mini dress. Natural beauty: Chloe looked stunning in brightly lit shots from within the bash Sizzling: Charlotte and Olivia Buckland (right-left) were out on the town once more as they headed to the Vin & Omi showcase at the Trade Union Congress on Monday night The patchwork design created an eye-catching finish while the high rise hem meant that her endless legs also drew attention. She paired the look with knee-high suede boots with fringing extending along the length of the shoe while the teetering heel boosted her height. Taking to Instagram to share her ensemble with her 66,800 followers she admitted it was not her usual style but was loving the look all the same. All things bright and beautiful: The star wore a boldly-coloured mini dress adorned with patchwork detail while her Love Island companion, 24, went super sexy in a royal blue velvet blazer dress Chic: Taking to Instagram to share her ensemble with her 66,800 followers she admitted it was not her usual style but was loving the look all the same "Not my usual but love it": She wore her brunette tresses in a dead straight style cascading below her waist in length while her make-up was typically heavy-handed with her tan particularly deep in colour She wore her brunette tresses in a dead straight style cascading below her waist in length while her make-up was typically heavy-handed with her tan particularly deep in colour. Charlotte burst on to screens last month as she entered Ex On The Beach's all-star fifth season as the ex-flame of Gary "Gaz" Beadle of Geordie Shore fame. She was seen growing closer to Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen Bear before he unceremoniously dumped her in favour of Lillie Lexie Gregg. Beautiful blue: One such star came on Monday night as she soaked up next season's fashions with Olivia Buckland from this year's Love Island Since departing the villa she has become a regular on the reality star party circuit, often seen out with fellow TV stars. One such star came on Monday night as she soaked up next season's fashions with Olivia Buckland from this year's Love Island. Olivia found fame earlier this year when she starred on the ITV2 dating show and began seeing hunky Alex Bowen, who she recently moved in with. Fashion fiend: She has christened herself something of a fashionista since her departure from the programme and even shares details of her outfits on Instagram with the self-created hashtag: 'Olive's outfits' Legs eleven! Olivia found fame earlier this year when she starred on the ITV2 dating show and began seeing hunky Alex Bowen, who she recently moved in with She has christened herself something of a fashionista since her departure from the programme and even shares details of her outfits on Instagram with the self-created hashtag: 'Olive's outfits'. On Monday she opted for a royal blue blazer dress with bold red stilettos added in to boost her height and add a pop of colour to the ensemble. Her plunging dress showed off a hint of cleavage and she was quick to post an image of the look with her 914,000 Instagram followers before she headed to the show. Other stars to attend the show included Lizzie Cundy and Kiss FM DJ Pandora Christie. Feeling blue: Her plunging dress showed off a hint of cleavage and she was quick to post an image of the look with her 914,000 Instagram followers before she headed to the show She's no stranger to showcasing her her passionate romance with lover Cameron McCristal. But on Wednesday, Skye Wheatley may have taken things a bit too far as she mounted her tradie beau in a hotel pool as unsuspecting guests casually dined just meters away. The 23-year-old Instagram model wrapped her legs around the electrician's waist and kissed his lips, snaking one hand around the back of his neck while the other rested on his tattooed bicep. What happened to privacy? Skye Wheatley mounted her lover Cameron McCristal in a hotel pool in Bali in front of other guests The steamy clinch was made even racier thanks to Skye's skimpy bikini, which could barely contain her artificial assets. The blonde bombshell and her boyfriend are currently on a working holiday in Bali to shoot photos for the former Big Brother star's Instagram page. On Friday, she shared another suggestive snap, this time taken from the privacy of the couple's hotel room. Feeling frisky? Former Big Brother star Skye posed suggestively with her shirtless boyfriend in a Bali hotel room on Friday Flying solo: After riding Cameron in the pool, Skye stretched out for a solo snap The one-time reality star also revealed on the social media platform that they'd set up a tripod in the bedroom, before she swiftly deleted the comments. In the risque photo, Skye gently strokes her partner as she displays her pert behind in a pair of skimpy lace knickers. With her bronzed limbs on display, the busty blonde was seen getting up close and personal to her lucky boyfriend. Fans were quick to voice their opinions, with only positive comments such as 'cutest couple' and 'that booty' left un-deleted. Too much? The Instagram model and her lover previously caused a stir after posing naked to promote a body scrub on Instagram Not shy! The former reality star has been keeping her social media followers up to date with her adventures in Bali, uploading poolside snaps that flaunt her surgically enhanced breasts The busty babe has been keeping her social media followers up-to-date with her adventures in Bali, uploading poolside snaps that flaunt her surgically enhanced breasts. One image saw Skye dressed in an orange two-piece swimsuit, which highlighted her slender sun-kissed frame. As she wrapped one arm around her tattooed beau, Skye clutched onto a beverage and playfully stuck out her tongue. Her best angles: Moments earlier, Skye posted another bikini-clad image of herself posing knee-deep in the resort's pool Earlier, Skye posted another bikini-clad photo of herself climbing out of the resort's pool. Before travelling to Bali, Skye shared a throwback holiday snap of herself in a black bikini. She wrote in the caption: 'Cant wait to fly this dimple butt to Bali woohooo two more sleeps'. Still going strong: She also shared a steamy image of herself and Cameron kissing at the beach Angelina Jolie's father Jon Voight has expressed his sadness and concern after the actress filed for divorce two years after getting married to Brad Pitt. 'Its very sad,' the 77-year-old told Inside Edition in an interview to air Tuesday. 'Something very serious must have happened for Angie to make a decision like this.' 'I dont know what it is,' Jon told Inside Edition, adding, 'Say a little prayer.' Scroll down for video Shocked: Angelina Jolie's father Jon Voight, pictured on Tuesday, expressed his sadness at learning his daughter had filed for divorce from her husband of two years, Brad Pitt 'I am concerned for Angie and the children and hopefully I will be seeing them very soon,' he said. He was also caught on camera as he drove through the streets of Los Angeles, where he stopped to share his reaction to the news. Jon and Angelina famously reconciled in 2010 following a rift that left them estranged for nearly a decade. Better now: Jon and Angelina, pictured in Hollywood in 2011, famously reconciled in 2010 following a rift that left them estranged for nearly a decade Come here: The father-daughter duo embraced each other While the actor was not invited to the couple's wedding in France in 2014, Jon expressed elation that Brad was officially a member of the family following the nuptials. 'I'm very happy that I can legitimately call him my son-in-law, this wonderful fellow who I love, ' Jon said during an interview with Good Morning Britain, adding he was not disappointed he had not been invited to the nuptials. 'The children have been bugging them for a long time to get married and the time was right.' Family matters: Jolie's father wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they posed together at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2001 Flashback: The Mr. and Mrs. Smith star wore a shimmering white gown as she attended the Golden Globes Paramount party in 1998 with Voight Family matters: Voight said he was 'concerned' for his daughter and her children during his interview; Angelina pictured with Brad and their children Pax, Zahara, Knox, Shiloh, and Maddox at the 2014 premiere of Maleficent Jon and Angelina famously had a falling out in 2002 after the actor told Access Hollywood that his daughter had 'serious mental problems' and pleaded with her to seek help. In turn, she criticised him for having an affair behind her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand's, back. Despite reconciling in 2010, Jon did not attend her 2014 wedding to Brad Pitt and she is also said to have decided not to tell him about her preventative double mastectomy in May 2013. Shock split: Jolie and Pitt's divorce seemed to come out of nowhere (pictured in 2014 in London) 'Priorities': Susan Sarandon weighed in on the subject with a tweet which drew attention to the fatal shooting of unarmed Terence Crutcher Voight later revealed that the reconciliation occurred after he was struck by an emotional epiphany, leading the Oscar-winner to change his attitude 'in a moment'. Stars reacted online to the shocking news that Angelina had filed for divorce from Brad after tying the knot in 2014 after a decade of being together. Susan Sarandon weighed in on the subject with a tweet which drew attention to the fatal shooting of unarmed Terence Crutcher. It's a joke, right? Questlove expressed his disbelief that the marriage was over by tweeting, 'Surely the Onion hacked @TMZ' What about America? Josh Gad joked that the couple's relationship was keeping 'USA together' 'It's over': Patton Oswalt remarked he was hurrying towards his basement in light of all the Twitter trends Moving on: Chrissy Teigen joked, 'How am I supposed to go to work today?' The actress shared a screenshot of CNN as it broke the news of the couple's divorce. '@CNN Priorities. #TerrenceCrutcher,' she wrote in the caption. Questlove expressed his disbelief that the marriage was over by tweeting, 'Surely the Onion hacked @TMZ.' Say it ain't so: Dominic Monaghan broke the news to his followers Disbelief: NeNe Leakes seemed truly surprised as she wondered what caused the break-up Staying out of it: Boy George said the split was 'sad' but told fans 'it's also none of our business' Josh Gad joked that the couple's relationship was 'possibly the only thing still holding the USA together.' Patton Oswalt remarked he was hurrying towards his basement in light of all the Twitter trends. NeNe Leakes seemed truly surprised as she wondered what caused the break-up. Chrissy Teigen joked on Twitter, 'How am I supposed to go to work today?' His two cents: Spencer Pratt wrote he 'felt bad for kids that aren't gonna get adopted by' the couple Back on the market! Brandi Glanville reminded everyone that the actor was single Weighing in: DailyMail.com Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan said he blamed presidential candidate Donald Trump Funny man: Seth Meyers posted a short video to his Twitter page about it Pretty Little Liars: Keegan Allen poked fun at the situation comparing it to him and his character on the ABC show She's never been afraid to flaunt her incredible curves. And Imogen Thomas treated her fans to another glimpse of her phenomenal figure on Tuesday as she posted a sizzling throwback shot in a hot pink swimsuit. Sharing a snap from her recent Las Vegas getaway, the 33-year-old Welsh beauty exhibited her peachy posterior in a skimpy one-piece that clung to her incredible frame. Scroll down for video Tickled pink: Imogen Thomas treated her fans to another glimpse of her phenomenal figure on Tuesday as she posted a sizzling throwback shot in a hot pink swimsuit Featuring a low cut back and high cut design, the garment offered a glimpse of her incredible physique whilst remaining demure. Posing poolside, the former Big Brother contestant wore her chestnut coloured locks loose and tousled, damp from a dip in the cool waters. Earlier this month, the brunette beauty had shared a snap of the suit from the front, revealing it featured a risque zip along the front that showed off her ample cleavage. Yummy mummy: Earlier this month, the 33-year-old beauty had shared a snap of the suit from the front, revealing it featured a risque zip along the front that showed off her ample cleavage Imogen released her own swimwear collection earlier this year, to great success. And ahead of her Las Vegas trip the stunning starlet ensured she would show off the designs in all her glory by slipping into the scanty suits. . The former Miss Wales took to her Instagram to document herself trying on various two-pieces for her mini break - showing off her gorgeous womanly curves in the process. Bikini babe: Imogen took to Instagram last month to document herself trying on various bikinis ahead of her trip to Las Vegas, flaunting her curves in the process Posing in the mirror, the mother-of-two looked incredible in an extremely low-cut white two-piece with glitzy gold embellishment on the bottoms and straps. The top, held together by a single string, plunged straight down the centre of her bust, showcasing her ample breasts. Keeping her hair away from her face in a tight plait, Imogen ensured all eyes were on her enviable hourglass figure and slender legs. Opting for flattering white, the Big Brother star enhanced her deeply bronzed skin, having already holidayed in Ibiza last month. What an eyeful! Dressed in a burgundy bikini top with gold discs in another selfie, Imogen displayed her plentiful assets and endless cleavage in full-frontal view Clearly wanting to show off the skimpy number from her range, Imogen wrote: ''I'm off to Vegas for the wknd, this is the new south beach bikini #Vegas #vivalasvegas' She also posted a selfie in a second bikini, giving fans a proper eyeful in the close-up shot. Dressed in a burgundy bikini top with gold discs on the straps, Imogen displayed her plentiful assets and endless cleavage in full-frontal view of the camera. In similar style, she wrote to followers: 'Trying on some bikinis for my wknd away! love this from @chasingsummeruk Of course' Covering her face with different pairs of aviator sunglasses in the shots, Imogen gave a flavour of the complete beachwear outfits she will be rocking by the pool in Sin City. Hot mama: Imogen combines her time as a businesswoman with raising her two daughters Ariana and Siera, wearing one of her designs on a recent swimming trip with her girls Imogen excitedly shared her new designs with her followers, having released her swimwear range Chasing Summer in time for summer. The TV personality founded the company last year, on the basis of her own struggle during bikini shopping. Her website explains that she decided to launch the range after failing to find a well-fitting bikini for a curvier woman. It reads: 'The dream came true when she started jotting down different designs at night and making them into a reality today!' Jet-setter: The Big Brother star showed off her deeply bronzed skin, having already holidayed in Ibiza last month, as she geared up for her Vegas getaway The former Big Brother contestant is taking the Stateside break after a busy year, combining her time as a businesswoman with raising her two young daughters - Ariana, three, and Siera, nine months - who she shares with Australian businessman boyfriend Adam Horsley. The star recently compared her changing shape after having two children to that of Kim Kardashian's in an interview to promote Bio Oil. She said: 'I think all of my pregnancy weight has gone on my hips and bum. 'I feel like I have a similar shape to Kim Kardashian when she was pregnant, all in the hips and bum! My breasts have become bigger as well, they are really heavy!' They've been busy filming for the new series of Granchester. And James Norton was hard at work on set in Cambridgeshire with his co-star Robson Green on Tuesday, shooting what appeared to be a lively action sequence. The 31-year-old heartthrob, who plays Vicar Sidney Chambers in the detective series, was spotted running down the street. Scroll down for video Dashing display: James Norton was hard at work on set in Cambridgeshire with his co-star Robson Green on Tuesday, shooting what appeared to be a lively action sequence James looked like a man on a mission as he raced along the pavement, a look of determination on his face. Clad in his vicar costume, it wasn't hard to see why James has earned the reputation as a TV heartthrob. The star later joined forces with his co-star Robson Green, laughing and joking together in between takes. Dapper duo: The star joined forces with his co-star Robson Green, laughing and joking together in between takes Smart: Robson, who plays Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, was sporting a pair of courdroy trousers and stripy breeches Robson, who plays Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, looked dapper in a pair of courdroy trousers and stripy breeches, completed with a maroon tie. Grantchester is a small-screen adaptation of crime-fiction book series The Grantchester Mysteries by James Runcie and the first series pulled in an average of 6.6 million viewers when it debuted in October 2014. The final episode saw Geordie (Robson's character) shot on duty. Popular programme: Grantchester is a small-screen adaptation of crime-fiction book series The Grantchester Mysteries by James Runcie Hugging it out: James and Robson put on a very friendly display on set in Cambridgeshire A year on, he appears to have put this behind him but underneath his carefree exterior there are new feelings of vulnerability, and this puts a strain on his relationship with Cathy (Kacey), and his friendship with Sidney (James). The six new episodes will be filmed in London and Grantchester as well as in Cambridge's city centre. A 90 minute Christmas Special will also be broadcast later this year. Victoria Fea, ITVs Controller of Drama, commented: 'Viewers have really taken Grantchester to their hearts. Were really excited to commission not only a third series, but also a Christmas special. 'The village of Grantchester is always beautiful, but to add a festive touch will be absolutely wonderful!' Advertisement She plays downtrodden divorcee Rachel Watson in the movie. Yet Emily Blunt looked worlds away from her character as she wowed the crowds on the railway red carpet at the world premiere of The Girl On The Train in Leicester Square on Tuesday night. The 33-year-old Devil Wears Prada star, who gave birth to her second child just three months ago, looked phenomenal in a brightly coloured floral gown which nipped in at her waist before cascading into a floor-sweeping pillar base. Scroll down for video Dazzling: Emily Blunt looked worlds away from her character Rachel Watson as she wowed the crowds on the railway red carpet at the world premiere of The Girl On The Train in Leicester Square on Tuesday night Emily perfected her leading lady look as she glided into the premiere of the movie, which is based on the book of the same name by Paula Hawkins. The red carpet was styled to look like a railway, which made her further stand out in her dazzling gown adorned with heavy beading boasting intricate floral details. The dress nipped in perfectly at her tiny waist while she posed from all angles to show off the entirety of her figure, which was no doubt shocking to many due to the fact she gave birth in July to her and husband John Krasinski's second child. Her blonde tresses were pulled up into a delicate chignon which sweeped across in an elegant side parting with loose tendrils framing her face, while the hair was punctuated with delicate golden adornments. The London-born beauty's complexion was totally flawless, with a smudged smokey eye framing fluttering eyelashes. She dabbed on nude lipstick to highlight her plump pout. Stunning: She plays downtrodden divorcee Rachel Watson in the movie and now the author of the book which the film is based, Paula Hawkins, has revealed that the 'too beautiful' actress was made to 'look a bit s**t' for her role in the gritty drama A vision: The 33-year-old Devil Wears Prada star, who gave birth to her second child just three months ago, looked phenomenal in a brightly coloured floral gown which nipped in at her waist before cascading into a floor-sweeping pillar base Sparkling sensation: Emily perfected her leading lady look as she glided along the red carpet, styled to look like a railway, in her dazzling gown adorned with heavy beading boasting intricate floral details Up close and personal: The London-born beauty's complexion was totally flawless, with a smudged smokey eye framing fluttering eyelashes. She dabbed on nude lipstick to highlight her plump pout Baby beauty: Emily, shares two-year-old Hazel and three-month-old Violet with John, showing off her phenomenal shape which undoubtedly defied belief that she became a mother so recently A vision: Emily's natural good looks were clear for all to see as she wowed on the red carpet As she glided along the red carpet, Emily proved she knows exactly how to work it for the camera before she threw herself into greeting her adoring fans. Emily, who shares two-year-old Hazel and three-month-old Violet with John, was showing off her phenomenal shape which undoubtedly defied belief that she became a mother so recently. Emily's dazzling appearance on the red carpet will no doubt cause further discussion after the bestselling novel's author, Paula Hawkins, has revealed that the 'too beautiful' actress was made to 'look a bit s**t' for her role in the gritty drama. Choo choo! The premiere was certainly unique in its stunning design Stunning: Emily gazed out in the distance while pulling her very best pose Perky posterior: The dress clung to Emily's figure in all the right places as she wowed the crowds The 44-year-old, who attended the premiere in a chic floral cape, recently told an audience at the Chiswick Book Festival that she had already seen a cut of the film, which opens worldwide next month, and praised Emilys extraordinary performance. Admitting she was a fan of the actress, Paula said: 'I love Emily Blunt. Mostly, I thought of her as like a comedy actress. I remember her sort of scene-stealing role in The Devil Wears Prada, but she does the most extraordinary job in this. She really does. 'Everybody moans about, "Oh, she's too beautiful to play Rachel" and she is [too beautiful]. But the thing about Rachel, you know the key part of her is her self-loathing and how bad she feels about herself. Joining the stunner at the event was her co-star Luke Evans who plays Scott Hipwell in the movie. He looked dashing in a sharp navy suit as he posed with his stunning right hand woman. In this together: Joining the stunner at the event was her co-star Luke Evans who plays Scott Hipwell in the movie. He looked dashing in a sharp navy suit as he posed with his stunning right hand woman On the train... Luke and Emily took to the tracks as they posed for vying admirers Golden girl: Haley Bennett, who plays Luke's wife Megan in the movie, opted for a Tudor-inspired gown which showed off her eye-popping cleavage in a corseted top with a Bardot neckline and a floor-sweeping base Getting to grips with things: A helpful (and lucky) aide adjusted Haley's cleavage in her eye-popping gown Green glare: With her piercing green eyes and perfect bone structure it is easy to see how Haley won her part in the film Happy couple: In a show of support, Emily's sister Felicity arrived on the arm of her husband Stanley Tucci. After Emily and Stanley met during The Devil Wears Prada filming, he and Felicity hit it off Emilys wedding to John, held a George Clooneys Lake Como home in 2010 His and hers: The good looking duo wore matching thick-rimmed glasses while supportive sister Felicity wore a stylish brushed silk jumpsuit with pointed heels Sisters are doing it for themselves: The happy couple were out in support of their family member Haley Bennett, who plays Luke's on-screen wife Megan in the movie, opted for a Tudor-inspired gown which showed off her eye-popping cleavage in a corseted top with a Bardot neckline and a floor-sweeping base. In a show of support, Emily's sister Felicity arrived on the arm of her husband Stanley Tucci. After Emily and Stanley met on The Devil Wears Prada set, he and Felicity hit it off at Emilys wedding to John, held a George Clooneys Lake Como home in 2010. The good-looking duo wore matching thick-rimmed glasses while supportive sister Felicity wore a stylish brushed silk jumpsuit with pointed heels. Smiles all round: As she glided along the red carpet, Emily proved she knows exactly how to work it for the camera before she threw herself into greeting her adoring fans A bold statement: In a sea of minimal colours, Emily's bright and beautiful gown helped her shine through the crowds Stylish star: Leading the stars on the red carpet was Scottish DJ Edith Bowman who looked stylish in a black prom style dress with a sheer top and elbow-length sleeves Au naturel: She wore her blonde tresses in loose waves and showed off her ageless complexion with a natural make-up look Leading the stars on the red carpet was Scottish DJ Edith Bowman, who was hosting the event, looking stylish in a black prom style dress with a sheer top and elbow-length sleeves while she boosted her height with stylish booties. She wore her blonde tresses in loose waves and showed off her ageless complexion with a natural make-up look - perfect for taking the stage as the presenter of the bash. Songstress Ella Eyre wore a high-waisted tan leather skirt paired with a sexy sheer shirt. She scraped her ombre tresses into a high ponytail while vamping up her make-up with plum lipstick. Stunner: Edith was geared and ready to go with her presenting role at the event This way and that: Songstress Ella Eyre wore a high-waisted tan leather skirt paired with a sexy sheer shirt. She scraped her ombre tresses into a high ponytail while vamping up her make-up with plum lipstick Giving the evening some sexy glamour was Strictly Come Dancing star Katya Jones, who is paired with Ed Balls in the forthcoming season. She opted for a bizarre tweed and leather look which left little to the imagination. Her leather shorts were attached to a cape style base tied around her waist while she went for a coordinating barely-there crop top. She rounded out the sexy look with thigh high leather boots. The Strictly stars were out in force as Hollyoaks' Danny Mac, who has just signed up to the new series of the show, arrived on the arm of his fellow soap star fiance Carly Stenson. Strictly Come Sexy! Giving the evening some sexy glamour was Strictly Come Dancing star Katya Jones, who is paired with Ed Balls in the forthcoming season. She opted for a bizarre tweed and leather look which left little to the imagination Raunchy! Giving the evening some sexy glamour was Strictly Come Dancing star Katya Jones, who is paired with Ed Balls in the forthcoming season. She opted for a bizarre tweed and leather look which left little to the imagination Strictly sexy: Katya seemed determined to seize attention at the show A different vibe: The Strictly star seemed to miss the memo when placed next to Emily's elegant dress A gorgeous pair: The Strictly stars were out in force as Hollyoaks star Danny Mac, who has just signed up to the new series of the show, arrived on the arm of his fellow soap star fiance Carly Stenson All walks of the showbiz world: Stars from many sides of the fame game were in attendance including Olympic pentathlete Samantha Murray, model Charlotte Wiggins and Strictly star Joanne Clifton Endless: Charlotte pulled focus thanks to her sensationally long model legs Stars of the show: The author Paula Hawkins and director Tate Taylor (left and second left) larked around with the stars on the show She's the author! Paula attended the premiere in a chic floral cape while larking around with the stars How beautiful is too beautiful? The movie features Emily playing a frumpy, overweight alcoholic divorcee who obsesses about a couple she sees every day from the train window on her morning commute The movie features Emily playing a frumpy, overweight alcoholic divorcee who obsesses about a couple she sees every day from the train window on her morning commute. After the wife disappears, Emilys character inveigles her way into the police investigation and attempts to recall what has really happened while in an alcoholic haze. In the movie trailer, Emily is seen looking worlds away from her glamorous self, with her hair left mussed and her skin blotchy and reddened by her character's alcohol abuse. With tears streaming down her face and a quivering voice she says: 'I used to watch this perfect couple. They were the embodiment of true love.' People pleaser: Emily signed autographs for her many admirers in the crowd A stunning sight: Emily's look was nothing short of sensational - from her gown to her beauty She's been a passionate UN Women Goodwill Ambassador since 2014. And Emma Watson was the guest of honour at the 71st Annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday, where she delivered a passionate speech to mark UN Women releasing its first HeForShe Impact 10X10X10 University Parity Report. The 26-year-old actress, a staunch campaigner for the HeForShe campaign aiming to promote gender equality, took to the podium to discuss the new developments. Scroll down for video Taking a stand: Emma Watson was the guest of honour at the 71st Annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday The new report explains the commitments made by 10 universities across the world to focus on gender equality on campus. The universities, which include the University of Oxford in England, Sciences Po in Paris and Georgetown University in the United States, have pledged to take a zero-tolerance stance on sexual assault, to lose the gender gap in administration and academia, and to provide briefings on gender issues for faculty and students. Emma looked like she meant business as she presented her report, dressed entirely in custom-made, sustainable fashion by ZADY. Fierce feminist: The 26-year-old actress is a staunch campaigner for the HeForShe campaign aiming to promote gender equality Inspiration: The actress-turned-humanitarian works tirelessly as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador New report: Emma delivered a passionate speech to mark UN Women releasing its first HeForShe Impact 10X10X10 University Parity Report Landmark decision: The new report explains the commitments made by 10 universities across the world to focus on gender equality on campus. The Harry Potter actress shared on social media: 'Excited to be wearing bespoke, fully sustainable items which @zady designed for me. They'll be available to buy on zady.com soon! #heforshe @unwomen @proenzaschouler'. Emma approached the brand to create bespoke, sustainable items for her wardrobe and these pieces will become available for preorder on ZADY.com. The Brown University graduate sported a smart turtleneck jumper and a beige wrap skirt with a subtle side-split, set off with metal-capped heels. Emma's appearance at the UN comes following reports she got her legal team involved after website Celeb Jihad allegedly published private photos of her. Beaming: Emma exuded confidence after delivering her speech to the rapt audience Eco-conscious: Emma looked like she meant business as she presented her report, dressed entirely in custom-made, sustainable fashion High end fashion: The Brown University graduate sported a smart turtleneck jumper and a beige wrap skirt with a subtle side-split According to TMZ, the star sent a cease and desist letter after images showing her wearing a sheer top were made public. The report claims the photos, reportedly originally taken by Emma's stylist, have since been removed. MailOnline has contacted a representative for the star for comment. Fighting back: Emma's appearance at the UN comes following reports she got her legal team involved after website Celeb Jihad allegedly published private photos of her. She once claimed to have slept with only four men - three of whom were her husbands. But Angelina Jolie has experienced a more bizarre sexual history than anything Hollywood could dream up. The 41-year-old shocked the world on Tuesday when she filed for divorce from her husband of two years Brad Pitt, citing 'irreconcilable differences'. Racy past: Angelina Jolie had a romance with Jenny Shimizu and the pair starred together in 1996's Foxfire. 'I probably would have married Jenny if I hadn't married my husband,' Jolie revealed in an interview years later. 'I fell in love with her the first second I saw her' But it was only the latest chapter in a very colourful tome, which appears to have started as far back as preschool. 'I was a member of a group called the Kissy Girls. I was very sexual in kindergarten,' she told OK! Magazine in 2007. 'I created a game where I would kiss the boys and give them cooties. Then we would make out and we would take our clothes off. I got in a lot of trouble!' The end: Angelina Jolie's shock split from Brad Pitt on Tuesday was just the latest chapter in a very colourful love life story Jolie lost her virginity at 14 with her mother's blessing. 'When I was 14, I was either going to be reckless on the streets with my boyfriend or he was going to be with me in my bedroom with my mom in the next room because I was going to have a boyfriend, ' she revealed to Cosmopolitan in 2003. Things then took a darker turn for the teen, who had a history of self harm and an adolescent fascination with knives. Number one: She met first husband-to-be Jonny Lee Miller on the set of 1995's Hackers 'I had started having sex with my boyfriend and the sex and the emotions didn't feel enough. I was no longer a little girl,' she told OK. 'In a moment of wanting to feel closer to my boyfriend I grabbed a knife and cut him. He cut me back. 'We had an exchange of something and we were covered in blood, my heart was racing. Then whenever I felt trapped, I'd cut myself. I have a lot of scars. It was an age when I felt adventurous and after a few beers things happened.' Switching sides: She split from the Brit when the film wrapped, which led her to her first same-sex relationship with model-actress Jenny Shimizu (bottom right), whom she met on the set of 1996's Foxfire The by age 20, the actress had done 'just about every drug possible', including cocaine, ecstasy, LSD and 'my favourite, heroin'. She credited her first husband Jonny Lee Miller with steering her away from her 'dark days'. The two met and began dating on the set of their 1995 film Hackers; she later claimed this was her first sexual relationship since her first boyfriend. Back on: It was while filming Foxfire Jolie reconnected with Miller, eventually marrying in March 1996 He would also be the first of many of her co-stars with who she would have both rumoured and real-life relationships. She split from the Brit when the film wrapped, which led her to her first same-sex relationship with model-actress Jenny Shimizu, whom she met on the set of 1996's Foxfire. 'I probably would have married Jenny Shimizu if I hadn't married my husband,' Jolie revealed in an interview years later. 'I fell in love with her the first second I saw her.' It was while filming Foxfire Jolie reconnected with Miller, eventually marrying in March 1996. Gross: She caused a stir when she was pictured kissing her brother Haven full on the lips backstage at the 2000 Golden Globes, doing the same three months later on the Academy Awards red carpet She attended her wedding in black rubber pants and a white T-shirt, upon which she had written the groom's name in her blood. However Shimizu later claimed that she and Jolie continued to hook up for years afterward. 'Angelina and I had a really wonderful relationship that lasted many years,' she said. 'I was dating her while she was seeing other people - she was that type of person; wonderful and open.' Jolie filed for divorce from Miller in February 1999. Close family: After picking up her first Oscar - Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted - she opened her acceptance speech by telling the crowd 'I'm so in love with my brother right now' The following year she caused a stir when she was pictured kissing her brother Haven full on the lips backstage at the 2000 Golden Globes, doing the same three months later on the Academy Awards red carpet. After picking up her first Oscar - Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted - she opened her acceptance speech by telling the crowd 'I'm so in love with my brother right now'. That month she began dating Billy Bob Thornton, and two months later they married in Las Vegas. The pair had met the previous year on their film Pushing Tin, in which she plays his young wife who cheats on him with rival John Cusack. Number two: That month she began dating Billy Bob Thornton, and two months later they married in Las Vegas Angelina and Billy Bob reportedly did not pursue a relationship during filming, as he was engaged to actress Laura Dern at the time, while she was rumoured to be dating yet another co-star: Timothy Hutton, with whom she appeared in 1997's Playing God. Jolie and Thornton - who is 20 years her senior - frequently made headlines with their frequent and outlandish declarations of love, including her massive 'Billy Bob' tattoo on her shoulder. The couple also famously wore vials of each other's blood around their necks. In 2002 they announced they were adopting a child from Cambodia, but split suddenly three months later. Love is: Jolie and Thornton - who is 20 years her senior - frequently made headlines with their frequent and outlandish declarations of love, famously wearing vials of each other's blood around their necks On set again: The pair had met the previous year on their film Pushing Tin, in which she plays his young wife who cheats on him with rival John Cusack 'It took me by surprise, too, because overnight, we totally changed,' she said at the time. 'I think one day we had just nothing in common.' She also said in the same interview that she wouldn't 'even consider a relationship for another seven, eight years' - but that did not prove to be the case. In 2005 she was accused of being the reason behind Brad Pitt's split from wife Jennifer Aniston, when the two reportedly hooked up while filming Mr And Mrs Smith. Jolie denied it at the time, but did admit she 'fell in love' with him while filming. Taken: Angelina and Billy Bob reportedly did not pursue a relationship during filming, as he was engaged to actress Laura Dern at the time And another! Meanwhile she was rumoured to be dating yet another co-star: Timothy Hutton, with whom she appeared in 1997's Playing God 'To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive,' she said in an interview with Today that year. 'I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife.' However their relationship status was confirmed in 2006 when she announced she was pregnant with his child. After seven years and six children together they announced their engagement in April 2012, and married on August 23, 2014. Drama: In 2005 she was accused of being the reason behind Brad Pitt's split from wife Jennifer Aniston Despite rumours she had linked up with other co-stars throughout the years - including both Colin Farrell and Jared Leto during the filming of Alexander - Jolie has claimed she only slept with four men in her life; three of whom she married. However, she appeared to contradict this in a New York Post interview in 2004, in which she confessed having numerous 'friends with benefits'. 'I went for about two years with absolutely no man around me and then decided to get closer to men who were already very close friends of mine,' she said at the time. 'It's kind of an adult way of having adult relationships. Pattern: The two reportedly hooked up while filming Mr And Mrs Smith 'As crazy as that sounds, meeting a man in a hotel room for a few hours and then going back and putting my son to bed and not seeing that man again for a few months is about what I can handle now.' 'I can feel like a woman and get close to a man, but it's not a relationship that interferes with my family,' she added. 'I've never had a one night stand in my life - these are people that I know very well.' They celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary last month. And Stanley Tucci, 55, and Felicity Blunt, 35, proved to be the perfect match in more ways than one, as they put on a loved-up display whilst sporting a pair of thick rimmed glasses for the world premiere of The Girl On The Train. Sartorially in sync as they walked down the novelty train tracks in Leicester Square on Tuesday, the pair seemed in great spirits. Scroll down for video Tucci of a kind: Stanley Tucci, 55, and Felicity Blunt, 35, proved to be the perfect match in more ways than one at the world premiere of The Girl On The Train in London on Tuesday The couple had turned out in support of Felicity's sister, Emily Blunt - the star of the new film - who also introduced the pair after working with Stanley on The Devil Wears Prada. But whilst Felicity's younger sister may have been the star of the film, the literary agent ensured her sibling wouldn't be the sole star of the premiere as she turned heads in a stylish brushed silk jumpsuit with pointed heels. Also well turned out for the occasion, Stanley looked dapper in a tailored three-piece suit that he teamed with a matching navy tie. Cute couple: The couple had turned out in support of Felicity's sister, Emily Blunt - and were sartorially in sync on the red carpet as they turned out in matching spectacles Felicity and Stanley met at Emilys wedding to John Krasinski, held at George Clooneys Lake Como home in 2010 - a year after Stanley lost his wife of 14 years, Kathryn, to breast cancer. The Hunger Games star - who had three children with Kathryn - previously admitted that he felt 'guilty' during his second marriage . 'It was very hard to go on vacations at first, really hard to go with Felicity someplace,' he told The Times. 'I felt guilty. Its horrible. You always feel guilty.' He revealed that he keeps pictures of Kathryn up around the house, which he shares with Felicity and the children. Specs appeal: Whilst Felicity's younger sister may have been the star of the film, the literary agent ensured Emily wouldn't be the sole star of the premiere as she turned heads in her specs The couple welcomed a son together, Matteo, in London 2015 a half-sibling to his teenage kids. Announcing the news last year, Stanley couldn't resist cracking a joke, and teased in a statement to People: 'I believe he is mine. 'We are all thrilled to welcome him to this cold, cruel world. We are all thrilled that he is here and healthy.' She's never been afraid to flaunt her curves. And Daisy Lowe ensured her incredible figure was on display in a pair of skintight leggings that clung to her shapely derriere. Leaving her London home with Strictly Come Dancing partner Aljaz Skorjanec, the 27-year-old model had all eyes on her as she headed to a London Fashion Week show with the professional dancer in tow. Leggy lady! She's never been afraid to flaunt her curves. And Daisy Lowe ensured her incredible figure was on display in a pair of skintight leggings that clung to her derriere The figure-hugging leggings also drew attention to her shapely pins, whilst she shunned heels in favour of trendy black trainers. Layering up, the Elle covergirl also donned a fitted velvet jacket with a purple trim that highlighted her model curves. She finished off the look with a splash of colour in the form of her navy handbag, which was emblazoned with a floral pattern and the letter 'L'. She's ch-cha-charming! Leaving her London home with Strictly Come Dancing partner Aljaz Skorjanec, the 27-year-old model had all eyes on her Later in the day, Daisy showed off her fantastic physique in another stylish ensemble as she slipped into a pair of skinny jeans and knee high boots. Looking casual but chic for the outing, she donned a plain white T-shirt with a velvet blazer as she cuddled up to Aljaz. Every inch as stylish as Daisy, the Lithuanian dancer wore a pair of pinstripe trousers with canvas shoes and a striped top. Good genes: Later in the day, Daisy showed off her fantastic physique in another stylish ensemble as she slipped into a pair of skinny jeans and knee high boots The pair were no doubt pleased to spend some time together outside of dance rehearsals, although Daisy recently admitted that she had been celebrating hard in the run up to the competition. She told the Radio Times,: I knew once the show started Id have to knuckle down. No more partying! Speaking about the BBC dance contest the brunette said: Dancing is such an uplifting, joyful practice and such a special part of existing, so I had to say yes when they asked. She's the Australia's Next Top Model judge who's dominated the modelling scene for over two decades. And on Tuesday Megan Gale took to Instagram to share snaps from a mystery behind the scenes project she is currently working on. The 41-year old model wrote: 'BEHIND THE SCENES Had a ball filming on set today for an exciting new project. Stay tuned!' Scroll down for video Secret reveal: On Tuesday Megan Gale took to Instagram to share snaps from a mystery behind the scenes project she is currently working on Directly afterwards, Megan posted a second pic of her driving off in a swanky black Range Rover. Smiling to the camera she posts: 'My sweet ride on set today.' In her third pic from the behind-the-scenes shoot, the supermodel is seen wearing a stunning casual chic ensemble. Donning a baby blue Carla Zampatti jacket paired with Mavi jeans, a Zara white T-shirt and white Jimmy Choo heels, Megan thanks her stylist in the post. Megan posted a second pic of her driving off in a swanky black Range Rover. Smiling to the camera she posts: 'My sweet ride on set today' Casual chic: Donning a baby blue Carla Zampatti jacket paired with Mavi jeans, a Zara white T-shirt and white Jimmy Choo heels, Megan thanks her stylist in the post Meanwhile, in the season premiere of Australia's Next Top Model aired on Tuesday night, Megan was in tears when a young contestant revealed she was told she was too thick 'from the waist down' for runway work. Contestant Jordan Simek stood before Megan and fellow judges Alex Perry and Jennifer Hawkins, claiming: 'I've done photo shoots before but not so much runway. My body's not suited to runway.' Good advice: Offering up her wisdom, the brunette beauty told ANTM contestant Jordan Simek to 'really really really believe in yourself' in the season premiere of the show 'I have been told before that I'm thicker... from the waist down,' the 20-year-old model added. 'That kind of critique must have really affected your confidence,' Megan asked. 'I'm here to prove everybody wrong,' the blonde hopeful responded as her eyes welled up with tears. 'Believe in yourself': The supermodel fought back tears as she recalled being told she was 'too big' to work when she started out in the industry An emotional Megan said: 'I couldn't work for like five six years because everyone told me... I can't believe I'm doing this.' Fanning away her tears, the L'Oreal Paris ambassador revealed: 'The industry here just said to me, "No you can't work, you're too big."' Offering up her wisdom, the brunette beauty told Jordan to 'really really really believe in yourself'. Standing up from her judging chair to give the aspiring model a hug, Megan added another piece of advice: 'Don't starve yourself, don't start doing crazy things to conform because you're going to be fine and it can happen.' Hard to hear: Fellow judges Jennifer Hawkins (middle) and Alex Perry (R) also felt for the young contestant who was clearly emotional The show sees 13 finalists, aged between 16 and 25, battle it out for the title of Australia's Next Top Model. Along with Megan, twin male models Jordan and Zac Stenmark offer up their expert knowledge with fellow mentor Cheyenne Tozzi. The country's biggest modelling exports Miranda Kerr, Elle Macpherson and Gemma Ward are also set to guest star during the special 10th season. Australia's Next Top Model airs 7:30pm on Foxtel every Tuesday. With all the flying she has been practicing as of late, Caitlyn Jenner no doubt needed a caffeine boost. And the reality star stopped by her local Starbucks on Tuesday for her daily coffee run in Malibu, California. The 66-year-old looked well put-together in a form-fitting, light grey dress and beige heels, which showcased her long limbs. Caffeine boost! Caitlyn Jenner made her usual Starbucks run in Malibu, California on Tuesday, showcasing her long and lean figure Holding her hot drink in her hand, the former I Am Cait star looked elegant in a tight, scoop-neck dress that stopped right before her knees. She threw a long white cardigan over and paired it with peep-toe beige heels and a dark grey purse that she held in her other hand. Caitlyn accessorized with a pair of studded earrings and large black sunglasses as her light brunette hair was lightly cringed and parted to one side. Great syle: The 66-year-old reality star displayed her great physique in a tight grey dress and a white cardigan Billowing hair! The former I Am Cait star left her light brown hair down All around! The parent of Kendall and Kylie Jenner looked fabulous from every angle After her reality show, I Am Cait, got cancelled after a two-season run, it appears the former Olympian was spending her free time following her passions. Caitlyn was spotted flying her light aircraft on Sunday, and has been training as a pilot since 1976, according toAOPA. 'The most fun...was the unadulterated joy of flying my ultralight floatplane from my home at Lake Tahoe,' the parent of Kendall and Kylie Jenner told the aviaton outlet about her beginner days as a pilot. The television personality even shared an Instagram post last month of her and her mother as they smiled inside the cockpit of her aircraft. 'Look who's flying my plane!!' Caitlyn wrote in the caption, suggesting her mother had taken the reins. Beats traffic! Caitlyn got behind the pilot's seat of her beloved light aircraft for a day of flying on Sunday Double the fun! Caitlyn's mother Esther joined her daughter in on a flight inside the aircraft last month The passionate Republican also spent her time visiting Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. last week, where she lobbied for LGBT rights. Taking to Instagram, Caitlyn posed in a snap with political commentator and gay rights activist Margaret Hoover as the two stood in front of the Capitol building. 'Big day at Capitol Hill,' she wrote. '@m_hoov and I got to chat with a few #Republican reps about #LGBT issues. It's a time for change!' Although her E! series was cancelled, Caitlyn is slated to appear in the upcoming episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. She will also guest star as herself in the upcoming third season of Amazon's Transparent, premiering September 23. Advertisement There is at least one group of people who won't be shedding any tears about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's split: the makers of this film. A brand new trailer for Allied was unveiled on Tuesday just hours after the shock announcement its star is heading for divorce. The one minute clip features the 52-year-old actor getting hot and heavy with co-star Marion Cotillard who is rumoured to be the cause of the rift. Scroll down for video Impeccable timing: Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard get hot and heavy in the new Allied trailer, which was released just hours after Angelina Jolie divorce bombshell on Tuesday Whether pure coincidence or cynically opportunistic marketing, studio Paramount are unlikely to be upset at the attention suddenly being shone on the romantic war thriller, set for release in November. Besides commending (or condemning) the marketing team on their timing, Twitter was quick to draw the parallels to Pitt's 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith, in which he and Angelina also play assassins. The teaser shows Pitt's intelligence officer and Cotillard's French resistance fighter posing as a couple on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany. Hungry eyes: The one minute clip features the 52-year-old actor getting hot and heavy with co-star Marion Cotillard who is rumoured to be the cause of the split Box office gold: Whether pure coincidence or cynically opportunistic marketing, studio Paramount are unlikely to be upset at the attention suddenly being shone on the romantic war thriller, set for release in November Team: The teaser shows Pitt's intelligence officer and Cotillard's French resistance fighter posing as a couple on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany Duck and cover: One scene shows the two in the middle of a desert, as Pitt ask his co-star the eerily applicable question of what she will do 'after the war'. Storm's comin: 'When the war is over, it won't matter where I am,' she replies before things get steamy in the back of a car as a sandstorm kicks up around them One scene shows the two in the middle of a desert, as Pitt ask his co-star the eerily applicable question of what she will do 'after the war'. 'When the war is over, it won't matter where I am,' she replies before things get steamy in the back of a car as a sandstorm kicks up around them. 'We found each other. Come with me to London, be my wife,' he can be heard telling her as he is shown carrying her over the threshold, and cooing over their newborn baby. Wedded bliss: 'We found each other. Come with me to London, be my wife,' he can be heard telling her as he is shown carrying her over the threshold That was quick: in the next scene the on-screen couple are cooing over their newborn baby Tough watch: 'I love you with all of my heart,' she tells him as they frolic at a family picnic with their baby daughter, in scenes that will prove uncomfortable watching for Angelina, should she ever sit through it Busted: But it seems Brad isn't destined for a happily ever after after all, as a somewhat ironic plot twist reveals Cotillard may not be what she seems to be Awkward: An uncomfortable family dinner for Pittillard awaits as he returns home in the closing scene, and she asks: 'Hey, what happened to my kiss?' Danger ahead: Marion shows off her skills with an automatic weapon opening fire on the Nazi's Escape route: Brad and Marion exit hand in hand as fire breaks out during their covert mission Serious look: During a scene in the trailer Brad looked concerned while Marion looked at him over her shoulder 'I love you with all of my heart,' she tells him as they frolic at a family picnic with their baby daughter, in scenes that will prove uncomfortable watching for Angelina, should she ever sit through it. But it seems Brad isn't destined for a happily ever after after all, as a somewhat ironic plot twist reveals Cotillard may not be what she seems to be. 'Commander, our agents have decoded enemy traffic... it's about your wife,' another intelligence officer informs him. 'There's no easy way to say what we're about to say.' Obvious: Within minutes of the trailer being posted on Twitter, the flood of memes suggested the studio's timing was anything but coincidental Fling experts: The Angry Birds - which could describe Brad's list of exes - also squirmed at the timing Perfect: Pacha from the Emperor's New Groove thought the timing was as good as when the sun hits that ridge just right Snakehunter: The queen of timing bombshell drops Kim Kardashian was even impressed History repeating: Besides commending (or condemning) the marketing team on their timing, Twitter was quick to draw the parallels to Pitt's 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith, in which he and Angelina also play assassins falling in love and ending Pitt's previous marriage as they did An uncomfortable family dinner for Pittillard awaits as he returns home in the closing scene, and she asks: 'Hey, what happened to my kiss?' Within minutes of the trailer being posted on Twitter, the flood of memes suggested the studio's timing was anything but coincidental. Nevertheless, Paramount will be all too aware that Mr & Mrs Smith was - despite lukewarm reviews - a career-best performing film for both Jolie AND Pitt when it was released, amid the rumours of their affair. She turns heads wherever she go. And Cally Jane Beech had all eyes on her yet again as she headed to the ByGeorgiaK collection launch in London on Tuesday. Turning out to support friend Georgia Kousoulou at the W Hotel, the 24-year-old Love Island star wowed in a vibrant orange dress. Scroll down for video Stunning: She turns heads wherever she go. And Cally Jane Beech had all eyes on her yet again as she headed to the ByGeorgiaK collection launch in London on Tuesday Featuring a plunging neckline, the garment offered a look at her ample cleavage, whilst cinching in at her small waist. Flashing her tanned and toned pins, the dress featured a split hem that showed off more of her lean legs as she strode past. Giving her frame some extra height, the starlet wore a pair of nude barely there heels as she teetered into the venue. Making an entrance: Turning out to support friend Georgia Kousoulou at the W Hotel, the 24-year-old Love Island star wowed in a vibrant orange dress Orange you glad to be here: Featuring a plunging neckline, the garment offered a look at her ample cleavage, whilst cinching in at her small waist Leggy lady! Flashing her tanned and toned pins, the dress featured a split hem that showed off more of her lean legs as she strode past in her barely there nude heels Keeping her accessories simple, she carried an oversized studded clutch in her perfectly manicured fingers. She also showed off more of her vibrant gown by sweeping her raven coloured locks back into a chic chignon bun, simultaneously exposing her flawless features. Contoured to perfection, the starlet lined her baby blue eyes with a strip of false eyelashes, whilst her plump pout was painted with a scarlet lipstick. Two of a kind: Joined by fellow Love Island star Tina Stibbes, Cally kept her accessories simple, she carried an oversized studded clutch in her perfectly manicured fingers Brunette beauty: Cally showed off more of her vibrant gown by sweeping her raven coloured locks back into a chic chignon bun, simultaneously exposing her flawless features Cally was in good company at the event as she was joined by fellow Love Island satr Tina Stibbes, who dazzled in a pair of eye-catching gladiator sandals. Meanwhile, TOWIE's Lydia Bright, wowed in a little leather dress as she turned out to support her co-star. The blonde beauty - who brought along her mother, Debbie Douglas - wowed in the thigh-skimming garment which featured laser cut detailing along the neckline. Injecting some colour into the ensemble, Lydia slipped into a pair of red suede courts. Hell for leather: TOWIE's Lydia Bright, wowed in a little leather dress. Injecting some colour into the ensemble, the pretty starlet slipped into a pair of red suede courts Family affair: The blonde beauty - who brought along her mother, Debbie Douglas - wowed in the thigh-skimming garment which featured laser cut detailing along the neckline Ex On The Beach star Holly Rickwood also put on a leggy display in a little black dress that featured a dramatic V-neckline that showed off her ample bust. Teetering along in her black heels, the starlet also accessorised with a silver clutch bag. She finished off the look by sweeping her golden locks into a high messy bun, with loose tendrils framing her pretty face. Classic and chic: Ex On The Beach star Holly Rickwood also put on a leggy display in a little black dress that featured a dramatic V-neckline that showed off her ample bust Supportive: Woman of the hour Georgia Kousoulou was joined by her mother and sister as she enjoyed her night in the spotlight at her launch party Classy: TOWIE beauty Chloe Lewis kept her ensemble low-key in a polka dot shirt, loose-fitting 'mom jeans' and black shoe boots 50 dead in clashes in DR Congo capital: opposition More than 50 people were killed on Monday in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, opposition groups said, calling for further anti-government demonstrations. The government earlier said that at least 17 had died in the violence in Kinshasa ahead of a planned opposition rally, but had warned that the death toll could rise. "The coalition (of opposition groups) deplores the number of victims, more than 50 dead at this point, victims of the firing of real bullets by the police and the republican guard," it said in a statement. Hundreds of Congolese demonstrators took part in an opposition rally in Kinshasa on September 19, 2016 Eduardo Soteras (AFP) It also called on people to gather on Tuesday "to keep up without hesitation the demands made today." The rally, which the authorities cancelled, had been called to demand the resignation of President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001. Opponents fear he is planning to extend his rule unconstitutionally. The clashes Monday were the worst violence in the capital since January 2015 when a police crackdown on another opposition protest left several dozen people dead. Interior Minister Evariste Boshab described the violence as an attempted "uprising" and said the victims included three police officers. The main opposition parties had called for a nationwide demonstration to "give notice" to Kabila, whose mandate expires on December 20. Although Kabila is banned by the constitution from running again, he has not made any move to schedule elections, fuelling fears he will seek to extend his stay in office. In May, the Constitutional Court said Kabila could remain in office in a caretaker capacity until an election is held, triggering a wave of angry protests. - 'Not acceptable' - France on Monday described the unrest as "very dangerous and extremely worrying" and urged Kabila to lay out a clear timetable for a vote. "What matters is the date of elections," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "If they're delayed endlessly, that means that Kabila intends to stay in power," he said. "That's a situation that is not acceptable." Former colonial power Belgium called in a foreign ministry statement for "restraint" and urged all political groups to "quickly" organise elections. So far, there has been no move to schedule elections and at this stage, it appears practically impossible to organise a poll before the end of the year. A fringe opposition group has been meeting with the government in a bid to organise a schedule for elections, but veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi has refused to participate in the talks which are due to end on Saturday. Last week, Amnesty International accused Kinshasa of the "systematic repression" of those seeking Kabila's departure. - 'A failed uprising' - Monday's rally had been due to start in Kinshasa in the early afternoon, but during the morning, scuffles broke out between stone-throwing youths and anti-riot police. Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of stone-throwers as they tried to march on parliament ahead of the demonstration, which was promptly cancelled by the authorities. "Kinshasa just experienced an uprising which ended in failure," Boshab said, accusing demonstrators of "deliberately" ignoring a schedule which had been agreed with the authorities. Government spokesman Lambert Mende had earlier told AFP that two policemen were killed in violence against the ruling party's offices in the volatile Limete district. A Catholic nun said one of the policemen had been "burnt alive". Government officials also accused the opposition of "targeted looting", while private security officials said there had been several looting incidents involving banks and Chinese-run shops in the south of the city, which is home to some 10 million people. - 'Kabila, get out!' - Earlier, youths were seen hurling stones at police on the city's main avenue as plumes of smoke rose into the air from burning tyres and from a car and a minibus that had been set alight. "Kabila, get out!" they shouted as they waved the blue-and-white flags of the opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which is headed by Tshisekedi, 83. Party spokesman Bruno Tshibala told AFP he had seen four bodies in the office of an allied party. Activists were also seen burning a giant poster of Kabila in which he appealed for the two sides to resolve the crisis through "dialogue". And a diplomatic source reported clashes in several places along the road to the capital's airport. An AFP photographer and a journalist working for French radio station RFI were briefly detained by the security forces while they covered the clashes. They were beaten several times and eventually released. However, the AFP photographer's confiscated memory cards were not returned. Demonstrators point to a broken billboard showing the face of Congolese President Joseph Kabila during an opposition rally in Kinshasa on September 19, 2016 Eduardo Soteras (AFP) A demonstrator holds stones during an opposition rally in Kinshasa, on September 19, 2016 Eduardo Soteras (AFP) Jim Carrey hit with lawsuit over ex-girlfriend's death Veteran comic actor Jim Carrey has been sued for allegedly procuring drugs under a bogus name for his ex-girlfriend, who died of an overdose last year, and then trying to hide his involvement. According to the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Mark Burton, the estranged husband of Carrey's former girlfriend Cathriona White, the actor "used his immense wealth and celebrity status" to obtain opioids for her. Burton alleges that the actor purchased the drugs under the fake name "Arthur King" and then "took steps to conceal and obfuscate his involvement and culpability" after White's death. The lawsuit alleges that Jim Carrey purchased drugs under a fake name and then "took steps to conceal and obfuscate his involvement and culpability" after Cathriona White's death Justin Tallis (AFP/File) Carrey's attorney, prominent celebrity lawyer Marty Singer, dismissed the suit on Monday as nothing but a bid by Burton to extort money from the actor. The celebrity website TMZ quoted Singer as saying White "stole" Carrey's prescription medication and that he never gave her any pills. "There are moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world," TMZ quoted Carrey as saying in a statement. "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me, or the woman I loved." The suit alleges that Carrey was obsessed with controlling and manipulating the 30-year-old woman with whom he had an on-again, off-again relationship since 2012 and was able to monitor surveillance cameras at a home in the Los Angeles area where White often stayed. The actor and his assistant were allegedly aware that White had not left the home for well over a day in September, when she died, but failed to act. News reports at the time said that she and Carrey had broken up a few days before her death. White sent a cryptic message on her Twitter account on the day the couple reportedly broke up that read: "Signing off Twitter, I hope I have been a light to my nearest and dearest." According to the coroner's office, White took her own life by overdosing on a lethal amount of prescription drugs including Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet. The suit alleges that three pill bottles found near the body of the Irish-born makeup artist bore the name "Arthur King." Carrey allegedly obtained the drugs from a physician who routinely prescribed them to the actor under the false name. The suit claims that the Canadian-born comedian tried to cover up his tracks by sending a "bogus text message" to White on September 27, when she was already dead, enquiring as to the whereabouts of the drugs. Burton also claims the actor engaged in a "charade" after White's death, reneging on his offer to pay for funeral expenses. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages as well as reimbursement for funeral expenses and attorney fees. Carrey served as a pallbearer at White's burial in her hometown in Ireland and wrote a tribute after her death describing her as a "truly kind and delicate Irish flower." US warns Syria aid convoy strike could end Russia deal A deadly air strike on a UN aid convoy by Syrian or Russian planes calls into question Moscow's will to try to salvage a ceasefire, the United States said Monday. The attack could only have been carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime or his Russian allies and Moscow must take responsibility either way, US officials said. "The United States is outraged by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near Aleppo today," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Syrian rebel fighters stand guard as sacks of aid are unloaded from a Syrian Arab Red Crescent truck in the eastern Ghouta region, on March 7, 2016 during a UN-led operation to deliver food Abd Doumany (AFP/File) Last week, the United States was forced to apologize after it weakened the ceasefire by bombing Syrian troops, but Washington said it had been accidental. US officials said there could be no similar excuse from Russia for the targeting of non-combatant aid workers. "The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian Federation," Kirby said. "And yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people," he added. "Given the egregious violation of the cessation of hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia." Senior US officials went further, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Russians have the responsibility to refrain from taking such actions themselves, but they also have the responsibility to keep the regime from doing it," one said. "So either way, the burden is on the Russians to demonstrate quickly and in a significant way that they are committed to this process," the official added. US Secretary of State John Kerry will try to speak to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov before Tuesday's meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). But if Moscow is not serious about re-committing to what had been a seven-day lull in fighting, there may be no peace process to salvage, the senior official warned. "Our sense is that what happened today has dealt a serious blow to our efforts to bring peace to Syria," another US official said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Russia and the United States agreed a deal during talks in Geneva earlier this month to pressure both Moscow's ally Assad and US-backed rebels to obey a ceasefire. If the truce had lasted a week, the US and Russian militaries were to set up a joint targeting cell to hunt jihadist groups not party to the cessation of hostilities. But Assad's forces continued to block shipments of aid to rebel-held areas, and on Monday declared an end to the truce, accusing the opposition of breaking it in turn. Then the United Nations and monitors complained that a UN and Red Crescent aid convoy had been attacked, destroying at least 18 trucks and leaving 12 aid workers dead. Kerry, Lavrov and ministers from the 23-nation ISSG are to meet Tuesday alongside the UN General Assembly in New York to decide what steps to take next for peace. News / Africa by Staff reporter Members of the Botswana security and intelligence services on Tuesday raided and arrested a 36-year-old man for allegedly producing the photoshopped semi-dressed picture of President Ian Khama.Mmegi reported that the man, believed to be behind the worked image that caused uproar on social media over the weekend, works as a technician at Water Utilities Corporation in Maun. He was confronted and arrested when reporting for duty on Tuesday.He is currently detained at Maun Police Station, on charges that are yet unknown.The suspect's laptops and cellphones were reportedly impounded by the security agents as part of the investigations. Mmegi is informed that the suspect will be transferred from Maun to Gaborone as part of the investigations. It is understood that security agents told the man to pack some of his clothes and quickly left with him. Efforts to get a comment from the WUC plant in Boseja where the suspect is stationed were futile.When questioned, officer commanding Peter Gochela denied knowledge of the arrest. Gochela said none of his officers at the station were investigating a case related to Khama's photoshopped picture.He further denied knowledge of anyone being in police cells in connection with the matter.However, police spokesperson, assistant commissioner Witness Boseja confirmed that a man aged 36-years was under investigation in connection with the matter."Investigations into the matter are still ongoing. I cannot divulge how many people have been investigated in connection with the case or where they were arrested." Google smartphone expected at Oct. 4 event Google have sent out invitations to an October 4 event, hinting that the Internet titan will show off a new smartphone powered by its Android mobile software. Emailed invitations sent late Monday revealed only the time and place for the gathering in San Francisco, the message topped by blue, red, yellow, and green dots of color. Google fired off a Twitter message with hashtag #madebygoogle and a video of what appeared to be a long rectangular search term box morphing into a silhouette of a smartphone. Last year Google unveiled the Nexus 5X phone (pictured) and Nexus 6P, the new Chromecast and new Android 6.0 Marshmallow software features Justin Sullivan (Getty/AFP/File) Industry trackers have been expecting Google in October to show off its own smartphone, showcasing the prowess of its new Nougat version of Android software. Google may stamp its latest smartphones with a "Pixel" brand instead of the "Nexus" name it has used in the past for Android smartphones it has made in collaborations with partners. A Google smartphone would be fielded as a standard to which other's making Android devices should aspire, and would come just weeks after Apple's began selling new iPhone 7 models. An enticing Google smartphone could also prove a contender for the attention of buyers during the prime year-end holiday shopping season. Scenes in Apple stores around the world on Friday were reminiscent of days before online ordering became a norm and people camped out for days to be first to get hands on the California company's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Enthusiasm was peppered with disappointment due to shortages of the large-screen iPhone 7 Plus and a jet-black iPhone 7, but it was unclear if the shortages were the result of strong demand or limited supply. The devices chart a new path for the tech giant by eliminating headphone jacks, a move seen as setting a trend for a wireless future The iPhones also boast Apple's freshly-released iOS 10 mobile operating system. While the company has touted total iPhone sales of one billion, the number sold in the quarter ending June 25 fell 15 percent from a year earlier, highlighting concerns over growth for the key profit driver. Growth has become challenging with many mobile phone markets saturated, with Apple rivals producing a wide variety of devices powered by Android software that Google makes available for free. Apple faces stiff competition from traditional rival Samsung, although the South Korean giant is currently on the back foot after being forced into a massive recall because of exploding batteries of its flagship Galaxy Note 7. Jordan votes in election tipped to see Islamist return Jordanians voted Tuesday in an election that could see opposition Islamists re-emerge as a major parliamentary force in the key Western ally. Polling stations closed at 1700 GMT, after the electoral commission extended voting by an hour in major cities including Amman because of the "great crowds" of voters. The focus will be on turnout and the performance of the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood. A Jordanian woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her ballot in Amman on September 20, 2016 Khalil Mazraawi (AFP) The IAF is expected to clinch about 20 seats in the 130-member parliament, which would make it the largest opposition force. The Phenix Center pollsters had said 42 percent of those eligible planned not to vote, reflecting a general lack of enthusiasm for a parliament with limited powers to affect government policy. But others, such as 19-year-old Baraa Zeidan -- who was voting in his first election -- cast ballots enthusiastically. "I chose the party that wants to represent me," said the student. "I hope they will step up and solve our problems with transport, employment and the education system." The vote comes as Jordan wrestles with the spillover of wars in Syria and Iraq and the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees. The kingdom is a member of the US-led coalition battling jihadists in both neighbouring countries and was the target of a June 21 suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group that killed seven border guards. King Abdullah II can appoint and sack the country's military and intelligence chiefs, senior judges and members of parliament's upper house without government approval. - 'Irregularities' reported - After polling stations closed, the electoral commission said 1.49 million people had voted based on preliminary figures, compared with 1.2 million in the last election in 2013. The Islamist-led opposition complained of "several" irregularities, including vote-buying, which it said had taken place openly outside polling stations. The commission said it was investigating the allegation, a common complaint in past elections. It added that one district south of Amman had its results nullified after vandals destroyed ballot boxes. The interior ministry said 50,000 policemen had been mobilised to ensure security. "Some minor incidents have been reported from some areas, like clashes between supporters of rival candidates and shots in the air outside one polling station," said national security director General Atef al-Saudi. The authorities pride themselves on holding elections in a region wracked by conflict since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. Voting was monitored by 14,000 local observers and 676 from abroad, including 66 from the European Union. "We in Jordan are proud of the fact that we have recourse to the ballot box and dialogue through elections at a time when you hear only the sound of gunfire in several countries in the region," said government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani. A total of 1,252 candidates were standing. Seats have been set aside for 15 women, nine Christians and three representatives of the Circassian and Chechen minorities. Businessmen and tribal officials loyal to the monarchy are expected to be the biggest winners. The Islamists boycotted polls in 2010 and 2013 in protest at the electoral system and allegations of fraud. - Hope for change - The system gives disproportionate clout to rural districts, which tend to return tribal candidates loyal to the monarchy. The Islamists -- weakened by internal divisions and repression -- announced in June they would take part after the electoral law was amended. The change allows parties to run lists, rather than a "single vote" system that benefited tribal candidates. Voters said they wanted change. "I've been voting for decades and just hope it'll be different this time round," said Abdessalam Abu al-Haj, 75. Saja Asaf, a veiled 20-year-old voting for the first time, said she hoped the new parliament would tackle unemployment. "Most young people can't find work when they leave university," she said. Unemployment has reached 14 percent, according to official figures, while independent analysts estimate the figure at 22-30 percent in a country where 70 percent of the population is under 30. Electoral commission chief Khaled Kalalda gave no specific time for final results. The government said schools used as polling stations would remain closed on Wednesday and Thursday "to complete the electoral process". A Jordanian woman sits inside a van adorned with campaign posters outside a polling station in the capital Amman on September 20, 2016 Khalil Mazraawi (AFP) After polling stations closed, the electoral commission said 1.49 million people had voted based on preliminary figures Khalil Mazraawi (AFP) Nitrates poison water in California's Central Valley In California's Central Valley, where verdant fields of fruit and vegetables unfurl under sunny skies, the water that feeds them -- and flows into taps across the region -- contains a toxic and silent poison. The very same farmers who have tilled and cultivated the earth for decades in one of America's biggest produce regions have also poisoned it, dumping millions of tons of fertilizer, which has found its way into many of the region's aquifers. Nitrates, a residue left behind by intensive farming, now lurk in the water in a number of communities, many of them poor and rural. Agricultural fertilizers as well as cow manure from dairy farms have led to domestic wells in California's Central Valley having dangerously high levels of nitrates Robyn Beck (AFP) For years, Cristobal Chavez has been drinking the water directly from the faucet, never imagining that he, his wife and their children were in danger of nitrate poisoning. The water "tasted normal," said the former truck driver, who lives in the agricultural town of Porterville, is a foster parent and now runs a day care -- meaning lots of children have consumed the water in his home over the years. Several months ago, the Community Water Center (CWC) nonprofit association discovered that water in the family's well contained twice as many nitrates as the maximum allowed under state standards. According to a study by the University of California, Davis, some 250,000 people in the region are at risk of excessive exposure to nitrates. Most of the tainted communities are small and cut off from larger water distribution networks, making them dependent on wells. The majority are poor, and most residents are Latino, with few speaking English well. The California State Water Resources Control Board, which monitors public distribution systems in large cities, has no jurisdiction over private wells. One of its branch chiefs, Kurt Souza, said that county authorities are "trying to target the areas they feel are the most critical," but admitted they had probably missed some contaminated spots. - 'Health emergency' - The toxic effects of nitrates are widely recognized by World Health Organization and US health officials, and are particularly dangerous for children and pregnant women. Nitrates can sometimes cause a deadly blood disorder called "blue baby" syndrome, in which the blood's capacity for carrying oxygen is reduced, in addition to causing increased miscarriages and fetal deformations. The substance is also thought to play a role in kidney and thyroid problems, and may cause certain cancers. Nitrates are "a public health emergency," said Jennifer Clary, an advocate at CWC. According to a CWC report, the rate of blue baby syndrome is 40 percent higher in the Porterville area than the California average. California's Public Health Department was unable to provide statistics on blue baby syndrome, and says it does not collect data on the broader impact of nitrates in the Central Valley. "There is a total lack of transparency, this is of a crisis proportion," Erin Brockovich, the environmental crusader portrayed by Julia Roberts in her Oscar-winning role in the 2000 eponymous Hollywood film, told AFP. - 'Ticking time bomb' - "Most communities suffering are not sophisticated enough to demand change, and since they are predominantly from a migrant status there has never been a push really to get anything done," said Bob Bowcock, an expert who works with Brockovich. Honorio Nunez, who is Mexican and makes a living picking oranges, discovered with the help of CWC that his tap water in Porterville is contaminated with nitrates and bacteria. Although his family has been using water bottles, which have been delivered for the past two years by emergency services due to a drought that has dried out area wells, he and his wife worry about the water that they and their children drank before that. "The vast number of smaller communities with this nitrate contamination are a ticking time bomb," Brockovich said. Authorities have indicated a willingness to toughen legislation on the amount of nitrates farmers can use, but are still in the information gathering stage. "It will take 10 years for the government to even regulate them," Brockovich said. Of the 1,500 Porterville homes that are being connected to a larger water distribution network, only 10 percent are expected to be on-stream within the next year. "If we don't do anything 80 percent of people (in parts of the Central Valley) could be impacted by nitrates by 2050," said Deborah Ores of the CWC. Meanwhile, many of Porterville's residents are simply stuck, with no place else to go. "We've seen people interested in buying the house," Chavez said of his property. But when they find out about the nitrates, all hope will be lost, he said. In Californias top farming regions, up to 250,000 consumers are highly susceptible to encountering nitrate contamination in their drinking water, according a report released earlier this month Robyn Beck (AFP) The well of the Nunez' family home (pictured) is tainted with dangerously high levels of nitrates making it undrinkable Robyn Beck (AFP) Cristobal Chavez poses in is home with the only drinking water he and his family have - bottled water received through emergency deliveries Robyn Beck (AFP) Aid convoy attacked as Syria ceasefire collapses A convoy delivering aid to Syrians in Aleppo province was hit by a deadly air strike hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a week-long ceasefire, with an outraged UN warning it could amount to a war crime. The UN said at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike while UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated "many people" were killed or seriously wounded. Syrians watch a Red Cross vehicle carrying aid drive past in the rebel-held town of Talbisseh on the northern outskirts of Homs on September 19, 2016 Mahmoud Taha (AFP) "Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," O'Brien said. The Observatory was unable to confirm if the planes responsible were Syrian or Russian. The UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian mission had sought to take advantage of the ceasefire, which collapsed on Monday night as shells and bombs rained down on Aleppo city and the surrounding province. The Observatory said a total of 36 people had died in the violence across the battleground region. An AFP correspondent inside Aleppo city reported almost non-stop bombardment and constant sirens. Syria's military announced the end to the truce earlier Monday, accusing rebels of more than 300 violations and failing to "commit to a single element" of the US-Russia deal. The ceasefire, which came into force on September 12, saw an initial drop in fighting but violence began to escalate late last week and the deal came under severe strain over the weekend. US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that the truce could be the "last chance" to save the country. - Aid under attack - The attack on the convoy is likely to provoke anger at the UN General Assembly in New York, with the delivery of aid to desperate Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas stressed as a key condition of the deal by Washington. The US, Russia and other key players are set to gather there on Tuesday for talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions. "Our outrage at this attack is enormous," the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters. "The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians." The United States said it was outraged at the attack and stressed that the destination of the convoy was known to the Syrian regime and its ally, Russia. Aid distribution to Syrian civilians caught up in the conflict had already faced severe difficulties. The UN held back deliveries destined for Aleppo city because it was unable to obtain security guarantees. Jan Egeland, head of the UN humanitarian task force for Syria, said the convoy was bombed despite aid agencies coordinating their movements with all sides on the ground. A Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouse was also hit, a UN spokesman said. - 'Pointless' ceasefire - Inside Aleppo, residents in rebel-held areas hunkered down after the end of the ceasefire which had brought only temporary relief to the population of up to 275,000 people trapped there. Sirens wailed as ambulances zipped through the eastern half of the divided city, an AFP correspondent reported. The Observatory said that military planes had carried out more than 40 strikes since the Syrian army announced the end of the truce. Chief US diplomat Kerry will try to speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York before Tuesday's meeting of the International Syria Support Group but statements from Syrian and Russian military officials on the ground appeared to bury the deal. "Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally," said Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy. The ceasefire deal had three key components: fighting between government and rebel forces across Syria would halt, although strikes on Islamic State and other jihadists could continue. Humanitarian aid would reach desperate civilians, particularly in devastated eastern Aleppo. And if the ceasefire held, the US was to have set up a joint military cell with Russia to target jihadists. It came under massive strain on Saturday when a US-led coalition strike hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday blasted the air strikes, which he said showed world powers supported "terrorist organisations" like IS. His adviser Buthaina Shaaban went further, telling AFP that Damascus believed the raid which killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers had been intentional. The bloodiest day for civilians was Sunday, when a barrel bomb attack killed 10 in a southern rebel-held town and one woman died in the first raids on Aleppo since the truce started. Syria conflict Alain Bommenel, Paz Pizarro, Sabrina Blanchard (AFP) A Syrian soldier lets an empty bus pass through a checkpoint on the frontier of the rebel-held al-Waer neighbourhood in the central Syrian city of Homs on September 19, 2016 Louai Beshara (AFP) A general view shows destroyed buildings in the government-held Jouret al-Shiah neighbourhood of the central Syrian city of Homs on September 19, 2016 Louai Beshara (AFP) A man registers during a vaccination campaign carried out by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, on September 19, 2016, in the rebel-held town of Douma Abd Doumany (AFP) A vehicle drives past a poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and destroyed buildings in the government held Jouret al-Shiah neighbourhood of the central Syrian city of Homs on September 19, 2016 Louai Beshara (AFP) British activist convicted in Thai fruit industry trial A British activist was found guilty of criminal defamation on Tuesday and given a suspended jail sentence over a report alleging abuses in Thailand's lucrative fruit industry -- a verdict the UN described as "very disturbing". Andy Hall, who lives in Thailand, has seen a series of legal actions for contributing to a 2013 report on a Natural Fruit factory in the south of the country, alleging poor working conditions, low wages and child labour. On Tuesday he was found guilty of defamation and breaching computer crime laws in a private prosecution filed by Natural Fruit. British labour activist Andy Hall speaks to the media as he arrives at the Bangkok South Criminal Court in Bangkok on September 20, 2016 Lillian Suwanrumpha (AFP) Hall, 36, was given a three-year suspended sentence and fined 150,000 baht ($4,300), his lawyer Nakhon Chomphuchat told AFP. Rights groups say criminal defamation and computer misuse laws are routinely used to stifle investigative work in Thailand. The country's reputation as a major supplier to global food chains has been tarnished by persistent allegations of labour abuses, especially against cheap and vulnerable migrant workers. Both Natural Fruit, a private company and major supplier to the European drink market, and Thai prosecutors have brought separate actions against Hall. The United Nations' Human Rights Office for South-East Asia said the ruling was "very disturbing". "It would have been more appropriate to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the serious allegations raised in the Finnwatch report," acting regional representative Laurent Meillan said in a statement. - 'A hard look' - The contentious report -- "Cheap Has a High Price" -- was published by the Finnish civil rights group Finnwatch. It heaped pressure on Thailand's food industry. Western companies have faced increased pressure to vet their supply chains and ensure their Thai exports are slavery-free. But scandals keep emerging, while those who document abuses often face a backlash. Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said international companies should "take a real hard look at whether they want to source anything from Thailand going forward" following the ruling. Natural Fruit has denied the allegations in the report and has also launched a civil case seeking $10 million in damages. Hall, who said he will appeal the verdict, stands by his research and has accused the company of trying to detract from the report's findings. Speaking after the trial on Tuesday, Hall said the verdict "shows people are not free or at liberty to do this kind of research". "There's a huge problem with human trafficking in Thailand. There's a huge problem with labour exploitation," added the activist, who in recent years has also drawn attention to abuses in Thailand's shady fishing and poultry sectors. The president of Natural Fruit was in unforgiving mood after the ruling. "No foreigner should think they have power above Thai sovereignty," said Wirat Piyapornpaiboon. In a statement, Finnwatch said they took "full responsibility" for the report's contents, adding Hall had been personally targeted "in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights". Hall was acquitted by a court last year on a separate defamation charge pursued by Thailand's attorney general. In his statement, the UN's Meillan said at least 10 human rights defenders have been slapped with prosecutions this year in Thailand. One recent case includes a trio of researchers in the insurgency-plagued "deep south" over a report they wrote documenting torture allegations against the Thai army. Supporters of British labour activist Andy Hall hold signs outside the Bangkok South Criminal Court on September 20, 2016 Lillian Suwanrumpha (AFP) Men pulled from crevasse on Australia's Uluru Three young men stuck in a crevasse on Australian tourist attraction Uluru, the world's largest monolith, have been rescued after a challenging hours-long operation that stretched late into the night, authorities said Tuesday. Rescuers battled strong winds abseiled 320 metres (1,049 feet) to reach the stranded Australians, all aged 22, after they reportedly wandered off a well-worn path while climbing the iconic symbol of the Outback, also known as Ayers Rock, on Monday. The rescuers were flown by helicopter to the top of the giant red rock that rises 348 metres above the desert -- to start the complex process of extracting the trio after police confirmed they were uninjured and had enough water. Several climbers have died over the years climbing Uluru, the world's largest monolith in the Australian Outback HO (Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services/AFP) "Due to the fading light and lack of anchors, the rescue effort was slow and methodical," Northern Territory Emergency Service volunteer Alan Leahy said in a statement. "We abseiled about 320 metres to the stranded men. There were very strong winds that kept on tangling the rope," Leahy added, saying that rescuers reached the men about 11.30 pm (1400 GMT Monday) and over several hours moved them one at a time to the base of the rock. The seven rescuers only had head torches to guide them to the men as darkness fell, NT Emergency Service's southern regional manager Claire Barker said. "Where they were situated was very steep and we couldn't get them to climb up from where they were, they were actually stuck," Barker told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "So our guys had to start from the top of the rock to where they were and pluck them off, now while that sounds very easy, it's actually very arduous and very difficult." The rescue came a year after a 27-year-old tourist, reportedly Taiwanese, strayed off the official route on the huge formation and plunged up to 20 metres into a narrow gap, sustaining multiple injuries. He was taken to hospital after a lengthy rescue attempt. Climbing Uluru, in the remote Outback in central Australia, is seen by many tourists as a must-do on their visit to Australia. But they do so against the wishes of the traditional Aboriginal owners the Anangu, to whom the site is sacred. Tackling Uluru's sandstone slopes is not an easy exercise and there have been several deaths on the rock over the years. Climbing Uluru, in the remote Outback, is seen by many tourists as a must-do on their visit to Australia Greg Wood (AFP/File) This is the moment a Palestinian teenager tried to stab an Israeli soldier - before being shot dead. Surveillance camera footage shows a 16-year-old dressed in black approaching a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron apparently trying to show him some papers. But after moving closer, the teenager pulled a knife out and tried to stab the Israel Defence Force guard. Dramatic footage camptures the moment a Palestinian teenager tried to stab an Israeli soldier - before being shot dead After moving closer, the teenager pulled a knife out and tried to stab the Israel Defence Force guard The soldier manages to duck out of the way, but the teenager lunges at a second guard before a desperate struggle breaks out and after falling to the ground, the assailant is shot dead The soldier manages to duck out of the way, but the teenager lunges at a second guard before a desperate struggle breaks out. After falling to the ground, the assailant is shot dead. An Israeli army statement said: 'An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab an IDF (Israel Defence Force) soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to (the village of) Bani Naim. 'Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death.' The Palestinian health ministry identified the alleged assailant as Issa Tarayra, 16, from Bani Naim. The Palestinian health ministry identified the alleged assailant as Issa Tarayra, 16, from Bani Naim The man could be seen slashing wildly with a knife during the attack - before he is gunned down Soldiers moved in as a struggle broke out between the teenager and an Israeli soldier Tuesday's incident was the ninth since Friday, coming after Palestinians wrapped up the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha and as Israel tightened security ahead of major Jewish holidays in October. The upsurge has shattered several weeks of relative calm. The recent attacks have mostly taken place in and around Hebron in the occupied West Bank and in annexed east Jerusalem. Tuesday's incident was the ninth since Friday, coming after Palestinians wrapped up the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha and as Israel tightened security ahead of major Jewish holidays in October An Israeli policewoman stabbed outside Jerusalem's Old City on Monday was in serious condition in intensive care. Following that attack, which also left another police officer with moderate wounds, Israeli authorities closed Palestinian shops in the area. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the closures were ordered for officers to search the area, but some shop owners questioned whether it was punishment for the stabbing. The Israeli army called the recent escalation 'further testament to the ongoing influence of incitement on the Palestinian street and social media networks' The assailant in that case was shot and seriously wounded. Surveillance video showed him approaching the officers from behind before stabbing them. The Israeli army called the recent escalation 'further testament to the ongoing influence of incitement on the Palestinian street and social media networks'. An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was the possibility of a 'copycat effect' of one attack influencing another. Israeli security forces evacuate a wounded Palestinian, who was shot during a reported stabbing attack against Israeli officers The official said tensions may also be rising because of Palestinian 'online incitement' against Jewish visits to the Old City's ultra-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound which are expected to increase during next month's holidays. The compound is the third holiest site for Muslims and the most sacred for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians fearing that Israel will eventually seek to assert further control over it. An Israeli soldier kicks a Palestinian man as troops try to arrest him in the city of Hebron Since October, 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with the Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest. An Israeli soldier holds a Palestinian man by the throat during an incident in Hebron, a largely Palestinian city where a hardcore of Jewish settlers are protected by a large Israeli military force A Palestinian woman tries to prevent her son from being arrested by Israeli soldiers Three soldiers grapple with a Palestinian man in the city of Hebron Raids across Syria battlefronts after aid convoy hit Air raids and shelling pounded key battlefronts in Syria on Tuesday, as outrage mounted over a strike on an aid convoy hours after Syria's military declared an end to a week-long truce. The raid and renewed violence across the country dimmed hopes that the fraught ceasefire negotiated by Moscow and Washington could be revived. Key players including the United States and Russia were to meet in New York Tuesday in an effort to salvage the peace process, which US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned could be the "last chance" to end Syria's civil war. Aid is seen strewn across the floor in the town of Orum al-Kubra on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on September 20, 2016, the morning after a convoy delivering aid was hit by a deadly air strike Omar haj kadour (AFP) But on the ground in Syria, activists and AFP correspondents reported intensifying fighting. In the battleground city of Aleppo, air raids and artillery fire hit rebel-held districts until approximately 2:00 am (2300 GMT Monday), an AFP correspondent said. Residents spent the night huddled in their apartments sharing news about the collapsing truce via text messages and heard loud intermittent booms on Tuesday morning. At least 39 civilians were killed in overnight bombardment of Aleppo and the surrounding province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said, and fresh clashes had erupted on the southern edges of the city. In the week after the truce was declared on September 12, only 27 civilians were killed as fighting dropped significantly across the country. Those killed overnight included 12 people, mostly humanitarian workers, who died on a raid on a joint United Nations, Red Cross, and Red Crescent convoy delivering assistance to the town of Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo province. - UN 'war crime' warning - An infuriated United Nations warned Monday night's attack, which destroyed at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy, could amount to a war crime. "Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," aid chief Stephen O'Brien said. "Our outrage at this attack is enormous," the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters. "The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians." An AFP correspondent at the scene of the strike early Tuesday saw damaged boxes of medical supplies and bags of aid spilling out of charred green trucks. Aid deliveries to desperate civilians were a key element of the US-Russia deal. But there were only three known aid delivery operations during the week-long truce: to Moadamiyet al-Sham near Damascus on Sunday and to both Talbisseh and Orum al-Kubra on Monday. Cross-border aid for besieged civilians in eastern parts of Aleppo city never entered Syrian territory. Syria's military unilaterally announced the end to the truce on Monday night, accusing rebels of more than 300 violations and failing to "commit to a single element" of the deal. In the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday, activist Nayef Mustafa said planes circled over the town of Salqin, held by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate in alliance with Islamist rebels. - 'Ready for barrel bombs' - "It's calm now, but there was machinegun fire by military aircraft overnight," Mustafa told AFP. "The ceasefire has collapsed and people are getting ready to be hit by barrel bombs." At least four air strikes hit the central rebel-held town of Talbisseh Tuesday morning after artillery fire throughout the night, activist Hassaan Abu Nuh said. The truce deal's primary sponsors, Washington and Moscow, and other key players in the International Syria Support Group will meet in New York on Tuesday to assess the situation. Kerry will try to speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York, where leaders are gathered for the UN General Assembly, before Tuesday's meeting. The two top diplomats had negotiated the deal in Geneva earlier this month, hoping to put an end to more than five years of conflict in which more than 300,000 people have been killed. The UN Security Council will also hold a session on Syria on Wednesday, but statements from Syrian and Russian military officials appeared to bury hopes of reviving the truce deal. "Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally," said Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy. The truce had already come under massive strain when a US-led coalition strike on Saturday hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday blasted the strike, which killed dozens of troops, as "flagrant American aggression". Syria aid convoy Gal ROMA (AFP) Syrians stand in the doorway of their home as they watch at a Red Cross vehicle carrying aid drive past in the rebel-held town of Talbisseh on the northern outskirts of Homs on September 19, 2016 Mahmoud Taha (AFP) Members of the Syrian Civil Defence extinguish burning trucks carrying aid on the side of the road in the town of Orum al-Kubra on the western outskirts of Aleppo on September 20, 2016 Omar haj kadour (AFP) Beasts of Bangkok booted from park lair The hulking, prehistoric-looking monitor lizards that stalk the grounds of Bangkok's Lumpini park have long triggered fascination -- and fear -- from visitors to the city centre's main green space. But with their population soaring out of control to some 400, city officials are on a mission to bait and bag some of the meaty reptiles known as "hia" -- a noun which doubles as the most powerful swear word in Thai. "In the past hia used to steal people's food, so that's why people cursed them," explained 49-year-old Tawee Somnamee, who works in the 142-acre park, a lush oasis for joggers and cyclists in the heart of Bangkok's concrete jungle. With the population of monitor lizards at Lumpini park soaring out of control to some 400, Bangkok's officials are on a mission to bait and bag some of the meaty reptiles Munir Uz Zaman (AFP) He is one of twelve park staff who set out Tuesday with makeshift fishing poles, rope and sacks to lure the reptiles from the ponds and canals where they lurk. In recent years the largest of the Lumpini leviathans -- measuring up to three metres (ten feet) in length -- have taken to tromping around the park, damaging plants and frightening passersby. "They walk around and don't know that people are scared of them," said Suwanna Jungrungrueng, director of the city's environment department. "It's time for us to control them." - Hia today, gone tomorrow - While the slippery and deceptively fast carnivores don't attack people -- they mostly feast on dead fish, birds and turtles -- a handful of cyclists have been injured after accidentally colliding with lizards on the bike path. The creatures can live up to 20 years. Park officers have already captured nearly 100 hia by luring them out of the water with catfish, before swiftly pouncing on them and tying up their limbs. Officials say they are being relocated to a wildlife sanctuary in neighbouring Ratchaburi province. While the reptiles are not exactly beloved in Thailand, some say they bring good luck. "If a hia goes into someone's room, they will become rich," said Tawee, adding that the park will not be removing all of the lizards. "There should be some left for foreigners to see," he said. In recent years the largest of the Lumpini monitor lizards, measuring up to 3 m in length, have taken to tromping around the park, damaging plants and frightening passersby Munir Uz Zaman (AFP) Chinese men jailed in Cambodia for major drug haul A Cambodian court sentenced two Chinese nationals and a local man to life in prison on Tuesday for trafficking 55 kilograms (121 pounds) of methamphetamine and heroin, one of the country's biggest drug seizures. The two Chinese men -- Ly Yong, 43, and Deng Yuan Ping, 53 -- were arrested in June last year alongside a Cambodian couple after a police raid uncovered the drugs worth an estimated $3 million. The heroin and meth were smuggled from the Golden Triangle -- the region along the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos which remains a major global drug production hub. The two Chinese men -- Ly Yong, 43, and Deng Yuan Ping, 53 -- were arrested in June last year alongside a Cambodian couple after a police raid Tang Chhin Sothy (AFP/File) They were destined for the market both in Cambodia and abroad, police said. Judge Pech Vicheathor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court found the two Chinese and the local man guilty both of producing and trafficking drugs. The trio were also fined a total of 180 million riel ($45,000). The Cambodian man's girlfriend was also jailed for five years and fined six million riel ($1,500) for her involvement. Another Cambodian man, who remains at large, was sentenced to life imprisonment in his absence. Cambodia has become a popular smuggling route for narcotics, particularly methamphetamine and heroin, since neighbouring Thailand toughened its stance on illegal drugs in the early 2000s. Cambodia has intensified its war on drugs in recent years and there have been hundreds of arrests, some involving senior officials. News / Local by Thobekile Zhou Pastor Evan Mawarire of the #ThisFlag movement has boosted that he advised Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote not to invest in Zimbabwe as President Robert Mugabe's ministers would loot the money.Mawarire is currently in New York staggering a series of anti-Mugabe protests with other Zimbabweans.He took to micro-blogging site twitter to make the revelation."The madness that our Govt has become. Cant make rational economic decisions..& then some1 says #ThisFlag must keep mum abt corruption? Never"And then I told Aliko Dangote that in Zimbabwe Government ministers loot investors money #ThisFlag @ThisFlag1980" he posted.He posted a selfie of himself and Dangote.A year ago, Dangote, Africa's richest man with a net worth of $17,2 billion according to Forbes Magazine, flew into the country where he met a number of ministers, winding up after meeting with Mugabe at State House.Dangote is worth more than Zimbabwe's annual gross domestic product, which stands at about $13.66 billion and about five times the country's paltry $4 billion annual budget.The Nigeria Stock Exchange-listed Dangote conglomerate said it intended to set up a cement manufacturing plant that will produce at least 1.5 million metric tonnes per year, with large sums of money destined for power generation and coal mining.But a year after issuing the Dangote Group with licences for three projects worth $1.2 billion to start implementing business deals agreed to with the government. North Korea hails 'successful' test of new rocket engine North Korea has successfully tested a new, high-powered rocket engine, state media said Tuesday, a move Seoul said was designed to showcase its progress towards being able to target the US east coast. The ground test comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang detonated what it said was a miniaturised atomic bomb. Taken together, the two tests raise the prospect that the isolated state could be inching towards its ultimate goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could hit Washington DC. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) inspects the ground jet test of a new high-powered inter-continental ballistic rocket engine, at the Sohae Space Center in North Pyongan Province, in April 2016 KCNA via KNS (KCNA via KNS/AFP/File) State-run news agency KCNA trumpeted the engine test, which it said would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites". Rocket engines are easily re-purposed for use in missiles, and outside observers say that Pyongyang's space programme is a fig leaf for weapons tests. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un hailed the test and called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come", KCNA said. A geostationary satellite must be propelled to an altitude of 36,000 kilometres (22,500 miles), a Unification Ministry official was quoted as saying by South Korea's official Yonhap news agency. "The distance to the eastern part of the United States is some 12,000 kilometres. The North is thus showing off its ability" to hit the US east coast, the official added. Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at the South's Korea Aerospace Research Institute said such an engine would represent "a technical leap forward" in developing launch vehicles. It suggests the North is "coming close to having an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland". Pyongyang regularly parades homegrown missiles and boasts of its plan to develop long-range missiles capable of targeting America. It has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches, most recently in February, and has fired missiles from a submarine. A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile system would allow deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a "second-strike" capability in the event of an attack on the North's military bases. - 'Great satisfaction' - After supervising the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians "to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible", KCNA reported. Kim "expressed great satisfaction" with the results of the test, according to KCNA, and said the North had made cutting-edge scientific advances despite difficult economic conditions. North Korea has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006, but has insisted it will continue. Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said the North had set a five-year space development programme that ends this year. "This new test heralds an upcoming landmark ICBM test. The next test, disguised as a satellite launch, is likely to come when the UN Security Council adopts new sanctions over its last nuclear test or around the time when the US presidential election takes place in November", Yang said. The US has a range of missile-defence technologies at its disposal, including the Aegis Combat System, Patriot missiles and sophisticated radars. Washington is also working with Seoul to install a missile defence system known as THAAD in South Korea, though Beijing says the hardware poses a significant threat to regional security. Yonhap news agency said two B-52 heavy bombers were to be sent from Guam to the South as a fresh show of force against the North this week. A ground jet test of a high-power engine of inter-continental ballistic rocket takes place at the Sohae Space Center in North Korea's North Pyongan Province, in April 2016 KCNA via KNS (KCNA via KNS/AFP/File) North Korea's nuclear and rocket facilities AFP (AFP) The US has a range of missile-defence technologies at its disposal, including the Aegis Combat System (pictured during a launch), Patriot missiles and sophisticated radars US Navy (US Navy/AFP/File) Syria aid halted as US, Russia wrangle over air strike Syria plunged back into bloodshed Tuesday as the UN suspended aid convoys and the United States and Russia wrangled over the blame for air strikes that shattered a short-lived truce. US officials accused Russia of carrying out Monday's deadly attack on a humanitarian convoy, three days after Moscow reacted with fury to an American-led raid that killed dozens of Syrian troops. Washington and Moscow are the joint sponsors of an international effort to impose a ceasefire on Syria's five-year-old civil war, and the row undermined efforts to reopen the dialogue. The UN said at 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle humanitarian aid convoy were destroyed en route to Orum al-Kubra, on the western outskirts of Aleppo, on September 20, 2016 Omar haj kadour (AFP) After a short meeting in New York of the 23-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG), US Secretary of State John Kerry tersely insisted that efforts to revive the truce were "not dead." The foreign ministers, convened by Kerry and his Russian sparring partner Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said they would try to meet again this week in talks parallel to the UN General Assembly. But it was hard to see how the US-Russian mediation could proceed amid the row over the latest strike, which the Red Cross said had destroyed 18 aid trucks and killed about 20 civilians. "All of our information indicates clearly that this was an air strike," President Barack Obama's national security spokesman Ben Rhodes said. "There only could have been two entities responsible, either the Syrian regime or the Russian government. In any event, we hold the Russian government responsible for air strikes in this space." Two Russian SU-24 ground attack jets were operating in the area where the aid convoy was struck in the Aleppo region late Monday, another US official told AFP. "The best evaluation we have is that the Russians carried out the strike," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity. - 'Terrorists and bandits' - Previously, US officials had said that even if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces had carried out the attack, Moscow would share the blame as the Syrian regime's sponsor and guarantor in truce negotiations. Moscow reacted "with indignation and anger" at what it alleged were attempts by "protectors of terrorists and bandits" to blame Russia or Syria for the attack. The Russian foreign ministry said the "unsubstantiated, hasty accusations" seemed designed to "distract attention from the strange 'error' of coalition pilots." This was a reference to Saturday's bombardment of a Syrian military base by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, an attack which Washington said was a mistake. The Russian military, meanwhile, said the aid convoy seemed to have been the victim of a mysterious fire it said had erupted while insurgents battled Syrian forces nearby. Amid the recriminations, the ISSG meeting in New York made little headway. Syria's beleaguered opposition sneered, branding the international community weak for not immediately taking action against the Assad regime for breaking the truce. Opposition leader Riad Hijab, head of the rebel High Negotiations Committee, said the ministers had shown "total weakness" in not confronting Moscow and Damascus over the air strike. But US President Barack Obama backed his top diplomat Kerry, saying there was "no ultimate military victory to be won" and calling on nations to pursue the "hard work" of diplomacy. The mood at the hour-long talks was grim and the brief meeting inconclusive, but it allowed Kerry and UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura a chance to insist that the process has not collapsed. Kerry's spokesman John Kirby said the ministers had agreed that, "despite continued violence," they would still use the agreement between the United States and Russia as a basis for more talks. The ISSG is thus to reconvene in New York this week. "Quite frankly, the Kerry-Lavrov process is the only show in town and we've got to get that show back on the road," Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson admitted. France was more openly skeptical, President Francois Hollande telling opposition figures that the truce had not lasted as long as the time it had taken to declare it. His foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, warned that trust was breaking down in the US-Russian partnership and said other countries should help push the process forward. "It was a fairly dramatic meeting, the mood was gloomy. Is there hope? I can't answer that yet, but we should do everything we can," Ayrault told reporters. "The Russians and the Americans can't do it alone." A short distance across Manhattan at the UN meeting, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denounced the "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack" on the convoy. And Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed that the convoy bombing had poisoned the mood at the ISSG, where delegates were "heavy with indignation." - Fighting rages - Meanwhile, air raids and shelling continued on frontlines around Syria, where more than 300,000 have died since Assad began efforts to suppress a popular revolt. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 barrel bombs -- crude explosives packed with scraps of metal -- were dropped on Aleppo on Tuesday. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Monday night's raid destroyed at least 18 of 31 vehicles and a Red Crescent warehouse. The strike came just hours after the Syrian army announced the end of the truce Monday, accusing rebels of failing to "commit to a single element" of the US-Russia deal. Map of Syria locating Orum al-Kubra, where an aid convoy was hit by a deadly air strike Gal Roma (AFP) The convoy was delivering food and non-food aid for some 78,000 people trapped in Aleppo, according to the UN Omar haj kadour (AFP) Humanitarian aid is strewn across the ground in the town of Orum al-Kubra, after a convoy delivering aid was hit by a deadly air strike on September 19, 2016 Omar Haj Kadour (AFP) French President Francois Hollande (L) shakes hands with Riyad Hijab, Coordinator of the High Committee of the Syrian opposition Stephane de Sakutin (AFP) Trump son compares Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles Donald Trump's eldest son triggered an online storm with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl containing an assortment of tainted and untainted candies. "This image says it all," Donald Trump Jr, 38, wrote Monday, in a tweet showing a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular, rainbow-colored Skittles candies. Written above the image is: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syria refugee problem." Donald Trump Jr was met with derision on Twitter after he likened the Syria refugee crisis to a bowl of skittles Jim Watson (AFP/File) The Twitter post -- showing the familiar "Trump-Pence 2016" logo with the presidential campaign slogan "Make America Great Again!" -- was met with immediate scorn from users of the popular micro-blogging site. "I'm not even big on Skittles but now I will buy up every single packet," wrote @SarahSahim. "Is Donald Trump's new campaign slogan "Fear The Rainbow"? wrote Twitter user @AngrySalmond. Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has sparked waves of criticism with comments on race, immigrants and refugees, including calling for a ban on Muslim travelers to the United States. Equally controversial was his pronouncement last year that many Mexican immigrants were drug smugglers and rapists. The brash businessman also is strongly opposed to plans by President Barack Obama to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States by the end of this month. Syria is in the grip of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, amid an exodus of more than 4.8 million fleeing the war-torn country. Niger spending huge sums on 'ghost' teachers: anti-graft agency Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, is shelling out more than 4.5 million euros every month for "non-existent" teachers, the state anti-corruption agency said Tuesday. The revelation came a day after teachers and students launched a crippling week-long strike in protest over the non-payment of salaries and scholarships. Salissou Oubandona, the number two in the HALCIA graft-fighting agency, said the money was allocated for 2,565 fictitious teachers in five of the west African nation's eight provinces. Teachers and students launched a crippling week-long strike in Niger to protest over the non-payment of salaries and scholarships Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File) He said a "school-by-school study" showed that "1,917 teachers did not exist at all", while the names of 648 "figures two or three times" on the state payrolls. The study was conducted in June by the government. Experts say the money allocated for non-existent teachers was siphoned off by corrupt state officials. According to teachers' unions, 80 percent of the educational staff work on a contractual basis with salaries ranging from on average between 114 euros ($127) and 152 euros a month. Niger's union of teachers and researchers on Monday launched a seven-day strike to demand the payment of salary and grant arrears. The country's minister for education minister Mohamed Ben Omar acknowledged there had been a problem with salary payments, but insisted the problem had been resolved. "Four months of salary arrears" at Zinder University in central Niger had already been taken care of, Ben Omar told public television. He blamed the delay in paying wages and grants on the country's military expenditure which had "raked in" all the treasury's revenues. Since February 2015, Boko Haram has staged a series of attacks in the Diffa region of southeast Niger, which lies just across the border from the Islamists' stronghold in northeastern Nigeria. In late July this year a multinational force, drawn from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, was formed to tackle the Islamic insurgents and clear them out of towns and villages. The force is funded by each of the participating states. In another blow for the administration, Niger magistrates on Tuesday accused the government of manipulating the judiciary by appointing judges close to the regime. "The executive has begun a massive infiltration of the judicial machinery by systematically weeding out professional magistrates," the Autonomous Union of Niger Magistrates (SAMAN) said in a statement. It cited the high profile appointments in September of two men who are close to President Mahamadou Issoufou and who were shunted from the presidential office and given top legal posts. Saudi airline pilot triggers false hijack alarm in Philippines A pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight accidentally pressed a hijack alarm and triggered a major security response at Manila airport on Tuesday, authorities said. Police isolated and surrounded the Saudia flight after it landed on Tuesday afternoon just after one of its pilots issued a distress signal indicating a hijack was underway, the Philippine aviation authority said in a statement. Hundreds of passengers aboard the Boeing 777 flight from the Red Sea city of Jeddah were forced to remain on the plane for more than two hours, but were allowed to disembark about 5:00pm (0900 GMT) after it was confirmed there was no threat. Passengers from a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane disembark after one of the pilots released a distress signal prior to landing at Manila airport on September 20, 2016, in an image released by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) Soon after the distress signal was activated, authorities at Manila control tower obtained a verbal confirmation from the pilot that he had triggered it although he did not say why at the time, Manila airport aviation security chief Mao Aplasca told reporters. "It was only after the plane was parked for some time that he said it was a false alarm," Aplasca added. In Saudi Arabia, an airline spokesman also told AFP there was no security threat. "False alarm for hijack for Flight 872," the spokesman said. The Philippines' aviation authority said in a statement the distress signal pressed by the pilot alerted authorities "that a hijacking incident is on progress on board". "Immediately the flight was given priority landing by airport authorities... and was directed to park on the remote bay and isolated for security procedures," the statement said. "Apparently the pilot committed an error activating the 7500 squawking signal," the statement said, referring to the hijack alarm. It said an investigation would still be needed to confirm why the distress signal was pressed. "Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if the result is indeed a human error," it said. There were 410 passengers on board plus four pilots and 17 crew members, airport general manager Ed Monreal told reporters. Many of them were returning from the annual Islamic pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. One of the passengers, Aida Majud, said they were not told why they were being kept on the plane. "When we saw the armed men we thought, what's the problem? We wanted to know what was happening," Majud told ABS-CBN television network. But she said the atmosphere was calm, with some speculating President Rodrigo Duterte had come to the airport to welcome the pilgrims home and that the armed men surrounding the plane were his security personnel. Majud said passengers had to undergo body checks after getting off the plane to ensure no one was carrying weapons. Airport officials said there were no major disruptions to traffic, with planes continuing to land and take off, because the Saudia aircraft had been kept at an isolated area. The carrier is known as Saudia. Gun-toting Democrats bristle at firearms limits in California California is a Democratic bastion in the United States, but the party's presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has some voters up in arms over her push to tighten gun control. At the LAX Firing Range in Los Angeles, the idea of further restrictions on guns is by and large shot down. Jim Tarbin, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer, said that gun owners feel "besieged" in California. "There is no question about it," he told AFP. California has the strictest gun control in the United States, according to specialist site Smartgunlaws.org Frederic J. Brown (AFP/File) John, an employee at the firing range who did not want his last name published, said: "Gun owners in California cannot express themselves -- they're always outvoted." California has the strictest gun control in the country, according to specialist site Smartgunlaws.org. Rules range from compulsory background checks to limits on the capacity of firearm magazines and a ban on automatic weapons. New measures to control access to guns are expected to be approved in a referendum coinciding with the November 8 presidential election, as public polls show two-thirds of voters want them. Clinton, vying to be the first female US president, has promised to confront the powerful gun lobby and broaden background checks to include legal as well as mental issues. According to her campaign, Clinton "will also support work to keep military-style weapons off our streets." Her Republican rival Donald Trump touts the Second Amendment of the US Constitution in his campaign, declaring: "The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed upon. Period." Between eight and 11 million Californians are gunowners, according to estimates, about a quarter of the population -- the second-highest number after Texas. A Pew Research study found that 40 percent of gun owners across the United States are Republican, twice the number of Democrats. But in California, the share of gun-toting Democrats is larger. "We believe there's an immense number of Democrats among California gun owners," said Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, noting there were no official statistics on that. As for Clinton, he warned that "people are upset she is so aggressive on guns and it will show at the polls." Another employee at the LAX Firing Range, Justin Frew, 30 and sporting a full-blown "hipster" beard, said: "I enjoy firing guns." Frew said he was afraid about tighter laws "because it is mostly people who have never fired guns who are limiting my rights." Adolphus Beal, a retired set dresser for television shows, declared: "I am a Democrat. I still agree that people should have the right to own a gun." - 'Gunmaggedon' - While the vast majority of gun owners in California support measures like background checks and even obligatory gun education, they bristle at anything that limits the type or quantity of pistols, rifles and ammunition that can be bought by law-abiding citizens. And that includes the controversial semi-automatic weapons used in the attacks in San Bernardino, California, in December -- 14 people killed -- or in Orlando, Florida, in June -- 49 victims -- or in Paris last November -- 130 dead. Asked about the Orlando massacre, Frew replied: "The gay club? I am gay. I do not believe it is the firearm's fault. I do not feel that semi-automatic rifles should be restricted." Paul Danner, an assistant television director, pointed out that criminals can find many ways to do harm. "In France, they used a truck in Nice, in the Boston bombing they used pressure cookers" rigged with explosives, Danner said. According to Smartgunlaws.org, California laws have slashed in half the number of gun victims in the past 25 years. In what some consider to be a climate increasingly hostile to those who own firearms, "a lot of people are already moving out of state... to more gun-friendly states like Nevada or Arizona or New Mexico," said Frew. Facing a possible "gunmaggedon" of tighter restrictions, sales of guns and ammunition have jumped in California in recent months. David Baranco, a 38-year-old Democrat and graphic designer, recently bought his first pistol. "I think guns will end up being outlawed in California," he said. "I wanted to try it. It's part of our country's history." Gun enthusiasts load their weapons for target practice at the LAX Firing Range in Inglewood, California on September 7, 2016 Frederic J. Brown (AFP/File) A gun enthusiast fires his weapon toward the target at the LAX Firing Range in Inglewood, California on September 7, 2016 Frederic J. Brown (AFP/File) Iraq forces launch push on IS-held town Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake a northern town from the Islamic State group in the latest move to prepare a broad offensive on jihadist bastion Mosul. Army and tribal forces pushed towards Sherqat, which IS fighters captured more than two years ago when they swept across Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland. The town lies on the west bank of the Tigris river in Salaheddin province, 260 kilometres (160 miles) northwest of Baghdad and around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Mosul. Iraqi forces have already reconquered towns north of Sherqat on the way to Mosul, the jihadists' last major stronghold in the country Safin Hamed (AFP/File) IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and training have since retaken significant ground including the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. Iraqi forces have already reconquered other towns north of Sherqat on the way to Mosul but the question of Shiite militia involvement in military operations there had held up the push. "The operation to liberate Sherqat started at 5:30 am (0230 GMT) from several directions... with the support of coalition forces," Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool said. "We are making good progress," he told AFP. "Sherqat is important, we can't move on Mosul and have terrorists control Sherqat." Colonel Mohammed al-Assadi, an Iraqi security spokesman, said the country's forces had retaken villages around Sherqat and were about five kilometres (three miles) from the town. Colonel John Dorrian, the spokesman for the US-led operation against IS, said coalition forces had carried out 19 air strikes over the past two weeks to set the stage for the Sherqat operation. Sherqat is "in close proximity to their supply lines," Dorrian said, referring to routes by which Iraqi forces move troops and material for operations against IS. "Clearing that area makes sure that their supply lines are protected," he said. Ahmed al-Assadi, the spokesman of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces, said operation "Sherqat Dawn" aimed to "finish expelling those terrorist gangsters from usurped Iraqi land." The Hashed al-Shaabi, which has played a big part in retaking IS-held areas since 2014, is nominally under the control of the prime minister but dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militia. - Obama confident - It also includes less powerful Sunni tribal forces supporting the government against IS. Rasool stressed that only tribal forces -- sometimes referred to as Hashed al-Ashaeri (Tribal Mobilisation) -- were fighting in Sherqat, not Shiite militias. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaking from New York where he met US President Barack Obama, said the same operation also included efforts to flush out IS fighters from desert areas near Ramadi and Heet in the western province of Anbar. While most towns and cities in Anbar are now under government control, IS fighters are still able to move across parts of the vast arid province and have continued to harass Iraqi forces. Iraqi forces have been moving northwards from Baghdad for almost two years, gradually retaking areas over which IS declared its "caliphate" in June 2014. The jihadists have also lost ground in Syria and Libya. Iraqi forces have left some pockets of IS jihadists on the way however -- such as in Hawijah or in the Hamreen mountains -- and priority was given to Qayyarah, a town farther north which will be used as a launchpad for an offensive on Mosul. Speaking before talks with Abadi, Obama said he could see quick progress in the battle for Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq since government forces retook Fallujah in June. "We feel confident that we will be in a position to move forward fairly rapidly," Obama said, vowing to fight "right at the heart of the (IS) operation in Mosul." Syria and Iraq: zones of control Fighters from the Popular Mobilisation units, supporting Iraqi government forces, patrol a street in Fallujah in June after Iraqi forces retook the city from IS Haidar Mohammed Ali (AFP/File) The number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean has fallen in 2016, but the fatality rate has shot up, the UN revealed today. New figures released by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) show that more than 300,000 have made the crossing to Europe so far this year, compared to the 520,000 who arrived in the first nine months of 2015. UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told reporters: 'The number of refugees and migrants reaching European shores this year passed the 300,000 mark today.' So far in 2016, 300,000 people have made the dangerous crossing into Europe, it was revealed today But the number of people who died attempting the dangerous sea crossing has risen in proportion, the agency stated, branding it 'the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea'. So far, 3,211 people have been reported dead or missing on the Mediterranean this year, just 15 percent lower than the total number of fatalities for all of last year, when 3,771 people died. Different patterns have emerged in the two European countries, Greece and Italy, which receive the vast majority migrants. Arrivals in Italy this year stood at 130,411, on par with the 132,000 people who landed over the same period in 2015, according to UNHCR. But Greece has seen a 57 percent drop in arrivals this year, with numbers falling since a March deal between the European Union and Turkey on curbing migrant flows across the Mediterranean. Nearly half of the migrants and refugees who landed on Greek shores this year were Syrians, UNHCR said. The distribution of refugees across the world, according to AFP research Trump, Clinton compete to meet top leaders in New York Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton met Egypt's president in New York on Monday as the two US presidential candidates tried to bolster their diplomatic credentials at the United Nations. Democratic standard-bearer Clinton said last week that she would meet Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along with leaders from Japan and Ukraine on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. She spent more than an hour locked in private discussions with the Egyptian leader, with aides later saying they had discussed issues ranging from counter-terrorism to human rights. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) looks meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the Plaza Hotel on September 19, 2016 in New York Dominick Reuter (AFP) Trump's meeting with Sisi -- the first time the Republican presidential candidate has met a leader from the Muslim world -- appeared to be a response to his opponent's program. The former reality TV star, who has previously called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, spoke with Sisi at New York's La Guardia airport, after flying in from Florida. Trump told Sisi -- who has been much-criticised by rights groups for his intolerance of dissent -- that "under a Trump administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on." Trump has called for "extreme vetting" of refugees entering the United States along with a ban on people from "terrorist nations." But he also told Sisi about "his high regard for peace-loving Muslims," according to a statement released by his campaign. In an interview with Fox television earlier on Monday, Trump alluded to the impending visit, saying that meetings with other foreign leaders were also on his agenda. "I don't want to comment specifically on who but a couple of people are coming over. I've already met with a couple," he said. As well as a sit-down with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Clinton also met Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, stressing that the US would help Kiev "in the face of Russian aggression" -- a dig at Trump, who has repeatedly praised President Vladimir Putin. Australian burkini wearer was 'indecent': French mayor The rightwing mayor of a French Riviera beach town where bathers asked a burkini-wearing Australian to leave has defended their complaints -- calling her behaviour "indecent". Sydney native Zeynab Alshelh "could have asked herself whether the people in the area weren't still reeling from the jihadist attack that killed 86 people" in nearby Nice in July, Lionnel Luca told AFP by telephone late Monday. "She could not just innocently come to our beaches with religious garb that is the sign of the fundamentalism that killed us," he said, calling the 23-year-old's actions "pretty indecent". Nice and around 30 other French towns banned the Islamic 'burkini' swimsuit after a July terror attack in which a man plowed his truck into crowds gathered for Bastille Day fireworks Gent Shkullaku (AFP/File) Alshelh told Australian television the bathers threatened to call the police unless she left the beach at Villeneuve-Loubet, even though a ban on the controversial full-bodied swimsuit had recently been overturned. The burkini became a political hot potato over the summer as France gears up for a presidential election next spring. Alshelh, a medical student, said she had travelled to Europe to show solidarity with French Muslims by wearing a burkini -- invented by an Australian designer -- on the beach. Footage broadcast Sunday evening showed local bathers make disparaging gestures towards Alshelh. Nice and about 30 other French towns banned the Islamic swimsuit after the July terror attack in which a man ploughed his truck into crowds gathered for Bastille Day fireworks in Nice. In August, France's highest court suspended the burkini bans, declaring the swimsuit's prohibition an "illegal violation of fundamental freedoms". News / National by Thobekile Zhou The road leading to President Robert Mugabe's Zvimba rural home is being rehabilitated to the tune of $500 000.According to Zvimba Rural District Council chief executive officer Peter Hlohla, the Robert Mugabe Highway is being taken care of through funds from the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara).Zinara board is chaired by Albert Mugabe."That is a national road, it is being it is being resurfaced by the Ministry of Transport using Zinara funds."As Zvimba Rural District Council, we are not involved in that project," Hlohla is quoted saying.The country's road network is in a deplorable state with 30% in urgent need of rehabilitation. Somalia slams Kenya for dragging out maritime border row Somalia accused Kenya on Tuesday of unnecessarily prolonging a battle over lucrative Indian Ocean oil and gas reserves, saying "both impoverished nations" had an interest in swiftly resolving the dispute. And Mogadishu also slammed Nairobi for criticising its Horn of Africa neighbour for turning to the UN's top tribunal, the International Court of Justice, to adjudicate in the row. "We seek nothing more and nothing less than to have our maritime boundary dispute with our Kenyan brothers and sisters be resolved finally and definitively in an equitable manner," lawyer Mona al-Sharmani, arguing on Somalia's behalf, told the tribunal. Both Kenya and Somalia lay claim to a triangle of water which stretches over more than 100,000 square kilometres (40,000 square miles) and is believed to hold valuable deposits of oil and gas Tony Karumba (AFP/File) Somalia had only turned to the ICJ after years of "hard, and at times heated" negotiations with Kenya proved to be "to no avail," she said. At the heart of the dispute is how to draw the maritime border off their coasts. Both countries lay claim to a triangle of water, which stretches over an area of more than 100,000 square kilometres (40,000 square miles) and is believed to hold valuable deposits of oil and gas. Kenya is a relative newcomer to the oil industry, but is believed to have major potential in a part of Africa only recently found to be sitting on significant reserves. Somalia, which lies north of Kenya, wants its maritime border to follow south extending from the line of the land frontier. But Kenya wants it to go in a straight line stretching directly east from the coast, along the line of latitude. And Nairobi has already sold off concessions on three oil blocks in the disputed area to Italian energy company EniSpA. "We could not even agree on a method of delimitation, let alone a boundary," said Sharmani. Somalia filed its suit in 2014 with the ICJ in The Hague, set up to rule in disputes between member states, and the tribunal is now considering whether it has the jurisdiction to hear the case. Lawyers for Mogadishu also slammed Kenya's attitude as "puzzling", saying it was a "developing country, legitimately in a hurry to develop ... and just as impoverished as its neighbour" Somalia. "And yet Kenya seems to be trying its best to slow things down and prevent the dispute between the two countries ... from being settled rapidly," lawyer Alain Pellet told the court. At the start of preliminary hearings on Monday, Kenya argued the tribunal was not competent to rule in the case. Basing its argument on a 2009 bilateral accord, it asked the panel to dismiss Somalia's request. Indian, Pakistani troops exchange fire in Kashmir Gun battles raged on the disputed border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir Tuesday, two days after a deadly raid on an Indian army base that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Eighteen soldiers died in Sunday's attack, which was the worst of its kind to hit the divided Himalayan region in more than a decade and has increased hostility between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan has rejected India's claims as "unfounded and premature". An Indian Border Security Force soldier on duty in Srinagar, Kashmir Tauseef Mustafa (AFP/File) US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern over the violence in Kashmir, urging both sides to reduce tensions. "The Secretary reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens," the State Department said after Kerry met with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in New York. Colonel Rajesh Kalia said there had been a "ceasefire violation" near Uri, where Sunday's attack took place, but gave no further details. Uri is near the Line of Control (LoC) which divides the disputed territory. Kalia said troops in the same area had blocked an attempt by suspected militants to cross the LoC into Indian-administered Kashmir. "A group of 10-12 terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Uri sector. They were intercepted and the infiltration bid was foiled," he told AFP. The Press Trust of India news agency said 10 suspected militants had been killed in the incident but this could not immediately be confirmed. Another army spokesman said they were battling an unknown number of militants in Nowgam sector, south of Uri, who were trying to sneak into the Indian side on the heavily militarised border. "This second infiltration bid (in Nowgam) by an unknown number of terrorists has also been foiled and the operation is on. "Unfortunately we have lost one soldier there," Col Manish Kumar said, adding there was no information about any other casualties. - Audacious assault - India regularly accuses its arch-rival of arming and sending rebels across the border that divides Kashmir between the two countries, to launch attacks on its forces. Occasional violations of a 2003 ceasefire between the nuclear-armed rivals are not uncommon. The last was reported on September 6 this year and caused no casualties. Tuesday's exchange was the first since Sunday's attack, which the Indian army has blamed on Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad. The same outfit was implicated in an audacious assault on an Indian air force base in Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab in January. It left seven soldiers dead and dashed hopes of a revival of peace talks, which have been on ice ever since. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to punish those responsible for Sunday's attack. During his election campaign he promised to take a hard line over Kashmir and has faced calls from army veterans -- and even some in his own party -- for military action against Pakistan. On Sunday Home Minister Rajnath Singh accused Pakistan of "continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups" and called for it to be internationally isolated. But security experts say India lacks the military capabilities to take on its neighbour in the divided Himalayan region, already tense after weeks of violent clashes between police and demonstrators protesting at Indian rule. Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the disputed Himalayan territory in its entirety and have fought two wars over it. Several rebel groups have fought an estimated 500,000 Indian forces deployed in the territory, demanding independence for the Muslim-majority region or its merger with Pakistan. Tens of thousands of people have died in the fighting, most of them civilians. Indian Kashmir Gal ROMA (AFP) Russia furious as US blames it for Syria aid strike Moscow reacted furiously Tuesday to "unsubstantiated" accusations from the United States that Syrian or Russian planes were responsible for bombing an aid convoy in Syria's Aleppo. At least 18 trucks in a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday as they delivered humanitarian assistance to desperate civilians in Orum al-Kubra in the Aleppo region, according to the UN. Washington said the alleged air strike could only have been carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime or his Russian allies and that Moscow must take responsibility either way. The aid convoy was delivering food and non-food aid for some 78,000 people trapped in Aleppo, northern Syria according to the UN Omar haj kadour (AFP) The Russian foreign ministry said it was watching "with indignation and anger" at attempts by "protectors of terrorists and bandits" to blame Russia or Syria for the attack. The "unsubstantiated, hasty accusations" seemed designed to "distract attention from the strange 'error' of coalition pilots," said the statement, referring to the US-led coalition which struck a Syrian army position at the weekend killing dozens of soldiers. The Russian military, which is investigating the incident, said that footage from activists at the scene showed damage to the vehicles that did not appear to come from an air strike or other munitions. Instead, the fire that tore through the convoy happened "strangely at the same time insurgents were carrying out a large-scale attack on Aleppo," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. Konashenkov said Russian drones had followed the convoy until it successfully delivered its load, but had stopped surveillance after that. "All information on the convoy's location (after that) was known only to the rebels controlling this area," he said. Syria's army has also denied bombing the aid trucks, with a military source telling state media that there was "no truth" to media reports that the Syrian army was responsible. - UN aid convoys suspended - The deadly attack occurred several hours after Syria's military declared an end to a week-long truce brokered by the Moscow and Washington earlier this month in an attempt to end the five-year war. The United Nations has since suspended all humanitarian aid convoys. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said hope for a renewal of the ceasefire was "for now, very weak", stressing that a truce could only be resumed if "terrorists" halted their fire. "The conditions are very simple. The shooting needs to stop and the terrorists need to stop attacking Syrian troops," he said. "And, of course, it wouldn't hurt if our American colleagues didn't accidentally bomb the Syrians," he added, referring to a US-led coalition strike last week that Moscow said killed at least 62 Syrian servicemen. Russia and the United States have persistently blamed each other for not doing enough to bolster the truce. Syria aid convoy Gal Roma (AFP) Violent clashes in South Africa over student fees South African students and campus security guards clashed in Johannesburg on Tuesday, hurling rocks at each other as demonstrations over higher fees turned violent. Unrest has hit many South African universities over the past year, as students protest fee increases that they say force poorer, often black, pupils out of education. Students and guards battled outside the Great Hall auditorium at Wits University in Johannesburg, leaving many of the building's windows broken and the ground littered with rocks before police moved in to break up the fighting. Students at the Wits Universityb in Johannesburg protest against fees increases which they say are hitting people from black communities hardest John Wessels (AFP) "The students wanted to gather, and we were denied entry (to the Great Hall), that is when things turned violent," student Sizwe Mangena, 20, told AFP. "Things started to fly, everyone running for cover. It was like a scene from the townships during apartheid. "Our demand is simply that we want free education. Our parents can't afford to pay." Earlier police fired stun grenades to clear a main road in Johannesburg, and students blockaded campus entrances and disrupted classes. Tuesday's protests came a day after the government said that next year's fee hikes would be capped at eight percent. Protests were also held at campuses in Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfontein. The government said it would cover the increase for students from families earning less than 600,000 rand ($43,000, 39,000 euros) a year, but student activists have demanded free education for all. "About 200 students in roving groups are moving from campus-to-campus disrupting classes... and intimidating students," Wits, one of the country's most prestigious universities, said in a statement on Tuesday morning. "We are deploying security and the police. Students will be arrested if they do not comply with police orders." TV footage showed stun grenades being fired to clear a major road in Johannesburg, while local media said that 31 people who had been arrested for blocking a campus entrance, were released with a warning. - 'Disturbing images' - Student medics at Wits told AFP that they had treated at least 20 injured people. "I'm very disturbed about this because... as much as students have the right to protest, there is no basis for this protest here," Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande told 702 radio. "I don't like to see the sight of police in our universities. It's not good." Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of major protests which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016. Throughout this year, there has been sporadic unrest which has seen accommodation buildings and libraries set alight, and in May, an auditorium at Johannesburg University was firebombed. The issue of education fees has ignited widespread frustration over a lack of opportunities for young people, worsened by a weakening economy and high unemployment. The University of Free State closed its Bloemfontein campus Tuesday, while classes and lectures were also abandoned at the University of Cape Town. "Burning schools, libraries and university buildings means burning the future," President Jacob Zuma said after campus riots earlier this year. Students at Wits University in Johannesburg protest and disrupt classes after a call to shut down the university as part of the "FeesMustFall" movement on September 19, 2016 John Wessels (AFP) NY bombing suspect 'critical but stable': police The suspect held on suspicion of carrying out weekend bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey is in critical but stable condition in a hospital, police said Tuesday. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was wounded in a shootout Monday with police in Linden, New Jersey, just four hours after the FBI released his mugshot and sent text message alerts to millions of people. "Critical but stable," New York police commissioner James O'Neill told CBS News when asked if the suspect would likely survive. Ahmad Khan Rahami is a US citizen who was born in Afghanistan in 1988 Rahami was shot multiple times and underwent surgery on Monday, the local prosecutor said. He has been charged on five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two unlawful weapons counts. Police are still investigating the motives behind Saturday's bombings in the New York neighborhood of Chelsea, which injured 29 people, and a pipe blast at a US Marine Corps race on the Jersey shore. Five dead in Libya military helicopter crash A military helicopter crashed in eastern Libya on Tuesday, killing five people including officers loyal to authorities that have refused to cede power to a unity government, parliament said. It was not immediately clear why the aircraft came down. The victims included General Idris Yunis al-Dressi, chief of staff for Aguila Saleh, speaker of the internationally recognised parliament based in Tobruk in eastern Libya. A military helicopter crashed in eastern Libya, killing five people Aamir Qureshi (AFP/File) His son Ahmed Idris al-Dressi, who worked in the parliament, was also killed along with two air force colonels and one lieutenant. The four officers belonged to the forces under the command of military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has refused to get behind a UN-backed unity government and supports the parallel authority based in eastern Libya near the border with Egypt aligned with the Tobruk parliament. According to a statement posted on parliament's website, the helicopter was returning from an official visit to Ras Lanuf, a key oil export terminal. Last week, forces led by Haftar seized Ras Lanuf and three other ports in the so-called "oil crescent". They later handed them over to the National Oil Corporation. US and Russian-led Syria talks begin in New York As Syria plunged back into bloodshed Tuesday after the collapse of a week-old truce, the United States and Russia convened crisis talks in a bid to salvage hopes of peace. Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived together at a New York hotel to jointly chair the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). Grim-faced after days of bitter recriminations between Moscow and Washington over breaches in the truce, they began the 23-nation meeting without speaking to reporters. Aid is seen strewn across the ground in the town of Orum al-Kubra on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on September 20, 2016 Omar Haj Kadour (AFP) A short distance across the city at United Nations headquarters, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was opening a General Assembly debate with a plea to halt the fighting. But in Syria, fighting continued, one day after a strike on a UN and Red Cross aid convoy marked a low point in what was already a brutal five-year-old conflict. US officials hold Moscow responsible for what they say was a deliberate air strike, carried out either by Russian forces or strongman Bashar al-Assad's regime. Moscow and Damascus have both denied being behind the attack, which killed more than 20 civilians including aid workers, pointing the finger at US-backed insurgents. Russia and Syria are also furious with Washington over a coalition air strike on Saturday that killed dozens of regime soldiers and which Washington admits was a mistake. With a US-Russia brokered truce in tatters and no prospect of a resumption in a UN-brokered political dialogue, eyes turned once again to the ISSG for a response. "We will have to reflect on whether there are ways back to negotiations on a truce or if this has become hopeless," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. "I hope, of course, that we can manage to reduce the escalation of the last days. But I can't be sure at the current moment," he admitted. Kerry and Lavrov were joined by more than 20 foreign ministers from countries with a stake in the Syrian conflict, including bitter rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. UN's Ban makes final appeal for action on Syria, climate UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used his farewell address to the General Assembly on Tuesday to urge world leaders to end the war in Syria and bring the Paris climate deal into force this year. With just three months to go before he steps down as UN chief, Ban also made a final plea to end the "madness" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and gave world leaders advice on good governance. "My message to all is clear: serve your people. Do not subvert democracy, do not pilfer your country's resources, do not imprison and torture your critics." United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addresses the 71st session of United Nations General Assembly in New York, on September 20, 2016 Jewel Samad (AFP) The former South Korean foreign minister is stepping down on December 31 after 10 years in what has been widely described as the world's most impossible job. Now in its sixth year with over 300,000 dead, the war in Syria is dominating this year's gathering of world leaders and stands out as the unfinished business of Ban's tenure. "I appeal to all those with influence to end the fighting and get talks started," Ban said. Denouncing the "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack" on an aid convoy in Syria, Ban said: "Just when you think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower." The UN chief hailed the aid workers on the convoy to Aleppo province as "heroes" and said "those who bombed them were cowards" before calling for accountability for crimes committed in the war. He blamed all sides for killing innocent people, but "none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees." Taking a swipe at "powerful patrons" fueling the conflict, Ban said these governments "in this hall today" had "ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities" in Syria. - No time to lose on climate - The Paris climate deal on curbing greenhouse gas emissions stands out as Ban's crowning achievement, an ambitious accord that he defended early on in the global push to address climate change. "We have no time to lose," Ban told the gathering. "I urge you to bring the Paris Agreement into force this year." The push for early entry into force of the Paris deal got a shot in the arm this month when the United States and China, the world's top two polluters, ratified the deal. Describing climate change as the "defining challenge of our time," Ban said only 26 countries representing 15 percent of emissions must join the agreement for it to enter into force. Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ban said it pained him that the past decade had been "lost to peace" with Israel building more settlements and the Palestinians facing growing hopelessness. "This is madness. Replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom," he warned. After North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test on the back of a series of missile launches, Ban urged Pyongyang to "change course" and fulfil its obligations to scrap its military programs. Switching to French, the UN chief expressed regret over the "despicable" sexual abuse and rape committed by UN peacekeepers and for the cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed thousands since it broke out in 2010 near a UN peacekeepers' base. The United Nations will put forward a package of assistance for cholera victims and help Haiti build sound water, sanitation and healthy systems, he said. On a more personal note, Ban said he was stepping down as the world's number one diplomat with the conviction that the United Nations can help improve peoples' lives. "After ten years in office, I am more convinced that ever that we have the power to end war, poverty and persecution," he said. Aid is seen strewn across the ground in the town of Orum al-Kubra on the western outskirts of Aleppo on September 20, 2016, the morning after a convoy delivering aid was hit by a deadly air strike Omar Haj Kadour (AFP) The Paris climate deal on curbing greenhouse gas emissions is Ban Ki-moon's crowning achievement as head of the UN Patrik Stollarz (AFP/File) Risk of genocide in Burundi: UN probe Burundi's government is behind systematic human rights violations, including executions and torture, UN investigators said Tuesday, warning of the looming risk of "genocide". In a sharp response, Burundi accused the UN of bias, saying its investigators were "politically motivated" and their conclusions based on anonymous and unverifiable sources. The report by three independent experts said "gross human rights violations have and are taking place, committed primarily by state agents and those linked to them." Burundian security forces patrol the streets of Bujumbura in April 2016 Onesphore Nibigira (AFP/File) They said they could "not exclude that some instances of these gross human rights violations amount to crimes against humanity." The investigators were tasked by the UN Human Rights Council in January with probing rights abuses in Burundi since it descended into violence in April 2015, over President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision to run for a third term -- a vote he won in July. After making two trips to Burundi and conducting 227 interviews, the experts painted a bleak picture, pointing to some estimates that more than 1,000 people have been killed since the crisis began. The UN human rights office has verified 564 cases of executions between April 26, 2015 and August 30, 2016, the report said, stressing that this was "clearly a conservative estimate". The president's communications chief Willy Nyamitwe tweeted that the findings were "politically motivated and based on anonymous, unverifiable witness statements". "@UNHumanRights did not respect the usual rules by releasing the report without the response of @BurundiGov," he added. - Targeted assassinations - Thousands of people have been tortured, suffered sexual abuse or disappeared, while arbitrary detention has happened "on a massive scale", the report said. Nearly 300,000 people have fled the country as refugees. The experts warned that without dramatic changes from Burundi's government and "robust engagement" from the international community, "the country's downward spiral is unlikely to be reversed," endangering the entire region. They said they had satellite images and received testimony corroborating the existence of mass graves, as well as several lists of both civilians and military personnel destined for "targeted assassinations" by security forces. Horrific torture meanwhile appeared to be "a common feature of the crisis," the report said, listing 17 methods described by victims and witnesses including forcing a victim to sit on acid and attaching weights to testicles. Sexual violence was also widespread, especially against women and girls related to men in the opposition. Many of the victims were also sexually mutilated. - Spiralling out of control - Perhaps most worrying was "the general trend of ethnically divisive rhetoric by the government," the experts said, warning this carried "a serious potential of the situation spiralling out of control, including beyond Burundi's borders." "Given the country's history, the danger of the crime of genocide also looms large," the report warned. Burundi suffered a brutal civil war from 1993 until 2006 between majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, which claimed an estimated 300,000 lives. The current unrest has also sparked fear of a wider crisis in Africa's volatile Great Lakes region, with the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda having been fuelled by similar ethnic tensions. Tuesday's report urged swift international action to "prevent further mass violations with ethnical connotations." It called on the UN rights council to create a Commission of Inquiry to investigation the violations in Burundi, and allegations that cross-border armed groups are operating in the country and that other states may be implicated. And they asked the UN General Assembly to consider whether Burundi could remain a Human Rights Council member -- marking a first in the council's decade-long history. Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has been in power since 2005 Landry Nshimye (AFP/File) Nearly 300,000 people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision to run for a third term Carl De Souza (AFP/File) US names Syrian group Jund al-Aqsa to terror list The United States officially labelled the Syrian jihadist rebel group Jund al-Aqsa a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" organization Tuesday as talks continued on securing a ceasefire in the war-riven country. The US State Department said the four-year-old group was originally a unit of the al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda arm in Syria, before splitting off to carry out operations independently. Today Jund al-Aqsa operates primarily in Idlib and Hama provinces, but remains "openly allied" with al-Nusra, already designated a terror group two years ago, the State Department said. Fighters from the Jund al-Aqsa drive towards the northern Syrian town of Tayyibat al-Imam, northwest of Hama on August 31, 2016 Omar Haj Kadour (AFP/File) It said Jund al-Aqsa was behind two suicide bombings in Idlib in March 2105 and a February 2014 "massacre" of 40 civilians in Maan in central Hama. The designation, and parallel sanctions by the US Treasury Department, forbid US entities and individuals from any transactions with the group. The designation came as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov led talks in New York Tuesday aimed at preserving a ceasefire in Syria after the Syrian military declared the week-old truce over and launched new bombardments on rebel-held cities. News / National by Thobekile Zhou Newly appointed Zanu PF secretary for youth affairs in the Politburo Kudzanai Chipanga has urged the party youths to get ready for a new onslaught on remaining white farmers.Chipanga told a meeting that it was time to launch a decisive land invasion."The Western countries imposed sanctions on us because of the land issue."So today we are saying we need to take over the remaining white-owned farms," he told a meeting in Marondera.Chipanga gave a detail timeline on operations."By 2018, we should have taken them over. It is our land and it is possible."Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa recently said 42,7 million has been paid to white commercial farmers who were kicked out of their farm. 'World thirsts for peace', pope tells religious leaders Pope Francis said Tuesday the world "thirsts for peace" after praying with faith leaders for an end to religious fanaticism and indifference to the plight of war victims. "We do not have weapons" to end wars and stop those who commit violence in the name of God, the Argentine pontiff told religious heads from across the globe gathered in the central Italian medieval town of Assisi. But "as religious leaders, (we) are duty bound to be strong bridges of dialogue, creative mediators of peace," he said, as fighting resumed in Syria and several people died in a second day of bloody violence in DR Congo. Pope Francis (R) ligths a peace candle in Assisi on September 20, 2016 Tiziana Fabi (AFP) "We never tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to justify violence," and must cast off "the heavy burdens of distrust, fundamentalism and hate," he told an open-air ceremony as the sun set. The annual World Day of Prayer event, established by John Paul II 30 years ago and held in the hill-side town, aims to combat extremism in the name of religion and the persecution of people for their faiths. - Candles for war dead - The pope had held one-on-one talks with leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Islamic organisation. He also sat down with Rabbi David Rosen from the American Jewish Committee and Koei Morikawa, the Supreme Head of the Tendai Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism. He had earlier bemoaned the coldness of those who turn a blind eye to refugees as easily as changing the channel on the television. The 79-year-old pontiff had arrived amid tight security for lunch with the leaders and a group of refugees, including Syrians and Palestinians, an Eritrean, two Nigerian women and a 23-year-old from Mali who fled crisis-torn Libya for Sicily by boat. The leaders had prayed separately in locations across the town before coming together in the square in front of the Basilica of Saint Francis to read out messages of peace. Twenty-seven candles were lit for 27 war-hit countries, from Iraq to Myanmar, Syria and Yemen, before a minute's silence. "Islam is a religion of peace," Syamsuddin said, adding that it was "the responsibility of us Muslims to work together to show the real face of our faith" and distance it from those who perpetrate violence in the name of Islam. - 'No tomorrow in war' - In his address, Buddhist leader Morikawa bemoaned military interventions aimed at ending conflicts, saying history had taught us "peace enforced will be undone through force". Bartholomew called for fundamentalists in each religion to be "isolated" while Israeli Rabbi David Brodman, who survived the Holocaust as a child, said the Assisi meeting was proof "even those who are different can forge friendships and live in peace". After hearing testimony from a Syrian woman who described the screams of children under fire in war-torn Aleppo, Francis said the world needed to give voice to those who suffer. "They know well, often better than the powerful, that there is no tomorrow in war," he said. The pontiff had earlier reminded Western countries that while they had suffered a string of deadly jihadist attacks, there were parts of the world where cities were being flattened by fighting, prisoners were being tortured and families were starving to death. "We are frightened... by some terrorist acts," he said as US authorities probed an attack possibly linked to the Islamic State group. "(But) this is nothing compared to what is happening in those countries, in those lands where day and night bombs fall." More than 300,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011 Pope Francis (L) greets Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I in Assisi, on September 20, 2016 Alessandra Tarantino (Pool/AFP) Desmond Tutu 'jovial as usual' after return to hospital South African anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu was "jovial as usual", the country's deputy president said Tuesday after visiting him in hospital. Cyril Ramaphosa visited Tutu in the Cape Town clinic where the retired archbishop, 84, was re-admitted on Saturday just three days after being released following three weeks of treatment. "I was encouraged to see the Archbishop in high spirits, sharing light moments with his family and friends. He was jovial as usual," said Ramaphosa in a statement. Former archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu has been receiving treatment for prostate cancer for nearly 20 years Rodger Bosch (AFP/File) Tutu underwent a "minor surgical procedure" two weeks ago to determine the cause of a recurring infection. He was also hospitalised last year over the infection, which was a result of the prostate cancer treatment he has been receiving for nearly 20 years. His daughter Mpho Tutu-van Furth told reporters in Cape Town that the latest setback "wasn't completely unexpected, because previous therapies that he has had for prostrate cancer have retarded his healing." She said he was responding well to treatment and was expected home again soon. The much-loved former archbishop of Cape Town gained worldwide prominence for his strong opposition to white-minority rule in South Africa. Destroyed aid convoy in Syria: what we know An attack on aid trucks and a warehouse in Syria has killed around 20 civilians, leading the UN to suspend all humanitarian convoys in the war-ravaged country. Here is what we know about the attack that has also sparked a war of words between Washington and Moscow: - What happened? - Members of the Syrian Civil Defence extinguish burning trucks carrying aid on the side of the road in the town of Orum al-Kubra on September 20, 2016 Omar Haj Kadour (AFP) Trucks carrying food and medical equipment from the United Nations and other agencies were unloading aid into a warehouse in the town of Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo province on Monday. A spokesman for the UN's humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Geneva, Jens Laerke, said "every single partner or party to the conflict" was informed in advance about the delivery. According to the Red Cross the first report that the trucks and warehouse had been hit came at 8:15 pm local time (1715 GMT), several hours after the Syrian army had declared an end to a week-long partial ceasefire. Among the dead were a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) staff member Omar Barakat and volunteers. Pictures of the convoy published by SARC on Twitter showed that several of the trucks were draped with blue flags from UNICEF, the UN's agency for children. The raids destroyed at least 18 of 31 vehicles, the warehouse and much of the aid, the Red Cross said. Inside the trucks was sanitation and nutritional supplies for 50,000 people, nine tonnes of medical aid, including antibiotics and surgical materials, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization. - Who was responsible? - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor group, reported Monday night that an airstrike had hit the trucks, with a spokesman for the Red Cross in Geneva also referring to an air strike on Tuesday morning. Although not confirmed, this meant that either Russian or Syrian aircraft were strongly suspected of being responsible as neither opposition groups nor jihadist groups have air power. Giving further details on Tuesday, an unnamed US official told AFP that Washington believed a Russian plane was responsible. Two Russian SU-24 warplanes were operating in the area, he said. But both Syria and Russia have denied responsibility for the attack, with Moscow furious at the "unsubstantiated, hasty accusations" from the US. The Russian military, which is investigating the incident, said that footage from activists at the scene showed damage to the vehicles that did not appear to come from an air strike or other munitions. Later on Tuesday, the Red Cross changed the language in a press statement and referred to an "attack" on the convoy, not an air strike specifically. The main Syrian opposition group said Tuesday it was certain that bombing from either Syrian or Russian aviation was responsible. "No one else has aircraft in that area," said leader Riad Hijab in New York. Hijab said a member of his High Negotiations Committee (HNC) was escorting the convoy had provided him with photographs of the attack that he described as "very precise." The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, said an investigation was needed into a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law." - What is the fallout? - Laerke said the UN had suspended convoy movements "as an immediate security measure" and that future aid deliveries would depend on a "further assessment of the security situation." The Red Cross has so far not followed the UN's lead in pausing deliveries, spokesman Benoit Carpentier told AFP. Stalled aid deliveries have emerged as one of the most devastating consequences of the Syrian conflict, with the UN, Red Cross and others repeatedly demanding unhindered access to civilians in desperate need of life-saving supplies. Even before the strikes, some 40 UN trucks carrying relief supplies destined for rebel-held east Aleppo had remained stuck in a customs zone between the Turkish and Syrian borders since early last week. George H.W. Bush for Democrat Clinton? A Kennedy says so Former president George H.W. Bush plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, the niece of president John F. Kennedy wrote in a Facebook posting. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" read the caption of a picture Kathleen Kennedy Townsend posted on Facebook, as she shook the 92 year-old ex-president's hand. Former US President George H.W. Bush, pictured in 2012, has not offered support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump Mike Ehrmann (Getty/AFP/File) The news site Politico posted a screenshot of the picture with the comment. Townsend, 63, is a Democratic former lieutenant governor of Maryland and the daughter of former attorney general Robert Kennedy, assassinated in 1968. Her uncle was president Kennedy (1961-1963). On Facebook Townsend is identified as Kathleen Hartington, her middle name. The Bush clan has not offered their support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. A spokesman for Bush, president 1989-1993, was neutral on the subject when asked. "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days," spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement Tuesday. "He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim." Palestinian tries to stab Israel soldier, shot dead: army A Palestinian teenager tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday before being shot dead, officials said, the latest death in a flare-up of violence. An Israeli army statement said the assailant attempted to stab the soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Bani Naim. "Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death," it said. Israeli security forces stand guard at the entrance of the West Bank village of Bani Naim, east of Hebron, on September 20, 2016 Hazem Bader (AFP) The Palestinian health ministry identified the alleged assailant as Issa Tarayra, 16, from Bani Naim. Tuesday's incident was the ninth since Friday, coming after Palestinians wrapped up the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha and as Israel tightened security ahead of major Jewish holidays in October. The upsurge has shattered several weeks of relative calm. The recent attacks have mostly taken place in and around Hebron in the occupied West Bank and in annexed east Jerusalem. Hebron also saw clashes between stone-throwing youths and Israeli soldiers later on Tuesday. There was also a confrontation between a Palestinian man and Israeli soldiers who were stopping and checking cars. The argument degenerated into scuffles and pushing back and forth. Soldiers were seen beating the man before arresting him, according to footage recorded by an AFP video journalist. Some Palestinians in the area described the man as mentally challenged. Contacted by AFP, an Israeli military spokesman said he would look into it and had no immediate comment. Meanwhile, an Israeli policewoman stabbed outside Jerusalem's Old City on Monday was in serious condition in intensive care. - 'Copycat effect'? - After that attack, which also left another police officer with moderate wounds, Israeli authorities closed Palestinian shops in the area. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the closures were ordered so officers could search the area, but some shopkeepers questioned whether it was punishment for the stabbing. The assailant in that case was shot and seriously wounded. Surveillance video showed him approaching the officers from behind before stabbing them. The Israeli army called the recent escalation of violence "further testament to the ongoing influence of incitement on the Palestinian street and social media networks". An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was the possibility of a "copycat effect" of one attack influencing another. The official said tensions may also be rising because of Palestinian "online incitement" against Jewish visits to the Old City's ultra-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound which are expected to increase during next month's holidays. The compound is the third holiest site for Muslims and the most sacred for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians fearing that Israel will eventually seek to assert further control over it. Since October, 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with the Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest. Israeli soldiers restrain a Palestinian man as troops try to arrest him in the flashpoint city of Hebron on September 20, 2016 Hazem Bader (AFP) Israeli police investigate at the scene where a Palestinian tried to stab Israeli soldiers before being shot to death at a checkpoint on September 20, 2016 Hazem Bader (AFP) Pakistani Christian charged with blasphemy over Mecca snap A Pakistani Christian teen has been charged with blasphemy over a derogatory picture of Islam's holiest place, police said Tuesday. Nabeel Chohan was arrested for liking and sharing on social media a disparaging photograph of the Kaaba, the building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that Muslims turn and pray to five times a day. Chohan, who is 18 and from Punjab province, also kept the picture on his phone, police said. Nabeel Chohan was arrested for liking and sharing on social media a disparaging photograph of the Kaaba, the building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia Ahmad Gharabli (AFP/File) A Muslim friend of Chohan's informed police after seeing the Facebook post on September 16 and the teen was arrested after his friend filed the blasphemy case, police official Shahbaz Ahmed said. "A case of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims and desecrating the religious place has been lodged," Ahmed told AFP. Muhammad Hussain, the investigating police officer, confirmed the arrest and told AFP Chohan was in a police cell. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can provoke beatings and mob violence. Trump slams 'Trojan horse' migrants, son sparks outrage Donald Trump's hardline stance on immigration after two bombings in the New York area again sparked debate on the White House campaign trail Tuesday, as his son caused a firestorm by comparing Syrian refugees to lethal candies. The Republican presidential hopeful's uncompromising position on undocumented migrants -- even calling them a dangerous "Trojan horse" who enter the country with the aim of doing harm -- is inextricably linked to his meteoric political rise. Most Republicans approve of his tough talk, with polls showing that a majority of party members agreed with his call last December to bar Muslims from entering the United States. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a rally in High Point, North Carolina on September 20, 2016 Mandel Ngan (AFP) Since then, Trump has refrained from specifically targeting Muslims, but he has championed police profiling of suspects and promised to bar immigrants and travellers from certain countries deemed dangerous, such as Syria. The candidate has repeatedly warned of the risks posed by Syrian refugees, citing the arrival in Europe of Islamic State operatives disguised as simple refugees, and says US immigration officials are not properly screening new arrivals. "We want to make sure we are all only admitting people in our country who love our country," he said Tuesday in a speech at High Point University in North Carolina. "It's just a plain fact that our current immigration system makes no real attempt to determine the views of the people entering our country. We have no idea who they are, what they think," he said. Trump also denounced the "open borders" that he said his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton advocated as secretary of state, blaming her for the rise of the Islamic State group. "All these disasters with ISIS happened on Hillary Clinton's watch, happened with her, her bad judgment, her bad decision-making," he said. "Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monstrous evil upon us." Immigration is not one of the major issues on the minds of voters, ranking fourth according to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, making it unclear if Trump, 70, can use it to persuade those who are still undecided. But national security and the anti-terror fight are number two on that list, and with less than 50 days to go before Election Day on November 8, Trump is attempting to blur the lines between the two issues. - Syrians and Skittles - Trump's son Donald Jr, one of his surrogates on the campaign trail, has meanwhile courted controversy with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of multi-colored Skittles candy -- some of them lethal, but not to the naked eye. "This image says it all," he said on Twitter, with a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular sweets. Written above the image is: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful? That's our Syria refugee problem." Trump Jr thus argued that it is too dangerous to welcome migrants when a tiny number of them could later launch attacks. The man accused of planting bombs in downtown Manhattan and near a race in New Jersey over the weekend is a naturalized American of Afghan descent. At his rallies, Trump Sr has repeatedly recited the lyrics to a 1960s song, "The Snake," which recounts how a woman who aided an injured snake ended up being bitten, and he used the Trojan Horse imagery to warn of hidden dangers. "We cannot let this evil continue. Cannot do it," he said Monday. "Nor can we let the hateful ideology of radical Islam, its oppression of women, gays, children and non-believers, be allowed to reside or spread within our country." Wrigley, the maker of Skittles, on Tuesday criticized Trump Jr's tweet. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," a company statement said. Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who had no public events scheduled on Tuesday a week after taking a break from campaigning to recover from pneumonia, backs President Barack Obama's position on immigration. Obama has increased the number of Syrian refugees granted entry to the United States in the face of the brutal five-year war in their homeland. On Tuesday, Clinton used a call with a group of advisors on national security issues to emphasize the need for "experienced, steady leadership" to defeat extremist groups like IS. "Calm, not panic. Resolve, not fear," she said in remarks released by her campaign. "We can't lose our cool and start ranting and waving our arms. We shouldn't toss around extreme proposals that won't be effective and lose sight of who we are. That's what the terrorists are aiming for," she said. Supporters cheer as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks in High Point, North Carolina on September 20, 2016 Mandel Ngan (AFP) Donald Trump, Jr., pictured in July 2016, courted controversy with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of multi-colored Skittles candy -- some of them lethal, but not to the naked eye Jim Watson (AFP/File) Obama hits at populist strongmen in last UN address President Barack Obama used his farewell UN address Tuesday to castigate strongmen and populists, taking aim at Vladimir Putin's Soviet nostalgia and Donald Trump's rise at home. Obama told the UN General Assembly that democracy remains the "firmest foundation for human progress" as he repudiated "crude populism" that has mushroomed in the United States and around the world. "Some argue the future favors the strongman," Obama said, in remarks that will echo in the 2016 US campaign as much as the Kremlin, or Tiananmen Square. "I believe this thinking is wrong." US President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly that democracy was a better path toward prosperity than the "crude populism" that is mushrooming in the United States and around the world Jewel Samad (AFP) "History shows that strongmen are then left with two paths: Permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war." Obama's solemn valedictory remarks came less than 50 days before Americans decide whether fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, or Trump, the Republican nominee, will be his replacement. The bellicose reality star has taken far-right positions on immigration and security on the campaign trail and into the US political mainstream. Trump lashed out at Obama Monday after a spate of attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, saying "our country has been weak. We're letting people in by the thousands and tens of thousands." Obama challenged that thinking, saying: "We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home." "We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children if the unspeakable happened to us." But he admitted there were "deep fault lines in the existing international order," not least in the Middle East where "basic order has broken down" and fundamentalists prey on social unease. He admitted too that a "course correction" was needed to smooth the serrated edges of globalization. "A world in which one percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never be stable," he warned. - 'Past glories' - Obama had a more direct message for his Russian counterpart, accusing Putin -- who has invaded Ukraine and deployed forces to Syria -- of using the military to gain global clout. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. "If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure." By the same token, Obama warned China's increasingly powerful leader Xi Jinping that adhering to the rule of law offers "far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs" in the South China Sea. - Legacy on the line - Eight years ago at his first UN General Assembly -- with America's reputation tattered by the Iraq war and George W. Bush's unilateralism -- Obama promised a "new era of engagement." After two terms in the Oval Office a new Middle Eastern crisis, this time in Syria, threatens to sully Obama's effort to improve America's standing in the world. Obama has been more cautious -- critics would say timid -- with the use of US power, refusing to intervene to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Before the UN, Obama restated the case for multilateralism and an America that knows the limits of its own might. "I've noticed as president times when both America's adversaries and some of our allies believe all problems were either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington." "Perhaps too many in Washington believe that as well," he said to laughs from delegates. And even as a Syrian ceasefire brokered by Washington lay in tatters, Obama insisted diplomacy -- not force -- is the only way to end the brutal five-year conflict. "There's no ultimate military victory to be won, we're going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence and deliver aid to those in need," Obama said. On Monday the Syrian military declared the ceasefire over and 18 UN aid trucks were destroyed as they tried to bring relief to war-ravaged citizens near Aleppo. Syria and Russia denied striking the convoy, with Moscow suggesting it may have caught fire. US President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon after addressing the 71st session of United Nations General Assembly Jim Watson (AFP) France's Hollande on Syria tells UN: 'Enough is enough' French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday appealed for an end to the carnage in Syria, telling the United Nations: "Enough is enough". "The Syrian tragedy will be seen by history as a disgrace for the international community if we do not end it quickly," Hollande told the General Assembly. The French leader described Aleppo, which has once again come under a barrage of air strikes, as a "martyred city" and blamed the Syrian regime for the collapse of a US-Russian ceasefire. France's President Francois Hollande addresses the 71st session of United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on September 20, 2016 Jewel Samad (AFP) "Thousands of children have died in bombings, whole populations are starving, humanitarian convoys are being attacked, chemical weapons are being used." "I have one thing to say here: enough is enough," he said. The war in Syria, now in its sixth year with over 300,000 dead, is dominating this week's gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. US President Barack Obama earlier took the podium to declare that diplomacy was the only way to end the devastating war. The United States and Russia, the regime's ally in the war, earlier chaired a brief meeting of the 23-nation group backing the Syrian peace process, but there was no breakthrough. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council is to meet to discuss the Syria crisis, with distrust between Washington and Moscow running high. News / National by Staff reporter EX-POLITICAL detainee and brother to the late Vice-President Dr Joseph Msika, Gibson Msika, has died.He was 85.Mr James Msika, who is the family spokesperson, said Msika died yesterday morning at his home in Bulawayo's Mpopoma suburb after succumbing to prostate cancer.Prior to his death, Msika was the only surviving member in the late VP Msika's family. He participated in the country's liberation struggle and was detained in the 1960s for political activism.Msika is survived by wife Jennifer and four sons.Mourners are gathered at Number 47035/16, Mpopoma suburb in Bulawayo. NY bomb suspect violent at home, lived in Pakistan The Afghan-born American held on suspicion of bombing New York had a violent past, allegedly stabbing his brother after returning from a year in Pakistan, and reportedly possessed a notebook that mentioned Al-Qaeda. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was shot multiple times and captured by police Monday after being spotted in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The FBI had released his name and mugshot, setting off an intensive manhunt. Rahami underwent surgery and was in "critical but stable" condition, New York police chief James O'Neill said Tuesday. But so far he has not spoken to interrogators. Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation work at the site where Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested after a shootout with police on September 19, 2016 Drew Angerer (Getty/AFP) He has been charged with unlawful weapon possession and five counts of attempted murder of a police official. US media reported he was captured with a bullet-torn notebook that contained pro-Al-Qaeda writings. He has yet to be slapped with terror charges over Saturday night's bombing in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, which wounded 29 people, and a pipe bombing along the route of a US Marine Corps race in New Jersey. The FBI is now analyzing eight other unexploded bombs recovered from Manhattan and New Jersey, fingerprints and DNA, for clues as to how he may have become radicalized, and whether he acted alone. The notebook found on Rahami included references to US-born Al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011, and the 2013 Boston bombers, CNN reported. "He doing bad, he stabbed my son, he hit my wife," Rahami's father Mohammad told reporters when asked why he called authorities in 2014 to tell them his son was a danger and reportedly calling him a terrorist. - Email from Pakistan - In August 2014, Rahami was charged with aggravated assault and unlawfully possessing a knife after being accused of stabbing Nasim Rahami in the leg. He reportedly spent three months in jail but was never prosecuted. Two years earlier in February 2012, he was also accused of violating a domestic violence restraining order, according to court filings in Elizabeth. Investigators suspect that Rahami built 10 bombs, only two of which exploded -- the one in Chelsea and the pipe bomb in the New Jersey town of Seaside Park. Two other pipe bombs in Seaside Park failed to detonate, as did a pressure cooker device in Chelsea, and five pipe bombs in his hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, which were defused safely on Monday. "I think it's a good sign that he was found in a doorway. Hopefully that means he had nowhere to go," O'Neill told CBS News. Officials say Rahami travelled "extensively" in recent years to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he married his wife, who then fell pregnant. Local congressman Albio Sires said Rahami sought his help to obtain a visa for his heavily pregnant wife to travel to the United States in 2014. "He sent an email to my office from Pakistan, and he had said to me that he had been in Pakistan since April 2013 and we received the email on March 2014," Sires told CNN. - Love child - His wife left the United States shortly before the attack and was stopped in the United Arab Emirates, US media reported. Officials say so far they have found no connection between Rahami and any militant groups, including the Taliban or Islamic State (IS). He worked at the family's fried chicken restaurant, where The New York Times quoted friends as saying that he started praying and wore traditional clothes after returning from Afghanistan. He was also father to a child with his American high school girlfriend, who is now requesting full custody, filing court documents that list Rahami as "under terrorist investigation." The woman complained to Fox that he failed to pay child support. In court papers, she said she last spoke to him on the telephone in January. Another line of inquiry may be whether the family's tussles over their business could have played a role in radicalizing Rahami. His family sued the city of Elizabeth in 2011, accusing it and local police of discrimination, because they were Muslim and Afghans, in forcing them to close their chicken restaurant by 10:00 pm. The suit was settled in favor of the city. In Minnesota, police also say they have uncovered nothing to tie a Somali American man who went on a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota shopping mall on Saturday to organized extremist groups or the East Coast attacks. Updated map of New York and New Jersey locating the two blasts Kun Tian, Jonathan Jacobsen, Vincent Lefai (AFP) Federal Bureau of Investigation agents work inside the family restaurant and adjoined apartment of Ahmad Khan Rahami in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on September 19, 2016 Jewel Samad (AFP) Zimbabwe warns flag 'abusing' protesters Zimbabwe on Tuesday warned against the production, sale and use of the national flag without official permission after activists turned it into a symbol of anti-government protests. "Members of the public who participate in any action or activity involving the national flag or bring the national flag into disrepute are warned they are liable to prosecution," justice minister Virginia Mabhiza said in a statement. She said offenders faced up to a year in jail or a $200 (180 euros) fine -- or both. Zimbabwe's national flag became a symbol of anti-government protests after evangelical pastor Evan Mawarire (not pictured) posted a video in April in which he appeared with the flag wound around his neck Marco Longari (AFP/File) The national flag became a symbol of anti-government protests after evangelical pastor Evan Mawarire posted a video in April in which he appeared with the flag wound around his neck as he bemoaned the countrys worsening economic crisis. Mabhiza said she was "concerned with increasing incidences whereby members of the public have been using the national flag in a manner that is prohibited by the constitution". The warning came as the country experiences a surge in protests against veteran President Robert Mugabe's rule amid a worsening economic situation which has seen banks running out of cash and the government failing to pay its workers on time. Protesters are also demanding a raft of electoral reforms ahead of general elections scheduled for 2018. Pastor Mawarire's clips went viral, attracting tens of thousands of viewers and spawned the "ThisFlag" campaign that has fuelled angry street protests and brought Zimbabwe's situation to international attention. The campaign triggered a spike in demand for the flag with vendors selling the national colours in a variety of shapes and sizes. Mawarire was arrested following street protests which shut down schools and offices and paralysed the public transport system. He was released after a court threw out charges that he had attempted to overthrow the government. Mugabe singled out Mawarire, warning him sternly against further protests. Gabon rivals reach tenuous deal on poll recount Lawyers for President Ali Bongo and opposition leader Jean Ping told AFP on Tuesday said they have agreed to a poll recount for August's contested presidential vote, though the methodology remains in dispute. "The parties have reached agreement on a vote recount," said Ping's lawyer Jean-Remy Batsantsa, which Bongo's lawyer Francis Nkea confirmed, while adding there was disagreement on the extent of a recount. "We agreed on a recount in the 2,579 polling stations" across the country, Bongo's lawyer said. Ali Bongo was proclaimed the winner of the August 27 vote by a razor-thin margin of just under 6,000 votes, triggering violent protests as the opposition cried foul Thomas Samson (AFP/File) "We must avoid discriminating between Haut-Ogooue and the eight other provinces." Ping went to the Constitutional Court on September 8 to demand a recount in the province of Bongo's fiefdom Haut-Ogooue, where the incumbent received 95 percent of the vote on a 99 percent turnout in the August 27 poll. Bongo was proclaimed the winner of the vote by a razor-thin margin of just under 6,000 votes, triggering violent protests as the opposition cried foul. Jean-Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, a spokesman for Ping, said the opposition wanted to see the court sift through all vote counts rather than just those signed off by the electoral commission. But Nkea responded: "The law says a recount is on the basis of official counts... (meaning) the electoral commission's." After the result was announced, Ping warned of serious instability if the court -- which has 15 days to decide amid rumours of a delay -- rejected his recount appeal. Bongo responded by saying that Ping had indulged in a "violent campaign of lies and denigration" which was to blame for post-poll unrest. An EU election observer mission earlier said there was a "clear anomaly in the final result in Haut-Ogooue". Ping compared the Supreme Court the Tower of Pisa "because it always leans to the side of the ruling power". But he also told supporters "2016 is not 2009", a reference to the last presidential election when the Constitutional Court upheld Bongo's victory. Syria opposition slams 'total weakness' of international community Syrian opposition leader Riad Hijab on Tuesday accused world powers of showing "total weakness" in the face of the Syrian regime's renewed attacks and the collapse of a ceasefire. Hijab told reporters that Russian and Syrian planes bombed an aid convoy that was en route to Aleppo to deliver food and other basic supplies to 78,000 civilians. "Regime and Russian planes are responsible for this attack. No one else has aircraft in that area," said Hijab, who is the coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) seeking agreement on a political transition. Syrian opposition leader Riad Hijab told reporters that Russian and Syrian planes bombed an aid convoy that was en route to Aleppo to deliver food and other basic supplies to 78,000 civilians Chris J Ratcliffe (AFP/File) Hijab said a HNC member who was escorting the convoy had provided him with photographs of the attack that he described as "very precise." Russia and Syria have denied any involvement in the strike on Monday that destroyed 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy. "Through this tragic incident it is the United Nations that is directly hit," Hijab said. "But there are no consequences. It is yet another illustration of the total weakness of the international community," he added. The war in Syria, now in its sixth year with 300,000 dead, is dominating this week's General Assembly debate at the United Nations. The United States and Russia, the regime's ally in the war, earlier chaired a brief meeting of the 23-nation group backing the Syrian peace process, but there was no breakthrough. FBI investigated NY bomb suspect in 2014 The FBI said Tuesday that it had investigated the New York area bomb suspect for terrorism in 2014 but found no link, despite his alleged violent acts after returning from Pakistan. Two years later, Ahmad Khan Rahami is the chief suspect for 10 bombs planted in Manhattan and New Jersey -- two of which exploded on Saturday, wounding 29 people in Chelsea and aborting a US Marine Corps race in northern New Jersey. The FBI revelation is likely to raise troubling questions about what US authorities can do to stop attacks from being carried out by individuals with no known links to specific militant groups. Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation work at the site where Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested after a shootout with police on September 19, 2016 Drew Angerer (Getty/AFP) Investigators were left piecing together a picture of the 28-year-old bomb suspect who allegedly stabbed his brother in the leg and reportedly jotted down pro-Al-Qaeda writings in a notebook that was confiscated when he was captured Monday. His father Mohammad Rahami, an immigrant from Afghanistan who brought his Afghan-born son to the United States as a child, said he warned the FBI that his son was a danger in 2014, calling him a terrorist. "He doing bad, he stabbed my son, he hit my wife," he told reporters. In August 2014, Rahami was charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a knife after being accused of stabbing Nasim Rahami in the leg. He reportedly spent three months in jail but was never prosecuted. "In August 2014, the FBI initiated an assessment of Ahmad Rahami based upon comments made by his father after a domestic dispute," the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. "The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks, and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism," it added. -Awlaki jottings - Even before the 2014 incident, Rahami was accused in February 2012 of violating a domestic violence restraining order, according to court filings in his hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey. On Monday, Rahami was repeatedly shot and captured after being spotted in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey, just four hours after the FBI released his mugshot and sent an emergency cellphone alert to millions of people. He has already been charged with unlawful weapon possession and five counts of attempted murder of a police official. He may yet also face terror charges over Saturday night's bombing in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, and the pipe blast in Seaside Park, New Jersey. He has yet to be interrogated, after undergoing surgery and being treated in "critical but stable" condition, New York police chief James O'Neill said. The notebook found on Rahami included references to US-born Al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011, and the 2013 Boston bombers, CNN reported. The FBI is now analyzing eight other unexploded bombs recovered from Manhattan and New Jersey, fingerprints and DNA, for clues as to how he may have become radicalized, and whether he acted alone. Two other pipe bombs at the Marines race in Seaside Park failed to detonate, as did a pressure cooker device in Chelsea. One of the five pipe bombs found near the train station in Elizabeth was detonated accidentally by a bomb-detecting robot on Monday. - Extensive travel - Officials say Rahami traveled extensively in recent years to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he married and his wife became pregnant. Albio Sires, a New Jersey congressman in the US House of Representatives, said Rahami had sought his help to obtain a visa for his heavily pregnant wife to travel to the United States in 2014. "He sent an email to my office from Pakistan, and he had said to me that he had been in Pakistan since April 2013 and we received the email on March 2014," Sires told CNN. His wife left the United States shortly before Saturday's attacks and was stopped in the United Arab Emirates, US media reported. Officials say so far they have found no connection between Rahami and any militant groups, including the Taliban or Islamic State (IS). He worked at the family's fried-chicken restaurant, where The New York Times quoted friends as saying that he started praying and wore traditional clothes after returning from Afghanistan. He was also father to a child with his high-school girlfriend. In court papers requesting full custody, she said she last spoke to him by telephone in January. Another line of inquiry may be whether the family's tussles over their business could have played a role in radicalizing Rahami. His family sued the city of Elizabeth in 2011, accusing it and local police of discrimination because they were Muslim and Afghans, in ordering them to close their restaurant by 10:00 pm. The suit was settled in favor of the city. Updated map of New York and New Jersey locating the two blasts Kun Tian, Jonathan Jacobsen, Vincent Lefai (AFP) Ahmad Khan Rahami is a US citizen who was born in Afghanistan in 1988 Court hears challenges to Washington's gun-carry law A US federal appeals court heard challenges Tuesday to Washington's strict gun-carry law, a battle in the debate over firearms that has divided the country and the two presidential candidates. Cases brought by supporters of the right to bear arms under the US Constitution's Second Amendment are attacking the constitutionality of the law, among the strictest in the country. Lawyers representing the District of Columbia (DC), the other name for the US capital Washington, faced tough questions from the appeals court judges. In practice, the DC government just trickles out licenses for carrying firearms, which must be concealed in clothing or a bag, to the consternation of supporters of the Second Amendment's right to bear arms Chip Somodevilla (Getty/AFP/File) The city, home to the White House, Congress, political organizations and international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, makes it difficult for gun owners to carry concealed weapons. DC gun laws in general prohibit the carrying of a firearm. And to obtain a license to carry a concealed gun, DC law requires the person to provide a "good reason," such as a reason to fear injury to themselves or the need to transport money. The simple fact of living in a troubled neighborhood is not sufficient. "Why should someone show a need for self-defense?" said Judge Thomas Griffith. He sketched a scenario in which an unarmed woman's choices in a bad area are limited to running away from a threat or using martial arts to confront it. In practice, the DC government just trickles out licenses for carrying firearms, which must be concealed in clothing or a bag, to the consternation of supporters of the Second Amendment's right to bear arms. Their challenges, which have met with mixed responses in lower courts, have risen to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It is considered by many to rank second in stature only to the Supreme Court. - Divided states - The decision of the federal appeals court will resonate far beyond the borders of the compact city and its population of 672,000. The debate over gun control is fierce in the country wracked by gun violence and is a hot issue on the campaign trail ahead of the November 8 presidential election. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is endorsed by the National Rifle Association, a powerful lobby that rains money in Congress. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has vowed to take on the gun lobby and is campaigning for tighter gun control laws. Four states -- California, Maryland, New Jersey and New York -- have concealed-carry laws similar to DC's. Dozens of states have filed supporting arguments for the DC law to the appeals court. About 15 other states called on the appeals court to declare it unconstitutional. In the court debate Tuesday, DC authorities defended the need for the gun-carrying limits to protect public safety. "On crowded city streets of the District, the bystanders are everywhere," said Loren Alikhan, DC deputy solicitor general. Her argument drew a retort from David Thompson, a lawyer specialized in Second Amendment gun rights. "The people who are the biggest victims of the District ban are the people who live in the dangerous neighborhoods," Thompson said, implying that they need a gun for their safety. In 2008, gun rights supporters won a landmark victory in the Supreme Court, which overturned the city's law banning possession of a handgun. US authorities launch civil rights probe of Tulsa police shooting US authorities have launched a civil rights probe into the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, captured on video that sparked renewed outrage over law enforcement's treatment of African-Americans. The fatal shooting on Friday of Terence Crutcher was recorded by police car dashboard cameras and a police helicopter camera in that city in Oklahoma. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan, in releasing the footage to the public on Monday, called it disturbing and "very difficult to watch." In the video, the 40-year-old Crutcher is seen with his hands up, appearing to comply with police officers and leaning against his car. He is then shot once by officer Betty Shelby, and falls to the ground. Another officer fires his stun gun. This image from video, provided September 20, 2016 by the Tulsa Police Department in Oklahoma, shows the officer involved shooting of Terence Crutcher It is not clear from the video who fired first, or what Crutcher's exact movements were prior to the shooting. Crutcher later died at a hospital. Officer Shelby was placed on paid leave pending an investigation, police said. "The entire family is devastated," said Crutcher's sister Tiffany during a news conference, demanding that "charges are pressed against this officer, that was incompetent, that took my brother's life." Officer Shelby's lawyer Scott Wood told The New York Times that Crutcher had been behaving erratically and had tried to put his hand in his pocket. "We will achieve justice in this case," the Tulsa police chief told a news conference. "We will do the right thing. We will not cover anything up." News and video of the shooting spread on social media. Google reported more than a million searches Monday for Crutcher's name and related topics. Meanwhile, demonstrators in Tulsa expressed outrage, and demanded that the officer be punished. "This is not target practice. This is real life. Right now, we need for them to arrest Betty Shelby," said Marq Lewis, a member of the group We The People Oklahoma, during a protest on Monday. The Department of Justice said Monday it would conduct a federal civil rights probe, a investigation parallel to the one local authorities in the state are carrying out. The federal probe "will seek to determine whether a Federal Civil Rights violation occurred. The investigation will include a comprehensive review of the events surrounding the Friday night shooting that resulted in Mr. Crutcher's death," US Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. of the Northern District of Oklahoma said in a statement. This latest police shooting incident comes after a tense summer in which widely disseminated videos of police shootings of African-Americans prompted protests around the country. In Baton Rouge and Dallas, officers were shot and killed by gunmen who appeared to have been motivated by a desire for revenge against police shootings. Seattle passes new scheduling rules for hourly workers SEATTLE (AP) Retail and food-service workers will have more predictability with their schedules after the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a new law Monday requiring employers to schedule shifts 14 days in advance and pay workers extra for certain last-minute scheduling changes. Seattle is the second major U.S. city behind San Francisco to pass such scheduling legislation. "Seattle is again a national leader in workers' rights," said Councilwoman Lisa Herbold, who co-sponsored the legislation and noted that the city has also phased in a $15 hourly minimum wage and mandated sick leave for many companies. People in favor of proposed new work scheduling rules stand in support before a Seattle City Council meeting Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Seattle. The Council was to vote Monday on new scheduling rules for hourly retail and food-service employees, including requiring employers to schedule shifts 14 days in advance and pay workers extra for certain last-minute scheduling changes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Supporters, including the mayor and labor-backed groups, say the law would address the erratic schedules and fluctuating work hours that make it difficult for people to juggle child care, school or other jobs, to count on stable income, or to plan for the future. Backers cheered and applauded when the final vote was announced. The Washington Retail Association and other businesses have criticized the proposal. They say the measure is too restrictive, imposes burdensome bookkeeping and fines and would lead to more problems and less flexibility for workers. Across the country, companies have faced increasing pressure to make schedules for their workers more predictable and reliable. In July, Wal-Mart launched a new scheduling system to give thousands of hourly employees more certainty about their hours. "We are shifting the power to workers so that you as workers can influence and shape your schedules, and that is a critical part of our promise of fulfilling the $15 minimum wage and combating economic inequality in our city," said Councilwoman Lorena Gonzalez, who co-sponsored the legislation. She and Herbold said scheduling practices designed to control labor costs by scheduling workers within short notice disproportionately affect people of color, particularly women. "I believe this law strikes a balance between the desire for flexibility and the need for economic and life security," Gonzalez added. In Seattle, the law applies to retail and fast-food companies with 500 employees globally and to full-service restaurants with 500 employees and 40 establishments. Violators could be subject to civil fines. The law also requires companies to compensate workers with "predictability pay" when they're scheduled but don't get called into work or are sent home early; set a minimum 10 hours rest between open and closing shifts; offer hours to existing employees before hiring new staff; and provide workers with a written good faith estimate of their expected hours. It exempts companies whose employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement with similar scheduling provisions. Some employers have previously told council members that they already work collaboratively to ensure they meet workers' scheduling needs and that the onerous rules could drive them out of the city. Joe Solorio, right, stands with other supporters of new work scheduling rules at a Seattle City Council meeting, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Seattle. The Council was to vote Monday on new scheduling rules for hourly retail and food-service employees, including requiring employers to schedule shifts 14 days in advance and pay workers extra for certain last-minute scheduling changes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell opens a meeting, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Seattle. The Council was to vote Monday on new scheduling rules for hourly retail and food-service employees, including requiring employers to schedule shifts 14 days in advance and pay workers extra for certain last-minute scheduling changes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Supporters of new work scheduling rules hold up signs during a public comment period at a Seattle City Council meeting, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Seattle. The Council was to vote Monday on new scheduling rules for hourly retail and food-service employees, including requiring employers to schedule shifts 14 days in advance and pay workers extra for certain last-minute scheduling changes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Lupe Sanchez, a retired school employee, applauds as the Seattle City Council unanimously approves a new law designed to give hourly retail and food-service workers more predictability in their scheduling, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Seattle. The new law is designed to give hourly retail and food-service workers more predictability in their scheduling. The measure approved Monday afternoon requires that large employers schedule shifts 14 days in advance, pay workers extra for certain last-minute scheduling changes and offer hours to existing employees before hiring new staff, among other provisions. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Skydive pilot called tower to report 'fire on the wing' PHOENIX (AP) The pilot of a burning plane radioed into the tower to say, "fire on the wing, fire in the airplane," moments before he bailed out of the aircraft in a parachute and it plunged into a suburban Phoenix home. The harrowing scene unfolded Saturday during what was supposed to be a thrilling pyrotechnic skydive jump at a town fair. But at some point, the single-engine Cessna carrying the skydivers caught fire. The skydivers jumped and landed at their intended spot while the pilot remained at the controls of the doomed aircraft. Wreckage from a plane that crashed into a home in Gilbert, Ariz., sits on a flatbed on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. Federal investigators are trying to determine what led the plane carrying several skydivers to crash Saturday. The pilot and four skydivers were able to parachute out before the aircraft struck the house. (Gary Hildebrandt/Gilbert Fire Department via AP) "I'm having an emergency situation," he said. The tower operator asked him if he was able to land at nearby airports in Chandler and Mesa. No one responded until a Southwest Airlines pilot informed the tower: "That plane went down." By then, the pilot had jumped from the plane and parachuted to the ground in a field with burns to his body. The unmanned plane flew directly into a couple's house. Somehow, they got out safely with no injuries and managed to take their pets with them. The Associated Press could not reach Sharon and Peter LeBeau, but they told some Phoenix-area media Monday they were thankful for first responders and family and friends who had reached out to them. "We are grateful to God to be alive," said Sharon LeBeau, who lived in the home with her husband and dogs. "I've never seen so much compassion and kindness." The LeBeaus declined to answer questions about what they were able to salvage from the mostly destroyed home, but she said she was glad they were able to save the dogs, which she called "our babies." "It's one of those things you plan for the worst and hope for the best, but never expect something like this," Gilbert Fire and Rescue Capt. Josh Ehrman said. "The family is very thankful for being able to walk away." Ehrman originally said the pilot tried to extinguish the flames while flying but later said his account was erroneous. The plane's wreckage was removed Sunday from the crash site, and a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said no information was immediately available on the cause. A preliminary report on the crash should be issued within a week or two, said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway. The pilot was hospitalized for treatment of burns, but details on his injuries were not available, Ehrman said. Seth Banda, a spokesman for Constitution Week, said the Arizona Skyhawks Parachute Team has been performing pyrotechnic skydiving at the fair for about three or four years. He said the skydivers completed their jump and landed at their intended spot as expected. Pyrotechnic skydiving is a niche market and only about 40 or so people in the country do it, according to John Hart, one of the leaders of Team Fastrax, which performs all over the world. The pyrotechnics vary but shows generally involve skydivers strapping fireworks or sparks to their legs and then jumping out of planes. Hart says pyrotechnic skydiving has grown in popularity over the past 15 years or so, and his team and others regularly perform at major sporting events, Fourth of July celebrations and in Europe and China. But jumping with pyrotechnics comes at a high risk since parachutes are flammable. Usually sky divers have to take larger planes than normal and jump in groups of four to six from at least 12,000 feet in the air so that they can safely deploy their parachutes without catching fire, Hart said. The explosives are usually linked via Bluetooth so that only one of the sky divers has to deploy the pyrotechnics, which all go off at the same time, Hart said. Hart said that some shows require divers to wear up to 100 pounds of fireworks on their legs. Jumpers are equipped with stainless steel plates and a flame-retardant blanket around their legs in case of an explosion. Jumping with fireworks also requires special licensing and training. The website and Facebook page for the Arizona Skyhawks Parachute Team is down. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kinetzer said the NTSB is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash, and he referred inquiries to the NTSB. FAA online records list the plane as being registered to a Chandler business. A Tempe woman listed as being a contact for the business did not immediately respond to a message sent via Facebook. ___ Associated Press Writer Paul Davenport contributed to this report. Galvan contributed from Tucson, Ariz. Transgender student's suit against school district advances MILWAUKEE (AP) A federal judge has declined to dismiss a transgender student's lawsuit against a Wisconsin school district over its bathroom-use rules. U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper rejected a request from the Kenosha school district to dismiss the suit Monday. The Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2cMbyUa ) reports Pepper found the student had alleged enough facts to support a plausible violation of Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as the Constitution's equal protection guarantees. The district argued the term "sex" under Title IX did not cover a transgender student. Ashton Whitaker, a student at Tremper High School, was designated a girl on his birth certificate but began identifying as a boy in middle school. Whitaker sued in July, claiming the district's ban on his using the boys' restroom was discriminatory. ___ News / National by Stewart Murewa It would be an oversimplification for a rather complex issue to say that the churches should rise and condemn evil for what it is in order to eradicate the problems bedeviling the country. Cleric Ancelimo Magaya, of the National Agreement Platform has urged the government to initiate national dialogue to find a lasting solution to the problems facing the country. Heart-Felt International Ministries (HIM) founder, Tavonga Vutabwashe is also accusing government officials of oppressing Zimbabweans but handling foreigners with velvet gloves. The Dutch Reformed church few congregates has also claimed to support the Tajamuka movement. Moreover it is a misinterpretation of reality to say that more churches push for President Robert Mugabe's departure.Addressing a Press conference in Harare recently, Magaya urged the government to take seriously issues to do with civil servants' salaries and put to an end house demolitions and illegal parceling out of stands by the so-called land barons. He urged the government to restore the dignity of those in the state security sector, war veterans and pensioners.It is prudent that the church leaders should plead with the politicians to consider the welfare of ordinary men, women and children. They should also maintain the view that there is more to unite the different political actors than to divide them. Thus they should preach unity in all parties and not to promote factionalism.We know that the church leaders have by all means tried to interrogate the political, economic and social problems that are rocking the country and have tried to proffer some solutions. The little known cleric Magaya has also joined the bandwagon of church leaders who have joined civil society to demand that elections should only be held when the country has been sufficiently de-militarized.Clerics like Magaya should be able to read the signs of the times and avoid aligning themselves with partisan political agendas. The so-called man of cloth is criticizing the First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe for donating food and other goods alleging that they are being distributed on party lines. The First Lady invited all the people to join her as the mother of the nation when she was donating the food and goods.Magaya has gone a step further by urging the people to rise against the legitimately elected government over civil servants' salaries and the demolitions of the illegal structures. We need to remind the so-called top cleric to stop inciting the peace loving people of this country. In fact the man should be reminded that it is illegal to be legal in a society of illegality.The cleric has also called the government to restore dignity to members of the security sector, pensioners and war veterans. In this endeavour the cleric should not interfere in the running of the government but concentrate on writing positive pastoral letters. The man of the pulpit should stick to the word of God.The net effect of biased clerics like Magaya has been to divide the church into two broad groups; those in favour of President Robert Mugabe and those opposed to him. Progressive Christians and the like minded people should stick to the word of God and leave politics to the politicians.Recently Heart-Felt International Ministries (HIM) founder Tavonga Vutahwashe has come out guns blazing accusing government officials of oppressing Zimbabweans but handling foreigners with velvet gloves. Vutahwashe went on arguing that ministers are behind the untold suffering of locals and all the economic misfortunes the country is facing.In his scathing sermons, Vutahwashe preaches that President Robert Mugabe is surrounded by ungodly people who are unfit to lead the country. He claims that the ZANU PF regime has perpetuated the stereo-type that foreigners are superior to locals as it gives them preferential treatment especially the Chinese.The clergyman proffers that the current cash crisis can be traced back to the ZANU PF all weather friends the Chinese, who he accuses of siphoning the greenback to their motherland. In this endeavour the man of the cloth is promoting racism as he is against the Chinese and then this becomes a fascinating paradox.In the current political discourse it has emerged that traditional churches in the likes of Roman Catholic, Methodists Anglicans etc have been concentrating on the word of God instead of criticizing government policies like the newly emerging little known churches. Of late these little known churches are being led by people of dubious religious credentials as they are preaching hate sermons.Recently some dubious church groups came up together and demonstrated against the schools national pledge. A quick but shrewd glance at the demonstrators shows that they are not churches, they are small opposition parties disguising as churches. If the Roman Catholic Church decides to march the whole of Harare will be closed because of numbers. Not these gangsters masquerading as churches. The normal churches endorsed the national pledge, only misled people keep on talking about Muslim hand in this pledge and yet there is nothing Muslim about it.It is now beside the point and ill advised to say that more churches are calling for the removal of President Robert Mugabe from power by any means necessary as he had failed the nation. Real churches do not call for confrontation with the incumbent President but pray for economic recovery and prosperity.----------------stewart murewa Navy commander pleads not guilty to sexual assault charges SAN DIEGO (AP) A Navy commander has pleaded not guilty to attempted rape charges involving a female, off-duty sailor at her home in San Diego. Cmdr. John Michael Neuhart II entered his plea in a San Diego court on Monday to attempted sexual assault charges and a burglary charge. Police say officers chased him into a canyon near the woman's home after she fought him off and arrested him. He remains free on $100,000 bond. He could not be reached for comment. Detectives say the victim was an acquaintance of Neuhart's and went home with him after running into him while out with friends. Prosecutor: Gov. Christie was told about plan to close lanes NEWARK, N.J. (AP) A federal prosecutor told jurors on Monday that a witness will testify that Republican Gov. Chris Christie was told about a plan to close traffic lanes near the George Washington Bridge as part of a political vendetta while the shutdown was happening, a claim Christie has contested for years. The trial comes three years after gridlock paralyzed a town next to the busy bridge, which connects New Jersey and New York City, for four days. Prosecutors said two former Christie allies, Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly, had sought political revenge against Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who didn't endorse Christie for re-election. Baroni was a top Christie appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area bridges, tunnels and transit hubs. Kelly was Christie's former deputy chief of staff. FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 29, 2016, file photo, Gov. Chris Christie listens to a question from the media in Trenton, N.J. Three years after gridlock paralyzed a New Jersey town next to the George Washington Bridge for four days, two former allies Christie are going to trial. Jurors will hear opening statements Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Newark in the case against Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna told jurors that another Port Authority official, David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty in connection with the scandal last year, will testify he and Baroni made Christie aware of the plan during a Sept. 11 memorial in New York in 2013, three days after the gridlock started. "The evidence will show that ... they bragged about the fact that there were traffic problems in Fort Lee and that Mayor Sokolich was not getting his calls returned," Khanna said. Christie has denied knowing about the scheme until well after it was carried out, and a taxpayer-funded report he commissioned absolved him of wrongdoing. He wasn't charged in the federal investigation. A message left at his office seeking comment wasn't immediately returned Monday. Christie, an unsuccessful candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, conceded last week that the bridge scandal was a factor in GOP nominee Donald Trump's not picking him as a running mate. Defense attorneys spent considerable time in their opening statements castigating Wildstein, a former political blogger and high school classmate of Christie who they called the governor's hatchet man at the Port Authority. They characterized him as a vulgar, power-smitten opportunist aiming to ride Christie's coattails to Washington, D.C., at a time when Christie, about to easily win re-election in his heavily Democratic state, was seen as a top presidential hopeful. Kelly's attorney, Michael Critchley, called Wildstein and others in Christie's inner circle "cowards who were addicted to power" and said Kelly, who had been deputy chief of staff for three months at the time of the lane closures, was a sacrificial lamb. "The idea that Bridget Kelly is directing the affairs of the state of New Jersey is almost laughable," he said. "They wanted to throw her, in some sense, under the presidential bus." Baroni's lawyer, Michael Baldassare, called Wildstein a liar and "a horrible person, a vindictive individual who would destroy your life." In the government's opening, Khanna described how crushing gridlock engulfed Fort Lee on four days beginning Sept. 9, 2013, and how the defendants ignored Sokolich's texts, emails and voicemails seeking help. Kelly's "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email to Wildstein was sent Aug. 13, 2013, a day after she was notified Sokolich wouldn't endorse Christie, Khanna said. He added that although the lane realignment was Wildstein's idea, Wildstein "will also tell you Kelly instructed him to take that action and Baroni blessed it. And the three of them worked hand in hand." Critchley, Kelly's attorney, said Kelly regretted sending the email but it was merely joking banter taken out of context. He told jurors Kelly believed Wildstein's proffer that the three access lanes from Fort Lee to the bridge were part of a "corrupt political deal" years ago and should be re-examined. Baroni and Kelly face counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, deprivation of civil rights and misusing an organization receiving federal funds, the Port Authority. The most serious charge in the indictment, wire fraud conspiracy, carries a maximum 20-year prison term upon conviction. Witness testimony is scheduled to begin Tuesday, with Fort Lee's police chief. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Kelly was former deputy chief of staff, not chief of staff. FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2016 file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly leaves Federal Court after a hearing for jury selection in Newark, N.J. Three years after gridlock paralyzed a New Jersey town next to the George Washington Bridge for four days, two former allies of Gov. Chris Christie are going to trial. Jurors will hear opening statements Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Newark in the case against Bill Baroni and Kelly. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) France wants international Mideast conference this year UNITED NATIONS (AP) France said Monday it wants to organize an international conference before the end of the year to present Israelis and Palestinians with a package of incentives if they reach a peace agreement. Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at a briefing on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting that "this week must be a moment of political mobilization that we can reach that goal." Ayrault's push for an international conference in France follows an announcement by Russia's Foreign Ministry on Sept. 8 that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed "in principle" to meet in Moscow for talks. But the wide gaps between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raise doubts about the prospect for any meeting and if there is one whether they would make any progress. Abbas demands that Israel halt all settlement construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, and release about two dozen Palestinian prisoners before any meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the preconditions. Ayrault said several countries, including Egypt, Russia and the United States, are trying to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians. He said he told them that "all efforts are in fact complementary of the French initiative." France hosted an international meeting in Paris in June attended by more than two dozen Western and Arab countries to try to come up with a new strategy for Mideast peace and revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which have been all but dead for over two years. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders were not invited. The participants welcomed the "prospect" of a conference with both parties later this year. Ayrault hosted a closed meeting Monday for officials from the countries that attended the June conference. Russia has clamored unsuccessfully for years to host a meeting of the two leaders but Russia's Foreign Ministry gave no date or agenda for the future get-together. The United States has maintained a stranglehold over all Mideast peace processes since the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. UN chief rails against leaders with 'bloody hands' in Syria UNITED NATIONS (AP) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon railed Tuesday against leaders who keep "feeding the war machine" in Syria as he bowed out of the world stage, while President Barack Obama said there was no military solution to the five-year conflict and described a globe in the throes of a contest between authoritarianism and democracy. Both Ban and Obama were making their final speeches at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. They did so against a backdrop of mounting bloodshed and a failing cease-fire in Syria, escalating attacks around the world by Islamic extremists, and millions of people fleeing fighting and poverty. The U.N. chief, whose 10-year period at the helm of the unwieldy world body ends Dec. 31, vented his pent-up frustration with uncharacteristic candor, telling the opening of the General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting that "powerful patrons" on both sides in the Syrian conflict which he did not identify "have blood on their hands." France's President Francois Hollande addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) "Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians," he said. But Ban blamed the Syrian government for the most deaths. He said it was continuing to drop barrel bombs on neighborhoods and torture thousands of detainees. Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned Ban's address and contended that the U.N had failed to resolve any conflicts on his watch. Ban spoke as the U.S., Russia and more than a dozen other countries attempted to resurrect a week-old truce, and Washington and Moscow argued over who was responsible for an attack Monday on an aid convoy that killed some 20 civilians that the U.N. chief denounced as a "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack." Ban called the bombers "cowards." The Syrian conflict has killed as many as half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global threat. Obama, who stands down in January after eight years in office, acknowledged that the extremist and sectarian violence wreaking havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed." Still, he stuck faithfully to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria's civil war and other conflicts. He lamented that while the world has become a safer and more prosperous place by many measures, people have lost faith in public institutions amid frightening problems like terrorism and a devastating refugee crisis. "It's no surprise that some argue the future favors the strongman," Obama said. "But I believe the road to true democracy remains the better path." While there was no mention of the bitterly fought U.S. presidential contest, this year's General Assembly opens amid uncertainty over who will succeed Obama, and perhaps less crucially, who will succeed former South Korean diplomat Ban at the U.N. In a less-than-subtle jab at Donald Trump, the Republican running to replace him, Obama said, "The world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent (extremism) from affecting our own societies." Jordan's King Abdullah II offered an impassioned defense of Islam while condemning extremists as outlaws who want to "drag us back to the dark ages." But he added that false perceptions of Islam in the West were breeding further intolerance. British Prime Minister Theresa May said that a global response was needed against terrorists who are exploiting banking networks, targeting airlines and using social media "to spread an ideology that is recruiting people to their cause all over the world." Obama was unabashed in his critique of Russia as he laid out his diagnosis of the world's ills. Obama's longstanding differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his actions in Ukraine have accompanied intense disagreement over Syria's future and a series of failed attempts by Russia and the U.S. to resolve the civil war there together. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. The tough talk about Russia illustrated how little progress has been made in reconciling the diverging interests among the two powers that has allowed the Syria crisis to continue to fester. Ban also criticized authoritarian and undemocratic tendencies among world leaders bent on clinging to power. In addition to Syria, he listed a host of "grave security threats" fighting in Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Sahel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where "the prospects for a two-state solution are being lowered by the day." But he also noted positive global developments during his decade as the U.N. chief. He cited the rise of "people power" with mobile phones that now blanket the world, reductions in poverty, political transitions in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and the cease-fire agreement in Colombia. Governments on Tuesday pledged about $4.5 billion more than 2015 levels in contributions to the U.N. and humanitarian organizations to address the global refugee crisis at a summit hosted by Obama at the U.N., a White House statement said. More than 65.3 million people are currently displaced worldwide. President Barack Obama reaches to shake hands with Peter Thomson, right, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, center, after addressing the 71st session of the U.N. General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein of Jordan speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) France's President Francois Hollande addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Francois Hollande, President of France, speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) France's President Francois Hollande speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Pressure on Argentina's Macri to keep vow on Syrian refugees BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Nairouz Baloul escaped the civil war in her homeland to find refuge in Argentina. Now she hopes the South American nation will now welcome many more Syrians like her to begin a new life. President Mauricio Macri has said he wants to allow more than 3,000 Syrian refugees into Argentina. But the plan has stalled, and organizations and members of Argentina's Syrian community are pressuring the administration to keep its promise. "If he has the key to unlock this, I think he shouldn't hesitate to open the door to other human beings," said Baloul, 29, an English teacher who escaped what she calls a "living nightmare" in Syria. A woman watches a video of an explosion as she stands inside a mock-up Syrian home, set up by Amnesty International inside a subway station, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Argentina's President Mauricio Macri pledged earlier in the year that the country would receive 3,000 Syrian refugees. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) One of her brothers was killed by a bomb in Damascus in 2014. She prefers not to speak about it, but since she arrived in Buenos Aires last month with another brother, she has become hopeful that the rest of their family will be able to join them in Argentina. "I feel safe now, but I'm not totally happy because I want others to be safe as well," Baloul said. Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said Monday that the government is fully committed to bringing in 3,000 Syrians, though a timeline has not been set. "This will not happen from one day to the next," she said. "But we have a commitment because Argentina is a country of immigrants, of refugees, and it's unlikely that any of us doesn't have a grandfather, a great-grandfather who hasn't escaped a war, a famine." "We believe this is the time to set an example," Malcorra said. Officials have not explained the reasons for the delay, although Argentina's economy is in recession and Macri has faced unrest for cutting government spending. While the government decides how to implement the plan, dozens of Argentine families have already volunteered to welcome Syrians into their homes. Among them is Mariano Winograd, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler who received a young newlywed couple from Syria to his home earlier this year. "I just want to give back what was given to my family," said Winograd, the son of Jewish immigrants who came to Argentina to escape World War II. Winograd, the head of a local group known as Humanitarian Refuge, works closely with an Argentine priest based in Aleppo, Syria, who helps families desperate to escape one of that country's fiercest battlegrounds. Amnesty International on Monday urged Argentina to implement a comprehensive plan for bringing in Syrian refugees. The human rights group set up a replica of a Syrian home in a busy subway station in the Argentine capital. Images of relentless bombings were projected on screens in its windows in an effort to call attention to the more than 4 million Syrians who have sought refuge abroad since civil war erupted in 2011. "I think the Argentine state has the good intention to help in this humanitarian crisis, but it is limited (by resources). But for us, the economic excuse is not valid," said Leah Tandeter, head of international justice for Amnesty International's local branch. Macri and other world leaders were in New York for the U.N. General Assembly meeting on Monday to discuss the situation of the world's 65.3 million displaced people. The talks were held as the first summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. ___ Associated Press video journalist Paul Byrne contributed to this report. In Zimbabwe, comedy thrives as country slowly falls apart HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) Zimbabwe's economy is falling apart, and police are cracking down on growing anti-government protests. But the country's comedy scene is booming. No subject seems taboo. Even 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, widely accused of muzzling free speech, is a target. Insulting the president can bring a one-year jail term in this southern African country. Nonetheless, the comedians carry on, becoming bolder as fears of speaking out begin to erode. Zimbabwean actors are seen during a comedy scene from a show called State of The Nation, Wednesday, Sept,14, 2016. Zimbabwe's comedy scene is booming as the country's economy is tanking, and police are cracking down on growing anti government protests. At the recent State of the Nation show, even 92 year President Robert Mugabe widely accused of muzzling free speech was a target.Insulting the president can attract a sentence of a year in jail in the Southern African nation. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) In one skit at a show on Thursday called "State of the Nation," an actor playing the first lady, 51-year-old Grace Mugabe, lays her stake to the presidency on hearing the news of the "death" of her husband, the world's oldest head of state. "I deserve it. Were any of you cleaning his nappy and wiping the spit off his chin?" she says. She also talks up her own chances of winning elections. "We have always won, even when I was pushing the old man in a wheelbarrow," she says, a reference to the real first lady's comment at a political rally last year: "I will push President Mugabe in the wheelbarrow to bring him to work." Near the end, a fake Mugabe emerges, struggling to walk while scoffing at rumors of his demise. Some in the audience laugh. Others gasp. The real president has joked at the persistent rumors, telling reporters earlier this month: "It is true that I was dead. And I resurrected. As I always do." The comedy show played to a packed audience in the capital, Harare. "State of the Nation" will be a twice-monthly show streaming live on internet, said organizer Davis Guzha, director of Rooftop Promotions. "Comedy allows us to laugh but also to think about our problems at the same time," said Sam Monro, or Comrade Fatso, a stand-up comedian who runs Zambezi News, a satirical social media show on current affairs. In everyday life, the state of this once-prosperous country's economy and politics is hardly a laughing matter. Government has failed to pay its close to 300,000 workers, including the military, on time since June. Industries are closing down, worsening unemployment where more than two-thirds of the population of 13 million survive on informal work, according to the African Development Bank. People line up for hours at banks to access their money as currency woes deepen. The speculation over the health of Mugabe, this country's only leader since independence from white minority rule in 1980, has only heightened the uncertainty. Near daily anti-government protests are often met with brute force by police. Some from Zimbabwe have vowed to protest this week outside the United Nations as Mugabe addresses an annual gathering of world leaders. Yet amid their troubles, Zimbabweans are still laughing at life and at themselves. While comedy shows attract an upper-class crowd, ordinary people flood social media with jokes, images and video selfies poking fun at the growing problems. "It has allowed Zimbabweans to deal with a lot of taboo issues," Comrade Fatso told The Associated Press at his offices at Moto Republic, a structure of former shipping containers that houses dozens of artists. But the politically charged material comes with risk. A local actor, Silvanos Mudzvova, was arrested in April for trying to stage a play scripted on Mugabe's statement that at least $15 billion had been looted from a diamond-rich region by joint-venture companies mining there. He was released but then was abducted again last week. On Thursday, Mudzvova spoke to the AP from a hospital bed in Harare where burns and bruises on his legs and back were visible. "Six men took me from my home on Tuesday night. They threatened to shoot my family before taking me away," he said. The actor, who is also an activist, said he was given electric shocks by men who demanded information on his activities. Others have been brought to court on insult charges for making and circulating jokes about the president. Still, comedy shows have become a staple in the capital. The Shoko Festival for comedy and music is set for later this month. "We are using comedy as a tool not just to inform but as information for action, using comedy to encourage young people to be active and to be part of movements that are changing our country for the better," Comrade Fatso said. One of the growing number of young stand-up comedians is Nqobizitha Dube, or Q the Boss, who last month took aim at Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko's 19-month stay in a $400-a-night hotel suite amid Zimbabwe's widespread poverty. Opening his act in one of the hotel's auditoriums, the comedian elicited gales of laughter when he said: "Everybody please clap your hands . We want to thank the VP for allowing us to use his living room for the night." Zimbabwean actors are seen during a comedy scene from a show called State of The Nation, Thursday, Sept,15, 2016. Zimbabwe's comedy scene is booming as the country's economy is tanking, and police are cracking down on growing anti government protests. At the recent State of the Nation show, even 92 year President Robert Mugabe widely accused of muzzling free speech was targeted, Insulting the president attracts a year jail term in this Southern African nation. Nonetheless, the comedians carry on. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Zimbabwean actors are seen during a comedy scene from a show called State of The Nation, Thursday, Sept,15, 2016. Zimbabwe's comedy scene is booming as the country's economy is tanking, and police are cracking down on growing anti government protests. At the recent State of the Nation show, even 92 year President Robert Mugabe widely accused of muzzling free speech was a target.Insulting the president can attract a sentence of a year in jail in the Southern African nation. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Zimbabwean actors are seen during a comedy scene from a show called State of The Nation, Thursday, Sept,15, 2016. Zimbabwe's comedy scene is booming as the country's economy is tanking, and police are cracking down on growing anti government protests. At the recent State of the Nation show, even 92 year President Robert Mugabe widely accused of muzzling free speech was a target.Insulting the president can attract a sentence of a year in jail in the Southern African nation. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Senators heap criticism on Wells Fargo CEO, who apologizes WASHINGTON (AP) The CEO of Wells Fargo faced calls for his resignation Tuesday from harshly critical senators over allegations that bank employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet sales quotas. Members of the Senate Banking Committee showed bipartisan outrage over the long-running conduct, unsatisfied by Chief Executive John Stumpf's show of contrition. Stumpf said he was "deeply sorry" that the bank failed to meet its responsibility to customers and didn't act sooner to stem "this unacceptable activity." He promised to assist affected customers. Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before Senate Banking Committee. Strumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Sen. Elizabeth Warren flatly told Stumpf he should step down. "You squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers," she said. "You should resign. You should give back the money you took while the scam was going on." The Massachusetts Democrat, one of the fiercest critics of Wall Street, also advocated for a criminal investigation by the Justice Department and a civil probe by securities regulators. Stumpf, a 34-year veteran of Wells Fargo and CEO since 2007, earned $19.3 million last year. The bank does have in place provisions its board could implement to claim back executive compensation. Wells Fargo sales employees, trying to meet targets that called for every customer have eight products with the bank, opened more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts, regulators said last week in levying a $185 million fine. Money in customers' accounts was said to have been moved to these new accounts without their permission. Debit cards were issued and activated, as well as PINs created, without telling customers. In some cases, bank employees even created fake email addresses to sign up customers for online banking services, the regulators said. Wells Fargo has long been known in the banking industry for its aggressive sales goals. Stumpf bristled at Warren's suggestion that the sales practices were a "scam." He defended the cross-selling of products trying to draw customers into taking on more as "deepening relationships." The senators also challenged assertions that Stumpf and other Wells Fargo senior executives didn't become aware of the problems until 2013 when the sales misconduct was reported by The Los Angeles Times. The practices apparently began at least in 2009. Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail banking business, announced in July that she would retire from the bank this year. She is expected to leave with as much as $125 million in salary, stock options and other compensation. Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said it would be "malpractice" if the bank doesn't institute the compensation clawbacks, and Stumpf said the board "has the tools to hold senior leadership accountable," including himself and Tolstedt. Questioned again by Warren, Stumpf said the bank had not considered firing her. Peppered with criticism for nearly three hours, Stumpf appeared taken aback by the intensity of the verbal lashing. At one point he stumbled a bit over his words. "It struck me that he was berated in a way that shook him a bit," said Chris Kotowski, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. That contrasted with Stumpf's usual "poised, deliberate" manner when speaking in other venues, he noted. Under the settlement with regulators, it neither admitted nor denied the allegations. It later said it plans to eliminate the sales targets by Jan. 1. Some 5,300 Wells Fargo employees have been fired. Stumpf offered some detail at the hearing about who was fired, saying "bankers, bank managers, managers of managers, and even an area president." They ranged in pay from about $35,000 to $65,000. Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before Senate Banking Committee. Stumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Senate Banking Committee member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., center, questions Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, during the committee's hearing. Stumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before Senate Banking Committee. Stumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before Senate Banking Committee. Stumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before Senate Banking Committee. Stumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before the Senate Banking Committee. Stumpf was called before the committee for betraying customers' trust in a scandal over allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, prior to testifying before Senate Banking Committee. Strumpf said he's committed to addressing "unethical sales practices" at the bank as he speaks before a congressional panel about allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, prior to testifying before Senate Banking Committee. Strumpf said he's committed to addressing "unethical sales practices" at the bank as he speaks before a congressional panel about allegations that employees opened millions of unauthorized accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) If Ahmad Rahami is responsible for bombing areas of New York and New Jersey this weekend, his campaign was an absolute failure - police found a litany of clues that led them to him. The 28-year-old naturalized American citizen, who worked at his parents' chicken restaurant in New Jersey, was arrested just over 48 hours after the first explosion in a swift investigation aided by a series of mistakes. Law enforcement officers say that Rahami's fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of Saturday's bombing in Chelsea, Manhattan. And that's just the beginning. Scroll down for video Alleged NY bomber Ahmad Rahami was filmed on CCTV dragging a bag down a street in Chelsea with his face fully uncovered, helping the FBI identify him as a potential suspect Rahami (left and right) is said to have made other errors during the bombings and attempted bombings that occurred Saturday and Sunday, including leaving fingerprints and DNA This is the unexploded device from Chelsea. Rahami is alleged to have used a personal phone, not a disposable phone or 'burner,' as a detonator, helping the FBI identify him as a suspect The suspect was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the scene of the Chelsea blast, dragging a bag along the street. His face was uncovered. RAHAMI'S MISTAKES Ahmad Khan Rahami tried to wage a war of terror against the people of New York and New Jersey, say police, but the campaign was littered with errors and blunders. Of the ten devices he is alleged to have constructed, only two detonated successfully. A third was exploded by a police robot; The Chelsea bomb was placed on a street with very little foot traffic; The cell phones used in the bombs are alleged to have been used by the perpetrator to call friends first rather than being disposable phones; Fingerprints and DNA at the scene of the Manhattan bombing; Rahami did not cover his face when walking past CCTV cameras, allowing him to be recognized; A car he had access to was registered driving between New York and New Jersey on the days of the bombings; If Rahami was indeed the bomber he apparently had no exit plan to escape authorities once his spree finished; He was ultimately captured after sleeping out in the open and being recognized from wanted posters. Advertisement He was also captured on camera in New Jersey, again with his face uncovered. Footage and stills from both scenes were distributed by authorities, in the hopes of identifying him. Electronic toll records showed a car to which he had access was driven from New Jersey to Manhattan and back again on the day of the bombing. That information came from officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss an ongoing case. Also, Talking Points Memo noted, a cell phone used in one of the many bombs that failed to detonate was not a 'burner,' or disposable phone. Instead, the perpetrator had used it to call friends and family - something that was key to identifying Rahami. Those and other clues spurred officials to publicize his name and photo Monday morning. But Rahami's failures didn't end there. The young man, who was born in Afghanistan and who lives with his Muslim family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, had apparently failed to plot any kind of escape route once his campaign was over. As a result, he ended up sleeping out on the street, in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The bar owner reported him to police, who recognized him from wanted posters, leading to a shootout that ultimately ended in his capture. 'A lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too,' said New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill. That technology included text message alerts sent to millions of New Yorkers Monday morning notifying them of Rahami's name and age, and telling them to call 911. The text, sent via the Notify NYC system which had previously been used to make locals aware of incidents such as a steam pipe explosion and a collapsed crane, also advised to 'See media for pic.' Rahami was found hours later. Now, O'Neill says, the role of investigators is to 'make sure that we get to the bottom of who's involved and why.' This image of Rahami from CCTV was also released by New Jersey authorities in the hope of catching him After surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg, Rahami is being held on $5.2million bail, charged with five counts of attempted murder of police officers. Federal prosecutors from New York and New Jersey are still weighing charges over the bombings. Rahami remains hospitalized. With Rahami's arrest, officials said they have no other suspects at large, but cautioned they are still investigating. William Sweeney Jr., the FBI's assistant director in New York, said there was no indication so far that the bombings were the work of a larger terror cell. Rahami wasn't on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes traveling between the US and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. This is the damage left behind by Saturday's bomb in Chelsea, Manhattan. The cell phones used as timers on the bombs had previously been used to call the perp's friends Rahami and his family live above their fried-chicken restaurant - called First American Fried Chicken. The family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints, which the Rahamis said in a lawsuit were tinged with anti-Muslim sentiment. The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 because one of Rahami's brothers had pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing closing hours at the restaurant. A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. Still, some of the family restaurant's customers said Rahami was more likely to talk about his interest in cars than to mention faith. 'He's a very friendly guy,' patron Ryan McCann said. 'That's what's so scary.' Rahami was identified as a suspect on Monday morning, and caught that same day at noon, when he was found sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey If Rahami, seen here being arrested after the shootout, is the bomber, he doesn't appear to have planned an escape route or hiding place The investigation began when a pipe bomb blew up Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines. No one was injured. Then a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb exploded Saturday night in New York's Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found blocks away. Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth train station, about three miles from where Rahami was later found asleep in the doorway of a bar. Investigators are still gathering evidence and have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices, though Sweeney noted they aren't 'ruling anything out.' The bombs discovered Saturday all used flip cellphones as a trigger and were all made with easily purchasable materials, a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said. After zeroing in on Rahami and learning of the car that had traveled between New Jersey and New York, authorities pulled it over Sunday night after it headed in the direction of Kennedy airport. The law enforcement officials said at least one of Rahami's relatives was in the car. All five were questioned and released, Sweeney said. He declined to say whether they might later face charges. Video shows a glass door shattering due to the Chelsea bomb Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said the break in the case came Monday morning, when a bar owner reported someone asleep in his doorway. An officer arrived and confronted Rahami, who pulled a gun and fired, authorities said. The officer was saved by his bulletproof vest. More officers joined in a battle that spilled into the street. Another police officer was grazed by a bullet. The officers' injuries weren't life-threatening. Around the time Rahami was captured, President Barack Obama was in New York on a previously scheduled visit for a meeting of the UN General Assembly. He called on Americans to show the world 'we will never give in to fear.' The bombing spread fear across the New York area and revived anxiety about homegrown terrorism nationwide. And at the same time as as the East Coast was rattled by the bombings, a man who authorities say referred to Allah wounded nine people in a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota mall Saturday. He was ultimately shot to death by an off-duty police officer. Authorities are investigating the stabbings as a possible terrorist attack but Sweeney said the incidents are not connected in a press conference Monday. Small bombs go off outside 2 Nepal schools; no injuries KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) Small bombs exploded outside two schools in Nepal's capital on Tuesday morning, but no injuries and only minor damage were reported, officials said. Unexploded bombs were found at five other schools in the city. The explosions took place outside the gates of two schools for students from grades 1 to 10, said police official Bikram Singh Thapa. The unexploded devices found in front of five other schools in Kathmandu were either detonated or removed. Police arrested two people suspected of being behind the blasts, Thapa said. Police found pamphlets near the blast sites and attached to the unexploded devices from a little-known group demanding free education for all Nepalese children. A Nepalese bomb squad member inspects a pressure cooker bomb after detonating it at the school in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Police in Nepal say small bombs have exploded outside two schools in the capital, but no injuries and only minor damage were reported. Unexploded bombs were found at five other schools in the city. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Thapa said that no injuries were reported, and that the explosions caused minor damage to the schools' gates. Security and police surveillance were stepped up around schools in Kathmandu. School officials were to meet later Tuesday with government education officials to discuss the attacks. While education is mostly free in Nepal's public schools, the teachers are poorly paid and the infrastructure is substandard, leading most children in the cities to attend private schools. Nepalese bomb squad members inspect a pressure cooker bomb before they detonated it at at a school in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Police in Nepal say small bombs have exploded outside two schools in the capital, but no injuries and only minor damage were reported. Unexploded bombs were found at five other schools in the city. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Nepalese police inspect a school after bomb squad disposed a pressure cooker bomb in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Police in Nepal say small bombs have exploded outside two schools in the capital, but no injuries and only minor damage were reported. Unexploded bombs were found at five other schools in the city. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Nepalese people watch members of the bomb squad dispose a pressure cooker bomb at a school in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Police in Nepal say small bombs have exploded outside two schools in the capital, but no injuries and only minor damage were reported. Unexploded bombs were found at five other schools in the city. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) A Nepalese woman stands next to a school wall that was damaged by a bomb explosion in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Police in Nepal say small bombs have exploded outside two schools in the capital, but no injuries and only minor damage were reported. Unexploded bombs were found at five other schools in the city. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) News / National by Stephen Jakes MDC-T official Jameson Timba has rapped the United State of America black citizens over their 'Mugabe is Right' campaign question if the campaigners meant that he is right about allowing corruption, human rights violations among other ills bedeviling the country.A banch of block USA citizens were seen campaigning in solidarity with President Robert Mugabe at the USA Zimbabwe's embassy carrying posters reading, 'Mugabe is Right'. They claimed that they support him as a father of the Pan-Africanism."Mugabe is right about what? Poverty? Unemployment?, Missing Diamond money? Unpunished corruption? Police brutality?Cash shortages? Collapsed Health delivery system? Collapsed public education system? Multiple-farm ownership by Chefs? Collapsed industries? Broke government? Can someone just tell me what he is right about before I lose myself," Timba asked. Israel: Palestinian killed after attempted stabbing JERUSALEM (AP) Israel's military said its troops shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian on Tuesday who tried to stab a soldier at the entrance to a village near the West Bank city of Hebron. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the Palestinian as 16-year-old Issa Tarayreh of the village of Bani Naim. The Israeli military said it has imposed restrictions on movement in and out of the village since Friday, when a Palestinian from the village rammed his car into Israeli civilians in the West Bank. The army initially imposed a complete closure on the village, except for humanitarian cases, and since Sunday has prohibited Palestinians between the ages of 15 and 30 from leaving. Israeli soldiers stand guard near the scene of an attack outside the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Israel's military says troops have shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian who tried to stab a soldier near the West Bank city of Hebron. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) A recent surge in Palestinian attacks has shattered weeks of relative calm. Israeli forces have killed six alleged attackers since the weekend, raising fears of a return to near-daily attacks often seen over the past year. Israel has beefed up the police presence in Jerusalem and sent troop reinforcements to the West Bank. The Hebron area, where several Jewish settlements exist in close proximity to Palestinian communities, has been a particular flashpoint. The Palestinian assaults, mainly stabbings, began a year ago, around the Jewish high holidays. They have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans. About 217 Palestinians have been killed during that period. Israel says the vast majority were attackers, but the Palestinians have accused Israel of using excessive force and killing people who were not assailants. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the potential for violence could rise as the Jewish high holidays approach again. Israel has blamed the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders compounded on social media sites. The Palestinians say it is rooted in nearly 50 years of military occupation and dwindling hopes for independence. Also Tuesday, Israel's military said it shot down a drone over Gaza. The military said it tracked the drone from takeoff and that it never entered Israeli airspace. Israel is not known to have shot down a drone over Gaza since the 2014 summer war. Gaza's Hamas rulers have been trying to develop an unmanned aerial surveillance program to use against Israel, but it is believed to mostly involve amateur drones with little operational capabilities. Israeli soldiers stand guard near the scene of an attack outside the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Israel's military says troops have shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian who tried to stab a soldier near the West Bank city of Hebron. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) EU: Migrants to stay on Greek islands despite fire ATHENS, Greece (AP) Authorities on the island of Lesbos called for the immediate evacuation Tuesday of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland after fires started by rioting residents gutted a detention camp. But European Union officials appeared cool to the idea. More than 4,000 people were housed at the camp in Moria on Lesbos where the fire broke out late Monday, destroying or damaging about 160 tents according to Greek officials. No injuries were reported at the camp, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of the island's main town. Nine migrants were arrested on public disturbance charges after the chaotic scenes. Riot police stand guard as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Police said the blaze was started during clashes between different ethnic groups in the camp, where tensions are high amid uncertainty on whether residents will be granted asylum in Greece or deported back to Turkey, from where they arrived in smugglers' boats. Families with young children hastily packed up their belongings and fled into the nearby fields as the fire raged after nightfall. Many were later given shelter at volunteer-run camps. "We have been saying for a very long time that overcrowding on the islands must be eased," regional governor Christiana Kalogirou told private Skai television. "On the islands of the northeast Aegean, official facilities have a capacity of 5,450 places, but more than 10,500 people are there. There is an immediate need to take people off the islands because things will get even more difficult," she said. More than 60,000 migrants and refugees are stranded in transit in Greece, and those who arrived after March 20 have been restricted to five Aegean islands under an EU-brokered deal to deport them back to Turkey. But the agreement has been fraught with delays, and most of the people in island camps have applied for asylum in Greece, launching a lengthy process during which they cannot be deported. In Brussels, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, Natasha Bertaud, said the Greek government had described the situation as being under control. Transfers to the mainland, she said, would remain limited. "To avoid secondary movement to the rest of Europe, that means keeping asylum seekers on the islands for the most part," Bertaud said. The government said it would charter up to three passenger ferries to provide temporary accommodation, and increase the police presence on Lesbos. The merchant marine ministry launched an urgent tender for a ferry that could accommodate at least 1,000 people and reach Lesbos by Wednesday. Minister Thodoris Dritsas said families would be granted priority on the vessel, while different ethnic groups would be kept apart. Officials said people who couldn't get ferry berths would be housed in new tents at Moria. Greece has long defended the EU-Turkey deportation deal that came under renewed criticism from human rights groups. "The EU and Greece cannot carry on stockpiling refugees indefinitely on the Greek islands," Amnesty International's Giorgos Kosmopoulos said. "Witnessing the charred remains of Moria camp is shocking but comes as little surprise. Holding thousands of vulnerable people on Lesbos in appalling conditions with no knowledge of their fate inevitably creates an incendiary atmosphere of fear and despondency." ___ Cook reported from Brussels. Nicholas Paphitis contributed. Follow Gatopoulos at http://www.twitter.com/dgatopoulos Migrants carry food at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, after a fire gutted the camp following protests at the camp. Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland, following the fire and nine migrants suspected of starting the blaze have been arrested, authorities said Tuesday. (Dimitris Tosidis/InTime News via AP) Workers clean the area after a fire gutted the camp following protests at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland following the fire and nine migrants suspected of starting the blaze have been arrested, authorities said Tuesday. (Dimitris Tosidis/InTime News via AP) Migrants watch a large fire as it burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire has swept through a big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Migrants hold their belonging as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Riot police stand guard as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Migrants hold their belonging as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Migrants and riot police stand outside the Moria refugee camp as a fire burns part of the facility on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire has swept through a big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Miami's Wynwood cleared of Zika; focus shifts to Miami Beach MIAMI (AP) With health authorities declaring a win against Zika in Miami's Wynwood arts district, their emphasis shifts to the remaining transmission zone on nearby Miami Beach, where residents have objected to the aerial pesticide spraying crediting with halting infections. No new cases of Zika have been reported in Wynwood since early August, and on Monday health officials declared it to be no longer a zone of active local transmission. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted a warning for pregnant women to stay out of Wynwood altogether, but continued to caution them about traveling to the city and surrounding areas out of concerns for catching the virus, which can cause serious birth defects. In nearby Miami Beach, health officials have broadened their declared zone of active local transmission. A Miami police officer holds back protestor Judd Allison, right, as Florida Gov. Rick Scott leaves a news conference at Wynwood Walls, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. The governor said the arts district is no longer considered a zone of active Zika transmission. It has been 45 days since the last Zika detection. Allison was protesting the use of the pesticide naled, which was used in the area to combat Zika. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Gov. Rick Scott and CDC officials attributed the drop-off in infections in Wynwood to aggressive aerial spraying with naled, an insecticide that targets adult mosquitoes, and street-level spraying with another pesticide that kills mosquito larvae. Scott said residents and business owners who kept their properties clear of standing water also helped. "We're doing everything we can do to educate the public and have the same success in Miami Beach as we have in Wynwood," Scott said. Wynwood was the first place on the U.S. mainland where mosquitoes began transmitting Zika. Health officials say that over the past several weeks, mosquito control workers there have seen fewer of the insects, the main culprits in spreading the virus. "The message with Wynwood is it was a huge success," said Dr. Lyle Petersen of the CDC. "This outbreak would have kept going without the aerial spraying." But despite months of public outreach and aggressive mosquito control measures, including the removal of cylinder-shaped tropical plants that trap water where insects can breed, Florida health officials have continued to find Zika-carrying mosquitoes in Miami Beach. Miami Beach's tall buildings and ocean breezes make aerial spraying of naled there more difficult than in Wynwood, Petersen said. Many residents there have objected to the aerial spraying despite assurances from health officials that they are using concentrations of the chemical that are safe for humans. The city's infection zone has expanded from just South Beach to a 4.5-square-mile (12-square kilometer) area encompassing most of 7-mile-long (11-kilometer long) island, Scott's office announced late Friday. A plane contracted by Miami-Dade County mosquito control officials sprayed naled over South Beach on Sunday. It was the city's third aerial spraying. A fourth is scheduled Saturday. Of 85 non-travel-related Zika cases in Florida residents, 31 were associated with Wynwood and 36 with Miami Beach, Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Mara Gambineri said in an email Monday. Another 10 people who aren't Florida residents also have contracted Zika in the state. Zika infections are mild for most people but can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including a dangerously small head, if women are infected during pregnancy. Local officials and business leaders joined Scott at a Wynwood art gallery to try and reassure residents and tourists fearful of Zika. "It's a great day in Wynwood. Everybody, please come back," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said. Zak Stern was offering free lunches for pregnant women visiting his Wynwood bakery, Zak the Baker, to celebrate the state's announcement. He couldn't estimate how much Zika had affected his business, but he questioned whether the response to the outbreak was proportionate to the risk. "The business owners, they were trying to make it seem like it's not such a big deal. The government was trying to show that they were doing something. The press was trying to show a story. The public was stuck in the middle, misinformed and afraid," Stern said. Stern lives just north of the infection zone in Miami Beach, and his wife is due to give birth in about a month. He said the couple has tried to balance Zika with other safety recommendations for pregnant women. "They tell you that you can't eat sushi, and they tell you that you can't eat soft cheese, and they tell that you can't drink, right? And now they're telling you that you can't go outside," he said. "Zika or no Zika, things can happen." ___ Associated Press medical writer Mike Stobbe in New York contributed to this report. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, center, walks from Wynwood Walls after a news conference, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. The governor said the arts district is no longer considered a zone of active Zika transmission. It has been 45 days since the last Zika detection. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Gov. Rick Scott, center, speaks with the news media after a news conference at Wynwood Walls, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. The governor said the arts district is no longer considered a zone of active Zika transmission. It has been 45 days since the last Zika detection. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Zak Stern, the owner of Zak the Baker, a small business in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, talks with the news media, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced Monday that the arts district is no longer considered a zone of active Zika transmission. It has been 45 days since the last Zika detection. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Gov. Rick Scott speaks during a news conference at Wynwood Walls, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. The governor said the arts district is no longer considered a zone of active Zika transmission. It has been 45 days since the last Zika detection. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Clinton says Trump gives 'aid, comfort' to ISIS recruiters ESTERO, Fla. (AP) Hillary Clinton is accusing Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps the Islamic State group and other militants recruit new fighters. Trump is insisting the U.S. should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As Trump supporters at a packed rally in Florida shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waves at a campaign stop at Temple University in Philadelphia, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point." Clinton and her team see her experience and what they say is her steady judgment as key selling points for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama at that moment. But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close U.S. borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid. On Monday, he called for tougher policing, including profiling foreigners who look like they could have connections to terrorism or certain Middle Eastern nations. "This isn't just a matter of terrorism, this is also really a question of quality of life," he said. "We want to make sure we're only admitting people into our country who love our country." Pointing to her Monday morning comment that Trump's words give "aid and comfort" to Islamic extremists, his campaign said Clinton was accusing him of treason, going beyond the bounds of acceptable campaigning and trying to change the subject from her own failures. She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with ISIS, are rooting for Trump to win the White House. She said, "We're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them, but we're not going to go after an entire religion." Trump agreed terrorists have a preference: They "want her so badly to be our president." Clinton met late Monday with the leaders of Egypt, Ukraine and Japan in New York City, where they gathered for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Trump has tried to appear more statesmanlike as the November election approaches. Still, he suggested it's fine if some world leaders feel uneasy about him. "Well, maybe that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Right now the world has no respect for our country, they have no respect for our president, whatsoever," he said in an interview on Fox News. ___ Associated Press writers Lisa Lerer in Washington and Bill Barrow in Indianapolis contributed to this report. ___ What political news is the world searching for on Google and talking about on Twitter? Find out via AP's Election Buzz interactive. http://elections.ap.org/buzz Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at Temple University in Philadelphia, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Germain Arena, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Ft. Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton walks to a podium to speak with members of the media at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Germain Arena, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Ft. Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks with members of the media at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Nashville-bound Southwest jet returns safely to Los Angeles LOS ANGELES (AP) A Southwest Airlines plane bound for Nashville, Tennessee, had to return to Los Angeles just after takeoff because of a mechanical problem. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey says none of the 147 people aboard was injured as the jet landed safely on Monday night. The passengers got off the plane on mobile staircases, were taken to the terminal and assigned to other flights. Germany charges man with spying for Indian intelligence BERLIN (AP) German authorities say they are charging a 58-year-old German citizen with espionage for allegedly passing confidential information to an Indian intelligence agency. Federal prosecutors say the man, identified only by the initials T.S.P. in line with German privacy laws, worked at a local government office dealing with immigrants in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday that the man used his access to government files to obtain and transmit information about "extremist Sikhs" and Indian opposition figures in Germany to the unidentified Indian agency. Trump skips swing-state cities; opts for rural town instead KENANSVILLE, N.C. (AP) Donald Trump is spending a lot of time in this critical presidential swing state, but he campaigned Tuesday evening far from cities like Charlotte and Raleigh where many candidates have courted moderate voters in recent years. Instead, he zeroed in on this tiny, rural town of about 850 people to make his pitch to the disaffected, working-class white voters who have propelled his campaign. The strategy appears to be less about swaying undecideds and more about making sure supporters don't stay home on Election Day. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 2-1 in Duplin County, but voters here have chosen the GOP presidential candidate in the past two elections by a wide margin. Among those lifelong Democrats is James Teachey, a 78-year-old retired farmer who said this year was the first time he donated to a presidential campaign: $40 to Trump. The county courthouse in downtown Kenansville, N. C., is shown on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Donald Trump is campaigning in the area on Tuesday. Trump is spending a good bit of time in this critical presidential swing state, but he's spending Tuesday's swing through the state far from cities like Charlotte and Raleigh where many candidates have courted moderate voters in recent years. (AP Photo/Jonathan Drew) "People are sick and tired of the way things are going in Washington and the way people are running it," he said. "I was born coming out of the Depression. We know what a dollar means, what leaving your door unlocked means. And all those things are gone." Trump's business background is a big draw for his supporters here in Kenansville, where beyond the small downtown area's handful of restaurants, gas stations and a couple of grocery stores lie farms that are the area's major economic driver. Pork and poultry growers and processing plants employ thousands in Duplin County and have drawn Latino residents who now account for more than 20 percent of its population of 60,000. Still, Trump drew cheers with vows to get tough on immigration during his speech at the Duplin County Events Center on the outskirts of Kenansville. He also garnered applause by promising to bring manufacturing jobs back to the state. "They're making a fortune in Washington pushing trade deals that take jobs away from North Carolina and all these states. Those days are over. The jobs are coming back," he said. Earlier in the day, he addressed a crowd in High Point, a hub of the declining furniture industry that was hit hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs but still hosts a world-renowned furniture trade show. Not many high-profile candidates have come through Duplin County over the years. Asked if he could remember any other presidential campaign visits, Teachey laughed and said he thought Eleanor Roosevelt came decades ago. While Kenansville may seem like an unusual stop, Trump's decision to veer away from population centers shows North Carolina is a state he has to win, said Thomas Eamon, a political science professor at East Carolina University. "Campaigns do generally go to bigger cities, and going to a rural area, there's a certain psychology in going to a small town like Kenansville. I think that symbolically could be good," Eamon said. While North Carolina is dotted with left-leaning urban areas such as Raleigh and Charlotte, it also has one of the country's largest rural populations. A 2012 analysis by the Census found North Carolina ranked second only to Texas with 3.2 million rural residents. Duplin County's Latino farmworkers are upset by Trump's comments about Mexicans and his stance on immigration, but many can't vote because they are either guest workers or immigrants not legally in the U.S., said Justin Flores, a vice president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. "The ironic thing is that Donald Trump is coming to talk to a county that owes its entire economy to the work of immigrant workers, some undocumented, almost entirely from Mexico and Central America the countries that Trump has spoken about with so much disrespect," said Flores, who is based in neighboring Wayne County. State figures show the county has about 1,200 registered Hispanic voters. Another approximately 18,000 registered voters are white, while 9,000 are black. Arthur Best, a black voter from Kenansville and U.S. Army veteran, is frustrated like many others by the lack of well-paying jobs, particularly for minorities. But for him, Trump is not the answer. "I lost my father in Vietnam. He didn't die for the foolishness we're looking at today," said Best, a Democrat who's offended by Trump's insults toward U.S. Sen. John McCain and the parents of a Muslim soldier killed while serving in Iraq. Still, more than a quarter of Duplin County's residents live in poverty, and only a fraction have college degrees, according to 2014 Census estimate. For voters like Bill Link, a retired U.S. Marine officer from nearby Beulaville, Trump's promises to improve the economy are what really matter. "The majority of people right now are leaning for Trump," said Link, who drives trucks and owns a carnival equipment rental business. "Because we're all working people. We all work for a living. We're blue-collar, and we believe that the country has gone the wrong way." ___ Follow Jonathan Drew at www.twitter.com/jonldrew Monsanto, Bayer officials defend proposed $66 billion merger WASHINGTON (AP) Top officials for Monsanto and Bayer defended their proposed $66 billion merger before skeptical senators on Tuesday, insisting that the deal would lead to greater investments in technology that could help American farmers. Monsanto, the American seed and weed-killer, and Bayer, the German medicine and farm-chemical maker, responded to concerns from Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley warned that consolidation and competition in the U.S. seed and agrochemical industry could hurt American farmers who are already dealing with an economic downturn. Bayer CropScience North America President and CSO Jim Blome, left, and Monsanto Company Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer Dr. Robb Fraley, are seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, prior to testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a proposed $66 billion merger of American seed and weed-killer company Monsanto and German medicine and farm chemical maker Bayer. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) "I'm afraid this consolidation wave has become a tsunami," Grassley said as the hearing opened. After months of negotiations, St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. last week accepted an offer from Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer AG that will pay $57 billion to Monsanto shareholders and assume $9 billion in Monsanto debt. The deal combines two of the six U.S. and European companies that dominate the agrochemical market, and would create a global agricultural and chemical giant with a broad array of products. Robb Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Monsanto, and Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience North America, both testified that the combined investment is needed to meet a rising food demand. "This type of change enables more innovation and delivers better products to the farm even faster," Fraley said. "Farmers are best served when companies invest more in new technologies and accelerate the pace of their (research and development), which in turn spurs robust competition." Blome noted that Monsanto has a greater presence in North America while Bayer's business is greater outside of North America. "Monsanto is a perfect match to Bayer's agricultural business combining complementary skills with limited geographic overlap," Blome said. Grassley pointed to lower crop prices and higher seed prices, saying farmers are under "tremendous pressure" as the agriculture economy has slowed in the last couple of years. The Iowa senator said antitrust regulators should closely watch consolidation of the agricultural biotech industry and coordinate oversight between agencies. He said the Federal Trade Commission is currently reviewing another merger between Syngenta AG and the China National Chemical Corp. and the Justice Department is looking at the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont. "The innovations of the companies in this room today have helped the world reach productivity levels which ease fears over meeting the long-term demands of our growing global population," Grassley said. "However, when does the size of companies and concentration in the market reach the tipping point, so much that a market becomes anti-competitive?" Executives from Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences and DuPont similarly defended their own merger plans at the hearing, saying that combined resources would help spur better innovations. Grassley said that the China National Chemical Corp. declined to testify. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah said the companies are facing too many government regulations and that is one reason for the mergers. "No one this side of the dais should be surprised that they have to go through this to survive," Tillis said. Democrats were less supportive. "You have to look at it from the consumer's point of view, and whether that is good policy," said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin. Farm groups testified that they are worried about the consequences. Roger Johnson, head of the National Farmers Union, said that the mergers would mean that three companies would have more than 80 percent of U.S. corn seed sales and 70 percent of the global pesticide market. "These mergers will result in fewer choices for farmers, higher prices, and less innovation," he said. Bayer and Monsanto both own a variety of well-known products. Bayer sells crop protection chemicals used to kill weeds, insects and plant fungal diseases and also makes popular pharmaceutical products such as Bayer aspirin, Claritin allergy medicine and Alka Seltzer. Bayer also owns Dr. Scholl's foot products and Coppertone sunscreen. Monsanto sells seeds for fruits, vegetables, corn, soybeans, cotton and other crops, plus heavily advertised Roundup weed killer. The company is a leading producer of genetically modified seeds engineered to resist drought and herbicides, among other things. Activists who oppose those so-called genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have created a grassroots effort to vilify the company, even holding marches on city streets to protest Monsanto by name. Bayer and Monsanto executives so far have not said if the Monsanto name will change. They say the combined company's seeds and North American business will still have a headquarters at Monsanto's St. Louis base. ___ Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MCJalonick Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa gives opening remarks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before the start of the committee's hearing on a proposed $66 billion merger of American seed and weed-killer company Monsanto and German medicine and farm chemical maker Bayer. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Bayer CropScience North America President and CEO Jim Blome testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, before the Judiciary Committee hearing on a proposed $66 billion merger of American seed and weed-killer company Monsanto and German medicine and farm chemical maker Bayer. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Republicans see turnaround in Indiana Senate race INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Evan Bayh was the Democrats' prize Senate recruit this election cycle, a popular former senator and governor with a huge war chest and sky-high name ID in his home state. Top Democrats heralded his surprise entrance into the race in July with hopes that Republicans would abandon his little-known and underfunded GOP rival, Rep. Todd Young, and give up on Indiana. Instead, outside GOP groups including the Chamber of Commerce and the billionaire Koch Brothers have poured some $10 million into the race, eroding Bayh's fund-raising advantage and closing his lead over Young to low- or mid-single digits. With Republicans determined to retain their narrow majority in the Senate, they have brought big-name surrogates like former President George W. Bush and House Speaker Paul Ryan into the state. They have succeeded in putting Bayh on the defensive, in the process turning the race into one of the hardest fought contests in this year's heated struggle for control of the U.S. Senate and the balance of power in Washington, D.C. "I'm not a lobbyist," Bayh was forced to insist in an ad responding to a barrage of attacks on his work in Washington, D.C., since leaving the Senate six years ago. And with Bayh dropping fast in the polls, outside Democratic groups are belatedly coming to his aid, with the Senate Majority PAC and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee both announcing spending on his behalf in recent days, a move some Democrats once hoped would not be necessary. FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2016, file photo, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Evan Byah talks with Claire Rothenbuhler as he campaigned in a senior living community in Indianapolis. Bayh was Democrats prize Senate recruit this election cycle, a popular former senator and governor with a huge war chest and sky-high name ID in his home state. Top Democrats heralded his surprise entrance into the race in July with hopes that Republicans would abandon his little-known and underfunded GOP rival, Rep. Todd Young, and give up on Indiana. Instead, outside GOP groups including the Chamber of Commerce and the billionaire Koch Brothers have poured some $10 million into the race, eroding Bayhs fund-raising advantage and closing his lead over Young to low- or mid-single digits. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File) "Clearly our message is resonating with Hoosiers and over a very short time period," Young said at a recent news conference before former President Bush headlined an Indianapolis fundraiser on his behalf. "This race for United State Senate here in Indiana could dictate control of the U.S. Senate and even composition of the Supreme Court moving forward," Young added. "It is essential that Republicans hold on to this seat in what is otherwise a Republican state." Democrats concede that their initial strategy of scaring off the GOP with a shock-and-awe entry from Bayh didn't pan out. But they insist they still have a path to victory, even if some privately question whether the 60-year-old Bayh is up for a tougher fight than he envisioned when Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York urged him into the race. Bayh himself, appearing over the weekend at a Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner Banquet in Muncie, dismissed the attacks coming his way. "These are the acts of desperate people who don't stand for a doggone thing," Bayh said. "They know the only way they can try and win this election is not on the basis of their ideas or what they're going to do for you or the good people of Delaware County because they've got no ideas for the people of Delaware County." The race in Indiana is practically the only competitive Senate contest being fought this year in a red state, where Donald Trump is all but certain to triumph easily over Democrat Hillary Clinton, who herself played a role in encouraging Bayh to run. Both sides agree that Indiana's GOP tilt helps Young, although Democrats contend that Bayh's strong reputation and high name ID counteract it. Young remains little known, but Republicans have succeeded in driving down Bayh's numbers with ads tying him to Clinton and criticizing his support for President Barack Obama's health care law, which is unpopular in the state. Incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Coats is retiring. Democrats insist they can still win in Indiana, but the changing landscape here comes amid a shifting Senate map nationally that's looking more favorable for the GOP. Republicans now have a 54-46 advantage in the Senate, meaning Democrats need to pick up five seats to win control, or four if Clinton wins the White House since the vice president casts tie-breaking votes. Democrats appear to be losing confidence in battleground Ohio and Florida but pushing into North Carolina and Missouri, while New Hampshire and Pennsylvania remain closely fought. Republicans have all but abandoned GOP incumbents in Illinois and Wisconsin, but are focused on picking up a seat in Nevada, where Minority Leader Harry Reid is retiring. In the latest development in Indiana, the National Rifle Association announced it is coming into the state with a $500,000 buy to attack Bayh's "anti-gun record." Despite the influx of outside spending, Indiana University public affairs professor Paul Helmke says the race is still Bayh's to lose. "Evan Bayh came with a major lead in money, which meant there was going to be a lot of outside money coming in," said Helmke, a former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who ran for U.S. Senate in 1998 but lost to Bayh. "If they were thinking this was a laydown, then that was a mistake on their part. Bayh's going to have to work this one really hard to win." ___ Werner reported from Washington. News / National by Staff reporter A pastor from Zimbabwe is in serious trouble after denying rape, which is a serious offence, and admitting to failing to pay for services rendered between the sheets, Mmegi reported.Though facing a rape charge the pastor accuses the complainant of crying wolf because he could not pay for the sexual escapade. The state alleges that Charles Thembo, 39, of the Enlightened Christian in Gathering (ECG) allegedly raped a woman aged 21 at his Selepa residence on August 28.When Thembo appeared on Friday, detective sergeant Master Seleka told the court that the purpose of the mention was to extend the remand warrant of the accused to remain in jail in order to allow the police to complete their investigations.Thembo, however, promptly conceded having had sex with the complanant, but just that he did not pay afterwards. He also said the intercourse with the complainant was consensual.He said that he was hauled before court and is currently languishing in jail only because he did not have money to immediately pay for services rendered after the sexual adventure."The complainant was demanding money after sex, which I did not have at that time. My failure to pay for sex on time is the one (reason) making the complainant to falsely implicate me for rape.This whole situation is only about money. We had arranged to have sex and she honoured the appointment by coming to my place."My friend has already deposited P1,000 into the account of the complainant that she demanded from me while I was in custody," said aremorseful Thembo of Harare.However, Seleka said that the accused would be given the opportunity to have his say during trial, which prompted magistrate, Kaveri Kapeko to ask Seleka what would happen if it later transpired that the accused was telling the truth."If this is true, the accused may sue for unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution," Kapeko warned the police, adding that they should expedite their investigations so that the accused does not stay in custody for an unnecessarily long period for an offence he may not have committed.Springing to the aid of his colleague, inspector Lekang Tshepo said that under the circumstances, the issue should be referred to the investigation officer in order to ascertain if the accused has or has not paid, as he claimed."If the accused says he had paid, he should have brought the deposit slip to show that indeed his friend has deposited money into the complainant's account," said Tshepo.Since Thembo is also facing charges of entering Botswana illegally and working in the country without a work permit, Seleka opposed bail.He told Kapeko that the state is strongly against the accused being given bail since he is a flight risk because he entered Botswana illegally and was working in the country without a residence and work permit.Kapeko further remanded Thembo in jail for a status report on October 6, 2016. 5 Cuban volleyball players convicted of rape in Finland HELSINKI (AP) A Finnish court on Tuesday convicted five members of Cuba's national volleyball team of aggravated rape and ordered them to pay a total of 24,000 euros ($27,000) in compensation to the victim. Four of the men were sentenced to five years in prison, while a fifth man got 3 years. The District Court of Pirkanmaa acquitted a sixth man, who had been held in police custody with the five others in the southern city of Tampere. The trial was held behind closed doors. The men had denied the charges, saying they were innocent. It wasn't immediately clear if the five who were convicted would appeal. Some said they had sexual intercourse with the Finnish victim but denied rape. Five-year sentences were given to Osmany Santiago Uriarte Mestre, 21, Ricardo Norberto Calvo Manzano, 19, Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, 21, and Rolando Cepeda Abreu, 27. Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra, 21, got 3 years. Eight members of the Cuban volleyball team were initially arrested in early July following allegations that a woman was raped at a hotel where the team was staying in Tampere, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki. Two were released without charge. The arrests were made during Volleyball World League. The Latest: US holds Russia responsible for aid convoy hit BEIRUT (AP) The Latest on developments in Syria, where a cease-fire is faltering further after airstrikes hit an aid convoy overnight (all times local): 12:50 a.m. The White House says the U.S. holds Russia responsible for airstrikes by either Syria or Russia that hit an aid convoy in Syria. This image provided by the Syrian anti-government group Aleppo 24 news, shows a vest of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent hanging on a damaged vehicle, in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. A U.N. humanitarian aid convoy in Syria was hit by airstrikes Monday as the Syrian military declared that a U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed, and U.N. officials reported many dead and seriously wounded. (Aleppo 24 news via AP) White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said all information indicates an airstrike hit the convoy. He says that since the Syrian rebels lack an air force, that means either Syria or Russia conducted the strikes. He says regardless of who carried out the strike, the U.S. considers Russia responsible because it was Russia's responsibility under the cease-fire deal to limit Syrian airstrikes. Russia and Syria both denied carrying out the convoy bombing. Russia's Defense Ministry has blamed the damage on a cargo fire. ____ 11.00 p.m. Syria's Foreign Ministry has condemned an address by the U.N. Secretary General that accused the Syrian government of killing more civilians in the Syrian war than any other side. In a statement Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry says the U.N., under the era of outgoing Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon, "has deviated from its role in finding just solutions for international problems." It says the Syrian people possess the right to self-determination and "do not need Ban's advice." The Ministry says the address had deviated "extremely far from the rules of the UN charter," and added that the international body had failed to resolve any conflicts during Ban's era. ___ 8:20 p.m. Moscow is angrily denying that the Russian or Syrian air force were involved in an overnight attack on a humanitarian convoy. The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said that "we responsibly say that neither the Russian nor the Syrian air force conducted any strikes on the U.N. aid convoy on the southwestern outskirts of Aleppo." It describes claims that Russian or Syrian aircraft were involved as "hasty and unfounded," adding the allegations could be aimed at distracting attention from an earlier strike on Syrian army positions by the U.S.-led coalition. Syrian activists and paramedics have said the airstrikes on the convoy were conducted by Russian or Syrian aircraft. The attack Monday night killed 20 civilians and prompted the U.N. to suspend all aid convoys in Syria. ___ 7:20 p.m. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is denouncing the "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack" on a U.N.-Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy in Syria, calling the bombers "cowards." The U.N. chief told world leaders at Tuesday's opening of the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting that "just when we think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower." The Red Crescent said about 20 civilians were killed. Ban called those delivering aid "heroes." He says the United Nations was forced to suspend aid convoys "because of this outrage" Ban blames the Syrian government for most deaths and says it "continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees." He says countries "that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands" and accuses unnamed governments attending the U.N. meeting of ignoring, facilitating, funding, planning and carrying out "atrocities" against civilians on all sides. ___ 7:00 p.m. The U.S. is imposing sanctions on a Syrian-based radical group formerly affiliated with al-Qaida. The State Department says Tuesday in a statement that Jund al-Aqsa had once been part of the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, a splinter group of al-Qaida that later cut its ties with the extremist organization. Jund al-Aqsa primarily operates in the northern Syrian cities of Idlib and Hama. The State Department says that Jund al-Aqsa has been determined to "have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States." ___ 5:50 p.m. The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders says it is "shocked' by the attack on an aid convoy in Syria, calling it the latest example of the "continuous disregard paid to the basic rules of war" in the six-year conflict. The group, known by its French acronym MSF, has called Tuesday on international powers involved in the conflict to take "more concrete steps" to end attacks on civilian infrastructure. MSF-supported clinics and medical facilities have frequently come under attack in Syria, as part of what the rights group Physicians for Human Rights describes as "the most widespread and systematic assault on health care in the world to date." In July alone, 44 attacks on health facilities were reported, mostly in rebel-held areas. ___ 5:20 p.m. The brother of an aid worker who was killed when an aid convoy was attacked in Syria said the Red Crescent staffer was overseeing the unloading of trucks when a bomb hit the warehouse, killing him inside his car. Ali Barakat, who also works for the Red Crescent, says Tuesday he threw himself on the floor when the first missile hit and killed his brother, Omar Barakat. Ali Barakat says more than 20 missiles hit the area Monday night. The International Committee of the Red Cross says 20 civilians were killed in the aid convoy attack. The President of the Syrian Red Crescent, Abdulrahman Attar, called father-of-nine Omar Barakat "a committed and brave member" of the group. The Red Crescent has lost 54 staff and volunteers in the past six years of conflict. ___ 4:20 p.m. A rescue worker who witnessed the strikes on a Red Crescent warehouse and trucks carrying U.N. aid in Syria says more than 20 missiles pounded the area for hours, even hitting his team as they searched the debris for survivors. Hussein Badawi, who leads the Syrian Civil Defense also known as the White Helmets in Uram al-Kubra, says Tuesday the strikes came from helicopters and land missiles. He accuses Syrian and Russian aircraft of taking part in an attack that lasted more than two hours, covering a 100 yard-radius. Badawi's team arrived on the scene after the first land missiles hit. Another witness, Mohammed Rasoul, says the convoy was "erased from the face of the earth." Badawi says the rescue effort was hampered by the dark and 11 strikes that came while the rescue team was searching for survivors. ___ 3:50 p.m. Russia's Defense Ministry spokesman says the deadly attack on an aid convoy in Syria the previous night does not appear to have been from an airstrike. Igor Konashenkov says that the Russian military has "carefully studied the video recordings of the so-called activists from the scene and found no signs that any munitions hit the convoy." Konashenkov remarks on Tuesday were reported by the state news agency Tass. He denied that Russian warplanes or those of the Syrian government had conducted any airstrikes on the aid convoy. He says that "everything shown on the video is the direct consequence of the cargo catching fire, and this began in a strange way simultaneously with militants carrying out a massive offensive in Aleppo." ___ 3:35 p.m. Syria's military is also denying it was behind airstrikes that hit an aid convoy in northern Syria, killing more than a dozen people the night before. Earlier, the Russian military denied it was behind the strikes. Syrian state TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying that reports about the Syrian army targeting an aide convoy are not true. Tuesday's report came after an aid convoy was hit in the northern province of Aleppo. The airstrikes hit a truck convoy on Monday night, killing around 20 people, including a local Syrian Red Crescent volunteer. ___ 3:15 p.m. Russia's Defense Ministry is denying that Russian warplanes or those of the Syrian government conducted the deadly airstrikes that targeted an aid convoy in northern Syria the previous night. Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov says that "no kind of air attack on a humanitarian convoy of the United Nations in the southwest outskirts of Aleppo was conducted by Russian or Syrian aviation." His remarks were carried on Tuesday by the state news agency Tass. The airstrikes on Monday night hit a truck convoy, killing around 20 people, including a local Syrian Red Crescent volunteer. ___ 3 p.m. The International Committee of the Red Cross says around 20 civilians were killed in the airstrikes that hit an aid convoy in northern Syria the previous night. ICRC said in its statement on Tuesday that the dead include a member of the Syrian Red Crescent. ICRC president Peter Maurer says the attack was a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" and "totally unacceptable." The statement says the civilians were killed as they were unloading trucks carrying vital humanitarian aid and that much of the aid was destroyed, depriving thousands of much-needed food and medical assistance. Syrian activists and paramedics had said earlier that the airstrikes killed 12 people. ___ 2:15 p.m. A member of the Syrian Civil Defense a group of volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets has criticized the U.N. humanitarian aid agency for suspending all convoys in Syria. Ibrahim Alhaj told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Syrian civilians will pay the price for the decision. The U.N. humanitarian aid agency's decision came after deadly airstrikes on aid trucks the previous night that activists said killed at least 12 people, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. Elhaj says the U.N. should have condemned the attacks on the convoy rather than suspending aid. ___ 12:05 p.m. The U.N. humanitarian aid agency says it has temporarily suspended all convoys in Syria following a deadly airstrike on aid trucks the previous night. Spokesman Jens Laerke of OCHA says the temporary suspension of the aid deliveries would hold pending a review of the security situation in Syria. Laerke said on Tuesday that the U.N. aid coordinator had received needed authorizations from the Syrian government in recent days to allow for aid convoys to proceed within Syria. He said it's "a very, very dark day ... for humanitarians across the world." The attack late on Monday came just hours after the Syrian military declared the weeklong U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia after blaming rebels for the violations suggested it could still be salvaged. ___ 9 a.m. Syria's cease-fire has faltered further after an aid convoy was hit by airstrikes, with activists saying at least 12 people were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. It was not clear who was behind the attack, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over Syria, as well as the U.S.-led coalition that is targeting the Islamic State group. U.N. officials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the northern city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the civil war, said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. In this grab taken from video provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, a member of the team describes the damage after an airstrike, in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. At least 12 aid workers and truck drivers were reported killed in Syria late on Monday when their convoy was hit by airstrikes in Aleppo province. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP) Saudia plane isolated in Manila after false distress call MANILA, Philippines (AP) A pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane mistakenly pressed a hijack warning button as it approached Manila's airport on Tuesday, causing airport officials to mobilize commando forces and isolate the jet after it landed, Philippine officials said. Manila airport manager Eddie Monreal said Flight SV872 from Jiddah made the distress call about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the airport. Airport authorities asked for a verification of the emergency message and one of the pilots confirmed the distress call verbally with the airport tower, aviation security chief Mao Aplasca said. He said the pilot did not immediately say the emergency call was a mistake. The pilot did not tell the control tower that the button had been pushed accidentally until the plane was parked, Aplasca said. Despite the assurance, airport authorities continued to treat the incident as a crisis, Monreal said. Passengers disembark from Saudi Arabian Airlines plane at the parallel runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after it made a distress call shortly before landing Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines. Philippine officials say the Saudi Arabian Airlines plane from Jeddah was placed in isolation after it touched down, but the flight crew later said they made a mistake in sending the emergency message. Manila airport manager Eddie Monreal said authorities deployed security forces around the aircraft as a precaution. Passengers were later allowed to disembark.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) "We can never play around with safety and security," Monreal said. "We decided that we will not take that call hook, line and sinker saying that it was a mistake." Security forces were deployed around the Boeing 777 as a precaution. Outside the airport complex, police quickly set up a security cordon and checkpoints. The passengers were later allowed to disembark and told reporters that everything had seemed normal in the cabin until relatives informed them by cellphone about reports that the aircraft may have been hijacked. When Princess Habiba Sarip-Paudac, a news anchor at a state-run TV network who was on the plane, peered out of the window, she saw SWAT forces and police, some with dogs, who later boarded the plane. She said the passengers "felt like it was really a hijacking. They thought someone would throw tear gas." As the plane sat isolated on the tarmac, "Not even one crew explained. For two hours, they were saying, 'Sorry ma'am, we don't know anything, we don't know what to say,'" Paudac told reporters. Many of those coming off the plane were dressed in white, likely indicating that they were returning from the annual hajj pilgrimage, a ritual required of all able-bodied Muslims once in a lifetime. Saudi Arabian Airlines, also known as Saudia, does brisk business during the hajj, which reached its climax last week. The 71-year-old airline, which operates 119 planes, said on its official Twitter feed later Tuesday that there was a false alarm of a hijacking aboard the flight. Monreal said the plane was carrying 410 passengers and 21 crew members. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said it is investigating the cause of the incident. "Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if the result is indeed a human error," it said in a statement. The pilots were not being held during the investigation, Aplasca said. The incident came after Philippine officials in February announced they had strengthened security for Saudi Arabia's embassy in Manila and its national airline because of a possible threat. At the time, officials also said additional armed officers were posted in the boarding area for the Saudi flag carrier and to guard the airline's luggage. It did not elaborate on the threat. However, it came as the Sunni-ruled kingdom has been on increasingly hostile terms with Shiite power Iran. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Gomez in Manila and Adam Schreck and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report. A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane sits on the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after it made a distress call shortly before landing Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines. Philippine officials say the Saudi Arabian Airlines plane from Jeddah was placed in isolation after it touched down, but the flight crew later said they made a mistake in sending the emergency message. Manila airport manager Eddie Monreal said authorities deployed security forces around the aircraft as a precaution. Passengers were later allowed to disembark. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Ex-Serb commander pleads not guilty to war crimes charges ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) A Serb paramilitary commander during the Balkan wars of the 1990s pleaded not guilty on Tuesday at the start of his war crimes trial in Croatia, saying the accusations against him are trumped-up. Dragan Vasiljkovic, also known as Captain Dragan and Daniel Snedden, is charged with killings and torture of civilians and imprisoned Croatian police and army troops while he was a rebel Serb commander during the 1991-95 Croatian war. The charges carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence in Croatia. Dragan Vasiljkovic, center, a former Serb military commander, sits between two guards in a courtroom at the beginning of his trial in Split, Croatia, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Vasiljkovic is accused of overseeing the torture and murder of civilians and prisoners in Croatia in the early 1990s. (AP Photo) Vasiljkovic's trial is being held in the coastal town of Split under heavy security. The proceedings opened with the reading of the indictment before Vasiljkovic entered his plea. "It's all a lie," Vasiljkovic told the court, according to Croatia's state HINA news agency. "The only crime here has been committed against me because I have been in jail for 11 years without a verdict," "This is a staged story. ... The indictment is comical, shameless and insolent" he added. "I defended my homeland Yugoslavia which I loved very much." Vasiljkovic, 61, who was born in Serbia, went to Australia at the age of 15 but returned to the Balkans to train Croatian Serb rebels in 1991, when Serbs took up arms against Croatia's secession from Yugoslavia. The indictment alleges that Vasiljkovic was responsible for the torture and killings of prisoners in the rebel stronghold of Knin, and the attack in 1991 on a police station in the town of Glina in which civilians were expelled, robbed and killed, including a foreign journalist. Vasiljkovic has remained in custody since he was extradited from Australia in July last year after fighting a 10-year legal battle against being handed over to the Croatian judiciary. HINA said the prosecution will present 55 witnesses in the coming months of the trial. Defense lawyers said they will seek to prove that Vasiljkovic was not in command but was an adventurer and an instructor for the special troops. Some 10,000 people died in the Croatian war. A view of the court building where Dragan Vasiljkovic, a former Serb military commander, is being tried for war crimes is seen Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, Split, Croatia. Vasiljkovic is accused of overseeing the torture and murder of civilians and prisoners in Croatia in the early 1990s. (AP Photo) Dragan Vasiljkovic, center, a former Serb military commander sits between guards in a courtroom at the beginning of his trial in Split, Croatia, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Vasiljkovic is accused of overseeing the torture and murder of civilians and prisoners in Croatia in the early 1990s. (AP Photo) Dragan Vasiljkovic, right, a former Serb military commander sits between guards in a courtroom at the beginning of his trial in Split, Croatia, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Vasiljkovic is accused of overseeing the torture and murder of civilians and prisoners in Croatia in the early 1990s. (AP Photo) EU to examine Bosnia's suitability to become member nation SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) The European Union said Tuesday it will examine whether Bosnia has what it takes to become a member as the bloc continues with plans to expand just months after Britain decided to leave. EU nations ordered the European Commission to establish whether Bosnia has earned candidate status, a process that could take a year. A senior Slovak foreign ministry official, Ivan Korcok, said "this is a good day for Bosnia, but for us as well. We are showing that the enlargement strategy and approach to the aspiring countries works." In this photo taken on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 Bosnian flags flutter in the wind near government building in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The European Union said Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, it will examine whether Bosnia has what it takes to become a member as the bloc continues with plans to expand just months after Britain decided to leave. (AP Photo/Amel Emric) The Commission will now send a questionnaire to Bosnia seeking thousands of answers about its suitability to join. It will assess Bosnia's economy, the state of democracy in the country, its adherence to the rule of law and human rights, and its ability to respect the obligations of membership. "It is truly a historic moment" for Bosnia, Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic said, adding it was "particularly good news for the youth." Bosnia has a brain drain problem as more than half of its young people dream of a better life in EU countries. To stop them from leaving, Bosnia's leaders have been working hard in the past 14 months on reforms that would create jobs and improve the standard of living. "It is clear that these reforms are starting to show results," the EU envoy to Bosnia, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, said Monday. "We have seen the reduction of the level of unemployment and an increased growth," he said. Bosnia's complex political system and the ongoing quarrels between its Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats have prevented the country from moving faster and catching up with neighboring countries on the EU path. Bangkok starts to clear lizards from popular park BANGKOK (AP) Some parks have ducks, some have swans. Bangkok's Lumphini Park is famed for its monitor lizards. But the park's population of the reptiles some of which are up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) long has grown to around 400, leading park officials to become concerned and come up with a plan to relocate them. On Tuesday, park staff could be seen using ropes and snares to catch around 40 of the lizards. While the lizards are gentle in nature and don't attack the many Thais and foreigners who flock to the centrally located park, they do damage the park's trees and landscape, according to Suwanna Jungrungrueng, the director of Bangkok's environment department. An officer holds a bound monitor lizard caught at Lumpini Park in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's plan for the lizards, who's park population has grown to the hundreds, is to relocate them to a neighboring sanctuary and return the city's central park to a safe destination frequented by tourists and locals. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) Their sheer numbers have also caused concern with the authorities after reports of runners and bikers falling while swerving to try to avoid the lizards. The city's plan is to relocate the lizards to a government-run animal sanctuary outside of Bangkok. An officer binds a monitor lizard at Lumpini Park in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's plan for the lizards, who's park population has grown to the hundreds, is to relocate them to a neighboring sanctuary and return the city's central park to a safe destination frequented by tourists and locals. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) India soldiers battle suspected militants in Kashmir SRINAGAR, India (AP) Indian soldiers on Tuesday battled two groups of suspected militants along the highly militarized de facto border dividing the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, leaving one soldier dead, the Indian army said. Army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said the two groups infiltrated into the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir from the Pakistani-held portion. Both gunbattles were continuing and one soldier had been killed in the fighting, an army officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Villagers wait on a verandah to witness the funeral procession of Indian army soldier Gangadhar Dalai, who was killed in a militant attack in Uri, Kashmir, in Jamuna Balia village, west of Kolkata, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Early Sunday, fighters slipped into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 15 soldiers. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Earlier Tuesday, Kalia said Pakistani soldiers violated the 2003 cease-fire accord between India and Pakistan by firing bullets at an Indian military position from across the heavily fortified frontier in Uri region, where early Sunday four suspected rebels killed 18 Indian soldiers in an audacious attack on a crucial military base. The militants were also killed in the attack. Kalia did not give more details about the reported cease-fire violation. In Pakistan, two senior army officers dismissed the Indian allegation as baseless. The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk on the record, said no Pakistani troops had fired at any Indian military position in Kashmir. Kalia said soldiers were exchanging fierce gunfire with the two groups of militants in Uri region and Nowgam sector. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan by a heavily militarized and mountainous frontier called the Line of Control. The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars, including two over their competing claims to the Himalayan territory, though the 2003 cease-fire has largely held despite small but regular skirmishes. They use separate paramilitary forces to guard their lower-altitude frontier, defined by coils of razor wire that snake across foothills marked by ancient villages, tangled bushes and fields of rice and corn. Sunday's attack heightened tensions between India and Pakistan and provoked calls for revenge, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad-backed militants for the deadly strike, an allegation Pakistan strongly denied. The latest hostility between the neighboring countries comes amid the largest protests against Indian rule in Kashmir in recent years, sparked by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian soldiers. The protests, and a sweeping military crackdown, have all but paralyzed life in Indian-controlled Kashmir. More than 80 people have been killed in the protests. ___ Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report. Villagers watch the cremation of Indian army soldier Gangadhar Dalai, who was killed in a militant attack in Uri, Kashmir, prior to his cremation in Jamuna Balia village, west of Kolkata, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Early Sunday, fighters slipped into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 15 soldiers. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Indian army soldiers prepare to give a gun salute to their colleague Gangadhar Dalai, who was killed in a militant attack in Uri, Kashmir, prior to his cremation in Jamuna Balia village, west of Kolkata, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Early Sunday, fighters slipped into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 15 soldiers. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Villagers gather to pay homage to Indian army soldier Gangadhar Dalai, who was killed in a militant attack in Uri, Kashmir, prior to his cremation in Jamuna Balia village, west of Kolkata, India, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Early Sunday, fighters slipped into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 15 soldiers. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) The Latest: French wall going up to stop UK-bound migrants ATHENS, Greece (AP) The Latest on Europe's response to the influx of refugees and migrants (all times local): 9:00 p.m. After weeks of preparation, workers have begun building a 4-meter (13-foot) high wall in northern France to try to keep migrants from sneaking onto ferries crossing the English Channel. Hungarian and Polish soldiers and policemen patrol the Hungarian-Serbian border near Roszke, 180 kms southeast of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Two days earlier forty-nine Polish officers, including twenty-five policemen and twenty-four border guards arrived to Hungary to assist their Hungarian colleagues with border defence until October 29. The Polish contingent fulfills duty as part of the cooperation between the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. (Zoltan Gergely Kelemen/MTI via AP) The kilometer-long (0.6 mile-long) wall is the latest barrier against thousands of migrants living in a makeshift camp near the port town of Calais. Many of the migrants desperate to get into Britain slip onto trucks that board the ferries or trains that traverse the channel through a tunnel. A high barbed-wire fence already protects the port area. Britain is paying to erect the wall, which will be covered with plants for aesthetics. Critics of the wall note that France plans to dismantle the makeshift camp by the time the wall is expected to be completed at the end of the year. ___ 6:15 p.m. Human Rights Watch says Hungary should investigate allegations that uniformed officers are mistreating refugees caught near its southern border and sent back to Serbia. The group's allegations have been rejected by the Hungarian government. Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday that Hungary's policy of letting only a handful of refugees a day file asylum requests has stranded hundreds at the border, including vulnerable people like families with children and the sick or elderly. It also reiterated its criticism of new regulations which since July 5 allow officers to send back across the border fence migrants and refugees caught within eight kilometers (five miles) of the barrier. HRW researcher Lydia Gall says that "making vulnerable asylum seekers suffer needlessly in miserable conditions without legal justification is simply wrong." __ 4:25 p.m. Police from Slovakia will join Serbian patrols on the border with Bulgaria to help stem the influx of migrants trying to reach western Europe through the Balkans. Serbia's Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that some 15 Slovak police officers will arrive next month. The statement says Serbian and Slovak interior ministers have signed a memorandum in Bratislava, Slovakia. Serbia has beefed up police and army troops on borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria to secure them from migrant entry. Thousands of migrants already have been stuck in the Balkan country looking for ways to cross into the EU nations Hungary and Croatia. Migrants fleeing war and poverty have been using clandestine routes since countries along the so-called Balkan route closed down their borders for free entry in March. ___ 12:55 p.m. Germany's top security official has called on Islamic groups in the country to help integrate hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Muslim migrants. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere says mosques and Muslim associations have a responsibility to contribute to Germany's effort to teach migrants the language and abide by the country's laws and customs. De Maiziere said Tuesday that failure to do so "will be much harder for Islam to be accepted in Germany." Many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrived in Germany since the start of 2015 came seeking refuge from conflicts in Muslim-majority nations such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. De Maiziere acknowledged that Germany has been tested by the influx but insisted that it had done well "by international comparison." ___ 12:50 p.m. Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland after a fire gutted a detention camp following protests. Regional governor Christiana Kalogirou said Tuesday she had repeatedly warned the government that camps on the east Aegean Sea islands were dangerously overcrowded. More than 4,000 people were housed at the camp at Moria on Lesbos where fire which broke out Monday destroyed or damaged tents and trailers. There were no reports of any migrants being injured. The government is expected to charter a passenger ferry to provide temporary accommodation while the camp is repaired. New erected fences sits near at the border between Hungary and Austria in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) Workers clean the area after a fire gutted the camp following protests at the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland following the fire and nine migrants suspected of starting the blaze have been arrested, authorities said Tuesday. (Dimitris Tosidis/InTime News via AP) New erected fences sits near at the border between Hungary and Austria in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) Migrants watch a large fire as it burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire has swept through a big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Riot police stand guard as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Migrants hold their belonging as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Riot police stand guard as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Migrants hold their belonging as a large fire burns inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire swept through the big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Migrants and riot police stand outside the Moria refugee camp as a fire burns part of the facility on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, late Monday, Sept. 19. 2016. Greek police say a large fire has swept through a big camp for refugees and other migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, forcing its evacuation. None of the more than 4,000 people in the Moria camp was reported injured in Monday's blaze, which damaged tents and prefabricated housing units. (AP Photo/Michael Schwarz) Fire destroys landmark coastal California watering hole PESCADERO, Calif. (AP) An early morning fire has destroyed a popular watering hole and gathering spot for residents and tourists of Northern California's coastal region. The blaze gutted the Pescadero Country Store on Sunday. No injuries were reported, but the small coastal town of Pescadero about 50 miles south of San Francisco lost a community hub where locals gathered for special occasions and tourists stopped while traveling along Highway 1. "It's kind of like the town lost a limb," Pescadero furniture store owner Kimberly Periat told the San Jose Mercury News (http://tinyurl.com/jyn2mbt ). In this photo taken Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, and provided by the Half Moon Bay Review, fire officials look over the remains of the Pescadero Country Store that burned to the ground in Pescadero, Calif. A fire destroyed the popular watering hole for residents and tourists of Northern California's coastal region early Sunday morning. No injuries were reported, but the small coastal town 50 miles south of San Francisco lost a community hub where local gathered for special occasions and frequented by tourists traveling along Highway 1. (Carina Woudenberg/Half Moon Bay Review via AP) Fire officials said it appears the fire started well before they were called to store at about 5:30 a.m. The flames were shooting through the roof when fire trucks arrived, said Cal Fire Deputy Chief Jake Hess. It took about four hours to extinguish the blaze. Authorities haven't yet determined a cause. "It's an absolutely devastating loss for the community," Hess said, "and for the greater Bay Area." The store was located less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean. Campers at nearby sites could pick up last-minute supplies while motorists could enjoy a sit-down meal and drink. Spain: School ordered to allow pupil wear hijab in class MADRID (AP) A Spanish regional government has overturned a school's ban on a young Muslim woman wearing a hijab headscarf after she protested that the rule was discriminatory. The Valencia regional education department confirmed Tuesday it had ordered Benlliure high school to allow Takwa Rejeb, 22, to wear the Muslim garment in class. Rejeb, who is enrolled in a professional tourism course at the school, was told last week that the school's rules prohibited students from wearing head coverings. She appealed to the SOS Racism watchdog group for help, saying the headscarf was part of her identity. The education department said it would draw up new regulations to avoid similar cases. News / National by Stephen Jake ZIMBABWEAN courts have ended the three-day detention of three opposition legislators, who were arrested over the weekend and charged with participating in a demonstrattion to demand the implementation of electoral reforms in the country.Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights reported that the first to be set free on $250 bail was Mutasa Central legislator Hon.Trevor Saruwaka, who was arrested in Mutare in Manicaland province on Saturday 17 September 2016 and charged with contravening Section 37 (a) (i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry.As part of his bail conditions, Hon. Saruwaka, who was represented by Rangarirai Mubata of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), was ordered to report once every week on Friday at Mutare Central Police Station.Prosecutors claimed that Hon. Saruwaka participated in an illegal demonstration held in the eastern border town by some MDC-T party supporters numbering between 20 to 30 including MDC-T Manicaland Senator David Chimhini.The prosecutors charged that Hon. Saruwaka's actions disturbed the peace, security and order of the public.In Harare, Magistrate Stanford Mambanje granted $400 bail to two lawmakers Fani Munengami, the MDC-T party legislator for Glenview North and Ronia Bunjira, the MDC-T legislator for Harare and twelve Harare residents, who were arrested on Saturday 17 September 2016 for allegedly participating in protests over the government's refusal to adopt and implement electoral reforms demanded by a coalition of opposition political parties.Munengami and Hon. Bunjira and the Harare residents, who are represented by ZLHR lawyers Jeremiah Bamu and Gift Mtisi, were also ordered to report to ZRP once a week. Prominent Ukrainian separatist killed in Moscow MOSCOW (AP) Russian police are looking for a gunman who fatally shot a prominent Ukrainian separatist figure at a suburban Moscow restaurant. Yevgeny Zhilin, 40, was shot Monday night in the Gorki-2 neighborhood west of Moscow. According to investigators, the killer, wearing a false moustache and sunglasses, had been waiting for the victim at a nearby table for 20 minutes and took several shots. Zhilin died on the spot, while his companion was hospitalized in grave condition, Russia's Investigative Committee official told Tass news agency Tuesday. FILE - In this Feb. 22. 2014 file photo, Yevgeny Zhilin, the leader of the Oplot organization supporting Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, speaks at the congress of provincial lawmakers and officials in the Ukrainian eastern city of Kharkiv. A Russian Investigative Committee official, speaking on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, said that police are looking for a gunman who fatally shot Zhilin at a suburban Moscow restaurant. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov, File) Zhilin was an early organizer of the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine and took part in combat activities. He was also the leader of the pro-Russian group Oplot, which had its own militarized forces. Zhilin has been on Ukraine's wanted list since 2015. A car is parked outside the restaurant where Yevgeny Zhilin, a prominent Ukrainian separatist figure, was shot dead on Monday, in Gorky outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Yevgeny Zhilin, 40, was shot Monday night in the Gorki-2 neighborhood west of Moscow. Zhilin was an early organizer of the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine and took part in combat activities. He was also the leader of the pro-Russian group Oplot, which had its own militarized forces. Zhilin has been on Ukraine's wanted list since 2015. (AP Photo/Vladimir Kondrashov) The Latest: Kaine says he doesn't mind defending Clinton WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on the 2016 presidential campaign (all times EDT): 10:20 p.m. Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine says he doesn't mind sticking up for his running mate, but wouldn't say whether he feels sympathy for his Republican counterpart. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at High Point University, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in High Point, N.C. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) During a taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in Los Angeles Tuesday, DeGeneres asked Kaine if he felt bad for GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence for having to defend controversial comments made by Donald Trump. Kaine demurred on Pence but said he does not mind defending Clinton, whose recent illness revived questions about her penchant for secrecy. Kaine says: "It is part of the role. I don't find that a heavy lift at all." The Virginia senator also played "You Are My Sunshine" on his harmonica during the show. ___ 10:15 p.m. Donald Trump says that if he were George H.W. Bush, he might consider voting for Hillary Clinton, too. The GOP nominee says in an interview Tuesday with TWC News of Central North Carolina that he "wouldn't be surprised" if the former Republican president votes for the Democrat this fall. A prominent member of the Kennedy family claims Bush told her he planned to vote for Clinton. Trump is pointing to his tough primary battle against Bush's son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, as the reason for the reluctance. Trump says he "can understand how the Bush family feels. He was supposed to win. He was supposed to be the nominee. And not only wasn't he ... but he didn't do very well." ___ 9:15 p.m. A billionaire-backed Republican organization is quickly marshaling resources to help Donald Trump in the final stretch of his presidential bid. The leaders of Future 45 say it aims to raise $25 million and already has commitments of $5 million from Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and $1 million from members of the Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs. Todd Ricketts, the son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, is Future 45's chief fundraiser. The project was conceived in early 2015 but has been mostly dormant until now. In fact, the Ricketts family worked against Trump during the hotly contested primary race. Future 45 President Brian Baker says, "This is an organization dedicated to winning the White House and maintaining majorities in the House and Senate." ___ 8:30 p.m. Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is drying off after speaking through protesters and rain in Williamsburg, Virginia. Several hundred Donald Trump supporters waited through the rain in the heart of the village where English settlers established the early capital of colonial Virginia. The biggest cheers and jeers for the Indiana governor came after his promise of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. While several hundred Trump backers roared, about a dozen protesters yelled at Pence as they held Hillary Clinton signs. They chanted that "immigrants make this country great," and one yelled that Pence is a racist. The governor never acknowledged the small group. __ 7:22 p.m. Lifelong Florida Republican Mike Fernandez tells The Associated Press that he will spend between $2 million and $4 million to help elect Democrat Hillary Clinton. Fernandez says he is giving the money to Florida-based Democratic groups that focus on encouraging Hispanic Americans to vote. The Cuban-born billionaire health care industry executive backed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the GOP primary and has been outspoken against Republican nominee Donald Trump. He calls Trump "just beyond belief, every time he opens his mouth," Fernandez said. He declined to name the groups that are receiving his money but said he'd chosen to focus on Hispanic voter turnout because Trump has "made an enemy of that group of Americans." ___ 6:12 p.m. Donald Trump is describing the nation's African-American communities as being "in the worst shape that they've ever been." Ever. Trump said, "We're going to rebuild our inner cities because our African American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they've ever been in before, ever, ever, ever." The Republican presidential nominee made the comment Tuesday in North Carolina, where before the Civil War it was considered a crime to teach a slave to read or write. In the 2016 presidential election, North Carolina is a swing state where one in four voters this fall is expected to be black. The New York billionaire has made similar comments before as he works to improve his standing among minority voters. President Obama won North Carolina in 2008 thanks in large part to his support from the black community. Obama narrowly lost the state in 2012, but earned 96 percent of the black vote. ___ 5:47 p.m. Donald Trump says his Democratic rival is "the chief emissary for globalism." He used the phrase in battleground North Carolina Tuesday as he accused Hillary Clinton of caring more about so-called special interests than what's best for the country. It's part of his "America First" theme, in which he says he's not running to be president of the world, but president of the United States. The declaration drew chants of "USA!" from the crowd. Trump is also bragging about how much less he's spent on ads and organizing than his Democratic rival. He told the North Carolina crowd that if they don't vote, he's "going to feel very, very foolish" because of how much personal time and money he's invested in the race. ___ 5:35 p.m. Donald Trump is predicting that Hillary Clinton will copy his language and policy on national security at next week's debate. He's telling a rally in North Carolina that Clinton "is all of a sudden going to get tough." The Republican nominee said Tuesday that his Democratic rival will call for "strong borders" and "extreme vetting," the term he uses for screening prospective immigrants. Clinton has called for an increase in the number of refugees the Obama administration currently allows to seek asylum in the United States from war-torn countries like Syria. She supports a strong vetting program. Trump wants to stop the refugee program. He called it "a Trojan horse" for terrorists. ___ 4:50 p.m. Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is defending the son of his running mate after Donald Trump Jr. compared Syrian refugees to poisoned candy. Pence told MSNBC in an interview Tuesday that the younger Trump was simply using a "metaphor." Trump Jr. posted on his social media account Monday the image of a bowl of multicolored candies called Skittles. He asked his Twitter followers, "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?" Trump's father is Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He has called for suspending the refugee program that admits Syrians fleeing the war-torn country once they clear a vetting process that both Trump men suggest is non-existent and admits terrorists. Pence said it is "remarkable to see the level of outrage" about the tweet when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has called for admitting more refugees to the United States. ___ 3:39 p.m. Early numbers from advance voting for president show initial strength for Hillary Clinton in the critical state of North Carolina and good news for Donald Trump in Iowa. In North Carolina, more than 53,000 voters requested ballots, and 2,939 had been returned. That's up from 47,313 ballots requested during a similar period in 2012. By party, Democrats made up 40 percent of the ballots returned compared to 33 percent for Republicans. At this point in 2012, Republicans were running ahead in ballots submitted. In Iowa, more than 68,000 have requested ballots. Democrats dominate with 40,476 or 60 percent of the ballots so far, compared to 13,011 or 19 percent for Republicans. But in a sign of softness among Clinton supporters, the numbers are down significantly from 2012, when 92,850 Democrats requested ballots. ___ 3:00 p.m. Hillary Clinton plans to speak about how her economic plans will support people with disabilities. Clinton's campaign says the Democratic presidential candidate will use a speech in Orlando, Florida Wednesday to "make the case for building an inclusive economy that welcomes people with disabilities, values their work, rewards them fairly, and treats them with respect." Clinton will stress her work for people with disabilities, including appointing a special advisor for international disability rights when she was secretary of state. She will also detail how her economic plans help people with disabilities by improving employment opportunities. This is the latest in a series of speeches designed to showcase Clinton's positive vision. She spoke about faith in Kansas City recently and stressed her plans for younger voters in Philadelphia this week. ___ Republican vice presidential candidate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, and his wife Karen, right, wave to the crowd at a rally in front of the Colonial Capitol in Williamsburg, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at Temple University in Philadelphia, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Republican vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence greets Dick Chipchak, of Virginia Beach, aboard the USS Wisconsin, Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 20, 2016, in Norfolk, Va. Pence was there for a roundtable discussion with local veterans. Chipchak, a Navy veteran, is a volunteer aboard the Wisconsin. (Bill Tiernan/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) The Latest: Pipeline firm expects to restart line Wednesday ATLANTA (AP) The Latest on the rupture of the Colonial Pipeline in Alabama (all times local): 10:15 a.m. The pipeline company working to repair a leak that led to gas shortages and higher prices for drivers across the South says its bypass repair is complete and it expects to restart its main gasoline line Wednesday. Plastic bags covering gas pumps informs customers of a gas outage at a station in Alabaster, Ala., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a state of emergency after a pipeline spill near Helena, Ala. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Colonial Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker tells The Associated Press that testing is now being done on the line. Baker said crews have been working around the clock to get fuel to markets, and that it will take a few days for the fuel supply chain to fully recover after the line restarts. The 500-foot (152- meter)bypass was needed to move fuel around the leak of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama. The leak, which spilled 6,000 barrels of gasoline into a detention pond, was detected Sept. 9. ___ 7 a.m. The auto club AAA reports that gas prices continue to climb in several southern states after a pipeline leak in Alabama slowed the flow of fuel across the South. AAA reports that in Georgia, Tuesday's average price for regular gas rose about 5 cents since Monday, to an average $2.36 statewide up nearly 27 cents over the past week. The price has climbed nearly 7 cents since Monday in the Macon and Augusta areas. South Carolina saw an average price rise of nearly 4 cents from Monday to Tuesday up nearly 18 cents from a week ago. The Columbia, South Carolina area saw prices rise about 6 cents since Monday. AAA reports Tuesday that Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia also saw prices climb since Monday. ___ 3:15 a.m. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley says gas prices in parts of the state rose 20 cents over the weekend after a pipeline leak but he didn't consider that price gouging. Bentley said Monday that the price sometimes changes that much overnight. The governor toured Colonial Pipeline's emergency response center, situated in a luxury resort hotel about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the pipeline breach, and spent much of a news conference Monday praising the company's response. Colonial has said it was working "around the clock" to repair the break and supplies have been delivered or are on their way to locations in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. The shortage is blamed on a pipeline rupture and leak of at least 252,000 gallons (954,000 liters) of gas in Alabama. Customers pull up and drive past the temporarily out of service gas pumps at a station in Alabaster, Ala., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a state of emergency after a pipeline spill near Helena, Ala. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) A yellow bag reads "sorry temporarily out of service" informing customers of a gas outage at a station in Alabaster, Ala., on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a state of emergency after a pipeline spill near Helena, Ala. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley speaks to the media during a news conference, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Hoover, Ala. Bentley issued a state of emergency in Alabama after a pipeline spill near Helena, Ala. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) A gas pump is covered with a plastic bag during a fuel outage at a station in Smyrna, Ga., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday aimed at preventing price gouging. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A motorist, who would only give his name as Michael, calls a nearby gas station to see if they have fuel after attempting to fill up at a station experiencing a gas outage in Atlanta, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday aimed at preventing price gouging. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A sign informs customers of a gas outage at a station in Smyrna, Ga., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday aimed at preventing price gouging. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Gasoline prices are increasing across the South following a pipeline break in Shelby County, Alabama. This QuikTrip gas station in Duluth, Georgia, seen on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, has run out of unleaded gasoline. The governor of Georgia said Sunday his office hasn't received any complaints of gas shortages within the state after a pipeline spill in central Alabama, but some gas station employees have said they've had to close because they're out. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) Gasoline prices are increasing across the South following a pipeline break in Shelby County, Alabama. This QuikTrip gas station in Duluth, Georgia, seen on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, has run out of unleaded gasoline. The governor of Georgia said Sunday his office hasn't received any complaints of gas shortages within the state after a pipeline spill in central Alabama, but some gas station employees have said they've had to close because they're out. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) Gasoline prices are increasing across the South following a pipeline break in Shelby County, Alabama. This QuikTrip gas station in Duluth, Georgia, seen on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, has run out of unleaded gasoline. The governor of Georgia said Sunday his office hasn't received any complaints of gas shortages within the state after a pipeline spill in central Alabama, but some gas station employees have said they've had to close because they're out. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) Gasoline prices are increasing across the South following a pipeline break in Shelby County, Alabama. This QuikTrip gas station in Duluth, Georgia, seen on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, has run out of unleaded gasoline. The governor of Georgia said Sunday his office hasn't received any complaints of gas shortages within the state after a pipeline spill in central Alabama, but some gas station employees have said they've had to close because they're out. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) A sign informs customers of a gas outage at a station in Smyrna, Ga., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday aimed at preventing price gouging. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A QuikTrip gas station pump in Duluth, Ga, is seen Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, has the store has run out of unleaded gasoline. Gasoline prices are increasing across the South following a pipeline break in Shelby County, Ala. Colonial Pipeline said it was working "around the clock" to repair the break and supplies have either been delivered or are on their way to locations in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) A sign informs customers of a gas outage at a station in Smyrna, Ga., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday aimed at preventing price gouging. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Botswana says to deport US pastor who made anti-gay comments JOHANNESBURG (AP) A U.S. pastor who has made anti-gay comments is being deported, Botswana's government announced Tuesday, shortly after he spoke on local radio and called the people killed in the June shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando "disgusting." The tweet by the government said Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church of Tempe, Arizona, "has been declared a prohibited immigrant" but did not give details. The Orlando attack, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, left 49 people dead. Neighboring South Africa earlier this month prevented Anderson from entering the country, saying he and church members allegedly promote hate speech and "social violence." "Thank God we still have a wide open door in Botswana," Anderson posted on Facebook. He entered Botswana last Thursday and preached at an event on Sunday, according to his church's Facebook page. Activists had campaigned against Anderson's travels in Africa, where many countries still criminalize homosexuality. "This a great day for Africa," Pamela Adie, senior campaigns manager for the LGBT rights group All Out, told The Associated Press after Botswana's announcement. "This decision sends a strong message to international evangelists that hate messages are not welcome in Africa and by its people." Italians, Canadian abducted in Libya, North Koreans freed BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) Libyan authorities said Tuesday they were searching for two Italians and a Canadian abducted at gunpoint near the Algerian border, while another official said three North Koreans kidnapped more than a year ago have been freed from Islamic State group militants. Libya slid into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Much of the country is ruled by a patchwork of local and tribal militias, and Islamic militants have also gained a foothold there. The Italians and the Canadian were abducted at gunpoint Monday on the highway between Ghat and Ubari, in the southwest desert, according to the Ghat municipal council. Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed the abduction but declined to elaborate, citing the "delicateness" of the situation. The president of the Italian Senate's defense commission, Nicola Latorre, urged "much prudence in this phase, both because we still don't have the elements to pinpoint the precise matrix of the kidnappers and also to not negatively influence the course of events." When asked about the abduction on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi told reporters "on these things, work, silence, prudence." He did not elaborate. Global Affairs Canada spokesman Michael O'Shaughnessy said "we are aware of the troubling yet unconfirmed report of the abduction of a Canadian citizen in Libya. We are diligently pursuing all appropriate channels." Hassan Osman Eissa, from the Ghat municipal council, told The Associated Press by phone that the abductors are known to local authorities and have carried out carjackings and robberies in the past. He said local security forces are searching for them and raiding suspected hideouts. He said the abductors left the foreigners' Libyan driver behind after handcuffing him. Another official meanwhile said three North Koreans kidnapped by the Islamic State group near Sirte have been freed by Libyan forces battling to drive the extremists from the central city, their last bastion in the North African country. Muftah Salem, a Health Ministry official in the eastern town of Jalu, told the AP on Tuesday that the North Korean couple and their driver had been heading to Tripoli after finishing a seven-year contract at Jalu's hospital. An English-language local news portal, Libyan Observer, posted a video of the doctor. It identified him as a 58-year-old Lee Yong and his wife as Seo Young Ju, 56. She was wearing a headscarf. Distressed and trying to explain the conditions of his detention in broken Arabic, the doctor said, there was "no light, no sun ... I am pale." He was freed along with two other foreigners, identified as Indians, and Libyan hostages, according to the Libyan Observer. Saudi Aramco fire injures 8 workers; operations not impacted RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) State-owned Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil production company, says eight of its workers have been injured in a fire that broke out at one of its oil terminals. The company says it successfully responded to the fire at its facility in the eastern city of Ras Tanura on Tuesday morning, adding that its oil and gas operations were not impacted. The Ras Tanura terminal has a crude oil refining capacity of 550,000 barrels per day. In a statement released on its website, the company says the six contractors and two employees injured as a result of the fire have received medical treatment. Street clashes, election protests in Congo kill at least 44 KINSHASA, Congo (AP) More than 44 people have been killed in Congo in two days of street clashes between security forces and protesters angered over a delayed presidential election, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher said Tuesday. Police said more than 100 people have been arrested in the unrest. Thousands took to the streets of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, on Monday to oppose an election delay which they call an effort by President Joseph Kabila to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate in late December. A high court has determined Kabila can stay in office until a new leader is elected. The electoral commission has filed for a delay in elections that were scheduled for November, saying voter registration lists will not be ready. Congolese riot police get on their trucks as they deploy, after violence erupted due to the delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday.(AP Photo/John Bompengo) Gunshots could be heard Tuesday in Kinshasa as tensions rose. Burnt-out cars smoldered in nearly empty streets. "Leave and let us choose who we want to lead us," Kinshasa resident Jeanne Mongo said. "Obama is leaving power, his mandate is coming to an end and he is leaving voluntarily. Why can't he (Kabila) follow Obama's example and cede his position to a woman?" Human Rights Watch received credible reports from witnesses that security forces have killed at least 37 civilians, said senior Africa researcher Ida Sawyer. "Most were killed when the security forces fired on crowds of protesters. Others were killed when the security forces burned down opposition party headquarters last night," she said in an email. Protesters killed at least six police officers and a supporter of Kabila's party, Sawyer said, adding that demonstrators also burned and looted several shops and police stations. Police spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu said that more than 113 people were arrested in connection with Monday's events, and will be brought to justice. The U.N. human rights office noted reports of "excessive use of force" by both security forces and demonstrators. Both sides denied responsibility for the violence. An organizer of the opposition protests, Joseph Olengankoy, earlier had put the toll at more than 25 people killed. Interior minister Evariste Boshab had said 17 were killed, including at least three police officers. At least two people were killed after attacks on the headquarters of five opposition parties late Monday, the U.N. and an opposition party said. Bruno Tshibala, spokesman for the largest opposition party, said five people were wounded in raids on four party headquarters. "We will seek international justice," he said. Congo's government spokesman, Lambert Mende, condemned the burning of opposition party buildings as well as attacks on other buildings, including two ruling party buildings and a school, by opposition protesters. Mende called on Congolese to regain their composure and let justice do its work. "The government can only condemn this mob justice mentality," he said. Kabila, who came to power after his father's assassination in 2001, has yet to announce whether he will pursue another term in office, though the constitution prohibits it. The violence comes amid growing fears that the election delay could lead to prolonged unrest in Congo, a nation as vast in size as Western Europe. The mineral-rich but largely impoverished country suffered back-to-back civil wars until 2003, and previous instability has drawn in armies from neighboring countries. Appeals for calm and restraint have been launched by the United Nations, Belgium, the U.S., France and the European Union, which also have called for a rapid organization of presidential elections. ___ Associated Press videographer John Bompengo in Kinshasa and writer Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report. A man drives past a vehicle burnt out after recent protest against an delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday.(AP Photo/John Bompengo) A protestor, left rear, carries a rock, after violence erupted due to the delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday. (AP Photo/John Bompengo) Congo riot police patrol streets on trucks, after violence erupted due to the delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 44 people have been killed in Congo in two days of street clashes between security forces and protesters, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher said Tuesday, and several opposition party buildings were burned. (AP Photo/John Bompengo) A woman passes a burnt out ATM after violence erupted due to the delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday.(AP Photo/John Bompengo) Congo military trucks carrying Congolese troops drive in a main street after violence erupted due to the delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday. (AP Photo/John Bompengo) Congo riot police, rear, provide security after violence erupted due to the delay of the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday. (AP Photo/John Bompengo) Congo police provide security near a burnt out vehicle, after recent protest against any delay in the presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said Tuesday.(AP Photo/John Bompengo) Latest: Oklahoma governor urges calm after police shooting TULSA, Okla. (AP) The Latest on a Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed man (all times local): 6:50 p.m. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin is urging Tulsa residents to remain calm as authorities investigate a white police officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. This undated photo provided by the Tulsa Oklahoma Police Department shows officer Betty Shelby. Police say Tulsa officer Shelby fired the fatal shot that killed 40 year-old Terence Crutcher, Sept. 16, 2016. The police chief in Tulsa says Crutcher, a black man fatally shot by a white police officer responding to a stalled vehicle, had no weapon on him or in his SUV. Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday Sept. 19, 2016, that an investigation is underway into the shooting death. (Tulsa Police Department via AP) In a series of tweets Tuesday, Fallin described video of Terence Crutcher's shooting as "troubling" and says her thoughts and prayers are with Crutcher's family. Fallin also said Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan has assured transparency and fairness in the department's investigation, and that Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler needs time to review the evidence in the case. About 200 protesters gathered Tuesday evening outside the Tulsa Police Department. Many chanted "Fire Betty," in reference to officer Betty Shelby, who fatally shot Crutcher on Friday night after responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. ___ 6 p.m. San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick says the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa is "the perfect example" of what he's protesting when he refuses to stand for the national anthem at 49ers' games. Kaepernick said Tuesday that "everybody's eyes" will be on Tulsa as authorities investigate the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher. He says criminal charges should be filed in the shooting death. The backup quarterback says he's received death threats through social media and other avenues since he began to protest during the national anthem last month. Tulsa Police say officer Betty Shelby fatally shot Crutcher on Friday as she was responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. ___ 4:45 p.m. The Tulsa police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man last week faced no disciplinary actions, and records show she only used force in one instance while working for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office. Officer Betty Shelby worked four years at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office until she joined the city police force in 2011. According to Tulsa County Deputy Justin Green, Shelby's use of force incident happened when she was serving a warrant on a suspect in 2010. The report says Shelby and other deputies drew their weapons but did not fire them as they searched for the suspect. Tulsa police say Shelby fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher last Friday while responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. ___ 4 p.m. A police spokesman says Tulsa, Oklahoma, officers found the drug PCP in the vehicle of an unarmed black man who was shot to death by a white officer last week. Tulsa Police Sgt. Dave Walker confirmed to the Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/2d6cYIh ) that investigators recovered a vial of PCP in Terence Crutcher's SUV. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby fatally shot Crutcher on Friday while responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Police say Crutcher did not have a gun on him or in his vehicle, and video footage of the shooting showed him walking toward his SUV with his hands in the air. At a press conference Tuesday, attorneys representing Crutcher's family said they did not know whether drugs were in Crutcher's vehicle. But attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said even if drugs were present, Shelby still had no justification for shooting the man because Crutcher did not pose a threat. ___ 2:40 p.m. A police spokesman says the Oklahoma officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man had a stun gun at the time but did not use it. Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell tells The Associated Press that officer Betty Shelby was certified on the use of stun guns. Police say Shelby fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Friday while responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Police say Crutcher did not have a weapon on him or in his SUV. Shelby's attorney, Scott Wood, told the Tulsa World that Shelby opened fire and another officer used a stun gun when Crutcher's "left hand goes through the car window." But at a press conference Tuesday, attorneys representing Crutcher's family provided an enlarged photo of the police footage that appeared to show that Crutcher's window was up at the time of the shooting. ___ 1 p.m. The mother-in-law of a white Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man says her daughter-in-law is grieving for the victim's family and isn't prejudiced. Lois Shelby told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday that Tulsa officer Betty Shelby "thought she had to protect her own life" when she fatally shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher last week. Dozens of protesters have called for Shelby's immediate arrest for her role in Crutcher's shooting Friday, and at least one other protest is planned Tuesday to call for charges against her. Shelby has been on paid leave since the shooting. Lois Shelby, a retired schoolteacher, says Betty Shelby always wanted to become a police officer. Betty Shelby declined to comment to The Associated Press on Tuesday and referred all calls to her attorney. ___ 12 p.m. A rally is planned for Tuesday night in Tulsa calling for the arrest of a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man. We the People Oklahoma will hold a "protest for justice" at 6 p.m. at Tulsa's Civic Center Plaza over Friday's shooting death of Terence Crutcher. The social justice group previously led a petition drive calling for a grand jury investigation into the April 2015 shooting death of Eric Harris. In that case, a grand jury indicted then-Sheriff Stanley Glanz on misdemeanor charges, and the volunteer deputy who shot Harris, Robert Bates, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter. On Monday, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said his office will review police reports and evidence from Crutcher's shooting to determine whether charges should be filed against Tulsa officer Betty Shelby. The prosecutor called Crutcher's death "a tragic event" but declined further comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation. ___ 7:15 a.m. An attorney representing a white Tulsa police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man says his client opened fire after the man reached through the window of his SUV. Dashcam and aerial footage showing Officer Betty Shelby's shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Friday doesn't offer a clear angle leading up to the shooting, but Crutcher's hands are in the air. Tulsa police say Crutcher didn't have a gun. Shelby's attorney, Scott Wood, says the encounter unfolded for about 2 minutes before the video footage begins. Shelby didn't activate her patrol car's dashcam. Wood tells the Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/2cFOk5S ) that Shelby says Crutcher repeatedly ignored officers' commands. He says Shelby opened fire and another officer used a stun gun when Crutcher's "left hand goes through the car window." State and federal investigations into the shooting death are underway. Shelby is on paid administrative leave. ___ 1 a.m. A video from a Tulsa, Oklahoma, police vehicle shows Terence Crutcher walking toward his SUV with his hands up and a female officer following behind him. The vehicle is stopped in the middle of the road. As Crutcher approaches the SUV, another officer walks up followed by two others and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and reach down and place them on the vehicle. The four officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the police dashboard camera's angle. Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, "I think he may have just been tasered." One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly. Then almost immediately, someone can be heard saying, "Shots fired." Crutcher's head then drops, leaving him lying completely out in the street. After that a voice can be heard on the police radio saying, "Shots fired. We have one suspect down." This undated photo provided by the Parks & Crump, LLC shows Terence Crutcher, left, with his father, Joey Crutcher. Crutcher, an unarmed black man was killed by a white Oklahoma officer Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, who was responding to a stalled vehicle. (Courtesy of Crutcher Family/Parks & Crump, LLC via AP) In this image made from a Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 police video, Terence Crutcher, top, is pursued by police officers as he walk to an SUV in Tulsa, Okla. Crutcher was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead after he was shot by the officer around 8 p.m., Friday, police said. Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (Tulsa Police Department via AP) In this image made from a Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 police video, Terence Crutcher, center, is pursued by police officers as he walk to an SUV in Tulsa, Okla. Crutcher was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead after he was shot by the officer around 8 p.m., Friday, police said. Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (Tulsa Police Department via AP) In this image made from a Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 police video, Terence Crutcher, left, is pursued by police officers as he walks to an SUV in Tulsa, Okla. Crutcher was fatally shot Friday after authorities say an officer stopped to investigate the stalled vehicle and Crutcher approached after officers arrived to assist. Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (Tulsa Police Department via AP) Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, left, comforts Tiffany Crutcher, twin sister of Terence Crutcher who was shot and killed by Tulsa Police Friday night Sept. 16, 2016. At right is Rev. Joey Crutcher, her and Terence's father. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP) Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan speaks to the media during a Tulsa Police Department press conf at the Tulsa Police CompStat building Monday, Sept 19, 2016., in Tulsa, Okla. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP) Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan, U.S. attorney Danny Williams and Tulsa district attorney Steve Kunzweiler watch during a Tulsa Police Department press conference at the Tulsa Police CompStat building Monday, Sept 19, 2016., in Tulsa, Okla. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP) Steve Kunzweiler, Tulsa County District Attorney, speaks during a Tulsa Police Department news conference at the Tulsa Police Comp Stat building on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP) Protesters offer condolences to Tyler Johnson, son of Terence Crutcher, in front of the Tulsa County Courthouse Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Tulsa, Okla., during a protest of the Tulsa Police shooting of Terence Crutcher. (Mike Simmons/Tulsa World via AP) Protesters pray over Tyler Johnson, son of Terence Crutcher, in front of the Tulsa County Courthouse Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Tulsa, Okla., during a protest of the Tulsa Police shooting of Terence Crutcher. (Mike Simmons/Tulsa World via AP) Ex-National Guard soldier given 30-year prison sentence CHICAGO (AP) A Chicago federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a former Illinois National Guard soldier and his cousin to prison for plotting to join Islamic State fighters and to attack a U.S. military facility. Hasan Edmonds, 23, the former soldier, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 30 years in prison. His cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 30, received a 21-year prison sentence. The sentences matched what prosecutors asked for the men, both residents of suburban Aurora. FILE - In this March 26, 2015, file courtroom sketch, Jonas Edmonds, left, and his cousin Hasan Edmonds, right, stand in front of an FBI agent as they appear at a hearing at federal court in Chicago following their arrests on charges of conspiring with the Islamic State group. The pair are scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, for plotting to attack a U.S. military facility. (AP Photo/Tom Gianni, File) Hasan Edmonds devised a plan to travel to the Middle East while Jonas Edmonds attacked the National Guard armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, according to prosecutors. The goal, prosecutors say, was to kill as many as 150 people at the facility. Jonas Edmonds said he dropped Hasan Edmonds at the airport to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. But Jonas Edmonds denied he would have attacked the military armory. "The person they're trying to make me into, I'm not that person," Edmonds told U.S. District Judge John Lee. Defense attorney James Graham told the judge that Edmonds was a heavy smoker of marijuana and was boastful, but had no weapons and never would have gone through with the attack. It was a characterization that was dismissed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, who noted as he held up a duffel bag filled with National Guard uniforms that Edmonds planned to don the uniform to help him blend in and gain access to the armory for the attack. "Thank God the FBI was there to stop him," Jonas said. After dropping his cousin off at Chicago's Midway International Airport on March 25, 2015, Jonas Edmonds went to his cousin's home and collected the uniforms, according to prosecutors. Hasan Edmonds, filings say, instructed Jonas to kill high-ranking officers first. Agents arrested Hasan Edmonds at the airport and detained Jonas Edmonds at his home shortly thereafter. De-radicalization expert testifies in Islamic State case MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A German scholar testified Tuesday that it's possible to de-radicalize violent Muslim extremists using the same techniques developed in Europe to help neo-Nazis break with their pasts. Daniel Koehler appeared before U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, who in November will sentence nine Minnesota men who were convicted of plotting to join the Islamic State group. Davis asked Koehler to individually evaluate the six defendants who pleaded guilty and face maximum potential sentences of 15 years. Three other defendants, who went to trial and face potential life sentences, were not evaluated. Koehler, who directs the German Institute on Radicalization and De-radicalization Studies in Stuttgart, said the United States doesn't currently have any de-radicalization programs like those in Europe and Canada. He said the only people in the U.S. who are trained for that role are 20 to 25 federal parole officers in Minnesota whom he trained himself in preparation for starting a program here. Prosecutors say the nine young men were friends in Minnesota's sizeable Somali community who recruited or inspired each other to travel to Syria. None of them succeeded in leaving the U.S., though some of their other friends did. The six pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The other three were each convicted of that plus a more serious count of conspiracy to commit murder overseas. Koehler said there are strong similarities between how neo-Nazis and white supremacists get radicalized and how some Muslims are drawn to extremist groups such as the Islamic State, though their ideologies are different. He said people drawn to these movements come to see them as the solution to their own personal problems as well as the problems of their society as a whole, and they come to view violence as a necessary way to achieve change. Similarly, he said, there are parallels in the things that make people want to leave these groups, and well-designed programs can take advantage of them. Those programs use a combination of the person's self-motivation to change, counseling, and support systems such as families. "You can work with part of these individuals, not all of them but some of them," he said. To assess the six men, Koehler interviewed them, their parents and siblings. When possible, he also interviewed imams, probation officers and others. He said he had access to all of the men's court files and other records, and he examined statements they made while plotting to join the Islamic State. Among the things he tried to determine were whether they credibly rejected violence and took responsibility for their actions. He assigned risk levels to each defendant and also developed counseling plans for them. Koehler rated at least one of the six as high risk, Abdirizak Warsame. While Warsame testified in the trial of the other three defendants, prosecutors say he was also a leader of the group. Koehler rated Zacharia Abdurahman and Hamza Ahmed as medium-to-high risk, and Abdullahi Yusuf as low-to-medium risk. His reports on the two others will be discussed when the hearing resumes Tuesday. The risk levels are based on their level of radicalization and their potential for rehabilitation, he said. People at the low end have already disengaged from their groups and their ideologies but those rated high show little remorse or guilt, nor any visible signs of turning away from radicalism, he said. Davis made it clear that he's thinking carefully about the most appropriate sentences for the six, who were all present in his courtroom Tuesday. He said his primary job is to make sure the community is safe, and he knows all six will be released eventually. The judge also noted that he earlier handled 12 cases of Minnesotans convicted for their roles in supporting the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab, and that some of those defendants will go free soon. Opinion / Columnist FROM the moment Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi organised everyday Zimbabweans to courageously take up arms against Rhodesian settlers and invaders way back in 1896, the colonialist and imperialist world have learnt the hard way, that the element of surprise has always been the best weapon of genuine African resistance at home and abroad.When Zanu began the Second Chimurenga against the second most powerful colonial army ever assembled on our beloved mother continent 50 years ago, which cleared the way for President Mugabe and Zanu-PF to launch the historic and ground-breaking land reclamation programme 16 years ago that boldly declared the beginning of the Third Chimurenga, one would think US-EU imperialism finally realised that imposing their will on Zimbabweans politically, economically or militarily is no walk in the park.Since Pastor Evan Mawarire used social media and hijacked a revolutionary idea to use Zimbabwe's flag to rally Africans worldwide to join the movement to end the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, each and every one of President Mugabe and Zanu-PF's most hateful detractors in Washington and London have not only been tickled pink, but are guilty of openly behaving like their illegal and racist regime change agenda aimed at toppling Zimbabwe's democratically elected Government had officially prevailed.What Pastor Mawarire and #ThisFlag members learnt on Saturday September 17 2016 at the Zimbabwe Mission to the United Nations in New York City, was to never under any circumstances disregard the power of true and authentic revolutionary solidarity, something that biblical verses from a colonialist and imperialist paradigm simply cannot prepare an opportunist leader or movement to properly deal with.Because Pastor Mawarire and his gullible followers had made a routine of taking photo-ops in front of the Zimbabwean embassy in Washington DC, which led to someone mysteriously desecrating the embassy with graffiti, the pastor and his brain trust arrived at the conclusion that targeting the mission before converging on the UN would help generate momentum.To the surprise of Pastor Mawarire who had boldly predicted that over 5 000 Zimbabweans would be by his side, only 19 misled but undeniably faithful followers arrived to participate in a pre-protest in front of the mission, that was advertised as lasting from 10am to 12 noon. Due to the extremely low and embarrassing turnout this only lasted about 29 minutes to be exact.Another shock to the system of Pastor Mawarire and his followers is they were not allowed to plaster the mission with their neo-colonialist regalia, this was brought to their attention by none other than the racist and fascist NYPD, who according to history and pedigree were not thrilled but had no choice but to enforce this law. This reduced #ThisFlag members' efforts to talking to primarily individuals of a Caucasian persuasion who were on their Saturday morning strolls therefore had no interest in what they represented.Since Pastor Mawarire's main platforms thus far have been primarily confined to the dog and pony shows courtesy of the US-EU imperialist think tank apparatus and any bonus events arranged by the US State Department, the good pastor's handlers probably never shared with him that it is virtually impossible to come to New York City and attack President Mugabe and Zanu-PF, without being confronted directly by the December 12 Move- ment.It is only fitting that Pastor Mawarire had the opportunity to see D12 up close and personal in the middle of a protest, especially since it is abundantly clear that the misguided pastor more than likely has been advised by his handlers to avoid at all costs so-called African Americans, who accurately fit the characteristic of what President Mugabe commonly refers to when speaking publicly as Comrades and Friends.Even if Pastor Mawarire and his followers had previously been warned by the Who's Who of the US Military Industrial Intelligence Police Complex, that D12 was planning a counter and unapologetically pro-President Mugabe and Zanu-PF demonstration, the parachutes on their shoulders and over the top exposure from US imperialist media outlets like CNN and NPR had them feeling untouchable.This was confirmed by the presence of a Voice of America reporter who witnessed the entire spectacle. However, due to the outcome will have a serious challenge, explaining to the Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who according to Pastor Mawarire and his followers ended up resembling a meteorologist who gave viewers and listeners the wrong weather forecast.Only 19 faithful followers participated in Pastor Mawarire's (pictured right) flopped protest in front of Zimbabwe's UN Mission in New York, that was advertised as lasting from 10am to 12 noon. Due to the extremely low and embarrassing turnout this only lasted about 29 minutes, to be exactLet us remember that according to Pastor Mawarire's Facebook page, Zimbabwean students in the Diaspora are 58 percent in favour of the US imperialist agenda, the burning question is why these toy soldiers who demonise their President and Government all over social media decided not to come to the Big Apple and stand with their pastor who boldly proclaims "We are the leaders we have been waiting for".The explanation given by Mawarire and his followers whose mood and body language resembled women and men, when they get stood up on a date, was that the main demonstration near the UN Headquarters would reflect the numbers they had anticipated and boldly predicted.What occurred instead was that the D12 march from the Zimbabwe UN Mission completely stole the show, President Mugabe's Comrades and Friends started from 53rd and Lexington Avenue with banners of all sizes brandishing their patterned and trademark slogan "MUGABE IS RIGHT".Unlike the 19 followers of Pastor Mawarire who looked as though they were loitering in front of the mission, this strong showing of unity and patriotism aroused the interest of spectators and onlookers, who were apparently wondering what African head of state could garner this qualitative level of support inside US borders.This development meant that the Voice of America reporter had to resort to damage control and interview Pastor Mawarire from angles aimed at diverting attention from such a low turnout, by the end of the day #This Flag drew 50 people to their UN demonstration where on the other hand D12 drew over 100 who to their credit assembled with an agenda and purpose of their own, meaning showing support for President Mugabe and Zanu-PF took precedence over clashing with political novices like Pastor Mawarire and #This Flag.Another lesson Pastor Mawarire and his followers can take from Saturday is that they do not have a monopoly on social media, a few weeks ago D12 brilliantly juxtaposed a picture of the good pastor with US and British flags wrapped around his neck, which raised the issue that #This Flag should use the symbols of the nations whose interests they faithfully serve and represent on a daily basis. President Mugabe's Comrades and Friends followed this up with a US passport with the good pastor's name and face.What was billed and promoted as an event that would be the defining moment for the #This Flag movement, with thousands of Zimbabweans calling for President Mugabe to step down, numerically matched Pastor Mawarire's Sunday congregation of his storefront church back home in Zimbabwe.Only 19 faithful followers participated in Pastor Mawarire's flopped protest in front of Zimbabwe's UN Mission in New York, that was advertised as lasting from 10am to 12 noon. Due to the extremely low and embarrassing turnout this only lasted about 29 minutes, to be exactWhen Pastor Mawarire and his followers step out of their comfort zone which means engaging so-called African Americans in an atmosphere, where the helping hand of Douglas Coltart and Chloe McGrath cannot serve as a security blanket, they don't appear to be politically or intellectually equipped to answer some very fundamental questions.During the march when D12 members who decided to show at the mission to strategically observe #ThisFlag , told the VOA reporter was how embarrassing it looked for young Zimbabweans who have benefited more than they realise from countless drops of blood shed heroically from 1896 to present, to come to the country who has illegally targeted their Government and stage a protest.What Pastor Mawarire and his followers will eventually realise is that the history they reject like children who cry when told by their parents to eat their vegetables, is what makes not only D12 but Africans all over the world stand firmly behind President Mugabe and Zanu-PF.Obi Egbuna Jnr is the External Relations Officer of Zicufa (Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association) his email is obiegbuna15@gmail.com The Latest: Watson, Ramirez bring glitz to UN women event UNITED NATIONS (AP) The Latest on the high-level U.N. General Assembly meetings (all times local): 10:30 p.m. Emma Watson cheered the possibility of the U.S. electing its first female president. Edgar Ramirez questioned a "macho" world that teaches boys to suppress emotions and dominate women. Actress Emma Watson, U.N. Women's Goodwill Ambassador, speaks at a press conference during the meeting of the 71st session of the General Assembly, Tuesday Sept. 20, 2016 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) The actors roused up a glitzy and high-powered crowd at the Museum of Modern Art to promote U.N. Women's HeForShe initiative to draw men into the fight for global gender equality. The organization released a report detailing progress made by 10 universities around the world that have committed to redressing gender inequality in their institutions. Watson, the U.N. Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, drew cheers when she contemplated the possibility of the first female U.S. president. Ramirez, a Venezuelan actor who starred in "The Liberator" and "Joy," gave an impassioned indictment of a world where "male adolescents are taught to be dominant, tough and disrespect women." ___ 9 p.m. It was a unique event for the United Nations laced with nostalgia, humor and tributes the secretary-general and the U.S. president toasting each other for the last time in front of the world's leaders. Every year, the U.N. chief hosts a formal lunch for the presidents, prime ministers and potentates attending the annual ministerial meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. And every year, the U.S. president responds as the representative of the host country. But Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday's lunch was unique. "Never before have a president of the United States and a secretary-general of the United Nations completed their terms at about the same time within just 20 days of each other." Ban then looked at Barack Obama, sitting just a few feet away at the head table, and said: "Mr. President, we need to find something to do!" ___ 6:40 p.m. The United Nations says 30 more countries are expected to formally join the Paris Agreement on climate change, greatly improving the pact's chances of coming into force just a year after it was negotiated in the French capital. More than 170 world leaders have signed the deal, but it won't take effect until 55 countries accounting for at least 55 percent of global emissions have ratified or accepted it through their domestic procedures. That was initially expected to take several years, but 28 countries including the world's two biggest emitters, the U.S. and China accounting for 39 percent of emissions have already ratified the deal. The 30 ratifications which the U.N. expects to be handed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a special event at U.N. headquarters in New York on Wednesday will bring the total to more than 55 countries but many are small and it appears unlikely that they will account for the needed 55 percent of global emissions. ____ 6:35 p.m. Canada's prime minister has paid tribute to the people of New York for showing the world "how to be resilient and resolute" when under attack by extremists. Justin Trudeau praised New Yorkers Tuesday in his first speech to the U.N.'s General Assembly. Alluding to the weekend bombings in New York City and New Jersey, he said city residents set an example of how to react "in the face of violent extremism." To applause, he expressed thanks on behalf of all delegates in the assembly hall for being "a model to the world." Ahmad Khan Rahami, a U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, has been arrested in the bombings. ___ 6:10 p.m. Egypt's president has urged Israel and the Palestinians to look to the "wonderful" example set by his country and the Jewish state and agree on a solution that lets them exist in peace as two neighboring states. Speaking Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi described the Israel-Egypt model as "a real opportunity to write a bright page in the history of our region to move towards peace." He told delegates he was departing from the written text of his speech to make an appeal that will bring "prosperity and peace to both the Israelis and the Palestinians." Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab nations to have signed peace treaties with Israel. ____ 4:10 p.m. U.S. President Barack Obama says the world is facing "a crisis of epic proportions" in the form of tens of millions of refugees. Obama is hosting a summit on refugees during the U.N. General Assembly. He says the refugee crisis tests the world's ability to end conflicts. Obama is calling it a test of the international system and a test of common humanity. The president is lamenting that only 10 countries host the vast majority of refugees. He's pressing nations to do more to take in and support migrants. Obama says screening refugees based on their religion would reinforce terrorist propaganda that nations like the U.S. are opposed to Islam. He says that's an "ugly lie" that all countries must reject. It's a rebuke of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has warned about the supposed risks of accepting Muslim immigrants. ___ 4 p.m. British Prime Minister Theresa May has decried the violence in Syria that has affected millions of lives and triggered the biggest refugee and migration crisis since World War II. In her first U.N. speech as Britain's leader, May on Tuesday slammed the "appalling slaughter" in Syria, urging the international community to step up its efforts to bring peace to the war-ravaged country. Championing the cause of refugees and migrants, May said that the U.K. will announce further financial contributions aimed at mitigating the crisis at a refugee summit hosted by President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. May also urged world leaders to forge "a bold, new unilateralism" which would effectively combat global terrorism and to fashion "a truly global response" to the mass movements of forcibly displaced people across the world. ____ 3:30 p.m. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has portrayed the recent failed coup in his country as a terrorist attack masterminded by a U.S.-based Islamic cleric and urged world leaders to take measures to prevent such uprisings in the future. "It should never be forgotten that the failed coup in Turkey was aimed at world democracy as well," Erdogan told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. Erdogan blames the July coup, which left at least 270 people dead, on an organization run by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who resides in Pennsylvania. The group runs charities, schools and businesses worldwide. Erdogan charged that Gulen's organization fosters unrest worldwide by penetrating state and non-government institutions. Turkey is seeking Gulen's extradition; the cleric denies involvement in the coup. The Turkish government has cracked down on tens of thousands of Gulen's followers in the aftermath of the attempted coup. Erdogan also urged the international community to work harder to end the war in Syria and provide refuge and economic assistance to people fleeing the five-year-old war. "It is a futile effort to look for peace behind the barbed wire and high walls," he said. ____ 2:15 p.m. French President Francois Hollande has used strong language in urging world leaders to broker a solution to the war in Syria. "Syria is now a shame, a stain for the international community," Hollande told reporters after addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. "To accept that there is a city ... where the population is starving, with humanitarian convoys attacked, with chemical weapons used and with children who become victims every day it's the responsibility of the entire world." Hollande urged Russia to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to abide by a cease-fire agreement that is on the verge of disintegrating, saying that backing Damascus would lead to the country's destruction. "Why is it in their interest? Because supporting the regime until the end will not lead to Syria being reconquered, but will lead to its partition and separation, and the maintaining of terrorist groups." Hollande also urged the United States to support moderate opposition groups in Syria, but to refrain from cooperating with "groups that are not that different from the Islamic State." ____ 2:10 p.m. Austria's chancellor and foreign minister are urging joint European Union action on tightening up Europe's external borders and a "Marshall Plan" for countries that are the main source of migrants. Both also strove on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday to reduce fears of a rightward lurch by Austria, through increasingly restrictive policies and amid projections that Norbert Hofer of Austria's xenophobic Freedom Party has the edge in December presidential elections. Chancellor Gerhard Kern says "life would go on" even if Hofer wins. He added, "We have a stable government, and we are part of the European Union." Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz says Austria is not alone in the EU in its switch from open to tight borders. He says there is now an understanding in the EU that this is "a necessary position." ___ 2 p.m. Jordan's King Abdullah II has offered an impassioned defense of Islam while condemning extremists as outlaws who want to "drag us back to the dark ages." Abdullah said that combating extremism was for Muslims "a fight for our future." But he also said that false perceptions of Islam in the West fuel terrorists' global agenda and breed further intolerance. The leader of the Mideast nation was speaking at the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. on Tuesday. He said that a military approach to conflict in Syria "will leave no winners, only losers on every side." Abdullah reiterated Jordan's support for a Palestinian state, saying Israel has to embrace peace "or eventually be engulfed by a sea of hatred in a region of turmoil." ___ 1:40 p.m. In a dramatic display of Latin America's political divisions, the delegations of Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua walked out during Brazilian President Michel Temer's speech at the U.N. General Assembly. Venezuela's U.N. Ambassador Rafael Ramirez told The Associated Press Tuesday that Temer is "an illegitimate president, the product of a coup d'etat. We do not recognize him." Ecuadorean diplomat Carola Iniguez says her country's delegation walked out "to protest the political situation in Brazil." Temer became Brazil's president following the ouster of Dilma Rousseff by the Senate over accusations of fiscal mismanagement. In his speech, Temer defended the impeachment process, insisting it was an example of democracy at work. He said "impeaching a president is certainly not a trivial matter in a democratic regime. But there is no democracy without rule of law without rules applicable to all, including the most powerful. This is what Brazil is showing the world." ____ 1:38 p.m. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss measures to avoid accidental confrontation between the alliance and Russian armed forces. "I think it is important to continue to have a chance for political dialogue open, and I look forward to meeting him tomorrow," the NATO chief told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The secretary-general welcomed Russian "interest and willingness to sit down and discuss proposals on risk reduction and transparency." The two leaders will convene Wednesday amid increasing concerns over Russia's drills conducted without advance notification. NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow estimated that there had been about a dozen in the past two years. ____ 1 p.m. Qatar's emir has criticized the weakness of the U.N. system and the paralysis of the international community in the face of the Syrian civil war and other conflicts. Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that "theoretically, the majority of the countries of the world stood by the Syrian people, but practically they were left alone supported only by some loyal friends." He added that "red lines were set for the regime who has violated them, yet those who demarcated those lines have not felt provoked to raise a finger." Al Thani said it is "no longer possible to ignore the weakness of the United Nations' legal and institutional system and its inability in many cases to apply standards of justice and fairness to the mechanisms of its functioning." ____ 12:38 p.m. President Barack Obama says Nigeria has made "real progress" against an extremist organization linked to the Islamic State group. Obama says he and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari discussed additional ways the country's military can achieve even more progress against Boko Haram militants. The group was responsible for the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls from the town of Chibok more than two years ago. Many remain missing. The leaders met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. ____ 11:30 a.m. President Barack Obama is telling world leaders they have to do more to open their hearts to refugees who are desperate for a home. Obama says the world is more secure if leaders are prepared to help people in need, but they have to follow through even when the politics are hard. He says leaders must have the empathy to imagine what it would be like for their families if the unspeakable were to happen. Seemingly speaking of the U.S., Obama says there are a lot of nations doing the right thing, but many countries, particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of geography can do more to help. The UN estimates that there are about about 21.3 million refugees forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution. ___ 11:10 a.m. President Barack Obama is urging nations to reject authoritarianism and embrace more open societies. In his final speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Obama says the kind of thinking that favors "the strong man" over true democracy is wrong. He says economies can only grow so much in the 21st century before they will have no choice but to open up to give entrepreneurs access to information or to allow independent media to operate. Obama says democracy is hard work and takes generations, but that the gains are worth the effort. Obama adds that without evolving in the direction of democracy, people's expectations will go unmet, suppression and stagnation will set in and strongmen will be left to crack down on their societies or scapegoat enemies, leading to war. ___ 10:45 a.m. President Barack Obama is telling world leaders that a paradox defines the world today as the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before. Yet, he says that people are losing trust in institutions, which makes governing more difficult. Obama says world leaders can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration, or they can retreat into a world that is sharply divided and ultimately in conflict. Obama is addressing the United Nations for the final time as president. Obama says the benefits of global integration need to be broadly shared. He says the global economy needs to work better for all people, not just those at the top. ___ 9:40 a.m. The top U.S. diplomat has urged Pakistan's prime minister to prevent "all terrorists" from using the nation's territory as safe havens. The appeal from Secretary of State John Kerry to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came as tensions escalated between Pakistan and India after suspected rebels killed 18 Indian soldiers in an attack on a military base in the disputed territory of Kashmir. The State Department said Tuesday that Kerry met Sharif Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Kerry expressed "strong concern" with the recent violence in Kashmir, particularly Sunday's attack, and called on all sides to reduce tensions. He also urged restraint in nuclear weapons programs. India on Tuesday accused Pakistan of firing at an Indian military position in Kashmir, which Pakistan denied. ___ 9:16 a.m. Taking the world stage for the last time as secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon unleashes years of pent-up anger at leaders who keep "feeding the war machine" in Syria, violate human rights and prevent aid deliveries to starving people. The U.N. chief told leaders at Tuesday's opening of General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting that "powerful patrons" of both sides in the more than five-year Syrian conflict "have blood on their hands" "Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians," he said. Ban said "many groups have killed innocent civilians none more so than the government of Syria." And he accused South Sudan's feuding leaders of betraying their people. He said "in too many places, we see leaders rewriting constitutions, manipulating elections and taking other desperate steps to cling to power." ___ 9:10 a.m. Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli kicks off the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly as world leaders convene to address most pressing global and regional issues. Bocelli's performance of Nessun Dorma on Monday earned a standing ovation from heads of state. ___ 9:00 a.m. U.N. officials say at least 20 countries are expected to formally join the Paris Agreement on climate change this week, greatly improving the pact's chances of coming into force just a year after it was negotiated. That's considered a blistering pace in the world of international diplomacy, reflecting a sense of urgency in the fight against global warming and a desire to seal the deal before the Obama administration leaves office. Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Morocco are expected to hand over documents at the U.N. in New York on Wednesday to formally complete the ratification process. At least half a dozen small island nations including Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Kiribati will also follow suit. ___ 8:45 a.m. Standing before the United Nations for the last time as president, Barack Obama will reassure foreign leaders that the world is better equipped to tackle its challenges than at almost any point in history despite a cascade of harrowing crises that seem devoid of viable solutions. Obama's address marks his swan song on the international stage. He stepped into his role eight years ago with sky-high expectations and has struggled to deliver when it comes to solving global problems partially beyond America's control. Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said the president was cognizant of the fact that bright spots such as economic growth and climate change cooperation are offset by the "great deal of unease" in the world, including Syria's civil war and concerns about Russia's aggression toward Ukraine. France's President Francois Hollande addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) President Barack Obama reaches to shake hands with Peter Thomson, right, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, center, after addressing the 71st session of the U.N. General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) France's President Francois Hollande speaks during a press conference after addressing the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) France's President Francois Hollande speaks during a press conference after addressing the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks as President of the 71st session of the General Assembly Peter Thomson, center, and Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th session of the General Assembly look on during the opening of a summit addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, shakes hands with President of the 71st session of the General Assembly Peter Thomson, during the opening of a summit to address large movements of refugees and migrants, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) King Abdullah II, of Jordan, addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) United Nations general assembly president Peter Thomson, left, speaks to reporters while former president Mogens Lykketoft listens before the start of the Summit for Refugees and Migrants at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) A security guard looks out a window underneath the Secretariat Building at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. The issue of what to do about the world's displaced people takes center stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday when leaders from around the globe converge on New York for the first-ever summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein of Jordan speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) France's President Francois Hollande addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) France's President Francois Hollande speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Francois Hollande, President of France, speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) King Felipe of Spain, left, shakes hands with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at United Nations headquarters. (Evan Schneider/United Nations via AP) Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) King Abdullah II, of Jordan, addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to speak during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) President Barack Obama talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May during a luncheon hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, UN headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa speaks during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and U.S. President Barack Obama listen to speakers during the Leader's Summit on Refugees during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Li Keqiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China, speaks at a Leader's Summit on Refugees during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, greets Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the Leader's Refugee Summit during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks as U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden listen at the Leader's Refugee Summit during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) International gathering again puts Syria no closer to peace NEW YORK (AP) Another city, another Syria meeting. Another failure. Tuesday's gathering of the top U.S. and Russian diplomats, and more than a dozen of their Arab and European counterparts, ended with ritual reaffirmation of a cease-fire that has all but disintegrated, and promises of future negotiations. But it left Syria no closer to peace. The familiar storyline came as the 5-year-old civil war threatened to enter a darker phase as the United Nations denounced what it called a deliberate attack on a humanitarian convoy, which killed 20 civilians. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, speaks with United Nations envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura during the International Syria Support Group meeting Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen) "Just when we think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. The White House said the airstrike was launched by Syria's or Russia's military, adding that in either case, it held Russia responsible. The U.N. suspended aid deliveries and a Syrian human rights group reported that the government launched an offensive north of Aleppo in a bid to tighten the siege on rebel-held parts of Syria's largest city. Still, the diplomats insisted Syria's cease-fire wasn't dead. With few alternatives for trying to end the conflict, they pressed on with a strategy that appeared to impress few and convince no one. "It's the only show in town," British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said bluntly of the talks that are now set to continue later this week. The discussion led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lasted only about an hour, after the two met privately beforehand. Goals were modest, focused on holding onto what might be salvageable from a week-old truce that had at least temporarily reduced the bloodshed. Gone were the loftier ambitions of creating a new, U.S.-Russian military partnership against Islamic State militants and al-Qaida, once envisioned to start Tuesday. No one spoke of a breakthrough. "The cease-fire is not dead," Kerry insisted, adding that unspecified "specific steps" would be weighed in a follow-up discussion later this week. The U.N. Security Council also will take up the Syria crisis on Wednesday, though diplomats also have abandoned hopes of a passing a resolution to endorse the U.S.-Russian truce deal reached earlier this month. Rhetorically, at least, the diplomats expressed some hope. That was an improvement from Monday, when Syria's Russian-backed government declared the cease-fire over, and Moscow and Damascus were harshly criticizing the United States for a mistaken air raid on Syrian soldiers over the weekend. But it also reflected Washington's desperation. Despite numerous violations by the government and Syrian rebels, the U.S. has few other options for ending a conflict that has killed a half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global threat. President Barack Obama has made clear the U.S. will use military force only against IS and other extremist organizations, and not against Syrian President Bashar Assad's government. Instead, Obama is determined to continue the diplomacy with Russia, Assad's chief backer. He has publicly expressed doubts about the possibility of creating a viable peace process with Russia, but doesn't appear to have a Plan B. Since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, there have been countless high-level gatherings designed to stop the fighting and guide Syria to a political transition. Previous destinations included Istanbul, Paris, Rome, Vienna and Geneva, including assemblies with names such as "Friends of Syria" and the "London 11." Tuesday's was the "International Syria Support Group." None has made a lasting impact. The latest diplomatic iteration has centered on Kerry and Lavrov. Their deal after a marathon day of negotiations on Sept. 9 would have created a joint U.S.-Russian center to coordinate strikes on the Islamic State militants and al-Qaida-linked groups had the truce and unfettered aid deliveries in Syria been maintained for seven straight days. Neither commitment was met. U.N. peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said all participants at Tuesday's meeting reconfirmed support for the truce, even if Assad's military and the rebels weren't always respecting it. "The cease-fire is in danger, is being seriously affected," he said, but only the U.S. and Russia could declare it over. De Mistura also said he was "profoundly outraged" by Monday's attack on an aid convoy, describing it as a "game changer" in forcing a serious discussion on how to stop the violence. Both Russia and Syria have denied involvement in the strike. The United Nations suspended all aid deliveries pending a security review. But in a sign of the increasing messiness of Syria's overlapping wars, Washington also was still on the defensive. The coalition's weekend attack killed 62 Syrian soldiers. Russia and Syria have called it proof of U.S. support for extremist groups. The American military said it monitored the target for two days, was certain it was a good Islamic State target, and is investigating how the mistake happened. The strike was called off when the Russians called their U.S. counterparts and informed them of the mistake. "The atmosphere was quite heavy," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said of Tuesday's meeting. Ayrault, who has criticized Washington for not releasing the cease-fire agreement, said the U.S.-Russian negotiations "have reached their limits." "What have we seen these last few hours?" he asked. "Bombing is continuing. Aleppo is still threatened. The population is starving. And there is a humanitarian convoy that is attacked and there are dead. This is the reality. One must denounce this realty." ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor and Maria Danilova contributed to this report. Bosnia: War talk again in the Balkans BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) In the most heated exchange since the war in the 1990s, Serbia warned Bosnia on Tuesday it would come to the defense of Bosnian Serbs if they were attacked as tensions rise in the Balkans ahead of next weekend's referendum. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in a statement Serbia will "certainly not allow the destruction of or a military attack" against Bosnia's autonomous Serb ministate, Republika Srpska, created under a U.S.-brokered peace deal that divided Bosnia. Dacic was reacting to comments made by former wartime Bosnian Army commander Safer Halilovic who said that, without Serbia's support, Bosnian Serbs wouldn't be able to withstand federal forces for more than 15 days. Halilovic, a retired general, spoke to a local Bosnian TV station and was not speaking in any official capacity. In 1992-95, Bosnian Serbs took up arms against Bosnia's secession from Serb-led Yugoslavia. As a result, some 100,000 people died and millions were left homeless in the worst carnage in Europe since World War II. "The (Bosnian) citizens must know that on this territory the Yugoslav Army no longer exists," Halilovic told Bosnia's TV1. "Serbia can no longer help." Dacic responded that "the statement by Safer Halilovic about the destruction of Republika Srpska represents the gravest threat to peace and stability in the region." The Bosnian Serb ministate is holding a referendum on Sunday on maintaining the date of its national holiday on Jan. 9 the date in 1992 when Bosnian Serbs declared the creation of their own state within Bosnia. During the war that followed, they expelled non-Serbs from the territory they controlled with the aim of making it part of neighboring Serbia. For non-Serbs living there the date is a symbol of their expulsion and a sign that Republika Srpska is still a place meant just for Serbs. Bosnia's constitutional court has ruled that the holiday discriminates against Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croats. Russia supports the referendum, while the U.S. and the West do not. Halilovic said that the referendum is illegal and urged "it is better for us to talk for 100 years that to fight a war." But, he added, "if he (Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik) forces us into a situation in which Bosnia is torn apart, he should know this will not happen in a peaceful way." An international body overseeing the implementation of Bosnia's peace accords, the Peace Implementation Council, called on Bosnia's factions on Tuesday "to refrain from reactive measures and divisive rhetoric." It "strongly condemns statements from anyone that undermine stability and security, or which challenge the territorial integrity of" Bosnia, it said. ___ Nigeria sues over $12B in 'illegal' oil exports LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) Nigeria is suing several leading oil companies for $12.7 billion of crude oil that allegedly was exported illegally to the United States between 2011 and 2014, officials said Tuesday. The Federal High Court in Lagos begins hearings next week in cases filed against Nigerian subsidiaries of U.S. multinational Chevron, British-Dutch Shell, Italian ENI's Agip, France's Total and Brasoil of Brazilian Petrobas, according to the court register. Chevron would not comment since the issue "is the subject of ongoing litigation," said a spokeswoman at the company's Houston headquarters, Isabel Ordonez. Other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. FILE- In this Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006 file photo, Former security guard Esakpo Henry visits the oil flow station where he worked before in Eriemu, Nigeria. Officials say Nigeria is suing several oil majors for $12.7 billion of oil allegedly exported illegally to the United States between 2011 and 2014. The Federal High Court in Lagos begins the first hearing next week in cases filed against Nigerian subsidiaries of U.S. multinational Chevron, British-Dutch Shell, Italian ENI's Agip, France's Total and Brasoil of Brazilian Petrobas (AP Photo/George Osodi, File) Nigeria was Africa's largest oil producer until militant attacks cut production and Angola overtook it in March. The cases could provoke new anger against oil companies already accused of polluting farmland and fishing grounds. Local frustration has contributed to an armed movement in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where militants are demanding the multinationals pull out. Officials familiar with the cases said Nigeria's government alleges that the companies did not declare more than 57 million barrels of crude oil shipments. That was deduced from audits of declared exports and what was unloaded in the United States. Some shiploads registered less when they left Nigeria and more on reaching the United States, while some entire shiploads were undeclared in Nigeria, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the cases still are in court. The United States was the biggest importer of Nigerian oil until it began exploiting its own shale oil reserves, though Nigerian exports to the U.S. have increased six-fold this year, according to OPEC. Michael Kanko confirmed that his U.S.-based ImportGenius database was used by attorneys to confirm declarations made to U.S. customs by shippers and importers. Law professor Fabian Ajogwu is representing the Nigerian government in the case against Chevron, which comes up first on Sept. 30. FILE- In this Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 file photo, a petrol attendant fills a car at a Total petrol station in Lagos, Nigeria. Officials say Nigeria is suing several oil majors for $12.7 billion of oil allegedly exported illegally to the United States between 2011 and 2014. The Federal High Court in Lagos begins the first hearing next week in cases filed against Nigerian subsidiaries of U.S. multinational Chevron, British-Dutch Shell, Italian ENI's Agip, France's Total and Brasoil of Brazilian Petrobas. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File) FILE- In this Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 file photo, petrol attendants filled cars at a Total petrol station in Lagos, Nigeria. Officials say Nigeria is suing several oil majors for $12.7 billion of oil allegedly exported illegally to the United States between 2011 and 2014. The Federal High Court in Lagos begins the first hearing next week in cases filed against Nigerian subsidiaries of U.S. multinational Chevron, British-Dutch Shell, Italian ENI's Agip, France's Total and Brasoil of Brazilian Petrobas. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File) In parting words to UN, Obama calls for 'course correction' UNITED NATIONS (AP) In a closing dispatch to the world he's tried to shape, President Barack Obama conceded Tuesday that the United States and other major powers have only limited ability to solve the world's most profound problems, including Syria's civil war. He lamented the "cycles of conflict and suffering" that seem to kick in every time humanity finally seems to be getting it right. "Perhaps that's our fate," Obama said in his last speech to the U.N. General Assembly. Four months before leaving office, Obama called for a "course correction" to ensure that the unstoppable forces of globalization don't lead nations to entrench behind their borders and ignore the most vulnerable. He chided foreign leaders for stoking ethnic and religious divisions while faulting Russia for a brutish approach to its role on the world stage. FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2015, file photo, President Barack Obama addresses the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Standing before the United Nations for the last time as president, Barack Obama will reassure foreign leaders that the world is better equipped to tackle its challenges than almost any point in history despite a cascade of harrowing crises that seem devoid of viable solutions. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) Still, Obama insisted it was critical not to gloss over "enormous progress" on economics and global cooperation that he said formed a template for tackling the problems of the future. In a less-than-subtle jab at Donald Trump, the Republican running to replace him, Obama said, "A nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself." Obama's parting words to the global body contained a grim assessment of the challenges he's leaving behind: a devastating refugee crisis, terrorism, financial inequality and a tendency to make immigrants and Muslims scapegoats. Across the Middle East, he said, "basic security, basic order has broken down." "This is the paradox that defines our world today," Obama said. "A quarter-century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before. And yet our societies are filled with uncertainty and unease and strife." This year's U.N. gathering has played out against the harrowing backdrop of the deepening civil war in Syria and the renewed failure of U.S. and Russian diplomatic efforts to stem the violence for any meaningful period of time. With no better alternatives, the U.S., Russia and others clung unconvincingly Tuesday to the notion that a week-old cease-fire was not moribund, even as Syria declared it over and the U.N. suspended all convoys of aid. Obama acknowledged that the extremist and sectarian violence wreaking havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed." Still, he stuck faithfully to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria's war and other conflicts. "If we are honest, we know that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long," Obama said. "Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer." The president was unabashed in his critique of Russia as he laid out his diagnosis of the world's ills. His tough talk illustrated how little progress has been made in reconciling the two powers' diverging interests that have allowed the Syria crisis to continue to fester. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. A year ago, Obama stood at the same podium and declared anew that Syrian President Bashar Assad must leave power, while Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a dueling speech warning it would be a mistake to abandon Assad. Since then, Moscow's leverage in the conflict has strengthened significantly, buoyed by a Russian military intervention that bolstered Assad's standing without pulling it into the military "quagmire" that Obama had predicted. White House officials said Obama had been mindful of the fact that his U.N. speech was one of his final opportunities to define his leadership on the world stage. At the heart of his approach, Obama said, is a belief that conflicts are best solved when nations cooperate and a willingness to engage with erstwhile adversaries like Cuba and Myanmar. It's a theme that Democrat Hillary Clinton has put at the forefront of her presidential campaign her slogan is "Stronger Together" as she casts herself as the natural heir to Obama's legacy. The president peppered his speech with subtle references to Trump, his calls for building a wall on the Mexican border and his denigration of Muslims and immigrants. Standing before the 193-member U.N. body, Obama sought in broad strokes to lay out a blueprint for addressing other unresolved conflicts. He called for the world to impose "consequences" on North Korea for its latest nuclear test and, in less direct terms, for China to abide by a recent U.N. tribunal ruling against its territorial designs in the South China Sea. A day before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he drew a parallel between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the need to respect racial minorities in the U.S. "Surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land," Obama said. ___ Associated Press writer Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Darlene Superville at http://twitter.com/dsupervilleap President Barack Obama addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. The president warned that the forces of globalization have exposed "deep fault lines" across the globe, calling for a "course correction" to ensure that nations and their peoples don't retreat into a more sharply divided world. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Prosecutors: Deputy hurt others before boy's fatal shooting BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) A deputy city marshal awaiting trial for murder in the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old boy has shown a pattern of using excessive force on other people who didn't pose a threat, according to Louisiana prosecutors. Attorney General Jeff Landry's office argues in a court filing that jurors at Derrick Stafford's trial should hear evidence that he hurt people without justification before the shooting that killed Jeremy Mardis and critically wounded his father, Christopher Few, in Marksville last November. The filing says the prior "bad acts" of Stafford, a Marksville police lieutenant, include using a stun gun on a handcuffed man without warning and on a young mother who was already secured in a police car during separate 2011 arrests. It also says Stafford broke a 16-year-old girl's arm while breaking up a fight on a school bus in 2012. "Stafford, as evidenced by both the charged offense and other bad acts the state seeks to introduce, is motivated to use excessive violent force against individuals he interacts with during the course and scope of employment with the law enforcement agency he works for," prosecutors wrote in last week's filing. State District Court Judge William Bennett is scheduled to hear arguments next Wednesday on the prosecutors' request ahead of Stafford's Nov. 28 trial. One of Stafford's lawyers didn't immediately respond to a call and email seeking comment. Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr., a former Marksville police officer, were moonlighting as deputy marshals on the night of the Nov. 3 shooting. Prosecutors say Greenhouse didn't tell a dispatcher and still hasn't told investigators why he began pursuing Few's car. In the same court filing, prosecutors also disclosed new details of its investigation that led to second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges against Stafford and Greenhouse. State Police have said the deputies opened fire on Few's car after the pursuit, which was joined by a third deputy and Marksville Police Sgt. Kenneth Parnell III. A police report says video from Parnell's body camera shows Few's empty hands were raised and visible inside the vehicle when gunfire erupted. The boy was strapped into the front seat. Prosecutors said the video also shows that Stafford and Greenhouse fired from "a safe distance," and that Few's car was backing away from them. "It also shows Greenhouse and Stafford firing from a position perpendicular to the driver's side," their filing adds. "And perhaps most important, it shows Few with his hands in the air pleading for the officers to stop firing. They did not." Stafford emptied his magazine of hollow point bullets, and investigators traced 14 shell casings to Stafford's semi-automatic handgun, prosecutors said. Four other shell casings recovered at the scene came from Greenhouse's gun, they added. "Of the four projectiles that were recovered from young Jeremy Mardis, three were forensically matched through scientific analysis to Stafford's weapon," the filing says. Florida AG defends decision to take money from Trump TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday defended her decision three years ago to solicit $25,000 from Donald Trump at the same time questions were arising about Trump University. The Republican and former prosecutor said she had no regrets about asking Trump for money and no regrets about keeping the donation even after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had filed a lawsuit against Trump University. "If I had returned it, you would have reported 'Bondi accepted a bribe, got caught and returned it,'" Bondi said. "That's how the reporting goes. And so, no, there was nothing improper about it. So there was no reason to return it." FILE - In this July 20, 2016 file photo, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Bondi on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, defended her decision three years ago to solicit $25,000 from Donald Trump at the same time questions were arising about Trump University. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) The 2013 check to a committee supporting Bondi's re-election campaign from the Donald J. Trump Foundation violated a federal prohibition against charities giving money to political groups. The issue flared back to life amid media coverage of Trump's presidential campaign and the recent news that his foundation paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS over the donation. Democrats in Washington and Florida have been demanding investigations into how Bondi's office handled questions about Trump University and the Trump Institute, companies that offered get-rich-quick real-estate seminars. Tuesday marked the first time that Bondi who endorsed Trump for president shortly before the Florida primary in March answered in detail questions about her handling of the donation. Though both Trump University and the Florida-based Trump Institute had stopped offering classes by the time she took office in 2011, more than 20 complaints had been filed by former students who claimed they were swindled. Trump has said in the past that he expected and received favors from politicians to whom he has given money. The Associated Press reported in June that Bondi personally asked Trump for help for her 2014 re-election. She said Tuesday that she turned to Trump because he was on a list of "friends and family" she sought money from when she first ramped up fundraising efforts. Though Bondi has not given a precise date for her call with Trump, documents show the political action committee she was asking donors to support was created in early August 2013. Trump signed a check on Sept. 9 and it was received by Bondi's political committee on Sept. 17. But by that time, emails show, top officials in her office including her chief of staff were being asked by reporters in Florida about Schneiderman's lawsuit. Bondi's office said at the time that it was "reviewing" the lawsuit, but it never took any other action. Bondi said her office receives tens of thousands of such complaints each year. "There was never an investigation into Donald Trump by this office," Bondi said. She added that "we raise millions of dollars, that's only 25,000 in the whole scheme of a campaign." Bondi said that she was unaware that her office had been asked about the New York lawsuit until a Florida columnist highlighted the case and the donation from Trump in October 2013. She said she tried to return the $25,000 check to Trump this year when she found out that the money came from his foundation and not from his personal funds. But the Trump Foundation returned the money and told Bondi's accountant that Trump himself had reimbursed the money. Even after questions were raised about the propriety of her taking money from Trump, she still welcomed the billionaire businessman's support. Trump hosted a March 2014 fundraiser for Bondi on the lawn of his palatial Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Attendees were asked to give the $3,000 maximum individual donation allowed under state law. Records show that Bondi's re-election campaign received 24 checks totaling $57,000 on the date of the Trump fundraiser. Justice for All, the political committee supporting Bondi, also took in $30,000 that day. Florida Democrats said Bondi's public statements did not clear up questions that still remain about the Trump donation. Rep. Ted Deutch, a South Florida Democrat and member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that "Bondi's murky answers only raise more questions" that should be looked into by federal prosecutors. He said the public needs to know exactly when she solicited the donation and whether it was before or after her office made a decision on how to respond to the New York lawsuit. "Bribery is a serious federal offense, and the Department of Justice needs to determine if Pam Bondi was paid to look the other way as Trump University was cleared of wrongdoing," Deutch said. ___ Biesecker reported from Washington. ___ US imposes sanctions against Syrian-based radical group WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a Syrian-based radical group formerly affiliated with al-Qaida, the State Department said Tuesday. Jund al-Aqsa had once been part of the group that had been known as the Nusra Front, a splinter group of al-Qaida that later cut its ties with the extremist organization. Jund al-Aqsa primarily operates in the northern Syrian cities of Idlib and Hama. The State Department said that Jund al-Aqsa was found to "have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States." Nusra Front, which changed its name in July to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, has long been at odds with the Islamic State group, particularly with regard to attacks on fellow Muslims. Earlier this year, the Nusra Front attracted a coalition, waging a counteroffensive around the city of Aleppo, retaking ground from President Bashar Assad's military and its allies and inflicting heavy casualties. 2 potential bombing witnesses seen with suitcase are sought NEW YORK (AP) Investigators of last weekend's bombings have released an image of two men who took a suitcase they found on a city street, possibly without realizing a wired pressure cooker they removed from it and left behind could have blown them to bits. Police investigating the bombings in New York and New Jersey have been saying for several days they were looking for the men, who they stressed were being sought as potential witnesses in the case, not as suspects. "They're not in any jeopardy of being arrested," Jim Watters, chief of the New York Police Department's counterterrorism unit, said on Wednesday. "We have no reason to believe they're connected." This video frame grab provided by the FBI shows two unidentified men walking in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, around the time when a bomb exploded on a nearby street. Investigators said the men are being sought as witnesses in connection with the explosion and another explosive device that was found nearby. (FBI via AP) Federal prosecutors have charged Ahmad Khan Rahami with detonating a pipe bomb in a New Jersey shore town on Saturday morning and a pressure cooker bomb in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood later that night. Thirty-one people were injured in the New York blast. A second pressure cooker bomb left in Manhattan didn't explode and is the subject of the latest public plea. Prosecutors said surveillance video shows Rahami rolling a suitcase down the street, then abandoning it on the sidewalk where that second device was found. A few minutes later, two men pass by the luggage and appear to admire it, police said. They then remove a pressure cooker from the luggage, leave the pressure cooker on the sidewalk and walk away with the luggage. "I think they were more interested in the bag, not what they were taking out," Watters said, adding that they were "very, very lucky" the bomb didn't explode. In court papers, a public defender sought a court appearance for Rahami, an Afghan-born U.S. citizen, so he can hear the federal terrorism charges against him. On Wednesday night, Manhattan U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein refused a request by Federal Defenders of New York to schedule an initial appearance for Rahami on federal charges, even if it must be conducted remotely from a hospital bed. The judge noted that court rules require an arrested person be brought before the court "without unnecessary delay." He said there is no evidence contrary to government claims that Rahami remains held on state charges in New Jersey and has not yet been arrested on the federal charges. The judge was also unpersuaded by federal defender claims that federal law enforcement is involved in detaining and questioning Rahami. "In fact, this question is very much in dispute," Gorenstein wrote. Rahami, 28, was arrested on Monday following a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. He is being held on $5.2 million bail, and he faces state charges of attempted murder of police officers. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Rahami will be moved to New York to face federal charges in the "near future." In a bloodied journal recovered by investigators, Rahami made references to Osama bin Laden, American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and former Army officer Nidal Hasan, who went on a shooting rampage in Ford Hood, Texas, according to a federal complaint. In one section, the complaint says, Rahami wrote: "Death to your oppression." Two federal law enforcement officials said Rahami's wife, thought to be a Pakistani national, will return soon to the United States. One of the officials said the wife made a statement to authorities after walking into the U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates. The other official said investigators believe she left the U.S. for Pakistan in June. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the ongoing case. Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, touring the site of the Manhattan blast on Wednesday, said he believes insurance companies will cover most of the losses incurred by those whose businesses and homes were damaged. But he said if there are gaps in coverage, the state would pay for anything left outstanding from its emergency funds. Also Wednesday, a homeless man who took a backpack from a garbage can near a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on Sunday night, not knowing it contained pipe bombs prosecutors say were made by Rahami, said he's grateful he didn't prompt an explosion. "I don't like to think about what could have happened, but I'm just so blessed and glad it didn't," Lee Parker said. "I still have my nine lives, I guess, and I'm going to keep trying to live them well." ___ Trimble reported from Elizabeth. Associated Press reporters Verena Dobnik and Larry Neumeister in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. This image released by House Homeland Security Committee shows pages in a notebook recovered in the arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami. Federal court complaints filed Sept. 20 gave a chilling glimpse into what authorities say motivated the Afghan-born U.S. citizen to set off explosives last weekend in New York City and New Jersey, including a bomb that injured 31 people in Manhattan. The complaints said in his bloodied journal, damaged by shots from his gun battle with police, he fumed that the U.S. government was slaughtering Muslim holy warriors and alluded to plans for revenge. (House Homeland Security Committee via AP) Lee Parker explains to reporters how he found a bomb near a trash can, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. Authorities say Parker and a friend contacted police after finding the bag near the Elizabeth train station Sunday night. Federal investigators say the bag was left by New York-region bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Lee Parker, left, poses for a photo with Raiza Acosta, who wanted to thank Parker for finding a bomb near a trash can, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. Acosta, who works in Elizabeth, was driving by and recognized Parker. Authorities say Parker and a friend contacted police after finding the bag near the Elizabeth train station Sunday night. Federal investigators say the bag was left by New York-region bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) This poster provided by the FBI shows an image of two unidentified men walking on in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, around the time when a bomb exploded on a nearby street. The men are being sought as witnesses in connection with the explosion and another explosive device that was found nearby. (FBI via AP) FILE - This September 2016 file photo provided by Union County Prosecutor's Office shows Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is in custody as a suspect in the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. Rahami worked as an unarmed night guard for two months in 2011 at an AP administrative technology office in Cranbury, N.J. At the time, he was employed by Summit Security, a private contractor. Rahami remained hospitalized Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, after a shootout the day before with police in New Jersey. (Union County Prosecutor's Office via AP, File) FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016 file photo, members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) carry on investigations at the scene of Saturday's explosion on West 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, in New York. An explosion rocked the block of West 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. A U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan has been charged by federal officials in two states with planting bombs in New York and at a military charity run and train station in New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami remained hospitalized Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, after a shootout the day before with police in New Jersey. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File) A police officer ties tape around the First American Fried Chicken restaurant, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. The Elizabeth establishment and the apartment above are tied to Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was arrested as a suspect in the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 19, 2016 file photo, Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police in Linden, N.J. Rahami, a U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan has been charged by federal officials in two states with planting bombs in New York and at a military charity run and train station in New Jersey. Rahami remained hospitalized Tuesday, Sept. 20, after a shootout the day before with police in New Jersey. (Nicolaus Czarnecki/The Boston Herald via AP) A police officer ties tape around the First American Fried Chicken restaurant, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. The Elizabeth establishment and the apartment above are tied to Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was arrested as a suspect in the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Lee Parker, right, is hugged by Raiza Acosta who wanted to thank Parker for finding a bomb near a trash can, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. Acosta, who works in Elizabeth, was driving by and recognized Parker. Authorities say Parker and a friend contacted police after finding the bag near the Elizabeth train station Sunday night. Federal investigators say the bag was left by New York-region bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Lee Parker explains to reporters how he found a bomb near a trash can, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, in Elizabeth, N.J. Authorities say Parker and a friend contacted police after finding the bag near the Elizabeth train station Sunday night. Federal investigators say the bag was left by New York-region bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Opinion / Columnist How are you Zimbabweans!Let me take this opportunity to expose Zimbabwe Republic Police Commisioner General (Augustine Chihuri), Deputy Commissioners and officer commanding all Zimbabwean Police provinces.Almost the entire nation is now against the police and in most cases the public always blame constables on the ground for abusing human rights through brutalising peaceful protestors and massive corruption on our roads. The general public tends to forget that in every organisations there are those responsible for drafting policies/strategies and those who implement those strategies. Police senior officers are to blame for these human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.As junior members of the Zimbabwe Republic police we are forced by these bosses with filthy hands to disrupt peaceful demonstrations.Failure to take instructions from these idiots will amount to mutiny. It is very sad that we are ordered to harass our parents, brothers and sisters who are fighting for a better Zimbabwe which will benefit us all. We are being used to protect the regime that doesn't even want to see its citizens living a better life. We are like condoms, being used and dumped after use. The same bosses sending us to abuse innocent citizens are the same bosses ill-treating us on daily basis at workplaces. Working for the Zimbabwe Republic police is no longer exciting these days.The same bosses who are giving us orders to harass people are the same people harassing us at workplaces on daily basis. As a junior member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, for the 9 years i have been serving this organisation - I only enjoy being a policeman only when I am on vacational leave.Chihuri and his crew are stealing from us day and night and our Zanu pf government which is also full of thieves is doing nothing despite several complaints leaking through newspapers and social media.things like raffle tickets,Kuyedza contributions,recreational funds are making us continue wallowing in poverty.They always lie to the public that raffle tickets and kuyedza contribution are voluntary yet in actual fact they are forcing us,failure to pay then face disciplinary action and victimisation.This is the only issue which is causing too much corruption in our organisation. As I speak now they want $72-00 only this month from every male member of the force I.e (kuyedza cloth -$50,raffle ticket-$12 ,recreational fund-$10). Where do this money come from considering our salary is not enough??????.To show this theft by police bosses, In Bulawayo province every member pays 1 dollars contribution towards recreational fund every month. In Mashonaland East province, every member pays 2 dollars contribution towards recreational fund every month. At support unit every member pays 10 dollars contribution towards recreational fund every month. This difference on amount paid on same thing in same organisation shows theft of great magnitude by police bosses. There is a lot happening in our organization and as I'm writing this, I'm now thinking that our president Mugabe have a share on these large sums of money stolen from us on daily basis. Of all the police provinces in Zimbabwe, mashonaland East province police bosses are serious when it comes to milking junior police officers who are already suffering due to insufficient salary. It is not a secret that Chihuri is the one sending these bosses to steal from us because if it was not the case,he should have arrested them.On Kuyedza club issue,every male member is forced to pay one off payment of 50 dollars payable this month for buying just a simple cloth with police badges.They are saying that the cloth should be used for sewing African attires for our wives.can you just imagine forcing our wives to wear dress order which they do not want.ZRP has a total strength of around 50 000. This means on raffle tickets alone Chihuri and his crew are getting about 600 000 dollars.On Kuyedza cloth--- male officers are around 35 000. Meaning Chihuri is getting 1,75m dollars. Kuyedza club is headed by Mai Augustine Chihuri and this is planned theft by Chihuri and his wife. MORE THAN 2 MILLION DOLLARS ONLY FOR THIS MONTH OF SEPTEMBER. CHIHURI IS STEALING. THIS IS A THIEF.They banned us from entering into transport business even though I have all requirements in accordance with vehicle registration and licencing Act & road motor Transportation Act. The issue is simple-they don't us to compete with them since most of these bosses owns buses and trucks. Its very sad that our constitution gives every Zimbabwean a right to trade but these Zanu pf idiots masquerading as senior police officers always want people to suffer. It is an obvious situation that if you make someone suffer, he will look for other avenues to get money-in this case through corruption. If an employee invest his salary into any business, he/she expects to get a return. That profit he/she gets add to his/her salary thereby reducing the need of corruption. IN THIS CASE WHO TO BLAME ON CORRUPTION???? People should go and protest in front of police stations to show their displeasure on how the police is trembling on citizens rights.Provided we still have the so Zanu Pf appointed thugs in government offices-things will never change in Zimbabwe.we will never never have democracy and corruption free Zimbabwe provided these Zanu PF sponsored thugs are still alive.It is high Time for Zimbabweans to unite and tell this government that as Zimbabweans we are tired to be ruled by a ruthless vampire like Mugabe.in 2008,our brothers and sisters were killed and others had their arms cut short by Zanu PF thugs masquerading as youth and war veterans only for supporting MDC T. Just imagine killing someone who is exercising his/her political right.Our president (Mugabe) no longer have anything to give Zimbabweans other than protecting thieves whom he appointed to be the heads of law enforcement agencies and other parastals.tosvikepi nhai vana veZimbabwe - we are now tired.All those related to Mugabe should enjoy now because time for them to perish the same way their master (Mugabe) killed our brothers and sisters during genocide commonly known as Gukurahundi is now close. As Zimbabweans we should not in any way allow the Matibiri family to grow again in Zimbabwe. This family is toxic and we should never smile at anyone who takes away our happiness like Mugabe's family and Relatives. These relatives should pray so that they die first before Mugabe's death.Lets unite Zimbabweans. 24-year-old Steven Brown of Port Richey turned himself in to investigators A Florida man grabbed his drugs after blowing up his home, but left his one-year-old daughter and two caged dogs behind. Steven Brown of Port Richey turned himself in to Pasco County investigators on Monday after the explosion on September 3. The 24-year-old was making hash oil when his house burst into flames. He faces arson, drug and aggravated cruelty to animal charges. Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Doll says Brown was trying to cook the very potent type of marijuana inside his home when the fire started. Deputies say Brown took his drugs and fled the residence, leaving behind a one-year-old child and two dogs. The child wasn't hurt, but both dogs died in the fire The one-year-old child's crib and soft toys can be clearly seen in this picture released by cops Deputies say after the fire, Brown then grabbed his drugs and fled the home, leaving his two caged dogs to die in the fire The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says this is the first explosion caused by marijuana wax or butane hash in the county It is very dangerous because like a lot of organic solvents making the hash oil is very flammable, and using propane or butane there is the risk of an explosion Deputies say Brown took his drugs and fled the residence. But he didn't return to pick up the youngster or his two pets. The child wasn't hurt, but the dogs later died. Authorities had been searching for Brown, who they say fled from a traffic stop September 9. Jail records don't indicate whether he has an attorney. 'It was loud. I'm talking about like somebody just dropped a bomb,' neighbor Cynthia Bryant said of the explosion to BayNews9. 'It is very dangerous because like a lot of organic solvents it's very flammable, and using propane or butane, it's also explosive,' said Alfred Aleguas with the Florida Poison Information Center. Aleguas says propane from a grill or butane from a lighter is used to extract the THC, if there's a spark it could lead to an explosion. A drug-related explosion accidentally burned his house down, authorities said The Pasco County Sheriffs Office said that something went wrong during the process of marijuana cooking in the house During the process, the marijuana is cooked down into a waxy form that is more potent and is more easy to package and sell The explosion was heard by many residents in the neighborhood This is the first marijuana wax explosion for the Bay Area and deputies can only hope this won't be the start of a dangerous trend According to deputies, when Brown was faced with the decision of what to save from the fire, he grabbed his drugs and ranleaving his two caged dogs to die in the blaze The Latest: Somali community deals with aftermath of attack ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) The Latest on the stabbings at a Minnesota mall over the weekend (all times local): 4 p.m. Somalis in a central Minnesota city are trying to square the bright, family-minded young man who went to the mall to buy the new iPhone with the emotionless man who stabbed 10 people and in death is the subject of a terrorism investigation. Somali-American leaders hold a press conference Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, in St. Cloud, Minn., to address the stabbing and shooting incident that happened Saturday at Crossroads Center Mall. A man in a private security uniform stabbed nine people at a Minnesota shopping mall Saturday, reportedly asking one victim if they were Muslim before an off-duty police officer shot and killed him in an attack the Islamic State group claimed as its own. (Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times via AP) The aftermath of Saturday's attack at Crossroads Center Mall in St. Cloud also is testing longstanding efforts to improve strained relations between the city's Somali community and other residents. Several Somalis said they saw pickups driving through predominantly Somali neighborhoods the night after the attack, waving confederate flags and honking. It's still unclear what led 20-year-old Dahir Adan to stab several people with what appeared to be a kitchen knife before he was confronted and killed by an off-duty police officer. The FBI said Tuesday that its Joint Terrorism Task Force will take over the investigation. ___ 3:50 p.m. The FBI says the investigation into a knife attack at a Minnesota mall is now a federal probe. FBI Special Agent in Charge Rick Thornton and St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson announced Tuesday that the case will now be led by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. The St. Cloud Police Department will continue to assist. Authorities say 20-year-old Dahir Ahmed Adan stabbed 10 people at Crossroads Center mall on Saturday before he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Thornton said earlier this week that authorities are investigating the attack as a potential act of terrorism. FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said authorities are following up on all leads, and figuring out what motivated Adan is a big part of the investigation. ___ 3:35 p.m. The chairman of the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is seeking more information on two men accused in potential acts of terror. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson is asking the Department of Homeland Security to provide information about Dahir Ahmed Adan, who was killed after he stabbed or cut 10 people at a Minnesota mall, and Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is accused of leaving bombs in New York and New Jersey. Johnson says it's important for Congress to learn more about these men in order to evaluate efforts to counter homegrown extremism. Among other things, Johnson is seeking the men's immigration records, records on foreign travel and any citizenship applications. Authorities have said they're looking at the Adan attack as possible terrorism, in part because an Islamic State-run news agency claimed he was a "soldier of the Islamic State." It is unclear whether Adan was radicalized. The Republican is in a close race for re-election with Democrat Russ Feingold. ___ 12 p.m. A man who was stabbed in the back during a knife attack at a St. Cloud mall that injured nine others says he begged his attacker not to kill him. Isaiah Mordal says he was leaving work at a pretzel shop at Crossroads Center mall Saturday with his girlfriend Johanna Bohnenkamp when he saw Dahir Adan stab two others. Mordal tells KARE-TV (http://kare11.tv/2deRVXu ) he and Bohnenkamp were cornered by the man before they could run. Mordal suffered a stab wound that required stitches. When confronted, Mordal said he told Adan, "please don't do this." The man then turned to Bohnenkamp, who is nine months pregnant. As Mordal screamed and ran at him, the man cut the back of Bohnenkamp's neck. An off-duty officer fatally shot Adan. All ten victims survived their wounds. ___ 1:40 a.m. He was a recent college student and had worked part time. He was said to be a high school honors student. He had nothing more than a minor traffic citation on his record. But on Saturday, for reasons still unclear, authorities say Dahir Ahmed Adan went to a central Minnesota mall and cut or stabbed 10 people before he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Little new information was released Monday about the 20-year-old Adan. But authorities are investigating the attacks as a potential act of terrorism. A Somali community advocate who spoke with Adan's parents said he was going to the mall to pick up an iPhone. Those who know Adan say he was a calm, cool guy, and they are trying to figure out what pushed him to violence. People stand near the entrance on the north side of Crossroads Center mall between Macy's and Target as officials investigate a reported multiple stabbing incident, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, in St. Cloud, Minn. Police said multiple people were injured at the St. Cloud shopping mall on Saturday evening in an attack possibly involving both shooting and stabbing. The suspect is believed to be dead, St. Cloud Police Sgt. Jason Burke told the St. Cloud Times. (Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times via AP) Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Center for American-Islamic Relations Minnesota, talks with reporters during a press conference Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, at Lake George, in St. Cloud, Minn., expressing the Somali-American community reaction to the Crossroads Center attack. (St. Cloud Times/Jason Wachter via AP) St. Cloud, Minn., Police Chief William Blair Anderson and other officials hold a press conference Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, giving updated information on the Crossroads Center incident at the St. Cloud Police Department. A man in a private security uniform stabbed nine people at a Minnesota shopping mall Saturday, reportedly asking one victim if they were Muslim before an off-duty police officer shot and killed him in an attack the Islamic State group claimed as its own. (Jason Wachter/St. Cloud Times via AP) Abdulwahid Osman, the lawyer for the family of Dahir Ahmed Adan, speaks during a news conference at St. Cloud City Hall in St. Cloud, Minn., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Adan went to a central Minnesota mall and cut or stabbed 10 people before he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer on Saturday. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP) Isaiah Mordal, 22, and his girlfriend Johanna Bohnenkamp, 15, who is 9 months pregnant, outside their home in Big Lake on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Mordal and Bohnenkamp were both attacked by a man, suspected of being motivated by global terror, who stabbed several people late Saturday, Sept. 17 before an off-duty police officer fatally shot the attacker at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, Minn. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP) US examines airstrikes said to have hit Syrian troops WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S.-led coalition monitored a target in Syria for two days and deemed it valid before launching the airstrikes that Russia says hit and killed Syrian government troops Saturday, a U.S. Central Command officer said Tuesday. Col. John Thomas said that when the Russian military called the coalition to halt the strikes, the first call was "a little bit cryptic" and didn't get through to the right coalition officer immediately. He said that when the Russians called back, they spoke to the right officer and provided more details. At that point, Thomas said, the strikes were halted in less than five minutes. Providing new details of the strikes, which complicated what has been a largely unsuccessful cease-fire agreement, Thomas said the U.S. military is appointing a brigadier general to investigate the incident. The strikes on the Deir el-Zour site lasted almost an hour, and he indicated there still is some lingering doubt about whether the strikes actually hit Syrian forces. "We did take a couple of days to look at it, to develop the target, and the decision was made by the decision authority that it was a good target, looking at all of the intelligence and considering it. So the decision was not made on the spur of the moment," said Thomas. "Our best indications are that that process was followed. What may or may not have been flawed, or what we may or may not have had wrong on that, is what the investigating officer will look at." U.S. officials said there are lingering questions about reports that the troops or people on the ground were not wearing uniforms and that they were armed, leading to confusion about who they might be. Other theories suggest they may have been conscripted troops or prisoners of some sort, but officials said they have no solid findings yet on those reports. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. He declined to identify the coalition members whose aircraft participated in the strikes, saying only that it was "more than just the United States." Britain, Denmark and Australia have acknowledged that their aircraft took part in the strikes, and it's not clear if any other nations were involved. Asked about the delay between the first phone call from the Russians and the second, Thomas said one person is responsible for taking calls from the Russians every day. When the Russians called the first time, the coalition person was not there, since the call was unexpected. Officials went to get the officer, who was then able to talk to the Russians on the second call, when they provided greater detail on the strike problems. He said the coalition conducted a "good number" of strikes during the 30-50 minutes they were carried out before the aircraft were called off. Thomas said he had few new details about the airstrike Monday that hit a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid. He said it did not involve coalition aircraft and added: "It does look like an airstrike. The only other entities that fly in Syria right now are Russia and Syria. This has been in the past a strategic area for the Russians." White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Tuesday that whether Russia or Syria struck the convoy, the U.S. held Russia responsible, because it was Russia's job under the week-old cease-fire to prevent Syria's air force from striking in areas where humanitarian aid was being transported. The U.S.-led coalition has not operated in that area around Aleppo, and instead has routinely targeted Islamic State militants in other parts of the country. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the strike killed about 20 civilians, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. ___ The Latest: Husband held in Vegas airport carpark shooting LAS VEGAS (AP) The Latest on a shooting that wounded two people at a parking structure at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas (all times local): 10:15 a.m. Police in Las Vegas say a 68-year-old man accused of shooting and wounding two people in a parking area at McCarran International Airport was the estranged husband of one of the victims. Officer Larry Hadfield said Tuesday the suspect, Jeffrey K. Brown, was later arrested at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Las Vegas. Brown was jailed pending an initial court appearance on attempted murder and other charges in the shooting shortly before 6 p.m. Monday. Hadfield says Brown's wife and a man were walking to a car after arriving in Las Vegas from Indianapolis. Capt. Vincent Cannito told reporters the shooting occurred in a long-term parking lot on the sixth floor of the Terminal 1 parking structure. Cannito says the wounded woman and man were hospitalized in stable condition. Their names have not been made public. Airport Director Rosemary Vassiliadis (vas-ill-ee-AH'-dehs) said airport operations and flights weren't affected. ____ 8:15 a.m. Authorities in Las Vegas say a man was arrested after a shooting that wounded two people in a parking area at McCarran International Airport. Police say the gunfire shortly before 6 p.m. Monday involved a man who had a previous relationship with a woman who arrived in Las Vegas with a man after traveling. The suspected gunman was later arrested at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Las Vegas. The names of the suspect and the wounded were not immediately made public. Capt. Vincent Cannito told reporters the shooting happened in a long-term parking lot on the sixth floor of the Terminal 1 parking structure. He says the wounded woman and man were hospitalized in stable condition. Cate Blanchett reveals the extraordinary ways she got into character for her role in new film Tar - as she's tipped to land her second Best Actress Oscar Reno-based Eldorado Resorts buying Isle of Capri Casinos RENO, Nev. (AP) Eldorado Resorts has agreed to buy Missouri-based Isle of Capri Casinos for $1.7 billion in combined stocks and cash, a move that will add 13 casino-resorts to the Reno-based company's portfolio. The deal announced Monday includes $929 million of long-term debt held by Isle of Capri Casinos. The company based in the St. Louis area operates 14 casino properties in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Eldorado Resorts chairman and CEO Gary Carano told the Reno-Gazette Journal (http://tinyurl.com/jcz253g) the deal will help spread his company's risk across 20 casinos in 10 different states. "In in our business, like in any business, you like to be in as much control as you can of your risk factors," Carano said. "It's truly a transformational deal for us." Eldorado's expanded property portfolio will include about 20,800 slot machines and video lottery terminals, more than 560 table games and 6,500 hotel rooms. The company said in a news release it received the $2.1 billion in financing from J.P. Morgan. "We're acquiring a great company, one that was founded by the Goldstein family," Carano said. 'They built the first riverboat casino in America." Isle of Capri Casinos will move its headquarters from Creve Coeur, Missouri, to Reno as part of the transaction unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The purchase is subject to approval by stockholders and gambling regulators in both states. It's expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. Bernie Goldstein, who died in 2009, opened the first riverboat casino in Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1991 and founded what became Isle of Capri when he opened a riverboat casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1992. His family members remain on the board of directors at Isle of Capri, which owns or operates casino properties primarily under the Isle and Lady Luck brands. State police: Deputies fatally shoot man in West Tennessee DECATURVILLE, Tenn. (AP) State police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man by deputies in rural West Tennessee early Tuesday. It happened after a robbery at a Decatur County gas station, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Susan Niland said. Responding county deputies tried to stop a car matching the description of a vehicle involved in the robbery, Niland said. The driver drove off the road and down an embankment in an attempt to avoid deputies, she said. Deputies followed and got into an altercation with the driver. Niland said shots were fired and the driver, identified as Charles Dove, 35, of Jackson, was killed. Authorities found a gun on Dove, but it isn't clear if he fired it, Niland said. Five deputies were involved in the shooting, but it isn't immediately known how many shot Dove, she said. Dove was white, and so are the deputies involved in the incident, Niland said. The deputies' names were not released. Venezuela says US plane violated airspace CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Venezuela says a U.S. military plane violated its airspace last week during a summit of Non-Aligned Movement of nations. Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino said Tuesday that a U.S. plane entered the South American country's airspace on Sept. 16 to spy on the meeting of the 120-nation group. He said the plane came 130 nautical miles (240 kilometers) from the island of Margarita, where the summit was being held. International maritime law grants nations an exclusive economic zone for 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from their coasts. Padrino identified the plane as a Dash-8, a Canadian-made model sometimes used for surveillance. Venezuela accuses the U.S. of violating its airspace 32 times this year. Moments in Brad and Angelina's Hollywood romance LOS ANGELES (AP) Irreconcilable differences have brought an end to a Hollywood romance for the ages. Angelina Jolie Pitt filed for divorce from Brad Pitt on Monday after 12 years together. A collection of key moments in their relationship. A HOLLYWOOD MEETING (2003) Co-stars falling in love is about as cliched as it gets, but it happens, even when one party is married. The scene for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie was "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," a sexy action comedy about an unhappy couple who rekindle that spark only after trying to kill one another. Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston. Jolie was fresh off a divorce from Billy Bob Thornton (and had previously been married to Jonny Lee Miller). "I think we found this strange friendship and partnership that kind of just suddenly happened," Jolie told Vogue in 2006. "We just became kind of a pair." FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2007 file photo, Brad Pitt, and actress Angelina Jolie arrive for the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. Angelina Jolie Pitt has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, bringing an end to one of the world's most star-studded, tabloid-generating romances. An attorney for Jolie Pitt, Robert Offer, said Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, that she has filed for the dissolution of the marriage. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) RUMORS AND TABLOIDS AND DIVORCE (2004-2005) "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" wrapped in 2004 and it wasn't until January 2005 that Pitt and Aniston announced their separation. During this time, Jolie said, "We spent a lot of time contemplating and thinking and talking about what we both wanted in life and realized that we wanted very, very similar things." Jolie said it was when her son Maddox called Pitt "dad" that was the most defining moment. They decided not to marry until gay couples were afforded the same right. ADOPTING TOGETHER (2005) Jolie had adopted Maddox from Cambodia in 2002 and later said that she made the decision to adopt Zahara Marley, an Ethiopian baby orphaned by AIDS, in 2005, with Pitt. "Somebody told me if you are going to adopt an orphan, you should adopt them from a country you love because that's the only history you are going to be able to share with them that's their past," Jolie told People in 2003. A BIRTH IN NAMIBIA (2006) On May, 27, 2006, Jolie gave birth to their first biological child, a 7-pound daughter they named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, at the Cottage Medi-Clinic in Namibia. MAKING IT RIGHT IN NEW ORLEANS (2007) Pitt, who bought a home in New Orleans about a year after Hurricane Katrina struck and while filming "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," launched the Make it Right building project to help reconstruct the city's most devastated area. A MOTHER'S DEATH (2007) Jolie's mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, who raised Jolie and her older brother James Haven, died in January of 2007 at age 56 after a seven-year battle with breast cancer. Pitt, Haven and Jolie were at the Los Angeles hospital when she passed. PAX (2007) Jolie and Pitt adopted Pax Thien, a 3-year-old orphan from Vietnam, in 2007. IT'S A BOY! AND A GIRL! (2008) This time in a seaside hospital on the French Riviera, Jolie gave birth on July 12, 2008, to twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline. Their first photos were sold jointly to People and Hello! magazines, reportedly for $14 million. Proceeds would go to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation. AN ENGAGEMENT (2012) After some seven years together, Pitt and Jolie made the decision to get engaged. "It actually means more to me than I thought it would. It means a lot to our kids," Pitt told The Associated Press in November 2012. JOLIE'S DOUBLE MASTECTOMY (2013) At age 37, Jolie had a preventive double mastectomy in February of 2013 after learning that she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. She made the announcement in the form of an op-ed she authored for The New York Times. "I do not feel any less of a woman," Jolie wrote. "I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity." A QUIET CHATEAU WEDDING (2014) In August 2014, Jolie and Pitt exchanged vows in a small chapel at the Chateau Miraval, their Southern France home in the Provence hamlet of Correns. Jolie walked the aisle with her eldest sons, the then 13-year-old Maddox and 10-year-old Pax. Daughters Zahara, 9, and Vivienne, 6, threw flower petals. Eight-year-old Shiloh and Knox, 6, served as ring bearers. FROM JOLIE TO JOLIE PITT (2015) In early 2015, Jolie started going by Angelina Jolie Pitt. ROCKY TIMES BY THE SEA (2015) Ironic now, but Jolie wrote and directed "By the Sea" about the dissolution of a beautiful couple, falling apart over grief. It was the first time she and Pitt starred opposite one another since that fateful meeting on that other film about a rocky relationship, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." At the film's premiere in November 2015, Jolie Pitt said: "You're going to have a long life ahead of you and you've got to shake it up and, sometimes, it's really wonderful to test yourselves, to push each other." LAST PUBLIC SIGHTING (2016) The pair was last photographed by paparazzi in July in Los Angeles celebrating Knox and Vivienne's 8th birthday at The Griddle Cafe in Hollywood and venturing out to Jamba Juice with Shiloh. A SEPARATION (2016) On Sept. 20, 2016, Robert Offer, an attorney for Jolie Pitt said that she was filing for divorce from Pitt. Offer said the decision to divorce was made "for the health of the family." ___ This story corrects name change in time line and corrects that divorce proceeding was filed Monday not Tuesday. FILE - This file photo provided by Universal Pictures shows, Brad Pitt, left, and Angelina Jolie Pitt in a scene from the film "By the Sea." Angelina Jolie Pitt has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, bringing an end to one of the world's most star-studded, tabloid-generating romances. An attorney for Jolie Pitt, Robert Offer, said Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, that she has filed for the dissolution of the marriage. (Universal Pictures via AP, File) George Washington's beer on tap for presidential debate HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) A beer recipe from America's first president will be on the tips of some tongues outside the upcoming debate to choose the next president. A New York brewery has whipped up what it calls "Colonial Ale." The Blue Point Brewing Company, in Long Island, says it used the recipe from a 25-year-old George Washington that was found in the archives of the New York Public Library. Washington was a colonel in the Virginia Regiment Militia when he wrote the recipe in a military notebook in 1757. The recipe features barley, corn, oats, wheat, molasses and spruce tips. Opinion / Columnist Recent reports doing rounds to the effect that Dr Joyce Mujuru intends to visit the Gukurahundi mass graves in a tour are not only surprising but scares the days lights out of the predominantly Ndebele victims and all sane people who understand and value peoples different cultures.In as much as we may understand that Dr Mujuru is fighting for her political life, we are shocked to hear her insinuate that she intends to tour the graves of our 20 000 plus relatives who perished at the hands of the Zimbabwean government, which Dr Mujuru was part of.What surprises us more is the fact that even when the genocide started in 1982 and ended in 1987, Dr Mujuru never at any given time opened her mouth to condemn it. Even as Gukurahundi continued from 1987 to date, albeit in another form,Mujuru was dead silent about it.Here is the shocker. When Mugabe went on his maiden trip as Prime Minister, to North Korea where and when the deal to train the Fifth Brigade was done, Dr Mujuru was part of the delegation. By virtue of that, she became highly complicit in Gukurahundi and, according to our culture, her hands today drip with the blood of our people who were massacred by the Fifth Brigade.It is also hypocritical of Dr Mujuru to shed crocodile tears over Gukurahundi today especially when her husband was commander of the army and he never lifted a finger to stop the killings. Neither did Gen Mujuru denounce or condemn the genocide, even in the inner most of his heart.Back to our culture as amaNdebele, we are anxious to know how much Dr Mujuru know and understand as our culture, bearing in mind that she's from the Kore Kore people whose cultural beliefs and practices are totally different from ours.How does she intend to visit open mass graves of the predominantly Ndebele people who lost their lives under the most humiliating manner at the hands of predominantly Shona Fifth Brigade? How does she intend to appease the grieving spirits of these people?Who is accompanying Dr Mujuru to these graves? Is it a state visit? Have the graves been declared tourist sites or monuments that every jack and Jill can visit them? Whoever is accompanying Dr Mujuru needs to appraise the Mthwakazi Nation in what capacity and whose authority they will be doing that. Have the traditional leaders been informed about the pending visit? What have they got to say about it? What are the people saying about it? By people we mean all affected people of Matabeleland and Midlands, not supporters of ZimPF.We would like to advise Dr Mujuru to exercise caution especially when handling sensitive matters such as Gukurahundi. This is about people's lives and emotions.The learned Dr Mujuru must also remember that her government refuse to apologise for the genocide, and we are sceptical as to the real purpose of her visit. A normal thinking person will think she's on a fact finding mission to ascertain whether or not the graves exist. How does somebody deny responsibility of a murder and the next day they visit the grave of the murdered?Food for thought.Dr Mujuru is only articulating the ZANU PF position and opinion about the people of Matabeleland. She's lending her voice to Mnangagwa's calls to destroy the evidence by conducting illegal reburials. She is not talking about rehabilitation and reconciliation, which can only come after admission of culpability and apologising.We wish to point out that Dr Mujuru is no different from her colleagues in ZANU PF. Her fight is only against Mugabe for leadership of ZANU PF. Just like everyone else in ZANU PF, Dr Mujuru has no moral standing talking about Gukurahundi before admitting and apologising. The people are not stupid Dr Mujuru, we are just tolerant.Ackim Gasela MhlangaActing Secretary for information and PublicityMthwakazi Republic Party (MRP). NATO chief plans to meet Russian foreign minister UNITED NATIONS (AP) NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York to discuss measures to avoid accidental confrontations between the alliance and Russian armed forces. "I think it is important to continue to have a chance for political dialogue open, and I look forward to meeting him tomorrow," the NATO chief told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The secretary-general welcomed Russia's "interest and willingness to sit down and discuss proposals on risk reduction and transparency." Stoltenberg, however, refused to elaborate on the substance of measures which will be discussed with Lavrov. The two leaders will convene Wednesday amid increasing concerns over Russian drills conducted without advance notification. NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow estimated that there had been about a dozen in the past two years. The alliance chief also said that NATO AWACS surveillance planes will be deployed "in the near future" to help the U.S.-led coalition combat the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Stoltenberg added that the coalition members have already agreed on technicalities of planned AWACS operations, the groundwork for which was laid out at NATO's summit in Warsaw, Poland, in July. Members of the anti-IS coalition "need more air surveillance to be able to conduct their air operations as efficiently as possible, and we will provide that," he stressed. Austrian leaders urge EU action to tighten Europe's borders UNITED NATIONS (AP) Ahead of a major European meeting on the refugee crisis convened by Austria, the country's chancellor and foreign minister on Tuesday urged joint EU action on tightening up Europe's external borders and a "Marshall Plan" for countries responsible for most of the migrant influx to the continent to reduce incentives to leave. Austria is governed by a coalition of Social Democrats and the center-right People's Party. At a time of increased tension between the two parties, comments by Chancellor Christian Kern and Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz reflected attempts to stake out political positions that will appeal to their voter base. Kern, a Social Democrat, focused on the need to reduce the migrant influx by improving the lives of those most likely to leave their home countries. Kurz, of the People's Party, hit hard on the need to secure border controls. But both strove to reduce fears of a rightward lurch by Austria, through increasingly restrictive border policies and amid projections that Norbert Hofer of Austria's xenophobic Freedom Party has the edge in delayed presidential elections now scheduled for December. New erected fences sit on the border between Hungary and Austria in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Kern avoided directly responding when asked if that perceived rightward shift had been raised by other leaders attending the session. "Even in case Mr. Hofer would win the election, life would go on," he said. "We have a stable government, and we are part of the European Union representing the values of its foundation." Kurz's party has moved further right on refugees than Kern's, opening it up to criticism that its policies are not much different from those of the Freedom Party. But Kurz said Austria is not alone in its switch this year from open to tight borders. "There is now an understanding in the European Union that we have to stop the flow of illegal migrants, and that we need border controls to our external borders," he said. "I don't think this is a far-right position. It's a necessary position." The two spoke ahead of a regional refugee summit in Vienna on Saturday, convened by Kern to try and harmonize policies a difficult proposition considering that those attending will include German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who lead opposing camps on the issue. Kern saw no problem, saying the two often meet at summits. Still, their encounters have been bumpy. At a summit of EU leaders on Friday in Slovakia, Orban again criticized Germany for refusing to set limits on migrant arrivals. Unless Berlin caps arrivals, he said, the flood will continue "because everyone sees ... that there is a place in Europe where the good life can be achieved, where they are welcomed and where their needs are taken care of." He said Hungary's razor-wire barrier is meant 'to stop at the Hungarian border the negative consequences of the suction effect of German domestic politics." The Austrian state coat of arms behind a newly erected fences on the border between Hungary and Austria in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) Kurt Busch's ex charged with stealing from military charity WASHINGTON (AP) The former girlfriend of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch was charged Tuesday with stealing from a military charity she led. Court documents don't say how much prosecutors believe Patricia Driscoll took from the District of Columbia-based Armed Forces Foundation, whose mission is to support service members, veterans and their families. But a 2014 tax form for the nonprofit says that the "foundation has become aware of suspected misappropriations" by Driscoll totaling more than $599,000 for the years 2006 to 2014. It says she misused money for meals, travel, parking tickets, makeup and personal gifts. FILE - In this May 22, 2014, file photo, Kurt Busch, left, stands with Patricia Driscoll before qualifying for a NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Driscoll, the former girlfriend of Busch, has been charged with stealing from a military charity she led. She was indicted on two counts each of wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax evasion, and one count of attempts to interfere with administration of Internal Revenue laws. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File) Driscoll was indicted on seven federal charges: two counts each of wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax evasion, and one count of attempts to interfere with administration of Internal Revenue laws. She also faces a first degree fraud charge under District of Columbia law. An 11-page indictment charges Driscoll with using foundation money to pay her personal bills, diverting foundation funds to her personal bank account and lying to the Internal Revenue Service about her salary and benefits. Driscoll, 38, of Ellicott City, Maryland, declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday. "All the allegations that have been made are unproven, and Ms. Driscoll contests them and looks forward to her opportunity to do so in court," her attorney, Barry J. Pollack, said Tuesday evening. Driscoll had resigned from the charity in 2015 amid an internal investigation into published reports alleging that she used foundation funds for her personal expenses. At the time she left, she had been president of the foundation for 12 years. Driscoll and Bush had a very public breakup in 2014 after she accused him of physically and verbally abusing her about a week after they split. Driscoll said Busch smashed her head into a bedroom wall and choked her in his motorhome at Dover International Speedway in Delaware. Law enforcement officials said there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against him, but a family court commissioner in the state ultimately granted her request for a protective order requiring Busch to stay away from her. As a result, NASCAR suspended Busch two days before the Daytona 500. He sat out the first three races of the 2015 season before being reinstated. ___ Associated Press writer Randall Chase contributed to this report from Delaware. ___ Hillary Clinton is making a strong early showing among advance votes cast in swing state North Carolina, but is failing to drum up enthusiasm in Iowa. Democrats have made up 40 per cent of North Carolina's early voters so far, compared to 33 per cent for Republicans. The state is a must-win for Trump if he is to collect the 270 electoral college votes required for the White House. Early voters account for a significant chunk of the population. In 2012, 45.6 million people, or 35 per cent of the electorate, voted before Election Day. Scroll down for video Democrats have made up 40 per cent of North Carolina's early voters so far, compared to 33 per cent for Republicans North Carolina narrowly voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. The state is crucial for Trump if he is to win the election Still, with seven weeks to go before election day, people are in the early stages of casting their early votes. Just 2,939 ballots have been returned in North Carolina so far, of over 53,000 that were requested, according to data compiled by The Associated Press. The state narrowly voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. These initial figures, received Tuesday, are too preliminary to serve as clear indicators about how the election will go. Still, they are of interest because, unlike polls, they deal with actual voters either casting ballots or taking their first steps to do so. Campaigns are scrutinizing these figures to help guide their strategies. Clinton has sought to win support among ethnic minorities. On Tuesday, the campaign announced a new radio ad in North Carolina and other battlegrounds aimed at young African-Americans. She has also slammed a voter ID law passed by a Republican-led legislature which was later struck down by a federal court as racially discriminatory. 'More than half of North Carolina voters will cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, which is why we have been working tirelessly to give voters all the information they need to make their voices heard,' said Dan Kanninen, the Clinton campaign's senior adviser for North Carolina. Trump, meanwhile, was visiting rural parts of the state on Tuesday to gin up support among working-class whites. Democrats historically do well in attracting early voters, and Republicans acknowledge their main goal is to avoid deep deficits before Nov. 8. Advance voting kicks off this week in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Iowa doesn't start early voting until Sept. 29, but more than 68,000 people already have requested absentee ballots. Trump visited the rural parts of North Carolina on Tuesday as he tries to drum up support among working-class whites Democrats dominate the early Iowa voter requests so far, but the actual number of party requests is less than half what it was by this time in 2012 Democrats dominate the early requests with 40,476 or roughly 60 percent of the ballots so far. That's compared to 13,011 or 19 percent for Republicans. But in an indication of softness among Clinton supporters, the numbers from her party are down significantly from 2012, when 92,850 Democrats had requested ballots at this point, compared to 13,635 for Republicans. Obama won Iowa in 2008 and 2012 based on a strong early vote. Among those requesting an early ballot in Iowa was Josh Hughes, a 19-year-old sophomore at Drake University in Des Moines. 'I'm so ready for the election to be over,' he said, citing negative campaign rhetoric. He plans to vote for Clinton, the Democratic nominee. Many of his classmates once Bernie Sanders supporters are opting to wait for now. 'The engagement is a little bit lower,' he said. The Republican National Committee described Iowa's early numbers as evidence that Clinton's campaign is failing to inspire enthusiasm among voters. 'The RNC is continuing our historic ground game efforts in Iowa to ensure Republican victories up and down the ticket on Election Day,' said Sean Spicer, chief strategist for the RNC. An Economist / YouGov poll on Wednesday showed Clinton at 40 per cent, and Trump at 38. Libertarian Gary Johnson collected 7 per cent and the Greens' Jill Stein 2 per cent. And in Ohio, election officials reported Monday that more than 524,000 voters had submitted absentee ballot applications. That's up from nearly 485,000 during a similar period in 2012, when a record 1.87 million absentee ballots ultimately were cast by mail and in person, according to the secretary of state's office. The state did not break down the requests by party affiliation. Of the Ohio requests so far, more than 11,000 are from overseas and military voters, whose ballots will be mailed out this week. Ballots for the other voters will be mailed on Oct. 12. The Supreme Court last week declined to reinstate a period of Ohio early voting in October in which people could register and vote on the same day. That was popular among minority voters. The Latest: Not guilty plea for man in woman's disappearance MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) The Latest on charges filed in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk in western Michigan (all times local): 4:35 p.m. A not guilty plea has been entered on behalf of a man charged with kidnapping and killing a gas station clerk who disappeared from her job in western Michigan in 2013. Jeffrey Willis appears for his arraignment Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Muskegon County Courthouse in Muskegon, Mich. Willis was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa , a gas station clerk in western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until a teenage girl in an unrelated incident escaped from the suspect's van this past spring. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle via AP) Jeffrey Willis appeared at a brief hearing in a Muskegon County court, hours after charges were announced Tuesday. He was accompanied by a lawyer and didn't speak to the judge. Willis is charged in the disappearance of 25-year-old Jessica Heeringa, whose body hasn't been found. He's also facing charges in two more local cases: the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old female jogger in 2014 and the attempted abduction of a 16-year-old girl in April. The girl escaped from Willis' van, an incident that brought him to the attention of police and energized the Heeringa investigation. ___ 12:05 p.m. Authorities have charged a man with murder in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk in western Michigan. Jessica Heeringa disappeared from the gas station where she worked in Norton Shores, near Muskegon. The body of the 25-year-old woman hasn't been found. Investigators weren't able to break the mystery until Jeffrey Willis was arrested in May in a different case. Willis was charged Tuesday with kidnapping and murder. He's already awaiting trial in two more cases in Muskegon County: the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old female jogger in 2014 and the attempted abduction of a teenage girl in April. The Associated Press has left a message seeking comment from his lawyer. 'Monster' charged in killing of still-missing Michigan woman MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) A man was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk in western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until a teenage girl in an unrelated incident escaped from the suspect's van in April. Jessica Heeringa disappeared from the gas station where she worked in Norton Shores, near Muskegon, as she was about to close up for the night. The body of the 25-year-old woman hasn't been found. Investigators weren't able to break the mystery until Jeffrey Willis was arrested in May in a different case. "We found Jessica's killer," Muskegon County prosecutor D.J. Hilson told reporters. Jeffrey Willis cracks a smile as he talks with his public defender Paula Baker Mathes before appearing for his arraignment Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Muskegon County Courthouse in Muskegon, Mich. Willis was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa , a gas station clerk in western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until a teenage girl in an unrelated incident escaped from the suspect's van this past spring. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle via AP) Willis is charged with kidnapping and murder. He's already facing charges in two more local cases: the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old female jogger in 2014 and the attempted abduction of a teenage girl in April. A not guilty plea was entered on Willis' behalf during a brief court hearing. His lawyer, Paula Baker Mathes, declined to comment. At a news conference, Hilson repeatedly rebuffed questions about the evidence against Willis or whether he knew Heeringa. "Mr. Willis is a monster," Hilson said. "He certainly is an individual that I wouldn't let any of my children around, much less any female around. What his total motivation was, that's only for him to say. Ultimately, I think this was part of who he was as a person." Police said they found a pistol, rope, chains, handcuffs and syringes in Willis' van when they arrested him in the spring. If convicted, he faces life in prison without a chance for parole. The Norton Shores police chief, Jon Gale, said the charges are "one step towards justice," but he added that he won't be satisfied until Heeringa's body is found and returned to her family. Hilson said Willis' cousin, Kevin Bluhm, was charged with being an accessory after the fact. Separately, he's pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and was sentenced Tuesday to 96 days already spent in jail. The prosecutor again praised the 16-year-old girl who escaped from Willis' van in April, an incident that brought Willis to the attention of police. "I consider that young lady a hero," Hilson said. "Her bravery and her willingness to really put her life on the line that fateful early morning has opened the doors to a lot of different things." Jeffrey Willis appears for his arraignment Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Muskegon County Courthouse in Muskegon, Mich. Willis was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa , a gas station clerk in western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until a teenage girl in an unrelated incident escaped from the suspect's van this past spring. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle via AP) Jeffrey Willis appears for his arraignment Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Muskegon County Courthouse in Muskegon, Mich. Willis was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa , a gas station clerk in western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until a teenage girl in an unrelated incident escaped from the suspect's van this past spring. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle via AP) Kevin Bluhm, cousin of Jeffrey Willis, appears for his arraignment, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 at the Muskegon County Courthouse in Muskegon, Mich. Bluhm's cousin, Jeffrey Willis, was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, a gas station clerk in western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until a teenage girl in an unrelated incident escaped from the suspect's van this past spring. Kevin Bluhm, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.(Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle via AP) Muskegon County Prosecutor, DJ Hilson, announces charges in the homicide of Jessica Heeringa during a press conference at the Muskegon County Courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Muskegon, Mich. Jeffrey Willis was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk Jessica Heeringa in in Norton Shores, western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until the suspect was arrested last spring in the attempted abduction of a teenage girl. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle-MLive.com via AP) Norton Shores Police Chief Jon Gale listens as Muskegon County Prosecutor, DJ Hilson, announces charges in the homicide of Jessica Heeringa during a press conference at the Muskegon County Courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Muskegon, Mich. Jeffrey Willis was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk Jessica Heeringa in in Norton Shores, western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until the suspect was arrested last spring in the attempted abduction of a teenage girl. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle-MLive.com via AP) Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson, center,announces charges in the homicide of Jessica Heeringa during a press conference at the Muskegon County Courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Muskegon, Mich. Jeffrey Willis was charged with murder Tuesday in the 2013 disappearance of a gas station clerk Jessica Heeringa in in Norton Shores, western Michigan, a case that had stymied investigators until the suspect was arrested last spring in the attempted abduction of a teenage girl. (Joel Bissell/Muskegon Chronicle-MLive.com via AP) Racial issues involving Somalis heightened after mall attack MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The day after a young Somali-American man stabbed 10 people at a central Minnesota mall, pickup trucks were spotted driving through predominantly Somali neighborhoods, honking and waving Confederate flags highlighting the precarious bond between the thousands of Somalis who live in St. Cloud and other city residents. Saturday's attack at Crossroads Center Mall is testing city and community leaders' efforts to improve longstanding racial tensions, which flared up a few years ago when Somali-American high school students said they were being harassed and being called terrorists. It's also spawning backlash against Somalis and other Muslims elsewhere in in the state, including south of the Twin Cities, where the owner of a restaurant and ice cream parlor changed his sign out front after Saturday's attack to read "Muslims Get Out," saying he won't be "peer pressured by the politically correct crowd." Abdulwahid Osman, the lawyer for the family of Dahir Ahmed Adan, speaks during a news conference at St. Cloud City Hall in St. Cloud, Minn., Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Adan went to a central Minnesota mall and cut or stabbed 10 people before he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer on Saturday. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP) Somalis in St. Cloud are trying to square the bright, family-minded Dahir Adan, who went to the mall to buy the new iPhone, with the emotionless man who was killed by an off-duty officer and is the subject of a terrorism investigation. Investigators are poring through witness and victim accounts, video footage and the 20-year-old's electronic devices to piece it together what sparked the attack. An Islamic State-run news agency claimed Adan was a "soldier of the Islamic State." St. Cloud's police chief has said it seems Adan acted alone. On Tuesday, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force assumed the lead on the investigation. FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said he could not discuss any investigative details, but that authorities are following up on all leads. "Motivation is a big part of this investigation," Loven said. As many as 10,000 Somalis have settled in three counties that compose St. Cloud, a city with about 65,000 people, according to estimates from the state demographer. Smaller Somali populations have settled in rural pockets of Minnesota, while Minneapolis has the state's largest Somali population; conflict between those residents and the state's majority population seem to occur less frequently than in Minnesota's smaller cities. And aside from the reported Confederate flag situation, St. Cloud has had lasting issues. Last year, some Somali-American students walked out in protest, saying they were being harassed and called members of Islamic State. Complaints of mistreatment at a local high school prompted a federal civil rights investigation in 2011 and, though an agreement resolved that case, the U.S. Department of Education still was monitoring last year. Saturday's stabbing has left local Somalis trying to square the bright, family-minded young man who went to the mall to buy the new iPhone with the emotionless man who stabbed 10 people, reportedly asking some victims whether they were Muslim before stabbing them. St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis called "an individual clearly bent on evil." Kleis insisted Tuesday the city is united and said he hasn't heard of any retaliatory incidents since the stabbings. Nor has Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of Council of American-Islamic Relations' Minnesota chapter, who said some local Somali-Americans were nervous about being viewed as "guilty by association." "This is the test that we need to show that this community is stronger and more resilient than what has been reported," Hussein said. ___ Associated Press writer Amy Forliti contributed to this report. Brazil judge orders corruption trial for ex-President Silva RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must stand trial on charges of money laundering and corruption, a Brazilian judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Sergio Moro said there is enough evidence to start a judicial process against Silva, his wife and six others in a widening corruption probe centered on the country's huge state-run oil company, Petrobras. Prosecutors have called Silva the "maximum commander" of the Petrobras graft scandal that has rocked Brazil. Prosecutors allege that billions of dollars in bribes were paid to win inflated contracts from the company. FILE - In this March 5, 2016 file photo, Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greets supporters who gathered outside his residence in Sao Bernardo do Campo, in the greater Sao Paulo area, Brazil. A Brazilian judge has ruled that Silva will stand trial on charges of money laundering and corruption. Judge Sergio Moro said Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 there is enough evidence to start a judicial process against Silva, his wife and six others in a widening corruption probe centered on the country's huge state-run oil company, Petrobras. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File) The judge's decision had been expected after prosecutors charged Silva last week. Silva on Tuesday called the accusation a "farce, a big lie and a great spectacle." In explaining his decision, Moro said Silva and others benefited from renovations at a beachfront apartment in the coastal city of Guaruja in Sao Paulo state. The improvements were made by the construction company OAS, which is one of those involved in the kickback scheme at Petrobras. Moro said prosecutors believe the former president received $1.15 million in bribes from OAS for getting it contracts related to refineries. "The facts and evidence are enough for me to accept the accusation," he said in a document sent to the media. "Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva allegedly received benefits from Group OAS. According to the accusation, he had knowledge of its origins in the criminal scheme that damaged Petrobras." The judge gave Silva and the other defendants 10 days to present their defense in court. Silva, who was a highly popular president in 2003-10, has long been implicated in the so-called Car Wash investigation. But last week, prosecutors raised his purported role in the kickback scheme that goes back more than a decade, calling him the "maximum commander." In a message streamlined on the YouTube channel of the Brazilian unions of metal and bank workers, Silva accused investigators of pushing other suspects in the case to implicate him in exchange for freedom. Many of those implicated have struck plea bargains with the prosecution for reduced sentences. "I have a clear conscience. If they have one single proof against me one, I am not asking for two I want to be on trial like any other Brazilian citizen," he said. Last week, Silva acknowledged having visited the penthouse cited in the accusation but said he never owned it. He has said prosecutors are trying to undermine his chances for a return to politics. While his Workers' Party has lost much support amid corruption scandals in recent years, Silva continues to be a popular possible contender for the presidential race in 2018. In a statement, defense lawyers Cristiano Zanin Martins and Roberto Teixeira said the allegations against Silva are flawed and lack proof. They accused the judge of being biased against the former president and said they hope a higher court will accept a motion they filed in July seeking to remove Moro from hearing the case. The Petrobras investigation began more than two years ago and has led to the jailing of dozens of businessmen and top politicians. But the judge's decision on Tuesday is taking the case to a new level, analysts said. "Moro has shown that the investigation will only fade away when Lula is behind bars," said Rafael de Paula Aguiar Araujo, a political science professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo. Silva already had been ordered to stand trial on charges of obstruction of justice in another case related to Petrobras. ___ As Trump rises, Clinton struggles with traditional playbook WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) For months, Democrats argued that voters would get "serious" about the campaign once it reached the fall and would reject Donald Trump's no-holds-barred approach. They're still waiting. With fewer than 50 days left, polling shows a tightening national race and most unnerving to Democrats a Trump rise in key battleground states. But as Trump's provocative appeal gains traction, Hillary Clinton is sticking with the traditional playbook: Lots of attack ads, a focus on getting out the vote and intense preparation for next week's first general election debate. FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks in Philadelphia. Struggling to break away from Donald Trump, Clinton is sticking to her conventional playbook against her unconventional opponent: loading up on TV ads, focusing on getting out the vote and preparing for next week's debate. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) Her approach underscores what's emerged as a central question of the 2016 campaign: Can Clinton's play-it-safe political strategy win against a chaos candidate? Even President Barack Obama, who long dismissed the idea of a future Trump administration, has started ringing alarm bells, warning Democratic supporters to expect a tight race that Clinton could possibly lose. Recent polls suggest the Republican may have an edge in Iowa and Ohio and is likely in a close race with Clinton in Florida and North Carolina. "This guy is not qualified to be president," Obama told donors at a Manhattan fundraiser on Sunday. "This should not be a close election, but it will be." Clinton's campaign, Democrats say, has little choice but to stick with its plan. The always-measured Clinton, they argue, can't out-improvise one of the most unpredictable politicians of the modern era. "We're going through the roller-coaster rides of campaigns. All she can do is just keep plowing ahead," said Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist who ran Obama's Florida operation in 2008 and advised him four years later. "She's going to win it by grinding it out." Hoping to calm some supporters' concerns, Clinton's campaign sent out a memo Monday, reminding them that the electoral map favors Democrats. The memo charted various paths to 270 electoral votes and urged backers to channel their worry into volunteering. "Battleground states carry that name for a reason: They're going to be close, from now until Election Day," wrote campaign manager Robby Mook. "But we are going to win them because we've spent the past year building a superior ground game to communicate our message and turn our people out to vote. So instead of worrying, let's just get to work!" But Trump, who lacks Clinton's organized effort on the ground but regularly fills massive arenas, is far from a standard opponent. In the primary, he knocked off more than a dozen rivals who took a basically standard approach to his unpredictable rhetoric. "Everybody in the primary at one point or another tried to take Donald Trump down in the way you take someone down who says absurd things and none of them worked," said Rick Tyler, a former aide to primary rival Sen. Ted Cruz. "She's trying to do more of the same. And more of the same isn't working." Clinton aides see next week's debate at Hofstra University as a key moment. The Monday night match-up will finally give voters a chance to compare the candidates side-by-side. Clinton must communicate the "contrast and choice to voters that are tuning in for the first time," said spokesman Brian Fallon. For his part, Trump has begun taking baby steps toward becoming a slightly more traditional candidate, reading off teleprompters, rolling out policy proposals and making overtures to minorities creating even more uncertainty among Democrats about how he'll act on the debate stage. Though aides decline to detail debate preparations, Clinton has built a lot of downtime into her schedule for recent weeks. Then there was the pneumonia episode. She is holding sessions with experienced Democratic debate experts, including Ron Klain, Karen Dunn and Robert Barnett, all of whom advised Obama. One closely held secret: the identity of the person playing Trump in the sessions. "In an unpredictable race against an unpredictable candidate, by definition the only thing you can control is what you do," said Mo Elleithee, a former Clinton aide who's now head of the Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service. "They're focusing on that." While Clinton has been prepping, her team has stuck with its strategy: Define Trump in the summer with a barrage of negative ads. Clinton' campaign and allies have spent more than $180 million on TV and radio advertising between mid-June and this week, according to Kantar Media's political ad tracker. Trump and his supporters spent about $40 million in the same time period. It's a strategy that mirrors the one pursued by Obama during his re-election campaign, when his team barraged Mitt Romney through the summer with ads casting him as an out-of-touch plutocrat. But Clinton, with deep unfavorability ratings of her own, is a far different candidate from Obama. Her team is making a renewed push to ensure turnout from groups who supported the president young voters, Latinos and African-Americans. But she acknowledges she has work to do, telling young voters in Philadelphia on Monday she understands they "may still have some questions" about her. Looking to the debates, Clinton says she's ready for whatever Trump sends her way. "I am going to do my very best to communicate as clearly and - and fearlessly as I can in the face of the insults and the attacks and the bullying and bigotry that we've seen coming from my opponent," she said on "The Steve Harvey Morning Show." ''I understand it's a contact sport." ___ Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz contributed to this report. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton shakes hands with with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in New York, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Prosecutors: New Jersey woman stabbed man for refusing sex TRENTON, N.J. (AP) Authorities say a 61-year-old New Jersey woman stabbed her male roommate after he refused to have sex with her. Sharon Harry, of Trenton, faces aggravated assault and weapons charges. Her attorney told NJ.com that the incident was out of character for his client, who has no prior record. Prosecutors say Harry stabbed her roommate in the chest on Friday night. They say the man was seriously injured but was able to explain to police what had happened. The man was taken to a hospital. Authorities say he's expected to survive, but further details on his condition have not been disclosed. Opinion / Letters In my capacity as the General of Zimbabwe Economic Freedom Fighters and on behalf of peace loving Zimbabweans, I want to make a direct appeal to the leader of PF Dr Joyce Mujuru on the issue of her planned visit to Bhalagwe. My message is simple- Stay Away from Bhalagwe! I repeat Stay Away from Bhalagwe!Bhalagwe is a crime scene. In Bhalagwe men and women perished in the 1980s allegedly through the murderous activities of the 5th Brigade of which your husband Solomon Mujuru was the head of the Army and you were the minister in the Government that allegedly committed the atrocities in Bhalagwe.Many families lost their nearest and dearest family members who are still buried there! You out of disrespect of the bereaved families, out of disrespect of our people want to go to Bhalagwe to further cause pain to our people- You want a second chance to cause suffering to our people.The wound in our people's hearts, limbs and souls have not healed, you want to re-open those wounds.You are a suspect-a prime suspect and you want to interfere with evidence in a crime scene. It is like the leader of ISIS visiting France or Bin Laden visiting New York.ZEFF will make it a point to defend the dignity of our people. ZEFF will make sure your visit doesn't happen. ZEFF will stop you.This is a national issue. This is not about the people of Matabeleland. It is about Zimbabwe, it is about our dignity and our culture of Ubuntu/Hunhu.Stay Away! Stay Away!General NE Va. man pleads guilty after 'Supergirl' foils fraud scheme ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) A Virginia man whose multiple fraud schemes unraveled in part after he used a Hollywood actress' photo on a fake passport has pleaded guilty to identity theft and fraud charges. Forty-four-year-old Amit Chaudhry of Ashburn pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria to charges he helped bilk more than 1,000 victims out of more than $25 million through a variety of schemes over the past five years. Passport fraud, phony travel websites and bogus billing schemes were among the various frauds. Could officer in fatal Oklahoma police shooting be charged? CHICAGO (AP) A familiar question that arose after other police shootings now looms over Oklahoma: Will the white officer seen on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man be charged with a crime? Officer Betty Shelby shot Terence Crutcher on Friday just moments after the 40-year-old walked back to his SUV, holding his hands high over his head. Shelby's lawyer said Crutcher ignored officers' commands, kept touching his pocket and was reaching through one of the vehicle's windows when she fired. A fellow officer drew a stun gun to shock Crutcher. Some answers to common questions about factors that could determine if the officer is charged: This undated photo provided by the Tulsa Oklahoma Police Department shows officer Betty Shelby. Police say Tulsa officer Shelby fired the fatal shot that killed 40 year-old Terence Crutcher, Sept. 16, 2016. The police chief in Tulsa says Crutcher, a black man fatally shot by a white police officer responding to a stalled vehicle, had no weapon on him or in his SUV. Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday Sept. 19, 2016, that an investigation is underway into the shooting death. (Tulsa Police Department via AP) ___ Q: DOES IT MATTER WHAT THE OFFICER WAS THINKING? A: Definitely. Any investigators contemplating charges must get inside Shelby's head. When it comes to criminal charges, legal experts said, the most important determination isn't whether the officer was actually in danger in hindsight. It's whether the officer reasonably believed that he or she or fellow officers were in danger in the split second that person chose to shoot. There's no clear, standard formula to determine if an officer's fear was reasonable, said Jeff Cramer, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago. "Does the officer have to see a gun or be shot at before they fire? Clearly no," he said. "That's what makes these cases so hard." For an officer's actions to qualify for serious charges such as murder under state law, prosecutors would have to demonstrate that Shelby was not just reckless but that she had ill intentions, Cramer said. "There has to be a purposefulness to what you did," he said. "You have to know something is illegal and you do it anyway." ___ Q: IS THE USE OF A TASER TELLING? A: That a fellow officer used a stun-gun at the same time that Shelby fired could work for and against her. On one hand, it shows she was not alone in perceiving that there was some level of threat. It would be that much harder for an officer to argue his or her fears were legitimate when that officer was the only one to use a weapon. On the other hand, the fact that Shelby's fellow officer used nonlethal force could undermine any assertion that the threat she perceived to her life was clear. Shelby also carried a stun gun, authorities said. ___ Q: DOES VIDEO SHOW CLEARLY WHAT HAPPENED? A: No. The view of the moment Shelby shoots is obscured on a video from one squad car's dashboard camera. There's some audio, but listeners cannot hear what officers said to Crutcher or what he said to them. After Crutcher falls, a female voice can be heard telling a dispatcher, "Shots fired!" There's also footage from a police helicopter overhead, but it does not show the events clearly either. Someone in the helicopter is heard saying before Crutcher falls, "Looks like a bad dude. Maybe on something." Authorities said a vial of PCP was found in Crutcher's car. ___ Q: WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL STATE CHARGES? A: The onus in Oklahoma is on county district attorneys to decide whether there's sufficient evidence to pursue charges, explains Lee F. Berlin, a Tulsa-based defense lawyer and a former assistant district attorney. If the DA concludes charges are called for, he then asks a judge not a grand jury to rule on whether the prosecution can move forward. The Tulsa county district attorney, Steve Kunzweiler, could cite conflicts of interest and ask for a DA in another county to take over, though Berlin said that's unlikely and, he thought, unnecessary. Kunzweiler, elected in 2014, was the DA when charges were brought against Robert Bates, a reserve deputy later convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting an unarmed man in 2015 in Tulsa when he mistakenly fired his handgun instead of his stun gun. Bates was sentenced in May to four years in prison in the death of Eric Harris. A first-degree murder charge which can carry the death penalty in Oklahoma would seem highly unlikely, no matter what the investigation turns up, Berlin said. Such a charge would require what's known as "malice aforethought," meaning Shelby would essentially have had to plan Crutcher's killing in advance. A more plausible potential charge, Berlin said, might be second-degree manslaughter, which requires extreme negligence. Such a charge could be filed, for instance, against an officer who grabs and shoots a handgun mistaking it for a stun gun, Berlin said. ___ Q: WHAT ABOUT FEDERAL CHARGES? A: U.S. attorneys could potentially charge Shelby with depriving Crutcher of his constitutional rights by killing him, said Cramer, currently a managing director of investigations at Berkeley Research Group. Federal prosecutors sometimes defer to local prosecutors, giving them first crack at filing charges. But if county prosecutors choose not to charge Shelby and if federal authorities believe that was the wrong call, U.S. prosecutors could step in and pursue charges months or even years from now, Cramer said. The Justice Department is conducting a civil rights investigation separate from the local investigation. Among police charged recently under federal statutes was Michael Slager, a former South Carolina officer who last year fatally shot Walter Scott as he fled from a traffic stop. Scott, a 50-year-old black man, was unarmed. Slager, who is white, was awaiting trial on a state murder charge when he was indicted federally in May for depriving Scott of his rights. That indictment also charged Slager with obstruction of justice and unlawful use of a weapon during the commission of a crime. If convicted on all federal counts, Slager faces up to life in prison. This undated photo provided by the Parks & Crump, LLC shows Terence Crutcher, right, with his twin sister Tiffany. Crutcher, an unarmed black man was killed by a white Oklahoma officer Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, who was responding to a stalled vehicle. (Courtesy of Crutcher Family/Parks & Crump, LLC via AP) This undated photo provided by the Parks & Crump, LLC shows Terence Crutcher, left, with his father, Joey Crutcher. Crutcher, an unarmed black man was killed by a white Oklahoma officer Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, who was responding to a stalled vehicle. (Courtesy of Crutcher Family/Parks & Crump, LLC via AP) In this photo made from a Sept. 16, 2016 police video, Terence Crutcher, left, with his arms up is pursued by police officers as he walks next to his stalled SUV moments before he was shot and killed by one of the officers in Tulsa, Okla. When it comes to charging an officer, legal experts say, the most important determination isn't whether the officer was actually in danger in hindsight. It's whether the officer reasonably believed in his or her own mind that they or fellow officers were in danger at the split second they choose to shoot. There's no clear, standard formula investigators can rely on to answer the question of whether an officer's belief that he or she's in peril is reasonable, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago said. (Tulsa Police Department via AP) Mylan CEO defends EpiPen prices WASHINGTON (AP) The head of pharmaceutical company Mylan is defending the cost for life-saving EpiPens and is signaling the company has no plans to lower prices despite a public outcry. "Price and access exist in a balance, and we believe we have struck that balance," Heather Bresch says in prepared testimony released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ahead of her Wednesday appearance before the panel. The price of EpiPens has grown to $608 for a two-pack, an increase of more than 500 percent since 2007. Republicans and Democrats have said families struggling to pay for the emergency allergy shots have every right to be outraged by Mylan, a company whose sales are in excess of $11 billion. FILE - In this July 8, 2016, file photo, a pharmacist holds a package of EpiPens epinephrine auto-injector, a Mylan product, in Sacramento, Calif. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch is defending the cost for life-saving EpiPens and is offering no suggestion that there are plans to lower prices. Breschs prepared testimony was released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ahead of her Sept. 21 appearance before the panel. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) Bresch says in the testimony that she wishes the company had "better anticipated the magnitude and acceleration" of the rising prices for some families. "We never intended this," she says. But she says investments are necessary to ensure more access for those who need it and the company has made strides to more widely distribute the drug to schools and others. "We don't want to go back to a time not that long ago when awareness of anaphylaxis was much lower and epinephrine auto injectors were only available in schools with a prescription for an individual child," she says. "Achieving this level of expansion of awareness requires significant investment." House Oversight chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and the panel's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, have said they also want to examine ways to encourage greater competition in the EpiPen market. "Our goal is to work together to ensure that critical medications, like the EpiPen, are accessible and affordable for all of our constituents," Chaffetz and Cummings said in a joint statement last week. Bresch has some familiarity with Capitol Hill she is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. But lawmakers so far haven't given any deference to her because she is related to a colleague. Several other committees have called for investigations into the matter. EpiPens are used in emergencies to stop potentially fatal allergic reactions to insect bites and stings, and foods like nuts and eggs. People usually keep multiple EpiPens handy at home, school or work, but the syringes, prefilled with the hormone epinephrine, expire after a year. Bresch noted that Mylan has said it will begin selling its generic version for $300 for a pair. That will still bring Mylan tens of millions of dollars while helping it retain market share against current and future brand-name and generic competition. The company has also offered coupon cards and has doubled the limit for eligibility for its patient assistance program. Critics have said the coupons, discount cards and patient assistance programs aren't real solutions because many customers won't use them or won't qualify for them. In her testimony, Bresch says she understands there is considerable concern and skepticism about the pricing. She says some think the company makes $600 off each EpiPen, but that is not true. She says the company makes about $50 per pen after rebates, fees, materials and other costs are subtracted. ___ The Latest: Illinois terror suspect sentenced to 30 years CHICAGO (AP) The Latest on an Illinois terrorism case involving two cousins (all times local): 4:55 p.m. A former Illinois National Guard soldier who pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. FILE - In this March 26, 2015, file courtroom sketch, Jonas Edmonds, left, and his cousin Hasan Edmonds, right, stand in front of an FBI agent as they appear at a hearing at federal court in Chicago following their arrests on charges of conspiring with the Islamic State group. The pair are scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, for plotting to attack a U.S. military facility. (AP Photo/Tom Gianni, File) Hasan Edmonds was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Earlier, his cousin, 30-year-old Jonas Edmonds, received a 21-year prison sentence. Prosecutors say the 23-year-old Hasan Edmonds planned to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. They claimed Jonas Edmonds planned to wear his cousin's uniform as a disguise during an attack at an armory southwest of Chicago. Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. In court Tuesday, Jonas Edmonds said he dropped Hasan Edmonds at the airport to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. But Jonas Edmonds denied he would have attacked the military armory in Joliet. ___ 12:35 p.m. A Chicago federal judge has sentenced an Illinois man to 21 years in prison for plotting to attack a U.S. military facility with his cousin. Jonas Edmonds of Aurora was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. His cousin, former Illinois National Guard soldier Hasan Edmonds, is to be sentenced later Tuesday. Prosecutors requested a 30-year sentence for Hasan Edmonds and 21-year prison term for Jonas Edmonds. Prosecutors say Hasan Edmonds planned to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. Jonas Edmonds went to Hasan Edmonds' home and collected several National Guard uniforms that he planned to wear as a disguise during an attack at the armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. ___ 8:30 a.m. A former Illinois National Guard soldier and his cousin are scheduled to be sentenced for plotting to attack a U.S. military facility. Twenty-three-year-old Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. His cousin, 30-year-old Jonas Edmonds, pleaded guilty to similar charges. The pair will be sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Prosecutors want a 30-year sentence for Hasan Edmonds and 21-year prison term for Jonas Edmonds. North Carolina teacher suspended for stomping on US flag FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) A North Carolina high school teacher says he has been placed on leave after students say he stepped on an American flag as part of a history lesson. The Fayetteville Observer reports (http://bit.ly/2d33Loj) Massey Hill Classical High School teacher Lee Francis said he was informed of his status by the Cumberland County Schools human resources department. Francis said he's scheduled to meet with system officials on Thursday to discuss the incident stemming from a lesson in his history class. SEC probing Exxon response to cheaper oil NEW YORK (AP) Securities regulators are investigating why Exxon Mobil Corp. hasn't written down the value of assets during the plunge in oil prices that started in mid-2014, according to a published report. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is also looking into Exxon's calculations for asset values in an atmosphere of tougher climate-change regulations. The newspaper cited people familiar with the matter. Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. said, "We are fully complying with the SEC request for information and are confident our financial reporting meets all legal and accounting requirements." The SEC declined to comment. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been investigating similar issues at Exxon Mobil. Schneiderman has suggested that the company deceived investors by downplaying its vulnerability to tougher climate-change rules. The Journal said that the SEC has been receiving documents that Exxon provided to the New York attorney general and that the SEC asked in August for documents from Exxon and its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Exxon has long had a policy of not writing down the value of oil and gas reserves when prices fall. The company says that it values the reserves conservatively, making it unnecessary to take write-downs when prices fall. Other oil companies including Chevron Corp. have taken billions in write-downs in the past two years. The SEC also wants to know what numbers Exxon uses in calculating the costs it could face to comply with regulations to limit greenhouse gases, the Journal said. Protesters confront police after shooting in Charlotte CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) A black police officer shot an armed black man at a Charlotte, North Carolina, apartment complex Tuesday, authorities said, prompting angry street protests late into the night. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department tweeted that demonstrators were destroying marked police vehicles and that approximately 12 officers had been injured, including one who was hit in the face with a rock. Television coverage showed police firing tear gas to break up the crowd. The protests came just hours after another demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the shooting there of an unarmed black man by police. Charlotte police went to the complex about 4 p.m. looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when they saw the man not the suspect they were looking for inside a car, department spokesman Keith Trietley said in a statement. Police fire tear gas into the crowd of protesters on Old Concord Road late Tuesday night, Sept. 20, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. A black police officer shot an armed black man at an apartment complex Tuesday, authorities said, prompting angry street protests late into the night. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department tweeted that demonstrators were destroying marked police vehicles and that approximately 12 officers had been injured, including one who was hit in the face with a rock. (Ely Portillo/The Charlotte Observer via AP) Officers saw the man get out of the car with a gun and then get back in, Trietley said. When officers approached, the man exited the car with the gun again. At that point, officers deemed the man a threat and at least one fired a weapon, he said. The man, identified as 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center and pronounced dead. Officer Brentley Vinson, who shot Scott, has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in such cases. Vinson has been with the department for two years. Detectives recovered a firearm at the scene and were interviewing witnesses, Trietley said. Police blocked access to the area, which is about a mile from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as protesters gathered after the shooting. Video from WCCB-TV in Charlotte showed police in riot gear stretched across a two-lane road confronting protesters at the apartment complex later in the night. Some of the officers flanked the main line on one side of the road. Some protesters were heard yelling "Black lives matter," and "Hands up, don't shoot!" One person held up a sign saying "Stop Killing Us." Other footage showed protesters lingering around a police vehicle after shattering its windows. Earlier, a tow truck was brought in to take another police cruiser away. Local media outlets reported that car suffered damage to its rear end. One television news crew retreated from the scene after demonstrators began rocking their remote van, which was parked near the apartment complex where the shooting occurred. Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts appealed for calm and tweeted that "the community deserves answers." In Tulsa, hundreds of people rallied outside police headquarters calling for the firing of police officer Betty Shelby, who shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Friday during a confrontation in the middle of a road that was captured on police dashcam and helicopter video. Shelby's attorney has said Crutcher was not following the officers' commands and that Shelby was concerned because he kept reaching for his pocket as if he was carrying a weapon. An attorney representing Crutcher's family says Crutcher committed no crime and gave officers no reason to shoot him. AP FACT CHECK: Trump's bogus birtherism claim about Clinton DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) When finally coming around to the fact President Barack Obama was born in the United States, Donald Trump tacked on a dig at his White House rival. It was Hillary Clinton, he said, who started the rumor that Obama was born abroad. "President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period," the Republican presidential nominee said last week, before quickly deflecting blame. "Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it." But Trump's new allegation that it was all Clinton's fault is as untrue as his original lie. The public record over the past decade undermines his attempt to blame the Democratic nominee for the origins of a conspiracy Trump peddled for years. FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump states that "President Barack Obama was born in the United States," during a news conference in Washington. The public record over the last decade undermines Donald Trumps attempt to pin on Hillary Clinton the origins of a conspiracy he peddled for years about President Barack Obamas birthplace. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) People in Clinton's orbit did discuss Obama's background during their bitter primary struggle in 2008. But as nasty as that campaign got at times, it was not an anything-goes affair. And it appears that when Clinton got wind of smears about Obama's roots or religion, she either shut down that line of argument or ignored it. There is no evidence that Clinton herself has ever said Obama wasn't born in America. Trump, meanwhile, was for the past five years the primary propagator of the falsehood that Obama was not born in Hawaii in 1961, even though there was no serious question about Obama's birthplace even before the president produced his birth certificate in 2011. On Sunday, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway cited three pieces of evidence to support her boss' claim that Clinton was the original "birther." Here's a closer look at evidence that is dubious at best, fails to tie the falsehood conclusively to Clinton herself and cannot compete with Trump's yearslong effort to undermine the legitimacy of the nation's first African-American president. ___ THE EMAIL In an interview Sunday with CBS' "Face The Nation," Conway offered as a first piece of evidence an email that surfaced about a month before the January 2008 Iowa caucuses. Obama and Clinton, then U.S. senators, were at that time locked in a fierce campaign as stars atop the Democratic presidential field. Judy Rose, Clinton's top volunteer in a rural eastern Iowa county, had forwarded the chain email to eight fellow Democrats. It mentioned Obama's father's Kenyan ancestry and the father's Muslim faith. But that email, which became public the following month, stated that "Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii." The email falsely claimed Obama is a Muslim and equated Islam with support for overthrowing the U.S. government. "The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the U.S. from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level," the email from an anonymous author stated. Rose quit her unpaid volunteer post and Clinton's national campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle contacted her counterpart in Obama's campaign, David Plouffe, to apologize. It was clear, Obama's team says, that Clinton was not behind the attempted smear. "Having worked on that campaign, there was no point where we felt that Hillary Clinton was pushing these rumors," said Tommy Vietor, Obama's 2008 Iowa campaign spokesman and later a White House communications aide. Questions about Obama's place of birth did surface in an anonymous email in April 2008 that was circulated among some die-hard Clinton supporters, as Obama appeared headed toward the presidential nomination. That email alleged that Obama's U.S.-born mother was living in Kenya late in her pregnancy, was unable to travel and registered his birth in Hawaii after he was born. There is no evidence Clinton or her campaign team spread it around. ___ THE MEMO Conway also cited a memo by Mark Penn, Clinton's chief pollster and media strategist in the 2008 campaign. It cites Obama's "Lack of American Roots" as a liability. "His roots to basic American values and culture are at best limited," Penn wrote, further suggesting Obama was "not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and his values." Penn went on to suggest Clinton draw attention to the idea "without going negative." In a race that had become personal and caustic, Clinton rejected out of hand the ideas that Penn did present, Solis Doyle said. "I'm not saying we didn't campaign hard against Obama," she said. "It was a hard-fought, sometimes brutal campaign. But this would have delegitimized his identity. And, to us, that was beyond the pale." It is worth noting, too, there is no mention in the strategy proposal of Obama's birthplace. "We are never going to say anything about his background we have to show the value of ours," Penn wrote. ___ THE ASSOCIATE By one account, an important unofficial adviser to Clinton did stoke rumors about Obama's country of birth. Conway cited Clinton associate Sidney Blumenthal meeting the Washington bureau chief for McClatchy newspapers at the time, James Asher, and telling him Obama was born in Kenya. Blumenthal has denied discussing the subject with Asher, who maintains he met with the Clinton confidant. McClatchy correspondents have said it's true Asher asked them to look into Obama's ties to Kenya. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Asher on Tuesday were unsuccessful. But there is no dispute that Blumenthal, while close to Clinton, was not officially part of the campaign staff. The McClatchy newspapers found nothing to support the claim that Obama was born in Kenya. Nor did Clinton's campaign stir a pot that Trump would tend to for years. "The 'birther' thing was never an issue that mattered in any conversation, rising to the level where we had to address it," said Paul Tewes, a senior Obama campaign adviser in 2008. "In other words, I don't believe the Clinton campaign was out there being malicious." ___ Follow Thomas Beaumont on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tombeaumont A defense attorney touched off a protest Tuesday about race and free expression in a Las Vegas courtroom when she refused to remove a 'Black Lives Matter' button from her blouse despite a judge's request not to demonstrate what he called 'political speech'. Clark County District Court Judge Douglas Herndon asked Erika Ballou, a deputy public defender who is black, to remove the button or leave the courtroom and turn the case she was handling over to another lawyer. 'I'm asking the same thing of defense attorneys that I ask of anybody else,' the judge said. Public defender Erika Ballou (center), of Clark County, has refused to remove her 'Black Lives' button from her blouse despite a judge's request 'Please leave any kind of political or opinion protest statements outside the courtroom,' the judge said. Ballou, with Clark County Public Defender Phil Kohn standing at her side and about a dozen defense attorneys in the audience to show their support, insisted that she had a First Amendment right to demonstrate her opinion. She also refused to remove herself from her client's case, which the judge postponed to Thursday. Several supporters wore a similar lapel button: Black, about the size of a silver dollar, with white letters. Attorney Jonathan MacArthur said he'll wear it again to Herndon's courtroom on Thursday. 'This is an issue about criminal justice,' Ballou told the judge. She noted that some deputy district attorneys wear small office badge-type lapel pins, and that uniformed court officers are allowed to wear symbolic black bands on their badges to mourn police officers killed on duty. 'This is not political speech. It is not supporting a particular candidate,' she said of her pin. 'I believe a courtroom is the proper place.' Judge Douglas Herndon asked Erika Ballou (pictured) to remove the button or leave the courtroom and turn the case she was handling over to another lawyer Ballou, a public defender for 11 years, said outside court that she took her stand after the head of the Las Vegas police union sent a letter last week to the chief state district court judge, David Barker, complaining that what the union executive termed '"Black Lives Matter" propaganda' had no place in courtrooms. 'We are certain that the courts would not allow similar public displays from citizens who believe that killers should be sentenced to death or that sexual predators should be castrated,' Las Vegas Police Protective Association director Steve Grammas wrote. 'While we embrace the First Amendment, we do not believe that such statements should be made in the halls of justice.' Grammas said in a brief email that he raised the issue at the request of a union member, who was 'satisfied to have the issue addressed.' Grammas didn't immediately respond to follow-up questions. Barker was in court hearings and unavailable to immediately respond to messages. A court spokeswoman, Mary Ann Price, pointed to court rules of conduct making judges responsible for applying rules of decorum, proper attire and dignity. About a dozen fellow defense attorneys , including public defender Sarah Hawkins (pictured), stood in support of Ballou's protest to wear her 'Black Lives Matter' pin Herndon, who earlier asked court spectators to cover T-shirts they'd worn to support victims in another case, told Ballou he tries to keep his courtroom free of outside influences. The pin, the judge said, 'is making a political statement, that, "I wear this in protest of how the court is treating minority defendants."' 'Wear it in the hallway. Wear it in front of the courthouse,' Herndon added. 'Demonstrate. Protest. Use your voice. But that's not what dealing with justice on an individual case is about.' Ballou, a self-described 'middle-aged, middle-income' woman, said she feared for her life when she was surrounded by four Nevada Highway Patrol officers during a traffic stop for a driving infraction last July 4. Court officials say Judge Douglas W. Herndon (pictured) is responsible for applying rules of decorum, proper attire and dignity 'People are getting killed in the streets every day. People who look like me,' she said. 'Black Lives Matter is not a protest against police. It is a protest against police brutality.' She said she was moved to wear the pin after hearing about the police union letter, amid a backdrop of high-profile police shootings of black men that have ignited protests and a national dialogue about race in America. Ballou also invoked recent national anthem protests by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick over racial injustice, including comments he made to the media that 'people don't realize what's really going on.' In Las Vegas, race in criminal justice has been a controversial issue in recent years. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department drew scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department's office of Community Oriented Policing Services and began in 2013 to change a range of policies after a review of officer-involved shootings over several years. Top US intelligence official: Snowden should not be pardoned WASHINGTON (AP) The nation's top intelligence official said Tuesday that he could never agree with a decision to pardon Edward Snowden. Snowden was an National Security Agency contract employee when he took more than a million documents and leaked them to journalists who revealed massive domestic surveillance programs begun in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The programs collected the telephone metadata records of millions of Americans and examined emails from overseas. "I could understand what he did, if ... what he exposed was limited to domestic surveillance. ... But he exposed so much else that had absolutely nothing to do with domestic surveillance, where he has damaged our capability against foreign threats. He has taken away capabilities that were used to protect our troops in Afghanistan," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said. "I don't think I could concur in offering him a pardon." FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2016, file photo, Director of the National Intelligence James Clapper speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Clapper said Sept. 20 that he could never agree with a decision to pardon Edward Snowden. Snowden was an National Security Agency contract employee when he took more than a million documents and leaked them to journalists who revealed massive domestic surveillance programs begun in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) Snowden's revelations about the agency's bulk collection of millions of Americans' phone records set off a fierce debate that pitted civil libertarians concerned about privacy against more hawkish lawmakers fearful about losing tools to combat terrorism. Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans pushed through a reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act last year that ended the program. Snowden fled to Hong Kong, then Russia, to avoid prosecution. Human rights groups are seeking a presidential pardon, saying he helped his country by revealing secret domestic surveillance programs. Asked if Snowden could get a negotiated plea agreement in exchange for information, for example, that he might have gleaned from Russian contacts, Clapper simply replied, "No." Jim Carrey faces wrongful death case over ex-girlfriend's suicide Actor Jim Carrey is facing a wrongful death lawsuit over the suicide of his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White. Mark Burton, the estranged husband of Ms White, has lodged a complaint claiming the 54-year-old star of The Mask used his "immense wealth and celebrity status" to illegally obtain and distribute prescription drugs involved in her death. In papers filed with Los Angeles Superior Court, Mr Burton said Carrey provided the drugs to Ms White despite knowing she was "ill-equipped" to take them, prone to depression and she had previously tried to take her own life. Jim Carrey at the funeral of ex-girlfriend Cathriona White in Cappawhite, Co Tipperary The complaint states: "After her death, Mr Carrey took steps to conceal an obfuscate his involvement and culpability in Ms White's untimely and tragic death." In response, Carrey described the lawsuit as a "heartless attempt" to exploit him and "the woman I loved". Ms White, a make-up artist from Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, Ireland, was found dead at her Los Angeles home in September 2015 after overdosing on prescription drugs. She had broken up with Carrey a week before her death and left a suicide note addressed to the actor saying she was "just not for this world". In the lawsuit, Mr Burton claims Carrey had an "obsession with controlling and manipulating" Ms White and used surveillance cameras on her home to monitor her. The prescription drugs Ambien, Popranolol and Percocet that caused Ms White's death were not prescribed to her and Carrey had obtained them under the bogus name Arthur King, the complaint states. According to a coroner's report released in July, Carrey sent a text message to Ms White a day before her body was found asking where his painkillers had gone from under his sink. Mr Burton claims Carrey's message was a "bogus text ... in an effort to cover up his conduct and complicity in her death" by "pretending as though he had misplaced the drugs and insinuating White may have taken them from Carrey without his knowledge". The complaint says: "If Carrey legitimately believed White had taken the drugs from him and she had subsequently gone missing for days with no contact, then why would Carrey not immediately request law enforcement to check on her well-being after she did not return his text?" Mr Burton also alleges Carrey "continued his charade" by publically offering to pay for Ms White's funeral in Cappawhite, where the actor was a pallbearer. "In reality, Carrey never paid a dime of funeral expenses," the complaint states. Mr Burton, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is suing for violation of the drug dealer liabilty act and wrongful death. He is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial in the case. In a statement, Carrey said: "What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honour against the evil in this world. "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. Cat's troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone's control. William tells of his 'sad, dark moments' as an air ambulance pilot The Duke of Cambridge has talked about the "sad, dark moments" of his job as an air ambulance pilot - while a colleague joked he was a source of "good tips" on parenting. William also revealed he enjoys working as part of the four-strong helicopter crew in contrast to his sometimes solo role as a member of the Royal Family. The future king made the comments during an online BBC documentary posted today chronicling his work as a pilot with East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) and the service the charity provides. Prince William said he enjoys being part of a team when he works for East Anglian Air Ambulance Sat in the open side door of an air ambulance with captain James Pusey, the Duke described the most difficult emergency he has attended since he began the job last summer. He said: "I think my most challenging one was to do with burns. There's one job in particular that was really quite nasty and I don't know how the medical crew dealt with it either because they came to the rescue and did everything they (could) and sadly the casualty was beyond help. "Yeah, there are some very sad, dark moments and you know we talk about it a lot. That's the best way of dealing with some of the situations is you talk." William juggles his role as a pilot with his royal duties and on Saturday will travel to Canada with wife Kate and their children, Prince George, aged three, and 16-month-old Princess Charlotte, for an official eight-day trip. The Duke and the captain shared a joke, with Mr Pusey saying about his colleague: "He's very good with advice and parenthood - in terms of good tips", and William laughed and replied "Dishing out parent advice". The documentary has been released during National Air Ambulance Week and is described as a multi-media portrait of the EAAA and its staff. It has been produced by BBC Future which provides in-depth coverage of science, health and technology stories. The piece also features still photographs of the Duke at work and he is filmed refuelling a helicopter and helping to take equipment on board. He also talks the audience through the process he and the captain follow once in the air as they work out how best to reach someone in need. The Duke and Mr Pusey also talked about the importance of "banter" during the working day. William said: "It helps de-stress and it also brings us together. "Because if you share the same, in some cases, sad incidents then, if you can get over it together, by being able to talk about it in the future, being a close team you come away with a collective way of dealing with it together and (it) helps you move on to whatever you've got to do next." The Duke spoke about the value of his work with the charity - something that was different to his role supporting the Queen and his charitable interests as a member of the Royal Family. He said: "It's rewarding when I come here to do this job and I really look forward to coming here every day, whether it's at 5.30am or going to bed at two in the morning. The shift work is still exciting and challenging for its variety more than anything and the fact that I love working in a team. "And that's something that my other job doesn't necessarily do.You're more out there on your own a little bit but I very much enjoy working with the likes of James and the team and it's good fun." William added that when he first began the job he was worried how people at an emergency would react to him. He said: "Fortunately they don't really care who turns up as long as they're getting the care and the help that they need. Prince Harry: Colour Sergeant helped restore my confidence to look forward Prince Harry has revealed his Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst helped him build his confidence as he spoke about losing his mother at a young age. He was speaking at a youth mentor training event at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, part of The Diana Award set up in memory of his mother. Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997 when Harry was only 12 years old. Prince Harry meets students during a visit to a Diana Award Mentoring training day at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven Sitting in a circle with mentors and trainees, he said his Colour Sergeant from his 2005 entry to Sandhurst military academy was his mentor and credited him with giving him "confidence to look forward". He said: "I was at a stage in my life when I was probably lacking a bit in guidance. I lost my mum when I was very young and suddenly I was surrounded by a huge number of men in the army. "He was someone who teased me at the right moments and gave me the confidence to look forward, to actually have that confidence in yourself to know who you are and to push forward and try to help others." He said he had not revealed the sergeant's name as "he wouldn't want me to". Prince Harry, 32, met 60 youngsters who are training to become mentors in their schools. He also met recipients of The Diana Award, including Jamie McIntosh, 17, from Edinburgh, who received the award for writing a book to help teenagers deal with grief after the death of his mother, Monica, to breast cancer. He told the prince he decided to write the book after looking for help and finding nothing aimed at helping teenagers through loss. Harry praised him for trying to help others deal with grief. He said: "That's what's it all about, it's trying to stop other kids in your position having to go through what you had to go through and now your book is going to help everyone around you. "If anybody around me ever has any grief, especially close family, you feel as though you can help because you've got the experience and that's what mentoring is all about." The school was the first of three stops on his first official visit to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on Tuesday, focusing on mentoring and the importance of sport as a means for helping youngsters to develop. Harry later worked up a light sweat when he paid a visit to a youth sports initiative at Robert Gordon University (RGU). The Streetsport scheme sees volunteers take free weekly sports and art sessions into communities within Aberdeen as a means of tackling anti-social behaviour. The prince spent over an hour learning about the 10-year-old project - run in partnership with Sported and the Denis Law Legacy Trust - and could not resist having a go at some of the sports on offer. The royal, dressed in a blue open-necked shirt with rolled-up sleeves and navy trousers, tried his hand at mini tennis, street hockey and a form of one-on-one football known as Panna KO. His presence appeared popular with the schoolchildren gathered for the event, who cheered and high-fived the prince at the end of his visit. Harry was also presented with a signed Denis Law Scotland football shirt upon his departure. Harry's football opponent, volunteer Nordean Elouissi, said afterwards: "It was good fun, he's a good sport." RGU principal Ferdinand Von Prondzynski said: "It's a really good day for the university but also for Aberdeen, because this is about creating a sense of community, particularly in less advantaged communities." Prince Harry's final engagement in Aberdeen was a visit to Transition Extreme Sports. He watched pupils from Walker Road Primary School in Torry showing off their skills on the high ropes, rock climbing walls and skatepark in the centre near Aberdeen beach. Harry praised the centre and its supporters for their "interest and care" in helping youngsters transform their lives. He said: "It shows that actually if you do put a little bit of effort in to them at a young age, that they will follow the right paths. "You've got to give them opportunities, that's what it's all about." Harry stepped in to help out one of the pupils himself, untangling her climbing harness. Katie Nagamura, 11, said: "He just asked if I needed a hand so I said yes. It was a honour to meet him. It's not every day you get to meet a prince." Prince Harry makes a joke as he prepares to shake hands with pupils from Mackie Academy in Stonehaven. During the visit he showed his support for The Diana Award's Mentoring programme. He met with 60 young Scots who are being trained to become youth mentors in their schools during a visit to Mackie Academy. Prince Harry revealed his Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst helped him build his confidence as he spoke about losing his mother at a young age. Harry was speaking at a youth mentor training event at the Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, part of the Diana Award set up in memory of his mother. Diana died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997 when Harry was only 12 years old. Sitting in a circle with mentors and trainees, he said his Colour Sergeant from his 2005 entry to Sandhurst military academy was his mentor and credited him with giving him "confidence to look forward". Prince Harry shakes hands with pupils from Mackie Academy in Stonehaven. Prince Harry high-fives a pupil from Kaimhill School as volunteers from the Streetsport charity look on during a visit to Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen Prince Harry plays bean-bag tennis with pupils from Kaimhill School during a visit to Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen Daniel Radcliffe turns down audience role at Harry Potter And The Cursed Child Daniel Radcliffe has admitted he will not be seeing the new Harry Potter play because the audience would be too interested in his reaction. Harry Potter And The Cursed Child is enjoying a sell-out run in London's West End and has won rave reviews, but Radcliffe will not be joining the crowds, including many of his co-stars, to see Jamie Parker play a grown-up wizard. Radcliffe told the Press Association: "I probably won't see the play, it would be too crazy for me to sit in the audience of that. Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe is steering clear of the theatre play based on the character "If everyone saw I was there and was watching my reaction to watching the play, I would feel a bit uncomfortable." He also will not be making an offer on 12 Picket Post Close, the suburban house in Bracknell in Berkshire that served as 4 Privet Drive in the blockbuster films and which recently went on the market. The house was home to Potter's dreadful aunt and uncle, the Dursleys, where the boy wizard was forced to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. Radcliffe said: "For me I think of Privet Drive as being the fake facade we had on the back lot of Potter so I can barely remember the place, but that was probably the very first day on filming ever. "The official first day was September 29 2000, when we filmed at the train platform, but the unofficial first day was a few weeks before when we were filming at that location." The actor, 27, has taken on a string of diverse roles since he left Hogwarts, including upcoming films Imperium and Swiss Army Man, in which he plays an FBI agent posing as a white supremacist and a farting corpse respectively. Radcliffe said he does not deliberately seek out roles that will distance him from the one that made him famous, but he is interested in trying as many things as possible. "I don't spend my time thinking 'Is this going to be the role that sets me apart?' because I don't want people to forget about Potter at all," he said. "I love those films but it's nice that people are seeing me in different stuff." He added: " I think I get slightly undue credit for picking diverse things because I think every actor wants to do that but because I played one character for so long it stands out more. "I just want to keep working and doing cool stuff for as long as I can. There are things I want to direct and write hopefully in the future." On his role in Swiss Army Man, which sparked walk-outs at its premiere at the Sundance film festival, he said: " The magical dead body that farts and has an erection that is also a compass is a weird thing on anyone's resume. There is not anyone who says 'I've done loads of them' but there are some people for whom seeing me in anything other than Harry Potter is a bit of a jarring experience." The physical transformation he went through for Imperium, in which he shaved his head on screen, was a big help, he said. "It's nice to look at yourself before you go on set and see a change, that gives you confidence to be the character more. "I loved it, I really enjoyed the head shaving scene and having it shaved, it was so easy and low maintenance and you never have to think about 'How does my hair look?'" Amal Clooney urges UK to take in more Syrian refugees Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has called on the UK to take in more refugees from the civil war in Syria. And Mrs Clooney urged Prime Minister Theresa May to take a "leadership" role in pressing the United Nations for action against the Islamic State terror group - also known as Isis, Isil or Daesh - for its human rights violations against minority groups such as the Yazidis. She also said she would be "delighted" to work on a prosecution of Syrian president Bashar Assad over crimes against humanity and war crimes. Amal Clooney was critical of the UN's failure to take stronger action against Islamic State (FCO/PA) Mrs Clooney has announced she is mounting a legal case against IS on behalf of 23-year-old Nadia Murad, who was used as a sex slave by IS after being kidnapped along with thousands of fellow-Yazidis. Mrs Clooney and her actor husband George have taken Nadia into their home after hearing of her escape from her ordeal. Speaking to Channel 4 News alongside Nadia, Mrs Clooney said: "I would hope that more could be taken in. There has been one Yazidi family that has been given asylum so far in the UK. You have had a million refugees accepted in Germany in the last year and 70,000 of those have been Yazidis. In every other country it's been literally a handful, so I'm hoping that can improve. "Actually one of the positive signs is that Prime Minister May when she was Home Secretary had instituted the idea that there should be the ability for private sponsorship. That is something that my husband and I are doing in the US, for example, with the International Rescue Committees. If the Government disappoints then at least they should empower you to make a difference." She added: "If there is a prosecution of President Assad I would be delighted to work on it. I think the UN has concluded that the Syrian government has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. They're not the only ones - there are other actors who have committed the same crimes. But I think there's little doubt that that's what we're dealing with." Mrs Clooney was critical of the UN's failure to take stronger action against IS: "There's obviously situations that have called for action by the Security Council where there has been inaction and so you can't say that the UN is fulfilling the role that it's supposed to be playing. "There is no reason why the council should be paralysed. Isis has actually confessed to its crimes online. That's why when I spoke at the UN it was not my intention to speak in terms of congratulations, t hank you for calling it genocide. Vodafone UK breakthrough blocks scam or nuisance calls on mass-scale Vodafone can now block nuisance and fraudulent calls on a mass scale before they reach recipients' phones. New barring technology across Vodafone's UK mobile network will block false PPI (payment protection insurance) offers, missed call scams, or expensive numbers to ring for bogus offers and prizes at source before they get through to customers. Vodafone said customers do not need to do anything and they will be unaware a call has been blocked. Vodafone was able to block 425,000 nuisance and scam calls in one day using its new barring system While customers may still receive some unwanted calls, Vodafone said it can now dramatically reduce the numbers of these calls, significantly reducing the distress they may cause. During tests of the new system, Vodafone was able to block more than 425,000 nuisance and scam calls in one day alone. It said over that week, the number of nuisance call attempts against its customers fell to under a thousand as the perpetrators realised their calls could not enter the Vodafone network. Nuisance calls are typically generated from machines capable of making thousands of simultaneous call attempts per second to vast quantities of mobile numbers across the industry. Often these calls will be made by criminal gangs giving false and misleading company names and offering bogus rewards or incentives to trick the recipient into returning a call. Under Vodafone's previous system, it could block customers from unintentionally returning a call to a fraudulent number but it was not possible to prevent them receiving the nuisance call in the first place. Head of corporate security for Vodafone UK, Mark Hughes said: "Fraudulent calls are a scourge on society, inflicting great anxiety for victims. "The protection of our customers is paramount and we have been investing heavily in our network and technology to help stamp out this practice. Lone migrant children in Calais camp 'risking lives every night to get to UK' Children in the Calais "Jungle" are risking their lives every night as they attempt to reach the UK, Britain's anti-slavery commissioner has warned as he called for ministers to step up efforts to address the plight of lone youngsters in the camp. Minors are turning to smuggling gangs amid frustration at official routes for claiming asylum or joining relatives who are already in this country, Kevin Hyland suggested. In a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, he painted a stark picture of the threats faced by children and other vulnerable individuals living in migrant camps such as the Jungle. Refugee children at the Jungle camp in Calais In a conclusion that will heap fresh pressure on the Government over the issue, he said he is convinced that frustration with, and lack of confidence in, regulations known as the Dublin III procedures "is one of the key motivators behind risk taking behaviour, which leads to higher exposure to modern slavery and exploitation". Under Dublin III, asylum claims must be made in the first safe country a person reaches - but children can have their claim transferred to another country if they have family members living there. Campaigners have repeatedly called for the process to be sped up so an estimated 185 children believed to be eligible for humanitarian protection in the UK can be transferred from Calais. The issue came under fresh scrutiny at the weekend after a teenage Afghan boy - named as Raheemullah Oryakhel and said to have a legal right to travel to Britain - died as he tried to climb on to the roof of a lorry near Calais. In his letter, Mr Hyland commended the work of the British and French governments to secure borders and tackle smuggling networks - but added that not enough is being done to "address the vulnerabilities of migrants, in particular unaccompanied children". Mr Hyland said he received a "clear message" that there is "very little confidence in asylum seeking procedures in France", as well as the Dublin III regulations. Some people had already applied for asylum in France or family reunification under Dublin III, but "every night they were continuously trying to cross the Channel illegally". The letter said: "The waiting time was simply far too long for them. Unfortunately, migrants had more trust in smugglers than in state led procedures that exist to ensure their protection." Mr Hyland recounted a story he was told of a woman with two young children who had family in the UK but was afraid to register for asylum in France. "She viewed her only option as going to smugglers to get herself and her children to the UK," he said. He said the Government should provide increased resources - and possibly deploy staff - to quickly identify children who qualify to be reunited with relatives in Britain, or relocated here under another initiative to bring unaccompanied refugee children from Europe. Mr Hyland also suggested that a fast-track system should be considered. "Children are not waiting," he wrote. "Every night they go to their smugglers who have promised to get them across the Channel. Every night they think that this time they will be lucky. However, every night each of these children are at risk of exploitation and sadly even dying as they take huge risks to reach the UK." Statistics indicate that in August there were 865 children living in the Jungle, with 676 of that number unaccompanied. The commissioner, who visited Calais earlier this year, described living conditions in the camp as "unsuitable and unsafe". Groups identified by a project as being at high risk of exploitation and trafficking include young women from countries of the Horn of Africa and Egyptian boys who are forced to steal in Calais town and bring goods back to the camp, according to the letter. A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Our priority is to offer humanitarian support to those most in need and we work closely with the French Government to protect those vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. "We are dedicated to ensuring that children in Calais with family links in the UK are identified, receive sufficient support and can access the Dublin family reunification process without delay. "Over 120 cases of unaccompanied children in Europe have been accepted for transfer to the UK under the Dublin Regulation since the start of the year and we want to build on this progress. "We will respond to the commissioner's recommendations in full, in due course." The French Government has committed to dismantling the remainder of the Calais camp by the end of the year and relocating migrants to more suitable accommodation. A spokeswoman for the French embassy in the UK said applications for family reunification are dealt with the same day they are lodged, and transmitted directly to the British authorities. She said this "close cooperation" has already enabled around 70 minors to be legally reunited with members of their family in the UK, adding: "Of course, the government is closely monitoring the situation in Calais, and I am sure they will pay great attention to the observations made by Commissioner Hyland in his letter." Unicef UK said relatives of Raheemullah Oryakhel, reportedly aged 14, had a room in their home prepared for him and said his death was the result of a "lack of action". Firearms officers quizzed over fatal shooting at inquest Officers involved in an armed swoop in which a man was shot dead when he opened the door to his home have been asked why they did not announce their presence sooner. James Fox, who had a history of mental illness, was hit five times by armed officers who believed he was carrying a gun at his sixth-floor home on August 30 last year. The armed response team attended the flat in Enfield, north London, after a report that the 43-year-old had earlier pointed a gun at a child's head. James Fox was killed by armed police officers last August When the flat was searched an air pistol was found. Firearms officers were asked why, when the keys were heard rattling in the door and they expected it to be opened, they did not shout a warning, instead moving into a new position. Speaking from behind a curtain, a Met Police officer who can only be referred to is D29, and who was at the front of the operation, described a fast-moving sequence of events as the door was unexpectedly "flung open". The officer told North London Coroner's Court: "I think that it would be safe to say if there is movement of some sort then we need to be plugged in on the major point of the threat." Coroner Andrew Walker then asked: "What about shouting a warning in these circumstances, when Mr Fox was known to be suffering from mental health issues?" The officer replied: "I accept there was an opportunity. It wasn't taken because the situation developed so quickly and I was focused in on containing the threat, but I accept that it was a possibility." Continuing, the officer said: "It was one fluid, active action. You could argue there was time, but the most pressing thing was to get into position, so that was my number one aim at that point - to protect the public and prevent any potential armed suspect getting out into the public area." Video footage played in court showed officers around the door followed by the sound of gunfire and the words "shots fired, man down, head shot". Operational firearms commander Pc Richard Prior said he did not explicitly raise contingency plans with his team once inside the building because it would have been "common sense" to an experienced officer, and an in-depth briefing had already taken place. Owen Greenhall, representing the Fox family, suggested to him: "You did not formulate a plan, did you?" He replied: "Yes: containment, phone call - they were all contingencies that we had in place." Mr Greenhall continued: "Was there anything that dealt with a confrontation with Mr Fox?" Pc Prior replied: "No, because that's just common sense. "I wouldn't need to say to someone: 'If he comes to you, do this, do that.' It is ingrained into them. "It is not for me to instruct the people at the front to give an individual warning," he added. Andover-born Mr Fox died at the scene. Bombs must be backed with 'grand strategy' to defeat Islamic State, say MPs The Government needs a "grand strategy" to defeat the Islamic State terror group, taking in measures to promote stability and reform in the Muslim world as well as military action in Iraq and Syria, a parliamentary committee has said. The House of Commons Defence Committee said that the gains being made in the military campaign risk being "undermined" by a lack of progress on the political side. UK and coalition strategy of eliminating IS - also known as Daesh, Isis and Isil - by taking its territory in western Iraq and northern Syria by military force is "necessary but not sufficient", the cross-party committee warned in a report, Military action to defeat Islamic State needs to be backed by diplomatic and political efforts, MPs say Even if it is crushed in its current strongholds, the group or its affiliates could resurface in Africa or south-east Asia or be replaced in the Middle East by "other groups posing similar or even greater threats". The committee warned that Western countries, including the UK, might find themselves faced with a choice between repressive dictators such as Syria's Bashar al-Assad or violent Islamist revolutionaries, and will have to make a "hard-headed evaluation of which of the unpalatable prospects poses the lesser threat to our national interests". While the Government's long-term strategy of promoting a "stable, secure, democratic" future for the Middle East was "laudable", the report warned that it was "far from clear" whether the pro-democracy forces unleashed by the so-called Arab Spring of 2011 would be capable of fostering a transition to Western-style pluralist and tolerant systems. There was no consensus on the true political or religious motivation of the supposedly "moderate" groups which the intervention in Syria was intended to support, it found. And it said that, despite differences with Moscow, military co-operation with Assad-backing Russia "may be the only way in which Daesh can finally be suppressed or defeated in Syria". The report detailed 550 airstrikes since December 2015 by British forces in Iraq, where it said coalition military effort was "bearing fruit". But it warned that progress was "much less certain" in Syria, where a far lower tally of 65 strikes have been made, only a minority of which "appear to be in support of opposition forces on the ground". Earlier Western interventions in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya bore out the argument that it must be local forces - backed where necessary by coalition air power - which take and hold territory from insurgent groups such as IS, said the report. But while there was evidence of this happening in Iraq, the air operations in Syria were being held back by "a lack of partners on the ground" who could capitalise on them, said the committee. "Whilst the military effort in Iraq is bearing fruit, that is much less certain in Syria," said the committee. "We believe this is partly due to the aspirations of the UK Government in respect of each country. "The goals in Iraq are to remove territory from Daesh, to strengthen the Iraqi Government and to maintain Iraq as a unitary state. The goals in Syria are not only to defeat Daesh, but also to help bring into being a government which will be neither authoritarian and repressive, on the one hand, nor Islamist and extreme, on the other. These goals cannot be accomplished by military means alone." The disparity between the effort being put into military and stabilisation efforts was "concerning", said the committee, which added that the low priority being given to diplomatic and development work "does not reassure us about Iraq's long-term future". The report warned: "Whilst the progress in the military campaign to counter Daesh is beginning to gain momentum, the same cannot be said for the progress of political reform. A lack of political reform in Iraq, let alone Syria, may well undermine the military progress to date, removing the threat of Daesh only for it to be replaced by other groups posing similar or even greater threats." The committee said UK training missions in Iraq had been "effective and substantial", but it voiced "great concern" at delays in supplying ammunition for machine guns provided to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. It called on the Government to put more information about the targets for airstrikes in Syria into the public domain, in order to "justify and validate" its policy of military action. A government spokesman said: "The UK is at the forefront of efforts to defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria. We have conducted over 1,000 air strikes, which is second only to the US in both countries, and have helped train more than 25,000 Iraqi forces. "As a result, Daesh is losing territory in Iraq and Syria. Daesh can't be defeated by military means alone, which is why our strategy tackles its finances, propaganda, flow of foreign fighters and evolving terrorist threat. Verdict due on Thai defamation trial against British activist By Alisa Tang BANGKOK, Sept 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Thai court is set to deliver a verdict on Tuesday on a closely watched criminal defamation case against a prominent British rights activist who alleged ill-treatment of migrants at a fruit factory in southern Thailand. Andy Hall faces up to seven years in prison if found guilty of defamation and computer crimes over a report he helped author in 2013 alleging abuses by Natural Fruit Co Ltd, Thailand's biggest producer of canned pineapples. Natural Fruit denies the allegations made in "Cheap Has a High Price", the report by Finnish rights organisation Finnwatch. The company filed two criminal and two civil lawsuits against Hall but did not sue Finnwatch. Rights groups say the country's defamation laws allow politicians, corporations and businessmen to muzzle critics. "The cases are widely considered an example of judicial harassment by companies and governments and an attempt to silence a human rights defender," Finnwatch said a statement. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch called for Thailand's criminal defamation laws to be abolished. "Andy Hall coordinated important research about abuses of workers' rights in Thailand and he should never have been prosecuted for his actions," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. Adams said the court fight has had a "chilling effect" on other activists pressing for workers' rights in Thailand. "Prosecuting Andy Hall for his association with independent efforts to document rights abuses raises serious questions about Thailand's readiness to protect workers' rights." Foreign governments and non-governmental organisations are closely watching the case against Hall as a gauge of how serious Thailand is about addressing exploitation of migrant workers. Thailand has been at the centre of scores of reports about labour rights violations in its food industries, with migrant workers often the most exploited. The country has more than 3 million migrant workers, mostly from neighbouring Myanmar. Thailand has passed laws to crack down on human trafficking and forced labour, and has stepped up prosecutions. Here are some details about the case against Hall, including information from a statement issued by Finnwatch: - Natural Fruit produces canned pineapple and pineapple juice concentrate, and in 2012 supplied juice concentrate to Finnish retailers. - In 2012, Finnwatch hired Hall as a researcher to coordinate field research in Thailand for a project on social responsibility of products sold in Finnish supermarkets. - Hall interviewed workers at Natural Fruit, with assistance from translators and news assistants. - Natural Fruit cited Hall's name on the report as evidence of him being author and responsible for the report. - Finnwatch Executive Director Sonja Vartiala told the court in July that Finnwatch was "solely responsible for analysing, writing and publishing online the report, "Cheap Has a High Price". Professional Pickpocket Shows How Easy It Is To Become A Target Trending News: How To Avoid Being A Target For Pickpocketing Why Is This Important? Because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Long Story Short The Daily Mail worked with a professional pickpocket to highlight seven techniques thieves use to relieve unsuspecting marks of their valuables. In most cases, prevention is as easy as closing a zipper or switching pockets. Long Story Any theft is bad, but pickpocketing hits all three delicious flavor profiles of victimhood: while the anger of being targeted and the annoyance of having to replace your stuff are common to all forms of threat, pickpocketing rounds out the palette with dash of embarrassment of having your stuff stolen right out from under your nose. But the thing is, you probably shouldn't feel too bad about it while thieves certainly select the most oblivious marks they can, the slickness of their technique is impressive. The Daily Mail teamed up with professional pickpocket Matt Windsor to show just how easy it is, including the seven most common scenarios. Fortunately, they also offer some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim. The good news is that for men, we're really only at risk for two of these: the "escalator stall" and "the busy street." In the former, the thief will use an accomplice to force you to stop on an escalator, using the commotion as a distraction. Move your wallet to a front or interior pocket (or close the zipper if you have a bag), and you should be fine. On the street, guys most at risk are those who enjoy the comfort and convenience of wearing a backpack. Even if you keep the pouches zipped, it doesn't take much for the pickpocket to follow you, unzipping it bit by bit over the course of several blocks. There's not much you can do here either move your backpack to the front (dorky) or put locks on your zippers (annoying). Of special interest is the "cafe table cover." The pickpocket will use a distraction (a map, in this case) to cover your phone or other valuable from view, swiping it as you assist them. Just about everyone likes to have their phone at the ready in restaurants, but if you're dining al fresco, it's best to put it away until you need it. Of course, being a wallet-carrying man doesn't exempt you from any of these, even though women with open purses do make much easier targets. Professional pickpockets are very good at their jobs (the close contact they manufacture never feels unnatural, for instance), and Windsor notes that while men will usually notice a wallet being pulled from their pockets, they're surprisingly unaware if the thief simply holds on and waits for them to walk away. Moral of the story, a little common sense goes a long way, and it pays to always be aware of your surroundings. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question What do pickpockets look for in a mark? Disrupt Your Feed I feel like I'm always prepared for pickpockets, which probably makes me an easy, overconfident target. Drop This Fact During the 2012 Olympics, reported incidents of pickpocketing in London soared to 1,700 per day. Syrian military says ceasefire period over, vows to fight terrorism BEIRUT, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Syria's military on Monday declared the seven-day initial period for a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia over, without indicating whether the truce would be reinstated. It said in a statement that "terrorist groups", a term the Syrian government uses to refer to all insurgents fighting against it, had failed to commit to any of the provisions of the deal, and had used the ceasefire to rearm whilst violating it 300 times. It vowed to "continue fulfilling its national duties in fighting terrorism in order to bring back security and stability". Each side has accused the other of violating the truce, which appears to be in tatters a week after taking effect. European shares rebound, helped by financials, commodity stocks By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Danilo Masoni LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher on Monday in a modest rebound after two straight weeks of losses, led by financials and commodity stocks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index, which had fallen to a six-week low on Friday, ended up 1 percent. The STOXX 600 remains down by 7 percent so far in 2016. A rise in financial stocks, which had slumped on Friday following a threatened $14 billion fine on Deutsche Bank from U.S. authorities, added the most points to European stock markets. Shares in banks HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo and Santander rose between 1 and 2.5 percent. But Deutsche Bank fell 2.4 percent, extending losses following an 8.5 percent slump in the stock on Sept. 16. Analysts at U.S. bank Citigroup said that, while battered bank stocks represented a tempting investment opportunity, buying into the sector would nevertheless represent the "world's biggest contrarian trade". "History says 'Buy' but our key message is do not 'Underweight' the sector," said Citi analysts, led by Jonathan Stubbs, in a note to clients. The STOXX 600 Basic Resources index was the biggest sectoral gainer, up 3.4 percent, helped by upbeat comments from Credit Suisse on optimism over iron ore and coal demand. The broker raised its targets for BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American and upgraded its rating for Glencore to "outperform". Firmer oil prices also propped up markets, with the STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas index advancing 1.5 percent. Oil prices rose on Monday after Venezuela hinted that OPEC and other major oil producers could agree to a market support deal and as clashes in Libya disrupted attempts to boost crude exports. "Firmer oil prices are helping things a bit," said Rupert Baker, a European equity sales executive at Mirabaud Securities. Henderson plans to reopen suspended UK property fund next month Sept 19 (Reuters) - Henderson Global Investors plans to reopen the UK property fund it suspended after Britain's vote to leave the European Union, making it the fourth asset manager to lift suspensions imposed in the wake of the surprise result. The Henderson UK Property PAIF and its Feeder Fund was one of several UK retail funds suspended to control redemptions by investors who wanted to withdraw money due to fears commercial property prices would fall after the referendum. Henderson said on Monday that clients could place redemption requests from Sept. 21 as it had established a liquidity buffer by selling properties since the vote, with a majority selling for more than their valuations at the end of 2015. "Good progress in asset sales has enabled re-establishment of a liquidity buffer while maintaining a high quality," Henderson said in a statement, adding that it aimed to reopen the fund on Oct. 14. U.S., China agree to invigorate cooperation at U.N. on North Korea NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The United States and China agreed to invigorate cooperation in the United Nations Security Council after North Korea's fifth nuclear test and also said they would strengthen cooperation on law enforcement channels, the White House said in a statement. Australia crimps beef export forecast as farmers cull less cattle By Colin Packham and Zoe Cooney Sept 20 (Reuters) - Australia has crimped its forecast for beef exports by nearly 7 percent, with farmers easing off on slaughtering cattle as they look to rebuild herds from 20-year lows following three years of drought. Shipments from the world's No.4 exporter of the meat are expected to total 1.025 million tonnes in the 2016/17 season, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture, Resource Economics and Rural Sciences (ABARES) said, down from its June forecast of 1.1 million tonnes and dropping from over 1.17 million tonnes the year before. Declines in one of the country's main rural exports are a blow to the government as it looks to shift the economy away from its reliance on mining as a commodity boom fades. They are also giving rival beef exporting nations like Brazil the chance to ramp up market share in key consumers such as China, where a rapidly-expanding middle class is developing a taste for foods like steak and hamburgers. "Producers are stretching themselves to be able to try and get back as quick as possible, but losing market share is something that is going to inevitably happen in the short-term," said Matt Bennetto, a farmer in Queensland, the country's largest cattle producing state. Like many in the country's cattle industry, Bennetto is rebuilding his herd in the wake of the arrival of rains in the last three months that are starting to nurture pastureland he needs to feed animals. The worst El Nino weather pattern in 20 years wilted grass and dried out dams in parts of Australia, pushing slaughter numbers to record highs. After operating around the clock until as recently as December 2015, many slaughterhouses in states such as Queensland are now idle. Slaughter rates for Australian cattle were down more than 20 percent during the first seven months of 2016 compared to the same period last year, according to Reuters calculations based on official data. The pullback in Australian exports comes as South American nations, in particular Brazil, are looking to expand shipments to key markets such as China. Brazil for the first time in July became the largest supplier of beef to China as Australian shipments fell 45 percent, data from the industry body, Meat and Livestock Australia showed. Brazil's drive to capture a greater share of the Chinese market gathered momentum earlier this month as Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi visited China to secure greater access to for beef exporters from his country. "Brazil is going to be a major wrench in the works for (Australia)," said Lygia Pimentel, director of Agrifatto Consultancy in Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, ABARES lowered its forecast for Australian milk production during the 2016/17 season to 9.3 billion litres, from its June forecast of 9.5 billion litres. Australian sugar production was seen at 5.1 million tonnes, edging up from the June estimate of 5.08 million tonnes, ABARES said. ($1 = 1.3029 Australian dollars) Nicaragua presidential hopeful ends bid as opposition wilts MANAGUA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - An opposition contender for Nicaragua's November presidential election said on Monday he would end his candidacy, the latest sign that President Daniel Ortega's re-election is becoming a mere formality. Pedro Reyes, a lawyer leading the Independent Liberal Party, or PLI, who was running third in opinion polls, said he would nominate Jose del Carmen Alvarado, a 66-year-old dentist, to run in his place. Reyes said he ended his bid because he did not get any bank loans to finance his campaign, and would instead work to boost the popularity of the PLI, which had only 2.2 percent of voter support, according to an opinion poll last week. The survey showed Ortega extending his lead over his nearest rival, 55-year-old lawyer Maximino Rodriguez, a former right-wing "Contra" rebel who polled less than 5 percent. Ortega, 70, a former Marxist rebel from the Sandinista National Liberation Front, had the backing of 65.7 percent of voters heading into the Nov. 6 election, the poll showed. In 2014, the Sandinista-controlled Congress backed a constitutional change to remove term limits on the presidency, prompting accusations from the opposition that Ortega aimed to install a family dictatorship in the Central American nation. In July, Reyes sparked opposition anger when the National Assembly accepted a decision by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal at Reyes' behest to throw out 16 PLI deputies who had refused to support him as leader. Reyes' opponents, who had declared themselves independent, accused him of being in league with Ortega, and the move stirred fears that opposition was being snuffed out in Nicaragua. Canadian auto union head faces high-stakes fight in GM talks By Susan Taylor TORONTO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Canadian autoworkers' union president Jerry Dias once publicly invited a critic to kiss his behind, but the tough-as-nails image overshadows a deft touch in negotiations, people familiar with him said. Dias, 57 is leading Canadian contract talks for workers of General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ford Motor Co, whose four-year labor contract expires at midnight. The Unifor autoworkers' union chose GM as its strike target and is demanding the company commit to producing new vehicle models in its Oshawa, Ontario plant. Choosing GM as the strike target is a high-stakes gambit, given there is no obvious new vehicle production that could be assigned to Oshawa. GM has said it will not commit to building new models in Canada until it has a contract in hand. Dias says Unifor will not sign a contract without that promise. "If we're going to have a dust up, we might as well have it immediately," said Dias, who became Unifor president in 2013. GM has been the most reluctant of the three automakers to invest fresh money in Canada. The country has seen those dollars go to lower-cost sites in the southern United States and Mexico. Now, Dias will either lead Canada's first auto strike in 20 years or secure a contract with GM against the odds, which could bolster union confidence as it heads into talks with Ford and Fiat Chrysler. "Unifor was built to fight," he said at a 2014 United Auto Workers convention. "We're sick and tired of playing defense and it's about time that we started to play offence." Dias, who grew up in a union family, began work at de Havilland Aircraft in 1978, becoming a union plant steward, chair and president in 1987. His father, Jerry Dias Sr., worked at the same plant and was also union local president. When Boeing put de Havilland up for sale in 1990, Dias demonstrated strategic smarts in the way he led a fight to secure a better deal, said Roland Kiehne, a co-worker at the time. Alongside organizing lunch-time demonstrations that emptied the plant, Dias sued the Canadian government for breach of trust over the deal and convinced politicians to get involved. It worked, and De Havilland was sold to Canadian plane maker Bombardier. A fitness buff, Dias can whip up union delegates with impassioned speeches, once inviting a critic who called him one of Canada's five most feared men to "kiss my union ass" at a public rally. Dias said automotive executives talk in specifics at contract talks and expect the same of him. "These aren't charm school graduates. These are people who run major corporations," he said in an interview. "We ought not mislead each other or soft pedal the delivery of what our expectations are." But he is also a pragmatist who knows how to get a settlement, said Buzz Hargrove, former president of the Canadian Auto Workers, which merged with another union to form Unifor in 2013. Hargrove hired Dias as his assistant in 2007 after watching him craft deals that improved worker benefits at de Havilland's Toronto plant. "He's not shy. He'll pick up the phone and call the prime minister if he thinks it makes sense. And he may very well have to do that before this bargaining is concluded," Hargrove said. Google may face over $400 mln Indonesia tax bill for 2015 - govt official By Gayatri Suroyo and Eveline Danubrata JAKARTA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to pursue Alphabet Inc's Google for five years of back taxes, and the search giant could face a bill of more than $400 million for 2015 alone if it is found to have avoided payments, a senior tax official said. Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax office's special cases branch, told Reuters its investigators went to Google's local office in Indonesia on Monday. The tax office alleges PT Google Indonesia paid less than 0.1 percent of the total income and value-added taxes it owed last year. Asked to respond to Haniv's comments, Google Indonesia reiterated a statement made last week in which it said it continues to cooperate with local authorities and has paid all applicable taxes. The move comes at a time when Indonesia is eager to ramp up tax collection to narrow its budget deficit and fund an ambitious infrastructure programme. Other governments around the world are also seeking to clamp down on what they see as egregious corporate tax avoidance. Haniv added that the tax office planned to pursue other internet firms for back taxes. If found guilty, Google may have to pay fines of up to four times the amount it owed, bringing the maximum tax bill to 5.5 trillion rupiah ($418 million) for 2015, Haniv said. He declined to provide an estimate for the five-year period. Most of its revenue generated in the country is booked at Google's Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Google Asia Pacific declined to be audited in June, prompting the tax office to escalate the case into a criminal one, he said. "Google's argument is that they just did tax planning," Haniv said. "Tax planning is legal, but aggressive tax planning - to the extent that the country where the revenue is made does not get anything - is not legal." The tax office will summon directors from Google Indonesia who also hold positions at Google Asia Pacific, Haniv said, adding that it is working with the Indonesian police. Globally, it is rare for a state investigation of corporate tax structures to be escalated into a criminal case. GOVERNMENTS HITTING BACK Indonesia's move to pursue Google shows that the international tax tide might be turning, said Crawford Spence, a professor of accounting at Warwick Business School in Britain. "In recent decades multinationals have scoured the globe looking for low tax jurisdictions, effectively engaging in rate-shopping as part of tax minimisation strategies," Spence wrote in an email. "Now, with initiatives at the transnational level...countries are starting to develop the confidence to hit back." In January, Google agreed to pay 130 million pounds ($185 million) in back taxes to settle a probe by Britain's tax authority, which had challenged the company's low tax returns for the years since 2005. The Indonesia case is unlikely to be resolved soon as it normally takes at least three years for a court to make a decision on a tax-related criminal case, said Yustinus Prastowo, executive director of the Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis. Haniv said the tax office is planning to chase back taxes from other companies that deliver content through the internet (over-the-top service providers) in Indonesia. The Indonesian communication and information ministry is working on a new regulation for OTT providers, and the tax office has proposed that a company with a "network presence" in Indonesia should also be subject to taxation. Total advertising revenue for the industry is estimated at $830 million a year, with Google and Facebook Inc accounting for around 70 percent of that, according to Haniv. Turkey's Erdogan: US should 'not harbor a terrorist' like cleric Gulen By Parisa Hafezi and Stephen Adler NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like cleric Fethullah Gulen and that his activities should be banned around the world. Turkey blames Gulen for a failed coup in July. Erdogan said a state of emergency declared in the wake of the coup could be extended by parliament. Erdogan also said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should not be part of a transitional government and that Syria's territorial integrity should be respected by other countries. On the European Union, Erdogan said: "Turkey has kept its promises regarding the EU membership process ... it is a two way street and the EU should fulfill its promises. Brazil judge accepts charges against 8 Olympic terror suspects RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A Brazilian judge on Monday accepted the indictment of eight men accused of plotting militant attacks inspired by Islamic State against foreigners at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as well as against homosexuals, Shi'ite Muslims and Jews. Judge Marcos Josegrei da Silva of the Federal Court in Curitiba, Brazil, said police and prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. It is Brazil's first prosecution under a new terrorism law enacted earlier this year. The accused were also charged with racketeering. All but one were also charged with corrupting minors. The eight are part of a group of 10 who were arrested in July, only weeks before the Olympics began, as part of the Brazilian Federal Police's Operation Hashtag. An 11th suspect turned himself in shortly after the arrests. Prosecutors and police said the men communicated with each other over internet applications such as Telegram and spoke about training, procuring weapons and making attacks. At the time of their arrest, authorities said only two of the men, all Brazilians between the ages of 20 and 40, had actually met each other, when they went to learn Arabic in Egypt in 2012 after converting to Islam. They are being held at a maximum security in Brazil's Southern Region. The accused are Oziris Moris Lundi dos Santos Azevedo, Luis Gustavo de Oliveira, Levi Ribeiro Fernandes de Jesus, Leonid El Kadre de Melo, Israel Pedra Mesquita, Hortencio Yoshitake, Fernando Pinheiro Cabral and Alisson Luan de Oliveira. U.S., China to step up cooperation on North Korea NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's fifth nuclear test, the White House said. China and the United States are also targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party cadre, that the Obama administration thinks has a role in assisting North Korea's nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. U.N. diplomats say the two countries have started discussions on a possible U.N. sanctions resolution in response to the nuclear test earlier this month, but Beijing has not said directly whether it will support tougher steps against North Korea. Obama met Li on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly session in New York. "Both leaders condemned North Korea's September 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea," a White House statement said. China is isolated North Korea's most important diplomatic backer and its biggest trading partner. It has been angered by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and signed on to increasingly tough U.N. sanctions, but it has said it believes such steps are not the ultimate answer and called for a return to talks with North Korea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart last week China opposes "unhelpful" unilateral sanctions on North Korea but will work within the United Nations to formulate a response. Washington has pressed Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea. The United States has said it is willing to negotiate with the North if the country commits to get rid of its nuclear weapons, which Pyongyang has refused to do. HONGXIANG PROBE The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing as early as this week to announce legal action against Chinese firms suspected of providing financial assistance to Pyongyang, the Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the matter. It said DoJ prosecutors visited Beijing twice last month to make their Chinese counterparts aware of alleged criminal activities being committed by Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial. A social media post last week from the police in Liaoning, the northeastern border province of China, said they were investigating the firm's alleged long-term involvement in "serious economic crimes" and that relevant suspects were cooperating. A report by Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul and C4ADS in Washington says it identified more than $500 million in trade from January 2011 to September 2015 between the North and the Liaoning Hongxiang Group, which states on its website that it trades heavily with the North. The figure includes more than $360 million in imports from North Korea by one group company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., an industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler. "While no judgement is being made on the final use of these funds, trade at this volume is of particular note. By one estimate, this amount would have been almost enough to both fund North Korea's uranium enrichment facilities, and to design, make and test its nuclear weapons," the report said. Certain assets related to the company, its founder and top executive Ma Xiaohong, and some of her relatives and associates, have been frozen by Chinese authorities in recent weeks, according to government and corporate filings cited by the Journal. The Asan report said its trading of goods that could qualify as potential military and nuclear dual-use products under U.S. export restrictions were of particular concern. The companies identified have had dealings with sanctioned North Korean entities, the report said. Chang Yong-seok, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University, said this case was symbolic and could have real practical impact. "This was the U.S. taking China into consideration and working with China. More such cases may follow if the U.S. or South Korea have firm evidence ... Chinese companies that have capacity for producing or securing goods for North Korea may be worried now," he said. China's Foreign Ministry said relevant departments were investigating Liaoning Hongxiang Group and were following the provisions of U.N. resolution 2270, which imposed tighter sanctions on North Korea in March in response to its fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range missile a month later. Representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice and Hongxiang Industrial were unavailable for comment. The Liaoning Hongxiang Group is also heavily involved in North Korea-related shipping, with Ma and other people associated with the group owning and operating a combined fleet of 10 ships that regularly sail between the North and China. Ma, who served on Liaoning's People's Congress before resigning at the weekend, is described by Chinese media as the most successful businessperson in Dandong involved in cross-border trade with North Korea. Turkey's Erdogan: US should 'not harbor a terrorist' like cleric Gulen By Stephen Adler and Parisa Hafezi NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and that his activities should be banned around the world. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in Turkey's failed coup in July and Washington has said it will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence, much to the Turkish government's frustration. Erdogan said Washington had "no excuse" for keeping Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who Turkish officials say has built up a network of followers over decades inside the armed forces and civil service to take over Turkey. "If the U.S. is our strategic ally and our NATO partner ... then they should not let a terrorist like Gulen run his organisation," Erdogan said, in an interview on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Erdogan said an initial three months state of emergency, declared in the wake of the coup, could be extended if necessary. Critics say extending the state of emergency will give Erdogan a freer hand to limit or suspend freedoms, to bypass the parliament as well as taking swift measures against his opponents. "It can be extended for three months or one month or even more ... Gulen's people have infiltrated everywhere ... we will continue to identify and arrest the plotters ... extending the state of emergency will help this process," Erdogan said. Authorities have cracked down on schools, media and businesses run by Gulen since the July coup. Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 100,000 soldiers, police and civil servants since the failed coup on suspicion of links to Gulen's network. At least 40,000 have been detained. Some of Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups have accused Erdogan of using the putsch and the purge that has followed to suppress any opposition. Turkey has accused the EU of double standards in criticising the crackdown while showing hesitation in condemning the coup that killed about 240 people. Erdogan said the EU had failed to meet its obligations despite Turkey's decades-long efforts to join the trading bloc. "Turkey has kept its promises regarding the EU membership process ... it is a two-way street and the EU should fulfill its promises ... We have not concluded this process ... we want the EU to be honest about this process," he said. Turkey's ties with the United States also are strained over Washington's support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers a terrorist group. The YPG has been among the most effective partners on the ground in the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State militias. SYRIA WITHOUT ASSAD Turkey is worried that advances by Syrian Kurdish fighters will embolden Kurdish militants in its southeast, where it has been fighting an insurgency for three decades led by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). "Daesh (Islamic State militants) and YPG ... are the main source of threat," he said. Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria on early September, saying it was aimed at driving out Islamic State militants (IS). The Euphrates Shield operation initially targeted IS militias, but most of the focus since has been on checking the advance of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters. "We have been patient... We have not deplored all of our troops to Syria ... with the moderate opposition Jerablus was freed," he said, adding that Turkey supported plans to drive IS out of its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. "But Turkey will not act unilaterally to liberate Raqqa. We will get involved in actions taken by the (U.S.-led) coalition forces," he said. Erdogan said no lasting peace could be achieved in Syria without removal of President Bashar al-Assad from power. Turkey is one of the main supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, and hosts around 2.7 million Syrian refugees. "The future of Syria should be determined by its own people ... Why this killer (Assad) is being backed by some states?," Erdogan said. "Assad cannot be part of any transitional period ... the world should find a solution that does not involve Assad ... Syria's territorial integrity should be respected by other countries." Assad is supported by Russia, Iran and Arab Shi'ite militias, while Sunni rebels seeking to unseat him are backed by Turkey and Gulf Arab states. 'Snowden' stars return to Germany for European premiere BERLIN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - 'Snowden', Oliver Stone's film about former U.S. National Security Agency contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden, held its European premiere in Munich, Germany, on Monday where the film was partially shot. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, the film tells the story of Snowden, who leaked documents about top-secret U.S. surveillance programs to journalists in 2013, fled to Hong Kong and was granted asylum in Russia. "It's an important story and it has a lot to do with the future, and now," Stone, known for films such as "JFK", "Natural Born Killers" and "Wall Street", told Reuters. Romania - Factors to watch on Sept. 20 Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Tuesday. DEBT TENDER Romania sold a planned 500 million lei ($125.63 million) worth of Feb. 2020 treasury bonds on Monday, with the average accepted yield at 1.80 percent, central bank data showed. Debt managers last issued the bond in August at an average yield of 1.81 percent. EGYPT TENDERS Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) confirmed on Monday it had cancelled its third consecutive tender since the country reinstated a controversial ergot fungus policy. The tender was cancelled as GASC did not receive any offers, it said. CEE MARKETS Budapest led a rise of Central European assets on Monday after Standard & Poor's unexpectedly upgraded Hungary's credit rating late on Friday, with its stocks jumping to a nine-year high. For the long-term Romanian diary, click on For emerging markets economic events, click on For an index of all diaries, click on Skeptical of Russia, Clinton seen going toe-to-toe with Putin By Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - When Hillary Clinton attended her first major White House meeting on Russia in February 2009, the new secretary of state insisted that she wanted to play a leading role in President Barack Obama's effort to "reset" U.S. relations with Moscow. But while Clinton became implementer-in-chief for one of Obama's signature first-term initiatives, she was consistently more skeptical than most of his top aides about how far Russian leader Vladimir Putin was prepared to go in turning the page, according to current and former U.S. officials. That stance is indicative of how she would go about dealing with Moscow if she is elected U.S. president on Nov. 8, aides to both Clinton and Obama told Reuters. With U.S. relations with Moscow already plumbing post-Cold War lows, the aides and veteran Russia watchers said she would likely take a harder line than Obama or Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has praised Putin as a strong leader. Dealing with Putin, who is flexing his geopolitical muscle from Ukraine to Syria to cyberspace, will be among Clinton's biggest foreign policy challenges -- one made more daunting by the personal bad blood between them. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department aide and now senior Clinton campaign advisor, said Clinton could consider the shipping of lethal arms to Ukraine government forces and the creation of no-fly or safe zones in Syria. Obama has rejected both ideas. While such moves could further stoke tensions and might even face resistance from some U.S. allies, Sullivan said in an interview with Reuters that Clinton could manage ties with Russia effectively because Putin would "respect her as U.S. president, her strength, her clarity, her predictability." According to current and former Clinton advisers, she could consider other policy moves such as stiffer sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and doing more to wean Russia's neighbors off reliance on Moscow's energy supplies. Russia is watching warily. "She is not perceived by many people as the Kremlin's preferred candidate," said Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry. "Many here believe that she would be tougher on Russia than Obama," he said. Clinton's first fence-mending effort in March 2009 was not so much a show of strength than of diplomatic clumsiness. She handed Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a red button that was supposed to have the word "reset" on it. Instead, it was labeled with the Russian word meaning "overcharged." Clinton's distrust of Putin deepened, mirrored by his growing list of grievances against her. By the time she prepared to leave the State Department in early 2013, former officials said, she wrote at least two confidential memos to Obama urging a more hard-nosed approach. At the time, many in the president's inner circle were not convinced the reset had run its course, they said. Since Clinton's departure, Putin has reasserted Russia on the world stage, seizing Ukraine's Crimea region and intervening militarily in Syria's civil war. U.S. officials have linked the hacking of Democratic Party computers to the Russian government - which the Kremlin denies. "NOT AS IF SHE WENT GRUMPILY" Like most national security policies under Obama, the attempt to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations was managed from the White House by the president himself, along with aides from his 2008 campaign, including Russia specialist Michael McFaul. "No one should pretend that this wasn't an Obama-driven policy," said Philip Gordon, Clinton's top Europe adviser at the State Department. "But it's also not as if she went grumpily to the table and was told by the president 'you're doing it' ... She thought it had logic." McFaul, who later became ambassador to Russia, said in an interview that from the first White House meeting on Russia in early 2009 Clinton was skeptical of the prospects for transforming U.S.-Russian relations in a way that "some of us aspired to back then." Two other officials backed up his account. The first fruits of the reset were promising. Putin had - temporarily, it turned out - stepped down as president, with the younger, reform-minded Dmitry Medvedev in his place. Obama and Medvedev signed a new strategic nuclear arms control pact, cooperated to sanction Iran for its nuclear program and agreed to let U.S. troops and equipment transit Russia to support a American military "surge" in Afghanistan. But after little more than two years, the "reset" ran out of steam. By mid-2011, it was clear that Putin was returning to the presidency. A DECADE OF BROADSIDES Clinton first met Putin at his residence outside Moscow in March 2010. She persuaded him to back tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran, according to two people with knowledge of the session. In front of the TV cameras, however, Putin railed against U.S. trade and economic policies as Clinton watched. Clinton and Putin have been exchanging broadsides for nearly a decade. Putin, a former KGB agent, "doesn't have a soul," Clinton quipped on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary, riffing off of President George W. Bush's comment seven years earlier that he had looked into Putin's eyes and seen his soul. The Russian leader retorted: "At a minimum, a head of state should have a head." A U.S. official who was involved in Russia policymaking said Clinton sometimes chose her words poorly, inflaming Russian resentment over its perceived post-Cold War humiliation, a nationalist strain that Putin has long used to his advantage. "She played into that," said the official, who requested anonymity. The most serious rift of Clinton's tenure occurred in late 2011, as crowds filled the streets of Russian cities protesting parliamentary elections marred by allegations of voting fraud. Clinton, in a statement approved by the White House, called the election "neither free nor fair." Putin, who was preparing to retake the presidency, accused her of trying to foment a new Russian revolution. A steady slide in contacts between Clinton and the Russian leadership and in overall relations followed. "Secretary Clinton's views on Russia were always a little harder-edged than President Obama's," said John Beyrle, Obama's first ambassador to Moscow. That partly reflected a "splitting up of responsibilities," he said. Obama cooperated with Medvedev; Clinton grappled with Lavrov and Putin. Some Russia watchers say Clinton's record was mixed. Weakness at home hobbles once-powerful Merkel in Europe By Noah Barkin BERLIN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - It is hard to think of what more Angela Merkel could have done over the past weeks to nudge fellow European leaders towards a post-Brexit consensus. In the run-up to Friday's EU-27 summit (the bloc minus Britain) in Bratislava, the German chancellor met personally with 24 of her 26 counterparts. She travelled to Warsaw, to Tallinn, to Prague, to Paris and to the Italian island of Ventotene. In the end, all the careful consulting, the earnest effort to show everyone that Germany was not setting the agenda on its own, came to nothing. Bratislava was a flop. France's Francois Hollande and Slovak host Robert Fico played along, describing the rather thin summit conclusions, dubbed the "Bratislava Roadmap", as a step forward. But Italy's Matteo Renzi and Hungary's Viktor Orban began attacking the document before the ink was dry. "I don't know what Merkel is referring to when she talks about the 'spirit of Bratislava'," Renzi said at the weekend. "If things go on like this, instead of the spirit of Bratislava we'll be talking about the ghost of Europe." For nearly a decade, Merkel has been setting the direction in Europe. The bloc's response to the euro crisis was made in Berlin. So was the Minsk deal for eastern Ukraine, and last year's EU-Turkey pact to cut the migrant flow to Europe. But Bratislava showed that Merkel's deepening woes at home, underscored by the abysmal result for her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in a regional vote in Berlin on Sunday, is eroding her influence beyond German borders. "Merkel is discovering in the aftermath of the refugee crisis that she doesn't have too many friends in Europe. And she needs friends and allies on a lot of issues," said a former senior EU official who worked closely with the chancellor during the euro crisis. The official, who declined to be identified, said he saw no alternative to Merkel in the CDU, in Germany or in Europe. Still, he believes resistance to German leadership will only grow. Merkel is the face of German austerity and of open European borders -- the two policies that are energizing populist parties across the bloc, and, officials in some European capitals whisper, may have swung the British vote towards Brexit. WEAKENED FIGURE The chances of Merkel hunkering down and trying to win a fourth term in an election next year remain high despite a string of state election setbacks and a damaging spat with her Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), over her welcoming refugee policy. At an unusually self-critical news conference on Monday in which she acknowledged lingering divisions in Europe on refugees, she declined to say whether she would be a candidate. But if she does run and win, she will do so as a weakened figure at home and in Europe. That could have implications on a range of European fronts. Already, Berlin finds itself on the back foot on economic policy, forced to accept the toothlessness of EU budget rules in the case of deficit-violators Spain and Portugal, and the easy money policies of the European Central Bank. Merkel has also conceded defeat in her year-long quest to convince Berlin's EU partners to accept migrant quotas, agreeing in Bratislava to let eastern European states off the hook by embracing their proposal of "flexible solidarity" in the refugee crisis. Despite that, Orban felt the need to condemn her policies as "self-destructive and naive". Holding the EU together on sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis could be the next test of German influence. Despite another flurry of shuttle diplomacy by Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German officials acknowledge in private that they are being forced to think about alternatives to the Minsk deal, to which the lifting of sanctions is tied. "The question is how you transform Minsk into something else," one official said. "It has become an increasingly frustrating exercise which has political costs for those involved." Renzi and Orban, who pushed back against Merkel in Bratislava, are among the biggest sceptics in the EU of the economic and financial sanctions imposed on Moscow two years ago for its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and support for rebels in the east. Over the weekend, Slovakia's Fico called the sanctions "ineffective" and damaging to the EU. Russia, he told Reuters in an interview, had done more than Ukraine to meet its commitments under Minsk. FRENCH VOTE KEY The other big test for Merkel and the EU is Brexit, the elephant in the room in Bratislava. Her preference since Britain's referendum in June has been to seek a deal with London that keeps the British close. But here too, she faces powerful headwinds, particularly from the French, who are promising to make Brexit as painful as possible for the British. The Berlin-Paris relationship, for decades the driver of closer European integration, may hold the key for how the bloc copes with a new era of disintegration. It could also help determine whether Merkel continues to play an important role in shaping policy in Europe or becomes a weakened, more isolated figure. Hollande, who stood loyally by her in Bratislava, is widely expected to be pushed out of office in the spring. If he is replaced by Alain Juppe, the centrist former prime minister, then some see a chance for Merkel to reestablish a degree of consensus and direction for Europe. "In the best of all worlds, you will end next year with Chancellor Merkel and President Juppe. Then Germany and France could become the motor of more Europe again," said the former EU official. But if the winner of the French election is former President Nicolas Sarkozy, some fear that all bets are off. When they ruled together in Berlin and Paris between 2007 and 2012, Merkel and Sarkozy overcame a rocky start, gravitating towards each other over years of intense crisis-fighting. By the end, they were known by the collective moniker "Merkozy". But in recent months, Sarkozy positioned himself in opposition to Merkel on many of the big issues that count, from refugees and national identity, to Turkey, Russia, Brexit and even climate change. "The divide with Sarkozy has become vast," said one senior German official. "If he is elected it could be a huge problem for Merkel." Poland - Factors to Watch Sept 20 Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours): INFRASTRUCTURE TENDERS The state road building agency GDDKiA plans to unfreeze road construction tenders worth over 4 billion zlotys ($1.04 billion)by the end of September, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily reported. RETAIL TAX The finance ministry said on Monday it will present a plan on Tuesday regarding a new tax on retailers which has been suspended by the European Commission. ALTUS TFI Fund manager Altus TFI has announced a share buyback plan, under which the company plans to buy back up to 5 million shares at 16 zlotys ($4.16) each, the company said in a statement late on Monday. The buy-back will last from Sept. 26. until Sept. 30. PGE The net generation of electricity of Poland's largest utility PGE fell by 7 percent to 34.7 terrawatt-hours (TWh) in the January-August period, the company said in a statement on Monday. ****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** Syrian army, Russian aviation repel rebel attack near Aleppo -RIA MOSCOW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Syrian government troops, supported by Russian air forces, repelled an offensive by militants on the northern fringes of Syria's largest city of Aleppo on Tuesday, killing 40 attackers, RIA news agency quoted Russia's Defence Ministry as saying. PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Sept 20 SOFIA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. -- Bulgaria's Specialized Criminal Court launched a terrorism case against three Syrians, who were detained in February while trying to cross illegally into Turkey. The prosecution alleges they were trying to join the Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood (Trud, 24 Chasa, Monitor) -- Bulgaria's Central Election Commission began registering candidates for the Balkan country's presidential elections on November 6. The registration process for candidates for president and vice-president continues until October 4 (Trud, Standart, Monitor) -- Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has joined a call from the United Nations for adherence to the existing readmission agreements during the United Nations General Assembly in New York Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on Sept 20 PRAGUE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA========================== Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/2E/events-overview ==========================NEWS================================== BONDS: The Czech Finance Ministry will offer up to 38 billion crowns ($1.57 billion) worth of domestic government bonds in six primary auctions taking place in October as it ramps up borrowing to end the year, the ministry said on Monday. Story: Related stories: EPH: Vattenfall said it hoped to conclude an agreed sale of lignite assets in Germany to EPH during the autumn. Story: Related stories: CEE MARKETS: Budapest led a rise of Central European assets on Monday after Standard & Poor's unexpectedly upgraded Hungary's credit rating late on Friday, with its stocks jumping to a nine-year high. Story: Related stories: ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------ Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct change close on day in 2016 vs Euro 27.01 27.005 -0.02 -0.04 vs Dollar 24.178 24.189 0.05 2.75 Czech Equities 861.83 861.83 0.12 -9.88 U.S. Equities 18,120.17 18,123.8 -0.02 3.99 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500 GMT ======================PRESS DIGEST============================= HEALTHCARE: The Czech medical chamber CLK meets this week to discuss the situation in healthcare, mainly a shortage of doctors and nurses. Its head said a fifth of all medical school graduates head abroad. He said hospitals are trying to find nearly 1,000 doctors. At the end of last year, 1,266 Czech doctors worked in Britain, 1,014 in Germany and 106 in Austria. Pravo, page 17 (Reuters has not verified the stories, nor does it vouch for their accuracy.) For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com ($1 = 24.0260 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Prague Newsroom) Turkey kills four Kurdish militants in north Iraq - army sources DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Turkish armed forces shelled a Kurdish militant target in northern Iraq on Tuesday and killed four rebels, military sources said. The Turkish army regularly conducts cross-border air operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq's mountainous north, where the rebels are based. The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984. The sources said unmanned aerial vehicles determined the shelling also wounded a fifth PKK fighter and destroyed weapon depots in an area across from Turkey's Sirnak province, which borders the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. French Connection investor urges retailer to step up turnaround plan By Rahul B Sept 20 (Reuters) - Activist investor Gatemore Capital Management has urged French Connection to speed up its store closure programme after Tuesday's first-half results showed another pretax loss for the British fashion retailer. French Connection has failed to post annual pretax profit since 2011/12 and its shares have tumbled 90 percent from 2004 highs, prompting it to close stores and hire new management and design teams as it tries to fend off competition from fast-fashion rivals such as ASOS, Forever 21 and Inditex's Zara. Yet Gatemore, which holds about an 8 percent stake in French Connection, is unhappy with the pace of change and said that the retailer should reduce its portfolio to 30 stores in the UK and Europe by 2018. French Connection operates 69 stores across UK and Europe, having closed five of its weaker outlets in the six months to July 31. The UK and Europe region accounted for 74 percent of the company's sales in the year to Jan. 31. "With over four years of consecutive losses, the retailer's turnaround has not gone far enough: the rate of store closures needs to increase and margins need to improve," Gatemore said in a statement on Tuesday. French Connection declined to comment on Gatemore's statement but said it was holding talks with the shareholder concerned. The company's current position is a far cry from the heady days of 2004, when its share price stood at more than 500 pence, aided largely by the huge success of its FCUK logo. Its turnaround efforts helped the retailer to post positive first-half like-for-like sales in the UK and Europe for the first time since July 2014, but losses from wholesale and licensing business continued to drag on profit. Its pretax loss of 7.9 million pounds ($10.2 million) in the six months to July 31 was unchanged from the same period last year, sending the company's shares down 9.4 percent to close at 39.5 pence. Broker Numis has a "buy" rating on the stock and said in a client note that French Connection had made progress despite a difficult market for British clothing retailers. It cited improvements across the business, particularly in design. Gatemore has previously urged French Connection founder Stephen Marks, who owns nearly 41.5 percent of the shares, to give up his dual role as chairman and CEO. Chief Operating Officer Neil Williams said on Tuesday that the board had openly engaged with Gatemore but is not focusing on splitting the founder's role. "We are in middle on a turnaround here and we dont want to do anything that potentially disrupts it at this point in time," he said. ($1 = 0.7718 pounds) Export recovery boosts Swiss growth prospects By John Revill ZURICH, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The resilience of Switzerland's export sector helped the government upgrade its economic outlook for 2016 despite uncertainties like Britain's vote to quit the European Union. The Swiss economy is expected to grow by 1.5 percent in 2016, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said on Tuesday, up from a June forecast of 1.4 percent. The rate is almost double the 0.8 percent level last year after Switzerland was shaken by a sudden surge in the franc when the country's central bank in January 2015 scrapped a limit on the currency versus the euro. A stronger franc makes Swiss exports more expensive in the eurozone, Switzerland's largest market, hurting the country's exporters. But trade data on Tuesday showed a continued recovery, with the trade surplus widening to 3.03 billion Swiss francs ($3.10 billion) in August as exports rose by a nominal, seasonally adjusted 7 percent from a year earlier. The increase was led by the country's pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector, where exports rose 25 percent year on year, although watchmakers continued to struggle, with shipments down nearly 13 percent. The downturn for watchmakers, driven by weaker demand in tourism hot spots in Europe and slack sales in key markets like Hong Kong, has already triggered profit warnings at industry giants Richemont and Swatch. SECO expects foreign trade to account for almost half of Swiss GDP growth this year, compared with no contribution at all during 2015. "Trade is very important to the Swiss economy, and this year a lot of growth impulses are coming from foreign trade," said Ronald Indergand, head of short-term economic analysis at SECO. "It's a varied picture across different sectors, and some areas like tourism and manufacturing are still finding it tough. But some like machinery, electronics and metals are doing somewhat better, so at the moment it looks like the franc shock has really bottomed out." Some risks remained, not least how Brexit is enacted, although no impact had materialised so far, SECO said. "As long as this situation continues, there is a good chance that the negative economic effect of a Brexit will remain largely limited to the UK itself and will have only a moderate impact on Continental Europe and other regions around the world," it said. SECO forecasts Swiss economic growth will accelerate in 2017 to 1.8 percent, the same estimate as in June and close to the country's long-term average. The improved prospects showed Swiss companies can cope with the current level of the franc, Indergand said. The franc now trades at around 1.0950 to the euro after rising above parity early last year. "The overall picture looks much brighter than a year ago," said Indergand. Syrian rebel evacuation from Homs postponed for 2-3 days- governor BEIRUT, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The governor of Homs said late on Monday the planned evacuation of several hundred Syrian rebels from their last foothold in the city would be postponed for several days because it was difficult to guarantee their safe passage. The evacuation was expected to begin on Monday to Idlib province, part of the Syrian government's attempts to conclude local agreements with rebels in besieged areas to give them safe passage to the insurgent stronghold of Idlib in northwestern Syria. "When conditions are right, the evacuation of fighters and their families will happen straight away," Homs Governor Talal Barazi said late on Monday. Barazi said the evacuation in 22 busses of around 300 fighters and their families, around 1,000 people in total, was expected to begin in 2-3 days. "The postponement is for logistical reasons, to do with the safe arrival of the armed groups who will leave al Waer," Barazi said. Opposition groups in Syria have said they are against this and other such evacuations. Last month a similar agreement resulted in the effective surrender of the insurgent-held Damascus suburb of Daraya to the government. An opposition activist in al-Waer, Osama Abu Zaid, told Reuters on Monday a negotiations committee there agreed with the government last year that the United Nations would be present for this evacuation. People refused to evacuate otherwise. "We have no trust in the regime," Abu Zeid said. "That's why people won't leave." Kuwaiti group KEH takes 23 pct stake in WH Ireland for 8.45 mln stg Sept 20 (Reuters) - Kuwaiti European Holding Group (KEH) said on Tuesday that it had spent 8.45 million pounds ($11.03 million) to buy a 23.1 percent stake in British financial services firm WH Ireland Group Plc, to help serve financial services clients across the Middle East and Britain. KEH, an investment company focused on property, health and leisure businesses, said WH Ireland's business model and strategy was "highly complementary" to that of KEH's financial services businesses - Armila Capital and Al-Fouz Investment Company. "This partnership will allow the companies to provide cross-market corporate and capital markets advisory and capital raising services to their respective clients," KEH said in a statement. As part of the deal, KEH Chief Executive Humphrey Percy will become a representative on WH Ireland's board, the Gulf company said. "An important component of KEH's strategy is to build out a financial services division that can develop a true bridge between investors in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Middle East, and financial markets in Europe, particularly in London," Percy said. WH Ireland, which offers private wealth management, wealth planning and corporate broking services, said it would work with KEH Group to accelerate its growth opportunities. "KEH Group has an exciting plan for growth within its existing financial services companies in the Gulf states and the UK," WH Ireland Chief Executive Richard Killingbeck said. WH Ireland expects to be able to help support this growth, Killingbeck said. WH Ireland's regulatory filing did not disclose from whom KEH bought the stake. The news follows a Sky News report on Saturday that KEH Group was close to announcing a deal to buy a stake in WH Ireland, and may also consider acquiring the London-listed company entirely. http://bit.ly/2cWGKPN WH Ireland held 2.7 billion pounds ($3.52 billion) in assets under management as of May 31. The British stockbroker would not be the first to attract investment from the Middle East. Five members of the Cuban national volleyball team have been jailed for gang-raping a woman during a tournament. Four players, including 27-year-old team captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu, Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, 21, Ricardo Calvo Manzano, 19, and Osmany Uriarte Mestre, 21, were handed five-year prison sentences for aggravated rape. They were due to take part in the Rio Olympics, but were suspended after allegations of the rape surfaced, which took place during a Volleyball World League event in Finland in July. Five members of the Cuban national volleyball team have been jailed for gang-raping a woman during a tournament. Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra, player of Cuba's national volleyball team, received a shorter sentence of three years and six months Four players, including 27-year-old team captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu, Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, 21, Ricardo Calvo Manzano, 19, and Osmany Uriarte Mestre, 21, were handed five-year prison sentences for aggravated rape Court documents reveal the victim first agreed to have sex with Uriarte Mestre (pictured) but after sleeping with her, he invited his team-mates to join in without her consent Rolando Cepeda Abreu of Cuba serves the ball during the FIVB World Championships match between Cuba and Canada. He has been jailed for five years They were due to take part in the Rio Olympics, but were suspended after allegations of the rape surfaced, which took place during a Volleyball World League event in Finland in July The Pirkanmaa district court said the Finnish woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was attacked on the night of July 2 in a hotel where the Cuban team was staying during the championship in the southern town of Tampere. Few details of the events were disclosed to the media and public, and the trial was held behind closed doors to protect the victim. According to the charge sheet, the players 'had together and in mutual understanding forced the victim to several acts of sexual intercourse by means of violence and by taking advantage of her fear and state of helplessness.' Court documents reveal the victim first agreed to have sex with Uriarte Mestre, but after sleeping with her, he invited his team-mates to join in without her consent. Then they forced her to have sex with them in 'several ways' and 'several times'. Pictured left to right, Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra and Dariel Albo Miranda of Cuba defending against Nicholas Hoag (R) of Canada during the Volleyball World League match Canada vs Cuba in Tampere, Finland The court said it had acquitted Dariel Albo Miranda, 24, after the victim and his teammates confirmed his claim that he had not participated in the rape A fifth player, Luis Sosa Sierra, 21, received a shorter sentence of three years and six months. The rest of the Cuban national team finished last in their group at the Olympic Games in Rio, with five straight defeats. OPEC may decide on extra meeting immediately after Algiers - Algeria ALGIERS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - OPEC members could decide to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss oil prices immediately after an informal gathering in Algiers next week, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said on Tuesday. Bouterfa told local radio he was optimistic that participants would reach a consensus on how to stabilise the oil markets at the Algiers meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers on Sept. 26-28. "Oil ministers may decide to hold an extraordinary meeting immediately," he said. Algeria has been pushing for oil to be stabilised at around $60 a barrel. Bouterfa has travelled to Qatar, Iran and Russia to lobby for action to steady the market. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were trading at about $45 per barrel on Tuesday. Survey shows backing for Austrian leader's criticism of EU-Canada trade deal VIENNA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern's centre-left SPO party said a survey had shown broad popular support for his criticism of a free trade deal between the European Union and Canada only weeks before the accord seen as a blueprint for a trade project with the United States was due to be signed. Negotiations on the EU-Canada pact known as CETA have finished, but social democrat Kern has been lobbying for last minute promises from Brussels and Ottawa to curtail the use of investment courts which he says investors could use against governments. Kern's SPO, leading a coalition government with the conservative OVP which approves of the CETA deal, said its survey of around 24,000 Austrians showed 88 percent wanted Austria to oppose CETA going into force even provisionally. Kern's party published the results on Tuesday hours after its German sister party SPD voted in favour of backing CETA, which aims to eliminate tariffs on 98 percent of goods immediately and encompasses regulatory cooperation and access to government tenders. In the German case, the social democrats won over CETA critics with a compromise that calls for the European Parliament to launch a consultation process before a decision is taken on what parts of CETA should be applied provisionally. OVP leader and Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner said a binding declaration clarifying contentious issues attached to the deal could be the way to a joint coalition line. The SPO's survey, which included around 10,000 non-SPO members, showed 92 percent were critical of CETA being applied in Austria if it includes a mechanism which allows companies to sue governments if they feel disadvantaged by regulation. The European Commissioner on Trade said last week in Vienna it was unlikely that such courts would come into use during the envisaged provisional implementation of CETA from early next year after a signing ceremony due on Oct. 27. No decision has been reached yet to clarify what exactly provisional implementation will entail, however. CETA will require the approval of the European Parliament before taking effect, prior to ratifications by national parliaments which could take five years or more. Australian forced off French beach over burkini ban MELBOURNE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - An Australian woman was forced off a beach on the French Riviera after beachgoers objected to her wearing a full-body swimsuit, or "burkini", images broadcast on Australian television showed. Zeynab Alshelh travelled from Sydney several weeks ago with her parents to show solidarity with Muslims in France, equipped with Australian-designed burkinis in the French national colours to give away. As she and her mother, clad in blue burkinis, and her father settled down under a large pink beach umbrella, a man threatened to call police and a blonde woman gave the family a thumbs-down, the footage from Australia's Channel Seven showed. "It's upsetting, it's not fair," she told the programme that aired on Sunday. "We were threatened by locals to leave the beach and if we didn't, they were going to call the police. They weren't happy with us being there. They are seeing something that is not there." Channel Seven did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment. A judge in the Mediterranean city of Nice this month declared the prohibition of the full-body swimwear to be illegal there, in the latest setback to attempts to ban burkini-clad women from the beaches of the Riviera. Nice, where 86 people died in an Islamic State militant attack in July, was one of about 30 towns in the largely right-wing part of the country to ban the burkini on the grounds that it presented a threat to public order. "I thought the ban was ridiculous. It just doesn't make sense to me, there's no connection at all between the burkini and these terrorist acts," the Australian woman said. The controversy over the swimwear, coupled with several Islamist militant attacks in France since January 2015, has filtered into early campaigning for the April 2017 presidential election, making French cultural identity and security highly-charged issues. The Australian designer of the burkini, predominantly worn by Muslim women, told Reuters last month that sales of the garment had increased after three French cities banned it. "Why would they ban something when I designed a swimsuit that was part of integration with the Australian lifestyle?" the designer, Aheda Zanetti, told the program. Italians, Canadian kidnapped in Libyan desert - mayor TRIPOLI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Two Italians and a Canadian have been kidnapped in Libya's southwestern desert, possibly by a criminal gang, authorities said. The three, who were working on airport projects, were abducted between the towns of Ghat and Tahala, near the border with Algeria early on Monday, Ghat's mayor Gomani Mohamad Saleh told Reuters. "The two Italians were working on a runway project at the airport but the Canadian was working on installing air aviation system," he said on Tuesday. "The security authorities are following the incident closely ... That's all the information we have so far." Numerous criminal and armed groups are active in Libya's vast southern desert, and al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have long had a presence across the border between Libya and Algeria. The Italian foreign ministry said late on Monday that two of its citizens had been abducted in the Libyan desert, without giving further details. The Canadian government said it was aware of a "troubling yet unconfirmed report of the abduction of a Canadian citizen in Libya". British PM says spy chiefs to join new taskforce to "stamp out" modern slavery By Lin Taylor LONDON, Sept 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - British intelligence agencies will form part of a new taskforce to "stamp out" modern slavery, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May will announce on Tuesday, urging world leaders to do more to get rid of the "evil" practice. The heads of Britain's domestic and foreign intelligence services, MI5 and MI6, and the nation's security agency, Government Communications Headquarters, as well as police agencies Europol and Interpol will join the taskforce. This comes as part of a concerted approach to eradicate modern slavery with UK government figures estimating between 10,000 and 13,000 people are living as slaves in Britain. "Just as the criminals cross borders, so we need a radical new approach that crosses borders - sharing intelligence and joining up investigations," May said in a statement ahead of her maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "This is standard in the case of drugs trafficking and the trade in illegal firearms and there is no excuse for our law enforcement authorities failing to do this when it comes to modern slavery." May will also pledge at least 5 million pounds ($6.50 million) on anti-trafficking efforts in Nigeria, a proven human trafficking route into Britain. "We owe it to the innocent men, women and children who are being tricked into a life of hard labour and abuse to rid our world of this evil," said May, who took over a prime minister in Britain in July. Nearly 46 million people around the world are living as slaves, forced to work in factories, mines and farms, sold for sex, trapped in debt bondage or born into servitude, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation. Modern slavery has become a catch-all term to describe human trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage, sex trafficking, forced marriage and other slave-like exploitation. The International Labour Organization estimates that forced labour generates global profits of about $150 billion per year, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region and developed economies, including the European Union. Seen as a milestone in the international fight against slavery, May introduced the Modern Slavery Act last year, requiring British businesses to disclose what action they have taken to ensure their supply chains are free of slave labour. It also introduced tougher criminal sanctions for perpetrators and more victim protection. In July, May said 33.5 million pounds ($43.47 million) of the overseas aid budget would be put into a five-year fund designed to tackle the issue in countries like Nigeria. "Just as it was Britain that took an historic stand to ban slavery two centuries ago, I am determined that the United Kingdom will once again lead the way in defeating modern slavery," May added. ($1 = 0.7688 pounds) Congo death toll hits 44 in anti-Kabila unrest -rights group By Kenny Katombe and Benoit Nyemba KINSHASA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - At least 44 people - including 37 demonstrators and six police officers - have been killed in protests over Congolese President Joseph Kabila's perceived bid to extend his rule, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. The unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo started on Monday after its election commission decided to try to postpone the next presidential vote, due in November. Kabila's opponents say the proposed delay is a manoeuvre to keep him in power although ruling party politicians deny this. Kabila is barred constitutionally from running for a third term and his allies say he will respect the constitution. With the disturbances forcing schools to close and halting public transport in the sprawling riverside capital Kinshasa, the United Nations expressed fears the situation could worsen. The United States said Kabila's government should have taken steps to defuse the violence and that it was prepared to impose sanctions targeting individuals involved in abuses. French President Francoise Hollande blamed Congo authorities and urged them to respect the constitution and hold elections this year. Adding to the mix of disapproval, Congo's influential Roman Catholic Church suspended its participation in talks over the timetable for the next elections and stressed that Kabila should not be a candidate when they are held. Several people were killed overnight when security forces burned down the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and attacked buildings of other opposition parties, according to Ida Sawyer, an Africa researcher for New York-based HRW. Twenty people were killed in clashes on Monday and another 17 on Tuesday - "most (of them) when security forces fired on crowds of protesters", Sawyer said. "We've also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a (ruling party) PPRD supporter and they have also burned and looted several shops and police stations." DEATH TOLL DISPUTED Interior ministry spokesman Claude Pero Luwara said the death toll stood at 17 and that Human Rights Watch's statement was a "typical" exaggeration by the group. The ministry had earlier said three of those killed were policemen. The early hours fire was a criminal act, said opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, a UDPS official and son of veteran opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, who lost to Kabila in a 2011 presidential run-off. "We have on our hands seven dead and two people who were amputated: one at the arm and another at the leg, in the fire at our headquarters in Limete. There are also multiple people wounded at the hospital," Felix Tshisekedi told Reuters. "We won't live with this barbarity. The people are angry." Government spokesman Lambert Mende condemned the attack on the UDPS premises but denied that security forces were involved. Witnesses said calm returned to central Kinshasa by Tuesday afternoon, though there were reports of clashes in the suburbs. Nearly 200 people were believed to have been arrested by Congo authorities on Monday and the United Nations received reports of excessive use of force by security forces, U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva. Kabila took power in 2001 when his father was assassinated, but must by law step down in December. His opponents fear he may follow the example of leaders in other African countries such as Burundi, Congo Republic and Rwanda and change the constitution to extend his rule. Congo has not experienced a peaceful transition of political power since its independence from Belgium in 1960. Tom Perriello, U.S. Special Envoy for Africa's Great Lakes region, said Washington would hold all sides accountable for their actions during the latest violence, which prompted Washington to suspend all travel by its officials to Congo. Zinc climbs on speculative buying, China outlook By Eric Onstad LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Zinc rose on Tuesday, climbing for a second day after two weeks of losses, supported by speculators betting on shortages and an uptick in Chinese demand for industrial metals. Zinc was the top performer on the London Metal Exchange with benchmark prices closing 2.2 percent up at $2,300 a tonne, building on gains of 1.6 percent on Monday. Zinc is also this year's favourite LME metal for investors with gains of 43 percent to date following the closure and suspension of mines. Commodity trading advisors (CTAs), which run speculative funds often run by computer programmes, were active buying on Monday and Tuesday, Dee Perera at broker Marex Spectron said. Some analysts, however, were wary about whether zinc was ready to immediately resume its rally. "I'm pretty cautious on zinc. It's gone pretty ballistic recently and I'm not sure the fundamentals really back up that story," Dan Smith, head of commodities research at Oxford Economics, said. Smith said many people acknowledge that the steel market is vulnerable, but ignore that when looking at zinc, most of which is used for galvanizing steel. "Given what it's done so far this year, we're expecting a pullback heading to the year end." Analyst Nicholas Snowdon at Standard Chartered said in a note that further liquidation of long positions was a possibility, but zinc should resume its upward track once Chinese refined imports rebound. China's refined zinc output fell by 2.8 percent in August, as smelters face lower processing fees, suggesting they will have to import more refined metal. Sister metal lead climbed 1.4 percent on the LME to finish at $1,981 a tonne, the highest since late May 2015. The overall outlook for base metals has been brightened by a real estate boom in China and stronger than expected factory activity over the summer, with copper also finding support from earlier than expected consumer restocking. LME nickel gained 1.6 percent to close at $10,310 a tonne, adding to Monday's 4.4 percent gain, on prospects that more Philippine mines may be suspended when the results of an environmental audit are announced this week. China has boosted its imports of nickel ore, with stockpiles at ports standing at more than 1.5 million tonnes, the highest since last October. Independent technical analyst Cliff Green said losses in LME nickel since touching a peak of $11,030 on Aug. 10 were a temporary correction. "This looks to be close to running its course and hence I expect values to improve once again in the days and weeks ahead," he told the Reuters Global Base Metals Forum. Tin added 0.7 percent to end at $19,475, while copper edged up 0.4 percent to $4,793 and aluminium dropped 0.4 percent to $1,577. PRICES Three month LME copper Most active ShFE copper Three month LME aluminium Most active ShFE aluminium Three month LME zinc Most active ShFE zinc Three month LME lead Most active ShFE lead Three month LME nickel Most active ShFE nickel Three month LME tin Botswana deports U.S. pastor Steven Anderson over anti-gay views GABORONE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - President Ian Khama of Botswana said on Tuesday he had ordered the arrest and deportation of U.S. pastor Steven Anderson, who was banned from neighbouring South Africa last week over his anti-gay views. Anderson, of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona, notoriously welcomed the gunning down in June of 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida by saying "there's 50 less paedophiles in this world". Khama told Reuters he had ordered Anderson's immediate arrest and deportation after the pastor said in an interview with a local radio station in the capital Gabarone on Tuesday morning that gays and lesbians should be killed. "He was picked up at the radio station. I said they should pick him up and show him out of the country," Khama said in an interview. "We don't want hate speech in this country. Let him do it in his own country." The president said Anderson had been put on a visa watch-list two days ago after being barred from South Africa but appeared to have slipped into Botswana before all border posts were fully alerted. Banning him from South Africa on Sept. 13, that country's home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba also equated Anderson's views with hate speech. Anderson denied he was being deported. "I am not being arrested. I am leaving Botswana voluntarily," he told witnesses at the radio station, adding in the local Setswana language that he loved Botswana very much. During Tuesday's radio interview, in which he also called for paedophiles and adulterers to be killed and said the Bible barred women from preaching in church, Anderson said he had arrived in Botswana last Thursday from Ethiopia. Iraqi forces launch operation to drive Islamic State from town south of Mosul By Ghazwan Hassan TIKRIT, Iraq, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake the northern town of Shirqat from Islamic State, a stepping stone in their campaign to recapture the jihadists' stronghold of Mosul before the end of the year. Shirqat, which lies on the Tigris River 100 km (60 miles) south of Mosul, has been surrounded by Iraqi troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias allied to the government. Tens of thousands of civilians are thought to be trapped there. Officials have warned for months of a humanitarian disaster inside, where residents living under Islamic State's harsh rule say food supplies have dwindled and prices soared. Iraqi troops, backed by local police and Sunni Muslim tribal fighters, took up positions along five axes on Tuesday and advanced through five villages but by midday were still around 13 km from the town centre, said the mayor and a source in the Salahuddin Operations Command, which oversees military operations in the area. They said there was little resistance so far, aside from some bombs planted along the road. State media said the security forces had disabled several car bombs and snipers. Television footage of an airstrike near a residential compound south of Shirqat showed plumes of light grey smoke emanating from a sparsely populated valley. Iraqi forces are also moving to retake two areas in the western province of Anbar, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in an televised message from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. "These operations pave the way for cleansing every inch of Iraqi land and, God willing, its end will be the liberation of Mosul city, ... the liberation of all Iraqi lands and the end of Daesh," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. He has pledged repeatedly to retake Mosul by year's end, and Iraqi commanders have indicated the push could begin by late October, though doubts remain that the necessary troops will be ready. READY FOR MOSUL? After meeting with Abadi in New York on Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he hoped for progress on Mosul by the end of the year. The top U.S. general later said Iraqi forces would be ready in October, but the timing was up to Abadi. Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, on Monday appealed for more funding to help people displaced by the conflict. "We're very worried that we won't be able to prepare in time" for the Mosul battle, she said in a statement. U.S. and Iraqi officials are also concerned there has not been enough planning for how to manage Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and a mosaic of ethnic and sectarian groups, if and when Islamic State is kicked out. The city fell to the jihadists in 2014 after Iraq's army and police dropped their weapons and fled, despite having received billions of dollars in aid since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. The disposition of forces and the treatment of Shirqat's residents, who have been living under Islamic State for more than two years, will be closely watched by the Sunni residents of Mosul, who have a historic mistrust of the forces of successive Shi'ite-led governments in Baghdad. Shi'ite militias, which have been accused of rights abuses in previous battles, did not look set to participate in Shirqat but could join in at a later stage. The factions, which deny those allegations or describe them as isolated incidents, were critical in rolling back Islamic State in the immediate aftermath of its surge through northern and western Iraq towards Baghdad two years ago. India kills eight along disputed Kashmir border - Indian officials SRINAGAR, Sept 20 (Reuters) - India on Tuesday killed at least eight people trying to sneak across its disputed border with Pakistan in Kashmir, army officials said, two days after a deadly assault on an Indian army base that New Delhi blamed on its neighbour. Indian troops fired at a group of at least eight intruders, and had set out to retrieve the bodies, a senior Indian army officer told Reuters. The suspected infiltration took place near the town of Uri, the site of Sunday's attack on the army base. Army spokesman Manish Kumar said a number of infiltrators had been killed, but he could not confirm how many. In Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, a Pakistani colonel said there was no firing along the Line of Control, the de facto border where thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops face off against each other. Both sides were on high alert and strengthening their positions, he added. Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria reiterated that no shot had been fired by Pakistan, after Indian television channels said troops of both countries had exchanged fire. "There seems to be some activity across the border but there has been no activity from our side, not one shot fired from here," he told Reuters. India accuses Pakistan of having a role in the Sunday raid on the brigade headquarters in Uri, one of the deadliest attacks in the Himalayan region that has been divided since 1947 and lies at the heart of the nuclear-armed neighbours' rivalry. Islamic State digs in behind Mosul moat as battle for city looms By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Islamic State is building a moat around Mosul in northern Iraq, in preparation for a long, hard battle against U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces for the biggest city in the jihadists' self-proclaimed caliphate. The city of 2 million fell to the militants in 2014 in a lightning advance, and the offensive to recapture it will be the biggest battle Islamic State has ever fought. Residents say the fighters have been sealing off entire districts and building a network of tunnels across the city to obstruct government troops. The group has been working hard this month to dig a two-metre by two-metre trench along the city's perimeter and position oil tanks nearby to create a river of fire that would impede advancing troops and hinder aerial surveillance, according to senior Iraq military officers, Mosul residents, and local officials based outside the city. The battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State, which has been forced off significant portions of the territory it seized in Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, could begin as soon as next month. The jihadists have put up fierce resistance against attacks on some parts of their caliphate over the past two years but melted away in other areas, prompting debate about how they will react to a push on Mosul. Recent activities suggest Islamic State - also called Daesh in Arabic - will dig in, presaging a long and bloody fight that could displace large numbers of civilians. "Oil trenches, tunnels and suicide attacks will not save Daesh from defeat but they will make the battle more challenging," said Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for the counter-terrorism forces which are expected to spearhead the offensive. "We are confident Daesh will fight to their last fighter to keep holding Mosul." There is a gap in the moat on the western approach to the city, so fighters could slip out through the desert and into Syria to regroup if they ultimately decide to surrender Mosul. Rich in Muslim history, Mosul lies at the heart of the state the Islamists have sought to create. It was in the city's main mosque in 2014 that their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a modern caliphate spanning large parts of Iraq and Syria. With much of the population still inside, civilians are a concern for those planning the expected assault. The installation of oil tanks around residential areas raises the risk that air strikes could set off major fires, said Baghdad-based analyst and former army general Jasim al-Bahadli. In addition to the moat, the militants have sealed off central districts of Mosul by stacking cement blast walls on top of each other across main roads, according to photographs taken by residents and seen by Reuters. Dozens of trucks were seen earlier this month carrying similar barriers into the airport on the city's southern outskirts, which could be an entry point for attacking forces, local officials and residents said. The militants "are using the blast walls to make Mosul airport unfit for planes to land," said Iraqi Army Colonel Mohammed Adnan al-Taie. They used the same tactic before fleeing Qayyara air base, 60 km (40 miles) south of Mosul, which U.S. forces are helping to refurbish to use as a logistics hub for the Mosul operation. TUNNEL NETWORK Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pledged repeatedly to retake Mosul by the end of the year, and Iraqi commanders have indicated the main push could begin by the second half of October though some doubts remain that the necessary troops will be ready. After meeting Abadi in New York on Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he hoped for progress by the end of the year, and the top U.S. general later said Iraqi forces would be ready in October, but the timing would be up to Abadi. Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake the northern town of Shirqat, a stepping stone in the Mosul campaign. Mosul provincial councilman Abdul Rahman al-Wagga said Islamic State's tactics suggest it is desperate to delay the government advance. Witnesses in Mosul say the militants are working hard to dig tunnels, which they have used in the past to launch attacks on Iraqi forces, store supplies and hide from air strikes. "I can see Daesh digging tunnels everywhere and covering the entrances with sewage covers. My neighbour's house is now part of a network of tunnels that reaches across the city," a resident from the Sumer district of southeastern Mosul told Reuters. Interviews via the Internet with five Mosul residents, some of whom are still in the city, suggest Islamic State is tightening its grip in a bid to weather popular discontent and military setbacks, including assassinations of senior leaders. House-to-house searches have increased over the last two months, as the militants pursue local fighters who pledged allegiance to the group but appear to have defected. Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the joint operations command, said intelligence contacts in Mosul were providing accurate coordinates of Islamic State locations and for conducting assassinations against militants, though Reuters could not confirm those claims. Abadi this week called on Mosul residents to stand up to Islamic State ahead of the military offensive. Russian aircraft believed to hit Syria convoy, U.S. officials say By Denis Dyomkin and Angus McDowall UNITED NATIONS/BEIRUT, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The United States believes two Russian aircraft attacked an aid convoy near Aleppo in a strike that shattered a one-week truce, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, but Russia denied involvement. Despite the military blame game over Monday's deadly attack, diplomats struggled to save the U.S.-Russian ceasefire agreement that took effect on Sept. 12. The incident, in which 18 trucks from a 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed, looked likely to deal a death blow to diplomatic efforts to halt a civil war now in its sixth year. Two Russian Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes were in the skies above the aid convoy at the exact time it was struck late on Monday, two U.S. officials told Reuters, citing U.S. intelligence that led them to conclude Russia was to blame. Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman denied the assertion, telling reporters at the United Nations the U.S. administration "has no facts" to support the claim, adding: "We have nothing to do with this situation." Ben Rhodes, a deputy U.S. national security adviser, said the White House held Russia responsible for what he called an "enormous humanitarian tragedy" but he did not address whether the attack was carried out by Russian aircraft. Earlier Russia, which denied its aircraft or those of its Syrian government allies were involved, had said it believed the convoy was not struck from the air at all but had caught fire because of some incident on the ground. The Syrian Red Crescent said the head of one of its local offices and "around 20 civilians" had been killed, although other death tolls differed. The attack prompted the United Nations to suspend all aid shipments into Syria. Senior officials from 23 nations emerged from a one-hour meeting on Syria at a New York luxury hotel with little more than an agreement to meet again, on Friday, about how to end a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and driven millions from their homes. They also differed on the chances of renewing the ceasefire. "The ceasefire is not dead," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after the meeting, which he hosted with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "Is there still a chance this ceasefire will be effective? I can't answer that question," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters. He said that without a ceasefire there would be a "spiral of war, but we have to be honest, the U.S.-Russian negotiation has reached its limits." The U.N. Security Council is due to hold a high-level meeting on Syria on Wednesday. The United Nations, Red Cross and United States had all described Monday's incident as an air strike, implicitly pinning the blame on Russian or Syrian aircraft that fly in the area for breaking the ceasefire with an attack on a humanitarian target. But the U.N. revised a statement to remove the phrase "air strikes" and replace it with references to unspecified "attacks". U.N. humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke said the original reference to air strikes was probably a drafting error, saying the U.N. was not in a position to determine if they were air strikes but was sure the convoy was "attacked." "WAR CRIME" IF DELIBERATE The ceasefire was meant to halt all fighting and allow aid to reach besieged areas, at a time when pro-government forces, with Russian and Iranian military support, are in their strongest position for years and civilians in many rebel-held areas are cut off from food and medical supplies. "If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien said in a statement. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia's Defence Ministry, said in a statement: "We have studied video footage from the scene from so-called 'activists' in detail and did not find any evidence that the convoy had been struck by ordnance." "There are no craters and the exterior of the vehicles do not have the kind of damage consistent with blasts caused by bombs dropped from the air." He said the damage to the convoy visible in footage was caused by its cargo catching fire. It had occurred at the same time as militants from the group formerly called the Nusra Front had started a big offensive in nearby Aleppo, he said, appearing to point the finger at rescue workers from a group called the "White Helmets" who filmed the aftermath. "Only representatives of the 'White Helmets' organisation close to the Nusra Front who, as always, found themselves at the right time in the right place by chance with their video cameras can answer who did this and why." Hussein Badawi, head of the White Helmets in the town, said he was 100 metres (yards) from the aid depot when the air strikes took place and was injured by shrapnel in the hand. "There were fires, martyrs, wounded people. We were able to pull out four survivors and five dead bodies at first," Badawi said. "The bombardment was continuous, continuous. The rescue teams weren't even able to work. Those who arrived in ambulances couldn't come in." DIPLOMATIC GAMBLE The ceasefire deal was a gamble on unprecedented cooperation between the United States and Russia, despite trust between the two Cold War-era foes being at its lowest point for decades. They support opposite sides in the war between Assad's government and insurgents but are both fighting against Islamic State militants. The deal calls for Washington and Moscow to share targeting information eventually. Following Monday's attack, there were reports of intensified clashes across Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said clashes took place between the army and rebels in the Jobar district of Damascus and areas northeast of the capital, after the army tried to advance. Russia's Putin to oversee launch of Vostochno-Messoyakha oilfield MOSCOW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Russia's northernmost onshore oilfield will start production on Wednesday, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, just days before a major oil producers' meeting. President Vladimir Putin will watch the launch of the Vostochno-Messoyakha field, jointly developed by Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, via a video link. Gazprom Neft's web site put the reserves of the field and the adjacent Zapadno-Messoyakha at over 470 million tonnes of oil and 180 billion cubic metres of gas, enabling Russia, the world's top oil producer, to increase its production further. Several OPEC producers have called for an output freeze to contain an oil glut that has triggered a price collapse in the last two years, hitting the revenues of major producers. Russia's oil output is seen rising 2.2 percent this year, above expectations, to reach almost a 30-year high of 546-547 million tonnes as companies ramp up drilling. Russia has constantly exceeded forecasts for oil production which has been on a steady rise since 2009 when a slump in oil prices dragged down output. Since then, Russian companies have increased drilling by around 10 percent per year. U.S. bank regulator, OCC, says eyes action against Wells Fargo executives WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, said on Tuesday that his agency is considering action against individual Wells Fargo executives after a customer fraud was detected at the bank. Ivory trade debate resurfaces as southern Africa's elephants thrive By Ed Stoddard KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa, Sept 20 (Reuters) - S outh Africa's Kruger National Park is littered in places with the trunks of trees uprooted and stripped of bark by a surging population of elephants, a frequent sight in the reserve. Africa's elephants are still threatened by poachers seeking to kill them for their ivory tusks but in several southern states populations have rebounded, helped by conservation policies and the remote locations where many of the herds live. The numbers are now so big that some countries say the world's largest land mammal is causing too much damage to crops, threatening the livelihoods of poor subsistence farmers and the populations of other species including birds, bats and woody plants in forests uprooted by elephants. Zimbabwe and Namibia have asked for a global ban on ivory trade to be lifted so that they can use the proceeds of national stockpiles of tusks to fund conservation and support communities living near elephants. "Elephants are regarded as a liability and economic cost to rural communities, who suffer crop losses, other damages and lose human lives," Namibia's proposal says. Its population has increased to 20,000 from 7,500 the past two decades. The request to sell stockpiles, collected through seizures of contraband, natural mortality in the wild and the shooting of problem animals, will be considered at a meeting of the U.N.'s Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Johannesburg from September 24 to October 5. The ban on trade in ivory products was imposed in 1989 in response to a wave of poaching, though domestic trade has remained legal in a number of countries including China. The United States in July imposed a near-total ban on domestic ivory sales within its borders. Opponents are concerned that if CITES allows ivory to be traded, even from stockpiles and as a one-off, it would send a signal that it is socially acceptable, which could spur demand and further poaching. Ivory is particularly coveted in Asia where it is used for carving and jewelry. Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were given permission to sell stockpiles to Japan in 1999 and were joined by South Africa in 2008 in a sale to China and Japan. A June 2016 study by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research found that the 2008 sale likely led to an increase in elephant poaching. It noted an estimated 71 percent increase in ivory smuggling out of Africa "while corresponding patterns are absent from natural mortality and alternative explanatory variables. These data suggest the widely documented recent increase in elephant poaching likely originated with the legal sale." Poaching has skyrocketed in the past decade in much of the continent to feed the illicit market, lending a new sense of urgency to campaigns to completely close the trade for good. TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS For their request to pass, Zimbabwe and Namibia will need the support of two-thirds of the 183 member states of CITES. South Africa Environment Minister Edna Molewa told Reuters that her country and others in southern Africa would support the Namibian and Zimbabwean proposals because the ivory sales were needed to pay for the ecological and social costs of large elephant populations. "If you look at the communities that are bearing the brunt of living with these animals, their ecological systems are degraded and they lose food security and grazing lands," she said. She said "we are quite optimistic" the proposals would pass but expected tough negotiations. There is expected to be significant opposition from most western countries, some NGOs and African countries including Kenya, which along with others has made a separate proposal to CITES to keep the trade ban firmly in place. Sport hunting of elephants is permitted in some countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe and hunters are allowed to keep the tusks as trophies. But in Kenya, where elephants cannot be owned and where any hunting is forbidden, the animals are seen as a bigger draw for tourists wanting to see them in the wild. Kenya and Gabon, which has large areas of national park and is fighting a growing battle with poachers, have burnt ivory stockpiles. And while elephant populations are stabilizing in southern Africa where conservation policies are stronger, in east and central Africa, poaching is rife and the numbers are down. A census by Elephants Without Borders, a conservation group, found numbers of Savanna elephants - which favor more open habitat - fell 30 percent between 2007 and 2014 to 350,000. Africa's other species, the forest elephant, will need a century to recover from poaching because of its slow birth rate, and numbers around 70,000. "A BIT SELFISH" Zimbabwe says its elephant population has stabilized at 80,000. Its proposal says elephant populations exceeding 0.5 per km have a detrimental impact on woodlands and other species. However, scientists say the damage done by elephants is being exaggerated and that they are crucial for healthy ecosystems because their dung disperses seeds and fertilisers and they create habitats for smaller creatures through foraging. "Elephants are a key driver in maintaining biodiversity," said Sam Ferreira, a South African National Parks ecologist. "No species in the Kruger has ever gone extinct because of elephants." Since culling was halted at Kruger in 1994, the elephant population has swollen from around 8,000 to 17,000 - and other animals have not suffered, he said. In Chobe National Park in northern Botswana, where the number of elephants has risen to 130,000 from 30 in 1930, scientists say antelope species such as impala have benefited from the removal of trees by elephants as they favor shorter vegetation. This in turn has boosted the populations of predators such as lions. There is agreement, however, that elephants in Namibia and Zimbabwe are making life hard for the humans living nearby. Zimbabwe's Campfire Association say elephants eat around 18 percent of the crops in the poor communities where the NGO works. It says people have been killed by then, often when subsistence farmers come across the animals in their fields. Cash-strapped Zimbabwe, which has a 70 tonne ivory stockpile worth $35 million, says ivory trade is the only way to pay for protecting its elephants and to give rural communities an economic incentive for living near the animals. Nevertheless, conservationists say Zimbabwe and Namibia should not be given special treatment. "We do recognize that Zimbabwe and Namibia's elephants populations are in better shape than those elsewhere in Africa," said Susan Lieberman, vice president for International Policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society. U.N. chief Ban regrets peacekeeper abuse, Haiti cholera By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday expressed regret for sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in Central African Republic and an outbreak of cholera in Haiti during his final address to the annual gathering of world leaders in New York. Ban told the U.N. General Assembly that these two matters had "tarnished the reputation of the United Nations and, far worse, traumatized many people we serve." Ban will step down at the end of 2016 after serving two five-year terms. The United Nations has promised to crack down on abuses after dozens of accusations of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers in Central African Republic, where U.N. troops assumed authority from African Union troops in September 2014. The United Nations currently has 106,000 troops and police serving in 16 peacekeeping missions. "The despicable acts of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by a number of U.N. peacekeepers and other personnel have compounded the suffering of people already caught up in armed conflict, and undermined the work done by so many others around the world," Ban said. "Protectors must never become predators," he said. In Haiti, Ban is working on a new response to an outbreak of cholera. The country was free of cholera until 2010, when U.N. peacekeepers dumped infected sewage into a river. "I feel tremendous regret and sorrow at the profound suffering of Haitians affected by cholera," Ban said. "Let us work together to meet our obligations to the Haitian people." He called it the "moral responsibility" of the U.N. to do so. A 2011 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal, where cholera is endemic, were the likely cause of the outbreak. Since then, more than 9,000 people have died of the disease that causes uncontrollable diarrhea and 800,000 people have fallen ill, mostly in the first two years of the outbreak. UK charges woman with terrorism offence over Turkish publication LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - British police said on Tuesday they had charged two people with terrorism offences, including a woman accused of encouraging others to commit a terrorist offence in connection with a publication linked to a Turkish militant group. Ayfer Yildiz, 45, from west London, faces two counts of encouraging terrorism for allegedly passing on two editions of the magazine "Yuruyus", which is linked to the far-left militant group, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C). The group, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and the United States, claimed responsibility for an attack in March when two female militants opened fire and threw a grenade at a police bus in Istanbul. Turkish police shot them both dead. The group also killed a security guard in a 2013 suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara and claimed responsibility for an attack in August of last year when two women opened fire on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. British police said that in a separate prosecution Alaettin Kalender, 50, from northeast London, had been charged with possessing information that was useful for terrorism purposes. Ugandan MPs' plan to pay for their burials infuriates public By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A plan by the Ugandan parliament to spend 50 million shillings each on the funerals of lawmakers has angered critics, who say it exposes the waste of taxpayer money and the legislature's sense of entitlement in a poor nation. The allocation comes after a proposal to offer each of Uganda's 427 lawmakers 150 million shillings ($44,444.44) to buy tax-free vehicles, another plan that has drawn strong criticism. The funeral cash will give each lawmaker a state-of-the-art casket, preparation of the grave, police to provide security and food and drink for mourners. Each funeral will probably last three days, including a period for lying in state. Even in a country where corruption is widespread, punishment for stealing public funds is rare and politicians are often viewed with cynicism, that strikes citizens as outrageous. A Ugandan lawmaker already makes about $5,900 a month; the average Ugandan earns around $670 - a year. "MPs have not told us how they are growing our economy, instead all we see is how they are sucking from it," Jackie Asiimwe, a women's rights activist, told Reuters. "The amounts are obscene." Chris Obore, the spokesman for parliament, said public anger against the proposed funeral plans was misplaced, adding that the lawmakers were being "targeted unfairly." "It's popular to be seen to be concerned about alleged government wastage," he said. Under the proposal, five deaths will be budgeted for each financial year. If no lawmaker dies in a given financial year, money will be returned to the Treasury, Obore said. A procurement process for a funeral provider is under way. Criticism of lawmakers is not new in East Africa. Kenyan legislators have also earned the wrath of citizens for their cavalier attitude to public funds. At more than $10,000 a month, they are among the best paid parliamentarians in the world. Previously, some Ugandan MPs have joined the public in criticising President Yoweri Museveni, whose private jet, long motorcades, outsized presidential villas, and large security detail were often depicted as symbols of government extravagance and waste. Now the criticism is being directed at lawmakers. Last week, in a apparent insult to the legislators, two members of a youth pressure group arrived at the entrance to parliament's premises with piglets concealed in sacks, local media reported. The piglets, with protest notes carrying words like MPIGS glued on their bodies, were then let loose before they were picked up by police, who also arrested the youths. A similar protest against legislators, using pigs, was staged at the Kenyan parliament by activists in 2013. At U.N., Brazil's Temer says Rousseff's ouster was constitutional By Hugh Bronstein UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's new president, Michel Temer, told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the impeachment of his predecessor Dilma Rousseff was conducted with "absolute respect" for the rule of law and that confidence was returning to the country's battered economy. Temer, who was sworn in after Rousseff was dismissed by Congress on Aug. 31, said his task now was to restore economic growth and create work for millions of Brazilians who have lost their jobs in the worst recession since the 1930s. Temer's U.N. appearance was part of an effort by his government to attract investment to South America's biggest economy while dispelling questions about his legitimacy as president after the rancorous impeachment of Rousseff that divided Brazil. Her removal from office was carried out within the rules set by Congress and the Supreme Court, Temer said. "The process took place in absolute respect to the constitutional order." Venezuela's representative to the United Nations, Rafael Ramirez, said he wasn't buying it. He told Reuters that he and several other ambassadors from left-leaning governments in Latin America walked out when Temer started to speak. "We consider Temer's government to be illegitimate," Ramirez said, characterizing Temer's accession as a coup d'etat. "We planned the walk-out as a protest against what's happening in Brazil." Brazil's Senate convicted Rousseff, the country's first woman president, of breaking budget rules, marking the end of 13 years of leftist Workers Party rule. Then vice president, Temer will serve out her term through 2018. "We are clear that the way forward is to take the path of fiscal responsibility and social responsibility," Temer said. "Confidence is being restored." Investors are watching Temer's steps to plug a budget deficit that has ballooned to 10 percent of gross domestic product from 3 percent in 2013. Brazil's currency has strengthened and the stock market has surged on the ouster of Rousseff, but doubts remain about Temer's commitment to curbing profligate public spending. He is known as a quiet, calculating political deal maker unencumbered by ideology. Temer honed his craft over several years in Brazil's bare-knuckle lower house of Congress, where he was an ally to both centrist President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Temer's pro-business program includes a multibillion-dollar plan to auction off oil, power rights and infrastructure concessions to try to bolster private investment to revive a moribund economy. Temer, part of a regional shift toward the political right, has sought to offset criticism of planned austerity measures by denying that a proposed ceiling on public spending would impact health and education expenditures. In neighboring Argentina, the November election of free-markets advocate Mauricio Macri as president put another center-right leader in charge of a major South American economy after years of leftist rule. New fields to boost Algerian gas output in 2017 By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Algeria is on track for more than 9 billion cubic meters a year additional gas output next year when three delayed projects in its south west come online, a source at state energy company Sonatrach said. The third largest gas supplier to the Europe Union, Algeria has struggled in recent years to increase production of crude and natural gas because of low foreign investment to boost output at maturing fields and work new production. For a year, European Union officials and energy firms have been pushing Algeria to adapt to more competitive markets, especially with the fall in crude prices, to attract the investment needed to pump more gas north again. Among the projects are Touat Gas set for February 2017 with an estimated output of 12.8 million cubic metres per day, Timimoun in March 2017 with 4.6 million cubic metres per day, and Reggane will provide 8 million cubic metres per day in June. "The three projects will come online on time, the outcome will reinforce our position as a reliable gas exporter to Europe. No delays, the projects will be delivered in 2017," the Sonatrach source told Reuters. "Further in the south, we have found a huge potential of gas around the fields of Akabli and Tidikelt, in addition to Alrar's project in the east that will deliver gas and oil," the source said. A drop in European gas demand dented Algerian exports that were squeezed by slowing production at mature fields, low investment and s rapidly increasing domestic need for gas to generate power. Still, Sonatrach has invested to stabilise and increase production at its large, mature fields and expects to bring five new gas fields online in the south of the country despite delays from state bureaucracy. Gas output is expected to reach 141.3 bcm in 2017, 143.9 bcm in 2018, 150 bcm in 2019 and 165 bcm in 2020, according to a Sonatrach document. In another advance, Algeria's Tiguentourine gas plant resumed full production for the first time since a militant attack in 2013, after its third train came back online. The plant, operated with BP and Statoil with a full capacity of 9 billion cubic metres a year. At its huge, mature Hassi R'mel field, Sonatrach has engaged in boasting operations to help bolster production. Sonatrach is also due to recuperate by the end of 2017 important volumes of gas that have been injected in the past decades in Hassi Messaoud and its region Algeria is expected to export 50 billion cubic metres in 2016 to Europe, an increase of 15 percent in comparison with 2015, according to Sonatrach. Lebanese man sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in Iran -lawyer By Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin WASHINGTON/DUBAI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Iran sentenced Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with permanent U.S. residency, to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine after he was found guilty of collaborating against the state, his U.S.-based lawyer announced on Tuesday. Zakka, an information technology expert, was invited to Iran by a government official a year ago, but then disappeared after attending a conference in Tehran. State media announced in November that he had been detained by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, and reported that he had ties to U.S. military and intelligence services. Zakka's supporters and his U.S. lawyer Jason Poblete have said that he is innocent of any wrongdoing. "Nizar doesn't recognize this process," Poblete said in a telephone interview. "He was there at the invitation of the Iranian government, and he was pulled over on the side of the road by a bunch of men. He's been treated as a hostage ever since." Poblete said Zakka had learned of his verdict last Wednesday, and his Iranian lawyer was told on Sunday. "It's 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million" fine, Poblete said of the 60-page verdict. The Virginia-based lawyer said he has not seen the document but was informed of its contents by Zakka's Iranian lawyer. Zakka was charged under Article 508 of Iran's penal code, Poblete said. The code states that anyone found cooperating with a foreign state against the Islamic Republic of Iran faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Iran's vice president for women and family affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, invited Zakka to attend a conference on women's entrepreneurship in September 2015, according to a copy of a signed letter from Molaverdi provided by Poblete. Amnesty International said last week that Zakka's health was deteriorating in his detention in Tehran's Evin Prison but authorities were denying him medical care. GRAINS-Soybeans rally on harvest delays; corn, wheat firm By Mark Weinraub CHICAGO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose 1.7 percent on Tuesday, hitting a nearly one-month high on strong export demand and as rains delayed harvest in key production areas of the U.S. Midwest, traders said. The delays also supported corn futures while wheat rose on technical buying and short-covering. Both corn and wheat were on track for their third straight day of gains. Soybeans rose for the fourth session in a row, led by demand from commercial operators as cash market supplies were tight. "Both crushers and exporters need to get their hands on physical bushels to offset long paper and meet contracts," Brugler Marketing and Management LLC said in a note to client. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday morning that exporters had sold another 110,000 tonnes of soybeans to China for delivery during the 2016/17 marketing year. At 11:25 a.m. CDT (1625 GMT), CBOT November soybean futures were up 16-1/4 cents at $9.88-3/4 a bushel. The most-active contract hit its highest since Aug. 25. Expected rains in the western half of the U.S. Midwest next week will cause further harvest delays as farmers wait for fields to dry out, forecaster Commodity Weather Group said in a note to clients. CBOT December corn was 2-3/4 cents higher at $3.40 a bushel. CBOT December soft red winter wheat was up 2-1/4 cents at $4.06-1/4 a bushel. The USDA said after the market close on Monday that 9 percent of U.S. corn had been harvested as of Sunday, down from the five-year average of 12 percent for this time of the year and analysts' estimate of 11 percent. The agency said 4 percent of U.S. soybeans had been harvested, down slightly from 5 percent on average. Large global supplies continued to weigh on grain and oilseed markets. Commerzbank analysts cut their price outlook for corn and wheat, citing the USDA's projection of record global stocks in 2016/17. A hold-up in purchases by Egypt's government buyer was also weighing on wheat markets. Egypt, the world's biggest importer, remained in a standoff with suppliers over a strict ban on traces of ergot fungus. India backs off major retaliation over Kashmir raid, for now By Douglas Busvine and Sanjeev Miglani SRINAGAR, India/NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - For all the shrill rhetoric immediately following Sunday's attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan, the threat of a sudden escalation in hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals has receded for now. Two days after 18 Indian soldiers were killed, in the biggest blow to security forces in the disputed Himalayan region for 14 years, some officials called for a measured response and plotted a diplomatic offensive to increase pressure on Pakistan. Military action was limited to skirmishes near the Line of Control separating the countries in Kashmir, with Indian troops killing eight people they said were trying to cross the de facto border and separately fighting four or five suspected militants. India's Federal Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said there was a deep sense of outrage about the attack in the border town of Uri, and that patience with Pakistan was wearing thin. But he added: "Whatever decisions the government takes in this regard will be done with full diplomatic and strategic maturity." Prasad also warned against loose talk of conducting cross-border strikes. Pakistan has dismissed Indian allegations of involvement in the Uri attack, saying the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had apportioned blame even before the investigation was complete. Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday tweeted that "Pakistan is a terrorist state." The attack presents Modi with the most serious crisis involving Pakistan since his election in 2014, with Hindu nationalists who helped him sweep to power expecting a more robust reaction than that of the last government. Yet the response so far resembles the path of "strategic restraint" that previous leaders have adopted, even at times of major tension including the 2008 assault on Mumbai in which 166 people were killed by gunmen who came from Pakistan. Senior security officials on the ground in Indian-ruled Kashmir, facing a hardening of separatist attitudes in response to the rise of Modi, say they can manage the impulsiveness of his hardcore Hindu nationalist allies. "This country has a very robust bureaucratic set-up to take care of their inadequacies," one senior army officer said, on condition of anonymity. Any military action against Pakistan would be carefully weighed on its merits and against less risky alternatives such as diplomatic pressure, economic measures or covert action. "It's a tactical decision," the officer said. DIPLOMATIC WARFARE On Tuesday, a team from India's National Investigative Agency gathered more evidence from Uri including blood samples, DNA and the GPS devices that the four attackers carried. The assailants were killed by the army. Indian government officials are hoping they can establish the route they believe the gunmen took to cross the Line of Control from the Pakistani side, because it would help mount a diplomatic offensive against Islamabad for harbouring militants. An official at the Indian interior ministry said the government was preparing to make a case before the United States to encourage it to take economic measures against Pakistan for failing to act against insurgents operating from its soil. Washington has already cut back military and economic aid to Pakistan, in part because it says Islamabad did not target the Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network blamed for a widening insurgency in Afghanistan. "You will see multiple serious action against Pakistan, the results will hurt their economy," the Indian interior ministry official said. One problem for Modi's government is that, by promising an appropriate response to the attack and raising expectations of a punitive strike, officials in his administration could now lose face with its core nationalist constituency. Another is that retaliatory measures carry a risk of a bigger conflict between India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since independence, two of them over the nuclear flashpoint of Kashmir. "There are no easy options, but not doing anything is also not an option," said an Indian defence source. OPTIONS AND RISKS Military officials in New Delhi and Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, have cautioned against rushing into cross-border strikes that members of Modi's right wing Bharatiya Janata Party were baying for in the hours after the raid. One option long on the table is a small group of soldiers carrying out a fast attack on one or two Pakistan army posts across the border that are suspected of helping militants sneak into Kashmir, the defence source said. Another option that the Modi's administration is seen as more likely to explore than its predecessors is targeted assassinations of leaders of militant groups based in Pakistan. But India's operational and intelligence capabilities to carry out such operations are unproven and carry the risk of going wrong. "India may well decide to introduce some subtle means of punishing Pakistan into its policy toolkit," wrote Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center on an Indian website Rediff News. "Forget about sending in troops or raining down missiles, but don't rule out certain types of furtive activities, including occasional covert operations that target specific terrorist leaders or facilities." France's Hollande blames Syrian govt for ceasefire failure UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande blamed the Syrian government on Tuesday for the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-backed ceasefire and urged foreign backers of President Bashar al-Assad to help enforce peace or risk the country fragmenting. "I say to the Syrian government's foreign backers that they must compel the regime to enforce peace otherwise they will bear the responsibility for the splitting up of the country and the chaos," Hollande said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Russia and Iran are the main foreign backers of Assad and his government. European shares steady before central bank decisions; Italy lags By Danilo Masoni MILAN , Sept 20 (Reuters) - European shares ended little changed on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of monetary policy decisions from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan on Wednesday. Market volatility has spiked this month because of changing expectations over when the Fed could raise rates, but mixed data cast doubt over the health of the world's biggest economy, reducing the chance of a hike this month. Futures are pricing the chance of a U.S. rate rise this week at just 15 percent, while the chance of a December hike is seen at almost 60 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. However, some investors believed there was still room for a surprise rate increase on Wednesday. "Postponing the decision to December and betting that U.S. macro data will remain positive in the next three months may be a risky bet," Adrien Pichoud, chief economist at SYZ Asset Management in Geneva, said. "We view the risk of a surprise hike as important and recommend to position portfolios (to) limit exposure to risk assets, especially U.S. and EM equities," he added. The BoJ will also be closely watched for near-term market direction. JP Morgan analyst Mislav Matejka said earlier this week that the Japanese central bank could disappoint, warning that equities should continue to unwind their summer bounce. Europe's STOXX 600, which has risen around 10 percent since the end of June but touched a six-week low earlier this month on the back of worries over central bank action, ended down 0.1 percent. Italy's FTSE MIB fell 1.2 percent, making it the worst performing index in Europe. Traders cited growing uncertainty ahead of an upcoming referendum on Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's constitutional reform plan. Credit Suisse said the referendum could cause bigger volatility but did not expect it to trigger any systemic shock. It said that if the "No" front won, there could be a delay in Italian banks' recapitalisation plans but Italian bonds should remain largely protected by the ECB's bond-buying programme. Troubled Monte dei Paschi bank fell 6.4 percent, the biggest loser in Milan, on fears over the feasibility of its rescue plan. The STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index dropped 0.9 percent, the worst sectoral performer, as oil prices hovered around six-week lows on global over-supply concerns. Shares in Royal Dutch Shell, Eni and Total fell between 0.5 percent and 1.8 percent. Among other sharp movers, shares in business services firm Regus slumped 6.4 percent after a share placement. Italian prosecutors seek jail for Leonardo CEO over 2009 rail disaster FLORENCE, Italy, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors on Tuesday asked for a 16-year prison sentence for the former chief executive of the national rail company at a trial in connection with a 2009 rail disaster in which 32 people died. In one of Italy's worst rail tragedies, a freight train hauling liquefied gas derailed and exploded in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio. The 32 victims died in the subsequent fire. Prosecutors in the court of Lucca have accused Mauro Moretti, who led rail company Ferrovie dello Stato from September 2006 to 2014, of responsibility for the disaster and other offences including homicide through negligence, judiciary sources told Reuters. Moretti, who is now head of state-controlled defence group Leonardo, told reporters in Rome on Tuesday that he had repeatedly expressed condolences to the families of the victims. He did not specifically comment on the prosecutors' request. GRAINS-Harvest delays spark soybean rally; corn, wheat firm By Mark Weinraub CHICAGO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose 1.7 percent on Tuesday, hitting a nearly one-month high on strong export demand and as rains delayed harvest in key production areas of the U.S. Midwest, traders said. The delays also supported corn futures, while wheat rose on technical buying and short-covering. Both corn and wheat were on track for their third straight day of gains. Soybeans rose for the fourth session in a row, led by demand from commercial operators as cash market supplies were tight. "Both crushers and exporters need to get their hands on physical bushels to offset long paper and meet contracts," Brugler Marketing and Management LLC said in a note to client. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday that exporters had sold another 110,000 tonnes of soybeans to China for delivery during the 2016/17 marketing year. CBOT November soybean futures settled up 17-1/4 cents at $9.89-3/4 a bushel. The most-active contract hit its highest since Aug. 25. Expected rains in the western half of the U.S. Midwest next week will cause further harvest delays as farmers wait for fields to dry out, forecaster Commodity Weather Group said in a note to clients. CBOT December corn was 3-1/4 cents higher at $3.40-1/2 a bushel. "Corn was up all day long on chart buying and sympathy with the soybeans, with more chatter about wet weather for next week," Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at ED&F Man Capital, said in a note to clients. The USDA said after the market close on Monday that 9 percent of U.S. corn had been harvested as of Sunday, down from the five-year average of 12 percent for this time of the year and analysts' estimate of 11 percent. The agency said 4 percent of U.S. soybeans had been harvested, down slightly from 5 percent on average. CBOT December soft red winter wheat rose 2 cents to $4.06 a bushel. Large global supplies continued to weigh on grain markets, limiting gains in both corn and wheat. A hold-up in purchases by Egypt's government buyer was also weighing on wheat markets. Egypt, the world's biggest importer, remained in a standoff with suppliers over a strict ban on traces of ergot fungus. US senators push Wells Fargo CEO on pay clawbacks after bogus accounts By Patrick Rucker and Dan Freed Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate lawmakers excoriated Wells Fargo & Co's chief on Tuesday for his oversight of the bank as it opened 2 million bogus customer accounts, potentially laying the groundwork for new rules and reviving questions of whether banks are "too big to fail." Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that customers who had bogus accounts opened in their name will be made whole and compensated for any damage to their credit rating, but some Democratic senators called for his resignation. Under fire, Stumpf said he has told his managers to do "whatever it takes" to make customers whole, refunding fees or compensating them for damage to their credit ratings. But he stood behind the former executive who ran the unit that oversaw many of the practices, and at times downplayed the scope of the affair. In answer to a question, he declined to commit to setting aside mandatory arbitration agreements that prohibit clients from suing Wells Fargo. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has proposed a ban on such clauses that prohibit class-action lawsuits. Earlier this month, the lender agreed to pay $190 million in penalties and customer payouts to settle the case involving the creation of credit, savings and other accounts without customers' knowledge. About $5 million will directly go to customers, many of whom might have paid a small fee on the unwanted accounts. The revelations are a severe hit to Wells Fargo's reputation. During the financial crisis, the bank trumpeted itself as conservative, in contrast to its rivals. Besides potential criminal charges against the company and its executives, Wells Fargo may face pressure from shareholders to change its practices on executive pay and governance. The scandal also renewed debate over whether U.S. banks are "too big to fail" and need closer government oversight to prevent a massive collapse. Lawmakers could use the fraud settlement as a springboard for new rules on executive pay, including clawbacks of compensation, and limits on forced arbitration. Wells Fargo has said its board will assess whether to cancel or claw back any incentive compensation paid to a now-retired executive at the center of the scandal, Carrie Tolstedt. Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for Stumpf to resign, with Warren saying Stumpf should give back his salary and be criminally investigated. "You should resign. You should give back the money you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated," Warren said. The bank's board of directors is examining what action it should take against company executives, Stumpf told the committee. "I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices," Stumpf said, adding later, "I apologize to all of the American people and our customers, and I will make it right." Lawmakers said the phony bank accounts might have hurt customer credit ratings, increased the cost of a mortgage or car loan. New credit card applications and consumer borrowing trends can weight on an individual's credit. "WHERE WAS MANAGEMENT?" Wells Fargo has acknowledged bank employees "inappropriately opened" the customer accounts and that about 5,300 employees were fired over five years. Former bank employees say they were under intense pressure to add accounts for each customer. Abuses were found as early as 2011, Stumpf said, but bank executives only realized the scale of the problem early last year. At that time, Stumpf said, managers came to recognize how a pattern of creating phony accounts could be used to boost unwarranted fees. "It never dawned on us that there could be a cycle," the CEO said. "It just sort of begs the issue of where was management," said Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the senior Democrat on the panel. Brown said employees were caught "forging signatures, and stealing identities, Social Security numbers, and customers' hard-earned cash, so as to hang on to their low-paying jobs and make money for the high-paying executives at Wells Fargo." Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, said the agency is considering action against individual Wells Fargo executives who may have violated laws or regulations. The U.S. Attorney's Offices in Manhattan and in San Francisco are investigating Wells Fargo, a person familiar with the matter said last week. While Democratic lawmakers were the most outspoken in their attacks, Republicans also grilled Stumpf. Louisiana Senator David Vitter pressed the CEO on how customer fraud could persist for years and thousands of employees could be fired before the head of the bank got involved. "Why isn't this crystal clear proof that an entity as big as Wells is not only too big to fail but it's too big to manage and too big to regulate?" Vitter asked. Stumpf said the widespread abuse was "a problem of focus and not of size." Stumpf appeared before the congressional panel with a bandaged right hand. He suffered an injury playing with his grandchildren, according to the bank. Wells Fargo shares rose 2 percent to $46.94. More than 300 scientists warn over Trump's climate change stance By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Hundreds of top scientists warned on Tuesday against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's vow to pull the United States out of the Paris climate-warming accord if elected in November. The 375 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including 30 Nobel Prize winners, said in an open letter that a U.S. abandonment of the agreement would make it far harder to develop global strategies to lessen the impact of global warming. "Thus it is of great concern that the Republican nominee for President has advocated U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord," the letter said. "A 'Parexit' would send a clear signal to the rest of the world: 'The United States does not care about the global problem of human-caused climate change. You are on your own.'" Among the signers are biologist E.O. Wilson, physicists Stephen Hawking and Claude Canizares, astrophysicist Simon D.M. White, and Nobel winners Thomas Steitz, Michael Levitt and William Daniel Phillips. The National Academy of Sciences is a private society of scholars who advise the United States on science and technological matters. The signers of the letter said they did so as individuals and not on behalf of the Academy or their institutions. In Paris last December, almost 200 countries agreed to slash greenhouse gases and keep global temperature rises to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. The United States and China, the two largest producers of carbon emissions, ratified the accord this month. Trump will speak at a natural gas industry conference in Pennsylvania on Thursday. A Trump spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Trump has dismissed manmade climate change as a hoax invented by the Chinese and says he will abandon the Paris agreement if elected. He has vowed to reverse much of the work the administration of President Barack Obama has done to address climate change, including rules to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The Republican Party platform also questions the legality of Obama's executive order ratifying the Paris deal. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is a strong supporter of the Paris accord. Brazil's iconic ex-leader Lula to be tried for corruption SAO PAULO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's iconic former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will stand trial on corruption charges, a crusading federal judge ruled on Tuesday. Judge Sergio Moro said that Lula, the most powerful political force in Brazil during the last two decades, will be judged for allegedly accepting 3.7 million reais ($1.11 million) in bribes connected to the sweeping kickback probe at state-run oil company Petrobras. Qatar's emir, a U.S. ally, assails Obama's Syria policy UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Qatar's emir criticised U.S. President Barack Obama's policy on Syria on Tuesday, highlighting the growing frustration among U.S. allies at what they perceive to be Washington's lacklustre action towards the protracted civil war. Qatar, home to a U.S. base, is a vocal critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and, like the United States, has supported rebels seeking to topple Assad. Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, criticized Obama's so-called "red line" on Syria. In August 2013, Obama abruptly cancelled plans for U.S. air strikes that he had vowed to order if Assad's forces crossed a "red line" and used chemical weapons. Nine days earlier, a Sarin gas attack killed as many as 1,400 Syrians. "Red lines were set for the regime who has violated them, yet those who demarcated those lines have not felt provoked to raise a finger," Tamim said according to an English transcript of his prepared remarks. "The red line continued to be shifted until the regime became aware of the fact that there is no ceiling for what it could perpetrate without accountability," Tamim said. Jordan's rebranded Islamists seen staging election comeback By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Jordan's moderate Islamist opposition could emerge from Tuesday's parliamentary election with renewed influence after surviving government attempts to ban it as part of a wider crackdown on political Islam, analysts said. The group could win up to a fifth of seats in the parliament after ditching its "Islam is the Solution" slogan and joining with Christians and prominent national figures to create a broad-based civic grouping, The National Coalition for Reform, they added. Officials said turnout was 36 percent of 4.1 million eligible voters at the end of polling, lower than the election in January 2013. This appeared to confirm reports by independent observers who anticipated apathy from many voters with minimal confidence in a parliament dominated by pro-government tribal deputies. Ballot counting went relatively smoothly with results expected on Wednesday. No major incidents were reported in tribal areas where clan fights can occur when results are released. The Islamist-backed National Coalition for Reform said it was cautiously observing the ballot counting, warning of a repeat of irregularities and vote-rigging that Islamists had in past polls accused the authorities of conducting to foil their electoral gains. "The recurrence of negative practices in previous elections could threaten the democratic future in Jordan," the grouping warned in a statement on Tuesday. The election represents a modest step in the democratisation process launched by staunch U.S. ally King Abdullah as he seeks to insulate Jordan from the conflicts at its borders. But the vote is expected to show the resilience of Islamists in the face of heavy state restrictions, Western diplomats and analysts said. Electoral laws that favour tribal areas rather than cities, where Islamists enjoy most support, mean they are unlikely to dominate the poll, but they could still shake up Jordan's staid political scene, analysts said. "This will be an extension of previous parliaments created by successive governments. But ... the challenges we face require a brave stance," said Sheikh Hamza Mansour, a prominent Muslim Brotherhood figure. Vilified by pro-government media, the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), had boycotted elections for a decade in protest at electoral laws they felt were biased against them, while pressing demands for broader political representation. The Muslim Brotherhood has been allowed to operate in Jordan since 1946. But it came under suspicion after the Arab Spring, in which Islamists pitted against established powers in many Arab countries. Jordan came close to banning the Brotherhood this year in what the Islamists have said was a settling of scores with them for instigating protests that focused on reforming the government and limiting King Abdullah's powers. The protests fell short of demanding the overthrow of the monarchy. Elections are contested under an electoral law that left intact a voting system that favours sparsely populated tribal East Bank constituencies over the densely populated cities mostly inhabited by Jordanians of Palestinian descent, which are Islamic strongholds and highly politicised. The political empowerment of Jordanians of Palestinian origin is a sensitive issue in a country with many citizens of Palestinian origin. But the Islamists have commanded increasing support in rural and tribal areas in recent years. The Islamic Action Front participated in this vote in part to get round legal moves to ban it and the Brotherhood for boycotting elections. Now, the election will test the front's grassroots support. "The IAF's relative skill in organisation and messaging ... leaves it well placed to capture a significant number of seats in parliament," said the U.S.-based International Republican Institute, one of several international observers. PASSIVE PARLIAMENT The Islamists' boycott had long reduced Jordanian elections to a contest between tribal leaders, establishment figures and independent businessmen. The Islamic Action Front has fielded candidates in a majority of electoral districts. It hopes to do well by aligning with independents who share an opposition agenda, shaking up a passive parliament packed with pro-government deputies. That passivity has allowed successive governments to enact draconian temporary laws restricting public freedoms and to pass unpopular austerity measures urged by the International Monetary Fund, said Mansour. Showcasing their attempts to unite with other groups for the election, Islamists campaigned with Awdeh Qawwas, a prominent priest, in the affluent Abdoun district of the capital Amman. Crimson posters advertising the coalition have replaced the green Muslim Brotherhood flags, Koranic verses and slogans espousing jihad that were the hallmark of Jordan's Islamists. "If there are real deputies whom our great people can elect, there will be a real parliament able to hold accountable anyone who lays his hand on public funds," said Mansour Murad, a leftist in the Islamist coalition. The comeback of Jordan's best organised opposition has left secular rivals fearing the revival of Islamism in a contest where national politics has taken a back seat. They have responded by demanding the separation of politics and religions and attacking political Islam. "There should be no guardianship over people in the name of religion," said Kais Khalil Zayadin, a young lawyer running on the "Maan" (together) list, whose campaign has resonated in affluent areas of the capital. UNDER-REPRESENTATION For many Jordanians, the fact that elections are being held at all demonstrates their country's stability in a violent region. "The mere fact we are holding elections and going to our homes safely and counting votes instead of counting the dead is a testimony to how Jordan's leadership has steered us away from destruction," said Bassam Haddadeen, a former member of parliament and minister. Others see the election as unjust or meaningless, given rules that ensure Jordanian cities will be under-represented. In one constituency in the impoverished city of Zarqa, 450,000 eligible voters who usually back Islamists have only six parliamentary seats. By contrast, in the southern tribal town of Maan, 59,000 voters choose four members of parliament. More than two-thirds of Jordan's seven million people live in cities but are allocated less than a third of assembly seats. Officials dismissed claims by some international observers that voters are growing apathetic, disillusioned by a parliament unable to challenge governments picked by the king. Gabon president seeks talks with opposition ahead of election ruling LIBREVILLE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Gabon President Ali Bongo wants talks with opposition leader Jean Ping to forestall any possible violence when the Constitutional Court makes a crucial ruling on the country's disputed Aug. 27 election, a government spokesman said on Tuesday. The court must rule by Friday on a request by Ping to recount votes in the province of Haut-Ogooue, a Bongo stronghold. The president won 95 percent there on a turnout of 99.9 percent, helping him to an overall victory of less than 6,000 votes. Bongo is willing to meet other candidates "in order to avoid the hate, barbarism and violence ... so that no more Gabonese lose their lives," spokesman Alain-Claude Nze said on state television. Nze gave no details of the content or timing of the talks. Ping accuses the president of stealing the election. The dispute led to riots that killed at least six people and brought unwelcome international scrutiny on Bongo, whose family has ruled the Central African country for nearly 50 years. If the Narendra Modi government was to go by the coverage of the Uri attack in the media, India would already be waging war on Pakistan. And the Pakistani media would make one believe that the attack was staged by India itself to distract attention from the Kashmir situation. Thats media for you in the age of 24X7 news blasts. In the past few days of raucous and high-decibel coverage, the media was embedded with the establishment in both countries. The media often gets embedded with national interests on such occasions. In the process, it ends up compromising its core principles of working as a watchdog, maintaining accuracy, objectivity and neutrality. But thats not so problematic because in the time of a "war-like" situation, the media could be accused of compromising national interests if it stuck to its core principles. It could even be accused of helping the enemy if it were to question the governments broader motive and stand. However, whats not defendable is media conduct when it assumes the role of leading the government to wage war; when it begins fuelling public opinion through jingoistic coverage to make the government go on the warpath under the pressure of public opinion being created by the press. In the wake of the Uri attack, our television channels seemed in a race of goading the government to go for war against Pakistan. They also led the opposition parties, former army generals and strategic affairs experts in creating an atmosphere for battle. Even the generally staid NDTV was no exception. Its flamboyant but voice-of-reason anchor Barkha Dutt was sailing along the general mood. Retribution was the buzzword on her prime time programme The Buck Stops Here. Not only ex-army generals, but even diplomats and mature opposition party spokesmen such as Pawan Varma were calling for retribution". Even those who tried hard not to sound warmongers, the most sober prescription suggested by them as a way forward for the government was retribution but a coherent, calibrated, well-thought out, no knee-jerk strategy". Peace was a word that was thrown out of the window on television networks. Dutt too seemed to be avoiding "engagement", a more sober-sounding word, like the plague. If the Indian media was in a tizzy, the situation in Pakistan was like "fair is foul and foul is fare. They jumped ahead of their government in blaming the Uri terrorist attack on India itself. Their transgression was not limited to compromising objectivity and neutrality, but resorting to fantastic falsehoods. Pakistani newspapers were not reporting and commenting on the story, they were writing fiction. "The Indian political and security establishment is notorious for designing bizarre pseudo-operations so that it could defame Pakistan in the eyes of the world, The News International wrote in an article titled Uri attack is addition to RAW failures". In another article, the paper quoted sources in the Pakistani security establishment, saying it was "a Pathankot-like Indian-staged drama to trumpet its terrorism mantra against Pakistan" and the battalion headquarters in Uri was "chosen deliberately to antagonise the Sikhs from supporting the Muslims struggle in Kashmir". The Express Tribune surmised that since Indian generals and diplomats had started blaming Pakistan even while the attack was under way, the forgone conclusion was that eventually Pakistan would be blamed. The Dawn chose to rest its case on what the Pakistani army maintained - no infiltration is allowed from the Pakistani soil". The media in general draws flak for reporting of emotionally charged events involving states. However, there are cases of media organisations completely ignoring perceived national interests in favour of professional ethics, and inviting the governments wrath. Margaret Thatcher had accused the BBC of assisting the enemy. (Photo credit: Reuters) BBCs coverage of the Falklands war in 1982 is an example. It famously said that then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was fighting war with Argentina as well as the BBC. Thatcher accused the BBC of assisting the enemy by broadcasting her governments secret plans in advance. She also accused it of referring to the British soldiers as the British instead of our soldiers". As for the BBC, its reporters were simply following instructions, the motto of which was: We are not Britain. We are BBC. So angry was Thatcher that she toyed with the idea of taking over the BBC. She wrote later in her autobiography Baroness Thatcher: My concern was always the safety of our forces. Theirs was news. However, global media behemoths have often been accused and found to be reporting stories with slants to serve their government or the states interests. One interesting anecdote involving CNNs star anchor Christiane Amanpour would bring out how global media giants fall for national interests. Amanpour invited Russia Today international anchor Anissa Naouai as a guest to discuss the Russia-Ukraine limited war in eastern Ukraine in 2014. They got into a scrap when Christiane rather patronisingly began quizzing Anissa over Vladimir Putins role in Ukraine, his efforts to muzzle the press and Russia Todays pro-Putin news coverage. Anissa told Christiane bluntly that she had been propagating the line of the US state department for years. And that she had encouraged (erstwhile) President Bill Clinton to go to war in Yugoslavia. The conversation went like this: Naouai: You've propagated the line of the state department for over 15 years, starting with Yugoslavia and all the way into Syria. And now you're doing it for Ukraine, essentially. Amanpour: Oh, my goodness. Have you seen any of my reports about Syria? Naouai: I've seen lots of your reports and in not one report were you found questioning the US government and their policy. Amanpour: You just go and see the interview with President Clinton. Naouai: I know that interview very well, Christiane, and you were propagating war. Amanpour: You're Exactly. Good. Naouai: You were basically encouraging Bill Clinton to go to war. Amanpour: Oh, and that was what Bill Clinton wanted, was it? Naouai: I dont know what Bill Clinton wanted. I'm talking about your work as a journalist. The bitterness and greed that marked the Partition masterfully guided by the British colonialists represented by lord Edwin Mountbatten, ironically killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) decades later, is yet to be forgotten. The fate of Kashmir, where the British hoped to have a strategic foothold, was a major contest between the newly formed Pakistan and a truncated India. It seemed obvious that a Muslim majority state ruled by a Muslim ruler bordering West or East Pakistan would be absorbed into Pakistan, whereas based on the same principle a contiguous Hindu majority state with a Hindu ruler would merge with India. But there was a problem with the state of Junagadh; with a Muslim ruler, it was contiguous to West Pakistan but its population was largely Hindu. Then the Kashmir imbroglio rose to the forefront. The maharaja of Kashmir was a Hindu, but the majority population was largely Muslim. So following the Junagadh example, Pakistan made a strong case for Kashmir. What happened next was that the Jawaharlal Nehru government sent a badly-drafted plebiscite resolution to the UN, as the legal commentator Aman Hingorani points out in his recently published book on Kashmir. Then, the maharaja signed an instrument of accession in favour of India. PM Jawaharlal Nehru. (Photo credit: Google) The outstanding and unrivalled leader of Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was convinced by Nehru that he would work in the interests of the Kashmiris and self-rule. Abdullah was betrayed. Kashmiri historians have sharply criticised his role, his naivete in dealing with Nehru. The fact that the Sheikh was in house arrest for 20 years because of his principles is scarcely mentioned in his homeland. Nehru's successors like his redoubtable daughter Indira Gandhi made no attempt to fulfil the promises to Sheikh Abdullah. In the UN resolutions put on the table were clearly not acceptable to one side or another. Eventually, the UN threw up its hands. The last three UN secretary generals have ignored earlier debates as no solution seemed possible. Thus Pakistan has an enduring grouse: what about the plebiscite? India argues that successive elections have proved majority support. But in a number of elections polling has been low, and Kashmiris have claimed rigging enforced by the Army. Unable to win at the UN or in any concord of nations, Pakistan has decided to fight it out. Apart from the infiltration of Pakistani irregulars in 1947-48 leading to war, followed by the 1965 War, then the 1971 War in which a genocidal Pakistani army killed three million East Pakistanis later called Bangladeshis after the success of the Indian Army assisted Bangladeshi freedom struggle, despite overt US support to Pakistan. India released 92,000 Pakistani soldiers, who were not tried for genocide. PM Indira Gandhi offered the Pakistani leadership the Shimla Accord, which the Pakistanis reinterpreted as suited them. Indian concerns that driving a hard bargain would rebound, did not lead to a lasting agreement. So what thereafter? Obviously terrorism. Virtually the whole world and certainly the great powers are fully aware that this is a very knotty problem. Pakistan has decided to do a Bangladesh on India. The terrorist attacks on India are meant to bleed India, as India allegedly did in East Pakistan/ Bangladesh. The way things are going, especially after PM Narendra Modi's strong warning to Pakistan, the signs are ominous. The Sangh Parivar is intrinsically opposed to what Pakistan stands for, like many Indians. Terrorism cannot be tolerated beyond a point. But since the positions of both sides are embedded in their nationalism, and both are nuclear weapons states, the situation is grim. Eighteen brave soldiers martyred. Of them more than a dozen were sleeping in their barracks when four Jaish-e-Mohammad fidayeens attacked an Indian Army camp. Thirty others injured. Of them, at least ten are critically wounded. From Pathankot, the scene of terror has shifted to Uri. So, what would the Modi government do? Will it once again send a dossier to Islamabad, seeking "justice" for the crimes perpetrated on Indian soil? Or, will it invite Pakistani officials at Uri to have a firsthand look at the scene of terror, as was done at Pathankot? (Ironically, when the NIA wanted to visit Pakistan for investigations, it was roundly rebuffed!) Thankfully, the initial government response has been satisfying. Never in the recent past has one seen a more resolute and purposeful reaction from the government. While the party in power, the BJP, wants "jaw for tooth", Union minister Jitendra Singh says not responding to the terror would be "cowardice". And rightly so as the government must realise that it was chosen by people to act resolutely against Pakistan, and not just send dossiers after every act of terror. In fact, the "biryani diplomacy" of the previous dispensation should not be replaced with the "dossier diplomacy" of this government. For, every act of not responding adequately to Pakistan further encourages the elements inimical to India. Pathankot got us to Uri. Not acting on Uri will surely take us to something even bigger - and worse. A PTI video grab of the Uri attack. India behaves the way it does for two reasons: one, we as a nation have failed to comprehend the true nature of Pakistani state despite 68 years of incessant hostilities from the neighbourhood. Last week when India raised, for the first time, the Balochistan issue before the United Nations, some of our celebrated peaceniks, global citizens and woolly-headed liberals found their voices again, saying how a prosperous Pakistan is good for India. A few so-called experts, on the basis of few weeks of fam trip experiences in Pakistan, fondly recalled how people there were just like us! "They didn't even charge us a penny for the kebab in Lahore after knowing that we are Indians," one Pakistan "expert" has told this writer. It is this kind of discourse that creates a make-believe divide of the army versus the civilian, the masses versus the government. The question is: does it help India whether there's a military regime or the civilian? A look at Pakistan's short history suggests the two work in tandem. Gen Zia-ul-Haq, for instance, is blamed for the Islamisation of Pakistan, but the fact is it was Zulfikar Bhutto, a Leftist by orientation, who made Pakistan the Islamic Republic. It was the government of his daughter, Benazir Bhutto, which not only helped create the Taliban, but also was the first to recognise their rule in Afghanistan. As for Nawaz Sharif, he instituted death penalty for blasphemy, besides introducing the infamous Sharia Bill! Pakistan is an abnormal state and its unifying factors are Islam and anti-India sentiments. The anti-India feeling flourishes in Pakistan not just because there's the army but because there's a thriving civilian ecosystem which detests its eastern neighbour. An anti-India mindset at the top can't exist for long without a support base from the bottom. Former Pakistan ambassador Rajiv Dogra recalls in his book, Where Borders Bleed, how an unnamed Pakistani foreign minister confided that his greatest wish was that God should "place a nuclear bomb each on my palms... One I would drop on Bombay, the other on Delhi". Sadly, this is not an exceptional opinion in Pakistan. Khaled Ahmed explains this phenomenon in his latest book, Sleepwalking to Surrender: Dealing with Terrorism in Pakistan. "Muslims produce their best men when they are not ruling the state they live in When Muslims acquire a state they go into a kind recidivist trance: 'give us utopia or nothing'," writes Khaled as he recalls how Pakistan accepts the discipline of economics while ideologically rejecting the concepts of banking and savings, and how one prominent nuclear scientist promises to produce electricity for all of Pakistan from one "tamed jinn"! The second problem which India faces vis-a-vis its western neighbour is we always deal with it from a defensive point of view. "Oh, we can't be too aggressive with them, they have nuclear bombs!" One would hear such discourses many a times. What our so-called experts fail to understand that there are over a dozen steps a government can take before going for a full-fledged war. India, for instance, can throw the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, which unduly favours Pakistan, into the dustbin. Without shelling a single mortar, India can make Pakistan crawl. Then, of course, we should leverage our economic might. It's time India sends a clear message to the world that Pakistan is a pariah state, a "criminal enterprise" as Sir Vidia Naipaul would famously call it. Do business with it and the Indian market is beyond you. Last but not least, why should Delhi buy weapons from any country which funds Islamabad? Uncle Sam, which in the last few years has become India's largest supplier of weapons, would definitely listen to this point. The World Trade Organization (WTO) had ruled against India's policy of "protecting" its domestic solar cell manufacturing industry by imposing a "domestic content requirement" for solar cells and modules for the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission. Recently, it has been reported that India's appeal against the ruling has been turned down by the WTO's appellate body. It is ironic that the protection of an "infant industry" has been objected to by US manufacturers when the whole philosophy of protecting "infant industries" from international competition, and allowing them to grow until they can compete on equal terms in the international arena, was a US creation. Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury of the USA (1789-95) was the originator of the notion of the urgent need for protecting "infant" US industry from developed - primarily European - manufacturers and thus enabling a strong industrial base to emerge in what was then a newly-independent nation with a "developing" economy. The United States of America took time after independence to implement the "infant industry" protection, but from the early 19th century till about World War II, the US deployed very significant and effective protectionist measures to help its fledgling industries to grow. Between 1820 and 1931, average tariff rates on manufactured products ranged between 40-48 per cent (weighted average, as percentage of value), which combined with the relatively high cost of transporting goods to the USA-ensured effective protection for its infant industries. (Source: Ha-Joon Chang's Kicking away the ladder; development strategy in historical perspective). The US has also aggressively protected and subsidised its agriculture, imposed quotas on textiles and anti-dumping duties on errant exporters. In the larger context of the much-touted "free markets and minimal government" philosophy, it is useful to remember that huge defence-related procurements and heavy funding for research and development are a huge boost for industry. As reported by the US pharma industry association, about 43 per cent of pharmaceutical R&D is funded by industry, while 29 per cent is funded by the US government's National Institutes of Health (Source: Ha-Joon Chang's Kicking away the ladder; development strategy in historical perspective). One objection to this lesson from history can be that, in the past, many inappropriate and morally-reprehensible policies were followed by all societies and it is right that we should not repeat such policies now. This is acceptable when applied to issues like slavery and drug peddling, which made the now-sanctimonious West very rich indeed, but are in absolute terms immoral and inhuman, and must not be imitated. However, the argument does not apply to measures like protection through tariffs or other means. The developed West, not just the USA, protected their industries in various ways when they needed them to grow; and once they became strong and dominant and needed world markets for sustained growth, protection was abandoned and "free trade" became the ruling mantra. Another argument, relevant in the Indian context, is that a protected environment, coupled with barriers to entry, promotes crony capitalism and the subsequent rent seeking - best illustrated by the Ambassador car in India. Protection can ensure near monopoly markets for products that are technologically way behind the times - more or less obsolete in the developed world resulting in their technology being made available very cheaply - and which witness virtually no serious technological advancement over the years. The answer is that protected industries have to be monitored closely and constant technical growth ensured. Monopoly rent-seeking can, in large economies like India, be discouraged by removing barriers to entry in domestic manufacturing and thereby encouraging local competition. In any case, this is a potential problem to be solved when and if it arises, and does not justify the removal of tariff or other protection for, and active encouragement of, domestic manufacturers important for our growth. The need for proactive state intervention in the economy to promote development is a given and does not require any justification. However, this does not have to be confined to public goods-centric education, health, transport infrastructure and the like. Whichever industries are critical for our long-term development must be encouraged in whatever way works best. No self-serving rules made by those who have broken every rule, of both humanity and fair commercial dealing, in the past should be allowed to come in the way. We must not forget that, in 1700, the import of "calicoes"-superior cotton products - from India was banned to protect the English cotton textile industry and when the English industry grew to world dominance, no import tariffs on cotton goods from the UK were permitted even to the British colonial government in India till 1917. If there is one lesson to be learnt from history, it is that national self-interest is the only appropriate guiding principle in matters economic and commercial. Free trade is not part of God's Law and never has been. "Comparative advantage" is not fixed - it can change as many developed economies in the world have shown. Yesterday's exporter of cheap agricultural products can become an industrial powerhouse over a couple of generations. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging components. It also provides drug containment solutions, including Crystal Zenith, a cyclic olefin polymer in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices, as well as a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. It serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. The company distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, as well as contract sales agents and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was incorporated in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania. Bank of Georgia Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services in Georgia. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and BNB. The Retail Banking segment offers consumer loans, mortgage loans, overdrafts, credit cards, and other credit facilities; funds transfer and settlement services; and customers' deposits for individuals and legal entities under the Express, Bank of Georgia, MSME, and SOLO brands. It primarily serves retail, and mass retail and affluent segments, as well as small and medium enterprises, and micro businesses. The Corporate Investment Banking segment provides loans and other credit facilities, funds transfers and settlement services, trade finance services, and documentary operations support services; and handles saving and term deposits for corporate and institutional customers. This segment also offers private banking services to high net worth clients; and brokerage services. The BNB segment provides retail and corporate banking services to clients in Belarus. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 211 retail branches, 989 automated teller machines, and 3,134 Express Pay terminals. Bank of Georgia Group PLC was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. RingCentral, Inc. provides software-as-a-service solutions that enable businesses to communicate, collaborate, and connect in North America. The company offers business cloud communications and contact center solutions based on its Message Video Phone? platform. Its products include RingCentral Office that provides communication and collaboration across various modes, including high-definition voice, video, SMS, messaging and collaboration, conferencing, online meetings, and fax; RingCentral Contact Center, a collaborative contact center solution that delivers omni-channel; and RingCentral Engage Digital, a digital customer engagement platform that allows enterprises to interact with their customers. The company's products also comprise RingCentral Engage Voice, a cloud-based outbound/blended customer engagement platform for midsize and enterprise companies; RingCentral Video, a video meeting service which includes our RCV video and team messaging capabilities and offers video and audio conferencing, file sharing, contact, task, and calendar management. In addition, it offers RingCentral Professional, a cloud based virtual telephone service that provides inbound call answering and management services for professionals; and RingCentral Fax that provides online fax capabilities. The company serves a range of industries, including financial services, education, healthcare, legal services, real estate, retail, technology, insurance, construction, hospitality, and state and local government, as well as others. It sells its products through a network of direct sales representatives, as well as sales agents, resellers, and channel partners. RingCentral, Inc. has strategic partnerships with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise; and Vodafone Business. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Belmont, California. Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, Midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine. The company's consumable products also comprise snacks, such as candies, cookies, crackers, salty snacks, and carbonated beverages; health and beauty products, including over-the-counter medicines and personal care products, such as soaps, body washes, shampoos, cosmetics, and dental hygiene and foot care products; pet supplies and pet food; and tobacco products. In addition, it offers seasonal products comprising holiday items, toys, batteries, small electronics, greeting cards, stationery, prepaid phones and accessories, gardening supplies, hardware, and automotive and home office supplies; and home products that include kitchen supplies, cookware, small appliances, light bulbs, storage containers, frames, candles, craft supplies and kitchen, and bed and bath soft goods. Further, the company provides apparel, which comprise casual everyday apparel for infants, toddlers, girls, boys, women, and men, as well as socks, underwear, disposable diapers, shoes, and accessories. As of February 25, 2022, it operated 18,190 stores in 47 states in the United States. The company was formerly known as J.L. Turner & Son, Inc. and changed its name to Dollar General Corporation in 1968. Dollar General Corporation was founded in 1939 and is based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The following companies are subsidiares of D.R. Horton: 10700 Pecan Park Austin Inc., 11241 Slater Avenue NE LLC, 2 C Development Company LLC, 8800 Roswell Road Bldg. B LLC, 91st Avenue & Happy Valley L.L.C., ANN & 215 LLC, Austin Data Inc., BP456 Inc., C. Richard Dobson Builders Inc., CH Funding LLC, CH Investments of Texas Inc., CHI Construction Company, CHM Partners L.P., CHTEX of Texas Inc., CV Mountain View 25 Inv LLC, Cane Island LLC, Continental Homes Inc., Continental Homes of Texas L.P., Continental Residential Inc., Continental Traditions LLC, Crown Operating Company Inc., Cypress Road L.P., D.R. Horton - CHAustin LLC, D.R. Horton - Colorado LLC, D.R. Horton - Crown LLC, D.R. Horton - Emerald Ltd., D.R. Horton - Georgia LLC, D.R. Horton - Hawaii LLC, D.R. Horton - Highland LLC, D.R. Horton - Indiana LLC, D.R. Horton - Iowa LLC, D.R. Horton - MV LLC, D.R. Horton - Nebraska LLC, D.R. Horton - Permian LLC, D.R. Horton - Regent LLC, D.R. Horton - Terramor LLC, D.R. Horton - Texas Ltd., D.R. Horton - WPH LLC, D.R. Horton - Wyoming LLC, D.R. Horton BAY Inc., D.R. Horton CA2 Inc., D.R. Horton CA3 Inc., D.R. Horton CA4 LLC, D.R. Horton Commercial Inc., D.R. Horton Cruces Construction Inc., D.R. Horton Inc. - Birmingham, D.R. Horton Inc. - Chicago, D.R. Horton Inc. - Denver, D.R. Horton Inc. - Dietz-Crane, D.R. Horton Inc. - Greensboro, D.R. Horton Inc. - Gulf Coast, D.R. Horton Inc. - Huntsville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Jacksonville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Louisville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Midwest, D.R. Horton Inc. - Minnesota, D.R. Horton Inc. - NNV, D.R. Horton Inc. - New Jersey, D.R. Horton Inc. - Portland, D.R. Horton Inc. - Torrey, D.R. Horton Inc. Foundation, D.R. Horton Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton LA North Inc., D.R. Horton Life Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton Los Angeles Holding Company Inc., D.R. Horton Management Company Ltd., D.R. Horton Materials Inc., D.R. Horton Realty LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Atlantic County LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Central Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Delaware LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Georgia Inc., D.R. Horton Realty of Melbourne LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Tampa LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Virginia LLC, D.R. Horton Seabridge Marina Inc., D.R. Horton Serenity Construction LLC, D.R. Horton Urban Renewal LLC, D.R. Horton VEN Inc., D.R. Horton Corpus Christi LLC, DBC54 LLC, DHI Commercial - Lakeview LLC, DHI Commercial - Signal Butte LLC, DHI Commercial - Tamarron LLC, DHI Commercial Inc., DHI Communities Construction LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Arizona LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Colorado LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Florida LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Iowa LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Nevada LLC, DHI Communities Construction of North Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of South Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Texas LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Utah LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Virginia LLC, DHI Communities II LLC, DHI Communities Inc., DHI Engineering LLC, DHI Insurance Inc., DHI Mortgage Company, DHI Mortgage Company GP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company LP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company Ltd., DHI Ranch Ltd., DHI Realty of Alabama LLC, DHI Realty of Mississippi LLC, DHI Title GP Inc., DHI Title LP Inc., DHI Title of Alabama Inc., DHI Title of Arizona Inc., DHI Title of Florida Inc., DHI Title of Minnesota Inc., DHI Title of Nevada Inc., DHI Title of Texas Ltd., DHI Title of Washington Inc., DHI Verandah South Shores Communities LLC, DHIC - Bridges LLC, DHIC - Brittmore LLC, DHIC - Carolina Forest LLC, DHIC - Desert Peak LLC, DHIC - Durbin Creek LLC, DHIC - Freestone LLC, DHIC - Hammock Landing LLC, DHIC - Heritage LLC, DHIC - Horizon Uptown LLC, DHIC - Jacobs Reserve LLC, DHIC - Lakeview LLC, DHIC - Lipoma LLC, DHIC - Minton Cove LLC, DHIC - Mountain Vista LLC, DHIC - Naco LLC, DHIC - Northshore LLC, DHIC - Prairie Village LLC, DHIC - South Creek LLC, DHIC - Tamarron LLC, DHIC - Valley Vista LLC, DHIC - Varina Gateway LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh II LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh III LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh LLC, DHIC - Westridge LLC, DHIC LLC, DHIC Glendale LLC, DHIC Grove West LLC, DHIC South Park LLC, DHIC Westinghouse LLC, DHIR - Aspen Vista LLC, DHIR - Avian Pointe LLC, DHIR - Emerald Lakes LLC, DHIR - Fosters Ridge LLC, DHIR - Gulf Stream LLC, DHIR - Parkview at Lynn Haven LLC, DHIR - Poplar Terrace LLC, DHIR - Properties I LLC, DHIR - Rock Ridge LLC, DHIR - Sunset Village LLC, DHIR - Village at Hickory Street LLC, DRH - ARK LLC, DRH - ASG LLC, DRH - HWY 114 LLC, DRH Cambridge Homes LLC, DRH Capital Trust I, DRH Capital Trust II, DRH Capital Trust III, DRH Colorado Realty Inc., DRH Construction Inc., DRH Energy Inc., DRH FS Mortgage Reinsurance Ltd., DRH Land Opportunities I Inc., DRH Land Opportunities II Inc., DRH Mountain View LLC, DRH Oil & Gas Inc., DRH Opportunities I Inc., DRH Properties Inc., DRH Realty Company Inc., DRH Realty of Iowa LLC, DRH Regrem L LLC, DRH Regrem LI LLC, DRH Regrem LII LLC, DRH Regrem LIII LLC, DRH Regrem LIV LLC, DRH Regrem LV LLC, DRH Regrem VII LP, DRH Regrem XII LP, DRH Regrem XIV Inc., DRH Regrem XIX Inc., DRH Regrem XLIX LLC, DRH Regrem XLV LLC, DRH Regrem XLVI LLC, DRH Regrem XLVII LLC, DRH Regrem XLVIII LLC, DRH Regrem XV Inc., DRH Regrem XVI Inc., DRH Regrem XVII Inc., DRH Regrem XVIII Inc., DRH Regrem XX Inc., DRH Regrem XXI Inc., DRH Regrem XXII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIV Inc., DRH Regrem XXV Inc., DRH Southwest Construction Inc., DRH Tucson Construction Inc., DRHI Inc., Deer Valley Office Park LLC, Desert Ridge Phase I Partners, Emerald Creek No. 4 L.P., Emerald Realty of Alabama LLC, Emerald Realty of Central Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of North Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Encore II Inc., Encore Venture Partners II (California) L.P., Encore Venture Partners II (Texas) L.P., Encore Venture Partners L.P., Express Realty of Central Florida LLC, Express Realty of North Florida LLC, Express Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Forestar Group, Forestar Group Inc., Founders Oil & Gas II LLC, Founders Oil & Gas III LLC, Founders Oil & Gas IV LLC, Founders Oil & Gas LLC, Founders Oil & Gas Operating LLC, GP-Encore Inc., Georgetown Data Inc., Germann & McQueen L.L.C., Grand Title Agency LLC, Grande Realty Incorporated, Grande Realty of Pennsylvania LLC, Greywes LLC, HPH Homebuilders 2000 L.P., Hadian LLC, KDB Homes Inc., Kaomalo LLC, Lexington Homes - DRH LLC, MRLF LLC, Martin Road Lake Forest LLC, McQueen & Willis LLC, Meadows I Ltd., Meadows II Ltd., Meadows IX Inc., Meadows VIII Ltd., Meadows X Inc., Melody Homes Inc., Pacific Ridge - DRH LLC, Rielly Carlsbad LLC, Rielly Homes Madison LLC, SFTEN LLC, SGS Communities at Grand Quay L.L.C, SHA Construction LLC, SHLR of California Inc., SHLR of Nevada Inc., SHLR of Washington Inc., SRHI LLC, SSHI LLC, Schuler Homes of Arizona LLC, Schuler Homes of California Inc., Schuler Homes of Oregon Inc., Schuler Homes of Washington Inc., Summerlin Pkwy & Cimarron LLC, Surprise Village North LLC, The Club at Cobblestone LLC, The Club at Hidden River LLC, Tierra Financial Advisors LLC, Travis County Title Company, Treasure Assets LLC, Venture Management of South Carolina LLC, Vertical Construction Corporation, WPH-Camino Ruiz LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon II LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon LLC, Walker Drive LLC, Western Pacific Brea Development LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Mountaingate L.P., Western Pacific Housing - SDG LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Westlake II L.P., Western Pacific Housing Inc., Western Pacific Housing Management Inc., Western Pacific Housing-Antigua LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Broadway LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Canyon Park LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Carrillo LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Communications Hill LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Copper Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Creekside LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lomas Verdes LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lyons Canyon Partners LLC, Western Pacific Housing-McGonigle Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Norco Estates LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Pacific Park II LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue East LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue West LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Playa Vista LLC, Western Pacific Housing-River Ridge LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Terra Bay Duets LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Meadows LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Village Center LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Windemere LLC, and Wilson Parker Homes. Read More Humana Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a health and well-being company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail, Group and Specialty, and Healthcare Services. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It also has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits. In addition, the company provides commercial fully insured medical and specialty health insurance benefits comprising dental, vision, and other supplemental health benefits; and administrative services only products to individuals and employer groups, as well as military services, such as TRICARE T2017 East Region contract. Further, it offers pharmacy solutions, provider services, and home solutions services, such as home health and other services to its health plan members, as well as to third parties. As of December 31, 2021, the company had approximately 17 million members in medical benefit plans, as well as approximately 5 million members in specialty products. Humana Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. The following companies are subsidiares of Quanta Services: (De) Lazy Q Ranch LLC, 1 Diamond LLC, 1Diamond AS, 618232 Alberta Ltd., 8246408 Canada Inc., Advanced Electric Systems, Advanced Electric Systems LLC, Advanced Utility Testing & Maintenance LLC, Alexander Publications LLC, Allteck GP Ltd., Allteck Limited Partnership, Apprenticeship Programs Inc., Arby Construction, Arcanum Chemicals LLC, Arnett & Burgess Oil Field Construction Limited, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners (Rockies) LLC, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners Ltd., B&N Clearing and Environmental LLC, Banister Pipelines Constructors Corp., Banister Pipelines Constructors GP Ltd., Banister Pipelines Limited Partnership, Brent Woodward Inc., Brink Constructors Inc., Brink Constructors Inc. A Corporation Of South Dakota, Brown Engineering and Testing, CAT SPEC Ltd., CAT-SPEC Limited Partnership, CAT-SPEC Limited Partnership (Regd Name) CAT SPEC Ltd., CAT-Spec Limited Partnership, Canadian Utility Construction Corp., Cat Spec Limited LP, Cat Spec Ltd, Cat Spec Ltd. L.P., Cat Spec Ltd. LP, Cat Spec. Ltd. LP, Cat-Spec Ltd (A Domestic limited Partnership), Cat-Spec Ltd LP, Cat-Spec Ltd., Cat-Spec Ltd. L.P., Cat-Spec Ltd. LP, Cat-Spec Ltd. Limited Partnership, Catalyst Changers Inc., Chatham Electric, Citadel Industrial Services L.P., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd. L.P., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Coe Drilling Pty Ltd., Computapole, Conam Construction Co., Consolidated Power Projects Australia Pty Ltd, Conti Communications Inc., Crux Subsurface Canada Ltd., Crux Subsurface Inc., Cutting Technology - 1 Diamond LLC, DB Utilities Inc., DE Lazy Q Ranch LLC, DNR Pressure Welding Ltd., Dacon Corporation, Dashiell (DE) Corporation (Dashiell Corporation), Dashiell Corporation, Dashiell Corporation DBA Dashiell (DE) Corporation, De Mears Group, De Mears Group Inc., Delaware Quanta Technology LLC, Delaware Underground Construction Co., Didado Utility Company Inc., Digco Utility Construction L.P. Digco Utility Construction Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services. Ltd. L.P., Driftwood Electrical Contractors, EHV Power ULC, ELITE PIPING & CIVIL L.P., ELITE TURNAROUND SPECIALISTS LTD, Elite Fabrication Ltd. Elite Fabrication LP, Elite Piping & Civil Limited Partnership, Elite Piping & Civil Limited Partnership, Elite Piping & Civil Lp, Elite Piping & Civil Ltd L.P., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd. L.P., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd. Limited Partnership, Elite Piping and Civil L.P., Elite Turnaround Specialists L.p., Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Lp, Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Partnership, Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Partnership, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd Lp, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd., Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. L.P., Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. LP, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. Limited Partnership, Energy Consulting Group LLC, Enscope, Enscope Pty Ltd, FIC GP LLC, Field Personnel Services LLC, First Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC, First Infrastructure Capital GP L.P., Five Points Construction Co., G-Tek, G-Vac, GEM Engineering Co., Grand Electric Inc., Great Lakes Line Builders, Grid Creative Inc., Grid Manufacturing Corporation, Grid Training Corporation, H.L. Chapman Pipeline Construction Inc., Haverfield Aviation, Haverfield Aviation Inc., Haverfield International Incorporated, Heritage Midstream LLC, IM Electric Inc., IUC ILLINOIS LLC, IUC Nebraska LLC, InfraSource Construction LLC, InfraSource Field Services LLC, InfraSource Services LLC, InfraSources Construction LLC, Infraestructura ETP de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V, Infrasource Engineering Company PC, Infrasource Iowa Underground LLC, Infrasource Of Pa LLC, Integracion Tecnologica del Peru SAC, Intermountain Electric Inc., Intermountain Electric Inc. A Corporation of Colorado, IonEarth LLC, Irby Construction Company, Irby Construction Company Inc., Iron Mountain M.J. Electric LLC, Island Mechanical Corporation, J.C.R. Construction Co. Inc., J.C.R. Utility Construction Co., J.W. Didado Electric Inc., J.W. Didado Electric LLC, J.w. Didado Electric, JBT Electric LLC, Kingston Contracting Inc., Lazy Q Ranch LLC, Lazy Q Training Center LLC The Lazy Q Lineman School, Legend Foundation Services, Lex Engineering Ltd., Lindsey Electric L.P., Logical Link, Longfellow Drilling, M. G. Dyess Inc., M. J. ELECTRIC LLC IRON MOUNTAIN, M. J. Electric LLC, M. J. Electric LLC - Iron Mountain, M. J. Electric LLC DBA M. J. Electric Iron Mountain LLC, M.J. Electric LLC DBA M.J. Electric Iron Mountain, M.J. Electric LLC Iron Mountain, MTS Field Services, MTS Field Services (Richmond Co), MTS Quanta LLC, Manuel Bros. Inc., Marathon Construction Services, Mears Canada Corp., Mears Equipment Services LLC, Mears Group Inc., Mears Group Pty Ltd, Mears Installation LLC, Mearsmex S. de R.L. de C.V., Mejia Personnel Services LLC, Mercer Technical Services, Microline Technology Corporation, Mid America Energy Services Inc., NACAP Niugini Ltd., NC Northstar Energy Services Inc, NGI Construction, NGI Construction Inc., NGI Construction Inc. (FN), NLC CA. Inc., NLC FL. Inc. Northwest Lineman Center, NLC ID. Inc. Northwest Lineman College, NLC TX. Inc., NPC Energy Services LLC, Nacap Australia, Nacap PNG Limited, Network Communication Services, North Houston Pole Line L.P., North Houston Pole Line Limited Partnership, North Sky Communications, NorthStar Energy Services Inc., Northern Powerline Constructors Inc., Northstar Energy Solutions LLC, Northwest Lineman Center, Northwest Lineman College, Northwest Lineman Training Center, Northwest Lineman Training Center Inc., Nova Constructors LLC, Nova Constructors LTD, Nova Equipment Leasing LLC, Nova Group Inc, Nova Group Inc (CA), Nova Group Inc., Nova Group Inc. DBA NGI Construction, Nova NextGen Solutions LLC, O. J. Pipelines Canada Corporation, O. J. Pipelines Canada Limited Partnership, O.J. Industrial Maintenance, O.J. Pipelines Canada, One Call Locators Canada Ltd., P.D.G. Electric, PAR Electrical Contractors Inc., PDG Electric Co., Par Internacional S. de R.L. de C.V., Performance Energy Services Guyana Ltd., Performance Energy Services L.L.C., Phasor Engineering Inc., Phoenix North Constructors Inc., Phoenix Power Group Inc., Potelco Inc., Potelco Incorporated, Power Delivery Program Inc., Price Gregory International Inc., Price Gregory Services LLC, Probst Construction Inc., Probst Electric Inc., QEPC, QEPC Power Solutions LLC, QES GP LLC, QP Energy Services LLC, QPS Engineering LLC, QPS Engineering LTD., QPS Engineering PLLC, QPS Environmental, QPS Flint Construction, QPS Flint Tank Services, QPS Global, QPS Global Services, QPS Global Services (Richmond Ci), QPS Professional Services, QPSE, QS Mats, QSI Engineering Inc., QSI Finance (Australia) Pty Ltd., QSI Finance (Cayman) Pvt. Ltd., QSI Finance Canada ULC, QSI Finance GP (US) LLC, QSI Finance I (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., QSI Finance I (US) LP, QSI Finance II (Australia) Pty Ltd., QSI Finance II (Lux) S.a r.l, QSI Finance II (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., QSI Finance III (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance III (Lux) SARL, QSI Finance IV (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance IX (Canada) Limited Partnership, QSI Finance V (US) L.P., QSI Finance VI (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance VII (Canada) Limited Partnership, QSI Finance VIII (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance X (Canada) ULC, QSI Inc., QSN Lux Holdings I SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings II SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings III SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings IV SCSp, QTSL LLC, QUANTA FOUNDATION SERVICES, Quanta APL GP II Ltd., Quanta Asset Management LLC, Quanta Associates L.P., Quanta Aviation Services LLC, Quanta Canada GP ULC, Quanta Canada Holdings III Limited Partnership, Quanta Canada Holdings LP, Quanta Canada III GP Ltd., Quanta Capital GP LLC, Quanta Capital LP L.P., Quanta Capital Solutions Inc., Quanta Cares, Quanta EPC Services, Quanta Electric Power Construction LLC, Quanta Electric Power Construction Management Inc., Quanta Electric Power Services LLC, Quanta Electric Power Services West LLC, Quanta Energized Innovations Ltd., Quanta Energized Services U.S. LLC, Quanta Energized Services of Canada Ltd., Quanta Energy Services LLC, Quanta Environmental Solutions, Quanta Equipment Company LLC, Quanta Government Solutions Inc., Quanta Holdings I (Netherlands) B.V., Quanta Holdings II (Netherlands) B.V., Quanta Infraestructura de Chile SpA, Quanta Infrastructure Services LLC, Quanta Infrastructure Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Quanta Inline Devices LLC, Quanta Inspection Services, Quanta Insurance Company Inc., Quanta International Holdings (US) LLC, Quanta International Holdings II Ltd., Quanta International Holdings Ltd., Quanta International Limited, Quanta Kingsvale LP Ltd., Quanta Lines Pty Ltd., Quanta Maine Services LLC, Quanta Middle East LLC, Quanta Pipeline Services Inc., Quanta Power Australia Pty Ltd, Quanta Power Generation Inc., Quanta Power Inc., Quanta Power Solutions India Private Limited, Quanta Resource Development, Quanta Services Africa (PTY) Ltd., Quanta Services Australia Pty Ltd., Quanta Services Chile SpA, Quanta Services Colombia S.A.S., Quanta Services Costa Rica Ltda., Quanta Services Guatemala Ltda., Quanta Services International Holdings II LP, Quanta Services International Holdings LP, Quanta Services Management Partnership L.P., Quanta Services Netherlands B.V., Quanta Services Panama S. de R.L., Quanta Services Peru S.A.C., Quanta Services Puerto Rico LLC, Quanta Services of Canada Ltd., Quanta Subsurface Canada Ltd., Quanta Subsurface LLC, Quanta Tank Services, Quanta Technology Canada ULC, Quanta Technology LLC, Quanta Technology UK Ltd., Quanta Tecnologia do Brasil Ltda., Quanta Telecom, Quanta Telecom Services, Quanta Telecommunication Services, Quanta Telecommunication Services LLC, Quanta Telecommunications Services LLC, Quanta Underground Services, Quanta Underground Services (Culpeper Co), Quanta Underground Services (Spotsylvania Co), Quanta Underground Services Inc., Quanta Utility Engineering Services Inc., Quanta Utility Installation Company Inc., Quanta Utility Operation LLC, Quanta West LLC, Quantecua Cia. Ltda., R. R. Cassidy Inc., RMS Holdings LLC, RMS Holdings LLC (Delaware), RMS Welding Systems, RMS Welding Systems LLC, Ranger Directional, Realtime Engineers Inc., Realtime Utility Engineers Inc., Redes Andinas de Comunicaciones S.R.L., Riggin & Diggin Line Construction, Rms Welding LLC, Rms Welding Systems LLC, Road Bore Corporation, Ryan Company Inc. The, Ryan Company Inc. of Massachusetts, Ryan Company Inc.(The), Seaward, Seaward Corp, Seaward Corporation, Service EC (DE) Inc., Service Electric Company (DE), Service Electric Company Inc., Service Electric Company of Delaware, Servicios Par Electric S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios de Infraestructura del Peru S.A.C., Southwest Trenching Company Inc., Specialty Tank Services L.P., Specialty Tank Services LP, Specialty Tank Services Limited Partnership, Specialty Tank Services Limited Partnership, Specialty Tank Services Ltd., Specialty Tank Services Ltd. (LP), Specialty Tank Services Ltd. L.P., Specialty Tank Services Ltd. LP, Specialty Tank Services Ltd. LP, Specialty Tank Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold General LLC, Stronghold Holdings (BVI) Limited, Stronghold Inspection L.P., Stronghold Inspection Limited Partnership, Stronghold Inspection Limited Partnership, Stronghold Inspection Lp, Stronghold Inspection Ltd L.P., Stronghold Inspection Ltd., Stronghold Inspection Ltd. L.P., Stronghold Inspection Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold Limited Partnership, Stronghold Ltd., Stronghold Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold Management Holdings LP, Stronghold Specialty General LLC, Stronghold Specialty Ltd., Stronghold Specialty Ltd., Stronghold Specialty Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold Tower Group LP, Stronghold Tower Group Ltd LP, Stronghold Tower Group Ltd., Stronghold Tower Group Ltd. LP, Stronghold VI LLC, Subterra Damage Prevention Specialists Ltd., Summit Line Construction, Sumter Utilities Inc., T. G. Mercer Consulting Services Inc., TA Construction, TC Infrastructure Services Ltd., Taylor Built, Texas Specialty Tank Services Ltd. LP, The Aspen Utility Company LLC, The ComTran Group Inc., The Hallen Construction Co. Inc., The Massachusetts Ryan Company Inc., The Ryan Company Inc Of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Inc., The Ryan Company Inc. (Massachusetts), The Ryan Company Inc. of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Incorporated of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Of Massachusetts Inc., The Ryan Company of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company of Massachusetts (FN), Tom Allen Construction Company Inc., Tom Allen Construction Company of Delaware, Trans Tech Electric, TurnKey Automation Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Ltd., TurnKey Automation Ltd. Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Ltd. Limited Partnership, TurnKey I&E Ltd., Turnkey Automation Ltd. L.P., Turnkey Automation Ltd. LP., UCC Underground Construction Co. Inc., Ucc - Underground Construction Co., Underground Construction Co. Inc., Underground Construction Co. Inc. (Delaware), Underground Electric Construction Company LLC, Utilco Inc., Utility Fleet Services, Utility Line Management Services Inc., Utility Testing & Maintenance LLC, Utility Training Services Corporation, VALARD Polska sp. Z o.o., Valard, Valard, Valard Construction (Ontario) Ltd., Valard Construction (Quebec) Inc., Valard Construction 2008 Ltd., Valard Construction Australia Pty Ltd, Valard Construction LLC, Valard Equipment (AB) Ltd., Valard Equipment GP Ltd., Valard Equipment Limited Partnership, Valard Geomatics (Ontario) Ltd., Valard Geomatics BC Ltd., Valard Geomatics Ltd., Valard Mechanical Ltd., Valard Norway AS, Valard Sweden AB, Valard Zagreb d. o. o., Wade D. Taylor Inc., West Coast Communications, Winco Helicopters, Winco Inc., Winco Inc. an Oregon Based Corporation, Winco Powerline Services, Winco Powerline Services Inc., Winco Powerline Services Inc., Winco Services Inc., World Fiber Inc., and mmit Line Construction Inc.. Read More SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. provides early education and child care, back-up care, educational advisory, and other workplace solutions services for employers and families. The company operates through three segments: Full Service Center-Based Child Care, Back-Up Care, and Educational Advisory and Other Services. The Full Service Center-Based Child Care segment offers traditional center-based child care and early education, preschool, and elementary education services. The Back-Up Care segment provides center-based back-up child care, in-home child and adult/elder dependent care, school-age camps, virtual tutoring, and self-sourced reimbursed care services through child care centers, school-age campuses, and in-home caregivers, as well as the back-up care network. The Educational Advisory and Other Services segment offers tuition assistance and student loan repayment program administration, workforce education, and related educational consulting services, as well as college admissions advisory services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 1,014 child care and early education centers in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, and India. The company was formerly known as Bright Horizons Solutions Corp. and changed its name to Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. in July 2012. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts. Team, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides asset performance assurance and optimization solutions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Inspection and Heat Treating (IHT), Mechanical Services (MS), and Quest Integrity segments. The IHT segment offers non-destructive evaluation and testing, radiographic testing, ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle inspection, liquid penetrant inspection, positive material identification, electromagnetic testing, alternating current field measurement, and eddy current testing services. This segment also provides long-range guided ultrasonic testing, phased array ultrasonic testing, terminals and storage inspection and management program, rope access, mechanical and pipeline integrity, heat treating, and robotics and inspection services. The MS segment offers engineered composite repair, emissions control/compliance, hot tapping, valve insertion, field machining, bolted joint integrity, vapor barrier plug and weld testing, and valve management services, as well as leak repair services for pipes, valves, and flanges, as well as other parts of piping systems, pipelines, and related assets. The Quest Integrity segment provides furnace tube inspection system-enabled, in-line inspection, pipeline integrity management, engineering and condition assessment, and robotics and inspection services. It also offers onstream services comprising of line stopping and on-line valve insertion solutions. The company serves refining, power, renewables, nuclear, liquefied natural gas, chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, automotive, mining, valves, terminals and storage, pipeline, offshore oil and gas, and aerospace and defense industries, as well as amusement parks, bridges, ports, construction and buildings, roads, dams, and railways. Team, Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas. Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; prepaid programs and management services; commercial credit and debit payment products and solutions; and payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts. It also provides value-added products and services comprising cyber and intelligence solutions for parties to transact, as well as proprietary insights, drawing on principled use of consumer, and merchant data services. In addition, the company offers analytics, test and learn, consulting, managed services, loyalty, processing, and payment gateway solutions for e-commerce merchants. Further, it provides open banking and digital identity platforms services. The company offers payment solutions and services under the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus. Mastercard Incorporated was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York. News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-10-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services medical devices and software products for treating cancer and other medical conditions worldwide. It operates through Oncology Systems and Proton Solutions segments. The Oncology Systems segment offers hardware and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, artificial intelligence based adaptive radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, as well as quality assurance equipment. Its products include linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment accessories, and quality assurance software; and information management, treatment planning, image processing, clinical knowledge exchange, patient care management, decision-making support, and practice management software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, physicians' offices, medical oncology practices, radiotherapy centers, and cancer care clinics. The Proton Solutions segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services products and systems for delivering proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The company has a strategic agreement with McKesson Corp. to supply treatment delivery systems and planning, services, and radiotherapy information system solutions to its U.S. Oncology Network and Vantage Oncology affiliated sites of care; and a strategic partnership with Siemens AG to represent Siemens diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics in the United States and other select markets. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States. The Household segment provides cat litter products under the Fresh Step and Scoop Away brands; bags and wraps under the Glad brand; and grilling products under the Kingsford brand in the United States. The Lifestyle segment offers dressings, dips, seasonings, and sauces primarily under the Hidden Valley brand; natural personal care products under the Burt's Bees brand; and water-filtration products under the Brita brand in the United States. The International segment provides laundry additives; home care products; water-filtration systems; digestive health products; grilling products; cat litter products; food products; bags and wraps; natural personal care products; and professional cleaning and disinfecting products internationally primarily under the Clorox, Ayudin, Clorinda, Poett, Pine-Sol, Glad, Brita, RenewLife, Ever Clean and Burt's Bees brands. The Clorox Company sells its products primarily through mass retailers; grocery outlets; warehouse clubs; dollar stores; home hardware centers; drug, pet and military stores; third-party and owned e-commerce channels; and distributors, as well as a direct sales force The company was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Oakland, California. American Red Cross seeks blood and platelet donors to help restock the blood supply following a significant summer shortage. A blood drive is held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at the UVa Chemistry Building at 409 McCormick Road. (434) 979-7143. Charlottesville Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization holds a public meeting to discuss transportation improvements around Free Bridge from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium of Burnley-Moran Elementary School at 1300 Long St. campo.tjpdc.org. (434) 979-7310. Fifth District Representative Robert Hurts office accepts requests through Oct. 3 for nominations to the U.S. military academies. Details and applications are available at hurt.house.gov or by calling (434) 414-8223. Job Fair, with representatives from several local employers, is held from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Virginia Workforce Center at 2211 Hydraulic Road. (434) 963-2960. League of Women Voters celebrates its 70th anniversary and National Voter Registration Day by providing an opportunity for voter registration, answering questions and more from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Free Speech Wall on the Downtown Mall. lwv.avenue.org. (434) 970-1707. Piedmont Virginia Community College offers Getting Started information sessions, providing an introduction to PVCCs degree and certificate programs and information about placement tests, student services and other resources, from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday at PVCCs Greene County Campus in Stanardsville and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival at Ix Art Park. pvcc.edu/outreach. (434) 961-5275. Reel Recovery of Virginia and Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing are accepting registration for a fly-fishing retreat for male veterans with cancer from Oct. 25 to 27 at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria. Details are available at reelrecovery.org/programs. (800) 699-4490. Rivanna Solid Waste Authority offers a Commercial Hazardous Waste Collection Day for pre-registered, qualified Albemarle County and Charlottesville businesses on Sept. 29 at the Ivy Materials Utilization Center on Dick Woods Road. Businesses must pre-register with CARE Environmental Corp. via email to john@careenv.com or jim@careenv.com or by calling (800) 494-2273. University of Virginia Police Department accepts registrations for the free Rape Aggression Defense Womens Self-Defense Workshop, open to all women in the community older than 14, to be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 3, 6 and 10. Attendance at all three sessions is required. Details and registration: br7u@virginia.edu or (434) 924-8845. Virginia Blood Services holds blood drives from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church at 101 E. Jefferson St. and from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Gilmer Hall on UVa Grounds. (434) 977-8956. Zion Crossroads Small Business Expo promotes local small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Best Western Plus Inn & Suites at135 Wood Ridge Terrace in Zion Crossroads. (540) 661-9511. Updated at 9:10 p.m. The Virginia State Police is investigating a crash that claimed the life of a Crozet man and another incident that killed a Keswick resident. Police say John W. Clarke Jr., 24, of Crozet, died at the scene of a Saturday morning crash in Buckingham County when the car he was driving went off the right side of Sycamore Road and struck a tree. A passenger in the car was seriously injured and is being treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center. The 2 a.m. crash was not reported to police until 11:45 a.m. Saturday a state police spokeswoman said. The crash remains under investigation. State police also are investigating a Sunday evening incident in which a man walking on Route 22 in Louisa County was struck by two vehicles. The man, Rajesh A. Gatewood, 28, was walking on Louisa Road just east of Mahanes Road around 7:30 p.m. when he was struck by an eastbound car. The impact threw Gatewood into the path of a westbound pickup truck, which also struck him. Gatewood was transported by helicopter to the UVa Medical Center, where he died on Monday. No one has been charged in the incident, but the investigation is continuing. RICHMOND Gas prices in Virginia on Monday were up an average of 5 cents per gallon from Friday and may increase an additional 20 cents per gallon as the fallout continues from a break in a major pipeline that carries gas to much of the eastern U.S. Colonial Pipeline Co., based in Alpharetta, Georgia, expects to have a temporary fix in place by the end of the week to bypass the break detected earlier this month which has caused gas shortages in parts of the Southeast. With something like this, we expect gas prices to go up, said Tammy Arnette, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Certainly the tightening of supplies will have an impact on that. They could go up as much as 20 cents per gallon before its all over with. The good news is that Virginia gas prices are still some of the lowest in the country. Gas prices in the state averaged $2.03 per gallon Monday. In the Richmond area, the average price was $2 per gallon, also up 5 cents since Friday. Nationally, gas averaged $2.21 per gallon, up 3 cents since Friday. The Colonial Pipeline stretches from Texas to New York. The leak and spill were detected Sept. 9 by a mining inspector in Shelby County, Alabama, in Line 1 of the pipeline. An estimated 6,000 to 8,000 barrels 252,000 to 336,000 gallons were spilled. A second line, Line 2, which normally carries diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil, is still operating. The pipeline brings a great deal of gasoline throughout the Southeast and up into the Mid-Atlantic states and the Northeast, said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst for the Southeast for GasBuddy, which collects and reports crowd-sourced fuel-price data in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The company website states that Colonial Pipeline transports more than 105 million gallons per day. Its a 36-inch pipeline. So when you shut that down and take that much volume offline, it creates a tremendous infrastructure challenge to try to come up with an alternative source for supplying that kind of volume to the states that it needs to reach, Laskoski said. It can be done if something can be cobbled together, and thats in place right now where other alternative pipelines are being used. Some fuel is arriving in markets by ship, by railroad, by truck, he said. Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday declared the situation a disaster for Virginia, noting that the pipeline is the only source of gasoline for many retailers in the commonwealth. He issued an executive order effective through Oct. 1 or sooner if the situation resolves that relaxed weight, registration, hours worked and other restrictions on truckers transporting gasoline in the state. Governors in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina have issued similar orders. This is a proactive step to protect Virginia citizens and businesses by ensuring that companies can bring in the gasoline supplies they need to offset any shortages that may arise as a result of this event, McAuliffe said in Fridays statement. The executive order also warned against gasoline price gouging by retailers. Price gouging at any time is unacceptable. I have directed all applicable executive branch agencies to take immediate action to address any verified reports of price gouging of gasoline, McAuliffe said. I make the same request of the Office of the Attorney General and appropriate local officials. I further request that all appropriate executive branch agencies exercise their discretion to the extent allowed by law to address any pending deadlines or expirations affected by or attributable to this resource shortage, the statement said. Colonial Pipeline Co. last week estimated Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina would be the first to be impacted by potential disruptions in supply. The company reported on its website Monday that it had obtained gasoline from Gulf Coast refiners to ship supplies throughout the affected region. On Saturday, the company began construction of a temporary bypass around the broken section of the pipeline. Whether prices continue to rise depends on that construction, said Martha Mitchell Meade, also a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Right now, Colonial Pipeline is saying that it will take till the end of this week. If that takes longer, the situation obviously is going to change. Its a very fluid situation, Meade said. Arnette and Meade said they have heard reports of spotty shortages, including one station in Danville that may have run out of gas. But overall, We have ample supplies at the moment. But its important to monitor those supplies because we operate on a just-in-time inventory system delivery as needed, Arnette said. Laskoski, at GasBuddy, advised people not to rush out and top off their gas tanks just to be safe doing so could exacerbate an already difficult situation and make it longer for the supply issue to be corrected. The suppliers and distributors that are trying to manage this as best they can have to identify the locations geographically that have the greatest need, he said. If consumers behave in an irrational way panicking and topping off their tanks that is going to draw down on the available fuel at a rate that exceeds what would customarily occur. Four years after deciding to not institute any kind of deer population control measure, the Charlottesville City Council is revisiting the issue due to concerns about the growing number of deer, dead or alive, being reported on roads and neighborhoods in the city. Following advice from a deer management expert and at the behest of various city residents, the council agreed Monday that it needs to do something about the population of deer. They just dont know what. After six-and-a-half years, Ive heard more people saying theres a problem and that something needs to be done, Councilor Kristin Szakos said Monday. Wildlife belongs in the city. But I think how it is now, its out of balance. How the city might control the deer population, whether it be an organized culling or use of non-lethal measures, such as sterilization, still needs to be resolved. During a public hearing Monday, an overwhelming amount of city residents, predominantly from the Meadowbrook Hills and Rugby neighborhoods, said they are in favor of the city taking some kind of action to manage the number of deer that are damaging personal property and posing a health hazard. Weve created the ideal environment for deer; they have no natural enemies in our habitats, said Nancy Summers. Its a health and safety issue, said Fred Borch. Its only a matter of time before someone is involved in an automobile accident with a deer, and they will be killed or seriously injured. If that happens, there would be lots of hand-wringing in the city about what we could have done about this. Borch also said he believes his wife may have contracted Lyme disease because of deer near their home. (Transmission of the disease commonly occurs by deer ticks on deer.) On Tuesday, State Farm Insurance released a survey that shows one in 94 Virginia drivers will hit a deer in the coming year. The study shows that Virginia ranks 13th in the country for the most potential deer collisions. West Virginia ranks No. 1 in the study, with one in 41 drivers likely to strike a deer. Earlier this summer, an urban deer management expert with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries told the council the most effective way to manage the deer population and mitigate the risk to public safety is to promote urban archery or a coordinated culling program. Seasonal bow hunting in cities and towns is permitted and regulated by the game department in more than 40 localities in Virginia, including Richmond, Fairfax, Danville and Lexington. Charlottesville currently does not participate in the urban archery season. On Monday, Assistant City Manager Mike Murphy told the council that passing an ordinance to permit residents to bow hunt within city limits is not particularly feasible. Of the citys more than 7,000 acres, we have a total of five acres that might qualify [for urban archery] if you stay 100 yards away from every commercial building, dwelling, roadway or park or trail, Murphy said. In the way we use our land, and with our particular density, itd be extremely difficult. One woman generally opposed to the idea of controlled culling, Laura Jones, of the Greenbrier neighborhood, mentioned some of the complications urban archery might create. According to Virginias game department, if a deer falls on private property, the hunter would need permission from the landowner to remove the deer. Murphy mentioned that concerns about this are palpable because deer can sometimes manage to run another 100 or so yards after being shot. Speaking about minor grievances she and her neighbors have with one another, Jones said we manage to get along. We get through these little divisions because my neighbors are good people, Im a good person. But if my neighbors allow bow hunting in their yard, she said, then its done. Thats not going to be OK. Its going to be hard to get along if that happens. She also said the city only has anecdotal evidence of an increasing deer population, and that decisions shouldnt be made in a non-scientific way. According to a city spokeswoman, the city does not have data on the number of deer in the city nor an explanation for why there may be an increase in the deer population. Following Mondays discussion, City Manager Maurice Jones said the urban archery concept is unlikely to move forward, but staff will continue to study how the city might address the issue. Aside from urban archery, there didnt seem to be any consensus on any single measure, Jones said. Before we move forward, [council] wants the staff to continue investigating these issues that were brought up tonight, he said. Jones said the city will seek an estimated cost for a comprehensive deer population study. According to preliminary estimates staff has received, hiring professional hunters to cull the deer on public land could cost $400 to $500 per deer. Hiring a contractor to sterilize a part of the deer population could cost about three times as much. Staff reported there might be grants available for the latter option. Attorney General Mark Herring, in Culpeper last year for a heroin summit, announced Tuesday that he is launching a new statewide education effort to prevent heroin and opioid abuse and deaths. Overdose fatalities in Virginia are expected to approach or exceed 1,000 this year, a number that would well exceed car crashes, according to a news release from Herrings office. The only way were ever going to get our arms around this problem is with a robust, concerted effort to educate Virginians, especially young people, on just how dangerous these drugs can be, how quickly they can take over your life, and how severe or even deadly the consequences of abuse can be, he said. Additional legislative tools in the past two years have included expanded Naloxone use and the states first safe reporting law, but Herring said he is not letting up. There is so much more we need to do to prevent the tragic loss of life and the heartbreak that too many Virginia families already know, he said. On Wednesday, Herring will join U.S. Attorney Dana Boente to launch the Hampton Roads Heroin Working Group, bringing together the public, law enforcement, the medical community and others to develop community-wide solutions to the heroin and prescription drug crisis. The group will develop demand side strategies to augment ongoing supply side efforts by the offices of Herring and Boente to hold dealers and traffickers accountable, according to the news release. Herring hopes the group will provide a model for other communities. The attorney general is also continuing to travel the state for screenings of the documentary produced through his office, Heroin: The Hardest Hit, which showed last December in Culpeper. It will show again at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Boys & Girls Club in Warrenton. In related news, this Saturday in Culpeper, the Come As You Are Coalition hosts the Run For Your Life 5K run at Verdun Adventure Bound in Culpeper to raise funds and awareness about the groups substance abuse prevention efforts. Moira Satre, of Jeffersonton, lost her 31-year-old son, Bobby, on April 18, 2015 to a heroin overdose. Earlier this year, she launched the Come As You Are Coalition, providing vital information, resources, education and prevention programs aimed at combating addiction. For information about Saturdays event, contact moira@cayacoalition.org or cayacoalition.org. Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who blew the cover off the federal governments electronic surveillance programs three years ago, has his admirers. After the inevitably celebratory Oliver Stone film about him appears this weekend, he may have more. Whether Snowden deserves a presidential pardon, as human rights organizations are demanding in a new national campaign timed to coincide with the film, is a complicated question, however, to which President Barack Obamas answer should continue to be no. Snowdens defenders dont deny that he broke the lawnot to mention oaths and contractual obligationswhen he copied and kept 1.5 million classified documents. They argue, rather, that Snowdens noble purposes, and the policy changes his whistle-blowing prompted, justified his actions. Specifically, he made the documents public through journalists, including reporters working for The Post, enabling the American public to learn for the first time that the NSA was collecting domestic telephone metadatainformation about the time of a call and the parties to it, but not its contenten masse with no case-by-case court approval. The program was a stretch, if not an outright violation, of federal surveillance law, and posed risks to privacy. Congress and the president eventually responded with corrective legislation. Its fair to say we owe these necessary reforms to Snowden. The complication is that Snowden did more than that. He also pilfered, and leaked, information about a separate overseas NSA Internet-monitoring program, PRISM, that was both clearly legal and not clearly threatening to privacy. (It was also not permanent; the law authorizing it expires next year.) Worsefar worsehe also leaked details of basically defensible international intelligence operations: cooperation with Scandinavian services against Russia; spying on the wife of an Osama bin Laden associate; and certain offensive cyber operations in China. No specific harm, actual or attempted, to any individual American was ever shown to have resulted from the NSA telephone metadata program Snowden brought to light. In contrast, his revelations about the agencys international operations disrupted lawful intelligence-gathering, causing possibly tremendous damage to national security, according to a unanimous, bipartisan report by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. What higher cause did that serve? Ideally, Snowden would come home and hash out all of this before a jury of his peers. That would certainly be in the best tradition of civil disobedience, whose practitioners have always been willing to go to jail for their beliefs. He says this is unacceptable because U.S. secrecy-protection statutes specifically prohibit him from claiming his higher purpose and positive impact as a defensewhich is true, though its not clear how the law could allow that without creating a huge loophole for leakers. (Snowden hurt his own credibility as an avatar of freedom by accepting asylum from Russias Vladimir Putin, whos not known for pardoning those who blow the whistle on him.) The second-best solution might be a bargain in which Snowden accepts a measure of criminal responsibility for his excesses and the U.S. government offers a measure of leniency in recognition of his contributions. Neither party seems interested in that for now. An outright pardon, meanwhile, would strike the wrong balance. Mumbai: India has among the lowest mutual fund investments to GDP ratios in the world at 7 per cent, offering a vast untapped opportunity for MF houses, which can leverage technology to enhance reach, a report said today. The 7 per cent MF:GDP ratio as of 2015 compares to 114 per cent in Australia, 91 per cent in the US and 51 per cent in the UK, it said. MF investments accounted for only 3.4 per cent of total financial investments by individual investors, including HNIs and retail, in 2014-15, said the report brought out jointly by consulting firm EY and Cafe Mutual. This underlines the significant untapped potential for growth in the Indian mutual fund industry, it said. With over 2,100 MF schemes, regulator Sebi should focus on rationalising product offerings. There is a need for deepening pension coverage in the country through mutual funds, it said. Digital technology is helping fund houses enhance distribution reach. "The impact of technology on the mutual fund industry cannot be understated. Tablet and mobile apps are helping increase reach in B-15 locations and the paperless experience though e-KYC and technology-enabled systematic investment plans are tapping the millennial customers," Abizer Diwanji, partner and national leader?financial services, EY said. "Furthermore, the new digitally-powered entrants such as Payment Banks, who are allowed to sell third-party MFs through their platforms, will revolutionise the reach and efficiency of the Indian mutual fund industry," he added. Sebi is pushing for a more transparent, investor-friendly and less risky MF industry. The watchdog is also focused on driving the growth of direct plans to increase retail participation. Globally, mutual fund AUM (asset under management) has grown at a CAGR of 5.8 per cent over the past five years. In 2015, global MF assets increased slightly by 0.5 per cent to USD 32.2 trillion, the report said. Exposure to equity funds has increased by 3 per cent in the past five years. Equity funds AUM has grown from 40 per cent in 2010 to 43 per cent in 2015. Going forward, a number of robo-advisors are expected to enter the sector. Online MF distributors and robo-advisors are also witnessing interest from private equity players. "Digital has created a lot of difference in the MF industry. Ever since Sebi allowed intermediaries to use stock exchange platforms to facilitate transactions in mutual funds on behalf of their clients, many distributors have signed up with transaction enabling platforms to grow their business," said Prem Khatri, Founder and CEO of Cafe Mutual. "This is gaining traction and in all sense, it is a win-win for all stakeholders ? AMCs, distributors and end customers," he added. Independent experts are expected to help them to set new factory standards and review supply chains to ensure there is no residue waste that could breed superbugs. Mumbai: Thirteen leading drugmakers like Pfizer and GSK on Tuesday have promised to curb the overuse of antibiotics and clean up pollution from factories making antibiotics as part of a drive to fight the rise of drug-resistant superbugs. Independent experts are expected to help them to set new factory standards and review supply chains to ensure there is no residue waste that could breed superbugs. This is part of the of the WHO campaign and this undertaking by Indian companies coincides with a high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance as part of the UN General Assembly in New York. According to the WHO, antimicrobial resistance threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. It has posed a danger to the treatment of HIV. Globally, 4,80,000 people develop multi-drug resistant TB each year, and drug resistance is starting to complicate the fight against HIV and malaria, it says. The WHO also points out that the cost of health care for patients with resistant infections is higher than care for patients with non-resistant infections due to longer duration of illness, additional tests and use of more expensive drugs. Earlier it was reported that 85 companies including GSK and Merck in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, biotech and generic sectors, along with nine industry associations signed the declaration on combating antimicrobial resistance, announced at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. They were part of a large group of health-care companies that would accelerate the development of drugs and diagnostics for superbug infections, trying to come up with a viable commercial model as an increasing number of bacteria become resistant to common antibiotics. Mumbai: The country is in shock after the ghastly attacks by militants at the Army brigade headquarters in Jammu and Kashmirs Uri, leaving 18 soldiers dead. Several celebrities and Bollywood stars have been conveying condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers on social media and Akshay Kumar was also one of them. In lieu of the attack, Akshay has now urged everyone to come forward to do their bit financially beyond just applauding our heroes and praying for their families. Akshay has also played an Armyman and Air Force Officer in films and was seen as a Naval officer in the recent hit Rustom. Previously, he had also honoured soldiers who have given their lives at the border, at an event in Delhi last month. At the event, he had said, They are decorated with a lot of medals and that is good. But I looked at their faces. The honour was required for them but they need money too. You have to be practical. I thought how about supporting them financially and that is when I decided to do my bit for each family present there. He had reportedly donated Rs. 80 lakhs at that time. We hope the soldiers families receive all the support they require. Mumbai: After delivering a big success with his last film Sultan, Salman Khan has moved on to shooting Tubelight directed by Kabir Khan. After wrapping up a schedule in Ladakh, the actor is currently shooting for the next schedule in Manali. Several pictures of him did the rounds when he landed in the hilly town, while he got felicitated and also while shooting dressed in a sweater. The most recent picture of him, with boots hanging on him and playing with his nephew Ahil, was also loved on social media. There are reports that Salman will be shooting in Manali for a four-week schedule and that is perhaps the reason he decided to take a break amid the shooting. The superstar was snapped as he was gearing up to explore river rafting and entering the water. The pictures were shared on Instagram. Salmans fans would, however, hope for some visuals from this adventure to somehow be fitted into the script. Tubelight also starring Zhu Zhu and Sohail Khan, sees Salman in the role of a soldier and the film is reportedly based in the backdrop of the 1962 India-China war. Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan, who is currently shooting for Imtiaz Ali's The Ring in Amsterdam, recently got into scuffle with a fan who tried to misbehave with him. As SRK stepped out to get to his car, a huge crowd of fans gathered around to catch a glimpse of the actor. In a video that found its way on the internet, we see the actor cutting through the crowd, guarded by his security when suddenly a fan tried to grab SRK by his neck. Shocked by the incident, SRK instantly pushed the fan away. Soon, Shah Rukhs bodyguard took control of the situation and rushed the actor away from the crowd towards his car. However, SRK, polite as ever, regained his calm and stopped to oblige few fans with quick selfies. Forgetting the brawl incident that took place just seconds ago, Shah Rukh Khan sweetly greeted his fans who surrounded the actor and posed for few photographs. Earlier, in an interview with DC, Shah Rukh Khan had told us that he has instructed his bodyguards that any fan under the age of 25 is allowed to act stupid. I have a simple rule. I have told my bodyguards that any fan below the age of 25 has the right to be stupid, silly and childish. No one will say anything to them. I have kids who are 16 and 18 and they do things which cannot make you angry. Till 25 you are allowed to do right, wrong, good or ugly. If I was allowed to do Baazigar at 26, anyone is allowed to do anything, the actor had said. Angelina has been busy working on her directorial 'First They Killed My Father'. Mumbai: Hollywood actress-filmmaker Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from actor husband Brad Pitt after two years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Fans of the couple across the globe are saddened by this news but definitely are not shocked since rumours of problems between the couple have been there for past few months. According to TMZ, the 41-year-old actress filed the legal documents on Monday and has asked for physical custody of the couple's six children. She is also asking the judge to give Pitt visitation rights and is in favour of a joint legal custody. Sources close to the couple say Jolie's decision has to do with the way Pitt was parenting the children reportedly being upset with his methods. Jolie is not asking for spousal support, either. Angelina, whos been busy with her upcoming directorial, First They Killed My Father, has listed the date of separation as Sept. 15, 2016. One of the most celebrated Hollywood couples of all time, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt tied the knot in August 2014 after 10 years of courtship. Meanwhile, a new trailer of Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard starrer Allied was released yesterday. Actor Gopichand is all set to start shooting for his next film directed by Sampath Nandi. The unit is scheduled to leave for Bangkok in a few days, and the director has asked Gopichand to learn horse riding for a few scenes. For this film, Gopichand has been training in horse-riding for the past few weeks and is now ready to start shooting, confirmed a source from the unit, adding that the film is slated to be a milestone in Gopichands career as he is playing a dual role, where the interesting second character is bound to elevate Gopichands performance. Hansika and Catherine Tresa are the two female leads in this film. The unit is planning a 30-day schedule in Bangkok, comprising of a few action episodes and some key scenes. Kozhikode: The health authorities in Malappuram are sitting idle on the first-of-its-kind vaccination status of the children in 130 orphanages in the district the social justice department painstakingly compiled. They collected the immunisation data after visiting all the orphanages in August and handed them over to the health officials. But sources say they did nothing as the hue and cry over the diphtheria threat vanished. The biggest problem related to these children was that there wasnt any data. The SJ department prepared the data with specific details such as migrant children, gender, crime record, etc. But there was no follow-up on the issue as expected, said an SJ official. The data shows 2,406 children under the age of 18 are not immunised and that 1,652 had taken complete immunisation, 1,073 partially immunised, 174 did not have any, and the status of 1,159 children was unknown. As the health department considers partially immunised and status not known as not immunised, all the 2,406 children fall in this category. Deputy DMO Dr R. Renuka said vaccination activities were going on at the local level. Asha and Anganwadi workers and junior public health nurses are roped in for the purpose, she said. She added that the lack of Asha workers is a cause for worry. Another deputy DMO, Dr Shibu Lal, said the timely intervention had saved the situation from losing more lives. Malappuram has registered the lowest rate of 62 percent immunisation in the state, and this has mainly caused Keralas slip of immunisation level from 90 percent to 82 recently. The 32-year-old man, who goes by the pseudonym Luke Jackson, claims that he does not get physically intimate with another man during threesomes. (Representational Photo: Pixabay) In a patriarchal society, the idea of male prostitutes is often shrouded in mystery. A new York-based male escort, who charges clients $2,500 for a full day with him, allows us a sneak-peek into the dark and mysterious world of male sex work. The 32-year-old man, who goes by the pseudonym Luke Jackson, claims that he earns about $30,000 a year in his job as a part-time escort. However, he insists that his job is not all about providing sexual pleasures and that many of his customers who pay him for sex are women who are looking for companionship. I often feel like a kind of sex therapist: someone who helps women figure out how to voice their desires, needs, and fantasies, he told in an interview with Cosmopolitan.com. He says that he has been involved in sex work for the past eight years. His decision to become a male escort was influenced by a meeting with a woman he refers to as Claire who was a high-end escort as well a PhD student of literature that he met via an ad on Craiglist. She suggested that he should try being an escort while also pursuing his journalism career because straight and well-endowed men arent so common in the industry. 'Maybe I should say here that I'm nine and a half inches long and as wide as a beer can,' Luke shares. He also admits that some of his customers are even married and treat their affairs with him as a secret. He believes that one his married clients actually benefited from her interactions with him and became more honest about what she desired in her marriage. 'This job is not simply about being "good in bed". It's about enjoying sex and sexuality,' he explains. Although Luke is open to having threesomes with his clients, he claims that he does not get physically intimate with another man during these encounters. Nobody else knows about his lucrative side business except his siblings and some of his friends. Luke also has no plans to give it up any time soon. These days, I don't have any plans to quit,' he said. 'I truly like my clients and feel I provide a service. It's a break from their real life and it's a break from mine.' New Delhi: A man bludgeoned to death his father-in-law and two brothers-in-law and injured two other relatives, including a 15-year-old boy, over a family dispute in north-east Delhi's Nand Nagri area, police said today. Rajesh (40) attacked his relatives with grindstones and stick when they were sleeping in their house in Nand Nagri yesterday night. The deceased were -- Ram Kishan (60), his son Raju (26) and son-in-law Kiranpal (30). The injured were Ram Kishan's another son-in-law Tarun (28) and grandson Karan. "Accused Rajesh also sustained injuries in head and leg as he tried to escape from the house after bludgeoning his relatives. He is now undergoing treatment at a hospital. He is under police custody and a case of murder has been registered against him," said A K Singla, DCP (north-east). Police said Ram Kishan was a retired sanitation worker of MCD. He has four sons -- Mannu, Ravi, Govinda and Raju, and three married daughters -- Rakhi, Asha and Priya. Accused Rajesh, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan was married to Rakhi. The accused, along with his son Aditya, came from Alwar to his in-laws' place after a dispute with his wife on Monday morning. Later, his wife Rakhi too came, along with their other children. The family was trying to resolve the dispute and Kiranpal, who lived in the neighbourhood, joined in the effort. In evening, Rajesh convinced Kiranpal to stay back so that his problem could be solved through his mediation. However, when the whole family was fast asleep after dinner, he stealthily picked up grindstones and the stick to hit them. Police suspected that some sedative might have been mixed with the food eaten by the family in the dinner as the accused went on a killing spree without drawing attention from any of the family members. Later, the accused tried to escape by jumping from second floor of the house to an adjacent building and then down to the lane but he sustained injuries in head and leg. He was caught by neighbours. Amid a ruckus, the rest of the family members discovered the injured and rushed them to a hospital where Ram Kishan, Raju and Kiranpal were declared dead on arrival by the doctors. Mumbai: Mumbai police have arrested nine people after a housing society in Mumbai's Vasai region banned a Muslim family from buying a house. According to an NDTV report, the 'Happy Jivan' society had blocked a house owner, Jignesh Patel, from selling his house to a Muslim man. Following the incident, Patel registered an FIR against 11 people of the society at the local police station for 'hurting religious feelings'. Based on his complaint, police arrested nine people. In his complaint, Patel said that when he told the society members about the sale of his apartment, they opposed to it saying that they will not allow a non-vegetarian family to stay there. Ironically, the society is already home to two Muslim families. "They gave me a letter signed by residents saying that selling the flat to a Muslim will spoil the atmosphere," Patel was quoted in the report. However, after the legal action taken by Patel, the society reversed its stand on the sale of the apartment. They issued a fresh letter to Patel stating that they had no problem with the flat being sold to a Muslim family. Meanwhile, Patel said that he was thinking of withdrawing the case since he has been granted permission of selling the flat to whoever he wants. The accused are currently out on bail. Hyderabad: Saudi Riyals and UAE Dirhams worth nearly Rs 23 lakhs were seized from a Dubai-bound flier, who was allegedly trying to export the foreign currency illegally, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, DRI officials said on Tuesday. The passenger was intercepted on a tip-off by sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence after he had cleared immigration and security checks and was to board an Air India flight last night, DRI (Hyderabad Zonal Unit) Additional Director General M K Singh said. On examination of his baggage, foreign currency in the form of Saudi Riyals and UAE Dirhams was found, and the passenger on interrogation stated that the currency was obtained from unauthorised dealers and does not belong to him, Singh said in a release. He further stated that it was being carried on behest of someone for delivery in Dubai. The foreign currency was obtained from unauthorised dealers or persons in violation of FEMA and regulations made there under and was attempted to be exported illegally, in contravention of the prohibition imposed under Customs Act, the senior officer said. "The foreign currency, worth around Rs 23 lakh in Indian rupees, was seized. Further investigation in the case is in progress," Singh added. The woman, aged about 38 years, on Monday jumped before a running train near the railway crossing. (Photo: Representational Image) Muzaffarnagar: A woman allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train near Bajheri level crossing on Delhi-Saharanpur railway route in Muzaffarnagar, police said on Tuesday. The woman, aged about 38 years, on Monday jumped before a running train near the railway crossing, they said, adding that she has not been identified yet. The body has been sent for postmortem, police said, adding an investigation is underway. In a separate incident, 30-year-old Meera allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming poison at Shahpur village here, police said. She has been admitted to the district hospital, they said, adding the reason behind her extreme step is not known yet. New Delhi: In a terrifying incident, a 21-year-old woman teacher bled to death in broad daylight on Tuesday as her stalker stabbed her as many as 30 times while on a busy road in front of a horde of onlookers in North Delhis Burari, yet again exposing the citys impassive side. The sheer savagery of the murder during the morning rush hour and caught in CCTV camera, drew widespread outrage and horror. The Centre has sought a report from Delhi Police even as Aam Aadmi Party slammed Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, saying the horrific incident is reflective of the deteriorating law and order situation in the capital. The victim was identified as Karuna Kumar, who worked as a teacher at Novel Riches School. The attacker, 34-year-old Surender Singh, was stalking her for over a year-and-a-half. Karuna, with her cousin Neha, was on her way to work when Surender attacked her with a pair of scissors near Labour Chowk in Burari around 9 am, police said. As Surender caught Karuna off guard and plunged the single blade of scissors in her body, a man rushed to stop him but soon backed off fearing attack on himself. Within three minutes, Surender had stabbed Karuna 30 times, as onlookers kept away. Karuna was rushed to Sushrut Trauma Centre in Civil Lines where she was declared brought dead. Surender was beaten up by the locals, who caught him and handed him over to the police. The ruling AAP also fielded its women MLAs who vowed to take up the issue with the President of India, Union home minister and the Lt Governor and not rest till the authorities come up with a roadmap to bolster womens safety in the national capital. A case under section 302 IPC (murder) has been registered against the accused, said DCP (North) Madhur Verma. The incident came a day after a 32-year-old woman was stabbed to death by a man who claimed to love her in south-west Delhi. Sisodia hits out at Delhi Police Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday hit out at Delhi police over the murder of a 21-year-old woman in Burari, saying the force should focus on ensuring security of people rather than harassing AAP legislators. The woman was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight by her 34-year-old stalker, who attacked her nearly 22 times this morning as passersby looked on. Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-year old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizens security than harassing AAP MLAs (sic), Sisodia tweeted. At least 11 AAP MLAs have been arrested by the Delhi police since the party came to power in the national capital in February last year. In July, Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested after a woman alleged that a vehicle he was sitting in tried to mow her down. Uri/New Delhi: Barely two days after the terror attack in Uri, two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir today but they were foiled by the Army in an encounter in which 10 terrorists and a jawan were killed even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions. As the Government mulled various options on India's response to the cross-border terror attack on Sunday in which 18 jawans were killed, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has been convened tomorrow. "Two infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control (LoC) have been foiled in Uri and Nowgam sectors today. At both places the operations are in progress," an army spokesman said in Srinagar. The spokesman refused to comment on the number of militants killed in the ongoing operations so far, saying details will be made public in due course. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi, however, said that 10 terrorists were killed in the encounter with the army in the Uri sector. The bodies have not yet been recovered, they added. The sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting in Delhi with top officials, including NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. Separately, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues. On the ceasefire violation incident, an army official in Srinagar said the firing from across the LoC took place between 1.10 pm and 1.30 pm. However, there was no damage in the incident, he said. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon," the official said in Srinagar. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. The infiltration bids and the ceasefire violation came two days after four militants of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad stormed an army base in Uri Sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four militants were also killed. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. At the meeting convened by Rajnath Singh, Doval and top officials of the ministries of Home and Defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed him on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the LoC, official sources said. The presence of the Foreign Secretary at the meeting is significant as government plans to launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. NEW DELHI: Without as much naming Pakistan, the Indian Army sent out a veiled warning that retaliation on Indias own terms cannot be ruled out as a fallout of the Uri Army base attack. The infantry battalion at Uri is about 1,000-strong. A changeover takes about a month or so. Before the fighting soldiers move in, it is the recce men who move in first and pitch tents and set up langars or kitchens. It is this group of men who are positioned at the rear of the battalion base who were unfortunately targeted either by design or by default, the official added. The DGMO read out the total list of recoveries made from the slain terrorists four AK-47 rifles, four under-barrel grenade launchers, 39 UBGL grenades, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPS sets, two map sheets, two matrix sheets, one mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets having Pakistani markings. He also informed that the combing operations at the army camp concluded. NIA takes over Uri probe The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigations into Sundays terror attack at an Army base in Uri close to the Line of Control. A team of NIA sleuths and other officials arrived here on Monday and later visited the scene of the attack. They are likely to be joined by a few more officials and will together operate both from Uri and Srinagar till the completion of the investigation, official sources said. The Army is separately probing the incident especially how the militants group succeeded in relocating to a fully entrenched important military installation. The death toll in the attack rose to 18 after one of the critically injured Army jawan K. Vikas Janardhan, who was airlifted to Delhis Army Research and Referral Hospital died on Monday. Two other critically injured soldiers have also been airlifted to the military hospital in the Union capital. Mean-while, the Army has released the names of other 17 slain soldiers. The bus got stuck on the bridge and the driver tried to manoeuvre his way out following which the vehicle overturned in the canal. (Photo: ANI/Twitter) New Delhi: Seven children were killed and 17 others injured when a school bus fell into a canal at Mahawa border out post near Attari border on Tuesday. The incident occurred while the school bus, carrying 37 students, was crossing a narrow bridge on its way to drop the children home after school, Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harkamalpreet Singh said. "The bus got stuck on the bridge and the driver tried to manoeuvre his way out following which the vehicle overturned in the canal," he said. "Out of 37 students, seven were killed and 17 others received minor injuries," the SSP said, adding, the injured have been hospitalised. The bus belongs to DAV Public School and the deceased students, who were in the age group of 10 and 15 years, belong to the nearby villages of Tibbi, Muhawa and Neshta, police said. "Bus driver Charanjit Singh, from Rajataal village, joined duty yesterday and is absconding after the incident," the SSP said, adding, the driver and the owner of the bus have been booked. Residents from the villages around the area assembled at the spot and helped in rescuing the injured. New Delhi: Any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday. "Action will be taken after due consideration. Action is not taken after making announcements," he told reporters in Delhi. Read: Uri attack: NIA files FIR, team visits J&K to collect data on terrorists The Minister of State for Home made the remarks when he was asked whether the government was planning to carry out a strike against terrorist camps based in Pakistan. Eighteen soldiers were killed after heavily armed militants, suspected to be from Pakistan-based JeM, stormed an army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. There have been various reports suggesting that the government was exploring options on how to deal with the terror emanating from Pakistan. "It is a very serious issue and we should not indulge in any war of words. So many lives have been lost, people's sentiments have been hurt. The matter cannot be handled just like that," Rijiju said. New Delhi: Time has come for countries of the region to join hands in "singling out" Pakistan for spoiling regional peace and stability through terror, and possible boycott of upcoming SAARC Summit in Islamabad should be weighed, Afghan envoy Shaida Mohammad Abdali said on Tuesday. Calling for regional unity in sending out a strong message to Islamabad, he said terrorism being unleashed has become very lethal and systematic as it is state-sponsored and that there should be zero tolerance to it. Asked whether India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh join hands to boycott the SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November, he said there must be a comprehensive effort by countries of the region and that most of them share views of India and Afghanistan. "We have to make sure that we bring the maximum number of countries and I am sure most of the countries in South Asia are in line with what Afghanistan and India think. Therefore, the effort should be a comprehensive one and one which should include as many (countries) as possible," he told in an interview to a news channel. The Afghan envoy said time has come to "single out" the country that spoils unity and regional stability and peace. "Definitely we should single a country that spoils our unity and spoils regional stability and peace and that stops integration and connectivity." Earlier in the day, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and condemned the "cross border attack" in Uri and expressed solidarity with India to eliminate the threat of terrorism. "There must be zero tolerance (towards terrorism). It must end. We have seen the signs of terrorism becoming much more lethal and becoming very systematic. This is a state-sponsored terrorism. It is no more a issue of non-state actors that we have been hearing for a long time. "Now there is ample proof of this as state-sponsored terrorism and, therefore we have to revisit our mechanisms. We have a global war on terror that must be revisited," said Abdali. Amidst the ongoing hostility, Pakistan has decided not to send its intelligence chief to India to attend a conference of top security experts of SAARC countries beginning Thursday. Director General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan Aftab Sultan will not attend the SAARC meeting and that country will be represented by an official of the Pakistan High Commission, a Home Ministry official said. The two-day conference of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, to be held here, is being hosted by Director of Intelligence Bureau Dineshwar Sharma and intelligence chiefs of all other SAARC nations -- Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives besides India -- will participate it. According to a statement issued by the Home Ministry, the second meeting of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from SAARC countries will be held on September 22 and 23. The aim of the meeting is to strengthen SAARC anti-terror mechanism, it said. The first such meeting was held in New Delhi in February 2012. The agenda of the meeting includes functioning of SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk (SDOMD), countering terrorism and strengthening anti-terrorism mechanisms in SAARC, intelligence sharing and police cooperation, human resource development and relationship building, combating corruption and cyber crimes, among others. Family members of the girl gathered outside Sushruta Trauma Centre (ISBT), broke down on hearing the news. (Photo: video grab) New Delhi: A 21-year-old woman was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight by her 34-year-old stalker, who attacked her nearly 22 times as passers-by looked on in north Delhi's Burari area. The accused, identified as Surender Singh, carried out the frenzied attack when the victim, Karuna, was walking through the area at 9 am. She was a teacher at Novel Reaches School, police said. Scooterists and passersby looked on as Singh dragged the girl, who fell down as she tried to save herself, and relentlessly attacked her. Singh stabbed the woman 22 times. A man tried to approach but backed off and left from there. Some onlookers later caught Singh and handed him over to the police. Singh had been stalking the girl for a year but she resisted his advances, said a senior police officer. The victim used to learn computer at a training centre owned by the accused and he fell in love with her, police said. The victim's family had lodged a complaint against the stalker six months ago but both the families reached a compromise and the accused had stopped stalking her, said the victim's family. However, he attacked her on Tuesday and brutally killed her, police said. Family members of the girl gathered outside Sushruta Trauma Centre (ISBT), broke down on hearing the news. The man was harassing my sister for long time. He stays in Rohini. His name is Aditya Malik. We had registered a complaint 6 months ago after which he had calmed down until now, said Karunas brother. The Centre has sought a report from Delhi Police. "We have sought a fact report from Delhi Police Commissioner over the incident. Whatever happened is very sad," Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told reporters. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia hit out at Delhi Police over the murder in Burari, saying the force should "focus" on ensuring security of people rather than "harassing" AAP legislators. "Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-yr old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizen's security than harassing AAP MLAs (sic)," Sisodia tweeted. At least 11 AAP MLAs have been arrested by the Delhi Police since the party came to power in the national capital in February last year. In July, Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested after a woman alleged that a vehicle he was sitting in tried to mow her down. Deoli MLA Prakash Jarwal was arrested on charges of misbehaving with a woman the same month. Another party MLA Dinesh Mohaniya was arrested in June on charges of molestation and sexual harassment amid high drama when he was addressing a press conference. New Delhi: An Indian television journalist was asked to leave a news briefing of Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in New York on Monday. NDTV journalist Namrata Brar was evicted from Chaudhrys press conference after someone said, Iss Indian ko nikalo (remove this Indian). No other Indian journalist was allowed to attend the briefing either, said the NDTV report. Pakistan has evaded questions about Sunday's deadly attack in which 18 soldiers were killed at an army base in Uri by terrorists belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammad, whose chief Masood Azhar is based in Pakistan. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is attending the UN meet, waved aside Indian journalists who tried to question him on the Uri attack. Earlier, Pakistan had described Indias allegations as unfounded and claimed that the country always blamed Pakistan when it came to terror attacks on its soil. India for its part took a strategic decision to isolate Pakistan internationally, at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Chennai: Madras High Court on Tuesday reserved its orders on a petition filed by senior advocate Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, challenging the summons issued to her by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its money laundering probe in the Saradha chit fund scam case. After hearing arguments by senior counsel Vijaynarayan and Krishnamurthy representing Nalini, Justice T S Sivagnanam, reserved orders and told the Additional Solicitor General C Rajagopalan, appearing for the ED, that "in the meantime let there be no precipitative action." In response, the ASG said that he will inform the ED. Nalini submitted that as per section 160 of CrPC, a woman could not be summoned by police and inquiry has to be conducted in her house. Pointing out that CBI had already filed a charge sheet in the Saradha chit fund scam probe before a court in West Bengal, the petitioner said her name did not figure in it either as an accused or witness and yet she was summoned by the ED. The matter pertains to the legal fee allegedly paid to the petitioner by Saradha group over a television channel purchase deal. A sum of Rs one crore was paid to Nalini for her appearances in the court and company law board by Saradha group chairman, Sudipto Sen, as part of a clause in an agreement between him and former Union Minister Matang Sinh's wife Manoranjana, who was Nalini's client, over a television channel purchase deal, Vijaynarayan, counsel for Nalini, said. The counsel further said her fee was declared in the tax returns and the transactions happened before the Saradha scam case. Claiming that Nalini had fully cooperated with the ED, the counsel said his client had answered all the questions in the earlier summons, while the third and fourth summons contained similar questions and asked her to appear in person. Hence, the petitioner approached the High Court seeking to declare the fourth summons issued by ED as illegal and to restrain its officials from initiating any action against her. Six children were killed and 17others injured when a school bus fell into a canal near Border Out Post (BOP) Mahawa near Attari on Tuesday. The incident took place when the school bus, carrying 37 students, was passing over a narrow bridge, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harkamalpreet Singh said. "The bus got stuck on the bridge and the driver tried to manoeuvre his way out following which the vehicle overturned in the canal, he said. "Out of 37 students, six were killed and 17 others received minor injuries," the SSP said, adding, the injured have been hospitalised and rest of the students escaped unhurt. The cause of the accident was the narrow bridge near the canal, he said. The bus belongs to DAV Public School and the deceased students were in the age group of 10 and 15 years, police said. New Delhi: The controversy over which lawyer would represent sacked Delhi minister Sandeep Kumar, arrested on rape charges, came to an end today after the AAP MLA told a special court that he has neither changed his advocate, nor was he assaulted inside the Tihar jail. The issue had cropped up when an advocate had last week claimed that he was authorised by Kumar to represent him and that the legislator was beaten up in jail. This was denied the same day by the MLA's wife who had said it was a "political conspiracy" as the lawyer had not been appointed by him. Kumar, who is in judicial custody, was on Tuesday produced before Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry, who had issued production warrant on the application of his counsel Pradeep Rana to clarify on the issue. When the court asked Kumar as to who is his counsel, Pradeep Rana or A P Singh, the MLA replied he had engaged Rana who was still his counsel. Clarifying on the issue, the MLA said that advocate Singh had come to meet him in jail where he had claimed he was an associate of advocate Rana and asked for his signatures on 'Vakalatnama'. Singh, however, claimed that Kumar had authorised him to file the application seeking security due to purported threat to his life. "Since, you (Singh) are not his counsel, how can you argue on his behalf? You withdraw the application," the court said. The court then dismissed as withdrawn Singh's plea and obseved that "due to this, an unnecessary difficulty has been caused to everybody". "Accused on being asked as to who has been engaged and authorised to appear on his behalf, states that he has engaged Pradeep Rana advocate. In view of submissions made by accused, the application moved by A P Singh seeking direction to jail authorities is dismissed as withdrawn," the judge said. The court also extended the judicial custody of Kumar till October 14. Kumar was arrested on September 3 after a woman had approached Sultanpuri police station in North Delhi complaining of sexual harassment against the ex-Social Welfare and Women and Child Development minister, following which acase was filed. The woman had figured in an objectionable video with him. The MLA from Sultanpur Majra was removed from AAP government on August 31 by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the CD surfaced. He had defended himself saying he has been targeted. Srinagar: Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Uri sector on Tuesday, two days after 18 soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack at an Army installation. According to latest inputs, 20 rounds were fired from small arms at the Indian post in Uri. However, there was no damage in the incident, army said. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon," an army official said. He said the firing from across the Line of Control took place between 1:10 pm and 1:30 pm. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. On Monday, the Army had said it reserves the right to respond to any cross-border terror attack "at the time and place of our own choosing". The Army also said it has the desired capability to respond to any blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. It is being blamed on Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed sparking calls for exercising military options. The total recoveries from the slain terrorists is four AK 47 rifles, four Under Barrel Grenade Launchers, 39 Under Barrel Grenade Launcher grenades, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPSs, two map sheets, two matrix sheets, one mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets having Pakistani markings. India had reacted strongly to the deadliest attack on the Army in Jammu and Kashmir in quarter-century-old insurgency. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, and called for its isolation from the international community. Pakistan has denied the charges vehemently, calling them baseless. A showdown over the issue is taking place at the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Commission between the two countries. India demanded that Pakistan stop support for terrorism across the border, as well as 'vacate' the illegally-held Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) instead of trying to internationalise the issue. 51-year-old Sunanda was found dead at a suite in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014, a day after her spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on Twitter over her alleged affair with Tharoor. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: A Delhi Police team probing the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, is in the US to collect her viscera samples that have been lying with an FBI lab for nearly a year now. The team is likely to return by the end of the week. The US agency has already given its report which will be discussed with a medical board, a senior police officer said. It is just a routine exercise to bring back the samples lying with the FBI lab. The team will also seek details on some points mentioned in the US probe agency's lab report, he said. The step was taken after the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter reminded Delhi Police to get the samples back as was asked by the FBI lab. 51-year-old Sunanda was found dead at a suite in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014, a day after her spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on Twitter over her alleged affair with Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Delhi Police had in January last year registered a case of murder in connection with Sunanda's death. An AIIMS medical board had earlier found poisoning as reason for her death following which the police had sent her viscera samples to the FBI lab in the US. The FBI lab report, sent to Delhi Police in November last year, endorsed the findings of the AIIMS forensic report. As police could not firm up about cause of the death based on the FBI report, they requested a medical board of AIIMS to analyse its content. Several persons including Shashi Tharoor have been questioned in connection with Sunanda's death. The police have also conducted polygraph test on six persons, all prime witnesses in the case, including Tharoor's domestic help Narayan Singh, driver Bajrangi and Sanjay Dewan, a close friend of the couple. In February, Tarar was questioned about her relation with the Congress leader and his wife, her fight with Sunanda over Twitter, and other issues revolving around Sunanda's death. New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with top officials, including NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, in the wake of the terror attack in Uri. Doval and top officials of the ministries of Home and Defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed Singh on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the Line of Control, official sources said. The presence of the Foreign Secretary in the meeting is significant as government plans to launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. Sources said the Home Minister took stock of the steps taken to check infiltration along the LoC and the International Border with Pakistan. The Home Minister and the top officials also reviewed the security situation across the country, including Punjab which had faced two similar terror attacks early this year. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is in Srinagar to assess the ground situation in Kashmir. Heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based JeM had stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir on Sunday, killing 18 jawans. Government is planning to use a calibrated, multi-layered and strategic response to Uri attack besides planning to hand over to Pakistan evidence of the four terrorists using Pakistani-marked weapons, food, energy drinks and GPS trackers which they carried to enter Jammu and Kashmir from across the LoC. New Delhi: Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from tomorrow till September 27, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while raising the quantum the fixed by the Supervisory Committee by 3000 cusecs. The apex court also gave liberty to both states to file objections against the directions of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee yesterday, asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and 30. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award. It also directed the Centre to produce before it on the next date of hearing, the notification indicating that CWMB has been constituted and said, if required, further direction can be passed by the apex court to the CWMB. "How long will the two states keep fighting? This dispute is there from 1894. Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) is an expert body and it needs to be constituted. Just because the problem had not arisen earlier doesn't mean that the problem will never arise in future," the bench told ASG Pinky Anand, appearing for Centre. Meanwhile, Karnataka has called the order wrong, unimplementable, contending it does not have enough water to drink. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said implementing the order will be "difficult, since we do not have water". He further said a cabinet meeting will be held tomorrow to discuss the issue. "Also at 5 pm, there is an all-party meeting on the pros and cons of the order... We will discuss this, take legal and technical opinions and decide the next step," he added. The apex court took note of the fact that no consensus was reached among the states before the Supervisory Committee and Union Water Resources Secretary and Chairman of the Committee Shashi Shekhar used his power to ask Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu. Senior advocate and noted jurist F S Nariman, appearing for Karnataka, opposed the supervisory committee order and said the state was aggrieved by the order. "We cannot give water to Tamil Nadu from our drinking water supply," Nariman said while opposing any interim arrangement for release of Cauvery water. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, also opposed the directions, saying the supervisory committee has not considered all aspects while passing the order. He said the committee had failed to consider the fact that it was a rain deficient year and the quantum of water to be released has to be done proportionally. "We need water here and now otherwise our Samba crops which are planted in August-September and harvested in December will be destroyed," Naphade said. During the nearly two-hour hearing, both states strongly argued their case, with Karnataka saying it will be difficult to release water to Tamil Nadu for irrigation purposes by cutting drinking water supply to Bengaluru. Tamil Nadu on other hand said it was fallacy on part of Karnataka that it does not want to accept that it was not a normal year and there was 46 per cent deficient rainfall. Nariman urged the bench to either refer back the matter to the Supervisory Committee for proper consideration of all facts or let Tamil Nadu file a petition raising objection to the committee's decision, which was a 'pro tem' (temporary) arrangment till the CWMB was constituted. He said as per the CWDT award, Karnataka was asked to release 192 TMC of Cauvery water every year but the monthly release of water was tentative depending on various factors. The senior lawyer further said if Karnataka was asked to supply more water to Tamil Nadu, it will have serious consequences. Naphade contended that Tamil Nadu needed water before October 15 or the Samba crop in the state will be affected and said "there can't be a camel-like approach that you consume water now and use it later". "The Supervisory Committee doesn't know its job. We are aggrieved by the order of the committee. There has to be seasonal allocation," he said. To this, the bench said "you (Karnataka) are aggrieved by Supervisory Committee's order which has suggested some figure and they (Tamil Nadu) are aggrieved. We are also aggrieved. Centre has not constituted the board which should have been constituted and a regulatory committee should have been constituted under the board for effective implementation of tribunal's award". The apex court said it is not disputed by anyone that the board has to be constituted and it is the duty of the Centre to see that Cauvery Water Management Board is constituted within a stipulated time and till then, some interim arrangement can be made. Nariman vehemently opposed the view of the court about an interim management, and said "it will be a wrong order. I have practiced in this court for long. No one is as much senior than me in this court. It will be an erroneous order if any pro tem arrangement is made." To this, the court said "when there is an award, there is monthly allocation of water. There is a perception, and the possibility of reduction and adjustment is always there. That there should not be any pro tem arrangement does not impress us. Whatever you (Nariman) have to say, you can. We will record it but we will go by the jurisdiction as per law. We will record your opposition." On September 12, the apex court had asked both the states to ensure that "law and order" prevails. It had modified its earlier order on sharing of Cauvery water and directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs instead of 15,000 cusecs per day till September 20 to Tamil Nadu. The apex court bench was also critical of the language used in the plea of Karnataka seeking to keep in abeyance the September 5 order asking it to release 15,000 cusecs water per day to Tamil Nadu. Fire men dousing a torched truck in Bengaluru on Tuesday, a day after violent protests by pro-Kannada activists over Cauvery water row. (Photo: PTI) Bengaluru: In view of the Supreme Court hearing the petition related to Cauvery water dispute, the Bengaluru police have made elaborate security arrangements across the city. To avoid a repeat of September 12 when violence rocked the city, the police have beefed up security, especially in areas that witnessed arson and police firing last week. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has issued guidelines to police, directing them to take precautionary measures. He has directed police to keep ready fire engines and required emergency forces at sensitive areas around Cauvery belt including Bengaluru. The Home Minister has also directed police to flag march around sensitive areas, and appealed to pro-Kannada activists and farmers' associations to maintain peace. Meanwhile, Section 144 has been imposed in Mandya's Sanjay circle. The police have extended the prohibitory orders that were enforced on September 12 till Sunday. The central police forces that were called in for bandobast following the protests, are still camping in the city and will be used on Tuesday as well. As many as 16 companies of central forces, including three companies of Sashastra Seema Bal, three companies of Border Security Force, one company of Indo-Tibetan Border Police will be deployed on Tuesday. Apart from the 15,000 civil policemen, 30 platoons of City Armed Reserve police, 114 quick response teams, 2,000 home guards, 270 Hoysala patrolling vehicles and 400 Cheeta bikes will be deployed. Besides, a SWAT vehicle will also be stationed to prevent protesters from going berserk. Besides, 320 surveillance cameras have been installed in sensitive areas of the city to monitor the situation. Citys top police officials held a meeting on Monday and discussed the security measures that have to be taken on Tuesday. The city police were on a high vigil on Monday as well in the wake of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee meeting that was held in Delhi. Heavy police deployment was made at Majestic bus station, Satellite bus station on Mysuru Road, Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station and other places. The police also conducted flag marches at Kamakshipalya, Sunkadkatte, Kaveripura, Vrushabhavathinagar, Austin town, Neelasandra, Anepalya, Shanthinagar, Richmond Town and other areas. Overruling differences between the two states, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Monday ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water per day to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and September 30, leading to protests. Despite day-long discussions, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu failed to reach an agreement on the quantum of water to be released. No sale of liquor today Tuesday will be a dry day with City Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh issuing orders prohibiting the sale of liquor in the jurisdiction of Bengaluru city police commissionerate, in view of the Supreme Court hearing on petitions related to the Cauvery water dispute. In an order issued on Monday evening, Mr Megharikh ordered closure of wine shops, bars, pubs and all places where liquor is sold. The order will be in effect from 6 am on Tuesday till 1 am on Wednesday. However, exemption has been given to clubs, star hotels and military canteens. The order stated that anti-social elements took advantage of the situation on September 12 and created a law and order problem under the influence of alcohol. Mysuru: Farmers leaders responded angrily to the order of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee asking the state to release 3000 cusecs of water per day from September 21 to 30 to Tamil Nadu. One farmers' leader, Nanjunde Gowda warned on Monday there could be more violence in Karnataka as a result of the fresh order.We have held all kind of peaceful agitations, but now things could turn violent if they release even one more drop of water, he declared, adding, If they release water now there will not be enough even for drinking. It is inhuman. Our Chief Minister is only concerned about being in power. The state government has failed to convince the Union government, which only wants to pacify Tamil Nadu for political reasons. If they want to release all the water, why should there be a Krishna Raja Sagar dam at all? Let them open the last gate forever. Cauvery Hitharakshana Vedike head, G Madegowda said if the government was able to give Tamil Nadu water , it should also give its own farmers water for irrigation. Otherwise let them announce compensation for the crop loss. And if that is not possible, let Chief Minister Siddaramaiah resign. We will not stop our agitation, he asserted. Meanwhile, even as agitations continued backed by pontiffs of various maths in Mandya, as much as 11,995 cusecs of water was released from KRS and Kabini reservoirs to Tamil Nadu on Monday and supply of water for irrigation to the states farmers was stopped. Seers of Adi Chunchangiri Math, Nirmalananda swami and, JSS Math, Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami were among the pontiffs who joined the farmers in their agitation. As much as 49.56 TMC of water has been released to Tamil Nadu this year and following the recent Supreme Court order, 13.604 TMC has been released since September 7. In the process, the storage of the reservoirs of the Cauvery basin has dropped drastically. Soldiers guard outside the Army base which was attacked Sunday by suspected militants at Uri, Jammu and Kashmir. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: Even as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigation into the Uri terror attack, reports have emerged that security lapses despite specific intelligence may have enabled Pakistan-backed terrorists to cross the border and kill 18 soldiers on Sunday. Jammu and Kashmir police have formally registered a case under different sections of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team inspected the encounter site at Uri on Monday. Indian Army too has instituted a court of enquiry to probe the terror attack that killed 18 soldiers of six Bihar and 10 Dogra units. According to a report in dna, Intelligence inputs about the possible terror attacks were provided some days ago and accordingly shared with the forces on ground. But the manner in which terrorists could breach the LoC and three tier counter infiltration security system is what has baffled investigators. Security lapses have thus been indicated. The concerns are multifaceted. Firstly, it is unknown how confidential information about the change of guard leaked to the terrorists - the 10 Dogra unit, which had served in the area for two and half years, was leaving for Pathankot for new posting and six Bihar unit was replacing them in Uri. Secondly, militants knew that the new unit was camping in the tents on the rare side of the headquarters. Thirdly, militants managed to storm the camp from the rear side where there was less protection. The militants might have crossed the Mike Post on the LoC in Uri sector and maneuvered though ravines, gorges and dense forests to attack the camp, suspect investigators. Security forces failed to pick up the leads from the foiled fidayeen attack in Poonch on September 11, in which four militants and a policeman were killed and six others including three army men were injured while two hostages were rescued, said the report. The militants in Poonch were part of the fidayeen squad and they were doing the reconnaissance for the attack when security forces spotted them, but this point was missed by the Indian army. Uri and Poonch is connected through the Haji Pir pass on the LoC and the trekking distance between the two areas is less, said the report. Chennai: Political parties and farmers in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday termed as historic, the Supreme Court verdict directing the Centre to constitute Cauvery Management Board and urged the Union government to set up the body sans delay. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa also came in for praise for her pursuit of legal measures over the Cauvery issue, which eventually led to the ruling. President of Tamil Nadu All Farmers' Federations, P R Pandian said "I welcome the verdict whole heartedly, all the farmers are very happy." "We thank Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the legal measures she undertook to secure the Apex Court verdict," he said, adding the ruling also comes after a slew of protests over several years by Tamil Nadu farmers, supported by all sections of people, political parties and traders. He said farmers are now confident that the Cauvery Board would order release of water to ryots in accordance with the needs and without any political interference. Farmers wing of CPI(M), Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam urged the Centre to implement the order without delay and the state government to make efforts to get additional quantum of water as 6,000 cusecs will not be sufficient. PMK chief Ramadoss said, "though the Supreme Court direction to release 6000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu per day from tomorrow till September 27 is not sufficient, the ruling to constitute CMB is historic and we welcome it whole heartedly." He said the order has given joy and confidence to lakhs of farmers that now "doing farming is possible in Cauvery Delta districts of Tamil Nadu." He wanted the Centre to take immediate steps for setting up CMB. Welcoming the ruling, CPI(M) State Secretary G Ramakrishnan and CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan urged the Centre to implement the order without any delay. Ramakrishnan said 6,000 cusecs would not be sufficient and that at least 12,000 cusecs should be released till the month end. MDMK chief Vaiko said the Apex Court through its order has upheld the rights of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery waters. He too demanded the Centre immediately constitute Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority. All India National League Party chief S J Inayatullah said the "verdict is a huge victory for Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who has been in pursuit of a legal struggle on the issue," and greeted her for the apex court ruling. Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi chief Velmurugan said his party welcomed the announcement and thanked Jayalalithaa for taking appropriate legal steps to obtain the court order. Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi chief E R Easwaran said the order was a culmination of a long time struggle. He also wanted the authorities to ensure the safety of Tamils in Karnataka. He also wanted Karnataka to ensure safety and security of Tamils living there as protests have begun in some places following the apex court verdict. Hyderabad: Telangana government on Tuesday said it has decided to set up Backward Classes (BC) Commission for the integrated development and welfare of the communities. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who on Tuesday held a review meeting with senior officials, asked them to take necessary steps in that direction, according to a press release issued. "The chief minister asked the officials to make budgetary allocations for BCs from next year. He also ordered the officials to start residential schools in each of the 119 assembly constituencies in the state in the first phase," the release said. The State cabinet which is expected to meet on September 26, will discuss issues related to setting up the commission and also creating Nizamabad and Karimnagar Police Commissionarates, it said. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi chairing the High Level Meeting in the wake of Uri terror attack, in New Delhi (Photo: PIB) New Delhi: Under pressure to craft an appropriate response following one of the biggest terrorist attacks on the Indian Army in Uri on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conferred with the security and intelligence agencies to examine the possibility of a calibrated surgical strike on terror establishments close to the Line of Control (LoC). However, there has been no knee-jerk reaction, sources said. Security agencies have been asked to prepare a blueprint laying down all the options and their outcomes. Once this is done, home minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will give a presentation to the Prime Minister. Importantly, the intelligence agencies revealed that there was credible information that along with the attack on the Army camp there was also a plan for almost a simultaneous strike at a major Indian city. Luckily, the plan was thwarted as the terrorists could not manage logistical support from local modules. The sacrifice of our brother and 17 others should not go waste, but it should be a turning point for Pakistan," Mohan Lal the elder brother of Ravi Paul said. (Photo: HU Naqash/ DC) Samba: Residents of this border town, who gathered on Monday to pay their last respects to Havildar Ravi Paul, killed in terrorist attack on an Army base in Uri, said it is high time for India to react strongly to the "Pakistan-sponsored proxy war". Relatives of Paul said he laid down his life for a cause and it was for the Government of India to "take a call" and "respect the death of the soldiers". "We want the incubator of terrorism, the country which sends terrorists to our country, be taught a strong lesson. Read: Army releases list of jawans killed in Uri attack The sacrifice of our brother and 17 others should not go waste, but it should be a turning point for Pakistan," Mohan Lal the elder brother of Ravi Paul said. "How long we will continue to lose our young bravehearts to the bullets of cowards. It is high time for the Union government to say that enough is enough and teach Pakistan a lesson," Mohan Singh Bhatti, Sarpanch of Jarda village, who came to pay his last respect to the soldier said. People who poured in to pay their homage to Paul, one of the 18 soldiers who killed in the terrorist attack on Sunday, echoed similar view of "teaching the hostile neighbour a lesson". "Pakistan has been pinching us for several years now and yesterday's attack is an act of war on our country. Never in the past have we lost so many brave men in one attack, it is high time for the country's leadership to take decision and teach Pakistan a lesson," Madan Kumar a resident of Sarva village said. Residents of the border area have been bearing the brunt of the hostilities and the proxy war sponsored by the Pakistani side, he said. "Whenever there is a terrorist attack or whenever there is cross-border firing the residents of the border areas became the worst sufferers. We have been demanding from the Government of India to finish this once and for all," he said. Thousands of people from nearby areas congregated in the area where the martyr's body was brought in a helicopter from Kolkata. (Photo: Twitter/ANI) Canning: The mortal remains of Sepoy Biswajit Gharai, who was martyred in Sunday's terrorist attack at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, were on Tuesday consigned to flames with full state honours on Tuesday. As the sounds of gun salute by 12 armymen reverberated in the area, the 22-year-old martyr's mother Rekha Gharai, who came to the cremation ground from Sridham village, fainted. His father Rabindranath Gharai, a farmer, managed to control his emotion and said, "My younger son died while protecting the honour of the country. We are grief stricken, but the country's security is much more important." Thousands of people from nearby areas congregated in the area where the martyr's body was brought in a helicopter from Kolkata. Led by Maj S K Mahapatra, a team of 50 armymen came here with the coffin carrying the body of Gharai. On behalf of the state government, Fire and Emergency Services and Environment Minister Shobhan Chatterjee placed a wreath on the coffin covered by the tricolour. Chatterjee said he would propose to the government that the nearby temporary fire brigade station be named after Biswajit Gharai. Superintendent of Police Sunil Chowdhury, Sub-divisional Officer Rahul Nath and other officials and people's representatives were also present there. The late Sepoy was survived by his parents, a brother and a sister. His two cousins were also in the Army and posted in Uri army base which was stormed by suspected militants of Pakistan-based JeM in the wee hours of Sunday. New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday said it was with the government over "any meaningful action" in the interest of national security in the wake of the Uri terror attack. At the same time, party spokesman RPN Singh told reporters the "flip-flop" of the government on foreign policy has come to "haunt" the country. He said Congress will be in solidarity with government on "any meaningful action" in the interest of national security. Singh said since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, there have "over 900 ceasefire violations" by Pakistan and the country is fomenting unrest in the Kashmir valley. As against this, the Congress-led UPA had succeeded in putting Pakistan in a corner in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, he said. Lucknow: The war in Uttar Pradesh's first family seems to be far from over, with Samajawadi Party's state unit head Shivpal Yadav on Monday asserting himself against Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav by expelling seven party functionaries, including three MLCs, considered close to him. Protesting against the tough action, a number of youth office bearers of the party's front wings spontaneously resigned, claiming that "Akhilesh" is their "undisputed" leader. Sunil Singh Sajan, Anand Bhadauria and Sanjay Lathar -- all MLCs -- were shown the door by Shivpal for making "derogatory remarks" against party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, indulging in anti-party activities and indiscipline. Besides the MLCs, state chief of SP youth brigade Mohd Ebad, state president of SP Yuvjan Sabha Brijesh Yadav, national president of SP youth brigade Gaurav Dubey, and state chief of Chatra Sabha Digvijay Singh Dev were sacked from the party on similar grounds by Shivpal. The pro-Akhilesh camp protested against this development which came only two days after a compromise worked out by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav between Shivpal and the Chief Minister, who have been engaged in a turf war. As per the compromise, Akhilesh restored all but one key portfolios of Shivpal and accepted him as state unit president, a post from which he himself had been removed. "Akhilesh ji is our undisputed leader. We joined politics under his leadership. We did not indulge in indiscipline. We are even ready to give our life from him," an angry Brijesh said. Digvijay aired similar sentiments, saying they believe in the policies of Netaji (Mulayam) and will continue to work for Samajwadi Party. "We only apprised Netaji of our views in favour of Akhilesh," he said. High drama unfolded in the VVIP Guest House area where two youths of SP chatra sabha climbed atop a TV transmission tower to protest the mass sacking. Protests against the decision were reported from some districts as well. After taking the decision, Shivpal visited CM's residence and both the leaders had closed door talks. A meeting of legislators and party district presidents has been called by Shivpal tomorrow to discuss the party's strategy for the Assembly elections due early next year. Meanwhile, Shivpal, while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme, gave a tough message to party cadres saying, "Strict action will be taken against all those who indulge in indiscipline." Army jawans carry the coffin of Sepoy Gangadhar Dolui, who was martyred in Uri attack, in Howrah on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI) SRINAGAR: Two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir on Tuesday but Army foiled the attempts killing some of the terrorists while losing a jawan, barely two days after the terror attack in Uri. The attempts to cross the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri and Nowgam sectors came even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions in Uri sector. Two infiltration bids by militants from across the LoC have been foiled in Uri and Nowgam sectors today. At both places the operations are in progress, an Army spokesman said in Srinagar. The spokesman refused to comment on the number of militants killed in the ongoing operations so far, saying details will be made public in due course. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi which had initially put the number of terrorists killed at 10 later clarified that the extent of casualties can be ascertained only after the retrieval of the bodies from the dense jungles and that the operations were still underway. Ceasefire violation, a cover to infiltrate Two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir on Tuesday but Army foiled the attempts killing some of the terrorists while losing a jawan. The sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. As the government mulled various options on Indias response to the cross-border terror attack on Sunday in which 18 jawans were killed, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has been convened on Wednesday. On the ceasefire violation incident, an Army official in Srinagar said the firing from across the LoC took place between 1.10 pm and 1.30 pm. However, there was no damage in the incident, he said. Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon, the official said in Srinagar, amid reports that the firing took place apparently to give cover to terrorists trying to sneak into the Indian territory. Bengaluru: The city police increased the security arrangements in the city, especially in west and north divisions on Tuesday evening, after the Supreme Court ordered Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 27. The police, who had made elaborate bandobust from the morning in view of the apex court hearing the petition related to Cauvery water dispute, diverted its forces to the western and northern part of the city, that had witnessed violent protests on September 12. Most of the units of the central police forces that is camping in the city for a week was deployed at sensitive areas surrounding the Mysuru Road. Soon after the verdict was out by 5 pm, the police forces were on a high vigil and took out flag marches at the sensitive areas. The Satellite Bus Station on the Mysuru Road, where the protests started on last Monday, was surrounded by armed policemen. Police had beefed up the security at Rajagopalanagar, Kamakshipalya, Vijayanagar, Byatarayanapura, Kengeri, Magadi Road and Raja Rajeshwarinagar areas. The city top cops also updated the law and order situation to Home Minister Dr. G. Paramaeshwara on regular intervals, as he himself had reviewed the security scenario on Monday late evening. Vehicular movement to be hit Though the city police have ensured tight security across the city, sources from the intelligence say that over the next few days vehicle movement and transport towards Mysuru and other Cauvery delta region will be largely effected, as the farmers have planned large scale agitation. It is also said that sporadic incidents of violence is expected, though not organised, in parts of city. Owing the intensified agitation, KSRTC is likely to suspend bus services from Bengaluru to Mysuru region anticipating trouble, though they have not officially taken any decision. Parents, workforce worried The Supreme Courts verdict has set off panic amongst Bengalureans, who had to bear the brunt of snap protests, arson and violence last Monday. Panicked by news reports on the Supreme Court verdict, parents were worried over functioning of schools as mid-term examination are currently on. Confusion loomed large among parents on whether the schools will remain open on Wednesday, following the SC order. Many of them called the schools to enquire. However, school staff clarified that the schools will be open on Wednesday. Even the citys workforce was a worried lot, as the memories of last Mondays violence is still fresh in their minds. Many companies also discussed whether they should be open on Wednesday and decided to take a call based on the situation on Wednesday morning. Rumours also made rounds on various social networking sites that there will be bandh on Wednesday. But, the police took to social media and clarified that there will be no bandh and everything would function as usual. The damage to the road at Oliphanta bridge in Secunderabad only gets worse, with vehicles finding little space to cross safely, on Tuesday. (Photo: DC) Hyderabad: Municipal minister K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday expressed displeasure at the GHMC engineering wing for the badly damaged city roads. He said, The poor maintenance of roads by the engineering department has degraded the state government. The good job done by other state agencies is lost due to the bad shape of roads. Is it rocket science to maintain roads? All it needs is funds, manpower and sustainable material, all of which the department has. There is a lack of seriousness among the engineering staff, the department only wakes up whenever there is an incident. On Tuesday the minister held a review meeting with the chief engineer of GHMC and staff from the zonal level, in the presence of the mayor, commissioner and municipal principal secretary M.G. Gopal. Mr Rao said, Hyderabad had received more rain in previous years. Whenever it rains, the roads deteriorate. Why is there no solution? What has the staff been doing for so long? There is no seriousness among the staff, if this continues officers will be suspended for bad roads. Engineering officers said potholes were being filled from time to time. The department would work out strategies to deal with damaged roads, they said. But Mr Rao was not to be convinced. He said, Why does the department propose alternatives after the damage is done? Why has there been no proper planning in advance? The GHMC engineering wing is always in denial mode. If you dont accept the officers inefficiency then the problems cannot be resolved. The department has to accept that it has failed. GHMC commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy too expressed his anger and said that the engineering staff had not been checking the quality of roads built by contractors. Mr Rao pointed at corruption among officers while allocating contracts. He wanted potholes to be fixed immediately. 2,000 complaints filed on potholes Hyderabads third biggest problem is potholes. The My GHMC app has received over 2,000 complaints on potholes alone. Complaints about non-functional streetlights and manholes took the first two spots. The GHMC claims it has identified 54,547 potholes, and attended to 53,113 of them. However there appear to be thousands of potholes that it has not bothered about. It is learnt that the potholes were dumped with bituminous tar material as a temporary measure instead of being filled methodologically to ensure that the repairs last. On many arterial roads, gravel can be found spread around. When it rains, the mix of gravel, potholes filled with water and traffic makes it perilous to drive. Officials claimed it would take two business days to fill a pothole. Some potholes, because of their location in the road or proximity to other infrastructure such as manhole covers, are more difficult to fill and, consequently take longer. Lucknow: Leaders, who till a few months ago, had publicly vowed to bulldoze the BJP, will now draft the strategy for its return to power, especially in Uttar Pradesh that goes to polls early next month. The BJP, from Uttar Pradesh, has nominated four former BSP leaders, Brijesh Pathak, Swami Prasad Maurya, Jugal Kishore and Dara Singh Chauhan, to the national executive. These leaders had joined the BJP in the past few months and are yet to familiarise themselves with the working of the party and its ideology. These four leaders will be attending the national executive of the BJP that begins next week in Kozhikode in Kerala. The ex-BSP leaders were nominated on Monday evening along with three other party leaders including Dr Narendra Singh Gaur, Mr Narendra Singh and Mr Jai Prakash Chaturvedi. The nomination of these four former BSP leaders has led to murmuring of discontent in the state unit with senior party leaders objecting to the decision. The sanctity of the national executive is being compromised. Those who have joined the party less than a month ago (Brijesh Pathak) are now members of the apex body. What signal does the party leadership want to send to our cadres? Will such actions not cause resentment on a large scale and damage the party in the elections? asked a former BJP minister. Party leaders feel that giving undue importance to outsiders and sidelining the veteran leaders will prove suicidal for the party in the upcoming assembly elections. The Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh had already warned the BJP that giving too many tickets to outsiders and welcoming one and all with open arms would prove detrimental to party interests. The RSS has asked the BJP to restrict itself to about 30-35 tickets to outsiders. Apart from the influx from BSP, a large number of retired bureaucrats and police officials are also queuing up to join the BJP and almost all of them are keen to contest elections. The party leadership has not held consultations with senior legislators and it is the new entrants who are calling the shots. The party is apparently ignoring the ground reality and is caught up in the euphoria of people wanting to join the party. The euphoria will evapourate when tickets are announced and the cadres refuse to work for the newcomers, said one of the senior most BJP MLAs. Meanwhile, BJP spoke sman Chandramohan said the move showed the partys belief in inclusive development. Once a leader joins the party, he is a part of the family and we believe in taking everyone along, he said. Bengaluru: In a move that could have far-reaching implications for not just the farming community in the Mandya sugarcane belt but the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state as well, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, overrode the September 19 order of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee and directed the state government to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water in all to Tamil Nadu from September 21 to 27. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said soon after the verdict, This is an unimplementable order. The order overturns the CSC directive of 24 hours ago, which had specified only 3,000 cusecs to be released for ten days between September 21 to 27. The total quantum of water as specified by the CSC order would have seen Karnataka release 30,000 cusecs of water for ten days. Instead, now with the Apex Court order, the water released to Tamil Nadu increases to 42,000 cusecs of water. Karnatakas senior counsel Fali S. Nariman had vehemently argued before the bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra and Justice U.U. Lalit that Karnataka is not in a position to release water, and that the present storage of water in all four reservoirs is not enough to meet drinking water needs in summer. Nariman argued that if the bench passes the order, it would be impossible for the state to comply. Nariman reportedly opposed the view of the court about an interim management, and said it will be a wrong order...It will be an erroneous order if any pro tem arrangement is made. Most significantly, the Apex Court directed the Centre to constitute a Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) within four weeks, which has added to Karnatakas unease as the bench said while passing order that the Cauvery Supervisory Committee seen here as being more understanding of Karnatakas plight is not an expert body to deal with the issue. Cauvery board: Another blow for state The Supreme Court's direction to the Union government to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB), an entity recommended by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its final order in 2007, has added to the woes of the state government with fears that the new body would not only monitor use of excess water but also reduce the farming area in the basin districts. The CWMB and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) were hanging fire though the Tribunal recommended their constitution for implementation of its final order nine years ago. In 2013, the Supreme Court stepped in and asked the Union government to set up the Cauvery Supervisory Committee, with Secretary, Ministry of water resources as its chairman. Legal experts said with establishment of the CWMB, the state government would be forced to evolve new strategies to meet the requirements of farmers of Mandya and neighbouring areas who depend on water stored in KRS dam as well as excess water of the Cauvery. Reason: experts would keep a close watch on the use of excess water and the extent of land on which crops such as paddy and sugarcane are grown. The last time a tremor was experienced in Hyderabad was way back in 2010. Hyderabad: Jagadgirigutta, near Kukatpally, experienced a mild tremor measuring 0.9 on the Richter scale at 10.17 pm on Monday. Dr Srinagesh Davuluri, principal scientist at the seismology observatory, National Geophysical Research Institute, said there was no need for worry as it was a very weak tremor. Its epicenter was less than 1 km from the surface. Locals said they heard some sounds accompanying the tremor but police officials of Jagadgirigutta police station said that no damage was reported due to the tremor which lasted just a few seconds. The last time a tremor was experienced in Hyderabad was way back in 2010. Hyderabad: Rajasthan additional director-general of police Indu Kumar Bhushan, who was on a mid-career training programme at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, was forcibly sent back to Jaipur on Monday evening by Academy officials for allegedly misbehaving with Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. The Governor was presenting a lecture on administration on Monday morning. While explaining about impediments in administration, the Governor spoke of how a few RTI activists had become like a mafia and were threatening the administration. Cop held out suicide threat Rajasthan additional director-general of police Indu Kumar Bhushan was forcibly sent back to Jaipur on Monday evening. During the question-answer session that followed, Mr Bhushan argued with Mr Narasimhan, stating that he lacked awareness about the RTI Act. When the Governors ADC tried to persuade Mr Bhushan to desist, the latter started arguing with the ADC. This took place in front of about 40 IPS officials from across the country. Taking a serious view, academy director Aruna Bahuguna lodged a complaint with Rajasthan DGP Manoj Bhatt, stating that the academy was sending Mr Bhushan back. When the Academy issued the relieving orders at about 4 pm, Mr Bhushan created a ruckus and threatened that he would slit his throat if the orders were not withdrawn. Finally, the academy authorities sent him back to Jaipur with the help of the Central Industrial Security Force personnel and local police at about 6 pm. New Delhi: Brushing aside strong resistance and objections from Karnataka, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from Wednesday till September 27 to meet the water requirements of the State for its samba crop. A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Uday Lalit, after hearing the arguments put forward by the senior counsel Fali Nariman for Karnataka and senior advocate Shekar Naphade for Tamil Nadu, also directed the Centre to set up in a period of four weeks the Cauvery Management Board which will implement the directions of the Cauvery Water disputes Tribunal given in February 2007. Don't just do something, stand there. That was the pithy maxim etched on a plaque on top of Allen's desk. While this twist on the common aphorism has a widespread life of its own in multiple quarters of human endeavors, I learned it from a man whose life embodied it compellingly. This call to pre-meditated stillness before or sometimes in lieu of action was a companion statement to a tasty scrap of Scripture I heard him frequently paraphrase to fuel his prayers and move his Savior. Stand still, he would rehearse tenderly, and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.Allen was close to 40 years my senior and many more years my spiritual better. These concepts he prized advantage our souls in ways no new app could ever approximate.Stand there...instead of just doing stuff...corrects, not merely our preference toward action, but more importantly, our inclination to give ourselves to anything and everything so long as we dont have to wait, be still, or just stand there.The warranted handwringing and lamenting of the damage being done by social media and smart phone mania fueled by dopamine addictions at present are ample. In fact, just yesterday commentator Andrew Sullivan released a stirring, autobiographical jaunt that probes the dangers of distraction. It ominously begins, I used to be a human...But whats curious to me is not only that there are now more ways to keep ourselves from ourselves than at any time since folks have enjoyed existence on the planet---but rather, why is it so easy for us to be lured away from just standing (or sitting) there?One prevalent reason must be, as cartographers of the spiritual life have suggested, that most of us have had bad experiences with ourselves when alone with merely ourselves.Famed Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung is alleged to have had an overworked minister with jangled nerves come to seek a cure for his internal anguish and anxiety. Jung told the priest to curtail his normal 14 hours of work each day down to a more reasonable 8, then to spend the evening resting in his study.The minister left and over the next few days reduced his daily hours of work, and then would come home, eat dinner, and spend the rest of the evening in his study, relaxing with a Herman Hesse novel, or with Mozart on piano.After a week or so, the minister came back to Dr. Jung, and when asked, replied with frustration that the simplistic cure had proven useless. He was still as jumpy and overwrought as ever. Jung, inquired as to the manner of his keeping of the prescription.When the minister told him of his nightly rest period with classical music or novels, Jung chided, No, I said to spend the time alone not with music or authors.Realizing with fuller clarity what was being demanded, the priest replied, Oh, you mean to spend my time all alone with just myself? That would be intolerable!And Jung is purported to have sagely suggested, You cannot stand to spend even an hour per night with yourself, and yet that same self, you are willing to inflict on others for 14 hours per day!I dont know if the minister returned.There can be a terror to having to keep ourselves company. John Flavel lamented this dynamic in his 17th century classic, Keeping the Heart, where he speaks of those:Who cannot be brought to confer with their own hearts: there are some people who have lived forty or fifty years in the world, and have had scarcely one hour's discourse with their own hearts. It is a hard thing to bring a man and himself together on such business.But what if there is something useful for you to discover in the midst of that terrifying conference with yourself in solitude and stillness with no dings, emoticons, or push notifications reaching out for you?What if, once you forded the deep brook of dread you met a lush quietness of soul on the other side? Or if you could shimmy through the initial cave of your discomfort in being with yourself, to find stunning underground caverns to capture your attention?Aziz Ansari recently said, I read a lot on the internet. I feel like Im on, like, page 1 million in the worlds worst book. Most of us are reading right alongside him and could nod emphatically in agreement.But what if there are wonders to discover that you can't read on the Internet?What if there are matters of such delicate importance that they only surface when all is quiet and still?Sullivan insightfully suggests:The reason we live in a culture increasingly without faith is not because science has somehow disproved the unprovable, but because the white noise of secularism has removed the very stillness in which it might endure or be reborn.Wouldnt it be a pity if by mere neglect and a fear of having conferences with ourselves we strip-mined the conditions most conducive to being a human who knows what she is for and why she is here?It has, after all, often been in solitude where receptiveness to the most precious realities is most acutely realized.In The Screwtape Letters, a senior tempter, out to ruin a Christians new faith, reminds his junior tempter, humans find it all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes.He elaborates... (remember, hes a devil talking so everything is backwards!):I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in the British Museum. One day, as he sat reading, I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to go the wrong way. The Enemy (God), of course, was at his elbow in a moment. Before I knew where I was I saw my twenty years' work beginning to totter. If I had lost my head and begun to attempt a defense by argument, I should have been undone. But I was not such a fool. I struck instantly at the part of the man which I had best under my control, and suggested that it was just about time he had some lunch.The Enemy (God) presumably made the counter-suggestion (you know how one can never quite overhear what He says to them?) that this was more important than lunch. At least I think that must have been His line, for when I said, "Quite. In fact much too important to tackle at the end of a morning," the patient brightened up considerably; and by the time I had added "Much better come back after lunch and go into it with a fresh mind," he was already halfway to the door. Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man's head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of "real life" (by which he meant the bus and the newsboy) was enough to show him that all "that sort of thing" just couldn't be true. He knew he'd had a narrow escape, and in later years was fond of talking about "that inarticulate sense for actuality which is our ultimate safe guard against the aberrations of mere logic." He is now safe in Our Father's (Satans) house.Im glad today for my friend Allen who is safe in God the Fathers house. He had been still enough often enough to know there was way more to real life than a newsboy shouting the paper or a No. 73 bus going past.And Im thankful for an exemplar in a noisy, anxious time who had the courage to conference with himself and with the One who offers freely to any wholl accept, joy beyond the walls of this world.Its an offer awfully hard to hear when we spend all our time in a virtual world that dulls our hearing with a wind tunnel of deafening, deadening noise.----- Eric Youngblood is the senior pastor at Rock Creek Fellowship (PCA) on Lookout Mountain. Please feel free to contact him at eric@rockcreekfellowship.org or follow him on Twitter @GEricYoungblood. According to the association, the Bench remarked that the government had powers under Section 7 of the Capitation Fees Act to notify fees recommended by DFRC, which was not mentioned in the GO. (Representational image) Hyderabad: The Hyderabad School Parents Association said on Tuesday that Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur has strongly criticised the TS and AP governments for not taking concrete measures regarding the school fee issue for the last six years which he felt was nothing but aiding private schools. A bench comprising Chief Justice Thakur and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar on Monday heard the special leave petition of the erstwhile AP government on GO 91 pertaining to the district fee regulatory commission. According to the association, the Bench remarked that the government had powers under Section 7 of the Capitation Fees Act to notify fees recommended by DFRC, which was not mentioned in the GO. The High Court had earlier quashed the governments decision citing the same and it was endorsed by the SC. The court felt the government should have specifically mentioned about notifying the DFRC recommendations instead of just mentioning that DFRC would finalise the fees. Even if DFRC finalises the fees, accountability and seriousness will only come if the government issued a notification based on fee panel recommendations, said association counsel Nitin Mishra. He said that the bench was critical of the state for filing a petition in the SC and not taking concrete actions for the last six years on the pretext of the case being heard. The Bench asked the government what it had done for six years while schools continued to raise fees, and it expressed surprise that the government did not even deem it fit to collect fee structures of private schools and check if they were justified, said the parents body. HSPA members Aravinda Jata, Ashish Naredi, Seema Agarwal and M. Siva called upon the state government to act swiftly and take steps to constitute DFRCs. The SC felt it was the moral duty of the government to regulate school fees and we hope the government initiates steps in this regard, they said. The protesters stopped buses from plying and set fire to old tyre at Old Bus Stand, Gandhi Chowk and on the Main Road. (Representational image) Hyderabad: Agitations over the new districts have reached a peak in Rangareddy, Mahbubnagar and Karimnagar, even as the last date for filing of objections ended on Tuesday. While Section 144 continued in Shabad of Ranga Reddy district, Sircilla was shut down following a bandh called by all political parties on Tuesday. In Gadwal and Narayanpet of Mahbubnagar, protest programmes were taken up by all parties, except the ruling TRS. Demanding Sircilla district, leaders cutting across party lines have been staging protests since the past one month. The 48-hour Sircilla bandh that began on Tuesday morning saw protests being staged at RTC bus depots in the wee hours. The protesters stopped buses from plying and set fire to old tyre at Old Bus Stand, Gandhi Chowk and on the Main Road. The protesters broke panes and furniture of a petrol bunk at old bus stop for not shutting down during the bandh. A similar incident took place at Ambedkar Chowrasta, where protesters broke the window panes of a bus being operated from Sircilla depot. A rasta roko was observed at Nethanna junction in which leaders of all parties, including Sircilla Zilla Sadhana Samiti convener A. Ramakanth Rao took part. Textile Park workers extended their support to 48 hours bandh and participated in protest programmes. Bearing the brunt are common people with their day-to-day life impacted, mobility between the two states halted and tourism taking a big hit with Dasara round the corner. When neighbours fight, nothing works out for anyone and the ongoing tension between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is no exception. Bearing the brunt are common people with their day-to-day life impacted, mobility between the two states halted and tourism taking a big hit with Dasara round the corner. Traders and farmers are selling their fast decaying vegetables at rock-bottom prices. The Cauvery imbroglio has truly spared none. Mysuru hotels empty with the Dasara festival looming, the tourism industry in the state is usually upbeat, anticipating a boom in business. But not this year. The Cauvery dispute has cast its long shadow over the industry and many fear it could impact the flow of tourists to the state for the famous Mysuru Dasara, that in normal times draws people not just from the country but the world over. Said Karnataka Hotel Owners' Association president, Rajendra,"Every year around 10 lakh tourists visit Mysore during Dasara. But if the tension over Cauvery doesnt ease soon we are not sure we will get tourists even in thousands. Only the locals may get to enjoy the Dasara spectacle." Read | Guest column: Karnataka government is sleeping on the job on Cauvery issue Pointing out that a tourist spends around Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 every day on accommodation, food, shopping and travel, Mr Rajendra says owing to the current Cauvery crisis, which is keeping most away from the state, around 10 lakh people in Ramnagar, Mandya, Channapatna and Mysuru, who provide these services, have no business to speak of. Mr Radhakrishna Holla, president of the Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners' Association explains that the tourist season in South India spans mid-September to October, when the Mysuru Dasara is also held. Tourists from various parts of the world come to our part of the country this season to visit tourist spots and temples in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. But this year we have not received a single booking owing to the trouble over Cauvery. Even the local corporate cab operations are affected, he lamented. With over 25,000 families dependent on the industry, it has suffered a loss of over Rs 200 crore this month, according to him. We are hoping the Cauvery issue will be resolved soon, he added fervently. A dispute in dates June 1991: Following the constitution of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, an interim order was passed asking Karnataka to release 205 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu and the state was forced to accept it. 2007: In its final order, the tribunal ordered allocation of 419 tmc ft of the water to Tamil Nadu, 270 tmc ft to Karnataka (as against the demand for 465 tmc ft), 30 tmc ft to Kerala and 7 tmc ft to Puducherry. Karnataka protested the tribunal award and observed a state-wide bandh. Sept 5, 2016 : The Supreme Court directed the Karnataka government to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water every day to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days to help that state meet the demands of its summer crop. Sept 12, 2016: While refusing to accept public unrest as a ground for exempting the state from its obligation to share Cauvery river water with Tamil Nadu , the SC modified its order from 15,000 cusecs a day to 12,000 cusecs but increased the number days, to September 20. Sept 19, 2016: The Cauvery Supervisory Committee which is mediating between the two states, ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water per day between September 21 and 30. Sept 20, 2016: The Supreme Court directed the state to release 6,000 cusecs a day from September 21 to 27. It also asked the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Water Management Board within four weeks. Both the states are allowed to file objections to the Cauvery Supervisory Committee report in three days. No gas from Tamil Nadu If vegetables are getting cheaper in the markets, the wait for the fuel to cook them could take longer as the Cauvery dispute may affect the supply of LPG cylinders to the city. Most operators of LPG bullets (tankers) , who are based in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu have currently stopped their services fearing attacks on their vehicles. Said Captain Lingaraju B L, vice-president, All India LPG Distributors Federation, LPG is supplied every day to the city. If the supply is stopped even for a day , it can reflect on the delivery. So a consumer, who got cylinders delivered within two days of booking, may have to wait for over 10 days to get them now." Pointing out that the city had only one LPG source of its own, the Indian Oil Corporation Limited at Devanagundi near Whitefield, he noted that it could not cater to the needs of all its people. Bengaluru could face widespread LPG shortage if the situation does not improve soon," he warned. Glut hurts: Farmers suffer as onion prices drop to Rs 2-3 In normal times, nearly 3,000 trucks carry vegetables from the state to Tamil Nadu every day. But with Cauvery causing a divide between the two states, Karnataka's trucks are going nowhere near TN, creating a glut in the local markets, where vegetable prices have fallen drastically in recent weeks. Traders, who sold onions for Rs 30 a kg, are now selling them for as little as Rs 2 or Rs 3 a kg. Similarly, potato, that was sold for Rs 40 a kg, is now going for a paltry Rs 4 a kg. In the process thousands of vegetable growing farmers and traders, who buy from them in huge quantities for supplying to Tamil Nadu, have suffered huge losses. Said Mr Dastagir Khan, president, K R Market Traders Association, As there is no supply of vegetables to Tamil Nadu, traders have stopped buying them from the farmers. Their only aim now is to clear the existing stock as vegetables are perishable. Since the day the protest erupted, we have suffered a loss of around Rs 60 crore. Farmers leader, Kodihalli Chandrashekar too is unhappy with the situation. This is not a good development for the farmers of the state. Where can they sell their produce when there is no market for it? As vegetables are perishable they cannot store them for long either. The government should immediately intervene and take action, he demanded. Walk to work on the highway Those travelling by buses to Tamil Nadu are finding the going tough since the Cauvery dispute flared up recently. While the KSRTC is not running any buses to the neighbouring state, even private buses are dropping passengers at the border and expecting them to make their own arrangements to proceed onwards. Said a KSRTC official, At present we are not operating buses to Tamil Nadu. We will resume our services based on how the situation develops. Forced to rely on private services in the absence of the KSRTC buses, passengers are finding they can go no futher than the border and many choose to cross into Tamil Nadu on foot and then find suitable transportation to take them the rest of the way. Take Mr Balachandar A of Chamrajpet in Bengaluru. Having to travel urgently to Tamil Nadu for a job interview, he had no choice but to take a bus. But then found there were no direct buses available. I had to take a BMTC bus to Attibele and then walk across the border before taking an auto to the Hosur bus stand in Tamil Nadu where I boarded another bus to my destination," he recounted. Those heading for Karnataka from Tamil Nadu are not having it easy either and are relying on trains to get them here. Shanthi D of Bengaluru, who was in Tamil Nadu attending a family wedding when the violence over Cauvery erupted, had to return by train as the bus services were cancelled. "I was in Erode when I got to know that the buses to Karnataka had been cancelled. So I reached the city by the Ernakulam Intercity Express, which passes through Erode junction, she recalled. Wife and children paying tribute to Naik Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi, who lost his life in Uri attack, during his funeral in Gaya. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Indias call of isolate Pakistan got a major push on Tuesday when Afghan envoy Shaida Mohammad Abdali said that time has come for countries of the region to join hands in singling out Pakistan for spoiling regional peace and stability through terror, and possible boycott of upcoming Saarc Summit in Islamabad should be weighed. Calling for regional unity in sending out a strong message to Islamabad, he said terrorism being unleashed has become lethal and systematic as it is state-sponsored and that there should be zero tolerance to it. Asked whether India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh join hands to boycott the SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November, he said there must be a comprehensive effort by countries of the region and that most of them share views of India and Afghanistan. We have to make sure that we bring the maximum number of countries and I am sure most of the countries in South Asia are in line with what Afghanistan and India think. Therefore, the effort should be a comprehensive one and one which should include as many (countries) as possible, he told a TV channel. The Afghan envoy said time has come to single out the country that spoils unity and regional stability and peace. Definitely we should single a country that spoils our unity and spoils regional stability and peace and that stops integration and connectivity. Earlier in the day, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and condemned the cross border attack in Uri and expressed solidarity with India to eliminate the threat of terrorism. There must be zero tolerance (towards terrorism). We have seen the signs of terrorism becoming much more lethal and becoming very systematic. This is a state-sponsored terrorism. It is no more a issue of non-state actors that we have been hearing for a long time. Meanwhile, amidst the ongoing hostility over terror attack in Uri, Pakistan has decided not to send its Intelligence chief to India to attend a conference of top security experts of Saarc countries beginning Thursday. Director General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan Aftab Sultan will not attend the meeting and that country will be represented by an official of the Pakistan High Commission, a Home Ministry official said. Wife returns Bihar aid In a huge setback to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, martyred soldier Havildar Ashok Kumar Singhs wife refused to accept Rs 5 Lakh as compensation which was announced by the state government. Sangeeta Devi widow of Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh while terming the amount as disrespectful for soldiers who die for their country said Was my husband a drunkard who died in a drain after consuming liquor? We cannot accept this money, we are not beggars. The incident happened as Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry was addressing a press conference on the sidelines of UNGA (Photo: AFP) New Delhi: In what can be seen as a sign of deteriorating ties between India and its neighbour, Pakistani authorities, on Tuesday, called for the eviction of an Indian journalist from a press conference in New York, in the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. NDTV journalist Namrata Brar was evicted from Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhrys press conference with the words, Iss Indian ko nikalo (remove this Indian). Later reports however said that the foreign official spokesperson who said the words has been suspended. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is attending the UN meet, also waved aside Indian journalists who tried to question him on the Uri attack. But while many took to Twitter to express their disappointment, the episode did not elicit the outrage that was expected. Insinuating that the channel did not classify Indian enough, many twitterati had a field day regarding the incident. Iss Indian ko bahar nikalo soon started trending on twitter, and vitriolic tweets soon made their way. The incidence follows terror attack on an Army headquarters in Uri that killed 18 soldiers and injured 19. India has put the blame on Pakistan, alleging that the militants entered the Indian territory after infiltrating the border through Pakistan. Pakistan has denied these allegations as baseless and has alleged that India was trying to remove the focus from Kashmir unrest that has claimed 87. Mumbai: Recounting the harrowing experience she had to go through onboard an Jet Airways flight which was also flying the controversial godman Asaram Bapu, Dessidre Fleming, a media professional has revealed that the airlines officials and the swamis bhakts, broke several protocols putting the lives of other passengers at risk. For starters, the flight, which was originally scheduled for 10.30 am, was delayed by over 3 hours, and no explanation was given, revealed Dessidre, writing for a website. The long wait ended abruptly at around 2.00 pm, when Asaram Bapu was wheeled onto the base of the flight. Those boarding Jaipur-Delhi flight, please form a line, the support staff reportedly called out. But ordeals of Dessidre and the 60 odd passengers in the aircraft were far from over. The usual in-flight instructions were not given by the airhostesses, and the air conditioning was switched off. The evasive cabin crew initially claimed that there were some technical difficulties, but on further probing, confessed that it was the godmans presence that did the trick. Maam, he is 89 years old and they are saying he is unwell, one of the flight attendants said. She seemed to understand the plight of the remaining 60 to 65 passengers but remained unable to do anything about it, Dessidre wrote. The spiritual guru was accompanied by a retinue of followers who were unruly and had no in-flight decorum, she claimed, adding, When sandwiches started being served, one of Asarams devotees actually had the audacity to ask the attendant, How dare you serve non-vegetarian in this flight? She also claimed that the bhakts continuously laughed off the flight attendants requests to be seated and strap on the seat belts. Basically, the passengers in flight 9W 2552 were at the mercy of no one as all of Asarams whims were being prioritized, at the expense of the lives of the remaining flight passengers, she writes with disgust, and claimed that on approaching the Customer Service Manager, she was not taken seriously. Adding a final shocker, she wrote, Beat this: A well-educated woman tells a passenger on the flight, You should feel so lucky to be sitting in the aura of a saint. "There is only one god and 65 passengers could very well have been on their way to that God had the turbulence carried on because the cabin crew did not administer instructions on how to save livesbasic protocol and one of the most basic parts of their job descriptions," she commented. The incident occurred as Asaram, who is currently lodged in a Rajasthan jail, was being transferred to New Delhi after the Supreme Court permitted him to travel to AIIMS for treatment. Asaram was arrested in September last for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at his Jodhpur ashram, and faces a slew of other sexual harassment cases against him. Dessidre's Facebook post on the same episode If the proposal is accepted, then 7 Race Course Road will be known as 7 Ekatama Marg. New Delhi: New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) vice Chairman Kanwar Singh Tanwar on Tuesday informed that Race Course Road may be renamed as Ekatama Road to pay tribute to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. Tanwar said that a special council meeting has been called on September 21 to have discussion over the name, after which final decision will be taken. "When we read the name of great people in history, we realize all the great things that they did for the country. We get inspired from these people. Deendayal Upadhyaya gave Ekatam Manavvad according to which unless and until the poorest people needs are fulfilled, the welfare of the country is not possible. Keeping this in mind we are planning to chang the name of Race Course Road to Ekatama Road," Tanwar said. If the proposal is accepted, then 7 Race Course Road will be known as 7 Ekatama Marg. Meanwhile, AAP MLA Surinder Singh said he would oppose the move to rename Race Course Road and demanded that it be rechristened after a martyr. Singh, a former National Security Guard (NSG) commando who suffered injury in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, said several veterans have approached him saying if the road is to be renamed then it should be done to honour martyred soldiers. Singh, a New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) member, said he would raise the issue in the Council meeting tomorrow. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is also a member of NDMC. "Race Course Road should be renamed after any soldier. I propose that it should be renamed after 1965 war hero Flt Lt Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, who sacrificed his life for the nation. Renaming of road should not reflect the ideology of the RSS," Singh said. He said Race Course Road also houses two air force stations. "I have been approached by several veterans in my constituency. They want to the road to be renamed after any solider," the Delhi Cantonment MLA said. BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi has proposed to NDMC to rename Race Course Road as Ekatma Marg based on the philosophy of her party's ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay. She said that the existing name, Race Course Road, "does not match with Indian culture". Upadhyay is remembered by his followers for his concept of 'antyodaya' (serving the last man in the queue) and 'ekatma' (integral humanism). Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off Upadhyay's 100th birth anniversary celebrations on September 25. Chennai: A judicial magistrate (JM) probe had begun into the reported suicide of P. Ramkumar, a remand prisoner charged with Infosys techie Swathis murder, on Sunday. The JM, S. Tamilselvi, arrived at the Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH) mortuary at 9 am, and enquired the doctor that declared Ramkumar dead on arrival there. She also questioned the doctors who had recorded the death, and issued the death report. She also recorded their inputs on their observations made before the body was moved to the morgue. After winding up her probe in the GRH, the JM left for Puzhal prison at 10.40 am, and reached the facility at 11.20 am. She enquired Puzhal prison superintendent Anbalagan, deputy superintendent Kumaresan, jailer Jeyaraman, and dispensary in-charge Dr Naveen, and fellow inmates Venkatesan, and Elango. She also quizzed warden Pechimuthu who was present when Ramkumar reportedly executed his suicide pact by biting of an electrical wiring, which he pulled out after dislodging the power supply junction box present in the dispensary block. The other persons enquired as part of the probe include the medical staff, and the electricians, present at the time of the incident. In the meantime, the GRH morgue came under thick security cover, and the carriageway on the Royapettah High Road got shrunk due to the fluctuation of the crowd. Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam founder P. John Pandian who came to the morgue demanded that he be let in to see Ramkumars body. However, his request was turned down. He left the spot, after talking to the media persons gathered there. Karuna, Vaiko demand judicial probe into Ramkumars death Leaders including DMK chief M. Karunanidhi on Monday expressed doubts over the death of Ramkumar, an accused in the murder of techie Swathi and demanded a judicial probe to bring out the truth behind the incident. How can electric wires be kept in such a condition that an accused could bite it?. The doubt if Ramkumar bit the wire or somebody pushed the live wire into his mouth will rise to everyone naturally, Karunanidhi said. Karunanidhi said Ramkumar had already conveyed his doubts if he would be killed by the police. When he was brought from Tirunelveli, he had expressed such fears according to media reports, he said and added that what Ramkumar had feared had finally happened. MDMK leader Vaiko said prison officials are responsible for an incident that occurred in prison and demanded a probe under a sitting a Madras High Court judge. The version of the government that he committed suicide by biting a live wire could not be believed and raises doubts, he said. However, PMK founder S. Ramadoss did not seek an enquiry, but restricted his demand to an explanation from the government. CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan asked Is the prison very much unsafe and anyone can commit suicide by biting live wire. He said if If Ramkumar had attempted suicide earlier, the police had more responsibility and duty to protect him. Chennai: Refusing to interfere in the conduct of autopsy of Ramkumar, the man who killed Chennai techie S Swathi and then committed suicide on Monday, by a three-member doctor team in Royapettah Government hospital, the Madras High Court has included another doctor to conduct the post-mortem on Ramkumars body. When the petition filed by Ramkumars father, R Paramasivam came up for hearing, the first bench of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan, nominated another doctor from Government Stanley Hospital to conduct the autopsy. In the petition, Paramasivam has alleged that his son had not committed suicide and he was murdered by the jail authorities with assistance from police personnel. His fear was that if post-mortem is conducted on his body by dean, Royapettah Government hospital, the truth will not be revealed. He sought direction to restrain the dean from conducting post-mortem on Ramkumars body. He also sought direction to constitute a special team of doctors to conduct post-mortem on Ramkumars body with full video coverage and in accordance with medico-legal procedure. The public prosecutor submitted that normally post-mortem is performed by one of the doctors of forensic sciences wing. However, in this, a team been constituted consisting of Dr Selvakumar, professor, Dr Manikandaraja, assistant professor, forensic science, KMC and Dr K.V. Vinod, assistant professor, forensic science, KMC, on deputation at Government Royapettah Government hospital. He said The team has been now at Royapettah Government hospital, waiting for directions from this court, so that post-mortem could be done. The bench said there can be no automatic presumption to discredit the team of government doctors headed by Dr Selvakumar. In the absence of any credible material placed by the petitioner, this court is of the view that confidence should be reposed on those doctors that they will discharge their duties in a free and fair manner, unbiased and uninfluenced by any external factors. Refusing to accept Paramasivams plea, the bench nominated Dr Balasubramanian, professor, forensic medicine, Stanely Government Hospital as a member in the team. Tension prevails at Royapettah GH Normal life was affected in Royapettah, a commercial pocket in Chennai, as supporters of Ramkumar and fringe outfits thronged the Royapettah hospital for the second consecutive day. Deployment of large police squads had adversely affected our business since Sunday evening and its seems that our business will be affected for the third consecutive day till the body of Ramkumar leaves Royapettah morque, rue local traders. Some of us were asked to close the shops by police on Sunday evening as tension prevailed in the area and we were left with no other option, but to close the nearby shops and hotels. Within hours, barricades and large deployment of police arrived making the zone a no parking area and this is the situation for the past two days, so where is the business, said a hotelier requesting anonymity. At least 30 small outlets and shops have been affected because of the tension. Traffic is terrible during peak hours, said a tea shop owner located opposite Royapettah government hospital. The media with live coverage and their parked vans add more congestion to the locality and the visits of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi cadres and Tamizhaga Munnetra Kazhagam founder John Pandian has added tension and traffic in Royapettah, said Madras high court advocate N. Udayakumar, who regularly commutes via Royapettah. Around 10 members of the Dalit protection movement in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district, sat on a fast unto death near Ambedkar statue, demanding a judicial enquiry. TIRUNELVELI: Villagers of Meenakshipuram along with cadres of Dalit outfits staged a road blockade near Tenkasi on Monday, demanding a judicial enquiry into the death of Ramkumar, accused in the Chennai techie Swathi murder case, inside the Puzhal central prison on Sunday. Initially, there were only a few relatives of Ramkumar and villagers on the Meenakshipuram-Panpozhi road, but were later joined by around 300 cadres of Dalit parties like the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Puthiya Tamilagam (PT) and Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK). On the advice of the Dalit outfits, villagers shifted the venue of the road blockade to the busier Tenkasi-Shengottai road, affecting traffic flow. Demanding a judicial enquiry into the reported suicide of Ramkumar in the prison by a sitting high court judge, the agitators also pressed for the transfer of the Swathi murder case to the CBI as they apprehended tricks by the Chennai police enquiring into the case, to protect the real murderers of Swathi. The villagers also sought a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to Ramkumars family. Around 10 members of the Dalit protection movement in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district, sat on a fast unto death near Ambedkar statue, demanding a judicial enquiry into the death of Ramkumar. Local non-profit blood donor center Blood Assurance is expanding its Cord of Courage program that targets high school blood donors throughout the region. "The Cord of Courage program recognizes high schoolers who have done the heroic act of giving blood by honoring them with a cord to be worn on their graduation day.," officials said. Blood Assurance has expanded this program with the introduction of surrogate blood donors for students who are not eligible to donate blood due to the weight requirement or a medical condition; the student may recruit friends or family members to donate blood on their behalf while earning points toward their Cord of Courage. A recent example is 17-year-old Katie Ann Dawson who comes from a family of blood donors and recently started earning her Cord of Courage during her junior year of high school. Ms. Dawson has attempted to donate blood 10 times but, due to setbacks such as low iron levels and not meeting the weight requirement, she has only been able to donate blood twice. Ms. Dawson learned about Blood Assurances new surrogate program for earning a Cord of Courage and has received eight donor pledges to give blood in her stead.One in seven units of blood that is collected at Blood Assurance is given from a high school student, and we value our student donors who help us save lives throughout the region, said Mindy Quinn, marketing manager for Blood Assurance. With the Cord of Courage program, we hope to inspire more high school students to donate blood and continue to give throughout their adult lives.Each time a student donates blood through Blood Assurance, they earn points of service, which are tracked by Blood Assurance donor recruiters. When a student has earned a total of six points, they will be awarded a special honors cord that can be worn at graduation. If a student reaches 10 points, they earn a super cord. Blood Assurance added the Senior Superstar to their Cord of Courage program, enabling all high school seniors who earn a cord from donating blood and recruit 25 or more new blood donors to be entered to win the senior superstar medallion. All of the seniors who qualify as a Senior Superstar will be recognized on the Blood Assurance website.To be eligible to donate blood, you must be at least 17 years old (16 years old with parental consent), weigh 110 pounds or more and be in good health. Donors are asked to drink plenty of fluids - avoiding caffeine - and eat a meal that is rich in protein prior to donating. For more information on the Cord of Courage program, donating blood or hosting a blood drive, visit www.bloodassurance.org or call 800-962-0628. New Delhi: Government on Tuesday told Supreme Court it has no objection on Italy's fresh plea seeking modification of bail conditions of marine Massimiliano Latorre to enable him remain in that country till an international tribunal decided which country had the right to try the case of killing of two Indian fishermen. When the matter came up for hearing, a bench headed by Justice A R Dave wanted to know whether the government has filed its response to the plea. To this, Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha said he had instruction that there is no objection and the same conditions could be imposed as was done in the case of another marine, Salvatore Girone, who too is in Italy. However, the bench, which also comprised Justices Kurian Joseph and Amitava Roy, said it would like to have a proper response of the Centre and posted the matter for further hearing on September 28. According to the earlier order of the court, the relief granted to Latorre to stay in Italy expires on September 30. During the brief hearing, senior advocate Rana Mukherjee, appearing for the families of the two Kerala fishermen who were killed, objected to the hearing of the plea saying he has not been served with the copy of the application. Kerala government also submitted that there should not be any blanket order of relief as there was no scope that the proceedings before the international tribunal would be completed before 2019. The ASG submitted that arbitral proceedings would take a year or two to complete and even the international tribunal has made it clear that the two marines are subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India which can take a call on granting bail. The counsel appearing for Italy on behalf of the marines drew the attention of the bench to the submission of ASG who had the instruction that the Centre has no objection for modifying Latorre's bail condition. The Centre was of the view that the same bail conditions be imposed on Latorre as was done by the apex court in relation to Girone. The apex court on September 8 had decided to hear the plea filed by Italy on behalf of marine Massimiliano Latorre who had sought urgent hearing on the ground that an earlier court order was valid till Spetember 30 this year. While relaxing Girone's bail conditions on May 26, the apex court had allowed him to go to his country till the jurisdictional issue between India and Italy was decided in the international arbitral tribunal. The apex court had imposed four conditions on Girone including that he has to report to a police station in Italy on first Wednesday of every month and the Italian authorities have to inform the Indian Embassy in Rome about it. The second condition was that he will not tamper with any evidence, nor influence any witness in the case. The third condition was that Girone will give an undertaking that he will remain under the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and lastly, if found violating any of the conditions, his bail will be cancelled, the court had said. The marines, who were on board the Italian-flagged commercial oil tanker 'Enrica Lexie', are accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast on February 15, 2012. The complaint against the marines was lodged by Freddy, the owner of fishing boat 'St Antony' in which the two Indian fishermen were killed when the marines opened fire on them allegedly under the misconception that they were pirates. On April 26, the apex court had extended till September 30 the stay of Latorre in Italy after it was informed that the international arbitral proceedings would be completed by December 2018 before International Tribunal for Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Germany. The court had also asked the Italian Embassy here to give an undertaking to abide by the conditions under which Latorre was allowed to leave India. The court had earlier stayed all criminal proceedings, including the trial of the two marines. While allowing the joint request of India and Italy, the apex court had said the proceedings would remain stalled till the jurisdictional issue about which country has the right to conduct trial was decided through international arbitration. The apex court had on August 26, 2015 suspended all court proceedings here in pursuance of an interim order of the ITLOS asking India to maintain "status quo" in the case. The Indian government had then said a five-member tribunal (ITLOS Annex VII arbitral tribunal) would be set up, probably to decide the issue of jurisdiction. The court, in August last year, had extended the stay of Latorre, who had undergone a heart surgery in Italy, by six months while asking him to file an undertaking that he would abide by its conditions. Latorre, who had also suffered a brain stroke on August 31, 2014, was allowed by the apex court on September 12, 2014 to go to Italy for four months and after that, extensions have been granted to him. Both states are likely to plead their case in the Supreme Court when the issue comes up for hearing on Tuesday. Chennai: The Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Monday directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 10 days beginning Wednesday, a ruling that made the two states unhappy. Both states are likely to plead their case in the Supreme Court when the issue comes up for hearing on Tuesday. While Karnataka said it was in a position not to release any water, Tamil Nadu said 3,000 cusecs of water would not be enough for carrying out cultivation of crops in Cauvery Delta region. While presenting Tamil Nadus case, Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao demanded that Karnataka release 64.75 tmcft of water to the state as pending on September 5, which was objected to by Karnataka Chief Secretary Arvind Jadhav. Refusing to give in to the demands of both states, Chairman of the CSC and Union Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar ruled that Karnataka should release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 10 days beginning September 21 since the Supreme Court order of releasing 12,000 cusecs of water daily ends on September 20. They (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) have not agreed (to my ruling). The two states are free to challenge this order in the Supreme Court when it takes up the matter tomorrow or they can agree with the order before the court, Mr Shekhar told reporters after the meeting. Senior officials of the Union Water Resources Ministry said the CSC took into consideration the interest of all the participating states, the inflow position, rainfall picture, daily inflow of water in the reservoirs of Karnataka, the drinking water needs of Karnataka and irrigation needs of the Samba crop in Tamil Nadu, while giving the ruling. Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are likely to seek modifications to the CSC order on Tuesday when the case comes up for hearing. While Tamil Nadu is expected to seek more water the quantum allotted by the CSC, Karnataka would ask for striking down of the order as was decided at a meeting of the State Cabinet in Bengaluru late on Monday evening. The CSC also decided to meet frequently to access the situation and needs in the future. The next meeting will be held at some time in October. The committee will meet once in every month from February 2017 onwards, an official release from the Ministry said. The CSC chairman said he took the decision keeping in mind various factors such as the need for drinking and irrigation water in Karnataka and summer crop in Tamil Nadu. The committee also agreed to put in place a protocol for the proposed real time transmission of river water flow data among the committee secretariat (in Delhi), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. The Central Water Commission is working on devices to be placed at various points to provide real time data. Lack of credible data makes it difficult for the various parties to arrive at a consensus. Chennai: Averring that tourism should not be construed as mere money-spinner but a vehicle to effectively 'market' the country's culture and civilisation, Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma called upon the travel segment, especially the Indian Association of Tour Operators (Iato) to be part of the Narendra Modi government's initiative to take India's culture and her ancient civilisation across frontiers. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modiji is working with a mission: tourism should not only be a revenue generator but we should also take our culture and civilisation to other nations and also from one part of the country to another, Mr Mahesh Sharma who is currently in Australia attending the Confluence Festival of India, said on Monday. He was speaking through videoconference at the inaugural of the 32nd edition of the Iato being held for the first time in Chennai, since the associations inception about three decades ago. Acknowledging the role of Iato in fostering development, he said big organisations like Iato and those involved in the tourism and travel sector should aim to promote Indias culture and that the government would be willing to accept Iato as its partner in development. Kochi: The Nedumbassery police on Tuesday arrested Chengamanad panchayat president P. R Rajesh, vice president Asha Elias and all other members for killing stray dogs. They were later released on bail. The panchayat authorities, who were charged with cruelty to animals, have launched an intensive drive to kill violent stray dogs to make Chengamanad the first stray-dog free panchayat in the state. As many as 25 dogs were killed on Monday. Jose Maveli who provided support for the initiative was arrested and released on bail. Anwar Sadath MLA and leaders of all political parties supported us. A civic reception has also been organised for us. We will go ahead with killing violent strays and are ready to face the legal consequences, he told DC. Meanwhile, industrialist and leader of the Stray Dog free Movement Kochouseph Chittilappilly said that legal assistance and protection would be given to those who initiate culling of stray dogs. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said that humans had the right to kill violent strays. Chittilappilly strongly criticized the statement of Justice Narayana Kurup, chairman of Police Complaint Authority, saying that he (Chittilappilly) and Jose Maveli would be slapped with KAPPA Act and imprisoned. Though law permits the killing of violent stray dogs, the government is hiding it from the public. A complaint has been submitted to the Vigilance Department seeking an inquiry into the corruption involved in the sterilization programme of strays, he added. Chennai: TNCC president S. Thirunavukkarasar on Monday met DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and announced continuance of alliance for the local body elections amidst efforts by TMC leader G.K. Vasan to get into the DMK fold, besides the mounting pressure from DMKs rank and file to bring down the share of the national party in seat allocation, Thirunavukkarasar, who spoke to reporters, before the meeting declined to comment on Vasans efforts to join the DMK front and said he could not make any comment based on speculations. An alliance could not be predicted based on a meeting between two leaders, he said and add-ed that no one had announced that an alliance had been formed. The new leader of the TNCC has an unenviable task of getting a decent allocation for the party in the civic polls. The party is in the third position in the state going by the over six per cent votes secured in the Assembly elections. However, DMK functionaries are averse to giving a sizeable number of local bodies to the Congress which won just eight of the 41 seats allotted to it. The Congress was given 17.5 per cent of seats in the Assembly and ended up with three per cent of the total Assembly seats, one of the functionaries pointed out. Giving more seats to the Congress would be an advantage to the ruling AIADMK, which could easily sweep them as it did in the Assembly polls. The allocation to the Congress should be restricted to ten per cent and the seat sharing should be based on winning chances of the parties, he said. The entry of TMC could also reduce the seats for the Congress, which could not be in a position to force a hard bargain in the local body elections since it had no options left. But, if the allocation of local bodies to it dwindled, its vote share too would come down drastically. The Congress should be in the fray in more number of local bodies to stay ahead of its rival BJP, the PMK and PWA and retain the third position. The BJP which contested alone in the Assembly had garnered 2.8 per cent votes and had started preparations to register a better show. The PWA parties which secured about 3.5 per cent votes and the DMDK which got 2.5 per cent votes are also in the race. The votes polled in the civic body elections would be crucial for bargaining of seats in the next Parliament elections. Mati (Kanpur rural): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Pakistan of being responsible for the Uri terror attack while apportioning blame on the NDA government's "politics" for it. "The first responsibility is on Pakistan and the government's politics," he told reporters referring to the attack on the brigade headquarters near the Line of Control in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed. The Congress vice president said while the UPA government spent nine years fighting terrorism and curbing it, the BJP-PDP alliance has "opened space" for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has received as many as 92,513 objections and suggestions online over formation of new districts, revenue divisions and mandals. Following eruption of protests and demands in the state, the state government had introduced an exclusive grievances system through an online portal to receive suggestions and objections on districts revamp. Tuesday was the last day for the grievances. Of the 92,513 objections and suggestions received, 52,023 related to formation of new districts, 21,120 to formation of new revenue divisions and 18,939 relating to mandals. The highest number of objections was received from Nalgonda district, 15,344, of which 14,020 are related to Yadadri district. Similarly, 12,356 objections were raised about Wanaparthy district in Mahbubnagar. However, less than 1,000 objections were raised about Khammam, Medak and Adilabad districts. Officials will sort out the objections and suggestions in the next two days and prepare a comprehensive note. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will hold a conference with collectors on Thursday followed by a Cabinet meeting on September 26. It is also learnt that the TS Assembly will be convened from September 27. Meanwhile, the district authorities have geared up the process for shifting administration to new districts by October 1. Collectors have identified suitable buildings for various departments. A few departments would be merged in new districts. Collectorates and SP offices would function from the new offices from October 1. The process to bifurcate the staff is complete and respective SPs and collectors have sent proposals to the government seeking sanction of new posts. Based on the proposals, the government will order promotions and new recruitments. The theatre of the absurd is back. Edward Albee, 88, the master of absurd theatre, died last week. And words, images, bits and pieces of scenes and dialogues tumbled out of the crevices of memory to flood the mind. Hailed as one of the greatest American playwrights, Albee is best remembered for plays like Whos Afraid of Virginia Wolf?, The Zoo Story or A Delicate Balance. But more than any particular play, he will be remembered for the impact he had on the world of theatre, the influence he had over generations with his sharp chiselling of a curious, scary, violent, absurdly tangible reality that provoked you out of your comfort zone. A play, at its very best, is an act of aggression against the status quo, Albee believed. And once the theatre of the absurd comes flooding back, there is no escape. You see it all around you. Wherever you look. Take Gujarat. Because our Prime Minister wished to visit his mother in Ahmedabad on his birthday, hundreds of innocent people were swiftly arrested in Ahmedabad. They would be released, assured the police, after the PM finished his two-day birthday celebrations in the state and left for Delhi. Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who had organised the Una protests, was whisked away as soon as he landed at Ahmedabad airport, and put behind bars. So was Reshma Patel, leader of Hardik Patels Patidar Amanat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). Members of PAAS objected, threatening to stage a demonstration, so the smart Gujarat police swiftly locked up around 400 of the grumblers. Whew! Preparing for birthday parties is tough. Especially in a democracy where everyone seems to have a voice and intends to use it. Wouldnt it be awful if there were demonstrations during the PMs birthday celebrations? Thank god for preventive detention. All went well. The ma-beta photos were great. Everyone was happy. Well, everyone who mattered, anyway. Isnt it curious that the PM of India, who once ruled Gujarat with an iron fist as its chief minister, is now so scared of demonstrations that he needs to get all protesters locked up before he sets foot on Gujarati soil? But isnt it so brave of our PM to be the supreme leader of the worlds largest democracy in spite of his fright of free speech and democratic freedoms? Not that we are narrow minded and only concerned about grumblers in Gujarat. We are very conscious of what the whole world thinks of us. So while we were pushing dalit and Patidar activists behind bars in Gujarat, we did a similar exercise in Srinagar. We picked up Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Pervez from his home at midnight and locked him up. The day before, Pervez, chair of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, had been stopped at the immigrations at Delhi, and prevented from going to Geneva for a meeting with the United Nations Human Rights Commission. When he went back home to Srinagar, he was locked up and kept in police custody for 24 hours before being sent off to jail again at midnight. So you see, we care. We care as much about your loud protests in the streets of Ahmedabad as about your refined dialogue with people at the UNHCR in Geneva. And we will not have any of it. Yes, of course we have no patience for rubbish like freedom of speech and expression. Nonsense! Law and order is sacred, almost as sacred as the holy cow. And protecting law and order is obviously much more important than any free speech gibberish. So we have preventive detention. To protect law and order, guard nationalism and save birthday parties. You think that is fascist? Ha ha! You are so outdated. Even the comrades the arch enemies of fascists forever dont think we are fascist. They think our present government is merely authoritarian. So there! Not fascist. This the comrades agree on. But they are engaged in a meaningful debate on whether we are going towards fascism, or inherently protected against fascism and happily stuck in authoritarianism. In India today, neither has fascism been established, nor are the conditions present in political, economic and class terms for a fascist regime to be established, said Prakash Karat, the scholarly comrade who as general secretary of the CPI(M) brilliantly oversaw the downsizing of the Left in Parliament. His successor Sitaram Yechury, exhibiting charming pirouettes on a tightrope while skipping between fascist, fascism and fascistic explained that what we have in India today is not fascism of the variety we had seen in Germany of the 1930s. But if this situation is allowed to progress, then it could lead up to that. How nice to know. But frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn. Do you? Cant we just get on with poll alliances and poll planks and curious deals and shameless speeches? Why do we need a public debate on European history and political philosophy? And that too from people who dont usually open their mouths except in closed door politburo meetings. Meanwhile in Kolkata, the erstwhile bastion of the Left, The National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) has come up with a new set of service rules that throws the freedom of its employees out of the window. They even ask employees to report relatives who may indulge in subversive activities against the government. This is apart from barring employees from criticising the NUJS ever, and generally prohibiting them from talking to the media or being on radio or television, or writing articles or books, without the permission of the university. So much for democratic freedoms in a premier university of law. A university that is to shape the future protectors of our democracy. Just start out by spying and snitching on your family and loved ones. Keep your eyes and mouth shut on all other matters. Nice. Wait. As I write this, I see that we are raring to go to war with Pakistan. We, a nuclear power, seem to want to attack Pakistan, a nuclear power. Any conventional war between India and Pakistan may at any point lead to one nuking the other, which will destroy both countries. But who cares? Because 18 jawans were killed in the despicable Uri attack we are willing to risk a nuclear war that could kill 12 million of us on either side of the border. And devastate our future generations for decades. Make sense? Even after Edward Albee bows out, absurd theatre is alive and well. The question is, shall we be? Just days after the legendary abolition of Nepals monarchy, this writer went on a cloak-and-dagger ride out of Kathmandu. At an appointed signpost and like a relay race, our second pilot motorbike swerved off and we followed a third. Finally and in an abandoned guesthouse, one of South Asias most wanted underground rebel leaders, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, gave the appointed interview. Till a year before that meeting, his Maoist rebellion had raged 10 years and seen 13,000 deaths. Prachanda was slated to be Nepals next PM but obviously still reclusive. As a rebel, I hardly had time for my family, he said. Now, my lifes going to get even more complicated. Five years earlier, I had traversed landmine-infested territory during an uneasy (and ultimately unsuccessful) ceasefire to meet South Asias other most-wanted armed rebel: Velupillai Prabhakaran of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka. He had waged a decades-long separatist war which had left more than 100,000 people dead. At the press meet, the man who invented the suicide bomb and deployed child soldiers, was protected by multiple layers of Kalashnikov-bearing, cyanide capsule-wearing LTTE cadres. For decades, the Tigers had received arms and financial support from sections of overseas Tamils and the sympathy of the West as freedom-fighters. But 9/11 was changing the world. For the first time, Prabhakaran did not speak of Eelam but of negotiations. Two fierce underground fighters, two South Asian neighbours linked by both religion and history but two wholly different trajectories. While a suited and manicured PM Pushpa Kumar Dahal last week strode past a guard of honour and broke bread with Indias political top brass in New Delhi, Prabhakaran, the man once revered by Sri Lankan Tamils as their Sun God, was killed while using civilians as human shields during his dastardly attempt to escape. Both the Maoists and the LTTE had begun as crusaders against oppression, but soon turned armed underground fighters. Both enjoyed wide support in their early years and both had links, confirmed by the Maoists and the LTTE, with Indias underground Naxalites and with each other. Both were proscribed by the international community as terror groups on the heels of 9/11. Both agreed to ceasefires at the behest of third parties: the Maoists with Indias cajoling, while the Tigers were handled by Norwegian mediators. After the 2002 ceasefire in Sri Lanka had collapsed and the war resumed, a newly-reformed Prachanda even had some advice to offer his erstwhile counterpart. Prabhakaran must stop his attacks on politicians and civil society, he was quoted as saying in a Sri Lankan daily. All South Asian countries must help Sri Lanka wipe out LTTE terrorism. There are dissimilarities too. While the Tigers were armed and funded primarily by rich, separatism-minded Tamil diaspora, the Maoists caches of weapons came either from smuggling across the India and China borders or, from looting police and Royal Nepal Army (RNA) depots. If the Tigers were able to sustain the Sri Lanka civil war for 30 years, it was primarily because of repeated interventions by the West. All Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF) commanders say that each time they were on the verge of defeating the Tigers, Colombo came under pressure from human rights groups and donor-nations and would call a ceasefire. Today, ex-LTTE cadres themselves admit that each such lull in fighting provi-ded them an opportunity for reinforcement and rearm-ament. It is only the government of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa that decided against international mediation and gave the SLAF the unconditional go-ahead to decimate the Tigers. But who tied the RNAs hands, whose com-manders must have surely experienced the same frus-tration as their counterparts in Sri Lanka? Against common belief it was neither the West, nor India nor even China. Unlike Sri Lankas Raja-paksa and ignoring even our national Security Council, the highest authority to recommend military action, our own former kings Birendra and later, Gyanendra refused to authorise the RNA to launch an all-out war on the Maoists, says veteran editor, Yubaraj Ghimire. Their position always was: it is our raj dharma not to act against our own people. Mr Ghimire concedes that even the post-monarchy political scenario saw little unity among various parties over a matter of national interest and that the Maoists, unlike the Tigers, enjoyed nationwide penetra-tion. But though the wide-spread Maoist network may have made the RNAs task more difficult, it would not have been impossible to end the insurgency earlier. Unlike the Maoists whose attacks were mostly restricted to Nepal, the Tamil Tigers wrought terror across the subcontinent through suicide bombings and the assassinations of various political leaders, including Rajiv Gandhi. Finally and unlike the political disarray in Kathmandu after the abolition of the monarchy, Colombo was unified in its determination to wipe out the LTTE, even if it caused an international outcry. Indias own underground Maoist insurgencies have raged for nearly 40 years and more than 13,000 people are estimated killed. But because they are restricted to some states of a gigantic country, more pressing border threats from Pakistan and China continue to dominate both the headlines and public consciousness. Much like the Tigers, it is predominantly support from Western NGOs and resident writers of the urban liberal elite that has kept Indias Maoists going. But whether the Booker Prize committee and organisers of various lit fests like it or not, successive governments have, in recent years, displayed greater resolve to take decisive action against the insurgencies. As this column goes to press on the heels of the horrific attack on the Uri Army camp by Pakistan-based terrorists, we are seething and the demand to strike Pakistan has never been louder. Which path will India choose? One born out of national interest and public sentiment? Or conciliation and tactical policy, keeping her place at the global high table in mind? However, New Delhi decides, the trajectories of Prachanda and Prabhakaran hold lessons: both for those waging bloody sectarian wars as well as those entrusted with the responsibility of defeating them. Baloch activists will protest against Pakistan for its state sponsored atrocities and terrorism on the people of Balochistan during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the General Debate. (Photo: PTI/Representational) New York: Baloch activists will hold protests outside the United Nations General Assembly headquarters here tomorrow during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the General Debate, to highlight "atrocities" and human rights violations by Pakistani forces in Balochistan. The 'Coalition of American Friends of Balochistan' and Indian-American Organisations said they will hold a "peaceful protest" against Pakistan for "its state sponsored atrocities and terrorism on the people of Balochistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir and minorities". The Baloch National Movement of North America (BNM) said a joint protest of Baloch and Sindhi activists will be held outside the UN headquarters to protest the "ongoing military operations" in Sindh and Balochistan. "Baloch people have welcomed and are grateful for the support extended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at such a critical juncture when our nation is struggling to be free from the illegal military occupation of Pakistan since 1948," BNM said in a statement. Sharif will address the General Debate tomorrow and has said he will raise the Kashmir issue at the UN. The group said that since 2003, more than 20,000 Baloch political activists have gone missing, "illegally abducted" by the Pakistani state security forces and victims of enforced disappearances are being "tortured and executed" in custody. The group also blamed China for joining hands with Pakistan and causing displacement of people living in the tribal and coastal areas with its economic activity. "China is Pakistan's strategic partner in the economic plundering and mass murder of Baloch civilians, particularly in the coastal belt of the Makran region of Balochistan," it said. Strongly criticising the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the group said thousands of Baloch tribal people have been dislocated due to the development of the corridor. The public is invited to this years Falls Prevention Awareness Day event, "Ready, Steady, Balance," designed to give older adults and families the resources they need to feel safe and healthy. The event will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 27 from 9-11:30 a.m. at the North River Civic Center, 1009 Executive Dr., #102 in Hixson. Activities include health screenings such as blood pressure, balance assessment, grip test, bone density, carbon monoxide readings, educational sessions, medication review and take back (safe disposal of unwanted medicines), home safety stations, giveaways, and much more. The welcome ceremony and door prize giveaways begin at 9:30 a.m. In Hamilton County, there were 736 fall-related hospitalizations among older adults in 2012, resulting in almost $27 million in hospital charges. In that same year, 19 older adults died as a result of a fall, said Carleena Angwin, public health educator with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department. We can change this by bringing attention to the preventive measures that can help keep older adults safe. Officials said traumatic injury due to falls can be avoided in older adults with the following behavior changes: Ask your health professional for a fall risk assessment; Review your medications periodically for drug interactions that could contribute to a fall; Participate in a physical activity regimen with balance, strength training, and flexibility components; Have an annual eye and ear exam; and Create a safe and supportive home environment such as installing grab bars in bathrooms, handrails on stairs, and removing throw rugs and clutter. The event is sponsored by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, City of Chattanooga Youth and Family Development, Erlanger Trauma Services, and BlueCare Tennessee, in partnership with additional community agencies and networks. For further details, visit www.FallPreventionChattanooga.com or call the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department at 423-209-8203. Trump hit back, saying his Democratic rival and the Obama administration hadn't done enough to quell the group's rise. (Photo: AP) Estero: Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps the Islamic State group and other militants such as ISIS recruit new fighters. But Trump hit back, saying his Democratic rival and the Obama administration hadn't done enough to quell the group's rise. "Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monster of evil on us and on the world," said Trump at a packed Florida rally, referring to Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. He also insisted the US should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As several Trump supporters shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate bemoaned the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old US citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point." "I'm the only candidate in this race who's been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield," Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. "I know how to do this." The possibility of a home-grown terrorist plot cast a new shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates' attention from the daily controversies of the campaign and giving them a high-profile opportunity to make their case to undecided voters. United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday made no reference to Kashmir and the situation in the Valley in his last address despite Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's repeated calls to the world body to help resolve the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. In his final address as the UN chief to the opening session of the General Debate in United Nations, Ban touched upon a plethora of global issues including the crisis in Syria, the Palestinian issue, the situation in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, the refugee and migrant movements. He also addressed tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East, the South Sudan tensions, violent extremism and its impact on regions from Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. However, Ban did not make any mention of Kashmir or the tensions in the Valley, that have escalated in the recent months, even as Pakistan made repeated pleas to the UN to help resolve the dispute between India and Pakistan. Kashmir will be the focal point of Sharif's address to the General Assembly on Wednesday. Tensions are particularly running high between India and Pakistan in the wake of the attack by heavily-armed militants from Pakistan-based JeM on an army base in Uri on Sunday that killed 18 jawans. Ban's office has repeatedly said that the UN chief's "good offices" are available to help resolve the Kashmir issue, only if both India and Pakistan request for it, a clear message that it is a bilateral issue and should be solved by the two countries. Last month, Sharif had written two letters to Ban asking him to intervene in the Kashmir issue. The letters were amongthe many that Islamabad had shot off to the UN, calling for the world body to take up the Kashmir issue. However, in his long and final address to the world leaders, Ban did not make one reference to Kashmir while highlighting the issues on the UN agenda. In his address, Ban referred to the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement on climate change, security threats by armed conflicts and its "tragic consequences" which are on brutal display from Yemen to Libya and Iraq, from Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. He also spoke about the conflict in Syria, which "is taking the greatest number of lives and sowing the widest instability". Ban also touched upon the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying "replacing a two-state solution with a one-state construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation". "In Myanmar, the transition has entered a promising new phase. In Sri Lanka, post-war healing efforts have deepened. In both countries, true reconciliation rests on ensuring that all communities, minorities and majorities alike, are included in building a new union," he said. The second five-year term of Ban is expiring on December 31. On the refugees and migrants situation, he said: "Muslims, in particular, are being targeted by stereotyping and suspicion that have haunting echoes of the dark past. "I say to political leaders and candidates: do not engage in the cynical and dangerous political math that says you add votes by dividing people and multiplying fear. The world must stand up against lies and distortions of truth, and reject all forms of discrimination." Ban said "time and again, I have seen essential action and good ideas blocked in the Security Council. Blocked in the General Assembly. Blocked in the budget process, blocked in the Conference on Disarmament and other bodies". "Is it fair in this complicated 21st century for any one country or few countries to yield such disproportionate power, and hold the world hostage on so many important issues," he added. His address also touched on the situation in Cyprus, violence against women and empowerment of girls, rights of gays and lesbians, "regardless of ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation" as well reform of the Security Council. On the Korean Peninsula, he said the fifth nuclear test by North Korea has "again threatened regional and international security". His speech also referred to the situation in Ukraine and South Sudan. Ban also spoke about the advancement of technology in the last 10 years since he has been UN chief and its unfortunate use by extremists. "Our phones and social media have connected the world in ways that were unimaginable when I took office. Yes, they have been abused by extremists and hate groups. But they have also created a world of new communities and opportunities," he said. Today's address was Obama's eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as America's Commander-in-Chief. (Photo: AP) United Nations: For the first time, a US President was not the second speaker at UN's annual General Assembly's General Debate as Barack Obama arrived late for his last address as the Head of State. Obama missed his turn as the second speaker which promoted President of the General Assembly to call Chad's leader, who was the next speaker on the list, to make his national statement. The US has traditionally been the second speaker in the General Debate after Brazil. Today's address was Obama's eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as America's Commander-in-Chief. After Brazil's President Michel Temer finished his address, President of the General Assembly Peter Thomson said Obama is delayed and has not yet arrived for his speech to the General Assembly. Not waiting for the US President to show up, Thomson proceeded on to the next speaker on the list, inviting Chad's leader to make his address. Harinder Bains helped police capture Ahmad Rahami who is a suspect in New York bombing. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab) New York: An Indian bar owner helped catch Afghani American Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man accused in the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey in which 29 people were wounded. Harinder Bains saw Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his bar in New Jersey around 9 am on Monday, a hoodie pulled over his head. Mr Bains said he thought it was "some drunk guy" but when he woke him, he recognized him as the man whose face had been flashed on repeat as the bombing suspect. The businessman had just seen Rahami while watching TV news on his laptop. He walked to his other store across the street and called the police. "I'm just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do. Cops are the real heroes, law enforcement are the real heroes," said Mr Bains, who, news reports said, was being praised as a "hero". When the police came, Rahami pulled out a gun and started firing, shooting an officer in the chest. Rahami made a dash for it and shot at a police car, leaving another policeman injured. The chase ended when the 28-year-old suspect was shot multiple times. He was taken away on a stretcher. Mr Bains's bar is about 5 km from where the New Jersey police had found a backpack containing bombs. Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra told the Press Trust of India: "It turns out that the Chelsea Pressure Cooker Bomber suspect, a naturalised citizen, is caught by another immigrant, an Indian-American hero Sikh." United Nations: Amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif in his recent addresses at the United Nations, stressed on the human rights violations in Kashmir -- but received no response, particularly from US or UK. Sharif had also written to the UN chief for the second time in a month to intervene by sending a fact-finding mission to probe alleged human rights violations in the Valley. Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Sharif sent the letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon apprising him of the deteriorating situation in Kashmir. The recent offensive from Pakistan came a day after India blamed Pakistan for terror attack at an Army camp in Uri that claimed 18 lives. India asked Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism and vacate illegal occupation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as it highlighted human rights violations in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh and persecution of minorities including Hindus. In an attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue, Sharif had also met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York, amidst a fresh war of words between Pakistan and India after terrorists killed 18 Indian soldiers in Kashmir. Sharif, who is in New York to attend the 71th Session of United Nations General Assembly, on Monday called on the permanent members of the UN Security Council demanding that India should be forced to stop its alleged brutalities in Kashmir. However, US did not comment on Sharif's meeting with Kerry, not did it mention anything about the Kashmir issue. Sharif will address world leaders from the UNGA podium in the morning session on Wednesday. While Pakistan has raised the Kashmir issue at the high-level segments of the General Assembly and other UN platforms in previous years, Sharif appears set to take an even more aggressive stand on Kashmir at the world body, having vowed in Pakistan to "emphatically highlight" the issue and the alleged human rights abuses by India. "Pakistan will continue to extend moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris," Sharif had said last week, alleging that atrocities in Kashmir had touched extremes. Last year Sharif, raising the Kashmir issue in the General Assembly, had proposed a four-point "peace initiative" with India on Kashmir. This year's UNGA session comes at a time when tensions between the two nations have risen following the Uri attack in which the heavily-armed four militants stormed the battalion headquarters of the Indian Army in the wee hours of Sunday, killing 18 jawans and injuring 19 other personnel. Ahmad Khan Rahami had married a Pakistani woman and had made at least three months-long trips to both Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2014. (Photo: AP) New York: The Pakistani-origin wife of New York and New Jersey bombings suspect left the US just days before the attacks and authorities are now working with Pakistani and UAE officials to get access to her, media reports said on Tuesday. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born naturalised US citizen since 2011, had married a Pakistani woman and had made at least three months-long trips to both Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2014. US authorities are working with his wife's home country of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates in order to question the woman about what she might have known about the acts of terror, CNN reported, quoting an unnamed official as saying. His wife, whose name has not been revealed, was able to enter the country but left the US just days before the terrorist attacks her husband is suspected of carrying out. What was his motive? Was he working alone? Why did he make lengthy trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan? These are among the questions that have emerged in the wake of the capture of the man suspected of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, the report said. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said. Authorities believe the "main guy" has been caught but the investigation continues to determine if Rahami had help, the report quoted sources as saying. Though FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr., said there is "no indication" of an active operating terror cell in the New York area, evidence suggests Rahami was not acting alone, sources said. Authorities said Rahami is "directly linked" to bombings on Saturday in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, and he is believed to be connected to pipe bombs found in a backpack Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Rahami was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose on Monday, according to the Union County (New Jersey) prosecutor's office. Rahami was wounded in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, on Monday. Rahami was identified through a fingerprint, a senior law enforcement official said. Evidence from the cell phone on the pressure cooker also led to Rahami's identification. Rahami first came to the United States in 1995 as a child, after his father arrived seeking asylum, and became a naturalised US citizen in 2011, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed his travel and immigration record. Rahami travelled for long periods to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last five years, officials said. While in Pakistan in July 2011, he married a Pakistani woman. Two years later, in April 2013, he went to Pakistan and remained there until March 2014, visiting Afghanistan before returning to the United States. Upon returning from both visits he told officials he was visiting family, satisfying any concerns immigration officials had at the time. New York: US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, as he expressed strong concern over the violence in Kashmir particularly the terror attack on an Indian army base. Kerry met Sharif on Monday on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir and sought American help to resolve the Kashmir issue. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. Later, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence." "The Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the Army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions," he said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif asked the "US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India." In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the alleged use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. Sharif alleged that human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to "ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that "if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu & Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities." Washington: Donald Trump's eldest son triggered an online storm with a tweet comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl containing an assortment of tainted and untainted candies. "This image says it all," Donald Trump Jr, 38, wrote Monday, in a tweet showing a picture of a white bowl filled with the popular, rainbow-colored Skittles candies. Written above the image is: "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? That's our Syria refugee problem." The Twitter post showing the familiar "Trump-Pence 2016" logo with the presidential campaign slogan "Make America Great Again!" was met with immediate scorn from users of the popular micro-blogging site. "I'm not even big on Skittles but now I will buy up every single packet," wrote @SarahSahim. "Is Donald Trump's new campaign slogan "Fear The Rainbow"? wrote Twitter user @AngrySalmond. Donald Trump, the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has sparked waves of criticism with comments on race, immigrants and refugees, including calling for a ban on Muslim travelers to the United States. Equally controversial was his pronouncement last year that many Mexican immigrants were drug smugglers and rapists. The brash businessman also is strongly opposed to plans by President Barack Obama to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States by the end of this month. Syria is in the grip of the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, amid an exodus of more than 4.8 million fleeing the war-torn country. The United States, which has a long tradition of taking in refugees, has been criticized for its slow response to the Syrian crisis. Washington: A top American thin-tank has said that it is for Pakistan to take steps, including arresting militants and shutting down training camps, to defuse tensions as India weighs options to respond to the Uri terrorist attack that killed 18 soldiers. "The ball is in Pakistan's court to immediately defuse tensions. Only concrete steps, like arresting militant leaders and shutting down training camps, will convince India (and the world) that Islamabad is serious about preventing its territory from being used for terror attacks against its neighbors," Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation said yesterday. Curtis warned that a military response by India could include targeted strikes on terrorist training camps inside Pakistani territory, but such strikes would almost certainly lead to military escalation and potential all-out war. "India would have to weigh the consequences of allowing the region to devolve into India-Pakistani conflict for India's quest to be viewed as a rising and responsible global power," she said. Curtis said the US had forcefully condemned the attack but should go a step further to defuse tensions by calling on Pakistan to rein in terrorist groups operating freely on its soil. "The fact that Pakistan has failed eight years later to prosecute the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks belies its claims of not supporting cross-border terrorism," she said. Meanwhile, 'The Wall Street Journal' said a visit by its correspondent this year to Jaish-e-Mohammad's headquarters in the Punjab town of Bahawalpur found that the group officially banned by Pakistan in 2002 continued to operate freely from its base. Pakistani authorities have said there are no safe havens for terrorists in that province, it noted. Eighteen soldiers were killed and over a dozen others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in North Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Army. New York: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and that his activities should be banned around the world. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in Turkey's failed coup in July and Washington has said it will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence, much to the Turkish government's frustration. Erdogan said Washington had "no excuse" for keeping Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who Turkish officials say has built up a network of followers over decades inside the armed forces and civil service to take over Turkey. "If the US is our strategic ally and our NATO partner ... then they should not let a terrorist like Gulen run his organisation," Erdogan said, in an interview on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Erdogan said an initial three months state of emergency, declared in the wake of the coup, could be extended if necessary. Critics say extending the state of emergency will give Erdogan a freer hand to limit or suspend freedoms, to bypass the parliament as well as taking swift measures against his opponents. "It can be extended for three months or one month or even more ... Gulen's people have infiltrated everywhere ... we will continue to identify and arrest the plotters ... extending the state of emergency will help this process," Erdogan said. Authorities have cracked down on schools, media and businesses run by Gulen since the July coup. Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 100,000 soldiers, police and civil servants since the failed coup on suspicion of links to Gulen's network. At least 40,000 have been detained. Some of Turkey's Western allies and human rights groups have accused Erdogan of using the putsch and the purge that has followed to suppress any opposition. Turkey has accused the EU of double standards in criticising the crackdown while showing hesitation in condemning the coup that killed about 240 people. Erdogan said the EU had failed to meet its obligations despite Turkey's decades-long efforts to join the trading bloc. "Turkey has kept its promises regarding the EU membership process ... it is a two-way street and the EU should fulfill its promises ... We have not concluded this process ... we want the EU to be honest about this process," he said. Turkey's ties with the United States also are strained over Washington's support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it considers a terrorist group. The YPG has been among the most effective partners on the ground in the US-led fight against the Islamic State militias. Syria Without Assad Turkey is worried that advances by Syrian Kurdish fighters will embolden Kurdish militants in its southeast, where it has been fighting an insurgency for three decades led by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). "Daesh (Islamic State militants) and YPG ... are the main source of threat," he said. Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria on early September, saying it was aimed at driving out Islamic State militants (IS). The Euphrates Shield operation initially targeted IS militias, but most of the focus since has been on checking the advance of US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters. "We have been patient... We have not deplored all of our troops to Syria ... with the moderate opposition Jerablus was freed," he said, adding that Turkey supported plans to drive IS out of its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. "But Turkey will not act unilaterally to liberate Raqqa. We will get involved in actions taken by the (US-led) coalition forces," he said. Erdogan said no lasting peace could be achieved in Syria without removal of President Bashar al-Assad from power. Turkey is one of the main supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, and hosts around 2.7 million Syrian refugees. "The future of Syria should be determined by its own people ... Why this killer (Assad) is being backed by some states?," Erdogan said. "Assad cannot be part of any transitional period ... the world should find a solution that does not involve Assad ... Syria's territorial integrity should be respected by other countries." Assad is supported by Russia, Iran and Arab Shi'ite militias, while Sunni rebels seeking to unseat him are backed by Turkey and Gulf Arab states. In a Partnership Agreement signing ceremony, Chilis, serving American cuisine in its location on Paul Huff Parkway, and E.L. Ross Elementary School, a nearby neighbor on Mouse Creek Road, became official participants in the BEST Partnership program of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce. BEST is an acronym for Business & Education Serving Together, said Sherry Crye, director of workforce development. This is just one of the workforce development initiatives of the Chamber of Commerce. Since 1992, the program has paired businesses and schools to enhance the quality of life for our community and provide business support for our educational programs. Joe Wilson, general manager for Chilis in Cleveland, said, Chilis advocacy of childhood well-being is evidenced by our long history supporting St. Judes Children's Research Hospital. This BEST Partnership with E.L. Ross expands this focus from Memphis to Cleveland as we partner with our neighbor around the corner. He added, We are excited to be working with teachers and parents to help provide students the best education opportunities available. Principal Earby echoed his excitement. Chilis has always been a friend to us, often allowing us to host meetings and luncheons at their restaurant. Were happy to make the partnership official through the Chamber of Commerces BEST Partnership program. We are looking forward to working together in planning activities and events that will benefit our students and Chilis. E.L. Ross serves Rossome students in grades 3-5 and houses a Pre-K class. Their goal is to help students discover how to think independently, solve problems and become lifelong learners. Schools in the Bradley County and Cleveland City School Systems have one or more local business partners as part of the BEST program. Private schools that are Chamber members may also participate in the program. For information about the BEST partnership program, call Sherry Crye at 423-472-6587. Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police on Monday. (Photo: AP) New York: The Afghan-origin terror suspect in the bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey had travelled to Pakistan's Quetta, a stronghold of the Taliban, and was questioned every time he returned to the US but was not on the radar, American officials said. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old naturalised American citizen of Afghan descent, was born in Afghanistan and majored in criminal justice at Middlesex County College in New Jersey, according to the FBI. Investigators are probing whether he was radicalised overseas before returning to the US in 2014. In 2011, Rahami spent several weeks in Quetta, considered a stronghold of the Taliban and married a Pakistani woman, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed his travel and immigration record, CNN reported on Tuesday. Upon his return to the US, he had to go through secondary screening for visiting an area of Pakistan known for its Taliban presence. At that time, he told immigration officials he was visiting family and attending his uncle's wedding and renewing his Pakistani visa, officials said. In 2013, Rahami went to Pakistan and remained there for a year. His brother also travelled to Pakistan around the same time and posted on Facebook that they heard seven bomb blasts over 24 hours at one point in Quetta, the report said. Official said Rahami travelled by car to Afghanistan from Quetta. When he returned to the US, he was once again taken into secondary questioning but told officials he was visiting his wife, as well as his uncles and aunts. Each time Rahami was taken to secondary screening, he satisfied whatever concerns immigration officials had. He was questioned every time he returned to the US, as is standard procedure, but was not on the radar as someone who might have been radicalised, the official said. He applied to bring his wife to the US in 2011 which was approved but it was unclear if she ever came to the US. In 2014, Rahami contacted Congressman Albio Sires' office from Islamabad for his wife's passport which was expired. Once it was renewed, she became pregnant and officials told her they would not give a visa until she had the baby. Rahami, who became a naturalised US citizen in 2011, once said the consulate told him to go back to Karachi, but he claimed it was too dangerous to go there. Rahami's family, who runs a 24-hour chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, has a history of clashes with neighbours over the timing of the eatery. They alleged discrimination and harassment in a lawsuit filed against the city and police department, and also accused a neighbouring business owner of saying, "Muslims make too much trouble in this country" and "Muslims don't belong here". A ruling later favoured the city, saying the restaurant was "disruptive in the city for many, many years". In a Facebook post, a family member asked for privacy. Rahami, who authorities said is "directly linked" to the bombings in New York and New Jersey in which nearly 30 people were injured, was captured on Monday after a shootout and charged with five counts of attempted murder. New York: The US has said it will continue to press Pakistan to take "additional steps" to deal with terror groups seeking refuge within its borders, hours after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought American help to resolve bilateral issues between India and Pakistan. Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday and raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir. Sharif's meeting with Kerry was among his first bilaterals in the city on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly and Kashmir featured prominently in the talks. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said at a press briefing just hours after the bilateral meeting between Kerry and Sharif that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. Toner told reporters at the briefing at the New York Foreign Press Centre that US-Pakistan is "obviously a very important relationship. "There's a lot on the bilateral agenda but also on the regional agenda," he said when asked about the Sharif-Kerry meeting. He said the two sides are expected to discuss ongoing efforts by Pakistan at economic reform, "but certainly security will also be on the agenda, and we'll continue to urge Pakistan to take additional steps to deal with all of the terrorist threats that it faces on its own territory but also those groups that frankly, that seek refuge or safe refuge within Pakistan's borders and how to deal with those groups in an effective way. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif said, "I still remember President (Bill) Clinton's promise that US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." "I expect US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India," he said. In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. "We will not disappoint our Kashmiri brethren at any cost; we will keep on reminding the international community of its decades old commitments that have not been honuored till today," he said. Sharif said human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to "ask India to immediately end state trocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that "if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu & Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities." Meanwhile, as a practice, Pakistan's officials do not allow Indian media to attend press briefings by Pakistan Foreign Secretary and other officials accompanying Sharif or any other events that they host. In previous years too, Indian journalists have been asked by Pakistani officials to wait outside the briefing room while senior officials with the PM address their media. United Nations: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked nations engaged in proxy wars to end them. Mr Obamas remarks come after his secretary of state John Kerry asked Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using his countrys territory as safe havens. In his speech, Mr Obama recounted the progress made in the last eight years of his presidency and said, From the depths of the greatest financial crisis of our times we coordinated a response to avoid further catastrophe and return the global economy to growth. We have taken away terrorist safe havens, strengthened the non-proliferation regime, resolved the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba... and we welcome a democratically elected leader of Myanmar to this Assembly, he said. Delving on the international order, he said that it has been so successful that China and India remain on a path of remarkable growth. Indeed our international order has been so successful that we take it as a given that great powers no longer fight world wars...that China and India remain on a path of remarkable growth, Mr Obama said. Manila: Convicted Philippine felons on Tuesday told a Congressional hearing they had bribed a former justice minister and fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, dealing another blow to her efforts to investigate the country's deadly war on drugs. Senator Leila De Lima has become an increasingly isolated voice since seeking to hold Duterte to account for unleashing a crackdown on narcotics in which 3,800 people have been killed since the president took office 11 weeks ago. Bank robber Herbert Colangco told Congress he had paid 3 million pesos (48,328) a month since October 2013 to De Lima, then justice secretary, to let him hold concerts and sell beer to inmates. He also said he ran a brothel and had been pressured to sell drugs to raise money for her election campaign, but had refused. The testimony came a day after senators voted to remove De Lima as head of a house committee probing the drugs war, a campaign condemned by the United Nations and human rights groups but cheered by Filipinos tired of crime and drug addiction. "I have de Lima's blessings," Colangco said, when Congress members asked how he had smuggled contraband into the prison. He said the bribes were paid through a security guard and presented what he said were receipts for the money remitted. Another convict testified to seeing De Lima in the cell of an inmate who monopolized drugs deals in one of the country's largest prisons. Two former prison officials told the panel they had delivered 5 million pesos in bribes to De Lima's home. Opposition to De Lima has intensified since she arranged for a self-confessed hitman to testify to a senate hearing last week that he saw Duterte shoot a man dead with an Uzi assault weapon and order other killings while a mayor of Davao City in the 1990s. Duterte's office denies the allegations. De Lima did not attend Tuesday's congress hearing and gave a speech at the senate defending the investigation. "No committee chairmanship is worth it, if it sacrifices my principles," she said. Speaking at an army base in Davao, Duterte said the events in Congress showed there were plenty of people who could back up his allegations that De Lima was taking cash from drug gangs. "I was correct all along," he said. Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported on Tuesday, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the isolated state. Kim asked that the scientists and engineers make "preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test," the official KCNA news agency said, indicating the North may soon launch another long-range rocket. The test was conducted amid global condemnation of the North's fifth nuclear test this month and a call by the United States, Japan and South Korea this week for greater pressure on Pyongyang over its disregard for United Nations resolutions banning missile and nuclear programmes. North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under Kim's direction, including the launch of a satellite in February that was widely seen as a test of long-range ballistic missile technology. "Kim Jong Un ... visited the Sohae Space Center to guide the ground jet test of a new type high-power engine of a carrier rocket for the geo-stationary satellite," KCNA said. The Sohae centre is the North's newly upgraded rocket station where the February launch of a satellite and other rocket tests have been conducted. "This test is another important development pointing to the first launch of a bigger, better space vehicle to place satellites in higher orbits, which could happen in the not too distant future," said Joel Wit, founder of the 38 North website, which monitors North Korea. A satellite image from Sept. 17 provided to Reuters by Washington-based 38 North showed preparations for an engine test, including a heavy crane over the vertical engine test stand and a shelter that would house the rocket engine. North Korea earlier this month fired three missiles that flew about 1,000 km (600 miles) each and in August tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that international experts said showed considerable progress. It also launched an intermediate-range missile in June that experts said marked a technological advance for the isolated state after several test failures. "A Saudi plane has been isolated at the airport runway," Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio said. (Representational Image) Riyadh: A false alarm prompted Philippine police to surround a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane at Manila airport on Tuesday, an airline spokesman said. There was a "false alarm for hijack for Flight 872," the spokesman told AFP in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The airline, known as Saudia, gave the same information on its Twitter account, adding that the aircraft had flown to Manila from the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio said earlier that the plane had been "isolated" on the runway after reports it was "under threat". Officials said the school had been informed of the plans, but would not give further details pending the investigation. (Photo: Representational Image/AFP) Helsinki: Finnish authorities say they have arrested a 21-year-old woman suspected of plotting a school massacre. Police said Tuesday they interrupted the woman's "extensive and careful planning" of the attack when they arrested her last week. Detective Superintendent Jonna Turunen said the school had been informed of the plans, but would not give further details pending the investigation. A Helsinki court remanded the 21-year-old suspect in custody until Nov. 1 on suspicion of planning a "life-threatening crime" over 18 months, but gave no other details. Finland saw its first school massacre in 2007 when a gunman killed eight people at his high school. A year later another gunman opened fire at a vocational college, killing 10. The truck which slammed into revelers late Thursday, July 14, is seen near the site of an attack in the French resort city of Nice, southern France. (Photo: AP) Paris: French authorities have made eight new arrests in connection with the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that left 86 people dead, the Paris prosecutor's office said Tuesday. The office said the suspects detained Monday were French and Tunisian and had links to the attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who plowed a 19-ton truck down Nice's Promenade des Anglais and into a crowd assembled for a July 14 fireworks display. All eight were arrested in the Alpes-Maritimes region in the southeastern corner of France that includes Nice. At least five people already face preliminary terrorism charges in the attack, and are accused of helping Bouhlel obtain a pistol and providing other support. It was not immediately clear what role is suspected for the men arrested this week. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the July 14 attack. French authorities say Bouhlel, a Tunisian with French residency, was inspired by the extremist group's propaganda, but they say no evidence has been found that IS orchestrated the attack. Clooney, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, is on a mission to prosecute the Islamist group through the International Criminal Court for their crimes against the Yazidi community. (Photo: AP) London: ISIS terrorists who have enslaved, murdered and raped Yazidi women and children must be brought to justice, no matter the price, international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney said on Monday. Clooney, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, is on a mission to prosecute the Islamist group through the International Criminal Court for their crimes against the Yazidi community. She announced in June she would represent Yazidi women in Iraq who have been victims of sexual slavery, rape and genocide by ISIS, also known as Daesh. "It's been harrowing to hear the testimony of girls as young as 11 and 12 talk about what's happened to them. And still we haven't been able to do anything about it," she said in an interview with U.S. television broadcaster NBC on Monday. "They are brainwashing people and I think one of the ways to take action against that is to expose their brutality and their corruption and partly, you can do that through trials." When asked if she would pursue this case "no matter the price" Clooney said she would, adding that she did not take the decision lightly. "We did discuss it and we are aware of some of the risks involved, of course," she said, referring to a conversation with her husband, Hollywood actor George Clooney. "This is no joke. This is ISIS." "I put my own life at risk" ISIS have killed, raped and enslaved thousands of Yazidis since 2014, accusing them of being devil worshippers and forcing over 400,000 of the religious minority to flee their homes in northern Iraq. According to the United Nations, the Sunni militants enslaved about 7,000 women and girls in 2014, mainly Yazidis whose faith blends elements of Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Islam, and is still holding 3,500, some as sex slaves. The United States, the European Parliament and the Council of Europe have all described the Islamist militant group's actions as genocide. Yazidi campaigners, including Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nadia Murad Basee Taha, have been pushing for international justice for the crimes committed against them by ISIS. "I put my own life at risk, but I don't have a life without giving hope to other victims," said Taha, who appeared alongside Clooney on NBC. Taha, who was appointed a UN goodwill ambassador for human trafficking victims on Friday, has urged the international community to do more to bring the jihadist terrorists to justice. "Even today, I am not free. I cannot feel free while thousands of other girls like me are still captive," she said at her appointment ceremony in New York. "My real fear is that once ISIS is defeated, ISIS will just shave off their beards and walk the streets of their cities as if nothing has happened. We cannot let this happen." Taha said she was abducted by ISIS terrorists from her village in Iraq in August 2014, and taken to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, where she and thousands of other Yazidi women and children were exchanged by militants as gifts. She was tortured and repeatedly raped before she escaped three months later. Clooney said two years on, there was no justice for Yazidi women and children. "I'm ashamed as a woman that girls like Nadia can have their bodies sold and used as battlefields," said Clooney, addressing U.N. officials in New York on Friday. "I'm ashamed as a human being that we can ignore their cries for help." Lucien Bailey, left, speaking during the Harmony Writer showcase event while Laud Vaught, right, looks on and Charlie Edholm prepares to perform on guitar Lucien Bailey, left, with Dr. William Green, dean of Lees School of Music Lucien Bailey, centered, with family members during the event held in Lees Music Resource Center. Previous Next Lee University showcased a new display called the Harmony Writer hosted in the Music Resource Center. The Harmony Writer is a customized typewriter for musical notation in popular use for over three decades preceding FINALEa world standard notation software for music composition. The event was standing room only, with attendants from across campus and around the community. It included talks from Lucien Bailey, son of the inventor Garland A. Bailey, and Jack Clark, a typesetter, as well as an opportunity to type music using the Writer. Mr. Bailey spoke on his fathers natural ability to invent and shared personal memories of his father. Mr. Clark talked about the typesetting process without the machine and then his use of it to set a majority of the music he was setting. The opportunity to enjoy first-hand accounts of the development and use of a machine like the Harmony Writer was a unique experience, said Laud Vaught, the event host and music resource center coordinator. Every attendee I spoke with was amazed by the ingenuity of Garland Bailey and captivated by even the brief stories related by his son and Mr. Clark. Performances by Lee students Yong-en Huang and Charlie Edholm on the Bailey-crafted violin/mandolin and guitar, respectively, took place between interviews. Mr. Huang played an excerpt of a violin sonata by J.S. Bach and Edholm opened with a short passage from Dueling Banjos. He then invited the crowd to sing along with Amazing Grace for which he had written an especially beautiful ending for the guitar, according to Mr. Vaught. The Harmony Writer and accompanying materials will be on permanent display in the Music Resource Center in the Lee University School of Music. The instruments constructed by Mr. Bailey will be on display for the rest of the fall semester and then returned to the owners. For more information about the event and the Harmony Writer, contact Mr. Vaught at lvaught@leeuniversity.edu. Spanish police found plastic bags stuffed with dismembered bodies of four members of a family at a house in Pioz, Spain, last weekend. (Photo: AFP/Representational) Madrid: Spanish police found a plastic bag stuffed with dismembered bodies of two minor children and their parents in a house in Pioz last weekend. The children were aged one and four years. According to a report in Mirror, residents in the locality complained of a foul smell emanating from the house, following which police entered the deceaseds property through the window and found the plastic bags in the living area. The bags with the butchered bodies were wrapped with duct tape. Neighbours said the family hailed from Brazil and were living in another area in Pioz before shifting to the rented property in the locality over a month ago. It is suspected that the family was murdered on August 22 as no one in the area had seen either the parents or their children since the end of the month. Police have removed the bodies from the house and an investigation is underway. The UN said at 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle humanitarian aid convoy were destroyed en route to Orum al-Kubra, on the western outskirts of Aleppo. (Photo: AFP) Geneva: The UN said on Tuesday it had suspended all humanitarian aid convoys in Syria after a deadly air raid hit trucks delivering aid near Aleppo, killing a Red Crescent staff member and civilians. As an "immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency told reporters in Geneva. This marks a "very, very dark day for humanitarians in Syria and indeed across the world," he said, stressing that it was "paramount that we are able to establish the facts through an independent investigation." The UN said at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike. Red Cross spokesman Benoit Carpentier told reporters that the director of the Syrian Red Crescent's sub-branch was killed, along with a number of civilians. Laerke said the convoy had been carrying food and non-food aid for some 78,000 people. The aid was "intended for people in dire need... This aid will now not reach those people," he said, stressing that attacks on humanitarian workers has "an exponential effect on thousands of other people." Iraqi forces have already reconquered other towns north of Sherqat on the way to Mosul but the question of Shiite militia involvement in military operations there had held up the push. (Photo: AP) Kirkuk: Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake a northern town from the Islamic State group in the latest move to prepare a broad offensive on jihadist bastion Mosul. Army and tribal forces pushed towards Sherqat, which IS fighters captured more than two years ago when they swept across Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland. The town lies on the west bank of the Tigris river in Salaheddin province, 260 kilometres (160 miles) northwest of Baghdad and around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Mosul. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and training have since retaken significant ground including the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. Iraqi forces have already reconquered other towns north of Sherqat on the way to Mosul but the question of Shiite militia involvement in military operations there had held up the push. "The operation to liberate Sherqat started at 5:30 am (0230 GMT) from several directions with the support of coalition forces," Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool said. "We are making good progress," he told AFP. "Sherqat is important, we can't move on Mosul and have terrorists control Sherqat." Colonel Mohammed al-Assadi, an Iraqi security spokesman, said the country's forces had retaken villages around Sherqat and were about five kilometres (three miles) from the town. Colonel John Dorrian, the spokesman for the US-led operation against IS, said coalition forces had carried out 19 air strikes over the past two weeks to set the stage for the Sherqat operation. Sherqat is "in close proximity to their supply lines," Dorrian said, referring to routes by which Iraqi forces move troops and material for operations against IS. "Clearing that area makes sure that their supply lines are protected," he said. Ahmed al-Assadi, the spokesman of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces, said operation "Sherqat Dawn" aimed to "finish expelling those terrorist gangsters from usurped Iraqi land." The Hashed al-Shaabi, which has played a big part in retaking IS-held areas since 2014, is nominally under the control of the prime minister but dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militia. Obama confident It also includes less powerful Sunni tribal forces supporting the government against IS. Rasool stressed that only tribal forces -- sometimes referred to as Hashed al-Ashaeri (Tribal Mobilisation) -- were fighting in Sherqat, not Shiite militias. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaking from New York where he met US President Barack Obama, said the same operation also included efforts to flush out IS fighters from desert areas near Ramadi and Heet in the western province of Anbar. While most towns and cities in Anbar are now under government control, IS fighters are still able to move across parts of the vast arid province and have continued to harass Iraqi forces. Iraqi forces have been moving northwards from Baghdad for almost two years, gradually retaking areas over which IS declared its "caliphate" in June 2014. The jihadists have also lost ground in Syria and Libya. Iraqi forces have left some pockets of IS jihadists on the way however -- such as in Hawijah or in the Hamreen mountains -- and priority was given to Qayyarah, a town farther north which will be used as a launchpad for an offensive on Mosul. Speaking before talks with Abadi, Obama said he could see quick progress in the battle for Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq since government forces retook Fallujah in June. "We feel confident that we will be in a position to move forward fairly rapidly," Obama said, vowing to fight "right at the heart of the (IS) operation in Mosul." Kuwait City: A Kuwaiti court sentenced a ruling family member to three years in prison today on charges of insulting the Gulf state's ruler and other royals. Any criticism of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah can result in charges of insulting him. Dozens of opposition activists have been jailed for the offence in recent years. The charges against Sheikh Abdullah Salem Al-Sabah, grandson of the emir's late half-brother Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, stemmed from video messages he posted on Snapchat early last year in which he strongly criticised the functioning of the government. Al-Sabah family members hold all the main cabinet posts and Sheikh Abdullah singled out several of them for criticism. The court ordered that he pay $16,500 in damages to one of them. He can appeal his conviction. It is not Sheikh Abdullah's first run-in with the Kuwaiti authorities. In 2012, he was questioned for posting comments on Twitter deemed sympathetic to the opposition and critical of the emir. In June last year, he was detained for 10 days pending interrogation for criticising the emir. The following month, a court acquitted him in a similar case. Among the dozens of dissidents jailed for criticising the emir in recent years is prominent opposition leader and former MP Mussallam al-Barrak, who is serving a two-year term for comments he made at a public rally. This image provided by the Syrian anti-government group Aleppo 24 news, shows UNs damaged humanitarian aid trucks hit by air strikes in Aleppo, Syria, on Tuesday. (Photo: AP) Damascus: Syria's army on Tuesday denied bombing a convoy of aid trucks in the northern province of Aleppo on Monday, an incident the United Nations said could amount to a war crime. "There is no truth to media reports that the Syrian army targeted a convoy of humanitarian aid in Aleppo province," state media said, citing a military source. The denial came shortly after Moscow said neither Russian nor Syrian jets bombed the aid convoy, which was carrying assistance destined for tens of thousands of people in northern Syria. At least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed, according to the United Nations, which was carrying out the aid delivery alongside the Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent. The Red Crescent said the raids killed around 20 people including one of its staff members. "Much of the aid was destroyed," the humanitarian organisation said, stressing that "the attack deprives thousands of civilians of much-needed food and medical assistance." Omar Barakat, who headed the SARC's sub-branch on Orum where the attack took place, "succumbed to his injuries and died," spokesman Benoit Carpentier told reporters in Geneva. UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said that if the attack was found to be a deliberate strike on humanitarians, "it would amount to a war crime". The raid came hours after Syria's army declared an end to the week-long ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Washington. Islamabad: Pakistan will not succumb to the threats by India and would continue to support Kashmiris' struggle for self-determination, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan said on Tuesday. "Kashmiris' legitimate and just struggle for self-determination cannot be suppressed by state repression," Khan told Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider Khan who called on him here. According an official statement, the two leaders held detailed discussion on the alleged oppression of innocent Kashmiris by India and the continuing human rights abuses. "Pakistan will not succumb to threats by India and will not shy away from providing political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of occupied Kashmir," he said. He said that the violation of human rights in Kashmir and rejection by India of the UN resolution was a challenge not only for the UN but also for other countries which are considered as champions of democratic values. He said the Indian attitude of hurling baseless allegation at Pakistan and its avoidance to hold meaningful talks with Pakistan are the main hurdle for peace in the region. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Indian Army. India's DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has said all the four killed militants were foreign terrorists and had carried with them items which had Pakistani markings and that initial reports indicated that they belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group. "We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," Lt Gen Singh had said. With the ongoing Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, it is the film industry which is facing collateral damage. The screening of Tamil movies have been discontinued in Bengaluru since September 5 and new releases are not coming into theatres here. Exhibitors have decided not to screen Tamil movies as a precaution, in the interest of safety of movie-goers and property. It is a very sensitive issue and when discussions are ongoing between governments and, matter is in the court, one cannot predict what people will do. said Thomas DSouza, a theatre owner and former president, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC). It is unclear when the screenings will resume. Another theatre owner, who did not want to be named, said, There are many big movies lined up for release before Diwali such as Thodari, starring Dhanush and Remo, starring Sivakarthikeyan. Exhibitors and distributors are already facing huge losses. If the situation continues, we will lose revenue. According to him, distributors who purchased the rights to show Vikram-starrer Iru Mugan in Karnataka have incurred a loss of Rs 2.5 crore. Individual exhibitors have incurred losses between Rs 5 and 10 lakh and the Karnataka government has lost Rs 2 crore tax revenue. A few theatres were braving the possibility of attacks and screening Tamil movies. But after the Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Monday directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily till September 30, they too have discontinued shows. Sa Ra Govindu, the president of KFCC, said that the screenings would resume when the Cauvery dispute is settled and the situation turns normal again. A van driver stabbed a woman to death and then killed himself with the same knife after she asked him to end their relationship, in South West Delhis Inderpuri. Sanjay Kumar, 29, and Laxmi, 32, were allegedly in an illicit relationship and the latter insisted Kumar to end their five-year-old relationship as she was married with two children. Her husband knew about their relationship and had complained to the police about it. The incident happened on Sunday evening when Laxmi was returning with her sister-in-law from work. Laxmi used to work as a house maid in nearby colonies, while her husband is an auto driver. Kumar, who lives in the neighbourhood of Laxmi blocked her path around 7.30 pm, and insisted that he talk to him. During their conversation, Laxmi told Kumar to stop contacting her as she wanted to end their relationship forthwith. On hearing this Kumar lost his cool and grabbed Laxmi with her hair. He dragged her in a dark street and started stabbing her with a knife. Her sister-in-law ran who witnessed this informed Laxmis husband. Her husband then rushed to the spot and found her lying in a pool of blood. Kumar had stabbed her multiple times. Kumar was also lying with stab injuries, said a police officer. They both were rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared Laxmi brought dead. Kumar also died later on Sunday night while being operated upon, said police. Laxmis husband later told police that Kumar had been harassing his wife for the last few years. He had also proposed to her several times, but Laxmi never reciprocated him. The couple had complaint to police against Kumar. However, according to Laxmis husband, the police never took any action against him. Unhappy with the role of police, local people protested against the police in front of the Inderpuri police station on Monday. Police have sent both the bodies for post-mortem after which they will be handed over to the family members. A dedication and tour of Lakeside Academys STEM Labs, made possible by a grant from The Leonore Annenberg Scholarship, Fellowship, and School Funds, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, will be held Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 9:30 a.m. Lakeside Academy is at 4850 Jersey Pike. Two grants totaling nearly $100,000 from The Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children were awarded to Lakeside Academy of Math, Science & Technology in Hamilton County and Taylor Elementary School in Bradley County. Lakeside created STEM labs to enable students to experience hands-on learning and become creative problem solvers, as well as purchase books for the library and classrooms. Taylor Elementary provided laptops for all fourth- and fifth-grade students, including mobile hotspots for at home use so students can conduct research and communicate with people around the globe. This is the seventh year of a collaborative effort between PEF and The Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children resulting in significant financial support to 12 area schools. PEFs collaboration with Bradley Cleveland Public Education Foundation has enabled the two organizations to multiply the impact of regional educational initiatives for the benefit of students in Southeast Tennessee. Gail Levin, Ph.D., director of The Leonore Annenberg Scholarship, Fellowship, and School Funds, said, Since 2010, the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children has partnered with PEF to provide underserved schools with essential resources. While the term value added is too often used in the absence of both context and definition, Leonore Annenbergs grants to public elementary schools are sure to make a clear case for improved teaching and learning. Leonore Annenberg was committed to improving the lives of children, particularly those who, with support, will become leaders of the next generation, said PEF president Dan Challener. These grants certainly underscore the heart of her mission to provide students resources to help them shine brightly. We are so pleased to announce this years awards to Lakeside Academy and Taylor Elementary. The public will be invited to celebrations at each school in the fall to experience how these grants are making a difference for students. In 1997, the late philanthropist Walter Annenberg made a special opportunity grant to Chattanooga as part of his national call to arms in support of American public education. That support, which recognized the merger of city schools with the surrounding Hamilton County system, helped to create PEFs Leadership Initiative. Several years later, additional support was designated for a strategic communications plan and mission-focused public relations work. The Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children grants build upon this legacy of partnership. In total, The Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children has given $950,000 to schools in southeast Tennessee as part of their $6.4 million in grants nationally to public elementary schools that serve a high concentration of children from families living in poverty. Previous local grants have funded diverse projects including a reading lab, multi-media facility, art studio, media center, classroom technology, playground improvements, science lab, classroom book nooks, Chromebooks, and a student leadership program. In all 2,625 cases of chikungunya and 1,378 cases of dengue have been reported in the city so far this season, according to a weekly municipal report released on Monday. The data compiled by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the nodal agency, sans chikungunya deaths when the disease has claimed 18 lives in the city. Even the MCD data shows four deaths due to dengue whereas 13 people have died of the disease so far. The total number of reported cases stands at 3,251 till September 17, of which 2,625 are confirmed cases, said the municipal report. According to the Centres Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, the number of cases of chikungunya so far reported in the capital is 3,358 till September 13. There is also a spurt in dengue cases, which stands at 2,926 till September 13, as per the Centres Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme. The Deccan Herald had already reported that there are discrepancies in the data collation process. On Monday, Chairman of Medical Relief and Public Health Committee of North Delhi Municipal Corporation Rajpal Rana directed the officials concerned to increase the number of Tifa machines (used for fogging) and availability of required medicines, and recruit additional field workers in view to rising number of cases of dengue and chikungunya. Rana asked deputy directors (health) of all six zones to inspect their respective areas. He directed the medical superintendents of all hospitals-run by the civic agency to ensure proper treatment of dengue and chikungunya patients. He said stern action will be taken against the accused official in case of a complaint of misbehaviour. Medical facilities at the North Corporation hospitals are running smooth and if need arises, the number of beds will be increased. Even the AAP government has been appealing to the people to take out time to clean their homes and their surroundings to fight dengue and chikungunya. Anyway we clean our homes for Diwali. Lets just do it little early this year, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said. He added that beds at the Delhi government hospitals have been lying unoccupied and everybody is getting treated. Describing terrorism as an "existential threat", India has said that "hypocrisy" towards the menace is unacceptable and underlined that terrorism is the "principle cause" of the large-scale refugee movement. "It is important to stress that today the geo-politics of the crisis points and proves that terrorism is the principle cause of refugee movements. Can we ignore this fact, we cannot. We do so at our peril," Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar said in his address to the UN General Assembly's first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants here yesterday. Akbar asserted that terrorism is an "existential threat" and "hypocrisy towards this crisis will not do." He underscored that for the millions of people fleeing conflict, war and poverty, terrorism is not characterised as good or bad. "There is no good terrorism or bad terrorism and if you do not know the answer to this question, all you have to do is ask the refugee if he considers any terrorism to be good or bad," Akbar said. Stressing that terrorism is the "biggest danger" to human rights, Akbar said large movements of people across borders serve as a reminder that the world has become a global village. "We can only prosper or perish together, it is best that we learn to live in peace, prosperity and amity," he said. Underlining that "prevention is better than cure", Akbar said the international community has to address issues like terrorism, prevent armed conflict and facilitate development, which will help ensure people are not forced to flee their homeland. "We have to find out what drives them towards seeking refuge. Prevention is better than cure. Perhaps prevention is the only cure," he said adding that preventing armed conflict, countering terrorism, building and sustaining peace to facilitating sustainable development and governance will prevent people from being forced to leave their homeland. Terming the present refugee crisis as "unprecedented," Akbar said the number of people on the move globally is estimated at close to 250 million or one in every 30 persons and three-fourths of all refugees come from just 11 countries. Akabar noted that it is disconcerting that just seven countries host more than half of all refugees and now almost 90 per cent of all refugees are hosted in developing nations. He said it is wrong to assume that host nations do not want refugees. "It is assumed that only host nations do not want refugees. I ask do refugees also want to become refugees. They don't," he said. He said the problem of the refugee crisis has been with the world for a very long time. "Refugees are as old as war. The first consequence of war is death and the second is refugees. There is another kind of person seeking a new haven - the migrant driven by a second cruelty, hunger or economic aspiration, and both phenomenon are visible in the present crisis." Akbar referred to India's "long history" of welcoming people seeking refuge from conflict, war, tyranny and poverty. "India offers refuge not because it has a large bank balance but because it has a large heart," he said. He cited the tumultuous year of 1971 when Bangladesh was fighting for independence and more than a million people from the neighbouring nation took refuge in India to escape the "genocide" that they were facing at home. "People seeking shelter in our country have never been turned back. Our record has been unique," he said. Akbar said nationalism is the "contemporary architecture" of stability and "we understand its importance. "The intersection of human need in a refugee crisis and national imperatives make this a complex issue," he added. Akbar also recalled Mahatma Gandhi's "seminal contribution" to abolishing indentured labour 100 years ago. He said in more recent times, Indian migrants, including a cross section of professionals, skilled and less-skilled workers, have migrated to countries around the world and offered a "positive contribution to the diaspora". He voiced India's commitment to working with all partners beginning next year in developing a global compact to ensuring a safe and orderly migration that is in the interest of all people. Akbar also held meetings with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bulgarias Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov and Guyana Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly yesterday. Sources told PTI that discussions during the meetings focussed on the issue of terrorism, refugees and migrants and the situation in the Middle East. The Ministers also discussed the need for the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. "Discussions on bilateral issues on the sidelines of UNGA71 MOS MJ Akbar and FM of Iraq Dr Ibrahim al-Jaafari," India's Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted. Another tweet said Akbar "meets Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov on the sidelines of #UNGA71." Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving "aid and comfort" to Islamic terrorists, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps the Islamic State group and other militants such as ISIS recruit new fighters. But Trump hit back, saying his Democratic rival and the Obama administration hadn't done enough to quell the group's rise. "Her attacks on me are all meant to deflect from her record of unleashing this monster of evil on us and on the world," said Trump at a packed Florida rally, referring to Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. He also insisted the US should "use whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekend's bombings. As several Trump supporters shouted "Hang him!" the Republican presidential candidate bemoaned the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old US citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. "We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," he said. "These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong." Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point." "I'm the only candidate in this race who's been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield," Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. "I know how to do this." The possibility of a home-grown terrorist plot cast a new shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates' attention from the daily controversies of the campaign and giving them a high-profile opportunity to make their case to undecided voters. North Korea has successfully tested a new, high-powered rocket engine, state media said today, a move Seoul said was designed to showcase its progress towards being able to target the US east coast. The ground test comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang detonated what it said was a miniaturised atomic bomb. Taken together, the two tests raise the prospect that the isolated state could be inching towards its ultimate goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could hit Washington DC. State-run news agency KCNA trumpeted the engine test, which it said would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites". Rocket engines are easily re-purposed for use in missiles, and outside observers say that Pyongyang's space programme is a fig leaf for weapons tests. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un hailed the test and called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come", KCNA said. A geostationary satellite must be propelled to an altitude of 36,000 kilometres, a Unification Ministry official was quoted as saying by South Korea's official Yonhap news agency. "The distance to the eastern part of the United States is some 12,000 kilometres. The North is thus showing off its ability" to hit the US east coast, the official added. Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at the South's Korea Aerospace Research Institute said such an engine would represent "a technical leap forward" in developing launch vehicles. It suggests the North is "coming close to having an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland". Pyongyang regularly parades homegrown missiles and boasts of its plan to develop long-range missiles capable of targeting America. It has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches, most recently in February, and has fired missiles from a submarine. A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile system would allow deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a "second-strike" capability in the event of an attack on the North's military bases. After supervising the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians "to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible", KCNA reported. Kim "expressed great satisfaction" with the results of the test, according to KCNA, and said the North had made cutting-edge scientific advances despite difficult economic conditions. Barely two days after the terror attack in Uri, two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir today but they were foiled by the Army in an encounter in which 10 terrorists and a jawan were killed even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions. As the Government mulled various options on India's response to the cross-border terror attack on Sunday in which 18 jawans were killed, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) has been convened tomorrow. "Two infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control(LoC) have been foiled in Uri and Nowgam sectors today. At both places the operations are in progress," an army spokesman said in Srinagar. The spokesman refused to comment on the number of militants killed in the ongoing operations so far, saying details will be made public in due course. He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi, however, said that 10 terrorists were killed in the encounter with the army in the Uri sector. The bodies have not yet been recovered, they added. The sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting in Delhi with top officials, including NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. Separately, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues. On the ceasefire violation incident, an army official in Srinagar said the firing from across the LoC took place between 1.10 pm and 1.30 pm. However, there was no damage in the incident, he said. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon," the official said in Srinagar. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. The infiltration bids and the ceasefire violation came two days after four militants of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad stormed an army base in Uri Sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four militants were also killed. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. At the meeting convened by Rajnath Singh, Doval and top officials of the ministries of Home and Defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed him on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the LoC, official sources said. The presence of the Foreign Secretary at the meeting is significant as government plans to launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from tomorrow till September 27, the Supreme Court said today while raising the quantum the fixed by the Supervisory Committee by 3000 cusecs. The apex court also gave liberty to both states to file objections against the directions of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee yesterday, asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and 30. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in its award. It also directed the Centre to produce before it on the next date of hearing, the notification indicating that CWMB has been constituted and said, if required, further direction can be passed by the apex court to the CWMB. "How long will the two states keep fighting? This dispute is there from 1894. Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) is an expert body and it needs to be constituted. Just because the problem had not arisen earlier doesn't mean that the problem will never arise in future," the bench told ASG Pinky Anand, appearing for Centre. The apex court took note of the fact that no consensus was reached among the states before the Supervisory Committee and Union Water Resources Secretary and Chairman of the Committee Shashi Shekhar used his power to ask Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu. Senior advocate and noted jurist F S Nariman, appearing for Karnataka, opposed the supervisory committee order and said the state was aggrieved by the order. "We cannot give water to Tamil Nadu from our drinking water supply," Nariman said while opposing any interim arrangement for release of Cauvery water. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, also opposed the directions, saying the supervisory committee has not considered all aspects while passing the order. He said the committee had failed to consider the fact that it was a rain deficient year and the quantum of water to be released has to be done proportionally. "We need water here and now otherwise our Samba crops which are planted in August-September and harvested in December will be destroyed," Naphade said. During the nearly two-hour hearing, both states strongly argued their case, with Karnataka saying it will be difficult to release water to Tamil Nadu for irrigation purposes by cutting drinking water supply to Bengaluru. Tamil Nadu on other hand said it was fallacy on part of Karnataka that it does not want to accept that it was not a normal year and there was 46 per cent deficient rainfall. Nariman urged the bench to either refer back the matter to the Supervisory Committee for proper consideration of all facts or let Tamil Nadu file a petition raising objection to the committee's decision, which was a 'pro tem' (temporary) arrangment till the CWMB was constituted. He said as per the CWDT award, Karnataka was asked to release 192 TMC of Cauvery water every year but the monthly release of water was tentative depending on various factors. The senior lawyer further said if Karnataka was asked to supply more water to Tamil Nadu, it will have serious consequences. Naphade contended that Tamil Nadu needed water before October 15 or the Samba crop in the state will be affected and said "there can't be a camel-like approach that you consume water now and use it later". "The Supervisory Committee doesn't know its job. We are aggrieved by the order of the committee. There has to be seasonal allocation," he said. To this, the bench said "you (Karnataka) are aggrieved by Supervisory Committee's order which has suggested some figure and they (Tamil Nadu) are aggrieved. We are also aggrieved. Centre has not constituted the board which should have been constituted and a regulatory committee should have been constituted under the board for effective implementation of tribunal's award". The apex court said it is not disputed by anyone that the board has to be constituted and it is the duty of the Centre to see that Cauvery Water Management Board is constituted within a stipulated time and till then, some interim arrangment can be made. Nariman vehemently opposed the view of the court about an interim management, and said "it will be a wrong order. I have practiced in this court for long. No one is as much senior than me in this court. It will be an erroneous order if any pro tem arrangement is made." To this, the court said "when there is an award, there is monthly allocation of water. There is a perception, and the possibility of reduction and adjustment is always there. That there should not be any pro tem arrangment does not impress us. Whatever you (Nariman) have to say, you can. We will record it but we will go by the jurisdiction as per law. We will record your opposition." On September 12, the apex court had asked both the states to ensure that "law and order" prevails. It had modified its earlier order on sharing of Cauvery water and directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs instead of 15,000 cusecs per day till September 20 to Tamil Nadu. The apex court bench was also critical of the language used in the plea of Karnataka seeking to keep in abeyance the September 5 order asking it to release 15,000 cusecs water per day to Tamil Nadu. US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, as he expressed strong concern over the violence in Kashmir particularly the terror attack on an Indian army base. Kerry met Sharif yesterday on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir and sought American help to resolve the Kashmir issue. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. Later, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence." "The Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions," he said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif asked the "US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India." In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the alleged use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. Sharif alleged that human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to "ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that "if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu & Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities." As a black female veteran, Barbara Phillips represents a group of people whose stories are often under-told. Ms. Phillips, a Dalton resident and retired school teacher, doesnt like the spotlight. But after realizing just how important it is to share her story, she agreed to be part of a partnership between an education class at Dalton State, a class at Morris Innovative High School and the Emery Center to document local black veterans stories. Interviews with the veterans will be conducted by students at the College and Morris, recorded, and donated to the Emery Center, as well as the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. Approximately 15 percent of all veterans are African-American, but only three percent of those stories with the Veterans History Project are African-American, said Josh Pfiester, an assistant professor of education, who is overseeing the project. We need to do something about that. So we came up with this project for my diversity class. This week the students and the veterans met to become acquainted with each other. Interviews will be recorded in October. "Im very excited about this, said Madicyn Jenkins, a student in Dalton States School of Education. Ive never gotten to be part of anything like this. Were giving them a platform to tell their stories, and they can talk forever. Thats not a bad thing. Theyve pushed through a lot of struggles and have a lot to say. Im thankful I get to experience this. Ms. Jenkins knew other races faced adversity, but hearing about it first-hand has been eye-opening. I hope this helps me as a teacher, she said. Ill be able to understand what my students of other races face better, and Ill be able to better teach this part of history. Chloe Babb, also a student at the college, said she had never fully understood some of the struggles blacks had faced, especially as veterans. I feel so honored to be part of this, she said. I am glad to help tell their stories. Ms. Phillips joined the Air Force in 1968 after hearing about her educational opportunities through the military. This is a wonderful project, she said. So many of the Vietnam veterans were mistreated at that time, and they were overlooked. Projects like this make us feel important, like our stories matter. It makes me feel proud to have served and to be representing both female and African-American veterans. Curtis Rivers, director of the Emery Center, is also sharing his story for the project. He is an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. This is a great project, and I think having our stories told is long overdue, Mr. Rivers said. There are so many untold stories. Time has come for countries of the region to join hands in "singling out" Pakistan for spoiling regional peace and stability through terror, and possible boycott of upcoming SAARC Summit in Islamabad should be weighed, Afghan envoy Shaida Mohammad Abdali said today. Calling for regional unity in sending out a strong message to Islamabad, he said terrorism being unleashed has become very lethal and systematic as it is state-sponsored and that there should be zero tolerance to it. Asked whether India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh join hands to boycott the SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November, he said there must be a comprehensive effort by countries of the region and that most of them share views of India and Afghanistan. "We have to make sure that we bring the maximum number of countries and I am sure most of the countries in South Asia are in line with what Afghanistan and India think. Therefore, the effort should be a comprehensive one and one which should include as many (countries) as possible," he told NDTV in an interview. The Afghan envoy said time has come to "single out" the country that spoils unity and regional stability and peace. "Definitely we should single a country that spoils our unity and spoils regional stability and peace and that stops integration and connectivity." Earlier in the day, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and condemned the "cross border attack" in Uri and expressed solidarity with India to eliminate the threat of terrorism. "There must be zero tolerance (towards terrorism). It must end. We have seen the signs of terrorism becoming much more lethal and becoming very systematic. This is a state-sponsored terrorism. It is no more a issue of non-state actors that we have been hearing for a long time. "Now there is ample proof of this as state-sponsored terrorism and, therefore we have to revisit our mechanisms. We have a global war on terror that must be revisited," said Abdali. The Pakistani-origin wife of New York and New Jersey bombings suspect left the US just days before the attacks and authorities are now working with Pakistani and UAE officials to get access to her, media reports said today. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghan-born naturalised US citizen since 2011, had married a Pakistani woman and had made at least three months-long trips to both Pakistan and Afghanistan since 2014. US authorities are working with his wife's home country of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates in order to question the woman about what she might have known about the acts of terror, CNN reported, quoting an unnamed official as saying. His wife, whose name has not been revealed, was able to enter the country but left the US just days before the terrorist attacks her husband is suspected of carrying out. What was his motive? Was he working alone? Why did he make lengthy trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan? These are among the questions that have emerged in the wake of the capture of the man suspected of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, the report said. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said. Authorities believe the "main guy" has been caught but the investigation continues to determine if Rahami had help, the report quoted sources as saying. Though FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr., said there is "no indication" of an active operating terror cell in the New York area, evidence suggests Rahami was not acting alone, sources said. Authorities said Rahami is "directly linked" to bombings on Saturday in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, and he is believed to be connected to pipe bombs found in a backpack Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Rahami was charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose on Monday, according to the Union County (New Jersey) prosecutor's office. Rahami was wounded in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, yesterday. Rahami was identified through a fingerprint, a senior law enforcement official said. Evidence from the cell phone on the pressure cooker also led to Rahami's identification. Rahami first came to the United States in 1995 as a child, after his father arrived seeking asylum, and became a naturalised US citizen in 2011, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed his travel and immigration record. Rahami traveled for long periods to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last five years, officials said. While in Pakistan in July 2011, he married a Pakistani woman. Two years later, in April 2013, he went to Pakistan and remained there until March 2014, visiting Afghanistan before returning to the United States. Upon returning from both visits he told officials he was visiting family, satisfying any concerns immigration officials had at the time. All India National League Party chief S J Inayatullah said the "verdict is a huge victory for Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who has been in pursuit of a legal struggle on the issue," and greeted her for the apex court ruling. Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi chief Velmurugan said his party welcomed the announcement and thanked Jayalalithaa for taking appropriate legal steps to obtain the court order. Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi chief E R Easwaran said the order was a culmination of a long time struggle. He also wanted the authorities to ensure the safety of Tamils in Karnataka. He also wanted Karnataka to ensure safety and security of Tamils living there as protests have begun in some places following the apex court verdictHe said the order has given joy and confidence to lakhs of farmers that now "doing farming is possible in Cauvery Delta districts of Tamil Nadu." He wanted the Centre to take immediate steps for setting up CMB. Welcoming the ruling, CPI(M) State Secretary G Ramakrishnan and CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan urged the Centre to implement the order without any delay. Ramakrishnan said 6,000 cusecs would not be sufficient and that at least 12,000 cusecs should be released till the month end. MDMK chief Vaiko said the Apex Court through its order has upheld the rights of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery waters. He too demanded the Centre immediately constitute Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority. Political parties and farmers in Tamil Nadu today termed as historic, the Supreme Court verdict directing the Centre to constitute Cauvery Management Board and urged the Union government to set up the body sans delay.Chief Minister Jayalalithaa also came in for praise for her pursuit of legal measures over the Cauvery issue, which eventually led to the ruling. President of Tamil Nadu All Farmers' Federations, P R Pandian said "I welcome the verdict whole heartedly, all the farmers are very happy.""We thank Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the legal measures she undertook to secure the Apex Court verdict," he told PTI,adding the ruling also comes after a slew of protests over several years by Tamil Nadu farmers, supported by all sections of people, political parties and traders.He said farmers are now confident that the Cauvery Board would order release of water to ryots in accordance with the needs and without any political interference.Farmers wing of CPI(M), Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam urged the Centre to implement the order without delay and the state government to make efforts to get additional quantum of water as 6,000 cusecs will not be sufficient.PMK chief Ramadoss said, "though the Supreme Court direction to release 6000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu per day from tomorrow till September 27 is not sufficient, the ruling to constitute CMB is historic and we welcome it whole heartedly." The Coast Guard Karnataka has undertaken an extensive search for fisherman Hameed, who has been missing since Monday. The fishing boat Fathima that had ventured into the sea with six fishermen had capsized after hitting a rock near breakwater while returning to Old Port on Monday.Of the six persons on board the Fathima, five fishermen were rescued by a pilot boat belonging to Bilal from Bengre. According to the available information, the Coastal Security Police (CSP), Mangaluru, informed the Coast Guard Karnataka about the boat sinking at around 9.30 pm. The Coast Guard Karnataka immediately diverted its ship, ICGS Amartya, from the designated patrol area for the search and rescue of the missing fisherman. The Indian Coast Guard ship which rushed to the site started the search operation. Although the mouth of the Old Port harbour in Mangaluru is unlit and the surrounding areas have shallow water and rocky terrain, the ship continued its search by precise manoeuvres and navigation. To augment the search efforts, Gemini boat was lowered by the ship. The search operation continued throughout the night. To supplement the search efforts, the Coast Guard hovercraft H-196 was tasked with the first light on Tuesday. The hovercraft, with its amphibious capabilities, searched the creeks and shallow areas. Landing parties, equipped with binoculars and maps, were also dispatched from the hovercraft to search along the coast and the adjacent sea areas. The efforts to locate the fisherman are in progress by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has been repeatedly urging the fishing community to promptly report any life-threatening incident at sea so that search and rescue units can be deployed without loss of time. The assistance from the Indian Coast Guard can be sought round-the-clock on toll free number: 1554. The other emergency numbers are: 2405269 and 2405270. In case of distress, details like GPS position, type of emergency, colour of boat and number of crew should be intimated for the timely assistance. Protests erupted in the Cauvery basin area soon after news of the Supreme Court order over the Cauvery River water sharing issue came out on Tuesday. Farmers and pro-Kannada activists took to the streets in Maddur, Mandya, Srirangapatna, Mysuru and other parts of the districts in the evening. Despite opposition from Cauvery Hitharakshana Samithi president G Madegowda to peoples representatives resigning, almost all representatives of Mandya district have offered to resign if it helps solve the problem. Mandya MP C S Puttaraju of the JD(S) offered to resign and also tendered his resignation to Deputy Commissioner S Ziaullah and handed over the keys of his car, symbolically. He said, he would formally tender his resignation to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha later. MLAs follow suit Meanwhile, Melkote MLA K S Puttannaiah of Sarvodaya Party, who is away in Hyderabad, has also offered to resign. JD(S) MLAs D C Thamanna of Maddur, and Narayana Gowda of K R Pet, MLC of the JD(S) N Appajigowda and Ambareesh of the Congress also offered to resign in protest against injustice meted out to farmers and residents of the region. JD(S) rebel MLAs N Chaluvarayaswamy of Nagamangala and Ramesh Bandisiddegowda of Srirangapatna also have offered to resign if the Cauvery Hitharakshana Samithi hints at it. Congress MLA of Malavalli P M Narendraswamy, also said, he was also ready for any sacrifice for the welfare of the people of the district. Since the protests began in the region on September 5, security arrangements have been tightened. Even when Bengaluru witnessed violent protests and arson, only a few stray incidents were reported in the region. However, since Monday, security was further strengthened. Some persons had been taken into custody on Monday as a precaution and were let off with warnings against staging protests. But protests were held in most of the towns in the region, albeit peacefully. The blockade of the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway was also cleared after some time. Decision today The engineers of the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam said they would not release water from the KRS dam till they receive directions from the state government. The government is expected to take a decision on Wednesday after holding a Cabinet meeting, followed by an all-party meeting. The release of water had been stopped on Monday afternoon, after fulfilling the earlier Supreme Court order of releasing 12,000 cusecs till September 20. The water released on September 19 (Monday) would have reached Biligundlu point on Tuesday. However, 2,000 cusecs of water continued to be released from Kabini on Tuesday. Just two days after deadly terror attack on an army installation in Uri, two encounters broke out between infiltrating militants and security forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir on Tuesday. While unconfirmed reports said 10 militants and a solider have been killed in the encounters so far, officials didnt confirm. Defence spokesman Col S D Goswami said, Our troops deployed in Uri sector, reacting to a suspicious movement intercepted a group of terrorists near the LoC and foiled an infiltration bid. Another infiltration bid was foiled in Naugam sector (Kupwara). Operations are in progress, he said without elaborating further. However, unconfirmed reports said a group of infiltrators was beaten back at Lachipora village, a few kilometres away from the armys 12 Brigade headquarters in Uri where Sundays attack killed 18 soldiers. In the gunfire exchange, 10 intruders were shot dead by Armys 10 Dogra unit while the operation is still on, reports said. A senior police officer wishing anonymity said the encounter started after Pakistani troopers fired on Indian posts along the LoC at Kamalkote in Uri sector. In the retaliatory action by the Indian Army, some causalities have happened on the other side of the LoC. It was very difficult to confirm how many militants were killed in the encounter, he said. As the encounter at Uri was underway, another encounter took place at Neeriyan forest area in Nowgam sector of Handwara in Kupwara district between infiltrators and the armys 20 Dogra unit. According to sources, one solider identified as havaldar Madan Lal was killed in the encounter which was going on till late in the evening. The sources said that there could be four to five militants hiding in the area. Following the outbreak of gunfights along the LoC areas, army units launched massive searches in Tangdar, Karnah, Uri, Nowgam and other areas close to LoC. The Army has begun the process of reviewing the perimeter security of its installations following the Uri attack, as there is an internal admission on the security lapse. While the top brass of the Army is in constant dialogue with the political leadership on what could be Indias response to the deadly terror strike in the garrison town of north Kashmir, field commanders are putting together the missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to figure out how the terrorists entered the fortified camp and where the standard operating procedure was violated. The attack on the 12 Infantry Brigade headquarters came at a time when it was vulnerable as one battalion (10 Dogra) was on its way out and its replacement battalion (6 Bihar) had just entered the transit camp. There is always some confusion in command and control during such transit moments, Army sources said. A security audit is on to find out the SOP violations, if any, which gave an advantage to the terrorists. The geography of the Army camp makes it possible for Pakistan to keep it under constant surveillance. As per initial reports reaching the Army headquarters, some of the violations include laxity in the guard duty, asking the troops to sleep in the tents even though brick and mortar accommodations were available and pitching the tents next to a fuel dump. The terrorists fired incendiary ammunition along with automatic fire of small arms that led to army tents catching fire. There have been a total of 17 Army fatal casualties. Of these, 13-14 casualties have been due to these tents having caught fire, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, director general of military operations had stated here on Sunday. One of the top priorities of the commanders is to boost the perimeter security of army installations in Jammu and Kashmir as the infiltration activities are on a high compared to the last couple of years. Pakistans efforts to sneak in more infiltrators and terrorists are likely to continue to for at least another two months till it starts snowing in Kashmir blocking the passes in Pir Panjal. For instance between January and June, 2016, as many as 92 terrorists were killed and there were 54 infiltration attempts. The corresponding figures for 2015 were 42 and 33 respectively. All parameters are on the rise this year, said a source. India is bracing to turn the tables on Pakistan on the issue of human rights violations at the United Nations General Assembly. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to use his speech on Wednesday to rake up the Kashmir issue. New Delhi anticipates that Sharif will accuse India of committing atrocities and violating human rights during the recent crackdown on protesters in the Valley. New Delhi will use External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs address to the UNGA next week to dismiss the accusations against Indian Army, paramilitary forces and police in Jammu and Kashmir. Sushma will also turn the tables on Islamabad, accusing Pakistans civil and military establishments of repression and human rights violation in Balochistan and also in Gilgit-Baltistan and other parts of Kashmir under illegal occupation, sources told DH. Pakistan has been running a global campaign against India ever since protests erupted in Kashmir after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces in July. Sources in New Delhi said the Ministry of External Affairs had already prepared an elaborate plan to put forward Indias perspective to the global debate on human rights during the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, in addition to countering the propaganda by Pakistan. India will continue to emphasise that discussions on human rights at the UN should be held with a constructive approach, according to a document prepared by the ministry. New Delhi is also likely to argue that the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights should refrain from undermining sovereignty of the nations through intrusive approaches. India recently rejected the request of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for allowing him or his representatives to visit Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi rather argued that sustained anti-India terrorism launched from Pakistan had aggravated the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Thousands gathered on Tuesday to bid adieu to the four jawans from Uttar Pradesh, who were among those martyred in Sundays terrorist attack on Army camp at Uri. According to reports, the bodies of the martyrs Rajesh Kumar Yadav, Harendra Yadav, Rajesh Singh and Ganesh Shankar were consigned to flames at their respective villages amid chanting of anti-Pakistan slogans. The martyrs were given the ceremonial gun salute. Reports said that hundreds joined the funeral procession of Lance Naik Rajesh Kumar Yadav in Ballia district. The people shouted slogans against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and asked the Centre to give a befitting reply to Pakistan. Rajesh was cremated on the banks of the Ganga at Dubahar. Similar scenes were witnessed at the funeral processions of Harnedra Yadav in Ghazipur, Rajesh Singh in Jaunpur and Ganesh Shankar in Sant Kabir Nagar district in the state. Harendras septuagenarian father chanted Bharat Mata Ki Jai, when his body arrived at the village. The government must teach Pakistan a lesson, he said, even as tears welled up in his eyes. People vied with each other to carry the coffins of the martyrs to the cremation grounds.The bodies of the martyrs reached their native villages on Monday night from Varanasi. People thronged the homes of the martyrs to pay their respect. Senior officials of the state government and army officers were also present at the funeral.Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced Rs 20 lakh each to the next of the kin of the martyrs. In a sudden development, the district judge who awarded life imprisonment to controversial RJD leader Mohammad Shahabuddin in the twin murder case, was on Tuesday transferred from Siwan to Patna. The move comes barely within 10 days of Shahabuddin being released from jail on bail. The district and sessions judge Ajay Kumar Srivastava, had in December 2015 awarded life term to the former Siwan MP for his involvement in the killing of two sons of a local trader Chandrakeshwar Prasad. The judge had also held three other accused Raj Kumar Shah, Sheikh Aslam and Arif Hussain, all aides of Shahabuddin guilty of the same offence and awarded them life term. The four accused were found guilty under Sections 302, 364A, 201 and 120 B. The judgement was delivered more than 11 years after the gruesome incident took place in Siwan in 2004. The then RJD MPs henchmen reportedly abducted three sons of Prasad and brought them to Pratappur to amicably settle a land dispute case. The two sons of Prasad Satish and Girish were bathed in acid reportedly in the presence of the parliamentarian. As a result, both of them died. According to the FIR lodged, the MPs henchmen cut their bodies into pieces. Incidentally, the third son Rajesh Roshan managed to flee from there but he was subsequently killed by Shahabuddins men in 2014 in Siwan district. It was the murder case of Satish and Girish in which the high court granted bail to Shahabuddin on September 7 and he was released from jail on September 10. According to sources, the judge in view of the prevailing situation had reportedly requested for his transfer, following which he has now been shifted to Patna as the district and sessions judge. The ruling party JD (U) conceded that fear psychosis prevailed in and around Siwan following Shahabuddins release from jail. The report from Siwan district magistrate and the SP corroborates the fact that a reign of terror prevails in Siwan following the release of incarcerated RJD leader. But still the judge need not fear, said JD (U) spokesperson Ajay Alok. A senior IPS officer from Rajasthan, who was shunted out of mid-career training from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad on Monday, has failed to report for duty at the Police Headquarters in Jaipur. Additional Director General Indu Kumar Bhushan was forcibly put on board a Delhi-bound flight on Monday after he reportedly argued with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan during a question-and-answer session at the academy. Rajasthan Director General of Police Manoj Kumar Bhatt told DH: I received a phone call from academy Director Aruna Bahuguna on Monday afternoon and she mentioned about Indu Kumars misbehaviour. The director informed me that they were sending him back to Jaipur. But so far I have not received any information from Indu Kumar and also he has not reported at the Police Headquarters in Jaipur till Tuesday evening. We have sought a detailed report from the academy and we will assess the nature of his misconduct. If he is found guilty, the department will take action against him, Bhatt added. The mid-term programme is mandatory for all IPS officers. Indu Kumar, who was among 40-odd officers undergoing the training entered into a verbal duel with Narasimhan, who was a former IB chief, regarding the misuse of Right to Information Act. After Narasimhan completed his inaugural speech, Indu Kumar wanted to know why the governor during his speech called RTI activists as mafia. According to sources, the argument continued for almost eight minutes. He did not relent even after the governors ADC tried to pacify him. A former Delhi policemans son brutally stabbed a schoolteacher 22 times on Tuesday, after she spurned his advances. Surendra Singh had been stalking Karuna Kumar for more than a year. The incident once again shamed the capital as none of the passersby on the busy road came forward to rescue the victim, who collapsed even as she tried to save herself. Singh, 34, stabbed Karuna, 21, for around two-and-a-half minutes until she lay unconscious. In the CCTV footage of the incident, Surendra was seen holding the woman with one hand and plunging the scissors with the other. After a couple of blows, Karuna was seen falling on the ground with the impact. This, however, did not stop the assailant as he continued his frenzied stabbing. A man was seen moving towards them to save the victim but soon backed off fearing attack on him. Surendra was later chased by people, beaten up and handed over to the police. Karuna was rushed to a trauma centre in Civil Lines, where she was declared brought dead. The gruesome murder evoked sharp reactions. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia blamed the Delhi Police for attacks on women. Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-yr old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizens security than harassing AAP MLAs (sic), he tweeted, accusing the police controlled by the Central government of losing sight of its priorities. Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal also tweeted on the gruesome murder, recalling the Anand Parbat murder last year in which a woman named Meenakshi was stabbed by a neighbour. Another woman has been stabbed 22 times to death. Our society and systems hollowness stands exposed. Shameful, she tweeted in Hindi. Karuna was a teacher at Novel Riches School and was on her way to school with her cousin Neha when Surendra attacked her with a pair of scissors, near Labour Chowk in North Delhis Burari around 9 am. Surendra owns a shop in Rohini and is going through divorce proceedings. He has two children. Karunas family members said that Surendra had been troubling Karuna for the last one-and-a-half years, and they had lodged a police complaint about five months back. Subsequently, both the families had reached a compromise. Surendra had met Karuna at a computer centre where she was a student and the former a tutor. This crime comes close on the heels of a 32-year-old married woman being stabbed to death, allegedly by her lover, on Sunday. The culprit then committed suicide in southwest Delhi's Inderpuri area. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to rejig the AICC, making way for Rahul to work side-by-side with party veterans, a much anticipated organisational change since the Lok Sabha debacle. Congress sources said the re-shuffle of the party organisation could be done as early as next month, soon after the Shradhh period, considered inauspicious, comes to an end on September 30. Earlier, Rahul was expected to be appointed as Congress president in August, but the change of guard at AICC took a back seat after Sonia Gandhi took ill during a road show in Varanasi. The 69-year-old Congress president fractured her left shoulder and had to undergo a surgery. Sonia, who also was suffering from high fever, had been advised complete rest till September end. What has raised the hopes of the Congress members is the fact that Sonia is slowly getting back to work. She has started sending signed notes and advisories to senior leaders. I have myself got three notes from her regarding the states I am in-charge of, a senior AICC general secretary said. Congress leaders believe Rahul Gandhi could be elevated to the post of AICC president through a resolution of the Congress Working Committee some time during the Winter Session of Parliament. The decision could be ratified at an AICC plenary expected to be convened in Delhi to coincide with the 99th birth anniversary celebrations of late prime minister Indira Gandhi. The Congress is also expected to take a call on drafting Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahuls younger sister, for the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh. There have been demands from the Congress leaders and workers alike on giving her a more active role in politics, beyond the family pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli. Priyanka has been quietly working behind the scenes by giving strategic inputs to the party leaders and overseeing the Uttar Pradesh campaign. It is a decision that is best left to the family, AICC spokesperson R P N Singh said when asked about Priyankas role in the Congress. The Congress leadership believes there was not enough reason for former Karnataka Minister K J George to resign, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said on Tuesday, hinting at his (Georges) likely return to the Siddaramaiah Cabinet. As far as we are concerned, merely a complaint or statement by a person who commits suicide is not enough reason for anyone to resign, the party general secretary in charge of Karnataka affairs said here. Singh was asked if the Congress leadership has approved the reinstatement of George in the wake of Karnataka CID, earlier this month, giving a clean chit to him and two senior police officers in connection with the suicide of DySP M K Ganapathi. There was no reason for him (George) to resign in the first place, but on his personal thing he resigned. As far as the high command is concerned, there is nothing against George, he said. Asked if the Party high command had given green signal for the re-entry of George, Singh said, That is for the chief minister to decide. It is the prerogative of the chief minister. We do not interfere in these matters. George had resigned on July 18, after a court directed the police to register an FIR against him and two police officers in connection with the matter. On the criticism in some quarters that Siddaramaiah did not handle the situation well on September 12, when Bengaluru witnessed large-scale violence over the Cauvery water-sharing row with Tamil Nadu, Singh admitted that the government was not very stringent that day. The agitation is by farmers. No government, when its a sensitive issue of water, can be seen to be aggressively taking action against genuine demands of farmers. So, the Karnataka government was sort of not very stringent on the first day. So, some violence did happen. The second day onwards, it was controlled, he said. Officials of the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd are hopeful that the National Green Tribunal, Delhi, which is scheduled to hear a case pertaining to the Yettinahole project on Wednesday, will rule in favour of Karnataka. The case pertains to an application filed by environmentalists before the NGT, Chennai. They have contended that the government has not sought the required environmental clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The greens had moved the NGT based on a complaint filed by an RFO that trees were being felled illegally in the proposed project site. The Union Urban Development Ministry on Tuesday announced another set of 27 cities to be developed as smart cities, including four from Karnataka Hubballi-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru. The number of cities in the state to be developed under the Centrally sponsored Smart Cities Mission now stands at six. Davangere and Belagavi were selected under the scheme in January. The 27 cities announced by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu include Prime Minister Narendra Modis Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi and popular pilgrim and tourism destinations Amritsar, Ujjain, Tirupati, Agra, Nashik, Madurai, Thanjavur and Ajmer. These new batch of smart cities are from 12 states five from Maharashtra, four each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Nagaland and Sikkim. Under the Smart Cities Mission, the Urban Development Ministry provides Rs 500 crore for each city over five years with the respective states making a matching contribution. The rest of the resources will come from loans, public-private partnerships, convergence of various schemes of the Central and state governments, besides the own resources of the urban local bodies. The Urban Development Ministry has tied up with multilateral lending agencies DFID of the United Kingdom and JICA who have committed $500 million each. Similarly, the ADB and the World Bank have committed $1 billion. The New Development Bank (BRICS Bank) has proposed to provide finance for projects up to $500 million per city, said the minister. India plans to have 100 such cities by 2022. With the announcement of the third list, the total number of cities selected under the Smart Cities Mission is 60. Earlier, the Urban Development Ministry had announced the list of 33 cities in two batches (20 in January and 13 in May). Another 40 cities will be selected in January next year, Naidu said. He said the 27 cities on the third list had proposed an investment of Rs 66,883 crore, including Rs 42,524 crore under area-based development and another Rs 11,379 crore for technology-based pan-city solutions that benefit all the citizens of the respective cities. The total investment proposed by the 60 cities selected so far is Rs 1,44,742 crore.Claiming that the execution of projects under the Mission was running ahead of schedule, he said so far 82 different projects had been implemented. Motorists can expect some traffic diversions and right turns soon at the Central Silk Board junction as the Urban Development Department (UDD) and traffic police are trying various methods to decongest the area. A team of engineers and traffic police officials headed by Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, N Manjunath Prasad, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner and Abhishek Goyal, DCP Traffic (East) visited the junction on Tuesday morning to assess the traffic congestion. They also chalked out some short- and long-term traffic solutions to ease traffic. Jain told DH that there are 12 high density traffic corridors in the city like the Central Silk Board to Vellara Junction, Ballari Road and Mysuru Road which need attention. Last week, we visited the Outer Ring Road and today we visited Central Silk Board. Some short-term measures were suggested immediate implementation. We also listed some long-term infrastructure improvement measures which will be planned in detail with financial estimates. They include road-widening, shifting of bus stops, construction of underpasses and flyovers, he said. U-turn line Adding to this, Prasad said: We found that every 200 metres from Electronics City to Vellara Junction, there are hindrances left turn, right turn, U- turn or a traffic signal. We are planning to have a dedicated line for U-turn so that traffic is not stopped anywhere. Trial runs will be made at various stretches to assess the field situation before making them permanent. Some of the short-term solutions suggested for Central Silk Board include allowing free U-turn at some stretches like Kudlu Gate, Adugodi and Naganapalya junctions. They also decided to stop free right turns and left turns at some junctions that affect free flow. The traffic police were also directed to reduce the waiting period at traffic signals and even remove some if possible to reduce congestion. This was apart from the already planned long-term solutions, which the Bangalore Development Authority and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) are working on. The two departments are integrating the flyover and the Metro on cost-sharing basis. The Congress and the BJP appear to be making an aggressive bid to appropriate the legacy of 18th century freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna. The ruling Congress on Tuesday decided to take up development of Sangolli in Belagavi district, the birthplace of Rayanna. A sainik school, a community hall, a library and Yatri Nivas will be constructed there. Besides, an expert committee will soon be constituted to chalk out a plan for this purpose. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Sangolli Rayanna Development Authority chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The chief ministers move to take up development of Sangolli has come in the wake of BJP leader K S Eshwarappa forming the Sangolli brigade recently. The BJP leader has been trying to consolidate the support of backward classes, especially Kuruba community, to which Rayanna belongs. Though a section of state BJP leaders is opposing the brigade, the party has chosen not to stop Eshwarappa from the initiative. Ever since Siddaramaiah became the chief minister, he has been trying to project himself as the leader of the backward classes. His adversaries in the ruling party had once complained to the high command, accusing him of promoting officials belonging to his community in the government. Kurubas form the third largest community in the state. Congress sources said that Eshwarappas efforts to emerge as an alternative backward classes leader have made Siddaramaiah and his followers jittery. Hence, the chief minister recently decided to form the Sangolli Rayanna Development Authority. When contacted, Eshwarappa said he was happy that the government had realised the need for developing Sangolli. I dont think there is a need for forming an expert committee to decide how to develop Sangolli. The government should take immediate steps to develop the place where Rayanna was hanged, he added. Congress leader Ramachandrappa said, Eshwarappa has openly declared that he has formed Sangolli brigade for political reasons. But there is no political motive behind the decision to development Sangolli, he added. After dilly-dallying for nearly two years, the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) has agreed to part with around four acres of land in different patches for widening of HMT Road in Jalahalli, north Bengaluru. The company has agreed to the compensation of 1.65 times the guidance value. An acre costs Rs 2.7 crore under the current guidance value, and the company has asked the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to pay Rs 12 crore immediately. The High Court, which is hearing a Miscellaneous First Appeal (MFA) by the BBMP, directed the civic body to pay the sum within four weeks. In March 2014, the BBMP started the project to widen HMT Road till MK Mathulla Stadium from the existing 40 feet to 80 feet, and requested the company to part with 8,239 square metres of land. The BBMP offered the Transferrable Development Rights (TDR) certificate in lieu of compensation, but the HMT sought monetary compensation. The civic body expressed its inability, saying it was already incurring a huge expenditure to develop the road and asked the company to accept the TDR certificate. The BBMP then made attempts to widen the road by bringing in the machinery, but the HMT showed resistance and filed an original suit before the City Civil Court which directed both the parties to maintain status quo. The civic body later filed the MFA in the High Court against the lower courts order. During the hearing in the High Court, it emerged that the BBMP had violated building bye-laws by sanctioning the plan of several apartments in the vicinity of the road-widening project without verifying the width of the road. Justice A N Venugopala Gowda, who is hearing the matter, censured the BBMP and pointed out to its commissioner about the agony faced by the general public. The judge remarked that several developmental works were delayed because of lack of co-ordination and proper planning and had led to traffic congestion and wastage of man-hours, material resources and peoples time. It also came to the fore that developmental works were hampered on account of ad interim orders passed by the courts. The judge has sought details of all the ad interim orders that have put developmental projects on hold. The next hearing is on October 17, 2016. Following complaints of encroachment of Varthur lake, a team of officials from Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) on Tuesday inspected the area. BDA is the custodian of Varthur lake. A BDA officials told DH that there was encroachment at one of the water overflow channels downstream of the lake. Officials, however, said the encroached area fell under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits. Mallikarjun, a BDA engineers told local residents who had complained about the encroachment, to submit a memorandum to the BBMP. To know the extent of encroachment, a survey is being carried out by the revenue department. Once the survey report is with us, we will take necessary action against the encroachers, Mallikarjun said, referring to lake encroachment even in the upstream. Local residents had earlier complained to the BDA that a few labourers have been filling mud downstream of the lake and undertaking excavation work in the middle of the night for the last 15 days. They suspected that an apartment complex being undertaken by a private real estate agency could be involved in the encroachment. Srinivas G, a resident said: "The lake is already in a pathetic state. The upstream areas at the water body have turned into a dump yard with heaps of solid waste. The downstream part is encroached. Strict action needs to be taken against the encroachers." The locals said that earlier, the lake measured about 450 acres and in recent years, the water body has shrunk owing to the negligent attitude of the authorities despite encroachments taking place. The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider a plea by Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.Pac) to direct Karnataka to ensure drinking water needs of Bengaluru and Cauvery basin districts. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit, however, fixed no date for the hearing the application filed by the group. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the B.Pac, said the plea was required to be heard to decide who has the better right to water. It is drinking requirement or irrigation purpose, he submitted. Citizens' right to drinking water is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution, he stated and sought listing of the matter. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, representing Tamil Nadu, objected to Salve's request, contending we don't want to hear another plea on behalf of Karnataka. How can he argue when the matter is not even list, he said. To this, Salve said his plea for now was only for the listing of the application. The bench, however, said it will consider the matter after hearing both the states. Senior advocate Fali S Nariman, appearing for Karnataka, submitted that the court should first decide on the pending petition challenging the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal's final award. In an impleading application, B.Pac has contended that there was an alarming situation in Bengaluru with over one crore population, which required urgent attention of the relevant authorities. It urged the Apex court to ensure that the water requirements of Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mandya were fully met to the extent of 26 tmcft in the present water year of 2016-17 from the reservoirs in Karnataka. Almost everybody has heard of the United Nations. But how many people know what it actually does? Or how it works? Or why, as world leaders gather to kick off the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, the institution has struggled to live up to the promise of its founders: making the world a better, more peaceful place? Birth of the United Nations When, Where and Why: The UN Charter was signed at a conference in San Francisco in June 1945 led by four countries: Britain, China, the Soviet Union and the United States. When the charter went into effect on Oct 24 of that year, a global war had just ended. Much of Africa and Asia was still ruled by colonial powers. After fierce negotiations, 50 nations agreed to a charter that begins, We the peoples of the United Nations. Why is that opening line notable? Because today, the UN can, to some, seem to serve the narrow national interests of its 193 member countries especially the most powerful ones and not ordinary citizens. These parochial priorities can stand in the way of fulfilling the first two pledges of the charter: to end the scourge of war and to regain faith in fundamental human rights. High Ideals on Human Rights: In 1948, the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These include the right to not be enslaved, the right to free expression and the right to seek from other countries asylum from persecution. However, many of the rights expressed to education, to equal pay for equal work, to nationality remain unrealised. General Assembly A Prominent Stage, Limited Powers: Each fall, the opening session of the UN General Assembly becomes the stage where presidents and prime ministers give speeches that can be soaring or cliched or they can deliver long, incoherent tirades, such as the one given by Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan strongman, in 2009. The event offers plenty of star power, but critics contend that it is little more than a glorified gabfest. For the rest of the session, the General Assembly is the arena where largely symbolic diplomatic jousts are won and lost. Hundreds of resolutions are introduced annually. While some of them earn a great deal of attention like one in 1975 that equated Zionism with racism they are not legally binding. In principle, nations small and large, rich and poor, have equal voice in the assembly, with each country getting one vote. But the genuine power resides elsewhere. Security Council Powerful but Often Paralysed: The 15-member Security Council is by far the most powerful arm of the United Nations. It can impose sanctions, as it did against Iran over its nuclear programme, and authorise military intervention, as it did against Libya in 2011. Critics say it is also the most anachronistic part of the organisation. Its five permanent members are the victors of World War II: the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia. The other 10 members are elected for two-year terms, with seats set aside for different regions of the world. Efforts to expand the permanent membership of the SC to include powers that have emerged since 1945 such as India, Japan and Germany have been stymied. For every country that vies for a seat, rivals seek to block it. Any member of the permanent five or the P5, for short can veto any measure, and each has regularly used this power to protect either itself or allies. Since 1990, the United States has cast a veto on council resolutions 16 times, many concerning Israeli-Palestinian relations. Russia has done so 13 times, including four times over Syria. The charter does allow the GA to act if, because of a veto, international peace and security are threatened. But in reality, it is rarely done. Problems keeping the peace The SCs job is to maintain international peace. Its ability to do so has been severely constrained in recent years, in large part because of bitter divisions between Russia and the West. The Council has been feckless in the face of major conflicts, particularly those in which permanent members have a stake. Most recently, its starkest failure has been the handling of the conflict in Syria, with Russia backing the government of President Bashar Assad, and the United States, Britain and France supporting some opposition groups. The council has not only failed to halt the fighting but has also been unable to ensure the delivery of food aid and the safety of medical workers. Also, North Korea, long an ally of China, has repeatedly ignored UN prohibitions against conducting nuclear tests. Secretary-General Global Reach, Vague Role: The charter is vague in defining the duties of the secretary-general, the United Nations top official. He or she is expected to show no favouritism to any particular country, but the office is largely dependent on the funding and goodwill of the most powerful nations. The SC notably the P5 chooses the secretary-general, by secret ballot, to serve a maximum of two five-year terms. This process makes it difficult for the role to be independent of the P5s influence. The secretary-general has no army to deploy, but what the position does enjoy is a bully pulpit. If the officeholder is perceived as being independent, he or she is often the only person in the world who can call warring parties to the peace table. The 10-year tenure of the current secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has repeatedly revealed the limits of the offices authority. For example, Ban had been persuaded for two years in a row to keep powerful countries off a list of those whose military forces had killed and maimed children. Since 1946, eight have held the position of secretary-general. All have been men. Bans successor will be chosen this fall. Whats next? There can be five questions for the UNs future. No matter who takes over as secretary-general on Jan 1, he or she will inherit a body facing the unenviable task of demonstrating the United Nations relevance in a world confronting challenges that were inconceivable 70 years ago. Here are some of the questions that will determine whether the organisations influence diminishes or grows: a) Can the Security Council take action against countries that flout international humanitarian law? And can the P5 members of the council look beyond their own narrow interests to find ways to end the scourge of war? b) Can peacekeeping operations be repaired so the protection of civilians is ensured? c) Can the United Nations persuade countries to come up with new ways to handle the new reality of mass migration? d) Can the secretary-general persuade countries to keep their promise to curb carbon emissions and to help those suffering from the consequences of climate change? e) Can the United Nations get closer to achieving its founding mandate, to make the world a better, more peaceful place? 10 Years Later, Studio Gang's Latest Hyde Park Tower Is Finally Happening By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 19, 2016 6:41PM Studio Gang Architects Update, 5:15 p.m.: Above is the very latest rendering of Solstice on the Park, courtesy of Studio Gang. Original: Were starting to think of Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects as the Chance the Rapper of local architecture: arguably flirting with overexposure but, being such fans, we couldnt care less. News came this week regarding a couple of Gang-designed projects, the most exciting of which is a start date for the long-discussed Solstice on the Park tower in Hyde Park. As reported by Hyde Park Herald and noted by Curbed Chicago, construction on the 26-story apartment building is slated to begin on Oct. 3. The tower was designed way back in 2006, and as Curbed notes, it has since undergone a few conceptual transformations. Previous plans also called for a hotel to be included, along with 145 rental units. The hotel concept has been scrapped, however, and the rentals will number 250. As for the look, well, that might actually still be up in the air, too (no pun intended), as a couple of different renderingswith slight variationshave been floated over the years. (Studio Gang Architects did not immediately return request for comment.) According to the Herald, the building will stand at 1634 E. 56th St. and developers said the project will take nearly two years to complete. Elsewhere in Chicago, the Gang-designed riverside Vista skyscraper broke ground earlier this month downtown; and the splashy new North Residential Commons dorm, also designed by the firm, was opened to students over the weekend. Look out: it wont be long before those undulating wavy forms become the signature look of the citywhich, like we said, is cool with us. [H/T Curbed] Chicago's Ex-Top Cop Says He Wouldn't Have Released Laquan McDonald Shooting Video By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 19, 2016 7:44PM While speaking on the record at a City Club of Chicago luncheon this afternoon, former CPD Supt. Garry McCarthy told the crowd that he would not have released the video of the shooting death of Laquan McDonald had it been up to him. He said that because it was part of an ongoing investigation, the footage should have remained out of public view. If I was asked, and I was not, I would have recommended to not release the Laquan McDonald video, because the case was still pending, McCarthy said. He also partially defended the officers who are accused of having gone fetal. Why would you stop anyone if youre a police officer today in Chicago? McCarthy asked. Officers are getting mixed messages on how to do their job. According to analysis by FiveThirtyEight, there was a sharp decline in arrest following the release of the video. Given that Mayor Rahm Emanuel continues to face mountains of political fallout from releasing the video as late as he didover a year after the shooting, just as officer Jason Van Dyke was to be charged with murderreaction expectedly ranged from alarmed to indignant. Maybe it's best that Garry McCarthy got fired and would be better if he shut up It's Louis You Guys (@StevensBoudreau) September 19, 2016 Why would you stop anyone if youre a police officer today in Chicago? - ex Supt Garry McCarthy Oh I dont know, cuz it's UR FUCKIN' job? Pin Head (@PiercedSkull) September 19, 2016 Video of the speech, which can be seen above, is a curious watch. At points, McCarthy does indeed acknowledge the legitimate grounds for distrust toward police that exist in black communities. We have a well-deserved bad reputation in the African-American community... One of the things Ive done is acknowledged the history, he said, saying that white police officers were guilty of having enforced segregationist laws. But he nonetheless concludes that making the McDonald video public would not be in any way corrective. Just because people want it, doesn't mean it's a good idea, he said. Releasing videos isn't going to build trust. McDonald was shot 16 times in October 2014. Widespread protests did indeed follow after the dashcam footage was made public, of coursebut it was the contents of the video and delayed release that sparked outrage, not the release itself. Video appears to show McDonald walking away from police as before he is fired upon. [H/T Sun-Times] At OpenWorld 2016, Oracle Unveils Adaptive Intelligent Cloud Applications SAN FRANCISCO At Oracle's OpenWorld user conference, executives illustrated the company's ongoing commitment to cloud computing, as they outlined strategies for further growth while unveiling self-learning software-as-a-service (SaaS) products designed to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and promote innovation within the enterprise. Mark Hurd, chief executive officer of Oracle, took the stage on Monday morning to reiterate the advantages of moving business operations into the cloud. "This is not a fad, it is a generational shift," Hurd told attendees during his keynote, echoing sentiments he expressed during last year's event. "If all the cloud did was cost less, and you got the exact same thing, everybody would do it. If you told the CEO, 'I have a really big idea: We can do everything exactly the same, no change, but it just costs 30 percent less, what do you think the CEO would say? 'Yes, lets do it tonight!'" But that is not the only benefit, Hurd pointed out. "You actually get more. The environment's more secure, it's more reliable, it's more extensible, it's easier to use. And guess what comes with it? All of the innovation shifts from your [information technology] budget to the cloud provider's [research and development] budget. So innovation accelerates, and that happens simultaneous to the reduced costs." To the five predictions Hurd made last year, he added the following: 1. By 2025, 80 percent of IT budgets will be spent on cloud, rather than traditional, IT systems. 2. By 2025, the number of corporate-owned data centers will drop by 80 percent. 3. CIOs will spend 80 percent of their budgets on innovation, not maintanance, which will enable a transfer of funds to R&D. To help companies see such transitions quicker, Oracle has expanded its SaaS portfolio with updated cloud applications. Newly released, the Adaptive Intelligent Cloud Applications blend third-party data, data from Oracle's Data Cloud, analytics, and behavioral inputs to allow them to adapt and learn over time. These apps aim to offer users customized actions that help them streamline tasks that are specific to their roles within the organization, as they can process data about customers and employees to surface the best recommended actions in a given scenario. For instance, commerce professionals can access these tools to glean insights that help them make better decisions that lead to higher conversion rates, repeated purchases, and increased revenue. A marketing professional will be equipped to reach out to customers with more targeted offers that make sense with each individual customer based on their contexts. "A company's data is its most valuable weapon. To remain competitive today, companies must access their information in real time to intelligently forecast and grow," said Steve Miranda, executive vice president of applications and development at Oracle, in a statement. "Oracle Adaptive Intelligent Applications leverage anonymyzed information from our extensive Data Cloud to optimize existing Cloud Application functionality. When this is combined with a company's own data, we are able to provide unparalleled customized insights to help enhance business performance." Oracle has also bolstered its suite of Cloud Applications with enhancements that span business functions, including sales, service, and marketing. The Engagement Cloud offeringan addition to Oracle's Customer Experience Cloudcombines sales and service capabilities; it consolidates sales automation, service request management, knowledge management, and self-service capabilities on one screen, allowing sales pros and service agents to access all of these functions to improve a customer's interaction with the company. According to Oracle, the offering has the potential to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty while improving the chances of upselling, especially for those companies providing "high-touch and high-value customer engagement," such as financial services, consumer goods, communications, and high-tech firms. Also new is Oracle's Internet of Things Cloud, which analyzes data as it is collected to help companies make decisions that will improve customers' experiences as they use connected objects. The offering could prove useful to companies that need to predict maintanence requirements for equipment, for instance. In a statement, Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation research, said that opportunity abounds for monetizing digital business via such machine learning apps and analytics. Oracle's "large corpus of data, strong expertise in data science, massive compute power, industry and domain expertise, and breadth of application solutions make it well suited to be a leader in the quickly growing space," Wang said. "We have two big competitors in customer experience, conceded Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief technology officer and executive chairman of the board, during his first of two scheduled keynotes on Sunday night. "Salesforce.com and Microsoft both compete aggressively in this space. They're two large competitors, but we're constantly adding industry-specific features to tailor our customer experience for industries. We're the leader in marketing; we're the leader in commerce, in CPQ. In sales automation, Salesforce.com is the leader, but againwe're their number one competitor." The concept of a cashless society is rapidly being established albeit not in the way traditionally pictured in films and popular culture. The reality is there will always be a place for physical money. Digital alternatives, no matter what form they take, will never fully replace this need. But thats not to say there isnt room for the two to exist side by side, with a lot of innovation in technology and user experience in this regard coming from developing markets. Mobile payments are being used in developing regions to meet various market requirements and fill gaps presented by current alternatives. South East Asia is an especially prominent example, and is a region of the world where until recently there have been few uses of traditional payments services such as credit or debit cards, or even alternatives like PayPal, when making online or mobile purchases. Yet this region still sees particularly high demand for digital and virtual goods and is also one where its common for consumers to buy things using their phones. This has led to new mobile payments options like Direct Carrier Billing becoming increasingly popular. DCB: Wheres the money? In its most basic form, Direct Carrier Billing is the process of using mobile pre-paid credit to pay for services, or attaching the cost of goods to a subscribers existing pay monthly plan. The benefit of this approach is that it avoids the need to use a credit card or similar, and dramatically speeds up the overall process. In India for example, where $1 billion is spent online each year and this figure is growing 31% annually, it has become a thriving market for mobile payments. As a technology that sidesteps the countrys relatively low credit card penetration and takes advantage of the growing demand for alternate payment methods, 630 million mobile subscribers are already taking advantage of DCB. It represents a simple alternative that lets merchants increase the average spend and make virtual goods significantly more accessible, and is just one example of the how DCB is driving not just the mobile payments boom but also the digital content market. As a concept, DCB is nothing new. Its been around for years now. But it has improved dramatically since it was first introduced and now works across desktop and mobile browsers, with support for any mobile phone user in the world. Its become a quick, intuitive, and easy to use service, which has led to lots of benefits for the companies that take advantage of it. And with operators at the heart of Direct Carrier Billing as the mechanism by which it can function, its good news for their bottom line too. It comes as no surprise that DCB is an attractive concept for digital content providers. From their perspective, it not only offers an easy way to monetise them, it makes access to them even easier. DCB helps create new paying users thanks to its frictionless payment process, as well as new subscribers. Merchants running freemium models with DCB have seen very high conversion rates of up to 30% of users converted into paying users, while merchants running subscription based business models convert up to 1% of the leads into subscribers The challenge, however, is for operators to have the infrastructure and technical expertise in place to support it, which has traditionally been expensive and time consuming to deploy. The role of mobile operators The problem is that developing and maintaining Direct Carrier Billing functionality often falls outside the usual scope of an operators business. Typically all operators, but particularly those in developing markets, have focused on enhancing technologies their core subscriber base demands, and in many cases will not have the necessary support in place to manage their own DCB deployment. Specialist companies and mobile payments providers have appeared over the last decade to cater to this demand not only for DCB but other popular mobile payment methods too and huge investments have been made to improve the performance of these services. Until recently, these specialists have only delivered one aspect of this service for operators. But now they are enabling mobile operators to roll out Direct Carrier Billing without first having to invest significant resources into their own networks. Through years of experience and investment in R&D, the same mobile payments specialists have combined in-house development with enhanced functionality to take an active role in managing the business of DCB for operators directly, offering this as a managed service. This approach lets operators tap into the DCB opportunity via partnership. By working directly with a mobile payments specialist, its possible for operators to both quickly and easily take advantage of a market thats expected to be worth $24.7 billion by 2019 according to research by Ovum. Its a way for operators to partner with a provider that already has the reach, relationships, and payment technologies in place to bring Direct Carrier Billing to a region overnight. A win-win situation Its easy to see the appeal for merchants. The benefits for operators are obvious too, as they play a vital role in the DCB food chain. With the appetite for mobile payments increasing across all markets operators must act now to ensure they are poised to make the most of the lucrative mobile payments opportunity. However, its only by working with a specialist in Direct Carrier Billing technology that operators can truly hope to reap the full rewards offered by this ongoing trend in developing markets. Ante Ukalovic is the CEO of Centili. Billington Holdings , a UK based structural steel and construction safety solutions specialist, has achieved the largest number of orders since the firms origins. Chief executive Mark Smith said: "Billington currently has the longest forward order book, in relation to capacity, in the Group's history, and the strength of this provides the company with confidence going into the second half of the year. Revenue rose 10.2% to 27.05m, earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 9.8% to 2.36m, profit before tax rose 2.4% to 1.74m. All divisions are contributing positively and are operating at r above budget. The firm has reported a strong, robust cash balance despite its cash and cash equivalents falling 1.9% to 6.24m. The company also reported good progress at its Shafton facility, which it acquired in December last year. Smith believes in the long-term the facility will provide the company with the opportunity to further expand its operations and drive greater efficiencies. The firms order book secures its work through to next year but despite this it remains aware of the macro economic environment and the possible impact and short term volatility that may occur following Brexit. According to the board the firm's strong balance sheet will prevent the effect from affecting the firm's long term goals. Earnings per share from continuing operations rose 2.6% to 11.70p. The share price fell 4.86% to 281.55p at 0917 BST on Tuesday. Europe and Africa-focused upstream company Sound Energy confirmed the commencement of civil works at the Badile exploration well site, onshore Northern Italy, on Tuesday. The AIM-traded firm said the rig is expected to be mobilised during Q4 2016 with a view to drilling commencing around the end of the year. Sound Energy also invited investors to observe operations on site through a webcam, which is expected to go-live later this week. Following our recent success in Morocco, I am pleased to initiate the countdown to our second Strategic Play, said CEO James Parsons. Badile is a material gas prospect and one of our largest and most strategic assets. I look forward to this opportunity to repeat our success at Tendrara. At 1241 BST, shares in Sound Energy were down 3.22% at 93.88p. An user opens Uber app. [Xinhua] Uber China, an online ride-hailing service provider, has been challenged by a number of complaints over the phantom cars charging customers for rides that never took place. A woman surnamed Zhang recalled how several days ago she booked an Uber car for a journey from east to west across Beijing. But the driver who received the order took 10 yuan from her account but never showed up. "The driver received the assignment as soon as I booked it. I thought he/she would have been coming round to pick me up while the journey status on my app showed already in car'," Zhang said. "I tried to contact the driver [after I had been charged 10 yuan], he/she didn't pick up the call." The ubiquitous "phantom cars" are annoying the ride-hailing service in big cities, such as, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu, in addition to Beijing. Uber China promised to refund Zhang within one or two working days while discrediting and punishing the driver. The loophole may result from drivers' one-sided manipulation using an accomplice who captures the ride-hailing booking by dozens of cell phone numbers. However, investigation into such frauds entails the efforts of security bureaus. Meanwhile, perpetrators arrested in Beijing and Shanghai can face a penalty as severe as one-year imprisonment. Passengers who are cheated by the phantom cars can contact Uber China's after-sales service to get refunds. Didi announced at the beginning of August its decision to acquire Uber China operations, but the merger may hit a roadblock as the Ministry of Commerce, the country's antitrust watchdog, says it is investigating the case. Zoopla chief executive Alex Chesterman has sold a third of his shares in the property group to pocket a tasty 13.8m. The FTSE 250 company reported on Tuesday afternoon that Chesterman, who founded the company in 2007, had offloaded 4.25m stock at a price of 325p the day before. After the sale, which represented roughly 1% of all the group's issued shares, Chesterman still holds 8.5m shares, which is more than 2% of the total share capital, and he agreed to a further lock-up until 23 June 2017. Zoopla added: "Last year, the Board announced that it secured the long term commitment of Alex to continue to lead the business and deliver its ongoing strategy." On Monday, Chesterman, who made 32m from selling 3.5% of his holding in the company's 2014 flotation to add to a fortune that was bulked up by the 2011 sale to Amazon of his Lovefilm video streaming company for 200m, was reported to have contributed to a 6.3m fundraising for DueCourse, a cloud-based invoice financing service for SMEs. On 8 September Zoopla released a trading update that confirmed trading for 2016 would be at the top of estimates, while its capital markets day last week, management cited evidence of the latent potential within the UK digital property market, suggesting a 650m-plus opportunity across property marketing, software and other services. Top Director Buys Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) Director name: Moynihan,Brian T Amount purchased: 28,770 @ $15.67 Value: $450,825.90 Compass Group (CPG) Director name: Bomhard ,Stefan Amount purchased: 6,100 @ 1,486.00p Value: 90,646.00 Craneware (CRW) Director name: Neilson,Keith Amount purchased: 5,388 @ 1,200.00p Value: 64,656.00 Vpc Specialty Lending Investments (VSL) Director name: Levy,Richard Amount purchased: 78,300 @ 81.00p Value: 63,423.00 Prime People (PRP) Director name: Lewis,John Amount purchased: 25,250 @ 100.00p Value: 25,250.00 Coca-cola Hbc Ag (cdi) (CCH) Director name: Lois ,Dimitris Amount purchased: 377 @ 1,691.88p Value: 6,381.81 Coca-cola Hbc Ag (cdi) (CCH) Director name: Lois ,Dimitris Amount purchased: 113 @ 1,691.88p Value: 1,914.55 Britvic (BVIC) Director name: Litherland,Simon Amount purchased: 22 @ 626.50p Value: 137.83 Britvic (BVIC) Director name: Barwell,Matt Amount purchased: 19 @ 626.50p Value: 119.03 US technology giant Microsoft has claimed that it could "solve" cancer in the next 10 years by treating the illness in a similar way to a virus attacking a computer system. Experts from the company are confident that the expected advance in technology will allow them to "reprogramme" cells to make them healthy. Microsoft is better known for making computers and operating systems, but has quietly stepped up its investment in medical research in recent times. It uses building computer-modelling tools to help pharmaceuticals with drug development. Head of the company's research lab in Cambridge, Chris Bishop, told Fast Company that the human body is not as complex as is often made out to be. "The complex processes that happen in cells have some similarity to those that happen in a standard desktop computer." By combining the fields of biology and computation, it's possible to examine the similarities between human cells and technology. Andrew Philips, head of Microsofts biological computation group, said that detection of such diseases via technological means could take as little as five years. "Its long term, but I think it will be technically possible in five to ten years time to put in a smart molecular system that can detect disease," Philips told the Daily Telegraph. A Chinese father has accused Tesla's autopilot system of being at fault for his son's death, in a lawsuit against the company in the country. Tesla came under fire after a similar high-profile accident in Florida earlier this year, which led to the death of Joshua Brown, who was said to have been using the Model S' self-driving technology. Gao Jubin's son Gao Yaning was killed in January when his car hit a truck on a motorway. The case began on Tuesday in Beijing, with Jubin alleging that both Tesla and the dealer who sold the car misled him. Elon Musk and his company have repeatedly said that the autopilot system is not supposed to be used as a replacement for the driver, who must remain in control of the vehicle. The company released a statement denying any responsibility for the incident in China. It said that there was "no evidence that autopilot was engaged at the time of the accident", and that in any case, autopilot is a "driver assistance system that supplements an attentive driver". "Even though an upcoming obstacle was visible for nearly 20 seconds, the driver did not take any action to avoid it or do anything else to maintain control of the vehicle," Tesla added. Tessera Technologies has agreed to buy audio solutions provider DTS for $42.50 a share in a deal valued at around $850m. The price represents a 28% premium to DTSs 30-day volume weighted average price as of 19 September and the deal is expected to be immediately accretive to Tesseras earnings per share and free cash flow. California-based Tessera, which develops imaging and semiconductor packaging and bonding technologies, said the combined company is expected to achieve pro-forma 2016 revenue of approximately $450m, nearly half of which will come from product licensing. The combined company is expected to realise $15m in annualised cost synergies within the first 12-18 months following the closing of the deal, which Tessera plans to fund with a combination of available cash on hand and approximately $600m of committed debt financing from RBC Capital Markets. Tesseras chief executive officer, Tom Lacey, said: Our acquisition of DTS's talented team and industry-leading products will represent a transformational step in the execution of Tessera's strategic vision, with exciting new product development and marketing opportunities. Our complementary technology portfolios are ideally suited to deliver the next generation of audio and imaging solutions to mobile, consumer electronics, and automotive markets while expanding our ability to address incredible new opportunities in IoT and AR/VR. John Stumpf, the Chief Execeutive Officer of Wells Fargo , is expected to appear before a US Senate hearing on Tuesday and accept the responsibility for the bank's fake account scandal. Wells Fargo was fined $185m for creating unauthorised accounts and credit cards for its customers in order to meet aggressive sales targets. Stumpf will face a hearing from the Senate Banking Committee over the scandal, after his bank was taken to court by customers for the practices. According to documents obtained by the New York Times, Stumpf will say that he is "deeply sorry" for the damage caused by those practices. 5,300 employees were sacked by Wells Fargo as a result of the findings by regulators, and Strumpf is facing calls to resign himself. The paper says that there was "no orchestrated effort" by the company's top brass to organise the accounts in question. "We never directed nor wanted our employees, whom we refer to as team members, to provide products and services to customers they did not want or need," he will say, according to his testimony. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been challenged by the editor of Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten to discuss censorship, after the social network backed down in a dispute over the publication's use of the iconic "napalm girl" image from the Vietnam war. Espen Egil Hansen was influential in forcing Facebook to allow the newspaper to show Nick Ut's picture on its article, and accused Zuckerberg and his company of having too much power over the internet. "Zuckerberg is de facto the most powerful editor-in-chief on the globe. His influence is greater than all the Rupert Murdochs of this world could dream about," Hansen wrote in a letter to the Guardian. "Zuckerberg and his staff deserve their success. But with size comes power, and with power comes responsibility...As a democratic society we must expect that the company will take an active part in the debate about its own role." Having been founded by Zuckerberg and Harvard colleagues in 2004, the social media site has had unprecedented success, launching its initial public offering in 2012. It has faced allegations of exerting too much of an influence on people's daily lives, and Hansen has urged the company to clarify its position on censorship of articles viewed through its site. "The silence is not surprising. Facebook does not want to be conceived as a media company, only as a technology platform," he wrote. German producer prices fell more than expected in August, according to data from Destatis. Producer prices for industrial products fell 0.1% from July, versus expectations for a flat reading. On the year, prices were down 1.6%, which was steeper than the 1.5% drop expected by economists. Energy prices were the biggest drag, down 5.5% from the same month last year, while prices of intermediate goods fell by 1.6%. Prices of non-durable consumer goods rose by 0.7%, prices of capital goods by 0.6% and prices of durable consumer goods by 1.2%. Excluding energy, the overall index declined by 0.3% compared to August last year and was unchanged from July. Dennis de Jong, managing director at UFX.com, said: The last thing ECB president Mario Draghi needs at the moment is a slowing German economy, but todays producer price index figures indicate that may just be the case. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble may well be pleased to see an improvement from last month, but the key metric is still firmly rooted in negative territory which will cause concern for many observers of the single currency. The Prime Minister met with US banks and leading business chiefs from the technology and retail sectors to reassure them over investing in the country since Britain voted to leave the European Union. Theresa May, along with foreign secretary Boris Johnson, met the heads of investors who have ploughed money in the country including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, IBM and Amazon, in New York on Monday. The event was a listening exercise to hear their views on what they thought a post-Brexit Britain should highlight in negotiations with the EU. US banks are keen to maintain passporting rights which make it easier for financial institutions to conduct business across the EU. May met with senior bankers including Morgan Stanleys president, Colm Kelleher, Daniel Pinto, JP Morgans investment banking chief, and Harvey Schwartz, chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs, and hosted a function for about 60 senior managers and British businesses with investments in the US. Executives from AECOM, Merck &Co, Sony Pictures and United Technologies also attended. The Prime Minister told business leaders in a speech: "Every working day in the United Kingdom one million people wake up and go to work for an American company. And every day in the United States one million people wake up and go to work for a UK company. "So you see there is reciprocity. The UK is going to be out there. We will be looking for business. And ladies and gentlemen, please feel free to invest in the UK." The US is the largest single investor in Britain, which draws more foreign direct investment than any other EU country. Investors have said they would like to know whether the UK would continue to be a member of the single market, as US companies sell to the EU from the UK. Theresa May, who was in New York to attend the United Nations general assembly, previously said she would not trigger Article 50, the clause that would instigate a formal two-year negotiation with the EU, this year but is expected to trigger it in early 2017, before elections are held in France and Germany. London's blue chip shares were in style on Tuesday, as reports from London Fashion Week proved a welcome diversion for investors who were bracing themselves for central bank announcements later in the week. Plenty of positive commentary surrounding Burberry's fashion show in London on Monday night helped lift the shares almost 3%, with the company also unveiling technical innovation alongside the floral prints and Victorian ruffles on the catwalk. "It is the first show in which a new Burberry collection will be instantly available online and at its regent Street store," said aalyst Jasper Lawler of CMC Markets. "The instant availability stands to better capture the excitement surrounding a new collection at the time of release." Traders also pointed to two recent broker upgrades ahead of the company's presentation on Friday. Johnson Matthey was moving back towards one-year highs set last month as platinum prices moved higher, up 1.5% as the precious metal traded 200% of its 20-day intraday average volume. Land Securities was higher thanks in part to Deutsche Bank hoisting its target price by 1 to 1,210p and reiterating its 'buy' rating. Mining companies were strong gainers in early trade, thanks to bullish comments from Rio Tinto's chief executive about commodity prices and Chinese demand. We can see an inflection point and we are going to make the most of it, said Rio chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques, adding that the FTSE 100 company believed that from all the commodities it mines, copper would be the first to emerge from the present "twilight zone". By later in the afternoon the top had been knocked off, with Rio Tinto up 0.7% on the day; BHP Billiton 1.7% higher, Glencore gaining 0.4% and Anglo American just above flat. With caution about travel and tourism renewed by the weekend's New York bombs blasts, airlines such as British Airways owner IAG and Easyjet added to losses from the start of the week. However, shares in tour operator Tui continued last week's rally to what is their highest level since February. Having topped its own two-year high in early trade on Tuesday, Kingfisher was in the fallers column by the afternoon, in what appeared to be profit taking after the B&Q and Screwfix owner reported better than expected first-half results. Underlying adjusted pre-tax profits came in at 436m, roughly 1.5% ahead of consensus expectations of 430m, with retail profit of 464m was around 1% ahead. Chief executive Veronique Laury, who appears to be turning the group's fortunes around, was slightly cautious in her outlook for France and some analysts think that current trading across the Channel has been difficult given weak DIY data for August which is the most important trading month of the year for the Castorama chain. But Credit Suisse said it saw 2-3% upside risk to Kingfishers full year consensus estimates owing to slightly better than expected results and a lower than expected net transformation plan cost this year. Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,861.39 0.70% FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,929.94 0.22% techMARK (TASX) 3,550.54 0.95% FTSE 100 - Risers Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,369.00p 2.85% Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,281.00p 2.21% Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,044.00p 2.15% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,084.00p 2.07% DCC (DCC) 7,015.00p 2.04% Shire Plc (SHP) 5,281.00p 1.89% CRH (CRH) 2,552.00p 1.84% Mediclinic International (MDC) 950.00p 1.82% Standard Life (SL.) 348.60p 1.78% Imperial Brands (IMB) 4,033.00p 1.74% FTSE 100 - Fallers International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 406.00p -2.36% Kingfisher (KGF) 370.50p -1.65% Next (NXT) 4,977.00p -1.25% Antofagasta (ANTO) 495.20p -1.06% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 244.10p -0.97% easyJet (EZJ) 1,060.00p -0.93% Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 184.50p -0.75% Persimmon (PSN) 1,760.00p -0.68% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 476.00p -0.63% Pearson (PSON) 796.00p -0.62% Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. Cao Haofei, or Feifei, is a 23-year old Chinese-American woman who recently came back to China to look for her biological parents. Feifei (L) goes to the police station at the Temple of Heaven to thank police officer Hou Xiangwei (R) on September 19. [Photo/Beijing Times] She was found crying alone at the Temple of Heaven, a famous tourist attraction in Beijing, one day 22 years ago. After the local policeman Hou Xiangwei learned about it, he took the girl to the police station. Finding the child wore bandages on her right hand, the policeman took her to a hospital, only to find that her right hand was burned and the fingers needed to be amputated. After failing to find the parents, the police had to send Feifei to a local orphanage, where she stayed until she was seven, when she was adopted by an American couple. Feifei returned to visit China when she was 16 and undertook volunteer work at the orphanage every summer vacation. When she graduated two years ago, she came to China to study the language. This May, she learned about the police station where she was first taken and found by the police officer, Hou Xiangwei. She thanked him for saving her and asked him to help find her birthparents. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. Why are so many Black women starting their own businesses? Black women are finding more freedom, opportunity and fulfillment in entrepreneurship. But they often face special challenges in starting a business. Indonesia wants Google to pay five years' back taxes Authorities in Indonesia are pushing for the recovery of taxes from Google, the largest operating unit of Alphabet Inc. The internet search giant would need to pay five years of back taxes, amounting to over $400 million for 2015 alone if it was found have avoided tax payments, a senior tax official told Reuters. Muhammad Hanif, head of the tax office's special cases branch, said its investigators visited the local office of Google in Indonesia yesterday. According to the tax office, PT Google Indonesia paid less than 0.1 per cent of the total income and value-added taxes it owed last year. Most of the revenue generated in the country was booked at Google's Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. According to Hanif, after Google Asia Pacific declined to be audited in June, the tax office to escalated the case into a criminal one. "Google's argument is that they just did tax planning," Hanif said. "Tax planning is legal, but aggressive tax planning - to the extent that the country where the revenue is made does not get anything - is not legal." When asked for a response to Hanif's comments, Google Indonesia reiterated a statement made last week, that said, it continued to cooperate with local authorities and had paid all applicable taxes. According to commentators, Google was feeling the same headache it had given to many countries; the US giant failed to pay taxes as expected, though it made a fortune in those countries. Meanwhile, Google Indonesia had been resisting any probe, claiming its local entity did not handle advertising revenues. According to the company ad incomes fell under the auspices of Google's arm in Singapore, a country that offered some of the world's lowest tax rates. According to commentators, the Indonesian government, like many around the world, resorted to ''tax shaming'' - demonising high-earners who took advantage of perfectly legal opportunities to lower their taxes, although several studies had shown no connection between shaming and making companies pay higher taxes. Describing terrorism as an ''existential threat'', India has said that ''hypocrisy'' towards the menace is unacceptable and underlined that terrorism is the ''principle cause'' of the large-scale refugee movement. ''It is important to stress that today the geopolitics of the crisis points to and proves that terrorism is the principle cause of refugee movements. Can we ignore this fact, we cannot. We do so at our peril,'' minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar said in his address to the UN General Assembly's first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants on Monday. Akbar asserted that terrorism is an ''existential threat'' and ''hypocrisy towards this crisis will not do''. He underscored that for the millions of people fleeing conflict, war and poverty, terrorism is not characterised as good or bad. ''There is no good terrorism or bad terrorism and if you do not know the answer to this question, all you have to do is ask the refugee if he considers any terrorism to be good or bad,'' Akbar said. Stressing that terrorism is the ''biggest danger'' to human rights, Akbar said large movements of people across borders serve as a reminder that the world has become a global village. Terming the present refugee crisis as ''unprecedented,'' Akbar said the number of people on the move globally is estimated at close to 250 million or one in every 30 persons and three-fourths of all refugees come from just 11 countries. Akbar noted that it is disconcerting that just seven countries host more than half of all refugees and now almost 90 per cent of all refugees are hosted in developing nations. He said it is wrong to assume that host nations do not want refugees. ''It is assumed that only host nations do not want refugees. I ask do refugees also want to become refugees? They don't,'' he said. He said the problem of the refugee crisis has been with the world for a very long time. Refugees are as old as war. The first consequence of war is death and the second is refugees. There is another kind of person seeking a new haven the migrant driven by a second cruelty - hunger or economic aspiration, and both phenomenon are visible in the present crisis.'' India's positive record Akbar referred to India's ''long history'' of welcoming people seeking refuge from conflict, war, tyranny and poverty. ''India offers refuge not because it has a large bank balance but because it has a large heart,'' he said. He cited the tumultuous year of 1971 when Bangladesh was fighting for independence and more than a million people from the neighbouring nation took refuge in India to escape the ''genocide'' that they were facing at home. ''People seeking shelter in our country have never been turned back. Our record has been unique,'' he said. Akbar said nationalism is the ''contemporary architecture'' of stability and ''we understand its importance. The intersection of human need in a refugee crisis and national imperatives make this a complex issue,'' he added. Akbar also recalled Mahatma Gandhi's ''seminal contribution'' to abolishing indentured labour 100 years ago. He said in more recent times, Indian migrants, including a cross section of professionals, skilled and less-skilled workers, have migrated to countries around the world and offered a ''positive contribution to the diaspora''. He voiced India's commitment to working with all partners beginning next year in developing a global compact to ensuring a safe and orderly migration that is in the interest of all people. Akbar also held meetings with Iraqi foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Bulgaria's minister of foreign affairs Daniel Mitov and Guyana Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly on Monday. Sources told PTI that discussions during the meetings focussed on the issue of terrorism, refugees and migrants and the situation in the Middle East. The Ministers also discussed the need for the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. Discussions on bilateral issues on the sidelines of UNGA71 MOS MJ Akbar and FM of Iraq Dr Ibrahim al-Jaafari,'' India's Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted. Another tweet said Akbar ''meets Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Daniel Mitov on the sidelines of #UNGA71'' A prominent Baloch activist and a permanent representative of Balochistan at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has urged the international community to help prevent the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which the two countries are building at the cost of Balochistan and its people. Objecting to the already-troubled CPEC project, a cornerstone of the China-Pakistan relationship Mehran Marri, Blochistan's permanent representative at the UNHRC said Pakistan and China have no right for constructing the project that harms both environment and people's livelihood. "China and Pakistan have no legal right to construct any project on Baloch soil. Any construction there is illegal," ANI quoted Marri as saying, after he raised the issue at the ongoing 33rd Session of the UNHRC in Geneva. "The international community should object to the construction of this illegal project," he added. The CPEC that cuts through the entire north-south length of Pakistan is aimed at giving China access to the Gwadar Port that it has helped construct on the Balochistan coast. Pakistan considers the project that is estimated to cost around $45 billion as key to kick-start its sagging economy. However, both Pakistan and China are increasingly concerned over the "increasing cost of security" and "potential setbacks" the project has brought about. The project has also brought immense misery to Baloch people who have been subject to atrocities by Pakistani army and police. The decades of sufferings of the Baloch people are now increasingly been exposed by activists and effectively escalated by pressure on Pakistan by Baloch activists and India. The raising of the CPEC at an international forum is bound to create discomfort in both Beijing and Islamabad, especially for the Chinese. CPEC is part of China's ambitious idea of 'One Belt One Road' and 'Marine Silk Route'. The renewed push by Baloch activists at various international forums comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised human rights violations in Balochistan during his Independence Day speech. India is also opposed to the CPEC passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which belongs to India and has been illegally occupied by Pakistan. Starting 23 September, Palazzo Strozzi in Florence will present Ai Weiwei. Libero, Italys first major retrospective dedicated to one of the worlds most celebrated and influential contemporary artists. Top: Ai Weiwei, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn Left: Ai Weiwei, Reframe A dissident artist with a leading voice, Ai Weiwei is known world-wide as much for his challenging contemporary art practice as for his political activism. Ai Weiwei will be the first artist to exhibit across the entirety of the Palazzo Strozzi spaces, presenting a series of new and major works from the facade of the building and the courtyard to the piano nobile and the Strozzina gallery. Mirroring the artists relationship between tradition and modernity, key works will be hung in response to the architecture of the Palazzo Strozzi, a 15th century palace built as a political statement, and is considered to embody the history of the city of Florence. Ai Weiwei, Feiyu This major exhibition will include key monumental installations, sculptures and objects, as well as videos and photography series produced throughout his career. These range from his years living in New York 1980s and 90s when he discovered his masters Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp, to the large iconic assemblages works from the early 2000s consisting of objects such as bicycles and stools, to his recent controversial and engaged works such as portraits of political dissidents built with LEGO bricks, and his projects on migration in the Mediterranean region. Left: Ai Weiwei, Dante Alighieri. Right: Ai Weiwei, Galileo Galilei Over the past twenty years, Ai Weiwei has become a leading voice on the international art scene and Chinas most famous living artist. Known for his political activism and meticulous artistic research, Ai Weiwei has also become a symbol of resistance against censorship. Ai Weiwei, Surveillance Camera The show will offer the opportunity to explore Ai Weiweis creative genius but also to understand his personal narrative, offering critical insight to Ai Weiweis ambiguous relations with his native China. Ai Weiwei denounces the inconsistencies and gaps between the individual and the community in todays world and has a profound sense of belonging, as illustrated by his use of traditional materials and techniques. Equally, a strong sense of rebellion informs his interpretations of traditional Chinese images and metaphors. Left: Ai Weiwei, Girolamo Savonarola. Right: Ai Weiwei, Filippo Strozzi The image of a drawing of a 1921 War of Independence ambush near Glenties has made its way back to Donegal. As part of this years Glenties Harvest Fair Festival, the ambush at Derries, Kilraine, which turned out to be one of the last acts in the War of Independence, was re-enacted in the hills outside of Glenties. A drawing of the ambush hangs on a wall of the Newtown Square, Pennsylvania home of Jim McNelis, whose father, Joseph, came from Meenavalley Ardara. Jim was named for his grandfather, James, who was headmaster at the Meenavalley school. The drawing was done by Denis Malloy, a Meenavalley neighbour of Jims family, and brought to the United States by Jims Aunt Rose in the early 1930s. They said Denis could do anything with his hands, Jim said, saying Denis also carved model soldiers. They drawings were done in crayon on the back of a piece of wallpaper, and had been framed and hung in the dining room of Jims family home in Philadelphia when he was growing up. Jim wanted the drawings kept safe because of their historic significance. I realised they were like something wed have here of Washington crossing the Delaware. Still, they have grown faded over the years. He added, I always thought they should have been better preserved. The drawings were highlighted recently through another Donegal connection: RoseMary Ward of Frosses and her daughter Roisin were visiting friends Fidelma and Conal McGroary in Philadelphia in April, when they met up with Jim McNelis, a relation. During their visit to his home, he showed them the drawings. One was of the 1921 ambush at Kilraine, and a second showed Eamon de Valera inspecting the Ardara Brigade in 1921. The drawing of the ambush shows the IRA firing from the hills, and RIC and Black and Tans in the convoy returning fire. The re-enactment was carried out at the site of the ambush, outside Glenties on the N56. When Rosemary became aware of plans for the re-enactment, she recalled the drawings and got in touch with Jim, who sent her photocopies of the originals. Jim, who turned 89 in June, said a member of the ambush team, Joe Ned Gallagher of Meenavalley, had been a regular visitor to his familys home in Philadelphia, and he also recalled attending his funeral there. Jim had been a regular visitor to Donegal until his 75th birthday, when he could no longer hire a car here. But he still keeps close ties to family and friends and was also active with the Donegal Association. Jims father was the first of the 15 McNelis siblings to emigrate to the States in 1922. He always referred to himself as the Columbus of the family, Jim said. After training in electrical welding and working for many years for General Electric, Jims father passed away in 1951 at age 53. He never got home again, and I always felt bad about that, Jim said. Donegal-based Garda Sergeant Paul Wallace has been appointed Vice-President of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. The AGSI represent 2,000 members in 31 branches nationwide. The appointment was announced at the September National Executive meeting in Dublin. Paul has been a member of the Donegal Branch Committee since his promotion as Sergeant in 1993 and has served as Secretary since 2001. Commenting on his election, Sergeant Wallace said: "I am delighted to hold the position of Vice-President after returning to the National Executive following the promotion of Ernie White to Superintendent. This is my third term on the AGSI National Executive and I am honoured to represent Sergeants and Inspectors in Connaught-Ulster." President Antoinette Cunningham congratulated Paul on his appointment saying his experience on the National Executive is invaluable. "Paul has gained excellent experience at National Executive level sitting on my Committees and being involved in high level meetings with Government officials, other Associations and as well as supporting media requests. AGSI has a busy agenda to get through, not least our ongoing campaign for pay restoration," she said Native of Burtonport Paul Wallace, a native of Burtonport, and living in Dungloe, joined An Garda Siochana in August 1985 and was initially stationed in Monaghan Town. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1993 and transferred to Donegal where he served in Glencolmcille, Glenties, Carrigans and Letterkenny as Unit Sergeant. Most recently Paul has served as Divisional Crime Prevention / Community Relations Officer with responsibility for the Donegal Garda Division. Paul has severed as a member of the Transport Focus Group, ICT, Legal Aid Services and the Garda Benevolent Trust committees. His AGSI National Executive tenure runs until 2019. October is National Bullying Prevention month. We have all heard the phrase bullying, but what does it actually mean? Bullying is defined as unwanted aggressive behavior; observed or perceived power imbalance; repetition of behaviors or high likelihood of repetition. Bullying is unfortunately a reality for far too many in our communities both young and old. Much like any other form of violence, bullying is not isolated to any particular age group, gender or demography. Just about everyone of us can look back in our lives and recall a time where either we were personally bullied or witnessed one of our friends or schoolmates being bullied. Its hard to believe that with all of the advancements and awareness, this type of behavior still exists, but it does and with the advent of social media, it had actually gotten much worse. This is because unlike in the past, the bully not only impacts your life on the playground or classroom; they now are able to follow you into your personal life due to the constant presence of social media. There is good news in that we have learned a great deal about what creates these bullies and how to neutralize their ability to isolate and intimidate. The key is for those in authority to respond to reports of bullying immediately to show without question that bullying will not be acceptable. That message needs to follow to our homes with the messages we send our children not only by what we say but by our own actions in how we treat fellow adults. Bullying is without question a learned behavior. It is learned on the playground, in the classroom and follows through to the workplace and social interactions as adults. We need to send a strong message to our own children, a message of empathy and compassion not of ridicule and rumor. Who are at risk of bullying the most? Typically those who are bullied have one or more of the following risks: Are perceived as different from their peers, such as being overweight or underweight, wearing glasses or different clothing, being new to a school, or being unable to afford what kids consider cool Are perceived as weak or unable to defend themselves Are depressed, anxious, or have low self esteem Are less popular than others and have few friends Do not get along well with others, seen as annoying or provoking, or antagonize others for attention However, even if a child has these risk factors, it doesnt mean that they will be bullied. The important lesson is that we as adults set the tone for how the next generation will interact with each other. Chances are if we show acceptance of others, our children will show acceptance of others. If we engage in demeaning others or spreading rumors, our children will follow suit. So often we as adults underestimate the influence, we have not only on our own children but even those who dont know us but witness our behavior. While school or workplace policies are an important component, the only way to truly decrease bullying is by denying the bully their victim. We do this by raising strong, confident, resilient children, and speaking out and supporting those who find themselves on the receiving end of this type of behavior. We are all teachers in life lessons and we teach by our actions. Lets all be aware of what we teach. Chilean and Argentinian wine specialist Condor Wines and Wines of Uruguay UK have formed a partnership in a bid to become the UKs top specialist importer of premium South American wines. More than hundred wines from thirteen producers in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay will form the portfolio, created by Condor Wines Lee Evans and Carla Bertellotti of Wines of Uruguay UK. Evans said: Condor Wines initially focused on Argentina and Chile, but it was always our intention to introduce more from South America. A visit to Uruguay in April convinced me that this was a region that deserved more focus in the UK. Uruguayan wines offer something very different and will fit well within our range. We are delighted to be able to offer a strengthened portfolio to our customers and act as their one-stop-shop for quality South American wines. Carla Bertellotti added: To associate with a specialist in Argentinian and Chilean wines was the logical next step for Wines of Uruguay UK, and it means that together we will now be able to offer greater choice to our customers. Bertellotti will focus on developing the London market, while Evans and new regional manager Helen MacKenzie will concentrate on expanding sales around the rest of the country. At present, both companies will remain independent of each other, but the companies said it is hoped the collaboration will strengthen distribution of each companys portfolio and offer customers more choice. Condor Wines said its next move will be to increase its Chilean offering and is "actively looking" for new producers over the next 12 months. Flash Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect wanted in connection with a series of bomb attacks in New York City and New Jersey in the United States was apprehended on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, local police said. Rahami was wounded after exchanging fire with police officers on East Elizabeth Ave in Linden and subsequently taken into police custody. Two police officers were also reportedly injured during the shootout. The suspect, 28, was taken into custody shortly before Monday noon time and only a few hours after New York Police Department released his photo and asked for tips from the public. TV footage showed Rahami was on a stretcher and his right arm seemed to have been wounded. He was conscious and reportedly sent by an ambulance to a hospital for treatment. Police had also found a suspicious package and required bomb squad and police canine to the scene. Rahami was believed connected to all three incidents including the bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan on Saturday evening that injured 29, a pipe bomb explosions near the starting line of a Marine charity run on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and five pipe bombs discovered near a train station on Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The FBI and New York City Police Department had identified Rahami as a suspect in the series of attacks on Monday morning, while New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio described him as "armed and dangerous." Rahami was described as a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born on Jan. 23, 1988 in Afghanistan. The investigation is ongoing and it's not clear if there were other suspects involved in the bombings. Rahami was identified by investigators using the cellphone attached on the explosive device made out from a pressure cooker, as well as his fingerprints left on the device, according to authorities. U.S. President Barack Obama, who is here for the annual UN General Assembly, delivered his first statement in New York since the attacks on Monday morning, commending law enforcement officers and first responders for their professionalism and quick response, and urged Americans not to "succumb to the fear." Nine people were also wounded Saturday night in a stabbing attack at a mall in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota. The incident was investigated as potential acts of terrorism, but did not appear to be linked with the series of bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey, according to police. The attacks came as world leaders gather at New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this week, which puts pressure on the security capabilities of the city's law enforcement force. Cuomo said on Saturday that the state will be deploying an additional 1,000 state troopers and members of the National Guard throughout New York. Tragedy and art are often intertwined, it makes sense that an artist would use their art in order to process and deal with some event in their personal life and as is often the case an artists personal life and their work are interlinked to the point when one fails to see the join anymore and the two things become inseparable and one and the same. One needs only look to the artistic and commercial success of the last records of David Bowie, Blackstar and A New Day, who managed to turn his very death into an artistic triumph in a way that was entirely fitting to his lifes work as an artist always in complete control. An artist who has always used their work as a retreat or extension of self, creating a place to deal with the foibles of living, is Nick Cave. Indeed, he himself has stated numerous times in interviews that he turned to music and the written word as a way of coming to terms with the death of his father when he was 19 years old, at that time he discovered that words became like a poultice to my pain. A number of years ago, working with Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Cave made the film 20,000 Days on Earth, which depicts a fictitious 24-hour period in the life of the Australian musician, author, screenwriter, composer and actor, prior to and during the recording of his 2013 album Push the Sky Away. The film was a wonderful exploration of the creative process and an insight into an artistic life spent creating. It also gave audiences a glimpse into the private world of Cave, his musical collaborators such as Warren Ellis and his family, Suzie and their two twin boys. In one scene in the film, Cave is lying on his couch at home with his sons, Arthur and Earl, they are watching the film Scarface together and it is a moment like one would expect to find with any close family, at once touching and intimate. The film that accompanies the new album from Cave and his band the Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree, arrives with another accompanying film, One More Time with Feeling, this time directed by Andrew Dominick (Chopper, The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford, Killing Them Softly.). The film was shot during studio sessions not long after the death of Nick Cave and his wife Susie's son Arthur in a tragic accident in 2015. I first heard the new record while watching this film, and so powerful is the connection between the two works that they've become rather inseparable in my mind. I'm not convinced either, as has been reported in some places, that making the film was merely an interesting way of not speaking to the press around the album release, Cave is too much of a control freak to not have planned meticulously every step of the way, like all great artists everything is intentional here. This is a record as much about professionalism as it is about some search for redemption, its a work about using art to find a way to live again. Like all of us, who have to return to work after some personal calamity or bereavement, Cave too must return to work, and here, with both the film and the new album, we have the results of that work and it may be remembered as the defining output of this wonderful musician. Here Cave as always has his right hand man Warren Ellis with him and the music on the record is both the logical and emotional continuation and development of the sound on the bands 2013 Push the Sky Away. Here the tracks are more like soundscapes than anything else and from the very first song, Jesus Alone to the title track Skeleton Tree, we are plunged into a painful world of grief, loss and ultimately some form of redemption or even hope, though it is a hard slog to find that sliver of light, it is a sliver, which Cave, like us, needs in order to find his way back to the land of the living, if that is even possible after such a cataclysmic event as the loss of a child. The knowing dark blues that has characterised much of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' music up to now is gone, and Skeleton Tree is as sparse and experimental as they've ever been. Here, they haunt their former selves, at once familiar yet somehow utterly removed. Skeleton Tree's minimal production and less polished sound incorporates elements of alternative rock, electronica and ambient music and features extensive use of synthesisers, drum machines and loops that were previously explored on Push the Sky Away. Several songs on the album utilise avant-garde techniques, including the use of dissonant musical elements and non-standard song structures. Cave's allegorical and often-improvised lyrics are less narrative and character-based than on previous Bad Seeds' albums as he explores the empty desolation of his grief and loss. After a career of collaboration with a variety of wonderful talents like Blixa Bargeld and Mick Harvey, Cave really has found his perfect foil in Ellis, and the sometime Dirty Three leader has really come into his own on the last few Bad Seed records, the music on display here is as stark, unsettling and desperate as the words and vocals it encases like a shroud. They also make a great double team and even in the film there are moments of genuine humour between the two men. One of the most moving sequences in One More Time with Feeling comes when Cave is discussing the strange things that grief will do. "I must remember to be kind," he says in voiceover, sounding like a man who knows that it is true kindness that we can find hope once more. That is what Cave is offering us here, his gift to us. Skeleton Tree has become a statement about grief, loss and the potential and failure of art, but in the brutal honesty and stark emotion at play here there is a promise here to anyone listening that when loss and grief of losing a loved one visits us all, as it will, we are told here just how impossible and overpowering that grief will be. Rating: 5/5 The Local Property Tax in Louth will stay as it is following a decision by county councillors not to change it for next year. At a council meeting in Dundalk on Monday, councillors were told by council chief executive Joan Martin that there are very options open to her to raise money other than the Local Property Tax. If the Property Tax is reduced she might not be able to recruit much needed clerical staff. She also has other vacancies. Local authorities have the power to adjust the Local Property Tax or household charge annually. They can make reductions of up to 15 per cent. Already this year, two Dublin councils - Fingal and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown have reduced the tax by the maximum 15 per cent. This will mean a loss of 8 million to Fingal council and a loss of 5 million to Dun-Laoghaire-Rathdown. Here, Sinn Fein county councillors wanted the same 15 per cent cut. But their motion was defeated. Cllr Kevin Meenan said hundreds of thousands have been spent over the years cleaning up derelict sites at Muirhevnamor Dundalk and if these sites were put to better use the council might then be in a better financial position and the full 15 per cent cut could be made in the Property Tax. Green Party Cllr Mark Dearey said: This is the annual Punch and Judy show. We as members have been set against each other, he said, referring to the Government's decision to allow councillors make the annual adjustment. Cllr Dearey wanted the Property Tax scrapped and replaced with a site valuation. We're taxing the wrong thing, he said. It's a land tax not a property tax. It was Sinn Fein's Cllr Alan Cassidy who proposed that the council go all out for a 15 per cent cut. After the meeting he said: The maximum reduction would have given the people of the county something back. This government and the last one have had their hands in our pockets for too long. There are a lot of efficiencies that could be made in the day to day working of the Council which would result in savings. The chief executive said that if the tax remained the same the council would have 140,000 extra to use when the budget comes up at the end of this year. She suggested it could go towards roads. But that didn't cut much ice and Cllr Pio Smith pointed out that we have one of the largest third class roads networks in the country. But chairman Cllr Paul Bell said he was in favour of keeping the status quo. Council clerical vacancies could be filled. He said the council was understaffed because of the public service moratorium and there may be issues next year to correct cuts in low-pay salaries. Cllr Cassidy's motion to cut the tax by 15 per cent was defeated by 19 votes to eight. Cllr Tommy Byrne motion to reduce it by 1.5 per cent lost by 17 to two. Cllr Kevin Callan's motion to have no change was carried by 17 votes to 10. Even as we enter the autumn months of 2016, the centenary celebrations of The Easter Rising are still in productive swing. Two local authors have written books - one fact, one mainly fiction - documenting the events leading up to, during and after The Rising. Dr. Madge O'Doyle is a grand-niece of RIC Constable Charles McGee. Charles was the first RIC officer to die in the 1916 Rising, as a result of a fatal shooting at Castlebellingham, on Easter Monday 1916. He was a native Irish language speaker, born on Inisboffin Island, county Donegal in 1893. His appointment to a police barracks in Castlebellingham led to his being caught up in the events of the 1916 Rising in the region. Madge will soon release 'The Life and Times of Constable Charles McGee'. She spoke to the Dundalk Democrat about her soon-to-be-published book. The book will not only document Charles McGee, but also go into detail about the times and events leading up to the rising., said Dr O'Doyle. The book will explore how the Conradh na Gaeilge and other organisations were affected by the said events, as well as how Dundalk was affected by the call to nationalism. The book is very comprehensive and informative of how Louth was shaped by the events of Easter 1916. The Life and Times of Constable Charles McGee. Will be available in all good bookshops soon. Brian McGuirk, has published his second novel 'A New Dawn for Freedom'. The novel is set in the year 1917, and focuses on a group of Irish rebels still yearning for freedom after the the events of Easter 1916. The books blurb reads as follows: 'Its the centenary year of the 1916 Rising in Ireland, and agree or disagree, but there were mistakes made in 1916 When Eoin MacNeill countermanded the order for the insurrection, Dublin as a result was pretty much left isolated and maybe those brave men knew themselves that they were destined for failure, and it was a brave attempt to show the people of Ireland that she could indeed rebel once again against English rule. This book is fictional and is predominantly set in 1917, when England is too concerned with the Great War. The rebels interned in Frongoch have returned home and Ireland is still yearning for her freedom'. I am fascinated by Irish History, particularly the 10 year period which spanned from 1913 23, said Brian. The formation of the Irish Volunteers, The Easter Rising and The War of Independence were key events in that particular period in time. Seeing as 2016 is the centenary of The Rising, I though that it would be interesting to pose the question, what if the events of The Rising, were parallel to the rebels being further oppressed by the British Army. The novel is based in the year 1917. The story is fictitious, but is shaped historic events. The rebels in the story have been sent home from Dunkirk, still dreaming of rebellion, while the British Army is too concerned with The Great War. There were mistakes made during The Rising, causing the rebels defeat, the story fixes those mistakes and will hopefully be the subject of debate and conversation, said Brian. Brian is a lifelong supporter of Celtic F.C, sharing as much love for the club, as he has for Irish History. His first novel, 'Celtic FC - the Ireland Connection' was published in 2009. Brian is a previous chairman of Dun Dealgan Celtic Supporters Club and previous Leinster Representative of The Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs. He has had previously written articles published for various Celtic magazines. 'A New Dawn for Freedom' is available for Kindle users on Amazon.com. Gardai investigating the fatal accident at Monavalley in Louth Village that led to the death of 35-year-old Keith Byrne have issued a new appeal for information. Gardai investigating the fatal accident at Monavalley in Louth Village that led to the death of 35-year-old Keith Byrne have issued a new appeal for information. Superintendent Eugene Brennan, Ardee, has mad e a public appeal for anyone with information regarding the death of Keith Byrne, who was fatally injured only a few hundred yards from his home on 11 May, to come forward. Keith was found just a couple of hundred yards from his home at 4.40am on Sunday, 11 May by a passing motorist. He sustained injuries to his head and his leg and was pronounced dead at the scene. His death is being treated as a hit and run. A post mortem was carried out at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda by the state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy. John Byrne, Carnalogue, Louth Village, father of Keith, has previously appealed to those responsible, to come forward and help bring some closure to Keiths family. Please come forward,John said, Whoever is responsible. Will you just please come forward. He has a heartbroken mother here, a heartbroken sister, and three brothers. Thats all I ask. That whoever is responsible to come forward and hand themselves in. The community in the old parish of Louth has also set up a fund which has resulted in a reward for substantial information relating to the death of the 35-year-old. Gardai wish to appeal for anyone who travelled the road from Louth Village to Channon Roack or on the Main Carrickmacross to Dundalk Road passing through Channon Rock, in the early hours of Sunday morning on 11 May. They are especially eager to speak to anyone who who travelled the road between 1am and 5am. Both Gardai and the family of Keith Byrne, his parents, sister and brothers would appreciate any help the public are able to provide to this investigation. Keiths Months Mind Mass will be held this Friday, 13 June at 8pm in Church of the Immaculate Conception Louth. If you have any information please contact Ardee Garda station at 041-6553222 or the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111.Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Gardai at the samel number. Irish Water will this week begin the process to take in charge the administration of 2,700 business customer accounts in Louth. The change will see responsibility for account administration for existing business customers in Louth move to Irish Water from Local Authorities. Charges for business customers, credit terms and the frequency of billing will remain unchanged while this transition is taking place. Business customers in Louth will now have a single point of customer contact for all queries in relation to water supply, wastewater treatment and business account management. Irish Water will contact all 2,700 business customers and other affected groups in Louth directly, once the transition takes place. Bills will be issued from Irish Water directly, as they fall due, from September onwards. Irish Water took over responsibility for providing public water services to business customers in January 2014. Before this, Local Authorities billed businesses for water services provided to them and they have continued to issue bills on behalf of Irish Water on an interim basis since then. A process is now beginning to transfer this billing process to Irish Water as part of the transition of water service delivery from Local Authorities to Irish Water. Irish Water began the process of billing transfer on a phased basis in mid-July and to date administration for counties Meath, Monaghan, Longford, Cork City, Carlow and Wicklow have successfully been transferred to the utility. Prior to bills being issued, Irish Water will contact customers directly in each county to explain what is happening. Any customer with a query in relation to the process can contact Irish Water on 1850 778 778 or 01 707 2827. Irish Water is investing in the water and wastewater infrastructure across County Louth. Work is currently underway on a 500,000 investment to replace 300m of aging water mains along the North Quay in Drogheda which will improve the security of the water supply for residents in North East Drogheda, Baltry and Termonfeckin. Work has also commenced on a 3.4million investment to replace 9.2km of aging water mains in Dundalk and the surrounding environs. Irish Water has completed the first phase of a 250,000 project to replace the aging rising main from the Ardee Water Treatment plant. This main is prone to frequent bursts and further work is programmed to be carried out in Q1 2017 which will improve the security of the water supply for customers. Irish Water has a number of planned projects in place to upgrade water treatment and wastewater treatment works in County Louth. Planning permission was granted in March 2016 from An Bord Pleanala for the proposed upgrade of Staleen Water Treatment plant and this project is now progressing to tender stage. Plans are also progressing to upgrade theDundalk, Drogheda, Omeath, Ardee, Blackrock, Carlingford and Clogherhead wastewater treatment plants and the sewer networks in Dundalk, Drogheda and Ardee. Elected representatives seeking further information from Irish Water in relation to how the administrative change will affect business customers in their constituency should contact our dedicated elected representatives support desk. Small to medium business owners are diligent when it comes to meeting their superannuation obligations to staff but growing their personal super is not top of mind, according to Tim Reed, CEO of cloud accounting provider MYOB. He told Dynamic Business that government and big business must play a role in eliminating barriers to owners making super contributions. Reed referred to MYOBs latest SME snapshot, which revealed that: over a third of owners dont contribute to their superannuation; of those aged 50 years and under, over half (52%) have done no retirement planning; while owners believe they will need $1 million to retire comfortably, yet 54% will fall short; over half are having to wait longer than six months to be paid by customers; and more than seven in ten write off money owed to them. Unreasonable pay practices Reed said the findings suggest that an owners ability to pay their own super is impacted by cashflow problems such as being forced to wait months for payments from big businesses due to unreasonable practices such as 90-day payment terms. Small businesses owners are forgoing their own financial well-being and putting the needs of their business first, he said. They are also burdened by constant cash flow pressures, and this lack of cash can then impact the owners ability to pay their own super, as well as other pressing payments including wages and rent. Greater awareness needed Reed said there was a need to raise awareness among small business owners of the importance of regularly contributing to their own super Its easy at the time to keep pushing super to the bottom of the priority list, but then youre left with a challenge where you dont have enough time to save what you require for a comfortable retirement, he said. We need to educate owners that its critical to put something away, whether thats superannuation or putting money into an investment. Big business and government action Reed urged government and big businesses to put forward an initiative to address cashflow problems facing small businesses, and suggested they implement a national prompt payment protocol to ensure small business owners are paid on time. As part of our proposal, Australian governments and big businesses would be urged to voluntarily sign up to the protocol and publicly commit to eliminating late payment culture where it exists, he explained. For businesses and governments that do sign-up to the Protocol, but fail to abide by the principles, a penalty would be incurred. However, we have seen examples in the UK that whilst these provisions exist, many SMEs remain reluctant to make use of them for fear of damaging their relationship, coupled with the cost of taking a debtor to court. The opportunity for Australia is to generate a culture of good business, where such formal procedures can be avoided. Artificial intelligence (AI) is steadily growing more sophisticated, particularly in regards to advanced decision making capabilities, making it increasingly appealing to corporations. A survey from Narrative Science shows that 62 per cent of organisations will be using AI technologies by 2018, while Gartner is predicting that three million employees worldwide will be supervised by AI in 2018. The question that remains is what will this transformation look like? While computers are capable of making intelligent decisions about financial trading, medical diagnoses and even flying planes or driving cars, several factors have kept businesses from adopting AI broadly. One of these is accessibility. To make truly intelligent decisions about the world, AI takes impressive system resources, which often go above and beyond what a company has or is willing to dedicate. A solution to this problem could be the adoption of cloud based technology; this way most computations take place off-site. The current scenario around the world has shown that instead of owning and maintaining powerful computers needed to run sophisticated artificially intelligent programs, companies are now willing to use others to run the software, which is turning AI decision-making accessible even to smaller business. AI does and will continue to exist just not as we know it Modern AI machines can perform a variety of tasks, such as data analysis. Arguably in this area, AI can execute commands with greater efficiency and accuracy than humans. If future predictions are to be believed, virtually all number-crunching tasks performed by human management will soon be relegated to AI. In fact, Narrative Sciences study revealed that 58 per cent of respondents amongst over 230 business executives indicated they are using predictive analytics already. A great example of using AI smartly is Uber: the company has very few human employees overseeing tasks, and most driving jobs are distributed by AI alone. Additionally, many companies are now looking to replace humans with AI for an array of repetitive managerial tasks that are easier to automate. Air traffic control, as an example, is a managerial task that falls into this role. Looking ahead, AI will also transform the gig economy in Australia, which is described as a fluid economy where temporary positions are common. Its quite simple for AI to predict a temporary employees success in completing a single task. In comparison, modelling long term success involves more variables and may be more difficult. As a consequence, AI may soon handle most short-term hiring at many companies. AI will begin with simple tasks such as these, but as technology develops further, we can expect to see more and more managerial tasks automated, including many that cant currently be predicted. So the question is, when does human management become obsolete entirely? Suspicion from above, not below Traditionally, the tasks performed by low level employees are those that are first automated. An automotive company, for example, can decide to replace humans for robots assembling cars on an assembly line. However, as AI becomes more feasible to all business models, it may not be the base level employee whose job is perhaps eliminated. If the managerial decision making of AI is proven to be more efficient and more accurate than humans, the traditional roles and responsibilities of the executive team may need to be reviewed. A human touch in a corporate reality While analysis and decision making is important, one of the most important and often overlooked characteristics of an effective manager is emotional intelligence. A good manager needs to take employee morale into account to relay orders without sounding authoritarian, to take employees irrational or emotional behaviour into consideration when making decisions and to engage in emotionally fraught situations, such as firings, with grace. When developing artificially intelligent software, companies have been tasked with giving the software a human touch that encourages people to welcome AI into their business and personal lives. However, some attempts have failed miserably. As a consequence, developers are using novel techniques to craft an interface that makes people want to cooperate as AI becomes a more important part of our lives and begins to manage situations where human compliance is crucial. The road to creating friendly software can leave developers apprehensive. They worry about the uncanny valley, a theory that says that when an artificial image or mode of interaction seems semi-human, but not quite there, it seems more eerie and off-putting than when its completely and obviously inhuman. Eventually, developers may well overcome this hurdle; however, in the intermediate period, managers will still serve a vital role as the human face that relays instructions. A managers job would lean more toward emotional labour rather than decision making. Given that the world is evolving so quickly, it is difficult to predict how it will look like in few years. Artificially intelligent software is already surpassing many peoples expectations, but is there more to come? Taking this into consideration, the only certainty here is that the world is likely to be very different from now. About the author Chris Tithof is the Channel director for Unit4 in ANZ region. Specialising in cloud business management, Tithof leads Unit4s business, being responsible for developing new business, strategic account selling and continuing the successful partnerships with Agilyx, Connexxion and S1 Consulting within the region. Flash Security concerns are plaguing the United States on Monday after bombings rocked New York and New Jersey over the weekend in what officials linked to act of terrorism. Police direct traffic at a street near the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United States, Sept. 19, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] The New York City Police Department released a photograph of a 28-year-old Afghanistan-born American wanted for questioning in connection with both the blast that injured 29 people in the bustling Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea Saturday night and the pipe bombing earlier that day in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan with an address in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was taken into custody after a shoot-out with police, local police said, more than two hours after the release of his photo. The attacks, occurred just days after the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, sparked fears among the population of more than 8 million in New York City. At 7:55 a.m. on Monday, residents in the U.S. financial capital were alarmed with an emergency alert urging them to contact authorities if they see Rahami or have any information about him. The klaxon-like alarm that usually sounded for flash flood warnings was sent to New Yorkers' cell phones, in a sign of the urgency authorities felt in chasing down the suspect and preventing additional bombings. The bombings put enormous pressure on the city's law enforcement as world leaders are gathering this week at the United Nations headquarters for the annual General Assembly meeting and a UN high-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants. About 135 heads of state or government are expected to attend this week's event at the United Nations. "We're going to have more security personnel than ever assembled over this next week during the UN General Assembly," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in interviews with CNN on Monday morning. City authorities said they had bolstered an already heavy security force with 1,000 more uniformed police officers and National Guard members. Rahami should be considered "armed and dangerous," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in one of a series of TV appearances minutes after the release of the photo. Early Monday, FBI agents flocked to an apartment above a fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth that the authorities said was tied to Rahami. Just hours earlier, one of the five explosive devices discovered Sunday night at the nearby Elizabeth train station exploded when investigators were trying to defuse it with a robot. Rahami, whose fingerprint was found on an unexploded device, was manhunted in connection with the blasts that provoked suspicions of a local terror cell, according to federal officials. In addition to the Chelsea blast on Saturday night, another unexploded device apparently made out of a pressure cooker was found several blocks away. On the immediate heels of the blast, both New York city mayor de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo were cautious about linking the attacks to international terrorism. However, both struck a different tone on Monday morning. "I suspect there may be a foreign connection," Cuomo told CBS News. "That's what we are hearing today, as the investigation goes on." On Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded in a garbage pail along the route of a five-km charity run sponsored by the U.S. Marine in New Jersey's Seaside Park, the Ocean County, about 129 km south of New York City. The explosive device went off before the road run, thus inflicting no injuries or damages, according to local authorities. Also on Saturday, a man stabbed and injured nine people at a mall in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota before a police officer fatally shot him. The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) quickly claimed responsibility for the Minnesota attack. The incident was investigated as potential acts of terrorism, but did not appear to be linked with the series of bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey, according to police. Rahami was identified by investigators using the cellphone attached on the explosive device made out from a pressure cooker, as well as his fingerprints left on the device, according to authorities. Rahami was wounded after exchanging fire with police officers on East Elizabeth Ave in Linden, while two police officers were also reportedly injured during the shootout. Police had also found a suspicious package and required bomb squad and police dogs to the scene. The investigation was still underway and it's not clear if there were other suspects involved in the bombings. U.S. President Barack Obama, who is now in New York City for the annual UN General Assembly, delivered his first statement since the attacks on Monday morning, commending law enforcement officers and first responders for their professionalism and quick response, and urged Americans not to "succumb to the fear." "The threat to the United States is serious," Robert Shapiro, professor and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, told Xinhua. Prof. Shapiro, however, believed it was "not an existential national threat unless there might be chemical or other large-scale attacks." "I don't think the timing is related to the UN meeting but perhaps to the U.S. elections," he said. Cowboys and Indians movies. Im trying to recall movies Ive seens with the Wild Wild West as the theme. I could remember some scene from the Back to the Future 3, the Wild Wild West with Will Smith (?) , Indiana Jones, Pocahontas and Toy Story. The rest are blur, but I do remember seeing some black and white movies that my brother or father used to watch. Just recently I went to see The Magnificent Seven Movie and I was entertained big time. As much as I was not a fan of gunfights and such kind of violence you see in cowboy films (you know shooting people like playing in the arcade for stuff toys), I was surprised that I stayed until the end and actually enjoyed the film. I love the production, the set was applaudable, I can see the effort in creating an entirely old Wild West feel. I actually feel like watching an old movie except the humor was somehow relatable and timely plus the actors were from the present. The Magnificent Seven is actually a remake of a 1960s film, this one is directed by Antoine Fuqua for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Columbia Pictures . Plot goes around the town of Rose Creek under the deadly control of industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), the desperate townspeople, led by Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), employ protection from seven outlaws, bounty hunters, gamblers and hired guns Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Jack Horne (Vincent DOnofrio), Billy Rocks (Byung-Hun Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). As they prepare the town for the violent showdown that they know is coming, these seven mercenaries find themselves fighting for more than money, as such they were called magnificent. Denzel Washington looked really younger in this movie, Ethan Hawke look older here. I love Chris Pratt character here. Watch out for the Red Harvest character played by Martin Sensmeier, I think this is his big break, he was one of the eye candies here. Matt Bomer was one of the eyecandies too, although his role was cut short . Emma Cullen played by Haley Bennett reminded me a lot of Jennifer Lawrence. Jack Horne (Vincent DOnofrio) reminded me a lot of Hodor! I love the diversity of the characters in the movie, American, Mexican, Irish and Native American (Comache) , and Asian, working together , different cultures yet a lot of dynamics! The characters blend well together. What made this movie timely is the idea of tyranny, happening in our world today , the Magnificent Seven is a special group of people who come together to fight tyranny. I think this is a boys movie, especially though who loves guns and gunfight and war games and stuff. This movie was action-packed. Fight scenes were very well executed, well done. I love the casting. The Magnificent Seven will be showing in cinemas in the country starting September 21, 2016, How about you, what Cowboys and Indians movie have you seen before? Stay gorgeous everyone! Sussex News Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Last week I wrote about 27-year-old Republican Steve Marino. Marino is a Macomb County Commissioner and candidate for the state House. In recordings made by a Michigan Democratic Party tracker at a coffee hour, Marino bragged about cheating on his taxes and, apparently, lied about picking up bar tabs for other Republicans as a lobbyist among other things. Earlier this week another recording was released where Marino brags about his company in China and makes it clear that he finds shipping jobs overseas is fine because it saves him money. When an attendee said, Chinas not a democracy!, Marino replied, I know, I have a company over there [China] He then added, Why am I going to pay an individual $80,000 a year, when I can pay somebody $5,000 a year in a different country and do it however I want to do it. Its worth noting that when a resolution to oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement came before the Macomb County Commission, Marino was one of only three that voted against it. Job-killing in America does not appear to be a big issue for Marino. Today, we get more recordings and these are epic. In these recordings you can hear Marino disparaging Republican House Speaker Kevin Cotter as spineless, saying he does a bad job in Lansing because he has has no real backbone and has no control over his Republican caucus. Listen for yourself: You can listen to many other recordings of Marino Unplugged at LobbyistSteveMarino.com. Thank you to @MarinoForMacomb for confirming what Dems have known from the start. Kevin Cotter is spineless. https://t.co/JK7mMJuRsg Brandon Dillon (@BrandonDillon75) September 20, 2016 Im sure these recordings of Marino and his big mouth will go a long way to ingratiate him with his fellow Republicans. Heck, Kevin Cotter himself might go knock doors in the 24th House District. Well, not for Marino, of course. For his opponent Democrat Dana Camphous-Peterson. If youd like to help out her campaign and knock some doors for her yourself, head over to her website DanaForStateHouse and sign up today. Donations to her campaign can be made HERE. 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At the ongoing Man-Made Fibres Congress in Austria, the EC says it wants to offer more guidance to national authorities and research organisations to enhance the industry's ongoing sustainability efforts. Tommy Lee reports from Dornbirn. Canadian and U.S. environmental and consumer groups denounced Health Canadas approval of genetically engineered salmon created by AquaBounty Technologies Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of synthetic biology company Intrexon. This is the first-ever genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption in Canada, despite widespread public outcry, risks to wild salmon and an approval made with no public consultation or labeling. Canadian and U.S. environmental and consumer groups denounced Health Canadas approval of genetically engineered salmon. This approval also comes despite the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans draft risk assessment that questions the health and welfare of AquaBounty Technologies Inc.s genetically modified salmon. The draft risk assessment concluded that AquaBountys GMO salmon are not only more susceptible to Aeromonas salmonicida, a type of disease-causing bacteria, but exhibit diminished growth rates and widely varied performance. The Canadian agencys approval of GMO salmon follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) approval in November 2015. In the wake of controversy over the U.S. approval, the U.S. has put in place an import ban on GMO salmon until labeling standards are established. Health Canadas approval is irresponsible and disappointing. But regardless of this approval, there is no market for genetically engineered salmon, Dana Perls, food and technology campaigner at Friends of the Earth U.S., said. Consumers dont want to eat it and grocery stores wont sell it. A large segment of the market has already rejected genetically engineered salmon. More than 60 grocery store chains (many with stores in Canada) have made commitments to not sell the GMO salmon, including Costco, Safeway, Kroger, Target, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Aldi and many others. Seventy-five percent of respondents to a New York Times poll said they would not eat genetically engineered salmon and 1.8 million people sent letters to the FDA opposing approval of the so-called frankenfish. Canadians could now be faced with the worlds first GMO food animal, approved with no public consultation and no labeling, Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, said. This announcement comes in the midst of a growing movement for GMO labeling at the state and federal level in the U.S. AquaBounty Technologies AquAdvantage salmon is genetically engineered with the DNA of an eel-like ocean pout. At least 35 other species of genetically engineered fish, along with chickens, pigs and cows, are currently under development and Health Canadas decision on this genetically engineered salmon application sets a precedent for other genetically engineered fish and animals. A growing body of science suggests that GMO salmon may pose serious environmental and public health risks, including potentially irreversible damage to wild salmon populations. GM salmon production threatens the future of wild Atlantic salmon, Calinda Brown of the Ecology Action Centre said. Retailers can protect consumers and the environment by making sure this GM fish never makes it to grocery store shelves. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE EU Delays Approval of Glyphosate, Again Consumed: First Fictional Film to Cover Concerns of GMOs UN Says Glyphosate Unlikely to Cause Cancer, Industry Ties to Report Called Into Question Nebraska Farmers Sue Monsanto Alleging Roundup Gave Them Cancer What Is Climate Change? Is It Different From Global Warming? Climate change is actually not a new phenomenon. Scientists have been studying the connection between human activity and the effect on the climate since the 1800s, although it took until the 1950s to find evidence suggesting a link. Since then, the amount of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases) in the atmosphere have steadily increased, taking a sharp jump in the late 1980s when the summer of 1988 became the warmest on record. (There have been many records broken since then.) But climate change is not a synonym for global warming. The term global warming entered the lexicon in the 1950s, but didnt become a common buzzword until a few decades later when more people started taking notice of a warming climate. Except climate change encompasses a greater realm than just rising temperatures. Trapped gases also affect sea-level rise, animal habitats, biodiversity and weather patterns. For example, Texas severe winter storms in February 2021 demonstrate how the climate isnt merely warming. Related: What Are The Top States For Solar Incentives? Why Is Climate Change Important? Why Does It Matter? Marc Guitard / Moment / Getty Images Despite efforts from forward thinkers such as SpaceX Founder Elon Musk to colonize Mars, Earth remains our home for the foreseeable future, and the more human activity negatively impacts the climate, the less habitable it will become. Its estimated that Earth has already warmed about one degree Celsius, or two degrees Fahrenheit, since the start of the Industrial Revolution around the 1750s, although climate change tracking didnt start until the late 1800s. That warming number may not sound like much, but this increase has already resulted in more frequent and severe wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts and winter storms, to name some examples. Environmental Impacts Then theres biodiversity loss, another fallout of climate change thats threatening rainforests and coral reefs and accelerating species extinction. Take rainforests, which act as natural carbon sinks by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But as rampant deforestation is occurring everywhere from Brazils Amazon to Borneo, fewer trees mean that rainforests are becoming carbon sources, emitting more carbon than theyre absorbing. Meanwhile, coral reefs are dying as warming ocean temperatures trigger bleaching events, which cause corals to reject algae, their main food and life source. Fewer trees, coral reefs and other habitats also equate to fewer species. Known as the sixth mass extinction, a 2019 UN report revealed that up to a million plant and animal species could become extinct within decades. Human Impact It can be easy to overlook climate change in day-to-day life, or even realize that climate change is behind it. Notice theres yet another romaine lettuce recall due to E. Coli? Research suggests that E. Coli bacteria are becoming more common in our food sources as it adapts to climate change. Cant find your favorite brand of coffee beans anymore? Or that the price has doubled? Climate change is affecting that too. Climate change is also worsening air quality and seasonal allergies, along with polluting tap water. Not least, many preliminary studies have also drawn a line between climate change and the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that is still gripping much of the world. Future pandemics are likely to happen more frequently until the root causes, such as deforestation, are addressed. Speaking of larger-scale issues, global water scarcity is already happening more frequently. The Caribbean is facing water shortages due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall; Australias dams may run dry by 2022 as severe wildfires increase and Cape Town, South Africa has already faced running out of water. As touched upon earlier, its one thing to be inconvenienced by a lack of romaine lettuce for a couple of weeks or higher coffee bean prices, but reports warn how climate change will continue to threaten global food security, to the point of triggering a worldwide food crisis if temperatures surpass two degrees Celsius. Many of these factors are already contributing to climate migration, forcing large numbers of people to relocate to other parts of the world in search of better living conditions. Unless more immediate, drastic action is taken to combat climate change, future generations will have to contend with worst-case scenario projections by the end of the 21st century, not limited to coastal cities going underwater, including Miami; lethal heat levels from South Asia to Central Africa; and more frequent extreme weather events involving hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis, droughts, floods, blizzards and more. Related: What Are The Best Solar Companies? Whats Happening and Why? Fiddlers Ferry power station in Warrington, UK. Chris Conway / Moment / Getty Images The Earths temperature has largely remained stable until industrial times and the introduction of greenhouse gases. These gases have forced the atmosphere to retain heat, as evidenced by rising global temperatures. As the planet grows warmer, glaciers melt faster, sea levels rise, severe flooding increases and droughts and extreme weather events become more deadly. The Greenhouse Effect In the late 1800s, Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius studied the connection between the amount of atmospheric carbon and its ability to warm and cool the Earth, and while his initial calculations suggested extreme warming as carbon increased, researchers didnt start to take human-induced climate change seriously until the late 20th century. But proof of human-led climate change can be traced to the 1850s, and satellites are among the ways that scientists have been tracking increased greenhouse gases and their climate impact in more recent years. Climate researchers have also documented warmer oceans, ocean acidification, shrinking ice sheets, decreased snow amounts and extreme weather as among the events resulting from greenhouse gases heating the planet. Numerous factors contribute to the production of greenhouse gases, known as the greenhouse effect. One of the biggest causes involve burning fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas, to power everything from cars to daily energy needs (electricity, heat). From 1970-2011, fossil fuels have comprised 78 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. Big Ag is another greenhouse contributor, particularly beef production, with the industry adding 10 percent in 2019. This is attributed to clearing land for crops and grazing and growing feed, along with methane produced by cows themselves. In the U.S. alone, Americans consumed 27.3 billion pounds of beef in 2019. Then theres rampant deforestation occurring everywhere from the Amazon to Borneo. A 2021 study from Rainforest Foundation Norway found that two-thirds of the worlds rainforests have already been destroyed or degraded. In Brazil, deforestation reached a 12-year-high in 2020 under right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. As it stands, reports predict that the Amazon rainforest will collapse by 2064. Rainforests are important carbon sinks, meaning the trees capture and remove carbon from the atmosphere. As rainforests collapse, the remaining trees will begin emitting more greenhouse gases than theyre absorbing. Meanwhile, a recent study revealed that abandoned oil and gas wells are leaking more methane than previously believed, with U.S. wells contributing up to 20 percent of annual methane emissions. Not least is the cement industry. Cement is heavily used throughout the global construction industry, and accounts for around eight percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Natural Climate Change Granted, natural climate change exists as well, and can be traced throughout history, from solar radiation triggering the Ice Ages to the asteroid strike that rapidly raised global temperatures and eliminated dinosaurs and many other species in the process. Other sources of natural climate change impacts include volcano eruptions, ocean currents and orbital changes, but these sources generally have smaller and shorter-term environmental impacts. How We Can Combat Climate Change Participant holding a sign at the climate march on Sept. 20, 2020, in Manhattan. A coalition of climate, Indigenous and racial justice groups gathered at Columbus Circle to kick off Climate Week with the Climate Justice Through Racial Justice march. Erik McGregor / LightRocket / Getty Images While the latest studies and numbers can often feel discouraging about societys ability to prevent the worst-case climate scenarios from happening, theres still time to take action. As a Society In 2015 at COP 21 in Paris, 197 countries came together to sign the Paris Agreement, an international climate change treaty agreeing to limit global warming in this century to two degrees Celsius, and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels; its believed that the planet has warmed one degree Celsius since 1750. Studies show that staying within the two-degree range will prevent the worst-case climate scenarios from happening. Achieving this goal requires participating parties to drastically slash greenhouse gas emissions sooner rather than later. However, there have already been numerous setbacks since then, from former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrawing from the Paris Agreement in 2020 to world leaders, such as China, the worlds biggest polluter, failing to enact aggressive climate action plans. Yet many of the treaty participants have been slow to implement changes, putting the world on track to hit 3.2 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century even if the initial goals are met. However, its worth noting that U.S. President Joe Biden rejoined the Paris Agreement in 2021, and pledged to cut greenhouse gases in half by 2030. Then theres the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 global agreement to phase out ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons, chemicals that were commonly used in air-conditioning, refrigeration and aerosols. Recent studies show that parts of the ozone are recovering, proving that a unified commitment to combatting climate change issues does make a difference. On a smaller scale, carbon offset initiatives allow companies and individuals to invest in environmental programs that offset the amount of carbon thats produced through work or lifestyle. For example, major companies (and carbon emitters) such as United Airlines and Shell have pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in part by participating in carbon offset programs that remove carbon from the atmosphere. The problem is that these companies are still producing high levels of fossil fuel emissions. While individuals can make a small impact through carbon offsets, the greater responsibility lies with carbon-emitting corporations to find and implement greener energy alternatives. This translates to car companies producing electric instead of gas vehicles or airlines exploring alternative fuel sources. It also requires major companies to rely more on solar and wind energy for their energy needs. In Our Own Lives While its up to corporations to do the heavy lifting of carbon reduction, that doesnt mean individuals cant make a difference. Adopting a vegan lifestyle, using public transportation, switching to an electric car and becoming a more conscious consumer are all ways to help combat climate change. Veganism Consuming meat relies on clearing land for crops and animals, while raising and killing livestock contributes to about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UNs Food and Agricultural Organization. By comparison, choosing a plant-based diet could reduce greenhouse gas footprints by as much as 70 percent, especially when choosing local produce and products. Public Transportation Riding public trains, subways, buses, trams, ferries and other types of public transportation is another easy way to lower your carbon footprint, considering that gas-powered vehicles contribute 95 percent of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. Electric Vehicles Electric cars and trucks have come down in price as more manufacturers enter the field, and these produce far lower emissions than their gas counterparts. Hybrid vehicles are another good alternative for lowering individual emission contributions. Conscious Consumption Buying locally produced food and items is another way to maintain a lower carbon footprint, as the products arent shipped or driven long distances. Supporting small companies that are committed to sustainability is another option, especially when it comes to clothes. Fast fashion has become a popular option thanks to its price point, but often comes at the expense of the environment and can involve unethical overseas labor practices. Not least, plastic saturates every corner of the consumer market, but its possible to find non-plastic alternatives with a little research, from reusable produce bags to baby bottles. Climate Activism Those interested in becoming even more involved can join local climate action organizations. Popular groups include the Sunrise Movement, Fridays for Future, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, to name a few. Voting, volunteering, calling local representatives and participating in climate marches are additional ways to raise your voice. Takeaway Its taken centuries to reach a climate tipping point, with just a matter of decades left to prevent the worst-case climate scenarios from happening. But theres still hope of controlling a warming climate as long as individuals, companies and nations make an immediate concerted effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions. As the world already experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic, a rapid unified response can make all the difference. Meredith Rosenberg is a senior editor at EcoWatch. She holds a Masters from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in NYC and a B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia. By Ryan Schleeter Have you ever thought to yourself, I wish it were easier for fossil fuel companies to get their hands on public land so they can drill for oil and gas? Yeah, neither have I. Unfortunately, that seems to be what the Obama Administration was thinking when it announced it would move auctions for the rights to exploit public lands for fossil fuels to an online bidding process. But if the fossil fuel industry and our government think they can hide from keep it in the ground activists by moving online, theyre wrong. Fracking on public lands in the Marcellus Shale region in Pennsylvania. EcoFlight How We Got Here The switch to online auctions is a direct result of pressure built by the keep it in the ground movement over the past year. Fossil fuel lease auctionsorganized by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)had been relatively dull events conducted in person for years. But recently, activists have taken the events by storm, converging on lease sales across the country in peaceful protest to make it clear that our public lands are not for oil and gas profit. Since this time last year, the BLM has cancelled or postponed nine of 15 scheduled sales due to mounting public pressure. In May, activists temporarily blockaded the entrance to a Holiday Inn in Lakewood, Colorado. Earlier this month, Gulf Coast climate justice activists rallied outside a lease sale at the New Orleans Mercedes-Benz Superdome. And just last week, 13 activists were arrested after occupying the Department of the Interior building in Washington, DC to demand no new fossil fuel leases and an end to projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline. #KeepItInTheGround activists delivered 1 MILLION signatures to @POTUS yesterday! No new pipelines, no new leases. pic.twitter.com/pgngWgyx3U Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) September 16, 2016 But instead of hearing the concerns of the 1 million people who want the U.S. fossil fuels to stay in the ground, the BLM is listening to the fossil fuel industry and simply changing venues. Enter todays online auction. Why Todays Auction Matters More than 4,000 acres of land will be made available across Missouri and Kansas, but whats at stake goes beyond this individual sale. Fossil fuel executives see online auctions as a way to end the circus created by keep it in the ground activists mobilizing in the thousands at recent lease sales. Never mind that these auctions are for our public land and that this circus is what the right to assembly and freedom of expression look like in practice. To make the switch online, the BLM has turned to a company called EnergyNet, dubbed eBay for oilfields by Forbes Magazine. EnergyNet has been in the business of auctioning private land for oil and gas exploitation for years, but this is its first foray into selling off federal land. Starting today, fossil fuel representatives can follow EnergyNets simple 8-step bidding process to lease the rights to drill and frack for as little as $2 per acre. If no else bids, a company could buy the entire parcel available for the price of a used Camry. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency found last year that inaction on climate change could cost the country $180 billion by the end of the century. Online or Offline, Keep It in the Ground Activists Will Be There The venue might be different, but our call is the same: To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need keep fossil fuels in the ground. This is the last lease sale of the year, which means we cant let it go by quietly. No matter how the industry tries to insulate its auctions, the climate is still changingand we will not remain silent. Tell the Bureau of Land Management and EnergyNet that they cant silence the climate movementits time to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Redoubling their pledge to act on climate change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama vowed to early ratification of the Paris climate agreement this year during the U.S.-India Summit on Tuesday. President Obama and Prime Minister Modi meeting in the U.S. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons The two leaders committed to work toward a global agreement to cut heat-trapping climate pollutants known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol this year and an expansive partnership on clean energy finance that fights climate change and grows clean energy markets. Tuesdays announcement builds on years of concerted efforts by both countries to deepen the U.S.-India strategic partnership on climate change. The U.S.-India commitment to achieve an amendment to the Montreal Protocol this year dramatically boosts prospects for a global deal this year to phase down HFCs. The new clean energy finance initiatives provide greater opportunity for business and government cooperation on solar, wind and energy efficiency to reach the Paris targets. The leaders also made agreements on a range of other environmental issues: wildlife conservation and combatting wildlife trafficking, G20 outcomes to improve heavy-duty vehicle standards, greenhouse gases from aviation and research and development on Mission Innovation. In her letter to the president before the visit, the Natural Resources Defense Councils (NRDC) President Rhea Suh urged President Obama to seek agreement on real steps to implement the Paris agreement. Cooperation on clean energy technology, finance and policy is essential to scaling up clean energy markets, providing clean energy access and fighting climate change. The Obama-Modi Joint Statement on redoubling efforts to ratify the Paris agreement declares: Both countries are committed to working together and with others to promote full implementation of the Paris agreement to address the urgent threats posed by climate change. India and the United States recognize the urgency of climate change and share the goal of enabling entry into force of the Paris agreement as early as possible. The United States reaffirms its commitment to join the agreement as soon as possible this year. India similarly has begun its processes to work toward this shared objective. These two leaders are showing their desire to roll up their sleeves and start the critical work of implementing the Paris agreement, as my colleague Jake Schmidt explained. Stronger Climate Change Cooperation: HFC Phase Down The commitment by both countries to reach an amendment to phase down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol significantly increases the odds of achieving a global agreement this year in October 2016, during the final Montreal Protocol meeting in Kigali and before COP 22 in Marrakesh. According to the Joint Statement: The two countries resolved to work to adopt an HFC amendment in 2016 with increased financial support from donor countries to the Multilateral Fund to help developing countries with implementation and an ambitious phase-down schedule, under the Montreal Protocol pursuant to the Dubai Pathway. Under the Montreal Protocol, chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), used largely in vehicle and room air conditioners, must be phased out, but the default replacement chemicals are HFCs. Unfortunately, HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases with global warming potential that can be up to 10,000 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. HFC emissions from many markets are growing exponentially and air conditioner usage is increasing equally fast, especially in developing markets. If HFC use in both room and vehicle air conditioners is not reduced substantially, the resulting emissions could undo progress and climate change will occur at a much faster rate. Fortunately, commercially viable alternatives are emerging rapidly and transitioning to these alternatives can be safe and feasible, especially with financial support from the multilateral fund (MLF). As research by NRDC and our partners shows, a growing number of Indian companies are leapfrogging to coolants in air conditioners and refrigerators that dont heat the planet. Business cooperation among international companies, including those in the U.S., China, Japan and elsewhere, can advance the HFC phasedown. As my colleague David Doniger explained, now is the time to accelerate momentum and urge negotiators in the upcoming Vienna meeting to be steadfast in working through final details, including assurances on the MLF, technology-transfer and accelerated timeframes that respect developed and developing country positions. Expanding Clean Energy Partnerships and Financing With clean energy as a centerpiece for both the U.S. and India climate targets, programs to scale-up clean energy finance are vital. Prime Minister Modi and President Obama announced two major programs on clean energy. Focused on unleashing international and domestic financing, the counties are creating a $20 million U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance initiative to mobilize up to $400 million to provide clean and renewable electricity to up to 1 million households by 2020. The program includes establishing a U.S.-India Clean Energy Hub to coordinate government efforts and drive investment. In order to increase access to clean energy, the governments will also create a $40 million U.S.-India Catalytic Solar Finance Program to provide off-grid renewable energy for villages that are not connected to the grid, which could mobilize up to $1 billion of projects. Both programs are jointly funded by the U.S. and India. The U.S. also reaffirmed Indias ambitious national goals to install 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, including 100 GW from solar energy by 2022. As part of the partnership, the U.S. also supports efforts of the International Solar Alliance, launched by Prime Minister Modi during the Paris meetings and research and development under Mission Innovation, as my colleague Sameer Kwatra explained. While the U.S.-India Summit made significant progress on climate change, one promise from Paris that needs much more action is climate resilienceespecially programs on preparedness and air pollution. Strong on-the-ground resilience programs are critical to implementing the Paris agreement. Attention to mitigation efforts far outweighs resilience efforts in both international and bilateral programs. As the impacts of global warming bear down on communities around the globefrom deadly heat waves in Gujarat to devastating droughts in Californiaclimate resilience needs much more focus. President Obama and Prime Minister Modis joint actions show commitment following the Paris agreement that puts both countries on a path to a more sustainable future that supports economic growth and improves the lives of millions. Over the past few years, both countries have taken sincere action to build momentum and goodwill on climate action. Solidifying the leadership roles of the U.S. and India is essential to combatting climate change and encouraging a stronger global response, with benefits not only for our two countries, but also for the world. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE Solar Beats Coal for Entire Month in UK for First Time 228 Cities Around the World Take the Lead on Climate Action South Koreas Plan to Have Worlds First Carbon-Free Island Free Trade Will Kill Progress on Climate Change, 450 Groups Warn Congress Two leading national environmental groupsClean Air Task Force (CATF) and Earthworksunveiled a suite of tools Wednesday designed to inform and mobilize Americans about the health risks from toxic air pollution from the oil and gas industry. For the first time, Americans across the countryfrom Washington County, Pennsylvania, to Weld County, Colorado to Kern County, Californiacan access striking new community-level data on major health risks posed by oil and gas operations across the country. The oil and gas industry is the countrys largest and fastest-growing source of methane emissions. And its facilities emit numerous other hazardous and toxic air pollutants along with methaneincluding benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and ethylbenzene. That toxic pollution presents significant cancer and respiratory health risks, underscoring the need for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up existing sources of toxic air pollution without delay. The EPA recently signed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) that for the first time will regulate methane pollution from new and modified oil and gas facilities, preventing some of the sectors future toxic air pollution from being released. The EPAs current regulations addressing the industrys toxic air pollution are limited and the NSPS does not cover the 1.2 million existing facilities in 33 states. CATFs report, Fossil Fumes, and Earthworks Oil & Gas Threat Map focus specifically on toxic pollutants from those facilities and their resulting health impacts. Earthworks Oil & Gas Threat Map Summary The Oil and Gas Threat Map maps the nations 1.2 million active oil and gas wells, compressors and processors. Using the latest peer-reviewed research into the health impacts attributed to oil and gas air pollution, the map conservatively draws a half mile health threat radius around each facility. Within that total area are: 12.4 million people 11,543 schools and 639 medical facilities 184,578 square miles, an area larger than California For each of the 1,459 counties in the U.S. that host active oil and gas facilities, the interactive map reports: instances of elevated cancer and respiratory risk total affected population (with separate counts for Latino & African-Americans) total affected schools and medical facilities The searchable map allows users to: look up any street address to see if it lies within the health threat radius view infrared videos which makes visible the normally invisible pollution at hundreds of the mapped facilities view 50+ interviews with citizens impacted by this pollution The Oil & Gas Threat Map shows that oil and gas air pollution isnt someone elses problem, its everyones problem, Earthworks executive director Jennifer Krill said. Our homes and schools are at risk while most state regulators do nothing. Although completely solving this problem ultimately requires ditching fossil fuels, communities living near oil and gas operations need the EPA to cut methane and toxic air pollution from these operations as soon as possible. Clean Air Task Force Fossil Fumes Report Summary Fossil Fumes, CATFs companion report to Earthworks Oil and Gas Threat Map, is based on EPAs recent National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) analysis updated to reflect the latest emissions data from EPAs National Emissions Inventory (NEI) and the conclusions are striking. The report finds that: 238 counties in 21 states face a cancer risk that exceeds EPAs one-in-a-million threshold level of concern Combined, these counties have a population of more than 9 million people and are mainly located in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Colorado Of these counties, 43 face a cancer risk that exceeds one in 250,000 and two counties in West Texas (Gaines and Yoakum) face a cancer risk that exceeds one in 100,000 32 counties, primarily in Texas and West Virginia, also face a respiratory health risk from toxic air emissions that exceeds EPAs level of concern (with a hazard index greater than one) The Fossil Fumes report and Earthworks Interactive Threat Map will allow concerned citizens to learn the cancer and respiratory risks they face from toxic air pollution from the oil and gas industry, Lesley Fleischman, CATF technical analyst and author of Fossil Fumes, said. Armed with this information, we trust that citizens and communities will demand protective safeguards requiring industry to clean up its act and reduce these serious risks to public health. The Oil & Gas Threat Map and Fossil Fumes are outstanding tools for nurses, their patients and affected communities to better understand the health risks posed by oil and gas facilities, Katie Huffling, director of programs for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, said. As nurses, we are especially concerned by the number of schools and hospitals revealed to be within a half mile of an active oil and gas facility. The best available science shows that methane and toxic chemicals emitted by these facilities threaten our most vulnerable citizens, which is why we encourage the EPA to quickly address this pollution. Other key findings of the map and report at the statewide level include: Los Angeles County, California is home to the most impacted vulnerable populations: there are more impacted schools and hospitals in Los Angeles than any other county in America (226 schools and 60 hospitals) There are particularly widespread impacts in Texas, with 15 counties with more than 75 percent of their populations living within mile risk radius and 32 percent of Texas counties have elevated oil and gas health risks (82 out of 254) Almost 25 percent of all Pennsylvanians live within the half-mile threat radius The Oil & Gas Threat Map and Fossil Fumes show more than 12 million Americans need protection from oil and gas industry air pollution as soon as possible. Industry talks about voluntarily reducing their pollution, but refuses to make binding commitments, Earthworks policy director Lauren Pagel said. Some states like Colorado have stepped up, but other states like Texas have vowed never to regulate greenhouse gases and associated toxics. It is only the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that can act to protect all Americans, their health and the climate from this pollution. The official number of moose in Yellowstone National Park is 200. Unofficially, rangers told me that it could be as few as 80 animals. In other parts of the country, Minnesota has seen a dramatic decline in their moose population of 70 percent from 2006 to 2013, while in New Hampshire, 3,800 animals remain of the 7,500 present in the late 1990s. One of only 80 moose in Yellowstone, struggling through winter. Photo credit: Dan Zukowski Theres no question about the cause. Warmer winters have increased ticks in the North Woods, which can weaken moose. Some animals are carrying as many as 120,000 ticks. They are so highly infected that they become anemic from blood loss as the ticks engorge themselves on their hosts. Other moose rub so vigorously against the forest trees to remove ticks that they lose much of their characteristic dark brown coat. Theyre known as ghost moose for the pale skin thats revealed. That makes them more visible to predators and less able to cope with the cold winters in their environs. Moose calf mortality is high, too. In New Hampshire, 75 percent of moose calves died from ticks over the winter of 2015-2016, while Maines mortality rate was 60 percent. Parasites, including brainworms (Parelaphostrogylus tenuis), are also taking a toll. Liver flukes (Fascioloides magna) and tapeworms have also been found in necropsies of moose in Minnesota. The tapeworms, which are carried by wolves, can fatally clog the lungs of a moose. Moose are under a firing line of things that are affecting their population, said Dr. Seth Moore, director of biology and environment for the Greater Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. And I think ultimately that all these different things that are affecting the moose population are driven by climate change. Speaking on a CBC documentary produced in 2015, Moore predicted that Minnesota moose could be gone in 50 years. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) also links the plight of moose to climate change. Heat affects moose directly, as summer heat stress leads to dropping weights, a fall in pregnancy rates, and increased vulnerability to disease, the NWF explains. When it gets too warm, moose typically seek shelter rather than foraging for nutritious foods needed to keep them healthy. Referencing New Englands now-shorter winters, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department wistfully says, The best ways to reduce the impacts of winter ticks would be to add back the three weeks of winter. Moose populations are now a managed resource in most states. According to the NWF, 56,000 people hunt in New Hampshire and 630,000 enjoy wildlife watching. There is often a conflict between those who want to hunt moose and those who simply want to watch them. As a result of the decline in moose in Minnesota, hunting was suspended indefinitely in the state beginning in 2013. Current range of moose in North America. Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Overhunting decimated populations in the lower 48 states by the late 1800s, but conservation efforts enabled them to recover. Moose are listed as a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. They cite a 2011 population of about 1 million in North America. However, other sources differ. There are no standardized national or international monitoring programs. Populations in any one area can change dynamically due to local conditions such as forest fires, unusually warm or cold winters, introduction of predators or new infestations. In Maine, where I live, theres a healthy population of 60-70,000 moosethe largest in the lower 48 states. The state will issue 2,160 hunting permits this year, for a one-week season in late October. The Penobscot Nation, who hosted me on their tribal lands last week, have a traditional story about a giant monster moose in a large lake. The Creator, Glooksap, slays the moose and eats it. He turns his kettle over and leaves it by the lake, where it turns into stone and is now the place known as Mount Kineo, in Moosehead Lake. The story points Penobscot hunters to a place were moose are abundanteven todayenabling them to feed their families. It was with this knowledge that I partook of the warm moose stew they fed me on a raw September evening along the Penobscot River. For the Penobscot, nothing is taken from the land without thanking Mother Earth. Moose is an Algonquin term for eater of twigs. An adult moose can consume 40 to 60 pounds of leaves, twigs and buds each day. In summer, they frequent ponds and lakes to feed on sodium-rich aquatic plants. Winter can be harsh, particularly where deep snow makes movement difficult. Average lifespan in the wild is 10 to 12 years. Black bears, along with mountain lions and wolves, where present, are predators, and coyotes may take some young calves. Forest fires can benefit moose in certain circumstances. By creating open burned areas, more edge habitat is available for foraging. Moose may return to burned areas several months after a fire, leading to population density increases of five or six fold. Populations in a post-burn area will peak 10 to 30 years following the fire. However, large fires may be followed by changes in the vegetation that replants the affected areas. Some burns produce a grassland stage; others come back in pure spruce; many produce aspen with little birch or willow which are the most palatable and productive browse plants, says a 2010 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Where can I see a moose? is an oft-asked question by tourists to Alaska, Yellowstone, Northern New England and other areas where they can be found. Encountering one of these large, long-legged mammals in the wild is an event not soon forgotten. Future encounters may be fewer due to the risks created by climate change. Even as the Dakota Access Pipeline protest in Standing Rock has galvanized Native Americans across the U.S., a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Utah Republican Congressmen Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz seeks to take 100,000 acres of Ute tribal lands and hand them over to oil and mining companies. Will Bears Ears be the site of the next standoff? Scott G Winterton, Deseret News The proposed bill also seeks to remove protection from 18 million acres of land in eastern Utah and prevent President Obama from designating the Bears Ears area a national monument. Adjoining Canyonlands National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Bears Ears is an unprotected culturally significant region that contains more than 100,000 Native American archeological sites. These sacred sites are subject to continual looting and desecration. More than a dozen serious looting cases were reported between May 2014 and April 2015. The area has been inhabited for at least 11,000 years. Many Southwestern tribes have longstanding connections to this land, including Navajo, Ute and Paiute peoples. The Navajo Nation and the White Mesa Ute Reservation border Bears Ears. Rock paintings and petroglyphs are found throughout the area. Petroglyphs near the San Juan River Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition The area is rich in mining deposits including uranium and potash with some deposits of tar sands present as well. Oil and gas companies are eyeing the area for drilling. The area around Bears Ears, as well as Canyonlands and Arches National Park, are already dotted with oil rigs. Writing in the May/June 2015 issue of Sierra, Julian Smith reported on an area just north of Bears Ears. The air was full of harsh mechanical noises and a petroleum smell, she wrote. Read my piece on how tar Sands threaten the majestic Green River https://t.co/iHFtxLgcqp Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 30, 2016 An unprecedented coalition of Native American tribes has come together to protect these lands. They include members of the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and Ute Indian Tribe. The organization traces its beginnings to Navajo leader Mark Maryboy, who is credited with launching the effort to preserve Bears Ears. A long-time activist and one-time county commissioner, he has tried to broker a deal with a former moderate Utah Republican, but Tea Party conservatives and anti-public lands politicians have killed all prospects of a deal. Members of the Inter-Tribal Coalition in support of Bears Ears national monument. Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition The proposed Public Lands Initiative (PLI) would appropriate 26 percent of Ute reservation lands and would favor mining interests over land conservation. In a July 23 letter to both Chaffetz and Bishop, the co-chairs of the Inter-Tribal Coalition wrote, We do not see how further discussions can be productive. In a county that is half Native American, they note that under the proposed legislation, there is only a weak advisory role for tribes and that the PLI bill is diametrically opposed to their interests. Map of proposed Bears Ears National Monument Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition In an op-ed by Sen. Jim Dabakis (D-Salt Lake City), he calls the PLI a flawed, political, one-sided, fossil fuel lobby dream piece of legislation. Bishop and Chaffetz both oppose the Antiquities Act, under which President Obama could declare Bears Ears a national monument. Bishop went so far as to insert himself into Maines discussions around creation of the Kathadin Woods and Waters National Monument. In addition to robbing Native Americans of their lands, the PLI also gives anti-government activist Clyven Bundy what he wants: opening Recapture Canyon, another area with many sacred Native American sites, to motorized vehicles. Bundy supported San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman when they staged an illegal ATV ride though the canyon in 2014, desecrating Native American burial grounds. A poll conducted in May 2016 found that 71 percent of Utah voters support the Bears Ears national monument. Support was widespread across geographic regions, age, gender and political party affiliation. The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News and Washington Post have all come out in support of the national monument. Courtesy Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) has been actively working in support of Bears Ears and protection of the red rock wilderness in Utah. In a Sept. 15 blog post, they call the PLI the worst wilderness bill weve seen in Congress. Standing Rock has brought together 200 tribes, many sending representatives to the protest site from faraway states. The Chicago Tribune wrote, Many of the Native Americans who have come here speak of a spiritual reawakening taking place. Their next battleground may be in southeastern Utah. [facebook https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/1297241553622112/ expand=1] Buck Ryan, the Snake River Waterkeeper, put it this way, Removing hydroelectric dams is progresswe no longer have to destroy rivers and kill endangered fish to keep the lights on. As I paddled my kayak amidst the hundreds of people in the Free The Snake flotilla last weekend, I believe Ryan is on the right track. Dams are a 50 to 100 year old technologyits time to remove even more dams along Americas diminished waterways and replace that aged technology with flourishing solar and wind energy systems. 2016 was the second year for the Free The Snake flotilla. Co-sponsored by more than a dozen non-profit groups and organized by Save Our Wild Salmon and Patagonia, the flotilla took place on the Idaho border on the Snake River. Four huge dams on the lower Snake River have contributed to several species of salmon being placed on the endangered species list. Removing the dams would help restore the salmon and a way of life in the Snake and Columbia River basins. The flotilla included participation from river conservation and fishing groups, native American tribes and local businesses, all who have a stake in seeing the lower Snake River dams removed. Since the dams were built more than 30 years ago, only about 1 percent of salmon return from the sea to their native spawning grounds along the river. Historically, around 8 million salmon would return from the sea, swim up the Columbia River and then up into the Snake. That number is now down to around 80,000. Further, the vast majority of those fish are bred and stocked every year, with few or none being original wild salmon. Bigger and better, this years flotilla underscores the public support for restoring this river and bringing these critical salmon species back to our environment, Joseph Boggard, director of Save Our Salmon, said. The 300-person flotilla had the wind at its back, literally and figuratively, as it floated down the river towards the Clarkston-Lewiston bridge. In May of 2016, a federal district court judge ruled that the Endangered Species Recovery Program for the salmon was illegal and needed to consider all recovery options including dam removal. Save Our Salmon has been litigating on the behalf of the endangered salmon for nearly two decades and is thrilled at the courts decision. A new recovery plan must be developed by the federal agencies. Conservation groups have vowed to crank up the dam removal campaign. Further, the Snake River Waterkeeper recently filed another notice of intent to sue to address the pollution and temperature problems in the river. Weve opened up another legal front in our fight to protect the salmon and take down these dams, said Ryan. The crowd chanted and drummed as it floated down the river. Leading the flotilla was a giant inflatable killer whale to symbolize the threat to ocean species from the massive decrease in salmon populations. In fact, the Southern Resident Killer Whaleswhich live part-time in Puget Soundare endangered because their food supply has been depleted. This species of killer whale lives entirely by eating fish and migrating along the coast down to northern California and back up to Puget Sound. Historically, this population of killer whales almost exclusively ate salmon, but as the salmon numbers dwindled, killer whale numbers have dramatically decreased as well, down to 82 animals, which has put them on the endangered species list. With all the negativity that surrounds trying to save an endangered species, everyone that took part in the Snake River flotilla sent a strong message today that is proof positive that we can right this ship, said Shari Tarantino, director of the Orca Conservancy, which is trying to restore the Southern Resident Killer Whales. Some of the tribal members at the Free The Snake Flotilla had just returned from the Dakota Access Pipeline flotilla and were excited to keep their boats in the water supporting the cause of justice and environmental restoration. The rainy day deterred no ones enthusiasm, including the five different tribes that participated in the event. In addition to sending a message to the Army Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration which now must write a new recovery plan for the salmon, the flotilla also sent a strong message to the local communities that removing the dams would be good for the river and the economy. Its great to have hundreds of boaters on the water showing Clarkston and Lewiston that the public supports dam removal, said Samantha Mace of Save Our Salmon. As the 3-hour even wound down, the chanting and drumming increased and I came to believe that its not if, but a matter of when, the Snake River dams come down. ECSU, Halifax Community College Partner on Criminal Justice, Social Work Degrees WELDON, NORTH CAROLINA - Elizabeth City State University and Halifax Community College (HCC) have inked a deal that will provide students in the Roanoke Rapids and Weldon, North Carolina region an opportunity to earn a bachelors degree in criminal justice or social work. On Tuesday, September 20, 2016, ECSU Chancellor Thomas Conway traveled to HCC in Weldon to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutes of higher education. Chancellor Conway joined HCC President Ervin Griffin to sign the MOU and usher in a new opportunity for mutual cooperation in an effort to educate future leaders in Northeast North Carolina. We do this because we can, said HCC President Griffin. We are using it as a tool to promote student success and economic development in Northeast North Carolina. The bi-lateral agreement will give students in the Halifax County area the opportunity to earn an associates degree in either criminal justice or social work. Halifax students will then move on to earning a bachelors degree in those disciplines from ECSU, while remaining on site at HCC. ECSU and HCC currently offer a similar program for teacher preparation students. Teachers, President Griffin said, are a much needed commodity in the region and across the state. Currently, he said, there are 28 teachers in the Roanoke Rapids-Halifax School District who are graduates from both HCC and ECSU. Cooperative agreements such as this can only benefit the region, he said. I think we are headed for a great partnership, said Chancellor Conway. After the signing, HCC student Shereen Butler expressed her excitement with a series of questions. Butler said she wants to make certain that all of her questions are answered as she prepares to continue her education through ECSU. It is important that you get your questions answered, ECSU Provost Vann Newkirk told Butler. Provost Newkirk, who has been working closely with HCC to tailor the program to the needs of Halifax students, said the two institutions are working to make certain all student questions are answered. He is looking forward to a smooth process, he said. The program is pending SACSCOC approval. ECSU ranks 19th among nations 107 HBCUs For the third year in a row, US News and World Report has ranked Elizabeth City State University in the top 20 HBCUs in the nation. Ranked 19th among the nations 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, ECSU was ranked 20th in 2014 and 2015. This marks the 10th year the publication has ranked HBCUs against each other to determine the quality of undergraduate education offered at these public and private institutions. The institutions history in this ranking adds evidence that quality of educational experience provided by ECSU has consistently been high, but it also points to room for growth. With the right investments our position will continue to rise, said ECSU Chancellor Thomas Conway. To qualify for the U.S. News and World Report ranking, an HBCU must be an undergraduate baccalaureate-granting institution that enrolls primarily first-year, first-time students and must be a school that is currently part of the 2017 Best Colleges rankings. The indicators the U.S. News and World Report editors use to capture academic quality fall into six categories: assessment by administrators at peer institutions, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. In the past year ECSU has been ranked No.18 out of 50 of the top HBCUs in the country by CollegeChoice.net. ECSU has also been named by Washington Monthly as one of the Best Bang for the Buck institutions. Washington Monthly also ranked ECSU No. 1for the fourth consecutive year on its list of Best Baccalaureate Colleges. ECSU has 22 undergraduate degree offerings and four graduate degree programs, flexible study options, and research opportunities. (Photo: REUTERS / Michael Dalder)German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with Max Mannheimer, a Holocaust survivor, after a wreath laying ceremony at the former concentration camp in Dachau near Munich August 20, 2013. Angela Merkel paused in her campaign for a third term to lay a wreath at Dachau concentration camp on Tuesday, making her the first German chancellor to visit the Nazis' first death camp where they killed more than 41,000 people in the Holocaust. DACHAU, Germany (Reuters) - Angela Merkel has laid a wreath at Dachau concentration camp, making her the first German chancellor to visit the death camp where Nazis killed more than 41,000 people in the Holocaust. Taking a pause in her campaign for a third term in office, the chancellor on August 20 met survivors, including Abba Naor, an 85-year-old Jew whose mother and 5-year-old brother were murdered in concentration camps along with dozens more relatives. "Merkel is coming here to say we will never forget what happened here," the Lithuanian-born former inmate said. The Nazis set up Dachau, near Munich, in 1933, weeks after Adolf Hitler took power, to detain political rivals. It became the prototype for a network of camps where 6 million Jews were murdered, as well as Roma, Russians, Poles and homosexuals. More than 200,000 people had been detained in the camp by the time U.S. troops liberated it in 1945. Television footage showing piles of bodies and starved inmates in the camp was among the first images the world saw of the Holocaust crimes. The chilling motto "Arbeit macht frei" (Work makes you free) on the main gate to Dachau still greets the 800,000 annual visitors to the camp, where Merkel spoke to a small group survivors in the camp's parade ground, surrounded by drab grey barracks and watchtowers. "The name Dachau is tragically famous as it serves as a model for the concentration camps," the chancellor said. "The memory of that fate fills me with deep sadness and shame." She said she was concerned about ongoing right-wing extremism in Germany, where a small neo-Nazi cell, the National Socialist Underground, is on trial for murdering nine immigrants and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007. CAMPAIGN CONTINUES About 15 minutes after the visit to Dachau, Merkel shifted gear and gave a political speech at a campaign event with Bavarian conservatives in a beer tent in the nearby town of the same name, Dachau. She appeared on stage with a brass band whose members were wearing traditional lederhosen and dirndl. The Bavarian conservatives are key allies in her campaign for re-election in a federal election on Sept. 22, which opinion polls suggest she is likely to win. From the political opposition, Renate Kuenast of the Greens said it was in "bad taste" for the chancellor to squeeze in a visit to Dachau between her campaign stops in Bavaria. "Anyone who was serious about commemorating such a place of horror wouldn't pay such a visit during the election campaign," the Greens' parliamentary leader told a Leipzig newspaper. But leaders of the German Jewish community appeared to disagree with Kuenast. Charlotte Knobloch, a vice-president of the World Jewish Congress who lives in Munich, said Merkel's visit to Dachau showed her historical awareness and sense of responsibility. "It's remarkable that the chancellor changed her plans at the last minute during the hot phase of the election campaign," said Knobloch, who was born in Munich in 1932 and was saved from the camps by Catholic farmers. Survivor Naor said the German population would decide whether Merkel was right to make the visit during the campaign. "Merkel is smart enough to understand and say the right thing at the right time. I heard Merkel say in the Knesset that an attack on Israel is an attack on Germany and I thought she is my chancellor," he said. Although Merkel, who visited Dachau as a minister in 1992, is the first federal chancellor to visit Dachau, a German head of state - then president Horst Koehler - attended the 65th anniversary of its liberation three years ago. Merkel also visited the Buchenwald camp with U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009. (Writing by Stephen Brown and Michelle Martin) (Photo: REUTERS / Fabrizio Bensch)German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of the Roman Catholic Church, Nikolaus Schneider, President of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder , German President Joachim Gauck, Dieter Graumann, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Daniela Schadt partner of President Gauck and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit (L-2nd R) pose on stage after an anti-Semitism demo at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate September 14, 2014. At right is TV presenter Cherno Jobatey. One German Jewish leader has called the result in the weekend election in Berlin a "Nazi renaissance," as Germany's newest right-populist party, Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gained seats for the first time in the state parliament. The anti-immigrant, anti-EU party has been plagued by controversies over anti-Semitism in its ranks, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported, as it finished fifth in Sept. 18's vote with 14.1 percent in Berlin. Germany's capital has long prided itself on being a trendy, diverse and multicultural city, the European Jewish Press reported. The strong AfD showing was due to support especially in the vast tower block districts in Berlin's former communist east, and means it has now won opposition seats in 10 of Germany's 16 states, a year ahead of national elections. Founded in 2013, AfD, as the party is known, has clinched its seats in the legislatures of the states following several elections this year. The winner in the Berlin election was the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which retained power over the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union, with 21.6 percent of the vote to 17.5 percent. The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, told the German news media after vote counting that the results were worrying. A former council president, Charlotte Knobloch, who heads the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, issued a statement urging Germany's "Democratic parties to make good use of the time between now and the next elections in 2017 to stop the Nazi renaissance." Knobloch is a Holocaust survivor who hid as a child in Bavaria and called AfD "a party that incites against minorities in a disgusting manner, that wants to make National Socialist terminology and approaches acceptable again, that is unable to distance itself credibly from neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers." She described its gains in state parliaments are a "true nightmare." If the established parties don't manage to gain support by the national elections next year, Knobloch warned, "I fear for the good and peaceful future of our country." In July Wolfgang Gedeon, a former doctor turned AfD lawmaker in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, triggered outrage by saying that denial of the Nazi Holocaust, in which six million Jews were killed, is a legitimate expression of opinion, Reuters news agency reported. Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany. "The voters don't realize that they're going to vote for a party that doesn't want to differentiate itself from the extreme right," said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, EJP reported. Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish community of Berlin, stressed that ''the establishment of the EU and the multi-cultural approach it symbolizes, contributes to the welfare of Europe's Jewish communities." 'STRONG EU GOOD FOR EUROPEAN JEWS' "Therefore, the possibility of dismantling the EU and reverting back to nation states should worry all Jewish people around Europe. A strong European union is of paramount interest to the Jewish people of Europe in general and to Jewish people of Germany in particular." Berlin is a chronically indebted city-state of 3.5 million people and the poll was dominated by local issues including poor public services, crumbling school buildings, late trains and a housing shortage, along with problems in coping with the recent migrant influx. More than 70,000 of the asylum seekers came to Berlin, with thousands still housed in the cavernous hangars of former Tempelhof airport that was built in the Nazi era. Berlin's SPD Mayor Michael Mueller had warned before the polls that a strong AfD result would be "seen throughout the world as a sign of the resurgence of the right and of Nazis in Germany." AfD leaders were jubilant at the prospect of occupying 25 seats out of 160 in the state parliament of Germany's capital. The U.S. Department of Education is releasing a $71 million grant to Ohio to help high-performing charter schools, but with strings attached. The federal agency last week said it is imposing a series of restrictions on release of the money to prevent fraud inside Ohios troubled charter school system. The state will be required to hire an independent monitor and create a database of charter schools academic, operational, and financial performance. The state education department also must comply with a series of new reporting requirements. Federal regulators postponed disbursement of the money last year amid concerns over the state education departments alleged rigging of charter school evaluations and revelations of omissions from its grant application. State educational technology directors have outlined ambitious targets for increasing school bandwidth capacity in an effort to support digital learning and bridge the technology divide that exists in schools and in students homes. Despite major strides in getting schools connected to broadband internetin part a legacy of the 2014 overhaul of the federal E-rate program state ed-tech directors and some federal policymakers are continuing to champion redoubled efforts to provide equitable access to education technology. A report released this month by the State Educational Technology Directors Association , or SETDA, The Broadband Imperative II: Equitable Access for Learning, calls on educators and policymakers to pick up the pace on building their technology infrastructure, specifically emphasizing the importance of finding more effective ways to get students connected outside of school. The goal is to bridge an emerging digital divide known as the homework gap that puts students without internet access at home at a particular disadvantage. SETDA first laid out a bandwidth target in 2012 and called on the Federal Communications Commission to modernize the E-rate program, which provides financial support for schools to build their technology infrastructure. That was a galvanizing moment in the national push for better broadband in schools. That push has seen the delivery in the past few years of high-speed broadband to additional classrooms servicing roughly 20 million students. SETDA putting out that goal, and the FCCs adoption of it, is a huge reason why weve made such strides in meeting it, said Evan Marwell, the CEO of EducationSuperHighway, a broadband-advocacy group. Districts didnt know what to aim for. Marwell lauded the methodology used to develop the ambitious new targets SETDA has laid out. Its an achievable target, said Marwell, noting that even without E-rate subsidies, the price of high-speed connections is coming down dramatically in many parts of the country. States See Progress SETDAS BROADBAND AGENDA: INCREASE infrastructure to support student-centered learning. Districts should plan to continuously increase network capacity. According to the report, the average school district should be prepared to accommodate a tripling of its bandwidth demand in the next four years. DESIGN infrastructure to meet capacity targets. Networks should be designed to support student learning, rather than simply the administrative needs of staff. To this end, statewide broadband initiatives, or district purchasing consortia, can be employed to defray costs. ENSURE equity of access for all students outside of school. Much like a CoSN report from earlier this year, SETDA is pushing for an all of the above approach to bridging the homework gap. Strategies include outreach to low-income families and forging community partnerships to provide students access to the internet when they are out of school. LEVERAGE state resources to increase broadband access. SETDA is calling on state policymakers to take an active role in increasing broadband access through initiatives such as E-rate funding matches or building state broadband networks. Source: State Educational Technology Directors Association John Porter, the chief information officer for the Mississippi education department, is confident his state has a robust plan in place to address expanding bandwidth needs. In Mississippi, the state buys internet services from AT&T and then distributes access to 112 of the 145 districts that opt into the program. The bulk statewide purchase, a model advocated by SETDA, gives the state better purchasing leverage than the individual districts would otherwise have, said Porter. The real challenge in Mississippi, he said, is not just in piping large bandwidth to district headquarters, but in ensuring that the districts are then distributing internet effectively through their local area networks. In some cases, he said, districts may not have the funds to buy new routers or equipment, and local officials may not have the technical expertise to build out efficient WiFi networks. Porter said his office is visiting every district in the state to verify they are using best practices in building out their local networks. Laurel Ballard, a digital-learning supervisor in Wyomings education department, said that a $15.8 million state initiative to increase bandwidth capacity by 4,000 percent, started in 2012, is paying big dividends for students. With the rise of 1-to-1 computing initiatives, personalized-learning software, and open online educational resources, Ballard is not surprised that SETDA is calling for districts to ramp up bandwidth so quickly. She expects schools bandwidth needs to increase at exponential rates for a while. Like Porter in Mississippi, Ballard said Wyoming is well positioned to meet future bandwidth needs, pointing out that the rural state is one of only two nationally that can boast of high-speed connections to 100 percent of its public schools. For states or districts that are lagging behind, Ballard urges them to make the investment in improving connectivity. She emphasized that a robust internet infrastructure can help defray costs in other areas, such as curriculum development and teacher training. Better internet connections also allow districts to pool resources more efficiently. Federal Policymakers Weigh In The SETDA report has also drawn the attention of policymakers at the federal level. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Joseph South, the director of the office of educational technology at the U.S. Department of Education, both spoke at a Capitol Hill event this month marking the SETDA reports release. In her remarks, Rosenworcel celebrated the progress the E-rate has made in getting students connected to broadband, before pivoting to her continued focus on the homework gap . Citing Pew Research Center statistics showing that 5 million households with school-age children lack high-speed broadband, while 7 in 10 teachers assign internet-related homework, Rosenworcel asserted that we are shortchanging our students and our economy as a whole. While arguing that the recent overhaul of the FCC Lifeline program which subsidizes broadband purchases for low-income familiesis a promising start, she called for more federal policies to support local and state-level initiatives that target the homework gap. For example, Rosenworcel favors loosening rules on how E-rate dollars are spent to support districts looking to outfit their buses with wireless internet modems. In some cases, districts have parked buses near low-income-housing complexes to provide after-school-hours internet access to students. South focused his remarks on widening the connections that pipe broadband to K-12 school buildings. He pointed out that major trends toward customizable learning software and cloud-based learning-management systems are putting increasingly heavy demands on school networks. We cant think of this as optional, said South, referring to students need to have access to high-speed internet connections in class. Diseases deal heavy US$20B blow on Asia shrimp sector Thailand has become the face of the Asian shrimp tragedy caused by diseases. The early mortality syndrome (EMS), which is more appropriately called acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), has taken a toll on Thailand both in terms of reputation and export revenues. From No. 1, Thailand has fallen to just being the world's No. 4 shrimp exporter. Thai shrimp exports are in fact expected to decline in 2016 for the fifth year in a row. Andy Shinn, Fish Vet Group Asia Ltd. senior scientist based in Thailand, said AHPND and other diseases have cost the Asian shrimp industry at least US$20 billion in losses over the last decade. Speaking at the recent TARS (The Aquaculture Roundtable Series) 2016 in Phuket, Thailand, Shinn said, "Shrimp disease has resulted in huge national income losses--despite compensatory price rises in response to supply shortage--amounting to billions of dollars annually and at least US$20 billion globally over the last decade". Shrimp productivity in Thailand dropped from 10.6 tonnes per hectare in 2010 to just 4.13 tonnes/ha in 2013 following the AHPND outbreak. According to a report by the Far Eastern Agriculture, AHPND contributed to a loss of $1.84 million for monodon (giant tiger prawn) and $8.92 million for vannamei (whiteleg shrimp) in the Mekong Delta in 2015, which are roughly shortfalls of $796 and $3,867 per hectare, respectively. Asian farmed shrimp production last year declined to an estimated 2.2 million tonnes compared with the pre-AHPND production of 3.2 million tonnes in 2011. White spot syndrome virus is another shrimp affliction that usually results in an 80-100% loss of stock. Infections in 3,907 ha of shrimp ponds in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam last year resulted in losses estimated at $8.02 million, Shinn said at the TARS 2016, which was held on Aug. 17-18. Shinn also said that the fungal microsporidian enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) has affected shrimp growth. EHP spores are persistent and can be transmitted between shrimp. Shinn cited a survey of Thai 150 pre-stocked ponds that were found to have prevalence of 49%. Shinn noted that with the consequential slowed growth and early harvest, production costs are not covered and losses are around $32,000/ha per culture cycle. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and city of Chippewa Falls are holding a public informational meeting Tuesday about an upcoming resurfacing project on High Street and Rushman Drive (northbound Highway 124). Residents and property owners are encouraged to attend the meeting to review and comment on the project. Tara Weiss, WisDOTs northwest region project manager, said the highway has been patched so many times that it will have exceeded its service life by the time of construction, which is scheduled for the summer of 2018. The road is in fairly poor shape and in need of some upgrading to improve the overall safety and efficiency for travel and public, Weiss said. We want to improve it so there are smoother transitions and its better able to accommodate pedestrians. The project extends along the highway from just after the roundabout at River Street north to the intersection at Elm Street. Crews will take off three inches of surface and put three more inches back on, as well as make some spot curb and gutter repair and improve ramps and crosswalk locations. She estimates the project would take 2-3 months to complete, but wouldnt start until at least May 2019. They are currently in the final design phase. The DOT tends to hold public meetings with these types of projects because it could involve updating driveways to meet ADA standards and temporarily removing sidewalks to make way for new ones. We want to answer questions right away about what exactly is going on and how its going to affect people, Weiss said. Its a fairly typical maintenance project with slight inconveniences, but nothing major. Traffic will be reduced to a single lane and there might be flagging operations, but the road would never be closed or detoured. Businesses along the highway will remain open. The public, open-house style meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20 at Chippewa Falls City Hall. WisDOT, Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. and Chippewa Falls representatives will be available to answer questions. Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show construction will begin in the summer of 2018. To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020. Two Offerings from Orbis Books Provide Pan-African Perspectives on Key Issues in Theology, Ethics, Public Health MARYKNOLL, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2016 / Two new books from Orbis Books, the publishing unit of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, illustrate this dynamic growth, focusing on issues of both church and society. "The Church We Want" (August 2016) is the fruit of a three-year research project, the Theological Colloquium on Church, Religion, and Society in Africa (TCCRSA). The colloquium brought together 60 distinguished scholars and religious who represented a broad spectrum of cultures and regions. Their goal was to develop, model and sustain a new process and method of theological reflection and study at the service of the world church. The collection of original essays cover a broad range of topicsecclesial structure, the bible and the church, the role of women, the gospel of the family, and urgent regional and cultural issues that include the impact of Pope Francis' environmental encyclical, Laudato Si'. In "HIV and AIDS in Africa," the contributors address the myriad socio-political and spiritual questions raised by the 30-year-long pandemic. "AIDS is altogether a physical, moral, and metaphysical evil that has challenged medicine and human society," according to editor Jacquineau Azetsop. How do Christians in Africa reach out to the infected, and how do their communitiesespecially the Small Christian Communitiesprovide support to those in need? What biblical foundations can believers draw on in their lives and work, in roles from caregiver to public health administrator? While focused on the particulars of their African context, these essays have resonance for theologians, academics and health professionals. The fall series of presentations by the editors and contributors for "The Church We Want" and "HIV and AIDS in Africa" will take place at Boston College (Tuesday, September 20) Duquesne University (Tuesday, September 27) DePaul University (Thursday, September 29) and Villanova University (Monday, October 31). The public is invited. "The Church We Want: African Catholics Look to Vatican III," A.E. Orobator, SJ, editor ISBN 978-1-62698-203-1 paperback 304pp., index. $35.00 "HIV and AIDS in Africa: Christian Reflection, Public Health, Social Transformation," Jacquineau Azetsop, SJ, editor ISBN 978-1-62698-200-0 paperback 448pp., index. $35.00 Founded in 1970, Orbis Books publishes works that enlighten the mind, nourish the spirit and challenge the conscience. Orbis seeks to explore the global dimensions of Christian faith and mission, to invite dialogue with diverse cultures and religious traditions, and to serve the cause of reconciliation and peace. Learn more at The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers follow Jesus in serving the poor and others in need in 22 countries that include the U.S. All Catholics are called to mission through baptism and confirmation, and Maryknoll's mission education outreach in parishes and schools throughout the country engages U.S. Catholics in mission through vocations, prayer, donations and as volunteers. Maryknoll missioners share God's love and the Gospel in combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and promoting human rights. For more information, visit the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers at Share Tweet Contact: Mike Virgintino, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers , 914-941-7636 ext 2219MARYKNOLL, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The rapid growth of the Catholic population in African countries has been one of the key factors driving the shift of perspective within the church from Western Europe to what is called the Global South. Veteran Vatican reporter John L. Allen, Jr., has called the African continent "the most dynamic corner of the Christian map."Two new books from Orbis Books, the publishing unit of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, illustrate this dynamic growth, focusing on issues of both church and society."The Church We Want" (August 2016) is the fruit of a three-year research project, the Theological Colloquium on Church, Religion, and Society in Africa (TCCRSA). The colloquium brought together 60 distinguished scholars and religious who represented a broad spectrum of cultures and regions. Their goal was to develop, model and sustain a new process and method of theological reflection and study at the service of the world church.The collection of original essays cover a broad range of topicsecclesial structure, the bible and the church, the role of women, the gospel of the family, and urgent regional and cultural issues that include the impact of Pope Francis' environmental encyclical, Laudato Si'.In "HIV and AIDS in Africa," the contributors address the myriad socio-political and spiritual questions raised by the 30-year-long pandemic. "AIDS is altogether a physical, moral, and metaphysical evil that has challenged medicine and human society," according to editor Jacquineau Azetsop.How do Christians in Africa reach out to the infected, and how do their communitiesespecially the Small Christian Communitiesprovide support to those in need? What biblical foundations can believers draw on in their lives and work, in roles from caregiver to public health administrator? While focused on the particulars of their African context, these essays have resonance for theologians, academics and health professionals.The fall series of presentations by the editors and contributors for "The Church We Want" and "HIV and AIDS in Africa" will take place at Boston College (Tuesday, September 20) Duquesne University (Tuesday, September 27) DePaul University (Thursday, September 29) and Villanova University (Monday, October 31). The public is invited."The Church We Want: African Catholics Look to Vatican III," A.E. Orobator, SJ, editorISBN 978-1-62698-203-1 paperback 304pp., index. $35.00"HIV and AIDS in Africa: Christian Reflection, Public Health, Social Transformation," Jacquineau Azetsop, SJ, editorISBN 978-1-62698-200-0 paperback 448pp., index. $35.00Founded in 1970, Orbis Books publishes works that enlighten the mind, nourish the spirit and challenge the conscience. Orbis seeks to explore the global dimensions of Christian faith and mission, to invite dialogue with diverse cultures and religious traditions, and to serve the cause of reconciliation and peace. Learn more at www.orbisbooks.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/orbisbooks The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers follow Jesus in serving the poor and others in need in 22 countries that include the U.S. All Catholics are called to mission through baptism and confirmation, and Maryknoll's mission education outreach in parishes and schools throughout the country engages U.S. Catholics in mission through vocations, prayer, donations and as volunteers. Maryknoll missioners share God's love and the Gospel in combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and promoting human rights. For more information, visit the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers at maryknollsociety.org and follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/MaryknollFrsBrs Deadline looming for police hopefuls Time is running out for those interested in joining the Island's police force. The Isle of Man Constabulary's latest search for Student Constables comes to an end on Friday. Those who are selected will face a fitness test, classroom assessment, outdoor assessment and medical before embarking on training. Application packs can be downloaded from the police website. Beekeeping conference taking place at Villa More than 150 beekeepers will be on the Island this week for a major conference. The Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association hosts its biennial conference at the Villa Marina for the next three days. Delegates will be attending from across Europe to hear from 25 experts in beekeeping. It will be the first time the organisation has held its conference on the Island since 1973. Treasury Minister issues overseas income warning Treasury Minister Eddie Teare The Treasury Minister is warning Manx residents against not declaring income in other tax jurisdictions. The reminder comes following an announcement that the Isle of Man has signed tax information exchange agreements with the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Romania. Eddie Teare warns that automatic exchange of information will be increasing from next year, with anyone caught failing to declare income facing a fine. Full details of the latest tax agreements can be found on the Treasury's website. Duchenne drug petition attracts over 2,000 signatures Finley Hesketh A petition set up to help a local boy needing treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy has been signed more than 2,000 times. Seven-year-old Finley Hesketh is affected by the condition, but the Isle of Man Government don't fund a drug called Translarna, which could help him retain muscle strength. The treatment is available on the NHS elsewhere in the British Isles, forcing the youngster's family to consider moving away from their home to access the drug. The petition was started by Finley's father Clive Hesketh on Change.org with the aim of collecting 2,500 signatures, but had already attracted 2,213 by 8.30am - less than 24 hours after the petition was posted. The signatures will be delivered to Chief Minister Allan Bell and Health Minister Howard Quayle as well as several other MHKs and charities in the hope the Government will change their mind over funding the medicine. In a recent photo sent to Earth by the Curiosity rover, scientists couldn't deny a photo of what appears to be a snake on Mars. This photo begs the question, is life sustainable on the Red Planet? While the 'discovery' of living beings in the surface of Mars is nothing new, the latest sighting of a creature that looks very akin to a snake has fueled a much different debate between believers in alien life and skeptics. Martian 'Snake' Real? Numerous UFO aficionados, as well as fans of the Mars mission, have stated that the image of the snake-like creature is proof that the Martian landscape is not just a barren wasteland. According to some UFO enthusiasts, living creatures on Mars have been photographed by the Curiosity Rover for years. Scientists and researchers have simply not been able to recognize them since they evolved in the Red Planet. In a lot of ways, this particular view does make sense. After all, NASA is rumored to be preparing a full disclosure of its findings on Mars, including the discovery of flowing water and the possible signs of life in the otherwise barren planet. With Mars having water, the chances of life actually thriving on the Red Planet becomes a lot more significant. Martian Snake Sighting Fuels Conspiracy Theories As with any sighting of alleged alien life, however, a very vocal group of skeptics have emerged to challenge the supposed discovery. Usually, skeptics challenge the validity of believers' claims by stating that the objects seen in the photographs were simply rocks. Pareidolia, the brain's tendency to spot familiar patterns on unfamiliar objects and places, has usually been used as an explanation for the alleged discoveries of life on Mars. This time, however, even critics stated that the object on the photograph was indeed a snake. However, another conspiracy emerged, alleging that the Curiosity Rover was never launched into space. Rather, conspiracy theorists state that the Martian mission is currently being conducted in a remote part of the Earth, possibly the Nevada Desert. Corporate News Maui Jim becomes Official Eyewear Supplier of the DP World Tour An atheist biologist, P.Z. Myers, unloads on Christianity by citing several questions about nature that he believes atheists answer better than Christians. Myers: Some of us, like me, are atheists because religion provides nothing we want, is unsatisfactory at addressing what we do care about, and is really, really bad at answering a very human question, Why? Instead, they prefer to make tirades against the other, ignoring their own failings, and pretending that the questions they ignore have been answered. You want to know what those New Atheists, who are the same as the Old Atheists, are all about? We actually have important questions. These question [sic] will not and cannot be answered by religious apologists. The process of exploring them honestly is exactly what leads to atheism, so they have to avoid them. Lets see what leads to atheism. Here are a few of Myerss questions, with my answers: Why should I believe in any god? We dont need an intelligent authority to explain the universe Of course we need an intelligent authority to explain the universe. The universe is shot through with intelligibility. Nature is governed by astonishingly complex and elegant physical laws, and the laws themselves are written in the language of abstract mathematics. In fact, theoretical physicists must often explore utterly new mathematical theories in order to explain the behavior of inanimate matter. After all, Newton discovered calculus in order to do physics. Heaviside (using Maxwells equations) needed to develop the calculus of electromagnetic oscillators to understand alternating current electricity. Einstein (and his friend the mathematician Grossman) reinvented non-Euclidean geometry and tensor calculus to understand relativity. Heisenberg had to develop matrix mechanics to understand the quantum world. Dirac predicted the existence of anti-matter purely on the basis of mathematical considerations, and modern string theorists such as Edward Witten work at the cutting edge of mathematics. Black holes were predicted based on singularities in the tensor equations of relativity, and the Big Bang itself was discovered mathematically by Georges Lemaitre (a Catholic priest!) before it was detected empirically. It is astonishing (and beautiful) that the very retinaculum of the universe, from the subatomic world to the cosmos, is drawn in elegant abstract mathematics. The universe screams intelligent authority. To Myerss implied question Is the ground of existence more like a thing or more like a mind? there is only one sane answer: the ground of existence is like a mind. Another way to understand this beautiful teleology that permeates all of creation is that it is information the restriction of possibilities in the outcomes of natural processes. This information is especially striking in living things. The intricate nanotechnology that subserves cellular metabolism is governed and replicated by a genetic code with letters and words and sentences and punctuation that stores and sifts and actuates information in overlapping reading frames. The intelligent authority the Mind that governs the cosmos and life through information has a remarkable fondness for language as well as mathematics, and is peculiarly solicitous of man, who is endowed with the capacity to discover the exquisite logic of creation. Myers: in fact, assuming that the world is a product of natural, undirected processes has a far better track record of generating useful answers. Balderdash. Modern theoretical science arose only in the Christian milieu. Roger Bacon, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Faraday, Pasteur, Maxwell and countless other pioneers of the Scientific Enlightenment were fervent Christians who explicitly attributed the intelligibility in nature to Gods agency, and even 20th-century scientists like Einstein and Heisenberg and Schrodinger and Rutherford and Planck attributed nature to intelligent agency. Einstein famously explained his quest: I want to know Gods thoughts Vanishingly few great scientists have attributed the world to undirected processes. Atheism, in fact, has a dismal record in science. For much of the 20th century, a third of humanity lived under the boot of atheist ideology. What was the great science produced by atheist scientists in the Soviet Union? What are the scientific contributions of Communist China and Cuba and Vietnam and Albania? Compare the scientific output of East Germany (atheist) to that of West Germany (Lutheran and Catholic). Compare the scientific output of North Korea (atheist) to that of South Korea (Christian and Buddhist). The fact is that during the 20th century atheist ideological systems that assum[ed] that the world is a product of natural, undirected processes governed a third of humanity. Whats the scientific track record of atheism? Atheism had its run: it heralded a scientific dark age in any nation unfortunate enough to fall under its heel. Atheism is as much a catastrophe for science as it is a catastrophe for humanity. The only thing atheist systems produced reliably (and still produce reliably) is corpses. Myers: Why cant you explain why you believe without resorting to hand-waving, fuzzy, unconvincing nonsense? Handwaving, fuzzy, unconvincing nonsense? You be the judge. Here is how Christians explain nature: modern science, which is the inference to intelligence and intelligibility in nature the fruit of two millennia of Christian civilization and theology and natural philosophy. Here is how atheists explain nature: Nothing made everything for no reason and made life from non-life for no reason and made meat robots who think they have purposes but dont for no reason. Goodness gracious, what sort of blindness would lead an educated man like Myers to embrace the moral and intellectual squalor of atheism? What leads to atheism? Blindness in the soul. The truth is all around us, more obvious than mans hand in front of his face. The universe has Mind stamped all over it like a signature. Photo: Richard Dawkins and friend, Atheist Bus Campaign Launch, by Zoe Margolis [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons. A Belgian MD filled a syringe with heart-stopping poison, and injected the fluid into the arm of a dying minor who requested it. And it was all legal. A Belgian newspaper says the patient was Dutch. Another report says the ill minor was 17. I am not sure why a Dutch teenager was euthanized in Belgium, since he could have been legally euthanized at home from age 12 and up. BioEdge editor Michael Cook wrote a sober editorial about the ethics-shattering event: Ultimately this is a triumph for out-and-out nihilism, not just Belgiums inventive euthanasia lobby. Nihilism is a philosophical fad which seems to catching on. Below we feature a report on three American bioethicists who argue the case for population control to fight climate change and a defense of infanticide by a Finnish bioethicist. Ive also just discovered a new book by South African philosopher David Benatar. In it he argues that procreation is morally wrong because lifes a bitch and then you die (I am oversimplifying, of course). He concludes his book with these cheerful thoughts: Every birth is a future death. Between the birth and the death there is bound to be plenty of unpleasantness Inflicting serious harm or even the risk of it on one person, without his or her consent, in order to benefit others, is presumptively wrong. If Im right, euthanizing a child is not a terminus for Belgian euthanasia, but just a bus stop en route to pure nihilism. What its supporters are trying to eliminate is not just pain, but life itself. Indeed, as Yuval Levin has noted, eliminating suffering has become the overriding purpose of society. Given that, eliminating ever-expanding categories of sufferers most follow. It wont take long before Belgium allows euthanasia of the disabled, chronically sick, and depressed, and mentally ill children, as it now does adults. Photo: Brussels, Belgium, by By Jean-Pol Grandmont (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons. Cross-posted at Human Exceptionalism. Drop in Lloyds Business Confidence Lowers Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates The Pound saw mixed movements against its rivals the Euro and US Dollar during Wednesday trade, but generally remained near key levels as investors awaited the Federal Reserves September policy decision. The Fed is not expected to make any changes to monetary policy this month, but in the unlikely event that the key interest rate is hiked the Euro could emerge as the strongest currency of the three this week, being the US Dollars primary trade partner. The Pound fell in value against both the Euro and the US Dollar on Tuesday afternoon as British markets reacted to yet further evidence that Britain would not be able to have its Brexit cake and eat it, so to speak. With markets now expecting a Hard Brexit that is, removal from the European Union and loss of all EU benefits such as the single market Sterling slumped. The Euro and US Dollar performed similarly on Tuesday afternoon as investors readjusted ahead of Wednesdays Fed news. Anxiety is continuing to weigh heavily on the outlook of the Pound, keeping the GBP EUR and GBP USD exchange rates on a marked downtrend. With investors bracing for the potentially hawkish fallout of tomorrows Fed policy decision the US Dollar is likely to recover further ground over the coming day. Pound Sterling (GBP) exchange rates have made a poor start to trading today, wth GBP having declined against most of its regular peers on the back of concerning news from Lloyds Banks Business in Britain report. Despite apparently recovering PMI results and supposed optimism among consumers, the report showed a four-year low in confidence due to continued concerns about how the UK economy may be slowing down after the Referendum result. Adding to the fears voiced in the report was the fact that companies looking to increase staff numbers after Brexit had fallen, while outlooks for capital expenditure had also dropped considerably. Latest Pound/Euro Exchange Rates On Sunday the Euro to British Pound exchange rate (EUR/GBP) converts at 0.858 At time of writing the pound to euro exchange rate is quoted at 1.165. The pound conversion rate (against us dollar) is quoted at 1.161 USD/GBP. Today finds the pound to australian dollar spot exchange rate priced at 1.811. NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 30th Oct 2022, are inter-bank prices that will require a margin from your bank. Foreign exchange brokers can save up to 5% on international payments in comparison to the banks. BoE Contributions, Governmental Borrowing Stats to Drive GBP/EUR, GBP/USD Exchange Rate Movement Pound Sterling (GBP) exchange rates are set to remain at the mercy of wider market movements over the course of the day, due to the limited amount of UK data expected as well as the currently low enthusiasm for investing in the Pound. The afternoons UK ecostats will consist of a speech from Bank of England (BoE) official Andrew Hauser, as well as the central banks Financial Policy Committee (FPC) meeting. Looking further ahead, Wednesdays key ecostats will consist of the public sector net borrowing announcement for August, which is predicted to show a major deficit expansion of -8.4bn. Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates Fluctuate after German PPI Stats Drop Off The Euro has managed to rise against the Pound (EUR GBP) and US Dollar (EUR USD) today, though against other peers, more unstable movement has been recorded. Eurozone data of note has primarily focused on the Netherlands and Germany, where respectively Septembers consumer confidence has risen and Augusts PPI figures have dropped on the month and year. Looking ahead, the Euro is expected to be shifted by tomorrow mornings Irish residential property prices for July, as well as the European Central Bank (ECB) non-monetary policy meeting. Uncertainty Persists for US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rates Despite Rising NABH Housing Index The US Dollar has found itself in an unstable state during trading today, having risen against the Pound (USD GBP) but dropped off against the Euro (USD EUR). The week so far has been quiet when it comes to US data; yesterdays main announcement was that the NAHB housing market index for September had risen from 59 points to 65. US ecostats to watch out for this afternoon will include further housing data, including the August building permits and housing starts, which have respectively been forecast to rise and fall. Pound to Euro Rate: PM May Dismisses Concerns about Brexit Negotiations Punishment An ongoing concern among UK politicians and investors alike has been that when the UK finally gets around to negotiating its exit from the EU, the nation could be hamstrung by vengeful EU members who are looking to prevent further fragmentation in the union. Prime Minister Theresa May has largely quashed such concerns, by stating; The 27 will sign up to a deal with us. We will be negotiating with them. Andwe will be ambitious in what we want to see for the UK. A good deal for the UK can also be a good deal for the other member states because I believe in good trading relations and I have said I want the UK to be a global leader in free trade. Fresh warnings over the impact of a Brexit upon the UK economy weakened Pound Sterling (GBP) exchange rates recently. Even though the Fed ultimately opted to leave interest rates unchanged overnight the Swiss Franc has continued to dominate Pound Sterling. Despite some optimistic commentary from the Bank of Englands Financial Policy Committee the appeal of the Pound remained decidedly weak on Thursday morning. The British pound to Swiss Franc (GBP/CHF) exchange rate continued to drift lower on Wednesday afternoon, remaining close to the weeks GBP/CHF lows as markets sought out safe-haven currencies to prevent the evenings potential Fed-influenced market rushes. Analysts generally believe that the Fed will leave rates frozen in Wednesdays meeting, but the markets huge focus on the event could mean that currency cross-flows could be turbulent regardless. As a result, safe-haven assets like the Franc remained appealing until the Feds results were announced. Multiple warnings over the potential impact of the Brexit on the UK economy kept Pound Sterling exchange rates on the decline recently. After a recent warning that the UK could lose its financial passporting rights, it was revealed that 5,500 firms benefit from the agreement, suggesting a significant impact from a so-called hard Brexit. Elsewhere the Czech envoy became the latest EU official to warn that the UK would not be able to secure an exit deal that included single market access without accepting free movement in return. Todays live currency FX rates for your reference; On Sunday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1 Today finds the pound to pound spot exchange rate priced at 1. The GBP to USD exchange rate converts at 1.161 today. NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 30th Oct 2022, are inter-bank prices that will require a margin from your bank. Foreign exchange brokers can save up to 5% on international payments in comparison to the banks. With several incoming monetary policy decisions, the safe-haven Swiss Franc was able to bullishly appreciate despite poor domestic ecostats. Although the trade balance increased marginally, rising from a downwardly revised 2.8 billion to 3 billion, other trade data was not so supportive. Exports dropped -2.1% and imports weakened -3.5%, while the previous months figures were cut to 5% and 8.6% respectively. However, with policy meetings from the Bank of Japan (BoJ), the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) on the horizon, investors still sought the safety of the Swiss Franc. Pound Sterling could weaken significantly tomorrow if forecasts for a huge public sector borrowing deficit prove to be accurate. Public sector borrowing posted a 1.5 billion surplus in July, but markets were disappointed as it was hoped the month of corporation tax receipts would have yielded a higher surplus. Investors are likely to be even more disappointed with Augusts figures, assuming the predictions for a deficit of -10.4 billion are met, potentially putting Pound Sterling exchange rates in line for a significant decline. With borrowing likely to increase in the wake of the Brexit as new Chancellor Philip Hammond abandons George Osbornes austerity plans, a strong starting deficit before the autumn Budget will not bode well for the nations finances going forward. Central Bank Decisions to Dictate CHF Exchange Rate Movement With little domestic data on the calendar, Swiss Franc movement tomorrow will most likely be defined by the results of central bank meetings. Weak Bank of Japan and Federal Reserve outlooks could see CHF climb on trader safe-haven demand, although a hawkish Reserve Bank of New Zealand could ignite risk appetite and leave the Franc rudderless. On a data front, only the low-impact money supply M3 figure for August is set for release; the July measure clocked in at 2.7%. Dear All,I would like some help because I have recently resigned from my free zone company (JAFZA) to join another free zone company in JAFZA also due to salary delay. But my current company is telling me they will give me a 1 year ban within JAFZA. Is it possible? I am working more than 1 year to this company.I need your swift help and reply on this. (NewsUSA) - Sponsored News - Raising capital to start a new business is not as easy as setting up a lemonade stand or selling Girl Scout cookies. A primary reason for the failure of start-ups is a lack of funding. There are plenty of great products and ideas that have never come close to making it to the public. Without American entrepreneurship, and the drive to just go for it, we would not have Apple, Google, Facebook, Starbucks, or countless other companies that are a part of our everyday lives. 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New businesses create jobs, and power growth. There are sources to help with capital. So, once you find the sources, be ready with a great plan to show what you are going to do with the capital, and how the investor will benefit. Sometimes writing about something that has gone wrong in one of the systems in our society can be a way to both deal one's anger and effect change. That's what Paul Brakke tried to do when he and his 71-year old wife Carol experienced a nightmare in the mental health and criminal justice in Arkansas when she was unfairly prosecuted, after some neighborhood kids and their parents lied about her because they didn't like her. The kids felt she was interfering with their play because she complained about them playing in a dangerous intersection. Then, a prosecutor with kids in the neighborhood took up the case against her. Brakke began writing about what happened and began looking at problems in the mental health and criminal justice systems to help make sense of and release his anger about what occurred. He felt the book he wrote would have a special appeal to seniors and retired individuals because of his wife was then 71. Then, too, he felt older Americans might be less familiar with what goes on in the system, because there have been so many changes in the past few decades, due to new technologies and laws. He further felt they might not be aware of some of the major injustices in the system, because they are used to having good relationships with helpful cops, especially when cops defer to them and treat them respectfully because of their age. Thus, while seniors and retirees may read about some of the recent confrontations between blacks and cops in cities around America, they may think of these events as aberrations of the system. They may not realize the problems that occur throughout the system, and one of Brakke's reasons for writing the book was to start a dialogue to promote change. His wife's case was unusual, since normally the cops defer to an older white middle-class woman living in the suburbs. But they took the words of the kids and didn't investigate the facts to get his wife's side of the story, because of the influence of a prosecutor with kids in the neighborhood. As a reuslt, he and his wife saw a side of the criminal justice system that seniors, retired individuals, and their families don't normally see. Among other things, his wife experienced two involuntary commitments to a psych ward and two psychological evaluations, along with exile from her home, delays in setting a trial date, and the threat of a 16-year jail term. Eventually, given the pressures of the case, Brakke and his wife reluctantly agreed to move out of their home, at a great cost, to another community as part of a plea bargain in which all charges relating to an aggravated assault were dropped. But the case continued to haunt them, since his wife continued to suffer from post-traumatic mental health issues, including bouts of depression, many years after the case against her was settled. These pressures have come along with the ordinary pressures that come with aging for anyone today. Then Brakke found it healing for him and his wife to channel the pain and anger they experienced into examining the mental health and criminal justice system and thinking about how it might be improved. Brakke thought this approach might be especially of interest to other older adults and their families, as a snapshot of what these systems are like and what might be changed. In fact, he believed that seniors and retirees might be in a specially good position to join together to take some action, because they generally have more free time, since they have retired from their work and may be seeking other ways to contribute to their families and community. As he observed about his approach: "Consider this a call for seniors and retirees to step forward to look at what they might do in their own communities to help resolve some problems in the local mental health or criminal justice system. For example, they might call their police department or sheriff's office and ask how they can volunteer. They might call a local mental health facility and see if they might participate in various outreach programs. They might contact their local government offices and see what they recommend." The book American Justice? might also give readers other ideas about how they can get involved to help fix the system. The chapters in Part II deal with the contributions of children's lies, abuses of the mental health system, prosecutorial misconduct, poor judicial behavior, the role of the media, police issues, collateral damage to families, and the criminal justice system as a whole. Each chapter includes several well-publicized examples and concludes with constructive suggestions for improvement. A final chapter calls for a national dialog and bipartisan political action to reform the system. So there are plenty of ideas to stimulate readers to want to get involved to do something. It's an approach that's much needed today. As Brakke concludes the book, he urges everyone to "Think about what you might do to participate locally to help to make positive changes in the system." And if there is enough interest in a reader's community, he might be able to arrange a special event with his publisher, such as a local book signing. The book is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/American-Justice-Paul-Brakke/dp/069271068X or directly from his publisher Touchpoint Press at http://www.touchpointpress.com. He has also set up a website for the book at http://americanjusticethebook.com and a Facebook page for it at https://www.facebook.com/bookamericanjustice. The website includes some blogs he has been writing about criminal justice stories in the news, which you may find of interest. Brakke invites readers to contact him if they have any other questions about the book or about how they might participate in their own community in becoming part of the solution. Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel. Instant News Wire Monday, September 19, 2016 If I hear anybody saying their vote does not matter, that it doesnt matter who we elect read up on your history. It matters. Weve got to get people to vote, Obama said. I will consider it a personal insult an insult to my legacy if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You want to give me a good sendoff? Go vote. -President Barack Obama, addressing the Congressional Black Caucus gala in a speech excoriating Donald Trump and praising Hillary Clinton as the candidate of black America. Obama warned that while his name would not be on the ballot in November, all of the progress that the country has made over the last eight years was on the line. Observations: 1. What progress? This is the Big Lie that has been repeated from the beginning? The greatest progress made in the last eight years has been the stock market, which is not, I assume, the progress the Congressional Black Caucus cares about. Divisions in American society have been exacerbated, and grossly so. Racial trust is at its lowest level in decades. The schools? Higher education? The debt? The nations leadership abroad? The Affordable Care Act, which has helped health insurance become less affordable for anyone not receiving government subsidies? Gross incompetence, malfeasance and lack of accountability in one federal department and agency after another: is that progress? Has there been progress in dealing with the threat of terrorism? Murder rates are up after years of decline. There have been more mass shootings in this administration than in the last three combined. More Americans are on public assistance: is that progress to Obama? A majority of the public thinks the country is off the tracks; public trust in government is at its lowest point in history, far lower than after Watergate. First Amendment, Second Amendment, and Fourth Amendment rights are under assault as never before. Progress? The question isnt political, its ethical: if there isnt progress, then Obamas statement is a lie. By his own benchmarks when he ran for office, the major one being governing as neither white or black, liberal or conservative, but for the welfare of the entire nation, he has failed disastrously, and the signs are everywhere. No, his spinners dont get to argue that there would have been progress if the evil Republicans in Congress hadnt foiled Obama (in part because he hasnt the political skills to negotiate or the political courage to compromise), because Obama said there IS progress. 2. Obamas statement was certainly spoken like the raging narcissist he is. The election is about him, and hell be personally peeved if people dont vote the way he has directed them to vote. Wow. 3. The only reason to vote or not vote, vote for Trump, Clinton, or someone else, is to ensure the Presidential candidate you support or favor gets elected, or the candidates you distrust and dislike dont get elected. Whether your vote makes Obama feel bad is no rational at all, and it is shockingly arrogant, misleading and irresponsible for the President to suggest otherwise. 4. This is emotional blackmail, like the suffocating mother who demands that a loving son marry the woman picked out by Mama if you really love me. How manipulative. How insulting. How presumptuous. How disrespectful. 5. How desperate. Tuesday, September 20, 2016 There are some political and partisan controversies in which I just cannot comprehend, from an ethical perspective, why there is any serious disagreement. Illegal immigration is one of them. Of course we need to control immigration; of course it is madness to encourage illegal immigrants to enter the country; and of course we have to enforce our laws. The arguments against these obvious and undeniable facts are entirely based on rationalizations, emotion, cynical political strategies and group loyalties. The advocates for illegal immigrants have one valid argument that only applies to those who currently live here: its too late and too difficult to get rid of them now. I agree, but that doesnt mean it is responsible to keep adding to the problem. Voter identification requirements is another one of those debates. Of course it makes sense to protect the integrity of elections by requiring valid IDs. The last time the Supreme Court visited the issue, an ideologically-mixed court found a voter ID requirement reasonable, necessary and constitutional. Writing for the 6-3 majority in 2008, Justice Stevens (who in retirement has become something of a progressive icon), wrote, The relevant burdens here are those imposed on eligible voters who lack photo identification cards that comply with [the Indiana law.] Because Indianas cards are free, the inconvenience of going to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, gathering required documents, and posing for a photograph does not qualify as a substantial burden on most voters right to vote, or represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting. The severity of the somewhat heavier burden that may be placed on a limited number of personse.g., elderly persons born out-of-state, who may have difficulty obtaining a birth certificateis mitigated by the fact that eligible voters without photo identification may cast provisional ballots that will be counted if they execute the required affidavit at the circuit court clerks office. Even assuming that the burden may not be justified as to a few voters, that conclusion is by no means sufficient to establish petitioners right to the relief they seek. Of course. Our government is entirely dependent on elections. Nobody questions the reasonableness of requiring IDs to buy liquor, open a bank account, rent a car or check into a hotel, yet were going to rely on the honor system for our elections? The idea is madness, though, to be fair, two current members of the Court, Justice Ginsberg and Breyer, argued that avoiding disparate impact justified allowing a gaping vulnerability in the integrity of elections to go unaddressed. Breyer wrote: Indianas statute requires registered voters to present photo identification at the polls. It imposes a burden upon some voters, but it does so in order to prevent fraud, to build confidence in the voting system, and thereby to maintain the integrity of the voting process. In determining whether this statute violates the Federal Constitution, I would balance the voting-related interests that the statute affects, asking whether the statute burdens any one such interest in a manner out of proportion to the statutes salutary effects upon the others (perhaps, but not necessarily, because of the existence of a clearly superior, less restrictive alternative) Justice Breyer concluded that the alleged burden to some groups outweighed the integrity of the democratic system, thus embodying the current delusion of modern liberalism: race is more important that anything else, especially when that race is a reliable and uncritical source of power for Democrats. It wasnt until several political and judicial factors changed that the Ginsberg-Breyer rationale became politically weaponized, among them the increasing employment of the dubious disparate impact doctrine, the Democratic party strategists realization that painting Republicans as racists was an excellent way to get minorities to the polls; the growing tendency of African Americans to automatically vote a straight Democratic ticket regardless of who the candidates were and what they had accomplished; an aggressively political and partisan Justice Department and, yes, the realization that all those illegal immigrants here who are counting on keeping the borders as porous as possible might somehow find ways to vote, that requiring IDs became controversial. Do some, even many, Republican legislators and conservative pundits promote state voter ID laws because they believe there would be a disparate impact on Democratic voting blocs? Absolutely; I have no doubts whatsoever. Does responsible and necessary legislation become magically irresponsible and unconstitutional because unethical motives merge with the ethical ones in passing it? Again, of course not. It is a principle of ethical analysis discussed here many times: many actions have both ethical and unethical motives, but the ethical nature of the conduct must be judged on its intended purpose, reasonably anticipated results, and effect on society as a whole. In the case of voter identification, the obvious and reasonable approach is to pass legislation to protect the integrity of the system and then seek to mitigate any inequities by separate means. In an ethical, reasonable system where one party didnt see itself gaining power by allowing loose enforcement of voting requirements and the other party didnt similarly see happy side-effect of enforcing them vigorously, this wouldnt be a partisan issue at all. Of course we should have laws making sure that voters are who they say they are. Of course we should make sure that every citizen has access to such identification. The current ascendant argument against voter ID laws is articulated by the New York Times in an editorial today titled, The Success of the Voter Fraud Myth. The logic used strikes me is intellectually dishonest. Voter fraud is not a myth; it has been documented in American elections for centuries. Nor is voter fraud a false concern.In August, Alabama convicted one woman of 24 counts of voter fraud. Minnesota Senator Al Franken, who won his seat in a disputed election decided by 312 votes in part because 1,099 felons inelgible felons voted. A survey of voter data in the journal Electoral Studies determined that more than 14 percent of non-citizens in both the 2008 and 2010 samples indicated that they were registered to vote. While the Times ignores this study (which has been attacked as flawed), it cites other studies showing that out of one billion votes cast in all American elections between 2000 and 2014, there were 31 possible cases of impersonation fraud. 31 possible cases of voter fraud? Every time a voter votes without identification its a possible case of voter fraud. Breyer made the case for laws ensuring the integrity of the electoral system when he wrote that one reason to have voter ID laws is to build confidence in the voting system. Right now, there is no such confidence.not after the 2000 election was determined by disputed ballots, unreliable machines, and vote count that was within an unavoidable margin of error. The Times states: Last week, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that nearly half of registered American voters believe that voter fraud occurs somewhat or very often. That alone is a compelling reason to mandate voter ID. Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, wrote in U.S. News & World Report in 2012 that voter fraud didnt exist: Voter fraud would be a real problem if it actually happened. Its a serious crime, and one that can undermine our democracy. Fortunately, its a crime we have largely figured out how to prevent. Wait: how has it been prevented? Allowing close to 12 million illegal immigrants who have a vested interest in electing officials who will keep the enforcement of immigration laws lax must be a preventive measure, I guess. A member of a Virginia county elections board reported that he had found nearly 300 non-citizens registered to vote in that county, and that about half of them had actually illegally voted. When, he says, he took the information to the Justice Department, they had no interest in it. My assumption is that there is not more evidence of voter fraud only because the partisan and racialized Obama Justice Department and other authorities in thrall to the Democrats dont want to find such evidence. Let us, however, assume that the Times is correct, though I find that extremely hard to swallow. So far, elections arent being affected by voter fraud despite the fact that it is remarkable easy to do, and there is great motivation to do it as well as a national party that stands to benefit. Lets stipulate to that (for now). So what? On September 10, 2001, the New York Times could have written about the myth of hijacking and the need for airport security. Before the Oklahoma City bombing, I could walk into any federal building without being screened or patted down. When the housing boom was underway, some analysts predicted that the high-risk loans posed a serious danger to the economy, and that prophylactic regulations should be instituted. The rebuttal: Ha! There has never been a housing collapse in this country! Have you taken a train lately? Isnt it amazing how little security there is? Just wait until the first terrorist attack on Amtrak, though. Things will change fast. Things will change fast, and everyone will say, Why didnt we take measures to prevent this earlier? There is no law, rule or principle that credibly argues that evident opportunities for wrongdoing and disaster shouldnt be addressed until after the disaster occurs. Yet that is exactly what the Times and others who want to continue daring voter frauds to steal elections are arguing: Dont lock the barn door until the horse has already escaped. That seems to me to be obviously irresponsible and foolishunless the real intent is to let the horse escape. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The message to the dozens of Wells Fargo workers gathered for a two-day ethics workshop in San Diego in mid-2014 was loud and clear: Do not create fake bank accounts in the name of unsuspecting clients. Similar warnings were being relayed from corporate headquarters in San Francisco to regional bankers in Texas, as senior management learned that some Wells employees had been trying to meet exacting sales goals by creating sham bank accounts and credit cards instead of making legitimate sales. Across the vast retail bank, more risk professionals were deployed in efforts to stamp out the illegal activity. But the banks efforts were not enough. Three years after the first false accounts were exposed publicly and authorities began investigating, Wells, one of the nations largest banks, said it was still firing employees over the questionable accounts well into this year. Some former employees say the explanation is simple: Wells continued to push the sales goals that caused employees to break the rules in the first place. In fact, the goals at the center of a $185 million civil settlement and investigations by prosecutors in three states are not set to be phased out for another three months. They warned us about this type of behavior and said, You must report it, but the reality was that people had to meet their goals, said Khalid Taha, a former Wells Fargo personal banker who resigned in July. They needed a paycheck. Since banking regulators and the Los Angeles city attorney announced the settlement with Wells over the illegal sales practices, Wells Fargo executives, including the chief executive, John Stumpf, have denied that the misdeeds were the result of a flawed incentive structure or an aggressive sales culture. In all, 5,300 employees have lost their jobs because of the scandal. Wells said in its defense that over the past several years, it had adjusted its compensation structure to place less emphasis on meeting sales goals and more on other factors such as good customer service. The bank analyzed potentially questionable accounts and employee terminations from 2011 through much of 2015 and concluded it had made progress in cleaning up its act. Mary Eshet, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman, said the banks analysis of that period showed the questionable accounts and the terminations had been declining since 2013. The steps we have been taking have been effective, she said. And we are continuing to do more. In interviews, former employees say the fact that the behavior has continued to occur even if less frequently shows that the bank has not been doing enough to stop it. The biggest problem, the former employees say, has been Wells Fargos aggressive sales culture, which was nurtured and honed over decades at the banks highest levels. The branch managers were always asking, How many solutions did you sell today? said Sharif Kellogg, who used to work in a Wells Fargo branch in Catonsville, Maryland. They wanted three to four a day. In my mind, that was crazy thats not how peoples financial lives work. Stumpf, Wells Fargos chief executive, has been called to testify at a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday, and federal prosecutors are considering bringing charges. He has publicly said he feels accountable for what has happened, but he blamed workers for misinterpreting sales goals. Customers like Grantham arent buying it. They deny it because they dont want to affect their million-dollar bonuses and jobs, but at some level they had to have an idea, he said of Wells senior management. When 5,300-plus employees lose their jobs, its not just them theyre the scapegoats. Former employees also have scoffed at the banks suggestions that the sham accounts were primarily the result of bad decisions by unethical workers. In an online discussion on Reddit, former Wells employees swapped grim stories about the dichotomy between their ethics training where they were formally told not to do anything inappropriate and the on-the-job reality of a relentless push to meet sales goals that many considered unrealistic. Kellogg said he was constantly being hounded by his supervisor to increase his sales, or solutions, as they were known. I was always getting written up for failing to bump my solutions numbers up, he said. Some of his co-workers, facing the same pressure, bent the rules, said Kellogg, who was making $11.75 an hour when he left the bank in 2012. They would ask local business owners whom they knew well to open additional accounts as favors, saying they could close them later. It seems as though youd have to be willfully ignorant to believe that these goals are achievable through any other means, Kellogg said. During our training we go through SO much training about ethics and how you CANNOT do that, another former Wells teller wrote in the Reddit forum. I got threatened to be fired as a teller with them because I wasnt meeting my numbers. I told them I didnt believe in trying to convince someone to spend money they dont have, get what they dont need. Bank employees were expected to hit sales goals as part of their regular duties. If they hit the goals, it also factored into their yearly bonus. The bank said the goals were only one of several factors used to evaluate an employees job performance. But some former employees said they worried that they would lose their jobs if they did not meet them. Other former Wells employees have vented their frustrations in a series of cartoon videos on YouTube that spoof on the banks hard-driving culture and the fact that they were hardly getting rich from hitting their bosses targets. In one video, a cartoon banker drones on: If tellers and bankers make those sales numbers each day, at the end of the month everybody in the branch will get a $5 gift card to McDonalds. The district manager will get a $10,000 cash bonus. After the practice of creating phony accounts was first reported in the Los Angeles Times in late 2013, the bank stepped up its monitoring and ethics training, former employees said. For its part, the bank said it had caught the behavior and started firing workers before the article appeared. In San Diego, Taha said he attended two days of ethics training where employees were shown the difference between valid and improper accounts. But the problems persisted. Taha, 28, said he fielded complaints from customers about questionable accounts until shortly before he left the bank this summer. He said bank managers had grown weary of writing up reports on potentially improper sales. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. It was like jaywalking, Taha said of the practice of creating fraudulent accounts. It was hard to police. Taha now belongs to the Committee for Better Banks, an advocacy group that has been petitioning banks such as Wells to improve working conditions for lower-level employees. Customers all over the country have experienced the effects of the questionable sales. Early last year, Walter Mankowski, a 52-year-old computer science researcher who lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, received a Wells Fargo credit card in the mail that he had not applied for. He essentially forgot about the card until months later, when a $45 annual fee for it turned up on one of his account statements. It took talking to three different people at Wells Fargo to cancel it, Mankowski said. I probably spent half an hour on the phone trying to cancel this card I didnt know about and didnt want. He is not alone. When the Los Angeles city attorney, Mike Feuer, sued the bank in May last year over the phony accounts, his office received hundreds of calls from Wells customers and employees. Some of those complaints regarded questionable accounts created only months before the lawsuit was filed. Clearly the necessity to fire 5,300 employees shows that there is something that needs to change with Wells' internal oversight and with its practices generally, Feuer said in an interview. Some customers even those who were not victims agree and are voting with their feet. Darin Grantham, 43, a management consultant who lives in Phoenix, said he planned to close his checking, savings and credit card accounts with Wells Fargo this week not because he had a bad experience, but because I lost trust in them because of the scandal. In its settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators, announced Sept. 8, Wells agreed to develop a broad oversight program of its sales practices, among other measures. But it was not until four days later that the bank announced that it would halt the sales goals altogether starting Jan. 1. Eshet said the bank had considered this step for quite some time before finally deciding to eliminate the goals. We dont want there to be any doubt on the part of our customers that our team members have their best interest at heart, she said. Still, the bank decided to wait a few months to implement the change because it needed enough lead time to roll out the change correctly, she explained. It was really important when we are making changes in compensation structure for team members that we get it right, Eshet said. AUSTIN Texas will have to amend its voter ID education materials, including news releases, polling location posters and websites, to conform with a court mandate, a judge ordered Tuesday in a stinging rebuke of the states $2.5 million outreach effort. The Obama administration accused Texas earlier this month of using everything from a state website for voting to training documents for elections officials to narrow dramatically the scope of voters protected under a voter ID order signed last month by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos. The U.S Department of Justice asked Ramos to force Texas to change the wording of public education and poll worker information moving forward and to ensure television and radio ads accurately reflect the judges order. Ramos sided with the Justice Department, requiring Texas to re-issue voter ID news releases, revise websites with voting information, edit a poster that will be used at polling locations and make sure all education materials reflect the courts order moving forward. Ramos also required Texas to share copies of documents and scripts for radio and television ads with the Justice Department and several minority groups suing the state. However, the judge stopped short of requiring Texas to amend poll worker and election official training materials that have already been published. If its possible to be fixed, it has to fixed, said Chad Dunn, a lawyer representing U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, and the League of United Latin American Citizens in the case. The more the public has an understanding theres procedures in place to make voting secure and easy, the better. A July ruling from the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the states voter ID law discriminates against minorities. The appeals court ordered Ramos to soften the measure for November by providing a safety net for those lacking one of the seven required identifications by the state law. She did that last month with a court order allowing voters to cast a regular ballot with an alternate ID, like a voter registration card, utility bill or a bank statement, and by signing an affidavit declaring a reasonable impediment to obtaining one of the state-mandated identifications. Ramos also required Texas to inform voters and election officials about the changes, an effort state officials pledged $2.5 million to execute. Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed to the terms, which significantly dilute what was once considered the strictest voter ID law in the country. The latest court quarrel arose in recent weeks as Texas started rolling out the early phases of its education effort. The Justice Department argued Texas had recast the language of the courts order in public education materials and in poll worker documents in an attempt to limit voting eligibility to those with photo IDs or those who have not obtained and cannot obtain such identification. The issue essentially boiled down to Texas excluding the word reasonable from some of the materials, according to the filing. In court documents, Texas defended its wording as in line with Ramos mandate, arguing the Justice Department was trying to bring the States election machinery to a halt over the alleged omission of a single word in its voter education and election official training materials. A spokesman for Attorney General Ken Paxton said Tuesday the state is pleased that Ramos did not require it to amend all of its voting materials. The spokesman also said the state plans to file an appeal this week to the 5th Circuits decision with the U.S. Supreme Court, a move that Paxtons office first publicly signaled more than a month ago. Our office still maintains the common-sense measures in Texas voter ID law are valid, Paxton spokesman Marc Rylander said in a statement. Also, Ramos on Tuesday denied a motion from minority groups that stemmed from recent statements made to the media by Paxton and Harris Countys chief election official, Stan Stanart, a Republican. The groups accused Paxton and Stanart of trying to intimidate voters in the media by saying those who use the affidavit process put in place under the voter ID court order could be subject to investigation. They had asked Ramos to issue an order to essentially prevent Texas officials from making future statements that turn this Court's remedy into a threat. On Tuesday, Stanart said his messaging was vindicated by the court. What I said reflects what I think weve seen from the secretary of state, he said. It also reflects what apparently the court agrees with because they didnt object my statements. drauf@express-news.net The Mexican attorney generals office says it has located four of the victims kidnapped from a bus last week near the Texas border and has information about the location of a fifth. The four told investigators that after their bus was forced off a highway west of Nuevo Laredo they were taken to a remote location, stripped of their belongings and abandoned, according to a news release from Mexican federal prosecutors. SALEM, Ohio The Ohio Supreme Court issued a series of landmark rulings in 14 pending cases Sept. 15. These decisions confirmed that the 1989 version of the Ohio Dormant Minerals Act was not self-executing a 5-2 decision by the court justices. The decision means the 1989 Ohio DMA did not automatically allow mineral interests to be deemed abandoned and given to the surface owner. Instead, a surface owner seeking to merge a severed mineral interest with the surface under the 1989 Act was required to begin a quiet title action. What is a quiet title action? An action to quiet title is a lawsuit brought in a court having jurisdiction over property disputes, in order to establish a partys title to real property, or personal property having a title. Therefore quiet any challenges or claims to the title. Surface owners were required to bring a quiet title action prior to 2006 in order to establish abandonment. Surface owners asserting claims after June 30, 2006, must follow the notice and recording procedures contained in the 2006 Amendment to the Ohio DMA. Moving forward After June 30, 2006, a surface owner is required to follow the statutory notice and recording procedures enacted in 2006, says the court documentation. Statutory notices require certified mail and publication. It means that some land owners may have thought they mineral rights and surface ownership had been rejoined, but they might be mistaken and will need to go through this more elaborate process to get them together, said Leah Curtis, director of agricultural law at Ohio Farm Bureau. If some one had separated the mineral rights years ago they didnt automatically come back together, you would have to insert yourself to bring them together, Curtis said In the lead case, Corban v. Chesapeake Exploration, the court concluded that the 1989 law was not self-executing and did not automatically transfer ownership of dormant mineral rights. Attorneys Matt Warnock and Aaron Bruggeman of Bricker & Eckler LLP presented a webinar Sept. 16 on the rulings. In these 14 cases, the surface owners can file a reconsideration motion within 10 days. But, these are generally not granted without obvious error in the decision, said Warnock The Marketable Title Act plays a big role in the discussion as well. It extinguished oil and gas rights by operation of law after 40 years from the effective date of title unless a saving event preserving the interest appeared in the chain of records regarding the title. There are multiple types of saving events in which the holder records a notice claiming the interest, or the interest arose out of a title transaction which has been recorded subsequent to the effective date of the root of title. Corban case Like most DMA cases, Corban involved a dispute over the ownership of the subsurface oil, gas and other minerals underlying approximately 164.48 acres of real property located in Harrison County, Ohio. On July 2, 1959, The North American Coal Corporation conveyed the property by deed to Orelen H. Corban and Hans D. Corban but reserved to itself, and its successors and assigns, the rights to the oil, gas and other minerals underlying the property. Between the date of the mineral severance and 2013, North American entered into several oil and gas leases, the most recent of which was signed in 2009. There is currently one well in production under the most recent oil and gas lease. In 2013, the surface owner filed a lawsuit in Harrison County Common Pleas Court against North American and a number of other entities attempting to quiet title the oil and gas mineral rights under the property. At no time prior to the filing of the lawsuit did the surface owner of the property attempt to comply with the notice process in the 2006 version of the DMA. The defendants subsequently removed the case to federal court and counterclaimed, records the court documents Dueling motions for summary judgment were filed. The federal district court, however, certified two questions of Ohio law to the Ohio Supreme Court: Whether the 1989 or the 2006 version of revised code should be applied to a quiet title action filed after 2006 that asserts that the right to the minerals vested in the surface owner as a result of abandonment prior to 2006; and Whether the payment of delay rental during the term of an oil and gas lease constituted a title transaction. Some questions still linger, like can the mineral rights owner sue for trespassing or adverse rights of minerals? The answer depends on the facts of the case, said Warnock. The abandonments that were finalized, did they use certified mail, like required in the 2006 DMA? How far must one go to locate heirs? Local records, national ancestor research? These are questions left unanswered and could have lasting implications on things that have already been done or in the works, said Bruggeman. Walker v. Shondrick-Nau In Walker v. Shondrick-Nau, the surface owner had initially attempted to use the provisions under the 2006 amendments to the Ohio DMA to declare the mineral interests under his property abandoned. When the mineral interest owner filed an affidavit to preserve the estate, the surface owner filed a quiet title action in 2012, asserting that under the 1989 Ohio DMA, the mineral rights had merged with the surface when the grace period under the 1989 Act ended in 1992. Applying the holding of Corban, the court held that the 2006 amendments applied to the surface owners claim to the mineral rights. Under the 2006 amendments, the mineral owners claim to preserve his rights operated as a saving event sufficient to prevent the surface owner from declaring the mineral rights abandoned. Albanese v. Batman The primary issue in Albanese v. Batman was whether the filing of a will with the probate court and the county recorders office was a saving event sufficient to prevent the subject mineral estate from being deemed abandoned under the 1989 Act. In applying Corban, the court held there was no automatic abandonment and vesting of the mineral interest in the surface owner under the 1989 Act. Because the surface owners had not followed the notice requirements under the 2006 amendments, the mineral owners retained their interests. Additional cases. Applying the holding in Corban, the court also decided Carney v. Shockley, Dahlgren v. Brown Farm Prop. LLC, Eisenbarth v. Reusser, Farnsworth v. Burkhart, Swartz v. Householder, Shannon v. Householder, Taylor v. Crosby, Thompson v. Custer, Tribett v. Shepherd, and Wendt v. Dickerson. As a result of these cases we will see more people with seperated rights seeking legal council in assisting to bring the rights back together, Curtis said. Because they arent going to do so organically, but there may also be heirs that assert themselves. For more information on the ruling of these cases, visit www.shaleohio.com. Source; www.shaleohio.com and www.bricker.com. Related stories: Ohio Supreme Court to hear mineral rights case; Judge rules for mineral rights owner under dormant mineral act LONDON, Ohio Farmers and the food industry still have two years before the U.S. Department of Agriculture is required to write new food labeling rules to show whether foods were made from Genetically Modified Organisms, but the labeling legislation, which was passed by Congress in July is already a hot-topic issue. That same hot topic helped open the 54th Ohio State University Farm Science Review Sept. 20, where a panel of ag economists weighed in on the future impacts of the new labeling rule. First, theres still a lot of uncertainty. Although the law requires foods to be labeled, it gives some leniency in the type of label and what it must contain. According to the law, foods can be labeled with text, a symbol or a Quick Response Code (QR Code), which can be read by a smartphone. Its not clear how much this label is going to change what we see in the grocery store, said Ken Foster, professor and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. Want transparency Foster said the uncertainty is something that will have to be worked out in the coming year, but one thing he is certain of is that consumers want transparency. Even though GMO-approved crops have been proven safe, and have a lot of incentives like better yield and being better for the environment, Foster said farmers need to remember to communicate those points to the non-farm public. Were not communicating that to consumers, he said, adding most of the people in our society today didnt grow up on a farm. Segregating grain The panelists expect the demand for non-GMO crops and foods to continue growing, and with that growth comes new challenges, like how to segregate the different kinds of grains, and how retailers will deal with the multitude of new labels. Andy Vollmar, food and feed ingredient manager for The Andersons Grain Group, said he sees continued growth in the non-GMO market, but also new challenges. Although The Andersons have accepted non-GMO grains for years, he said many smaller, country mills are not yet to that point. To handle both GMO and non-GMO, a mill needs appropriate storage space, and an appropriate way of keeping the two types of grains separate. Grocery stores The Andersons also operate their own chain of retail grocery stores. Vollmar said it used to be that there were one or two kinds of a food like cereal but today the number of labels on foods only continues to rise. This means retailers need more space for the same foods and have to apply more effort to keep everything separate. Vollmar said hes definitely seeing an interest by the consumer, to trace where their food comes from, and that includes things like whether the food was made from GMO crops. They want to be able to understand how that traces back to the grower, Vollmar said. Ian Sheldon, the Andersons Chair in Ag Marketing at Ohio State, said the GMO bill was basically a compromise, between parties that wanted more strict food labeling, and parties that wanted less labeling. National law The bill essentially preempted states from making their own GMO laws, which was happening at the time in Vermont, where a bill called for more stringent labeling, and specific wording. As a compromise, Sheldon said the federal law gives the food industry a good opportunity to show that theyre being transparent with consumers, while still having some flexibility about how they label their foods. It remains to be seen how the new labeling law will affect food prices. Several on the panel said they expect consumers to continue paying a premium for non-GMO, because the consumers perceive a benefit. But as Sheldon pointed out, the new labeling could also raise the food prices for some commodities potentially hurting people of lower income. The Farm Science Review continues through Sept. 22 at OSUs Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London. The pinecone bird feeder is a standby that has been around for generations and rightfully so. Its simple to make, the supplies are readily available and overall its relatively inexpensive. Pinecone bird feeders are a rite of passage for preschool and kindergarten students. As youre starting to learn about wildlife and basic biology, your teacher caters to your interest in animals of all sorts. And so the caterpillar habitats, bird feeders and class pets provide the foundation from which tiny eyes will absorb information. The pinecone bird feeder is a standby that has been around for generations and rightfully so. Its simple to make, the supplies are readily available and overall its relatively inexpensive. Its upside is a big reason my daughter and I have crafted our own over the last few years. While its the same basic formula every time, weve learned how to maximize our results by making slight changes here and there. What youll need Pinecones Plastic spoon Peanut butter or suet Mixing bowl Twine Sunflower seeds White proso millet Finely cracked corn Scissors Elmers non-toxic glue Not your teachers bird feeder Half the fun of making a pinecone bird feeder is collecting supplies. Like anything else, your final result is the sum of what you put into it. Pinecone scavenging: I especially like finding the perfect pinecones to use. Im not too picky about it, but I prefer hunting for them in the woods surrounding my house rather than buying them. This tends to limit me a little bit on size, but if I find a bunch of smaller ones, stringing a few together to make one bird feeder is always an option. The best way to search for natural pinecones is to know which trees are native to your area. The most common Ohio varieties are the Austrian Pine, the Red Pine, the Virginia Pine, the Loblolly Pine, the Scotch Pine, the White Pine and the Pitlolly Pine a hybrid of the Pitch Pine and Loblolly Pine. Now that we have our list of native pines, we can evaluate which cones will work best for our project. The smallest producers are the Red Pine and Scotch Pine with cones two inches long or smaller. However, a smooth backside is one benefit of using the smaller options. The medium choices are the Virginia Pine and Austrian Pine, measuring about three to 3.5 inches when fully mature. However, this is where it gets tricky and you have to sacrifice a little for size. The Virginia Pine produces cones with long sharp prickles on the back of its scales, while the Austrian Pine also features a prickly backside. Moving into the largest varieties, the Loblolly Pine, White Pine and Pitlolly Pine all produce cones that grow up to six inches long. Following its own set of rules, the White Pine produces a large cone with no prickles. However, where you gain in length, you lose in girth with this option. Both the Loblolly Pine and Pitlolly Pine produce cones that maintain their fullness even with their added length, but both have prickles on the backsides of their scales. The Loblolly has sharp prickles, while the Pitlolly has recurved prickles. For that reason, the Pitlolly cones are my favorite to use. In addition to having my favorite design, the Pitlolly are also convenient because they tend to grow in bundles of three to five, making them easy to collect. For more information on Ohios native pine trees, visit the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry. Although I prefer scavenging, my daughter is convinced bigger is better. If agree with her, you can find plenty of options to purchase larger cones at pinecones.com. For pinecone bird feeders, I would recommend the imperfect, clearance cones as they will end up covered in seeds and peanut butter or suet anyway. Seeds: The Clemson University Extension of Forestry and Natural Resources recommends a seed combination containing 50 percent sunflower seeds, 35 percent white proso millet and 15 percent finely cracked corn. If you prefer buying a bag of birdseed instead of raw ingredients, plenty of commercial varieties are readily available. I would just suggest checking the ingredients to find a similar combination, as many mixtures contains large amounts of seeds most birds wont eat. Peanut butter or suet: Using either peanut butter or suet usually a hard animal fat is perfectly fine. Both options provide birds with a good energy source. While peanut butter is simple, suet is a good alternative for those with peanut allergies. Suet is especially attractive to insect-eating birds and is readily available at butcher shops. Birds prefer it just as it comes uncooked. It can sometimes be supplemented with protein sources or made entirely from scratch. Check out the Clemson University Extensions recipe. Cautions Twine is safe for birds; however, substituted types of string can contain chemicals harmful to birds. Another commonly used alternative is hemp string. The only type of glue that is safe for your feathered friends is Elmers non-toxic glue. Hot glue and Gorilla Glue can be harmful to birds and other wildlife if ingested. Putting it all together Check your pinecones for scales that havent popped. Place them in your preheated oven at 300 F for 10 minutes. This will force them to pop open. While you allow your pinecones a 5- to 10-minute intermission to cool off, mix your sunflower seeds, white proso millet and finely cracked corn together in your mixing bowl. Next, cut six-inch pieces of twine to either tie or glue to your pinecones. (It makes the most sense to do this before applying peanut butter or suet to save yourself from a mess.) Once your pinecones are popped, cooled and twined, you can prepare to spread a thick layer of peanut butter or suet all over their scales. Using your plastic spoon, make sure they are generously covered. Finally, roll each pinecone in your seed mixture until cones are coated. Choosing a location Once you have your pinecone feeders completed, you are ready to share them with your backyard birds. Its important to hang feeders in a safe place where cats and other animals cant sneak up on them. The best place to situate them will be in open areas with trees and shrubs nearby for shelter. Enjoy! Now that youve created the ultimate pinecone bird feeder, its time to sit back and enjoy the view. As the weather gets colder, birds will rely more on the food source youve just provided. Additional resources for feeding birds LONDON, Ohio But for Ohio State, Natalie Miller would not have had gained the experience and education she needed to pursue a career as a grain merchandiser. Miller said she is very fortunate to be able to have most of her education funded through scholarships. As a sophomore studying agribusiness and applied economics at Ohio State University, Miller said through scholarships and funding she has not only been able to fund her education but also attend study abroad trips to further her education and experiences. Millers student success story and many others were represented during the Celebration of Ohio Agriculture Luncheon at the Farm Science Review in London, Ohio, Sept. 20. Fundraising campaign As the But for Ohio State Campaign fundraising comes to a close, Ohio State President Michael V. Drake shared the college had exceeded its goal of raising $2.5 billion in December. The goal: to provide access and affordability to excellent education at the university, said Drake. Interim Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Dean Lonnie J. King said, more than $22 million in gifts were received by the College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), almost 50 percent over their goal of $15 million. Drake said another way Ohio State is keeping its college affordable for students is holding its tuition and room and board from increasing. A new program put in place will lower tuition by 25 percent for students wishing to take summer courses at the university. New faculty and staff Drake said around $125 million is being invested into new research in food security. As a part of the Discover Themes at Ohio State University, research is being funded in areas of food production, food security and health and wellness. Currently the college has hired 15 new faculty members and plans to add 13 more in the areas of research. Also visiting the Review Tuesday, was Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor who emphasized the importance of agriculture in the state and in agricultural education in the schools. She said it is exciting to see more inner-city schools taking on agriculture education programs. Fast facts: More than $22 million in gifts were received by the College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences in student support funds, 50 percent over the campaign goal of $15 million. More than 440 students s benefitted from the campaign and more than 140 new student support funds were created. 74 percent of CFAES graduates are employed in Ohio and 322 companies hired CFAES graduates in the last year. This papier-mache Halloween lantern is actually horrifying Most jack-o'-lanterns are made from pumpkins, but this particular papier-mache pear is a unique, antique find. Scotlands new Farm Advisory Service (FAS) launches today. The FAS forms part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) which is co-funded by the EU and Scottish Government. The 20m contract was awarded earlier this year to SAC Consulting (part of Scotlands Rural College) and Ricardo Energy and Environment. It runs until the end of December 2020. Today, the new FAS website goes live (www.fas.scot) along with a dedicated telephone advice line for farmers and crofters (0300 323 0161). The service will expand over the coming weeks and months into a comprehensive delivery package of practical information and advice to farmers and crofters across Scotland. The website will be a source of data and information, tools and apps, all designed to be relevant to modern farming and crofting enterprises. At its centre is a calendar of events that will detail all of the workshops, network farm meetings, conferences and training courses that will be planned and delivered as part of the FAS. Application forms can now be downloaded from the website which provide access to up to 2,200 grant assistance for ILMP and 500 for carbon audits. Another feature of the new FAS is the Crofter and Small Farm Advisory Service. This will provide discounted subscription and consultancy services for crofters and farming businesses (under 30 Ha) across Scotland. The website, the advice line, the grant schemes and the discounted consultancy services are just the start. As the resources and events grow, the FAS approach will be to address not just business efficiency and viability but climate change and environment, as well as compliance and greening in an integrated manner that provides sustainable and practical advice. Most up-to-date advice is essential Welcoming the start to the new service, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing, commented: "Access to the best and most up-to-date advice is essential to any business. "Aimed specifically at farmers and crofters across Scotland, I welcome the launch of the new integrated Farm Advisory Service, which will provide a faster and less complicated entry point to a range of relevant practical advice, information and tools from business efficiency and viability to compliance and climate change advice." NFU Scotlands Director of Policy, Jonnie Hall said: "The real need for relevant and accessible advice for all of Scottish agriculture has come into sharp focus over the last eighteen months. "Looking forward, every active farmer and crofter in Scotland will need to look more closely at what they do and how they do it. "That makes an effective and seamless advisory service essential. NFU Scotland fully supports the development and roll out of the new Farm Advisory Service, and encourages all farmers and crofters to make the most of the new approaches, tools and techniques it has to offer. The Scottish Crofting Federations Director Brendan OHanrahan said: "We are reassured that the basic network of SAC local offices, offering skilled and experienced one-to-one advice backed-up by intimate knowledge of the local area is remaining as the backbone of the advisory service. "As ever, local delivery is key. We welcome the provision of an expanded programme of information meetings, new entrants workshops and events on issues such as cross-compliance and biodiversity. "The new FAS will result in better coordination across the country and a wider range of useful advisory material will be made more accessible." The importance of food and farming was impressed upon key Liberal Democrats in the first of the NFUs fringe events in Brighton last night as party conference season begins. In his opening remarks, NFU President Meurig Raymond thanked Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron for standing up against the idea the country can just import cheap food with lower standards. Mr Raymond said that, if anything, the UK vote to leave the European Union was a vote to support Britain. Over 115 people attended the event, held at the Hilton Metropole, where the NFU and its farmer and grower members were able to quiz Baroness Parminter, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson for the party, and Mark Williams MP, Commons Defra spokesperson. The aim of the event was to promote the importance of British food and farming. Farmers and growers will also have the chance to quiz MPs at NFU fringe events at the Labour (26 Sept) and Conservative (3 Oct) party conferences. 'No political party can take farming for granted' "Im confident that, with this political attitude, home-grown food in this country has a positive future," Mr Raymond said "Weve made it clear that food and drink, the largest manufacturing industry in the UK and worth 108 billion to the nation, is one that no political party can take for granted and it was good to hear that the Lib Dems recognise the importance of the rural economy," said Mr Raymond. "Farming, which is at the heart of that sectors supply chain, needs a dynamic, profitable and productive future to enable British food and farming to thrive. "We have a growing number of mouths to feed - 77 million by 2050 and this is a big challenge for the people who produce food. "We need to ensure that our Government can support this fantastic industry with the right policies to ensure were able to feed the nation and play a part in feeding the world. Mr Raymond said the decision to leave the EU "will impact on every UK citizen." "But for farmers, the decision will inevitably mean changes to our businesses some of them potentially quite substantial as we look at where and how we trade. "We now have the opportunity to take learnings from the Common Agricultural Policy to produce a tailor-made domestic farming policy, one built on a cross-party consensus to support a new, invigorated domestic agricultural policy which can match the scale of vision not seen since the post-war years. "Baroness Parminter, Mark Williams and their party leader Tim Farron, have taken time to pledge their support to Back British Farming since the vote for the UK to leave the EU. "Im confident that, with this political attitude, home-grown food in this country has a positive future." Mr Raymond also urged Government to support the good work farmers do in delivering for the environment. "When farming is profitable farmers will invest into infrastructure and in improving their environmental standards. "Every farmer wants to leave the countryside with a better environmental footprint for the next generation," Mr Raymond concluded. The UK government is "failing" to support farmers in the long-term according to the Liberal Democrats as new figures suggest around 4,000 West Country farms could go out of business after Brexit. Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Mark Williams together with its UK leader, Tim Farron, has launched a "not a penny less" campaign. Mr Williams claims the current guarantee of funding until 2020 'does not go far enough.' "The subsidy regime is not something farmers welcome but it's a reality for the farming industry at the moment," he said. Mark Williams is a Welsh Liberal Democrat politician and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ceredigion constituency "There has been some concern in farming circles that those existing subsidies will be removed... this is a lifeline so I understand their anxiety. "After the statement from David Davis in the House of Commons nearly a fortnight ago, assurances are still not there. "The ramifications of many farming businesses going bust [are] huge for rural communities. It's at that point you factor in how feasible it is for village schools to stay open, as well as other service providers and bus routes." He said that "on balance", he would prefer to see the Welsh Government, not UK ministers, keep control of farm support payments. "I am calling on government to reassure farmers that they are not going to face cuts to the support they rely on," said Mr Farron 'Considerable dismay' among farmers The party released details in conjunction with Defra data released earlier in the year which shows a stark warning regarding the amount of farms that could go out of business without necessary subsidies. The Lib-Dems said 4,402 farms in the South West alone were at risk. Nationally, it estimates 20,600 farmers would be driven out of businesses unless they continue to get financial support. "Farmers making decisions now about buying livestock and investing for the future are being left in the dark about what will come after 2020," said Lib-Dem leader Tim Farron. "I am calling on the government to reassure farmers that they are not going to face cuts to the support they rely on after 2020." John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich said during a House of Lords debate that there has been 'considerable dismay' among farms since Brexit because of the threat to farm payments. "The new Secretary of State will have to persuade the Chancellor that smaller farmers and hill farmers will not be able to carry on unless they are given stronger reassurances of support. "In 2013, farmers received 2.6 billion under Pillar 1 and 637 million for agri-environment and rural development under green Pillar 2." "How will the government ensure that British farmers continue to receive these payments? "There are fears that direct payments will be significantly less under the new Government because of the continuing need for austerity. "Farmers will have to receive this level of support or the whole fabric of rural society and the countryside will collapsewe heard of the situation in Wales." Top quality Welsh Lamb could soon be on more restaurant menus in Germany, Hybu Cig Cymru Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) has said. Trade supplier TransGourmet has added the increasingly sought-after product to its listings, and is featuring Welsh Lamb demonstrations at its major client fairs this autumn. HCC took part in a major trade fair this week in Augsburg, Bavaria, in southern Germany. The stand featured demonstrations by award-winning young butcher Matthew Edwards, as well as giving chefs and trade buyers the chance to sample the Welsh Lamb. According to Alex James, HCCs Market Development Executive, TransGourmets listing is another important step forward for Welsh Lamb. "Germany is known for its love of meat, and has been an important market for Welsh Lamb for some time," said Alex. "But the new listing is a chance for us to further promote the brand among premium foodservice customers and widen its availability in Germany. "Carrying the esteemed PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) mark, Welsh Lamb is a quality product, perfect for chefs," he added. "If the reaction in Augsburg is anything to go by, theres a keen interest in Welsh Lamb, and we may see it featured more and more in Germanys top restaurants." Rhys Llywelyn, HCCs newly-appointed Market Development Manager, said: "Its good to see growth for Welsh red meat in Germany, with our produce now featuring in the listings of several importers such as Frische Paradies, Havelland Express, Schwamm and now TransGourmet." A three-year Welsh Government investment of 1.2 million to support the export activities of Hybu Cig Cymru Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) has resulted in over 38 million of new and safeguarded business for PGI Welsh Lamb and PGI Welsh Beef. Food valued at 1.8bn wasted on UK farms each year, report says Help tell your story, how you are committed to do the best you can do to bring quality Canadian Beef to the consumers table. We invite you to complete this 10-15-minute questionnaire that will help Canada Beef tell your story. Canada Beef is looking for the stories and proof points to back what we say and to strengthen our sense of trust and relationship with consumers. This is your chance to explain how you are committed to do the best you can do to bring quality Canadian Beef to the consumers table. We invite you to complete this 10-15 minute questionnaire that will help Canada Beef tell your story. At Canada Beef (established July 2011), our job is to encourage trust, loyalty and affinity for Canadian Beef with consumers world-wide. The Canadian Beef brand works to build an emotional connection with consumers, with focus on four main pillars: Producer You and your good sense and values Product Quality beef that nourishes body and soul World Class Standards in quality and safety Sustainability and stewardship Here is what we have been saying about you, the Producer. Our community of ranchers and farmers tend to the cattle and land with values that we all hold dear: honesty, hard work & resourcefulness. We base our practices on facts and what is proven. The Focus of the PRODUCER Pillar: At the heart if it all, it takes craftmanship to bring quality Canadian beef to our tables; a careful management of the land, resources and cattle in our care. Beef farming and ranching is a way of family life; a work of generations past with the hope of that into the future. Beef producers are multi-generational, ethical, dedicated, honest, careful, kind, friendly and diligent. They are progressive leaders in their field (literally). Produced in each and every province, Canadian beef is your local beef. Step outside the city boundaries and youll find your neighbours; family run beef farms and ranches that make a significant contribution to our rural communities and our economy as a whole. This focus is what we know consumers value in Canadian beef and it is what makes Canada unique as a major beef exporter in the world. If there is anything you are unsure or unclear on you can skip the question. Individual answers will be kept confidential. Source: Meatbusiness Farms.com Editors This week, thousands of farmers will attend the 54th annual Farm Science Review being held at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center near London, Ohio The Farm Science Review will be held Sept. 20-22 and information can be found at http://www.fsr.osu.edu The Farm Science Review 2,100-acre facility has a lot to offer to the 130,000+ visitors who can visit more than 600 exhibitors, watch the field demonstrations and enjoy a variety of foods the exhibition has to offer. This years FSR is offering more than 180 educational presentations by educators, specialists and faculty from Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, which are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of the college of Food Agriculture and Environmental Science. While this farm show gives participants a chance to view some of the largest, most technologically-advanced equipment in the world, it also offers great programming for small landowners and small farmers. Our local Fairfield County Extension office receives lots of calls throughout the year from small farmers. The Reviews Small Farm Center will offer over two dozen educational programs geared for small farmers. Listen to some of these session titles: Growing Hops in Ohio, Small Scale Poultry Production, and Understanding the Need for Forage Testing. In addition to the production side of agriculture the economic issues will also be presented via topics such as Hows the Health of Your Small Farms Balance Sheet? and Hedging Weather Risks on Small Acreages. All three days feature ask-an-expert presentations exploring topics such as: working capital on Ohio farms, Ohio cropland values and cash rents, GMOs, the Zika virus, veterinary concerns and passing the farm on to your kids. In addition to visiting the Farm Science Reviews main grounds take a tractor ride over to the Gwynne Conservation Area where natural resource-based programs are offered. Learn about forestry management, wildlife issues and farm pond. "AGC was able to attract an initial $600 million of potential investment into Western Australian agriculture, a $600 million injection into rural WA that could have occurred almost immediately if WA grain growers had been able to vote for our proposal," he said. "Right from the get go, 2016 IYP was about pulses being complementary to other foods and not demonising another food group - it was how lentils might be on a plate with chicken or lamb or how you might use pulses in food ingredients," Mr Wilson said "Rather than each funding for their own report exporters will be able to refer to this country report which will allow for AU canola to pass regulatory scrutiny and meet EU's GHG emissions regulations," Professor Kingwell said. In the end it was buyers of three years, Glen and Ian Garard, GL & GA Garard, Hyden, who came out on top of the bidding war when they placed their bid of $3000 and were written in the books as the successful buyers. That faint gobble, gobble youre hearing in the distance can only mean one thing: Thanksgiving is near! Both ACTS and SERVE are gearing up for their holiday programs, and your help is needed. What was it like to be an Oath Keeper? John Zimmerman can tell you The FCPA Blog will be in New York City on October 26 and I hope youll be there too. Most of our senior and contributing editors will be speaking about topics I know you care about. And our outside speakers include some familiar names. Lanny Breuer will talk about enforcement. Who better? He headed the DOJ Criminal Division from 2009 to 2013 and now serves as Vice Chair of Covington. Martin Kreutner, Dean of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) in Vienna, is coming. Hell be talking about the IACA and its innovative mid-career Masters program. The FBIs Ren McEachern will be there. He supervises the Washington Field Office of the International Corruption Squad with a focus on the FCPA. Shruti Shah from Transparency International-USA will talk about beneficial ownership, one of todays biggest transparency issues. Two of the worlds leading experts on enforcement and compliance in India and China will be on hand. Russ Stamets was the first non-Indian general counsel of a publicly traded Indian company; Eric Carlson is Covingtons Shanghai-based partner who writes frequently for the FCPA Blog about China investigations, fapiao, mooncakes . . . * * * Thats a small sample of the speakers and topics. The full agenda and speaker slate is here. Therell be plenty of time during the day and at the cocktail hour after the event to answer questions and just talk. (Want to know how you can write for the FCPA Blog? Please ask.) Space is limited but seats are still available. Readers of the FCPA Blog enjoy a 10 percent discount. To activate the 10 percent discount, simply use the code FCPABLOG when a standard ticket is selected at registration. You can also follow this link to have the discount automatically applied (again, with standard ticket selected). * * * Im excited the FCPA Blog is launching its first-ever event in New York City on October 26. If you enjoy the FCPA Blog, I think this event is for you. Weve applied for six hours of CLE credit from the New York State Bar for the event. The application is pending. The event is suitable not just for lawyers but for anyone who enjoys the FCPA Blog. See you in NYC on October 26! ____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Hell be the keynote speaker at the FCPA Blog NYC Conference 2016. Sponsors It's all about setting and characterization, at least it is for me. I've been writing fiction, mostly romance, for so long I no longer have any other marketable skills but that's all right because there's nothing I'd rather do than create worlds out of the mess going on inside my head. And yes, when I'm in the planning, plotting stage, it's all a fascinating mess. I both envy and distrust writers who say their books plot themselves because it's never been like that for me. Vella Munn Mostly I start with a feeling, a restlessness and excitement that can be satisfied only by mentally and emotionally going someplace that speaks to me. At the same time, I'm being visited by whispers from the characters that are coming to life inside me. I started hearing from Winter Barstow, the heroine in my paranormal romantic suspense Death Chant years ago. She needed someone to listen to her and had chosen me. I've written a number of Native American historicals so wasn't surprised when a modern day Native American woman started begging me to give her a chance. All Winter knew about herself was that when she was around five, she was found wandering alone in Barstow California in the winter. She spent her childhood bouncing from foster home to foster home trying to deal with the empty spaces inside her. Then she took a university anthropology course from a professor who 'got' her. Doc, as she called him, understood those empty spaces and encouraged her to embrace her heritage. She thought she was doing that by following in his footsteps, but she was low woman on the academic totem pole. Then Doc goes to the Olympic National Forest in Washington State to do some on-site work. Soon after he sends her an authentic ceremonial mask that depicts a wolf and the story is off to the races. The wolf mask more than whispers to Winter. It howls. She becomes obsessed by it and is desperate to learn more about its origin. Only she can't contact Doc. He has disappeared somewhere in the massive rainforest full of old growth trees. The forest is managed by the forest service, including sexy Native American ranger Jay Raven. Jay has everything Winter doesn't, mostly an undeniable sense of who he is and where he came from. Jay is at home in the moody, broody wilderness. He knows where the most remote trails are and where there are no trails. He accepts the deep shadows and frequent rainfall. This is where his ancestors hunted and lived. His roots. But there are things Jay doesn't comprehend-like what has happened to Doc who he doesn't trust and where the haunting wolf howls are coming from. Just because Winter is a beautiful young women doesn't mean he will open up to her. Neither Winter or Jay comprehend the forces that draw them together, their attraction for each other despite their very different upbringings and agendas. One thing they soon have no doubt of. Beautiful as it is, the forest is also a deadly place. Death Chant was a long time coming together for a number of reasons including the mystery I incorporated into it, but it was a deeply satisfying journey. I hope Winter agrees that I brought her to life and Jay acknowledges that his complexities made it into the story. I also hope readers realize how much of my heart Olympic National Forest has claimed. It's an incredible place. A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Jim Carrey after it was claimed he supplied his ex-girlfriend with drugs to take her own life. Jim Carrey Cathriona White tragically committed suicide last year and her estranged husband Mark Burton has claimed Carrey was responsible for giving White drugs, court documents handed over to the Los Angeles County Superior Court reveal. Speaking to the New York Daily News, Burton's lawyer Mark Avenatti said: "We look forward to the facts and evidence supporting these serious allegations. "We will also be requesting that the Los Angeles District Attorney's office investigate the conduct concerning these drugs." The lawsuit claims Carrey used his "immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive" drugs under a false name of Arthur King. The complaint continues to say that White was "prone to depression and had previously attempted to take her own life" and goes on to claim that Carey gave her the drugs, which had caused a "predictable and foreseeable" result. Meanwhile, at the time of her death, Carrey described White's passing as a complete "shock". He said: "I am shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of my sweet Cathriona. She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil, to whom loving and being loved was all that sparkled. "My heart goes out to her family and friends and to everyone who loved and cared about her. We have all been hit with a lightning bolt." Brown is seeking to recover the funeral costs and other damages from the lawsuit. Vin Diesel says Paul Walker inspired him to have children. Vin Diesel The 'Furious 7' star has revealed his late co-star was instrumental in encouraging him to start a family. Speaking at the Reach Out Worldwide charity event, he said: "He must've been God-sent because he put me on the right path. He set me up. And when we did the first 'Fast & Furious', I was already 30 years old or something, but he was a father. "When we were in the cars in between takes, he would tell me, 'Hey, Vin, it's not a scary thing to become a father' [and] give me all the good advice. Next thing I know, I am a dad ... [He] is why I named my daughter Pauline because of the credit that Paul Walker deserves in my personal life." And the 49-year-old actor revealed it was Paul who told him to go to hospital to be there for the birth of Pauline, now 18 months. He added: "Paul was very instrumental in my segue into fatherhood. He was the one that told me to go to the hospital. "He's the one that told me to cut the umbilical cord. He told me to cut the umbilical cord! [He was] the only person, in California, that knew I was about to have a child." Meanwhile, Vin - who also has Hania, eight, and Vincent, six, with his partner Paloma Jimenez - previously revealed Paul "guided" him into fatherhood. He said: "[Paul] went into fatherhood a lot earlier than I did. He took on that role of kind of being the guide into fatherhood for me. It's kind of beautiful ... "The one thing Paul always wanted me to do was be present at my child's birth. He was so adamant about it. We were in Puerto Rico doing the [last] scene. Paul Walker and I came out of the car and [we found out] her water broke in New York. My son was being born. He was like, 'We can film later. You have to go now.' And he was right and I did." Jamie Dornan is in final negotiations to join 'Robin Hood: Origins'. Jamie Dornan The 'Fifty Shades Darker' actor is in talks to take on the role of Will Scarlet, who is traditionally one of the main members of the band of Merry Men and an expert swordsman, alongside the likes of Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx. According to The Hollywood Reporter, should Dornan take on the role it will be slightly different to the usual Robin Hood movies as Will is to be married to Marian and not best pleased when he discovers she has feelings for Robin, who will be portrayed by Egerton. Foxx will star as comical character Little John and Eve Hewson has signed up to star as Maid Marian in the Lionsgate motion picture. Otto Bathurst will direct the project, which is expected to starting filming in January in Budapest. In 1991 movie 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', Christian Slater portrayed Will, who was the illegitimate half-brother of Robin. Mel Brooks took on the role in 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' and the character was played by Scott Grimes in 2010 movie 'Robin Hood'. What's more, in 2011 TV movie 'Princess of Thieves' - which starred Keira Knightley - Will was portrayed by Crispin Letts. The film - set in Nottingham, England - will show benevolent fugitive Robin Hood meeting Little John in Sherwood Forest and together they lead the band of Merry Men, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. The moniker 'Little' is intended to be ironic as John is usually depicted as a gigantic warrior who lives in the forest, highly skilled with a bow and arrow and quarterstaff. Karyn Kusama has signed up to direct horror movie 'Breed'. Karyn Kusama The 48-year-old American independent film director, who worked on 2015 horror mystery 'The Invitation', has teamed up with her old production crew to direct the movie on behalf of 20th Century Fox. The movie will be a 20th Century Fox first for producer Scott Frank, according to The Wrap, and will see 'The Invitation's' writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi be tasked with adapting the novel by Chase Novack. Speaking about the project, Frank said: "'Breed' was the first piece of material I acquired and was a complete no-brainer - falling right into the sweet spot of the work that I'm trying to do in my partnership with Fox. "The fact that I also get to collaborate with the talented likes of Phil, Matt, and Karyn only makes an already exciting project even sweeter." Novack is also known to write under the name Scott Spencer, which he used to work on 'Endless Love' and 'Waking the Dead'. 'Breed' is centered on a couple living in New York who travel to Slovenia to have a procedure that will help them have children, after unsuccessful infertility treatment. But all is not what it seems, and 10 years later, when their twins grow up, they face some weird noises coming from their parents' room. Casting information has not yet been announced. Prince Philip is to be interviewed by Phillip Schofield for a TV special. Prince Philip The 'This Morning' co-host will sit down for a chat with the 95-year-old royal to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which he set up in 1956, in a documentary titled 'When Phillip Met Prince Philip: 60 Years of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award'. Phillip said: "I am hugely excited to be working with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award as it celebrates its 60th anniversary. "It's a unique opportunity to meet Prince Philip, the charity's founder, and to see first-hand the amazing work that the DofE does with young people all over the world." The TV presenter will also speak to Philip's son Prince Edward, and Edward's wife Sophie Wessex, about their involvement with the youth achievement award programme, which teaches youngsters life skills and takes them on expeditions. Peter Westgarth, chief executive of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, said: "This is a momentous year for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Charity as we celebrate our Diamond Anniversary; 60 years of transforming the life and work prospects of millions of young people, from all backgrounds and circumstances, in the UK and worldwide. "The documentary is a fantastic opportunity for us to reflect on these past successes but also to showcase the positive impact of the DofE on today's generation and the potential for generations to come, helping young people to be happy, healthy, socially conscious and more employable. "We're excited to be able to capture such a pivotal year, give a unique insight into the DofE in 2016 and thank our Founder, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, for setting up what has become the world's leading achievement award for young people." The documentary will air on ITV later this year to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the award scheme. Queen Elizabeth has congratulated ParalympicsGB's "magnificent performance" at Rio 2016. Queen Elizabeth The 90-year-old monarch has praised the Great British and Northern Irish Paralympians on their "success" in the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and admitted it was a "memorable" spectacle. In a post on the official Royal website, Elizabeth wrote: "As the 2016 Paralympic Games draw to a close, I offer my warmest congratulations to the athletes of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and indeed to the athletes of all Commonwealth countries, for their many successes in Rio de Janeiro. "The magnificent performance of ParalympicsGB this year reflects the talent and commitment of the athletes and their support teams. "I send my good wishes to all those who have contributed to the success of these memorable Games. "ELIZABETH R" The queen's praise comes after ParalympicsGB finished the Rio Games with an incredible 64 gold medals, the most won by a British team since 1988, and a total tally of 147, putting them second in the medal table behind China. This comes after the queen congratulated Georgina Hermitage on winning a gold medal at the Paralympics. The monarch praised the 27-year-old parasport athlete through the Royal Family Twitter account - which keeps fans updating on the activities of the 90-year-old monarch and her relatives - after she triumphed in the 400m T37 race. A tweet on the official Royal Family Twitter account read: "Well done!! Amazing achievement in #Rio2016" These sex tips may seem too simple and easy to make any difference to your love life. But various researches and studies have proved that they actually work. Check out and make sure to try them out tonight and make sex better. Big, better O: A study conducted at the University of Groningen, Netherlands says that wearing socks during sex can result into better orgasms for both partners. Socks can help you feel comfortable, relaxed and ready for the session. Spill some magic: Another way to get him ready quickly for some action is to light some lavender incense sticks or diffuse lavender oil in your bedroom. Research at Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation of Chicago says that smell increases blood flow the penis by 40%. Oil to the rescue: Giving a woman an oil massage will ignite her sex drive by releasing oxytocin says a study by Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality based out of the US. Sweaty? Dont stress: A study published in The Journal of Neuroscience says that womens hormonal levels fluctuate and they feel roused by the smell of androstadienone - a chemical compound found in male sweat. Dose of D: A study published in published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology suggests lack of vitamin D in your body can be a libido killer thus ensuring that you dont indulge in too much action. Do take a walk in the morning sun before getting dirty later that night. Spice it up: Trust hot food to make things hot in the bedroom. According to a study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior, capsaicin - the compound that makes food spicy boosts testosterone levels in men and increase their sex drive. Power of hugs: A study from Harvard states hugging a woman for more than 30 seconds will up the oxytocin levels in her body which will make her yearn for you. Be nice: A study published in Journal of Adolescent Health finds that appreciating and complimenting your partner can increase the quality of the oral sex you get. Give him red: Want to turn him on without putting in much effort? Wear red lingerie. A study from University of Rochester quotes that men are instantly attracted and aroused by women in red. Scare tactics: Watching a scary movie together can lead to great sex. Dont believe us? As per a study in Journal of Psychophysiology watching a horror movie can trigger bodys sympathetic nervous system (SNS) by which is associated with higher genital arousal. Sleep more: A study, published by The North American Menopause Society, found that not getting enough sleep can make sex significantly less satisfying. Stop smoking: Researchers at the University of Arizona found that smoking has a direct, negative effect on the sexuality of a man on every level (Inputs by SM) Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sought duty and quota-free access of readymade garments (RMG) from her country to the US. This would help Bangladesh expand its apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, she said. It would also push bilateral trade beyond the current $7 billion between the two countries. Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sought duty and quota-free access of readymade garments (RMG) from her country to the US. This would help Bangladesh expand its apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, she said. It would also push bilateral trade beyond the current $7 billion between the two countries.# As Bangladesh strives to achieve its aspired goals, I urge you to come forth and partner with us in this journey of mutual profits and prosperity ... importantly, such a lucrative partnership would also strengthen our two countries' friendship, the prime minister said while speaking at the luncheon meeting hosted by the Business Council of International Understanding (BCIU) in New York. Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sought duty and quota-free access of readymade garments (RMG) from her country to the US. This would help Bangladesh expand its apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, she said. It would also push bilateral trade beyond the current $7 billion between the two countries.# The prime minister said that it would be vital for the US to give Bangladesh apparel duty and quota free access to its market in a bid to expand Bangladesh apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, BSS reported. Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sought duty and quota-free access of readymade garments (RMG) from her country to the US. This would help Bangladesh expand its apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, she said. It would also push bilateral trade beyond the current $7 billion between the two countries.# The apparel industry in Bangladesh employs 4 million workers, of which 90 per cent are girls from poor families. The earnings of these girls now provide better nutritional food, allow siblings to go to schools, and give them a respected voice at home. Their empowerment is also helping reduce poverty, control population growth and increase literacy, Hasina said. Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sought duty and quota-free access of readymade garments (RMG) from her country to the US. This would help Bangladesh expand its apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, she said. It would also push bilateral trade beyond the current $7 billion between the two countries.# Significantly, this trend is supporting our fight against extremism and terrorism by transforming our society into a progressive one. For these efforts to succeed, it is vital for the US to give Bangladesh apparel duty and quota free access to its market. It would expand Bangladesh apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, the prime minister said. Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sought duty and quota-free access of readymade garments (RMG) from her country to the US. This would help Bangladesh expand its apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, she said. It would also push bilateral trade beyond the current $7 billion between the two countries.# Bangladesh is an LDC, and 52 countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, China, Japan, India and the EU give Bangladeshi products duty and quota-free access to their markets. Will the US join this list of countries, she asked. Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sought duty and quota-free access of readymade garments (RMG) from her country to the US. This would help Bangladesh expand its apparel industry, employ and empower more girls and help establish a modern society, she said. It would also push bilateral trade beyond the current $7 billion between the two countries.# Taking about bilateral trade relations, she said the US is the largest single country destination of Bangladeshi products. Our two countries' bilateral trade reached $7 billion last year. It could be more if the high tariffs and compliance issues on Bangladeshi apparel to US market were removed, she said. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The Tamil Nadu state government has announced new schemes for promotion of handloom, textile and khadi industries. A sum of Rs 175.23 crore would be spent on modernising six cooperative mills in the state. For the benefit of powerloom workers, 50 per cent subsidy would be provided to around 1,500 employees towards their insurance premium. Unveiling the new schemes, chief minister J Jayalalithaa said handloom, handicraft, textile and khadi industries contribute the second highest revenue to the state, next only to agriculture. She said the government would invest Rs 175.23 crore for modernisation of six cooperative mills in the state. These mills currently make yarn for the government's free dhoti/sari scheme and also for the free uniform scheme to school children. A part of the sum would be utilised to purchase twister and doubling machines and comber machines and open end spinning machines. The Tamil Nadu state government has announced new schemes for promotion of handloom, textile and khadi industries. A sum of Rs 175.23 crore would be spent on modernising six cooperative mills in the state. For the benefit of powerloom workers, 50 per cent subsidy would be provided to around 1,500 employees towards their insurance premium.# Around 1,500 people are employed in 1,357 handloom and machine loom cooperative associations in the state. For the benefit of these powerloom workers, 50 per cent subsidy will be provided towards their insurance premium, the chief minister said. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India HON PM BAINIMARAMA REMARKS AT THE FIJI-SWEDEN OCEANS SUMMIT EVENT The Deputy Prime Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate Change of Sweden,The Minister for the Environment, Energy and Maritime Affairs of France,The President of the UN General Assembly,Excellencies,Ladies and Gentleman,Bula vinaka and a very good afternoon/evening to you all.Next June, the community of nations will gather in New York to address one of the greatest challenges the world has ever faced the current threat to the health of our oceans and seas.The unrelenting degradation of this precious resource should be a matter of grave concern to every person on the planet.Certainly for a Small Island Developing State such as Fiji, it is an issue almost as pressing as the extreme weather events and rising sea levels caused by climate change. Because the seas are our life-blood. And without the bounty they provide us with on a daily basis, the health and wellbeing of our people along with their livelihoods - is clearly at risk.Im delighted to be here as Fiji and Sweden come together to highlight our joint hosting of the United Nations Conference on Oceans next year. I want to begin by thanking the Swedish Government for partnering with Fiji on this vitally important initiative. And to thank the Swedish Mission at the UN for holding this event.I also appreciate the attendance of everyone else in the room. And ask you all to do everything you can to promote this Conference and draw global attention to the issues at stake the urgent need to reverse the pollution, the overfishing and the destruction of marine habitats that has reached crisis proportions in so many parts of the world.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, many of you may not know that my background is as a sailor and officer in the Fijian Navy. The sea has been my life. And I have a huge affinity for it, as do most people who, in the words of the old Psalm, go down to the sea in ships.I have witnessed the steady deterioration of our seas and oceans over the years with my own eyes. Where once all our Pacific waters were pristine, now parts are clogged with plastic bags and bottles. Where once you could throw a line out over the side and be guaranteed a catch, often the fish are few and far between. Because in far too many instances, our waters have been stripped.The selfish commercial plunder of our seas by unscrupulous nations and unscrupulous interests is not only robbing our people of a precious resource. The current level of overfishing simply cannot continue for a moment longer without putting stocks at risk. And destroying the source of food and income on which so many of our coastal communities depend.In addition, the dumping of rubbish at sea has also reached crisis proportions. In some instances, it is admittedly our own people who have yet to appreciate that they cannot use our pristine waters as a rubbish dump and that most things they throw into the ocean are not bio-degradable. And we are doing what we can to educate them. But there is nothing small Pacific Island nations can do about the huge deposits of refuse - and especially plastic bags and bottles - that originate from countries on the Pacific rim and are carried by the ocean currents into our own waters.By global standards, the waters around Fiji are still relatively unpolluted and we want to keep it that way for ourselves and our international visitors. But I am deeply concerned about any further deterioration in the quality of the water around us from outside sources. And the overfishing that is taking place and is threatening the interests of every Fijian.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a chance next June to bring the nations together to formulate a more concerted and holistic response to saving our oceans and seas. This gathering is being described as the jewel in the crown of the 71st Session with thousands of people from around the world expected to converge on New York for the four days from the 5th to the 9th of June.Fiji is naturally very proud to be co-hosting this event with our Swedish friends. It is a great honour for a Pacific Small Island Developing State to be given the task of doing so and and Fiji shares that honour with every Pacific Islander.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, just as time is running out to address the challenges of climate change, time is running out to save our oceans and seas. We have nine months to prepare for this landmark gathering and I again urge the global community to do everything possible to make it as success. Because if we dont seize this opportunity to reverse the degradation of our seas and oceans, the old sailor in me very much believes that it may be too late.Thank you all for supporting Fiji and Sweden as we try to turn back the tide. And lets bring the rest of the world together in New York next June to do the same.Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you. Celebrated actor James Marsden, who is well-known for his role as 'Cyclops' in X-Men movies, feels that turning down one important role in the movie Magic Mike wasn't a wise decision and that he wishes he hadn't done that. During an interview, James Marsden opened up regarding his life and career in Hollywood and says he shouldn't have rejected that role in Magic Mike, which was offered to him in the first place. Marsden explained that Steven Soderbergh, the director of the movie had offered him a role as a male stripper in the movie, but James was bit hesitant on that part and the role ultimately passed on to another actor. "Soderbergh is one of my favorites, But I didn't know if I trusted myself to be good enough in this to not have my two dozen lines end up on the editing-room floor. I'd look like a naked extra in this movie," said Marsden. "It's perfect the way it worked out, but that's one of the only ones I'm like, Hmm. I didn't know it was gonna be the massive success that it was," he added. Marsden as for now, is gearing up to appear in the drama Westworld, which will be aired on HBO on October 2. Prakash Raj's Idolle Ramayana, which was recently cleared by the Censor Board with a U Certificate, has confirmed its theatrical release for Dasara. Kannada and Telugu Versions will be simultaneously released for the festival. The music of the movie composed by maestro Illayaraja was released recently in a simple event, which marked the presence of director Yograj Bhat, Rockline Venkatesh, Bhargavi Narayana and several other celebrities. The album which consists one song sung by Illayaraja, was released to the market by D Beats. The makers say that film has more scope for background score than the songs and maestro has excelled in that department. Prakash Raj confirmed the release date on social media - "#idolleramayana our Kannada film clears censor with an U certificate. In cinemas this Dasara on October 7 th. Cheers " The movie will be released by Jack Manju and Yogish Dwarkish under their banner Mysore Talkies, throughout the state. The preference will be for multiplexes, and very few single screens. Manju and Yogi, who were present at the music launch expressed their happiness in releasing the film of the legendary actor. Other guests made use of the stage to appreciate the efforts of Prakash Raj. The movie has Prakash Raj, Priyamani, Achyuth Kumar, Aravind Kuplikar and Rangayana Raghu playing important roles. Prakash Raj and Ramjee Narasimhan have bankrolled the project. Prakash Raj and Jogi has penned the dialogues. Jayant Kaikini has penned the lyrics for one song. Mukesh is the director of photography. Sreekar Prasad is the editor. Shashidhar Adapa is the art director. Sharan's next film Sathya Harischandra, has now got a heroine. Sanchitha Padukone, who made her debut with the Kannada movie Ravana and later ventured into Tamil industry, is making a comeback with this flick. Sathya Harischandra was launched recently at the Ganesha Temple, Bashveshwarnagar. It was a simple launch wherein only important members of the team were present. With the muhurtha, it has been confirmed that Sharan will start shooting for this film next, once he is done with his commitments for Ramu's production Raj-Vishnu, which is being directed by Madesh. K Manju's son Shreyas Manju sounded the clap for first shot which was shot on Ganesha and Sharan. This was just a formal launch and team will start shooting from 24th September. The makers are planning to shoot the first schedule in Srirangapatna. Second schedule will be shot abroad. Probably, it will be shot in Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic or Austria. Supporting cast includes Comedy Sensation Chikkanna, Sharath Lohitashwa, Seetha and Vidyulekha Raman. Sri Swamiji has provided the story and screenplay for the film. Raghu Samarth, who is directing K Manju's Smile Please, is penning dialogues for this entertainer. Arjun Janya is composing the music. Faizal Ali, who has worked for Malayalam movies like Ordinary in the past, is the DOP and this will be his first Kannada movie. Oppam, the Mohanlal starring suspense thriller has already earned the blockbuster status. The movie is performing extremely well at the releasing centres all over India, and has broken several pre-existing records. Now, Oppam has created a new record with its UK and Ireland release. The movie, which directed by Priyadarshan, will release in over 119 screens all over UK and Ireland On 23 September, Friday. It is for the first time, a Malayalam movie is having such a huge release outside India. If the reports are to be true, Oppam team is also planning to have a grand release in UAE as well, On 29 September. Oppam has made a total gross collection of Rs. 20.15 Crores within the first 2 weeks of its release. Thus it broke the record of Premam, by emerging as the fastest Malayalam movie to cross 20 Crores. Reportedly, Oppam has also earned a share of 9.5 Crores from the first two weeks of theatrical run. According to the sources, director Priyadarshan is planning to remake the movie to Bollywood and Tamil, soon. Cloud communications platform Infobip announced today the opening of its office in Beijing, following its Shenzhen office opened in December 2015. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005881/en/ Business Development Manager Lan Cao and Sales Director Carey Deng open Beijing office with COO Roberto Kutic, VP Business Operations Matija Razem and Regional Manager Alen Smoljan (Photo: Business Wire) Establishing operations in Beijing aims to improve the company's capacity to serve the bustling local tech scene, especially startups and online firms seeking to expand outside mainland China. Many internet and tech companies in Beijing seek to acquire users overseas. For them, Infobip is a perfect technology partner. By connecting to our platform over an API or web interface, they can easily launch and scale communications and security services based around mobile phones. Mobile phones are critical in user authentication, conversion and retention, especially for social networks, internet services, e-commerce sites and mobile apps, whose success depends on the ability to onboard and retain millions (or billions!) of users from anywhere in the world. These businesses are demonstrating a growing demand for reliable, globally-reaching services like SMS and voice 2-factor authentication, mobile number validation, notifications and omni-channel campaigns, explains Matija Razem, VP Business Development at Infobip. All the services boast international reach, superb uptimes and engineering-grade tech support. In the last 12 months, Infobip invested over EUR 5 millionin building operations in China, with the investment planned to continue throughout 2017 and 2018. The company already serves a number of Chinese internet and tech giants, as well as small and medium companies. The Beijing office will further promote our "glocal" approach, which combines global expertise with strong local presence. In China, you can't really say you're truly local, until you have built firm operations close to your clients and partners. We're honored to be part of the country's amazing tech ecosystem, which is rapidly shaping itself into one of the world's principal IT centers, says Silvio Kutic, Infobip founder and CEO. The company's local operations in APAC, started in 2010, today span Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia, with clients in the enterprise, banking, OTT, mobile and tech segments. Infobip's in-house developed cloud communications platform allows companies and developers to reach 6 billion mobile devices connected to over 800 telecoms networks. Operating 48 offices in 40+ countries, Infobip innovates at the intersection of internet and telecoms technologies, creating new ways and opportunities for businesses and their end users to interact over mobile devices. www.infobip.com, www.infobip-china.cn. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005881/en/ Contacts: Infobip Darko Blazok-Broz +385997313828 pr@infobip.com JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, September 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fractal Analytics (http://www.fractalanalytics.com), a leading global provider of analytics, will host its fourth Annual Client Advisory Board (CAB) event on September 28-29 in Chicago. CAB is a cross-industry, cross-functional event to share insights and learning between CAB members and Fractal that facilitate enhanced data-driven decisions and institutionalize enterprise-wide adoption of analytics. This year's CAB will feature keynotes from prominent deep learning scholar Li Deng, Chief Scientist of AI, Microsoft, and renowned law scholar, author and behavioral economist, Professor Cass Sunstein of Harvard University. CAB2016 is a private event by special invitation. CAB attendees are C-level to Global Directors in marketing, data science, analytics, technology and business across consumer goods, retail, healthcare, financial services, insurance, technology and media among Fractal's Fortune 500 clients. Learn moreaboutCAB2016. "Our mission is to 'Power every human decision in the enterprises we serve', and CAB is the perfect platform for all participants to share, learn, and steer the direction of the analytics industry," said Pranay Agrawal, Co-founder and Chief Client Officer. CAB2016 will comprise keynotes, a panel and workshops collaboratively led by CAB members and Fractal thought leaders. The sessions are designed to further the development and adoption of advanced analytics and with a focus on emerging artificial intelligence (AI). The two-day event will cover: - Key trends in the opportunities and impact of analytics and AI, and how they are transforming our world across industry sectors - Shared perspectives on the key drivers of analytics success that can shift organizations from gut decisions to algorithms to drive faster, more accurate and more effective decisions - Key considerations when building an analytics roadmap and adoption plan Find more aboutCAB, and follow CAB2016 to gain insights from the experts on trends in analytics and artificial intelligence. About Fractal Analytics Fractal is a strategic analytics partner to some of the most admired Fortune 500 companies globally and helps them gain competitive advantage through deep understanding of consumers and better data driven decisions. Fractal has offices across 12 global locations, including the United States, UK and India and has been named a 'Cool Vendor in Analytics' and a 'Vendor to Watch' by research advisor Gartner. Fractal is privately held with investors including Khazanah and TA Associates. OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- The Arctic's rich natural diversity and its important connections to humans are the focus of a new permanent gallery to open June 21, 2017 at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Canada's national museum of natural history and natural sciences. The project is the museum's key contribution to celebrate Canada's 150(th) anniversary. The museum unveiled the gallery's plans at an event where it also announced a significant $1.5 million sponsorship from Canada Goose, to name the Canada Goose Arctic Gallery for 10 years. The 8,000 sq. ft. gallery will reside on the top floor of the museum's national historic site in downtown Ottawa. "The goal of this gallery is to enhance and transform people's understanding of the Arctic and its importance to Canada in the 21(st) century," says Meg Beckel, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Nature. "We are extremely grateful to Canada Goose for supporting our mission to create this contemporary space that will expose Canadians and visitors from abroad to this unique and important part of our country." Canada's Arctic represents about 40% of the country's land mass, and is home to more than 100,000 people and a surprising diversity of aquatic and land-based organisms. The Canada Goose Arctic Gallery will immerse visitors in a region that many will never visit in person. Visitors will explore the Arctic's natural landscapes and its plants and animals, hear the voices of the people that live there and reflect about the impacts of change. "In making jackets that are designed to perform in the harshest climates on earth, we are constantly inspired by the Arctic-it's infused in everything we do. We believe we have a responsibility to support the northern communities of Canada, and also to celebrate their skills, their land, and their people. This gallery is a continuation of our multi-million dollar commitment to the north, which started more than ten years ago. We're honoured to be a part of this important endeavour that will bring the Arctic to life for the rest of the world," says Dani Reiss, President and CEO, Canada Goose. Upon entering the gallery, the Arctic will be introduced through a multimedia experience using sound, light and images, developed by the museum in partnership with the National Film Board. Visitors then enter the wing, where they immerse themselves in the Arctic's natural history and human connections through four broad themes: climate, geography, sustainability and ecosystems. Each section features specimens or artifacts, interactive games and activities, videos and infographics to share the relevance of each theme to the story of the Arctic. Timeframes range from the deep geological past, when the Arctic was much warmer than today, to the present, where animals and humans are facing the challenges of climate change. Highlights include an assortment of "star" objects that represent the themes in each of the four zones. A projection of the Aurora Borealis, and a 3-D circumpolar map will anchor the geography zone, for example. A bowhead whale skull covered by lichens will lead into the sustainability zone, which examines how Arctic peoples have used, and continue to use natural resources-from interactions with animals and plants for food, clothing and tools, to the extraction of energy resources, to the continuing connections to the land. Five principal interactives or games will appeal to different types of learners. These include an Arctic Discovery Game about geography, a touchscreen experience to follow hunters during summer on the land, and a grocery game about food security, comparing prices in the Arctic to those in Ottawa. Two aquaria, one including Arctic Cod, will bring to life the Arctic's marine food web. And 12 short videos called "People Capsules" will present first-person experiences of those who live or work in the Arctic. While the museum has a legacy of Arctic research dating back more than 100 years, the museum has developed the gallery's content with input from an advisory committee, in order to include perspectives of Indigenous communities and others who have experience in the North. One outcome of this input is the Northern Voices Gallery, a special exhibition space in the Hall to be curated by representatives of Arctic communities. Exhibits will reflect past and current responses of northern peoples to their environment and landscapes. The inaugural show opening June 21, 2017, "Inuinnauyugut: We are Inuinnait", will be presented by the Kitikmeot Heritage Society, based in Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island, Nunavut. Partners that have helped achieve the vision of the Canada Goose Arctic Gallery include the National Film Board, ArcticNet, Oceans North, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Canadian Wildlife Service, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada and numerous Canadian universities. In addition to the signature sponsorship from Canada Goose, the museum has received additional financial support from The Salamander Foundation and The W. Garfield Weston Foundation. The design consultant for the gallery is GSM Project in Montreal. Entry to the Canada Goose Arctic Gallery, opening June 21, 2017, will be included with general museum admission. The Canadian Museum of Nature is located at 240 McLeod Street, Ottawa. Follow the museum on Twitter (@museumofnature) or on Facebook. For more information, visit nature.ca. ABOUT THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE The Canadian Museum of Nature is Canada's national museum of natural history and natural sciences. The museum provides evidence-based insights, inspiring experiences and meaningful engagement with nature's past, present and future. It achieves this through scientific research, a 14 million specimen collection, education programs, signature and travelling exhibitions, and a dynamic web site, nature.ca. The museum's Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration continues the museum's legacy of more than 100 years of research, documentation, and collections about the biodiversity of Canada's North. ABOUT CANADA GOOSE INC. Founded in a small warehouse in Toronto nearly 60 years ago, Canada Goose has grown into the world's leading maker of Arctic luxury apparel. Informed by the rugged demands of the Arctic, relentless innovation and uncompromised craftsmanship inspire the form and function of every collection. From the Antarctic research facilities and the Canadian High Arctic, to the streets of New York City, London, Milan, Paris, and Tokyo, people are proud to wear Canada Goose products. Employing more than 1,000 people worldwide, Canada Goose is a recognized leader for its Made in Canada commitment, and is a long-time partner of Polar Bears International. Visit canadagoose.com for more information. Contacts: John Swettenham Director, Marketing and Media Relations Canadian Museum of Nature 613-566-4249; 613-868-8277 (cell) jswettenham@mus-nature.ca Dan Smythe Senior Media Relations Officer Canadian Museum of Nature 613-566-4781; 613-698-9253 (cell) dsmythe@mus-nature.ca TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- Rupert Resources Ltd. ("Rupert" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: RUP) announces that it has received the last drill results of its first exploration campaign on the permitted Pahtavaara gold mine in Northern Finland, which the Company recently exercised its option to acquire (see the Company's August 30, 2016 press release). "Our first 3000m of drilling at Pahtavaara yielded some significant high grade intersections to the west of the existing mine development in the recently discovered Karoliina zone and also in a new zone on the North Flank East, which is also within close proximity (200m) to underground mine development," said Brian Hinchcliffe, Rupert's President and CEO. "We are continuing with our recently launched extensive drilling campaign to infill historic resources - especially in the higher grade Karoliina zone - before commencing step out drilling along known structures by year end." The Company is pleased to announce the results of assays returned from 10 holes (1,319 m) including two holes in the known Karoliina zone containing abundant fine visible gold. Significantly, holes 116016 and 116017 returned intersections of 14.6 grams per ton of gold ("g/t Au") over 4.1m and 8.3 g/t Au over 5.6m, respectively, including 1.0m of over 53.5 g/t Au in hole 116016 and 3.8m of 11.5 g/t Au for hole 116017. See the table below for more detailed results. The second phase of exploration continues, with drilling, chip sampling of open pits, trenches, and underground horizons, IP geophysics, soil sampling, and till work either underway or soon to be implemented. Drill Results ----------------------------------------------------------------- Elevation Hole ID Zone Azimuth Dip Northing Easting (m) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 116016 Karoliina 207 -49 7504894 3474349 252 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 157 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Including ----------------------------------------------------------------- 116017 Karoliina 196 -60 7504894 3474350 252 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 124 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Including ----------------------------------------------------------------- 116012 North Flank East 16 -54 7505098 3475202 251 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ From To Grade Hole ID (m) (m) Width (m) (g/t Au) ------------------------------------------ 116016 1.0 118 119 (0.9 TW) 1.2 ------------------------------------------ 4.1 123 127.1 (3.9 TW) 14.6 ------------------------------------------ Including 1.0 (0.9 TW) 53.5 ------------------------------------------ 116017 1.0 85 86 (0.9 TW) 1.1 ------------------------------------------ 5.6 144 149.6 (4.8 TW) 8.3 ------------------------------------------ Including 3.8 (3.3 TW) 11.5 ------------------------------------------ 116012 1.1 124 125.1(TW unknown) 2.5 ------------------------------------------ No upper cut-off grade was applied. Unless specified, true widths (TW) cannot be determined from the information available. Wildcat holes 116018 and 116020 yielded no gold in assay, with hole 116019 located 2.3km west from the mine (targeted because of coincidence of a magnetic low and base of till Au anomaly) intersecting four incidences of trace mineralization (0.15 to 0.32 g/t Au). Holes 116003 (Karoliina), 116006 (Karoliina), 116010 (North Flank East) and 116013 (North Flank East) did not return significant results. Karoliina The intersection from holes 116016 and 116017 are located 32m above and east and 31m east, respectively, from previously drilled hole 114809 that returned 8.1 g/t Au over 5.0m (4.8m TW). The mineralization is consistent with that seen previously. Mineralization Intercepts reported above are hosted by amphibolitized komatiites. The principal geologic control in the area is a linear structural corridor that trends east-west, forms multiple folds, and dips steeply to the north on the south side and steeply south on the north side. The mineralized zone identified on Rupert's Pahtavaara property is characterized by hydrothermal alteration and mineralization within various phases of pervasively altered komatiites. Mineralization remains open at depth along the entire zone. The hydrothermal alteration and the Au-bearing veins associated with it are deformed. Because they were competent rocks (massive amphibole), they resisted deformation. They are therefore less deformed than the adjacent talc-chlorite schists. This implies early brittle deformation followed by ductile deformation. Hydrothermal fluids entered by fractures and faults, which explains why some alteration fronts are almost perpendicular to the schistosity. Gold occurs mostly as free gold, a smaller part is associated with magnetite Review by Qualified Person, Quality Control and Reports In compliance with National Instrument 43-101, Mr. Mike Sutton, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person who supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release. All samples are assayed by CRS/Actlabs Finland at Takatie 6, 90440 Kempele Finland, who have ISO9001 sample prep. All core is under watch from the drill site to the core processing facility. Samples are assayed PAL1000 cyanide leach with AAS detection of Au. The Company's QA/QC program includes the regular insertion of blanks and standards into the sample shipments, as well as instructions for duplication. Standards, blanks and duplicates are inserted at one per 20 samples. Approximately five percent (5%) of the pulps and rejects are sent for check assaying at a second lab with the results averaged and intersections updated when received. Core recovery in the mineralized zones has averaged 99%. About Rupert Resources Rupert Resources is a Canadian based gold exploration and development company that is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RUP". The Company has exercised an option to acquire the Pahtavaara gold mine, mill, and exploration permits and concessions located in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt in Northern Finland (see the Company's August 30, 2016 press release). The purchase price for the acquisition is US$2,500,000, structured as a US$500,000 cash payment that was made upon the exercise of the option (less the US$100,000 deposit payments already made). A 1.5% production royalty, capped at US$2,000,000, is also payable on go-forward revenues generated when gold production resumes. The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Gold Centre property, which consists of mineral claims located in the Balmer Township, Red Lake Mining Division of Ontario. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This press release contains statements which may constitute "forward-looking statements", including statements with respect to those that address potential quantity and/or grade of minerals and statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to the future business activities, operating performance of the Company and with respect to drilling, operations and results at the Pahtavaara gold mine, mill and exploration claims. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made, and are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other known and unknown factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the general risks of the mining industry, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended February 29, 2016 available at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law. Contacts: Brian Hinchcliffe President and Chief Executive Officer +1 (914) 815 2773 info@rupertresources.com www.rupertresources.com Today, Oliver Wyman announced its participation as a partner in the White House call-to-action for private sector engagement on the global refugee crisis. There are more than 65 million displaced people in the world today, the highest number on record since the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began collecting statistics. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006274/en/ Oliver Wyman Joins the White House Call-to-Action for Private Sector Engagement on Global Refugee Crisis More than 21 million of these people have crossed international borders in search of safety and are registered as refugees. The despair that drives these people to flee their homes is heartbreaking, but their resilience is awe inspiring. Refugees are a valuable untapped resource and, if given the opportunity, can thrive and contribute wherever they reside. A crisis of this scale, however, requires more than government action. For this reason Oliver Wyman is proud to join with President Obama to draw on our unique expertise, resources and entrepreneurial spirit to help refugees regain control over their lives and integrate into their new communities. "Oliver Wyman has already hired multiple refugees across Europe fleeing from countries such as Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and we are actively looking to hire more," said John Romeo, Managing Partner for North America, Oliver Wyman. "But no one company or government can handle the enormity of this situation alone and we are proud to partner with the White House and other private sector corporations to help bring significant commitments to refugees." Oliver Wyman has made the following commitments to assist the global refugee crisis: Pursue efforts to recruit qualified candidates from the refugee populations in Europe into Oliver Wyman. Actively tap into the Oliver Wyman network of non-profit and commercial partners in the education, micro-finance, youth- and adult-literacy, and job-readiness spheres to explore solutions for enhancing entrepreneurial activities and developing job-related skills in the refugee populations. Raise the issue of providing employment with clients and provide a central website where clients can access information on organizations that can help them support refugees. About Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in 50+ cities across 26 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm's 4,000 professionals help clients optimize their business, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver Wyman on Twitter @OliverWyman. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006274/en/ Contacts: Oliver Wyman Francine Minadeo, 212-345-6417 francine.minadeo@oliverwyman.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- Prism Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: PRS) ("Prism" or the "Company") announces that it has appointed Richard Dufresne as its Vice President of Exploration. Mr. Dufresne brings to Prism more than 25 years of experience in the mineral exploration and development industry. He has held senior positions with major mining companies including Anglo American Exploration (Canada) and Falconbridge (which was subsequently acquired by Xstrata/Glencore). More recently, he was a senior geologist for Balmoral Resources in northern Quebec and prior to this role between 2009 and 2014 he held the position VP Exploration for Camino Minerals in Mexico. Mr. Dufresne has considerable international exploration experience in Peru, Mexico, Dominican Republic and the Ivory Coast. He has participated in several new discoveries in the Raglan district of northern Quebec and the central lead-zinc-silver belt in Peru, where one discovery was recognized as the Mining Prospect of the Year by the Peruvian Mining Merit Awards Committee in 2002. Mr. Dufresne graduated from the University of Montreal with a B.Sc. in geology and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) and of Ordre des Geologues du Quebec (OGQ). Richard is fluent in English, Spanish and French. In addition Mr. Dufresne has been granted an option to purchase 300,000 common shares in the company at a price of $0.17. The Options are exercisable for a period of three years ending September 20, 2019 and have been granted in accordance with the terms of the Company's stock option plan. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Robert W Baxter President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. None of the securities issued in connection with the Financing have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this release. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, possible events and statements with respect to possible events. The words "is expected" or "estimates" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could" occur and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained in this release which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to the ability of the Company to secure financing on the proposed terms and for the aggregate amount. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold or certain other commodities; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, or other countries in which the Company may carry on business in the future; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining activities; the speculative nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licences and permits; diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; and contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Company's actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking statements made in this release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may vary, and future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements cannot be guaranteed. Contacts: Prism Resources Inc. Robert (Bob) Baxter +1-778-928-1864 bbaxter@prismresourcesinc.com Prism Resources Inc. Scott M. Ross 604-803-4883 sross@prismresourcesinc.com LA PRAIRIE, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- Vanstar Mining Resources inc. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: VSR) announces that it has completed a $25,200 non-brokered financing. The Company will issue 36 Units at a purchase price of $700 per Unit, for an amount of $25,200. Each Unit consists of 10,000 common shares at a price of $0.07 per share and 5,000 common share purchase warrants. Each warrant allows the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company for a period of 12 months from the date of issuance, at a purchase price of $0.10 per share. The securities issued as part of this financing are subject to a minimum hold period of 4 months and are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture exchange. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Guy Morissette CEO 819-763-5096 gmvanstar@gmail.com www.vanstarmining.com The Group's first half 2016 consolidated revenue was 2.6 million and its backlog 1 of orders was 6.0 million Gross margin was 1.1 million, equal to 42% of consolidated revenue in the first half of 2016 The Group's net financial position was 2.8 million at the end of June 2016 2 and, as of September 2016, it received a new credit line of 2.5 million from Unicredit to support growth Projects pipeline conversion rate 3 increasing to 10% Solid project pipeline in Africa and Asia, thanks to technological partnerships and credentials with Enel, Toshiba, Terna, Necsom and General Electric Planned in Chile the commissioning of the first hybrid power plant with HyESS integrated with the hydrogen-storage module Reorganisation of its management team and Group governance: Paolo Morandi appointed Chief Operating Officeralong with three new highly experienced executives, including Paolo Bonetti asChief Financial Officer,Michela CostaasExecutive Vice President of OperationsandAndrea Rossi asChief Business Officer Regulatory News: The Board of Directors of Electro Power Systems S.A. ("EPS", or the "Group") (Paris:EPS), a pioneer in technology for clean-energy storage solutions, chaired by Massimo Prelz Oltramonti, has examined and approved its Half-Year 2016 Financial Report. FINANCIAL OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS In the first half of 2016, the Group's consolidated revenue was 2.615.517compared to 198.429 in the first half of 2015. The Group's backlog of orders is equal to 6.0 million, and its project pipeline conversion rate increased to 10%. Growth in sales, orders backlog and project pipeline are mainly due to the Group's development strategy focus, since 2015 second half, in: emerging countries through hybrid systems (Hybrid Energy Storage System HyESS) that use only renewable sources and storage technologies to generate energy at low cost; and developed markets, through strong technological partnerships and credentials with Enel, Toshiba, Terna and General Electric. The Group's development strategy places 80% of the project pipeline in Africa and Asia, where, even before the planned commercial and service network on the territory is built, the low-cost hybrid energy solutions proposed by the Group have sparked strong interest. Thus, EPS entered an agreement with Necsom in Eastern Africa to begin the second phase of an innovative power plant in the Horn of Africa. This hybrid power plant, located in Garowe, in Somalia's Puntland state, powered by solar and wind turbines in addition to traditional generators, by storing energy, will be able to transform intermittent renewable sources installed by the Group into a stable power source, saving more than 1 million litres of diesel yearly and cutting electricity bills by 17%. The first half of 2016 financial results show a gross margin of 1.092.368, representing 42% of the Group's consolidated revenue, confirming the Group's business and technology profitability. In alignment with its recent emphasis on development strategy and growth, the Group's staff and operating costs have increased to 1.830.867 and 1.279.589, respectively, mainly as a consequence of the 2016 first half acquisition of Elvi Energy, which has played a pivotal role in executing the Group's new strategy. At the end of the first half of 2016, the Group's net financial position was 2.807.968, compared to 8.285.208 as of 31 December 2015, mainly due to increases in working capital caused by a jump in orders backlog and to investments in research and development aimed to implementing both the HyESS and the hydrogen module. Certification testing of the hydrogen module integrated with HyESS was successfully completed in July, after tests conducted by leading international laboratories. First commissioning of the system has been planned in Chile with a global utility. To further support its growth, in July 2016, the Group received a short-term credit line of 0.5 million from Unicredit, to provide additional working capital and a medium-long term credit line of 2 million mainly dedicated to EPS's development plan. The relevant facility agreements were entered on 19 September 2016 and the medium-long term credit line has been drawn down on the same date. As of 30 June 2016, little more than a year after its IPO on the regulated market, the Group had installed 46.3 MWh of energy-storage systems and 8.6 MW of hybrid power plants in 21 countries, in projects involving high profile clients and strategic partners including Terna, Enel, Necsom, Toshiba and General Electric. __________________ 1 Backlog means (i) invoices already issued in 2016, but not yet recorded as revenues; (ii) purchase orders already received as at the date of this press release and (iii) revenues already contracted or expected to be generated in 2016 and/or 2017 on the basis of agreements currently in place. 2 According to the Liquidity Agreement, 0.1 million in our own shares and liquidity were included, increasing the net financial position to 2.9 million, the figure announced in our 28 July 2016 press release. 3 Pipeline Conversion rate means the amount in euro of backlog of orders, divided by the nominal aggregate amount of total projects in pipeline. NEW ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE As a result of the acquisitions finalised in the first half of 2016 and of the Group's recent growth, EPS has reorganised its management team and Group governance. Paolo Morandi, who has more than 15 years of experience in ABB and AEG, then General Manager of ElviElettrotecnica Vitali S.p.A, has been appointed as Group's Chief Operating Officer. In addition, the Group's executive team and corporate governance has been strengthened with the addition of the following three highly experienced professionals: Paolo Bonetti after key roles in Rabobank, Fiat Group and Banca IMI and more than 10 years of experience as Chief Financial Officer at The Royal Bank of Scotland, CDB Webtech and M&C, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. Michela Costa, PhD and qualified lawyer, was a senior associate at Clifford Chance and then General Counsel at British Petroleum and Sorgenia for 10 years. She has been appointed Executive Vice President of Operations and will coordinate the Group's HR, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Safety and Communications departments. Andrea Rossi, MBA, was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch and Thomson Reuters, an entrepreneur in Restopolis (which today is TheFork.it, of the Tripadvisor Group) and Chief Financial Officer at Vailog. Andrea has been appointed Chief Business Officerand is responsible for internal control and related operations and for Group's information system. Finally, in the context of the technology valorisation of the Group: Daniele Rosati, PhD in electrical engineering, visiting professor at Politecnico of Milan and responsible for developing and commissioning the most complex projects in the energy-storage field, including the Terna Power Intensive Project approved by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE) within the 2012 Defense Plan to increase the security of the Italian electricity system, has been appointed the Group's Executive Vice President responsible for engineering. Nicola Vaninetti, who has more than 15 years of experience in power electronics for renewable energy systems and storage of the most complex hybrid power plants, has been appointed Executive Vice President responsible for products and hybrid solutions. EPS announces that Fabio Magnani, Chief Operating Officer, left the Group on 31 August 2016. The Group thanks him for his work. About Electro Power Systems Electro Power Systems (EPS) operates in the sustainable-energy sector, specializing in hybrid-storage solutions that enable intermittent renewable sources to be transformed into a stable power source. Thanks to a technology covered by 125 patents and applications more than 10 years of R&D, the Group has developed integrated hybrid energy storage solutions to stabilize electrical grids heavily penetrated by renewable sources and to power off-grid areas in emerging economies at a lower cost. EPS provides clean-energy solutions that reduce electricity bills without the need for any subsidy or incentive scheme. The Group's mission is to unlock the energy transition by mastering the intermittency of renewable energy sources. By providing cutting-edge systems to control the intermittency of renewables-enhanced by storage technologies-and its unique hydrogen and oxygen storage platform, which enables longer autonomy without resorting to diesel- or gas-fuelled generators, the Group enables communities to be powered by renewable energies 24/7 more cleanly and less expensively. EPS is listed on the French regulated market, Euronext, is part of the CAC Mid Small and the CAC All-Tradable indices and has registered offices in Paris and research, development and manufacturing in Italy. The Group has installed or under commission more than 10.5 MW of energy storage systems grid, 8.6 MW of hybrid power plants powered by renewables and energy storage and 3 MW of hybrid systems with hydrogen, for an aggregate output of 46.3 MWh and 22.1 MW in 21 countries worldwide, including the United States and countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. For more information: www.electropowersystems.com. ATTACHMENTS 1. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 1.1 Consolidated Income Statement CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT (amounts in Euro) 30/06/2016 31/12/2015 30/06/2015 Revenues 2.615.517 381.521 198.429 Other income 8.683 266.495 266.021 Cost of goods sold (1.531.832) (135.357) (389.405) GROSS MARGIN FROM SALES 1.092.368 512.659 75.045 Other costs for product development (20.997) (595.890) 0 Personnel costs (1.830.867) (1.720.150) (702.474) Other operating expenses (1.279.589) (1.348.270) (1.133.063) EBITDA (1) (2.039.085) (3.151.651) (1.760.492) Stock options and warrant plans (1.332.794) (4.646.452) (1.729.764) Amortization and depreciation (486.866) (86.259) (26.095) Impairment and write down 65.071 80.369 52.129 Non-recurring income and expenses (738.737) (2.850.353) (1.548.885) EBIT (1) (4.532.411) (10.654.346) (5.013.107) Net financial income and expenses (8.559) (7.984) (5.313) Income taxes (116.018) 64.806 64.806 NET INCOME (LOSS) (4.656.988) (10.597.524) (4.953.614) Attributable to: Weighted average number of ordinary shares 7.881.807 5.487.201 3.677.178 BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE (0,59) (1,93) (1,35) (1) EBITDA and EBIT are not defined by IFRS. They are defined in notes 3.6 and 3.10 of the Half Year Financial Report 2016 of the Group. 1.2 Consolidated Statement of Other Comprehensive Income OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (amounts in Euro) 30/06/2016 31/12/2015 30/06/2015 NET INCOME (LOSS) (4.656.988) (10.597.524) (4.953.614) Other comprehensive income to be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods (net of tax) Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations (418) (5.448) 45 Other comprehensive income not to be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods (net of tax) Actuarial gain and (losses) on employee benefits (38.933) (2.973) 0 OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) FOR THE YEAR, NET OF TAX (39.351) (8.421) 45 TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR, NET OF TAX (4.696.339) (10.605.945) (4.953.569) ATTRIBUTABLE TO EQUITY HOLDERS OF THE PARENT (4.696.339) (10.605.945) (4.953.569) 1.3 Consolidated Balance Sheet ASSETS (amounts in Euro) 30/06/2016 31/12/2015 30/06/2015 Property, plant and equipment 912.097 748.115 68.133 Intangible assets 4.456.981 820.243 135.251 Other non-current financial assets 90.364 65.582 788 TOTAL NON-CURRENT ASSETS 5.459.442 1.633.940 204.172 Trade receivables 2.510.849 1.152.197 646.528 Inventories 1.610.934 938.933 786.183 Other current assets 1.541.521 3.602.430 1.056.456 Cash and cash equivalent 2.808.017 8.573.811 10.813.712 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 8.471.321 14.267.371 13.302.879 TOTAL ASSETS 13.930.763 15.901.311 13.507.051 EQUITY AND LIABILITIES (amounts in Euro) 30/06/2016 31/12/2015 30/06/2015 Issued capital 1.576.361 1.576.361 1.436.061 Share premium 18.082.718 18.082.718 13.581.573 Other reserves 5.643.809 4.394.930 1.550.481 Retained earnings (11.626.584) (1.029.060) (1.029.060) Profit (loss) for the period/year (4.656.988) (10.597.524) (4.953.614) TOTAL EQUITY 9.019.316 12.427.425 10.585.441 Severance indemnity reserve 598.411 336.403 315.585 Non-current deferred tax liabilities 249.166 0 0 TOTAL NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES 847.577 336.403 315.585 Trade payables 2.934.114 2.111.877 1.525.977 Other current liabilities 1.037.531 999.862 1.080.048 Current financial liabilities 63.192 25.744 0 Income tax payable 29.033 0 0 TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 4.063.870 3.137.483 2.606.025 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 13.930.763 15.901.311 13.507.051 1.4 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY (amounts in Euro) Share Capital Premium Reserve Other Reserves Retained Earnings (Losses) Profit (Loss) for the period TOTAL NET EQUITY Net Equity as at June 30, 2015 1.436.061 13.581.573 1.550.481 (1.029.060) (4.953.614) 10.585.441 EPS Group Reorganization 0 0 0 293.989 (293.989) 0 Previous year result allocation 0 0 0 (293.989) 293.989 0 Treasury shares 0 0 (63.772) 0 0 (63.772) Stock option and warrants 0 0 2.916.580 0 0 2.916.580 Shareholder's capital contribution (IPO) 0 71.754 0 0 0 71.754 Shareholder's capital increase 140.300 4.429.391 0 0 0 4.569.691 Loss for the period 0 0 0 0 (5.643.910) (5.643.910) Other Comprehensive Income 0 0 (8.359) 0 0 (8.359) Actuarial gains and losses on defined benefit plans 0 0 (2.973) 0 0 (2.973) Currency translation differences 0 0 (5.386) 0 0 (5.386) Total comprehensive income 0 0 (8.359) 0 (5.643.910) (5.652.269) Net Equity as at December 31, 2015 1.576.361 18.082.718 4.394.930 (1.029.060) (10.597.524) 12.427.425 EPS Group Reorganization 0 0 0 0 0 0 Previous year result allocation 0 0 0 (10.597.524) 10.597.524 0 Treasury shares 0 0 (44.564) 0 0 (44.564) Stock option and warrants 0 0 1.332.794 0 0 1.332.794 Shareholder's capital contribution (IPO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 Shareholder's capital increase 0 0 0 0 0 0 Loss for the period 0 0 0 0 (4.656.988) (4.656.988) Other Comprehensive Income 0 0 (39.351) 0 0 (39.351) Actuarial gains and losses on defined benefit plans 0 0 (38.933) 0 0 (38.933) Currency translation differences 0 0 (418) 0 0 (418) Total comprehensive income 0 0 (39.351) 0 (4.656.988) (4.696.339) Net Equity as at June 30, 2016 1.576.361 18.082.718 5.643.809 (11.626.584) (4.656.988) 9.019.316 1.5 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows CASH FLOW STATEMENT (amounts in Euro) 1st Half 2016 Full Year 2015 1st Half 2015 Operating activities Net Profit (Loss) (4.656.988) (10.597.524) (4.953.614) Non-cash adjustment to reconcile profit before tax to net cash flows Amortization and depreciation 486.866 86.259 26.095 Impairment and write down (65.071) (80.369) (52.129) Stock option and warrant plan accrual 1.332.794 4.646.452 1.729.764 Defined Benefit Plan 0 31.956 31.956 Income related to composition with creditors 0 (235.933) (235.933) Working capital adjustments 0 0 0 Decrease (increase) in trade and other recev and prepayments 677.475 (3.790.569) (350.240) Decrease (increase) in inventories (606.930) (158.903) (34.393) Increase (decrease) in trade and other payables 1.137.687 745.226 222.233 Increase (decrease) in non-current liabilities 223.075 11.764 (9.054) Net cash flows from operating activities (1.471.092) (9.341.641) (3.625.315) Investments Net Decrease (Increase) in intangible assets (1.332.422) (706.846) 0 Net Cash flow deriving from business combination (2.740.902) 0 0 Net Decrease (Increase) in tangible assets (214.262) (726.261) (7.970) Net cash flows from investments activities (4.287.586) (1.433.107) (7.970) Financing Reimbursement of Financial Loans 0 0 0 Increase (decrease) in bank debts 37.448 0 0 Shareholders cash injection 0 0 0 Purchase of treasury shares (44.564) (63.772) 0 Warrants 0 4.397 4.397 Net Proceeds from increses of Capital 0 17.921.769 13.280.326 Receipt of government grants 0 781.253 457.361 Net cash flows from financing activities (7.116) 18.643.647 13.742.084 EPS SA Statutory net cash and cash eq. at Period Beginning 0 37.000 37.000 Net cash and cash equivalent at Period Beginning 8.573.811 667.913 667.913 Net cash flow (5.765.794) 7.868.899 10.108.799 Net Cash and cash equivalent at Period End 2.808.017 8.573.811 10.813.712 1.6 Net Financial Position NET FINANCIAL POSITION (amounts in Euro) 1st Half 2016 Full Year 2015 1st Half 2015 Cash and cash equivalent 2.808.017 8.573.811 10.813.712 Cash at banks and petty cash 2.807.968 8.285.208 10.438.292 Cash related to advances on grants 49 288.603 375.420 Current financial payables (49) (288.603) (375.420) Cash on grants (49) (288.603) (375.420) NET FINANCIAL POSITION 2.807.968 8.285.208 10.438.292 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006636/en/ Contacts: Press Office Chiara Cartasegna Head of Global Media Relations Phone +39 02 45435516 Mobile +39 348 9265993 E-mail: chiara.cartasegna@eps-mail.com or Investor Relations Francesca Cocco Vice President Investor Relations Phone +33 (0) 970 467 135 E-mail: fc@eps-mail.com Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Leading global value added reseller (VAR) for SAP Business One, Vision33, acquires non-exclusive intellectual property (IP) rights from Variatec for leading project manufacturing software solution for SAP Business One. Vision33, the largest global VAR for SAP Business One, today announced that it has acquired the non-exclusive intellectual property (IP) rights to Variatec's solutions for project driven and service companies using SAP Business One. The non-exclusive IP rights acquired are specific to USA, Canada, Great Britain and Ireland. This solution portfolio includes VariAdd Project, VariAdd MRO and TMC products. Vision33 will continue to actively develop and support these solutions through its global team. Mr. Todd Eavenson has also joined the Vision33 team as Practice Lead specific to these solutions. All SAP Business One customers currently using VariAdd solutions and/or TMC products will be fully supported by Vision33 and will experience no interruptions. Going forward, the solutions will be re-branded by Vision33 and made available exclusively to Vision33 customers. 'Vision33 is committed to helping businesses leverage transformative technologies to meet their goals', says Neil Feingold, Vice President, Vision33 Europe. 'That is why Vision33 continues to invest in proven successful solutions for SAP Business One. We are able to provide our customers with a single global partner to manage all of their enterprise resource planning (ERP) software needs irrespective of their industry'. Vision33 has included Variatec products as part of its SAP Business One offering to project driven companies for years. The customers using these solutions successfully represent a variety of project driven industries such as machine and equipment manufacturing, engineering, high tech and more. The Variatec products provide SAP Business One customers with project-based coordination between materials, capacity and planning, and the tools to manage those components within budgets and delivery times. 'Many of our global customers in the project manufacturing industry presently leverage VariAdd Project as the manufacturing solution to run their operations', states Alex Rooney, Vice President, Vision33 US. 'By acquiring the product IP, Vision33 is better able to service these customers. We can leverage our global team of consultants to continue to build on this solution and meet the demanding and changing requirements of project based industries we have in-depth expertise with'. Vision33, a member of the Group zed family of companies has access to extensive expertise in solutions development, providing add-on products and custom developed solutions to fully leverage the transformative power of SAP Business One. To learn more about Variatec as well as other business management solutions offered by Vision33, visit www.vision33.co.uk. About Vision33 The largest global SAP Business One partner, Vision33's sole focus is on the SAP Business One solution for growing businesses and has been since the company became an SAP Business One partner in 2004. Vision33 helps you to challenge your business processes and find efficiencies to attain your business goals and vision for growth and success. The company has the largest and most experienced team of dedicated SAP Business One implementation and support consultants worldwide. Through its global offices, Vision33 provides software and consulting services to enable each client to gain immediate benefits in better managing and growing their organisation. Vision33 has been consistently honoured for its notable growth and dedication, earning consistent multi-year titles and awards such as the 2016 SAP Pinnacle Award: Customers' Choice Sell; the SAP Partner Excellence Award: Top Channel Partner SAP Business One; SAP Business One Partner of the Year; and numerous industry publications. Vision33 is a member of the Group zed family of companies. With roots dating to 1992, Group zed (www.gzed.com) is a privately owned and operated corporation, which provides its family of industry leading companies with the strategic vision and tools to deliver on the promise of technology to customers, setting them apart from other industry peers. SAP, SAP Business One and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920006788/en/ Contacts: Media Contact, press only Vision33 Matthew Melay, 1-709-722-7213 ext 231 Content Marketing Specialist matthew.melay@gzed.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 16, 2017) - Goldbelt Empires Limited (TSXV:GBE) (the "Company" or "Goldbelt Empires") is pleased to announce, further to its news release dated 12 January 2017 on the closing of its non-brokered private placement of 10,000,000 Units, due to strong demand the Company today closed a second non-brokered private placement of a further 3,100,000 Units ("Offering"). Pursuant to the Offering the Company is pleased to announce the closing of the placement of 3,100,000 Units for gross proceeds of $155,000, in which Palisade Capital Corp. and one of its affiliates subscribed to 2,000,000 Units, and James Varanese, the Company's Chairman, and Andrew Dacey, the Company's Senior Technical Adviser, collectively subscribed to 1,100,000 Units. The Offering consists of Units at a price of $0.05 per Unit, each issued Unit consists of one ordinary share in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") and one warrant whereby each warrant entitles the holder to purchase an Ordinary Share at an exercise price of $0.075 per Ordinary Share for a period of 36 months after the closing of the Offering. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for Phase II of the South Morila exploration program and general working capital requirements. As disclosed in the Company's May 26, 2016 news release, Goldbelt Empires has successfully completed its Phase 1 exploration program over South Morila where multiple targets were identified that the Company believes are highly prospective, with Phase II planned exploration to include geochemistry and scout drilling over the highest priority targets. The Company also announces that it extended until December 31, 2017 its Consulting Agreement with Palisade Global Investments Ltd. to provide strategic consulting services. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of closing. About Goldbelt Empires Goldbelt Empires is a gold explorer focused on the West African Goldbelt, and listed its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange in October 2015. Its flagship property is the South Morila gold concession in the Republic of Mali. The South Morila concession covers an area approximately 150 km2 in size, and is located in the southern part of Mali approximately 250 km southeast of the capital of Bamako. www.goldbeltempires.com Additional Information on Goldbelt Empires Ltd. For more information on the business and property of the Company, readers are referred to the Company's Final Prospectus dated September 22, 2015, available at the Company's SEDAR profile at www.SEDAR.com. The foregoing contains forward-looking information relating to the future performance of the Company including information relating to the Offering, development of the South Morila exploration program, the Company's ability to meet capital requirements (in part from funds raised under the Offering), corporate development activities and other activities. Forward looking information is subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the ability to complete the Offering in full or in part, obtaining the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange, the actual results of development activities, changes in world commodity markets or equity markets, the risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or exploration activities, title disputes, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mineral industry, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company's Final Prospectus and other filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities (available at www.SEDAR.com). Forward-looking statements are made based on various assumptions and on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made. Although the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information contained herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these assumptions, beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable law. This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. CONTACT INFORMATION Goldbelt Empires Limited Jonathan Challis Chief Executive Officer and Director United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (78) 4120-2386 Goldbelt Empires Limited Victor Dusik Chief Financial Officer and Director Executive Corporate Secretary Canada Telephone: +1 (604) 818-4100 THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES MEMPHIS (dpa-AFX) - Package delivery giant FedEx Corp. (FDX), Tuesday reported an increase in profit for the first quarter that beat Street estimates, driven largely by strong revenue growth at FedEx Ground segment. Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx's first-quarter profit rose to $715 million or $2.65 per share from $692 million or $2.42 per share last year. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $2.90 per share. On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $2.78 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Revenues for the quarter rose 19 percent to $14.66 billion from $12.28 billion last year. Wall Street analysts had a consensus estimate of $13.81 billion. Revenues for FedEx Express increased 1 percent to $6.66 billion, while FedEx Ground revenues increased 12 percent to $4.29 billion. Revenues for FedEx freight gained 4 percent to $1.66 billion, while FedEx services rose 1 percent to $395 million. TNT Express revenues were $1.80 billion. 'The integration of TNT Express is proceeding smoothly, and the level of team members' engagement is outstanding,' said Frederick Smith, FedEx Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer. Being global transportation companies, the performance of shipping giants like FedEx and its rival United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) are considered a strong barometer of overall consumer attitude and economy. Looking forward to the full year 2017, adjusted earnings are projected to be $10.85 to $11.35 per share. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $11.99 per share for 2017. Further, the company reiterated that FedEx Express will increase shipping rates by an average of 3.9 percent while FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx Freight will increase shipping rates by an average of 4.9 percent, effective January 2, 2017. Effective February 6, FedEx Express and FedEx Ground fuel surcharges will be adjusted on a weekly basis compared to the current monthly adjustment. FDX closed Tuesday's trading at $162.65, up $1.39 or 0.86%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $164.80, $2.15 or 1.32%, in the after-hours trade. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/20/16 -- The Barona Cultural Center & Museum will unveil "Stones in the Meadow: Irving Gill's Church and Cottages on the Barona Indian Reservation," on September 20, 2016. Barona Museum is one of ten museums and cultural institutions in San Diego County set to celebrate his influential legacy for six months beginning in late September. Gill, who trained with Frank Lloyd Wright before moving west, designed many buildings that are now considered San Diego landmarks. Credited with launching the modern architectural movement in San Diego in 1907, his work includes the home of Ellen Browning Scripps (today's Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla), The Bishop's School in La Jolla and the Marston House in Balboa Park. Until recently, few people knew the culmination of Gill's historic career was on the Barona Indian Reservation. In the early 1930s, he was hired by the federal government to design and build a collection of small homes on the reservation. Gill's work at Barona, his last commission, dealt with an architectural problem that had always concerned him: how to design low-cost housing for people of modest means. In 1932, because of his commitment to such causes, the federal government commissioned him to design 30 small cottages on the Barona Indian Reservation for Barona Tribal members who were forced from their former home on the Capitan Grande reservation to make way for a government sanctioned dam and reservoir. "We are honored to be collaborating with Southern California's top cultural institutions to offer a look into Irving Gill's work on our reservation," said Bonnie LaChappa, Barona Tribal Councilwoman. "We hope visitors will gain a broader understanding of his architectural works here on our reservation and what it meant to our Barona community." "Stones in the Meadow" will offer a behind-the-scenes look into the acclaimed architect's work on the Barona Indian Reservation as told by the People of Barona. Many of the items in the exhibit were donated from Tribal members, including the original brick mold used to build the Gill homes, some of Gill's original interior furnishings, photos of the original pencil drawings Gill sketched before building the church and a Fresno scraper used for building roads on the reservation. "It is fitting that the name of Barona's exhibit is 'Stones in the Meadow' as inspired by one of Gill's most famous quotes about his guiding architectural principles," said James B. Guthrie, AIA, curator of the Gill Exhibition. "He was a deep believer in structures that harmonized and worked in synergy with the land they were built upon, a belief shared by the Barona people. I applaud their efforts to collaborate on this unprecedented project to preserve this compatible legacy for generations to come." While Gill was chosen by the federal government to build homes on the reservation, a high priority for the Tribe was a place of worship. Gill worked closely with Tribal leaders to design a church that could be paid for and built by the Tribe. Construction on the church began in 1932 and it was dedicated to The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15, 1934. It remains an important place for Catholics to worship today as part of the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Parish. As part of the new exhibition, Barona will also be offering guided tours of the Barona Mission to the public beginning Friday, October 7 and continuing on the first Friday of every month, by appointment. Of the 30 homes planned for the Barona Tribe, about a dozen were built. Over the years, the homes have been expanded and modernized and many of them are still occupied today. "There is excitement in the San Diego community and among architectural fans because many of them didn't even realize Gill's works were accessible on the Barona Indian Reservation," said Laurie Egan-Hedley, director and curator of the Barona Cultural Center & Museum. "With the help of several Barona Tribal members who donated artifacts and shared family history, we have pieced together the story of Gill's last project and created an exhibit for architecture buffs as well as those interested in this little known part of Native American history." Gill is known as a pioneer of the modern movement in architecture. He designed several buildings considered examples of San Diego's best architecture. Twelve of his buildings throughout Southern California are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and many others are designated as historic by local governments. The Barona Cultural Center & Museum is located on the Barona Indian Reservation at 1095 Barona Road in Lakeside just one mile north of the Barona Resort & Casino. It is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information or to schedule a group tour, call 619-443-7003 ext. 219 or visit www.baronamuseum.org. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3058510 4C Insights, Inc., a Chicago, IL-based data science and media technology company, completed a $26m Series C financing. The round was led by Kayne Partners, the growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., with participation from previous investors Jump Capital and Prime Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Leon Chen, Vice President, Kayne Partners, will join the 4C board of directors. The company, which had previously raised $11.6m over the past three years, plans to use the funds to deepen its market presence through geographic and product expansion, increase applications of affinity-based targeting across TV, video and social media using its data science and multi-screen software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering, and add technical talent and sales resources. Founded in 2011 by CSO Dr. Alok Choudhary, and led by Lance Neuhauser, CEO, Anupam Gupta, CPO, and Kevin Kearns, CRO, 4C provides an integrated platform for multi-screen analytics and activation for brands to reach their most valuable audiences. The 4C product suite includes activation on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat and Twitter as well as TV synced ads across digital display, mobile, search, social and video. The company also provides advertising and content analytics leveraging its Teletrax global TV monitoring network and proprietary social affinity database. The company, which has staff in 17 worldwide locations across the United States, United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands and Singapore, recently announced that it has been named a Snapchat partner, which will give brands the ability to leverage 4C technology to access the 100+ million daily active users on the platform. It has also launched 4C University, providing training in its product suite and delivering institutional knowledge across TV and social media. In May 2016, 4C announced a series of partnerships including Turner to target TV audiences utilizing social data, 20th Television to quantify the effectiveness of brand integrations, Groupe M6 to monitor broadcast assets, and Wide Orbit to activate social data through programmatic TV. FinSMEs 20/09/2016 Hostmaker, a London, UK-based Airbnb hospitality management service, closed a $1m funding round. Backers included Initial Capital and existing investors DN Capital and DSG Consumer Partners. The company intends to use the funds to improve guest communication and experience for the host community, as well as expand into other exciting European capitals. Launched in July 2014 by CEO Nakul Sharma, Hostmaker is a full-service Airbnb management company that provides homeowners with hotel-standard cleaning services, linen rental and welcome packs for arriving guests as well as pricing optimization, guest communication and design services or maintenance. The company is currently supporting nearly 1000 hosts across the UK, France, Spain and Italy. In the last six months, Hostmaker launched in Paris, introduced a new account management system for hosts and created a design service for Airbnb listings. FinSMEs 20/09/2016 Frazier Healthcare Partners, a Seattle, Wash., and Menlo Park, Calif.-based provider of growth capital to healthcare companies, named Amit Jain as an Operating Partner on the Growth Buyout team. Jain will assist the Growth Buyout group with identifying and executing opportunities in the pharma services space. He most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head of Business Operations at Omnicare, a Fortune 500 healthcare services company. In this role, reporting directly to the CEO, he had full responsibility for operations, sales and account management for both Omnicares business units, Specialty Care Group and Long Term Care Group. Prior to Omnicare, Mr. Jain was Vice President and Global Head of Healthcare Vertical for Headstrong, a global consultancy providing end-to-end technology consulting and outsourcing services across the finance and healthcare industries, which is now a part of Genpact. He holds an MBA from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, France, as well as a Bachelors Degree in Engineering from Nagpur University, India. FinSMEs 20/09/2016 Immortagen, Inc., a Coralville, Iowa-based womens cancer company, completed a Series A equity financing. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The company will use the funds to continue to develop its prototype artificial intelligence-based algorithms. Launched in 2014 by University of Iowa researchers Donghai Dai, MD, PhD, MS, Kristina Thiel, PhD, Baoli Yang, MD, PhD and Kimberly Leslie, MD, and led by Led by President & CEO Kurt F. Heiar, Immortagen is developing genetic analysis tools, which will assist pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies to interpret next-generation genetic data and guide clinical trial design and recruitment. The company, which was selected as the University of Iowa Start Up of the Year for 2016, previously received funding from the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the University of Iowa GAP Commercialization Fund. FinSMEs 20/09/2016 A little over three years since Nishabd actress Jiah Khan was found hanging in her Mumbai apartment, her mother Rabia Khan hasn't stopped investigating the circumstances that led to her death. The latest reports state that Rabia sought the services of a UK-based forensic expert, whose findings pertaining to Jiah's death will be presented to the Bombay High Court. The development comes just days after the High Court rapped Rabia for seeking frequent adjournments in filing a reply to the CBI's affidavit of August 2016, which stated that Jiah's death was a case of suicide. The forensic expert whom Rabia approached, Jason Payne-James, has raised issues with some of the conclusions drawn by Indian state-appointed forensic analysts in their report on Jiah's death. Specifically, as per a Mumbai Mirror report dated 20 September, Payne-James has said that teeth marks on the actress' lower lip, which the Indian forensic experts have said occurred during the act (of suicide), are actually indicative of some "blunt force trauma to the mouth region (for instance, punching, or a hand placed over the mouth)". Payne-James also objected to the Indian experts' analysis of the marks found on Jiah's neck they had contended that these marks were caused by the dupatta the actress used "slipping downwards" whereas Payne-James believes the ligature marks are "too well defined to have been caused by a dupatta". His report according to Mirror concludes that the "real possibility of a staged hanging subsequent to earlier death at the hands of another" was missed by Indian investigators. In an interview given to DNA on 18 September, Rabia had discussed her decision to approach Payne-James for his analysis of the investigation based on the forensic evidence. She told DNA: "I am not witch-hunting who killed my daughter, I just want the truth... The scientific evidence speaks for itself and it is plain for all to see. I believe the court will not let me down." However, it remains to be seen whether or not the report prepared by Payne-James is admissible as evidence in court, since he is not a state-appointed expert. Jiah Khan was found dead in her Juhu apartment in June 2013, in what seemed like an apparent suicide. Within days, the police arrested Sooraj Pancholi, who she was then in a relationship with, on charges of abetment. He was let out on bail in July. However, Rabia Khan later asked for a CBI probe into the case, stating that she was unhappy with the police's investigation a request the court granted in July 2014. Over 2015, the CBI launched its investigation, questioning Sooraj Pancholi, raiding his residence, and filing a chargesheet. But in August this year, officers told a bench comprising Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Prakash Naik that, "The CBI has no reason to protect the accused (actor Sooraj Pancholi) in the case" and that Jiah's death was a case of suicide, not murder. Rabia Khan has now petitioned the court for a SIT (Special Investigative Team) probe into the case. In June this year, Sooraj Pancholi's lawyer had presented evidence to the police that seemingly proved Jiah had suicidal tendencies long before she got into a relationship with the Hero actor. Rarely has a film seemingly had to suffer such setbacks before even going into production. But the road for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Padmavati has not been smooth. The film a historical retelling of the story of the life of Rani Padmini has now run afoul of the Patidar Navnirman Sena. A report in Ahmedabad Mirror, dated 20 September, has quoted Hardik Patel, the president of the PNS as saying that they wouldn't allow Bhansali to shoot or screen his film in Rajasthan and Gujarat, unless he assured them that Rani Padmini's portrayal would be historically accurate. Rani Padmini, also known as Padmavati, was the wife of Raja Ratansen of Chittor. She committed jauhar (self-immolation) rather than submit to Aluaddin Khilji, who waged war against Chittor, seemingly because of his obsession with Padmini. Apparently, the Rajput Sena had qualms about Bhansali's film, and how the queen considered an icon in Rajasthan would be depicted in it. They expressed their reservations to Hardik Patel, who in turn, promised to take up the issue. Patel has told Ahmedabad Mirror that the PNS will protest against the film unless Bhansali is able to show that Rani Padmini's legacy is not damaged in any way. Deepika Padukone plays Rani Padmini in Padmavati, while Ranveer Singh portrays Alauddin Khilji. Shahid Kapoor has been cast as Raja Ratansen. Previously, Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani too had run into trouble with certain groups who took issue with his depiction of Peshwa Bajirao and Mastani. A controversy arose over the song 'Pinga' and the costumes worn by Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra, with descendants of Kashibai claiming that it was offensive to Marathi culture. In Madhya Pradesh, a suit was filed against the filmmaker for causing 'irreparable damage' to the descendants of Mastani. A portion of the film's royalties were sought to repair Mastani's grave. It would seem that Bhansali has been aware all along that the film might prove to be a sensitive subject for some people. In August this year, a report in The Indian Express stated that the filmmaker was being "extra-careful" with his research. "With Padmavati, the period that would be tracked is the late 13th and 14th century. Unlike Bajirao, this one is set in an even older era. Bhansali and his team is eyeing every minute detail of the era, the Khilji dynasty and the culture of Mewar from where Rani Padmavati belonged. They want to avoid any unneeded confrontation as it happened during Bajirao Mastani when certain clan members stood up in arms against the portrayal of Bajirao, a source close to Bhansali had told the paper. Padmavati, the film, will not be the first time Bhansali has brought Rani Padmini's story to life. It was also the subject of a lavish opera that he adapted for the Parisienne stage in 2008, based on the 1923 work by French composer Albert Roussel. (Roussel himself was inspired by the queen's story, as told in Malik Muhammad Jayasi's epic 16th century poem 'Padmavat', and a visit to Chittor.) With a reported Rs 180 crore budget, Padmavati is being pitched as one of the most expensive films to be made in Bollywood. Preparations are underway for the first song's shoot, for which an elaborate set has been constructed in Mumbai, with Deepika Padukone learning to perform the Rajasthani dance style of ghoomar. Even before its latest controversy, Padmavati has been plagued with issues: Much has been made of a rivalry between the lead actors, Shahid and Ranveer, and there were a string of reports that presented the film's casting (for the male leads) as a game of musical chairs, until the names of Kapoor and Singh actually started work on the film. Bhansali worked for over 12 years to finally have Bajirao Mastani with a whole other cast than he had originally envisaged see the light of day. We're thinking that if there's a battle ahead for Padmavati, he's well placed to do what it takes to bring it to the theatres. Shares of United Breweries Ltd surged nearly 6 percent today after Heineken International BV increased its stake in the company by buying shares worth Rs 152 crore. The scrip rose 5.91 percent to end at Rs 877 on BSE. During the day, it soared 7.15 percent to Rs 887.30 At NSE, shares of the company jumped 5.76 percent to close at Rs 876.50. In terms of volume, 7.14 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 18 lakh shares changed hands at NSE during the day. The shares were purchased from private sector lender Yes Bank. According to block deals data available with BSE on Friday, Heineken International bought 18,54,785 shares or 0.7 percent stake in UBL. The shares were bought at an average price of Rs 819.5 apiece, valuing the transaction at Rs 152 crore. United Breweries Ltd (UBL) is widely known for Kingfisher Beer. May be asked to step down Heineken is likely to ask Vijay Mallya, who owes creditor banks more than $1 billion, to step down from the board of United Breweries, India's largest brewer, three people with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters. They said such a move would likely be a prelude to the Dutch drinks firm raising its stake in the maker of Kingfisher beer to above 50 percent, betting on a small but fast-growing beer market. Heineken acquired a 37.5 percent stake in United Breweries in 2008 through its takeover of Scottish & Newcastle and has since increased its holding to 42.4 percent. With Mallya distracted by debts from a collapsed airline venture, this could be a timely grab by Heineken in a market that is growing much faster than the global average. Two-thirds of Indians don't drink alcohol, often for religious or cultural reasons, but rapid urbanisation and a rising middle class are changing consumer habits. India accounts for 13 percent of world beer consumption, and annual volume growth is expected to outpace the global average, and major markets like China, through 2019, according to ratings agency Moody's. The sources said Heineken was considering asking Mallya to step down from the United Breweries board he chairs. Alternatively, it could call a shareholder meeting to vote on his ouster from a company his father built into a family empire. The sources asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. A Heineken spokesman declined to comment on any move to tighten control over the Indian joint venture, but said India remains an "exciting opportunity" for growth given its demographics and strong economic fundamentals. Mallya and a spokesman for UB Group did not respond to emailed requests for comment. King of Good Times Banks, regulators and investigators in India have turned up the heat on Mallya, who inherited United Breweries at the age of 28 and led it on an ambitious expansion. Creaking under mountains of bad debt banks themselves are under pressure from the government to chase up high profile cases like Mallya, whose Kingfisher Airlines collapsed in 2013 leaving unpaid wages and angry creditors. Mallya has already been forced to give up control over United Spirits, part of his UB Group, to Diageo, which now owns about 55 percent of the company. He stepped down from the board last month, receiving a $75 million pay off. On Thursday, creditors auctioning off Kingfisher Airlines' Mumbai headquarters did not receive a single bid, according to a banker with direct knowledge of the process. Mallya left India as banks sought a court order to confiscate his passport and has not disclosed his whereabouts, but he has used his Twitter account to say he is not an "absconder" and would comply with Indian law. The collapse of Kingfisher Airlines and the vast unpaid bank dues are a high-profile illustration of India's ineffective bankruptcy and debt recovery processes, and highlight the often close ties between politics and business. A member of India's upper house of Parliament, Mallya is known as the "King of Good Times" for his party lifestyle. He is often described as India's answer to British entrepreneur Richard Branson. Mallya borrowed heavily to expand his airline's network, but a series of missteps, including the ill-conceived acquisition of a rival, saw the carrier grounded, some former senior staff said. They said Mallya micro-managed operations - from the selection of routes to the design of baggage tags - with no previous experience in the aviation industry. "Unlike what he did in his liquor business, which is run by people who have the expertise, he got personally involved in the airline business .... a very, very wrong decision," said Sanjay Bahadur, who worked at the airline as a corporate affairs executive dealing with the government and regulators. Mallya has blamed the airline's collapse on macro-economic factors and previous government policies. Setting at rest confusion over levy of excise duty, the Finance Ministry said on Monday there is no "legal infirmity" in the notifications issued by the government with regard to the GST Constitution Amendment Act. Some experts have raised doubt about the legality of levying excise duty by the Centre on various commodities till implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) from April 1, 2017, after the government on September 16 notified certain provisions of the Act. "DoR (department of revenue) examined the validity and implications of notifications dated September 10 and 16 with respect to existing taxes imposed by the Union and states. There is no legal infirmity in these notifications," Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted. He further said the law department has confirmed that "there appears to be no legal requirement to issue any further clarification or notification in this regard". The confusion arose following the notification with regard to amendment of Entry 84 of the Union List following which the Centre can levy excise only on petroleum crude, high-speed diesel, petrol and natural gas. Earlier, Entry 84 of the Union List of the Constitution allowed the Centre to levy excise duty on tobacco and other goods with the exception of potable alcohol, opium and narcotic drugs. In view of these amendments, it was speculated whether the government could legally collect excise duty till the day GST, which will subsume excise duty in addition to service tax and other levies, is implemented. The other view, however, was that the Centre has widespread power under Entry 97 of the Union List to levy taxes on goods which are not mentioned in any List under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Entry 97 says the Centre will have powers on "any other matter not enumerated in List II or List III, including any tax not mentioned in either of those lists". List II under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution deals in subjects on which states have legislative powers while List III is the concurrent list wherein both the Centre and states can make laws. Nangia & Co Director Rajat Mohan said, "The government may say the power to levy excise, service tax could be drawn from Entry no. 97 from the Union List which is residuary entry. The power to levy state taxes i.E. VAT, entry tax and Octroi etc could be drawn from Section 19 of The Constitutional (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016. The State government has convened a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on 28 September to review the impact of drought in the wake of weak southwest monsoon. Karnataka would challenge the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's Monday order to release more water to Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, said state Home Minister G Parameshwara. "As the committee's order to release 3,000 cusecs daily for 10 days from 21-30 September is disappointing and a blow to our interests, we have decided to challenge it in the Supreme Court on Tuesday," Parameshwara told reporters in Bengaluru. The panel's order comes into force after the state would complete releasing 12,000 cusecs daily on Tuesday as per the apex court's 12 September order, which is a modification of its 5 September directive to release 15,000 cusecs daily for 10 days from 7 September. This comes at a time when the state is contemplating declaring drought after nearly two months of dry spell. At least 150 villages in the state have already qualified as drought affected, with more being added, an undisclosed source told Livemint. A cabinet sub-committee is expected to make an official announcement next week, the report says. The move would make Karnataka the first state to declare drought this year. The monsoon, on its last legs, has been 5 percent below normal, and despite the rains being predicted to be surplus in most parts of the country, many parts received less than ample amount of showers, reports Hindustan Times. At least three states Kerala, Karnataka and Gujarat are battling drought-like conditions in some districts. Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa told media persons that the situation was alarming, reports The Hindu. "Our state is repeatedly facing injustice. The chief minister and the cabinet will decide the next course of action after Tuesday's hearing in the apex court. We will plead for relief as we are not in a position to release more water due to distress and have just enough to meet for drinking water till June next," said Paremeshwara. The panel's directive came earlier in the day after the two warring states failed to reach a consensus on the quantum of water to be shared during distress due to deficit rains and lower levels in the four reservoirs across the river basin this year. State water resources department officials, however, said as 3,000-5,000 cusecs flow daily to Biligundlu on the inter-state border where the release is measured, owing to gravity, groundwater and downstream, additional water may not have to be released from the depleted reservoirs of Kabini, KRS, Haranghi and Hemavathy. The panel's order sparked protests in the region, especially at Mandya, about 100km from here, by farmers and traders, which led to the blocking of vehicular traffic between Bengaluru and Mysuru. "We have intensified security and stepped up vigil to prevent any untoward incident in the wake of the panel's order and the hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday," the minister said after a meeting with the top police brass in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Police also banned the sale of liquor and opening of bars, wine shops and pubs on Tuesday in and around the city. With inputs from agencies Chennai: On Monday, the Madras High Court ordered setting up of a four-member team of doctors to conduct the postmortem of the body of P Ram Kumar, accused in the woman techie murder case, who allegedly committed suicide by biting a live wire at the Puzhal central prison. Justice T S Sivagnanam, turning down a plea by R Paramasivan, father of Ram Kumar seeking a doctor of his choice to be present during the autopsy, said that the authorities had treated it as a special case and constituted a three-member team. The court had also nominated another senior doctor. The autopsy team comprises Dr Balasubramanian, Professor, forensic medicine, Stanley Hospital, Dr S Selvakumar, Professor, forensic science, Kilpauk Medical College (KMC), Dr Manikandaraja, Assistant Professor, Forensic Science, KMC and Dr K V Vinod, Assistant Professor, Forensic Science, KMC. The postmortem would be conducted after the doctors receive a copy of the high court order, the judge said. The court also took note of the Public Prosecutor R Rajarathinam's submission that the entire process would be videographed. Giving reasons as to why the court did not accede to the plea for a doctor of the petitioner's satisfaction to be present during post-mortem, as had been done in some other cases, the judge said the issue of Ram Kumar's family to seek a nominee of their choice in the team of doctors to conduct post-mortem would arise only when the petitioner is able to make out a case to discredit the team or for any reason, with reasonable material, to show that the team of doctors would be biased. "There can be no automatic presumption in this regard to discredit the team of government doctors," the judge said. Swathi was hacked to death, allegedly by Kumar, an engineering graduate, on June 24 while she was waiting to board a train at a platform of Nungambakkam suburban railway station to her work place on the city outskirts. Ram Kumar allegedly committed suicide by biting an electric wire in the dispensary of the jail on Sunday and a hospital later declared him brought dead. Barely two days after the terror attack in Uri, two infiltration bids were made from across the border in Kashmir on Tuesday. Even as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired at Indian positions, the Indian Army managed to foil the infiltration bids and 10 terrorists and a jawan were killed in the encounter. As the government mulled various options on India's response to the cross-border terror attack on Sunday in which 18 jawans were killed, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has been scheduled for Wednesday. "Two infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control (LoC) have been foiled in Uri and Nowgam sectors on Tuesday. At both places, the operations are in progress," an Army spokesman said in Srinagar. The spokesman refused to comment on the number of militants killed in the ongoing operations so far, saying details will be made public in due course. FLASH: Five terrorists killed by Army in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector. ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Encounter underway between security personnel and terrorists in Handwara (J&K), one army jawan injured. More details awaited. ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 He, however, said one soldier was killed in the operation in Nowgam sector. Army sources in Delhi said that 10 terrorists were killed in the encounter with the Army in Uri sector. The bodies have not yet been recovered, they added. According to PTI, sources said a group of 15 terrorists had attempted to infiltrate into Indian territory through the LoC. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh again reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting in Delhi with top officials, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. 10 terrorists killed by Army in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/0fVXhQiccS ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Singh had called up the DG and the BSF to give a free hand to Indian troops to retaliate. Separately, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues. On the ceasefire violation incident, an Army official in Srinagar said the firing from across the LoC took place between 1.10 pm and 1.30 pm. However, there was no damage in the incident, he said. CNN-News18 reported that a section of the government is advising swift and intensive action against the terror hubs acting out of Pakistan. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon," the official said in Srinagar, reported PTI. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. The infiltration bids and the ceasefire violation came two days after four militants of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad stormed an Army base in Uri sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four militants were also killed. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. At the meeting convened by Singh, Doval and top officials of the ministries of home and defence, paramilitary forces and chiefs of intelligence agencies briefed him on the prevailing situation in the Kashmir Valley as well as along the LoC, official sources said. The presence of the foreign secretary at the meeting is significant as government plans to launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. The Afghanistan envoy to India said that there are ample proofs of state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan, and India and Afghanistan must send a decisive message to Islamabad. He also advised India of boycotting Pakistan at the upcoming Saarc summit. CNN-News18 reported that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to raise the issue of Islamabad's soft approach on terrorism at the UN General Assembly. She is likely to hit at Pakistan for allowing Dawood Ibrahim to operate from it's soil and giving JeM and Hafiz Sayeed a free hand. The US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a strong warning to Pakistan reiterating that it needs to prevent terrorists from using Pakistan territory as a safe haven. US Secy of State John Kerry in meeting with Pak PM reiterated need for Pak to prevent all terrorists from using Pak territory as safe havens ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Another encounter was also underway in Handwara in Kashmir on Tuesday. Encounter underway between security personnel and terrorists in Handwara (J&K), one army jawan injured. More details awaited. ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 With inputs from PTI. New Delhi: AAP MLA from Tughlakabad Sahi Ram Pahalwan was on Monday booked by Delhi Police on a complaint by a youth who alleged that he was assaulted by the legislator. The complainant, Yogesh Vidhudi, has alleged that he was beaten up by the MLA and his men Lalit and Subhash, who are brothers and close aides of the legislator. "A case under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC has been registered at the Okhla police station," said a senior police officer. Yogesh told police that a cemented road was being constructed in a lane outside his house in Tekhand. He alleged that the MLA had "threatened" the supervisor who was observing the construction to stop work on the intervening night of 18 and 19 September. He claimed that he called the MLA and tried to know his opposition to construction of the road at which he "threatened" him also with "dire consequences". Yogesh, in his written complaint at Okhla police station given on Monday, said that he had gone to to get medicines with a relative when the MLA along with his accomplices allegedly beat him up. Yogesh made a PCR call and lodged his complaint with police. The complainant was medically examined and he was found to have sustained injuries on his chest and left hand, police said. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday rejected a plea moved by a lawyer claiming to represent former Delhi Minister Sandeep Kumar that alleged there was a threat to Kumar's life and sought directions for installing CCTV cameras in the jail and videotaping of his court appearance. Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry rejected the application of lawyer AP Singh after the former Minister told the court that he did not appoint Singh as his defence counsel and Singh took the signature in the 'vakalatnama' (form of authorisation to a lawyer to represent a client) claiming himself as an associate of his defence counsel Pradeep Rana. However, Singh denied the submission made by Kumar and said that the former AAP Minister willingly appointed him as his defence counsel. Meanwhile, the court extended the judicial custody of Kumar till 4 October. Kumar's wife Ritu and his lawyer Pradeep Rana on Friday denied Singh's claim at a press conference. Ritu said she met her husband in jail on Friday morning and the claim that he was assaulted was wrong. She said neither she nor Kumar had appointed Singh as his lawyer. The former Social Welfare and Women and Child Development Minister in the Delhi government was arrested on 3 September after a woman approached the Sultanpuri police in north Delhi with a complaint of sexual harassment. He was booked under Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, with intent to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code. Kumar was also charged under the Information Technology Act's Section 67-A (punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form). Delhi has done it again. In a shocking and brutal case, a 21-year-old woman was stabbed 28 times by a stalker in Burari on Tuesday morning. The woman succumbed to her injuries. The heinous crime was caught on camera as news channels showed footage of a man repeatedly stabbing the woman. We are not embedding the video because of the disturbing visuals. Family members of the girl gathered outside Sushruta Trauma Centre (ISBT) break down after hearing the news pic.twitter.com/mjz16s67nr ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 "The woman was stabbed publicly in Burari area at 9 am by the accused, named Surender Singh, 34, who was known to her. No one came to her rescue," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma told reporters. "He was later chased by the public and beaten up and handed over to police," the officer added. The officer said, "The assailant had been troubling the woman since a year or so. The family had lodged a complaint four-five months back and both the families had reached a compromise." The victim was declared brought dead at a trauma centre in ISBT, police said. According to the police, the assailant owns a shop and his divorce case was going on. "The man was harassing my sister for a long time. He stays in Rohini. We had registered a complaint after which he had calmed down until now," ANI quoted the victim's brother as saying. This crime took place just days after a 32-year-old married woman was stabbed to death allegedly by her lover on Sunday, who then committed suicide in southwest Delhi's Inderpuri area. The woman was stabbed by her 30-year-old lover Sanjay. "The woman knew Sanjay from before her marriage and the two were in a relationship," the officer had said, adding that "their affair continued even after her marriage." The officer had also said that the woman "had stopped all contact and communication with Sanjay and started avoiding him. This had enraged Sanjay." According to the police, Sanjay confronted the woman on Sunday while she was returning home and they had a heated argument. In a fit of rage, Sanjay allegedly slit his wrist first and then allegedly stabbed the woman multiple times and inflicted more injuries on himself. On Thursday, two teenaged girls were allegedly gang raped by five boys in Delhi's Aman Vihar. According to CNN-News18, the two girls were sitting in a park with their male friends when they were attacked by the five culprits. Four of the accused have been nabbed by the police while one of the accused is absconding. The accused might be minors, according to the police. Delhi registered 1,893 rape cases in 2015, or more than five per day, according to the Crime in India 2015 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on August 30, 2016. Delhi was followed by Mumbai with 712 cases, Jaipur (279), Pune (266) and Nagpur (166) among mega cities (population of one million or more) across the country. Delhi had reported three times as many rape cases (when rape cases considered only the female population and not the total population) as Mumbai in 2014. Source: National Crime Records Bureau Rapes registered declined in 2015, but this was not for want of trying, IndiaSpend reported in September 2016, since attempted rapes increased 4.8 percent. As many as 39 attempted rapes were reported in 2015 in Delhi, the highest number among mega cities; down from 59 cases in 2014. As in 2014, Delhi reported more gang rapes than any other city, according to the same NCRB report: among the 1,893 rapes registered in 2015, 80 were gang rapes. Rapes in Delhi had tripled and the reform process promised after the 2012 Nirbhaya case had failed, IndiaSpend reported in August 2016. With inputs from agencies and IndiaSpend The Narendra Modi wave still seems to be going strong. Despite the constant criticism and protests by Opposition parties and questions as to whether the Prime Minister of India is still popular among Indians after allegations of intolerance and issues like the JNU crisis, Modi continues to enjoy popularity in India. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre, 81 percent of Indians have a "favourable view of Narendra Modi", 80 percent think that the "current state of economy is good" and 65 percent are "satisfied with direction of country". The survey was conducted among 2,464 Indians from 7 April to 24 May, 2016. It is worth noting here that major protests like the Kashmir unrest, the Dalit agitation in Gujarat and now the Uri terror attack took place long after this survey was conducted. Whether the Modi government continues to enjoy such popularity after these incidents and protests is a question that remains to be answered. The survery also concluded that even though Modi is still immensely popular, his popularity has decreased slightly because in 2015, 87 percent of Indians had a favourable view of him. The intensity of support which Modi enjoys has also gone down. The number of Indians who have a very favourable view of Modi has gone down by 11 percentage points. There is also a growing divide over the Modi government's performance on several domestic issues, according to the survey. At the same time, the people's satisfaction with the direction of the country has increased 36 percentage points since 2013 and views on the economy have imporved by 23 percentage points. In fact, the survery concluded that Modi was so popular that 61 percent of supporters of the Congress have a positive view of Modi and BJP. The survey also said that the prime minister enjoys support among both men and women of all ages, educational backgrounds, income levels and regions. Over half the people approve of Modi's handling of domestic problems like unemployment, terrorism and corruption. And roughly half or more approve of his style of leadership. 68 percent of the people also believe that India plays a more relevant role in the world than ten years ago and 52 percent believe that India's involvement in the global economy is good. The overall popularity of the Modi government's foreign policy has decreased. The survey concluded that despite having made 51 visits to 42 countries since he became prime minister, Modi's image when it comes to handling ties with other countries has gone down. Public approval of Modi's handling of ties with the US has decreased by 12 percentage points since 2015. It is still, however, at 54 percent. 43 percent approve of India's current ties with Russia. The support for Modi's dealings with Russia has gone up by 6 percentage points. Only 38 percent support Modi's handling of ties with China while an even lower 22 percent approve his handling of ties with Pakistan. But a noteworthy point is that most Indians do not hold a favourable view of China itself. Only 31 percent of the people have a favourable view of China, according to the survey. What about other party leaders? Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's popularity has actually risen since 2013. He is viewed favourably by 63 percent of the people, up from 50 percent in 2013. Congress president Sonia Gandhi enjoys popularity of 65 percent of the people, up from 58 percent in 2015 and 49 percent in 2013. 67 percent of people support Congress, up from 61 percent in 2015. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's popularity has taken a hit. He is viewed favourably by 50 percent of the people, down from 60 percent in 2015. AAP's popularity has also taken a hit. Forty-seven percent of people support the party, down from 58 percent in 2015. However, 57 percent of the people in Delhi still support AAP. Its support is also the highest in northern states like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Modi government is understood to have given the army, its diplomats and its spooks a cautious go-ahead for some kind of calibrated, but not brash, response to the Pakistan-backed terrorist attack in Uri, which killed 18 soldiers. Nothing wrong with this, but it will achieve little. None of this has worked in the past, and none of this will amount to much beyond political optics even now or in the future. This is because underlying all this is a reactive approach, and hence our actions can be easily anticipated by the worlds original Islamic State, aka Pakistan. The truth is countering Pakistans death-by-a-thousand cuts terror policy needs a long-term strategy, not a tactical reaction to events. But despite have seen over three decades of Pakistani perfidies, we do not have a coherent strategy. If we had one, by now the costs of Uri could have been clear to Pakistan. That we are still debating what to do, with media speculating on options loudly, means Pakistan is ready to face whatever we throw at them. Whatever we do will thus be ineffective. What we have been doing so far is blundering through with a non-strategy. Consider these points: 1. A sitting ducks strategy Whether it is terror against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir or the army, our approach is defensive and non-purposeful. The truism is that a terrorist has to succeed only once, while the defence has to win all the time to be successful. While we can certainly protect our army camps and airbases better, dealing with terrorists who have the element of surprise with them needs a more flexible and mobile strategy, which means creating a light, effective and disciplined commando force that blends with the population to both feed intelligence and take direct action against jihadis when they are discovered. Our National Security Guards are busy protecting politicians instead of our security assets. We need a force that works under the army or the central police forces, but which is mobile and effective. 2. Learn-no-lessons strategy Pakistan constantly adapts to new conditions based on how the last one worked or failed. When 26/11 made Pakistan a global pariah, it shifted strategy to target the army and police, as strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney notes, but even after Pathankot we have not changed our strategy to meet this threat. This is why Uri happened. 3. The hugs-and-kisses strategy This is where we allow hope and naivete to trump good sense. We are always ready to hop onto a bus to Lahore or hug a Pakistani Prime Minister when the Pakistani army and Deep State have repeatedly demonstrated that they are not willing to give up their enmity or terror assets. Hugs-and-kisses are fine for global optics, but they can never substitute for realism driven by hard power and firepower. WE dont have to abandon the optics or even talks, but we have to have an underlying iron-fist-in-velvet glove strategy. We should be able to bare our fangs whenever we choose to. 4. The outrage-and-bluster routine Every time there is a terror attack, we get angry as though this is the first time we have been stabbed in the back. We demand solid responses from a pusillanimous government, and we get promises of action. But a few weeks later, we forget all this and are back to business-as-usual. Media bluster and political statement-mongering will get us nowhere. 5. The playing-by-our-rules strategy Indians are particularly foolish to think that our opponent will play by our rules, or ever play fair. When you are in a war of long-term attrition, you have to know your enemy. You cant fight with bow and arrow when the enemy has guns. But we spend very little time asking ourselves what the Pakistanis are going to do next, what atrocity they are going to commit to provoke us. If we do not learn to think like the enemy, if we are not regularly studying alternate scenarios on what the Pakistani generals will be upto next, we are going to be surprised every time. We need a permanent war-room under the National Security Advisor that will constantly ask itself what it would do if it were in the ISIs or Pakistani armys shoes, and prepare for that eventuality. We might still get surprised, but at least we can learn from our mistakes. War is not a play-by-my-rules affair. You have to make your rules only after understanding what rules the opponent follows. Your rules depend on knowing your enemy. 6. The dossier strategy Every time there is a terror event, we build dossiers on Pakistans involvement. Nothing wrong in this, but we have to understand who or what this dossier is for. It is to show the world, and build a domestic case for trials in case the persons named happen to get caught in India. Giving these dossiers to Pakistan is like giving them ultimate pleasure. They will dismiss it as literature and throw it in the dustbin and then ask for more evidence. Nothing pleases the Pakistanis more than to let us do all the work and then throw it into the trash can. Why are we doing this repeatedly? 7. The diplomatic isolation gambit Once again, this is useful in order to build global opinion against Pakistan. We should continue doing so, and also repeatedly brand Pakistan as the oldest and most dangerous version of Islamic State. ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has no nuclear weapons. It can be bombed out of existence. Pakistan cannot. So the purpose of diplomacy should be to make Pakistan a pariah, but it wont reduce terrorism from Pakistani soil. The only country which has leverage over China is Pakistan, but China is happy to covertly support Pakistani terror in order to keep us permanently off balance. If at all diplomacy is to work, our strategy should be to drive a wedge between China and Pakistan by giving the former evidence of terrorism against China being plotted by Pakistani jihadis. 8. The turn-the-other-cheek strategy This is pure stupidity, and entirely homegrown. Our media will keep telling us that India as the big brother must tolerate some Pakistani perfidy, and even provide justification for it, by showing how Pakistanis are good people, who even pay for visiting journos lunch. It is true that civil society people can be warm towards Indians, but it is not Pakistani civil society that we are fighting with. It is the army and ISI. Turning the other cheek and playing benevolent big brother to the Deep State is not an option. 9. The look-at-root-causes strategy This also masquerades as the look-at-our-own-mistakes strategy. Or we-brought-it-on-ourselves rationalisation. Doves in the media and analysts will routinely tell us that we goofed in J&K, and that Pakistan would not find traction if we only won the Kashmiris over. While it can be no ones claim that we did all the right things in Kashmir, it is rubbish to suggest that the current wave of violence is all our own doing. Remember, Pakistan was a key player in Islamising the Valley and played an active role in the ethnic cleansing of the Pandits. Once the Valley became 100 percent Muslim, Kashimiryat was over. Where earlier Pakistan had to send jihadis over, now jihad is home-grown with a self-radicalising population which thinks Islamism is the answer. De-radicalisation should be our goal, but we still have to fight Pakistan in this battle. 10. The good boy strategy India seems keener to get good certificates of tolerance and restraint from the global community than to protect its strategic interests in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere. Many Indian media writers feed this narrative by saying India should not support war-mongering. Anyone demanding effective action against Pakistani terror can be dubbed a warmonger, and we keep fighting shy of this tag. The fact is every nation has a duty to protect its interests, and retaliation against terror is not war-mongering. A rising global power cannot decide its actions based on what other people will think. We can explain our point of view to the world cogently, but we cannot let them decide what is in our interests, even if they think less of us in the bargain. The US, Russia, China, Israel, UK and no country worth its salt decides on strategic actions based on what the world will think. We should not either. Our real problem is this: there is something in the Indian cultural DNA that shies away from conflict, avoids hard decisions, and offers a rationalisation for inaction and cowardice. Not standing up to a regular bully is passed off (by us) as some kind of peace-loving Indian attitude when internally we are seething with anger over repeated humiliations by a terrorist nation. The Pakistanis have figured this out about us, which is why they target us with impunity, knowing how we will respond. Isnt it time we showed them we can be different? We owe it to ourselves and the future of Indian nationhood to show them we are not what they think we are: sissies afraid to stand up for our national interests. New Delhi: In a decision that may be seen as yet another snub to son Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday appointed Amar Singh as the National General Secretary of the party, almost six years after he was removed from the same post as well as the party. "You have been appointed General Secretary of Samajwadi Party. I hope in the coming days you will strengthen the party in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections," Mulayam said in a handwritten letter to Amar. The brief letter in Hindi, signed by Mulayam on his Lok Sabha letterhead, was sent to media from state SP chief Shivpal Yadav's official e-mail address. Once the public face of the party, Amar was seen as Mulayam's closest aide when he had the ear of "Netaji". However, he along with his close associate Jaya Prada were expelled from the Samajwadi Party in February, 2010. Subsequently, Amar had floated his own political party, Rashtriya Lok Manch in 2011. He fielded a large number of candidates in 2012 assembly polls but none won. Amar Singh had joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha poll from Fatehpur Sikri but lost. He was re-inducted into the party and made Rajya Sabha member only a few months back. Tuesday's decision may be seen as another snub to Akhilesh in a matter of days as the Chief Minister was only recently made to climb down by Mulayam in his tussle with uncle Shivpal. Akhilesh, who had stripped minister Shivpal of key portfolios, had to restore all but one of those ministries. He also had to bring back one minister whom he had sacked. Akhilesh also had to "accept" Shivpal as the party's state unit chief, a post to which his uncle had been appointed replacing him. Only Monday, Shivpal asserted himself by expelling the party functionaries considered close to Akhilesh. With Tuesday's decision, Mulayam has sent out a message to Akhilesh and cousin Ram Gopal that Amar Singh is important for the party though the two are opposing his stature. Though SP big wigs were strongly opposed to Amar Singh, often described as an "outsider", Mulayam threw his weight behind him, first by making him a Rajya Sabha member some time back and now allotting him an important party post. Interestingly, during the feud between Mulayam's brother Shivpal and son Akhilesh Yadav, Amar Singh was seen as the one who had engineered it. Akhilesh, while apparently referring to Amar Singh, had recently said that "people from outside the household" keep interfering in the Samajwadi Party's affairs. Mulayam's cousin Ram Gopal Yadav also had made a veiled attack on Amar Singh during the feud, saying they have no love for the party and hence are creating trouble. Commenting on that Amar had said, "Akhilesh is like a son and Mulayam like a brother." Syria: A convoy delivering aid to Syrians in Aleppo province was hit by a deadly air strike hours after the Syrian military declared an end to a week-long ceasefire, with an outraged UN warning it could amount to a war crime. The UN said at least 18 trucks in the 31-vehicle convoy were destroyed late Monday en route to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hard-to-reach town of Orum al-Kubra. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike while UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said initial reports indicated "many people" were killed or seriously wounded. "Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," O'Brien said. The Observatory was unable to confirm if the planes responsible were Syrian or Russian. The UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent humanitarian mission had sought to take advantage of the ceasefire, which collapsed on Monday night as shells and bombs rained down on Aleppo city and the surrounding province. The Observatory said a total of 36 people had died in the violence across the battleground region. An AFP correspondent inside Aleppo city reported almost non-stop bombardment and constant sirens. Syria's military announced the end to the truce earlier Monday, accusing rebels of more than 300 violations and failing to "commit to a single element" of the US-Russia deal. The ceasefire, which came into force on 12 September, saw an initial drop in fighting but violence began to escalate late last week and the deal came under severe strain over the weekend. US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned that the truce could be the "last chance" to save the country. Aid under attack The attack on the convoy is likely to provoke anger at the UN General Assembly in New York, with the delivery of aid to desperate Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas stressed as a key condition of the deal by Washington. The US, Russia and other key players are set to gather there on Tuesday for talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions. "Our outrage at this attack is enormous," the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters. "The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians." The United States said it was outraged at the attack and stressed that the destination of the convoy was known to the Syrian regime and its ally, Russia. Aid distribution to Syrian civilians caught up in the conflict had already faced severe difficulties. The UN held back deliveries destined for Aleppo city because it was unable to obtain security guarantees. Jan Egeland, head of the UN humanitarian task force for Syria, said the convoy was bombed despite aid agencies coordinating their movements with all sides on the ground. A Syrian Arab Red Crescent warehouse was also hit, a UN spokesman said. Inside Aleppo, residents in rebel-held areas hunkered down after the end of the ceasefire which had brought only temporary relief to the population of up to 275,000 people trapped there. Sirens wailed as ambulances zipped through the eastern half of the divided city, an AFP correspondent reported. The Observatory said that military planes had carried out more than 40 strikes since the Syrian army announced the end of the truce. Chief US diplomat Kerry will try to speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York before Tuesday's meeting of the International Syria Support Group but statements from Syrian and Russian military officials on the ground appeared to bury the deal. "Considering that the conditions of the ceasefire are not being respected by the rebels, we consider it pointless for the Syrian government forces to respect it unilaterally," said Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy. The ceasefire deal had three key components: fighting between government and rebel forces across Syria would halt, although strikes on Islamic State and other jihadists could continue. Humanitarian aid would reach desperate civilians, particularly in devastated eastern Aleppo. And if the ceasefire held, the US was to have set up a joint military cell with Russia to target jihadists. It came under massive strain on Saturday when a US-led coalition strike hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday blasted the air strikes, which he said showed world powers supported "terrorist organisations" like the Islamic State. His adviser Buthaina Shaaban went further, telling AFP that Damascus believed the raid which killed at least 62 Syrian soldiers had been intentional. The bloodiest day for civilians was Sunday, when a barrel bomb attack killed 10 in a southern rebel-held town and one woman died in the first raids on Aleppo since the truce started. New York: US President Barack Obama urged citizens not to "succumb to fear" after the attacks over the past few days in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, presumably perpetrated by jihadis. Obama made a brief statement to the press on Monday night from a hotel in New York where he is attending the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, EFE news reported. "At moments like this, I think it's important to remember what terrorists and violent extremists are trying to do. They are trying to hurt innocent people, but they also want to inspire fear in all of us," Obama said. "We all have a role to play as citizens in making sure that we don't succumb to that fear," he said. The President noted that "neither individuals nor organisations like IS (Islamic State) can ultimately undermine our way of life," and this is exactly the "kind of strength that is going to be absolutely critical not just in the days to come but in the years to come." "By showing those who want to do us harm that they will never beat us" will be "the most important ingredient in us defeating those who would carry our terrorist acts against us," he said. While Obama was speaking, US authorities confirmed the detention of the suspect sought by police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for possibly detonating several explosive devices in New York and New Jersey. He was identified as Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, an immigrant from Afghanistan with a US passport, who was captured by police after a shootout in the city of Linden, New Jersey. New York police believed that Rahami is the man who appears in videos taken by security cameras on 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Lower Manhattan, where on Saturday a bomb exploded that injured almost 30 people on 27th Street, and where another device was found that did not detonate. New Jersey authorities also believe that he might be linked to the bomb explosion early Saturday in the town of Seaside Park, New Jersey. According to Obama, up to now the authorities have found no connection between what happened in New York and New Jersey and the attack at a shopping mall in Minnesota, perpetrated Saturday by a suspected jihad sympathiser who stabbed nine people. The president said the FBI is investigating the incident in Minnesota as a "potential act of terrorism". Though Obama did not speak of the three attacks over the past few days as being connected to international terrorism, he did say that the US would continue to lead the global coalition against the IS, the group that is "instigating a lot of people over the internet to carry out attacks". Chicago: A man whose wife died in the Nigerian airliner crash that killed 153 people filed a lawsuit in the US that blames the accident, at least in part, on US companies that designed, manufactured and sold the ill-fated plane. An American attorney yesterday filed the lawsuit in US District Court in Chicago on behalf of David Chukwunonso Allison, whose wife, Joy Chiedozie Allison, was on the Dana Air MD-83 that went down in the African nation Sunday afternoon. Among those named in the 56-page lawsuit are Chicago-based Boeing Co, which bought the McDonnell-Douglas manufacturer of the plane, and Connecticut-based engine-maker Pratt & Whitney. Gary Robb, a Kansas City, Missouri-based aviation attorney who filed the lawsuit for David Allison, said reports of engine failure as the plane approached Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, point to the companies' culpability. Nigeria's Aviation Minister Stella Oduah said on Wednesday that the flight's captain radioed Lagos as the aircraft approached and declared an emergency, saying both of the MD-83's engines had failed. Minutes later, the plane crashed into several buildings. "That is always incredibly significant information," Robb said. "Engines do not fail unless something goes dramatically wrong." Without offering details, the suit claims the Pratt & Whitney "engines used a defective and unreasonably dangerous design." AP COLUMBUS Appetites can be satisfied while supporting a local cause through Taste of Columbus. Tickets are available for the 16th annual event that will feature treats from local and area food and beverage vendors. Taste of Columbus will be held 4:30-8 p.m. Oct. 9 at Ramada-Columbus. There will be 14 businesses serving dishes and another nine vendors on tap to provide spirits from distributors and Nebraska wineries. Purchasing a ticket allows event-goers to taste as many appetizer-sized offerings as they want, said Mike Jeffryes, who is a co-chair of the event along with his wife Trina and Amy and Chris Blaser. Highlighting what food and beverage vendors have to offer is just part of the event. The other half is a silent auction and live grand auction that benefits the (Columbus Area) Chamber of Commerce and whatever nonprofit they pick. The profits are split down the middle, Jeffryes said. This year, the Columbus Public Schools Foundation/STEM Academy will be the beneficiary. The new high school, which is scheduled to open next year, includes a STEM Academy that focuses on teaching students science, technology, engineering and math skills. In the past, Taste of Columbus has raised money for various nonprofits in the community, including the Columbus Public Library Foundation, Columbus Philanthropy Council, Platte County Historical Society and Center for Survivors. Money is raised through bidding on auction items and a raffle that features a diamond necklace donated by McChristy Jewelers. Some of the top auction items include trips, party packages, sporting event tickets and tours. There are hundreds of items available in the silent and live auctions. There is something for every budget, Amy Blaser said. She said the event is a good way to support the STEM Academy, which in turn helps youths in the community, while also getting to taste food and wine. By the time you stop at each booth, it is a 14-course meal, she said. About 500 tickets are sold every year. We dont really struggle to sell tickets to the event anymore. It sells itself pretty well. Wed always like to see it grow bigger because it only helps whatever they are raising money for that year, Jeffryes said. The following vendors will be at Taste of Columbus: Applebees, Buresh Catering, Columbus Christian School, Columbus Community Hospital, El Tapatio, Fair Park Grille, Hy-Vee, Pizza Ranch, Ramada-Columbus, Shadows Restaurant and Pub, Subway, Traditions Inn, Wal-Mart, Wunderlichs Catering, Eagle Distributing, James Arthur Vineyards, Johnson Brothers, Macs Creek Vineyard, Miletta Vista Winery, Prairie Creek Vineyard, Premier Midwest Beverage, Republic National Distributing and Sterling Distributing Company. Tickets are $35 per person in advance or $50 at the door and can be purchased from the chamber. A reserved table of nine is available for $350. Beijing: China is "disappointed to the point of despair" with Japan's conduct in the South China Sea, it said Monday, after Tokyo announced it may set up training patrols with the US in the contested region. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital waters in the face of rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours, and has rapidly turned reefs in the area into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. In a speech last week Japanese defence minister Tomomi Inada called China's actions a "deliberate attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, achieve a fait accompli, and undermine the prevailing norms", according to a transcript released by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Inada said Japan would increase its engagement in the South China Sea through joint training cruises with the US Navy, exercises with regional navies and capacity-building assistance to coastal nations. Japan's conduct in the South China Sea "makes one feel disappointed to the point of despair," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular press briefing Monday, before accusing Japan of meddling in a situation that ought to be resolved via "direct negotiation between involved parties". Japan was attempting to confuse the situation in the region Lu said, adding the island nation had "even resorted to deception in attempts to impose its own views" on the issue on other countries. Japan has a separate territorial dispute with China over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Last week, China sailed four coastguard vessels into that contested region, sparking complaints from Japan that the Asian giant was escalating tensions. Japan is a key US ally, and is boosting defence ties with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations that have their own territorial disputes with Beijing over the South China Sea. In recent months, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has criticised China for rejecting a July ruling by an international tribunal that found Beijing's extensive claims to the waters had no legal basis. But Lu warned: "China is unwavering in its determination to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests." New York: US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using Pakistani territory as a safe haven. He also expressed strong concern over the violence in Kashmir particularly the terror attack on the Indian Army base in Uri. Kerry met Sharif on Monday on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir and sought American help to resolve the Kashmir issue. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US wants to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. "We've seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward we'll just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region," Toner said. Later, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that Kerry "reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence." "The Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir particularly the army base attack and the need for all sides to reduce tensions," he said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programmes. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif asked the "US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India." In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play a role in convincing India to stop the alleged use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistan's support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. Sharif alleged that human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to "ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people". He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that "if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu and Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities." UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned the Security Council on Thursday that a full-blown civil war in Syria was "imminent," while international mediator Kofi Annan said it was time to step up the pressure on Damascus to halt the violence. The Syrian opposition and Western and Gulf nations seeking President Bashar al-Assad's ouster increasingly see Annan's six-point peace plan as doomed because of Syria's consistent use of military force to crush an increasingly militarized opposition. Western Security Council diplomats said the message from Annan and Ban at the United Nations was clear: It was time to hit Assad's government with sanctions. "The Syrian people are bleeding," Ban told reporters after addressing the Security Council. "They are angry. They want peace and dignity. Above all, they all want action." "The danger of a civil war is imminent and real," he said, adding that "terrorists are exploiting the chaos." Both Ban and Annan strongly condemned a reported massacre of at least 78 people Mazraat al-Qubeir and acknowledged that Annan's peace plan was not working. "Today's news reports of another massacre in (Mazraat) al-Qubeir ... are shocking and sickening," Ban told a special session of the 193-nation General Assembly. "We condemn this unspeakable barbarity and renew our determination to bring those responsible to account," he said. Ban said U.N. monitors hoping to investigate the reports were denied access to the site where opposition activists say the massacre occurred on Wednesday. "They are working now to get to the scene," he said. "And I just learned a few minutes ago that while trying to do so the U.N. monitors were shot at with small arms." Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told the General Assembly the new report was "truly an atrocious massacre. It is unjustifiable." Syria's government has blamed recent atrocities on the opposition and Islamist extremists it calls terrorists. Speaking to the 15-nation Security Council, Ban said hopes for success of Annan's peace bid were fading and suggested that the United Nations must soon decide whether its 300-member monitoring mission in Syria was sustainable or useful, U.N. diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was the first time the U.N. leader floated the idea of pulling the plug on the observer mission, which many countries had hoped could help end 15 months of violence. TIME FOR SANCTIONS? Annan warned the council that the Syrian crisis would soon spiral out of control and called for "substantial pressure" on Damascus and penalties for undermining the peace effort, U.N. diplomats said. Earlier in the General Assembly he said failure to comply with his peace plan should not be ignored. "It must be made clear that there will be consequences if compliance is not forthcoming," Annan told the assembly. Britain's U.N. ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, told reporters after a three-hour closed-door meeting of the Security Council with Ban and Annan that it was time for sanctions. "I suggested that the time had come when the Security Council should strengthen its support for the plan, including through a ... resolution with clear timelines and triggers for sanctions in the event of non-compliance," Lyall Grant said. French Deputy Ambassador Martin Briens echoed Lyall Grant, telling reporters Annan "has asked us for more than words. He has asked us for action." German Ambassador Peter Wittig and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby also favor sanctions. Russia, a staunch ally of and arms supplier to Assad, and China have resisted calls for sanctions against Damascus. Both have veto power on the council. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin did not explicitly rule out the idea of sanctions, though he accused his Western counterparts of focusing solely on the government's violations and ignoring the opposition's breaches of Annan's peace plan. "There is one missing link in what they are saying," Churkin said. "They are not proposing anything which would resolve the problem of how to deal with the opposition." Annan confirmed to reporters he was proposing a new contact group that would include Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and key regional players with influence on Syria's government and the opposition such as Iran. Diplomats said he would also include Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice made clear Washington has problems with such a contact group. "Iran is part of the problem in Syria at the present," she said. "There's no question that it is actively engaged in supporting the government in perpetrating the violence." Annan did not, however, bring up the contact group idea during the council session, diplomats said, adding that he was discussing it with individual delegations instead. Churkin reiterated that Moscow wanted to organize a meeting with the permanent Security Council members, Iran and other regional players. He suggested that the conference could be a first step towards establishing Annan's contact group. The representative of Iran, Assad's other main ally, hinted that a full civil war in Syria could spread beyond its borders. "There is ... an urgent need for all those who are providing money, logistics and arms to the opposition groups to stop that immediately. They should know that the smoke from the fire in Syria will, in one way or another, cover the region as a whole," Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told the General Assembly. The conflict has already sparked turmoil in Lebanon and on the border of Turkey. Syria accuses Qatar and Saudi Arabia of arming the opposition, while the United Nations has said recent bombings appeared to have been the work of extremist militants. (Editing by Doina Chiacu) United Nations: On Monday Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for the world community to address the root causes of forced migration and form a comprehensive global compact on refugees and migrants that ensures the displaced do not become victims of "xenophobic attitudes and political expediency". Sharif, addressing the high-level UN summit on large movements of refugees and migrants, said the displacement of millions of people from their homelands, among the most urgent humanitarian challenges of the current times, "has neither been voluntary nor orderly". He noted that the developing countries have to bear a greater burden of providing shelter to millions seeking refuge from war and poverty. "The true scale of the crisis lies beyond the headlines. It is the developing countries, including Pakistan, that continue to be at the forefront of bearing the burden of large scale global human displacements. Many of these protracted displacement situations have created complex political, socio-economic and security and environmental challenges for host countries and local communities," he said. Sharif said it is time for the international community to forge a "comprehensive global compact" on the large scale movement of refugees and migrants. "This compact should be "based on fair and equitable burden sharing that aims to ensure that the displaced do not become victims of xenophobic attitudes and political expediency, a compact that provides greater avenues for legal migration and takes a holistic view of the situation". He added that going forward, the international community must also address the "root causes of displacement" and forced migration. "Unless we resolutely put out the fires that have caused so much suffering, we will not be able to find a long term solution to this crisis". Sharif told the session that Pakistan has served as a "generous host" for nearly four decades to millions of Afghan refugees despite its own "modest resources". Describing the Afghan refugee crisis as the "largest protracted refugee situation" in the world, Sharif said on Monday that Pakistan is hosting over 2.5 million Afghan refugees. "Pakistan supports a safe and dignified return of all Afghan refugees to their homeland in a sustainable manner. We hope the international community will step forward and provide necessary resources to the (UN Refugee Agency) in a timely manner," he said. On 18 September, terrorists suspected to belong to the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan attacked an Indian Army camp at Uri in a pre-dawn raid, killing 18 soldiers. The South Asian commentariat has gone into its usual and predictable tizzy, some quarters demanding military action while others urge a firm reprimand, international pressure, 'strategic restraint', and talks. A good dose of recrimination on past policies and (in)actions is also available. In a few days, perhaps a week, calm will return and all will be forgotten... until the next terrorist attack. Ultimately, 18 soldiers would still be dead and the country would still be hapless about its own defence, but the commentariat would have inched closer to reaching their monthly writing quota. There is nothing new in the terrorist attack at Uri whether in the terrorists' methods and capacity to acquire intelligence and materials or in what India might have learned about the intentions of its western neighbour and its proxies; nor is there anything new in what has been produced in the newspaper columns and television studios across the country. It would have probably been easier and cheaper to simply recycle the columns and video clips from the previous terrorist attack. Despite an avalanche of advice from armchair as well as erstwhile military strategists, Delhi's response to terrorism with Pakistani fingerprints has always been to bluster and bear it. India accuses Pakistan of conducting terrorism from behind a nuclear shield and although Islamabad has not changed the situation in the past two decades, there does not seem to have been much movement either intellectually or materially from India's side either. Simply put, India has been and still is without an option against Pakistan. The first option is talks; unfortunately, talks on terrorism have never yielded anything positive for India. At best, it is a colossal waste of time and money and at worst, symbolism in the name of security. It is difficult to fathom even to whom India should talk: Not only have civilian governments in Islamabad repeatedly been proven to be unable to rein in the military but have often even been kept in the dark about certain policies and programmes by the armed forces. As even Pakistani commentators have noted, the country's unhealthy obsession with Kashmir and its very existence rooted firmly in an anti-India ideology, the military is unwilling to negotiate to remove its raison d'etre. With the civilian government ineffective, Delhi has no partner for peace in Islamabad. India's second option is diplomacy: Delhi could use its international influence to isolate Pakistan politically and hinder its economics. Though theoretically sound, India simply lacks the clout to embark on such a policy. China, of course, will continue to nurture the thorn in India's back, and few of India's trading partners see the South Asian country as so important to their national interests as to upset Pakistan without any tangible gains in return. Delhi has neither the economic, political, nor military influence to persuade even a few states important to the Pakistani economy to scale back on relations with Islamabad or impose intrusive anti-terrorism conditions on bilateral relations. Admittedly, the Indian economy has grown in the last two decades, but it is not yet an indispensable component of vital global supply chains. Delhi's reticence to involve itself in international affairs, not just beyond its immediate region but even in its neighbourhood, has meant that it has a small diplomatic and military footprint. This has shown little sign of changing in the near future, and as Delhi has often found in the past, moral arguments are not always convincing in international affairs. Finally, the third option that many have been urging is the use of military force. Although no one serious advocates war, there is nonetheless a clamour for conducting limited yet punishing cross-border strikes on Pakistan's vast asymmetric warfare infrastructure. This, however, remains the least feasible of options. As the much-publicised raids into Myanmar slightly over a year ago showed, the Indian military lacks the capabilities to undertake covert operations into enemy territory in terms of planning, material, and training. Until recently, even the political will to acquire these capabilities was lacking. Since 2014, there has been rhetoric but actions are yet to match the bombast. Worse, Indian conventional superiority over Pakistan has been steadily eroded over the years. India's much-vaunted military modernisation notwithstanding, Pakistan has worked assiduously to counter India's military planning and advantages. While Delhi remains locked in negotiations for a mid-level aircraft for its air force and the low-level indigenous effort is not yet in sight, Islamabad has increased the range of its missiles as well as acquire tactical and cruise missiles specifically meant to blunt rapid Indian advances into Pakistan. In conjunction with recent horror stories about the Indian military's operational readiness after the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, for example Pakistan may prove more of a challenge to India than is generally appreciated. With the civilian government ineffective, Delhi has no partner for peace in Islamabad Thus, India has no plausible response to Pakistan's provocations for the time being. This view, though hotly contested, appears to best explain India's utter inaction at each juncture. The real question after Uri is not how India should punish Pakistan but whether Delhi has moved fast on addressing these strategic and tactical lacunae. Even a modest retaliatory capability would take a decade to develop but has the government started on that road yet? To be fair, all is not glum: The US and Britain have swiftly condemned the attack and observers believe that, though neither country named Pakistan in their statements, they agree with the Indian assessment of the origin of the attacks, something that was unthinkable in the hyphenated era just a few years ago. India's diplomatic visibility utility? has clearly grown but Delhi is still a long way off from using diplomacy and economics as supplementary options to military force. New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing hostility over terror attack in Uri, Pakistan has decided not to send its intelligence chief to India to attend a conference of top security experts of Saarc countries beginning Thursday. Director General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan Aftab Sultan will not attend the Saarc meeting and that country will be represented by an official of the Pakistan High Commission, a Home Ministry official said. The two-day conference of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries, to be held here, is being hosted by Director of Intelligence Bureau Dineshwar Sharma and intelligence chiefs of all other Saarc nations Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives besides India will participate in it. Sunday's terror attack at a military station in Uri, where 18 soldiers were killed, and the continuing unrest in Kashmir Valley for more than two months after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani led to deterioration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. The four terrorists who attacked Uri had come from Pakistan and Islamabad had openly eulogised Wani's acts, inviting sharp reactions from India. According to a statement issued by the Home Ministry, the second meeting of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from Saarc countries will be held on 22 and 23 September. The aim of the meeting is to strengthen Saarc anti-terror mechanism, it said. The first such meeting was held in New Delhi in February 2012. The agenda of the meeting includes functioning of Saarc Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and the Saarc Drug Offences Monitoring Desk (SDOMD), countering terrorism and strengthening anti-terrorism mechanisms in Saarc, intelligence sharing and police cooperation, human resource development and relationship building, combating corruption and cyber crimes, among others. "It's always a menu of bad options and once you come to power, you realise that even out of these bad options, none are practical and haven't been tried before" So said a former diplomat once posted at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, responding to a query on how India should respond to Pakistan's cross-border terrorism designs. He should know, for he was posted in Pakistan during the 26 November, 2008 Mumbai attacks. The diplomat's statement becomes even more pertinent as India searches for a 'fitting response' after the Pakistan-based militants whether they belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad is as-yet-unclear because there is conflicting evidence on that front carried out one of the worst attacks in recent memory on the Indian Army's brigade headquarters in the Uri sector (Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir). At the time of writing, the attack had claimed the lives of 20 troops. In the aftermath of the attack, the government has received plenty of unsolicited advice from retired military officers, the self-proclaimed strategic analysts, and thousands on social media. It is not necessary to debate and ponder these options in the public domain, but it is necessary to understand the compulsions and considerations to which successive Indian governments since 1999 when India and Pakistan declared their nuclear capabilities have had to pay attention while reacting to Pakistan's persistent treachery. The first consideration is Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and the constant threat that it will use nukes against India in case there is any violation of Islamabad's territorial sovereignty. It doesn't help matters that Pakistan has consistently refused to adhere to the 'no first use' policy when it comes to nuclear weapons, while India has publicly declared its compliance. This essentially means that Indian policymakers have to constantly look at options strategic and tactical so that no response climbs on the 'escalation ladder' and sparks nuclear armageddon in the region. So the most obvious 'fitting response' the favourite term on social media of 'war with Pakistan' becomes by this consideration, the absolute last response. Sorry folks, it is not an option at least, not among the top five options that the government deems viable. Although many ministers and advisors to the government have talked of 'an eye for an eye' response, the astute will understand that this rhetoric is intended more as a way to satiate the enraged public, rather than something that makes it to the prime minister's desk. And that is even after the Indian Army carried out a successful cross-border raid in Myanmar, in response to the NSCN-K insurgent group's ambush of the Army troops in Manipur, in June last year. The second consideration is Indian public opinion which matters a lot more when the country is approaching an election season. If covert action was to be pursued let's say in Balochistan or through the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and inflict pain on Pakistan, how do you convince Indian citizens that it is indeed India that has carried out these actions in response to the Pakistani Army and ISI's machinations? This itself leads to the third and fourth consideration, and not necessarily in that order. The pursuit of covert action military and intelligence that can interfere in other country's internal affairs is an important tool of a statecraft, pursued by every state with varying intensity. However in the Westphalian order on which this current system of States is based the pursuit of covert actions has been undertaken either by great powers (read the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Israel) or by States that essentially have no hope of making it to the high table (read Turkey, North Korea and Pakistan among others). India will need to show Pakistan that it has the potential to inflict pain on the latter through any of its options As a State that is aspiring to sit at the high table of global politics, India's response is unfortunately constrained by this compulsion. Maintaining the image of a 'responsible nation' is of utmost importance to India, as much as maintaining its territorial integrity. More so when you are surrounded by 'friends' like the United States and China who are carefully judging your actions and calibrating their strategies accordingly. This may sound hypocritical but alas, that is the reality of today's international politics. The fourth consideration is that despite all that is said about covert action, India will need to show Pakistan that it has the potential to inflict pain on the latter through any of its options whether the Balochistan issue or the TTP's relentless violence, and that should deter Pakistan from propping up anti-India terrorist groups. Yet, the whole point of deterrence is that it should be credible and clearly identified. If India seeks to maintain the deniability in the pursuit of any non-military covert option for maintaing its 'responsible nation' image, then that is not a deterrent for Pakistan to stop doing what it does. So any response by India will have to filter through the above-mentioned considerations and compulsions. That is the ultimate dilemma for the government. Clearly another Mumbai-type attack will be rare, but in the meanwhile, expect many spectacular attacks to take place not only in the Indian hinterlands, but on the frontiers or in Afghanistan, targetting Indian interests and security forces. And responding to this new phenomenon will be the litmus test of the Indian government's resolve to fight and counter Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism. COLUMBUS Robert Bob Hudson, 83, entered into eternal life on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, at Brookestone Acres in Columbus. A graveside service will be held 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Roselawn Memorial Cemetery in Columbus with the Rev. Seong Lee officiating and military honors by the American Legion Hartman Post 84 Honor Guard. There will be no visitation. Memorials may be directed to the American Heart Association, Columbus United Methodist Church Building Fund or donors choice. Bob was born in Lincoln to Vergil Red and Gertrude (Watson) Hudson on Jan. 29, 1933. The family resided in Lincoln until Bob was 10 years old, when they moved to Norfolk. In 1948, the Hudson family moved to Columbus, where Bob continued to live the rest of his life. He was a 1952 graduate of Kramer High School. Shortly after graduation, Bob enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served four years from 1953 to 1957, with an honorable discharge. He was a Korean War veteran. While in the U.S. Navy, Bob was assigned to the Admirals Staff, Commander Carrier Division Three. He served aboard five aircraft carriers: USS Midway, USS Philippine Sea, USS Wasp, USS Oriskany and USS Yorktown, most of the time operating in the South China Sea and Formosan Straights. The carriers visited ports in Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippine Islands, Tachen Island, Okinawa and Hawaii. Aboard ship Bob worked in the Air Intelligence office handling confidential, secret and top secret materials. He was required to have secret security clearance to work with this material. Following his discharge from the U.S. Navy, Bob returned to Columbus and was employed by the Railway Express office and Star Oil Company. In 1960, Bob joined Becton Dickinson in Columbus, where he worked for 34 years, retiring in 1994. On Aug. 21, 1960, Bob was united in marriage to Norma Jantz in Omaha. Bob and Norma became parents of two lovely daughters, Lynne and Christy. The couple lived their entire married life in Columbus. They had the good fortune to travel extensively in the U.S. and abroad. Bob had a lifelong hobby of racing homing pigeons. This interest was sparked by a library book he read as a child about a fictional homing pigeon. Until recent years, he raised and raced competitively with the Platte Valley Homing Pigeon Club and was a member of that club. He had extensive knowledge of all breeds of pigeons. Another of his interests was aircraft, and he could name most every airplane ever built. He could tell you where and why it was made, whether for military, commercial or private use. Bob constructed close to 50 small-scale models of planes, ships and cars. These models had hundreds of pieces and parts to complete them. Bob was a member of First United Methodist Church and the VFW. He was most proud of his family and their accomplishments. Bob is survived by his wife, Norma Hudson of Columbus; daughters, Lynne (William) Brooks of Columbus and Christy (Dave) Braunger of Sioux City, Iowa; grandchildren, Christopher Hamling of Omaha, Taryn (Mike) Pagel of Omaha, Courtney Hamling of Columbus, Dr. Joshua (Melissa) Widhalm of West Lafayette, Indiana, Brenton (Jessy) Widhalm of Columbus and Nicholas Widhalm of Columbus; and great-grandchildren, Gracelyn Pagel of Omaha, Kynnlee Hamling of Columbus, Reid and Daniel Widhalm of West Lafayette, Indiana, and Carter and Gavin Widhalm of Columbus. Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Vergil and Gertrude Hudson; brother, Jim Hudson; grandparents; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. Condolences may be sent to www.gasshaney.com. Kandahar: A US air raid has killed eight Afghan policemen who were battling the Taliban, officials said Monday, the first apparent "friendly fire" incident since American forces were given greater powers to strike at insurgents. The incident happened on Sunday in the Tali area of the southern province of Uruzgan, where the Taliban recently attempted to overrun the provincial capital Tarin Kot in a major security breach. "The first air strike killed one policeman. When other policemen came to help, they came under a second air strike, killing seven of them," Rahimullah Khan, highway police commander in the southern province, told AFP. "It could not be unintentional," Khan added. Mohammad Sediq, a policeman who survived the attack, said their forces were "engaged in close fighting" with the Taliban when they were bombed. The NATO command centre in Kabul confirmed US warplanes had conducted an air strike in the area, but said they targeted individuals posing a threat to Afghan forces. "US forces conducted two air strikes against individuals firing on... our Afghan partners in Tarin Kot on 18 September," NATO spokesman Charles Cleveland said in a statement. "We don't have any further information on who those individuals might have been or why they were attacking (Afghan) forces. US, coalition, and Afghan forces have the right to self-defense, and in this case were responding to an immediate threat." Civilian and military casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the 15-year campaign against Taliban insurgents, prompting harsh public and government criticism. A US air strike killed up to 10 Afghan soldiers in July last year at an army checkpoint in Logar province south of Kabul, one of the deadliest episodes of "friendly fire" by foreign forces in recent years. NATO officially ended its combat mission in December 2014, but US forces in June were given more power to strike at the insurgents as President Barack Obama vowed a more aggressive campaign. The new authority gave the US-led NATO troops greater latitude to order air strikes in support of Afghan troops. Earlier this month Afghan forces backed by US air strikes mounted an offensive to flush out Taliban insurgents encircling Tarin Kot. Afghan forces repelled the attack hours later, bolstered by reinforcements. Uruzgan, a remote province with a huge opium production, is one of the biggest flashpoints in the Taliban insurgency that erupted after a US-led invasion brought down their regime in 2001. While "friendly fire" incidents involving foreign coalition forces are a volatile issue in Afghanistan, UN statistics show that the Taliban are responsible for most deaths. Washington: Strongly condemning the terrorist attack on an army camp in North Kashmir's Uri town that killed 18 soldiers, top American lawmakers across the aisle have called for bringing the perpetrators of the crime to justice. "I condemn the horrible terror attack against an Indian Army Base in Uri in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, which resulted in the death of 18 Indian soldiers. The terrorists who perpetrated this cowardly act must be brought to justice," said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus on Monday. "I extend condolences to the family and friends of the soldiers who lost their lives in the attack," Warner said. Republican Senator Tom Cotton said the pre-dawn attack on Indian troops while they slept was a cowardly act, one that deserves the strongest condemnation. "I extend my condolences to the Indian government and to the families of the fallen," he said. "The US and India share a vital interest in defending our democracies from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Both our nations must commit fully to deepening our security partnership so that radical jihadists are defeated and stability in the region is maintained," Cotton said. "I strongly condemn yesterday's terrorist attack in NW India. We will not let these attacks affect our united fight against terrorism," said Congressman Pete Sessions, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules. The Uri attack is a reminder to democracies the world over that terrorism seeks to destroy peace loving societies everywhere, said Republican Congressman Ted Poe. "It is still unclear which terrorist group carried out this cowardly attack, but one thing is certain. This is just the latest consequence of Pakistan's longstanding irresponsible policy of supporting and providing operational space for all stripes of jihadi terrorist groups," he said. Pakistan's reckless behaviour in this regard is a serious security risk to its neighbours and India unfortunately pays the price all too often, he said. Poe is Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non Proliferation and Trade. "We condemn this tragic attack, as well as Pakistan's support for many criminals like the ones who carried it out, and stand firm in our commitment to our friends in India. A threat to democracy in India is a threat to democracy everywhere. And that's just the way it is," Poe said. The Uri terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the threat international terrorism poses, said Congressman Brad Sherman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. "I strongly encourage the governments in the region to make every effort to find the terrorists that carried out these attacks and bring them to justice. The US should continue to assist these governments and ensure they can eliminate terrorist threats," Sherman said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in North Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Army. United Nations: World leaders on Monday approved a declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane response to the refugee crisis that has strained resources and sparked divisions from Africa to Europe. The issue of what to do about the world's 65.3 million displaced people took center stage at the UN General Assembly with leaders from the 193 member states taking part in the first-ever summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. Advocacy groups worried that the New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees an outcome document which contains no concrete commitments and is not legally binding falls short of what is needed, while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, himself a refugee during the Korean War, hailed it as historic. "Today's summit represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility," Ban said. Around the world, there are currently about 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million migrants, according to the UN Refugee Agency. The agency defines refugees as people forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution, while migrants choose to move in search of a better life. Philippe Bolopion, deputy director of global advocacy for Human Rights Watch, said the international community still had a long way to go in dealing with the crisis. "I would say if you measure this document by what is at stake here, it certainly falls short of the mark. We're facing a historic crisis and the response is not historic," Bolopion said on the sidelines of the meeting. He added that in many areas refugee protections were backsliding with a growing number of countries trying to turn back refugees in violation of international law. "Is the outcome document up to the challenge? No, unquestionably it's not. Does that mean the summit is pointless? No, because it's precisely at moments like this that you need to regroup," Bolopion added. The declaration seeks to standardize responses to refugee situations and provide better education prospects for the children who make up over half of the world's refugees. It also looks to improve working opportunities for refugees who are now spending nearly 20 years in exile on average. There are also plans for a campaign to combat xenophobia. All of this may prove an uphill struggle at a time when refugees and migrants have become a divisive issue in Europe and the United States. "The overall climate is not very favorable to receiving refugees in many parts of the world but on the one hand, states committed to this so we can remind them of their obligations. On the other hand, states, just like us, need a more predictable way of responding to the refugee crisis that's what this New York declaration proposes," Fillipo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told The Associated Press. Grandi said he disagreed with criticism that the declaration lacked concrete commitments. He said it expands the concept of refugee response beyond humanitarian aid like food, medicine and tents to include things like education and jobs. Still, advocates for refugees expressed disappointment that the UN's need for consensus meant that the stronger provisions in the declaration had been watered down. Several countries shot down an earlier draft of the declaration that called on nations to resettle 10 percent of the refugee population each year, something that has led several human rights groups to criticize the document as a missed opportunity. The US and a number of other countries also objected to language in the original draft that said children should never be detained, so the agreement now says children should seldom, if ever, be detained. More concrete progress is expected at a follow-up summit on Tuesday called by President Barack Obama, where at least 45 countries are expected to make pledges that are in line with US goals of increasing humanitarian aid by $3 billion, doubling resettlement and increasing access to education for 1 million youngsters and access to employment for another million of the displaced. "Both summits are crucial to raising awareness of refugee and migration concerns, and both events are designed to harness the political will of member states to address the global refugee and migration crises we are all facing," said US State Department spokesman John Kirby, speaking in Washington. The United States is one of the worlds leading destinations for globally harvested seafood. Estimates indicate that more than 80 percent of the seafood consumed annually in the United States is imported. We work with various international organizations to protect and conserve global marine resources. This means that in addition to national laws, we enforce international laws, treaties, and agreements that the United States signs as they relate to areas under our jurisdiction. NOAAs Office of Law Enforcement prioritizes efforts with foreign countries, federal partners, and non-governmental organizations to detect and prevent IUU fish and fish products from entering U.S. markets. We bring to justice those who seek to profit from this activity. In support of this priority, our International Operations Division leads a multi-faceted approach that includes: Monitoring imports into the United States, as well as seafood products in global trade Partnering with other federal and state law enforcement agencies to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud throughout the United States Engaging in multilateral and bilateral discussions with international partners to create enforceable provisions to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and develop cooperation and collaboration in detecting, deterring, and interdicting IUU fishing activity and trade Supporting broad and effective global implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement Providing technical assistance to global partners, with emphasis on major exporters of seafood to the United States, to assist in developing the fisheries enforcement capacity to detect and interdict IUU fish and fish products before they enter the global market Educating the public, consumers, and international audiences about the impacts of IUU fishing and fishing-related activities Learn more about Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Working Internationally with Law Enforcement Partners NOAAs Office of Law Enforcement relies on cooperation and partnerships at home and abroad in the protection and conservation of global marine resources. At home, OLE has forged critical partnerships to coordinate counter-IUU fishing assistance in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Along with other NOAA offices, we partner with: State and territorial law enforcement partners U.S. Coast Guard Department of State and its International Narcotics and Law Enforcement division U.S. Agency for International Development Department of Defense Beyond our borders, international partnershipsboth formal and informalplay a critical role in our efforts to combat IUU fishing. Information Sharing and Cooperation NOAAs Office of Law Enforcement continually works to increase our collaboration with international partners. These activities include information sharing, joint law enforcement operations, technical assistance to increase fisheries enforcement capacity, and participation in meetings between two or more countries. Examples of international cooperation and information sharing: Participating in International Regional Fisheries Management Organizations NOAAs Office of Law Enforcement represents the United States on numerous regional fisheries management organizations. We serve on U.S. delegations to annual and intersessional meetings to provide enforcement expertise on compliance issues and the development of new conservation and management measures. Some larger commissions we participate in include: Implementing the Port State Measures Agreement The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing seeks to prevent IUU fishing through the adoption and implementation of effective port state measures. These measures are a means of ensuring the long-term conservation and sustainable use of marine life. NOAAs Office of Law Enforcement is the primary agency responsible for implementing the Agreement, in coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard. Learn more about the PSMA and OLEs work to implement it Capacity Building and Technical Assistance The international community consistently seeks NOAAs Office of Law Enforcements expertise in environmental crime, criminal investigations, the fishing industry, vessel monitoring systems, and case management. Much of our international work focuses on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing through capacity building and technical assistance to international partners and agencies through government to government interactions. Learn more about our efforts to combat IUU fishing Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has attributed the current economic recession to the activities of militants in the Niger Delta. Osinbajo said there was no way Nigeria would not be affected, given the fact that the nation now loses over one million barrels of crude oil on a daily basis. The Vice-President said this on Monday at the maiden meeting of the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum, with members of the organised private sector and other stakeholders at the State House Conference Centre, Aso Villa, Abuja. The meeting is part of the Federal Governments effort to continually engage regularly with different segments of the Nigerian public on its economic policies and direction. Osinbajo said, Perhaps it is important for us to understand the nature of this recession in which we have found ourselves. A lot depends on what sort of recession and how we got here. If we did not have vandalism in the Niger Delta as we are currently suffering, we will not have this recession today. Moreover, in looking at the solutions, we should try to focus on the type of problem we have and what instigated it; then we can begin to come up with better solutions. The Federal Government has released proof of its efforts to secure the release of the Chibok girls, who were abducted from their school in April 2014 by Boko Haram, confirming President Muhammadu Buharis commitment to the safe return of the girls. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, September 16th, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the efforts included swap arrangements dating back to July 2015 which, however, failed for various reasons, including last-minute issuance of a new set of demands by Boko Haram elements. He said that in spite of the failure of the past swap agreements, the government and the security agencies have not relented in the bid to ensure that the Chibok girls are released safely, in line with the mandate given by the President who, upon the assumption of office, directed security agencies to urgently fashion out strategies to trace, locate and ensure the safe and successful release of the Chibok girls. Giving details of the first swap agreement, which was the most promising, Alhaji Mohammed said it failed in the last minute because Boko Haram decided to make a new set of demands, even after all arrangements had been made to exchange some Boko Haram fighters for the girls. Precisely on 17th July, 2015, the DSS opened negotiations process with the group holding the Chibok girls. However, in return for the release of some of these girls, the group also made some demands. These included the release of some of their fighters arrested including some involved in major terrorist actions, resulting in several fatalities, and others who were experts in manufacture of locally assembled explosives. This was difficult to accept, but appropriate security agencies had to again inform Mr. President o these demands, and its viewed implications. Again Mr. President gave his assent believing that the overall release of these girls remains paramount and sacrosanct. Meanwhile, following the above development, Government and the security agencies had sufficient leverage to work out the modalities of the swap. These included creating the safe haven, or necessary place of swap and working out the logistic details. Based on this, the DSS availed other critical sister agencies of this new situation. Immediately, the Nigerian Army and the Air Force sent some specialists to commence a detailed arrangement for the swap. This was during the last week of July 2015 and 1st week of August 2015. The officers representing the various agencies worked out the logistic details, such as the number of persons to be swapped i.e. number of girls and detainees to be exchanged, the vehicles and aircraft, as well as safeguards, i.e. safety of the persons, including the location of theswap. When it was finally agreed by all parties, Mr. President was again informed that the preparations were concluded, and the first step for the swap would commence on 1st August, 2015. Mr. President robustly gave his approval. On 4th August, 2015, the persons who were to be part of the swap arrangements and all others involved in the operation were transported to Maiduguri, Borno State. This team, with the lead facilitator, continued the contact with the group holding the Chibok girls. The Service was able to further prove to the group its sincerity, as it established communication contact between it and its detained members. All things were in place for the swap which was mutually agreed. Expectations were high. Unfortunately, after more than two (2) weeks of negotiation and bargains, the group, just at the dying moments, issued new set of demands, never bargained for or discussed by the group before the movement to Maiduguri. All this while, the security agencies waited patiently. This development stalled what would have been the first release process of the Chibok girls, he said. The Minister also gave the details of two more swap attempts that were made following the failure of the first agreement. By the month of November, precisely 13th November, 2015, another fresh negotiation process with the group was initiated. This time, there was the need to discuss a fresh component in other to avoid issues that had stalled the former arrangement. There were however some problems that many may not discern, but should be expected in this kind of situation. Some critical persons within the group who played such vital role in August, 2015 were discovered to be dead during combat action or as a result of the emerging rift amongst members of the group then. These two factors delayed the process. By 30th November, 2015 it was becoming glaring that the division amongst the group was more profound. This affected the swap process. By 10th December, 2015, another negotiation process was in place, but this failed to achieve results because of the varying demands by the group, he said, assuring that in spite of the failures, negotiation continued on new modalities to secure the release of the girls. The Minister said since the beginning of 2016, the security agencies have not only remained committed but have also taken the lead to resolve the Chibok girls issue, in spite of the current division among members of the terrorist group, which has seriously affected the efforts He commended the security agencies whom, he said, have sacrificed their time and energy, with some even paying the supreme price while fighting for the safe release of the girls, disclosing that many friendly countries and organizations have equally been very forthcoming in providing their human and technological resources to assist in the process. Addressing the parents and relatives of the Chibok girls, Alhaji Mohammed said: We are with you; we feel your pains and shall not relent until we succeed in bringing home our girls and every other citizen abducted by the group. He also appealed to all those who have shown concern in resolving this matter to continue to trust the efforts of Government to deal with the situation. Segun Adeyemi SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture 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. LeEco introduced its first driverless concept car LeSEE at an event in Beijing back in April this year. Today it has announced that its electric car division, SEE Plan (Super Electric Ecosystem Plan) has completed its first round of funding of US$ 1.08 billion from Chinese state-own finance institutions as well as conglomerates in the private sector. Leading investors include, Yingda Capital Management Co. Ltd.,, China Communication Construction Ltd., and China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp, Shenzhen Capital Group Co. Ltd., Legend Holdings, China Minsheng Trust, Macrolink Group and Hongzhao Fund. The company already announced that the LeSEE car has fully autonomous capabilities, including machine learning of facial, emotion, system and path recognition. Commenting on the funding, YT Jia, founder and CEO of LeEco said: The US$ 1.08 funding amount has set a new benchmark for the global automobile industry. This is a milestone for us. The participation of major institutions is a testament of their appreciation of the ecosystem business model and global strategy of LeEco. From this point on, LeSee will accelerate towards its goal of building a global electric transportation ecosystem powered by smart internet technology. Sony has just taken its wraps off of the A99 II SLT that succeeds the A99. It has a full frame 42.4 Megapixel sensor along with a capability of shooting 12 photos per second. The camera marks the 10th anniversary of the Alpha lineup from Sony. While Sony has been doing wonders recently in the mirrorless lineup, it has been a while since they released a DSLR or what they call SLT. It incorporates many of the features from the A7 lineup and in fact has the same 42.4 Megapixel high resolution sensor as the A7r ii and a 5 axis image stabilization from them as well. It wont be a proper brother to the A7 series without 4K video recording support and luckily the A99 II becomes the first DSLR to incorporate 4K recording on a Sony DSLR. It can capture upto 12 frames a second and 8 frames in live view mode. That puts it in the same league as high end professional DSLRs such as the Canon 1DX Mark II and the Nikon D5. The body is made of a magnesium alloy that is around 8 percent smaller along with a new grip that incorporates 2 SD card slots. The OLED viewfinder has a resolution of 1024768 pixels and the camera is both dust and water resistant. The screen at the back is a 3 one without touchscreen abilities. You can expect the A99 II to hit the stores in November at an expected price of US$ 3200 (Around 3600 Euros and Rs 2,14,480) Source Hillary Clinton commented on the New York City and New Jersey explosions just hours after they occurred, calling the incidents bombings but you wouldnt know that from watching CNNs coverage. CNN aired comments Clinton made to the press aboard a plane Saturday night. But in the footage, the cable network didnt broadcast the portion where the Democratic presidential nominee called the explosions bombings. We need to do everything we can to support our first responders, also to pray for the victims. We have to let this investigation unfold. Weve been in touch with various officials, including the mayors office in New York, to learn what they are discovering as they conduct this investigation. And Ill have more to say about it when we actually know the facts, Clinton said in the clip aired by CNN. Seconds after Clintons statement, a reporter sought her response to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps earlier statement that the explosions were caused by bombs, asking, Do you have any reaction to the fact that Donald Trump, immediately upon taking the stage tonight, called the explosion in New York a bomb? Well, I think its important to know the facts about any incident like this. Thats why its critical to support the first responders, the investigators who are looking into it, trying to determine what did happen, Clinton responded. But as the Hill pointed out , citing an ABC News transcript of Clintons comments, the former secretary of state didnt avoid calling the explosions bombings, either. Below are Clintons full remarks on the New York City and New Jersey explosions: Ive been briefed about bombings in New York and New Jersey, and the attacks in Minnesota. Obviously, we need to do everything we can to support our first responders, also to pray for the victims. We have to let this investigation unfold. Weve been in touch with various officials, including the mayors office in New York, to learn what they are discovering as they conduct this investigation. And Ill have more to say about it when we actually know the facts. A representative for CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheBlaze. President Barack Obama says the campaign between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump wouldnt even be close were it not for conservative media espousing misinformation. Obama made the comment during a Democratic fundraiser attended by about 65 donors in New York City on Sunday, CNN reported This should not be a close election, but it will be. And the reason it will be is not because of Hillarys flaws, but rather because, structurally, weve become a very polarized society, Obama said. If all youre doing is watching Fox News and listening to Rush Limbaugh and reading some of the blogs that are churning out a lot of misinformation on a regular basis, then its very hard for you to think that youre going to vote for somebody who youve been told is taking the country in the wrong direction, the president continued, adding that its going to be hard to overcome such structural divisions. It wasnt the first time Obama has blamed the media for the increasingly polarized state of the country. The problem is that when we get our politics, a lot of it has to do with the fact that our media is now splintered, some people are just watching Fox News, some people are just reading the New York Times, so they dont even start with a common baseline of facts, Obama said in January They almost occupy two different realities in how they see the world, the president added. One certainty about the future is that it's cloaked in uncertainty. Nevertheless, Newmont Mining (NEM -0.46%) management has graciously provided investors with a few peeks behind the cloak. Out with the old... In June, Newmont announced that it will be selling its stake in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, which operates the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia. Representing 4% of Newmont's gold reserves at the end of 2015, the Batu Hijau mine was one of the company's more expensive operations. At $965 per gold ounce, Batu Hijau's all-in sustaining costs (AISC) were the third highest of Newmont's 12 gold-producing mines in 2015. But it was strained relations with the Indonesian government that most likely led the company to leave the country. Identifying several benefits on the company's second-quarter conference call, management believes Newmont will emerge as a much stronger company following the closing of the transaction. According to Gary Goldberg, Newmont's president and CEO, besides mitigating risk, the deal "improves the underlying business by monetizing future production to fuel further balance sheet and portfolio improvements." The deal includes cash proceeds of $920 million, which Goldberg says "will be used to repay debt and self-fund our best projects." ... and in with the new While Newmont is bidding farewell to operations in Indonesia, it will soon be welcoming gold production at two new mines: Merian and Long Canyon. Located in Suriname, the Merian mine is about 90% complete, while gold production is expected to begin before the end of 2016. Estimating production to fall between 400,000 and 500,000 ounces on average for the first five years of production, management believes Merian may prove to be of substantial value for years to come. On the recent conference call, management stated, "We also continue to see strong exploration results, both beneath the current pit and elsewhere in the concession." About 80% complete, the Long Canyon mine, located in Nevada, is expected to begin commercial production in the first half of 2017. Management is forecasting production for the Long Canyon mine to average between 100,000 and 150,000 ounces for the first five years of production; moreover, the AISC is expected to fall between $500 and $600 per gold ounce. Decisions, decisions With numerous projects in varying stages of development, Newmont has its sights set on projects as far as 10 years away from actual gold production. The decision to pursue development of a project, however, is influenced by many factors, and there's no guarantee that each project in the pipeline will make it through to execution. By the end of 2016, management expects to announce its decisions regarding the approval of two expansion projects at its Ahafo mine in Ghana: the Ahafo Mill Expansion and the Subika Underground mine. According to management's estimates, the Ahafo Mill Expansion would contribute gold production of 75,000 to 100,000 ounces on average for the first five full years with production beginning in 2018. The Subika Underground, on the other hand, has the potential to produce between 150,000 and 200,000 gold ounces on average for the first five full years Although investors can expect to soon learn management's intentions regarding its projects in Ghana, they will have to wait longer to hear about operations in South America. When asked about the future of the company's Conga project -- where Newmont suspended construction operations in 2011 under political pressure -- in Peru, management revealed that it has "put Conga on the shelf for now." Elaborating further on the project, Gary Goldberg commented, "I don't see us in the current price environment, in the current social climate moving that project forward before 2020." Despite its lack of interest in Conga, management is looking closely at expanding operations at another project in Peru: Yanacocha, the largest gold mine in South America. Conducting definitive feasibility studies of Quecher Main, management estimates that this could extend the life of Yanacocha mine, translating to 200,000 ounces of gold production from 2019 through 2024. Management expects to announce its decision regarding the project in 2017. The takeaway A global leader in the gold-mining industry, Newmont is taking a big step in further strengthening its positioning by selling its stake in the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia. And with a strong pipeline of projects in varying stages of development, the company is well-positioned to prosper even more in the future. Investors will surely want to monitor the company's announcements regarding decisions to move forward or not with expansion projects, for these could provide great insights into where the company is headed. Congress is defending your right to Yelp. Legislation in Congress would ensure that customers who want to post negative reviews on websites like Yelp or TripAdvisor can do so without legal repercussions. That's in response to some businesses that have made customers sign non-disparagement clauses and then sued if a bad review showed up. Supporters say the legislation is needed to ensure freedom of speech in a growing online economy. "A lot of Americans, particularly in my generation, use those reviews," says 35-year-old Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass. "You look at good reviews and you look at bad reviews and both of those are very important." In one case, a Dallas couple was sued by a pet-sitting company for up to $1 million after giving the company a one-star review on Yelp and complaining that their fish had been overfed. The case was dismissed last month. The bipartisan legislation, which the House passed last week, was sponsored by Kennedy, D-Mass., and Republican Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey. Kennedy, who represents Needham, Mass.-based TripAdvisor, says fair reviews are important to build the strength of the so-called "sharing economy" that allows consumers to exchange products, services and ideas. Laurent Crenshaw, director of Public Policy for San Francisco-based Yelp, says the company has been trying to advocate for better protection for its users, including efforts to avert negative reviews with non-disparagement clauses. "Unfortunately, some have decided to try to intimidate and silence negative speech," says Crenshaw. He says the bill "will give consumers all across the country clarity that they are protected from these types of clauses." A Senate version of the legislation passed last year, and it is similar but not identical to the House bill, so the two will have to be reconciled before it heads to the president's desk. Both bills would ban contracts for goods or services to businesses that don't allow negative or truthful reviews and give the Federal Trade Commission enforcement over the issue. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said he hopes that they can move soon on the bill. "We're close to ending unfair gag clauses that can intimidate consumers away from telling the truth about their purchase experiences," Thune said. Ellen Schrantz of the Internet Association, a trade group that represents companies like Yelp, TripAdvisor and Amazon, says it's impossible to know how many people have been penalized by businesses for negative reviews after unknowingly signing contracts that banned them. She says reviews are necessary so average businesses can connect and grow. "Without protecting that you're not only looking at free speech issues, but massive economic issues," she said. In a related matter in California, Yelp is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's ruling that asked the company to remove some negative reviews of a law firm, saying it could set a precedent for the removal of other negative reviews and leave consumers with a skewed assessment of restaurants and other businesses. The firm has said the reviews are defamatory. While the non-disparagement clauses are still legal, Yelp is trying to let users know about them. The company is now tagging some companies' Yelp pages with a warning: "This business may be trying to abuse the legal system in an effort to stifle free speech, including issuing questionable legal threats against reviewers. As a reminder, reviewers who share their experiences have a First Amendment right to express their opinions on Yelp." ___ Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MCJalonick With interest rates set to rise next year, many dividend stocks could tumble as bonds become better wealth preservation vehicles for conservative investors. To sidestep that imminent sell-off, investors should be very choosy with their dividend plays next year. Image source: Pixabay. Dividend stocks with poor earnings growth, unsustainable payout ratios, or inconsistent dividend hikes should be avoided at all costs. This means that stocks such as Windstream Holdings (NASDAQ: WIN) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) -- which might attract investors with their high yields -- could be unsafe to own in 2017. Windstream Holdings Windstream Holdings provides network, data, and cloud communications services to businesses in mostly rural areas across 18 states. It also offers bundled broadband, security, voice, and digital TV services to residential customers with129,000 miles of fiber coverage. Windstream serves 1.4 million residential households, which is a tiny customer base compared with other telco giants, but it's still ranked as one of the top 20 ISPs in America. Windstream's core strategy is inorganic growth. Windstream has acquiredeight smaller broadband players since 2009 and recently agreed to merge withEarthlink (NASDAQ: ELNK) in a $1.1 billion deal. It also spun off its real estate assets into a separate publicly traded REIT, called CS&L (NASDAQ: CSAL), last April, which was accompanied by a dividend cut for Windstream shares. Windstream currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.15, which equals a forward yield of 7.8%. However, that payout hasn't been raised for six straight quarters. Windstream paid out $59.2 million in dividends over the past 12 months, which is unsustainable because it had a negative free cash flow of $171.9 million during that period. Windstream's revenue has declined annually for three straight quarters, because of waning demand from smaller businesses and wholesale services. It also posted a net loss of $66 million last quarter, compared with a loss of $7 million in the prior-year quarter. Those falling numbers and Windstream's negative cash flow indicate that investors should stick with other dividend stalwarts. Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch has become the poster boy for retail failure over the past few years. The apparel retailer's comparable-store sales have slumped for15 straight quarters, with relatively flat performance at its Hollister brand failing to offset double-digit declines at its namesake brand. A&F and many of its peers have struggled to counter "fast fashion" rivals such as H&M and Zara, which offer cheap apparel which is rotated within weeks instead of quarters.To make matters worse, A&F still hasn't appointed a new CEO after its controversial CEO, Mike Jeffries, resigned two years ago. Image source: Abercrombie & Fitch. A&F is trying to win back shoppers by phasing out its logo apparel, closing stores, reducing the music and scent levels at its stores, and launching marketing campaigns focused on "self confidence" to erase Jeffries' comments about A&F being an "exclusionary" brand which wasn't aimed at unattractive people. But Wall Street still isn't convinced -- analysts expect it to post a net loss on a 5% decline in revenue this year. Those headwinds make A&F's forward yield of 6.2% look wobbly. Its payout ratio of 123% indicates that its lack of earnings can't cover its dividend payments, and it hasn't raised its payout for three straight years. However, A&F's dividend payments over the past 12 months only used up 42% of its free cash flow. This means that A&F can keep paying its quarterly dividend of $0.20 for the foreseeable future, but the risks of the stock plummeting outweigh the rewards of a high yield. Moreover, A&F's P/E of 64 seems ridiculously high relative to the industry average of 24 and its earnings growth potential. The key takeaway I've covered many other bad dividend stocks in prior articles, but investors shouldn't completely avoid income stocks next year. They should focus instead on companies with solid earnings growth, sustainable payout ratios, and valuations that are lower than their industry peers -- three criteria that Windstream and A&F clearly don't meet. 10 stocks we like better than Abercrombie and Fitch When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Abercrombie and Fitch wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016 Leo Sun has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Getty Images. Shares in pipeline giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) have had a stellar year so far in 2016. After finishing up 2015 at $14.92 a share, its stock recently traded hands at $21.47,up nearly 44% year to date through mid-September. While that gain calendar year to date looks great, its shares remain well off of last year's highs. Kinder Morgan's stock price fell substantially near the end of 2015thanks to a threatened debt downgrade by Moody's and a subsequent dividend cut by the pipeline giant. Despite the rebound so far this year, Kinder Morgan's share price still has a ways to go before it retests its previous highs. Given the changes the company made to improve its balance sheet and cash coverage in response to that threatened downgrade, it now has more maneuvering room in how it operates. Keep reading to discover four ways Kinder Morgan may be able to use that enhanced maneuverability to help its share price rise. Potential No. 1: Restored growth prospects Prior to last year's debt concern, Kinder Morgan had identified over $21 billion in investment opportunities it thought it could explore over the next five years. After the company revamped its strategy because of the potential debt downgrade, that five-year investment pipeline shrunk to around $13.5 billion. The rest of those growth prospects didn't just disappear, but they did become uneconomical when Kinder Morgan had to revamp its financing strategy to protect its balance sheet. As Kinder Morgan continues its existing expansion plan, both the larger infrastructure and the better cash flows that the expansions bring once they're online could wind up providing the company with new opportunities for further expansion. If so, that will assure that Kinder Morgan's expansion pipeline remains strong, even if the company never returns to its previous debt-fueled expansion strategy. Potential No. 2: Restored access to the debt market When Moody's threatened the downgrade of Kinder Morgan's debt, its primary concern was a projected debt to EBITDA ratio of around 5.9, which is above its comfort zone for an investment-grade company. In Moody's most recent review, it projected Kinder Morgan's debt-to-EBITA ratio would drop to about 5.4 by the end of 2017. Better debt coverage translates directly to more financial flexibility -- and a restored ability to access the debt market to fund expansion plans. While Kinder Morgan will likely not be as reliant on debt as it was previously, regaining the ability to tap the debt market will help it enhance its potential to expand faster, and thus improve its anticipated future cash flows and fair market value. Potential No. 3: A return to dividend growth Kinder Morgan had developed a reputation as a company that paid out a very hefty and growing dividend, one that was barely covered by its operating cash flows. While its dividend cut did reduce the cash shareholders could expect each quarter, it also improved Kinder Morgan's dividend coverage and gives the company far stronger financial flexibility. It might take until 2018 or so before Kinder Morgan feels comfortable resuming its previous trend of dividend increases. Once it does, though, it will put the company back on the radar screens of investors looking for the potential of increasing income from their investments. Potential No. 4: Continued growth of energy demand 91% of Kinder Morgan's business is fee-based and driven by either take-or-pay contracts or volume-driven contracts. The company is much more reliant on the amount of energy flowing through its pipelines than it is on the final market price that energy commands. On that front, major energy producers project an increase in energy usage as the world's population grows,and getting that energy from where it's produced to where it's needed is Kinder Morgan's specialty. In particular, Kinder Morgan stands to benefit as America shifts to lower-cost and cleaner-burning natural gas from oil, particularly when it comes to heavy-duty transportation needs. As the largest natural gas pipeline company in North America, Kinder Morgan is better positioned than any other current pipeline company to profit from that increased demand. Despite last year's stumble, Kinder Morgan remains a strong business While Kinder Morgan stumbled near the end of 2015, the steps it took to strengthen its balance sheet and give itself more financial flexibility leave it stronger today than it was this time last year. Demand for its services remains strong and is expected to grow over time. It remains able to continue to expand its operations, despite the slower pace it finds itself on. And with its foundations stronger, investors may be able to once again look forward to increasing dividends in the not-too-distant future. Whether or not its shares rise in the near term will likely be more a function of the market's daily mood swings than an artifact of a substantial change in Kinder Morgan's fundamentals. Still, with a longer-term perspective in mind, today's Kinder Morgan is a very strong company trading at a reasonable current valuation that I'm willing to continue holding. A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early-in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here. Chuck Saletta owns shares of Kinder Morgan and has the following open options positions:Synthetic Long January 2018 @ $17.50 and Short Strangle January 2017 @ $20/$24. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Kinder Morgan. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Failed South Korean cargo line Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd has found the money to unload a full container ship waiting outside a New York-area port. But there is another problem: once unloaded, the empty vessel may not be able to go back out to sea. The predicament of the Hanjin Miami, one of 10 U.S.-bound ships stranded by the Hanjin bankruptcy, illustrates one way that disputes over ships, ocean containers and even truck trailers to haul the shipping boxes have stranded at sea some $14 billion of goods around the world. Since filing for court receivership on August 31, the world's seventh-largest container carrier has caused chaos for many retailers at a time when they are getting goods for the holiday shopping season. The National Retail Federation on Tuesday urged U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to find a way to clear up the confusion. "The impact on small and medium-sized companies could be particularly devastating if this situation is not resolved in a timely manner," the group said in a letter. Hanjin has the money to dock its Hanjin Miami, Federal Maritime Commissioner William Doyle, whose agency regulates international shipping, told an industry event on Friday. But the Miami is not being allowed in port because of a dispute about empty Hanjin shipping containers, which the Miami normally would load up as ballast to exit port. Without those empties, the ship "will not be able to depart the harbor because it would not have the air clearance to navigate under the Bayonne Bridge -- even at a dead low tide," said Doyle. Without a way to leave, the ship could tie up a berth. "There are so many disputes right now attached to empty containers that the terminal is not going to load the empties back onto the ship," Doyle said. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey declined to comment, as did an attorney for Maher Terminal, which operates the marine terminal in Newark where the Hanjin Miami is expected to dock. The Hanjin Miami is currently off the U.S. East Coast, about 300 miles from New York, according to Reuters Eikon data. The Bayonne Bridge, which held the title of world's longest arch bridge for 45 years after it opened in 1931, presents a unique challenge to Hanjin. But other ports also are struggling with questions of who pays for terminal charges and what to do with empty containers. The complexity increased on Monday after a South Korean judge told Hanjin to cancel its ship charter agreements and return empty vessels to their owners. In the wake of the decision by the South Korean judge, an empty Hanjin Miami may become the responsibility of Reederei NSB, which manages the ship on behalf of its owner, an affiliate of Conti Holding of Munich, according to Reuters Eikon data. A spokeswoman for Reederei and a U.S. lawyer for Hanjin did not respond to requests for comment. Port terminals, meanwhile, have stopped accepting returns of empty shipping containers because they doubt Hanjin will pay to store them. "The Hanjin boxes are radioactive. Nobody wants to take responsibility for them," said Mark Hirzel, chairman of the Los Angeles Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association Inc. As containers on chassis pile up in far-flung storage lots, it has created a shortage of the trailers used to transport containers on land. Darren Azman, an attorney for Bermuda-based Textainer Group Holdings Ltd said cargo owners and other Hanjin parties are working out an agreement that they hope will normalize the movement of shipping containers. But U.S. retailers and manufacturers who own the cargo are caught in the confusion. Alex Rasheed, president of Pacific Textile and Sourcing Inc, a Los Angeles-headquartered importer and wholesaler of apparel, is anxious to receive $300,000 worth of seasonal fall clothing in two containers on the Hanjin Jungil, which is waiting off the coast of Southern California. "We're going to start feeling the pressure unless there is some kind of resolution," Rasheed said. Hanjin's bankruptcy also has U.S. exporters that were relying on the company scrambling to find alternatives, including flying goods to foreign markets at a loss, said Hirzel. "I've even heard about air transport of agriculture exports," Hirzel said. "Economically, it's a guaranteed loser ... The only reason you would do that is to meet an order to get a contract in the future." (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, editing by Peter Henderson and Alden Bentley) Last Friday, upscale retailer Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) opened a new 220,000 square foot flagship store in Toronto. This marks its fourth store in Canada -- all opened within the past two years -- and its second Canadian flagship store. Nordstrom will open a second Toronto-area store next month. Nordstrom opened a flagship store at Toronto's Eaton Centre last week. Image source: Nordstrom. Nordstrom is just one of several big American retailers looking to expand into Canada. But success in the U.S. is no guarantee of success in Canada. Target's (NYSE: TGT) aggressive move into Canada a few years ago was a complete disaster, forcing the company to write off its entire investment. Here are two ways that Nordstrom will avoid a similar fate. Giving customers what they expect Many Canadian consumers routinely shop in the U.S. This isn't too surprising, as Canada's three biggest metro areas are all near the U.S. border. As a result, Canadian shoppers are familiar with U.S. chains like Nordstrom and Target. One of Target's biggest problems in Canada was that it didn't offer the same merchandise or price points in Canada as it did in its U.S. stores. Understandably, many shoppers familiar with Target's U.S. selection and pricing felt cheated. Target eventually cut its prices, but this just exacerbated its losses. The merchandise selection never really improved. The lesson for Nordstrom is that it needs to bring its best brands and legendary service to Canada. It is doing just that. For example, the company's fashion-forward SPACE boutique will have eight locations by this fall, of which three will be in Canada. Other top brands like Madewell that aren't even available in all of Nordstrom's U.S. locations will be featured in the new Toronto stores. Nordstrom has also hired employees months in advance for its new stores in order to thoroughly train them in Nordstrom's service standards. Training for department managers included five week placements in other Nordstrom stores where they could be mentored by the company's most experienced managers. Despite Nordstrom's best efforts, there will undoubtedly be bumps in the road. Fortunately, the company's slow pace of expansion there gives it time to test and learn. The best locations Having top-notch store locations is the other key to Nordstrom's strategy for success in Canada. Target settled for subpar real estate in its haste to expand in Canada, buying out more than 100 store leases from failing discounter Zellers. This made for a poor customer experience. Many of Target's stores in Canada were poorly located. Image source: The Motley Fool. By contrast, Nordstrom is putting full-line stores in Canada's best malls. Eaton Centre, where Nordstrom opened its first Toronto store last week, routinely ranks as one of the 10 most productive malls in all of North America -- not just Canada -- in terms of sales per square foot. Yorkdale Shopping Centre, where Nordstrom will open its second Toronto-area store next month, also regularly makes that top-10 list. So does Vancouver's Pacific Centre, the site of Nordstrom's other Canadian flagship. The other three malls hosting Nordstrom's first batch of Canadian stores are not far behind. This indicates that there are already many well-heeled consumers making their way to these malls. Nordstrom just has to get its fair share of this potential business. Execution is the key now Nordstrom has been patiently investing in its nascent Canadian business for several years. Part of the allure of this new market is that there is less competition than in the U.S. Nevertheless, Target's demise in Canada proves that succeeding there is not a cakewalk. With four stores open (and a fifth one coming next month), Nordstrom now has a solid footprint in Canada. Going forward, it just has to execute by providing the high-quality merchandise and excellent service it is known for in the U.S. If Nordstrom can do that, it has a good chance of winning over Canadian consumers. A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here. Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of Nordstrom. The Motley Fool recommends Nordstrom. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Shares of Mylan NV are trading at historically low valuations as the company's chief executive officer is set to face a congressional grilling on Wednesday over the price of its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment. The stock is trading at 7.5 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months, holding near its lowest in at least 30 years and well below its five-year average of 11 times, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream. Since late August, when the EpiPen price increases came into the spotlight, Mylan shares have fallen about 15 percent. For the year, they are off about 23 percent, against a nearly 4 percent decline for the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical index, a broad gauge of large and small drugmakers. A test for the shares looms on Wednesday, when Mylan CEO Heather Bresch testifies before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee over price increases of EpiPen, an auto-injector of allergy medicine. The hearing will come the day after West Virginia disclosed an investigation into whether Mylan violated antitrust laws or defrauded the state's Medicaid program. A probe into EpiPen pricing by a U.S. Senate subcommittee was also announced on Sept. 7. The stock "is just not working because of the overhang from all the headline stuff on EpiPen," said Guggenheim Securities analyst Louise Chen, who rates the shares "neutral". One concern among analysts is how fallout over EpiPen pricing will affect Mylan's roughly $1 billion in annual sales of the device. Mylan said last month that it would introduce the first generic version of EpiPen for $300, half the price of the branded product, as it tries to quell the backlash. Further competition looms from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, which hopes to start selling an EpiPen-like device by 2018. Chen also said investors were unsure of the benefits from Mylan's recently completed $7 billion acquisition of Swedish drugmaker Meda, which some had deemed expensive. Deutsche Bank analyst Gregg Gilbert stuck to his "buy" rating on Mylan stock earlier this month, noting its valuation. But in a research note, Gilbert cautioned: "Investors will have little patience if execution falters on the base business and/or the newly acquired Meda business." (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. FAQ - New Privacy Policy The chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co on Tuesday apologized for the bank's opening as many as 2 million bogus customer accounts that could generate fees for the lender. "I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices," CEO John Stumpf told a congressional panel. The bank's board of directors is examining what action it should take against company executives, Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee. Earlier this month, the lender agreed to pay $190 million in penalties and customer payouts to settle a case in which bank employees created credit, savings and other accounts without customer knowledge. Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, said in prepared testimony that his agency is considering action against individual Wells Fargo executives. "The OCC may take formal enforcement actions against institution-affiliated parties, including directors, officers, and employees, who violate any law or regulation, engage in unsafe or unsound practices, or breach fiduciary duty," Curry told a hearing of the senate committee. Sherrod Brown, the senior Democrat on the senate panel, blasted Wells Fargo for exploiting customers and the banks slow response to control the abuse. "I was stunned when I learned about the breadth and duration of this fraud," the Ohio lawmaker said in his opening remarks. Wells Fargo has acknowledged bank employees abused customers over five years and about 5,000 employees were fired in that time. Former bank employees have said they were under intense pressure to add accounts for each bank customer. Brown said employees were caught "forging signatures, and stealing identities, Social Security numbers, and customers hard-earned cash, so as to hang on to their low-paying jobs and make money for the high-paying executives at Wells Fargo." (Reporting by Dan Freed in New York and Patrick Rucker in Washington; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) Image source: iStock/Thinkstock. Shares of Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) could be in for a bumpy ride Tuesday, as its chairman and CEO John Stumpf testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs concerning revelations about a broad-based fraud that took place at the bank between 2011 and 2015. Over this stretch, 5,300 employees in Wells Fargo's branches opened up to 2 million unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts for consumers who neither approved of nor knew about the new accounts. To make matters worse, employees in many cases went so far as to surreptitiously transfer customer funds from their authorized accounts into the new, undisclosed accounts, thereby triggering overdraft and insufficient funds fees in the accounts from which the money was drawn. The actions were prompted by Wells Fargo's aggressive sales culture, which took hold after the 1998 merger between it and Minnesota-based Norwest. The head of Norwest at the time, Richard Kovacevich, who then took the reins at Wells Fargo, set a goal of selling eight financial products and services to each of the combined banks' customers -- be it a checking account, savings account, credit card, mortgage, home loan, or auto loan, among other things. It did so through cross-selling. Much like when an employee at McDonald's asks whether you want to add fries or a drink to your order, Wells Fargo's employees would try to persuade visitors to its branches to open a retirement account or apply for a new credit card. But unlike McDonald's, which has never quietly slipped a large order of fries into my bag, when a Wells Fargo customer declined the sales pitch, the bank's employees in many cases signed them up anyway. The fallout since the fraud came to light has been considerable. Aside from $185 million in regulatory fines and considerable reputational harm, heads have begun to roll at the California-based bank. In addition to the 5,300 employees who were fired, the person in charge of Wells Fargo's community bank -- where the fraud occurred -- stepped down in July. A month before that, the person who managed risk for the division went on a leave of absence. And analysts and commentators have even begun calling for chairman and CEO John Stumpf to resign or be fired by the board of directors. Data source: YCharts.com. Chart by author. Worst of all for shareholders, however, has been the impact on Wells Fargo's stock price. Since the beginning of September, the bank's stock has declined by more than 9%, making it the worst-performing big bank stock over this stretch. That translates into a $23 billion decline in Wells Fargo's market value, meaning it is no longer the biggest bank in America by that measure -- it's been surpassed, at least for the time being, by JPMorgan Chase. It's impossible to say for sure what the outcome of Tuesday's hearing will be. That said, with Senator and staunch consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren on the panel, it isn't likely to be a friendly reception. Stumpf will undoubtedly be prepared for tough questions, but any surprise revelations could cause Wells Fargo stock to drop further. A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here. John Maxfield owns shares of Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool has the following options: short October 2016 $50 calls on Wells Fargo. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. President Obama is delivering his eighth and final address to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, at a time when many are questioning the efficacy of his foreign policy initiatives. Tensions are still running high in the Middle East, particularly in the Persian Gulf, after Iran threatened to shoot down two U.S. Navy spy planes flying over international waters last week. Acts of aggression and provocation have been on the rise as the hostile nation flexes its military muscle in a show of strength against the United States, raising questions about Tehrans diplomatic intentions. At a State Department briefing last week, deputy spokesman Mark Toner admitted to FOX News James Rosen that Irans behavior has worsened since the nuclear agreement was signed. As much as we would like to see Iran's behavior change in the region, we've not seen a significant shift, Toner said when Rosen asked about Irans increasing aggression since the accord went into effect. After Rosen asked him to clarify, Toner responded, I don't have all the facts and figures in front of me, but we have seen some disturbing trends. This begs the question, has the Obama administrations attempt at detente actually emboldened the worlds leading state sponsor of terror? Absolutely, theres no question about it, Lt. General Tom McInerney tells FOXBusiness.com. [The deal] has given them confidence since theyve dealt with this administration, and how desperate the President was to get an agreement like this Theyre publicly humiliating him. The Iranians received a windfall of money when the agreement was enacted. The deal lifted sanctions on the oil-producing regime, and unfroze $150 billion in Iranian assets. Not to mention the $1.7 billion in cash the Obama administration sent to Iran earlier this year, $400 million of which coincided with the release of four American prisoners. According to former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army General Jack Keane, the nuclear deal did something much worse than simply open Irans financial flood gates. It gave the rogue nation credibility on the global stage. They have a renewed confidence the nuclear deal has legitimized the regime Iran is legitimized in the international community, the retired four-star Army general tells FOXBusiness.com. But what does Iran hope to gain from brazenly challenging U.S. armed forces? Keane believes the goal is regional hegemony in the Middle East: Their overall goal is strategic; to dominate the region and spread the Islamic Revolution. The means to do that is to drive the United States out of the region and therefore [the] Sunni states would be considerably more exposed. Iran seeks to weaken U.S. credibility in the region since the Sunni Arabs already see the current administration as an unreliable ally. If the Iran agreement has instigated this resurgence of bad behavior, is there reason to worry that Iran will cheat on the restrictions imposed by the nuclear deal? General Keane says if they havent broken the accord already, they will soon; they will not wait 15 years to get a nuclear weapon. Lt. General McInerney believes the Iranians are already cheating; Tehrans intercontinental ballistic missile program violates a U.N. Resolution, it purchased the S-300 Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system from the Russians which violated an adjunct clause of the deal, and it is now looking to buy advanced fighter planes, also from Russia. McInerney adds we also dont know whether Iran is following the enrichment protocol. This nuclear agreement should have been a treaty, we have never in our history, and I have been a part of them, had a nuclear agreement that was not a treaty and voted by the Senate, McInerney notes. A nuclear Tehran would be a serious threat to global stability because nations like Iran cannot be expected to act in accordance with the principles of mutually assured destruction; the idea that a state will not deploy a nuclear warhead for fear of retaliation in equal, if not greater, strength. Irans leaders historically have extolled suicide bombers and given the fact that they see suicide attacks as an acceptable military technique if they applied that kind of thinking towards nuclear weapons, then mutually assured destruction may be less of a deterrent and more of a goad, James Phillips, senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at The Heritage Foundation, tells FOXBusiness.com. Iran is a unique actor because of its vast ties to terror groups. It gives more than $300 million annually to Hamas, contributes a significant portion of Hezbollahs funding, and provides an estimated $6 billion per year to the Syrian Regime. The great danger we face [with Iran] is nuclear terrorism, explains Lt. General McInerney. Those weapons will end up in U.S. cities. The fact that we are facing the risk of nuclear terrorism is a failure of the Obama administrations policies, explains General Keane. [President Obamas] seminal foreign policy objective has been this nuclear deal with the Iranians in the hope that we would have an overall rapprochement with Iran; that they would join the community of nations and behave as a responsible country. The naivete of that is astounding. As President Obama prepares to exit the White House, does either of the candidates that will assume office in November have the foreign policy chops to crack down on a truculent Iran? Phillips believes Hillary Clinton would continue the current administrations policies of diplomacy. She was present at the creation of the Obama administrations Iran policy, and she never really criticized it when she was in office or out of office I dont think in terms of policy there would be that much difference. Trump has said he would renegotiate the Iran deal, but has been tight-lipped about specifics. Still, Lt. General McInerney has hope that Trump would offer a change of pace. I believe that he will reinforce the peace through strength, and attempt to get the balance using the allies we have in the Middle East to counter to this Iranian crescent thats sweeping across the region. I do believe that he will contain it, McInerney says. While General Keane advises reengaging the Middle East, strengthening relationships and potentially forming an Arab NATO, McInerney tells FOXBusiness.com that a regime change in Iran is the only way to contain its aggression. No matter who wins this election, one thing is clear; he or she will have a gargantuan task navigating the turbulent relationship with an increasingly hostile Iranian regime. Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt after learning he was cheating on her with his sexy co-star, a well-placed source told The Post on Tuesday. She hired a private eye because she felt that he was fooling around with her on the set, and it turns out, he was. And that was the final straw, the source said. Pitt, 52, had been rumored to have been cozying up to his Allied co-star Marion Cotillard, 40, for months during the pairs filming of the World War II drama in London. The PI discovered that was Pitt cheating on his wife of two years with Cotillard while also partying like a single guy on a mission, the source said. PHOTOS: Brangelina: The way they were The atmosphere [off-set] was full of hard drugs and Russian hookers, and Angie was told Brad got caught up in it, the source said. Hes in the throes of some insane midlife crisis, and Angie is fed up. FANS REACT: Team Jen gets their revenge Jolie, 41, was sick and tired of sparring over their lifestyle, another source said. She has increasingly wanted to quit Hollywood in favor of devoting herself full-time to traveling the globe for her humanitarian work, while Pitt prefers Tinseltown and its parties, the source said. Go to NYPost.com for the full report. Hollywood's most famous couple is calling it quits. Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, a lawyer for the actress told the Associated Press. According to court documents, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt on Monday, citing irreconcilable differences. Pitt affair behind Jolie divorce filing? The actress is seeking physical custody of their six children, with visitation rights for Pitt. Pitt released a statement to People magazine. "I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids," he said. "I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time." FANS REACT: Team Jen has their revenge A rep for Jolie did not return FOX411's request for comment. Their children are: 15-year-old Maddox, 12-year-old Pax, 11-year-old Zahara, 10-year-old Shiloh, and 8-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. Though together for 12 years, Pitt and Jolie Pitt only wed in August 2014. They married privately in the French hamlet of Correns in Provence. PHOTOS: Brangelina: The way they were It was the second marriage for Pitt, 52, who previously wed Jennifer Aniston, and the third for Jolie Pitt, 41, who was previously married to Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller. The pair infamously got together on the set of their movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" while Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston. They also starred together in the widely panned 2015 film "In the Heart of the Sea," which Jolie directed, about a couple trying to save their failing marriage. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, became an outspoken voice for refugees and various causes in Africa, as well as for breast cancer treatment after undergoing a double mastectomy. Pitt has been heavily involved in rebuilding New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He has two films coming out at the end of 2016. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A new "flash" blood sugar monitoring system cuts down on episodes of low blood sugar in people with type 1 diabetes, researchers say. Low-blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, can be dangerous in diabetics. Sometimes called an insulin reaction, or insulin shock, severe cases of hypoglycemia can lead to unconsciousness and seizures. The new Freestyle Libre sensor, a small device that's worn on the upper arm, automatically checks blood sugar every 15 minutes and stores the information. A separate reader device, when held close to the sensor, can display current glucose level, glucose readings over the past 8 hours, and whether glucose has been rising or falling. This can be repeated as often as desired. Patients' "marked increase in self-monitoring frequency" after they started using the Freestyle Libre device "resulted in an almost immediate reduction in hypoglycemia both during day- and night-time," Dr. Jan Bolinder from Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden told Reuters Health by email. Dr. Bolinder and colleagues from 23 European hospitals compared the new glucose monitoring technology to conventional self-monitoring of blood glucose for prevention of hypoglycemia in 239 adults whose type 1 diabetes was already well controlled. They randomly assigned patients to use one technique or the other, and they focused on the amount of time patients' blood sugar was low over a 24-hour period. This "time in hypoglycemia" decreased by 38% - from almost 3.5 hours per day to 2 hours per day - with the new monitoring system, but it barely changed in the group that continued to use conventional self-monitoring. In fact, all measures of low blood sugar were significantly better with flash glucose monitoring both during the day and overnight. According to the September 12th report in The Lancet, time spent with high blood sugar was also reduced to a greater extent in patients in the flash monitoring group than with conventional monitoring. The researchers think these improvements resulted from increased attention to blood glucose levels. Patients in the flash monitoring group checked their blood sugar an average of 15 times a day, compared with only about six times a day in the conventional monitoring group. The reductions in time spent in hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) did not translate into differences in hemoglobin A1c levels, insulin doses, or quality-of-life between the groups, however. "For many individuals, hypoglycemia is a barrier to optimum glucose control," the researchers conclude. "Novel sensor-based systems to monitor glucose hold great promise as an effective alternative to conventional self-monitoring of blood glucose." "My guess is that this type of device will replace conventional (finger-prick) self-monitoring of capillary blood glucose in subjects with insulin-treated diabetes in the near future," Dr. Bolinder said. Dr. Roman Hovorka from the University of Cambridge in the UK, who coauthored a commentary published with the study, told Reuters Health, "For those who are very well controlled, wearing Libre reduces hypoglycemia and promotes frequent glucose monitoring. The device tends to be (nearly) cost neutral - this is great benefit driving adoption even if not reimbursed." The Freestyle Libre sensor is manufactured by Abbott and is presently available only in Europe, although the company is working to get it approved in the United States. Abbott sponsored the study and has financial relationships with all of the researchers. Although he couldnt stand up, Charlie, a 15-year-old black lab mix, played an integral part in the wedding of his owner a few days before his death. Kelly OConnell, 33, a veterinarian, adopted Charlie Bear when he was 12 weeks old, after he was found abandoned in a shopping cart and taken to an animal shelter, The Knot reported. Five months before the Sept. 3 wedding, Charlie was diagnosed with a brain tumor, People reported. In the week before the wedding, Charlie had five seizures and OConnell and her fiance, James Garvin, considered putting him down, but he seemed to be getting better, so they waited. "And it was worth it to see the happiness on his face that day. He wanted to be there, and I'm glad he was, OConnell told People. Charlie was able to walk down the aisle for the Estes Park, Colorado, wedding, but then couldnt get up and walk after the ceremony ended. OConnells sister and maid of honor, Katie Lloyd, picked up the 80-pound dog and carried him instead. This is one of the most tightly knit, animal-loving families Ive ever met, Boulder-based photographer Jen Dziuvenis told The Knot. I would expect nothing less of Katie than to scoop up her sisters dog and carry him up the aisle if he wasnt able to make it himself. Dziuveniss photos of the ceremony have gone viral ,and the moment hit home for her because she lost her own black lab a few months ago, The Knot reported. I had to just keep shooting while trying not to drown my camera in tears, she told The Knot. Im so grateful that I was able to capture these photos for them and that I was able to do this moment justice. On Sept. 9, Charlie was put to sleep at home in front of the fireplace. "I'll miss Charlie. He was my best friend. But he'll never be forgotten, OConnell told People. And we'll always have the wedding photos to remember him by." OConnell and Garvin who is also a veterinarian now have four dogs. The world scene is changing, and not for the better. In recent weeks, Iran and Russia two countries that exploit perceived weakness have repeatedly flexed their muscles against the U.S. military both in the air and on the sea. The brazen and threatening actions aimed at our military are designed to do one thing intimidate the United States. In addition to the provocative actions of Iran and Russia, we are constantly reminded of the growing threats of the Islamic State (ISIS) radical jihadist terrorists pledging to destroy America and our way of life. A change has recently occurred in U.S. policy toward the Middle East, as we have begun to withdraw from the region under President Obama. The U.S. has substantially withdrawn its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and has, for the most part, chosen not to involve itself in the civil war raging in Syria, due to the Obama administrations foreign policy decisions. This departure has created a vacuum in the Middle East, a void waiting to be filled by some other country. If the United States is unwilling to sacrifice and stand up against dictators and terrorists, then the dictators and terrorists will work together to ensure more people around the world are oppressed, and they will oppose the United States at every turn. President Obama has consistently failed to name our enemy. He desires to create a modern international community based on mutual respect, international security, and global prosperity. This is a false narrative, plain and simple. How can these things be achieved when the United States faces a serious security threat? Only after we understand the true nature of the enemy we are facing will we be in a position to effectively combat it. What we are now seeing is the formation of a truly unholy alliance. Enemies of the West including Russia, Syria, Iran, the Islamic State, and others are working together even if they are traditional enemies themselves such as Shiite and Sunni Muslims, or Russia and Iran in order to destabilize the world and seize power for themselves. For example, Shia Iran is supporting Sunni Hamas because they both want to see Israel wiped off the face of the planet. Eager to spread its vision of Islamic revolution throughout the Islamic world, Iran has been strategically expanding its reach through proxy terror organizations ever since it overthrew the Shah in 1979 and established the Islamic Republic of Iran. At the same time, Russias activity in the Middle East has greatly increased as our former Cold War foe attempts to regain a foothold in the region and assert control over lucrative oil resources. As Iran seeks to fill the vacuum and oppose American interests around the world, it has cultivated an alliance with Russia, a nation led by a former Cold War intelligence officer who dreams of returning Russia to its Soviet-level influence in the region and throughout the world. Our enemies no longer fear us and our allies dont trust us. If the United States is unwilling to sacrifice and stand up against dictators and terrorists, then the dictators and terrorists will work together to ensure more people around the world are oppressed, and they will oppose the United States at every turn. When we show weakness, they show strength. When we withdraw, they advance. When we lack strategy, they execute their strategy. And let there be no doubt, this will result in more terrorist attacks, more aggression, more lives lost, and a reshaping of the world order. Nowhere is the unholy alliance between Russia and Iran more clearly displayed than in their partnership with Syrian president Bashar alAssad against the rebel forces attempting to overthrow his regime. Both Russia and Iran have supported Assads regime as part of a strategic alliance. Iran and Russia share one goal in Syria to keep the Assad regime in power. In July 2015, Iran and Russia rapidly and significantly increased their political and military cooperation. Ultimately, if Russia and Iran continue to fight for the Assad regime in Syria, the result will be an expansion of Irans influence in Syria. This expansion will further destabilize the Middle East by placing Iranian forces in Sunni-Arab lands as well as on the border with Israel, expanding the Iranian hegemon, and strengthening Russias presence in the region at the United States expense. One thing is clear: when the United States fails to lead, enemies of freedom will fill the vacuum and do everything they can to spread terror and oppression. This is not just a matter of geopolitical gamesmanship between global superpowers. Real lives are on the line the lives of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, women and children, and innocent people of all ethnicities and nationalities. But as history has also made clear, in a globalized world, terror and chaos are not contained in one region. What happens there will impact our lives here in the United States as well. But all hope is not lost. The United States and our allies can defeat this wave of aggression and terror. In my new book Unholy Alliance I reveal an action plan we can take to eliminate this dangerous threat. First, we must clearly identify the enemy. Call the enemy what they are: radical jihadist terrorists who are at war with us. They will stop at nothing to destroy us and our way of life. Further, the U.S. needs strong leadership and deep resolve if we are to succeed in this new war. Though the Nazis have been vanquished and communism has been diminished, we now fight a more ancient and ideological foe - a foe that wants each and every single one of us dead. Our country has fought evil and defended the oppressed. In order to do so again, we must realize the true nature of the enemies who stand against us and proclaim the shared values that have made America so exceptional all along. As the school year kicks off and the presidential campaign swings into high gear, many American kids are seeing their global counterparts (via the news or social media) hungry, alone and scared in countries like Syria, Central America, Africa and elsewhere. We would be hard pressed to find anyone whose heart didnt ache when these images flash across the screen. But American policy towards refugees, here and abroad, is as divisive as ever and millions of children remain unwilling pawns in civil wars and political games. In a report published in early September, UNICEF estimates that an astounding 50 million children around the world have been uprooted. In Europe alone, UNICEF has also estimated that nearly 100,000 unaccompanied children applied for asylum. The USA Today reported that in Europe alone, 26,000 unaccompanied children entered Europe. American children likely cant help but see on the news, images of their global counterparts in countries like Syria, Central America, Africa, and elsewhere hungry, alone, and scared. It would be hard to find someone whose heart didnt ache when these images flash across the screen. When civil wars go unresolved, refugee and migrant children may be hurt or killed by violence, lose their parents, may have to flee their homes or countries, risk danger, trafficking and exploitation on their journeys to safety, and will go without education, leaving them vulnerable and susceptible to radical influences. When civil wars go unresolved, refugee and migrant children may be hurt or killed by violence, lose their parents, may have to flee their homes or countries, risk danger, trafficking and exploitation on their journeys to safety, and will go without education, leaving them vulnerable and susceptible to radical influences. This is a major humanitarian, economic, and security risk. Republicans and Democrats will disagree on how to handle this situation and the war in Syria, but as individuals we can still help vulnerable children. No matter what your political affiliation, this dire situation should prompt us to act to protect these defenseless children. While both parties may disagree on policy related to resettlement to the United States, the enormity of the child refugee problem can make us begin to question what we -- as individuals -- can actually do. Here are some concrete steps we can all take: First, our children can take action. They represent important voices for kids their age around the world. In our schools, collecting money to support programs for displaced children run by charities like UNICEF is a great option. Kids can volunteer with organizations that help to educate about issues facing vulnerable children globally and how they can play a role in advocating for those kids. They can work with teachers on letter writing campaigns to their elected officials to call attention to the urgent needs of children in the developing world. This dissemination of knowledge is empowering- educating our children about global citizenship and child rights engages them in an exploration of humanitarian issues and can inspire them to take action to improve their world. Second, as adults, we have the opportunity to push our schools to urge students to learn about the world around them. Naturally some images and topics will be too disturbing, but there is valuable content that can be part of a curriculum. This will not only educate kids but also perhaps lay the groundwork for future action as they grow and mature. Third, policymakers also have a critical role to play. As individuals we should push them to design policies that focus on the needs of vulnerable children globally and address the civil wars that are the pervasive cause of displaced children. Its time for all of us to do more to protect the worlds most vulnerable children. Lets not lose any more time. Morgan Ortagus and Samantha Vinograd and are leading advocates of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Both have served in various capacities for the U.S. government both domestically and abroad. Morgan Ortagus is also a Fox News contributor. What's truly intriguing about the attacks over the weekend, wasnt the attacks themselves -- but the responses to them. FIRST, CONCLUSION JUMPING IS FINE, AS LONG AS ITS MEDIA APPROVED. We are warned not to jump to conclusions, which is prudent -- except it's usually the media that does the most jumping. The first jump is, "Don't say its terrorism." The second jump: "Blame the gun." The third jump (when it's not a gun) is: "Its a pressure cooker." But not a bomb! Please don't say bomb!! I've said it before: Hardening soft targets is the industry we must embrace. Instead of spending time thinking about how to fight terror, why not take steps to prevent it? Accompanying this response is also sometimes this: Imagine if it were gun! It could have been so much worse! Yea, tell that to the 9/11 dead brought to their deaths via box cutters. The fourth jump "It's a random attack." But then usually, after we find a link to terror (the St. Cloud terrorist asks victims if they're Muslim; the Chelsea bomber had traveled to the Middle East a number of times prior), everyone pretends they always knew it was terror. So here we see a media more outraged over saying bomb, then being bombed. But by avoiding the term "bomb," while a rigged pressure cooker is staring you in the face -- isn't that jumping to a conclusion, too? By saying it "doesn't appear to be terrorism" -- isn't that jumping to conclusion as well? Perhaps you should pretend it could be an angry tea partier upset over ObamaCare (I will never forget that one, Mr. Bloomberg). By the way, it appears the bombs all had timers. Was it wrong to immediately assume they were bombs, when they could have been clocks? SECOND, THE BEST RESPONSE, WAS THE HOLY ONE. Meaning, an off- duty cop filled a terrorist full of holes. Putting the Saint in St. Cloud, Officer Falconer quickly hardened a soft target -- adding a gun to the mix, saving lives. The mall was a soft target before he got there, which allows a powerful side by side comparison. - Without a gun, a terrorist stabs people without interruption. - When a gun appears, the terrorist is dead. I'd call that a pretty good cause and effect. Imagine if a replica had been present in Orlando? Or Paris? The lesson? Every arena is better served by turning soft to hard. I've said it before: Hardening soft targets is the industry we must embrace. Instead of spending time thinking about how to fight terror, why not take steps to prevent it? By the way, after Officer Falconer wasted that creep, I was patiently waiting for the article entitled "Another senseless act of gun violence." But it never happened. Anti-gun celebrities are lucky they weren't at that mall to see their luxurious gun control beliefs go up in smoke. Also, Officer Falconer is an NRA licensed firearms instructor, according to the website Bearingarms.com. I dont think Id question them on this topic, Michael Moore. THIRD, WE SHRUGGED. The citizen response to the attacks in Chelsea seemed low key. In my neighborhood a half mile away, people kept drinking -- interrupted only by their phones, warning them to stay away from windows on 27th street. The bombing did not stop the pub crawl -- I know -- I was the one crawling. The downside to this reaction: it appears we don't take this stuff seriously, especially when no one dies. We've gotten used to these things. The upside: treating it like it's no big deal deflates the aspirations of terrorists. It's our way of saying, go screw yourself you pathetic creeps. But my gut tells me if it were 30 deaths instead of 30 injuries, the nonchalance would have been all chalance (i doubt that's an actual word). Which leads me to FOUR: THEIR FAILURE MUST STILL BE SEEN AS SUCCESS. Even if no innocents died in St. Cloud, Manhattan or New Jersey, one should ignore that (Id say, instead to pretend the opposite) and focus only on the intent. Someone wanted people to die, and will continue wanting people to die. So relaxing one's guard because the bomber was sloppy is pure stupidity. The bombs will only get better, and the terrorists more savvy. You need to look at terrorism as any kind of typical organism that is shaped by interactions with an environment. What we perceive as failure is merely knowledge the organism ingests to improve itself. Terrorists will learn from what happened Saturday, the same way terrorists learned from what happened at the World Trade Center in 1993. You couldnt have had 9/11 without having that attack occur first. FIVE: As always, my problem with news coverage is with the mindless repetition of details -- which elevates the infamy of the fiend responsible. If we reported it like celebrity suicides (i.e. mute it to prevent copy cats), that would deprive the perverse appeal these creeps get from their actions. But the fact is, we are in the business of reporting news, and expecting anything else is a losing game. I will continue to write about terrorism, because frankly, what else is there that concerns us more? Editor's note: The following column originally appeared in The Hill newspaper and on TheHill.com. She called out the haters, the bigots and the racists as a basket of deplorables. And then some Democrats told Hillary Clinton to walk it back. David Axelrod, President Obamas former top political guru, called Clintons words a mistake that might allow Republican nominee Donald Trump to seize the high ground. The New York Times liberal editorial page similarly concluded real damage had been done because Clinton had written off a group of voters by saying they were irredeemable. Sally Kohn, the left-leaning CNN commentator, wrote in The Washington Post that what is, in fact, deplorable is not only that Clinton said this but that she apparently believes it. Kohn explained that while Trump is clearly running a xenophobic campaign thats pandering to white nationalism, most of his supporters are filled with resentment that is partly about identity but also about economic suffering. Clinton, Kohn argued, should be reaching out to these voters, not offending them. This line of thinking from influential white Democrats reminded me of a line in President Reagans 1989 farewell address: Dont be afraid to see what you see. And here is what I see: Mike Pence, Trumps vice presidential running mate, was asked a few days after Clintons speech if he would call former Ku Klux Klan leader and white supremacist David Duke a "deplorable." "No, I'm not in the name-calling business, Pence responded, refusing to condemn an indisputable racist and Trump supporter. Instead, Pence complained: "What Hillary Clinton did Friday night was shocking. I mean, the millions of people who support Donald Trump around this country are not a basket of anything." And then I saw Trumps son, Donald Jr., post an image of his dad, Pence and Alex Jones. Jones is best known for advancing the conspiracy theory that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people. Jones has also suggested the government is putting chemical additives into juice boxes, intending to make children homosexual to control population growth. And Jones claims the massacre of school children at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 was staged as part of a government plot to enact gun control and that no children were actually killed there. Trump has praised Jones for his amazing reputation and appeared as a guest on his show during the GOP primaries. Earlier this month, Trump Jr. tweeted an article from Jones website which stated that Hillary Clinton was wearing an earpiece during a forum with Matt Lauer on NBC News. Clinton was not wearing an earpiece, of course. At a Trump rally last week in Asheville, N.C., a 69-year-old woman protesting against the GOP nominee at one of the candidates rallies was punched in the face by a Trump supporter. She later called a North Carolina television station to ask if people found a Trump supporter punching her in the face deplorable? So, I see a lot of deplorable behavior. But some political thought-leaders including some Clinton supporters prefer to excuse it as the actions of a few misguided people and not representative of most Trump supporters. Can we determine if close to half of Trump supporters hold deplorable beliefs? Lets go to the polls. An April poll taken by Reuters found that a large percentage of self-described Trump supporters describe black people as more lazy than whites (40 percent), less intelligent than whites (32 percent), more rude than whites (44 percent), more violent than whites (48 percent) and more criminal than whites (46 percent). Another Reuters poll taken in July found that 58 percent of Trump supporters have either a very unfavorable or somewhat unfavorable view of the entire religion of Islam. These are racist views. If they do not count as deplorable, then the word deplorable no longer has any meaning. By the way, a Washington Post/ABC News poll has 60 percent of Americans agreeing that Trump is personally biased against women and minorities. Another shocking poll from NBC News/Survey Monkey taken in August found that just 27 percent of Republicans agreed with the statement Barack Obama was born in the U.S. Trump burst on to the national political stage five years ago as the birther-in-chief, perpetuating this overtly racist conspiracy theory about the first black President of the United States. Only last week did he finally and briefly acknowledge that Obama was born in the United States. As she prepares for her first debate with Trump next week, Clinton needs to unapologetically remind voters especially traditional Republicans who are uncomfortable with seeing their party overrun by extremists of the racist, paranoid fringes that Trump has invited into the nations politics under the banner of the Republican Party. Clinton laid the groundwork in a speech in Nevada last month when she declared that "a fringe element has effectively taken over the Republican Party." She accused Trump of disregard for the values that make our country." After being scolded for her deplorables comment, Clinton backtracked. She explained that she was being grossly generalisticI regret saying half that was wrong. Clinton should not have apologized. Calling out the bullies and the bigots in a national presidential election is brave. Listen to her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). She advanced the notion that if youre chumming around with the head of the KKK thats deplorable, Kaine said. Youve got to call that out. If youre attacking immigrants, thats deplorable. If youre attacking LGBT Americans, thats deplorable. If youre attacking people because theyre Muslims, thats deplorable. To quote President Reagan once again: Dont be afraid to see what you see. When you have a 48-hour reign of terror journalists usually tell you about the suspect except when hes Muslim. Reporters have been going out of their way since Monday to hide that New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami is Muslim. Monday, all three broadcast networks buried that fact deep in their series of stories about the attacks. All three used the same backhanded way of mentioning the Islamic connection by discussing his familys lawsuit over alleged discrimination. Then there was the Minnesota stabbing spree over the weekend, committed by Muslim Dahir Ahmed Adan, who was killed after stabbing 10 people in a mall. Both attacks were reportedly committed by Muslims not born in the United States. But viewers were left to read between the lines of the reports to figure all that out. Broadcast news is too politically correct for honesty. Monday night, all three broadcast networks hid the Muslim connection until their second story on the attacks. NBC was typical. It went through one entire report on the arrest before it even mentioned Rahamis faith. NBC anchor Lester Holt set the stage just as the other networks did, calling Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan. They said nothing about his faith. Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel slipped in the key detail in the second report. He talked about the familys lawsuit against police over their restaurant. 'Muslims make too much trouble in this country,' they claimed a neighbor said. Naturally, Engel pointed to that as a possible motive. But was it a dispute over the family business that enraged Ahmad or something else? he asked. ABC and CBS employed the same strategy, telling viewers nothing about the suspects faith until the second segment about the attack. ABC anchor David Muir explained, The family owning a fried chicken restaurant, claiming they were discriminated against because they are Muslim. CBSs Michelle Miller operated from the identical playbook. The Rahamis allegedly refused and filed a lawsuit against the mayor and 20 police officers, saying they were being targeted because they were Muslim, she said. The stabbing attack was blatant in Minnesota. According to NBCs Blake Falconer, Adan was said to have referenced Allah, as he began stabbing eight men, one woman, and a 15-year-old girl. St. Cloud, Minnesota, Police Chief William Blair Anderson gave key detail: There was at least one victim who was asked if they were Muslim. Yet networks were unwilling to connect the two incidents or speculate about motive. It wasnt just the broadcast networks. USA Today posted a ridiculous story Tuesday at 8:06 a.m., claiming to be What we know about Ahmad Khan Rahami, suspect in NYC-area bombings. Only that story never mentioned Islam or called the suspect a Muslim. The article went on to report how one friend said, Rahami got more religious and dressed differently after a trip to Afghanistan several years ago, the AP reported. It left readers to guess his religion. Too bad huge numbers of people now view their news on their Smartphones. Journalists could have adopted the slogan: PC News for your PC. Consider that many of our greatest presidents have had health concerns and still have served brilliantly. The real focus on candidates health therefore should not be strictly on some physical or mental criteria for serving, but rather on the publics right to know. Some of our greatest presidents served brilliantly despite health concerns. FDRs heroic battle with polio has inspired disabled people for generations. John F. Kennedy served unflinchingly while suffering from chronic back ailments. Ronald Reagan returned to the Oval Office less than a month after he was nearly killed by a gunman. But in many cases, our presidents kept their condition at least partly a secret. FDR also had heart disease; he died of a brain hemorrhage three months into his fourth term, leaving the Manhattan Project and the ending of World War II to his unprepared vice president. Dwight D. Eisenhower also had heart disease; he had a heart attack while in office in 1955. JFK hid the extent of his back problems, and it wasnt revealed until years after his death that he took steroids daily for Addisons Disease. But times have changed. We are living in an age of information, and the more the better. Secrecy causes problems. If the president or even a candidate for president has a health condition, the public has the right to know. Even Jed Bartlet, the fictional president on TVs The West Wing, wrestled with revealing his condition before concluding that the public deserved to know. Public anxiety over the health of presidential candidates, especially those over 65, rose to its highest level in 2008. John McCain, who was 71 with an extensive history of melanoma, received a lot of pressure from the media and finally felt compelled to release his entire medical record over 1,100 pages for a private viewing of reporters and physicians, myself among them. In the current election, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both over 65 years old. And though at least one of them, Clinton, has a fairly extensive health history, neither she nor Donald Trump has released a full set of records. Last weeks summary letters from their personal physicians provided useful and reassuring information in terms of their vital signs, heart tests and basic lab work. In Clintons case, it also provided a detailed account of her rapid recovery from a community acquired pneumonia. Trump is overweight, enjoys fast food and takes a cholesterol lowering statin drug. Clinton has sinus and allergy trouble and takes thyroid medicine along with Coumadin (a blood thinner) because of her history of blood clots, most recently a Transverse Sinus Thrombosis (in the brains outside drain) in 2012. But these records didnt tell the whole story. Missing were an explanation of Clintons fainting or near-fainting spells and the actual records of her concussion and blood clot in 2012, though Dr. Lisa Bardack, her internist, did report in a 2015 letter that follow-up neurological tests in 2013 were normal and that the clot was gone. Bardack also noted in her current letter that a CT scan of the brain six months ago was normal. Dr. Harold N. Bornsteins brief letter about Trump last week did provide important normal test results but did not provide a detailed chronological record of the candidates health issues over the years. It was an honor and a privilege to be allowed to see inside the life and health of John McCain in 2008, though I never expected I would find evidence of a melanoma recurrence eight years after the cancer was removed. Still, his history was enough of a reason to have a look. The process taught me and 21 other journalists and physicians a lot about the candidate and his health. It was courageous of McCain to allow us to look. I would like the same privilege and opportunity now with Clinton and Trump because of their age OR health history. As with McCain, I dont expect to find a problem. But if there is one, the public should know. Overcoming health concerns is relatable. It makes you stronger. It isnt something to hide. As President Obama runs out the clock on the last months of his Administration, promulgating sweeping rules and acting by executive fiat wherever possible, perhaps he should use his pen and phone to make another unilateral move: putting Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards on the White House payroll. I am by no means a fan (watch our exchange from last year here), but as much control as she wields over this administrations decisions, they might as well give her a title and some office space. After all, on her watch President Obama became the first sitting President to address Planned Parenthoods annual fundraising gala; closing his remarks by asking Gods blessing over the big-abortion enterprise apparently not realizing the sad irony at any point in his remarks. Last year, the White House praised Planned Parenthoods high ethical standard even as it was implicated in the heinous trafficking of baby body parts. And more recently, we learned from Planned Parenthoods own annual report that the organization saw an increase of $25 million in taxpayer funding, while the total number of medical services provided dropped by more than 10 percent during the same timeframe. Now, in what may be Richards final act as shadow White House abortion czar, the Obama administration has quietly issued a proposed rule that would strip states of the right to steer federal dollars away from Planned Parenthood and towards more trusted community health centers that provide a broader range of services to women. It is a transparently political ploy that, if enacted, promises to be a boon for the scandal-ridden abortion provider and a blow to the conscience rights of millions of pro-life American taxpayers. First established in 1970, HHS administers a grant program known as Title X that provides funding to states for family planning services. In recent years, my home state of Tennessee adopted a system whereby these dollars would be doled out by the state to county health departments who would then determine appropriate subrecipients. All 95 counties in my state have identified community health centers and other providers aside from Planned Parenthood who meet all applicable eligibility criteria to receive this funding, effectively cutting off Planned Parenthoods access to Title X funds in Tennessee while protecting the needs of underserved women and families. In recent years, other states have enacted or tried to enact similar measures. This proposed rule from HHS would undermine such state laws, dictating exactly how states must choose recipients for these grants. Youd be right to ask surely the administration has factual evidence from neutral sources to warrant such an action, right? But take a closer look: The HHS rule cites research from the Guttmacher Institute six different times throughout its 31 pages. If the name sounds familiar, thats because Guttmacher was formerly an entity housed within Planned Parenthood Federation of America and is even named after a former Planned Parenthood President. Dont take my word for it, read the details on their website here. The Obama administration should be embarrassed by this attempt to pass off the work of a pro-abortion think-tank as nonpartisan research in an attempt to push its agenda. I am working with Senator Joni Ernst to gather co-signers on a letter to the Obama administration expressing the deep concerns of Members of Congress regarding this government overreach, but we cant stop there. We must use the full force of Congress and the grassroots strength of the national pro-life movement to defeat this rule. We must also finally do the work of reforming our regulatory system to stop government bureaucracies from circumventing Congress to legislate in the form of a rule. That is why House Republicans recently unveiled Better Way agenda calls for giving Congress the power to take an up-or-down vote on rules lame-duck administrations try to force through on their way out the door. The Obama administrations actions to protect its political allies at Planned Parenthood are personally appalling, but they also point to the pro-life movements growing strength. The president used this backdoor maneuver because Congress and state legislatures across the country have held the line, voting to prioritize true womens health over abortion and to provide funding to health care providers that will meet the needs of women and families while protecting the existence of our unborn. As hearts and minds are reached with the truth about the brutality of abortion and Planned Parenthoods disregard for the most innocent among us, laws will continue to change and lives will be saved a last-ditch administrative edict notwithstanding. The AFL-CIOs endorsement of a pipeline project expected to create thousands of infrastructure jobs has rankled liberals activists, including a member of AFL-CIOs coalition. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka announced his support for the Dakota Access Pipeline, a proposed 1,200-mile project capable of transporting nearly 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota to Illinois. Trumka said that union workers and the region will benefit from the 4,500 jobs the project is expected to create and touted the safety and efficiency of pipeline transportation of crude oil. The AFL-CIO supports pipeline construction as part of a comprehensive energy policy that creates jobs, makes the United States more competitive and addresses the threat of climate change, he said in a Friday release. Pipelines are less costly, more reliable and less energy intensive than other forms of transporting fuels, and pipeline construction and maintenance provides quality jobs to tens of thousands of skilled workers. Several Native American and environmental groups oppose the project, and some labor activists say that the union should rescind its endorsement. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), a member group of the AFL-CIO with more than 20 chapters nationwide, joined a coalition of minority union workers to oppose the project. The Labor Coalition for Community Action, composed of the APALA, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, among others, said that the union must stand in solidarity with minority communities, rather than corporate greed." Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon. It took a $4 computer chip, and an Ivy League Ph.D, to apparently hack a voting machine. "If you replace the computer program in a voting machine, then it will add up the votes in a different way," said Princeton University Professor Andrew Appel. Appel, who is the Eugene Higgins professor of computer science and until last year the director of the graduate program, focuses on computer security and voting systems -- and says he needs just "seven minutes alone" with a voting machine to tamper with it. "[Replacing the program] could shift votes around from one candidate to another, before the polls close ... There is the potential for fraud in touch-screen voting machines that are still used in six to ten states," he said. Appel in 2008 first conducted a demonstration on how to hack a touch-screen voting machine, as part of a lawsuit against New Jersey officials. His test, though, recently has gained renewed attention in the wake of the hacks of Democratic National Committee emails, and the suspected hacking of state election systems in Arizona and Illinois this summer. While Appel notes there has been no documented case of a voting machine actually being hacked in the manner that he did, he warns it could happen simply by replacing the machine's computer chip -- which costs about $4 -- with one that is pre-programmed to change the votes. In his demonstration, he changed the votes by swapping out the machine's computer chip for one that he was able to reprogram to display another tally. "I figured out how to make a slightly different computer program that just before the close of the polls shifts some votes around from one candidate to another, and I wrote that computer program onto a memory chip ... and now to hack the voting machine, you have to get seven minutes alone with it with a screwdriver." Appel's video shows that while voters cast ballots for the candidate of their choice, the machine allotted different results when the votes were counted. John Brzozowski, the deputy superintendent of elections in Hudson County, N.J., insists that in real life, such chip-switching cannot really be done. "In our experience here in this office, we all concur that we have not seen one documented case of a machine being compromised," he said. "I believe that you would have to go through an enormous amount of time and energy, and I don't know how you could possibly do that to 500 machines and get the secrecy and time to do so. I don't believe that's possible," he said. Brzozowski and his staff took Fox News on a tour of the security area of their Jersey City headquarters where machines are stored. He pointed to multiple safeguards and safety procedures that protect machines. They are locked in secure areas, under 24-hour 7-day-a-week camera surveillance. Broken security tape on vital parts would show any violation of a machine. For security reasons, he would not detail all the measures that authorities take to protect the machines and the integrity of the voting process. "We have so many security measures I don't see how it would be possible," he said. "We have a product that works, and is reliable and is secure." But the professor insists he exposed a loophole. "While the machines are stored in a voting machine warehouse, the doors are locked and they have security cameras, but many people have to have access to those machines to maintain them," he said, noting that machines are often delivered days before an election to various polling sites. He worries about the level of security at polling locations. Officials insist those machines are properly protected as well. The Bergen County, N.J., Board of Elections said, "We take great security measures in New Jersey. We are very confident in our system and in our machines." The voting machine company, Dominion Voting Systems, issued a statement to Fox News faulting Appel's demonstration, citing his use of a "de-commissioned machine." The company says it "is not a realistic assessment of the security of a voting terminal as it is used in actual elections. The physical and operational security of voting devices and the overall election platform is paramount -- regardless of the technology ... a hack of any voting terminal that is not conducted in a real-world election environment -- with its physical security, pre-election testing and audit processes in place, is simply not a credible test." But even the 'winner' of Appel's vote-changing demonstration thinks he is onto something. Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich won the rigged vote tally. For the purposes of his demonstration, Appel used some of the 2008 presidential candidates' names as samples. In the machine that was compromised, Kucinich received four votes to 16 for former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. But the professor's reprogrammed computer chip simply changed the results, so that the machine counted a tally that put Kucinich on top, 12 votes to Richardsons eight. "Once again we learn that the integrity of the election process can be put at risk through manipulating technology," said Kucinich, who is now also a Fox News contributor. "This story indirectly makes a case for paper balloting, with the count occurring on the spot as soon as the polls are closed." "The good news is that it is not something that you can easily do from Russia," Appel said. "But the bad news is that it really is possible to do locally." Follow Eric Shawn on Twitter: @EricShawnTV Fox News' Marta Dhanis contributed to this report. A new memo sent by Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook declares Clinton has many paths to 270 electoral votes, while Donald Trump has very few hes right, but Trumps potential path to victory looks a bit wider than it did a month ago. The race across the battleground states has tightened considerably, according to Fox News projections released Tuesday. While Clinton still has the overall Electoral College advantage, the Fox News Electoral Scorecard shows the race between Clinton and Donald Trump becoming more competitive in New Hampshire, Colorado and even Minnesota and Trump gaining the edge in Iowa. New Hampshire is now rated as toss-up, after previously having been rated a lean Democrat state. Colorado also is now rated as toss-up, after previously having been rated lean Democrat. Minnesota is now rated as lean Democrat, after having been rated solid for the Democrats. And Iowa is now rated as lean Republican after having been rated a toss-up. In New Hampshire, both campaigns are fiercely fighting for the states mere four Electoral College votes. Clinton had held a lead in the state, but Trump looks to have closed the gap. Clinton also had long looked to be comfortably ahead in Colorado, but she failed to lock the state down. Her campaign even pulled down TV ads in the state. Clinton still has some advantages in the Centennial State, but polls show a tightened race one recent poll showed Trump ahead. Meanwhile, Trumps polling lead in Iowa, a state with a lot of working-class white voters, has grown more comfortable. The state has gone Democratic in five of the last six presidential elections, but it looks friendlier to Trump than most of the other battleground states. Minnesota still looks like a state that the Democrats can hold, but Trump appears to have a small chance of expanding the map into this long solidly blue state. Other battlegrounds -- North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona -- are all still rated as toss-ups in the latest projections. And while polls have tightened in Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, Clinton continues to have an edge in all of them. Overall, Clintons electoral edge remains significant. If Clinton wins the states rated solid Democrat along with the states rated as leaning in her direction, shed have 260 electoral votes. If Trump wins the solid Republican states along with the states currently seen as leaning in his direction, hed come away with 170 electoral votes. Neither candidate, though, reaches the 270 electoral votes needed to win the 2016 presidential election without winning some of the toss-up states, which hold 108 electoral votes. The liberal media are freaking out over the possibility that Donald Trump might win the presidency. They are denouncing their profession, decrying what they see as a press corps that coddles Trump and castigates Hillary Clinton, and demanding a change before it is too late. Lets take a deep breath and see if they have a credible case, or whether this is pure partisanship. Its been just 18 days since Politico reported that Hillary Clintons advisers were telling her to prepare for a possible landslide in the Electoral College. Now, with Trump pulling roughly even in national polls and ahead or within striking distance in most battleground states, a Trump administration is no longer some distant mirage. Some folks on the left are so convinced that Trump would be a disaster, and so mystified why roughly half the country doesnt view him with the same disdain, that they are lashing out at the media. I would pose this question: Why do these pundits think theyre so much smarter than everyone else that they can clearly see Trumps flaws but others are blinded by lousy media coverage? Id also pose this question: Can anyone seriously say there hasnt been an avalanche of negative coverage about Trump and the birther issue, Trump and the Khan family, Trump and the comments about Second Amendment people taking care of Clinton, Trump and the Mexican-American judge, and on and on? At the same time, Ill confirm this point: Trump creates so many serial controversies that its hard for journalists to keep up with them all. He changes positions, such as on mass deportations, with barely an acknowledgement. He backtracks, such on his earlier birther crusade, without apology. I pressed him last week on the lack of any public record for his contention that he opposed the Iraq invasion. As reporters chase each story, other ones, such as his refusal to release his tax returns, slip off the radar. But its not like Americans havent had sustained exposure to Trumps strengths and weaknesses for more than 15 months. Perhaps the most vociferous plea comes from Nick Kristof, the liberal, Pulitzer-winning New York Times columnist who often writes about human rights around the world. He thinks Trump is a crackpot: I wonder if once again our collective reporting isnt fueling misperceptions. A CNN/ORC poll this month found that by a margin of 15 percentage points, voters thought Donald Trump was more honest and trustworthy than Hillary Clinton. Lets be frank: This public perception is completely at odds with all evidence....Clearly, Clinton shades the truth yet theres no comparison with Trump. Im not sure that journalism bears responsibility, but this does raise the thorny issue of false equivalenceIs it journalistic malpractice to quote each side and leave it to readers to reach their own conclusions, even if one side seems to fabricate facts or make ludicrous comments?... We owe it to our readers to signal when were writing about a crackpot. Even if hes a presidential candidate. No, especially when hes a presidential candidate. Kristof is among the journalists making the case for false equivalence, that Trump is so much less credible than Clinton, even though Clinton has had problems with her private email server and family foundation. So it must be that the press is being too tough on her and not tough enough on Trump. Another liberal Times columnist, the Nobel Prize-winning Paul Krugman, asks: Why are the media objectively pro-Trump? Im not sure how objective a strongly ideological commentator can be, but heres his case: Its not even false equivalence: compare the amount of attention given to the Clinton Foundation despite absence of any evidence of wrongdoing, and attention given to Trump Foundation, which engaged in more or less open bribery but barely made a dent in news coverage. Clinton was harassed endlessly over failure to give press conferences, even though she was doing lots of interviews; Trump violated decades of tradition by refusing to release his taxes, amid strong suspicion that he is hiding something; the press simply dropped the subject And I dont see how the huffing and puffing about the foundation which raised questions, but where the media were completely unwilling to accept the answers they found fits into this at all. No, its something special about Clinton Rules. I dont really understand it. But it has the feeling of a high school clique bullying a nerdy classmate because its the cool thing to do. Clinton has had testy relations with the press, in part because of that whole no-press-conference-for-nine-months thing (and her national interviews were rather infrequent). But is it really fair to say that journalists are bullying her, and enjoying it to boot? Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, in more measured tones that harken back to Spiro Agnews criticism of the press, says that Trump coverage has become a new crisis of credibility: There is the matter of Trumps outsize access to television time during the primaries that dwarfed the attention given to his competitors. Liberals insist further that Trump is being held to a much lower standard than is Hillary Clinton, which, in turn, means that while relatively short shrift is given to each new Trump scandal, the same old Clinton scandals get covered again and again But the coverage of Trump and Clinton does suggest that a media exquisitely sensitive to conservative criticism now overcompensates against the other side Journalists need to ask whether they have created a narrative about Clinton that paints her as less trustworthy than Trump even though the factual evidence is overwhelming that he lies far more than she does. Its worth repeating: The media may have covered too many of Trumps primary rallies, but the big imbalance in coverage was largely due to his doing a zillion interviews while the likes of Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush were hard to get. And have journalists really created a narrative about Clinton that has made people distrust her? Isnt this a problem that has been building in the quarter-century since the days of Whitewater and cattle futures, since she testified before a grand jury as first lady? Doesnt she bear some responsibility for a lack of skill at defusing damaging stories? Some on the left make their argument in more apocalyptic terms, such as Salon: According to what were observing online and via cable news, Hillary Clintons negatives are eons more grievous than Donald Trumps missteps, even though theyre not, and even though this disparity unfairly elevates Trump and his poll numbers. This is how elections are titled toward despots and undisciplined strongmen. Theyre legitimized and humanized despite their long menu of unprecedented gaffes, lies and treachery. And its not hard to see the way the tone has changed in news stories, such as this piece in the New York Times: Routine falsehoods, unfounded claims and inflammatory language have long been staples of Mr. Trumps anything-goes campaign. But as the polls tighten and November nears, his behavior, and the implications for the country should he become president, are alarming veteran political observers and leaving them deeply worried about the precedent being set, regardless of who wins the White House. There is plenty of room for debate about the quality and thoroughness of Trumps coverage. But if the media get blamed for his recent surge, dont they also get credit for his high negatives? The fact is that Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush all won elections despite varying degrees of unsympathetic coverage from the press. The media need to be aggressive in holding both candidates accountable. But they cant be blamed for the fact that tens of millions of American voters now favor the outsider candidate that many commentators, on the left and the right, detest. A long-time Elizabeth, N.J., businessman and neighbor of accused bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami told Fox News Tuesday, I have known him for such a long time, he was not alone. There is no way that Ahmad was alone in this. He made bad connections. Rahami, 28, is accused of planting two bombs in New York City and several explosive devices around New Jersey. He was captured during a dramatic shootout with police Monday in Linden, N.J., and now is recovering in a hospital while being held on a $5.2 million bail. Jaime Reyes, owner of Sonias Beauty Color Express in Elizabeth, just doors away from the Rahami family-owned chicken restaurant operated by the accused bombers father, said the family lived above the restaurant and had eight children, five boys and three girls. In public records reviewed by Fox, the father, Mohammad Rahami said he separated from his wife Najiba in 2005, but Reyes told Fox that he saw her living at the residence all the time. As for Ahmad, Reyes said he wanted to be a poet and always carried around a small book. He said it was unclear what Ahmad did except occasionally work at the cash register in the family restaurant. He was always doing different things and disappeared for long periods of time, Reyes added. Reyes insisted repeatedly to Fox that Ahmad did not do the bombs single-handedly. Knowing him for such a long time, he was not alone. U.S. officials noted Rahamis several trips to Afghanistan but said he was not on any terrorist watch list. Reyes said he last saw Ahmad two or three weeks ago and he did not know him as bitter or a hater. He added that the father, Mohammad, frequently complained to him about his kids losing their (Afghan) heritage. Mohammad is very strict, Reyes said, and was not happy when Ahmad fathered a baby girl with a former girlfriend who was Dominican. Reyes, who is of Dominican heritage himself, said he would try to console Ahmad and joke that hey, your daughter is half-Afghan, half Dominican. The 53-year-old Mohammad told Reyes that he wanted all his sons to get married in Afghanistan. Reyes said the father told him recently that Qasim is getting married now over there. Records reviewed by Fox indicate Qasim, another son, is about 25. The elder Mohammad repeatedly told Reyes that he is always happy to send his sons to Afghanistan because he would take their phones away so all they would do was pray. In addition, Reyes said the father told him his sons would lose weight over there. Reyes told Fox that Ahmad got married in Afghanistan about two or three years ago. He added, Ive never met the Pakistani wife formally, but I do remember, I remember someone outside our shop pointing to a baby boy saying, Thats Ahmads son. Published reports indicate Ahmads Pakistani wife, Asia Bibi Rahami, may now be in the UAE, where she was detained and undergoing questioning by U.S. authorities. Separately, Fox has confirmed that the U.S. has requested a formal investigation of the couple by the government of Pakistan. Officials who spoke on background told Fox current relations between the two countries were extremely delicate. Reyes said his salon still has not been allowed to re-open due to the ongoing investigation. President Obama, in his final address as president before the U.N. General Assembly, called Tuesday for more global cooperation especially in helping refugees from war-torn countries while making only passing reference to the Islamic State and the ever-expanding scourge of like-minded terror groups. The president called for a course correction for globalization to ensure nations don't retreat into a more sharply divided world, while pushing back against an isolationist approach gaining popularity in many countries. He advocated for open democracies and open economies, while railing against the example set by Russia and calling for more tolerance in all nations. He also took what appeared to be a jab at Donald Trump, saying: The world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent extremism from affecting societies. With that message in hand, Obama urged nations to follow through even when the politics are hard, in helping refugees fleeing conflict. We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home, he said. We have to have the empathy to see ourselves. The appeal comes ahead of a refugee summit Obama was hosting Tuesday afternoon with the leaders of Jordan, Mexico, Sweden, Germany, Canada and Ethiopia, along with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Yet despite Obamas focus toward the end of his speech on the refugee crisis, he made little mention of terrorism, aside from describing how persecution and intolerance in the Middle East contributed to the Syrian civil war and the mindless medieval menace of ISIS and saying this violence "will not be quickly reversed." The president, though, was unabashed in his critique of Russia as he laid out his diagnosis of the world's ills. Obama's longstanding differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his actions in Ukraine have accompanied intense disagreement over Syria's future and a series of failed attempts by Russia and the U.S. to resolve the civil war there together. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. The president's focus on refugees comes after Obama was criticized by other nations for not doing enough to help those fleeing their countries because of war or for other reasons. Countries participating in the summit Tuesday are expected to announce individual pledges that are in line with a U.S. goal of increasing humanitarian aid by $3 billion, doubling resettlement and providing access to jobs and education, said Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Last week, the White House announced that the U.S. would resettle 110,000 refugees in the coming year, a 30 percent increase over the 85,000 allowed in this year. Obama also faces security concerns at home, though, over the prospect of admitting more refugees. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has made warnings about such refugees a centerpiece of his campaign -- the candidate renewed those warnings in the wake of weekend terror attacks in Minnesota, New York and New Jersey involving foreign-born suspects. He and other Republicans also seized on a new watchdog report finding more than 800 immigrants from countries of concern who were set for deportation were mistakenly granted U.S. citizenship because the Department of Homeland Security didnt have their fingerprints on file. World leaders, though, are grappling with the largest crisis of displaced persons since World War II -- more than 65 million people who have fled their homes because of armed conflict or persecution, or because they are seeking asylum or a better way of life. Power said the U.N. summit wouldn't be a "panacea" for the crisis, but would show what the U.S. can achieve when it leads on an issue of global concern. The administrations 85,000 figure included 10,000 Syrian refugees, a figure advocacy groups had criticized as inadequate given the wealth of the U.S. and the fact that other countries, such as Canada and Germany, were welcoming far greater numbers of Syrians fleeing the civil war there. More than four dozen U.S. businesses also pledged $650 million in support to help refugees, the White House announced Tuesday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is accusing the Obama administration of "lying" to Congress about the security on U.S.-Cuba commercial flights -- saying officials have failed to follow through on a commitment to place federal air marshals on board those routes. In a letter to President Obama on Monday, the Florida senator noted that at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing last week, Transportation Security Administration official Huban Gowadia confirmed there are no air marshals on board commercial flights to Cuba. Yet at a May 17 Homeland Security subcommittee hearing, Department of Homeland Security official Seth Stodder said an air marshal agreement was being negotiated and flights would not begin without one. You and your administrations lack of concern for the American peoples safety as evidenced by allowing commercial, non-charter flights between the U.S. and Cuba to commence without the presence of federal air marshals, and lying about it to Congress is further proof that you are putting your legacy ahead of the safety and security of the American people, including the people of Florida, Rubio wrote. Rubio, who is locked in a tough re-election race, said Gowadias revelation contradicts earlier claims by the administration that an agreement to include air marshals was finalized. Simply put, your administration has been caught in a bold-faced lie that has put American lives at risk, Rubio said. Rubio, along with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, introduced legislation earlier this month -- the Cuban Airport Security Act -- that would stop flights to Cuba until a study was completed regarding the security measures at Cubas airports. Commercial flights to Cuba began at the end of August, and Rubio called it astonishing that this was allowed to happen "under the false pretense that there would be federal air marshals on board." You have created an opportunity for our worst fears to become reality, just as they did on September 11, 2001, he wrote. Rubio asked Obama when he expects the Cuban government to sign the agreement on air marshals, what the TSA is doing to mitigate security risks, and if any White House official instructed the TSA to allow flights before appropriate security procedures were in place. He also requested copies of the draft federal air marshal agreement with Cuba. In a statement to FoxNews.com, a TSA spokesman said while it does not comment on particular security arrangements, the agency is working with Cuba to ensure there is a federal air marshal presence on flights when necessary. "Based on several years of security assessments and routine public charter air service between the United States and Cuba, TSA is confident that all commercial flights from points of origin in Cuba to the United States meet international standards and additional security measures that are required by the United States Government, the spokesman said. American Airlines, one of the airlines running flights to and from Cuba, objected to the assertions in Rubios letter. We dont speak about security, but the safety of our passengers, our people, and our equipment is of the utmost importance and we do not use use airports that do not meet the highest standards of safety for scheduled or chartered flights, a spokeswoman for American Airlines told The Miami Herald. FoxNews.com's Adam Shaw contributed to this report. Investigators are operating off the premise that the 28-year-old Afghan immigrant suspected of planting bombs in New Jersey and New York this weekend did not act alone at least until proven otherwise despite indications to the contrary at a news conference Monday, two sources told Fox News. The sources said the view among rank-and-file investigators in New York and New Jersey and at the federal level in Washington is that the search is not over. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, also told Fox News Americas Newsroom that he cant definitively say Ahmad Khan Rahami acted alone. We dont know for certain yet, McCaul said, adding that it would be very significant if investigators find he was part of a cell and not a so-called lone wolf. McCaul said the suspects computers are being analyzed to, among other things, determine any conversations he may have had with any operatives in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan or Syria. Rahami was charged late Monday in New Jersey with five counts of attempted murder of a police officer. A source working the investigation told Fox News that while there are no known additional suspects, based on the circumstances, it's "highly likely" Rahami had help -- but investigators had no indication who might have provided that assistance. One possibility is that Rahami received bomb-making training. A government source also told Fox News that a note with Arabic symbols or writing was found with one of the unexploded devices turned up in the frenzied search after a bomb went off in New Yorks Chelsea neighborhood Saturday night. The source said the symbols were described as "typical of ISIS." While investigators apparently are not ruling out outside help, officials have publicly said they see no evidence of a broader cell. FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney, Jr. said Monday there are no indications Rahami was part of a terror cell in the New York/New Jersey area, though he said the FBI is looking into whether he acted alone or had assistance. There is also growing evidence that the seeds of Rahami's radicalization were sown overseas, and the FBI is focused on at least three trips to his native Afghanistan. A law enforcement source said the frequency of the trips was not suspicious at the time because of his family ties, and the number of trips did not suggest Rahami had outside help to pay for the flights. A government source said both the father and brother also traveled to Pakistan, and there was a long-strained relationship between the family and the local community over the operating hours of their New Jersey chicken restaurant. According to these court documents, the family sued local authorities, alleging they were singled out by police because they are from Afghanistan and because of their Muslim faith. Further, there is new information about prior contact between the FBI and the suspect after a domestic dispute. The victim alleged that Rahami also showed signs of possible radicalization. Two sources confirmed the FBI followed up on the lead, but there was not enough to pursue, and the original allegations were withdrawn. The Associated Press also reported Tuesday that, according to a law enforcement official, Rahamis father contacted the FBI after the 2014 incident to voice concerns his son was a terrorist. That reportedly was later retracted. McCaul said he believes Rahami turned into a terrorist following his overseas visits. Fox News Catherine Herridge and Rick Leventhal contributed to this report. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf apologized on Capitol Hill Tuesday for his banks high-profile scandal that allegedly involved workers opening unauthorized accounts -- but faced tough questions from senators, one of whom called for his resignation and said he should be criminally investigated. I do accept responsibility and I am sorry, Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee. Strumpf was in the hot seat over revelations that Wells Fargo secretly opened more than 2 million accounts without customers permission, as part of an apparent effort to exceed sales goals. Earlier this month, Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $185 million penalty as part of a civil settlement. Wrongful sales practice behavior in our retail banking business ... runs counter to our vision of helping our customers succeed financially and it is not representative of Wells Fargo as an institution, Stumpf said. Stumpf said the bank recognizes now that we should have done more sooner to stop unethical actions. The bank took steps to address such behavior over the years, but we now know those steps were not enough, he said. We did not get it right, he said. But the apology wasn't enough for lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Have you returned one nickel to customers? she repeatedly asked Stumpf. Warren also called for him to resign and said he should be criminally investigated. "You squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers," she said. "You should resign. You should give back the money you took while the scam was going on." The Massachusetts Democrat, one of the fiercest critics of Wall Street, also advocated for a criminal investigation by the Justice Department and securities regulators. Stumpf, a 34-year veteran of Wells Fargo and CEO since 2007, earned $19.3 million last year. The bank does have in place provisions its board could implement to claim back executive compensation. The panels chairman, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said Wells Fargo had a corporate culture "that drove company `team members' to fraudulently open millions of accounts using their customers' funds and personal information without their permission." "If there were ever a textbook case where consumers needed protecting, this was it," Shelby said. As part of the sharp questioning, Stumpf was pressed on whether Wells Fargo employees committed fraud, and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said it would be "malpractice" if the bank doesn't institute compensation clawbacks. The bank has in place clawback provisions that the board could implement. Stumpf said during the hearing that the company's board "has the tools to hold senior leadership accountable," including himself and Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail banking business. Tolstedt announced in July her retirement from the bank. Tolstedt is expected to leave with as much as $125 million in salary, stock options and other compensation. Wells Fargo has long been known for its aggressive sales goals, but the details and the $185 million fine that regulators imposed last week have singed the consumer banking giant's reputation as a well-run, tightly managed company removed from the reckless conduct on Wall Street that stoked the financial crisis. In announcing the fine, regulators said Wells Fargo sales employees opened more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts that may not have been authorized by customers. Money in customers' accounts was said to have been moved to these new accounts without their permission. Debit cards were issued and activated, as well as PINs created, without telling customers. In some cases, bank employees even created fake email addresses to sign up customers for online banking services, the regulators said. The bank sales staff had a goal of getting each customer to have eight different accounts with the bank -- up from the prevailing average of six. Under the settlement, Wells Fargo neither admitted nor denied the allegations. It later said it plans to eliminate the sales targets by Jan. 1. Some 5,300 Wells Fargo employees have been fired. Stumpf offered some detail at the hearing about who was fired, saying "bankers, bank managers, managers of managers, and even an area president." Their salaries ranged in pay from about $35,000 to $65,000. The panel also planned to question regulators from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Treasury Department's Office of the Controller of the Currency and the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A 2,100-year-old skeleton has been discovered at the famous Antikythera wreck site. A research team that included archaeologists and oceanographers working at the wreck said the skeleton was found on Aug. 31. The team has successfully removed a skull with a jaw and teeth, arms and legs, ribs and other remains from the skeleton. Other portions of the skeleton were left behind and will be excavated later on, according to The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). "Archaeologists study the human past through the objects our ancestors created," said Brendan Foley, a marine archaeologist with WHOI. "With the Antikythera Shipwreck, we can now connect directly with this person who sailed and died aboard the Antikythera ship." Advances in DNA science are expected to aid experts in their analysis of the skeleton. According to WHOI, Dr. Hannes Schroeder, an ancient DNA expert at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, has been at the site to view the remains. When the Greek authorities grant permission, samples from the skeleton will be sent to Schroeders laboratory for full analysis. Depending on the amount of viable DNA found, the ethnicity and geographic origin of the skeleton may be identified, as well as information about how people lived some 2,100 years ago. "Against all odds, the bones survived over 2,000 years at the bottom of the sea and they appear to be in fairly good condition, which is incredible," said Schroeder. The shipwreck is the largest to be discovered. It is assumed to have been a grain carrier that met its fate around 65 BC. The wreck was discovered in 1900 by Greek sponge divers. Since its discovery, teams have visited the site and returned ashore with treasures including marble statues and the Antikythera Mechanism, or, the worlds first computer. In 1976, diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau and a team visited the wreck and uncovered more than 300 artifacts, including skeletons, according to WHOI. California Gov. Jerry Brown kept up his assault on climate change Monday, pushing through a law meant to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from dairy farms and landfills. "You know, when Noah wanted to build his ark, most of the people laughed at him?" Brown said, per the Sacramento Bee, adding that that ark saved Earth's species. "We've got to build our ark, too, by stopping ... dangerous pollutants." Brown's approval of Senate Bill 1383 goes after short-lived climate pollutants, which include methane, black carbon, and HFC gases, per the AP. Although these gases don't linger in the atmosphere, they still make people sick and hasten global warming due to their heat-trapping ability, per Reuters. "We're protecting people's lungs and their health," Brown said, per Courthouse News. One of the main methane culprits: manure. Per the bill, dairy farmers have to cut methane emissions to 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030. Under a cap-and-trade plan, farmers will receive aid from the $50 million or so raised via polluter fees, which they can then put toward machinery that uses methane to create energy they can in turn sell to electric companies. The state's Air Resources Board can also now regulate bovine flatulence, as long as there are practical ways to reduce the cows' belching and breaking wind. Under the bill, emissions from HFCs also must be reduced by 40 percent from 2013 levels by 2030, while black carbon emissions will have to get to 50 percent below those levels by the same year. Composting also has to go up by 50 percent within four years to curb methane from organic waste. The state's head of the National Federation of Independent Business rails against the "arbitrary" limits and says they're a "direct assault on California's dairy industry," per the AP. This article originally appeared on Newser: California Is Going After Its Farting Cows The smartphone alert sent to New Yorkers during the hunt for bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami has thrust wireless warning systems into the spotlight. The message was sent out around 8 a.m. EDT Monday and urged anyone with information on Rahami and his whereabouts to contact police. WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen, it read. Rahami, wanted in connection to this weekend's bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey, was captured after a shootout in Linden, New Jersey a few hours later. Police consultant and retired LAPD Lieutenant Raymond Foster told FoxNews.com that alerts can be an effective way to share emergency information. "It's a tool, we live in the 21st century," he said. They target [the alert] at cell towers, so its very geographically targeted. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner James ONeill praised the alert system during a press conference on Monday afternoon. I think this the way to go, this is the future, said ONeill, explaining that the system boosts police engagement with people across the city. However, some critics described the New York City alert as alarmist and questioned the wisdom of publicly identifying the suspect in that manner. Foster told FoxNews.com that police forces must think carefully before deploying this type of message. Its a tool that they have to use judiciously - I would come down on the side that they did the right thing this time, he said, noting that the authorities were clearly prepared. They have flooded the streets [with police] before they sent this out. The NYPD told FoxNews.com that the citys Office of Emergency Management put the alert out after conferring with police. The alert used the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system, which was developed by wireless industry association CTIA, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The WEA smartphone alert system is very effective and can be targeted fairly precisely, ccommunications expert John B. Minor, who is based in Odessa, Texas, told FoxNews.com, via email. The alert system used in the hunt for bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami is the same system used to alert my family on Saturday evening of an imminent tornado strike on our home. Thankfully, the twister never touched down but passed directly over my home. We will see more use of the WEA in the future and it will save lives, particularly if subscribers heed the warnings and instructions, he added. Although they resemble text messages, WEA messages use a different technology to reach users phones, which means they are not subject to potential congestion or delays on wireless networks. Specifically, WEA uses a point-to-multipoint system, which means that alert messages can be sent to a targeted area, according to CTIA. Text messages, in contrast, are not location aware. The use of this type of messaging system can be very effective when one considers that a high percentage of the population keeps a smartphone nearby, said Minor, noting that the WEA system is not tracking the location of subscriber smartphones. Subscribers can turn off the alerts, albeit at the risk of their safety, he added. In a statement, CTIA President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker described Mondays WEA message as one of thousands of examples that show the partnership that wireless carriers have with FEMA-authorized alerting agencies around the country to help keep Americans safe. FEMA authorizes a host of "alert originators" that include federal, state, local and tribal public safety agencies. When a request to send out an alert comes in, FEMA authenticates the sender and the alert. Participating wireless carriers then send the information to WEA-enabled phones in a specific geographic area. "It has been used before in the search for dangerous suspects, obviously this is a very high-profile case [in New York] across a very large geographic area," a FEMA spokesman told FoxNews.com. WEA, he explained, is one of the emergency warning methods within FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) infrstratructure. "Think of its as the highway that the alert uses," he said. At this stage WEA messages are limited to 90 characters and images cannot be placed in the alert. "We're working closely with the FCC and the wireless agencies to further improve the system," said the FEMA spokesman. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers Elephants look gentle and kind. Zoologists say theyre very smart, and childrens books tell us they have excellent memories. But theyre also very large, wild animals that must be treated and handled cautiously. An Italian tourist in Kenya and an elephant owner in Cambodia learned that lesson the hard way this week. In Tsavo National Park, an elephant trampled a tourist to death as he photographed the beast at a watering point. Police said 66-year-old Fernando Mocclola was approaching the elephant for a closer shot when the animal became agitated and attacked him by charging and trampling on him. Moccola "may have moved closer to them [the elephants] provoking the one that charged at him after it felt it was under a threat, Malindi Police boss Muchangi Mutava told media Sunday. The Italian tourist died while undergoing treatment at a hospital Sunday. He been touring Kenya for a month with his wife. The Star of Kenya reported that Mocclolas wife, who had warned him against getting too close to the elephant, was with him when the animal attacked. Officials at the park have since issued a warning to visitors about the dangers of getting too close to certain animals. In Cambodia, police are still looking for a male elephant that disappeared a week ago in pursuit of a female and trampled its owner to death on Monday when the man found it and tried to recapture it. Pop Sreang, 55, who had trained the elephant to transport tourists to and from a waterfall in Mondolkiri Province, found the elephant, climbed on top of it and stuck a metal hook in its head to control it, The Cambodia Daily reported. More than a dozen police officers, family members and tourists watched as the rampaging elephant attacked the owner with his tusks and threw the owner into the sky and onto the ground, said district governor Nuon Saron. Then the elephant stabbed with his tusks and trampled him [Sreang] to death. It looked like a movie, Saron said. Villagers and tourists throughout the Mondolkiri province are being warned to steer clear of the elephant, which escaped into the forest, if they see it. Police are now carrying tranquilizer guns to sedate the animal if they find it. When misbehaving tourists get in trouble, who foots the bill? Australians arent happy with three tourists who reportedly ignored pleas not to climb Uluru (a sandstone monolith Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park) and became stuck atop the iconic landmark, sparking a costly, 11-hour rescue mission. The three Australian men, all believed to be aged 23, were climbing the iconic monument Monday when they strayed off the path and became stuck in a crevice. Specialist vertical climbers with the Northern Territory emergency services team reached the trio about midnight and brought them safely to the ground about 3:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. Many Aussies took to social media to mock and condemn the tourists, who went ahead with their climb despite pleas from local Anangu people to stay off Uluru. Three Aussies stuck on #Uluru as we speak. That's what you get for going against the wishes of the traditional land owners... #straya fromdesktodawn (@fromdesktodawn) September 19, 2016 They were branded idiots, with many commentators suggesting they should have been left on the rock. Climbing Uluru is not banned thousands of tourists do it every year but signs near the landmark urge visitors to keep off certain pathways and to respect its sacred significance. The great debate over whether or not people should climb Uluru reignited recently when the Northern Territorys chief minister Adam Giles said he could see the economic benefits of allowing people to climb it, comparing it to the Eiffel Tower or the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But the experience has been dangerous for some climbers. In June last year, a Taiwanese tourist had to be pulled out from the rock with multiple injuries after becoming trapped in a crevice for more than 24 hours. The 27-year-old was taken to a local hospital and suffered from hypothermia, head injuries, fractures to his pelvis and several limbs after he fell into the crevice. The tourist fell after becoming separated from two companions and taking an alternative route back to base. Last month, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia released incredible footage of the 600 million-year-old monolith from the first drone ever given permission to operate inside Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Federal prosecutors in Alaska have charged four men with killing walrus gathered on the state's northwest shore last year, removing the animals' ivory tusks and leaving the meat to waste. Prosecutors say the four residents of the village of Point Hope twice caused several hundred walrus to stampede, knowing that smaller animals in the herd could be crushed. A person connected to a remote Air Force radar station in mid-September 2015 photographed 25 dead walrus at Cape Lisburne about 230 miles northeast of the Bering Strait. Twelve pups were among the dead. Only Alaska Natives who live in the state may hunt walrus. Prosecutors say all four men were qualified to take marine mammals for subsistence purposes. Walrus killed only for ivory is considered wasteful and head-hunting is illegal. The Latest on the fatal police shooting of a 40-year-old black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma (all times local): 5:45 p.m. Dozens of protesters are calling for the immediate arrest of the Tulsa officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man whose vehicle was stalled in the middle of the street. We the People Oklahoma organizer Marq Lewis called for the "immediate" arrest of Officer Betty Shelby, who fatally shot Terence Crutcher on Friday. Shelby has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. About three-dozen protesters gathered Monday afternoon outside the county courthouse to call for police reforms. The number of attendees was at least two-dozen more than those who attended a protest earlier in the day hours before police released video that showed Crutcher's killing. Supporters held signs reading, "Justice 4 Crutch" and "Relationships Matter." One young boy held up a sign that read "Don't Shoot." ___ 4:30 p.m. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma is calling for criminal charges in a Tulsa police officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, saying he was left to bleed to death while officers stood by without rendering aid. ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel says Terence Crutcher's death on Friday shows "how little regard" Tulsa police officers have for minority communities. Crutcher was shot to death by a Tulsa officer who was responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Dashcam and aerial footage released Monday by police showed Crutcher lying on the street, bleeding, and no one immediately administered medical aid. A Tulsa police spokeswoman, Jeanne MacKenzie, said she couldn't comment Monday on whether officers have a set protocol on when to provide medical assistance. ___ 3:15 p.m. A video from a Tulsa, Oklahoma, police vehicle shows Terence Crutcher walking toward his SUV with his hands up and a female officer following behind him. The vehicle is stopped in the middle of the road. As Crutcher approaches the SUV, three male officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and reach down and place them on the vehicle. The officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the police dashboard camera's angle. Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, "I think he may have just been Tasered." One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly. Then almost immediately, someone can be heard saying, "Shots fired." Crutcher's head then drops, leaving him lying completely out in the street. After that a voice can be heard on the police radio saying, "Shots fired. We have one suspect down." ___ 2:15 p.m. A federal prosecutor says the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man by a white Tulsa, Oklahoma, officer. U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams said Monday that the Justice Department investigation will be separate from a local one into whether criminal charges should be filed over Friday's shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday that Crutcher had no weapon when he was shot to death by an officer who was responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Police plan to release audio and video recordings of the shooting later Monday. ___ 1:45 p.m. The police chief in Tulsa, Oklahoma, says a black man who was shot to death by a white city police officer was not armed, and no weapon was found in his vehicle. Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday that officers found no weapon on 40-year-old Terence Crutcher, who was shot to death by an officer who was responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Jordan did not release many details about Friday's shooting but made his comments as police prepared to release dashcam footage of the incident. Crutcher's family is calling for a federal investigation and criminal charges against the officer. ___ 1:30 p.m. The twin sister of a man shot to death by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is calling for criminal charges to be filed against the officer who fired the fatal shot. Tiffany Crutcher and others have said police videos capture authorities referring to Terence Crutcher as a "big bad dude" before he was shot Friday night while officers responded to reports of a stalled vehicle. Tulsa police plan to release those videos to the public Monday afternoon. Tiffany Crutcher said Monday that her is family is devastated over Terence Crutcher's death. She says the public needs to know that "big bad dude" was a loving father and son who sang in church each week. She says the family is asking for "peaceful protests" over Terence Crutcher's death. ___ 1 p.m. A lawyer for the family of a black man killed by a white Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer says video of the shooting is so disturbing that it kept him awake at night. Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons says the video shows that 40-year-old Terence Crutcher didn't make any sudden movements before he was shot Friday by a Tulsa officer who was responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Solomon-Simmons says the video also calls into question police statements that Crutcher died at a hospital following the shooting. He says Crutcher "died on that street by himself in his own blood without any help." The Tulsa Police Department plans to release videos of the encounter Monday afternoon. ___ 10:50 a.m. About a dozen protesters have gathered outside the Tulsa County courthouse to protest the fatal police shooting of a black man whose SUV had stalled on a city street. The protest Monday comes in response to the death of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher, who was shot Friday while reaching into his SUV. Authorities plan to release audio and video recordings of the shooting Monday afternoon. Investigators say Crutcher approached officers as they investigated a stalled vehicle. Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie has said Crutcher refused orders to put up his hands, but a pastor who saw video footage says Crutcher had his hands up. Protesters at the local courthouse waved signs reading, "This Stops Now" and "Not Going, Keep Protesting." They also chanted, "Hands up, don't shoot." One of them, Tulsa resident Mark Whited, says more needs to be done to "bridge the mistrusts" between communities. ___ 9:20 a.m. A pastor who saw video of the fatal police shooting of a black man in Tulsa says the footage shows that the man's "hands were in the air." Pastor Rodney Goss told the Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/2cINS4j ) that he was among the local community leaders who were shown footage of the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher ahead of its scheduled release to the public Monday afternoon. Goss says he expects the public will be outraged. He says residents should respond with reason, not violence. Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell says relatives were shown the recordings Sunday ahead of the planned public release. Tulsa police say Crutcher was shot after his SUV stalled on a city street. Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie has said Crutcher refused orders to put up his hands. Authorities haven't said whether he had a weapon. ___ 7:45 a.m. Authorities in Tulsa are releasing audio and video recordings showing the fatal police shooting of a black man whose SUV had stalled on a city street. The footage is expected to be released during a news conference Monday afternoon. Authorities haven't yet said whether 40-year-old Terence Crutcher had a weapon when he was shot Friday while reaching into his stalled SUV. Authorities say the shooting occurred after an officer stopped to investigate the vehicle and that Crutcher approached after officers arrived to assist. Police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie has said Crutcher refused orders to put up his hands. Police say Tulsa Officer Betty Shelby fired the fatal shot, while Officer Tyler Turnbough used a stun gun on Crutcher. The U.S. Department of Justice has been asked to help investigate the shooting. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Crutcher's first name is spelled Terence, not Terrence. An estranged husband is accused of shooting and wounding his wife and the man she was with Monday evening as they walked to a vehicle in a long-term parking lot at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, police said Tuesday. Police characterized the case as domestic violence, and airport chief Rosemary Vassiliadis said it did not disrupt airport operations or flights. "This is an isolated incident, domestic violence in nature," Capt. Vincent Cannito told reporters. He said there was "no significant threat" to the airport. The shooting happened shortly before 6 p.m. Monday in a long-term parking area on the top floor of the airport parking structure at busy Terminal 1, which serves domestic airlines including Southwest, Delta, Allegiant and American. The suspect, Jeffrey K. Brown, 68, was arrested at a veterans' hospital a short time after the shooting, and a gray Ford Escape SUV that had been seen on video at the airport was found parked in the medical center parking lot, said Officer Larry Hadfield, a Las Vegas police spokesman. Both victims were taken to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in stable condition, Cannito said. Hadfield said Tuesday their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Their names were not immediately made public. It was unclear why Brown went to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Vegas after the shooting, Hadfield said. Jail records showed that Brown was being held pending a court appearance on attempted murder, weapon and assault charges. Records did not say if he had an attorney. The entrepreneur's dream is to turn what he or she loves into something that will actually turn a profit. YouTube is home to more than a billion users, and some of the platform's creators have been able to channel their passion and leverage the support of their fans into thriving business empires. So how do you get from vlogging in your bedroom to clothing lines, book deals and big name partnerships? It starts with a genuine enthusiasm and a tireless work ethic. We caught up with four creators -- inventive baker Rosanna Pansino, top fitness personality Cassey Ho and Kate Albrecht and Joey Zehr, the married team behind DIY lifestyle brand Mr. Kate -- to get their best advice for the aspiring YouTuber turned entrepreneur. Pansino is the host of the widely popular baking show Nerdy Nummies where she whips up desserts inspired by science fiction, fantasy, video games, comics and other geeky pursuits. She's taught her nearly 65,000,000 subscribers to make desserts ranging from Harry Potter milkshakes and Lord of the Rings muffins to Star Wars chocolates and Minecraft themed cookies. Last year, she published The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook: Sweet Treats for the Geek in All of Us. Related: The Surprising Second Act for One of YouTube's Biggest Stars In addition to her several videos a week at her Blogilates channel, Ho maintains a newsletter and blog and wrote Cassey Ho's Hot Body Year-Round: The POP Pilates Plan to Get Slim, Eat Clean, and Live Happy Through Every Season. She also has a clothing line, POPFLEX Active, that launched in January of this year. Selling directly to consumers, the line has been in such demand that Ho has already released two collections, with fall 2016 currently in the works. Mr. Kate began life as Albrecht's Etsy shop and blog. Albrecht's first career was acting -- she and Zehr met on the set of a movie -- but she always had a passion for art and fashion, and designed jewelry on the side. After Zehr created Mr. Kate's first website, their YouTube channel launched in 2009. Now, customers can buy everything from home goods to accessories on the site, and last year also saw the release of the first book from Albrecht, A Hot Glue Gun Mess: Funny Stories, Pretty DIY Projects. Here's what these creators recommend you do to follow their paths to business success. 1. Consistency is key. Pansino began making videos four years ago to get more comfortable in front of the camera, and she says that baking was a natural fit for her. "Authenticity is one of the most important things when it comes to making online video. Baking is something I've enjoyed ever since I was a little kid and every time I make a new video it reminds me of spending time in the kitchen with my family," she says. "Consistency is also extremely important. I have uploaded every Tuesday with no breaks or missed episodes since 2012." Its not just reliability in posting content, but also interacting with your customers and fans. Ho says that whether she is spending the day choreographing a new workout, working on the latest activewear collection or filming a video, without fail she dedicates a portion of her day reading the comments because its so important, its everything. We work to serve our community. And if were not then were not doing our job," she says. "We listen to their feedback and we create with you. If youre not listening to what your customers are saying, then you are ignoring them. And that is not going to do well for the business. Zehr says that when he and Albrecht launched the company, right from the start it was important to link commerce and content together. One side of the business wouldn't be able to grow without the other. "We've always tied the content back to the products," he says. "It was a very conscious choice from the beginning. We're not going to do anything that doesn't somehow tie back to the bigger picture." Related: 7 YouTube Channels Crushing It That You Can Learn From 2. Don't discount the work that goes into looking effortless. Watch OMG We're Coming Over, a series Mr. Kate produces, and it certainly looks spontaneous. But what viewers dont see in the videos that involve major room transformations that Albrecht and Zehr film and execute in just one day with only a couple of cameras, are the countless lists, pre-production meetings with the company's team of seven and shopping outings that lead up to filming. For Pansino, a great deal of planning goes into the candy colored episodes that she uploads every week. She estimates that 80 hours of work goes into just one segment, from brainstorming to final edits. In between, she shops for ingredients, does a few test bakes (some recipes can take 12 hours start to finish) and then she bakes the treat in different stages to have on hand for the day of filming, which can take anywhere from three to six hours. Related: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson on How to Be a YouTube Star 3. When partnerships come your way, think carefully. Ho launched her channel Blogilates in 2009 to spotlight a form of Pilates she created called POP Pilates. Girls feel really comfortable working out with me because its in the privacy of their own home. You also dont need any equipment, she says of the appeal of the workout. But if someone wants to learn POP Pilates, thanks to a recent partnership, Ho's YouTube videos are no longer the only option. A year and a half ago, Ho teamed with 24 Hour Fitness to make POP Pilates the official Pilates offering for all of the 24 Hour Fitness gyms -- about 400 in all -- in the United States. That means instructors can be certified to teach Hos format, providing gym goers with the same experience they would have by watching a Monday video. When it comes to working with other brands, Ho says that she only considers it if the product or entity in question brings "value to the fans' lives. If it doesnt than there is no point at all." And if you do decide to put your name and reputation behind a product, anytime you do anything with anyone, have the rights over all of it so that any message that is portrayed to the community is said in my voice and said in a way that [it feels like] we are talking to each other," Ho says. Related: This YouTube Sensation Inspires, Aspires and Cracks Jokes Along the Way Albrecht says the most successful brand partnerships are the ones where the creators retain their voice and style and are able to seamlessly integrate the brand in question into the content they would normally produce. "The learning curve for us was when we kind of had to alter our content and our style and our messaging to fit the brand requirement," she says. "And our audience was like, 'what the hell is this?' So it doesn't pay off for anyone involved [if it doesn't fit]." When your content begins to catch on, all the opportunities that start to arise may be overwhelming, but Pansino advises going with your gut and not underestimating the value of your work. "I think everyone's approach to partnerships is completely different. I focus on building a lasting relationship with both brands and other creators," she says. "I also say no to 95 percent of offers if they aren't a perfect fit for me. Working with the first brand that reaches out to you can be tempting, but it's important to not undersell yourself." 4. Your channel is just the beginning. Albrecht says one of the biggest false impressions people have about starting a YouTube business is that a channel is all you need. "The misconception is that you can start a channel and gain a following, and you start making money off your channel. Really the money that you make from AdSense is negligible if you're trying to run a business. The money really does come from brand integration," she explains. "The brands want to associate with high quality content and a demographic that really fits with what they are trying to sell. Viewing what you're going to do on YouTube as a part of your overall business plan is really important." Ho agrees that the competition is fierce, and a creator will only rise to the top if they aren't merely trying to copy someone else's success. I really depend on my creativity and being able to see ahead and have a vision and with that, its really about executing it. Because a lot of people have ideas but if they dont do what they say [they are going to do], it doesnt really matter, says Ho, noting that a lot of people who do have great ideas can get stymied by fear. Im willing to take risks and Im willing to fail because I feel like failing is just a part of learning. Everything thats happened is because of that. Related: Why This 25-Year-Old Marketing Star Left His Job at YouTube to Launch a Philanthropic YouTube Channel 5. Make sure your business is valuable to both you and your fans. Pansino explains that her philosophy behind her work hasn't changed much over the last few years. It started with what was and still is appealing to her. "The main approach I took was to make content that I would want to watch. I personally did not start my YouTube channel to turn it into a business," she says. "Nearly all of the top online creators started from very humble beginnings wanting to share things they loved online. With any new business I think it's important to create something useful, fun or entertaining before figuring out how to make it successful." Ultimately, Hos top advice is to make your fans an involved part of the growth of your brand. Producers need to take a step back and [think] 'what can I create that will bring added value into my fans' lives?'" she says. "If this is going to be a business on its own and not just a business living off of your name, it needs to have something special about it." Giving fans an inside look at what youre creating cements that relationship and gives them that investment in your work. Bring your fans along for the ride as you create the business, Ho says. And while you are thinking about advancing the brand, dont forget about the YouTube videos. "I was really committed to posting every day so that when people came to our site they would understand that there would be something new to see, some new creative inspiration," Albrecht says. "You think about it every day for five years, that's how I did it." Federal authorities formally charged 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami Tuesday with planting a number of bombs in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend. Rahami is accused of use of weapons of mass destruction, bombing a place of public use, destruction of property by means of fire or explosive, and use of a destructive device during and in furtherance of a crime of violence. Criminal complaints against Rahami were unsealed in New York and New Jersey Tuesday. Investigators believe Rahami planted bombs in New York City, as well as in Elizabeth and Seaside Park, N.J. One of the devices exploded in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood Saturday night, wounding 31 people. The court filings allege significant premeditation by Rahami. An affidavit claims that he began buying bomb components in June, purchasing citric acid, circuit boards, ball bearings and electric igniters on eBay. In a statement, the online auction site said it was "proactively working with law enforcement authorities on their investigation." The company later added, "The types of items bought by the suspect are legal to buy and sell in the United States and are widely available at online and offline stores." In addition, video recorded two days before the bombings and recovered from a family member's phone shows Rahami igniting incendiary material in a cylinder, then shows the fuse being lighted, a loud noise and flames, followed by billowing smoke and laughter, the complaint said. The court filings also include excerpts from a handwritten journal found on Rahami following his arrest Monday. Investigators say Rahami accused the U.S. government of "slaught[er] against the mujahidean [sic] be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Sham [Syria], Palestine ..." The journal also lauded Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric killed in a 2011 drone strike, and Nidal Hasan, the former U.S. Army major who went on a 2009 rampage at the Fort Hood military installation. Prosecutors say the document ends: "The sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets. Gun shots to your police. Death To Your OPPRESSION." Before the federal charges were filed, Rahmani was already being held on $5.2 million bail, charged with the attempted murder of police officers during the shootout that led to his capture Monday outside a bar in Linden, N.J. Ealier on Tuesday, Rahami's father claimed he called the FBI on his own son two years ago -- but a source told Fox News that he immediately recanted. And according to a neighbor, the father said in 2014 that his son may have been in contact with people overseas collecting explosives, ABC News reported. Rahami's father, Mohammad, spoke to reporters outside his home in Elizabeth, N.J. "Two years I called the FBI, my son, he's doing very bad, OK? But they check it almost two months... They say he's not a terrorist. I said, 'OK.' Now they say he is a terrorist. I say, 'OK.'" Rahami's father said that two years ago, his son "was doing bad. Yeah, he stabbed my son, he hit my wife and I put him to jail two years ago." Mohammad Rahami added that Ahmad stabbed his brother Nasser "for no reason." Later Tuesday, he told reporters that FBI agents "[did] not do their job." The FBI's Newark field office looked into the accusations, a federal law enforcement source told FoxNews.com. Ahmad Khan Rahami was in jail on an assault charge at the time, the source said, but agents interviewed his father. "He recanted immediately he left that part out. He said he didnt mean his son was a terrorist, just that he was interested in gang activity and watching violent videos. There was no derogatory information on him, and no basis to continue the investigation," the source said. FBI's scrubbing of the allegations made against Rahami at the time did not turn anything up -- or as a law enforcement source close to the investigation described, the lead "washed out." Fox News is told a full-blown investigation into Rahami was not opened. Rahami was arrested for stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm in 2014. But a grand jury declined to indict him, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was likely "a danger to himself or others." While the hunt for Rahami has ended, the investigation into his alleged path from server at a family restaurant to terrorist bomber is just beginning. Friends of Rahamis who spoke with media outlets trace the roots of his radicalism to his trips to jihadist hotbeds in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Its like he was a completely different person, a friend of Rahamis, Flee Jones, told the Times. He got serious and completely closed off. Rahamis first documented trip to Pakistan was in 2005, when he visited Karachi as a 17 year old, The New York Times reported. Rahami stayed in Karachi, known as a jihadi hotbed, for a few months before returning to New Jersey in January 2006. In 2011, Rahami made another lengthy trip, visiting Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Quetta, Pakistan. He again visited Quetta from April 2013 to March 2014. Multiple sources told Fox News that Rahami visited Afghanistan at least three times. Rahami was stopped on one trip for secondary screening, but he satisfied the questions and was cleared, a source told Fox News. Rahamis activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan are unknown, and authorities said the excursions didnt raise any red flags at the time. Officials said at a Monday news conference they didnt know if Rahami had received any weapons or explosives training. He did have a firearms license, however, The Washington Post reported. But regardless of what he did during these trips, Rahamis demeanor changed when he came back to New Jersey. Rahami began wearing traditional Muslim robes after one trip to Afghanistan, two friends, Amarjit Singh and Jonathan Wagner, told the New York Times. He grew a beard and began praying in the back of his familys chicken restaurant. Rahami also exhibited anti-Western and anti-military sentiment when he was around his young daughter, a former girlfriend, Maria, told FoxNews.com. One time he was watching TV with my daughter and a woman in a [military] uniform came on and he told [her], Thats the bad person, she said. There are family influences on Rahami, too. Rahamis dad, Mohammad, told Wagner that he fought the Soviet Army in the 1980s as a member of the mujahedeen, the same group that spawned Usama bin Laden and a generation of terrorists. Wagner said the elder Rahami didnt approve of the current U.S.-led fighting in Afghanistan. One of Rahamis brothers, Mohammad K., posted at least one jihadist message on Facebook, The Daily Beast reported. While Rahami had little presence on social media, his brother posted a meme in 2013 showing extremist fighters with the quote: I bring men who desire death as ardently as you desire life. The same brother also posted a 9/11 conspiracy theory video last month. Rahamis social life also was upended. He stopped seeing Maria, allegedly ceased paying child support and in 2014 married a woman in Pakistan. He wrote to New Jersey Rep. Albio Sires that year seeking a visa to get his wife into the U.S. Sires said Rahami was kind of nasty. At the time she was pregnant and in Pakistan, Sires said on MSNBC. They told her that she could not come over until she had the baby, because she had to get a visa for the baby. The wife, who has not been identified, was eventually allowed into the U.S. She returned to Pakistan just days before the New York and New Jersey bombings and was detained by authorities in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, a U.S. official told The Los Angeles Times. Separately, a sister of Rahami's accused him of trying to stab her but later recanted, Rep. Peter T. King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told The Washington Post. Rahami was born in Afghanistan in 1988 and came legally to the U.S. in January 1995, several years after his father arrived in America as an asylum seeker, CNN reported. Rahami became a naturalized citizen and was known as a class clown in high school, Maria told FoxNews.com. Maria said Rahami got along with his classmates; however, he still criticized American culture, comparing Western values to the strict version of Islam practiced in Afghanistan. Rahami majored in criminal justice at Middlesex County College in Edison, N.J., but he dropped out of school before finishing his degree, according to media reports. Mohammad reportedly opened First America Fried Chicken in 2002 on the ground floor of a home in Elizabeth. Family members lived on the second floor. Its unclear when Rahami last lived at the address, but the location was raided by authorities on Monday during their dragnet for Rahami. Zobyedh Rahami, who said she was a sister of Ahmad's, wrote online, "I would like people to respect my family's privacy and let us have our peace after this tragic time. I would not like to answer any questions." FoxNews.com's Perry Chiaramonte, Fox News' Matt Dean, Kathleen Foster, Catherine Herridge and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A former letter carrier involved in a scheme to steal and convert hundreds of blank postal service money orders has been sentenced to a year in prison. Federal prosecutors say Jonel Normil will also have to serve three years of supervised release under the sentence imposed Tuesday. The 26-year-old man from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in May to a conspiracy count. Prosecutors say Normil was a letter carrier in Cape May Court House and picked up and dropped off mail at the Stone Harbor post office. Normil admitted taking the money orders and giving them to other conspirators who made them look legitimate and imprinted them with dollar values of $900 or $1,000. They then deposited them into bank accounts or cashed them at post offices in New Jersey, New York and Georgia. Relatives of a pregnant 19-year-old woman shot dead on the streets of Chicago over the weekend said they were determined to find her killer -- but they were thankful that doctors were able to save her miracle baby. In fact, they named the child "Miracle." Parasha Beard was sitting in a car with a friend of hers in South Chicago Sunday when somebody approached and shot both of them, Fox 32 reported. Beard's family said the gunman lived down the street and apparently got into some kind of argument with the woman and her friend beforehand. Beard's child reportedly wasn't due until December. "Miracle, she's a miracle baby, she's doing good, she's breathing on her own," the woman's grandmother, Sylvia Jones-King, told the news station. The man who was in the car with Beard was in critical condition, WBBM reported. Friends said they were working with police to track down the woman's killer. Beard's mother, Crystal Jones, responded, "The only thing I'm asking for is just justice and peace right now. That's all I want." Four men from a village in northwest Alaska have been charged with killing walrus that came ashore in 2015 and leaving the meat to rot. Federal prosecutors filed five misdemeanor charges that accuse the men of either shooting walrus and taking only their ivory tusks or causing stampedes that crushed walrus pups at Cape Lisburne. The four are Adam Sage, Michael Tuzroyluk Jr., Guy Tuzroyluk and Jacob Lane. Lane is charged only with one count of causing a herd to stampede. The misdemeanor counts carry a maximum sentence of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Cooper by phone from Fairbanks. The men are not in custody. They are scheduled for arraignment Nov. 14 in Fairbanks, Cooper said. Online court documents do not list attorneys for the men. Sage does not have a phone listing. A message left for Michael or Guy Tuzroyluk was not immediately returned and a call to Lane was not answered. Walrus use sea ice as a platform for diving to reach clams and sea snails on the ocean floor. The appearance of walrus in large numbers on Alaska's northwest coast in late summer or early fall has accelerated over the last decade as climate warming has caused sea ice to recede far beyond the shallow continental shelf and over water too deep for walrus to reach the ocean bottom. An estimated 35,000 Pacific walrus were photographed in early September 2015 near Point Lay, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northeast of Cape Lisburne. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this year has reported no large herds and say remnant ice floating in the Chukchi Sea may be plentiful enough to keep walrus off shore. Grouped shoulder-to-shoulder on rocky beaches, walrus are subject to stampedes if startled by an airplane, hunter or polar bear. In mid-September 2015, a person connected to a remote Air Force radar station photographed 25 dead walrus at Cape Lisburne, about 230 miles northeast of the Bering Strait. Some had been beheaded. Twelve pups were among the dead. Only Alaska Natives who live in the state may hunt walrus. Walrus killed only for ivory is considered wasteful and head-hunting is illegal. Prosecutors say all four of the men charged last week were qualified to take marine mammals for subsistence purposes. According to prosecutors, Sage, Michael Tuzroyluk and Guy Tuzroyluk shot a total of eight walrus on Sept. 2 or Sept. 4, 2015, removed tusks and left the meat to waste. Lane, but not Guy Tuzroyluk, is charged with being along on the second day. On both days, the men are charged with walking on a beach toward several hundred walrus, causing the herd to stampede into the water and injuring and killing animals. One of the Afghan-born bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami's brothers apparently posted a Facebook photo supporting jihad -- and a sister reportedly posted a quote from the American terror cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, just a few of the potential red flags coming from some of the people who knew the suspect best. Ahmad Khan Rahmani's brother posted quote by Khalid ibn al-Walid. Prophet Mohammad called Khalid "the Sword of God."https://t.co/xTPjlR6SGw pic.twitter.com/rGkqBL3u81 Sankrant Sanu (@sankrant) September 19, 2016 The message posted by Rahami's brother Mohammad in 2013 showed extremist fighters with the quote: "I bring men who desire death as ardently as you desire life." The same brother also posted a 9/11 conspiracy theory video last month, The Daily Beast reported. Aliza Rahami Maymunah, 30, the older sister of the bomber, appears to live in Quetta, Pakistan with her husband and two young children. Going by the name Masood Maymunah on Facebook, she posts what appear to be several pro-jihadi messages and images which promote an 'Islamic caliphate,' claim 9/11 attacks were carried out by the U.S. and Israeli governments, and refer to U.S. soldiers as terrorists. Another teaching she shares, purportedly from Sheikh Khalid Yasin, pronounces that "if defending ourselves is terrorism, let history be our witness that we are terrorists?" One of her posts promotes the radical teachings of Awlaki, an American and Yemeni imam whom the U.S. government successfully targeted in a drone strike in Yemen, claiming he was a top recruiter and planner for Al Qaeda. Another video she posted from the Facebook group "Soldiers of Allah 2" features New York City ablaze while promoting a caliphate. People who knew the Rahamis claimed that Ahmad and his brother Mohammad dressed in more traditional Muslim robes in recent years, coinciding with their trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rahamis dad, also named Mohammad, claimed he fought the Soviet Army in the 1980s as a member of the mujahedeen, the same group that spawned Usama bin Laden and a generation of terrorists, family friend Jonathan Wagner told The New York Times. Wagner said the elder Rahami didnt approve of the current U.S.-led fighting in Afghanistan. The information emerged as the Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was being held on $5.2 million bail, charged with the attempted murder of police officers in the shootout that led to his capture Monday. Federal prosecutors said they were weighing charges over the weekend bombings in New York City and a New Jersey seaside town that wounded 29 people. His father told reporters Tuesday outside the family's fried-chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that he called the FBI two years ago. But asked whether he thought his son was a terrorist, the father said: "No. And the FBI, they know that." Zobyedh Rahami, who said she was also a sister of Ahmad's, wrote online, "I would like people to respect my family's privacy and let us have our peace after this tragic time. I would not like to answer any questions." FoxNews.com's Malia Zimmerman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A North Carolina history teacher is facing a firestorm of controversy after he allegedly stomped on an American Flag inside a public school classroom. The incident happened Monday at Massey Hill Classical high School in Fayetteville home to Fort Bragg and one of the most patriotic communities in the nation. Click here to join Todds American Dispatch: a free must-read for Conservatives! What that teacher did was a gut punch to all the military kids at that school, one outraged parent told me. More so to the ones with deployed parents and unforgivably so to Gold Star kids who lost a parent who fought under that flag. It is indefensible. A spokesperson for Cumberland County Superintendent Frank Till Jr. told me they are investigating the allegations and will not comment until the probe is completed. The spokesperson could not say if the teacher has been removed from the classroom. Read more at ToddStarnes.com A West Texas judge has decided 11 children of a couple who've faced child welfare investigations in three states will remain in state custody for now. The ruling Tuesday came after a hearing in which William A. and Claire Rembis disputed Child Protective Services' allegations of neglect, which included that some of the children regularly climbed into trash bins and scavenged for food behind their Lubbock home. Court records and testimony show the parents have also been investigated for similar allegations in New Jersey, Michigan, and Plano, Texas, since 2001. None of the cases led to criminal charges. Judge Kevin Hart said the couple had disregarded CPS' efforts to investigate, calling the couple "defiant." He told them the issues are "fixable" if the couple cooperates with the agency's pending service plan. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 The Latest on the trial of two former Albuquerque police officers(all times local): 12:35 p.m. An expert witness says two Albuquerque officers violated their own training when they fatally shot an armed homeless man during a 2014 standoff. The testimony from police expert Jeffrey Noble came Tuesday in the trial of two former officers who face second-degree murder charges in the death of James Boyd. Noble was called to the stand by special prosecutor Randi McGinn. She argues that police created a dangerous situation during the standoff that led to the deadly outcome. Noble says officers had a layered plan to use less-lethal force to get Boyd to surrender. When the plan failed, Noble says, officers could have stopped to reassess the situation and create distance between themselves and Boyd, but didn't. Noble says Boyd had his knives out but posed no immediate threat when he was shot. Defense attorneys have argued that Boyd, who was mentally ill and had history of violence against law enforcement, was a threat. ___ 2:35 a.m. The chaotic, final seconds of the Albuquerque Police Department's deadly standoff with a homeless man unfolded as a K-9 handler and police service dog came within feet of the man and his pocket knives. A defense attorney says two officers made the "split-second" decision to shoot him. A frame-by-frame breakdown of police helmet video from the March 2014 shooting was shown to jurors Monday on the first day of the trial of now-retired Detective Keith Sandy and former Officer Dominique Perez. Both are charged with second-degree murder in the death of James Boyd, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and told officers he was on a special mission for the U.S. Defense Department. During opening statements, the prosecutor and lawyers for the former officers presented two vastly different portraits of Boyd and two versions of the chain of events that led to his death. The Latest on an Illinois terrorism case involving two cousins (all times local): 4:55 p.m. A former Illinois National Guard soldier who pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Hasan Edmonds was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Earlier, his cousin, 30-year-old Jonas Edmonds, received a 21-year prison sentence. Prosecutors say the 23-year-old Hasan Edmonds planned to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. They claimed Jonas Edmonds planned to wear his cousin's uniform as a disguise during an attack at an armory southwest of Chicago. Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. In court Tuesday, Jonas Edmonds said he dropped Hasan Edmonds at the airport to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. But Jonas Edmonds denied he would have attacked the military armory in Joliet. ___ 12:35 p.m. A Chicago federal judge has sentenced an Illinois man to 21 years in prison for plotting to attack a U.S. military facility with his cousin. Jonas Edmonds of Aurora was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. His cousin, former Illinois National Guard soldier Hasan Edmonds, is to be sentenced later Tuesday. Prosecutors requested a 30-year sentence for Hasan Edmonds and 21-year prison term for Jonas Edmonds. Prosecutors say Hasan Edmonds planned to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. Jonas Edmonds went to Hasan Edmonds' home and collected several National Guard uniforms that he planned to wear as a disguise during an attack at the armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. ___ 8:30 a.m. A former Illinois National Guard soldier and his cousin are scheduled to be sentenced for plotting to attack a U.S. military facility. Twenty-three-year-old Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. His cousin, 30-year-old Jonas Edmonds, pleaded guilty to similar charges. The pair will be sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Prosecutors want a 30-year sentence for Hasan Edmonds and 21-year prison term for Jonas Edmonds. Prosecutors say Hasan Edmonds planned to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. Jonas Edmonds went to Hasan Edmonds' home and collected several National Guard uniforms that he planned to wear as a disguise during an attack at the armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Students and faculty at a Utah school suffered a real scare Monday after a man entered the building with a mask and told an employee to evacuate the kids and no one will get hurt. Christopher Craig, 35, was arrested after allegedly making the threat against Eagle Mountain elementary school, Utah County Sheriffs Office said in a news release. Utah Valley dispatch received a call from a man who said he was at the school. Police said after the threat was made, the school staff locked the doors and began lockdown and evacuation procedures. Fox 13 Salt Lake City reported that about 250 children were in the building at the time of the threat and were evacuated to two separate locations in the community. The kids were reunited with their parents at around 5:30 p.m. Craig told dispatchers that he had explosives in his car and that he was going to open it and arm them, police said in a statement. He told dispatchers officers should keep their distance from the school. He later told negotiators that he had a message he wanted to give them. While talking with negotiators, Craig said he wanted to share a message with them and if he was allowed to do so he would walk away from his vehicle and let police arrest him. Its unclear what the message was. According to the station, the Utah Valley Metro Bomb Squad searched Craigs car and no explosives were found. Police said his home was searched and didnt find any explosives or firearms. Craig was booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of threat of terrorism, a second-degree felony; interference with arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor; failure to disclose identity, a class B misdemeanor; disrupting operation of school, a class B misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor. He was known to have mental health issues, but it wasnt clear whether he was undergoing treatments for it. Click for more from Fox 13 Salt Lake. A Maine man was charged with aggravated attempted murder and two counts of assault after allegedly stabbing a police officer five times at an apartment Monday. Lewiston police identified the man as 27-year-old Jonathan Order, according to WCSH-TV. Police said they were searching for Order after being notified that there was a warrant out for his arrest on a domestic violence aggravated assault charge after an incident in Sabattus. Authorities arrived at Orders apartment and were met by threatening comments, police said. During that time period, Order opened the door and attacked Corporal (Michael) Dumond with a knife. Order stabbed Corporal Dumond five times to his upper torso and hand, before retreating back into the apartment and securing the door, police said. Authorities eventually negotiated with Order and after 30 minutes he would surrender to officers. According to WCSH-TV, Order was transferred to the Androscoggin County Jail where they eventually searched him and found drugs on him. He also allegedly assaulted two corrections officers. Dumond was immediately transported to Central Maine Medical Center where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries, police said. Click for more form WCSH-TV. A pair of well-dressed thieves, two homeless men, a bar owner and some incredible luck combined to limit the casualties in weekend terror attacks in New Jersey and New York, and the bungling bomber himself also made numerous mistakes that helped foil his plans. The carnage caused by a series of pipe and pressure cooker bombs injured just 29 people, none critically. No one died a particularly amazing stat considering the intended targets included runners competing in a charity race, people walking down busy New York City sidewalks and residents gathered at a New Jersey train station. But in every instance, either through folly or happenstance, the alleged terrorist, Ahmad Khan Rahami, was thwarted. Rahami is alleged to have started his weekend of terror on Saturday morning in New Jerseys Seaside Park by planting several pipe bombs, strung together, in a trash can along the route of a charity 5K. One of the bombs exploded at 9:30 a.m., precisely when a group of runners would have likely been in the vicinity. Except, when the blast occurred, no one was near the trash can. Thats because the start of the race, set for 9 a.m., was delayed when officials discovered an unattended backpack which had no connection to Rahami. Further, only one of the pipe bombs detonated. The rest failed to explode and were eventually rendered safe by a bomb squad technician. Later that night, Rahami is accused of dragging two duffel bags, each loaded with a pressure cooker bomb, to locations on W. 27th St. and W. 23rd St. in New York City. Here, he made several mistakes. He placed the bomb on W. 27th St. either next to or underneath a Dumpster, so that when the bomb exploded, the blast force was partially dampened by the heavy metal bin. The explosion injured 29 people, but was the only one of Rahamis attacks that wounded anyone. Rahamis device on W. 27th St. never went off. Because of that, authorities were able to inspect the bomb, reportedly lifting at least one of Rahamis fingerprints. His flip phone, the likely detonation device, was also attached to the pressure cooker. Officials found the unexploded W. 27th St. bomb in a plastic trash bag. Thats because two well-dressed men happened upon the bomb-bearing duffel bag, dumped the odd-looking device in a garbage bag and made off with the luggage, officials said during a Monday news conference. Its unknown if the bomb failed to explode due to a design flaw, or if the thieves unintentionally disabled it when they threw it in the trash. The next night, two homeless men found a backpack in a trash can at the Elizabeth, N.J., train station around 8:30 p.m. Thinking there might be money or other valuables inside, they took the bag and opened it up. When they saw wires, however, they called the cops. One of the pipe bombs inside detonated when it was handled by a bomb squad robot, though the rest failed to explode. By Monday morning, Rahami was named as the prime person of interest in the bombings. At 8 a.m. a mass text alert went out to people near New York City urging everyone to be on the lookout for Rahami. But any fears of a drawn-out manhunt were short-lived. The 28-year-old was found sleeping in the doorway of a bar by the buildings owner shortly after 10 a.m. That man called police officers, who recognized Rahami. The alleged terrorist engaged in a brief gun battle with police, and two officers suffered minor injuries. But Rahami was quickly brought down and taken into custody. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Both Philadelphia police officers wounded in a gunman's shooting rampage that killed a woman and wounded several other people have been discharged from the hospital. Dozens of uniformed police officers saluted Sgt. Sylvia Young as she emerged Tuesday from Penn Presbyterian Hospital and left in a vehicle escorted by motorcycle officers. Authorities say Nicholas Glenn fired about 18 shots at Young as she sat in her patrol car Friday night, wounding her in the shoulder, arm and torso. They say he then fired into a bar and into a car, killing Sara Salih, and wounded an officer and others before being killed by police. University of Pennsylvania police officer Ed Miller was discharged Monday, later telling reporters that he's fine and is primarily concerned about the other victims. State police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man by deputies in rural West Tennessee. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Susan Niland said it happened early Tuesday after a robbery at a Decatur County gas station. Niland said responding county deputies tried to stop a car matching the description of one involved in the robbery. She said the driver drove off the road and down an embankment. Deputies followed and got into an altercation with the driver. Niland said shots were fired and the driver, identified as 35-year-old Jackson resident Charles Dove, was killed. Niland said authorities found a gun on Dove, but it isn't clear if he fired it. She said five deputies were involved in the shooting, but it isn't known how many shot Dove. Police say a Texas Woman's University student whose body was found burned and dismembered at a Grapevine park may have met her suspected killer at a bar the night before her body was found. Police identified the body found last Wednesday morning at Acorn Woods Park as 24-year-old Jacqueline Vandagriff of Frisco. Police say Vandagriff was last seen on surveillance video leaving a Denton bar with 30-year-old Charles Dean Bryant last Tuesday night around 11 p.m. Police and the FBI searched Bryants home in Haslet on Sunday and found items in a trash can that connected him to the crime. One of Bryants acquaintances told FOX 4 he hung out with him the day before and the day after Vandagriff was murdered. He didnt want his face shown but says Bryant's arrest leaves him baffled. He's never one you would picture to have a violent bone in his body, he said. He works as a personal trainer and a bartender and always had that personality of that super social super talk to anybody, go to the bar, talk to any girl, pick up any girl, whatever." Bryant worked as a bartender at Urban Cowboy Saloon, a gay bar in Fort Worth. He was fired after he didn't show up for work on Sunday. Grapevine Police and the FBI, dressed in hazmat suits, searched for evidence at Bryans home. Police confirmed to FOX 4 they found Vandagriff's purse in a trash can in front of his house. "Bryant is charged with a charge of capital murder, which is a capital felony, said Grapevine Police Sgt. Robert Eberling. Investigators say Bryant was seen on unreleased surveillance video leaving the Denton bar with Vandagriff. According to cell phone records, her cell pinged towers in Denton, Argyle and near Bryant's home in Haslet. An MBA had long been something aspiring entrepreneurs got before launching their businesses, or during pauses in their careers. But more small-business owners are getting an MBA as a booster, applied when someones business needs it. Stephen Taylor, assistant dean of graduate programs at Arizona State Universitys W.P. Carey School of Business, says online MBA programs are full of these students --and he regularly sees them using class lessons directly in their work. These programs are a relatively safe place for entrepreneurs to learn about how they can manage a business long-term or explore a business opportunity with help from the entire universitys research faculty and other students, he says. Its a whole network of advisers that stays with you for your whole life. Another benefit to entrepreneurs seeking an online MBA today: They can take (almost) as long as they like to graduate. Most programs allow students six or more years to finish the degree, which is particularly helpful when an entrepreneur is balancing their growing business with their studies. We give the students a great deal of flexibility to take as many courses or as few as they would like, says Temples McNamee. We see this as a lifelong learning approach. For those entrepreneurs looking for an online MBA program either to start a business or scale a company here is The Princeton Review's top 25 online MBA programs. Methodology: The Princeton Review's ranking comes from a 2016 survey of more than 3,800 online MBA students from more than 90 schools. * N/A indicates information not available or not applicable. #1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Getty Images Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $104,664 % of Program Taught Online 97% % of Program Delivered in Person 3% Avg. Years' Work Experience 9.8 Avg. GMAT Scores 668 Total Applicants/% Accepted 1,104/43% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 742 #2 Indiana University Getty Images Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $61,200 % of Program Taught Online 94% % of Program Delivered in Person 6% Avg. Years' Work Experience 6.5 Avg. GMAT Scores 635 Total Applicants/% Accepted 469/76% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 737 #3 Temple University Temple University | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $59,760 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person N/A Avg. Years' Work Experience 11.3 Avg. GMAT Scores 600 Total Applicants/% Accepted 420/42% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 273 #4 IE University ie.edu Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $49,600 % of Program Taught Online 80% % of Program Delivered in Person 20% Avg. Years' Work Experience 6.0 Avg. GMAT Scores 680 Total Applicants/% Accepted 552/41% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 175 #5 University of Florida Getty Images Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $56,672 % of Program Taught Online 83% % of Program Delivered in Person 17% Avg. Years' Work Experience 5.3 Avg. GMAT Scores 569 Total Applicants/% Accepted 500/55% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 352 #6 Arizona State University Getty Images Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $56,800 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person 0% Avg. Years' Work Experience 6.7 Avg. GMAT Scores 592 Total Applicants/% Accepted 396/64% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 329 #7 Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $70,000 % of Program Taught Online 94% % of Program Delivered in Person 6% Avg. Years' Work Experience 15.7 Avg. GMAT Scores N/A Total Applicants/% Accepted 25/100% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 29 #8 Babson College Babson College | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $82,000 % of Program Taught Online 72% % of Program Delivered in Person 28% Avg. Years' Work Experience 8.8 Avg. GMAT Scores 594 Total Applicants/% Accepted 187/89% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 305 #9 North Carolina State University Getty Images Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $42,195 % of Program Taught Online 92% % of Program Delivered in Person 8% Avg. Years' Work Experience 10.6 Avg. GMAT Scores 616 Total Applicants/% Accepted 238/72% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 222 #10 James Madison University jmu.edu Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $37,800 % of Program Taught Online 80% % of Program Delivered in Person 20% Avg. Years' Work Experience 11.5 Avg. GMAT Scores 510 Total Applicants/% Accepted 44/93% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 53 #11 University of Texas at Dallas University of Texas at Dallas | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $45,898 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person N/A Avg. Years' Work Experience 11.5 Avg. GMAT Scores 582 Total Applicants/% Accepted 206/50% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 272 #12 University of South Dakota University of South Dakota | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $14,231 % of Program Taught Online 95% % of Program Delivered in Person 5% Avg. Years' Work Experience 6.0 Avg. GMAT Scores 560 Total Applicants/% Accepted 50/90% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 276 #13 University of Utah University of Utah | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $57,600 % of Program Taught Online 97% % of Program Delivered in Person 3% Avg. Years' Work Experience 7.7 Avg. GMAT Scores 553 Total Applicants/% Accepted 88/65% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 78 #14 Auburn University Auburn University | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $28,980 % of Program Taught Online 98% % of Program Delivered in Person 2% Avg. Years' Work Experience 7.8 Avg. GMAT Scores 569 Total Applicants/% Accepted 237/72% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 408 #15 Hofstra University hofstra.edu Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $72,800 % of Program Taught Online 96% % of Program Delivered in Person 4% Avg. Years' Work Experience 11.6 Avg. GMAT Scores N/A Total Applicants/% Accepted 66/55% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 46 #16 University of Nebraska-Lincoln unl.edu Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $25,538 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person Avg. Years' Work Experience 6.0 Avg. GMAT Scores 606 Total Applicants/% Accepted 185/89% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 321 #17 Northeastern University Northeastern University | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $73,800 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person Avg. Years' Work Experience 10.5 Avg. GMAT Scores N/A Total Applicants/% Accepted 452/88% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 1,016 #18 Pepperdine University pepperdine.edu Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $84,240 % of Program Taught Online 94% % of Program Delivered in Person 6% Avg. Years' Work Experience 11.3 Avg. GMAT Scores 542 Total Applicants/% Accepted 217/82% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 254 #19 University of Arizona University of Arizona | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $45,000 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person 0% Avg. Years' Work Experience 6.9 Avg. GMAT Scores 585 Total Applicants/% Accepted 84/95% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 122 #20 Syracuse University Syracuse University | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $74,592 % of Program Taught Online 94% % of Program Delivered in Person 6% Avg. Years' Work Experience N/A Avg. GMAT Scores 580 Total Applicants/% Accepted 935/77% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 700 #21 University of North Texas University of North Texas | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $16,002 % of Program Taught Online 90% % of Program Delivered in Person 10% Avg. Years' Work Experience 7.0 Avg. GMAT Scores 542 Total Applicants/% Accepted 68/75% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 98 #22 Jack Welch Management Institute (Strayer University) Getty Images Full Profile + Public/Private Private Total Program Cost $39,400 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person 0% Avg. Years' Work Experience 15.0 Avg. GMAT Scores N/A Total Applicants/% Accepted 1,855/58% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 1,137 #23 University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Massachusetts Amherst | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $32,535 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person 0% Avg. Years' Work Experience 12.5 Avg. GMAT Scores 577 Total Applicants/% Accepted 609/85% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 1,292 #24 Ball State University Ball State University | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $13,980 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person 0% Avg. Years' Work Experience 6.5 Avg. GMAT Scores 556 Total Applicants/% Accepted 113/92% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 258 #25 University of Memphis University of Memphis | Facebook Full Profile + Public/Private Public Total Program Cost $18,900 % of Program Taught Online 100% % of Program Delivered in Person N/A Avg. Years' Work Experience 8.0 Avg. GMAT Scores 578 Total Applicants/% Accepted 58/81% No. of Students Enrolled in Online MBA Program 105 One pilot died and another was injured after they ejected from a U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane that crashed in Northern California Tuesday, an Air Force spokesman confirmed. U-2 spy plane crashes in Northern California, 2 pilots eject.https://t.co/1rbzloEJYd pic.twitter.com/GmqLYVGTxg SFChronicle (@sfchronicle) September 20, 2016 The aircraft crashed in Sutter County. The U-2 was from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing stationed at nearby Beale Air Force Base, some 48 miles north of Sacramento. The pilots were taking part in a training mission, the Los Angeles Times reported. Military officials did not initially reveal what caused the crash, release the pilots' names or any information about the condition of the surviving airman. Witnesses spotted two parachutes carrying people and a third carrying their gear, KCRA reported. The U-2 is a high-altitude spy plane which routinely flies at 70,000 feet to take photos and intercept communications. Its pilots wear pressurized flight suit similar to astronauts. Beale Air Force Base is home to the Air Force's fleet of single-seat U-2s and a double-seat variant used for training pilots to fly the specialized aircraft. It also is the base for the T-38 Talon, a training aircraft, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned surveillance drone. It houses 4,500 military personnel. "We are saddened by our Airman's death & offer condolences to the family & all who are mourning this tremendous loss," Gen. Dave Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said on Twitter. In 1960, a U-2 was shot down in Soviet airspace leading to the capture of Francis Gary Powers. He returned to the United States in a prisoner swap with the Soviet Union two years later. Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report. Administrators at University of California, Berkeley reinstated a Palestinian history class Monday amid an outcry over its suspension last week. The schools social science dean announced in a letter to faculty that the ethnic studies class was reinstated after the teacher revised the course description. The Palestine: A Colonial Settler Analysis course was suspended by social science dean Carla Hesse after receiving a complaint from Jewish and civil rights groups that the course syllabus appeared to describe a politically motivated, anti-Semitic class. Hesse temporarily suspended the class, saying it wasnt properly vetted to ensure it wasnt espousing a single political viewpoint. The suspension sparked protests from critics who said the action threatened academic freedom. Hesse said the class was reinstated after the syllabus was changed. The dean said she didnt ask for changes of the courses content. The one-unit class is taught by student Paul Hadweh, who said the class was suspended without consulting him. "The university threw me under the bus, and publicly blamed me, without ever even contacting me," Hadweh said in a prepared statement. "To defend the course, we had to mobilize an international outcry of scholars and students to stand up for academic freedom. This never should have happened." Hadweh is represented by attorney Liz Jackson of the organization Palestinian Legal. Jackson said the changes to the syllabus were "cosmetic" and that Hadweh and Palestinian Legal is "considering all of its options," including a possible lawsuit. The dean said she suspended the class for review after discovering that neither she nor the chair of the ethnic department had seen or approved the course syllabus. Jackson said the class meets on Tuesday nights and had met for the first and only time on Sept. 6 before the class was suspended. She said she expects it will convene Tuesday. Forty-three Jewish and civil rights groups signed a letter last week saying the course description, speaker lineup and Hadwehs affiliation with pro-Palestinian groups show a politically motivated class. "A review of the syllabus of 'Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis' reveals that the course's objectives, reading materials and guest speakers are politically motivated, meet our government's criteria for antisemitism, and are intended to indoctrinate students to hate the Jewish state and take action to eliminate it," the letter stated. The revised class syllabus says the "course will examine key historical developments that have taken place in Palestine from the 1880s to the present, through the lens of settler colonialism." Hadweh is a senior who says his family is from Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem. "I hope we can now focus on the challenging intellectual and political questions that this course seeks to address," Hadweh said. Pro-Israel groups were still troubled by the decision. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a UC Santa Cruz professor and the director of the anti-Semitism group Amcha Initiative, told the Los Angeles Times that the reading list was still biased against Israel. The readings, without exception, present a very negative view of Israel, she said. That really should raise eyebrows in scholarly circles. Hadweh said that the Palestinian experience would be more comparable to the colonization of indigenous people in the U.S. and Australia. The class would seek to crate justice and equality for all. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The U.S. is imposing sanctions on a Syrian-based radical group formerly affiliated with al-Qaida. The State Department says Tuesday in a statement that Jund al-Aqsa (JUHND ahl AHK'-sah) had once been part of the group that had been known as the Nusra Front, a splinter group of al-Qaida that later cut its ties with the extremist organization. Jund al-Aqsa primarily operates in the northern Syrian cities of Idlib (IHD'-lihb) and Hama (HAH'-mah). The State Department says that Jund al-Aqsa has been found to "have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States." A 19-year-old U.S. Marine shot in the head while on weekend leave in Los Angeles has died. City Coroner's spokesman John Cades said early Tuesday that Carlos Segovia Lopez died at a hospital Monday night. The young Marine was found Friday night slumped over in the driver's seat of his car in South Los Angeles. LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman said a vehicle pulled up next to Segovias car, and at least one person opened fire, striking him once in the head. No arrests have been made. Claudia Perez, a family friend, told the Los Angeles times that Segovia was visiting family and friends while on leave from Camp Pendleton near San Diego. Segovia had spent time with his girlfriend and was on his way to Perez's home, where he usually stays while in Los Angeles, when he was struck by gunfire, she said. "He texted my son that he was bringing pizza home. He never made it," Perez said. Police notified the U.S. Marine Corps, which in turn notified Segovia's family about the shooting. Segovia was not in uniform when he was shot. No suspects have been identified and investigators did not have a motive. Police said Segovia has no connections to gangs or other activity that would seem to make him a likely target of gun violence. At this point, its absolutely a mystery, Whittingham said. Like so many cases in South L.A., we have nothing to go on at this point. Born in El Salvador, Segovia came to the U.S. with his mother. Both are U.S. citizens, Perez said. He joined the Marines about six months ago after finishing high school. According to the LA Times, Segovia was known around his community for his service work and led a teen group that aimed to motivate high school students to finish classes and graduate. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The attack on a Syrian aid convoy in Aleppo that left at least 14 dead "raises very serious questions" about Russia's ability to deliver its end of the ceasefire agreement, according to a senior administration official Monday who said the Obama administration ultimately holds Russia responsible for the incident. The official called the incident an "outrageous attack on non-combatants," adding that it was a "difficult and trying day" in Syria, while raising doubts about the fragile ceasefire negotiated earlier this month between Russia and the United States. "We don't know if it can be salvaged," said the official. Syrian or Russian aircraft carried out the attack, according to the official but declined to be more specific. At least 14 aid workers were killed, and 18 of the 31 aid trucks were struck in the airstrikes, according to officials with the United Nations. U.N. officials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city. The Syrian government said the ceasefire agreement was effectively over Monday, while in New York, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed hope that it could be salvaged. Kerry will meet with members of the International Syria Support Group, known as the ISSG, headed by the United States and Russia to find a diplomatic solution to the five-year Syria civil war which has claimed over 400,000 lives. After blaming the Russians for the attack on the aid convoy, the meeting is expected to be contentious. France's foreign minister once again Monday called for the full text of the ceasefire agreement between Russia and the United States to be released. "Documents have been shared with our partners," said the official, but acknowledged there were "operational details" that could not be shared. "There was never any secret about it," the official added. Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid coordinator in the office of the U.N. envoy for Syria, told The Associated Press in a text message that the convoy was "bombarded." Egeland added, "It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses." U. N. Humanitarian Chief Stephen O'Brien called on "all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law." The convoy, part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent, was hit in rural western Aleppo province. The White Helmets first responder group posted images of a number of vehicles on fire in the dead of the night. A video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitch black area, as ambulances arrive on the scene. A Red Crescent official in Syria confirmed the attack, but said no further information was available. Elsewhere at least 20 civilians were killed in fresh airstrikes on rebel-held Aleppo city and the surrounding areas, according to the Observatory. And Russia said government positions in southwestern Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets. With the week old cease-fire in danger of unraveling, both Moscow and Washington have indicated a desire to try and salvage the agreement which had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country. The State Department said that it was ready to work with Russia to strengthen the terms of the agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid. Spokesman John Kirby said Russia, which is responsible for ensuring Syria's compliance, should clarify the Syrian position. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement late Monday night appeared to signal that the deal could still be salvaged, saying that the failure by the rebels in Syria to respect the cease-fire threatens to thwart the agreement. The cease-fire came into effect on Sept. 12. Under terms of the agreement, the successful completion of seven days of calm and humanitarian aid deliveries would be followed by an ambitious second-stage plan to set up a joint U.S.-Russian coordination center to plan military strikes against the Islamic State group and a powerful Al Qaeda-linked militant faction. But from the start, the truce has been beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations. Aid deliveries to the besieged eastern districts of Aleppo have not reached their destination. The U.N. accused the government of obstructing the delivery while Russian officials said rebels opened fire at the delivery roads. Rebel forces and activists say government planes have bombed areas that are under the truce agreement, including rebel-held parts of Aleppo. At least 22 civilians were killed in government bombings over the last week, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group. The group said four civilians were killed in government-held areas. There were no independent reports of deaths of civilians on the government-side since the cease-fire came into effect. By Monday, both the Syrian government and prominent opposition activists were speaking of the truce as if it had already failed. George Sabra, of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told The Associated Press on Monday that the truce has been repeatedly violated and did not succeed in its main objective or opening roads for aid. "Hundreds of thousands of people in Aleppo are waiting for this truce to allow aid to enter the city," he said, adding that there are aid trucks still waiting on the Turkey-Syria border. "I believe that the truce is clinically dead." The Syrian military statement placed the blame on the rebel groups. Damascus refers to all armed opposition groups as terrorists. "This step (cease-fire) was to constitute a real chance to stop the bloodshed. But the armed terrorist groups didn't take it seriously and didn't commit to any of its articles," the military command statement said. "The armed terrorist groups took advantage of the declared truce system and mobilized terrorists and weapons and regrouped to continue its attacks on civilian and military areas." One of the major rebel groups in Syria, Nour el-Din el-Zinki, said soon after the Syrian military declaration that the government, Russia and Iran, another major ally of President Bashar Assad, are responsible for the truce's failure. "The regime of Bashar Assad had no real intention to commit to the truce. Instead it worked to undermine it with organized violations during the week as well as preventing aid from reaching Aleppo," the group said in a statement sent to reporters. Earlier Monday, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff said in a briefing that Damascus had fulfilled its obligations. "With the rebels failing to fulfill conditions the cease-fire agreement, we consider its unilateral observance by the Syrian government forces meaningless," Rudskoi said. Rudskoi said the rebels violated the truce 302 times since it took effect a week ago, killing 63 civilians and 153 Syrian soldiers. The opposition reported on Monday 254 violations by government forces and their allies since the truce started. The current tensions come on the heels of the weekend air strike by the U.S.-led coalition on Syrian army positions near Deir el-Zour. Syria and Russia blasted Washington over the attack. The Saturday airstrikes involved Australian, British and Danish warplanes on Syrian army positions. The U.S. military said it would not intentionally hit Syrian troops, and that it came as it was conducting a raid on ISIS positions. Russia's military has said that it was told by the Syrian army that at least 62 Syrian soldiers were killed in the Deir el-Zour air raid and more than 100 wounded. The Observatory gave a different death toll, saying 90 troops were killed in the strikes. Assad said Monday the airstrikes of the U.S.-led coalition against his troops was meant to support the Islamic State group, calling the attack a "blatant American aggression." Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and the Associated Press contributed to this report. A Thai court has found a British labor activist guilty of defaming a fruit canning company, and given him a suspended prison sentence. Bangkok South Criminal Court found Andy Hall guilty Tuesday of criminal defamation against Natural Fruit Company Ltd. in connection with a report he researched for the Finnish consumer agency Finnwatch that alleged labor abuses at the company's facilities. He was also found guilty of violating the Computer Crimes Act because the information was posted on the Internet. He was given a suspended sentence of three years with a probationary period of two years, and a fine of 150,000 baht ($4,300). He is expected to appeal the ruling. Two civil suits by the company against him are pending. Uncertain future for refugees stranded on Greek islands next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Nourhan Isso's timing was bad. The Syrian student who fled Aleppo crossed the Aegean from the Turkish coast to the nearby Greek island of Chios on March 20 with her mother, hoping they would quickly move on through Europe. But unbeknown to them, the date marked a turning point in Europe's refugee crisis. Under an agreement between the European Union and Turkey, anyone arriving on the Greek islands from Turkey on or after March 20 would be held there and face being returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. Had they travelled a day earlier, their prospects might have been slightly brighter. They could have been among those sent to camps on the mainland, or perhaps one of the hundreds of thousands who managed to cross into central and northern Europe while Balkan borders were still open. Instead, 21-year-old Isso found herself among more than 13,000 people stranded on the Greek islands, facing an uncertain future. About 3,300 are on Chios, where there is provision for just 1,100 spots. They must apply for admissibility to the asylum system in a procedure that can take months, and some refugees there said their second interviews were not scheduled until January 2017. "We don't know our future or our life in the future," said Isso, standing outside her tent in Souda camp, a collection of tents and prefabricated huts housing nearly 1,000 people in a moat outside the old city ramparts. "If you don't have hope you cannot live. It's death." Isso and her mother, Havin Had Hannad, have applied for admissibility. Isso's 23-year-old brother Ali had made it to Germany earlier and is living in Hamburg, but is sick. Hannad said she has been fast-tracked through the procedure because of her sick son and could travel to Athens and potentially even Germany, but she doesn't want to leave her daughter alone. Isso herself is waiting to hear back on her application after her interview about two months ago. "When we go to ask what happens for my case, they say: 'you must wait, you must be patient.'" It's the same for Afghan teacher Javid Raoufi, who also arrived on Chios on March 20. "It is very bad luck for me," said Raoufi, who has been teaching mathematics to refugee children in the camp. Had he arrived the previous day, he says, he could have left the island for Athens. "And I don't know, maybe from Athens we can go ... to another country." It is the uncertainty of the waiting that weighs most on many of the refugees, and the camps are rife with rumors. "It's like jail here," said Mohamoud Alou, a 29 year-old Syrian Kurd from Damascus who arrived on March 29 with his wife and daughter and has been living in Chios' Vial camp ever since. "Many people talk: maybe the boarder will open, maybe we will go, maybe we will stay here in Greece, maybe we will be returned to Turkey. But we don't know what happen to us." As a Kurd, the prospect of being returned to Turkey terrifies him. "If I return to Turkey, they'd say I am terrorist," he said. A decades-long conflict between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey has claimed thousands of lives. Hostilities resumed last year after a two-and-a-half year cease-fire. Yet the fate of those migrants who arrived in Greece before March 20 is not all that different. Despite promises by European countries to take in refugees from Greece, only a fraction of promised relocations have taken place. Balkan countries began restricting crossings of their borders in early 2016, and shut them completely in early March, stranding tens of thousands of people in Greece. The border closures also stranded others in various Balkan countries along the route. To date, more than 60,000 refugees and migrants are stuck in Greece, housed in camps across the country as well as in apartments rented by charities or squats organized by volunteers. Plans for a binding EU quota system to share the responsibility of hosting refugees fairly has met resistance from several countries, most notably Poland, Hungary, The Czech Republic and Slovakia. Under an emergency relocation program, nearly 3,000 people have been transferred from Greece to other European countries instead of the 33,000 that should have been relocated by now, said Giorgos Kyritsis, spokesman for the government's crisis committee on migration. "In other words a tenth of the figure that was foreseen and for which the European countries and the European Union have committed," Kyritsis said. "There are 7,000 people who are ready and waiting for their relocation, so it appears on this issue the other European countries and the entire EU that signed the agreement with Turkey have not fulfilled their obligations, whereas Greece has carried out all its obligations," he added. Ednan Varbori, an Iraqi Kurd, fled his home about eight months ago after it was attacked by Islamic State group fighters. He crossed into Turkey and from there to Chios. After 25 days, he was transferred to Ritsona camp on the mainland as authorities emptied the island camps to make way for those who would arrive from March 20 onward. Services are basic in Ritsona, which consists mainly of tents. But authorities are gradually constructing more permanent wooden structures as winter approaches. And Varbori is grateful he is at least safe. "Here we feel we live in peace because there is no terrorist here," he said. "But life here is complicated." Varbori applied for asylum in Greece. "If someone asks me why you don't want to go to Germany or France or another country, I say all Europe is the same, and if I be in Greece or another country, it's no different," he said. "I want to work and have a good life. But his application, like so many others, is dragging. "I went to the interview and they were supposed to give me an answer but it has been delayed," Varbori said. Now all he can do is wait. "Actually, I'm grateful to everybody who has helped us, and the whole world knows the conditions that we're living in." ___ Fotiadis reported from Ritsona camp, Greece. Theodora Tongas and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed. URL https://www.foxnews.com/world/uncertain-future-for-refugees-stranded-on-greek-islands next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Uruguay's government on Monday rejected an ultimatum by a former Guantanamo prisoner who is on a hunger strike demanding to leave the South American country. Abu Wa'el Dhiab has been on a hunger strike for more than a month to press his demands to leave Uruguay, which took him in along with five other former Guantanamo prisoners in 2014. He wants to join his wife and children in Turkey or another nation. Dhiab gave the government a Sunday deadline for a proposal to leave. But the government's liaison with the six resettled detainees said that there's nothing to offer him yet. Cristian Mirza also said Dhiab's ultimatum on Friday "did not go well" with officials. He said Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey have rejected taking in Dhiab. A Finnish court has convicted five members of Cuba's national volleyball team of aggravated rape and sentenced four of them to five years in prison. A fifth man was sentenced to 3 years in prison. The District Court of Pirkanmaa on Tuesday acquitted a sixth man, who had been held in police custody in the southern city of Tampere. Eight members of the Cuban volleyball team were initially arrested in early July following allegations that a woman was raped at a hotel where the team was staying in Tampere, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki. Two were released without charge. The arrests were during the Volleyball World League in the southern Finnish city. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 A new U.N. report says five million people in Somalia are not getting enough food. That's more than 40 percent of the population of this chaotic Horn of Africa country. The report released Tuesday says the number of people who are food insecure has increased by 300,000 since February. The report says more than 300,000 children under 5 are acutely malnourished. More than a million people in Somalia are displaced after years of violence and attacks by homegrown extremist group al-Shabab. Now thousands of people are returning to the country from the world's largest refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, which has vowed to close the camp in the coming months. The new report blames hunger in part on poor rainfall in southern and central Somalia, "the breadbasket of the country." next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Ahead of a major European meeting on the refugee crisis convened by Austria, the country's chancellor and foreign minister on Tuesday urged joint EU action on tightening up Europe's external borders and a "Marshall Plan" for countries responsible for most of the migrant influx to the continent to reduce incentives to leave. Austria is governed by a coalition of Social Democrats and the center-right People's Party. At a time of increased tension between the two parties, comments by Chancellor Christian Kern and Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz reflected attempts to stake out political positions that will appeal to their voter base. Kern, a Social Democrat, focused on the need to reduce the migrant influx by improving the lives of those most likely to leave their home countries. Kurz, of the People's Party, hit hard on the need to secure border controls. But both strove to reduce fears of a rightward lurch by Austria, through increasingly restrictive border policies and amid projections that Norbert Hofer of Austria's xenophobic Freedom Party has the edge in delayed presidential elections now scheduled for December. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Kern avoided directly responding when asked if that perceived rightward shift had been raised by other leaders attending the session. "Even in case Mr. Hofer would win the election, life would go on," he said. "We have a stable government, and we are part of the European Union representing the values of its foundation." Kurz's party has moved further right on refugees than Kern's, opening it up to criticism that its policies are not much different from those of the Freedom Party. But Kurz said Austria is not alone in its switch this year from open to tight borders. "There is now an understanding in the European Union that we have to stop the flow of illegal migrants, and that we need border controls to our external borders," he said. "I don't think this is a far-right position. It's a necessary position." The two spoke ahead of a regional refugee summit in Vienna on Saturday, convened by Kern to try and harmonize policies a difficult proposition considering that those attending will include German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who lead opposing camps on the issue. Kern saw no problem, saying the two often meet at summits. Still, their encounters have been bumpy. At a summit of EU leaders on Friday in Slovakia, Orban again criticized Germany for refusing to set limits on migrant arrivals. Unless Berlin caps arrivals, he said, the flood will continue "because everyone sees ... that there is a place in Europe where the good life can be achieved, where they are welcomed and where their needs are taken care of." He said Hungary's razor-wire barrier is meant 'to stop at the Hungarian border the negative consequences of the suction effect of German domestic politics." The wife of the Afghan-born man suspected in the series of bomb blasts in New York and New Jersey was arrested in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, U.S. officials revealed, as investigators worked to determine how much she may have known about her husband's actions. Ahmad Khan Rahami's wife, who was not named, had flown from the U.S. to Pakistan days ago, the Los Angeles Times reported. She reportedly married Rahami within the past few years before moving with him to the U.S. Investigators said Rahami himself had made several trips to Afghanistan and to Pakistan, including the Taliban stronghold of Quetta, in recent years. "I'm always interested in who he met with, who he talked to. Was he radicalized over there? One thing is clear... something happened to him when he went overseas," the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, told "America's Newsroom" on Tuesday. Rahami, 28, a Muslim U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, lived with his family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to investigators. William Sweeney Jr., the FBI's assistant director in New York, said there was no indication so far that the bombings were the work of a larger terror cell. Rahami wasn't on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes traveling between the U.S. and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. Rahami and his family lived above their restaurant -- called First American Fried Chicken -- and the family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints, which the Rahamis said in a lawsuit were tinged with anti-Muslim sentiment. The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 because one of Rahami's brothers had pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing closing hours at the restaurant. A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. Still, some of the family restaurant's customers said Rahami was more likely to talk about his interest in cars than to mention faith. "He's a very friendly guy," patron Ryan McCann said. "That's what's so scary." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Serbia has warned Bosnia it would come to the defense of Bosnian Serbs if they were attacked, amid rising tensions in the Balkans over next weekend's referendum. In the most heated exchange between Serbs and Bosnian Muslims since the war in the 1990s, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in a statement Tuesday Serbia will not allow "a military attack" against Bosnia's autonomous Serb ministate. Dacic was reacting to comments made by former wartime Bosnian Army commander Safer Halilovic that, without Serbia's support, Bosnian Serbs wouldn't be able to withstand federal forces for more than 15 days. The ministate is holding a referendum on Sunday on maintaining the date of its national holiday, defying a ruling by Bosnia's constitutional court that the holiday discriminates against Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croats. Last December, two evangelical pastors from the Church of Christ in Sudan were taken from their churches and thrown into jail. Last month, the Rev. Abdulraheem Kodi and the Rev. Kuwa Shamal Abu Zumam were charged with numerous offenses, including waging war against the state, espionage and undermining Sudans constitutional system. Their trial has begun. They could get the death penalty if they're found guilty. Two other men, Czech aid worker Petr Jasek and Darfuri human rights activist Abduelmoneim Abdulmwlla, have also been detained. They, too, are accused of conspiring against the state, provoking hatred against or among sects and spreading false information. Kodi and Zumam hail from the Nuba Mountains, a region that continues to be bombed and brazenly targeted by Sudans president, Omar al-Bashir, in what human rights and Christian groups say is an effort to rid the country of the Nuba people indigenous groups who do not fit the regimes vision of an Islamic nation and are accused of supporting anti-government rebels. Bishop of Kadugli Diocese, Reverend Andudu Adam Elnail who is now based in South Carolina after fleeing Sudan in 2011 after government forces allegedly burned down his property when he refused to use his extensive church leadership outreach to endorse the President told FoxNews.com. Al-Bashir, the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court there is an outstanding warrant for his arrest in connection to war crimes in Darfur took power in a 1989 coup and has long taken a stance of one language (Arabic), one religion (Islam). Sudans National Intelligence and Security Services have accused the pastors of exposing state secrets. But their defenders say the claims against them have been concocted, and that they are being persecuted by al-Bashir and the Sudanese government. They are appealing desperately to the international community to intervene. We call for their protection and immediate release and urge that the U.N., U.S. government including Congress and other world communities demand the freedom of these two men of God and other prisoners, said the Rev. Andudu Adam Elnail, bishop of Kadugli Diocese. Elnail fled from Sudan five years ago after he refused to endorse al-Bashir and government forces allegedly burned down his property. Now based in South Carolina, he said Kodi and Zumam are in solitary confinement and are not allowed visits or phone calls with family members. He described Zumam whom he has known for many years, as a humble and good man in his mid-40s, a father of seven who has dedicated his life to family and faith. The government is not interested in the Christian religion. There is no freedom for us, we cannot build churches, we are treated as second-class citizens, Elnail lamented. We need the international community to pressure the government of Sudan to give us our freedom of religion. The pastors are accused of sharing evidence of the government burning down churches in Khartoum and bombing churches in the Nuba Mountains, said Philip Tutu, a native of the Nuba Mountains, who now resides in the U.S and advocates for the rights of the Nuba people. The government says its security policy is to keep this information confidential to avoid pressure from the international community. Clearly, the pastors are unfairly targeted. The hearings are postponed repeatedly. A lot of people are showing up for the hearings and not everyone is able to attend, including some attorneys for the pastors. The attorneys, who asked not to be identified, fearing government retaliation, stressed that more action is needed to support the pastors and to protect Christians in the Nuba Mountains, where they are deemed to be atheists. A spokesperson from the U.S State Department said senior officials at the U.S Embassy in Khartoum have been tracking this case since the pastors were arrested and have repeatedly raised concerns about the matter. We are committed to working with countries to make tangible improvements in respect for religious freedom and continue to look for opportunities to address these issues with the government of South Sudan, the spokesperson said. Christian persecution is nothing new in war-torn Sudan, where churches are routinely razed and church leaders are targeted and taunted. And though Sudan has been designated a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department since 1999, the situation has worsened. Members of Sudans minority Christian community have been arrested, their religious buildings attacked, churches and educational institutions closed and their religious literature confiscated, said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J, chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. The government will no longer issue permits for the building of new churches. Government policies and societal pressure promote conversion to Islam. Christians are pressured to deny their faith or convert to gain employment. Kiri Kankhwende, of the U.K-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said the situation for Christians in Sudan has particularly deteriorated since the secession in 2011 of South Sudan, which was championed as a foreign policy success story by the Obama administration but has since descended into civil war. Since then, the government has called for a 100 percent Islamic nation with a constitution based wholly on Shariah law, Kankhwende told FoxNews.com. The restrictions placed on Christians over the last five years indicate that the government is moving toward this goal. Amnesty International issued a joint letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council this month condemning the lack of freedom of religion in Sudan and calling on the government to release all individuals who have been arbitrarily detained. The independent Sudanese Human Rights and Development Organization has appealed to Pope Francis to exert his influence on Khartoum to help the jailed church leaders. Open Doors USA, a Christian human rights organization, has called the persecution of Christians in Sudan akin to ethnic cleansing and stressed that the right kind of attention in the case of the Sudanese priests is vital. The more influential voices that can be heard on this issue, the more likely the government of Sudan is to at least consider objections to this miscarriage of justice, said Open Doors president and CEO David Curry. The Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment. The pastors trial is set to resume Wednesday. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 A Serb paramilitary commander during the Balkan wars of the 1990s has pleaded not guilty at the start of his war crimes trial in Croatia. Dragan Vasiljevic, also known as Captain Dragan and Daniel Snedden, is charged with killings and torture of civilians while he was a rebel Serb commander during the 1991-95 Croatian war. The charges carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence in Croatia. Vasiljkovic, who was born in Serbia, went to Australia at the age of 15 but returned to the Balkans to train Croatian Serb rebels in 1991, when Serbs took up arms against Croatia's secession from Yugoslavia. He has been in custody since he was extradited from Australia in July last year after fighting a 10-year legal battle against being handed over to the Croatian judiciary. Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland after a fire gutted a detention camp following protests. Regional governor Christiana Kalogirou said Tuesday she had repeatedly warned the government that camps on the east Aegean Sea islands were dangerously overcrowded. More than 4,000 people were housed at the camp at Moria on Lesbos where fire which broke out Monday destroyed or damaged tents and trailers. There were no reports of any migrants being injured. The government is expected to charter a passenger ferry to provide temporary accommodation while the camp is repaired. The office of Kyrgyzstan's president says he has canceled his trip the United Nations General Assembly after suffering chest pains while in transit in Turkey. A statement from the presidential administration says Almazbek Atambayev, 60, complained of pains while at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on Monday. Doctors determined he was suffering symptoms of heart illness, the statement said without elaboration. He has declared a short vacation while he remains under doctors' observation, the statement said. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 The Latest on Europe's response to the influx of refugees and migrants (all times local): 12:55 p.m. Germany's top security official has called on Islamic groups in the country to help integrate hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Muslim migrants. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere says mosques and Muslim associations have a responsibility to contribute to Germany's effort to teach migrants the language and abide by the country's laws and customs. De Maiziere said Tuesday that failure to do so "will be much harder for Islam to be accepted in Germany." Many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrived in Germany since the start of 2015 came seeking refuge from conflicts in Muslim-majority nations such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. De Maiziere acknowledged that Germany has been tested by the influx but insisted that it had done well "by international comparison." ___ 12:50 p.m. Authorities of the island of Lesbos are calling for the immediate evacuation of thousands of refugees to the Greek mainland after a fire gutted a detention camp following protests. Regional governor Christiana Kalogirou said Tuesday she had repeatedly warned the government that camps on the east Aegean Sea islands were dangerously overcrowded. More than 4,000 people were housed at the camp at Moria on Lesbos where fire which broke out Monday destroyed or damaged tents and trailers. There were no reports of any migrants being injured. The government is expected to charter a passenger ferry to provide temporary accommodation while the camp is repaired. The Latest on developments in Syria, where a cease-fire is faltering further after airstrikes hit an aid convoy overnight (all times local): 12:05 p.m. The U.N. humanitarian aid agency says it has temporarily suspended all convoys in Syria following a deadly airstrike on aid trucks the previous night. Spokesman Jens Laerke of OCHA says the temporary suspension of the aid deliveries would hold pending a review of the security situation in Syria. Laerke said Monday that the U.N. aid coordinator had received needed authorizations from the Syrian government in recent days to allow for aid convoys to proceed within Syria. He said it's "a very, very dark day ... for humanitarians across the world." The attack late on Monday came just hours after the Syrian military declared the week-long U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia after blaming rebels for the violations suggested it could still be salvaged. ___ 9 a.m. Syria's cease-fire has faltered further after an aid convoy was hit by airstrikes, with activists saying at least 12 people were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. It was not clear who was behind the attack, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over Syria, as well as the U.S.-led coalition that is targeting the Islamic State group. U.N. officials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the northern city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the civil war, said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Pope Francis has chatted with leaders and representatives of many religions at a gathering to pray for peace in Assisi, the home town of St. Francis. Francis also shook hands with each participant in a long receiving line after flying to Assisi Tuesday for prayer and reflection. Christians will pray in St. Francis Basilica, while those from other religions will pray in different locations in the Umbrian hill town that for centuries has drawn admirers of the peace-advocating saint who abandoned wealth for an austere existence of preaching tolerance. Later all participants gather in Assisi's main square, where the pope will speak and all will pray silently for war victims. Francis has urged people worldwide to pray, too. St. Pope John Paul II started the Assisi tradition in 1986. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Russian police are looking for a gunman who shot a prominent Ukrainian separatist figure to death at a suburban Moscow restaurant. Yevgeny Zhilin, 40, was shot Monday night in the Gorki-2 neighborhood west of Moscow. According to investigators, the killer, wearing a false moustache and sunglasses, had been waiting for the victim at a nearby table for 20 minutes and took several shots. Zhilin died on the spot, while his companion was hospitalized in grave condition, Russia's Investigative Committee spokesperson told Tass news agency Tuesday. Zhilin was an early organizer of the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine and took part in combat activities. He was also the leader of the pro-Russian group Oplot, which had its own militarized forces. Zhilin has been on Ukraine's wanted list since 2015. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 A seven-month-old polar bear, found by villagers in far eastern Russia, has been brought to the Moscow Zoo with the Defense Ministry's help. The female bear, named Nika by zoo workers, is very friendly and has quickly adapted to zoo conditions. Zoo workers said Tuesday that they expect her to eventually become part of a breeding program involving international partners. People in the village of Ryrkaypiy on the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug region found the bear alone in late August. They said she apparently lost her mother to poachers and was very weak. The zoo has asked the military for help, and it provided a helicopter to fly the bear to the city of Anadyr and then a plane to carry her to Moscow, a 7,000-kilometer (4,350-mile) long journey. A pilot of a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane mistakenly pressed a hijack warning button as it approached Manila's airport on Tuesday, causing airport officials to mobilize commando forces and isolate the jet after it landed, Philippine officials said. Manila airport manager Eddie Monreal said Flight SV872 from Jiddah made the distress call about 20 miles from the airport. Airport authorities asked for a verification of the emergency message and one of the pilots confirmed the distress call verbally with the airport tower, aviation security chief Mao Aplasca said. He said the pilot did not immediately say the emergency call was a mistake. The pilot did not tell the control tower that the button had been pushed accidentally until the plane was parked, Aplasca said. Despite the assurance, airport authorities continued to treat the incident as a crisis, Monreal said. "We can never play around with safety and security," Monreal said. "We decided that we will not take that call hook, line and sinker saying that it was a mistake." Security forces were deployed around the Boeing 777 as a precaution. Outside the airport complex, police quickly set up a security cordon and checkpoints. The passengers were later allowed to disembark and told reporters that everything had seemed normal in the cabin until relatives informed them by cellphone about reports that the aircraft may have been hijacked. When Princess Habiba Sarip-Paudac, a news anchor at a state-run TV network who was on the plane, peered out of the window, she saw SWAT forces and police, some with dogs, who later boarded the plane. She said the passengers "felt like it was really a hijacking. They thought someone would throw tear gas." As the plane sat isolated on the tarmac, "Not even one crew explained. For two hours, they were saying, `Sorry ma'am, we don't know anything, we don't know what to say,"' Paudac told reporters. Many of those coming off the plane were dressed in white, likely indicating that they were returning from the annual hajj pilgrimage, a ritual required of all able-bodied Muslims once in a lifetime. Saudi Arabian Airlines, also known as Saudia, does brisk business during the hajj, which reached its climax last week. The 71-year-old airline, which operates 119 planes, said on its official Twitter feed later Tuesday that there was a false alarm of a hijacking aboard the flight. Monreal said the plane was carrying 410 passengers and 21 crew members. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said it is investigating the cause of the incident. "Appropriate penalties and sanctions will be imposed on the erring pilot if the result is indeed a human error," it said in a statement. The pilots were not being held during the investigation, Aplasca said. The incident came after Philippine officials in February announced they had strengthened security for Saudi Arabia's embassy in Manila and its national airline because of a possible threat. At the time, officials also said additional armed officers were posted in the boarding area for the Saudi flag carrier and to guard the airline's luggage. It did not elaborate on the threat. However, it came as the Sunni-ruled kingdom has been on increasingly hostile terms with Shiite power Iran. A Spanish regional government has overturned a school's ban on a young Muslim woman wearing a hijab headscarf after she protested that the rule was discriminatory. The Valencia regional education department confirmed Tuesday it had ordered Benlliure high school to allow Takwa Rejeb, 22, to wear the Muslim garment in class. Rejeb, who is enrolled in a professional tourism course at the school, was told last week that the school's rules prohibited students from wearing head coverings. She appealed to the SOS Racism watchdog group for help, saying the headscarf was part of her identity. The education department said it would draw up new regulations to avoid similar cases. No one was immediately available at the school to comment on the case. More than 44 people have been killed in Congo in two days of street clashes between security forces and protesters against a delayed presidential election, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher said Tuesday, and several opposition party buildings were burned. Thousands took to the streets of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, on Monday to oppose an election delay which they call an effort by President Joseph Kabila to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate in late December. A high court has determined Kabila can stay in office until a new leader is elected. The electoral commission has filed for a delay in elections that were scheduled for November, saying voter registration lists will not be ready. Gunshots could be heard Tuesday in Kinshasa as tensions rose. Human Rights Watch has received credible reports from witnesses that security forces have killed at least 37 civilian, said senior Africa researcher Ida Sawyer. "Most were killed when the security forces fired on crowds of protesters. Others were killed when the security forces burned down opposition party headquarters last night," she said in an email. Protesters killed at least six police officers and a supporter of Kabila's party, she said, adding that demonstrators also burned and looted several shops and police stations. The U.N. human rights office noted reports of "excessive use of force" by both security forces and demonstrators. Both sides denied responsibility for the violence. An organizer of the opposition protests, Joseph Olengankoy, earlier had put the toll at more than 25 people killed. Interior minister Evariste Boshab had said 17 were killed, including at least three police officers. At least two people were killed after attacks on the headquarters of five opposition parties late Monday, the U.N. and an opposition party said. Bruno Tshibala, spokesman for the largest opposition party, said five were wounded in raids on four party headquarters. "We will seek international justice," he said. Congo's government spokesman, Lambert Mende, condemned the burning of opposition party buildings as well as attacks on other buildings, including two ruling party buildings and a school, by opposition protesters. Mende called on Congolese to regain their composure and let justice do its work. "The government can only condemn this mob justice mentality," he said. Kabila, who came to power after his father's assassination in 2001, has yet to announce whether he will pursue another term in office, though the constitution prohibits it. The violence comes amid growing fears that the election delay could lead to prolonged unrest in Congo, a nation as vast in size as Western Europe. The mineral-rich but largely impoverished country suffered back-to-back civil wars until 2003, and previous instability has drawn in armies from neighboring countries. Appeals for calm and restraint have been launched by the United Nations, Belgium, the U.S., France and the European Union, which also have called for a rapid organization of presidential elections. Amnesty International called on authorities to "take immediate steps to halt this escalating tension." Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is shutting down his international businesses to focus on charity work. Blair said Tuesday that he was closing Tony Blair Associates, which has done consulting work for governments, banks and companies. In a memo to staff posted on his website, Blair said he planned to devote 80 percent of his time to not-for-profit work. He said his charities would receive the reserves from his business interests. Blair has earned millions since leaving office in 2007, leading opponents to depict him as mercenary. He has also worked as a Mideast peace envoy and set up charities including the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. In July Blair was strongly criticized by an official inquiry for joining the 2003 Iraq invasion based on flawed intelligence and poor planning. AAMCO Franchise Of New Windsor Provides Superior Service To Veteran In Need Owner Ray Segalini Helped Vietnam Veteran When Car Broke Down and Turned 50th Anniversary Trip Into Memorable Experience HORSHAM, Pa. - Sept. 19, 2016 // PRNewswire // - AAMCO Transmissions, Inc. ("AAMCO"), franchisor of the world's largest branded chain of transmission specialists and an industry leader in total car care services, announced today the owner of itsNew Windsor, New York service center, located at 295 Windsor Highway, went above and beyond to help a veteran in need. TheNew Windsor service center recently repaired and delivered a Vietnam veteran's van while on vacation. The AAMCO of New Windsor is owned and operated by local resident Ray Segalini. Cliff McKenzie, a 74-year-old Vietnam veteran, and his wife Lori, were on a camping trip to West Point's Round Pound Recreation Area to celebrate fifty years of marriage when their 2008 Dodge Caravan broke down. McKenzie had worked with franchises the majority of his life, so he reached out to the closest AAMCO franchise, AAMCO of New Windsor. The owner of the center, Ray Segalini, went above McKenzie's expectations by repairing and returning his car before he and his wife had to return home. "It's not easy to leave your car with strangers and have the confidence they will do what is right for you, but with a trusted brand like AAMCO, Cliff had peace of mind. I always focus on my customer's needs first, and in this case, Cliff needed his car back quickly in order to return home from vacation," said Segalini. "Together, we developed a service plan and made sure to get his vehicle back into shape. It is my top priority to make anyone who walks in the door feel safe, secure, and know that we will deliver their car back to them fixed properly and for a reasonable price." The AAMCO of New Windsor offers a 10 percent discount off all vehicle repairs for veterans up to $100. As a resident ofMiddletown for almost 20 years, Segalini has spent more than a decade managing auto repair facilities. He purchased the AAMCO of New Windsor last February and has since doubled the sales of the center. For more than 50 years, AAMCO's network of locally-owned and independently-operated automotive service centers have employed the latest technology. Expert technicians diagnose a repair, fix it right the first time and back it with a nationwide warranty. Known as the world's leading transmission expert, the company has evolved into a total car care brand that provides a variety of services, including brake repair, tune-ups, shocks and struts, routine maintenance and more. AAMCO was recently named to Entrepreneur's 2016 Franchise 500, ranking at the top of the transmission repair category. Based on network size, growth rate and financial strength, the brand also earned a spot on Entrepreneur's "Best of the Best" list. The AAMCO of New Windsor is open Monday Saturday from 8 a.m. 5 p.m. For more information, please visitwww.aamconewwindsor.com or call 845-234-4746. About AAMCO AAMCO is the world's largest branded chain of transmission specialists and a leader in total car care services. AAMCO has nearly 700 franchised automotive centers throughout the United States and Canada. Established in 1962, AAMCO-branded centers are proud to have served more than 45 million drivers. For more information, visit: aamcouniversity.com, aamco.com oraamcoblog.com. SOURCE AAMCO Transmissions, Inc. Contact: Claibourne Smith Fish Consulting 407-808-2426 csmith@fish-consulting.com ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Cajun Global LLC Announces the Opening of Its 500th International Restaurant The Newest Restaurant Will Serve Guests in Singapore ATLANTA - Sept. 20, 2016 // PRNewswire // - Expanding its already significant global presence, Cajun Global LLC, franchisor of Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken, hit a milestone by opening its 500th international restaurant. On Sept. 20, Select Group, franchisee for Texas Chicken in Singapore, opened the 500th international location at Resort World Sentosa. Texas Chicken first entered the Singapore market under the leadership of Vincent Tan, the Founder and Managing Director of Select Group, who has held the franchise for Texas Chicken Singapore since 2010. To date there are 13 Texas Chicken restaurants in Singapore. The renowned chicken chain first entered the international market in 1979 with Church's Chicken in Vancouver, Canada. Today the Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken brands operate in 24 countries throughout the Americas, the Middle East, Black Sea Basin, and Asia-Pacific, the fastest growing region. "We are excited to continue our global expansion of the Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken brands, and our 500th opening is a testament to our ability to do just that," said Tony Moralejo, Executive Vice President of International Business and Global Development at Texas Chicken/Church's Chicken. "We have a proven expansion strategy of identifying the best franchisees and selecting the best markets for growth, and we pride ourselves on serving the best fried chicken and biscuits in the world. We congratulate Vincent Tan on his continued success and thank him for being one of the early pioneers who has led TexasChicken's success in the Asia-Pacific region." While Cajun Global's largest and most established market is the Americas, Asia has quickly expanded from a one-country business in Indonesia to eight countries, with the most aggressive growth in the Malaysia and Thailand markets. Texas Chickenentered the Malaysia market in 2013 and has experienced rapid growth and acceptance in the region. The brand is preparing for the opening of its 30th restaurant in Malaysia and has plans to open a new restaurant every four-to-six weeks. The most recent expansion for the Texas Chicken brand in the Asia-Pacific region was Thailand in November 2015, opening six Texas Chickenrestaurants in less than a year. "International expansion is key to strengthening the Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken brands as household names overseas, and we've had great success in making this a reality," Moralejo stated. "Aggressive growth, building an emotional connection with our guests and serving best-in-class fried chicken and biscuits are key driving forces behind the successful international expansion of our brands." In 2016, Cajun Global will open Texas Chicken restaurants in four new countries Laos, Pakistan, Oman and Bahrain and plans to open 65 new international restaurants in 2017. With the number of new country commitments, the brand is on track to open 100 international restaurants annually starting in 2018 and will continue extensive growth for years to come. About Texas Chicken / Church's Chicken Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken, along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside of the Americas, is one of the largest quick service chicken restaurant chains in the world. The brands specialize in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken have more than 1,650 locations in 25 countries and global markets and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken. SOURCE Cajun Global LLC Contact: Nicole Brandfon Nicole@inklinkmarketing.com 866.252.1750 x129 ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Minuteman Press Franchise in Londonderry, New Hampshire Celebrates One Year in Business September 20, 2016 // Franchising.com // LONDONDERRY, N.H. - Minuteman Press in Londonderry is celebrating one year in business. Located at 44 Nashua Road, Minuteman Press offers design, printing, and marketing products and services to today's business professionals. Over the past year, Minuteman Press has filled a void that was in the Derry and Londonderry areas, serving these communities by providing outstanding quality and customer services while meeting the printing and marketing needs of their clients. Minuteman Press has worked with businesses, non-profits and individuals to be that resource to find the right solution at the right price. Being a family owned and operated business that cares about the clients they serve, Minuteman Press is proud of the fact that so many customers have turned to Minuteman Press for their printing needs, and that they have then returned while referring others to the business as well. "Id like to thank all of our customers and friends that have helped us during our first year of business, said Bob Bean, owner, Minuteman Press of Londonderry. "I would also like to thank the Greater Derry Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and the Tri-County BNI Chapter for all of the help they have given over the past year with getting to know the community and the other local businesses." Bob concludes, My belief is that we have to give great customer service to our customers, and we will continue to do that in the years to come. Minuteman Press has been in the printing industry since the early 1970s and has over 930 design, print, and marketing centers worldwide. With the support provided by the Minuteman Press franchise team, they are able to provide a wide variety of design, printing, and marketing solutions to their customers. "Congratulations to Bob Bean and his team for achieving one year in business," said Ron Rubin, Minuteman Press International Regional Vice President, New England. Ron adds, "Bob has worked hard to serve the Londonderry community and has followed the Minuteman Press franchise system. We appreciate his efforts and are proud to support his business in the years to come." Minuteman Press in Londonderry is running Anniversary Celebration Specials through the month of September to thank their customers. These are posted on their Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and you can also come by and visit the store and meet the staff. For more information on Minuteman Press in Londonderry, NH, call 603-818-4390, visit their website at www.londonderry-nh.minutemanpress.com, or stop in and see the team at 44 Nashua Road, Londonderry, NH 03053 About Minuteman Press Serving the business community for over 40 years, Minuteman Press customer service driven business model provides digital print, design and promotional products and services to businesses from concept review through to completion. Today we are much more than just print; anything you can put a name, image or logo on, we can produce. Our slogan We Design, Print & Promote YOU! indicates the wide variety of products and services we offer that go beyond printing. For more information about our products and services or to find your local Minuteman Press, visit www.minutemanpress.com. About Minuteman Press International Minuteman Press International is a number one rated business service franchise that offers world class training and unparalleled ongoing local support. Started in 1973 by Roy Titus and his son Bob, Minuteman Press began franchising in 1975 and has grown to over 930 locations worldwide including the U.S., Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Minuteman Press is rated #1 in category by Entrepreneur for 12 years in a row and 24 times overall, including 2016. We are the modern version of the printing industry, providing high quality products and services for businesses that go way beyond just ink on paper. Today our stores produce promotional products, custom apparel, large format printing (banners and posters), signs, and much more. Prior experience is not necessary to own and operate a successful Minuteman Press franchise. Learn more about Minuteman Press design, marketing, and printing franchise opportunities at www.minutemanpressfranchise.com. For business tips, owner profiles and videos, Minuteman Press franchise reviews, industry trends and more, check out our blog, The Minuteman Press Franchise Review, at www.shop.minutemanpress.com/franchise/blogs-news. SOURCE Minuteman Press International Contact: Minuteman Press Franchise Opportunities 1-800-645-3006 www.minutemanpressfranchise.com Chris Biscuiti Media Relations 631-249-1370, ext. 249 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com ### Add to Request List Added Request Information Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Zerorez MN Anniversary Milestone Zerorez of Minnesota is celebrating 10 years of proudly serving the Twin Cities Metro Area. Minneapolis & St. Paul, Minnesota (PRWEB) September 16, 2016 - "Its hard to believe weve already spent 10 years cleaning since we started back in 2006 said Michael Kaplan and Jim Hoag, co-owners of Zerorez of Minnesota. From our humble beginnings with 3 trucks and 2 employees, we now have 59 trucks and 150 employeeswell, its an amazing honor and privilege to be a part of that kind of success, said Hoag. Kaplan expanded on this growth saying, weve cleaned over 1,000,000 rooms of carpeting, and thats something I never expected would happen. Weve actually cleaned and sanitized enough carpet to stretch a 1-foot swatch clear around the world! WOW, that kind of puts things into perspective for me. Zerorez enjoys a unique competitive advantage in the carpet and living surfaces cleaning business that has actually changed the way homeowners and property managers think about cleaning. Unlike traditional carpet cleaning companies using soaps, detergents and harsh chemicals that are left behind in the cleaning process, Zerorez uses patented Empowered Water, a water-based, non-toxic cleaning agent that doesnt leave any soil-attracting residue behind. The Empowered Water removes embedded dirt, makes spots much less likely to reappear and reduces drying time. It works superbly on all surfaces including: carpet, upholstery, tile and grout, area rugs and more. A large part of our growth has obviously come from the unique and proprietary way we clean said Hoag, as evidenced by Zerorez receiving a Platinum rating from the Carpet and Rug Institute (the industrys highest rating). But, what we hear time after time from our customers, is that its our people and our focus on service that sets us apart. One of our core values is our Commitment to WOW and that means we strive to deliver an awesome experience to EVERY customer, EVERY time. Another core value, Team is Family, permeates the company--employees go the extra mile to care for and support each other, and the people in the communities they serve. Maria Martini, call center manager, explained that we just completed a school supply drive and earlier this Spring we were a key sponsor for the Humane Society Walk for Animals. Going beyond whats normal to show our employees how much we care is something our team consistently strives for, said Hoag. When you see their smiles and appreciation by simply making them lunch or providing a delicious breakfast, its easy to understand what a huge difference the little things make. Kaplan echoes this sentiment stating the success of any business comes down to the people. What sets us apart is our process, our promise and our people. This has been our focus for the first 10 years and will continue to drive our business in the decades to come. Its what our customers have come to expect and love most about Zerorez and I believe that providing an unsurpassed service experience is the best way we can say thank-you. About Zerorez Zerorez has served the Twin Cities Metro and Western Wisconsin since 2006 with their patented cleaning technology known as Empowered Water that eliminates the need for harsh soaps, shampoos and detergents. This revolutionary cleaning system leaves zero soapy, sticky, dirt-attracting residue behind. Therefore, its not only environmentally safe but only Zerorez will extract soil, kill bacteria and leave your carpets and total living environment Residue Free. Zerorez cleans Carpet, Upholstery, Air Ducts, Area Rugs and Tile & Grout to service both Residential and Commercial clients. Their certified technicians deliver awesome to every customer with a commitment to WOW and a 30 Day Gotta Love It Guarantee. To learn more about Zerorez of Minnesota, visit our website at www.Zerorezmn.com or call our office at (952) ZERO-REZ (937-6739). We look forward to the opportunity to serve you! (you can also visit www.Zerorez.com) SOURCE Zerorez ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Boca Raton FL Employee Benefits CEO Connie Chiara Launches Firm Wins GCI Award A new employee benefits consultancy firm has been launched by Connie Chiara, who has recently won the GCI Worldwide Spark Award. It was created as part of her passion to provide excellent service to her clients. -- Connie Chiara, the employee benefits expert, has launched a new company that has helped her to win a prestigious award. She received the GCI Worldwide Spark Award at the annual Extraordinary Women Leading Change Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The organization dedicated to excellence in business selected Connie in celebration and recognition of her accomplishments in the past year, and the success of her new company, Corporate Benefit Partners. More information can be found on the company website at: http://corporatebenefitpartners.com. Corporate Benefit Partners is a privately held employee benefits brokerage and consulting firm based in Boca Raton, Florida. It is focused on mid market employers with between 50 - 1,000 employees. It is founded on three core principles, which are to work solely for its clients, maintaining a belief in market transparency, and being strategically focused, offering multi-year plans to improve the value of employee benefit plan offerings. Connie is an insurance industry executive with over 30 years of sales, marketing and operational experience. She has held leadership positions with some of the country's largest insurance brokerage and consulting firms, and founded her company in pursuit of her passion to provide excellent service to her clients. Throughout her career, Connie has served on numerous professional and non-profit boards, including president of the Gold Coast Association of Health Underwriters, secretary of Florida State Association of Health Underwriters, president of South Florida Compensation and Benefits Association, and an executive board member of CBIZ Women's Advantage. She can offer guidance on health insurance, healthcare reform, and employee benefits across a wide range of business niches. Corporate Benefit Partners is independent, without ties to specific products, programs or companies. It can act as a full service employee benefits broker and consulting firm, helping clients to get the results they're looking for. As well as her GCI Worldwide Spark Award, she has been named one of South Florida's most influential business women by the South Florida Business Journal. Interested parties wanting to find out more information about Corporate Business Partners can get in touch at cchiara@corporatebenefitpartners.com. For more information, please visit http://www.corporatebenefitpartners.com/ Contact Info: Name: Connie Chiara Organization: Corporate Benefit Partners Address: 2255 Glades Road #324A, Boca Raton, Fl 33431 Phone: 561-245-5215 Release ID: 133369 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Waterloo Structures Releases Building Wooden Storage Sheds with 3-Stages DIY Waterloo Structures has released a how-to guide Building Wooden Storage Sheds with Just 3 Stages. DIY Venturers and others can find the guide online at https://www.dropbox.com/s/yzn381r7kzc73k8/How%20to%20Build%20a%20Wooden%20Storage%20Shed%20PR3.pdf?dl=0. -- This most recent how-to guide from Waterloo Structures contains precise and detailed steps and instructions, designed to be used by people who loves creating things on their own and others who need it, to help them build a wooden storage sheds without the need to contact a professional and come up with the desired output, as quickly, easily and with as little stress as possible. DIY Enthusiasts / DIY Venturers and other interested parties are welcomed to download the how-to guide, in full, from the website: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yzn381r7kzc73k8/How%20to%20Build%20a%20Wooden%20Storage%20Shed%20PR3.pdf?dl=0 Storage Shed Builders/Contractor Waterloo Structures, has published this new how-to guide dedicated to helping DIY Enthusiasts / DIY Venturers build a wooden storage sheds without breaking the bank and come up with the desired output. The inspiration for creating this guide came from a desire to provide useful, actionable information to anybody facing the challenge of not having to rely on contractor's help in building the whole sheds and finish the venture withe the desired sheds. The Full How-To Guide Goes Over The Following Points: Planning - What are the things needed for building wooden storage sheds Size of the Sheds - Determining the appropriate size of the sheds that suits the needs and space allotted Wooden Storage Sheds Design - Classy or modern look Paul Zook, Owner at Waterloo Structures spoke at length about the guide, excited to share the details , the reasons behind creating a guide on Building Wooden Storage Sheds with Just 3 Stages and what Waterloo Structures hopes to accomplish with it: "New venture = new challenge. We can't determine how much we can go or what we can do if we aren't up for a new challenge. Venturing for new things aside from what we usually do not only measures our capability but let us soar high. Learning only stops when we die." DIY Enthusiasts / DIY Venturers and anybody interested in Building Wooden Storage Sheds with Just 3 Stages or those who are up for the challenge of not having to rely on contractor's help are invited to review the how-to guide online directly: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yzn381r7kzc73k8/How%20to%20Build%20a%20Wooden%20Storage%20Shed%20PR3.pdf?dl=0 More information about Waterloo Structures itself can be found at http://www.waterloostructures.net/ For more information, please visit http://www.waterloostructures.net/ Contact Info: Name: Paul Zook Organization: Waterloo Structures Address: 3898 West Lincoln Hwy. Parkesburg, PA 19365 Phone: (484) 718-9048 Release ID: 133363 For more information visit r Recent Press Releases By The Same User Agarwood Essential Oil Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 4.2% During 2016 to 2022"> (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Cyber Weapon Market by Type, Product, Application, Region, Outlook and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Landscaping and Gardening Expert Trevor McClintock Launches New Locally Optimized Website (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Sleep apnea devices Market is Evolving At A CAGR of 7.5% by 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Agriculture Technology Market 2017 Global Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Global VR Helmet Market by Manufacturers, Technology, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 (Fri 2nd Jun 17) Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Openworks adviser training programme will include Chartered Institute of Insurance qualifications from this month. Since its launch in 2014 more than 40 candidates have enrolled in the programme. The Openwork Ocademy has seen 14 candidates achieve full Cemap qualification and 27 achieve full DipFA qualification since its launch. The adoption of CII qualifications will begin from this months intake. Mark Duckworth, Openwork chief executive, said: The aim of the Ocademy programme is for delegates to graduate from the programme equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to become a valuable member of an advisory business, delivering high quality outcomes for clients whilst developing a rewarding career. We are very pleased with the Ocademys progress since launch and look forward to taking the next intake of candidates through the programme as we assist our practices in their efforts to develop the next generation of advisers. The programme provides a structured approach for anyone seeking to begin a career as a financial adviser. Candidates can include university graduates, new recruits with no previous industry experience or qualifications, or administrators who would like to move to an advice role. Entry to the programme is based on candidate nominations submitted by practice principals and a one-day central Openwork assessment event. Successful assessment leads to delegate status and an initial induction course followed by a series of centralised study days and development workshops with local examination sittings. In February, Openwork announced it had signed an agreement that will see Zurich divest its 25 per cent shareholding in the network within four years. By March 2020 Zurich will transfer its shares to Openworks other main shareholder, Openwork Partnership LLP, which represents the adviser base. A majority of the Council of the EU members have backed a one-year delay to the packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (Priips) regulation after parliamentarians rejected Level 2 legislation. The Council of the EU the legislative body that represents the 28 member states said 23 of its members backed a one-year delay to January 1, 2018. Last week, the body said it would not follow the European Parliament in rejecting the Level 2 legislation outright, after only 19 members below the qualified majority of 21 proposed to do so. The latest move by the Council is in keeping with rhetoric coming from the European Parliament, where several members have said a delay is necessary. EU legislation is created through agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission. The latter body remains insistent on seeing the rules come into force on January 1, 2017. The delay calls stem from the European Parliaments rejection of Level 2 legislation, which includes rules mandating that forthcoming Key Investor Documents (Kids) replace past performance figures with future projection scenarios. These Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) proposed by the European Commission were rejected by over 600 MEPs on September 14. The Commission was then told to come up with new proposals before returning to Parliament for approval. However, while Parliamentarians rejected the Level 2 legislation, the start date of January 1, 2017 is written in the Level 1 rules. These have already been approved by the trio, meaning any delay would need the backing of all parties. Investment Adviser reported this week that lawyers believe the stalemate poses a legal risk for advisers and product providers. They said the bodies lacked the time to either approve new technicial standards or delay the rules - meaning proceeding with an implementation date of January 1 without approved Level 2 legislation was the most likely option. The 23 members calling for a delay included the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Germany. In a statement, they said: We fully support the EU-wide introduction of Kids for retail investors. We believe it is important [the] Priips regulation is fully applied and it is essential to meeting the needs of EU citizens. After the rejection of the Priips RTS by the European Parliament, we call on the Commission to consider postponing only the application date of the Priips regulation thus without any change to any other provision of Level 1 regulation. More than 5,400 UK firms use passports to do business in Europe, according to figures from the Financial Conduct Authority, leaving them at significant risk as the UK negotiates its exit from the EU. In addition more than 8,000 European firms use passports to do business in the UK. The figures have been published by the FCAs chief executive Andrew Bailey at the request of Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie. Firms can hold multiple passports for different business activities and different member states, meaning the total number of passports held by UK firms is 336,421. In total 5,476 UK-registered firms hold at least one passport to do business in another EU or EEA member state. Mr Tyrie said: These figures give us an initial idea of the effects of losing full access to the Single Market in financial services. The business put at risk could be significant. None of the current off-the-shelf arrangements can preserve existing passporting arrangements, while giving the UK the influence and control it needs over financial services regulation as it develops. Efforts to secure an appropriate arrangement for UK-based firms will be one of the most challenging aspects of the negotiations about the UKs future relationship with the EU. This issue needs to be right at the top of the in-trays of the chancellor, the governor of the Bank of England, and the UKs lead negotiators. Firms can hold passports under different directives depending on the nature of the activity they are seeking to do in another European country. The bulk of passports are issued either under the original Mifid directive, covering cross-border investment services, or the Insurance Mediation Directive. Last month the secretary general of the European Federation of Financial Advisers and Financial Intermediaries said passporting is the main issue which UK advisers should be concerned aboutduring the Brexit negotiations. Negotiations into the UKs future relationship with the European Union are likely to begin next year. One option is to become a member of the European Economic Area like Norway which would give passporting rights but no restrictions on freedom of movement and would oblige the UK to contribute financially towards the EU. Switzerland is not an EEA member but has signed special bilateral treaties with the EU covering issues such as insurance, but it also contributed financially. A number of experts have said the UKs access to the European market will depend on continuing to follow its rules. Farmers and environmentalists need to work together, not against each other, if agriculture is to retain the 3bn in taxpayer support it currently receives once the UK leaves the European Union. Addressing an NFU fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrats party conference in Brighton this week, food and rural affairs spokeswoman Baroness Parminter said while things were improving in terms of environmental protection, there was no room for complacency. See also: How modern farming is being blamed for wildlife loss It is so important that there is common ground between the NFU and the environmental groups, talking about a new way of farming that produces food in an environmentally sensitive way, she said. I urge them to work together more closely, otherwise the money is going to be lost. The debate about food production versus wildlife enhancement had been highlighted in the recent State of Nature report from the RSPB, which blamed farming for wildlife declines. Proud of farmings contribution However, NFU president Meurig Raymond said he was proud of what farming had delivered for the countryside over the past 20 years. He said maintaining this contribution in future depended on developing a new post-Brexit farm policy that ensured farming was profitable. When they are making money, farmers will invest in their farms and they will invest in the environment, he said. He was concerned that, if too much emphasis was put on the environment alone, UK food self-sufficiency would decline too, and more would be imported from places such as South America, which would destroy the environment to step up production. Common language NFU deputy president Minette Batters also stressed that it was important to sell the food security message to the public in a language they could understand. Our surveys show 86% of the public dont even understand what food security means, she said. We have an opportunity over the next three years to really showcase the fantastic industry we have. We have 65 million people in this country, rising sharply. We are an island nation in a volatile world. Food, energy and water resource is absolutely crucial for every single one of us. But Lib Dem Defra spokesman Mark Williams said he was concerned by the potential loss of direct income support as a new farm policy was developed. The farmers I represent run small family farms that are at the heart of the rural community. That [BPS] cheque, when it finally comes, is the difference between life and death for those family farms. The farming voice needs to be heard in government in a way that it has never been heard before. Lack of resource Baroness Parminter also stressed Defras lack of resource to secure a good outcome for agriculture. We only have to think of the massive cuts that Defra has suffered during recent budget rounds. Civil servants are desperately trying to understand what Brexit means and what is going to replace CAP and there is just not the capacity to do this. On regulation, Baroness Parminter said the outcome would depend on the extent to which the UK wanted access to the single market. But it was wrong to think of regulation as a bad thing per se. I believe regulations are good news for farmers. It means we can trade on a level playing field and it means the standards we [the Lib Dems] want to see will get delivered. Story Highlights 44% worldwide say they helped a stranger in the past month 27% donated money to a charity 20% volunteered their time to an organization WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Billions of people worldwide are giving back to their communities, according to a new report based on Gallup surveys in 140 countries in 2015. This giving most often comes in the form of helping a stranger in need (44%) rather than donating money to a charity (27%) or volunteering time to an organization (20%). Projected to the entire adult population of the world, these percentages translate into approximately 2.2 billion people helping a stranger in need, nearly 1.4 billion donating money and almost 1 billion volunteering time. Individually, these questions help governments, businesses and organizations better understand the population of potential volunteers. But considered together, people's answers to these questions help measure their commitment to the communities they live in. Gallup compiles the "positive" responses to these three questions into a Civic Engagement Index score for each country. The higher the score, the higher the proportion of the population that is civically engaged and inclined to give back to their communities. Engagement Highest in Myanmar Country scores range widely throughout the world, from a high of 70 in Myanmar -- which also led the world on this metric in 2014 -- to a low of 11 in China. Myanmar's strong Buddhist traditions, which stress donating to and volunteering at temples, are reflected in residents' positive responses to each of the civic engagement questions. Majorities in Myanmar said "yes" to each question, with a global high of 91% saying they had donated money to a charity in the past month. Countries With the Highest Civic Engagement Index Means ( 0 = lowest score, 100 = highest score) Index Score Myanmar 70 United States 61 Australia 60 New Zealand 59 Sri Lanka 57 Canada 56 Indonesia 56 United Kingdom 54 Ireland 54 Uzbekistan 52 Gallup World Poll, 2015 Although Gallup finds a strong connection between the Civic Engagement Index and per capita GDP, the countries with the most civically engaged populations in the world are not necessarily the richest. Myanmar's place at the top is evidence of that. While the list of the top 10 countries does include wealthy Western countries where residents may be better positioned to give -- such as the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Canada -- middle-income countries such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia are not far behind. In fact, residents in the middle-income countries at the top of the list are more likely than residents in any Western nation to say they have volunteered their time to an organization in the past month. Engagement Lowest in China Some of the countries and territories where populations are the least civically engaged are those that have suffered from economic and political upheaval, such as Yemen, the Palestinian Territories, Greece and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, civic engagement levels continue to be among the lowest in the world in economic powerhouse China, with a score of 11 in 2015. Countries With the Lowest Civic Engagement Index Means ( 0 = lowest score, 100 = highest score) Index Score Azerbaijan 21 Madagascar 20 Montenegro 20 Hungary 20 Serbia 20 Congo (Kinshasa) 19 Greece 19 Yemen 17 Palestinian Territories 17 China 11 Gallup World Poll, 2015 China's low score illustrates that philanthropy is not yet a part of daily life for many Chinese, despite their increasing wealth. This is not to say that Chinese are not generous -- they reportedly donated billions in goods and services after the deadly 2008 earthquake in China's Sichuan province. That same year, 17% of Chinese reported donating money to a charity in the past month. However, a string of scandals involving charitable organizations since then, along with the economic downturn, have hurt charitable donations. In 2015, just 6% of Chinese reported donating money to a charity in the past month. A new law that eases restrictions on charitable organizations' fundraising, but also includes strict regulations to prevent fraud, took effect in China in September 2016. This legislation may help alleviate some concerns among Chinese and encourage more businesses and individuals to donate to charities. Implications Encouraging citizens to share responsibility for the problems facing their communities and getting them to participate in solving them is arguably one of the most important tasks for global leaders in the years to come. Gallup's data on charitable giving worldwide show that billions of people are already doing this. But the challenge for leaders lies in understanding and harnessing the energy that moves some citizens to participate and in removing the barriers that keep others from doing so. Leaders must crack the code on what motivates some individuals to give incredible amounts of their time, effort and talent -- most times without pay and often at great risk -- to benefit people they don't know and perhaps will never see again. Jesus Rios contributed to this article. Read the full report. Survey Methods These results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults per country, aged 15 and older, conducted throughout 2015 in 140 countries. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error ranges from 2.0 percentage points to 5.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works. Samsung Electronics Latest News & Update: Tech Giant Sold $1 Billion Worth of Stocks to ASML, Seagate, Sharp, Rumbus Four companies including ASML Holding NV, Rambus Inc., Seagate Tech and Sharp Corp bought more than half of Samsung Electronics' stock for combined $1.1 billion. Samsung Electronics is easing some resources to gain additional funding for core businesses capitalization. Bulk of stocks which comprise 50 percent were sold to ASML Holding NV for $675 million. Rambus Incorporated bought 4.5 percent, Seagate Technology at 4.2 percent while Sharp Corp took less than one percent. The latter three companies had the stocks shakedown for $456 altogether. South Korea's Samsung is pivoting from other investments to focus on core business, Reuters reported. There are several cooperation deals with other companies but Samsung sees that there is no impact on mainline business, according to same report. The Korean company also stressed that stocks sale does not affect any production nor operation. However, Samsung did not elaborate which particular aspect is not beneficial to the company. Meanwhile, Korea Herald reported that Samsung vice chairman Lee Jae-yong is the proponent of the stocks sale. Lee wants the company to focus on flagship products like chips and smartphones to ensure quality and undivided attention. To recall, the biggest buyer ASML Holding NV had partnership since 2012 to develop high-end semiconductors. For Seagate, the deal is untying the bond made in 2011 when Samsung sold its HDD business but received shares from the American company. While Rambus was a deal earlier in 2010 pushed to access patents for chip design held by the company. One interesting stake deal is with Sharp. There is no clear connection yet with Samsung's smartphone to advanced LCD technology of Sharp, being a forerunner in quantum dot display. These stocks selling deals were not the first for Samsung this month. The company totally gave up its printing business to US-based HP Inc. for $981 million in Sept 12. Latest WhatsApp Update Is Not About Over Sharing User's Info When the company decided to change their Terms and Conditions, the latest WhatsApp Update didn't sit well with users. Now, as the WhatsApp company faces charges in an Indian Court, they denied oversharing user's info online. The Terms and Conditions set for the online app include the sharing of mobile number of the user to Facebook. Now, as they face charges over compromising user's rights and privacy, the company is at risk of getting banned in some regions. But instead of making their claims solid and secure users of their privacy, a statement from WhatsApp, addressed to the Delhi court suggested, fans can opt out of the messaging app. The question now is, are they really securing their users? Or are they just moving forward with the 'take-it-or-leave-it' notion to consumers? "There is no question of messages, photographs or documents getting shared with Facebook. We have no access to the content." The question now lies on WhatsApp's promise not to share any information with Facebook when the latter acquired it in 2014. Apparently, their claims only lasted while the old Terms and Conditions apply. Now, things have changed and the need to share infor brings so much revenue to online social media sites. The latest WhatsApp Update may have capitalized on this new trend. The WhatsApp Update that involved its Terms and Conditions linking the user's number on Facebook claims, it will help enhance the delivery of fitting advertisement to the user. Also, it will help in preventing spam messages from reaching the user's phone. However, it's last statement also said that, the changes will also help WhatsApp determine their number of users. Do you still trust WhatsApp in terms of delivering message and calls to you? Don't miss the latest news and WhatsApp Update by reading them here on GameNGuide.com. Taylor Swift, Tom Hiddleston Split: Lee Min-Ho Caused Break Up? Harry Styles Ex Cheated With Suzy Baes Boyfriend? SwiftLee Now Official? Millions of fans were shocked when Taylor Swift ended her three-month relationship with Tom Hiddleston. Now, new reports are claiming that the ex-girlfriend of Calvin Harris is now dating Lee Min-Ho. Taylor Swift, Tom Hiddleston Split: Calvin Harris' Ex Cheating With Lee Min-Ho? 'SwiftLee' Officially An Item Now? Rumors mill is spreading that South Korean superstar Lee Min-Ho could be the main reason why Taylor Swift dumped Tom Hiddleston. Fans have speculated that the former girlfriend of Calvin Harris could possibly be seeing the "Bounty Hunters" star without the knowledge of her then-boyfriend. Most fans are convinced that Taylor Swift cannot stand her long-distance relationship with Tom Hiddleston, who is currently in Australia working for an upcoming film. Other followers of Harry Styles' ex-girlfriend claim that there must be a third party involved that triggered the split and it could possibly be Lee Min-Ho. According to Channel News Asia, Lee Min-Ho is a very much ideal guy for Taylor Swift. Moreover, the news outlet suggests that a pair consisting of an American pop superstar and a Korean hunk is really something fans would really go crazy for. However, it remains unclear as to how Taylor Swift and Lee Min-Ho were linked to each other. As a matter of fact, it is quite impossible for the two superstars to be hooking up secretly due to their large fan bases. Moreover, for sure, Taylor Swift and Lee Min-Ho do not have enough time to meet each other due to their tight schedules. Though there is a very tiny possibility that these claims are true, neither Joe Jonas' ex-girlfriend nor Suzy Bae's rumored boyfriend has confirmed anything as of yet. Hence, fans should take everything with a grain of salt until it has been proven true and correct. Taylor Swift, Tom Hiddleston Split: Harry Styles' Former Ladylove Got Tired of 'Crimson Peak' Actor's Demands? Is She Suffocated? Meanwhile, GamenGuide has previously reported that Taylor Swift felt tired of Tom Hiddleston's endless demands. Sources have claimed that the "Midnight in Paris" actor has been forcing the former ladylove of Taylor Lautner to gain weight as he prepares for his upcoming James Bond movie. Most fans know that James Bond's girlfriends appear curvy with fuller chests. "Taylor has a very thin frame and has always been self-conscious over her smaller chest, so no one would be surprised if that's the case. She loves looking curvy and thinks her fuller chest looks healthy," an unnamed sources has told Star Magazine of Tom Hiddleston's former girlfriend, Taylor Swift. Both Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston are yet to comment on these reports. Stay tuned to GamenGuide for more news and updates about the Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston split! Pokemon Go Plus Latest News & Update: Wearable Comes With More Features Than What Was Expected, Can Catch New Pokemon and Activate PokeStops "Pokemon Go" has truly revolutionized the way of smartphone gaming as it has drawn people to parks, murals, monuments and more to catch and battle their Pokemon. However, this has been quite a hassle for some since it is not easy at all times to bring out a smart phone and tap on it till a rare Pokemon is caught or until one wins in battle. Fortunately, no other than The Pokemon Company itself has come up with a brilliant solution to this problem by introducing their wearable "Pokemon Go Plus." The BitBag reported that this cool new wearable device can be worn as a bracelet or as a pin on clothing. While many people have been initially skeptical about its functionality, they will be surprised about its cool features which many did not see coming. One very useful feature for this device is that it tracks the distance needed to hatch Pokemon Eggs and for Pokemon Buddies to be able to collect candies. When this wearable accessory was first introduced, nothing was said about it having GPS functionality which made some fans disappointed. Fortunately, game developer Niantic Labs recently confirmed through its official Twitter account that the "Pokemon Go Plus" can track the distance required without the use of a smartphone. Another useful feature in which the "Pokemon Go Plus" was built around is that a player can catch Pokemon with it alone. It had been revealed earlier that players cannot catch Pokemon which they have not caught before with this accessory, which disappointed a lot of players. Luckily, all that has been scrapped and it has already been confirmed that the accessory will allow a player to catch Pokemon that he or she has not encountered before. Forbes reported that the "Pokemon Go Plus" buzzes when a player gets near a Pokestop and once the button is pressed, it will buzz for each item received. It buzzes in a more profound manner when Pokemon appear nearby and when a player presses the button to catch a Pokemon, the light will flash red or green. This, however, is not a good way of obtaining high CP Pokemon as it would still be better to walk around with a cellphone. Rotary got started in Long Beach in 1917 when seven local businessmen met with a New York Rotarian who talked about his club there. The television game show "Jeopardy!" has a special place in Albany resident Miranda Princes life. She grew up watching the popular TV quiz show every night with her father in the 1980s. In July, Prince, 41, got what she calls the chance of a lifetime, becoming a contestant on the long-running game show. Prince and her husband, Charlie, flew to southern California, where she was one of 14 contestants who fielded answers in six categories from host Alex Trebek. The show featuring Prince is scheduled to run on Tuesday, Sept. 27 and can be seen at 7 p.m. on Portland's KATU, Channel 2. (Channel listings will vary depending on your television service.) Princes journey started with an online test that she took last October. It was 50 questions long and I think I got at least 40 right, Prince said. No one is sure about how many it takes to qualify, but we think it's about 35 or so. More than 100,000 people take the test each year although about 300,000 register from which only 3,000 are selected for an audition. Auditions are held in six cities across the country, Prince said. I chose to audition in Detroit, Michigan, because thats where my mother lives, Prince said. The program doesnt pay for anything, so I thought I would tie in some family time on the trip. Princes audition was in April. It was fun and everyone from the show was very nice, Prince said. It was a little strange because Im usually always the best at trivia among my friends, but I was in a room where everyone was very good at trivia. It was kind of humbling. The audition included taking another 50-question test, plus practicing with the buzzer that determines which contestant gets the first chance to respond. The trick is to be the first after Trebek completes talking because buzzing in too soon locks out the buzzer for about a second and a half, giving the other contestants a big advantage. They kept telling everyone to speak up, be louder and to smile, Prince said. I used to be involved with theater, so I know how to project my voice and I usually smile when Im nervous, so I was fine. Prince said she was notified three weeks after the audition that she would be on the program, which is shot on a sound stage at Sony Pictures in Culver City, California. During the interim, Prince studied up on popular topics such as American presidents and African geography. The Princes flew down to Los Angeles the day before production. They provide a shuttle from two hotels, Prince said. We had to be there by 8 a.m.. and producers have it down to a science. They were all very nice and supportive. It could have been scary, but it wasnt. Prince said producers immediately begin briefing the contestants, encouraging them to relax and have fun. Contestants names are drawn to determine their order of appearance. Until you get on stage, you sit with the audience, Prince said. I brought knitting but never got to it. Prince said she was in the third round of contestants, which she said was good, since it allowed her to work out most of her nervousness. But she said the introductions, when the camera is focused solely on each of the contestants as their name is announced, were a bit stressful. After the first commercial break, Trebek talks with each of the contestants and asks them a question, usually from background material they have provided to the show producers. We had already filled out an information sheet of fun facts about us, Prince said. The producers brief Alex Trebek, but he may ask you anything he wants. Prince said she kept telling herself to not choke. I just really wanted to be able to hit the buzzer first." The show is produced on Tuesday and Wednesday every other week, Prince said. They shoot five shows per day, so even if you are a big winner, you may only be there for two days. Prince said she was a bit surprised that the "Jeopardy!" set is smaller than it appears on television, but it is very colorful. Prince said the approximately 22-minute show flew by like 22 seconds. Although she cant talk about the categories that came up during her time on stage, Prince said there were some that popped up and she thought, 'Uh-oh,' but then I did far better than I thought I would. Prince couldnt say how much money she won or how many shows she was on, but she feels she did well. She is especially proud of an official "Jeopardy!" hat that was given to each of the contestants. I didnt make a fool of myself, and I had a wonderful time, Prince said. 'Jeopardy!' is a show aimed at nerds. Its written by nerds, played by nerds and watched by nerds, but it is so much fun. I would encourage anyone who thinks they would like to try being on 'Jeopardy!' to take the test, Prince said with a big grin on her face. Its truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Visit www.jeopardy.com to learn more about testing dates. The League of Women Voters of Corvallis is hosting a program on "Climate Justice" at its annual kickoff meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. today at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 N.W. Monroe Ave. Following an overview of league programs for 2016-17, the focus will shift to the featured presentation. Speakers are Allison Davis-White Eyes, director of diversity and cultural engagement and assistant vice provost of student affairs at Oregon State University, and Robert Figueroa, OSU associate professor of philosophy. Experts say communities of color are being hardest hit by consequences of the climate crisis more frequent and severe weather events like droughts, intense heat waves and flooding caused by heavy rainfall. Rather than looking at global warming as simply an environmental issue, Davis-White Eyes and Figueroa will speak on the ethical and political issues associated with climate change. For more information, visit http://lwv.corvallis.or.us/. Feb. 17, 1928 Sept. 14, 2016 Claire Watson Oester was born on Feb. 17, 1928, to Ella and Tom Watson in Portland. She passed away peacefully after a short illness with most of her family by her side in her Beaverton apartment on Sept. 14, 2016. Claire married Louis Milton Oester on July 3, 1947, and had three sons in short order: Paul, Philip and Jack. Claire and Lou were married for 68 years until his death in 2015. She and Lou lived in a number of places in Oregon including Scappoose, Gold Beach, Corvallis (for 46 years) and finally Beaverton. She had many friends, and she loved to host gatherings at her home. Her talents were many. She was quite the artist. She liked to paint watercolor or oil and took classes to improve. Claire volunteered in a variety of ways, including working with disadvantaged children. She was a long-time PEO member. She and Lou spent time traveling to places like Eastern Canada, all over the United States and Western Europe. She particularly loved the Oregon coast, Eastern Oregon and the southwest part of the United States. She played the piano and for many years played the organ for the Episcopal Church in Gold Beach. Claire and Lou were members of the Episcopal Church in Gold Beach and Corvallis for many years. In the 1970s they built a cabin near LaPine and loved going there, visiting many friends and in particular their longtime friends, Van and Peg Vandehey, whom they had met in college and had a cabin next to theirs. Far and away she loved being with her family, her grandchildren in particular were very important, and she got a big kick out of the many great-grandchildren bounding around. As she got older, she tried to keep up by learning how to use electronic communication like email and her iPad; this was a struggle, but she continued to work at it because it was a good way to keep in touch, even from afar. She had a peaceful way about her and a strong faith in God; she was always cheerful, even when suffering. She loved to laugh and would find the simplest things funny, always joking about this or that. She was a voracious reader and loved playing bridge and doing crossword puzzles up to the end. She was a great mom who allowed her boys to be boys and gave them the freedom to explore and take some risks. She was always a stickler for sitting up straight, keeping your mouth closed, minding your manners and having good grammar. She is survived by her two sons, Paul and Phil, and their wives, Debby and Ke; six grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and a nephew. Her mother and father, brother, son Jack, and husband Lou preceded her in death. Arrangements are by Springer and Son. An unusual partnership has come together to make inroads in energy efficiency for lower-income Corvallis residents. Benton Habitat for Humanity, the local chapter of the Sierra Club, the solar company Abundant Solar and the solar financing nonprofit Seeds for the Sol are teaming up to put solar panels on two Habitat homes just south of downtown. Benton Habitat for Humanity has two homes that are solar-ready, the Sierra Club has contributed $6,500 in seed money, Abundant Solar and one of its suppliers, Platt Electric, are donating labor and materials and Seeds for the Sol is taking care of the financing. This will be the first solar installation at a Habitat For Humanity home in Benton County, said Karen Rockwell, executive director of the local chapter. The partnerships allow us to provide Habitat homeowners with increased affordability and environmental sustainability, Rockwell said. Not only will the cost of power to the families be substantially reduced, the project also goes hand-in-hand with our communitys sustainability goals, For the Sierra Club, there was a fairness issue involved as well. The lower a persons income, the higher the percentage that is spent on energy. This changes that equation, said Dave Eckert, the local chapters secretary and conservation/sustainability chair. We are trying to help out and be more inclusive. Solar power used to be all for the upper classes. By providing solar for these families we are helping them to be more independent of social services and to save them energy dollars that they can spend on food and other necessities. Its a great collaboration and we want this to be a model. The solar panels are scheduled to be installed in December, with the Benton chapter looking to install solar on a duplex in the same subdivision next year. The affordability issue is such a struggle these days. Were trying to become more creative and adapt, Rockwell said. Benton Habitat has built 36 homes in the 25 years it has been working in the county. The 37th, which will start construction soon in Philomath, is the chapters first passive house. The term passive house refers to a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling. Rockwell estimates that the Philomath house will have annual utility costs of $400 and the chapter is working on a plan to add solar panels. The Seeds for the Sol component uses state and federal tax credits and zero interest loans to made funds available for solar installations. Two of their Pass Thru Partners invested $5,400 up front in the Benton Habitat project and will receive $1,500 per year for four years from the tax credits, a return of 4.4 percent. Julie Williams of Seeds for the Sol said the group is looking for 39 more partners to meet its installation goals for the year. For information email info@seedsforthesol.org or call 541-604-8223. Advocates of open and transparent government in Oregon scored a rare victory last week: The Oregon Department of Justice overturned a rule requiring some state agencies to charge for public records. The decision from the office of Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum reversed a 2002 ruling from a previous attorney general. It's hard to say how much of an impact the new decision will have, but it's still welcome. Here's the background: The Statesman Journal newspaper in Salem had requested a set of records from the state's Public Employees Retirement System. Specifically, the newspaper asked for the 2015 travel receipts of the system's director and board members. PERS charged the newspaper $112 for the records and then denied the paper's request to waive the fees. (At least some state agencies will waive fees if they're convinced the request is in the public interest; to be fair, we've found that some agencies are more than happy to waive fees.) In explaining why PERS couldn't waive the fees, the agency pointed to a 2002 ruling from Hardy Myers, then the attorney general. Myers had ordered PERS to charge full price for records requests. In his ruling last week, though, Deputy Attorney General Frederick Boss ordered PERS to reconsider the fee waiver request and said the retirement system may be "legally required" to waive or reduce fees for public records, essentially countermanding Myers' 2002 ruling. PERS had argued that it is legally barred from waiving fees charged for producing public records because pension funds can only be used to the benefit of PERS members. But Boss wrote in his ruling that PERS already uses its funds for activities that don't directly benefit pension members. Releasing public records should be no exception, Boss said. "Although a public body enjoys discretion with respect to whether to grant or deny fee waivers and reductions, that discretion is not unlimited," Boss wrote. Now, one ruling from the attorney general's office will not by itself stem the tide of increasing secrecy in Oregon's state government. But the ruling does send a signal that Rosenblum's office is serious about overhauling the state's open record laws. (She has convened a task force charged with that work, and some of its recommendations are headed to the 2017 Legislature, where it appears they may face serious opposition from local governments.) And there is a symbolic value in the ruling's focus on the fees that government agencies charge for access to public records. These fees have been a sore spot, not just for the media, but also for members of the public. Although we have little issue with agencies trying to recoup legitimate costs for accessing records, open-government advocates can point to a number of occasions when agencies have tried to use ludicrously high fees to try to stall or stop requests. And sometimes, a few dollars could be enough to chill a records request: We suspect the Statesman Journal could have coughed up the $112, but that amount could have been an insurmountable barrier for a citizen. Last week's ruling may be, in the words of a longtime open records advocate, a "wee step in the right direction." But these days, even small steps in the direction of openness and transparency are welcome. District Court in Bonn : Refugee accused of throwing his children out the window BONN Three Syrian children were thrown out the window of a refugee shelter in Lohmar in February. It appears that difficulties in accepting different cultural gender roles may have been a factor. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken A Syrian man must appear in court on Tuesday; he is accused of having thrown his three children out of the first floor window of the refugee shelter where they were living. His seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son both suffered skull fractures and other bone fractures. The one-year-old daughter fell on her brother; she suffered mainly bruises and a hematoma on the liver. For a period of time, the injuries to the seven-year-old were life-threatening. According to the charges, the motive of the 35-year-old father was that he was frustrated by the behavior of his wife. Apparently, she was no longer willing to accept the traditional roles they had fulfilled at home and she did not want to be told what to do anymore. The issue had caused previous arguments, as it did on February 1 when the incident happened. Four weeks previous to that, he allegedly used a pan to hit his wife in the face. For this, he is also facing charges of aggravated assault. At the time, he was banned from entering their apartment for ten days, but afterwards he moved back in. It was 2014 when the man left Syria; his family followed him later. They came through Turkey, Bulgaria, France and then in 2015 to Germany. For the court case, 6 days of hearings are scheduled through October 12. Niklas P. case : Suspect back in jail for allegedly beating up witness Bonn A suspect in the case of Niklas P. is back in custody after allegedly beating up a prosecution witness. He had been jailed in June and released again. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Police and prosecutors announced on Monday that a 21-year-old suspect in the fatal beating death of Niklas P. has been put back behind bars. He was accused of being an accomplice to main perpetrator Walid S. and was jailed on June 20 after having been identified by witnesses as one of three attackers. He was then subsequently released. Now, he has allegedly beat up a prosecution witness and a judge ruling over the investigation ordered his arrest on grounds of suppression/endangering of evidence. The 21-year-old was identified as having worn a white pullover and trousers at the time the crime was committed on May 7. He was arrested and held in custody but prosecution could not link him to the death of Niklas P. and he was released. Prosecutors are convinced he was at the crime scene, however and he is accused of bodily assault. Now, the 21-year-old suspect, along with a friend the same age is accused of delivering a major beating to a 29-year-old prosecution witness. It happened in the early morning hours of September 11. Prosecutors are convinced the beating was aimed at trying to intimidate the witness into revising his story so that the 21-year-old would not be incriminated in testimony. The suspect was taken back into custody on Thursday, and on Friday the arrest warrant was issued, landing him back in jail. Investigators are still trying to determine the third person involved in the fatal beating. A great algae bloom at the bottom of the world is teaching scientists more about how an iconic symbol of the United Kingdom came to be. The White Cliffs of Dover span Englands southeastern coastline for 16 kilometers (10 miles) and reach as tall as 110 meters (350 feet) high. Facing the narrowest part of the English Channel, the cliffs have come to symbolize England since the time of Julius Caesar, often the first and last view travelers have of the country by sea. The sheer cliffs are composed of white chalk, or calcite, made by coccolithophores tiny, single-celled algae at the bottom of the marine food chain. Coccolithophores build hard, saucer-shaped calcite plates around themselves that sink and accumulate on the sea floor when the algae die, compacting and hardening into chalk. The White Cliffs chalk was laid down in a shallow sea above present-day England almost 100 million years ago and thrust upward by movements of the Earths crust. Now, researchers outline in a new study the ocean conditions necessary for coccolithophores to flourish, conditions that likely allowed the White Cliffs to form nearly 100 million years ago. The new information comes from an unlikely source: a great bloom of coccolithophores in the Southern Ocean known as the Great Calcite Belt. The new study, published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, describes why the Great Calcite Belt exists and also clarifies coccolithophores role in the global carbon cycle. The algae sequester carbon into their calcite plates but that process also increases concentrations of carbon dioxide in ocean water, according to William Balch, a biological oceanographer at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine, and lead author of the new study. The Great Calcite Belt is significant because this gigantic area of the ocean is full of these organisms that are fixing carbon, Balch said. Microscopic mirrors Every year during the southern hemispheres summer, a ring of bright, reflective water encircles Antarctica. In 2011, Balch and his colleagues reported the highly reflective water was associated with a bloom of coccolithophores. The algae act as microscopic mirrors: their calcite plates reflect light, brightening the ocean. The band of bright water in the Southern Ocean became known as the Great Calcite Belt. If you take the Earth and look at it upside down, it looks like a bullseye, said Marlon Lewis, an oceanographer at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia who was not involved with the study. But we didnt know what it was and [Balchs 2011 study] kind of nailed it. For the new study, Balch and his colleagues took two research cruises to the Southern Ocean in 2011 and 2012. They examined the belts water to determine what species of coccolithophores were present, how abundant they were and how they manage to outcompete other types of algae, such as large diatoms, in this area of ocean. They found coccolithophores depend on concentrations of three key nutrients: nitrate, silicate, and iron. Diatoms need silicate to build glassy shells around themselves, so in areas where silicate was more abundant than nitrate, diatoms outcompeted coccolithophores. Coccolithophores, on the other hand, flourished where nitrate was more abundant than silicate. In these areas there was also enough iron for coccolithophores to thrive, but not enough for diatoms. Coccolithophores also grew better than most diatoms in low-iron regions, according to Balch. Coccolithophores also flourish where different water masses diverge. At these boundaries, upwelling of deep water brings to the surface trace metals and nutrients coccolithophores need to survive, Balch said. These regions can be oases of fertilizer coming up to the surface for these plants, he said. The researchers also examined the role of coccolithophores in sequestering carbon. They found diatoms send more organic carbon to the deep ocean than coccolithophores do, but coccolithophores sequester carbon more efficiently. Unexpectedly, formation of coccolithophores calcite plates releases carbon dioxide into the surrounding ocean water, according to the study. This effect on water chemistry may be more important to the global carbon cycle than their role in sending carbon more efficiently to the depths, Balch said. A White Cliffs in the making? The new study lays out the surface ocean conditions necessary for high concentrations of calcite plates from coccolithophores to form and sink to the sea floor, much as they did nearly 100 million years ago to form the White Cliffs of Dover. But it is difficult to say whether the plates from the Great Calcite Belt will form chalk and produce a large structure like the Dover cliffs, according to Lewis. To build a Dover-like structure, many layers of calcite would need to be deposited on the seafloor over millions of years, he said. According to Balch, theres no guarantee this will happen, but a recent paper in the journal Geology shows calcite-rich sediments have been found directly under the Great Calcite Belt. While we dont have the great cliffs of the Southern Ocean, there is solid evidence that the calcite is making it to the sea floor, he said. Reference: William M. Balch et al. Factors regulating the Great Calcite Belt in the Southern Ocean and its biogeochemical significance, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (2016). DOI: 10.1002/2016GB005414 Adriana Dutkiewicz et al. Census of seafloor sediments in the worlds ocean, Geology (2015). DOI: 10.1130/G36883.1 Note: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by American Geophysical Union. Article Protecting the worlds oceans an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs. The content you are looking for has either been removed or requires you to login to view Please login below or register for an account With Naijapals.com How to Get and Activate Reliance Jio 4G SIM Card on Moto E3 Power [5 Simple Steps] Features oi -Chakri Kudikala Yesterday, there were two smartphone launches in India. One was a mid-range smartphone from Samsung and the other one was the budget Moto E3 Power from Lenovo-owned Motorola. The most interesting feature of the smartphone is the support for VoLTE, which means that the smartphone can handle Reliance Jio SIM card, which most of the are not able to handle the SIM card in the same price segment except the Redmi 3s.We have already compared the newly launched smartphone with already existing champ- Redmi 3s. SEE ALSO: Buying Guides and Top Picks: 10 Interesting Gadget DEALS Available on Amazon India As we know that Reliance Jio has been the trend over the past month or so. And, with a new budget smartphone adding to the elite list of supported Reliance Jio smartphones list, the crowd will be jampacked at the Reliance Digital stores. Here's how you can get a Reliance Jio 4G SIM card on your newly purchased Moto E3 Power. Step 1: Download 'MyJio' App As usual, the first step is to download 'MyJio' app from Google Play Store, which is available for free to download. Step 2: Open and Verify Details After downloading the 'MyJio' app, just open the application and verify the asked details like name, mobile number, etc. Step 3: Generate Barcode Now, you have to generate a barcode, which is the most important step in the entire process. The barcode can be generated only after verifying your mobile number. So, please make sure that you've followed the second step. SEE ALSO: No Internet? Well, Here's a Trick to Chat Without Internet Step 4: Grab Your Jio 4G SIM Card One after you're done with generating the barcode, visit your nearest Reliance Digital store along with your KYC documents, which are required to submit at the store for verification purpose. Upon that, the store authorities will give a Jio 4G SIM card for free. Step 5: Call 1977 for Tele-Verification Now, you need to tele-verify your number. This can be done by calling 1977 and after verification, your SIM card will be activated within 3-4 hours. In our case, it was activated in 10 minutes. Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Ministry for State Security - MGB Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti The Russian authorities are planning to implement major reforms to law enforcement agencies, merging the federal security, federal bodyguard and foreign intelligence services into a structure similar to the Soviet-era KGB. Kommersant newspaper wrote 18 September 2016 that the reforms are scheduled for the nearest future and will be completed before the presidential elections of 2018. The planned result is the creation of the Ministry for State Security, or MGB the agency uniting the currently independent Federal Security Committee (FSB), Federal Bodyguard Service (FSO) and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The MGB was the abbreviation given to the security service under Stalin from 1946 to 1953. In addition, the authors of the plan aim to merge the Prosecutor Generals Office with the federal agency for especially important criminal cases the Investigative Committee and dissolve the Ministry for Emergency Situations, splitting its tasks between the Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry. The major objectives behind the planned overhaul are stated as improving the effectiveness of state management and measures to counter corruption. "I think this is one of the projects that appear to be on the president's table, because in principle the idea of some kind of enlargement of the power agencies has been coming up recently," said Andrei Soldatov, the editor and founder of the investigative website Agentura.ru. The preparatory stages of the reforms started in April 2016 with the creation of the National Guard agency, and dissolution of the Federal Migration Service and the Federal Drug Control Service with transition of their functions to the Interior Ministry. The new State Security Ministry will also receive powers of procedural control of all criminal investigations and the functions of internal affairs departments of all power agencies. Once the reforms are completed, the current heads of Russian law enforcement agencies would be replaced, but allowed that some of them such as the head of the Investigation Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin will be offered honorary posts without any real influence. Vladimir Putins press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on 19 September 2016 that he could not immediately comment on the Kommersant report. News of the alleged reforms came after a series of corruption scandals that hit several Russian law enforcement agencies over the past few months. The Kommersant report suggested the changes could make the management of security and law enforcement agencies more "effective" and help stamp out corruption inside the agencies. In July several officers of the Investigation Committee, including the head and deputy head of the agencys internal affairs department, were detained over suspected bribery and power abuse. The Federal Security Service (FSB), carried out searches of the Russian Investigative Committee's Moscow headquarters and arrested senior employees over allegations they were shielding a crime boss from prosecution in return for bribes. In September the Federal Security Service detained the deputy head of the Interior Ministrys department for economic security on suspicion of receiving a large bribe. When FSB agents searched an apartment belonging to the mans stepsister, they found over US$120 million in cash. "Essentially, this is a case of bringing the band back together," said Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague and an expert on Russia's security services. "The suggestion is that a presidential security service will remain outside it. But basically speaking, this ministry would reconstitute the KGB in all its aspects." The MGB would be given sweeping new powers not only to provide investigative material for cases opened by law enforcement, but also to supervise the cases, the report said. Its investigative department would take charge of the most resonant criminal cases of the day, it continued -- and a Kommersant source specifically said that would include corruption investigations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address State of the AF: Active-duty force on the rise, space will be more prominent By Staff Sgt. Christopher Gross, Air Force News Service / Published September 19, 2016 NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AFNS) -- Nearly three years into her tenure as the Air Force's top leader, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James reaffirmed that people continue to be her top priority during her State of the Air Force address at the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference Sept. 19, in National Harbor. James also addressed key issues such as reversing downsizing efforts, modernization of aircraft and space domain efforts, and how a long-term continuing resolution would be detrimental to the Air Force. Reflecting on her time as the Air Force's leader, James said, "There have been no issues more important to me over the last 2 years than people issues." Taking office in December 2013, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were dwindling, and personnel reductions continued, which "on paper," James said made sense. However, James said that as she traveled the world interacting with Airmen, it seemed that reductions were not the answer. Personnel shortages were putting a strain on Airmen. Global security issues began emerging, and Airmen were needed. Russia illegally invaded and annexed Crimea, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant continued to terrorize Syria and Iraq, more airpower was needed in the Pacific, and a presence was needed to protect the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. With the support of the president, Capitol Hill and defense leaders, by the end of the year the Air Force's active-duty end strength is expected to reach 317,000. Aside from increasing the active-duty strength, James said she is committed to preventing sexual assault, which continues to be a top priority. She also said areas of victim care and investigative assets will continue to be "ramped up." Modernization of aircraft, space James said replacing and modernizing a fleet with an average aircraft age of 27 years old, is an absolute necessity to remain dominant in the airpower arena. "Balancing this fleet with the current demand, reduced capacity of aircraft and personnel, and technological advances among our adversaries -- you add all that up and it makes maintaining Air Force full-spectrum readiness very challenging," James said. However, perhaps even more important is to improve operability and advancements in space. During the past few years, billions of dollars have been invested into the space enterprise. "Space is now contested and congested," James said. "It's extremely important to everything that we do in the military, including precision guidance; navigation; missile warning; weather; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and communications." During a strategic space review earlier this year, James said areas of focus included protecting satellite communication and missile warning missions, as well as, battle management, and command and control capabilities. "Most importantly, we are changing the culture in our space enterprise," James said. "We need to get our heads around for the future -- what happens if a conflict on Earth extends to space? How will we defend our assets?" James said this will affect how Airmen train, and will include building a space mission force ready for conflict that extends into the space domain. It will also mean the Air Force will operate differently, and the standing up of the Joint Interagency Space Operations Center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is proof of that. Long-term continuing resolution would be detrimental James said a short-term CR is all but certain and being able to manage in that state for three months or less is tolerable, however, anything longer would be harmful. "A long-term CR would be very damaging for the Air Force," James said. "For example it would reduce our funding overall for the Air Force by $1.3 billion." It would also limit training and readiness for all Airmen and have an impact on Guard and Reserve drill weekends as well as flying hours, according to James. The ability to keep up with the air strikes on ISIL would also be at risk, as a long-term CR would reduce the ability to resupply stocks of precision munitions. Some other areas a long-term CR would affect include capping the production of the KC-46A Pegasus, prevent progression of the B-21 Raider development, and delays to the construction of about 50 major construction projects, some of which would affect the F-35A Lightning II support facilities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Transcript Presenter: Secretary of Defense Ash Carter; Philip Taubman, consulting professor, Center For International Security And Cooperation, Stanford University; Thomas W. Galligan, Hoover Institution September 19, 2016 Remarks by Secretary Carter on Innovation in Defense Policy at the Hoover Institution, Washington, D.C. THOMAS GALLIGAN: I also want to welcome you and thank you for coming out and joining us today. Our discussion today is titled "Innovation in U.S. Defense Policy: A Secretary of Defense Perspective." And it will take a deep-dive look at how the U.S. has employed a technological advantage in defense of the nation and whether that remains a feasible proposition. What was once the novel use of stealth technology, guided precision weapons, satellite command and control, is now being challenged by new technologies such as autonomous weapons, cyber and advanced manufacturing. With an accelerating research and development process, will the U.S. be able to continue to rely upon technological dominance for its national defense? Moreover, what role does the private industry play in this future? The moderator for today's discussion knows both participants well. As the former Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, Phil Taubman has had front row seats to some of the most consequential national security events of the last few decades. In 2008 when Phil retired from The New York Times, he came to Stanford where he is an adjunct professor with the Center for International Security and Cooperation. Phil also serves as the secretary of Stanford Board of Trustees and an associate vice president for University Affairs. Thank you in advance, Phil, for what will -- I'm sure will be a fascinating discussion. We're also delighted to have two incredible public servants as our speakers today. The honorable William J. Perry has been at the front lines of U.S. national security for nearly half a century. Starting his career as one of the few analysts writing intelligence reports that reach President Kennedy and his advisers during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bill eventually hit the pinnacle of government service when he was named 19th U.S. secretary of Defense. As secretary, Perry led efforts to reduce the dangers of nuclear weapons in the post-Soviet era and secure a safe transition into a post Cold War world. In 1997, President Clinton awarded Bill the Presidential Medal of Freedom. When he retired from a career in government, Bill took on another form of service; teaching and research. At Stanford, Bill is a senior fellow with the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. The honorable Ashton Carter is the 25th and current U.S. secretary of Defense. As the chief executive of the Department of Defense and principal defense policy adviser to the president, Secretary Carter is responsible for the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. Similar to Dr. Perry, Secretary Carter has devoted much of his professional life to public service and advancing science and technology in the defense of the United States. He's held a variety of positions in the Pentagon, including deputy secretary of defense, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and assistant secretary of defense for international security policy. Prior to his current role, Secretary Carter was the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Payne lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute. Together, they have spent years in and out of the government focused on how they can promote and maintain peace and stability. When they were at academia, Bill at Stanford and Ash at Harvard, they co-directed the Preventative Defense Project, a program focused on how to prevent large-scale threats to international security from emerging, where they co-authored books, op-eds and reports. Their collaboration has been successful because of their mutual admiration, respect and friendship, and I'm sure you'll see that today. Here at Hoover, we are delighted that we have an opportunity to recognize this decades-long friendship and the benefits it has brought to our security. I'd like to give special thanks to Mike Frank and the Hoover Washington team, or about, and the Pentagon staff who are here, and Debra Gordon, Robin Perry and Lisa Perry for making today happen. Finally, a quick note before we begin. Both participants have in advance chosen not to speak about current nuclear policy that is under consideration by the administration and will not be commenting on that subject. Further note, we have the secretary for about 30 minutes. His day job calls him elsewhere. Thanks for doing that, Ash, thanks for fitting us in. We really appreciate it. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ASH CARTER: (off-mic.) MR. GALLIGAN: But we'll -- there will be a bit of a change in the middle. And if everyone could just remain seated and we'll carry on with Secretary Perry at that point in time. We appreciate it. Phil, I'm going to turn it over to you. PROFESSOR PHILIP TAUBMAN: Great. Thank you, Tom. So of course, it's no accident that these two gentlemen are here to discuss defense technology and innovation. As most of you know, Bill Perry started his life as a mathematician, has a Ph.D. in mathematics and Ash has a Ph.D. in physics. And as I say, when you look back at the history of innovation in the Defense Department, you often find scientists serving in top civilian jobs as the catalyst for that kind of change. So let me just set the stage very briefly because we don't have much time with Secretary Carter. But I would remind you that science and technology and defense are indivisible in American history. And if you pick up the story with World War II, you have -- (inaudible) -- Bush working as the head of the Office of Science Research and Development. Of course, there was the Manhattan Project during World War II, which was staffed by many eminent scientists. Then if you come to what I would think of as the first sort of explosive period of technological innovation in the post-war period during the Eisenhower administration, you have the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the nuclear Navy under Admiral Rickover and the development of the first reconnaissance satellites. Then if you jump ahead, I think that the next big period of technological innovation really began in the Carter administration, and largely thanks to Bill Perry and Harold Brown, who was of course secretary of defense, and by the way, also a physicist. And in that period, we saw the beginning of the developmental efforts that led to the GPS system, that led to stealth aircraft and precision munitions. So the subject for today really is what I think people are now referring to as the third offset. The prior offset, so-called offsets were done to give the United States an advantage in technology where we lacked some of the manpower to face Soviet threat and the Warsaw Pact. So here we are today. You have launched a lot of very interesting initiatives and offset -- third offset. And I think we're headed, at least from what I read, to more semi-autonomous weapons, maybe some fully autonomous weapon systems. You're working with Silicon Valley. So when you think about what the goals are for what you would like to achieve with this, what would be the top two or three be? SEC. CARTER: Well, the goal for me is the same as it was for Bill and Harold and all of my predecessors, which is to make sure that we remain the finest fighting force in the world. We're that today, and for two reasons, I should say. One is because we have wonderful people, and that matter's a whole different subject. Also, one where innovation matters. But the other is technology. And what we're doing today to try to stay the best is in technical substantive terms, Phil, as you said, keeping up with the times. So you mentioned cyber, you mentioned autonomy. You might have mentioned bio also, because I think that's the revolution that will come after the information revolution, in a sense, and we need to be there for that as well. But there's -- in addition to the technical substance, and we're present across the entire waterfront. We always have been, we have -- always will need to be. There's a stylistic change from the time when Bill was doing this, and I was working for Bill and even before then -- I want to come back and tell a story about Bill later. But -- I mean, first of all, I always tell people we don't build anything in the Pentagon. We buy things, first and foremost, and we buy them from private industry. So the key is our relationship with the private technology sector. The alternative was tried by the Soviet Union, which is do it all in-house. Didn't work out very well. So it has always been our relationship with the -- with private industry that has been the channel through which we got the best technology. Now, that has to be different in today's world, and that's what I'm trying to adjust to, than it was in the world where I began and where Bill was. In those days, the technology of consequence in our world mostly was American and much of it government sponsored. Those two things are still -- were still major players, but that -- that -- those two things are not to be taken for granted anymore. So we have to have a new relationship with the dynamic innovative culture of the United States from the one we had when I started my career. And so there's a technological -- there's a change in the technical substance we're trying to achieve, but there's also an essential change in style. That's when you see me coming out all the time to the Palo Alto area and elsewhere around the country trying to connect to the innovative community. It's in recognition of the fact that they, unlike I, young scientists and engineers, I -- I -- it was part of my DNA growing up that you had a responsibility and a connection to public life. That's just not part -- it's nothing wrong with people, it's just that that's not a reflex anymore. We have to reach out, especially hard, to connect with them and draw them in. MR. TAUBMAN: So I think one of the things you're doing, some may know it's a Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, DIUX. The Defense Department has set up these units in Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin. You're planning one elsewhere? SEC. CARTER: Sure. We're going to keep going because there's lots of good technology up to the United States. And it's a great thing, you know, it is a cyber world and we can all talk to each other over Skype and so forth. But animal proximity matters. MR. TAUBMAN: Right. SEC. CARTER: And having somebody in the neighborhood who is from us and of us and reaching out and trying to meet people on their physical and really mental territory matters. And so I'm grateful to Stanford, which was an important part of helping me set up DIUX down at Ames, then up in Boston which has a somewhat different technological center of gravity from the valley and that's good. And then just last week out in Austin, vibrant, vibrant technological community and people who -- if you talk to somebody who hasn't been part of this, and you give them a chance, these -- these are young people who want to make a difference. And they want to have what's up here. They're just like all people Hoover -- younger Hoover scholars. Same thing, same as you, they want what's up here to make a contribution. When you tell them they can do that in the field of national security and that that'll be really meaningful and you'll make it possible for them to do it, enough to join the military -- that would be great if they did. But we'll find some other way to make it possible for them to go in and out, do it for a time, then go off and do something else, broaden themselves in some other way. And recognize that kids are different from kids in my day and kids in Bill's day. And we have to adapt if we're going to draw them into our mission. MR. TAUBMAN: Right. So I think if one is a student of the Defense Acquisition world and I spent a fair amount of my time as a journalist writing about it, it's a very slow moving process, quite cumbersome, bureaucratic. And what you seem to be trying to do is create an alternative universe in defense acquisition. Agile, accelerated, buying things off the shelf, in effect in places like Silicon Valley or getting involved early on in the development of technologies that you think may have military applications. So this is not such an easy thing to do, on one hand to accomplish that and on the other hand, don't you face a lot of resistance in the traditional, consolidated defense industry about this and in fact in the military services themselves? SEC. CARTER: Well, the last part's easy, no. And the reason is they are -- are great companies that have worked for us for a long time. They are in the same situation as high-tech companies that I just described the Department of Defense itself being in, namely, needing young, good talent. Needing to draw people into them, to the importance of what they do. And so there's complimentarily, every time I get someone to work on one of our problems, that's someone potentially who's going to work for them. It is, in many cases, it's a small company that they will buy. And so this becomes a feeder for the traditional defense industry which, you know, I was secretary of technology and logistics, essentially the job that Bill had for Harold when Harold was Secretary of Defense and he knows it extremely well. And it was a different era but in this respect it was the same. There are things that take 10 years. You know, you're going to build a -- design and build a brand-new ship class or something that's going to take a little time. What you can't afford to do in today's world is make everything take that long, because I mean you just look around you. The world of technology is changing too fast. You'll fall behind and people won't want to work with you because they're not going to work with people who fall behind. So it's a double whammy if you can't be agile. So we do -- we need -- we need to do that and we're -- the war's oddly -- war's not a good thing but it's a spur to agility because you can't -- you can't stand to not be there on time with something for somebody who's -- who isn't just getting ready for some hypothetical fight. They're actually fighting today. And so we learned a lot about agility during that period. And I myself learned a lot about it. So our acquisition system, believe me, I'm the last one who's going to tell you, everything's perfect there. But the companies are in the same boat we are. And the same boat basically everybody in our system -- every major institution, which is they're trying to get young people, especially young, talented up-to-date people in their environs. And working on the problems that matter to them, I mean look around you. Just about everybody here in this whole town and this whole country is doing the same thing, competing for the faces you see around this room that are bright, have a future, up-to-date. We got to do the same if we're going to stay the best military. MR. TAUBMAN: So let's take a concrete case which is North Korea. So we've got -- SEC. CARTER: Not at the agility. MR. TAUBMAN: No. SEC. CARTER: Just checking. MR. TAUBMAN: Yes. (Laughter.) You know, the Missile Defense System that the Pentagon has been working on for many years is shall we say not perfect. And so my question is, when you think about what you're trying to do with DIUX and other acquisition, what do you imagine would be outcomes that would be applicable to the North Koreans? SEC. CARTER: Well, first of all, I mean North Korea is just to be deadly serious about it for a moment and Bill Perry is someone who himself, tried very hard to get on a different -- get us on a different path with North Korea but it wasn't to be. They are what they are, and it's not a game. And it's not in the headlines a lot and so forth but we every day, the slogan of U.S. Forces Korea, as many of you probably know, is fight tonight. Not because that's what we want to do but because that's what we have to be able to do. And we are ready to do. So we have a very strong presence there. Our South Korean allies get stronger every day. That's not the rock army it was once upon a time, they're extremely good. But we have a strong ally in Japan. But unfortunately, the diplomatic picture is bleak at the moment. And we continue to be open to an improvement in that and try to get Russia and China and others interested down that road but it's hard to project that that's where it's going. And therefore for me, as far into the future as I can see, we need to stand strong in deterrence. Now, you mentioned missile defenses as well and I'm going to differ with you just a little bit, because we do try to stay ahead of the North Korean missile threat. You're right, missile defense is a difficult mission. And when it comes to a major nuclear threat like that posed by Russia, we know and have long known we have no way to protect ourselves, except deterrence. But we don't accept that with respect to North Korea and we're not going to for as long as we can possibly avoid it. And so we do aspire to protection of ourselves. And we invest a lot and we try to stay ahead of what they're doing, numerically and also qualitatively. But it's -- I mean you've got North Korea, we've got Iran, you're talking about problematic situations, Russia, the Asia-Pacific generally and then of course ISIL which we need to destroy. So we've got plenty to do today. But North Korea is one of these things that just never seems to go away. I worked on it once, once upon a time, 1994 I think. Well, I at least spent half of my time as the assistant secretary of defense working for Bill Perry, 1994. And it was deadly serious back in those days. Can I tell you a Bill Perry story that I just got to get out of here before I need to go? Because -- and it's really aimed at some of the Hoover people here who are trying to figure out where they're trying to go with their lives and whether to continue to do what you know, Bill's done, what I do as secretary and but more importantly our, you know, 2.8 million folks to -- which I think is the noblest kind of way to spend your lives that you can have, which is protecting our people, and trying to make a better world. There's just nothing better to go home and tell your family you've been doing all day than that. And so trying to lure them in. And I -- a little story. Bill -- Bill wouldn't know this. See, I may have told you this story before. But you didn't know at the time. I was a physicist, totally absorbed with physics, no idea of anything else to do except physics, physics, physics. And I went to a -- a scientific conference. And it was here in Washington, and I came. And there were sessions and sessions and sessions about physics and element and particle physics, which was my field. And there was one sort of physics and the public interest kind of panel -- or not panel, speaker. And I go there, and I just larked, and I didn't -- you know that hour was free. And I sat down, and there was a -- a -- a person from the Defense Department, Perry I realized later -- years later probably. And he was being essentially badgered by the audience about smart weapons. And the -- the -- the question that they thought was a gotcha question to Bill was you know what are you going to do when one of these complicated you know microchip-enabled things breaks? You -- and I -- I'll never forget the phrase. And by the way, sergeants today would be furious at hearing this. And so you know how's some sergeant going to fix that chip? And Bill said, well, they're -- they're -- he looks at them and he said, they're not going to fix it. They're going to throw it out and get another one. It's going to be that cheap. And I remember -- and the whole audience went. And I remember this. And I said to myself -- I said, now, that's an interesting answer. And there's an interesting guy. He's a smart guy. And a tech guy. Look what he's doing. Look what he's doing." And -- and -- and a little light went off that later down the road, when I got kind of lured into this as many of you I hope will be, by that offer, you know just do it for one year. Here we are 38 years later or something like that. And there was a little spark in there. And I said, wow, that guy's something else. And you -- I'm sure you don't remember that. Maybe you gave that speech a -- a million times. But for one young person in the audience that said, wow. Connecting mission and understanding pretty -- pretty cool. And it stuck in my mind. MR. TAUBMAN: So, when one thinks about autonomous weapons -- fully autonomous weapons, even semi-autonomous weapons like drones that we're using today. Of course it raises you know possible visions of the future where we have nuclear-tip missiles aboard unmanned submarines controlled by machines. Is that something you can imagine? SEC. CARTER: Well, I believe that in the matter of the use of lethal force, there will always be -- at least speaking for the United States -- a human being involved in decision making. I think that's necessary. And I -- I don't anticipate that not happening. Systems that are -- have greater and greater degrees of ability to carry out certain functions for themselves are growing increasingly autonomous. I -- I -- I mean most cases, you really need to continue to think of a human machine overall system, even though the machine gets more complex. SEC. CARTER: But -- and just interestingly, before all this discussion started, I issued a directive -- this is sort of eerie because I -- not only was I undersecretary, but I was deputy secretary of Defense too, and as was Bill. But as deputy secretary four years ago, I did a -- a directive which says exactly that. That there will always be -- there always needs to be a human being in the decision making involving the use of lethal force by the United States military. MR. TAUBMAN: So you know when we think of technology today, we also are finding the down side of technology, in the loss of privacy particularly. So, as you launch these programs what -- what are you doing, if anything to try to also launch consideration of the legal, political, and perhaps even moral questions that will be raised by new defense technologies? SEC. CARTER: Well, I just gave you an example of -- of -- of us trying to look ahead. This was now four years ago when we were talking about autonomous systems, and people. And so we do -- we do look ahead and -- and think ahead. In so far as privacy is concerned, and particularly internet privacy, one thing I would say to you is that we are enormous consumers of information protection technology because there's nothing -- nothing more important to us. That is our principal cyber mission. That is what I tell our cyber people both in cyber command and around the services. That's job one because all of our stuff today -- there's no point in having all those planes, and tanks, and ships, and everything else. They're all connected today. And so we have to have our network protected. So we are big supporters of, and big sponsors of network protection -- the largest in the world by far in terms of what we invest, and level of protection we demand. MR. TAUBMAN: Because you know I think we see almost weekly stories of supposedly impervious systems that are hacked. And it -- it raises a specter of a future in which defense operates so heavily through these systems, that they are vulnerable to hacking. Bill often talks about a miscalculation and possibly having a nuclear war. You know aren't we going to potentially leave ourselves in a situation where some of these systems can be taken over by foreign powers or terrorist organizations? SEC. CARTER: Well, we -- not in the case of a nuclear arsenal. There's kind of a -- a special case where we had special safeguards that I -- I do have confidence in for other reasons, not to be gone into here. But in general, you're right. We worry about it, we're concerned about it. Those -- anybody who thinks they're invulnerable is kidding themselves. So, for us that means it's a constant battle. We're constantly looking. I'll give you an example in a minute. And -- but you also have to be thinking, what if I lose that connection or I lose that ability. So we train our people to -- what we call it, operating through an attack of that kind. So, you have a full back -- fallback operational mode and style that is not complete prostration if that happens. On the protecting ourselves front, I just want to mention one of the things that I've done that is -- that is an innovation, which I'm always looking at suggested to me by people outside. And one of the things I -- I do is try to talk to people who are not part of our world, but care about their safety and their family's safety, and their children's safety. And -- and who will take an interest and little time. I set up an innovation board. Eric Schmidt -- MR. TAUBMAN: Right. SEC. CARTER: -- Google Alphabet, is the chairman of this -- Jeff Bezos, and -- and Reid Hoffman, who looks at some personnel things that we do. And what I've said to them is, I don't expect you to know anything about defense. That's not the point. But you do know what agile, forward looking companies and people are thinking. Tell me some things that might -- might be valuable -- might be useful. We can't use everything because we're not a company. We're the public sector. But -- and one of the ideas that I got early on -- and this is the kind of thing I've asked Eric and the board to provide me more of, is it turns out nobody in the United States Government -- the entire United States Government had ever done what is called a bug bounty, which a lot of companies do. And what a bug bounty is, is when you go out and you invite white hat hackers to have at your -- and then report for a reward of some kind, vulnerabilities they find. And nobody in the entire government- - we did it, for the -- and it's called Hack the Pentagon. And it was spectacular. We got for free, a friendly, very thorough examination of our attack surface from which we were able to make hundreds of adjustments. And the kind of thing that you can pay for, but you'd pay a lot for it, and wouldn't necessarily be as good. And we -- in our case, we can't give big rewards or anything. Peoples' -- their reward was having hacked the Pentagon 'cause that's pretty cool thing to do. That by itself is -- so you know, lots of people who did this for us. Now, there's an example of something that isn't novel out in the rest of the world, but that we -- for some reason, our people had never thought of before. That's the kind of idea I want to get, as I said I can't do -- I can't do everything because we're the profession of arms. So there will be things that companies do that we'll never be able to do, it's not appropriate for us to do, but, there are lots of things that we can do. That's a part of adapting our style as well as our technological content today and the future, even as Bill did so brilliantly back in the Carter administration. MR. TAUBMAN: Okay. I think we have exhausted the time that you can spend with us. SEC. CARTER: Well you get to be with Bill, I'm afraid I have to go do something else and appreciate -- I want to repeat the -- what I said about Bill. Bill Perry was, is I -- as I think about myself now, talking to audiences and trying to draw people in, I was at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco last week and I'm looking at all these faces and a great majority of them -- not all of them -- had not served in the military, this isn't like the World War II generation or the draft generation or anything like that. And you look out on those faces and you say, how can I connect to them and inspire them with the greatness of doing something in public life? And I'll just say that -- Bill Perry was a very big inspiration to many other people, many other people in my generation but certainly to me. He not only represented that connection of thinking and understanding to service but also great civility and decency. And that matters a lot, he was someone I always knew would do the right thing, stand for the right thing, stand behind people and I think that's important too. That we all be morally solid for the next generation to the best of our possible abilities and he was. So he had all that and Hoover is very lucky to have him, I think our country and our world are lucky to have him, here's Bill. MR. TAUBMAN: Thanks, Ash. SEC. CARTER: Good to see you all. (APPLAUSE) http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/949021/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Secretary General joins world leaders in New York for UN General Assembly NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 19 Sep. 2016 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg joined world leaders in New York on Monday (19 September 2016) to attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). During his five-day visit to the United States, Mr. Stoltenberg will meet with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other high-level officials. On Tuesday, the Secretary General will participate in the General Debate of the UNGA, focusing on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change. NATO and the United Nations have worked together since the early 1990s, in support of peacekeeping and crisis-management operations. Last year, at the 2015 Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping, NATO offered enhanced support to UN peace operations. In the margins of the UNGA, Mr. Stoltenberg is expected to hold talks with several world leaders, including Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Later this week, the Secretary General will travel to Boston to deliver a keynote speech at Harvard University on NATO's adaptation and how European and US security and prosperity are linked. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Future USNS Yuma (EPF 8) Launches in Shipyard Navy News Service Story Number: NNS160919-27 Release Date: 9/19/2016 3:05:00 PM From By Team Ships Public Affairs MOBILE, Ala. (NNS) -- The Navy's newest Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), the future USNS Yuma (EPF 8), was launched from the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, Sept. 17. During the multi-step launch process, the ship was translated from the Modular Manufacturing Facility onto a moored docking barge, Sept. 16. It was then transported to a dry dock to be submerged and enter the water for the first time the following day. "With Yuma in the water, we can begin working with our shipbuilders on the final outfitting for the ship," said Capt. Henry Stevens, strategic theater and sealift program manager, Program Executive Office, Ships. "This milestone brings us a step closer to activating the ship systems and getting her out to sea for trials." EPF 8 is designed for the fast intra-theater transportation of troops, military vehicles and equipment. Capable of transporting 600 short tons 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots, the ship will provide U.S. forces with added mobility and flexibility. EPFs are equipped with a flight deck and an off-load ramp which allow for vehicles and helicopters to quickly access ports and quays. Littoral operations and port access are further enhanced by the ship's 15-foot shallow draft, ability to interface with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities, and ease of access to austere and deteriorated piers. This makes EPF 8 an extremely flexible asset, capable of supporting a wide range of operations including non-combatant evacuation operations, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief. This year, the Navy and Austal marked major milestones on the EPF program. USNS Brunswick (EPF 6) delivered to the Navy in January. USNS Carson City (EPF 7) was christened and launched in January, underwent sea trials in May, and was delivered to the Navy in June. Yuma's keel was authenticated in March, christened in August, and prepares for delivery in early 2017. In addition, Austal was awarded construction contracts for the next two ships, EPF 11 and EPF 12 on Sept. 15. As one of the DOD's largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and boats and craft. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Fort Worth Departs Kwajalein, Continues Transit Home Navy News Service Story Number: NNS160919-18 Release Date: 9/19/2016 2:05:00 PM By Ensign Emily Judstra, USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) Public Affairs KWAJALEIN, Marshall Islands (NNS) -- Littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) departed Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Sept. 18, en route to its San Diego homeport. Fort Worth arrived in Kwajalein Sept. 17 for refueling and stores onload prior to continuing the transit to homeport following a successful deployment to U.S. 7th Fleet. "Kwajalein was an amazing visit for us," said Cmdr. Michael Brasseur, commanding officer, Fort Worth. "Although we were there for just 28 hours, we refueled, received critical supplies and most importantly, enjoyed some special moments as a crew on this very remote island." Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is home to approximately 1,000 government contractors. With only about one square mile of land, the island is the southernmost island of an atoll surrounding a bright blue lagoon. Sailors had the opportunity to explore the local community and waters while the ship was in port. "We continue to take great care of our warship, but also took time to explore the island, her beautiful beaches and magnificent lagoon," Brasseur said. "We are just halfway home, but I am very pleased with the performance of our warship and dedicated crew." Sailors looked forward to a day of liberty to explore the small, remote island. "I was amazed by how clear and blue the water was," Gunner's Mate First Class Andy Knowles explained, "Kwajalein is a hidden gem and I'm really glad I got to explore it for a day." Fort Worth is a Freedom variant littoral combat ship. Designed with a shallow draft to operate near the shore, she is capable of high speeds with great agility. She is currently en route back to her homeport of San Diego following a successful maiden deployment over the past 18 months in U.S. 7th Fleet. While on deployment, she was a part of many multilateral exercises and played a key role in the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 recovery mission. The U.S. 7th Fleet conducts forward-deployed naval operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific area of operations. As the U.S. Navy's largest numbered fleet, 7th Fleet interacts with 25 other maritime nations to build maritime partnerships that foster maritime security, promote stability, and prevent conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DR Congo: Ban condemns deadly clashes between protestors and security forces in capital 19 September 2016 United Nations Secretary-General today expressed deep concern about the violent clashes between protestors and security forces in Kinshasa, and several other locations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "He condemns the violence that has already led to the death of at least 17 people, including three police officers in the capital," according to a statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson in New York. The Secretary-General in his statement urged all concerned political leaders and their supporters to refrain from any further violence that could exacerbate the situation. "He calls on the Congolese authorities to ensure that the national security forces exercise maximum restraint in their response to protests," the statement said, adding that the UN chief also called on all political leaders to address their differences peacefully and through dialogue, in line with Security Council resolution 2277 (2016). Mr. Ban's call follows similar concern was expressed over the weekend by the UN Mission in the DRC, known by the French acronym MONUSCO, which noted that 16 civil society activists of the Union of Congolese Youth for Change were arrested on 15 and 16 September in Kinshasa while holding an activity on electoral civic education. The arrests were conducted by ANR and PNC officers. The mission recalled that the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights enshrined in the Congolese constitution. Maman Sambo Sidikou, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of MONUSCO, called upon all actors in the political process to "abide by the tenets of the Constitution, including peaceful freedom of expression," whether politicians, civil society activists or media organizations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN mission in Central African Republic condemns attack on villages, reinforces presence in affected areas 19 September 2016 Condemning recent violence in Ndomete and Kaga Bandoro in Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the country (MINUSCA) called on local communities to remain calm and underlined its right to take appropriate measures to prevent destabilization of the situation. "[We call] on Kaga Bandoro's communities to remain calm and affirm [our] right to take appropriate measures to prevent destabilization of the situation, protect civilians in line with [our] mandate, and ensure the country's territorial integrity," the Mission said in a news release issued on Saturday. According to the news release, clashes broke out on 16 September between anti-Balaka and ex- Seleka groups in Ndomete and Kaga Bandoro, leaving at least six civilians dead and many, including an aid worker injured. UN staff premises were also looted in Kaga Bandoro, the release noted. In response to the situation, the Mission said that it has reinforced its military presence in the affected areas and deployed UN peacekeepers to strengthen the security situation. It also said that is also deploying a human rights team from capital Bangui to assess the situation. MINUSCA further noted that continues to monitor the situation and remains in contact with national and local authorities to stop the violence. More than three years of civil war and sectarian violence have displaced thousands of people in the CAR amid continuing clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sustainable livelihoods bring not only food security but dignity, for refugees - UN chief 19 September 2016 Underscoring that millions of refugees around the world face food insecurity and the risk of malnutrition, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for stronger response to ensure that refugees are able to meet their food and nutrition needs. "Food is a matter of life and death especially for people on the run," Mr. Ban said at a high-level event on enhancing self-reliance in food security and nutrition in protracted refugee situations. "We have a moral obligation to help," he emphasized. Being held on the side-lines of the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, the high-level event is discussing the strengthening of of self-reliance in food security and nutrition to support greater dignity and protection of refugees. Recalling the discussions at the Summit, Mr. Ban said that countries have agreed to more equitably share the responsibility for hosting and supporting the world's refugees as well as to mobilize resources to cover humanitarian needs. The Secretary-General also hailed the efforts of host communities in providing food and nutrition needs of refugees. He underscored that this solidarity not only saves lives but also benefits refugees and host communities in the long-term. In his remarks, Mr. Ban also stressed the importance of ensuing sustainable livelihoods for refugees and for doing so, to ensure refuges are able to access land and financial services and have freedom of movement. "These are basic to earning a living," he noted. Noting that as long-term solutions are pursued, the UN chief said that it is also important that refugees are helped to take on greater responsibility for meeting their food and nutrition needs. "This will help the system respond better and, more importantly, it will contribute to dignity for refugees," he said, adding: "I am confident that we can help refugees become more self-reliant. They are eager to use their energy to better their communities." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address World Leaders Pledge to Share Responsibility for Refugees By Margaret Besheer September 19, 2016 The international community has pledged to improve its response to the global refugee and migration crisis, though some question whether the plan goes far enough. At a high-level summit Monday at the United Nations, member states agreed to protect the rights of refugees and migrants and to share responsibility for large movements of people on a global scale. "Refugees and migrants are not to be seen a burden; they offer great potential, if only we unlock it," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the assembly. "We must place the human rights of all refugees and migrants at the heart of our commitments." An unprecedented 65 million people have been forcibly displaced across the planet, some by conflict or persecution, others by extreme poverty, and many by natural disasters. The declaration adopted in New York seeks to increase support to countries most affected by the crisis, to help displaced children get access to education and to boost humanitarian funding and the resettlement of refugees. A plan to ask governments to resettle 10 percent of the world's refugees each year was dropped and the final declaration has no requirement that countries take specific numbers of people, which has led to criticisms, especially from NGOs. Human Rights watch said the declaration is a "missed opportunity" to widen the scope of refugee and migrant protections, asserting it "limits expectations for concrete, new commitments." Unwelcome From the time I arrived in the Netherlands I saw how even Europe is struggling," Syrian refugee Mohammed Badran told the assembly. "As young refugees we face this anger and fear every day. Doors are closed to us, higher education is denied to us. We are often dismissed, not taken seriously and underestimated," he said. The U.N. is placing more emphasis on fighting discrimination and xenophobia relating to refugees and migrants as countries close their borders to the growing human exodus. U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Zeid al-Hussein was especially forceful, telling leaders that in too many countries positive voices are being replaced by "race-baiting bigots, who seek to gain, or retain, power by wielding prejudice and deceit, at the expense of those most vulnerable and, ultimately, even those who support them initially." He warned that some of the "bigots and deceivers" who oppose greater responsibility-sharing and promote divisions may well be in this hall. "If you are here, we say to you: We will continue to name you publicly. You may soon walk away from this hall. But not from the broader judgement of "we the people", all the world's people not from us." IOM joins UN system In an effort to make the U.N. response to the refugee and migration crisis more effective, the International Organization for Migration officially joined the U.N. family on Monday. The agency, which has more than 10,000 staffers working on five continents, will bring its expertise to the crisis. "Migration is inevitable in this century," IOM chief William Lacy Swing said. "[It is] necessary if our economies and societies are to flourish, and highly desirable if we have responsible and humane migration polices." He said the "toxic public narrative on migration" must be changed. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Twelve Liberian Political Parties Join Forces By James Butty September 19, 2016 A dozen political parties in Liberia are joining forces to take on the ruling Liberty Party in the 2017 presidential election, Senator Prince Johnson told VOA Daybreak Africa. "We want continue our peace that we celebrated some time ago. We do not want to see violence. So we all met to discuss the issue how to collaborate and move our country forward. A technical team or committee was set up by the convention to draw up the modalities for the collaboration," Johnson said. The Constitution bars President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from seeking a third term, but her vice president Joseph Boakai is expected to run. It is not clear who this new opposition coalition would put forward for president. So far, the signatories of the deal have agreed to not "badmouth each other," Johnson said. More details on how the coalition will work are expected in sixty days. Other leading members include politician Charles Brumskine, Senator George Weah and businessmen Benoni Urey and Alexander Cummings. Johnson said Sirleaf's government has not done enough to fight corruption. "Vice President Boakai is part and parcel of the regime that has the corruptionso when Madame Sirleaf is going, he has to go. If he remains, we will vote him out," Johnson said. Addressing lawmakers last year, President Sirleaf said the government has made progress, including creating several anti-grant agencies. She called for "speedier trials" from the judiciary. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Coalition Strikes Target ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Sept. 20, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber and fighter aircraft conducted nine strikes in Syria: -- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIL wellhead. -- Near Raqqah, a strike destroyed an ISIL barracks. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed seven oil tanker trucks and damaged two supply routes. -- Near Mara, four strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control node and three improvised explosive devices. Strikes in Iraq Attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 20 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Near Baghdadi, three strikes destroyed an ISIL bunker and two command-and-control nodes. -- Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle. -- Near Fallujah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit. -- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit. -- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units and destroyed a vehicle. -- Near Qayyarah, four strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and a communications facility and destroyed a vehicle, a heavy weapons system and a checkpoint. -- Near Ramadi, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and a staging area and destroyed two heavy machine guns, a weapons cache, two command-and-control nodes and two logistics hubs. -- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle storage facility. -- Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache and suppressed a mortar position. -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system and a supply cache. -- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIL tunnel entrance, a vehicle, a supply cache, a mortar system, a building and nine fighting positions. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIL's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dunford: U.S. Seeks to Coordinate with Russia, Mitigate Risk to Syrians By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Sept. 20, 2016 Despite recent complications, the United States is still seeking to coordinate with Russia on strikes in Syria in an effort to protect the civilian population, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday. "What I'm trying to do is in my lane fully support the path to getting a verifiable cessation of hostilities that'll mitigate the loss of life of the Syrian people and put us on a path towards political transition," Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford told reporters traveling with him. Under a recent ceasefire deal brokered by the U.S. and Russia, a joint implementation cell for coordination between the two countries would be created after certain conditions are met. Those conditions include a verifiable cessation of hostilities and the delivery of food aid to the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, where the United Nations says 275,000 people remain trapped without food, water, proper shelter or medical care. Avoiding a Humanitarian Disaster Dunford said there is general consensus in the region that, "as difficult as this may be, that probably dealing with the Russians right now is one of the paths that might mitigate the risk of civilian casualties and humanitarian disaster in Aleppo." There is a sense of caution as well, he said. "This is not a relationship based on trust. We've made that point many times," Dunford said. "It's a transaction for a specific purpose, and I think they believe that as long as we approach it that way that it's worth pursuing." The coalition's focus in Syria remains on targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but there are concerns about the al-Qaida-linked group al-Nusra, the chairman said. "The vast majority of our intelligence collection capability is toward the [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] and will remain against [them] because that's the primary threat," he said. "We don't have the luxury of addressing threats sequentially. We've got to address them simultaneously." The U.S., Dunford said, is doing everything it can to try to support the cessation of hostilities in Syria. He did express concern, however, about coordinating information with Russia and then having a strike occur that violated international law. "We would want to mitigate the risk that we would be responsible for a strike that would result in indiscriminate killing -- that is probably one of the biggest risks that we want to mitigate from a military perspective," the chairman said. U.S. officials have accused Russia and Syria of indiscriminate bombings in Syria, including using barrel bombs. "Our job is to develop a construct within which we do mitigate the risk of being involved in any violation of the Law of Armed Conflict or any unnecessary loss of civilian life," Dunford said. Complications With 'Unhelpful Rhetoric' A Sept. 17 coalition airstrike south of Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, is under investigation, Dunford pointed out. The strike was halted shortly after it began, he said, because Russia said the strike was hitting Syrian government forces. The coalition goes through a rigorous process to identify, develop and then strike targets, the chairman said. "Thousands of strikes we've conducted with minimal loss of civilian life and we haven't hit the regime here before and we haven't hit Russian forces here before," he said. There has been "a lot of unhelpful rhetoric over the last couple of days," Dunford said, but that has not "derailed the process" to seek a cessation of hostilities and meet conditions that would allow the creation of the joint implementation cell with Russia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Convicted War Criminal Seeks Return To Power In Northwestern Bosnia September 20, 2016 by Gordana Knezevic After serving time in a Croatian prison for war crimes he committed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Fikret Abdic has returned to the scene of those crimes and is running for mayor. (The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.) Fikret Abdic is back. After serving two-thirds of a 15-year sentence in a Croatian prison for war crimes he was convicted of committing during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Abdic has returned to the scene of those crimes. He is running for mayor of Velika Kladusa in an October 2 election. Abdic remains a brand name in this region in Bosnia's extreme northwestern corner: He was a controversial socialist businessman before the war. In 1990, he was briefly elected a member of the Bosnian Presidency. During the war, he was a collaborator of both Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. Now Abdic, who will be 77 when the election is held, is trying to make the jump from prison cell to political office. His daughter Elvira Abdic-Jelenovic, meanwhile, is running for a post in the Velika Kladusa municipal government. Abdic was born in 1939 in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During the communist period, he made his reputation during the 1970s and 1980s running an extremely successful food conglomerate called Agrokomerc. The company was the engine of the entire region's economy at that time. Agrokomerc's success was partly due to the patronage of high-ranking Bosnian politician Hamdija Pozderac. That connection contributed to Abdic's rise -- but it was also the cause of his downfall. When Milosevic wanted to change Yugoslavia's constitution and strip the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina of their autonomy, Pozderac opposed him. Abdic and Agrokomerc became the center of a corruption scandal and a lengthy and highly publicized court case in 1987. Abdic was accused of "undermining the economic system of Yugoslavia." Both he and Pozderac were the target of relentless media attacks. Pozderac was forced to resign and died in 1988. Many still believe the entire case was politically motivated, engineered by Milosevic supporters to bring down Pozderac by targeting his protege, Abdic. Milosevic subsequently changed the constitution, and Kosovo and Vojvodina were both declared integral parts of Serbia. In 1993, with war raging across Bosnia, Abdic made a bid to carve out his own fiefdom by proclaiming the Velika Kladusa region's autonomy. He entered into an alliance with Croatian President Tudjman, only to later turn against the Croats and make a deal with what was left of the Yugoslav Army. In his last act of the war, he turned his forces against the Bosnian Army. Although himself a Bosniak, Abdic accepted arms and ammunition from Belgrade to wage war against the Bosnian Army's 5th Corps. A tragic civil war -- a war within a war -- ensued in the Bihac pocket. Many families in Velika Kladusa had one son in Abdic's armed units and another serving with the Bosnian Army. Abdic was later convicted of running detention centers in which at least 5,000 of his opponents were imprisoned, and many of them tortured. Reopening Old Wounds Nonetheless, there are no legal obstacles to prevent him from running for mayor now. Rifat Dolic, a former close associate of Abdic's and leader of the Democratic People's Alliance, is concerned that Abdic's election will reopen war wounds. "If someone with so much baggage related to the war -- and so clearly arrogant, vain, and prone to intrigue -- is running for local office and at the same time wants his daughter in the same municipal office, I can only feel sorry for him and his supporters," Dolic told RFE/RL in Sarajevo. "[Abdic] belongs to the past -- and what kind of past that is is a matter of opinion," Dolic concluded. Dolic still has great respect for Abdic's achievements in running Agrokomerc. And nostalgia for that time of prosperity and rapid development is the dominant emotion among Abdic's supporters. However, many cannot forget his actions during the war, his opportunism, or his divisiveness. "If elected, Abdic will make the divisions among people in this region deeper," Dolic said. "He will push our municipality toward isolation. We will become like a medieval township." "We seem to have a special moral code here in Bosnia -- one ethnic group's heroes are another's war criminals," analyst Ivana Maric told RFE/RL in an interview. "Our system of values is broken." Ramo Hindic, a local expert and publicist, also suggested Abdic's run could reignite tension. "The most painful thing here in Kladusa is that our wartime wounds have yet to heal completely. Every now and then someone picks at them, adds salt," he said. "The process of reconciliation, which was a local initiative coordinated through civic associations, has made some progress, and we were on the point of signing a memorandum on mutual understanding and reconciliation. However, all that has been put on hold now, or has come to a halt." Sarajevo professor Esad Bajtal is not surprised by Abdic's candidacy -- and won't be surprised if he wins. Bajtal said that the old Agrokomerc boss always had his supporters in Velika Kladusa, and while he may not be to everyone's taste, given his controversial background, Abdic has the law on his side. But while that may be Bosnia's current reality, he said, it has to change. "In order to avoid these situations in the future, the state has to take the appropriate legislative steps and clear up all political, moral, and other concerns raised by Abdic's candidacy," Bajtal said. His remarks suggest that Bosnia should have a law against convicted war criminals running for public office -- or its bloody recent past will continue to haunt the country's politics. Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ bosnia-abdic-war-criminal-seeks- return-to-power/28002465.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In Final UN Speech, Obama Urges 'Course Correction,' Criticizes Russia's Use Of Force September 20, 2016 by Carl Schreck U.S. President Barack Obama on September 20 called for a "course correction" on the current path to global integration, urging the world to reject models of governance that perpetuate economic inequality, intolerance, authoritarianism, and isolationism. In his final address to the UN General Assembly after nearly eight years in office, Obama said that Russia was seeking to regain "lost glory" through the use of force and warned that interference in its neighbors' affairs would make it less respected and less secure. In the broad-ranging speech, Obama said that globalization has revealed "deep fault lines" throughout the world and that government "neglect" of a range of social and economic issues has spawned "alternative visions of the world" that threaten progress. "We cannot dismiss these visions," he said. "They are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction among too many of our citizens. I do not believe those visions can deliver security or prosperity over the long term. But I do believe that these visions fail to recognize at a very basic level our common humanity." Obama laid out an impassioned case for "liberal" governance based on free markets, civic engagement, transparent institutions, and respect for human rights and international law. He accused President Vladimir Putin's Russia of "attempting to recover lost glory through force," a reference to Moscow's 2014 takeover of Ukraine's Crimea territory and backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and for continuing "to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors." "It may be popular at home. It may fuel nationalist fervor for a time. But over time it is also going to diminish [Russia's] stature and make its borders less secure," Obama said. Nations are wrong to embrace a government model that favors "the strong man" over democratic institutions and relies on quashing dissent and stoking fears of foreign enemies, he said. The U.S. president launched a bid to "reset" troubled relations with Russia early in his first term, but ties have been severely strained by Moscow's interference in Ukraine and tension over other issues since Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012. Obama also delivered a thinly veiled denouncement of the platform of Donald Trump, who has vowed to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico in what the Republican presidential candidate calls a necessary move to stem flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States. "Today, a nation surrounded by walls would only imprison itself," he said. Addressing the issue of climate change, Obama urged the world to "act boldly" on the Paris climate deal in order to ensure that future generations are not left with a world and societies that are beyond repair. "If we don't act boldly, the bill that could come due will be mass migrations and cities submerged and nations displaced and food supplies decimated and conflicts born of despair," he said. With reporting by AP Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/obama- un-general-assembly-speech-russia- ukraine/28002973.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Estonia Takes Note of Norway's Recruitment of Women Into Army Sputnik News 17:09 20.09.2016(updated 19:39 20.09.2016) Estonian Minister of Defense Hannes Hanso, who is on a visit to Norway, expressed interest in how the country attracts women to military service, noting that in Estonia the role of women in defense is expected to grow, according to the press service of the military. Norway was the first among the European countries to extend universal conscription for military service to women. The country's parliament in 2013 voted in favor of the compulsory recruitment of women in the army. Female officers serving at the military base in Rena told the head of the Estonian Ministry of Defense about the gender-neutral service in Norway and changes in public attitudes over the last decade, which led to the introduction of compulsory military service for women. The defense minister said that the consistent and coherent actions of Norway over the past three decades to achieve equality in the integration of women in military national defense are noteworthy. According to the minister, the creation of equal opportunities for women to participate in national defense deserves the most extensive discussion in Estonia as well. The minister said that currently there is no reason to discuss the transition to compulsory recruitment of women in Estonia like there is in Norway. But the role of women in Estonia's national defense should grow. Norway has become the first European country to extend mandatory military service to females. The corresponding law was passed in 2014, with the majority of Norwegian MPs voting in favor of gender equality in the army. According to Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang, young people showed great interest in joining. A survey among students showed that the Norwegian Armed Forces ranks fifth in the list of the most prestigious employers in the country. Men and women are expected to fulfill the same tasks during their service and sleep in common barracks. According to the country's authorities, reforms in the military service is an important contribution not only to national defense, but also to the principle of gender equality. Earlier this month, the Swedish Armed Forces released a manual aimed at teaching personnel from a gender-neutral perspective. The goal of the new 100-page handbook is to promote equality in the army through imposing a gender perspective in military operations. The focus on gender issues should place Sweden's armed forces at the forefront of equality in defense work. Sweden is expected to become a role model in international operations. The focus has been placed on, among other things, preventing and stopping sexual violence and harassment in the army. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address HRW: At Least 44 Killed in DRC Clashes By Megan Duzor 20 September 2016 A human rights group says at least 44 people were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo over two days of violence triggered by protests against President Joseph Kabila. Human Rights Watch says it has received "credible reports" that security forces have killed at least 37 people since the protests began Monday. Ida Sawyer, the group's DRC researcher, told VOA that most were killed when security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters. She said others were killed when armed men burned down the headquarters of several opposition parties. Death toll Human Rights Watch says it also received credible reports that protesters have killed at least six police officers and a supporter of Kabila's party, as well as looted several shops and police stations. Government officials have put the overall death toll at 17, including three policemen and 14 civilians. The opposition accuses Kabila of trying to extend his time in office unconstitutionally by delaying elections. Supporters of the president say officials need more time to organize elections. Kabila's second term is due to expire on December 19. The violence began Monday morning as police prevented protesters from gathering in the capital, Kinshasa. Witnesses say some protesters threw stones and set tires and vehicles on fire, while police fired tear gas and live rounds at the demonstrators. Lambert Mende, a spokesman for the Congolese government, told VOA there was a criminal element within the ranks of the protesters that only wanted to cause trouble. "Everybody has the right to demonstrate," Mende said. "Nobody has the right to kill and loot and destroy property. They came just to loot and destroy and kill." 'Uprising' He said the demonstration wasn't a protest, referring to it instead as an "uprising." He said that some of those participating were paid or provided with drugs to be there. Monday marked the day that Congo's electoral process should have kicked off ahead of November polls. But the electoral commission now says the polls should be delayed until next year to give it more time to compile a new voter list. The United States said it is disappointed that Congo did not announce an election calendar on Monday and said it is deeply alarmed by reports of violence. It threatened to impose additional sanctions on Congolese officials it deems responsible for violence and repression. State Department spokesman John Kirby also said the United States is "outraged and deeply disturbed by the physical obstruction and verbal aggression aimed at U.S. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa Tom Perriello while he was departing from Kinshasa airport on September 18." Kirby said Perriello was in Kinshasa to encourage dialogue on the electoral process and said before he left he was "blocked and verbally threatened" in an area of Kinshasa's airport that is tightly secured by Congolese authorities. President Kabila took power in 2001 after his father was assassinated. He has since won two elections. A smaller Congolese opposition group has been meeting with the government in an attempt to organize a schedule for elections, but the main opposition has refused to participate in the talks. William Clowes contributed to this report from Kinshasa, James Butty from Washington. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Address by President Obama to the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release September 20, 2016 The United Nations New York, New York 10:29 A.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA: Mr. President; Mr. Secretary General; fellow delegates; ladies and gentlemen: As I address this hall as President for the final time, let me recount the progress that we've made these last eight years. From the depths of the greatest financial crisis of our time, we coordinated our response to avoid further catastrophe and return the global economy to growth. We've taken away terrorist safe havens, strengthened the nonproliferation regime, resolved the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba, helped Colombia end Latin America's longest warm, and we welcome a democratically elected leader of Myanmar to this Assembly. Our assistance is helping people feed themselves, care for the sick, power communities across Africa, and promote models of development rather than dependence. And we have made international institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund more representative, while establishing a framework to protect our planet from the ravages of climate change. This is important work. It has made a real difference in the lives of our people. And it could not have happened had we not worked together. And yet, around the globe we are seeing the same forces of global integration that have made us interdependent also expose deep fault lines in the existing international order. We see it in the headlines every day. Around the world, refugees flow across borders in flight from brutal conflict. Financial disruptions continue to weigh upon our workers and entire communities. Across vast swaths of the Middle East, basic security, basic order has broken down. We see too many governments muzzling journalists, and quashing dissent, and censoring the flow of information. Terrorist networks use social media to prey upon the minds of our youth, endangering open societies and spurring anger against innocent immigrants and Muslims. Powerful nations contest the constraints placed on them by international law. This is the paradox that defines our world today. A quarter century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before, and yet our societies are filled with uncertainty, and unease, and strife. Despite enormous progress, as people lose trust in institutions, governing becomes more difficult and tensions between nations become more quick to surface. And so I believe that at this moment we all face a choice. We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration. Or we can retreat into a world sharply divided, and ultimately in conflict, along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion. I want to suggest to you today that we must go forward, and not backward. I believe that as imperfect as they are, the principles of open markets and accountable governance, of democracy and human rights and international law that we have forged remain the firmest foundation for human progress in this century. I make this argument not based on theory or ideology, but on facts -- facts that all too often, we forget in the immediacy of current events. Here's the most important fact: The integration of our global economy has made life better for billions of men, women and children. Over the last 25 years, the number of people living in extreme poverty has been cut from nearly 40 percent of humanity to under 10 percent. That's unprecedented. And it's not an abstraction. It means children have enough to eat; mothers don't die in childbirth. Meanwhile, cracking the genetic code promises to cure diseases that have plagued us for centuries. The Internet can deliver the entirety of human knowledge to a young girl in a remote village on a single hand-held device. In medicine and in manufacturing, in education and communications, we're experiencing a transformation of how human beings live on a scale that recalls the revolutions in agriculture and industry. And as a result, a person born today is more likely to be healthy, to live longer, and to have access to opportunity than at any time in human history. Moreover, the collapse of colonialism and communism has allowed more people than ever before to live with the freedom to choose their leaders. Despite the real and troubling areas where freedom appears in retreat, the fact remains that the number of democracies around the world has nearly doubled in the last 25 years. In remote corners of the world, citizens are demanding respect for the dignity of all people no matter their gender, or race, or religion, or disability, or sexual orientation, and those who deny others dignity are subject to public reproach. An explosion of social media has given ordinary people more ways to express themselves, and has raised people's expectations for those of us in power. Indeed, our international order has been so successful that we take it as a given that great powers no longer fight world wars; that the end of the Cold War lifted the shadow of nuclear Armageddon; that the battlefields of Europe have been replaced by peaceful union; that China and India remain on a path of remarkable growth. I say all this not to whitewash the challenges we face, or to suggest complacency. Rather, I believe that we need to acknowledge these achievements in order to summon the confidence to carry this progress forward and to make sure that we do not abandon those very things that have delivered this progress. In order to move forward, though, we do have to acknowledge that the existing path to global integration requires a course correction. As too often, those trumpeting the benefits of globalization have ignored inequality within and among nations; have ignored the enduring appeal of ethnic and sectarian identities; have left international institutions ill-equipped, underfunded, under-resourced, in order to handle transnational challenges. And as these real problems have been neglected, alternative visions of the world have pressed forward both in the wealthiest countries and in the poorest: Religious fundamentalism; the politics of ethnicity, or tribe, or sect; aggressive nationalism; a crude populism -- sometimes from the far left, but more often from the far right -- which seeks to restore what they believe was a better, simpler age free of outside contamination. We cannot dismiss these visions. They are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction among too many of our citizens. I do not believe those visions can deliver security or prosperity over the long term, but I do believe that these visions fail to recognize, at a very basic level, our common humanity. Moreover, I believe that the acceleration of travel and technology and telecommunications -- together with a global economy that depends on a global supply chain -- makes it self-defeating ultimately for those who seek to reverse this progress. Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself. So the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are broadly shared, and that the disruptions -- economic, political, and cultural -- that are caused by integration are squarely addressed. This is not the place for a detailed policy blueprint, but let me offer in broad strokes those areas where I believe we must do better together. It starts with making the global economy work better for all people and not just for those at the top. While open markets, capitalism have raised standards of living around the globe, globalization combined with rapid progress and technology has also weakened the position of workers and their ability to secure a decent wage. In advanced economies like my own, unions have been undermined, and many manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Often, those who benefit most from globalization have used their political power to further undermine the position of workers. In developing countries, labor organizations have often been suppressed, and the growth of the middle class has been held back by corruption and underinvestment. Mercantilist policies pursued by governments with export-driven models threaten to undermine the consensus that underpins global trade. And meanwhile, global capital is too often unaccountable -- nearly $8 trillion stashed away in tax havens, a shadow banking system that grows beyond the reach of effective oversight. A world in which one percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never be stable. I understand that the gaps between rich and poor are not new, but just as the child in a slum today can see the skyscraper nearby, technology now allows any person with a smartphone to see how the most privileged among us live and the contrast between their own lives and others. Expectations rise, then, faster than governments can deliver, and a pervasive sense of injustice undermine people's faith in the system. So how do we fix this imbalance? We cannot unwind integration any more than we can stuff technology back into a box. Nor can we look to failed models of the past. If we start resorting to trade wars, market distorting subsidies, beggar thy neighbor policies, an overreliance on natural resources instead of innovation -- these approaches will make us poorer, collectively, and they are more like to lead to conflict. And the stark contrast between, say, the success of the Republic of Korea and the wasteland of North Korea shows that central, planned control of the economy is a dead end. But I do believe there's another path -- one that fuels growth and innovation, and offers the clearest route to individual opportunity and national success. It does not require succumbing to a soulless capitalism that benefits only the few, but rather recognizes that economies are more successful when we close the gap between rich and poor, and growth is broadly based. And that means respecting the rights of workers so they can organize into independent unions and earn a living wage. It means investing in our people -- their skills, their education, their capacity to take an idea and turn it into a business. It means strengthening the safety net that protects our people from hardship and allows them to take more risks -- to look for a new job, or start a new venture. These are the policies that I've pursued here in the United States, and with clear results. American businesses have created now 15 million new jobs. After the recession, the top one percent of Americans were capturing more than 90 percent of income growth. But today, that's down to about half. Last year, poverty in this country fell at the fastest rate in nearly 50 years. And with further investment in infrastructure and early childhood education and basic research, I'm confident that such progress will continue. So just as I've pursued these measures here at home, so has the United States worked with many nations to curb the excesses of capitalism -- not to punish wealth, but to prevent repeated crises that can destroy it. That's why we've worked with other nations to create higher and clearer standards for banking and taxation -- because a society that asks less of oligarchs than ordinary citizens will rot from within. That's why we've pushed for transparency and cooperation in rooting out corruption, and tracking illicit dollars, because markets create more jobs when they're fueled by hard work, and not the capacity to extort a bribe. That's why we've worked to reach trade agreements that raise labor standards and raise environmental standards, as we've done with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, so that the benefits are more broadly shared. And just as we benefit by combatting inequality within our countries, I believe advanced economies still need to do more to close the gap between rich and poor nations around the globe. This is difficult politically. It's difficult to spend on foreign assistance. But I do not believe this is charity. For the small fraction of what we spent at war in Iraq we could support institutions so that fragile states don't collapse in the first place, and invest in emerging economies that become markets for our goods. It's not just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. And that's why we need to follow through on our efforts to combat climate change. If we don't act boldly, the bill that could come due will be mass migrations, and cities submerged and nations displaced, and food supplies decimated, and conflicts born of despair. The Paris Agreement gives us a framework to act, but only if we scale up our ambition. And there must be a sense of urgency about bringing the agreement into force, and helping poorer countries leapfrog destructive forms of energy. So, for the wealthiest countries, a Green Climate Fund should only be the beginning. We need to invest in research and provide market incentives to develop new technologies, and then make these technologies accessible and affordable for poorer countries. And only then can we continue lifting all people up from poverty without condemning our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair. So we need new models for the global marketplace, models that are inclusive and sustainable. And in the same way, we need models of governance that are inclusive and accountable to ordinary people. I recognize not every country in this hall is going to follow the same model of governance. I do not think that America can -- or should -- impose our system of government on other countries. But there appears to be growing contest between authoritarianism and liberalism right now. And I want everybody to understand, I am not neutral in that contest. I believe in a liberal political order -- an order built not just through elections and representative government, but also through respect for human rights and civil society, and independent judiciaries and the rule of law. I know that some countries, which now recognize the power of free markets, still reject the model of free societies. And perhaps those of us who have been promoting democracy feel somewhat discouraged since the end of the Cold War, because we've learned that liberal democracy will not just wash across the globe in a single wave. It turns out building accountable institutions is hard work -- the work of generations. The gains are often fragile. Sometimes we take one step forward and then two steps back. In countries held together by borders drawn by colonial powers, with ethnic enclaves and tribal divisions, politics and elections can sometimes appear to be a zero-sum game. And so, given the difficulty in forging true democracy in the face of these pressures, it's no surprise that some argue the future favors the strongman, a top-down model, rather than strong, democratic institutions. But I believe this thinking is wrong. I believe the road of true democracy remains the better path. I believe that in the 21st century, economies can only grow to a certain point until they need to open up -- because entrepreneurs need to access information in order to invent; young people need a global education in order to thrive; independent media needs to check the abuses of power. Without this evolution, ultimately expectations of people will not be met; suppression and stagnation will set in. And history shows that strongmen are then left with two paths -- permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war. Now, I will admit, my belief that governments serve the individual, and not the other way around, is shaped by America's story. Our nation began with a promise of freedom that applied only to the few. But because of our democratic Constitution, because of our Bill of Rights, because of our ideals, ordinary people were able to organize, and march, and protest, and ultimately, those ideals won out -- opened doors for women and minorities and workers in ways that made our economy more productive and turned our diversity into a strength; that gave innovators the chance to transform every area of human endeavor; that made it possible for someone like me to be elected President of the United States. So, yes, my views are shaped by the specific experiences of America, but I do not think this story is unique to America. Look at the transformation that's taken place in countries as different as Japan and Chile, Indonesia, Botswana. The countries that have succeeded are ones in which people feel they have a stake. In Europe, the progress of those countries in the former Soviet bloc that embraced democracy stand in clear contrast to those that did not. After all, the people of Ukraine did not take to the streets because of some plot imposed from abroad. They took to the streets because their leadership was for sale and they had no recourse. They demanded change because they saw life get better for people in the Baltics and in Poland, societies that were more liberal, and democratic, and open than their own. So those of us who believe in democracy, we need to speak out forcefully, because both the facts and history, I believe, are on our side. That doesn't mean democracies are without flaws. It does mean that the cure for what ails our democracies is greater engagement by our citizens -- not less. Yes, in America, there is too much money in politics; too much entrenched partisanship; too little participation by citizens, in part because of a patchwork of laws that makes it harder to vote. In Europe, a well-intentioned Brussels often became too isolated from the normal push and pull of national politics. Too often, in capitals, decision-makers have forgotten that democracy needs to be driven by civic engagement from the bottom up, not governance by experts from the top down. And so these are real problems, and as leaders of democratic governments make the case for democracy abroad, we better strive harder to set a better example at home. Moreover, every country will organize its government informed by centuries of history, and the circumstances of geography, and the deeply held beliefs of its people. So I recognize a traditional society may value unity and cohesion more than a diverse country like my own, which was founded upon what, at the time, was a radical idea -- the idea of the liberty of individual human beings endowed with certain God-given rights. But that does not mean that ordinary people in Asia, or Africa, or the Middle East somehow prefer arbitrary rule that denies them a voice in the decisions that can shape their lives. I believe that spirit is universal. And if any of you doubt the universality of that desire, listen to the voices of young people everywhere who call out for freedom, and dignity, and the opportunity to control their own lives. This leads me to the third thing we need to do: We must reject any forms of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity. Instead we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings. It's a truism that global integration has led to a collision of cultures; trade, migration, the Internet, all these things can challenge and unsettle our most cherished identities. We see liberal societies express opposition when women choose to cover themselves. We see protests responding to Western newspaper cartoons that caricature the Prophet Muhammad. In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force. Asian powers debate competing claims of history. And in Europe and the United States, you see people wrestle with concerns about immigration and changing demographics, and suggesting that somehow people who look different are corrupting the character of our countries. Now, there's no easy answer for resolving all these social forces, and we must respect the meaning that people draw from their own traditions -- from their religion, from their ethnicity, from their sense of nationhood. But I do not believe progress is possible if our desire to preserve our identities gives way to an impulse to dehumanize or dominate another group. If our religion leads us to persecute those of another faith, if we jail or beat people who are gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls from going to school, if we discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or ethnicity, then the fragile bonds of civilization will fray. The world is too small, we are too packed together, for us to be able to resort to those old ways of thinking. We see this mindset in too many parts of the Middle East. There, so much of the collapse in order has been fueled because leaders sought legitimacy not because of policies or programs but by resorting to persecuting political opposition, or demonizing other religious sects, by narrowing the public space to the mosque, where in too many places perversions of a great faith were tolerated. These forces built up for years, and are now at work helping to fuel both Syria's tragic civil war and the mindless, medieval menace of ISIL. The mindset of sectarianism, and extremism, and bloodletting, and retribution that has been taking place will not be quickly reversed. And if we are honest, we understand that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long. But I do believe we have to be honest about the nature of these conflicts, and our international community must continue to work with those who seek to build rather than to destroy. And there is a military component to that. It means being united and relentless in destroying networks like ISIL, which show no respect for human life. But it also means that in a place like Syria, where there's no ultimate military victory to be won, we're going to have to pursue the hard work of diplomacy that aims to stop the violence, and deliver aid to those in need, and support those who pursue a political settlement and can see those who are not like themselves as worthy of dignity and respect. Across the region's conflicts, we have to insist that all parties recognize a common humanity and that nations end proxy wars that fuel disorder. Because until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn, countless human beings will suffer -- most of all in that region -- but extremism will continue to be exported overseas. And the world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent it from affecting our own societies. And what is true in the Middle East is true for all of us. Surely, religious traditions can be honored and upheld while teaching young people science and math, rather than intolerance. Surely, we can sustain our unique traditions while giving women their full and rightful role in the politics and economics of a nation. Surely, we can rally our nations to solidarity while recognizing equal treatment for all communities -- whether it's a religious minority in Myanmar, or an ethnic minority in Burundi, or a racial minority right here in the United States. And surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land. We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down, rather than encouraging, a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others. And this leads me to the fourth and final thing we need to do, and that is sustain our commitment to international cooperation rooted in the rights and responsibilities of nations. As President of the United States, I know that for most of human history, power has not been unipolar. The end of the Cold War may have led too many to forget this truth. I've noticed as President that at times, both America's adversaries and some of our allies believe that all problems were either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington -- and perhaps too many in Washington believed that as well. (Laughter.) But I believe America has been a rare superpower in human history insofar as it has been willing to think beyond narrow self-interest; that while we've made our share of mistakes over these last 25 years -- and I've acknowledged some -- we have strived, sometimes at great sacrifice, to align better our actions with our ideals. And as a consequence, I believe we have been a force for good. We have secured allies. We've acted to protect the vulnerable. We supported human rights and welcomed scrutiny of our own actions. We've bound our power to international laws and institutions. When we've made mistakes, we've tried to acknowledge them. We have worked to roll back poverty and hunger and disease beyond our borders, not just within our borders. I'm proud of that. But I also know that we can't do this alone. And I believe that if we're to meet the challenges of this century, we are all going to have to do more to build up international capacity. We cannot escape the prospect of nuclear war unless we all commit to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and pursuing a world without them. When Iran agrees to accept constraints on its nuclear program that enhances global security and enhances Iran's ability to work with other nations. On the other hand, when North Korea tests a bomb that endangers all of us. And any country that breaks this basic bargain must face consequences. And those nations with these weapons, like the United States, have a unique responsibility to pursue the path of reducing our stockpiles, and reaffirming basic norms like the commitment to never test them again. We can't combat a disease like Zika that recognizes no borders -- mosquitos don't respect walls -- unless we make permanent the same urgency that we brought to bear against Ebola -- by strengthening our own systems of public health, by investing in cures and rolling back the root causes of disease, and helping poorer countries develop a public health infrastructure. We can only eliminate extreme poverty if the sustainable development goals that we have set are more than words on paper. Human ingenuity now gives us the capacity to feed the hungry and give all of our children -- including our girls -- the education that is the foundation for opportunity in our world. But we have to put our money where our mouths are. And we can only realize the promise of this institution's founding -- to replace the ravages of war with cooperation -- if powerful nations like my own accept constraints. Sometimes I'm criticized in my own country for professing a belief in international norms and multilateral institutions. But I am convinced that in the long run, giving up some freedom of action -- not giving up our ability to protect ourselves or pursue our core interests, but binding ourselves to international rules over the long term -- enhances our security. And I think that's not just true for us. If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure. In the South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs. We are all stakeholders in this international system, and it calls upon all of us to invest in the success of institutions to which we belong. And the good news is, is that many nations have shown what kind of progress is possible when we make those commitments. Consider what we've accomplished here over the past few years. Together, we mobilized some 50,000 additional troops for U.N. peacekeeping, making them nimble, better equipped, better prepared to deal with emergencies. Together, we established an Open Government Partnership so that, increasingly, transparency empowers more and more people around the globe. And together, now, we have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home. We should all welcome the pledges of increased assistance that have been made at this General Assembly gathering. I'll be discussing that more this afternoon. But we have to follow through, even when the politics are hard. Because in the eyes of innocent men and women and children who, through no fault of their own, have had to flee everything that they know, everything that they love, we have to have the empathy to see ourselves. We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children, if the unspeakable happened to us. And we should all understand that, ultimately, our world will be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need and the nations who are carrying the largest burden with respect to accommodating these refugees. There are a lot of nations right now that are doing the right thing. But many nations -- particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of geography -- that can do more to offer a hand, even if they also insist that refugees who come to our countries have to do more to adapt to the customs and conventions of the communities that are now providing them a home. Let me conclude by saying that I recognize history tells a different story than the one that I've talked about here today. There's a much darker and more cynical view of history that we can adopt. Human beings are too often motivated by greed and by power. Big countries for most of history have pushed smaller ones around. Tribes and ethnic groups and nation states have very often found it most convenient to define themselves by what they hate and not just those ideas that bind them together. Time and again, human beings have believed that they finally arrived at a period of enlightenment only to repeat, then, cycles of conflict and suffering. Perhaps that's our fate. We have to remember that the choices of individual human beings led to repeated world war. But we also have to remember that the choices of individual human beings created a United Nations, so that a war like that would never happen again. Each of us as leaders, each nation can choose to reject those who appeal to our worst impulses and embrace those who appeal to our best. For we have shown that we can choose a better history. Sitting in a prison cell, a young Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that, "Human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God." And during the course of these eight years, as I've traveled to many of your nations, I have seen that spirit in our young people, who are more educated and more tolerant, and more inclusive and more diverse, and more creative than our generation; who are more empathetic and compassionate towards their fellow human beings than previous generations. And, yes, some of that comes with the idealism of youth. But it also comes with young people's access to information about other peoples and places -- an understanding unique in human history that their future is bound with the fates of other human beings on the other side of the world. I think of the thousands of health care workers from around the world who volunteered to fight Ebola. I remember the young entrepreneurs I met who are now starting new businesses in Cuba, the parliamentarians who used to be just a few years ago political prisoners in Myanmar. I think of the girls who have braved taunts or violence just to go to school in Afghanistan, and the university students who started programs online to reject the extremism of organizations like ISIL. I draw strength from the young Americans -- entrepreneurs, activists, soldiers, new citizens -- who are remaking our nation once again, who are unconstrained by old habits and old conventions, and unencumbered by what is, but are instead ready to seize what ought to be. My own family is a made up of the flesh and blood and traditions and cultures and faiths from a lot of different parts of the world -- just as America has been built by immigrants from every shore. And in my own life, in this country, and as President, I have learned that our identities do not have to be defined by putting someone else down, but can be enhanced by lifting somebody else up. They don't have to be defined in opposition to others, but rather by a belief in liberty and equality and justice and fairness. And the embrace of these principles as universal doesn't weaken my particular pride, my particular love for America -- it strengthens it. My belief that these ideals apply everywhere doesn't lessen my commitment to help those who look like me, or pray as I do, or pledge allegiance to my flag. But my faith in those principles does force me to expand my moral imagination and to recognize that I can best serve my own people, I can best look after my own daughters, by making sure that my actions seek what is right for all people and all children, and your daughters and your sons. This is what I believe: that all of us can be co-workers with God. And our leadership, and our governments, and this United Nations should reflect this irreducible truth. Thank you very much. (Applause.) END 11:17 A.M. EDT NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address No Terror Cells, but NY Bombing Suspect Likely Had Help By Jeff Seldin 20 September 2016 The man thought to be behind a series of bombings and attempted bombings in New York and New Jersey may not have been part of a terror cell, but based on previous investigations chances are good he had some sort of help. "I have no indication there is a cell operating in the area or in the city," FBI New York division assistant director William Sweeney told reporters Tuesday, trying to allay concerns just hours after the suspect, 28-year-old Ahmad Rahami, was taken into custody after a shootout with police. Other law enforcement officials, speaking to VOA prior to the latest attacks on the New York area, have likewise downplayed the notion of full-blown terror cells like those in Europe that carried out the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels operating in the U.S. However, they warn that what does exist can be just as dangerous loosely-knit networks of would-be terrorists who support one another, sometimes over the course of many years, even as many prepare to act alone. It is those types of links that investigators digging into Rahami's background will be searching for as they try to identify what the FBI calls his "path to radicalization." "We will continue to conduct investigative activity to ensure that we completely understand Rahami's social network," Sweeney said. Yet officials say it is worrisome that until now Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had not come to their attention. "This was as out of the blue as it gets," a federal law enforcement official told VOA on condition of anonymity. "Everything about his past, his online presence, his overseas travel will be scrutinized," the official added, saying the investigation is still only in its infancy. Evidence points to help Yet former counterterror operatives say the evidence is already pointing to some sort of help. One such piece of evidence is that Rahami allegedly used two types of bombs, pipe bombs and pressure cooker bombs something they say is unusual for someone who appears, from his lack of success, to be an inexperienced bombmaker. And, they note, even bombing campaigns themselves are rarely an individual act. "Somebody that's making bombs or even dropping off bombs, it's very rare that you're going to do that by yourself," said Mubin Shaikh, a terrorism expert who has previously worked with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. "There's going to be somebody who's supporting you, somebody that you met with that you probably discussed this idea with," he told VOA via Skype. "The way that these things can tentacle out is amazing." Investigators say they will also be taking a very close look at Rahami's past, which includes allegations of domestic violence that were eventually recanted, and travel to Afghanistan to visit relatives. Jump in jihadist activity For now, law enforcement officials say they will be vigilant, but there is no credible threat to lead them to an even higher state of alert. But analysts caution that the bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey, like the recent stabbings at a Minnesota mall which have already been claimed by the Islamic State terror group, are likely not a pure coincidence. "There's been a huge upswell in the urgings for attacks following the death of [Abu Muhammad] al-Adnani, who was the Islamic State number-two man," Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical analysis for the Stratfor intelligence firm, told VOA via Skype. And New York and Minnesota "are areas where we've seen individuals with jihadist tendencies in the past," he added. According to a tally by the George Washington University Program on Extremism, from March 2014 through Monday, the U.S. has arrested 105 individuals on terror-related charges. New York had seen the most arrests with 18. Minnesota was second on the list with 14. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The decision, a victory for Angelina Jolie over Brad Pitt, means that the custody fight over their five children, which was nearing an end, could be starting over. Investigators Focus on Motive, Possible Foreign Ties in New York Bombing By VOA News 20 September 2016 U.S. authorities are working to determine whether the suspect in Saturday's bombings in New York City and New Jersey has any foreign terror ties and what may have motivated the attack that wounded 29 people. Police arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, on Monday after a search they said focused on him because he was spotted on surveillance video at the blast site and another nearby location where a similar bomb was found but did not explode. Investigators also said they found fingerprint and DNA evidence. Friends who knew him were left wondering whether a turn to his Muslim faith in recent years after a trip to Pakistan might have hinted at a change in his world outlook that he kept hidden. Changes noticed Some said he became more stern, grew a beard, started wearing traditional Muslim robes, and praying at the rear of the family's restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near New York City. But some neighbors and restaurant customers knew him as the genial presence behind the counter who talked about the souped-up Honda Civics he liked to race, occasionally gave away free food and allowed local bands to practice at the restaurant. U.S. authorities said Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, was not on any list of suspected terrorists or a no-fly ledger. One official said Rahami's father contacted the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2014 to say that his son was a terrorist, but later retracted it. Wife left US The CNN television network reported Rahami's wife left the United States several days before the Saturday explosion. American officials are working with authorities in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates in an attempt to interview her. An Afghan presidential spokesman, Menapal Dawa Khan, told VOA Tuesday that even though Rahami is a U.S. citizen, the Kabul government is ready to fully cooperate in the investigation if needed. Rahami reportedly traveled to Afghanistan about four years ago. Also, U.S. news media reported he had traveled to neighboring Pakistan in 2011 and 2013 where he spent time in the southwestern city of Quetta and returned to the United States in 2014, after having married overseas. Rahami has been charged with five counts of attempted murder in connection with an exchange of gunfire he had with officers who confronted and arrested him in nearby Linden, New Jersey. A bar owner there had found Rahami sleeping in a doorway and called police. Federal prosecutors have not yet filed charges for the bombing itself. Linden is about 5 kilometers from the town of Elizabeth, where on Sunday police were alerted to a backpack containing several explosive devices, one of which detonated as a robot tried to defuse it. That discovery was made close to the Rahami restaurant. Authorities also suspect Rahami was behind an explosion in a trash can at a charity foot race early Saturday in Seaside Park, New Jersey, about 130 kilometers south of New York. No one was hurt in that blast. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Rahami is the only suspect, and there is every reason to believe the bombings were acts of terrorism. President Barack Obama, who was in New York along with other world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly, said terrorists want to hurt innocent people, inspire fear and disrupt the way people live. "We have to be vigilant and aggressive, both on preventing senseless acts of violence but also making sure that we find those who carry out such acts and bring them to justice," Obama said. "We all have a role to play as citizens in making sure that we don't succumb to that fear." One New Yorker told VOA the bombing was unsettling, but not surprising. "There is a security to this city," the resident said. "Sure, there are days where I have my doubts about that, but because I do feel this camaraderie in the city, I do feel relatively safe." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Project 921-3 Tengyun Space Plane China unveiled the Tengyun Project in 2016, which is planning the first test flight for the Chinese space plane in 2030, Beijing-based Science and Technology Daily reported in December 2016. TengYun means 'to soar on clouds', "cloud mounting, or "cloud rider". The word reminds Chinese of the heroic Monkey King Wukong from the classical epic "Journey to the West". "The Journey to the West" or Xi You Ji, is the title of a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) book that belongs to the "four most wondrous classical novels" of China. The plot revolves around Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who travels west to India with his four disciples, including the famous monkey king Sun Wukong, in search for holy scriptures. The other protagonists are the half-pig and half-monk Zhu Bajie and the water monster Sha Wujing. Xuanzangs noble steed is a white horse that used to be a river dragon. The story dates back to a historically documented India trip: A monk named Xuanzang traveled to India in search of holy scriptures, more precisely the Mahayana, in the seventh century. With history at its base, the author Wu Cheng'en weaves a legend full of Buddhism and Taoism, heroes, demons, divine figures, supernatural power, and kung-fu. The fabulous monkey king is a classic trickster figure, equal parts arrogant, impatient, funny, upright, and brave. Classic novel Journey to the West has been adapted so many times and in so many ways in China and overseas that people barely bat an eye when yet another adaptation of the story is announced. However, just why this Chinese literature classic and its lead character the Monkey King have been able to fascinate people for so long still remains a mystery. While the US has dozens of superhero characters, for many Chinese, the sole and only local superhero is the Monkey King, the Monkey King, who stood against the rules set by the celestial and underworld gods. The Monkey King is a sort of a tragic hero who keeps trying even though he knows some things are insurmountable. After all the hardships they have to face, the travellers are stripped of their humanity when they become gods who lead lives with no feelings and in which nothing interesting happens. The project, codenamed Tengyun [means 'ride the clouds'] was first revealed in 2016. In myths and legends, Tengyun means that immortals fly by clouds. In Taoist lwritings, it refers to the dirty air in the human body, and may be translated as driving the cloud; or a scend to heaven and go to heaven. The speed is high and very fast. A Space plane is a crucial weapon of the future and represents the trend of integrating aviation and space technologies. Many countries have been developing space planes, including the US with its X-37B, which many military observers claim is a prototype space fighter. A space plane can be used for reconnaissance, anti-satellite, anti-ballistic missile and ground attacks if used as a weapon, the military expert said, noting that it can also send satellites and astronauts into space at a lower cost than rockets, because it is reusable and uses standard airports. Two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) means the space plane consists of two aircraft, with the first stage carrying the second stage, The first stage will provide power to the space plane upon takeoff, and when it reaches a certain height and speed, the second stage will detach from it and power itself further into space, as the first stage will land just like a normal plane. The Tengyun project aims to develop a reusable two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane which consists of planes for both stages. Demonstration and verification of the Tengyun horizontal takeoff, horizontal landing (HTHL) spacecraft is to be completed by 2025. Tengyun is understood to be unrelated to an apparent September reusable experimental spacecraft test launched by a Long March 2F. Tengyun will, according to previous reports, be capable of carrying both crew and cargo to orbit. It will also be able to release satellites into orbit. Zhang Hongwen of CASICs third research institute said in 2018 that the research was at an early stage. The spaceplane is composed of two planes, with the larger aircraft acting as a carrier aircraft. A small scale model was shown at the Zhuhai Airshow 2018. A space plane can be used for reconnaissance, anti-satellite, anti-ballistic missile and ground attacks if used as a weapon, the military expert said, noting that it can also send satellites and astronauts into space at a lower cost than rockets, because it is reusable and uses standard airports. In October 2019 the First Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Aerospace and Aerodynamics successfully conducted a wind tunnel experiment, in which the second-stage aircraft freely detached from the first-stage aircraft of a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) space plane. TSTO means the space plane consists of two aircraft, with the first stage carrying the second stage. The first stage will provide power to the space plane upon takeoff, and when it reaches a certain height and speed, the second stage will detach from it and power itself further into space, as the first stage will land just like a normal plane, China is reported to be developing a space plane that would go from runway to orbit and back down again at hypersonic speeds. Researchers at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) are developing a spacecraft that will be propelled by a combination of turbine engine, ramjet and rocket engine, according to the academy, which is part of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CATSC). When completed, the hypersonic space plane would boost the Asian country to the forefront of the aerospace industry eclipsing the capabilities of the now retired Space Shuttle. The cutting-edge aerospace vehicle that, if successful, will enable the public to make space journeys. China Central Television (CCTV) reported 02 Augsut 2016 that scientists from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation have started work on a new vehicle integrating different kinds of engine technologies. In early July 2016, China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, an institute of the corporation, said on its website that it was coordinating with other institutes to study the new vehicle. The space plane would use a combined cycle engine that would allow it to take off from an airport runway and fly into orbit. The horizontal takeoff would be powered by a turbofan or turbojet engine, followed by a ramjet engine to propel the plane upward through atmosphere. As the spacecraft reaches supersonic speeds, it then will switch to a scramjet engine that would push it through the near space portion of the atmosphere from 20 kilometers to 100 kilometers above sea level. Once it is through this near space environment, the space plane finally will use its onboard rocket motors to maneuver into orbit. The rocket-based combined-cycle engine (RBCC). The RBCC results in a substantial (appx. 50%) reduction in scramjet maximum speed required to be attained. Some single-stage hypersonic vehicle designs rely on a low-speed propulsion system responsible for achieving the speed necessary for ramjet operation, and a high-speed propulsion system that operates as a ramjet or a combined ramjet/scramjet. Such systems, however, have several disadvantages. For example, the low-speed propulsion system typically relies on conventional gas turbine engine technology to achieve ramjet viable speeds (less than approximately Mach 3). The overall vehicle weight is sensitive to the weight of the combined propulsion system. Since development and operational cost typically scale with vehicle weight raised to an exponent, it is important to keep vehicle and propulsion weight to a minimum. Just like the US space shuttle, the Chinese version will be reusable, allowing the astronauts to orbit, land, and take off again with only minimal repairs. This reusability would lower costs for the space program and allow Chinese astronauts to access Earths orbit more frequently. Chinas hypersonic shuttle was reported in 2016 to be slated for development and testing over the next three to five years, with a target service date of 2030. The space plane was similar to the British Skylon, which also used a combined cycle engine and rocket motors to achieve hypersonic launches. Instead of a scramjet for hypersonic flight, the British version of the space plane used pre-cooled jet engines. Both space planes were under development and are expected to begin flight testing in 2020 with deployment on or before 2030. In a broadcast on China state television broadcaster CCTV, CASTC engineer Yang Yang also alluded to a possibility of using the space plane for tourism. Because of its combined cycle engine, the space plane will propel itself into space much more gradually than a rocket engine-powered craft. This gentle launch reduces the physical strain on passengers, improving the ease of access to space for untrained persons. Zhang Yong, deputy chief designer at the academy's research and development center, said that with a much lower operational cost and a higher safety guarantee compared with rockets, the space vehicle will be capable of transporting humans hundreds of kilometers above the Earth. It will be used for astronaut missions and for space travel by the public, he added. It will have a huge potential in space tourism or intercontinental passenger travel, Zhang said. "Space travelers will have a short period of weightlessness when the vehicle reaches an altitude of about 100 kilometers. If the spacecraft continues to fly up to 400 km above Earth, passengers will experience what it is like to be in a space station," he said. Yang Yang, a designer at the academy's Institute of Combined-Cycle Aerospace Vehicle Technology, said all the space-exploring nations now use rockets for such activity. "Rockets have an ultrafast acceleration during flight, resulting in very strict requirements for astronauts' physical condition. In comparison, the combined-powered spacecraft will gather speed slowly and gently, making the air pressure acceptable to non-astronauts," he said. The space vehicle can also be used to deploy satellites, he added. Wang Ya'nan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said, "Such a vehicle will be able to fly over the Pacific Ocean within an hour, because it will travel in near-space at a speed of 7,000 km/h." Yang Yuguang, secretary of the International Astronautical Federation's Space Transportation Committee, said the rocket-based combined cycle and turbine-based combined cycle technologies will be the key to the success of the project. Project Tengyun could provide round-trip travel between Earth and space, according to a statement 12 March 2018 Zhang Hongwen, president of the Third Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology has started a space travel project that seeks to reduce the cost of space travel through developing reusable carriers and lowering the flight trajectory, "The key issue to solve is to reach a high-enough accelerated speed from take-off from a normal airport, theoretically the joint work of an aviation engine and rocket engine," Jiao Weixin, a space professor at Peking University, said 20 March 2018. Although both plane and rocket technologies have been mastered independently, Jiao said, the question is how to combine them cost-effectively. Considering the high cost, once the research is done, the first applications should be made in the military field rather than popular space travel, according to Jiao. China made an important breakthrough in developing its own space plane, a genre of aircraft that is expected to become a crucial weapon in the future, a state-owned research institute said 23 October 2018. The First Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Aerospace and Aerodynamics successfully conducted a wind tunnel experiment, in which the second-stage aircraft freely detached from the first-stage aircraft of a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) space plane, according to a statement the academy released. When detaching, there is very strong and complicated flow distribution that could affect the flight of the aircraft, so the two stages must be separated fast and safely. The experiment solved multiple technical difficulties and set up a universal wind tunnel experiment protocol, providing an advanced method to develop future space planes, the statement said. With the successful development of technologies like scramjet engines, technical research has gone past the concept stage. CASIC revealed at the October 2020 China International Commercial Aerospace Forum that by 2025, China will build a reusable spaceplane, named Tengyun. The Tengyun project aims to develop a reusable two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane which consists of planes for both stages They even claim, the spaceplane is "already under construction". But this phrase ranslates better into "currently being worked on" or "currently being developed" which typically refers to the overall project, not necessarily a prototype or a physical sample. If they wanted to specify that something was under construction, they would have written "assembly" or a similar phrase. Other sources mention that a demonstration/experimental flight has been successful, marking a major milestone breakthrough, while others mention that only a full-scale prototype was expected by 2025, and that commercial service will not begin until 2030. Gee Whiz!! Americans have been doing such studies for half a century, and still haven't come up with a workable design. Launch vehicles or rocket boosters are primarily used to deliver satellites to orbit or weapons over large distances (ICBMs). However, most of the existing rocket designs are expendable, making them costly for most missions and less competitive in the world launch market. A transatmospheric vehicle (TAV) or reusable launch vehicle (RLV) would be capable of returning to earth to be reused after minimal refurbishment and refueling. TAVs most likely would have aerodynamic and operability characteristics similar to conventional aircraft but have capability of delivering payloads to low earth orbit (LEO). The promise of TAVs is that their reusability would potentially allow them to launch payloads into orbit at much lower cost than current expendable rockets. Airbreathing propulsion engines have several advantages over expendable rockets, namely, they do not require stored liquid oxygen, which results in smaller and less costly launch vehicles. In addition, airbreathing engines don't have to rely strictly on engine thrust but can utilize available aerodynamic forces, thus resulting in far greater maneuverability. This can also manifest itself in greater vehicle safety since missions can be aborted much easier. Alternatives to all-rocket propulsion systems include a combination of gas turbine jet engines, ramjets, scramjets and rockets that can be integrated into a combined cycle airbreathing propulsion system. Gas turbine engines, and the devices that are powered by gas turbine engines, are limited in overall design and performance by mechanical, material, and thermodynamic laws. They are further constricted by the design limitations of the three elements that make up the baseline design of gas turbine engines: the compressor, the combustor and the turbine. In turbines for aircraft, these three engine sections are contained inside of the outer turbine casing and are centered on a load bearing drive shaft that connects the turbine (on the rearward portion of the drive shaft) with the compressor (on the forward portion of the drive shaft). Typically the drive shaft is a twin or triple spool design, consisting of two or three concentric rotating shafts nested one inside the other. The different spools allow the turbine assembly and the compressor assembly, each of which is connected to one of the spools of the drive shaft, to rotate at different speeds. The turbine is optimized to run at one particular speed for combustion and thrust processes, and the compressor is optimized at a different speed to more efficiently compress incoming air at the inlet face and raise the air pressure to a significant point to where there is a pressure ratio differential, significant enough to provide combustion. Highly compressed air at ratios of 30:1 to 40:1 ignites when mixed with atomized fuel in the combustor. The difference in speeds of the spools is typically accomplished by reduction gears to accommodate the required speeds for combustion and propulsion operation. The compressor assembly consists of numerous compressor stages, each of which is made up of a rotor and a diffuser, the number of stages dependent upon the total pressure ratio increase required to achieve combustion and produce the desired thrust. The rotor is a series of rotating airfoil blades, or fans (attached to the shaft), which converge the air, i.e., compressing the volume of air and increasing it's velocity, on the intake side of the blade, by passing it into a smaller volumes (convergent channels between airfoil rotor blades) in each the rotor chamber. Adjacent to each rotor is a diffuser (or stator). The diffuser is a fixed, non-rotating disc of airfoil stators whose sole purpose is to reduce the air velocity from the rotor and increase the pressure. The diffuser slows the air down by passing it through divergent (expanding) channels between the airfoil stators, thus recovering the pressure. Upon entering the diffuser the air passes from a narrow opening on the intake side of the diffuser into a gradually enlarging chamber (diffuser) that slows the velocity and raises the pressure of the air. Each compressor stage is made up of a compressor rotor and a diffuser (stator) disc. There are as many stages of the compressor as are required to get the air to the required air temperature and compression ratio (in high performance aircraft turbines usually in between 12:1 to 30:1 dependent on combustor design, flight and speed envelope and turbine thrust requirements prior to entering the combustor. In the combustor, the high pressure, high temperature, expanding air mixes in a swirl of hot vaporized fuel and ignites to form a controllable flame front. The flame front expands as it combusts, rotating and driving turbine blades as the flame front exits the engine. The turbine assembly consists of several sets of rotating turbine blades connected to the drive shaft and angled so that the thrust of the flame front causes the blades to rotate. The turbine blades, being connected to the drive shaft, cause the drive shaft to rotate and thus the compressor blades to rotate, consequently more air is compressed and the cycle starts all over again. Advanced turbojet engines, such as found in fighter aircraft, rely on compressing the air, injecting the fuel into it, burning the mixture, and expanding the combustion products through the nozzle to provide thrust at much higher specific impulses (Isp) than rocket engines. Turbojets can be used to provide horizontal takeoff--like conventional airplanes--and are currently materials limited to Mach 2-3 so as to prevent overheating and damage to the turbine blades. At this point another form of propulsion engine, called a ramjet, takes over. This is in lieu of undertaking an expensive development of high-temperature gas turbine blade materials technology to increase the maximum upper limit to approximately Mach 3-4. The ramjet engine operates by using a specially designed inlet to scoop up the ram air, slow it down and then compress it while the vehicle is flying through the atmosphere. Fuel is injected into the air, mixed with it, combusted and then expanded through the nozzle to provide thrust in a similar fashion to the turbojet. Ramjet engines operate most efficiently at vehicle speeds beyond Mach 2-3. A ramjet can be readily integrated into a turbojet engine. The turbojet by itself would operate from take-off to ramjet takeover, and the ramjet would then power the vehicle to its velocity limit of about Mach 6. Above this limit the combustion chamber temperature becomes very high, causing the combustion products to dissociate, which in turn reduces vehicle thrust. To operate at still higher vehicle speeds, supersonic combustion ramjets, or scramjets as they are called, would be employed. Again, fuel is injected, mixed and combusted with the air, but at supersonic speeds, thus necessitating a different fuel injection scheme than that used by the ramjet. As the vehicle continues to accelerate into the upper atmosphere, rocket engines may be required to supplement the scramjet engine(s) for Mach numbers above 10-12. Certainly rocket engines would be required if orbit insertion and maneuvering in space (above Mach 18) were required. One way to eliminate the ramjet and its weight impact from the high speed flowpath is to close the Mach number gap between turbojets and scramjets. This can be accomplished by extending the maximum Mach number range of the gas turbine (turbojet) engine operability beyond Mach 3 and/or reducing the minimum Mach number range of scramjet operability to below Mach 6. However, a substantial investment on the order of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars may be required to advance the gas turbine art so as to minimize the Mach number gap. An alternate approach is to combine the ramjet flowpath with the turbine engine. This creates synergy since the ramjet can utilize the isolator that is already required by the turbine engine in a typical turbine based combined cycle concept installation, rather than creating a second isolator in the high speed flowpath. Further synergy can also be obtained by combining the turbojet engine afterburner with a ramjet combustor, which will then substantially reduce the length and weight of the combined propulsion system leading to significantly better vehicle performance. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China, Russia conclude joint naval drill People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 17:56, September 19, 2016 Chinese and Russian naval forces on Monday concluded their joint military exercise in the waters off the southern province of Guangdong, pledging to enhance practical cooperation. Addressing the closing ceremony of the drill, which ran from Sept. 13 to 19, Wang Hai, deputy commander of the Chinese Navy, lauded the exercise as successful and the activity had achieved the desired aim. Wang said the drill had improved the actual combat capabilities, informationization and standardization of the two navies, adding that they will expand practical cooperation and boost communication. Alexander Fedotenkov, deputy commander of the Russian Navy, said the two navies shared theoretical and practical experience and were engaged in sound collaboration throughout the exercise. Fedotenkov said the two sides will maintain close marine cooperation ties, deal with new challenges and threats, and together safeguard world peace and regional stability. The "Joint Sea 2016" drill featured surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, marines and amphibious armored equipment. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address KCNA Commentary on U.S. Arms Buildup Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS) Pyongyang, September 19 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is busy pushing ahead with the moves to build up its arms. Shortly ago, the U.S. Navy announced that it would additionally deploy newly built Virginia-class attack nuclear submarine Illinois in Asia- Pacific. In its wake it opened to public its plan to equip aircraft belonging to the U.S. marines with laser weapons. The Missile Defense Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense disclosed that it would put missile detectors into the space and allocate 400 million U.S. dollars for their development and test. The U.S. arms buildup is aimed to physically and thoroughly contain regional powers in a bid to carry out its strategy to dominate the world. At present, the U.S. regards the Asia-Pacific region as the main front of realizing the strategy of its hegemony. It is the U.S. calculation that establishing its control over the Asia-Pacific region will lead to the implementation of the world strategy as big powers, potential rivals are concentrated in the region and it has the biggest population and leading economic potentials. The U.S. has unchallenged military edge over Russia and China in the region by reinforcing such strategic assets as nuclear strategic bombers, nuclear submarines and THAAD. Consequently it is bringing a new Cold War era and nuclear arms race. This is evidenced by the assertions made by the U.S. administration and military as regards the arms buildup. The director of the Missile Defense Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense underscored the need to put missile detectors into the orbit of the space, noting that regional powers are making increased efforts to develop ultra supersonic missiles. The director of the Underwater Operation Bureau of the U.S. Navy claimed that it is more urgent to boost the underwater striking capability such as that of Illinois under the situation that potential rivals are developing new type weapons and sound detecting technology at a fast tempo and deploying for actual battle precision guided ship-to-ship missile with the firing range of more than 900 miles. World military experts commented that the U.S. arms buildup will bring big burden to China and other big powers. As was reported, the U.S. is the chief criminal pushing the regional situation to the brink of a war and posing a threat to global peace and security. This being a hard reality, the U.S. insists its arms buildup and war drills are aimed to "preserve peace". This is hypocrisy and mockery of the international community. The people in the region are following the ever more escalating U.S. military action with vigilance and strongly reacting against it. The U.S. arms buildup for realizing its anachronistic ambition for world domination would only invite stronger military counteraction of the regional countries. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Army: Sacred Defense era a shining light for next generations IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 19, IRNA -- Iran's Army in a message on Monday referred to the eight years of Iranians Sacred Defense against invasion of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath regime as a shining light for the next generations resulted from sacrifices and bravaries of the Iranian forces. In a statement issued on the occasion of the 36th annual Sacred Defense Week to start on September 20, the Army hailed the sublime position of Sacred Defense martyrs and said they sacrificed their lives to safeguard the honor and dignity of the future generations. Shahrivar 31 (according to the Iranian calander year) marks anniversary of the Iraqi Ba'ath regime's invasion on Iran in 1980 which was the beginning of an eight-year imposed war against the newly-born Islamic Revolution. The imposed war is commemorated in Iran every year as the eight years of Sacred Defense. Each year, Iranian Armed Forces stage nationwide military parades to mark the war's anniversary. The Army statement commemorated memories of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran Imam Khomeini and those of all wartime martyrs, especially the 48,000 members of Army who sacrificed their lives in battel fields. It warned the present young generation that enemies of the country have transformed the hard fight into the soft fight. It was stressed in the Army statement that Iran's Armed Forces, Army in particular, would stay vigilant against any plots made by the enemies. 'Iran's vigilant troops would closely monitor any move made by the enemies and will not allow the country and the nation face the least threat,' it said in conclusion. Saddam's Air Force launched surprise airstrikes on ten Iranian airfields to destroy the Iranian Air Force on September 22, 1980, making use of the then advanced military armaments supplied by a number of hostile countries towards Iran plus more than 80 billion dollar of their financial support. Iran thwarted the attack through numerous successful operations. Saddam's invasion came less than two years after the Islamic Revolution. A large number of volunteers joined the Iranian Armed Forces to defend their country against the Iraqi aggressor under the leadership of the late Imam Khomeini. 1424**1394 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Spokesman says PGCC claims against Iran are baseless IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 19, IRNA -- Foreign Ministry spokesman said that accusations made against Iran in the latest statement of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council against Iran were 'repetitive' and 'unfounded' and an attempt to cover up the link between Wahhabism and its organizers. Bahram Qasemi made the remarks while commenting on the latest accusations raised in the latest PGCC statement claiming that Iran was politicizing Hajj congregation. The PGCC statement 'serves as a blame game tool used by one certain PGCC member in response to the global demand for clarifying the relationship between Wahhabism and their official advocates with the terrorist attacks made during the past two decades,' said the spokesman. He added that imposing 'biased and unilateral views by one conceited member of the council to limited and closed diplomatic circles is already a failed tactic.' Qasemi noted that the Saudi rulers could certainly not refrain from standing accountable for the death of thousands of Hajj pilgrims by raising such allegations. During its foreign ministerial meeting in New York recently, the PGCC issued a statement claiming that Iran was to use Hajj as a political instrument. 1424**1394 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IAEA chief reaffirms Iran's commitment to JCPOA IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 19, IRNA -- Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano on Wednesday said that Iran continues to implement its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 'My report on Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) summarizes the verification and monitoring activities that the Agency has conducted in the last few months,' Amano said in his introductory statement to the IAEA Board of Governors which started its seasonal meeting in the Austrian capital on Monday. 'Since my last report, Iran has submitted its declarations under the Additional Protocol, which it is applying provisionally, pending its entry into force,' said the IAEA cheif adding that Iran's declarations are being evaluated by the Agency. He said that the Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities for Iran continue, he said. Iran and the six world powers- the US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany- have reached a landmark nuclear agreement, knowen as the JCPOA, on July 14, 2015. The 'Implementation Day' of the deal was announced on January 16, 2016. Iran has repeatedly announced its commitment to the JCPOA and it was in several cases reaffirmed in reports of the IAEA chief. 9341**1394 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Sentences Lebanese IT Expert To 10 Years In Prison September 20, 2016 by Golnaz Esfandiari A Lebanese information technology expert detained in Iran for more than a year has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and given a $4.2 million fine, his U.S. lawyer told RFE/RL on September 20. Nizar Zakka, 49, a resident of Washington, D.C., and a U.S. green card holder, had earlier announced his sentence, according to e-mails sent by his supporters, but there was no official confirmation. Zakka was detained in September 2015 in Tehran after attending a government-organized conference on entrepreneurship and employment in which he was a panelist. Jason Poblete, a U.S. lawyer representing Zakka, said in a telephone interview that a revolutionary court in Iran had issued a 60-page verdict and sentence, although he said he had not yet seen a copy of the indictment or the verdict. He said he had been informed about his client's sentencing through Zakka's lawyer in Tehran. "We need to review that before giving the exact details," Poblete said, adding that Zakka was innocent and is being used as political pawn. Iranian authorities have not commented on Zakka's sentence and state-controlled media have not covered the case. But the country's state-controlled television and hard-line media outlets have previously accused Zakka of having links to the U.S. military and intelligence services. It is unclear if the charges against Zakka are related to those claims. "We consider him a hostage being held by the Iranian government and we've been asking our State Department and we will continue to ask our State Department to intervene in the matter to facilitate his unconditional release," Poblete said. The U.S. State Department, in a September 20 statement, said it was troubled by the news of Zakka's sentencing and demanded his release, according to AP. "We reaffirm our calls on Iran to respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, cease any arbitrary or politically motivated detentions and ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings in all criminal prosecutions," the news agency quoted the statement as saying. Poblete said Zakka's lawyer in Iran would appeal the sentence. "He's going to pursue any process available to him under that judicial system. I use that term somewhat loosely because there is not rule of law there and our client is being subjected to a lawless process," Poblete said. Zakka is the general secretary of the Arab Communications and Information Technology organization, which advocates for Internet development in the Middle East. Poblete says his client's arrest is a warning to all of those wanting to engage with the Islamic republic or do business in the country. "Nizar's case is a lesson for anyone, any Westerner, any individual going to Iran to engage in civil society or business, that just because you're there at their invitation does not mean that you're going to be treated with respect," he said. Poblete said Zakka has been informed of the prison sentence and that he remains "mentally focused" and determined to maintain his innocence against all charges. In recent months, several dual nationals, including Iranian-Americans, have been detained in Iran in the wake of the 2015 agreement between world powers and the Islamic republic to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The reported arrests by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) follow warnings by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of alleged "infiltration" attempts by the West. Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-lebanese -it-expert-jailed/28002355.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Zero Hour is Coming': Libyan Military Surround Daesh in Sirte Sputnik News 17:40 19.09.2016 Libyan troops encircled Daesh on a 0.4-square-mile area in the city of Sirte and is preparing to deal the last blow. SIRTE (Libya), (Sputnik) The Libyan forces managed to surround Daesh terrorists in a 0.4-square-mile area in the city of Sirte seized by Daesh in 2015, spokesman of the military operation Brig. Gen. Mohamed Ghasri told Sputnik. "Our progress in Sirte is continuing, the forces are heading for the coastal district of Jizah to kill the last terrorists there and after that for the district 600 The zero hour is coming after the militants were surrounded in a small area, not larger than one square kilometer," Ghasri said. He refused to speak about the date of full liberation of the city noting that it would be announced only after de-mining the territory. He pointed out that the operation was carried out only by the Libyan forces with the US Air Force providing them with logistical support. Daesh, a terrorist organization outlawed in the United States, Russia and many other nations, gained a foothold in Libya in the turmoil following the 2011 ousting of the country's long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Libya's Tobruk-Based Parliament to Move to Benghazi After City's Liberation Sputnik News 21:08 20.09.2016(updated 21:14 20.09.2016) The House of Representatives, Libya's Tobruk-based parliament, plans to move its headquarters to the city of Benghazi after it is freed from terror groups, the parliament's President Aguila Saleh told Sputnik on Tuesday. AL QUBAH (Sputnik) He added that the parliament would not move to the new headquarters until the security forces deem it safe. "The place is ready, the secretariat of the parliament [House of Representatives] in Benghazi is making the official headquarters ready for the parliament, we will move there soon," Saleh said. Libya has been in a state of turmoil since 2011, when a civil war began in the country and long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown. As agreed in December 2015, the two Libyan rival parliaments the House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based New General National Congress established a UN-backed Libyan Political Dialogue as a mechanism of reconciliation and formed the Government of National Accord, which is yet to be supported by the House of Representatives. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Whether it be accidentally pouring in far too much potassium permanganate and turning peoples drinking water pink, or a failure in a treatment technique required by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental protection, mistakes are inevitable. This year, both the Carlisle Water Treatment Plant and the North Middleton Authority which manages water and sewer in the township dealt with mistakes. Officials from both municipalities told The Sentinel the issues may have appeared alarming to residents at first, but in neither case was drinking water considered to be harmful or dangerous to those people drinking it. Pink Water Residents in February began emailing and calling into The Sentinel complaining about a pink tint to the water spouting from their faucets and showers in the Carlisle area. Two events came together to cause the pink water: about two inches of rain water runoff into the Conodoguinet Creek the source of drinking water throughout most of the greater Carlisle area and a power outage, according to Pete Selan, director of the Carlisle Water Treatment Plant. The runoff from heavy rains that week created a spike in the waters turbidity. According to U.S. Geological Survey, turbidity is the measure of cloudiness in a fluid caused by large amounts of individual particles. Potassium permanganate is an oxidant similar to chlorine, said Mark Malarich, Carlisles public works director. When it was being added to the water to help handle the cloudiness, a power outage occurred, impacting the machine dispensing the potassium permanganate. I dont know what happened, Selan said. Still, while the levels of potassium permanganate were high enough to give the water a pink color, they did not affect the taste or quality, and according to Selan, the turbidity was cleared up immediately. The pink water lasted several days. North Middleton North Middleton Township residents received a letter on June 29 this year with an ominous first paragraph: Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although the situation does not require that you take immediate action, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did and are doing to correct this situation. Lee Koch, manager of the townships Authority, said that in November the annual running average of total organic carbon in the water supply reached above two parts per million as measured on a quarterly basis. At this point the authority should have begun testing the water each month, but it did not, and the DEP noticed. Thats because the authority tests on a quarterly basis. We had to send out that notice, he said. I have to do it quarterly until that ratio gets back to where it needs to be, but the plants the same, the creeks the same. Koch explained that now, on top of the quarterly monitoring conducted at the facility, monthly monitoring will take place as well. Total organic carbon does not pose any ill health effects, Koch said, but can provide a pathway for by-products like trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids to get into the water during the disinfecting process. You try to explain that in a written format and thats tough to do, he said. Russian Westernmost Strategic Missile Forces' Division to Receive Yars Missiles Sputnik News 16:20 20.09.2016 The westernmost division of Russian Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) located in Tver Region will receive Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in nearest future, Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) RS-24 Yars (NATO reporting name SS-27 Mod 2) carries ICBMs with multiple independently targetable nuclear warheads and has a range of 11,000 kilometers (some 6,800 miles.) "The westernmost division of Russian Strategic Missile Forces, which is located in Tver Region will start to be rearmed with Yars missile systems," the statement said, citing SMF Commander Col. Gen. Sergey Karakayev. The statement added that the division would be the sixth mobile missile unit, in which the new ICBM would replace the Topol ICBM systems. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria army announces end of US-Russia brokered truce Iran Press TV Mon Sep 19, 2016 3:33PM Syria's army announces an end to the week-long ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia, blaming militants for the failure of the truce. "Syria's army announces the end of the freeze on fighting that began at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) on September 12, 2016 in accordance with the US-Russia agreement," a statement carried by Syria's official news agency, SANA, said on Monday. It blamed militant groups for the failure of the ceasefire, saying they "did not commit to a single element" of the deal. Earlier on Monday, Russia criticized the United States for not doing enough to rein in militants in Syria to protect the truce deal, saying continued violations of the ceasefire by militants made it "senseless" for Damascus to stick to the agreement. "Syrian servicemen and peaceful citizens are still dying. The cause of this is the fact the United States has no effective leverage to influence Syria's opposition and is unaware of the real situation on the ground," Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official, told reporters. Rudskoi said American officials were not well informed of the situation in Syria and how US-backed militants were violating the terms of the truce. "Taking into account the fact that the terms of the ceasefire are not respected by militants, we consider observing it unilaterally by Syrian government forces is senseless," Rudskoi said. Russian officials said Monday that monitors in Syria had registered 53 ceasefire violations across the country over the past 24 hours. The Russian Defense Ministry said there had been reports that elements from the so-called moderate Syrian opposition were merging with terrorists to carry out large-scale attacks against government forces. The US-Russia brokered truce aimed to allow humanitarian access and joint attacks against militant groups, which are not covered by the agreement, including Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN expresses disappointment over stuck humanitarian aid for Aleppo Iran Press TV Mon Sep 19, 2016 2:29PM The United Nations has expressed disappointment at the delay in delivering humanitarian aid to the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, where civilians are suffering from the lack of food and emergency relief. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the UN aid chief said he was "pained" that the Aleppo residents were still without food and water, after reports said that an aid convoy was being stalled on the Turkish-Syrian border for a week. "I am pained and disappointed that a United Nations convoy has yet to cross into Syria from Turkey, and safely reach eastern Aleppo, where up to 275,000 people remain trapped without food, water, proper shelter or medical care," Stephen O'Brien said. According to the UN official, the convoy consists of 20 trucks that carry flour and other food supplies, enough to feed some 185,000 people for one month. The remarks came after a week-long ceasefire in Syria expired at midnight, with no immediate announcement of its extension. Russia and the US agreed on the ceasefire deal in Syria on September 9 after intensive talks in the Swiss city of Geneva. The seven-day deal, which began on September 12, calls for increased humanitarian aid for those trapped, especially inside the northwestern city of Aleppo, Syria's second largest city which has been divided between government forces and foreign-backed militants since 2012. The Syrian government has accused foreign-backed militants of numerous violations of the ceasefire, the second this year. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Over the past few months, the militants active in the Arab country have suffered major setbacks as the Syrian army has managed to liberate several areas. According to an estimate by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, more than 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Army Declares End of Ceasefire Sputnik News 18:06 19.09.2016(updated 20:20 19.09.2016) The Syrian Army has declared end of ceasefire claiming that militants did not adhere to any provision of the truce. Syrian militants have breached Moscow-Washington brokered truce more than 300 times, the Army said. The Syrian army reaffirmed commitment to fight against terror after the end of truce. "The ceasefire regime should have been a real chance to stop bloodshed, but units of terrorists did not abhere to any of the points of the agreement. The number of ceasefire violations suprassed 300," SANA news agency quoted the Syrian Army General Command as saying. The statement also said that Syrian government forces have made every effort to comply with the ceasefire and "have shown the highest degree of restraint confronting violations by terrorist groups." On September 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a new peace plan to address the conflict in Syria that called for a ceasefire and anti-terrorism cooperation among other clauses of the treaty. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian, Russian forces repel militant attack after truce expires Iran Press TV Tue Sep 20, 2016 7:34AM Backed by Russian air power, Syrian army forces have repelled a large-scale attack by militants on the countryside of the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo. The Tuesday counter-strike killed 40 of the attackers, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense. Monday marked the last day of a week-long ceasefire in the war-weary Arab country. The truce had been brokered by Russia and the United States. It ushered in several days of relative calm, including in Aleppo, which has been divided between government forces and militants. Late last week, however, violence began to creep back into the city when a US-led airstrike killed scores of Syrian soldiers who were engaged in fighting against the Takfiri terrorist groups in the eastern parts. Hours after the expiration of the truce, the UN said one of its convoys carrying aid to the civilians trapped under militant control in Aleppo was hit by an airstrike near the city. The world body said the airstrike destroyed at least 18 of the 31 trucks. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strike. A Syrian opposition group claimed the attack had killed 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers. The United Nations (UN)'s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, reacted by saying, "Our outrage at this attack is enormous... the convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians." UN suspension Meanwhile, the UN announced on Tuesday that all aid shipments in Syria had been suspended following the Aleppo attack. Red Cross also said on Tuesday that it could only confirm the death of one Syrian Red Crescent volunteer in the attack and that the death toll "could be less" than reported so far Fighting also intensified in the militant-held eastern suburbs of the capital, Damascus. The United States has said, though, that it was prepared to extend the truce deal. The Russian military has said that it would be meaningless for the Syrian army to be the sole party observing the ceasefire while being attacked by militants. Militancy has been killing thousands and displacing millions throughout the Middle Eastern country since 2011 on the back of support by foreign governments who oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria Cease-fire Not Dead Yet, Diplomats Contend By Steve Herman 20 September 2016 Not dead yet. That is the assertion of several key diplomats about the cease-fire in Syria following the attack Monday on an aid convoy. The 20 member states and organizations of the International Syria Support Group met for about an hour Tuesday in New York and decided to convene again Friday. "They agreed that, despite continued violence, there was still an imperative to pursue a nationwide cessation of hostilities based on the arrangement reached last week in Geneva between the United States and Russia," said State Department spokesman John Kirby. "The cease-fire is not dead," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters as he emerged from the ISSG meeting. It is widely believed that either Syrian or Russian aircraft carried out an airstrike on the 31-vehicle aid caravan that was headed to Aleppo, Syria, from the Turkish border. Eighteen of the trucks were hit. The attack killed 20 civilians and the head of a local Syrian Red Crescent office, the humanitarian organization said. The strike again prompted the U.N. to suspend all aid shipments into the country. Russia's Defense Ministry denied there was an attack and said the trucks caught fire. "We've established it was not a fire," said U.N. humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke in Geneva. Syria's military also denied any of its aircraft was involved in an attack. The convoy's "movements were only known by the militants who were in control of the area," said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in Moscow. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry commented that drone footage showed the convoy was being accompanied by militants driving a pickup truck with a heavy mortar gun. "It was certainly not the [U.S.-led] coalition who struck from the air. It does look like an airstrike," U.S. Central Command spokesman Colonel John Thomas told reporters during a telephone briefing. "The only other entities that fly in Syria are Russia and Syria." The U.N. said its officials in Syria were informed of the attacks as they unfolded. "Despite our efforts and communications with parties to the conflict, further attacks continued throughout the night, hampering efforts to reach and attend to the wounded," said a statement by U.N. aid coordinators Massimo Diana and Kevin Kennedy. The attack was an outrage, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in an address to the General Assembly. He called the humanitarian workers' attackers cowards and said "accountability for crimes such as these is essential." Leaders such as French President Francois Hollande, at the annual General Assembly, blamed Syria's government for the cease-fire's failure. "I say to the Syrian government's foreign backers that they must compel the regime to enforce peace," he said in his address to the world body. "Otherwise, they will bear the responsibility for the splitting up of the country and the chaos." "The Syrian government sent a very clear message by attacking the aid convoy and bombing Aleppo," Middle East scholar Daniel Serwer from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University told VOA. "The Russians don't seem able or willing to restrain [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad. The Americans aren't willing to intervene." After seven days of relative calm and a resumption of critical aid, according to the terms of the cease-fire deal, the United States and Russia were to coordinate separate strikes on Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated rebels. That was viewed as a remarkable diplomatic accomplishment, considering Washington and Moscow have not been allies in any hostilities since World War II. "Washington and Moscow have different long-term interests in Syria, support different sides of the war, and no longer trust each other based on recent breaches of the Syrian cease-fire and broader disagreements over Ukraine, the Baltic states and cyberattacks," Seth Jones, director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation, told VOA on Tuesday. Syrian state media quoted Assad as saying separate airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition that hit Syrian positions near Deir Ezzor on Saturday were a "flagrant aggression" that showed support for terrorists. The airstrikes near Deir Ezzor may have hit a battalion of Syrian prisoners, VOA learned. U.S. officials have said Syrian government prisoners may be fighting for the regime as an alternative to being jailed. The prisoners appeared to have been providing an "extra layer of protection" outside the perimeter of the Syrian forces. A senior defense official told VOA a brigadier general would begin investigating the strike "very soon." The U.S. has expressed condolences for the losses suffered in the strike and is still working to determine what happened. VOA's Carla Babb contributed to this report from the Pentagon. VOA's Nike Ching contributed from the State Department. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Erdogan Reveals Why Turkish Forces Had to Save US Commandos From Syrian Rebels Sputnik News 11:52 19.09.2016(updated 12:17 19.09.2016) The head of the Turkish state explained that US soldiers' attitude toward Syrian opposition triggered the rift. ANKARA (Sputnik) The Turkish armed forces have led 30 US special forces members out of a potential conflict zone with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group in northern Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. "The FSA does not want the US special forces' assistance because of the US' behavior in relation to the Syrian opposition. Our troops led out 30 US special forces soldiers [from the armed conflict zone with the FSA]," Erdogan told reporters before departing for the UN General Assembly. Online footage circulated over the weekend appeared to depict FSA fighters threatening US special forces ostensibly accompanying them to the town of al-Rai ahead of an offensive on al-Bab to clear of the Daesh jihadist group. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Erdogan: Turkish Forces Continue Southerly Advance in N Syria Sputnik News 10:46 19.09.2016(updated 10:57 19.09.2016) Turkish armed forces continue their advance in the southern direction in northern Syria as the military campaign to clear militants and Kurdish fighters from the area continues, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. ANKARA (Sputnik) Speaking with reporters ahead of flying to the UN General Assembly in New York, Erdogan said he planned to raise the issue of establishing a "safe zone" in northern Syria that he estimated would span 1,930 square miles. "I emphasize once again the contribution of the Euphrates Shield operation in northern Syria to resolving the refugee crisis. Currently, we are moving south," he said. Erdogan noted that residents of Jarablus and other northern Syrian towns reclaimed from the Daesh jihadist group began returning to their homes since the operation was launched August 24. "As the safe zone increases, the number of returnees will increase," he stressed. The Turskih leader added he planned to raise with the United States the weekend airstrikes by the US-led coalition that killed dozens of Syrian government troops in the country's southeast at the UN General Assembly. "Of course, during my trip I will have the opportunity to learn first-hand how it all happened," Erdogan told reporters before departing for the UN General Assembly in New York. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Plans to Liberate More Cities, Create Safe Zones in Northern Syria Sputnik News 16:01 20.09.2016(updated 16:03 20.09.2016) Ankara plans to clean the northern Syrian cities of Manbij and al-Bab from Daesh militants soon and create safe zones there, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. ANKARA (Sputnik) On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarablus and the surrounding area of Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Jarablus had been cleansed of Daesh, and Turkey planned to defeat the jihadists in al-Bab. "This is what we have been asking at every meeting without ground operation, you cannot defeat this bloody terrorist organization [We plan] to make this area, Manbij, a safe zone, and to clean Daesh from this region, al-Bab should be the next target. But Raqqa is the kind of capital of Daesh in Syria, and Mosul is their capital in Iraq, they have to be defeated in those main two cities, as well," Cavusoglu told CNN. Earlier in the day, reports emerged in the media that Daesh militants along with their families started to move from al-Bab to Raqqa in a bid to avoid confrontation with the Turkish forces. Syria has been mired in civil war since March 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Prominent Ukrainian Anti-Maidan Activist Killed In Moscow Restaurant September 20, 2016 by Tom Balmforth MOSCOW -- Russian investigators say a prominent Ukrainian separatist has been shot dead in an upscale restaurant outside Moscow by a gunman disguised in a fake moustache and a panama hat. Investigators said the most likely motive in the September 19 slaying of 40-year-old Yevhen Zhylin, who is sought by authorities in his native Ukraine on terrorism charges, is a business dispute, although they added that they were exploring other possible motives that include personal enmity. Authorities said the gunman waited 20 minutes at a neighboring table for Zhylin, who arrived with another man for a business meeting. After they placed their order, the suspect rose, approached them, and opened fire. Zhylin reportedly died on the scene, while the second man, identified by local media as Andrei Kozyrev, is hospitalized in critical condition. A former police officer from the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Zhylin was a key pro-Russian figure opposing the Euromaidan unrest that unseated President Viktor Yanukovych and led to a more Western-oriented government in Kyiv. Zhylin led a militant anti-Euromaidan group called Oplot (Stronghold), which evolved out of a local fight club of the same name. The organization sent fighters, known as "titushki," to Kyiv to combat and menace antigovernment protesters. Oplot enjoyed an ambiguous relationship with the authorities in Kharkiv. After Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014, Ukraine's new authorities opened a criminal investigation into Zhylin, but he had fled the country. An Oplot offshoot was soon set up in Donetsk and reportedly helped seize strategic buildings from Kyiv's control in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, contributing to the Moscow-backed conflict that has now claimed over 9,600 lives. In March 2015, Ukraine's security service accused Zhylin of funneling money from Kharkiv firms to two separatist groups -- known as the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) and the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) -- that control territory in eastern Ukraine. In November, a Ukrainian military prosecutor wrote that Zhylin was being tried in absentia for financing "terrorism." He was reportedly arrested in absentia in February. Zhylin's Oplot mixed-martial-arts club says it is currently based in Moscow. On September 20, its website posted a message of "sincere condolences" to Zhylin's family, calling him a "real man with a kind heart and an open soul." Aleksandr Borodai, a former self-proclaimed leader of the DNR, told Kommersant on September 20 that he believed the motive for the murder could be a business dispute. Borodai also said Zhylin could have been killed for his activities in Ukraine, implying an assassination carried out by a Ukrainian nationalist or security operative. Ukrainian lawmaker Dmytro Tymchuk advanced an opposing theory via Ukrainian media that suggested Russian security forces were to blame. "The more obvious version is that the [Russian] Federal Security Services are defending the space from those who could give evidence about the initial stage of Russia's hybrid war against Ukraine," Tymchuk speculated. "Zhylin and his Oplot were one of the main elements used by the Russian secret services to destabilize [Ukraine]. In other words, the Kremlin is removing the participants in those events." Unmarked Russian forces occupied Crimea before its annexation from Ukraine in a move that Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged only many months later. Moscow has consistently denied its forces are active in the separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine despite considerable evidence to the contrary. Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-russia- anti-maidan-zhyin-killed/28002053.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address ENOLA A West Shore high school is set to reopen more than three weeks after it was closed due to mold. The superintendent of schools says East Pennsboro High School will reopen Wednesday. The high school, middle school and both district elementary schools had closed in late August. The other schools had since reopened and high school and middle school students had been sharing the middle school on a half-day schedule while the mold was cleaned from the high school. A testing company blamed the mold growth in the schools on extreme humidity and rain over the summer and a lack of air conditioning. Workers also reinsulated pipes because condensation from them was also believed to be contributing to the problem. Alan Burkitt-Gray speaks to Don MacNeil, chief operating officer of GTT, about its company restructuring after coming out of Chapter 11 and its strategic roadmap for the next 12 months. PHILADELPHIA Authorities have identified the woman killed during a shooting rampage that also wounded two police officers as the 25-year-old daughter of Ethiopian immigrants. Sara Salih was shot seven times while sitting in a vehicle Friday night with a 36-year-old man, who was shot in the arm and chest. Moments before, police say, suspect Nicholas Glenn had fired about 18 shots at veteran police Sgt. Sylvia Young as she sat in her patrol cruiser on a West Philadelphia street corner. He then randomly fired five shots at two bar employees, a 42-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman, as he ran down the street. Glenn later died in a shootout with responding officers. Beyan Salih, Saras father, heard the gunshots from the familys apartment during the Friday overnight attack but didnt know his daughter had been shot until after he got home from work Saturday afternoon, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Thats when he was told she had died. I didnt know, he said, sobbing on his front porch. How could she be gone? How could this happen? Saras sister, Fatima Salih, said Sara was a newborn when the family immigrated to Philadelphia in 1992 and that she had attended school in southwest Philadelphia. Fatima Salih described Sara as outgoing and outspoken, with dreams of becoming a paralegal. She always loved dreaming about the future, Fatima Salih said. Authorities say the 25-year-old Glenn apparently targeted Salih and the man she was with at random. Glenn also shot one of the responding officers, University of Pennsylvania police officer Ed Miller. Miller was treated for gunshot wounds to his hip and ankle and was released from the hospital Sunday. Four Philadelphia Eagles players visited before his release. Young was shot in her shoulder, arm and chest and remains hospitalized in stable condition. Police say all the injured are expected to survive. Investigators say Glenn had a note that expressed hatred for law enforcement and a probation officer at the time of the attack. He fired at least 51 shots during the rampage and was armed with more ammunition, authorities said. There are fewer students at Danville Community College and administrators are looking at the data for answers as well as ways to attract and keep students. DCC experienced about a 7 percent decline in enrollment this fall 2 percent more than the school had budgeted for this school year. The enrollment decline is consistent with community colleges across Virginia, where enrollment fell an average of 4.5 percent. DCC Vice President of Academics and Student Services Debra Holley said the school was analyzing the enrollment data to determine what demographic groups were declining the most. One of the things we know that is part of that 7 percent is there were students from spring that did not come back this fall, Holley said. Additionally, Holley said many of the lost students were female, which indicated a need to help those students with family, finances and other priorities. She also said the drop could also be because students were frustrated with a lack of industrial jobs in the area and were not seeking out education for those careers. Board member Carrie Ashe said improving diversity efforts at DCC could also benefit student success. I strongly believe that if our faculty was more diverse, that would help, Ashe said. Since the 2010-11 school year, annual enrollment across the Virginia Community College System has declined almost 12 percent. Board members also heard about progress to both a new welding building and renovations to the engineering and technology building from Vice President of Financial and Administrative Services Scott Barnes. Barnes said the welding, machining and automotive programs had all moved out of the buildings into temporary spaces, and would soon be finalizing a low bid of about $11.1 million for the construction projects. Were very proud of that and were now, as I like to say, fully committed to the project, he said. He also praised the condition of the temporary classrooms and labs at North Floyd Street. Its almost like moving into a new building, Barnes said. DCC President Bruce Scism also announced that DCC inmate programs would be coming to the Green Rock Correctional Center in Chatham later this fall, with expansion to other area facilities soon afterward. Metcalfe reports for the Danville Register & Bee. To the editor: What I have seen and heard for the last 15 months from Donald Trumps presidential campaign has been deplorable. I have heard Trump make fun of a disabled man, swear, downgrade Latinos (saying most are rapists and murderers), downgrade the entire Muslim religion, say Vladimir Putin is a better leader than President Barack Obama (which to me is un-American) after saying for years Obama wasnt even a American at all. He has also made fun of women and dishonored a Gold Star mother. Trump said that after 9/11 he saw Muslims celebrating in New Jersey which was proved to be a deplorable lie. Now he has the nerve to dispute Hillary Clintons comment about what he has said for the past year? She is saying what most people like me are thinking. Trump is the one that is deplorable. Americans that support this man are not deplorable, but have been conned into believing everything he says even though he has no policies and no plan for what he says and most are the same that Obama is doing now. His rallies do bring out the deplorable though. They are full of hate and bring out the worst in people. I remember when a white man just walked up to a black man and punched him in the head just because he was protesting peacefully There are always fights at his rallies.. Also you can hear many times people saying string Clinton up and calling her a b----. This doesnt happen at Clinton rallies. She doesnt use hate like Trump does. I think its also deplorable that Trump doesnt release his tax returns like other candidates have in the past. He can if he wants to. I know he is hiding something that he doesnt want you to see. I also think its deplorable that he used bankruptcies to get out of paying the very contractors that built his hotels and cheat students at his university. I think its deplorable that he wants to deport illegals that arent criminals and break up families with no chance to stay here and work toward citizenship while downgrading the Clinton Foundation that has helped so many. Trump has created this with fear and hate and many of his supporters are buying into it. What a shame. I truly cant wait until the election is over and maybe some common sense will prevail. God, please help this great country. ROBERT HAYDEN Blairs Vancouver, BC / TheNewswire / September 20, 2016 - Durango Resources Inc. (TSX.V-DGO), (the "Company" or "Durango") reports that further to its news release of September 13, 2016, lithium bearing pegmatites were discovered on its property that is adjacent to Nemaska Lithium Inc.'s (TSX-NMX) Whabouchi Project. Durango's anomalous lithium assays were grabbed from surface exposed pegmatites outcrops identified by high definition satellite imagery. No trenching or blasting was completed on the first phase reconnaissance program which took place in August 2016, as the scope of the program was limited to identifying pegmatites and sampling for lithium values. Durango has discovered anomalous lithium bearing pegmatites sampled by a simple grab sample. From all the pegmatites discovered and sampled, 25 returned anomalous lithium values ranging from 50 to 320 ppm or 0.032%Li. Exploration on Nemaksa Lithium's claims has been ongoing since 1962 and has been worked on by various companies over the years. Nemaska Lithium is the eighth company to work the block of claims and began their work in 2009 by property visits and grab sampling. According to the Nemaska Lithium's 43-101 report, Canico completed the first work in the area in 1962-63 and drilled 5 holes with the best result being 1.44% Li2O over 83.2m. Forty years later (2002), Inco tested the same pegmatite while exploring for Tantalum with results up to 0.026% Ta over 1 m in a channel sample. The lithium results returned by Inco ranged from 0.14%Li to 1.73% Li over a 1 m channel on the same spodumene-bearing pegmatite.* Durango's pegmatites with the lithium results can be easily accessed to trench and blast, or possibly commence drilling, to determine the extent of the pegmatites and to obtain fresh rock samples (not exposed to weathering and erosion) to determine Li content. Cesium levels ranged up to 80.9ppm, tantalum levels up to 77.1ppm and rubidium up to 2140 ppm which is typical of LCT (lithium, cesium tantalum) pegmatites. Pegmatites exploited for lithium are usually of the LCT type. Marcy Kiesman, CEO of Durango comments: "Durango is highly encouraged by the geological discovery of the lithium-bearing pegmatites so proximal to the Whabouchi project. This discovery has greatly increased our odds of hosting a LCT (Lithium, Cesium, Tantalum) type deposit adjacent to Nemaska Lithium Inc. As such, Durango has asked Donald Theberge to prepare a report with phase two exploration program recommendations which will be announced as soon as it is available." The technical contents of this release were approved by Mr. Donald Theberge, PEng., MBA, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The property has not been subject of a National Instrument 43-101 report. *Nemaska Exploration Inc. NI 43-101 Technical Report - Whabouchi Property, October 2, 2009, by Donald Theberge, Eng., MBA, p.8, p.17 About Durango Durango is a natural resources company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties. The Company has a 100% interest in the Mayner's Fortune and Smith Island limestone properties in northwest British Columbia, the Decouverte and Trove gold properties in the Abitibi Region of Quebec, and certain lithium properties near the Whabouchi project, the Buckshot graphite property near the Miller Mine in Quebec, the Dianna Lake silver project in northern Saskatchewan, the Whitney Northwest property near the Lake Shore Gold and Goldcorp joint venture in Ontario, as well as three sets of claims in the Labrador nickel corridor. For further information on Durango, please refer to its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Marcy Kiesman, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 604.428.2900 or 604.339.2243 Facsimile: 888.266.3983 Email: durangoresourcesinc@gmail.com Website: www.durangoresourcesinc.com Forward-Looking Statements This document may contain or refer to forward-looking information based on current expectations, including commencement and completion of future exploration or project development programs and the impact on the Company of these events. Forward-looking information is subject to significant risks and uncertainties, as actual results may differ materially from forecasted results. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. For a detailed list of risks and uncertainties relating to Durango, please refer to the Company's prospectus filed on its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 20, 2016) - Pasinex Resources Ltd. (CSE:PSE) (FRANKFURT:PNX) (the "Company" or "Pasinex") is pleased to announce that a new third adit has been opened at the Pinargozu mine, 50% owned through the Horzum AS joint venture in Turkey. The new adit has a length of 120 m and allows access to deeper lying mineralization at the 670 m level and below. Future exploration and infill drilling programs will also make use of this new underground development, which is situated proximally to a number of high-priority exploration targets. The new adit's larger dimension can accommodate the use of bigger equipment. As a result, production at the mine has doubled from an average of around 60 tonnes per day ("tpd") to an average of around 120 tpd in the past weeks. The material being mined is all DSO or direct shipping mineralization. The average grade in the first half of 2016 for this material was about 34 % Zn. Production statistics from lot sales in 2016 are given below in Table 1. Shown in Figure 1 is a graphic of the current mine workings at Pinargozu. Steve Williams, President and CEO of Pasinex Resources commented: "This is a big step forward for our mine. We now have three producing adits into the side of the mountain and this has enabled us to significantly increase the production at Pinargozu. In August the mine output reached a total of 4,000 tonnes of high grade zinc mineralization (130 tpd). About half of August's production was high grade sulphide ore from the new adit. As reported earlier the total production up to the end of July this year was 9,300 tonnes compared to a total of 11,000 tonnes in the whole year of 2015. With the production coming out of the new adit management is confident that the production will sustain a minimum level of 120 tpd over the course of the second half of 2016. On an annualized basis, Pinargozu production is targeting to reach about 25 million pounds of zinc production this year, compared to 10.4 million pounds sold in 2015. We are pleased to demonstrate the rapid expansion at Pinargozu as we develop this important zinc mine." Figure 1 - Schematic showing underground workings relative to the mineralization halo. The adit indicated in red is the new adit. (http://www.marketwire.com/library/20160920-fig1.jpg) Table 1: Horzum AS - Pinargozu Mine Production Sale Summary Lot # Date of sale Type Wet weight (tonnes) Moisture % Dry Weight (tonnes) Cum Wet Weight (tonnes) Cum Dry Weight (tonnes) Assay % Zn 2014/ 2015 total 2014/ 2015 total 1 24/04/2015 Oxide 5,002.100 6.26 4,688.911 5,002.100 4,688.911 33.08 2 05/05/2015 Oxide 1,453.000 10.39 1,302.000 6,455.100 5,990.911 31.56 3 09/07/2015 Oxide 4,760.000 8.76 4,342.830 11,215.100 10,333.741 31.21 4 09/09/2015 Oxide 1,215.380 7.87 1,119.760 12,430.480 11,453.501 35.20 5 06/11/2015 Oxide 1,478.310 5.12 1,402.555 13,908.790 12,856.056 38.09 6 22/12/2015 Oxide 1,497.380 6.65 1,397.789 15,406.170 14,253.845 35.19 2016 1st Half 2016 1st Half 7 28/01/2016 Oxide 1,556.560 6.83 1,450.295 1,556.560 1,450.295 37.23 8 02/03/2016 Oxide 1,842.500 7.81 1,698.551 3,399.060 3,148.846 35.06 9 30/03/2016 Sulphide 716.200 1.64 704.454 4,115.260 3,853.300 49.42 10 07/04/2016 Oxide 1,685.620 7.68 1,556.234 5,800.880 5,409.534 32.00* 11 12/05/2016 Oxide 1,264.080 7.75 1,166.126 7,064.960 6,575.660 33.27* 12 09/06/2016 Oxide 1,238.040 7.51 1,145.071 8,303.000 7,720.731 31.50* 13 17/06/2016 Oxide 995.780 7.50 921.096 9,298.780 8,641.827 31.12* * Initial provisional assay In the first half of 2016 the joint venture company, Horzum AS, sold 9,300 tonnes (wet weight) of zinc direct shipping material at an average grade of 35% Zn (tonnage and assay based on provisional initial sampling and invoice) for a contained metal content of 6.7million pounds of zinc. In 30th March the company sold their first lot of sulphide mineralization. This lot was 716 tonnes of material (wet weight) at an average grade of 49.9 % Zn. Qualified Person EurGeol, P.Geo. John Barry, a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Barry inspected all stages of the direct shipping operation including material crushing, grinding, homogenisation and sampling of material at the facility in Adana. AHK (Alfred Knight) Turkey Samplers and Assayer conducts weight, and humidity measurements and sample taking at load port (at Buyer's designated Warehouse either in Adana or in Mersin). Samples taken are prepared and sealed in triplicate one sent to Alex Steward in England; and two witness samples each delivered to Buyer and Seller. Assays are conducted and certificates issued to Buyer and Seller by Alex Stewart: Labs in Liverpool, UK. Mr Barry has verified the DSO lots reported in Table 1 against the signed certificates issued by Alex Stewart Labs and Sellers official documents of sale. Mr. Barry is a director of the Company. About Pasinex Pasinex Resources Ltd. (CSE: PSE; FSE: PNX) is a metals company which is a 50% owner of the high grade Pinargozu zinc mine which is in production and, under its DSO Program, is shipping directly to zinc smelter / refiners from its mine site in Turkey. The Company has a strong technical management team with many years of experience in mineral exploration and mining project development. The mission of Pasinex is to build a mid-tier zinc company based on building a large land within a productive CRD district in Turkey. The Pinargozu Mine is included in the 50-50 company, Horzum Arama Isletme AS (Horzum AS), which is a corporate joint venture between Pasinex and Turkish mining house, Akmetal Madencilik San ve Tic. AS (Akmetal AS). Akmetal AS is one of Turkey's largest family-owned conglomerates with the nearby past-producing Horzum zinc mine. Visit our web site at: www.pasinex.com On Behalf of the Board of Directors PASINEX RESOURCES LIMITED "Steve Williams" The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although Pasinex Resources Ltd. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, exploration results, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Associated Press photos A sign informs customers of a gas outage at a station in Smyrna, Ga., on Monday. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the workweek, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. SHARE A gas station sign in Atlanta shows the jump in prices; an increase of 5 cents, according to AAA. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday to prevent price gouging. By Jeff Martin, Associated Press ATLANTA Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the workweek, raising fears that the scattered disruptions could become more widespread. The shortage is blamed on a pipeline rupture and leak of at least 252,000 gallons of gas in Alabama. The pipeline company has two main lines and said Monday that it is shipping "significant volumes" on the second of the two lines to limit the impact of the interruption on the other line. Colonial Pipeline said supplies have either been delivered or are on their way to locations in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Still, some motorists discovered bone-dry pumps. Lindsey Paluka, 28, stopped at a Shell gas station in the East Atlanta neighborhood only to find a gas pump handle covered by a black garbage bag. "I'm definitely on empty, so I'm going to have to figure something out," she said. Alpharetta, Georgia-based Colonial has acknowledged that between 252,000 gallons and 336,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from a pipeline near Helena, Alabama, since the spill was first detected Sept. 9. It's unclear when the spill actually began. According to a preliminary report, it wasn't possible to immediately pinpoint the leak, partly because highly flammable benzene and gasoline vapors hung in the air and prevented firefighters, company officials and anyone else from being near the site for more than three days. State workers discovered the leak when they noticed a strong gasoline odor and sheen on a man-made retention pond, along with dead vegetation nearby, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in the report. The report does not identify the cause of the leak. The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, is investigating the leak in a section of the pipeline constructed in 1963, it said. Environmentalist David Butler said no fuel made it into the nearby Cahaba River. From an ecological standpoint, the spill couldn't have happened at a better place or time because the terrain funneled the fuel into the pond and the water was low enough in the small lake to enable it to hold the gas, said Butler, of Cahaba Riverkeeper. "We averted a disaster this time," said Butler, who has been to the spill site and is monitoring the response. Colonial Pipeline said over the weekend that it was beginning construction of a temporary pipeline that will bypass a leaking section of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama. In a statement Monday evening it said it expects the temporary pipeline to be running by the end of the week with no specific day given. Near the site of the rupture, trucks rumbled along a rural road. Retiree Lawrence Barnett, who lives a few miles from the pipeline, felt the impact of the spill Monday when he drove to Fox Valley Mart to buy regular gas for a piece of farm equipment and found the nozzles covered in black and yellow plastic bags. Several miles away, police guarded the entrance to a Colonial Pipeline terminal beside Interstate 65. Tanker trucks like those used to haul fuel were parked around the property, and a steady stream of trucks came and went through the gate. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley toured Colonial Pipeline's emergency response center, located in a luxury resort hotel about 12 miles from the pipeline breach, and spent much of a news conference Monday praising the company's response. A disaster drill was coincidentally held last year near the scene of the spill, he said, and that helped the company plan and execute a response that included about 700 people so far. Bentley said gas prices in parts of the state rose 20 cents over the weekend, but the governor said he didn't consider that price gouging. In Georgia, AAA reported the price of regular gas jumped more than 5 cents from Sunday's average of $2.26 to just over $2.31. The average price a week ago was around $2.10. AAA Carolinas said the average price for a gallon in North Carolina was $2.16 up from $2.05 last week. In South Carolina, a gallon was selling for an average of $2.04. That's an increase of 13 cents from last week. Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group/TNS Devyn Handran, 7, gets help with her homework from her mom Tiffany Van Buren at their home in Oakland, Calif. Devyn has autism and is participating in the Kaiser Biobank autism project. Scientists are looking for new ways to prevent and treat autism spectrum disorder (ASD). SHARE Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS Isaiah Trevino, 7, rides his scooter at Watson Park in San Jose, Calif. Isaiah, diagnosed with autism, is participating in the Kaiser Biobank Autism project. Renee Trevino visits the Watson Park playground with her 4-year-old daughter, Ava, Sunday afternoon April 24, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. Ava was diagnosed with autism, as was her brother Isaiah, and both are participating in the Kaiser Biobank Autism project. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS) Autism biobank gathers genetic information of kids, parents By Tracy Seipel, The Mercury News (TNS) SAN JOSE, Calif. Ever since their two children were diagnosed with autism, San Jose mother Renee Trevino and her husband, Michael, have done whatever it takes to help Isaiah, 7, and Ava, 4, function at higher levels. So when Kaiser Permanente researchers asked the family if they would submit a blood or saliva test for a study surrounding the cause and new treatments for autism spectrum disorder, the Trevinos were more than willing to oblige. "If we can do anything to help to understand why our kids are going through this, I am happy to do everything we can," said Renee. The Trevinos are one of 1,200 families helping Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Division of Research build the Autism Family Biobank that the health care giant set up last summer for its Northern California member families with autistic children. Through samples of saliva or blood, Kaiser researchers are collecting the genetic material of each child and his or her biological parents, as well as medical and environmental information for all three members of the family. But to reach their goal of 5,000 families, the researchers need 3,800 more such "trios" to sign up by 2018, when the deadline and a $4.6 million grant runs out. "How could you not want to do this?" asked Kaiser member and Oakland, California, resident Tiffany Van Buren, whose 7-year-old daughter, Devyn, is autistic. "It was so simple!" Autism is a relatively common neurodevelopmental disorder defined by impairments in social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior that occurs in 1 in 68 children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet when it comes to participating in autism studies, many families still balk, saying they don't have time, while others are anxious about their privacy. Even a handful of Trevino's relatives and friends were wary of her getting involved with the study. The New York City-based Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative is funding the project; ultimately, the data will be made available to researchers worldwide, though cleared of any identifying information. Trevino understands why some families might worry about that aspect. "I think that's pretty normal people who want to keep their privacy don't want to have these samples all over the place," said the mother. "And they don't know what's being done with them." The reluctance of some families to engage in such research might baffle outsiders after all, the point of the research is to help their own children with autism. But these bumps in the road aren't new to Lisa Croen, director of the Kaiser Permanente Autism Research Program. Yet they can be frustrating. "Right now, we have a 25 percent refusal rate but that does not mean 75 percent have said yes," Croen said. "About 50 percent are still unknown we have not closed them out. But we would like the numbers to be much higher in terms of people saying yes." Among a plethora of autism studies that have been launched in the U.S., this one is believed to be the largest in the country linked to electronic medical records, said Kaiser Permanente spokeswoman Janet Byron. Key to Kaiser's Autism Family Biobank is that it's made up of only Northern California Kaiser member families, which Croen said offers multiple benefits not only involving their genetic information, but environmental influences that may be unique to the area. "Not just toxins," Croen explained, "but information about their lifestyle, nutrition, chemical exposure, illnesses and so on." And because Kaiser already has the families' permission to review their electronic health records, Croen's team can easily access their medical histories instead of having to obtain permission from individual health plans, a complication other researchers may face. Of Kaiser's 3.9 million members in Northern California which includes the Bay Area counties, Fresno and the Central Valley, as well as Sacramento Valley there are about 21,000 member families who have an autistic child, about 17,000 of whom likely meet the criteria for eligibility: a Kaiser Permanente member of any age with autism, and both their biological parents. Croen said she needs only 5,000 families to ensure the right amount of participants. "A more robust number allows you to subdivide the population being studied into groups that might have different risk factors for a type of autism, or manifestations of autism," said the senior research scientist. The veteran researcher said her 10-member team did not expect to collect the data needed from 5,000 families all at once. "You don't send a letter out to 17,000 families," said Croen. "You could not follow up with all of them." Rather, she said, the team anticipated that the monthly numbers would gradually increase as the team continues to reach out to more families. And while she said they are on track to hit 5,000 families, public reminders never hurt. "It's a challenging job to raise children, especially if you have a special needs kid," said Louis Reichardt, director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, of the painstaking process of attracting participants to clinical study. "Families are undergoing a lot of change and turmoil. School school starts and ends. Some parents don't want to put their children through blood or saliva samples," said Reichardt, a former UC San Francisco professor of cell physiology who directed that school's renowned neuroscience graduate program for 25 years before joining Simons in 2013. Other parents aren't interested, or they may live somewhere else. "There is every reason under the sun" not to participate, he said. Letters are sent to families via postal and email asking them to sign up for the study. The research team then follows up with a phone call or email to find out if they're interested in participating and which sample they would prefer to donate. But Croen said it's not necessary to wait for the initial letter; families can contact the Division of Research's Autism Family Program or visit its website for more information. The parents also are asked to fill out two brief surveys. SHARE Francis Ying/KHN/TNS Pauline Finster, 91, is rarely awake for more than a few minutes at a time. Dementia has left Pauline Finster, 91, unable to speak for the past six months. She is never without her baby doll. By Rachel Bluth, Kaiser Health News (TNS) Dementia took over Pauline Finster's 91-year-old mind long ago, and she may die without having another real conversation with her daughter. After Finster broke her hip in July 2015, Jackie Mantua noticed her mother's speech ebbing until she only said "hi," or that she felt fine. Mantua last heard Finster speak six months ago. Finster's hip surgery led to a series of medical interventions that left her with poor circulation in her legs. Then gangrene set in. Mantua won't look at the dead tissue on her mother's right foot that is now creeping from the toes to heel. She has instructed the staff at the AlfredHouse assisted-living home in Rockville, Maryland, where her mother has been in hospice care since earlier this summer, to keep Finster on Tylenol to hold back the gangrene's discomfort. Is that enough? It's really all she can do for her mother at this point, Mantua said. Hospice's purpose, at least one of them, is to ease a dying patient's pain at the end of life and improve the quality of that life. But what's to be done when a dementia patient in her waning days can't communicate her pain or help identify the cause? Or resists taking medications? All those concerns can be troubling for family caregivers for loved ones with dementia and in hospice care, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias. Families often describe a cancer patient's last months as stressful but meaningful. That isn't the case with dementia patients because the disease changes the patient's personality and causes behavior issues, according to George Demiris, one of the study's authors and a professor of biobehavioral nursing and health systems at the University of Washington's School of Nursing. Caregivers who took part in the study said they worried that their loved ones were in pain, but unable to properly express it and that possibility disturbed them, according to interviews with families taking care of dementia patients in their last stage of life. Multiple participants described feeling frustrated and defeated by patients' cognitive difficulties and changing emotions, the study reported. Some described the patients as "prisoners" inside their bodies. Helping a dementia patient in pain can be challenging for hospice care providers, too. Previous research, cited in the recent study, found patients with dementia were prescribed lower doses of opioids than patients with cancer with similar pain scores. Other research cited found that hospice nurses caring for such patients frequently asked relatives to interpret patients' "pain signals" to help them assess pain. For example, one caregiver knew her mother was in pain when she moved a certain way in her chair. Another recognized his wife was in pain when a home health care aide gave her a bath by observing how she squeezed the aide's hand. Sometimes, patients gasp for air or repeatedly touch the same part of their bodies. Mantua said she watches her mother's face and stays vigilant for winces or grimaces. Her face is still expressive, Mantua said. Still, there are no words, only moans to indicate something is wrong. Recently, Mantua said her mother has been acting "strange." Instead of her usual vacant but happy smile, Finster looked at her daughter with a "horrified" expression. Mantua told the hospice chaplain that it looked like her mother had seen the devil. The cause? "You have no idea because she can't say anything," Mantua said. "I was saying 'What's wrong? What's wrong?' and she's just looking at me like crazy." Finster has had dementia for 10 years. She has spent most of that time in facilities with increasing levels of care, moving from an independent living facility, to assisted living to memory care. Mantua has felt some of the frustration that caregivers of other patients with dementia have experienced. Three or four years ago, when Finster still had a phone in her room, she sometimes called her son Les Mantua's older brother 10 times to leave him the same message that people were coming into her room and stealing her food. She simply forgot that she had called before. Finster's years of cognitive decline have taken a toll on Mantua and her family. "You get to the point you want them to die because it's hard," Mantua said. "It's hard to deal with. It's a very helpless feeling." Now 53, Mantua is a mother of three children between the ages of 27 and 31 and grandmother to twin 5-year-old boys. She said she doesn't have the patience or natural caretaking abilities to tend to her mother full time. The decision to begin hospice care wasn't easy for Mantua or her family. She said it feels like her mother is already gone. There isn't much for Mantua to do when she visits her mother at AlfredHouse. She chatters as Finster dozes, cradling a baby doll that is always with her. Someone at the assisted-living home regularly changes the doll's clothes, which amuses Mantua. For now, she keeps driving an hour once every other week from her home on Maryland's Eastern Shore to Finster's room in Rockville where they wait for the end together. SHARE By Steve Byrns COLLEGE STATION Today's news is flooded with reports on Zika; none of them good until now. Texas A&M AgriLife Research has fielded a Zika team led by two scientists who joined the department of entomology at Texas A&M University on Aug. 1, said Dr. David Ragsdale, department head at College Station. Dr. Zach Adelman and Dr. Kevin Myles were previously at Virginia Tech and now join the ranks of a number of AgriLife Research personnel whose priority has become stopping Zika, he said. "Dr. Adelman and Dr. Myles are longtime collaborators who have joined us here in College Station. Both men have earned world-renowned reputations for their work on viruses. "Dr. Myles is working to understand the basic biology of how these viruses replicate in mosquitoes, while one of Dr. Adelman's projects involves creating mosquitoes that are resistant to viruses such as Zika." The pair's work will take mosquito management where it has never been before, Ragsdale said. "They will address the mosquito and disease relationship in ways not previously considered," he said. "Like all discovery science at the very edges of what we know, the outcomes are uncertain, but the potential for development of technologies that revolutionize mosquito and disease management is very real." Adelman said one of his primary goals is to develop new genetic technologies to help suppress or eliminate Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito populations locally, nationally and beyond. "As vectors of dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and now Zika, it is clear that as long as these mosquitoes are allowed to persist in proximity to humans, the litany of viruses will only continue to grow, and with it the burden on public health," he said. Myles said mosquito-borne diseases continue to cause unacceptable levels of loss in humans and domesticated animals and that globalization is increasingly blurring the traditional boundaries of these diseases. "West Nile virus, first introduced in a 1999 outbreak in New York City, is now prevalent throughout the U.S.," Myles said. "A more recent example is the emergence of Zika virus in Micronesia and the South Pacific with subsequent spread to the Americas. "Pathogens like these are transmitted to humans when the virus is able to overcome the immune defenses of a mosquito vector. Thus, a primary focus of my laboratory is on understanding this process, with the goal of using this information to develop new genetic control strategies and novel vaccines." Intense media attention has made Zika a household word to many Texans. The mosquito-transmitted Zika virus is a serious threat to the health of unborn babies. Women infected by the virus while pregnant are known to have babies with microcephaly, a condition where the fetal brain and head do not fully develop and reach normal size. A. aegypti and A. albopictus, the mosquitoes capable of transmitting Zika, occur commonly in residential areas where they use even small amounts of standing water to reproduce, Ragsdale said. Aedes mosquitoes infected with Zika are hard to detect, so health officials will have to rely on actual human cases to identify hot spots once the virus arrives in native mosquito populations. "We're now seeing media reports of confirmed Zika cases stemming from homegrown mosquitoes in Florida," he said. "There have been a number of cases reported in Texas, but those were related to foreign travel, so confirmation of Zika in native mosquito populations is a concern our scientists are urgently seeking to thwart." Ragsdale noted that as of this writing, there have been no known cases of Zika stemming from native mosquito populations in Texas. "This is an insidious virus because people can have it and never know it," Ragsdale said. He said some travelers to Zika-infested countries are unknowingly coming home infected with the virus. When Aedes mosquitoes bite infected people, the insects acquire the virus. The mosquito then bites another person, transmitting the virus to that previously uninfected person. "As it stands now, the best defense is to keep from getting bitten by mosquitoes both here and abroad, although that's a pretty tall order for most outdoor-loving Texans. "Soon though, it is our hope the energy and knowledge these two researchers bring to our top team of AgriLife Research entomologists will result in scientific breakthroughs in ridding the country of the Zika virus and quite possibly other mosquito-borne diseases as well." For more information, contact Adelman at 979-458-3107, zachadel@tamu.edu or Myles at 979-458-3449, mylesk@tamu.edu. Steve Byrns is the editor and extension specialist for Agricultural Communications at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center San Angelo. SHARE By Staff Report Doug Baum, owner of the Texas Camel Corps will be the featured speaker at the San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society's next meeting, 7 p.m. Oct. 4. Baum, a camel historian and specialist, will present a program on one of the best-kept "secrets" in American history, the U. S. Army's Camel Corps. The Society will meet in the Fellowship Hall of Trinity Lutheran Church, 3536 Lutheran Way. Meeting is free and open to the public. Call 325-942-5741 for more information. SHARE Barger By Staff Report An Ector County grand jury did not indict a San Angelo man accused of fatally punching another man in Odessa. Christopher Anson Barger, 41, was charged with murder in the death of Eugene Hanes, 43, who died from injuries sustained from an altercation with Barger, according to an affidavit. "The evidence in the Christopher Barger case was presented to an Ector County Grand Jury," stated a release from District Attorney Bobby Band. "The Grand Jury did not return any criminal charges against Christopher Barger in relation to the death of Robert Haynes." Barger was released May 9 from the Ector County Detention Center on $25,000 bond. The Ector County Sheriff's Office responded to an assault call at Jaguar's Gold Club, 6824 Cargo Road in Odessa, on March 17, according to an affidavit. Barger had an argument with Hanes, which led to the assault, but the affidavit did not specify why the two men argued. The affidavit said Barger punched Hanes in the face with his fist, causing Hanes "to fall backwards onto the asphalt ground, striking the back of his head." Deputies later found Hanes lying unconscious on the ground next to his car with injuries consistent with an assault, the affidavit stated. Hanes was taken to the Medical Center Hospital where he was sedated and admitted to the ICU, according to the affidavit, which said he suffered trauma to the right side of this head, which included a fractured skull and eye socket, as well as bleeding in his brain. Hanes was put in an induced coma because of the severity of his injuries and died April 20, the document stated. At the request of Ector County, an autopsy was performed by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, which concluded Hanes died "due to complications of severe head trauma, and the cause of death was ruled a homicide" according to the report. After police identified Barger as a suspect, he voluntarily gave police a statement referring to his involvement in the assault, according to the affidavit. SHARE By Staff Report A federal jury convicted Jesse Huerra, 31, of San Angelo on methamphetamine distribution and firearms charges Monday. The jury convicted Huerra on one count each of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine; possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and being a felon in possession of firearms in San Angelo, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Texas. A sentencing day for Huerra has not been set, but prosecutors filed a notice of enhancement because of two previous felony drug offenses. Huerra could face a life sentence without parole. Huerra has been in custody since his arrest on July 13, when a number of defendants most from the San Angelo area were arrested in a joint Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the San Angelo Police Department. Twelve defendants, including the drug trafficking organization's alleged leader, Rudolfo Ledesma Castaneda, Jr., 31, were charged in an indictment with various felony offenses stemming from their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in San Angelo, according to the news release. The U.S. attorney's office stated most of the defendants in the raid have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Castaneda's trial date is set for Nov. 7. Somali-American leaders address the stabbing and shooting incident that happened Saturday at Crossroads Center Mall. Associated Press SHARE By Kyle Potter And Amy Forliti, Associated Press ST. CLOUD, Minn. Leaders of Minnesota's large Somali community acknowledged the prospect of a "long winter" for their people in the wake of the weekend's mall stabbings by a young Somali man, but warned Monday not to quickly accept the terrorism connection. Authorities are treating Saturday's stabbings, which wounded nine people at Crossroads Center Mall, as a possible act of terrorism, in part because an Islamic State-run news agency claimed that the attacker was a "soldier of the Islamic State" who had heeded the group's calls for attacks in countries that are part of a U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition. But it wasn't immediately known whether the extremist group had planned the attack or knew about it beforehand. St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said the attack appeared to be the work of a single individual and there was no sign that the attacker, identified by his father as 20-year-old Dahir Adan, was radicalized or communicated with any terrorist group. President Barack Obama said the stabbings had no apparent connection to weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. "We cannot give ISIS and other terrorist organizations more airtime and propaganda without real facts," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Minnesota chapter. An off-duty police officer stopped the minutes-long attack Saturday night by shooting and killing Adan. Federal officials released no new information on the investigation Monday. Minnesota has the nation's largest Somali population, an estimated 57,000 people. Both Anderson and Gov. Mark Dayton warned against a possible backlash due to the stabbings, especially in St. Cloud, where Somalis in the 65,000-resident city about 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis have spoken about mistreatment in the past. Somali leaders planned an evening news conference to urge unity. "It's going to be tough times. We know it's going to be a long winter for this community," said Haji Yusuf, who is part of UniteCloud, a local group founded to tackle racial and ethnic tension in the city. Last year, St. Cloud school officials met with Somali parents, community elders and students after Somali-American students walked out to protest their treatment. One student had said Somali-Americans were called IS members and had their headscarves pulled off. And a photo posted on social media of a Somali-American student who was using a wheelchair after breaking her leg with a caption that said she was "disabled in ISIS." FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2014, file photo, an election official checks a voter's photo identification at an early voting polling site in Austin, Texas. A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, July 20, 2016, that Texas' strict voter ID law discriminates against minorities and the poor and must quickly be scrubbed of those effects before the November 2016 election. Voters will still need to show identification at the polls under the decision by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to attorneys who challenged the law, but a lower court will now also have to devise a way for Texas to accommodate those who cannot. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) SHARE By Matthew Mcdaniel, matthew.mcdaniel@gosanangelo.com Texas is in violation of an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department regarding voter ID rulings, according to a ruling from U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in Corpus Christi. Ramos issued an order Tuesday instructing Texas officials to amend voter-education language, which the court feels could discourage eligible voters from going to the polls. Under the agreement's terms, voters may use several alternative forms of identification if they do not possess one of the seven forms of ID required by Texas law and "cannot reasonably obtain it." Ramos said Texas ran afoul of the agreement by changing the wording from "cannot reasonably obtain it," to "cannot obtain" and "have not obtained" the ID in the state's voter-education campaign. According to Tom Green County Elections Administrator Vona Hudson, election officials want the maximum eligible number of voters to turn up at the polls, and every effort is being made to make sure people in this county can vote. "We want people to vote," Hudson said. "There are seven main forms of ID, and frankly, that's what most people use, and they will continue to do so But if there is anyone out there that has not been able to obtain one of those seven forms of ID, there is an alternate list of acceptable IDs, and they just have to fill out a form stating they have a reasonable impediment to getting one of the main forms of ID. "We will have these forms available at the polls," Hudson said. "So as long as they have one of the alternate forms of ID, we can have them sign a declaration, and they will be able to vote It just might take them a little longer to get to the voting booth." According to a handout from the Tom Green County Elections Office, the seven forms of identification are: DPS issued Texas driver's license DPS issued Texas election identification certificate DPS issued Texas personal identification card Texas license to carry a handgun U.S. military identification card U.S. citizenship certificate containing the person's photograph U.S. passport If a voter has not been able to obtain one of the forms of acceptable photo identification listed above, and the voter has a reasonable impediment to obtaining such identification, the voter has the right to execute s Reasonable Impediment Declaration and present of the following forms supporting documents: Valid voter registration certificate Certified birth certificate (must be an original) Copy or original current utility bill Copy or original bank statement Copy or original government check Copy or original paycheck Copy of or original government document that displays your name and an address (Original required if it contains a photograph.) Exemptions: Voters with a disability may apply with the county voter registrar for a permanent exemption to showing an acceptable for of photo identification at the polls. Voters with a religious objection to being photographed or voters who cannot present an acceptable form of photo identification due to certain natural disasters may apply for a temporary exemption to showing an acceptable for of photo identification at the polls. Provisional voting: If a voter does not present one of the acceptable forms of identification listed above, which is not expired more than four years, and the voter does not have a reasonable impediment to obtaining one of these forms of identification, or if the voter does have one of the acceptable forms of identification, but did not bring it to the polling place, the voter may cast a provisional ballot at the polls and will have six calendar days after election day to present a valid form of identification in the presence of the county DPS to issue voter id certificates at mobile stations Election identification certificates one form of identification that can be used for voting purposes will be available for free for eligible Texans at mobile stations in Mason, Glasscock, Coke and Concho counties next month, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. EIC mobile stations will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the following days and locations: SHARE I suppose it is never too late to apologize for a grievous injustice, even if the shocking incident perpetrated by one of the world's most revered religious orders at a distinguished institution of higher education was perfectly legal at the time and took place 178 years ago. So that's what the good Jesuits who run Georgetown University in the heart of the nation's capital have agreed to do. In case you're in the dark, in the 19th century, officials at the then-financially strapped school sold 272 Jesuit-owned slaves to raise capital. Upon first learning this history, I was flabbergasted at the very idea of priests and religious teachers owning slaves, let alone selling them. But then again, I'm not Catholic and am largely unfamiliar with the dirty laundry of Christianity's oldest denomination other than the surface religious history they teach non-majors. And I'm sure Protestant clergy in the slave states were not all innocent on this issue either. I had known that other colleges and universities had dipped their toes in the slavery business in the early days of their development, particularly in the construction of their campuses. Brown University, an Ivy League gem, was one of the first to confront this problem and to try to make amends for the use of slave labor in the construction of several campus buildings, conceding that some of the university's benefactors were involved in the slave trade. At the time of Brown's amends-making, I found it sort of silly that those who had nothing to do with the abominable process would wear sack cloth and ashes for those who did. In the last two years, however, we've made something of a return to the civil rights era and have come to the realization that any gesture aimed at alleviating the mistreatment of black Americans by our institutions be they governmental or private should indeed be made with the utmost sincerity. Black Lives Matter organizers and others have reminded us how far we have yet to go in our journey toward the equality promised by our founders. Georgetown's slave sale was directed by two of the school's presidents, both priests. The fact that Georgetown is a religious institution, to me, makes the case stand out from those of other schools that have had to make embarrassing admissions about their past associations with slavery. Among that group are the University of Virginia, founded by slave owner Thomas Jefferson, the universities of North Carolina and South Carolina, the College of William & Mary, Mississippi, and Washington and Lee University. Georgetown's current president has pledged a series of steps devoted to making amends for the school's past actions. The university will engage with slave descendants, offer them admission preferences to the highly selective school, create a memorial to their ancestors, and set up an institute to study slavery, among other steps. Where this all leads, I'm not sure. But by owning up to their violations of human rights, America's elite colleges and universities are taking the correct step, establishing that they understand even events that took place so long ago need to be put straight. Dan Thomasson is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service and a former vice president of Scripps Howard Newspapers. Contact him at thomassondan@aol.com. SHARE GLENOLDEN, Pa. From Erie in the west to Scranton in the east, Pennsylvania is flecked with casualties the stubborn economic sluggishness and relentless globalization have inflicted on industrial communities. But in this middle-class Philadelphia suburb, Tom Danzi knows that the economy is denting even his business repairing damaged cars. His Suburban Collision Specialists once had 27 employees kept busy by drivers stimulating the economy by producing fender benders. Now he has only 17. Many cash-strapped motorists keep driving cars with unrepaired scars. So U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican seeking a second term, recently came here to commiserate and to warn that if his Democratic opponent wins she will make matters worse. Which she probably will if she gets to the Senate. There Katie McGinty, a creature of the public sector who began her government-centric life giving Sen. Al Gore environmental policy tips, probably would be a reliable member of an unleashed, and perhaps unhinged, Democratic majority: As Toomey's seat goes, so, probably, goes the Senate. If he loses, Republicans probably will lose control of the Senate, and that body probably will lose its character: Senate Democrats, who are situational ethicists regarding Senate rules, might further dilute the ability of the minority to require a 60-vote majority for, among many other things, confirmation of Supreme Court justices. Toomey recited for a smattering of supporters here McGinty's policy enthusiasms, which encompass Democratic orthodoxy and have a cumulative price tag, he says, of $980 billion. While Toomey talked, on the sidewalk in front of Danzi's shop a small gaggle of McGinty supporters held signs to explain their prop, which needed an explanation: It was a large the size of an ironing board replica of the "friendship" bracelets children make at summer camps. This was the gaggle's labored way of saying that Toomey is Donald Trump's friend. Not exactly. Toomey supported Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination, then Ted Cruz, and has not yet said he will vote for Trump. But the fiction could be fatal where this election probably will be decided here among moderate voters in the "collar" counties surrounding Philadelphia. Trump probably will carry some Pennsylvania counties with at least 75 percent, so Toomey must sail between the Scylla of endorsing Trump and thereby offending all non-Trumpkins, and the Charybdis of not endorsing and fueling the Trumpkins' constant rage. In June, Toomey had a high single-digit lead. Today he is tied. He says that by Nov. 8 more money will have been spent against him than against any other senator. And for him, some Republican good news is problematic: In Ohio, the weakness of Ted Strickland, the Democratic challenger to Sen. Rob Portman, might cause Democrats to redirect money to McGinty. And some bad Republican news elsewhere is bad for Toomey: Because two Republican incumbent senators Missouri's Roy Blunt and North Carolina's Richard Burr are having more difficult races than anticipated, Toomey faces intensified competition for Republican funds. Toomey surfed into office on the Republican wave of 2010, which was largely a result of a recoil against the Affordable Care Act. But even in that favorable environment he won by only 51-49 percent. He could, however, wind up owing two Senate terms to the ACA, which is unraveling in Pennsylvania, too: The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that by next year, only 28 counties will have three or more health insurers selling through the ACA exchanges, down from all 67 counties this year. Toomey grew up in a union household in Rhode Island, earned a Harvard scholarship, did well on Wall Street, then joined his brothers in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to start what became a successful chain of restaurants. He successfully ran for Congress in 1998, and in 2004 did something eccentric: He kept his promise not to run for a fourth term. After losing a Senate contest that year, he became head of the free-market advocacy group Club for Growth. Today he is among the most important Republicans regarding the most important issue, tax reform, relating to the nation's most important challenge, the restoration of robust economic growth. There is no really happy ending for Republicans in 2016. If Trump wins, the party's rupture with its past is complete and irreparable. If he loses narrowly, there will be an orgy of intramural recriminations, and the GOP's 2016-2019 will be like Spain's 1936-1939, an exceptionally uncivil civil war. If Trump loses emphatically, Democrats probably take the Senate. Unless Toomey wins this year's most consequential Senate race. George Will is a Washington Post columnist. Contact him at georgewill@washpost.com. Current Affairs 2022 Welcome to the Adda247 Current Affairs website which provides you with the best compilation of the Daily Current Affairs 2022 taking place across the globe: National, International, Sports, Science and Technology, Banking, Economy, Agreement, Appointments, Ranks and Report and General Studies. Adda247 has been a fantastic buddy in assisting you in reaching your full potential in terms of knowledge and learning by providing you with the top academic information. Adda247 is one of the most popular Current Affairs website in India for UPSC, SSC, Banking / IBPS, IAS, NTSE, Railways, NDA, CDS, Judiciary, UPPSC, RPSC, BPSC, MPSC, MPPSC, and other state civil services / government job recruitment examinations in India. Current Affairs is a major part of the exams like UPSC, UPSC CSE, IBPS, SBI, RBI, SSC, Railway, UPPSC, RPSC, BPSC, MPPSC, TNPSC, UKPSC, APPSC, MPSC etc. Many Govt job aspirants have benefited from our Current Affairs website now its your turn. This is the best current affairs site to find recent updates on Daily Current Affairs not only for competitive exams but also for interviews and updated with the latest information happening in nation and around the world. Current Affairs plays a vital role in all government examinations. To secure your selection with a vast margin, one needs to prepare this section in a holistic way. The current affairs section tests your awareness and how inquisitive you are. A basic understanding of current events will not only help you to secure a job, but will also help you grow in your job later. Check out the link below or visit www.currentaffairs.adda247.com to get daily current affairs updates. This post will provide you a general overview of how to prepare current affairs and several approaches you can utilise in your upcoming banking exams. The three main bank exams:- IBPS, RBI, and SBI are administered nationally each year and thousands of candidates sign up for them, raising the stakes in the race to the top. A significant portion of these bank exams is the GA Section, which contains the majority of the current events questions. This section is quite challenging because there is no set syllabus for it. This segment requires careful planning and continuous preparation on the part of the candidates. To get ready for the current affairs section, you can use the advice below: Candidates must first look at the previous years questions to understand what is asked in the exams. The previous years questions will guide what to read in newspapers. GA section requires consistency; one must read newspapers daily. Make crisp notes of important news. Revise the notes on regular intervals. Another method is to follow news channels or current affairs YouTube channels to remain updated with current affairs. If you do not have time to read daily current affairs, you can follow monthly magazines provided by various institutes. Such magazines are available online as well as in PDF form. It is very important to test your preparation on regular basis. Solve quizzes according to the exams you are targeting. NOTE : READ- NOTE- REVISE-TEST to ace current affairs. Why Adda247? Adda247 provides you with every kind of current affairs sorted under various sections like national, international, sports and awards to ease your preparations. The current affairs are divided into various sections and some of the important topics are depicted below: National Current Affairs: Every single essential piece of news on whats going on in the country is included in this section International Current Affairs: As for the banking exam, a candidate must prepare well for both national as well as international news going on since last year. Economic related issues: This section of economic current affairs will include every little news about the economy of India and the economic corridor with other countries. You can also find other relevant topics related to daily current affairs like product rate, economic growth, new economic frisking zone, and schemes indulged in the growth of the economy. Banking Current Affairs: All the recent changes in rules, policies of banking sectors will be discussed in this section. As you are preparing for the banking exam, you must be aware of stock market, and other banking activities for economic growth. Sports Current Affairs: This section covers all the tournaments and sports events held recently in the nation or outside the nation. Current Affairs Awards & Achievements : Current affairs on both national and international awards are included in this section for your preparation. Appointments Current Affairs : This section covers all the new appointments done in various departments of the government of India and other countries of the world. At Adda247, we provide detailed information with designation and name for your convenience to prepare for your bank exam. You can find the most relevant and updated current affairs for your bank preparation with us. Just join us and we will help you out with your preparation in the best possible way we can. Check SSC CGL 2022 Notification Current Affairs 2022: FAQs Q.1 What are the latest types of question asked in recent exams? Ans. In RBI assistant mains it was asked when Ramsar convention was signed. This is a static question in context of current affairs as India got new ramsar sites. Adda covers the static part with its current affairs. In SBI PO mains 2021, TIME Magazines Person Of The Year For 2021 was asked it was covered in current affairs. Q2. How to cover the static portion in context of current affairs? Ans. Candidate should look into political, historical background of the news. These aspects need to be prepared. Static portion is covered along with current affairs. Q.3 What aspects to cover while reading government schemes? Ans. For central level schemes: Amount allotted, ministry, year of launch, main characteristics are to be learnt. For state level schemes purpose and state is to be read. Q.4. What are the various sources of Adda247 current affairs? Ans. Adda 247 current affair sources are: PIB, NewsOnAir, RBI website, Various newspapers like Hindu, Indian express, financial express and many more. Q.5 Does Adda247 provide Current Affairs PDF? Ans. Yes, Adda247 provides weekly and month-wise current affairs pdfs in both Hindi and English languages. : , FIR Maryland's attorney general believes Gov. Larry Hogan may have exceeded his authority when he issued an executive order this month requiring all public schools to start after Labor Day and finish by June 15.Several lawmakers had asked the attorney general's office for a ruling after Hogan made his announcement on the Ocean City boardwalk last month. The governor declared that there would be a longer summer break, starting next year, for most school children in the state.The letter of advice from the attorney general's office was made public Friday evening."I cannot say unequivocally that the Labor Day executive order exceeds the governor's authority, but I believe it is likely that a reviewing court, if presented with the issue, would conclude that it does," wrote Adam D. Snyder, a lawyer in the office of Attorney General Brian E. Frosh.Local school boards and superintendents had criticized the governor's order, saying they would likely have to take away most of spring break to squeeze in 180 school days while complying with his constraints.The governor's office immediately dismissed the attorney general's advice as political."Even by lawyer standards, taking 24 pages to reach a 'I don't know,' is unprecedented," Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said in a statement. Snyder's "unsolicited prediction of a hypothetical court case seems more politically influenced than an opinion based on legal precedence."Hogan had argued that Maryland businesses, especially in Ocean City, would profit from the later start date, and that it would give families more time together.In writing the letter of advice, Snyder said that while the governor has broad power to direct the actions of the executive branch of state government, he does not have the power to direct the state and local school boards, which are independent bodies.State education laws are generally passed by the General Assembly or proposed by the Maryland State Board of Education as policy and later approved by the legislature.In addition, Snyder wrote that executive orders should not directly regulate the public, but that in this case the order affects 800,000 students and their parents."Delaying the start of the school year until after Labor Day thus seems more like making law than executing it," Snyder wrote.The Maryland Association of Boards of Education convened a group of attorneys and school board members Monday to look at the legal arguments that supported the right of local school boards to decide their school calendars.They forwarded those arguments to the attorney general's office, said John Woolums, a spokesman for the association.The attorney general's advice is likely to throw into disarray the process for deciding next year's school calendar. That planning is taking place this month and next in most of the state's 24 school districts. In addition, the letter opens up the possibility of a court challenge by a local school board or parent."Clearly this opinion will inform the work of local school systems and school boards, which may want to take a wait-and-see approach to the legality of the order and what the legislature may do," Woolums said.In Baltimore County, the school system is putting together two calendars -- one that starts school before Labor Day, and one after. Woolums said other school systems are taking similar action.The two legislators who sought the advice said they would review it carefully. Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Democrat from Prince George's County, suggested he would urge school systems to plan as though the executive order didn't exist."I want to suggest to the 24 superintendents to ignore the executive order," Pinsky said. He said if 24 jurisdictions ignore the order, the governor would then have to decide whether to sue them all.Del. Anne Kaiser, a Montgomery County Democrat, said that "my understanding is that the law is not on the governor's side, but it is not certain."Asked whether she thought legislation would be introduced to reverse the executive order or whether legal action would be considered, she said, "I think all the options remain on the table." She said legislators should step back and take a look at everything in the letter.State lawmakers have voted down proposals to mandate starting school after the September holiday at least twice, saying that the decision was better left to local governments. Kaiser said educators have always made the argument that it was not good for schoolchildren.The letter "makes clear that the executive order is in the gray zone at best, and likely unlawful," said Sen. Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat. "But more importantly, it's proof that the governor is putting political gain over good policy and legal execution of the laws."Mayer, the governor's spokesman, said the letter raised issues of propriety. He said House Speaker Michael E. Busch and other lawmakers have engaged in "partisan lobbying" of the attorney general's office."We hope it isn't having undue influence on the ability to render impartial legal analysis," Mayer said. "The attorney general's office has a lot of political opinions and we agree with almost none of them, including this halfhearted one." Colorado could have become the first U.S. state to make universal single-payer health care a reality. But it won't.At 10 p.m. ET, almost 80 percent of residents voted against the measure, with 54 percent of precincts reporting.It's a disappointment for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who made single-payer a focal point of his presidential run and campaigned for the Colorado measure.A poll earlier this year found that a majority of residents supported the measure, particularly millennials.But as the opposition raised more than three times in funding, the initiative's chances faded.If passed, it would have created a publicly run health system in which all residents are provided care without having to pay premiums. To fund the effort, the state would have added 10 percent to its income tax, with employers shouldering more of the burden than employees. That would have provided approximately $25 billion a year to run the system, which would have been called ColoradoCares.Residents who like their current insurance could have kept it, but they would have still had to pay the additional taxes.The measure had the support of many liberals but faced opposition from high-profile progressive politicians and organizations like Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, the Colorado Hospital Association and NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado.Their opposition was mostly about the money.Kelly Brough, chair of opposition group Coloradans for Coloradans, praised residents for "voting overwhelmingly against a measure that was clearly risky, untested and fiscally irresponsible, she said in a statement on Tuesday.Last month, a report by the independent Colorado Health Institute concluded that the system would break nearly even in its first year but would eventually slide into financial chaos. By 2027, it would be running about $8 billion short.Tax revenue simply cannot keep pace with the health-care industry, said Katherine Mulready, vice president of legislative policy for the Colorado Hospital Association.There are several other sticking points for the opposition.For one, they said the measure offered a dangerous lack of oversight for a multibillion dollar system.It would have been run by a 21-member executive board of members elected by plan beneficiaries who wouldnt necessarily have had a background in health care. The board also wouldnt have been considered a state entity, so it wouldn't have had to report to any state authority, such as the governor or legislature. (The state would, however, have needed a federal waiver to get ColoradoCares off the ground.)Others worried the effort may have eventually been abandoned, as it was in Sanders' home state of Vermont. The state's latest attempt to institute a single-payer system ended abruptly after more than three years of work had been put into it. The reason? Money. It was going to cost significantly more than originally expected and result in large tax increases.The amendment passing but ultimately not being enacted is a proposition too risky, uncertain and unaffordable, wrote the Colorado Hospital Association on their website. If that did happen, though, the funds would have been returned to taxpayers and health care would have returned to status quo.Despite the strong opposition, there were Coloradoans who believed that the state would have been the perfect incubator for how a single-payer system could work in the United States.State Sen. Irene Aguilar, a practicing physician, was among the most vocal supporters of the measure.We know that 20 percent of our population accounts for 80 percent of our total health-care costs, said Aguilar. This would provide enhanced funding for [providers] willing to focus on that 20 percent by improving the overall health of our sickest populations.Still, critics say the conversation on how to improve Americans' access to health care is one worth having.We support the ACA [Affordable Care Act] and helped push for Medicaid expansion. Were deeply invested in people receiving the right care at the right time and the right place. We just dont think this amendment is the right one answer to that, said Mulready, of the Colorado Hospital Association. It really does send a message. The industry should take that feedback for what its worth and deliver better patient-centered care. The makers of prescription painkillers have adopted a 50-state strategy that includes hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids, the drugs at the heart of a crisis that has cost 165,000 Americans their lives and pushed countless more to crippling addiction.The drugmakers vow theyre combating the addiction epidemic, but The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that they often employ a statehouse playbook of delay and defend that includes funding advocacy groups that use the veneer of independence to fight limits on the drugs, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and fentanyl, the narcotic linked to Princes death.The mother of Cameron Weiss was no match for the industrys high-powered lobbyists when she plunged into the corridors of New Mexicos Legislature, crusading for a measure she fervently believed would have saved her sons life.It was a heroin overdose that eventually killed Cameron, not long before he would have turned 19. But his slippery descent to death started a few years earlier, when a hospital sent him home with a bottle of Percocet after he broke his collarbone in wrestling practice.Jennifer Weiss-Burke pushed for a bill limiting initial prescriptions of opioid painkillers for acute pain to seven days. The bill exempted people with chronic pain, but opponents still fought back, with lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry quietly mobilizing in increased numbers to quash the measure.They didnt speak up in legislative hearings. They were going individually talking to senators and representatives one-on-one, Weiss-Burke said.Unknowingly, she had taken on a political powerhouse that spent more than $880 million nationwide on lobbying and campaign contributions from 2006 through 2015 more than 200 times what those advocating for stricter policies spent and more than eight times what the formidable gun lobby recorded for similar activities during that same period. In the wake of an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision striking down part of that state's workers' compensation law, Texas is now the only state that lets private companies opt out of a state-run system and draw up their own plans to compensate injured workers.Before the ruling, Oklahoma had been the only other state offering an opt out provision.That leaves some Texas attorneys and labor unions questioning whether the states nonsubscriber option for businesses will survive, but a spokesman for the Texas Department of Insurance said changes are unlikely because there are "significant differences" between the Oklahoma and Texas law.Still, Richard Levy, secretary-treasurer of the Teas AFL-CIO, called the Oklahoma ruling significant for Texas and said the group is considering if a similar argument could be used to strike down the Texas opt-out provision.I would imagine that a lot of people in this area are looking at their Texas Constitutions right now, Levy said. Certainly, we expect this to be an issue in the upcoming legislative session.Major companies like Wal-Mart, Lowes and Costco have opted out of the Texas system with the help of attorney Bill Minick, president of the Dallas-based consulting firm PartnerSource. He helped launch the campaign to change the way companies take care of injured workers by establishing their own plans for covering medical costs. The private plans have been criticized for offering lower benefits and giving the companies inordinate control over health care decisions.In 2014, 80 percent of Texas 7.7 million private employees were covered by the state's workers compensation insurance, according to the most updated numbers from the Texas Department of Insurance. That left more than 1.4 million Texans covered in non-subscriber alternatives plans and 470,000 employees, or five percent, without any form of workers' compensation coverage.I would imagine that a lot of people in this area are looking at their Texas Constitutions right now. Richard Levy, Texas AFL-CIO secretary-treasurerMinick said he isnt worried about the Oklahoma ruling affecting Texas because Oklahomas constitution is vastly different and the courts decision revolved around a special law provision unique to Oklahoma.The Texas Constitution does not prohibit business competition the way that the Oklahoma Constitution appears to, he said. To my knowledge, that statute and the manner in which the Oklahoma Supreme Court applies it is entirely unique to Oklahoma.PartnerSource does not have plans to push Texas lawmakers for new legislation in the upcoming session, but Minick said the group is continuously improving injury benefit programs in the state.The Texas nonsubscriber option has now been going strong for 27 years and successfully resolved over 1 million injury claims, Minick said. So theres a lot of data that demonstrates better outcomes for injured workers, as well as cost savings for employers.Minick doesnt think other states will shy away from trying to implement opt-out programs.We do believe that other state interests and alternatives will increase, he said. Most everybody wants to see injured workers receive better benefits, improve return to work, reduce claim disputes and reduce insurance premiums. A federal prosecutor told jurors Monday that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about the September 2013 lane closures at the George Washington Bridge while they were underway, and suggested Christie and others not charged in the case could have done more to stop the scheme.Defense attorneys piled on, signaling that the six-week trial of Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a former top Christie appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will likely be an ugly affair for the governor and his administration.Kelly's lawyer showed jurors a PowerPoint graphic of Christie's "inner circle," which he said wanted to protect the governor _ and his presidential ambitions _ at all costs.One of those people, Christie's former press secretary, Michael Drewniak, spoke of wanting to beat a newspaper columnist with a "lead pipe" to "put everyone on notice," according to Kelly's lawyer.Central to the defendants' arguments was that Christie was far closer to David Wildstein, a former top Port Authority official who pleaded guilty to conspiracy last year, than he has acknowledged."When David Wildstein spoke, Gov. Christie's voice came out," Michael Baldassare, Baroni's lead attorney, told jurors in his opening statement on the trial's first day. "Everybody knew it," he said, adding that evidence would show that Wildstein "looks like a ventriloquist's doll, sitting on Christopher J. Christie's lap."Michael Critchley Sr., Kelly's lead attorney, said Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo "were both involved" in the alleged cover-up, perpetuated in part through statements to the news media that the lane closures were part of a traffic study. "They were both talking to each other, talking what to do and how to do it."A Cuomo spokesman said "the governor did not have any role _ direct or indirect _ in any press statements regarding the purported traffic study." Christie has repeatedly denied involvement.The revelation potentially most damning to Christie on Monday was that prosecutors believe he was told about the scheme to cause gridlock in Fort Lee, Bergen County, during a Sept. 11 memorial event in Manhattan, on the third day of the lane closures.The indictment alleges that Kelly worked with Baroni, Wildstein and "others" to punish the town's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, because he refused to endorse the Republican governor for reelection."The evidence will show that Baroni and Wildstein were so committed to their plan ... that during those precious few minutes they had alone with the governor, they bragged about the fact that there were traffic problems in Fort Lee and that Mayor Sokolich was not getting his calls returned," Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna told the jury of seven women and five men.Christie has said he doesn't recall Wildstein telling him about the lane closures.Khanna's opening statement continued: "The evidence in this case may show that others could have, should have, perhaps knew certain aspects of what was going on." But Khanna told jurors that they should consider only the conduct of Baroni, then the deputy executive director of the Port Authority, and Kelly.Kelly and Baroni are charged with misusing Port Authority resources, wire fraud, and depriving the residents of Fort Lee of the constitutional right to localized travel. The Port Authority owns and operates the bridge.Their attorneys appeared to be taking a two-pronged legal strategy: diminishing their own influence as political actors who could actually execute the scheme alleged by prosecutors, and presenting Wildstein as a maniacal political operative who was uniquely capable of carrying out the task.Kelly was a "briefer" and "scheduler," who handled logistics such as planning who would attend Christie's town-hall meetings and breakfast at the governor's mansion, Critchley said.She wasn't responsible for policy, he said, and wasn't making key decisions in Trenton or at the Port Authority.When Kelly joined the Christie administration, she became acquainted with Wildstein, whom she knew to be a powerful figure and personal friend of Christie's "going back 30 years," Critchley said.Kelly knew that Wildstein had been friends with Christie's chief strategist, Mike DuHaime, and campaign manager, Bill Stepien, for 10 years."She knew this guy was a powerful person," Critchley told the jury. "What she didn't know from hindsight: that this powerful person was crazy."Similarly, though Baroni was the highest-ranking New Jersey official at the Port Authority, his lawyer told jurors that evidence will show his client was considered "weak."Wildstein, by contrast, saw himself as Christie's enforcer and told everyone at the Port Authority that he was "Chris Christie's Rottweiler," Critchley said.Christie had a different nickname for Wildstein, Baldassare said: "The governor used to joke that David Wildstein was his 'Mr. Wolf' from the movie 'Pulp Fiction,'" he said, referring to a smooth, mobster-like figure who helps remove evidence from a particularly bloody crime scene.U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman walked out of the courtroom after Baldassare's comment.In fact, Baldassare said, Christie sent Baroni to the Port Authority in 2010 only because the governor didn't think the "Republican-lite" state senator would rubber-stamp his agenda.Baroni didn't thrive in his new role _ at least not in the one Christie wanted him to play, Baldassare said.When Baroni wouldn't fire Port Authority executives Christie didn't like, the governor summoned him and Wildstein to Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton, Baldassare said.Christie "screamed at" Baroni, who was "forced to sit there" and watch Wildstein and the governor decide "which high-ranking officials to fire."Itching to prove himself to the governor and perhaps play a major role in his expected presidential campaign _ such as New Hampshire state director _ Wildstein went to extraordinary lengths to try to win endorsements for Christie's 2013 re-election campaign, defense attorneys said.For all the lawyers' attempts to discredit Wildstein, there remains the question of why Kelly sent her now-infamous Aug. 13, 2013, email to him, in which she called for "some traffic problems in Fort Lee."Critchley said Wildstein told Kelly about a "preapproved" test to try to improve traffic flow and complained that the only reason Fort Lee even had three approach lanes to the bridge was a corrupt political deal struck by Democrats some 40 years ago.Kelly's "traffic problems" message was simply a "casual exchange," he said, based upon her previous discussions with Wildstein.Baldassare said Baroni didn't return Sokolich's messages seeking help during the gridlock because his client was told "that the study was important to Trenton" _ meaning Christie _ "and if the mayor was called back, it would mess up the results."When Baroni heard about a public safety concern, though, he did inquire and was told "it had been handled," his lawyer said.Expected to testify Tuesday are Sokolich; Pat Foye, executive director of the Port Authority; and Fort Lee's chief of police. Few functions of government are as consistently underfunded as providing legal defense for the poor. Although the problem remains serious, there are indications that, at least in some places, it's starting to get addressed.Missouri's top public defender drew attention to this issue last month when he attempted to assign a case to Gov. Jay Nixon to lighten his overwhelming workload due to the state's failure to fully fund his office."Given the extraordinary circumstances that compel me to entertain any and all avenues for relief," said Michael Barrett, "it strikes me that I should begin with the one attorney in the state who not only created this problem, but is in a unique position to address it."That was a creative cry for help with a problem that exists all over the country.Under pressure from lawsuits and the Obama administration, some states are now seeking ways to improve and invest more in public defense. It's a natural extension of the largely bipartisan push to rethink criminal justice policies and the expenses associated with mass incarceration.It's an issue that's long been neglected.Several states and local jurisdictions are being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups over their failure to offer adequate legal defense for the poor. Among those currently facing lawsuits are California, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana and Washington state.The U.S. Supreme Court made clear that the right to an attorney is constitutionally mandated in its 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. But public defense has remained chronically underfunded. In many states, attorneys are handling felony caseloads four or five times greater than the levels recommended by the American Bar Association.As a result, there's no shortage of examples of people receiving inadequate counsel. Some are sentenced to long prison stays after only a single pre-trial meeting with an attorney. Many are sitting in jail while they slowly move up waiting lists to get an attorney."The promise of competent counsel with sufficient time and resources to devote to a defendant's case has never been truly fulfilled," said Barry Pollack, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "Underfunding of public defenders and public defense in this country has been a chronic problem really since the inception of the Gideon v. Wainwright decision and the passage of the Criminal Justice Act in the Kennedy administration."Spending money on the criminally accused has never been a top priority for legislators. What was always a persistent problem has grown more intense since the passage of laws in the 1980s and 1990s designed to crack down on crime. Those led to many more arrests -- and more work for understaffed defense offices."Because of the massive number of cases in the system, it's hard to come up with the amount of money that's needed," said David Carroll, executive director of the Sixth Amendment Center.The situation has grown so dire in many places that it's now getting attention from the federal Justice Department. The department is devoting time and sometimes funding to address the issue, filing briefs in lawsuits against states and providing grants to states and localities.In light of a legal challenge in Idaho, the state passed legislation this year meant to improve legal services for the poor by setting and enforcing better standards, and giving counties $5.4 million to abide by the new law.New York also settled a lawsuit that spurred the state to provide additional funding for indigent defense two years ago. Since then, the legislature passed a bill that would provide funding for public defenders in all counties, with the state picking up the full tab by 2023.Gov. Andrew Cuomo, however, has yet to sign the bill or signal whether he intends to.In Utah, legislation spurred lawsuits rather than the other way around.After studying the issue for several years, Utah state Rep. Todd Weiler said he found the state of public defense "shocking to say the least." He sponsored a bill, signed into law in March, that created an Indigent Defense Commission in his state. It will set standards for county criminal defense systems to meet and provide money from a trust fund to help them along the way. Similar bills are in the works in Indiana and Mississippi.Utah, like Idaho, previously provided no money for public defense, leaving it up to counties.But not long after the passage of Utah's new law, the ACLU sued the state over the inadequacy of the system. The new law wasn't enough to erase doubts about its efficacy."For the first time in 40 years, we're trying to make a worthy attempt to tackle this issue, and now we've got kind of sidetracked with the ACLU," Weiler told thewhen the lawsuit was filed. "It would be nice if they actually gave the commission a chance to get to work."Indigent defense may be getting heightened attention. But the piecemeal nature of this issue -- with the feds, states, local governments and outside interest groups holding myriad debates about how to increase funding and who should be responsible for it -- means that the longstanding problem is not going to be solved in any kind of a hurry."It's not a coincidence that there have been many of these lawsuits because the problem exists in many places," said Ezekiel Edwards, director of the ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project. "What you've seen generally across the country is a rise in caseloads and a decline in staff." On Monday, in the morning, at Government House, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey hosted an Investiture Ceremony for residents of Queensland, recipients of Australian honours and awards announced on Australian Day 2016 and Queens Birthday 2016. In the evening, at the Concert Hall, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey attended the Queensland Ballet 2017 Season Launch. Description GIS - 20 September, 2016: The first edition of the ICT Innovative Business Idea Competition w as launched yesterday during a press conference by the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Etienne Sinatambou, at Sicom Tower, in Ebene. The competition is in line with Governments vision in establishing a Techno-entrepreneurship culture so as to build an Innovative ICT start-up Nation in Mauritius. The theme retained is The citizen at the centre of progress. The winning team will be rewarded with a prize of Rs 200 000, while the second runner up will receive Rs 100 000. The National Computer Board along with the Ministry of Technology Communication and Innovation and the State Bank of Mauritius are the joint organisers. The competition aims at attracting the innovative minds of the Mauritius new generation by challenging their creativity and capacity in creating a new type of successful Technopreneurs that takes charge of their own destinies to become their own boss and create employment opportunities for the good of the community. The team placed third will be presented a prize of Rs 50 000, while a Merit prize (Rs 50 000) and a Jury prize (Rs 50 000) will also be awarded. ICT Innovative Business Idea Competition The ICT Innovative Business Idea Competition is open to Tertiary Students, Undergraduates, Graduates, Postgraduates, Researchers; Start-ups, IT and ITES professionals. Participants will be requested to work within a team consisting of a minimum of two and a maximum of four members. The registration form is available at http://technopreneur.ncb.mu The closing date for submission of forms and video pitch is 17 October 2016. The objectives of The ICT Innovative Business Idea Competition are: To encourage the development of Innovative and creative start-ups in Mauritius. To provide exposure and knowledge of key competencies required in becoming successful Technopreneurs. To encourage Tertiary Students, Graduates, Postgraduates, Researchers, IT and ITES professionals from diverse backgrounds, team up, share their business ideas and leverage on technology and business competencies to bring the next big idea in ICT for Mauritius. To identify commercially viable ideas for development into Technopreneurs. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers announced Sept. 16 that the initial build-out of the states broadband project, KentuckyWired , would take place soon in the eastern part of the state.This was welcome news to those who viewed the lack of broadband in the state as an inhibitor to businesses starting in or migrating to the area. Kentucky has traditionally lagged on broadband availability with more than a third of rural residents lacking access to fixed advanced telecommunications.Connecting companies and Kentuckians with high-speed, high-capacity Internet will lead to new opportunities and business growth, Bevin said in a statement . This will be a tremendous tool in growing our local economies and developing our workforce. Our administration is fully committed to the KentuckyWired project, and we are excited at the possibilities before us as a result of its completion.The network will consist of more than 3,000 miles of fiber-optic cable and more than 1,000 government and post-secondary education sites that will be connectivity points in communities for local Internet service providers to tap into for last-mile service to customers.Last weeks joint announcement quelled suspicions that the initiative was being scaled back to solely serve the eastern, rural region of the state.The state-owned initiative was originally a composition of projects after several agencies requested funding for high-speed, high-capacity fiber networks. Then-Gov. Steve Beshear announced the initiative in December 2014, calling for connectivity in the modern age. Bevin plans to continue with the rollout.Recently, the state authority overseeing the project entered into an agreement with Cincinnati Bell Telephone System (CBTS) and East Kentucky Network (EKN) to partner on broadband network construction. CBTS will install 166 miles of fiber-optic cable in the north/central region, while EKN will position 305 miles of fiber in the more rural east area.The system is expected to be completed between March and June of 2019. Survey Says IT Leadership Celebrated In an awards ceremony at the conference Sunday evening, Center for Digital Government Executive Director Todd Sander announced the results of the 2016 Digital States Survey. The following states were recognized with Best Practice awards in specific categories: Adaptive Leadership Wisconsin Citizen Engagement Utah Enterprise Information and Communications Technology Georgia Finance and Administration Indiana Health and Human Services Virginia Public Safety Missouri Transportation Utah Most Improved Florida Lets Talk Priorities Ron Baldwin of the Galaxy Montana using the force to battle the empire of rising costs and budget #NASCIO16 pic.twitter.com/6CPQiK9BLa Joshua Verville (@joshuaverville) September 19, 2016 ORLANDO, Fla. There was no shortage of attendees at the 2016 National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) Annual Conference, where more than 600 state technology leaders and private-sector partners are gathering from Sept. 18-21 to network and share strategies and solutions about leadership, agile development, procurement and a host of IT-related topics.Keynote speaker Robyn Benincasa took her experience as a world champion adventure racer and applied them to the life of a CIO. She recalled her diagnosis of osteoarthritis in both her hips back in 2008, and her doctor telling her that she would never run again. But after her first hip replacement surgery (shes now had four), she embarked on training for a new adventure sport endurance kayaking. And shes been going strong ever since. Its not about the setback, she said. Its about the comeback.And the same can be said about IT leaders in the public sector. Weve got to do what it takes to win, she said, adding that maintaining this approach works in the long run. Also important is for everyone on the team to suffer equally, which means everyones out there not just with each other, but for each other. Its about the culture that you create around you each day as a leader, Benincasa said. By getting together here at NASCIO, youre going exponentially faster.Also on Sept. 19, NASCIO released its 2016 State CIO Survey , published jointly with Grant Thornton and CompTIA, which found that as data center consolidation progresses and outsourcing of IT applications and services expands, state CIOs are becoming brokers of technology services rather than providers of technology.In fact, two-thirds of states now outsource at least some IT infrastructure operations according to the survey, called, which also found that four out of five states currently outsource at least some IT applications and services but almost one in five CIOs expect that some currently outsourced operations are likely to be brought back in-house.The survey also focused on agile and incremental software delivery. What weve seen over the last year, said Graeme Finley, managing director at Grant Thornton, is a more formal structure, a much greater degree of formalized pilots, and a more formal effort to adopt [agile methodology] at the state level.More specifically, widespread use of agile development has increased to 15 percent of respondents as compared to just 9 percent in 2015, according to the survey. According to an audience poll at the conference, however, 89 percent answered yes when it comes to interest in agile/incremental development. People are making up their minds on agile, Finley said.In Arizona, one of the biggest places that agile has really taken hold is in the Legislature, said CIO Morgan Reed. [But] Im not going to let my mainframe guys use agile for devops. Those mistakes can end up on the front page.In Maryland, CIO David Garcia said that especially when talking agile, We in Maryland need to get out of our nine-month to 12-month procurement process. Technology is changing too fast.Also of note from the survey, Finley said, is an interesting split with reporting responsibilities. Twice as many CDOs report to the CIO versus anybody else in the organization, he said.CIOs today have similar priorities, and a few took to the NASCIO stage to discuss some of the most prevalent: cybersecurity, cloud, business intelligence and data analytics, legacy modernization, and budget and cost control.In Virginia, Chief Information Security Officer Michael Watson talked about the need to fill the gap that exists between cyber-risk and technology, mentioning a few incidents pacemakers, defibrillators and other medical devices manufactured by St. Jude Medical being prone to cyberattack and the well-known Office of Personnel Management data breach in 2015."We need to understand that were putting these services out there and we need to put safeguards in place," he said, "and they need to be part of our budget. When we provide any type of tech service, we need to build security into the service and the cost of the service."As for cloud, Texas CIO Todd Kimbriel noted that the technology is here. "It's not going anywhere," he said, but also pointed out that despite many people talking about and utilizing cloud computing, they aren't necessarily referencing it correctly.So what is cloud? Its delivery not technology. Its operational expense not capital. Ultimately, he said, "people lump all aspects of cloud into the cloud. They say, I need cloud!' No, you need cloud services."Indiana CIO Dewand Neely talked business intelligence and data analytics, and advised his fellow CIOs to pick a data-driven project that has strong support from the top. In his state, infant mortality, opioid abuse/overdose and recidivism have all been key issues that had buy-in from various stakeholders, helping to ensure project success.Once achieving that support and buy-in, however, Neely noted that the collaboration isn't over. "Dont do all this and then go off on your own completely and take all the credit," he said. "Make sure everyone plays part in the process."As for legacy modernization, Mahesh Nattanmai, executive deputy CIO at the New York State Office of Information Technology Services, said he pulled together a team that included a cross section of business and technology people with a goal of developing an IT strategy and roadmap."We had to come up with something bold that would span administrations," he said. "Whats been the key to our success was to focus on the basics of people, process and technology. Get the right leadership team, implement some IT processes to [make sense of] the madness."With the leadership of CIO Maggie Miller and New York's IT team, Nattanmai said the state has closed 28 data centers, switched over to VoIP, refaced all websites and is in the process of consolidating all of the state's call centers.And when it comes to budget and cost control, Montana CIO Ron Baldwin summoned his inner Jedi to impart financial wisdom upon his peers. Website is under maintenance We are doing some updates on our site, and we need to be offline for a while. We will be back with you shortly! Meanwhile, follow us on Social. A familiar downtown spot received a facelift recently and a celebration of the business occupying the storefront for years is set to take place during the Farmington Downtown Development Association Fall Festival this weekend. Luann Honerkamp is the founding executive director with Visions of Hope, a non-profit vocational program for people with autism. The groups retail venture, Dress 2 Impress, is located at 117 E. Columbia St. the location was home to Dicus Drugs for a number of years. The building is owned by Chip and Debbie Peterson. The couple said one of the things that drew them to purchase the location eight years ago was a personal connection. My first job was in there at Dicus Drugs, Debbie said. Honerkamp said because of the connections so many have to the location, a Dicus Remembrance Day is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday during the Farmington Fall Festival. The call is out to former employees of Dicus Drugs or those with memories of sipping frozen cokes at the gazebo to stop by the location during the day. Family and friends are gathering memorabilia and photos to display during the event. Honerkamp said the Petersons even have a special bit of Dicus history to put on display as well. Anyone with photos or other pieces of Dicus Drug history are asked to contact Honerkamp at 573-915-3281 or luann@vhd2i.org. This years Fall Festival is sponsored by US Bank. The day begins at 9 a.m. with registration at the Farmington Public Library for The Mommy & Me Mile, hosted by Laura Belle, with the event beginning at 9:30 a.m. Registration for the Chalk Art Festival, hosted by the Farmington Arts Guild and Mineral Area Council on the Arts, is scheduled at 9 a.m. on the Jefferson Street side of the St. Francois County Court House. The official kick-off at 10 a.m. starts with downtown merchants offering specials, along with vendor booths opening for business. A Car/Truck Show is being held on East Columbia Street, benefitting African American Masonic Cemetery. The Mineral Area Heritage Tractor Club is hosting a tractor show on Jackson Street. There will be a Kids Corner on the US Bank Parking Lot, hosted by Parents as Teachers, Belgrade State Bank, Missouri Department of Conservation, and American Family Insurance Edward Felker. A Dora the Explorer meet and greet is scheduled from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Walgreens and Mineral Area College Student Nurses Association is hosting a Health Corner with Flu Shots/Health Screenings on the US Bank parking lot. The second annual Pooch-A-Palooza, hosted by Hensco Technologies and the Farmington Pet Adoption Center, returns to the courthouse lawn once again this year. This exciting event will include several contests as well as a parade, led by Grand Marshal Trooper, beginning at 11 a.m. Registration will begin at 10:15 am with the first 50 registrants receiving a doggie bag. A donation of $5 per dog is requested with proceeds benefiting the Farmington Pet Adoption Center. They will also be accepting donations of bleach, Fabuloso, pet beds, pillow cases, and cleaning supplies. Dogs on leashes only. The Farmington School of Dance is scheduled to perform at noon on the main stage at Columbia and Washington Streets. Goat Farmer Band performs at 12:15 p.m., followed by Jordan Voss at 1:45 p.m. Registration for a cornhole tournament to benefit Shop with a Cop is scheduled for 6 p.m. and is hosted by Cuzzins. The tournament begins at 7 p.m., with a benefit concert featuring Two Lane Highway at 8 p.m. A man has been arrested and charged after Washington County deputies were called to the 36,000 block of Highway 185 for a victim of a gunshot wound on Aug. 28. Carl Butler Jr., 32, of Sullivan, is being charged with a class A felony of assault in the first degree, felony armed criminal action and a class D felony of unlawful use of a weapon. According to Washington County Sheriffs Captain Zach Jacobsen, when deputies arrived at the house, they discovered a 29-year-old man had been shot once in the leg and had already been taken to an area hospital. According to a probable cause statement, one officer went to the hospital to speak with the victim, while another went to the house to investigate the shooting. During the investigation at the home, information was received about the shooter. The officer on scene found a .380 caliber bullet casing on the ground in the driveway. The report said in the driveway, going from near Highway 185 all the way to the house, were numerous spots with large amounts of blood on the ground. Officers also found a marijuana pipe, lighter and a full pack of cigarettes in the area where the shell casing was found. Jacobsen said the victim stated Carl Butlers wife and his fiancee were involved in physical altercation, and he attempted to separate the two. At this point Butler retrieves a firearm and shoots at the victim, striking him in the leg, said Jacobsen. Butler then chased the victim while firing more shots at him before departing the scene. The report said after officers were done processing the scene at the house, they went to Butlers house located on East Washington in Sullivan. Butler and his wife were at the house and were detained for investigation. Butler was told why they were there and was asked for consent to search their home and car for a possible weapon used in an assault. The report said Butler gave signed consent to search and told officers he didnt own a gun. During the search a .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun was found in the bedroom where Butler was located in the home and it had one bullet left in the gun. The bullet in the clip matched the spent casing type and manufacturer of the one found at the home where the assault occurred. The officers reported they also located and collected blood samples on Butlers car. There were blood samples collected from the outside of the drivers door, the rear bumper near the license plate and the rear passenger wheel. Butler was arrested and taken to the Washington County Jail. His wife, Rachelle Butler, was determined to have an unrelated arrest warrant in St. Francois County and was transported to the St. Francois County Jail. The report said during an interview with Butler, he stated that his wife and the victims fiancee had gotten in to a physical fight after they stopped at their house. Butler said he didnt see the fight start, but saw the victim kick Rachelle in the side of the head as the two girls were fighting. Butler stated that he did get into the car and retrieve the gun and pointed it at the victim. Butler said the victim then started toward him and he fired at least one shot at him, thinking he was shooting into the ground. Butler also stated he didnt know if he hit the victim or not. Detectives asked Butler if he fired more than one shot and he responded that he couldnt remember and that he blacked out or something. Butler was being held in the Washington County Jail on a $100,000 bond. Jacobsen added the case was investigated by the Washington County Sheriffs Office and the Multi County Narcotics and Violent Enforcement group. The Washington County Sheriffs Office would like to thank the Sullivan Police Department for their assistance, said Jacobsen. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America 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 Kmart stores in Burlington and Mount Airy appear to be on the struggling retailers latest closing list, according to media reports. Sears Holdings, which owns Sears and Kmart, told employees at 68 Kmart stores nationwide that their stores were closing by mid-December, according to Business Insider. Employees told Business Insider that liquidation sales could begin as early as Thursday at the stores. In a separate but apparently related transaction, Seritage Growth Properties announced Friday that Sears Holdings had exercised its right to terminate the lease of 17 unprofitable Kmart stores with a combined 1.7 million square feet of leasable space. The annual rent of 17 stores was $5.8 million, or 2.8 percent of Seritages annual base rent revenues. Seritage, a real-estate-investment trust, owns 235 Sears and Kmart stores, Sears Holdings will continue to pay Seritage rent until it vacates the stores, which is expected to occur in January. Sears Holdings will pay Seritage a termination fee equal to one year of the aggregate annual base rent, plus estimated operating expenses. The store closings are just the latest for Sears Holdings and Kmart. The company announced in February it was accelerating the closing of unprofitable stores. In April, it announced the closing of 64 stores nationwide, including in Brevard, Gastonia, Lumberton, Pineville and Rocky Mount. Moodys analysts warned last week that Kmart is struggling to have enough cash to keep all its stores open. According to Business Insider, Kmart has about 870 stores today, compared with 1,300 in 2012. GREENSBORO At the start of her third year at Guilford College, President Jane Fernandes is feeling pretty good about where things stand. Though overall enrollment continues to fall, the number of traditional-aged college students rose for the first time since 2008 thanks to a large freshman class. Guilfords finances are back in the black after two years of deficits, and the college is adding new degree programs. I have a very positive outlook for the college, Fernandes said. That was not always the case. Here are some highlights from an hour-long interview at the colleges Alumni House, where Fernandes moved her office this summer: Enrollment: The college welcomed a freshman class of 422 35 percent bigger than last year. Fernandes credited a new vice president, hired last summer to oversee admissions and enrollment, with ramping up recruitment efforts, especially in North Carolina. (Sixty percent of this years freshmen are from North Carolina a 52 percent increase from the previous year.) Fernandes said an expanded annual open house for newly admitted students and their parents last April helped more students commit to Guilford. Remarkably, she added, nearly half of the members of this years freshman class are racial and ethnic minorities. About two-thirds of Guilfords students last year were white. I think that is really a tremendous achievement, Fernandes said. I dont know if any other college of this size has the confidence of students of color that Guilford College seems to have. The colleges population of traditional-age students that is, students between ages 18 and their early 20s is up about 9 percent this fall to 1,224. But overall enrollment is down about 100 students, or 5 percent, to 1,789. Thats because Guilfords adult education program has seen its enrollment fall by nearly two-thirds since its peak in 2010. Finances: Fernandes cut about $5 million from the colleges budget over her first two years at Guilford to close deficits. Those cuts included the elimination of about 55 positions and spending reductions throughout the college. It worked. Guilford finished the fiscal year in June with a balanced budget. Fernandes said the college also has repaid a line of credit it used to get through last year. Thats really the most gratifying because it means we can put our time into actually building and looking ahead and not trying to dig out of a hole, she said. Tuition: Guilford didnt raise tuition last year, in part to keep its price competitive with other private colleges in the region. Fernandes said the college is considering a fixed-tuition plan, which means students would pay the same rate for four years at Guilford. A lot of families are not well prepared for the fact that tuition goes up every year, she said. Looking ahead: With balanced budgets come academic innovation. The college launched a new major in cyber technology and network security earlier this year. A new major in sustainable food systems will start in the spring. Next year, the college hopes to begin offering a masters degree program in criminal justice. Fernandes said the college also might expand its current minor in experience design the study of how people interact with products, services and other humans into a full-blown major. Fernandes said she is still working to identify the few things that Guilford will do splendidly. She put forth the idea at her presidential installation ceremony last August that Guilford should have several signature academic programs to make the college stand out. Guilford has heard ideas from current students and faculty. Its now surveying new students and applicants to see how the public perceives Guilfords strengths and weaknesses. Contact John Newsom at (336) 373-7312 and follow @JohnNewsomNR on Twitter. WASHINGTON The New York and New Jersey bomb explosions killed no one and police captured the suspected bomber Monday, but none of that stopped the presidential candidates from using the scare as campaign fodder for an electoral battle in which national security issues are looming large. Hillary Clintons weakness while she was secretary of state, has emboldened terrorists all over the world to attack the U.S., GOP candidate Donald Trump wrote on social media. They are hoping and praying that Hillary Clinton becomes President so that they can continue their savagery and murder. Addressing reporters at the airport in White Plains, N.Y., Clinton, the Democratic nominee, accused Trump of playing into terrorists hands by making the Islamic State conflict in Iraq and Syria appear to be a war on Islam, not on misguided Jihadists. Trump is a recruiting sergeant for the terrorists, said Clinton, also former first lady and senator from N.Y. Let us be vigilant, but not afraid. The explosions in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, Seaside Park, N.J., and Elizabeth, N.J., did not result in fatalities. And police in Linden, N.J., took the alleged bomber, Ahmad Khan Rahami, a U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, into custody after a gun battle. Whether the incidents have staying power on the campaign trail is open to speculation, although they are unlikely at this point to alter the political landscape in Connecticut that favors Clinton. But fear can be a palpable force in presidential politics. A fearful electorate oftentimes gravitates to candidates who present themselves as strong and forceful while framing their opponents as weak and incapable. Both Trump and Clinton tried to seize the high ground on Monday, although Trump arguably had an advantage by feeding perceptions that after eight years in the White House, the Obama administration has been ineffective against ISIS-inspired terrorism even if the charge is arguably untrue. Donald Trump takes the security and safety of this country far more seriously than she does, period, said Jim Campbell, a Greenwich real estate executive and former chairman of the towns Republican Party. Its one of the reasons why Trump will win the election. Trump has surged in recent polls as Clinton faltered over her case of pneumonia and her comment that half of Trumps supporters are deplorables, a remark she later took back. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a Clinton supporter, countered that Clinton is second to none in her determination to defeat ISIS on the battlefield, as well as the terrorism metastasizing in Europe and the United States as it the organization loses more and more ground. She helped oversee the bin Laden raid and she was engaged in other forceful actions by the U.S. to preserve our security, he said. These illusory aspersions by (Trump) should gain no traction or credibility. Fear has played a role in previous presidential races. In 2004, with U.S. forces engaged in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq and an electorate still coming to grips with post-9/11 reality, voters re-preferred President George W. Bush over the Democratic challenger, then Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. But a candidate playing the insecurity card is not automatically successful, even in fearful times. In 1964, conservative Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater played on Cold War insecurity, but LBJ made people more afraid of Goldwater, said UConn political science professor Ronald Schurin. He was referring to President Lyndon B. Johnson, who swamped Goldwater that year and won his first and only full term in office. Candidates who have capitalized on a climate of fear were those who promised security, not new adventures, said Schurin. Trump is promising Im going to bomb the (expletive) out of them. That doesnt create a sense of security, but I guess we will see in November. dan@hearstdc.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Metro-North Railroad officials had a warning for Tuesday morning commuters in the wake of a bomb blast in New York City and bombs found elsewhere along train routes: Be vigilant. All commuters should be on alert, Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan said. The railroad had no information that rail lines are being targeted for terrorism, but We are on increased security and coordinating with local law enforcement, he said. Several bombs were found over the weekend, including one that exploded Saturday night in New York City, injuring 29. Amtrak service was suspended Sunday evening, and railroad officials said all passengers were safe, all trains were brought into stations and passengers may seek alternate transportation. Limited service was restored early Monday. Ahmad Khan Rahami identified in an FBI bulletin as a man wanted in the weekend bombings in New York City and New Jersey was apprehended Monday in New Jersey after a gun battle. Late Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a trash can at an Elizabeth, N.J., train station. Investigators said they are still gathering evidence and have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices. Rahami, 28, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan who lived with his family in Elizabeth, N.J., underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the leg as authorities began drawing up charges in a case that spread fear across the New York area and revived anxiety about homegrown terrorism. In Connecticut, State Police spokeswoman Kelly Grant urged residents to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity by calling 911, texting TIP711 with the information to 274637 or by calling the Homeland Security tip line at 1-866-HLS-TIPS. But despite the threat, commuters Monday generally took a what can you do? attitude. Im not really worried, Tiania Pesante said at the Bridgeport train station. Im just going to hope for the best. I feel like if you think positive then positive comes back to you. She said she often commutes on Metro-North Railroad to her job in Stamford. Tanmay Tiwari, who spent the weekend in New Jersey with his sister, said terrorists will never stop him from going into New York City. A native of India, Tiwari came to the U.S. a month ago to study computer science at the University of Bridgeport. I cant stop enjoying and exploring places just because of a threat from a foolish person, he said at the Stamford train station. Margaret McManus, a Sacred Heart University student who was headed to New Rochelle from Bridgeport on Metro-North, said she rarely rides then train. McManus said she sometimes worries when shes going to Grand Central Terminal, but No, I dont really think about it. Latoya Watkins said she feels safer on Metro-North trains than on the New York City subways because she can see what is going on outside. The Bronx, N.Y., woman came into Bridgeport to visit her family. Honestly, I think its scary, Watkins said. As soon as you start to feel that maybe everything is OK, something pops up again. Stamford resident Chris Gabriel, who takes the train to New York about once a month, believes authorities and the media are overreacting. Realistically, its not as prevalent as in other countries, so for them to keep putting it on the media I think is a scare tactic to keep everybody in a heightened state of alert or awareness, he said at the Stamford station. OK, a bomb went off and people got hurt. Its bad, but to sit there and stop your life or overreact and say, lets not go here or there, I think its ridiculous. Another unconcerned commuter was Stamford resident Jenny Taylor. To be very honest, if its going to happen, its going to happen, she said. The guy was an idiot. He decided to do what he wanted to do and now hes caught. Stamford resident Soraty Cortes had a different opinion. She said she will avoid crowded areas in New York even more than she already does. Its definitely scary, very worrisome, Cortes said. Staff writer Frank Juliano and The Associated Press contributed to this story. GREENWICH Now that the Representative Town Meeting has given its support, the new New Lebanon School is moving forward. By a vote of 138 to 47 with four abstentions, the RTM upheld municipal improvement status for the project, allowing construction of the new school to begin next year. It voted down an appeal from town resident Matt Popp, who had referred the Planning and Zoning Commissions MI approval from last June to the RTM for consideration. Popp had said the current plan to build a 61,230 square foot building that will use part of the woodland area behind the current building was in violation of the towns Plan of Conservation and Development and would have an adverse effect on neighborhood character and add in traffic and environmental concerns. Popp also questioned whether the bigger school would actually address the New Lebanon School racial balance issue with the state by attracting magnet students from other parts of town. The RTMs vote now puts the project temporarily in limbo back on track to begin construction in summer 2017. Were looking forward to moving the project along, New Lebanon School Building Committee Chairman Stephen Walko said. Walko said the next step is finalizing the construction documents so it can go out to bid in spring 2017. The school committee now is working to solidify the states promised reimbursement for a large portions of the projects cost. That figure should be part of the states June budget process. While disappointed in the result, Popp said Tuesday he felt his referral got a fair hearing before the RTM. He said he remains concerned about issues he raised in his appeal. Popp, who said he wants a new school, just a smaller one, repeated his contention that the magnet school would have an effect on the entire district, particularly on under-subscribed schools like Parkway, which he said could not stand to have any students leave. The district might choose to close Parkway and force a redistricting, he said. Everyone was so concerned about getting past one hurdle that they didnt care about any other hurdles that there might be, Popp said. I dont think this solved anything. At Mondays RTM meeting, Interim Superintendent of Schools Sal Corda said it was clear the current school could no longer serve the community since the space was too small and inadequate without enough room for New Lebanons kindergartners. I dont know that anyone can look in their crystal ball and say that (Parkway) School is going to close, Corda said. When we talk about addressing this issue, the primary question has to be we agree a school needs to be built, now whats the best size to do it? kborsuk@scni.com In her letter (Thursday, A proposal for a photo ID card protecting voting rights), Republican state Rep. Livvy Floren asks, Why is photo identification considered voter suppression? Feigning innocence, she claims, I just dont get it! In fact, in early 2011, Floren joined in the Republican Partys concerted and coordinated war on voting, introducing the voter suppression bill, HB 5234, in the Connecticut general assembly. That bill, had it passed, would have required all voters to present photo identification and proof of citizenship when they arrive at polling places to vote. It sounds innocent enough. But that bill was specifically crafted to suppress the votes of African-Americans, Hispanics, the poor, immigrants, and also young people. Floren pretends she doesnt understand why such a voter ID law would suppress voting; Im sure she does. In his 2011 Rolling Stone article titled, The War on Voting, Ari Berman wrote, As the nation gears up for the 2012 presidential election, Republican officials have launched an unprecedented, centrally coordinated campaign to suppress the elements of the Democratic vote that elected Barack Obama in 2008 ... In a systematic campaign orchestrated by the American Legislative Exchange Council and funded in part by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who bankrolled the Tea Party 38 states introduced legislation this year designed to impede voters at every step of the electoral process. A News21 investigation revealed that of the 62 photo ID bills introduced in 37 states in 2011 and 2012, more than half were sponsored by members or conference attendees of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). As quoted in that article, Tova Wang, an elections-reform expert at Demos, stated, This latest flood of attacks on voting rights is a direct shot at the communities that came out in historic numbers for the first time in 2008 and put Obama over the top. Floren claims not to understand how her bill could have suppressed minority, poor, and immigrant voters. But in striking down a similar voter suppression bill in Wisconsin in 2014, Judge Lynne Adelman explained exactly why this sort of bill disenfranchises minorities and the young. As Judge Edelman pointed out, 300,000 voters, or 9 percent of all Wisconsin voters, lacked the required IDs. As detailed in a New York Times editorial, A substantial number of those voters, (Judge Edelman) found, are lower-income and poorly educated residents who face a unique barrier to getting the underlying documents needed to obtain a photo ID. Some cannot afford the $20 for a birth certificate; others must spend weeks tracking down documents at government agencies inaccessible by public transportation. Judge Adelman cited research revealing that African American voters in Wisconsin were 1.7 times as likely as white voters to lack a matching drivers license or state ID and that Latino voters in Wisconsin were 2.6 times as likely as white voters to lack these forms of identification. He also noted that a significantly higher percentage of Blacks and Hispanics were born out of the state compared with whites, making it less likely that they would have birth certificates, and making it more difficult to locate them. This would be the case in Connecticut as well. The Brennan Center for Justice pointed out in its 2007 study, The Myth of Voter Fraud, that 11 percent of American citizens do not possess a government-issued photo ID; that is over 21 million citizens. Among African-Americans the figure is 25 percent. And lower-income Americans are significantly less likely to have those government-issued IDs than white and higher-income Americans. Ms. Floren touted her 2011 bill as a means to reduce voter fraud. Yet the real fraud is the claim that voter fraud exists in the first place. The Brennan study concluded that, by any measure, voter fraud is extraordinarily rare. It estimated the rate of voter impersonation fraud at between .00004 percent to .0009 percent. In Wisconsin, in several election cycles, the state could find no more than two individual instances in which the identification of a voter could not be ascertained, though none was prosecuted for a crime. Before 2006, no state required voters to produce a photo ID to vote. The movement to require photo IDs was instigated by the Bush administration, which also formed a federal task force to prosecute voter fraud. Yet, as The New York Times pointed out, over a five-year period from 2002 to 2007, the justice department prosecuted only 120 individuals, and convicted 86. The Brennan Center noted, however, Many of those charged by the Justice Department appear to have mistakenly filled out registration forms or misunderstood eligibility rules. Florens bill, and dozens like it introduced by Republicans in other states, was specifically designed to stop minorities, immigrants, and the poor, from voting, and to help Republican candidates win. These bills constitute the new Jim Crow, and we get it. Sean Goldrick is a former member of the town Board of Estimate and Taxation. GREENWICH Patricia Wuest, 52, of Division Street, Greenwich, and a Stamford school teacher, is facing charges of second-degree burglary and second-degree larceny. Bail was set at $15,000 in Stamford Superior Court on Tuesday morning, following accusations that Wuest stole some $45,000 in jewelry from a neighbor in March. Authorities said she sold the stolen items at a store in midtown Manhattan for roughly $2,400, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit filed in Superior Court. Wuest is an elementary-school teacher at the Westover Magnet Elementary School in Stamford. The teacher is currently on leave, was the only comment from district spokeswoman Sharon Beadle Tuesday morning, via email. Greenwich police were contacted in April by a neighbor of Wuests, who had discovered that a sizable amount of jewelry had gone missing while she and her husband went on a trip out west. According to the court file, the victim told police: Her upstairs neighbor, identified as Patricia Wuest, contacted her and stated she felt it would be a good idea to let each other know where their spare keys were in case of emergency. She stated this did not seem out of the ordinary at the time, but upon thinking about it further it seemed strange to her. The victim later contacted the police with a recording she made with Wuest, according to court papers. During the conversation Patricia admits to stealing the rings and mailing them off to a business in New York City that buys gold, according to investigators. Greenwich police, working with the NYPD, determined that the items had been taken in by the Manhattan business, and payments of $874 and $1,600 were sent to Wuests bank account, the court records state. An arrest warrant was issued, and it was served on Wuest Monday. An attorney representing Wuest, Mickey Sherman, said, This is a woman who has led a life devoid of any criminal conduct whatsoever. She was under a lot of pressure, and she made a mistake, Sherman said, citing financial problems his client was under, She felt absolutely trapped. A tax problem, with her ex-husband, led to mounting troubles, the defense attorney said. Bail was initially set at $75,000, but after conferring with a judge on Tuesday, it was lowered to $15,000, and Wuest has been released from custody. She has the support of her family, Sherman added, and he hoped the school community would also provide support. With Staff Reporter John Nickerson In 2017, Evil Twin will finally have a brewery of its own. Since crashing onto the scene in 2010, Evil Twin has established itself as a true force within the world of small, independent beer brewers. Founder Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergs moved the brand from Denmark to New York in 2012, and helped open the acclaimed beer bar Trst the following year. Now, after six years of running Evil Twin as a so-called gypsy brewer a brand that contracts other breweries to produce its beer, instead of maintaining its own dedicated brewing facility Jarnit-Bjergs plans to make another mark on the citys beer scene. Early next year, Evil Twin will open its first brewery at 1616 George Street in Ridgewood. Evil Twins new home will be in a former banquet hall with 10,000 square feet of production room, enough to brew an additional 5,000 to 8,000 barrels of beer. This is a place where we can play around, experiment, do one-off batches, Jarnit-Bjergs says; he also notes that theyll be working more with the restaurants, like Mission Chinese Food, the NoMad, and Blanca, with which Evil Twin often collaborates. We kind of figured out that in order to be recognized as a real New York brewery, this was the next step we had to take. What Jarnit-Bjergs really wants, though, is for the brewery to be a drinking destination. (His twin brother, a fellow gypsy brewer yes, theres a reason for the name owns and operates San Franciscos Mikkeller Bar, the self-described greatest beer hall ever.) And so, Evil Twin will convert the buildings courtyard into a 4,000-square-foot taproom. There will be between 10 and 20 taps, dispensing everything Evil Twin makes at the brewery, as well as special bottle releases and growler refills. Music and movie nights are under consideration, and Jarnit-Bjergs says there will definitely be food. Along with a permanent food truck, he says hes talked with some of the best chefs in Europe about pop-ups. These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Unlocked variants of the Moto Z and Z Play are now available for pre-order in US Motorolas newest flagship smartphones have been available on Verizon for a while now. To this day, they remain exclusive to Verizon as they are not available anywhere else just yet. The only way you could get your hands on any Moto Z model is by somehow buying a Verizon variant and popping your SIM in. Moto Z Play That is until now. Best Buy and Amazons websites have listed unlocked variants of the Moto Z and Moto Z Play for pre-order. (remember, the Moto Z Force is going to remain a Verizon exclusive). If youd like a larger battery, you can opt for the cheaper Moto Z Play, but you wont be getting the QHD screen or Snapdragon 820. Instead it has a 1080p screen and Snapdragon 625. Best Buy and Amazon list the unlocked Moto Z for $699.99 with 64GB of internal storage and the Moto Z Play is running for $449 with 32GB of internal storage. All phones are sold with U.S. warranties and if you pre-order with best buy, you can get a free Incipio offGRID Moto Mod battery. If you arent sure which smartphone to choose, just remember that the Moto Z (Thin) has a 2,600 mAh battery while the Moto Z Play has a 3,510 mAh battery. All Moto Z phones (Z, Z Force, and Z Play) are identically designed so can all use the same Moto Mods. Finally, the Moto Z Play has a headphone jack, while the Moto Z doesnt. These unlocked variants will only work with GSM carriers, so it looks like Sprint customers are out of luck for any version of the Moto Z. As per Amazon, The Moto Z Play will release on October 20 while the Moto Z will release on October 2. Moto Z (Amazon, Best Buy) | Moto Z Play (Amazon, Best Buy) | Via Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help Published on 2016/09/20 | Source Added episodes 7 and 8 captures for the Korean drama "The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop" (2016) Advertisement Directed by Hwang In-hyeok Written by Koo Hyeon-sook Network : KBS With Lee Dong-gun, Jo Yoon-hee, Shin Goo, Kim Young-ae, Oh Hyun-kyung, Cha In-pyo,... Sat, Sun 19:55 Synopsis "Suited Gentlemen In Yanggye-dong" is based on a traditional tailor's with history. The drama depicts the tears, friendship, success and romance of four men. Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2016/08/27 More Published on 2016/09/19 | Source Actress Ra Mi-ran is the one that lights up everything in the drama "The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop". Advertisement Ra Mi-ran drew her life as a simple and happy one in the eighth episode of the KBS 2TV drama "The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop". She got along well with Cha In-pyo as well the others around them. Bok Seon-nyeo (Ra Mi-ran) drank because she was upset that her neighbors had a quarrel because of her lies. Bae Sam-do (Cha In-pyo) carried her up to bed when she got drunk and she showed him her appreciation for taking her side. Sam-do suggested she apologized to the neighbors first and she did so, with chicken and resolved things with them. Then they gave her a certificate for her hard work during her time at the market before she left for Seoul. Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby. 09:44, 30 OCT 2022 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. Inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Hall of Fame, 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 received the E. A. "Wally" Richter Leadership Award, the highest honor from the National Association of Bar Executives' Communications Section. 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. There he was one of the first teachers in the country to teach African-American history to inner city students. 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 videocasts 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. Shell Australias giant Prelude floating LNG project likely to come on stream in 2017 Royal Dutch Shell is building the worlds largest floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project, which has the potential to transform the way natural gas resources are developed. It is designed to recover resources offshore that would otherwise be too costly or difficult to develop without the need to lay pipelines and build processing plants on land. In this article, Hazardex takes a look at the latest developments in this ground-breaking project. Prelude FLNG on station with LNG carrier alongside - Image: Shell The Prelude natural gas field was discovered by Shell in the Browse Basin off north Western Australia in 2007 with an additional field, Concerto, discovered nearby in 2009. Combined, these gas fields have around 3 trillion cubic feet of liquids-rich gas. The Australian Government gave the Prelude FLNG project environmental approval on November 12, 2010, and Shell took the final investment decision (FID) on May 20, 2011. Shell says engineers worked more than 1.6 million hours during the engineering and design phase of the project. The oil and gas giant has not published a start-up date for the project, insisting that getting the design and operating details right on a project that would be moored offshore for 25 years was more important than meeting any arbitrary deadline. Nevertheless, the indications are that the operating phase of the project is now in sight. Speaking at the LNG18 conference in Perth in April 2016, Northern Territory deputy Chief Minister Peter Styles said that Prelude FLNG was expected to start production in late 2017, while Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said at the same event: We expect real material cash from Prelude in 2018. Prelude FLNG will be the largest offshore facility ever constructed. The vessel is being built by the Technip/Samsung Consortium (TSC) at Geoje in South Korea for a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell (67.5%), INPEX (17.5%), KOGAS (10%) and CPC Corporation (5%). Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard at Geoje has one of the few dry docks in the world big enough to construct a facility of this size. For a whole year, steel was welded together by thousands of workers at the SHI yard to create the biggest hull ever built. Once structurally complete in November 2013, and weighing approximately 200,000 tonnes, the Prelude FLNG hull was floated in the dry dock before it was towed by nine tugs through Geoje harbour to its new position on the quay, where it is secured by 32 heavy mooring ropes. At Geoje, the topside modules, many of which weigh as much as a single typical offshore platform, are now being installed on the hull and integrated. Early commissioning has begun. As many as 5,000 people work on Prelude FLNG on any given day at Geoje. In Dubai, the construction of the Prelude FLNG turret mooring system is progressing well. Once assembled, it will be the largest turret in the world, almost 100 metres high. The first turret module was completed in September 2013 and transported to Geoje, where it was installed into the hull before it was floated. Since August 2014, four more turret modules have been shipped to Geoje and integrated into the hull. At completion, Prelude FLNG will be 488 metres long, 74 metres wide and contain more than 260,000 tonnes of steel. At full load, it will displace more than 600,000 tonnes, more than five times the displacement of a US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The Noble Clyde Boudreaux drilling rig was towed to the Prelude FLNG location off the coast of Western Australia in August 2013, and drilling of the production wells is under way. The first well was completed in late December 2014. Malaysia has been the main location for the projects subsea system design and the construction of subsea Christmas trees, manifolds and control equipment, with two Christmas trees already installed subsea at the Prelude location in late 2014. The Prelude loading arms are under construction at the FMC manufacturing facility in Sens, France, and in February 2014, the first Prelude loading arm was tested. Ocean conditions and the extreme cold of the LNG were simulated and the tests were deemed a success. In Darwin, Australia, the main onshore supply base for Prelude is complete. The site is already receiving equipment for the Prelude FLNG facility. The Prelude FLNG development in Australia will be Shells first deployment of its FLNG technology. The technology allows for the production, liquefaction, storage and transfer of LNG at sea, as well as the ability to process and export liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate. The floating facility will chill natural gas produced at the field to 162C, shrinking its volume by 600 times so it can be shipped to customers in other parts of the world. Once constructed, the facility will be towed to its location, some 475 kilometres north-east of Broome, Western Australia. There the facility will be moored and connected to the undersea infrastructure and the whole production system commissioned. The FLNG facility is designed to be on the Prelude gas field for 25 years, and is expected to produce 3.6 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, 1.3 mtpa of condensate and 0.4 mtpa of LPG for export. It is likely to be the second such facility in operation following Petronas PFLNG SATU, which is expected to start production off Sarawak in the coming months. Subsea installations - Image: Shell Vessel and subsea systems The FLNG facility will be moored near to the Prelude field location in 250 metres of water, by four groups of mooring chains. Each mooring chain will be held to the sea floor by piles. The facility has been designed to withstand severe weather, including a10,000 year storm or category five cyclone - and will remain onsite during all conditions. A series of seven production wells will feed gas and condensate from the reservoirs via four flexible risers into the facility. All subsea connections join the facility via the turret. The turrets swivel design enables the facility to move according to wind and sea conditions as it remains fixed to the sea floor. Prelude FLNG will have thrusters to provide a steady heading during the offloading process, but it is a fixed facility, with no means of propulsion. The processing of gas and condensate occurs in modules onboard that occupy an area approximately one quarter the size of a typical onshore gas plant. Shells Dual Mixed Refrigerant (DMR) process is used to liquefy the gas. Preludes LNG and LPG will be offloaded via a side by side vessel configuration using specially designed cryogenic loading arms that load the carriers. Ships will load condensate from the rear of the facility using a floating hose arrangement. The products will then be shipped directly to customers around the world. Important attributes of Shells FLNG design are: * it can provide high production rates of up to 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquids (including LNG, LPG and condensate); * it can process a wide range of gas compositions and can export LPG and condensate; * it uses an efficient double mixed refrigerant liquefaction cycle; * it can stay on station and does not have to be moved during severe weather conditions such as cyclones, which will increase the availability of the plant. New technology that has been developed for FLNG includes LNG tanks that can handle sloshing, close coupling between the producing wells and the processing facility, LNG offloading arms, cooling water intake risers, turret and mooring systems, and the marinisation of processing equipment such as absorption columns and the main cryogenic heat exchangers. All of these technologies have been extensively modelled and tested to ensure they can operate safely and efficiently under marine conditions. Prelude position off NW Australia - Image: Shell The facilitys storage tanks will be below deck. They can store up to 220,000 m3 of LNG, 90,000 m3 of LPG, and 126,000 m3 of condensate. Shell also came up with the idea of tapping the cold of the ocean depths by pumping water to help cool the gas, avoiding the need for extra equipment on deck. An assembly of eight one-metre diameter pipes will extend from the facility to about 150m below the oceans surface, delivering around 50,000 m3 of cold seawater each hour. The management of subsea wells and manifolds is carried out via umbilicals connected through the turret to the control room onboard the facility. Subsea equipment includes production wells, Christmas Trees, manifolds, flowlines, riser base manifold, flexible risers and umbilicals, subsea distribution hardware providing hydraulics, power, communications and chemical services to the subsea wells and subsea manifolds. The project has one drill centre, located three kilometres south of the Prelude FLNG, centre with two six-slot manifolds, a base case seven production wells with contingency for an eighth producing well. It will be connected to the gas reservoir via 12 inch flowlines connecting the production manifolds to the riser base manifold. Each flowpath to the Prelude FLNG, consisting of the flowlines and flexible risers, will be equipped with a Fail Close Riser Base Valve (FCRBV) at the Riser Base Manifold (RBM), located at a horizontal distance of 550 metres from the centreline of the turret, to isolate the facility from the flowlines. The Prelude FLNG will be moored using 16 mooring lines connected to piles grouped into four quadrants. Prelude Safety Shell says safety of the Prelude FLNG facility has been paramount during its design, and its safety is on par with modern offshore oil and gas facilities. The FLNG design includes a number of key safety features including the layout (and separation) of hydrocarbon processes from accommodation modules, enlarged safety gaps between process modules, fire-proof protective coatings and specially designed product loading arms. In addition, Lloyds Register has conducted an independent safety review of the Design Safety Case and relevant final safety assessments. The group says: Safety and quality are the priority for Shell at all Prelude project locations. Together with our contractors, we are constantly working to ensure that safety comes first and that everyone goes home safely every day. We have a team of 250 inspectors deployed at project locations to check that all equipment and material is delivered in accordance with our specifications. Major Prelude FLNG safety features * Safety is the primary focus in Shells FLNG design, with multiple formal safety assessments at various stages of the design confirming that an FLNG facility would be at least equally as safe and reliable as other modern offshore production facilities currently in operation. * Shells FLNG design intentionally incorporates a number of proven and tested technologies that have been in use in existing LNG plants for many years. * Shell has adapted some elements to ensure the facility can operate safely at sea. For example, the hull has been designed to minimise motion and rolling, reducing stress on the equipment and piping on board from the movement of the sea. Artist's impression - Image: Shell * Prelude FLNG has also been designed to withstand the weather and sea conditions experienced in the north west of Australia. Substantial studies and wave basin model testing have been carried out to prove it is safe for the crew during cyclones and the facility will not sustain major structural damage. * The fact the facility stays on station and can operate in severe conditions has significant safety benefits. It avoids the safety risks of de-manning and disconnecting and reconnecting to the gas field. * Its size and sheer mass (600,000 tonnes fully ballasted) is in itself an important feature for maintaining stability in extreme weather. * The hull has a double wall design so that in the unlikely event of a collision, the cargo containment protection is maximised. * The layout of the facility is based on risk management principles. It provides as much separation as possible between the pressurised processing equipment and the accommodation block. There are safety gaps between the processing modules so in the unlikely event there was a safety incident in one module, the impact on the surrounding modules would be minimised. * The facility also features passive fire and cryogenic protection in the form of coatings. * Shells FLNG design includes Evacuation, Escape and Rescue features. This includes multiple escape routes, the main temporary refuge aft and secondary refuge forward, freefall lifeboats and integrated chute based life-raft evacuation systems. The two infield support vessels that will be stationed alongside the FLNG facility will be available for evacuation in emergency situations. A search and rescue helicopter will also be on standby 24/7. * Shell has also founded a dedicated search and rescue helicopter service in Broome to support drilling activity and later the Prelude FLNG facility supported by a team of pilots, paramedics, engineers and crew. The service is on standby 24-hours a day and is able to respond within 15 minutes during daylight hours and 30 minutes at night. Conclusion A number of FLNG developments have been shelved this year because of energy market conditions and other considerations. Woodsides Browse FLNG project, due to have been a near-neighbour of Prelude, has been shelved due to the current economic and market environment, while Inpexs planned Abadi FLNG has been moved onshore. Exmars Caribbean FLNG is set for delivery in the second quarter this year, but without immediate employment as the deal with Pacific Exploration and Production was terminated. Nevertheless, 2016 and 2017 will be ground-breaking for the new industry as the first floating LNG production facilities hit the water. This is revolutionary technology developed by Shell, says Neil Gilmour, Shell Vice President Integrated Gas Development. It has the potential to change the way we produce natural gas. Norway oil and gas sector risk trend figures show negative developments Figures from Petroleum Safety Authority Norways Petroleum Activity Risk Trends (RNNP) 2015 report show a negative shift in several areas. The PSAs annual survey by the Petroleum Safety of the risk scenario in the oil and gas sector shows that a number of indicators are moving in the wrong direction. This stands in stark contrast to the industry's stated focus on HSE, the PSA says, and is a cause for concern. COSL Innovator - Image: COSL Whereas in 2014, the major accident indicator was at its lowest level since the RNNP measurements began, the arrow has tilted in the other direction in 2015. There were several incidents with major accident potential during the year, and one fatal accident. Compared with previous measurements, the annual questionnaire-based survey shows that offshore employees increasingly think that companies are deprioritising HSE. They are also experiencing greater pressure to work in a way that threatens safety, and say they have less ability to influence the HSE situation themselves. More hydrocarbon leaks Hydrocarbon leaks and well control incidents are significant contributors to major accident risk. In 2015, ten hydrocarbon leaks exceeding 0.1 kg/s were recorded on the continental shelf. This is the highest number recorded since 2011. Similarly, onshore, there were 13 hydrocarbon leaks exceeding 0.1 kg/s, against seven leaks in the year before. 15 well control incidents were recorded in 2015, a small decrease on the 17 incidents in the year before, but an increase in the risk potential. There were no incidents in the high severity category. Barriers remain a concern In the area of barrier management, the results show that there are difficulties in certain areas meeting industry requirements. PSA Director-General Anne Myhrvold said: "In the light of the great amount of attention given to this area in recent years, it is surprising that there has not been a more clearly positive trend for key barriers." More serious personal injuries The number of serious personal injuries rose in 2015, and there was also the first fatal accident on the Norwegian continental shelf since 2009. The accident occurred on 30 December when a wave hit the COSL Innovator mobile facility on the Troll field and caused substantial damage to the accommodation module. One person lost his life. Over the long term, in the period from 2005 to 2013, there was a downward trend in the frequency of serious personal injuries. But the last two years have seen an increase. For the onshore facilities, the frequency of serious personal injuries rose, and the level is the third highest since 2006 when measurements began. Positive maintenance figures PSA Director-General Anne Myhrvold The maintenance management data for production facilities show a clear reduction in 2015 in the total backlog of preventive maintenance, for both HSE-critical equipment and equipment in general. The 2015 figures are the lowest since reporting began in 2010. Hours spent on preventive maintenance increased between 2011 and 2015. The total outstanding HSE-critical corrective maintenance also shows a reduction from 2014 to 2015. Conclusions The accident on the Troll field, with the loss of a human life, has affected us strongly, Myhrvold said. Last year began with a spate of worrying incidents and near misses some very serious. No less than six investigations were launched by the PSA before the end of April 2015. More followed during a year which included a barge drifting out of control towards platforms in the North Sea. The final total was 10 a record for a single year. "The RNNP results are a warning. They indicate that something might be starting to happen to the safety level in the oil and gas sector", Myhrvold said. "The figures justify questioning whether safety is not at a crossroads. The ambition of continuous improvement and ongoing risk-reduction may be at issue. "At times like these, when streamlining, downsizing and savings are the industry's order of the day, it is especially important to protect and reinforce established arenas and projects for improving safety. It is also important to maintain good tripartite cooperation, which often comes under pressure during downturns. "The PSA wishes to find out how the companies and the industry organisations are using the results from RNNP and what specifically they are doing to reverse the negative results. This will be an important aspect to our audits, in our contact with the industry organisations and in the Safety Forum." Myhrvold emphasised that RNNP measures trends over time. "Although we cannot demonstrate a direct correlation between the RNNP results and the changes the industry is currently undergoing, it is important to see if the results are temporary or part of a trend. The companies must now use the RNNP results to establish a firm foundation for the years to come. The present shapes the future. This is a truth that the entire industry needs to be aware of going ahead. Short-termism will be penalised." More information... HR really increases their vulnerability by undertaking investigations internally. If they are experienced investigators and thats their prime purpose as HR, then thats one thing. But in a generalist HR role, they are intertwined with the business and the decision-makers. It becomes a bit more challenging for them. Fay Calderone, partner in the people & workplace services group at DibbsBarker, discussed the common HR mistakes made when conducting internal investigations and gave HC some practical advice on how to minimise personal and corporate risk. A matter of policy First of all, if there is an internal policy or procedure in relation to management of grievances, HR needs to diligently follow the procedures that are documented. While there should be something in the grievance procedure about the possibility for an investigation, this should be brief and flexible, she added, so as to enable the firm to use internal or external investigators as necessary. It should be something that contemplates an investigation with flexibility. It should let HR exercise some discretion about the course it will take while assessing the risk to the business and adopting a procedure that is reflective of that risk. In one case, Goldman Sachs JB Were Services Pty Limited v Nikolich (2007), the employee, Peter Nikolich, was awarded more than $500,000 for psychological injury as a result of a breach of contract. Their policy manual was said to have been incorporated in the employment contract that he was required to sign, Calderone said. In that, there was a statement that said the employer would take every practicable step to protect his health and safety while at work. By failing to properly investigate this matter and properly shelter him from the supervisor he had made allegations about, they were in breach of that. Thus, while it is important to have a grievance procedure, the recommendation is that this is not contractual, she said. Therefore, an employers failure to follow the policies cannot crystallise into a breach of contract claim for the employee. Eliminating bias The second thing to be aware of is ensuring HR remains completely impartial. When a person lodges a complaint or grievance and they are dissatisfied with the outcome of the grievance, then by default HR becomes wrapped up in the grievance albeit to some limited extent. Insisting on continuing with the investigation in those circumstances compromises their ability to do so impartially and can lead to significant scrutiny of the HR people that are involved in the process. Preventing unwanted disclosure Lastly, it is important to consider injecting the veil of professional legal privilege in an investigation, Calderone said. In short, this prevents the full contents of a report to be disclosed in a court case by choosing to conduct the investigation through an external lawyer from the outset. If there are concerns about content that may come out of the investigation, its always preferable to have that veil of privilege there. This can help avoid early disclosure or simply allow the disclosure of the findings and not the entire content of the report, she said. She suggested taking advice about the risk to the business of potential exposure, the witnesses that are involved, and the types of breaches that have allegedly been identified. If there is smoke, there could be fire, she told HC. Always approach these things on the basis that when scratching the surface, much more can come out thats not apparent from the allegations on their face. Looking at cost viability Of course, it is important to weigh up the commercial costs of conducting such an external investigation too especially since some matters wont warrant taking such extensive action, she said. Calderone continued, saying that there were two instances in which an external investigation was preferred: significant bullying allegations and sexual harassment claims. Any significant bully complaint has the risk of reports to the regulator, so to Safe Work. Then Safe Work can come in and ask for the report to be produced and used as the basis to prosecute the organisation on its findings. The other one is sexual harassment. I find sexual harassment allegations tend to be a bit more cultural. Some of the more systemic sexual harassment cases that we see dont tend to be isolated individuals. They tend to be groups of individuals who may very well implicate senior leaders in the business. What will your biggest HR challenges be for the coming year? The rapid growth of the business, together with operating across different cultures and time-zones, brings together a unique set of challenges. Ensuring that Dominos has a strong value proposition to new and existing employees is paramount to the success of the business. The strong focus on innovation and technology means that we are constantly looking for talent both within and external to our business. What has been the strangest HR scenario youve ever experienced? I was working for a previous organisation in Japan during the 2011 tsunami and earthquake. We had a very large workforce that operated across Japan and in the affected regions of Tohoku and around Tokyo. We quickly had to account for all staff, calling upon business expertise outside of Japan to locate and check that all staff were safe. We were extremely fortunate that all staff (and families) were safe and accounted for, despite some having to be removed from roof-tops by helicopter in the disaster areas. Dealing with disaster recovery and getting the business back to business as usual was extremely challenging and life changing. If theres one piece of HR-related advice you could give, what would it be? Challenge your thinking, continue to develop yourself and take ownership of your own growth and progression. What hobbies and interests do you have outside of HR? I like travelling, 4WDing, fishing and going to festivals and cultural activities such as the Brisbane Festival. Wheres the best place to go for dinner/drinks in Brisbane? Why? Birds Nest Restaurant in West End because they do fantastic yakitori. On Sept. 13, Jeffrey Stuart Cashwell, 55, plead guilty to breaking or entering a motor vehicle, larceny of a firearm, three counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, and two counts of financial transaction card theft. Mr. Cashwell also admitted to being a habitual felon. In May 2016, Mr. Cashwell broke into two separate vehicles and stole property from each. Among the items stolen were credit and debit cards, which were used at various locations in Boone. A detective with the Boone Police Department obtained video surveillance from the businesses where the stolen financial transaction cards were used and was able to identify Mr. Cashwell as the perpetrator. The Honorable Gary M. Gavenus, Senior Resident Superior Court Judge, sentenced Mr. Cashwell as a habitual felon, resulting in a sentence of a minimum of 6 years and 5 months, and a maximum of 10 years and 11 months in prison. My office continues to be committed to aggressively prosecuting habitual felons, District Attorney Seth Banks said in a statement. Repeat offenders are responsible for a large proportion of the criminal acts that we see in our community. The District Attorneys Office will continue to use the habitual felon laws to take repeat offenders out of our neighborhoods. I appreciate the efforts of Assistant District Attorney Matt Rupp and the hard work of the Boone Police Department in helping to put another habitual felon behind bars. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. It is apparent that both are expanding the dialogue more broadly to security issues, and justifiably so. The fact alone that discussions are in progress is positive, he wrote in his blog on Sunday . President Sauli Niinisto has expressed his delight with the fact that Nato and Russia have continued the dialogue that was sparked by his proposal to oblige all aircraft to use transponders in order to guarantee the safety of flights over the Baltic Sea. Niinisto estimated that the defence alliance has also adopted a more active approach to Finland, as evidenced by the fact that he was briefed on the current situation on Thursday by Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He believes it would be in the best interest of all stakeholders if a consensus on measures required to improve the security situation is found between Nato and Russia. Finland has been especially concerned about aviation safety in the Baltic Sea, and it is my impression that even a small step towards enhancing safety is positive. Sometimes a small step in the right direction can make it easier to take the next step, he reminded. Niinisto also commented briefly on the debate over the implementation of a common defence and security policy for the European Union by suggesting that the ability to protect territorial sovereignty is key for any union. The key question is whether or not a union is a union to begin with if it is unable to protect its territorial sovereignty, he wrote. The debate was re-kindled after Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, stated in his annual state of the union address that a common military headquarters and military resources are necessary for the European Union. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Jussi Nukari Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Irish Olympian Paddy Barnes has signed his first professional contract with a gym that has links to Daniel Kinahan. The double Olympic medal winner, who captained the Irish team at Rio 2016, has been unveiled by the MGM gym in Marbella - founded by retired professional Matthew Macklin. MGM said they were delighted to confirm that the 29-year-old, who announced that he was turning professional last week, was signed on a management contract. The gym was recently raided as part of an operation by Spanish police investigating the murder of Gary Hutch (33) last year. As part of the operation a significant amount of cash, documents and a handgun were seized in one premises, while a 200,000 Bentley and a yacht were also recovered. Dubliner James Quinn (34) was arrested in relation to the operation and is currently facing charges before a Spanish court for the murder of Hutch. In a statement, MGM said: "The signing of Paddy Barnes has everyone at MGM very excited. "An impressive amateur career has produced one of Ireland's most popular Olympians. Three appearances at the Olympic Games produced consecutive bronze medals in 2008 and 2012. "Paddy's list of accolades also includes Commonwealth Gold on two occasions, Delhi 2010 and Captain of Ireland in Glasgow 2014, WSB appearances and a host of national titles." Barnes, who has no involvement in crime, said: "Representing Ireland has always been my ambition and now I hope to emulate that success as a professional. "After the Olympics there were many offers on the table, but being part of Team MGM was the natural choice." When asked later by RTE presenter Ray D'Arcy about the move, Barnes said: "I won't be training in Marbella, they are only my management team and they are one of the best t teams in the world. Debut "Look at Liam Smith, Martin Murray and Billy Joe Saunders. World title challengers and world champions. If it's good enough for them, it is good enough for me." Barnes revealed last week that his pro debut will be in his native Belfast sometime before Christmas. Earlier this year an MGM-sponsored event was taking place in the Regency Hotel earlier when a six-man hit team stormed the hotel, murdering cartel lieutenant David Byrne (33). Daniel Kinahan was believed to be the primary target of the hit. A group of water protesters wearing Halloween masks blocked a Labour TD from moving his car after he held a constituency clinic. The three, Quinten Radford (45), Stephen Ward (44) and Christopher Faulkner (19), were protesting against water charges as well as austerity measures, which, they believed, had been introduced by the Labour Party. The men brought traffic to a standstill in Rush and caused tailbacks into Lusk village of up to a kilometre-and-a-half. Labour TD Brendan Ryan was stuck in his car until senior gardai arrived and cleared the protesters from the road. Swords District Court heard there were up to 15 protesters carrying placards and wearing Halloween masks. Judge Dermot Dempsey ordered the men to complete 240 hours of community service. Radford, of Marigold Road in Darndale, and Ward, of Fassaugh Road in Cabra, admitted to wilfully preventing the movement of traffic at Main Street in Rush on October 29, 2015. Faulkner, of Rowan Heights in Drogheda, was found guilty of failing to follow directions of gardai, wilfully preventing the movement of traffic and refusing to provide his name and address to officers. Blocked Sergeant Patrick Whelan said Brendan Ryan TD had held his weekly constituency clinic in Rush and was leaving the community centre around 7.30pm when his car was blocked by a number of water protesters. Sgt Whelan said some protesters stood in front of Deputy Ryan's car, walking over and back the road, preventing him from moving his car. Sgt Whelan said the protest brought traffic to a standstill. In relation to Radford, lawyer Karl Monahan said the father-of-four is a machine maintenance operative. He said that Ward is married with three children. He is currently unemployed. Mr Monahan said both men's purpose for being in Rush was to protest at what they saw as the Labour Party's involvement in austerity measures, including the introduction of water charges and the rise in home evictions. In relation to Faulkner, Sergeant Sean Pender said he directed him to leave the area and provide his name and address to gardai, but he failed to do so. In his evidence, Faulkner denied gardai asked for his details, and claimed he was grabbed from behind and arrested. He also claimed he is "very passionate", has a "strong social conscience", and was engaging in "peaceful assembly" on the footpath to protest against the Labour Party's austerity measures. Finding him guilty, Judge Dempsey said he was satisfied Faulkner had blocked traffic. A Dublin boy has been hailed a hero for saving his uncle's life after he saw he had slipped into a diabetic coma. Conor Campbell Perrie (7) recognised the signs that his uncle was slipping into a diabetic coma and alerted paramedics, who rushed to the scene. He was given an award for his quick-thinking. Conor found his uncle Derek Perrie (39) unresponsive in his bedroom earlier this year. After trying to wake him and shining a torch in his eyes, Conor told his dad Robert what was going on and urged him to call an ambulance. Paramedics rushed to the Dublin home in Loughlinstown and said had Conor not come across his uncle when he did, the situation could have had a tragic outcome. Conor's dad Robert said that the second-class student's quick-thinking is the reason his uncle is alive today. Derek, a personal trainer, suffers from Type 1 diabetes and his blood sugar had dropped dangerously low, which is life-threatening. Unresponsive "Conor went into my brother's bedroom and found him. "He wasn't answering questions and wouldn't wake when he tried to rouse him," he said. "He shone a torch in his eyes and found that he was unresponsive. "He ran into my room then and we called an ambulance. "The paramedics made a big deal out of him and were calling him a little hero," he told the Herald. The little boy was recently awarded a Hidden Hearing Hero award for his bravery, which his dad said has been a huge boost for his confidence. However, nobody is more grateful for Conor's heroics than his uncle, who he is very close to. "Conor and Derek are mad about each other, they have great fun. "It was great for him to get this award. He's been showing his certificate off in school," proud dad Robert said. Excel Conor was awarded a 'recognition recipient' award in the Young Hero category of the awards earlier this month. The other winner in the category was Sean McCullagh, who was paralysed at the age of four in a car accident. He gone on to excel in sport, particularly sailing, and is part of the Leinster Sailing Team. RTE's Mary Kennedy presented the awards. Penny Lancaster is sharing the secret of happy family life with me. A lot of it (whisper it) is down to the new man in her life. A third person has entered their rock 'n' roll marriage and she doesn't know how she ever coped without him. "Greg is our manny, our male nanny, and he's perfect for my boys," beams Lancaster (45). Said boys are her rambunctious sons Alistair, aged ten, and five-year-old Aiden. "He's an ex-PE teacher, full of energy and at the age of 29 has the stamina to exhaust Alistair in particular; before I had my two sons I had no idea that boys were always - and I do mean always - on the go." Lancaster met her husband back in 1999 when she took photographs of him on tour. The couple married in 2007, between the birth of their two boys. Rod, who has six other children from his previous relationships, is 71, although she is rather sweetly prone to referring to him as her "boy" as well. Impresses But back to Greg, who does indeed sound like something of a godsend. He plays sport with hearty enthusiasm, he cooks, as real men do, and ensures that the lads help with washing up too. "The boys have me and their grandmother - my mum, Sally, who has a room in our house - as well as Rod's 88-year-old Auntie Mary, who comes most days," says Lancaster. "I felt the last thing they needed was another woman telling them what to do, which is why we have a dude." Not just a dude either - but a gentleman who impresses on his charges that however old-fashioned it might sound, chivalry is a crucial component of any modern man's skillset. "Manners are really very important to me," says Lancaster. "The boys see their dad standing up if I leave the table, paying me compliments, asking about my day and treating me nicely. They understand women are not only equals but should be respected; and if they ever want to a date a girl they should first charm her mother with politeness and offers to help. It's a shoo-in after that." Then she adds, dryly: "Rod's always opening doors for me, but I usually tell him to walk through first. "Otherwise, if we're at a restaurant and I'm in front, the paparazzi end up getting a big giant close-up of me and then he's trailing behind looking like my little child!" We both hoot with laughter; Lancaster, as well as being leggy (6'1 in flats) and lovely with a great mane of tawny blonde hair and the complexion of a teenager, is both frank and very funny. She and Rod recently moved their main base from the US back to Britain so their sons could be educated there, and are day pupils at a boarding school. By all accounts the model-turned-lothario-tamer -turned Loose Women panelist runs a pretty tight ship at their sprawling house in Essex, which they (she) spent the past two years renovating. "Dealing first with all the big things and then all the minutiae was so exhausting that I lost my normal ability to stay afloat, bob along and keep everyone's spirits up," she says. "I was so strung out that I assumed I had entered the menopause and went to the doctor for blood tests. It transpired I wasn't - it was just the stress of moving house." Now installed, Lancaster prides herself on her hypervigilant tiger mothering; there's the no-sugar organic food regime, the sensible-verging-on-draconian social media restrictions, the household chores that even heirs to a musical fortune must carry out. Mercifully she retains a keen sense of humour about her hands-on approach to pretty much everything. "When Alistair uses a loo in public, I literally stand at the door and shriek 'Mummy's just outside!' by way of a warning to anyone who might be waiting inside a cubicle to prey on little boys," she says, unapologetically. "He used to be embarrassed, but now he accepts that it's just what mummy does." Thrifty Her husband has a long-rumoured reputation as a thrifty man, so careful with his 117m fortune that he shops in Zara and once reportedly made a 10-mile round trip back to an LA restaurant after being charged for a bottle of mineral water he hadn't ordered. But judging from the diamonds encircling her wrists and the enormous rock on her finger, Lancaster is the beneficiary of whatever money he does spend. The couple travel a lot and still have homes in the US and France; Rod has no intention of retiring, she says. "Whenever Rod has four of five days off, he'll be bouncing off the walls with boredom," says Lancaster. "He's not running out of energy any time soon and to safeguard his health he has a full MOT four times a year." The recent deaths of David Bowie at 69 and Prince at 57 gave him pause for thought, she says. "Rod's always been a keen sportsman so he didn't live as excessive a life as some musicians." It's well documented that Lancaster went through three gruelling rounds of IVF to conceive her second child. After two stressful years of treatment, they decided not to try for a third baby, but Lancaster doesn't feel she's missing out by not having a daughter. "I get my 'fix' because Rod has three girls - Kimberly, Ruby and Renee," says Lancaster. "And there's also my dad, who is 72, who has two young daughters aged four and one - proving you don't need to be a rock star to be a father late in life." Because most of Rod's work is in the US, they can both be away for days at a time, knowing that grandma and Greg are holding the proverbial fort. "If come back and it's late in the evening, I'll go in to kiss Alastair goodnight and if he's awake he'll sleepily say 'Hello Mummy, you look nice. Did you have a good time?'," says Lancaster. "And then I feel a surge of pride that I'm doing something right. I love my three boys." She means, of course her four boys. After all, any modern mother of sons would be bereft without her manny. Penny Lancaster is publicising an eye health partnership between Britain's Royal National Institute for the Blind and Specsavers Music, a steak dinner and awards highlighted the annual Smyth County Chamber of Commerce Town & Country Barbecue in August. Held at the Chilhowie Land Company hangar, this event celebrates the contributions of agriculture to the community and the local economy with recognition given to farmers, business owners, students and to individuals who make a positive impact on students. Charlie Clark served as master of ceremonies as chamber committee members, school and community members announced awards and Delegates Israel OQuinn and Jeff Campbell presented certificates. Valley Grass provided musical entertainment and appreciation was extended to Blue Ridge Job Corps students for serving the meal and to sponsors for donating door prizes. This years award winners: FBLA Student of the Year Olivia VanHoy Olivia VanHoy, a senior at Marion Senior High School, was honored as the Future Business Leaders of America Student of the Year. The award was announced by Angela Davis, FBLA advisor at MSHS. VanHoy has served two years as an FBLA member. She was vice president in her junior year and is president in her senior year. In her sophomore year, VanHoy placed second in the New River Region in Spreadsheet Applications competition and competed at the state competition. In her junior year, she prepared the annual chapter business report. VanHoy has served three years with the SCA, Interact Club, and as a cheerleader, captain of both fall and winter junior varsity teams her sophomore year. She was first-year swim team her junior year and was recognized as most improved female on the team. She is active in her church, First United Methodist in Marion. VanHoy is a three-year recipient of the Big M Award for students with a 3.6 GPA or higher. She was inducted into the Beta Club her junior year. VanHoy is an active Girl Scout and during her freshman year she worked with the town of Marion to create Scare Crow Lane. This was her project that won the Silver Award. After graduation, VanHoy wants to participate in World Race, which is a nine-month mission trip to three countries. Upon return from World Race, she wants to attend a four-year university and study social economics. 4-H Student of the Year Jordan Guinn Jordan Guinn, a sophomore at Chilhowie High School, was honored as the 4-H Student of the Year. The award was announced by Lauren Kopp with Smyth County 4-H. This years 4-Her of the year is awarded to a young lady who has been a 4-H member since her fourth-grade year, has participated in numerous projects and competitions-from her How-To Demonstrations to Dramatic Reading, and now the Poultry Project, said Kopp. She has also participated in part of the Teen Council and has attended 4-H camp as a camper, counselor in training and now a teen counselor. This 4-Her has also participated in the pumpkin walk and numerous Cloverbud camps held at the Southwest 4-H Center, along with assisting myself and Laurinda with the 4-H afterschool program at Saltville Elementary. In addition to her 4-H accomplishments, this young lady also participates in wrestling, softball and theater at her high school, Kopp said. She is very academically oriented and hopes to one day attend Virginia Tech to become an engineer. She is already taking an engineering class to prepare herself for college. FFA Student of the Year Makenzie Armstrong Makenzie Armstrong, a graduate of Marion Senior High School, was honored as the Future Farmers of America Student of the Year. The award was announced by Sarah Jo Jones on behalf of Smyth County FFA. Lynn White Children First Award Her commitment to the youth of the county is exemplified by the fact that she goes above and beyond the requirement of her job, said Linda Kelly, chair of the chambers Education Committee, about Lynn White, Marion Senior High School business teacher and winner of the Children First Award. Lynn White has a love for teens and a deep desire to see them succeed and accomplish their dreams. White has taught school in Smyth County for 40 years in the fields of advanced accounting, desktop publishing, entrepreneurship and keyboarding. She was also FBLA advisor for 36 years and has been the Business Cooperative Education coordinator since 1992. Among the awards she has received for her teaching are the Ninth District VFW Teacher of the Year for 2012 and the state FBLA Advisor of the Year for 2014. While these awards are impressive accomplishments, they dont provide a complete picture of why Lynn White is such a successful teacher and why she is deserving of the Children First Award, said Dana Smythe, social studies teacher at MSHS, in her nomination of White. Its the things she does behind the scenes to help her students that have made such a huge impact on their lives. Smythe described how White would take students to district, regional and state competitions to present their projects and would make arrangements for students in need to obtain the proper clothing to wear for these events and for those students going to job interviews. She began operating the Scarlet Hurricane Clothes Closet three years ago to provide clothing to students in need throughout the school. She would be the Secret Santa for students expressing serious needs in a letters to Santa program. She has helped countless students fill out college applications and financial-aid forms, said Smythe. Some of them, Smythe said, have stated that they would not have gone to college if it hadnt been for her assistance, and several of Lynns students have gone on to have successful careers as accountants, CPAs and businessmen. Throughout her teaching career, Lynn White has epitomized what it means to put Children First. She has been more than a teacher to her students, Smythe said. She has been their mentor, their advocate, and their biggest cheerleader, especially when they accomplish their goals. I have tried to model my own teaching especially the compassion she demonstrates to her students after her example. Lynn exemplifies the characteristics of a teacher who puts Children First. George Robbins Business Person of the Year This years Business Person of the Year started out in his backyard and grew his business into a dream come true, said Tom Graham, chair of the chambers Commercial and Industrial Support Committee, about George Robbins, owner of Robbins Small Engine in Chilhowie. He never thought that two years after he opened, he would have outgrown his building and doubled his employees, Graham said of Robbins. His willingness to participate in the Small Business Boot Camp shows his determination to keep his dream a reality. All of the hard work and dedication that he has put into his business has paid off for him. He was the recipient of the Small Business Boot Camp Grant in 2015. He is also very active in Smyth County, Graham said of Robbins. He serves as a committee member and a team captain in the Smyth County Relay for Life and he participates in the annual Apple Festival Parade with a float each year. J.S. Staley Farm Family of the Year by Andy Overbay To say our honoree is a bit strong willed is probably an understatement, said Dr. Andy Overbay about J.S. Staley in the Farm Family of the Year presentation. It is not an exaggeration for me to say that I am thrilled to present him with this award because our recipient embodies traits that are sorely needed in agriculture today. Staley is a 1969 graduate of Emory & Henry with a degree in political science. His goal originally was to work in the State Department and he had taken the Foreign Service Exam as he neared graduation. Fate intervened, however, and Staley found himself serving in Vietnam with the U.S. Army from 1969-71. It was an experience he described by saying I hated every minute of it, but the Army also taught him that he had an independent spirit and a life in government service where a certain amount of pandering to ones superiors was expected to advance, probably would not be a wise career move for him, said Overbay. Staley worked as a buyer for Green Giant produce for six years then purchased 25 heifers from his fathers beef herd, leased property in Nebo and started a cow-calf operation. Later he leased his fathers equipment and brought his farming operation to the home farm in Rich Valley. He grew beef calves and burley tobacco and the farm prospered. The Farm Family of the Year includes Staleys wife, Sara, and their five grown children. What makes J.S. Staley so special is his leadership off the farm and what makes his leadership so crucial is his willingness to make a call and take a stand that benefits all farmers even if it may lessen his personal popularity at the moment, said Overbay. Integrity and honesty rank high among his attributes even though it probably embarrasses him to hear that. Young farmers would be wise to embody these personal characteristics and standards as very little is accomplished by those who may know what to do but are unwilling to wade into the fray and fight for what is right. In his many community service roles, Staley served on the Smyth County Board of Supervisors and Marion Town Council; he is a member of Royal Oak Presbyterian Church and on the Session there; he is a trustee on the board of the Goolsby/Gardener Education Foundation, a fund that helps Smyth County students achieve their academic goals; he is a member of the Marion Morning Rotary Club; and serves on the local Southern States Cooperative Board. Staley is a member and past president of the Smyth Washington Cattlemans Association and the Abingdon Feeder Cattle Association, he has served on the Virginia Cattlemans Association Board, and is currently a member of the Virginia Beef Industry Council. The days are shorter, but not the list of things you can do. CONOVER Gov. Pat McCrory spoke at Rock Barn Country Club and Spa on Monday night, reiterating many of his campaigns familiar themes and casting himself as a leader willing to disturb the existing order for the good of the state. The event, called Peelin, Eatin and Politickin, was put on by the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce and the Catawba County Republican and Democratic parties. N.C. Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper was also invited, but was unable to attend because of another commitment. Lon Cecil, gubernatorial candidate of the Libertarian Party, was in attendance. Several other state, Catawba County and municipal leaders from the area were also in attendance. McCrory began his speech by discussing the changes that have occurred between the time he took over as governor to the present. "And I realized when I came to Raleigh as the 74th governor of the greatest state in the United States of America called North Carolina, that our state was broken and we didnt just need a leader, we needed a change agent, McCrory said. And you know when a change agent comes into business, they have to step on some toes because you haven't got much time." At the time he entered office, high unemployment, a $2.6 billion debt to the federal government for unemployment insurance and declines in teacher pay were some of the pressing issues facing the state, McCrory said. Through the tax cuts passed in the last few years, the state has managed to become more competitive with our neighboring states, McCrory said. Elsewhere, the government worked to address political favoritism in infrastructure projects, McCrory said. "I said, guess what we're going to do? We're going to take the politics out of road-building," McCrory said. "It's not going to be where the governor happens to live that gets the roads, it's going to be where the data shows we need to get the roads." In the realm of education, McCrory highlighted the raises in teacher pay, especially for beginning teachers, that came in his tenure. We immediately in my second session raised it to $35,000 a year entry pay," McCrory said. "Still not enough, but thats a pretty big increase when at the time no one was getting pay increases." McCrory addressed the controversy over House Bill 2, saying he will stand firm in supporting the bill. And were catching a lot of heat from outside, but I think were doing the right thing. And Im not going to back off in understanding that it makes sense to define the gender the way weve always defined gender, McCrory said to applause from the audience. McCrory then made a plea for respect among people with differing views. I respect people who disagree with me," he said. "Lets make it a respectful, two-way conversation." Throughout the speech, McCrory brought up his connection to Catawba County. I always told your mayor that Charlotte was proud to be a good suburb of Hickory," McCrory said. "And Ive always considered you friends, I know your area extremely well, I always promised Id come back often. Its an honor to be the 74th governor, and Id like to continue that job." The governors speech received a warm reception, with several of the leaders present speaking positively of state policy under McCrory. North Carolina is more competitive because of state policy," Randy Isenhower, chair of the Catawba County Board of Commissioner said. "Like I said, the lower taxes, the less regulation, and we look at trying to reduce regulation, too. "I think its been great for the whole state." HICKORY Work is underway in Shelby County, Ala., where a gas pipeline rupture has led to gas shortage scares across the Southeastern states over the weekend. Colonial Pipeline, who operates the pipeline, shut down both of the lines on Sept. 9 after a mining inspector detected the odor of gasoline on a nearby property, a press releases from Colonial Pipeline said. Employees investigated and found a rupture in line No. 1. The releases said line No. 2 reopened after Colonial Pipeline coordinated with governmental authorities. That line transports gasoline, along with jet and diesel fuel, to several distribution points along the pipeline In order for line No. 1 to reopen, a bypass around the ruptured section must be completed. Work on the bypass line began earlier on the night of Sept. 17, with a projected completion by next week. The release notes more than 700 people are at work on the site. The companys website says the pipeline transports more than 100 million gallons of product from the Gulf of Mexico to New Jersey, supplying communities in several states. But supply at a particular gas station depends on the supply networks of the company that owns the station. So, an Exxon gas stations supply is based on Exxons distribution network, which is not solely supplied by Colonial Pipeline. Supply for a region can be meet through redistribution of shipments by barge and overland transport. We are working to meet our customers needs including securing alternative supply, said Exxon Media Advisor Ashley Alemayehu. Since the rupture, gas prices have risen at several stations in Catawba County. Several stations declined to say what their prices were as of last week. Many have risen above $2, with a few stations in Hickory reaching $2.29 as of Monday night. NC Attorney General Roy Cooper put the States price gouging law into effect on Monday, in response to reports of unreasonably high gas prices, a press release from the NC Department of Justice said. Consumers are our eyes and ears on the ground and we want to know if you spot potential gas price gouging, said Cooper in the release. The release said more than 400 complaints had been filed as of Monday morning. The law requires the Governor declare a state of emergency, which Governor Pat McCrory activated Monday. We are taking steps to protect consumers and ensure that fuel is continuing to flow into the state, said McCrory in a release. To help ensure adequate fuel supplies, I have instructed state agencies to consider options to limit fuel use, including curtailing non-essential travel for state employees. McCrorys release said the state governments priority during the shortage is to ensure supply to emergency services. While there is no set level or increase for a price point to be considered gouging, NC general statute 75-38 states several determining criteria. One of those is if the change in price is attributable to market fluctuations, and another is if the price exceeds the sellers 60-day average price. NC residents who think a particular gas station is price gouging can file a complaint with NCDOJ by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM, or online at ncdoj.gov. HICKORY Work is underway in Shelby County, Ala., where a gas pipeline rupture has led to gas shortage scares across the Southeastern states over the weekend. Colonial Pipeline, who operates the pipeline, shut down both of the lines on Sept. 9 after a mining inspector detected the odor of gasoline on a nearby property, a press releases from Colonial Pipeline said. Employees investigated and found a rupture in line No. 1. The releases said line No. 2 reopened after Colonial Pipeline coordinated with governmental authorities. That line transports gasoline, along with jet and diesel fuel, to several distribution points along the pipeline In order for line No. 1 to reopen, a bypass around the ruptured section must be completed. Work on the bypass line began earlier on the night of Sept. 17, with a projected completion by next week. The release notes more than 700 people are at work on the site. The companys website says the pipeline transports more than 100 million gallons of product from the Gulf of Mexico to New Jersey, supplying communities in several states. But supply at a particular gas station depends on the supply networks of the company that owns the station. So, an Exxon gas stations supply is based on Exxons distribution network, which is not solely supplied by Colonial Pipeline. Supply for a region can be meet through redistribution of shipments by barge and overland transport. We are working to meet our customers needs including securing alternative supply, said Exxon Media Advisor Ashley Alemayehu. Since the rupture, gas prices have risen at several stations in Catawba County. Several stations declined to say what their prices were as of last week. Many have risen above $2, with a few stations in Hickory reaching $2.29 as of Monday night. NC Attorney General Roy Cooper put the States price gouging law into effect on Monday, in response to reports of unreasonably high gas prices, a press release from the NC Department of Justice said. Consumers are our eyes and ears on the ground and we want to know if you spot potential gas price gouging, said Cooper in the release. The release said more than 400 complaints had been filed as of Monday morning. The law requires the Governor declare a state of emergency, which Governor Pat McCrory activated Monday. We are taking steps to protect consumers and ensure that fuel is continuing to flow into the state, said McCrory in a release. To help ensure adequate fuel supplies, I have instructed state agencies to consider options to limit fuel use, including curtailing non-essential travel for state employees. McCrorys release said the state governments priority during the shortage is to ensure supply to emergency services. While there is no set level or increase for a price point to be considered gouging, NC general statute 75-38 states several determining criteria. One of those is if the change in price is attributable to market fluctuations, and another is if the price exceeds the sellers 60-day average price. NC residents who think a particular gas station is price gouging can file a complaint with NCDOJ by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM, or online at ncdoj.gov. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday evening declared war on mosquito-borne diseases and not his political rivals, for a change. This was a break from AAPs initial response to reports of dengue and chikungunya deaths in the Capital, for which it had blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led municipal corporations. Back after a throat surgery, Kejriwal appealed to other political parties to come together and fight the diseases, which have spread to every other family in Delhi. AAP has grand plans outside Delhi. By the end of 2017, it wants to widen its political footprint to win at least two more states so it can make a serious bid for the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. It is focusing hard on trying to win Punjab and Goa and be seen as a serious alternative to the ruling BJP in Gujarat. But right now, Delhi is all that the party has and all it can showcase to voters in other states. Experts say if the impression goes out that AAP is spending more time on blame-mongering than governance in Delhi, it could severely hurt the partys prospects in other states. The course-correction is necessary. The Pew Research Center survey on Indians preferences released on Monday shows Kejriwals ratings are down to 50% from 60% last year. AAP has been effective in areas like education and working for the poor but it needs to take ownership of the historic mandate it got in Delhi, says Pradip Datta, professor of political science at Delhi University. The discourse of AAP being a victim of the hostile Centre is a trap that it has to avoid if it wants to challenge the BJP in the future. AAPs chief slogan in Delhi revolves around the theme that it has been working hard despite the Narendra Modi-led governments attempts to create hurdles. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) hasnt done its job but Kejriwals message is clear: If Delhi is suffering, AAP cannot sit idle, said communications in-charge Dilip Pandey. Delhi voters elected a record 67 AAP MLAs to a 70-member assembly in February 2015. The victory was a rare cross-class alliance in which the rich, middle-class and poor voters supported AAP, says Prof Datta, and which may not happen again. But despite working on building a core vote base among the poor, AAP cannot afford to antagonise others if it wants a political future outside Delhi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Fans and critics are going gaga over his performance in the latest flick Pink but former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju feels Amitabh Bachchan does not have anything in his head. He recently wrote on his Facebook wall, Amitabh Bachchan is a man with nothing in his head, and since most mediapersons praise him, I doubt there is anything in their heads too. The 73-year-old actor has responded to the comment saying, He (Katju) is right I dont have anything inside my mind. This is not the first time that Bachchan is facing criticism from a well-known face. From allegations of being greedy to even sexual harassment, he has seen it all. Here, we take a look at some of the most controversial accusations he has faced. 1. Former Miss India World Sayali Bhagat accused Amitabh Bachchan, Shiney Ahuja and Sajid Khan of sexual harassment in 2011. After Big B filed a police complaint, Sayali claimed she was a victim of cyber crime and alleged that a fake statement was issued in her name. I have exchanged mails with him (Amitabh), and he understands that some third party is involved. He took it to the police from his side as well. He has filed another complaint. I even spoke to some other actors, and they all understand that I have been victimised, she said. 2. Veteran actor-writer Kader Khan revealed in a 2010 television interview that Amitabh Bachchan was high on power after he became a Member of the Parliament (MP) and had even told the him, If these people want to bring you in politics and if you ever decide to contest elections, I will ensure you lose it. I will discourage people from voting for you. 3. Shatrughan Sinha, who worked with Amitabh in films like Dostana and Kala Pathar, had alleged that Amitabh felt insecure in his presence. This was revealed in his biography Anything But Khamosh: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography by Bharathi S Pradhan. An excerpt: People say that Amitabh and I made a dynamic pair on screen but if he did not wish to work with me, if he felt that in Naseeb, Shaan, Dostana or Kaala Patthar Shatrughan Sinha bhari pad gaya(having Sinha around worked against him), it didnt affect me. There were so many films that I dropped out of and returned the signing amount. There was a film called Patthar Ke Log one of Prakash Mehras written by Salim-Javed...so many films that I gave up without a backward glance because of Amitabh Bachchan. Shatru had a simplistic explanation for what went wrong between Amitabh Bachchan and him when they had so much going between them. The problem was the applause I was getting for my performances. Amitabh could see the response I was getting. Thats why he didnt want me in some of his films. 4. Politician Amar Singh, once a close friend, had called Amitabh Bachchan greedy and claimed that he had helped the actor when he was bankrupt but the latter refused to help him in times of need. Follow @htshowbiz for more Kalki Koechlin, who made her Bollywood debut with Dev D directed by Anurag Kashyap, who she later married, has come a long way. Though the Indian cinema initially found it difficult to slot Kalkis distinctly Caucasian look and global demeanour, it has lately made peace with her cosmopolitan personality, and is offering her author-backed roles in films such as Margarita With A Straw and Waiting. Kalki, who separated from Kashyap two years ago, is also making her presence felt strongly in theatre and regarding social and feminist issues. Her latest film A Death In The Gunj has just been released to tremendous ovation at the Toronto Film Festival. Excerpts from the interview: Konkona Sen Sharmas directorial debut A Death In The Gunj was very well received at the Toronto film festival. Your reactions to it. I am very happy about that. I wanted to be there in Toronto for the screening. But I had other engagements. But I am really happy for Konkona. We shot the film in Jharkhand, four hours drive from Ranchi.Logistically it was very tough for Konkona to cart the entire crew to Jharkhand. Read: Lets start at the beginning: You cant miss Kalkis powerful, scary wo-man-logue How did the crew manage to shoot in the wilderness? Initially we stayed in Ranchi and drove to the location travelling four hours every day. That was way too exhausting. Later we shifted to the location and stayed in local peoples homes. You have worked with female directors before. How different is it from working with male directors? Ive worked with Shonali Bose in Margarita With a Straw and Zoya Akhtar in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara. The personality traits are quite pronounced in each of my female directors. Zoya is like one of the boys: boisterous. But Koko(Kokona) is very quiet. But oh my God! She knows exactly what she wants from each actor. When do we get to see A Death In The Gunj? It will be released soon. They want to create a buzz before the release.I havent seen the film yet. They completed the film just a few days before it was taken to Toronto. Are you are collaborating with the Pakistani poet Mariam Paracha? Yes, we are getting together on September 18 in Bangalore . Its for a mushaira being organized by the the National Youth Poetry Slam(NYPS). I am a judge along with American poet Sarah Kay. Miriam has already heard of me.But I am not familiar with her work. So I am really looking forward to meeting her. And of course I am a big fan of Sarah Kay. I am very excited and nervous about the event. You recently took an amazing road trip with your Dad Joel Koechlin for travel shot on Fox Life channel. Share your experience with us. Yes . It was quite an experience travelling all across the North East. You know,I always felt close to my Dad. But it is a strange relationship that I share with him. Because my Mom and Dad separated when I was a child.So I only met my Dad on weekends and on special occasions. Our meetings were sporadic. But whenever we met we had fun. We shared adventurous trips together. He is a nature photographer. It was thrilling to go trekking and mountaineering with him. Read: Grab your dad and take him on a trip to the Northeast like Kalki Koechlin So who came up with the idea of doing a travel show? Initially my Dad did. He said, Listen, we havent travelled for years. The last time we went together was to Gulmarg four years ago. He wanted to travel to the North East because we had never been to that part of the world. I always wanted to go there. I then thought of making our trip into a show. We looked for a channel that would understand what we were trying to do in that journey.We didnt want it to be another celebrity show. We wanted the North-East to be the focus.We wanted it to be raw and real. Fox allowed us the freedom to do the show how we liked. So we took off from there. How long did you travel? We took off for two weeks.And we covered three states Arunachal, Assam and Meghalaya.It was enriching and exhausting. Completely worth it. The people were so wonderful.And the food out there is completely different from what eat. What arethe films that you are shooting for now? Its a film called Ribbon.Its directed by Rakhi Shandilyaanother female director . Its her first feature. Its about ones married life in the city. Sumeet Vyas from the series Permanent Roommates is my co-star. You are part of both Theatre and cinema.Which medium do you prefer? I love both. Theatre is my first love and my training ground. Cinema has become a part of my life now. For a very long time, Bollywood cinema seemed unsure of where to slot you. Do you feel at home in Bollywood now? I feel happy with the work Ive done and I feel lucky to have met the people Ive worked with. I have a good relationship with all my co-actors and directors, but I do have a social life that is outside Bollywood. Youre a social activist also. How did you discover this aspect of your life? I guess it just happened by chance. I keep getting invited to various talks here and there which were outside the bounds of cinema and Bollywood where people want my opinion on other things and I tend to voice my opinion. Read: If you are not a feminist then you are a bad human being, says Kalki Koechlin Bollywood tends to look at non-conventional women in a typical way. How far have you managed to break the rules in Bollywood? I dont know. Some people still tell me I dont have the right look for certain films and keep trying to stereotype me into dark roles but its also changing and I guess an actors biggest challenge and satisfaction comes from breaking their own limitations. Bollywood and the single woman....is the film industry a comfortable place for a single woman? I think it is an uncomfortable space to be a woman in India full stop. I feel we actually have more freedom to express and fight for what we want in an industry like Bollywood, because we are making careers that are not dependent or answerable to anyone. What do you feel about the kind of cinema that makes big money at the box-office? Are you comfortable doing them?(You did one Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani) I loved my experience in YJHD so I cant criticise commercial cinema at large. There are some films I relate to and some I dont. You have gone through some major upheavals in your life. How have those developments changed your attitude to love life and marriage? It has made me more private as a person. I used to wear my heart on my sleeve and be very candid about my love life but that proved painful when I went through my break up, so now I realise the importance of a private life and an inner life away from media attention. Where do you see yourself a year from now? I hope to have a good balance between theatre and film. I hope to work on scripts that surprise me, with directors that push my limits, I hope to write more. I definitely want to direct a play by next year. Is film direction an option you are serious considering? I dont know if I have the technical know-how to direct a film .So Im not seeing that in the near future .But I wouldnt rule it out completely. Follow @htshowbiz for more. Deepika Padukone, who will soon make her Hollywood debut with xXx: Return of Xander Cage and is also one of the highest-paid actresses in the world according to Forbes magazine, has said she tries to be part of scripts that would hopefully live on for many years. Deepika, who stole hearts with her debut film Om Shanti Om and later went on to do path-breaking roles in films like Cocktail, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani and Piku, has said she wants to spread smiles through her films. Well, I think as an actor the intention always is to be part of a good script and characters that hopefully live on for many, many years, the actress said. #VinDiesel @vindiesel in a #Sabyasachi #Sherwani #HandCraftedInIndia @deepikapadukone #DeepikaPadukone #xXxTheMovie #ReturnOfXanderCage #TheWorldOfSabyasachi A photo posted by Sabyasachi Mukherjee (@sabyasachiofficial) on Sep 11, 2016 at 11:36pm PDT She also says that its not necessary for all the films to have a happy ending, but as an actress, she tries to create a positive impact on society through her films. Hopefully, you get the opportunity to be a part of films that have iconic characters. So, one cant always guarantee what the end is going to be like. I think the end of a film obviously always depends on the story and the situation. But, yes, somewhere you try and do meaningful films, you try and do films that kind of have a positive impact on society or at least have that feel-good factor. But I think it is difficult to generalise and say that every film will be a happy ending kind of a film. But, yes, I think the intention of choosing my films at the end of the day, of course, and obviously is to be able to entertain the audience but at the same time be able to stir some emotions within them and hopefully leave behind films and characters that people will remember for a lifetime, she added. Deepika made her foray into Bollywood in 2007 but much before that, she was a successful model and had endless endorsement deals to her credit. The actress won awards for many of her roles too. She, however, says her journey in the industry has not been easy. I think it has been a very, very exciting journey. I think I have been able to live my passion and my dream. It has definitely not been an easy journey... there have been a lot of ups and downs professionally and personally. But, like I always say, every experience teaches you something. Every film, every human interaction, everything in life teaches you something. So, it has been an amazing journey, a very exciting one and I feel extremely fortunate to be in a business that has the ability to impact peoples lives in such a strong way, she said. The actress, who also set an example for women of all age groups when she discussed how she battled depression in her life, says she is someone who doesnt let negative things affect her. I have always believed that everything in life is how you take it or your perspective of a certain situation, and I think that I have always been someone who tries to not let negative things influence you in a bad way; but at the same time it is also about how you use these bad times to make you a better person. I always believe that for all of us, in all our careers and lives, (there are) always going to be... ups and downs, but I think if you really reflect, there is an opportunity to kind of learn from those experiences which will eventually help you become a better person, she said. With so much of acclaim, the actress doesnt forget to thank the people around her: Well, I would credit this success to a lot of people but I would also credit a lot of that success to myself. And I say that because whatever I have achieved in the last couple of years has not fallen in my lap. It is something that I have worked extremely hard towards. It requires a lot of focus and dedication, a lot of commitment, a lot of sacrifices, so I value every bit of what I have achieved today. And, yes, it would not have been possible without the amazing support of my family and my team that allows me to go out there and focus on my work and give my best and be my strength in good times and in bad times, she said. Follow @htshowbiz for more Modi governments plan to construct an airport where the airstrip would double up as a highway could prove to be a commercial disaster and a security nightmare, feel experts. Road transport and highway minister Nitin Gadkari had gone on record to say that such an airport was already being built in Rajasthan where the runway would be used both as a highway and a runway for planes. He had said the government would build more such airports in hilly and border areas like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and border districts. Gadkaris announcement took aviation ministry officials by surprise. Officials at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) , Indias aviation safety regulator, said no such proposal has ever been discussed with them. This (plan) sounds silly especially at a time when terror attacks have taken place at the Brussels and Istanbul airports, said an official of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the countrys aviation security regulator. Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had last month warned state governments to strengthen security at airports citing the terror attack at Istanbuls Ataturk airport. Airports have become a valued target for the terror groups as it gathers attention all over and creates adverse psychological impact in the minds of our citizenry, Raju wrote. There are examples of highways used as airbases, for military purposes, during critical times, said Kapil Kaul, South Asia CEO of aviation consultancy Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. In fact, last year in May the Indian Air Force landed a fighter jet on the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura. This was the first time a fighter jet, a Mirage 2000, had landed on a civilian highway. IAF officials had said such landings could be carried out in emergencies if an active airport is not available under certain circumstances. However, even for that trial landing, all facilities like a makeshift air traffic control, safety services, rescue vehicles, bird clearance parties and other requirements were set in place by the IAF. Landing a jet on a highway, however, is very different from using a civilian airport runway as a highway, said experts. For an airport you need air traffic control, terminal building, hangars, taxiway bridges, scan baggages, frisk people and much more, said a security expert, who did not wish to be named. Road-runway has limited commercial feasibility as on date but was a good idea and could be considered selectively subject to viability. Gibraltar International airport is used for commercial air traffic and is used for road traffic as well as the main road intersects with the runway, Kaul said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Financial traders are better at reading their gut feelings than the general population and the better they are at this , the more successful they are as traders, according to new research led by the University of Cambridge. Gut feelings known technically as interoceptive sensations are sensations that carry information to the brain from many tissues of the body, including the heart and lungs, as well as the gut. The study by researchers from Cambridge, Sussex and the Queensland University of technology, Australia has been published in the journal Scientific Reports. Traders and investors in the financial markets frequently talk of the importance of gut feelings for selecting profitable trades. The study compared the interoceptive abilities of financial traders against those of non-trader control subjects. The researchers recruited male traders from a hedge fund engaged in high frequency trading, which involves buying and selling futures contracts for only a short period of time seconds or minutes, a few hours at the most. The study took place during a particularly volatile period: the Eurozone crisis. Each trader was given a score which, essentially, measured the percentage of right answers, and these scores were compared against data from 48 students at the University of Sussex. The researchers found that traders performed significantly better at the heart rate detection tasks compared to the controls: the mean score for traders was 78.2, compared to 66.9 for the controls. Even within the group of traders, those who were better at the heart rate detection tasks also performed better at trading, generating greater profits. Strikingly, an individuals interoceptive ability could be used to predict whether they would survive in the financial markets. The researchers plotted heartbeat detection scores against years of experience in the financial markets and found that a traders heartbeat counting score predicted the number of years he had survived as a trader. Traders in the financial world often speak of the importance of gut feelings for choosing profitable trades they select from a range of possible trades the one that just feels right, said John Coates of the University of Cambridge, who also used to run a trading desk on Wall Street. Our findings suggest theyre right they manage to read real and valuable physiological trading signals, even if they are unaware they are doing so. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said the Rs 10 coin was very much in circulation and those refusing to accept it could face legal action, setting to rest rumours that the coin was banned. Reports have poured in of shopkeepers, kiosks owners and auto rickshaw drivers in and around Delhi returning R10 coins and asking for currency notes after a WhatsApp message, shared widely, claimed the coin was declared invalid by the central bank. Nothing of that kind has happened. We have not even thought of it, RBI spokesperson Alpana Kilawala said. People should not hesitate in using the coins for transactions as these coins are legal tender. Some rumours said counterfeit coins in two designs had flooded the market. The others claimed the RBI had phased out the coins and those in circulation were fake. There was also talk of the gold polish coming off. Nobody is accepting R10 coin. They say the coins are fake, said Vishal, who works at a workshop in Gurgaon. Similar reports have come in from national capital region towns such as Faridabad, Noida and Meerut. People even visited banks to exchange the coins for notes. Passengers do not want the Rs 10 coin. I try to reason with them but to no avail, said Anurag Yadav, who drives an auto rickshaw in Delhi. In June, the RBI issued a new R10 coin, six years after it was introduced. Coins are minted at four government mints in Mumbai, Kolkata, Noida and Saifabad and Cherlapally in Hyderabad. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Assams BJP government on Tuesday accused the previous Congress rule in the state of encouraging illegal settlers to encroach land near the Kaziranga National Park. The state governments accusations come after two people were killed and over a dozen injured in clashes during an eviction drive on Monday, as per high court directions. Read | 2 dead in Kaziranga eviction drive, minority body calls for highway blockade Vehicular traffic at several national highways across Assam was affected on Tuesday due to a 12-hour blockade announced by All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) in protest against the deaths. Even after Gauhati high court ordered eviction from the area, the Congress government constructed roads, gave electricity connections and other facilities to the illegal settlers, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told journalists. Incidentally, Sarma was part of the Congresss previous two Tarun Gogoi-led governments. Differences with Gogoi led him to quitting the party and joining the BJP last year. Sarma alleged that the Congress government went a step ahead and set up government schools and even a polling booth in the encroached Banderdubi area of the park instead of clearing the area. It shows how the Congress was encouraging encroachers. There was plan to create a kind of colony near Kaziranga, the minister said. Addressing a press conference on Monday, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi termed the eviction drive as inhuman and added that court order was passed on the basis of a wrong affidavit. In October last year, the high court had ordered eviction of three villages Deosursang, Banderdubi and Palkhowa near the national park where hundreds of families have settled over the past decades. Despite assurances from the state government of adequate compensation, many of the settlers, some of whom are believed to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, refused to leave their homes. Forest officials say some of the illegal settlers also help poachers hunt Kazirangas most famous resident the one-horned rhinocerous that is prized for its horn. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON It is time to put the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) out of its misery. It was never more than a talking shop, and theres little to suggest anyones listening not even among its 120 members. The NAM summit last week in a Venezuelan island resort is of less consequence, if such a thing is even conceivable, than the 2012 gathering in Tehran. And nothing symbolises its irrelevance than the statement issued at the end of the proceedings: An appeal for the United Nations to be more inclusive. Plainly, the delegates could come up with nothing to discuss in Margarita Island that could not have been more usefully discussed on another island where most of them are headed this week: Manhattan, home to the UN General Assembly. Read | Uri attack shows Pak using poison instead of dialogue: India at NAM summit Indeed, the two most salient things about the NAM summit argue for the groups dissolution. First, the location: Venezuela, one of the worlds most repressive states, where a corrupt and inept dictator, Nicholas Maduro, had managed to impoverish a small population, despite having access to vast petroleum resources. No self-respecting world leader would attend a $120-million party designed to aggrandise this odious man, which may explain why the most prominent head of state present was Irans Hassan Rouhani. (Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe kept him company.) Which brings me to the second damning aspect of the summit: The long list of absentees. Only eight heads of state bothered to show up, down from an already embarrassing 35 in Tehran. The absentee-in-chief was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who correctly decided he had more important things to do. Read | Pakistan raises Kashmir issue at NAM summit If history shows Modis absence was the beginning of the end, it will be the more appropriate because it was an Indian prime ministers presence that made the beginning possible. NAM was conceived in the atmosphere of excitement and possibility that characterised the 1950s, when the world was emerging out of the long, dark period of colonialism. Newly independent nations dreamed they could make their way in this new world without hewing to either of the big powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, eschewing the icy hostilities of the Cold War and bask in the warmth of Third World (as it was then known) cooperation. The co-founders were Indias Jawaharlal Nehru, Indonesias Sukarno, Egypts Gamal Abdel Nasser, Yugoslavias Josep Broz Tito, and Ghanas Kwame Nkrumah were all figures of international consequence, and their collective charisma attracted lesser lights from around the world. But by the time NAM actually got off the ground, in 1961, the idea had already been undermined. Tito, host of the very first summit, was for all practical purposes aligned to the Soviets. Many members would go on to pick sides in the Cold War, including India. Read | Nehru was a leader of shining veracity Thus born under an ill omen, NAM grew into a forum where developing nations could blame all their problems on the big powers, pretending that much of the membership survived on the dole or protection of those very same powers. Long before Margarita Island, the triennial summits were exhibitions of shameless hypocrisy by American and Soviet puppets, all professing complete independence. Worse still, NAM became a platform for some of the worlds most despicable leaders to preen and posture: The list of secretary-generals includes Fidel and Raul Castro, Mugabe, Hosni Mubarak, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This effectively denied the movement any kind of moral high ground, and rendered risible its rhetorical broadsides against the inequities of the US and the USSR. Nor could it claim, with a straight face, to represent peoples freed from colonial servitude when so many of those people found themselves enslaved by home-grown tyrants. Read | Close India-US ties are crucial for shaping global order NAMs reason to exist ended in 1989, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the end of the Cold War. The world was left with a single superpower, the US, but quickly became multi-polar, with China and India emerging as strong magnetic forces in their own right. There would be new kinds of alignments, more likely to be defined by economics and geography than by ideology. To be aligned is now a virtue, a sign of good leadership. Countries, especially small ones, can and should aim for multiple alignments of their interests. There is now no country in the world that can claim to be non-aligned, not even North Korea, which is in many ways a Chinese protectorate. The oldest joke about NAM is that it was always aligned, and never a movement. But weve laughed at this anachronism long enough. The vast bureaucracy that supports the institution is a waste of manpower, and most members could use those resources more gainfully elsewhere. If there are issues that unite the member nations, these would be better pursued by forming a lobbying block within the UN. Read | Leap in US ties, but military pact may not make India feel safer: Chinese media As for the pious pablum that passes for the collective statement of resolve at the end of each summit, that too can just as easily be issued from the UN. Let Margarita Island be the last exhibition of this nonsense. NAM is dead. Lets have a moments silence, not for the useless institution but for the noble idea that died at its birth, and then move on. (Bobby Ghosh is the editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times. He has spent over two decades covering international affairs, including long stints as correspondent and editor in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the US. He tweets as @ghoshworld) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: Abuzar, 14, died at Apollo Hospital on September 13. His death certificate says he died of dengue shock syndrome with multiple organ failure. But the 14-year-old does not figure in the city s municipal records of dengue deaths. Nor do the names of 18 other residents of Shaheen Bagh and Abu Fazal enclave in Jamia Nagar who died of the mosquito-borne disease. Death certificates of 10 of these victims and blood test reports of seven others show they died of dengue, but civic bodies have refused to budge from their official count of four deaths and 1,378 infections in the Capital this year. The locality in south-east Delhi has a population of around 100,000. According to activist Sameer Khan, at least 30 people have fallen to dengue in the area in the last two months. Families of two victims have left for their ancestral village, neighbours said. Questioning the official toll, local lawmaker Amanatullah Khan said three of his relatives had died of dengue and more than thousand other residents were unwell. Every family in our neighbourhood has someone or the other unwell. How can there be only four deaths? Three of my relatives have died. I meet MCD officials every day and we are using 10 fumigation machines across the area, Khan told HT. Three deaths were reported from Shaheen Baghs D Block and almost every other lane has either lost a resident or is suffering from fever. Area councillor Shoaib Danish is also learnt to have been down with fever. Why is the government hiding the deaths when they should be identifying the problem and solving it? asked 30-year-old Mohammed Javed, who lost his four-year-old daughter to the disease on September 12, two days after she was hospitalised with fever. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation, however, continues to live in denial. We declared four deaths because the case history of all other deaths has been sent to a committee probing the cause of death. The final reports are yet to come out, said SDMC additional commissioner (Health) Meeta Singh. NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: India moved on Monday to diplomatic ally isolate Pakistan as part of retaliation to a militant attack on an army base in Kashmir, but the plan appeared set to run into a wall of resistance from a defiant Islamabad. Aftera two-hour meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of his top ministers decided against any knee-jerk reaction and, instead, backed moves to present evidence of Pakistans complicity at global fora. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj was absent from the meeting to draft a response to Sundays attack that saw heavily armed militants sneak into the base in Uri and kill 18 soldiers before security forces shot them. The head of military operations of the Indian army, Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, said India had the desired capability to respond, without elaborating. Were serve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at a time and place of our own choosing, Singh told reporters. While India weighed its options, Pakistan seemed readying to preempt the diplomatic offensive. In signs of estrangement, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wrote letters to the leaders of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council China, France, Russia, the UK and the US about grave human rights violations in Kashmir by Indian forces. Islamabad made no offer of cooperation to investigate the Uri attack, as was done by it in the aftermath of a similar deadly raid on an air base in Punjab in January. The only civilian Pakistani leader to respond foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz did not even condemn the attack. Aziz dwelt more on the situation in Kashmir, especially the unrest triggered by the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani. Its army chief Raheel Sharif hit out at India shostile narrative , saying his country wasfully prepared to respond to entire spectrum of direct and indirect threat . At a session of the UN human rights council in Geneva on Monday, India asked Pakistan to stop supporting violence and terrorism and vacate its illegal occupation of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. New Delhi also brought up alleged human rights violations in Balochistan the persecution of minorities, including Hindus. As calls grew for a counterstrike against Pakistan and militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which India believes orchestrated the attack, New Delhi also decided to push for more terror elements based there to be brought under UN sanctions. Foreign minister Swaraj will also bring up the attack at United Nations general assembly later next week. Although New Delhi s options to hit back at nuclear-armed Pakistan appeared limited, government sources said a strong message to Pakistan could include surgical strikes against inimical assets along their de-facto border. Granting political asylum to exiled Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti, who spearheads a campaign for independence from Pakistan, is also being considered. The action has to be taken without getting influenced by emotions, anger. It has to be taken cool ly and with proper planning , VK Singh, junior foreign minister said. Past attempts by India to bring Pakistani elements under the sanctions regime has so far been unsuccessful, because of opposition from China, among others. China said on Monday it was shocked by the attack on the Uri base. It also expressed concern over the escalation of violence in Kashmir. France also referred to the disputes in the region of Kashmir. India bristles at any mention by other countries of its territorial dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir. (With agency inputs) NEW DELHI: The four militants who carried out the audacious Uri strike that left 18 soldiers dead wore fatigues, entered the army base by cutting the fence and knew their way around the military complex, sources said. Initial investigations reveal that the four fidayeen, or suicide attackers, reached the administrative base of the army camp, which is barely six kilometers from the line of control in northern Kashmir, by breaking through the fence. There are several sentry posts apart from a gate but the terrorists sneaked in undetected after cutting the fence, an official who visited Uri with the army chief on Sunday told HT. The four were dressed for the raid .They came in army uniforms, their hair was cut short like army officers and none of them was sporting a beard. They did not look like a suicide squad, the official said. The men, suspected to be members of the Pakistan-based-Jaish-e-Mohammad, seemed to know the camp layout. Once inside, they moved towards the cook house and an adjoining shelter. Armed with under-barrel grenade launchers, they fired grenades and rained bullets simultaneously, setting on fire the diesel barrels lying in the complex. The flames soon engulfed the tents in which soldiers were still asleep. As soldiers trapped in burning tents screamed for help, three militant stayed close to each other, wreaking death. Three terrorists were killed within 12 minutes of the first bullet being fired, an army officer said. But, 17 soldiers, too, had died in those 12 minutes. Quick reaction teams were called into save the soldiers lodged in the administrative area, where troops dont carry battle gear. The fourth militant who broke from the group was killed barely 40 metres away from the officers enclave. During the mopping operation, it was found that the four men had shaved their chests a hallmark of suicide attackers who purify themselves before certain death. At a meeting in Srinagar, defence minister Manohar Parrikar wanted some answers -- how the militants entered India and then sneaked into a high-security army camp. The army investigating the double breach, he was told. It is not clear when the group crossed over into India. The undetected fence cut is a serious lapse. It is a matter of inquiry. We are looking at the lapses and are tightening up security, Lt Gen Satish Dua, Corps-Commander, 15 Corps, said when asked about the breach. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: Municipal corporations are witnessing a spurt in the requests to fog houses, indicating rising panic among residents over deaths related to dengue and chikungunya. The malaria control department got at least a dozen requests every day over the past week to fumigate and spray chemicals to control mosquito breeding, civic agencies said. Apart from the calls, whenever our domestic breeding checkers (DBCs) go for checking, residents stop them and ask them to fog their houses, said a health inspector from South Delhi Municipal Corporation. The south corporation, also the nodal agency for the control and awareness of vector borne diseases, got 46 calls on Saturday alone from residents welfare associations (RWAs) and residents. The agency got 31 requests on Friday and 10 on Thursday. South Delhi is the worst hit by chikungunya with 304 out of 2,625 cases reported from there, according to official figures as of September 17. South Delhi also has two premier Centre-run hospitals -- All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Safdarjung Hospital. We do not have enough staff to fog every house every day and this is not needed either. But people get so worked up that they often start fighting with our teams and complaining, said the health inspector. Every ward has 10 DBC workers in-charge of around 50,000 houses. There are 3,500 DBC workers employed with the three civic agencies. Almost every house here has at least one member down with fever. I had requested for fogging last week. But till now no one has turned up. Even if they come to spray the drains they add water to the mixture, alleged Rakesh Kumar Meena of Palam Colony. Fogging only kills adult mosquitoes that come in contact with the fog. It is not the most reliable solution to control the disease, health officials said. Since it is a more visible measure, people rely on it. When we ask them to take precautions such as cleaning their coolers and changing water from their money plants and flower pots, they ignore it, the official said. Central and New Delhi area also witnessed a similar trend. In the past week, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) helpline 1533 received 58 calls for fogging. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON This MBA graduate from IMT-Ghaziabad has been to over 70 countries in the last few years, and can speak in six foreign tongues. But such hectic travel usually comes at a price, something that in this case had to be paid by others. Police said 32- year-old Snigdha Sourav Dass was passionate about touring the world, but didnt have the means to do so. When his regular sources of income seemed unable to provide for his needs, he allegedly decided to make some extra money through fraud. Dass would rent an office at Connaught Place for Rs 500 an hour and seek foreign currency from forex agencies. After finalising the exchange rate, he would ask their executives to deliver the money to his office promising to pay them in Indian rupees on the spot. However, once Dass had the money in his possession, he would allegedly sneak out of his offices back door and make good his escape. Dass finally landed in police custody on Sunday, about two weeks after Sanjay Dutt Sharma a field executive with VLK Forex lodged a complaint against him. Joint commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Yadav alleged that Dass asked the forex agency to bring $5,000 to his office at Connaught Place, and then pulled his usual trick. Dass told the delivery boy to wait until he got the foreign currency checked. Later, when repeated attempts to call him went in vain, Sharma approached us with a complaint, he said. After the incident, Dass reportedly went straight to Russia where he spent a week with his friends. Upon his return, he headed to Goa for the BRICS summit to be held in October. The police team traced each move of his, and finally arrested him, said Yadav. Dass who is fluent in Russian, Spanish, Italian, Thai, Hebrew and Portuguese earlier worked as a system analyst with Accenture, CISCO Systems and the International SOS panel of the National Geographic Channel. During questioning, the suspect revealed that a Russian national he met at a bar in Khan Market last year introduced him to the art of making quick money, said Yadav. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Lucknow: After a brief lull, the Samajwadi Party is at war again. At least 20 youth leaders close to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav resigned on Monday hours after SP state president Shivpal Yadav threw out seven functionaries, including three MLCs, from the party for indiscipline. The new round of hostilities between the young chief minister and his uncle broke out two days after party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav forged an uneasy truce to end a damaging power struggle in the party five months ahead of the state election. Shivpals move against partys young is bound to hurt Akhilesh, who was involved with the youth wing and helped it expand. Members of legislative council Sunil Singh Sajan, Anand Bhadauria and Sanjay Lathar were expelled by Shivpal, named the SP state chief as part of the peace formula, for derogatory remarks against Mulayam. The partys Youth Brigade national and state presidents, UP chief of Yuvjan Sabha were thrown out for indiscipline and anti-party activities. While Akhilesh requested the leaders not to resign, the party had accepted all the resignations by late evening. In an interview to Hindustan Times, Shivpal said there was no trouble in the party and Akhilesh would by the CM face. Sources close to Akhilesh dismissed Shivpals remarks as hogwash. The sackings come as a surprise, as on Saturday Akhilesh promised full support to the new state chief. He even gave back all the portfolios but one the public works department to his uncle. Shivpal, too, had made conciliatory noises. There is no place for factionalism in the party. Those indulging in it will be strictly dealt with, he told party cadres. But, the purge undertaken by him indicates the feuding is far from over. The differences between the two came out in the open when early last week Akhilesh took away three portfolios from Shivpal after Mulayam removed the chief minister as the UP party president and named his brother to the position. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Huntsville Unit, where Texas carries out its executions. Texas is paying four times more for its execution drugs from a new supplier, putting it in line with a local consumer rate but well below the cost in at least one other death penalty state. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show the state paid $13,500 for its most recent batch of pentobarbital at a cost of $1,500 per vial. This compares to $350 per dose paid last year to a previous supplier that cut ties after backlash from death penalty opponents. AUSTIN Texas appeals system for indigent convicts facing the death penalty suffers from poor representation, plagiarized boilerplate legal arguments and other flaws that could result in innocent people being executed, according to a scathing new report by a prominent lawyers group. The report by the nonprofit Texas Defender Service highlights cases in which attorneys never visited their condemned clients in prison, missed filing deadlines and even missed court hearings because they were busy on other cases. The group, which has a reputation for challenging Texas frequent use of the death penalty, called the legal deficiencies multiple and severe. Because Texas uses the death penalty so much, that makes this report extra ugly, said Kathryn Kase, executive director of the group, which was created in 1995 to improve Texas justice system and the quality of legal representation afforded to convicts facing the death penalty. These findings are about as bad as you can get. The report is focused on direct appeals, those started immediately after a conviction, in which trial errors and other issues can be legally vetted before an execution occurs. Those can include complaints of racial bias, ineffective counsel and other legal issues. Condemned Texans who cannot afford to pay for their own lawyers a majority on death row typically get attorneys appointed by local judges, who generally award those cases to friends or lawyers willing to take on those appeals, the report said. It recommends that Texas create a state office to oversee death-penalty direct appeals, to appoint two lawyers to each direct appeal instead of one, and to reform the system to provide minimum standards and better compensation for lawyers in some parts of the state to guard against ineffective counsel. With public support for the death penalty in Texas waning, and as life without parole has become a more popular alternative, the groups findings almost assure that the oft-criticized appeals system in capital cases will be a topic of debate when the Legislature convenes in January. A growing chorus of critics in recent years has warned that, absent reforms, Texas current system is likely to face increasing scrutiny by appeals courts. Patrick McCann, a Houston defense lawyer with expertise in capital appeals, characterized the reports findings as horrible, astounding and disheartening. This report is a very sad commentary on how the system runs and whether or not it should be revamped or scrapped, he said. Theres nowhere to go from here but up. The report, Lethally Deficient, was set for release early today. An advance copy obtained Monday showed the group reviewed 84 death penalty appeals decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals between January 2009 and December 2015. Of those, Kase said, convictions were overturned in only three cases. The report targets Texas practices for selecting direct-appeal attorneys for its harshest criticism. While death-penalty trials require two attorneys be appointed to each case, direct-appeals appointments get only one. This leaves the defense short-handed and runs counter to the recommendations from the State Bar of Texas and the American Bar Association that two lawyers represent a defendant through a death-penalty case, the report states. Two-thirds of the cases in the study sample were handled by solo practitioners, who may lack ready access to direct supervision, consultation or support staff. The report also contends that low pay rates in some rural counties could lead to ineffective or sloppy representation. Some lawyers who handled appeals in our survey had a capital and noncapital workload during the 2014 fiscal year that equaled the recommended workload for three or more lawyers, the report states. Additionally, the reports authors said, a lack of direct supervision led to instances in which appointed lawyers copied text in their filings directly from other appeals. Lawyers in other states have been sanctioned for copying and pasting such wording in filings, but none in Texas has been penalized, the report notes. In one example cited by the report, a lawyer copied a trial motion without analyzing the trial courts decision or making her own argument in support of the clients appeal. The report also stated that lawyers in 24 cases did not list any time in billing records dedicated to communicating with their clients. Two defendants wrote to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to report that they had not heard from their lawyer; three defendants wrote that their appellate lawyer had filed briefs without consulting them. Brian Stull, a North Carolina-based senior staff attorney with the Capital Punishment Project of the American Civil Liberties Union who has handled Texas death penalty cases, said the report highlights serious issues that need to be addressed. - Download the The direct appeal is where important issues are reviewed in death-penalty cases, he said. The Texas system has major problems.- Download the full Texas Defender Service report (pdf): "Lethally Deficient: Direct Appeals in Death Penalty Cases" | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: Houston Chronicle, Mike Ward, Austin Bureau,September 20, 2016 The Aam Aadmi Party government announced on Tuesday every road in the national capital would be fogged to get rid of mosquitoes, the vector responsible for a three-pronged outbreak of dengue, chikungunya and malaria in the city. The fight against mosquitoes will now see fogging on all roads and byroads every alternate day for the next one month. Keeping in mind the dengue, malaria and chikungunya crisis, the Delhi government has launched a campaign to make Delhi mosquito-free, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal declared a war on mosquitoes. The announcement came on a day the Delhi high court directed the Centre and city government to step up efforts to tackle the outbreak, suggesting measures such as deploying retired personnel to increase the number of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff. It asked government-run hospitals not to deny treatment or admission to patients, and directed civic authorities to visit houses, particularly slums, with fogging machines and spray insecticides. The AAP governments push for a determined fogging exercise capped days of denial over the scale of the crisis despite hospitals struggling to cope with the growing number of patients. Read| Does chikungunya kill? Yes, minister, it does. And there is evidence The city recorded over the past month more than 4,000 cases of mosquito-borne diseases, with 15 chikungunya-related deaths, though officially no one has died of the condition. Dengue has claimed four people on official records till September 17, while the unofficial count is 20. Hundreds of cases of chikungunya, the illness that causes high fever and joint pain, are being unreported because most patients avoid the test to confirm the disease once the fever subsides in four or five days. The test can detect anti-bodies in about a week since the fever sets in. Although fogging and sanitation are the responsibility of the MCDs (civic agencies), we now understand that there is a crisis. And since people have complained that fogging hasnt happened, so this will supplement the efforts of the MCDs and increase its band-width, Sisodia said. The move is viewed as an attempt to not only kill the Aedes aegypti and Anopheles mosquitoes carriers of dengue and chikungunya viruses and the malaria parasite but also silence mounting criticism against the AAP government, which has been accused of passing the blame on the BJP-ruled municipal corporations. The health crisis has sparked a political row over who is to blame for failing to properly prepare for the outbreak. Read| Delhi govt launches awareness drive to combat dengue, chikungunya We do not wish to get into why the primary duty of prevention of vector-borne diseases and cleaning of garbage did not happen despite all funds having been released before time and repeated meetings, Sisodia said. The Delhi government will acquire 600 fogging machines on contract. The fogging will continue for one month, till the end of October. The machines will work day and night in every ward, every lane, Sisodia said. People can ring up 1266 (North and South MCD), 155303 (East MCD) and 23340108 (NDMC) to make fogging requests for their localities. Doctors were not convinced that fogging can stop mosquito breeding, which is most active during the monsoon season from June to September. The chemicals used in the smoke during fogging kill adult mosquitoes, but extensive anti-larvae measures are needed to weed out a population. Besides, sustained exposure in high doses to chemicals such as melathion and cyphenothrin can cause skin and eye irritation, and headache. Fogging every week or 10 days is fine, but doing it on alternate days will aggravate allergies and chronic respiratory problems like asthma, said Dr Vikas Maurya, senior pulmonologist at BL Kapur Super Specialty Hospital. People are advised to cover their face with an anti-pollution mask or wet cloth during exposure to smoke from fogging. Read| Do I have chikungunya? Heres how to tell whether you need to get tested Read| Delhis dengue bluff: Just 4 died officially, but HT finds 19 in one locality A 22-year-old schoolteacher died after a man, whose marriage proposal she rejected, stabbed her more than 20 times on a busy road in north Delhis Burari on Tuesday morning, the latest in a string of stalker-related crimes in the city. A recording of the incident captured on closed-circuit television camera showed the woman, identified as Karuna by the police, walking on the side of a road when the assailant, Surender Singh, approaches and stabs her. As she falls to the ground and tries to get away from him, Singh is seen kicking and stabbing her multiple times and many people walking by with a few attempting to intervene but failing. Police said Singh claimed to be in love with Karuna for more than a year and had given marriage proposals several times, but was turned down. The rejections enraged Singh, who began to stalk and even threatened to kill her. A few months ago, Karuna approached local police after Singh started harassing her by repeatedly calling her on the phone, sources said. She also informed her parents and brother about the harassment. Police said both Karuna and Singh were called to the police station, and advised to compromise as her family members did not want to file a case. Singh reportedly promised to mend his ways. Read: Fatal obsession: Why people turn into stalkers and how to recognise the signs On Tuesday, he followed Karuna and stopped her on her way to school. Locals at the spot managed to catch Singh, who was trying to flee. They thrashed him and called the police. He was then handed over to us, an investigator said. He has been arrested and a case of murder has been registered against him. The sensational case came just a day after a 28-year-old woman in southwest Delhi was stabbed and killed by a man who claimed to be in love with her. Experts often dub Delhi as Indias stalking capital because the largest number of cases of stalking is registered in the city. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau says 1,124 cases of stalking were reported last year, almost a fifth of all such incidents across India. Many analysts say stalking cases are difficult to report because complaints are usually not taken seriously unless the perpetrator resorts to assault or murder. In many cases, the victims either dont take the threat seriously or are too embarrassed to mention it to friends and family, let alone the police. Stalker-led abductions and deaths are rare, but stalking defined as wilful, malicious and repeated unwanted attention, harassing, violating or threatening the victim can end in other forms of violence, such as vicious personal attacks on social media, wrecking of property and, in some cases, molestation and assault. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Haryana government on Tuesday made a request to the Centre to transfer the probe into the double murder and gang-rape case in Mewat to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The state home department sent a letter to the department of personnel and training (DoPT) of the Centre for transferring the case to the Central investigation agency. Additional chief secretary, home, Ram Niwas later told Hindustan Times that a reference has been made to the Centre after the chief minister granted his approval. As per procedure, the DoPT will seek the CBIs comments before taking a decision on the case transfer request of the state government. The state government sent the communication two days after Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattars comments terming the murder and gang-rape case and the subsequent police raids to collect biryani samples as small issues sparked a row. Read more: Haryana govt agrees to CBI probe into Mewat gangrape A couple was murdered and a minor girl (16) and her cousin (21) were allegedly gang-raped by a group of around 10 men in the intervening night of August 24-25 in Dingerheri village in Mewat. The brutal crime had sent shock waves across the region, triggering protests by villagers and politicians cutting across party lines calling for a CBI probe. The police registered a case under sections 459 (grievous hurt), 460 (trespass), 302 (murder), 376D (gang-rape), 396 (dacoity with murder) and 397 (dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the IPC at Tauru police station, even as allegations of callousness and negligence of cops in handling the case flew thick and fast. The police have so far arrested four accused Sandeep, Amarjeet, Karamjeet and Rahul, residents of Mohammadpur Ahir village located less than three kilometres away from Dingerheri in the case. The case is being investigated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Nuh police. Read more: Haryana: Couple killed; woman, minor allegedly gangraped in Mewat The case transfer reference has been ordered after Khattar gave an assurance to a 11-member delegation, comprising three MLAs and two former ministers that the case may be handed over to the CBI for a fair and thorough probe. The delegation had also demanded strict action against local police officials for alleged negligence in handling the case. TIMELINE OF EVENTS: August 24-25 night: A couple was murdered and a minor girl and her cousin gang-raped by a group of 8-10 persons in Dingerheri August 28: Four accused, all in their twenties and residents of a nearby village, arrested September 1: Mahapanchayat of 36 communities held to demand CBI probe and action against police officials for alleged negligence September 7: 11-member delegation, including 3 MLAs, meets CM, who promises a CBI inquiry September 20: Home department makes a reference to DoPT for CBI probe Sacked Delhi minister Sandeep Kumar, who was arrested on rape charges after the sex video surfaced, told a special court that he has neither changed his advocate nor was he assaulted inside the Tihar jail, ending the controversy over which lawyer would represent him. The issue had cropped up when an advocate had last week claimed that he was authorised by Kumar to represent him and that the former minister in the AAP government in Delhi was beaten up in jail. Same day, the MLAs wife denied the advocates claim, saying it was a political conspiracy as the lawyer had not been appointed by him. Kumar, who is in judicial custody, was on Tuesday produced before special judge Poonam Chaudhry, who had issued production warrant on the application of his counsel Pradeep Rana to clarify on the issue. When the court asked Kumar as to who is his counsel, Pradeep Rana or A P Singh, the MLA replied he had engaged Rana who was still his counsel. Clarifying on the issue, the MLA said that advocate Singh had come to meet him in jail where he had claimed he was an associate of advocate Rana and asked for his signatures on Vakalatnama. Singh, however, claimed that Kumar had authorised him to file the application seeking security due to purported threat to his life. Since, you (Singh) are not his counsel, how can you argue on his behalf? You withdraw the application, the court said. The court then dismissed as withdrawn Singhs plea and observed that due to this, an unnecessary difficulty has been caused to everybody. Accused on being asked as to who has been engaged and authorised to appear on his behalf, states that he has engaged Pradeep Rana advocate. In view of submissions made by accused, the application moved by A P Singh seeking direction to jail authorities is dismissed as withdrawn, the judge said. The court also extended the judicial custody of Kumar till October 4. Kumar was arrested on September 3 after a woman had approached Sultanpuri police station in North Delhi complaining of sexual harassment against the ex-social welfare and women and child development minister, following which a case was filed. The woman had figured in an objectionable video with him. The MLA from Sultanpur Majra was removed from AAP government on August 31 by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after the CD surfaced. He had defended himself saying he has been targeted. The man who threw ink at deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia outside the Delhis lieutenant governors office on Monday, was sent to one-day judicial custody on Tuesday by a Delhi court. Metropolitan magistrate Ambika Singh remanded 42-year-old Brijesh Shukla in judicial custody till Wednesday when produced before the court by police. The court also fixed hearing of Shuklas bail plea, filed by his counsel on Tuesday, for Wednesday in which he has claimed that the allegations against him were false and fabricated and he had not created any hurdle for public servant in performing duty. The application filed through advocate Rajesh Kumar said his clients custody was no more required as the investigation of police was almost complete and recovery has also been made. Shukla, a resident of Karawal Nagar in north east Delhi and President of Swaraj Janta Party, told the reporters outside the courtroom that he does not regret throwing ink at Sisodia. Delhis deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia drives off in his car after ink-attack by Birjesh Pathak on Monday (Sonu Mehta/HT Photo) Shukla, who was arrested on Monday for allegedly thrown copious amount of ink at Sisodia, had then said he was angry with the deputy CM for his Finland tour at a time when the city was grappling with a health crisis. Shukla has been booked under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the IPC. Police has also alleged that the accused had manhandled the constable on duty. The complaint against Shukla was filed by C Arvind, the secretary of the deputy chief minister. Shukla been actively engaged in protests against the AAP government over various issues and has also filed a complaint in court against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi. A lag between desire and fulfilment is seen in every aspect of Indias public life but nowhere is the hiatus as stark as it is in the case of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, otherwise known as the Dalits. An investigation by IndiaSpend has shown that Rs 2.8 lakh crore set aside to improve the living conditions of the Dalits has not been spent over the past 35 years. The money was supposed to be expended on account of crop insurance, scholarships and mid-day meals. For this act of omission, the price is being paid not just by the Dalits but the country as a whole. If sufficient Dalit empowerment had taken place in India, chances of there being instances such as the killings by the Ranvir Sena in Lakshanpur-Bathe or Bathani Tola in Bihar or the Dalit murders at Khairlanji in Maharashtra would have been minimal. The reservations, around which so much trouble seems to be brewing all over the country, could have phased out. Read: Under Modi, record rise in unspent funds for Dalits and tribals The central question is: Why does the allotted money remain unspent? The answers to that are mainly two. First, to spend a certain amount of money for a purpose presupposes that conditions for spending it have been met. For example, if a bridge is to be constructed on a river, there must a road to reach the river. For the amelioration of the conditions in which the Dalits live, a lot of groundwork needs to be done. The State is unable, and sometimes unwilling, to do it. There is another reason for this too. There are elements in the official class who, out of prejudice, are averse to doing anything good for the Dalits. Not many of our IAS officers, who are the permanent executive, have had the conscience of an SR Sankaran, who had taken up matters related to atrocities on Dalits. Read: BJP to hold brainstorming session to counter anti-Dalit image But it is also a fact that through reservations and the expansion in government, a Dalit middle class has come into existence. And it is through this class that most of the Dalit demands are being articulated. The State often fails to fill posts in government service meant for the Dalits, what to speak of crop insurance. If affirmative action for the Dalits is to find a point of beginning, it must not leaving any job of the Dalits vacant. There have been many manifestos on Dalit emancipation, the Bhopal Declaration of 2002 being the most prominent among them. The Niti Aayog and the Union ministry of social justice would do well to take a look at it and consult the people involved in drafting it. After months of speculation, news that one of Hollywoods most popular couples Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt splitting up was confirmed after Jolie filed for divorce. For years, the couple gave followers relationship goals with their ever-expanding rainbow family. Two years ago, they even said I do at a private wedding ceremony after their children pressured them into. The love story only got more romantic, Notebook-style, with Brad standing by Angelina through her cancer scare and depression. It seemed like nothing could come in between this power couple. The split left many crushed. Here is a look at how Bradgelina came together, and then fell apart: 2004: Brad and Angelina in a still from Mr and Mrs Smith, the first movie they co-starred in. Brad and Angelina met and fell in love while filming Mr and Mrs Smith (2005). Brad was still married to Jennifer Aniston of Friends fame at the time while Angelina had recently divorced Billy Bob Thornton. Brad and Jennifer were a popular couple, earning Brad a lot of flak from Jennifers fans. Home wrecker Jolie also drew a lot of ire. 2005: March: Jennifer officially files for divorce from Pitt in March. Jolie and Pitt promote Mr and Mrs Smith together but keep things under wraps. April: Brad holidays with Angelina and her adopted son Maddox in Kenya. July: Angelina and Brad appear on the cover of W magazine together. Angelina adopts another child, this time a girl from Ethiopia, Zahara. October: Jennifer and Brads divorce is finalised. 2006: January: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt at Premiere of The Good Shepherd, Ziegfeld Theatre, New York, NY, December 11, 2006. Angelina reveals she is expecting a child with Pitt. May: Their daughter Shiloh is born. 2007: March: Angelina adopts three-year-old Pax from Vietnam. 2008: May: Angelina confirms she is expecting twins at the Cannes Film Festival. July: Twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline are born. October: Angelina accepts that her romance with Brad started when he was still married to Jennifer. 2011: Brad Pitt tells Parade magazine that Angelina has made his life interesting and that Jennifer is an incredibly giving, loving, and hilarious woman who remains my friend. 2012: April: Brad and Angelina at the 2012 Palm Springs Film Festival Awards Gala at the Palm Springs Convention Centre. January 7, 2012. Angelina and Brad reveal they are engaged. 2013: February: Angelina gets a secret double mastectomy after discovering she has a defective BRCA-1 gene that put her at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. She tells the world about it in a New York Times Op Ed in May. Angelinas mother Marcheline Bertrand had died of the same cancer in 2007, as did her grandmother. 2014: August: The couple ties the knot in a secret ceremony in Chateau Miraval in France. They said that the decided to marry because of their kids. (Twitter) 2015: Their second film together, By The Sea, hits theatres. Angelina, who also directed the film about a couple teetering on the edge, revealed that making the movie was testing the strength of their relationship. 2016: March: Rumours of their alleged split start surfacing in the media. International Business Times reported that Brad and Angelinas relationship had been in trouble for months, beginning prior to the Pitts recent move to London with their children Pax, Zahara, Maddox, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne. The rift was reportedly caused by the discovery of Jolies diary confessions, reported IBT. The National Enquirer reported that Pitt was bothered by reminders of his wifes past problems, including heroin binges and kinky sex games. April: Life & Style magazine said the couples impeding separation is the result of jealousy, fights and other man. Without naming who this man is, the magazine went on to say that the couple is already living apart. Earlier allegations had also said that Angelinas dramatic weight loss is a contentious issue between the couple; the 5 7 actor weighs about 40 kg. May: The rumours further fuelled when reports emerged that Pitt was cheating on his wife with French actor Marion Cotillard. Pitt is currently shooting Allied in England and an insider told RadarOnline: There is totally something going on between (Brad and Marion). They had insane chemistry right from the start, and many crewmembers believe theyve been acting on it in private. September 20: TMZ reports that Angelina Jolie filed for divorce. This decision was made for the health of the family. She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time, attorney Robert Offer said in the statement. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Honestly, we should have seen it coming. If their borderline scandalous coupling all those years ago wasnt indication enough, the almost lascivious rumours that have been floating around for the last few months certainly should have been. Even if you missed By the Sea (Angelina Jolies film about a disintegrating marriage that also starred Brad Pitt) which has suddenly transformed into a painful cry for help, and even if you suppressed the most sordid rumours (cheating, cocaine, mysterious real estate transactions) into the darkest corners of your mind, you should have seen this coming. On Tuesday, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from her husband of 2 years, partner of 11, Brad Pitt. Both Pitt and Jolie have had rather... colourful lives. He has been one half of three Golden Couples that commanded the attention of the worlds tabloids. It was Gwyneth Paltrow in the 90s and then, more famously, Jennifer Aniston. (REUTERS) They were Brangelina, Hollywoods Golden Couple, idealised, worshipped, two of the most recognisable faces on the planet. But to paraphrase one of Brad Pitts own films, Fight Club, they were not special. They were not beautiful and unique snowflakes. They were, as it sinks in, the same decaying organic matter as everything else. There will no doubt be numerous think pieces written on them in the days to come. Perhaps this is one of them, perhaps this is not. But if there is ever a reminder that nothing is sacred, even more than your own personal tragedy, its events like this. Somehow, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arent allowed to do this. Shes supposed to be a UN Goodwill Ambassador, calling for an end to the Syrian war. He is supposed to be a father of six, an Oscar-winner. Only a few months ago, in November, she declared, My job is to love him. But perhaps to find the truth, we should revisit the past. Both Pitt and Jolie have had rather... colourful lives. They were different back then. He has been one half of three Golden Couples that commanded the attention of the worlds tabloids. It was Gwyneth Paltrow in the 90s and then, more famously, Jennifer Aniston. And Jolie, of course, was hardly different. She was a notorious wild child; her weakness for drugs, living a fringe lifestyle, sadomasochism, borderline incest and carrying a vial of her lovers blood is all well-documented. But that was all in the past. The official reason for their separation is the official reason for all celebrity separations: Irreconcilable differences. But Jolies lawyer added that the decision was made for the health of the family. Hollywood actors Brad Pitt (L) and actress Angelina Jolie (2nd R) arrive with their children Knox (beside Pitt), Vivienne (R) and Pax (C) at Haneda international airport in Tokyo, Japan on July 28, 2013. (REUTERS) The family includes their six children. Three adopted (Maddox, Pax, Zahara) and three biological (the twins Max and Vivienne, and Shiloh). It is being said - all rumours of course - that it was Pitts parenting that finally destroyed them. Jolies recent, shockingly sudden weight loss was alarming. But there she was, giving lectures all over the world, promoting peace and love. She pulled out of not one, but two passion projects: Cleopatra and the Agatha Christie adaptation, Murder on the Orient Express. But however ominous the signs, they were always rumours. Just like the ones about Pitt cheating on her with his new co-star Marion Cotillard. Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt in a still from Allied. Even when gossip rags quoted sources with venomous bytes like: The relationship has disintegrated into withering glances and stony silences. Brad feels that their almost two-year union is unsalvageable. Or, Shes overworked, overstressed, and emotionally overburdened. Shes headed for a complete physical and emotional breakdown. Or perhaps this: Brad has tried so hard to help her, but hes exhausted by trying to care for someone who consistently refuses his help. Signs, all of them, for what was to come. But it was all waved off, the bread and butter of click-hungry online vultures. But perhaps the biggest clue came while watching By the Sea, Jolies third, and by far most personal film as director. There was an uncomfortable sense that you were eavesdropping into something very personal. The film, about an artistic couple attempting a last-ditch effort to save their disintegrating marriage, seems almost therapeutic now - as if Jolie, like her characters, was reaching out to the man she loves, one last time. And Pitt, furious, passionate, was trying. With her. And they drove away into the sunset. Because thats what happens in the movies. The Golden Couple of Hollywood, like the hundreds before them, will leave a wake of heartbreak. And now, its over. Their six children, once blessed, will have to live with more burdens than they could ever have anticipated. Their careers, at least for the time being, will be secondary to their private lives. The Golden Couple of Hollywood, like the hundreds before them, will leave a wake of heartbreak. Fans, like most friends after a horrible breakup, will take sides. There will be unplanned, uncomfortable meetings in the years to come, likely at some vapid Hollywood party. There will be custody battles, for however final this decision may seem, this fight is only just beginning. But maybe things will turn around. They did for Megan Fox and her husband Brian Austin Green. And they did for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. This is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were talking about after all. Follow @htshowbiz for more In a massive bureaucratic shake-up, the Haryana government shifted 26 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers on Monday with immediate effect. The reshuffle covered top bosses of key departments including power, town and country planning, health, finance, excise and taxation, food and civil supplies and labour. Rajan Kumar Gupta, additional chief secretary (ACS), power, has been posted as additional chief secretary, health. Anurag Rastogi, principal secretary (PS), excise and taxation and irrigation, is now in-charge of power department. He will continue to retain irrigation. Shyam Sunder Prasad, ACS, food and supplies, has been given the additional charge of town and country planning and urban estates. He replaces P Raghavendra Rao, who has been posted in the finance department. Sanjeev Kaushal, additional chief secretary, finance, goes as ACS, excise and taxation, and public health engineering. PK Mahapatra, ACS, health, has been posted as ACS, women and child development. Vijai Vardhan, ACS, higher education and cultural affairs, is the new ACS, labour. ACS, co-operation, Rajni Sekhri Sibal has been moved to animal husbandry and dairying department in place of Abhilaksh Likhi, who goes as PS , tourism. Sashi Bala Gulati, ACS, women and child development, has been moved to archives, archaeology and museums department. She has opted for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), giving the government three months notice. Gulati replaces Shrikant Walgad, who is now PS, environment. Alok Nigam, ACS, public health engineering, has been posted as cooperation department. While TC Gupta, PS, welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes department, has been posted as PS, monitoring and coordination, SN Roy, PS, environment, is now PS, fisheries. Roy replaces Anil Malik, who goes as PS, technical education. Anil Kumar, PS, urban local bodies, has been posted in the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes department. Mahavir Singh is now PS, higher education and civil aviation departments. Sumita Misra, PS, tourism, has been posted as PS, housing and cultural affairs departments. Anand Mohan Sharan, principal resident commissioner, Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi, chief administrator of Trade Fair Authority, Haryana, and chairman, Haryana Minerals Limited, has been given the additional charge of PS, urban local bodies. AK Singh, PS, employment and mines and geology, has been given additional charge of industrial training. Vijayendra Kumar, secretary, general administration and revenue and disaster management, has been given additional charge of director general and secretary, environment. Subhash Chandra, has been posted as secretary, revenue and disaster management. Pradeep Kasni, director general, science and technology, has been posted as secretary, finance, in place of CG Rajinikaanthan, whose orders will be issued later. Saket Kumar has been posted as special secretary (health), mission director, National Health Mission and commissioner, Food and Drugs Administration, in addition to his present duties. Anshaj Singh, director and additional secretary, industrial training and employment, has been given the additional charge of managing director, Dairy Development Cooperative Federation. Rajiv Rattan has been posted as director, science and technology Department. Three takeaways 1) Top administrative bosses of power, town and country planning, finance, health, excise and taxation, food and civil supplies and labour reshuffled 2) Minimum tenure policy overlooked with the government transferring several officers much before completion of two-year tenure. Health, for instance, has had four additional chief secretaries in past two years 3) Reshuffle triggers speculations about it being linked to feedback sessions held by the BJP brass with ministers, MLAs and advisers, Dhingra committee, etc. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani today called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and condemned the cross border attack in Uri while expressing solidarity with India to eliminate the threat of terrorism, a PMO statement said. Heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based JeM had stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir on Sunday, killing 18 soldiers. President Ghani also expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers. The Prime Minister thanked President Ghani for Afghanistans support. Why do you really think the DEA is fighting marijuana so hard when its prescription opioids that are killing people? Check out any statistic on drug deaths and youll see right away prescription painkillers kill more people than practically anything else (accept for alcohol poisoning, and alcohol is legal). Why, in 2016, are they making sure marijuana stays listed as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin (when meth is Schedule II!), refusing to declassify even the non-psychoactive components, and raiding 81-year-old cancer patients who grow four whole marijuana plants like that elderly man is a dire threat to society? Its beyond obvious that legalization of natural painkillers is a threat to corporate and criminal justice profits. If people can naturally heal themselves and their pain, they dont need corporate poisons. In addition, more than half of drug arrests involve marijuana, so theres a huge economy built around putting people in jail for it. Now were being told just how much lobbyists for Big Pharma have worked to shape federal policies on its opioids and marijuana legalization. According to AP and the Center for Public Integrity: The industry and its allies spent more than $880 million nationwide on lobbying and campaign contributions from 2006 through 2015 more than 200 times what those advocating for stricter policies spent and eight times more than the influential gun lobby recorded for similar activities during that same period Nearly a billion dollars to influence policies, and that includes the fight against medical marijuana legalization in states across the country. Now the DEA is putting kratom, a harmless plant powder used for pain relief that has killed no one, on the Schedule I list too. Why? Could it be because Big Pharma uses kratom alkaloids to manufacture its synthetic opioids? Costly synthetic opioids that cause widespread addiction and have killed hundreds of thousands of people? Every day it is made more and more clear that the war on drugs is a war for corporations and a war against us. BJP president Amit Shah held a review meeting on Tuesday with all party general secretaries in connection with the three-day National Council meet being organised later this week. The meeting also discussed the current political issues which may come up at the meet and the partys stand which would be articulated by the BJP top brass, party sources said. BJP would emphasise on garib kalyan agenda, besides the contributions made by its ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay whose birthday falls on September 25. The Uri attack and its aftermath was also believed to have been discussed and the party is likely to articulate its view on the subject. An Indian soldier was killed and at least eight suspected intruders were shot dead as the army battled two groups of militants along the border with Pakistan on Tuesday, two days after an attack on a military camp in Kashmir. Troops also exchanged fire with Pakistani soldiers in the Uri sector, close to the armys 12 Brigade headquarters which was attacked by militants on Sunday. The attack left 18 troopers dead and more than 20 injured. Two infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control (LoC) have been foiled in Uri and Naugam sectors today (Tuesday), an army spokesperson said, adding the gunfights were on. One soldier was killed in the Naugam sector, he said. Read | In the line of fire: Why Uri is vulnerable to militant attacks The Indian offensive came amid a bitter war of words between New Delhi and Islamabad following the Uri attack, blamed on the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) by New Delhi. The army also said Pakistani troops were distracting Indian soldiers with cover fire to help the militants along the LoC, the de-facto border, sneak into the country. An official in Srinagar said the firing from across the border lasted half an hour from 1.10pm. There was no damage from the firing that the army described as a violation of a 2003 ceasefire agreement. In New Delhi, Union home minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with top officials, including national security adviser Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S Jaishankar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a meeting of the cabinet committee on security on Wednesday to discuss the Uri attack. Sources said the three service chiefs are likely to participate. Pakistan has denied Indias allegations of Islamabads complicity in the Uri attack, though the Indian army said it had recovered arms, ammunition, food and medicine packets with Pakistani markings. Islamabad accuses New Delhi of using the attack to deflect attention from continued street protests in Kashmir following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani by security forces two months ago. More than 80 civilians have been killed in those protests. Meanwhile, the bodies of the four militants killed in the Uri camp attack were buried on Monday, apparently to prevent public sympathy for them. The quick burials were in contrast to standard practice. The militants were buried close to the garrison in Uri, though foreign militants in north Kashmir are usually buried at Kitchama graveyard, 25 km from the town. The National Investigation Agency began its formal probe into the attack by registered a case on Tuesday. (With agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Supporters of self-styled godman and rape accused Asaram Bapu gave a harrowing time to passengers on a Jodhpur-Delhi Jet Airways flight on Sunday and to police personnel who brought him to the national capital for a medical check-up, The Economic Times has reported. The flight which was scheduled to take off at 11:55 am was reportedly delayed by about two hours and no announcement was made as passengers were only getting messages on their phones. According to the report, around 1:30 pm, a group of policemen came and formed a human barricade, separating other passengers from a pathway through which Asaram was brought in on a wheelchair. He was followed by 10-15 of his devotees, who had booked tickets only to accompany him on the flight to Delhi. As soon as Asaram Bapu came on a wheelchair with his devotees, boarding was announced. Immediately after he came, the boarding started. There was no queue. An air hostess screamed an announcement to board the flight, Swati Daga, a public relations consultant was quoted as saying. The flight took off without any of the mandatory safety instructions air hostesses are supposed to give. If that wasnt bad enough, most of the devotees didnt take their seats at the time of take-off. Those who sat down did not bother about seat belts, insisting that God was with them. Seat belt ki kya zaroorat jab swayam bhagwaan hamare saath hain? (What is the need of a seat belt when God Himself is travelling with us?), one passenger said. Passengers, however, accused Jet Airways of going out of the way to comfort Asaram at their cost. Many of us had to stand as his supporters surrounded him and did not allow us to pass, said another passenger. The aircrafts air-conditioning was not working. A passenger Sahiba Gursahaney, a marketing executive was quoted as saying that On being asked, a steward said the cooling wouldnt start until all passengers were seated, something none of us had ever heard before. The policemen accompanying him failed to pacify Asarams supporters and when the situation went out of hand, the godman intervened and requested the passengers to settle down. A guest travelling with Jet Airways flight from Jodhpur to Delhi, was ferried to the airport terminal as per the judicial procedures stated by the concerned authorities post landing at Delhi Airport, Jet Airways spokesperson said, adding that the flight was delayed because of technical reasons. But the onboard ruckus was not all. Upon landing, Asaram reportedly said that he would not get off the aircraft without his supporters by his side. The police agreed to his demand, the ET report said. Adding to the troubles of the police, the airport staff too rushed to seek blessings of the tainted godman. However, no case was registered against Asaram by the police in Delhi. At the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) police had to deploy additional force on Monday to keep his supporters at bay. Exiled leader Brahamdagh Bugti, heading the movement in Balochistan, on Tuesday approached the Indian Embassy in Geneva, seeking asylum and exuded confidence of a positive response from New Delhi. Bugti, who is leader of Baloch Republican Party (BRP), said he held talks with top Indian diplomats about his asylum as well as that of a number of other Baloch leaders currently staying in Balochistan, Afghanistan and in some other countries. I went to the Indian embassy and held talks with Indian officials about it (asylum). I am confident that something positive will come out, Bugti said but refused to share any details as the matter was very sensitive. The exiled leader is the grandson of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who was killed by Pakistani forces 10 years ago. Bugti said Indias encouragement to the Baloch movement means a lot for his people and that in the meeting, various aspects of the entire issue were discussed. I am thankful to Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of Balochistan in his Independence Day speech. It is a very good move. We are hopeful of Indias continued support, he said. Read | After Modis remarks, Pak media has started mentioning Balochistan: Analysts Bugti, who currently lives in exile in Switzerland, will file the asylum application at the countrys embassy within next few days. We have decided to formally file asylum papers to Indian government soon. We will follow the legal process for the application, he said. On Monday, the Baloch leader had appealed to India to come out with a policy initiative so that people facing atrocities in Balochistan can come and feel secure in India. He said many more Baloch leaders may seek asylum in India and added we will see who all will need asylum (in India). Bugti had gone into exile in Afghanistan after the death of Akbar Bugti in 2006. The Pakistani government had pressured Afghanistan to extradite him following which Bugti shifted to Switzerland in 2010. He had reportedly survived multiple attempts on his life in Afghanistan. Also read | Pakistan expedites process to bring back Brahamdagh Bugti through Interpol The Nitish Kumar cabinet on Tuesday announced it was increasing the ex-gratia amount from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 11 lakh for families of the three Bihar soldiers killed in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir two days ago. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had earlier announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh. However, the decision to revise the amount was taken at a state Cabinet meeting. SK Vidyarthi from Gaya, Rakesh Singh from Kaimur and Ashok Kumar Singh from Ara in Bhojpur district were three of the 18 soldiers killed in action when militants attacked an army camp in Uri. Four militants were also killed in the crossfire. Read | As it happened: Militants attack army camp in Uri CM Kumar further announced full state honours to the three soldiers of the Bihar regiment. Three ministers also attended the funeral ceremony. The announcement comes on a day an Indian soldier was killed and at least eight suspected intruders shot dead as the army battled two groups of militants along the border with Pakistan on Tuesday. Troops also exchanged fire with Pakistani soldiers in the Uri sector, close to the armys 12 Brigade headquarters which was attacked by militants on September 18. Also read | Indias fallen heroes: The 18 soldiers who lost their lives in Uri attack A day after the Cauvery supervisory committee ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water from the river to Tamil Nadu daily between September 21 and 30, the Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear the contesting claims of the two states that recently witnessed violence over the issue. Ahead of the hearing, prohibitory orders have been put in place in Mandyas Sanjay circle keeping in view last weeks violence. Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara has issued elaborate guidelines for the police to deal with any eventuality and directed them to take precautionary measures to avert possible violence. The state police have been asked to keep fire engines and emergency forces ready in sensitive areas around the Cauvery belt, including Bengaluru. The police have also been directed to flag march in sensitive areas and an appeal has been made to pro-Kannada activists and farmers associations to maintain peace. The top court had on September 5 asked Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water per day for a period of 10 days to Tamil Nadu to minimise the plight of farmers there. On September 12, the court modified the order and asked Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu per day till September 20. Read | Cauvery water row explained: Heres why Karnataka, Tamil Nadu fight over river It had turned down Karnatakas plea to stop release Cauvery water for five days and rapped the state government for citing public unrest as a ground for seeking a modification of its earlier order to release 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. The court had again on September 15 pulled up the two state governments for not stopping unruly protests following its September 12 directive to Karnataka. The court had on September 5 asked Tamil Nadu to approach the Cauvery supervisory committee headed by Union water resources secretary Shashi Shekhar over the issue. Both the states had submitted to the committee data about withdrawal of water, its utilisation, variation in rainfall and its impact on the actual run-off over a period of 29 years in their respective Cauvery basin areas. Earlier, the committee had failed to arrive at any decision for want of adequate information to be made available by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Read | Karnataka braces for Cauvery order: Gatherings barred, bars shut in Bengaluru (With inputs from agencies) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday a plea on directions to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to take preventive measures in the matter of the Cauvery water dispute. Section 144 has been imposed in Mandyas Sanjay circle ahead of the top courts order. Read: Karnataka braces for Cauvery order: Gatherings barred, bars shut in Bengaluru Heres what you need to know about the ongoing Cauvery water dispute: Core of the issue Karnataka claims that the British-era agreement was not correct as it did not get its due share of water. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu believes that it needs the water to sustain extensive farming that has increased because of Karnatakas commitment to providing sufficient water. Karnataka wants to triple its water share from the river, that originates from Kodagu and flows through Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala, which means there Tamil Nadus portion will reduce. History of the dispute Historically, the dispute over sharing Cauvery waters dates back to the British era. The dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing Cauvery neared a solution when the two warring sides, Mysore princely state and Madras Presidency reached an agreement in 1924. Mysore was permitted to build a dam at Kannambadi village to trap 44.8 thousand million cubic feet of water. The agreement was to be valid for 50 years and a review thereafter was part of the agreement. Not willing to accept the agreement, the two states took the dispute to the Supreme Court after Independence on several occasions but the matter could not be resolved. Arbitration attempts Mysore, named Karnataka after independence, asked Tamil Nadu seeking permission to make changes to various clauses after 12 years of independence. But Tamil Nadu refused to do so, saying they can be addressed only when the agreement runs out in 1974. In the 1970s, Cauvery Fact Finding Committee found that Tamil Nadus irrigated lands had grown from an area of 1,440,000 acres to 2,580,000 acres while Karnatakas irrigated area stood at 680,000 acres, resulting in an increased demand of water for Tamil Nadu. A study conducted by the central government in 1972 said the utilisation of water from Cauvery in Tamil Nadu was 489 one thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) against Karnatakas 177 tmc ft. Cauvery Water Tribunal As both states refused to agree through talks, the Centre constituted the Cauvery Water Tribunal in 1990. After hearing both sides for years, the tribunal in its final award in 2007 gave 419 tmc ft for Tamil Nadu and 270 tmc ft for Karnataka. Kerala was awarded 30 tmc ft and Pondicherry 7 tmc ft. Both governments challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. Present agitation The dispute escalates when monsoon fails, as there is lesser water to share. And this year, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have received less than normal rainfall during the monsoon. Karnataka says it cannot release water to TN for agriculture as it needs it for drinking water purposes. A 21-year-old woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight by a man, who had been stalking her for months, at North Delhis Burari area. CCTV footage captured the brutal attack, as the assailant Surender Singh stabbed schoolteacher Karuna over 20 times. Singh had been stalking and harassing Karuna for over a year, after she turned down his advances. While Karunas family had approached the police on an earlier occasion to seek intervention against the stalker, they had not filed a complaint. The incident has added to the list of stalking-related deaths this year. In June 27, 21-year-old A Vinupriya, killed herself in Salem, Tamil Nadu, after morphed pictures of her appeared on Facebook. P Suresh, 21, confessed to stalking her online after she refused to marry him. On June 24, Infosys employee S Swati, 24, was hacked to death by her stalker at a Chennai railway station while she was on her way to work. Stalking, even if does not cause physical injury, can leave deep psychological scars ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to paranoia, withdrawal and sleeplessness. The casualties show how serious the problem really is and what can happen when obsession overrules reason, says psychiatrist Dr Yusuf Matcheswalla of Mumbais Masina Hospital, who treats stalkers and counsels those who have been stalked. OBSESSIVE FIXATIONS Though the word stalking is increasingly used to describe social voyeurism akin to gossiping looking up someone online before an appointment, tracking partners and frenemies on Facebook or Twitter it has a far darker and more threatening reality. Several cases are not reported because the victims either dont take the threat seriously or are too embarrassed to mention it to friends and family, leave alone the police. Stalker-led abductions and deaths are rare, but stalking defined as wilful, malicious and repeated unwanted attention, harassing, violating or threatening the victim can end in other forms of violence, such as vicious personal attacks on social media, wrecking of property and, in some cases, molestation and assault. What makes a person so fixated with someone that he/she cannot stop themselves from intrusively texting, calling or following their victim? Is the obsessive behaviour fuelled by delusion or does narcissism, lack of empathy and an overriding sense of entitlement also play a role? All stalkers are psychologically unstable, either delusional that the person is in love with them or with an undiagnosed psychosis that makes them fixated on somebody, says Dr Samir Parikh, director of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis, Gurgaon. Most stalkers are sociopaths who arent discomforted or embarrassed if caught or humiliated publicly and never seek treatment. Much like sex offenders, stalkers can rationalise their behaviour and are indifferent to victims sufferings. People may ask, why did the young man whos ex called him 351 times simply not change his number? He didnt because he knew she wouldnt stop and would find a way to get to him, says Dr Parikh. SEEKING HELP Victims of stalking almost always need therapy. As many as 80% are at risk of PTSD, which causes symptoms like extreme anxiety, sleeplessness, palpitation, flashbacks etc, says Dr Parikh. He recently treated a 22-year-old brought in after she quit her job and turned recluse. Weeks earlier, a stranger had walked up to her to say he had been following her for months and had quit his job for her. The thought of someone shadowing her without her knowledge made her feel insecure, threatened. She needed weeks of counselling to reclaim her life, says Dr Parikh. Fear, trauma, paranoia, thoughts of being killed or killing oneself, doubting ones own character and wondering Did I provoke it, are some overbearing thoughts that victims come to us with, adds Dr Matcheswalla. When men are at the receiving end, it can be even more complicated. Last June, Dr Parul Tank, consultant psychiatrist and therapist at Mumbais Fortis Hospital, counselled Arijit*, a 25-year-old stalked by a woman 10 years older. She would show up outside his home and his office building, send him angry or lewd texts on WhatsApp. He didnt know how to deal with it and feared how people might react if he said he was being stalked, says Dr Tank. It was when she threatened suicide that Arijit called her father. They brought her to me, and by then, Arijit too needed counselling, says Dr Tank. RAISING THE ALARM Stalkers are usually people you know an ex, someone you went to school with, a Facebook friend, a colleague, a neighbour and it usually begins innocuously. Trust your instincts and do not downplay a perceived threat, because it usually begins with seemingly harmless gestures. If you got 200 messages in one day youd immediately file a police complaint, but stalking usually doesnt start out like that, says Dr Tank. It starts with small acts that cause a vague sensation of discomfort. So its important to stay alert and communicate with friends and family the minute you feel uncomfortable. (* Name changed to protect identity) This is an updated version of an older story. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) wants the union government to chalk out a long-term policy to deal with Pakistan-supported militancy. Such a strategy should have the consensus of all political parties, BSP national president Mayawati said on Monday, expressing anguish and concern over the Uri terror attack. Successive governments pursued vacillating policies, causing massive loss of life and property, the Rajya Sabha MP said. A pre-dawn ambush in an Indian Army brigade office near the Line of Control off Uri town in Baramulla district killed 18 soldiers besides the four attackers. Mayawati, 60, advised the government to act firm against Pakistan, noting Pakistan-supported terror strikes were taking place at regular intervals. Each time we condemn attacks and console the families of the deceased jawans. Instead of such an exercise, the government should prepare a long-term policy to check repeat of terror attacks, she said. The people know that our country is capable of checking terror attacks, the four-time chief minister said. The government should make an effort in this direction. Mayawati sought for increased vigil on the border and strengthened security arrangements with the use of technology. The centre should activate the intelligence agencies as well, she added. The PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir had failed to provide security to the people, she said, adding that an all-party delegation that visited the border state recently failed to achieve result. The government should hold talks within the ambit of Constitution with the outfits in the Valley, she suggested. Describing terrorism as an existential threat, India has said that hypocrisy towards the menace is unacceptable and underlined that terrorism is the principle cause of the large-scale refugee movement. It is important to stress that today the geo-politics of the crisis points and proves that terrorism is the principle cause of refugee movements. Can we ignore this fact, we cannot. We do so at our peril, minister of state for external affairs MJ Akbar said in his address to the UN General Assemblys first-ever summit for refugees and migrants on Monday. Akbar underscored that for the millions of people fleeing conflict, war and poverty, terrorism is not characterised as good or bad. There is no good terrorism or bad terrorism and if you do not know the answer to this question, all you have to do is ask the refugee if he considers any terrorism to be good or bad, Akbar said. Stressing that terrorism is the biggest danger to human rights, Akbar said large movements of people across borders serve as a reminder that the world has become a global village. We can only prosper or perish together, it is best that we learn to live in peace, prosperity and amity, he said. Underlining that prevention is better than cure, Akbar said the international community has to address issues like terrorism, prevent armed conflict and facilitate development, which will help ensure people are not forced to flee their homeland. We have to find out what drives them towards seeking refuge. Prevention is better than cure. Perhaps prevention is the only cure, he said adding that preventing armed conflict, countering terrorism, building and sustaining peace to facilitating sustainable development and governance will prevent people from being forced to leave their homeland. Terming the present refugee crisis as unprecedented, Akbar said the number of people on the move globally is estimated at close to 250 million or one in every 30 persons and three-fourths of all refugees come from just 11 countries. The Obama/Hillary Administration has given aid and comfort to our sworn enemies by releasing them from GITMO SEE: Ahmad Khan Rahami Is Arrested in Manhattan and New Jersey Bombings Well, here we go again! We open our arms to immigrants from war torn Islamic controlled countries and we pay the price through mayhem and destruction. And yet, Hillary Clinton is determined to flood our country with 65,000 more refugees from Islamic controlled countries when we have not been able to figure out a method to vet them.To hear Hillary Clinton's plan regarding importing tens of thousands of "refuges" from war torn Islamic controlled countries CLICK HERE JWK Former Supreme Court judge and commentator-at-large Markandey Katju is in the news again, this time for suggesting that Pakistan could get Kashmir if it agrees to take Bihar also as part of a package deal. Just last week, Katjus name trended on social media, after he said superstar Amitabh Bachchan has nothing in his head. The mercurial ex-judge is no stranger to stoking rows, mostly through his posts on Facebook. HT brings his top eight controversial comments: Kali magic: Responding to queries on Facebook on the best way to retaliate after the Uri attack, Katju said chanting the Kali Mantra the most powerful mantra to destroy enemies-- a possible sarcastic take. Gandhi a British agent: In a Facebook post last year, Katju called Mahatma Gandhi a British agent who did great harm to India. The former judge blamed Gandhi for furthering the British policy of divide-and-rule, emphasizing Hindu rituals and propagating reactionary economic policies. He also called Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose a Japanese agent, triggering a fierce backlash online. Kashmiris are not fit for freedom: In August during the middle of the current turmoil in the Valley, Katju said Kashmiris are not fit for Azaadi (freedom), just as children are not fit for driving licences. 90% Indians fools: In his most famous (notorious?) comment four years ago, Katju described 90% Indians as fools whose minds are full of superstitions, communalism and casteism. Mother Teresa fanatic: As India celebrated the canonization of Mother Teresa this month, Katju took on the iconic figure, calling her reactionary semi educated fundamentalist, fanatic and fraud. IIT students selfish: Last year, Katju criticized students at IIT-Bombay, saying they were utterly selfish with no patriotism or idealism. SC judges intellectually low: In September, the former Supreme Court justice said most judges in Indias top court were intellectually low and this had made people lose faith in the judiciary. Earlier, he had called 50% of the SC judges corrupt. Tamil Nadu, learn English: In 2012, Katju said all Indians should learn English for the countrys progress and those in non-Hindi speaking areas such as Tamil Nadu should learn Hindu. His comments caused an uproar in many parts of the country where Hindi is seen as an imposition of northern Indian culture. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Karnataka government will move the Supreme Court on Tuesday to challenge the Cauvery Supervisory Committees order asking the state to release 3,000 cusecs of water per day from Wednesday till September 30. Karnatakas home minister G Parameshwar said the state is not in a position to release Cauvery water due to shortage being faced by them. The Cauvery Supervisory Committee, which met in New Delhi on Monday, directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water per day for ten days beginning September 21. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Union water resources secretary Shashi Shekhar said there was no consensus between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu regarding the release of water. He said the Karnataka chief secretary opposed the release of water on the ground that they are also facing huge scarcity. On the other hand, the Tamil Nadu chief secretary requested for the release of water as ordered by the Supreme Court. Shekhar said the Committee has taken the decision keeping in mind the interest of all stake holders as well as rainfall scenario. The Supreme Court on September 5 asked Tamil Nadu to approach the Supervisory Committee in this regard. The Apex Court had also asked Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water per day till Tuesday. In the wake of the Uri terror attack, GPCC president Bharat Solanki blamed the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir for the rise in Pak-sponsored attacks in the state. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir would not have worsened if Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country, he said on Monday. The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to divide people on the basis of caste and religion. Why is PM Modi keeping silent despite the killing of 18 jawans in Uri yesterday (Sunday)? Solanki said late PM Indira Gandhi had displayed great courage and got Bangladesh separated from Pakistan in the 1971 war. Our country needs leaders like late Mrs Gandhi, he said, condemning the Uri attack. Solanki was in the city to felicitate newly elected office-bearers of the Maharaja Sayajirao University Students Union. ABVP candidates were defeated in the election and NSUI-backed candidates captured the two important posts of vice-president and general secretary. Speaking about the election, he said, This election indicates that the young generation is turning towards Congress and also shows good prospects for the party in winning the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat. A Kashmiri journalist was injured when a group of protesters hurled stones at a media cavalcade travelling back to Srinagar from Uri on Tuesday afternoon. Anees Zargar, a Kashmir-based journalist who works with Zee media, fractured his arm in the violence. Some boys threw stones on the car in which I was travelling with few other journalists who had come from New Delhi to cover the Uri attack. I got injured when a stone hit my arm, while I saved my head, Anees said. The incident took place in the HMT area of Srinagar on the Srinagar-Baramulla national highway. All other reporters were safe. There was an OB van along with us, he said. Kashmir has been on boil since July 8 when militant commander Burhan Wani was gunned down by security forces in an encounter. Over 80 people have died and more than 12,000 civilians and security personnel have been injured as the Valley has been observing a separatist-called shutdown for over two months. Efforts by the Centre and the state government to restore peace have failed to yield results with Kashmiri separatists refusing to be a part of the dialogue process. Also read | Two protesters killed in Kashmir clashes, death toll rises to 77 For full coverage, click here The Centre on Tuesday reversed its stand on the 105-carat Kohinoor diamond saying it was taken away by the British from Maharaja Duleep Singh. It told the Supreme Court that the priced gem was Indias property and it wasnt gifted to Queen Victoria. The Centre said it was mindful of the Indian public sentiment attached with the gem. With no legal options available, the government said it will explore ways and means to negotiate with the British government to get the jewel that adorns the British crown. The government submitted this in the apex court in reply to a case filed by an organisation, seeking directions to the British India high commissioner for returning the diamond among other treasures like belonging of Tipu Sultan, Bahadur Shah Zafar and Rani of Jhansi. On the last hearing solicitor general Ranjit Kumar had made a statement before a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur that Kohinoor cannot be categorised as an object stolen but gifted as compensation. If we lay claim to the gem then tomorrow other countries will start demanding the treasure we have, Kumar had said. But the court was not convinced with the argument and asked him to file a written response. Now the government has taken a stand that the gem belongs to India but, added, it cannot proceed legally against Britain. Although the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 provides for compulsory acquisition of antiquities and art treasures, the government said it cannot invoke the law because it cannot be implemented retrospectively. Similarly both India and UK are signatories to the UNESCO convention that prevents museums from acquiring cultural property belonging to another national or that has been illegally imported. Article 7 of the convention allows a country to take appropriate steps to recover and return such a property. But, government said, in Kohinoors case India cannot raise the issue in the international court because the incident pre-dates the force of convention. Britain has on several occasions opposed returning of the diamond to India. Former Prime Minister David Cameron had in 2010 told a TV channel that Kohinoor would stay put in the British museum. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 15-year-old gangrape victim has given birth to a premature female infant at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash government hospital here, but police are yet to arrest three of the five people accused of sexually assaulting her about seven months ago. The girl gave birth to the baby on Monday morning. According to doctors, the infant is being kept in the intensive care unit of the hospital because she is in a critical condition. They said that though her chances of survival are bleak, the baby will be referred to PGI Chandigarh for further treatment. The girl was allegedly gang raped by five people while she was playing by herself at a city park. The matter came to light only about a week ago, when the victim a Class 10 student of a local government senior secondary school fell unconscious in the classroom. The teachers then alerted the special cell of the women and child welfare department. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Kurukshetra protection-cum-prohibition officer Savita Rana said: The school authorities told me that a girl fell unconscious at the school, and they need the departments help in this regard. I met the girl and recorded her statement. Following this, police booked the suspects under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Kurukshetra women police station in-charge Dalip Kaur said two people 25-year-old Kuldeep of Malikpur and a minor from nearby Umri (who cannot be named for legal reasons) were arrested in this regard. Though the victim wasnt able to pinpoint the others, an investigation is on to identify them. District child welfare committee chairman Virender Kajal confirmed that the infant was likely to be referred to Chandigarh. He said that if the baby survives, the mother would be asked if she wants to keep her. If the answer is no, she will be sent to an adoption centre at Panchkula, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modis Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi, along with Kanpur and Agra are among 27 centres picked on Tuesday to be developed as smart cities under the NDA governments ambitious plan for an urban overhaul. These three cities are from the Samajwadi Party ruled Uttar Pradesh that goes to polls next year. Two cities from Punjab Amritsar and Ludhiana also made it to the third list announced by Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday. The Shiromani Akali Dal, an NDA ally is in power in Punjab, which will elect a new assembly next year. India plans to have 100 such cities by 2022. Sixty have been chosen, including 20 in January and 13 in May, the remaining will be picked by 2018. Meant to change the way urban India lives, smart cities will enjoy uninterrupted power and water supply, internet connectivity, e-governance along with quality infrastructure. While no city from West Bengal and Bihar found mention in the third list, BJP-ruled states are the biggest beneficiaries. On the latest list, 10 cities are from states where the BJP is in power. This includes Maharashtra (Thane, Nashik, Nagpur, Kalyan Dombivali and Aurangabad), Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior and Ujjain), Rajasthan (Kota and Ajmer) and Gujarat (Vadodara). Some of the opposition-ruled states have complained that the Centres urban modernisation plan promoted regional inequality. West Bengal has decided to walk out of the smart city programme after it got one city New Town on the outskirts of Kolkata selected for the project in May. When the first list of 20 cities was selected in January, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had said the list was tilted heavily in favour of the NDA-ruled states. Only four cities Hubbali-Dharwad, Managaluru, Shivamogga and Tumkaru are from Congress-ruled Karnataka. Rourkela was the lone city from Odisha, where the BJD is in power, to make the cut. AIADMK-ruled Tamil Nadu got four cities Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur and Vellore. Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh where the Telugu Desam Party, a BJP ally, is in power also made it to the third list, as did two other states ruled by NDA partners Sikkim (Namchi) and Nagaland (Kohima). The total investment in 27 cities that will be developed as smart is envisaged at about Rs 66,883 crore. Here are the previous lists | First list of 20 cities | Second list of 13 cities Smart cities are picked though a two-stage process. In the first stage, a state shortlists potential cities and send the names to the Centre. In the second round, these nominated cities compete with each other. The Centre will give Rs 48,000 crore for five years for the programme. Each city will get Rs 100 crore a year. A matching fund of Rs 48,000 crore will have to be contributed by states. The Centre has decided to allow both Jammu and Srinagar from the northern border state and Meerut and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh to make a pitch for the smart city project. But, it has been made clear that only one city will be picked from each state. The two states are yet to take a final call. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The National Investigation Agency registered a case on Tuesday over an attack in Kashmir that left 18 soldiers dead, and a probe team of the agency will soon visit the site of the assault to collect evidence. The NIA team will also collect DNA samples of four Jaish-e-Mohammad militants involved in the Uri attack. The assault, in which four gunmen burst into a brigade headquarters in the town of Uri before dawn on Sunday, was among the deadliest in Kashmir. India has said the assault bore the hallmarks of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Led by Islamist hardliner Maulana Masood Azhar from Pakistans Punjab province, the JeM was blamed for the January air base raid in Pathankot and a 2001 attack on Parliament. India moved on Monday to diplomatically isolate Pakistan as part of retaliation to the militant attack. After a two-hour meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of his top ministers decided against any knee-jerk reaction and, instead, backed moves to present evidence of Pakistans complicity at global fora. The head of military operations of the Indian army, Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, said India had the desired capability to respond, without elaborating. We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at a time and place of our own choosing, Singh told reporters. Islamabad made no offer of cooperation to investigate the Uri attack, as was done by it in the aftermath of a similar deadly raid on an air base in Punjab in January. The only civilian Pakistani leader to respond foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz did not even condemn the attack. Pakistans army chief Raheel Sharif hit out at Indias hostile narrative, saying his country was fully prepared to respond to entire spectrum of direct and indirect threat. As calls grew for a counter-strike against Pakistan and militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which India believes orchestrated the attack, New Delhi also decided to push for more terror elements based there to be brought under UN sanctions. Foreign minister Swaraj will also bring up the attack at United Nations general assembly later next week. Although New Delhis options to hit back at nuclear-armed Pakistan appeared limited, government sources said a strong message to Pakistan could include surgical strikes against inimical assets along their de-facto border. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amidst the ongoing hostility over terror attack in Uri, Pakistan has decided not to send its intelligence chief to India to attend a conference of top security experts of SAARC countries beginning on Thursday. Aftab Sultan, Pakistans director general of intelligence bureau (IB), will not attend the SAARC meeting. Instead, Pakistan will be represented by an official of the high commission, a home ministry official said. The two-day conference of the high-level group of eminent experts from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, is being hosted by Indias director of IB, Dineshwar Sharma. Intelligence chiefs of all other SAARC nations -- Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Maldives -- are participating. Sundays terror attack at a military station in Uri, where 18 soldiers were killed, and the continuing unrest in Kashmir Valley for more than two months after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani led to deterioration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. The four terrorists who attacked Uri had come from Pakistan and Islamabad had openly eulogised Wanis acts, inviting sharp reactions from India. Read | Pakistan violates ceasefire in Uri 2 days after attack on army base According to a statement issued by the home ministry, the second meeting of the high-level group of eminent experts from SAARC countries will be held on September 22 and 23. The aim of the meeting is to strengthen SAARC anti-terror mechanism, it said. The first such meeting was held in New Delhi in February 2012. The agenda of the meeting includes functioning of SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk (SDOMD), countering terrorism and strengthening anti-terrorism mechanisms in SAARC, intelligence sharing and police cooperation, human resource development and relationship building, combating corruption and cyber crimes, among others. A ceasefire violation was reported at the India-Pakistan border in the Uri sector of Kashmirs Baramulla district on Tuesday. The Indian Army confirmed that small arms fire was being exchanged with the Pakistani Army at the Line of Control in Lacchipora and Mahiyan Boniyar. The exchange of fire was continuing an hour after it started. Pakistani troopers resorted to heavy gunfire with small and automatic fire arms from across the Line of Control. No damage was caused to Indian posts, a defence source said. The fire was returned with equal calibre weapons. Pakistani troops violate #ceasefire along the Line of Control in #Uri sector of Kashmir, says Army. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 20, 2016 Union home minister Rajnath Singh called up the director general of the Border Security Force to give them a free hand to retaliate to the provocation, TV reports said. Pakistan is often accused of firing at Indian posts to give cover to infiltrators. The firing violates the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan along the international boundary and the LoC the de facto border that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two neighbours. The border skirmish came as New Delhi and Islamabad are locked in a bitter diplomatic war of words following the Uri terror attack, in which heavily armed militants, believed to be of Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, stormed an army base in Uri, killing 18 soldiers and injuring 22. Pakistan has denied the allegations even as India claimed to have clinching evidence to support its claims. The Indian Army has claimed to have recovered arms, ammunition, and food and medicine packets with Pakistani markings during combing operations at the military base in Uri. India also claimed that the four militants who were gunned down during the gun fight that lasted about two-and-a-half hours were foreigners. With inputs from IANS SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hollywood said: Of course I'm right. Was there ever any question of that? Click to expand... Something that Hollywood should behold. August 18th next year there is going to be a total solar eclipse in Missouri just a little south of St. Louis. I have seen partials before but not the totality. You can look at the corona of the Sun during totality with your naked eye. During partiality if you look at it with your naked eye could blind you. I know how to make a pin hole camera using two sheets of paper to see the partial eclipse without looking at it and when things go dark I can just look at it. I am a science nut and have to go to Kentucky that it also transverses near the Mississippi River to see the totality that I put on my bucket list. Pakistan will not succumb to the threats by India and would continue to support Kashmiris struggle for self-determination, interior minister Nisar Ali Khan said on Tuesday. Kashmiris legitimate and just struggle for self-determination cannot be suppressed by state repression, Khan told Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider Khan who called on him in Islamabad. According an official statement, the two leaders held detailed discussion on the alleged oppression of innocent Kashmiris by India and the continuing human rights abuses. Pakistan will not succumb to threats by India and will not shy away from providing political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of occupied Kashmir, he said. He said that the violation of human rights in Kashmir and rejection by India of the UN resolution was a challenge not only for the UN but also for other countries which are considered as champions of democratic values. He said the Indian attitude of hurling baseless allegation at Pakistan and its avoidance to hold meaningful talks with Pakistan are the main hurdle for peace in the region. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmirs Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Indian Army. Indias DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has said all the four killed militants were foreign terrorists and had carried with them items which had Pakistani markings and that initial reports indicated that they belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-E-Mohammed terrorist group. We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing, Lt Gen Singh had said. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Pakistan of being responsible for the Uri terror attack while also apportioning blame on the NDA governments politics for it. The first responsibility is on Pakistan and the governments politics, he told reporters referring to the attack on the brigade headquarters near the Line of Control in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed. The Congress vice president said while the UPA government spent nine years fighting terrorism and curbing it, the BJP-PDP alliance has opened space for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modis short-sighted political alliance with the PDP opened the space for terrorism in Kashmir. I stand by our soldiers and I condemn what has been done to them by the Pakistanis. However, the space for that has been created by the politics that the NDA has carried out in Jammu and Kashmir, he said. Alleging that the NDA had no strategy as regards Kashmir, Gandhi targeted the Prime Minister, saying he goes from one event to another and this is no way of handling national security. National security cannot be handled like public meetings. This is a serious matter, he said. In a tweet, the Congress vice president said, FYI Modiji: a Kashmir strategy cannot be developed using selfies and sound bites. Recalling his meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sometime back, Gandhi claimed he categorically told him that the country was heading towards a very serious trouble in Kashmir. The Finance Minister brushed me aside and told me there was no problem in Kashmir, he said. Gandhi said Congress was ready to help in whatever way possible. However, we would like a concrete strategy, a long-term strategy. Not this event-based activities. Because, this is extremely dangerous for the country, he said. A senior IPS officer from Rajasthan was deported, after much drama, from a training programme at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad for allegedly misbehaving with governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ESL Narasimhan on Monday. Additional director general of police Indu Kumar Bhushan, a 1989-batch IPS officer, reportedly threatened to slit his throat if he was sent back, prompting the NPA security and other staff to forcibly take him to the airport and put him on board a Jaipur flight. Bhushan, in-charge of the prisons department in Jaipur, had an argument with governor, who visited the training programme at the NPA. According to NPA sources, Narasimhan was interacting with the officers, when Bhushan started questioning why the governor in the past had called RTI activists mafia for seeking certain information from the Raj Bhavan. Narasimhan, incidentally is a retired IPS officer and served as Director of the Intelligence Bureau. The IPS officer from Rajasthan reportedly asked rather rudely as to whether the governor really knew about the RTI Act at all when Narasimhan tried to clarify his position. The argument between them went on for some time, before the authorities of the academy intervened and whisked Narasimhan away. Apparently embarrassed over the development, NPA director Aruna Bahuguna immediately called up Rajasthan director general of police Manoj Bhatt and complained about Bhushan. She told him that he would be relieved from the training programme and sent back to Jaipur. After taking the Bhatts consent, she issued the relieving order to Bhushan in the evening. When contacted, Aruna Bahuguna confirmed that Bhushan had misbehaved with the governor. He seems to have some psychological problem. He was rude with the governor. So, we sent him back to Jaipur last evening, she told the HT. Raj Bhavan spokesman Malladi Krishnand said the governor had been to the NPA to interact with the IPS officers from all states. He, however, feigned ignorance about the argument with the Rajasthan IPS officer. It might have been a small issue, he said. Meanwhile, Rajasthan police are awaiting a detailed report from the NPA, before recommending any action against Bhushan. So far we only know that there has been an incident of misbehavior with the ADC of the governor after the question-answer session at the NPA. We are awaiting the detailed report for recommending any action against him, said Rajasthan DGP Manoj Bhatt. Bhushan couldnt be reached for a comment but a local daily quoted him as saying that the governors ADC misbehaved with him when he questioned Narasimhans remark against RTI activists. Uttar Pradesh assembly speaker Mata Prasad Pandey disqualified rebel Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya from the membership of the house on Monday. Leader of the BSP legislature party Gaya Charan Dinkar had moved a petition for the disqualification of Maurya. He said the press conference organised by Maurya on June 22, his letter to the BSP national president and his acts were enough proof that Maurya quit the party on his own. An official communique said Maurya ceased to be a member of the legislative assembly with effect from June 22. Maurya, who broke his 20- year-old association with BSP chief Mayawati to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has said that he would expose the corrupt acts of his former leader in his September 21 rally. After the rally, Maurya would announce the merger of his Bahujan Loktantrik Manch with the BJP. Once the BSPs OBC face, he had floated the Manch after severing ties with Mayawati in June. Maurya announced his decision to severe ties with the BSP in a hurriedly-convened press conference where he accused Mayawati of auctioning tickets for the assembly polls. It wasnt surprising to hear of an Indian reporter being asked to leave a news briefing in New York by Pakistan foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry. Such things are par for the course at media interactions organised by both countries at times when there is a spike in bilateral tensions. Is Indian ko nikalo (Remove the Indian) were the words reportedly used by Pakistani officials when NDTVs Namrata Brar was asked to leave the room at Roosevelt Hotel where Chaudhry was to address the media. Those words have been heard in the past too at other media events. Sometimes the behaviour of officials at such events can be completely perplexing. One such event that I cannot forget occurred on the margins of the first summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia at Almaty in 2002. The meet was attended by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Coming as it did at a time when bilateral ties were at a low because of the terror attack on Indias Parliament in December 2001 and the massacre of more than 30 people by militants at a camp near Kaluchak in Kashmir in May 2002, there was tremendous interest in everything that was said by the Indian and Pakistani leaders. India jumps the gun: Pak media criticise knee-jerk reaction after Uri attack Shortly after Musharraf had spoken at the CICA Summit, a Pakistani official began distributing copies of the speech at his countrys media room. When my friend NB Nair, then with All India Radio, and I approached the official and asked for copies, he refused to give them to us because he spotted our badges identifying us Indian reporters. There was then the hilarious sight of Nair sneaking up to the official when he turned away from us and snatching a copy of Musharrafs speech from his hands. As we made our way away from the Pakistani media centre at a fast clip, the official gave chase for a few metres, shouting at Nair to return the paper. Within minutes, Nair made copies of the speech--a public document anyway--at the Indian media centre and shared it with other journalists. Another strange incident occurred during my stint as a correspondent for an Indian wire service in Islamabad. As a founder-member of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Pakistan, I was invited to an interaction with then Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the Prime Ministers House on October 22, 2010. A day before the event, however, a message from the Prime Ministers House curtailed the list of invitees--all foreign journalists were dropped but my name was retained. When a group of us arrived at the Prime Ministers House, a senior official spotted me and asked someone what the Indian was doing there. It wasnt surprising that he had identified me as, at the time, there were only two Indian journalists posted in Pakistan. The official then told the members of the association that I should be asked to leave, but they put their foot down. After a while, the officials agreed to allow me into the interaction. Soon enough, the premier walked in and began the news briefing. Like most of the other journalists, I began recording the event on my tape recorder. When the question and answer session began, another official walked up to me and whispered I should stop recording. I pointed out virtually everyone was using a recorder. His reply: Lekin aap record nahin karenge (But you cant record). Its another matter as far as Indian and Pakistani journalists are concerned. It isnt unusual to see them sharing notes whenever they are kept out of briefings by officials of each others countries. (The views expressed by the writer are personal. He was posted in Islamabad between 2007 and 2013 and tweets as @rezhasan.) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The mortal remains of soldiers killed in a militant attack in Kashmirs Uri were laid to rest on Tuesday amid an outpouring of grief and a storm of patriotic slogan shouting. Maharashtra In Maharashtras Satara, a pall of gloom descended in Jashi village as Lance Naik Chandrakant Galande was laid to rest with full state honours. The jawan was bid farewell amid chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai by grief-stricken villagers. Galande, a jawan belonging to the 6 Bihar regiment, was the youngest among three siblings, all of whom joined the army. The entire village is proud of the Galande family which sent all three sons to the nations service, said Abhiram Jedhe, a villager from Jashi. Maharashtra: Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Satara for last rites ceremony. pic.twitter.com/oULnnqq1x6 ANI (@ANI_news) 20 September 2016 Galande and four other soldiers from Maharashtra -- Sepoy Sandip Somnath Thok, Sepoy Panjab Janrao Uike, Sepoy Vikas Janardhan Kulmethe and Lance Naik G Shankar-- were among the 18 soldiers killed by militants during a dawn raid at an Army camp in Uri. In Jashi, villagers said the attack had strengthened their resolve to send more men to the army. Such incidents wont deter us. We will send more and more youngsters to the army so that they can fight with Pakistan, said Shankar Galande, the slain soldiers father. The entire village turned up for the final rites. Three state ministers -- Girish Bapat, Vijay Shivtare and Mahadeo Jankar -- were also present. Uttar Pradesh Funeral ceremonies of other dead soldiers are also underway in Uttar Pradeshs Ghazipur and Sant Kabir Nagar villages. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 20 lakh for the families of soldiers from Uttar Pradesh. Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh): Last rites of Sepoy Harinder Yadav who lost his life in #UriAttacks (last night visuals) pic.twitter.com/36b6dE1lcu ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 20 September 2016 Sant Kabir Nagar (UP): Family members mourn death of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack. pic.twitter.com/5WhHg5V5sN ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 20 September 2016 Kolkata Villagers in Jamuna Balia village in west Kolkata waited for the body of slain soldier Gangadhar Dalai, which was lead by an army band. Villagers of Jamuna Balia in west Kolkata wait on a verandah to witness the funeral procession of soldier Gangadhar Dalai, who was killed in a militant attack in Uri, Kashmir. (AP) An Indian army band leads the funeral procession of Indian army soldier Gangadhar Dalai, who was killed in a militant attack in Uri, Kashmir. (AP) Bihar In Bihars Gaya district, an emotional Mathura Yadav, father of Naik S K Vidarthi, said he wont let any of his other sons join the Indian army, if the government fails to take action on the Uri attack. Pakistan should be given strict punishment. If the government fails to take stern action, I will never let any of my sons join army again, he told ANI. Vidarthis body reached the Gaya International airport early morning today. Jagnarayan Singh of Raktu village in Bihars Bhojput district said they were proud of their son, Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh, for his sacrifice. We are old now but the news of my sons martyrdom is a matter of pride. Earlier, our older son Kamta Singh too was martyred; now another son has died, said Singh. #WATCH Bhojpur, Bihar: Last rites of havIldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life during #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/gRxhiiyV6x ANI (@ANI_news) 20 September 2016 A tableau of emotions played out in Baddha village in Kaimur district of Bihar at Sepoy Rakesh Singhs funeral. In a show of pride and support, villagers thronged the venue, hanging from their balconies to get a last glimpse of Singh. A miltary parade honoured Singh, before his last rites. (HT Photo) (HT Photo) (HT Photo) Jharkand The last rites of Sepoy Javra Munda, a native of Jharkands Khunti district were performed in his native Meral village. Friends and family members described Munda as hard-working and eager to serve the nation. Khunti (Jharkhand): Last rites of sepoy Javra Munda who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/dSFEnQfPkA ANI (@ANI_news) 20 September 2016 Rajasthan In Rajasthans Rajawa village, grief-stricken family members of Havaldar Nimb Singh Rawat mourned his death. Rawats body, draped in the tricolour, arrived at the Udaipur late Monday evening and was then brought to this native village. My heart breaks to know that we shall pay our last respects to Veer Nimb Singh Rawat ji on his 48th birthday today. Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) 20 September 2016 The Supreme Court directed Karnataka on Tuesday to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery river water every day to Tamil Nadu till September 27, the next date of hearing in the case. The top court also directed the Centre to constitute a Cauvery Management Board within four weeks. The ruling came a day after the Cauvery Supervisory Committee ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water from the river to Tamil Nadu daily between September 21 and 30. The SC allowed Tamil Nadu, Karnataka to file objections to the committees report within three days. The apex court was hearing contesting claims of the two states that recently witnessed violence over the issue. Senior advocate Fali S Nariman, who is arguing for Karnataka, said: We will have to sacrifice our drinking water for irrigation purposes in Tamil Nadu. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphde, who is arguing on behalf of Tamil Nadu, said: There is no such crises of drinking water in Bengaluru as Karnataka is claiming. Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand appeared in the court to represent the Centre. Ahead of the hearing, prohibitory orders were put in place in Mandyas Sanjay circle in view of last weeks violence. Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara issued elaborate guidelines for the police to deal with any eventuality and directed them to take precautionary measures to avert possible violence. The top court had on September 5 asked Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water per day for a period of 10 days to Tamil Nadu to minimise the plight of farmers there. On September 12, the court modified the order and asked Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu per day till September 20. It had turned down Karnatakas plea to stop release Cauvery water for five days and rapped the state government for citing public unrest as a ground for seeking a modification of its earlier order to release 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. The court had again on September 15 pulled up the two state governments for not stopping unruly protests following its September 12 directive to Karnataka. The court had on September 5 asked Tamil Nadu to approach the Cauvery supervisory committee headed by Union water resources secretary Shashi Shekhar over the issue. Both the states had submitted to the committee data about withdrawal of water, its utilisation, variation in rainfall and its impact on the actual run-off over a period of 29 years in their respective Cauvery basin areas. Earlier, the committee had failed to arrive at any decision for want of adequate information to be made available by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. (With agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has called separate cabinet and all-party meetings on Wednesday to chalk out a strategy after the Supreme Court directed his state to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till September 27. ....the Supreme Court has passed an order, since we do not have water, it is very difficult to implement it. It is an unimplementable order, he told reporters on Tuesday. Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu from Wednesday till September 27, the Supreme Court said, raising the quantum fixed by a supervisory committee by 3000 cusecs. Siddaramaiah said Karnataka had placed certain facts before the Cauvery Supervisory Committee, but it still directed the state on Monday to release 3,000 cusecs per day between September 21 and 30. Siddaramaiah appealed to public to maintain peace, assuring that the government is committed to protect the interest of the state and its people and farmers. There is a cabinet meeting tomorrow (Wednesday), we will discuss, we are waiting for the copy of the order of the Supreme Court. The (state) cabinet will take a view, meanwhile we will consult legal experts also. I have also called an all-party meeting tomorrow (Wednesday), in that meeting we will discuss the pros and cons of this order. After taking views and opinion of leaders from all parties we will proceed further, he added. Read| Were drowning in our own misery: Cauvery row has Mandyas farmers worried In its Tuesday order, the Supreme Court also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT). Soon after the order, the chief minister held meetings with senior state ministers and officials. I appeal to the people, especially to people from Cauvery basin to maintain peace. They should not get carried away by emotions...Everyone should cooperate.., he said, apparently keeping in mind last weeks widespread violence over the Cauvery issue. On September 12, the apex court modified an earlier order and directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water per day until September 20, leading to violence across Bengaluru and south Karnataka that killed two people. Normalcy has returned to Bengaluru, with schools, colleges and offices functioning without any trouble. Police have banned large gatherings as a preventive measure which will be in force till September 25. Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara too said the Tuesdays directive was an injustice to the state. The Supreme Courts latest directive is most disappointing. We dont know why Karnataka is at the receiving end when it comes to river waters, Parameshwara said. Read| Cauvery water row explained: Heres why Karnataka, Tamil Nadu fight over river With the Supreme Court hearing on the Cauvery water dispute scheduled to come up on Tuesday, security has been beefed up across Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka. While the situation in Bengaluru is normal with schools, colleges and offices functioning without any trouble, the city police has banned large gatherings as a preventive measure which will be in force till September 25. Police forces have been conducting marches across Bengaluru since Tuesday morning. Central para military forces like the BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB have also been drafted in to prevent any breach of law and order in the state capital and its suburbs. The government has also ordered all pubs, bars and wine shops in Bengaluru to stay shut on Tuesday in order to avoid any untoward incident. Following the Cauvery supervisory committees order on Monday to release of 3,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu until September 30, tension had risen in some parts of Karnataka and the outskirts of Bengaluru. Sporadic protests were reported from different places, especially in Mandya district, the epicentre of the Cauvery agitation, where protesters blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. Read | Bengaluru protests: Inequity is turning our cities into tinderboxes The state government has expressed disappointment over the committee order and stated that it would challenge the order in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Supreme Court had earlier on September 5 asked the Karnataka government to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily for 10 days. But protests intensified in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu post the apex courts order. On September 12 the Supreme Court modified its order and directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water per day until September 20. This had led to violence across Bangalore and south Karnataka. Two people were killed and over 50 vehicles were torched by angry protesters. Read | Sensation flows: How Kannada media added fuel to the Cauvery fire Security on the Samjhauta Express, which connects New Delhi to the Pakistani city of Lahore, has been stepped up after a high alert was issued following the terror attack on an army base in north Kashmirs Uri on Sunday. Normally, 27 personnel of the Government Railway Police (GRP) are deployed at the Attari railway station in Punjabs Amritsar district, now at least 20 more policemen have been posted there, sub-inspector Jaswinder Singh, in charge of security at the station, said. Passengers and their baggage were being frisked with extra caution, the officer said. However, there was no effect on the number of passengers who travelled by the Samjhauta Express, a bi-weekly train that runs from New Delhi to Attari on the border and then to Lahore. On Monday, there were 130 passengers at the station who were to leave for Pakistan on this train. Railway personnel this is an average number of passengers. On the other hand, 180 people came from Pakistan and a majority of them told Hindustan Times that they did not know about the recent terror attack. We are coming from Karachi. Because we were on the train, we did not hear the news about the attack, Salman, a Pakistani national, said. The Border Security Force (BSF), which has sounded an alert along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, has heightened security at the Attari check post, where thousands of tourists come every day to witness the high-voltage retreat ceremony. On Monday evening, there were tight security arrangements along the border but it did not stop Indian tourists to reach in large numbers and many failed to get a space in the gallery. Foreign tourists were also seen during the parade on the border. The terror attack took place at Uri which is far away from Punjab. As there is tight security on Punjab border, there is no need to fear. This sense of security among the tourists inspired them to watch the retreat ceremony with enthusiasm, Yaman Gupta, who came from Haryanas Panipat along with his family, said. Number of the tourists was hit during the Dinanagar terror attack. Terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir, where such a practice has become routine, has not affected the arrival of tourists here, Balwinder Singh, a dhaba owner, said. Heavily armed militants attacked the army base early on Sunday and killed 17 soldiers, triggering calls for a swift retaliation that could squeeze the space for any detente between India and Pakistan. Another soldier, who was injured in the attack, died on Monday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIA The burial of the four suspected Jaish militants just a day after they killed 18 soldiers in Uri has raised some questions, with experts saying India should have waited and confronted Pakistan with the bodies. Within hours of the pre-dawn strike on Sunday, the worst against the army in a decade in Jammu and Kashmir, the force said the attackers were foreign terrorists. It appears the burials were done hurriedly. There should be a consistency template in handling bodies of terrorists after such attacks, strategic affairs expert and air vice marshal (retd) Kapil Kak said on Tuesday. The Uri attackers were buried on Monday in a graveyard close to the northern Kashmir army camp. Typically, foreign militants are buried at Kitchama, which is close to the Line of Control and 25km from Uri. The last rites could have been deferred, given the bodies of Pathankot attackers were preserved for some time, Kak said. Read | Indias fallen heroes: The 18 soldiers who lost their lives in Uri attack The bodies of the men who struck the Pathankot airbase in January were kept in a morgue for four months, while the five-member suicide squad that attacked Parliament in 2001 got burials after a month. In both the cases, India asked Pakistan to accept the bodies and carried out the last rites after Islamabad failed to respond. The bodies of the nine Lashkar-e-Taiba men killed during the 2008 Mumbai siege were kept in a city morgue for more than a year before they were buried at a secret location. India initially asked Pakistan to inform the families of the nine men to collect the bodies but there was no response. The bodies were embalmed and kept in the JJ Hospital in a sealed room, with the temperature set at 4Celsius to prevent decomposition. It was a standard practice to file an FIR after an operation and hand over bodies to police, an army officer said. The NIA has collected the forensic evidence and there is nothing unusual about the burials, he said. Read | Day after Uri, Pak top judge accuses parties of backing terrorists: Report A team of National Investigation Agency, the countrys premier anti-terror body, visited the armys 12 Brigade headquarters on Monday to gather forensic evidence, including DNA samples. It also took pictures of the bodies, sources said. As per the Geneva Convention, only the bodies of soldiers are to be returned, former northern army commander Lt Gen BS Jaswal (retd) said. Police, tasked with final rites, also mapped the burial sites so that the bodies can be exhumed, he said. The bodies were charred and had begun to stink, police said. There was no facility to store the bodies in Uri We handed the bodies to the local wakf for burial, a police official said. Authorities were also worried that crowds could gather at the site and demand a burial, a source said. The border state is still reeling under street protests that erupted after a militant commander was killed in a gunfight with security forces in southern Kashmir on July 8. Thousands of people had gathered at the funeral of a foreign militant, Abu Qasim, in October 2015 after which public burials for foreign militants were banned. Read | Full coverage of Uri attack A sessions court in Srinagar ordered the release of human rights activist Khurram Parvez who was put in preventive detention last week as international support for Parvez grows. According to Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Parvezs family and lawyers were in Kupwara to process his release. The 39-year-old is the chairperson of Asian Federation Against involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and the program coordinator of JKCCS. Parvez was arrested on Thursday midnight and lodged at a prison in Srinagar. About 24 hours later, he was shifted to a sub-jail in Kupwara. The police said it was a preventive detention because of an apprehension of breach of peace. Read | Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez detained day after being stopped at Delhis IGI Support for the Srinagar-based activists release gained steam after international support grew and a social media campaign pushed for it. A group of 52 prominent scholars, activists, academics and writers including Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Partha Chatterjee, Harsh Mander and Basharat Peer wrote an open letter on Sunday, demanding his immediate release. The actions against Mr. Parvez are symptomatic of the escalated repression in Kashmir by institutions of state since July 8, the letter said. A Free Khurram campaign is also doing the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. Activists launched a Facebook page called Free Kashmiri HR activist Khurram Parvez which garnered over 3,500 followers. The page curates content published internationally on the arrest and has also released a video which introduce Parvez and his work. Many Facebook users, mostly Kashmiris well-versed with Parvezs work, changed their profile to a graphic featuring Parvezs face and #Free Khurram. According to a media report, police wrote to an executive magistrate accusing Parvez of instigating people outside a mosque. But Parvezs family countered the allegations as a complete lie. The JKCCS also questioned the legal basis of his transfer to Kupwara jail. On Monday, the JKCCS said Parvez, who is disabled, was being helped to a great extent by other inmates as the jail isnt disabled-friendly. Parvez had lost a leg in a bomb blast in 2004 while on election monitoring duty in north Kashmir. Parvez apparently told his family and lawyers that his specific request about his special needs due to his disability was ignored. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a bid to keep Shimla town clean, chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday launched car-bin scheme, under which jute bags would be provided to tourists entering the state as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. The bags will also be provided to locals. Besides this, the municipal corporation will disseminate information regarding cleanliness through jingles on mobile vehicles. Polythene bags were banned in Himachal in 2009. Solan district administration, in association with the excise and taxation department, will be distributing car-bins to tourists at Parwanoo barrier as soon as the chief minister launches the scheme at Shimla. The tourists entering Himachal Pradesh would be handed over the jute bag (car-bin) at nominal cost of Rs 30 each only on voluntarily basis along-with an information brochure containing details of parking facilities in Shimla and Dos and Donts regarding garbage disposal in the city, a government spokesperson said. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh also launched an Android-based mobile application of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, for grievance redressal. The bi-lingual mobile app is aimed at facilitating the people to file their grievances with photos, track status of their grievances, notifications, alerts along with important contact numbers of the corporation. Besides, the mobile app will also have information regarding tourist places in Shimla, hotels in municipal area, parking rates, HRTC taxi time table and labour rates. Lauding the efforts of the municipal corporation, the chief minister said every citizen should be responsible and not litter anywhere on roads and other public places and should make maximum use of these jute bags and dustbins. He also appreciated the android mobile application for having all details of Shimla which will facilitate the visitors and the locals as well. Shimla mayor Sanjay Chauhan, HIMUDA vice-chairman Yashwant Chhajta, additional chief secretary Manisha Nanda, MC commissioner Pankaj Rai, councillors and other senior officers of the state government were present on the occasion. Tamil Nadu opened the sluice gates of the Mettur Reservoir here on Tuesday so farmers can cultivate the samba paddy crop in the delta districts. Water was released for irrigating about 12 lakh acres as the sluice gates were opened in the presence of senior AIADMK ministers Edappadi K Palaniswamy and P Thangamani, among others. Palaniswamy told reporters that initially 2000 cusecs was being released and this would be gradually be increased to 12,000 cusecs by the evening. Keeping with the tradition, flowers were dropped into the gushing waters. Water from the dam was normally released on June 12 but this year, it could not be done following low storage levels as the AIADMK government had approached the Supreme Court, seeking direction to Karnataka to release 50 tmcft to it. While the court had, on September 5, ordered 15,000 cusecs daily for ten days, it later modified its order, asking Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs till September 20. On Monday, the Cauvery supervisory committee in Delhi had ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs water per day to Tamil Nadu between September 21 and September 30. With Mettur Dam witnessing steady inflows following Karnatakas release of water from the Cauvery river, chief minister Jayalalithaa had, on September 16, ordered opening its sluice gates for irrigating samba crops in delta districts. She had said the decision to release water was based on factors like the dam touching 84.76 feet (capacity 120 feet) and likelihood of receiving more water from Karnataka reservoirs in view of the apex court order and an anticipated normal northeast monsoon. In August, Jayalalithaa had announced a Rs 64 crore special plan for farmers of delta districts to take up samba cultivation, and this included subsidy for various farm activities such as procurement of quality seeds, mechanised sowing and planting operations. In wake of the cross-border terror attack from Pakistan on an Indian army base in Jammu and Kashmir that left 18 Indian soldiers dead, India on Tuesday used the biggest international forum to say that terrorism was the biggest threat to human rights. Mr. President, I do want to stress that terrorism is the biggest danger to human rights, minister of state for external affairs MJ Akbar said in his address in the Summit for Refugees and Migrants during the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly. His comments came even as Pakistan has been raising the issue of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani that triggered large-scale violence leaving over 80 people dead. Terrorism is an existential threat. Hypocrisy towards this crisis will not do. There is no good terrorism or bad terrorism and if we do not know answer to this question, all you have to do is to ask the refugees if he considers any terrorism to be good or bad. Akbar said that large movements of people across borders serve as reminders that the world has become a global village. We can only prosper or perish together. It is best that we learn to live in peace, prosperity and amity, he stressed. Akbar pointed out that the number of people on the move globally was estimated at close to 250 million or one in every 30 persons. Refugees are currently estimated to be around 20 million - one of every 12 persons on the move. Three-fourths of the refugees come from just 11 countries. Seven countries host more than half of all refugees. Almost 90 percent of all refugees are hosted in emerging countries! said Akbar, and also highlighted Indias role in hosting refugees. There is a long history of large communities seeking refuge in India. Are we prepared? he said. I recall vividly the time when our neighbour Bangladesh was fighting for independence, more than 1.2 million people took refuge in India from the genocide they were faced with, he said. We have long experience of this and we have developed situation-specific responses in each such instance. People seeking shelter in our country have never been turned back. Our record in this context is actually unique, he said. At the same time, he put up a poser. It is assumed that only host nations do not want refugees, I ask, do refugees also want to become refugees. They dont. We must understand this and underline it and therefore find out what drives them towards seeking refuge. Prevention is better than cure, or perhaps prevention is the only cure, he said. In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, then the Bharatiya Janata Partys prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, while addressing a gathering of Dalits and backward classes in Kerala, had described himself as a victim of untouchability. The next 10 years are going to be yours, he had said. And the crowd broke into loud cheers. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government ostensibly kept his promisethe 2014-15 budget witnessed a 25% increase in allocation of the two funds meant for Dalits and the adivasisthe Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) funds. However, more than one-third of the funds allocated by central ministriesRs 32,979 croreremained unspent in 2014-15. This is an increase of 250% in the money unused compared to the previous year. Modis first year in office as the prime minister saw the highest amount unspent and also the highest percentage of amount unspent in the last three years (the only period for which central government has figures). 15 years later, full report is being collected In the second part of this series on how successive governments have under-utilised these special funds, IndiaSpend tried to trace some stories of neglect. Between 1997 and 2002, for instance, Bihar allocated thousands of crores of rupees for Dalit welfare schemes. A decade and a half later, when IndiaSpend sought to know, through a right to information (RTI) request, how much of this was spent on Dalits, the answer was: Full report is being collected. Ever since they were first launched 35 years ago, the two funds have been left mostly untouched by successive governments. In the first part of this series, IndiaSpend reported that Rs 2.8 lakh crore ($42.6 billion) set aside to improve the lives of scheduled castes and tribes have been lying unused while their intended beneficiaries continue to suffer severe deprivation. The government gets away with allocating funds to pacify the people but not actually spending it. This is at the cost of extremely poor people who direly need these funds, said Paul Divakar, convener of the National Coalition for SCSP-TSP Legislation, an umbrella organisation that monitors the special plans. There are two big reasons for this neglect: First, there is no legislation to back the plans. Secondly, the committees set up by state governments at several levels to ensure the optimal use of the funds are proving to be ineffective. These panels were meant to identify issues at the local level, select suitable schemes to address them, and form a feedback mechanism to fix glitches. What happens to the money: A Telangana story Our inquiry into the nature of the problem took us to a school in Telangana built with tribal funds. We found corruption draining the money that should reach the poor. The walls of the government residential school in Gudur village in Nalgonda district have started cracking even though the structure is just three years old. Commission, commission, was how the principal of the school explained the state of the building. The walls of the government residential school in Gudur village in Nalgonda district, Telangana, have started cracking even though the structure is just three years old The building was constructed using Rs 47 lakh of the Tribal Sub Plan fundsset aside to improve the lives of scheduled tribes. Even as there was a 250% increase in the funds unspent during 2014-15 over the previous year, corruption is draining the money that should reach the poor. The building was constructed using Rs 47 lakh of the TSP funds, but it doesnt show. The quality of work is pathetic. Often its others who enjoy the benefits of schemes drawn up for tribals, said Vattam Upender, state president of Tuddum Debba, an adivasi organisation. From school bags to mid-day meals, these schemes, drawn up for marginalised classes, are known to be marred by corruption. The predominant suggestion which emerged in the interaction with the beneficiaries was the rampant corruption, the erstwhile Planning Commission (now renamed NITI Aayog) said in a study on the impact of the SCSP and TSP. Legislation needed to fix the problem Three decades after they were started, there is still no central legislation to back the plansa long pending demand. Bureaucrats say that its just a guideline and not a law. They use this to deny Dalits and tribals their due share, said Beena J Pallickal, national coordinator of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). The plans are run on guidelines issued from time to time by the NITI Aayog. But given that the Aayog lacks muscle to enforce them, the guidelines are simply ignored. Divakar believed that legislation will help hold officials accountable for the neglect of the funds. It will then be binding on them, he pointed out. But efforts to initiate a bill have got nowhere. Pallickal recalls that a draft bill was prepared three years ago with inputs from the NCDHR and experts like PS Krishnan, 83, a retired IAS officer and former secretary to the Government of India who was behind the introduction of SCSP in 1980. But that bill has been in cold storage ever since, Pallickal said. No data on where it all goes IndiaSpend cross-checked Bihars expenditure with documents obtained from NITI Aayog. Bihar spent zero money out of the funds in 1998-99 and 2001-02 despite being allocated Rs 628 crore and Rs 2,393 crore respectively, according to the Aayog. IndiaSpend sent a detailed questionnaire to Bihars welfare department and followed this up with a reminder, but there was no response. But Bihar is not the only truant state. An RTI response has revealed that NITI Aayog doesnt have information on how Rs 3.1 lakh crore of the funds were spent over the years, mainly because states do not report to it. Separate RTIs to states revealed that barring a few, none has complete details of expenditure. For instance, Kerala has data from 1976-2015 on allocation and expenditure of TSP funds. But Assam couldnt provide any data prior to 2009-10. Besides, there were inconsistencies between the expenditure data of NITI Aayog and states for the same year. Delayed release of funds Though the funds are allocated in the budget, they are released very late in the financial year, leaving states with a very short window to spend them. For instance, in 2014-15, the Karnataka government made budgetary allocation for SCSP and TSP in the state budget in February. But the meeting to release the funds was not chaired by the chief minister until Octobera six-month delay. This left the ministry with only five months to spend the entire fund. An official at Karnatakas social justice ministry confirmed this and blamed the situation on the low spending. States get away with lax enforcement When the Planning Commission was monitoring the schemes, states had to send their plans for approval. The Aayog has axed this procedure. Now that states dont need our prior approval, they dont care to report expenditure. We send letters and reminders, but in vain, said a senior Aayog official. Krishnan was also of the view that the Aayogs ability to monitor and enforce the use of these special funds has been seriously impacted. NITI Aayog does not have teeth, the Planning Commission at least had some, he said. The government is now reconsidering its decision on NITI Aayogs role as the monitoring agency for the strategies. Two years ago, a NCDHR study found that successive governments had denied around Rs 5 lakh crore to Dalits and adivasis by not allocating funds proportionate to their populations. But even the reduced funds that are allocated to the plans are further diluted. For instance, for 2014-15, Telanganas budget for TSP was Rs 4,404.59 crore, but it was revised down to Rs 1,950.29 crore, a decrease of 55.7%. Plan money gets diverted During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule, the government had diverted its funds to Commonwealth Games. Later, it was revealed that the funds were used by the Delhi government to buy Diwali sweets. In fact, even states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka that have passed legislations for proper implementation of SCSP and TSP, did not make adequate use of funds In 2014-15, Telangana, despite a legislation, did not spend 61.26% of the funds allocated for Dalits, and 64.3% allocated for adivasis, which together add up to Rs 7,475.1 crore. The situation is not very different in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Though the bill was passed, no law has been made on it and the government is using that as a shield, said Anjanayulu, former director of the Centre for Dalit Studies, Hyderabad, who has done extensive studies on the strategies. He added that the absence of a punishment clause and loopholes that allow funds to be used for general purposes are also hampering the schemes. Need to relook strategies too Experts, however, say that cash use is not the only problem with the plans. We should look at the changes brought about at the ground level by the strategies rather than at the funds allocated, said Krishnan. Also, schemes should be tailor-made for specific needs. Krishnan pointed out that only mobile healthcare facilities will benefit remote areas. You cant expect people to access healthcare facilities that are far away, he said. The problem is too deep-rooted to be explained away with simplistic factors, said Krishnan. People understand untouchability, people understand atrocities, but it took almost a generation for them to understand SCSP and TSP. Till they put pressure on political parties for funds, the situation is not going to improve. Series concluded. You can read the first part here. (Babu is a Delhi-based independent journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.) This story was first published on IndiaSpend, Indias first data journalism initiative. Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday morning chaired a high-level security review meeting at the ministry of home affairs over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir post the Uri terror attack. National security adviser Ajit Doval, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, RAW chief, foreign secretary S Jaishankar, minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh and other senior home and defence officials were in attendance. On Monday, the Union home minister, defence minister Manohar Parrikar and the security top brass of the country met to review the security situation in the violence-hit state. After assuring that India would go after the perpetrators of the deadly Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the green signal to diplomatically isolate Pakistan on international fora. In one of the worst attack in recent times, at least 18 soldiers lost their lives and over 20 others were injured as heavily armed militants stormed an army camp close to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade at Uri in Kashmirs Baramulla district. Director general of military operation Lt Ranbir Singh said the four terrorists, who attacked the military base, belonged to Pakistans banned terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed. Read | NIA registers Uri attack case, will collect samples of dead Jaish militants Manhattan in New York is likely to be the next battleground for India and Pakistan as an attack on an army camp in Kashmirs Uri casts a shadow on the 71st session of the United Nations general assembly. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who addresses the 193-nation body on Wednesday, plans to focus on the ongoing unrest in Kashmir, where street protests against the government has claimed 86 lives and injured thousands over the past two months. The Pakistani foreign office says Sharif will specifically focus on the current situation, particularly the continuing grave violations of human rights by Indian troops in Kashmir. He will also call on the world community and the UN to live up to their promise of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. But when foreign minister Sushma Swaraj addresses the general assembly next Monday, she is expected to give a befitting response to Sharif. The attacks on Indian military installations -- in Uri on Sunday and earlier on the morning of January 2 at the Pathankot air base are likely to figure prominently in her speech. Swaraj is leading the Indian UN delegation this year with Prime Minister Narendra Modi deciding to skip this years meeting. This will be the second year in a row that Swaraj will counter Pakistans charges on Kashmir at the UN general assembly. Though Modi attended last years meet, he only addressed the gathering on sustainable development goals. Read: Updates: Fallen Uri soldiers laid to rest in Bihar, UP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan India and Pakistan often rake up the Kashmir issue at the general assembly but Indias raising of the human rights situation in Pakistans Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has added a new dimension to the sparring. On September 14, India made a reference to Balochistan at the UN Human Rights Council for the first time. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to rake up terror in the region but may not name Pakistan. Ghani who was in India on September 14 and 15, will also speak at the UNGA. The India visit yielded a joint statement by Ghani and Modi in which they strongly criticised using terror as a tool for political objectives and providing sanctuaries and sponsorship to terror. Though it made obvious references to Pakistan, the statement did not name the neighbour. The two leaders discussed the regional situation and expressed grave concern at continued use of terrorism and violence in the region for achieving political objectives. They agreed that this phenomenon presented the single biggest threat to peace, stability and progress in the region and beyond. Stressing that elimination of all forms of terrorism, without any discrimination, is essential, they called upon the concerned to put an end to all sponsorship, support, safe havens and sanctuaries to terrorists, including for those who target Afghanistan and India, the statement issued on September 14 said. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is refraining from dictating the governments repose to Sundays Uri attack. As the ideological fount of the BJP, the Sangh has suggested delinking Kashmir from the Uri aggression and strategising a long-term plan to secure India from frequent attacks perpetrated by Pakistan-sponsored terror groups, but is not spelling out what it expects from the Centre. Senior RSS functionaries, who spoke to HT on condition of anonymity, asserted that the Sangh has conveyed its support to the Centre, and the message to the cadre is to throw their weight behind the governments decision whatever that may be. While the RSS says it has left it to the government to take a call, a vacillation within the Sangh on the kind of action is causing an indistinct response. Hardline affiliates such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have called for storming across the LoC to destroy terror camps operating from Pakistani soil and for reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Within the Sangh too, there are voices underscoring the need to devise a plan outside the confines of diplomacy. Time is ripe to transform words in to action, said RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha. Time of dialogue and diplomacy is over. India must give Pakistan a lessonsometimes peace is born from the barrels of guns. For the RSS, it is a difficult position to be in. While it is conscious of not wanting to be seen as a war monger by pushing the pedal on military response, it also does not want to be perceived as an outfit that has gone soft on Pakistan-sponsored terror. Hours after Sundays pre-dawn ambush that left 18 soldiers dead near the town of Uri in Baramulla district, RSS second-in-command Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi called for firm and conclusive dealing with terrorists, their masters and supporters, but since then the Sangh has been largely silent. Has the Sangh, which took a forceful stand against terror attacks during the UPA rule, toned down its rhetoric? There is a feeling by and large that war should not be our first response, a functionary said. The Sangh is confident that the government strategists will know how to give a befitting reply. But what we have conveyed is the need for a sustained plan instead of knee-jerk reactions. The Sanghs stance on response to Uri notwithstanding, there has been a noticeable wavering in its position on Pakistan. For instance, after a Sangh-BJP coordination meeting last year, RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale told reporters that India should continue attempting to have good relations with Pakistan even in the face of continued attacks on the border. Even Kauravas and Pandavas (in the epic Mahabharata) were brothers, . One has to do everything (for better relations). This January, Hosable was cautioning India over its engagement with Pakistan. Speaking in the capital city at the launch of a journal on Pakistan, he called it a rogue state, and accused that country of not reciprocating Indias overtures for peace. In between came hard-hitting statements from RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat, who declared that Pakistan adopted anti-India policies and openly challenged the countrys sovereignty. In the face of its own indecisive Pakistan policy, is the Sangh at ease with the BJP-led NDA governments policy towards the neighbour? RSS functionaries insist there is no disagreement. It is for the first time that the international leadership has taken cognisance of Pakistans offensive against India, said a senior functionary. From inviting SAARC leaders to the oath-taking ceremony, which was a masterstroke to drawing attention to Baluchistan that made the world take note, the NDA government has identified the disha (direction). Read | What next? Heres how India can respond to the Uri terror attack SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raised the situation in Kashmir in his first meetings upon his arrival in New York on Monday for the annual UN general assembly Monday, but found no traction, particularly with neither the US nor the UK endorsing his views. On Monday, the Pakistani Foreign Office said that Sharif had sent letters to the US, Russia, China, Britain and France asking them to intervene to halt more than two months of violence in Kashmir which he claims is a threat to international peace and security. The latest Pakistani diplomatic offensive came a day after the terror attack suspected to have been carried out by Pak-based Jaish-e Mohammad in an army camp in Uri in Kashmir killed 18 Indian soldiers. His attempts to get world leaders to back Pakistans stand on Kashmir met the same fate as his earlier letters to different members of the UN in recent months as he has tried to parlay the issue to secure his position at home. Sharif railed about Kashmir in his meetings with British Prime Minister Theresa May and the US secretary of state John Kerry, according to reports in Pakistani press based on briefings or statements from officials in the Prime Ministers delegations to which Indian reporters have no access. There were no readouts about the meetings either from the UK or the US till late in the evening on Monday, in contrast to the multiple briefs they had put out about their respective leaders other interactions. Read | The Uri attack is a wake-up call for the strategic security community Sharifs recent attempts to raise Kashmir at the UN through letters to a range of entities had elicited no response from the world body, as noted by Indian officials, who believe he is flogging it for political leverage at home against the other Sharif, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif. The US had no comments on Kerrys meeting with Sharif, saying there was a backup of press releases. But Pakistani press reports were indicative enough, if not proof beyond doubt, about what transpired at those meetings. State-owned Radio Pakistan which has historically enjoyed first access to speeches and remarks from the countrys leaders, specially the Prime Minister and the President, said this about the meeting with Kerry: Highlighting Kashmir issue, he (Sharif) said so far one hundred and seven people have been martyred and hundreds injured during the current spree of violence in Occupied Kashmir. He said human rights violations are being carried out as state terrorism in the held valley. John Kerry appreciated Pakistan's endeavours in fight against terrorism and extremism. He said peace and stability in the region is in the interest of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. There was no mention, to belabour the obvious, to Kashmir or India in Kerrys remarks as reported by Pakistani press. Sharifs meeting with British Prime Minister May didnt go any better, according to same sources the Pakistani media, Radio Pakistan ignored it completely despite the fact that it did have a few paragraphs on Sharifs meeting with John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand which has opposed Indias admission to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an elite group of 48 nations which regulates world trade in nuclear resources and equipment. But here is what The News, a reputable Pakistani news publication and website, said about Sharifs meeting with May: Unarmed civilians are being subjected to the most inhumane treatment in occupied Kashmir. We will not let the world run from the promises it made regarding Kashmir, Sharif reportedly said. He highlighted the atrocities being committed in Kashmir during his meeting with Theresa May and urged her to play her part in ending the crisis. Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan will not leave Kashmiris alone in their time of need and also stated that if the global community failed in putting an end to human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, then it would serve as encouragement for India. Pakistan's stance regarding the Kashmir cause is clear and straightforward. UN's resolutions on Kashmir must be implemented as soon as possible, he said. And, how did May respond? The British Prime Minister acknowledged Pakistan's efforts in promoting economic stability and tackling terrorism. She also appreciated Pakistan's efforts in bringing about peace in Afghanistan, said the News. And, she talked about the role of Pakistanis in Britain, saying they are playing an important role in the progress of Britain. Tellingly, there was not a word about India or Kashmir. Read | How Pakistans response to Uri and Pathankot attacks differed Hyderabad University student Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide in January this year, did not belong to the Scheduled Castes and his Dalit identity was faked to malign the Narendra Modi government, the BJPs SC Morcha has said. Asking BJP leaders to counter such misinformation, SC Morcha chief Dushyant Gautam claimed Vemula was from a backward community. He belonged to a backward community. But, he was given a new identity by the BJPs rivals, Gautam said at a party workshop for Dalit leaders in Delhi on Monday. The workshop was held to arm party workers with facts to counter propaganda about rise in atrocities against SCs after Modi came to power. Pamphlets on facts related to Vemulas suicide, flogging of Dalits at Una and data of atrocities during Congress rule, were distributed. BJP leaders rued that the Modi government has empowered Dalits both socially and economically but stray incidents have clouded such initiatives. You must educate people. There is a difference between our approach towards Dalits and what is being projected in the media, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Party spokesman Bizay Sonkar Shastri said faking identities existed even during the time of the Mahabharata, and Eklavya was also projected as a tribal. He was connected to the commander a royal family from Magadh. Historians, influenced by communism, gave him a new identity to achieve certain goals, Shastri said. BJP leaders rued that media did not question Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati for trying to milk political benefits out of certain incidents in BJP-ruled states, while ignoring others. The Dalit leaders were asked to connect with their communities and counter propaganda with facts. They were also asked to popularise the Modi governments effort to economically empower Dalits. Former revenue minister Eknath Khadse, who was forced to stepped down in the wake of allegations of wrongdoings, is unlikely to make a political come back in the cabinet any time soon. That is, if the state governmBJPent grants an extension of three months, as it is likely to, to the Justice Zoting committee that it probing the allegations against the senior BJP politician with regards to the controversial land deal in Bhosari near Pune. Soon after Khadses resignation, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced the probe, saying it would be completed in three months. The committee, however, which operates from Nagpur, has now written to the government seeking an extension of three months citing incomplete work. Fadnavis is likely to take the call on the extension once he is back from his three-day US tour. The committee has held only two sittings one each in Mumbai and Pune in August and September and met officials from revenue department and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The deal of the Bhosari land had been challenged in the Bombay high court and the documents related to the deal are yet to be procured. The committee needs to go through the piles of the documents and needs an extension of three more months, the committee stated in a letter to the government last week. The committee of retired Bombay high court judge Dinkar Zoting was appointed by the government on June 23. The probe was announced after controversy erupted over the Bhosari land deal, where land supposedly owned by the industry department was purchased by Khadses kin. The one-man panel will probe whether the land belonged to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, its acquisition was completed; whether conflict of interest was involved in the deal and if it was illegal. Box Khadse vacates Ramtek Three and half months after his ouster from the Cabinet, Eknath Khadse vacated Ramtek the 8,500 sq ft sprawling bungalow at Malabar Hill on Monday. The paid extension of three months to vacate the bungalow ended on September 19. The Thane police have arrested a Shafique Shamshuddin Mansoori, 28, for the murder of a couple from Uttar Pradesh (UP). The accused is the brother of the deceased pregnant woman Sufiya alias Priya. According to police sources, this is a case of honour killing. Shafique, also from UP, had been planning the murder for over a month. He had bought the chopper from Mumbai with which he stabbed his sister and slit the throat of her husband Vijayshankar Jagmohan Yadav. Priya was nine months pregnant and was due to deliver her baby on September 25. The couples bodies were discovered on Thursday when the neighbours complained of a stench from the couples house and called the police. The deceased Vijayshankar Jagmohan Yadav, 30, and his wife Sufiya alias Priya Abrar Mansoori,22, got married against the wishes of their families and had moved to Shildaighar area in Thane to live away from their families. They had taken a house on rent and had been living there for around six years. Meanwhile, Shafique had been in constant touch with Priya over the phone and had also visited the couple twice in the last six months, said the police. He had called Priya to tell her that he would be coming over for Eid. Shafique came to Priyas house on Monday around 4pm. The three of them went off to sleep after having food but Shafique woke up after sometime and slit Vijayshankars throat, stabbed and smothered Priya around midnight, said an investigating officer. He also said that after the murders, Shafique returned to UP and resumed his normal life. Shafique is also a childhood friend of Vijayshankar. According to his statement to the police, he was tired of his friends and relatives taunting him as his sister married and came away with a man who was not approved by the family. Speaking about the case, a police officer from Thane crime branch unit -1 said, It is a case of honor killing because when we interrogated Shafique he told us that Vijay took a girl away from her family even when her family did not like him or approve of the match. The officer added, The accused also said that people in his village taunted him for being many in the village for Vijayshankars friend. Shafique will be produced in court on Tuesday. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Soon after the secretary of Happy Jivan Society, Jeetendra Jain, was out on bail on Monday, he issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to house owner Kantaben Patel, 55. Trouble started when Kantaben decided to sell their flat in the housing society in Vasai to a Muslim man. The housing society members objected to it, saying they did not want a non-vegetarian family to live there. Nine members of the housing society, including Jain, were arrested on Monday and released on bail. While giving the NOC to Kantaben, Jain apologised for the unintentional delay. He did not even ask her to pay Rs56,000 pending dues to the society. Jain handed me the NOC on Monday night after he was released on bail. He did not even mention the Rs56,000 maintenance due, said Kantaben. But I will pay the amount as per rules. Kantaben and her son Jignesh, 32, had approached the sub-registrar of Societies, Vasai, for justice. The homebuyer, Vikar Ahmed Khan, a glass trader from Vasai, is happy. I have already got Rs 1 lakh token amount from him, she said, adding that Khan would pay Rs5 lakh in the second instalment. On September 4, 11 members of the society had signed a resolution raising objections to the sale of the flat to a Muslim. We have seized the September 4 resolution signed by 11 members to probe into the matter, said police inspector Anil Patil. The secretary had written to Patel asking her not to sell the flat to a Muslim in the interest of the members of the society. The housing society has 16 flats. Though there are two Muslim families living in the housing society, they were away when the resolution was signed, said PI Patil. Jain had refused to give an NOC, saying they do not want another Muslim family in the society. Khan had taken loans from banks to buy the flat. But, the housing society secretary was delaying the process, said Jignesh. After the incident hit the headlines, members of the society made a turnaround. After the nine members were released, Jain agreed to issue the NOC so that the flat could be sold to Khan. With just four months to go for Punjab assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is struggling to project its CM face amid shrinking choices. Partys top leadership recently announced that it would only have a Punjabi as the CM candidate after Akali Dal and Congress made the Punjabi versus outsider tirade the rallying point of their campaigns. Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal alleged that AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal had a secret desire to be the Punjab CM. SADs election campaign too has a new tagline Punjab punjabian da (Punjab is for Punjabis). Must read | Kejriwal wants to be Punjab CM: Sacked AAP state chief Chhotepur The Punjabi versus outsider percept has hit the AAP the most in recent months. The sacking of its state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur was projected as AAPs Delhi team giving him a raw deal. While Chhotepur has made the most out of labelling the AAP a party of outsiders, the coalescing fourth front has carried the debate forward. Sensing the damage, the AAP was quick to clarify from the Chhapar Mela stage in Ludhiana that AAPs CM candidate will be from Punjab. While this has taken the sting out of the oppositions attack, the party is now faced with the question: Who should be the CM candidate? Also read | AAP CM face will be from Punjab; dont believe rumours: Sanjay Senior party leaders agree that the AAP does not have a Punjabi leader of the stature of the CM candidates of the Congress and the SAD. State Congress in-charge Asha Kumari has made it clear that former CM Captain Amarinder Singh will lead the state again in case of victory. The SAD has also announced that Parkash Singh Badal will contest to be the CM again. Kejriwal would have been a very good choice for the CM face. But an outsider is not acceptable to Punjab and that would also mean Kejriwals leaving New Delhi again, said a senior AAP leader. The AAP now has two obvious choices: Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and advocate and Dakha candidate HS Phoolka. Both are Jat Sikhs, sons of the soil and are well-known AAP faces. The choice between Mann and Phoolka, however, is not easy. Phoolka, the more mature and serious of the two candidates, is not considered to be leader with a mass base. His appeal is limited to the urbane, educated audience who appreciate his contribution to the cause of 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims. Mann, on the other hand, has unquestionable mass appeal. But a host of personality angularities has landed him in one controversy to another. His alleged drinking habit has embarrassed the party on several occasions. Instances of his immature filming of Parliament, his uncontrolled outburst against the media during a rally ended up negating the mileage he brings to the party through his runaway success rallies. As an MP, now for two years, Mann has comparatively more political experience than Phoolka. Other than these two, names of AAP Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi, Delhi MLA and Jarnail Singh and Kanwar Sandhu, are also doing the rounds. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday adjourned hearing on a petition seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder of Namdhari sect matriarch Chand Kaur. The matter could not be taken up due to paucity of time. The Punjab government had to file its response on a petition by a Ludhiana follower, Sukhdev Singh, who had moved the high court seeking the CBI probe in May. On September 16, the government had confirmed to the media that the Centre had been requested to hand over the probe to the CBI. Chand Kaur, 88, was shot dead on April 4 by two unidentified bike-borne men at the Bhaini Sahib, headquarters of the Namdhari sect, near Ludhiana. The probe was conducted by a special investigation team (SIT) but it failed to crack the case. Read | Namdharis wedge: A sect divided between two brothers, two states Fit at 45, assistant commissioner of police (south) Sandeep Wadhera raced a kilometre through a crowded Feroze Gandhi Market here on Tuesday to catch a snatcher and recover a womans bag containing Rs 1.37 lakh cash. Around 11am, gas-agency employee Deepika had come to the market to deposit this money in a bank. As she parked her scooter outside, two men tried to grab her bag. She fought for it until its handle came off and she lost it to one of the miscreants. At her raising the alarm, ACP Wadhera, who was crossing the market with his gunman, spotted the fleeing snatcher, jumped off his vehicle, and sprinted after the man. The officer was in his uniform. After 600-odd metres of pursuit on foot, he borrowed a passerbys motorcycle to go after the thief. He grabbed him and his gunman also got there in his official vehicle. We then called the police station concerned, said the ACP. The accused in police custody on Tuesday. (HT Photo) The accused, Jaswinder Singh (23), is from Tarn Taran. Cops from Division Number 5 took him in and booked him. A hunt is on for his accomplice, Jagdish Singh. Police came to know that Citibank guard Mandeep Singh, known to Jaswinder Singh on account of also being from Tarn Taran, had tipped him about the woman, that she would be carrying cash to the branch like every day. He had called him to Ludhiana just to attack this soft target. The market is always crowded and chasing anyone through it is a difficult hurdle race. The area is not in my jurisdiction, Wadhera said. But as a police officer, I cant let a criminal escape. A chase sequence from the movies. And said like a hero. A local court on Monday acquitted a man who was wrongly arrested by the UT police in a cheating case on January 19, 2015. The man was freed after the invigilators Rajnish Kumar and Priya during the Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (PUNSUP) examination refused to identify the arrested man as the one from whom they had recovered a mobile phone. The court observed that the investigating officer (IO), Balbir Singh, had arrested a wrong person in the case. It said Rajnish, who was the supervisor at the centre, had filed a complaint against Jaswant Singh, son of Balpreet Singh, but the investigating officer arrested Jaswant Singh, son of Baldev Singh. The defence lawyer, Gagan Aggarwal, said during cross examination the IO admitted that he did not verify the fathers names at the time of arrest. He said the face of the man arrested did not match with the photograph on the admit card. Meanwhile, the court has also pulled up the IO for shoddy investigation into the case. The examination for the post of senior superintendent was held in Chandigarh on January 2015 at Saupins School in Sector 32. After the invigilator complaint about Jaswant, the former frisked the candidate and recovered a mobile phone. The examination controller, PK Sharma, was informed about the incident, following which a police case under Sections 420 (cheating) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the accused. Furious over the Uri terror attack, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) burnt the effigy of Pakistan at Bhandari Bridge on Monday and demanded strong action by the Modi government. PPCC state secretary and spokesman Mandeep Singh Manna led his party workers and condemned the Sunday attack on the Uri army camp that has left 18 jawans dead. Congress workers burnt Pakistan flags and raised slogans against the neighbouring country. Manna warned Pakistan against supporting terror activities, while accusing the Modi government of being liberal on the issues. These attacks clearly demonstrate that Pakistan is in no mood for peace with India. Earlier there was an attack on the Pathankot airbase and now in Uri, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi still remains silent and reluctant to take appropriate action, said Manna. Taking a jibe at Modi, Manna said: When the Congress was in power at the Centre, Modi kept talking about his 56-inch chest and of giving a befitting reply to Pakistan. Why is he silent now? The party workers said if the government is unable to handle the situation, it should seek help of the citizens, who are furious about terror attacks and want strict action. Gurdaspur pays tribute to soldiers Dinanagar (Gurdaspur): Schoolchildren took out a candle march in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district on Monday to pay homage to Indian soldiers who lost their lives in the Uri attack. Hindu Suraksha Samiti also organised a protest march in the town and burnt the Pakistani national flag and shouted slogans against Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif. In Gurdaspur, locals led by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Anu Gandotra held a protest and blocked traffic on national highway at Mandi Chowk. Addressing the protesters, Gandotra termed the terror attack on sleeping soldiers an act of cowardice. Expressing condolences to the affected families, Gandotra urged the Centre to punish those who are behind the attack. The Modi government should control terror activities with an iron fist, so that no Indian soldier or civilian loses life in such attacks, he said. Gurdaspur Beopar Mandal members, led by president Darshan Mahajan, held a protest rally in the town and burnt an effigy of Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif. Addressing the protesters, Mahajan prayed for speedy recovery of those injured in the attack. Pathankot residents protest terror attack Pathankot: A series of protests were witnessed in Pathankot on Monday against the Sunday terror attack on the Uri army camp in Jammu and Kashmir in which 18 jawans have died so far. Members of the Pathankot Bar association wore black badges and suspended work. Later, they even set ablaze an effigy of Pakistan near the district courts complex, blaming the neighbouring country for the attack. Advocate Jyoti Pal said mere statements cannot wipe off tears of the nation that are being shed for martyrs and their families. He said Pakistan is a rogue nation and India must suspend all relations with it. Many other citizens outfits also staged protests while paying rich tributes to those who died in the attack. District BJP president Anil Rampal said the Modi government will act tough on terror organisations. htc Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has not functioned for six months. An average of 80 complaints pour into its office every day since the virtually dead statutory panels last chairman, justice Jagdish Bhalla (retired), left in March. More than 9,000 complaints are waiting to be heard, and more than 55% are against police. On June 21, hearing a public-interest petition by senior advocate HC Arora, the Punjab and Haryana high court gave the state government two weeks to fill all posts on the panel and revive it. That deadline expired on July 5. To contempt notice from the court, the state replied on September 9 that it was going to appoint the panels chairperson and members in two weeks (by September 24). In the absence of the states another statutory obligation, Police Complaints Authority (PCA), the rights commission is the only hope of plaintiffs. Punjab also faces litigation for not constituting the PCA under the Supreme Court orders of 2006 in the Parkash Singh versus the Union of India case. Members reduced A February 3 notification lowered the panels strength from five to three, including the chairperson. One of the two members requires seven-year experience as district- or high-court judge and the other must have practical knowledge of human rights matters. The state government is reported to have zeroed in on high courts acting chief justice Ashutosh Mohunta (retd) for member. The delay is in getting a former chief justice as chairperson. The commission has a director-general-of-police-rank officer, Mohammad Mustafa, on board. He says his backlog of inquiries against police has reduced from about 1,000 to 50 in one year. We are close to finishing our work, the DGP (human rights) said. He hasnt received any fresh inquiry in six months that the panel has been defunct. The alleged police harassment of witnesses in the Behbal Kalan police firing case, a sisters complaint against cops who picked up a man at night hours and detained him illegally at Mullanpur, a petition for re-investigating a murder committed near Amritsar, and cops not lodging a compliant of abetment to suicide at a Patiala village are all matters waiting to be heard. Complaints 2010: 19,000 2015: 16,000 This year (till Aug 31) 7,314 received 3,930 against police 316 related to womens harassment 155 of prison-rule violation SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With a little over four months to go for the Punjab assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is struggling to project a chief ministerial face amid shrinking choices. The partys top leadership recently announced that it would only have a Punjabi as CM candidate after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress made the Punjabi vs outsider tirade the rallying point of their election campaigns. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal even alleged that the partys national convener Arvind Kejriwal had a secret desire to be Punjab CM. SADs election campaign too has a new tag line Punjab punjabian da (Punjab is for Punjabis). The Punjabi vs outsider perception has hit the AAP the most in recent months. The sacking of its convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur was projected as AAPs Delhi team giving him a raw deal. While Chhotepur has made the most out of labelling AAP a party of outsiders, the coalescing fourth front has carried the credo forward, making it the raison detre of its creation. Read | Punjab polls: Surveys put Cong ahead of AAP, SAD-BJP, claims Capt Amarinder Sensing the damage, the AAP was quick to clarify from the Chhapar mela stage in Ludhiana that AAPs CM candidate will be from Punjab. While this has taken the sting out of the oppositions attack, the party is now faced with the question: Who should be the CM candidate? Senior party leaders agree that the AAP does not have a Punjabi leader of the stature of the CM candidates of the Congress and SAD. State Congress chief Asha Kumari has made it clear that former CM Captain Amarinder Singh will lead the state again in case of victory. The SAD has also announced that the CM Parkash Singh Badal will contest to be the chief minister again. Kejriwal would have been a very good choice of candidate. But an outsider is not acceptable to Punjab and that would also mean Kejriwals leaving New Delhi yet again, said a senior leader. The AAP now has two obvious choices: Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and renowned advocate and Dakha candidate, H S Phoolka. Both are Jat Sikhs, sons of the soil and are well known AAP faces. The toss-up between Mann and Phoolka, however, is not easy. Phoolka, the more mature and serious of the two candidates, is not considered to be leader with a mass base. His appeal is limited to the urbane, educated audience who appreciate his contribution to the cause of Sikhs, fighting for justice for the 1984 riot victims. Read | Great laughter challenge: Punjab poll arena turns comedy circus Mann, on the other hand has unquestionable mass appeal. But a host of personality angularities has landed the party in one controversy to another. His alleged drinking habit has embarrassed the party on several occasions. Instances of his immature filming of the Parliament, his uncontrolled outburst against the media during a rally end up negating the mileage he brings to the party through his runaway success rallies. As MP, now for two years, however, Mann has comparatively more political experience than Phoolka who is a political greenhorn. Other than these two, names of its convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi, MLA Delhi and state co-incharge Jarnail Singh and Kanwar Sandhu, the head of the partys manifesto wing are also doing the rounds as second-rung hopefuls. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The size of Indian anger over the killing of 18 soldiers in the Uri terror attack was evident in the rush to the Monday-evening retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border with Pakistan. Despite security enhancement, the attendance was so big that the galleries ran short of space. Even foreign tourists arrived in big number with no look of fear. The aggression rubbed on to the Border Security Force (BSF) and it went eyeball to eyeball with Pakistan Rangers during the evening parade along the zero line. The crowd backed its soldiers with the slogans of Hindustan Zindabad, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, and Vande Mataram. Outnumbered five to one, the Pakistani crowd was also outshouted. The BSF jawans stomped harder and swung their arms more assertively as they marched up to the Rangers. Before the ceremony, the Indian spectators in Tricolour caps danced for several minutes to the beat of patriotic songs, waving the national flag. Uri is far from Punjab. The Punjab border is secure. There is nothing to fear, Yaman Gupta of Panipat (Haryana), who had arrived with family, said. You can see our sense of security in our enthusiasm. Balwinder Singh, a dhaba owner, said: The visitor count did fall during the terror attack on the Dinanagar police station in Gurdaspur district. Terror strikes in Kashmir are a routine and cant affect the tourist morale. Passengers calm The security of cross-border train Samjhauta Express has been increased after the Uri terror attack. Generally, 27 personnel of Government Railway Police (GRP) are deployed at the Attari station. On Monday, we had 20 more, said sub-inspector Jaswinder Singh, in charge of stations security. Police searched every bag. There was, however, no dip in the volume of passengers commuting between Lahore and Delhi via this train that runs twice a week. On Monday, 130 people left Attari for Pakistan. The railway authorities said this was average number. Most of the 180 passengers arriving from Pakistan said they were unaware of the terror attack. We are coming from Karachi, said Pakistan national Salman. We were aboard the train, so we must have missed the news. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON National Award winning actor Bobby Simhaa, best known for his performance in the Tamil gangster film Jigarthanda, has rubbished rumours that his marriage to actor Reshmi Menon is headed for a divorce. Not reacting to rumours, but for all those concerned ones calling us We Are Happily Married. The only thing we will be splitting is pizza. PS: Hoping people write about things that actually matter and not such baseless rumours, Simhaa wrote on his Facebook page. Simhaa and Reshmi tied the knot earlier this year in April, after falling in love on the sets of last years Tamil thriller Urumeen. On the acting front, Simhaa awaits the release of Tamil films Kavalai Vendam and Vallavanukku Vallavan. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Srijit Mukherji was confined to the hospital bed when he wrote the script of his upcoming Bengali film, Zulfiqar, an adaptation of William Shakespeares tragedies, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. The multiple National Award-winning director admits that Julius Caesar being his favourite play, he has always wanted it to adapt it on the silver screen. Read: Srijit Mukherji set to bring first Bengali film in 3D with next Kakababu The director, whose film is set against the backdrop of Kolkatas underworld, has roped in some of the biggest Tollywood stars such as Prosenjit Chatterjee and Dev in the film. And Srijit has his reasons for showing Kolkatas dark underbelly in Zulfiqar. Its a tribute to The Godfather (1972). This is my first film on underworld and it has to be a tribute to The Godfather, smiles the Rajkahini director. He also mentions that every time a story idea germinates in his mind, he tries to push the envelope. Both the plays talk about power and I thought it would be apt to set it in underworld, where power rules supreme. Never has anyone made a Bengali film set against the backdrop of the underworld. I always try to come out of my comfort zone and do something different. This time, I have done the same. Luckily till now, the audience has been with me. They have made six out of my eight films blockbusters. I have always enjoyed both box-office success and critical acclaim which won me National awards. So, who will experiment if not me? he says. A still from Zulfiqar. If theres one director in Bengali film industry, who has tasted success in the last six years with most of his puja releases, it has to be Srijit. He made a thumping debut with Autograph in 2010, which released during Durga Puja. Since then, he has had a Durga Puja release every year 22 e Srabon (2011), Mishawr Rahasya (2013), Chatushkone (2014) and Rajkahini (2015). Naturally, the filmmaker knows that he has a loyal fan base that will watch his films during the festive season. However, it wasnt an easy task to adapt two literary masterpieces of the Bard of Avon on the big screen. He made sure to consult a number of scholars before finalising the script. He even met scholar Shankarlal Bhattacharya, who also gave him a reading list. Read: Vidya Balan was always my first choice for Begum Jaan: Srijit Mukherji It isnt unknown that Julius Caesar has a brief presence in the original text. So, how has he interpreted the character in the film, which has been played by Prosenjit Chatterjee? Caesar is quite visible in the film. Its not just about the two Shakespearean plays. Theres a book by Plutarch titled Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly known as Parallel Lives, and I have taken a lot of Caesars back story from there. I also extensively read Roman history, says the Jaatiswar director. The Godfather, starring Marlon Brando, was based on Mario Puzos bestselling novel of the same name. According to Srijit Mukherji, Zulfiqar is a tribute to The Godfather. Srijit, who is also busy with the post production of his debut Bollywood film, a remake of his Bengali film Rajkahini, with Vidya Balan in the lead, has also split the character of Mark Antony, Caesars loyal friend and his armys general, between two actors. Its one character but has been played by two people (Parambrata is Tony Braganza and Dev is Markaz Ali). Since I have adapted two plays, there was enough material on Mark Antony. Interestingly, the character traits of Mark Antony in Julius Caesar are different from those in Antony and Cleopatra. So, I felt it would be better if I split the character between two people, he says. Read: Srijit Mukherji to adapt two Shakespearean tragedies in one film Known to be one of the most successful filmmakers in Bengali film industry, the trailer of Srijits film has been appreciated by Amitabh Bachchan on Twitter. I still remember vividly. I was confined to the hospital bed after I met with an auto rickshaw accident in Delhi. I didnt see the sky for 21 days. A good part of my left leg was missing. So, I was physically and emotionally drained when I started scripting this film. Julius Caesar was the first Shakespearean text I ever read (in class 10). But I have always felt that after Mark Antonys speech, the play somehow loses its momentum. Antonys speech (Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears) comes in the fifth or sixth reel in a film. So, I needed a narrative, to hold the story till the end. Suddenly it struck me that the characters of Antony and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar are common. I thought if I could bring all the characters in the same time space then it would get an interesting narrative, says the director. So, has he deviated from the text, we ask? No, its only that I have removed 15 years between Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra in terms of the history of Rome, he says nonchalantly. Watch the trailer of Zulfiqar: ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Coming on the heels of the infamous heroin picture that showed a US grandmother passing out from an apparent heroin overdose -- while her four-year-old grandson sat in the back seat, a new study has found that opioid dependence affects how cute we perceive images of children to be. Fifty-year-old Rhonda Pasek was sentenced to jail last week after officials in Ohio posted the photo, sending shock waves among families across the world. In this Wednesday, September 7, 2016, file photo, released by the East Liverpool Police Department, a young child sits in a vehicle behind his grandmother, Rhonda Pasek and her boyfriend, James Acord, both of whom are unconscious from a drug overdose, in East Liverpool, Ohio. An Ohio judge has turned over the custody of the boy. A Columbiana County Juvenile Court administrator told The Associated Press that the boys great uncle and great aunt petitioned the court for custody, which was granted by a judge on Monday, September 12. (AP) As cuteness can trigger caregiving motivation, this result indicates that the opioids -- which includes illicit drugs such as heroin as well as medications commonly prescribed for pain -- may have significant effects on our ability to care for others. We found that the brains of people with opioid dependence didnt respond to the baby schema, said Professor Daniel Langleben from University of Pennsylvania in the US. Baby schema is a set of visual characteristics typical of human and animal babies, which makes them more adorable or cute. They include such features as large eyes, big foreheads, and small chins, which over evolution we have come to subconsciously recognise as characteristic of infants and inviting caretaking, so much so that we have incorporated these features into dolls, cartoon characters, adverts, and even car design, etc. In this study, the researchers recruited 47 opioid-dependent adults who were starting treatment with an opioid blocker naltrexone and measured how they responded to the baby schema task while recording their brain activity using an fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner, before and after 10 days of treatment with naltrexone. When they were given a drug that blocked the effects of opioids, the response became more similar to the healthy people. This may indicate the mechanism underlying problems with social cognition deficits in people who abuse opioids, the researchers said. In summary, treatment with opioid modulators seems to be changing the brain response to baby schema and may modulate our motivation to care for others, Langleben said. Opioids are some of the most common medications in the world, often taken on a long term basis, so this is something to consider, Langleben noted. The findings were presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress in Vienna, Austria. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Maggie Smith has responded to Jimmy Kimmels joke that he wouldnt be passing on her Emmy Award after she missed the annual event. Kimmel hosted the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Smith, a nine-time Emmy nominated actor and four-time winner, was honoured with the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Award for her role in Downton Abbey. She previously won Emmys for the role in 2011 and 2012. But before presenters Minnie Driver and Michael Weatherly could accept the award on Smiths behalf, Kimmel intercepted the trophy and told Smith to retrieve it herself. No, no, no, no, no. Were not mailing this award to her. Maggie, if you want this itll be in the lost and found, said Kimmel. Host Jimmy Kimmel (L), actors Minnie Driver (C), and Michael Weatherly speak onstage during the 68th Emmy Awards show. (AFP) Smith put out a statement formally accepting her award, reports mirror.co.uk. I was very astonished and pleased to win the award. I feel the Emmys has been overly generous to me, Smith said via the Masterpiece PBS Twitter account. If Mr Kimmel could please direct me to the lost and found office, I will try and be on the next flight, the actor wrote, undersigning the note as Old Maggie. The host, who is known for his show Jimmy Kimmel Live! - which currently airs in India on Star World and Star World HD - was applauded for his hosting gig. Follow @htshowbiz for more The 29th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival -- running from October 25 to November 3 -- will have two Japanese movies among the 16 titles that will make up the prestigious competition section. The full competition lineup will be announced on September 26 in Tokyo. The package was picked from the 1502 films that were submitted by 98 countries, including India. Last year at Tokyo, there were three Indian entries: Mani Ratnams gripping O Kadhal Kanmani, Ishaan Nairs (Mira Nairs nephew) Kaash (produced by Irrfan Khan and starring Kalki Koechlin) and Umesh Aggarwals biopic, Jai Ho, on the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman. The Japanese movies this year are Daigo Matsuis Japanese Girls Never Die and and Kiki Suginos Snow Woman. Japanese Girls Never Die is based on a new novel by Mariko Yamauchi (celebrated for her earlier Its Boring Here, Pick Me Up), and explores a towns angst when one of its citizens, a young woman, goes missing. This leads to a mysterious attack by an unidentified group of schoolgirls on random men. Snow Woman has been directed by Kiki Sugino. The festivals Competition Programming Director, Yoshi Yatabe, said in a note: Daigo Matsui cleverly depicts the small-town claustrophobia of his generation through his protagonist, played by Yu Aoi, and gives us an honest, personal portrayal that could only be done now. The zaniness and originality with which Matsui uses girl power to push his characters out of their lethargy is where his talent truly shines. Suginos work, whose pastel tones harken back to the aesthetics of Japanese classics are amazing. Sugino also plays the protagonist, the Snow Woman, who exudes luminous beauty as she does ominous terror. Portraying a great piece of folklore, Snow Woman is being touted as one of the most original movies from Japan this year. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo on Monday and killed 12 people, according to a war monitor, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce brokered by the the United States and Russia over. The United Nations confirmed the convoy was hit but gave no details on who carried out the attack or how many died as world leaders converged on New York for their annual UN gathering under the shadow of fresh violence in the Syrian civil war. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the attacks were carried out by either Syrian or Russian aircraft, adding that there had been 35 strikes in and around Aleppo since the truce ended. The United States said it is outraged by reports that a humanitarian aid convoy was bombed near Aleppo on Monday and Washington will reassess future cooperation with Russia, a US State Department spokesperson said. The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement. The United States will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the Cessation of Hostilities, we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia, Kirby said. Read | Syria truce teeters on brink after US-led raid kills troops A humanitarian aid group said the death toll was higher. Fourteen Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers were killed, Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told a UN summit. At least 18 of 31 trucks in a UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) convoy were hit along with an SARC warehouse, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. The convoy was delivering aid for 78,000 people in the hard-to-reach town of Urm al-Kubra in Aleppo Governorate, he said. UN aid chief Stephen OBrien said initial reports indicated many people had been killed or seriously wounded, including SARC volunteers, and that if the callous attack was found to be deliberate, it amount to a war crime. Notification of the convoy ... had been provided to all parties to the conflict and the convoy was clearly marked as humanitarian, he said in a statement, calling for an immediate, independent investigation. In this grab taken from video provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, a member of the team describes the damage after an airstrike, in Aleppo. (AP Photo) The attack appeared to signal the imminent collapse of the latest effort by the United States and Russia to halt Syrias 5-1/2-year-old civil war. We dont know if it can be salvaged, said a senior Obama administration official of the effort by the United States and Russia, which back opposite sides in the conflict. At this point, the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage, the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added. Moscow supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with its air force. The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment on the attack. But Syrias army said the seven-day truce period had ended. Read | Putin questions US commitment to Syria ceasefire It accused terrorist groups, a term the government uses for all insurgents, of exploiting the calm to rearm while violating the ceasefire 300 times, and vowed to continue fulfilling its national duties in fighting terrorism in order to bring back security and stability. A local resident told Reuters by phone that the trucks were hit by about five missile strikes while parked in a centre belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent in Urm al-Kubra, a town near Aleppo. The head of the centre and several others were badly injured. Kerrys gamble The week-old attempt at a ceasefire, negotiated by US secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, could be the final attempt by US President Barack Obama to negotiate an end to Syrias civil war. Kerry called on Moscow to halt Syrian government airstrikes, including on aid convoys, and indicated that the United States had not received official word from Russia that the ceasefire deal was dead. The Russians made the agreement. So we need to see what the Russians say, Kerry said before meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in New York. But the point the important thing is the Russians need to control Assad, who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys. The United Nations said that only Washington and Moscow could declare it over, as they were the ones who originally forged the deal. The air strikes appeared particularly heavy in insurgent-held areas west of Aleppo, near the rebel stronghold of Idlib province. And in eastern Aleppo, a resident reached by Reuters said there had been dozens of blasts. It started with an hour of extremely fierce bombing, said Besher Hawi, the former spokesperson for the oppositions Aleppo city council. Now I can hear the sound of helicopters overhead. The last two were barrel bombs, he said, the sound of an explosion audible in the background. Abu al-Baraa al-Hamawi, a rebel commander, said the most intense bombardments had taken place in areas west of Aleppo, the same area where the aid convoy was hit. The regime and Russians are taking revenge on all the areas, he said. Russian and US officials met in Geneva on Monday to try to extend the truce, and the International Syria Support Group - the countries backing the Syria peace process - was scheduled to meet on Tuesday in New York to assess the agreement. Return to battlefield But like the Syrian army, the rebels spoke of returning to the battlefield. The coordinator of Syrias main opposition group said on Monday the ceasefire never took hold and called on the world to put an end to the criminality of the Syrian government. There was no ceasefire to begin with for us to say whether it failed or succeeded, Riad Hijab, general coordinator of the High Negotiations Committee, told reporters. Aid was delivered to the besieged town of Talbiseh in Homs province on Monday, the Red Cross said, for the first time since July. The convoy brought in food, water and hygiene supplies for up to 84,000 people, it said. But most aid shipments envisaged under the truce have yet to go in. The United Nations said it had received government approval to reach nearly all the besieged and hard-to-reach areas where it sought to bring aid, but access to many areas was still constrained by fighting, insecurity and administrative delays. Already widely violated since it took effect, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russia said jets from the US-led coalition against Islamic State killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria. A man walks near a hole in the ground after an airstrike on Sunday in the rebel-held town of Dael, in Deraa Governorate, Syria. (Reuters Photo) Assad called that incident flagrant aggression. Washington called it a mistake. The ceasefire is the second negotiated by Washington and Moscow since Russia joined the war in September 2015. But while it led to a significant reduction in fighting at the outset, violence has increased in recent days and aid has mostly failed to arrive. Plans to evacuate several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held district of Homs city have also overshadowed the agreement, with rebels saying it would amount to the government declaring the ceasefire over. The Homs governor said the plan had been postponed from Monday to Tuesday. Washington and Moscow back opposite sides in the war between Assads government and the insurgents, while both oppose the Islamic State jihadist group. Russia joined the war a year ago on Assads side, tipping it firmly in his favour. An unarmed black man killed by a white Oklahoma officer who was responding to a stalled vehicle can be seen in police video walking away from officers and toward his SUV with his hands up before he approaches the drivers side door, where he drops to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun then fatally shot. In Tulsa police helicopter footage that was among several clips released Monday showing the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher and its aftermath, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying time for a Taser. He then says: That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something. Police chief Chuck Jordan announced before the video and audio recordings release that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot Friday. Its not clear from the footage what led Betty Shelby, the officer who fired the fatal shot, to draw her gun or what orders officers might have given Crutcher. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted in the shooting or if Crutchers civil rights were violated. Crutchers twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges Monday. The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father, she said. That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week. That big bad dude, thats who he was. Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female officer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the drivers side of the SUV, three male officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle. The officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the dashboard cameras angle. Just been tasered Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, I think he may have just been tasered. One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly. Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, Shots fired! Crutchers head then drops, leaving him completely lying out in the street. After that, someone on the police radio can be heard saying, Shots fired. We have one suspect down. Officer Tyler Turnbough, whos also white, used a stun gun on Crutcher, police said. The shooting comes just four months after former Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction in the 2015 death of an unarmed black man. Shelby worked as a Tulsa County sheriffs deputy for four years before joining the Tulsa Police Department in December 2011, officials said. She has been placed on paid leave. The initial moments of Crutchers encounter with police are not shown in the footage. Shelby did not activate her patrol cars dashcam, said police spokesperson Jeanne MacKenzie, and the ground-level video released Monday came from the car of a second officer who arrived at the scene. Initial police briefings indicated Crutcher was not obeying officers commands, but MacKenzie said Monday she didnt know what Crutcher was doing that prompted police to shoot. Two 911 calls described an SUV that had been abandoned in the middle of the road. One unidentified caller said the driver was acting strangely, adding, I think hes smoking something. After the shooting, Crutcher could be seen lying on the side of the road, blood pooling around his body, for nearly two minutes before anyone checked on him. When asked why police did not provide immediate assistance once Crutcher was down, MacKenzie said, I dont know that we have protocol on how to render aid to people. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which also called for charges, said Crutcher was left to bleed while officers stood by. The groups executive director, Ryan Kiesel, said Crutchers death shows how little regard Tulsa police have for the communitys minorities. Justice 4 Crutch Dozens of protesters gathered outside the county courthouse Monday evening holding signs that read, Justice 4 Crutch and Dont Shoot. With relations between police and blacks in Tulsa already uneasy, the community needs to be the place where change happens, Tiffany Crutcher said. This is bigger than us right here. Were going to stop it right here, she said. US attorney Danny C Williams said the Department of Justices civil rights investigation into the shooting will be separate from a local one into whether criminal charges should be filed. The Justice Department is committed to investigating allegations of force by law enforcement officers and will devote whatever resources are necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated, he said. Speaking Monday in Tulsa, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said Crutcher committed no crime and gave officers no reason to shoot him. When unarmed people of color break down on the side of the road, were not treated as citizens needing help. Were treated as, I guess, criminals suspects that they fear, said Crump, who is representing Crutchers family just as he did relatives of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, black Florida teenager who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in 2012. He said Tulsa police drew their own conclusions about Crutcher. So I guess its a crime now to be a big black man, Crump said. My God, help us. Barack Obama used his last UN address on Tuesday to castigate strongmen and populists, taking aim at Russias Vladimir Putin and Donald Trumps rise at home. Obama told the UN General Assembly that democracy was a better path toward prosperity than the crude populism that is mushrooming in the United States and around the world. Some argue the future favours the strong man, Obama said, in remarks sure to echo on the 2016 US campaign trail. I believe this thinking is wrong. History shows that strong men are then left with two paths: Permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war. Obamas comments come amid a scorched-earth campaign to succeed him, which has seen a wave of popular support for Republican Party nominee Donald Trump, who holds far-right stances on immigration and national security. Our country has been weak. Were letting people in by the thousands and tens of thousands, the businessman said on Monday, attacking Obama. Obama challenged that thinking in his address at the UN, saying: We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home. We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children if the unspeakable happened to us. Obama admitted, however, that a course correction was needed to smooth the serrated edges of globalization and neutralize alternative visions promoted by populists and zealots. Past glories US President Barack Obama, second from right, joined by secretary of state John Kerry, third from right and the UN Ambassador to US Samantha Power, right, participates in a bilateral meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, left, on the margins of 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (AP) Obama had a more direct message for his Russian counterpart, accusing Putin -- who has invaded Ukraine and deployed forces to Syria -- of trying using the military to gain global clout. In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force, Obama said. Even as a Syrian ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow lay in tatters, Obama insisted diplomacy -- not force -- is the only way to end the brutal five-year conflict. Theres no ultimate military victory to be won, were going to have to pursue the hard work of the diplomacy that aims to stop the violence and deliver aid to those in need, Obama said. On Monday the Syrian military declared the ceasefire over and 18 UN aid trucks were destroyed as they tried to bring relief to war-ravaged citizens near Aleppo. Syria and Russia denied striking the convoy, with Moscow suggesting it may have caught fire. Legacy on the line Members of the Syrian delegation listen as Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly (Reuters) The Syria crisis, perhaps more than any other, threatens to sully Obamas eight-year effort to improve Americas standing in the world. Obama arrived at the White House in 2009 to find Americas reputation tattered by the war in Iraq and George W Bushs distain for global forums. Obama has been more cautious -- critics would say timid -- with using US power, refusing to intervene to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime. Before the UN, Obama restated the case for multilateralism and an America that knows the limits of its own power. Ive noticed as president times when both Americas adversaries and some of our allies believe all problems were either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington. Perhaps too many in Washington believe that as well, he said to laughs from delegates. Latecomer Obama (Input from PTI) Barack Obama shakes hands with the president of the seventy-first session of the United Nations General Assembly Peter Thomson and with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (L) after addressing the United Nations General Assembly (Reuters) For the first time, a US President was not the second speaker at UN GAs General Debate as Obama arrived late for his last address as the head of state. Obama missed his turn as the second speaker which promoted president of the General Assembly to call Chads leader, who was the next speaker on the list, to make his national statement. The US has traditionally been the second speaker in the General Debate after Brazil. Tuesdays address was Obamas eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as Americas commander-in-chief. After Brazils President Michel Temer finished his address, president of the General Assembly Peter Thomson said Obama is delayed and has not yet arrived for his speech to the General Assembly. Not waiting for the US President to show up, Thomson proceeded on to the next speaker on the list, inviting Chads leader to make his address. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump used funds from his charitable foundation to pay settlements in legal cases involving his businesses, an apparent violation of laws governing non-profits, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The cases involved a combined $258,000 paid out by the Donald J. Trump Foundation -- a charity almost entirely funded with other peoples money, the newspaper said -- and follow a review of legal documents and the foundations tax records. The newspaper carried out a weekslong investigation into the charitys finances, finding that Trump himself has not contributed a dollar since 2009. The group is funded by donations from third parties instead. One of the groups suspect payments was a $100,000 donation to a veterans charity in 2007 as part of a legal settlement with the city of Palm Beach, Florida. Trump had sued the city after it fined him $120,000, or $1,250 per day, for erecting an 80-foot (24-meter) flagpole at his Mar-a-Lago Club that exceeded the maximum 42 feet permitted by local regulations. The Trump Foundation also made transactions that appeared to be exclusively for the benefit of the real estate mogul or his businesses, apparently in violation of regulations governing charities, the Washington Post said. In one case, the charity paid $20,000 in 2007 for a six-foot portrait of Trump, the newspaper reported. Clearly the Trump Foundation is as much a charitable organization as Trump University is an institute of higher education, said Christina Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the campaign of Trumps White House rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Once again, Trump has proven himself a fraud who believes the rules dont apply to him, she said in a statement. Its past time for him to release his tax returns to show whether his tax issues extend to his own personal finances. Some Democrats have complained that the media has not sufficiently reported about the Trump Foundations suspected wrongdoing, accusing journalists of being lenient in their treatment of the outspoken billionaire. News outlets have also been criticized for being more keen to cover a tweet by Trumps son comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of colorful Skittles candy. If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? he wrote. Thats our Syria refugee problem. If you are covering Skittles-gate instead Trumps illegal use of his foundation, you are probably in journalism for the wrong reasons, tweeted Dan Pfeiffer, a former top advisor to President Barack Obama. Trumps campaign did not respond to a request for comment. A little-known group demanding free education for Nepalese children triggered cylinder bomb blasts outside three schools in Kathmandu on Tuesday, causing minor damage. No one was injured in the blasts, police said, adding unexploded bombs were also found at five other schools in the city. Cylinder bombs exploded at Akash Deep Boarding School and Manakamana Higher Secondary School in Jorpati, Kathmandu, at around 3:45 this morning. The unexploded devices found in front of five other schools in Kathmandu were either detonated or removed, police chief SP Bikram Singh Thapa was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. Nepal Army bomb disposal team have been mobilised to defuse the bombs. Two persons were arrested on suspicion of being behind the blasts. Pamphlets were found near the blast sites and attached to the unexploded devices from a little-known group demanding free education for all Nepalese children, Thapa said. The explosions caused minor damage to the schools gates, he added. Pope Francis on Tuesday denounced those who wage war in the name of God, as he met faith leaders and conflict victims to discuss growing religious fanaticism and escalating violence around the world. The world is at war, the world is suffering, the Argentine pontiff said ahead of the meeting, which came as fighting resumed in Syria and US authorities investigated an attack possibly linked to the Islamic State group. There is no God of war, he said, calling on all men and women of good will, of any religion, to pray for peace. The annual World Day of Prayer event, established by John Paul II 30 years ago and held in the medieval town of Assisi in central Italy, aims to combat extremism dressed up as religion and the persecution of people for their faiths. The pope also reminded Western countries that while they had suffered a string of deadly jihadist attacks, there were parts of the world where cities were being flattened by fighting, prisoners were being tortured and families were starving to death. We should be ashamed We are frightened... by some terrorist acts, he said during morning mass at the Vatican, (but) this is nothing compared to what is happening in those countries, in those lands where day and night bombs fall. As we pray today, it would be good if we all felt shame, shame that humans, our brothers and sisters, are capable of doing this. The pope held one-on-one talks with faith leaders, including the archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, and Din Syamsuddin, chairperson of Muhammadiyah, Indonesias second largest Islamic organisation. Pope Francis (L) hugs Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (R) during the inter-religious meeting "Prayer for Peace" in Assisi, Italy, on Tuesday. (Reuters) Rabbi David Rosen, from the American Jewish Committee and Koei Morikawa, the supreme head of the Tendai Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, also met Francis. The 79-year-old pope had arrived amid tight security in Assisi for lunch with the leaders and a group of refugees, including Syrians and Palestinians, an Eritrean, two Nigerian women and a 23-year-old from Mali who fled crisis-torn Libya for Sicily by boat. The meal was rounded off with a cake sporting 25 candles to celebrate Bartholomew Is 25 years as Patriarch, Italian media said. Peace and reconciliation At 4pm (1400 GMT) the leaders prayed before coming together for a joint ceremony where messages of peace was read out by each leader and one of the war victims. Some 500 representatives from different religious traditions have been taking part in a series of round-tables with lay people in the town since Sunday, covering topics from religious violence to climate change and the migration crisis. It is the popes second visit in as many months to the picturesque hillside town, where his name-sake Saint Francis of Assisi was born and found God, renouncing his wealth for a life of poverty and becoming an emissary of peace. The head of the worlds 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, who took the papal name Francis in homage to the famous Christian friar and his devotion to peace and forgiveness, has insisted violence committed in the name of religion has nothing to do with God. During a trip to Poland in August he said the world is at war, but driven by greed for interests, money, resources, not religion. All religions want peace, its the others who want war, he said, warning against equating Islam with terrorism, insisting there were fundamentalist Catholics too. Some students and academics at the Ghana University have demanded the removal of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, saying he was racist against black people. The Gandhi statue, currently installed in the premises of the varsity, was gifted by President Pranab Mukherjee during his recent visit to Ghana. The students and teachers argue that Gandhis reference to black Africans as kaffir in some of his early writings reflected his racist mindset. The campaign has been led by Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, former director of the Institute of African Studies. The students and teachers have also launched an online petition, asking authorities to facilitate the removal of the statue of Gandhi at the earliest. How will the historian teach and explain that Gandhi was uncharitable in his attitude towards the black race and see that were glorifying him by erecting a statue on our campus? wrote a professor in the petition. The campaigners have been raising slogans like Gandhi Must Fall and Gandhi For Come Down. Ampofo is urging members of the University of Ghana Council to heed her petition, arguing among other things that, Gandhi was racist against black people and honouring him will set a wrong example for students, as per local media in Ghana. But there have been voices which oppose the demand. Ocqauye, a professor of political science and a lawyer, said a decision to demolish the statue might have implications on diplomatic ties between Ghana and India. It will be most unnecessary, most uncalled for and not in the supreme interest of Ghanaians and we must know what serves our interest best, he said. The petitioners referred to Gandhis open letter to The Natal Mercury in 1894, saying he called black Africans as kaffirs, a derogatory term for black people. A general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir, they quoted Gandhi as saying in the letter. An Indian-American bar owner in Linden, New Jersey, tipped off police after he spotted bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his store early Monday morning that finally led to his arrest. Harinder Bains, the owner of Merdies Tavern in Linden, New Jersey, told CNN he saw Rahami sleeping outside his bar and called the authorities, after recognizing him as the wanted man for this weekends bombings in New York and New Jersey. The FBI had earlier posted the suspects pictures for public alert. But Harinder Bains doesnt see himself as a hero. I am just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do, Bains told CNN. I just told them the guy looks a little suspicious and doesnt look good to me, he said. Rahami was captured after a shootout that left him and two law enforcement officers injured in Linden, a New Jersey city not very far from Elizabeth, another city in the state where he lived with his family. The suspect, an Afghan-descent naturalized American citizen, had worked at his family owned restaurant First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth and was known to be a friendly man who sometimes gave away free food to regular customers. He had a liking for western clothes and fast cars souped up Honda Civics. But he changed dramatically after his return from a brief stay in Afghanistan four years ago. He became religious and took to wearing traditional clothes. Rahami had spent a few weeks in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement, in 2011. During that time he also visited Quetta in Pakistan and married a Pakistani woman. He returned to Pakistan in 2013 and stayed there a year, according to law enforcement officials cited by CNN. He tried to bring his wife to the US, but officials were not certain if he succeeded. CNN said Rahami had called the office of New Jersey Congressman Albio Sires, a Democrat turned Republican, from Islamabad in 2014 saying he was concerned about his wifes passport and visa. It turned out her Pakistani passport had expired and the consulate wouldnt give her an immigrant visa until the passport was renewed, CNN said citing Sires. When her passport came through, she was found to be pregnant and was told she couldnt get a visa till the baby was born. The couple was also told they had to get an immigrant visa for the baby. Read | A New York City tale: Two gentlemen find bag, remove bomb, take bag Israels defence industry faces layoffs, closures and a scramble to set up shop in the United States following the signing of a new US military aid package that phases out Israels ability to spend a quarter of the funds on its own businesses. The 10-year, $38 billion agreement, signed on September 15 after a year of negotiations, comes into effect in US fiscal year 2019. It constitutes the most military assistance Washington has ever provided to an ally, but was clinched only after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted concessions. Key among those is the gradual phasing out of a clause allowing Israel to spend 26.3% of the funds on its own defence sector, which competes actively with US firms such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon. That means Israeli defence companies will miss out on up to $10 billion that might otherwise have been spent on home-made drones, missiles, tanks and other equipment, depending on the precise terms of the phase-out, which remain unclear. Once that phase-out is completed, all the funds in the agreement will have to be spent in the US. Its quite a problem, said one Israeli defence industry official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. The bigger companies and most advanced ones with the best technology and capabilities will be able to survive, but the smaller you are, the bigger the problem is. Netanyahus office declined to comment on the domestic consequences of the aid deal but has said the agreement will greatly strengthen the security of Israel. Israel has about 700 defence-related firms, most of them with only 50 to 150 employees. They mainly act as subcontractors to Israels four largest defence companies Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel Military Industries and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. Israels defence exports totalled $5.7 billion in 2015, about 14% of all exports and a major driver of the economy. None of the companies asked by Reuters to discuss the aid package were willing to speak on the record, mentioning concerns about future business. But several executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that as a result of the deal they were already considering contingency plans. One option would be for larger firms to open subsidiaries in the US, like Elbit has done, to compensate for the loss of business. They might also acquire smaller US firms. As one executive put it: This should be translated into an opportunity for the Israeli industry, which should penetrate new markets and improve their competitive ability. We should face the global trends and the fact that Israel is losing its ability to compete, the official said, adding the company where he works would accelerate the process of searching for a US company to buy. Another area of concern is the loss of Israeli know-how, with aerospace engineers and scientists potentially moving abroad if there is a decline in inward spending and investment. The executives said they hoped that when the time comes, the government will find the nearly $1 billion a year extra needed to keep the sector afloat under terms of the agreement, although the sum may be hard to come by given the fractured political environment. According to Israels Manufacturers Association, even a 1 billion shekel ($265 million) cut in the defence budget will lead to the layoff of more than 2,000 workers, mostly from small- and medium-sized subcontractors that have a to be or not to be dependence on orders from the Israeli defence establishment. A source close to Netanyahu said the prime minister didnt anticipate any closure of small defence companies, and noted the procurement changes would go into effect only in time. On the domestic political front, the right-wing leader has drawn fire over the new pact from critics, including his former defence minister Ehud Barak, who said that Netanyahus vocal opposition to last years US-led nuclear deal with Iran had jeopardised a potentially larger package. However, with uncertainties surrounding a tightly contested election for the White House, Netanyahu was keen to wrap up an agreement, replacing the current $30 billion deal that expires at the end of fiscal 2018. Addressing his cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu called arguments that Israel was short-changed in the negotiations distortions and fabrications of parties with political interests. Avraham Bar David, a former general who works with some 200 small Israeli defence contractors through the Manufacturers Association, predicted that 70 to 100 of them will not survive the local procurement restriction. These companies are too small to sell abroad, he said. The diplomatic faceoff between India and Pakistan moved to New York with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif mounting a campaign over continued protests in Kashmir and Washington saying it was strongly concerned at the violence. Sharifs moves signalled that Pakistan might be preparing a high-voltage diplomatic offensive at this weeks UN general assembly to counter New Delhis plans to isolate Islamabad globally over a deadly weekend attack on an army base in Uri, Kashmir. There was no immediate official reaction from India to the US comments. But government sources in New Delhi said they had noted the remarks, pointing out that any reference to violence in Kashmir must be seen as being incited by Pakistan. Islamabad remains a key security partner for western powers, underscoring the challenge New Delhi faces in trying to diplomatically isolate it globally. Sundays attack, which killed 18 Indian soldiers, is the latest flashpoint in relations between the two countries which have struggled to normalise ties since a similar militant raid on an Indian air base in Punjab in January. Read| US, UK snub Sharifs attempts to raise Kashmir issue at UNGA Both attacks have been blamed on the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan-based militant group that New Delhi says Islamabad is doing little to close down. Both sides have also sniped over street protests in Kashmir following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani by security men two months ago. Pakistan is seeking to leverage the Kashmir protests to checkmate diplomatic pressure from New Delhi over the army base attack. Sharif raised Kashmir with British Prime Minister Theresa May and US secretary of state John Kerry on Monday, the Pakistani press reported. Neither country mentioned this in their readouts on the meetings. Even Pakistani readouts on these bilateral meetings did not mention Kashmir. But State Department spokesperson John Kirby said Kashmir was mentioned in the meeting between Sharif and Kerry. The Prime Minister and secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions, he said on Tuesday, adding Pakistan had also been asked to prevent all terrorists from using its territory as safe havens. The State Department has previously expressed concern over protests in Kashmir. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moons opening statement to the assembly on Tuesday did not mention either the Kashmir protests or the Uri attack. Sharif had written to several world leaders, including the UN chief, about the protests in Kashmir. Sources in New Delhi said it saw Ban Ki-moons silence in his speech that sets the tone for the UN general assembly as a victory. Read | Pakistan promoting cross-border terrorism: India tells UN rights council Reflecting the chill in ties, Pakistans Intelligence Bureau chief Aftab Sultan pulled out of a meeting of Saarc security officials beginning in New Delhi on Wednesday. He will be replaced by their high commissioner to New Delhi Abdul Basit. But a meeting of Saarc foreign ministers stands for Wednesday in New York. Minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar will attend it. India has decided against any knee-jerk reaction to Sundays attack and, instead, backed moves to present evidence of Pakistans complicity at global fora. New Delhi also decided to push for more terror elements based there to be brought under UN sanctions. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj will also bring up the attack at the UN general assembly next week. Politicians, army veterans and others have called for a muscular response, including air strikes on training camps on the Pakistan side of the de facto border that divides Kashmir between the two countries. But analysts say India lacks the military capabilities to take on its neighbour, has not carried out such strikes before and runs the risk of triggering a full-scale war. Read| Uri attack: Why New York is next battleground for India and Pakistan Accusing India of double standards on terrorism, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti is a terrorist and India should not give him asylum. General (retd) Musharrafs remarks came amid reports that Bugti has formally sought political asylum in India, and New Delhi is willing to grant it. Read | Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti approaches India for asylum in Geneva He (Bugti) is a terrorist. India should not give him asylum, Musharraf told CNN-News18 channel from London. The former Pakistani military commander accused India of adopting double standards on terrorism. You (India) cannot say your terrorist is a terrorist but our terrorist is not a terrorist, he said. Musharraf also denied Pakistan Armys role in the Uri army camp attack on Sunday, and warned of consequences in case of any militray strike against Pakistan. The persons talking about military retaliation, including your DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) and your Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) should understand the consequences, the former Pakistan Army chief, who assumed power in a coup against the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said. If you strike at the time and place of your choosing, we will strike back at the time and place of our choosing as well. It does not stop at your action; what will follow should also be considered, he added. Quizzed about the equipment used by Pakistan military as well as weapons found on Uri attackers, Musharraf said these could be procured anywhere in the world and do not qualify as evidence of Pakistans involvement. Also read | Pakistan violates ceasefire in Uri 2 days after attack on army base Nepal will lose out by putting its relations with China on the backburner and returning to Indias fold of influence, the Chinese state media has warned, adding that tricking Beijing will stall Kathmandus development. The recent visit of Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to India was closely followed by the Chinese state media, which clearly looked for signs that New Delhi-Kathmandu ties were on the mend following a period of chill. Signs of a turnaround in the were easily detectable during Prachanda visit and meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, according to two separate opinion pieces in the nationalistic tabloid Global Times. And this means Beijing is no longer a foreign policy priority for Kathmandu, the articles said. The apparent postponement of President Xi Jinpings visit to Nepal in October hasnt really helped stop the speculation. When Prachanda received Modi's invitation and kick-started a turning point in bilateral ties with India, concerns and warnings made by Nepal's former prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli over the possibility that agreements signed between Kathmandu and Beijing might not be carried out in a timely manner began to widely spread. Prachanda had no other options except sending an envoy to China to explain, wrote Xu Liang, executive director of the Indian Studies Center from Beijing International Studies University. It seems that the relationship between Nepal and China stalled abruptly, and a visit by Chinese leaders to Nepal has allegedly been suspended - an unprecedented situation, Xu said. Xu was scathing in criticising Nepal. It looks like the bilateral relationship between China and Nepal has suddenly turned fragile and sensitive. Obviously, China feels tricked. When Kathmandu needed Beijing to relieve pressure from New Delhi, it got close to China and signed a series of crucial agreements with Beijing which would help Nepal get rid of its reliance on India, Xu wrote. But once India's attitude toward Kathmandu relaxed a bit and the former made some promises to the latter, Nepalese politicians immediately put the nation's ties with China on the back burner. In the second piece, Ai Jun of the Global Times wrote that India was alarmed by Chinas influence and is now trying to change the situation. China, on the other hand, is only bothered about Nepals development and even welcomes Indias involvement. Beijing sincerely hopes to help Nepal's development and in the meantime establish the connection linking China to India as well as Bangladesh. Connectivity among China, South Asia and Southeast Asia is a vital part of the Beijing-led One Belt and One Road initiative, which will promote development and create mutual benefits in the whole region, including Nepal and India, Ai wrote. If New Delhi insists to see it as Beijing's attempt to cosy up to Kathmandu, India should at least realise the fact that China's support to Nepal has stimulated India to increase its assistance to Kathmandu, which means that this is nothing but a healthy competition. Ai added: Times have changed, and adhering to the outdated mind-set of scrambling for spheres of influence will not only win no hearts, but also disrupt one's own development Times have changed, and adhering to the outdated mind-set of scrambling for spheres of influence will not only win no hearts, but also disrupt one's own development. Prachandas predecessor Oli was widely perceived as being closer to China. Prachanda has indicated he will strike a balance in Nepals relations with India and China. New York bombings suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, an Afghanistan-born American, had travelled multiple times to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was even married to a Pakistani woman, investigations have revealed. Rahami, 28, travelled to Quetta in Pakistan, which is said to be a stronghold of Islamic extremists, as well as to Kandahar in Afghanistan, reported UK daily Independent. On his visit to Quetta in July 2011, he married a Pakistani woman. Two years later, he made another trip to Pakistan along with his brother, Mohammad, and stayed there for a year, Independent reported. He stayed with his family members, who were refugees, in Quetta. He was questioned every time he returned to the United States, as is standard procedure, but was not on the radar as someone who might have been radicalised. According to Rahamis neighbours in New Jersey, his behaviour had changed after he returned from his trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Flee Jones, who claimed to have known Rahami since they were teenagers, told reporters that he became more religious, started growing a beard and dressed differently after he returned from Afghanistan in 2014. Rahami was taken into custody on Monday after a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey and has been charged with murder. He is suspected of Saturdays bombings in New York City and Seaside Park, New Jersey, and is believed to be connected to pipe bombs found Sunday night in Elizabeth, New Jersey, CNN quoted sources as saying. Rahami was born in Afghanistan and came to the United States along with his father in 1995, seeking asylum. He became a citizen of the United States in 2011. He is now in custody. The New York City Police Department had earlier on Monday released a photograph of Rahami as the suspect in the Manhattan explosion incident, that left 29 people injured. SWEET HOME Sweet Home residents had two chances Monday to meet and question the two finalists for the city manager's job that has been open since April. Harry Staven of Bandon and Raymond Towery of Ephrata, Washington, fielded questions and rubbed elbows with about 50 people at noon at the Jim Riggs Community Center. The candidates spent the morning touring the area. Two other finalists dropped out of the running. After one-on-one interviews with each of the candidates, the council met in executive session, followed by an open session. The council will meet in executive session at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the City Hall annex followed by a public session at which the council members plan to make an offer to a candidate or open the search process again. Towery is the community services director for the city of Ephrata, but has also worked in Moses Lake, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho. Towery said public safety and the city library should be part of the basic foundation of any city government. Sweet Home funds its Police Department and library primarily through four-year tax levies. When asked how he would help with local economic development, Towery said a community must identify its strengths and leverage them when courting potential businesses. He said it appears Sweet Home has been doing that. He has been active with a regional economic development program that has seen considerable success, Towery said. He added that Sweet Home has the location and natural beauty to develop more tourism-related jobs. When a member of the public said local infrastructure, such as streets, are in need of repair, Towery said quality infrastructure "is vital to bringing business and light manufacturing jobs. Good sidewalks, safe parks and well-lit streets are important. They must be part of the comprehensive plan and then put into the budget." Towery said he would like to live and work in Sweet Home because he has always enjoyed an outdoor lifestyle in a small community. "I have been offered jobs in bigger cities, but it's not where I want to be. Sweet Home has so much potential to be great, " he said. Staven said he came to the United States from Finland in 1972 and worked in the private sector until 1989. Staven has served as the finance director for the city of Bandon, was the city administrator in Hoonah, Alaska, finance director in Clinton, North Carolina, and Galena, Alaska, and finance director in Lakeside, Oregon. Staven said he is familiar with tax levies; one good thing about them, he said, is that they provide stable and consistent funding. But they do need to be renewed by voters every few years. "Twenty-five years ago, the city of Bandon faced the same economic changes as Sweet Home," Staven said. "The community has capitalized on tourism. Sweet Home appears to be well on its way to transitioning. There are many new projects in the works, and you already have the Oregon Jamboree. You need to bring in outside money and not just trade money within the community." When asked how the city might save money, Staven said that when he worked in North Carolina, he had an energy audit completed on city buildings. "We made the upgrades and paid for them in eight months due to the energy savings," Staven said. Staven said he has always enjoyed living in smaller communities and is familiar with annual budgets similar to Sweet Home's. "I look for the fit," Staven said. "I look for economic resources, location and the population base. All three are here. And, I would like the professional challenge." More than 25 people have been killed in attacks on Congo opposition party headquarters and in street clashes between security forces and demonstrators against a delayed presidential election, an opposition leader said on Tuesday. Hundreds took to the streets of Congos capital, Kinshasa, on Monday to oppose an election delay which they call an effort by President Joseph Kabila to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate in late December. A high court has determined Kabila can stay in office until a new leader is elected. The electoral commission has filed for a delay in elections that were scheduled for November, saying voter registration lists will not be ready. Gunshots could be heard Tuesday in Kinshasa as tensions rose. The UN human rights office noted reports of excessive use of force by both security forces and demonstrators. Both sides denied responsibility for the violence. More than 25 people have been killed, said Joseph Olengankoy, an organiser of Mondays protests. Interior minister Evariste Boshab has said 17 were killed, including at least three police officers. At least two people were killed after attacks on the headquarters of five opposition parties late Monday, the UN and an opposition party said. Bruno Tshibala, spokesperson for the largest opposition party, said five were wounded in raids on four party headquarters. We will seek international justice, he said. (AFP) Congos government spokesperson, Lambert Mende, condemned the burning of opposition party buildings as well as attacks on other buildings, including two ruling party buildings and a school, by opposition protesters. Mende called on Congolese to regain their composure and let justice do its work. The government can only condemn this mob justice mentality, he said. Kabila, who came to power after his fathers assassination in 2001, has yet to announce whether he will pursue another term in office, though the constitution prohibits it. The violence comes amid growing fears that the election delay could lead to prolonged unrest in Congo, a nation as vast in size as Western Europe. The mineral-rich but largely impoverished country suffered back-to-back civil wars until 2003, and previous instability has drawn in armies from neighboring countries. Appeals for calm and restraint have been launched by the United Nations, Belgium, the US, France and the European Union, which also have called for a rapid organization of presidential elections. Amnesty International called on authorities to take immediate steps to halt this escalating tension. An aid convoy that came under attack in Syria was accompanied by a militants pickup truck armed with a heavy mortar gun, Russian news agencies quoted the nations defence ministry on Tuesday as saying. The ministry has uploaded part of the footage at its page on YouTube service. The agencies cited a defence ministry official as saying footage provided by drones had shown new details of the incident on Monday. Russia has denied reports that its or the Syrian air force had struck the convoy near Aleppo. Tears filled Amina Nurs eyes as she cuddled her frail-looking child with a sunken chest. She and her family returned to Somalia five months ago after several years in a refugee camp in neighbouring Kenya, but she regrets that now. We decided to return home voluntarily, but that was a wrong decision, the mother of six said. The small money they gave us ran out, and since then we have no assistance to survive. Nur is among thousands of Somalis who fled at the height of a devastating famine which killed over half a million people in this Horn of Africa nation in 2013. But now they are hungry again. A new UN report says five million people in Somalia are not getting enough food. Thats more than 40 percent of the population. It blames, in part, poor rainfall in southern and central Somalia, the breadbasket of the country. The report released on Tuesday says the number of people who are food insecure has increased by 3,00,000 since February. More than 3,00,000 children under five are acutely malnourished. More than half of those without enough food have been displaced from their homes, sometimes multiple times, the report says. More than a million people inside Somalia are displaced after years of violence, famine and attacks by homegrown extremist group al-Shabab. Now thousands of others, like Nurs family, are returning to the country from the worlds largest refugee camp in Kenya, which has vowed to close the Dadaab camp in the coming months. Some returnees said aid agencies havent provided them with food since their return to Mogadishu and similar camps elsewhere. Security and hunger problems are equal problems for us here, Nur said. Many of the families returning from the Dadaab camp in Kenya are piling into crowded camps in sometimes dire living conditions. Meanwhile, the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab continues to carry out attacks in the capital and elsewhere. Life here is a nightmare. Its only between hunger and bombing, said Ahmed Mohamed, whose wife died in a suicide bombing at a Mogadishu hotel one week after their return in August. Somalia is facing one of the worst food crises in years. The UN says the growing burden of returnees, and drought in some areas of the country, are other contributing factors. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, more than 1.1 million people cannot meet their daily food requirements. Humanitarian partners are ready to scale up response to help families struggling to find food to make it through the day, Peter de Clercq, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement. But he noted that the Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan for this year is just 32 percent funded. Irans intelligence agency said on Tuesday it had arrested two Pakistani terrorists with explosive devices in Sistan-Baluchestan province. The intelligence department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Pakistan, was informed about two terrorists entering the region. The terrorists were caught by surprise before managing to do any act of harm in a rapid and surprise operation by the IRGC, state-run Mehr news agency reported. Quoting a statement issued by the IRGC, the news agency said the terrorists revealed their Pakistani nationality and their membership in an anti-Iran group during interrogation. The statement said the men had plans to conduct horror operations affecting the general public. During a search of the hideout used by the terrorists, authorities found and defused two bombs intended to be detonated in crowded areas as well as firearms. The statement further said the terrorists confessed (to) other sinister objectives which will be exposedin the near future but did not give details. A US permanent resident detained for a year in Iran over spying allegations has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine, his supporters said Tuesday, the latest in a wide crackdown in Iran on those with foreign ties following the countrys landmark nuclear deal with world powers. The sentence for Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen who advocates for internet freedom and whose non-profit group did work for the US government, comes ahead of Iranian officials attending the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York. It also shows the challenge faced by Western governments and those wanting warmer ties with Iran, where hard-liners in the countrys security forces target dual nationals and others in secret trials. Theres no regard for any international order, any international agreement or any international state of relations that they care about, said David Ramadan, a former Virginia state legislator who co-founded a group called Friends of Nizar Zakka. A statement early Tuesday from Jason Poblete, a US lawyer representing Zakka, said a Revolutionary Court in Tehran handed down the sentence in a 60-page verdict that Zakkas supporters have yet to see. Amnesty International has said Zakka had only two court hearings before the ruling and received only limited legal assistance before the court, a closed-door tribunal which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government. Supporters say Judge Abolghassem Salavati heard Zakkas case. Salavati is known for his tough sentences and has heard other politically-charged cases, including one in which he sentenced Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian to prison. A prisoner swap in January between Iran and the US freed Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans. There was no mention of Zakkas sentence in Iranian state media. Irans UN mission did not respond to a request for comment. Zakka, who lives in Washington and holds resident status in the US, leads the Arab ICT Organisation, or IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information technology in the region. Zakka disappeared Sept. 18, 2015, during his fifth trip to Iran. He had been invited to attend a conference at which President Hassan Rouhani spoke of providing more economic opportunities for women and sustainable development. On Nov. 3, Iranian state television aired a report saying he was in custody and calling him a spy with deep links with US intelligence services. It also showed what it described as a damning photo of Zakka and three other men in army-style uniforms, two with flags and two with rifles on their shoulders. But that turned out to be from a homecoming event at Zakkas prep school, the Riverside Military Academy in Georgia, according to the schools president. Its unclear what prompted Iranian authorities to detain Zakka. The Associated Press reported in May that Zakkas IJMA3 organisation had received at least $730,000 in contracts and grants since 2009 from both the US State Department and USAID, the lead American government agency fighting poverty and promoting democracy across the world. Zakkas supporters have written to secretary of State John Kerry stating that Zakka traveled to Iran with the knowledge and approval of the US State Department, and his trip was funded by grants from it. Those assertions could not be verified by the AP and Zakkas friends say they cant obtain copies of the contract from the State Department due to federal regulations. Neither American nor Lebanese officials, who the US says are responsible for providing consular assistance to Zakka, have publicly acknowledged Zakkas work with the US government. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday, but Ramadan said he still held them responsible for Zakkas safety. The US State Department refuses to do anything for him, he said. Other known to have been detained in Iran since the nuclear deal include: Homa Hoodfar , an Iranian-Canadian woman who is a retired professor at Montreals Concordia University Siamak Namazi , an Iranian-American businessman who has advocated for closer ties between the two countries and whose father is also held in Tehran Baquer Namazi, a former Iranian and U.N. official in his 80s who is the father of Siamak Robin Shahini , an Iranian-American detained while visiting family who previously had made online comments criticizing Irans human rights record Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe , a British-Iranian woman sentenced to five years in prison on allegations of planning the soft toppling of Irans government while traveling with her young daughter Still missing is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorised CIA mission. The US has said it will continue to press Pakistan to take additional steps to deal with terror groups seeking refuge within its borders, hours after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought American help to resolve bilateral issues between India and Pakistan. Sharif met US secretary of state John Kerry on Monday and raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir. Sharifs meeting with Kerry was among his first bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly and Kashmir featured prominently in the talks. US state department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said at a press briefing hours after the bilateral meeting between Kerry and Sharif that the US wanted to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. Toner told reporters at the briefing at the New York Foreign Press Centre that US-Pakistan was obviously a very important relationship. Theres a lot on the bilateral agenda but also on the regional agenda, he said when asked about the Sharif- Kerry meeting. He said the two sides are expected to discuss ongoing efforts by Pakistan at economic reform, but certainly security will also be on the agenda, and well continue to urge Pakistan to take additional steps to deal with all of the terrorist threats that it faces on its own territory but also those groups that frankly, that seek refuge or safe refuge within Pakistans borders and how to deal with those groups in an effective way. Weve seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward well just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region, Toner said. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif said: I still remember President (Bill) Clintons promise that US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India. I expect US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India, he said. In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the use of force against the people in the region. TORONTO: Lion, set partly in India and starring Dev Patel, and Queen of Katwe by Indianorigin director Mira Nair have emerged the first and second runner-up, respectively, in the coveted Grolsch Peoples Choice Award of the Toronto International Film Festival. The winner was La La Land, a musical written and directed by Damien Chazelle, literally a Hollywood film, as it has Los Angeles as its backdrop. The film captures the story of Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a dedicated jazz musician, who are struggling to make ends meet in a city known for destroying hopes and breaking hearts, TIFF said. Set in modern-day Los Angeles, this original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams, it said. The film stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. The Peoples Choice Award is often a predictor for the Oscar season. Among the films to have won in recent years are Room, 12 Years A Slave, and The Kings Speech. In 2008, this award went to Slumdog Millionaire, the breakout film for Patel. During a media interaction in Toronto, the now-bearded Patel said, In terms of Toronto, its really been special. I keep saying, I walked up here with Slumdog in my school shoes and a borrowed suit. Its so nice to be back here, with a bit of facial hair. Lion is an uplifting movie based on the real-life story of Saroo Brierley, who was adopted into an Australian family and 25 years later, using Google Earth, found his way home to his birth mother in Madhya Pradesh. Uplifting is also the apt term for Nairs latest venture, Queen of Katwe, which TIFF described as a rousing tale of a brilliant Ugandan girl whose humble life is transformed after she realizes her gift for chess. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON DAMASCUS: Syrias armed forces said on Monday that a week-long ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia was over, blaming rebels for the failure of the truce. US Secretary of State John Kerry said meanwhile that the terms had not been met for a key aspect of the deal US-Russia cooperation against jihadists in Syria. In a statement carried by state news agency SANA, Syrias army said a freeze on fighting it had announced last week had ended, blaming rebel groups it said did not commit to a single element of the truce deal. The truce backed by world powers aimed to help end Syrias brutal five-year conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced millions. But after several days of relative calm, fighting escalated across major battlefronts, culminating in a deadly US-led air raid at the weekend on a Syrian army position and fresh strikes on Aleppo. The truce was supposed to be a real chance to stop the bloodshed, but the armed terrorist groups flouted this agreement, Mondays army statement said. Syrias armed forces exercised the highest degree of self-restraint while facing violations by terrorist groups, it said. Kerry -- who brokered the deal along with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov -- said in New York that Russia had failed to meet its side of a deal to enforce the truce, but that Washington was willing to keep working on it. Under the terms of an agreement, the US military would set up a joint cell with Russian forces to target Syrian jihadists if the ceasefire held. Kerry had earlier insisted the ceasefire was holding but fragile. He told reporters that American officials were meeting now with the Russians in Geneva. That process is continuing and well see where we are in the course of the day. May 15, 1948 Sept. 17, 2016 Sam J. Philby, 68, of Lebanon passed away while traveling near Burns on Sept. 17, 2016. Sam was born May 15, 1948, in Gothenburg, Nebraska. At the age of 8, he moved to North Bend where he attended school and later graduated from North Bend High School. After high school, Sam enlisted in the Army where he served two tours during the Vietnam War as a door gunner. He later served in military intelligence until retiring after 20 years of service. He lived in Anchorage, Alaska, for several years where he owned and operated a video store. He lived near Sequim, Washington, where he worked as a general manager for Security Services armored car service. He lived in Harrisburg for several years while operating Deluxe Taxi Service in Eugene. He moved to Lebanon in 2009 where he has resided since. Sam loved flying pigeons and was a member of the FHI Pigeon Club. He loved animals of all kinds, enjoyed doing research on his computer, woodworking and going fishing. He loved God and enjoyed reading the Bible on his computer daily. He married Tyna Bird in Anchorage, Alaska, on Sept. 28, 2002. He was preceded in death by his mother and adopted father, Edith and Raymond Philby, and biological father Sammy Stevens. He is survived by his wife, Tyna of Lebanon; seven daughters, Samantha, Julie, Nikki, Sandie, Misty, Candace and Danielle; six sons, Jamie, Sean Jay, Joshua, Mike, Jarett and Sean David; brothers, Jay, Billy, Kenny and Kim; sisters Vicky, Deena, Maddy, Alice and Carol; many grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Huston-Jost Funeral Home, 86 W. Grant St., Lebanon. A private family interment will be in the Roseburg National Cemetery. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has forged a rare partnership with service companies Uber and Lyft in order to subsidize rides for customers with disabilities. The pact marks a growing relationship between public transit agencies and ride-for-hire organizations. The move is a significant approach towards improving the much-maligned service for disabled MBTA customers. Under federal law, major public transit groups are required to provide door-to-door van service for disabled clients. In this case, the partnership has lowered the expenses of service company Ride from a high $102 million during the last fiscal year. Disability rights advocates have scrutinized ride-for-hire firms in the past for the limited access to disabled customers. Over the past year, Uber has responded by partnering with taxi companies to provide wheelchair-accessible vehicles. According to Chairman of the Access Advisory Committee to the MBTA James White, although improvements have been done, drivers also need more training in order to know how to help customers with wheelchairs. MBTA's Acting Manager Brian Shortsleeve says that customers will get reduced fares and will have a much shorter wait time. Under the new program, those who qualify for the door-to-door service will be paying $2 for an Uber or Lyft ride and the agency will pay up to $13 to subsidize the rest of those trips. Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack and board member Lisa Calise have joined Governor Charlie Baker in announcing the partnership at the Perkins School for the Blind. In a press launch, the governor has said that the reliability of the transportation system will depend on the MBTA's capacity to enhance core infrastructure and present environment friendly, progressive transit choices that meet the wants of the system's a million day-to-day riders. In line with the development, service ride firms continue to expand across the nation. In fact, North Shore Community College in Danvers has begun offering subsidized Uber rides to students travelling between public transit stops and the campus. Ride users have tested a similar program earlier this year. Under the new plan, people can use Uber and Lyft apps to request on-demand rides. Lyft will also provide a call center for those who don't have smartphones. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. According to former Chief of Joint Forces Command General Sir Richard Barrons, Vladimir Putin can march and obliterate the West before NATO knew what actually happened. The recently retired military boss has claimed further that the North Atlantic organization does not fully comprehend the risk of cyber warfare which is being played by the Russian President. Given that Barrons is correct, Moscow will be able to deploy thousands of troops into NATO territory within 48 hours of a conflict. The Russian air force will strike with devastating bombs and the navy will dominate the seas. Vladimir Putin has been remarkably straight about his strategic goal. He intends to restore Russia's status and prestige as part of his campaign to recoup the losses of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However, this ambition has profound consequences for the rest of Europe. In a bid to spark a debate on NATO capability, Barrons shares that the 28-member group will find Putin in control of land, air and sea even before the organization will be able to find enough time to react. NATO has the North Atlantic Council to make political decisions that will authorize the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe to introduce plans and training exercises against a possible Russian attack. However, such an approach may have been diminished since the end of the Cold War due to a misguided belief that no credible threat to Europe and the rest of the world is in sight. In 2014, shortly after Russia intervened in Ukraine and admitted Crimea into the Federation, NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Richard Shirreff steps down. The British General has went on criticize the UK for cuts in defense spending especially at a time of Russian aggression. Russia's neighboring countries like Greece, Italy and France can provide a defensive stance against Moscow but due to the idea of not offending Putin, the plan will not be feasible. Barrons claims that NATO has more military assets and capabilities than Russia but Putin has the window of opportunity to seize the upper hand since the organization exists in a semi-dormant phase. NATO will be hard-pressed to counter maneuver against Russia's smaller forces because the group are unprepared to respond. In line with the proposal to base approximately around a thousand NATO troops in each of the Baltic States including Poland, the former Chief of Joint Forces Command has pointed out that the plan offers little in the way of firepower since there is no force or plans behind it to make it a credible military force. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Following the arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami with regards to the recent New York City bombing, Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump and the GOP lawmakers have criticized the government about allowing the entry of people from countries with terror connections. It has been revealed that the suspected bomber was born in Afghanistan prior to becoming an American citizen. According to a law enforcement official who has reviewed Rahami's travel and immigration records, the suspect has spent several weeks in Kandahar in Afghanistan and Quetta in Pakistan back in 2011. In 2013, he returns to Pakistan again and left in March 2014. Investigators are looking into whether he was radicalized overseas before returning to the US in 2014. During a campaign speech in Estero, Florida, Trump has stated that the extremely open immigration system has made it possible for attacks to happen. He also adds that immigration security is also about national security. South Carolina Representative Jeff Duncan says that the US must indefinitely suspend all forms of immigration from nations classified as terrorist safe havens. Meanwhile, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has commented that the country needs to enhance the vetting of immigrants to ensure that granting citizenship or refugee status to terrorists is not happening. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has further compounded the sentiments after an internal audit found out that 858 people were mistakenly granted US citizenship even though they had deportation orders pending against them. The audit, however, has blamed both the FBI and the DHS for their failure to digitize all fingerprint files which prompted individuals to apply for citizenship using fake identities. In the past year, the DHS has repeatedly defended its screening processes which order refugees to undergo in-person interviews abroad and have their names run through federal terrorism and criminal databases. More screening procedures that take a couple of years to complete are done for Syrian expatriates where federal officials check their backgrounds against classified information. The current US refugee admissions program has been established by the 1980 Refugee Act. The American President sets the number of these people to be admitted into the country each fiscal year along with numerical allocations for different regions around the globe. From 70,000 in 2015, the ceiling has been raised by 15,000 in 2016. It has been reported that the quota will again be increased to 100,000 in 2017. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Microsoft is falling behind company giants Apple and Samsung when it comes to smartphone technology. However, the rumors of the new Surface Phone is currently exciting everyone with the success of Surface Book and Surface Pro. The hype was very high as the new Surface Phone was expected to be launched at the IFA event in Berlin, Germany last September 2 to 7, 2016. But fans were soon disappointed as the event started and ended without the sighting of the much-awaited Surface Phone. However, Microsoft Australia might just have committed a publicity blunder by releasing a tweet teasing about the new Surface Phone. Can we expect a release before the year ends? Unfortunately, the Surface Phone is only going to be available in the market by 2017. But Microsoft may be taking its time for good reasons. The company is not planning to launch a mediocre smartphone. Microsoft wants the new Surface Phone to be competitive in terms of technology in the market. The company is waiting for the Windows 10 update and Intel's Kaby Lake processor. The major update of Windows 10, which is hidden under the code name of RedStone 2, will be released by April 2017. Microsoft is planning to enhance the experience of using Windows 10 in smartphones. Also, the availability of Intel's newest seventh generation chipset, Kaby Lake, is not until the end of 2016. And Microsoft wants its new Surface Phone, Surface Book 2 and Surface Pro 5 to run using this newest chipset from Intel. The Surface Phone is also expected to have a 5.7 inch 2K screen AMOLED display with USB Type-C Port for data transfers. Camera features are also something to be excited about. The Surface Phone will be equipped with a 21 MP rear camera and 8 MP front camera. Microsoft's newest Surface Phone will also be available in three varieties: low, mid-level and top range models with specifications of 3 GB, 6 GB and 8 GB RAM and 32 GB, 128 GB and 500 GB Internal Storage, respectively. Microsoft Australia may have just teased us but if the current rumors are true, Microsoft Surface Phone may be the one to watch out for in 2017. The latest findings on the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 gives way for two possibilities: fire on the cockpit or suicide of the pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. The two recent discoveries provides idea for these theories. The first is that some debris were found off the coast of Reunion Island, Mozambique, Mauritius, and South Africa. The second is the fact that the airplane wing was found in the coast of Tanzania. While these two discoveries offer very thin possibilities, it led to various speculations. The airplane wing found in the coast of Tanzania showed that it was not deployed before the airplane hit the ocean; rather, it looked like it was retracted due to the friction it had against the sea. This will support the suspicion that the airplane was rerouted and crashed on purpose. According to the Daily Mail, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was broken-hearted due to an unsuccessful relationship at the time the incident occurred. Two women are the possible causes of his heartache - one is a married friend Fatima Fardi and the other is his wife Faizah Hanun. The report further told that Captain Shah was messaging Fatima Fardi about a personal matter before the disappearance of MH370. That looked to be much of a serious thing, and it was also believed that Captain Shah and his wife were already separated although they still stay in the same abode. These stories can be a cause that Captain Shah would kill himself together with all the passengers and crews. The discovery of the other five plane debris in the coast of Madagascar suggested another story. Two of the said debris was burnt. These pieces were handed over to Blaine Gibson. He is an American lawyer-turned adventurer who is now looking for some clues to answer the mysterious disappearance of MH370 through the locals of Madagascar. The debris, in the meantime, has yet to be confirmed if it belongs to the lost plane. But if the investigation is positive then it would incline in favor of the possibility that a fire occurred in the plain rather than Captain Shah having committed suicide. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. "The Young and the Restless" has been witnessing unsettling drama ever since the secret affair of Billy and Phyllis came to the fore and now it gets even worse in the coming episode. On the other hand, it is speculated that Genoa City will see the return of Adam, to be played by fan favorite, Michael Muhney. Spoiler reports suggest that Jack is in agony after having revealed everything about Billy and Phyllis' affair to the media. Now the cheating and the ensuing scandal haunt him and he cannot bring himself to stay normal. Things are spinning out of control and now even Victor has a view on the whole affair and he is quite harsh in his criticism. On the other hand, Billy is left alone as Phyllis has backed off after confessing to Jack. He is concerned about his future and anxious about what might be coming next. With a furious Victoria in no mood to forgive, things definitely do not seem upbeat for him. The only consolation is that Jill is trying to calm her down and wants her to see the bigger picture and do things in the interest of kids. As for Phyllis, she makes a courageous move at Michael's behest and apologizes to Jack, asking him to take her back in his life. She requests him to give her another chance and is not willing to give up on their marriage. She has still not accepted defeat and is completely convinced about standing up and fighting for her husband. In other news, it is being said that fan-favorite Michael Muhney aka Adam Newman is coming back to the soap opera to reprise his famous role, as stated in previous reports. Muhney's latest tweet is being construed as a sign that he has signed a comeback deal with "The Young and The Restless" producers, reports claim. He recently posted an old picture of himself with Max Page backstage and also said that there is always another chapter to write, after Justin Hartley's apparent exit. It may be mentioned here that Muhney was very popular during his stint as Adam Newman and when he left the show suddenly, there was an uproar in the audience. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google-owned real-life traffic application Waze teams up with transportation data company INRIX to provide drivers with the best parking space available. More than that, the app will suggest locations that are proximal to a client's destination. The significance of INRIX is related to the availability of a wide range of data which can be fed directly into the application database. Initially, Waze has been in the process of introducing its "where to park" feature which suggests parking lots closest to a user's target area. This component also maps out directions to help individuals reach the selected place. With INRIX in the picture, parking selection has been broadened. The way the feature works is interactive which means that, as an individual approaches a destination, the app will advise whether or not the person wants to be directed to an available parking location. If the answer is yes then that space will be the ultimate destination. The partnership of INRIX with Samsung in 2015 has been valuable since it brought additional driving tools to the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge. Along the way, the firm has also picked up the ParkMe app, which also helped users find and pay for the perfect spot. According to Flavia Sasaki Siqueira, Waze's head of business development, the firm's "where to park" feature needs to expand in order to enhance the accuracy of reaching a location. She adds that driving around looking for spots does not merely waste time. It stresses and frustrates the driver. According to Frost and Sullivan's Strategic Analysis of Smart Parking Market in Europe and North America, drivers have wasted an average of 55 hours last year while searching for parking areas. The figure represents nearly $600,000 million in lost time and fuel. INRIX has accumulated real-time road traffic data from various sources. It offers the information to businesses, municipalities and news outlets. It even provides parking information and services to leading car manufacturers like Audi, BMW, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. The data firm also relays pricing data from cities and private parking areas that will present complete visualizations of where parking is heavy, where it's light and how much will be paid per spot. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Over the years, China has faced too many food safety scandals to be a cause for alarm. The Eastern giant has gone through melamine-made milk in 2004, toxic infant formula in 2008, chemically-treated and exploding watermelons in 2011, fake chicken eggs in 2012, and rice with cadmium in 2013. This year, Guangdong police seized over 1,000 tons of dangerous frozen meat, and some of it were soaked in bleach. The police managed to detain 16 suspects aboard a vessel docked near Shenzhen's Dangan Island. Most of the meat were produced from US, Brazil, and Thailand. To increase the shelf life and weight of the meat, some were treated in bleach which could cause serious problems to anyone who is unfortunate enough to ingest it. "A criminal gang that used to smuggle frozen meat products, along with marine smuggling channel in Guangdong waters, were busted in the crackdown," said the statement from Guangdong marine police department, as reported by China Daily. The sailors on the vessel failed to provide the necessary legal paperwork to prove that the meat was legal and approved. In light of these events, Chinese citizens express their disappointment with the law and are now clamoring for harsher punishments and stricter discipline over what comes in and out of the market. The constant food safety scandal is not the only thing that the country needs to deal with. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the China's debt bubble may burst and it will cause a massive shock not only to their economy, but also to their trade allies. In its latest quarterly report, the Bank for International Settlements has revealed that China has accumulated debt equal to that of US and Europe. It is now at 255 percent of GDP, which is alarming considering it was only at 147 in 2008. Predictions reveal that China's income will not be enough to pay off all its debts and interests which will trigger a banking crisis. The problem stemmed from two things: China's economic development has slowed down and to trigger it, its government took on horrific debts to improve the situation. If the government is struggling to pay off its debts, it looks like the citizens of China will be facing more food safety scandals as consequences pile up and backfire. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. He gained his fame through his strong stance against illegal drugs. But his goal in ending the menace was put in question as President Rodrigo Duterte failed to issue any definite framework on his campaign against illegal drugs. Apart from his almost daily verbal tirades against drugs, Duterte has not signed any official document detailing his agenda on drug campaign even after 80 days in office. In the words of Malou Mangahas of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), "Duterte's war on drugs is one largely verbalized but not codified by any form of official issuance, or parameters in law and jurisprudence." Since the first day when Duterte assumed office, the body counts for fatalities continue to rise. Philippine police operations yielded a daily average of 38 person killed in drug-related operations. In the last 80 days, over 3,000 people were killed. Duterte's unrestrained marching orders to police operatives and military personnel is to "Do your work and I will protect." Without any executive order or memorandum but the President's word, the body files increases. Suspected drug personalities were hunted like dogs, butchered like animals irrespective of who will be destroyed in the crossfire, including children. While the Philippine police claimed that the supplies of drugs in the country have decreased by over 50 percent, cases of the so called extra-judicial killings rose of record high. The fatalities in Duterte's 80 days in power almost equal to the 3,240 recorded deaths during the 14-year martial law period of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Police blamed the vigilante groups as responsible to half of these killings. But if indeed they were, law enforcers failed to consider that these groups resurrected at the onset of the President's war against drugs. With no single case being solved since these killings occurred, the Philippines seems to become a country of hoodlums, where killers can slaughter anyone they want in the name of the President's war against drugs. Duterte's anti-drug campaign has caught the attention of the international communities with no less than the United Nations assailing that the campaign violated the framework of the individual's human rights. US President Barrack Obama, while favoring the campaign against illegal drugs, pointed out that it must be done within the paradigm of respect to human rights. But neither the UN nor Obama escaped from the tirades of Duterte, who insisted to spare the Philippines from the lectures of human rights and to respect the independent foreign policy of the country. Duterte's formula on war against drugs was the same as the one previously used by the US during the Nixon administration, some countries in Latin America, and Asian countries like Thailand. But these drug war predecessors admitted that the formula did not work. Instead, it worsened the problems of killings. Indonesia, under the administration of President Joko Widodo, embarked a stiff campaign against drugs to the point of imposing death penalty to those who were proven guilty of drug charges. Every time it imposed a death penalty, Indonesia caught the attention of international communities. But contrary to the Philippines, every drug convict who was hanged in Indonesia was given their days in court. Duterte's bravery or his unbridled tongue failed to diminish the country's criminalities, especially on murder cases. Last June, the recorded murder incidents was pegged at 803, a 7 percent increase as compared to June last year. The number went up last July to 1,271, a 68 percent increase as compared to July last year. The number of casualties of those alleged criminals that increased daily is not an indication to the solution against drugs. However, it indicated the powerlessness of the people against the so called "drug-war". With his no let-up campaign, the Philippines expect daily massacre of drug personalities - more blood to spill, more bodies to bury. Duterte further asked the Filipino people for another six months to curtail the drug problems in the Philippines. After all, it was his anti-drug campaign that catapulted him to the presidency. To those who supported the President's campaign, the accomplishments are no more than music to their ears. But to a woman who lost a son to the enemies who identities were blurred between vigilantes or police, "When no one listens to the cry of the grieving mother, then my Philippines is dead like those that succumed to the arms of the tyrants of this society." The 62-year-old mother, who requested anonymity for fear against the backlash of Duterte's supporters that is prevalent in the Philippines when someone contradicted the popular leader, pointed out that her son was a victim of mistaken identity during police operations. "When the President declares that he will bring to justice all criminals, I say, salute the President. But in the absence of proof that those killed were criminals, I have a hoodlum President." @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Justin Bieber and Sofia Richie started going out only last August, but now they are set to see other people. An eventful breakup is the outcome of a relationship that "is not that serious ", as people close to the two said. Despite the many times they were together, some of them in an out-of-the- country vacation, Justin and Sofia decided to call it quits. Their very first date was on a hike in Hollywood last Aug. 10. After which they were spotted inside a private plane and seen holding hands while at California's Laguna Beach. Sofia also joined Justin in his Purpose World Tour shows in Japan. However, the last time that they were photographed together in public, actually kissing each other while on a yacht, was when the Yeezy model celebrated her 18th birthday in San Lucas, Mexico last Aug. 29. Justin even had to miss the VMA Awards for this trip. It was in the first week of September when Sofia admitted to Harper's Bazaar about having "a special relationship "with the 22-year-old pop icon. In a statement given to the Billboard magazine, Sofia described Justin as "very easy to talk to, and that's hard to find with people in Los Angeles." At one point, their relationship caught the attention of many when Justin deleted his Instagram account after bashers hit Sofia online. The daughter of Lionel Richie asserted that bullying doesn't bother her as long as she is happy. With such statement, who would ever think that a breakup will happen this soon? TMZ reported that neither Justin nor Sofia appeared to be seriously affected by their breakup. Sofia was enjoying a party with her friends last Sunday, while Justin, who was seen solo in Cologne, Germany last Monday, is said to be single and is now ready to mingle. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" That's what a prominent member of the Kennedy family, ex-Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, said as she took to her Facebook account to tell the world of the rather-shocking news. In a rare showing in America's highly-partisan political landscape, former President George H.W. Bush is said to be crossing party lines in order to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Huffington Post said. This was according to Townsend, who goes by Kathleen Hartington on Facebook. Townsend posed for a picture with the elder Bush - long seen a figurehead of the Republican establishment, and posted the picture on her Facebook account with the controversial caption. However, the former president's spokesperson Jim McGrath neither confirmed nor denied the claims. "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days...He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim," told McGrath in an interview with CNN. Townsend, for her part, stood by her claim when pressed further on the issue. "That's what [Bush] said," according to the daughter of ex-Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while running as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate at the time. It is understood that the elder Bush and prominent members of his family, who are all known Republicans, have refused to endorse the party's presidential candidate Donald Trump. His son, former President George W. Bush, remains mum on his choice for President. For former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush though, the case is different. The erstwhile candidate for the Republican nomination repeatedly locked horns with Trump, as he constantly criticized the real estate mogul for his oft-unbecoming stand on key national issues and outrageous remarks. Former members coming from both Bush presidencies have since expressed their support for Clinton. The likes of ex-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, ex-national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, and ex-Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez all count as among her Republican supporters. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. North Korea has been testing a lot of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles lately. The most recent was a rocket engine that is to be used in launching satellites, according to the country's state media. After the successful test, Kim Jong Un urged their scientists and engineers to prepare for the launching of the satellite as soon as possible, as reported by KCNA. But Jeon Ha-gyu, South Korea's military spokesman, stated that the North's new rocket engine is likely to be used for a long-range missile. Joel Wit, founder of the 38 North website, said that the test is "another important development pointing to the first launch of a bigger, better space vehicle to place satellites in higher orbits, which could happen in the not too distant future." The website also provided a photo that was taken on Sep. 17 showing the preparations for a rocket engine test as reported by the Huffington Post. On the other hand, South Korea and Japan were alarmed after the North Korea claimed that they have mastered the ability of equipping ballistic missiles with a warhead. According to the editor of the U.S.-based Nonproliferation Review, Joshua Pollack, a rocket engine with 80 tons of thrust - as how North Korean media describes it - would make it a really powerful, more powerful than the previous rockets the country has shown the world before. Moreover, the United States and China have agreed to cooperate and addressed the North Korea's fifth nuclear test to the United Nations (UN). The two countries' officials have started a discussion on with the UN for the possible sanctions resolutions as a response. While China and North Korea are allies and trading partner, the first is becoming intolerant of Kim Jon Un's aggressive rhetoric and military actions, BBC News reported. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. As an increasing number of business travel apps become available, given your organization allows you a choice, finding the most effective solutions can be a real chore. In an effort to help, we are sharing information about our opinion of the most useful and innovative apps that exist in today's app market across several categories: Travel Booking Management Businesses of all sizes can benefit from using travel booking management apps to improve accuracy, reduce duplication, and increase efficiency. Concur's mobile app is a valuable choice for a broad range of businesses, providing an efficient means to reduce the effort and time spent on managing travel details. In addition to offering the basic tools that all expense-tracking services provide, including custom reports and expense categories, this solution features photo receipts. Users can capture a receipt, invoice or business card using their device's camera and attach it to their expense record to store the information securely. The app also allows users to book their travel needs directly, including rental cars and hotel rooms. Concur's solution can be linked to other apps, such as financial and GPS tracking applications, providing a convenient method for storing all travel information in one location. KDS Neo is a popular app (and recently acquired by American Express), which uses a timeline approach for booking travel and submitting expenses. The innovative solution is designed to provide a fully priced itinerary based on three simple questions: Where does my journey start? Where does it end? What time do I need to be there? KDS Neo automatically creates an expenses report, while analyzing the preferences and previous behavior of each individual traveler to offer personalized itineraries. Trip Tracking There are many trip tracking apps available, but some stand out from the others as exceptionally useful for the majority of business travelers. TripIt (owened by Concur) is described by many users as creating the feeling of having a highly efficient personal travel assistant by their side. The app allows users to forward all travel details to a TripIt email address, including flights, hotel reservations, car rentals, restaurant bookings, and more. These travel plans are subsequently converted to a succinct itinerary that is accessible on a mobile device, even when it's offline. The "Pro" upgrade provides a great deal of additional functionality, including real-time flight alerts, a place to store points from different rewards programs, and some special perks, such as access to the Hertz Gold counters and the ability to jump to the front of some security lines. TripCase is another very strong trip tracking app. The straightforward interface, and my personal preference, allows users to store all travel details, including flights, rentals, hotel reservations, and more, as well as sending alerts for flight information. The app also provides the ability to add all other plans associated with a trip to create a single, complete itinerary. App in the Air features a streamlined interface and all of the functionality that you expect to find in a robust trip tracking app. This solution stands apart from others due to its social component, allowing you to provide feedback on the flight experience, report delays, engage in airport specific chat with other users, and share your trips with friends via social networks. KAYAK offers a trip tracking component to its already popular travel search app, which allows users to search for, book, and view trip itineraries. For users who book travel arrangements on several different websites, this solution offers the added convenience of compiling the information into a single itinerary. Expenses Processing Processing travel expenses is typically a time-consuming task, which can be significantly alleviated by utilizing one of the top apps that are currently available. Chrome River has created a fantastic solution, providing streamlined functionality that takes a lot of the work out of the process. The app allows users to capture and approve expenses while traveling, as well as to view and approve third-party invoices. It provides the ability to edit and modify the features and reports in the tool, and will seamlessly audit all of the uploaded expenses to create a concise final report. Expensify is another excellent option for accurately recording and extracting expenses details. The app also provides the ability to use the GPS functionality in a mobile device to automatically track the miles traveled during a business trip, in addition to including a convenient currency converter and rate-exchange calculator to process international expenses efficiently. Concierge Booking As an option to some of the services of a traditional travel agent, several companies have created concierge-focused booking solutions, which employ "bot technology" mixed with traditional services to handle traveler requests. Pana is a useful concierge app that helps make travel booking easier by shopping for flights, making hotel reservations, and arranging transportation. The solution utilizes a combination of live travel experts and artificial intelligence "bot" technology to create a robust service that may be especially appealing to frequent travelers. Mani provides what the company calls "full-service travel concierge bots" to handle all aspects of customers' travel requests, including booking, rescheduling, and cancellation. The service also utilizes artificial intelligence technology to learn about its users' preferences to deliver personalized recommendations, taking details such as rewards points and hotel amenities into account. App development in the travel marches on, with new bot augmented solutions arriving at a fair pace. While there is always room for improvement, the apps described in this article are likely to reduce the tasks associated with light managed or unmanaged travel, allowing both businesses and individuals to leverage technology for a streamlined experience. What did we miss? What are your favorite practical biz travel apps? Let me know by reaching out to me on Twitter @jgabbott or LinkedIn. About DataArt DataArt is a global software engineering firm that takes a uniquely human approach to solving problems. With over 20 years of experience, teams of highly-trained engineers around the world, and deep industry sector knowledge, we deliver high-value, high-quality solutions that our clients depend on, and lifetime partnerships they believe in. www.dataart.com @dataart Andrew Sanders VP, Travel & Hospitality - North America +1.919.762.6599 DataArt New York, U.S.A. -- Downtown New York. Words that conjure endless excitement new additions to the arts scene, celebrity chefs transforming the dining experience, pace setting fashion and soaring architecture, tradition and innovation now exist side by side. In the midst of it all, Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown is now open. "Downtown New York has been reborn as the most vibrant neighbourhood in city," says Peter Humig, General Manager of the all-new Hotel. "It's no longer simply a business district. You can feel the energy the minute you arrive, and we are proud to be in the heart of it." Dramatic architecture is changing the city's famous skyline as new buildings rise, cultural institutions open their doors and existing ones reinvent themselves, while luxury shopping and destination dining debuts weekly. Advertising innovators, media influencers and the growing information industry have joined the already well-established financial and tech start ups Downtown. Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown is the ideal home base for exploring the new Lower Manhattan. Located in Tribeca just steps from Wall Street, the World Trade Center and the stunning new Oculus, it's also close to designer shopping in Soho, nightlife in the Meatpacking District and the relaxed tranquillity of the city's waterfront. Introducing the New Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown Upon entry into the two-story lobby at Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown, layers of architectural elements respond to the ever-evolving urban landscape just outside. Feet rest on cream-coloured travertine and soft wool carpeting as the eye takes in original artworks displayed against rich wood walls and woven metal screens. Brushed bronze accents and fabrics in muted jewel tones invite casual socialising, while a dramatic suspended staircase hints at the gracious gathering spaces above. Manhattan's chic style is evident in 189 Hotel rooms and suites designed by Soho and Toronto-based design studio Yabu Pushelberg. The rooms are tastefully appointed as one might find in a private home with light blues, greys and taupes, providing a backdrop to a technologically advanced guest room that is filled with natural light. Marble bathrooms and deep soaking tubs help complete the design elements that one would expect at Four Seasons. Hotel guests can take refuge from the city in luxurious rooms ranging from 400 to 2,400 square feet (37 to 223 square metres) with every need anticipated. Ordering room service is a special experience at Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown. For those who need a working meal or a quiet night in, an innovative new concept for restaurant-style dining has been conceived by Executive Chef Shaun Acosta, with his 24/7 culinary team showcasing seasonal bests from local purveyors. Chef's menu allows guests to order whatever they like, whenever they like, and gone is the old-style utilitarian tableware, replaced by Chef's hand-selected pieces by local artisans. Experience Wolfgang Puck's first Manhattan restaurant: Dining out is a favourite past time for New Yorkers and visitors alike, and there's always something new to try including the just-opened CUT by Wolfgang Puck, located inside Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown. It's the celebrity chef's first Manhattan address, seating 64 in the main dining room, 32 in the lounge and up to 31 in a more intimate space off the main dining room. Health and well-being: The energetic pace of the city requires both New Yorkers and visitors to step up their fitness game, and also schedule much-needed time for relaxation. The Spa at Four Seasons is a sanctuary of wellness and pampering in the heart of the city, with results-driven therapies featuring European brands. For the first time in America, Swiss-based Dr Burgener brings a concept that is part rejuvenation, part relaxation backed by study in the science of skin. The Spa is also the only place in New York to experience facials by Omorovicza of Hungary. A state-of-the art 6,000 square foot (560 square metre) fitness centre boasts inspiring views of the Oculus and the World Trade Center. The shimmering 75 foot (23 metre) indoor lap pool is surrounded by restful lounge furnishings and flooded with natural light, and an outdoor terrace, a rare indulgence in Manhattan. Meet me at Four Seasons: Contemporary touches blend seamlessly in the Greenwich Ballroom, the perfect setting for business meetings, social galas, intimate weddings and other private events for up to 175 guests. Two additional salons provide options for smaller functions or breakouts. For event hosts, wedding couples and meeting planners, the expert Four Seasons team led by Director of Catering and Conference Services Mark Schwindenhammerassures creativity and flawless execution, every time. Be among the first: Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown is now open and accepting reservations for several limited-time only packages in celebration of its grand opening, including the Suite Getaway, family-oriented Stay and Play, and a generous Third Night Free offer. Living at Four Seasons: With a separate entrance at 30 Park Place, Lower Manhattan's most coveted private address is perched above the new Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown. Developed by Silverstein Properties, there are 157 Four Seasons Private Residences ranging from one to five bedrooms, with full access to all Hotel facilities and legendary Four Seasons service. About Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts opened its first hotel in 1961, and since that time has been dedicated to perfecting the travel experience through continual innovation and the highest standards of hospitality. Currently operating 119 hotels and resorts, and 44 residential properties in major city centres and resort destinations in 47 countries, and with more than 50 projects under planning or development, Four Seasons consistently ranks among the world's best hotels and most prestigious brands in reader polls, traveller reviews and industry awards. For more information and reservations, visit fourseasons.com. For the latest news, visit press.fourseasons.com and follow @FourSeasonsPR on Twitter. Lindsay Cameron Four Seasons It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore). Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net. Go back to home Industry Expert to Take the Sales Helm of the Company's Three Distinct Brands Loews Hotels has announced the appointment of Christine Lawson as Senior Vice President of Loews Sales Organization. A sales enthusiast, innovator and action-oriented executive with decades of experience and success in hotel management, Lawson will oversee all aspects of Sales for Loews Hotels & Resorts, Loews Regency Hotels and the OE Collection. Her appointment is part of Loews Hotels' ongoing effort of strategically building and expanding the company. Lawson arrived at Loews Hotels after a 20 plus-year tenure with Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. While at Kimpton she advanced through multiple roles and promotions in Sales & Marketing, culminating to her most recent position as Senior Vice President of Sales & Catering. Lawson was responsible for overseeing an $800 million portfolio, a 14-member corporate leadership team, and 250 field managers. She had remarkable success at growing Kimpton's portfolio, revenues and market share, including providing sales, marketing and launch leadership for 55 new hotels. "Christine's sense for innovation is backed with solid credentials, strong business acumen and a passion for relationships in our business. We are confident in the impact that her leadership will have as we continue to enhance and grow Loews Hotels," said Oliver Bonke, Chief Commercial Officer, Loews Hotels. "Known as a visionary and sales expert, we look forward to her bringing that knowledge to customers, partners and the entire Loews Sales Organization across the portfolio." A native of Berkeley, California, Lawson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business with a major in marketing and a minor in human resources from the University of Washington in Seattle. She launched her hotel career as a Sales Manager for Hotel Durant in Berkeley, California. Lawson has been active in the hotel industry and volunteerism throughout her career and currently sits on the Customer Advisory Board of Newmarket International. Loews HotelsHeadquartered in New York City, Loews Hotels has three distinct brands, Loews Hotels & Resorts, Loews Regency and OE Collection. The company owns and/or operates 25 hotels and resorts across the U.S. and Canada, including the newly-acquired Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle that will be rebranded into a Loews Regency in 2017. WoodSpring Hotels has entered into an agreement with AMENA Hotels, LLC, to develop three new WoodSpring Suites Signature hotels in the greater Phoenix, Ariz.-area. WoodSpring Hotels has entered into an agreement with AMENA Hotels, LLC, to develop three new WoodSpring Suites Signature hotels in the greater Phoenix, Ariz.-area. WoodSpring Hotels currently has three open properties in the Phoenix market. AMENA Hotels is no stranger to the hospitality industry. Principals of AMENA Hotels have deep expertise in hospitality development and permanent mortgage financing. They now join the ranks of other owners in developing their first three WoodSpring Suites hotels in the Phoenix market. AMENA Hotels see the WoodSpring Suites Signature prototype working well in the Phoenix market, and they currently are sourcing sites in Southern California for additional properties to add to their portfolio. WoodSpring is a great fit for AMENA. Our focus has been in lending throughout the United States within the hospitality industry, said Sanat Patel, president at AMENA Hotels. WoodSpring Hotels has a specific operating model that attracted us. With a stronger expected return on investment than more traditional nightly-stay hotels, coupled with our ability to fill in the Phoenix area and explore new areas in Southern California, we felt WoodSpring Hotels would be the right partner. When our executive team first met the AMENA Hotels partners at our annual conference, we knew they would be strong partners with the financial expertise and vision to expand our brand in the West, said Ron Burgett, executive vice president of franchise development & operations at WoodSpring Hotels. With its ability to locate and acquire strong locations in Phoenix and Southern California, the AMENA Hotels team is the perfect group to help us grow our brand throughout the Western United States. WoodSpring Hotels is the company behind the nations fastest growing value extended-stay hotel brand with over 200 hotels system-wide located in over 30 states. The company owns 90 hotels and provides management services for both company-owned and franchised locations under the WoodSpring Suites and Value Place brands. Leveraging the Most Useful Business Travel Apps As an increasing number of business travel apps become available, given your organization allows you a choice, finding the most effective solutions can be a real chore. In an effort to help, we are sharing information about our opinion of the most useful and innovative apps that exist in today's app market across several categories: Travel Booking Management Businesses of all sizes can benefit from using travel booking management apps to improve accuracy, reduce duplication, and increase efficiency. Concur's mobile app is a valuable choice for a broad range of businesses, providing an efficient means to reduce the effort and time spent on managing travel details. In addition to offering the basic tools that all expense-tracking services provide, including custom reports and expense categories, this solution features photo receipts. Users can capture a receipt, invoice or business card using their device's camera and attach it to their expense record to store the information securely. The app also allows users to book their travel needs directly, including rental cars and hotel rooms. Concur's solution can be linked to other apps, such as financial and GPS tracking applications, providing a convenient method for storing all travel information in one location. KDS Neo is a popular app (and recently acquired by American Express), which uses a timeline approach for booking travel and submitting expenses. The innovative solution is designed to provide a fully priced itinerary based on three simple questions: Where does my journey start? Where does it end? What time do I need to be there? KDS Neo automatically creates an expenses report, while analyzing the preferences and previous behavior of each individual traveler to offer personalized itineraries. Trip Tracking There are many trip tracking apps available, but some stand out from the others as exceptionally useful for the majority of business travelers. TripIt (owened by Concur) is described by many users as creating the feeling of having a highly efficient personal travel assistant by their side. The app allows users to forward all travel details to a TripIt email address, including flights, hotel reservations, car rentals, restaurant bookings, and more. These travel plans are subsequently converted to a succinct itinerary that is accessible on a mobile device, even when it's offline. The "Pro" upgrade provides a great deal of additional functionality, including real-time flight alerts, a place to store points from different rewards programs, and some special perks, such as access to the Hertz Gold counters and the ability to jump to the front of some security lines. TripCase is another very strong trip tracking app. The straightforward interface, and my personal preference, allows users to store all travel details, including flights, rentals, hotel reservations, and more, as well as sending alerts for flight information. The app also provides the ability to add all other plans associated with a trip to create a single, complete itinerary. App in the Air features a streamlined interface and all of the functionality that you expect to find in a robust trip tracking app. This solution stands apart from others due to its social component, allowing you to provide feedback on the flight experience, report delays, engage in airport specific chat with other users, and share your trips with friends via social networks. KAYAK offers a trip tracking component to its already popular travel search app, which allows users to search for, book, and view trip itineraries. For users who book travel arrangements on several different websites, this solution offers the added convenience of compiling the information into a single itinerary. Expenses Processing Processing travel expenses is typically a time-consuming task, which can be significantly alleviated by utilizing one of the top apps that are currently available. Chrome River has created a fantastic solution, providing streamlined functionality that takes a lot of the work out of the process. The app allows users to capture and approve expenses while traveling, as well as to view and approve third-party invoices. It provides the ability to edit and modify the features and reports in the tool, and will seamlessly audit all of the uploaded expenses to create a concise final report. Expensify is another excellent option for accurately recording and extracting expenses details. The app also provides the ability to use the GPS functionality in a mobile device to automatically track the miles traveled during a business trip, in addition to including a convenient currency converter and rate-exchange calculator to process international expenses efficiently. Concierge Booking As an option to some of the services of a traditional travel agent, several companies have created concierge-focused booking solutions, which employ bot technology mixed with traditional services to handle traveler requests. Pana is a useful concierge app that helps make travel booking easier by shopping for flights, making hotel reservations, and arranging transportation. The solution utilizes a combination of live travel experts and artificial intelligence bot technology to create a robust service that may be especially appealing to frequent travelers. Mani provides what the company calls "full-service travel concierge bots" to handle all aspects of customers' travel requests, including booking, rescheduling, and cancellation. The service also utilizes artificial intelligence technology to learn about its users' preferences to deliver personalized recommendations, taking details such as rewards points and hotel amenities into account. App development in the travel marches on, with new bot augmented solutions arriving at a fair pace. While there is always room for improvement, the apps described in this article are likely to reduce the tasks associated with light managed or unmanaged travel, allowing both businesses and individuals to leverage technology for a streamlined experience. What did we miss? What are your favorite practical biz travel apps? Let me know by reaching out to me on Twitter @jgabbott or LinkedIn. About Greg Abbott Greg Abbott is a Partner at DataArt, leading the Travel & Hospitality Practice, which he formed in 2010. Greg has deep experience in executive sales & travel system operations, with 20+ years in domestic and international online travel industry sector, including entrepreneurship, management, product development, and consulting. His career in travel began in the early 90s while attending the University of California at Berkeley and working at the corporate campus travel agency that was later acquired by STA Travel. Over his decade with STA Travel, Greg rose to the Director position and later departed to join NEXGEN Travel in Munich, Germany's leading online travel startup, assuming the role of Product Director for nearly four years. While at NEXGEN, his team tackled some of the most unique system and technology challenges in the hospitality & tour operator distribution landscape. On his return to the U.S., Greg joined DataArt as SVP of Travel & Hospitality to lead the charge in building out DataArts service to leading travel technology companies around the globe. He is a frequent speaker and a thought leader, with a loyal following in the press and social media alike. @jgabbott About DataArt: DataArt is a technology consulting firm that creates end-to-end solutions, from concept and strategy, to design, implementation and support, helping global clients in the financial services, healthcare, hospitality, media and IoT sectors achieve important business outcomes. Rooted in deep domain knowledge and technology expertise, DataArt designs new products, modernizes enterprise systems and provides managed services delivered by outstanding development teams in the U.S., UK, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. As a recognized leader in business and technology services, DataArt has earned the trust of some of the worlds leading brands and most discerning clients, including McGraw-Hill Financial, Coller Capital, BankingUp, Ocado, artnet, Betfair, Skyscanner, Collette Vacations, Booker and Charles River Laboratories. @DataArt Burj Al Arab Jumeirah Jumeirah Group has appointed Marc Dardenne as Group Chief Operating Officer. Taking up his position with immediate effect, Dardenne returns to Dubai to oversee Jumeirah Group operations across its international portfolio. Jumeirah Group has appointed Marc Dardenne as Group Chief Operating Officer. Taking up his position with immediate effect, Dardenne returns to Dubai to oversee Jumeirah Group operations across its international portfolio, which includes the world's most luxurious hotel, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah. Dardenne has a long and established career as a hotelier having worked internationally for more than 30 years. As a hospitality visionary, Dardenne has been instrumental in the development of a number of brands and curated guest experience across a range of diverse hospitality assets, including hotels, branded residences, serviced apartments, resorts and clubs. He joins Jumeirah Group from Patina Hotels and Resorts in Singapore where, as CEO, he oversaw brand creation, development and asset management. Previously, Dardenne was based in Dubai and most recently worked as CEO at Emaar Hotel and Resorts, where he had a broad range of responsibilities including portfolio and concept development. Stefan Leser, Jumeirah Group CEO, said: "Marc brings unique insight, global expertise and a passion for hospitality that is as inspiring as it is impressive. Jumeirah Group has a strong portfolio of landmark properties and Marc's commitment to excellence reflects our own focus to deliver the very best in guest experiences. His contribution to the Group will further enhance our management team and Marc will greatly contribute to Jumeirah's continued evolution as a world leading hospitality brand." Marc Dardenne, said: "I am delighted to return to Dubai with Jumeirah Group. It is a unique hospitality brand with an enviable reputation for luxury and a culture of innovation and bold thinking. I am looking forward to bringing my experience to Jumeirah and working in such a highly creative hospitality environment." An industry pioneer, Dardenne has been recognised by peers and industry commentators for his contribution to the development of the hospitality sector. He won an award in recognition of his Leadership Excellence and was voted 'CEO of the Year' in the Middle East. A Belgium national, Dardenne has lived and worked in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East and is fluent in French, English and German. The Tulsa, Oklahoma Police Department have released footage from a dashboard camera that shows a white officer shooting and killing an unarmed black man who was leaning on his car as the officer approached. 40-year old Terence Crutcher was shot and killed by Betty Shelby last Friday night, after she encountered him while en route to another call. She reportedly requested for backup when she was not having cooperation with him. Footage from a police helicopter also captured the graphic scene, which shows Crutcher leaning on a vehicle before being tasered by one officer, Tyler Turnbough, and then shot by Shelby. She is currently on paid administrative leave. Tulsas police chief, Chuck Jordan later announced that Crutcher was unarmed and did not have a weapon inside the vehicle that he was leaning on. Shelbys lawyer, Scott Wood, contests that she thought Terence Crutcher had a weapon on him and that he acted erratically, refused to comply with several orders, tried to put his hand in his pocket and reached inside his car window before he was shot. According to the NY Times: According to that video, when the second police car arrived, Mr. Crutcher had his hands raised and was walking away from Officer Shelby, who walked behind him with her gun pointed at his back. She was soon joined by three more officers. Mr. Crutcher was shot less than 30 seconds after the second car arrived. The helicopter video shows the same scene from above. Hes got his hands up there for her now, one officer aboard the helicopter can be heard saying. This guy is still walking and following commands. Time for a Taser, I think, a second officer in the helicopter can be heard saying. I got a feeling thats about to happen, said the first officer, identifed by Mr. Wood as Officer Shelbys husband, Dave Shelby. That looks like a bad dude, too, the second officer said. Mr. Crutcher was shot moments later, and the helicopter camera captured footage of him sprawled on the pavement, his shirt stained with blood. The Tulsa police department has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into the shooting. The graphic footage that was recently made public can be seen below. Terence Crutcher Theres only a handful of times in your life when you get to witness, and be a part of, history to recreate the world and make it a better, more equitable place. In May 2015, everyone who voted in the Marriage Equality Referendum played their part, and those of us who voted yes reshaped our constitution and our country. The constitution is precisely the wrong place to deal with something as complex as abortion rights. What was needed in 1983, and what is still needed, is legislation that focuses on the health, welfare and bodily autonomy of Irish women. The 8th amendment is particularly abhorrent in that it posits an equality of the most fundamental of rights between an embryo, even at the earliest stages of development, and the woman, of whose body it is a part. That position, I believe, is only possible within the context of a set of metaphysical fantasies that have thankfully been losing traction in this country since the dark days of the early 80s. Unlike in the case of the marriage referendum, where I was pretty optimistic about the outcome, I think there is a strong likelihood we may be stuck with the 8th for a few years to come. I understand that the issues around abortion are complex and the fear of a fully liberalised regime is very real in a lot of people. And I dont dismiss or disrespect that fear. It would be totally wrong to paint every person against repeal in the colours of the hardcore abusive and dishonest cohort who, for example, abused Tara Flynn or who knowingly dish out falsehoods to vulnerable women in clinics around the city. It might take a while before those genuinely concerned can be persuaded that the only way to a humane outcome where, for example, a woman carrying a fetus with fatal abnormalities can be looked after with compassion in her own country is by removing the 8th and legislating properly. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The introduction of standardized containers 60 years ago transformed the way freight is transported among trucks, trains and ships. This week in Houston, which accepted that first shipment of containers in 1956, intermodal experts and industry representatives expressed concern over their market's near future. "Intermodal growth, after a great run over many years, has come to a screeching halt," Peter Tirschwell, senior director of editorial content for maritime and trade with IHS Markit, said during the Intermodal Expo, which continues through Tuesday at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Larry Gross, partner and senior consultant at FTR Transportation Intelligence, cited two major factors. One is that ship lines have shifted from California to other ports where products aren't moved by rail. In Houston, for instance, ships are positioning themselves for the petrochemical boom and are bringing in goods that generally stay in the region. Labor disputes last year along the West Coast also prompted ships to move east, further cutting into secondary shipments, though some of those ship lines have since returned. Because intermodal usually involves rail, increased trucking competition also is having an effect. Gross said there are more trucks on the road than freight, and that has driven down rates. Low fuel prices, too, are making trucks more affordable than intermodal. Gross remained optimistic about next year, however, predicting the port situation will stabilize. He also said new regulations in the trucking industry should help intermodal compete. One such regulation is the requirement for trucks traveling more than 100 miles to have a black box starting in December 2017. This will measure when trucks are in motion, and it will stop drivers from being on the road longer than regulations allow. He said that could require more trucks to do the same work, which will increase truck rates and make intermodal more competitive. "I expect things to improve next year," he said. More than 1,770 people are attending the expo event sponsored by the trade group Intermodal Association of North America. Steve Keppler, senior vice president of the trade group, said the gathering also celebrated the industry's past. "It's been a huge change, a positive impact to freight movement since its introduction 60 years ago," he said. Speakers reminisced on the industry's growth since Malcom McLean loaded 58 containers on a converted tanker ship that departed Newark, N.J., for the Port of Houston. Over the years, they said, it has made moving goods easier and more efficient. Peter Keller, executive vice president for TOTE, urged attendees to consider the past when discussing the future. In 1968, for instance, he said the largest ship carried 640 of the 35-foot trailers. A ship today can carry 18,000 TEUs, which refers to the equivalent of 20-foot containers. Keller emphasized the need for the industry groups to work together to solve problems and to learn from what's made "this massive intermodal empire." New technologies and greener fuel were also discussed at the event. Some speculated on how self-driving trucks will affect the industry and the driving public. Liquefied natural gas was another popular topic. Florida East Coast Railway is using liquefied natural gas to power locomotives. By early next year, its entire mainline fleet will burn 80 percent LNG and 20 percent diesel, its president and CEO, Jim Hertwig, said. Truck companies and container ships are also exploring LNG as a fuel source. "You're seeing all the major ports in the world now starting to talk about LNG," Keller said. TOTE Maritime has containerships powered by LNG. Other types of innovation were displayed in the exhibit hall, where more than 130 companies participated. Frank Sonzala, CEO of CIMC Intermodal Equipment, showed off container boxes and the chassis they sit on when pulled by big trucks on roadways. He was displaying a chassis coating that's embedded into the steel frame to better protect against rust and corrosion. He also showcased an automatic tire-inflation system that inflates tires if they become punctured. "We're not high-tech, but we're pretty techy," he said. "We're trying to do everything we can to make the trucking industry better." MICHAEL STRAVATO /New York Times AUSTIN Texas will have to amend its voter ID education materials, including press releases, polling location posters and websites, to correctly conform with a court mandate, a judge ordered Tuesday, in a stinging rebuke of the state's $2.5 million outreach effort. The Obama administration accused Texas earlier this month of using education materials, ranging from a state website for voting to training documents for elections officials, to narrow "dramatically the scope of voters protected" under a voter ID order signed last month by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos. "All hands on deck," originally a naval term summoning an entire ship's crew, now is a clarion call used to marshal all personnel and resources available to tackle the job at hand. It is time to issue that call in the fight against human trafficking. The modern-day slavery of men, women and children can no longer be solely the province of victim's services organizations, advocacy groups and law enforcement. This blight on the nation requires industry, media, government, thought leaders and the public to partner in innovative ways to make the exploitation of others for forced sex and labor a thing of the past. Complex problems require creative collaborative solutions that first identify member resources, and then funnel those resources to where they can be used most effectively. Everyone can take a stand against human trafficking in their own community once they determine where they can be most effective. The public-private partnership between the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, Truckers Against Trafficking and the Texas Trucking Association is an example of a successful creative collaboration. With nearly 7 million members, the trucking industry's reach spans the nation. Truck drivers often find themselves traveling the same dark and lonely roads where trafficking victims are exploited for sex and labor. Recognizing the potential impact of the trucking industry, Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) began a trucking-specific training program to educate, equip and empower members of the trucking industry to identify victims and report trafficking. TAT was joined by the Texas Trucking Association and other national trucking associations, as well as by law enforcement partners brought together by state attorneys general, to build working relationships between law enforcement and the trucking industry. Carriers, travel plazas, truck stops and suppliers in the industry responded by training their employees, carrying TAT wallet cards, publicly displaying resource information for victims, and most important, by calling the National Human Trafficking Resource Hotline to report what they observed. Fourteen hundred calls later, hundreds of victims have been rescued, several brothels have been exposed, and an entire industry has been mobilized as the eyes and ears of the nation's highways. Replicating the TAT model in other industries, however, would not be the most effective use of people or resources. The trucking partnership produces results because it is a solution designed around the circumstances, strengths and vulnerabilities of the trucking industry. Our challenge is distinct. We ask you to look inward and determine where you can exercise your unique gifts, talents and position to bring light into someone else's darkness. If you are a business person, can you analyze your supply chain for potential connections to exploitation and make changes, donate to a pilot program fighting trafficking, or implement training for your employees? If you are a public or private employee, will you brainstorm the situations where you may encounter a victim and be prepared to ask informed questions, identify the red flags and then report? As a citizen, will you think about the locations in your town that allow traffickers and their victims to hide in the shadows and then advocate for change? And if you are a parent or someone who works with children, are you informed and willing to intervene in your child or another child's life before it is too late? William Wilberforce, the father of England's abolitionist movement, once said: "You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know." The trucking industry refused to look the other way. What will you do? Paxton is attorney general of Texas. Melton is deputy criminal chief of human trafficking for the AG's office. To find out more on what the signs of human trafficking are and how to help please visit: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/cj/human-trafficking. A rare albino deer was examined by the Missouri Department of Conservation after it was killed Saturday between Raymondville and Licking. Bob Seeber of Union killed the animal, but was aware that the deer was in the area. It has been spotted on a game camera. Seeber said he was unsure what he was going to do with the white animal, but a full-body mount was under consideration. Two officers with the conservation department viewed the deer Saturday night in Houston. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. 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. In a celebration of the kind never seen before at the institution, De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) welcomed students from 68 countries and demonstrated to the world it is the place to be. For its first time at The Venue@DMU, more than 500 students were treated to a spectacular evening with more than 135 flags, representing every nation at the university, adorning the ceiling. A British-themed selfie corner met students at the entrance, and envelopes on boards provided students with the opportunity to post their first impressions of DMU. Atanas Doykov, a Communication Arts BA student from Bulgaria, wrote: Call it faith or call it destiny, DMU is the place to be. I am so happy that I am part of this amazing community. Meanwhile, Rou, from China, who will be studying Accounting and Finance BA, wrote: I have not seen an open campus before. DMU is one. It is really big and beautiful, I like it. The event kick-started DMUs International Welcome Week, held the week before Freshers Week, to help new international students settle in to life at the university and run by DMUs dedicated International Student Support team. French student Cloe Monges, who has joined the university to study English Literature with the European exchange programme Erasmus+, said: It is my very first time abroad and it is really great. Everyone is so welcoming here. Being in a room with so many different nationalities is amazing. This is a unique experience. I cant wait to see what the future holds. I am very happy. I am very glad that DMU chose me. Really, it is the best thing that could have happened to me. Leicester is beautiful too; a beautiful city, with beautiful people. James Gardner, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Strategic and International Partnerships who welcomed students in a short speech, said: You are part of our DMU global family, joining a diverse and friendly student population from more than 135 countries. "You are also at the heart of our new International Strategy, Global Instinct, which is taking the institution into the world, inspired by #DMUglobal, our award-winning international experience programme. The universitys Square Mile team, International Student Support Officer Andy Gale and President of De Montfort Students Union Dan Winney, also welcomed the students, with Dan adding an inspirational quote: Success is a journey, not a destination. Anna, from Poland, will be studying Criminology with Psychology, and said: I wanted to go to DMU because of #DMUglobal. I really wanted the chance to travel internationally and experience the world and so DMU was the one for me. I have not been to England before and Leicester is beautiful. I have already met a couple of friends here and I am really excited about the next few years. Talented members of the DMU Music Society put on two outstanding performances, followed by a DJ providing the background to a British-themed buffet, which included mini Yorkshire puddings filled with beef and mini fish and chips. Ummi Sani, from Nigeria, secured her Law place through Clearing, and said: I really like the whole environment at DMU, it seems really friendly. Tonights event is something special; I really like the food theyve put on too. Ice-breaker questions, staff members as table hosts and a caricature artist all kept the conversation flowing and reminded students how welcome they are at DMU. NEW YORK Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was enthusiastically embraced at the United Nations Monday, as diplomats and politicians shredded their usual nuanced tones for generous acclaim, unusual applause and selfies with the Canadian leader. Trudeau was at the UN to tell the worlds leaders that Canada will work to help solve the global refugee and migration crisis and to announce a 10 per cent boost to humanitarian aid. He is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday. Advertisement In the UNs corridors where leaders rubbed shoulders, praise for Trudeau came naturally. Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev recalled how he spent two days beside Trudeau at the NATO summit in Warsaw where the leaders were seated in alphabetical country order. Ill tell you about him, he told The Huffington Post Canada. I love him. I admire him. He is a wonderful young leader of this planet. Hes an exceptional politician. He is giving an example to everyone in the world. And, Im very honest, if you look at the new Canadian government, I say Thank you, prime minister, Plevneliev said in an interview. If you look at the way he is accepting refugees at the airport, if you look how he speaks, if you look at his values, he is just spreading them. He is expressing them with every sentence, the Bulgarian president went on. Advertisement I love him. I admire him. He is a wonderful young leader of this planet." Trudeau is a leader who is strong and decisive but also tolerant and human, he said. Plevneliev planned to tell Trudeau, when the two meet Tuesday, that Bulgarians and Europeans are praying to have more people with his values and integrity join the worlds political scene. He didnt hesitate when asked if Bulgaria would support Canadas bid for a UN Security Council seat in 2021 a contest among Ireland, Norway and Canada for two rotating spots. Of course, yes! Of course! Of course! he said. Plevneliev dismissed the suggestion that his country might ask Canada for something in return for its support, for example, establishment of an embassy in Bulgaria. Canadas ambassador to Romania handles Bulgarian relations from Bucharest. Good things dont come when youre too direct, he told HuffPost. Israels ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, declined to tell HuffPost whether his country would vote for Canada. Well, I think I will not answer it here directly, but if you look at the history, Canada supported Israel and Israel supported Canada, he said. Advertisement 'Reason to be concerned': Tory senator Conservative Senator Linda Frum tweeted Monday that Trudeau was romancing the UN, a body that let Iran sit on its status of women committee, gave Iran a leadership role at UNESCO and allowed Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China and Cuba to sit on its human rights council. Trudeau wants a seat on UN Security Council. Canadian friends of Israel have reason to be concerned, she tweeted. At the UN, however, Danon said he had seen no difference between the previous Conservative governments position on Israel and the new Trudeau governments. We havent seen any change in their policy, he said. Both countries are working very closely, he added, noting that they hope to announce a new tax treaty this week. Kenya looks to deepen relations with Canada Sicily Kariuki, Kenyas minister for public service, youth and gender, told HuffPost her government looks forward to deepening its relationship with Canada. Advertisement We have an administration that is reasonably young biologically speaking. And therefore there is a direct connection and linkage between your leadership at the top and the Kenyan leadership, she said. You are also being trusted to demonstrate that youthful leadership is as good as leadership that we have inherited in the past years. Kariuki declined to say whether Kenya would support Canadas Security Council bid that isnt her portfolio, she noted, but she expressed support for Trudeaus attention to youth and his focus on feminism. I need him in Kenya. Deliver him to me! Trudeau kicked off his day co-chairing a roundtable with Queen Rania of Jordan focused on addressing the movement of large number of refugees and migrants. Advertisement In his opening remarks, as he referred to the 31,000 Syrian refugees Canada has already welcomed, he was met with a very unorthodox Whoop! from one attendee and applause from the room. Canada and all countries, Trudeau said, have a responsibility to do more to help solve the global refugee and migration crisis. "Now is the time for each of us to consider what more we can contribute, he said. Speaking at the same time, on a floor above, was William Swing, director general of the International Organization for Migration, condemning the poisonous public narrative right now on migration. "Now is the time for each of us to consider what more we can contribute." His comments arrived as New Yorkers were just learning that police had identified Khan Rahami, an Afghan immigrant, as the person responsible for a weekend bombing that injured more than two dozen people. Migration has become a negative word, said Swing, flanked by UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson. And yet, he noted political leaders were standing in New York City, a place built on the backs and with the talents of migrants. Advertisement We know that, and yet, we are now branding migrants as potentially terrorists, or criminals, or bringing in disease. We have to get rid of those stereotypes, demythologize the narrative and try to get back to basics, he said. 'Very high' praise for Trudeau When asked to comment on the new Canadian government, Swing had nothing but very high praise for Trudeau. He did something very unusual for a politician, he told reporters assembled outside the UN General Assembly. He made as one of the planks of his platform to be elected, that if I am elected I will bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees. And then he said, I will not bring them in as refugees but as future Canadian citizens. It was a good example for others to follow, Swing said. The scene was similar later in that afternoon when Trudeau took part in the UNs global compact luncheon. As he took his seat near the front of the room packed with diplomats and business leaders, Trudeau kept being interrupted by people asking for photos and selfies. Advertisement CNNs Kate Bolduan, who introduced Trudeau, described him as being at the forefront of action on refugees. She referred to Trudeaus words the day he welcomed the first wave of Syrian refugees at the Toronto airport in December with winter clothes. He said: 'We get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about but we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult straits, she said. "A simple message a powerful message, though, especially from his position to send around the world." Immigration Minister John McCallum told reporters that hes aware there is a lot of admiration here for what Canada did. Canadians can walk tall in these circles, he said, noting his colleagues approval. But McCallum put the praise in perspective. "In Canada, refugees have done very well." Germany let in over a million, and we had 25,000 whom we selected and, we have the Atlantic Ocean, which separates us from these parts of the world, which Europe does not, he said. So I am very proud as a Canadian for what we achieved, but I would be the first to acknowledge that the problems are an order of magnitude different from the problems of Europe. McCallum said he thinks Canada can contribute by sharing the experience of its private-sponsorship refugee program something, he said, at least 13 other countries had expressed an interest in adopting, including Britain. Advertisement That could be one part of the solution for the world at large, he said. But first, McCallum wanted to stress to his UN counterparts, many of whom had noted increased xenophobia towards refugees and migrants, that immigration has made a Canada a prosperous and dynamic country. Around the world, migrants, including refugees, fill skill gaps and labour market shortages, address challenges of aging populations and improve understanding of other cultures, he said during a speech at a UN roundtable. In Canada, refugees have done very well, he added. Two of our former governors general are refugees, and one of my cabinet colleagues, Maryam Monsef, who was a while ago a refugee from Afghanistan, is now our minister for democratic reform. Being open to newcomers works only if people arent anxious about their own well-being, the prime minister suggested Monday afternoon during an interview with BuzzFeed. Advertisement The fears about globalization, the anti-trade, the Brexit stuff that is sort of running around the world right now, happens because people dont feel that economic growth and globalization has been good for them, Trudeau told his 20-something audience. What we know is that, indeed, trade and globalization has been great for growth, he said, but it just hasnt always gone to the right people or to the majority of people. My question is how we will demonstrate and change the systems, so that people start feeling the benefits from trade, people start feeling the benefits of globalization. Trudeau is expected to address those same themes when he makes his UN General Assembly debut. Also on HuffPost Lindsay Istace is giving the middle finger to everything you think you know about yoga, meditation and the pursuit of zen. And she wants anyone else looking to flip the bird to join her through rage yoga. "I love swearing, I love drinking, why dont I start my own yoga thing called 'rage yoga'?" Istace said. Advertisement The 24-year-old founder of the practice eschews the peaceful music and bright yoga studios for a bar in downtown Calgary, chock full of heavy metal music and swearing. Not the typical image of mindfulness most would expect including "Like A Tourist" host Dan Rodo and Calgarian Yeny Lara. The two were on the pursuit of hidden gems across the city and decided to meet up with Istace at Dickens Pub. To see the art in practice, check out the video above. And for more of cool things to do in Calgary, head here. Advertisement With files from Sarah Rieger Doctors in Saskatchewan say it's time for the province to declare a state of emergency as more and more citizens are diagnosed with HIV. People are becoming ill and dying from a treatable and preventable disease the time to act is now, infectious disease specialist Stephen Sanche said on Monday, according to the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Advertisement The province's HIV rate is twice the national average, The Globe and Mail reported. Doctors are calling for the Saskatchewan government to cover all antiretroviral drugs for HIV patients. (Photo: Getty) On Saskatchewan reserves, the number could be nearly eight times as high or possibly more, as there is little testing done on many First Nations communities. "Two people are dying every month. Over ten people are being diagnosed with a new infection every month and that's only going up. So we're really sounding the alarm," Sanche told CBC News. Advertisement Sanche is part of a group of doctors that work with HIV-positive patients. The group is not only calling for the state of emergency, but for the government to fully cover anti-retroviral medication. "Two people are dying every month." Saskatchewan's HIV strategy ended in 2014, but the government still provides $4 million in funding each year for testing and treatment programs. While the strategy was in place, the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases dropped 44 per cent. Since then, numbers have risen. Saskatchewan's ministry of health is holding a mobilization event in October to work on a multi-year approach to lowering HIV rates, a ministry spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Huffington Post Alberta. Also on HuffPost Artists Who Suffered From HIV/AIDS See Gallery Brad Pitt has released a statement following the news that he and his wife, Angelina Jolie, are getting a divorce. I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the wellbeing of our kids, the 52-year-old told People. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time. Advertisement Pitt and Jolie have been together for 12 years, but have only been married for two. They have six children Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox whose ages range from 15 to eight. Actor Brad Pitt (centre), (left to right) Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Jane Pitt, and William Pitt attend the premiere of 'Unbroken' at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on December 15, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) According to TMZ, Jolie filed for divorce on Monday citing irreconcilable differences. The 41-year-old is now asking for physical custody of their kids and asking the judge to give Pitt visitation rights. Advertisement While Jolie has not commented on the split, her lawyer, Robert Offer, said in a statement: This decision was made for the health of the family. She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time. A source told People that the couple had conflicts over parenting their children. They always had disagreements when it came to disciplining the kids, the insider said. With all the kids, it did tend to get chaotic many times. Pitt is a strict parent and was known to get frustrated sometimes and yell at the kids, the source continued. Jolie, on the other hand, had a more relaxed attitude and definitely never yells. The couples very different parenting approaches is what caused Jolie to file for divorce, TMZ reports. This will be the third divorce for Jolie, who was previously married to Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, and the second for Pitt, who was previously married to Jennifer Aniston. Advertisement Also on HuffPost NEW YORK Canada will export its program of private refugee sponsorship around the world with the help of the United Nations and billionaire George Soros, announced the Liberal government. At least 13 countries have made inquiries about Canada's unique system in the hope of potentially emulating it, Immigration Minister John McCallum told reporters Tuesday. Advertisement The United Kingdom is in the process of implementing a version of Canadas program where private citizens provide funding to bring in refugees and help them get set up in their new home. Australia, Spain and Japan have also expressed interest. Every countrys circumstances are different but we believe this is a good model which is exportable to other countries, McCallum said. You are miles ahead if you can bring refugees in supported by our own citizens. Then they have a base from which to go. They have a welcome, rather than having refugees come in uninvited or illegally or alone, he said. Advertisement Research has demonstrated that privately sponsored refugees tend to have relatively early, positive integration and better settlement outcomes, the government noted in a press release. The initiative between the Government of Canada, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Soros Open Society Foundations is at its infancy. Details, including funding arrangements, will be decided at a meeting in Ottawa in December. The funds pledged were not a gargantuan amount, McCallum said, not hundreds of millions of dollars but more than $10 million. The initiative, according to the government's press release, would: Expand the use of private sponsorship as a pathway for refugees Encourage the expansion of resettlement by building the capacity of states, civil society groups and private citizens to launch private sponsorship programs Mobilize citizens to directly support refugees and encourage "a broader political debate that is supportive of refugee protection." Advertisement Canada's program was developed under the Pierre Trudeau and Joe Clark governments in the late 1970s as a response to a migration wave from Vietnam. It has facilitated the resettlement of more than 275,000 privately-sponsored refugees. Last year, Canadas program gained new attention amid the wide-ranging effects of Syria's five-year civil war. Under the government plan to resettle 25,000 Syrians by early this year, nearly 9,000 were privately sponsored and another 2,000 were sponsored by a program that blends private and government support. The program set a cap of private sponsorships allowed per year. It allows people to sponsor a refugee for $12,600, which includes help with income and initial costs like groceries and rent. Advertisement McCallum said Canadians would be proud of what he's hearing at this week's United Nations conference: This is a place where Canada can stand tall. The international community has recognized and strongly supported what we have done.'' He noted, however, the numerous challenges ahead. He said refugees to Canada have all been housed now he says the big hurdles to clear are English- or French-language training, and integration into the job market. The troubles refugees experience should come as no surprise, he added. We asked for vulnerable people we got vulnerable people,'' he said. The other side of that is it takes longer to settle them in.'' McCallum also suggested Canada might increase its refugee intake next year, after the government sets its annual targets: Of course I would like to see more. It is a long tradition of Canada to welcome refugees... How many we will welcome we have to determine that and we'll announce it in November.'' Also on HuffPost Great Things Canadians Have Done So Far For Syrian Refugees See Gallery File this under "stories that the world thinks Canada makes up on purpose." On Monday, a Tim Hortons location in Kitchener, Ont. had to close down for a few hours after a deer jumped through one of its windows, according to CTV News. Deer crashes through window at Tim Hortons at 1000 Victoria St. N. Store is currently closed pic.twitter.com/y5MbLVTosa Lindsay Grisebach (@LindzGrisebach) September 19, 2016 Advertisement One customer told the network that he thought something had exploded. He figured out what happened once he saw the deer "staggering" around. Meanwhile, staff thought a car was going through the store, a Tim Hortons employee told CBC News. "Something big but we never thought it would be an animal," the staffer said. A gift for Twitter The story was, naturally, a slam dunk on Twitter. Many users were incredulous at its sheer Canadian-ness while others saw it as an opportunity to drop the perfect pun: @570NEWS@Paris__G Must have been craving a doe-nut. (Yep, I went there) Stephanie Cowle (@_stephiec) September 19, 2016 to be honest this is just how i assume life in canada is at all times. an endless parade of tim hortons and deer. https://t.co/LHL8GNfqek snipy (@snipy) September 19, 2016 Advertisement Translated: Expect delays because Canada is Canadaing https://t.co/S1uFD9cZgp Brian Lynch (@BrianLynch) September 19, 2016 @570NEWS@drivingrl The only way this would be more Canadian is if it were a moose. Jenny Enchiladas (@SteampunkMuppet) September 19, 2016 There's some sad news, however. The doe was "severely injured" after the crash, according to 570 News, and had to be euthanized on site. Watch the video above to see other animal visits to Timmies. Also on HuffPost Here we take a look at what makes Finlands education system so unique. 1. Kids dont start formal school until age seven. Before formal school, kids attend daycare where emphasis is put on creative play. There is also a strong focus on teaching children social skills and fostering their love of learning. Advertisement Kindergarten in Finland doesnt focus on preparing children for school academically, says Finnish educational expert Pasi Sahlberg. Instead the main goal is to make sure that the children are happy and responsible individuals. 2. The first day of school is all fun and games. Instead of jumping straight into lesson plans, Finnish schools like to keep things light on the first day with games, exercise and discussions about summer vacations. Some teachers even give their students a half-day off, The Atlantic reports. The idea is to ease students and teachers back into the school routine and make the transition as stress-free as possible. 3. Finland schools dont have subjects. Last year, Finland announced that their education system would be dropping subjects in favour of a new method known as teaching by phenomenon. This means that teachers focus on interdisciplinary topics so that students can combine different skills in one lesson, such as learning geography in French. According to Finnish educator Sahlberg, Finland has been experimenting with this teaching method since the 1980s. Advertisement 4. School days are short. Finland has one of the shortest school days in the world, averaging about five hours. Kids are also given very little homework so that they have more time for free play. According to a 2014 study of 15-year-olds around the world, Finnish students spent 2.8 hours per week doing homework, compared to 6.1 hours American students spent. 5. Students get a 15-minute break every 45-minutes of class. This is law in Finland. The Scandinavian country strongly believes in independent learning and learning through play. 6. There are no standardized tests. Students are only tested so teachers can see what they know. However, kids are required to take an exam in order to graduate from high school and enter university. 7. Teachers are as revered as doctors. Finnish teachers are highly respected and educating them is put on par with training doctors. According to the Center on International Education Benchmarking (CIEB), only one in 10 students who apply to teachers programs are accepted. Also on HuffPost Facts About Schools Around The World See Gallery After news broke this morning that Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt after two years of marriage, a majority of Brangelina lovers (and haters) had to express their reactions online. The couple, who had been together for 12 years, was one of Hollywood's most famous duos after meeting on the set of "Mr. And Mrs. Smith" in 2003 while Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston. Advertisement Pitt and Aniston divorced in 2005, and many fans haven't been able to forgive the 52-year-old actor for dating Jolie so soon after the split. So, naturally, Twitter didn't hold back when the divorce was reported on Tuesday. From "Friends" memes to sad gifs of other celebrities crying, the social media site quickly filled up with reactions aimed at the 47-year-old "Cake" actress. And as one tweet points out, it seems like the rest of the world is concerned with how Aniston feels, even though she tied the knot with actor Justin Theroux in 2015. Jennifer Aniston moved on but apparently the rest of the world hasn't? Gabe Ortiz (@TUSK81) September 20, 2016 Advertisement And yet, the gifs, memes and tweets continue to roll in. Here are some of the best reactions in the Twitterverse. This #brangelina divorce is Jennifer Aniston's gift for having to suffer with dry eyes for so long. #blessedpic.twitter.com/obrHRqpInu Christina (@xtina269) September 20, 2016 I cant believe Angelina filed for divorce. Its too much to handle. #brangelinapic.twitter.com/k9guS5I05q Donna Paulsen (@MsBeyhave) September 20, 2016 Advertisement Me at everyone who's bringing Jennifer Aniston into this pic.twitter.com/An3UWJIqPL charlotte :(: (@bensonscully) September 20, 2016 Bet Jennifer Aniston is loving life right now. pic.twitter.com/93T52UoXtX The Chosen One (@TheCween) September 20, 2016 Females all over the world just became "single" #brangelinapic.twitter.com/PNg5T76bcd Sierra Dallas (@SierraDallas) September 20, 2016 Advertisement #brangelina Jennifer Anniston and the Internet going to the #brangelina divorce party pic.twitter.com/hqQKqPVqTs Faith (@faith_x1) September 20, 2016 #Brangelina though. Is nothing sacred? When I saw kids' drawings on that weddding dress I thought: this is so weird it HAS to last. Wrong! pic.twitter.com/TxvElJjC1V Erin Bates (@ermbates) September 20, 2016 Advertisement Jennifer Aniston, reading TMZ this morning: pic.twitter.com/iWr6IbNmZN Andy Herren (@AndyHerren) September 20, 2016 Also on HuffPost ASSOCIATED PRESS An Indian doctor examines a X-ray picture of a tuberculosis patient in a district TB center on World Tuberculosis Day in Jammu, India, Monday, March 24, 2014. India has the highest incidence of TB in the world, according to the World Health Organization's Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, with as many as 2.4 million cases. India saw the greatest increase in multidrug-resistant TB between 2011 and 2012. The disease kills about 300,000 people every year in the country. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) On 21 September 2016, the President of the UN General Assembly will convene a one-day high-level meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York on "Antimicrobial Resistance" (AMR) with the participation of Member States, NGOs, civil society, the private sector and academic institutions. This is timely and welcome, because AMR is a major health threat, and it is estimated that by 2050, 10 million lives a year and a cumulative 100 trillion USD of economic output are at risk due to the rise of drug-resistant infections. Advertisement Everyone should watch this incredible video by Harvard and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers who set up a giant petri dish to see how microbes evolve even when antibiotics are present in the dish at increasing powerful concentrations. The results are scary and show how mutations and natural selection can produce superbugs. The objective of the UN meeting this week is to raise awareness about AMR, and secure strong national, regional and international political commitment in addressing AMR comprehensively and multi-sectorally. As a tuberculosis researcher, I am hoping that drug-resistant TB will figure prominently in the UN meeting as well as the international response to AMR. Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a perfect example of the threat posed by AMR. The most common form drug-resistant TB is multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), which means that TB bacteria are resistant to two of the best first-line antibiotics -- isoniazid and rifampicin. Drug-resistant TB is a nightmare for patients and doctors. Globally in 2014, WHO estimated 3.3 per cent of new cases and 20 per cent of previously treated cases to have MDR-TB. Studies show that an estimated 480 000 people developed MDR-TB in 2014 and 190 000 people died. Even children are impacted by DR-TB, with recent estimates suggesting that MDR-TB in children may be far more prevalent than previously understood. Advertisement Extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) strains are resistant to at least four of the core anti-TB drugs, and XDR-TB has been reported by 105 countries in 2014. About 10 per cent of people with MDR-TB have XDR-TB. Some studies have also reported totally drug-resistant strains of TB, resistant to all antibiotics tested. This is a TB 'superbug' that is virtually untreatable and takes us back to the sanatorium era, where we had very little to offer patients with TB, except for bed rest and sun light. Drug-resistant TB is a nightmare for patients and doctors. Patients have to endure a prolonged (up to two years) and toxic treatment with multiple drugs, including painful injections. Stories of people who have battled and survived TB show the devastating impact of DR-TB. One in two patients with drug-resistant TB die because of it. Treatment of DR-TB is also very expensive because of the high cost of second-line TB drugs. It is much smarter and cheaper to prevent DR-TB than treat it. And prevention of DR-TB requires better access to drug-resistance testing, high-quality treatment, access to new TB drugs, infection control, and increased political commitment with financing. Unfortunately, high TB burden countries are yet to seriously address these priority actions to tackle DR-TB. In many countries, only a quarter of MDR-TB patients are detected, and not even half of all patients with DR-TB are on second-line drug therapy. Quality of TB care for even drug-susceptible TB remains suboptimal in many countries, especially in countries with large numbers of private health care providers. In such settings, doctors prescribe irrational drug regimens, and adherence monitoring is poor. Empirical antibiotic use is widespread in many countries with weak regulation, and healthcare providers tend to use antibiotics as diagnostic tools; this further increases the risk of AMR. Also, over-the-counter (OTC) antibiotic abuse is widespread in many high TB burden countries, as we recently showed in a study in India, using mystery patients. OTC use of fluoroquinolones, a widely used antibiotic, can delay the diagnosis of TB, and also increase the risk of DR-TB. This is particularly relevant, since some of the emerging new TB drug regimens contain fluoroquinolones (i.e. Moxifloxacin). Advertisement While highly accurate and rapid molecular tests such as Xpert MTB/RIF are now available to quickly detect TB as well as drug-resistance, most high-burden countries are still reliant on sputum smear microscopy, a technology that is not only insensitive but also incapable of detecting drug-resistance. This means patients are often managed with no information on drug-susceptibility test results. This approach of treating TB 'blindly' is no longer tenable in places such as Mumbai, where DR-TB is a widespread problem. A recent report called 'Out of Step" by MSF and Stop TB Partnership found major gaps in how TB tools and policies are implemented. For example, only eight of 24 countries included in the survey had revised their national policies to include Xpert MTB/RIF as the initial diagnostic test for all adults and children with presumptive TB, replacing smear microscopy. Six of 24 countries, including India, still recommended intermittent treatment for drug-sensitive TB (which is less effective than daily therapy). Even simple interventions such as fixed dose combination pills to improve treatment adherence are not routinely used in all countries. Although new TB drugs (e.g. bedaquiline and delamanid) are now available, many countries are yet to make them available for patients who are running out of options. Such implementation failures are most definitely generating DR-TB and have to be urgently addressed. A major reason behind poor TB control is the fact that TB is a low priority for many developing countries, and current TB budgets are insufficient to make progress in addressing DR-TB. Most National TB Programs in high burden countries are seriously under-funded, and, sadly, even emerging economies such as India are not spending enough on TB. In this context, it may be more impactful for DR-TB control to be seen as one component of a comprehensive strategy to address AMR. While TB gets little attention, AMR is increasingly seen as a global health emergency and a security threat. Policy makers and donor agencies have prioritized AMR as a key issue for the global health security agenda, and the upcoming UN meeting is one component of this global response. Advertisement As I have argued previously, the door is wide open for the TB community to leverage this interest, and advocate for a well-funded, comprehensive AMR initiative that includes DR-TB as a key component. In fact, DR-TB could well be a pathfinder for successfully tackling AMR in low and middle income countries, and help make the case for greater investments. It is time for the TB community to advocate for including TB in the broader agenda to tackle AMR globally, and make sure DR-TB receives adequate funding and support. PeopleImages via Getty Images Two friends toasting to the good times with plastic cups of beer - Music Festival The back-to-school blues is real. As summer fades away, hectic schedules, cooler temperatures and limited getaway time take over. But not everything about fall needs to be a bummer, and Torontonians know that. Hogtown is known for its long list of fall festivals and events that bring music, films, art, craft beers, and delicious eats to the downtown streets. These five fall events are ones you don't want to miss across the Queen City this autumn. Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival, also known as TIFF, will take place for 10 full days this September. Downtown Toronto will come to life for the world's largest public film festival, featuring more than 300 films screened from Sept. 8 through 18. Everyone from film buffs to everyday viewers can enjoy the festival's world premiers, galas, and red carpet experience. If you're into movies and schmoozing with celebs, there's no better place to be than TIFF this September. Advertisement Small World Music Festival Photo credit: jack wickes Toronto is full of fall festivals that don't just come and go in a weekend. The Small World Music Festival is another 10-day-long festival that will take place from Sept. 15 through 25, for its 15th anniversary. Small World brings music from Spain, Estonia, Palestine, Ethiopia, Cuba, Mali, Korea and more to Toronto's favourite venues. Listen, dance, admire, and learn about the effects of music on some of the world's most unique locations and cultures. Toronto Oktoberfest One of the best things about fall is the craft beer. You can forget about your beach body and sip Bavarian suds for an entire weekend at the esteemed Toronto Oktoberfest. This year's festival will take place on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, and will feature authentic Bavarian food, singing, dancing, polka bands, and more German and European beers than you'll be able to try in a single visit. Pack your lederhosen and dirndls and head to Ontario Place to join roughly 5,000 other attendees at one of the best renditions of the original Munich event. Nuit Blanche Advertisement Photo credit: paul bica Head straight from Oktoberfest to Nuit Blanche. Meaning, "A sleepless night," Nuit Blanche is an event that happens across the globe on the first Saturday in October. Some of the world's favourite cities, including Toronto, are taken over by contemporary art projects that fill the downtown streets from sunset to sunrise. Stroll through the streets and parks as they're transformed into innovative art displays that have been an entire year in the making. More than 300 local and international artists will be displaying 80 contemporary art pieces at this year's event, which is always free and open to the public. JFL42 The JFL42 (presented by Air Canada) gives you a reason to laugh this fall. As Toronto's signature comedy festival, the JFL42 presents 10 days of comedy shows starring the world's funniest comedians. The festival has hosted some of the biggest names in laughter, including Louis C.K., Sarah Silverman, Lena Dunham, and Family Guy Live, and will showcase Jim Gaffigan, Trevor Noah, Roseanne Barr, and Chris D'Elia this year. However, it's some of the 42 lesser known comedians that steal the show and make their way as up-and-coming greats at this iconic comedy festival. Check out the complete schedule for events taking place from Sept. 22 through Oct. 1, at JFL42.com. CP In regards to tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) should be part of the solution. At the moment, it rather seems to be part of the problem. Over the last few years, we have seen that the CRA institutionalized various practices, eroding the trust that Canadians place in it. Among these practices, we find: Advertisement 1. Double standard in the assessment of penalties The KPMG scheme at the Isle of Man has shown that when affluent people try to evade taxes through dubious schemes, they are given a second chance. They can, through a "voluntary disclosure program" admit to their cheating after which they are asked to pay back the money they owe in taxes. No interest, no penalty. On the other hand, ordinary Canadians are assessed penalties doubling or tripling the amount due for good faith errors. 2. Double standard in the protection of anonymity We can't find the identity of those affluent Canadians or corporations who have settled with the CRA through various schemes, like KPMG. The CRA says it must protect their "privacy." But ordinary Canadians are regularly named and shamed on its website. In addition, last February, it was revealed that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) got illegal access to private information on some taxpayers, without a warrant. Last fall, the CRA transmitted over 150,000 banking records to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service without informing the account holders, and while a court challenge initiated by the Privacy Commissioner was ongoing. 3. Close proximity with the circles of financial power We have found out that auditors of the CRA were wined and dined by large firms. Some CRA auditors were hired by large consulting firms at a time when they were audited. And let's not forget that case involving CRA employees in the Montreal office, who worked to give a $400,000 income tax refund to a well-known mobster who actually owed $1.5 million in taxes, despite all the supposed control measures in place. Advertisement 4. Dubious priorities In 2012, the CRA started an $8-million project of auditing Canadian charities, a measure that still goes on despite the Liberal commitment to end the project. Progressive organisations, such as environmental groups, churches and social justice organisations are disproportionately targeted. These groups have been told their charitable status would be threatened if their mandate was to "work for justice in the world" or "work for the prevention of poverty," which are interpreted as "political activities" by the CRA. 5. Culture of secrecy It is close to impossible for parliamentarians to know what's going on at the Canada Revenue Agency. At every turn, when questions are asked, we are told we cannot get answers because (choose your pick): (1) privacy issues; (2) a case is before the courts; (3) they cannot comment on internal investigations; (4) they cannot identify CRA employees working on a specific case... This makes the CRA a shadowy agency working outside the confines of parliamentary democracy. Alan Freeman, a former Assistant Deputy Minister at the Finance Department, did not mince words when describing the workings of the CRA, in a column entitled "The Canada Revenue Agency is rotten to the core. Time to clean house." "My late father -- who was about as straight an arrow as they come -- told me once how the Americans treat tax evasion. 'In the U.S., if you dodge taxes, the IRS will get you thrown in jail. In Canada, you can always make a deal with Revenue Canada. They just want the cash.'" As I wrote last week, despite the government's claim of 44 convictions for criminal tax evasion involving tax havens between 2006 and 2012, most of them had nothing to do with assets hidden in tax havens. Largely, Canada doesn't prosecute, it simply wants the cash. Advertisement And speaking of cash, the Canadian government's position is that we are recouping more money than ever. According to the CRA, in 2015 to 2016, there were 10,748 voluntary disclosures involving offshore accounts, totaling $938 million in unreported income. In 2013 to 14, there were only 5,248. We can argue that the increased number of voluntary disclosure is a direct consequence of the number of high-profile leaks, and not of the efficiency of the agency. It has taken six years to investigate the 106 accounts of the 2007 Liechtenstein tax scandal, to collect a mere $8 million in taxes owed. This led Senator Percy Downe to jest that at that rate, it would take over 118 years to audit the list of accounts in the Swiss HSBC affair. Part of the problems at the CRA can be traced to the $250-million budget cuts it experienced in the last five years. But it doesn't explain it all... It certainly doesn't explain how the Canada Revenue Agency went from being a watchdog ensuring everyone pays their fair share to enabler of a two-tier tax justice system. Part 1 - Tax Havens and the Threat to Modern Democracy Part 2 - KPMG, the Isle of Man and the Impotence of Parliament Part 3 - Tax Agreements: From Double Taxation to Double Non-Taxation Part 4 - Liechtenstein to Panama: The Era of the Leak Part 5 - The Canada Revenue Agency: From Watchdog to Enabler Part 6 - What Do We Do Now? A Remedy to Parliament's Impotence Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Advertisement By Wendy Therrien, Director of External Relations for the Canadian Network for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (CAN-MNCH) There is much to celebrate as the Fifth Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria concluded in Montreal this past weekend. Global leaders pledged over US$12.9 billion dollars which will help save 8 million lives and stop an additional 300 million new infections worldwide by 2019, as well as contribute to ending these deadly diseases as epidemics by 2030. This is truly a promising horizon. Advertisement The discussions that took place in Montreal evoked for me a memory from my first field experience in 2001, when the horizon was not so bright. I vividly recall visiting the home of a 12-year old girl in Central Uganda who had recently lost both parents to AIDS. As too many children experience, carefree days and limitless dreams were traded for the role of caretaker to her three younger siblings and becoming the head of household. To continue to make progress, we must relentlessly focus on the hardest to reach and those who are too often left behind. An aid organization had built a one-room home made of mud floors and clay brick walls with a tin roof. Together with the weekly visit of a community outreach worker, this was the only support available to the newly orphaned family. I stood there in that moment, looking out the window at the freshly dug graves of the parents, taking in the likely trajectory of this girl's life and I thought we can do better... we must. Since the founding of the Global Fund in 2002 we have done better. As I attended the Fifth Replenishment Conference, I reflected on the great strides we have made in mitigating the infection and mortality rates for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria and supporting those who are infected through much improved health interventions. Global Fund supported programs have saved more than 20 million lives -- a huge feat that all involved can be proud of. Beyond the Global Fund, the Sustainable Development Agenda, and the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health have put the most vulnerable and hardest to reach at the forefront of the health agenda. Advertisement Notwithstanding this progress, there is still a pressing need to reach vulnerable populations, including women, adolescents and children who face greater obstacles in achieving their full potential for leading safe, healthy lives. We also know that fragile contexts of conflict, displacement and natural disasters exacerbate poor health: currently 60 per cent of preventable maternal deaths take place here. What's worse is that by 2030 over two-thirds of the world's extreme poor will be living in fragility. To continue to make progress, we must relentlessly focus on the hardest to reach and those who are too often left behind. While the unquestionable success of the Fifth Global Fund Replenishment Conference has put us on the right track, commitments made this past week are not the end point. We must seize the momentum from this post-replenishment moment, beginning with the current session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and push constantly for the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Agenda and Global Strategy 2030 targets. Advertisement To achieve the SDGs through the effective investments of resources will require three things. First, we need sustained political will. We are proud of Canada's strong leadership role in hosting the Replenishment Conference and pledging $804 million. And we are equally glad to see Canada's leadership in encouraging other countries to contribute generously. At the UNGA and beyond, we look forward to seeing Canada continue to lead the global health conversation, with particular emphasis on the imperative of investments in women's, children's and adolescents' health. We agree, #PovertyIsSexist, but through a focus on gender transformative approaches that focus on rebalancing power relations and reconfiguring the social position of women and girls in the household and in society, we can and will succeed in meeting the SDGs for everyone, everywhere. Second, we must conduct applied research to make evidence-based decisions about what is and is not working and how to best scale up successful interventions. The Center of Excellence for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Systems, a made in Canada initiative with global reach, could play a constructive role in facilitating the analysis and aggregation of data and together with the Government of Canada and global institutions, like the Global Fund, convene learning forums to inform policy and support proven best practices. Lastly, we must continue collective learning. Governments, donors, organizations, academics, and civil society must learn from each other as well as from those facing barriers to leading healthy and safe lives. The Replenishment Conference was a positive example of the power of collaborative partnership. CAN-MNCH will continue to catalyze collaboration with its Partners nationally and internationally: doing our part to bring about evidence driven progress for women, adolescents and children around the world. Sustained political leadership, evidence-based decisions and collaborative learning can guide how to best spend resources to maximize results beyond the Global Fund Replenishment to not only #EndItForGood for HIV, TB and malaria, but also for delivering resilient health systems that can be accessed by all with dignity. Together, we can reach the horizon where no child need to look out their window onto a past of hardship and loss and a future that could have been. Advertisement Wendy Therrien is the Director of External Relations for the Canadian Network for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. The Canadian Network is a collaboration of over 80 organizations working in more than 1,000 communities globally and is a significant galvanizing force, driving Canadian leadership and investment in women's and children's health worldwide. Wendy's role in the Canadian Network is to collaborate with Partners to promote Canadian leadership on women's and children's health. With a career focused on international development, Wendy has achieved numerous successes including playing a strong role in promoting Canadian investment in maternal, newborn and child health in 2010, securing Canadian investment in forgotten emergencies and supporting the inclusion of both boys and girls in Canada's approach to human trafficking. Wendy holds a master's degree in Political Science from York University where she focused on global trade and development. This blog is part of the blog series: AIDS, TB and Malaria: It's High Time for Us to End It. For Good by the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD) in recognition of The Global Fund's Fifth Replenishment. The blog series runs from August 29 to October 3, 2016 and features a selection of blogs written by our member and partner organizations. Contributors share their broad range of perspectives and insight on the work of The Global Fund and the opportunity that this moment presents us one year following the inauguration of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog series are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ICAD. Advertisement Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Muhammad Hamed / Reuters Syrian refugee children pose before the visit of actress Angelina Jolie to hold a news conference at Azraq refugee camp for Syrians displaced by conflict, near Al Azraq city, Jordan, September 9, 2016. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau took the stage in New York and announced Canada's commitment to improving education opportunities for refugee children. Co-chairing a round table at the United Nations General Assembly's unprecedented High-Level Meeting on Refugees and Migrants, the prime minister -- a former teacher himself -- emphasized that Canada is proud of its efforts to take in refugees, but also recognizes that it must do more. Every child deserves a quality education, but refugee children, especially girls, are the most likely to be left behind. Over half of all refugees are children. Only 50 per cent of these children are able to attend primary school; 25 per cent make it to high school; and just one per cent of these students move on to colleges and universities. Advertisement The number of refugees and displaced people is now the highest it has been since WWII, and local education systems are strained to their limits. In places such as Jordan and Lebanon--which have taken in over 1.6 million Syrian refugees -- refugee students outnumber local students in the countries' public schools. One of the main challenges is a shortage of qualified teachers. Canada, with its reputation for excellent teacher training programs, is well placed to fill this gap. For these children, education is not a luxury; it is a life-saving human right. The world needs more teachers, but not just any teachers. We need teachers trained specifically to work within complex humanitarian and refugee situations. Refugee children have unique needs that many teachers are unprepared to address due to a lack of proper training. Many children have significant gaps in their education history, leaving them far behind their global peers. Violence and conflict leave psychological scars. Girls face additional obstacles, including the threat of sexual violence. For many children, the classroom provides the only opportunity to learn about health and basic safety. For these children, education is not a luxury; it is a life-saving human right. Canadian teacher training institutes can help meet this need, and the prime minister's call, by creating a new degree program, a Bachelor of Humanitarian Education. At least in Ontario, teachers colleges currently produce far more domestic teachers than the market can absorb, which suggests an opportunity to redirect resources. Universities that offer such a degree could re-allocate a number of enrollment positions for international students who are specifically interested in a program that prepares them to work as teachers within refugee settings, such as refugee camps or cities with high refugee populations. Advertisement The curriculum of a Bachelor of Humanitarian Education would include much more than the standard teacher training classes. It would provide future teachers with training in addressing the critical challenges facing displaced children, including child trauma; gender and sexual-based violence; human rights; health; and protection. It could also provide new teachers with courses in sustainable development, and -- of course -- critical language skills. There are many global initiatives out there that invest in refugee education. Some, such as the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) offer scholarships to refugee students to attend colleges and universities abroad. Others, such as York University's Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) program, provide training to untrained teachers already working in the field. Our proposal for a Canadian Bachelor of Humanitarian Education degree complements these initiatives and provides Canada with an opportunity to lead on the world stage. Think back to your own time in school. Think of your kids' teachers. For those of us fortunate enough to have been educated in Canada, chances are that at one point we or our children had a teacher who played a transformational role in our lives. Great teachers do that. With the proper training, these new humanitarian teachers could help to offer the children and youth displaced by conflict, war, violence, and natural disasters the chance to realize their full potential as individuals and ultimately live meaningful lives of dignity. This blog was adapted from CIGI paper "Preparing New Teachers to Work with Refugee Students: Proposal for a Bachelor of Humanitarian Education Program" by Jacqueline Lopour and Andrew S. Thompson. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook ALSO ON HUFFPOST: Advertisement impr2003 via Getty Images Blackpoll Warbler perched on a pine tree A new report released by the Partners In Flight coalition contains a shocking statistic -- there are a billion and a half fewer birds now on the North American continent then there was in 1970. That's a loss like we are used to hearing about from distant history. That's roughly the number of Passenger Pigeons that were estimated to have once flown so thick they darkened the skies before going extinct in 1914. The report goes on to say that most of those 1.5 billion were birds that nest and breed in Canada's Boreal Forest region. This is alarming news. But a bold and sweeping solution underway in the Boreal Forest offers a chance to restore birds to their natural abundance. Advertisement Canada is on track to protect at least 50 per cent of the Boreal Forest. Stretching from Alaska to Labrador, the Boreal has more intact forest than the Amazon and nearly twice as much carbon in storage as tropical forests. It is a crowning jewel at the top of the globe. Preserving it now will make bird species more resilient as they face climate change and habitat loss along their migration routes south. They need that resilience now more than ever. The declines we've seen are too large and too fast for small solutions. The Partners In Flight report found that eight of the birds in steep decline -- birds that had lost half of their entire population over the last 40 years -- are particularly dependent on the Boreal Forest. In fact, the three birds with the biggest drops in abundance at the top of the list are all Boreal Forest breeding species. Each has declined by more than 85 per cent since 1970. The bird with the steepest decline, according to Partners In Flight, is the Blackpoll Warbler. The vast majority of these birds breed in the Boreal Forest, then they undertake an incredible journey to winter in the northern reaches of the Amazon Basin of South America. At current rates, Blackpoll Warblers are expected to see another 50 per cent drop in population before a child born today can graduate from high school. The declines we've seen are too large and too fast for small solutions. Fortunately, big solutions are already moving forward. A little over a decade ago, First Nations, conservation organizations and progressive businesses embraced a visionary idea: the Canadian Boreal Forest Framework. The framework calls for protecting at least half of the Boreal Forest Region and applying rigorous sustainability standards on the rest. In 2007, more than 1500 scientists from around the world signed a letter explaining the scientific principles behind the idea. Advertisement Since then, the governments of Ontario and Quebec have committed to conserving at least half of their northern landscapes. These areas will provide breeding habitat for tens of millions of birds. Indigenous governments and communities are showing some of the most ambitious leadership, developing new land use plans and management models in places like the Pimachiowin Aki site in Manitoba and Ontario; the Dehcho, Lutsel'ke and Deline First Nations of the Northwest Territories; the Eeyou Istchee (Cree Nation) of Quebec; the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and Moose Cree First Nations of Ontario; and the Innu Nation of Labrador. The leadership of Indigenous governments and communities in Canada's Boreal Forest Region has led to some of the largest gains to protect bird habitat in world history. The loss of 1.5 billion birds over the last 40 years should awaken us to the incredible need to think big and act boldly when it comes to ensuring the health of birds and our environment. New ideas, new models, and new partners will be required but it can be done. Let's do it while we still have time. Matt Cardy via Getty Images BRISTOL, ENGLAND - JULY 27: People walk past artwork produced as part of the 2016 Upfest on July 27, 2016 in Bristol, England. The annual event, which this year helped celebrate 45 years of the Mr Men and Little Miss book series, started in 2008 and is said to be the largest free street art and graffiti festival in Europe. The festival now attracts more than 300 artists including Inkie, Jody, Pichi & Avo and Leon Keer from 25 countries to paint live on walls and surfaces around Bedminster and Southville areas of the city of Bristol, the hometown of guerrilla artist Banksy. Some of the graffiti art work is painted on moveable boards and temporary hoardings, but murals on some venues and buildings remain all year until the next festival. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) In the opening scenes of the Netflix series The Get Down, New York subway trains stumble across an overpass with opening credits spray-painted across their carriage side. It's the perfect set-up for the remarkable convergence of anti-war, racial tension and economic disparity that was New York City circa the 1970s. Today we are at a similar crossroads where issues of immigration, inequality and social intolerance are in danger of dividing our cities once again. Of course, graffiti is not a modern creation. As far back as ancient Africa graffiti was a common form of communication, depicting stories of love, war, religion, literature, art and commerce. From rocks and boulders to rudimentary stone walls, every surface was a billboard to make a statement. The authors of these works were the storytellers of the times. Today, in the British Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, and numerous other institutions around the world, relics of this time inform how we understand early city life. Advertisement So is graffiti street art, social platform or simply a criminal act? Banksy, the mysterious artist uses graffiti to make timely social, environmental and political statements on topics such as the BP oil spill and Middle East tensions. Considered an important artist, the fact that his work often disappears so quickly can also be seen a reflection of our disposable, high-speed times. The late artist Keith Haring first used subway carriages as his canvas to depict the sexual awakening and AIDS crisis of the early 1980s that created fear as it swept through New York City. As Banksy himself has said, "Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing." The hip-hop community adopted graffiti as a form of social expression to speak about the urban issues of the day -- police brutality, lack of jobs, poor housing, drugs and street crime. This was expressed in music too, but the raw vitality of graffiti meant you didn't have to buy the music to get the message. Graffiti signatures, or tags, became integral to identifying gangs, crews and groups that helped mostly young, urban communities connect with each other. Since the U.K. and Europe woke from the shocking Brexit result, there has been a notable rise in hate crime with overtly homophobic statements sprayed on surfaces in London, Cardiff and Middlesborough, among others. Elsewhere across a divided Europe graffiti is once again the weapon of choice for those expressing social and political opinion. There is a "broken window" theory that says small acts of violence, such as graffiti, lead to greater civil disruption and crime. New York City led the way on this as police policy changed in the 1990's. More recently however, this has been tempered as reports show other social factors may have played as much of a role in reducing crime over that time. It might be convenient to say that a visible crime such as graffiti must be stopped before our cities unravel, but the reality is that it is more often a costly diversion of limited law enforcement resources. Advertisement While some city officials continue to crack down on graffiti in public and private spaces, with fines of up to $10,000 or ironically, community service, this creative outlet gives voice to residents and enriches our understanding of the very real issues facing growing cities. Here in Toronto, Graffiti Alley, a laneway system that runs behind downtown city shops, has even become a favourite of teachers, with groups of students strolling among the colourfully sprayed tags, enjoying the artwork but also learning about the power of free expression. Graffiti has also been adopted by business in an attempt to connect with urban youth. Toyota, McDonalds and Coca Cola have all launched product campaigns that depict street graffiti, associating their product with hip, urban life. More recently, Heineken took the urban connection a step further, launching a city restoration project that celebrates the graffiti filled walls of Miami Marine Stadium with a crowdsourcing campaign to restore the stadium to its former glory as a live music venue. This campaign intrinsically links graffiti to urbanism, communicating the mix of despair and hope of community-led building at its best. Like London's Speakers Corner, graffiti gives voice to citizens who might not otherwise be heard. Their authors are city dwellers discussing critical, urban issues. What they have to say may not always be appreciated, and you may not agree with it, and certainly this is not to condone racist, defamatory remarks, but cities are places of high tension. It's a part of what makes them the vital, exciting places that much of the world population are drawn to live in. This tension needs a release valve and I don't know about you, but I'd rather take graffiti than the more violent, disruptive alternatives. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: olesiabilkei via Getty Images We adored every sleeping and waking minute of sharing our bed with our mini miracle until all of a sudden -- somewhere between molar two and three and around the bend from the fine line in the sand between love and hate -- we realize that this arrangement no longer works. Our leading lady has been molaring for the past two weeks and the drain of hourly moonlit milk bar breaks have turned our universe of co-sleeping bliss into a twisted silver screen feature starring Papa bear as Scar, while my impersonation of Cruella Deville incites Oscar buzz. Advertisement We are sleepwalking messes with nerves so tense they'll pop like tendons. I don't like me. I don't like Papa and I (God forbid) may not actually like whiney bebe. The shiny instaready bubble has burst and something's got to give. Thirteen sleepless nights into the nightmare my stoic lover, turned husband, turned baby daddy downward spirals into the mucho dollar, Canadian made glider (that only ever rocks our guests to sleep and has no such effect on said bebe) and loses facon: "blah blah, missed our window, blah, blah, exhausted, blah, blah, no light at the end of the tunnel, blah, blah, and I miss my wife!" Is this the same man, who just a blink of an eyelash ago loudly proclaimed his love for baby feet in his face? Oh Schatzi, your message is signed, sealed, delivered! Granted, I feel like shooting the messenger and throwing myself off the balcony. The rip line has to rip before this trio crashes to planet earth without an open chute. I don't hesitate to ask the google for help and up she pops. The fairy godmother of 12 hours rest with enough nap time in a day to shower and use the loo without a tiny person wanting in on the action. Hand me the seashell and I'll encapsulate my singing voice for all eternity. Advertisement I dial. We talk. She sets a date. September 19th (she's taking her babes to the land of mouse-eared fairy princesses). Audible relief. Instead of complimenting my promptness in plea resolve, he cries: "Twenty-one nights from now?!" and he's right. Our bubble is a frightening fantasy version of the land of (no) nod and time is of the essence when it comes to saving sanity, a marriage, and our belief in parenthood. Stinkies hit the fan and I decide to veni, vidi, vici it. That evening Papa bear is nowhere near the platform where the sleep train is set to leave the station. He cannot hide his cynicism while negotiating our way through a Swedish furniture mogul's "we don't offer replacement screws for cribs for safety reasons" dilemma, and refuses to run after the choo choo, while we drive home with a screaming, Maxi Cosi prisoned toddler burdened by our strain. When we enter our Chinatown pod, without screws, but feeling fully screwed, the silence is sliceable. Without a word he disassembles the bedside hamper and rebuilds a crib in a bedroom I vaguely remember decorating in pastels, while the beat of a second heart rocked my world. Advertisement It's an ill comprised plan and the first night a blur. Too exhausted and grief struck over forcefully closing chapter one of the high contrast baby book, we sit and wallow, each drowning in our own puddle of longing and doubt. Night two involves adult grape juice, 1980s dancing and perhaps the magical creation of a little someone who knows nothing about sleep directions in beds shared with giants. Turns out, distraction is the life hack to the spiel while we suffer the performance of the philharmonic trained heartstring player. 7:01: she cries, 7:01 I cry, 7:01 Papa bear cries. 7:01 she's still crying. 'Mission abort?!'. No. Miracles take time. On night three Ella gifts us the elusive twelve-hour miracle. No nursing, no rocking, no word of a lie! Loss of consciousness on our parts is the only logical explanation. Night four we host dinner with friends who reframe her "you're ruining my life" cries as "you've got to be fudging kidding me that you made me share a bed with you two morons when I could have had my own w(ahhhhh)nderful quarters all along." Advertisement Our story isn't your story, but together we wrote history. Put a pin into the all things worth doing are hard Pinsteration? Whomever calligraphied such wisdom into the ancient cave of parenthood unequivocally got it right. What makes us great parents isn't choosing to let our mini-mes cry it out or keep them in our beds until college. It's that our choice authentically resonates, suits the little in question and is guided by the brightest four letter word of them all: good old fashioned LOVE mixed with a buttery scoop of acceptance that all our littles have their own vibrant styles too. I don't know who she will become, but she already knows who she is. Ella craves space and considering that a good thirty per cent of our exorbitantly priced, doll sized Vancouver condo is specifically decorated to suite the needs of someone roughly her age, weight group and size, we decide to go out on a limb and let her have it; four walls to embrace her irresistibly eclectic, wildly irrational and intoxicatingly charming, beyond her years independent and wise self. A room where she can close her door and perhaps her heavy lashed eyelids knowing Mama and Papa are on the other side, quite possibly counting down until she wakes and joins the pillow fight. For every Bernie there's a Trump. For every know-it all wise crack, there is a Ph.D. quack with a reputable counter study. All carbs, no carbs. Good eggs, bad eggs. It's what make the sparks fly while we churn. Gather evidence that vibes with you and if nothing does then draft your own darn white paper. Advertisement Tonight we'll macrame teepees, infuse potions, learn calligraphy or otherwise spend our newfound freedom. Yup! This li'l fam jam is once again dreaming. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook ALSO ON HUFFPOST: When I was 17 years old and applying to journalism school, a family friend told me that if I couldn't find a paying job I could always just get married -- because I was a girl. It was a joke, and she laughed it off. But it wasn't funny, not only because it was ridiculously sexist, but also because I had heard the "joke" before. Many times. Advertisement In slightly different words each time, the half-joke, -half-suggestions always sent the same message: careers are optional for women. It's something that used to be a source of pride in many South Asian cultures; nowadays it's hidden behind quips and passive-aggressive remarks. As a Pakistani Canadian, I've grown up hearing them. Quitting my education or career could be an option, I didn't need to earn for myself -- in short, my career could be more of a hobby, if I wanted it to be. Thankfully, I had my parents, who routinely reminded me that my pursuit of a career was not something I could dump if things got difficult. My mom's career isn't something that just happened. It's something she's fought for and had to re-invent many times. Raising three daughters, I honestly think one of my dad's biggest fears was that we wouldn't want to work. When I nervously told him of my plans to study journalism, he told me, "Do what you love, so you never quit," -- emphasis on the never quit. Those words were inspiring, but it was my mom's undying commitment to her own career that really drowned out the voices of others. My mom grew up in the 1970s in Pakistan, at a time when women -- if they studied past high school -- were expected to get married right after college. What my mother did was very different. And the story's best told with this photo of my 25-year-old mom working as a chemist in Pakistan. The only woman among men. Advertisement I've spent a lot of time staring in awe at this picture, especially in recent years as I've started my own career. That picture is the best career advice I've ever gotten. And nothing will ever beat it. My mom's career isn't something that just happened. It's something she's fought for and had to re-invent many times. Along the way, she's faced criticism for being a working woman, sexism from co-workers, language barriers, and likely countless other internal struggles she's never shared. Even though my parents studied together in university, family and friends advised my dad not to marry my mom because she refused to stop working. When my parents moved to Saudi Arabia after their wedding, my mom was rejected for several jobs simply for being a woman. In Canada, she took the first job she got -- selling credit cards at The Bay, even though she was an experienced chemist. Advertisement As difficult as it was, it was her unwavering commitment to her career that allowed her to become the primary earner for our family in Canada, while my dad went back to school. I've learned from watching her grow and persevere that women don't need to fit perfectly into norms. A woman can be devoted to her career and still have a complete family life. A woman can be warm and kind, but still a badass when she needs to be. The most important thing I've learned from that photo is that if barriers are there, they are meant to be broken. If people are condescending of your career because you are a woman, that's all the more reason to keep working. Fighting against these standards, and constantly working to make sure they don't turn into the voice inside your head, can be exhausting at times. It's easier in some ways to accept that a woman's career isn't as important. But my mom didn't take the easy path, and for that I'm eternally grateful. Born And Raised is an ongoing series by The Huffington Post Canada that shares the experiences of second-generation Canadians. Part reflection, part storytelling, this series on the children of immigrants explores what it means to be born and raised in Canada. We want to hear your stories -- join the conversation on Twitter at #BornandRaised or send us an email at bornandraised@huffingtonpost.com. Advertisement Also on HuffPost: Photos Of Mothers And Daughters Around The World That Show that Daughterhood is Universal See Gallery Thanasis Zovoilis via Getty Images Small boy opening a refrigerator Hunger Awareness Week invites us to not only talk about the problem of hunger in Canada, but to think about how we can address it. At the Ontario Association of Food Banks, our long-term vision has always been a hunger-free Ontario. Next summer, this dream may inch a little closer to becoming a reality. In the 2016 Budget, the Ontario government had a few lines about a very big project: a proposal for a pilot project to test the effects of basic income (or guaranteed annual income) in a few Ontario communities. This summer, former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal led consultations on what shape this pilot might take, and is set to publicly release a report on his findings in the next few weeks. Advertisement Basic income is an idea that dates back to the 16th century but has seen a renewed popularity over the last few years from both sides of the political spectrum. It already exists in some form in Canada via the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for seniors and the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for families with children, but the proposal on the table is for something much more universal. At its simplest, it is an income granted to all individuals unconditionally, with no work requirement or strings attached as to how it is spent. It would be administered through the tax system, simplifying the delivery and reducing the bureaucracy. The two most common models are a "negative income tax" that sets a basic income floor that no one would fall under or a universal cheque given to everyone regardless of income. Former Sen. Hugh Segal has been tapped as an adviser in the design of Ontario's basic income pilot project. (Photo: The Canadian Press/Michael Hudson) Advertisement The potential benefits of such a program are many. One of them is that it could dramatically reduce or alleviate poverty, the root cause of hunger. If this happens, it would reduce or even eliminate the need for food banks, as well as have many other ripple effects on the rest of society. Critics of basic income have raised concerns about participation in the workforce dropping off if everyone was provided with a basic income. Analysis of previous basic income experiments have shown that while there is some decrease in working hours, it was typically seen with mothers staying home longer with newborns and students who didn't drop out of high school to get a job. The amount given through basic income would also be modest: only enough to help you meet basic needs like rent, food and utilities. For anything beyond that, you would still need to work. Basic income has been called a "game changer" and an "idea whose time has come." At the Ontario Association of Food Banks, we support the creation of meaningful, well-paid and secure employment. Yet it's estimated that 42 per cent of Canadian jobs are at high risk of being replaced by technological advances in automation and artificial intelligence. Vast amounts of "technological unemployment" could be the big problem of the future, and a basic income for all may be the solution. Beyond simply addressing poverty, basic income could also spur creativity and innovation. Entrepreneurship could flourish if people could invest in their ideas without the fear of losing their livelihood. People would be free to pursue education to train for higher-skilled jobs or move on from jobs that don't provide proper employment benefits. Advertisement Nevertheless, we already have many different social programs that are meant to help people reach some sort of minimum standard of living. Do we really need a basic income? Some of our current programs are outdated and ineffective. For instance, Ontario Works (OW) has convoluted rules that makes it difficult to move out of poverty, and the rates are not enough to meet the recipient's most basic needs. A basic income would be simpler and more flexible. Yet we must be careful that it wouldn't create more harm than good. One size does not fit all, and removing certain social supports for those with greater needs -- such as people with disabilities, in remote communities and the elderly -- in favour of a cheque that provides them with less money would not be a net positive. Programs such as CPP or EI are meant to maintain incomes similar to when someone was working, so a basic income could not replace that. We should also be mindful of the cost. The most affordable models are also the least transformative and most like our current system; the truly revolutionary models have a big price tag attached to them. There would be savings in other areas, such as the bureaucracy, health care and the criminal justice system, but the scale of these savings remains to be seen. It will be some time until a wide-scale implementation of basic income is even possible. Any rigorous social science experiment takes a long time to implement: from conception, to selection, to years of testing, to analysis, and finally to public debate over whether or not to implement it. Yet there are many people now who are not having their needs met by our social safety net, and we need to address that, too. Advertisement This Hunger Action Month, we are asking Ontarians and our provincial government to take real action to help those who are hungry today. Basic income has been called a "game changer" and an "idea whose time has come" -- and this very well may be true. But while we wait to see how the pilot pans out, let's do what we can to help people now. To learn more about the OAFB's recommendations for change, https://oafb.ca/hunger-in-ontario/policy/> please visit our website. Ashley Quan is the Development & Communications Officer at the Ontario Association of Food Banks. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook MORE ON HUFFPOST: Chris So via Getty Images TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 8: Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May meets with the Star's Editorial Board. (Chris So/Toronto Star via Getty Images) By Benjamin Weinthal, Asaf Romirowsky and Sheryl Saperia While Iran's regime continues to expand its nuclear facilities and Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's war has caused a half million deaths, the Green parties in North America are bizarrely preoccupied with boycotting the Jewish state. The parties' counterpart in Germany is, however, a vehement opponent of the anti-Semitic boycott movement. The German Greens should serve as a model for Canadian and U.S. Greens to revise their anti-Israel positions. Last month, the Green Party of Canada became the country's first party to endorse the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS) targeting Israel. Advertisement BDS claims to seek concessions from Israel to advance the cause of Palestinian statehood. The movement is actually against peace because it seeks to dismantle Israel and to impose a one-state solution, rather than two states for two peoples. While Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May personally rejects BDS as polarizing, she was overridden on the issue by voting delegates at her party's annual convention. It is a topsy-turvy world when a political group devoted to protecting the environment prioritizes BDS over opposing Iran's nuclear aims -- which have the potential to devastate humanity and the environment -- and the Assad regime -- which, along with its sponsors Iran, Russia and Hezbollah -- has engaged in a scorched-earth policy in Syria. Germans have a greater than usual consciousness about where boycotts of Jews lead. Iran's Lake Urmia is drying up, Tehran is beset by major air pollution and one of its nuclear facilities -- Bushehr -- lies on an earthquake-prone area. Advertisement Yet the Canadian Greens debated only two foreign policy resolutions at their convention, and both pertained to Israel. In addition to BDS, the other unsuccessfully called on the Canada Revenue Agency to remove the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund, an organization at the forefront of protecting the natural environment in Israel for the benefit of all residents. Across the border in the United States, Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, defended her support for BDS during an August CNN town hall discussion. Stein mirrors her Canadian counterparts in their apparent lack of concern regarding, for example, the Islamic State's genocidal acts toward Middle East Christians and Yazidis. Fortunately, BDS remains controversial to many on the left in both the United States and Canada. Polling done within Canada's Green Party following the convention revealed that 44 per cent of the respondents believe that the party's anti-Israel boycott policy should be repealed entirely, while 28.1 per cent believe that it should "not [be] tied to one actor or one movement" -- such as Israel. Green Party leader Elizabeth May speaks at the Victoria Conference Centre in Victoria, B.C. on October 19, 2015. (Photo: Chad Hipolito/CP) Advertisement More broadly, in a statement largely ignored by the print media, the former democratic socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders linked BDS to modern anti-Semitism. When asked if he agreed with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that BDS can be equated with anti-Semitism, Sanders told MSNBC: "I think there is some of that, absolutely." The most powerful and influential Green Party is in Germany. The German Greens served as a coalition partner to the Social Democrats in the federal government from 1998 to 2005. The party is represented in state governments across the Federal Republic. In Baden-Wurttemberg, where a Green Party politician is the governor, party spokeswoman Eva Muszar said in June: "We Greens reject a boycott of Israel, as well as BDS. The BDS campaign aggressively calls for a boycott of Israeli goods and organizations, and is collectively directed against Jewish Israelis and uses anti-Semitic prejudices." Just this month, the national teachers' union in Germany, with its nearly 281,000 members, termed BDS anti-Semitic. Moreover, the BDS campaign deceptively listed Greenpeace Germany on a petition as a supporter, prompting the NGO to demand that the BDS campaign immediately remove its name from the document. All of this may reflect the fact that Germans have a greater than usual consciousness about where boycotts of Jews lead. After all, the first phase of the Hitler movement was a nation-wide boycott of Jewish businesses. Advertisement But aside from any historical sensitivities, the opposition of the Green Party -- and of other left-of-centre parties in the Federal Republic -- to BDS is premised on the notion that the boycott movement is discriminatory, harmful to many Palestinians employed by Israeli companies, and destructive to hopes for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Another reason to be suspicious of the BDS movement is for its links to terrorism, which has been a recurring theme in the media and in policy debates. One of Austria's largest banks, BAWAG, pulled the plug on the account of the pro-BDS Austrian-Arab Culture Center (OKAZ) in June. OKAZ had sponsored a lecture with Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which has been designated by Canada and the EU as a terrorist organization. Khaled helped hijack TWA Flight 840 in 1969. A year later, she participated in the hijacking of EL AL Flight 219. Bret Stephens recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal of a disturbing finding: In the case of several American organizations that were designated, shut down or held civilly liable for providing material support to the terrorist organization Hamas, a significant contingent of their former leadership appears to have pivoted to leadership positions within the American BDS campaign. French and German banks have closed BDS accounts in their countries. France has the most robust anti-BDS law in Europe. France's 2003 Lellouche law has been applied to punish Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions activists for singling out Israel based on national origin. The French banking giant Paribas shut a BDS account this year. Germany's second largest bank, Commerzbank, recently closed a BDS account, the first instance of a German bank severing ties with the boycott movement. If Green parties wish to enter the mainstream, they should replicate the forward-thinking policies of the German Greens and their rejection of BDS. BDS is a dead-end street filled with potholes of terrorism and discrimination. Advertisement Benjamin Weinthal is a fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow Benjamin on Twitter@BenWeinthal. Asaf Romirowsky is the executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum. Sheryl Saperia is Director of Policy for Canada at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: Westend61 via Getty Images The huge numbers of people on the move around the world - be they seeking refuge from war or oppression, or a looking for a better life - will be top of the agenda for world leaders gathering this week at the United Nations in New York for their annual get together at the General Assembly. Monday sees the UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants to assess how to update the way the international community deals with people moving across borders. Advertisement On Tuesday, US President Obama is convening a Leaders Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis to directly consider how to deal with the huge increase in the numbers of people seeking refuge in recent years partly - though by no means exclusively - driven by the conflict in Syria and the instability and repression in several parts of the Middle East and North Africa that have followed the so-called Arab Spring of 2011. Not to be too cynical about it, it's noteworthy this high level focus on refugees follows the recent flow of large numbers into the European Union and growing pressure on wealthier countries to do more. The majority of the world's 21 million refugees are being hosted - as they have always been - by neighbouring countries, which, in the case of Syria, means Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Beirut, Amman and Ankara had been calling for greater support and solidarity from the rest of the world for several years, but the response so far has been underwhelming. Advertisement Few countries have been prepared to take in significant numbers of people and the UN's humanitarian relief operations for Syria have been chronically underfunded - this year only 74% of the money needed - and, in many cases, promised - has actually being made available. As the Syrian civil war entered its fifth year in early 2015 and the UN was forced to cut food rations in refugee camps, it's no wonder many Syrians decided to take a chance on the perilous journey to Europe across the Aegean and through the Balkans or directly across the Mediterranean to Italy. This week's high level discussions may be being driven by the arrival of large numbers in Europe and demand for more action by richer countries, but it's still the less wealthy countries in regions affected by conflict that are doing the lion's share of coping with the millions displaced by conflict. Take the example of South Sudan where, following the breakdown in the fragile ceasefire in the civil war in July, another 100,000 South Sudanese have crossed into Uganda which is already hosting tens of thousands of people fleeing the threat of murder, rape and economic chaos. Support in countries neighbouring conflicts is provided by host governments, UN agencies like the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR and its food agency, WFP, along with non-governmental organisations, like Sightsavers, the one I work for, which has helped organise medical treatment for eye diseases as well as neglected tropical diseases in refugee camps in Kenya, for instance. Advertisement But this week will hear calls for deeper reform of the global system and for developed countries to take on a fairer share of providing refuge for people seeking asylum. The UN's refugee agency has already hailed Monday's summit as a "game changer...that will enhance protection for those forcibly displaced and otherwise on the move". Humanitarian and development organisations and activists though are markedly less effusive. They point to the watering down of the draft declaration for the summit, where governments, particularly the Europeans and Americans, have sought to limit their commitments to concrete action - suggesting political leaders in wealthier nations are still unwilling to fully cooperate and share responsibility for taking in people forced to flee their homelands by war, oppression or poverty. The growing electoral appeal of nativism and right-wing populism in the EU and US is inhibiting many governments from doing more. And that is not going to change any time soon. The example of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, whose political fortunes have taken a decided turn for the worse since she took a brave decision to take in the bulk of Syrian refugees who made it to the EU, is deterring even those who feel a moral duty from following her lead. Advertisement So UN agencies as well as humanitarian and development organisations will be forced to continue depending on uncertain finances and ad hoc solutions to look after those seeking asylum will continue their work. It needn't be this way. The next few days provide an opportunity to make the step change the UNHCR has prematurely hailed in the way governments, working together, could make life easier for refugees and reduce the strain on the countries currently bearing the brunt. Summer's over. Feeling blue? Here's the good news. Autumn's just around the corner, season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, of olive and grape harvests, and food festivals across the continent. It's a time for leaf-scattered walks, followed up by cosy suppers in firelit pubs, or short-hop city breaks, where the streets throng with market stalls and it's still warm enough to linger over lunch in pavement cafes. Head to the Med and you'll still find temperatures warm enough to slip into shorts and sundresses, while in the UK, autumn colours blaze across the countryside and every town or village seems to be celebrating some sort of foodie-themed affair. The only downside is tighter trousers by the time you come back - but then again, that's why God invented leggings (sorry, chaps). Feasts and Festivals Advertisement Cox and Kings Sicily - basking in late autumn sunshine at the tip of Italy's boot - is world famous for its unique cuisine and from September through to November, there are celebrations and events to celebrate different dishes, products and crops. Every Sunday in October, the town of Zafferana Etnea celebrates different local produce with tastings, folk dancing and food stalls. Or head to Castelbuono in late October, which has a ten-day 'Funghi Festival' including walks, tastings and and live music. In November, join the Muffuletta Feast in Poggioreale, which celebrates the traditional local bread. Coffee and Cake Kirker Holidays Those with a sweet tooth will find much to love in the elegant Austrian city of Vienna, famous for its cafe society, and the wide range of lipsmacking kuchen that accompany every cup of coffee. Most famous is the Sachertorte, a rich, dark chocolate confection, but it's hard to beat a cinammon-infused, sugar-topped strudel, doused with cream. Or, for somewhere slightly further afield, and a completely unique experience, visit Jerusalem - home of honey-drenched pastries, pistachio-stuffed cakes and thimbles of dark, bitter coffee. Advertisement Tapas Trail For those who love the Spanish way of eating; strolling from cafe to cafe, nibbling on a piece of Spanish omelette at one, a bowl of chorizo at the next, the best place to head for are the northern cities of Bilbao and Santander, famous for the hundreds of bodegas that dot the streets. Pintxos are the Basque equivalent of tapas, encompassing everything from Serrano ham to something more haute cuisine, like grilled foie gras with white beach sauce. Visit both cities on a driving break, or head to the capital to discover Madrid's burgeoning foodie scene. Dip into the markets; Bartolome specialises in local Spanish produce, while the Mercado de Chamberi is one of the most traditional in the city. Great British Treats Visit Scotland Of course Autumn in the UK brings with it all sorts of foodie goodies, not least seafood. As the sea around the Scottish coast begin to cool, the water throngs with lobsters, crab, mussels and oysters - all at their best when pulled straight from the sea and eaten fresh. Bag a Scottish hideaway for a few flame-hued days away, Or take a few days to explore Ireland; go in mid-October to coincide with the new Theatre & Dining Small Roads Festival in Kenmare. Advertisement Visit Isle of Wight At the other end of the country, the Isle of Wight is fast attaining serious status with foodies. The island is scattered with a new breed of gastropubs, such as the Red Lion in Freshwater, or the Taverners in Godshill, that serve hearty British classics - perfect as a reward after hiking some of the 500 miles of walking trails that criss-cross the island. Or head even further south, to the sunkissed shores of Jersey - famous for its potatoes and thick, rich cream. Stay at the Atlantic Hotel which boasts its own Michelin-starred restaurant - one of four Michelin-recognised restaurants on the island. Join a Taste of Jersey Bus Tour, or take a foodie walking tour of St Helier, which draws on the town's rich culinary heritage. Cook up a Storm If you love to cook food as much as eat it, then the place to head for is Lucknam Park, an elegant country house hotel near Bath in Wiltshire, which boasts its own cookery school. This autumn, there are courses covering everything from seasonal autumn menus to bread baking and Mediterranean flavours. The hotel is close to Westonbirt Arboretum - which boasts some of the most spectacular autumn foliage in the UK - perfect for an afternoon's walk before returning to Lucknam for a seasonal dinner in the Brasserie restaurant. Geneva was recently voted the third most expensive city in the world, so it's easy to see why most Brits simply fly into the airport and head to the Alps. However by doing this, they're missing out on a treat, albeit a costly one. An great and easy city for a quick 24 hour getaway. Our group of two couples left London on Saturday morning and found ourselves checking into the city centre hotel just over 2 hours later, with a little help from flying hand baggage only and the complimentary train from the airport to the city. No 36 Heathrow Express prices here, which is lucky as we paid 200 for a fondue for four and a bottle of wine. Which in Geneva was considered good value! Advertisement Photographer Olivier Miche for Geneva Tourism Set around the lake with which it shares its name, Geneva is home to the UN, the Jet d'Eau fountain, a small and pretty old town with beautiful views across the lake to the mountains. We grabbed a quick and surprisingly cheap pasta and salad lunch in the sunshine at Bains des Paquis. This open air lido in the lake complete with diving boards and in the water climbing walls is a lovely spot to relax, grab a bite to eat, have a dip if you want and stare at the scenery. But do try and avoid looking at the elderly men in their speedos. Photographer: Chris Cox There is no better way to see a city when you have a time limit than on a Segway. Ever since my first tour of Paris on one I've been a convert. The first thing I do when I book to go somewhere is google, 'name of place + segway tour'. To put it simply, due to the speed and access a segway can grant you in two hours you can easily see what would take five hours by foot. And you look bloody cool on them. Geneva came up trumps with CityWheels who offer old-town, UN and customised tours. The city treats Segways as bikes so you'll find yourself zooming along the pavement, in and out of people in pedestrianised zones and on bike paths in the middle of main roads. Led by a guide after a pretty intensive Segway School (in a private plaza in the middle of town) there can be times on the main road where it feels a little hairy but it all adds to the excitement. After a short time riding them Segways seem to work like magic as you simply think and gently lean in the direction you want to go and off you whizz. There's nothing like the look of glee on your face as you effortlessly glide up a cobbled hill, to take in the gorgeous cathedral, past out of breathe tourists who look longingly at you and your machine. Advertisement Photographer: Chris Cox We were guided around the old town by Reto who was born in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland before falling in love with the city and moving to Geneva in 1997. With perfect English it was clear through his knowledge that he loved this city, filling the the trip with history, trivia and stopping off at some of the most famous sights to fill our brains with knowledge and our memory cards with photos. After a few hours zooming around the city on our Segways we were back to walking on our feet like idiots, although we all suffered slightly achy calves, or as I called it, Segleg for a while. In glorious sunshine we took advantage of the free transport card tourists are given when they check into hotels and cruised across the lake on taxi boats before heading to Cafe Soleil for a famous Swiss fondue. Advertisement Photographer: Cafe Soleil A 30 minute walk from the lakeside, not far from the UN building we found Cafe Soleil's courtyard was buzzing with locals going about their eating business. The fondue for four was consumed to groans of delight, which swiftly became groans of 'oh my God I've eaten too much cheese' and we attempted to walk it off walking back to the super clear watered lake whilst making as many cheese puns possible. Eventually we couldn't camembert it anymore and said, 'Edam it I've had enough of these cheese jokes, cheese stop.' The groans came back, but this time due to terrible cheese puns. We finished the night with a quick nightcap across town at L'Atelier Cocktail Club. A trendy neighbourhood bar with an inventive cocktail menu and it's surprisingly reasonable (for Geneva) prices. The booze soothed us to sleep before the fresh lake and mountain air blew our hangovers away as we headed back to the airport. Photographer: Chris Cox In just under 24 hours we had covered most of Geneva thanks to the segway tour, eaten most of the cheese in geneva thanks to the fonde and then purchased most of the chocolate in Switzerland thanks to Duty Free. Next time you're heading to the alps, give yourself a few hours to enjoy the city near the airport. It's pretty Swiss... you know, like swish, it's pretty swish, it's pretty Swiss.... Ah forget it! One of the first things we teach our children at they learn to fend for themselves is the practicality of how to use a knife and fork at the dinner table. In a civilised society you would surely not at the same time also be thinking to explain the dangers of carrying the same knife around as a weapon when leaving the safety of the home, would you? Rhetorical question I guess but the stark reality is that in many of our UK inner city communities that is exactly what parents are having to do in order to try and keep their own children safe from the epidemic of stabbings blighting our major cities. Statistically more so in London than anywhere else! Tuesday September 20th 2016 heralds the 8th anniversary of an event I helped to pull together that we called "The Peoples march against knife crime". There were 29 deaths of young people at the hands of other young people in London in 2008 and the amount of grieving families and helplessness being felt by everyone in the youth sector as to how the tide of violence might be turned had reached fever pitch after Ben Kinsella was murdered and the media jumped on the fact his sister Brooke had been in Eastenders. This made life even harder for the Kinsella family of course as the glare of publicity gives you no time to breathe let alone grieve properly. I thought Brooke herself handled it amazingly for one so young and her subsequent campaigning and support of other victim families as well as ambassador roles for the likes of Victims Support was outstanding. It took its toll on her though as the weight of responsibility was far from fair for one so young. It was clear from the outset that her and Ben had shared a very close relationship and so to become the spokesperson for not just her own family but at times it seemed the entire UK victim community was a huge burden. One the media would not worry too much about inflicting on her. Advertisement Around this time I had been supporting the Damilola Taylor Trust as a pro bono consultant to launch a project their management team had constructed called "Respect your life not a knife". Sadly it had not got out of the starting traps beyond a high profile launch event at City Hall with Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand, Home Secretary John Reid and then Mayor of London Ken Livingston. I helped pull a team of top PR and event management crew together from organisations such as Freud and Shine Communications to work free of charge to stage the event which was picked up by all the major TV news channels. Beyond that though the school pledge wall project progressed no further. It had been an early alarm call for me of how authorities and media can work together to hype issues to suit their own agendas without worrying unduly about any real impact or positive outcomes where actual change is concerned. This was fresh in mind when I found myself right in the middle of the fallout from the death of Ben as I was trying to get the "Respect your life" project picked up by the major news media to support the Damilola Taylor Trust getting it launched. Face book pages were springing up with tributes calling for something to be done to stop the killings of innocent youngsters like Ben and then I got contacted by a couple of girls who had set up one of the groups asking for my advice on how they might organise a peace march. The newspapers were not interested in taking the "Respect your life not a knife" campaign but suddenly they were fighting with each other over running campaigns using Brooke - In any event Brooke had heard about the plan for a big peace march and so reached out to us and the plan was immediately crystallised. Brooke was massively keen to bring all the victim families together as well and her enthusiasm in this respect really drove the planning from this point onwards Advertisement Roughly 4 months later after weeks and weeks of preparation and planning I was stood with Richard Taylor in Kennington Park SE11 as senior Police officers communicated with their colleagues stationed in Caledonian Park N1 where Brooke and her family were gathering ready to set off to Hyde Park shortly before our march left South London, We were told that planning a march of this magnitude was pretty problematic in terms of local council road closures and protocol procedures so we though right then we won't just stage one we will stage two. Why only deal with two borough councils planning departments when you can deal with four! I first met Gemma and Sharon at a planning meeting with the Police liaison team at Charing Cross Police station. We would have some fun and controversy in the planning stages as we moved the Police relationship direct to Scotland Yard with their senior events team and then got the media involved as well. At this stage when we brought in several other Facebook page admins the shenanigans with some of them started when it became clear that personal profile building with some of them was going to become a problem where media was concerned! Somehow though we managed to pull quite a tight team together. Ros Wynne Jones from the Daily Mirror was central to this and before long the Daily Mirror had a dedicated team supporting us. This would lead to some problems with the funding as to put on a stage and plan a peace rally in Hyde Park at the end of the two marches where everyone could congregate and listen to some key note speakers and celebrity performers we needed to find almost 60,000. The Mirror could not put anything like this in from a cash perspective so we set about trying to raise the money ourselves. The Mirror struggled to get a response from the new Mayor of London, Boris Johnston who we had been told was ready to support but we had no way of reaching. The Mirror openly admitted to us that this was political due their relationship with the labour party and fact they had backed Ken Livingston to stay in office for a 3rd term. We were running out of time so we took up an offer from the Sun newspaper to contact Boris for us. They called him directly and got an appointment within 24 hours. Politics, media and the establishment! We had a problem with Boris and his media team as they did not seem to fully appreciate what the march was all about. Kids were going down like nine pins on London streets and Boris team told us that for them to make a donation towards the costs then Boris would need to do a video address from the peace rally stage talking about the preparation for the 2012 Olympics. I kid you not. This was my first indication of how out of touch Johnston was when it came to dealing with real life issues in London! In the end we reached a compromise for what would be on the video. It had already been agreed with the Daily Mirror that Prime Minister Gordon Brown would be doing a video address as well and that the team working with the Mirror would meet him first at Downing Street so it did kind of balance out the political agendas. To suit the needs of the Sun for delivering us Boris Johnston we arranged for Gemma and Sharon to meet with the leader of the opposition, David Cameron at the same time as the rest of the crew were at Downing Street with Brown. The juggling between Political parties and their media backers was tedious to say the least especially given what we were trying to achieve. Nobody was getting paid to do this of course whereby both the Politicians and newspapers staff are all on salaried time clocks. I was left pretty battered by the whole experience at this end of it! We also brought in Choice FM the urban music radio station to help manage the peace rally stage where their DJ and TV Personality Richard Blackwood hosted the rally. Celebrities like Asher D from So Solid Crew also pitched in while we had gospel choirs and guest speakers like Vernon Coaker the Minister for Police. The story for how we raised the full 60k would not be resolved until 48 hours before the event when after failing to get the Royal Parks approved stage rigger to drop their prices I was still 30k short of the full total needed. The business banking manager at Barclays Bank the Damilola Taylor Trust's bankers at the time somehow let me talk him into giving the Trust a 30k loan to cover the cost to be paid back over 3 years was an absolute star. He is back home in Australia now and works in the youth sector. I was thrilled some years later when he emailed me saying he was sick of banking and his experiences supporting us with the development of the Spirit of London Awards post the march had given him a desire to get into youth work so could I give him a reference. Not all bankers deserve the rep they get. Most of them but certainly not all!! Anyway the money was raised and the stage riggers loaded the staging equipment and headed for London. We were game on to stage the biggest march of its kind with 63 victim families and what eventually turned out to be a crowd of around 30,000 from both marches and those that turned up directly in Hyde Park. The Mirror would approximate the figure at closer to 50k and the Sun somewhat more bullishly at 100k. Estimates, guestimates who really cared. It was all about the victim families and the young people whose voices were heard that enough was enough. This was what we had done it for and all that really mattered. And the day had been a success for the families especially the grandmother who insisted on staying on the main stage clutching a picture of her 14 year old grandson lost to knife crime a few months earlier. She recited his favourite poem. I was in tears at this stage and I am pretty sure Richard Blackwood was as well along with many in the crowd The chaos as Richard Taylor and Brooke met by Eros as the two marches converged at the same time thanks to great planning support by the MET event team led to a fight with the scum bag paparazzi photographers that had stalked Brooke and her family the whole way from Islington and I got quite a telling off for Chinning the photographer who smashed into Richard and Brooke as they tried to embrace on meeting! All just by the by memories! Was the march a success? Yes I would say it was a huge success. It demonstrated that people wanted solutions and would stand together in order to find them. Did it lead to safer streets and a drop in the violence? No it did not and now 8 years later the problem with kids carrying knives and wantonly stabbing each other is worse than ever sadly. This is a societal problem and one that I feel that sustainable solutions being found have been hampered by political cycles. Short termism and flawed policies have created an industry of large and small organisations all doing similar things duplicated many times over but with very little cohesion or collaborative planning. Can this change? Well it will have to if we are not going to be caught in this current ground hog day escalation of violence forever. I am currently writing up a report based on my experiences and those that have worked with me over the last 8 years since the march took place. It has been a very tough environment to work in but once you are caught up in something as complex as this if you are truly passionate about helping find solutions as I am then it is not easy to just turn and walk away. No matter how tough it gets without funding or support from the establishment and their status quo! We live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; a beautiful colonial city known as the 'Cradle of Independence'. We have seen some spectacular September celebrations over the years, multitudes rejoicing for freedom, cheering for liberty. Viva! This year, we found ourselves in on a small and paradisaical island in the Caribbean sea, Isla Mujeres, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Cancun. Festivities were just a fraction of those that we were used to, but the island life gifted us a dreamlike independence that we shall treasure forever. We choose Na Balam Hotel and Beach Resort for a couple of reasons. Some good friends of ours have a cat called 'Balam', meaning Jaguar, and the Mayan arches within the hotel seemed so familiar to us, having visited a number of Mayan ruins, that we just felt right at home. Na Balam, house of the jaguar. Advertisement Once we had checked in and deposited our luggage into our spacious family suite, we rushed to get into our beachwear and get into the water. The sun was shining and we were hot. We were told that Playa Norte was great for kids, but we were totally unprepared for what was just 20 metres away from our suite. When our feet hit the sand our gaze was fixed on the expanse of crystal clear, turquoise water, lapping gently onto the shore. It was incredible. Furthermore, the shallows stretched out to the buoys 50 metres out, so that an average height adult was still barely shoulder deep in water, giving my three-year-old non-sea swimmer a huge area to splash in and wade about in. It was unlike any beach I have ever visited (and within Mexico, I have visited quite a few!). Exactly where the sea met the shore, a few white-sand coloured fish with yellow bellies and big black eyes swam up to meet our toes. A little snorkelling close to the line of yellow buoys introduced us to a starfish and a type of ray (whether it was a stingray or a manta, I could not say, we kept our distance). And magnificently hundreds of small fish leap up out of the water, and then a second time, to dazzle us with their sliver splendour. Admittedly, on the other side of the line of buoys were anchored boat, after boat after boat. At one time there may have been 45 daytrip boats bringing visitors in from Cancun. However, since the mornings were so peaceful, with several hours of having the beach and waters to ourselves, we found the comings and goings of vessels interesting and thankfully the music was managed so that just one tune was playing for the beach at any one time, and there were a few awesome tracks being played. Once the day-trippers departed, there were just a handful of sun-kissed swimmers left to enjoy the sunset. It was just perfect. Advertisement We continued our holiday by exploring the ways in which we could enjoy the waters. We rented out a paddle board from SUP Boards just a couple of doors down from our hotel. My six-year-old boys balanced and posed as they imagined themselves to be the surfers they aspire to be. Mama and Papa took their turn too, and Stand-Up Paddling provided quite a different perspective. I really enjoyed it. SUP boards is also right beside Fenix Restaurant and Beach Club where we enjoyed some delicious meals, including Massaman Curry and some succulent skewered skirt steak. We alternated between masking and snorkelling in the cove and below a cute wooden bridge, where a mix of colourful fish surrounded us. We kayaked in pairs or solo, and my three-year-old often jumped overboard. The shallow waters gave her a confidence and independence that she looks for as she tries to imitate all that her older brothers do. It was not long before she was edging to deeper waters and wading became trending water, which then in turn evolved into swimming, which became proud shouts of, "Mum, look at me!". Advertisement Na Balam is not only located at the top of an incredible stretch of beach, it was only a 10 minute walk to the pedestrianised Avenida Hidalgo which boasts variety of restaurants. We enjoyed the evening walk but stuck with Fenix, since the food and service coupled with the sound of the sea and the sight of the full moon rising was all we could have wished for. Plus, once the kids had eaten, they could just get up to join other children to play in the sand, whilst us parents got to enjoy a drink or two and admire our kids growing into their space, showing us more of themselves, becoming more independent. Isla Mujeres, your gentle island ways have made an incredible impression on our young individuals. Viva la Independencia! Advertisement For more details on hotel Na Balam, please visit nabalam.com This weekend saw global health leaders and heads of state brought together in Montreal, Canada to pledge record support for the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria at the Fifth Replenishment Conference of The Global Fund. The Fund works to accelerate the end of these epidemics by uniting governments, the private sector and people affected by the diseases, raising funds to support local programmes in communities most in need. It has already saved 20 million lives since 2002. We are delighted by Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel's announcement of the UK's commitment of 1.1billion to the Global Fund, which she described as "one of the world's most effective aid instruments". Advertisement This UK investment will prevent approximately 15 infections every minute from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and save one life every two minutes. It cannot be underestimated how important the UK's contribution was to achieving the overall replenishment target of saving an additional 8 million lives and averting 300 million new infections over the next three years. That goal is now within our reach. Speaking in Montreal, Patel announced that the UK will be using part of its Global Fund pledge to help incentivise new private sector donors - hoping to raise an additional 100million to fight malaria. UK leadership and investment has been a critical driver of progress against malaria to date and will be central to determining the future trajectory of this disease. The malaria campaign is a rare thing - a development campaign that we are demonstrably winning, with malaria deaths cut globally by 60% since 2000. Just this month The World Health Organisation certified that Sri Lanka, which had over 200,000 malaria cases in 2000, is an entirely malaria-free nation. With hard work and commitment, this success will spread. With the increased funding pledged over the weekend, the Global Fund can build sustainable programs for the treatment and prevention of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The alternative is clear - we know from history that, if we allow it, malaria will always fight back. As Priti Patel said, Advertisement "History shows that if you slow down your efforts against infectious diseases you risk losing the gains that are made. And we should never forget how malaria rebounded when control activities were ended in the 1970s. It has since taken over 30 years to recover that lost ground." I knew I'd get a chance to use my Chris Christie art collection again! This morning Kate Zernike, writing for the, which Trumpy-the-Clwon hasn't sued yet, reported that prosecutors in Bridgegate have finally come out and said aloud what anyone in their right mind knew from day-one of this, namely that Christie knew about the lane closings in real time . When will they charge him with ordering the lane closings and orchestrating the coverup? Do you want to see the New Jersey governor in prison-- as though he was an Illinois governor? I do. Today was the opening day of the trial of former Christie top level aides Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly (not to be confused with Trumpist Kellyanne Conway). They were the two who carried out Christie's orders to shut down the George Washington Bridge to spite Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey knew that his close associates were involved in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as it was happening and that the closings were intended to punish a local mayor for declining to support him, prosecutors said on Monday. It was the first time Mr. Christie, a Republican, has been accused of knowing about the scheme as it unfolded. The prosecutors made the assertion during opening statements in the trial of two former Christie administration officials charged with closing the lanes in 2013 and then covering it up. Mr. Christie has insisted that he had no knowledge of the plot to close the lanes, and said that he did not recall being told about the closings while they were happening. Defense lawyers have also said that Mr. Christie knew. But the statement on Monday was striking in that it was prosecutors confirming that assertion. Prosecutors from the United States attorneys office said that two of the alleged co-conspirators in the case, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, had bragged to the governor about the lane closings, and that they had been done to mess with the mayor of Fort Lee because he had declined entreaties to endorse the governors re-election. The prosecutor, Vikas Khanna, instantly advised the jury that they should not consider the actions of others or wonder why they were not charged. The details of the plot that Mr. Khanna laid out were largely familiar by now: that one of the defendants, Bridget Anne Kelly, sent an email in August 2013 saying time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee after confirming that the mayor of that borough would not endorse Mr. Christie. A month later, two of three access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were shut down, and the other defendant, Mr. Baroni, the highest ranking official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge, studiously ignored the mayor as he pleaded by text, email and a handwritten letter for the agency to reopen the lanes. Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images If, on Saturday, Jeremy Corbyn is re-elected as the Leader of the Opposition, it will confirm that Labour's grassroots are completely at odds not just with their MPs but, more importantly, with the voting public. It's a position that can only end in defeat. So how did we get here and what lessons are there for all of us in politics? The root of Labour's problem lies in its membership's response to the defeat in the General Election last year. It was unexpected amongst many Labour supporters. So they found it difficult to accept. The fact that people simply didn't like their policies or trust them with the economy, was ignored or deflected. So said it was all the fault of the media, Ed Balls or Ed Miliband. Some even said it was Tony's Blair's fault. Advertisement This denial played into the hands of the Party's left-wing. Instead of ditching policies which the public had rejected, they declared that they needed to go further. Reject Blairism and become true socialists. When Corbyn suddenly found a late slot on the ballot paper, they saw their chance, against a tired, incoherent set of more moderate candidates. The activities of Momentum reflect the left-wing origins of many of its older leaders. For them this is about capturing the Party - setting policy, shouting down opposition, using street protests and strikes - all with the view of bringing down not just the current Government but the 'establishment'. It's a mindset - found on the extremes of the right, as well as the left -which is all about confirming long held prejudices, rejecting all other views and blaming everyone else when it all fails. Such people are deaf to reason and regard the general public as failing to understand the issues. Like Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks these activists regard the public as being too misguided to really understand what's going on. Seen in that context socialist kindergartens for young children may well look attractive to Momentum's members. Yet, the last year in politics should have taught everyone a very different lesson. Whatever our own views, we should always pay close to attention to why people vote, especially when they vote differently to ourselves. As someone who voted to Remain in the EU, I have certainly learnt that lesson, both to heed the decision and understand the underlying reason for it. Advertisement Put simply the public are always right. Even when they're wrong. Labour's grassroots aren't the first to ignore this simple truth. In the late 1990s my own party failed to understand just what the public really thought of us. We found it difficult to adjust and stayed out of office for 13 years. It's the same in the USA where the Republicans have similarly failed to adjust and have paid the price for over a decade. For the brutal truth is that when political parties fail to heed what the public is telling them, the result is always the same. Defeat. George Clerk via Getty Images Grammar schools have been dominating the news agenda recently. Prime Minister Theresa May seems to be attempting to facilitate a genuine meritocratic society in education through selection by ability rather than money. However, we were told during the Referendum campaign our education system would collapse if the UK voted to leave the EU. The reality is - this is not happening! Once the UK leaves the EU we will be able to control all aspects of our education policy, and collaborate in areas which are mutually beneficial. This isn't just pie-in-the-sky thinking, it is common sense for an outward-facing country in dealing with its European neighbours. Advertisement 'Project Fear' claimed if we voted to leave the EU our universities would face financial ruin. We were told academics would flee the UK. We were told UK students would no longer be able to study abroad. False, false, false. It was always clear leaving the EU would not hurt education in this country, as the UK doesn't follow the EU in this area - it leads. UK universities dominate world university rankings along with the USA, unlike other EU Member States. No wonder the EU is working on its own ranking system in an attempt to cut grants to UK universities. This is a view echoed by the Department for Education, which stated in 2014 "the UK Government does not believe that the EU approach to education policy coordination sufficiently recognises the variety and variation of experience and expertise in member states". The first policy which should be implemented the moment the UK leaves the EU should be ending the absurdity of Scottish tuition fees. This is the ridiculous situation where Scottish and EU students from outside the UK do not have to pay tuition fees in Scotland, whereas all the other students from the UK have to pay tuition fees in Scotland. Therefore, a French student pays no tuition fees in St Andrews, whereas an English student studying in St Andrews does. This is because EU law forbids discrimination on nationality grounds against nationals from other EU Member States, but does not cover discrimination within a Member State. Advertisement Additionally, under the same rules the UK Government is required to offer student loans to non-UK EU nationals. Why should the UK subsidise other EU nationals at all? After all, thousands of non-UK citizens fail to pay back loans the UK Government has given them. These policies are also discriminatory. The UK charges students different fees for education depending on where they are from. We are forced to charge EU students the same fees as UK students, whereas non-EU students are charged an astronomical amount. It is also clear the UK will continue to engage with its European neighbours, therefore leaving will not result in throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The UK will go on co-operating in mutually beneficial schemes. One of these mutually beneficial schemes is the Erasmus+ programme. Erasmus+ is a programme allowing students from the UK to study in other countries. Even though this programme was set up by the EU, it is not limited to EU countries. Turkey is a full member of the Erasmus+ programme despite not being in the EU or the single market. All other countries in the world are able to participate in some actions under Erasmus+, but only if they meet the criteria - which most countries do. Why would the EU wish to exclude the UK from Erasmus+? The EU does very well out of the UK being a member of the programme due to the excellence of our universities. Each year 25,000 EU students come to the UK on the programme, and only 14,000 UK students use it abroad. There is absolutely no reason why Erasmus+ will end once the UK leaves the EU. Advertisement The UK will continue with the Bologna Process, which covers over 40 countries. This is the standardisation of university education. As a result, university courses consist mainly of credits throughout the participating countries, allowing comparisons and transference. Mutual recognition of qualifications will not disappear. Perhaps a sensible reform is needed of mutual sanctions which exist in theory, but not in practice. In addition, the Horizon 2020 programme - the EU's research and innovation programme - was one of UK universities' main concerns post-Brexit. However, we have seen the UK Government underwrite all the EU's pledges in this area in the short period since we voted 'Leave' on June 23rd. Finally, we can end the disgraceful EU propaganda aimed at children and students. The EU produces and distributes material specifically aimed at children. This material is full of cartoons and games in glossy magazines, such as the publication "It's a better life - How the EU's single market benefits you." The UK after Brexit will finally be able to comply with domestic law requiring political balance in schools. With the summer coming to a disappointing end, it is time to start thinking about holidays for next year. We all need something to look forward to, helping us through the dreary winter months. It's all to easy to head back to the same destination year on year as one of the most difficult components of booking a holiday is finding the inspiration of where to head to next. After all, beaches come in all shapes and sizes but how many of them really offer us a truly unique experience? The first beach at the top of my 'to visit' list is a destination a friend of mine recently honeymooned to. Reunion Island, a beautiful remote island located between the equally idyllic Madagascar and Mauritius. The main beach is volcano-made and situated in the town of Piton Sainte-Rose, which was created in the 1970s when the Piton de la Fournaise volcano erupted. The sand is black and green in colour with the green deriving from ground-up precious gems, called olivine, in the rock. The best time to visit this well kept secret destination is between May and June, where you can expect temperatures of between 26C and 28C. A little closer to home, with only a 3 hour flight; perfect for those who aren't keen on flying, is the remote beach of Isola dei Conigli or "Rabbit Island" situated 105 miles away from mainland Italy. This destination is ideal for those who want to escape everyday life for a while and experience the tranquillity of breathtaking crystal clear water and super soft sand. The island is protected due to the loggerhead sea turtles that lay their eggs there and, if the tide is permitting, you may even catch a glimpse of them. Advertisement Continuing on the theme of turtles, if you can handle the 18 hour journey, you could head out to Turtle Island, Borneo. Situated in the Sulu Sea, north of Borneo, the Turtle Islands Park is dedicated to rescuing endangered turtles. A visit here will allow you to see turtles laying eggs and newborn turtles heading for their first adventure out to sea! I challenge you to find a more magical experience than seeing new life head out into the big wide world for the first time. For those of you who prefer to holiday much closer to home, you can't go too far wrong with a trip to Wales. Head to the Gower peninsula region of Wales to catch a glimpse of one of the most picture perfect beaches the UK coastline has to offer. Hire a cottage here and you won't be disappointed with what the surrounding area has to offer. Speaking about unusual beach destinations around the world, Naomi Wilkinson, marketing director of online travel agent Travel Republic, said: "The world is peppered with breathtaking beaches that are unfortunately often over-looked, whether it is long-haul or a little closer to home, we can guarantee there is a beach out there that will stir a little curiosity beyond the norm." powerofforever via Getty Images Explaining to my friends and family that I was going to be running a series of debates in prisons, with prisoners, got more of a mixed reception than I had expected. It got a fair few laughs. Apparently there's something amusing about sending in a short, young female into an all-male, category B/C prison. Others were intrigued and my mum: terrified. Our goal was to encourage open debate and get prisoners to think about contemporary debates that exist in society, beyond bars. I was still unconvinced. I work in a team that runs Debating Matters, a national debating competition for schools, so the prospect of teaching and training adults was daunting enough. The idea of adult prisoners made it even more so (my image of prisoners at this point being Orange is the New Black or Daily Mail stereotypes). Advertisement All stereotypes were shattered during our first training session. The chapel at HMP Birmingham was filled with thirty attentive, engaged and bright individuals ready to listen and learn. They loved a good chat and it wasn't long before I had gone from merely working with them, to connecting with them on a whole new level - having genuine arguments with the prisoners about everything from the segregation of extremists in prison to the impact of media in society. It was only until I was having these arguments with them that I realised why our training had been so well received. For many of them, it was the first time that they had been given the opportunity to speak, be heard and to be taken seriously. Nerves were running high in the morning of the first round of debates began. As our panels of judges began their questioning, it became clear just how seriously the prisoners were taking this. They knew they were not going to get a qualification from this, nor receive additional phone credit, and yet they were ready with Mandela quotes and statistics at their fingertips. Speaking to a few of them at the end of the debates, they were surprised by how difficult the questioning was. We weren't there to give them an easy ride, or applauded for stringing a sentence together as if they were capable of nothing more - they were there to be challenged. Before last Thursday's final debate on whether prisoners should be allowed to vote, I tried to share a few final words of wisdom with the debaters. Instead, I was interrupted by one of them. "Trust me, we got this", he said reassuringly. How far they had come since their first time debating, I thought. This September thousands of children across the country will have either started school for the first time or have moved from the relative sanctuary of primary school to the imposing new world of secondary school. Aside from leaving home, this is probably one of the most significant life transitions your child will make and how you, their parent, help them through this transition is an important job. Don't be intimidated though, it can be a relatively straight forward one if you can follow a few simple principles. You can talk about it too much. And you can not talk about it enough! This is the parent's dilemma. How many times have you asked your child "How was your day at school?" for them to reply "Fine". End of conversation? How do you know they really are fine and not struggling to manage something that feels enormous to them, but quite routine to you? It may be hard to remember what it was like when you first started school, but begin by putting yourself into your child's shoes That's a good first step, then ask yourself the important question of 'Is this the right time to talk?'. Pick your moment. Straight after the first day of school/new school is probably not the best time to ask about your child's day. It has most likely been a pretty taxing day in terms of information and social overload, so, instead, do something together that brings you closer: whether that's playing with your younger child; having a meal; watching some TV or gaming with your older child to let them decompress after the day. Later on, when your child is in a calmer, more reflective state of mind, they are more likely to offer you some information about what's been happening, especially if you express genuine curiosity about what's it's been like for them, as opposed to an interrogatory questioning that will have them running to their bedroom! Advertisement Home is the secure base. John Bowlby, founder of attachment theory, famously said that all humans need a 'safe base from which to explore the world'. For your child to make the big transition from home to school, or from primary school to secondary school, having a sense of there being a secure base at home, a 'bolt-hole' they can come back to when they've been out in the world, is immensely reassuring. It also acts as a spring board for your child to go out and have new experiences, relationships and even encounter all the negative feelings that often go along with this exploration. Which brings us to... Stay with the feeling. Tempting as it may be to reassure your child, or jolly them along, if they say they feel 'scared', 'lonely' or just even 'unsure' about this transition to a new place, staying with the negative or sad feelings is really important for them. To validate and empathise with your child's feelings is to help them to understand these feelings as normal and be able to manage them secure in the knowledge that you understand and that you can help them cope. Simply to say it will be 'alright' or 'don't be scared' for example, is to invalidate how your child feels, and this may leave them feeling confused about why they feel the way they do, and possibly that they are wrong or 'weird' for feeling that way. After all, being happy all the time isn't normal! Friendships really matter. As much as the safe haven of home is the secure backdrop to your child's life as they make these transitions, the older they get the more likely they are to share these experiences with their friends rather than with you. This is to be encouraged. Every parent wants to stay emotionally close and connected to their child, but facilitating a move away from family to peer group is an important part of every child's development, even though this can feel really hard for parents. Empathising with your child, seeing how the world looks from their point of view and being genuinely interested in how they see things, will all help them to not only feel understood by you, but help them understand themselves and other people in their world of school. Being good at relating to others is as essential to surviving a transition to school as is being academically able - probably more so. So don't minimise the importance of your child's friendship group. Advertisement Siblings. While a brother or sister can at times be the most annoying person in your child's life, they can also be the most brilliant ally when it comes to school. If you have older children who have already managed the transition, then getting them to be the 'expert', telling their younger brother or sister all the good stuff about school, will not only make them feel good, but will show to your younger child that transitions can be managed. Finally, as parents, try to manage your own anxiety! A worried or tearful face at the school gates or back at home after the first day at school suggests to your child that this is something that can't be managed. So whatever it takes, try to get your own feelings in check before you start asking your child about their own! It will really help. Refugees, primarily from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are helped by volunteers as they disembark boats near Scala, on the island of Lesvos, Greece. Photo: Ashley Gilbertson / VII Photo for UNICEF By Amina C. Mohamed, Claudia Ruiz Massieu Salinas, Albert Koenders, Yun Byung-se, Abdusalam Hadliyeh Omer, Mangala Samaraweera, Margot Wallstrom and Baroness Anelay* The tragic death of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler who drowned off the Turkish coast a year ago, triggered a global outpouring of emotion and calls for a more effective and humane response to support refugees and migrants. Advertisement More recently, the picture of another Syrian boy, Omran Daqneesh, sitting dazed in the back of an ambulance after an airstrike in Aleppo, drove home the immense cost of war and spurred a renewed call to end the misery. Responses to ease suffering, however, come after the fact, after communities have been uprooted, economic livelihoods destroyed and generations lost to violence. For moral reasons, for security reasons and for economic reasons we must become more effective in preventing violent conflicts before they start. United Nations member states now stress the need to shift from a reactive to a preventive approach and focus on addressing root causes to prevent conflict, known as the "sustaining peace agenda." Last year, governments committed to "leave no one behind" in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Drivers of conflict originate in the kinds of structural inequality that foster grievances and hopelessness. And once allowed to take hold, violent conflict is probably the biggest obstacle to the goals included in the 2030 Agenda to end poverty, foster prosperity, promote peaceful, just and inclusive societies and protect the planet. The sustaining peace agenda and the 2030 Agenda are mutually reinforcing and need to be implemented in tandem. Advertisement The complexity of conflicts based in inequality and exclusion means that sustaining peace requires a long-term and comprehensive approach, involving political, security, justice, development, and human rights actions in support of national efforts, with women and youth playing a central role. This demands constant focus and leadership by the international community. In April, member states agreed to provide that. Landmark resolutions in the General Assembly and the Security Council called on the UN system to move away from siloed approaches and act in unison to achieve sustainable peace. We, the governments of Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sweden and the United Kingdom, hope to provide momentum to the sustaining peace agenda by co-hosting a Pledging Conference for the UN Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund. The event, on September 21, seeks $300 million for three years' worth of projects. Considering that 80% of humanitarian needs stem from violent conflicts, if we can prevent them, we would avoid tremendous suffering and save billions of dollars in intervention. The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) is uniquely positioned to support countries emerging from violent conflict or at risk of descending into violence. The fund can take financial and political risks that others are not able to assume. As such, it often lays the groundwork for much larger funds to come in. Advertisement In Sri Lanka the PBF funded the resettlement of 7,000 people on land they had lost during years of conflict. In Mali, the Fund initiated the process on cantonment camps to house combatants to hand over their weapons, spurring the World Bank to commit $26 million toward their reintegration into society after they demobilize. And in Somalia, the Fund is financing the establishment of local governments in places that have not enjoyed legitimate institutions in more than a generation. Recapitalizing the Fund is a minor cost to pay for an effort that yields enormous dividends in terms of creating stable and just societies and the underpinnings of viable economies, not to mention prevent countless victims of violence. That is why we call on our fellow member states to invest in the Fund. Beyond financial commitment, the sustaining peace agenda also calls for cooperation in knowledge sharing and peacebuilding through the exchange of expertise between countries facing similar adversities. Each actor has a role to play. Because of the work of the Peacebuilding Fund and other peacebuilding initiatives in the past 10 years, we know better how to tackle the root causes of conflict and how to foster sustainable peace. With the sustaining peace agenda now becoming a core goal of the UN's work, the organization is better positioned than ever to live up to the first line of its founding Charter: "We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war..." Advertisement The flag of the United States of America Rahami Ahmad Khan, 28, is the man of Afghan origin identified by the FBI of being responsible of the three acts of terrorism that occurred in New Jersey and New York in the past 48 hours. According to the authorities Ahmad is part of a possible terrorist cell responsible for the explosions in Seaside Park NJ, Elizabeth New Jersey and Chelsea, New York, including responsibility for the explosive device found by police at 27th Street at Broadway in Manhattan. Advertisement The hunt undertook by authorities, advanced this morning in Linden, New Jersey, with an exchange of fire and the capture of Ahmad Khan Rahami. The arrest of this individual came in record time thanks to the police and the information provided by citizens. With Rahami in custody, there are many questions that the authorities have to answer. Is there a terrorist cell? Was it a direct order from an organized group such as ISIS or a leaderless JIHAD movement or what? Is it an isolated case? Who financed the attacks? What else is planned? We see by way of this incident how important our citizens' role plays in the defense against domestic terror. In addition to the capture of Rahami, authorities were able to find a pressure cooker at 27 with Broadway and another device in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Thanks to the information provided by citizens one of the artifacts was deactivated while the other one exploded when a robot was trying to evaluate the device. In both cases no one was harmed at all because of citizens' actions. Terrorism is not just a problem of the authorities, is a problem that compromises our own security and our families. Advertisement All citizens must be vigilant as this example proves, always learning about what is happening around us. We must change this individualistic attitude sometimes we have, one that makes us think that anything that happens on the street doesn't concerns us because it doesn't affect us personally. We must be more vigilant, know our neighbors, our coworkers and classmates. Giving more attention when we travel on the train or when we got on a bus, but above all the most important thing is in taking action and reporting to the authorities when we see something suspicious. The outcome of the attack in Minnesota where the Somali Dahir Adan attacked nine people at a mall with a knife should call our attention to the fact that the Second Amendment has a purpose. An off-duty policeman contained the attacker. Why? Because security guards don't have any weapons to protect the lives of the citizens. At this time and under the circumstances we are facing, silence could be interpreted as the worst of the crimes, it allows these enemies of society to advance their plans and realize greater and perhaps worst acts against defenseless people. We don't see the names or know the injured involved in the blast on Saturday in New York or at the attack in the mall in Minnesota, but we can imagine they were simply carrying out a normal schedule of a weekend plan according to their plans. Advertisement Whether it is organized terrorism with an agenda to exterminate all Western civilization, or individual behavior associated with any number of irrational reasons, it is now a normal sense of being that our society faces the possibility of attempted termination based in ideologies that go beyond our capability of changing, stopping, or eliminating, therefore, we owe it to the common citizens of humanity as we have experienced this weekend whether it is homeless angels discovering five bombs on the train tracks of Elizabeth,NJ, or one off-duty officer coming to the rescue at a Minnesota mall, or one woman discovering a pressure cooker bomb on 27th street in New York City -- these are the new heroes of our time and we must recognize their contribution and achievements. Monique Nelson, Chair/CEO, UWG In 1969 when Byron L. Lewis founded UniWorld Group Incorporated, the country was in the midst of unparalleled change and discord. Protests to end the Vietnam War, protests for Civil Rights, the trial of the Chicago Seven for inciting riot at the Democratic National Convention, the police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York. There were, however, some wonderful things taking place at that time. Jimi Hendricks and Joni Mitchell performed among other future icons at Woodstock, Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, and the predecessor of the Internet, ARPANET was connected in California. Advertisement And, while it appeared that everywhere he looked the world was coming apart at the seams, Byron Lewis had a vision of unityunity that would emanate from our awareness and appreciation of each others differences, as a key, to loving our sameness, our humanityand that awareness would come from storytelling. Advertising is the one business practice that dares to be more than transactional. The creative storytelling of advertising makes our business art. Our story began over four decades ago with a set of clients who dared to define their desired consumer as ALL Americans and partnered with UniWorld Group to give an authentic voice and face to their diverse messaging. Those clients understood the necessity for cultural knowledge. They knew they needed the right guide to navigate their conversation with audiences, equipped with an understanding and appreciation of what made those audiences unique and vital. Advertisement Today, UniWorld Group (UWG) continues to serve as a guide, and we cherish our role as grio to an increasing roster of companies with similar dedication to culture. When we say culture, were recognizing the difference between individual thought and celebrating entire communities we dig deeper than self-identifying race, ethnicity and sexuality by leveraging innovation in research, consumer attitudes and behaviors, and by transforming our own culture within for greater depth of experience and creativity. Almost five decades later, advertising has seen incredible shifts across mediums, platforms and consumption behaviors. Factor in cross-agency collaborations, advertising/digital technology and lets not forget our friends, industry regulators. With ever-increasing challenges, agencies worldwide recognize the shift. Process is no longer linear. Our storyboards are no longer simple frames from radio, television, print and an occasional outdoor billboard. Todays marketing mix also includes YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and, social influencers. These ever-evolving platforms and the instant and global awareness of todays messaging, confront all marketers with the irrevocable danger of disenfranchising audiences and being seen as insincere. Leading these conversations in authenticity, awareness, impact and results continues to be the mandate of UWG. While no one can predict the next fifty years nor the changes that come, we stand ready to embrace each new year and each new change, and tell its story. Advertisement Heres to the #Next50. One of my all time favorite moments of day is sunset. I live in San Francisco's Marina district just a few blocks from the Golden Gate Bridge, and on clear evenings I like to head down to the water to watch the sun set over the bridge. The sunset has always felt more magical to me than simply a watercolor rainbow sky or the graceful dip of the sun below the horizon, but I have never created any formal ritual to mark my sunset experiences or brought any clear intentionality to these special evening moments. Not until my recent trip to Maui. I stayed at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua--a gorgeous resort perched above a sacred ancient burial site. No stone is left unturned there--from the impeccable service that begins the moment you arrive to the traditional symbolic island decor (the lights are designed like traditional fish traps!), from the lavish VIP poolside cabana experience to the perfect ocean-side burger and the Hawaiian lomilomi massage against a live soundtrack of palm trees rustling in the wind. Advertisement Needless to say, I was having an utterly perfect Hawaiian vacation. But what made the trip even better--more meaningful, that is--was the way The Ritz gave me what they call a sense of place. In other words, the Ritz helped me plug into the history, traditions, culture, and spirit of this beautiful island of Maui. My stay was an experience well beyond the typical touristy luau and hula fun. Some of my favorite sense of place insights came from The Ritz Kapalua's Cultural Advisor, Clifford Nae'ole--a native Hawaiian with deep wisdom and heartfelt enthusiasm. I had the good fortune of having lunch with Nae'ole, and listened, intrigued, as he shared details about the Honokahua Preservation Site situated at the edge of the Ritz property, special ancient Hawaiian lifecycle traditions, the resurgence of Hawaiian culture, language and music (and the annual Celebration of the Arts festival the resort hosts each Spring), as well as the beautiful Hawaiian art I passed as I meandered through the resort each day. But my very favorite gem of all was about the Hawaiian sunset ceremony I had an opportunity to witness the evening before. I was sipping tropical cocktails and enjoying live Hawaiian music in the lounge when I heard the sound of a conch (Pu) just as the sun disappeared from the sky before me. The beat of the pahu, a sacred Hawaiian drum, echoed throughout the lounge and was followed by the incantation of a beautiful Hawaiian oli (a chant). Advertisement I was already captivated by the marvel that is a Hawaiian sunset, but now I was curious about what all of this meant. Perhaps I could fold the intentions of this ritual into my own sunsets back in San Francisco. The ceremony, as Nae'ole explained, starts with the sounding of the conch shell to gather up all of the mana--or energy--from the four corners, and from our day, from our ancestors, and from our ourselves. It signals to us that it is time to reflect upon the day--what we have accomplished and all of our good deeds, but also what we're yet to accomplish, the things we shouldn't have said or thought or done, the promises we made but can't keep. "As the sun touches the ocean," Nae'ole explained, "you let all of these things go, so you can await the dawn and a new day." "And the Mother tells you are forgiven," he shared, "but to remember." The chant calls on the gods and on our ancestors to give us wisdom, and to help us bid farewell to the day, whose light is represented through the heartbeat-like rhythms of the drum. The thought of releasing the day with the sinking of the sun is soothing--and the notion that whole families perform this ritual together (Nae'ole told me that traditionally family units engaged in this ceremony) feels powerful. Advertisement What if we all punctuated every day with a moment of reflection and intention? What if we could release ourselves from our mistakes, our failures, and our misgivings each evening and begin again, anew, tomorrow? And what if we did this with the people whose lives--whose feelings and thoughts and possibilities--are all tangled up in our own? What if we could collectively move forward refreshed and renewed, to try again--maybe to try harder--tomorrow? After my lunch with Nae'ole my vacation shifted. I was no longer simply a tourist salivating over the culinary delights of Lahaina Grill or mindlessly watching a hula performance or canoeing along the coast without any connection to the land or to the insights and wonder of its people and traditions. So I came home with more than a tan and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts; I came home with a head full of new ideas and inspiration. Everyone knows what Italian food is - but is Italian food in America its own category? We went to the 90th annual Feast of San Gennaro in New York's Little Italy to try and learn the differences. We spoke to business owners whose shops and restaurants have been around for over 100 years about the contributions Italian Americans have made to the American dining scene. Want to learn more? Watch the video above or head to the festival if you're in New York! There were no surprises out of the Russian parliamentary "elections" Sunday. They plan them that way. Putin's party, United Russia, won over half the seats in the Duma. If there was any news at all, it's that turnout was lighter than expected-- less than 40% (compared to around 60% in the last parliamentary election). Even the "opposition" parties vote with Putin when he tells them to. The Liberal Democratic Party came in second with 15.1%, the Communists third with 14.9% and Just Russia, a center-left party was fourth with 6.4%. Parties that actually do oppose Putin failed to get over the 5% threshold for admission to the Duma. Elections in Germany weren't exactly a surprise either but they were more dramatic. After suffering a huge defeat in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern last week, Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU, a center-right party more like the New Dems or Blue Dogs than the Republicans) got its ass kicked yesterday in Berlin state. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the chancellor's home territory so it especially stung when her party came in 3rd, behind the Social Democrats (SDP, like of like the Democrats minus the Blue Dog/New Dem faction) and a new Trumpist party, rightwing extremists Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), which is headed by hate talk radio host Leif-Erik Holm. The Left Party is basically the former Communists. SPD- 30.5% (26 seats) AfD- 20.9% (18 seats) CDU- 19% (16 seats) Left Party- 13.2% (11 seats) Greens- 4.9% NPD (National Democratic Party, neo-Nazis)- 3.1% The parties with less than 5% of the vote get no seats in the state parliament. Yesterday in Berlin, it was another dismal showing by Merkel's CDU, mostly because of a good showing by anti-immigrant AfD. The CDU lost 5.4% of it's support and the SPD lost 5.3% of it's support, much of it to the Left Party (Linke). These were yesterday's projected results: SPD- 21.6% CDU- 17.5% Left Party- 15.7% Greens- 15.1% AfD- 14.1% The Guardian that the left-leaning triple coalition will be the first in Berlin's history. The SPD-CDU coalition is likely to be replaced by an SPD-Green-Left coalition. reported that the left-leaning triple coalition will be the first in Berlin's history. America's democracy, our social contract crafted with wisdom, prudence and foresight almost two and a half centuries ago, is the envy of the world. That is a fact that we Americans sometimes take for granted and yet, not until you travel the world, especially to places where democracy has been elusive or erratic, can you truly appreciate how other nations revere our process of self-governance. While we recognize that no system of government is perfect, what our Constitution has set forth is a framework that not only lays out the laws by which we all agree to live but also our collective values, our national identity. And in classrooms around the world, our democracy is held up as an example of what is possible when you freely empower the people to make decisions. Given this global respect for our nation's democratic ideals, it is disconcerting to say the least to hear recriminations on the national political stage that suggest the upcoming presidential election could possibly be "rigged." Irrespective of whether such allegations have been uttered cavalierly in the heat of a political moment or raised as some tactical political diversion, the fact is that these allegations can have lasting impact beyond our national boundaries. Although most Americans will shrug these comments off as baseless partisan rhetoric, parts of the world may not be as quick to do so, potentially undercutting what could already be a fragile commitment to democracy within other countries. After all, they could well reason, if the United States can no longer maintain its fidelity to an honest and fair process, how can we hope to replicate or sustain this system within our own country? And just as regrettable, it is the kind of comment that can plant dangerous seeds of cynicism among idealistic children far and wide. Advertisement In the fall of 2000 I was the country director for an NGO working in Egypt focused on helping improve access to school for young girls. I was in a week-long planning workshop with my Egyptian colleagues when the drama unfolded regarding the U.S. presidential elections - hanging chads and recounts and, ultimately, a Supreme Court ruling. The events became the focal point of the meeting, each break someone rushing to a TV to bring back the latest news. It was a real-time transcontinental civic lesson. When Vice President Gore conceded the election to George W. Bush, my Egyptian colleagues noted with envy the workings of a true democracy, of the peaceful transition of power from one party to the next. To Egyptians, who lived at that time within a faux democracy (i.e. a one presidential candidate referendum), the contrast between their "democracy" and ours could not have been greater. Even at the local level, there was much passion for real democracy. I recall starting a PTA at a local school where parents would vote to elect the organization's leadership. To these parents, it was the first time that they felt their vote truly mattered. The election was a highly contested one, with villagers quietly standing in line for hours waiting for their turn to vote. Grassroots democracy at the local level was an infectious concept, although unfortunately for Egypt, not infectious enough to take root and flourish beyond the Arab Spring. These days my work brings me to many developing countries around the world. I often ask the children I meet what they want to be when they grow up. The most common answer? Teachers. To many of them, it is the only profession to which they have ever been exposed, given the fact that most of their parents earn their living as subsistence farmers or day laborers. When I suggest that some of them (boys and girls) could someday be their nation's future president, I would invariably get nervous giggles in return. It is a dream few would even contemplate, a concession perhaps to a system that does not rely on one person, one vote. One year ago, New York hosted the largest gathering of global leaders ever at the United Nations General Assembly. I stood beside Mali's Minister of Health as we witnessed the UN Secretary General announce the new Sustainable Development Goals--a set of vast objectives that include ending extreme poverty and delivering healthcare to every person on the planet. Not long after, I sat on the ground next to a young mother in Mali, where I've worked and lived off and on for the past 11 years. She lay on a thin mat, exhausted. She had spent a month struggling and failing to get care for her one-year old son whose fevers wouldn't stop. She traveled dozens of miles, spent money she did not have, and sought out the help of friends and relatives. She arrived finally at a hospital which charged fees she couldn't afford and waited for a provider to come help her. Never making it past the waiting room, her son stopped breathing and died in her arms. Her son was one of nearly six million children who died in the past year, most from diseases we've known how to cure for decades. This--the needless death of millions of children--is the great injustice of our time, and, sitting there by her side, I too felt complicit. Advertisement Hearing her story, sitting beside her that night just hours after it happened, I felt the distance between the deep pit of failure we are all sitting in and the lofty vision of the Sustainable Development Goals. While the Clinton Foundation has drawn considerable media attention recently, this coverage has largely ignored its core work and impact. It should be recognized that CGI's approach to social impact--which emphasizes partnering across sectors to make tangible commitments--is one of the keys to achieving the SDGs. Over the past 11 years, members of the Clinton Global Initiative community have launched commitments through CGI that have improved the lives of over 435 million people around the world. CGI will gather members from business, government, foundations, and NGOs at its Annual Meeting this week for the last time. The end of the Annual Meeting poses an important question --What is CGI's legacy for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people? I first came to CGI three years ago, before anyone invited me. CGI gathers technical experts, businesses, foundations, and government partners around a common purpose--to address the world's most pressing challenges, including injustices of poverty and global health inequity. The core of our experience at CGI has been about getting work done for our patients. This is what my experience at CGI has looked like: Advertisement I sit down with Jennifer Schechter, who runs the NGO Hope Through Health in Togo, and we put together a plan to test a new approach for reducing child death rates in Togo and Mali. Christian Benimana, an award-winning Rwandan architect with MASS Design, meets up with me to go over designs for 8 new clinics and maternal health centers our teams are going to build together in the far east of Mali. We brainstorm how to improve communication between our teams to get the clinics opened on time. I meet philanthropists Andrew and Bonnie Weiss, so they can start due diligence on our team's work, and we discuss the design of a research study we're working on. Leith Greenslade, who co-chaired the United Nations MDG Health Alliance, shares guidance on how research we're doing could support global efforts to improve child health. I work for Muso, an NGO that designs and builds health care delivery systems in partnership with the Malian government. The patients we serve live in Mali. But our work is made possible through partnerships with philanthropists in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, architects in Rwanda, researchers in San Francisco, and allies in Togo, Liberia, and Nepal. For the past decade, this cast of characters has reliably converged in the lobby of a hotel in Manhattan, brought together by CGI at its Annual Meeting. Thanks to the partnerships fostered, our CGI commitments have included expanding our health system to serve 300,000 people across Mali and support a national scale up of health workers. We have everything we need, today, to end the global child mortality crisis. As I write this, 28 countries across sub-Saharan Africa are deploying legions of health workers to lead in their communities on the front lines of this effort. An analysis commissioned by the UN estimates that the global community will need to invest an additional $69-89 billion per year to achieve the health SDGs--and that we can afford it. With millions of children's lives hanging in the balance, the time is now for investments in critical public health solutions such as those advanced by the CGI community. As we gather one last time for CGI's Annual Meeting, our patients are counting on us to ramp up our efforts. CGI's Annual Meeting is ending, but the work it has launched is just getting started. Advertisement [An official performs his skills in encoffinment at the annual "Shukatsu Festa 2016" funeral business fair in Tokyo on September 11./ Photographed by Um Soo-ah] By Um Soo-ah, Tokyo correspondent, AsiaToday - "Kazokuni meiwaku kaketakunaindesu!" (I don't want to give my family inconvenience!") With Japan becoming a super-aging society, Japanese people seem to be worried that even their death would cause trouble to their family. Various events in the name of "Shukatsu" festival are being held nationwide. Shukatsu in Japanese means "preparing for one's end." Advertisement Such phrase was written on the walls at the entrance to a funeral expo held at Industrial Plaza PIO in Tokyo on September 11. More than 100 people, who attended the event, seemed to be agreeing with the phrase. The theme of the event was "death", but the atmosphere was surprisingly bright and cheerful, with two cat illustrated characters welcoming the visitors at the entrance. In fact, visitors weren't shy about preparing for their death. During the two-day festival, people were able to sample their own funeral and get a taste of their last goodbye. For instance, they could lay down in coffins, learn what to do with their belongings, and write down ending notes, including after-death messages and instructions to families and friends. [An impressive poster urging people to color their nails perfectly after death./ Photographed by Um Soo-ah] Advertisement At the event, vendors displayed their products for trial as well as plenty of hair and makeup options. A nail art booth urged visitors to color their nails perfectly after death, considering the fact that their upper bodies would be mainly shown to their families after death. Since most Japanese funeral services are held in a Buddhist style, a lecture entitled, "Buddha's smile", was held by a monk on the first day of the fair. Then other lectures on psychological preparation and things to prepare before death followed. On the second day, there were booths explaining visitors what to do with their belongings, such as jewels, bags, or clothing, demonstrating encoffining process, and describing how to write down ending notes. Senior visitors watched the whole process seriously. Not only elderly people visited the expo, but also families with young children. Federal Prison--en.wikipedia.org (A PARODY) ABOUT CHEATER UNIVERSITY Our highly praised institution of lower learning proudly bears the name of its founder, Cheater von Stummer. Dr., Professor, Reverend (who knows for sure?) Cheater von Stummer comes from a long line of highly credentialed Stummers. Unfortunately, all of the family's credentials and records were lost in severe flooding at their estate in Transylvania, Romania (*see note below). Cheater U pledges to give you the essential tools for success in any ethics-challenged shady business. Advertisement If you fulfill the guiding principle of Cheater U we promise you a no-money-back guarantee. Guiding Principle: We know that it's sometimes so cold outside that politicians have their hands in their own pockets. But for successful graduates of Cheater U it's never too cold to have their hands in the pockets of their business partners and clients. To reinforce our guiding principle, throughout your enrollment at cheater U our administrators, sales people, and teachers will have their hands in your pockets. Our integrity will be proven by our doing what we preach. Curriculum High Points How to pepper your resume with half truths and no truths. Basic principles of deceptive ad writing: The 25 strategies for effective lying. Mastering bait and switch techniques. Conversion techniques for when bait and switch fails. Strategies for avoiding paying bills for goods and services. Professor Detox's secrets for spotless money laundering. The five best off-shore banks for hiding assets and avoiding the nuisance of paying taxes. Tried and proven methods for defrauding clients who have minimal reading ability. How to obtain credentials from no-show colleges, universities, and divinity programs, which will certify your expertise in fields you may never have heard of. Seductive techniques for setting up clients for the big "con." How to decorate your office and home without mirrors or reflecting surfaces so you don't have to look at yourself after defrauding clients and driving them to ruin. And our most important lesson: How to plan the timing for declaring bankruptcy, after you have squirreled away substantial assets. Advertisement And there's more... Optional Offerings: For an additional fee and commitment for an annual contribution to the Cheater Humanitarian Foundation to Promote Ethics, Truth, and Compassion you will receive a Magna Cum Laude certification on you diploma from Cheater U, along with praises from important names obtained from gravestones. On payment in full for the one-year program at Cheater U--and a small retainer fee which will be divulged after you sign a binding contract and agree to our seventy-five page disclaimer--you will be entitled to two free legal defenses (which you will surely need) from our never-lost-a-bad-case killer law firm: Sheister, Goniff, Faker, and Crooke (soon to merge with the prestigious law firm, Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe). And if you fail to successfully implement all that you have learned at Cheater U and unfairly get prosecuted and sentenced by a rigged system, you will be entitled to a free seminar by our esteemed Chief Financial Officer (**see note below)--who has just been released from federal prison--on "How to thrive in Club Fed while planning your next crooked business." Bonus Offer: Sign up for Cheater University in the next hour and receive a free overnight stay in our simulation of a Club Fed prison cell (additional fees may accrue). This offer is another example showing that Cheater University excels in preparation. *Note: The Stummer family has vigorously denied the charge of foul play in the loss of their credentials and other records based on the thin evidence of a chapter in Cheater von Stummer's self-help book, "How To Fake a Flood." Advertisement **Note: CFO Swifty Hustleman was the only candidate to successfully answer the question "how much is one and one?" His inspiring response convinced us that he would grow the value of Cheater U. His answer: How much do you want it to be? ***Note: Origin of the name of our founder. Cheater von Stummer, given name Dick (von Stummer), acquired his moniker "cheater" in grade school. Dick was so adept at cheating his classmates in trading card transactions that his classmates and a neighborhood three-card-monte dealer heaped praise on him for this talent and dubbed him "cheater." Dick was so ecstatic from the accolades that he adopted the name "Cheater." From then on little Dick von Stummer became Cheater von Stummer. In a recent interview he revealed that when he hears his name (Cheater) it brings a smile to his face and energizes him for his business deals. In a Bahrain court yesterday Judge Ebrahim Al Zayed presided over a brief, few-minute hearing in the case of political dissident Khalil AlHalwachi, arrested two years ago on fabricated charges of various terrorism offenses, including the possession of a rifle. He's on trial with 16 others. The case was adjourned yesterday with a verdict now set for October 20. It's a familiar story in Bahrain, where a single family runs a totalitarian regime and the judiciary plays an important role in intimidating and silencing opposition figures and human rights activists. Peaceful dissidents are framed and sentenced to long terms in jail because Washington's allies running the government fear criticism of their repression. Advertisement AlHalwachi says he was mistreated in custody, interrogated without his lawyer present, and coerced into signing a false confession while he was blindfolded. He has been in poor health for some months now and is to remain in custody at least until the verdict. Ebrahim Al Zayed is one of the judges notorious for unfair, absurd verdicts. He also confirmed the conviction and jail sentence against human rights defender Nabeel Rajab in a December 2012 appeal court hearing, and is perhaps most famous for acquitting in July 2013 Mubarak Bin Howail and Norah bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa, charged by the public prosecutor with torturing medics. Locals activists report he's also the lead judge in the case against senior Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, targeted as part of the government's latest attacks on leading Shia figures suspected of disloyalty to the ruling family. "He's known as a soft-spoken man but represents the interests of the National Security Agency in court," a Bahraini lawyer whose name I'm not using for safety reasons told me. Then there is Judge Ali Al Dharani, appointed head of the Fourth Criminal Court in August 2014, where he has distinguished himself with a series of stunning judicial decisions. According to the State News agency the BNA he has a masters degree from the private Kingdom University in Bahrain with a thesis on "Constitutionality of Laws." It was Judge Al Dhahrani who sentenced opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman to four years in jail in June 2015 after he peacefully criticized the government. In January, following disturbances at notorious and overcrowded Jaw Prison in March 2015, Al Dhahrani convicted and sentenced 57 inmates to a further 15 years in jail. Advertisement These are only two of Bahrain's abusive judges. A corrupt judiciary has long been recognized as a major problem. Major reforms are needed. The 2011 Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), ordered by the king of Bahrain in response to his government's violent repression of widespread protests early that year, issued recommendations for how state institutions should be overhauled. These included recommendation 1722 f. To train the judiciary and prosecutorial personnel on the need to ensure that their activities contribute to the prevention and eradication of torture and ill-treatment. At a ceremony in May this year to mark what the BNA called the full implementation of the BICI reforms, Minister for Justice Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa highlighted "the amendments of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Penal Code, the training of judges, prosecutors, law enforcers and lawyers..." The State Department's assessment of how BICI has been implemented, released the following month, stated that on 1722 (f),"The Government of Bahrain reported that, by 2013, at least two-thirds of the judiciary had received training in protecting human rights in criminal procedures during regular programs and at foundations, including at the [Italian-based] International Institute for Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences and the American Bar Association provided technical capacity building and general human rights training for lawyers, prosecutors and judges." Despite the trumpeted training programs, it's hard to see how a new culture of respecting human rights has taken hold in Bahrain's judiciary. Regular reports of sham trials and convictions on the basis of tortured confessions continue to emerge. "New sets of skills such as team work, innovation and creativity are becoming increasingly important. The leaders of this major transformation can only be the principals and the teachers themselves, but principals need to be able to show the way in this uncertain world." -- Montserrat Gomendio Launched today, the OECD's new report, School Leadership for Learning: Insights from Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013, specifically looks at different approaches to school leadership and its impact on professional learning communities and on the learning environment in schools. The findings are representative of 5 million teachers in 34 countries. The ingredients that make up an excellent learning environment often vary from school to school, country to country, and culture to culture. But what every great school has in common is great leadership. So what does it mean to be a great principal? Should principals be dictators of their schools? Should they lead by example? Should they be visionaries or merely implementers of a policy they have no part in shaping? Advertisement Instructional leadership (practices that involve the planning, evaluation and improvement of teaching and learning) and distributed leadership (a reflection of leadership being shown by the principal, but also of others acting as leaders in school) are seen as conducive to student learning. The new OECD study outlines four specific types of principals, namely "Integrated," "Inclusive," "Educational," and "Administrative". It examines how these leadership types relate to the establishment of professional learning communities and can enhance student learning. The Global Search for Education welcomes Montserrat Gomendio, the Deputy Director for Education at the OECD. In the interview that follows, Montserrat discusses the TALIS findings and what we learn about different leadership strategies from schools around the world. "Principals are developing styles of leadership that move away from the traditional administrative role." -- Montserrat Gomendio What surprised you most about these findings? One of the most encouraging results is to what extent the role of principals is evolving to support teachers through new types of leadership styles. For example, almost 8 out of 10 principals declare that they frequently take action to ensure teachers feel responsible for their students' learning outcomes. This proportion is even higher for the United States where 9 out of 10 principals declare to engage in these types of actions. Furthermore, almost 10 out of 10 principals state that their school provides staff with opportunities to engage in school decisions. Advertisement What these data are telling us is that principals are developing styles of leadership that move away from the traditional administrative role. This new style, that we call "leadership for learning", supports instructional quality at the same time that it takes actions to involve other stakeholders in school decisions. Clearly, certain leadership strategies create great value in schools. What are some ideas you can propose for identifying leadership gaps in schools? How can such a review approach be effectively implemented? The role of principals varies greatly across countries. This is to some extent the consequence of legal frameworks which define what responsibilities principals have. While in certain countries some of the main decisions made by principals are the selection of teachers and the management of the budget, in others countries, principals have no role in these issues. On the other hand, in order to develop the knowledge and skills necessary for the 21st century, the role of principals needs to adapt to the teaching and student communities that they serve. Thus, principals may support professional learning communities when teachers are capable of exchanging good practices and learning from each other, or support innovation among teachers with enough training and experience. Principals also need to be sensitive to the needs of their students which have a major effect on the extent to which teachers collaborate, the disciplinary climate and the type of student-teacher relationship. Advertisement "The best approach for fostering school quality was achieving a balance between actions seeking to improve the quality of the instruction and actions aiming at incorporating stakeholders in school decisions." -- Montserrat Gomendio Have you seen examples of school districts or other school governing bodies that have in your view implemented an effective review mechanism and programs to address leadership gaps? The most important issue is to define clearly what is expected from principals, which surprisingly, is an issue under heated debate. Should principals be leaders with a vision who distribute responsibilities among other actors? Should they participate in a collective decision-making process and concentrate on the administrative procedures needed to achieve the goals? Or should they have few opportunities to make decisions and focus on their implementation of the decisions made by other bodies? What sort of decisions should principals make: selection of teachers, budget, curriculum, pedagogical practices? The answer to these questions differs enormously between countries. More worryingly, they are often ill-defined and this creates a tension between what principals think they ought to do and what others expect from them. Once the role of the principal is clearly defined, then principals should get the training needed to be able to develop such role successfully and the resources required to fulfill their role. Advertisement In your study, what countries generally have shown the best leadership practices in their schools? One of the findings of the study was that the best approach for fostering school quality was achieving a balance between actions seeking to improve the quality of the instruction and actions aiming at incorporating stakeholders in school decisions. We called principals who were able to achieve this balance, "integrated leaders". In systems like Shanghai, China and Korea, almost 9 of 10 of their principals were classified as integrated leaders. As you mention, leadership strategies may be constrained by the specific contexts of schools; for instance, their degree of poverty, the quality of teachers, and the attitudes of parents. How do you see the options for a holistic approach to raising learning outcomes in more challenging school contexts? We think the holistic approach is the only option to improving school quality. A principal working in a school with a considerable proportion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds faces a series of challenges that can undermine the effectiveness of his actions. A similar thing can be said about principals working in rural areas, where we have seen that schools have less qualified and less experienced teachers than schools in urban areas. In both cases, allowing principals to obtain the resources needed to face the difficulties is crucial, and in this context a team of high quality teachers committed to helping these children overcome their constraints is the key. "Training and professional development are crucial aspects for fostering good leadership practices. As such, higher education institutions can play a pivotal role in providing quality programs that facilitate the acquisition of these practices." -- Montserrat Gomendio How do you see opportunities for developing integrated leadership capabilities in higher education training for educators? Have you seen any university programs around the world that could serve as role models for this challenge? Advertisement As we mentioned previously, training and professional development are crucial aspects for fostering good leadership practices. As such, higher education institutions can play a pivotal role in providing quality programmes that facilitate the acquisition of these practices. In this scenario, the governmental institutions are the responsible parties in developing and implementing a framework establishing the goals, role and functions of the principals, while higher education institutions will provide evidence based training that can meet the governmental goals. How would you rank the importance of school leadership among the key areas that require improvement to achieve the essential 21st century competencies for students? School leadership and teacher quality are the two key factors that determine the quality of learning environments and the performance of children. Education systems face the huge challenge of adapting to a changing landscape in which the rapid pace of knowledge generation and technological change demand that students acquire more and new skills. The acquisition of knowledge is no longer restricted to an established body of knowledge. It requires learning throughout life, integrating many sources of information and becoming a critical thinker. New sets of skills such as team work, innovation and creativity are becoming increasingly important. The leaders of this major transformation can only be the principals and the teachers themselves, but principals need to be able to show the way in this uncertain world. Thus, their responsibility is greater than ever. (Pictures are courtesy of CMRubinWorld and the OECD) C. M. Rubin and Montserrat Gomendio Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Geoff Masters (Australia), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today. The Global Search for Education Community Page Advertisement What a difference a gaffe makes. As an unexpected gift from the gods, Donald Trump, pouncing on his opponent's verbal misstep, seizes the high ground---a place he could never, ever occupy on his own. Following the breath-taking, totally avoidable gaffe Hillary Clinton made at a New York fundraiser, in which she loaded whole classes into a "basket of deplorables"--saying "half" of Trump's supporters were "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it"--Trump instantly tweeted this in defense: "Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the polls!" Advertisement Thus the candidate who's taken American presidential politics on a road lower than it has ever been---with his appeals that are not dog-whistle subtle but blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it---gets to stand up as The People's Defender. This is, after all, the man who got a running start at the presidency by promoting the racist "birther" myth, claiming our first African-American president, Barack Obama, is not American-born. And now---deplorably!---damage done and no repentance, Trump acknowledges Mr. Obama is American. The media are flatly using the term "lie." Then Trump lies again by blaming Hillary Clinton for starting the birther myth. This is a man so sexist he says of Clinton---so insulting---"Does she look presidential, fellas? Give me a break." His xenophobia leads him to attack the Muslim parents of a son who sacrificed his life for his unit in Iraq. Trump's motto "Make America great again" is the siren song of white Americans angry at their loss of primacy, an appeal based on blood rather than our foundational ideals of equality and fair play. Into this dark space the white supremacist alt-right movement has risen to prominence. Outrageously, ominously, Trump stokes violence. He signals his supporters may have to defend their Second Amendment rights if Clinton is elected and takes away their guns, and now, stunningly, he suggests her Secret Service agents should disarm ("See what happens to her"), all meaning---what?---he invites her assassination? Advertisement Truly: "Deplorable" is the word best describing the depths to which Trump has dragged America. But, thanks to his opponent's verbal gaffe, Trump now vaults to the moral upside, again a place he could never normally occupy. Post-gaffe, Clinton next day tried to walk back her "deplorables" comment, saying she did not mean to demean "half" of Trump's supporters. But, for that news cycle at least, she was on the downside and parsing couldn't help. Meanwhile, reinforcing his fraudulent claim to the high ground, Trump days later gave a speech in statesman mode, at the National Guard's annual convention, expanding on his defense of working-class Americans "viciously demonized" by Clinton, who "looks down on the proud citizens of our country as subjects for her rule": "Hillary Clinton is an insider supported by powerful insiders attacking Americans who have absolutely no political power. Hillary Clinton spoke with hatred and derision for the people who make this country run. She spoke with contempt for the people who thanklessly follow the rules, pay their taxes and scratch out a living for their family; a hard-earned living, too." This from the man who viciously demonizes all opponents. Expect to hear this faux-statesman message non-stop until November. Advertisement Rule No. 1 in campaign politics is: Never attack or malign the voter. How could Clinton, a savvy politician with decades in public life---but more to the point, a dedicated humanitarian---forget this basic rule about honoring the voter's humanity? As Democrats know by now (or their campaign managers should), Republicans are quick to cudgel "limousine liberals" who mock "fly-over country." But another rule of campaign politics is this: Voters are redeemable. Those Trump supporters who are not racist or sexist, etc., but who are hurting in this economy can be reached, and it will take all the former Secretary of State's diplomacy to do it. Clinton gestured to them in the second part of her "deplorables" speech, but nobody heard it. Honoring their humanity, she described them as: "people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change. It doesn't really even matter where it comes from." Hillary Clinton can recover from her "deplorables" comment---and retake the moral high ground, where she absolutely needs to get, no more stumbles---by doing proper penance and apologizing for appearing to slur Trump's supporters (in contrast to Trump's non-apology for his birther fraud) and by resuming her attack on Trump himself---and not his supporters---for his bigoted, deplorable campaign. Advertisement But more crucially, Clinton needs to unleash her inner humanitarian, to reconnect with voters at their deepest level. Enough with the 10-point plans, show us passion, most especially the passion to change for the better the lives of those working- and middle-class voters she cited who are "just desperate for change." In these hard and unhappy times, Trump is touted the change agent and Clinton the status quo candidate. But if the status quo candidate became a crusader for change, she could rescue us from the fate---truly deplorable---of a Trump presidency. Leaders of the Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) Frauke Petry (L) and Joerg Meuthen attend a press conference one day after regional election polls in Berlin on September 19, 2016. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) harnessed a wave of anger over the refugee influx to claim around 14 percent of the vote in a city that has long prided itself on its diversity and international appeal. / AFP / TOBIAS SCHWARZ (Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images) The extreme right-wing party AfD emerged with 14.1 percent of the vote in Sunday's parliamentary elections in Berlin. The sad trend that has emerged in recent elections continues, and the populist party arrives in its tenth German state parliament with a double-digit result. The AfD's wave of success in the German capital continues unabated, and I'm wondering where this will lead. To prevent a "brown renaissance," the democratic parties, and especially the big people's parties, must use the time leading up to this coming year's elections to win back voters to their visions of democracy. Advertisement If the established parties don't succeed in reigniting enthusiasm for our free democracy and fortifying voters with convincing and plausible arguments and concepts, if they can't give the people a new hope, then I fear for the good and peaceful future of our nation. It is an absolute nightmare to witness the ongoing success of a party which incites hate against minorities, which wants to make national-socialist terminology and proposals suitable again for casual conversation, and which cannot plausibly distance itself from neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers. The positive outcomes for the AfD feeds on every group in society. It's not just NPD-fans that are voting for the AfD now. It's not the voters who determine the right-wing extremist character of the party; rather, it's the leadership, elected officials, and staff members who are consciously moving beyond the acceptable spectrum of free democracy with their racist, anti-Semitic, chauvinistic, and ahistorical provocations that disgrace our previously functional political culture. The democratic parties have yet to find an effective means of hindering the AfD's progress. Of central importance here is the question of security, especially against the backdrop of the so-called "refugee crisis" and of Islamist terrorism, which has claimed victims in Germany. Advertisement The citizens are expecting those at the top of the political food chain to provide comprehensible concepts of domestic and foreign security. In the eyes of too many citizens, the democratic parties' current response is too weak. This leaves the AfD with too much free space to proliferate an agenda that isn't backed by the majority and would in fact be disastrous. It's urgently overdue that the democratic parties return to their old strength, capacity for action, and force of conviction, and put plainly in the eyes of the people into what abyss this anti-modern, anti-liberal, and anti-democratic ideology of hate and intolerance leads. I observe with great concern as previously radical political positions are made acceptable even as they grow more brutal, especially as they show themselves on the Internet. These digital excesses reveal an ongoing radicalization of our analog reality. Germany should remain Germany! This demand is directed equally towards those who would attack our freedom and Western system of values with Islamism and terror. And with equal conviction towards those who are trying to reestablish right-wing extremism in Germany as a legitimate political and social mode of thought. Their rapacious conception of the world must never again become palatable to the German masses. The 2016 Version of an Old Story on a New Planet Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com Cowboys and Indians are at it again. Americans who dont live in the West may think that the historic clash of Native Americans and pioneering settlers is long past because the Indians were, after all, defeated and now drive cars, watch television, and shop at Walmart. Not so. That classic American narrative is back big time, only the Indians are now the good guys and the cowboys -- well, their right-wing representatives, anyway -- are on the warpath, trying to grab 640 million acres of public lands that they can plunder as if it were yesteryear. Meanwhile, in the Dakotas, Americas Manifest Destiny, that historic push across the Great Plains to the Pacific (murdering and pillaging along the way), seems to be making a return trip to Sioux country in a form that could have planetary consequences. Energy Transfer Partners is now building the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.7 billion oil slick of a project. Its slated to go from the Bakken gas and oil fracking fields in northern North Dakota across 1,100 miles of the rest of the Dakotas and Iowa to a pipeline hub in Illinois. From there, the oil will head for refineries on the Gulf Coast and ultimately, as the emissions from fossil fuels, into the atmosphere to help create future summers so hot no one will forget them. Keep in mind that, according to global warmings terrible new math, theres enough carbon in those Bakken fields to roast the planet -- if, that is, the Sioux and tribes allied with them dont stop the pipeline. This time, in other words, if the cavalry does ride to the rescue, the heroes on horseback will be speaking Lakota. Advertisement Last Stand at Standing Rock If built as planned, the Dakota Access Pipeline will snake through the headwaters of the Missouri River, a life-giving source of fresh water for millions of people who live downstream, including Native Americans. Its supposed to pass under that river just a few miles from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation that straddles North and South Dakota. Protestors point out that, eventually, the pipeline is likely to leak into that vital watershed and the contamination could prove catastrophic. The Army Corps of Engineers, which green-lighted the projects design, and Energy Transfer Partners have continued to insist that there is no such risk -- even though, suspiciously enough, they decided to change the pipelines route to avoid the water supply of North Dakotas capital, Bismark. As ever, tribal leaders point out, they were ignored rather than consulted in the planning stages, even though the project was to pass directly through their lands. When the Keystone XL Pipeline, slated to bring especially carbon-heavy tar sands from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast, was killed thanks to years of fierce environmental protests, the stakes were raised for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Keystone was a disaster for the energy industry. In its wake, opponents claim, the new project was fast-tracked without the usual environmental reviews so that construction could be completed before a Keystone-style opposition formed. Fast as they were, it turns out that they werent fast enough. Keep in mind that such a project wasnt exactly a first for the native peoples of the region. In the wake of their defeat and confinement to reservations in the nineteenth century, they lived through a profound transformation of their landscape. Settlers let cattle loose on meadows cleared of wolves, cougars, and bears. The rude stamp of progress followed: fences, roads, dams, mines, sawmills, railroads, power lines, towns, condos, resorts, and in the twenty-first century, vistas increasingly pockmarked with frackings drill rigs and service roads. Advertisement In the Dakota prairies, hundreds of species of grass and flowers were replaced by monocultures of soy and corn, while millions of cattle were substituted for herds of free-roaming bison. As recently as the 1950s and 1960s, the neighboring Sioux and Cheyenne lost 200,000 more acres of valuable reservation farmland to dams built without their permission. Entire villages had to relocate. The Dakota Access Pipeline is just the latest of these assaults and yet, in every way, its potentially more disastrous. As Lakota Chairman David Archambault puts it, To poison water is to poison the substance of life. Slaughter, internment, and neglect were bad enough, say tribal leaders, but threatening the peoples life-giving water was the last straw. As a result, thousands of Native Americans drawn from 280 tribes across the country and even around the world are now camping out at the construction site where the Dakota Access Pipeline nears the tip of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Almost two million signatures have been gathered on a petition opposing the pipeline; dozens of environmental groups have signed on to the resistance; and tribes nationwide have expressed their solidarity. On September 3rd, the private security guards hired by Energy Transfer Partners used pepper spray and dogs on those trying to block the pipeline. This eruption of violence halted work until U.S. District Judge James Boasberg could rule on the tribes request for an injunction to block construction while its case was heard in court. On September 9th, while conceding that the United States relationship with Indians has been contentious and tragic, he denied that request. Then, in a move described even by the Sioux as stunning, the Obama administration suddenly stepped between the protesters and the pipeline construction crews. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, and even the Army Corps of Engineers called for a halt to the process until the permitting procedure could be reviewed. Although putting an oil pipeline under a major river should have triggered an environmental review, the Corps chose not to do one. Now, it will take a second look. The administration also committed itself to finding better ways to include Native Americans in future land-use decisions. Advertisement Where this goes next is anyones guess. The construction halt could, of course, be lifted if the protesters were to disperse under a false sense of victory. The Sioux now plan to litigate vigorously against the pipeline. One prediction, however, is easy enough. The unity and purpose experienced by the people in that encampment will resonate powerfully for years to come. A movement has been born along the banks of the Missouri River. Native Americans have played the crucial role in this campaign to keep it in the ground, just as they were leaders in the successful struggle to block the Keystone XL Pipeline, the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline that would have carried dirty crude across Canada to the Pacific, and the building of a massive coal export port on Canadas Pacific coast. As Native American leader Winona LaDuke puts it, For people with nothing else but land and a river, I would not bet against them. This Town Aint Big Enough for the Both of Us Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the cowboys have been engaged in a not-so-old-fashioned range war over who can best manage 640 million acres of public lands now owned collectively by the American people. Backed by the Koch brothers and their American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, legislators across the American West, where most of the public lands are located, are calling on the federal government to cede control and management of them to counties and states. This would include some of our most beloved national parks. In Utah where I live, the Republican-dominated legislature has put forward the Public Lands Initiative (PLI). Its the latest round in a 30-year feud pitting conservationists and businesses tied to tourism and recreation against ranchers and miners. At stake: whether to give the last publicly controlled wild places in the state formal wilderness status and federal protection or (though this isnt often directly said) let private interests exploit the hell out of them. Every few years the Utah legislatures cowboy caucus has pushed just such a wilderness bill filled with poison pills and potentially devastating loopholes that the local conservation community cant abide. Billed this time as a potential grand bargain to settle who controls public lands and how they can be used, the PLI has proven no different. It was, in fact, generated by local fears that President Obama might use his wide-ranging powers under the Antiquities Act to create a new national monument in the state as he left the Oval Office. This was exactly what Bill Clinton did in 1996, establishing the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument on 1.9 million acres of land in southern Utahs spectacular canyon country, already the home of five national parks. Advertisement That 1906 act, passed while Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House, gives the president wide-ranging authority to create national monuments from public lands in order to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific features. Since activities like drilling for oil and gas, mining, timber cutting, and grazing are barred or tightly restricted on such protected lands, Western politicians tend to regard them as a tool wielded by conservationists to suppress economic development. Grave Robbing for Fun and Profit Sure enough, the nightmare of the cowboys is being realized. A coalition of five tribes, all either presently in Utah or claiming ancestral lands there, is now pushing a bold proposal for just such a national monument -- a park co-managed by the five tribes and the National Park Service (which in itself would be a significant first for the Native American community). It would include 1.9 million acres of the ancestral grounds of the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain, and Ute Indian tribes and would be known as the Bears Ears after the areas most famous landmark, twin buttes that are said to resemble a bear's ears. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel recently toured the proposed monument and was amazed by what she saw, including spectacular cliff-house ruins, as well as paintings and rock carvings depicting clan signs, shamanic visions, and ghostly herds of bighorn sheep and elk. Bears Ears would possess more than 100,000 archaeological sites, including many of the oldest and most spectacular ruins in the United States. Members of the coalition of tribes regard them and the ground littered with their ancestors artifacts and bones as sacred. A grassroots group, Utah Dine Bikeyah, did extensive groundwork collecting data and interviews to create cultural maps of the region. The extraordinary archaeological and historical record they built effectively made their case that the ancestors of the coalition tribes have relied on that landscape for hunting, gathering, and ceremonial activities for centuries. The Utah conservation community, which had mapped out its own plans for such a monument, stepped aside for the tribal proposal. Protecting the Bears Ears is considered an urgent matter. A mere handful of rangers currently patrol thousands of square miles of rugged canyons where the looting of archaeological sites for fun and profit is a rural tradition. In remote outposts like Blanding, Utah, Indian grave robbing was considered an acceptable family pastime until agents from the FBI infiltrated the black market for artifacts and busted a prominent local family. Ute leader Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk expresses a motivating concern of the tribal leaders. Without swift action, she says, we fear that the archaeological and cultural riches of the Bears Ears will suffer shameful, disgraceful dissolution and obliteration. Advertisement Her fear is well founded. In recent years, for instance, rural county commissioners have led illegal all-terrain-vehicle rallies on a route through Recapture Canyon that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rangers shut to motorized traffic because it crosses several key archaeological sites. State and county politicians were not content to challenge the BLMs closure of that canyon in court. Instead, they openly promoted such rides to defy the feds. The last of these protests in 2014 did, in fact, significantly damage unprotected archeological sites. The indigenous community saw it as a shocking show of disrespect, like driving directly over cemetery graves. The well-armed vigilantes who rode through Recapture Canyon were led by Ryan Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy and the famous hothead of the Bundy clan. You may remember the colorful Bundy boys. After all, they became the stars of the cowboy rebellion against federal regulation on public lands. In 2014, BLM rangers were dispatched to Nevada to remove Cliven Bundys cows from lands on which they had been grazing illegally for 20 years. The feds claimed that he owed the taxpayers a million bucks in unpaid grazing fees. He, on the other hand, insisted that such public lands belonged to the ranchers whose grandparents first grazed them. The rangers sent to enforce the law were met by hundreds of armed cowboys, many of whom took up sniper positions around them. Faced with such overwhelming firepower and the prospect of bloodshed, they withdrew and a range war was on. The Gang That Couldnt Shoot Straight That retreat in Nevada undoubtedly emboldened the Bundy clan and their militia allies to seize Oregons Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016. Well-armed, they occupied the visitor center at that bird refuge, leaning on every cowboy cliche in the book. They dressed the part with chaps, boots, buckles, and Stetson hats, carried American flags, and regularly posed with their horses for news photographers. In the end, despite the Marlboro Man look and the Clint Eastwood demeanor, the Bundyites came across as the gang that couldnt shoot straight. The constitutional revolution they wanted to spark by seizing Malheur fizzled amid a festival of cognitive dissonance and irony: men carrying assault rifles and threatening to use them proclaimed themselves peaceful protesters and, while declaring it off limits, attempted to return land to the American people -- land that they already owned. Federal agents eventually arrested all of the principal players in both the earlier Nevada standoff and the Malheur fiasco, except for one killed at a roadblock when he charged armed rangers and reached for his gun. Trials began on September 7th and are slated to last for months. Advertisement Given the open hostility of state and local politicians to the protection of sacred sites, as well as their willingness to break the law and offer tacit support for vigilantes like the Bundys, tribal leaders decided to take their concerns about protecting their ancestral grounds to the top. A delegation traveled to Washington and met with President Obama, while a media campaign was begun to persuade others to endorse the plan. A broader coalition of tribes and the conservation community rallied to the idea, especially because it was the first time that Native American tribes had proposed such a monument. The vision of a park to honor sacred indigenous lands, shaped and directed by Native Americans themselves, caught the public imagination. The New York Times and Washington Post have both written editorials urging the president to create such a park and Utah polls show a solid majority of citizens in favor of it. Peace Pipes, Not Oil Pipes The genocidal policies that accompanied settlement across North America crested in Sioux country at the close of the nineteenth century. The survivors of the vanquished indigenous nations there were interned on reservations. Their children were taken from them and sent to boarding schools where their hair was cut, and their language and ceremonies banished. This was -- and was meant to be -- a form of cultural genocide. In the Bears Ears and Sioux country today, however, the culture of Native Americans endures. The descendants of those warriors who died defending their homeland and of those children taken from their families and their native cultures have proven remarkably resilient. They are once again defending their world and, as it happens, ours too, because even if you dont share the Missouri River watershed, you live on a planet that is being rapidly transformed by the sort of toxic cargo that will fill a future Dakota Access Pipeline. In the Hollywood Westerns of my youth, Indians were often one-dimensional villains who committed atrocities on good white folks trying to bring civilization to the frontier. As with so many notions I inherited in my youth, reality has turned out to be another story. Advertisement Certainly, before the onslaught of colonialism, the way indigenous people across the planet viewed what we now call our environment has come to seem like sanity itself. The land, as the Sioux and other tribal peoples saw it, was a living being saturated with spirits that humans should both acknowledge and respect. The Indians whom the cowboys and bluecoats fought didnt share European concepts of cash, property, profit, progress, and, most importantly, technology. Once upon a time, we had the guns and they had the bows and arrows, so we rolled over them. But heres the wondrous thing: a story that seemed to have ended long ago turns out to be anything but over. Times have changed, and in the process the previous cast of characters has, it seems, swapped roles. An economy hooked on carbon is threatening life on Earth. The waters of seas and oceans are warming fast; the weather is becoming unpredictable and harsh. Perhaps its time to finally listen to and learn from people who lived here sustainably for thousands of years. Respecting Sioux sovereignty and protecting the sacred sites of tribes in their own co-managed national monument could write the next chapter in our American story, the one in which the Indians finally get to be heroes and heroines fighting to protect our way of life as well as their own. Chip Ward, a TomDispatch regular, co-founded HEAL Utah and wrote Canaries on the Rim and Hopes Horizon. Returning from hiking trips in the Bears Ears, he long kept his knowledge of the ruins he visited to himself, fearing the vulnerability of ancient cliff houses and granaries to looters. He is hopeful that they will now get the protection they deserve. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton pauses as she speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Washington convention center in Washington, U.S., September 17, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria Hillary Clinton's lead in the race for Electoral College votes is shrinking. In fact, it has been shrinking for a solid month now. Two weeks ago (the last time I wrote one of these columns), this hadn't really benefited Donald Trump much. Now, however, Trump seems to be surging in the polls while Hillary slides even further. Now, I wouldn't say it's quite time to panic for Democrats -- but that time may be just around the corner, unless Clinton can turn things around fairly quickly. The first presidential debate will happen one week from today, so such a turnaround is indeed possible in the near future. Advertisement Let's take a look at the overall picture. Two weeks ago, Clinton had lost two big states (Florida and Ohio) into the "Tied" category (white, on the graph below). This time around, Trump picked them up and a few others as well, putting him at his strongest point in the race so far. Hillary still holds an edge, but it is now razor-thin. All of these charts, in one way or another, graph Electoral Votes (EV) over time. The overview chart shows who would be ahead if the election were held today and all the polling is correct. Clinton starts from the bottom of the graph and goes up, and Trump starts from the top of the graph and goes down. If blue crosses the 50 percent line, Clinton will win, and if red dips below the 50 percent line, then Trump will win. [Click on any of theses images to see larger-scale versions.] You can see how close things have gotten. One state is currently tied (Nevada), and Clinton only has four EV more than necessary to win. Trump, however, has improved to 258 EV, meaning he's only 12 EV away from the magic 270 EV mark. The shift from two weeks ago is dramatic. Back then, Hillary had 312 EV, to Trump's 197 EV. She has now dropped to 274 EV, while he rose to 258 EV. The trend is even more dramatic if you go back four weeks. One month ago, Hillary Clinton had 358 EV -- a full 84 EV more than she's got now. Four weeks ago, Trump was at 180 EV, which was 78 EV lower than he's at now. That's a pretty substantial turnaround. Advertisement Before we go any further, however, there is one important caveat. The polling site I use for all of my data (Electoral-Vote.com) is now including 50-state internet polls in its data. These polls are rather unreliable, but they do at least provide some sort of data for states that normally don't get polled even once during the entire election season. Now, for states that are true battleground states, this polling might move the bar for a short period, but will soon be overshadowed by other (more reliable) polls, so any problems self-correct over time. But for states that rarely (if ever) get polled, this can lead to basing conclusions on rather shaky data. One of these internet polls happened the day after I wrote my previous Electoral Math column, and the results were rather slanted towards Trump in a few states where it's hard to believe their data. New Mexico is perhaps the most obvious of these, where the internet poll showed Trump up 10 points (48 percent to Clinton's 38 percent). But without a better poll to confirm or rebut this data, I find it more than a little unbelievable. But even with this caveat, Trump is unquestionably doing better. More than half of the states (27) showed movement in the past two weeks, although five of these eventually returned to where they started (Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, and Utah). Of the others, Donald Trump got stronger in six of the states he's leading in (Georgia, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas) and weaker in two (Alabama and Alaska). Hillary Clinton's numbers were almost exactly the opposite. In states she's holding, Clinton got stronger in only two (Connecticut and Virginia) and weaker in seven states (Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin). The bigger news, however, were the states that fully changed direction. Nevada went from Clinton's column to being tied, and Florida went from being tied to Trump's column. Three other states flipped all the way from Clinton to Trump. One of these, Ohio, may be flipping back and forth for some time to come, but the other two (Colorado and New Mexico) may flip comfortably back to Clinton when the next reliable poll is taken. As you can plainly see, almost all the movement in the past two weeks has been towards Trump and away from Clinton. This is why many Democrats are already panicking, which I think is a little premature (more on this in a moment). First, let's take a closer look at each candidate's numbers, broken down into three categories: Strong, Weak, and Barely. First, we have Donald Trump's new chart. Advertisement [Definition of terms: "Strong" means 10 percent or better in the polls, "Weak" means five percent or better, and "Barely" is under five percent.] Donald Trump had the best two weeks he has so far managed. His Strong category went up from 101 EV two weeks ago to 157 EV now. Some historical context is necessary to understand how strong Trump is currently doing. In the entire 2008 election cycle, John McCain's best Strong showing was 161 EV. Mitt Romney's 2012 high point in this category was 158 EV -- only one more than Trump currently has. Trump lost two states from Strong in the past two weeks (Alabama and Alaska), but gained six (Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas). That's a pretty impressive showing (although, as I stated, I have reason to be suspicious of that New Mexico poll result). Trump's Weak category actually decreased during this period, down from 50 EV to only 34 EV. This wasn't exactly bad news for him, though, as three states moved up to Strong (one of them being Texas), while two smaller states fell back from Strong to Weak (Alabama and Alaska). Georgia was the good news for Trump here, moving up from Barely to Weak. Trump saw similar gains in the Barely column, which went up from 46 EV to 67 EV. Three states got stronger for Trump (Georgia, Missouri, and South Carolina), but the big news for Trump was the addition of three states that were previously either tied or in Clinton's column (Colorado, Florida, and Ohio). Florida and Ohio have 47 EV between them, it bears mentioning. Of course, the metric I watch closer than any other is "Strong Plus Weak," which shows the states a candidate can comfortably count on going their way on Election Day. Four weeks ago, Trump had hit his all-time low in this category, at only 139 EV. Two weeks ago, he hadn't improved much, up to only 151 EV. Now, however, Trump is at his all-time high in this category, at 191 EV. That's a big turnaround, most of which happened in the past two weeks. Again, to put this number in context, both Mitt Romney and John McCain had periods above 200 EV in this category multiple times during their campaigns. So Trump still has some distance to go to match either of them. Enough of Trump, though, let's take a detailed look at Hillary Clinton's numbers. That is a pretty sobering chart for Clinton supporters. Hillary Clinton got a whole lot of bad polling news in the past two weeks, which only added to the bad polling news she had gotten the previous two weeks. Her overall number has not yet slipped below the 270 EV needed to win -- something that happened to Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012, for context. But she's only above it now by the skin of her teeth, meaning she has to turn things around fast or this is going to be a nail-biter of an election. Advertisement In the Strong category, Clinton was at 231 EV four weeks ago. Two weeks ago, she was at 198 EV. Today, she has slipped to 152 EV -- her lowest point to date. In the past two weeks, she added Connecticut to her Strong total, but lost five other states (Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington). Colorado went all the way from Strong Clinton to Barely Trump, in fact. Clinton's Weak category wasn't quite as bad, with the movement in and out a little more mixed. Clinton gained four states in Weak that fell from Strong (Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington), but Connecticut moved up to Strong. However, Michigan, New Hampshire and Wisconsin all fell from Weak down to Barely Clinton. And New Mexico (rather unbelievably, as mentioned) went all the way from Weak Clinton to Strong Trump. The good news for Clinton here was that Virginia moved up from Barely Clinton to Weak Clinton -- and Virginia might be one of the two or three states that decide this election. All of this added up to Clinton moving from 62 EV in Weak up to 73 EV. Clinton's Barely numbers stayed roughly the same, even though there was some movement both in and out of the category. She started with 52 EV in Barely two weeks ago, and finished with 49 EV in the category. Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin all fell back to Barely from Weak, but Nevada moved from Barely Clinton to Tied, and Ohio went over to Trump's column. Virginia also left Barely Clinton, but it actually moved up to Weak Clinton, so this was the only good news here. Clinton's Strong Plus Weak number fell dramatically, but very slightly improved afterwards, so perhaps she's hit bottom here. She started off the period at 260 EV in Strong Plus Weak, fell back to her all-time low of 216 EV, but then inched up to 225 EV, where she remains. This is where some historical context becomes necessary (so as not to panic too much). Here is my chart of the Strong Plus Weak metric for Hillary Clinton versus Barack Obama's two elections. As you can see, Clinton's Strong Plus Weak line is between where Obama was in 2008 and where he was in 2012, at precisely the same point in the election cycle. In 2012, Obama was at 241 EV in Strong Plus Weak right now, and in 2008 he had fallen to 200 EV (and he would fall even further before he bounced back). In fact, on Election Day in 2012, Obama was only at 217 EV in this category -- down eight from where Clinton is right now. This is why I caution that Democrats shouldn't be panicking (yet), because even though Clinton is indeed down in the polls right now, she hasn't lost her lead and could still very easily win the election (as Obama did, both times). One solid debate performance may be all that Hillary Clinton needs to start recovering a much bigger lead, in fact. Advertisement My Picks Since predicting which states will do what on Election Day is (to me, at least) more than just a data-driven exercise, I have to take into account my gut feelings for each particular state. This is where I can freely discount poll numbers I simply don't trust, to put it another way. To signify this, I use different categories here, dividing states into Safe, Probable, and Leans for each candidate as well as the Too Close To Call category for those where things could still go either way. Before we get to individual picks, here's my updated map (which I created at 270toWin, where you can make your own map and post a link to it, if you disagree with my picks). And, as always, full lists of my state picks are at the end of the column, with their EV totals. Likely States -- Clinton Safe Clinton (14 states, 188 EV) I only changed three states here this time around. I moved Maine and Rhode Island down to Probable Clinton, and Connecticut up from there. A few other states showed weaker polls in this category (Minnesota, New Jersey, Washington), but I think they're outlier polls so I'm keeping all three in Safe Clinton for now. Probable Clinton (5 states, 46 EV) This category had the most reshuffling this time around, with only two of the previous seven remaining in place. Pennsylvania stayed steady, which could in fact be the best news for Clinton this time around (Trump's path to victory almost requires him to win Pennsylvania). New Mexico is supposedly 10 points up for Trump right now, but I refuse to believe this poll because it is so far out from what any other poll has shown here. So perhaps I'll consider moving it if further polling justifies it, but for now I still think it remains as a Probable Clinton state. Connecticut moved up from this category to Safe, and Virginia moved up into Probable from Leans Clinton. Maine and Rhode Island moved down to Probable from Safe, but the bad news was the states moving down from this category to Leans Clinton (Michigan, New Hampshire, Wisconsin), or even down to Too Close To Call (Colorado). So the new full list of Probable Clinton states this week is: Maine, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia. Likely States -- Trump Safe Trump (16 states, 95 EV) Five states shifted within the Safe category for Trump. Two (Alabama and Alaska) moved down to Probable. Three (Montana, North Dakota, and Utah) moved up from Probable. Trump's EV total didn't change, however, as both of these groups added up to 12 EV each. Advertisement Probable Trump (5 states, 69 EV) Other than the five states that shifted between Probable and Safe for Trump, two states moved up from Lean Trump to Probable -- Missouri and South Carolina. This leaves five states as Probable for Trump: Alabama, Alaska, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas. Tossup States Leans Clinton (3 states, 30 EV) There was a lot of movement in all of the Tossup categories this time around. All three of the previous Leans Clinton states moved out of the category, two of which were bad news (Nevada and Ohio moved down to Too Close To Call), and one of which was good news (Virginia, which improved to Probable Clinton). Three other states moved in to take their place (Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin), all down from Probable Clinton. Leans Trump (3 states, 33 EV) Two of the four states previously in the Leans Trump category improved to Probable Trump (Missouri and South Carolina). Iowa moved up from Too Close To Call to Leans Trump, as almost all the recent polls have shown he has a very slight edge there. In addition to Iowa, Arizona and Georgia stayed Leans Trump this time around, leaving Trump with three states in this category. Too Close To Call (5 states, 77 EV) I try to keep this category as small as possible, but had to expand it this week. Iowa moved up to Leans Trump, but the other two states previously in Too Close To Call remained (Florida and North Carolina). My gut tells me Clinton's got an excellent chance in both Florida and North Carolina, but the poll numbers are so tight that I can't even bring myself to move them up to Leans Clinton yet. The bad news here for Clinton is that three states moved down to Too Close To Call from her categories this time around. Both Nevada and Ohio are too close to even put them in Leans Clinton, and the big surprise was Colorado moving all the way down from Probable Clinton to Too Close To Call. Colorado, unlike New Mexico, has had more than one poll showing Trump with a very tiny lead, so for the time being it has to be considered a tossup. Final Tally My final tally -- even with my possibly-biased gut feelings figured in -- is actually worse for Clinton than the straight poll numbers would indicate. Safe Clinton states add up to almost exactly what they were two weeks ago, but she lost a lot of ground in the Probable Clinton category. This means a total of only 234 EV that Clinton can still count on in November. This is down from 260 EV last time around, and is a lot further away from the 270 EV needed to win. Donald Trump, unlike last time around, actually added states that Clinton was letting slide away from her. Most of these are still only in the Leans Trump category for now, but Trump added one state to his Safe column and one to his Probable column. This gave him 21 states that he doesn't currently have to worry about, for a total of 164 EV. This is up from last time around, but only by 19 EV -- not as high a jump as you might think. I think one more quick "Don't panic!" note is necessary for worried Democrats, here. Even though Trump is now at a high and Clinton is at a low point, Clinton still has 70 EV more than Trump in these categories. Hillary's lead has indeed shrunk considerably (two weeks ago, she was leading by 115 EV here), but she is still in the lead, and by a fairly large margin. Clinton needs 36 EV more to win, but Trump needs 106 EV. Hopefully, that puts things into a better perspective. There are now 11 battleground states, for a total of 140 EV. Both Trump and Clinton have three apiece that lean in their direction, and five are too close to accurately predict. But for the first time in this race, Clinton will need at least one of the Too Close To Call states, because her leaners added to her likely states only total 264 EV. If Clinton wins either Nevada or Colorado, she'll be our next president -- even if she loses Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio to Trump. Adding Trump's leaners to his likely states only totals 197 EV, by comparison. Trump has to win all his leaners and all the Too Close To Call states to claim victory. Which is a tall order, although for the first time a Trump path to 270 EV is now a real possibility. Advertisement What this all means is that Hillary Clinton is still leading the presidential race for Electoral College votes, by a pretty wide margin. However, the trend lines don't look too good for her, so she's got to turn things around in several key states before her supporters stop considering panicking. She still has the lead, but that lead has been shrinking for the past month. If it shrinks any further, the entire race might be a lot closer than anyone would have thought (myself included) even one month ago. [Electoral Vote Data:] (State electoral votes are in parenthesis following each state's name. Washington D.C. is counted as a state, for a total of 51.) Hillary Clinton Likely Easy Wins -- 19 States -- 234 Electoral Votes: Safe States -- 14 States -- 188 Electoral Votes California (55), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), Minnesota (10), New Jersey (14), New York (29), Oregon (7), Vermont (3), Washington (12), Washington D.C. (3) Probable States -- 5 States -- 46 Electoral Votes Maine (4), New Mexico (5), Pennsylvania (20), Rhode Island (4), Virginia (13) Donald Trump Likely Easy Wins -- 21 States -- 164 Electoral Votes: Safe States -- 16 States -- 95 Electoral Votes Arkansas (6), Idaho (4), Indiana (11), Kansas (6), Kentucky (8), Louisiana (8), Mississippi (6), Montana (3), Nebraska (5), North Dakota (3), Oklahoma (7), South Dakota (3), Tennessee (11), Utah (6), West Virginia (5), Wyoming (3) Probable States -- 5 States -- 69 Electoral Votes Alabama (9), Alaska (3), Missouri (10), South Carolina (9), Texas (38) Tossup States -- 11 States -- 140 Electoral Votes: Tossup States Leaning Clinton -- 3 States -- 30 Electoral Votes Michigan (16), New Hampshire (4), Wisconsin (10) Tossup States Leaning Trump -- 3 States -- 33 Electoral Votes Arizona (11), Georgia (16), Iowa (6) Too Close To Call -- 5 States -- 77 Electoral Votes Colorado (9), Florida (29), Nevada (6), North Carolina (15), Ohio (18) Polling data weaknesses: Unlike in 2008 and 2012, polling data does now exist for all 51 states (adding in Washington D.C.). The following list is of states where the polling data is rather suspect, since only one or two polls have been conducted, all on the internet. Advertisement Internet-only polling, with dates last polled -- 20 States Alabama (9/8), Alaska (9/1), Delaware (9/8), Hawaii (9/1), Illinois (9/8), Kentucky (9/8), Louisiana (9/8), Maryland (9/8), Mississippi (9/8), Montana (9/8), Nebraska (9/8), New Mexico (9/8), New York (9/8), North Dakota (9/1), South Dakota (9/1), Tennessee (9/8), Washington (9/8), Washington D.C. (5/31), West Virginia (9/8), Wyoming (9/1) Chris Weigant blogs at: In the spirit of full disclosure, I am sick and tired of this election. My symptoms include nausea, headache and bouts of hysteria, followed by crippling acute depression. It's been so bad lately I watch the stock market channel on the screen that won't turn off at the gym while peddling the exercise bike. I've even started "The West Wing" from the beginning on Netflix to avoid the ridiculous, hysterical and contagious political "news" coverage. It's like an earworm of Disney's "It's a Small World," only worse. According to Colin Powell's hacked emails last week, we have a basket of deplorable choices. On one hand there is Donald Trump, "international pariah" and "national disgrace," and on the other there is Hillary Clinton, a woman "with a long track record, unbridled ambition, greedy, not transformational." Colin Powell is the media-revered Republican high priest who, it turns out, as secretary of state used a personal computer connected to a private telephone line to send and receive emails to staffers, friends and foreign leaders without having to go through State Department servers, according to NPR. Remember when Powell convincingly winced at being pulled into the Clinton email story? Don't pull a guy with his polish - so clean and crisp - into the mud, right? A general with his stature - an Episcopalian, for heaven's sake - obviously has nothing to do with an email scandal, we assumed. Powell smiles and salutes and the good people believe. Or at least many did until they read his email. Advertisement "They are going to (mess) up the legitimate and necessary use of emails with friggin record rules. I saw email more like a telephone than a cable machine," Powell wrote last year to his business partner Jeffrey Leeds. "Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris," he later added. Email like a telephone? Really? And as an English major and a Congregationalist, I'd gladly take a little hubris over a little (messing) up of the friggin' rules any day, but getting back to Powell's critique of Clinton, a long track record and unbridled ambition are qualities every person who runs for president of the United States has, or should have, right? As for "greedy," if Clinton thought greed was good, she would be giving three speeches to Goldman Sachs for $675,000 every couple of months instead of running the gantlet for president, therefore keeping her tax returns - and the fact she's on the antibiotic Levaquin and that her blood pressure is 100/70, her pulse 70 and that she has a total cholesterol level of 189 - to herself, thank you very much. A "transformational" candidate is in the eye of the beholder. To some, such a person will move the ball up the field in the face of a fierce defensive team. To others the candidate will bungee jump off of Trump Tower. Advertisement I happen to agree with Garrison Keillor, the author and radio personality who wrote of ho-hum Clinton in a recent Washington Post column: "What some people see as a relentless quest for power strikes me as the good habits of a serious Methodist. Be steady. Don't give up. It's not about you. Work for the night is coming." But even assuming that Powell's characterization of Clinton is correct - that she's been around the block, she's ambitious, a capitalist and oh so predictable - she is not an international pariah. The world respects Clinton, and she is not a national disgrace. Clinton served as first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state with distinction, so even if the choice is actually as Powell describes, it's obvious who should win. You may not like Clinton because her voice grates on your nerves, her confidence is off-putting and she wears too much makeup. And you might not trust her because she didn't call a press conference or hold a rally about the fact that she was sick and determined to "power through" it, but when all is said and done, her dirty laundry isn't out there swinging in the wind with the boxers of Powell, the guy who mansplained she needed to "be careful" about email and then later denied it. Clinton turned over thousands and thousands of emails, and they are professional, written in good English and cheerful when appropriate. There were no surprises about her person that were revealed. Who we see is who we will get. "I have a great deal of respect for Colin Powell, and I have a lot of sympathy for anyone whose emails become public," Clinton said recently in response to reporting on his hacked emails. "I'm not going to start discussing someone else's private emails." With all of the new requirements for practicing medicine under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), retirement for those who can do it looks like a pretty reasonable option. Unfortunately, there is a clause under the Act that may take this option off the table. Section 5210 Establishing a Ready Reserve Corps, amends Section 203 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 204) such that there will now be a Ready Reserve Corps for service in time of national emergency. Physicians have always been subject to a draft during times of war. This new law now makes them subject to a draft during any national emergency. It is not clear under the law as to what would constitute a "national emergency," but Section 203(c)(2)(D) states that the Ready Reserve Corps "be available for service assignment in isolated, hardship, and medically underserved communities ...to improve access to health services." Physicians are the "ready reserve corps". Not much has been written in the news media about this small section of the Affordable Care Act, but as a physician looking forward to retirement, it is of concern. In fact, the law specifically states that this reserve force must be able to respond on short notice and may even have to serve "involuntarily" (Section 203(c)(2)(B) of the Affordable Care Act). Does this mean that they can keep me from retiring and put me in a medically underserved community which may need a cardiothoracic surgeon? The way I read the law, the answer is "yes." Advertisement The uses of this Ready Reserve Corps would be to "(A) participate in routine training to meet the general and specific needs of the Commissioned Corps; (B) be available and ready for involuntary (emphasis added) calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises, similar to the uniformed service reserve personnel; (C) be available for backfilling critical positions left vacant during deployment of active duty Commissioned Corps members, as well as for deployment to respond to public health emergencies, both foreign and domestic; and (D) be available for service assignment in isolated, hardship, and medically underserved (emphasis added) communities ...to improve access to health services." On July 2, 2008, President Obama stated that "We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." Could the Affordable Care Act be the first legislation used in setting up this new national security force and will the physicians so drafted be the spear-head of this force? Why should a civilian national security force need to be just as powerful as our military? Why does it need to be as well-funded? Will this force be armed with military style weapons? This seems to be overkill to me but there is not much on the internet or in the main stream media to help discern the role of this force. Would this new force be constitutional? The ACA funds it and the commissioned officers of the ready reserve are to be appointed by the President. This would be different than the commissioned officers of the regular corps which are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate (emphasis added). Why no requirement for the advice and consent of the Senate for the officers of the ready reserve corps? I don't know but I am worried. Who will the President appoint? What kind of power will these officers have? Will it be the same type of power as the regular corps or will there be differences? Where will the checks and balances be if the Senate has no role in deciding who these officers will be; this is very different from the requirements of the other uniformed services. Why the difference? Will this force only be answerable to the President? Advertisement Nancy Pelosi infamously stated that we would have to pass the Affordable Care Act in order to find out what was in it. What she has stated has now come to pass. Sections of the ACA that I thought were clearly unconstitutional have passed Supreme Court scrutiny. First, mandating the purchase of health care insurance was deemed to be a proper exercise of the taxing power of the United States (National Federation of Independent Business, v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, 648 F.3d 1235). Originally, President Obama stated that this power was allowed under the Commerce Clause and it was not (emphasis added) a tax. Justice Roberts stated the opposite in his opinion. The mandate was not allowed under the Commerce Clause but it is allowed as a tax. Oh, well. The other Supreme Court decision that I was way off on was the case of King v. Burwell, 135 S.Ct. 475 (2014). Originally, the ACA would only allow tax credits for those who used exchanges that had been set up by the states. When states did not set up an exchange, then the federal government would set one up but the people in those states would not be given any tax credits which were intended to help pay the premiums for the health insurance. The intent of the Congress was to get the states to buy into Obamacare but many of the states chose not to do this. Despite the clear language of the statute, the Internal Revenue Service, under the direction of the White House, started giving tax credits to everyone, even to those in states that had not set up an exchange. The Executive branch is supposed to enforce the law, not change it. When this issue made it to the Supreme Court, the Court decided to repair the law. Since the Judicial branch is supposed to state what the law is, it seems like the Court was overstepping its authority when they essentially changed the law such that state exchanges really meant state and federal exchanges. By its decision, the Court essentially gave the Internal Revenue Service the authority to spend billions of dollars on tax credits for those using the federal exchanges. The power of the purse, I thought, was to be invested to the legislature, not the Court. Advertisement It is said that the Supreme Court is not last because it is right, it is right because it is last. There must be finality in the law or we will have a society in disarray. Asking me to make a prediction as to a law's constitutionality would not be a good idea; I am often wrong, especially as it relates to Obamacare. The manager instructed her to push accounts but not to tell the customers about the downfalls and fees of new accounts. "Make them read the paperwork." She replied, "But you know no one ever reads the paperwork." His response: "Exactly." You might have heard that Wells Fargo Bank was busted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for opening millions of fraudulent accounts - ruining customer credit scores and finances to rack up profits from big fees - and had to pay a $185 million fine. You might have heard that the bank said management didn't know about the 1.5 million to 2 million fraudulent accounts that were racking up big profits, gave the head of the division responsible for those accounts a $125 million bonus, blamed low-level employees and fired more than 5,000 of them. Now those former employees have the words "ethics" and "fraud" on their records. Advertisement The untold story is how Wells Fargo - and other banks - used job insecurity, poverty-level wages, extreme sales quotas and high pressure as financial incentives to fraudulently open accounts for customers on which the bank then profited from fees and penalties. And then the banks blamed the very low-level workers on whom they had imposed extreme sales quotas. So banks profit from low wages and job insecurity in more ways than the obvious. They don't just pocket the wage differential; they use the poverty-level wages and job insecurity to force employees to do unethical things they couldn't otherwise get them to do. Focus On Selling, Not Customer Needs On a Monday conference call organized by the Committee for Better Banks, former bank employees described an industry culture of pressure and fear using "sales quotas" to force low-wage employees to rip off customers. On the call, Khalid Taha, a former Wells Fargo personal banker described unreasonable sales goals at the bank. Taha said he and his colleagues were under serious pressure to meet sales goals every day. They were compelled to "prioritize selling rather than focusing on what's best for customer needs," he said. They had daily quotas to open new credit card, loan, savings and other accounts. With wages being very low, the strongest incentive was that no workers were being fired for overzealous selling but workers were regularly fired for not meeting sales targets. Advertisement Customers were constantly complaining that they can't afford fees. Employees were instructed to sell savings accounts as if this solved the problem. But opening savings accounts required an auto transfer of funds from the checking account to savings, resulting in less money in the checking account, so customers are then are hit with overdraft fees. "Work Them Like Dogs" Julie Miller had been a branch manager of a Wells Fargo in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She had worked in banks for 20 years. She said that Walls Fargo called branch managers "store managers" and set "sales goals." She said the sales goal structure and the pressure came from all levels. Describing a culture of harassment and fear when employees don't meet the set goals, she said she was "instructed by Wells Fargo to increase branch sales by more than 35 percent each year." Because Allentown was not a large community, "It could only come from the customer base," she said. They were told to "sell, sell, sell" at the cost of honest advice, and if employees didn't meet the goals, she said she was told to write them up or terminate them. To meet goals, they would churn, which meant to open new accounts, Miller said. When they didn't meet the goals, she said she was told to "work them like dogs if you have to, or make it up yourself." "Exactly" Cassuandra Plummer had worked in retail banking for seven years. Her most recent job was as a teller at TD Bank. She said the sales goals made it nearly impossible to help customers find products that work for them. "At my branch it was the norm to disregard our customer needs and only focus on sales," she said. Plummer said the manager instructed her to push accounts but not tell the customers about the downfalls and fees of new accounts. "Make them read the paperwork," she recalled the manager saying. She replied, "But you know no one ever reads the paperwork." His response: "Exactly." Advertisement "There Is No Way That 5,000 Workers Acted Individually" Shane Larson, legislative director at Communications Workers of America (CWA) said he is trying to get Congress and regulators to pay attention to this issue at a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday. "Wells Fargo trying to blame the 5,000 workers they fired," Larson said. "There is no way that 5,000 workers acted individually." Larson said the decision was made to not pay workers a living wage, then create financial incentives to push these accounts by ruthlessly enforcing sales goals on the workers. He pointed out that while this is not contained to Wells Fargo and is industry-wide, there are banks that don't rely on predatory sales goals. These predatory sales goals harm workers and harm consumers as well. CWA and a coalition are raising questions about how Wall Street and big banks operate in our economy today. This is the origin of the Take On Wall Street campaign to draw attention to the practices of big banks and Wall Street. The Only Way To Protect People Is To Ensure That Bank Workers Have Good Jobs Finally, Deb Axt, the co-executive director of Make the Road New York and Make the Road Action said her organization and its 30,000 largely Latino members in New York and Long Island have been "speaking out for years now that all these banks have been forcing employees to choose between making a living or treating customers the way they want to." Customers are in need of financial advice and support, but the banks are using job insecurity as a way to force people to ruin neighbors' and customers' finances, she said. "The CEO blamed 5,300 mothers and fathers, and gave the executive in charge a $125 million golden parachute." Instead, she said, the CEO needs to go, and the people on the front line need a share of the profits. Advertisement Right now the employee's choice is between making a living, and treating customers the way they should be treated" "The only way to protect people is to ensure that bank workers have good jobs." Wells Fargo branch manager Rita Murillo came to dread the phone calls. Regional bosses required hourly conferences on her Florida branch's progress toward daily quotas for opening accounts and selling customers extras such as overdraft protection. Employees who lagged behind had to stay late and work weekends to meet goals, Murillo said. Then came the threats: Anyone falling short after two months would be fired. "We were constantly told we would end up working for McDonald's," said Murillo, who later resigned. "If we did not make the sales quotas ... we had to stay for what felt like after-school detention, or report to a call session on Saturdays." Does This Sound Somehow familiar? Summary: Executives at big corporations reap big profits from a rigged system. They use job insecurity and poverty wages to force employees to do things that hurt customer (and societal) interests, then blame the employees if the corporation gets busted for it. Those at the top reap astonishing amounts of money for themselves. This has become such a familiar story because if government does anything at all it imposes a modest fine that comes out of shareholder pockets without holding executives accountable. The executives laugh all the way from the bank and move on to the next scam. The answer is good pay, job security and respect on the job for regular, working Americans. In a country run by We the People, shouldn't that be a baseline? The Committee for Better Banks Check out the Committee for Better Banks. It is "a coalition of bank workers, community and consumer advocacy groups, and labor organizations coming together to improve conditions in the bank industry. They work for just wages, career paths, and job security for front-line bank workers." On Twitter follow @ForBetterBanks Advertisement Religious communities seeking to win back millennials may have to wait a little longer. Even as young adults increasingly put off marriage, the traditional assumption that saying "I do" at the altar can help pump new vibrancy into congregational life no longer appears valid, new research indicates. Newly married individuals reported fewer close friends and weaker social ties within their congregations, according to a study of two waves of the Portraits of American Life Study. The evidence supports developing research indicating marriage is more likely in younger generations to be a "greedy institution." Attention tends to shift to the newlywed's spouse and away from other relationships, said researcher Benjamin Gurrentz of Pennsylvania State University. Advertisement What does bring young adults back to religious congregations is having children. And it is not just married couples with children that are filling pews. Single parents matter Being married and a parent remains strongly associated with returning to an active religious life, according to a separate study following some 11,500 young people from adolescence to young adulthood. Among young people who attended weekly as adolescents but were not active in emerging adulthood, married parents were more than three times as likely as singles without children to return to weekly attendance, the study found. But what somewhat surprised researchers was that single parents, despite the risk of disapproval, had similarly high rates of return relative to singles without children. "Single parents do seem to be coming back," lead researcher Jeremy Uecker of Baylor University said. "When they were religious as teen-agers ... they find their way back as young adults." Advertisement The Baylor study analyzed data from waves one, three and four of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Wave 1 was conducted in 1994 and 1995 among youth in grades 7-12. Wave 4 was collected in 2007 and 2008. The study looked at respondents who were ages 25 to 31 in the fourth wave. The results were reported in the latest issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. In his study, Penn State's Gurrentz found that the transition to marriage actually reduced religious ties. But being married and a parent was a significant predictor of having more close relationships in their religious communities. "It is children, not marriage per se, that actually integrates married respondents into religious communities," he noted. One other surprise: There was no "marriage penalty" limiting social support for single parents. Gurrentz analyzed data from 1,314 respondents who participated in both the 2006 and 2012 waves of the Portraits of American Life Study. He presented his findings last month at the annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion in Seattle. The findings from both studies suggest that religious communities have much to offer many parents in diverse family situations. Advertisement Married parents may get an extra boost of social approval from the pulpit and the pew. But single parents also welcome congregational support and inspiration. That includes having time to themselves on Sunday mornings while others care for their youngsters and feeling they are cared for by a larger community in the stressful task of raising children. "There appear to be at least two pathways to religious return via family formation--a single-parent path, perhaps especially spurred by practical and cultural reasons, and the 'traditional' married (with children) path," researchers in the Baylor study said. If only more congregations would take notice. Challenges ahead There are significant signs of dissatisfaction with organized religion among young adults, reflected both in lower service attendance and a rise in the number of millennials claiming no religious affiliation. In the face of these trends, many religious leaders have held out hope eventually this generation of young adults would return when they married and had children. Uecker said it may take another 10 years for a clear answer as to whether young adults will return to religion in numbers similar to earlier generations. Advertisement But there are effective actions congregations can consider in the meantime, researchers noted. The best way to retain young adults is not to lose them in the first place. The longer they are away, the harder it may be for them to break back in as they get used to being away and fill the gap with substitutes to organized religion, Uecker noted. Young adults are not only delaying marriage. They also are much more likely to have children without being married. By some estimates, two of every five children today are born outside marriage. So congregations may want to consider expanding their outreach. Actions such as developing more effective ministries to singles, helping newly married childless couples form friendships in their synagogue, mosque or church and showing greater sensitivity to single parents and cohabiting parents all may help increase the odds of attracting and retaining young adults, researchers noted. In the Baylor study, although the rate of return among couples living together outside of marriage was low, cohabiting parents were much more likely than cohabiting individuals without children to reconnect with congregations. "There needs to be some creative thinking about ministry" to people in nontraditional family situations, Uecker said. Advertisement Forget a longer wait. Religious communities that focus their hopes and ministries on married couples with children to the exclusion of singles, newlyweds and individuals in nontraditional relationships may find themselves in the worst possible position. Left behind. Princeton, N. J. -- Walking through the audience at the beginning of Nilo Cruz's Bathing in Moonlight, at the McCarter Theater, Father Monroe (Raul Mendez) greets ticket buyers as if they're members of his Miami congregation--mostly Spanish-speaking Cuban immigrants--and then launches into a sermon about tearing down fences. As the play progresses, the difficulty of following through on his belief in the wall-altering approach becomes Cruz's dramatic point. (The play takes place in 2015, although Father Monroe never refers to Donald Trump's erect-a-wall insistence.) Father Monroe's faltering purpose becomes personal as his friendship with one family in his parish unfolds. It's a family having financial troubles, particularly in regard to meeting mortgage payments. The matriarch of the four-member household (Edward Pierce designed the appealing set) is Martina (Priscilla Lopez), who's holding on to memories of a past that may be less privileged than she recalls. Martina's daughter is Marcela (Hannia Guillen). Her granddaughter is Trini (Katty Velasquez). Her son is Taviano Jr. (Frankie J. Alvarez), a failed medical student just back from two lost years. Advertisement Marcela is at the Bathing in Moonlight center with Father Monroe. From almost the first moment he drops in on the family to reassure them he will cover their delinquent payments, it's obvious that Marcela has a soft spot in her heart for him. It takes more time, but not that much, before Father Monroe declares his physical and spiritual love for Marcela. His outpouring takes place during the first of Cruz's two most accomplished scenes. In this one, Marcela attempts to remind Father Monroe of his celibacy vows, but he refuses to deny his ardor. Eventually but with decreasing reluctance she overcomes her resistance. She asks him if he's "pleasured" himself thinking of her. He nods that he has. The second of Cruz's formidable sequences occurs when Bishop Andrew (Michael Rudko) arrives to confront Father Monroe--who's been named for Marilyn Monroe!--about the now-public affair. Bishop Andrew attempts to remind Father Monroe of his religious obligations and adamantly refuses to accept the priest's arguments that his love for Marcela has only enhanced his faith. Though at this point Cruz is grappling with a pressing contemporary question about religion in the two scenes mentioned, he raises several other complicated matters in his intermissionless 100-minute work. He treats too many of them tangentially. More about Martina's past needs filling in. During two daydreams she relives her early times with natty Taviano Sr. (Alvarez again), which only suggests more can be probed about her younger life. In bringing Taviano Jr. back from the two years he kept himself among the missing, Cruz also suggests there's a larger story there that needs to be told. Advertisement In short, Bathing in Moonlight--the phrase refers to one of the scandalous Father Monroe-Marcela idylls--is unfinished. Right now, the play feels like the outline of a broader look at religion as well as an examination of the Cuban experience in Florida. If a New York transfer is to materialize, Cruz has work to do. As of now, the cast is doing well with their roles. Guillen and Mendez are persuasive lovers. Lopez's Martina is a moving figure, especially when she admits she's never fit into her adopted country. Alvarez is a malcontented Taviano Jr. in contrast to his depiction of the confident Taviano Sr. Velaquez's Trini is a lively teen. On my birthday, I spoke about U.S. culture and the 2016 election. I addressed a group of Global Scholars at Chattanooga State Community College on the societal trends in this election year through the lens of cultural anthropology. Chattanooga is experiencing major cultural shifts as globalization transforms the South's demographics. We are very much in need of a new generation with global leadership skills and multicultural expertise. We explored a sustainable template for understanding our cultural shifts and applied it to the 2016 election cycle. Given our loud, raucous, colorful, and unpredictable politics, the magnitude of this challenge is mind-boggling. I began my talk by sharing why the old English term "mind-boggling" comes so naturally to me. Moving from British colonial Bermuda to Long Island, New York gave me a good understanding of culture clash. I arrived at public school wearing my Bermuda HS for girls uniform. I used English spelling and quoted Shakespeare, referred to the U.S. as the States, and requested a cowgirl outfit and horse at our third floor walk-up apartment. Whether it's language, clothing, food, or literature, I've had to adapt multiple times. Some might call it being flexible, others refer to the process as intercultural competence, but I refer to it is cross-cultural entrepreneurship. You know you're different, but strive to develop a personal brand that can be identified and appreciated across cultural boundaries. Cultural adaptation has a sink-or-swim bottom line element to it that is highly motivating. Advertisement When I hit Harvard as a freshman, I asked the Dean if I could major in diversity, specifically, religious diversity. Diversity didn't exist in academia back then and neither did the major. She explained that although I was admitted because I was different and added interest to the class, I will major in English or Economics like everyone else. My entrepreneurial offer to design a religion diversity major for the university did not go well. So, I created the major on my own by choosing the brand new major of Folklore & Mythology, spending part of my time at the Divinity School and the rest in the cultural anthropology department. I've applied the resulting mix of theories to diverse communities in multiple time periods and documented the process in countless articles and books, including the theory text book, Matrix Model Management System. For the first time, I'm applying my System to the 2016 presidential campaign. I began the presentation referring to cultural anthropologist, Claude Levi Strauss. His methods of organizing and analyzing cultural information was called Structuralism. It asserts that culture is a set of learned behaviors and ideas that characterize a society. His methodology of organizing the Big Data of the limitless details that go into producing the learned behaviors, is beyond mind-boggling. So, I created the Matrix System that interprets Structuralism and makes it accessible and easily digestible. To understand the Matrix System, begin by picturing a triangle with a center that is the Societal Infrastructure common to every society on the planet. Included among the themes of this infrastructure are Economics, Education, Healthcare, and, of course, Politics. While the themes are universal, they vary across the nation, and the globe. To better organize the variables involved, we organize them into three distinct, but interactive, points of the triangle: 1.) Geography & History 2.) Demographics and 3.) Belief Systems. The belief systems are shaped by the previous two categories. Whether emphasizing logic or faith, beliefs shape our Societal Infrastructure. Logic will emphasize proofs & ideas. However, in times of upheaval, protests, and violence, faith will outweigh logic as upheaval, protests and violence intensify emotions. Advertisement Fortunately, there's a short hand for all this information called Cultural Artifacts. They can be Sports, Food, Architecture, and Movies. Or, they can be stereotypes and idioms. What these artifacts have in common is their power to represent geographical, historical and demographic components of a society. Every time we tell a story about ourselves, whether it's a book or a tweet, we provide a wealth of information about our background. The power of stories goes beyond the personal. Groups are held together by these cultural expressions and represented by them. Stories define us and distinguish groups from each other. Technology escalates the quantity and intensity of those stories. And that brings us to the Vote in 2016. Campaigning has shifted from traditional appearances to social networks with links, photos, videos, and blogs that blur geographic, historic, and demographic boundaries. With the assistance of technology, globalization has changed the structure of our society - especially its politics and economics. Given the combination of technology and globalization, societal pushes & pulls mean strange, unexpected bed fellows. Globalization-friendly businessmen join forces with disenfranchised blue-collar workers who want major economic shifts. Young millennials join forces with senior boomers who want substantial societal changes. The two major parties still exist, but have lost clear boundaries and defy past definitions. The usual 2-party system is being edged out in favor of Identity Politics, an old term seeing renewed interest. Rather than logic and ideas, we see emotion and ideals applied with intensity to cultural expressions. In this inflammatory environment, compromise is viewed as weakness, a willingness to let others conquer and crush one's personal and community identity. Negotiations are minimal when there are few grey areas, only winners and losers. The win-win situation has become a fond piece of nostalgia. Advertisement That's why political operatives in campaigns are looking at discreet diverse groups so closely in 2016. The groups are key in the highly emotional battles of this election. Rather than bring different groups to unify with party affiliations, the operatives study the geography, history, and economics of diverse communities. The intent is to either buy their vote, neutralize them, or crush them. Yet, the campaigns are often wildly off base this year, underestimating the magnitude of demographic shifts: the growth of ethnic diversity, evolving changes in gender roles, the waning of the middle class, the shift away from religious affiliation, and the generational shift away from the Baby Boomers to the Millennials. The result of these shifts is a desperate, frenetic communication style. The sound bite and photo op have become weaponized with emotional warheads. My bottom-line advice to the Global Scholars was not to use the non-vote as a solution in an ugly campaign environment. In this environment, that will only side-line them and render them irrelevant. Today, I reminded them that is probably the last election that Baby Boomers like myself will shape the outcome. Walking away from participation is no longer an option for the young generations who may not be conscious of taking on the mantle of leadership. Whether one finds Donald Trump appealing or appalling, there is something about him on which everyone can agree - he has a way with words. Actually, he has so many ways with words that getting a clear sense of his position on anything is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. The hapless Matt Lauer clearly demonstrated that in his recent interview of Trump. Because of his ways with words, the media spends its time attempting to decipher Trump's off-the-cuff remarks. Here are a few imponderable examples. He has a secret plan to defeat ISIS and knows more about the terrorist organization than the generals, but one of his first acts as president would be to order the military to come up with a plan in 30 days for victory over ISIS. He would sink an Iranian boat for any " improper gesture" so he is apparently ready to go to war if their sailors give our sailors the finger. And after getting his first intelligence briefing, he claimed he could read the briefers' body language so well he could divine the fact that they were unhappy President Obama had ignored their recommendations. Perhaps with a few more briefings, Trump will figure out that intel analysts don't give policy recommendations. They provide information and leave policy to the politicians. With so many remarks that are as ridiculous as they are extemporaneous when Trump reads a prepared script from a teleprompter, the media usually finds it too boring to be newsworthy. That's unfortunate because his carefully crafted statements are often as bad as spontaneous outbursts. Take for instance a recent national security speech where he said the following: "We should work with any country that shares our goal of destroying ISIS and defeating Radical Islamic terrorism, and form new friendships and partnerships based on this mission." Tin-pot dictators of the world take note: All you have to do to get in bed with America is say the magic words "radical Islamic terrorism." We have seen this movie before and it did not end well, especially for Latin America. During the Reagan administration, the ambassador to the United Nations was Jeane Kirkpatrick. An ardent anti-Communist, she gave her name to the Kirkpatrick Doctrine, which said the United States should embrace any autocrat that shared her antipathy for Communism. And the corollary was that any left-wing leader who would not be an ally in the Cold War had to be opposed and undermined even if elected. That kind of thinking is what lead the Nixon administration to help overthrow Salvador Allende in Chile and to support Augusto Pinochet, the military dictator who took his place. It also inspired Oliver North, the convicted felon and Fox News commentator, to think selling arms to Iran to fund the Contras in Central America was a swell idea even if illegal. The CIA also paid the Argentine army, that had just wrapped up murdering thousands of its fellow Argentines in its dirty war against terrorism, to train the Contras in its tactics. If the Reagan administration had been honest, it would have, at that point, added the United States to the official list of countries that sponsor terrorism. The embrace of human rights violators required by the Kirkpatrick Doctrine was justified by the need to win the Cold War. While ISIS and other terrorists are a threat, the average American has as much chance of dying in a terrorist attack as they do from being killed by their furniture falling on them. To institute the Kirkpatrick Doctrine 2.0 would not only make a mockery of the values this country supposedly stands for, it would also be an absurd overreaction that would embroil us in more unwinnable wars. And it would inspire more terrorism than it eliminated. So no, we don't need to be friends and partners with any country that claims it will help in the fight against ISIS. Nonetheless, there are those politicians who continue to shout that the jihadists are coming and that everyone should run for their lives. They even claim terrorism is a threat to the continued existence of America. Who knew the world's only superpower could be eliminated by a few thousand fanatics thousands of miles away? Since those same politicians have never put their lives on the line for their country, maybe they are simply incapable of calculating the risk of terrorism. Or perhaps they think they will win votes by using the fear of it to paralyze the brains of the voters. THE RETURN OF RUSS FEINGOLD: Wisconsin Senate Race Sums Up America By Don C. Reed On, Wisconsin! On November 8th, the Badger State, like all America, faces a decision: do we vote people into office who will challenge the giant problems, or just ignore them? Generally speaking, Democrats want to fix what's wrong, which costs money, which means the rich must pay their fair share in taxes. Republicans, on the other hand, prefer the do-nothing approach, which is cheaper, and does not inconvenience their wealthy constituents. Advertisement This difference could not be more clear than in the Wisconsin Senate race: where Russ Feingold, Democrat, challenges Ron Johnson, conservative Republican. Listen to Bill Palmer, of the Wisconsin Daily News Bin, March 30, 2016. "Six years ago, popular longtime Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold was swept out of office as part of a nationwide midterm backlash against the Democratic Pary. He lost to... Ron Johnson (R), who has held the office ever since." What has Johnson accomplished in those six years? Again, Bill Palmer: "(Johnson) hasn't taken a position on an issue during his six years that we can give him specific credit for. He's simply out of touch with the American mainstream on most if not all major issues." And Russ Feingold? "He fought so strongly for campaign finance reform that his name is on the McCain Feingold Act...He...voted against...the Iraq War. He supports President Obama's gun control efforts. He voted for the Affordable Care Act... consistently supported women's rights ... and gay rights, before it became commonplace to do so..." Advertisement How do the two men fund their campaigns? If we follow the money trail, it may tell us something about them. "Feingold depend(s) on small donors, more so than almost every other Senate candidate in the country, while Johnson draws far more support from PACs and outside funding groups." Multi-millionaire Johnson, owner of a plastics company, benefits from people like the oil-rich Koch brothers, billionaires who have "put more than $2.2 million into the Wisconsin race through their super PAC Freedom Partners Action Fund." Why do the Koch brothers like Ron Johnson, whom they seem to consider a model legislator? Johnson is not just against raising the minimum wage; he thinks "there shouldn't be one". Imagine that--a corporation could pay you a nickel an hour, and it would be legal, if Ronald Johnson had his way! He considers scientists "crazy" for believing in human-caused global warming. Could that be because the Koch brothers and other oil barons don't want to clean up their own pollution? Advertisement Johnson shows contempt for the opinions of young people, of whom he said (regarding student loans) "(They think it's) "Free money...Young people don't necessarily understand finance." He doesn't think much of Social Security-needing seniors like me, judging by his attempts to privatize the program, which he dismisses as "a legal Ponzi scheme." And what is his opinion on Obamacare, the American Care Act, which provided medical care for 21 million previously un-insured Americans? Johnson not only voted against it numerous times, but calls it "the greatest single assault on freedom in (his) lifetime." He even opposes embryonic stem cell research, Wisconsin's gift to the world! It is safe to say Johnson is not overburdened with scientific knowledge. He once described the research as "creating life (by) destroying it--" which makes absolutely no sense at all. Life is neither created nor destroyed by stem cell research, which, as the name implies, is cells, cells, nothing but cells. Embryonic stem cells are made from fertilized eggs, left over from In Vitro Fertilization procedures, cells which would otherwise be thrown away. This is biological tissue, microscopic bits, in no way a "life". A married woman may shed such materials as part of her monthly cycle--is she required to have a little funeral for each discarded tampon? Advertisement Wisconsinite Jamie Thomson pioneered the development of embryonic stem cell research, for which he richly deserves (but has not yet received) the Nobel Prize. I met Jamie Thomson, and told him, "When my paralyzed son Roman walks again, which I believe he will, I will always believe he took his first step in Wisconsin." How does Feingold feel about embryonic stem cell therapies? He said: "Johnson's opposition to using embryonic stem cell research would hurt the state's economy and halt the creation of more jobs in the industry--and could save pain and suffering for millions of people." Today, six years after that debate, Feingold is being proven right. Embryonic stem cells are helping paralyzed people in clinical trials. Russ Feingold takes seriously his responsibility to represent the people of his state. Judge for yourself: every year in office, Feingold purposefully went on a "listening tour", visiting each of the 72 counties in his state, inviting all constituents to come and voice their grievances, share their concerns. Advertisement And their leaders? Feingold stayed neutral in the Democratic primary contest. When Hillary became our candidate, Russ endorsed her strongly, while at the same time showing respect and admiration for Bernie Sanders: exactly what an honest person would do, faced with two outstanding candidates, only one of which could be the nominee. And how does Johnson feel about Donald Trump? He is still not entirely sure, one of those finger-in-the-wind, watch-the-polls kind of supporters. If Trump wins, Johnson appears to be fine with that; if he loses, Johnson can say, well, he never liked him anyway! Like most senior citizens, I am not exactly flush with cash. But I think so highly of Russ Feingold that I just contributed $25 to his campaign. Would you consider investigating Russ, and see if you feel the same? Co-authored by Ellen Offner, Principal, Offner Consulting, LLC, health care strategy and program development. How much difference a generation makes! A Chinese grandson, Greg Lee, gave a moving eulogy about his grandmother: "Grandma bragged about us. Right to the end. About all of us: her kids, her grandkids, which, when you think about it, is funny, given that we all exist because of her. Not just in the literal sense, but because she made us who we are today. What follows is a typical immigrant story, a woman from a poor village who comes to America, lives in poverty, works hard to educate all her children. We Lee's [descendants] are all Grandma's life's work. Her successes and failures ride with us. It is humbling to think that someone so intelligent and wise spent her life so that ours could be better. My takeaway: Don't waste it, Greg! For me, that's all the more motivating to live life as freely and fully as possible, not to waste a moment, to appreciate those around us, and [above all] our great family. Grandma, thank you for everything you've done for us! Thanks for being there for our parents. Thanks for all your hard work, your selflessness. Without thought of reward, for us. It motivates me each and every day knowing what you sacrificed, knowing how you used your talent and intelligence to get us ahead in this world. Not just so that we could be successful, but so that we could live the lives we want. I promise not to waste [mine]." It would be easy for Greg to think he was a self-made man or to forget his grandmother since he grew up in a privileged family as the son of a doctor and a lawyer. How rewarding it is for grandparents when their grandchildren understand their lives are part of a continuum! Greg's story is familiar to many American families. An intelligent immigrant working hard to make a better life for the next generation. But does the third or fourth generation remember their roots? Do they feel any of the same gratitude as Greg does? Today's grandparents wonder if our grandchildren care one hoot about all we did to create a good life for our children and grandchildren. To be fair, many of us in our 60s and 70s did not go through the first-generation experience of incredible hardship. No, we were the lucky ones. Should our grandchildren still feel grateful to us? For the diapers we changed, the tears we wiped, surviving the slammed doors of adolescence, for the opportunities we gave our children, so they could give them to their own children and grandchildren? How do grandparents pass on the legacy they wish to? For grandparents with assets to pass on, the estate plan is the easy part. Advertisement Many grandparents live far away from their grandchildren. They can't smother them with kisses, wipe away their tears, or solve their inevitable problems. But they can use technology to be at least a tangential part of their grandchildren's lives. They can Skype them, connect via FaceTime, text them, share holidays and send gifts, read stories to them, or play Words with Friends. Our commitment and creativity are our only limits. The greatest gift we can leave our grandchildren is the story of our history, struggles, and what was meaningful to us. That and the notion that they are really and truly loved. We can share the best of ourselves with them. Sure this is not our first choice, but to quote the energy investor Phil Deutch in advising Sheryl Sandberg on how to cope with her husband's sudden death: "Option A is not available. So let's just kick the sh-- out of Option B." In any case, we can model an interesting and fulfilling life for our grandchildren by leading productive and caring lives ourselves. There is no end to the volunteer jobs retirees can do. From helping neighbors to finding shipwrecks in the Great Lakes to creating Innovative Products to improve how seniors can function independently. We can be truly caring friends or great storytellers. We can have new careers and explore meaningful volunteer opportunities to give back to the society that enabled us to flourish and helped us overcome our inevitable barriers and setbacks. Our material possessions may or may not have any meaning for our progeny. However, no matter how infirm or distant we are, we can remind our grandchildren of the foundation on which their lives were built. We can leave our grandchildren our values, and our life lessons. In fact, some enterprising elderly people approaching the end of their lives are writing their own obituaries, some with humor, to relay to their family and friends how they feel about their lives and about dying. Here is an engaging article from the Wall Street Journal about obituary writing for selfies, highlighting one taught in Haverhill, MA, by Tom Vartabedian, longtime Haverhill Gazette journalist: "An obituary is a testament to a life that has been lived," Vartabedian told the class. "It's deeds that are our true monuments . . . the lives we lead as individuals. And don't think your life is any less significant than another." (Writing Your Own Obituary, Selfie Obituaries, DIY Obituaries and AARP DIY Obituaries) Maudlin as it seems, writing an obituary gives us a chance to look at our lives, see what we want to add to them, and design how we want to be remembered. A more intimate approach may be writing a letter to children and grandchildren to place in your estate plan or in a special place in your bureau. This would be a more personal, and less public, approach to convey thoughts you want to leave along with your material legacy. If writing an obituary is too raw for you, you can write a letter to our progeny asking forgiveness or telling them everything we wished you had said when we were alive. When I looked for inspiring quotes about the concept of character, I realized that nearly everyone and anyone who has ever been an inspiration to me has talked about the stuff, publicly. From Martin Luther King Jr. to Helen Keller, from Henry Ford to Albert Einstein, they have all defined character as essential to our development. Lets face it, they were right. Character is our biggest asset. And as a result, lack of character can be our loudest liability. Character is what defines us daily, what drives our actions and what motivates how we conduct our lives. But also, and perhaps most importantly how we treat one another. Character is the foundation of humanity. On September 22nd, the third annual Character Day will take place globally. Around the world, throughout the entire day, conversations will be encouraged about character, how to build it, and its fundamental importance -- on social media, in communities and through organized events. From Australia to Singapore, from the USA to India, from Ghana to Canada, over 121 countries have already signed up for the initiative, led by filmmaker Tiffany Shlain and Let It Ripple Film Studio. Which just goes to prove my theory that if change is going to come, to help heal this damaged world of ours, it will come through filmmakers. Advertisement I asked Shlain a few questions about #CharacterDay2016 to get to the heart of the initiative, and the result has introduced me to a new world of endless wonder. I can't wait to follow all the conversations online, and to tweet my own thoughts and questions on September 22nd, with the hashtag #CharacterDay2016. Could you tell me a little bit about Character Day? Tiffany Shlain: Character Day is a global initiative where people around the world screen films on the science of character from different perspectives. This is its third year, and there will be over 72,000 screening events in 96 countries and in all 50 states. We also have a global Q&A with incredible thought leaders on the subject. Every half hour over a 24-hour time period, anyone can go to the Character Day website and listen to a different brilliant speaker on the subject and ask them questions. Why did you decide to create the initiative? Tiffany Shlain: I think character is a really important subject right now and it demands our renewed focus. I made a film called The Science of Character -- it's an 8-minute movie that looks at the neuroscience and social science on how to develop who you are and who you want to be in the world. I was so fascinated with the research that I really wanted to start a 'Global Conversation' with the ideas in the film. I thought "how can I premiere this film in a new way to start a global conversation?" So we offered the film three years ago for free; we provided discussion questions and a poster, and we said everyone can do their own premiere around the film. We were expecting a few events and we got 1,500 events. Evidently, there was a huge demand and desire to have a conversation about what it means to be a good person and how to develop who you are. What's interesting is, when you think about conversations about character, a lot of those used to take place in religious settings, be it in church, or temple, or religious communities. Then, when our country started really separating church and state and religion from school, that conversation fell by the wayside. I think the reason we're seeing a renewed interest in character is that people have a hunger to talk about these ideas and not necessarily in a religious setting. Conversations about character need to happen everywhere. At home, at school, at work and in the public sphere. Last year for Character Day, we had 6,700 screenings, and this year, our third year, there are 75,000 screenings happening in 96 countries. I think that speaks to where we are currently. Especially, given this election cycle, which has really put into question a lot of issues around character, people are craving this conversation, which is very exciting. There's something inspiring about knowing that people are doing the same thing you're doing in every part of the world -- I think that's part of what makes Character Day special. Advertisement At this point, we've made three films about character and this year we're also curating three film series that people can choose from and we have films for every age range and tons of discussion materials and resources, which are available year round. Character Day has a large focus in schools -- how important do you think it is to teach character building from a young age? Do you think it is the responsibility of educators or something that should be taught at home? Tiffany Shlain: I think it is everyone's responsibility, and that is backed up by a lot of the findings. It is a whole ecosystem of support that develops someone. It's their own desire, it's parents, it's teachers, and it is constantly reinforcing behavior to develop character. What's really exciting is that a lot people kind of knew that if they focused on something, they could improve it, but now there's a lot of neuroscience backing up those claims. So let's say you want to improve your courage or empathy or humility -- neuroscience proves that you can. The science shows that the more you do something, the stronger the pathways in the brain become and the easier it becomes; it becomes almost habitual. We provide the resources to help you reinforce the behavior you want to improve. If you want to focus on kindness or courage or humility, you can actually strengthen those parts of yourself and that starts at the youngest age. I'm still focusing on things I want to strengthen, and that is why we have discussion questions from age 4 to age 99. I think we are all always works in progress. As part of Character Day, you provide resources that act as a catalyst for larger conversations about character, including three of your own short films. Tell us more about this toolkit and why the elements are effective for teaching about character? Tiffany Shlain: We have The Science of Character, which is 8 minutes; The Making of a Mensch, which looks at the science of character through a Jewish lens (I'm Jewish); and The Adaptable Mind, which is a 10-minute film which looks at the skills you need to flourish in the 21st century. The short film format is really great because it allows you to have a discussion afterward. I often think of the films as the appetizer and the discussion as the main course. We provide participants with materials to dig deep on these subjects. We have a poster, the periodic table of character strengths, which lays out strengths that people around the world agree make up someone's character, and I think is a strong place to start. You look at the strengths and think "what are my three top strengths" and then "what are the three I really want to work on,"and then for the three you want to work on, we provide resources that teach you how to strengthen those qualities. These include daily practices, books you can read, films you can watch, film series, and we are launching an online resource hub called "Character Every Day" that will allow you to pick your age, strength, and form of media, and we will provide you with a tailored list of offerings. It has 5,000 curated items of the coolest films, books, research, lesson plans, and daily practices around each of these things. Who does the curating? Tiffany Shlain: It's me and my team -- I do none of this by myself. I have a great team who have been working so hard! We have a lot of amazing partners like Common Sense Media, Class Dojo, and so many more. A lot of times we get amazing curators and put them all in one space, so we went to who we trust the most to create this list. For the last four years we've been focused on this subject, so anything we've seen in our research that we felt was really exceptional is included in there as well. In your short film The Science of Character, you make an interesting point about how character strengths are generally agreed upon around the world regardless of one's country or religion. Why do you think that is? Tiffany Shlain: This is all based on research from an amazing psychologist, Martin Seligman, who, along with psychologist Christopher Peterson, flipped psychology on its head. For years psychology was mostly looking at what was wrong with people and then they flipped it and they said, "what if we look at what's right with people and focus on that?" And that is the basis of the positive psychology movement, which has really flourished I think in the last 12 years. We're seeing a flourishing of a whole flip in thinking about who you are and who you want to be and how do you make that better. And also with people around you, it's really good to focus on their strengths and tell them, "I love your enthusiasm" or "I love your courage" or "I love your humility" because it actually makes it stronger in other people too. What is your ultimate goal for Character Day? In celebration of #BourbonRebirth, I'm ranking the most-influential bourbon brands since 1980, when bourbon mattered little on the national scene. Bourbon made its comeback because of passion, good bourbon and great effort. Meet brands 10 through 6. Read Part 1. This post originally appeared on FredMinnick.com. 10. Willett An argument could be made that Willett has done more for the connoisseur than any other company. They saved bourbon stocks left for dead. Up until 2012, the Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), a.k.a. Willett, did not distill. It purchased barrels and aged them in their Bardstown warehouses. Willett selected, batched and bottled barrels for other brands, while managing its own portfolio, such as Rowan's Creek, Noah's Mill, Johnny Drum and Willett Pot Still. Of these, Rowan's Creek was a groundbreaking release. In 2005, the 12-year-old Rowan's Creek was one of the best bourbons of the year. If you've ever wondered why Willett's whiskey tastes so damn good, it's because of its owner--one of the greatest contemporary bourbon palates, Even Kulsveen. Now that they have significant stocks of their own whiskey, every whiskey lover awaits what Kulsveen and his son, Drew, can accomplish. Advertisement 9. Pappy Van Winkle Pappy Van Winkle, the precious pour that will hurt your bank account if you can find it. But that wasn't the case 20 years ago, when salesmen couldn't give away the brand, a hodgepodge of bourbons from Stitzel-Weller, Old Boone and others. Pappy is not an overnight success story, but is perseverance from Pappy's grandson, Julian, who told me he stuck with whiskey, "because I didn't know how to do anything else." Julian's palate found barrels the rest of us would love and mingled some of the greatest American whiskey released. In the 1990s, his releases were quietly appealing to chef and connoisseur crowds, but his facilities were falling apart. In 2002, Van Winkle and Buffalo Trace partnered to give the Pappy brand stability and Julian access to the majority of the former Stitzel-Weller wheated bourbon stocks and a home for future distillation. An argument could be made for Pappy being the No. 1 bourbon on this list, as its annual releases command long lines and $6,000 secondary market prices. But does it need anymore hype? 8. Woodford Reserve The year was 1996, and bourbon's promise just started to show. That's when Woodford Reserve opened its breathtaking facility with stone warehouses and on the historic property of Labrot & Graham, where the great Oscar Pepper and James C. Crow worked in the 1800s. Straight out of the gate, Woodford Reserve captured a loyal fan base with the avuncular master distiller Lincoln Henderson, a history-laden tourism program and a cookbook. It may not seem like much today, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s promoting bourbon cooking was innovative. Woodford goes on to win multiple medals and Best in Class at the 2012 International Spirits Challenge. And in 2014, Saturday Night Live featured Woodford Reserve in its Bourbon Summit skit. No bourbon brand commands a more loyal fan base than Woodford Reserve. I've actually seen airline passengers yell at fellow travelers for pouring Coke with what they called, "the world's greatest bourbon." With his many Kentucky Distillers' Association and Brown-Forman roles, Master distiller Chris Morris is also the most-powerful distiller in bourbon right now. Advertisement While others were mingling choice barrels before, namely Willett, Jim Beam's Booker Noe turned the method into something tangible--small batch, an unregulated term that means selecting barrels based on taste profile instead of dumping multiple barrels no matter the taste. Booker's was the first commercially marketed small batch bourbon and greatly appealed to the Japanese. When it was released in 1988, Booker's came with a kick, bottled in the 127 proof range, but was marketed as "ultra premium." It would later be joined with Baker's, Basil Hayden and Knob Creek for the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection. In 1990, the famous food critic John Mariani wrote" sales of sophisticated spirits such as small batch bourbons....are climbing." Small batch bourbons were compared to Cognac and revered for its quality. And it all started with Booker's. Being a mom is hands down the hardest job in the entire world, but there is no other job as rewarding. There are days where I wonder how I survive, but one look at my son reminds me. I wouldn't be able to make it without the essentials, and I think most moms would be able to vouch for that. There are many things I feel like I couldn't live without, but there are a few things that I KNOW I couldn't live without. Yoga Pants If you don't think yoga pants count as real pants, you can get out now. There's no room for that kind of negativity here. They act as pants, but feel like there's nothing there. What more could anyone ask for? When I get home from work I can't wait to rip off my uncomfortable jeans and put on my favorite yoga pants. Am I about to work out, or did I just wake up? No one will ever know. I think all moms can agree on the importance of yoga pants. Advertisement Coffee The best part of my day is when I grind my coffee beans and get my Ninja brewing. It's not safe to even look in my direction before I have had my coffee. There is nothing better than making the perfect cup of coffee and enjoying it before getting down to business. Let's be real, though, we all know that we will end up having to re-heat it a few times before it's finished because, kids. Naptime As a child I hated nap time, as a mother I live for it. Ok, spending time with my little guy can be the greatest thing ever sometimes, and other times I feel like I am in World War 3. Toddlers are like little mini-dictators, and nap time is comparable to a "Reset" button. I know that after a good snooze, my son will wake up smiley, refreshed, and sweet as ever. Mama Friends If my best friends didn't have kids too, I would be lost. All this mama needs for therapy is a nice long venting session with someone who totally gets it. If you are lucky enough to live in the same town as your fellow mama friends, even better. Letting your little rascals run around together while catching up and sharing your little one's latest antics is all the soul needs sometimes. Being a mom is hands down the hardest job in the entire world, but there is no other job as rewarding. There are days where I wonder how I survive, but one look at my son reminds me. Dry Shampoo Before I had kids, I took a shower every single day, without fail. Now, I'm lucky if I can muster up enough time to hop in the shower child-free. For days when it just isn't happening, dry shampoo is my best friend. I would like to personally thank whoever invented the stuff, because I don't know how I would survive without it. Our Shows After watching Mickey Mouse and Floogals every day, when bed time rolls around I am so relieved to turn off the cartoons. It doesn't matter if my son is in a different room completely, he almost always insists on having the TV on in the background. I know all moms can relate -- we probably know more about our kids' favorite shows than they do. I can't even lie, I usually sing along to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse intro too. No shame. Bedtime Snuggles As much as we love to rant and scream about how our kids terrorize us, we still love them to pieces. Raising mini humans is exhausting, but it's also amazing. The rare times that my son lets me cuddle with him make up for every single tantrum he has thrown. When they get their sleepy smiles and snuggle in close, the problems of the world fade away. Yesterday on my Facebook page I received a note from Elizabeth Devita Rayburn, author, young mother and bereaved sibling stating that she was lucky to be out of town when the bomb exploded in Manhattan on Saturday night. She wanted her friends to know that although she lived only a few blocks from the bombsite she and her family were safe. Likewise, I was happy to hear that my daughter, Heidi, who also lives in Manhattan, was safe although she, like many New Yorkers, was taken back by an inadvertent involvement in a manhunt when they received over their cellphones a digital wanted poster for Ahad Kan Rhami. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the 24-hour news channels showed Mr. Rhami, who was wounded in a gunfight with police, had been captured. My sister-in-law who lives in Utah emailed us several times to find out how Heidi was doing. It seems that every event since 9/11 shakes us all to the very core. I am sure like my Facebook friend many of those who have had past losses were impacted; some more than others. One woman, whose husband was killed in 9/11, called to talk about our upcoming radio show. When I asked how she was doing, she said that watching the news upset her as they kept showing a clip of people running from the blast, which brought painful memories of people running from the Twin Trade Towers. She was surprised how the visuals had impacted her as she kept running the clip over and over in her mind and connecting it with her husband's death. I suggested that if she continues to have trouble dealing with this event she might want to consider reaching out for support. Advertisement Reach Out For Support I am a great fan of the group process. For me it started in nursing school years ago when I was exposed to the work of Dr. Victor Yalom and his classic 1970 book The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. In Dr. Yalom's book he identifies eleven Therapeutic Factors (sometimes referred to as Yalom's Curative Factors) that help facilitate change within individuals in the group setting. I have found severable of these helpful in providing peer support at our Compassionate Friends chapter meetings. Eight Curative Factors 1. Installation of Hope - Sharing with and supporting others who have lost loved ones leads to the hope that life can be good again. Being with individuals who are earlier in their grief gives those who are a little further down the road the feeling that they are making progress. 2. Universality- Joining with other bereaved people helps participants know that they are not isolated in their sorrow. Grief is a universal human experience and grieving together provides a sense of connection. Simply being in a group and sitting with individuals who have similar issues can be healing. 3. Imparting information - Sharing information is an important part of the group experience. Specific advice or solutions should not be offered; rather members are encouraged to share their experiences in dealing with similar problems. Advertisement 4. Altruism - The act of selfless giving without the expectation of a reward helps grievers begin to show interest in others rather than focusing on their own grief. There are many opportunities for service in a group setting - some as simple as making snacks or arranging chairs. 5. Development of Socializing Techniques - Group meetings, conferences and Internet sharing provide the opportunity to develop and maintain relationships over time. Skills at handling emotions can be learned by example and used to help participants in their relationships with others. 6. Imitative Behavior - Watching how others respond to their loss can give members the opportunity to experiment with their own behavior and find out who they are and who they are not. Behavior of group members can teach skills that can be used outside of the group. 7. Group Cohesiveness - Over time members begin to feel the warmth and comfort of being part of a group. With the trauma of loss it is recommended that people attend three sessions before leaving the group. 8. Catharsis - Group sharing provides the bereaved with the opportunity to express deep emotional feelings and experience an intense emotional release without fear of judgment. It can also be cathartic for other group members to witness someone dealing with an emotional experience that they can relate to. Advertisement My heart goes out to all those who are experiencing current trauma and injuries as well as those who are having trauma related to past losses. It is never too late to reach out. Your local hospital or hospice may be able to help you find a group. Also, look for support groups in your community. We have kara.org in Palo Alto, California. You can also go to thecompassionatefriends.org for child loss or soaringspirits.org for spouse loss. God Bless, By Brooke Deterline Over the last two decades, much research has been published about the positive impact of forgiveness, particularly on the forgiver and in relationships. Now, a new study--building on a smaller but growing body of research in the workplace--supports the power of forgiveness to potentially improve well-being and productivity in professional settings. Conflict among colleagues is inevitable, and--left unheeded--associated with significant stress, health problems (both mental and physical), and poor productivity. Researchers set out to explore the role of forgiveness in ameliorating these negative impacts. The participants--more than 200 employees working in office jobs in Washington, DC, or manufacturing jobs in the Midwest--responded to questionnaires about their levels of forgiveness, productivity, and well-being. Advertisement The first survey asked respondents to focus on a specific offense, and how they believed it affected them. The second study looked at participants' general tendency to be forgiving and their general state of mind and work habits over the previous month. In both cases, forgiveness was linked to increased productivity, decreased absenteeism (fewer days missing work), and fewer mental and physical health problems, such as sadness and headaches. In the second study, these benefits were partly explained by reductions in interpersonal stress that went along with a forgiving disposition. This new research is important to employees and employers alike, as a lack of forgiveness negatively affects the individuals involved and organizations as a whole. Holding on to negative feelings after a conflict may lead to disengagement at work, a lack of collaboration, and aggressive behavior. Carrying a grudge is also associated with increased stress and a host of negative emotions, including anger, hostility, and vengeful rumination. Since many people who have been in conflict need to continue to work together, forgiveness can be an effective coping tool, and a way to repair relationships and restore trust--both of which are key to effective work cultures. Advertisement More evidence of the power of forgiveness In 2012, my team at Courageous Leadership LLC worked with employees at Google to build a more courageous culture, including the courage to forgive (one of the keys to healthy ongoing work relationships). We had employees share times when they failed to act on their values at work, to admit they didn't understand something, or to speak up when they thought they had a better idea. This was designed to remind everyone how easy it is to act outside of our values in stressful situations--to do something that might merit forgiveness. Participants then practiced taking courageous action. We had them use the REACH model (developed by Everett L. Worthington, one of the coauthors of the new workplace study) to practice forgiveness by identifying current grudges and work on forgiving (not condoning) the behavior. Participants also remembered and shared when others had forgiven them. Our program also showed positive impact. Participants reported a greater understanding of the power of stressful situations to negatively affect behavior. They also reported feeling better and more connected afterward; as one noted: "I had a deepened sense of lightening inside, like letting go of heavy weights. I feel the forgiveness exercise for me was very powerful." Participants also took more social risks, like offering new ideas, admitting fears or concerns, and asking for or offering help. Research shows that this kind of forgiveness can even impact employees who aren't involved in the conflict. When people see others practicing forgiveness (and other virtuous behaviors) at work, it often fosters positive emotions that can improve decision-making, cognitive functioning, and the quality of relationships. How to foster forgiveness at work Unresolved stress from interpersonal conflict often dampens our cognitive and compassionate capacities, making it hard to find a way to forgive. Drawing on the implications of their study, the researchers offer individuals and organizations some suggestions to foster forgiveness at work: Model forgiveness at work , particularly if you're a leader. Leaders' behavior often has the greatest impact on organizational culture, a kind of contagion effect. Leaders who model forgiveness on a regular basis are cueing similar behavior in others. , particularly if you're a leader. Leaders' behavior often has the greatest impact on organizational culture, a kind of contagion effect. Leaders who model forgiveness on a regular basis are cueing similar behavior in others. Apologize and attempt to make restitutions. If we don't take responsibility for our mistakes, distrust grows and the fear of something happening again can be worse than the original incident. If we don't take responsibility for our mistakes, distrust grows and the fear of something happening again can be worse than the original incident. Rebuild trust by working on a common task , creating new experiences and memories of cooperation. , creating new experiences and memories of cooperation. Conduct interventions (sometimes best done by third parties) to address conflict and foster forgiveness. Invest in programs to build understanding and teach evidence-based tools for ongoing forgiveness in the workplace. There's an old saying (attributed to everyone from the Buddha to Carrie Fisher) that goes, "Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die." If you're holding onto a grudge at work, you could be sharing the poison with your colleagues. "Being a card-carrying fisher entitles us to fish and participate in work programs," says Jomar Brusa, a fisherman registered with USAID's FishR program in the Philippines. (Photo credit: Gil Maraguinot, ECOFISH Project) Our ocean impacts all of us--what we eat, drink, and breathe is all connected to this water that washes over more than 70 percent of our blue planet. A healthy ocean is central to human wellbeing--it creates millions of jobs, feeds billions of people, and generates trillions of dollars in the global economy. Twelve percent of the world's population--more than 870 million people--rely on fisheries and aquaculture alone to support their livelihoods. More than three billion depend on our ocean as a significant source of animal protein. As vast as our ocean and its resources are, they are not infinite. Without a healthy ocean, billions of people would be unable to live with the health, wellbeing, and dignity that our American values and ethos dictate they deserve. Our U.S. foreign assistance is fueling the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) efforts to reverse this trend and to help keep our ocean healthy and productive. By investing in programs that protect the lifeblood of our planet, we invest in ourselves and the future of our global community. Advertisement Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing poses a critical threat to our ocean and our foreign policy goals and objectives by destabilizing the food and livelihood security of coastal communities. At this year's Our Ocean Conference, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the Safe Ocean Network initiative, which, supported by our U.S. foreign assistance, builds a global community of dozens of nations, including the United States and private partners, to combat IUU fishing. Our new foreign assistance commitment of $2.0 million will give support, using satellite data to identify boats suspected of IUU fishing, strengthening partnerships with Pacific Island Nations through ship-riding programs with the U.S. Coast Guard, and providing technical assistance to countries as they sign up to the Port State Measures Agreement--a global framework for stopping IUU fishing. By integrating existing and emerging technologies, expanding the use of internet-based tools, and enhancing coordination and information sharing, this Network will strengthen efforts to detect, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing around the world. USAID's work to address IUU fishing is also essential to U.S. efforts to protect our ocean. In the Philippines, USAID partners with the country's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to deter IUU fishing. With USAID support, in 2013 a first nationwide Municipal Fisheries Registration Program (FishR) was established for purposes of determining fishing allocation priorities, limiting entry into municipal water, and monitoring fishing activities. More than 1.5 million of the estimated 1.7 million municipal fishers have registered with FishR to date. These dynamic initiatives are just two examples of how the United States works with our partner countries to address complex challenges that threaten our global community. Ocean Acidification--the ongoing decrease in the pH of our ocean--is another threat that our foreign assistance works to mitigate. Ocean Acidification is dangerous for many reasons, but its potential to harm fisheries is perhaps the most critical--it threatens food and trade sources for people around the world. Our planned investment of $500,000 in our Ocean Acidification program will allow the U.S. to enhance capacity for ocean acidification monitoring in areas including the Pacific Islands, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa. Our U.S. foreign assistance will also support initiatives that mitigate climate-related impacts on coastal ecosystems. Advertisement Our foreign assistance will also provide an additional $1.5 million to support Marine Protected Area (MPA) projects in developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands, and East Africa. Our support will build capacity to strengthen technical, legal, and policy capabilities in order to establish and effectively manage and enforce MPAs. MPAs are critical to sustainable development--they protect our ocean's coral reefs, maintain fish populations, preserve habitats, and bolster economies by enhancing industries such as fishing and tourism. From reducing IUU fishing and ocean acidification to creating MPAs, our U.S. foreign assistance works worldwide to ensure that our ocean remains healthy. These are just a few examples of how State Department and USAID foreign assistance drives unique and dynamic solutions to the complex issues that threaten our ocean. The United States is committed to protecting our ocean, and to all aspects of development, and in 2015 we joined our global community in setting ambitious, common priorities for the decades ahead: the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). Water flows through each of these 17 Global Goals, which include ending poverty, promoting gender equality, combating climate change, and more. Coral bleaching is dangerous because it threatens the ecosystem that provides a habitat and food for marine organisms. (Photo Credit: Bryan Young) U.S. foreign assistance, with a price tag of just one percent of the total federal budget, fuels the Global Goals and provides a tremendous return on investment for the American taxpayer. Our foreign assistance demonstrates our commitment to our core American values, like the right to live a dignified life, and freedom and equality for all. It also bolsters our national security goals and objectives--we invest in the countries that are developing today, so that they can become even bigger and better partners tomorrow, ensuring a safer world and a healthy, sustainable planet for all of us. Our U.S. foreign assistance works on behalf of the American taxpayer to support our ocean, address global health challenges, counter violent extremism, combat climate change, and more. All of these efforts fortify our global community, and our neighbors around the world--from our own hemisphere to Asia--are becoming stronger. We will have more opportunities than ever before to engage, to learn from each other, and to grow trade and job markets. Our global community will rely on our ocean more than ever before, too--we will need more food, more water, and cleaner air. Our investment in our ocean today, in our foreign assistance programs that nourish and protect our blue planet, is critical for our tomorrow. Advertisement In Belgium, someone legally ending their own life is an everyday occurrence. In fact, it usually happens more than once a day. That's because the northern European nation has the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world. Since 2002, competent adults and emancipated minors there have been able to end their lives simply by asking a doctor to inject them with a lethal drug. The request must be in writing and it must meet two criteria. The person needs to be in "constant and unbearable" pain and the condition must be "incurable." The pain can be physical or emotional. In 2014, Belgium extended the practice. It approved a law that allows terminally ill children of any age to receive a lethal injection if their parents agree with the child's wishes. Advertisement People appear to be taking advantage of the laws. More than 1,800 people in Belgium died by legal lethal injection in 2013. That's an average of about five a day. So, it wasn't a big surprise in Belgium when reports came out earlier this month that a wheelchair-bound athlete might end her life after the 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil. However, the report created quite a stir in the United States and elsewhere. So much so that 37-year-old Marieke Vervoort held a news conference a few days later to announce she wasn't planning on ending her life. Not yet anyway. Countries' opinions differ Brazil is among a host of nations across the world that don't allow assisted suicide. In the U.S., only four states allow people in certain circumstances to end their own lives. Those states are Washington, Oregon, Vermont, and California, whose law took effect in June. Montana does not have "death with dignity" statute, but a state Supreme Court decision in 2009 cleared the way for physician-assisted dying. Advertisement Peg Sandeen, the executive director of Death With Dignity, told Healthline that European countries and the U.S. don't see end-of-life decisions the same way. She said Europeans have a more pragmatic view of death while views in the U.S. tend to be more emotional. "We have an extremely youth-focused culture," said Sandeen. "Americans' attitude toward dying is to think we never have to do it." Stan Goldberg, a cancer survivor and professor emeritus at San Francisco State University, agrees. Goldberg, who was a Hospice volunteer for 13 years, told Healthline that Americans' views on assisted suicide tend to get caught up in spiritual arguments. He noted that in Taiwan and other Asian countries the opposition to assisted dying laws is more rooted in duty. Their societies believe that children are obligated to take care of their parents. Advertisement That includes extending their lives when they are old. "Right to die laws are an expression of a country's values," said Goldberg. The case for assisted dying For Goldberg and Sandeen, the reason to support death with dignity laws is pretty simple. They believe it's a decision people should be allowed to make. "Everybody has the right to decide when their life will end," said Goldberg, whose latest book on cancer patients is due out this fall. Sandeen added that the option should be available to people who are in severe emotional pain as well as physical pain. She noted that allowing someone to continue living under those circumstances isn't always a kind thing to do. "Letting nature run its course in some cases is cruel," she said. Sandeen added that modern medicine has made great strides in prolonging people's lives. Now it must provide a solution when a long life is not the best option. Advertisement "Medicine needs a remedy for something it has created," she said. For Vervoort, the remedy offered by Belgium's right to die law is a welcome relief. She suffers from a degenerative spinal condition and was given approval for assisted suicide in the country in 2008. She hasn't used that permission yet. However, the athlete said at her Sunday news conference the approval does give her peace of mind, knowing she can end her life if her situation becomes too unbearable. Vervoort told reporters she probably would have killed herself by now if she didn't have the legal option in her back pocket. "I think there will be fewer suicides when every country has the law of euthanasia. I hope everybody sees that this is not murder, but it makes people live longer," she said. "When the day comes -- when I have more bad days than good days -- I have my euthanasia papers," she said. "But the time is not there yet." Advertisement By David Mills Today (21 September), around the globe, we mark Peace Day knowing that for many, peace is nowhere to be found. Not today. And unless things change dramatically, not any time soon. 2015 saw the number of refugees and displaced people reach record numbers - surpassing even post-World War II. It is with heavy hearts that we follow the news from around the world. The images are heartbreaking: a terrified child, a ruined hospital, a capsized boat, a city bombed to the ground, a community struggling for survival. For every image that catches the media's attention, many others go unnoticed. Suffering and grief beyond comprehension and beyond the limits of what people should have to endure, are the daily reality for many. And while we cannot pretend to comprehend, we must, ask ourselves - what should we do? For Greenpeace, this is a question we grapple with and hold ourselves accountable to: how can all of us make our world more green and peaceful? Collaborating with and supporting other non-governmental organisations, partners and communities opposing violence is one step in the right direction. Using our skills to help those impacted by conflict is another. These are necessary and important, but are also after the fact. Advertisement We are passionate about speaking up against the narratives that we are being sold: that the only way to achieve security is through military might and that borders and weapons hold the key to a peaceful existence. Instead, we all must work to address the root causes leading to conflicts, to try and prevent them from occurring or escalating in the first place. We must all work alongside communities to identify non-violent solutions to problems. Peace cannot be solely defined by the absence of war or conflict. This underpins the approaches we take to achieve peace. Governments spend a fortune on 'defense', be it - guns, bombs, war planes and the ultimate weapon, - nuclear armaments. By comparison there is currently very little focus on and very little time and money spent on proactively preventing conflict. The twentieth-century model of security, based on military might, is no longer applicable. The notion that weapons are the way to safety, that military dominance is a mark of superiority, and "what happens over there stays over there" are powerful myths that will only lead to more violence and suffering. Violence begets more violence and rarely resolves conflicts. Peace in the 21st century means more than the absence of war. We need to replace a way of thinking which allows national security approach based on military might, and a fear of those different from ourselves with one that reflects a broader understanding of true security - human security. Human security focuses on protecting and promoting the dignity, empowerment and fulfillment for all people. It means not only protecting people from threat, but creating the kind of environmental, social, political, and economic systems that support and enhance people flourishing alongside each other and their environment. Advertisement A healthy environment is key to human security. Caring for the environment is a necessity not a luxury. Our fates and that of the natural world are intimately connected. We humans cannot survive, nor live peacefully, without a healthy, functioning environment. Nobel Peace Laureate Willy Brandt once said: "Peace is not everything, but without peace everything is nothing." This logic applies even more-so to the natural world that provides us with the basis of our very existence. Much of the damage we are inflicting on our planet is irreversible. We are now at a critical juncture, a tipping point, where overstepping our planetary boundaries is leading us down a path to growing instability, resource scarcity, fear, crisis and potential conflict. Some of the adverse impacts of climate change are already unavoidable. Crisis will continue to occur. It is how we choose to respond that matters. Resource scarcity (water, arable land, energy) does not have to lead to conflict. In fact, research shows that often, it can create the conditions for rival parties to cooperate. Sharing our scarce resources fairly and protecting the global Commons for us all are two essential ways to achieve a green and more peaceful world. Advertisement We can address the issues of growing resource scarcity and the local and global impacts of climate change by promoting sustainable options to resource scarcity. Take energy, for example. Conflicts are always complex, but around the world, the quest for resources and conflict often go hand-in-hand. Current conflicts in Iraq, Ukraine, Sudan, the South China Sea to Nigeria are all, to an extent, linked to the ownership, access and transport of fossil fuels. "Resource wars" are not new. But today we can overcome them. Energy is a key example for how transitioning to sustainable, clean renewable sources, could not only reduce conflict, but make life easier and more bountiful for billions. Worldwide 1.3 billion people - equivalent to 18% of global population - continue to live without access to electricity. 2.6 billion people are without clean cooking facilities. This is a problem especially for displaced people and refugees. Renewable energies are already helping to transform lives around the world, and Greenpeace, with your help, is playing a part in contributing to this by both mapping the road to 100% renewable energy for all while working on the ground to connec people (for example in India, Italy and Lebanon). Our vision is for a world where the intimate, symbiotic relationships between peace and the environment are cherished and acted upon. We stand for a world where people co-exist peacefully with one another and with nature. We stand for a world where the limits of our resources are respected, celebrated and shared. But to get there we must choose cooperation over conflict. We must choose equity and sustainability over greed, human dignity and courage over exploitation. We stand for peace. And as one of our founders said: Lets make it a green peace. The Dalai Lama's visit to Brussels recently was hardly low-key. A crowd of 10,000 people turned up to listen to His Holiness's speech on individual commitment and global responsibility, after prominent scientists, psychologists, ethnologists, economists and other experts from far and wide had gathered for a conference on the themes of 'Power and Care' during the previous two days. It is to be hoped that the impact that these discussions have on the Brussels policy scene does not end there, however. In one speech, the Dalai Lama reflected that, while compassion is a feeling essentially experienced on the mental level, care for others is rather defined by action. When it comes to restoring the Earth's delicate balance and tackling climate change, it's time for the EU to add more care to its compassion. Johan Rockstrom in conversation with the Dalai Lama discussing the "Great Acceleration" in industrial production and the impact on Earth's life support system Image: Nikolet Zwart Advertisement Let us recall the extremely compelling scientific reasons for why we should care in the first place. While the Earth's climate has always changed to a greater or lesser extent, the last 11,000 years - known as the Holocene epoch - have been remarkably stable. It is this climatic stability that has allowed humanity to cultivate land, sustain ourselves and flourish during that time. Since the industrial revolution and especially in the last few decades, however, humans have stretched Earth and its resources to breaking point. Cutting down trees at unsustainable rates, overfishing and burning the fossil fuels that release heat-trapping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and contribute to global warming - these human actions have taken us to the limits of the planetary boundaries, defined uncompromisingly by nature, within which we reduce risk of Earth slipping into a new state. In concrete terms, this means that, after several consecutive months of record-breaking high temperatures, last month was tied with July 2016 as the hottest month the world has seen in the last 136 years. Arctic sea ice is melting at alarming rates with hugely disruptive consequences on the way in which heat is distributed around the world. The Great Barrier Reef - the world's largest reef system and one of the most beautiful sites on earth - is bleaching. Climate change has contributed to recent floods in the US, India and China, wildfires in Canada and drought in Africa. Indeed, the EU's care for our climate need not exclusively be motivated by compassion for others - Europe, too, is extremely vulnerable to the negative changes to which it has contributed. Research suggests that the devastating June floods in France - which caused one billion euros worth of damage - were aggravated by global warming. The continent is also expected to suffer from a combination of ever scarcer fresh water and rising sea levels. Advertisement EU Heads of State and policymakers within the EU institutions are not oblivious to these facts. Few of them would challenge the statements of leaders like EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete when he called tackling climate change 'our solemn duty' and said that 'Europe has some of the broadest shoulders in the world and we are ready to continue leading by example'. And yet, Europe, which has long prided itself on being a leader when it comes to climate action, is not doing all it can to save us - Europeans and non-Europeans - from the worst effects of global warming. As I and other scientists have argued elsewhere, the scale of the decarbonisation challenge to meet the targets set out in last December's Paris Agreement is often underplayed in public discourse, and this is the world's biggest gamble. To limit warming to 2C compared to pre-industrial levels and have a fair chance of limiting warming to 1.5C drastic and immediate action would be needed within and outside of Europe to change the way we produce energy and goods on a level that we are still far from today. The world has already warmed by over 1C since the industrial revolution started, and even 1.5C and 2C worlds would impact our lives and those of the biosphere severely. In the same paper in the journal Earth's Future, my colleagues and I assert that only a carbon roadmap will put the world on course to collapse GHGs and create the essential carbon sinks for Earth-system stability. The Paris Agreement has provided a framework for action and defined our end goals, but we must have a global plan for exactly when and through what means they will meet this challenge. Progress has of course been made, globally and in Europe: renewable technology is developing at a rate few predicted, as is the battery storage technology that, when coupled with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, has the capacity to revolutionise energy generation. Renewable energy costs are falling, investment in renewable technologies is rising and jobs are being created. The existence of the Paris Agreement is itself a huge step forward, with all countries, on paper at least, putting a second-half-of-the-century time limit on the bringing down global greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. Advertisement The impacts of climate change are only getting worse, however - neither the EU nor any other country or bloc should ever feel justified in responding to calls for greater ambition by claiming that they have done enough. Upcoming Montreal Protocol negotiations to include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the list of banned substances used in the refrigeration industry due to their atmospheric warming potential provide the EU and the world with an opportunity to further prove their commitment to climate action, especially as viable and less harmful alternatives to HFCs already exist. Negotiations on reducing aviation emissions within the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and talks at COP22 in November to iron out the fine details of the Paris Agreement do the same. Dear Senator McCain, You probably don't remember me -- I'm one of your many former interns, one who came aboard in the 1980s when you first emerged as that energetic freshman senator from Arizona. We've had a bumpy "relationship" since, but I was once among the quintessential true believers. Those of us in the trenches back then wholly embraced the McCain cause because you were a different breed of politician. We respected your strong principles, willingness to reach across the aisle, and determination to stand up to anyone to do the right thing. I've written about that job before but, until now, only a handful of people outside your inner circle knew about the day your senior aide/friend shoved his hand up my skirt, maneuvering himself for action from his office chair as I struggled to break free. I still remember my outfit, of all things, because it was a ridiculous "take me seriously" costume -- a high-neck chambray shirt belted over heavy, ankle-length suede skirt, just like the glossy Ralph Lauren ads of the day. You were overseas but, perhaps unusually for that era, didn't hesitate to do the right thing. You fired your aide that very day and changed the locks. You instructed your team to offer support and help me pursue whatever remedies I wished. And unless someone pulled a cruel office prank, it was your voice on my answering machine apologizing, making sure I was okay and felt comfortable returning to work. Advertisement Later, even as my politics began drifting left, I stood by the McCain brand, defending you over Keating Five, Iran-Contra, various issue flip-flops, and other public grievances. Then came 2008 and Sarah Palin. I found your campaign behavior unforgivable -- such a bizarre, inexplicable transformation. I actually preferred the sympathetic depiction of you in the film Game Change to reality because witnessing that desperate, self-interested, nasty candidate turned my stomach. I was hardly alone. So here we are, in the midst of this critical election year. You're eight decades in, running for your sixth term. You beat Kelli Ward -- but with 48% of the Republican electorate against you. November looks hopeful against Ann Kirkpatrick, but polling data indicates a tight race ahead. You're vulnerable. Many Republicans, including members of my Arizona-voting family, say you aren't "conservative" enough and they'll never vote for you. Others are wary about backing you because they think you'll say or do anything to keep your seat -- like letting Donald Trump freely trash your character and service. Arizona's purple-state trend, meanwhile, isn't helping, particularly the growing pool of Hispanics who will likely vote against you given your stance alongside Trump and his wall. I get that you feel boxed in. You aren't the only Republican leader hiding in plain sight (Paul Ryan and others, I'm calling you out, too), refusing to discuss "the nominee" while quietly endorsing him, insisting that it's all about standing loyal with the Party vs. what it really is about: self-preservation. Still, something tells me that come November, when no one's watching, you won't be bubbling for Trump behind that curtain. Not after the offensive vitriol and stunning disrespect he's shown you and essentially anyone one who's deigned to be critical of him, isn't Putin, or another able-bodied white male. You know America deserves better and, right about now, I'm pulling for some old-school McCain magic, something mavericky and meaningful that puts country over party and politics -- some straight-talk atonement. Tell the world that, ultimately, your conscience can't countenance a vote for Trump. Imagine the respect you'd garner, the glorious relief in simply uttering the truth. Advertisement You could even go further: endorse Secretary Clinton. Tell us that for this election, you're with Her. You've already said she's a "tenacious," "courageous," "impressive candidate" who "deserves a lot more appreciation" -- someone who'll "no doubt" make a good president. Endorsing Clinton would obviously be bold, politically risky, even treasonous to some. But this isn't your GOP anymore. Why hitch your wagon to Trump and align yourself with the ugliness, folly, and outright lies propping him up? Worst-case scenario: you lose with dignity and discover there are more pleasurable ways to pass your time, things that don't involve donning an ill-fitting suit designed by someone else. The FDI sector earns top dollars from hi-tech shipments while local companies continue to stay low on the value chain. Vietnam's exports reached $113 billion in the first eight months, with foreign-invested companies accounting for 70 percent of the value, according to new customs data. The FDI sector's total trade turnover in the period was $144 billion, up 5 percent from the same period last year. Exports in particular stood at around $80 billion, a jump of 10 percent, while imports dropped slightly by 0.1 percent. Foreign companies recorded a trade surplus of $14 billion in the period. Domestic companies, on the other hand, had a deficit of $11 billion. Key exports of FDI companies are high-tech and manufactured products such as machinery, electronic devices, textile and footwear. Vietnamese firms are mostly shipping agricultural products and raw materials including coffee, fruit and vegetables and seafood. Related news: > Foreign investment: A double edged sword for Vietnam > Vietnam emerges as a magnet for foreign direct investment by Adrian D. Pantoja, Ph.D. This week, in collaboration with the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Education Fund and Telemundo Noticias, Latino Decisions launched its 2016 weekly tracking poll of the Latino electorate. We conducted a similar tracking poll during the 2012 presidential election and included many of the same questions again this year. Because this is the first week of our 2016 poll, it is important to re-examine the 2012 results and compare them with this election from the perspective of Latino voters. Perhaps the most important question concerning Latino voters is their presidential preference. Clearly, Republican nominee Donald Trump's statements and positions have made him unpopular among Latino voters. However, some have argued that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's negatives are deflating her support among Latinos. What do we know about the current state of support for the two candidates and how does it compare with 2012? In early September 2012, we asked respondents, "If the election were held today who would you vote for, Mitt Romney or Barack Obama?" Including leaners and supporters for each of the two candidates, 65 percent said Obama and 26 percent indicated Romney, a gap of 39 points. When we asked the same question this past week in the contest between Clinton and Trump, the gap was a whopping 51 points: 71 percent for Clinton to just 18 percent for Trump. Advertisement Not only is the gap in vote choice larger now than four years ago, overall Latino support for Clinton today is stronger than it was for Obama in 2012: 71 percent of Latinos support Hillary to 65 percent for Obama, a 6-point gap. The fact that Clinton is outperforming Obama disproves any claims that Clinton is not appealing sufficiently to Latino voters. (It is worth noting that during the 2008 Democratic primary Clinton beat Obama by a roughly 2-to-1 margin among Latino Democrats.) Meanwhile, our latest results confirm Donald Trump's dismal performance among Latinos. Despite his claims that "the Hispanics love me," the data paints a different picture. Trump is on track to win the lowest share of the Latino electorate of any Republican candidate who sought the presidency since the late 20th century. Aside from knowing whom Latinos are voting for, an equally important question is: Will they turn out to vote? Low turnout has historically plagued the Latino electorate, and there is some concern that enthusiasm this year is low and may depress turnout. In both the 2012 and 2016 tracking polls, we asked Latinos to assess their levels of enthusiasm for the election. Advertisement In 2012, 37 percent of Latinos said they were enthusiastic and were even more enthusiastic than they were for the preceding, 2008 election. So far in 2016, the 48 percent Latino enthusiasm rate is higher. The 11-point gap between 2012 and 2016 is significant because it demonstrates that Latino turnout rates are likely to exceed those of 2012. Higher Latino turnout and historically low levels of support for the Republican candidate do not bode well for Trump and the Republicans. During presidential elections, much of the media's attention is devoted to the contest between the presidential candidates. However, for the political parties the outcome of congressional and other races are equally as important, the so-called "down ballot" races. Clearly, Trump's rhetoric and policies have alienated a significant portion of the Latino electorate. Has his campaign broadly damaged the Republican Party brand with Latinos? The answer is yes. In both 2012 and 2016, Latino Decisions asked Latinos to evaluate the political parties. Response options included: 1) doing a good job reaching out to Latinos; 2) doesn't care about Latinos; or 3) is being hostile toward Latinos. When we examine the "is hostile toward Latinos" response option, we notice a dramatic difference in Latinos' evaluations of the Republican Party between 2016 and 2012. In 2012, 21 percent said the Republican Party was being hostile toward Latinos. Today, there is a dramatic 22-point jump, with 43 percent saying the GOP is acting hostile toward Latinos. In short, Trump's brand damage is not limited to himself; rather, the entire Republican Party has been damaged by his campaign. This damage is likely to impact the outcome in many down ballot races. This is the second presidential election where Latino Decisions has launched a weekly tracking poll. Our data collection efforts in 2012 allow us to compare the degree to which Latino voters are similar or different in their evaluations in this election cycle relative to four years ago. In the remaining weeks until Election Day, Latino Decisions will continue to analyze the degree to which that damage improves, worsens or remains constant. Advertisement But the data thus far indicate dramatic differences in just four years. We find a Latino electorate that is more partisan and energized in 2016 than it was in 2012. The damage done by the Trump campaign is clearly evident in the first week's tracking poll results. Andrian Pantoja is Senior Analyst at Latino Decisions, and Professor of Politics at Pitzer College. The most dangerous injustice is the kind you see so frequently that it doesn't seem abnormal anymore. That is precisely where we are at, as a nation with policing shootings. They happen every day. Most don't make the news beyond the local paper. We've seen too many brutal police shootings to notice the brutality anymore. We have become very numb. In the U.S. people fall in one of two camps on the issue of police shootings. Those who think it would never happen to them, and those who are terrified every day someone they love will be a victim. Unfortunately, those two groups are sharply divided along racial lines. Color matters more than any white person can ever understand. Melanin is a risk factor for mortality in our country. They say you don't know what you don't know. That was certainly the case in Washington State when it came to police officer accountability in deadly force incidents. A statute that has been on our books for thirty years that only recently became a lightning rod for controversy in our state. Advertisement Washington State has the single most regressive law in the nation regarding accountability in deadly force incidents. We are dead last in the entire U.S. in the category of justice. This, in a state, so jam packed full of progressive liberals that we often the brunt of jokes about granola eating hippies and tree-hugging environmentalists. Washington has a uniquely written law that provides a state of mind loophole for an officer who kills. Legislators, prosecutors and the like, try to make it complicated. It's not. In our state, in order for an officer to be prosecuted, you have to be able to prove an officer was thinking evil thoughts when he or she took a life. Advertisement Let that sink in for a minute. No amount of video footage or eyewitness testimony can ever show what someone was thinking. This goes beyond proving intent. You have to be able to determine thoughts, and unless you're a mind reader, you can't. Law enforcement in Washington is quite literally shielded by the law. And for the record, they have used that shield, on many occasions. Several months ago, after a failed attempt at changing the statute on the legislative level, out of desperation, we decided to file an initiative. Working on this project, I have learned two things I believe most people, or at least most white people, don't know. #1. There is some very real and tangible connection between policing and racism. Now let me be very clear. I am not saying all police are racists. I do believe some police are racist. Let's face it, a certain percentage of people, in general, are racist. Police are no exception. However, the racism I'm talking about here isn't about racist cops. It's about racist people. As I talk to people about the campaign, I am often asked who our biggest opposition is. One would think it would be the police unions who would be opposed to losing their get out of jail free statute. That would be an incorrect assumption. Advertisement Our biggest, most vocal opposition has been racists, straight up. When there is a police shooting, racists crawl out of the woodwork to "defend" and "protect" the police. Where I live in Olympia, Washington, racist, white supremacist whack jobs stood vigil in front of the police department for weeks after a white officer shot two unarmed black young men. Recently, a self-proclaimed white supremacist stabbed a black man and ranted about doing a favor for the cops because he knew they wanted to do that, but couldn't. Our Facebook page is swarmed with racist rants and death threats. Most racists hide in the dark. However, when it comes to policing issues racists are emboldened to take the streets and get very public with their rhetoric. What the connection is between policing and racism, I cannot and will not speculate. However, as a white woman, working on this campaign, I was and still am shocked at how prevalent it is. It's a very real thing that defies the moral compass of most. White people need to understand it's real and has a very real impact. People of color have always known it. It's the air they breathe every day. Racism and policing are uniquely bound. You don't have to understand it to accept it's true. Racists love themselves some cops. #2. The price tag of political change is higher than anyone wants to recognize. Here is the reality. Legislators don't like to take on controversial issues that don't appeal to the mainstream. It's risky. Politicians stand to lose a lot, including their careers and reputations for championing issues that affect the disenfranchised. The system is not set up to protect the underrepresented. Advertisement So, beyond getting laws passed and changed through legislation, the only other option in most states is an initiative. In Washington State, we need approximately 250,000 signatures on an initiative. That my friend, is a lot of signatures. Everyone loves a grassroots effort. However, the system is set up to make sure grassroots efforts fail. The requirements are simply too high for even the most motivated volunteer army. The bottom line is initiative campaigns are expensive. You have to pay people to gather signatures because states set the requirements so high. We are potentially talking about millions of dollars just to get an initiative on the ballot. It's hard to get people to invest in issues that affect minority populations. Why? Because the majority of people aren't affected by the same problems. When it comes to writing big checks, or even little ones, people tend to donate to issues they feel. They like it personal. Advertisement Most people certainly don't want to donate when it's controversial. Kids and education are an easy ask. Parks almost always get funded. Those types of things have good optics. Policing issues and deep-rooted social justice causes, not so much. The optics there aren't as shiny. Let's face it, things like racism and police brutality are hard to talk about. Mainstream politics funds itself. However, when you're dealing with issues that aren't that neatly packaged, money is harder to find and change is difficult to fund. This is the primary reason the oppressed stay oppressed. There is a very high price tag for equality and the oppressed rarely have deep pockets. We are at the half-way mark in our campaign. We have a volunteer army working themselves nearly to death to gather signatures. That isn't an exaggeration. In the last week, we had two key volunteers in the hospital and many others suffering serious symptoms of burnout. What we are doing here matters, a lot. Not just in Washington, but for the entire county. A lot of people have their eyes on Washington State because we are the first country in the nation to put policing laws in the hands of the people. We are laying down a roadmap for other states to follow. Advertisement The risk in our task that is becoming obvious is this: money doesn't solve every problem, but the lack of money maintains the status quo, and the status quo right now is a real, life and death kind of problem for a lot of people. Too often we speak of human beings as statistics. We have forgotten the human element. We distance ourselves from that which makes us uncomfortable. We see compassion as writing a check, rather than the physical act of helping others. The further we distance ourselves from all aspects of humanity the easier it is to turn our backs. We start to question the reasoning behind giving money. Then our monetary gifts cease. We acquiesce to social conformity. We become blind to the cause of the less fortunate, choosing instead, to see them as an eyesore in the perfect canvas of our American dream. This past June I was invited to teach a combined art and creative writing class to 80 children. Their teacher, Esther Andrews, teaches 6th Grade Dual Language, History/English/Spanish. I can speak first hand about Andrews' teaching skills as she taught my youngest son 10 years ago, and for a few years we taught at the same school. Students have described her as, 'compassionate, hard working and caring.' I asked Andrews what it was like for her growing up in the United States as the daughter of Mexican parents. I was the fifth of seven children born to Mexican parents. They came to the U.S. legally. When I went to school, the policy was English only and I remember not saying much or speaking up in class until I was in 3rd grade (we were punished if we used our native tongue). I spoke Spanish at home and English at school. My children speak a little Spanish. I married an American, and we spoke English at home. Plus there was this whole first generation, second-generation cultural shift. I rebelled against my parent's culture, my daughters embraced it. By the time my children wanted to learn Spanish, I felt it was too late to start speaking only Spanish at home. Fortunately, they were all good students and had wonderful Spanish teachers who taught them well. I found the sixth grade students eager to learn and not afraid to go out of their comfort zone. But I wondered about the difficulties Andrews faces as a teacher on a day-to-day basis. The most difficult task in the lives of the children that I teach, is instilling in them a sense of confidence and purpose. They come to me as frightened children, but when they leave 8th grade, I can see them blossoming. I tell them of my blessed life and that they can all achieve the same thing if they put their mind to it and they learn to READ AND WRITE! After the students had drawn their hands. I asked them to envision the hands of someone they love and write down their thoughts. Angel stood, and in a shy voice read aloud the paragraph he had written about his father's hands, it began; "My father's hands are stained with dirt." Vanessa stood up next, and her words were similar, as were many others. Some of the prose the students wrote was more descriptive, they thought to bring in other senses, explaining how their grandfather's hands smelled of tomatoes or strawberries. One child wrote that her father's hands were scratched all over from repairing the broken trailer they call home. Another wrote; 'My mother's hands are so soft they feel like a cloud,' and many other children wrote that their mother's hands smelled of rose scented lotion because at the end of each day they rubbed the lotion into their tired, cracked and stained hands. Advertisement The children who wrote these words were born in the United States of America. Their parents work long shifts picking the fruit and vegetables along highways dotted across the country, the produce you and I buy from markets. These are Angel's parents and grandparents, and Vanessa's aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters. I asked Andrews what advice she gives to her students. Most of my children's parents (all Latino) work in the neighboring fields, and I tell them that my parents too, had to work in the fields. I tell them that could have been my life too if I had not finished school and gone to college. I tell them that I know first hand how hard this work is and that maybe one day, they won't have to do the same type of work their parents are doing. I tell them perhaps, they one day, will be the owner of the field, rather than the digger or picker of that field. These are the people who Mr. Trump, and others like him want to send packing back to Mexico. Our geographical neighbor, who he would prefer to be invisible behind a wall at the border. But walls won't stop the cries of a mother separated from her child. These cries of heartache will churn through brick and mortar and echo into the boardrooms of Washington D.C. A wall, no matter how thick and tall, will never stop the children from finding their voices. Thanks to the tireless work of teachers like Esther Andrews, these children will learn to read and write. They will find their voices. They will speak with compassion and dignity, and they will keep on speaking until the cries of their parents and grandparents are heard. A few months ago, I became a citizen of the United States of America. My husband and our two sons were among the thousands of friends and relatives seated at the Los Angeles Convention Center, watching loved ones being sworn in to this country. I wish every American citizen could attend one of these ceremonies, and see first hand the pride on the faces of citizens being sworn in. To see members of the United States military, after they have already fought for this country, finally receive their citizenship. Advertisement It seemed fitting that the young man sitting next to me was from Turkey. Like many, he came to the U.S. as a student eight years ago. He worked hard, received top grades and upon his graduation was offered a position as an engineer. People from all over the world, people who, like me, came here to find the dream we had heard about; 'work hard, anything is possible in America.' For me, that dream came true, but like my fellow workers I've had to work my butt off. In the film business there are no set hours. Workdays run into nights, you take the work while it's there and then panic when there's a lull in the craziness. After the birth of my children, I became a teacher; endless hours of preparation, low wages, working weekends, on call, exhausting and stressful. But with both of these positions the joy is in the final product. Seeing my art on film or in print, seeing the student who made me grateful for hair color claim his high school diploma, that's how we claim our dreams in America. Come this November I will vote to help Angel and Vanessa's families. I will vote with the human element in mind. This country was built on the blood and sweat of immigrants, to vote any other way would not be democratic. Earlier on Huff/Post50: The days of leadership without engagement are gone. With interactive social media and video everywhere, everyone needs to feel they have a relationship with their leaders, and every brand needs leader personification for customers to relate. Soon you won't be able to name a business as one of your favorites if you can't personally visualize and relate to company leadership. In the same way, great entrepreneurs and company leaders should no longer rely on faceless and nameless processes to drive business strategy and innovation to stay competitive. The old way doesn't work, and results more than ever in slow decision-making, lack of real connection with employees, and ignorance of what customers really want. The new principles of engagement, as well as the dysfunctions of the old, are well illustrated in a new book, "Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami?" by Steven D. Goldstein. He speaks from a wealth of personal experience in private equity, as well as top executive positions at American Express, Sears, and Citigroup. Advertisement He found the dysfunctional engagement that sent snow blowers to his store in Miami every year. As a result of this incident and many others, he defined five key engagement principles which resonate with me as just as relevant for new business founders as mature business executives. Here is my adaptation of his engagement principles for all the aspiring entrepreneurs I advise: Learn to adopt an outsider's perspective. Every entrepreneur, even though confident in his domain, needs to fight complacency in a world that changes almost daily. You need to look at everything through fresh eyes, continually ask questions not usually asked, and actively listen to contrary views. No change means you are falling behind as a leader. Interact with employees and customers on a regular basis. Authentic communication at all levels and encouraging feedback is how you find out what is really going on. More meetings in your conference room won't get to the truth as well as simply talking to people who interact with customers directly. Never be too busy to talk to real customers. Focus on two or three pertinent metrics in any situation. Keeping it simple is the best course. No one can remember your top ten priorities and measurements. Unbundle projects into smaller elements, and personalize the top couple of metrics for each team. These simplified targets are crucial to motivating a team, and getting the focus you need. Advertisement Help people know more, so they can do their job better. Knowledge is power, and good information flow and collection tools are of the utmost importance. Information that is relevant and timely needs to be shared widely and efficiently. It's also important to share the evaluation insights, and to tie the next action steps directly to current results. Accept that whatever speed you are going is too slow. Time is the enemy in today's global marketplace. Follow the guiding motto of Andy Grove at Intel, "Only the paranoid survive." It's vital to get quick wins, learn rapidly from failures, and get comfortable with constant change. Waiting is never an option, as competitors will always be moving. In the same fashion, these engagement principles must be applied to customers. More and more, I see evidence that customers want to be pulled to your company by engagement, rather than feel that you are pushing yourself on them. There are a multitude of opportunities through social media to engage your customers, as well as getting out of your office into the marketplace. Customer business leadership through brand icons, such as Ronald McDonald and Aunt Jemima, is fading fast. Customers as well as employees want to relate and engage with real people as leaders, and business leaders need to interact with real employees and customers to stay vital and current. photo credit Gage/Skidmore - WikiCommons America needs Donald Trump because the country is falling apart. Things have never been worse. Our military is a disaster. The economy is collapsing. Terrorists are everywhere. The last eight years have basically ruined the nation. Donald Trump is our last chance to save America. I know a lot of people who believe this. And why not? It's what they see on TV or read in the papers every day. That's what our 'journalists' have been 'reporting' for years: how terrible, how frightening, how dangerous everything is. Advertisement The problem is that none of it is true. None of it. (And you thought Donald Trump lied). In point of fact, (just to refute the few points above), 'things' (whatever that means) have never been better. The US is today the most powerful country in the world, bar none. We are by far the world's wealthiest nation, as measured by GDP - $18 trillion. The rest of the world doesn't even come close. Japan, China and Germany combined don't even add up. Plus, we pretty much own and dominate the digital and technical world. We are on the leading edge of almost every innovation. Since the end of the cold war (which we won, by the way), the US stands uncontested at the world's most powerful nation. There is no one even in second place. The US military is the size of the combined militaries of every other country in the world, combined. Last year we spent $711 billion on defense. China, in the #2 spot spent $143 billion. It drops precipitously after that. We have 10 aircraft carriers. The rest of the world has 10, combined. There are 8400 attack helicopters in the world, we have 6400 of them. Need I go on? Terrorist attacks in the US? Since 9/11, 45 Americans have died as a result of Islamic terror attacks in the US. That's it. 45. Bad, but hardly a disaster, really. Let us put our 'terror' in perspective for once. (And credit here to Yuval Noah Harari and his new book Homo Deus). Advertisement "In 2012 about 56 million people died throughout the world: 620,000 died due to human violence. (120,000 were killed in wars). In contrast, 800,000 committed suicide and 1.5 million died of diabetes." Yet, in the US we spend $16 billion a year fighting 'terrorism' and just over $1 billion a year fighting diabetes. That's about $360 million per terror victim. By way of comparison, we spend about $38 per person with diabetes in search of a cure. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Terror attacks make far better TV than does diabetes research. Here's another interesting statistic, again from Homo Deus: In 2010, obesity killed about 3 million people worldwide. Terrorism killed 7,697 people across the globe, most of them in 3rd World countries. 'For the average American or European, Coca Cola poses a far deadlier threat than al-Qaeda'. We are terrorized, all right, but we are terrorized by the media. Watch TV, read the papers, listen to the blogosphere and you would think that the nation was on the verge of collapse. It isn't. In fact, in a very weird way, things have never been better. Advertisement Seriously. But you can't see it that way because the way you see the world is the product of the news business, and I put the emphasis on 'business'. The news business is first and foremost a business. It makes its money by attracting the largest possible audience, and then charging advertisers to get access to that audience. This is true whether it is TV news, newspapers, magazines or websites. It is a never-ending fight for ratings or share or circulation or eyeballs. It's all the same thing. And you don't get ratings or share or circulation or eyeballs by saying everything is pretty good. On the contrary, you get those things by scaring the pants off of everyone, every night. It's like plane crashes. Great TV! Seriously. But is plane travel safe? (Do I even have to answer that?). So in the news business, you are always looking for that plane crash. I can remember when I was working for The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour on PBS and there was a hurricane that hit the east coast. We drove around for hours looking for a shot of a tree that had fallen across a wire... or a car... or something. We finally found one - thank God! Then, off to the beach for some crashing waves. In point of fact, there was no story, but you don't go on the air and say, 'no big deal', which was, in fact, the truth. Now, multiply that about a million times over and you get the news 'business'. We want Scary Stuff! They don't say, 'if it bleeds, it leads' (or, in deference to my Columbia Journalism School classmates, if it ledes... OK?) in the news business for nothing. If it isn't scary you don't sell papers, or ads for your TV news program or banners for your website. We NEED scary stories. We crave scary stories. We search for them. We fill our papers and websites and news shows with them. They rate. They get eyeballs. Good news does not. Advertisement If you would like a measure of just how warped the 'news business' is, watch your local news on TV some evening. See what they 'cover'. A fire, a murder (if they are lucky), a robbery. Now, unless you are the poor bastard who was robbed, murdered, or whose house burned down, these stories, exciting though they may be, have absolutely no impact on you. Yet, terrifying 'news' stories, night after night, for years on end, do have a deleterious effect on your perception of just how dangerous the world might be. The same holds true for ISIS beheading videos - a true godsend to the TV networks. ISIS does their own productions, and they have great production values. You might think that ISIS is the greatest threat to Western Democracies since Nazi Germany. ISIS has 30,000 'fighters'. Nazi Germany had about 12 million 'fighters' (and one of the most advanced industrial machines in the world). ISIS, needless to say, does not. But ISIS is all the 'news business' has, so they make the best of it. All of which brings us to Donald Trump and his wall, his war on Muslims and Mexicans and everyone else. The news media did not bring us Donald Trump. They just created the very fertile fields in which his own brand of personal terrorism flourished. It was fertile because it was, like any good fertile field, filled with manure. But that manure was laid down day after day, year after year, by our own 'news business'. And, as the Good Book tells us, as ye sow, so shall ye reap. And what we are going to reap now is Donald Trump. And we have no one to blame but ourselves... and our 'journalists' This past few weeks were remarkable for women who, like me, have served their country in uniform. One of a handful of women receiving Army ROTC scholarships in 1979, I became a lawyer and eventually returned to the Pentagon in 2012 to work as a civilian for the Secretary of Defense. I drafted the rule overturning the ban on women from "combat" positions strictly because of their gender. When Defense Secretary Carter finalized the rule with no exceptions last December, I thought women would finally have the opportunity to lead our armed forces. On September 12, the Army announced that almost 200 women would begin training in 2017 for armor and infantry jobs previously closed to them simply because of their gender, and they needed more. At the Commander in Chief Forum, Hillary Clinton, the first woman with a chance to command our military, firmly and calmly stood her ground under hostile questioning, saying the most important quality in a commander in chief was to be "rock steady," and she was. In his interview at the same forum, her opponent, Donald Trump, who has never served in uniform himself because he could not meet the physical requirements, asserted that he knows more about how to fight wars than our military leadership, which has in his opinion been "reduced to rubble." And he re-affirmed his 2013 tweet implying that because they are victims of sexual assault by servicemen, women do not belong in the military. It was a stunning contrast in fitness for the job. Advertisement At the service, Major Heather "Lucky" Penney, who as a rookie pilot on September 11, had "scrambled" to respond to the national security crisis on that fateful morning, paid tribute to Harmon. Penney co-piloted the F-16 that was ordered to take down United Flight 93 before it could make strike the U.S. Capitol. That was no easy assignment - her fighter jet had no ammunition - she would have to fly her plane right into flight 93 - a suicide mission to save our country. She flew just as any other trained combat pilot, male or female, would have -- rock steady in the heat of that terrible moment. Lucky for Penney, that was not to be her fate. Flight 93 went down in rural Pennsylvania due to the heroics of the men and women on board, proving that courage knows no gender. At a time when choosing military service is increasingly rare, our military will not be able to fulfill its mission with only male volunteers. And it is preposterous and even dangerous to our security to think that we can be the greatest fighting force in the world if we excluded half of the talented people who could serve simply because they are women. After so many women have paid the ultimate sacrifice - after women fighter pilots like Elaine Harmon and Heather Penney have proven that they are just as able to serve - it is regrettable that we are still debating whether they should be given that opportunity. Harmon's long awaited memorial was a painful reminder that all our successful battles to achieve equal opportunity for all in the military can be reversed by the stroke of a pen in the hand of the wrong man. In 2012 with a pen stroke, the Secretary of the Army unilaterally decided to rescind the burial benefits for women like Elaine Harmon. When Harmon died last year at 95, her granddaughter fought to restore those burial rights - enlisting the help of a bi-partisan group of female veterans in Congress, including Representative Martha McSally (R- Ariz.) a veteran combat pilot herself, to pass a law and reverse this "grave" injustice. Advertisement As a final salute, female pilots of all generations took turns flying Harmon's burial flag across the country - across D.C. in an F-16 like the one Major Penney scrambled to defend our city on 9/11, on a combat maneuvering mission, and on commercial airliners -- it even went supersonic with a female pilot who took pulled 8.7 Gs with it just for fun. Harmon and her fellow WASPs paved the way for all the determined women combat pilots and for the women combat veterans to come. I'm choosing to post this article in the Black Voices section of The Huffington Post today because Tyre King won't be able to write this article himself. He will not grow up and become a journalist. He will not grow up and eventually be interviewed by a journalist. In fact, he won't even tell his friends the story on Monday at school, when he returns to his eighth-grade classroom. Tyre King has no voice. His voice is no longer with us. Any time a thirteen-year-old boy dies - someone so young, someone with so much life in front of him - it's a sad day. When that thirteen-year-old dies of gun violence, it becomes a tragedy. We have an incredible number of guns in our country. Gun-violence is so common. I think of President Obama saying, "Shame on us," in 2013, if we can't have stronger gun-control laws in this country. But when gun violence is perpetrated by uniformed police officers, the angle of light changes. We're not sure what to think. We see a political split. A national divide. Advertisement Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. The stories of police shootings are not all the same, but there is a very troubling pattern. There's a narrative. And since this narrative involves police officers (government workers who should be trust-worthy, who should be serving and protecting), we're not supposed to question the narrative. We certainly aren't supposed to take the questioning further, to protest, even peacefully, or we might face slurs, threats, or backlash. But it's my job as a writer to question. To ask questions. To dig deeper. To not accept the narrative as is. Because history is written by the victors. Another way to say that is "history is written by those who survive." Another way to say that is "history is written by the killers." I know how biased that sounds, but think about it in this situation. Who's story will we hear over the next few months? Will we hear from the living, breathing police officers of Columbus, Ohio? Or will we hear the story told by a dead thirteen-year-old boy? Attorneys representing Tyre's family said "numerous witness accounts" contradict what police said happened Wednesday. So there already is a shadow of doubt. Advertisement And since we won't hear from Tyre King himself, I have a few questions about the narrative that we've been given: First, while police officers pursued King as the "suspect," was he actually one of the people who committed the robbery? Will we ever know since he won't stand trial? What were the defining characteristics of the suspects? "Dark-skinned"? "Black"? "Wearing hoodies"? And if this robbery was such a serious crime, why did the other suspect get questioned, then released? If this robbery was so serious, why wasn't the other suspect charged and then held? Another question: Why don't the police officers of Columbus, Ohio wear body cameras? Why did the department finally "test" the use of body cameras just last month, in 2016, when the call for body cameras on all police officers nation-wide has been going on for years? If there were videos of the final confrontation with Tyre King, and of the fatal shooting, what would that video show? Advertisement And here's where the police department's narrative makes the least sense. If, in fact, King was a correctly identified suspect, and if the police officers were justified in chasing him and attempting to arrest him, why did he pull out his very dangerous-looking BB gun? If King did point that BB gun at police officers, then a rational person can understand why the police officers thought the BB gun was a real gun. It looks like a real gun. In most lighting situations, it probably can't be distinguished from a real gun. With little time to make a decision, I would probably think that King's BB gun was a real gun, especially if was a scared, anxious, or nervous police officer. But... Thirteen-year-old boys with BB guns shoot them hundreds - if not thousands - of times. Thirteen-year-olds with BB guns know exactly how powerful BB guns are. They know - for example - that a BB gun can puncture a Pepsi can, but can't puncture a soup can. To make it clear: they know how weak BB guns are. Certainly, Tyre King knew how weak his BB gun was in actuality. So if he knew how weak his BB gun was, why would he pull that BB gun out of his waistband and aim it at police officers? This is the narrative that we're supposed to believe is true. He threatened the officers with his BB gun. In their minds, they were in mortal danger. But why would Tyre King think that he could do real gun battle with his BB gun? Why would he think that his BB gun could win against police officers using firearms and wearing bullet-proof vests? Advertisement What thirteen-year-old is that foolish? Or... Was Tyre King perhaps handing his BB gun over to the police when he was shot? Was he telling them that he had a BB gun but they only heard the word "gun"? Was King holding his BB gun by its barrel or by its handle? Was King saying, "This is a BB gun"? Was he telling them not to shoot? Was he begging them not to shoot? We'll never know. I grew up with a boy who's dad was a thirty-year veteran of the local police force. A sergeant, my friend's dad was on the SWAT team for more than twenty years. He was involved in two shootings during that time. In both instances, he shot armed suspects in the hip, and both suspects were captured alive. Both suspects went to trial and were convicted of their crimes. I revered my friend's dad. I respected him so much. And I looked forward to dinners when he told stories about policing. I remember when he said, "If you shoot a man in the hip, he always goes down and he always drops his weapon. It hurts so much and he can't get back up. If you shoot him in the hip, he stays alive and you don't have to live with the fact that you killed someone." Now why isn't that police protocol? If police officers have to shoot suspects, why do the shootings have to be lethal? Also, how many shots does it take to subdue a suspect? For example, does it take five bullets to subdue a thirteen-year-old boy? This shooting reminds me of the shooting of Tamir Rice, a shooting that while not a "crime," still resulted in a $6 million settlement by the city of Cleveland with Rice's family. To clarify, cities do not pay $6 million to a family after doing everything right. The shooting of Tamir Rice was wrong, but in our country it was not deemed a "crime." So the shooting was 6 million dollars in the wrong, but it was determined to be a "not crime"? Is there - perhaps - something wrong with our justice system? How long will these "not crimes" continue to happen in our country? Am I allowed to ask that question? Joseph Lelyveld, former executive editor of the New York Times, recently published a biography of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "His Final Battle: The Last Year of Franklin Roosevelt." The book has attracted rave reviews. An earlier biography by Lelyveld of Mahatma Gandhi, published in 2011, attracted controversy because some Indian critics averred that the author implied that Gandhi -- one of the founders of modern India -- had a homosexual relationship in the early 1900s when he was a lawyer in South Africa. I wrote a defense of Lelyveld on April 1, 2011, for India's national newspaper, The Hindu, which I'm reproducing here because I believe that what I said then is still relevant: Joseph Lelyveld may be many things -- not all of them pleasant -- but a falsifier of facts and misinterpreter of men he's definitely not. That's why the over-the-top assaults by Indian politicians on his authorial integrity seem so clueless and churlish. Anyone who's known the fastidiously careful Mr. Lelyveld would be amused by the attacks, which, among other things, have him suggesting in his new book -- Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India -- that Mahatma Gandhi was homosexual. In the aggregate, Mr. Lelyveld is painted by the pols as a deeply sinister figure with an agenda of his own. No one has articulated what that agenda might actually be and why Mr. Lelyveld might want to implement it. Of course, the usual canards are being recklessly bruited about by the usual suspects -- Zionist, agent provocateur, enemy of the Indian polity, underminer of traditional values, and so on -- as if those who shout don't have dark secrets of their own. The jeremiads are certain to get more colourful in coming days. Stay tuned. Advertisement Pained as Mr. Lelyveld must be as these public protests become shriller, a part of him might even want to summon a smile. And why not? Since there's no such thing as bad publicity, sales of his 425-page book are certain to soar. But Joseph Lelyveld, sinister? Please. He's actually just plain old-fashioned Joe, a by-the-book newspaperman who rose from being a copyboy -- a peon -- to executive editor of one of the world's elite dailies, The New York Times. You don't get to the top of an international publication's masthead by fibbing your way around. Neither do you get to be an acclaimed author by playing fast and loose with the world as it is. His memoir of South Africa during the apartheid years, Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White, won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. The prize also went that year to another former New York Times foreign correspondent, J. Anthony Lukas, author of Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families. They had both served in India by the time they received their Pulitzers but neither man's award-winning works concerned the subcontinent directly. Mr. Lelyveld continued on his trajectory of gaining organisational power. Lukas wrote another magnum opus, Big Trouble, whose sweeping narrative covered the early 20th century, focussing on conflicts between miners and mining officials in the American state of Idaho. Before the book was published, Lukas hanged himself in his New York apartment. He had been suffering from depression for at least a decade. I bring Tony Lukas into this essay about Joe Lelyveld because both men genuinely liked India when they lived there -- and it showed in their reporting, which was empathetic without being egregiously emotional. I have always believed that the best foreign correspondents who covered India were Lelyveld, Lukas, (the late) Sydney H. Schanberg, also of the New York Times, and my late mentors, A.M. Rosenthal, who -- as Joe did much later -- went on to become The Times's executive editor, and James W. Michaels, who was in India during Independence for a wire service and eventually led the Forbes magazine in its glory days. Advertisement They were smart reporters. They felicitously captured the cultures, customs and contradictions of the world's largest democracy. They told their stories as they saw them, but you knew that India had touched them. Each man obviously carried a valentine for India, and you at once understood that the struggle within the reporter was not about how to tell his yarn but about holding back his heart. Each man was immune to accusations of fabrication. And why would you want to make up things about India, anyway? The rich tapestry of daily life, the daily drama of development that these reporters relayed to their global readers possessed a vibrancy and vitality that was impossible to conjure up unless rooted in reality. The high adventure of India, Abe Rosenthal called it. Of those five brilliant men, only Tony Lukas did not aspire to an editorship, and, of course, he never became an editor. I wish, though, that Joe Lelyveld hadn't become one either. He wasn't very good at it. His people skills seemed handicapped by shyness, perhaps an affliction traceable to his traumatic childhood with a strong rabbi for a father and a sensitive, fey figure for a mother. Mr. Lelyveld wrote in Omaha Blues, a memoir of growing up, that the youngest of the three Lelyveld brothers had not been fathered by Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld of Cleveland, who had gained international fame for his leadership role in Reform Judaism, and for his support of civil rights in America, and of Israel's right to exist. I've always held that the sensitivity Joe Lelyveld had amply demonstrated in his reportage from India, South Africa, Congo, London, Hong Kong, Vietnam and China, and in his books, did not necessarily carry over into his dealings with people. As a reporter, he was always tuned in to others' feelings; as an editor, he wasn't always terribly considerate toward his juniors, or especially mindful of their sensitivities. I've probably read everything that Joe has ever written. But I learned long ago that while one might be an admirer of his style and savvy, there was no percentage in being an admirer of the man. Joe is uncomfortable with admiration, however genuine, and to me he always seemed a deeply unforgiving man. I think that I can trace it back to the summer of 1968 when, while still a student at Brandeis University, I was serving as a summer intern at the New York Times. Joe Lelyveld had just returned to New York after his India stint. Spotting him in the cavernous Times newsroom, I approached him for an interview. He cordially agreed. I wrote it up for an Indian newspaper -- not The Hindu -- and I thought that was that. Advertisement But years later, after I was promoted to being a reporter for The Times, Sydney Schanberg told me that Mr. Lelyveld held it against me that I had gotten his words wrong. I probably did -- would Joe ever lie? -- and my version of his reality may have been different from his own. And years later still, after I had become a Times foreign correspondent in my own right and Joe was my editor, I could never push away the sense that Joe was out there, scolding silently. His editor's sarcasm -- maybe it was wit? -- didn't much reassure me as I traversed Africa and the Middle East, dealing with the dictators and fledgling democrats out there, and with demons of my own. I once very nearly told Joe that I wished he hadn't left the correspondent's camel for the editor's saddle. But I wisely kept my own counsel. Joe was never one to laugh easily, and I always felt that he bore grudges. I don't want to seem petty or jejune: I will leave settling scores for my memoirs. This is, after all, Joe Lelyveld's special moment in the sun, with mostly laudatory reviews of Great Soul, and with promising sales. He's already had many bright moments in a glorious career spanning six decades -- (he's 79 now) -- and Joe's bound to produce more magazine journalism in his post-editorship life as a reborn reporter. I hope that he also turns out more relentlessly researched books such as his Gandhi biography. What he writes matters. My point, I suppose, is really this: Whatever one's view of Joe's extraordinary journalism and puzzling personality, what he writes matters. It matters because he is always the model reporter -- even when he's donning the cap of an author: thorough, sceptical, a man who feels for his subjects, a man who synthesises cannily, a writer who is always accurate and graceful. There aren't nearly enough of Joe Lelyvelds out there. I just received a Facebook message from my friend Rick Horowitz, Class of 1970 at Brandeis University: Hi, Pranay: It was fifty years ago today... I could have this completely wrong, I realize, but the date that has always stuck in my mind is September 19th. September 19th of 1966, when several hundred kids (some of us even more kiddish than the rest) arrived at that leafy little nest in Waltham to start our Brandeis adventures. Some of you I met within days. With others, it was weeks - or decades - later. (Thank goodness for reunions, even if some of my favorite uning didn't quite qualify as "re-.") However it happened, it seems to have started happening fifty years ago this very day - and I'm so delighted, and so grateful, that it did. One way or another, we've been part of one another's lives for half a century now - who'd have imagined it? So anyway: I simply wanted to mark the moment with a hello, maybe an online hug, and certainly a great big grin for the wonders of happenstance. Wishing you all a Happy 50 -- here's to many, many more! Rick Advertisement Pranay Gupte: (Portions of the following were published in India's national newspaper, The Hindu, in June 2010.) Back in June 2010, I travelled to Boston to attend the 40th reunion of my college class, my first such get-together with former classmates since I graduated from Brandeis University in 1970. I went because I hadn't stayed much in touch with them, I went because I was curious how their lives had played out over these long years, and I went, perhaps most of all, to revisit the past that had shaped me, a past that I had always thought served as a prologue to everything that subsequently happened in my life. But that past had disappeared from view. I found myself a stranger among classmates whom I hadn't even known during my college days. The campus had changed -- it's still pretty, of course, but it has suffered from the "edifice complex," that peculiar American condition where wealthy donors raise buildings as much to promote education as to set their names in stone, or marble. What once was a bucolic area was now filled with malls and a bewildering maze of highways. There was a superficiality to the reunion parties, the food wasn't very good -- it never is on American campuses -- and it became quickly clear that the courteous young students who served as guides for the occasion had little cognisance with the past I'd experienced, and even less curiosity about it. They seemed eager to talk about themselves, and so I did what I like to do best -- ask questions. Advertisement I went to the United States in 1967 at a time of great cultural upheaval over its involvement in the Vietnam War, which cost nearly 60,000 American lives -- and those of a million Vietnamese -- and maimed tens of thousands of young soldiers on both sides, and altered forever the lives and destinies of untold numbers of men, women and children in Indochina. In the end, it was all for nothing -- America lost that war, its only such defeat, and, Vietnam still figures as a metaphor for how the best and brightest policymakers of a wealthy nations can misread developing societies many thousands of miles away. Coming from the relative placidity of my native Mumbai -- then known as Bombay -- I wasn't prepared for the tumult and turbulence that I would encounter in a country that I'd never before visited. America was alluring, to be sure, but it was also completely alien. What I'd seen in the movies produced by Hollywood wasn't quite the reality I'd encounter. The weather was unpredictable, I had no friends, and, as an only child, I missed my parents terribly. I missed the colour and clangor of Mumbai. I missed the ethos of India. It wasn't easy to acclimatise myself to a new country that would eventually be my permanent home - although I would have had no way of knowing it at the time -- and it wasn't easy being at Brandeis University near Boston, a campus of ambitious, politically hyperactive, and sexually libertarian students and faculty. Much of my time was spent covering the huge war protests in and around Boston for the campus newspaper, The Justice -- named after the man in whose honour my nonsectarian university had been established in 1948, Louis D. Brandeis, an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, a great legal scholar. Little wonder that my newspaper articles sparkled more than my grades. But that was where my professional life as a journalist began. I went on to be a foreign correspondent at The New York Times, then at Newsweek International and Forbes, and later as a producer of documentaries for public television, an author of 14 books, and as the founder and editor of The Earth Times, a newspaper on the environment and sustainable development. I don't mean to seem facetious, but I am what I am because I skipped those stimulating classes at Brandeis and opted to attend antiwar rallies and write about them for The Justice. This also offered ample opportunities to meet women whose personal and political passions nicely intertwined. I looked for some of those women at my class reunion, but none was there. There were those with whom I hadn't enjoyed liaisons, but I could scarcely recognise any. The years hadn't been biologically kind to most of those who attended. Many of my classmates -- both women and men -- had gone on to great distinction in fields as varied as the law, the sciences, medicine, the theatre, and academe, of course. We took a lot of pictures, some with cameras, most with our eyes. It will be the last such album that I will preserve. Advertisement That's because when the past is gone, it is gone; no amount of imagery can truly reconstruct it. Before I made the journey of 10,000 kilometres from my current home in Dubai to Boston for the class reunion, I knew full well that one could never recapture the past. I did not realise that one couldn't really relive the past either. Forty years is a very long time -- two full generations have been born and graduated since my college days. None of the professors who taught me is still around at Brandeis. My parents aren't around either; they aren't there to write home to about my travails in what was then an alien experience. Two larger-than-life figures in Massachusetts who welcomed me into their homes and hearts -- Selma Feinstein and Charles Noble -- are long dead, and I didn't even know about their demise; my failure to keep in touch with them may have been one of omission and not commission, but it certainly showed that I didn't bother to nurture my past. To have a democratic society that brings out the best in its citizens, people have to show up -- to vote, to attend city council meetings, rallies, marches and other serious gatherings that reflect the public interest. They also need to support progressive candidates and run for office. Showing up is half of democracy. We invite you to attend, in person, our four-day Breaking Through Power conference in Washington, D.C., featuring some of the most accomplished civic leaders and thinkers as well as opportunities for you to become energized and engaged wherever you live or work. Whether you see yourself as a dissatisfied voter, a civically-minded teacher, a curious student, a fed up consumer, a dismayed taxpayer, or if you are looking for ways to make your community better, you'll come away with knowledge, tools for action and connections with others who want to make a difference. Advertisement Visit breakingthroughpower.org to see the conference speakers -- people who long ago decided they were going to dedicate their time and talent to make our country responsive to the necessities and aspirations of its people. The First Day -- September 26th -- is about building civic skills and breaking through apathy. You can see David Freeman talk from his experience of advising presidents, governors, and running four big public utilities, including the vast Tennessee Valley Authority, wisely lay out a practical path to economical renewable energy with environmental respect. Have you been ripped off? Hear Oliver Hall of the Center for Competitive Democracy talk about using small claims court or the people's courts. They are located everywhere. Thinking about a community-based business? Listen to the nation's expert, Neil Seldman, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, talk about how community business is revolutionary. Advertisement Want to engage with the safe, nutritious food movement? You'll be shown the way by the leading safe food advocate--who has done it for 45 years--Dr. Michael Jacobson. Whether it is empowering consumers, getting corporate money out of politics, knowing the safeguards for whistleblowing or building public opinion behind your proposals, advocates who are among the best in the country are ready to share their experience and enthusiasm with you at the Breaking Through Power conference. Let's say you're a teacher and you want to convey civic skills to your students and motivate them to overcome their apathy and work for needed change. You couldn't have a better day's retreat. There is even a talk on the civic engagement of business leaders by Mitch Rofsky, who founded the delightfully pro-consumer motor club called the Better World Club [www.betterworldclub.com]. The Second Day is a huge eye-opener and brain-filler. Did you know that "We the People" actually own the greatest wealth in our country? I'm referring to the vast public lands, onshore and offshore, the research and development, funded by taxpayers, that enabled today's new industries, the huge capital amassed in the form of pension and mutual funds and individual shareholdings. But corporations control their uses and reap the profits, abetted by their influence over Congress and government officials in Washington. Imagine if we took back reasonable control over those assets that we already own. A society beyond our optimistic dreams would emerge, assuming that we provided "eternal vigilance." Well, that's what Day Two is all about -- our savings, our natural resources, and our other "commons" being shaped to fit your needs and those of your descendants. Advertisement Day Three responds to people's interest in ways to start new citizen groups by the heads of groups each exhibiting a different model. The afternoon is devoted to D.C. statehood--the New Columbia to replace the Washington D.C. colony and abolish the servitude that blocks the residents of our nation's capital from having voting representatives in Congress. Day Four, held at historic Constitution Hall, celebrates the two great liberation movements that provide us with self-actuating freedoms to have our day in court and make contracts fair. Naturally, the big corporations are irritated by challenges to their overreaching, so over the decades they have weakened the law of torts -- the remedies for wrongful injuries -- and perfected the anti-consumer, one-sided, fine-printed contracts that await you when you enter into the marketplace of goods and services. Our rights to fair contracts and to use tort law are under constant attack from the promoters of crony capitalism. Attend the Breaking Through Power Conference and learn what you can do to defend yourself. You'll be engrossed by advocates who have represented successfully people like you and scholars who can clearly demonstrate what is at stake when we decide to strengthen the fundamental freedoms to use tort law. Consider these four days as the Super Bowl of Civic Action that can equip you to seek justice and protect yourself from wrongful impacts on your living condition. There's no substitute for attending the events and meeting with similarly motivated citizens like you. Ticket information can be found at breakingthroughpower.org or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000. Farmers were banking on the nuts to make their fortunes. A few years ago, farmers in Vietnams Central Highlands were rushing to plant macadamia trees with the hope of making their fortune from the nuts. Their hopes, however, faded after the trees failed to bear fruit after up to seven years. Macadamia trees made their entry into Vietnam in the 1990s, but farmers only started cultivating them in Central Highland provinces in 2000. To date, Vietnam has about 2,000 hectares of maca. Huynh Ngoc Huy, chairman of Lien Viet Post Bank, which founded the Vietnam Association of Macadamia, said that every hectare of macadamia has the potential to produce about three tons of nuts on average each year, bringing farmers about VND200 million ($9,000). On the global market, demand for maca nuts is four times higher than total output, offering Vietnam the opportunity to take advantage of this shortfall. Despite this potential, macadamia farmers in Vietnam have been unable to make money from maca nuts, and some have even cut down their trees. Huy explained that farmers didnt follow the planting plans set out by the Ministry of Agriculture. Instead, they bought inferior seedlings and used the wrong soil, so the trees didn't produce nuts. The price of a high-quality sapling is about VND70,000-80,000 ($3-3.5), but growers picked up seedlings for VND25,000 to cut costs. Huy said that authorities should be held responsible for the bad harvests because they didn't offer enough support to local farmers. Macadamia trees prefer well-drained soil in subtropical regions with temperatures ranging from 16-25 degrees Celsius. In Vietnam, only eight provinces have a suitable climate for macadamia, including five Central Highland provinces and three northern provinces. In Hanoi's Ba Vi District, saplings imported from other countries were planted, but didn't bear fruit because they were not raised in the correct way. The Ministry of Agriculture plans to increase Vietnam's macadamia plantations to 10,000 hectares by 2020, with 7,500 hectares interspersed with other trees like coffee and tea. To encourage the cultivation of macadamia, the Vietnamese government decided to offer farmers who invested in plantations larger than 50 hectares VND15 million ($660) per hectare, as long as at least 30 percent of their workforces are local. Related news: > Australia officially opens door to Vietnamese mangoes > Rice exports to EU: making the most of zero tariff Syrian children in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where thousands of families rely on electronic food vouchers, or "e-cards," from the U.N. World Food Programme to survive. (WFP USA / E. Kealey for Tiger Nest Films) On a cold gray day last January, I accompanied a mother and father named Hussein and Muntaha to buy food at a market in a small town in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. For these parents, what would have been an ordinary trip to the grocery store five years ago now seemed like nothing short of a miracle. The couple had fled Syria and now live as refugees in a tent with six children in the Touliyana Settlement. Their entire savings gone and unable to work to earn money, the family now relies on an electronic food voucher, or "e-card," provided by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP). What looks like a typical debit card is actually a lifeline to nutritious food. Thanks to these e-cards, this family has access to fresh produce, dairy and meat to feed themselves and their children. Advertisement What's even more remarkable is that this innovative approach to humanitarian relief isn't just feeding families in need. It's also helping boost the incomes of local shopkeepers and suppliers. One Lebanese shop owner told me that, thanks to participating in WFP's e-card program, he had already earned enough money to triple his store's inventory because of the expanded customer base. In fact, the agency's e-card program has so far injected more than $705 million into the economy of Lebanon and helped create thousands of local jobs in the food retail sector. These e-cards also improve the way WFP does business by reducing the cost of food transportation and storage in its overall operations. In addition to Lebanon, WFP has since scaled up its e-card program to reach displaced families in Yemen, Somalia and the Central African Republic. This program would not have been possible without the donated technical expertise and support of Mastercard in developing the card and payment system. As noted in a report we released earlier this year, leading companies in sectors like logistics, food, nutrition, health care, financial services, water and sanitation have significant technical skills and capacities that can help international organizations and NGOs deliver humanitarian assistance more efficiently and effectively. Mastercard's support launching WFP's e-card program in 2013 is a great example of such collaboration. And because of WFP's expansive operations providing food assistance to nearly 77 million people in 81 countries, there's a wide range of opportunities for businesses to align with the agency's mission of feeding families in need that are consistent with their core business activities. Advertisement UPS, for example, donates technical assistance and logistical support for WFP, as well as a team of specially trained employees who deploy during emergencies to assist aid workers with delivering supplies and mapping delivery routes. The company also assists WFP with supply chain management and coordinating staging areas to handle the distribution of food and relief equipment. In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, UPS flew planes into Manila carrying millions of pounds of WFP's high-energy biscuits to survivors and assisted WFP staffers on the ground with customs clearance. But given the historic humanitarian crisis the world now faces, more corporate donors--both in the U.S. and abroad--need to think about how their core businesses can align and support humanitarian organizations that help refugees and displaced communities. In addition to providing technical assistance, in-kind and financial support, the private sector should also explore the investment opportunities in frontline states that are providing a public service by welcoming these families in need. This is not a short-term problem, as the average length of time a refugee is displaced is 17 years. Somali refugees in northern Kenya, for example, have been displaced for nearly three decades. Creating good jobs for displaced families and the communities that host them will be essential in integrating refugees and reducing humanitarian need. And as the protracted situation in northern Kenya illustrates, the refugee crisis is not confined to the Middle East. Ethiopia, which is home to more refugees than any other country in Africa, is struggling to produce enough food to feed its own people amid one of the worst droughts in decades. In fact, four-fifths of the world's refugees are hosted by low-income countries that are the least equipped to handle such an influx. John Stumpf, chairman and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co., smiles during a Bloomberg Television interview in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015. 'The biggest risk to the U.S. economy is what's happening outside the U.S.,' Stumpf said while discussing topics such as the level and pace of Federal Reserve interest-rate increases, cybersecurity and the banks conservative approach to risk. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images "There was no incentive to do bad things," said Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, after his bank was hit with $190 million in fines and restitution because employees fraudulently opened more than 2 million accounts over a five-year period without customers' knowledge or consent. Then he sent an email to bank customers saying he had changed the employees' incentive plan "to insure that (employees) are compensated on what matters most." Advertisement That's called "trying to have it both ways." After the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) revealed this pattern of fraud, Wells Fargo announced it has fired approximately 5,300 employees for this practice over the last five years. Clearly something was wrong with their incentives. Stumpf is about to testify before the Senate Banking Committee, thanks to a request from five Democratic senators: Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Jack Reed, Robert Menendez and Jeff Merkley. (It's scheduled for Tuesday, September 20.) Will this be another softball hearing, like the ones Republicans have orchestrated for bank CEOs in the past? Will committee members go through the motions of pretending to grill Stumpf, playing their scripted parts with the thinly-disguised boredom of Wild West vaudevillians who have played one cow town too many? Some almost certainly will. But others will undoubtedly ask pointed questions about Wells Fargo's fraud -- questions Stumpf has dodged for years. Here are seven concerns, and seven sets of questions, that should be posed to him -- either at Tuesday's hearing, or as part of a more rigorous investigation afterward. Advertisement 1. There was an incentive to cheat. Wells Fargo has been telling investors for years that its cross-selling practices - where bankers are pressured to sign customers up for new products - is key to its success. Wells Fargo employees have been complaining privately for years about the combination of incentives and threats the bank employed to get them to foist products on their customers even when they're not needed. But despite that five-year history of complaints and firings, and although reports about this practice began appearing in the press three years ago, CEO Stumpf is shocked - shocked! - to find that this has been going on in his establishment. If Stumpf is to be believed, they've been firing employees at an average rate of more than 1,000 per year but never saw a systematic problem or connected it to the bank's incentive package. Mr. Stumpf, why didn't you or any of your executives make the connection between your employee incentive package and this behavior? It doesn't seem very difficult, since ... 2. Wells Fargo had all the information it needed to identify the problem. This "see no evil, hear no evil" posture becomes even more puzzling after a review of Wells Fargo's 2015 annual report, which boasts at length about the bank's sophisticated metrics for measuring cross-selling. A discussion of its "methodology for measuring cross-sell for each of our operating segments," beginning on page 45, states that "products included in our retail banking household cross-sell metrics must be retail ... and have the potential for revenue generation and long-term viability." Advertisement These metrics were tracked by division ("operating segment") and product line, and were also undoubtedly tracked by employee, location, city or region, and other indices as well. Mr. Stumpf, why didn't you compare cross-selling rates for dishonest employees with those of honest employees in order to a) flag potentially dishonest employees and b) design an incentive system that was and is likely to lead to cheating? 3. Bonuses were a big part of banker pay. It's possible to estimate Wells Fargo's banker compensation with publicly available information. Salaries for Wells Fargo personal bankers start at $24,216 per year, according to survey data from approximately 950 users at the Glassdoor website (as of September 17, 2016). That's less than $12 per hour, assuming an 8-hour day and a 52-week year. Those are working people's wages. As one former employee said, "they needed a paycheck." Average compensation is approximately $40,900 per year. That includes an average commission share of $5,470, an average cash bonus of $5,522, an average stock bonus of $3,199, and profit sharing of $1,097. Commissions account for more than 13 percent of the typical personal banker's total income, and other bonuses (presumably based on performance) typically comprise more than 21 percent. If these numbers are correct, cross-selling directly or indirectly affects more than one-third of the typical personal banker's income - and most people at these income levels are struggling to get by. Wells Fargo's "warnings to employees" and occasional firings seem pro forma, given the structure of its compensation plan. Advertisement Another former employee explained: "The branch managers were always asking, 'How many solutions did you sell today?' ... They wanted three to four a day. In my mind, that was crazy -- that's not how people's financial lives work." Mr. Stumpf, are these numbers essentially correct? If not, please provide the actual numbers. If they are correct, how could you and your colleagues fail to understand that this placed employees under enormous pressure to break the rules - especially since a) you knew they had been doing it for years (you've been firing them for it), and b) you claim to be experts in personal finance? 4. Wells Fargo isn't really "making it right." A mass email to the bank's customers entitled "An Important Message From John Stumpf, Wells Fargo CEO" said "we are making it right" and added: "The first step is to fully reimburse any customers who were affected by these actions." Mr. Stumpf, you have known of this wrongdoing for at least five years. Were all affected customers promptly notified of misdeeds and given proper restitution at that time? If so, why is it necessary to "fully reimburse" them at this late date? If they were not notified and given restitution when their banker was fired, why not? Stumpf's email includes some frequently asked questions, one of which says that the bank takes "full responsibility" for the wrongdoing and has "refunded those customers who incurred fees." It does not mention the other costs or losses they may have incurred, including denied loans or higher borrowing costs stemming from the lower credit ratings many customers received as the result of these actions. Advertisement Does your definition of "full reimbursement" include the indirect financial harm your customers suffered as the result of your bank's actions? If not, why not? 5. This is not Wells Fargo's first violation of law and fair play. A quick recap of some recent settlements: Last month Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $3.6 million for misleading student loan borrowers and fraudulently charging them fees that weren't owed. It was fined $1.2 billion earlier this year for foreclosure fraud. A Justice Department press release said, "to maximize its loan volume (and profits), Wells Fargo elected to hire temporary staff to churn out and approve an ever-increasing quantity of FHA loans ..." This isn't the first time that Wells Fargo has created the incentive to cheat. Mr. Stumpf, there appears to be a pattern here, and it is not one that shows respect for the rule of law. Do you agree that authorities should determine who knew of this behavior at senior levels and allowed it to continue? 6. Wells Fargo is too big to fail ... Wells Fargo, along with four other big banks, failed to pass a critical test earlier this year. As Bloomberg News reported, the banks "failed to persuade regulators they could go bankrupt without disrupting the broader financial system." The test is called a "living will," and it's required of any bank that has been deemed a systemic threat. In other words, Wells Fargo is "too big to fail" - and it doesn't have an acceptable plan in place for winding itself down quickly during a financial emergency. Wells Fargo must submit a new plan by October 1. Advertisement Mr. Stumpf, Your bank is too big to fail. You have not yet submitted an acceptable "living will," and there have been a great many misdeeds in your organization - which at best suggests a breakdown in management . Given these ongoing concerns, why shouldn't your bank be broken up right now? 7. ... and appears to lack proper management controls. About those management issues: If Wells Fargo's professions of innocence and dismay are true - if John Stumpf and his senior managers were really unaware of this ongoing behavior - he and his team failed to implement basic management controls. That would be singularly unimpressive for any senior executive and his team. It would be especially disturbing for someone of Mr. Stumpf's stature, since he and his bank have won accolades and management awards that include American Banker's Banker of the Year award for 2013, Euromoney's Best Global Bank award, Morningstar's CEO of the Year Award for 2015, and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business "Influential Leaders" Award for 2015. If we are to believe you, Mr. Stumpf, then how did the award-winning leader of an award-winning bank failed to spot these clear breakdown in management? The senior executive who directly managed these employees, Carrie Tolstedt, recently retired with a $125 million payout. Wells Fargo can "claw back" improperly obtained executive payments. The five senators who called for this hearing sent a letter on September 15 asking if "the board of directors will invoke Wells Fargo's clawback authority to recover any of the compensation the company has provided to its senior executives, including Carrie Tolstedt." Advertisement Mr. Stumpf, will you recommend to the board that it "claw back" Ms. Tolstedt's pay? If not, why not? And a final question: Because I spent most of my career at American Airlines, my antenna is always up when it comes to safety and security -- and it's even higher after marking the 15-year anniversary of the 9/11 tragedies. In the years since, Americans have worked hard -- in government, the private sector and elsewhere -- to make our country safer. You will thus be astonished and troubled to learn that every day nearly a million packages enter the United States from abroad without being checked for dangerous and illegal contents. This security loophole exposes Americans to terrorist risk and to criminals mailing lethal opioids and counterfeit goods into our country. The Trade Act of 2002, enacted less than a year after 9/11, mandated that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) receive advance information (electronically, in a document commonly called a manifest) on all packages, in fact all cargo, entering the nation. Private express companies such as FedEx and UPS, as well as passenger airlines that carry cargo, quickly complied with these requirements. But the Trade Act treated the government's own logistics firm, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), differently, deferring regulations to mandate electronic manifests on packages transferred from foreign postal services to the USPS. The regulations were never issued, in part because of questions about foreign compliance, leaving us all vulnerable. Advertisement Given the well-publicized declines in USPS letter-mail volume, and the continued growth of UPS, FedEx, and other express companies, you may think this is minor. But things have changed - USPS now handles 90 percent of all incoming international packages. That means that only 1 in 10 parcels gets the scrutiny the law requires. If you want proof that advance manifest data on foreign shipments is necessary, you can look back to a little-publicized but frightening close call in 2010, when CPB intercepted a box from Yemen containing an explosive device disguised as a printer cartridge. Al Qaeda was sure it could outsmart us by designing the package to elude standard security measures. X-rays could not detect it. Fortunately, global intelligence cooperation worked and disaster was averted. Mostly, it was luck, coupled with an electronic manifest on a private express carrier flight that made it possible to quickly find that package. But the risk goes far beyond terrorism. Teenagers can go online and without much trouble reach the "deep web," where synthetic drugs such as fentanyl are readily available and waiting to be shipped from China, Russia, India, and elsewhere, right into the mailbox at home. There's no doubt that the screening loophole also feeds the worsening opioid epidemic. Counterfeit products of all kinds, from pharmaceuticals to knock-off wristwatches, also travel this way. The continuing rise of e-Commerce points to further growth in individual shipments from abroad. It would of course be impossible to inspect every box, which is precisely why an analysis-based system is both necessary and effective. And arguments that the USPS can't afford the added cost burden don't hold up, because this digital technology is both inexpensive and widely available. Moreover, according to a 2015 study, requiring advance electronic data on postal shipments could produce $1.1 billion per year in revenue, in the form of customs duties and fees that go uncollected today. Advertisement You have wearied the Lord with your words. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of justice?" -Malachi 2:17 Terence Crutcher was shot and killed on Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma after being approached by law enforcement when his vehicle broke down in the middle of the road. And guess what? Terence Crutcher was black. Metaphorically speaking, if the countless acts of violence toward the black community were all lumped together and deliberated in a courtroom setting between a judge and jury, I think the judge would be ripping his or her hair out, while looking over at the jury and shouting, Advertisement "Is it not obvious?!!!" "Why do you keep walking back into the jurors chambers to deliberate?!!!" "Have you lost your senses????!!!!" "We don't need any more deliberation!!! We need a decision, now!!!" That's exactly how I felt when my associate, Travis brought the news about Mr. Crutcher to my attention. A man sets off a bomb in New York City on Saturday, is apprehended on Monday, shooting two police officers in the process, and is taken into custody alive. An unarmed black man's car breaks down on Friday in the middle of a road in Tulsa and he is shot and killed while holding his hands up in the air in submission. You may object. "Yeah, but they captured a terrorist in New York. That's why they didn't shoot him. They needed him for questioning." Advertisement Seriously? That's your objection? Are you telling me that because Terence Crutcher wasn't a terrorist that shooting him instead of detaining him for questioning was justified? And what would they detain him for anyway? His car breaking down? You're just crazy if you think that. Your conscience is seared. You have lost your inner compass and are unable to see reality. For the sake of argument, let's even assume that he mouthed off to the officers (which he didn't) calling them some of the most disrespectful, hurtful things in the human language. So what? Is that a reason to kill a man? What planet are we living on? What nation are we living in? A man flying in a helicopter overhead observing the scene was recorded as saying, "That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something." Looks like a bad dude? Looks? Why? Was he wearing body armor? Was he waving a weapon around? Was he writhing on the ground and frothing at the mouth? Advertisement No. He "looked," well... black. The video footage says it all, and back to the metaphor of the judge and jury, I am filled with questions that have gone unanswered for entirely too long. "Is it not obvious?!!!" "Why do we keep deliberating about this?!!!" "Have we lost our senses????!!!!" I think God is wearied with our words. I think God is weary of us calling what is evil, "good." I think God is weary of us begging him for justice. He has given us working minds and feeling hearts, and we're not using them. Hundreds, thousands, millions of people looking up to the heavens and asking, "Why God, why? When are you going to do something?" If we listen deep in our conscience, I believe we'll hear the infinitely loving, firm voice of divinity whispering within us, "When are you going to do something about it?" In early July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a historic four-nation trip to East Africa. The trip was a resounding success. Netanyahu's aspirations of becoming a global statesman were boosted considerably by the willingness of African leaders to expand their trade and security linkages with Israel. Israel's goal of becoming an observer state in the African Union (AU) also gained momentum, as the leaders of Ethiopia and Kenya endorsed Israel's AU observer bid. Despite these positive developments, Israel's desire to become an AU observer state and expand its diplomatic involvement in Africa is fraught with many obstacles. Even though Israel was an observer state in the Organization of African Unity (OAU) until its dissolution in 2002, eleven African countries still do not recognize Israel's right to exist. Israel's support for Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, and alleged arms exports to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide have ensured that anti-Israel sentiments remain widespread amongst Africa's political elites. Visceral anti-Israel hostilities have even surfaced within African countries with close ties to Jerusalem. During Netanyahu's visit to Kampala, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni repeatedly referred to Israel as "Palestine." This deliberate mix-up was covered extensively in the international press and overshadowed the Netanyahu-Museveni bilateral summit. Advertisement The Palestinian Authority's (PA) AU observer status also complicates Israel's hopes of increasing its involvement in the African Union. Since 2013, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an African boycott of Israeli goods and has urged AU members to support peace negotiations on Palestine's terms. As Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories has been widely criticized in Africa, Abbas's anti-Israel rhetoric has resonated strongly with many African leaders. The ideological synergy between African leaders and Palestinian nationalists was strikingly revealed by Abbas's praise for the AU's solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Some African officials are concerned that Israel's membership in the AU could polarize African leaders' views on the Israel-Palestine conflict and weaken the AU's harmony. In addition to tensions over Palestine, two major AU member states, South Africa and Egypt will likely oppose Israel's application for AU observer status. South Africa's opposition to Israel becoming an AU observer can be explained by the governing African National Congress (ANC)'s belief that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is as egregious as apartheid. Israel's extensive economic linkages to South Africa's National Party government during the 1970s and 1980s has caused allegations of Israeli apartheid in Palestine to resonate strongly with the South African public. Even though Israeli heads of state like Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert reached out to the ANC to improve Jerusalem-Pretoria relations, the ANC has remained stridently critical of Israel. In June, the ANC condemned the opposition Democratic Alliance's close relations with Israel, praised the 200,000 South Africans who campaigned for the Palestinian cause in the Western Cape region, and expressed solidarity with Palestine against "Israeli apartheid." Many analysts have speculated that Netanyahu's decision not to visit the AU's headquarters in Addis Ababa was the result of a snub by the AU Commission's South African head, Nkosanza Zuma's. Advertisement Egypt's opposition to Israeli observer status in the AU dates back to the Hosni Mubarak era. Even though large African states like Ethiopia, Nigeria and Kenya strongly supported Israel's campaign to become an AU observer in 2003, Egypt staunchly opposed Israel's inclusion in the organization. Egyptian policymakers feared that Israel would use AU membership to back Ethiopia's claims to the Nile River basin. As tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia have increased in recent months, Cairo's position on Israel's accession as an AU observer is unlikely to change. Although Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's 2013 coup strained the Egypt-AU relationship, Egypt's AU membership was restored earlier this year. Egypt will host the Pan-African Parliament's October 2016 session at Sharm al-Sheikh. During the October parliamentary session, Egypt is expected to reject Ethiopia's colonial history-based claims to the Nile River basin. Israel's strong relationships with both Ethiopia and Egypt could force Netanyahu to take a neutral stance out of strategic necessity. This non-committal approach to one of Africa's most heated territorial disputes could cause Ethiopia to scale back its support for Israel's AU observer status bid. Even if Israel gains enough African support to neutralize potential opposition from South Africa and Egypt, Jerusalem's role in Africa remains highly controversial. In recent months, Israel has attempted to act as a mediator between the United States and AU countries that have strained relations with Washington. Israel has urged the United States to improve its relationship with Sudan, as Khartoum has distanced itself from Iran's geopolitical clutches since late 2014. Even though Israeli officials have expressed concerns about Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's deplorable human rights record, Israeli policymakers have covertly urged European policymakers to ameliorate Sudan's crippling $50 billion debt burden. Sudan has responded negatively to Israel's willingness to facilitate Khartoum's normalization relations with the West. The Sudanese government has insisted that any improvement in Khartoum-Washington relations will occur through bilateral dialogues that exclude Israel. Some Sudanese policymakers are concerned that Israel's leverage over US policy decisions could alter Washington's approach to Sudan in a way that unduly benefits Netanyahu's anti-Iran agenda. Advertisement Ethiopia's contention that Israel is a constructive presence on the world stage has countered Sudan's animosity towards Israeli diplomacy in Africa. Yet past grievances towards Israel continue to undercut the success of Israel's soft power campaign in Africa. With notable exceptions like Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, the perception that Israeli diplomats are acting at the behest of American interests has prevented anti-Western authoritarian leaders in Africa from embracing Israel as a constructive diplomatic presence in the AU. Under Netanyahu's leadership, Israel's efforts to expand its diplomatic footprint in Africa have made striking progress. But historical legacies and anti-Israeli sentiments within many crucial AU member states could undercut Israel's ambition of becoming an active observer within the African Union. It remains to be seen whether Israeli peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance initiatives increase Israel's soft power enough for anti-Western African leaders to soften their opposition to a closer Israel-Africa relationship. Censorship has been around for centuries. Its form has always varied depending on the era, but the idea was always the same -- to suppress any radically opposing views from those of the country's leaders. The question is: who said that their views are the right ones? A prominent case of censorship back in the ancient times was that of Socrates. In the 399 BC he was forced to drink poison as a form of punishment for corrupting the youth by spreading the message of his acknowledgement of unorthodox divinities. Throughout history there are many such cases and some countries still practice strict censorship rules by controlling all forms of media and any nontraditional public behavior. Both the 20th and the 21st centuries faced huge freedom rights' uproars. These past few centuries the public felt more empowered and enlightened to stand up for what they believe in. A plethora of freedom rights campaigns and organizations have been created both national and international, fighting for freedom in certain countries, as well as the world. In less than 3 decades the world has seen a huge revolution in the realm of censorship, as we moved towards the digital age and were introduced to the World Wide Web. Advertisement An online world seems to have no boundaries regarding freedom or the amount of information it contains. It seems you can find information on any topic that your mind is capable of coming up with, regardless of how controversial it is. However, when you start thinking about it, one obvious question arises. Does the censorship work online? For centuries the public view has been controlled, but can the 21st century offer us virtual freedom with no censorship? The answer is more complex than you think, because the truth is - censorship exists even online. The general idea that many people are aware of is that some countries such as North Korea and Saudi Arabia condone powerful internet censorship. They control the information people can access online from their country. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what's really taking place. Information regarding the government's affairs is strictly protected from the public. Many events take place that are hidden from the public eye; affairs in foreign countries, local events that are considered private and lots of other instances that people have simply no access to. But with the use of technology and vast opportunities of the internet, there are possibilities of leaking that information online. Advertisement The freedom you see on the internet means there is someone out there fighting for this freedom for our benefit. Just like there are freedom rights organizations in the physical world, the virtual world has freedom rights companies that stand for the truth they believe in and refuse to fabricate any information. They upload facts as they are in their raw form and just like in any aspect of life, there are supporters and critics in this field as well. There are a few controversial websites that post information online without the government's consent - one of which is WikiLeaks. The founder of this organization, Julian Assange, currently remains in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since being granted political asylum in 2012. WikiLeaks posts confidential information and images into the public domain. A famous case that pushed the website to public's attention was footage released in 2010, of 18 civilians being shot dead in Iraq by US soldiers. Another recent example of a website uploading sensitive information for the world to see is a Bermuda Vacation case. It's a website that was set up for the freedom of speech purposes, similar to WikiLeaks. The owner of the site was accused of drug trafficking. The website reveals all the evidence falsified by the Bermuda police, newspapers and local judges and it was taken down several times due to the confidential nature of the information, until an offshore hosting company called LibertyVPS moved the site to its offshore VPS servers in Netherlands. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) The news that Donald Trump has renounced birtherism (in front of the cameras, anyway) has to be a blow to WorldNetDaily, which helped Trump behind the scenes with his birther obsession. Not surprisingly, WND doesn't want to talk about the implications of Trump's statement but, instead, will endeavor to cling to its old, discredited birther lies. WND's article on Trump's announcement refuses to admit that birtherism has been discredited or even admit that President Obama has released a valid birth certificate, rehashing tired old language that Obama released "a document he said was his Hawaii birth certificate" (not mentioning that the state of Hawaii says it is too) and that "The only official law enforcement investigation into the issue, authorized by Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, concluded the document was fraudulent" (actually, the investigation itself is what was fraudulent). Advertisement And rather than admitting the fact that WND's birther crusade was always a partisan fraud and never about the Constitution -- a view reinforced when WND's Jerome Corsi appeared on a right-wing radio show after Trump's statement and refused to even discuss the issue of which he has been such a key part of for several years because it's being used to hurt his favored candidate Trump and "I'm done with the topic until Obama's out of office" -- WND pivoted to the new Trump-approved talking point: it was all Hillary's idea in the first place and birtherism is really Obama's fault. WND editor Joseph Farah's first column after Trump's statement was not about said statement but, rather, focused on a statement a week and a half earlier by Ben Carson that Trump should apologize for being a birther in order to appeal to black voters. Farah asserted that Carson was " just plain wrong" to say that, ranting: Who believes support from black voters hinges in any way on this question? Who believes that Donald Trump or anyone else who raised the question of Obama's constitutional eligibility did so because they were motivated by racism? How is the so-called "birther issue" even relevant with Obama's term ending Jan. 20, 2017, and the American people faced with a choice between two candidates - both of whom questioned Obama's eligibility, the first being Hillary's campaign in 2008? And how in the world does Dr. Carson's answer help defeat Hillary Clinton, which I know is his priority? Farah went on to assert that "there were and are legitimate questions about Obama's constitutional eligibility that have been swept under the rug - one more part of our nation's foundation of the rule of law chipped away forever." But given the chance to further explore those same questions with a candidate he didn't despise, Ted Cruz, Farah chickened out instead. Advertisement Farah got closesr to addressing Trump's statement in his Sept. 18 column. His main job, however, was to pivot the blame away from Trump (and, by extension, WND) by insisting that the honor of being the first birther "belongs to one person and one person alone - Barack Obama," because of a 1990s-era book publisher's bio in which Obama "billed himself as having been born in Kenya." But that bio didn't surface until 2012 -- by which time WND had been hardcore birthers for years -- and Obama didn't provide that information to the publisher. With that falsehood as a setup, Farah then shifted full gear into lying, such as his assertion that "Obama refused to release his birth certificate during his entire first term in office." In fact, Obama released a birth certificate before the 2008 election; WND simply refused to recognize it as real. Farah then claimed that the certificate Obama released in 2011 "has never been authenticated as genuine." False -- as former Arpaio "cold case posse" investigator Brian Reilly has pointed out, the state of Hawaii has officially verified the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate. And then Farah was off to his beloved conspiracy land: I won't go into the voluminous amount of evidence of a cover-up, or all the valid reasons for questioning not only where Obama was born, but whether he had even retained citizenship when he and his mother left the country to move to Indonesia and enroll him in a Muslim school there over the objections of U.S. immigration officials concerned, at the time, about the status of his citizenship status. I won't go into his missing college records, which might shed light on whether Obama had claimed to be a foreign student, as many at Columbia assumed. I won't go into the fact that his supposed "birth hospital" in Hawaii steadfastly refused to acknowledge publicly that simple fact. Personally, I thought it was important to establish that Obama met the minimal constitutional litmus test for eligibility. For that I was vilified, called a racist, lampooned, besmirched, called a conspiracy theorist and worse. During all that time, I never drew any conclusions about his birthplace - just that there were questions that needed to be answered. Funny, Farah never felt similarly compelled to establish that Ted Cruz met the minimal constitutional litmus test for eligibility, even though by the overly narrow definitions of "natural born citizen" WND has pushed over the years Cruz is even more ineligible to be president than Obama. The fact that WND refused to apply its Obama birther standards to Cruz tells us that, like Corsi, Farah never cared about the Constitution at all; he cared only about trying to personally and politically destroy someone he, for whatever reason, has some sort of deep grudge against. Now, like Corsi, Farah no longer wants to talk about what was his website's signature issue for eight years: "Excuse me for not answering at least a dozen requests for interviews from the global media last week when Trump admitted Obama was born in the U.S. - something he actually has no evidence to conclude with any certainty." Farah couldn't talk about birtherism enough when the target was Obama. But now that it's come back to bite not only his preferred presidential candidates but WND as well -- its insistence on clinging to birther lies and refusal to apply Obama birther standards to Cruz are no doubt two big reasons why WND is in serious financial trouble -- he wants to take his ball and go home. But that means Farah has effectively signed the death warrant for WND. No rational person would choose to believe a "news" organization that clings to something so definitively and prominently discredited. Advertisement This presidential campaign has two historically unpopular candidates. Both nominees are viewed unfavorably by more than 50 percent of the electorate. Given their relative unpopularity, it seems reasonable to wonder if many voters possess mixed feelings about their party's nominee this year. In other words, many voters may be experiencing ambivalence as the campaign enters its final months. An uneasy feeling Ambivalence exists when an individual holds conflicting beliefs and feelings toward an object -- such as a political candidate. For example, a Democrat might have positive feelings toward Hillary Clinton's economic policies, but might be wary of her email scandal or tendency to be more hawkish on foreign affairs than President Obama. Likewise, a Republican might approve of Donald Trump's positions on tax cuts while simultaneously experiencing concern about his tendency to engage in incendiary rhetoric. Advertisement In terms of voting, ambivalent voters tend to take longer to make up their mind, and often vote with less enthusiasm. They may also, in some cases, be more willing to vote against the party they usually support. This means campaigns will have to spend more effort convincing an ambivalent voter to cast a ballot for his or her party. However, research shows that more often than not, voters who have a history of supporting one party over the other do not defect from their party, even when experiencing ambivalence. Ambivalence toward the nominee of one's preferred party often declines over the course of the campaign. That is, individuals become more favorably disposed to their own party's candidate. Underlying these findings is a long line of research indicating one of the major roles of a campaign is to bring home "mismatched partisans." For example, the GOP wants to help a Republican who is attracted to Clinton find a reason to prefer Trump. This generally seems to work as it is often the case that a voter who has mixed or even negative feelings about his or her party's candidate will have mostly positive feelings about the candidate by the end of the campaign. But can the Trump and Clinton campaigns overcome the level of ambivalence voters feel this year about both candidates? Advertisement The role of campaigns Conventional wisdom suggests that positive messaging by the party, the candidate and his or her surrogates causes positive feelings about the candidate to become more relevant to a supporter of a party, and negative feelings less so. Following months of advertisements and positive statements from President Obama, Bernie Sanders and others, we can expect that many who were initially skeptical of Clinton will warm to her candidacy. As a result, we will likely see her overall favorability numbers increase between now and Election Day among Democrats. Carlos Barria/Reuters Clinton is currently viewed favorably by about 80 percent of Democrats. It appears as though this process started during the Democratic National Convention when Bernie Sanders appealed to his supporters to back Clinton, although she has not won over all of them. Will this process go as smoothly for Donald Trump and the Republicans? Trump has a habit of both starting and escalating disagreements with members of his own party. For example, he has had multiple flair ups with recent presidential nominee John McCain and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. As of this writing, six Republican Senators have declared they will not be voting for Trump. Public intellectuals such as Charles Krauthammer and George Will have also disavowed Trump. Recently, the Dallas Morning News endorsed Clinton, the first time the paper has endorsed a Democrat since 1940. Indeed, the editorial stated that "Trump is no Republican." Advertisement While Democrats will hear members of their party consistently praise and defend Clinton, Republicans will often encounter messages ranging from tepid support to open hostility toward Trump. It seems reasonable to imagine that this will make it more likely that some Republicans in the electorate will continue to harbor lingering doubts about Trump. About 70 percent of Republicans currently have a favorable view of Trump, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll. Recent elections have tended to be far more competitive than we observed in the middle of the 20th century. It is believed that partisan polarization is a likely cause. In a typical election, even a candidate who is not loved by his or her party will rally much of the faithful. Indeed, we have not seen a true landslide victory since Ronald Reagan's in 1984. The 2016 election provides an interesting test of how powerful the forces of polarization and partisanship are in reducing ambivalence and shaping election outcomes. On tap for the Pink Boots Society's Beer Bratwurst and Beyond Fall Road Tour: Sister Doris, Germany's Last Beer-Brewing Nun and Under-the-Radar Craft Breweries in Germany. As Germany works itself into a public froth celebrating the 500th anniversary of its beer purity law ("Reinheitsgebot") this year, an industry-sponsored expedition led by beer ladies from the U.S. will throw a spotlight on the back story of German beer. The fall beer and brewery tour will pull back the curtain on Germany's craft beer scene, highlighting emerging women beer-makers and celebrating traditional small-scale native breweries that operate off the grid and out of the limelight. Advertisement The Meinel sisters, imaginative 11th-generation brewers, who are turning heads with a new line of craft beers in the far-off town of Hof, are on tap for the expedition. So is Sister Doris, Germany's iconic, unstoppable beer-brewing nun, who crafts soulful brews at Mallersdorf Abbey in remote eastern Bavaria, as unlikely a magnet for beer lovers as you can imagine. Beer Without Borders The initiative is spearheaded by the Portland-based Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit trade group of nearly 3,000 women in the beer and brewing industry that is sending its own members and signing up other beer enthusiasts for the fall expedition. It's a pro-level tour, but you don't have to be a pro to join the group. As in the U.S., the German beer scene is dominated by a handful of producers. In the Munich area, they include Augustiner, Hofbrau, Paulaner, Lowenbrau, Spaten and others. Together, these Munich producers put out a staggering 6 million hectoliters, or 158 million gallons of sudy a year. Advertisement But it's important to keep in mind that 70 percent of the beer-makers in Germany (924 breweries) are smaller-scale, private or family-owned operations. Some of them are hundreds of years old and they have real live people standing at the mash tun who think of beer-making as a real craft and beer as a cultural treasure. Big Beer holds sway in Germany and small- and medium size companies have a following. But change is in the air. "The beer and brewing paradigm is shifting in Germany," says Pink Boots Executive Director, Emily Engdahl. While regional breweries are enjoying lots of buzz, a new generation of insurgent beer-makers is starting to brew outside the box. One by one, new school craft breweries are coming on line, including the genre-busting Kundmuller Brewery in Franconia and Crew Republic, in Munich, which is hosting the Pink Boots group. Others are located around Bavaria, in Berlin and Hamburg. Advertisement If the advance response is any indication, prominent industry backers are embracing the Pink Boots' beer without borders idea. They're attracted to the educational and networking opportunities the trip holds in store for participants, and they aren't holding back. Pink Boots has signed up Boston Beer, Oskar Blues, BSG Craft, Lagunitas, Craft Beer Importers, Sierra Nevada and Barth-Haas as sponsors for the fall expedition. Interestingly, the Pink Boots expedition is also attracting industry support in Germany, where interest in American-style craft brewing is growing. Two associations of family-owned and small-scale breweries are throwing their weight behind the expedition and serving as sponsors: the Association of Breweries of Upper Franconia and the Bavarian Association of Private Breweries, which is hosting a kick-off event and private tasting. Some Pink Boots members will be traveling on scholarships, funded by the sponsors. Others cover the cost themselves. Although membership in Pink Boots is only open to industry women, the group has a large following in the broader craft beer community and the fall tour is open to women and men. Sessions with industry experts, site visits, trips to the Hallertau and Spalt hops districts, networking opportunities with traditional brewers and revisionist beer-makers, slow food events, abbey breweries and tastings are included in the expedition. Advertisement Is there beer beyond Munich? The answer is Yes! It's diverse, it has integrity, it's loaded with character and it's made by people with stories to tell. And it will be on tap this fall when the Pink Boots expedition makes its way through Bavaria. Good beer is worth traveling for. Tom Conrad is working with Pink Boots to organize the Beer Bratwurst and Beyond Study Tour in October. Space is limited. The group will get a up-close look at craft brewing, women's brewing, abbey beers, regional family breweries and artisanal eats. Tour info at Treasures of Europe Tours. Scenes from The Bavarian Beer Trail Visit us at Pinterest. Say hello on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at TreasEurTours. Follow Tom Conrad on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TreasEurTours Photo: Ali, 9, from Syria living in Lebanon. Theirworld/Tabitha Ross By Yara Harake, Consultant Youth Coordinator, Theirworld "Yes I love to write poems. I lost my dad during the war. I used to write all poems to my mother, she is my hero, and she does everything for us. I would like to be a journalist when I grow up." These were the words of the unforgettable Ali from Aleppo. I visited Ali and many others last week at Beyond Protection Center. Ali is one of the amazing children that has been active in the press club in the camp. He writes letters and articles about his situation, his fears, his dreams and his progress. Today, I'm at the UN General Assembly in New York to deliver letters written by Syrian refugee children to world leaders. These leaders met in London eight months ago and promised that every refugee Syrian child will be in school this year. But so far the promise has not been delivered and more than half of all refugee Syrian children in neighboring countries will not be starting the new school term in the next few weeks. I'm here to urge these leaders to keep their promise because promises to children should never be broken. Advertisement I remember everything about Ali, his beautiful face with his wide blue eyes, the way he talks, moves and the way he smiles. Yes, he's really shy, but when it comes to his writing skills, he can beat any professional journalist with his sincere and deep words. Ali is a Syrian refugee who left Syria 3 years ago and is now living with his family in West Bekaa. He is not an ordinary child for me; he's one of my heroes. Since I started working with Theirworld, interacting with Syrian refugees in Lebanon on a daily basis, I became more engaged to learn, to be more involved and to try to make a difference in their lives. Ali is not the only one that I would like to talk about, there are thousands and thousands of Alis who are living here, who have lost a lot: a home, a family member, a school, a friend - but never lost hope. These children have been tagged with numbers and codes in different tents and camps instead of being tagged with stars on their forehead for their achievements in schools. Advertisement These children are my heroes. Not only because they have faced tragedy and instability but also because they taught me how to be brave when you need to confront your fears, how to be creative when you need to overcome your challenges, how to be positive when you are surrounded by cruelty. I have never been a refugee; I have never tasted the bitterness to be out of my country, my neighborhood, away from my friends and my school. I was never made to grow up too soon, and to work to earn my living. I have never been violated, harassed. I never lost my childhood. But these children face all of this tumult daily; they are facing it because some of us are blindly walking without even turning our head to them, to their problems, to their needs and the most importantly, to their rights. These children, whose names we unintentionally substitute with case studies and numbers are our present and our future; these are the upcoming leaders, the talented artists, the best scientists. This generation is our future and it will be lost without their rights to play, to have a safe home, to get a proper education. -- Not enough and not good enough: The problems of Vietnam's IT workforce Japanese firms are not satisfied with the local talent pool, whose weaknesses can threaten the long-term growth of the industry. Many Japanese investors have been complaining about the lack of skilled workers in Vietnam's information technology (IT) and software industry, calling for more support from the government to improve training standards. At a recent conference in Hanoi, representatives from Japanese companies agreed that the local workforce still has a long way to go to catch up with global trends for new applications and technologies. Sei Kudo, director of Fujitsu Vietnam, said the country is a crucial investment destination for Japanese IT firms. He said the Vietnamese government should have policies to improve the country's IT human resources, both in quality and quantity. Recruitment firm VietnamWorks recently reported that the IT and software workforce will expand 8 percent a year, much lower than the annual average job growth of 47 percent in the last three years. Vietnam is expected to face a shortage of over 500,000 employees in this field by 2020, according to local media reports. Vietnam's IT workforce has not met the expectations of foreign investors. Photo from hoptacquocte.com Foreign investors are likely to be discouraged if the growth gap between workforce demand and supply is not narrowed. Tetsu Funayama, representative of Mitsubishi Corporation Vietnam, said the company has chosen to do business in Vietnam because of the low labor costs here. But he said local IT employees should improve their skills, including foreign language skills. He also underscored the importance of the government and enterprises working together to remove obstacles that investors may be facing in Vietnam. Related news > Vietnam's aging workforce on the road to retirement > Only 21 percent of the workforce benefits from social insurance > Malaysia reopens its labor market for Vietnamese It seemed at first like one of the all-time great political ideas. Hold the then emerging Clinton Foundation's Global Initiative summit at the same time as the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering of heads of government. Could there be a better way to position a former Presidency and a further Presidency? At first, it was a spectacular success, coinciding as it did not only with the highest profile annual UN confab but also with the apex of Davos culture. That was the belief that the great and the good, as the Brits had it, or the best and the brightest, as non-ironic Americans (or at least those who hadn't really read David Halberstam's classic on the architects of the Vietnam War) had it -- many of whom gathered for annual summits of the World Economic Forum at a famous little town in the Swiss Alps -- provided a real path forward for the solution of big problems around the world. It all played great in the media. But instead of fostering a benign new world order the Clintons supposed was the wave of the future during much of the Bill Clinton Presidency, Davos culture instead mostly provided a high gloss over the grimy developments of an emerging new world chaos. Advertisement Like many, I found the Davos concept to be fascinating, especially in an age in which problems increasingly transcend conventional borders and nationalism itself. So I was pleased to be asked to help on a keynote address for Davos late in the last decade. In the event, the principal canceled the appearance. So no glamorous Gulfstream trip to the Swiss Alps. And in any event, my interest had already cooled somewhat as I looked more deeply into the doings of Davos itself. The proceedings looked more than a little self-congratulatory for already existing global elites, in some cases even fatuous, dominated by the one percent of wealth rather than intellect. Former Bill Clinton opines at the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City. "We are in the middle of defining the terms of our interdependence, in a world where so much of our identity is caught up in our differences." Which, as a truism, is true enough. At least as far as it goes. Advertisement I'm not sure who today takes Davos all that seriously. Problems spin alarmingly in place or spiral out of control. The super-rich, big corporations and financial institutions, and those who attend them, look now like self-interested advocates gilding their own self-oriented agendas more than public-spirited futurists. What progress is achieved generally moves on very separate tracks. Let's just say it was a different, more credulous, media era. At least the Clinton Foundation is not just a yakfest threatening to melt a snowy landscape with its hot air. In fact, the Clinton Foundation has carried out a lot of good works. It's helped train rural farmers and help them get access to seeds, equipment and markets for their crops; helped governments in Africa and the Caribbean region with reforestation efforts; helped a variety of nations to develop renewable energy projects; and has worked in dozens of nations to lower the cost of HIV/AIDS medicine, scale up pediatric AIDS treatment and promote treatment of diarrhea. Yet there is something oddly tin-eared about it, especially considering that it has been headed up by someone, Bill Clinton, who is one of the most adept politicians of recent history. Rather than adjust to a world in which the rich are no longer worshiped as they once were, the Clinton Foundation has continued with splashy demonstrations of wealth up to and including last weekend's megabucks Bill Clinton 70th birthday party at Manhattan's glitzy Rainbow Room. And despite the fact that the Clinton Global Initiative New York summit has served as the stage for the announcement of important initiatives, it is also true that too many of the feel-good, high-profile announcements have ended up meaning not much. Advertisement And even if one posits that pay-for-play charges rest largely on unfortunate circumstance, it is also true that there is an unfortunate pattern of payment for access. So Hillary Clinton, who met a great many Clinton Foundation contributors during her busy time as US secretary of state -- a time which coincided with boosts in the former president's already sky-high speaking fees -- is forced to skip this announced last dance for the Clinton Global Initiative. As is her former rival-turned-boss, President Barack Obama. Who it turned out did not have much say over the Clinton Foundation after all. But even this late adjustment of Hillary's tin ear around the Clinton Foundation and its Global Initiative hasn't improved another part of her hearing. She boasted that she would nonetheless play on the global stage this week in New York in ways that Donald Trump supposedly can't by meeting with world leaders. Specifically, with the presidents of Egypt and Ukraine. But the president of Egypt is a general who seized power from the country's only democratically elected president in a coup, a dictator who has gone on to crack down on the country's legitimate democratic forces, jailing thousands of activists. And the president of Ukraine is a billionaire oligarch who is caught up in the Panama Papers scandal. Advertisement Oh, well, right? PHILADELPHIA, PA - Democratic Nominee for President of the United States former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to and meets Pennsylvania voters at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday September 19, 2016. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images) Yesterday I wrote a piece that analyzed the potential cost of Donald Trump's Pentagon spending blueprint. The costs of Hillary Clinton's approach are less clear, but under her current proposals, Pentagon spending would definitely increase. As with my discussion of the Trump plan, it must be noted that the United States is already spending more than is needed to provide a robust defense of the United States and its allies. As my colleague Stephen Miles of Win Without War and I have noted in a piece written in advance of the "Commander-in-Chief "forum earlier this month, the Obama administration has spent more on defense than was spent during the George W. Bush years, and current levels exceed the peak level reached during the Reagan buildup. Advertisement If the U.S. government can't defend the country on a budget of roughly $600 billion for the Pentagon and related agencies, something is seriously wrong. As the presidential race moves into its final phase, candidates should be asked why they think this massive figure is not sufficient, and pressed for details of how they could eliminate waste, fraud and abuse while crafting a realistic set of missions for the U.S. military. In fact, a recent analysis by Benjamin Friedman of the Cato Institute suggests that the Pentagon could scale back spending substantially if the United States were to pursue a more restrained defense strategy that focuses on core security interests. As for Hillary Clinton, her web site calls for "ending the sequester for defense and non-defense spending in a balanced way." This mirrors President Obama's position, as well as that of many Congressional Democrats. It should be noted that the sequester mechanism - the imposition of across-the-board cuts triggered by a failure to meet specific deficit reduction targets - has not been the real issue. What Clinton is probably referring to is a desire to eliminate the caps on Pentagon spending that were imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The budget caps have not been as onerous as their critics suggest. Congress has upped the caps twice, and the Pentagon and Congress have routinely used the war budget -- officially known as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account -- as a slush fund to pay for tens of billions in expenditures that have nothing to do with fighting wars. But even with these loopholes, the caps have played a useful role, eliminating several hundred billion in excess spending that the Pentagon had hoped for over the next decade. An indication of how much a President Clinton might spend on the Pentagon may be determined in part by looking at how she decides to fill key cabinet positions. Michele Flournoy, the co-founder of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and an oft-mentioned candidate for Secretary of Defense in a Clinton administration, has staked out the most hawkish position, calling for increases that "at a minimum" track the levels set out in Secretary of Defense Robert Gates FY 2012 Pentagon budget. Fluornoy's position is based on the work of the National Defense Panel, a bipartisan body on which she served. As Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies has noted, going down this path could cost an additional $800 to $900 billion over the next decade. Doing so would seriously undermine any effort to impose budget discipline at the Pentagon, or to craft realistic missions for our military forces. Hopefully Hillary Clinton will not adopt this approach if elected president. Advertisement There are a few signs of hope that Clinton might not go full speed ahead on a massive and unnecessary military spending surge. At the Commander-in-Chief forum earlier this month, she stated in no uncertain terms that U.S. allies in Iraq should not expect the U.S. to send ground troops there "ever again." She also stated that "we're not putting ground troops in Syria." The U.S. already has 4,000 troops in Iraq, so presumably what Clinton meant is that she would not sent large numbers of ground troops akin to the 160,000 that were there at the height of the Bush administration's intervention. If she holds to this promise, it could obviate the need for major defense increases and open the door to ending the use of the war budget as a slush fund. The Stimson Center has done an analysis of how the war fund could be phased out; candidate Clinton would be well-advised to take a close look at that proposal. Another big cost driver at the Pentagon is the ill-advised plan to spend $1 trillion on a new generation of nuclear-armed bombers, submarines, and land-based missiles. Asked about these expenditures in advance of the Iowa caucuses, Clinton said "I'm going to look into that. It doesn't make sense to me." If elected, she should take that pledge seriously and look for ways to scale back the trillion dollar nuclear buildup. The bottom line is that absent public pressure, a Clinton administration could raise Pentagon spending substantially. But there are elements of her plans that, if implemented, could eliminate the need for those proposed increases and begin to put the Pentagon on a real budget. In short, the level of Pentagon spending under a Clinton presidency could be up for grabs, with early decisions on personnel and the level of her first budget setting the trajectory for what might follow. While one might be tempted to laugh off Donald Trump's recent efforts to craft a "Civil Rights Agenda," his labors punctuate a long history of attempted appropriation. Politicians and others have tried to assume the mantle of the Civil Rights Movement in support of policies and programs wholly inconsistent with that movement's core social justice principles. This has been most evident of late in conversations about public education. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples, the nation's oldest and most highly recognized civil rights organization, called for a national moratorium on charter schools this summer. Soon after, a bipartisan chorus of charter supporters cried foul attempting to present the so- called choice offered by charters, as well as other attributes of corporate education reform, as the next logical step in the Civil Rights Movement. Advertisement It is all the more curious when many of the same people, like Trump, have been mostly silent on other issues impacting communities of color. They offer no support for the contemporary Black Lives Matter Movement. But, they can hardly contain their indignation when efforts are made on behalf of communities of color to block corporate education reform measures like high stakes testing and unregulated publicly financed charters. Rather than addressing the NAACP's position, some critics have sought to deflect the conversation. Writing in US News and World Report, Harvard University Government Professor Paul Peterson, for instance, attempted to shift the blame back on to teachers' unions, and their supposed preservationist interest in fighting charters. He nevertheless wondered, "Why do many civil rights groups oppose charters?" He demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the history of the movement and those who fought in it. Unions, for example, played an integral part in backing the Civil Rights Movement. While the history of the relationship is complex, union members were well represented among protesters and movement leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. often counted on them for critical financial support. The relationship between the movement and unions is a given. Moreover, ending segregated schooling in the United States constituted the very essence of the most important case brought by the NAACP, Brown v. the Board of Education. Its goal was to end the doctrine of "separate but equal" in education. With the Brown decision, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the position of civil rights activists in challenging the 1896 dicta promulgated in Plessy v. Ferguson as "inherently unequal" and thus a violation of the 14th Amendment that barred such state supported segregation. Today advocates of charters attempt to dress up support for these schools as a matter of choice and thus consistent with the democratizing impulse that under girded Brown. But they do so as part of an attempt to dismantle a well-funded and equitable system of public education open to all, which the NAACP, fought hard to ensure. Advertisement Not surprisingly, Trump's September policy memo maintained that "States should have flexibility to use federal dollars to help parents and students find educational opportunities that meet their needs - including charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, religious schools, and homeschooling." At the core, this, like similar proposals floated by some Democrats is inconsistent with the historical demands of organizations like the NAACP that led first to the desegregation of schools and then ongoing discussions about how best to achieve equity. The NAACP's most recent statement regarding charter schools reinforces this formulation privileging access to a well-funded and administered system of public education as a key civil right. Civil Rights workers were concerned first and foremost with the eradication of legal policies or structures like separate but equal that resulted in inequality. This mirrors the cornerstone of the NAACP's current call for a moratorium on charter schools. They do not claim that all charters are bad, as some commentators have suggested, but declare that the unchecked proliferation of such schools represents a real danger to communities of color. They expressed concern about the dearth of evidence proving their effectiveness and deplore the resulting segregation they often produce. Most importantly, they question the equity of diverting public funds to support private enterprises. As the NAACP rightly observed, "[Charter schools] do not represent the public yet make decisions about how public funds are spent [and have] contributed to the increased segregation rather than diverse integration of our public school system." This is really the crux of the problem. The Civil Rights Movement was about inclusivity, while those who appropriate its language to buttress corporate education reform do so largely in support of programs that promote exclusivity at the public's expense. Charter school advocates nevertheless persist in the mythology of trickle down edu-nomics, the idea that charter schools and high stakes testing can somehow deliver educational outcomes that will not only level the playing field but save the nation's inner cities. One such study, published in 2014, claimed that high performing charters could draw people back into poor communities that lack quality educational options and opportunities for employment. Advertisement In the absence of reliable data to support this and a mountain of anecdotal evidence to the contrary pointing to the myriad abuses and anti-democratic elements of the ways many charters are supported and funded, the NAACP spoke powerfully in support of public education. Rather than the blistering criticism, one wonders why those claiming the mantle of the movement have not flocked to the organization that brought about the demise of separate but equal to get a better understanding how and why it came to this position. Cool, calm,charismatic. And yet incredibly passionate. In his last seven years in office, Barack Obama's media presence has been nothing short of mesmerising. But as all PR enthusiasts will know - it takes a talented team to help elect a leader. As the November election become increasingly closer, we decided to take at look at 20 impressive visuals used by Obama's marketing team during his presidential career, and the thought process that went behind each. 1. Using Iconic Quotes Obama is known for being a powerful communicator. By pairing strong quotes with related imagery, his team create quick, simple, iconic and highly shareable pieces of content perfect for social media. Advertisement 2. Promoting "Share With a Friend" graphics During his 2012 campaign, Obama's team released a series of illustrated accolades in a post named "Share With A Friend the Accomplishment that Means Most to You". This simple campaign encouraged mass amounts of social media sharing, allowing supporters to do the work of spreading the message through eye-catching graphics. 3. Leveraging Crowdsourcing: #DesignForObama During the election, Obama encouraged supporters to create their own visuals in support of his campaign using the hashtag #designforobama. This crowdsourcing of materials helped get people more intensely and emotionally invested in the campaign, created stunning graphic results and ultimately gave supporters a direct, respected voice. 4. Humanizing Obama Obama's team leveraged social media to humanize Obama by posting candid, emotional, heartfelt, funny, and endearing photographs of the president, creating an intimate look into the personality behind the presidency, transforming Obama from a 2D political figure into a human being anyone could empathize with. The above image, posted after Obama's 2008 win, was so successful at this that at one point it was the most retweeted image on all of Twitter. 5. Optimizing Opt-In Pages No stranger to the power of good design and strategic splash pages, Obama's graphic, web, and marketing teams carefully curated a splash page to help raise his campaign over $60 million USD. Advertisement As Director of Analytics for the Obama 2008 campaign Dan Siroker notes, this successful web page was achieved through experimentation of different calls to action, button copy, imagery use, etc. So, the takeaway from this success? Split test your web forms, small tweaks can yield some huge results. 6. Appealing to Emotions Emotions are pretty powerful things to leverage when the time calls for it, and Obama's marketing team know exactly when to do just that. By pairing a powerful quote and an emotional image of the president, Obama's team have created a powerful piece of content. 7. Utilising GIFs, Animations, and 3D visuals WIth a campaign founded on progress and innovation, it makes sense that Obama's marketing strategy would make use of new, popular, and innovative technology. By delivering his messages through platforms such as GIFs, animations, and 360 visual videos, Obama's content stays fresh, engaging and interesting. 8. Understanding Social Platforms If there's one thing no marketer wants, it's an out-of-touch social media campaign. But Obama's social media strategy has often actually been credited as a key building block for his campaign's success. By tailoring content to each platform/social media audience, Obama's content felt in touch, genuine, and engaging. For example, as seen above, the Obama campaign set up a blog on microblogging site Tumblr, a teen-oriented platform, thus his approach was much more colloquial and personality-driven, and the 'handcrafted' visuals perfectly reflect that. Advertisement 9. Using Visualised Data and Statistics People often respond better to visual information than plain text, making visual content key for translating key messages to your audience. Obama's social media marketing is a perfect example of how simple graphics can turn data and figures into eye-catching, and highly shareable pieces of content. 10. Creating Ads that Work Ads are a crucial part of any campaign when it comes to directing traffic to the right places, but ads aren't always easy to get right. By hiring designer Al Rotches, Obama's team unlocked a series of beautifully designed and interactive ads that "raised the click-through rate on image ads by 33% and donations from image ads rose by 20%". 11. Being the Voice of the People Another success of Obama's social media marketers is their use of vox pop graphics. Visualised quotes and stories from people who have been helped by Obama's healthcare reform policies create simple but eye-catching assets, that also lend give a voice to the people, creating authentic and trustable 'reviews' of Obamacare. 12. Using Visual Repetition: The Obama O Obama's marketing success is often attributed in part to the way design was interwoven into his campaign branding. Obama's 'rising sun' brand mark was a highly accredited design solution that as designer Scott Thomas notes, "Without using a single word... served as a stand-alone narrative of American hope and optimism". 13. Tailoring his Message to the Audience Much of the success of the Obama logo goes into the way it is applied throughout various marketing assets. The application of the Obama O logo to various banners to appeal to different states/demographics/people was handled neatly and cleanly and as Armin of Under Consideration says "without pandering". This simple technique allowed consumers of the imagery to identify themselves within the banners/designs, creating an air of inclusiveness to the Obama campaign. Advertisement Making tailored tweaks to your logo can be difficult if you only own it in a PNG file. Consider giving your logo a facelift and making it more versatile by creating your logo as an editable design. 14. Using Punchy Copy Copywriting is a key component of visual marketing, and Obama hit the nail on the head with a series of short, punchy, positive and effective taglines. A prime example is the 'Change' campaign. Americans were hungry for change, so Obama's visuals and campaigns focussed on that. By using the strong Gotham typeface and a strong design, the call to action of change created a powerful visual placard. 15. Giving Hope We couldn't get through a list compiling Obama's top visuals without mentioning his "Hope" poster. This now iconic poster was a combination of an uplifting message, an obvious play on the red, white, and blue color scheme, and powerful graphic execution, making it a linchpin of the Obama campaign. 16. Leveraging Design: Powerful slogans meet powerful designs Matching your designs to the weight and strength of your copy can help leave a lasting impression. Marked as "the key element" of Obama's 2011 campaign by head of design Josh Higgins, the single-word slogan of 'Forward' was a powerful asset with powerful visualisation. As Maria Celina notes, "In its branding, the design team carefully tucks Obama's flagship symbol as the second letter, and adds a full-stop at the end to mark its strength." Advertisement 17. Pulling from Imagery of the Past A tactic that was used throughout Obama's presidential marketing was, as designer Scott Thomas explains, "[pulling] imagery from the past ... and using it to display how truly historic this campaign truly was." By creating posters and deliverables reminiscent of the past, such as the poster pictured above, a clear play on the famous Uncle Sam posters, Obama was viewed more as a trustworthy fixture of American history rather than a blatantly new, unfamiliar face. 18. "Instant Vintage" Another technique used by Obama's design and marketing teams to create a sense of timelessness and historicism was an aesthetic approach they dubbed 'instant vintage'. As Scott Thomas explained, this vintage-inspired aesthetic, color palette, and composition of posters such as the above Change example helped to "...convey a certain emotive quality that this was a historic time". 19. "We" not "He" This is yet another example of this 'instant vintage' approach taken to design deliverables during campaigning. This piece however also exemplifies to focus Obama's team took on ensuring any copy focussed on "'we' not 'he'". This approach was made to ensure that "supporters could hold (up the designs) with pride and feel it was a direct statement from them". 20. A False Revolution Another clever tactic employed by the team behind Obama was to create posters that subtly mimicked revolutionary imagery, such as the iconic pictures of Che Guevara or wartime posters. By using low angles, dramatic imagery, and powerful calls to action, the design of these posters subtly hinted to people that to elect Obama was to elect a revolution of change. Advertisement Over to you: What do you think about Barack Obama's marketing strategies? There's no denying that Obama's campaigns will go down in history. As well as two successful terms, his team's careful attention to detail when crafting his deliverables, visuals, and social media presence was a definite linchpin to this success. Vietnam aims to stop sending power bill collectors to households by the end of 2020. Photo by VnExpress Customers can now pay for their electricity at local banks. Hanoi residents now have the option of pay their electricity bills at local banks or Hanoi Power Corporation's (HPC) customer service centers starting from this month. Representatives of Hanois energy provider said the company has recently expanded the scope of its support services to 228 transaction offices, a move aimed to make payments easier for customers. Local residents can now opt for a paperless route through the banks that have signed cooperation deals with HPC, including ABBank, BIDV, VIB, VCB and VietinBank, or other intermediary parties such as ECPay or Payoo. According to the energy provider, there will be no transition fees but customers will be required to provide identification. These programs are aimed at making it more convenient for people to pay the power bills, said a representative of HPC. Power bills used to be paid to collectors from the electricity company who visited every household on a monthly basis, but customers can now choose to make online payments. Its in accordance with the governments plan to promote bank transactions rather than cash payments. At the same time, it is a step towards our goal of no longer sending collectors to each household by the end of 2020, said the representative. Related news: > Vietnam swaps cash for plastic in online payment plan > Vietnam to quicken share sales in EVN in push for wholesale power market by 2017 This year's 'Best of' goes to local Original Sin,Obamas Missed Opportunity: Whats In Store For The ASCAP, BMI Consent Decrees? [UPDATED] Following the DoJ consent decree over 100% licensing, resulting in multiple lawsuits, Chris Castle took a long hard look at where things are likely to go from here. Late last week, a judge overturned part of the decree, but the issue is far from resolved. ________________________ Guest Post by Chris Castle on Music Tech Solutions Original sinIn Christian theology, the condition of sin that marks all humans as a result of Adams first act of disobedience to God. Its kind of an Old Testament thing. The ASCAP and BMI consent decrees punish songwriters for a kind of original sin that most of them dont know about and that happened some time before 1941before most of them were born. And yet all of them are held guilty in advance. Sound familiar? The Obama Justice Department just had a spectacular loss on its misguided and probably unconstitutional 100% licensing position in front of Judge Louis Stanton, the BMI rate court judge who has primary responsibility for interpreting the BMI consent decrees. BMI asked for declaratory relief from Judge Stanton which was granted in a decisive opinion rejecting the governments position. So now what? Not only did the Obama Justice Department go down the wrong rabbit hole with the consent decrees, they also managed to get themselves suedby songwriters. How in the world could that have happened? Not just one, but two separate and distinct lawsuits. The songwriters lawsuit is against the Justice Department, the Attorney General of the United States and the head of the Antitrust Division, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Renata B. Hesse. (It appears that Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hesse is the prime mover in pushing the DOJs position on 100% licensing through the Justice Department, although it is hard to imagine that the Attorney General did not personally approve the position given the magnitude of the change in position.) The songwriters lawsuit is not brought under the consent decrees. The complaint alleges that the DOJ attorneys, starting with Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hesse, engaged in unconstitutional behavior by denying songwriters their due process rights as well as taking the economic value of private property without compensation (see Professor Richard Epstein). The lawsuit also alleges that the process that Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hesse engaged insecret phone calls, no public comment on proposed amendments to the consent decree, deceptive practices designed to encourage songwriters to leave their PROsviolated laws governing the behavior of federal administrative agencies. The implication is that the DOJ intentionally engaged in deceptive practices lead by Hesse but also the recently departed Litigation III Section Chief David C. Kully. (Mr. Kully was probably just following orders, but we all know where that can lead.) What are the possible steps forward from here? No Change for Music Users Some of the less knowledgeable reporting on fractional licensing suggests that somehow music users are burdened by the decision. Not truemost music users already have licenses from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and increasingly from Global Music Rights. SESAC and GMR are not subject to consent decrees because more PROs means more competition which means good things happen, right? That was, after all, reason for the consent decrees in the first placeto encourage more competition, not less, in the public interest. The choices afforded songwriters among competing licensing associations are no more burdensome for music users than having to deal with any other vendors in their business. On the contrary, if the Justice Department had been successful in their stated goals of encouraging songwriters to leave ASCAP and BMI, the Justice Department would have mandated mind numbing complexity in the market place. The Missed Opportunity The real policy failure is that the Department of Justice failed to adopt any of the hundreds of policy proposals made by the public to amend the consent decreesthe longest running consent decrees in the history of the United Statesafter years of review, negotiation and discussion. Not one. Instead, the DOJ fixed on 100% licensing, which is something that nobody had asked for publicly as the Copyright Office noted (at p. 2, text accompanying note 8): Despite the wide-ranging nature of the study and invitation to raise additional issues, none of the participants identified fractional licensing of musical works by the PROs as a practice that needed to be changed. The Justice Department missed an historic opportunity to do something good for everyone. This is tragic. Possible Futures DOJ Changes Position on 100% Licensing The easiest thing would be for Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hesse to issue a statement acknowledging she got it wrong on 100% licensing and that the DOJ is abandoning the position. I doubt this will happen. DOJ Appeals Judge Stantons Ruling Given the general bull-headedness that produced the flawed 100% licensing statement in the first place, I think it is more likely than not that the DOJ appeals Judge Stantons ruling. If you were able to suspend reality to the point that you would come up with the idea in the first place, then you are probably possessed of the kind of denial that would make you believe you will prevail on appeal. As Judge Stanton is a U.S. District Judge sitting in the Southern District of New York, the appeal in this case would go to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. It seems unlikely that the Second Circuit is going to rule against the subject matter expertise of the BMI Rate Court judgeexpertise is the point of having rate court judges in the first place. This is particularly true in a case requiring an interpretation of the consent decree. Nevertheless, I will not be surprised to see an appeal, particularly one filed before the ASCAP rate court judge (Judge Cote) follows Judge Stantons which is likely. An appeal of the BMI case would allow the DOJ to drag out the uncertainty which seems to be the plan for reasons no one outside the Justice Department can understand. ASCAP Asks for Declaratory Relief Given the many rulings against songwriters handed down by Judge Cote, caution may be the watchword for any request for declaratory relief by ASCAP. However much I appreciate Judge Stantons ruling, it must be said that the conclusion is rather obvious. Even so, I thought that the ASCAP members partial withdrawal from collective licensing of the bundle of rights was so obviously the law that it was axiomatic, and Judge Cote ruled against that rather obvious policy. It may be better for ASCAP to simply wait it out until the issue arises before Judge Cote in a future proceeding. Since the MIC Coalition seems to have its hand in the Justice Departments positioning anyway, it would not surprise if the MIC Coalition went to Judge Cote for their own declaratory relief. MIC Coalition Members SONA Pursues Its Lawsuit The most interesting part of the puzzle is the lawsuit brought by Songwriters of North America, Michelle Lewis, Thomas Kelly and Pamela Sheyne. As a threshold matter, it reinforces the idea that ASCAP and BMI are comprised of songwriters bargaining collectively. While it may be convenient for the broadcasters, Google and their MIC Coalition to heap condemnation on the PROs, when doing so they are actually shaming the individual songwriters who are members of ASCAP and BMI. Those songwriters dont feel theyve done anything wrong. The SONA lawsuit confirms this for all to see. While it takes considerable courage to sue a defendant who comes with badges and guns and prints money to pay their legal bills, the DOJ is now faced with a process that reeks to high heaven, looks at least potentially fraught with corruption and which SONA will now put under a microscopeif they survive summary judgement. Of course, it should not be lost on anyone that the DOJs position will be some version of We lost, so no harm, no foul as absurd as that may seem. Im not sure that just kidding is a good look for them. Until the ASCAP judge rules on the issue and follows Judge Stantons reasoning and the DOJ agrees not to file an appeal, theres no reason for SONA to change course. If SONA survives summary judgement on one or both of its claims, then things may get interesting. Governors Take Action Texas Governor Greg Abbott was the first state governor to call on the Attorney General to back off of the 100% licensing rule, acting in defense of Texas songwriters. It would not be surprising to see other governors write their own letters to the AG, particularly now that Judge Stanton has ruled. Terminating the Consent Decrees What this episode should teach everyone is that the consent decrees have run their course. They are now being manipulated by crony capitalists for private commercial advantage. Hesses connections to Google and the MIC Coalition are well known and only further undermine the publics trust in governments ability to operate fairly. Abandoning the consent decrees does not mean that songwriters would get a free pass on antitrust prosecution, it just means that the true free market would operate outside of a little intellectual elite in a far away Eastern city that thinks it can plan the lives of songwriters better than songwriters can themselves. Music users and the government would still be free to bring antitrust actions if the facts warranted it as has already happened to SESAC (which is not subject to a consent decree). So for the moment, songwriters are in a holding pattern but with the wind at their backs. Im still looking forward to an explanation of why Google, Pandora, Clear Channel and a host of other giant multinational corporations with hundreds if not thousands of lobbyists need the awesome power of the U.S. Government to protect them fromsongwriters. Getting closure on this regrettable episode will be better for songwriters and for music users. Its hard enough without the Nanny State intervening. Collective licensing is one of the few areas of the business that is working pretty well in the digital age. Songwriters deserve the chance to live their commercial lives without paying for long-forgotten sins committed before most of them were born. MORE: Federal Judge Rejects DoJ 100% Licensing Decision Share on: Health warning for fish from central Vietnam adds to uncertainty after toxic spill It is now safe to eat fish at aquatic farms and in the mid-water, according to the Health Ministry. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Tao Officials continue to ask consumers to avoid certain seafood products. The public has been warned again to avoid seafood caught from the seabed along the central coast, months after a toxic spill linked to Taiwanese company Formosa first caused mass fish deaths in the region. In its latest report, the Ministry of Health said that only fish in the mid-water or those caught very far from the shore are considered safe. The ministry, supported by a team of experts and scientists, has analyzed over 1,000 samples of seafood taken at aquatic farms and in waters off the central region on a daily basis. New results supported its earlier findings, that toxic chemicals, including cyanide, have been diluted. It is now safe to eat fish from aquatic farms, the report concluded. However, the health ministry warned the public against eating marine creatures that live at the seafloor and within 13.5 nautical miles off the coast of the four affected provinces -- Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. Health officials also strongly advised against eating fish caught within 20 nautical miles. Many people have written to VnExpress, saying the warning does not clear anything up. Some say they still have no way of telling for sure which seafood products available in the market are caught from which areas and whether they are safe. How can consumers know if the fish on sale at a wet market were caught within or beyond 13 nautical miles, in mid-waters or near the surface? a reader nicknamed Binhnx wrote. Nguyen Tac, another reader, said supermarkets and fishmongers may need to start putting up signs to tell consumers where their products came from. Goodbye seafood. Goodbye, another short comment read. Previously Vietnamese food safety authorities urged consumers to wait for a more detailed report by the health ministry before eating fish in the affected areas. Even though the government may have managed to mitigate the consequences by bringing down the concentration of harmful chemicals in the waters to acceptable levels, that doesnt mean it is already safe to eat fish, said Nguyen Thanh Phong, the director of the ministry's Food Safety Department. The senior food safety official added that residues of toxic substances can still be found in the seafood after a long time. The Vietnamese government announced on June 30 that the Vietnam unit of Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group was responsible for discharging toxic chemicals from its steel plant into the ocean, killing marine life and poisoning fish in the four central provinces. Nearly three months after the announcement, Tran Hong Ha, the environment minister, said that it was safe to swim in the affected provinces and that fish farming could resume in most areas. The environment ministers announcement was supported by a team of Vietnamese and foreign scientists who said that sea waters generally met safety standards for aquaculture farming, fishing, and tourism activities. The steel plant took responsibility for the disaster in June and pledged to pay $500 million to clean up the pollution and compensate those affected. The mass fish deaths have ravaged local fisheries, disrupted peoples lives and hit tourism in the four provinces. The government said in a report in July that the disaster had harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen. An estimated 115 tons of fish washed ashore along more than 200 kilometers of the central coast in April, the report said. Formosa Plastics $10.6 billion steel complex in Ha Tinh province includes a steel plant, a power plant and a deep sea port. Related News: > Formosa's toxic disaster: are fish safe to eat now in central Vietnam? > Don't eat fish caught off Vietnam's central coast: health authorities > Formosa pays Vietnam first $250 mln fish death compensation Joe and Kathy Arabia address the City Council last week on childhood cancer. North Adams Recognizes Childhood Cancer Awareness Month NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Some 43 children are diagnosed with cancer every day. More than 100,000 children under the age of 15 are diagnosed with cancer every year in the United States alone. The figures are staggering. More than 40,000 children undergo treatment for cancer every day and, while the survival rate is high at 83 percent, more than half of survivors develop health problems related to their treatment. "The statistics around childhood cancer are shocking," said Kathy Arabia last week. "We were unaware of the statistics ourselves until we were impacted." The impact becomes clearer when realizing "the numbers are names." "Think about them more instead of in terms of numbers, in terms of children's names," she said. "We could name children. Lots and lots of children. Way too many names of kids that we have met, that we have loved that have been impacted by this disease." Arabia and her husband, Joe, spoke at last week's City Council meeting about September being Child Cancer Awareness Month. Marked by the color gold, the month is designated to bring issues of cancer related to children and families to the forefront and to raise funds for research and support. The Arabias have become cancer awareness advocates after their daughter, Anna Yan Ji Arabia who developed gliomatosis cerebri, a rare and aggressive brain cancer. When Anna Yan was diagnosed, there was no significant research into this disease. She died in 2013 at age 16. The mayor will ask for emergency funding to repair Notre Dame Church. A shrunken St. Francis' Church is expected to be removed soon. PreviousNext Emergency Funding Proposed for Notre Dame; St. Francis' Demo to Ramp Up NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The City Council next week will be asked to appropriate $50,000 to match a state grant and more to fix Notre Dame Church. Mayor Richard Alcombright sought $50,000 from Secretary of State William F. Galvin , who oversees the Massachusetts Historical Commission, to help in stabilizing the rear buttresses of the church. One buttress has partially collapsed and others show mortar weakness. The total estimate by Barry Engineers and Constructors Inc. comes to $211,770. Alcombright told the City Council in July that he anticipated requesting a transfer from the stabilization account for the repairs. Last week, the mayor confirmed that he had received notification the city was awarded the preservation grant. "We're getting a contractor lined up to begin those repairs almost immediately," he said at last week's North Adams Chamber of Commerce get-together. "We want to have the situation remediated and we want to have the buttress stabilization done before the bad weather." The deterioration of the brickwork was caused by water getting into the masonry after a gutter system was stolen. City officials had not considered the church as in as a dire a strait as St. Francis' Church, but Barry Engineers and Constructors Inc. in its report said the "building structure must be repaired immediately to avoid partial or a major building collapse." Building Inspector William Meranti said earlier this summer that the building itself is stable so far and that the buttress repairs were beyond the scope of city workers. Barry also recommended checking all masonry joints for repointing and repairing and replacing the gutter system. The mayor hopes to put the church and its adjacent school on the market. The property was purchased by the city in 2007 in large part to prevent the loss of the steeple. The rectory on the east side was sold to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Foundation for its Alumni Association. The rest of the property has been unoccupied. Alcombright also said the city is working to get masonry repaired at the Armory. Distinctive blue tarps have been covering the front section around the eagles for months because of potential water issues. "Masonry work done eight years ago has failed and we're working with the contractor to get them to be responsible for it," said the mayor. "This fall, before the bad weather comes, we're going to have to fix around those parapets. "The thing we don't want is water getting behind that masonry, getting into those walls and doing any damage." The Armory has been undergoing a multiphase, multi-year renovation being funded through the city's annual Community Development Block Grant awards. The latest phase is a two-part parking lot construction and interior work including the renovation of the commercial kitchen in the basement. A third project, outside the city's purview, is expected to ramp up this week: St. Francis of Assisi. Workers knocking bricks off St. Francis' tower by hand nearly three weeks ago. The 150-year-old church is undergoing demolition that's taking longer than expected. The steeple was deconstructed over more than a week in May as an emergency removal. During the summer, more work was done on removing any hazardous materials such as asbestos. But it wasn't until late August the serious demolition began on the church structure and what was left of the tower knocked down on Sept. 1 more than two weeks ago. "I couldn't be more disheartened with the lack of speed with which this is coming down," Alcombright said. "We have a strong commitment from them that they are going to be back here [this week]." A "massive amount of trucks" from TAM Waste Management in Pownal, Vt., is expected to start hauling the debris away this week and "not going to stop until it's gone." We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector The place where the guard's body was found. Photo by VnExpress/Yen Bai The victim's body was cut into pieces, but police rejected the theory that he was killed for organs. Police in the northern province of Cao Bang have shrugged off speculation that a local man was killed for his organs which were then sold to China. Nguyen Van Hong, the police chief, confirmed on Monday that "his organs were not taken away." On September 16, Be Van Tuyen, a guard at an elementary school in Phuc Hoa District, was found dead with his body cut into pieces. The 29-year-old man reportedly went fishing alone earlier. After more than a day of searching, local police collected all his body parts, Hong said. The investigation continues. In August, police in the nearby province of Ha Giang also dismissed rumors that 16 locals had been killed for organs by Chinese groups. Ha Giang police had to address the issue after a warning notice was issued in Lao Cai Province, claiming that 16 Vietnamese, mostly old people and children, were kidnapped and killed for organs in Ha Giang in the first six months. Police in Ha Giang rejected the information. Cao Bang and Ha Giang have 333 kilometers and 277 km of borderlines with China, respectively. Related news: > Chinese murdering Vietnamese for organs not true: Vietnam police Vietnam police have busted many drug smuggling rings across the Laos border this year. Photo by VnExpress Police arrested two Laos men and seized nearly seven kilos of heroin. A police officer in the central province of Nghe An was shot and wounded during a raid which netted nearly seven kilograms of heroin smuggled from Laos across the border. Two Lao men, aged 30 and 45, were arrested during the bust last week. Another member escaped after firing his rifle. The officer is receiving hospital treatment with two bullet shots, but the injuries are not life-threatening. Police said the operation has been smuggling drugs across the border regularly and they started keeping tabs on the gang in early August. Vietnam has some of the worlds toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death. Although the laws have been strictly enforced with capital punishment handed down regularly, drug running continues in border. Many drug rings across the border have been busted this year. Related news: > Australian old woman arrested with drugs hidden in salted fish jars in Saigon airport > 2 Vietnamese sentenced to death for trafficking 7 kilos of heroin The victim says $66,000 in compensation is not enough, and plans to appeal for nearly four times the amount. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam's southern province of Kien Giang has been ordered to pay compensation of VND1.5 billion ($66,000) for illegally seizing forest land from a local woman. The judgment was made on September 19. The woman, named Lang, signed a contract with the department in 2002 to use 69 hectares of forestry land to grow trees over a 50-year period, but five years later the department decided to reclaim the land to make way for 15 other households. These households then sold the forest grown by Lang for VND80-150 million ($3,500-6,600) per hectare. A small amount of the profit was contributed to the provincial budget while the rest was divided between the households and the Forest Management Board at a rate of 60-40. Saying that the department had broken the law, Lang brought the case to court, but the first trials held in 2013 and 2014 dismissed her complaint. It was not until the third trial that the jury decided that Kien Giangs Department of Agriculture had unilaterally terminated the contract before the expiry date, causing losses to Lang. Lang in court on September 19. Photo by VOV. The jury ordered the department to pay the woman VND1.5 billion in damages. However, Lang said that she had incurred heavier losses than the figure decided by the jury, and would appeal for VND5 billion ($220,000). Speaking to VnExpress, Nguyen Van Tam, head of the department, said they were preparing to file an appeal as well. Related news: > Da Lat to build 490ha safari park inside protected forest > Vietnam Forest Corporation branches out with public offering Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) transits in formation with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships JS Kirisame (DD 104) and JS Asayuki (DD 132) during bilateral training in South China Sea on April 21, 2015. Courtesy David Flewellyn/U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters ...after Japan said it would conduct joint training patrols with the United States in the contested waters. China on Monday accused Japan of trying to "confuse" the situation in the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, after its neighbor said it would step up activity in the contested waters, through joint training patrols with the United States. Ties between Asia's two largest economies have long been overshadowed by arguments over their painful wartime history and a territorial spat in the East China Sea, among other issues. China has repeatedly denounced what it views as interference by the United States and its ally Japan in the South China Sea. Japan will also help build the capacity of coastal states in the busy waterway, its defense minister said last week during a visit to Washington. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said countries in the region had reached a consensus that the South China Sea issue should be resolved through talks between the parties directly involved, and that China and Southeast Asian countries should jointly maintain peace and stability there. "Let's have a look at the results of Japan's throwing things into disorder over this same time period ... trying to confuse the South China Sea situation under the pretense of (acting for) the international community," Lu told a daily news briefing, when asked about Japan's announcement. Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) transits in formation with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship JS Kirisame (DD 104) during bilateral training in South China Sea on April 21, 2015. Courtesy David Flewellyn/U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters. Japan's actions have simply pushed other countries away from it, and it has failed to compel other nations to see its point of view, he added. "China is resolute in its determination to protect its sovereignty and maritime interests," Lu said. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which ships carrying about $5 trillion in trade pass every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, which is also believed to be rich in energy resources and fish stocks. In July, an arbitration court in the Hague said China's claims to the waterway were invalid, after a case was brought by the Philippines. Beijing has refused to recognize the ruling. South China Sea Disputed Islands | Graphiq Related news: > China, Russia navies to hold drills in South China Sea > Obama urges China to stop flexing muscles over South China Sea Edward Price Non-Resident Senior Fellow NYU Center for Global Affairs Contact email linkedin Edward Price, a former British economic official, teaches international political economy, financial systems and international relations at NYUas Center for Global Affairs. He is also an economic advisor for BritishAmerican Business (BAB). Educated at the London School of Economics (LSE), Edward holds an MSc in Finance and Economic Policy and an MA in German History. He has worked in both the British and European parliaments, was Americas editor at IFLR and has worked in the City of London. He speaks German, gets by in Italian and is a member of the Economic Club of New York (ECNY). The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers. To unlock this article: St. Kitts and Nevis Independence Day Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis as you celebrate the 33rd anniversary of your beautiful nations independence on September 19. "Our countries enjoy a close friendship rooted in our deep respect for democratic principles and individual freedoms. The United States shares your commitment to inclusive and sustainable growth, and is proud to partner with you to empower youth, eradicate devastating diseases, and promote clean energy. We value your leadership in the fight against narcotics trafficking, and look forward to building on the progress that we have made through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. "As you gather with family and friends from Basseterre to Charlestown, the United States sends best wishes for a joyous Independence Day and a happy, safe, and prosperous year to come." Secretary of State John Kerry to Travel to Colombia Washington, DC - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Cartagena, Colombia, on September 26. He will lead the United States delegation at the signing of the peace accord between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end over 50 years of conflict. He will also participate in bilateral meetings with regional counterparts. The Secretary's presence follows years of U.S. engagement to facilitate the negotiations. On the Occasion of Independence Day in Armenia Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I want to extend my congratulations to the people of Armenia as you celebrate the 25th anniversary of your nations independence on September 21. "The United States deeply values its warm friendship with Armenia and with all of you. In the past quarter century, Armenia has made great progress, and my government looks forward to continuing to work closely with you in support of shared prosperity, strong democratic institutions, the rule of law, and regional peace. We appreciate Armenias consistent support for effective international peacekeeping operations and its leading role in responding to the Syrian refugee crisis. We are also grateful for the presence in the United States of a vibrant and highly-accomplished Armenian-American community. "On this special day, I offer best wishes to all Armenians for a peaceful and prosperous year to come." Kohli's Photo With Tricolour During National Anthem Goes Viral, Twitter Calls Him 'Pride of India' Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} With credits on projects V/H/S, You're Next and television series Outcast, Adam Wingard is regarded as one of the most exciting figures currently working in horror. Not that he understands why. "Ultimately when you look at my filmography, I've never made a horror," he tells me days away from finishing shooting his feature-length Netflix adaptation of popular manga series Death Note in Vancouver. That's until now. Back in July, it was announced that the American filmmaker's new film The Woods was, in fact, a direct sequel to found-footage horror smash The Blair Witch Project (1999). Simply titled Blair Witch, it emerged he had been making it for the previous three years. We spoke to Wingard - best known for directing Dan Stevens in The Guest - about his attempts to salvage the franchise following its doomed sequel Book of Shadows (2002), the struggles of keeping the lid on such an event film and the bold twist he and write Simon Barrett decided to steer the series towards. Blair Witch - Extended Trailer Was keeping Blair Witch secret as agonising as it sounds? Yeah, it absolutely was. We signed on to do this film in 2013 with Lionsgate. It was so long ago that when I signed on, the stipulation was that that we filmed The Guest first. We didnt want to tell anybody so weve been holding this secret for quite some time to the point that I was so paranoid about saying the words 'Blair Witch' out loud in public that when we did announce it, it felt completely wrong. I'd so accustomed myself to saying The Woods, It took me little while to train myself back into saying the real name of the movie, It's impressive that a film of this stature can be kept secret in such a day and age driven by the web. Was it always the intention? The original is well known for its unique marketing - its basically synonymous with the movie itself - so we knew we had to do something; we didnt actually know what it was. We were [originally] keeping it secret because in this day and age there are just so many sequels and remakes; we were kind of afraid that if we came out of the box and said we were making this film, there would be a backlash against it because everybodys instincts these days are "Oh, Hollywood has run out of ideas." That wasnt the case; we came into this film from a position of love for the material and wanting to see a good sequel to Blair Witch because Simon [Barrett, screenwriter] and I were both big fans of the original. When it came out, I saw it six times on video. Book of Shadows just killed the whole thing for me. It was so disappointing, it almost knocked the legitimacy of Blair Witch off the map for years. You can be precious about something like Blair Witch and say, 'How dare you approach it as a sequel or remake' or whatever, but its legacy was so tarnished by Book of Shadows that someone had to come in and do something in the spirit of the original. You've been cited as a saviour of the horror genre. Did that create a pressure? It's kind of funny because I've definitely been cited as a horror filmmaker but ultimately when you really look at my filmography I've never made a straight horror movie. You're Next was essentially a meta-comedy, The Guest was a thriller that used horror stylisation and themes and images, but it really wasn't a horror film at all. I've never made a movie where my whole purpose was tp scare the shit out of people, and Blair Witch was the first time I went full-on horror - my whole goal with this project was to scare the shit out of people. Do you worry that a potential Blair Witch sequel could go the same way as Book of Shadows? I never really want to get into sequels until you see some financial gain . A lot of people ask me 'are you going to do a sequel to The Guest or You're Next' - those movies werent financially viable so, even though there are a lot of fans of it, itd be a pretty small market wed be appealing to. It's got to be a big hit for you to really justify that. So if this movie opens up well, we already have ideas of where wed take it. Even if I dont direct a sequel, I'm definitely going to be heavily involved in terms of picking the director and making sure the whole thing has a high-quality standard. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up *Blair Witch spoilers follow* The film sees an intriguing twist surrounding the subject of time. What inspired you to go down that route? The time element was always there in the original film, it was just more subtly played. From a practical standpoint, we were thinking everything that's scary in The Blair Witch Project always happens at nighttime, each segment of the first film is about waiting for the night because you know shits going to hit the fan. So we used the time format to our advantage to make it nighttime pretty much all the time so by the last half of the film, the sun never comes up. It adds to the claustrophobia of the scenario and the mystery but most importantly we keep you in the danger zone constantly. Once it gets to the halfway point, the movie doesn't really relent. Best horror films of all-time Show all 10 1 /10 Best horror films of all-time Best horror films of all-time The Shining The retailer play.com used a heart rate monitor on film watchers to assess what horror films set pulses racing. The Heres Johnny scene in which Jack Nicholson peers through a hole in a door he has just created with an axe came up on top. The rest of the film isnt any less scary as a writer coops his family up in an empty Colorado hotel for the winter. Stanley Kubrick creates tension at every turn, especially when he follows Danny riding his bicycle along the corridors. AP Best horror films of all-time Rosemary's Baby Roman Polanskis adaptation of Ira Levins best-seller is the daddy of demon baby movies. It involves a struggling couple, a pregnant Catholic girl and unemployed actor, played by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, who move into an apartment block and are befriended by Satanist. The occult is scary, but not nearly as evil as Guys decision to sacrifice his wife for an acting role. Polanskis brilliance is that the horror is not the supernatural but the doubts that brew up in our own minds. Paranoia reigns. Getty images Best horror films of all-time Psycho There is a sense of foreboding even before petty thief Vera Miles checks into the Bates motel. Then we are introduced to Norman Bates and his Oedipus complex. The fact that Bates on the surface seems mild-mannered and ordinary only made his transformation scarier. Showers would never be the same, in the must iconic murder scene on celluloid. Getty Images Best horror films of all-time Blue Velvet The huge amount of film noir elements in the narrative of David Lynchs murder tale often see this 1986 American tale overlooked on horror lists. But this film is aimed to chill and has the aesthetics, pacing and tension of the greatest horror, including severed ears, dwarfs, and the supernatural. But its Dennis Hoppers Frank Booth that is the clincher, whenever hes on screen, whether hes harassing Isabelle Rossellini or encouraging singing, hes the scariest character that has ever been on-screen. Best horror films of all-time Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror The granddaddy of the genre, this silent masterpiece, an unauthorised adaptation of the Dracula tale (The Stoker estate won a case ordering all copies of the film destroyed, which was thankfully unenforceable in Germany), sees director FW Murnau establish many of the touchstones of the genre including vampires lusting after blood Getty Images Best horror films of all-time The Orphanage The haunted house is a staple of horror movies, especially of American horror. But its this Spanish gem from 2007 that is the scariest of them all. It starts with a mother whose attempts to deal with her childhood inner demons seeking closure by buying the orphanage in which she was born, and taking on the demands of looking after not just her own imaginative adopted son, but six other Orphans. What ensues is an eerie homage to Jack Claytons The Innocents that once again proves that nothing is as scary on film as creepy children. Best horror films of all-time Anti-Christ Lars von Triers says it was while he was undergoing cognitive therapy for depression that the idea to make a film exploring the semiotics and tools used by depression came to mind. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe play a couple coping with the death of their son. She cannot belief his response and he hers. The result is a film featuring gender mutilation, talking foxes and where chaos reigns. Booed at Cannes only seems to cement its status. Best horror films of all-time Don't Look Now Adaptations of Daphne du Mauriers prose have a habit of making great horror films, especially in the hands of Alfred Hitchcock (Birds and Rebecca). British director Nic Roeg created this masterpiece when he took Mauriers short story and meshed it with his trademark non-linear approach to the story of parents attempting to come to terms with the death of their young daughter by moving to Venice. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie give career best performances in a film that has a clairvoyant, serial killer, but most scary of all, feelings of guilt. Best horror films of all-time Suspiria There are not many directors who have made more horrors than Italian maestro Dario Argento. His 1976 effort Suspiria remains his masterpiece. An American ballet dancer goes to study in the Black Forest, where she meets a pair of lesbians administrators (Alida Valli and Joan Bennett), a bizarre shrink (Udo Kier, an actor who adds to the terror level of any movie) and discovers that the school was once a notorious witches coven. All this done in piercing Technicolor and a terrific synthesised score. Best horror films of all-time Audition J-Horror (Japanese horror) went through a purple patch at the end of the 90s with Hideo Nakatas excellent Dark Water follow Ring trilogies. However, the most chilling film of the era was directed by Takeshi Miike, who makes films like they are cups of morning coffee. He uses the casting couch as the source of his evil as a friend tries to find a television producer a new wife by hosting a fake casting call. Miike slowly pulls us into the tale, as we discover dark secrets of both the widower and the actress who has caught his eye. Why do you think genuinely scary horror films are so rare these days? I think the hardest part about making a scary film is about being able to retain the mystery especially when it comes to supernatural stuff. What's really scary about the original Blair Witch is that it doesnt really answer any questions so what makes that ending so scary is you walk out feeling dirty because you dont even know what happened. It feels wrong. All my favourite horror movies have that quality to it. I hope that's the legacy were continuing, this horror mystery feeling where its about the fear of what goes bump int he night but not actually seeing it. Even though we do show more in this film, we always try to do it in a way where maybe you're seeing something, maybe youre not. It's a fun communal experience. What do you plan to bring to Death Note that you don't get in the original anime? Well, I think were bringing a real adult theme. It's different than other anime movies especially that have been done in the States they're always PG-13, very highly stylised and imitate cartoons. We're going in this different direction which still has a feeling of an anime but its a hard R; it's very violent and theres a lot of swearing which is cool because its still essentially about kids in high school. I grew up on movies for teenagers that are hard Rs so you cant technically say theyre for teenagers but they really are. Death Note's that kind of thing. Blair Witch is out in cinemas now Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} After 11 years, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are separating. While the reason for their divorce may remain in the shadows (for now) their relationship blossomed in the most public way imaginable - on screen - the two having met during their time filming Mr and Mrs Smith. So, how did their on-screen career together progress? In various ways, including cameos, production credits, and playing lovers in difficult relationships. Lets cast our eyes back to their first film and look at major times their careers entwined. Mr and Mrs Smith The film where it all started. Following a break up with Friends actor Jennifer Aniston, Pitt quickly moved on when filming the Doug Liman, stating he "fell in love" on set. Mr and Mrs Smith, of course, tells the story of a married couple - both contract killers - suffering from the boredom of married life. A Mighty Heart An adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir of the same name, the film featured Angelina as Mariane - the French journalist kidnapped by Terrorists in Pakistan in 2002 - while Brad produced the film. While the film was a hit with the critics, accusations of whitewashing hit the film on release, Orville Lloyd Douglas criticising the film for having Jolie who is white playing Pearl who is mixed race. By The Sea Then, of course, there was By The Sea, the IMDB synopses for the film reading: A couple tries to repair their marriage while staying at a hotel in France. The film marks one of the few times Angelina went by the name Angelina Jolie Pitt, and will likely be the last time she ever does. Despite the pairs huge on-screen presence, the film was a flop at the cinema. Celebrity couples who met on film sets Show all 7 1 /7 Celebrity couples who met on film sets Celebrity couples who met on film sets Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender The couple met on the set of The Light Between Oceans Getty Celebrity couples who met on film sets Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling The couple met on the set of The Place Beyond The Pines Getty Celebrity couples who met on film sets Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem The couple starred in Jamon Jamon in 1992 and began dating in 2007 AFP/Getty Images Celebrity couples who met on film sets Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum The couple met on the set of the 2006 film Step Up Getty Celebrity couples who met on film sets Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds The couple met on set of the 2011 movie Green Lantern Getty Celebrity couples who met on film sets Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth The teen couple met filming the 2010 film The Last Song Getty Celebrity couples who met on film sets Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy The couple met on the set of Evening in 2006 Getty Catch up with all the latest on the pair's split here. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Disney has been accused of promoting full body brownface for children after revealing its new Moana Halloween costume. The studio has released an outfit that will allow little ones to dress up as the demi-god Maui, featuring brown skin, traditional Polynesian tattoos, a grass skirt and a bone necklace. But while children may not see the harm in donning the costume for a party, activists have criticised Disney for trying to profit off the back of another cultures beliefs and history. Recommended Read more No love interest for Princess Moana in new Disney movie Marama Fox, co-leader of New Zealands Maori Party, told Fairfax Media that launching the outfit is no different to putting the image of one of our ancestors on a shower curtain or a beer bottle while Pasifika news site Samoa Planet described the release as cultural appropriation at its most offensive worst. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission has issued a statement calling on Disney to listen to the views of the communities and people whose cultures their movie is based upon. Moana - Trailer Moana has already sparked controversy this year, with critics arguing that the trailer's portrayal of Maui as obese reinforces outdated Polynesian stereotypes and is a form of fat-shaming. Disney is yet to comment on the latest outrage, which has been defended by The Spinoff journalist Madeline Chapman, herself of Samoan descent. After years and years of seeing Samoan Spiderman and Brown Batman at little kids birthday parties, how incredible it would be to see white kids looking up to and wanting to be like the Polynesian hero in the movies? she wrote. Disney creates the first Polynesian hero and doesnt enable kids to dress up as him? Disneys dead. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Last week, Jimmy Fallon was accused of 'humanising a monster after ruffling Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trumps hair during an appearance on The Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon inviting Trump on is part of the normalising of hate, wrote one angry viewer. Should be ashamed of himself. Lost all respect from me. The host has since defended the segment, telling reporters from TMZ: "Have you seen my show? Im never too hard on anyone, adding that Trump was a good sport. Fallon was further pressed on which candidate New Yorkers should vote for, to which he replied Get out there and vote, refusing to take either side. Hilary Clinton has since appeared on Fallons show, reassuring the country she took time out of the current election run to recover from her illness. London mayor Sadiq Khan recently spoke out against Trump, saying how the candidate is playing into the hands of Isis. "Donald Trump said that Muslims from around the world - I'm paraphrasing - would not be welcome into the United States of America. Not only does that show a lack of understanding and awareness of the great country that is the USA and its history and legacy, it's also inadvertently playing into the hands of Daesh and so-called Isis because it implies it's not possible to be a Western liberal and mainstream Muslim. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY Trump previously said that London is so "radicalised" that there are areas where the Metropolitan police are "afraid for their lives". Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} With Antoine Fuqua's remake of John Sturges' 1960 ensemble The Magnificent Seven on the cusp of arrival, Hollywood is looking to another classic western for inspiration - a modern day reworking of High Noon is in the early stages of development at Relativity Media. Fred Zinnemann's western starred Gary Cooper in the Oscar-winning role of Will Kane, a town marshal forced to face a gang of vengeful killers. Relativity Media's co-CEO Dan Brunetti said: High Noon is one of the most iconic films of all time. Im honoured to be a part of modernising this timeless story, and bringing it to a new generation. Remakes of classic films Show all 28 1 /28 Remakes of classic films Remakes of classic films Godzilla (original) The first film hit the big screen 1954 - all in black and white, of course. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Godzilla (remake) The 2014 film featured an updated version of the monster. LFI/Photoshot Remakes of classic films The Italian Job (original) Michael Caine as Charlie Croker in the 1969 version of the film. IMDB/Oakhurst Productions Remakes of classic films The Italian Job (remake) The movie got remade in 2003, starring a number of Hollywood's top stars, including Charlize Theron and Edward Norton. Remakes of classic films Point Break (original) The 'Point Break' gang from the 1991 movie. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Point Break (remake) A new film on the athletic gang premiers this year. Warner Bros Remakes of classic films Annie (original) Alleen Quinn in the 1982 film. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Annie (remake) Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), with Annie (Quvenzhane Wallis) and Mia (Nicolette Pierini) in the 2014 remake of the film. HAND OUT PRESS PHOTOGRAPH / FILM STILL FROM THE MOVIE ANNIE. DOWN LOADED FROM PAPICSELECT/Barry Wetcher/ 2014 CTMG, Inc Remakes of classic films Freaky Friday (original) Jodie Foster in the 1976 film. Remakes of classic films Freaky Friday (remake) The film's 2003 remake starring Lindsay Lohan. YouTube Remakes of classic films The Parent Trap (original) The first film was premiered in 1961. Rex Features Remakes of classic films The Parent Trap (remake) In 1998 the film was remade, kicking off Lindsay Lohan's acting career at a young age. Remakes of classic films Miracle on 34th Street (original) The 1947 version. Remakes of classic films Miracle on 34th Street (remake) The Christmas favourite returned in 1994. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Alfie (original) The first film was made in 1966. Remakes of classic films Alfie (remake) And it was made again in 2004, starring Jude Law. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Carrie (original ) The first film adaption of Stephen King's horror book was made in 1976. Remakes of classic films Carrie (remake ) It returned in 2013, starring Chrloe Morretz. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Ocean's Eleven (original) The first film was out in 1960. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Ocean's Eleven (remake) ... and inspired the 2001 version, starring the biggest Hollywood gang at the time. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Piranha (original) The first thriller showing people getting eaten by scary fishes in the sea landed the big screen in 1978. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Piranha (remake) And for an unknown reason, it was remade in 2010. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Planet of the Apes (original) The world first saw this film in 1968... Remakes of classic films Planet of the Apes (remake) ...before it was remade with CGI in 2001. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Psycho (original) You might know it too well by now, but Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film is a classic thriller. Getty Images Remakes of classic films Psycho (remake) It returned in 1998, directed by Gus Van Sant. Rex Features Remakes of classic films Robocop (original) In 1987 Robocop stormed the world. YouTube Remakes of classic films Robocop (remake) But in 2014, it was an old story and reviews said it failed to improve the original version. Rex The project will be set on the border between Texas and Mexico; Karen Kramer, the wife of original High Noon producer Stanley, will develop it alongside Stephen S Jaffe. Relativity Media - whose past credits include The Social Network and Captain Phillips - was saved from bankruptcy by Kevin Spacey earlier on this year. The Magnificent Seven remake has received mixed critical reception; it stars Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Haley Bennett and Chris Pratt in the role made famous by Steve McQueen. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It's entirely normal to bring one's father along for support on the opening night of a new restaurant, but a slightly different matter when that father is legendary comedian Bill Murray and he's keen to hop behind the bar. In Murray's lengthy tradition of randomly turning up to locations to cause joy and havoc in equal measures, and having already bartended at Sundance in the past, he decided to work a shift at the opening night of Brooklyn bistro 21 Greenpoint; re-opening after a revamp, under the co-ownership of his son Homer Murray. The New York Times reports Murray was over an hour late for his supposed 7pm "shift"; entering fashionably tardy to first slip behind the bar, grab a bottle of Slovenia Vodka, and take a shot. After a riotous cheer, the actor soon got to work serving customers; with his son describing his style as, "he just kind of pours Slovenia Vodka into peoples glasses when they look thirsty. Hes about efficiency. Turn-and-burn." "This is my firstborn son, Homer," Murray later told the crowd. "And I am so happy for myself, and his brothers and sisters and mom, and all of you, that he has not continued in the family business. Instead, he has taken the joy of the family to have a drink, and to have a meal, and to have friends together in one place and made it his lifes work. To my son, and his friends, and his work, and all his partners. Homer Murray!" Murray seems to have certainly impressed 21 Greenpoint's bar director, Sean Patrick McClure, who said of his skills; "A mixologist simply knows how to mix drinks. A bartender knows how to run a bar: interact with guests, have fun, have conversations with them. Bill is a bartender." Though it's unlikely the Ghostbusters and Lost in Translation star will be working for a new line of work anytime soon, it's nice to know he'll always have a home behind the bar. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Summer may be ending, but as the off-the-shoulder peasant blouses get packed away, the haute hippy, Seventies-through-a-luxury-lens trend lingers into autumn fashion. Stiff, starched, Seventies indigo denim is the look to be seen in, as evidenced by Gucci and Valentino on the catwalk whilst numerous contemporary womenswear and High Street brands have had a similar idea. For a rebellious, tomboy take on the theme, embroidered patches give jeans a rock n roll, Almost Famous groupie vibe, whereas flora and fauna embroidered straight onto the denim give off an arts and crafts aura. As well as Alessandro Micheles ultra decorative, more is more incarnation of Gucci, two brands have been instrumental in the embroidered/embellished denim trend. Bliss and Mischief is one, a US brand started by vintage dealer turned designer Hillary Justin in 2014. With UK stockists making the pieces easy to track down, the brand also offers made-to-order embroidered pieces from their US website, making these Cali-cool pieces rather special. Although covered in floral embroidery, the cut of the denim is boyish rather than overtly feminine. Ragged Priest 80 theraggedpriest.com The second brand flying the flag for old-timey authenticity in new garments is Rockins. The name may be familiar from the splash made by the launch of the brand with a range of Seventies silk skinny scarves two years ago. This season sees the duo Jess Morris and Tim Rockins launch denim, with an emphasis on the stiff, 14oz textiles and Mick Jagger-esque period glamour, taking you back to the original blue jean babies of the Seventies and Eighties. Rockins go as far as to suggest for the care instructions: Wash rarely and keep in the freezer over night to maintain the shape and lux quality. It might sound funny, but it perfectly illustrates how denim, in the right hands, has been elevated to a luxury material, to be cherished and worn for best, rather than something to be chucked on or worn only on down days. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Microsoft says it is going to solve cancer in the next 10 years. The company is working at treating the disease like a computer virus, that invades and corrupts the bodys cells. Once it is able to do so, it will be able to monitor for them and even potentially reprogramme them to be healthy again, experts working for Microsoft have said. The company has built a biological computation unit that says its ultimate aim is to make cells into living computers. As such, they could be programmed and reprogrammed to treat any diseases, such as cancer. 13 ways to help prevent cancer Show all 13 1 /13 13 ways to help prevent cancer 13 ways to help prevent cancer Stopping smoking. This notoriously difficult habit to break sees tar build-up in the lungs and DNA alteration and causes 15,558 cancer deaths a year 13 ways to help prevent cancer Avoiding the sun, and the melanoma that comes with overexposure to harmful UV rays, could help conscientious shade-lovers dodge being one of the 7,220 people who die from it 13 ways to help prevent cancer A diet that is low in red meat can help to prevent bowel cancer, according to the research - with 30 grams a day recommended for men, and 25 a day recommended for women 13 ways to help prevent cancer Foods high in fibre, meanwhile, can further make for healthier bowels. Processed foods in developed countries appear to be causing higher rates of colon cancer than diets in continents such as Africa, which have high bean and pulse intakes 13 ways to help prevent cancer Two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables a day were given as the magic number for good diet in the research. Overall, diet causes only slightly fewer cancer deaths than sun exposure in Australia, at 7,000 a year 13 ways to help prevent cancer Obesity and being overweight, linked to poor diet and lack of exercise, causes 3,917 deaths by cancer a year on its own Getty 13 ways to help prevent cancer Dying of a cancer caused by infection also comes in highly, linked to 3,421 cancer deaths a year. Infections such as human papilloma virus - which can cause cervical cancer in women - and hepatitis - can be prevented by vaccinations and having regular check-ups 13 ways to help prevent cancer Cutting back on drinks could reduce the risk of cancers caused by alcohol - such as liver cancer, bowel cancer, breast cancer and mouth cancer - that are leading to 3,208 deaths a year 2014 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Sitting around and not getting the heart pumping - less than one hour's exercise a day - is directly leading to about 1,800 people having lower immune functions and higher hormone levels, among other factors, that cause cancers 2011 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Hormone replacement therapy, which is used to relieve symptoms of the menopause in women, caused 539 deaths from (mainly breast) cancer in Australia last year. It did, however, prevent 52 cases of colorectal cancers 2003 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Insufficient breastfeeding, bizarrely, makes the top 10. Breastfeeding for 12 months could prevent 235 cancer cases a year, said the research AFP/Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Oral contraceptives, like the Pill, caused about 105 breast cancers and 52 cervical cancers - but it also prevented about 1,440 ovarian and uterine (womb) cases of cancer last year 2006 Getty Images 13 ways to help prevent cancer Taking aspirin also prevented 232 cases in the Queensland research of colorectal and oesophagal cancers - but as it can also cause strokes, is not yet recommended as a formal treatment against the risk of cancer In the nearer term, the unit is using advanced computing research to try and set computers to work learning about drugs and diseases and suggesting new treatments to help cancer patients. The team hopes to be able to use machine learning technologies computers that can think and learn like humans to read through the huge amounts of cancer research and come to understand the disease and the drugs that treat it. Recommended Read more Scientists develop test that can spot cancer before you notice it At the moment, so much cancer research is published that it is impossible for any doctor to read it all. But since computers can read and understand so much more quickly, the systems will be able to read through all of the research and then put that to work on specific peoples situations. It does that by bringing together biology, maths and computing. Those have long been treated as relatively distinct but are coming closer together in recent years, and have been spurred on by Microsofts investment. 'Holy Grail' of breast cancer The field of biology and the field of computation might seem like chalk and cheese, Chris Bishop, head of Microsoft Researchs Cambridge-based lab, told Fast Company. But the complex processes that happen in cells have some similarity to those that happen in a standard desktop computer. As such, those complex processes can potentially be understood by a desktop computer, too. And those same computers could be used to understand how cells behave and to treat them. If that were possible, then those computers wouldnt only be able to understand why cells behave as they do and when they might be about to become cancerous. Theyd also be able to trigger a response within a cell, reversing its decision and reprogramming it so that it is healthy again. Does processed meat cause cancer? Microsoft says that solution could be with us within the next five or ten years. Andrew Philips, who leads Microsofts biological computation group, told The Telegraph that in as little as five years it hopes to be able to develop a system for detecting problems. Its long term, but I think it will be technically possible in five to ten years time to put in a smart molecular system that can detect disease. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A general rule of thumb is to get your teeth inspected every six months - but people with poor mouth hygeine, previous problems, or genetic factors could need more regular supervision. But phobias of the dentist's chair and a hectic lifestyle mean that a regular check-up can quickly slip off the radar. While some with healthy teeth can wait as long as two years for a once-over, people who choose to skip regular check-ups could suffer rapid deterioration of their oral health - and may not even realise anything is wrong. Even if tooth decay is not an issue, dentists also check for mouth cancer and other ailments, which could potentially save a person's life, says Dr James Goolnik, from the Bow Lane Dental Group in London. So, what happens if you dont visit the dentist regularly? Six months At this point, many patients will be unaware that they are starting to develop small cavities in their teeth. These holes are caused by tooth decay which will get gradually more extensive over time. Left untreated, these cavities can cause tooth loss. As well as monitoring tooth health, these appointments can be the point at which early signs of oral cancers are spotted - particularly important for patients who smoke and drink regularly. "One of the most common signs of head and neck cancer is an ulcer which develops in the mouth and does not heal within 14 days, says Dr Tariq Idrees, a dentist at Carisbrook Dental Clinic in Manchester. Caught early, survival rates are good but drop rapidly. Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty One year A year of neglect and no dentist intervention means gum disease is now likely. Symptoms are painful and bleeding gums. Without any treatment a patient can be left with painful inflammation and tooth loss, warns Dr Idress. But many will brush less to avoid the discomfort of brushing raw gums, meaning the problem will get even worse. Two years When two years have passed, the likelihood that someone will now have some form of toothache or require painful and expensive treatments to sort out underlying problems increases. By this stage, a cavity which at one point would have been quick and relatively cheap to fix may need a root canal. This type of procedure involves multiple visits, and is painful. Gum recession will also become more likely. Existing work, including implants, can start to fail. At this point, a patient's oral health could be heading for a critical state. Dr Idrees spent 18 months reconstructing someone's teeth in a 27,000 procedure (Carisbrook Dental Clinic) Five years By now, underlying oral health problems could now have become serious concerns. Last week Dr Goolnik found a cyst in a patient's jaw who hadn't seen a dentist in four years. He now needs major surgery to remove it. At this stage, once straightforward teeth upkeep techniques have been neglected for so long that the long-term survival of someone's teeth is at risk. Tartar, for instance, needs to be regularly scraped away with a special tool in a process called scaling. But after five years, a person's teeth will be covered in a worrying amount of the hard calcified deposits that contributes to their decay. Ten years The entire shape of the mouth could now be a matter of concern, as teeth become crowded or crooked without any intervention. After a decade without a dentist's oversight, a patient's teeth are now likely to have become sensitive and potentially worn down. One man who had not visited the dentist in 10 years was recently treated by Dr Idrees, who spent 18 months reconstructing his teeth in a 27,000 procedure. It is a stark reminder that the oral health we take for granted can rapidly slip away from us. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} From the pain of childbirth to teaching a little one how to navigate our messy world, being a mother is a tough and unrelenting job that transforms a womans life overnight. And yet, speaking openly about the difficulties of motherhood is still a taboo, while admitting you regret having children altogether is regarded as beyond the pale. A recent initial study on 23 mothers by Orna Donath, a sociologist at Ben-Gurion University, Israel, recently sparked a fierce debate after it highlighted that unknown numbers of mothers regret having childrem, and tried to distinguish between ambivalence and firm regret. For women struggling to cope with feelings of regret, the internet is a refuge where they can speak anonymously about issues from lifestyle changes to money. The I Regret Having Children Facebook page is filled with such accounts. One stay at home mother to a 7-year-old and a four-year old wrote that she has big regrets. I love them but Im not happy. They have taken all my freedom, I cant get a job, my husband barely makes enough for holidays. I was a flight stewardess, free as a bird before having kids. Now Im just doing never ending house duties. Another wrote of how she is struggling with her three-year-old daughter who does not sleep. Describing an incident where she vomited from stress after her daughter only slept for two hours, she said: We have no life. My husband helps so much, but even he is close to collapsing. We have no family and friends. No support network. What do I do? What's your biggest regret? On Mumsnet one despairing woman wrote: "I loved my old life. My husband really wanted a child and I put it off for so long, just knowing that it's not my calling. I gave in after so many rows thinking I would adjust. "I feel like my wonderful life has turned upside down. I still do not feel like a mother. I miss my old life so much I just feel like walking out and leaving my husband and son." Someone who posted similar thoughts signed off with the plea: "Please don't hate me, is what I'm really trying to say. I actually consider myself quite a loving person." The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The Orkney Islands The coast of the Orkney Islands near Bisray village Chmee2/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The Shetland Islands A general view of the Shetland Islands JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The Western Isles A man rides his bike on Harris, one of the Western Isles, also known as the Outer Hebrides Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Winchester Choristers from Winchester Cathedral enjoy the artificial rink set up beside the cathedral The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Eden The Hartside Summit in the North Pennines in the district of Eden Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Craven A sheepdog works in Skipton, in the district of Craven Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Ryedale The Folk Museum in Ryedale Creative Commons/Dennis Smith The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Staffordshire Moorlands Three Shire Heads, which crosses over Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire Wikimedia Commons/Brian Jones The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Huntingdonshire St Ives in Cambridgeshire, which lies within the boundaries of Huntingdonshire snowmanradio/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK South Northamptonshire The village of Bradden and St.Michael's church, in south Northamptonshire Greg Fitchett/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Harrogate Spring flowers adorn the front of the Crown Hotel in the Spa town of Harrogate in Yorkshire and The Humber Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Rutland Normanton Church in Rutland NotFromUtrecht/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Warwick The West Midlands county town of Warwick David Alonso Perez/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Surrey Heath St Michael's Church, Camberley, which is situated in Surrey Heath Len Willians/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Chichester A view of the Cathedral in Chichester Evgeniy Podkopaev/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK South Lakeland Kendal, which lies in South Lakeland Mark Fosh/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Richmondshire The swing bridge in Reeth in Richmondshire Kreuzschnabel/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Tonbridge and Malling Ightham Mote in Tonbridge and Malling Brian Snelson/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Stratford-on-Avon Straford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Aberdeenshire Westhill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland SCOTT CAMPBELL/AFP/Getty Images Other mothers have written how their regret comes down to the father of their child. One such woman wrote on the question-and-answer website Quora, that she desperately wanted to have a baby but partly found parenting tough when she realised her husband became a "compulsive liar, abusive and controlling." I still feel loads of guilt because I regret being a parent. Not because I failed but because I dont want to be a parent. I cant really explain why I feel that way, I just do. Robin Simon, Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest University who specialises in the mental health effects of parenthood, says it is difficult to admit such emotions because it defies social norms about the sanctity of motherhood." Arabella Russell, a counsellor at relationship advice charity Relate, chimes that there is a common view that having a baby will be fantastic but that the reality "can be a real shock to the system." Its completely normal to feel regretful, stressed, tired, bored and frustrated, she says, adding that the appearance that other women are taking to motherhood like a duck to water can be deceiving, as people feel guilty about admitting their true feelings. If you are finding being a mum difficult, dont bottle it up. Its really important to be able to talk to your partner or a family member about it, stresses Russell. Speaking on forums including Mumsnet and Netmums, and using services such as Relate, can also help. She advices other parents or family members who are concerned about the well-being of a woman to encourage her to discuss her feelings in order to "normalise" her emotions. Be careful not to judge them as these are very difficult feelings and can make people feel guilty. If it persists and talking about it doesnt alleviate it over a period of time you could suggest that they go to their GP. Watch out for any signs of post-natal depression though, which is a different issue and needs to be treated." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Progress in corporate Britain tends to be slow, so its all the more worthy of note when it does occur. There is no question that the appointment of Emma Walmsley to run GlaxoSmithKline represents it. The current boss of the consumer healthcare division will succeed Andrew Witty next year, although you do rather wonder if it will ultimately be sooner than that now the announcement of his successor has been made. Ms Walmsley will be the pharmaceutical giants first female boss, and one of only a handful in the FTSE 100. She may also have to be ready for a fight. Some of the companys more vocal critics - including no less than superstar fund manager Neil Woodford - think it should be broken up into its constituent parts. Now this appointment should not come as any great surprise. Ms Walmsley, who joined from French cosmetics outfit LOreal, has long been viewed as a strong internal candidate for the job alongside Roger Connor, who heads manufacturing, and Abbas Hussian, the pharmaceuticals boss. All the same, the appointment of an insider, and this insider in particular, could still be taken as a sign that the company intends to face them down. All the more so given that the consumer healthcare division - which produces everything from toothpaste to headache pills - would appear to be a prime candidate to be spun off. If it does turn into a dust up, it is a depressing fact that Ms Walsmleys gender may play a role in spurring her critics on. A recent study from Arizona State Universitys WP Carey School of Business found that male chief executives are all but immune from the attentions of activist shareholders seeking to force change at companies. Their chances of being targeted are all but zero. By contrast, female CEOs have a one in four chance to finding themselves in a fight at some point during their careers. The studys author, Christine Shropshire, looked at companies in Americas Fortune 1000 between 2003 and 2013, noting the genders of those who faced proposals from activist shareholders doing their tenures. Her model showed gender alone explained activism specially towards female bosses. This is despite the fact that another study - by Boston based company Quantopian - found that companies run by women in the Fortune 1000 consistency outperformed their male counterparts. Of course, both were looking at US companies, but theres no reason to think that the UK would be any different. Activists are international in scape, after all. Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Show all 20 1 /20 Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Angela Merkel German Chancellor AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Hillary Clinton U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Reuters Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Janet Yellen Federal Reserve Chair Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Melinda Gates Co-founder of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Mary Barra General Motors Co. Chairman and CEO Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Christine Lagarde Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Sheryl Sandbert COO of Facebook Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Susan Wojcicki CEO of YouTube Getty Images for GLAAD Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Meg Whitman Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Ana Patricia Botin Santander Bank's president AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Ginni Rometty IBM Chairman, President and CEO Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Park Geun-Hye President of South Korea Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Michelle Obama U.S. first lady Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Indra Nooyi Chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Angela Ahrendts Apple senior vice president Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Abigail Johnson President and CEO of Fidelity Investments and chairman of Fidelity International Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Tsai Ing-wen Taiwan President AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Michelle Bachelet Chile President AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Federica Mogherini High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Safra Catz Oracle president Getty Images On the second point - that of women bosses outperforming their male counterparts - it is perhaps serendipitous that on the day Ms Walmsley was hired Kingfisher boss Veronique Laury unveiled a 2.7 per cent rise in sales to 5.75bn in the six months to July 3. Pre tax profits were up a healthy 10.6 per cent to 427m. Business as usually, said the woman whose empire includes B&Q and Screwfix, and who plans to step up the pace of a turnaround plan thats already yielding impressive results. Its worth noting that one of the reasons activists disproportionately target women is because of their very rarity. They stand out when the overwhelming majority of company bosses are white, upper middle class, middle aged men. Companies really ought to just get on with their pledges to improve diversity in their workplaces. Theyd benefit from better performance, but its also worth noting that familiarity breeds acceptance. Having more female CEOs, having more women in senior positions generally, ought to help with doing away with some of the negative stereotypes motivating the activists, such as the mistaken view than female CEOs are a soft touch. As Mr Woodford, among others, may soon learn. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Canadian trade official said he expects trade with the UK to take a hit due to the uncertainty following UKs vote to leave the EU. Bruce Dunlope, vice-president for International Business Development at Export Development Canada (EDC), said the agency has revised down forecasts for bilateral trade with the UK, which is expected to be 8 per cent lower by 2018, as a result of the EU referendum. Businesses will "put plans on hold until they find out what the terms [of negotiations] look like," he said in an interview with Business Insider. Recommended Read more Three ways the UK can make the most out of its new trade deals Britain is one of Canadas largest trading partner, with more than 11.5 billion of exports last year. More than 60 per cent of that trade comes from precious metals such as gold and silver. Despite the forecast, the outcome of the EU referendum did not deter EDC from setting up a new office in London this week. The agency said it is confident the UK will remain a global gateway for international business despite the short term difficulties. Plans for an EDC UK office were unveiled in early 2015 with the goal to take advantage of the UKs links to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In his interview, Dunlope said that the agency took a long-term view on the strength of the UK economy and that it was able to see past the destabilising effect of the negotiations surrounding UKs exit from the EU. 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Show all 6 1 /6 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you More expensive foreign holidays The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more nito100 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you No immediate change in immigration status The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Higher inflation A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods food and clothes being the most obvious but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Interest rates might rise The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Did somebody say recession? Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economys future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018 AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you And we wouldnt even get our money back All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget Getty Images We consider ourselves a stable, long-term source of capital, so we will often take a much longer view than financial institutions, which might be a little more quarter-to-quarter. We've seen economic crises come and go. This might cause a mini one, with the uncertainty created, but we have lots of confidence in the UK long-term," he said. The British government has also expressed an eagerness to expand trade ties once the country formally leaves the EU. While we have been planning the London representation for a number of years, the circumstances are such that Canadian companies now have an on-the-ground resource to help them manage the Brexit uncertainties, Mairead Lavery, senior vice-president, Business Development, EDC, said. Click here to download your free guide on five shares to watch in 2016, with Independent Partner, Hargreaves Lansdown For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Indonesias tax authorities are plannig to bill Alphabets Google for more than $400 million (306m) in back taxes and fines that the search giant allegedly owes from 2015. Googles Indonesian unit is believed to have paid less than 0.1 per cent of the income and value-added taxes it owed. If found guilty, the company could face a fine of up to four times the amount, bringing the maximum tax bill to $418 million for last year alone. Further penalties could be issued if Google was found to have similarly avoided paying taxes in previous years. The fine is more than the 135 million in back taxes Google has agreed to pay after an open audit of its accounts by the UK tax authorities, in January this year. Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax office's special cases branch, told Reuters its investigators went to Google's local office in Indonesia on Monday. A Google spokesman confirmed the meeting and said that the company has been and will continue to cooperate with the government and has paid all applicable taxes in Indonesia. Google boss dodges questions Most of Googles revenue generated in Indonesia is booked through the companys Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. However, Singapores corporate tax rate is 17 per cent compared with 25 per cent in Indonesia. The move comes at a time when Indonesia is eager to ramp up tax collection to narrow its budget deficit and fund an ambitious infrastructure program. Other governments around the world are also seeking to clamp down on what they see as egregious corporate tax avoidance. Last week, Apple has been ordered to pay about 89 million for improperly reporting income associated with its Japan iTunes unit. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Show all 5 1 /5 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Facebook Facebook paid 4327 in corporation tax in 2014, after it made a pre-tax loss of 28.5 million, according to filings at Companies House. That's less tax that new average UK employee pays on their salary. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Amazon Amazons UK business paid just 11.9m in corporation tax last year, even though the online retail giant took 5.3bn in sales from British shoppers. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Google So well known for avoiding tax that it had the 'Google tax' on multinationals that move profits to low-tax countries named after it. Alarm bells started ringing in 2012, when Google revealed it payed only 11.6 million to the Treasury, despite taking 3.4 billion in the UK. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Uber Uber paid 22,134 in UK corporation tax last year despite making an 866,000 profit. 5 tax avoiding companies in the UK Starbucks In October, the European Commission ruled that Starbucks' tax deal in the EU was illegal, ordering it to pay pay between 20-30 million to the Netherlands. The news came weeks after the EU hit Apple with a record 11bn tax penalty, ruling its 25-year sweetheart deal with Ireland was illegal. Indonesias tax investigators will reportedly next examine the tax reports of the Indonesian offices of Yahoo, Twitter and Facebook. Additional reporting by Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The man who stabbed 10 people at a shopping centre in Minnesota on Saturday has been identified as 20-year-old Dahir Adan, a former part-time security guard who is thought to have acted alone. Adan was shot dead at the scene by an off-duty police officer. None of his victims suffered life-threatening wounds. The Associated Press reported that Adans family had identified him and confirmed that he had once worked as a security guard at a warehouse close to the Crossroads Centre in St Cloud, where he launched the knife attack. Witnesses said he Adan had referred to Allah during the rampage, which is being investigated as potentially an act of terrorism. However, in spite of claims by Isis that Adan was a supporter of the terror group, the authorities said they had found no evidence to that effect. We havent uncovered anything that would suggest other than a lone attacker at this point, St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson told reporters. The Adan family is originally from Somalia, but Adans father told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that his son was born in Kenya and had been in the US since the age of five. He was a student at St Cloud University with a criminal record containing nothing but a minor traffic violation, for which he reportedly owed a fine of $342. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Three days after delivering a damning speech to the United Nations about its failure to prosecute members of Isis for the genocide' it is committing against the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq, Amal Clooney has called on world leaders to step up action against the terror group by bringing members before courts of law. On Friday, the renowned human rights lawyer told delegates gathered at the UN she was ashamed more steps had not been taken against the terror group as she introduced Nadia Murad, a woman who was captured in northern Iraq in 2014 and trafficked as a sex slave by Isis before eventually escaping. Speaking to Today after addressing the UN, Clooney continued to admonish world leaders for their inaction. I think the international community should be ashamed that they haven't done more for the Yazidis," she said. The countries with anti-women laws Show all 5 1 /5 The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws Its been harrowing to hear the testimony from girls as young as 11 and 12. Still, we havent been able to do something about it. Clooney argued it is not enough to simply bomb Isis. You cant kill an idea that way. I think one of the ways to take action against that is to expose their brutality and their corruption and partly you can do that through trials. When it was suggested she was being "courageous" in choosing to represent Ms Murad, Clooney was unequivocal: I dont think anyone can feel that they are being courageous compared to what Nadia is doing." Clooney said the 23-year-old has received very specific threats from Isis after becoming an advocate for Yazidi women. After being pressed again on the risk to her own personal safety, she replied: This is something I discussed with my husband (the actor George Clooney) before I would take on something like this. We are aware of some of the risks involved and he was moved for the same reasons. He understood. This is my work. Ms Murad has been appointed a UN Goodwill Ambassador and is being represented by Clooney, who is arguing Isis should be brought before an international court and prosecuted for genocide. At a meeting held additionally to the UN General Assembly summit, Ms Murad asked: Why is a survivor like me knocking on the door of the International Court of Justice to get justice? For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has called on the UK to take in more refugees from the civil war in Syria. Ms Clooney urged Prime Minister Theresa May to take a leadership role in pressing the United Nations for action against the Islamic State terror group - also known as Isis, Isil or Daesh - for its human rights violations against minority groups such as the Yazidis. She also said she would be delighted to work on a prosecution of Syrian president Bashar Assad over crimes against humanity and war crimes. Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Show all 15 1 /15 Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp at Derike, Syria. In the camps here, Iraqi refugees have new heroes: Syrian Kurdish fighters who battled militants to carve an escape route to tens of thousands trapped on a mountaintop Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A pilot based at RAF Marham entering a Tornado GR4 prior to taking off for the reconnaissance mission over Iraq. Several RAF Tornado jets set off from RAF Marham in Norfolk this afternoon to travel to a "pre-position", from where they will fly to northern Iraq to provide improved surveillance of the situation on the ground. The jets, fitted with Litening III targeting and surveillance pods, will be able to fly over the crisis area to provide intelligence and help with the delivery of humanitarian aid Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft equipped with the Litening III pod from RAF Marham, eastern England, on their arrival at RAF Akrotiri Cyprus for their reconnaissance mission over Iraq Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Aid inside a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J aircraft before being airdropped to civilians in Iraq Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J military transport plane at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Britain made a third round of airdrops of supplies to aid refugees stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq, officials said, as Tornado fighters arrived at an RAF base in Cyprus preparing to provide surveillance support for the humanitarian effort Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft, flown in from Britain, stand on the tarmac at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A displaced man helps a woman, both from the minority Yazidi sect fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, as they make their way towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Iraqis including Turkmen, Shabaks, Kurds, Yezidis and Christians, fleeing from assaults of army groups led by Isis, take shelter at Bahirka Camp in Arbil Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community look for clothes to wear among items provided by a charity organization at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Syrian Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take a sick Iraqi Yazidi woman to the clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Sick displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community wait for treatment at a clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Ms Clooney has announced she is mounting a legal case against Isis on behalf of 23-year-old Nadia Murad, who was used as a sex slave by Isis after being kidnapped along with thousands of fellow-Yazidis. Ms Clooney and her actor husband George have taken Nadia into their home after hearing of her escape from her ordeal. Speaking to Channel 4 News alongside Nadia, Ms Clooney said: I would hope that more could be taken in. There has been one Yazidi family that has been given asylum so far in the UK. You have had a million refugees accepted in Germany in the last year and 70,000 of those have been Yazidis. In every other country, it's been literally a handful, so I'm hoping that can improve. Actually one of the positive signs is that Prime Minister May when she was Home Secretary had instituted the idea that there should be the ability for private sponsorship. That is something that my husband and I are doing in the US, for example, with the International Rescue Committees. If the Government disappoints then at least they should empower you to make a difference. She added: If there is a prosecution of President Assad I would be delighted to work on it. I think the UN has concluded that the Syrian government has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. They're not the only ones - there are other actors who have committed the same crimes. But I think there's little doubt that that's what we're dealing with. Ms Clooney was critical of the UN's failure to take stronger action against Isis: There's obviously situations that have called for action by the Security Council where there has been inaction and so you can't say that the UN is fulfilling the role that it's supposed to be playing. There is no reason why the council should be paralysed. Isis has actually confessed to its crimes online. That's why when I spoke at the UN it was not my intention to speak in terms of congratulations, thank you for calling it genocide. The point is, what is the UN going to do about it? And I do hope that with the leadership of the UK this can actually be pushed forward. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ruby Rose has warned those who find Donald Trump funny or treat his remarks as amusing to start taking the Republican nominee more seriously after his son tweeted a meme comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of skittles. Donald Trump prompted a backlash on Monday after tweeting an image of a bowl of sweets alongside the caption: If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful? Thats our Syrian refugee problem. Mr Trump Jr. shared the image, writing: This image says it all. Lets end the politically correct agenda that doesnt put America first. People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Show all 8 1 /8 People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Miley Cyrus 'God he thinks he is the f***ing chosen one or some shit! Honestly f*** this sh*t I am moving if this is my president! I dont say things I dont mean!' Jemal Countess/Getty Images People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Whoopi Goldberg 'I dont think thats America. I dont want it to be America. Maybe its time for me to move you know' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Samuel L. Jackson 'If that mother**er becomes president, Im moving my black ass to South Africa' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Raven Symone 'My confession for this election is, if any Republican gets nominated, Im gonna move to Canada with my entire family. Is that bad? I already have my ticket. I literally bought my ticket, I swear' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Cher 'If he were to be elected, I'm moving to Jupiter' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Neve Campbell 'Im terrified. Its really scary. My biggest fear is that Trump will triumph. I cannot believe that he is still in the game ... [I'll] move back to Canada' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Jon Stewart 'I would consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planets gone bonkers' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Randy Blythe 'He could just be a clown. If he is the president, though, I am leaving America 'till he's gone' Rose questioned how, in light of this, people can still think of the real-estate mogul and his campaign as funny instead of scary. The outrage was not limited to the Orange is the New Black actress and a day after Mr Trump Jnr sent the tweet, Skittles was still in the top 10 trends on Twitter with people both mocking and condemning the comparison. Skittles themselves responded to the row, issuing a statement saying: Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing. The comment from Mr Trump Jr is not far from his fathers, often disparaging, rhetoric around refugees. In February, the 70-year-old said he would have absolutely no problem looking a Syrian refugee child in the eye and telling them to go home. He has also suggested Syrian refugees are a terror threat, calling them a Trojan horse. A month later, he famously proposed a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the United States. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Calls for Edward Snowden to be pardoned are mounting this week as the film which documents his journey to becoming one of the most famous whistleblowers in history reaches cinemas. This week, the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and human rights activists have launched a campaign for his pardon. But The Washington Post has drawn ire for arguing the former NSA contractor, who faces prosecution under the Espionage Act should he return to the US for leaking thousands of classified documents, should not receive a pardon from President Obama before he leaves the White House - despite using him as one of their sources. The Washington Post, The Intercept, The Guardian and The New York Times all published information obtained from the documents leaked by Snowden. Three have called for Snowden to be allowed to return home without being charged, with The Guardian defending his actions as an act of courage. Most controversial Nobel Peace Prize nominees Show all 5 1 /5 Most controversial Nobel Peace Prize nominees Most controversial Nobel Peace Prize nominees Edward Snowden 2014: The National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has been nominated by two Norwegian MPs for the Nobel Peace Prize, meaning the US contractor currently claiming asylum in Russia could be awarded the same prize accepted by President Barak Obama in 2009 Most controversial Nobel Peace Prize nominees Vladimir Putin 2013: The Russian President Vladimir Putin was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize because the former KGB agent actively promotes settlement of all conflicts arising on the planet, according to the advocacy group that nominated him, at least Most controversial Nobel Peace Prize nominees Barack Obama 2009: US President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples, shortly before launching military airstrikes in Libya. The irony was not lost on Mr Obama it seemed, who during a press conference joked: "[Energy Secretary Steven] Chu's the right guy to do this, he's got a Nobel Prize in physics - he actually deserved his Nobel Prize" Most controversial Nobel Peace Prize nominees Henry Kissinger 1973: Henry Kissinger was awarded the prize for his work on the Paris Peace Accords jointly with Le Duc Tho, who turned the Prize down. The American humourist Tom Lehrer later quipped that Kissingers award represented the death of satire Most controversial Nobel Peace Prize nominees Josef Stalin 1945: Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was nominated for his efforts to end World War II. Fellow nominee Vladimir Putin recently said there was no difference between him and Oliver Cromwell, when asked whether he would erect a statue of Stalin in Moscow The 33-year-old is now setting out the reasons why he believes he should be pardoned as the Obama administration draws to a close and his chances appear increasingly slim under the candidates vying for the highest seat in office. Snowden and his defenders argue he carried out a public service by exposing the extent of government surveillance in the US and UK. Morally and ethically, he claims the results of his actions show they were necessary. But The Post has come out against a pardon, claiming that while the corrective legislation introduced by the Government after the revelations can be attributed to Snowdens actions, he also pilfered, and leaked, information about a separate overseas NSA Internet-monitoring program, PRISM, that was both clearly legal and not clearly threatening to privacy. In far worse actions, the editorial accuses him of also leaking details of basically defensible international intelligence operations. Ideally, Mr. Snowden would come home and hash out all of this before a jury of his peers. That would certainly be in the best tradition of civil disobedience, whose practitioners have always been willing to go to jail for their beliefs." The Post suggests Snowden should accept a measure of criminal responsibility for his actions in exchange for a measure of leniency from the Government. Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who primarily worked with Snowden to reveal the details of mass surveillance, criticised the Post for calling for one of their own sources to accept criminal responsibility, a source on whose back the paper won and eagerly accepted a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service". In a scathing piece for The Intercept, he writes: The Washington Post has achieved an ignominious feat in US media history: the first-ever paper to explicitly editorialise for the criminal prosecution of its own source. In this issue: interview with Nicolas Veron, and the latest podcast on recent EU measures to tackle the energy crisis. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Former prime minister Tony Blair has entered the controversy about tackling Isis - saying it is essential to recognise and acknowledge the rise of Islamic extremism if it is to be defeated. I actually use the word Islamist extremism. What I think is important is the need to distinguish Islamism which is political and at its extremes has violence, he said. What is important to recognise there is this totalitarian ideology, and balance that with saying that this is not what Islam is about. The US election debate has seen repeated allegations from Republican candidate Donald Trump that President Barack Obama, and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, have refused to use the phrase Islamic extremism. Ms Clinton and Mr Obama have responded by saying that the West must not fall victim to Isiss efforts to engage in a battle of ideologies. Tackling Muslim extremists in the US is made easier, they say, if you have the support of the broader community and do not demonise an entire religion. Speaking at a forum in New York hosted by Reuters, Mr Blair added: But if you refuse to acknowlege this is happening and that they are doing it in the name of religion. This is an ideology that will need a long time to defeat it. But there is no point in not calling it what it is. Mr Blair also predicted chaos if the United States elected an isolationist president, likening the withdrawal of America from world affairs to a soccer match without a referee. Asked how he would advise Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, should he win the election, Mr Blair stopped short of labeling the New York tycoon an isolationist. But he praised Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, once the United States' top diplomat, and said the world needed US leadership and democratic values. If you turn away from what is happening in the world when those values are being undermined, you don't fulfill your destiny as a country, Mr Blair said. You have been given this destiny as a country. No one else can do this in the world today. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An indignant letter penned by Kim Kardashian-West highlighting the atrocity of the mass killings of Armenians has been included in a full-page advert in The New York Times. The reality TV star, who is of Armenian descent, published the letter in direct response to The Wall Street Journals decision to run an advertisement from a group of Armenian genocide deniers. She rebuked the paper for selecting an ad by Fact Check Armenia who effectively deny the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman government in 1915 constitutes a genocide. The Armenian Educational Foundation has now decided to take out a full-page ad in The New York Times featuring the letter - which was initially published on her app five months ago. Kardashian-West retweeted an image of the advert on Sunday. Money talks and right now its talking crap, Kardashian-West writes in the letter titled "Genocide Denial Cannot Be Allowed". My family and I are no strangers to BS in the press. Weve learned to brush it off. Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Show all 11 1 /11 Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments 'Selfish' The Queen of selfies actually released a book of selfies in 2015. Yes, appropriately titled Selfish the book provided a timeline from her very first selfie and filled out 352 pages. Getty Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Nude selfie row Kim divided the internet in March 2016 when she posted a nude photo of herself on social media. She addressed the controversy in open essay for International Womens Day and criticised the slut-shaming and body-shaming shed received. Kim Kardashian/Twitter Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments FDA warning Kim was accused of burying a correctional advertisement post on her Instagram in September 2015. After endorsing a morning sickness drug on Instagram previously she received a warning letter from the FDA for not including all the possible side-effects. She posted the correctional ad but in amidst numerous selfies from the MTV VMAs. Kim Kardashian/Instagram Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments 'Vampire facelift' On an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kim treated herself to a vampire facial which involves being given a facial of your own blood. She vowed never to get a facelift after having the beauty treatment. @kimkardashian Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Covering Vogue Kim and husband Kanye West were chosen by Anna Wintour to grace the cover of Vogue magazine back in 2014. The high-fashion magazine faced a lot of backlash for its choice. Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Released an awful song A woman of many skills, Kim turned her attention to music in 2011 releasing the single Jam (Turn It Up). Despite the help of producer-extraordinaire The Dream, she was called the worst singer in the reality TV universe. Kim later called the song the biggest regret of her life. Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Photo with Amber Rose After her husband Kanye West became embroiled in a Twitter spat with Rose and the father of her child, Wiz Khalifa, Kim shocked the internet by sharing a selfie with Rose. Instagram/Kim Kardashian Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Twitter takedown The usually politie-on-social media Kim took aim at Bette Midler, Chloe Grace Moretz and Piers Morgan for criticising her nude selfie. Twitter Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Brands Indian food digusting Kim apologised after she branded Indian food disgusting on the show. In NO way was this intended as an insult to the Indian people or their culture, she clarified. FilmMagic Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Breaking the internet In 2014 Kim appeared on the cover of Paper magazine baring her naked famous rear. The headline Break the internet seemed appropriate given the huge attention the cover received. Kim Kardashian West's most controversial moments Eating placenta Kim advocates eating the placenta, claiming she had the placenta of both her daughter North and son Saint turned into tablets in an apparent bid to reduce her chances of experiencing post-natal depression. For the Wall Street Journal to publish something like this is reckless, upsetting and dangerous, she added. Its one thing when a crappy tabloid profits from a made-up scandal, but for a trusted publication like WSJ to profit from genocide - its shameful and unacceptable. Kardashian-West said the paper was ethically irresponsible for propagating lies: Advocating the denial of a genocide by the country responsible for it - thats not publishing a provocative viewpoint, thats spreading lies. Its totally morally irresponsible, and, most of all, its dangerous. If this had been an ad denying the Holocaust, or pushing some 9/11 conspiracy theory, would it have made it to print? The initial ad, which Kardashian-West claims was paid for by the Turkic platform, directed readers to a website called Fact Check Armenia which refutes the view that the events of 1915 constitute a clear-cut genocide against the Armenian people and labels efforts of the Armenian diaspora to achieve recognition of the genocide as propaganda. After the ad was published, a spokesperson for Wall Street Journal responded to the criticism it received, telling Gawker: We accept a wide range of advertisements, including those with provocative viewpoints. While we review ad copy for issues of taste, the varied and divergent views expressed belong to the advertisers. The Kardashian family escaped Armenia in 1913 and Kardashian-West has frequently been vocal about the need for the world to recognise the events of 1915 as a genocide. Last year she wrote a piece in TIME urging Barack Obama to label the massacre as a genocide and in April 2015 she went on an eight-day tour of Armenia with her husband Kanye West, her sister Khloe and two Armenian cousins, Kara and Kourtni. The Armenian Educational Foundation are a non-profit group which offers financial help to Armenian students around the world and helps them pursue higher education. They are a cornerstone of the Armenian educational movement worldwide. A representative for Kardashian-West did not immediately respond to request for comment. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} German police have apprehended a sea lion after it rambled down the road and brought traffic to a standstill. The sea mammal, named Charly, escaped from a nearby zoo and surprised drivers in the Bavarian town of Coburg. Charly disappearance was first noticed when he did not turn up for his morning feed of fish. He continued to move through the traffic until he lay down in exhaustion next to a police car. Police helped the sea lion keeper's to capture Charly and return him to his enclosure. In February, a sea lion was found occupying a dining booth in the Marine Room restaurant in San Diego, California. Bernard Guillas, executive chef at the The Marine Room restaurant posted photos of Charly on Facebook, saying: "He was a little bit early for his high tide breakfast reservation...as it is this weekend on Sunday and Monday." The severely underweight and dehydrated eight-month-old female received a big meal after its rescue and is currently being treated. Scientists say the local sea lions' food supply has been affected by ocean temperatures and El Nino, leading to a recent population decline. Jody Westberg from the SeaWorld rescue team said: "We received a phone call early this morning from the Marine Room restaurant in La Jolla stating that they had an animal in one of their booths. "They also sent us pictures and we were surprised to see a really young sea lion pup that had actually spent the night in this booth at the restaurant." Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The first Asian hornets have been spotted in Britain and could be about to cause huge damage to bees, one of our most precious resources. The hornets pose no risk to human health. But they pose a huge risk to the life of honey bees, one of our most precious and threatened natural resources. Authorities are now launching a plan to find and destroy any nests belonging to the species, in an attempt to wipe them out in the UK. Climate change protests around the world Show all 25 1 /25 Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Climate change protests around the world A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters Climate change protests around the world People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP Climate change protests around the world Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland Climate change protests around the world Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaia, Yemen Climate change protests around the world Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece Climate change protests around the world A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Honey bees are in decline and are central to the life of many of the crops we use to feed ourselves. But the hornets pose a huge risk to them waiting outside their hives entrance, biting their head off to kill them, getting rid of the entire group and then stealing their honey. Our own bee colonies havent evolved to cope with the threat of attack from the hornets, and so could be at risk from them. The hornets have long been the subject of worry in the media that the killer insects would make their way to British shores. That has now been confirmed after one was spotted in Gloucestershire, the government has said. The hornets have become widespread in central and southern France. For years, authorities have worried that they could arrive in imported plantpots, timber or even flying over themselves. The hornets were first found in Jersey and Alderney over the summer. But officials hoped that they wouldnt be able to make their way over the rest of the channel to the mainland. The hornets are about 2.5cm long, and smaller than European hornets. They pose no more risk to human life than the normal honey bee. The government said that they had been worrying that the hornet would arrive for some years and that it had a plan to eradicate them. We have been anticipating the arrival of the Asian hornet for some years and have a well-established protocol in place to eradicate them and control any potential spread, said Nicola Spence, deputy director for plant and bee health at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Beekeeper covered in 1.1 million bees It is important to remember they pose no greater risk to human health than a bee, though we recognise the damage they can cause to honey bee colonies. Thats why we are taking swift and robust action to identify and destroy any nests. We remain vigilant across the country, working closely with the National Bee Unit and their nationwide network of bee inspectors. The hornet that was discovered has been killed and has been sent for DNA testing at the National Bee Unit in North Yorkshire. Scientists there will look to work out how it arrived in the UK. In the meantime, authorities have established a three-mile surveillance zone, using infrared cameras and traps to find any nests. If any are found, then disposal experts will kill the hornets and destroy them. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An Italian scientist who wants to be the first neurosurgeon to conduct a human head transplant says the procedure could be possible as early as next year, after three promising new animal studies. Sergio Canavero says three new papers all edited by him and published on last week in the journal Surgical Neurology International show that it is possible to overcome one of the biggest hurdles to attaching a new body to a human head reconnecting the spinal cord. Critics say the three studies do not have the breadth of data or the detail to warrant moving forward with tests on humans. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary But the South Korean team involved in conducting the experiments say they provide valuable proof of the principle that a chemical solution, injected into the spinal cord, can encourage severed neurons to reattach. The most extraordinary of the case studies involved a dog that had become completely paralysed after a neck injury caused severe damage to the spine. Doctor C-Yoon Kim and his team at Konkuk University in Seoul, who have been working with Canavero, said 90 per cent of the dogs spinal cord was estimated to have been cut. According to the paper, they injected the dog with the chemical solution polyethylene glycol or PEG, and after two days it was able to move its front paws. A video of the dogs progress showed that after two weeks, it was able to drag its hind limbs by its torso and forelimbs. According to New Scientist, which has seen the video, during the third week it was able to walk. In another study, the South Korean team severed the spinal cords of 16 mice. Half of them were given the PEG solution, and five of those eight showed signs of regaining movement. The other three died, as did the entire control group, none of which recovered from the paralysis. And in the final study, five out of a group of 10 rats were given a PEG solution enhanced with graphene nanoribbons in theory, providing a sort of scaffold along which the neurons can grow back. The team said a flood at the lab killed four of the five PEG-dosed rats, though the fifth recovered the ability to walk. Experts in the field have said the rat and mice studies did not involve sufficient numbers to be convincing particularly the experiment hit by flooding. There are also suggestions the team did not provide enough detail of the specific injuries suffered by the dog before its treatment and apparent recovery. First head transplant Canavero believes that with the promise of PEG, he could perform the procedure by the end of 2017. A hospital in Vietnam says it is willing to host the surgery he says he just needs a viable donor. Yet speaking to New Scientist, medical ethicist Arthur Caplan at New York University said the latest papers suggest we are still a long way off even contemplating such a transplant. This work would put them about three or four years from repairing a spinal cord in humans, he said. It would put them maybe seven or eight from trying anything like a head transplant. Alongside the risks of reconnecting the spinal cord, the body rejecting the head is another of the biggest challenges preventing human head transplants from taking place. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} With no inspections, tests, uniforms or fees, Finlands education system is ranked among the best in the world. Finland - as well as the Nordic region as a whole - is famed for its schools and staff, consistently topping global league tables for pupils performance. But it is a very different story closer to home, with the teaching profession in the UK classed as at breaking point. The National Union of Teachers (NUT), the biggest union, has called the current situation a crisis. "Overworked and underpaid" has become a phrase synonymous with teaching, with figures from the NUT showing one in 10 are deserting the profession. In contrast, Finland attracts and retains high-quality candidates by setting the bar high, ensuring only the best make the grade. Now, a video highlighting key differences between the Finnish model and the US system pinpoints some of the issues the British school system also grapples with. In Finland, the profession commands a great deal of respect, with applicants needing a masters degree to teach, in line with doctors and lawyers. In the UK, last year saw a decrease in the number of qualified teachers and a rise of more than 2,000 teachers without a qualified teacher status. Many are abandoning the rigours of teaching for more lucrative jobs, fewer hours and ultimately more respect. Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the NUT, said: This report [NFER] confirms that there is also a growing problem of teacher retention with a significant increase in the last year of those considering leaving. The price of policy implementation is being paid by teachers who are overworked and undervalued and growing numbers are leaving. Retention is a problem of the system, which needs systematic and long-overdue attention at a national level. Finnish teachers are free to set their own curriculum, compared to schools in the UK and US which must adhere to the national curriculum. The Government body Ofsted, which monitors the performance of schools and has the ability to place underperforming ones into special measures, is non-existent in Finland. The world's toughest school run Show all 5 1 /5 The world's toughest school run The world's toughest school run Children carry their schoolbags climb on a cliff on their way home in Zhaojue county in southwest China's Sichuan province Chinatopix/AP The world's toughest school run Children carry their schoolbags accompanied by adults climb on a cliff bu using ladder as they on their way home in Zhaojue county in southwest China's Sichuan province Chinatopix/AP The world's toughest school run A child carry her schoolbag looks as she takes a rest on a cliff as she and other children on their way back to home in Zhaojue county in southwest China's Sichuan province Chinatopix/AP The world's toughest school run A village in China's mountainous west where schoolchildren must climb an 800-meter (2,625-foot)-high bamboo ladder secured to a sheer cliff face may get a set of steel stairs to improve safety Chinatopix/AP The world's toughest school run Schoolchildren carry their schoolbags climb on a cliff on their way home in Zhaojue county in southwest China's Sichuan province Chinatopix/AP Whereas an Ofsted rating is so important house prices can fluctuate based on good or outstanding schools in the area, the Finnish government trusts its teachers to do their job without government oversight. The Finnish National Board of Education outlined the countrys vision; equal opportunities for all students. It said: The focus in education is on learning rather than testing. There are no national tests for pupils in basic education in Finland. Instead, teachers are responsible for assessment in their respective subjects on the basis of the objectives included in the curriculum. With no national testing or school league tables to serve as a bench mark, the government is able to call in a sample of eight to 10 per cent of pupils work to monitor performance. In comparison national testing for British pupils starts at age 11, with constant debate over whether children should be subjected to scrutiny at such a young age. The idea has been mooted to link teachers pay with the performance of their pupils, something the NUT vehemently opposes. Another divergence between the UK and Finland is the cost of education, with British students facing bills of 9,000 a year to go to university. There are no tuition fees at any level of education for Finnish students, with necessities such as books, transport and meals provided for free. And as there are no uniforms, Finnish parents are not forced to shell out on costly branded clothing for their children, an annual expense for their British counterparts. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Children in the Calais Jungle are risking their lives every night as they attempt to reach the UK, Britain's anti-slavery commissioner has warned as he called for ministers to step up efforts to address the plight of lone youngsters in the camp. Minors are turning to smuggling gangs rather than official routes for claiming asylum or joining relatives who are already in this country, Kevin Hyland suggested. In a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, the commissioner painted a stark picture of the threats faced by children and other vulnerable individuals living in migrant camps such as the Jungle. In a conclusion that will heap fresh pressure on the Government over the issue, he said he is convinced that frustration with, and lack of confidence in, regulations known as the Dublin III procedures is one of the key motivators behind risk-taking behaviour, which leads to higher exposure to modern slavery and exploitation. Under Dublin III, asylum claims must be made in the first safe country a person reaches but children can have their claim transferred to another country if they have family members living there. Campaigners have repeatedly called for the process to be sped up so an estimated 185 children believed to be eligible for humanitarian protection in the UK can be transferred from Calais. The issue came under fresh scrutiny at the weekend as reports emerged that a teenage Afghan boy said to have a legal right to travel to Britain had died as he tried to climb onto the roof of a lorry near Calais. In his letter, Mr Hyland commended the work of the British and French governments to secure borders and tackle smuggling networks but added that not enough is being done to address the vulnerabilities of migrants, in particular unaccompanied children. He said he received a clear message that there is very little confidence in asylum seeking procedures in France, as well as in the Dublin III regulations. Some people had already applied for asylum in France or family reunification under Dublin III, but every night they were continuously trying to cross the Channel illegally. The letter said: The waiting time was simply far too long for them. Unfortunately, migrants had more trust in smugglers than in state-led procedures that exist to ensure their protection. Mr Hyland recounted a story he was told of a woman with two young children who had family in the UK but was afraid to register for asylum in France. She viewed her only option as going to smugglers to get herself and her children to the UK, he said. The Governments first anti-slavery commissioner Kevin Hyland (AFP/Getty) He said the Government should provide increased resources and possibly deploy staff to quickly identify children who qualify to be reunited with relatives in Britain, or relocated here under another initiative to bring unaccompanied refugee children from Europe. Mr Hyland also suggested that a fast-track system should be considered. Children are not waiting, he wrote. Every night they go to their smugglers who have promised to get them across the Channel. Every night they think that this time they will be lucky. However, every night each of these children are at risk of exploitation and sadly even dying as they take huge risks to reach the UK. Calais and Dunkirk camps Show all 16 1 /16 Calais and Dunkirk camps Calais and Dunkirk camps (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A portrait of an Afghan man wearing a traditional Perhan Turban in the Calais Jungle (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps Two Gendarmes guard the main entrance to the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps One Kurdish Iraqi mans reminder to himself (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps Two young boys in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps An Iranian hunger striker stands outside the only remaining shelter in the South Side of the Calais camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps A church in the South Calais camp, on of the the only structures not demolished in the South Side of the camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps A man gets a hair cut in the Calais camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps Night falls on the Calais Jungle. Fires burn in the distance (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps The containers provided as alternative accommodation for the people in the camps (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A young boy in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A man listens to music inside one of the shipping containers (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps The awful living conditions in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps An Afghan man in the Calais camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps One of the Iranian hunger strikers (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A family in their wooden shelter in the new Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Statistics indicate that in August there were 865 children living in the Jungle, with 676 of that number unaccompanied. The commissioner, who visited Calais earlier this year, described living conditions in the Jungle as unsuitable and unsafe. It is absolutely unacceptable that children are left at the disposal of criminal networks, he said. Groups identified by a project as being at high risk of exploitation and trafficking include young women from countries of the Horn of Africa and Egyptian boys who are forced to steal in Calais town and bring goods back to the camp, according to the letter. PA Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UKs first food waste supermarket has opened in Pudsey, near Leeds. Food waste campaigners from the Real Junk Food Project have opened "the warehouse", a store on the Grangefield Industrial Estate. Customers are invited to shop for food thrown out by supermarkets and other businesses. The food is priced on a "pay as you feel" basis and has already helped desperate families struggling to feed their children. "The warehouse has absolutely been our lifeline over the past month or so," Kirsty Rhodes told The Independent. Kirsty was recently diagnosed with a chronic pain condition, leaving her husband with no choice but to leave work to take over most of the care of the couples three children. Overnight the couples household income was reduced to almost nothing. With three young children and two adults to feed we started to struggle straight away. Luckily we took the plunge to go to the warehouse and it was amazing!" Kirsty said. Fred Fox - Fuel for School So far the family have bought fresh pasta, juice, pasta sauce, desserts, fruit, vegetables and lots of salad. "We've even had baby milk on one occasion and our baby is 7 months so it was perfect," she said. Kirsty has plans to run a workshop to teach people how to make jam after she used fruit from the warehouse to make her own. Adam Smith, founder of the Real Junk Food Project, which is behind the food waste supermarket, told The Independent that there are plans to open a warehouse selling surplus produce in every city in the UK. Recommended Read more Denmark plans two more food waste supermarkets selling surplus produce The initiative started as "boutiques" or food waste stalls selling produce in Real Junk Food Project cafes. Were about to start in Sheffield and Bradford, he said. Every city will now obtain central storage and run a peoples supermarket as well as Fuel for School. Fuel for School is the work of a group of food activists from The Real Junk Food Project who deliver surplus bread, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from supermarkets to schools, where it is used to feed hungry schoolchildren. (Evening Standard (Evening Standard) The food, which may otherwise have found its way to landfill, is used to feed 12,000 children a week. The food has been diverted from landfill after it was thrown out by supermarkets and other retailers (The Real Junk Food Project) The Real Junk Food Project is also working to expand its pay as you feel cafe movement. There are now hundreds of cafes around the country feeding people on food waste. As with all the initiatives, customers are invited to pay for their meal in money, time and skills. Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties We need volunteers, Adam says of the new food waste supermarket. Driving, weighing, sorting, stacking shelves, cleaning and much more. Lots of opportunities for people to get involved and give back. According to an investigation by the Evening Standard, supermarkets are throwing away 230m of edible food. The Independents sister paper, the Evening Standard, has launched a campaign on food waste in London. Find out more here. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UK Parliament is considering legislation to ban people from wasting food in Britain. The Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee has received submissions from industry players, including farmers and consumer groups, on whether laws should be introduced to stop a crisis of food waste in Britain that leaves the nation trailing behind its European neighbours. The Committee launched the inquiry after figures showed eight million tonnes of food is wasted post-manufacture in the UK. Research showed 60 per cent of this waste could be avoided, equivalent to 16 billion in food a year. Other countries have adopted legislation to reduce food waste. In France, where is it against the law for supermarkets to dump surplus food, retailers redistribute 100,000 tonnes to charity. Italy donates 86,000 tonnes to charity following the introduction of laws. In Denmark, the Government backed a food waste supermarket has helped reduce food waste after other initiatives helped reduce food waste 25 per cent in five years. But the UK Government has been reluctant to introduce laws. Government subsidies currently make it cheaper for businesses to turn food into energy or fertiliser than to keep it in a state where it can be donated to the hungry. Over 160 million of taxpayers' money was invested in plants that convert unwanted food into energy in the 18 months to March 2015 alone. (Evening Standard (Evening Standard) Food charities say no similar subsidies exist to make sure food waste gets to the needy at a time when more and more people are turning to food banks. "By not supporting the redistribution of surplus food alongside anaerobic digestion, the Government has come up with the classic law of unintended consequence: we are sending food to be used as energy when people are going hungry, which is barking mad," Lindsay Boswell, CEO of Fareshare, told the Independent earlier this year. (Statista) Instead organisations like The Real Junk Food Project operate in the margins of the law, collecting food intended for landfill and using it to feed people at pay as you feel cafes and stores. The project also uses surplus food to feed hungry schoolchildren as part of a Fuel For School initiative that is taking hold in Leeds. Plans to ban food waste appeared in the Labour Party manifesto at the last general election, but were later scrapped. The manifesto was altered after the Conservatives released a dossier claiming that the food waste ban would cost 477 million. The Real Junk Food Project has thousands of meals using donated food (The Real Junk Food Project) Anna Simpson is an environment and policy advisor at the National Farmers Union, which submitted evidence to the Parliamentary inquiry. Simpson told the Independent that the UK Government should first look to improve voluntary measures as much as possible. The NFU evidence calls for better retail standards to stop supermarkets from cancelling or changing orders without warning, leaving farmers with surplus produce. "Weve also proposed aligning promotional compaigns with production. When theres a glut of seasonal fruit and veg, supermarkets could have promotional campaigns to aid consumption. Sometimes theres a real glut of a product, but farmers and retailers have really struggled to get through the stores," Simpson said. Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties Simpson said less food waste could be achieved with improved forecasting, using data from the last five to ten years to identify trends. "Farmers need as much advance warning as possible because they need to make their business decisions up to twelve months previously," she added. Rachael Maskell MP, the shadow environment secretary, has said that where voluntary measures don't work, legislation should be introduced to combat the issue. "We need to do everything we can," Maskell told the Independent. "It should be mandatory. If voluntary codes dont cut it, lets move forward." The Independent's sister paper, the Evening Standard, has launched a campaign on food waste in London. Find out more here. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Every firefighter working in the Greater Manchester area could be sacked in a bid to make cuts with only those who agree to new shift patterns allowed to reapply for their former jobs. All 1,017 officers have been told they could lose their jobs as the brigade bids to make cuts of 14.4million over four years, and the services chairman said there is no alternative to the proposals. A new compulsory 12-hour shift rota is due to be imposed from April next year, and ongoing disputes over working hours have seen staff refuse to sign new contracts. Management said the mass sackings option would be used as a last resort to make firefighters agree to the new conditions, according to Manchester Evening News. Under the proposals, officers who refuse to sign contracts would receive 12 weeks redundancy notice and senior management said the new system would save the service 10million. FBU brigade secretary for Greater Manchester Gary Keary said: We are staggered that GMFRS would jeopardise relations with its workforce in this aggressive way. To start the process for dismissing firefighters to then simply re-engage them on an un-negotiated contract is really appalling, and a serious breach of the agreed mechanisms for industrial relations in the UK fire and rescue service. Since the notice of the sacking proposals was issued, we have been contacted by lots of angry FBU members. We will continue to consult with them regarding the best way forward. In June, it was announced Great Manchester service were considering cutting 250 posts in a bid to save money, despite senior figures warning the changes would put people at risk. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA David Acton, chairman of the Greater Manchester Fire service, told the Independent: Currently the Authority faces a further Government budget cut of 14.4million over the next four years. The scale of these cuts has left us with no alternative and no change is not an option. We are now trying to work with our firefighters and the FBU to agree how we move to the new system. We have not issued notices to anyone at this stage. "We have no intention to make anyone redundant. If we cannot agree on how we do this together we will have to implement it on April 1, 2017. The Fire Brigades Union confirmed it will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the move, while consultation on the proposals is due to last six weeks. In April, it was announced fire deaths in the UK had risen by 21% over two years, as national chiefs warned stretched emergency services were struggling to cope with severe cuts. Fire services across the country face budget cuts of up to 50% by 2020, from the 2010 benchmark. Globalization is not the problem, it's the solution By: Scott Sumner Heres Dani Rodrik: A Chinese student once described his countrys globalization strategy to me. China, he said, opened a window to the world economy, but placed a screen on it. The country got the fresh air it needed nearly 700 million people have been lifted from extreme poverty since the early 1980s but kept mosquitoes out. China benefited from the flourishing of trade and investment across national borders. For many, this was the magic of globalization. But its not the whole story. Look closely at the economies that converged with richer counterparts Japan, South Korea, China and you see that each engaged globally in a selective, strategic manner. China pushed exports, but it also placed barriers on imports to protect employment in state enterprises and required foreign investors to transfer know-how to domestic companies. Other countries that relied on globalization as their growth engine but failed to put in place a domestic strategy became disillusioned. For example, few countries tried as hard as Mexico to integrate with the world economy, through Nafta and liberal trade and financial policies. Yet the countrys economic growth in recent decades has been sluggish, even by the modest standards of Latin America. This is a misleading comparison. Mexico is nothing like East Asia; for instance its educational levels are much lower. Why not compare China, Korea and Japan to East Asian countries that were less protectionist, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore? That would make more sense, but then that group of countries are richer than the three cited by Rodrik. (And even the three he cites were not particularly protectionist.) In fact, economists who have studied East Asia tend to find that protectionist policies actually slowed development. The parts of the Chinese economy that have done best are not the protected SOEs, but rather the more competitive private firms. The busybodies at MITI are now seen as having slowed Japanese growth. Rodrik also ignores the fact that the protectionist policies that were adopted in Latin American in the 1950s through the 1970s were later regarded as an abject failure. At the time, East Asia was less protectionist, and grew much faster than Latin America. Indeed the stark comparison between open East Asia and closed Latin America is one thing that led to the neoliberal revolution after 1980. And the more neoliberal parts of Latin America (such as Chile) have tended to do better than the less neoliberal areas. Given his concern about the slow growth in Mexico, you might expect Rodrik to propose polices that would help Mexico to do better. But no such policy reforms are offered; instead he makes Trump-like arguments such as the following: For example, imports from countries that are gross violators of labor rights, such as Pakistan or Vietnam, may face restrictions when those imports demonstrably threaten to damage labor standards at home. Im not sure what he means by at home, but I very much doubt whether workers in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland (with their massive current account surpluses) are worried about losing their jobs to exploited labor in Pakistan. Nor are workers in (CA deficit) countries such as Australia. There is a serious intellectual argument that a global labor market hurts a subset of workers in wealthier countries, based on the factor price equalization theorem. But this argument has nothing to do with gross violations of labor rights. Rather it simply reflects the fact that wages tend to be much lower in very poor countries, and that capital can move more easily than labor. If a protectionist wants to slow the development of Asia with trade barriers to protect a few far richer western workers from Vietnamese exports, they should simply say so. Talk about labor rights violations simply muddies the waters. And hasnt the West already done enough to poor Vietnam? How much more misery do we plan to inflict on those people? Some simple principles would reorient us in the right direction. First, there is no single way to prosperity. Countries make their own choices about the institutions that suit them best. Some, like Britain, may tolerate, say, greater inequality and financial instability in return for higher growth and more financial innovation. They will opt for lower taxes on capital and more freewheeling financial systems. Others, like Continental European nations, will go for greater equity and financial conservatism. International firms will complain that differences in rules and regulations raise the costs of doing business across borders, but their claims must be traded off against the benefits of diversity. That sounds fine, but how is it different from the status quo? There is already a great deal of diversity in places like Europe, with some countries having a much more extensive welfare states than others. Some have minimum wage laws and capital gains taxes, while others do not. And thats within the EU, perhaps the most intrusive international organization on Earth. One of the most basic ideas in international economics is that policies that reduce productivity, such as environmental controls, do not make a country uncompetitive. Rather the real exchange rate adjusts via either a lower price level or currency devaluation, until the international flow of goods, services and assets is again in equilibrium. Yes, lots of health, safety and environmental regulations might lead to lower wages, but thats exactly as it should be. Voters should be told that there are no free lunches. You dont want GMO foods? Fine, but then youll have to pay more for food. I dont like either side of the current trade debate. I dont want to stop trading with countries that have objectionable policies, with the possible exception of those that threaten world peace (say North Korea, and even on that issue Im rather agnostic.) But I also dont think we should use trade negotiations to force other countries to adopt our regulatory or intellectual property rights rules, as some of the advocates of globalization who work within government want to do. Let each country set its own course, and trade freely with the rest of the world. Anything else is a recipe for conflict. HT: Tyler Cowen Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Neo-Nazis in Glasgow have been donating food on a whites-only basis to homeless people in the city. Members of extreme far-right group National Action were joined by Polish outfit Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (NOP), also known as National Rebirth of Poland. National Action are openly neo-Nazi and a man linked with the group was convicted of the attempted beheading of an Asian man in Wales in 2015. The NOP have also been linked to extremist groups in Poland and acts of violence, including a 2015 attack on a music festival in Tottenham. Photos showed a small group of people, outside the St Enoch Centre, central Glasgow, dressed in bomber jackets, camouflage-style trousers and boots and attending a stall with crisps, bottled water and other assorted food items. Accompanying the stall was a banner which said: White rescue. Charity campaign for Europeans. The food was situated on top of a White Pride sign. Holding flags, the groups also posed for photographed with recipients of their charity, though there was no suggestion the homeless people knew who the group were. Police attended the event but did not take any action as nothing illegal was happening . UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA These people are fascists who prey on the most vulnerable, solicitor Aamer Anwar told The National. Homelessness is not caused by refugees fleeing war torn countries nor is it caused by ethnic minorities. These wannabe master race types have no place in Scotland one look at their website reveals their true intentions. Fascist groups, dating back to Hitlers Brownshirts, have long used social outreach to give a veneer of respectability to their organisations. In more modern times, the practice has been adopted by Golden Dawn in Greece and Casa Pound in Italy, both extreme far right groups which have exploited economic hardship. In the UK, National Action have the ultimate aim of a white Britain and have openly espoused support for Hitler and National Socialism. Though the group is a relatively vocal, its members are only estimated to number around 100 by Hope Not Hate, an anti-racism watchdog. However, they are described by the monitor as a dangerous organisation, with a talented online operation with smart use of imagery and media. According to Hope Not Hate, the Polish NOP has been present in the UK since around 2010. Small numbers of violent Polish neo Nazis in the UK have become acquainted with their British counter-parts and been seen on demonstrations with them. Their presence is believed to have emboldened British racists, who have suffered a loss of direction since the as a result of the decline of the BNP and EDL. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A new anti-Corbyn group is receiving funding from Tony Blair's former spin doctor who now runs Peter Mandelsons consultancy firm, Electoral Commission filings show. Benjamin Wegg-Prosser is the managing partner at Global Counsel, a company chaired by Peter Mandelson which helps businesses trying to influence policy. Also Tony Blairs former strategic director of communications, Mr Wegg-Prosser loaned Labour Tomorrow Ltd 10,000 on 27 June at the same time as MPs resigned en masse from the shadow cabinet in the so-called coup. Widely regarded as hostile to Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Tomorrows website says it raises, coordinates and distributes funds for moderate centre-left organisations which are committed to rebuilding a consensus for a Labour government. The group was founded by the former Gordon Brown aide Nicola Murphy. Other directors include former home secretary Lord Blunkett and Labour peer Baroness Dean. Other donors to Labour Tomorrow include hedge fund manager Martin Taylor, Community, the steelworkers union long associated with Labour centrists, and Baron Myners, a former City Minister under Gordon Brown. These three donations were not loans but rather full donations. Meanwhile Labour Tomorrow itself then in turn donated 117,000 to Saving Labour, another anti-Corbyn group that in August claimed to have recruited 120,000 people to vote for Owen Smith. Mr Wegg-Prosser was Tony Blair's director of strategic communications at Downing Street from 2005 to 2007 (Reuters) Mr Smith has been keen to associate his campaign with the 'soft left' of the Labour party with the right-most wing of the Labour party tending to keep a low profile during the leadership election. Electoral Commission filings released today also show that long-standing New Labour group Progress has been given thousands by lobbyists for the private equity industry. The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association donated twice to the group in recent months, giving separate donations of 7,200 and 3,300 each. Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Show all 8 1 /8 Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith clash at a leadership hustings in Gateshead, where Mr Smith was scarcely able to answer a question without being booed by Mr Corbyns supporters PA Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy himself admitted he was seven out of 10 in terms of his faith in the European Union. He said it, said Mr Smith during his second live debate with Jeremy Corbyn Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Ballot papers are currently due to be sent out on 22 August and returned a month later, with the result being announced at a special Labour conference on 24 September Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy Corbyn supporters cheer and wave placards as the Labour Leader addresses thousands of supporters in in Liverpool, England Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour Party leadership candidate Owen Smith poses for a picture with supporters during a picnic for young members in London Fields, Hackney in London Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith The Labour leader has a spring in his step at a leadership rally in Sunderland Screenshot Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour leadership contender Owen Smith delivers a speech at the Open University in Milton Keynes, where he promised to reverse Conservative cuts set to leave millions of low paid workers thousands of pounds a year worse off PA Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has urged Owen Smith to distance himself from those saying they want to split the Labour party Getty The Labour leadership result is due this Saturday at an event ahead of the partys conference in Liverpool. The latest polling suggested Mr Corbyn would beat his rival Owen Smith by a large margin, in part thanks to large numbers of new members joining the party to vote for him. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Parts of the UK that backed Brexit most strongly are also those that have been most starved of government funding, a report has revealed. The research, seen by The Independent, suggests low spending in less prosperous areas drove political disaffection and amenability to Brexit. It also indicates that prosperous areas or those enjoying a relatively high level of state support like London, the South East and Scotland were most likely to give the EU their backing in the referendum. Fear and Loathing in Great Britain The Fabian Society, behind the research, has warned that politicians must form better ways of allocating spending if they are to prevent voters becoming more disillusioned. General Secretary Andrew Harrop said: Looking across the nations and regions of the UK, the areas that voted most strongly in favour of Brexit are those which get the worst deal on public spending, once their prosperity and population are taken into account. Correlation is not causation, but we can speculate that many years of unreasonably low expenditure might help to explain why communities and regions came to be, and to feel, left behind and under pressure, which in turn drove political disaffection and amenability to Brexit. The Fabians compared levels of support for Brexit to levels of public funding, adjusted for prosperity, in each nation of the UK and region of England. The idea was to explore if Brexit backing might be linked to how fair each areas funding might be considered. given its prosperity. Nigel Farage: Brexiters were "mildly irresponsible" London, Scotland and Northern Ireland were shown to have extracted best value from Government coffers in terms of public spending per person adjusted for regional prosperity the areas that most fervently backed the EU in the referendum. Meanwhile, the study showed the East Midlands received the worst deal on public spending and was the second most pro-leave region. Other areas with poor funding deals and high support for Brexit included the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East. The report challenges claims that the Brexit vote was just about disillusionment with the institutions of the European Union or that it was solely about immigration, the issue which featured most prominently in the referendum campaign. It added: The evidence from the Brexit vote suggests that the price of our failure to allocate resources fairly may be high, in terms of political psychology as well as material demands. Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Show all 12 1 /12 Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A woman poses with a home-made European Union flag as Remain supporters gather on Park Lane in London to show their support for the EU in the wake of Brexit PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Remain supporters demonstrate in Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest the result of the EU referendum PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A majority of people in the capital voted to remain in the European Union Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Protesters chanted: What do we want to do? Stay in the EU PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The march follows a similar rally in Trafalgar Square that was cancelled due to heavy rain but which tens of thousands of people turned up to anyway Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum by 52 per cent to 48 per cent Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London But support for the Leave campaign in urban areas and among young people was significantly lower Rex features Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Marchers gathered at Park Lane at 11am and marched towards Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Some protesters held up baguettes in a display of affection for our continental neighbours PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The disparity between different parts of the country has promoted a four million signature petition calling for a second referendum and even a renewed push for Scotland to cede from the UK PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The events organiser, Kings College graduate Kieran MacDermott, wrote: We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button" Reuters Pat McFadden MP of the Open Britain campaign said it was clear many people voted Leave not just because they were angry with Brussels, but also because they felt ignored by UK governments too. He said: People need a fairer economic deal that offers more jobs, a fair share of public spending, more private sector investment and better chances in life. Many of the areas that voted Leave have suffered big cuts to public services in recent years. They will want to know when they will see the 350m a week more for the NHS that was promised [by the Leave campaign], and when the other pledges made by Leave ministers will be fulfilled. And its important we dont damage job prospects in these areas by giving up on membership of the worlds biggest Single Market. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith hit out at the Channel 4s Dispatches programme on Monday night, in which reporters secretly filmed activists in Labours grassroots movement Momentum, which supports Jeremy Corbyn. The Battle For The Labour Party, as the programme was titled, promised to expose the army of grassroots supporters backing the Islington MP, and show how the group misused funds. But the programme generated a wave of criticism after viewers were unimpressed by the documentary. Mr Goldsmith, who lost to Labours Sadiq Khan in the London mayoral election, has previously said the Tories should consider Mr Corbyn a serious threat at a general election. He tweeted: Dispatches was weak. It will only reinforce the view that the establishment wants to trash Corbyn. Suspect it'll have the opposite effect. Research published earlier this month revealed that the majority of the public believe the media is deliberately biased against Jeremy Corbyn and seeking to portray him in a negative light. It followed an academic study by researchers at Birkbeck, University of London, which said the media had shown a persistent imbalance against the Labour leader. In July researchers at the London School of Economics published a report which found that 75 per cent of press coverage misrepresents Mr Corbyn. Former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said they should have called it The Battle To Stay Awake, as many people complained the programme was boring. Guardian columnist and Corbyn supporter Owen Jones tweeted: Well Dispatches was an absolute embarrassment. If you're going to do a hatchet job and find nothing, why bother broadcasting it. In a statement, Momentum said the programme revealed nothing that couldnt have been found out by asking the organisation. The statement added: The whole affair raises questions about the impartiality of the broadcaster and the production company who made the programme, and since this is the second time its happened, shows were more likely to be infiltrated by journalists than Trotskyists. But Channel 4 defended the programme, describing it as a vital piece of investigative journalism. Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Show all 8 1 /8 Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith clash at a leadership hustings in Gateshead, where Mr Smith was scarcely able to answer a question without being booed by Mr Corbyns supporters PA Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy himself admitted he was seven out of 10 in terms of his faith in the European Union. He said it, said Mr Smith during his second live debate with Jeremy Corbyn Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Ballot papers are currently due to be sent out on 22 August and returned a month later, with the result being announced at a special Labour conference on 24 September Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Jeremy Corbyn supporters cheer and wave placards as the Labour Leader addresses thousands of supporters in in Liverpool, England Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour Party leadership candidate Owen Smith poses for a picture with supporters during a picnic for young members in London Fields, Hackney in London Getty Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith The Labour leader has a spring in his step at a leadership rally in Sunderland Screenshot Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Labour leadership contender Owen Smith delivers a speech at the Open University in Milton Keynes, where he promised to reverse Conservative cuts set to leave millions of low paid workers thousands of pounds a year worse off PA Labour leadership contest: Jeremy Corbyn vs Owen Smith Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has urged Owen Smith to distance himself from those saying they want to split the Labour party Getty A spokesperson said: Channel 4 has a remit to deliver high quality news and current affairs, and a track record for investigative journalism and holding those in power to account. This is a vital piece of investigative journalism, on an issue of critical national importance to everyone in the UK particularly in a period of political flux. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ukip MP Douglas Carswell has become embroiled in a bizarre argument with scientists over whether the moon or sun causes ocean tides. Scientific knowledge generally holds that tides are primarily caused by the gravitational pull of the moon orbiting the earth. The sun has a much more limited effect; the moon's proximity to the earth means it has a higher gravitational gradient. Recommended Read more Carswell and James display united front at Ukip national conference However, committed eurosceptic Mr Carswell on Monday challenged a top scientist at Sussex Universitys Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) over the claim, arguing that the sun in fact primarily causes tides. The row comes after fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove declared that people in this country have had enough of experts when he refused to name any economists who backed leaving the EU. Professor Paul Nightingale, the deputy director of the SPRU, had posted on Twitter mentioning that the gravitational pull of the moon caused tides. Mr Carswell however took issue with the suggestion and interjected: Actually, it's the gravitational pull of the sun, the MP said. The moon's gravity does Spring / neap tides. Ukip gaffes and controversies Show all 18 1 /18 Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip gaffes and controversies European elections poster Party's latest EU election posters branded 'racist' and compared to BNP campaigns Rex Ukip gaffes and controversies Farage 'car-crash' interview Ukip spin doctor forced to intervene as Farage falters in disastrous radio interview Ukip gaffes and controversies Neil Hamilton Picture Exclusive: The year is 1998. The venue is a Springbok Club meeting. The flag is a symbol for white supremacists in South Africa. And the speaker is Ukips deputy chairman, Neil Hamilton Ukip gaffes and controversies Kerry Smith Kerry Smith resigned as would-be MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock after it emerged he had mocked gay party members as disgusting poofters, joked about shooting people from Chigwell in a peasant hunt and referred to someone with a Chinese name as a Chinky bird PA Ukip gaffes and controversies Natasha Bolter Former Ukip member Natasha Bolter was suspected of not having the teaching qualifications she professed to, only days after it was revealed that claims of her having attended Oxford University were also false PA Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip Calypso song Mike Reid released a single in praise of UKIP trying to control the UK's borders, only to withdraw the single after being accused of racism for singing in a Jamaican accent Ukip gaffes and controversies Janice Atkinson Janice Atkinson, Ukip's South East chair, pictured by protesters while campaigning in Ashford, Kent with local party chair Norman Taylor Facebook/Maria Pizzey Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip cancels Freephone Ukip cancels Freephone number after protesters repeatedly called to push up costs Getty Images Ukip gaffes and controversies Farage 'car-crash' interview Mr Farage appeared to be caught out on a number of issues, from Romanian neighbours to people speaking foreign languages on the train Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip employs illegal immigrants Ukip criticised after European election candidate found employing illegal immigrants AP Ukip gaffes and controversies Magnus Nielsen Ukip candidate: 'Take away the right to vote to improve election turnout' Getty Images Ukip gaffes and controversies Poster model A British builder portrayed in a Ukip poster accusing EU workers of taking UK jobs turns out to be an Irish actor - aka a migrant worker Ukip gaffes and controversies 'Arrest protesters' Ukip called for police to arrest protesters who call us fascists ahead of showdown with anti-fascist groups in Brighton Ukip gaffes and controversies London Live make-up Ukip's Nigel Farage reportedly refused to go on London Live 'without professional make up-artist' Reuters Ukip gaffes and controversies Andre Lampitt Ukip forced to suspend the "poster boy" of its European election broadcast, after it was revealed he had posted a series of vile racist comments on Twitter Ukip gaffes and controversies Expenses Nigel Farage says he is taking taking legal advice over outrageous allegations that he is responsible for more than 50,000 of missing EU funding that was paid directly into his personal bank account Ukip gaffes and controversies Have I Got News For You Nigel Farage appears in Have I Got News For You, spends the entire episode being ridiculed over expenses and party 'fruitcakes' BBC Ukip gaffes and controversies Anti-gay comments Local branch chairman for Ukip defends a party's councillor candidate Douglas Denny who called gay people abnormal and said he wished they stop trying to ram it down my throat, all while discussing whether the word sodomite should be used [Im] surprised [the] head of Science research at a university refutes idea sun's gravity causes tides. Mr Nightingale replied: Douglas, this isn't a controversial point. Its in Newton's Principia. Undeterred, Mr Carswell, who holds a Masters in British Imperial History, insisted: Two tides every 24hrs. Caused by earths rotation / Suns gravitational pull. Moon magnifies Spring /neap tides. Professor Brian Cox clashes with Australian climate sceptic Mr Carswell is Ukips only MP, and represents Clacton, a seaside town in Essex. He appeared at the partys conference this weekend where he declared that he backed new leader Diane James 110 per cent. This article was updated to clarify the mechanism by which the moon exerts a greater tidal force than the sun Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said his party can be the new Blairites, as he used his conference speech to position his party as the occupiers of the newly vacant centre ground. Tony Blairs government gave us the National Minimum Wage, he told the partys annual conference in Brighton. It gave us working tax credits. It gave us NHS investment and a massive school building programme. I disagree with him a lot, but I will not criticise him for those things. I admire him for those things. I respect him for believing that the point of being in politics is to get stuff done, and you can only get stuff done if you win. Mr Farron criticised the Labour Party for, throwing around the word Blairite as if its the worlds most offensive insult. He said he believed in working across party lines, but he couldnt work with Jeremy Corbyn, because Jeremy Corbyn would never work with me. I wanted to work with him during the referendum campaign, but he wouldnt share a platform, he said. Labour is having its leadership contest in a few days time, so of course Jeremy Corbyn may not be leader for much longer. In which case, it could be Owen Smith. Now, I dont know Owen Smith that well. But, unlike Corbyn, he is certainly on our side of the European debate. So, if Owen Smith wins, I want to make clear that I am open to working together. Mr Farron said Labour could not take seats from the Conservatives at the next election, leaving the Liberal Democrats as the only party who could prevent another Conservative majority. He said he could emulate Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose party leapt from third place in to win power. Trudeaus Liberals leapt over an inadequate official opposition to defeat a right-wing Conservative government, he said. There are dozens of Tory seats in our reach. Which means that the only thing standing between the Conservatives and a majority at the next election is the revival of the Liberal Democrats. Mr Farron said the referendum result had been like a bereavement and repeated his policy that a second referendum should be held on the terms of Britains exit from the EU, once it has been negotiated. He blamed George Osbornes threat of a punishment budget for causing many wavering voters to vote out. He also said his party would be prepared to raise taxes to fund the NHS. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Labours governing body has deferred a decision on shadow Cabinet elections after the NEC failed to reach a consensus. The crunch meeting, which lasted nearly eight hours on Tuesday, failed to reach an agreement after MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) voted earlier in September to approve the measure. It will now be discussed at the partys annual conference in Liverpool at the weekend. It was reported earlier on Tuesday that Mr Corbyn was attempting to defer any decision until after the conference, at which he is widely expected to be confirmed in his position when the result of the leadership election is announced. The surprise proposal to return to the electoral college system abolished by Ed Miliband was made by deputy leader Tom Watson hours before the NEC at Labour HQ in London. Mr Watson indicated he would push for Labours governing body to back changes to restore elections to the shadow Cabinet, which he believes could help rebuild party unity after a bruising leadership election. MPs voted earlier this month to take back their power to elect shadow Cabinet members, but Mr Corbyn has floated a counter-proposal which might give ordinary members a say in the composition of his top team at Westminster. If agreed, a new system for choosing the shadow Cabinet would allow Labour to "put the band back together" in time for a possible early election, Mr Watson said. The NEC did, however, agree that the Scottish Labour Party Executive (SEC) should have greater autonomy and will be responsible for the selection of parliamentary candidates in the region. Scottish Labour will also have full control over policy making, if the NEC decision is approved by the partys conference. Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who was in London for the meeting, is understood to be pushing for the changes. Mr Watson earlier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Miliband's introduction of one man, one vote, was "very rushed". The new category of "registered supporters", who are able to take part in the election of the leader in return for a small fee, had proved "pretty unpopular in all sections" and should be removed, he said. But he insisted the proposed change was not intended as a "sword of Damocles" hanging over the winner of the current contest, as it would come into effect only after they leave the post. Mr Watson said: "We've had a very bruising summer, we are going to get a new leader elected on Saturday, we all think there is the likelihood of a very early general election and so we have got to put the band back together. "For me, the heart of our party is the parliamentary party... and we have got to bring people back in. I think to have an elected shadow Cabinet, not an appointed shadow Cabinet, is one way we do that." Mr Watson insisted he was "open-minded" about whether shadow Cabinet elections should involve MPs only, or a mix of members, the leader and MPs. But he pointed out that a members' vote would impose a financial burden of as much as a third of a million pounds on the party. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has vowed that controlling Britains borders and reducing the flow of immigrants will dominate her government as the UK seeks a new place in the world after voting to leave the EU. But in her first address to the UN General Assembly, the British Prime Minister said the UK would not turn away from the world and would remain at the heart of international affairs. She also pledged hundreds of million of pounds in aid spending to tackle terrorism and to stop hundreds of thousands of migrants travelling to Europe. To underline her message, she called for global network of crime-fighting agencies to tackle international modern slavery and emphasised the UK's spending on international aid and defence. She also warned leaders not to forget the masses of people affected by globalisation, a lesson the UK has been taught following the EU referendum, and an open wound that the US presidential election has further exposed here. The United Kingdom has always been an outward-facing, global partner at the heart of international efforts to secure peace and prosperity for all our people, she said. And that is how we will remain. For when the British people voted to leave the EU, they did not vote to turn inwards or walk away from any of our partners in the world. Ms May said Britain was not turning its back on the world (AP) She added: Faced with challenges like migration, a desire for greater control of their country, and a mounting sense that globalisation is leaving working people behind, they demanded a politics that is more in touch with their concerns; and bold action to address them. In advance of her speech in New York, the Prime Ministers Office had said she would try to counter concerns that the June referendum had sparked among Britains traditional allies. President Barack Obama had warned that Britain could expect no special treatment and would be at the back of the line in any trade deals. At a strategic level, those allies fear Britain's exit from the EU could mark a turning point in post-Cold War international affairs that will weaken the West in relation to China and Russia, undermine efforts toward European integration and hurt global free trade. Britain retains its role in the NATO military alliance as the EUs biggest defence spender, its permanent veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council and four submarines armed with nuclear ballistic missiles, Reuters said. But Ms May, who was herself a reluctant member of the Remain camp, made clear she had no plan to stand back from the mandate delivered by the EU to better control migration. Ms May said Britain had always had a central role in international affairs (AP) Just as we need the United Nations to modernise to meet the challenges of terrorism in the 21st century, so we also need to adapt if we are to fashion a truly global response to the mass movements of people across the world and the implications this brings for security and human rights, she said. The Prime Minister said that Britain would spend 750m in aid funding to help tackle the migrant crisis. An extra 660m of the aid budget would be diverted to focus on humanitarian relief - with much of the money expected to be used to support the refugees driven out of Syria. A further 80m will be spent on helping migrants stay in Africa, with the country being one of the main sources of people attempting to reach Europe. Her officials said Britain would increase its security support for Somalia to help fight Al Shabaab militants. One official said 30 training teams will be deployed with up to 70 troops at a time. Theresa May to UN summit: Uncontrolled migration must be stopped But in addition to refugees and displaced people fleeing conflict and persecution, we are also seeing an unprecedented movement of people in search of greater economic opportunities through the same unmanaged channels, she said. This affects all of us, and it is the responsibility of us all to take action. We cannot ignore this challenge, or allow it to continue unmanaged. We need to do better. Better for the countries people leave, for the countries they move through, for the countries they try to get to and most of all, better for the migrants and refugees themselves. Ms Mays address was not a rousing piece of oratory, and many delegates in the hall chatted as she spoke - a rudeness not endured by her alone. The South African team handed round candies from a tin, while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, seated with the rest of the UK delegation, spent much of the speech sending messages on his phone. Yet the Prime Minister carried on unfazed. This is not the time to turn away from our United Nations. It is the time to turn towards it, she concluded. Only we - as members of this community of nations - can act to ensure this great institution becomes as relevant for our future as it has been in our past. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The British Prime Minister has vowed that the UK will not turn its back on the world, despite the recent vote to leave the EU. In her first addres to the UN General Assembly, Theresa May said Britain had also been positioned at the centre of world affairs, and said that would not change. Yet, she said the British people had voted to take greater control of issues such as immigration. The United Kingdom has always been an outward-facing, global partner at the heart of international efforts to secure peace and prosperity for all our people, she said. And that is how we will remain. For when the British people voted to leave the EU, they did not vote to turn inwards or walk away from any of our partners in the world. The prime minister was delivering her first speech at the UN (AP) Read the entire transcript below: Mr President, Deputy Secretary-General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to address this General Assembly for the first time and to do so as Prime Minister of a country that has always been a proud and pro-active member at the very heart of this United Nations. This United Nations was formed because leaders across the world knew that they could only deliver security for their citizens at home if they could cooperate, as a community of nations, to deliver security across the globe. Some of the threats that we face together today are familiar to those founding leaders: war, political instability, abuses of human rights and poverty. Others are new: global terrorism, climate change, and unprecedented mass movements of people. We gather here today because we know that such challenges do not respect the borders of our individual nations and that only by working together shall we overcome them. As a new Prime Minister to the United Kingdom my pledge to this United Nations is simple: the UK will be a confident, strong and dependable partner internationally true to the universal values that we share together. We will continue to honour our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of our Gross National Income on development, building on the achievements we have already made to reduce poverty, deal with instability and increase prosperity the world over. And we will drive forward the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. We will continue to champion the rights of women and girls, making sure that all girls get the education they deserve, and tackling horrific abuses such as female genital mutilation and the use of sexual violence in conflict. We will continue to be a steadfast, permanent member of the Security Council, meeting our NATO commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence and making a leading contribution to UN peacekeeping efforts, where we have doubled our commitment, including new deployments to Somalia and South Sudan. We will continue to stand up for the rules based international system and for international law, and I join other leaders in condemning the outrageous bombing of the aid convoy in Syria yesterday. We will continue to play our part in the international effort against climate change. And in a demonstration of our commitment to the agreement reached in Paris, the UK will start its domestic procedures to enable ratification of the Paris agreement, and complete these before the end of the year. And we will continue to strengthen our existing partnerships, from this United Nations, to the Commonwealth and NATO, seeking to resolve conflict in countries across the world - from Colombia and Cyprus to Somalia and Yemen. But we must never forget that we stand here, at this United Nations, as servants of the men and women that we represent back at home. And as we do so, we must recognise that for too many of these men and women the increasing pace of globalisation has left them feeling left behind. The challenge for those of us in this room is to ensure that our governments and our global institutions, such as this United Nations, remain responsive to the people that we serve. That we are capable of adapting our institutions to the demands of the 21st century and ensuring that they do not become irrelevant. So when it comes to the big security and human rights challenges of our time, we need this our United Nations - to forge a bold new multilateralism. Because as we have seen even in the past week, no country is untouched by the threat of global terrorism. And when extremists anywhere in the world can transmit their poisonous ideologies directly into the bedrooms of people vulnerable to radicalisation, we need not just to work together to prevent conflict and instability in nation states but to act globally to disrupt the networks terrorist groups use to finance their operations and recruit to their ranks. When we see the mass displacement of people, at a scale unprecedented in recent history, we must ensure we are implementing the policies that are fit for the challenges we face today. And when criminal gangs do not respect our national borders trafficking our fellow citizens into lives of slavery and servitude we cannot let those borders act as a barrier to bringing such criminals to justice. In each of these areas, it is the convening power of our United Nations that gives us a unique opportunity to respond. But we can only do so if we modernise and adapt to meet the challenges of the 21stcentury. As a United Nations we have shown how we can work together to reduce the threat from international terrorism by preventing conflict and instability from developing. For example, through our Permanent Membership of the Security Council, Britain has played a leading role in the fight against Al Shabaab in Somalia. Since 2010, with huge support from across the region, and critically the commitment of Somalis themselves, Al Shabaab has been driven from all the major cities it used to control. It is vital that as an international community we continue to support countries in the region that are contributing thousands of troops, and that we continue to build the capacity of Somali security forces. That is why the UK is now going to increase further our security support and we will be calling on others to do the same, hosting an international conference on Somalia in 2017 to maintain this vital momentum. Missions like this must remain central to the work of this United Nations, but on their own they are not enough. Because the terrorist threats we face today do not come from one country but exist in a different space. The global networks they exploit require a different kind of global response. These organisations are using our own modern banking networks against us. So we need to look at our regulations, our information sharing and using our technological capabilities to get ahead of them. They are targeting our airlines, exploiting the fact that no one country can keep its citizens safe when they are flying between multiple jurisdictions. That is why this week the United Nations will vote on a UK led resolution on aviation security to ensure that every country implements the standards we need to ensure that no country is the weak link. They are exploiting the internet and social media to spread an ideology that is recruiting people to their cause all over the world. So we need to tackle this ideology head-on. That is why the UK has championed the work that the Secretary General has led to develop a strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism. Now, as an international community, we must work together to adopt and implement the most comprehensive national action plans to tackle both the causes and the symptoms of all extremism. It is not enough merely to focus on violent extremism. We need to address the whole spectrum of extremism - violent extremism and non-violent extremism; Islamist and neo-Nazi hate and fear in all their forms. Just as we need the United Nations to modernise to meet the challenges of terrorism in the 21st century, so we also need to adapt if we are to fashion a truly global response to the mass movements of people across the world and the implications this brings for security and human rights. The 1951 convention and the 1967 protocol must remain the bedrock of our response, but the context in which they must be applied has dramatically changed. Across the world today, there are 65 million people who have been forcibly displaced. That it is equivalent to the entire population of the United Kingdom. It is an unprecedented figure, one that has almost doubled in a decade. And yet UN appeals are underfunded; host countries are not getting enough support; and refugees are not getting the aid, education and economic opportunities they need. We must do more. And as the second largest bi-lateral provider of assistance, the UK remains fully committed to playing a leading role. In the last 5 years the UK has invested over $9 billion in humanitarian assistance, saving millions of lives every year. The London Syria Conference in February raised $12 billion in pledges, the largest amount ever raised in one day in response to a humanitarian crisis. And that money is being used to combine both urgent humanitarian assistance and vital economic development, benefitting both refugees and the communities and countries hosting them. Clearly we need to continue our efforts to bring an end to the conflict and the appalling slaughter in Syria and to get aid through to those who need it. And while these efforts continue inside Syria, we also agreed new efforts to support refugees and host communities in neighbouring countries, including through education and opportunities to work. This is being assisted by loans from international financial institutions and access to European markets. And through our trading relationships and direct engagement with businesses we are mobilising the private sector to create new jobs in the region for everyone. And while there is more to be done, it is this approach to financing both humanitarian support and economic development that I will be championing when I announce a further UK financial contribution at President Obamas Refugee Summit later today. But in addition to refugees and displaced people fleeing conflict and persecution, we are also seeing an unprecedented movement of people in search of greater economic opportunities through the same unmanaged channels. This affects all of us, and it is the responsibility of us all to take action. We cannot ignore this challenge, or allow it to continue unmanaged. We need to do better. Better for the countries people leave, for the countries they move through, for the countries they try to get to and most of all, better for the migrants and refugees themselves. Despite the huge increase in international efforts, more migrants have died attempting hazardous journeys across borders this year than any other. I believe we have to use the opportunity afforded by this General Assembly for an honest global debate to address this global challenge. In doing so, we should be clear that there is nothing wrong with the desire to migrate for a better life. And also that controlled, legal, safe, economic migration brings benefits to our economies. But countries have to be able to exercise control over their borders. The failure to do so erodes public confidence, fuels international crime, damages economies and reduces the resources for those who genuinely need protection and whose rights under the Refugee Convention should always be fulfilled. I believe there are three fundamental principles that we now need to establish at the heart of a new approach to managing migration that is in the interests of all those involved. First, we must help ensure that refugees claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. The current trend of onward movements, where refugees reach a safe country but then press on with their journey, can only benefit criminal gangs and expose refugees to grave danger. So we must all do more to support countries where the refugees first arrive - to provide the necessary protection and assistance for refugees safely and swiftly, and to help countries adapt to the huge economic impact that refugees can have including on their existing population. As we are seeing in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, when the right assistance is provided, solutions that provide sanctuary and opportunity to refugees, and opportunities for those hosting them, can be found. This is also good for the refugees and the countries they come from because the closer they stay to home, the easier it will be for them to return and rebuild after the conflict. Second, we need to improve the ways we distinguish between refugees fleeing persecution and economic migrants. I believe we must ensure the existing convention and protocol are properly applied to provide protection to refugees and reduce the incentives for economic migrants to use illegal routes. This in turn will help us target support for those refugees who need it most and retain the support of our populations for doing so. Third, we need a better overall approach to managing economic migration which recognises that all countries have the right to control their borders - and that we must all commit to accepting the return of our own nationals when they have no right to remain elsewhere. By ensuring a managed and controlled international migration response - and at the same time investing to tackle the underlying drivers of displacement and migration at source - we can reject isolationism and xenophobia, achieving better outcomes for all of our citizens and particularly for the most vulnerable. Finally, as we gather here today to bring the founding values of the United Nations to bear on some of the most pressing global problems, the likes of which we havent seen before, so we must also face up to the fact that some of the worst human rights abuses that we thought we had confined to the history books have re-emerged in new pernicious forms. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly stated that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, that no one shall be held in slavery or servitude and that slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Yet nearly seventy years on, we are presented with a new form of slavery: modern slavery. Organised crime groups, who are largely behind this modern slavery, lure, dupe and force innocent men, women and children into extreme forms of exploitation. Trafficked and sold across borders; victims are forced into living the kind of inhumane existence that is almost too much for our imagination. These criminals have global networks to help them make money out of some of the worlds most vulnerable people. Victims are held captive in squalid conditions under the constant shadow of violence and forced into sex and labour exploitation. If we are going to succeed in stamping out this abhorrent crime and bring the perpetrators to justice, we need to confront the reality of what we are dealing with. These organised crime groups work across borders and jurisdictions. And they often use the internet and modern technology to recruit, transport, control and exploit their victims, all the while staying ahead of legal systems that are often constrained by traditional geographical boundaries. So we must take action. We must use our international law enforcement networks to track these criminals down, wherever they are in the world, and put them behind bars where they belong. We need to be smarter and even more co-ordinated than the criminal gangs in our efforts to stop them. In the UK, I am setting up the first ever government taskforce for modern slavery, bringing together every relevant department to co-ordinate and drive all our efforts in the battle against this cruel exploitation. We are also using our aid budget to create a dedicated fund focused on high risk countries where we know victims are regularly trafficked to the UK. And yesterday, I committed the first 5 million from this fund to work in Nigeria to reduce the vulnerability of potential victims and step up the fight against those who seek to profit from this crime. But if we are to meet the Sustainable Development Goal to eradicate modern slavery, we need to go much further. Security relationships have developed between so many countries for dealing with issues like counter-terrorism, cyber security, drug trafficking and wider intelligence sharing. But we do not have a similar relationship for this fight against modern slavery. So we need our law enforcement agencies to work together with joint investigation teams working across multiple countries. Victims will only find freedom if we cultivate a radically new, global and co-ordinated approach to defeat this vile crime. Together we must work tirelessly to preserve the freedoms and values that have defined our United Nations from its inception. Together we must work tirelessly to restore these freedoms and values to the lives of the men, women and children who are exploited for profit and held captive with little or no chance of escape. From the St James Palace declaration and the Atlantic Charter forged by Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt, to the first meeting of this General Assembly in London in 1946, the United Kingdom has always been an outward-facing, global partner at the heart of international efforts to secure peace and prosperity for all our people. And that is how we will remain. For when the British people voted to leave the EU, they did not vote to turn inwards or walk away from any of our partners in the world. Faced with challenges like migration, a desire for greater control of their country, and a mounting sense that globalisation is leaving working people behind, they demanded a politics that is more in touch with their concerns; and bold action to address them. But that action must be more global, not less. Because the biggest threats to our prosperity and security do not recognise or respect international borders. And if we only focus on what we do at home, the job is barely half done. So this is not the time to turn away from our United Nations. It is the time to turn towards it. Only we as Members of this community of nations can act to ensure this great institution becomes as relevant for our future as it has been in our past. So let us come together, true to our founding values but responsive to the challenges of today and let us work together to build a safer, more prosperous and more humane world for generations to come. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Liberal Democrats will raise taxes to save the NHS, Tim Farron will tell his partys conference in his closing speech on Tuesday. He will also lay the blame for the Brexit vote on George Osborne, and his threat of a punishment Budget during the referendum campaign. He will also call for the abolition of SATS tests in primary schools. If the only way to fund a health service that meets the needs of everyone is to raise taxes, Liberal Democrats will raise taxes, Mr Farron will say. For years, politicians have chosen to paper over the cracks rather than come clean about what it will really take what it will really cost not just to keep the NHS afloat, but to give people the care and the treatment that they deserve. And that means, finally, bringing the NHS and the social care system together. Recommended Read more Tim Farron says May could be forced to hold a second referendum Mr Farron will talk about his struggle to find appropriate care for his own grandfather, who lives with Alzheimers. In my grandpas journey through Alzheimers, he had good care in the home he spent his last couple of years in. But when he first became ill after the death of my grandma, the place he was put in was despicable. Lonely, unclean, uncaring. Its a few years back, but as I fought to get him out of that place and into somewhere better, it occurred to me that this was a standard experience for too many older people and their loved ones. And if some people can just shrug and accept this, well, I cant. Its not civilised to let people slip through the net. After the referendum, Mr Farron held a meeting with Leave voters to try and find their reasons for voting out. He will say that George Osbornes punishment budget was a big factor. Here was this guy, George Osborne, who they didnt really like. And who they felt didnt really like them. And hed appeared on the telly bullying them into doing something they werent sure they wanted to do. So those people in that room, like millions of others, wanted, quite understandably, to give the powerful a kicking. So they did. He will also say that Theresa May must explain what Brexit really means, and will call for a second referendum on the terms of Brexit. Theresa May did so little in the Remain campaign that she actually made it look like Jeremy Corbyn pulled a shift. Youve had three months. You are the Prime Minister. Act like a Prime Minister. What is your plan? The Lib Dem leader will caution against expanding grammar schools and call for the abolition of SATS exams in primary schools. I want to end the current system of SATS in primary schools that are a distraction from the real education that professional teachers want to give their children; that weigh heavy on children as young as six and add nothing to the breadth of their learning. And what are we doing, in 2016, threatening to relegate 80 per cent of our children to education's second division by returning to the 11-plus? he will say. The U.S. Government and our partners welcome the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commissions investigations into the distribution of food assistance along political party lines. As the largest contributor to humanitarian assistance in Zimbabwe, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has robust mechanisms in place to ensure that U.S. food assistance goes only to those most in need. While the report did not cite any complaints regarding USAID-funded humanitarian assistance, we are redoubling our efforts to reconfirm and ensure that our assistance is not subject to any form of political manipulation. Since June 2015, the U.S. Government has contributed $117 million in response to the El Nino-induced drought in Zimbabwe to meet immediate food security needs while also building resilience against future droughts. The majority of USAIDs food assistance is provided through the World Food Program (WFP), which does not operate in any of the districts cited in the report. USAID does provide food assistance in Bikita through a long-term food security activity Enhancing Nutrition Stepping Up Resilience and Enterprise (ENSURE), implemented by World Vision. ENSURE has numerous oversight mechanisms in place to receive and investigate reports of fraud and abuse but has not received any reports of diversion of food aid or undue pressure on their staff. The U.S. Government has rigorous processes for safeguarding food assistance. Our food commodities can be distinguished from other sources by their packaging, which is marked with the American flag and USAID logo. USAID also channels all food aid through WFP and other non-governmental organizations, and the food goes directly to the beneficiaries with no intermediary. USAID and our partners have robust measures in place to carefully and thoroughly monitor food distribution. This includes verifying transparent targeting of beneficiaries, ensuring smooth distribution of the food, and following up after distribution to ensure that the food reached its intended beneficiaries. Most importantly, these measures allow community members to report grievances or complaints in a direct or anonymous manner. There is a suggestion box and a help desk at all food distribution points, as well as a toll-free hotline. USAID takes our responsibility to assist those most in need, regardless of political affiliation or geographic location, very seriously, and will continue to actively investigate any and all reports of possible political manipulation of U.S. government food assistance. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Eighty per cent of university vice-chancellors fear the UKs global reputation for higher education is already at risk following the vote to leave the EU. More than three-quarters of UK vice-chancellors who replied to a survey by the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, John Pugh, said Brexit was a risk to the international standing of UK universities. The vice-chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, Prof Alistair Fitt, said: The EU vote, combined with [the] Visa regime, can be interpreted as we are not open for business. John Pugh received 48 replies to letters to all 148 of the UKs vice-chancellors. Recommended Read more Jeremy Corbyn says there should be no Parliamentary vote on Brexit Professor Cliff Allan, vice-chancellor of Birmingham City University, said he believed Brexit will limit both the scale, nature and qualities of [the] UKs high international standing. Professor Stuart Croft, vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick, said that the inability to access [EU] funds will impact the collaborations of the finest minds to solve some of our most pressing problems. More than 80 per cent of respondents said that free movement of people was essential for academic research and collaboration. Bristol University feared modern language degrees were now vulnerable, particularly modern languages for which mobility is an essential part through the EU-run Erasmus scheme. Mr Pugh said: While Theresa May, Boris Johnson and David Davis endlessly repeat Brexit means Brexit, this research confirms that our most important academic institutions are seeing their international reputation thrown into jeopardy. Until we know what their post-Brexit plan is we should not continue with reforms to university funding and research. The changes that were proposed before the Leave vote are simply not fit for purpose now. Professor Peter Strike, vice-chancellor of the University of Cumbria, said it was difficult to see the UK government being able to provide a 100% uplift. The UK is currently a net beneficiary of EU funding for universities. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Zimbabwes economy continues to slump, and police are cracking down on growing anti-government protests. But the countrys comedy scene is booming. No subject seems taboo. Even 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, widely accused of muzzling free speech, is a target. Insulting the President can bring a one-year jail term in this southern African country. Nonetheless, the comedians carry on, becoming bolder as fears of speaking out begin to erode. In one skit at a show last week called State of the Nation, an actor playing the first lady, 51-year-old Grace Mugabe, lays her stake to the presidency on hearing the news of the death of her husband; the worlds oldest head of state. I deserve it. Were any of you cleaning his nappy and wiping the spit off his chin? she says. She also talks up her own chances of winning elections. We have always won, even when I was pushing the old man in a wheelbarrow, she says, a reference to the real first ladys comment at a political rally last year: I will push President Mugabe in the wheelbarrow to bring him to work. Near the end, a fake Mugabe emerges, struggling to walk while scoffing at rumours of his demise. Some in the audience laugh. Others gasp. The real President has joked at the persistent rumours, telling reporters earlier this month: Its true I was dead. I resurrected as I always do. Comedy is seen as a way to spark conversations about the state of Zimbabwe (AP) The comedy show played to a packed audience in the capital, Harare. State of the Nation will be a twice-monthly show streaming live on internet, said organiser Davis Guzha, director of Rooftop Promotions. Comedy allows us to laugh but also to think about our problems at the same time, said Sam Monro, or Comrade Fatso, a stand-up comedian who runs Zambezi News, a satirical show on current affairs that can been found on YouTube. In everyday life, the state of this once-prosperous countrys economy and politics is hardly a laughing matter. Government has failed to pay its close to 300,000 workers, including the military, on time since June. Industries are closing down, worsening unemployment where more than two-thirds of the population of 13 million survive on informal work, according to the African Development Bank. People line up for hours at banks to access their money as currency woes deepen. The speculation over the health of Mugabe, this countrys only leader since independence from white minority rule in 1980, has only heightened the uncertainty. Near daily anti-government protests are often met with brute force by police. Yet amid their troubles, Zimbabweans are still laughing at life and at themselves. While comedy shows attract an upper-class crowd, ordinary people flood social media with jokes, images and video selfies poking fun at the growing problems. It has allowed Zimbabweans to deal with a lot of taboo issues, Comrade Fatso told the Associated Press (AP) at his offices at Moto Republic, a structure of former shipping containers that houses dozens of artists. But the politically charged material comes with risk. A local actor, Silvanos Mudzvova, was arrested in April for trying to stage a play scripted on Mugabes statement that at least $15bn had been looted from a diamond-rich region by joint-venture companies mining there. He was released but then was abducted again last week. Comedy shows have become a staple in the capital (AP) Last Thursday, Mudzvova spoke to AP from a hospital bed in Harare where burns and bruises on his legs and back were visible. Six men took me from my home on Tuesday night. They threatened to shoot my family before taking me away, he said. The actor, who is also an activist, said he was given electric shocks by men who demanded information on his activities. Others have been brought to court on insult charges for making and circulating jokes about the President. Still, comedy shows have become a staple in the capital. The Shoko Festival for comedy and music is set for later this month. We are using comedy as a tool not just to inform but as information for action, using comedy to encourage young people to be active and to be part of movements that are changing our country for the better, Comrade Fatso said. One of the growing number of young stand-up comedians is Nqobizitha Dube, or Q the Boss, who last month took aim at Vice President Phelekezela Mphokos 19-month stay in a $400-a-night hotel suite amid Zimbabwes widespread poverty. Opening his act in one of the hotels auditoriums, the comedian elicited gales of laughter when he said: Everybody please clap your hands. We want to thank the VP for allowing us to use his living room for the night. Associated Press Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The wife of the man suspected of bombings in New Jersey and New York allegedly left the US just days before the attack. Shortly after she returned to Pakistan, her husband, 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami, was accused of planting homemade bombs in Chelsea, Manhattan, which injured 29 people, as well as in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The second bomb was disarmed by police. The woman, who has not been identified, was intercepted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, where investigators are trying to ascertain if she was aware of the plot, as reported by the LA Times. The information, being pursued by US authorities, has given a glimpse into the suspects life and what led him down the path of apparent radicalisation. New York governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN that there was no further information on his wife at present. There is something to learn in this case study. What radicalised Rahami, and when? Should we have learned something from where he was and when he came back? He went through screenings, but should those screenings be improved? he asked. What is more urgent is did he have any associates that he was working with? New York bombing suspect Rahami loaded into ambulance after taken into custody Rahami, a US naturalised citizen from Afghanistan, was detained after a shootout with the police on Monday. His family denied all knowledge of the bomb plot. He was not on any terrorist watch lists, and authorities want to know if he had any contact with al-Qaeda or Isis. His former partner and the mother of his daughter, Maria, told Fox News that he was a deadbeat dad who did not pay child support and disliked the US military and homosexuals. He often disappeared to Afghanistan and Pakistan, she said, once for a year between 2013 and 2014. On one occasion, she said, he returned with a new wife and child. Police chief and residents speak of Ahmed Rahami capture He seemed standoffish to American culture, but I never thought he would cross the line, she said. Maria, who declined to give her surname, said she met Rahami, the class clown, while they were at Edison High School, and believed he had since become brainwashed. At one point he left to go to Afghanistan, and two years ago he came back, popped up out of nowhere and he was real religious, his friend, Flee Jones, told the Boston Herald. And it was shocking. Im trying to understand whats going on. Ive never seen him like this. Rahami had a history of arrests and lawsuits. He stabbed his brother, Nasim Rahami, in the leg on 22 August 2014 and was arrested for aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a knife and a firearm. He was allowed to walk free despite the arresting officer warning that he was likely a danger to himself and others. The bomb suspect worked at his familys First American Fried Chicken restaurant in Elizabeth from 2002. Rahami, his brother and father sued the local police in 2011, alleging that the family had been discriminated against as Muslims and harassed for two years as police tried to get them to shut their restaurant at 10pm each night, when they said they had a legal right to remain open. On Monday, he was shot three times by police and was taken to hospital. Donald Trump attacks Ahmad Khan Rahami's right to a lawyer He has been charged with attempted murder of the police, and has not yet been charged with the bombings. His bail has been set at $5.2m (.3.9m). Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Was he working alone, and what was the motive? These were the two pressing questions confronting authorities in New York - a city both tense and under massive security - as officials started trying to question the man they believe was responsible for a string of explosions that rocked the region. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old Afghanistan-born American, was taken into custody on Monday morning following a shootout with police in the New Jersey town of Linden. Officers had been alerted by a bar owner who discovered a man sleeping in the doorway of his premises and thought he was a vagrant. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo at the scene of the New York blast (Getty Images North America) Mr Rahami shot and injured two police officers, and he was himself shot several times before he was detained, taken to a local hospital and dispatched for surgery. The injuries of the New Jersey officers were not serious. Late on Monday, Mr Rahami was charged in New Jersey with five counts of attempted murder of police officers in connection with the shootout and was held on $5.2 million (4m) bail. Federal prosecutors said they were still weighing charges over the bombings. Just hours after the bloodied and bandaged Mr Rahami was taken away in an ambulance, the body language of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested a sense of relief. In pictures: New York bomb explosion Show all 25 1 /25 In pictures: New York bomb explosion In pictures: New York bomb explosion A police robot accidentally detonated one of five explosive devices left outside a train station in New Jersey. Officials said the bomb squad robot cut a wire on the mechanism in a bid to defuse it - but instead set off an explosion. The device had been left in a backpack and placed in a bin outside the train station in Elizabeth Universal News And Sport (Europe In pictures: New York bomb explosion A member of the New York City Police Department stands guard in Herald Square Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (3-R) and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (2-R) tour the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tour the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York on September 18, 2016. The bomb that exploded in New York AFP/Getty In pictures: New York bomb explosion A genral view down the street near the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York AFP/Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (L) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hug after touring the site of the bomb blast on 23rd St. in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion A mangled dumpster sits on the sidewalk at the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion An explosion in a construction dumpster that injured 29 people is being labeled an "intentional act". A second device, a pressure cooker, was found four blocks away that an early investigation found was likely also a bomb Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (2-R) and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (3-R) stand in front of a mangled dumpster while touring the site of an explosion that occurred in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion A member of the New York City Police Department K-9 Unit patrols on a subway train between Grand Central Terminal and Times Square Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion FBI agents review the crime scene of remnants of bomb debris on 23rd St. in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion Members of the NYPD, FBI, ATF and other agencies investigate the the scene, following a late night explosion on West 23rd Street in New York AFP/Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials mark the ground near the site of an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, right, walks from the scene of an explosion on West 23rd street in Manhattan AP In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers stand near the site of an explosion REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion Evidence markers on the street surround police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials near the site REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion A fire truck is seen near a blocked off road near the site of an alleged bomb explosion on West 23rd Street AFP/Getty Images In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City firefighters stand near the site of the explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion A New York City Police emergency services officer and his dog check a bin close to the scene EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Police and Fire Department at the scene of the explosion EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion A New York City firefighter uses a wheeled stretcher to carry supplies near the site of the explosion REUTERS In pictures: New York bomb explosion A New York City Police emergency service heavy weapons officer guards close to the scene of the explosion on 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenue EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, center, and NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill, center right, speak during a press conference near the scene AP In pictures: New York bomb explosion New York City Police Emergency Services units are deployed on 27th Street and 7th Avenue where police found a second explosive device EPA In pictures: New York bomb explosion Police investigators look through the debris on the street in front of St. Vincent de Paul church where the explosion occurred EPA There is no other individual were looking for at this point in time, he said at the press conference, during which he said officials were not aware of a direct threat to New York. We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror. Yet despite the satisfaction among officials for having quickly caught the man they believe was responsible for a series of explosions, including one in New York on Saturday evening that left almost 30 people injured, on Monday night there were as many questions as answers. Reports said that the man in custody was "not cooperating". As New York prepared to host leaders from around the world attending the UN General Assembly, a portrait of the suspect emerged as a man whose attitude and outlook had changed, and darkened, over the last couple of years. Local media said the man who lived and worked with his parents above a fried chicken shop, had grown a beard and started wearing traditional Muslim clothes, after a series of visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan. A surveillance image showing naturalised US citizen, 28-year-old New Jersey resident Ahmad Khan Rahami (EPA) CNN said Mr Rahami travelled to Afghanistan multiple times, according to law enforcement sources. He was questioned every time he returned to the United States, as is standard procedure, but was not on the radar as someone who might have been radicalised. It said that Mr Rahami travelled to the Afghan city of Kandahar and to the Pakistani city of Quetta. Quetta is a stronghold of Islamic extremists, but also home to a large popoulation of Afghan refugees. Reports said that while he was in Quetta in July 2011, he married a Pakistani woman. When he was questioned by immigration officials on his return to the US, he said he was visiting family and attending his uncles wedding. He made a second trip to Pakistan two years later, and stayed there for a year, as did his brother, Mohammad. Police chief and residents speak of Ahmed Rahami capture Investigators said they were still searching for a motive for the blasts, which could have caused far greater damage had they been set off among larger crowds. Experts said officials had revealed that several of the devices contained Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, or HMTD. They said the compound was not commonly used in homemade bombs and suggested that may carry some clue for investigators. In the New Jersey neighborhood where Mr Rahami lived with his family, residents expressed both shock and fear. Marcella Perrotti, a hair stylist, said she had visited the First American Fried Chicken shop only once and had not found a warm welcome. He kept himself to himself, she said of Mr Rahami, who in 2011 sued the police for allegedly subjecting him and his family to discrimination and selective enforcement. Were all friends here, we all talk to each other. But he didnt. Joseph Fioretti, a military veteran, said he refused to allow such incidents stop him going about his business. You have to keep doing your daily routine, he said. You cant let [them] win. Flee Jones, 27, who said he'd known Rahami since they were teenagers, told reporters that he had noticed a change in Mr Rahami's personality after a trip to Afghanistan in 2014. When Rahami returned, he got more religious and dressed differently than before, Jones said. He was more quiet and more mature, Mr Jones said. I said, 'Oh, where have you been?' And he said, 'Oh, vacation.' But I knew he went to Afghanistan because his little brother said it. Mr Rahami also reportedly had a passion for Honda Civics that were custom-built to race. Salaam Ismial called on fellow Muslims to denounce such atrocities (Andrew Buncombe ) (Andrew Buncombe) Ryan McCann, a regular at the restaurant, told the New York Times he last ate there two weeks ago. He was having a conversation about his cars, Mr McCann said. How he likes to soup em up and race em. Salaam Ismial, a community worker at the Al-Hadi mosque in New Jersey, told The Independent he had seen Mr Rahami at various religious festivals over the years, and at the restaurant. He said there was no indication that he had become radicalised. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The father of the New York bomb suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami warned that his son was risk two years ago. On Tuesday morning, after his son had been arrested after a shootout a day earlier, Mohammad Rahami, told reporters gathered outside his home in Elizabeth, New Jersey: Two years ago I go to the FBI because my son was doing really bad, O.K.? But they check almost two months, they say, Hes OK, hes clean, hes not a terrorist. I say OK He added: Now they say he is a terrorist. I say OK His account was confirmed by officials who spoke to The New York Times. They said his father made the statement about his son being a terrorist to New Jersey police in 2014. It happened when Rahami was arrested after stabbing his brother. The details were passed to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Newark, but the investigation ended when the father withdrew his statement. Investigators concluded the allegations were made in a fit of anger, but the episode will raise fresh questions about why the young man was not under surveillance. New York bombing suspect Rahami loaded into ambulance after taken into custody Rahami, 28, was arrested on Monday after a shootout with police officers in Linden, New Jersey, two days after 29 people were wounded when a bomb exploded in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan. Detectives said DNA, fingerprints and CCTV footage all led them to name Rahami as a suspect in an emergency alert sent to millions of people in New York on Monday. It also emerged on Tuesday that officers found a notebook, pierced with a bullet hole and doused in blood, setting out Rahamis radical views. The notes praised Anwar al-Awlaki, al-Qaeda's best known propagandist, and the soldier who carried out the Fort Hood shooting, who killed 13 people in 2009. In one section of the book, Rahami described of killing the kuffar, or unbelievers, according to an official who spoke to The New York Times. They also suspect he was linked to an explosion in a rubbish bin on the New Jersey shore on Saturday. Investigators are probing Rahami's recent trips to Afghanistan and Quetta in Pakistan. Officials say he underwent secondary screening on his return to the US each time but passed on every occasion. On Tuesday it emerged that his wife, who was from Pakistan left the country just a few days before the bombings. William Sweeney, the FBI's assistant director in New York, said that the FBI was aware of reports about a domestic incident involving Rahami some years ago, but the allegations had been recanted, and "there's nothing to indicate that currently he was on our radar." Video captures shootout between NY bombing suspect and police Meanwhile, two New Jersey officers wounded in the shootout have been discharged from hospital. Linden police say Officer Angel Padilla went home on Monday night, several hours after he was shot in the torso. Authorities have said a bulletproof vest saved him from a more serious injury. Another Linden officer, Pete Hammer, was released a day late. Authorities said his head was grazed by a bullet. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} While the world was digesting news that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are to divorce, Barack Obama was addressing the United Nations General Assembly for the last time as president. During his address he urged the world to reject authoritarianism even as he said he understood why so many people felt anxious and insecure. In many ways it was part of his effort to define his legacy to the world, as he watches an increasingly caustic election unfold at home. Here's what he had to say: Mr President; Mr Secretary General; fellow delegates; ladies and gentlemen: As I address this hall as President for the final time, let me recount the progress that weve made these last eight years. Recommended Read more Barack Obama warns against isolationism in his final UN address From the depths of the greatest financial crisis of our time, we coordinated our response to avoid further catastrophe and return the global economy to growth. Weve taken away terrorist safe havens, strengthened the nonproliferation regime, resolved the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba, helped Colombia end Latin Americas longest warm, and we welcome a democratically elected leader of Myanmar to this Assembly. Our assistance is helping people feed themselves, care for the sick, power communities across Africa, and promote models of development rather than dependence. And we have made international institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund more representative, while establishing a framework to protect our planet from the ravages of climate change. This is important work. It has made a real difference in the lives of our people. And it could not have happened had we not worked together. And yet, around the globe we are seeing the same forces of global integration that have made us interdependent also expose deep fault lines in the existing international order. We see it in the headlines every day. Around the world, refugees flow across borders in flight from brutal conflict. Financial disruptions continue to weigh upon our workers and entire communities. Across vast swaths of the Middle East, basic security, basic order has broken down. We see too many governments muzzling journalists, and quashing dissent, and censoring the flow of information. Terrorist networks use social media to prey upon the minds of our youth, endangering open societies and spurring anger against innocent immigrants and Muslims. Powerful nations contest the constraints placed on them by international law. Barack Obama makes his final UN address (AP) This is the paradox that defines our world today. A quarter century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before, and yet our societies are filled with uncertainty, and unease, and strife. Despite enormous progress, as people lose trust in institutions, governing becomes more difficult and tensions between nations become more quick to surface. And so I believe that at this moment we all face a choice. We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration. Or we can retreat into a world sharply divided, and ultimately in conflict, along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion. I want to suggest to you today that we must go forward, and not backward. I believe that as imperfect as they are, the principles of open markets and accountable governance, of democracy and human rights and international law that we have forged remain the firmest foundation for human progress in this century. I make this argument not based on theory or ideology, but on facts facts that all too often, we forget in the immediacy of current events. President Barack Obama waits to address to the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (AP) Heres the most important fact: The integration of our global economy has made life better for billions of men, women and children. Over the last 25 years, the number of people living in extreme poverty has been cut from nearly 40 percent of humanity to under 10 percent. That's unprecedented. And it's not an abstraction. It means children have enough to eat; mothers dont die in childbirth. Meanwhile, cracking the genetic code promises to cure diseases that have plagued us for centuries. The Internet can deliver the entirety of human knowledge to a young girl in a remote village on a single hand-held device. In medicine and in manufacturing, in education and communications, were experiencing a transformation of how human beings live on a scale that recalls the revolutions in agriculture and industry. And as a result, a person born today is more likely to be healthy, to live longer, and to have access to opportunity than at any time in human history. Moreover, the collapse of colonialism and communism has allowed more people than ever before to live with the freedom to choose their leaders. Despite the real and troubling areas where freedom appears in retreat, the fact remains that the number of democracies around the world has nearly doubled in the last 25 years. In remote corners of the world, citizens are demanding respect for the dignity of all people no matter their gender, or race, or religion, or disability, or sexual orientation, and those who deny others dignity are subject to public reproach. An explosion of social media has given ordinary people more ways to express themselves, and has raised peoples expectations for those of us in power. Indeed, our international order has been so successful that we take it as a given that great powers no longer fight world wars; that the end of the Cold War lifted the shadow of nuclear Armageddon; that the battlefields of Europe have been replaced by peaceful union; that China and India remain on a path of remarkable growth. I say all this not to whitewash the challenges we face, or to suggest complacency. Rather, I believe that we need to acknowledge these achievements in order to summon the confidence to carry this progress forward and to make sure that we do not abandon those very things that have delivered this progress. In order to move forward, though, we do have to acknowledge that the existing path to global integration requires a course correction. As too often, those trumpeting the benefits of globalization have ignored inequality within and among nations; have ignored the enduring appeal of ethnic and sectarian identities; have left international institutions ill-equipped, underfunded, under-resourced, in order to handle transnational challenges. And as these real problems have been neglected, alternative visions of the world have pressed forward both in the wealthiest countries and in the poorest: Religious fundamentalism; the politics of ethnicity, or tribe, or sect; aggressive nationalism; a crude populism sometimes from the far left, but more often from the far right which seeks to restore what they believe was a better, simpler age free of outside contamination. We cannot dismiss these visions. They are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction among too many of our citizens. I do not believe those visions can deliver security or prosperity over the long term, but I do believe that these visions fail to recognize, at a very basic level, our common humanity. Moreover, I believe that the acceleration of travel and technology and telecommunications together with a global economy that depends on a global supply chain makes it self-defeating ultimately for those who seek to reverse this progress. Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself. So the answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. Instead, we must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are broadly shared, and that the disruptions economic, political, and cultural that are caused by integration are squarely addressed. This is not the place for a detailed policy blueprint, but let me offer in broad strokes those areas where I believe we must do better together. It starts with making the global economy work better for all people and not just for those at the top. While open markets, capitalism have raised standards of living around the globe, globalization combined with rapid progress and technology has also weakened the position of workers and their ability to secure a decent wage. In advanced economies like my own, unions have been undermined, and many manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Often, those who benefit most from globalization have used their political power to further undermine the position of workers. In developing countries, labor organizations have often been suppressed, and the growth of the middle class has been held back by corruption and underinvestment. Mercantilist policies pursued by governments with export-driven models threaten to undermine the consensus that underpins global trade. And meanwhile, global capital is too often unaccountable nearly $8 trillion stashed away in tax havens, a shadow banking system that grows beyond the reach of effective oversight. A world in which one percent of humanity controls as much wealth as the other 99 percent will never be stable. I understand that the gaps between rich and poor are not new, but just as the child in a slum today can see the skyscraper nearby, technology now allows any person with a smartphone to see how the most privileged among us live and the contrast between their own lives and others. Expectations rise, then, faster than governments can deliver, and a pervasive sense of injustice undermine peoples faith in the system. So how do we fix this imbalance? We cannot unwind integration any more than we can stuff technology back into a box. Nor can we look to failed models of the past. If we start resorting to trade wars, market distorting subsidies, beggar thy neighbor policies, an overreliance on natural resources instead of innovation these approaches will make us poorer, collectively, and they are more like to lead to conflict. And the stark contrast between, say, the success of the Republic of Korea and the wasteland of North Korea shows that central, planned control of the economy is a dead end. But I do believe theres another path one that fuels growth and innovation, and offers the clearest route to individual opportunity and national success. It does not require succumbing to a soulless capitalism that benefits only the few, but rather recognizes that economies are more successful when we close the gap between rich and poor, and growth is broadly based. And that means respecting the rights of workers so they can organize into independent unions and earn a living wage. It means investing in our people their skills, their education, their capacity to take an idea and turn it into a business. It means strengthening the safety net that protects our people from hardship and allows them to take more risks to look for a new job, or start a new venture. These are the policies that Ive pursued here in the United States, and with clear results. American businesses have created now 15 million new jobs. After the recession, the top one percent of Americans were capturing more than 90 percent of income growth. But today, that's down to about half. Last year, poverty in this country fell at the fastest rate in nearly 50 years. And with further investment in infrastructure and early childhood education and basic research, Im confident that such progress will continue. So just as Ive pursued these measures here at home, so has the United States worked with many nations to curb the excesses of capitalism not to punish wealth, but to prevent repeated crises that can destroy it. Thats why weve worked with other nations to create higher and clearer standards for banking and taxation because a society that asks less of oligarchs than ordinary citizens will rot from within. Thats why weve pushed for transparency and cooperation in rooting out corruption, and tracking illicit dollars, because markets create more jobs when they're fueled by hard work, and not the capacity to extort a bribe. Thats why weve worked to reach trade agreements that raise labor standards and raise environmental standards, as we've done with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, so that the benefits are more broadly shared. And just as we benefit by combatting inequality within our countries, I believe advanced economies still need to do more to close the gap between rich and poor nations around the globe. This is difficult politically. It's difficult to spend on foreign assistance. But I do not believe this is charity. For the small fraction of what we spent at war in Iraq we could support institutions so that fragile states dont collapse in the first place, and invest in emerging economies that become markets for our goods. It's not just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. And thats why we need to follow through on our efforts to combat climate change. If we don't act boldly, the bill that could come due will be mass migrations, and cities submerged and nations displaced, and food supplies decimated, and conflicts born of despair. The Paris Agreement gives us a framework to act, but only if we scale up our ambition. And there must be a sense of urgency about bringing the agreement into force, and helping poorer countries leapfrog destructive forms of energy. So, for the wealthiest countries, a Green Climate Fund should only be the beginning. We need to invest in research and provide market incentives to develop new technologies, and then make these technologies accessible and affordable for poorer countries. And only then can we continue lifting all people up from poverty without condemning our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair. So we need new models for the global marketplace, models that are inclusive and sustainable. And in the same way, we need models of governance that are inclusive and accountable to ordinary people. I recognize not every country in this hall is going to follow the same model of governance. I do not think that America can or should impose our system of government on other countries. But there appears to be growing contest between authoritarianism and liberalism right now. And I want everybody to understand, I am not neutral in that contest. I believe in a liberal political order an order built not just through elections and representative government, but also through respect for human rights and civil society, and independent judiciaries and the rule of law. I know that some countries, which now recognize the power of free markets, still reject the model of free societies. And perhaps those of us who have been promoting democracy feel somewhat discouraged since the end of the Cold War, because we've learned that liberal democracy will not just wash across the globe in a single wave. It turns out building accountable institutions is hard work the work of generations. The gains are often fragile. Sometimes we take one step forward and then two steps back. In countries held together by borders drawn by colonial powers, with ethnic enclaves and tribal divisions, politics and elections can sometimes appear to be a zero-sum game. And so, given the difficulty in forging true democracy in the face of these pressures, its no surprise that some argue the future favors the strongman, a top-down model, rather than strong, democratic institutions. But I believe this thinking is wrong. I believe the road of true democracy remains the better path. I believe that in the 21st century, economies can only grow to a certain point until they need to open up because entrepreneurs need to access information in order to invent; young people need a global education in order to thrive; independent media needs to check the abuses of power. Without this evolution, ultimately expectations of people will not be met; suppression and stagnation will set in. And history shows that strongmen are then left with two paths permanent crackdown, which sparks strife at home, or scapegoating enemies abroad, which can lead to war. Now, I will admit, my belief that governments serve the individual, and not the other way around, is shaped by Americas story. Our nation began with a promise of freedom that applied only to the few. But because of our democratic Constitution, because of our Bill of Rights, because of our ideals, ordinary people were able to organize, and march, and protest, and ultimately, those ideals won out opened doors for women and minorities and workers in ways that made our economy more productive and turned our diversity into a strength; that gave innovators the chance to transform every area of human endeavor; that made it possible for someone like me to be elected President of the United States. So, yes, my views are shaped by the specific experiences of America, but I do not think this story is unique to America. Look at the transformation that's taken place in countries as different as Japan and Chile, Indonesia, Botswana. The countries that have succeeded are ones in which people feel they have a stake. In Europe, the progress of those countries in the former Soviet bloc that embraced democracy stand in clear contrast to those that did not. After all, the people of Ukraine did not take to the streets because of some plot imposed from abroad. They took to the streets because their leadership was for sale and they had no recourse. They demanded change because they saw life get better for people in the Baltics and in Poland, societies that were more liberal, and democratic, and open than their own. So those of us who believe in democracy, we need to speak out forcefully, because both the facts and history, I believe, are on our side. That doesnt mean democracies are without flaws. It does mean that the cure for what ails our democracies is greater engagement by our citizens not less. Yes, in America, there is too much money in politics; too much entrenched partisanship; too little participation by citizens, in part because of a patchwork of laws that makes it harder to vote. In Europe, a well-intentioned Brussels often became too isolated from the normal push and pull of national politics. Too often, in capitals, decision-makers have forgotten that democracy needs to be driven by civic engagement from the bottom up, not governance by experts from the top down. And so these are real problems, and as leaders of democratic governments make the case for democracy abroad, we better strive harder to set a better example at home. Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly for the final time (AP) Moreover, every country will organize its government informed by centuries of history, and the circumstances of geography, and the deeply held beliefs of its people. So I recognize a traditional society may value unity and cohesion more than a diverse country like my own, which was founded upon what, at the time, was a radical idea the idea of the liberty of individual human beings endowed with certain God-given rights. But that does not mean that ordinary people in Asia, or Africa, or the Middle East somehow prefer arbitrary rule that denies them a voice in the decisions that can shape their lives. I believe that spirit is universal. And if any of you doubt the universality of that desire, listen to the voices of young people everywhere who call out for freedom, and dignity, and the opportunity to control their own lives. This leads me to the third thing we need to do: We must reject any forms of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity. Instead we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings. Its a truism that global integration has led to a collision of cultures; trade, migration, the Internet, all these things can challenge and unsettle our most cherished identities. We see liberal societies express opposition when women choose to cover themselves. We see protests responding to Western newspaper cartoons that caricature the Prophet Muhammad. In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force. Asian powers debate competing claims of history. And in Europe and the United States, you see people wrestle with concerns about immigration and changing demographics, and suggesting that somehow people who look different are corrupting the character of our countries. Now, theres no easy answer for resolving all these social forces, and we must respect the meaning that people draw from their own traditions from their religion, from their ethnicity, from their sense of nationhood. But I do not believe progress is possible if our desire to preserve our identities gives way to an impulse to dehumanize or dominate another group. If our religion leads us to persecute those of another faith, if we jail or beat people who are gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls from going to school, if we discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or ethnicity, then the fragile bonds of civilization will fray. The world is too small, we are too packed together, for us to be able to resort to those old ways of thinking. We see this mindset in too many parts of the Middle East. There, so much of the collapse in order has been fueled because leaders sought legitimacy not because of policies or programs but by resorting to persecuting political opposition, or demonizing other religious sects, by narrowing the public space to the mosque, where in too many places perversions of a great faith were tolerated. These forces built up for years, and are now at work helping to fuel both Syrias tragic civil war and the mindless, medieval menace of ISIL. The mindset of sectarianism, and extremism, and bloodletting, and retribution that has been taking place will not be quickly reversed. And if we are honest, we understand that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long. But I do believe we have to be honest about the nature of these conflicts, and our international community must continue to work with those who seek to build rather than to destroy. And there is a military component to that. It means being united and relentless in destroying networks like ISIL, which show no respect for human life. But it also means that in a place like Syria, where theres no ultimate military victory to be won, were going to have to pursue the hard work of diplomacy that aims to stop the violence, and deliver aid to those in need, and support those who pursue a political settlement and can see those who are not like themselves as worthy of dignity and respect. Across the regions conflicts, we have to insist that all parties recognize a common humanity and that nations end proxy wars that fuel disorder. Because until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn, countless human beings will suffer most of all in that region but extremism will continue to be exported overseas. And the world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent it from affecting our own societies. And what is true in the Middle East is true for all of us. Surely, religious traditions can be honored and upheld while teaching young people science and math, rather than intolerance. Surely, we can sustain our unique traditions while giving women their full and rightful role in the politics and economics of a nation. Surely, we can rally our nations to solidarity while recognizing equal treatment for all communities whether its a religious minority in Myanmar, or an ethnic minority in Burundi, or a racial minority right here in the United States. And surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land. We all have to do better as leaders in tamping down, rather than encouraging, a notion of identity that leads us to diminish others. And this leads me to the fourth and final thing we need to do, and that is sustain our commitment to international cooperation rooted in the rights and responsibilities of nations. As President of the United States, I know that for most of human history, power has not been unipolar. The end of the Cold War may have led too many to forget this truth. Ive noticed as President that at times, both Americas adversaries and some of our allies believe that all problems were either caused by Washington or could be solved by Washington and perhaps too many in Washington believed that as well. (Laughter.) But I believe America has been a rare superpower in human history insofar as it has been willing to think beyond narrow self-interest; that while weve made our share of mistakes over these last 25 years and Ive acknowledged some we have strived, sometimes at great sacrifice, to align better our actions with our ideals. And as a consequence, I believe we have been a force for good. We have secured allies. Weve acted to protect the vulnerable. We supported human rights and welcomed scrutiny of our own actions. Weve bound our power to international laws and institutions. When we've made mistakes, we've tried to acknowledge them. We have worked to roll back poverty and hunger and disease beyond our borders, not just within our borders. I'm proud of that. But I also know that we can't do this alone. And I believe that if we're to meet the challenges of this century, we are all going to have to do more to build up international capacity. We cannot escape the prospect of nuclear war unless we all commit to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and pursuing a world without them. When Iran agrees to accept constraints on its nuclear program that enhances global security and enhances Iran's ability to work with other nations. On the other hand, when North Korea tests a bomb that endangers all of us. And any country that breaks this basic bargain must face consequences. And those nations with these weapons, like the United States, have a unique responsibility to pursue the path of reducing our stockpiles, and reaffirming basic norms like the commitment to never test them again. We can't combat a disease like Zika that recognizes no borders mosquitos don't respect walls unless we make permanent the same urgency that we brought to bear against Ebola by strengthening our own systems of public health, by investing in cures and rolling back the root causes of disease, and helping poorer countries develop a public health infrastructure. We can only eliminate extreme poverty if the sustainable development goals that we have set are more than words on paper. Human ingenuity now gives us the capacity to feed the hungry and give all of our children including our girls the education that is the foundation for opportunity in our world. But we have to put our money where our mouths are. And we can only realize the promise of this institutions founding to replace the ravages of war with cooperation if powerful nations like my own accept constraints. Sometimes I'm criticized in my own country for professing a belief in international norms and multilateral institutions. But I am convinced that in the long run, giving up some freedom of action not giving up our ability to protect ourselves or pursue our core interests, but binding ourselves to international rules over the long term enhances our security. And I think that's not just true for us. If Russia continues to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors, it may be popular at home, it may fuel nationalist fervor for a time, but over time it is also going to diminish its stature and make its borders less secure. In the South China Sea, a peaceful resolution of disputes offered by law will mean far greater stability than the militarization of a few rocks and reefs. We are all stakeholders in this international system, and it calls upon all of us to invest in the success of institutions to which we belong. And the good news is, is that many nations have shown what kind of progress is possible when we make those commitments. Consider what weve accomplished here over the past few years. Together, we mobilized some 50,000 additional troops for U.N. peacekeeping, making them nimble, better equipped, better prepared to deal with emergencies. Together, we established an Open Government Partnership so that, increasingly, transparency empowers more and more people around the globe. And together, now, we have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home. We should all welcome the pledges of increased assistance that have been made at this General Assembly gathering. I'll be discussing that more this afternoon. But we have to follow through, even when the politics are hard. Because in the eyes of innocent men and women and children who, through no fault of their own, have had to flee everything that they know, everything that they love, we have to have the empathy to see ourselves. We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children, if the unspeakable happened to us. And we should all understand that, ultimately, our world will be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need and the nations who are carrying the largest burden with respect to accommodating these refugees. There are a lot of nations right now that are doing the right thing. But many nations particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of geography that can do more to offer a hand, even if they also insist that refugees who come to our countries have to do more to adapt to the customs and conventions of the communities that are now providing them a home. Let me conclude by saying that I recognize history tells a different story than the one that I've talked about here today. There's a much darker and more cynical view of history that we can adopt. Human beings are too often motivated by greed and by power. Big countries for most of history have pushed smaller ones around. Tribes and ethnic groups and nation states have very often found it most convenient to define themselves by what they hate and not just those ideas that bind them together. Time and again, human beings have believed that they finally arrived at a period of enlightenment only to repeat, then, cycles of conflict and suffering. Perhaps that's our fate. We have to remember that the choices of individual human beings led to repeated world war. But we also have to remember that the choices of individual human beings created a United Nations, so that a war like that would never happen again. Each of us as leaders, each nation can choose to reject those who appeal to our worst impulses and embrace those who appeal to our best. For we have shown that we can choose a better history. Sitting in a prison cell, a young Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that, Human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God. And during the course of these eight years, as I've traveled to many of your nations, I have seen that spirit in our young people, who are more educated and more tolerant, and more inclusive and more diverse, and more creative than our generation; who are more empathetic and compassionate towards their fellow human beings than previous generations. And, yes, some of that comes with the idealism of youth. But it also comes with young peoples access to information about other peoples and places an understanding unique in human history that their future is bound with the fates of other human beings on the other side of the world. I think of the thousands of health care workers from around the world who volunteered to fight Ebola. I remember the young entrepreneurs I met who are now starting new businesses in Cuba, the parliamentarians who used to be just a few years ago political prisoners in Myanmar. I think of the girls who have braved taunts or violence just to go to school in Afghanistan, and the university students who started programs online to reject the extremism of organizations like ISIL. I draw strength from the young Americans entrepreneurs, activists, soldiers, new citizens who are remaking our nation once again, who are unconstrained by old habits and old conventions, and unencumbered by what is, but are instead ready to seize what ought to be. My own family is a made up of the flesh and blood and traditions and cultures and faiths from a lot of different parts of the world just as America has been built by immigrants from every shore. And in my own life, in this country, and as President, I have learned that our identities do not have to be defined by putting someone else down, but can be enhanced by lifting somebody else up. They dont have to be defined in opposition to others, but rather by a belief in liberty and equality and justice and fairness. And the embrace of these principles as universal doesn't weaken my particular pride, my particular love for America it strengthens it. My belief that these ideals apply everywhere doesnt lessen my commitment to help those who look like me, or pray as I do, or pledge allegiance to my flag. But my faith in those principles does force me to expand my moral imagination and to recognize that I can best serve my own people, I can best look after my own daughters, by making sure that my actions seek what is right for all people and all children, and your daughters and your sons. This is what I believe: that all of us can be co-workers with God. And our leadership, and our governments, and this United Nations should reflect this irreducible truth. Thank you very much. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It was his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly. Barack Obama took the opportunity to call for greater international cooperation, not less, and to ensure the benefits of globalisation were spread more fairly. Recommended Read more PM to tell UN that countries have right to control their own borders In a delivery that was a rejection of the world view of Republican candidate Donald Trump, the US president said there was a danger of countries retreating into nativist isolationism a sentiment that might be popular with some voters, but that he said ultimately offered no long-term prospects. A quarter of a century after the end of the Cold War, the world is is many ways less violent, he said. And yet our society is filled with anxiety and unease. In an address that will have heartened supporters of the UN and angered its critics, the President said the world confronted a choice: it could either push forward towards greater cooperation or else retreat and withdraw. Im going to suggest to you that we must go forward and not backwards, he said. The US election campaign has been punctuated by a sharp debate about Americas role in the world, and various free trade deals that have been passed over the last 20 years. Mr Obama was a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which both Mr Trump and Hillary Clinton now oppose. Mr Obama did not mention Mr Trump by name, but he cited populist movements, some on the left, mostly on the right, that wanted to return to some imagined golden past. He said it was wrong to ignore the pain and anguish of individuals who, because of economic hardship or other reasons, were attached to such populism. Yet he added: The answer cannot be a simple rejection of global integration. But we must work to make sure the benefits of integration are widely shared. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A school cafeteria worker has quit her job after she claimed she was forced to take lunch away from a pupil whose family had fallen behind on school lunch payments. Stacy Koltiska, who resigned last week after two years at the Wylandville Elementary School in Canonberg, Pennsylvania, said the family had failed to pay more than $25 for school lunches. According to a new school policy, designed to tackle the issue of 300 families owing thousands of dollars, Ms Koltiska said she had to take the lunch away from a young boy and his eyes welled up with tears. Ill never forget his name, the look on his face, she told the Associated Press. For any younger student whose family owes more than $25, they will not be allowed a hot lunch but can instead eat a cold sandwich, a serving of fruit or vegetables and a glass of milk. Older students get no lunch if their family owes more than $25. Ms Koltiska wrote on Facebook: What You don't know is that they are being given One Piece of Cheese on Bread. This isn't even being toasted. Yet they are still being charged the FULL PRICE of a HOT LUNCH that is being DEINIED to them. Another cafeteria worker had noticed that Ms Koltiska had mistakenly given the boy a hot chicken meal and she then had to swap the dishes. Her post on Facebook was shared more than 3,000 times. One user, Chrissie Siebonick, responded that the school's policy was "horrible". "What ever happened to no kid goes hungry?" she wrote. Another user, Tara Dellovade-O'Donnell, said the school policy was "sickening". Canon-McMillan school district superintendent Matthew Daniels told the AP that the policy does not target families who qualify for financial assistance with school lunches,. He added that the new rule has been successful in cutting down the number of families who can afford to pay but still owe money. There has never been the intent with the adoption of this polity to shame or embarrass a child, he said. In a post on Facebook, the school said that staff were given training on how to implement the policy and parents were informed before the start of the school year. Mr Daniels added that the more than 300 families who were behind in payments owed the school district as much as $100,000 per year, and since the policy was put in place in 2016, about 70 families owe less than $20,000. Ms Koltiska said she believed there was a better way to implement the policy without involving the children, who felt embarrassed and punished as a result. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Chinas illegal trade in the rare totoaba fish's swim bladder is driving both it and the endangered vaquita, the world's smallest porpoise, to the brink of extinction, according to a new report. Numbers of the vaquita have been decimated by illegal poachers using gill nets to trap the totoaba fish, nicknamed money maw or aquatic cocaine for its staggeringly high price tag on the Asian market. While prices have fallen in recent years, some large totoaba bladders can still fetch more than $50,000 each on the Chinese black market. Both species are found only in the northernmost corner of Mexico's Cortez Sea and both are critically endangered, with only 60 vaquita thought to be left in the wild. The totoaba fish are highly sought after for their alleged health benefits in treating circulatory and skin problems and are believed by some to hold aphrodisiac properties. The Environmental Investigations Agency (EIA) are now warning of a buoyant trade in China, with no attempt to curb the practice despite repeated condemnation from environmental activists. EIA oceans campaign head Clare Perry said the Chinese government needed to acknowledge its vital role in saving the endangered vaquita species. A Chinese trader shows EIA investigators a rare, totoaba fish maw (EIA) "Trade is happening openly of the totoaba in mainland China despite it being illegal, and we actually found a whole new center for the trade in Shantou that had clearly seen no efforts from the Chinese government," she told The Independent. "Given the information out there, it's quite a shocking lack of law enforcement when you have the survival of a species at risk." Ms Perry also warned of a lack of incentive for Mexican smugglers to stop the poaching, warning it was a low risk alternative to cocaine smuggling, with high reward. She said: The trade has been going on for over a century. "However, when Mexican fisherman started making a lot of money, the organised crime groups got involved, as they do with all of these wildlife products where they see quick profit. Thats when the trade really exploded. Julian Newman, EIAs campaigns director said dual responsibility needed to be taken to effectively stamp out the trade between the Mexican suppliers of the maw and the Chinese market driving the fishing. In 2015, Mexican federal environment agency Profepa revealed the commodity was worth more than cocaine in the country, with one kilo of bladder selling for the same as 1.5 kilos of the drug. In an attempt to stamp out the practice, the Mexican military scours the 5,019-square mile stretch of Californian Gulf several times a day looking for poachers. Speaking to Mexican newspaper Reforma, one army chief, who wished to remain anonymous, said: Traffickers entered the business forcefully, applying their organisational structures and their corrupting influence. Organised crime has established networks, routes, contacts, points of sale and padrinos, or sponsors, in official institutions. What was once used to traffic drugs was implemented for the totoaba. However, the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) reported that traffickers often camouflaged the bladders with other legally-fished maw. One environment official said: The training of police agents isnt enough, be it at the municipal, state or federal levels. The situation is the same with the Army, Navy and customs personnel: theyre not trained to detect these crimes. Two vaquita spotted in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, with only 60 thought to be left in the wild (Todd Pusser) The vaquita is the smallest and rarest cetacean species, closely resembling the common porpoise. Ms Perry said it was not clear that China had a full understanding of the implications of the totoaba trade for the vaquita. She said: Domestically, China must stamp out the illegal trade, but also some very swift awareness raising needs to happen among business traders and consumers to save this critically endangered species. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An Alabama education official is taking a Facebook page seriously after it threatened clowns would visit different schools in the area. A number of clown sightings have been reported across the southern states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama in recent weeks. Entitled Bingerman Clownferd, the page began posting messages about visiting Montgomery County Schools, the Montgomery Advertiser reports. It posted a schedule stating which school it would visit on which day. On 16 September, the page posted: "I'm the southlawn clown I saw all of you all today at school I watched y'all walk home ik who y'all are if I don't get u tonight it will be monday." Montgomery Public Schools Senior Communication Officer Tom Salter has said they have been taking the threats seriously. He said: "They arrested three people in south Alabama (last week) making threats to a school in Flomaton. "It may just be a copycat thing, but weve been talking to law enforcement all weekend. Weve taken all the precautions we need to take." The Facebook page has since been taking it down (Facebook/Bingerman Clownferd) Mr Salter added: "Its the first time I remember anything associated with clowns but its no laughing matter. We got a few messages from parents and one or two from teachers mainly making sure we were aware of it, which we were. "We always encourage anybody who hears of any concern to reach out to us. There may be one we havent heard of." Last month, police in South Carolina investigated reports of a group of people dressed as clowns trying to lure children into the woods. The problems facing the world today are notoriously resistant to unilateral solutions, said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a recent address in New York. Mr. Blinken spoke days before the opening of the 71st meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. He said the national interest of the United States demands the global engagement that has been the hallmark of President Barack Obamas administration engagement built on the foundation of a system of rules, principles, and international institutions which the United States, as the worlds rising global power after the Second World War, helped establish. It is a system, not without problems, but which got the big picture right, said Deputy Secretary Blinken, averting new global cataclysms, ending the Cold War peacefully, creating the space and stability for countries to prosper. Under President Obamas engagement policy, Mr. Blinken noted, the United States, among other instances, worked at the U.N. Security Council to advance nuclear negotiations with Iran and to destroy Syrias declared strategic chemical weapons capacity. Mr. Blinken offered examples of collaboration in human rights with our reengagement on the Human Rights Council, where we have shed light on some of the worlds worst human rights conditions and violators and work the U.S. has done with new leadership at the Organization of American States to strengthen that institutions role in defending democracy and promoting human rights. Mr. Blinken stated we have reinvigorated our transatlantic partnerships and strengthened relationships with Asias key institutions and collaborative efforts in establishing a coalition of more than 67 countries to confront Daesh and undermine its vicious, phony caliphate. Working with others, Deputy Secretary Blinken said, we build a foundation of trust, greater alignment of interest, habits of cooperation, and greater legitimacy that better enables us to mobilize others against common threats and seize common opportunities. The bulk of U.S. global engagement happens at the United Nations, which, despite its flaws and its need for reform, Mr. Blinken called the gold standard of global action when mobilized effectively. Now is the time to strengthen [the U.N.], to adapt it to new realities, he said. The U.N. is worth fighting for, said Deputy Secretary Blinken. It ensures that our collective action better upholds our own promises. And it will help us shape and adopt an international system that actually lives up to the vision of those who first built it: a global project that remains now, as it did then, indispensable to the health, the strength, the security , the prosperity of every nation, especially the United States. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donalds Trump Jr's controversial comparison of Syrian refugees with a bag of Skittles sweets has provoked outrage and distaste. Yet for those who know their right-wing memes it is nothing new, channeling as it does the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and echoing Nazi propaganda. This week, the presidential candidates son posted an image on Twitter that said: If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful? Thats our Syrian refugee problem. The comment came a day before a pioneering United Nations summit in New York about the plight of Syrian refugees. But the comparison with sweets longstanding associations. More than four years ago, a black youth called Trayvon Martin was shot dead by neighbourhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman. The 17-year-old was found carrying a cigarette lighter, earphones, a can of watermelon fruit juice, a small amount of cash and a packet of Skittles. Zimmerman claimed he had shot the boy out of "self-defence". The brand's slogan, Taste The Rainbow, became a symbol of the teenagers innocence. Protesters mailed bags of the sweets to Bill Lee, chief of the Sanford police department. They waved pictures of the sweets like flags and hung them around their necks. Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Show all 19 1 /19 Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors demand justice for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors lie in an intersection during a demonstration for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors lie in an intersection during a demonstration for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protestors demand justice for Philando Castile on July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters march throughout New York City. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters march throughout New York City. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters are arrested by NYPD as they call for justice throughout New York City. Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Protesters are arrested by NYPD as they call for justice throughout New York City. AFP/Getty Images Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police AFP/Getty Images Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police AFP/Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police AFP/Getty Images Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Getty Protests and outrage across the US following killings by police Getty The killing sparked international outrage and spurred the Black Lives Matter campaign to become an important national movement, critical for raising awareness about the deaths of so many young black men at the hands of police officers. But before Skittles became a symbol for lost innocence, the poisoned candy of choice for right-wing commentators was M&Ms, used as a way to make flawed generalisations about ethnic minorities. In the 1940s, Nazi newspaper founder Julius Streicher wrote a book about the "poisoned mushroom" to indocrinate children in hate, referring to Jews "springing up in every country". Just as poisonous mushrooms often lead to the most dreadful calamity, so the Jew is the cause of misery and distress, illness and death, he describes a mother telling her child. Mr Trump has come under fire over the years for his remarks about civil rights. Shortly after the wrongful conviction of the five black and Hispanic boys who were accused of raping and beating investment banker Trisha Meili in 1989, Mr Trump took out a full-page advert in several newspapers, calling for the death penalty. This is not the first time Donald Trumps campaign has attempted to hijack worrying symbols for the election trail. Most recently the candidate, his son and close advisers posted images of Pepe the Frog, adding yellow hair to liken the cartoon amphibian to the Republican. Since late last year, the green cartoon has become associated with the white supremacist movement. The candidate was also criticised for tweeting an image of Hilary Clinton, calling her the "most corrupt candidate ever". The words were written inside the shape of a star, which was described by critics as an anti-semitic use of the Star of David and also associated with white supremacy. Wrigley, the owner of Skittles, has distanced itself from Mr Trumps remarks. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," vice president of corporate affairs Denise Young said in the statement. "We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} As outrage continues over comments made by Donald Trumps son comparing refugees to deadly Skittles, social media users have been offering their own versions of the meme. Donald Trump Jr shared an image carrying official campaign branding on Monday, in support of his fathers Presidential campaign. If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful? it said. Thats our Syrian refugee problem. The image, including a bowl of sweets and the slogan Make America great again!, was accompanied by a comment by Mr Trumps son saying: This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. His comments swiftly sparked criticism, including from a former Republican Congressman and right-wing radio host who accused him of repeating his own comments. Sharing one of his own tweets, Joe Walsh wrote: Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, that's the point I made last month. Glad you agree. On 13 August, he had written: If I had a bowl of Skittles and told you 3 of them would kill you: Would you eat a handful? No? This is our refugee problem. Many Twitter users were offering their own versions of the Skittles meme to challenge Mr Trump Jr: Others were in little doubt over what they would do in the situation: Many were drawing attention to the plight of Syrian refugees: Several were disappointed that the Twitter trend was not actually about sweets: And lot of people seemed concerned for Skittles public relations team: Denise Young, Vice President of corporate affairs at manufacturers Wrigley Americas gave a response on behalf of the company. She said: Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY Mr Trump has sparked several rounds of controversy with his policies on refugees and immigration, including repeated proposals to build a wall along the Mexican border and a vow to ban all Muslims from entering the US, which he has since backed down on. He has repeatedly suggested that Syrian refugees fleeing the countrys civil war are a terror threat, calling them a Trojan horse in November, before winning the Republican nomination. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The American government has mistakenly granted citizenship to at least 858 immigrants from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud who had pending deportation orders, according to an internal Homeland Security audit. The Homeland Security Department's inspector general found that the immigrants used different names or birthdates to apply for citizenship with US Citizenship and Immigration Services and such discrepancies weren't caught because their fingerprints were missing from government databases. DHS said in an emailed statement that an initial review of these cases suggest that some of the individuals may have ultimately qualified for citizenship, and that the lack of digital fingerprint records does not necessarily mean they committed fraud. The report does not identify any of the immigrants by name, but Inspector General John Roth's auditors said they were all from special interest countries those that present a national security concern for the United States or neighbouring countries with high rates of immigration fraud. The report did not identify those countries. DHS said the findings reflect what has long been a problem for immigration officials old paper-based records containing fingerprint information that can't be searched electronically. DHS says immigration officials are in the process of uploading these files and that officials will review every file identified as a case of possible fraud. Mr Roth's report, published on Monday, said fingerprints were missing from federal databases for as many as 315,000 immigrants with final deportation orders or who were fugitive criminals. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not reviewed about 148,000 of those immigrants' files to add fingerprints to the digital record. The gap was created because older, paper records were never added to fingerprint databases created by both the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalisation Service and the FBI in the 1990s. ICE, the DHS agency responsible for finding and deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, didn't consistently add digital fingerprint records of immigrants whom agents encountered until 2010. The government has known about the information gap and its impact on naturalisation decisions since at least 2008 when a Customs and Border Protection official identified 206 immigrants who used a different name or other biographical information to gain citizenship or other immigration benefits, though few cases have been investigated. Roth's report said federal prosecutors have accepted two criminal cases that led to the immigrants being stripped of their citizenship. But prosecutors declined another 26 cases. ICE is investigating 32 other cases after closing 90 investigations. Candidates for citizenship cheer after taking the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalisation ceremony for 755 new United States citizens at Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team (AP) ICE officials told auditors that the agency hadn't pursued many of these cases in the past because federal prosecutors generally did not accept immigration benefits fraud cases. ICE said the Justice Department has now agreed to focus on cases involving people who have acquired security clearances, jobs of public trust or other security credentials. Several members of Congress criticised the Obama administration Monday in the wake of Mr Roth's report, though the report suggests that the gaps extend several years earlier than the Obama administration. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul said ICE should quickly investigate all of the cases at issue and ensure that all immigration fingerprint records are digitised in short order. Mistakenly awarding citizenship to someone ordered deported can have serious consequences because American citizens can typically apply for and receive security clearances or take security-sensitive jobs. At least three of the immigrants-turned-citizens were able to acquire aviation or transportation worker credentials, granting them access to secure areas in airports or maritime facilities and vessels. Their credentials were revoked after they were identified as having been granted citizenship improperly, Mr Roth said in his report. A fourth person is now a law enforcement officer. Mr Roth recommended that all of the outstanding cases be reviewed and fingerprints in those cases be added to the government's database and that immigration enforcement officials create a system to evaluate each of the cases of immigrants who were improperly granted citizenship. DHS officials agreed with the recommendations and said the agency is working to implement the changes. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Michelle Obamas girl-focused education charity has raised more than $3.5 billion in little over a year since it was launched. Let Girls Learn, a global initiative which aims to get 62 million girls into school, came about in partnership with activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban four years ago for demonstrating her right to go to school. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly spousal programme, the first lady said that the charity had raised nearly $600 million from countries like Japan, South Korea and Mexico, as well as more than half a billion dollars from the US. The charity also gathered $2.5 billion from the World Bank, to be paid over the next five years. Ms Obama added that she has fostered networks with close to 80 companies that were committing money and resources. All of this is happening because, time and again, whether its a head of state, a corporate CEO, or a 15-year-old girl here in the US, when people hear the stories of girls who arent in school, they want to help, she said. She added: More than 62 million girls around the world are counting on us to be their voice. And I intend to keep speaking out on their behalf not just for the rest of my time as first lady, but for the rest of my life. Ms Obama recently traveled around the world to promote her charity, and returned to the US to speak at the Democratic National Convention in July. The first lady, who was introduced at the UN summit by comedian Stephen Colbert, has become a champion of womens rights, hosting the White Houses first ever summit on the cause in Washington DC this year. She said at the UN that she was inspired by Malala, who was 15 years old when she was injured by a terrorist network in Pakistan as she rode the bus to school. She added that although she came from a working-class background, she managed to study law thanks to hard work and financial aid. And I can tell you that education was everything for me, she said. It opened doors. It gave me the confidence to pursue my ambitions and make my voice heard in the world. For me, education was power. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Police in the US are being sued after they allegedly accidentally recorded themselves fabricating charges against a protestor who they subsequently arrested. The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut has opened a lawsuit against the state police and has published a video recording of the incident in which police are apparently heard coming up with charges against the man. Michael Picard was protesting police check points for drink drivers by standing on a traffic island with a sign that read: cops ahead, remain silent. After an hour and a half, it is alleged the police officers from the check point came over and hit his SLR camera out of his hand. The video then begins and the policeman confiscates the camera and walks away, apparently putting it on the roof of the car while three officers debate what to charge Mr Picard with. In the film, voices can be heard making a call to colleagues to see if they have any grudges against Mr Picard. One officer says: We gotta cover our ass. We can hit him with reckless use of the highway by a pedestrian and creating a public disturbance, another suggests. One suggests a combination of simple trespass, we do reckless use of the highway and creating a public disturbance, adding, well throw all charges three on the ticket. And then we claim that, in backup, we had multiple people, they didnt want to stay and give us a statement so we took our own course of action, another adds. The charges against Mr Picard were eventually dismissed by the state during a criminal prosecution in the Connecticut superior court. The process took over a year and Mr Picard is now suing the police for allegedly fabricating the charges. In a statement, ACLU-CT legal director Dan Barrett, who is representing Mr Picard in the lawsuit said: Police should be focused on public safety, not punishing protesters and those who film public employees working on a public street. 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 As the video shows, these police officers were more concerned with thwarting Mr Picards free speech and covering their tracks than upholding the law. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Video released by law enforcement on Monday shows police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma fatally shooting an unarmed black man whose car was stalled in the middle of the street. Police originally claimed that 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was not cooperating with officers when they arrived for a routine traffic stop on Friday night. They said that he would not raise his hands in the air when instructed to. Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby called dispatch saying Mr Crutcher was not complying before fatally shooting him at the scene. Officer Tyler Turnbough also fired his Taser and the entire confrontation was recorded via dash cam. However, in the video, Mr Crutcher can be seen raising his arms in the air in the middle of the street. He stood beside his drivers side window as several police officers stood behind him with their weapons raised. Seconds later a single shot was fired from the officer. He falls and his bloodied body lied limp beside his vehicle. Officers appeared to wait more than one minute before approaching Mr Crutchers body. It remains unclear exactly why the officer fired her weapon. Terence Crutcher killed by police Show all 17 1 /17 Terence Crutcher killed by police Terence Crutcher killed by police This undated photo provided by the Tulsa Oklahoma Police Department shows officer Betty Shelby. Police say Tulsa officer Shelby fired the fatal shot that killed 40 year-old Terence Crutcher, Sept. 16, 2016. The police chief in Tulsa says Crutcher, a black man fatally shot by a white police officer responding to a stalled vehicle, had no weapon on him or in his SUV. Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday Sept. 19, 2016, that an investigation is underway into the shooting death. (Tulsa Police Department via AP) AP Terence Crutcher killed by police Protesters calling for the arrest of Officer Betty Shelby, who shot dead unarmed motorist Terence Crutcher, demonstrate outside the Tulsa Police headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford - RTSOOXP REUTERS Terence Crutcher killed by police T'erra Estes, (L), her husband Angelo Estes and their son Angelo Estes Jr., 8, call for the arrest of Officer Betty Shelby, who shot dead unarmed motorist Terence Crutcher, with other protesters outside the Tulsa Police headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford - RTSOOVK REUTERS Terence Crutcher killed by police Adrian Colbert (C) calls for the arrest of Officer Betty Shelby, who shot dead unarmed motorist Terence Crutcher, outside the Tulsa Police headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford - RTSOOVB REUTERS Terence Crutcher killed by police Tiffany Crutcher (C), sister of Terence Crutcher, the Tulsa motorist who was shot and killed by police, stands with attorney Benjamin Crump (L) during a news conference at the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters in New York, U.S., September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton - RTSOU2F REUTERS Terence Crutcher killed by police Terrence Stevens stands among protesters calling for the arrest of Officer Betty Shelby outside the Tulsa Police headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford - RTSOOXL REUTERS Terence Crutcher killed by police John Ballard puts his hands up as protesters call for the arrest of Officer Betty Shelby, who shot dead unarmed motorist Terence Crutcher, outside the Tulsa Police headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford - RTSOOWE REUTERS Terence Crutcher killed by police People hold signs at a "protest for justice" over Friday's shooting death of Terence Crutcher, sponsored by We the People Oklahoma, in Tulsa, Okla., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) AP Terence Crutcher killed by police People hold signs at a "protest for justice" over Friday's shooting death of Terence Crutcher, sponsored by We the People Oklahoma, in Tulsa, Okla., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) AP Terence Crutcher killed by police People hold signs at a "protest for justice" over Friday's shooting death of Terence Crutcher, sponsored by We the People Oklahoma, in Tulsa, Okla., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) AP Terence Crutcher killed by police In this image taken from video, The Rev. Joey Crutcher, father of Terence Crutcher, speaks to the media at the National Action Center in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016. Crutcher's son, 40 year old Terence Crutcher, was shot and killed by a white Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Joseph Frederick) AP Terence Crutcher killed by police In this image taken from video, The Rev. Al Sharpton, center, speaks to the media at the National Action Center in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016 about the shooting death of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. Forty-year-old Terence Crutcher, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot Friday by a white, Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer. At right is Crutcher family attorney Benjamin Crump. The Rev. Joey Crutcher, Terence Crutcher's father, is second right. Looking over Rev. Sharpton's shoulder is Leanna Crutcher, Terence Crutcher's mother. Terence Crutcher's twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, is standing at right. (AP Photo/Joseph Frederick) AP Terence Crutcher killed by police In this photo taken from video, The Rev. Joey Crutcher and Leanna Crutcher, parents of Terence Crutcher, stand at the podium at the National Action Network in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016. Their son, Terence Crutcher, was shot and killed by a white Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Joseph Frederick) AP Terence Crutcher killed by police AP Terence Crutcher killed by police Family handout Terence Crutcher killed by police Family handout Terence Crutcher killed by police Family handout Were truly devastated. The entire family is devastated, Mr Crutchers twin sister Tiffany Crutcher told The Washington Post. That big bad dude was a father, that big bad dude was a son, that big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College just wanting to make us all proud, that big bad dude loved God, that big bad dude was in church singing with all of his flaws every week. His family members and community leaders called for justice after reviewing the dash cam footage of the fatal shooting. We saw that Terence did not have any weapon," family attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons told reporters on Monday. "Terence did not make any sudden movements. We saw that Terence was not being belligerent. Nearly a dozen protesters gathered outside the Tulsa County courthouse following the news conference, calling for justice in the case. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice will also conduct an independent investigation of the shooting. The justice department is committed to investigating allegations of force by law enforcement officers and will devote whatever resources are necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated, US Attorney Danny C Williams said in a statement. He needed help, he needed a hand. And what he got was a bullet in the lungs, Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney, told The Post. Mr Crump compared the shooting to the 2015 killing of Corey Jones in Florida, another black man who was fatally shot by police after he phoned 911 for help when his vehicle broke down. What was Terence Crutchers crime? Mr Crump asked. When unarmed people of color break down on the side of the road, were not treated as citizens needing help, were treated as criminals, as suspects. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A United Nations entity has signed up 10 universities - representing more than 700,000 students - to commit to achieving gender equality and ending campus violence in the near future, but there were many more institutions that were reluctant to get involved. The University Parity Report, released Tuesday, reveals that institutions including Oxford University and prestigious French university Sciences Po aim to make great strides within three to five years. There were many more universities, however, that were unwilling to commit to the programme. Elizabeth Nyamayaro, the brains behind the HeForShe movement and senior adviser to the under secretary-general UN Women, told The Independent that 65 universities were originally interested in the programme. "The moment we had one or two signed up, we saw people reaching out to us," she said. "We did notice we had many more universities [interested] than the 10 positions we could accommodate, but the moment we started asking for concrete transparency and commitment they fell off the radar. "Were not saying this is the perfect group but these are the ones committed to being transformative and groundbreaking." Nagoya University in Japan, for example, will be the first in the country to establish a campus committee and office to promote gender equality, and will open a library of 15,000 books on the subject next year. Emma Watson at Davos Oxford University is aiming for 30 per cent female representation across all leadership roles by 2020, and will offer students a mobile phone app to report sexual violence on campus. In the US, where one in five women will be sexually assaulted on campus, Georgetown University aims for all staff to complete training on how to prevent discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct. The universities were also required to provide data on the ratio of men to women for all levels, from undergraduate students to senior leadership. Across all 10, there was a much smaller number of women at higher levels. At Sciences Po, just 14 per cent of tenured professors are women. This is despite women making up around half of undergraduate students at all universities, except at Nagoya in Japan. "Yes, girls are graduating, but we have to go deeper than that, and look at the output," said Ms Nyamayaro. "How many women are empowered to take STEM subjects and to assume leadership roles?" Kellyanne Conway: Rape would not exist if women were physiologically as strong as men No such gender data at universities exist on a national or global level. "We cant ignore the engagement of youth as catalysts for change," she said. "The universities were targeted for that reason. We saw those doing great work but also those that have the will and want to be part of change. It was a mixture of proactive and reactive engagement." In the UK, for example, Oxford wants to close the gender gap both ways - that means getting more women into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), as well as encouraging more men to study the so-called soft subjects like social sciences and art. The UN is also working with Unesco to educate boys and girls at schools. Other universities include the University of Hong Kong, the University of Leicester, the University of Sao Paulo, Stony Brook University, the University of Waterloo and the University of Witwatersrand. Men are heavily involved in the campaign. They include 10 male heads of states, from Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to Rwanda president Paul Kagame, as well as 10 male chief executives, including Jes Staley, of Barclays, and McKinseys global managing director Dominic Barton. Ms Nyamayaro said male involvement was "critical" as a catalyst for change. Emma Watson asks Malala Yousafzai about feminism The HeForShe movement, which boasts actress Emma Watson as an ambassador, wants to create global gender equality by 2030 - a big task, since not one country has achieved this feat, according to Ms Nyamayaro. "This is just really the beginning. It's easy to make commitments, but these institutions promised to make that commitment and show how they will get there. There are clear targets and a timeline," she said. "Next year I hope the numbers will improve." Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A rapid safari this week through a selection of barber shops and beauty parlours in central Florida suggests Hillary Clinton may be in deeper trouble in the crucial swing state than her campaign acknowledges, with her bulwark of support from minority voters showing unexpected cracks. For both the candidates in the presidential race, taking Florida on election day is more or less vital. Concern in the Clinton campaign that she may fall short deepened on Monday after the release of a New York Times poll giving her an advantage of only 41 to 40 per cent in the state. Recommended Read more Trump calls for racial profiling after New York and New Jersey bombs To test sentiment among voters, The Independent dropped by several salons commercial confessionals where secrets, political and romantic, are often shared along the I-4 corridor between Orlando and Tampa (named after the Interstate that links them). If Florida is a must-win for capturing the nation, this densely populated stretch is a must-win for capturing Florida. Quizzed between the buzz of electric clippers and the hiss of compressed air clearing discarded locks and lashes on their voting intentions, black and Hispanic people were starkly divided, wth fewer saying they were sure to support Ms Clinton than indicating a preference for Donald Trump. Their reasons were varied, but almost all expressed the hope that he would be a strong leader. Among them was Jerry, who, tending to a young patron at the Latino Barbershop in Lakeland, midway between Orlando and Tampa, has reason to be concerned. His cousin was among the victims at the mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando in July. He says that that, coupled with concerns he has over illegal immigrants not working for a living, makes him a Trump supporter. I think he deserves a chance to run this country, Jerry, originally Puerto Rican, says of Mr Trump. Look they put another bomb in New York. They doing something about it? Trump wants to do something about that. We need somebody stop that. People coming here and killing us. He adds: They killed my cousin. My cousin was a good person, he didnt fight with nobody. But at Chacalitos, another Hispanic barbers across the street, Mike, an African American with a complete row of gold front teeth, marvels that anyone could support the New York billionaire. "He's an idiot, look at how he carries himself. You can't take him seriously, he don't stand for nothing." A convicted felon, Mike is barred from voting. But if he could, he wouldn't be supporting Ms Clinton either. "She sucks too," he says. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigning in Miami last week (AP) The New York Times poll had Mr Trump trouncing Ms Clinton among white voters of all education levels in the Sunshine State. To stave him off, therefore, Ms Clinton must sustain overwhelming margins with blacks and Hispanics. Its why she will be campaigning in the Orlando area, where there is an especially large Puerto Rican population, on Wednesday. She will also try to stanch the bleeding among white voters, including retirees and white women. It could be difficult. Take Betty she, like others interviewed, gave only one name a customer at Salon 720 in Celebration, an upscale township created by Disney where hanging moss on the trees is the closest thing to litter. She also cites the recent bombs in New York as she speaks up for Mr Trump. Trump is the only one who has brains and we need a change, she declares, fresh from one of her twice-weekly hair-dos and stints under the dryer. If America ever needed a change its right now. Trump, Trump, Trump. He is a guy who doesnt smoke, doesnt drink and he doesnt lie. Donald Trump's most controversial campaign moments Hillary? Take her off the face of the Earth, she hisses, looking across to another customer also white but younger who nods in agreement. She doesnt need to be there. She is a liar. She has taken everything she can from us. Immigration needs to be taken care of, everything needs to be taken care of in these United States. We are pitiful. Of course, support for Ms Clinton among black and Hispanic voters is still significant. In nearby Kissimmee at the Hall of Fame salon, Jose, whose parents came to America from Cuba and Puerto Rico, leads a team of Hispanic barbers who are almost united but not quite in wanting to support the former First Lady. And he could never imagine giving his vote to Mr Trump. I think he is a scumbag, Jose insists, tidying around the ears of the day's first customer. I really think he is a scumbag from the bottom of my heart, I dont think he is a good person. He is a good business guy because he scammed his way to being as rich as he is. Deeper inside the salon a co-worker, also called Jose, argues that Mr Trumps business experience doesn't mean he'd make a good president. You wouldnt bring a client to mechanic shop to get a hair cut. And as a barber I wouldnt try to be full-blown mechanic. He might be a billionaire, he may know the business aspects of things but as far as running the country, I will go with Hillary Clinton. But even in this shop, consensus around Ms Clinton is missing. Another barber with a heavy beard and tattoos on his neck, Mike, pipes up that Mr Trump would more effectively fight Isis. Bomb em all. Have got to bomb em man. People on the other side in the Middle East, they gotta go," he blurts, with a face of mild embarrassment, before going on to say, as Mr Trump does, that illegal immigrants must leave the country,. People cant just come to this country and just live here." Even at the Hall of Fame, not everyone can agree on who to support (David Usborne) Nor is Ms Clinton much loved at Relax on the southern edge of Orlando, which has a mostly black clientele. Billy Baptiste, the chief barber, cites the disarray in his native Haiti as reason not to vote for her. Those people they messed Haiti, those Clinton people, there are the ones that messed up Haiti. He concedes he couldnt vote for Mr Trump either, however, because of his rhetoric on immigration. Imagine the Prime Minister of England saying, you know what, I want all the Arab people in England to go back. Come on man, you cant do that. His solution: to not vote at all this time and hope for a better choice in four years time. HIs customer, Slevin Bruno, who is also African American, is also dismissive of the Democrat. She is a traitor, he says. Meanwhile, Jameson Fleurent, awaiting his turn in Joses chair, offers that it is Ms Clintons gender that is the problem. She is a woman. No, God dont like that, he explains. I voted Obama, but not Hillary Clinton. God dont like that - a woman at the top. Hairs to You in East Tampa, where Trump, not Clinton, is favoured (David Usborne) At Hairs To You, a simple African American barbers on a busy street corner in East Tampa, its owner, Lord, professes to have no interest in the election, even if CNN is playing on the screen above him talking about almost nothing but. Slowly, though, he gets voluble on the topic. He voted for Mr Obama before, but will not be doing so for Ms Clinton. You have got to look at the world. Who is better qualified to make the economy better? The only way to know youre standing up, you got to fall down, you know. Donald Trump done a lot of falling down and a lot of standing up. Experience. Even though Donald Trump might be who he is, but as far as making the economy I think he is more qualified. Thats what people want. When Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney in Florida four years ago, it was by an average of just six voters per precinct across the state. Ms Clintons campaign believes she can similarly just about keep Mr Trump at bay in spite of his wide lead among whites, if they can get the black and Hispanic communities to turn out to vote to vote in large enough numbers. But if it turns out they are as susceptible to the Trump siren songs of strength against terror and untold business acumen, then even that won't be enough to save her. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} On Monday, Donald Trumps eldest son, Donald Jr, sought to explain his fathers tough policy on refugees and terror by comparing the issues to rainbow-coloured sweets. The scion of Americas most soiled real estate brand tweeted an image of a bowl of Skittles, accompanied by an ominous caption. If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you three would kill you, would you take a handful? it asked, concluding: Thats our Syrian refugee problem. As it turns out, Trump Jrs tweet had its own refugee problem: the photographer who took the picture of the bowl of Skittles was once a refugee himself. David Kittos, who posted the image on Flickr six years ago under an all rights reserved licence, fled as a child from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. Now 48 and a British citizen, he lives in Guildford, Surrey. The picture was used without his permission. I dont support [Trumps] politics and I would never take his money to use it, Kittos told the BBC. I would never approve the use of this image against refugees. Kittos said he took the photo in 2010 to practice flash techniques. He does not use Twitter and was told about Trumps controversial tweet by friends on Tuesday. He has considered taking legal action. I am Greek-Cypriot by birth and in 1974 I was a refugee because of the Turkish occupation, he said, explaining his refugee past. I was six years old. We lived in the area of Cyprus that is now under Turkish military control. We had to leave everything behind overnight. Our property and our possessions. In his tweet, Trump Jr asserted: This image says it all. Lets end the politically correct agenda that doesnt put America first. In fact, the image doesnt say it all. The small bowl in Kittoss photograph would contain approximately 100 Skittles, three of which Trump Jr, 38, suggests could be killers. But a recent report by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that an Americans odds of dying in a terrorist attack perpetrated by a refugee in any given year are about one in 3.64 billion. Thus, Philip Bump of the Washington Post calculates, to contain three killer Skittles, the bowl in Trump Jrs tweet ought to be filled with around 10.93 billion sweets in total. Without addressing its statistical inaccuracies, Skittles parent company Mars Inc also criticised Trump Jrs underlying comparison. Skittles are candy. Refugees are people, the firm said in a statement. We don't feel it is an appropriate analogy. The United States is deeply concerned by the South Sudanese government's increasing efforts to silence South Sudanese civil society groups. The UN Security Council, led by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and Senegalese Permanent Representative Fode Seck, recently met with civil society representatives during a visit to South Sudan. Ambassador Power said she was "outraged to learn that the South Sudanese government harassed and threatened civil society actors following the council's visit." State Department spokesperson John Kirby said, "We have consistently expressed our longstanding concern about the intimidation of civil society representatives to senior South Sudanese officials and have demanded an end to these acts, which have included violence, intimidation, and threats to shut down civil society groups and to seize their assets. Recently, these actions have been taken under the guise of the recently passed Non-Governmental Organizations Act and the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission Act. Together, these Acts are being used to severely limit the ability of civil society and humanitarian organizations to function effectively in South Sudan. The [2011] Transitional Constitution of South Sudan protects the rights of freedom of expression, assembly, and association. The United States urges the Government of South Sudan to respect these inalienable rights and to allow unhindered political and civic engagement, as these are vital elements for an environment conducive to the stabilization of South Sudan. A free and vibrant civil society is the cornerstone of any democracy. As South Sudan seeks an end to the conflict, organizations must have the freedom to operate unhindered by government intimidation, and the South Sudanese people need to be free to voice their opinions in order for there to be a lasting return to peace. Ambassador Power said, "The United States condemns any attempts by governments to silence freedom of expression, and we condemn all restrictions on civil society actors who organize peacefully and provide constructive criticism. The voices of civil society must be elevated, not silenced." Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Hillary Clinton has made her most pointed plea to millennials on the campaign trail to date, urging them to get out and vote - and warning them of the dangers of the Republican alternative. But her message remains overshadowed by the spectre of the Bernie Sanders campaign, which energised young people in a fashion that Ms Clinton has so far failed to replicate. Recommended Read more Clinton activates old rival Bernie Sanders to rally Ohio millennials Speaking to a room packed to the brim with students at Temple University in Philadelphia on Monday, Ms Clinton lauded millennials as the most inclusive, progressive, and entrepreneurial generation the US has ever seen, and laid out her list of policies that would benefit the powerful young voting bloc. The crowd erupted when she announced a position that sounded similar to a signature policy of her former rival, Mr Sanders. I worked with Bernie Sanders on a plan, she said. We came up with a plan that makes public college tuition-free for working families and debt-free for everyone. Millennials, or voters under 35, were crucial components of Barack Obamas winning coalition in 2008 and 2012, and were key to Mr Sanders long-sustained candidacy. But Ms Clinton has struggled to gain their favour. US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump shakes hands with Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at the conclusion of their first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York Reuters US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures President Barack Obama embraces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on stage at the party's convention in Philadelphia US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Donald Trump's wife Melania delivered a speech at the GOP convention in Cleveland that was later found to have been cribbed in part from Michelle Obama's 2008 convention address AP US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Hillary Clinton talks to reporters aboard her new campaign plane on Labour Day, 5 September, her first 'press conference' since 2015 (Getty Images) US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Donald Trump held a joint press conference with Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City in August, hours before reiterating his harsh immigration plans at a campaign rally in Arizona Reuters US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Bernie Sanders officially endorsed Hillary Clinton, saying his progressive vision for a transformed America would be best served by the defeat of Donald Trump Reuters US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Khizr and Gazala Khan appeared at the DNC to slam Trump for his stance on Muslim immigration, citing the case of their son Humayun Khan, who was killed in combat while serving as a Captain in the US Army in Iraq US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is doing better in polls than any third party candidate since Ross Perot, 20 years ago Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Green Party candidate Jill Stein (centre) marches with supporters in Colorado AP US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Hillary Clinton and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine at a rally in Kaine's home state in July, days before Ms Clinton tapped him to be her running mate Getty US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Trump on the campaign trail with his vice presidential pick, Indiana governor Mike Pence AP US election 2016: the race for the White House in pictures Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage appears at a Trump rally in Mississippi in August, where he told the crowd that he 'wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me'. The Clinton campaign suffered a major blow in recent polls that indicate her lead amongst younger voters has all but disappeared. Last weeks Quinnipiac University poll found that Ms Clinton has 31 per cent of likely voters under 35, while Donald Trump has 26. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson has 29 per cent. In her address in Philadelphia, Ms Clinton acknowledged that younger voters were flocking to third party candidates like Mr Johnson or Jill Stein of the Green Party in the wake of Mr Sanders concession. Even if youre totally opposed to Donald Trump, you may still have some questions about me, she said. I get that. And I want to do my best to answer those questions. She added: I need you as partners, not just for winning this election, but for driving real change. In her latest appeal to millennials, the Clinton campaign has aggressively deployed the likes of Mr Sanders, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Michelle Obama, and Mr Obama who has delivered a number of enthusiastic and impassioned speeches for Ms Clinton in the past week, and made his case for the former Secretary of States experience and expertise. We always like the new, shiny thing I benefited from that when I was a candidate and we take for granted sometimes what is steady and true, and Hillary Clinton is steady, and she is true, he said during his Philadelphia appearance last week. Bernie Sanders says Trump Presidential campaign about 'bigotry' The young people who are here who all youve been seeing is just the nonsense thats been on TV, he added, you maybe dont remember all the work that she has had to do, and all the things that she has had to overcome. Mr Sanders reminded college students about the burden they will face when they leave their schools with student loan debt. Eighty-three per cent of American families should be able to send their kids to public college and universities tuition free, he told students at the University of Akron in Ohio on Sunday. So when you go out and talk to your friends and they say, Oh God, Im not going to vote, its a waste of time, every body is terrible, ask them how much theyre going to leave school in debt with. Ask them about that. Ms Warren, who has become a champion of economic reforms and one of the most vocal critics of Mr Trump for the Clinton campaign, unleashed another scathing attack on the New York businessmans appeal to racist groups in the country. Trump has more support from the Aryan nation and the Ku Klux Klan than he does the leadership of the Republican Party, she told an audience at Cleveland State University. For years, Trump has led the charge on the birther movement, and only when his handlers tied him down and made him, did he finally admit that it wasnt true. What kind of man does that? A man with a dark and ugly soul, a man who will never be president." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Indian market traders are spray-painting and dying fruit to make it appear more natural and boost sales, it has been claimed. Footage passed to The Independent shows a man at stall in Dehli applying the paint to a mound of unripe lychees. Despite the filmmaker warning him of the dangers, the trader explains he cannot wait for them to ripen and needs the money to survive. India's food adulteration epidemic has long been an issue of concern, with food safety officers warning that milk, oil and spices are most commonly altered, along with fresh fruit and vegetables. In 2015, Indias food regulator found 20% of Indian food had been adulterated in some way or misbranded. Dyes and chemicals are used by some farmers to disguise unripe or rotting fruits and vegetables, including known carcinogens malachite green and calcium carbide. Produce can also be coated in silicone or wax to give it a fresh-looking shine and to act as a preservative. Professor Anthony Dayan, retired toxicology academic from Barts hospital, said consumption of malachite green had particularly alarming health implications. Low doses of malachite green over a long period damage the liver and the kidneys, and are associated with cancer, he told The Independent. Most industrial grades of malachite green may contain quantities of arsenic, it's not by any means a benign compound. He also questioned the motivation behind food alteration, asking: What are you disguising underneath? Is it rotten? Is it covered with fungus? Is it fit to eat? The best case scenario is it will be unpleasant, and in the worst case, it could be very harmful indeed. Recommended Read more Farmer suicides soar in India as deadly heatwave hits 51 degrees Celsi Dr Vikram Patel, Professor of International Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said farmers were facing crippling pressure to stay in business, which pushes some to drastic measures to increase the yield they send to market. Indian farmers are in considerable distress," he told The Independent. Many of them have very small holdings and are increasingly finding competition from larger agricultural operations. Globalisation of agriculture threatens the livelihood of farmers which, along with climate uncertainty, makes farming a risky profession. I wouldn't be surprised at all if farmers were resorting to this measure. Calcutta resident, who asked to be identified only as Ramma M, told how difficult it was to buy produce at her local market for fear it had been contaminated with toxic chemicals. She told The Independent: "I've seen vendors locally merrilly dipping vegetables in a bucketful of green colour, one can see clearly that it is dye. "I have protested time and again but I never get a response. "The only choice left for people like me who don't want to eat these chemicals is we don't buy them if we see buckets of dye nearby. India's 'miracle' biofuel crop: too good to be true? Show all 2 1 /2 India's 'miracle' biofuel crop: too good to be true? India's 'miracle' biofuel crop: too good to be true? 306941.bin AFP PHOTO/HO/MISSION BIOFUELS INDIA India's 'miracle' biofuel crop: too good to be true? 306942.bin AFP PHOTO / Carlos LITULO G Vinod Dayal, a food safety officer based in Hyderabad, told the Times of India his department would continue to proactively crack down on vendors engaging in the dangerous practice. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The president of the Philippines has said his violent crackdown on drug dealers and criminals will continue across the islands, after saying it would not be possible to kill all of those involved in the south east Asian narcotics trade. Rodrigo Duterte was elected in May on the promise of preventing the Philippines becoming a narco-state, by vowing to kill those involved in the import or selling of illegal drugs. Over 3,000 suspects have so far been killed since the election - 1,100 by police officers and a further 2,000 by unknown assailants. The president said he intended to extend his crackdown by maybe another six months. I did not realise how severe and how serious the drug menace was in this republic until I became president, Mr Duterte told reporters. Even if I wanted, I cannot kill them all because the final list would be so thick. The president previously offered security officials bounties for the bodies of drug dealers, and has vowed to protect police from arrest or prosecution over the killings. The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Show all 9 1 /9 The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On killing drug addicts These sons of whores are destroying our children. I warn you, dont go into that, even if youre a policeman, because I will really kill you. If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Message to China I will go there on my own with a Jet Ski, bringing along with me a [Phillipino] flag and a pole, and once I disembark, I will plant the flag on the runway and tell the Chinese authorities, Kill me AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Christmas message to law-breakers If you do not want to stop, and just continue committing crimes, then this would be your last Merry Christmas AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On sex life I was separated from my wife. Im not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On the drugs trade None of my children are into illegal drugs. But my order is, even if it is a member of my family, kill him'" AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting the Pope We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the pope. I wanted to call him: Pope, son of a wh**e, go home. Do not visit us again AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Joke about rape I saw her face and I thought, 'What a pity... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first AFP/Getty The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting Barack Obama "Mr Obama should be respectful and refrain from throwing questions at me about the killings, or son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum" REUTERS The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants "If I have to face them, you know I can eat humans. I will really open up your body. Just give me vinegar and salt, and I will eat you. If you annoy me to the fullest... I will eat you alive. Raw" EPA On the campaign trail in early 2016, Mr Duterte said 100,000 people would be killed during his crackdown on drugs - a vow severely criticised by the UN and human rights charities. In early September, Mr Duterte called US president Barack Obama a son of a whore when it was suggested he would be questioned over the killings, leading to Mr Obama cancelling a meeting between the pair. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A false alarm over a reported hijacking on a Saudia Airlines plane carrying more than 400 people has sparked a huge security operation at Manila Airport. The pilot informed air traffic controllers the aircraft was under threat as it came into land in the Philippines on Tuesday but authorities later said there was no danger. Saudia also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines attributed the incident to a false alarm for hijacking in a statement. The flight from Jeddah to Manila was isolated after a threat was reported on board (Sky News) (Sky) The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said investigations were underway on Tuesday afternoon after the plane mistakenly sent a distress call. Flight SV872, from Jeddah, was 20 miles from landing when the threat was reported, with controllers sending the Boeing 777 to land in an isolated area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Officials said a hijack warning button was repeatedly pressed by the flight crew, sparking the mobilisation of security forces and isolation procedures. Eddie Monreal, manager of the MIAA, said the distress call was sounded twice but the pilot later told air traffic controllers the signal was a mistake. The plane landed at around 3pm local time (8am BST), with television footage showing emergency services at the scene. Footage taken by passengers on board showed flight crew checking passengers' documents amid rumours Indonesian nationals were using Philippine passports. 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 Its 410 passengers and 21 crew were later allowed to disembark from the aircraft, with some wearing the traditional white clothing signifying they had carried out the Hajj pilgrimage. The incident came as millions of Muslims return from the annual journey to the Saudi Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina, which must be carried out once by every Muslim according to the five pillars of Islam. In February, Philippine officials announced they had strengthened security for Saudi Arabias embassy in Manila and its national airline, with armed officers posted to guard the Saudia boarding zone and luggage bays because of a possible threat. Security remains high in the Philippines amid an Islamist insurgency by the Isis-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group in the south and the ongoing war on drugs waged by President Rodrigo Duterte. Since he took office in June, more than 3,000 suspected drug users and dealers have been killed by security forces and vigilantes, raising international alarm over judicial process. Among them is Aurora Moynihan, the daughter of the late peer Lord Anthony Moynihan, who was found shot dead in Manila with a note reading: Pusher to the celebrities, you are next. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A polar bear allegedly being held in cruel conditions at a shopping centre in China will not be moved to a British zoo, after the aquariums manager refused calls for it to be transferred. A petition to remove the bear, named Pizza, gained more than half a million signatures after photos were posted online from the Grandview facility in Guangzhou, south China. Pizza was shown lying on the ground in a room without windows, looking visibly distressed as tourists crowded around to take photographs. Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster confirmed it would offer a new home to the bear, but declined an offer of money due to fear that any funds could be used to buy more animals. The park is home to a purpose-built environment for polar bears and currently has four of the animals living there. 'World's saddest polar bear' However, Grandview general manager Fan said there had been no formal contact from the zoo and argued there was no need for foreign organisations to get involved. "We are a legally compliant aquarium, run according to Chinese standards and protecting animal rights. In the future we will strengthen the protection of animal rights and welfare," he told AFP. Hong Kong-based Animals Asia said the cost of transferring pizza 10,000km to Doncaster will be raised charitably if the offer is accepted, and confirmed they had organised a meeting with Grandview to discuss the issue. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The charitys welfare director Dave Neale said Grandview have the chance to put their mistake right and encouraged them to accept the offer. We would be delighted to see Pizza end up at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, he told BBC News. There can be a happy ending - Pizza would not only enjoy incredible facilities, he would also be part of a community of bears. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An asylum seeker has stabbed a man he accused of drugging and raping him in an Austrian refugee shelter. The 45-year-old Moroccan man made the allegation after being arrested for attempted murder in Vienna and remains in custody. A spokesperson for the state police said officers were called to refugee accommodation in the Favoriten district shortly before midnight on Sunday. The suspect attacked a 27-year-old man with a knife and stabbed him in the chest area, he added. Austria adopts strict laws to keep out refugees Other residents of the accommodation came to the victims aid and called the police. The stabbing victim, a Syrian national, was taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition but has now stabilised and is undergoing treatment for serious injuries. In the aftermath of the attack, the assailant accused his victim of rape, which the stabbed man vehemently denied when questioned by police. Earlier on Sunday, the Moroccan man had himself been treated in hospital for wounds consistent with a sexual assault, telling doctors he had been raped by two men in Ottakring. Police confirmed officers were sent to the hospital after being called by staff shortly after noon but did not say what, if any, action was taken before the claimant was discharged. He said he had been in an apartment with two men who offered him a lemonade, which he drank shortly before starting to feel dizzy and falling unconscious, when he says he was raped by both men. Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The Solidarity With Refugees group said Saturdays protest aimed to show our Government and the world that Britain is ready to welcome more refugees. Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis People march through central London as they take part in a protest rally organised by Solidarity with Refugees in a bid to urge the Government to take more action on the migrant crisis Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The protest comes days before world leaders meet to discuss crisis at UN General Assembly Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Demonstrators made their way from Park Lane to Parliament Square in London on Saturday afternoon Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Marchers chanted refugees are welcome here and waved banners reading no-one is illegal and lets help people Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The march was supported by charities and groups including the Red Cross, Asylum Aid, Save the Children, Hope Not Hate, Oxfam and the UN Refugee Agency Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis In the wake of Alans death, David Cameron pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK over the coming five years but there have been additional calls to re-home those who have already reached Europe, as well as asylum seekers coming from other conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan Rex Features Under 12 hours later, the man stabbed his alleged attacker in the chest. Investigators in Vienna are treating the two crimes as linked, with specialists examining blood samples from the Moroccan man for traces of date rape drugs and attempting to locate the alleged crime scene. At least 26,400 asylum applications have been lodged in Austria so far this year, with the country lying on the Balkans route taken by more than a million migrants who landed in Greece last year to reach Western Europe. More than 85,000 asylum seekers arrived in the country in 2015 but the government has pledged to only accept a maximum of 37,500 applications this calendar year. Construction has started on a one-mile fence planned for Austrias border with Hungary, which hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers have crossed, following a fence barring the way from Slovenia. The preparations, which involve burying vertical pipes for fence poles in the ground, began on Monday, but a decision whether to put up a new fence has not officially been reached. Construction workers making preparations for a fence along the Austrian Hungarian border near Nickelsdorf on 19 September 2016. (EPA) The barrier, near the town of Nickelsdorf, will only be erected if politicians decide to activate a controversial new package of measures enabling the country to turn away many of those seeking asylum. Measures, including a rapid assessment of potential claims at the border, could be triggered by the end of October to keep numbers below the annual cap. Humanitarian agencies have criticised the plans, which come after the flow of refugees crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece was dramatically cut by the EU-Turkey deal, seeing arrivals detained under threat of deportation if their applications fail. Hungary has built a fence along its borders with Serbia and Croatia, and Balkan countries have introduced restrictions of their own largely shutting down the route into the heart of Europe. More than 3,200 migrants have died so far this year attempting treacherous sea crossings to Italy and Greece, while 300,000 have made the journey. Many of those trying to reach the UK remain trapped in the Jungle camp in Calais, where a 14-year-old Afghan boy was run over while trying to reach his family last week. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} You cant catch a big fish with a small, thin rod responded Volodymyr Groysman, the prime minister of Ukraine, when asked why not a single big fish has been convicted in a country rated as the most corrupt in Europe. Sergii Leshchenko, an MP in the party of Petro Poroshenko, Ukraines president, held that this was because the Presidents cronies are deeply enmeshed in graft. I think the main problem is the lack of political will to fight corruption among the Ukrainian leadership he claimed. President Poroshenko will be addressing the UN General Assembly this week; an address in which he will accuse Vladimir Putin of continuing to destabilise Ukraine, and complain about voting for Russias parliamentary elections being extended to Kremlin-occupied Crimea. President Poroshenko has not been personally accused of corruption, but the issue continues to hang over him and it is due to be a key topic of discussion when he meets Barack Obama in New York. US vice-president Joe Biden has, in the past, flown to Ukraine specifically to stress how corruption was eating into the country like a cancer and putting international support at risk. Western diplomats are exasperated by the failure to combat the endemic problem which keeps Ukraine at the bottom of Transparency Internationals corruption index for the continent. This, they point, is still the case two years after the overthrow of the Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych a revolution which was supposed to herald in a dawn of democracy and accountability. Now the IMF has decided to release another billion dollars in aid to Ukraine money which has been frozen since February when the Kiev government was told it must carry out essential anti-corruption and economic reforms to receive the funding. The positive decision by the IMF is evidence that the world recognises that reforms are happening in Ukraine, that real and positive changes are happening in Ukraine, and that the country is moving in the right direction, President Poroshenko declared. But the executive board of the IMF has pointedly stated that Ukraine has failed to meet all the conditions it was supposed to have done. And, days after the money, part of a $17.5bn (13.41bn) package over three years, was released the European Union announced that it will initiate a fresh programme to tackle corruption in the country. Russia, which says it is owed $3bn by Ukraine, has opposed the IMF extension, with finance minister Anton Silunov charging that the decision is clearly being taken in non-compliance with applicable rules. Kiev has disputed the amount being demanded by Moscow; the matter will be decided in a court case in London next January. The reform move by the European Union was announced by Danish foreign minister Kristian Jensen whose country will run the programme at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Conference held in Kiev. Mr Groysman and Mr Leshchenko had also used the conference to make their remarks about corruption and malpractice. When the audience, comprising of senior international and Ukrainian public figures, was asked how many of them believed that the government was carrying out a serious fight against corruption, only two out of the 200 present raised their hands in assent. Mr Groysman is the second prime minister of Ukraine who has had to admit that no rich businessmen or oligarchs had faced prosecution since the fall of Mr Yanukovych. This echoed a similar admission last year from his predecessor, Arseniy Yarsenyuk. Investigations against suspects who are influential either simply have not taken place, or have been dropped. Geoffrey Pyatt, until recently the American ambassador, publicly cited the example of the former Ukrainian ecology minister, Mykola Zlochevsky, who had assets of $23m seized in London last year. The office of the general prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, maintained that Mr Zlochevsky had no case to answer and returned the money to him. President Poroshenko was forced to sack Mr Shukin under pressure from the European Union and the US seven months ago. Anders Aslund, an eminent Swedish economist who had played an important role in reforming a number of former Warsaw Pact economies, told the Conference that drastic measures were needed to deal with the deeply tainted judicial system. Do what was done in Germany and Georgia, sack all the judges, start with a clean slate he said. Only about five per cent of them are honest. Thats why no senior person has been prosecuted in the last five years. The few honest ones can be rehired. Mr Shukin was replaced as prosecutor general by Yuriy Lutsenko, who had been a political prisoner under President Yanukovych. Ukraine: Nation on the brink of bankruptcy Show all 4 1 /4 Ukraine: Nation on the brink of bankruptcy Ukraine: Nation on the brink of bankruptcy 142065.bin REUTERS Ukraine: Nation on the brink of bankruptcy 142066.bin REUTERS Ukraine: Nation on the brink of bankruptcy 142067.bin REUTERS Ukraine: Nation on the brink of bankruptcy 142064.bin AP But Mr Lutsenko is himself now under fire from several quarters. Mustafa Nayeem, a young MP of Afghan descent who was one of the chief instigators of the Maidan protests, accused Mr Lutsenko of letting down the principles of the revolution and consorting with the same oligarchs and political strongmen who prospered by manipulating the system in the past. Mr Lutsenko is a hostage of the old elite, he needs to refresh his team, bring in a new, effective team, said Mr Nayeem. If you criticise the system now you are accused of being a populist, even of working for the Russians: thats how they try to deflect blame. Mr Lutsenko insisted that changes were taking place, new people are being appointed who would clear out the traitors and the briber, they will deal with corruption. But, the general prosecutor wanted to add, it is not the case that the reform programme is a battle between fluffy white angels and old ugly dinosaurs. Vitaly Kasko, a former deputy prosecutor general who now works for Transparency International, remained unconvinced. He said: The prosecutor generals office should be cleansed starting from the top. But they are not doing that. Instead, Lutsenko is saying there are no angels or demons in the prosecution service. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Work has started on the UK-funded barrier dubbed the Great Wall of Calais. The four metre-high concrete wall, which stretches for nearly a mile, is being built along the main motorway to the port in northern France. Reports suggest the project will cost 1.9 million, as part of a 17 million cash injection announced earlier this year. The wall is intended to add a further layer of protection against attempts to delay or attack vehicles as they approach the port. Work on the barrier began in recent days and it is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Recommended Read more Building a wall in Calais will only deepen the shame felt by Europe Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill referred to plans to build a big new wall when he appeared before MPs earlier this month. The Road Haulage Association hit out at the initiative, saying it would be a poor use of taxpayers' money. Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, later told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that while the UK provides money to the French it is up to them how they decide to secure their borders in Calais and around it. She added: It's up to them to decide where they are going to build a wall, a fence, whatever it is they want. PA For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} French police have arrested eight new suspects in connection with the Nice attack. The Paris prosecutors' office said they are all linked to Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the Tunisian Isis supporter who carried out the massacre. He drove a lorry into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city on 14 July, killing 84 people and injuring more than 400 others before being shot dead. Two more victims have subsequently died in hospital. Security Stepped Up Across France Following Nice Attack The eight men, who are Tunisian and French, were arrested on Monday in France's Alpes-Maritimes region and remain in custody. The arrests came as French and Belgian prosecutors continue investigations into the Paris and Brussels attacks, which were carried out by linked cells of Isis militants. Belgium's federal prosecutor extended the custody of three suspects last week - Yasin A, Rabah M and Abderrahmane A, who were all arrested in connection with a foiled terror plot by Reda Kriket. Both countries have been on a high state of alert since the 13 November attacks, were Isis militants armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests killed 130 people at Paris landmarks, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall. In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts near bouquets of flowers near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A woman arrives with a toy and a bouquet of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A woman reacts as she places flowers in front of the memorial set on the 'Promenade des Anglais' where the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice EPA In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack People gather to view the floral tributes near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts near bouquets of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday, in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Floral tributes are laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A child's toy is placed among the floral tributes laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Investigators continue at the scene near the heavy truck that ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores who were celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Crime scene investigators work on the 'Promenade des Anglais' after the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice EPA In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A forensic expert examines dead bodies covered with a blue sheet on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A forensic expert evacuates a dead body on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice, after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts as he sits near a French flag along the beachfront the day after a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Discarded items are left on the beach, not far from the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Bullet holes in the windscreen of the lorry that was driven into the crowd at high speed Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man walks through debris on the street in Nice, France, the morning after a lorry ran into a crowd, killing at least 84 and injuring 50 Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Rescue workers help an injured woman to get in a ambulance AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Authorities investigate a truck after it plowed through Bastille Day revelers in the French resort city of Nice, France AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Celebrations of Bastille Day were targeted by the lorry driver AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack People cross the street with their hands on thier heads as a French soldier secures the area after at least 84 people were killed along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A paramedic attends one of the dozens of people injured in the Nice Bastille Day attack In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Soldiers march on street where the lorry crashed into the crowd REUTERS In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man sits next to a body seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Bodies are seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Children were among the 84 killed in the atrocity, with around 50 more hospitalised Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd L) speaks to the media in Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man walks with his hands up as police officers carry out checks on people in the centre of French Riviera town of Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack With injured people laying in the street police and onlookers react near to a truck in Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of the attack AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police officers speak with a soldier after a truck that ploughed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police shine a light into the cab as they approach the driver's cab of a truck, in Nice AP The massacres were followed by the bombings at Brussels Airport and Maalbeek Metro station, killing 32 people. Isis has also claimed responsibility for a series of "lone wolf" attacks carried out by supporters, including the murder of a Catholic priest in Nice and attempted suicide bombing in Germany. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who carried out the Nice attack, was born in Tunisia and moved to France in 2005, where he worked as a lorry driver. He was not on France's "Fiche S" list of suspected extremists but was known to authorities for traffic offences and assaults. Shortly before his attack, relatives said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been contacted by an Algerian Isis member and watched the group's gory propaganda videos. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Nicolas Sarkozy has demanded that all immigrants must "live like the French" - including speaking the language - in a tubthumping speech ahead of next year's presidential elections. The former French president, 61, denounced the "tyranny of minorities" and said and said he wants to be "the voice of the silent majority". Speaking at a public meeting in Franconville, Paris, on Monday, Mr Sarkozy said he would require immigrants to assimilate if he won the 2017 election. "If you want to become French, you speak French, you live like the French," he said. "We will no longer settle for integration that does not work, we will require assimilation." World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty He added: "Once you become French, your ancestors are the Gauls. 'I love France, I learned the history of France, I see myself as French', is what you must say." Mr Sarkozy also promised to lead a "merciless war" on Islamist terrorism, saying he would be the "president of action". He added: "I will not accept the medieval behaviour that wants men to swim in swimsuits while the women are locked up." The presidential hopeful previously said wearing a burkini is a "political act, it's militant, a provocation". He said the country should not "imprison women behind fabric" and vowed to impose a nationwide ban if he is re-elected. The politician is angling to gain votes from the far-right Front National (FN) for his Les Republicains party. For months Mr Sarkozy lagged in opinion polls behind Alain Juppe, a more centrist former Prime Minister who is his main rival for the November primaries that will choose a conservative candidate for the election. But his popularity has risen after the Isis-inspired attacks in Nice and Normandy. The Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and the U.S. Agency for International Development recently partnered to bring a team of seven experts from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide training from to Indonesian officials from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Customs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and managers from the major Indonesian fishing ports in Manado on how to implement effective Port State Measures. This follows Indonesias ratification of the 2009 Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing. Thirty-one countries, including Indonesia, as well as the European Union, have become party to the agreement which entered into force globally on June 5, 2016. In 2015, MMAF estimated that annual losses from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing cost Indonesias economy approximately $20 billion each year. Port State Measures entail conducting port inspections of fishing vessels that are suspected of being engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in order to prevent their fish products from landing in ports. The training consists of both classroom and hands-on practice to simulate boarding of vessels suspected of illegal activity. It also sets the stage for curriculum development and further training by the Indonesian government that will cascade these skills to all port officials working in Indonesias five designated major fishing ports: 1) Samudera Bungus in West Sumatra, 2) Samudera Nizam Zachman in Jakarta, 3) Samudera Bitung in North Sulawesi, 4) Nusantara Ambon in Maluku, and 5) Nusantara Pelabuhan Ratu in West Java. Through USAID, the United States contributes $39 million to help the Indonesian government protect and manage seven million hectares of ocean and coastal resources. The United States is proud to support Indonesias efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, said Charge dAffaires Brian McFeeters. Illegal fishing steals billions of dollars worth of resources from Indonesias waters each year, hurting those who play by the rules, including tens of thousands of Indonesians who support their families by fishing responsibly and legally. Illegal fishing also undermines efforts to conserve and manage shared fish stocks and threatens the sustainability of all fisheries. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Vladimir Putin intends to essentially resurrect the Soviet KGB service under a new guise as part of major changes to the federal police system before the next presidential election in Russia, according to reports. The proposed Ministry of State Security (MGB) service, would be handed powers once held by the KGB (Committee for State Security) including the prosecution of government critics. The MGB would consolidate both domestic and foreign intelligence operations as well as giving officers authority to conduct criminal investigations. Mr Putin, who served as a KGB officer in East Germany for 15 years during the Cold War, hopes to implement the MGB before the election in 2018, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant. The KGB service was split into various smaller agencies in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The resurrection of the name MGB , as it was the acronym was once used to denote the state security service during the rule of former leader Josef Stalin. It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker Show all 8 1 /8 It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker3.jpg moscowwalks.ru It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker1.jpg moscowwalks.ru It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker5.jpg moscowwalks.ru It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker6.jpg moscowwalks.ru It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker4.jpg moscowwalks.ru It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker2.jpg moscowwalks.ru It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker7.jpg moscowwalks.ru It's the end of the world, so see it out in style... in a Russian Cold War bunker bunker8.jpg moscowwalks.ru Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, told Radio Free Europe: Essentially, this is a case of bringing the band back together. The suggestion is that a presidential security service will remain outside it. But basically speaking, this ministry would reconstitute the KGB in all its aspects. However, sources believe the Kremlin could run into difficulties in trying to find the money for the new grouped agency, including paying compensation to government employees who do not wish to be involved in the renewed programme. Recent parliament elections in Russia were hit by allegations of vote rigging after an official was filmed stuffing papers into a ballot box, as Mr Putins party strengthened its grip on the Duma amid a historically low voter turn-out. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The leader of Syria's one-time colonial ruler has demanded an end to the violence and carnage currently being endured by its citizens, telling the United Nations: Enough is enough. In an impassioned delivery that ran over 20 minutes on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande blamed the Syrian regime for the collapse of a recently-brokered US-Russian ceasefire. The Syrian tragedy will be seen by history as a disgrace for the international community if we do not end it quickly, he told the General Assembly in New York. Russia and Syria deny responsibility for aid convoy strike In a speech that also addressed other issues, including the challenge to different countries of confronting global terror, Mr Hollande said the city of Aleppo, which has once again come under a barrage of air strikes, as a martyred city. Thousands of children have died in bombings, whole populations are starving, humanitarian convoys are being attacked, chemical weapons are being used, he said. I have one thing to say here: enough is enough. The civil war in Syria, now in its sixth year. Anywhere up to 500,000 people are dead and millions have displaced or forced to flee. The situation there is dominating this weeks gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. US President Barack Obama earlier took the podium to declare that diplomacy was the only way to end the devastating war. The US has dispatched US special forces to Syria and is supporting what it terms moderate rebels who are seeking to overthrow the government. The AFP said that the United States and Russia, President Bashar al-Assads ally in the war, earlier chaired a brief meeting of the 23-nation group backing the Syrian peace process, but that there was no breakthrough. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council was to meet to discuss the Syria crisis, with distrust between Washington and Moscow running high. Addressing Russia and Iran, Mr Hollande said they must compel the regime to make peace, warning that if not, they will also, alongside the regime, bear the responsibility for the division and chaos in Syria. I say to the Syrian governments foreign backers that they must compel the regime to enforce peace otherwise they will bear the responsibility for the splitting up of the country and the chaos, he said. Russia and Iran are the main foreign backers of Mr Assad and his government, while the US and UK are among those countries supporting rebel forces seeking to oust him. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Isis is building a moat around Mosul in northern Iraq, in preparation for a long, hard battle against US-backed Iraqi government forces for the biggest city in the jihadists self-proclaimed caliphate. The city of 2 million fell to the militants in 2014 in a lightning advance, and the offensive to recapture it will be the biggest battle Isis has ever fought. Residents say the fighters have been sealing off entire districts and building a network of tunnels across the city to obstruct government troops. The group has been working hard this month to dig a 2m x 2m trench along the citys perimeter and position oil tanks nearby to create a river of fire that would impede advancing troops and hinder aerial surveillance, according to senior Iraq military officers, Mosul residents and local officials based outside the city. The battle to retake Mosul from Isis, which has been forced off significant portions of the territory it seized in Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, could begin as soon as next month. Iraqi forces launched an operation today to retake the northern town of Shirqat, seen as a key stepping stone on the way to recapture Mosul. The jihadists have put up fierce resistance against attacks on some parts of their caliphate over the past two years but melted away in other areas, prompting debate about how they will react to a push on Mosul. Recent activities suggest Isis also called Daesh in Arabic will dig in, presaging a long and bloody fight that could displace large numbers of civilians. Oil trenches, tunnels and suicide attacks will not save Daesh from defeat but they will make the battle more challenging, said Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for the counter-terrorism forces which are expected to spearhead the offensive. We are confident Daesh will fight to their last fighter to keep holding Mosul. There is a gap in the moat on the western approach to the city, so fighters could slip out through the desert and into Syria to regroup if they ultimately decide to surrender Mosul. Rich in Muslim history, Mosul lies at the heart of the state the Islamists have sought to create. It was in the citys main mosque in 2014 that their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a modern caliphate spanning large parts of Iraq and Syria. With much of the population still inside, civilians are a concern for those planning the expected assault. The installation of oil tanks around residential areas raises the risk that air strikes could set off major fires, said Baghdad-based analyst and former army general Jasim al-Bahadli. In addition to the moat, the militants have sealed off central districts of Mosul by stacking cement blast walls on top of each other across main roads, according to photographs taken by residents and seen by Reuters. Smoke billows on the front line as an Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds a position near Hasan Sham village, some 45 kilometres east of the city of Mosul (AFP/Getty) Dozens of trucks were seen earlier this month carrying similar barriers into the airport on the citys southern outskirts, which could be an entry point for attacking forces, local officials and residents said. The militants are using the blast walls to make Mosul airport unfit for planes to land, said Iraqi Army Colonel Mohammed Adnan al-Taie. They used the same tactic before fleeing Qayyara air base, 40 miles south of Mosul, which US forces are helping to refurbish to use as a logistics hub for the Mosul operation. Tunnel network Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pledged repeatedly to retake Mosul by the end of the year, and Iraqi commanders have indicated the main push could begin by the second half of October, though some doubts remain that the necessary troops will be ready. After meeting Abadi in New York on Monday, US President Barack Obama said he hoped for progress by the end of the year. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US militarys Joint Chiefs of Staff, later said Iraqi forces would be ready in October, but the timing would be up to Abadi. Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake the northern town of Shirqat, a stepping stone in the Mosul campaign. Mosul provincial councilman Abdul Rahman al-Wagga said Isis tactics suggest it is desperate to delay the government advance. Witnesses in Mosul say the militants are working hard to dig tunnels, which they have used in the past to launch attacks on Iraqi forces, store supplies and hide from air strikes. I can see Daesh [Isis] digging tunnels everywhere and covering the entrances with sewage covers. My neighbours house is now part of a network of tunnels that reaches across the city, a resident from the Sumer district of southeastern Mosul told Reuters. Internet interviews with five Mosul residents, some of whom are still in the city, suggest Isis is tightening its grip in a bid to weather popular discontent and military setbacks, including assassinations of senior leaders. In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke rises after airstrikes by US-led coalition planes as Iraqi security forces advance against Islamic State extremists in Fallujah, June 15, 2016 AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi security forces advance during heavy fighting against Isis militants in Fallujah, Iraq, on 14 June AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia militia say that moving resources from Fallujah towards the area near Mosul was a 'betrayal' of the battle for the city GETTY In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Hospital sources said 18 bodies were recovered from the river over the weekend AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Up to 60,000 civilians were feared trapped in Fallujah at the start of the Iraqi operation AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold an Isis flag in an operation east of Fallujah the terror group has lost ground in both Syria and Iraq AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold their weapons as they gather near Falluja, Iraq, June 4, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Pro-government forces bid to take back ground from Isis in Fallujah MOADH AL-DULAIMI/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke billows on the horizon as Iraqi military forces prepare for an offensive to retake the city AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah A member of the Iraqi security forces fires artillery during clashes with Isis militants near Fallujah, Iraq, 29 May, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi government forces fire a rocket near al-Sejar village, north-east of Fallujah, on May 26, 2016, as they take part in a major assault to retake the city from the Islamic State group AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters and Iraqi security forces advance towards Fallujah Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters House-to-house searches have increased over the last two months, as the militants pursue local fighters who pledged allegiance to the group but appear to have defected. Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the joint operations command, said intelligence contacts in Mosul were providing accurate coordinates of Isis locations and for conducting assassinations against militants, though Reuters could not confirm those claims. Abadi this week called on Mosul residents to stand up to Isis ahead of the military offensive. Our goal is to liberate the people of Mosul ... and we ask them to shake up Daesh and expel them from Mosul or kill them, he said at a news conference in Baghdad. This will ease the work of the security forces and reduce their casualties. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Seventeen people have been arrested for involvement in Isis cells which carried out past attacks and are planning future ones in the kingdom, Saudi police have said. Eleven of the suspects are Saudi, including the only woman, as well as three Yemenis, two Egyptians and one Palestinian. The individuals were planning future attacks on civilians and against security personnel and government sites, Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki told reporters in Riyadh on Monday. The three cells were preparing improvised explosives and suicide vests for four planned attacks as well as providing logistics, funding, and transportation for other terror acts. 20 kilograms of explosives, weapons and other ammunition were confiscated from one of the cells, as well as 600,000 Saudi Riyals (123,000). One of the cells had been involved in the assassination of a Saudi government officer, and sheltered one of the culprits behind the January attack on a mosque in al-Ahsa which killed four and left 18 injured, police said. Maj. Gen al-Turki said all three of the groups were in touch with leaders abroad for their activities. Saudi Arabia has suffered from several terrorist incidents linked to Isis since the group's leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi urged followers to attack the kingdom in April 2015. They are mainly targeted at Shiite citizens and government or military personnel. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Rebel fighters and Kurdish groups blamed each other, the Russians and the regime for the breakdown of the recently-arranged ceasefire in Syria by Washington and Moscow. An aid convoy going to a rural area near Aleppo was attacked and several warehouses were also destroyed in the town of Uram al-Kubra after Bashar al-Assads regime declared that the truce had failed because the rebels had used the ceasefire to launch an offensive. Syrian activists across the border in Turkey told The Independent that parts of Aleppo had been almost constant bombardment overnight from both regime and also, they claimed, Russian warplanes. Kurdish groups maintained that Jabhat al-Nusra, which recently changed its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and claimed to have ended its links with al-Qaeda had attacked both the south-west and north of the city and one of its targets appeared to be Kurdish neighbourhood of Sheikh Maqsood. The Islamist rebels are also said to have captured part of the strategic Castello highway forcing back regime forces. The versions of what had taken place could not be immediately verified. Speaking at the Turkish town of Gaziantep, Alcan, a Kurdish activist, said Both sides are blaming each other for breaking the deal. But we hear that there was a Jabhat push towards Sheikh Maqsood, they got very closed, but were then stopped. The bombing of the convoy was a separate incident inn a separate area. My friends and I are not supporting Assad, but we are very worried about the Salafists. Eighteen out of the 31 trucks trying to get into the town of Uram al-Kubra with food and medicine for its 80.000 cut off residents were said to have been destroyed in the attack. Russia and Syria deny responsibility for aid convoy strike Jan Egeland, humanitarian coordinator in the office of the UN envoy for Syria said it was outrageous that the convoy was hit while offloading at warehouses. UN humanitarian chief Stephen OBrien called on all parties to the conflict to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law. Mr OBrien, the UNs emergency relief coordinator, said the convoy had been clearly marked and its route had been provided to all parties in the conflict. Let me be clear: if this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime, he added. The US said that, regardless of whether Russian planes were involved in the convoy attack - something Russia has denied - it blamed Moscow for the attack because it was responsible under the ceasefire agreement for reining in Bashar al-Assads government forces. State department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement: The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people. The United States will raise this issue directly with Russia. Given the egregious violation of the cessation of hostilities we will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia.Foreign ministers in the International Syria Support Group were due to meet on Tuesday before the start of the UN general assembly debate. US officials said the Secretary of State, John Kerry would meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to try and save the ceasefire. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} US Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed that the ceasefire in Syria is not dead following an attack on an aid convoy that killed around 20 people near Aleppo. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) has condemned the strike that killed around 20 humanitarian volunteers and one staff member, calling it totally unacceptable. The UN and Red Crescent convoy was delivering aid supplies to Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city, when it was struck on Monday night. At least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit in the strike, which is believed to have been carried out by either Syrian or Russian forces. Russia has denied that its planes carried out the strike, and Syria has denied deliberately targeting the convoy. Mr Kerry who personally negotiated the truce during months of intensive diplomacy with Russia spoke about the crumbling ceasefire after emerging alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from a meeting of foreign ministers of 20 countries, gathered to discuss Syria in New York on Tuesday. The United Nations peace envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said the ceasefire was in effect until its co-sponsors Moscow and Washington declared it over, and neither had done so at Tuesdays meeting. The US State Department said the ministers agreed at the meeting of the International Syria Support Group to continue pursuing the ceasefire under the US-Russian plan. Syrias army had declared the initial ceasefire period over on Monday, hours before the attack on the convoy which has been widely condemned. Failing to respect and protect humanitarian workers and structures might have serious repercussions on ongoing humanitarian operations in the country, hence depriving millions of people from aid essential to their survival, Peter Maurer, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President said in a statement on Tuesday. Today, the Red Cross and Red Crescent is in mourning. The Russian Defence Ministry said in a media conference that intelligence services had looked at drone footage from the incident, and did not see evidence of munitions hitting the convoy. Everything shown in the video is the direct result of a fire which mysteriously began at the same time as a large scale rebel attack on Aleppo, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Supplies are left strewn across the ground in Uram al-Kubra, where around 20 humanitarian volunteers were killed in an attack (Getty) (Getty Images) The US made it clear on Monday night that it holds Moscow responsible for the deaths regardless. We dont know at this point whether it was the Russians or the regime. In either case, the Russians have the responsibility certainly to restrain refrain from taking such action themselves, but they also have the responsibility to keep the regime from doing it, a US State Department statement said. A Red Crescent warehouse and health clinic were also seriously damaged, and aid supplies for thousands of people were destroyed. A video from volunteer rescue group the Syrian Civil Defence, or the White Helmets, shows several vehicles and buildings on fire as ambulances arrive at the scene. A Civil Defence member works to put out a fire after an air strike on the rebel held Uram al-Kubra town, western Aleppo city (Reuters) The UN humanitarian aid agency has said all planned aid drops in Syria have been suspended in the wake of the attack. UN humanitarian chief Stephen OBrien said all warring parties had received notification of the convoy, which was carrying aid for about 78,000 people, warning that if the volunteers and aid workers were deliberately targeted it would amount to a war crime. The attack comes as the seven-day ceasefire in the Syrian civil war expires. The truce between the Syrian opposition and government forces has already been severely tested by multiple violations, including President Bashar al-Assads refusal to let aid enter Aleppo as per the terms of the deal. The Uram al-Kubra convoy was the first to be granted permission to proceed after six days of delays. The area has not received humanitarian supplies since July 2015. Damaged Red Cross and Arab Red Crescent medical supplies are seen in a warehouse (Getty) (Getty Images) Relations were already strained between the US, which backs some rebel groups in Syria, and Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, after a US coalition-led air strike near Isis territory killed at least 62 government soldiers on Saturday. US officials acknowledged there might no longer be any agreement left to salvage after the convoy attack. If the truce is abandoned, it would most likely wreck the last hope of any breakthrough on Syria before the administration of President Barack Obama leaves office in January. A senior Obama administration official said of the ceasefire: We don't know if it can be salvaged. At this point the Russians have to demonstrate very quickly their seriousness of purpose because otherwise there will be nothing to extend and nothing to salvage, the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, added. A burnt out vehicle is abandoned in the road after the fire (AP) Elsewhere at least 20 civilians, including a one-year-old girl, were killed in fresh air strikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and surrounding areas on Monday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Russia said government positions in southwest Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets. The week-old ceasefire had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said that all members of the International Syria Support Group backed continued efforts by the US and Russia to adhere to the original ceasefire deal, and that the group will meet again to discuss the matter further. Additional reporting by agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for immediate action by the global community against the exiled preacher and his political rival, Fethullah Gulen. Speaking to the UN General Assembly, Mr Erdogan declared "necessary measures" need to be taken against US-based Mr Gulen who he holds accountable for the aborted coup d'etat against him in July. Mr Gulen, who fled Turkey for Pennsylvania, has strongly denied the charges he orchestrated or was even involved in the recent military coup. Mr Erdogan said: "I would like to call on all our friends to take the necessary measures against the Fethullah Terrorist Organisation [FETO] in their own countries for the future of their own people and their well-being." "This terrorist organisation is in a deep mental heresy of subduing the whole world, far beyond Turkey. "It is evident from our experience that if you do not fight against FETO now, tomorrow may be too late." Mr Erdogan's government has suspended thousands of teachers and military personnel in an attempt to purge them of Gulen supporters. He told the UN Mr Gulen's movement is active in 170 countries posing a "national security threat" to them all, AFP reports. The Turkish President has also repeatedly called on the United States to extradite Mr Gulen For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US believes Russian warplanes were responsible for an attack on a UN aid convoy operated by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, officials have told CNN. At least a dozen aid workers are thought to have been killed by the air strike, which occurred near Aleppo on Monday, hours after the breakdown of a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has described the incident as "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate." Mr Ban said the UN had suspended its aid convoys following the attack. Speaking to world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York, he said: "The humanitarians delivering life-saving aid were heroes. Those who bombed them were cowards. The bombing was initially blamed on either Russia or Syria's Assad regime. Both have denied that their planes carried out the strike, but the US has reportedly reached the "preliminary conclusion" that two Russian Su-24 jets were responsible, based on the timing and location of the attack. The strike hit at least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy, which was bringing food relief from UN stores to the town of Urm al-Kubra, west of Aleppo, in an area controlled by rebel groups. The attack came amid a resumption of hostilities following the fragile, week-long ceasefire, which it was hoped would mark the beginning of the end of Syria's bloody five-year civil war. The Russian Defence Ministry said its intelligence services had studied drone footage from the incident, and did not see evidence of munitions hitting the convoy. The damage inficted on the trucks was "the direct result of the cargo catching fire, which mysteriously began at the same time as a large scale rebel attack on Aleppo, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. A section of the Russian footage was also released, which Mr Konashenkov said "clearly shows" rebels driving a pick-up truck and a mortar, using the convoy as cover. The US had already made it clear on Monday night that it held Moscow responsible for the deaths, regardless of whose planes carried out the strike. We dont know at this point whether it was the Russians or the regime. In either case, the Russians have the responsibility certainly to... refrain from taking such action themselves, but they also have the responsibility to keep the regime from doing it, a US State Department statement said. US Secretary of State John Kerry who personally negotiated the truce during months of intensive diplomacy with Russia spoke about the crumbling ceasefire after emerging alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from a meeting of foreign ministers of 20 countries, gathered to discuss Syria in New York on Tuesday. Mr Kerry insisted the ceasefire was "not dead" despite the attack, in which a Red Crescent warehouse and health clinic were also seriously damaged, and aid supplies for thousands of people were destroyed. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One day, perhaps not too long from now, you will be able to eavesdrop on editorial conferences at The Independent. You will witness how an idea is turned from a scattering of raw thoughts into (we hope) a polished article. Or, sometimes, turned on its head. Indulge me for a moment to reveal the exchange that preceded this particular story. It was triggered by a revival of interest in a tale The Independent broke in May: British Airways talking to an upmarket supermarket (then Waitrose, now M&S) about selling good-quality food on board European flights. The story was well founded: there will soon be no more free snacks for economy passengers. Editor: I thought the rise and fall of BA might work a look at the history of the carrier, and how it went from elite national airline to basically a budget carrier a la easyJet. Travel correspondent: I'm happy to write about how British Airways is changing, but it wont be what you are looking for. I contend that BA short haul is turning itself into easyJet because it needs to, just as the long-haul part of the airline needed to turn itself into Virgin Atlantic. And its ultimately to the benefit of the British traveller. Now you have the gist of the story, let me make my case. Legacy airlines such as British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa spend too much, relative to what they earn. Their high costs are a result of systems and practices that were established in the glory days (at least in the eyes of some of their older employees) when flying was the glamorous preserve of the wealthy. With high fares and minimal competition, they could afford to provide elaborate meals even in economy class. Once the skies were opened, new airlines started up with none of the excess baggage dragging down the established carriers. The UK was ahead of the rest of Europe in allowing competition. Fares fell, standards rose and the range of routes increased. After a false start involving Laker Airways (whose demise BA was accused of hastening), a music entrepreneur named Richard Branson decided to launch his own transatlantic airline, Virgin Atlantic. The start-up cherry-picked the most popular US destinations, beginning with New York in 1984. Los Angeles and Miami soon followed, with the Caribbean, Asia and Africa later joining the network. With its Upper Class cabin, Virgin offered first-class standards at business fares, and then added an innovative new Mid Class (later Premium Economy). British Airways was forced to respond. In the early days, BA resorted to the notorious dirty tricks campaign, hacking into Virgins reservations data in a bid to poach passengers. After that dark episode ended, the airline simply resolved to be better. As a result of facing a tenacious rival for three decades, BA is well-placed to compete with the ferocious competition to Asia provided by the Gulf carriers, and to North America by the resurgent US airlines. Its long-haul operation is a premium brand, commanding higher fares than rivals - even though the average 747 flown by the airline is 20 years old. British Airways also has the benefit of the majority of slots at Heathrow, the worlds most constrained airport, which would enable its long-haul network to prosper even if inflight standards were lower. But against that advantage must be weighed the threat posed to BA's short-haul network by Europes two budget heavyweights, Ryanair and easyJet. In an intensely price-sensitive market, BA seeks a premium for its Euro Traveller inflight product. It promises: A snack and a bar service, and on some longer flights youll be offered more substantial refreshments. In practice, that means you and I subsidise the excessive drinking of our next-door neighbour who demands a couple of G&Ts at breakfast time, while unfortunate cabin crew are obliged to hand out microscopic snack packs or unappetising sandwiches that they wouldnt dream of serving to guests at home. Through their air fares, BA passengers are involuntarily paying for stuff they dont want and that the crew would rather not offer them. Across at easyJet, meanwhile, inflight catering is a revenue stream rather than a cost. Cabin crew sell handsomely profitable mezze packs (4.50) and pots of couscous and lentil (2.80). Not tempted? Bring your own on board from Pret a Manger. Or see if you can survive for a couple of hours without eating, and then splash out on a decent dinner in Nice, Barcelona or Amsterdam. British Airways is just one component of IAG; the holding company also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia or Vueling. On short-haul flights on those three carriers, economy passengers pay to eat and drink, just as you do in real life at ground level. To compete against easyJet on European routes, BA must simultaneoously cut the crap wrap, and air fares. The opportunity to pay for decent dishes cant come soon enough. One day, perhaps not too long from now, we will wonder what took the airline so long. Assistant United States Trade Representative for South Asia Michael Delaney recently led a delegation to Islamabad to discuss the ongoing U.S.-Pakistan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, known as TIFA, with members of the government of Pakistan. The inter-sessional meeting, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, covered a broad range of trade and investment-related issues, including expanded market access for Pakistani goods in the United States, business-to-business ties, intellectual property, and progress on the Augmented Joint Action Plan for Trade and Investment, as agreed by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during the Prime Ministers October 2015 visit to Washington, DC. Mr. Delaney met with members of the government of Pakistan and discussed issues of bilateral interest. During his meetings, Assistant Trade Representative Delaney emphasized that the United States remains committed to working with the Pakistani government and private sector to enhance bilateral trade and investment ties. The United States is the largest destination for Pakistani exports and is one of the countrys primary sources of foreign direct investment, and in 2015, bilateral trade between Pakistan and the U.S. surpassed $5.5 billion. The U.S-Pakistan TIFA provides a strategic framework and principles for dialogue on trade and investment issues between the two nations. Pakistan and the United States share a relationship based increasingly on trade and investment, and have a five-year action plan to continue to do so, Assistant Trade Representative Delaney said. The United States sees Pakistans prosperity as good for the region and good for the United States. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} They say that the apple doesnt fall far from the tree, and so it is with Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. The son of the Republican presidential hopeful and his first wife Ivana Trump has got himself into a spot of trouble by using a bizarre Halloween-urban-legend-esque allegory to compare Syrian refugees to a bowl of Skittles. If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you three would kill you, would you take a handful? read an image he tweeted, with a picture of a big bowl of the popular sweets for emphasis. Thats our Syrian refugee problem. Apparently America should put itself first, and not undertake its humanitarian responsibilities to offer sanctuary to those (normal Skittles) fleeing from a seemingly unending civil war, because in every batch of refugees there lurks an Isis attacker or three (poisoned Skittles). Its not the first time Trump Jr has mimicked his fathers loose way with words. Last week, the Patrick Bateman lookalike said that if Republicans lied in a fashion similar to Hillary Clintons campaign then the media would be warming up the gas chamber right now. He later denied that he was making a Holocaust reference, though he did say that it was a poor choice of words and that he was in fact referring to a mode of execution still used across the United States. If this is the case, its a pretty niche reference, since only 11 executions in the US have been carried out using a gas chamber since 1976. Either way, the reference to genocide or his Mastermind-level subject knowledge of capital punishment methods is rather worrying. Diagnosing a narcissist with Donald Trump Trump Jrs previous right-wing views are well documented; in fact it is become de rigueur in his role as Team Trumps ambassador to the alt-right. He has out-righted his father by saying that all undocumented workers should have to leave the country if Trump is elected. Conversely, in a recent attempt to soften his image, Trump Sr has suggested that some would be able to stay. Trumps firstborn also posted an image to Instagram in the past that showed his face superimposed on to an image of The Expendables, alongside Pepe the frog, the white supremacists meme of choice. He has appeared on a radio show hosted by white supremacist James Edwards and retweeted the the neo-Nazi movements favourite academic Kevin MacDonald, who believes that Jews have an evolutionary strategy to destabilise American white society by supporting immigration policies designed to undermine American values. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY This is all rather worrying from a man who shares his fathers political hopes of running for office. Trump Jr has expressed his desire to one day run for Mayor of New York, although his father did admittedly tell Fox News, "I don't see that happening. Sometimes whatever you do just isnt good enough for your parents. And Daddy Donald hasnt outsourced his campaigning to Trump Jr alone. As a perfect complement to her brothers appeasement of the far right, Ivanka Trump has been tasked with woman-washing her fathers campaign: helping him to appeal to the female voters with whom he remains notoriously unpopular. College-educated women in particular have become the Trump campaigns Achilles heel, and could end up being the deciding factor in a victory for Hillary Clinton. Trumps eldest daughter has helped to craft a childcare policy for working women, offering tax deductible childcare and six weeks of paid maternity leave for any mother whose employer does not provide the benefit. However, sometimes fathers set you up for tasks that they know you will fail at, because adversity is character-building. Ivanka was recently forced to cut short an interview with Cosmopolitan after being asked to defend her fathers comment that pregnancy is just an inconvenient thing for business. She also oversold the Trump Organisations maternity leave policy. Rather than the eight weeks stated during an interview with Good Morning America, the organisation in fact does not offer any maternity leave and only offers the federal sick and vacation leave. Luckily enough, we need not worry too much about the rest of the clan. Eric Trump seems to be relegated to uttering classic little brother Yea, what he said! comments, having publicly supported his fathers controversial remarks on workplace sexual harassment, waterboarding and the vilification of a fallen Muslim soldier. Tiffany Trump has a killer Instagram account to maintain and Barron William Trump, AKA the Mini Donald, is too focused on his suits (seriously, check them out) and generally being a 10-year-old to worry about politics. Judging by Donald Jr and Ivankas attempts, Id recommend they stay out of it. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Recently three women were arrested for allegedly plotting an Isis directed attack on Paris after French police found a car filled with gas cylinders near Notre Dame Cathedral. It is easy for this to register as just another arrest, but as the list of attempted terror attacks seems to grow and grow, the biographies of these women should concern us. We know little of Sarah Hervouet but we do know that she had been previously engaged to two jihadists. One was Larossi Abballa, the Isis-sworn former-recruiter who stabbed a policeman and his wife to death. The second was Adel Kermiche who in July killed a priest while he said mass. The other women arrested were a mother and her 15 year old daughter. France: Priest killed in ISIL-linked attack on church This pattern of brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, daughters, sons and childhood friends all being recruited in the name of radical Islam, is one we are seeing again and again. Think of the Kouachis, the Abdeslams, the el-Bakraouis - all brothers involved in recent attacks. These relationships give a network strength that cannot be bought. As terrorism expert Mohammed Hafez said trust is already established and the risk of talking to the wrong people is minimized as a result, defection is also betrayal of the cause and ones family. Looking back there are many similarities between Isis and European al-Qaeda networks circa 2000. This includes the presence of criminal backgrounds, experience training or fighting abroad, and the use of fraud and forgery to facilitate their terrorist activity. In these respects, the current threat posed by Isis shows a failure on our part to learn from past mistakes. But one new characteristic stands out the significant increase in family and childhood friendship bonds. The backbone of the new network is formed by families and childhood friends, a number of whom had been involved in petty crime together before graduating to terrorism. It may seem like a mundane observation but this fact has consequences. Unlike past al-Qaeda operatives who came to Europe from North Africa, and therefore had to build their networks in a more opportunistic manner, the new Isis operatives are able to draw on ready-made networks. Born in the countries in which they sought to operate, they already have roots in European cities. This advantage is consciously exploited by Isis it is why they use European jihadists like Frenchman Salim Benghalem as a theatre commander for Europe, or Brussels-born Abdelhamid Abaaoud to organise attacks on European soil. When these men return from Syria, as Abaaoud frequently did, to organise and conduct attacks, they have an established support network back home on which they can rely. They knew that they could count on friends and family to pick them up, drop them off, find them a safe house, and hide them. They also knew, as Hafez implied, that they could trust those around them. Trust is indispensable and its presence or absence is reflected in recruitment styles and their success. Al-Qaeda recruiter Djamal Beghal was far more predatoryand the lack of long-term relationships with his recruits likely hindered his success. Abaaoud, on the other hand, could take these relationships for granted. These long term bonds of trust are one of the most distinguishing features of the network behind the Paris and Brussels attacks meaning that even when the orchestrating figure was taken out of the network, trust remains, and the network doesnt wither. Through these strong bonds, complex networks hold together over time and are even more difficult to dismantle. This is why we should be extremely worried when this characteristic is found it warns us not to be too optimistic when one member of the network is arrested or killed. Emma Webb is a Research Fellow at The Henry Jackson Society, a security and foreign affairs think tank BUSINESSMAN Denis OBrien has revealed plans to personally invest as much as $450m on a network of undersea telecoms cables linking dozens of countries in the Caribbean. The Digicel founder outlined the plan, which could connect up to 40 countries, in a wide ranging interview with Bloomberg Televisions Vonnie Quinn. "One project that we are doing off balance sheet, which I am going to do personally, we are going to lay submarine cable to about 30 countries. That project is about $350m, but were thinking about upscaling it to about $450 to go up to about 40 countries in the Caribbean region, putting high capacity, modern, submarine networks into those countries," he said. Mr OBriens main Digicel business operates telecoms and communications businesses in 31 markets across the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. However, the submarine cable investment is being done in a personal capacity, separate to the group. "That would be a personal project," he said. In addition Digicel itself has invested $1bn over the past 18 months, including rolling out fibre to the home across markets where the group operates, he said. In a wide-ranging interview, the founder of Digicel said an imminent IPO is not on the cards for the firm - and also criticised Europe for 'picking on' Apple over its tax affairs. The financial markets are "too unstable" for flotation, Mr O'Brien told Bloomberg Television. Last October Digicel shelved plans for a stock market listing, citing market conditions. Today he said that the company may revisit the plan if the market improves. In the meantime, he said Digicel business "is growing", and will go into "positive territory" in next 18 months. The group is looking at potential acquisitions, and says Cuba could be an interesting market if the country opens up. In relation to the Apple tax ruling, Mr O'Brien said the US company should not be punished for its tax arrangements in Ireland. The European Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager has ordered the Irish Government to collect 13bn in back taxes from Apple, that the Government says is not owed. "Apple played by the rules," Denis O'Brien told Bloomberg Television. "Brussels is out of control in terms of the federalism agenda," he said. "Vestager just picked on them because they are one of the biggest brands and most valuable companies in the world and said were going to try something here, OBrien said. I dont believe its going to succeed. Mr OBrien, who is a shareholder in INM which owns Independent.ie, said Europe was not a great place to invest "Europe is in a pretty dangerous place at the moment. I think Brussels is out of control in terms of the federalism agenda. I think smaller countries are also concerned about giving up a lot of the decision making to Brussels. And also I think the handling, and I have a lot of sympathy for immigrants coming to Europe, the handling of the immigration crisis was a fiasco, he said. "Europe is not a great place to invest right now. Id single Ireland out. Ireland is the shining light right now. Weve made a fantastic recovery from the banking crisis that weve had. "And despite Brexit, it really puts attention back on Ireland as a great place to invest because youve got a highly trained workforce and proper governance and rules there. Walking around his 200 acre farm located close to Slane, the Hill of Tara and Newgrange, it's no surprise that Eddie Downey describes his life as "wonderful". He runs a highly commercial chicken, tillage and suckler enterprise. His 25,000 chickens lay over 20,000 eggs a day, which are exported mostly to the UK. Although he cherishes every minute he spent at the helm of the IFA, starting and finishing the working day by his own clock is a welcome change. "I get up at 7am and go down to the chicken houses and work for the day. I could stop at 4 in the afternoon or 7 in the evening, but I decide. I used to be gone to meetings in Brussels at 5.30 in the morning," he said. He recalls regular instances where he'd arrive home from meetings in Galway at 2am and be on a plane to Brussels by 6am. "I'm definitely more relaxed. The only stress I have now is farming and I can assure people who think that is a stressful life it is relaxing in comparison to what I was at. Healthwise life is much, much better, I was drained, wrecked, I was at the stage where I think that contributed to the fact that I just pulled the plug, I was that tired from everything," he said. His wife Mary, daughter Alice and son Patrick are also delighted to see more of him. "My family didn't like me being the president of IFA because I was never around, I was always gone. They actually hated the IFA from that point of view but they were very proud of the job I was doing," he said. He also makes time to enjoy a pint in his local pub, a tradition he maintained throughout his tenure in the IFA. He still attends IFA county executive meetings, was at a recent farmers protest in Drogheda over the grain imports and has visited the farm centre on a few occasions. He also hopes to secure a position on the FBD board as the IFA representative. He was nominated by Joe Healy. "I could do a good job there, I'd bring farm knowledge, farmers' viewpoint and a business attitude," he said. Angelina and Brad are known for their volunteer work Actor Brad Pitt (L) and actress/director Angelina Jolie attend the 15th Annual AFI Awards at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on January 9, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI) A-list ambition: Jolie wants to put acting behind her, describes herself as a humanitarian and has political hopes. Photo: AP Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have six kids together. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie wed in September of this year after nine years and six children together. Brad was spotted wearing a wedding band a few days after their French ceremony and confirmed the exciting news. Brad Pitts on-screen chemistry with Marion Cotillard can be seen in this just-released trailer for their World War II thriller Allied. The trailer was released today on the same day that news broke that Jolie (41) is filing for divorce from Pitt (52) after two years of marriage. The couple, known collectively as Brangelina, married in 2014 after nearly ten years together. Jolie cited irreconcilable differences in legal documents filed on Monday, the celebrity news website TMZ said. While Pitt said he was saddened by the divorce proceedings and appealed for privacy. Expand Close Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in Allied. Photo: Paramount Pictures / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in Allied. Photo: Paramount Pictures Pitt headlines his new film Allied with fellow-Oscar winner Cotillard (40). They play two assassins who fall in love during a mission in Casablanca in 1942 to kill a German ambassador. The films producer Graham King reportedly told People that the actors immediately had the utmost respect for each other. In character, their chemistry was electric, he said. The French actress is in a relationship with fellow actor Guillaume Canet, 43. The cast of RTEs Fair City on the set of the show to celebrate the 4,000th episode Photo: Colin Keegan It's been a fixture in the TV schedule since 1989 and tomorrow night RTE's 'Fair City' will celebrate its 4,000th episode. But some viewers still have a tough task distinguishing the long-time characters from the actors who portray them. Tony Tormey, who has been playing Paul Brennan since the soap first aired, said he was recently abused by a member of the public for his character's lady-loving ways while out with his daughter Izzy (10). "I was with my little girl the other day, we went down to the local shop and this woman came up to me and Izzy and goes, 'Are you Paul?' and then she goes, 'Is this your real daughter?' and I go 'Yeah' and she goes, 'What's it like to have a f***er for a daddy?' "Then the other day, this woman threw an empty Coke bottle at me and goes, 'You're a dirty git!' But you don't want to get into a dialogue with someone like that." Tony, who's happily married to wife Kate with whom he has two children, plays one of the few characters who has been with the soap from the very start. The well-known actor said he had no idea when he began that he would still be working with the soap nearly 28 years later. He believes it's down to having such a complex character. "If it was just love rat stuff, the public would probably get bored but the great thing is, I think he's an all-rounded character," he said. Originally pitched as an "urban drama", the long-running show began as a pilot based around four households in a tight-knit Dublin community. When it first went into production, all exterior shots were recorded in the Barron Place area of Drumcondra in Dublin with locals taking on the parts of extras. It moved southside back in 1991, when RTE built a permanent set for Carrigstown on its grounds in Donnybrook. Video of the Day "If someone told me you're still going to be in here in 2016, I would have told them where to get off," Tony said. Clelia Murphy, who plays his long-suffering wife Niamh, said the key to the soap's popularity was that it offered viewers a generous dose of escapism. "If you're just talking about breakfast, dinners and tea and bringing your kids to school, nobody wants to watch that because it reminds them of their own lives," she said. "Soap is a legitimate way of gossiping and bitching - you don't feel guilty because they're not real people." Meanwhile executive producer Brigie de Courcy, who has worked on more than 2,000 episodes of the soap, said they were always conscious of budgets when working on the soap. "There are challenges all along the line," she said. She said they had to be careful about writing certain incidents into the show as they cost more to film. "The big stunts like crashing a car or something, they're huge and planned months in advance," she said. "But even things like punches or slaps have to be budgeted for and watched, so we'd be careful about what we do." Producers work on some storylines up to 18 months in advance and they shoot about three weeks ahead to ensure the show has a contemporary feel. When asked about the secret to the soap's staying power, she said that Irish audiences loved seeing themselves on screen and "seeing their own stories played out." Alan Bradley, jailed for conspiring to steal from a security van transporting almost 1million in cash, has been granted bail pending the outcome of a legal challenge against his continued imprisonment. Bradley (42) of Churchfields, Kentstown, Co Meath, with his brother Wayne, pleaded guilty in the Circuit Criminal Court to conspiring to steal cash from Chubb Ireland in November 2007 at Tesco, Celbridge, Co Kildare. He had been sentenced in April 2012 to nine years, dating from February 14, 2012, with the final two years suspended. This had subsequently been reduced on appeal to eight years with 18 months suspended. Bradley, who claims that he is entitled to a third off his sentence for undergoing several courses in prison, applied to the Minister for Justice seeking enhanced remission, but had twice been refused. He has launched a High Court challenge against the Minister seeking to quash that decision. If granted the additional time off his sentence he claims he is entitled to he would have been released in June last. At the High Court today Ms Justice Miriam O'Regan heard that the while the state is opposing Alan Bradley's action it was consenting to him being released on bail until the action has been determined. Micheal P. OHiggins SC, said the conditions of Mr Bradley's bail include that he is to reside at his home in Kentstown, be the subject of a curfew where he must remain in his home between 11pm and 7am. His passport was surrendered and he undertook not to leave the jurisdiction. Bradley is also to sign in weekly at Ashbourne Garda Station. He was also to supply the Gardai with his mobile phone number within 24 hours of his release from prison and he must also provide his own bond of 1000 plus a further 2000 as an independent surety. Alice Fawcitt SC, appearing with barrister Peter Leonard for the State, said the State would be seeking an early hearing of the matter. Bradley says he is entitled to enhanced remission on grounds including that he has engaged in crime awareness, anger management and peace education programmes to help facilitate an early release. He also says he has the skill set to start his own business on release in personal training and event management which, he believed, made him less likely to reoffend and better able to integrate into the community. On the basis of a one-third remission Alan Bradley claims he should have been released from Portlaoise Prison towards the end of June last. If granted the normal one-quarter remission he would be entitled to his freedom this coming December. Mr Bradley, who was in court in the company of three prison officers, left the court with his escort in order to complete details prior to his release. Former Tanaiste Joan Burton: said she was struck by two water balloons at the protest Picture: Tom Burke Former Tanaiste Joan Burton has told a court she was frightened and did not think she had the alternative of being able to get out of a Garda car surrounded by people shouting abuse during the Jobstown water protest. She was giving evidence on day one of the trial of a Dublin youth (17) accused of falsely imprisoning her and her adviser Karen O'Connell during the demonstration at the Fortunestown Road in Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin, on November 15, 2014. The teen was 15 at the time and is being tried before Judge John King at the Dublin Children's Court. He denies the charges. The prosecution alleges the Tanaiste and her entourage were trapped for about three hours after a graduation ceremony at the An Cosan education centre. The former Labour leader and Minister for Social Protection told prosecuting counsel Tony McGillicuddy that when she arrived at 11.30am she noticed some protesters. A young male in a clean blue tracksuit was holding a phone close to her face trying to take a photo and saying "Talk to us Joan", the court heard. The defence said she was referring to the youth who was accompanied to the court by his mother and his legal team. The teen cannot be named because he is a minor. Ms Burton said she went to a nearby church for the second part of the ceremony. She walked with her entourage and alleged that she was hit twice with water balloons. After she made her speech at the church she was advised by a garda that she would have to leave. She said she got into the back of a Garda car with her adviser Karen O'Connell. She said there was a lot of noise and offensive language. Ms O'Connell was upset and she put her arms around her, the court was told. She said some of the protesters were banging on the windows. Ms Burton also said the teenager was standing beside the car. She said that there was a lot of vulgar abuse and she feared what would happen if they got the car door open. Gardai moved her to a second vehicle, a Jeep. She said the officers were around her like a screen and the crowd was pushing. She said plastic bottles and eggs were being thrown. She said that when she reached the Garda Jeep she flung herself into the back seat. She felt "menaced" and added: "I worried what will happen if they manage to open the car doors". She said protesters continued banging on the roof and doors and shouting abuse. She said she was very frightened and comforted Ms O'Connell. There were more protesters around and the Jeep moved off slowly. After what seemed a long time, she was transferred to a another Garda vehicle which rushed her away. In cross-examination, Giollaoisa O Lideadha SC, defending, put it to her that gardai made an operational decision to progress the situation. "Are you suggesting I had an alternative, of leaving the car? Because I don't think I had," she replied. Ms Burton said she made a statement to gardai but had no knowledge of what charges would be brought. She agreed it was a protest which people were free to do, but she added that "there were features of it which were extremely difficult for myself and other occupants of the car". The trial continues. CARSON CITY Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a proclamation Monday declaring the 2016 2017 school year the Year of STEM education in Nevada at Sparks High School. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Year of STEM is a statewide initiative that will be spearheaded by the Governors Office of Science, Innovation and Technology. Across Nevada, were witnessing innovation and technology improve traditional industries like mining and hospitality. Additionally, Nevada has become a testing ground for advancements in aviation, environmental and healthcare research, and autonomous vehicles, said Sandoval. The Year of STEM will provide a platform for our students to learn more about the pathways to the most exciting careers in the new Nevada economy. The jobs that will be available when our students graduate from college may not even exist right now but a strong grasp of core STEM concepts will best prepare them today for the exciting industries of tomorrow. In addition to formally launching the Year of STEM through a signed Proclamation, the governor and the Brian Mitchell, OSIT Director announced three ways for students, educators, schools, and families to learn more about the initiative and actively participate. STEM Website: The Nevada STEM Hub is a comprehensive career guide to Nevadas most exciting STEM jobs. The Year of STEM statewide events calendar and resources for teachers and parents will be housed on the website. Nevadans are encouraged to visit the website to learn about resources available by county and gain a better understanding of local STEM resources and career pathways. www.stemhub.nv.gov Nevada K-12 STEM Challenge: The Nevada K-12 STEM Challenge is about engaging local students to help solve some of Nevadas biggest challenges. Throughout the Year of STEM, the governor has invited every student and teacher in Nevada to think about statewide problems and present their solutions at student recognition events that will be held in May. More information can be found on the STEM Hub website. Nevadas challenges include: Drought and Water Conservation Cybersecurity State Parks Land Use Clean Energy Environment 21st Century Learning Drones Modern Transportation/Infrastructure/Autonomous Vehicles Governors STEM School Seal Announcement: This Governors STEM School Seal will be given to schools in Nevada that demonstrate exemplary performance in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. All schools are encouraged to apply to receive this designation. Details can be found on the STEM website. The statewide Year of STEM education initiative seeks to: Raise Awareness: The Year of STEM with help raise awareness and build a stronger understanding of what careers are available for those with STEM skills, and what the State is doing to prepare students for those careers. This initiative seeks to raise the level of STEM literacy among the populace generally, and among parents, students, teachers, businesses specifically. Reduce the Skills Gap: Job requirements in the new Nevada economy will likely have a greater focus on STEM skills. This initiative seeks to encourage more students at all levels of education to study STEM and graduate with the skills to meet the needs of employers across Nevada. Increase Equity and Access: Across the nation, minorities and women are underrepresented in STEM-based career fields. This initiative will seek out and highlight individual Nevadans pursuing STEM careers who can serve as role models for students of all backgrounds and inspire these students to study STEM. The Year of STEM will help educate Nevadas students on programs in their schools and communities where they can access STEM opportunities and will also help students learn about career pathways and understand the necessary steps to succeed in a STEM profession. Each month during the Year of STEM will have a dedicated theme connected to a STEM industry sector. OSIT will host monthly events across Nevada featuring local companies, local schools, institutions of higher education, and career pathways. Below are the different monthly themes. September: Year of STEM Launch October: Advanced Manufacturing & Construction Careers November: STEAM/Creativity December: Coding/Computer Science/Cyber Security & Mining January: Renewable Energy February: Gaming March: STEM Education/Teaching April: Engineering May: Healthcare & Student and School Recognition Events At this signing event, Sandoval and OSIT hosted innovative companies that showcased their products and technology to students at Sparks High School. This provided the students, teachers, and staff with the opportunity to learn about how employees of local businesses currently use the STEM disciplines in their jobs. Siobhan & Andrew Whelan leave Cavan Courthouse following the second day of the inquest into the death of their beloved son Conor James at Cavan General Hospital. Photo: Teevan Photography A GRIEVING mum has said she "wants to know how I fell through the cracks of the system and where it all went wrong" in relation to the death of her son in hospital a day after he was born. Conor Whelan died at Cavan General Hospital on May 14, 2014. The boy survived for just 17-and-a-half hours after being delivered by emergency caesarian. His parents Siobhan Whelan (40) and Andrew were in Cavan Court this morning to hear testimony given to coroner Dr Mary Flanagan during the second day of the inquest into his death. Testimony was heard today from Ms Ann Emmo, a stenographer who performed an ultrasound on Ms Whelan March 21 March. Ms Whelan has claimed that she was told on that date by Dr Mortimer, a consultant radiographer who she said was called in to view the scan, that it was too hard to tell if a low - lying placenta was in issue for the expectant mum. During her evidence on Monday Ms Whelan said she was told by Dr Mortimer she was in good hands with her consultant and he would likely carry out his own internal exam. This exam did not take place. However, via Skype testimony this morning Dr Mortimer said she had never met Siobhan Whelan and would not be able to describe her appearance. She would "never say that. In obstetrics things can change within seconds" she said in relation to her alleged comments about Ms Whelan 's consultant. Her former colleague Ms Emo said she had no recollection of scanning Ms Whelan and could only provide evidence based on the records. It was her job to provide the image to a consultant who would put together a report. Ms Emo also said she was not aware of any changes instigated in the hospital following Conor 's death. She no longer carries out obstetric ultrasounds in the hospital and said that she had made that decision prior to the baby's death. There is nobody in the hospital dedicated to only carrying out ultrasounds on pregnant women at the moment she said. The court also heard that Conor 's case has been reviewed by staff at the hospital "many many times". Thirteen people are due to give testimony today. Ms Whelan had been suffering from a case of undiagnosed vasa praevia, an obstetric complication in which foetal blood vessels cross or run near the internal orifice of the uterus. The court heard on Monday that the placenta was divided into two discs, joined by vital arteries and veins via the membrane. This morning it heard that there is no agreed international screening program for the condition and not all cases are picked up. There was a scan, a trans vaginal scan, that would have had a better chance of picking up the condition but Dr Mortimer said the scan and the later report were normal following Ms Whelan's March 21 scan. There was no uncertainty in relation to the scan or anything that warranted further investigation she said. Ms Whelan arrived at the hospital just after 12.40pm on May 13, 2014. But as she walked to the maternity ward she realised she was bleeding. Andrew ran ahead of me looking and shouted for help and I started panicking too, shouting for help, she said. After she began bleeding, she said she was again told in the maternity unit on May 13 that everything was fine. My husband and I were so concerned we even asked could they just do a c-section to get the baby out safe. They told us again to relax, that everything was okay, said Ms Whelan. My husband got very anxious when he saw more blood and begged them to do something. He reminded them that a baby had died at the hospital two weeks ago and could they please do something before someone elses life was put at risk. Ms Whelan said she was told again that everything was fine but her husband pleaded with them to do something. I was pleading no more instruments up meplease give me a section but she (the gynaecologist) wanted to rupture my membranes. Ann (the nurse) said to her before you rupture membranes, would you not consider doing a test on the babys head to see how the baby is doing. The doctor went ahead and broke my waters. There, waters are broken now she said. Ms Whelan said she was rushed to theatre for an emergency caesarian within minutes. Baby Conor was born at 1.49pm and weighed eight pounds. He had to be revived. He was rushed to the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin but as he couldnt be saved he was taken back to Cavan Hospital to spend his last eight hours with his parents and sisters. Ms Whelan has claimed that she was told a few days later by another medic that Conor had died because her membranes had been ruptured. She told her solicitor Roger Murray, that all pregnant women in this country should be afforded equality of care. There needs to be a scanning of pregnant women at 20 weeks. Conor Whelan is one of four babies who died at Cavan General Hospital in a period of 30 months. The inquest continues. A grieving mum who lost her newborn baby amid allegations of medical mistakes was asked to issue a media statement hours after the death praising the hospital where he died, an inquest has heard. Siobhan Whelan (40), from Drumora, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, was giving evidence to coroner Mary Flanagan into the death of her son Conor at Cavan General Hospital on May 14, 2014. The boy survived for just 17 and a half hours after being delivered by emergency caesarean. Mrs Whelan had been suffering from a case of undiagnosed vasa praevia, an obstetric complication in which foetal blood vessels cross or run near the internal orifice of the uterus. The court heard that the placenta was divided into two discs, joined by vital arteries and veins via the membrane. The possibility of this had been picked up in an ultrasound in March but while Mrs Whelan was referred for a further scan, this didn't take place and instead she was told her pregnancy was fine. The mother, who has two daughters, now aged 12 and eight, wiped away tears at the inquest in Cavan as she recalled how she and her husband Andrew had been joking when they arrived at the hospital just after 12.40pm on May 13, 2014. But as she walked to the maternity ward she realised she was bleeding. "Andrew ran ahead of me looking and shouted for help and I started panicking too, shouting for help," she said. "At every clinic after March 21, 2014, I kept asking them to check my placenta," said the mother. "On every occasion I was told to 'stop worrying', that there was nothing to worry about with my placenta." After she began bleeding, she said she was again told in the maternity unit on May 13 that everything was fine. "My husband and I were so concerned we even asked could they just do a C-section to get the baby out safe. They told us again to relax, that everything was OK," said Mrs Whelan. "My husband got very anxious when he saw more blood and begged them to do something. He reminded them a baby had died at the hospital two weeks ago and could they please do something before someone else's life was put at risk." Mrs Whelan said she was told again that everything was fine but her husband "pleaded with them to do something." "I was pleading 'no more instruments up me . . . please give me a section' but she (the gynaecologist) wanted to rupture my membranes. (The nurse) said to her: 'Before you rupture membranes, would you not consider doing a test on the baby's head to see how the baby is doing'. "The doctor went ahead and broke my waters. 'There, waters are broken now,' she said." Within a minute, Mrs Whelan said she was being rushed for an emergency caesarean. Baby Conor was born at 1.49pm and weighed 8lb. He had to be revived. He was rushed to the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. But because he couldn't be saved he was taken back to Cavan hospital to spend his last eight hours with his parents and sisters. "His two sisters, who were so excited to meet their baby brother, now faced the realisation that he won't be coming home with us," said Siobhan. "The pain for me was not being able to cuddle, caress, bathe and change my baby due to wires and tube. His eyes opened twice and I couldn't see into his eyes." Mrs Whelan said she was told later by another medic that Conor had died because her membranes had been ruptured. When she told this medic - Dr Alan Finan - that Dr Rita Mehta had performed the procedure, he (Dr Finan) was "so shocked that he staggered back into the wall." The day after Conor died, she said Dr Finan and hospital general manager Bridget Clark "had actually come into my room for us to give backing to an article they wanted to release to the paper stating how safe Cavan hospital was, which I refused to do, as I was concerned at how they could let two babies dies within two and half weeks of each other". Under questioning by her solicitor Roger Murray, Siobhan Whelan said she faced a choice of being bitter and angry - or campaigning to ensure this didn't happen again. She said: "There needs to be a scanning of pregnant women at 20 weeks." The plan involves the demolition of the existing 1930s Anglesea Road Stand and its replacement with a new stand to accommodate 6,841 fans (SPORTSFILE) A group of D4 residents have said they 'have had enough' and were 'objecting most strongly' to a 26m plan for a revamped stand at the RDS. Last month, the RDS lodged the plans seeking to increase the capacity of the RDS from 18,500 to 21,000 aimed at catering for Leinster Rugby games. The RDS said the development would assist the Dublin Horse Show, Leinster rugby and other events held in the main arena. Planning documents lodged with the application show that the annual economic impact from the staging of rugby matches, concerts and the Horse Show amounts to between 136 million and 166 million. The plan involves the demolition of the existing 1930s Anglesea Road Stand and its replacement with a new stand to accommodate 6,841 fans - up from the present 5,743. The planning application states that the key aim is to improve the viewing experience of the spectators. However, in a strenuous objection, the Anglesea Road Residents Association said: "Residents experience daily disruption from the 400 plus events held annually at the RDS". The association's secretary, Tim Hennessy, said residents had "had enough and would suggest that Leinster Rugby be located to a more suitable ground with proper parking facilities." The IRFU believes the redeveloped stand "will rejuvenate" the RDS. A decision is due on the application next month. The Government is facing a backlash among backbenchers against a subsidised childcare scheme for under-threes that will not benefit squeezed middle-income earners for years. The means-tested scheme could cover up to 100pc of parents' costs but only lower-income families are set to qualify when it begins next September. It could take years of budgets before the upper income limit to qualify for the annual subsidy is high enough to benefit the bulk of middle earners. The State would pay part of a family's childcare costs directly to creches and childminders under the proposal tabled by Children's Minister Katherine Zappone. Parents could find out if they are eligible for subsidies by logging onto a website and entering their PPS numbers and choosing a childcare provider. The State would pay part of the bill to the childcare provider, and parents would pay the rest. But Fianna Fail children's spokesperson Anne Rabbitte said she did not agree with the minister "abandoning middle Ireland" in this Budget and was seeking a meeting with her to discuss the proposal. "We can't turn our backs on these people," she said. Fine Gael Dublin Bay South TD Kate O'Connell said workers earning up to 70,000 should be eligible for the subsidy. Ms O'Connell said it was "outrageous" that there is no tax relief in place for struggling working parents and plans to make a case in a document to Finance Minister Michael Noonan to extend the scheme to middle income earners. She is a member of the Dail Budgetary Oversight Committee. Squeezed "I think it is acknowledged that the squeezed middle is really squeezed and needs help," she said. "They've been badly hit. The average industrial wage is around 37,500 but even that salary bracket has moved up to some extent in terms of who is in the middle. "You have to make it possible for people to go out and work and childcare is a major barrier to that, especially for women. There's no doubt this Budget and the subsequent budgets must deliver on childcare." Ms O'Connell said she has two children in a full-time creche and one that needs after school care, and many families, although they may not be the worst-off, need help, particularly when grandparents are not available to help. Fine Gael Wexford TD Michael D'Arcy said he was concerned about hard-pressed couples being excluded if the threshold is too low. "There needs to be a clear analysis of whatever scheme comes in to ensure that families who need support are not excluded," he said. Mr D'Arcy believes a first measure would be to increase the hours available under the Early Childhood Care scheme from three to four. Government sources insisted a 47,000 figure used during a government briefing on the scheme was just an example and accepted that it would not help a large number of couples. A source stressed the exact thresholds will depend on "how much money Fine Gael is willing to give Zappone". Fine Gael Dublin Rathdown TD Josepha Madigan said lower-middle-income workers and low-paid workers had to be the "priority" in this Budget. "I will be pushing for middle-income workers to be prioritised," she said. "Childcare is a major issue for people and a huge cost." Fine Gael Fingal TD Alan Farrell said that, as a father, he had first-hand experience of "exorbitant" childcare fees and it was not feasible for many people to go back to work after having a child. A GANG in Mountjoy Prison that has been offered cash to attack killer Dave Mahon is determined to get at him despite Mahon being moved out of the prison for his own safety, it can be revealed. Mahon was sentenced to seven years in jail in June for the manslaughter of his wifes son, Dean Fitzpatrick, in May 2013. The killer was transferred to Wheatfield Prison in west Dublin last month after spending weeks on a protection regime in Mountjoys medical unit. Sources revealed that a group of inmates from Darndale and Coolock have agreed to take up a cash offer, made by unknown crime figures, to slice up the violent killer. Hate Just because Mahon has been transferred does not mean that he will be safe, a source said. These fellas hate Mahons guts, particularly over the manner in which he killed Dean. It is understood that Mahon left the prison more than three weeks ago. He feels a lot safer in Wheatfield, but he should not be at all complacent, the source said. His victim, dad-of-one Dean Fitzpatrick (23), was the older brother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick, who disappeared in Spain on New Years Day 2008. Last week, it emerged that TV3 bosses pulled a documentary about missing teen Amy after her mothers solicitors threatened legal action. Two brothers have been detained in custody in Turkey for the murder of Irish theatre director John Donnelly. Mr Donnelly (64) was found dead in an apartment he was renting on June 3 after police were alerted to a bloodied knife outside the building. Brothers Mehmet Irmak (28) and Sinan Irmak (20) have been charged in connection with the fatal stabbing of the Dublin man according to Turkish media. News organisation Hurriyet reported that two other men were released without charge by the prosecutors office following questioning. No date for a court appearance has yet been announced but the trial is expected to be a lengthy process according to Voices newspaper, an English-language media organisation located in Turkey. Read More Mr Donnelly was a bachelor who lived most of his life in Dublin. Expand Close Stabbing victim John Donnelly / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stabbing victim John Donnelly He had close associations with Wexford Light Opera and many other musical societies. The 64-year-old was reportedly found lying naked on the floor of his apartment on the morning following the attack, having died from a single stab wound. Back in June, police in Bodrum were quoted as saying they had hoped to make arrests following the release of CCTV images which showed two men leaving the apartment building on the night Mr Donnelly was murdered. The police also said Mr Donnelly's apartment had been ransacked and robbery was a possible motive. Mr Donnelly had travelled to Turkey on holiday shortly after producing hit Wexford Light Opera Society musical Evita. Was Micheal Martin really giving the green light to Fine Gael rebels contemplating a heave against Enda Kenny? The Fianna Fail leader continued with his "we really are the mature ones here" as his party gathered for their pre-Dail think-in in Carlow yesterday afternoon. "We're not into optics - we're into action," he said, as he brushed aside suggestions of backing Sinn Fein's motion to abolish water charges. More of that water charge business anon. But first, the key question of the afternoon: would Fianna Fail still underpin Fine Gael in heading a minority coalition in a post-Enda Kenny world? Or would a general election follow a change of leader, as suggested last week by Enda Kenny supporters, in clear efforts to quell rebel ardour? We were back in the land of a mature Fianna Fail, as Micheal Martin insisted that the so-called "confidence and supply" deal was based on policies - not personalities. But then came the rub: the answer was "Yes." "There is room within the lifetime of the Dail for changes and that has happened before. One doesn't necessarily have to have a general election when a new Taoiseach is appointed by the Dail," he opined. Those words were interspersed, in Irish and English, with an insistence that the "leadership of Fine Gael is a matter for Fine Gael". Inside the Seven Oaks Hotel in Carlow town, one Fianna Fail TD looked like he could smug for Ireland. It seemed such a long time since Fianna Fail had a good blood n'guts leadership war. "Ah now, there's no fire in this house," our smug deputy said. Micheal Martin warmed to his maturity theme when asked what he thought of the Independents in government. Essentially, it was time those Independents hardened up and developed more cohesion between themselves and with Fine Gael. "We're almost in some cases getting a blow-by-blow account of what happened at Cabinet and who put up the best fight for the best outcome. There's no cohesion and it's going on since before the summer," he said. That was the Independents given a good slapping with a clear "grow up" message. Then there was a quick scoot around education policy as the 50th anniversary of Donogh O'Malley's free secondary schooling looms into view. Stand by for another flashpoint here - Fianna Fail will oppose full-blown third-level fees but more money must be found for the colleges from the national coffers. Back with the dreaded water charges - Micheal Martin insisted there was no conflict between wanting them gone and not voting for Sinn Fein's motion on abolition when the Dail comes back next week. He argued that the Sinn Fein motion would not end water charges because it would require legislation and for now his party was sticking by the deal for a review and a major debate next year. That is a typically nuanced and clever piece of "mature Martinism." But it will not be the way Sinn Fein will be telling it in the housing estates as this little nasty topic slopes back onto the political agenda really soon. Finance Minister Michael Noonan is refusing to say whether he will accept an invitation from the Dail's spending watchdog to answer questions on his role in the events leading up to the controversial sale of Project Eagle. Mr Noonan is "reviewing" an invitation from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which its chairman Sean Fleming yesterday said should be accepted. Mr Noonan returned to work at the Department of Finance yesterday for the first time since being taken ill. The Limerick politician spent most of last week in hospital after being diagnosed with cellulitus, which is a painful skin condition. Fine Gael ministers have become increasingly concerned about Mr Noonan's health. There were also questions raised yesterday after Mr Noonan failed to attend a major jobs announcement in Limerick, despite being scheduled to do so. Minister of State Patrick O'Donovan was sent instead to the programme announcement, which backers believe has the potential to create 5,000 jobs. Mr Noonan's spokesman said he cancelled his attendance at the event because Government business - in particular the budget - took priority. He is due to attend the Budget Oversight Committee in Leinster House today. But Mr Noonan is expected to come under further criticism over his refusal to say whether he will appear at the PAC as the fallout from the sale of NAMA's Northern Ireland loan book continues. Both Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein are demanding to know whether Mr Noonan could have intervened prior to the sale of the 1.6bn Northern loan book, which will now be thhe subject of a statutory inquiry. The C&AG report found that the State lost 220m as a result of the sale of the portfolio to US firm Cerberus. PAC chairman Sean Fleming said he "expects" Mr Noonan to appear. "Mr Noonan would be very capable of making a decision himself on appearing before our committee. "He would also be more than capable of answering our questions," Mr Fleming told reporters at the start of Fianna Fail's pre-Dail meeting in Carlow. A spokesman for Mr Noonan told the Irish Independent last night that a decision has yet to be made. "Mr Noonan is reviewing the invitation and he will respond to the chairman of the PAC in due course," the spokesman added. The Government is to hold a statutory inquiry following a highly critical report on the NAMA sale of Project Eagle in 2014. So far the Government has said that it is not the Finance Minister's role to appear before the PAC. Government ministers have said the protocol is that the secretary general of the Finance Department is the one who should attend the committee - while the Minister answers directly to the Dail. A Cabinet source warned that if Mr Noonan attends the PAC, it will lay down a "precedent" that may prove to be unhelpful in the future. Children's Minister Zappone said it is important that any appearance at the PAC does not involve Mr Noonan being asked issues outside of the C&AG's report. "I am also aware that, should he decide to go, in the context of that committee, there will be a focus on that report as distinct from moving into the policy arena which is presumably usually why ministers answer the questions in the Dail as distinct from committees." Finance Minister Michael Noonan has told an Oireachtas Committee he had "no expectation that taxpayers will be throwing their hats in the air on Budget night." Mr Noonan is this morning being quizzed by TDs at the Budget Oversight committee. It's his first public appearance since his brief hospitalisation last week for cellulitis. The effects of the painful skin condition are clearly visible on his face. Read More Fine Gael TD and committee member Kate O'Connell said she was glad to see him well. Mr Noonan warned that there was "a lot of things that are desirable that are not affordable" in next month's Budget. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail agreed that there will be cuts to USC for low and middle income workers during Budget negotiations. Mr Noonan told the committee: "It will not be possible to phase out USC completely over a three-budget cycle, but it would be possible to phase it out over a five-budget cycle." Ms O'Connell asked if Mr Noonan would consider reducing the VAT rate on condoms to 0pc. Michael Noonan says he doesn't think scrapping VAT on condoms would lower the rate of transmission of STIs. There you go now Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) September 20, 2016 Mr Noonan said he didn't think lowering the VAT rate would change behaviour or help in the reduction of sexually transmitted diseases. Mr Noonan was asked about his plans for the 9pc VAT rate that applies to the hospitality sector. It was reduced from 13.5pc during the economic crisis to help boost the industry. He noted that hotel prices have been rising, particularly when special events are taking place. However, he indicated that he does not planto return the VAT rate to 13.5pc saying: "you get vengeance, but it doesn't reduce costs". Sinn Fein's Pearse Doherty spoke about the government's plans to introduce a Help-to-Buy scheme for first-time homebuyers. He raised concerns that this will increase house prices. Mr Noonan responded: "It's an open secret that we're working on proposals to help couple buy homes" but added that the details will be released on Budget Day. Mr Doherty said there's 250,000 people that plan to buy a home in the next three years and again asked the impact of a Help-to-Buy scheme on prices. Mr Noonan replied: "You're pre-empting the Budget debate. I'm not prepared to debate the Budget here." Green party leader Eamon Ryan said he thought the point of the committee is to debate the Budget. Meanwhile, Mr Noonan ruled out an inheritance tax bonanza. There has been speculation a new threshold of inheritance tax that would apply only to family homes could be as high as 500,000. Mr Noonan said it was the Government's intention to eventually raise the threshold to 500,000, but it would not be done "all in one leap". He said it was more likely to be "done gradually" over the course of a few budgets. "It is not going to happen in one Budget, but I would like to do something on it," he said. Mr Noonan announced that the budget would take place on October 11. Jamie Dornan poses with fans at the premiere of The Siege of Jadotville at the Savoy in Dublin Picture: PA Hollywood actor Jamie Dornan has revealed the profound emotional impact his latest movie role had on him. Dornan plays the part of Commandant Pat Quinlan in 'The Siege of Jadotville.' The film tells the true story of a group of Irish UN peacekeepers who were ambushed by mercenaries during the Congo's brutal civil war 55 years ago. "We were all very passionate about it. We did a boot camp. There was about 80 African lads and we sort of lectured them in a way," he told the Irish Independent. "We sat them down and told them about the history of this siege and what the aftermath was to try and get them invested in the story. "They were crying, it was incredible. We were all very passionate about telling this story." Jamie admitted the filming experience was made extra special by the cast, including Raw actor Sam Keeley and Life on Mars star Jason O'Meara. "I loved being surrounded by lots of other Irish lads who were all on the same page when it comes to humour," he said. "I lucked out with a great bunch of lads." The father of missing Irish woman Amy Fitzpatrick has issued an appeal to the public for information about his daughters whereabouts. In his first ever televised interview, Amys father Christopher told Claire Byrne Live tonight about the heartache he has suffered since his daughters disappearance in Spain on New Years Day in 2008. My life has never been the same, its never been the same like. Amy had a devotion, with me like, we had a good connection. I say, she used to tell me stuff and Id tell her stuff and if she you know... she wouldnt do anything bad around me or anything like that, she was a good girl like, you know? "All we want is Amy home if she is alive somewhere we just want her home. He continued: "Amy was a lovely child, she was very caring, she even collected money for the hospice at one time like, you know? She loved her pets and stuff like that, her ambition was to be a vet and obviously that shes not around she wont get to do anything like that. The fight still goes on for Amy obviously to find out where she is and what happened to her like, wed like people to come forward like that, you know, havent come forward before that have information about the situation, and about Amy. Amys brother Dean Fitzpatrick was killed by their stepfather Dave Mahon in 2013. Last June Mahon was given a seven-year sentence for manslaughter. Christopher told Claire about the void that has been left in his life as a result of losing his two children. "[Dean] was in the house when the calls came in, a call... two calls came in for him, off Dave Mahon for him to go up to the apartment, it was something to do with his Mother wasnt well like and .. to get him up... he was rushing him up there ... and he said to Dean how long will you be? and he said about fifteen minutes so fifteen minutes passed by but we had to try and get a bike for Dean to get up to the apartment, so we got the bike and he got the second phone call and then he asked him again how long will you be? and he said about fifteen minutes I have the bike now, Ill be up now like. So he says to me I have to go its me Ma its me Ma so I just said to him watch yourself hes a bit sly that fella like, you know? So off he went and that was the last I seen of him until I seen him in the hospital. I couldnt stop him because it was for his Mother and he was devoted to his Mother like, he loved his Mother and he would have done anything for her, and he knew that. That was the only way to get him up to that apartment like, was to say that there was something wrong with his Mother, thats the only reason he went up. When Claire Byrne put it to Christopher that earlier this year, in 2016, Dave Mahon was found guilty of Deans manslaughter, but in 2015 Christophers ex-wife married Dave Mahon, Christopher said: I think its crazy. But he said: Im just gonna go on, like, all I want is Amy home, if shes passed, I just want her to go with Dean, but like, if shes alive somewhere we just want her home. Amy and Dean are always on me mind like, at least I know where Dean is now like, hes in the place where hes meant to be like, you know? But we dont know where Amy is and we just want Amy home, thats all. He again appealed for anyone with information on Amys disappearance to come forward. People are probably afraid to say anything or whatever at the moment, but Im urging them just come forward. They dont have to present themselves or anything, just pass on the information, thats all. Its just heart-breaking, it really is like, you know? I mean I just... I cant put it into words like, you know, its just something that shouldnt be happening, it shouldnt have happened like, ever like. As Budget 2017 approaches, the topic of tax is never far away, although this year there are limited monies available and some small measures will quickly account for the 300m set aside. What is far more interesting, and indeed important, is the need to take stock of our personal tax system in its entirety and to honestly ask if it is fit for purpose. It is particularly timely to carry out such an exercise for a few reasons. Firstly, 50 different tax changes have impacted Ireland's personal-tax system in the past seven years and have led to 53 moving parts in personal taxes. We now have three different tax charges, each with a different entry point and a total of 10 rates, 15 bands and 22 main personal tax credits. Perhaps it's not altogether surprising, given the amount of heavy lifting that was being asked of nine consecutive budgets. Not only was personal tax required to put a floor under the exchequer returns, it was also charged with juggling the social and economic needs of the country during sensitive and difficult times. It was never going to be easy. The public focus on their cash position and the importance of securing support on Budget Day meant a budget-by-budget approach to personal tax policy for nine consecutive budgets. This approach has left us with a personal tax system that is skewed and one that has taken on unusual traits at a range of salary levels from lower to higher income levels. The Irish Tax Institute's report, 'Perspectives on Ireland's Personal Tax System - A Medium to Long Term Approach', offers some interesting analysis on those traits. For example, at the lower end, a worker on 25,000 earns 1.4 times the salary of a person on 18,000 but pays 5.6 times the tax. Those in the 'squeezed middle' (eg on 55,000) pay more tax than in Sweden, Spain, Switzerland and the US and over 800 more than in the UK. Meanwhile, a worker on 75,000 earns three times the amount of a person on 25,000 but pays almost eight times the amount of tax. The impact of high taxes can already be seen in the squeezed middle but differences really accelerate at higher income levels, with the capping of recent tax reductions at salaries of 70,044 having an impact. A worker on 100,000 earns 5.6 times the amount of a person on 18,000 and pays almost 66 times the amount of tax. If you compare them with the person on 25,000, they earn four times the salary but pay over 11.7 times the amount of tax. And at 100,000, Ireland remains at the upper end of the global rankings, ahead of taxpayers in France, Spain and the UK, amongst others. A worker on 120,000 earns 6.7 times the amount of a person on 18,000 and pays over 83 times the amount of tax. There was a universal appreciation that 'needs must' and that in the early years of the crash a blunt approach to increasing tax yields was essential. However, the combined impact of those changes and the way they have been 'to some extent' unwound has left some interesting marks on the Irish personal tax system - marks that we should reflect on as we look towards the formulation of future personal-tax policy. It's certainly time for a coherent and planned approach to Ireland's personal tax system in order to balance both the economic and social needs of the country into the future and the Institute has produced its report today as part of a broader discussion on the personal tax system. The publication of the Income Tax Reform Plan last July, as originally outlined in the Programme for Government, was a welcome first step on the journey of personal tax reform. As the Oireachtas sets about reflecting on the Income Tax Reform Plan, the Institute's report asks a number of questions including 'Have we a personal tax system in Ireland that meets our social needs but is also suitable for a small open economy?' Experts and policymakers have spoken about the importance of balance in a personal tax system. The commencement of an open and informed discussion on all of the issues should help ensure that we find it. Mark Barrett is president of the Irish Tax Institute Our GP on how the HPV vaccination saves lives Q. My daughter has just started first year. We received a letter home advising vaccination against the HPV virus. Is this vaccination necessary and safe? Dr Nina replies: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a group of viruses that can cause infection in the throat, anus, cervix, vagina and external genitalia. It is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections we know and it is estimated that most people come in contact with this virus within 18 months of commencing sexual activity. There are over 100 different types of HPV. Most are harmless but certain types are known to be associated with cancers of the area they infect. Types 16 and 18 are considered high risk and are known to increase the risk of cancer of the cervix and throat. Types 6 and 11 are low risk and are associated with the development of warts. Read More Of those infected, 90pc will clear the virus within two years. Most won't even be aware that they ever had it. Smoking increases the risk of prolonged infection. Those who are infected with the virus can pass it on even if they have no symptoms. The virus is spread through direct contact with the infected area, usually through skin-to-skin contact, kissing or oral, anal or genital sexual contact. You can have the HPV virus for years and be unaware of this. It isn't unusual for someone to develop changes or warts years after being in touch with the virus. This can cause upset in a relationship as some are concerned there has been a recent infidelity. This isn't necessarily the case. Read More The only way the virus can be diagnosed is through direct testing or upon the development of genital warts. Women who are found to have HPV with abnormal smears are at a higher risk of developing cancer of the cervix and do need closer screening. Until recently, the only way to prevent cervical cancer was through regular cervical screening. A national screening programme, introduced in 2008, invites all women aged 25 to 60 to attend for smears every three years from the age of 25 to 45, and every five years from 45 to 60. Since 2010 we also can give two vaccines, which can prevent infection with certain strains of the HPV virus, which will further reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in Ireland. The vaccine is currently offered to girls in first year in secondary school. It is most effective when given to those who are not yet sexually active which is why this age group have been selected. The vaccine can prevent seven out of 10 cases of cervical cancer. Read More There have been media reports of adverse events related to vaccination, but more than 80 million doses of the HPV vaccine have been given in the USA alone. There is no scientific evidence that backs up the claim that the vaccine is anything but safe and well tolerated. The most common side effect is soreness at the injection site, which is usually mild and short lived. Read More Other side effects such as fainting and dizziness are more likely due to stress and are not side effects of the vaccine itself. There aren't many cancers that we can vaccinate against. Cancers of the throat, cervix, anus and genitalia are still a cause of death in our country. In this instance, it is certainly true that vaccination saves lives. A new era of low-cost transatlantic flights is getting closer, with Norwegian saying it could fly to the US for as little as $69. The low-cost carrier, which has booked slots to fly from Cork to Boston from March 2017, says it will introduce $69/62 fares once a fleet of new aircraft arrives. I can promise you that you will see transatlantic flights on the 737 Max next year, said Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl. And thats when you will see the $69 fares. Norwegian is waiting on delivery of 100 Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes that it says will reduce the cost of transatlantic services thanks to state-of-the-art features like more fuel-efficient engines and upgraded aerodynamics. Norwegian operates flights from London to Boston from 135/157 each-way, among other transatlantic routes with its current fleet - a figure that has been suggested as a ballpark for any US services from Cork. Whether or not $69/62 fares will be available from Cork depends on approval of the US routes, the schedule and the type of aircraft involved. "However, not only are we are committed to launching the first transatlantic flights from Cork as soon as we're able, were also determined to make them as affordable as possible, a spokesperson for Norwegian told Independent.ie Travel. Similar to WOW air, which has introduced a raft of one-stop flights from Ireland to North America via Iceland, Norwegian's model supplements low base fares with budget airline staples like baggage and seat selection fees. The airline first booked transatlantic slots from Cork Airport two-and-a-half years ago, but the delivery of routes to Boston and New York has been held up due to fierce opposition from aviation unions and other interests in the US. The EU Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, has stated that she will pursue arbitration against the US in relation to delays which she believes contrary to the Open Skies agreement - a process that could be lengthy. "At this stage, Im not expecting any decision until after the US Presidential Election in November," said Niall McCarthy, Cork Airport's Managing Director. "Having already had to cancel slots it had booked with ourselves and Boston in May and October, Norwegian has now booked slots for March 2017, which is the earliest the new transatlantic services can take off, he added. Despite the delays, McCarthy remains optimistic that the services from Cork will go ahead, he said. Read more: Premium Colette Browne Opinion Every effort must be made to retrieve oral histories of mother and baby home survivors With three days to go until the Mother and Baby Homes Commission ceases to exist as a legal entity, we are being told that audio recordings of hundreds of witnesses which were deleted may not actually be gone forever. It is another usual twist in a most emotional saga. For decades, survivors of mother and baby homes have been denied a voice and denied autonomy. When they fell pregnant, many through rape and abuse, they were marched to the doors of religious institutions. Spend some time watching Ireland address EU environmental regulations and you'll inevitably come across the term "derogation" and discover that Ireland tries to avoid compliance with EU Directives as much as possible. While verdant in appearance and branding, Ireland is not so green when it comes to sustainability. This hypocrisy is most evident in Ireland's approach to climate action. Enda Kenny stood at the podium at the Paris Climate Summit last December and told the world: "Ireland is determined to play its part. "We have committed, with our EU partners, to a collective target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40pc by 2030." Six months later, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that Ireland would fall far short of achieving its 2020 target of 20pc emissions reduction from 2005 levels and only reduce emissions a paltry 6pc as transport and agricultural emissions continue to rise with no climate action plan in sight. Ireland's failure to meet its 2020 EU emission reduction targets then became a convenient argument for lower 2030 targets as our Agriculture Minister, Michael Creed, and Climate and Energy Minister, Denis Naughten, travelled to Brussels in May to win "wiggle room" by basing 2030 targets on 2016-2018 emissions. In other words, for the next two years there is no incentive for Ireland to make any efforts to reduce emissions that would only make 2030 targets more difficult to achieve in the future. The EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete, essentially just rewarded Ireland for not doing its homework for the past decade. Now that Ireland has received concessions to lower its emissions targets even further, there is no doubt that we are not doing our fair share to address climate change, particularly as the tenth most prosperous country in the world and one of the highest greenhouse gas emitters per capita. All of this wheeling and dealing by our elected representatives in Brussels loses sight of the bigger picture. The whole point of the EU's 2030 emission reduction target is to do its fair share to prevent the worst impacts of climate change from occurring. Even with a 40pc EU emission reduction target, combined with all the other intended nationally determined contributions, the science tells us we will still only reduce global warming to approximately 3.7 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, rather than the safer 1.5 to 2 degree goal established in the UN Climate Agreement. A year ago, An Taoiseach addressed the UN Sustainability Summit in New York, citing the Irish people's generational memory of occupation, hunger, conflict and mass emigration as a reason for our "deep commitment to addressing suffering and hardship wherever they are found" and urged a response to such hardship "that draws on our common humanity and our common compassion". The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates that an average of 22.5 million people have been displaced each year by climate or weather-related disasters in the last seven years - equivalent to 62,000 people every day. In Bangladesh, almost five million people have left their rural homes to live as 'pavement dwellers' in Dhaka due to flooding, storms and a dramatic decline in agricultural productivity. That number is growing at a rate of half a million people per year and Dhaka will soon become the largest megacity in the world. Surely this is the kind of suffering and hardship Enda Kenny was referring to in his impassioned speech at the UN Sustainability Summit last September. An Taoiseach concluded his UN speech by stating: "Our shared future, our humanity, is evident not alone in what we do but in the mutual recognition that we are 'kind' together." Nevertheless, our Government's recent victory to lower concessions regarding greenhouse gas emissions is by no means kind or compassionate to those around the world now suffering due to climate change. We are undoubtedly governed by climate hypocrites. Dr Cara Augustenborg is an environmental scientist lecturing on climate change at University College Dublin and Chairperson at Friends of the Earth Ireland. ELKO -- Nevada livestock producers that graze on public and private lands have an opportunity to learn about the Nevada Conservation Credit System. The Nevada Cattlemens Association, in conjunction with the Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team, will be putting on a series of educational workshops around the state to share information and discuss the benefits to landowners that the Nevada Conservation Credit System will provide. The first meeting is at 3 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Eureka Opera House. Elkos meeting is 3 p.m. Oct. 12 at Great Basin College. A third meeting in Winnemucca is at 3 p.m. Oct. 13 at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office on Fairgrounds Road. Angelina and Brad are known for their volunteer work Actor Brad Pitt (L) and actress/director Angelina Jolie attend the 15th Annual AFI Awards at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on January 9, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI) A-list ambition: Jolie wants to put acting behind her, describes herself as a humanitarian and has political hopes. Photo: AP Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have six kids together. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie wed in September of this year after nine years and six children together. Brad was spotted wearing a wedding band a few days after their French ceremony and confirmed the exciting news. Actor Billy Bob Thornton smiles during a ceremony honoring actor Kathy Bates with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California. Reuters/Danny Moloshok Billy Bob Thornton remained tight-lipped about his ex-wife Angelina Jolie's divorce as he honoured actress Kathy Bates on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The actor, who was married to Jolie between 2000 and 2002, paid tribute to Bates as she received a star at the famous landmark - but he left quickly afterwards, avoiding questions from waiting reporters. Jolie filed for divorce from actor Brad Pitt on Monday, citing irreconcilable differences. Speaking at the ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard, Thornton praised Oscar-winner Bates for accepting "all the crazy people around her". "When the question is 'how about Kathy Bates?' The answer is always 'of course'," he said. "She's the type of actor who is not only loved by the public and the fans and the critics, but also actors know exactly how good she is and what she can do. "As a friend, she never judges you and that's one of the most important things you can have in a friend. "She accepts all the crazy people around her for who they are. That's one of the things I've always appreciated about her. "I love her as a friend and as an artist. If I could be a woman I'd be Kathy Bates." Bates, who won the best actress Academy Award for her performance in the 1990 film Misery, said the movie based on Stephen King's novel changed her life. Video of the Day "I'm one of the lucky 10pc of actors who work regularly," she said. "People often say what we do is hard. I would say maintaining the concentration and the technique required to play a scene, despite the last minute chaos, is difficult. "But for those 90pc not getting to do what they love to do is truly hard. It is a struggle and a fight they wage every day, more often than not without success. "I would like to share this moment with all of them." Bates, who was also joined by actress Shirley MacLaine at the ceremony, received the 2,589th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jim Carrey at the funeral of ex-girlfriend Cathriona White in Cappawhite, Co Tipperary Actor Jim Carrey is facing a wrongful death lawsuit over the suicide of his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White. Mark Burton, the estranged husband of Ms White, has lodged a complaint claiming the 54-year-old star of The Mask used his "immense wealth and celebrity status" to illegally obtain and distribute prescription drugs involved in her death. In papers filed with Los Angeles Superior Court, Mr Burton said Carrey provided the drugs to Ms White despite knowing she was "ill-equipped" to take them, prone to depression and she had previously tried to take her own life. The complaint states: "After her death, Mr Carrey took steps to conceal an obfuscate his involvement and culpability in Ms White's untimely and tragic death." In response, Carrey described the lawsuit as a "heartless attempt" to exploit him and "the woman I loved". Ms White, a make-up artist from Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, Ireland, was found dead at her Los Angeles home in September 2015 after overdosing on prescription drugs. She had broken up with Carrey a week before her death and left a suicide note addressed to the actor saying she was "just not for this world". In the lawsuit, Mr Burton claims Carrey had an "obsession with controlling and manipulating" Ms White and used surveillance cameras on her home to monitor her. The prescription drugs Ambien, Popranolol and Percocet that caused Ms White's death were not prescribed to her and Carrey had obtained them under the bogus name Arthur King, the complaint states. According to a coroner's report released in July, Carrey sent a text message to Ms White a day before her body was found asking where his painkillers had gone from under his sink. Video of the Day Mr Burton claims Carrey's message was a "bogus text ... in an effort to cover up his conduct and complicity in her death" by "pretending as though he had misplaced the drugs and insinuating White may have taken them from Carrey without his knowledge". The complaint says: "If Carrey legitimately believed White had taken the drugs from him and she had subsequently gone missing for days with no contact, then why would Carrey not immediately request law enforcement to check on her well-being after she did not return his text?" Mr Burton also alleges Carrey "continued his charade" by publically offering to pay for Ms White's funeral in Cappawhite, where the actor was a pallbearer. "In reality, Carrey never paid a dime of funeral expenses," the complaint states. Mr Burton, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is suing for violation of the drug dealer liabilty act and wrongful death. He is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial in the case. In a statement, Carrey said: "What a terrible shame. It would be easy for me to get in a back room with this man's lawyer and make this go away, but there are some moments in life when you have to stand up and defend your honour against the evil in this world. "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. Cat's troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone's control. "I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace." The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leaving Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex, where the couple, who are promoting their Heads Together campaign The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meeting parents during their visit to Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex, where they promoting their Heads Together campaign The Duchess of Cambridge arriving at Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex, where she and her husband, the Duke of Cambridge are promoting their Heads Together campaign The Duchess of Cambridge arriving at Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex, where she and her husband, the Duke of Cambridge are promoting their Heads Together campaign The Duchess of Cambridge sits in on a lesson during her visit to Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex. Picture: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Wire A 15-year-old has revealed the advice that Kate Middleton shared with her that will "stay with me for the rest of my life". The Duchess of Cambridge visited Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex on Friday and now, one of the students who nabbed one-on-one time with her has shared their discussion. Hannah, who made a speech in front of Kate and husband Prince William welcoming them to the school, told People she was grateful to chat with the British royal. "The princess said to me that I should always keep performing and I should never give up on my dreams," she said. Expand Close Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visit Stewards Academy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visit Stewards Academy "That is going to stay with me for the rest of my life." The royal couple were in Essex as part of the ongoing efforts of their Heads Together campaign, finding out how young people are coping with life's pressures. Similarly, 12-year-old Klaudia echoed the sentiments, saying: "It was amazing meeting [the royals]. They said to keep doing what we're doing and not give up and not listen to what other people say." She said their visit will help "a lot of people open their eyes to the fact that if you do feel worried and scared it's not unusual, and it's okay to talk about. They said it's important because one day their children are going to school. They thought it's important for them, so it should be important to everyone." Expand Close Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visit Stewards Academy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visit Stewards Academy Meanwhile, William also told the students about being parents to Prince George (three) and Princess Charlotte (one). "The sleepless nights and all that is just fine. It's all the other stuff we now have to start worrying about," he said. Video of the Day Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman will take part in the show's tenth anniversary UK tour, despite stepping down at the end of this series Strictly Come Dancing head judge Len Goodman will appear on the show's tenth anniversary live tour, even though the upcoming series of the dancing competition will be his last. Goodman will appear alongside fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood, while former Strictly professional dancer Karen Hardy will serve as a guest judge. The tour, which will be hosted by 2015 semi-finalist and Countryfile presenter Anita Rani, will feature many celebrities from the highly-anticipated 14th series of the show, which will air on BBC One later this month. They will be joined by their professional dancers to recreate their most popular dance routines from the competition for the judges' scores and for votes from the arena audiences, who can pick their favourites via text message and have the power to decide who wins the coveted Glitter Ball Trophy at the end of each show. The 30-show tour will open at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham on January 20 2017 and will visit Newcastle, Sheffield, Glasgow, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and London. Goodman said: "The live tour always has such a great atmosphere and the tenth anniversary tour will definitely be one to remember, especially as this will come as I complete my final year on the TV series as head judge. Rest assured audiences, this tour will be a ten from Len!" Revel Horwood, who will direct the extravaganza for the seventh year, added: "I am very pleased to be back on tour with legendary Len and also welcoming Karen to the tour's judging panel. This tenth year is going to be bigger and better than ever before. We'll be pulling out all the stops to make sure that this anniversary tour is the best yet!" Tickets for the tour go on sale at 10am on September 23. Gigi Hadid models the Tommy Hilfiger Fall 2016 collection and her TommyXGigi capsule during Fashion Week in New York, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff) Gigi Hadid appears at the Tommy X Gigi collection launch at the Samuel B. & Davide Rose Building on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP) It's the most talked about designer/supermodel collaboration of the moment. Considering Im a tad obsessed with Gigi Hadid, I was first to volunteer to put her new collection with Tommy Hilfiger to the test. Tommy x Gigi landed in Irish stores on September 1st and fashion lovers around the world flocked to get their hands on a piece of the nautical-inspired collection. The supermodel stalked the runway at New York Fashion Week earlier this month in front of a star-studded FROW including Martha Hunt and Taylor Swift and she has been busy promoting the pieces to her 23 million Instagram followers. So, I made my way to the Tommy Hilfiger store on Grafton Street to peruse the collection in person and see how it fared on someone whose only common characteristics with the 21-year-old model are her age and eye colour. Look One Expand Close Amy Mulvaney wearing the striped sweater (139) and sailor pant (139) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy Mulvaney wearing the striped sweater (139) and sailor pant (139) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. White trousers are never easy to pull off, but in the name of fashion journalism, I conquered my fear and gave them a go. This outfit is one of the looks styled for the campaign, including very high-waisted skinny trousers with nautical button detailing on the front and a cross-detail navy and white striped jumper. The jumper was comfortable to wear (I'm a sucker for anything with stripes), however the trousers just weren't for me. With just one wrong move the material would gather in an area you really don't want it to gather in, if you know what I mean. In the campaign Gigi wears black heeled boots, so I chose to wear my own pair too, although I think a tan pair of wedges or loafers may have suited better. Wearing: Striped sweater (139) and sailor pant (139) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. Look Two Expand Close Amy Mulvaney wearing the cotton tee (59.90) and Venice skinny jeans (189) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy Mulvaney wearing the cotton tee (59.90) and Venice skinny jeans (189) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. This, without a doubt, is my favourite outfit out of the five. The jeans were super comfortable, as was the soft white t-shirt. The neckerchief could have gone either way, but I actually quite like it. Neckerchiefs have come back with a bang this season, and they're one of the easiest and cheapest ways to update an outfit. Video of the Day The jeans had a great fit with a nice mid-rise and ripped finish. This outfit is definitely my style, but I think I'd swap the boots for a pair of Converse in future. Wearing: Cotton tee (59.90) and Venice skinny jeans (189) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. Look Three Expand Close Amy Mulvaney wearing the long military wool coat (399) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy Mulvaney wearing the long military wool coat (399) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. The trench coat was one of the pieces I was most excited about in the collection, but it really disappointed me. It totally swamped me and nearly swallowed me whole. While it didn't suit me, I think it could work really well on someone else. I absolutely love the length, the belt and the badge detail on the front. Gigi has an extra three inches on me (she's 5ft 9), and I think this coat would better suit someone her height. Saying that, I'm definitely going to have a root around the shops for a similar version that suits my frame, because I felt like a total fashion queen while walking around in it. Wearing: Long military wool coat (399) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. Look Four Expand Close Amy Mulvaney wearing the roll neck sweater (229) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy Mulvaney wearing the roll neck sweater (229) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. I'm a huge fan of roll neck jumpers in the winter, and have quite a few at home that I confidently wear, but I just don't think I was made for this one. I tried the high-waisted flared denim trousers that are paired with this in the campaign images, but I couldn't even bring myself to leave the fitting room in them. Although it looks good on the mannequin (what doesn't?), it wasn't meant to be for me. So, instead I chose a classic pair of black skinny jeans from the brand which did the trick. Wearing: Roll neck sweater (229) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. Look Five Expand Close Amy Mulvaney wearing the wool cape (399) and cotton tee (59.90) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy Mulvaney wearing the wool cape (399) and cotton tee (59.90) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. For the final outfit, I went full sailor and wore the cap that Gigi wears in the campaign with this cape coat. The hat is a little loud for my taste, but I can get on board with this cape. It ticks all the boxes - it's comfortable, fits well and, again and has badge detailing that's majorly on trend. Wearing: Wool cape (399) and cotton tee (59.90) from the Tommy x Gigi collection. The verdict I have to admit, this collection didn't work for me in the way I hoped it would. And it hurts me to say that. I loved the jeans, t-shirts and cape, but I'd need to explore some of the more youthful pieces that aren't available in store - including the nautical dress, striped maxi dress, leather trousers and infamous 'H' bomber jacket - before making my final judgement. I did come away with one thing, however: Trying on the outfits is the closest I'll probably ever get to Gigi Hadid, and I'm certainly okay with that. A member of the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets team shows the damage after an air strike in Aleppo (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets/AP) Moscow has angrily denied that the Russian or Syrian air force were involved in an overnight attack on a humanitarian convoy. The Russian Foreign Ministry said: "We responsibly say that neither the Russian nor the Syrian air force conducted any strikes on the UN aid convoy on the south-western outskirts of Aleppo." The ministry described claims that Russian or Syrian aircraft were involved as "hasty and unfounded," adding the allegations could be aimed at distracting attention from an earlier strike on Syrian army positions by the US-led coalition. Syrian activists and paramedics have said the air strikes on the convoy were conducted by Russian or Syrian aircraft. The attack on Monday night killed 20 civilians and prompted the UN to suspend all aid convoys in Syria. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denounced the "sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack" on the Arab Red Crescent convoy, calling the bombers "cowards". Mr Ban told world leaders at the opening of the UN General Assembly's ministerial meeting that "just when we think it cannot get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower". The Red Crescent said about 20 civilians were killed. Mr Ban called those delivering aid "heroes". He said the UN was forced to suspend aid convoys "because of this outrage" Mr Ban blamed the Syrian government for most deaths and said it "continues to barrel bomb neighbourhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees". He added countries "that keep feeding the war machine also have blood on their hands", and accused unnamed governments attending the UN meeting of ignoring, facilitating, funding, planning and carrying out "atrocities" against civilians on all sides. The attack plunged Syria's US-Russia-brokered ceasefire further into doubt. The Syrian military, just hours earlier, had declared the week-long truce had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia - after blaming rebels for the violations - suggested it could still be salvaged. It was not clear who was behind the attack late on Monday. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over the province, while the US-led coalition targets the Islamic State group in other parts of the country. In Geneva, Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that all aid deliveries had been halted pending a review of the security situation in Syria in the aftermath of the attacks. Mr Laerke called it "a very, very dark day... for humanitarians across the world". A member of the Syrian Civil Defence - a group of volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets - criticised the UN humanitarian aid agency for suspending the convoys. Ibrahim Alhaj said that Syrian civilians will pay the price for the decision - and that the UN should have condemned the attacks on the convoy rather than suspending aid. The convoy was part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent. UN officials said it was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. World Health OrganiSation spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the convoy was expected to carry medicines, emergency health kits, trauma kits, burn kits and IV fluids. "All this was supposed to have been on that convoy, but I do not have a breakdown of what got destroyed and what did not get destroyed," he said. UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien called on "all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law". AP A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane was temporarily isolated after landing at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday following a false hijack alarm, airline and airport officials said. Saudi state television said the incident was over, and passengers could be seen disembarking from flight 872, which was travelling from the Saudi city of Jeddah to Manila. Earlier, a pilot on board had advised the airport's control tower that the plane was "under threat". "We instructed (the) aircraft to proceed to (the) isolated area," the airport's general manager Edmund Monreal told reporters. "It is fortunate that upon landing ... the crew said they made a mistake. However, we can never play around with safety and security." "It (the button) was unintentionally pushed. But the problem is it was pushed twice." Monreal added that the plane would be checked thoroughly anyway as a security precaution. In a text message to Reuters, Roberto Lim, undersecretary for aviation at the Department of Transportation, said police were "still monitoring as to why a hijack signal was issued by the pilot" adding, "persons will be interviewed". Lt Gen Sergei Rudskoi, of the Russian Military General Staff, previously said it has become "meaningless" for the Syrian government forces to observe the truce (AP) A United Nations humanitarian aid convoy inside Syria has been hit by air strikes, officials said, as the Syrian military declared that the week-long US-Russian brokered ceasefire had failed. With the truce apparently teetering, the US brushed off Damascus' assertions and said it was prepared to extend the agreement, while Russia - after blaming rebels for the violations - suggested it could still be salvaged. UN officials said the U.N. and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of Aleppo city. Initial estimates indicate that at least 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly lorry drivers and Red Crescent workers. The Syrian Civil Defence, the volunteer first responder group also known as the White Helmets, confirmed that casualty figure. Jan Egeland, humanitarian aid co-ordinator in the office of the UN envoy for Syria, said the convoy was "bombarded". Mr Egeland added: "It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses." UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien called on "all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law". The convoy, part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent, was hit in rural western Aleppo province. The White Helmets first responder group posted images of a number of vehicles on fire in the dead of the night. A video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitch black area, as ambulances arrive on the scene. A Red Crescent official in Syria confirmed the attack, but said no further information was available. Elsewhere at least 20 civilians, including a one-year-old girl, were killed in fresh air strikes on rebel-held Aleppo city and the surrounding areas, according to the Observatory. And Russia said government positions in south-western Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets. With the week old ceasefire in danger of unravelling, both Moscow and Washington have indicated a desire to try and salvage the agreement - which had brought a brief respite to at least some parts the war-torn country. In the wake of the Syrian military declaration, US secretary of state John Kerry acknowledged that the first stage of the truce - which called for a week of calm and the delivery of humanitarian aid to several besieged communities - had never really come to fruition. Earlier in the day, Mr Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that the truce was "holding but fragile". The State Department said it was ready to work with Russia to strengthen the terms of the agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid. Spokesman John Kirby said Russia, which is responsible for ensuring Syria's compliance, should clarify the Syrian position. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Monday night appeared to signal that the deal could still be salvaged, saying that the failure by the rebels in Syria to respect the ceasefire threatened to thwart the agreement. The ceasefire came into effect on September 12. Under the terms of the agreement, the successful completion of seven days of calm and humanitarian aid deliveries would be followed by an ambitious second-stage plan to set up a joint US-Russian co-ordination centre to plan military strikes against the Islamic State group and a powerful al Qaida-linked militant faction. But from the start, the truce has been beset by difficulties and mutual accusations of violations. Aid deliveries to the besieged eastern districts of Aleppo have not reached their destination. The UN accused the government of obstructing the delivery while Russian officials said rebels opened fire at the delivery roads. Rebel forces and activists say government planes have bombed areas that are under the truce agreement, including rebel-held parts of Aleppo. At least 22 civilians were killed in government bombings over the last week, according to the Observatory. The group said four civilians were killed in government-held areas. There were no independent reports of deaths of civilians on the government-side since the ceasefire came into effect. By Monday, both the Syrian government and prominent opposition activists were speaking of the truce as if it had already failed. George Sabra, of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, said the truce has been repeatedly violated and did not succeed in its main objective or opening roads for aid. "Hundreds of thousands of people in Aleppo are waiting for this truce to allow aid to enter the city," he said, adding that there were aid trucks still waiting on the Turkey-Syria border. "I believe that the truce is clinically dead." The Syrian military statement placed the blame on the rebel groups. Damascus refers to all armed opposition groups as terrorists. "This step (ceasefire) was to constitute a real chance to stop the bloodshed. But the armed terrorist groups didn't take it seriously and didn't commit to any of its articles," the military command statement said. "The armed terrorist groups took advantage of the declared truce system and mobilised terrorists and weapons and regrouped to continue its attacks on civilian and military areas." One of the major rebel groups in Syria, Nour el-Din el-Zinki, said soon after the Syrian military declaration that the government, Russia and Iran, another major ally of President Bashar Assad, are responsible for the truce's failure. "The regime of Bashar Assad had no real intention to commit to the truce. Instead it worked to undermine it with organized violations during the week as well as preventing aid from reaching Aleppo," the group said. Earlier Monday, Lt Gen Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff said in a briefing that Damascus had fulfilled its obligations. "With the rebels failing to fulfil conditions the ceasefire agreement, we consider its unilateral observance by the Syrian government forces meaningless," he said. He said the rebels violated the truce 302 times since it took effect a week ago, killing 63 civilians and 153 Syrian soldiers. On Monday the opposition reported 254 violations by government forces and their allies since the truce started. The current tensions come on the heels of the weekend air strike by the US-led coalition on Syrian army positions near Deir el-Zour. Syria and Russia blasted Washington over the attack. The Saturday air strikes involved Australian, British and Danish warplanes on Syrian army positions. The US military said it would not intentionally hit Syrian troops, and that it came as it was conducting a raid on IS positions. Russia's military has said that it was told by the Syrian army that at least 62 Syrian soldiers were killed in the Deir el-Zour air raid and more than 100 wounded. The Observatory gave a different death toll, saying 90 troops were killed in the strikes. Assad said on Monday that the air strikes of the US-led coalition against his troops was meant to support IS, calling the attack a "blatant American aggression". AP A man has been charged with double murder after the shooting of a mother-of-nine and her nephew. Obina Ezeoke, 24, has been charged with the murders of Annie Besala Ekofo, 53, and her nephew Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo, 21. They were gunned down at a flat in East Finchley, north London, on Thursday shortly after 6.30am. Scotland Yard said Ezeoke, of no fixed address, is to appear in custody at Hendon Magistrates' Court in north west London on Wednesday. The Met revealed it has also been established that Mr Kalikaka-Ekofo, a psychology student, died from a gunshot wound to the head. His post-mortem was carried out at Northwick Park Hospital Mortuary on Saturday. A 20-year-old man remains on bail until a date in late October. On Sept. 9, the day that the Bureau of Land Management halted its plan to surgically sterilize wild horses in Oregon because of litigation from Friends of Animals and other groups a noteworthy victory for wild horses that likely made cattle and sheep ranchers cringe the agencys Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, which met in Elko, backed a position to euthanize thousands of wild horses who have been rounded up and imprisoned in holding facilities. Before the BLM came forward to reject the boards proposal, hysteria ensued. And Friends of Animals believes thats just what the Advisory Board wanted ... to distract the public and advocacy groups from the victory and from staying focused on meaningful actions that can protect wild horses, the kind of perseverance of Velma Bronn Johnston, a.k.a., Wild Horse Annie, who led the campaign to stop the eradication of wild horses and burros from public lands and was instrumental in getting Congress to pass the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971. The Advisory Board is a mouthpiece for the cattle and sheep ranching industry (ranchers have always sat on the board), which has been at war with Americas wild horses since they put their doomed cattle and sheep on public lands. The industrys vendetta has reached an all-time high as other special interests compete for space on Americas public lands such as mining companies, hunting businesses and oil and gas companies. Friends of Animals has attended numerous Advisory Board meetings, which pretend to be a conduit between the public and the BLM, but we have yet to see any of the publics or wild horse advocates advice incorporated into its recommendations to the BLM. What we hope members of the public will learn from this latest farce of a meeting is not to waste their time on presenting comments to the BLM Advisory Board, but to instead focus on urging their representatives in Congress to make sure that next years appropriations bill continues to contain language preventing BLM from spending federal monies to slaughter wild horses. Americans can also urge Congress to amend the WHBA to make it possible to relocate wild horses to Herd Areas that existed in 1971. Six states have completely lost their wild horses populations because of the BLMs mismanagement, and its time to give back to wild horses the habitat that was stolen from them. Since the passage of the WHBA, wild horses have lost 22.2 million acres, more than 40 percent of their 1971 habitat. In the meantime, the Advisory Board should be dismantled as it has proven it is not suited to protect wild horses. If it was, it would not be scapegoating wild horses for destroying public lands. It would instead be recommending that the BLM provide larger herd management areas/wildlife reserves where cattle and sheep are excluded and where predators are allowed. A survey of 50 wild horse HMAs on Americas public lands shows that approximately 82.5 percent of forage was reserved for livestock grazing, while just 17.5 percent of the forage was allocated to the wild horses themselves. During a recent trip to Oregon, a Friends of Animals correspondent drove 1,249 miles through seven HMAS and saw a measly 40 wild horses, but observed hundreds and hundreds of cattle. In contrast, 800 wild horses who had been ripped from the range and their families were crammed into 41 dirt paddocks at Oregons Wild Horse Corral Facility, where a sign read See the real thing to visitors who could take an auto tour of the grounds. That the BLM considers wild horses in holding pens the real thing is a disgrace and an insult to the American public. The Advisory Board has been sticking its head in the sand, and we encourage the public not to follow suit. Up to 100 schoolchildren believed to have been armed with bats and knives were involved in a mass brawl that broke out in a park in south-east London. Two people were taken to hospital and seven were arrested after the shocking scenes of violence, in which some of the children were allegedly using blocks of concrete as weapons. Witnesses described the absolute pandemonium as the fight spilled onto the roads of Northumberland Heath, near Erith, prompting a police intervention with helicopters and police dogs. Some of the children are believed to have been wearing school uniform in the brawl, which took place near the Duchess of Kent pub and close to Northumberland Heath recreation ground. Expand Close Police on the scene of the mass brawl Credit: @Shane_Newman1 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police on the scene of the mass brawl Credit: @Shane_Newman1 Footage from the fight shows dozens of young people punching and kicking a youth who had been beaten to the floor. Some of the attackers appeared to be armed with sticks as they launched kicks to his body and head. Those involved were believed to be aged between between 12 and 19, while one social media user said the scenes of violence were like something you would expect to see in Iraq. Expand Close Some of them were armed with sticks as the kicked and punched the person on the floor / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Some of them were armed with sticks as the kicked and punched the person on the floor It was just absolute pandemonium, a witness told the Evening Standard. There were kids screaming at each other. It was just scary. It was school kids, basically, all in their uniforms, with hoods up and lots with their faces covered up. Some had knives and bats and who knows what. There were a hell of a lot of people very concerned about it. People were out there with their children and dog walkers who did not know which way to go. A resident added that a group of around 20 or 30 had surrounded a youth in the car park of the nearby rugby club. The shouting got louder and you could hear someone being beaten, they said. Kids ran off in groups to all directions, some down the alley of Brook Street, others towards the rugby fields and the swing park area. My partner was in the park with our dog and saw a black boy with blood all over, even coming out of his eye and nose, but police were then with him. The helicopter was up for nearly two hours. Another resident added that she felt afraid to leave her home during the fight. "This is the first time for a long, long while that we've had gang-related problems round here," she said. "They were all youngsters, a lot of them were in school uniform - that was the shock, seeing them in uniforms. "They are still youngsters - it's quite a shock when they are all en masse like that. I didn't want to go outside. "We don't know what it was over or why it even began - it's crazy." The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to "a large fight" between youngsters in Northumberland Heath in Bexley, south-east London, at around 5.40pm on Monday. A spokesman said on Tuesday morning: "Police were called to Northumberland Heath, Bexley, at 17:40hrs on Monday 19 September, to reports of a large fight between a group of youths. "Officers from the borough and the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG) were called to the scene. Two individuals suffered non-life threatening injuries (we await a breakdown). "They were taken to a south London hospital by London Ambulance Service to be treated for their injuries. "Around seven males, aged between 15 and 21 years, were arrested and taken to south London police stations." Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Father Gabriele Amorth, who claimed to have carried out as many as 70,000 exorcisms. Photo: AFP/Getty Images A charismatic Catholic priest who became the world's best-known exorcist has died at the age of 91. Father Gabriele Amorth was the chief exorcist for the diocese of Rome and wrote several books about the dark art of casting out demons. He died overnight in a Rome hospital after suffering from a pulmonary illness. Father Amorth claimed to have performed tens of thousands of exorcisms during his career and sometimes embarrassed the Vatican with his more outlandish claims. He maintained that people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron. Both Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil, he insisted. He claimed that yoga is "evil" because it leads to a worship of Hinduism and other Eastern religions and that the 'Harry Potter' books encourage children to believe in black magic and wizardry. His many books included 'The Last Exorcist - My Fight Against Satan'. During the papacy of Benedict XVI, Father Amorth said that the sex-abuse scandals which engulfed the church in Ireland, the US, Australia and other countries were proof that the Antichrist was waging a war against the Holy See. "The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences," he said. "He can remain hidden, speak in different languages, or even appear to be sympathetic. At times, he makes fun of me. But I'm a man who is happy in his work." In a rare insight into the world of exorcism, he told 'La Repubblica' newspaper that the 1973 film 'The Exorcist' gave a "substantially exact" impression of what it was like to be possessed by the Devil. People possessed by evil sometimes had to be physically restrained by half a dozen people while they were exorcised. They would scream, utter blasphemies and spit out sharp objects, he said. "From their mouths, anything can come out - pieces of iron as long as a finger, but also rose petals," said Father Amorth, who claimed to have performed 70,000 exorcisms. "When the possessed dribble and slobber and need cleaning up, I do that too. Seeing people vomit doesn't bother me. The exorcist has one principal duty; to free human beings from the fear of the Devil." The attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II by a Turkish gunman in 1981 was also the work of the Devil, said Father Amorth. Last year, he said that the Isil terrorist group was under the sway of demonic influence. "Isil is Satan. Things first happen in the spiritual realms, then they are made concrete on this earth," he said. Father Amorth was appointed the exorcist for the diocese of Rome in 1985. In the early 1990s, he set up the International Association of Exorcists, which gained the endorsement of Pope Francis. "As a Christian, I fight the beast spiritually," he once said, adding: "Biblically speaking, we are in the last days and the beast is working furiously." Hours after his death, Father Jose Antonio Fortea, a Spanish theologian who knew Father Amorth, told the Catholic News Agency: "Now he rests from his many battles with the devil." ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] The KGB is to be revived under a massive shake-up of Russia's security forces, a respected business daily newspaper has reported, after Vladimir Putin's party secured a landslide win in Russia's parliamentary elections. A State Security Ministry, or MGB, would be created from the current FSB, the Federal Security Service, and would incorporate the SVR foreign intelligence service and the FSO state guard service, under the plans. It would be handed all-encompassing powers once possessed by the Soviet-era secret police, 'Kommersant' newspaper said. It would also oversee the prosecution of Kremlin critics, a task currently undertaken by the Investigative Committee. The Kremlin has not commented. The MGB is expected to be created before the 2018 presidential election, at which Mr Putin could secure a fourth term. Mr Putin served as a KGB officer in East Germany and is also thought to have been responsible for keeping tabs on dissidents in Leningrad, now St Petersburg. He headed the FSB from July 1998 to August 1999, before becoming prime minister, and has often joked that there is no such thing as a former KGB officer. Sergei Goncharov, who served in Russia's now disbanded Alpha counter-terror unit in the 1990s, told state media that the creation of the MGB would provide Russia with a "strong fist". Kremlin critics were horrified by the possible return of an institution synonymous with political oppression. The MGB was the name of the state security apparatus for eight years of Joseph Stalin's bloody rule. It was renamed the KGB after Stalin's death and disbanded in 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The report came less than 24 hours after Mr Putin's ruling United Russia party strengthened its grip on the Duma, the lower house of parliament, taking three-quarters of its 450 seats in Sunday's elections. The two anti-Putin parties on the ballot - Parnas and Yabloko - failed to overcome the 5pc threshold to enter parliament. The election was marred by apathy and allegations of vote-rigging. Turnout in Moscow was just 35pc, the lowest since Mr Putin came to power in 2000. "A record low turnout. Democrats get less than 3pc. The MGB is to be recreated. Welcome to the brave new world," said Vladimir Kara-Murza, the deputy leader of Parnas. Not everything went Mr Putin's way, though. Near-complete results showed the overall turnout was about 48pc, down from nearly 60pc in 2011, suggesting apathy among some Russians and a softening of enthusiasm for the ruling elite. Mr Putin's aides are likely to use the result as a springboard for his own re-election campaign, though he has not yet confirmed that he will seek another term. There were some reports of voting irregularities. Reuters reporters at one polling station in the Mordovia region of central Russia witnessed several people casting their ballot, then coming back later and voting again. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] FBI agents searched an apartment above the family's fried chicken shop in Elizabeth, New Jersey (AP) To neighbours and customers of his family's fried chicken takeaway, Ahmad Khan Rahami was a friendly, quiet presence behind the counter who liked talking about cars and was generous with free food. Rahami's father and brothers had long nursed tensions with neighbours and officials in Elizabeth, New Jersey, over the restaurant's late hours, a conflict the family claimed in a lawsuit was the result of discrimination against them as Muslims. But Ahmad Rahami's demeanour - increasingly devout but more likely to talk about worldly pursuits than his faith - never hinted at anything but goodwill, customers said. "He'd always talk about his cars. He loved his Civics, he loved going fast," said Ryan McCann, a frequent customer at First American Fried Chicken, the restaurant that Rahami's father Mohammed has run since 2002. "He was so friendly he'd give us free chicken here and there, just because we shopped there so much." Rahami, a naturalised US citizen, was taken into custody after a shoot-out with police in Linden, a nearby town. A law enforcement official said fingerprints and surveillance video helped investigators identify him as the man suspected of setting off bombs in the New York area over the weekend. Rahami was not on any terror or no-fly watch lists, but had been interviewed for immigration purposes. Another law enforcement official said investigators pulled over a car carrying three men and two women "associated" with Rahami when it appeared to be heading towards an airport on Sunday. As FBI agents removed bags of evidence from the restaurant on Monday, people recalled Rahami and his family, who shared an apartment above the business. Flee Jones, 27, who has known Rahami since they were teenagers, said he noticed a change in Rahami's personality after a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. When Rahami returned he "got more religious" and dressed differently, Mr Jones said. "He was more quiet and more mature," he said. "I said, 'Oh, where have you been?' And he said, 'Oh, vacation'. But I knew he went to Afghanistan because his little brother said it." A photo of Rahami, published in the Edison High School yearbook when he graduated in 2007, shows him with a carefully groomed goatee, wearing a crimson vest and tie. Rahami went on to attend Middlesex County College from 2010 to 2012, majoring in criminal justice, but did not graduate. Andre Almeida, a customer at the restaurant for the past eight years, said he noticed Rahami stopped wearing Western clothes after returning from Afghanistan and started wearing "a little more ethnic clothing". Rahami was accused of stabbing a relative in 2014, but a grand jury did not proceed with criminal charges, court records show. He also was accused of breaching a domestic-violence restraining order in 2012. A Democratic New Jersey congressman, Albio Sires, said Rahami contacted his office from Pakistan in 2014 seeking help because his wife had an expired Pakistani passport. Mr Sires said his office wrote a letter to the US embassy in Pakistan to check on the status of the case and the woman eventually received a visa. He said he did not know if she ever came to the country, and the FBI did not answer when asked on Monday. Neighbours had complained to Elizabeth officials that the Rahamis' restaurant was a late-night nuisance, Elizabeth's mayor Christian Bollwage said. Rahami's father and two brothers sued the city in 2011 after Elizabeth police said the restaurant stayed open past 10pm in violation of a local law. The Rahamis claimed in the lawsuit they were targeted by police because they were Muslims. The harassment, the lawsuit claimed, was based largely on the complaints to officials by one neighbour who regularly walked into the restaurant to tell them that "Muslims don't belong here" and "Muslims are trouble". Adjudication of the lawsuit was put on hold in 2011 when the elder Rahami travelled to Pakistan and was unable to return to the US in time, court filings show. The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 after one of the brothers, Mohammed K Rahami, pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing restrictions on the restaurant. Nevertheless, neighbours said Ahmad Rahami was easy to get along with, if somewhat reserved. "He was just very quiet," said Jorge Vasquez, who owns a nearby business and frequently visited the restaurant. AP Activists and rebel groups also accuse the government of violating the ceasefire. Photo: Alaa Al-Faqir/Reuters Syria's military command has declared the US-Russian-brokered ceasefire over, blaming the country's rebel groups for undermining the agreement. In a statement, the Syrian military said that "armed terrorist groups" repeatedly violated the ceasefire, which came into effect last week. It said the armed groups also took advantage of the truce to mobilise and arm themselves, while attacking government-held areas. The statement said the rebels wasted a "real chance" to stop the bloodshed. Activists and rebel groups also accuse the government of violating the ceasefire. The UN said the Syrian government had obstructed the delivery of aid, a key component of the deal. Over the weekend, the US-led coalition accidentally bombed a Syrian army position as it fought Isil in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, killing more than 90 government troops. Washington apologised, but Russia, the Syrian government's chief ally, questioned whether it had been an accident and accused the US of helping Isil. "The actions of the pilots - if they, as we hope, were not taken on orders from Washington - fall between criminal negligence and direct pandering to Isil terrorists," Moscow said. Representatives from both sides stormed out of a closed-door UN security council emergency session which had been called by Russia to discuss the botched raid. Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, said Moscow should be ashamed of calling the meeting, adding: "Even by Russia's standards, tonight's stunt, replete with moralism and grandstanding, is uniquely typical and hypocritical." A response came yesterday when a barrage of strikes hit the rebel-held eastern side of Aleppo, killing one woman and injuring several others. The US and Russia had planned to work together on an unprecedented joint operation to target Islamist rebels including Isil and formerly al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, if the ceasefire held for seven days. The plan now hangs in the balance. Another key tenet of the deal, which has been described as the "last chance" to save Syria, had been for the UN to be allowed to deliver much-needed aid to besieged parts of the country. A week later, more than 20 of its trucks are waiting at the border. The UN has said it has not received necessary permissions and safety guarantees from the Syrian government for it to proceed with the deliveries to Aleppo and other hard-to-reach areas. This image provided by the Syrian anti-government group Aleppo 24 news, shows damaged trucks carrying aid, in Aleppo, Syria. (Aleppo 24 news via AP) THE UN humanitarian aid agency has suspended all convoys in Syria following an overnight attack on aid trucks. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the attack killed about 20 civilians, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The attack plunged Syria's US-Russia-brokered ceasefire further into doubt. The Syrian military, just hours earlier, had declared the week-long truce had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia - after blaming rebels for the violations - suggested it could still be salvaged. It was not clear who was behind the attack late on Monday, which sent a red fireball into the sky over a rural area in western Aleppo province. Expand Close A Civil Defence member and a man put out a fire after an airstrike on the rebel held Urm al-Kubra town, western Aleppo city, Syria. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Civil Defence member and a man put out a fire after an airstrike on the rebel held Urm al-Kubra town, western Aleppo city, Syria. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over the province, while the US-led coalition targets the Islamic State group in other parts of the country. In Geneva, Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that all aid deliveries had been halted pending a review of the security situation in Syria in the aftermath of the attacks. Mr Laerke called it "a very, very dark day... for humanitarians across the world". A member of the Syrian Civil Defence - a group of volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets - criticised the UN humanitarian aid agency for suspending the convoys. Ibrahim Alhaj said that Syrian civilians will pay the price for the decision - and that the UN should have condemned the attacks on the convoy rather than suspending aid. The ICRC and the Syrian Red Crescent issued a statement on Tuesday saying 20 civilians had been killed in the convoy attack, many of them struck while offloading aid from the trucks. Much of that aid had been destroyed, they said. ICRC President Peter Maurer said the attack was a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" and "totally unacceptable". Syrian activists and paramedics had said earlier that the attacks killed 12 people. Among the victims was Omar Barakat who headed the Red Crescent in Uram al-Kubra, the town where the attack occurred, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, and Aleppo-based activist Bahaa al-Halaby said. The White Helmets first responder group posted images of a number of vehicles on fire and a video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitch black area, as ambulances arrive on the scene. The convoy was part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent. UN officials said it was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area. World Health OrganiSation spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the convoy was expected to carry medicines, emergency health kits, trauma kits, burn kits and IV fluids. "All this was supposed to have been on that convoy, but I do not have a breakdown of what got destroyed and what did not get destroyed," he said. When asked who was behind the attacks, Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian president Bashar Assad's "regime does not have the capabilities to carry out such air strikes within two hours". He said the air strikes on Aleppo province, including the ones that hit the convoy, were part of some 40 air raids that lasted about two hours and that "it was mostly Russian wa rplanes who carried out the air raid". Mr al-Halaby said that rebels in Aleppo province also claimed Russian aircraft were behind the attack. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group in Syria, said Russia's air forces and government warplanes dropped 25 bombs, damaging some 20 trucks and destroying the Red Crescent warehouse in Uram al-Kubra. A paramedic, speaking in a video released by Aleppo 24 News, a media collective, blamed Russian and government war planes as well as Syrian army helicopter gunships that he said dropped barrel bombs. The Syrian and Russian militaries both denied on Tuesday they were involved in the attack. UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien called on "all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians, and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law". Despite the attack, the UN appeared to move forward with aid air-drops in Syria. World Food Programme spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said in a statement that the UN food agency had air-dropped aid to besieged neighbourhoods in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour earlier Tuesday "as part of the planned schedule of deliveries". Also Tuesday, the Observatory said government forces launched an offensive in the Handarat area, just north of the city of Aleppo, in what appears to be an attempt to tighten the siege on rebel-held parts of Syria's largest city. A conscious man believed to be New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami being loaded into an ambulance after a shoot-out with police in Linden, New Jersey, U.S. Courtesy WABC-TV via Reuters The former partner of an Afghan-born man arrested after weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey is seeking full custody of their child, according to a court document. Maria Mena said she was seeking custody because the defendant, Ahmad Khan Rahami, "has been charged with police attempted murder and is currently under protective services after possible terrorist related activity," according to the document filed today in the Superior Court of New Jersey's Chancery Division. Mena, who could not immediately be reached for comment, last had telephone contact with Rahami in January 2016, the record showed. Meanwhile, a law enforcement official has said the suspect's father called the FBI in 2014 to say his son was a terrorist but later retracted the claim. The father contacted the FBI after Ahmad Khan Rahami was charged with stabbing his brother, according to the official, who was not named. The official said the FBI looked into the matter, but that the father, Mohammad Rahami, retracted his comment and said he meant his son was spending time with the wrong crowd. The FBI reviewed its databases and found no credible connection to terrorism or threat to the US from the son, the official said. The information emerged as Rahami, 28, was being held on 5.2 million dollar (4 million) bail, charged with five counts of attempted murder of police officers following the shoot-out that led to his capture. Federal prosecutors said they were considering charges over the bombings that wounded 29 people. Rahami, a US citizen born in Afghanistan, remained in hospital after surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg. He was arrested in Linden, New Jersey, after he was found sleeping in the doorway of a bar. His father told reporters outside the family's fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that he called the FBI two years ago. But asked whether he thought his son was a terrorist, the father said: "No. And the FBI, they know that." Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested in 2014 on charges of stabbing a person in the leg and possession of a firearm. A grand jury declined to indict him, despite a warning from the arresting officer that Rahami was probably "a danger to himself or others". William Sweeney, the FBI's assistant director in New York, said the FBI had received a report of a domestic incident involving Rahami some time ago, but the allegations had been recanted, and "there's nothing to indicate that currently he was on our radar". The bombing investigation began when a pipe bomb blew up on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines. No one was injured. Then a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb exploded on Saturday night in New York's Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found blocks away. Late on Sunday night, five explosive devices were found in a rubbish bin at an Elizabeth train station. Investigators have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices. Rahami provided investigators with a wealth of clues that led to his arrest just 50 hours after the first explosion, according to three law enforcement officials. His fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of the Manhattan bombing, they said. His face was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the spot of the blast. Electronic toll records show a car to which he had access was driven from New Jersey to Manhattan and back to New Jersey on the day of the bombing, according to the officials. Those and other clues prompted officials to release his name and photo on Monday morning. "A lot of technology was involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too," New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill said. Officials said they have no other suspects at large but added they are still investigating. Rahami was not on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes while travelling between the US and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. Rahami and his family live above their restaurant, First American Fried Chicken, and the family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints. Spain's Congress has been at a standstill since late December. emilio naranjo (efe) The lack of a government in Spain is puzzling many people in the United States and Latin America, given the ongoing political stalemate, which has lasted nine months already, combined with a steadily improving economy. Some pundits say that the country that impressed the world with its peaceful transition to democracy in the late 1970s has lost its way. In conversations with EL PAIS, politicians, writers and intellectuals on the other side of the Atlantic express surprise at the fact that a nation that has enjoyed smooth handovers of government under its two-party system over the last three decades has come to a grinding halt in the new multi-party scenario. Colombians are offering to give Spaniards a crash course in how to run a country with a broad spectrum of parties But the political paralysis does not appear to be affecting bilateral relations between governments. Economic relations in particular are strong, say the business communities in Argentina and Brazil, two nations where Spanish companies have a major presence. In the United States, the situation in Spain is viewed as a domestic issue that does not affect the rest of the world in the way that the economic crisis did. Spain is an important ally and NATO friend, and we will continue to work together on our shared priorities, said US State Department spokesperson Nicole Thomson. Mexican former minister Jorge G. Castaneda Santi Burgos I dont think the Spanish system is going to collapse, but its not working well, noted the US historian and expert on Spain Stanley G. Payne. But Mexican analysts offered a more candid view. I am worried and disconcerted by Spain. Its a pity that with four [political] forces, even if they have less individual clout, they are unable to find a combination that will provide a sufficient majority, said former Foreign Minister Jorge G. Castaneda. Spain represented a model of collective political intelligence, but now that intelligence is marked by fragmentation and infighting. It is up to its politicians to resolve it, noted Mexican writer Hector Aguilar Camin. If the Spanish parliamentary system is no good at building governing majorities, then what is it good for? Material for jokes In Argentina, where Spain is the second-largest source of direct foreign investment, politicians and business leaders often ask Spanish reporters for clues as to what is going on in their country. The stalemate even provides fodder for jokes: asked about controversial issues in Argentinean politics, more than one minister has replied along the lines of: You form a government first, and then well talk. But Agriculture Minister Ricardo Buryaile noted that the lack of government is having an effect on EU-Mercosur negotiations, because Spain is one of the countries accompanying us to try to push the agreement through. Talks are underway, and its going to be hard making decisions while countries such as Spain are in a difficult political situation. If Spain is going through a delicate political situation, Brazil is caught up in a full-fledged storm If Spain is going through a delicate political situation, Brazil is caught up in a full-fledged storm following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and swearing-in of Michel Temer as the new president. The situation is not ideal, admitted Spanish Trade Secretary Jaime Garcia-Legaz, who wants to encourage more Brazilian investment in Spain. Under normal conditions, there would be more visits by the king of Spain and the prime minister, but communications are still within reasonable levels. Meanwhile, Colombians are so caught up in the run-up to the October 2 referendum to approve the peace process with the leftist armed FARC guerrilla, that the situation in Spain barely registers at gatherings of politicians and intellectuals. Some say that Spain is clearly unable to come to terms with the end of the two-party system, and are even offering to give Spaniards a crash course in how to run a country with a broad spectrum of political parties. English version by Susana Urra. Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Linden, N.J. Rahami was wanted for questioning in the bombings that rocked the Chelsea neighborhood of New York and the New Jersey shore town of Seaside Park. (Ed Murray/NJ Advance Media via AP) The man suspected of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey provided investigators with a wealth of clues that led to his arrest some 50 hours after the first explosion, officials have said. Ahmad Khan Rahami's fingerprints and DNA were found at the scene of the Manhattan bombing, according to three law enforcement officials. Expand Close Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Linden, N.J. Rahami was wanted for questioning in the bombings that rocked the Chelsea neighborhood of New York and the New Jersey shore town of Seaside Park. (Nicolaus Czarnecki/Boston Herald via AP) /The Boston Herald via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ahmad Khan Rahami is taken into custody after a shootout with police Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Linden, N.J. Rahami was wanted for questioning in the bombings that rocked the Chelsea neighborhood of New York and the New Jersey shore town of Seaside Park. (Nicolaus Czarnecki/Boston Herald via AP) /The Boston Herald via AP) His uncovered face was clearly captured by surveillance cameras near the spot of the blast. Electronic toll records showed that a car to which he had access was driven from New Jersey to Manhattan and back to New Jersey on the day of the bombing, according to the officials. Read More Those and other clues spurred officials to publicise his name and photo on Monday morning, asking for help finding Rahami, 28, a US citizen born in Afghanistan, who lives with his Muslim family in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Hours later, a police officer in Linden, New Jersey, recognised Rahami after finding him sleeping in a doorway, prompting a confrontation and shootout that led to his capture. "A lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good, old-fashioned police work, too," said New York police commissioner James O'Neill. He said investigators would "make sure that we get to the bottom of who's involved and why". After surgery for a gunshot wound to his leg, Rahami was being held on 5.2 million dollar (4 million) bail, charged with five counts of attempted murder of police officers. Federal prosecutors said they were still weighing up charges over the bombings. Rahami remains in hospital. With Rahami's arrest, officials said they had no other suspects at large, but cautioned that they were still investigating. The bombing spread fear across the New York area and revived anxiety about homegrown terrorism nationwide. As the east coast was rattled by the bombings, a man who authorities say referred to Allah wounded nine people in a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota shopping centre on Saturday before being shot dead by an off-duty police officer. Authorities are investigating the stabbings as a possible terrorist attack but have not drawn any connection between the bloodshed there and the bombings. William Sweeney Jr, the FBI's assistant director in New York, said there was no indication so far that the bombings were the work of a larger terror cell. Rahami was not on any terror or no-fly watch lists, though he had been interviewed for immigration purposes travelling between the US and Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said. Rahami and his family live above their fried-chicken restaurant - called First American Fried Chicken - and the family has clashed with the city over closing times and noise complaints, which the Rahamis said in a lawsuit were tinged with anti-Muslim sentiment. The lawsuit was terminated in 2012 because one of Rahami's brothers had pleaded guilty to blocking police from enforcing closing hours at the restaurant. A childhood friend, Flee Jones, said Rahami had become more religious after returning from a trip to Afghanistan several years ago. Still, some of the family restaurant's customers said Rahami was more likely to talk about his interest in cars than to mention faith. "He's a very friendly guy," patron Ryan McCann said. "That's what's so scary." The investigation began when a pipe bomb blew up on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, New Jersey, before a charity race to benefit Marines. No-one was injured. Then a shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bomb exploded on Saturday night in New York's Chelsea section, wounding 29 people, none seriously. An unexploded pressure-cooker bomb was found streets away. Late on Sunday night, five explosive devices were discovered in a rubbish bin at an Elizabeth train station, about three miles from where Rahami was later found asleep in the doorway of a bar. Investigators are still gathering evidence and have not publicly tied Rahami to those devices, though Mr Sweeney noted they are not "ruling anything out". The bombs discovered on Saturday all used flip mobile phones as a trigger and were all made with easily purchasable materials, a federal law enforcement official said. After zeroing in on Rahami and learning of the car that had travelled between New Jersey and New York, authorities pulled it over on Sunday night after it headed in the direction of Kennedy airport. The law enforcement officials said at least one of Rahami's relatives was in the car. All five were questioned and released, Mr Sweeney said. He declined to say whether they might later face charges. Linden mayor Derek Armstead said the break in the case came on Monday morning when a bar owner reported someone asleep in his doorway. An officer arrived and confronted Rahami, who pulled a gun and fired, authorities said. The officer was saved by his bulletproof vest. More officers joined in a battle that spilled into the street. Another police officer was grazed by a bullet. The officers' injuries were not life-threatening. Around the time Rahami was captured, US president Barack Obama was in New York on a previously scheduled visit for a meeting of the UN General Assembly. He called on Americans to show the world "we will never give in to fear". People disembark a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane from Jeddah as it is parked at the airport in Manila (AP) The flight crew of a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane mistakenly pressed a hijack warning button as it approached Manila's airport, causing airport officials to mobilise security forces and isolate the jet after it landed, Philippine officials said. Manila airport manager Eddie Monreal and other officials said Flight SV872 from Jiddah made the distress call about 30 miles from the airport. Airport authorities asked for a verification of the emergency message and the flight crew confirmed the distress call twice, he said. It was not immediately clear how the confirmation was made, he said. However, the captain later told the control tower that a button indicating that a hijacking was in progress had been pushed by accident, Mr Monreal said. He said the Boeing 777 was isolated after it landed and security personnel were deployed as a precaution. The passengers were later allowed to disembark. Monreal said the plane was carrying 410 passengers and 21 crew members. The incident came after Phillipine officials in February announced they had strengthened security for Saudi Arabia's embassy in Manila and its national airline because of a possible threat. At the time, officials also said additional armed officers were posted in the boarding area for the Saudi flag carrier and to guard the airline's luggage. It did not elaborate on the threat. However, it came as the Sunni-ruled kingdom has been on increasingly hostile terms with Shiite power Iran. AP Dr Sergio Canavero, speaking on Good Morning Britain, plans to conduct head transplant on Valery Spiridonov (right). Photo: ITV A CONTROVERSIAL doctor insists he will out the first human head transplant next year despite the planned surgery being widely condemned. Dr Sergio Canavero is due to carry out the head transplant on Russian Valery Spiridonov - and has outlined plans to conduct experiments to reanimate human corpses to test his technique. The controversial neurosurgeon has been dubbed Dr Frankenstein after revealing his plans to carry out the first human head transplant in December 2017 Russian Valery Spiridonov, who is terminally ill, will become the first human to undergo the operation. During the process, the head will be frozen to preserve the brain cells. The aim of the surgery is to first cut the spinal cord and then repair it before using electrical or magnetic stimulation to 'reanimate' the nerves. Valery currently has a muscle-wasting disease thats slowly killing him. Speaking today on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, Mr Spiridonov said his girlfriend doesnt want him to go through with the operation. "She supports me in all that I do, but she doesn't think that I need to change, she accepts me the way I am. She doesn't think that I need the surgery," he said. "My motivation personally is about improving my own life conditions and to go to the stage where I will be able to take care of myself, where I will be independent from other people. "I need people to help me everyday, even twice a day because I need someone to take me off my bed and put me in my wheelchair, so it makes my life pretty dependable on other people and if there will be a way to change this I believe it should be tried," he said. The ITV studio then crossed to Dr Canavero to get his take on the upcoming operation. Piers Morgan suggested his work was like that of Dr Frankenstein: There are many sceptics in the medical world who agree with that verdict. They dont think its possible. The Frankenstein doctor hit back, explaining: Look, sorry, these doctors dont know what theyre taking about. Earlier this year, Dr Canavero claimed scientists in China had performed a head transplant on a monkey where they connected up the blood supply between the head and the new body. The surgery would take a staggering 36 hours to complete and is expected to cost over 10m, he added. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a New York hotel in a last-ditch bid to save Syria's week-old truce (AP) The United States, Russia and more than a dozen other countries have declared that Syria's ceasefire is not dead despite increasing violence on the ground. With few alternatives for trying to end its civil war, diplomats pressed on with a strategy that appeared to be impressing few and convincing no one. "It's the only show in town," Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said bluntly of the talks that are now set to continue later this week. Tuesday's gathering, led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, aimed to hold on to what might be salvageable from Syria's week-old truce on a day the pair once envisioned as the start of a new military partnership against the Islamic State group and al Qaida. While Arab, European and other officials waited, Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov met in a New York hotel to iron out some of their many differences, including a mistaken weekend air raid by the American-led coalition on Syrian soldiers and a deadly attack on an aid convoy that the US blamed on Russia and Syria, despite denials from Moscow and Damascus. When the diplomats emerged from their meeting about an hour later, no one spoke of a breakthrough. "The ceasefire is not dead," Mr Kerry insisted. "We are going to continue to work. We are going to meet again Friday on some specific steps." Rhetorically, at least, the diplomats expressed some hope. That was an improvement from Monday, when Syria's Russian-backed government declared the cease-fire over. But it also reflected Washington's desperation. Despite numerous violations by the government and Syrian rebels, the US has few other options for ending the five-year-old conflict that has killed a half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global threat. President Barack Obama has made clear the US will use military force only against IS and other extremist organisations, and not against Syrian president Bashar Assad's government. Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov have spent months trying to forge a diplomatic path. Their deal earlier this month would have created a new, joint US-Russian centre to coordinate strikes on the Islamic State militants and al Qaida-linked groups had the truce and unfettered aid deliveries in Syria been protected for seven straight days. Neither commitment was met. The International Syria Support Group the two convened includes countries with widely divergent interests, such as Iran - a Syrian ally - and Saudi Arabia, a provider of arms and cash to rebels. For the same reason, the assembly of nations has been unable to define any clear approach toward a Syrian future without Assad. Most of its pronouncements have been vague. Tuesday's meeting was not followed by any immediate statement. UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said all participants reconfirmed support for the truce, even if Mr Assad's military and the rebels were not always respecting it. "The cease-fire is in danger, is being seriously affected," he said, but only the US and Russia could declare it over. Mr De Mistura also said he was "profoundly outraged" by Monday's attack on an aid convoy that killed some 20 civilians, describing it as a "game changer" in forcing a serious discussion on how to stop the violence. Both Russia and Syria have denied involvement in the strike. The United Nations has suspended all aid deliveries pending a security review. On Monday, the US was even stronger in its criticism. State Department spokesman John Kirby said after the convoy attack that the US "will reassess the future prospects for cooperation with Russia". But in a sign of the increasing messiness of Syria's overlapping wars, Washington was still on the defensive itself on Tuesday. The coalition's weekend attack killed 62 Syrian soldiers. Russia and Syria have called it proof of US support for extremist groups. The American military said it may have unintentionally hit the group while carrying out operations against IS; the strike was halted when Russia informed the US of the apparent mistake. "The atmosphere was quite heavy," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said of Tuesday's meeting in the Palace Hotel. Mr Ayrault, who has criticised Washington for not releasing the ceasefire agreement, said the US-Russian negotiations "have reached their limits". "What have we seen these last few hours?" he asked. "Bombing is continuing. Aleppo is still threatened. The population is starving. And there is a humanitarian convoy that is attacked and there are dead. This is the reality. One must denounce this reality." AP A Thai court has convicted a British activist of defaming a fruit canning company. The Bangkok South Criminal Court found Andy Hall guilty of criminal defamation against Natural Fruit Company Ltd in connection with a 2013 report he researched for Finnish consumer agency Finnwatch that alleged workplace abuses at the company. The case has been seen by critics as an effort to intimidate human rights workers and activists. Mr Hall has been active for several years in Thailand in workplace rights advocacy, especially involving migrant workers. He was also found guilty of violating the Computer Crimes Act because the information was posted on the internet. He was given a suspended sentence of three years with a probationary period of two years, and a fine of 150,000 baht (3,300). He is expected to appeal against the ruling, but will be in the court's custody until the fine is paid. Two civil actions by the company against him are pending. The court originally sentenced Hall to four years in prison and a 200,000-baht fine, but reduced the sentence because he co-operated with the court and had no previous criminal record. Lawyers and right groups have long been critical of Thailand's criminal defamation law, which is seen as inhibiting free speech. In a statement earlier this week, Amnesty International called on Thai authorities to remove criminal penalties for defamation and "ensure that such charges are not used to restrict the right to freedom of expression". Sonja Vartiala, executive director of Finnwatch, said her organisation was "shocked by today's verdict". "The report was authored and published by Finnwatch; we take full responsibility for it," she said. "Andy has been made a scapegoat in order to stifle other voices that speak out legitimately in support of migrant worker rights." Finnwatch was not sued, nor was the Al Jazeera news network, to whom Mr Hall gave an interview that was the basis for part of the cases against him. "This is a sad day for freedom of expression in Thailand. We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling," Ms Vartiala said. Britain's Foreign Office stated its concern in a statement issued after the verdict. "The UK supports the right of Human Rights Defenders to raise concerns about human rights violations without fear of reprisals or legal action to prevent public participation," it said. "We will be raising his case with the Thai authorities and we are ready to provide support to Mr Hall if requested." AP More information Hallados restos de ADN de Pablo Ibar en la escena del crimen The unearthing of new DNA evidence in the run-up to a retrial of Pablo Ibar, the Spaniard who spent 15 years on death row in the United States for a triple murder, has provided a new twist to a story dating back to 1994. Ibar, a dual Spanish-American citizen, was convicted of a triple homicide of a nightclub owner and two models. He has already served 22 years in prison, but has always insisted on his innocence. In February, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a retrial after accepting that mistakes were made by Ibars defense attorney during his first trial in 2000 and that the evidence presented in court was weak. The key piece of evidence in the prosecutions case was a grainy, soundless home security video The key piece of evidence in the prosecutions case was a grainy, soundless home security video that showed a group of men attacking nightclub owner Casimir Butch Casey Sucharski, and two models, Sharon Anderson and Marie Rogers, whom he had brought to his home in Miramar, Florida. The three were shot and killed during the botched robbery attempt. One of the suspects in the video appears to be Ibar, but according to his lawyers, no DNA evidence or fingerprints were found at the crime scene to connect Ibar with the murders. In a bid to link Ibar to the crime definitively, public prosecutors in Florida have carried out four DNA analyses over the last 22 years, each one failing to link him to the killings. Three weeks ago, they asked for a fifth, which Ibar agreed to. The results of the latest tests coincide partially with Ibars DNA, says his lawyer, Benjamin Waxman. Of the 15 loci the specific location or position of a genes DNA sequence on a chromosome that were analyzed, five coincide with Ibars DNA. The other 10 are too damaged to be tested. Public prosecutors in Florida have carried out four DNA analyses over the last 22 years This is very weak evidence, says Andres Krakenberger, head of the Pablo Ibar Association, a Spain-based organization set up to lobby for the Spaniards release. They have analyzed three stains on the t-shirt the killer used to hide his face and which was found at the crime scene. Two of them, the biggest, do not coincide with Pablos DNA. There is a third, which is tiny, that partially coincides, he says. Krakenberger says that the evidence is far from conclusive, pointing out that any items of Ibars clothing have already been analyzed over the last two decades. This isnt the first time there has been contamination in Floridas laboratories, says Krakenberger, adding: We are sure that this wont hold up in court. The t-shirt was used to cover the killers face. He wiped sweat off with it. If it had been Pablos, it would be covered with his DNA, says Krakenberger. Ibars retrial will take place next year. No date has been set. Seth Penalver, accused of taking part in the killings, was cleared in 2012 after a retrial and spending 12 years on death row. English version by Nick Lyne The Cabarrus County Bar Association recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the North Carolina District Court System, which was established in 1966. The system was rolled out in three phases, with the first phase coming online in 1966 with the second phase in 1968 and the third phase in 1970, which include the Cabarrus County system. The guest speaker for the event was retired Judge Clarence E. Horton Jr. Adidas has ended its partnership with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West over his offensive and antisemitic remarks. The German sportswear company said Tuesday in a statement that it does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech" and called Yes recent comments and actions unacceptable, hateful and dangerous." It comes after Adidas faced pressure to cut ties with Ye, with celebrities and others on social media urging the company to act. It said at the beginning of the month that it was placing its lucrative sneaker deal with the rapper under review. Adidas is just the latest company to end connections with Ye, who also has been suspended from Twitter and Instagram. CONCORD Several new administration appointments have been made in Cabarrus County Schools. Superintendent Chris Lowder made personnel announcements on Tuesday, Sept. 20 after the appointments were approved by the Cabarrus County Board of Education at its Business Meeting on Monday, Sept. 19. Angel Oliphant has been selected as director of elementary education, replacing Tara Nattrass, who resigned. Oliphant is currently a principal in Iredell-Statesville Schools (ISS), a position she has held since 2011. Prior to joining ISS, she worked as a principal in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. She earned bachelors and masters degrees from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a second masters degree from Scranton University. Oliphants start date has not yet been determined. Jennifer Brinson, interim principal and assistant principal of instruction at Wolf Meadow Elementary School, has been named principal of the school, replacing Adam Auerbach, who is now principal of Concord High School. Brinson joined Cabarrus County Schools in 1995 as a 5th grade teacher at Mount Pleasant Elementary School. She has also worked at Winecoff Elementary School as a classroom teacher and as a lead teacher. In 2009, she joined Central Office Administration as an instructional specialist for K-8 literacy. She joined the Wolf Meadow leadership team in 2013. She earned dual bachelors degrees in elementary education and early childhood development from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a masters degree from Western Governors University. Brinson was recently selected as Assistant Principal of the Year for the district. Brian Hamilton, interim principal and assistant principal at W.M. Irvin Elementary School, was promoted to principal of the school, replacing Drew Fitzgerald, who resigned. Hamilton joined Cabarrus County Schools in 2003 as an assistant principal at Jay M. Robinson High School. Since then, he has worked at Central Cabarrus High School, Hickory Ridge Middle School and the Opportunity School before joining the leadership team at Irvin in 2014. He earned a bachelors degree from Appalachian State University and a masters degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also earned administrative certification from Winthrop University and has participated in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills Principal Executive Program for School Administrators and Assistant Principals. Last week when Hillary Clinton took a couple of days for a much-needed break, President Obama made an appearance in her stead in Philadelphia. The crowd was ecstatic, chanting, Thank you, thank you. Given that there is a sizable portion of the electorate that has never, and will never embrace him or his presidency, many nevertheless wonder aloud whether he could win a third term were it not for the 22nd Amendment. Since we are near the end of Mr. Obamas presidency, this will be the first of several essays seeking to sum up his time in office and predict some aspects of his legacy. Early in his first term, President Obama made speeches in Oslo and at West Point that were more theological than political. He spoke about the "core struggle of human nature" between love and evil. When other Democrats were talking in terms that smacked of a bygone colonialism and a secular approach toward winding down wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan by simply packing up and leaving, Obama talked about the high ideals of the human rights activists and Americas history as a vehicle for democracy, prosperity and human rights. He talked about Americas "strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct." Most of all, he talked about the paradox at the core of cold war liberalism, of the need to balance "two seemingly irreconcilable truths"; that war is both folly and necessary. It was all part of the thinking behind the shift in policy away from George W. Bushs second term. The occasion in Oslo was of course his speech in acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. Many were critical of the prize committee for rewarding it to a recipient with so few Nobel level accomplishments. But, in this I think the Nobel people were aspirational, hoping to prompt the new President toward actions that mirrored his words. They saw in Obama a leader who would be slow to go to war. In this they were correct. When the Presidents critics want to highlight vacillating foreign policy decision-making they invariably point to the red line in the sand Obama drew in 2013 in an attempt to force Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to stop using chemical weapons, especially sarin gas, against his own people. When it came to the point at which Mr. Obama had to make good on the pledge, he demurred for two reasons. The first reason came as a surprise intervention from the Russians as they expedited the dismantling of the Syrian governments chemical warfare capability. Secondly, finding no reliable ally on the ground, the President decided it wasnt worth the quagmire that obviously lay ahead for any large ground offensive. Today, it appears it had been the right decision, given the cross currents of competing agendas among the Russians, Kurds, Turks and the many clashing Syrian factions killing each other at cross purposes while civilians continue to suffer. Where chemical weapons were concerned a credible threat of force had done its job. In the Oslo speech Obama observed how, even from within the tradition of just war as practiced in the 20th century, the capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible. After two global wars, it became clear to victor and vanquished alike that the world needed institutions to prevent another world war. As John Kennedy suggested, either humans will put an end to war, or war will put an end to human beings. Following World War II, institutions of a new order were constructed, yet a decade into a new century, this old architecture is buckling under the weight of new threats. What is required now, Obama said, is thinking in new ways about the notions of just war. So while acknowledging the necessity of war, war must also be dealt with as promising human tragedy and as an expression of human folly. Therefore, the task of nurturing an ongoing evolution of human institutions toward peace and away from war cannot be abandoned. The fact that this injunction came from the United States, a current principal sponsor of war, made it all the more cogent. We saw how this worked in Obamas geopolitics, from Cairo where he firmly rejected the necessity of war between Islam and the West, to Prague, where his appeal for a nuclear-free world was made on the basis of pragmatism rather than idealism. Obama was remarkably prescient in his insistence that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to change behavior. That thought may yet signal a paradigm shift in how nations interact. The old dichotomy between realism and idealism no longer applies - exactly because, like the just war theory itself, it reinforces an unsustainably deadly status quo. As New York Times columnist David Brooks has observed, the new realist must submit to the judgment of those whom hawks have always dismissed as doves. The President cited Martin Luther King Jr. to reaffirm that violence never brings permanent peace, but always creates new and more complicated problems that lead to new rounds of violence. When heads of state exercise power they are traditionally criticized by prophets who observe from a distance. Uniquely, in Obama, they are one and the same. In this spirit, and in the face of Russian truculence, ambivalence and complexity, the administration continues to pursue diplomacy as the main vehicle by which to isolate al-Qaeda and the Islamic State so that they can be cornered, captured and eliminated. In this spirit, the President still hopes to close Guantanamo to remove that stain from our national fabric. And in this spirit he bolsters Hillary Clintons candidacy, because she has similar geopolitical views, and because the Republican candidate shows every sign of being incapable of governance at any level. Gerry Dionne is a New England native who's lived in the Concord area for more than 50 years. He's found a home here. Y'all give him a break. A concert at the FARC conference. Camilo Rozo More information El Woodstock de las FARC antes del final de la guerra Many visitors to the six-day 10th annual conference held by the leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) which is currently underway in Caqueta department, deep in the grasslands of Yari, in the southwest of the country have been struck by some unlikely comparisons with the Woodstock festival in the US. It has to be said the complex of tents and stages set up here looks more like the legendary 1969 event than an forum to debate the FARCs peace deal with the Colombian government on August 25, ending half-a-century of conflict that left more than 200,000 dead and displaced millions of people. This has all been financed with the money that we have saved since the ceasefire began Jorge Briceno, responsible for the conferences logistics The debates to discuss the peace deal are being held behind closed doors between some 200 senior members of the FARC. At the end of each day, a spokesman holds a press conference where there are few questions. We are addressing 30 issues, mainly to do with the agreements, says Ivan Marquez, the FARCs chief negotiator during the four years of talks in Havana. Our comrades are putting forward some very attractive names for the political movement that will emerge from the conference. The FARCs secretariat will also receive reports from its troops about their concerns regarding the future. The main worry is about how they will be reincorporated into society and whether their safety can be guaranteed. Road work underway in a former guerrilla-controlled area. Camilo Rozo The conference site, includes a guerrilla experience area, where two camps have been set up by FARC units from different areas of Colombia, allowing the hundreds of journalists attending the event to use ditch latrines, shower using rain water after rising at 5am with their guerrilla hosts, and enjoy a single daily meal with them. As the disarmament process agreed in the peace deal has yet to take place, the guerrillas remain in uniform, their rifles hanging at the entrance to their tents. But the senior leadership has shed its fatigues and can easily be distinguished from the troops by their casual clothes. Residents from nearby villages have set up food stalls, along with souvenirs, and are even selling cannabis. Bulldozers and trucks are at work from sunup to sundown building a road outside the entrance to the site. Asked who is paying for this, and why the guerrillas are taking part in the work, local people say that a kind of toll is imposed on people using the road. This area has been controlled by the FARC for the last 50 years, and local farmers and ranchers here have been protected from the violence that has hit other communities, such as Florencia, the regional capital of Caqueta, which as recently as a decade ago had one of the highest death rates in the country as a result of the war. The complex of tents and stages set up here looks more like the legendary 1969 rock festival Woodstock On Saturday night, Colombian reggae group Alerta Kamarada closed the first full day of the conference. Some 300 FARC delegates have traveled here to ratify the accords with the government. Most of them, accompanied by troops, ended the night dancing and punching the air with clenched fists. Finally, the rest of their number surrendered to the music, with one eventually making his way to the stage where he rapped about the need for peace, justice, political prisoners and his fellow guerrillas. In the audience was Tanja, a Dutch volunteer who is part of the leadership, and who was smiling along with fellow delegates after more than eight hours discussing the ins and outs of the peace deal. The guerrilla audience dancing to local group Alerta Kamarada. Camilo Rozo If necessary, well talk all night until we reach agreement, says Ramiro, who commands a unit in Putumayo, close to the border with Ecuador. At the center of the site is a vast stage with three huge screens and a powerful sound system, where at the end of each day, music and other events are held. Around the stage area are stalls selling beer and rum. This has all been financed with the money that we have saved over the last year, when the ceasefire began: its money we havent had to spend on fighting, says Jorge Briceno, alias Byron, who is responsible for the conferences logistics. More than 300 guerrillas have worked flat out over the last 26 days, following months of planning. The rest of the budget, he says, has come from people who have donated money toward peace. English version by Nick Lyne. A mural in Cheran, in Mexico's Michoacan state. Alba Mora Roca More information El pueblo mexicano que expulso a las mafias Five years ago the people of Cheran decided to end the relentless deforestation of their surrounding area, along with the rule of the political parties that had allowed the ruthless clearfelling to take place. The town of Cheran, which is located in Mexicos Michoacan state, is now a unique example of self-rule in the country. Locals elect their own neighborhood representatives every three years, state police dont enter and federal attorneys only arrive in the case of rare serious crimes. They were going to hang the loggers Cheran councilor This dramatic change in circumstances came in 2011, after years of what locals describe as the devastation of the local environment. Ruben Fabiola Madrigal, one of the officials responsible for security in the town, said that 200 trucks loaded up with tree trunks used to arrive every day. Jose Ignacio Soto, who runs the municipal plant nursery, said that the local hill of San Miguel would resemble a highway. The loggers would bring down the big tree trunks and burn the rest. They wanted to clear the land to grow avocados, he explains. We are going to finish with your forest and then carry on with your women, local council member Enendiro Santa Clara remembers the men from the logging firms saying. There are no precise figures on how much forest was lost before the clearfelling stopped but figures from the National Autonomous University of Mexico suggest some 20,000 hectares in the region were logged from 1976 to 2005. That is equivalent to the size of the city of Buenos Aires. The history of political parties in Cheran is similar to that of other municipalities in Mexicos poor south east. For most of the 20th century the city was controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and after a 20-year period out of office the party returned to power in Cheran in 2007. The following year, residents tried to remove the PRI from office but were unable to do so. Detail of the mural in the Cheran town hall. Alba Mora Roca In April 2011, however, there was a revolt. According to locals, it all started when a group of tired young men and several young women coming out of a church service stopped one of the logging trucks that was coming into town. A fierce argument then erupted with other locals joining in. They were going to hang the loggers, explains Pedro Jimenez from Cherans neighborhood council. In the wake of the revolt, the towns four neighborhoods organized themselves around bonfires, in a case of fire against fear. The neighborhoods then formed an assembly, which in turn gave rise to a coordinating committee. Political parties made way to the customs of the indigenous community while federal police were replaced by a local force elected by the residents of Cheran. In 2012, the towns first communal government was formed, along with a grand council. Other committees have since emerged to control other aspects of life in the town. Taking a stand against environmental bandits is a risky endeavor in Latin America. According to the NGO Global Witness, 580 environmental activists were killed on the continent from 2010 to 2015. And Cheran official Irineo Lopez Tapia confirms that the transition to self-rule was far from trouble-free. The National Autonomous University of Mexico estimates loggers cleared an area the size of Buenos Aires Up until 2012, people were disappearing and there were a number of homicides but these were related to organized crime, he says. Since then the situation has calmed down. The most serious case we have had since then was vehicular homicide, he adds. The minor nature of other crimes in Cheran is in stark contrast to the situation in the state of Michoacan, which has seen 678 murders in 2016 to date, up 68% on last year, and suggests the town is a success story. But local authorities point out that alcoholism remains a big problem in the town, with up to 25 people being arrested on Saturday nights for drunkenness. This drinking has also led to domestic violence, a problem the local government hopes to solve with the established of a womans council, a program funded to the tune of $24,000 from a total budget of $1.9 million. But the extraordinary fact is that domestic violence is being talked about at all, given that in Mexico the national media recently covered a story of a police helicopter being shot out of the sky by gangs, or where a mayor is suspected of having ordered the deaths of 10 people and the subsequent burning of their bodies. English version by George Mills. Actor Suriya has had only one release this year as an actor. It is the ambitious sci-fi flick '24' based on Time travel concept which was also produced by the versatile actor. The film directed by Vikram Kumar is one of the critically acclaimed super hits of the year. Now months after its successful theatrical run the film has achieved a rare honour. It has been selected to be screened in the Third Silk Road Film Festival under the Media Honour category and this will be the first ever Tamil film to be selected for screening in this festival, which is an annual event held in Dublin, Ireland during the month of March. This is a proud moment not just for the cast and crew of '24' but also for the entire Tamil film fraternity and film buffs. IndiaGlitz congratulates the Team '24' for achieving this rare honour. Nihar Info Global applies for trademark registration for 'ONVO' Nihar Info Global Limited informed to the exchanges that it has successfully applied for Trademark registration of its private label "ONVO" under the 'Trademark Classes 18 and 21. ... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:37 pm Rupee rises 4 paisa to 82.29/$ Early on Friday, the rupee strengthened against the US dollar by 4 paise to 82.29, helped by a weak US dollar in the international market and strong local equities. The influx of new fore... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:30 pm PNB Housing Finance's net profit increases by 12% PNB Housing Finance announced on Thursday that its September 20222023 quarter net profit increased by 11.7% to Rs 262.63 crore, thanks to a little increase in core income. In the same period... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:25 pm Dhanuka Agritech soars ~8% as board to consider buyback Dhanuka Agritechs stock surged as much as 8% in Fridays intraday session and touched a high of Rs742. The company stated in its filing with the exchanges that at its ensuing ge... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:18 pm Markets trade flat amid volatility; Nifty below 17,800 dragged by metals Domestic benchmark indices in a volatile session and trading flat after a gap-up opening on Friday. Both the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks are in the green during the afternoon market session ami... October 28, 2022 | 28-10-2022 2:00 pm Augusto Espinosa, education minister of Ecuador. Edu Leon More information Ecuador busca profesores de ingles Starting this year, English language will become a required course in primary schools throughout Ecuador. The Ministry of Education plans to give 100,000 six-year-olds who are entering primary school this year three hours of English class every week. The objective is that students will reach A-level proficiency in English and be able to communicate and understand basic topics by the time they turn 11 years old. The next challenge will be continuing English courses for students through junior (12-14 years old) and high schools (14-17 years old). But the country does not have enough instructors to teach students the language of Shakespeare. Ecuador has 8,300 English-language teachers and needs 2,800 more for the beginning of this school year on the coast, which begins in May 2017. Education Minister Augusto Espinosa says the country will hire foreign English-language instructors to back up Go Teacher, a study abroad program for Ecuadorian teachers that began in 2012 and has already trained 1,000 educators. We will leave the social tricks behind. For example, studying English with teachers who do not speak English, Espinosa adds. We will leave behind social tricks, such as studying English with teachers who do not speak English Ecuador is, after Costa Rica and Colombia, the third country in Latin America where mandatory study of English begins at the earliest age, according to the Institute of Development and Education Research (IFIE). Espinosa, who has been in charge of the ministry for three years, says the new initiative is one of the accomplishments of the administration of President Rafael Correa. The government has provided primary education to 96% of children and 62 schools with capacity ranging from 570 to 1,140 students. Each unit costs between $4-6 million to build. We understand that providing equal opportunities in terms of access to education is the best way to overcome poverty. Ecuador wants to extend access to education at all levels. Only 44% of toddlers attend pre-school and just 69% of adolescents are high school students. And what are the statistics on graduations? Espinosa evades the question: I dont have that number memorized but the best reference is the number of years of study. We are reaching 11 years of schooling. But according to the last report published by the National Statistics and Census Institute in 2010, on average, Ecuadorians study for nine years. Investment in education remains far below the administrations objective of 6% of gross domestic product (GDP). Ecuador has invested 3.7% on average every year over the last decade or $21 billion. Most of that investment was used to raise teachers pay, Espinosa says. Salaries for first-year instructors grew from $160 to 817. Investment in education remains far below the administrations objective of 6% of GDP The Education Ministry also wants to improve teachers credentials, Espinosa says. Periodic evaluations and the creation of the teachers college, Universidad Nacional de Educacion, which will graduate its first class in 2017, are significant steps toward that goal. Those changes, however, led to tensions between Espinosa and the old teachers union, Union Nacional de Educadores (UNE). UNE has always been mediocre and opposes everything, the minister says. Espinosa explains that the now defunct organization was not conceived as a union but as a civic group and that it never delivered the list of members who voted for its last board of directors as regulations require: They only had to show that elections did take place and they refused for the last two years and in this democracy there are no privileges for anyone. Espinosa also refutes the organizations claims that 40,000 teachers were allegedly dismissed. Between 2011 and 2015, the number of instructors increased by 3,000. Weve had merit-based application processes and public entrance exams to eliminate contracts and a small percentage decided to opt out. Those would be, in quotation marks, the dismissals. English version by Dyane Jean Francois. , a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and the only pan India operator with BWA spectrum preparing to launch 4G services, and GTL Infrastructure Limited (GTL Infra), a Global Group enterprise, engaged in the business of Shared Passive Telecom Infrastructure in India, announced the signing of a Master Services Agreement (MSA) for tower infrastructure sharing.GTL Infra, together with Chennai Network Infrastructure Limited (CNIL), has a combined tower portfolio of more than 27,800 towers spread across 22 telecom Circles in India, serving all the major telecom operators. The company has a pan India tower portfolio that is balanced across key growth regions of Metros and B & C class circles.said, Our mission is to launch a pan India next-generation voice and data services. We will build the same through a judicious combination of own build and rented infrastructure. This agreement with GTL Infra is not only a step in that direction but will also help us accelerate our roll out.Commenting on the tie up,said We are happy to be partnering with a leading 4G player like Reliance Jio. The launch of 4G networks and the rise in the consumption of data services is a growth driver for tower companies, and we at GTLInfra are geared up to capture the opportunity. Our portfolio will play an important role in rolling out broadband networks especially in regions like North East, and South where we hold a leadership position. The house in Guadalajara where the corpses were found. EFE The Brazilian Foreign Ministry has confirmed to local media that a family found hacked to pieces inside a house in central Spain hailed from Brazil. The two adults, both aged 39, were from the northeastern state of Paraiba, according to online newspaper Globo.com. Two small children aged five and one were also found dead inside the detached home in Pioz, in the Spanish province of Guadalajara. They have decimated an entire family Relative of the alleged victims The adult victims were named as Marcos Nogueira and Janaina Americo. The Brazilian consulate in Madrid has not yet confirmed this information, and attributed the reports to informal sources. According to Consul General Paulo Alberto Dasilveira Soares, the Spanish Civil Guard has yet to confirm the victims identity. They have asked us to wait a few days, he said. The corpses were found inside plastic bags last weekend. Investigators believe the victims had been dead for at least a month. They have decimated an entire family, a relative told Brazilian journalists. According to Globo.com, which was contacted by family members, the dead couple came from the city of Joao Pessoa, the capital of Paraiba. They arrived in Spain three years ago in search of jobs, and he had reportedly found one managing a restaurant. Investigators suspect the victims were caught up in a drug dispute. Pepe Zamora (EFE) But investigators suspect that the pair were caught up in a drug dispute, and that the killing was a professional job. According to sources familiar with the case, the house where the bodies were found was rented out two months ago or so. It was barely furnished, leading police detectives to believe that the family was in hiding, or running away from someone. Local residents had hardly ever seen them, and did not realize they were missing until the stench coming from the house prompted them to call the police. The Facebook wall of the dead woman shows a collection of photographs of a little girl and a little boy smiling with their parents. The last post is dated June 2, when the mother posted a picture of her young son. English version by Susana Urra. Shana and Kari Lombard, young members of the Cowlitz Tribe, at the #NoDAPL encampment in North Dakota. Photo from Facebook After years of being at odds over a new casino, the Cowlitz Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde can finally agree on one thing: both oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline The two tribes have sent delegations and submitted letters to show solidarity with the #NoDAPL movement. Grand Ronde also authorized a $2,500 donation to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe But the unity appears to end there because the Cowlitz Tribe is calling out Grand Ronde's anti-casino allies. One of the construction companies with a contract to build the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota is connected to the non-Indian card rooms in Washington that oppose the ilani Casino Resort , The Longview Daily News reports. Dave Barnett, a member of the Cowlitz Tribe, told the paper that the construction firm, Michels Corporation, has shown "disregard for Native cultures" in both states. But there's more: the non-Indian card rooms have objected to the Cowlitz Tribe's casino water system, saying it will be harmful to the environment. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has raised similar concerns about the pipeline. Its pretty hypocritical for Michels Corporation to raise the water supply critiques here," Barnett told the paper. Steve Michels, the owner of two non-Indian card rooms, sits on the board of directors for Michels, which was founded by his father, but told the paper that he isn't involved in the pipeline project. He defended it anyway. They all have to go pass water supplies. The safest way to transfer liquid is via pipeline instead of rails or trucks, Michels told the paper. The non-Indian card rooms and the Grand Ronde Tribes have been trying to stop the Cowlitz Tribe from opening the new casino. In July, the opponents lost a major decision before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals , which happens to be the same court that is hearing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Dakota Access lawsuit. The card rooms, however, have not said whether they will join the Grand Ronde Tribes in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the D.C. Circuit's decision. So far, it appears Grand Ronde will be going it alone in that battle. Read More on the Story: Dakota pipeline has ties to Cowlitz casino opponents (The Longview Daily News 9/20) Cowlitz Tribal members recall "earth-moving" experience at Dakota Pipeline protest (The Longview Daily News 9/20) Town hall meetings new in La Center (The Battle Ground Reflector 9/13) D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Decision: Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon v. Jewell (July 29, 2016) Federal Register Notices: Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Transportation Project in Washington State (May 3, 2016) Proclaiming Certain Lands as Reservation for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe (November 13, 2015) Land Acquisitions; Cowlitz Indian Tribe (May 8, 2013) Department of the Interior Solicitor Opinion: M-37029: The Meaning of "Under Federal Jurisdiction" for Purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (March 12, 2014) Join the Conversation Related Stories While the country is on the boil over Uri attacks by Pakistan sponsored terrorists, India's restraint has let another chance go where issues with Pakistan could have been settled once and for all. India has beaten Pakistan in four wars and each time India fumbled at negotiation table. PTI Here are three times India could have settled the Pakistan issue once and for all. 1. 1947, Kashmir conflict In October 1947, when Pakistan unleashed it tribal militia and regular army in Jammu and Kashmir. Maharaja Hari Singh's army which had significant faction supporting Pakistan, proved futile in defending masses of the state. wikipedia commons Thus, Maharaja agreed to terms of accession to Indian Union and in return, Indian Army entered Kashmir started repelling the invaders. Despite initial setbacks, Indian Army repelled majority of the tribal militia and freed large parts of the state. Despite talks between leaders of Pakistan and India ending up futile, Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru at Lord Mountbatten's perusal went to UN to resolve the deadlock. Political experts over the years have argued that despite the then Home Minister, Sardar Patel's displeasure, Nehru went ahead and approached UN and that was India's folly. Experts believe that despite being against the wall at several fronts, Indian Army would have expelled Pakistani and Kashmiri rebels and seized the control over full state instead of half that we have now. 2. 1965 war The war of 1965 was started by Pakistan with 'Operation Gibraltar' in the valley. The 22 day war was fought between troops of both sides and India had clear advantage after initial setbacks. Wikipedia Commons Just a day before the ceasefire on September 22, India had hold over a mammoth 1,920 square kilometres of Pakistani territory including Dograi, a town in outskirts of Lahore from where the biggest city of West Punjab was barely kilometres away. Pakistan only held 550 square kilometres of Indian land. The Haji Pir pass was also captured by Indian soldiers after an epic battle. But once again, the valour of jawans was traded off at the negotiation table when India surrendered everything at the Tashkent Declaration in January 1966. 3. 1971 when we spared lives of 90,000 plus Pak troops 1971 war between India and Pakistan in then East Pakistan ended up with massive victory for India and the biggest surrender of troops in history of mankind. Indian Army and Bangla fighters called 'Mukti Vahini' gave a befitting reply to the atrocities of Pakistan army after gruelling two month war. Pakistan was left with no option but to surrender its force that was 90,000 plus strong. Wikipedia Commons But India didn't do harm to broken Pakistani troops and let them go to their homes in mainland Pakistan. Many experts believe had India not been lenient with Pakistan troops then and taken stern action against those who surrendered, Pakistan would have never dared to even think of attacking India directly or supporting proxy war against India in Kashmir. Even as the relations between India and Pakistan continue to be tense following the terror attack on the Army headquarters in Uri, Pakistan has resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC). Reuters/ Representative Image News agency PTI quoting the army reported that Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Uri sector. Pakistani troops violate #ceasefire along the Line of Control in #Uri sector of Kashmir, says Army. Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 20, 2016 According to some reports Indian troops retaliated with gunfire of their own after they came under attack. The provocation from across the border comes even as India is trying to come to terms with a dastardly terror attack in Kashmir targeting the army on Sunday, which left 18 dead. India has blamed Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad, for the attack. It was reportedly orchestrated by the Afzal Guru squad of the JeM. Reuters/ File It also comes hours before the two countries are expected to have a 'face-off ' at the UN. While Pakistan is expected to raise the issue of the alleged human rights violations by India in Kashmir, following the crackdown on separatism ever since the killing of Lashkar commander Burhan Wani, India is expected to raise Pakistan's continued support to terrorist groups and its human rights violations in Balochistan. A school that was constructed post-partition by funds offered by Muslims, was taken into custody by the Municipal Corporation in 1960. It was then razed to the ground by the Delhi Government in 1976 for the construction of a new building. In lieu of that, new land was promised to the school authorities. indialivetoday However, forty years after its demolition, the Qaumi Senior Secondary school in Sadar Bazar, Delhi is running under dilapidated conditions where students are crammed into tin-walled classrooms with one fan, every day. Reuters Nearly 715 children studying at this school are packed across 12 makeshift classrooms. The adverse situations in which these kids receive their education is deplorable. Their constant requests for alternative land is being procrastinated with the government shunning it as a matter that needs to be addressed to the Lieutenant Governor. With no basic amenities, the students continue to suffer, with no proper roof or walls to protect them from rains, heat, and cold. A former member of India "untouchable" Dalit caste is fighting the caste system with food - really tasty and healthy food. 58-year-old Chandra Bhan Prasad was born into a Dalit Pasi, from a pig-rearing community, once considered untouchable. Prasad and his wife have escaped the tyranny of their caste with 'Dalit Foods', an online store to sell spices, pickles and grains. "I was born impure. But I have the right to sell pure" "I grew up with segregation and untouchability, but India has changed. I want to see how those who are born pure respond to my offering," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Priest Purifies Temple With Gangajal After Dalit Women Come To Pray Caste discrimination hasn't disappeared in India, despite a ban in 1955. They're banned from temples, water tanks, wells, and even kicked out of their homes. Banned From Temples, Dalits Decide To Lose Their Religion And Convert To Islam And, food cooked by them is considered impure by high caste Hindus who believe in the caste system - a tradition that Prasad is attacking, with his online store's inventory of chilli powder, turmeric powder, mango pickle, barley flour and lentils. The food business for him is something personal - 3 family members died from cancer, and he blames food adulteration for it. "Food adulteration is a big problem, and is probably the biggest reason for our health problems today... And yet, I saw 80-year-old Dalits who were healthy and doing hard labour, largely because of what they were eating: pure, unprocessed food..." He argues that the coarse food that comprised Dalit cuisine are now "superfoods", including unpolished rice and millets. "Millets were considered inferior food then. Today, they are called a superfood," he said. He's already got clients, including buyers from urban India and a large hotel chain. Shortly after the end of the Kargil conflict, I had occasion to have lunch with the most dreaded of ISI chiefs, Lt Gen Hamid Gul. Predictably , the conversation turned to Pakistan's Kargil debacle. Gen Gul spelt out his Kashmir ambitions, making it clear that Pakistan would not change course, despite what transpired in Kargil. He averred that Kashmir would be made an issue of the "rights of Muslims" in India, who would unite to secure Kashmir for Pakistan. BCCL This assertion represents the core of the thinking of Pakistan's Punjabi-dominated military elite. They firmly believe they are inheritors of the Mughal Empire. They believe "devious" Hindus have denied them their inheritance. They recall Mohammad Ali Jinnah's lament that he got a "moth-eaten Pakistan", which disregarded his territorial claims that included the whole of Bengal and Punjab -apart from Hyderabad, Junagadh, Bhopal and even Jodhpur. AFP The army has not yet forgotten the humiliation of 1971 and believes it can engineer the progressive breakup of India through a "lowintensity conflict". It refuses to accept that respecting religious, linguistic and ethnic diversity can be an enduring basis for national unity. The army's instruction manuals in training institutions focus on how to exploit "vulnerabilities" in India's body politic. Within Pa kistan's Punjab, there is little realisation that Punjabi domination led to the birth of Bangladesh. And that it is now leading to growing alienation in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Over 200,000 Pakistani troops are deployed in Balochistan and KP, bordering Afghanistan. Aldo Read: Pakistani Forces Target Balochistan Civilians In Fresh Crackdowns, Claims Baloch Activist Reuters Given their inability to provide recipes for good governance and growth, Pakistan's army and major parties like Imran Khan's Tehriq-eInsaf find India's problems in Jammu & Kashmir an ideal issue to divert public attention. They are convinced that prising Kashmir from India will lead to India's inevitable fragmentation, restoring to them what they believe are the glories of the Mughal Empire. This may seem like pipedreams, but we would go seriously wrong if we do not recognise this reality . Also read: Difficulties Faced By The Indian Army In Protecting The Strategically Important Uri Sector AFP Our military response (overt and covert) to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism leading to the Uri attack should be calibrated, while making it clear to Pakistan that any escalation would only cause it more harm. The remedy for this malady is complex.We should recognise that the Pakistan army has no intention of surrendering its stranglehold on power. India's policies should ensure that the Pakistan army is discredited in Pakistan and across the world.Balochistan is not the only issue to be raised. The army is also carrying out operations against its own people in KP and Sindh. Put bluntly, it will involve paying the ISI back in its own coin. Isolating Pakistan in South Asia should be our ma jor priority . The next Saarc summit is scheduled in Islamabad in November. India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have already lowered their level of participation in Saarc events in Islamabad. The three countries should retain this solidarity on their participation in the Islamabad summit and even consider boycotting it. Also Read:In 2015, 47 Security Personnel Were Martyred. But This Year, We Have Already Lost More Than 40 Of Our Valiant Jawans Reuters We can now promote regional economic cooperation in South Asia, excluding Pakistan, through forums like BIMSTEC, which brings together our eastern Saarc neighbours, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, with Myanmar and Thailand. We have the beginnings of a trilateral transit partnership to our west comprising India, Iran and Afghanistan. After 911 and the terrorist attack in California involving Pakistani nationals, there is resentment in the US against Pakistan. It is clear that irrespective of who wins the race to the White House, sympathy for Pakistan is waning in the US, as it is in the UK and the EU.There has to be a relentless diplomatic campaign to build on this sentiment. The writer is a former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Also Read: Jaish-e-Mohammad Was Behind The #UriAttack, Items With Pak Markings Found On Slain Terrorists The 16-year-old gang-rape victim from southeast Delhis Jamia Nagar continues to be unwell since she was allegedly gangraped by 25 people from August 20-24 at an isolated place somewhere outside Delhi. She is suffering from extreme pain in her private parts. She according to her parents is unable to sit and talk properly because of pain. indiatimes She was forced to have unnatural and oral sex time and again. She has been tested positive for Hepatitis B because of an infected rapist, her grieved father told Indiatimes. He alleged that the local police are not investigating the matter seriously and trying to save the culprits who are said to be associated with influential people of the area. He further alleged that several graphic details provided by the victim that could be helpful to apprehend the culprits has not been recorded in the FIR. I wrote to the Deputy Commissioner of Police of South-East district (Mandeep Singh Randhawa) complaining him about the lackadaisical attitude of the local police who are putting a half-hearted effort to nab the culprits. The DCP has assured us he would transfer the matter to District Investigation Unit for a fair probe, said the father, a daily wage labourer. indiatimes The police have so far apprehended only two accused who are said to be minors after the case was registered on August 25 night. Both the juveniles have been released to appear in examination that began from Tuesday. The rest are still absconding even after 26 days of the registration of the FIR. But the officers close to the investigation rubbished the allegation, saying that we are trying our best. All culprits would be brought to book. No one will be spared, he added. indiatimes DCP Randhawa could not be reached for comments. She was according to her MLC report intoxicated with some drugs, perhaps through injection as her right hand has an injection mark, so that she cannot scream. She was kept blind-folded throughout the period. Her eyes were opened whenever she was provided food to eat during which she managed to count the number her assaulters who had their faces covered. indiatimes After they repeatedly raped me for four consecutive days, I was sold to a person in Delhi who sodomised me at a graveyard in Nizamuddin, the victim told Indiatimes. She was introduced to a boy the prime accused by one of her batch mates. He studies in the evening shift of the same government school in the locality where the victim is enrolled. The boy allegedly befriended the victim over a period of time and took her to a flat where he established physical relations with her and recorded the act. Thereafter, he allegedly started blackmailing her threatening her that he will make the video public if she refuses his demand of sexual favours. indiatimes He kept on sexually exploiting her for a long time. Later, he was allegedly joined in by more and more people who kept their faces covered during the heinous act. The victims friend, who had introduced her to the boy, on August 20 requested her to join in a shopping at a local market from where she was allegedly abducted by the main accused and taken to a place at a distance of of around 3-hour drive from the city. I was initially reluctant but agreed finally agreed to go with her. I did not have any idea that it was a trap. When I reached near a mosque in the market, I was pushed inside a black-colour Maruti van wherein the boy along with his accomplice was sitting. They abducted me and taken to a place where I was raped for four days by 25 men, said the victim. The incident was reported after she somehow managed to escape from their custody and shared the horror with her family. STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces Google Ad There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Google Ad Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens The country is in mourning and TV channels are still beaming live pictures of wreath laying ceremony for the 18 martyred soldiers who were killed after four heavily armed terrorists attacked an administrative base near 12 battalion headquarters in Uri close to the Line of Control (LoC) early morning on Sunday. Within hours of the attack, a student of Aligarh Muslim University had to pay the price for his objectionable comments on Facebook. amuupdate Modasir Yousuf, a student of MSc in Organic Chemistry hailing from Kashmir was expelled for posting objectionable comments on the Uri terror attack which was taken very seriously by the Vice Chancellor, Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah. As per reports, Yousuf offered his apologies later, but university authorities went ahead with his expulsion due to the sensitivity of the issue. AMU expels Mudassir Yousaf, student of M.Sc 4 posting objectionable comment on Facebook for #UriAttacks @abpnewstv pic.twitter.com/9mJ12l4HSi Pankaj Jha (@pankajjha_) 19 September 2016 The unrest in Kashmir after Burhan Wanis death still refuses to subside after two months where crackdowns and arrests have become the norm. The current situation has led to their robust tourism industry suffering a huge blow to the states economy. While the entire nation sympathises with the average Kashmiri who wants to lead a normal life like any other citizen of India, such kind of comments are unpardonable. Well done AMU VC. https://t.co/wiB920njgm Naseema Khan (@naseemkhan_) 19 September 2016 AMU has done well to take a quick decision. By clamping down on the issue, the university has nipped in the bud another potential debate on freedom of expression before the issue could gather steam. This was a well-planned attack by terrorists who sneaked inside a defence installation and killed mostly unarmed soldiers who were sleeping. AMU Expels Kashmiri Student Over 'Objectionable' Post on Uri Attack | https://t.co/wCLRlWrKYp | Outlook Wires Outlook Magazine (@Outlookindia) 19 September 2016 The fact that two grenade launchers and 36 grenades were recovered from the four dead terrorists indicates that non-state actors from across the border were involved. Demeaning the sacrifice of our soldiers can have dangerous consequences and AMU authorities rightly took swift action to pre-empt the incident from being politicised, which runs the risk of being painted in communal colours. Three of the four terrorists who attacked the 12th Brigade headquarters at Uri on Sunday were clean-shaven and wore close cropped hair to help their disguise as Army personnel. BCCL They were in their early 20s, their autopsy and bone mass and density measurement at the 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar has revealed. The slain terrorists were buried nearly 50km from the site of attack. Together they had taken nearly 169 bullet hits their intestines, chest and arms were riddled with bullet holes. Twenty-six wrappers of high protein chocolate bars, six Red Bull cans, three empty packets of ORS and other medicines with 'Made in Pakistan' stamp were recovered from the terror site. BCCL Investigating agencies in Srinagar have questioned at least three Uri shepherds over suspicion that they had harboured the terrorists before the attack. The agencies also recovered a GPS set with pre-fed coordinates of two locations Galwama and Rafiabad, Muzaffarabad at least 6 km from the LoC, sources said. Also Read: Heres How Terrorists Managed To Cross The Border And Attack The Indian Army Camp At Uri "The water level of the Jhelum is low and offshoots of the river are plenty. They were aware of the riverine conditions and being briefed about troop movements," said a senior IB official. Muzaffarabad is a Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir city where the JeM frequently holds rallies to generate support in Pakistan. BCCL Intelligence Bureau sleuths confirmed a recent audio clip in which JeM boss Maulana Masood Azhar was heard asking people to transport men and material beyond Muzaffarabad to avenge the death of the group's then chief commander Shahbaz Khan, alias Ghazi Baba. The GPS pre-fed coordinates show the terrorists were in Pakistan prior to the attack. "Azhar was closely monitoring this operation. Phone calls to the region are being monitored," said a senior IB official. As a bruised nation picks up the pieces after the terror strike at an Indian Army camp in Uri, we see something different this time. Never before has the clamour for retaliation been louder and more consistent. BCCL The constituency for a military response grows larger with each passing hour. There are other voices, calling for military restraint, that feel that the right way to deal with the situation is to diplomatically isolate Pakistan and impose economic sanctions. Before we execute a credible response, we must understand what we are dealing with, in its absolute completeness. Mohammad Ali Jinnah died on 11 September 1948. From that day onward, Pakistan has been ruled by its army, overtly or covertly. Every democratically elected head of state has had to look over his or her shoulder, taking instruction and the occasional disciplining from General Head Quarters, the Pakistan Armys HQ at Rawalpindi. Those that dared tread a different path were shot, hanged, killed, imprisoned or forced to leave the country. The armys control on the Pakistani mindscape is absolute. And to question the men in khaki is blasphemy. BCCL Pakistans relations with China, India, US, Iran, Afghanistan and now increasingly Bangladesh, are the sole preserve of GHQ, Rawalpindi. The democratically elected government headed by Nawaz Sharif, with an absolute majority in Parliament, is a silent spectator, taking instructions from Pakistans powerful army. NATO war stores pass through Pakistan, onwards to Afghanistan, in the US led fight against the Taliban and associated terror groups. This supply line is controlled by Pakistan. After the infamous Salala incident in November 2011, when NATO aircraft and gunships killed 28 Pakistani soldiers and injured many others, Pakistan shut down this supply line. It badly hurt the NATO war effort in Afghanistan, since the alternate route was just too expensive. Chinas investment in Pakistan via CEPC is well known. BCCL Pakistan has hedged its economic bets well. The world will never allow a nuclear weapons state, which is so wracked by internal turmoil, to economically fail. IMF and the World Bank will keep funding Pakistan. And Nawaz Sharif will face any diplomatic blow-back arising from Indias efforts to isolate Pakistan. Both China and the US need Pakistan for their own reasons. The Pakistan Army is Teflon coated. And it knows this well. It is within this prism that we must view the current crisis and craft our response. Economic and diplomatic isolation of Pakistan is not easy. Too many countries are invested in Pakistans geo-strategic story. For the past 69 years, the Pakistan Army has been speaking the language of violence. In 1947, 1965, 1971, Kargil, Punjab insurgency, Kashmir terror, Pathankot and now Uri, the Pakistan Army has consistently demonstrated that they have scant understanding or regard for diplomacy. BCCL We must speak to the Pakistan Army in the language they understand. Terror attacks on Indian soil will continue till the time we physically turn off the tap. And the tap is across the border. This is the reality that must sink in. Never was the need to degrade and denude Pakistans war fighting capability more urgent than it is today. We have an entire spectrum of options to choose from. Heavy-duty artillery, like the MBRL (Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher Pinaka) and 155 mm ATAGS are enough to cause serious havoc. Just to let you know, the MBRL can fire seventy-two rockets in forty-four seconds and turn an area of one km square into a parking lot, at a distance of forty kilometers. Pakistans counter bombardment capabilities are well documented. BCCL Indian Army Special Forces have the capability to infiltrate into Pakistan and cause damage. Assassination of enemy commanders, destruction of infrastructure and damaging lines of communication and supply are a few things, amongst many, that they are experts in. The loose end here is ex-filtration. The Indian Air Force has the capability to carry out air strikes on selected targets, deep inside enemy territory. The Mangla dam and the Mangla power station are legitimate targets, but nothing would give better dividends than targeting 1 Corps HQ at Mangla in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Our strategy to counter Pakistans air defence must be robust. In all these scenarios, there is negligible threat of a nuclear war. BCCL Any scenario that we choose, we stand to lose defence personal and equipment. But it is now time for hard choices. And those choices must be made. This is not about revenge. India has a sacred duty to protect the lives of its citizens, both in and out of uniform. And it can only be done by hitting back at the structure that funds, trains, finances and equips those that threaten Indian lives. We must stand. A nation does not live on its knees. Family members of Lance Naik Sandeep Somnath were busy making arrangements for his marriage scheduled to take place next month. But he left the world for the heavenly abode sacrificing his life to protect the nation from four terrorists who attacked Indian Army Brigade headquarters in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC). Bhaskar.com Grief suddenly struck the family of Sandeep Somnath Thok of 6 Bihar Regiment when they received a call that their son was among the dead. A proposal for his marriage had come a month ago and everything was finalised. Bhaskar.com Leaving a bright future after pursuing bachelors in pharmacy, 25-year-old Sandeep a resident of Khandagli village in Nashik decided to join the Army. He was commissioned in the armed force in 2014. His first posting was in the strategically important but difficult terrain of the Uri sector. Sandeeps father Somnath Thok a farmer by profession had the only son among two married daughters. How unfortunate father I am that I am lifting the coffin of my son even before his marriage, said the inconsolable father. The entire village is in shock since the news of Sandeeps demise arrived. His body was brought to Pune through a special aircraft and then sent to his village by road. Bhaskar.com Four heavily armed terrorists entered the administrative base camp at around 3:30 am. They recced the camp with the help of night vision lamp for around two hours. Then, they are said to have attacked unarmed jawans who were busy refuelling vehicles from fuel tank. The terrorists lobbed 17 grenades in three minutes. Read Also: Here Are The 18 Martyrs Who Lost Their Lives In The Uri Attacks As the fuel tank exploded, the four infiltrators took positions in different empty barracks. As a rear administrative base camp with tents caught fire, 1314 army personnel were killed. A gun battle ensued lasting six hours, during which all the terrorists were killed. Bhaskar.com Combing operations continued to flush out additional terrorists thought to be alive. After the attack, reports had emerged that three wounded soldiers had succumbed to their injuries. This was however denied by Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre. Most of the soldiers killed were from the 10 Dogra and 6 Bihar regiments. One of the injured soldiers succumbed to his injuries on Monday at R&R Hospital in New Delhi. Read Also: Here's How Terrorists Managed To Cross The Border And Attack The Indian Army Camp At Uri The army personnel recovered a map from the slain terrorists which had markings in the Pashtun language and indicated a detailed plan of action. Four AK-47 rifles and four Under Barrel Grenade Launchers along with ammunition were also recovered. Read Also: After Terrorists Attack Uri, Pakistani Media Blames India For Orchestrating A Fake Operation! There was specific intelligence input said the TV report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) two days earlier that terrorists were planning to strike army formations close to the Line of Control (LoC). The intelligence agency had said that three fidayeen (suicide bombers) squad were launched from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. One of them attacked Uri, another went to Poonch where it was engaged by the security forces, and the third is believed to be targeting Srinagar highway. Haryana's Gau Rakshak Dal, the notorious vigilante group, mostly known for assaulting suspected cow traffickers is now playing the victim card of sorts. At least that is what it seems like. The outfit's Haryana chief Dharmendra Yadav has applied for arms license- his reason? They are facing threats from cow smugglers. ANI According to him, the cow smugglers who are usually around groups of ten attack them with arms when they are intercepted. He also point out the 2013 incident, where Vikrant Yadav, a vigilante was killed while he was trying to chase some cow smugglers. Citing these he had applied for gun license last year, but this was turned down by the police. Now Yadav is knocking on the doors of the state chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. AFP/ Representative Image Gurgaon Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar has said that no person can be granted an arms license just on the issue of protecting themselves from cow smugglers. He said inquiries are conducted as to why a person is applying for an arms license and whether he or she will be able to prevent the misuse of the arm, besides other factors. Once there is an all clear on all parameters being met, only then is an arms license is issued. Also read: Propaganda Videos, Religious Fervor And More - The Making Of A Cow Vigilante This also comes at a time when the number of attacks involving Gau rakshaks are on the ries. While the vigilantes claim to fight cow smuggling most of the times the victims who are beaten up or in some instance even being killed were targeted based on rumours and had nothing to do with trafficking. Pakistan's media has developed a fascinating new thesis - India staged the Uri terror attack to create hatred between the Sikh and Muslim communities in Kashmir. BCCL Here's how Pakistan's The News International has come to the above conclusion. "Sources in the security establishment insist that the military brigade headquarter (in Uri), which has been the target of what is believed to be India's false flag operation, is Sikh dominated, chosen deliberately to antagonise the Sikhs from supporting the Muslims' struggle in Kashmir," the newspaper said today. Pakistani security sources told the newspaper that "Sikhs have openly supported the just cause of Muslims" for independence in Kashmir. They then added that "it is always the Sikh community selected to suffer by the Hindu-led government in such self-designed attacks." ALSO READ: Indian Army Retaliates, At Least Ten Terrorists Reportedly Killed In Uri's Lachipura Area BCCL The News International said that India's so-called "staged attack" in Uri had multiple goals. "It is said that from this false flag operation, India wants to achieve more than one targets, including accusing Pakistan of backing terrorism, diverting the world attention from the killings by its forces in occupied Kashmir, undermining Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address at the UN General Assembly session and creating hatred between the Sikh and Muslim communities in Indian-held Kashmir," Pakistani security officials told The News International. BCCL As evidence to show Uri was staged by India, the newspaper asked how terrorists could sneak in so easily. "India has erected a type-A fence all along the Line of Control besides installing state-of-the-art laser sensors to detect any cross LoC movement,"the newspaper wrote. A source is quoted as telling the paper: "How then a handful of terrorists could sneak across, dodging the third largest army of the planet earth with its hi-tech gadgets and their ferocious K9 force?" More evidence? "Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is known for spewing venom against Pakistan, was to leave for his Russian tour on September 17 but cancelled his trip one day prior to the impending attack in Uri. 'Hope he wasn't waiting to see the unfolding of virtual play which he and (India's National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval had jointly scripted,' a source suggested." "Extremist Hindus" Another Pakistani newspaper Dawn called India bloodthirsty, in the light of BJP leader Ram Madhav saying that to avenge Uri a tooth for a tooth isn't enough, and it should be "a jaw for one tooth." "...it was not a surprising reaction to the terror attack that came from Ram Madhav, an RSS-loaned trouble-shooter for the Hindutva establishment in Delhi. He promptly called for a jaw or each tooth, whatever that means in a region crawling with nuclear weapons," Dawn wrote. AFP "For all the flaunting of Mahatma Gandhi's name to appear in public view as a nonviolent polity, independent India has revealed a gargantuan appetite for inflicting violence, most of all on its own people,"Dawn wrote today. The editorial then went into describing scripture. "The Old Testament decreed an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Jesus subsequently softened God's command. He advised offering the other cheek. Gandhi favoured the dictum as much as he could, but the extremist Hindus for all their loathing of the Christian faith settled for the Old Testament," it said. ALSO READ: After Terrorists Attack Uri, Pakistani Media Blames India For Orchestrating A Fake Operation! While the news of 18 Indian soldiers killed in an ambush came as shock to their families, for one family in Bihar it brought back memories nearly three decades old. Jagnarayan Singh, a farmer of Ragdu Tola in Bhojpur district lost his younger son Hawaldar Ashok Kumar Singh in the attack. The Hindu The 80-year-old who has been blind for the last 20 years, had earlier lost his elder son to terrorism as well. His elder son Kamta Singh, who was also a soldier in the Indian Army was killed in a bomb blast in Bikaner during the height of the Sikh insurgency at an age of 23. PTI Even at the moment of heartbreak the father who gave his two sons for the country said he was proud of them, adding India should give strong reply to Pakistan. Who will not feel proud of a son who has sacrificed his life for the nation? But Pakistan must be taught a lesson in a similar fashion. Bhojpur (Bihar): Family mourns the death of Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh who lost his life in #UriAttack pic.twitter.com/rzmgBy5Byx ANI (@ANI_news) September 19, 2016 Also read:Here Are The 18 Martyrs Who Lost Their Lives In The Uri Attacks In fact, serving the nation runs deep in the Singh family. Martyr Ashoks eldest son, Vikas Singh, who joined the army recently is posted as a sepoy at the Danapur Cantonment. Ashoks grandfather, Rajgrih Singh, and his two uncles, Shyam Narayan Singh and Ramvilas Singh, also served in the Army. Two of his nephews are in the Army as well. Also read: Remembering Sepoy G Dalai, One Of The Youngest Jawans To Be Martyred In #UriAttacks Days after a man and his nine-month pregnant wife were found murdered in their rented house in Dyghar near Shil Phata, the Thane police cracked the honour killing case with the arrest of the woman's cousin brother from Uttar Pradesh. The alleged killer, identified as 27-year-old Shafique Mansuri, has told the police that his sister had brought their family a bad name by marrying a Hindu. He said he was on the lookout for the couple for the past one year and recently learnt about their address. A team from Thane crime branch picked up Mansuri from his house at Hardoi in UP on Sunday. He was brought to the city on Monday. The crime came to light after neighbours of Vijay Yadav and Priya Yadav, who was Sufiya Mansuri before marriage, complained of a foul smell emanating from their house. TOI Mansuri told the police that he and Vijay were friends and the latter would visit his home quite often. When he learnt that Vijay was having an affair with his sister, his family opposed the relationship. But they eloped. Once in Dyghar, Sufiya converted to Hinduism before getting married to Vijay. Meanwhile, Mansuri got a hint that they could be in Mumbai. Three months ago, he came to the city and began working as a labourer at Vikhroli. 'We've accepted the marriage' Mansuri has told the police that he recently traced the couple. He began talking to Vijay saying their family had accepted the marriage. He even met the couple a month ago. The alleged killer called his sister last week telling her that he wanted to spend a day with her and Vijay. Mansuri purchased a knife before heading for Dyghar. When he reached Dyghar, Vijay was away at work. He told his sister to call up Vijay and tell him that he wanted to celebrate as the baby would arrive soon. On Vijay's return, Mansuri brought drinks and food. After a small celebration, they all retired for the night. emirates247.com/Represenatational image In the middle of night, Mansuri got up and slashed Vijay's throat. Hearing his screams, Priya woke up. But Mansuri stabbed her in the stomach. As she fell to the floor, he slashed her throat too. He changed his clothes and locked the house from outside. Mansuri went to Mumbra station from where he boarded a train. As the train crossed the Thane creek, he threw his blood-stained clothes into it. He boarded a train to UP from Thane. Neighbour gave the lead Based on marriage documents of the couple, the cops were clear that it was a case of honour killing, but did not have any evidence against anyone. It was the couple's neighbour who helped them crack the case. The woman, who is now a witness, had met Mansuri at his sister's house when she went there to get a screwdriver. It was Priya who had introduced her to Mansuri. DCP Parag Manere of Thane crime branch said, "As of now, only Mansuri has been arrested and the investigations are on. We are probing if any other person was involved in the crime." In an ultimate insult to India, Pakistan requested the removal of a journalist from the Foreign Secretary's briefing in New York. NDTV/PTI NDTV's Namrata Brar was asked to leave the room at the Roosevelt Hotel where Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry was to address the media on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. "Iss Indian ko nikalo (remove this Indian)," were the words used. This was a day after the terrorist attack on the army camp in Uri which resulted in the death of 18 soldiers. PTI That not even a single Indian was allowed to attend that briefing reflected the sharp deterioration in ties. The terrorists were from the Jaish-e-Mohammad group and their chief Masood Azhar is based in Pakistan. Twitter Pakistan's leaders have so far evaded questions on the attack and their Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif waved aside Indian journalists who tried to question him about the incident. The treatment of the journalist is a clear indication of the bad blood that is brewing and the latest attack has certainly fueled it further. The Cauvery Protests that rocked the city of Bengaluru along with a lot of violent commotion all along the Karnataka-TN borders also had some silver-linings amidst all the smoke. There are reports that the Tamil Nadu Police actually escorted the cars of common citizens across 350 km to safety. Facebook Facebook user Joyal Bindus post evoked congratulatory messages for the Tamil Nadu Police and calls for police forces across the country to emulate them. In his post, Joyal claims he and his family were returning from an Onam holiday in Kerala and entered Tamil Nadu on their way back to Bengaluru. Joyal says he was asked by a woman police constable of the Tamil Nadu Police to pull over on the side of the road outside the ancient city of Madurai because he had Karnataka (KA) number plates. But it wasnt the typical sort of profiling story that we are so used to hearing. Joyal says the constable told him his car would be escorted by a police vehicle to ensure their safety, in view of the recent violent protests over the Cauvery. Reuters Read what Joyal had to say: What happened today, I shall never ever forget. The incident has really touched me and my family with the exemplary display of chivalry, dedication, sincerity and security towards the general citizens by the#TamilNaduPolice After my Onam holidays, I was travelling back to Bangalore. From Kollam I stopped at the toll gate over Madurai bypass. A polite lady Police Constable of Tamil Nadu Police noticing my Karnataka registered car advised me to park aside and said that I shall be escorted by Police in the wake of recent #Cauvery unrest. For me it didn't make sense what she said. Escort a common citizen on the highway by the Police!!?? I parked aside; soon 2 more KA registered cars joined and the motorcade from Madurai started at 10:00 am. BCCL I was unsure how long/far this escorting by the Police is going to go on. I believed, once the Madurai bypass limits are crossed, we will be on our own. But No! A relay of at least 7-8 Police Cabs with personnel took over from various check-posts to usher us safely on the highway. From a convoy of 4 vehicles we were in total of 16 vehicles by the end of day. As the sun started setting, I realised we started all this in the morning and the enthusiasm of the TN Police is still persistent only to ensure that we cross the TN State safely and enter Karnataka. Before I could stop by to thank the Policemen for ensuring our safety, the Pilot vehicle took a detour and faded into darkness with no expectation of goodwill or thanks letting us to proceed with our journey towards Bangalore. By 9:00pm we safely entered Bangalore city. A closely monitored and controlled police escort for common citizens for over a distance of 350+ kms! Oh goodness me, it should be a joke, but hell no! May God Bless them with more power and bless our country with such zealous people for law and order. See Joyals post here Freedom House: Journalists practice self-censorship in Armenia (video) Armenia has been rated as Partly Free Country in the recent ranking published by Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world. The report entitled Freedom in the World 2016 assesses the situation with the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens in 195 independent states and 15 disputed territories. Freedom House could give stricter assessment of the situation in Armenia, says human rights activist Zhanna Alexanyan. Freedom House considers the level of political freedoms in Armenia as non-sufficient. It says although the political parties have the freedom to engage in political activity, but the ruling party retains power with its resources. People have the right to organize political parties in Armenia, but the ruling partys dominance and control of administrative resources prevents a level playing field, the report says. Until recently, the absolutely discredited Republican Party, which is the ruling party in the country, was doing everything to undermine these freedoms. Now they have realized that they are rejected and they seem to have retreated a little after the recent events, the human rights activist says. Freedom House says the situation is slightly better in terms of civil liberties. Freedoms of assembly and association are legally guaranteed, though there are some restrictions by the police. The police have simply marred the concept of assemblies, openly showing disrespectful approach. Serzh Sargsyan assured journalists that brutality and bandit attacks by the police would not be repeated, but we know that a journalist was left with a broken jaw only yesterday, Zhana Alexanyan continues. Armenia received 46 points in a 100-point system where 100 is the best index. However, the report does not seem to have bothered Levon Martirosyan, a representative of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia. We have a good position in the ranking of Freedom House and we should always be proud of it. We should not be satisfied with the current place and should try to better our position, he says. Speaking about media freedom in Armenia, the report says most independent and investigative outlets operate online. Most print and broadcast outlets are affiliated with political or commercial interests, and journalists practice self-censorship to avoid harassment by government or business figures, the report says. Eric Manu, who took the crown as the chief of an Akan tribe in Western Africa last year, has now returned to Canada to take up a landscaping job. Manu will now work towards the betterment of his tribe as a landscaper and will send money back to his 6,000 tribesmen. CBC "The (Ghanaian) government wasn't really concentrating on those villages, cottages or hinterlands. Their focus was mainly in the cities. And that was really, really, really disturbing." he told Stephen Quinn, the host of On The Coast. Manu further added, "They were having challenges with their borehole water system, electricity, telecommunications network...the hospital, poor facilities." "I feel like I am for the people and I'm accountable and responsible and they look up to me. It makes me a totally changed person," he said. CBC Manu, along with his Canadian boss Susan Watson started To The Moon and Back Foundation - an initiative that sent a loaded shipment container with medical, school and clothing supplies to Ghana this year. A second shipment will be sent soon after enough donations have been raised to improve the local medical facility. Manu's main aim is to make his home a "Second Canada". Here's wishing him all the luck. The Indian Army has reportedly gunned down at least ten terrorist in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector. #FLASH Two more terrorists killed by Army in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector. Total 10 terrorists killed. ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 The terrorists were killed after the army foiled an infiltration bid near the LoC. According to initial reports there were at least 15 terrorists who were trying to infiltrate. Read more here. Here are 5 more stories that may interest you: 1. Mumbai Man Files RTI Asking The Ministry Of Home Affairs If We Can Survive A Zombie Attack! A word of caution for kiddies on drugs. Don't let people know it's the really bad kind. And even when you do, do not watch movies with zombies and aliens in them. Case in point, Mumbai's Ajay Kumar, who filed an RTI asking the Indian government about whether we're equipped to handle an invasion by "Alien Zombies" and "Extra dimensional beings." Dude! Now doing the rounds on Twitter, the photo of Kumar's RTI application goes on to read "What plans are in place for protecting the public in the event of an invasion by aliens or zombies and even extra-dimensional beings. More details here 2. IRCTC To Install Instant Pizza Vending Machines Across Major Mumbai Railway Stations troppa You know youre in a good mood when theres pizza around you. And from now on, you will be in a good mood whenever youll travel in Mumbai local. Hello, Mumbaikars! Give your vada-pav and Sev puri a break because theres pizza in the house. Any-time pizza vending machines will rescue all the hungry travellers on the train. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has made a glorious plan of installing instant pizza vending machines at five of the busiest railway stations in Mumbai. Passengers travelling to or from Kalyan, LTT, Mumbai Central, CST and Andheri will get pizza on the go. Read more here 3. Woman Marries Seven Guys, Robs All Of Them. It Was Her Eight Husband Who Finally Told Police firsttoknow.com Bengaluru's KG Halli police are investigating an allegation of cheating made by a man against his wife. He claims she has seven other husbands and has also accused her of assaulting him. On Monday, Imran, a resident of KG Halli, east Bengaluru, filed a complaint alleging his wife, Yasmin Banu, 38, attacked him. He went on to state Yasmin is a habitual cheater. Read more here 4. ISIS Is So Broke They Are Trading Organs From Their Own Terrorists For Money deschide.md A never ending supply of money from the oil fields they'd taken over has turned into a trickle - ISIS, the world's hottest terror boys are going broke. So broke, in fact, that they're now selling the organs of their own fighters, according to a local news report. It's not only the dead, but also injured fighters who are being robbed of their organs, stolen from the hospitals. 'Special medical unit of the organization proceeded to steal human organs from about 23 ISIS militants of those who slept in the hospitals of Nineveh,' the source said on Sunday.Read more here 5. Shocking! Woman Stabbed 21 Times By A Stalker In Broad Daylight In North Delhi Facebook A 21-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed 21 times to her death in North Delhi on Tuesday morning. CCTV visuals from the spot shows the attacker stabbing the woman repeatedly as she thrashed about helplessly. This was even while dozens of people passed by without trying to help her, or stop the assault. Read the details here. World leaders from 193 countries gathered at the first ever UN General Assembly in New York for addressing the large movements of refugees and migrants", where a plan was approved to address the displacement of 65.3 million people. There has been transparent strife in Europe over the influx of millions of refugee in one of the largest mass migration of people history has experienced. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon who was also a refugee during the Korean war called the plan history and said it represents a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility. But advocates of human rights arent sure whether the New York declaration on refugees and migrants will result in action on the ground. ALSO READ: 50 Million Refugee Children In The World Right Now Reuters Around the world, there are currently about 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million migrants, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. The agency defines refugees as people forced to flee due to armed conflict or persecution, while migrants choose to move in search of a better life. Reuters ALSO READ: 5-Year-Old Syrian Boy Whose Picture Shocked The World Philippe Bolopion, deputy director of global advocacy for Human Rights Watch, said the international community still had a long way to go in dealing with the crisis. "I would say if you measure this document by what is at stake here, it certainly falls short of the mark. We're facing an historic crisis and the response is not historic," Bolopion said on the sidelines of the meeting. He added that in many areas refugee protections were backsliding with a growing number of countries trying to turn back refugees in violation of international law. "Is the outcome document up to the challenge? No, unquestionably it's not." "Does that mean the summit is pointless? No, because it's precisely at moments like this that you need to regroup," Bolopion added. Reuters A press release from the summit said the declaration expresses the political will of world leaders to protect the right of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale. Before we discuss this will of world leaders, here are some of the commitments of the summit: 1. Protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status. This includes the rights of women and girls and promoting their full, equal and meaningful participation in finding solutions. 2. Ensure that all refugee and migrant children are receiving education within a few months of arrival. 3. Prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence. 4. Support those countries which are rescuing, receiving and hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants. 5. Strengthen the positive contributions made by migrants to economic and social development in their host countries. 6. Improve the delivery of humanitarian and development assistance to those countries most affected, including through innovative multilateral financial solutions, with the goal of closing all funding gaps. Is the world and Europe, particularly, doing enough though? Under Angela Merkels Chancellorship, Germany took in the largest number of refugees at 1 million in 2015. While other European leaders wanted to a put on a cap on the number of refugees arriving, Merkel refused and is now facing the brunt of her humanitarian choice her high approval ratings have fallen and shes being challenged by right-wing political parties like fur Deutschland. Its against the Euro and European harmonization and is currently polling at 15%. Even Merkels own party is going against her and is increasingly opposing immigration and recently said that Islam was not compatible with the German constitution. Reuters Ever since the UK opted for Brexit, there has been a rise in xenophobia with police recording 57% of hate crimes four days following the vote. For a country that has always relied heavily on immigrants, there has been a consistent reports of Muslims being kicked of planes and most recently three Muslims siblings were kicked off a plane in the UK accusing them of being associated to ISIS. One of the commitments is to strongly condemn xenophobia against refugees and migrants and support a global campaign to counter it but the banning of burkini in some southern provinces of France has in fact increased instances of xenophobia. And earlier in September, a 14-year-old Muslim girl was attacked outside a school in southern Sweden and police think it is hate-related crime. Reuters The list of such cases in Europe is manifold, and the environment in America is similar with Presidential candidate Trump openly claiming to ban all Mexicans and Muslims if he wins. So while the New York declaration may be a step in the right direction to address the challenges of refugees and migrants, the political scene in Europe is increasingly leanings towards anti-Islam and immigrants most probably to increase their vote banks. The question is whether these commitments are going to open borders in Europe and bring an end to the scapegoat rhetoric whereby countries pin their problems on refugee and immigrants? Are countries capable to taking in refugees going to take more in rather than only accepting a few thousands? Canada, oceans and miles away from the center of the crisis in the Middle East and Africa, is officially resettling more Syrian refugees after Germany. They even have a program where its citizens can privately sponsor a refugee and help them to integrate and currently 308 communities are welcoming Syrian refugees, making Canadas approach a humanitarian one. ALSO READ: Syrian Refugees In Canada Help Survivors Of A Forest Fire Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Google Ad Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens Kim's Latest Big Bang By Eric Margolis September 20, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - North Koreas fifth nuclear test produced an explosion fury and hysteria around the world, more empty threats against the Hermit Kingdom, and a giant sell-off in stock markets by foolish investors. No wonder gleeful North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was having such a big laugh. Its not often that a small nation of only 24.8 million can defy the mighty United States, Japan, South Korea and even its sole ally, China. But Kim did, and survived the experience. North Korea fired off its fifth underground nuclear device estimated at 15-20 kilotons. The detonation was estimated at around the same size as the US nuclear devices that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. What made this test different was the announcement by Pyongyang that it had standardized production of nuclear warheads and, even more important, reduced their size and weight so they could be fitted atop medium and long-ranged missiles. Previous North Korean nuclear devices were believed too heavy and bulky to be delivered by missiles. Western experts believe North Korea will have 20 nuclear warheads by the end of this year, though how many of them can be delivered by missile is not known. The North has no long-ranged missiles that can hit North America, contrary to this weeks hysteria. Its new submarine-launched missile, a real potential threat to the US mainland, is still many years away from deployment. No one seems to care that India has ICBMs and sea-launched SLBMs that can hit the US today. North Koreas missile force is not designed to attack the United States but rather to deter any invasion or nuclear strike by US forces. The US Air Force underlined this potential threat by flying two nuclear-capable B-1 heavy bombers near the border with North Korea. For North Korea, most of South Korea is too close for potential nuclear attack. Radiation would blow back over North Korea. Only the Souths most important southern port, Busan, through which any invading US forces would pass, might be a viable target. Even if North Korean missiles could strike the mainland United States, there would be an immediate US nuclear riposte from Guam, Japan and the powerful 7th Fleet that would turn North Korea to radioactive dust. Kim Jong-un is neither mad nor suicidal. But the Norths growing force of medium-ranged missiles could hit Japans home islands, Okinawa, and Guam, Americas primary Asian military bases. Three or four N Korean nuclear weapons could cripple Japan. In effect, North Korea holds Japan a nuclear hostage. Japan has no leak-proof defense against nuclear missiles. Its lack of nuclear weapons means that Japan is naked before the North Korean threat and must rely on the uncertain US nuclear umbrella and unproven anti-missile systems. Thats why presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed that Japan be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Its unacceptable for the worlds third largest economy to be held in thrall by pipsqueak but nasty North Korea. Japan has considered developing nuclear weapons for decades but US pressure and anti-militarist public opinion have prevented Tokyo from doing so. Japan could produce a nuclear weapon in three months if it so decided. But it wont, and so remains vulnerable to North Korea and to nuclear-armed China with which Japan is in a serious confrontation in the South China Sea and off the Ryuku Islands. The US and South Korea have staged their annual Fall military exercises that mimic an invasion of North Korea. Each year, North Korea blows its top when this provocation occurs. Theres no military need its merely primitive chest-thumping by Washington and Seoul and tantrum-time for the North. Call it North Asian Primeval Scream Therapy. Interestingly, this time South Koreas conservative government led by PM Park Geun-hye joined the all-Korean threat-a-thon by vowing to turn Pyongyang to ashes if it was seen preparing a nuclear attack on the South. In fact, South Korea lacks this military capability in spite of recent additions of new artillery missiles. Seouls threats were more designed to placate angry right-wing South Korean Christian voters than to intimidate the North. But its also worth recalling that in the late 1970s, the US forced the current prime ministers father, President Park Chung-he, to halt his secret nuclear weapons program. Today, South Korea still has good reasons to develop a few nukes, though much of North Korea is too close for retaliatory strikes. Both sides in Korea would be better off with small, tactical nuclear weapons. Its always fun watching the hot-tempered Koreans hurl threats at one another and the US. Yet one of these days, threats could turn to real shooting on the Peninsula. Think of the Japanese nuclear melt-down at Fukushimaand then multiply by 150. Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune the Los Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej Times, Nation Pakistan, Hurriyet, Turkey, Sun Times Malaysia and other news sites in Asia. http://ericmargolis.com Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2016 Americas Worldwide Impunity The mainstream U.S. media is treating the U.S.-led airstrike that killed scores of Syrian troops as an unfortunate boo-boo, ignoring that the U.S. and its allies have no legal right to operate in Syria at all, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry September 20, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Consortium News - After several years of arming and supporting Syrian rebel groups that often collaborated with Al Qaedas Nusra terror affiliate, the United States launched an illegal invasion of Syria two years ago with airstrikes supposedly aimed at Al Qaedas Islamic State spin-off, but on Saturday that air war killed scores of Syrian soldiers and aided an Islamic State victory. Yet, the major American news outlets treat this extraordinary set of circumstances as barely newsworthy, operating with an imperial hubris that holds any U.S. invasion or subversion of another country as simply, ho-hum, the way things are supposed to work. On Monday, The Washington Post dismissed the devastating airstrike at Deir al-Zour killing at least 62 Syrian soldiers as one of several mishaps that had occurred over the past week and jeopardized a limited ceasefire, arranged between Russia and the Obama administration. But the fact that the U.S. and several allies have been routinely violating Syrian sovereign airspace to carry out attacks was not even an issue, nor is it a scandal that the U.S. military and CIA have been arming and training Syrian rebels. In the world of Official Washington, the United States has the right to intervene anywhere, anytime, for whatever reason it chooses. President Barack Obama even has publicly talked about authorizing military strikes in seven different countries, including Syria, and yet he is deemed weak for not invading more countries, at least more decisively. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has vowed to engage in a larger invasion of Syria, albeit wrapping the aggression in pretty words like safe zone and no-fly zone, but it would mean bombing and killing more Syrian soldiers. As Secretary of State, Clinton used similar language to justify invading Libya and implementing a regime change that killed the nations leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and unleashed five years of violent political chaos. If you were living a truly democratic country with a truly professional news media, you would think that this evolution of the United States into a rogue superpower violating pretty much every international law and treaty of the post-World War II era would be a regular topic of debate and criticism. Those crimes include horrendous acts against people, such as torture and other violations of the Geneva Conventions, as well as acts of aggression, which the Nuremberg Tribunals deemed the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. Justifying Regime Change Yet, instead of insisting on accountability for American leaders who have committed these crimes, the mainstream U.S. news media spreads pro-war propaganda against any nation or leader that refuses to bend to Americas imperial demands. In other words, the U.S. news media creates the rationalizations and arranges the public acquiescence for U.S. invasions and subversions of other countries. In particular, The New York Times now reeks of propaganda, especially aimed at two of the current targets, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin. With all pretenses of professionalism cast aside, the Times has descended into the status of a crude propaganda organ. On Sunday, the Times described Assads visit to a town recently regained from the rebels this way : Assad Smiles as Syria Burns, His Grip and Impunity Secure. That was the headline. The article began: On the day after his 51st birthday, Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, took a victory lap through the dusty streets of a destroyed and empty rebel town that his forces had starved into submission. Smiling, with his shirt open at the collar, he led officials in dark suits past deserted shops and bombed-out buildings before telling a reporter that despite a cease-fire announced by the United States and Russia he was committed to taking back all areas from the terrorists. When he says terrorists, he means all who oppose him. The story by Ben Hubbard continues in that vein, although oddly the accompanying photograph doesnt show Assad smiling but rather assessing the scene with a rather grim visage. But lets unpack the propaganda elements of this front-page story, which is clearly intended to paint Assad as a sadistic monster, rather than a leader fighting a foreign-funded-and-armed rebel movement that includes radical jihadists, including powerful groups linked to Al Qaeda and others forces operating under the banner of the brutal Islamic State. The reader is supposed to recoil at Assad who smiles as Syria burns and who is rejoicing over his impunity. Then, theres the apparent suggestion that his trip to Daraya was part of his birthday celebration so he could take a victory lap while smiling, with his shirt open at the collar, although why his collar is relevant is hard to understand. Next, there is the argumentative claim that when Assad refers to terrorists that he means all who oppose him. As much as the U.S. news media likes to pride itself on its objectivity, it is hard to see how this article meets any such standard, especially when the Times takes a far different posture when explaining, excusing or ignoring U.S. forces slaughtering countless civilians in multiple countries for decades and at a rapid clip over the past 15 years. If anyone operates with impunity, it has been the leadership of the U.S. government. Dubious Charge On Sunday, the Times also asserted as flat fact the dubious charge against Assad that he has hit civilians with gas attacks when the most notorious case the sarin attack outside Damascus on Aug. 21, 2013 appears now to have been carried out by rebels trying to trick the United States into intervening more directly on their side. A recent United Nations report blaming Syrian forces for two later attacks involving chlorine was based on slim evidence and produced under great political pressure to reach that conclusion while ignoring the absence of any logical reason for the Syrian forces to have used such an ineffective weapon and brushing aside testimony about rebels staging other gas attacks. More often than not, U.N. officials bend to the will of the American superpower, failing to challenge any of the U.S.-sponsored invasions over recent decades, including something as blatantly illegal as the Iraq War. After all, for an aspiring U.N. bureaucrat, its clear which side his career bread is buttered. We find ourselves in a world in which propaganda has come to dominate the foreign policy debates and despite the belated admissions of lies used to justify the invasions of Iraq and Libya the U.S. media insists on labeling anyone who questions the latest round of propaganda as a fill-in-the-blank apologist. So, Americans who want to maintain their mainstream status shy away from contesting what the U.S. government and its complicit media assert, despite their proven track record of deceit. This is not just a case of being fooled once; it is being fooled over and over with a seemingly endless willingness to accept dubious assertion after dubious assertion. In the same Sunday edition which carried the creepy portrayal about Assad, the Times Neil MacFarquhar pre-disparaged Russias parliamentary elections because the Russian people were showing little support for the Times beloved liberals, the political descendants of the Russians who collaborated with the U.S.-driven shock therapy of the 1990s, a policy that impoverished a vast number of Russians and drastically reduced life expectancy. Why those Russian liberals have such limited support from the populace is a dark mystery to the mainstream U.S. news media, which also cant figure out why Putin is popular for significantly reversing the shock therapy policies and restoring Russian life expectancy to its previous levels. No, it cant be that Putin delivered for the Russian people; the only answer must be Putins totalitarianism. The New York Times and Washington Post have been particularly outraged over Russias crackdown on grassroots organizations that are funded by the U.S. government or by billionaire financial speculator George Soros, who has publicly urged the overthrow of Putin . So has Carl Gershman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which funnels U.S. government cash to political and media operations abroad. The Post has decried a Russian legal requirement that political entities taking money from foreign sources must register as foreign agents and complains that such a designation discredits these organizations. What the Post doesnt tell its readers is that the Russian law is modeled after the American Foreign Agent Registration Act, which likewise requires people trying to influence policy in favor of a foreign sponsor to register with the Justice Department. Nor do the Times and Post acknowledge the long history of the U.S. government funding foreign groups, either overtly or covertly, to destabilize targeted regimes. These U.S.-financed groups often do act as fifth columnists spreading propaganda designed to undermine the credibility of the leaders, whether thats Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 or Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. Imperfect Leaders Thats not to say that these targeted leaders were or are perfect. They are often far from it. But the essence of propaganda is to apply selective outrage and exaggeration to the leader that is marked for removal. Similar treatment does not apply to U.S.-favored leaders. The pattern of the Times and Post is also to engage in ridicule when someone in a targeted country actually perceives what is going on. The correct perception is then dismissed as some sort of paranoid conspiracy theory. Take, for example, the Times MacFarquhar describing a pamphlet and speeches from Nikolai Merkushkin, the governor of Russian region of Samara, that MacFarquhar says cast the blame for Russias economic woes not on economic mismanagement or Western sanctions after the annexation of Crimea but on a plot by President Obama and the C.I.A. to undermine Russia. The Times article continues: Opposition candidates are a fifth column on the payroll of the State Department and part of the scheme, the pamphlet said, along with the collapse in oil prices and the emergence of the Islamic State. Mr. Putin is on the case, not least by rebuilding the military, the pamphlet said, noting that our country forces others to take it seriously and this is something that American politicians dont like very much. Yet, despite the Times mocking tone, the pamphlets perceptions are largely accurate. There can be little doubt that the U.S. government through funding of anti-Putin groups inside Russia and organizing punishing sanctions against Russia, is trying to make the Russian economy scream, destabilize the Russian government and encourage a regime change in Moscow. Further, President Obama has personally bristled at Russias attempts to reassert itself as an important world player, demeaning the former Cold War superpower as only a regional power. The U.S. government has even tread on that regional status by helping to orchestrate the 2014 putsch that overthrew Ukraines elected President Yanukovych on Russias border. After quickly calling the coup regime legitimate, the U.S. government supported attempts to crush resistance in the south and east which were Yanukovychs political strongholds. Crimeas overwhelming decision to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia was deemed by The New York Times a Russian invasion although the Russian troops that helped protect Crimeas referendum were already inside Crimea as part of the Sevastopol basing agreement. The U.S.-backed Kiev regimes attempt to annihilate resistance from ethnic Russians in the east through what was called an Anti-Terrorism Operation that has slaughtered thousands of eastern Ukrainians also had American backing. Russian assistance to these rebels is described in the mainstream U.S. media as Russian aggression. Oddly, U.S. news outlets find nothing objectionable about the U.S. government launching military strikes in countries halfway around the world, including the recent massacre of scores of Syrian soldiers, but are outraged that Russia provided military help to ethnic Russians being faced with annihilation on Russias border. Because of the Ukraine crisis, Hillary Clinton likened Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler. Seeing No Coup For its part, The New York Times concluded that there had been no coup in Ukraine by ignoring the evidence that there was one, including an intercepted pre-coup telephone call between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt discussing who should be made the new leaders of Ukraine. The evidence of a coup was so clear that George Friedman, founder of the global intelligence firm Stratfor, said in an interview that the overthrow of Yanukovych really was the most blatant coup in history. But the Times put protecting the legitimacy of the post-coup regime ahead of its journalistic responsibilities to its readers, as it has done repeatedly regarding Ukraine. Another stunning case of double standards has been the mainstream U.S. medias apoplexy about alleged Russian hacking into emails of prominent Americans and then making them public. These blame-Russia articles have failed to present any solid evidence that the Russians were responsible and also fail to note that the United States leads the world in using electronic means to vacuum up personal secrets about foreign leaders as well as average citizens. In a number of cases, these secrets appear to have been used to blackmail foreign leaders to get them to comply with U.S. demands, such as the case in 2002-03 of the George W. Bush administration spying on diplomats on the U.N. Security Council to coerce their votes on authorizing the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a ploy that failed. U.S. intelligence also tapped the cell phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose cooperation on Ukraine and other issues of the New Cold War is important to Washington. And then theres the massive collection of data about virtually everybody on the planet, including U.S. citizens, over the past 15 years during the war on terror. Earlier this year, the mainstream U.S. news media congratulated itself over its use of hacked private business data from a Panama-based law firm, material that was said to implicate Putin in some shady business dealings even though his name never showed up in the documents. No one in the mainstream media protested that leak or questioned who did the hacking. Such mainstream media bias is pervasive. In the case of Sundays Russian elections, the Times seems determined to maintain the fiction that the Russian people dont really support Putin, despite consistent opinion polls showing him with some 80 percent approval. In the Times version of reality, Putins popularity must be some kind of trick, a case of totalitarian repression of the Russian people, which would be fixed if only the U.S.-backed liberals were allowed to keep getting money from NED and Soros without having to divulge where the funds were coming from. The fact that Russians, like Americans, will rally around their national leader when they perceive the country to be under assault think, George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks is another reality that the Times cant tolerate. No, the explanation must be mind control. The troubling reality is that the Times, Post and other leading American news outlets have glibly applied one set of standards on enemies and another on the U.S. government. The Times may charge that Bashar al-Assad has impunity for his abuses, but what about the multitude of U.S. leaders and, yes, journalists who have their hands covered in the blood of Iraqis, Libyans, Afghans, Yemenis, Syrians, Somalis and other nationalities. Where is their accountability? Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, Americas Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com ). US Proxies and Regional Rivalries US empire building depends on regional regimes support, especially in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. These proxy regimes fulfill valuable military roles securing control over neighboring regions, populations and territory. By James Petras September 20, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - In recent times, however, we witness the same proxies developing their own tendency toward expansionist policies - in pursuit of their own mini-empires. Client regimes with local or regional ambitions now present Washington with new points of contention. At a time when the US empire has been forced to retrench or retreat in the face of its prolonged losses, a whole new set of conflicts have emerged. The post-imperial war zones are the new focus. Often, imperial client regimes take the initiative in confronting their regional adversaries. In other cases, competing proxies will brush aside their US mentors and advance their own territorial ambitions. The break-up of the US-dominated empire, far from ending wars and conflicts, will almost certainly lead to many local wars under the pretext of self-determination, or self-defense or protecting ones ethnic brethren - like Ankaras sudden concern for the Turkmen in Syria. We will examine a few of the most obvious case studies. The Middle East: Turkish-Kurdish-Syrian Conflict Over the past years, the Turkish regime has been in the forefront in the war to overthrow the secular nationalist Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. The Turks acted as proxies for the US - providing military bases, supplies, training and protection, as well as the point of entry, for overseas Islamist terrorist-mercenaries acting on behalf of Washingtons imperial ambitions. As the independent Islamist threat (ISIS) gained territory, targeting US objectives, Washington increasingly turned to its allied, mostly secular, Kurdish fighters. Washingtons Kurdish proxies took over territory from both the anti-US Islamists as well as the Syrian national government - as part of their own long-standing ethno-nationalist agenda. Turkey saw Kurdish victories in northern Syria as a rallying point for autonomous Kurdish forces within Turkey. President Erdogan intervened militarily - sending tanks, warplanes and tens of thousands of troops into Syria, launching a war of extermination against the US-proxy Syrian Kurds! The Turkish invasion has advanced, taking Syrian territory, under the phony pretext of combating ISIS. In fact, Turkey has created a wide, colonial safe zone to control the Kurds. The Obama regime in Washington complained but was totally unwilling to intervene as the Turks drove the Kurds out of their northern Syrian home in a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing. Thus, Turkish-Kurdish-Syrian warfare has broken out and the terms, conditions and outcome are well beyond US control. The US quest for an imperial puppet regime in Syria has flopped: instead, Turkey gobbled up Syrian land, the Kurds resisted the Turks for national-self-determination instead of driving out the Islamist mercenaries and Damascus faces an additional threat to its national sovereignty. This brutal regional war, started largely by the US and Saudi Arabia, will expose the extent to which the US-Middle East Empire has shrunk. Asia: Japan, Vietnam, Philippine and China Conflict The US Empire in Asia has seen the making and unmaking of proxy states. After WWII, the US incorporated Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand as proxy states in an effort to strangle and conquer China, North Korea and Vietnam. More recently India, Vietnam and Myanmar have joined the US in its new militarist scheme to encircle China. Central to the Obama-Clinton Pivot to Asia is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a singular effort to unify Asian nations under US control in order to isolate and diminish Chinas role in Asia. The original, post-WW2 proxies, South Korea, Philippines and Japan provided military bases, troops, material and logistic support. Vietnam, the newest proxy-on-the-block, welcomes Pentagon weapons aimed at China - despite the millions of Vietnamese deaths during the US war in Indochina. While most of the Asian proxies continue to pay lip service to Washingtons Sinophobic agenda, many do so on their own terms: they are reluctant to provoke Chinas economic wrath through Washingtons policy of direct confrontation. During the recent ASEAN Conference in Laos (2016), nations resisted Washingtons pressure to denounce China despite the international court ruling against Beijings South China Sea maritime claims. The US ability to influence events through its Europe-based international tribunals seems to have waned. The US cannot implement its own transpacific economic blockade strategy (TPP) because of both domestic and external resistance. Meanwhile, new proxy relations have emerged. The proxy-stooges in Tokyo face growing anti-proxy opposition from the Japanese people over their nations role as a glorified US airbase. As a result Tokyo carefully pursues its own anti-China strategy by forming deeper economic links to new or minor proxy states in Indo-China, the Philippines and Myanmar. In the course of developing its relations with these weaker proxy regimes, Japan is actually laying the ground for autonomous economic and military policies independent of the US. Notably, the Philippines under its new President Duterte, seeks to accommodate relations with China, even as its neo-colonial proxy military relations with Washington remain in place. The Western media kerfuffle over Dutertes colorful language and human rights policies masks Washingtons imperial disapproval with his independent foreign policy toward China. While India grows closer ties with the US and even offers military co-operation with the Pentagon, it is signing even greater Chinese investment and trade agreements - anxious to enter the enormous China market. In other words, Washingtons Asian proxies have (1) widened their own reach, (2) defined autonomous spheres of action and (3) have downgraded US efforts to impose trade agreements. Symptomatic of the decay of US proxy power is the disinclination among Washingtons clients to express overt hostility to Beijing. In frustration, the Washington-New York financial mouthpieces (New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal) provide bully pulpits for the most obscure, marginal characters, including a minor Hong Kong politician, a decrepit exiled Tibetan holy man and a gaggle of Uighur terrorists! Washingtons Ephemeral Proxies in Latin America One of the most striking aspects of US empire-building is the ease with which it has secured proxies in Latin America and how quickly they are undermined! Over the past three decades the US propped up proxy military regimes, which were overthrown and replaced by independent governments in the last decade. These are currently being replaced by a new wave of neo-liberal proxies - a motley collection of corrupt thugs and elite clowns incapable of establishing a sustainable imperial-centered region. A proxy-based empire is a contradiction in terms. The Latin American proxies are too dependent on outside support, lacking mass internal popularity and roots. Their very neo-liberal economic and social policies are unable to stimulate the industrial development required grow the economy. The Latin American proxies are mere predators, devoid of historical entrepreneurial skills of the Japanese and the disciplined nationalist ideology of the Turks. In that sense, the Latin American proxies more closely resemble the Philippine ruling oligarchy: They preach submission and breed subversion. Proxy instability and policy shifts emerge as powerful forces to challenge the US empire - whether the Chinese in Asia or domestic internal conflicts - like the Trump phenomenon in the US. Conclusion Imperial wars continue . . . but so does an upsurge in domestic instability, mass rejection of imperial policies, regional conflicts and national wars. The decline of the empire threatens to bring on an era of intra-proxy wars - multiple conflicts, which may or may not benefit the US empire. The war of the few against the many is becoming the war of the many against the many. But what are the choices in the face of such historic shifts? Only the emergence of truly class-conscious organized mass movements can offer a positive response to the coming deluge. James Petras is a Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York. Please see his latest book: The end of the Republic and the Delusion of Empire, Clarity Press 2016 ISBN 978-0-9972870-5 Will Russia Surrender? By Paul Craig Roberts September 20, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - - The Russian governments sincere and diligent effort to prevent chaos in Syria and additional massive refugee flow into Europe, all the while avoiding conflict with Washington and its vassals, has been brought to an end by Washingtons intentional attack on a known Syrian army position, thus wrecking the cease fire agreement that Russia sacrificed so much to achieve. The response to this fact by the Obama regimes ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, reveals that Washington will lie to the hilt in order to achieve its agenda of reducing Syria to the same chaos as Washington has reduced Iraq and Libya. Washington, and Washington alone, is responsible for the war in Syria. When the British Parliament and the Russian government blocked Obamas intended US invasion of Syria, the Obama regime armed and financed jihadist mercenaries to invade Syria, pretending that the jihadists were Syrian rebels fighting for democracy in Syria. Samantha Power turned history upside down and blames the war on Russias intervention at the request of the Syrian government against the ISIL jihadists that Washington sent to destabilize Syria. What Samantha means is that if Russia had not come to the aid of Syria, Washington and ISIL would already have destroyed Syria, and there would be no war. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Russias ambassador to the UN, said that in his 40 years of diplomacy he had never seen such a high-handed and demagogic performance as Samanthas. Churkin seemed to imply that such an unrealistic and twisted response to known facts as Samantha delivered leaves him without hope of any successful diplomatic outcome. If the Russian government has finally arrived at the conclusion that Washington is determined to destroy political stability in Syria and to replace it with chaos, it has taken a long time. The Russian government has studiously avoided this conclusion, because once diplomacy is acknowledged as useless, force confronts force. In todays context that means thermo-nuclear war and the end of life on Earth. This is the reason that the Russian government has replied diplomatically to Washingtons coercive provocations, offering Washington cooperation in place of conflict. However, Washington wants conflict. The Russians have pretended that Washington has a common interest with Russia in combating terrorism, but terrorism is Washingtons tool for destabilizing Syria, then Iran, and then the Muslim provinces of the Russian Federation and China. Washington wants hegemeny not cooperation. Now that Samantha Power has made this so clear that the Russian government can no longer pretend otherwise, what will Russia (and China) do? If Russia and China are not ready for the war that Washington is bringing to them, will they retreat in the face of the aggression, sacrificing Syria, the break-away Russian provinces from Ukraine, and the various disputed island issues in the Pacific Ocean while they gather their strength? Or will they decide to break-up the NATO alliance by making the cost of conflict very clear to Washingtons European vassals? Clearly, Europe has nothing to gain from Washingtons aggression against Russia and China. Or is Russia unable to do anything now that diplomacy is a proven dead-end? Perhaps this is the over-riding question. As far as someone who is not a member of the Russian government can tell, Russia is not completely in control of its destiny. Elements in the Russian government known as Atlanticist Integrationists believe that it is more important for Russia to be part of the West and to be integrated into the Western system than to be a sovereign country. They argue that if formerly great powers, such as Great Britain, Germany, and France, can profit from being American vassals, so can Russia. Atlanticist Integrationists claim that Russias strategic nuclear capability and land mass means that Russia can maintain some sovereignty and only partially submit as a vassal. One problem with this position is that it assumes the neoconservatives are content with less than complete hegemony and would not capitalize on Russias weakened position to achieve full hegemony. The Russian government probably still has hopes that at least some European governments will recognize their responsibility to avoid war and exit NATO, thus removing political cover for Washingtons aggression. Possibly there is some such hope, but the main European political figures are bought-and-paid-for by Washington. As a high US government official told me as long ago as the 1970s, we own them; they belong to us. Not much hope can be found in the European media. Udo Ulfkotte, a former editor of Germanys Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, published a book in which he said that every significant European journalist was on the CIAs payroll. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-28/top-german-journalist-admits-mainstream-media-completely-fake-we-all-lie-cia With politicians and media bought off, where can European leadership come from? Europeans have become accustomed to their role as hired vassals. As no European politician or newspaper editor can assume that an act of rebellion would succeed, they are more likely to enjoy their life enriched by American gratuities than to take a risk for humanity. The wider question is whether the extant socio-politico-economic systems can act in behalf of humanity. It is not clear that capitalist civilizations are capable of being humane, because worth is based on money, which makes greed and power the overpowering factors. It is possible that human evil and incompetence have destroyed not only the planets environment but also humane social systems. Globalism is not a scheme for cooperation. It is Washingtons scheme for American domination. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order . Nigerias First Lady, Aisha Buhari joined other First Ladies to attend Michelle Obamas Global Girls Empowerment event yesterday, September 19, 2016 in New York City. The event, called the United Nations General Assembly at Broadways Jacobs Theater, was put together to raise awareness for the Let Girls Learn initiative, launched by the Obamas in March 2015, to help adolescent girls around the world go to school and stay in school. Sharing updates from the event, Nigerias First Lady Aisha Buhari stated on social media: Michelle Obama has promised to continue to push for the rights of women and teenage girls around the world, even after she has left the White House. According to Michelle Obama, More than 62 million girls around the world are counting on us to be their voice and I intend to continue speaking out on their behalf not just for the rest of my time as first lady but for the rest of my life. And I hope that you all will join me. The Federal Government has been urged by the Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC) to inform Nigerians on all the funds recovered and how prudently they have been utilized for the citizens. This is contained in a statement signed by the partys National Chairman, Rev. Olusegun Peters, where it enjoined the President Muhammadu Buharis led administration to judiciously use the recovered funds for the benefit of the poor people. The DPC said Nigerians have been treated badly by governments at all levels, for not providing essential dividends they were elected to provide as it argued that there is no justification to the excessive hunger, poverty and stagnation in the country. The party also hit back at previous governments for refusing to save for the rainy days during the oil boom periods. The former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema, who is currently under investigation for alleged diversion of N18 billion belonging to the government has had three of his houses sealed on Monday by the the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The three houses located at Madoji Road in the GRA, Madachi Road in Barhim Housing Estate and Kirni Road in Makera Estate along Daura Road, all in Katsina were cordoned off following interaction with the ex-governor. According to a source in the EFCC who pleaded anonymity, Shema was grilled for some hours on more contracts executed during his tenure. Also, in line with the ongoing probe, we have placed three houses of the ex-governor in Katsina under Interim Assets Forfeiture in line with Sections 28 and 34 of the EFCC (Establishment Act) 2004 and Section 13(1) of the Federal High Court Act, 2004, the source said. We have restricted the movement of the ex-governor to the country until the conclusion of the investigation. Shema is still in our custody. We have a warrant to detain him for a while. the source explained. It will be recalled that Shema was declared wanted by the EFCC, following a petition by the State Governor, Aminu Masari of alleged diversion of N18.6billion by himself, his sons and cronies. He was also accused of mismanaging over N56billion in seven years and N30billion security votes by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs However, the ex-governor who willingly submit himself to the EFCC, blames his successor for witch-hunting Reacting to the development, Oluwabusola Olawale, the media aide to the former governor said: We have reiterated it on different occasions that he {Shema} has nothing to fear and he is ever ready to defend himself, but he should not be subjected to political and media trial. All he wants is fairness, justice and equity in accordance with the rule of law. Shema left Katsina State as a debt-free state despite the massive infrastructural development during his eight year tenure. The Lagos State Government has said it will shut down over 10,000 schools operating illegally in the state beginning from the next academic session. Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule, said operators failed to register their schools after the registration procedure was simplified by the ministry of education. Adebule said this while flagging off the school census programme for private schools at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Lagos. The Deputy Governor, who spoke on the theme Entrenching Best Practices, noted that the state government would not relent in its efforts to provide quality education and learning environment for pupils in the state. Adebule who presented approval letters of 119 schools to their proprietors at the event, said, In essence, about two-third of private schools are operating illegally in the state. About 15,000 private schools are operating in the state and only 4,556 are approved and registered. No nation or society can develop better than its quality of human capital. Part of the tools required to perform our task as a regulator is accurate and precise data which the proposed school census was intended to provide for the education sector. In his address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Adesina Odeyemi, warned proprietors to be wary of people parading themselves as officials of the ministry. He advised them to pay all levies accruing to the state government to the appropriate coffer, adding that no official had been mandated to collect levies on behalf of the state government. You will agree with us that since the early 80s, nothing has formed the subject of our national debates and engagements more than the chequered (mis) fortune of the word Restructuring. It has been accepted more than once as a friend; rejected as an enemy, and finally smuggled through the back door as an accomplice, in any national gathering. It is almost a song in our national struggle and often chorused now and again in governmental circles. In the last two decades at least, one of the central issues of political debate in Nigeria has been the persistent call for a National Conference; a quotient of restructuring. The calls have always represented a strong desire to correct the ills that have befallen the Nigerian state and renegotiate the conditions, structure and rules that should guide the country. These calls represent an admission that the legitimacy and continuous existence of the state is in question. The primary objective of any state is to provide security of the citizens and to guarantee a framework for the enforcement of laws. The ability of certain states to meet this mandate sometimes decline and a situation arises in which basic functions to wit: exercising sovereignty over a given territory, providing political identity and operating critical institutions of state can no longer be provided hence leading to political crisis that invariably snowball into anarchy. More recently , the Boko Haram insurgency which remain a Gordian knot for the government, the ethnic crisis in the middle-belt, the Fulani-herdsmen crisis and militancy in the Niger-Delta have all gone to sustain the question of restructuring and send a message across that ours is a nation in dire straits begging for honest and holistic reforms. But it is the ambivalence however, that has greeted efforts at restructuring in the past that leave much to be desired. It has become a case of knowing the root cause of a problem but lacking the requisite political will and gumption to set the solution in motion, or where it is put in motion, lacking the conviction to implement the recommendations. Perhaps nothing more can evidence this assertion than the series of talk shops which have been organised in the past by successive governments, both military and civilian but whose recommendations continue to gather dust in the archives despite the huge sums spent in convening them. Most certainly, it is the ambivalence, represented by the discordant tunes among the diverse ethnic nationalities which make up the divide whenever restructuring is the colloquy, that is the albatross and the clog in the wheel. Most often, it is the morbid fear of the consequences that may ensue in the process that drives this ambivalence and fuels the suspicions. The North always do not want to hear it mentioned for some reasons bordering on Economic consequences while the south are always willing to go the pith and hog of it. While the North have always participated in these talk shops, they never hide their sentiments on the limits of the negotiations. And so often come to the dialogue with a narrow bargaining range. As for the minorities, their opinions seldom make it to the front burner and most often a hybrid of the sentiments of the big-three. But this is where the regions are getting it wrong. Most often, restructuring is understood in the context of balkanisation the extremes of any restructuring process usually resorted to, when dialogues can no longer travel. They do not situate it along the lines of reformation thatll re-assign roles and do away with the unnecessary baggage which experience has shown do not perfectly fit into our system. And so since when Aalhaji Atiku Abubakar resurrected the ghost of restructuring few months ago, a lot of ruckus has been heard in the polity over the much vexed issue. While speaking at the late Gen.Usman Katsina Memorial Conference, with the theme: The Challenges of National Integration and Survival of Democracy in Nigeria, the former vice president said, I suggest we resolve today to support calls for the restructuring of the Nigeria federation in order to strengthen its unity and stabilise its democracy. I believe that restructuring will eventually happen whether we like it or not. The question is whether itll happen around a conference table in a direction influenced by us and whether well be an equal partner in the process or will it happen in a more unpredictable arena and in a manner over which we have little influence. Last week, Alhaji Waziri Tambuwal , governor of Sokoto state, appear to have stirred the hornets nest with comments attributed to him bothering on restructuring wherein he foreclosed the negotiation of the unity of the country and made calls for fiscal restructuring by advocating for the allocation of more funds to the federating units in the spirit of true federalism. In reaction, Ondo state governor, Olusegun Mimiko , obviously not impressed with the former Speakers comments, took him on terms for setting the bounds of restructuring. Elsewhere, the Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere through its publicity secretary, Yinka Odumakin has reacted in vehement opposition to the governors modalities for restructuring. In a statement, the group said, it is therefore perfidious for anyone to tell us at this stage that the constituent units of Nigeria should be in their chains inside a suffocating cage with a little more meat added to the slave ration they currently enjoy. The federal government whose land is only the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which contributes nothing to the federation account outside a few grass that roaming cows feed on can no longer sit on top of the destiny of the federating units. We are at a loss as to what unity that the present order has produced that Tambuwal is selling us is non-negotiable. Is it the farmer whose crop is being eaten up by the herdsmens cow that is dancing at unity? What unity is there between those being slaughtered for their beliefs and the killers? How united are those being denied of access to their God-given resources and those raping them..? As we write, nothing has been heard of the Pan-Igbo socio-political organization, Ohaneze Ndigbo. All of these discordant tunes informed by vested interests go to accentuate and bring to fore, the ambivalence and suspicion with which the subject of national restructuring has been received in the polity, to understate the point. But if we must call a spade a spade, it is only the wilfully ignorant that would oppose calls for overhauling our entire system. We have slept on the job of routine maintenance and rejigging of the engine of state and the consequences have become a monster. What manner of restructuring do we speak of here? That has always been the tricky pony. Permit us to digress a little into corporate law practice to put the options of restructuring in proper perspective. At law, there are two broad categories of restructuring depending on the type of company and the extent of its corporate doldrums. Whereas the Internal options for restructuring like Arrangement and Compromise, Arrangement on Sale and Management Buy Out may not lead to a company losing its form and corporate name, the External options for restructuring to wit: Merger, Acquisition and Take Over may lead to the company balkanised or acquired by another bigger entity, thereby losing its corporate name and identity in the process. At best, it becomes a subsidiary. From the picture painted above, an Internal Restructuring option is more apposite, less cumbersome to achieve with promises of a win-win situation for the different nations within Nigeria. A proper midwife of an internal restructure would guarantee a placation of the forces that invariably make external restructuring inevitable which in this equation amounts to a secession, or the different tribes taking to their tents like the Israelites under king Reheboam. So what are some of these internal forces within the system occasioning a centrifugal pull, and needing reforms? Those are what beg a no-holds-barred re-consideration without any fear and needing legislative footing to gain traction for them. Our educational system is in dire straits churning out a generation of unemployable graduates and by extension occasioning educational tourism to more developed countries. Our federalism is jacobian, making sense only in form but not substance. It is almost a unitary system in the garb of federalism. What about our legislature? Must we have a bicameral house, and if yes, are the fortunes of the nation still sufficient to liquidate both? How friendly and accommodating is our business climate? Are there parameters set for wealth creation and distribution? Is the system as currently constituted skewed in favour of the wallstreet at the expense of the Mainstret? Do we have an active middleclass, and if no, how do we build an efficient middleclass since they are the drivers of any economy. Is there a blueprint for job creation and employment that runs as a system? And our population has it become staggering against our resources? Should we toy with the idea of putting legislation on birth control? And here comes the elephant in the kitchen: resource control. Do we allow the states to refine their resources and pay back royalty to the centre? Is there an urgent need to increase the percentage on derivation for communities housing critical mineral resources in order to douse intermittent insurrections? What about the local governments and the unending hullabaloo over their independence from the states? Is it still amenable to logic that they should receive their revenues from the states and not directly into their own coffers? And this brings us to the vexed issue over state creation. Is there any justice in the south-east geo-political zone having only five states unlike other geopolitical zones having six? How do we solve the intractable Fulani herdsmen and sedentary Farmers crisis? Does the solution lie in the legislation on grazing fields across the state or an introduction of compulsory cattle ranching by cattle merchants? What about our land tenure system? How much does it allow for land ownership and grants for rotational cultivation to enable food sufficiency? The current Land Use Act is a military document. The baby of a despotic regime; is it still a veritable legislation of our land tenure 38 years after it became a law? Our public service; the engine room of any nation is comatose and bureaucratic clogging the wealth of the nation and only succeeds in recruiting unmotivated staff who feather their nest. Does it not need a holistic revamp? The foregoing (among other notorious national dilemmas), are the vintage albatross around our neck. And it is either we take the bulls by the horn with them, or we may never get it right. The good news is that much of what have been highlighted, form part of the over 600 recommendations of the most successful national conference in our history, organised by the last administration. The irony however is how it has not been muted by this government; not even in one of President Muhammadu Bbuharis Freudian slips. The very poster of ambivalence. We submit that a holistic consideration of these issues and proper implementation of the consensus lie the solution to our national quagmire; we can only do otherwise to the detriment of both man and country. There is no need of any anxiety, fear or ambivalence over it. Continuous living in denialll only foist a gloomy future on us. In the final analysis, at the root of national growth and development is social justice, equity and good conscience. The great Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio once said, A kingdom can endure with unbelief, but it cannot endure with injustice. Therefore, government must entrench the ideals of justice in every aspect of its functions. There must be near equality in the representation of the nations within Nigeria in the public offices of the nation in the spirit of the Federal Character principle. And in doing that, merit must not be compromised. A situation where appointments and project siting are lopsided in favour of the part of the country the president comes from cannot augur well for national cohesion in a pluralistic setting like ours. Even that too, needs restructuring. Enough of the vacillation. We have had enough of the dilly dallying. The next generation is already here and we cannot bequeath our structure as currently constituted to them. This ambivalence must stop. A stitch in time saves nine. Onukwube! AND TWO OTHER THINGS Ooni of Ifes Sallah Gesture A rare sight unfolded before our eyes the other day during the just concluded Eid Al Kabir celebration. It was a picture widely circulated in both the social and main street media of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi at an Eid prayer ground in Osun state with other Muslim faithful despite being a Christian. It was a rare sight; one that is a lesson in unity the divergence in dogma notwithstanding. The timing was also spot on; coming at a time the nation appear to be polarised along religious and ethnic lines. We commend the gesture of the young and indefatigable monarch and pray that his reign be long in the stool of his forefathers. Commendable! Intellectual Theft within the Presidency The Change Begins with Me campaign launched a fortnight ago by President Muhammadu Buhari may pass as the most unpopular campaign ever sold to Nigerians in the odd years of our independence. Still convalescing from the vehement and unveiled opposition by Nigerians, the campaign suffered another setback penultimate Friday when news filtered in that what Mr. President read in the 9th of the 16 paragraph address delivered on the 8th of September, 2016 was lifted ippisima verba from President, Barrack Obamas victory speech delivered on the 4th of November, 2008. The presidency swiftly reacted to the development; issuing a statement that it was the handiwork of an overzealous staff within the presidency who may have been relieved of his services as we write. This must be another huge image crisis for an administration losing its popularity among Nigerians faster than the speed of thought. It is one gaffe too many. A faux pas of alarming proportions which no amount of damage control may take away the odoriferous stench it has unleashed in the polity. Not even all the perfumes of Arabia.Pitiable! The writer, Nkannebe Raymond is a Kano based legal practitioner and a public affairs commentator. Comments and reactions to 08068271477 (Text Message only) According to Nigeria Healthwatch, most health-related data about Nigeria are incorrect and misleading, making policies on healthcare difficult to implement. Consultant to Nigeria Healthwatch, Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor said, there are a lot of challenges with data collection in Nigeria because data collected in the country were paper based. What we do is we design questionnaires and people go around to fill it, there is always errors with that, the medical expert noted. What technology does is that it cuts out the errors and makes the process of transferring data fast because its done electronically, he added. Technology has a way of minimising errors in data collection and that is why we are bringing this conference up to provide that platform. Dr Nsofor spoke to journalists on Monday after a Press Briefing ahead of its second annual flagship event; The Future of Health Conference with the theme: Health meets Tech. Also, Abraham Obi of Health Policy Research Group, University of Nigeria Nnsuka, while speaking earlier during the press briefing applauded the federal government for recently launching the E-health and Telemedicine initiative. A former Edo State House of Assembly lawmaker, Hon. Friday Ogierakahi, has blasted the ruling All Progressive Congress Party, APC, for the present economic situation in the country. Hon. Ogierakahi who is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says APC has lost his resolute power with the people due to the implication of this economic recession, collapse of the Naira, high food and commodity prices, increased crime wave and a general disillusionment on the part of Nigerians, irrespective of their social status. While addressing the party stalwarts and supporter at Urhonigbe in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, the former lawmaker, yesterday said, it urged the electorate to be ready to vote out APC during the governorship election in the state on September 28. He said that the administration led by the APC at the federal level lack clear policy direction close to two years in office, adding that their programmes has been anti-people since the party came to power in 2015. The Abia State Police Command have arrested a 28-year-old man, who claimed to be a native doctor, for allegedly being in possession of some human parts. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Leye Oyebade, told newsmen in Umuahia on Tuesday that the suspect was arrested for unlawful possession of a human skull and bone. Oyebade said that the suspect was arrested in his home in Olokoro, in Umuahia South Local Government Area of the state, following a tip-off from members of the public. He said that the man could not give cogent account of how he acquired the items, when he was interrogated by the police. Oyebade alleged that the skull and bone were suspected to be those of a murdered victim. The suspect, however, denied the allegation, saying that the items were handed over to him by his late uncle, who was also a native doctor. He said, It was my people that reported me to the police because I use the skull and bone to perform magic. Anytime I touch somebody, his manhood will disappear once I have the items on me. The suspect, who also claimed to be a mason, said that the police succeeded in arresting me because the charm travelled when they raided my house. He described his arrest by the police as unlawful and demanded that he should be released and allowed to go home in peace. According to him, there is no law that allows the police to arrest native doctors. The police boss also said that another suspect was arrested during a raid of Cemetery Market in Aba for producing fake gin and other drinks. He said that man was arrested in his factory at the market, while producing the fake products. He said that 24 bottles of St. Remy, five cartons of Schnapps, empty schnapps raps, and two bottles of 501 hot drinks were recovered from the factory during the raid. The suspect, however, denied the allegation by the police that he was into the production of fake gin and other drinks. He told newsmen that he neither owned a shop nor factory in the market. He said, I only came there to buy perfume because that is where you can get original perfumes at affordable price, unknown to me that the police were raiding the market. While I was walking along the business line unsuspectingly, a policeman ordered me to enter a shop where ladies hair attachments were sold, saying that I was under arrest. He denied ownership of the items allegedly recovered from him, saying that he knew nothing about them. The suspect said that he was arrested on Saturday and later taken to Umuahia in handcuffs, describing his arrest and detention as great injustice. Oyebade said that the suspects would be charged to court at the end of investigation. Source: NAN Remember the Simplo battery problem in Microsofts Surface Pro 3 -- the one that many in the press called batterygate? Its back with a vengeance. This time its hitting the other, more common battery found in the Surface Pro 3, the one from LGC. Moreover, in a spectacular display of batt-fratricide, it looks like the new LGC battery problem was caused, or at least exacerbated, by the patch that fixed the Simplo battery. Microsoft MVP and Microsoft Answers forum community moderator Barb Bowman tweets: It looks like the @Surface Pro 3 Simplo battery firmware fix is causing issues for LGC batteries. Microsoft is silent. If you own a Surface Pro 3, it would behoove you to run a simple test. Make sure your SP3 is fully charged, unplug it from the wall, right-click Start (or hit Ctrl-X), and choose Command Prompt (Admin). In the resulting box type: powercfg /batteryreport and press Enter (note the space before the / and no space in batteryreport). That generates a file, typically c:\Windows\System32\battery-report.html. Open the file. Near the top of the report youll see the battery manufacturer name (likely SIMPLO or LGC-LGC) followed by a series of numbers. Design Capacity will tell you what the battery should be pushing. For LGC batteries, thats going to be 42,157 mWh. Look at the Full Charge Capacity, which may or may not match the Design Capacity, thus showing one level of degradation of your battery reserves. Then look at the list of Recent usage power states, where you may find that your batterys been unable to get up to a full charge. On the Microsoft Answers forum thread devoted to the subject, original poster ashtaron14 reports on his LGC battery problems: Since the Win 10 Anniversary update, I was not able to turn on my Surface Pro 3 i7 512GB with LGC battery without having it plugged in with the power supply or docking (I own a total of three Surface Pro 3 docks at home and 2 offices). It always said "82%, Plugged in, Not Charging," and would always instantly turn off once I pulled off the power supply tab. I spoke with a technical agent online, had my Pro 3 remote accessed, did all the proposed solutions, and even had a call from Bellevue, Wash., (I live in Hong Kong) before I found out that it was a software issue as stated by Microsoft. With Auto Update turned on, I was notified that I should restart my Pro 3 this morning while I was on the docking station. I was happy that this issue was going to be resolved, but now I am disappointed that this firmware update did nothing for my Pro 3. Ashtaron14 was referring to the Surface Pro 3 firmware update on Aug. 29 -- the one that fixed the Simplo battery problem. It didnt fix the LGC battery problem. Perusing the thread (now nine pages long) reveals a litany of problems with LGC batteries on the Surface Pro 3. Many report that there was an abrupt change after the Aug. 29 firmware update, but the change invariably made the LGC battery situation worse. Many say their Surface Pro 3 dies when the power cord is pulled out of the wall. Many of you recall the Simplo battery kerfuffle. I first read about it on March 16, when Charles McKay posted a cry for battery help on the Microsoft Answers forum titled Surface Pro 3 serious battery drain issue. (Microsoft has since removed his post.) On May 11, Kridsada Thanabulpong, posting on the Microsoft Answers forum, reported that his Surface Pro 3 battery would only last one to two hours on a charge. (The post is still there.) Microsoft wanted $560 to fix the battery, as the machine had gone out of warranty. Many, many Surface Pro 3 customers responded and it took a few days to isolate the problem: Some SP3 machines ship with a battery made by a company called Simplo, and Microsoft's drivers for the Simplo slowly killed the battery. Most Surface Pro 3 machines come with LGC batteries, and they werent affected. Confronted by the obvious problem, Microsoft stalled. Various employees blamed anything they could conjure up. Finally, on July 27 we got confirmation of the problem -- and it was finally fixed in a firmware update on Aug. 29. Those who were charged $500 or $600 to have their defective batteries replaced received a refund. Thats more than five months to fix a faulty battery driver. Now it looks like Microsofts trying to sweep this second SP3 battery problem under the same rug. How should the batteries behave? Surface honcho Panos Panay described the situation in a Reddit Ask me anything session two years ago. During the AMA, the Surface Team assured us: The batteries on our Surface products are designed with some of the highest charge cycles for consumer electronic devices. This means that the battery can get charged daily (5 days a week) for over 4.5 years and still maintain 80% capacity IF the battery fails during the warranty period, well replace the battery. IF the battery fails after the warranty period, youll call Microsoft support and arrange for the battery to be replaced. The cost will be $200 USD. I would submit that the present record, using Microsofts own reporting tools, shows theres something wrong with LGC battery life in the Surface Pro 3. I would similarly submit that anyone paying $200 (or $500) to fix a clearly defective battery -- more accurately, battery/driver combination -- is getting taken to the cleaners. The balls in your court, Microsoft. Walmart still bullish ahead of earnings according to Wyckoff analysis Trade Precise - 1 hour ago Walmart (WMT) price is challenging the $143 with relatively low volume. According to Wyckoff phase analysis, there is a high probability WMT price will break above $143 to test $147 then retrace to around... WMT : 142.51 (+1.26%) Limit up on Wheat? Banghart Properties - Sat Oct 29, 7:09PM CDT News broke over the weekend that could help wheat trade limit up when it reopens. Rains in the Plains, Dow soars Sidwell Strategies - Sat Oct 29, 8:38AM CDT 1st winter wheat ratings Monday; consider carbon for cash flow during drought Open Enrollment 101: Make the Most of Your Benefits Young & The Invested - Sat Oct 29, 6:00AM CDT The 2022 open enrollment season will be a difficult one as workers have to factor in persistently high inflation while they choose their coverage. These tips can help you maximize your benefits. Cattle Market Fades on Friday Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT Live cattle futures ended the weeks last trade day down by 35 cents to $1.02 with soon to expire October down the most. Cash trade picked up later in the week with some Friday catch up sales mostly... LEV22 : 150.375s (-0.68%) LEZ22 : 153.000s (-0.28%) LEG23 : 156.325s (-0.33%) GFX22 : 177.875s (-0.14%) GFF23 : 180.375s (-0.04%) Hogs Rebound into Weekend Barchart - Fri Oct 28, 4:39PM CDT Lean hog futures ended the Friday round with 32 to 97 cent gains to fade the triple digit losses from Thursday. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price was $90.54 in the PM update, down by $1.15. The... HEZ22 : 86.100s (+1.15%) HEJ23 : 92.700s (+0.62%) KMZ22 : 96.125s (+0.37%) We have no desire to celebrate Independence Day with anti-independence forces - Aram Manukyan Though the Armenian National Congress (HAK) has been invited to participate in the celebrations dated to the 25th Anniversary of Independence, it will not attend the festivities. Secretary of the HAK faction, Aram Manukyan, says they will celebrate the holiday but with people who fought for independence. We do not have any desire to celebrate Independence Day with anti-independence forces. It is the acting regime that fractured and destroyed our independence, he stressed. During the meeting with journalists, Aram Manukyan presented his newly published collection of documents entitled 25th Anniversary of Armenian Independence. The collection was compiled by Ashot Sargsyan, Babken Ararkstyan and Aram Manukyan. The HAK representative added that Armenia was the first country in the former Soviet Union to start independence movement. "Unlike other countries that adopted decisions and decrees of independence, Armenia held an independence referendum. This was not accidental as referendum results are irreversible from international and legal perspectives, he said. The Public Council recently proposed that the three presidents of the country be present at the celebrations. Speaking about the proposal, Mr. Manukyan said [first President and HAK Leader] Levon Ter-Petrosyan would not participate in the celebrations. When the Ford Foundation pivoted toward combating inequality "in all its forms," many people wondered how, practically speaking, this strategy would play out in the real worldand, far more importantly, in regard to the foundation's longstanding areas of grantmaking. In the year and a half since President Darren Walker's announcement, the foundation's new mission has come into sharper focus across the arts and media space. In April, for example, Ford bet that storytelling could be a powerful medium for fighting inequality. Meanwhile, we recently reported on the foundation's support for Dance/NYC, an organization devoted to advancing disability rights. Now comes word that Mozilla announced the second class of Ford-Mozilla Open Web Fellows. This program is part of the Ford Foundation's commitment to "support the development of a new generation of public interest technologists: People establishing professional careers that leverage their technology-related expertise to serve the public good." In short, fellows share the common belief that the world can be made a betterand, we surmise, more equalplace by leveraging the open internet. The 2016 class of fellows come from five continents and bring their expertise in data visualization, design, development, digital storytelling, research and policy analysis to eight international NGOs. If Ford's efforts in developing career paths for "public interest technologists" sounds eerily similar to Knight's "community platform collaboration" model in the digital journalism space, don't be too surprised. Big funders are dialed in to a kind of collective consciousness involving the promising, yet still ambiguous role of emerging technologies and practices across the sector. They're all navigating the same uncharted waters. To that end, Ford articulated three lessons learned from last year's inaugural program: Agree on "common goals and what success looks like" between the fellow and the host organization Balance fellow-to-fellow collaboration with their organizational work Support collaboration among host organizations Now, we admit, up to this point, nothing about the fellowships suggest they'd be supported by the inequality-fighting Ford Foundation. It seems like standard stuff. But take a closer look at the fellows' areas of expertise and proposed projects, and suddenly things start to crystallize. Fellow Matt Mitchell, for example, is bringing his experience training activists and journalists on digital security issues to supporting ColorOfChanges mission to strengthen Black Americas political voice. Steffania Paola Costa di Albanez from Brazil, meanwhile, brings data and design experience to support Derechos Digitales in promoting human rights in the digital environment across Latin America. Yup, sounds like Ford to us. The Senate Finance Committee has held hearings and the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee is beginning their hearings into college and university costs and how their endowments are used to offset those costs. The justification for these investigations is that the academic industry enjoys a significant tax break in the form of tax-exempt status and the charitable contribution deduction passed along to donors. Congress has said it wants to understand the public benefit of these tax breaks. Earlier in the year, I reviewed the questions asked by Congress of the 56 institutions with the largest endowments. Today I assess where Congress seems to be heading with this information. First lets take a look at the value of the tax breaks that higher education enjoys. Because these institutions are tax exempt, they do not pay income taxes on the investment returns earned by their endowment funds. A Congressional Research Report estimated that taxing investment income at the 35 percent rate would have produced $16.2 billion in tax collections in 2014. In addition, it was estimated that $6.3 billion in tax savings were realized by the individual and corporate donors. This $22.5 billion is substantially more than the estimated cost of President Obamas plan for providing free community college to everyone who qualifies. Is this where the free college advocates are looking to pay for their proposals? Of course, tax-exempt status was written into the Internal Revenue Code because Congress recognized the value of an educated population. Tax-exempt status subsidizes the public good of sending people to college. This has not changed. So what is Congress really after? House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam believes that the skyrocketing cost of college is an indicator that endowments are not being used properlypresumably for tuition relief. This appears to me to be mixing apples and oranges. On one hand, it is obvious that Congress needs to understand what is driving the increasing costs at colleges and universities. Increasingly luxurious campus amenities is one cost factor, but is quickly justified by university spokespersons as a competition-driven need to attract students. So getting costs under control is one thingand it is completely different from the question of how endowment earnings are used. Why arent endowment earnings used to reduce tuition costs? The institutions claim that their hands are tied because by law, they are required to adhere to the donors wishes and cant redirect funds. This is somewhat disingenuous as money is fungible and donations that are restricted to a specific need should free up resources previously directed toward that need for other purposes, including tuition relief. In my mind, all spending that does not come from student tuition that is funded from other sources is already reducing tuition costs. That is, unless there is unnecessary spending taking place. Congressman Tom Reed of New York anticipates introducing legislation that would require institutions with endowments greater than $1 billion to devote a fixed portion of their endowment to offsetting student costs. Unless you are willing to postulate that institutions are currently wasting endowment income on unnecessary expenditures, then institutions must currently be spending 100 percent of their endowment income on expenses that reduce student costs. Doesn't a necessary expense paid by endowment earnings constitute an expense that does not have to be paid by student tuition, thereby offsetting student costs? One truth that appears to be gaining traction at the hearings is that the richest private schools are getting wealthier while the public two-year and four-year schools see the disparity between them and the private schools widen. One reason for this is that the investment returns at larger endowments are usually greater than the returns achieved by smaller funds. In 2015, endowment funds investing over $1 billion enjoyed returns of 4.3 percent while endowment funds under $50 million experienced returns of only 1.9 percent on average. This reflects a basic investment truth that the greater diversity you have in your portfolio, which is the case for many large endowments, the greater will be your investment returns. A second reason why the richer schools grow continually richer is that donations to the larger private institutions usually significantly outpace donations to the smaller and public institutions. Is this a reflection of the financial success of their graduates, or are they just doing a better job of fundraising? If Congress does something to redirect these resources to other institutions, will the donors continue to support these institutions to the degree they are now? If the donors reduce their giving, what will have been achieved? My take on this is that Congress (both parties) are mainly concerned about the growing assets of a small number of affluent elite schools. Just as many in Congress would like to reallocate more wealth among all citizens, some appear keen to reallocate wealth among colleges and universities. Or perhaps this is just a good campaign issue and universities are easy targets of public anger. But this investigation has gone on for a long time, and I am concerned that it is not just going to die out with no action. What's more, I do not believe the actions contemplated are heading in a good direction. If you spend time reading about women and philanthropy, you will invariably come across Helen LaKelly Hunt. Along with her sister, Swanee Hunt, these two feminist philanthropists are major players in the womens funding movement, which hit the big leagues in the past decade as high-net-worth women began to make gifts of over $1 million dollars to fund causes for women and girls. While researching for her dissertation on the origins of American feminism, Hunt discovered that 19th century women didnt fund the suffrage movement. Instead, they funded things like their husbands alma maters, churches (where they had no voice) and the arts. Years later, when women began pledging and making million-dollar gifts to womens funds, Hunt captured that history in a book called the Trailblazer book, which was circulated to other women donors. This compilation of women's testimonies helped catalyze the founding of Women Moving Millions. Hunt has co-founded some of the largest and most influential womens funds in the country, including the Dallas Women's Foundation, the New York Womens Foundation, the Womens Funding Network, and Women Moving Millions. In 2007, Women Moving Millions emerged on the scene with a public launch, and began a two-year campaign to raise $150 million for the global network of womens funds. During the financial meltdown of 2008, Women Moving Millions became one of the only campaigns to exceed its fundraising goal, with a total of $182 million raised during the economic crisis. Related: WealthyWomen, Big Giving: The Powerful Donor Network Taking on Gender Equality Along with being part of the history of growing women's funding, Helen LaKelly Hunt is also destined to rewrite the early history of feminism in America. Her forthcoming book, And the Spirit Moved Them: The Lost Radical History of Americas First Feminists, gives an up-close and personal rendition of some little-known history: the first meeting of feminists in the 1837 Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women held in New York. In the process of researching her dissertation in the Barnard Library, Hunt discovered the primary source manuscript titled Turning the World Upside Down: The Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women Held in New York City May 9-12, 1837. The mens abolitionist movements had been all white men, and the Seneca Falls Convention was all white women. But this cross-race, cross-class meeting was so meaningful that years after the Seneca Falls Convention, feminist Lucretia Mott told Elizabeth Cady Stanton to write the history of American feminism starting at the 1837 convention, saying, "Thats where the battle began." Ultimately, Stanton chose to start feminisms history at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Hunt is therefore shifting the spotlight of the history of American feminism in her forthcoming book, illustrating how its origins contained essential elements of movement building that are still relevant today. The window on history that I opened up in the Barnard Library unsealed a parallel window into my past, she writes in the introduction to her forthcoming book. The window helped Hunt liberate herself from the golden handcuffs of gender-normed behavior that still confined her, and begin to accept more fully her power and purpose in building funding networks for women and girls. I am grateful to be part of feminism and to add my labor to such meaningful work, she writes. Hunts research has also opened up what she sees as the next wave of feminism: Teaching the culture about the importance of relationships. Relationality needs to be high on the agenda of the feminist movement. Feminist activism can become siloed: focusing in fields like domestic violence, or trafficking or economic justice. A relational vision encourages intersectionality, and an understanding of how these issues resonate with one another. For several decades, feminist theorists such as Carol Gilligan, Robin Morgan, Judith V. Jordan, Janet Surrey, Irene Stiver, Carter Heyward, Beverly Wildung Harrison and Gloria Steinem have articulated a vision of culture that is "linked, not ranked," as Steinem says. "The problem is that, while women have been proponents of a relational culture, its only in the last 20 years that the relational sciences have developed to create tools that help people shift from conflict to connection," said Hunt. She and her husband, Harville Hendrix, are experts in the field of relationship counseling, and are now disseminating a new process called Safe Conversations, a structured conversation that allows two people, even if they disagree, to speak with mutual respect for one another. "This helps shift the cultural dynamic from the vertical to the horizontal," said Hunt. The next stage of feminism can emphasize more explicitly the primacy of relationships, and shift language away from competition and toward collaboration," said Hunt. She sees state and city-based women's funds as developing a new model for how foundations can be more inclusive and responsive to the particular needs of a community. "Look at what was accomplished in the women's funding movement," said Hunt. These womens funds were not isolated: they emerged in relationship with each other, and they were all about relationships: they brought in grantees and community members to their boards, they brought in representation from populations served. They reached out to many different marginalized populationswomen and girls of color, as well as women affected by poverty, by violence, by health issues." Hunt also sees women's funds as playing a key role in showing the culture how women can wield financial clout. "Women's funds have transformed women's relationship with money from one of ignorance and ambivalence to one by which she began to unleash her voice into the culture." "Both philanthropy and feminism must celebrate the fact that womens funds embodied for the culture a visionary organizing methodology, a relational vehicle for connecting all women, locally, nationally, globally, to set an important agenda," she said. Hunt also sees great potential for relationships to be more central to our culture in politics. Hillarys slogan is Stronger Together, she said. Its a relational slogan. What makes us stronger together is our capacity to maintain our relationships. And only until recently has there been a relational technology that shows us how to do just that. Feminists have been a prophetic voice, warning against a culture that promotes a winner take all and get to the top of the ladder attitude. Both feminism and philanthropy need to promote values that strengthen the safety of the culture." The safety of relationships is a key area where Hunt sees philanthropy and feminism converging to foster significant change. "Its only with safety that the world can thrive. Thats why Harville and I created Safe Conversations, which can help make that vision possible. We see ourselves as contributing to the fulfillment of a vision articulated by feminist theorists and feminist philanthropy over the past four decades. Related: Investigators arrested two men last week after uncovering tens of thousands of bags of synthetic marijuana inside a unit at a CubeSmart self-storage facility in Brooklyn, N.Y. Josean Torres, 35, and Jesus Martinez, 30, were stopped by police on Sept. 15 around 3 p.m. as they were leaving the property at 1220 Broadway. The men were carrying 200 bags of synthetic marijuana, and another 32,000 bags were found inside a unit rented by the suspects, according to the source. The investigation was launched after police received a tip that someone was storing the drug, also known as K2 or spice, at the facility. Martinez and Torres face charges of illegally manufacturing the drug, the source reported. Police have also linked Torres to a rash of overdoses in Brooklyns Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood last July, which landed dozens of people in the hospital, the source reported. Witnesses described users who took the bad batch of drug as walking zombies, investigators said. Police believe the drugs were coming from the Big Boy Deli, where Torres worked, and the Dream Burner Tobacco Shop next door. Torres was also previously arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes and K2 following a buy-and-bust operation at the deli. He pleaded guilty in June to disorderly conduct and the case has been sealed, the source reported. The overdoses brought new condemnations from N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio about the availability and danger of K2, the source reported. CubeSmart is a self-storage real estate investment trust and third-party management company. It owns or manages 741 self-storage facilities across the United States. Its operating portfolio comprises 49.1 million square feet. targanl ST. JOHNS (September 20, 2016) After a successful completion of the 15th annual Targa Newfoundland tarmac rally last week, Targa is already preparing for the 2017 competition. The new dates for the 2017 Targa are from September 14th to 22nd to distance the event from the Labour Day holiday. Entry fees for all four divisions will remain the same as 2016. The course setters are completing the plan for the 2017course with the continuing goal of reducing the number of rough roads that the event uses. The rules committee will only make small adjustments to the rules between now and 2017 in a continuing effort to have rule stability. Targa will also be replacing its aging timing gear for 2017, with a new yet to be chosen system. A select group has also been set up to examine the feasibility of moving to zero base timing in the Open class of the Targa division for 2017. As stated, Targa will begin a week later than normal in 2017, with the event running from Thursday, September 14th through Friday, September 22nd. The 14th and 15th will be reserved for its very successful driving school, which teaches rookie competitors the unique challenges Newfoundland roads have to offer them. This year the driving school will be made mandatory for all that have not competed in Targa Newfoundland. The 16th will be the Registration/Tech Day where competitors officially register on site for the event and have their vehicles checked by Targas Tech team. The Prologue, or practice stages, will be held on the 17th in and around St. Johns. The Targa Newfoundland competition will officially begin on the 18th as the event heads out towards the Burin and Bonavista peninsulas. It will conclude back in St. Johns on the 22nd. Entry fees will not change from the 2016 prices, nor will the early bird and other registration dates to obtain discounted prices change. Early bird pricing is in effect until November 30th, so potential competitors who are fully prepared to enter should consider doing so in the near future to obtain the best price. Targa also accommodates monthly payments for entry fees, which provides competitors financial stability as they prepare for the event over the coming months. Further information on entry fees and pricing dates can be seen by visiting the Targa website and accessing the FAQ section. Entry forms are accessible via the main website or by contacting the Targa office. We were able to pull in over 50 competitors in the 2016 competition, so we are setting a goal to have over 60 competitors in 2017, expressed Targa Newfoundland President Robert Giannou when asked about his thoughts on the new dates and prices. We decided to move the competition back an additional week to accommodate schools in the areas we run, so that they can get settled and we can get information to them without a huge rush occurring, as they are usually just getting back into routines when Targa arrives. Plus, it allows competitors to enjoy their summer, the volunteers to do the same, then all come together mid-September and totally focus on the event. Information regarding the number of overnights in a specific location, car show locations, and new stages will be released over the coming months as those details are confirmed. Owned and operated by Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited, Targa Newfoundland is one of three internationally recognized Targa motorsports events in the world. The 2017 competition will start in St. Johns on September 18th and conclude back in the capital on September 22nd. The rally will cover more than 1,600 kilometers of challenging roads in the central and eastern portions of Newfoundland. It includes over 440 kilometers of closed-road, flat-out Targa stages. Contact: Media: Robyn Quinn 709-727-8536 robyn@targanl.com Competitors: Darren Sheppard 1-877-332-2413 registrar@targanewfoundland.com Websites: targanfld.com www.facebook.com/targanl www.twitter.com/targanl www.instagram.com/targa_nl From: Darren Sheppard/ General Manager Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited 303 Thorburn Road, Suite 2-D, St. Johns, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. A1B 4R1 Tel: 709-722-2413 Tel: 877-332-2413 Fax: 709-753-7646 [targanfld.com]targanfld.com www.facebook.com/targanl www.twitter.com/targanl Hedge fund firms often take their names from the natural environment: Bridgewater Associates, Lone Pine Capital and BlueMountain Capital are just a few examples. Last fall BlueMountain alumnus David Nicola went a step further by starting Blackdirt Capital, a specialist in sustainable agriculture that aims to reap robust risk-adjusted returns. Blackdirts first offering, the Gratitude Farmland Fund, launched in August with $40 million in seed capital from partner Gratitude Railroad. Blackdirt is named after the Black Dirt Region, a stretch of New York State and New Jersey renowned for its rich soil. The Farmland Fund focuses on buying and developing undervalued agricultural land in low-income areas of the eastern U.S. (The water risk is too great, he says, in the Midwest and California, home to much of the countrys meat and dairy industry.) Nicolas production system centers on growing grass and introducing cattle to graze on it. The end result: premium beef and milk products known on restaurant menus and in grocery stores as organic grass-fed. Its sort of a hedge fund approach to thinking about sustainable agriculture, says Nicola, 36, who is Stamford, Connecticutbased Blackdirts lone employee. In a domestic market reliant on beef and dairy, the current model of using land to grow crops such as corn is less sustainable and less profitable, he argues, so hes creating an alternative by cheaply and easily maintaining organic soil: Thats how my brain operates, thanks to being both a tree hugger and hedge fund portfolio manager. Nicola has always been environmentally conscious. The Chatham, New Jersey, native studied natural resources at Cornell Universitys College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; after graduation in 2002 he moved into an investment banking analyst program at Citigroup in New York, where he concentrated on basic industries like metals and mining. From 2003 to 2009 at BlueMountain, Nicola managed index and fixed-income arbitrage for the $22 billion, New Yorkbased credit-focused alternative-investment firm. That job taught him how to invest, identify opportunities and manage risk, he explains. Nicola has spent most of the past six years figuring out how to combine his investment experience with his passion for environmental conservation. During that time he earned an MBA in energy and environment from Duke Universitys Fuqua School of Business and did a two-year stint at Armonia, a Greenwich, Connecticutbased family office, managing investments in sustainable farming and other environmentally friendly businesses. Nicola, who calls agriculture an underinvested sector, sees plenty of upside for his new fund. Last year was the biggest ever for the organic food industry, according to the Washington-based Organic Trade Association, with Americans spending more than $42 billion on such products. The organic industry grew 10.8 percent in 2015, while the overall food market expanded by only 3 percent. Consumption continues to outpace production. Still, organics comprised less than 5 percent of total food sales in the U.S., where less than 1 percent of cropland is devoted to organic agriculture. As an asset class, farmland has proven to be a good long-term investment. From December 1991 through September 2015, the NCREIF Farmland Index posted a 12.10 percent average annual return, versus 9.26 percent for the Russell 3000 Index. Conventional-agriculture funds are experimenting with organic and other sustainable techniques, but the sector is small probably less than $100 million, Nicola says. Attracting large institutions and scaling the Farmland Funds system is part of his long-range plan. Nicola describes Gratitude Railroad, founded by Howard Fischer and Eric Jacobsen, as an impact-focused community of traditional investors with the resources to fund young managers who have an impact skill set but may lack the capacity to build a fund or an investment product themselves. Gratitude is the majority general partner of the Farmland Fund; Nicola plans to grow the portfolio by raising more capital from high-net-worth individuals, family offices and other investors. The opportunity for a $250 million to $500 million fund is there, probably in year two or year three, says the Blackdirt founder, who concedes that institutional investors often overlook small vehicles like his in favor of those with track records: The opportunity is much larger than the fund size. Financial and ecological value are connected for Nicola, who doesnt consider himself an impact investor. If youre not paying attention to the environment and social factors in an agriculture portfolio, particularly if youre an institutional investor with a 30- to 50-year time horizon, he says, youre setting yourself up for underperformance. Follow Jen Werner on Twitter at @jenwernerr. Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc ( JLT ) has partnered with global disaster relief agency RedR to support the worlds most disaster-prone countries.RedR implements humanitarian training and support programmes to help disaster-prone countries retain vital skills and knowledge they need; and had in recent years, responded to major disasters including the conflict in Syria, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, floods in Pakistan, and the earthquake in Haiti.The partnership will conduct fundraising activities and engage employees with the work of the charity in its global staff and volunteering programmes. Its first fundraising event, which will be held as part of City Fundraising Day, is set on 27 September at JLTs London office.Mark Drummond Brady, JLT deputy group CEO, welcomed the partnership with RedR: "JLT partners with charities whose focus complements our own, helping us make a positive contribution to the communities in which we live and work. We have long supported organisations in the education and healthcare sectors, and with RedR, we can now help to deliver support for those caught up in catastrophe something we know our colleagues care deeply about.Martin McCann, RedR CEO, also commented on the partnership: On behalf of everyone at RedR, I am delighted to welcome JLT as a new corporate Patron. JLT is a business that understands the importance of mitigating and managing risk a key part of RedRs work across the world.Our training enables communities, local organisations, and local authorities to prepare for disasters, and to respond effectively when they strike. Our focus on preparedness helps to alleviate the impact of disasters and ensure communities can rebuild their lives and livelihoods, and JLTs support will allow us to continue and develop this vital work. Photo: Queensland Government The owners of Chinese coal carrier Shen Neng 1, which ran aground and damaged the Great Barrier Reef in 2010, will pay almost $40 million in an out-of-court settlement to the Australian Government, it has been reported.According to AAP, Shenzhen Energy Transport Co. Ltd and its insurer London P&I Club have refused for nearly six years to recompense for the 2010 accident, when a 225-metre long, fully-laden Shen Neng 1 ran aground 100km east of Rockhampton at Douglas Shoal.Josh Frydenberg, environment minister, said the settlement has reached $39 million, less than a third of the amount the Government previously pursued.Our ongoing actions to pursue funds to clean up the pollution sends an unambiguous signal that damage to the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area is unacceptable, Frydenberg told AAP.The terms of the settlement provided that $35 million will be paid to the government for the cost of cleaning up the polluted rubble and $4.4 million will be handed to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA).Conservationists slammed the settlement as late and inadequate, with Dr Russell Reichelt, GBRMPA chairman, describing it as clearly unsatisfactory. Shani Tager, Greenpeace Australia spokeswoman, also said the amount was woefully inadequate, noting that the government initially pursued $120 million.Reichelt said scientists had already surveyed the site and tested cleanup methods. Using this scientific and engineering work, the agency will use the funds from the settlement to initiate field operations to remove paint and rubble, enabling restoration of the natural ecological processes on this reef.The ships operator attempted to avoid a payout by arguing that the reef could self-heal. Experts estimated, however, that the reef could take 20 years to recover from the incident, AAP reported.Shannon Hurley, Australian Marince Conservation Society spokeswoman, said: Clearly Australia cant afford the damage that one ship, the Shen Neng 1, caused to the reef.London P&I Club expressed regret over the incident and said it always wanted to reach a fair and justifiable settlement". The maritime insurer earlier dismissed estimates that put the cost of damages to as high as $194 million, calling it unsubstantiated and unrealistic".In a statement, a London P&I Club spokesman said: The parties agree that the money to be paid is sufficient and appropriate under Australian and international maritime insurance agreements to cover required environmental remediation.The cleanup operation is estimated to begin in mid-2017, but given the depth of the Douglas Shoal, work can only take place safely at certain times of the year, AAP reported. As the number of overdose deaths from prescription painkillers has soared in recent years, pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioid painkillers, and allied advocacy groups, have donated more than $500,000 to state and federal elected officials and major political parties in Delaware. But Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Director Michael Barbieri, a former lawmaker who received industry donations himself, doesnt think drug companies are impeding efforts to address opioid abuse in Delaware. A joint investigation by The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that drug companies and allied groups spent more than $880 million nationwide between 2006 through 2015 on campaign contributions and lobbying expenses at the state and federal levels. The industrys state-level contributions in Delaware from 2006 through 2015 ranked 13th in the nation, based on the ratio of industry contributions to all state-level contributions in the time period. Barbieri, who received $2,600 in industry donations while chairing the House Health and Human Development Committee, said campaign contributions dont equate to vote buying, or to trying to scuttle efforts to reduce prescription painkiller abuse. I dont think theyre getting in the way of tackling opioid abuse in Delaware, he said. I dont see that as an issue. Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, chair of the Senate Health and Social Services Committee, agrees. Theyve always been, for me, on the side of patient safety in Delaware. Ive never been influenced to not do the right thing and protect Delawareans, said Hall-Long, D-Middletown, who has received $3,330 in industry donations since 2008. Priscilla VanderVeer, a spokeswoman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, declined to comment on the groups lobbying efforts in Delaware but said in an email that it is extremely focused on helping combat prescription drug abuse. Hall-Long, who won last weeks Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, noted that she has worked with the pharmaceutical industry on a variety of issues, including workforce development and vaccine programs. I do know the industry does not want unsafe dispensing of their medications, added Hall-Long, pointing to successful efforts by state officials to establish a prescription monitoring program aimed at cracking down on doctor shopping and pill mills. Lawmakers earlier this year passed a bill sponsored by Hall-Long creating a state commission to review all deaths resulting from prescription opioid, fentanyl and heroin overdoses and to make recommendations on how to prevent future overdose deaths. The number of opioid prescriptions issued in Delaware has declined each year from 2013 through 2015, consistent with the national trend, but Delaware ranked 17th in the nation, tied with Pennsylvania, in the rate of prescriptions per person in 2015. Meanwhile, overdose deaths in Delaware have skyrocketed in recent years, increasing 142 percent from 2006 to 2014, the second-highest growth rate in the country. There were 1,236 drug overdose deaths in Delaware during that time. While the fatal overdoses were not limited to opioids, the Centers for Disease Control has indicated that prescription opioids and heroin account for the majority of drug deaths. In my opinion, we have much more direct issues to deal with regarding addiction and our efforts to reduce that than whatever the industry is up to, said Rep. Bryon Short, D-Wilmington, saying the addiction epidemic represents a failure of public policy to get in front of the issue. I still think we have a longer way to go with the doctors, said Short, suggesting that health care providers are too quick to prescribe powerful painkillers. In the meantime, Short sponsored a resolution passed by the General Assembly this year directing the Legislatures controller general to prepare a cost estimate of including abuse deterrent formulations, which make opioids more difficult to crush or dissolve, in the state employee health plan and Medicaid coverage. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Drugs XS Brokers, a Quincy, Mass., headquartered independent insurance brokerage, has hired Jason Kent as a broker in the firms Connecticut office. His hiring comes as the firm has seen continued growth in its Connecticut, New York and New Jersey territories, according to CEO and President Adam Devine. In his new role, Kent will be responsible for expanding the firms footprint in both existing and new territories and continuing to maintain the retail agency relationships he has built. Prior to joining XS Brokers, Kent served in underwriting and leadership roles at Chubb Insurance in Simsbury, Conn., Denver, Colo., and most recently, Indianapolis, Ind. Going forward, XS Brokers plans to hire five to 10 additional employees, primarily at its newest office in Pennsylvania. Source: XS Brokers Topics Agencies Massachusetts Connecticut The cost of insuring Deutsche Banks debt against default rose around 8 percent on Friday after the U.S. Department of Justice asked the lender to pay $14 billion to settle an investigation into its selling of mortgage-backed securities. Data provider Markit said credit default swaps on Deutsche Banks five-year senior debt rose to 211 basis points, up 16 bps from Thursdays close of 195 basis points. Credit default swaps on equivalent Deutsche subordinated debt rose to 421 basis points, up 33 bps from Thursdays close of 388 bps. (Reporting by John Geddie, editing by Nigel Stephenson) A lightning-damaged sculpture is again a fixture of the Kansas City skyline after undergoing repairs paid for by insurance. Designed by New York artist R.M. Fischer, their official name is the Sky Station sculptures, although locals call them the hair curlers. Kansas City engineering firm A. Zahner Co. carried out the repairs at a cost more than $1 million. The citys property insurance covered it. The Kansas City Star reports that a helicopter returned the 12-ton metal sculpture to its lofty perch on Sept. 18. Its one of four that sits atop the 300-foot tall pylons that suspend the Bartle Hall Convention Center above Interstate 670. Workers first noticed the damage last fall while setting up blue lights on the sculptures to celebrate the Kansas City Royals winning season. Inspectors said the damage was caused by lightning and water seepage. The sculptures were installed in 1994. City Architect Eric Bosch said all four sculptures have built-in lightning rods, so they can accept lightning strikes and ground them. But in this case, the lightning split one of the tubes on the sculpture, and the damage is too severe to fix while its perched on top of a convention center pylon. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Kansas The insurance industry is on the horns of a dilemma: how to use new technologies to improve their operations and how to insure the risks these new technologies present to their customers. The pace of technology is changing at faster rates than ever before and continues unabated despite the associated risks. New technology startups constantly enter the field, using technologies that impact multiple industries and user groups. Additionally, new technologies are developed virtually every day and are released almost immediately. This means that rapid adoption and use of new technologies is happening ahead of the ability of insurers to understand and respond to them, both as a user and as an insurer. For insurers, new technology is a double-edged sword. While new technology means new tools insurers can use to improve their operations and the services they provide to their customers, it also presents two new risks. The first is the risk of using a new technology that, due to its newness, proves to be a source of unforeseen liability because of an innate flaw in the technology; a failure of the new technology to live up to its promise; the new technologys susceptibility to misuse; or the development of lagging regulation that creates potential liability for impermissible use of the technology. The second risk is insuring new technologies. Without sufficient experience and data to properly understand the risks of emerging technologies, it can become very costly for insurers to accept new risks. The rapid rate of change of technologies demands that insurers embrace them quickly in order to benefit. An example is the use of drones. While this technology offers an improved method for insurers to inspect many cases of property damage, regulations restricting the use of drones make them more costly to deploy in insurer operations, and because regulations on drones continue to evolve on a regular basis, insurers face even more challenges. Additionally, the rise of smart home technologies has proven challenging and is creating new exposures for insurers. Smart home apps (i.e., remote control of temperature/lights) are susceptible to power surges and storms, which could lead to a whole house electricity failure. Traditional home coverages may not include this coverage, which could create a more costly and complicated claim. Smart home apps also lead the way to concerns of cybersecurity and privacy threats to the insured. In the J.D. Power 2015 Household Insurance Study, 31 percent of homeowners indicated their home used at least one smart technology product. In a 2016 August Home and Xfinity Home survey, nearly 18 percent of survey respondents indicated they would likely purchase a new smart home product in the next 12 months. (Study commissioned by August Home and Xfinity Home, produced by research firm NextMarket Insights and conducted as an online survey among a total of 1,293 U.S. consumers.) Insurers traditionally are not on the leading edge of new technology and, as a risk-averse group, they have historically been slow adopters of new tools and technologies. Likewise, insurers are also slow to terminate old technology, preferring instead not to create needless disruption in their operations. This lack of technological agility has now become more of an existential risk for insurers than it has historically been. Complication New technology risks are by definition immature and have not yet been fully evaluated as insurable risks. By virtue of the structure of insurance risk evaluation, a significant history of experience with any given risk is needed to properly and confidently evaluate it, which is true not only for risks that insurers want to underwrite but also for those they want to leverage to make their operations more efficient and effective. Think of artificial intelligence technology and the promise it has to improve insurer decision-making in the underwriting of risk and managing of claims, as well as being a new area of insurance need. The power of such a technology can also potentially become the source of the next mass tort to hit the insurance industry in ways yet unknown. Regulatory development appears to be too slow to match the pace of new technologies. As a heavily regulated industry, insurers are reluctant to incorporate technologies into their operations that might later incur a heavy regulatory burden such as heightened reporting, fees, additional compliance activity or other costly impacts. Similarly, insuring new technology risks ahead of full regulatory development can lock an insurer into a class of risk that may prove to be unattractive due to subsequent regulatory developments designed to address originally unrecognized risk characteristics. Insurers need to move fast to leverage and insure new technology risks. Despite the potential complications that guide insurers to move slowly in adopting or insuring new technology, the rapid rate of change of technologies demands that insurers embrace them quickly in order to benefit. To be seen as less than leading edge in leveraging technology creates a poor image for any company today, including insurance companies. Insureds are becoming just as likely to compare an insurers service responsiveness to that of companies such as Amazon as they are to another insurer. Further, being slow to provide coverage for emerging technology risks means forfeiting new profitable business to competitors. Resolution Insurers need to leverage new technologies to better evaluate and manage the risks they present. The irony is that new technologies may be part of the solution in evaluating new technology risks. The increased access to data and tools to manage and analyze that data may make it easier for insurers to create models of similar or surrogate risk for the new technology a carrier wants to insure. It is not that this approach to evaluating risk is new, but the speed at which it can now be done is well beyond what has traditionally existed. Insurers need to be better at sourcing, managing (organizing and cleaning) and evaluating data to model and understand new technology risks. Insurers also need to lead in the development of new technology risk regulation. To foster the development of new technologies, insurers need to be available to those who are developing and adopting the new technologies. John Drzik, president of global risks and specialties at Marsh & McLennan Cos., addressed this in his article titled The Genie Of Emerging Technology, which was first published on the World Economic Forums blog. National legal and regulatory frameworks are underdeveloped, so certain topics and techniques escape scrutiny by not being specified. Institutions that are meant to provide oversight struggle to cope with advances that cross departmental jurisdictions and, short on resources, they are often unable to assess the risks with the rigor that they might wish, he wrote. Insurers have the opportunity to lead in the development of appropriate regulations to govern the use and risk management of emerging technologies. To accept the risks presented by new technologies, carriers need to have regulations in place that are supportive of them, individually and as an industry, accepting such risks based on limited experience history. The nightmare scenario that carriers need to be protected from most is accepting risks that could turn into the next mass tort. Carriers also need regulations in place that will allow them to more readily use new technologies to improve their ability to provide service and products to their insureds and claimants. Moreover, these regulations need to provide reasonable freedom to foster and support technology development while also ensuring reasonably needed limitations are established. In addition, insurers need to establish contingency strategies to hedge new technology risks, which counterbalance the risks new technologies represent as a part of their overall risk portfolio and as a part of their operational structure. Topics Carriers Legislation InsurTech Tech Some customers of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. claim the company conspired to help elect an Illinois Supreme Court candidate so he could vote to throw out a $1 billion award against the company. Now they will be able to bring their case as a group. A federal judge on Sept. 16 ruled that 4.7 million State Farm policyholders can band together to sue the insurer for allegedly lying about its efforts to financially back Lloyd Karmeier for a seat on Illinois highest court. Customers contend in their class-action lawsuit that State Farm defrauded them by secretly bankrolling Karmeiers 2004 campaign. In exchange, they allege, Karmeier provided a key appellate vote against upholding the $1 billion verdict in a case over the use of generic autoparts. The ruling will complicate Bloomington, Illinois-based State Farms efforts to fend off claims it engaged in racketeering by working with others to get Karmeier elected, specifically to target the 1999 verdict in Illinois state court. The ruling was one of the largest class-action awards in U.S. legal history. Reassert Claims Missy Dundov, a State Farm spokeswoman based in Illinois, said the company intends to ask the appellate court to review this ruling in the very near future. The plaintiffs have unsuccessfully asserted and reasserted these allegations for many years and should not be permitted to do so any longer, Dundov said in an e-mail. Illinois Supreme Court officials didnt immediately return a call for comment on behalf of Karmeier, who is now the courts chief justice. He isnt named as a defendant in the racketeering suit. In their original case, State Farm customers claimed the generic car parts were of lower quality than original equipment and violated terms of their insurance policies. An Illinois jury awarded them $456 million for breach of contract in 1999 and the trial judge added $730 million in damages on a fraud claim. An appellate court reduced the verdict to $1.01 billion. Tossed Award The Illinois Supreme Court threw out the award in 2005 with Karmeiers backing and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the case. Lawyers representing State Farm customers later uncovered the insurers financial backing of the judge. Karmeier won re-election to his post in 2014. In 2012, policyholders sued State Farm and others who backed Karmeiers 2004 campaign alleging they engaged in racketeering by secretly launching an effort to recruit and fund a judicial candidate willing to vote down the $1 billion verdict. They argued State Farm officials lied when they denied in court filings that they backed Karmeier for the appellate post. U.S. District Judge David Herndon in East St. Louis, Illinois, found customers could band together to press claims that State Farm and others worked to secretly subvert the judicial process and deprive plaintiffs of an impartial forum to review the award. The policyholders showed there are common questions regarding defendants acts and omissions to evade the judgment, he concluded. Even though Karmeier isnt being sued in the racketeering case, Herndon ordered him last year to answer questions under oath about the strategy and funding of his judicial campaign and whether State Farm played any role in his bid for the appellate-court seat. The case is Mark Hale v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, No. 12-660, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois (East St. Louis). Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Lawsuits USA Legislation Illinois NASCAR was hit with a $500 million lawsuit accusing the auto racing body of racial discrimination for preventing black-owned teams and drivers from competing, including in the Sprint Cup Series. Terrance Cox and his company, Diversity Motorsports Racing LLC, filed a lawsuit late on Friday in U.S. district court in Manhattan against NASCAR, its parent company, International Speedway Corp., and 18 teams, according to court records. The plaintiffs are also seeking an injunction requiring the defendants to fully integrate the African-American community. In a statement, NASCAR said the lawsuit has no merit. Diversity both on and off the track continues to be a top priority for NASCAR and its stakeholders, the organization said. We stand behind our actions, and will not let a publicity-seeking legal action deter us from our mission. The plaintiffs said they sued after NASCAR refused to let them field a team or join its Drive for Diversity program, and last year told them to cease contact. Citing NASCARs website, the plaintiffs said none of the 48 drivers in the Sprint Cup, NASCARs top racing series, is black, and only one of the 18 teams has partial African-American ownership. They also said only one driver in NASCARs Xfinity Series circuit is black. Motorsports remain the most racially segregated sport in the United States, the complaint said. NASCAR and ISC have been complicit in, and supportive of, the racially discriminatory environment that virtually excludes African-Americans from meaningful participation. The lawsuit seeks $75 million in compensatory damages and $425 million in punitive damages. Ronald Paltrowitz, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said any funds would go toward groups that the plaintiffs sponsor to boost minority participation in motorsports. Diversity Motorsports was founded by Cox, who is chief executive officer, and Bob Schacht of Bob Schacht Motorsports, and is based in Mooresville, North Carolina. NASCAR is based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and has a Manhattan office. The case is Cox et al v National Association for Stock Car Racing Inc. et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-07268. (Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) Topics Lawsuits USA Insurance broker Hub International Limited (HUB) has named Marc Cohen, currently regional president of HUB East Region, as president of HUB International as part of a restructuring of top management. Cohen will replace Richard Gulliver, currently president of HUB International, who has been named vice chairman of HUB International and who will continue to direct the firms mergers and acquisitions activity. The brokerage also named Lawrence Lineker, currently president of HUB Canada, as executive vice president of HUB International. All positions to be effective January 1, 2017. All will report to Martin P. Hughes, chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Hughes said the appointments will support significant growth through mergers and acquisitions, organic growth and future business strategies that address industry changes. We have a tremendous depth of experience and talent within HUB, which made the decision to promote from within compelling, said Hughes. Cohen will be responsible for growth and productivity improvements across HUB. Cohen began his insurance career, entering the training program at HUB International Group Northeast (HUB NE), after college in 1988. He became a vice president in 1994 and a senior vice president in 1997. In 1999 he was appointed president of Program Brokerage Corp. and Claims Administration Corp., HUB NEs wholesale insurance subsidiary and claims management divisions, respectively. Simultaneously, he was named president of Old Lyme Insurance Co. of Rhode Island, a HUB NE underwriting subsidiary that was subsequently sold. In those positions, he was responsible for all aspects of the firms program management and wholesale activities. In January 2004, Cohen was named president and CEO of HUB NE and Program Brokerage Corp. Lineker will be responsible for innovations that recognize changing customer and workforce demands. Lineker has 30 years of insurance industry experience and is president of HUB Canada. As president of the Canadian region, he oversees all sales and operations for six HUB retail entities as well as HUB Financial, Totten Insurance Group and Beacon Underwriting wholesale operations. He joined HUB in 1998 and has also served as president and CEP of the HUB International TOS (Vancouver) region. In 2004, he became the chief sales officer for all of HUB and was responsible for organic growth strategies through 30 regional sales leaders and 900 sales executives across the U.S. and Canada from the corporate office in Chicago. Gulliver will continue to lead and grow HUBs mergers and acquisitions activity. He has more than 35 years of experience acquiring, building and operating insurance brokerage firms. Under his direction HUB has acquired more than 350 acquisitions representing over $1 billion in revenue. Gulliver began his career in January 1977 by opening a one-man shop in Leamington, Ontario which continues today as a HUB International operation. He was instrumental in creating Insurance Network Solutions in 1995 where he served as president. He was also president of HUB Group Ontario Ltd. and its subsidiary, Gulliver Insurance Brokers. He played a pivotal role in the formation of HUB International and has been actively involved in its development and growth. Topics Agencies Canada Insurance broker Lockton, in conjunction with London Market insurers Hiscox, Beazley, Talbot and XL Catlin, have launched a new product Terrorism Crisis Solutions (TCS) designed to offer corporate clients a combined terrorism cover that encompasses a wide range of threats. The new policy combines the underwriting teams from the London Markets terrorism insurers into one modular product. TCS allows them to choose from a range of covers, including: sabotage and terrorism for both property damage and liability; financial protection when a client is impacted by an insured event; threat of a malicious act, nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological malicious acts; active assailant, active shooter, workplace violence and stalking threat as well as riots, strikes and civil commotion. Businesses are facing not only a growing terrorist threat but one that is rapidly changing in nature. We have seen recent attacks across Belgium and France as well as in the US, which have brought home how terrorists are adapting their methods to inflict maximum casualties, fear and disruption, said Adam Watson, a Lockton partner and Head of North American Property & Terrorism. Recognizing the uncertainties and vulnerabilities that this brings to businesses around the world, we have brought together a panel of the London Markets foremost terrorism insurers to develop a new comprehensive modular terrorism product. Terrorism Crisis Solutions enables clients to build a terrorism policy that can be customized to meet their precise needs. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters London New Markets The rate impact of recent Florida Supreme Court rulings on the states workers compensation system is currently in the hands of regulators, as the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) decides on the National Council on Compensation Insurances (NCCI) filing seeking a 20 percent rate increase. The fallout is just beginning from the Castellanos v. Next Door Company, 192 So.3d 431 (Fla., April 28, 2016) and Bradley Westphal v. City of Petersburg, 194 So.3d 311 (Fla., June 9, 2016) rulings, and it wont end with higher rates. The decisions are also expected to increase the amount of litigated claims in the state, as negotiated fee agreements between claimants and attorneys are now permissible, and a claimants attorney is no longer prohibited from receiving compensation beyond the states statutory fee schedule. The June 9 Westphal ruling also extends the limitation on temporary total disability benefits available to an injured worker from two to five years before permanent disability benefits may be pursued. This change is expected to increase the value of open indemnity claims involving substantial injuries, as well as re-open claims that were previously closed. In response to these court decisions, NCCI filed a proposed rate increase of 19.6 percent for all new and renewal workers compensation policies with an effective date of Oct. 1, 2016 or later. The filing also requested that increases apply to all existing policies on a pro-rata basis for the remainder of each policy term. On Aug. 16, 2016, OIR conducted a hearing to consider the rate filing made by NCCI. We are here today because the law says that rates cannot be inadequate, said Lori Lovgren, executive director for State Relations for NCCI. Because of the significance of these three law changes together, we felt that we needed to come in with an off-cycle filing with a proposed effective date of 10/1. During the hearing, individuals on behalf of NCCI cited the Castellanos and Westphal decisions as the two cases impacting rates. The organization argued that these decisions will significantly increase the costs of workers compensation claims because higher attorney fees will be awarded and the availability of these fees will drive litigation, with respect to both the amount of claims litigated and the length of the litigation. Castellanos will have the biggest impact on rates, with NCCIs filing saying this case accounted for 15 percent of the increase. In this case, the Florida Supreme Court found that Section 440.34, relating to the mandatory fee schedule for a claimants attorney, was unconstitutional as a denial of due process under the Florida and U.S. Constitutions. In so holding, the Court revived the statutes immediate predecessor, thereby bringing the consideration of reasonableness into the determination of fee adequacy. The Court noted that the fee schedule remains the starting point, and only where a claimant can demonstrate that the fee schedule results in an unreasonable fee will the claimants attorney be entitled to a fee that deviates from the fee schedule. However, representatives from NCCI cited specific examples of cases decided after Castellanos where attorneys were awarded an hourly rate even though the application of the fee schedule rate would not have been unreasonable given the value of the benefits awarded. Lovgren noted that the Castellanos ruling takes Florida back to its pre-workers comp reform days, referencing the states 2003 overhaul of its workers comp system. Before [the 2003 reforms] claims took longer to close, the average cost of a claim was higher, and return to work took longer, she said. In the second case, Bradley Westphal, a former City of St. Petersburg firefighter and paramedic sustained injuries to his legs in a workplace accident. The injuries required several back surgeries which left the employee unable to return to work. Under Section 440.15(2)(a), the employee was eligible for 104 weeks of temporary benefits, a time period designed to compensate workers while they heal and then return to work or reach their maximum medical improvement (MMI) status and become eligible for permanent benefits. However, in the Westphal case, the employee exhausted his temporary benefits but had not yet reached MMI and therefore, his physicians could not determine his long term recovery prospects so he was denied permanent benefits. The Court held that the 104 week limitation on temporary total disability benefits results in a coverage gap in benefits that was a violation of the constitutional right of access to the court. Utilizing the concept of revival, the Court directed that the limitation of temporary total disability benefits be restored to the 1994 version of the statute, which provided for 260 weeks of temporary benefits. NCCI says Westphal will account for 2.2 percent of the increase. The remaining percentage of 1.8 percent is attributed to a medical fee change from Senate Bill 1402. In addition to the increased costs of future claims, the NCCI discussed the unfunded liability presented by these court decisions and estimated that it could exceed $1 billion dollars. The NCCI noted that the decisions have a retroactive impact on claims occurring prior to the effective date of any rate increase that remain open or are re-opened. However, the premiums collected on the expired or expiring policies will not be reflective of the additional costs and exposure resulting from the recent court decisions. As such, these unanticipated costs will be borne by insurance companies, self-insured employers and those employers with deductible policies for years to come. NCCI emphasized that if the filing effective date is delayed or the current amount is not applied to the number of outstanding policies currently in force, the $1 billion figure will increase. Lovgren said even though the proposed 19.6 percent rate increase is high, if the filing is approved Floridas workers comp rates will still be lower than they have been in the past. Since [the workers comp] reform there have been 17 rate filings 12 of those 17 rate filings were for decreases, she said. These rates are 60 percent lower than what they were prior to 2003 reforms. No deadline has been set for a decision from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation on the proposed rate increase. Public comments were accepted until Aug. 23. Insurance Journal Southeast Editor Amy OConnor contributed to this story. Related: Topics Florida Legislation Claims Workers' Compensation If you have nightmares about robots taking over the world, heres something that might really scare you: some tech industry veterans in Seattle want to ban human drivers from a 150-mile stretch of Interstate 5 and reserve it for self-driving cars, trucks and buses. The ribbon of highway between Seattle and Vancouver should be used as a testing ground for autonomous vehicles, according to a provocative proposal that says embracing the technology would save lives, ease congestion and be less expensive than a high-speed rail system. Tom Alberg, co-founder of Madrona Venture Group and a board member of Amazon.com Inc., and Craig Mundie, a former Microsoft Corp. executive, will release the plan Monday at a cross-border innovation conference in Vancouver sponsored by Microsoft. They suggest phasing it in over a decade, starting with allowing self-driving vehicles in car-pool lanes. In an interview, Alberg said autonomous driving could take two years, five years or 10 years to become widespread. But this is going to happen, and ultimately Im convinced these will be safer than human drivers. Why not start planning for this now? If government leaders on both sides of the border form a team to explore such a plan, they would attract investment from Google, Uber, Ford and General Motors, he said, adding that doing so would put the region at the forefront of innovation and distinguish it from cities like Chicago, where an alderman wants to ban autonomous cars because safety concerns. Safety has become front-of-mind since a man died in Florida after his Tesla Model S in autopilot mode failed to react to a truck crossing the road. Tesla has sought to put the incident in perspective, blogging that it was the first known fatality in more than 130 million miles of driving using its Autopilot features, compared with a death every 94 million miles for all cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to soon release guidelines for self-driving vehicles to help states draft their own laws. But even in the absence of rules of the road, automakers and ride-hailing companies are moving quickly to stake out their positions. Uber is running self-driving trials in Pittsburgh, and Google is testing its own technology in California, Arizona, Texas and Washington state. The Seattle-Vancouver proposal calls for a decade-long plan to first allow self-driving cars and trucks in carpool lanes and ultimately allow only autonomous vehicles on the highway during peak travel periods. Human drivers would be allowed to cruise the stretch between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. weekdays and on weekends. Self-driving vehicles will move more people and goods on existing infrastructure since they can travel more tightly and at higher speeds with less braking, the report says. This proposal is not for the timid as initially it will be highly controversial because of natural skepticism about the likelihood and timing of autonomous vehicles and failure to recognize the benefits, the reports says. But widespread and universal adoption of autonomous vehicles is inevitable. Related: Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Personal Auto The husband of Jim Carreys former girlfriend is suing the actor, accusing him of illegally supplying Cathriona White with prescription drugs that resulted in her death. The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Whites husband, Mark Burton, in Los Angeles Superior Court, accused Carrey, 54, of using his immense wealth and celebrity status to illegally obtain and distribute highly addictive and, in this case deadly, controlled substances. White, 30, an Irish-born makeup artist, was found dead in her Los Angeles apartment in September 2015, in an apparent suicide. Celebrity news website TMZ had said at the time that Carrey and White had an on-and-off romance and had broken up the week before Whites death. Burtons lawsuit said White was engaged in a sexual relationship with Carrey at the time of her death. Representatives for Carrey did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Monday. Carrey had previously called White my sweet Cathriona in a statement following her death, adding She was a truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil. In his lawsuit, Burton alleged that Carrey obtained the prescription drugs Percocet, Ambien and Propranolol under the name of Arthur King and gave them to White even though he knew she was prone to depression and had previously attempted to take her own life. Burton, who is seeking a jury trial, also said Carrey had made an effort to cover-up his conduct and complicity in her death by saying White may have taken the drugs from him without his knowledge. He added that the actor never made good on his offer to pay for Whites funeral expenses, despite considerable efforts to publicize his supposed generosity as it related to the death of White. Carrey, slapstick star of comedy movies including Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Bruce Almighty, ended a five-year relationship with actress Jenny McCarthy in 2010. He has two previous marriages that ended in divorce. (Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by David Gregorio) Topics Lawsuits California Drugs Introduction Although the UK voted to leave the EU on June 23 2016, the actual tax consequences that flow from that decision will not be known for some time. The formal process for triggering the UKs exit from the EU will only commence once the UK government issues notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, following which formal negotiations will take place to agree the terms of that exit. This process (which, at the time of writing has not yet commenced) is expected to take around two years to conclude, and until such time as those terms are agreed, and the UKs exit actually takes place (Brexit), the status quo will be maintained and uncertainty will largely prevail. This uncertainty will be particularly problematic for businesses planning to engage in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity over the next couple of years. Changes to the tax cost and profile of target businesses operating in the UK and interacting with the rest of Europe will be one concern, with any increased tax costs that arise due to Brexit potentially impacting the value of the target business. Another concern will be potential tax costs associated with either the post-acquisition integration of UK target businesses into a wider European group, or pre-sale reorganisation activity intended to prepare a business for sale. Brexit could potentially impact all these different features of M&A activity. Potential tax risks arising from Brexit Set out below are some key areas where there is potential for adverse tax consequences to arise as a result of Brexit. EU Merger Directive The EU Merger Directive provides tax reliefs for mergers, divisions, transfers of assets and exchanges of shares which take place between companies in different EU member states. Although implementation of the Directive has been achieved in the UK through its domestic legislation, which would not be affected by Brexit, changes would need to be made to the UKs legislation (which works, for example, by specific reference to EU member states) to ensure that it remained effective. As the UK would no longer be required to give effect to the Directive following Brexit, it may therefore decide to make no changes to its legislation or to make changes which are no longer consistent with the Directive. The same considerations would also apply in other EU member states. The loss of the tax benefits provided by the EU Merger Directive could increase the tax costs of European cross-border M&A (or pre/post-sale reorganisations) involving UK entities. Parent-Subsidiary and Interest and Royalties Directives In a similar vein, the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive and the Interest and Royalties Directive could cease to apply in the UK. The effect of these Directives is broadly to eliminate withholding taxes on dividend, interest and royalty payments between parent-subsidiary companies in the EU and to exempt dividends and other profit distributions paid by a subsidiary in one member state to its parent in another. Although the UKs domestic tax code (which does not impose withholding taxes on dividends and generally exempts dividend receipts) and its wide network of double taxation treaties (which includes treaties with each of the other 27 member states) will help to mitigate the removal of the benefit of these Directives, there will still be the potential for tax leakage in cross-border transactions and payments. For example, dividends paid by subsidiaries in countries such as Austria, Germany, Italy and Portugal to their parent in the UK will be subject to withholding taxes as will interest and royalty payments made to a UK company by its subsidiaries in Italy and Portugal. Any such additional costs on intra-group payments of this kind might either increase the tax costs of a target group, or impose costs on profit repatriations and other payments between target businesses and parent groups. UK corporate tax system Although member states retain their sovereign rights in relation to direct tax (the Directives above being notable exceptions to that position), they are still obliged to exercise those rights in a way that is compatible with treaty freedoms and other relevant EU laws. As a result, there are areas of UK domestic tax law that have been amended following EU law challenges. Examples of these include the changes made to the UK group relief regime following theandcases to allow foreign tax losses to be utilised in the UK in certain, limited circumstances. In a post-Brexit era, when EU freedoms and laws may no longer be relevant, changes could be made to the UK corporate tax code to reverse previous EU law compliant changes or introduce further changes that are not EU law compliant. Moving outside of the EU will therefore remove some of the comfort and certainty that a purchaser of a UK business currently has regarding the UK tax code. VAT and Customs Duties As an EU member, the UK is part of a customs union with all other EU member states, meaning that goods can move to and from other EU member states without either customs duties or import VAT, and without the compliance obligations associated with importing and exporting goods. Without negotiating an alternative arrangement, Brexit would mean that the UK would be outside this customs union. Consequently, exports of goods to the EU would be subject to EU customs duties and import VAT, and imports into the UK would be subject to applicable UK duties and import VAT. The UK would also lose access to any favourable terms of export that have been negotiated between the EU and third countries. Again, this could increase the tax costs of a target group. Addressing these risks in an M&A transaction Businesses engaged in M&A activity during the current transitional phase will therefore need to carefully assess the potential tax changes resulting from Brexit. Where possible and relevant, restructuring steps should be taken to mitigate the potential impact of such changes. This could include accelerating timetables to secure access to EU-related tax reliefs where these are fundamental to a particular transaction or implementing a pre-transaction group reorganisation to minimise withholding taxes or dividend tax charges. It is of course possible that restructuring transactions or groups is not possible, or that changes cannot be made to timetables, such as where transactions are conditional on circumstances outside the parties control, e.g. competition approvals. In addition, it is possible that post-Brexit events may be relevant to pre-Brexit transactions. For example, the value placed on a business by a purchaser may be affected by the UKs departure from the EU customs union if exports of goods from the UK to the EU become subject to EU customs duties and import VAT and imports into the UK become subject to applicable UK duties and import VAT. In those circumstances (which will be increasingly likely the closer we get to Brexit), the parties may seek to address such risks via the contractual documentation for the transaction. The attitude of the parties to such an approach is, however, likely to vary depending on the nature of the risk which is sought to be addressed. For example, while it is common for a purchaser to benefit from a variety of contractual protections in the context of a corporate transaction, such protections are almost exclusively confined to historic matters. Future risks, in particular risks relating to future changes in law, are generally considered to be for a purchasers account. As such, while a purchaser could seek contractual protection for adverse tax consequences that may flow from Brexit, this is likely to be met with strong resistance from a selling party. General, wide ranging contractual protections would almost certainly be resisted, although where specific, quantifiable risks can be identified, it might be possible to allocate such risks to a seller. However, in most cases, it is more likely that the potential tax consequences of Brexit on a transaction will be an issue for purchaser due diligence and possibly mitigation post-acquisition through restructuring the acquired business. Conversely, there may also be circumstances where a seller might want to seek protection for post-transaction changes caused by Brexit. One example of this could be where a seller is due to receive further consideration payable under an earn-out or deferred consideration arrangement and the quantification of such consideration could be affected by changes to the underlying tax position. Another example might be where the transaction involves post-completion supply contracts with the seller, where the value of such a contract represents part of the overall value of the transaction for the seller and that value could be reduced through new, post-Brexit taxation. Finally, where there may be a split between entering into a contract and its subsequent completion, and it is possible that Brexit will occur in that split or Brexit-initiated changes may occur in that period, the parties could consider the inclusion of a Brexit specific material adverse change clause. Such clauses, which are a common feature of private M&A documents, are traditionally used by purchasers as an exit mechanism, allowing them to withdraw from a transaction if there is a material adverse change in the business, assets or profits of the company they have agreed to acquire between entering into a conditional contract to acquire the company and the contract becoming unconditional. With appropriate modifications such a clause could also potentially be utilised by a seller, such as where the benefits of the Merger Directive are withdrawn, materially changing the tax consequences of the transaction for the seller. Conclusions While the precise scope and impact of any tax consequences resulting from the UKs exit from the EU will not be known for some time, it remains possible for businesses engaged in M&A activities to identify the key areas relevant to their transactions where there is the potential for change. Armed with this knowledge, steps can be taken to restructure transactions and relevant group relationships or, failing that, appropriately allocate risk between the parties through contractual documentation. Ultimately the approach taken in such documentation, and accordingly the party which bears the risk of any changes, will be dictated by commercial considerations such as the respective partys bargaining position and their general attitude and approach to risk. As such a consistent or universal approach to dealing with the uncertainty brought about Brexit is unlikely to emerge. However, what businesses engaging in M&A activity involving the UK over the next couple of years should do is give proper consideration to the potential impacts of Brexit. This article was contributed by David Smith and Ben Jones principal associate and partner, respectively, of the tax group at Eversheds in London. David Smith, Principal Associate Tax Group, Eversheds T: +44 113 200 4349; davidcarlsmith@eversheds.com Ben Jones, Partner Tax Group, Eversheds T: +44 207 919 4686; benjones@eversheds.com Nel terzo trimestre del 2016 il prodotto interno lordo, espresso in valori concatenati con anno di riferimento 2010, corretto per gli effetti di calendario e destagionalizzato, e aumentato dello 0,3% rispetto al trimestre precedente e dello 0,9% nei confronti del terzo trimestre del 2015. Lo sostiene lIstat. La crescita congiunturale e la sintesi di un aumento del valore aggiunto nei comparti dellindustria e dei servizi e di una diminuzione nellagricoltura. Dal lato della domanda, vi e un contributo ampiamente positivo della componente nazionale (al lordo delle scorte), in parte compensato da un apporto negativo della componente estera netta. Nello stesso periodo il Pil e aumentato in termini congiunturali dello 0,7% negli Stati Uniti, dello 0,5% nel Regno Unito e dello 0,2% in Francia. In termini tendenziali, si e registrato un aumento del 2,3% nel Regno Unito, dell1,5% negli Stati Uniti, dell1,1% in Francia. Nel complesso, il Pil dei paesi dellarea Euro e cresciuto dello 0,3% rispetto al trimestre precedente ed dell1,6% nel confronto con lo stesso trimestre del 2015. I dati Istat sul Pil sono in linea con le stime del governo ha commentato il ministro dellEconomia, Pier Carlo Padoan, arrivando alla Camera per lincontro con il gruppo Pd sulla legge di Bilancio. ll titolare di via XX Settembre in un tweet, poco prima, aveva sottolineato come i dati Istat confermano che leconomia e sulla strada giusta e le stime di crescita sono affidabili. Ma occorre spingere per accelerare The mining industry is one of the oldest established industrial operations. Mining has been critical to the development of major countries, such as the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The entire western hemisphere, both North and South America, is rich in a wide variety of mining deposits. Russia is by far the leading country for mining enterprises in Europe. Africa is rich in mineral deposits, notably gold and diamonds, and several of the major mining companies have had mining operations established there for decades. Australia is a notable source of gold and aluminum. China is the world's richest source of rare earth minerals, containing an estimated 90% of these minerals that are important elements in the manufacture of automobiles and many other products. The U.S. was at one time the world's leader in the production of many major mining products, but increasing environmental regulations have curtailed much of the U.S. mining industry. Key Takeaways Mining is one of the oldest operations in the industrial industry, with footprints in China, Africa, Australia, and other nations. Three main categories of the mining industry are precious metals and gemstones, industrial and base metal mining, and nonmetal mining. Within the mining industry are major mining companies and junior miners, which are smaller companies engaged in exploration. Investors and analysts gauge a company's profitability and ability to manage costs with several financial ratios, such as the quick ratio, operating profit margin, and return on equity (ROE). The Mining Industry The mining industry is subdivided into categories based on the principal mining interest. The three main subdivisions of the industry are precious metals and gemstones mining, industrial and base metal mining, and nonmetal mining, which includes mining for such important commodities as coal. The industry is further divided into major mining companies, such as Rio Tinto Group (RIO) and BHP Billiton Limited (BHP), and "junior miners." Junior miners are typically much smaller companies primarily engaged in the business of exploration or discovering new mining deposits. Many junior mining companies that make major finds are eventually acquired by one of the major mining companies with extensive financial resources capable of funding large-scale mining operations. Investing in Mining Companies Mining requires extensive capital expenditures, both for exploration and the initial establishment of mining operations. However, once a mine is operational, its operating costs tend to be significantly lower and relatively stable. Since mining revenues are subject to fluctuations in commodity prices, it is important for mine operators to wisely manage changes in production levels. Quick Ratio The quick ratio is a basic metric of liquidity and financial solvency. The ratio measures a company's ability to handle its current short-term financial obligations with liquid assetscash or assets that can quickly be converted into cash. The quick ratio is calculated by dividing the total current assets minus inventory by the company's total short-term obligations. This ratio is often referred to as the "acid test ratio" because it is considered such a strong fundamental indicator of a company's basic financial health or soundness. The quick ratio is important for evaluating mining companies because of the substantial capital expenditures and financing necessary for mining operations. Analysts and creditors prefer to see quick ratio values higher than 1, the minimum acceptable value. Operating Profit Margin The operating profit margin is a primary profitability ratio examined by analysts to gauge how effectively a company manages costs. This is important in the mining industry since mining companies frequently have to adjust production levels, significantly changing their total operational costs. The operating margin is calculated by dividing total operating profit by total revenues. A company's operating profit margin is considered a strong indicator of its potential growth and revenue. The average operating profit margin varies substantially between and within industries and is best used in comparisons between very similar companies. Return on Equity (ROE) Return-on-equity (ROE) is a key financial indicator considered by investors because it indicates the level of profit a company can generate from equity and return to stockholders. Average ROEs in the mining industry range between 5% and 9%, with the best-performing companies producing ROEs closer to 15% or more. The ratio is calculated by dividing net income by stockholders' equity. Analysts sometimes factor out of the calculation preferred stock equity and preferred stock dividends, resulting in the return on common equity ratio (ROCE). A popular alternative metric to the ROE ratio is the return on assets (ROA). Top News - Investor Idea REE Stock News - Defense Metals (TSX-V: DEFN.V) (OTCQB: DFMTF) Drills 113 metres of 2.50% Total Rare Earth Oxide at Wicheeda Vancouver, British Columbia - October 26, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mining / Metals / Green Energy Stock News - Defense Metals Corp. (TSX-V: DEFN / OTCQB: DFMTF/ FSE:35D) is pleased to announce high-grade Rare Earth Element ("REE") assay results from one additional core hole, totalling 383 metres (m), collared within the northern area of Defense Metals' 100% owned Wicheeda REE Deposit. Top Cleantech News - Investor Idea Breaking EV Stock News: Pre-orders for Mullen (NASDAQ: MULN) FIVE Electric-SUV Crossover Exceed Expectations as the FIVE 'Strikingly Different' Tour Begins BREA, Calif. - October 28, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Mullen Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN), an emerging electric vehicle ("EV") manufacturer, announces today that the Mullen FIVE "Strikingly Different" EV Crossover Tour which began yesterday, in Pasadena, California, is off to a great start with first day reservations exceeding expectations and overwhelmingly positive customer feedback. Top Health and Wellness News - Investor Idea Health and Wellness Stock News - Endexx (OTCBB: EDXC) Secures Third Order for Non-Nicotine Vape Product HYLA Worth Approximately $1.5M in Revenue for First two Fiscal Quarters of 2023 CAVE CREEK, Ariz. - October 27, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Endexx Corporation (OTCBB:EDXC), a provider of innovative, plant-derived, and sustainable health and skincare products, today announces it has secured three key significant orders for its newly acquired, non-nicotine plant-based vape product, HYLA. Top AI Stock News - Investor Idea Breaking AI Stock News: FatBrain (OTCQB: LZGI) Acquires Confidential Computing Platform ZeroTrust to Protect Data Privacy and Accelerate Innovation for Millions of Growth Businesses NEW YORK, NY - October 19, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc.) (OTCQB: LZGI), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for star enterprises of tomorrow, has acquired the confidential computing and privacy intellectual property (IP) plus software assets of Zero2A PTE LTD ("ZeroTrust Platform"), a software company based in Singapore. Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas: Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by Investorideas.com Newswire: Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire SAN DIEGO, CA - September 20, 2016 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB:GOPH) ("Gopher" and the "Company"), a development-stage Company which specializes in the development of real-time, heuristic-based mobile technologies, and its partner, Guardian Patch LLC, announce that they have successfully completed the first live demonstration and testing of the Guardian Patch (the "Patch") location technology that works with or without GPS. The demonstration of the "GOPHERINSIGHT" circuit prototype device, which took place in San Diego, California on September 14, 2016 between 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PT, proved range coverage of approximately 50 square miles. The Patch is a "stick-on" device that provides its users with the capability to protect and track objects, such as valuable personal belongings, children and loved-ones, and even family pets, through a mobile application. The demonstration of the Patch was completed in the San Diego area within a densely populated urban area. More than 1,000 active followers watched the live demonstration using the Guardian Mobile App. The Guardian Patch's Demonstration Route Click here for high-resolution version The Guardian Patch's Demonstration Route "Today we demonstrated our Patch technology's power and capabilities. We were pleased to provide the live public demonstration as part of our on-going mobile technology development sharing program. The Patch integrates key technologies and features to provide for an exceptional tracking experience and includes a new generation of truly portable and untethered devices which we believe are necessary in our modern world," said Company CTO, Dr. Danny Rittman. Dr. Rittman continued, "Our GopherInsight mobile technology provides users not only with connectivity and safety, but also with computing power enhancements and database capabilities compatible with our mobile world. We also plan to add a live demo portal to guardianpatch.com in the near future, which will allow live Patch viewing on Guardian Map applications." The Patch prototype unit contains the Company's GOPHERINSIGHT integrated circuit technology. The Patch prototype consists of mobile units and base units. The mobile unit's real-time position is shown on the mobile app. The system provides an accurate location and progress presentation of the Patch mobile unit via the mobile map. The prototype system is currently reporting about the mobile unit's location every few seconds in order to test a real-time positioning system. The web-based program may in the future provide statistical information about the mobile units, including, but not limited to, travel distance, cities visited, travel time and more. This data would be used in the future to enhance customers' vital statistics for personal purposes. In addition, other electrical factors are measured and studied, such as electrical power consumption, transmission intervals, terrain and weather effects and more. In parallel, the Company is constantly enhancing and improving the system's software to handle large amount of mobile units and their coverage. Special attention is also given to human engineering of user friendly UI (User Interface) of the mobile application software and the web-based control program. Additionally, a robust database management system is being designed in order to manage large numbers of mobile units efficiently. The Patch prototype, which the Company hopes will arrive in the consumer markets sometime in 2017, is a unique location technology that works with or without GPS. It is a stick-on tracking device that protects and tracks objects, from a phone to a laptop to a loved one or a pet, through a mobile app. About Guardian Patch The Guardian Patch (the "Patch"), potentially arriving in consumer markets in 2017, is a unique location technology that works with or without GPS. The Patch is a "stick-on" device that provides its users with the capability to protect and track objects, a loved-one or even a pet, through a mobile application. Download the Patch app, register your patch, and track anything that you own on your mobile device or on our designated website. Register the Patches of your family members and friends to receive alerts in the event of an emergency. Peel the Patch off and the Patch acts as a beacon, sending out a signal and notifying anyone who has registered the user's Patch. About Gopher Protocol Inc. Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) ("Gopher" and the "Company") (http://gopherprotocol.com) is a development-stage company developing a real-time, heuristic-based mobile technology. Upon development, the technology will consist of a smart microchip, mobile application software and supporting software that will run on a server. The system contemplates the creation of a global network. Gopher believes this will be the first system that is developed using a human, heuristic-based analysis engine. Since the core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology that will be capable of being installed in any mobile device worldwide, Gopher expects that this will result in an internal, private network between all mobile devices utilizing the microchip by providing mobile technology for computing power enhancement, advanced mobile database management/sharing and other additional mobile features. Corporate Site: http://gopherprotocol.com Press page/ press kit - http://gopherprotocol.com/?page_id=228 Consumer and product website for Guardian Patch: http://www.guardianpatch.com/ Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Contact each company directly regarding content and press release questions. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Disclosure: GOPH is a PR , social media and publishing client and compensates Investorideas.com ( three months effective April 4, 2016 - three thousand five hundred per month )More disclaimer info: http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Additional info regarding BC Residents and global Investors: Effective September 15 2008 - all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894. Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Levon Barseghyan: Targeted violence against journalists in Armenia Levon Barseghyans speech in the side event of OSCE HDIM in Warsaw The good news is that no journalist has been killed yet for his or her professional work. Other things are sad. As a rule, cases of violence against Mass Medias and journalists dramatically increase during political tensions, protests raising serious political issues, and elections. There was a time that violent actions were implemented by unknown entities or people with criminal past and related to any of influential oligarch or official. During the last two years, there is a new trend in Armenia: the Police, the body that is to maintain the public order and protect victims of violence, do most of crimes and attacks against journalists. During the past two years, attacks on journalists and other Media professionals by the Police or entities supported by them have mainly been during mass protest demonstrations. When the Police start to unreasonably disperse peaceful protests and apply brute force, the work of journalists paid special attention to, but not for supporting them and not letting them undergo harassment, but right the contrary, aiming at making their professional work difficult, hindering, stealing and/or destroying recordings through physical violence. Does a legally working police officer have a need to do such illegal actions? The logic says: no. Those, who do illegal actions, need it and they do not want all of that to be recorded or revealed in any way. Coordinated attacks against Mass Medias can only be explained this way. (Photo by Radio Liberty video record). I will now elaborate on the attacks on Mass Media representatives organized by the Police during the last two years. Early in the morning of June 23, 2015 during a protest against electricity price rise on Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan while beating the protesters and detaining them the Police and unknown entities cooperating with them beat and injured 13 journalists and operators and hindered the professional work of 11 other journalists. At the same time, technical equipment and memory cards of about ten journalists were intentionally broken and stolen. A witness and manager of all of this was General Levon Yeranosyan, deputy head of the Police, the commander of Internal Police troops. A criminal case was launched, only one investigator was examining the case, and for more than a year nobody was charged, and only on August 2016 four people were charged, who will most probably undergo amnesty after Sept 21, 2016. (Photo by Photolure) The second mass attack by Police forces on journalists and Mass Media professionals started on July 17, 2016, the first day of uprising of the armed group Sasna Tsrer and lasted two weeks. (Photo by Radio Liberty) The rights of journalists were illegally limited in the following ways: restriction of the freedom of movement, restriction of the freedom of speech, when they were not allowed to use their telephones, illegal detainments, beatings, hindering the professional work, using special means against journalists, destroying technical equipment, etc. Republic of Armenia State budget MLN AMD Police NSS Defense Incomes Outcomes To the previous year From State budget To the budget expenses To the previous year other incomes From State budget To the budget expenses To the previous year From State budget To the budget expenses To the previous year 2011 877900 1026500 24075 2,35% 11684 12744 1,24% 146227 14,25% 2012 938500 1071000 4,34% 24455 2,28% 1,58% 13187 13432 1,25% 5,40% 154473 14,42% 5,64% 2013 1059000 1183100 10,47% 29558 2,50% 20,87% 19953 16791 1,42% 25,01% 182740 15,45% 18,30% 2014 1168900 1284500 8,57% 33321 2,59% 12,73% ~ 21000 19153 1,49% 14,07% 194080 15,11% 6,21% 2015 1221300 1183003 -7,90% 38071 3,22% 14,26% 22552 23203 1,96% 21,15% 199033 16,82% 2,55% 2016 1183000 1337300 13,04% 39586 2,96% 3,98% 20527 1,53% -11,53% 208014 15,55% 4,51% Average 5,70% 2,71% 10,68% 1,53% 10,82% 15,47% 7,44% Change for 2011-2016 30,28% 64,43% 61,07% 42,25% The peak of police violations against journalist during the armed uprising of Sasna Tsrer was in Yerevan Sari Tagh district in the late evening of July 29, when at the end of clashes between police internal troops and protesters the same person general Levon Yeranosyan commanded to attack the protesters. The policemen not only used special means inadmissible in that situation, but also intentionally attacked and beat 23 cameramen, photographers, and journalists. Apart from policemen among attackers there were also bodyguards of police high officials and people known for their criminal behavior. However, more than one and a half months has passed and their photographs are published and spread, but none of them has been indicted or charged yet. The journalists beaten by policemen and bodyguards on the night of July 29 were appointed to undergo medical examination only after one and a half months after the incident. As a matter of fact, the Police dont properly conduct their responsibilities to maintain the public order, and at the same time they engage in criminal actions by attacking, beating and causing physical injuries not only to peaceful protesters, but also journalists. One might think the Police dont know about the Article 164 in the RA Criminal Code, according to which hindrance to the legal professional activities of a journalist is punishable. So, what is a cause of all of this? Its obvious that the Police cant go for such crimes on their own. If they had done it arbitrarily on June 23, 2015, they would have immediately been condemned, and such new crimes against journalist would not happen. This impunity is obviously sponsored by a RA supreme official. In countries where corruption is to the extent of even capture the state, as Armenia is, the extent of authoritarianism doesnt allow to assume anything else than that the head of all power structures is the first official, in Armenia it is Serzh Sargsyan, the person holding the position of the president. The impunity of law enforcement bodies and insiders is the best guarantee to freely implement such crimes in order to maintain this inhuman regime. If the regime punishes one policeman, it will not be able to command such violent actions or will not have result the next time. Maybe the Police dont have sufficient resources to properly deliver public services? When we examine the RA state budget and the funding granted to the Police, its easy to notice that the Police has been more than fully funded. During 2012-2015 the Police budget has increased by 10,68% annually (average for 5 years), when the state budget has increased only by 5,7% annually(average for last 5 years). In addition to this, the Police have annually received money from its off-budget revenues equal to the 80% of the state funding. In other words, police has been one of the most fully funded fields during the past 4-5 years, and judging the often-updated uniforms, special means and cars, every wish they have had, was financed. In 2011 the Police was given the 2,35% of the expenditure part of the RA state budget, 3,22% in 2015 and 2,96% in 2016. For 2011-2016 years state funding of the Police has increased by 64,43%. For comparison, the National Security Service funding has increased by 61,1% during the same time. None of the other state fields exceeds these ones. Defense funding has increased by 42,25%, and the overall state budget expenditure part has increased by 30,28% and income part by 34,75% for the same time period. That is to say, during the past 5 years Police and National Security Service funding have increased twice and outweighed the state budget increase pace. (Table in attachment bellow) But this was not enough for their professionalism. Along with this, OSCE has granted the Police with 837.375 in 2012 and at least 884.901 in 2013. These grants were allocated by OSCE with best wishes for ensuring professionalism and logistics, and to help increase experience in managing crowds. As a result, the Police have become more brutal, inhuman and humiliating towards citizens and journalists, in particular. Who can say, would the Police be less brutal and more responsible, it they didnt get OSCE support or not? Dont be surprised, but every time I try to find out the real number of the Police staff, police station staff members, policemen quantity, I am given a written and an official response, that the numbers are considered confidential with RA legislation and they cannot give me information. Indeed, the numbers are secret. We, the tax-payers, dont know how many policemen are sustained with our money. A number of times we suggested authorities that these numbers should be unclassified and disclosed, no result. Now, tell me, please, is it normal according to European standards to fund the Police of a country that keeps it secret from the society how many policemen are there? In how many OSCE countries is it like this? Does OSCE have statistics? Does OSCE know how many policemen and staff members are there in the RA Police? If not, how has it decided to give the journalist-beating Police such a huge funding? If the OSCE is informed about quantity of the Armenian policemen, why is Armenian society not informed? As the RA Police is a repressive machine committing illegal crimes, beating and detaining innocent and peaceful citizens and journalists, I consider it appropriate to turn to OSCE and other possible donors: stop funding that machine, because the crimes and inactivity of the past two years have shown that the main tools in an authoritarian regime should not be funded and nourished, they dont reform. Armenia has become a police state. Otherwise we would have at least 20 people convicted and sentenced for the events of Baghramyan Avenue in 2015, and at least 40-50 policemen and bodyguards for the Sari Tagh district events. And this is not the end. Attachment: budget shares to the Police, NSS and Defense needs Update 1.50pm: Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has today denied claims of a u-turn over Irish Water. Well actually, its quite consistent with the manifesto, he said. If you read the manifesto, it talks about scrapping water charges, likewise in terms of submission to the Commission on Taxation. Asked if he has been in consultation with his party, he responded: There has been ongoing consultation. The water policy has been adopted since before the election. In the aftermath as well weve discussed it obviously in the context of the Confidence and Supply Agreement [with Fine Gael] as well. Earlier: Water charges are unlikely to be reintroduced, the leader of Fianna Fail has declared, ahead of a special commission deciding on the future of water services and how they should be funded, writes Juno McEnroe, Political Correspondent. Micheal Martin also confirmed that his party will not back a Sinn Fein motion in the Dail next week to abolish water charges, even though Fianna Fail ultimately wants to scrap bills for households. He outlined how his party had effectively delivered the end to water charges after bills were frozen under the confidence and supply deal with the Fine Gael-minority government. A government-appointed commission on water charges is due to produce a report on the future of managing services in November, after which an Oireachtas committee will examine the issue and the Dail may act on it. Mr Martin said charges, currently frozen, were ultimately unlikely to be reintroduced. He said no Dail motion could scrap water charges and that only a Dail money bill could abolish bills. He said the confidence and supply deal with Fine Gael had essentially got rid of water charges. The only way that water charges can be reintroduced is via legislation by this Dail and that is unlikely given the configuration of parties within the Dail, he said. More than 90 TDs were elected to the Dail this year on promises to reform or abolish charges. Fianna Fail, which supported the Government on the basis that bills were frozen, has told the commission charges should be abolished. The party rejects claims it has done a U-turn, in the event of a snap election being called. Mr Martin said Fianna Fail would remain faithful to the commission and there would not have been a government without it being set up. However, he agreed that, regardless of the outcome of the commission, water charges were unlikely to be reintroduced. Mr Martin was asked whether he thought the charges would be abolished. I do, but there are other wider issues besides just charges which fall to be considered, he said. He accused Sinn Fein, who are set to introduce a bill to scrap charges in the Dail next week, of playacting in relation to their motion. Motions on their own cannot get rid of charges, only legislation can, he said. Sinn Fein says its motion presents Fianna Fail with an opportunity to stop flip-flopping on the issue. MEP Lynn Boylan said: The reality is we do not have to wait nine months for a so-called expert commission to recommend the scrapping of water charges. The Dail can vote in favour of abolition as early as next week and, in doing so, deliver what people actually voted for at the general election in February. They didnt vote for a suspension of water charges. People want to see them scrapped. This story first appeared in the Read More: Irish Examiner. International humanitarian aid agency, Concern Worldwide, has condemned the attack on a UN aid convoy delivering food relief, which killed at least 20 people yesterday and destroyed 18 trucks laden with supplies for civilians living in rebel-held Aleppo. The agency, which is delivering aid to over 200,000 civilians in key locations inside Syria, said political leaders can no longer stand by and let war crimes go unpunished. Conveying her outrage regarding the attack in Urum al-Kubra, Concerns Regional Director for the Middle East & Asia Brid Kennedy said there was no excuse for bombs being dropped on aid convoys that were permitted to travel to civilians desperate for food and supplies. "This heinous attack is a clear breach of international humanitarian law. Our thoughts go to the families of those brave humanitarians of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), who were killed risking their lives to help those in desperate need. The UN has suspended all aid convoys heading into Syria in the wake of the attacks, a devastating blow to the progress that was made last week during the seven-day ceasefire that offered a glimmer of hope to ensure aid would be safely allowed to move in Syria. It appears we have taken two steps backwards on the path towards peace in Syria. This is simply shameful, added Brid Kennedy. Concern is delivering clean water and sanitation to over 200,000 civilians inside Syria as well as distributing food baskets with the support of local partners on the ground. It is also delivering humanitarian aid to a further 122,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey and Lebanon providing clean water and sanitation and food, through an e-voucher system. CEO of Concern Dominic MacSorley who is attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week, added: A ceasefire without safe access is largely meaningless. It is critical the UN investigate who exactly was responsible for this attack and hold them to account. World leaders meeting in New York must move with greater speed and try again to secure a peaceful and long-lasting solution to this never-ending war before more lives are needlessly lost. French authorities have made eight new arrests in connection with the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that left 86 people dead, the Paris prosecutor's office said. The office said the suspects detained on Monday were French and Tunisian and had links to the attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who ploughed a 19-ton truck down Nice's Promenade des Anglais and into a crowd assembled for a July 14 fireworks display. Hillary Clinton has cast herself as the most qualified to combat terrorism in the US after a weekend of violent attacks in three states. Going after rival Donald Trump, she argued that his anti-Muslim rhetoric is helping Islamic militants, including the so called Islamic State (IS), recruit new fighters. The Democratic presidential candidate touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Republican Mr Trump for using the incidents to make "some kind of demagogic point". "I'm the only candidate in this race who's been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield," Mrs Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. "I have sat at that table in the Situation Room." She added: "I know how to do this." New York's governor and mayor said on Monday that the bombings in a Manhattan neighbourhood and a New Jersey shore town are looking increasingly like acts of terrorism with a foreign connection. Authorities are also investigating the stabbings of nine people at a Minnesota mall as a possible act of terrorism. An Afghan immigrant wanted for questioning in the bombings was captured in New Jersey on Monday after being wounded in a gun battle with police, authorities said. The violence cast a long shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates' attention from the daily controversies of the presidential race. Mrs Clinton and her team see her foreign policy experience as a key selling point for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama. But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Mrs Clinton, Mr Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close US borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fuelled his presidential bid. Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Germain Arena, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Ft. Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) "Knock the hell out of 'em," Mr Trump told Fox And Friends in a phone interview on Monday morning. "We're not knocking them, we're hitting them once in a while; we're hitting them in certain places. We're being very gentle about it. We're going to have to be very tough," Mr Trump told Fox News Channel. He said that US leaders, including Mr Obama, "coddle" potential terrorists. Mr Trump once again took credit for predicting current events, pointing to his Saturday night announcement that a bomb had caused the explosion in New York City. That was less than an hour after the explosion and before authorities had publicly said so. Mrs Clinton urged voters not to "get diverted and distracted by the kind of campaign rhetoric we hear from the other side". She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with IS, are rooting for Mr Trump to win the White House. The Republican has said he would bar immigration from nations with ties to terrorism. "We're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them, but we're not going to go after an entire religion," Mrs Clinton said. She briefly turned her focus from national security on Monday, wooing younger voters at a midday rally at a Philadelphia university. Her campaign acknowledges she needs to do more to get millennials on board. She is scheduled to meet with the leaders of Egypt, Ukraine and Japan late in the day in New York City. The leaders are in New York for the UN General Assembly. Mr Trump, too, announced plans to meet with Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Monday. Donald Trump arrives to speak to a campaign rally at Germain Arena, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Ft. Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) The events came as both candidates were dealing with missteps. Mr Trump and his allies spent Sunday - repeatedly and falsely - accusing Mrs Clinton of pushing the idea that Mr Obama was not born in the US - a conspiracy theory long championed by Mr Trump himself. Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, is still facing questions about her health and openness after a video caught her staggering after abruptly leaving a 9/11 ceremony. Almost a quarter of firms have been robbed by their own staff over the past three years in what is one of the most common types of crime affecting businesses. Despite theft by a member of staff affecting 23.5% of the businesses surveyed by security firm Netwatch Group in its biannual threat index report, Irish companies are failing to take the necessary precautions to prevent internal crime. A fifth of firms do not oversee employee behaviour in any way while 25% dont monitor their premises. Building on research carried out earlier this year by the Irish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Association (ISME) which painted a similar picture of the levels of crime affecting businesses, Netwatch founder and chief executive David Walsh said firms need to do more to protect themselves from criminals. We developed this report to keep Irish businesses informed as to what threats they are facing and what best can be done to avoid these threats. "Coupled with ISME research, we have clear evidence that crime is not only causing businesses in Ireland to be drastically out of pocket, it is also losing them valuable working hours. While it may not be surprising that robbery and vandalism are high on the list of crimes affecting Irish companies, theft by staff members is also worryingly high. Businesses need to be aware of where their stock and assets are at all times, and remote monitoring is an important part of this process. "CCTV and access monitoring are not only important for preventing crime but without them, companies have a slower road to recovery ahead of them should they fall victim to crime, Mr Walsh said. A fifth of businesses dont monitor their premises with CCTV, according to the research. In addition to firms being hit for an average of 166,500 as a result of criminal activity over the past three years, companies also lose valuable working time. More than nine in 10 firms affected by crime lost working hours as a result of the incident with 23.5% losing a total of more than 50 hours over the past three years. Robbery (35%) is the most frequently committed crime affecting businesses followed by theft by a member of staff (24%) and vandalism (23%). The additional cuts brings the total trimming of management positions under Mr. Easts reign to more than 600. About 270 of those positions had been phased out as of July 28, the CEO said at the companys half-year earnings report. Rolls-Royce has been struggling amid a downturn in demand for marine engines and servicing revenues from its business jet turbines. The company targets savings of 30m-50m this year as part of a broader restructuring effort aimed at cutting spending by 200m by the end of 2017. The goal is to match margins achieved by competitors Pratt & Whitney and GE implying savings of as much as 1bn. The latest push involves restructuring our management population and will result in a number of people leaving the business, Rolls-Royce said in the statement. This is part of our ongoing transformation programme, designed to remove complexity and cost by simplifying our processes and our structure. Mr. East, who took over the leadership role from predecessor John Rishton in July last year, has said the enginemaker has suffered from a bloated management team and overly complex decision-making procedures. The leadership change came as Rolls-Royce entered a demanding ramp up of engine deliveries for Airbus A350 XWB and A330neo aircraft, that will see the manufacturer double its output of engines to meet demand. Last year the company said its average annual employee numbers had dropped by 3,600 to 50,500 in 2015. The company has separately announced 2,600 staff cuts in its aerospace business and 1,000 in its marine business, which supplies engines mainly to the oil and gas industry. At the same time the company, which on Friday was awarded a contract to develop Britains first nuclear plant in three decades, has doubled its employees in its nuclear business since 2011. Rolls-Royce took 53m in restructuring charges in the first half of the year, with its expectations for a full-year hit on profits of between 75m and 100m unchanged, the company said at the weekend. The stock has climbed 30% this year, valuing the company at 13.6bn and was up over 1.5% yesterday. Plans for the modernisation of the RDS Showgrounds/Arena which houses the annual Dublin Horse Show and Leinster Rugby home fixtures were lodged last month and seek to rebuild the outdated Anglesea Stand and increase the Arenas capacity from 18,500 spectators to 21,000. The RDS has claimed the redevelopment will create a top-class experience for fans and positively impact on the Dublin Horse Show, Leinster Rugby and other events held in the main arena. Planning documents lodged with the application state the annual economic impact from the staging of rugby matches, concerts and the Horse Show amounts to between 136m and 166m per year. The document states the direct spend by rugby supporters for Leinsters home Pro 12 games is 1.9m per match and the economic impact would be around 3.6m to 5.5m per match. The plan involves the demolition of the existing 1930s Anglesea Stand and its replacement with a new stand to accommodate 6,841 fans - up from the present 5,743 - and hospitality areas including corporate dining facilities and the Pocket Bar. The RDS first opened its doors to rugby union in October 2005 and the venue became the official home of Leinster in the 2007-08 season when the province signed a 20-year lease with the RDS. However, in a strenuous objection, the Anglesea Road Residents Association said the residents experience daily disruption from the 400-plus events now held annually at the RDS. The Associations secretary, Tim Hennessy writes: This number has increased exponentially in the last number of years with access and parking now becoming unbearable obstacles to residents. It is now quite clear that in order to be commercially viable there will be an increase in commercial activity to justify the building cost of this stand. The presence of Leinster Rugby has been particularly disruptive to residents, with large numbers of families attending matches seeking parking locally. He added Leinster Rugby should be located to a more suitable ground. In a submission in support of the application, IRFU chief executive Philip Browne states the redeveloped Anglesea Stand will enhance and rejuvenate the Anglesea Stand which is no longer compatible with visitor expectations. A decision is due by the Council on the application next month. The director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute Tom Healy said Ireland needs to develop a strong, efficient export-led economy which despite some notable exceptions has not yet been achieved. The real game is not what worked in the past or even now. It is the need to develop a strong, export-orientated, high-productivity, high-skill and resilient domestic sector enterprise sector. Of that number, up to 500 positions will be generated in Cork as GE Healthcare invests 150m in four factories at a new biopharma campus. In the short term, another 800 people will be employed in preparatory site works and construction at the new GE biopark. Elsewhere, Oneview Healthcare software company is recruiting 50 staff in Dublin. Global biopharma company, Mallinckrodt announced another 75 jobs at its Blanchardstown office in Dublin. Forty of the jobs will be in research and development while 35 will operate in other functions at the site. Meanwhile, MathWorks, which makes mathematical software for research and development, will create 50 sales and services jobs in Galway. The mayor of Cork, Seamus McGrath, and the chief executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, described the GE Healthcare announcement as a significant win for industry in the Cork region and an endorsement of Cork. The factories in Ringaskiddy will manufacture next-generation biopharmaceuticals and 100 of the jobs will be with GE Healthcare while the remaining 400 will be with other biopharma companies. These companies are likely to be both Irish and international but their names have yet to be revealed, said David Radspinner, GE Healthcare BioPark general manager. Amongs the products to be made at the Cork site are monoclonal antibodies. The 500 jobs will be high-end advanced manufacturing roles including engineering, quality control, environmental health and safety, and management positions. The hiring process will begin next year according to Mr Radspinner but the bulk of the positions will not become operational until 2018. The four new buildings at the IDAs Loughbeg site in Ringaskiddy will be pre-fabricated as this will ensure savings of 25-30% on a traditional build. The construction phase, subject to planning approvals, is expected to begin in mid- 2017. Cork Chamber of Commerce CEO Conor Healy said the decision to establish a manufacturing campus in Ringaskiddy was testament to the strength and success of the biopharmaceutical sector in Cork, as well as the track record of GEs existing operation in Carrigtwohill. To further develop biopharma manufacturing skills and expertise in Ireland, GE and the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) also announced plans to create a NIBRT-GE Single-use Centre of Excellence at NIBRTs Dublin facility. NIBRT expects to train up to 1,500 bioprocessing professionals annually on next-generation biologic manufacturing technologies. These exceptional technologies for biopharma manufacturing will be used in GE BioPark Corks manufacturing facilities. The GE BioPark Cork will be a GE-managed campus and the four KUBio modular factories will be owned by independent biopharma companies manufacturing proprietary medicines. Minister for Enterprise Mary Mitchell OConnor said that biopharma is one of the fastest growing sectors and makes a huge contribution to the Irish economy. Biopharma and software sector jobs The allegation, which was made by a woman in her early sixties, is that she was raped by a member of staff in a changing room, following a medical procedure. Kerrys chief superintendent, Con Cadogan, yesterday said a file is being prepared and will involve forensic results. The scene was preserved and CCTV footage was harvested. A number of witnesses have been interviewed, Chief Supt Cadogan said. He has appealed to anyone with information to come forward. The staff member is accused of raping the woman when she was changing into her clothes after the procedure. The accused man, who is married and from abroad, was employed temporarily by the hospital. Following the alleged incident, which took place on September 10, it is understood that the health professional was suspended and he has now resigned and may have left the country. The hospital said it was not commenting. The victim made an initial complaint, before going to Cork University Hospital that evening to undergo a specialist medical examination. She then made a formal complaint to gardai later in the week. She is believed to have told gardai that she gave the staff member a 10 tip and he then followed her into the changing room, where he raped her. The hospital was voted Irelands Private Hospital of the Year in 2014. It serves a catchment area of 170,000 people and has expanded significantly in recent years. It has 50 medical consultants and 150 beds. She was giving evidence on day one of the trial of a Dublin youth, aged 17, accused of falsely imprisoning her and her adviser, Karen OConnell, during the demonstration at the Fortunestown Rd in Jobstown in Tallaght, Dublin, on November 15, 2014. The teen was aged 15 at the time and is being tried before Judge John King at the Dublin Childrens Court. He denies the charges. The prosecution alleges that the tanaiste and her entourage were trapped for about three hours after they had attended a graduation ceremony at the An Cosan education centre. The former Labour leader and minister for social protection told prosecuting counsel Tony McGillicuddy that she arrived at about 11.30am for the ceremony. She described the graduation ceremony as having a happy atmosphere and she was given a warm welcome. Ms Burton said that she noticed some protesters when she arrived. A young male in a blue tracksuit was holding a phone close to her face trying to take a photo and saying talk to us, Joan, she said. The defence said that she was referring to the youth, who was accompanied to the court by his mother and his legal team. The teenager cannot be named because he is a minor. Ms Burton said that she went to a nearby church for the second part of the ceremony. She walked with her entourage as well as the graduates, academics, and others involved with An Cosan. She alleged that she was hit twice with water balloons, adding that it hurt and her clothes were wet. She said the crowd was pushing and she felt it surge and she described them as very wild. She said that this was is when the hassle started. Ms OConnell gave her a jacket to wear for the remainder of the ceremony. After she made her speech at the church, she was advised by a garda that she would have to leave. Joan Burton during the Jobstown protest in November 2014. She said she made haste to a garda car. She sat in the back with Ms OConnell and she said there was a lot of noise and offensive language. Ms OConnell was upset and she put her arms around her, the court was told. There was a large number of children present and she was concerned about them, Ms Burton said. She said some of the protesters were banging on the windows. She also said the teenager was standing beside the car. Ms Burton said there was a lot of vulgar abuse and she was called a fucking c**t and stuff like that. One person behind the car had a megaphone and she said that, at this point, she wanted to be able to leave as early as possible. She said she feared what would happen if they got the car door open. Gardai moved her to a second vehicle, a jeep. She said the officers were around her like a screen and the crowd was pushing. She said they were very aggressive and there was a lot of pushing. Plastic bottles and eggs were being thrown she said. She said that when she reached the Garda jeep she flung herself into the back seat. She felt menaced and added: I worried what will happen if they manage to open the car doors. She said protesters continued banging on the roof and doors and shouting abuse. She said she was very frightened and comforted Ms OConnell. She was a little upset and, to be honest, I put my arm around her and said well be fine, she said. When she was being moved to that car, she had worried that she would not be able to run because she lost her shoe and she felt she was losing her footing. There were more protesters around and the jeep moved off slowly. After what seemed a long time, she was transferred to another garda vehicle which rushed her away, she said. In cross-examination, Giollaoisa O Lideadha SC, defending, put it to Ms Burton that gardai made an operational decision to progress the situation. Are you suggesting I had an alternative, of leaving the car? Because I dont think I had, she replied. Ms Burton said she made a statement to gardai but had no knowledge of what charges would be brought. She denied that she hoped the event would be damaging to others or how she would present it for political purposes. Ms OConnell told the court she had been crying and in a state of shock. I was very upset, she said. I was hyperventilating. I felt very unsafe. I felt very distressed. She also said that, during the walk from An Cosan to the church, she was struck on her back. When they were being moved to the jeep she heard someone say get the c**ts, there they go. She stumbled and they were bundled into the jeep, she said. She also said that, as the situation escalated, the number of protesters increased. A garda public order unit came in riot gear and an agreement was made that the protesters could slow march out in front of the jeep, the court was told. Short video clips taken by Ms Burton and Ms OConnell on their phones were shown in court. Ms OConnell also said demonstrators shouted at them that they hoped she and the former tanaiste would die. She also alleged she saw a garda getting struck after an open can of beans was thrown at her. The trial continues today. VALERIES name was announced on her trendy apron. She took coffee orders one at a time, her movements slow, unrushed. Unresponsive until she faced customers, she clearly had diminished hearing, but that was hardly surprising: Valerie looked about 70. It is a chronic error to project society forward further than 10 years and expect it to be the same as today. It wont be. Many of our parents and grandparents will have to take up menial jobs to supplement income. Valerie is in the vanguard of what is coming. Her shift ended with my last sip of coffee. She drove off in a jaded small car, first registered in the 1990s. The Irish pensions model, which purports to offset old-age poverty and prevent retirement apartheid for the majority, is on its way to the scrapyard. It is dying from an acute set of afflictions against which it cannot stand. Its worst affliction is neglect born out of political cowardice, a deeply embedded trait in a system that punishes long-term planning in favour of populist, short-term thinking and which provides to the national parliament a steady stream of those who are best at promising the undeliverable to the gullible. The rot at the centre, clientelism, which positions TDs as brokers, intermediating between State agencies and their clients, is routinely rewarded by many voters, who like the arrangement. This explains why independent TD, Michael Lowry, tops the poll in his Tipperary north constituency, and why others at its apex consider dancing on a jeep outside the Dail to be a popular expression of the systems triumph. The truth is that not one parliamentarian is prepared to champion a task that begins with accepting the need to radically overhaul their own pensions, and recognising them as a part of a trans-generational Ponzi scheme that deeply embeds inequality. Neither is there a champion among the hard left, those who see every issue as a part of a mythical struggle by the proletariat against oppression and whose answer to every dilemma is to plunder higher-earners, which has the benefit of garnering votes by selling the pleasing message of victimhood, rather than accepting personal responsibility to pay taxes and levies. The inconvenient truth is that both the old-age and public-sector pensions are unsustainable and, much like the health system and universities, the only way of dealing with the issue is to fund them and manage them properly, a difficult message to a public weaned on voting for those who best promise to fix their problems by getting the neighbours to pay. Throughout the world, pension schemes that promise guaranteed income for 20 to 30 years are closing down, crushed by the madness that it is possible to sustain a ratio of working years to non-working years of two to one, while largely propped up by the paltry returns on long-term government bonds. If the strongest corporations in the world, which rely heavily on government securities, are incapable of filling the yawning gap, how can the Irish pay as you go model, which underpins public and old-age pensions, be expected to do so? No one asks, yet this is the moving statue in the pensions market. The pay as you go model, favoured by the insider officer class to defend the existing system, is, for an aging population, cover for a pernicious transfer of wealth from the private workforce and its future generations to a middle-aged, fully pensioned minority, led by them. Every time I get a balance sheet from this sector, theres inevitably a large blank for the value of accrued pension benefits. Its seen as an entitlement and not an asset, yet in all cases it vastly outweighs the value of every other asset owned, including homes, even when valued at bubble prices. A guaranteed, lifelong pension, payable from ones mid-60s of just 25k escalating each year is worth 1m. Add up all these pension promises and they exceed twice Irelands elevated national debt, but receive little public attention, including from the State broadcaster. Unless Ireland introduces a properly funded universal pension scheme and caps excessive pensions in some public-sector contracts, age 75, followed quickly by age 80, will become the new age 65 and the old-age pension will be rationed by the introduction of means-testing. Meanwhile, Ireland will experience a chronic problem with retirement poverty, with most of its old-age population feeling bitterly excluded. Ireland desperately needs a proper study of the crisis at our doorstep, as a precursor to engaging in rigorous public debate on the many choices and solutions to it. Left undone, society will slip into retirement apartheid, an inevitable outcome of punishing long-term planning at the ballot box because it may personally cost us. Sadly, we can be pretty sure that none of the above will feature as a priority on flip charts festooning political think-ins. Such a debate has all the appeal of a dose of Epsom salts with your coffee. A number of key proposals in Mr Coveneys ambitious housing plan have drawn the ire of the European Commission which described them as costly and counterproductive to sound management of the economy. The latest European Commission report on Irelands progress since exiting the troika programme in late 2013 has also criticised the Governments plan to cut the Universal Social Charge and suspension of water charges. The Government has suspended water charges as part of its deal with Fianna Fail and has committed to abolish the USC a move which the EC said is contrary to a commitment to broaden its tax base. The commission said such moves would represent a backward step from the progress made under the troika programme. At his partys think-in in Carlow, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said pensioners must be prioritised, leading to speculation that he will insist on a 5 increase to the weekly pension. The EC said such calls to increase government spending will have a negative impact on the public finances, questioning whether increases in tax revenues will continue in the years ahead. However, in respect of the Action Plan for Housing, the report found that Mr Coveneys plan to introduce a tax- based help-to-buy scheme for first-time buyers is costly and counterproductive when the supply of houses is constrained. Demand-side measures could contribute to further upward pressure on prices, said the commission. The report is also critical of the changes to Irish Water on foot of the suspension of water charges. Changes to the structure of Irish Water could be costly and might negatively affect the utilitys operation, it added. The report said Irelands economic adjustment had been remarkable but warned of a potential deviation from the prudential management of the economy in recent years. The commission said the result of the Brexit vote represented an adverse shock, saying that consumer confidence could decline due to increased uncertainty. Such uncertainty has pushed back the Governments planned divestment of its stake in the bailed-out banks until 2017 at least, the report stated. A spokesman for Mr Coveney said: It is the ministers intention to introduce a targeted supply-side measure for first-time buyers of new affordable homes. He is acutely conscious of the possible implications on the demand-side and for house prices. With this in mind he will be discussing this matter closely with the minister for finance. The recovery does not appear to have spread to rural Ireland with 40% of respondents in the Irish Examiner opinion poll claiming they do not believe the economic recovery has benefitted them or their family, compared to 37% who said it had. There appeared to be no difference in opinion between those with an off-farm income and those without, but younger farmers were more likely to state that the recovery had helped them 47% of those aged under 34 said they had benefitted, and the corresponding figure for those aged 35 to 44 was 42%, versus 26% of those aged 55 to 64. When it came to farming issues, 83% of farmers said the profession was one of the hardest ways to earning a living, with this view most prevalent among the 45 to 54 years age group at 87%, and among tillage (92%) and livestock farmers (85%). They also had an issue with the implementation of EU legislation, with 78% of respondents claiming the Department of Agriculture was too strict in this regard. The percentage of farmers who held this opinion rose through the generations, with 80% of farmers aged 55 to 64 holding this view. Feelings of uncertainty over the future might also be a factor in the fall in the number of farmers who said they planned on either buying or renting land in the near future. While 21% said they were likely to buy land up from 18% last year just 3% said they would be renting, compared with 11% in 2015. Only a small percentage of farmers in the survey said they were likely to exit farming, 4%, although that is double the comparable percentage for last year. Likewise, just 2% plan on selling land, up from 1% last year. When it comes to the likelihood of buying or renting land in the next five years, the biggest contraction is among the 35 to 54 group. Other issues did not seem to have such a bearing on positivity levels. For example, 32% agreed that farmers should cut back production to reduce global warming, while 24% of respondents said their level of farm debt was too high. Perhaps unexpectedly, older farmers are more likely to back a drop in production to help reduce emissions compared with younger farmers. Regarding levels of farm debt, farmers in the 45 to 54 age group again appeared the most stressed, with more than one-third of respondents in that age bracket claiming their level of farm debt was too high. Level of farmers with extra income stream rises to over 50% More than half of farmers (52%) do not have any form of off-farm income a larger percentage than in the last two years. Just over a fifth of respondents said the farmer had an off-farm job, while in 30% of cases it was the spouse who worked off-farm. Dairy farmers are the least likely to work away from the farm just 18% of respondents involved in dairy said they had an off-farm income, whereas the equivalent figure among livestock farmers was double that, at 36%. Younger and middle-aged farm families are more likely to have an off-farm job 54% of households aged under 35 had at least one member working off-farm, and this rose to 65% of those in the 35-44 age group, while 55% of the 45-54 age group also had at least one off-farm income. ICMSA president John Comer said: The decline in the overall number of farmers who have off-farm income is probably the clearest indication and validation of that survey finding that showed that some 40% of farmers believed that the economic recovery had not benefitted them or their family. The kinds of occupations from which most farmers would have earned off-farm income, like rural building, etc, have still not shown any resurgence, certainly in rural districts that would have made it possible for farmers to work and run their farms. In terms of the dairy farmers, where we have just 18% stating that they have off-farm income, that merely shows the sheer size of the workload dairying demands as well as the intensive time commitments. Its not feasible for the average dairy farmers to consider off-farm income even if suitable work was available locally because the demands of dairying effectively make it not just a full-time occupation but the kind of occupation where an average dairy farmers might work in excess of 90 hours per week in March or April. READ MORE: The Irish Examiner / ICMSA farming survey: Methodology READ MORE:Farming Poll 2016: Vital that all farmers get to voice concerns READ MORE:Farming Poll 2016: Most farmers 'have at least one other income coming in' as optimism falls in every sector READ MORE:Farming Poll 2016: Farmers fear Brexit fallout but support for not perfect EU still high The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles by Mark Burton, who was married to Irish woman Cathriona White, 30, at the time of her death, when she had been in a relationship with Carrey. Burtons suit attempts to strip Carrey of his grieving good guy image and paints him as reckless and deceitful before and after her death. Fr Tony ORiordan said local families are living under constant threats, intimidation, and extortion, despite garda operations over recent years which have seen some of the leaders of the citys most notorious gangs jailed. Im conscious there might be a risk to myself, but I think it is time to speak out, Fr ORiordan said. Children here are often left hungry because the household is under such pressure that the money to feed the children is being taken by these gangs. Threats to families physical safety are often carried out, in the form of beatings and threats to property. Families are living in fear. The community lives in fear of standing up to these people and so people understandably keep their heads down. Fr ORiordan said older youths, along with their parents, have come to him expressing suicidal thoughts because they cannot find a way out. These young addicts owe a debt and, if they cant pay it off, they are used to act as contraband couriers and they are also used by the gang to intimidate other addicts, he said. Its a vicious circle. At the height of Limericks drug gang feud, up to 20 men were murdered, and gardai maintained a 24-hour presence in Moyross and other flashpoint areas. Despite a let-up in Limericks gangland killings in recent years, Fr ORiordan has warned that the drug gangs have not gone away, and he fears that more lives may be lost unless urgent action is taken. Fear is a constant backdrop in the lives of many people in Moyross fear of intimidation, and threats from drug dealers extorting money, said Fr ORiordan. Its a really evil aspect of this city. Its not really highlighted I dont think theres enough being done about it. Following the publication of the John Fitzgerald Report in April 2007, a 3bn plan was launched to physically and socially regenerate Moyross and three other estates St Marys Park, Ballinacurra Weston, and Southill. Three years later, the plans were deemed unfeasible and a scaled-down version was approved by the government of the time, which pledged 337m to the project in June 2010. Fr ORiordan said: What worries me is that I dont think we will ever regenerate the community and normalise them fully unless we tackle the drugs. OK, murder and mayhem have been stymied, but the drug trade still goes on and operates in a really murky violent way. Fr ORiordan delivered a hard-hitting homily at Sunday Mass in the estate, in which he warned anyone involved in the gangs: Hell awaits you. You might be escaping the reaches of justice in this life, but you will face eternal justice for your evil actions, your lack of mercy, and your drug and blood money will be of no use to you then. To those profiting from drugs and dealing drugs, in the name of God, stop. Calling on the drug dealers to reflect and change their ways, he added: Reject the lure of drug money. Open your eyes and hearts to the damage you do to children, and mothers, and how you destroy individuals, families, and communities. Any other good you do in life is worthless because of your evil enterprise. Mr Noonan is to review an invitation to the PAC, his spokesman has said. Nama is scheduled to appear before the PAC on September 29 and Mr Noonans attendance is now being demanded by members of the committee. The PAC is investigating Namas sale of its 1.6bn Northern loan book and there have been calls for Mr Noonan to make himself available to the committee, despite it not being the norm for ministers to go before it. Vivian Geiran said he welcomed the multi-agency project, which brings together Oberstown Childrens Detention Centre, the Courts and Probation, as well as an external organisation. As reported in the Irish Examiner on Monday, the scheme, due to start by the end of this month, will begin with five to eight children, but could expand to 20 within a year. It will operate on a pilot basis in Dublin and, based on a review, could be rolled out to other parts of the country. It is aimed at reducing the very high numbers of young people being held on remand in custody at Oberstown. What we are trying to do is keep as many young people out of the custodial system as we can, said Mr Geiran. He said there was always a danger with new criminal justice measures of bringing more people in than required. We dont want to widen the net. This hits the right note: its for people who definitely would otherwise be remanded in custody. He said the scheme will provide a speedy multi-agency assessment and response for the courts. Mr Geiran said the people being targeted would be known to gardai and would probably have been in contact with probation services before. He said the scheme was a bit of an ideological and cultural shift as these people have only been charged and not yet convicted. Oberstown director Pat Bergin said he was concerned at the very high number of children remanded to Oberstown 17 on the day he spoke to the Irish Examiner, compared to 27 committals. He said most remands dont settle in and do not engage with services as much as those who have been sentenced and are in Oberstown for months or years. Meanwhile, the chair of Oberstowns board of management said she and Childrens Minister Katherine Zappone did not want to see a repeat of industrial action which saw young people locked in their rooms for 19 hours on August 28-29 last. Professor Ursula Kilkelly said the boards appointment of two eminent experts to conduct an examination of the operations of Oberstown was an opportunity to stand back and take a fresh look with a fresh pair of eyes. She said Barry Goldson was Europes leading youth criminologist and that Nicholas Hardwick was a former prisons inspector. Prof Kilkelly said they will engage in a process of engagement and reflection as to how Oberstown was functioning. She told Morning Ireland that this was not a paper review and the experts would be on the floor and engaging with staff and young people. She said there was a need to strike a balance between care for the young people and the safety and security of Oberstown, particular the staff and community in Lusk, north Dublin. She said she absolutely accepted there were concerns regarding how young people were treated on the day of industrial action. The countrys medicine watchdog, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), has warned of the dangers of the prescription drugs. New figures from the HSE show the increasing health toll of the drugs. Anabolic steroids are male sexual hormones, and include testosterone, which builds muscle tissue. In 2005, 185 people were hospitalised for taking anabolic steroids. Last year, this figure had almost doubled to 348 . The HPRA warned young people against illegally pumping up on steroids. These are potent medicines that should only be prescribed, and used, for medical purposes under the care and guidance of a doctor, said a HPRA statement. Sports players and body builders claim the drugs help them to train harder and longer and to recover more quickly from gruelling gym sessions. They also build muscle mass. However, the drugs have been cause roid rage, making some steroid users paranoid, irritable, aggressive and violent, and induce mood swings. The HPRA said a recent haul of prescription-only anabolic steroids was destined for the illegal performance- and image-enhancing markets. These include the body-building sector, where body-image enhancement through the abuse of these medicines is prevalent, said the HPRA in a statement. The medicines concerned were unauthorised and imported for the purpose of sale on the illicit market. The abuse of anabolic steroid-containing medicines is prevalent in gymnasiums. The drugs are also being smuggled into Irelands prisons to be used by gym-going inmates. Ben Buckley, from the Irish Prison Service, said some prisoners use the illegal drugs to pump up their muscles. Hundreds of tablets are being thrown over the walls in prisons, said Mr Buckley. The criminal elements have a big draw to the fitness thing. Its those guys pulling in the steroids. Steroids are being used by guys who go to the gym. They dont realise the danger of them. What is happening in prisons is reflective of what is happening in the streets. In young people, anabolic steroids can disrupt body development, stunting growth. It can also cause men to lose hair, develop acne, and suffer shrunken testicles. Regular users can have trouble sleeping, becoming paranoid and experiencing dramatic mood swings. Deirdre OKane is looking forward to the unique challenge of narrating Gogglebox Ireland. The popular UK reality series in which members of the public comment on television shows has been remade for TV3, with the first episode airing Thursday night. OKane has a very specific task: she must milk humour from the situation without scoffing at the participants. There is no mocking in the British version it is all very gentle and in a good spirit, says the Co Louth comedian and actress (she will share narration with Rory Cowan of Mrs Browns Boys, who takes over from episode five). Which is at it should be. Its not about watching other people and passing judgement on how they are living. Its about the funny side of their situation. Sneery would be a very easy road to go down. But I wont be doing that. Quietly slipped onto the Channel 4 schedule in March 2013, Gogglebox has become a sensation, with local versions airing in 36 countries. The format is almost ludicrously straightforward: we watch people slumped in front of the telly dryly commenting on what they see. Viewers have built up a relationship with the regulars on the show, coming to regard them as good friends whom they welcome into their homes. It took three years for Channel 4 to come around to the idea, says Simon Procter, producer of the Irish series. It was very low key. Initially they put it out late at night because they werent quite sure. It has grown and grown. Dublin girls Jamie, Lindsay, Ashley and Grainne are reality TV addicts and their ideal Friday night involves the sofa, the telly, a gossip session and copious amounts of white wine. From Prosecco-glugging poshos Steph and Dom to Liverpool pensioners Leon and June, Gogglebox has turned unknowns into reality television stars. If anything, Procter believes the Irish lineup whose details have been kept mostly under wraps have the potential to make an even bigger impact. People here are used to watching the British one. They are familiar with the format. The Irish can really talk and they love telly. We should be flying. In casting Irelands Goggleboxers, Procter was at pains not to slavishly replicate the Channel 4 formula. There will be no Irish Steph and Dom, no equivalent of the Reverend Kate and hubby. Why give people something they have seen already? To stand on its own feet, Gogglebox Ireland must forge its own path. We want to make it different from the British one, while hopefully finding some new favourites, said Procter The participants are from all over the country. There will be two old male friends from rural Cork, a pair of Polish pals living in Tallaght, four Crumlin ladies who like to kick back with a bottle of wine. The goal was to find individuals who were unaffected yet entertaining. Would-be celebrities were weeded out at the first hurdle. When we first announced we were making the show we were inundated with people saying, Ill be brilliant. A lot of people wanted to be on TV or the stars of a reality show, he says. You can spot them very quickly. Theyre not right for something like this. Deirdre OKane What makes the Gogglebox is that the people come across as unaware they are being filmed and respond quite naturally. Theyve done it in over 30 countries now and in some places it hasnt worked. On the American version, its a real Kardashian thing everyone is made-up and looks too perfect. We werent interested in going down that route. We went through two or three layers of casting youd chat with people by Skype, show them a picture of Father Jack from Father Ted and ask them to react. You very rapidly got a sense of how interesting they were. The Googlebox volunteers are filmed with unobtrusive cameras, with the footage then rushed to Dublin so that it can be edited in time for the Thursday night broadcast. They are instructed on what to watch, with the producers focusing on television that will chime with audiences at home. We show them watching stuff everyone in Ireland can see, says Procter. So it may have been the All-Ireland final. If the Late Late Show was returning we might do that. Where its a BBC show we try for something with an Irish angle. When the footage is recorded the hard work begins in earnest he says. Over the space of a week you are looking at over 100 hours of footage. You have to be very strict and disciplined as to what you include. We will have them watching eight or nine programmes - you want the best reactions but also a diversity of views. You cant have everyone raving over something. Channel 4s Gogglebox was originally narrated by the late Caroline Ahern. OKane will be at pains not to mimic her style. In comedy you have to put your own stamp on something. Otherwise it simply wont work. She respected Ahern but doesnt want to inflict a made impersonation of her on Irish viewers. The Gruffertys from Co. Kildare That would be a huge mistake, she says. She had such a distinctive voice. You cant incorporate someone elses personality. If this is done right, I believe it would be better than the English one. We are very funny people theres a very good chance this could be awesome. OKane is based in London, but next week brings her new stand-up show to the Cork Comedy Festival. Ive actually enjoyed it more than anything Ive done before, she says. The great thing about writing is that you dont get worse at it as you get older. There is a good chance you will get better with age. I love taking the new show out to people its a great feeling to say to yourself oh Ive like to be sitting in the crowd and watching this myself. You dont always feel that way about your stuff. Sometimes youre bracing yourself knowing that a weaker segment is coming. But Im very proud of this and Ive really enjoyed performing it. Daragh Feely, broker sales manager, commented, As cohabiting couples are, by far, the fastest- growing type of new family unit in Ireland perhaps its time that theyre considered within the current tax regime. Recently, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said that the tax treatment of different categories of couples, arise from the objective of respecting the Constitutional requirements to protect the institution of marriage, and added that any change in the tax treatment of cohabiting couples can only be addressed in the broader context of future social and legal policy development in. Given the ministers stance, people cohabiting long-term should be aware of the differences in their treatment in comparison to married couples and work to avoid future problems. I spoke to Brenda Forde, senior information officer with Treoir, the organisation for unmarried parents. They deal with cohabiting couples, and Forde said inheritance is a huge issue. Cohabitants are very poorly treated when it comes to inheritance. If the surviving cohabitant isnt named in the will or there is no will, they have no right to inherit. Even if they are named in the will, there is no tax free inheritance threshold. There are some special protections in relation to the family home, but other than that, the survivor will have to pay inheritance tax on everything they inherit, which can cause severe financial pressure. Even if the constitutional protection given to marriage means cohabitants cant be granted the same inheritance rights as spouses, surely some threshold could be put in place, Forde suggested. As it stands, a nephew or grandchild can inherit 30,150 tax free but a cohabitant has no such automatic right. There were some protections for cohabitants added into law as a result of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, although Forde feels it was a missed opportunity. It did help but cohabitants were tagged on to the end, it was primarily to address issues of civil partnership and same sex relationships. The issues that were addressed were primarily about giving rights in the event of relationship breakdown. A person who has been in a cohabiting relationship for five years (two if there is a child involved) is described as a qualified cohabitant and may apply to a redress scheme. If they can prove financial dependence, they can look for a maintenance payment for themselves in addition to any children. There is also the possibility that the court may make a property or pension adjustment order in their favour. There will be times when couples may agree that they do not want to be bound by the new Act but rather decide their own agreement around property, assets, etc. Legal recognition is given to Cohabitants Agreements which allows couples planning to live or living together to make arrangement regarding their joint financial affairs. The parties must receive independent legal advice and it must be in writing and signed by both parties. There are issues other than financial, in cases where cohabitants have children, the lack of automatic guardianship rights for the father has long been a bugbear. That was addressed in the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 which said a father who is living with the mother continuously for a year, three months of which are after the birth of the child, will automatically become a guardian. If you would like to seek assistance in relation to parental rights or similar matters, call Treoir at 1890-252084, or get information from their website www.treoir.ie . DEAL OF THE WEEK I wrote last week about the costs involved in the first 12 months of a babys life, which mummypages.ie estimate to be at least 4,000. To help out in those expensive early days, Lidl Ireland has partnered up with online magazine maternityandinfant.ie. They are offering parents of young children a free Lidl Babybox, which comes with a range of products for both mum and baby, to give you a taster of Lidls range. To get your hands on one of the new boxes, simply register your details at www.maternityandinfant.ie. You will be asked for the age(s) of your children to personalise the products you receive. The age range goes up to 10 so you can still apply even if your tiny babies have grown up quite a bit! The Google Nexus range of handset has been all about bringing high quality at a reasonable price, but they've never captured much market share. Which probably doesn't bother Google much as they're set to announce some new additions to the lineup. A teaser site has appeared over here which shows the outline of a phone, a date of Octobre 4th and a Google symbol. It's a pretty clear sign of what's to come, and you can sign up with your email address to get the news as it happens. We are proud of our association with this survey. It seems to us to be more vital than ever that the voices of the farmers themselves, from every part of the state, across all ages and through all sectors, are allowed to express their current feelings on a wide range of issues unfiltered by any particular agenda or preconception. That was our original aim in getting involved and we hope that the integrity and independence of those motives is reflected both in the findings and in the spirit with which they will be received. That this years survey shows a sector both anxious and increasingly pessimistic cannot be surprising. The Brexit referendum was a profoundly disappointing not to say shocking result. We want and need our access to our British markets to remain as unimpaired as it is now. Decades of work and reputation-building have gone into our development of a market that takes over 40% of all our agri-exports. We can confidently anticipate that the UK will want free access to the EU market and we can - on the basis of the Commissions statement thus far be equally confident that the EU will be demanding free movement of labour as a quid pro quo for that free movement of goods. It already looks certain that this will be the crux of the matter and we must all realise and without a moments hesitation that it is a matter of the highest national importance that the final settlement between the UK and the EU, when it comes, does not involve tariffs or any other barriers to our UK food exports. We have already lost between 10% and 15% through the fall in Sterling relative to the Euro and have seen already the first casualties of this (from our point of view) terrible decision. This decision goes a long way to explaining the fall in morale and confidence evident throughout this years survey. But it is not the sole reason. The 18 month-long collapse in milk price only just showing signs of reversing has left our dairy farmers, the jewel in the crown of Irish farming, on their financial knees. It has been a catastrophe that has wiped out any of the feel-good factor that came in the immediate aftermath of quota abolition. ICMSA accepts happily that quotas were a blunt tool that had outlived any usefulness they ever had. But the transfer to a free market without any supervision of supply-chain margins has given our milk suppliers nothing less than an income wipe-out. For the majority of the last year, our members have been receiving a price per litre up to seven cents per litre below the cost of producing that litre. Throughout that time, the Commissions attitude seemed to vary from idly standing by to groundless expressions of confidence that the markets would rise in due course. What the EUs dairy farmers were meant to do while they waited for due course was left unaddressed. Right throughout the EU, dairy farmers saw their incomes not so much plummet as disappear. Earlier this year, ICMSA and its partner organisations in the European Milk Board (EMB) faced up to the reality that an oversupply of milk meant that there was no prospect of a farmer milk price rise. Accordingly, we supported the introduction of a Voluntary Milk Production - Reduction Scheme that would allow individual farmers to receive 14 cents per litre for every litre less produced over a set 2016 period relative to 2015. We were alone in advocating this course and were criticised by milk processors and their representative bodies, but nevertheless we persevered in calling for the option to be put on the table. The Commission agreed with the policy put forward by EMB and its fair to say the results speak for themselves. Since the announcement of the policy, every GDT has seen a surge in price and farmer milk price has increased in two consecutive months. ICMSA is not claiming that the Supply Production-Reduction scheme is the only reason behind the rally. But we are most certainly saying that it was a component of the dairy market recovery - and a very large component at that. It has concentrated the minds of our processors wonderfully about their own volumes and that has led to price increases as they correctly wonder whether their planned volumes will materialise. For the first time, dairy farmers had an option produce or not and milk processors were forced to respond. In the same way as ICMSA was correct on this, we are equally correct about the distribution of the 11m EU Dairy Crisis Fund. That money was specifically allocated to the alleviation of the incomes wipe-out experienced by milk suppliers. It should not - and must not be distributed throughout every sector of farming and it certainly must not be used as a form of bank collateral/subsidy as advocated by some. The State must match the funding and pay every dairy farmer a flat 1,200 per person. The money and its paltry enough must be used for the purpose the EU intended. John Comer is president of the ICMSA READ MORE: The Irish Examiner / ICMSA farming survey: Methodology READ MORE:Farming Poll 2016: Vital that all farmers get to voice concerns READ MORE:Farming Poll 2016: Most farmers 'have at least one other income coming in' as optimism falls in every sector READ MORE:Farming Poll 2016: Farmers fear Brexit fallout but support for not perfect EU still high READ MORE: Farming Poll 2016: Four-in-10 say recovery has not benefitted them Juggling questions from reporters at the opening of the partys pre-Dail conference in Co Carlow, Micheal Martin artfully sidestepped queries about the budget, Fine Gaels time in office and that old chestnut, water charges. However, surrounded by his newer, younger TDs and senators, the smiling leader unwittingly disclosed what Fianna Fail is really about when it comes to propping up the Fine Gael-minority government. Were not in opposition, sorry, were not in government, we wanted to be in government and didnt get the numbers, said Mr Martin, correcting himself to the giggles of reporters. However, of course this is the beauty of the arrangement for the revitalised party, whose think-in this week is a lot more energetic with the partys 44 TDs compared to recent years, where the conference was mostly a male-dominated, awkward, and hushed affair. Mr Martin and his party effectively are controlling Enda Kennys Government, calling the shots when it comes to matters such as water charges, bin charges, and of course the budget. And so the biggest test lies ahead in this support deal, as Mr Martin wrote in the Irish Examiner this week: The budget and what Fianna Fail wants out of it. So what is on the so-called Oppositions wishlist? Fianna Fail is prioritising the funding of services over tax cuts out of the near 1bn available. Mr Martin wants the reintroduction of the National Treatment Purchase Fund to tackle hospital waiting lists. The party will likely push for a higher amount than the 15m agreed by the Government for this. Another issue is the prioritisation of third-level funding. Fianna Fail is expected to push for 100m for the sector next year, in line with its general election manifesto. However, the party does not favour the return of third-level fees, Mr Martin admitted yesterday. It is therefore difficult to understand where these funds might come from. Elsewhere, supports for the elderly, particularly increases in the state pension, form part of its budget proposals. Social protection spokesman Willie ODea has publicly called for a 5 rise in the weekly pension. However, such a rise would take up all of Social Protection minister Leo Varadkars budget funds. Some compromise is needed. Nonetheless, Mr Martin said yesterday, pensioners needed a break. We can expect the State pension to dominate budget debate in the days ahead. In the meantime, a feel-good factor permeated the conference yesterday. Mr Martin also did not hold back, when asked did he want Enda Kennys job. Yes, I would like someday to be Taoiseach of this country, but that depends on the Irish people, he said. A NUMBER of years ago, I conducted a series of mock interviews. The interviewees were all girls preparing for their Leaving Certs, and the purpose was to prepare them for the world outside. They all had a CAO points target. Except one girl. I dont want to go to university, she told us. Ive never wanted to go to university. I want to be a beautician, and Im hoping you can help me to go about it. As she gazed at us expectantly, we were all stumped. We hadnt a clue how to answer her question. This was a good school non-fee paying, mixed catchment area that had been working hard at pushing up both the academic attainment and expectations of its students. One of our boasts was that 90% of our students in the previous few years had gotten their first choice on their CAO application. So what were we to do with a student who had no interest in CAO points? I can still feel my mortification at the question I asked her: would you not consider doing a degree before you become a beautician? I have thought of her, and the fatuous question I asked her, a number of times over the last week or so. Every time I heard the bleating and the special pleading from representatives of third-level education, I hoped that girl had ignored all the well-meaning advice we gave her. If she did, I hope shes the happiest beautician in Ireland. You probably heard all the stuff, too. There were provosts of this and deans of that, all crying on radio about the standing of Irish universities. And the language they were using was apocalyptic. Were staring into the abyss. Were at the edge of a cliff. This is a major national crisis, which the Government must address immediately. The crisis, apparently, is the funding of third-level education, and the motivation for all this outpouring of grief was the publication of a list of top universities in the world. Ireland, it seems, isnt in the top 100. In fact, the highest-placed university in the country, Trinity College, is a mere 160th in the list. Others are further down. UCD is 176th, NUIG is in the top 300, Maynooth and Cork in the top 400, DCU in the top 500, Limerick in the top 600, and poor old DIT in the top 800. The reason for this, according to all the learned gentlemen I heard interviewed, is that we dont give them enough money. We need to hugely increase the investment in third-level education. The preferred method is to squeeze as much as possible out of students and their families. That would have two great advantages: firstly, more money in the coffers; and, secondly, universities would be able to spend it at their own discretion. They wouldnt be beholden to lousy governments that want to spend the money on sick people and the like. Now, of course, we do need to increase investment in education, as fast as we can. And, of course, theres a huge pay-off for all of us in doing that. But that applies to every level of education. We mightnt be in the top-100 list of universities, but were near the bottom of most league tables for pre-school education. According to the latest OECD Education at a Glance report (it uses US dollars for comparison purposes), we spend 8,002 per student at primary level, 10,840 at second-level, and 13,663 at third-level. Thats roughly the average across both the OECD and the EU. It is absolutely true that investment in higher education in Ireland has suffered because of the recession, perhaps more than the other sectors, and there is some catching-up to be done. But the abyss? A national crisis? Before you buy that youd need to ask a few questions about Irelands standing in this world-wide list of universities. And maybe just maybe you might like to wonder a bit about whether the only problem is funding, or if there is a need for more reform. But, above all, I think there might be a need to cool our jets about the importance of lists like these. Sweden, for example, spends nearly twice as much as we do per student on third-level education. It has two universities in the top 100, but all the rest are on a par with Irelands. And the criteria used in establishing the list are subjective international outlook, for example, is one of the key ones. Looking at the list, its clear that if youve always had a famous name youre always going to be high up. But there are still a couple of questions Id like to ask. Lino Guzzella is the head of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, which is ninth on the list a position for which any Irish university would give its eye teeth. In an interview published alongside the list, he emphasises the institutes commitment to students and its disdain for management bureaucracy. Theres me, the department heads, who oversee 30 to 40 faculty members, the professors, and thats it, hes quoted as saying. We have no schools, no provost or vice-provost for this or that. I have four colleagues on the board of directors they have academic and administrative responsibilities. Youd wonder how much further the money would go if Irish universities adopted a similar model but my observation suggests theyre going in the opposite direction. One of the features of this approach has been top-heavy structures. I know several young academics who have had to leave teaching, because of their yellow pack contracts, and they will frequently point to the disparity between their positions and the rather comfortable places occupied by longer-term tenured lecturers, professors, and administrators. According to one list I came across, there are 9,443 universities in 206 countries. All of ours are comfortably in the top 10% of that number. So the special pleading about a crisis isnt warranted. After all, on a per-capita basis, and as a proportion of our national wealth, we give Trinity College and the University of Limerick more or less the same funding each year. If there is a difference of 400 places on the list between those universities, that has nothing to do with the State. It mightnt be a fair comparison, because they are both places of which to be proud, but it can surely be argued that using lists like these to beat the Government over the head isnt entirely fair, either. Instead, perhaps, some sober reflection about differences between best and worst or, to be fair, between higher- and lower-ranked might be in order. Thank heavens for Fianna Fail Supernova (FFS), the latest incarnation of an old party. Right now, this country needs a party like FFS, occupying the centre-left position that best reflects the national character, pushing for an Ireland for all, repelling the forces of both populism and the right. Fianna Fail Supernova is a breath of fresh air blowing through the body politic. Its leader, the youthful Micheal Martin Nua, looks like a man who could drag this country in a new direction should he be elected to office. He has about him the cut of a new kind of politician, competent in holding the Government to account, yet promising that when he gets into power, things will be different, responsible but different, better but different, fairer but different. The agenda pursued by FFS is one that popular opinion could not take issue with. Writing in this newspaper yesterday, Mr Martin laid out how FFS will use its parliamentary position to impose a fairer Ireland than might otherwise be the case. Through our engagement with the budgetary oversight committee and through individual engagement with ministers, we will be emphasising the fairness agenda and working to restore basic decency to that budget. That decency has been stripped by the Fine Gael dominated government since 2011, and, prior to that, 14 years of an administration led by the now defunct Old Fianna Fail (OFF) party. Some among you who are not fully conversant with political parties may mix up the two entities FFS and OFF, but be assured there is no relationship between the two. In fact, they are from completely different planets on the political spectrum, espousing diametrically opposed policies. Further confusion may occur because one of the senior ministers in the OFF administrations shares a name with the current leader of FFS. But please understand that the two Micheal Martins are like chalk and cheese. Old Mr Martin was happy to kick back and enjoy the right-wing populism espoused by his party during the Celtic Tiger years. The other, Micheal Martin Nua, is a man in a hurry to enter office for the first time so that he can change the country for the better. No relation, as Micheal OMuircheartaigh was wont to say. Not just that, but Micheal Martin Nua has made a point of showing that he is putting the country first, ahead of his party, whereas old Mr Martins party repeatedly and recklessly mortgaged the countrys future for short-term political gain. Old Mr Martin disappeared in 2011, and has not been seen in public since. So FFS wants to take the country in a new direction from the one that the OFF party fashioned over a decade a half until it was obliterated and disappeared in 2011. Look at the difference in policy agendas. Yesterday, FFS finance spokesman Michael McGrath told Morning Ireland that his party wanted to reshape the debate more in favour of a fair and decent society, (where) services are a higher property than giving tax cuts for the better off. This is in complete contrast to FFSs bete noir the OFF party, which, under Charlie McCreevy and Bertie Ahern, reshaped the political agenda into one where tax cuts was the primary article of faith, and the better off awarded the biggest cuts. Then there is the issue of water charges. FFS is opposed to charges as a matter of principle, not just practice, but principle. Micheal Martin Nua and his colleagues are at one with their kindred spirits Richard Boyd Barrett and Paul Murphy on this score. One rumour doing the rounds last weekend was that Martin would be present at the next anti-charge rally, posing for a photo with Mr Boyd Barrett and Mr Murphy, all three shoulder to shoulder, raising clenched fists. This will finally smash the hated charges, which first saw the light of day with a commitment to their introduction from the OFF-led administration in 2010. If only FFS had been in power back then, there would never have been a question of treating water as a precious and finite resource which should attract a charge. Michael McGrath Education is another area where FFS is diametrically opposed to the OFF party. Education is a core value of a fair and decent society, Mr McGrath told Morning Ireland,and always has been for Fianna Fail. (He didnt specify here whether Fianna Fail referred to FFS or OFF or some other outfit). He went on to call for major spending in education which would reflect a fair and decent society. This again shows how FFS is trying to save the country from the ruin visited on it by the OFF party. Back when OFF were running amok, spending on education was the fourth lowest among 31 OECD countries. In 2007, when the country was still awash with funny money, Ireland spent only 4.7%of GDP on education, when the average spend was 6.2%. Only the Czech Republic, Italy and Slovakia spent less at a time when Ireland was one of the richest countries in the world. Now FFS wants to take education in a different direction than that which the OFF party had dragged it. Arent we lucky to have this new party on the scene these days? Apart from that, what really distinguishes FFS from its rival OFF is the pursuit of fairness, as articulated by Micheal Martin Nua and his various spokespeople. FFS want to make this a fairer country than the one fashioned over the last 20 years. Back in those halcyon days of loadsamoney, this was a deeply unequal society. EU stats from 2003-2004, when OFF was in its pomp, showed that among the then 11 EU states, only Italy and the UK were more unequal, as measured by incomes for the top one-fifth and bottom one-fifth of earners. That was the country fashioned by OFF and Old Mr Martin, a million miles from the fair society being espoused by Micheal Martin Nua and his colleagues today. So thank heavens for FFS. What we need today more than anything is honest politics, new politics, which is governed by unwavering principles and consistent policies. Where better to look for these qualities than this new, fresh entity, Fianna Fail Supernova. FFS indeed. Burma Ethnic Activists Criticize Suu Kyis Humanitarian Award State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi received the 2016 Harvard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year Award presented by Harvard University in Boston on Sept 17. / Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Facebook Ethnic activists have criticized Harvard Universitys Harvard Foundation for giving its Humanitarian of the Year Award to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the Nobel laureate has been silent about the countrys ethnic groups that are victims in an ongoing war. Activists said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been silent about the Burma Armys disruption of humanitarian aid provided by the international community to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, while she has barely engaged in social welfare works in the country. Mary Tawn, an activist aiding Kacin IDPs said, [Aung San Suu Kyi] has said basically nothing about the Kachin IDPs since the clashes broke out in Kachin State in 2011, while the military disrupts the supply of humanitarian aid. As a person who is helping IDPs, I cant believe that she was given this prize under these circumstances. The number of IDPs at various camps in Kachin State increased last year but international aid supplies have declined and camps are short of food, she said. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not even verbally comforted the IDPs in Kachin and Shan states, said Ko Sai Aung Myint Oo, chairman of the Shan Youth Organization based in Rangoon. There are about 150,000 IDPs in Shan and Kachin states. They desperately want to hear from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. But she has said nothing about them yet. I dont know what yardstick they used for the prize, but it should not have been awarded to her yet, Sai Aung Myint Oo told The Irrawaddy. Saw Alex of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) said that perhaps the award would push her to exert greater effort in championing humanitarian needs in the country. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is weak in regard to humanitarian causes but this does not mean she does not want to improve. She has been busy engaging many issues. We should view the prize constructively as an impetus for her and the new government to put greater effort into humanitarian works, he told The Irrawaddy. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi received the 2016 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award on September 17 in the United States as she was on an official visit to the White House. Burma Lower House Abolishes Overnight Guest Registration A Ward Administration Office in Kamayut Township, Rangoon. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy RANGOON Burmas Lower House of Parliament on Monday passed a bill abolishing provisions of the countrys Ward or Village Tract Administration Law which required citizens to report overnight guests to authorities. In a heated day-long parliamentary session on Monday, National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker U Myint Tun from Sagaing Divisions Taze Township said that such undemocratic legislation should be abolished and questioned its use. I dont believe that overnight guest registration serves the safety or security of the public, he said. Such a requirement is a burden on the people, while criminals would simply not report overnight guests, he continued. Lower House Speaker U Win Myint oversaw a secret ballot in which 235 voted for the repeal of overnight guest registration and 155 voted for provisions to remain. The law requires citizens to inform local government officials of guests who spend the night in their homes, regardless of how long the stay is. Originating in 1907 under British colonial rule, the law was modified by the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs in 2012 and recently updated in January 2016. The deputy minister for Home Affairs Maj-Gen Aung Soe defended the provisions regarding the guest registration requirement, saying it provides fundamental data about the populations location. The weak points in this law were not the fault of the law itself, but of the administrators acting on it, he said. The bill was passed in the Upper House in early June, abolishing the provisions of guest registration requirement. It was submitted to the lower chamber in late July but has faced hurdles to come to agreement with decisions made by the upper chamber. The Lower House Bill Committee recommended in a report to the legislature in July that all provisions regarding overnight guest registration from the original colonial-era law be reinserted. Lower House military representative Col Tun Myat Shwe said during the debate that the upper chamber repealed the provisions of the law with a majority of the votes in NLD-dominated legislature. He said the move neglected security concerns of the country. International human rights watchdogs have criticized the law saying that it grants authorities the right to carry out warrantless household inspections and breaches privacy. It was used to hunt down political activists under the military regime and the quasi-civilian government, they say. Lawmaker U Myint Tun proposed a provision that requires guests who stay in a ward or village for more than one month to inform the relevant administration office. He said that without such registration, preparing voter lists and providing humanitarian assistance to disaster victims will be difficult. He used cities like Mogok, where there is a large population of migrant workers whose household registration is elsewhere. He proposed that no action be taken against those who fail to follow the requirements. Its just to inform, not to report, U Myint Tun said. In the same session, The Lower House passed a provision on the qualifications for ward and village administrators as passed by the Upper House. The provision states candidates must have resided in the ward or village where they will run for election for at least five years, revising the original laws 10-year minimum. The legislature also decided that candidates for the position of administrator should have appropriate education, as required under the original provision, altering the decision of the Upper House, which required candidates to have graduated from middle school. The bill will be resubmitted to the Upper House to decide on this provision. Burma Rangoon Family Who Enslaved Girls for Years Settle Case for $4,000 Scars are visible on the arm and hand of Ma San Kay Khaing, who escaped from five years in domestic servitude in Rangoons Kyauktada Township. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy Scars on their arms, fingers, neck, face and feet illustrate how two teenaged girls were tortured for five years while being forced into domestic servitude in a downtown Rangoon household in Kyauktada Township. Ma San Kay Khaing, 17, and Ma Tha Zin, 16, escaped their abusers on Sept. 5, they told The Irrawaddy, where they said they were treated like slaves. Ma San Kay Khaing was just 11 years old when she began to work for the family, and identified her abuser as one of the familys daughters, Ma Su Mon Latt. She beat me a lot, almost every day. First, she beat me on my feet. When I could not finish my work at night, and I fell asleep, then she stabbed me with scissors in my arm. She stabbed me in my back, and in my neck. The louder I cried, the more she tortured me, said San Kay Khaing. She reported working through the night and being allowed to sleep from 6:00 a.m. until noon, before being forced to return to her work, which included taking care of a baby and washing all of the familys clothes. She was locked in the house and paid just 15,000 kyat per month (US$12). Ma Tha Zin was employed by the same familys grandmother, Daw Tin Thuzar. She worked in a six-floor tailoring factory, called Ava. The two victims were friends, both hailing from Bawlonekwin village in Rangoons Kawhmu Township. Referring to her abuser as Grandma, Ma Tha Zin said that the woman used a small pair of scissors to hurt her, although a scar on Tha Zins nose marks an occasion where the grandmother hit her in the face with a knife. Whenever she felt I did not wash the clothes properly, or did not cook well, then she beat me, she said. Ma Tha Zin said she only was given one meal per day, once all of her work was completed, and sometimes the meal consisted only of rice. She said that she slept with only one blanket and no pillow or mosquito net. Mosquitos bit me a lot while I slept. I spent 5 years like this, Ma Tha Zin said. The girls said that the family regularly paid them their monthly salary for the first two years of their employment, before cutting off communication with the girls families. After that point, for the next three years, whenever the families would phone and ask to meet their daughters, the employers said the girls had left. We called [the family] on the phone and asked them to let us see our children, but they told us that our children were not at home, and that they had just gone somewhere else, said San Kay Khaings mother, Daw Nyo Nyo Win. We went there, but we could not see our children. Two weeks ago, San Kay Khaings mother said that the Dala Township police station notified her of her daughters whereabouts, and asked her to pick her up. I was so happy to get my daughter back, but I cannot even think about compensation for how she has been tortured, she said. The Investigation On Sept. 15, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) called the parents of the two young victims to meet the abusers at their office. The MNHRC also invited Swe Win, the chief correspondent from the Myanmar Now news agency. He initially filed charges at the Kyauktada Township police station regarding the case three months earlier, after a member within the family notified him about the abuse of the girls and asked for help in rescuing them. When the police failed to take action, he said, he contacted the MNHRC. I told the commission about the rights abuse, but the police did not take action, even though I filed charges, Swe Win said. The MNHRC pushed for an investigation, which was led by Col U Than Aye. U Than Aye said that the family keeping the girls had not allowed him to talk to them privately. I had suspicions at that time about the abuse of the two girls when I saw their appearance. I tried to investigate, but I could not do it, he said. The police issued a brief statement saying that Ma San Kay Khaing and Ma Tha Zin were exploited, tortured and treated like slaves. The statement suggested that legal action be taken based by the families of the victims or Swe Win, who originally filed charges. Compensation Swe Win said that the police and the MNHRC had recommended that the victims families accept monetary compensation for the crime, since a legal fight would be lengthy and held no guarantee of justice. The families acted on the recommendation, and the family accused of the abuse paid 4 million kyats to San Kay Khaing (US$3,235) and 1 million ($809) to Tha Zin. The amount included three years worth of salaries that had not been paid. Swe Win was not happy with the compromise which was made, and said that the abusers were only convinced that they needed to pay the compensation after being threatened with legal action. I even told them to apologize to the two victims families. But they refused to do it. They said nothing to the families of the victims, and they just gave money, Swe Win said. He added there should be a punishment for the long-term abuse. The parents of the victims had no idea what to do. I was only there as an observer and I could not say anything, he said. It is very important to have justice based on the rule of law in a case like this. For me, I found it unfair to make a compromise like this. The three family representatives who attended the meeting did not admit to violating San Kay Khaings or Tha Zins rights. They did, however, say that they beat the two girls for disrespect and offered to provide evidence for how they violated house rules. They were just children, Swe Win said. If the family disliked the two children, they could have just sent them back. He added that he will not drop charges at the police station regarding the case against the family, and hopes to pursue further legal action. We need to fight for justice based on the laws of our country, Swe Win said. This is the only way to stop this. Burma Thai Court Sentences UK Activist for Defamation Andy Hall, pictured after hearing the court verdict on charges of defamation and computer crimes over a report on the alleged mistreatment of migrant workers. / Reuters CHIANG MAI, Thailand Migrant rights defender Andy Hall, who was accused of defamation and violating the Computer Crimes Act for contributing to a human rights report, was given a three-year suspended sentence and fined 150,000 baht (US$4,300) in Thailand on Tuesday. Finnwatch, the Finnish watchdog group, published the report Cheap Has a High Price in 2013 which alleged serious human rights violations at Natural Fruits pineapple processing plant in Thailands Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Andy Hall, a British national, co-authored the report, which revealed Burmese migrant workers in the Thai pineapple industry suffering in conditions described as modern slavery. Soon after the report was released, the Natural Fruit Company brought defamation charges against Hall and later added three other charges in different courts. After the Bangkok South Criminal Courts ruling on Tuesdayin which the court found Hall guilty on all chargeshe was detained shortly but released after paying his fine. Hall told The Irrawaddy that he did not receive the maximum sentenceof up to seven yearsbecause the court considered my work as a human rights activist beneficial to Thai society. If he does not commit any additional crimes during the first two years of his sentence, he will not serve any time in prison, he added. Hall said will be appealing the ruling immediately but that the process will be lengthy. He has plans to go to Europe on Wednesday and said there is no restriction on his travel. His passport was seized in 2014 when charges were initially brought against him. Sonja Vartiala, executive director of Finnwatch, told The Irrawaddy, We are shocked by the ruling and will continue supporting Andy Hall and his fight for justice. We believe he has done nothing wrong. We believe the world needs more brave people like Andy, who are standing up against human rights violations. There are an estimated 3 million Burmese migrant workers in neighboring Thailand and labor rights abuse cases are frequently reported. Numerous local community-based groups work to aid the migrant workers. Andy Hall, who is also the international adviser for the Mahachai-based Burmese Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN), told The Irrawaddy that It is a very disappointing decision, for migrant workers and for justice in Thailand. This will have a very negative impact on people who fight for migrant workers. Concerning freedom of expression in Thailand, Ms. Vartiala also said in a statement on Tuesday, We fear that many other human rights defenders and victims of company abuse will be scared to silence by this ruling. Thailands laws that allow for criminal punishment and even imprisonment for defamation are in clear breach of Thailands international human rights obligations,she said. Instead of allowing companies to take human rights defenders to criminal courts for alleged defamation, Thailand needs to thoroughly follow through on allegations of violations of migrant workers rights. In October 2014, Prakanong Court in Bangkok dismissed another criminal defamation case brought by Natural Fruit against Andy Hall on the grounds of a flawed prosecution that was in breach of Thailands Criminal Procedure Law. Appeals in this case, submitted by both Natural Fruit and Thailands attorney-general, are currently being considered by Thailands Supreme Court after the appeals court threw out an initial appeal in September 2015. In addition to the two criminal cases, Natural Fruit has also filed two civil claims for damages against Andy Hall totaling 400 million baht ($11.5 million). These cases have been put on hold until the corresponding criminal cases are concluded. Business Burma Conglomerates Ranked for Transparency U Zaw Zaw, center right, stands next to then-opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at a childrens hospital in Rangoons Yankin Township in 2013. / Max Myanmar / Facebook RANGOON First Myanmar Investment (FMI), Serge Pun & Associates, and Max Myanmar ranked as Burmas most transparent firms, according to the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business (MCRB)s third survey of 100 companies. Generating scores based on companies published information, the survey involved 35 standardized questions meant to measure organizational transparency and respect for human rights, health, safety and the environment over the last six months. The MCRB report stated that 30 percent of those firms surveyed had no websites; among these companies, 45 percent publish little to no data relating to corporate governance. MCRB Director Vickey Bowman told The Irrawaddy by email on Monday that it is smart business for conglomerates to promote themselves through disclosure. Not all major Burmese businesses surveyed performed well, she pointed out, citing companies owned by U Chit Khine, U Htay Myint, and U Khin Shwe, respectively. The fact that Eden, Yuzana, and Zaykabar dont seem to get the importance of transparency and stakeholder engagement is a strategic business failing in the modern world and democratic Burma, Bowman said. Yuzana was ranked second-to-last in the survey, and the Eden Group was listed as 11th from the bottom. Zaykabar was among the companies surveyed which did not have a website. The timing between the publication of the MCRB report and the Obama administrations announcement on September 14 to lift economic restrictions on Burma was coincidental, said Vickey Bowman. She explained that the date for the release of the report was determined by the six-month timetable allocated for the research. But there is a close link of substance, she added. Now that the sanctions are going to be lifted on companies, the key thing that will differentiate them from one another is good corporate governance and transparency. U Htay Myint and U Khin Shwe are considered Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) on the US sanctions listand U Chit Khine was, at one time, recommended for the classification. U Zaw Zaw, who heads Max Myanmar, is on the SDN list; Serge Pun, chief executive of both FMI and Serge Pun & Associates, is not. In a statement released on Monday, Serge Pun celebrated his companies high rankings in the MCRB report, describing it as an honor to be recognized this year as Myanmars most transparent company. The Max Myanmar Group of Companies claimed their own favorable ranking was due to anti-corruption initiatives, moves toward improved occupational health and safety, and the release of confiscated lands, in a statement published on Sunday. Yet Max Myanmar has been implicated in multiple controversies surrounding land grabs in the past. Most recently, in May, The Irrawaddy reported that the company had been accused of unfairly compensating farmers for land in Mon State used to develop a rubber plantation. MCRB cited these claims in their report. Guest Column Military to Military Relations: An Option but Not the Solution (Left to right) Col. Bill Dickey, defense attache to Burma, Dr. Amy E. Searight, deputy assistant secretary of defense, Lt-Gen Anthony G. Crutchfield, deputy commander of US Pacific Command, Ambassador Derek J. Mitchell, US Ambassador to Burma, and Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Malinowski pose with Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, Burmas Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, center, and his staff in 2014. / US Army RANGOON During State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyis first visit to the United States after the National League of Democracy won a historic victory in the 2015 elections, international experts and scholars called on US policymakers to reestablish cooperation between the US military and the Burma Army. They based their recommendation for military to military ties on two reasons: Firstly, guidance from the US military could professionalize the Burma Army and lead it to withdraw from politics. Secondly, engagement with the US and other democratic allies could weaken Chinas influence on the military. Reform is still under way in Burma. Although the civilian government may now be in charge, the military retains significant power. The civilian government cannot change the inherently undemocratic 2008 constitution without the militarys consent. At both Union and regional levels, at least 25 percent of the seats in Parliament are reserved for Burma Army representatives. The military still controls three ministries: defense, home affairs and border affairs. The General Administration Department, which replaced Burmas civil service during military rule, is still under the authority of the military and controls decision-making down to the smallest administrative unit in all corners of the country. Violent clashes between military and ethnic armed groups continue in periphery areas of Burma and uncertainty looms large over Burmas peace process, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyis 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference, which took place at the end of last month. Civil-military relations and ethnic-military relations are key issues in Burmas transitional politics. For Burma to achieve full democracy, military relations will need to be restructured and reformed according to democratic principles. There are three interrelated factors standing in the way of military reform: indoctrination, institutional challenges and political challenges. Indoctrination An authoritarian military regime as the guardians of the Burmese people has been indoctrinated through internal threats from ethnic armed groups and historic external aggression, for example from the Kuomintang. The military became politicized during the creation of the Burma Socialist Programme Party in the socialist era and later with the State Law and Order Restoration Council and State Peace and Development Council. Military institutions and academies are key tools of indoctrination. Institutional Challenges Despite some apparent internal reform guided by commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaings standard army concept, the military is widely regarded as unprofessional and has been criticized for disrespecting civilian control, loose codes of conduct, and human rights abuses. Arbitrary arrests and human rights abuses in ethnic areas in particular are a major concern. The recently publicized sentencing of seven Burma Army soldiers found guilty of murdering civilians was a hugely positive, but highly unusual, move. Political Problems Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing has reiterated in his speeches that the Burma Army should retain its role in politics. The 2008 constitution guarantees the militarys powerful role in government. The military remains politically active through the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), formed by the previous military junta. In the run-up to the 2015 election, senior military officers retired from active service to join the party. It was recently reported that the USDP reserves spaces for retired military officers. To resolve these problems and reform the military there needs to be a comprehensive strategy and cooperation from political society, civil society and the international community. The international communityparticularly democratic countriesis crucial to professionalizing a military much burdened by the legacy of dictatorship. Military to military engagement is one of the tools available to make the once-isolated Burma Army understand the role, rights and responsibilities of the military in a democratic society. It should be borne in mind, however, that this tool is just an option, not the solution, as real change requires a comprehensive strategy as mentioned above. In the past, the military had good relations with its US counterpart and received a good deal of assistance under General Ne Wins rule. That regime ended in a brutal crackdown on innocent people in the 1988 uprising, leading to a cruel military regime. The coups and coup attempts in Thailand, Egypt and Turkey have also highlighted repeated failures of the United States military to military engagement. The recurring theme here is a lack of robust civilian oversight. The main objective for restructuring the civil-military relations in transitional politics is to set up civilian oversight of the military. Thus, whenever experts promote the idea of reestablishment of military to military relations, they need to take account of not only the military dimension but also the civilian one. This means supporting civilian supremacy and strengthening the capacity of political and civil society. This is indispensable, especially in transitional countries like Burma where the newly emerging political society and long-time suppressed civil society lack the capacity to balance the strong institution of the military, let alone set up an oversight mechanism. Therefore, proposals to renew military to military relations between the US and Burmas military must go through the elected civilian government. Deliberative consultation with the government, civilian politicians, ethnic communities, and civil society on the best way to resume relations is needed. The first phase of cooperation should focus on programs that promote democracy, respect for human rights, military justice administration, civilian control over the military, and training for humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping missions. This training should not be intended only for the military. It is necessary to put members of political and civil society together with military personnel in these programs in order to develop the civilian capacity on a par with the military, and strengthen civilian expertise in defense affairs and security matters. There is definitely a long to-do list when you consider military to military reengagement between the US and Burma. Yet the priority has to be civilian supremacy, civilian oversight, and civilian control over the military in whatever way the program is designed. Ko Ye is an executive director of Rangoon-based Tagaung Institute of Political Studies, which is monitoring the civil-military relationship in Burma. Tuesday, September 20th, 2016 (12:19 pm) - Score 809 Fears over a possible misuse of public funding have erupted in the Highlands of Scotland after a community broadband project in rural Perthshire the Highland Perthshire Communities Partnership (HPCP) allegedly failed to deliver what was expected. Building broadband networks can be an expensive and time-consuming business, especially in remote rural areas and the Scottish Highlands certainly have plenty of those. One such location where it can be difficult to establish a new network is in the rural Tay Forest Park (Amulree, Trochry and Struan) area. In March 2015 the Scottish Governments Community Broadband Scotland (CBS) initiative set out to improve the service for local communities by contributing 58,500 to help setup a fixed wireless broadband network in the area (here), which at the time appeared to predict that speeds of up to 16-20Mbps could be possible (a big improvement from the previous sub-1Mbps norm). Back then Bruce Patterson, the partnerships project officer, suggested that the first services could be ready to go live by Easter 2015. Unfortunately MSP Murdo Fraser has today claimed that only 20 subscribers have so far been connected to the network, which is alleged to have also gobbled over 120,000 of public investment (note: its unclear how many premises are actually covered). According to Fraser, the Perth and Kinross Council has now pulled the plug on funding and I have [called] for greater clarity. A related Freedom of Information (FoI) request made by The Courier to see a council report on HPCP was also refused on the grounds that the public interest in withholding the information was greater than the public interest in disclosing it. Hmm. A Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE) Spokesperson said: [The] funding was to enable HCPC to design, procure and install a community broadband network and allow premises in three rural communities to receive faster broadband service. There were significant delays to the project, which were largely out of HPCPs hands. Works were completed for two of the three areas and CBS is helping the remaining community to find a solution. Part of the problem might stem from the fact that a rival wireless network (here), which is run by AB Internet, also appears to be serving a big slice of the Loch Tay area with an even faster 50Mbps capable service and appears to have had more success in signing up subscribers. Meanwhile the Highland Councillor Kate Howie (HPCP Director) has defended the project by saying that Fraser shouldnt be criticising local people for trying to find local solutions the road has not been without its difficulties and many other community broadband schemes have encountered the same type of problems topography (as in the wireless line of sight method), land ownership for installations, weather limitations and funding constraints. Howie noted that the cost had been especially high because in many occasions each individual household has had to have a unique type of connection and she added that the cost of no connection to the rural areas will be much greater in lost business, while also encouraging social and rural isolation. Customers generally pay HPCP 149.99 (one-off) for installation and prices start from 19.99 per month for an 8Mbps (4Mbps upload) connection with a 30GB usage allowance (18 month contract), which rises to 34.99 for 25Mbps (10Mbps) and a 90GB allowance. How to Find Business Value in Your Data Through Modernization Im at IBM Edge this week with 50K of my closest friends. Tom Rosamilia, SVP of IBM, took the stage first. Ive known Rosamilia for a few years. He led in the idea of infrastructure as a product for the firm and now controls a major chunk of IBM. Hes one of the most competent executives Ive ever met. He opened with the idea that the world has really changed. An example he used was when his son was using Snapchat with his friend in Turkey when the latest coup attempt occurred. Rosamilia found out about the coup from his son long before local media picked it up. Today, an increasing number of executives and companies are using their ability to parse social media to gain competitive advantage or to respond to world events in a timely way. The information is there; business people just need help to make sense of it and then to make related decisions. That was the foundation of Rosamilias talk: the critical need for successful firms to better understand the world around them and Outthink the Status Quo (this was the title of the opening keynote). IBM Pivot Status IBM is in the midst of moving from the heavy hardware/software company most of us have known most of our lives into a cloud services company. But IBMs unique angle is intelligence. This angle isnt applied to just services in the cloud but increasingly smart services, services that think. If you know IBM, Think is its message that goes back decades. IBM is, in effect, moving from systems that assist you in thinking to systems that can do an increasing amount of thinking themselves. Or, Think is moving from something IBM can help you do to something it does for you. IBM appears to be mostly done with this pivot operationally; now its just a matter of time before its revenue and profit stabilize to the new model. Systemic Performance Rosamilia argued that the world is moving from a more traditional kind of linear performance as defined by Moores Law, to an ever more capable set of systems that operate in parallel. Speed is not defined as how fast you can do each transaction but how many transactions you can do at the same time. Whether its being able to do a credit check at the same time a financial transaction is being attempted, or the concept of autonomous cars, this move to intelligent systems is requiring a fundamental rethinking of the model. This forms the basis of a lot of the development work IBM is doing on its Power processors and how they are being re-architected with partners to address the unique loads now being placed on them. Plenty of Fish Example Next up at the event was Plenty of Fish, a dating site with four million customers across the world; it competes by providing the best match for those looking for a date. The goal is to get someone through the process and out on a successful date as quickly as possible. This requires a lot of analytics because the system doesnt just have to match up preferences quickly, it has to factor in past experiences so that the results get better over time; otherwise, users will abandon the service. Plenty of Fishs success is likely due to the fact that the firm has been able to improve speed and accuracy to a level where the vast majority of dates are successful ones. If someone signs up for this site, let me know how it works. I was going to sign up myself to answer that question and then thought about how Id explain to my wife that I signed up for a dating site to see how it worked. I figured that was an outcome Id just as soon not experience. Jason Pontin Jason Pontin talked about the future. Ive known Pontin for years and he is the storied editor-in-chief and publisher of the MIT Technology Review. This well-regarded publication focuses largely on the cutting edge of technology with an eye on major future trends and emerging technology. He spoke to the massive changes that are going on in the world changes that are forcing companies and governments to revisit how information is acquired and analyzed with ever more emphasis on intelligent systems and an ever greater need for massive parallel processing as these systems grow in intelligence. Red Bull Racing and F1 Red Bull Racing came to stage and talked about why they win in F1. The cars have hundreds of sensors capturing information, telematics mostly, so drivers know exactly what is working and what isnt. That info can advise the drivers and indicate when to replace components in a timely manner. Red Bull Racing has a massive need for real-time analytics as a result, and testified that IBM was at the heart of the related solution, saying that IBMs technology was a good part of the reason why Red Bull Racing been so competitive. Any time they can work cool cars into a keynote, Im pleased. But this also has relevance for the cars you drive because, and Tesla leads with this, your future car will be connected in much the same way. Wrapping Up: The IBM Irony of Outthinking the Status Quo As I go through the different elements of the keynote, I keep coming back to the idea of outthinking the status quo. It is actually very much to point in that firms, and this includes IBM, succeed by rising above the average and outperforming the market and their competitors. In addition, given the fact that we are increasingly awash in more information than we can make sense of, as humans, it is also important that the systems can handle these petabytes of data and that they are increasingly able to advise and, at times, make decisions at machine speeds. This is the only way companies will be able to get ahead of the pack. That means that, over time, the ability of these systems to parallel-process massive amounts of data will likely be the competitive edge that successful firms of the future will need to succeed. At IBMEdge this year, IBM was on point. Its success will be tied not only to how well it provides these tools to customers but how well it uses the tools itself. Technology firms already live or die on this kind of competitive edge. IBM, by heritage, should be the firm to drive Thinking into both itself and customers. There is more than a little irony in that, regardless of how it turns out. Rob Enderle is President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, a forward-looking emerging technology advisory firm. With over 30 years experience in emerging technologies, he has provided regional and global companies with guidance in how to better target customer needs; create new business opportunities; anticipate technology changes; select vendors and products; and present their products in the best possible light. Rob covers the technology industry broadly. Before founding the Enderle Group, Rob was the Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, and held senior positions at IBM and ROLM. Follow Rob on Twitter @enderle, on Facebook and on Google+. Save Hollywood icon and environment activist Leonardo DiCaprio took a break last week from his busy schedule to address the environmental problems regarding oceans the world is currently facing but continues to ignore. Present at the same event was Secretary John F. Kerry. In his speech during the State Department's Ocean Conference, he highlighted the need for people to care for the oceans. He implored, "They are ... pushing our oceans to the very brink. Treating our oceans as an endless resource and a dumping ground for our waste." DiCaprio believes that helping each other is the key to the protection and salvation of our ecosystem.The activist made sure his plea will be heard DiCaprio also discussed a free online tool to track global fishing. He elaborated the idea by instructing the people to check Global Fishing Watch out. Oceana, the advocacy group, created Global Fishing Watch. An application which is available on GlobalFishingWatch.org. that encourages people all over the world to monitor the status of commercial fishing in the ocean. The application targets to solve the problem of losing at least 35 percent of wild marine catch with the total of $ 23.5 billion dollars per year, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. DiCaprio and the Oceana aims to figure out where are the resources going. With the help of John Amos, president and founder of SkyTruth and one of the partners of Oceana, the application uses the satellite technology for the opportunity of monitoring how fishing around the globe is executed. To help solve with the problems of the ocean, President Barack Obama built a new marine national monument all throughout the coast of New England. DiCaprio praised Obama for helping the ocean activists in protecting natural resources. DiCaprio is expected to continue to spread his advocacy on saving Earth. Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has started sending out press invites for their Sept. 27 event. Though the invite did not reveal anything about what to expect during the event, the Beijing-based company has released a teaser with a big "S" taking the spotlight, hinting that the company might launch the much-awaited Xiaomi Mi 5S. The newest smartphone might come as a beefed-up and upgraded version of the company's flagship Xiaomi Mi5. Though the specifications of the new phone have not been confirmed yet, it is expected to sport new and improved features. On various occasions, the company revealed some of the key features and specification details of the smartphone. It is expected to feature the first ever ultrasonic fingerprint scanner designed by Qualcomm. The biometric reader will be embedded under the screen. The phone will be made out of metal and glass in three color variants: white, black and gold. Apart from this, the Mi 5S is expected to have a 5.15-inc full HD (1440 x 2560) display with a 4GB/6GB of RAM. The handset will have three internal storage variants of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. Its 16MP camera has a 4-axis OIS, PDAF focusing, and a f/1.8 aperture. The new phone is also expected to last long with its 3490mAh battery and a Quick Charge 3.0. Powered by the Snapdragon 821 64-bit quad-core SoC 2.4 GHz and Adreno 530 GPU for graphics rendering, this smartphone is surely an improved version of the famous Mi5. Just to compare, the Xiaomi Mi 5 has the same screen size. However, the phone has a 3,000 mAh batter with a fast-charging feature, which is lower than the expected new smartphone. It's powered by the Snapdragon 820 Quad-core Kryo 1.8GHz and a 3GB RAM. With the Xiaomi Mi 5 release date just a week away, it is expected that more updates and rumors of additional features and specifications will emerge over the next few days. Netflix has shaken the movie and cable business industry to its core with its original shows that viewers can binge watch to their heart's delight. Shows like "Daredevil," "House of Cards" and "Stranger Things" have taken smartphones and living rooms by storm gluing in viewers onto their screens like never before. Although Netflix earned millions from all these compelling stories, what the company really wanted was official recognition for the quality of their programs. Netflix has been pouring in millions in the last few months campaigning for this year's Emmy Awards to de-throne long time champion Time Warner Inc.'s HBO, which season after season has won the most number of Emmy awards than any other network. In this year's Emmy's, Netflix's hard work may finally be bearing fruit. Netflix recently received its very first award for TV writing at the 68th annual Emmy Awards last Sunday night through the works of Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang for their work on "Master of None," a Netflix comedy original where Ansari portrays an aspiring actor. Their show won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. According to Entertainment weekly Ansari and Yang created the story after collaborating on NBC's "Parks and Recreation." In "Master of None" the two constantly brainstormed and explored various life issues ordinary people go through like online dating and life as immigrants in a foreign country. Although the show began only in November 2015, "Master of None" was one of the most talked about and critically reviewed shows of 2016. Its episodes would go viral on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, generating massive word of mouth popularity for the program. The show also got other major nominations, including a Golden Globe citation for Ansari as Best Actor in a Television Series (Comedy or Musical). It was also nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. Despite Netflix's win, HBO was still king of the hill in the recent Emmys. According to Bloomberg, one of the biggest winners of the awards night was HBO's medieval fantasy drama "Game of Thrones," which won awards for best writing, directing and drama series. HBO's "Game of Thrones" is one of the most-watched dramas on cable both in the U.S. and overseas, adding thousands of new viewers with each new season. Emmy Awards 2016 was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California with late-night TV personality Jimmy Kimmel as host. NASA's Mars 2020 Rover, which is targeted to launch in July 2020, will conduct geological examinations on its landing site on Mars. It aims to determine if the Red Planet provides a habitable environment and whether there had been past or even present extraterrestrial life on the planet. However, one of the aims of the Mars 2020 is to lay the foundation for future human exploration with its MOXIE, Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment. The device will produce oxygen from the carbon dioxide atmosphere of the Red Planet at a rate of an estimated 0.35 ounces (10 grams) per hour. "The object is not to produce a lot of oxygen. The object is to show that the process works on Mars. MOXIE produces only about 10 [grams] per hour of oxygen, less than one percent of full scale," said Donald Rapp, one of the designers of the device. He added that MOXIE is just one of nine devices on the Mars 2020 Rover, but it's the most essential for human exploration. According to previous data gathered from Mars, its atmosphere is 96 percent carbon dioxide. So, MOXIE is tasked to inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen, just like what plants and trees do on Earth. Basically, the device will gather carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store it and will electrochemically divide the molecules into carbon monoxide and dioxygen. Meanwhile, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a novel spectroscopic technique that may help the Mars 2020 Rover to locate and find signs of present or past extraterrestrial life on the Red Planet. The technique will help the rover analyze and identify sediments from the planet without compromising its pristine condition. This will allow scientists to identify signs of former life. Maintaining the original composition of sediments is important to make sure data is not altered and the sediments are of their original composition. "This may help in deciding what samples the 2020 rover will archive. It will be looking for organic matter preserved in sediments, and this will allow a more informed selection of samples for potential return to Earth," said Roger Summons, professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences at MIT. With the recent battery issues of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Samsung is facing a lawsuit filed by a customer who suffered second-degree burns after his phone exploded in his pocket on Sept. 9. Meanwhile, the first case of the Note 7 was reported indicating that Samsung's issue with its latest mobile device is not just a problem in the U.S. but the global market. Samsung Issues Galaxy Note 7 Mass Recall The hyped release of Samsung's new phablet, the Galaxy Note 7, may have initially caused excitement but it was shortly replaced by alarm. As news spread that their Galaxy Note 7 exploded during charging, Samsung decided to issue a mass recall. The explosion was supposedly due to the battery cell's spontaneous combustion. In the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a formal recall on Sept. 15 because the phones are a fire hazard. Based on a report by Digital Trends, Samsung's action is to issue a voluntary recall covering approximately 2.5 million units. Samsung Electronics President Tim Baxter also issued a statement that safety remains to be their top priority. Hence, they will allow customers to "return their Note 7 for another device." Samsung's Lawsuit Due to Galaxy Note 7 Injuries Despite the South Korean company's prompt voluntary recall, Jonathan Strobel who resides in Florida claims that he felt the phone in his pocket warmed up and exploded. Strobel suffered from second-degree burns and decided to take it to court, claiming medical bills, lost wages, pain, and other damages. Coincidentally, Samsung is also facing a lawsuit filed by user Daniel Ramirez after he sustained burns when another device, the Galaxy S7 Edge, exploded. Allegedly, the device exploded after it was taken out of his pocket. New Cases of Note 7 Explosion Although the bulk of complaints came from U.S. clients, new reports of battery explosions in China are starting to alarm many Note 7 owners in the country. IBTimes reported that Samsung is investigating such issue especially after rumors that the exploding phone led to a fire in China. However, Samsung did not release any statement yet about the lawsuit. You read that right- the new Google Travel smartphone app is here and it's going to be awesome. Google Trips allows you to create an itinerary including flight information, car reservations, hotel reservations, restaurant recommendations, and local attractions- all these you can retrieve from your email while you set to see and explore the world. "The bottom line is - people spend a lot of money on travel and the more Google can get them to consider them as a go-to place for travel information, the more opportunity Google will have to show them travel-related ads," Danny Sullivan, founding editor of Search Engine Land and Google observer said. The new smartphone app will serve as your trip planner and travel guide. Thru Gmail, Google Trips provides travel information to help you create an overview of your trip. The app assists you in deciding which directions to take depending on the itinerary you have prepared. Google map will guide travellers of the different stops especially in unfamiliar places. Don't have internet or a WiFi to connect to? Google Trips is viewable offline or even without an internet connection. Google Trips makes itself known, thru Google, in the travel market. The app also steps up to compete with TripAdvisor Inc. and Yelp Inc.- some of the most used travel and review apps. Steve Kaufer, TriAdvisor Chief Executive Officer, previously noted the potential of Google as a potential "serious threat." Airbnb Inc., a home-sharing app, has a trip-planning app also on its way. Google Trips is yet another reason for people to use Google's Gmail and Maps apps that feed data into Trips. According to Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy of Local Search Association, Google Trips also aims to harvest more data to target ads aside from providing an effective travelling tool. Google Trips will be available on Monday both in iOS and Android. Vienna, Austria - McMaster University of Canada spearheaded by Michael Van Ameringen as the director of McMaster's Anxiety Research Centre conducted a study on internet addiction with a total of 254 students who underwent a research study to identify internet addiction among college student presented on the annual event at the 29th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress dated September 17, 2016 to September 20, 2016. ABOUT THE STUDY The research team used two tools for the study. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) could be obsolete since it was developed way back in the year 1998 where smartphones aren't a thing yet, so they also used their own and new internet addiction tool considering modern factors like video streaming, social media, working online; and the like. Results With 254 students, 33 of them met internet addiction based on IAT criteria and 107 students for Ameringen's research team tool. With the percentage of 55.8, students found to have difficulty in controlling practice of video streaming, 47.9 percent are glued to social media and 28.5 percent are into using instant messaging tools. MENTAL HEALTH ASSESMENT Students who resulted to positive addiction "...had significantly more trouble dealing with their day to day activities, including life at home, at work, school, and in social settings," stated by Michael Van Ameringen, the Chief Researcher at McMaster University. It was also found out that they have significantly higher amounts of anxiety and depression, difficulty in time management and planning, as well as ADHD symptoms and impulsiveness. INTERNET ADDICTION SIGNS According to Illionois Institute for Addiction Recovery, there are several red flags that you have to look out for in spotting someone who has internet addiction. Who knows, maybe you could fall into this catefory as well. It ranges from behaviors of being preoccupied or having the thoughts and anticipation on internet interaction, increased quantity of time for pleasure or longer time than intended, failure to cut back or stop internet usage, and/or feeling of irritability or restlessness when attempts of cutting down takes place. Also jeopardize relationship and lies with significant others, school and work for the sake of internet use, and a way to escape life situation from problems, anxiety, depression, hopelessness and guilt. MEDICAL IMPLICATION The internet is so easy to access and people are somewhat hooked to the pleasure they derive from it but it could lead to addiction and could trigger more serious health problems that would need immediate medical attention. As stated by Ameringen in ECNP, "This may have practical medical implications. If you are trying to treat someone for an addiction when in fact they are anxious or depressed, then you may be going down the wrong route." On the other hand, Jan Buitelaar, professor at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre commented that "Excessive use of the internet is an understudied phenomenon that may disguise mild or severe psychopathology; excessive use of the internet may be strongly linked to compulsive behaviour and addiction; as the authors say, further study is needed in larger populations." But the question is, could internet addiction be affecting human's social and mental behavior or could it possibly be the other way around? GoPro announces new gadgets at its launch event in Olympic Valley, California, including its long-awaited $799 Karma Drone, a foldable, compact flying machine that comes with a removable stabilizer. GoPro Karma Drone GoPro has announced earlier this month on its Twitter page that it would launch soon its highly anticipated drone called Karma. According to Engadget, on Monday, Sept. 19, the company was hosting an event in Squaw Valley, California, where the Karma drone will be introduced for the first time. Forbes reports that the 14-year-old GoPro is introducing new gadgets, hoping to resuscitate its once image of pioneering company. After a lackluster two years on Wall Street and in the wake of sluggish sales, GoPro's future depends in great measure on the upcoming holiday season. GoPro's much-anticipated drone is company's first major product outside its core business focusing on video-capturing devices. The company is investing much in this atypical product. The failure or success of this new gadget will heavily influence the GoPro's future. The long rumored Karma has been delayed for six months, but finally has come on the market. The drone is a foldable, four-propeller rig that can airborne any of GoPro's signature camera lines. Karma is not only the company's first drone but also an attempt to convince that it can go beyond cameras. This product can show how well GoPro can adapt to the emerging market of drones that can better help customers capture their lives on still images and videos. GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman said on stage at the event in Squaw Valley, California, that they are not a camera company but rather an "experience-sharing company." But the truth is that, since Woodman took his company public in June 2014, his vision is hard to sell to the public and investors. The future will tell if the company's new drone will become a market success. Samsung is currently facing a $1 billion problem, with the tech giant's latest flagship smartphone - which would have been the most impressive phablet in the world - having a tendency to detonate. A seemingly small amount of the 2.5 million or so Galaxy Note 7 handsets that were built has issues with the battery. This problem, unfortunately, is a big one that can cause the smartphones to explode while charging. We've witnessed these Note 7 blasts destroy cars and even torch a house, and Samsung had no real option except to issue a worldwide recall as a result. Well, now things start escalating a lot more. Now, a recent report now claims that Samsung's exploding Galaxy Note 7 problem is very much Apple's fault. A Report from Bloomberg indicates that Apple was to blame for Samsung's demise As indicated by a new report from Bloomberg that refers to multiple anonymous sources, Samsung saw the leaks and rumors paving the way to Apple's recent iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus launch, and it recognized an opening. All of the chatter ahead of Apple's new iPhone launch suggested that this year's new iPhone lineup would have been boring and dull. As a result, Samsung thought it could surge out the new Galaxy Note 7 and take Apple's thunder with a ravishing design and some hot new features like a built-in eye scanner. Samsung was rushing to their doom All that rushing, according to the report, brought about some quality control slips that would ultimately lead to the failure the company is in now. In fact, by the report, some Samsung employees are calling the Note 7 recall "embarrassing," and analysts have suggested that the company's reputation could be hindered for quite some time. The best thing that you could do If you currently own a Galaxy Note 7 - and if it has not yet "exploded" yet - it would be best if you return it to its retailer right away and request a refund, or maybe a replacement. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Microsoft have collaborated for "Destination: Mars." This exhibit will utilize Microsoft's HoloLens augmented reality headset. It allows NASA to bring Mars to Earth. NASA And Microsoft's HoloLens AR This is not the first time NASA and Microsoft have joined forces. Project Manager Jeff Norris of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory revealed that Microsoft has been helping. They work on building applications. These will benefit the engineers. They will use it for the design and assembly of spacecraft. Norris said that mixed reality technologies will be useful in space explorations. The tech giant has also helped NASA develop the OnSight software. According to Digital Trends, it allowed NASA to virtually work on Mars. They used the Microsoft HoloLens to achieve that. They have been using the OnSight in mission operations. The Curiosity rover provides real data for the tool. It will generate a 3D version of Mars. Hence, the first-person perspective of the Curiosity. HoloLens In Mars Microsoft's HoloLens produces a Mars landscape hologram. The HoloLens AR user will see such view. Furthermore, the environment is on a fixed point. The user can virtually walk across Mars' surface. It lets them examine Mars naturally. The Curiosity rover will use the OnSight in late 2016. Apparently, NASA will also use HoloLens in its exhibit. The Destination: Mars AR Experience According to the Kennedy Space Center, visitors will be able to walk on Mars. The HoloLens will display real imagery from NASA's Curiosity rover. The Destination: Mars exhibit will also have a Buzz Aldrin holographic guide. The rover's driver Erisa Hines will lead the visitors to different sites on Mars. Specifically, they will see where exciting discoveries took place. The exhibit will only be available until January 1, 2017. It is a pop-up theater at the main visitor complex in the Kennedy Space Center. A reservation is needed, though. As such, it is first-come-first-served. The exhibit is also not available all day. Furthermore, it's suitable for those 13 years and older. On Wednesday, Sept. 14, the EU's European Commission released its proposed internet copyright reforms. EU's New Internet Copyright Rules According to Yahoo Finance, in order to boost European Union's digital economy, some of the European leaders come with the idea to force video sites to ensure their users don't uploaded copyrighted content and to allow newspapers bill search engines like Yahoo and Google for showing snippets of news stories. The proposal has been made public in a press release. The proposed EU copyright reforms aim to solve some problems in the market. However, digital companies do not particularly enjoy the idea of supporting analog firms. The ideas are actually not new and they did not enjoy much popularity before. But this doesn't seem to have discouraged the European Commission to come with the current proposal. According to tech market analysts, vote by the European Parliament to adopt the proposed internet copyright reforms may encourage U.S. Big Copyright's lobbyists to ask for similar measures there. The main change stipulated by the EC's Copyright Directive is a requirement to copyright holders that websites hosting content submitted by users must scan for and reject copyrighted material. This rule would represent a major change from the current law in Europe that only requires websites to take down infringing copyrighted material in case that a copyright holder notifies it of the offense. The current law also frees the websites from being held liable for the content posted by their users. The EC now proposes to totally change the copyright protection system by requiring websites to verify their users upfront. This kind of measures would not be impossible but would be certainly difficult to implement by websites without the resources of Google to write code able of matching short video samples against an very large library of copyrighted content. Even if the commission's proposal seems to consider an exemption for smaller websites, it doesn't clearly specify a threshold. In case that the proposed new EU internet rules will pass into law, then user-generated-content startups trying to compete with large and well-established digital companies such as Google will become much a harder. According to Search Engine Land, one of the additional objectives of the new rules is to harmonize copyright laws across the EU. However, giant internet companies such as Google complaint that the directive would impose throughout all Europe largely failed copyright approaches of Germany and Spain. One Piece chapter 840 is coming soon and fans are eager to know the fate of Sanji and whether Luffy will make it in time to save him from marrying the Yonko's daughter, Pudding. Save Chef Zeff There are rumors among fan sites that Sanji will choose to marry Pudding because it is the only way for him to save his erstwhile mentor Chef Zeff from the brutality of his father Judge Vinsmoke, who has unequivocally shown that he does not have an ounce of mercy in him. The previous chapter revealed Judge Vinsmoke threatening Sanji of killing Zeff if he does not go through the wedding with Big Mom's daughter. Judge has allied with the Yonko to strengthen his military position in the world despite being stripped of his royal status by the World Council. Sanji's Diable Jambe versus Luffy's Gear Four! Sanji's decision to marry Pudding possibly may push him to abandon the Straw Hat Pirates which would directly go against Luffy's wishes. Luffy most probably will tell Sanji that getting married with Pudding and leaving the Strawhat Pirates are not wrong decisions but only if he truly wishes to do so. Luffy knows in his heart this is not what Sanji wants to do. Similar in the Battle of Marine Ford, Luffy will promise to save both Sanji and Zeff. If Sanji disagrees with Luffy, there is a possibility that in "One Piece" Chapter 840, Luffy will use his haki imbued Gear Four against Sanji's flaming Diable Jambe to knock some sense into his friend's head. This would be a battle of epic proportions because fans have never before seen the two friends fight. The ensuing commotion could also unleash the clone army of the Vinsmokes. It was hinted at "One Piece" chapter 839 that the war-mongering royal family is experimenting on their soldiers which shocked Sanji. Judge Vinsmoke and Sanji's cruel brothers may use the commotion in Pudding's wedding to battle test their cloned soldiers against the Strawhat Pirates to eliminate them permanently. Marines And Yonkos Fear a New Threat: Clone Armies! The clone army of the Vinsmokes called "Germa 66" follows a recent theme in "One Piece" stories where villains use technology to multiply their forces. In the Dressrosa arc, Law made an alliance with the Strawhat Pirates to stop Kaido from making an army of artificial Zoan Devil Fruit Users --men who could turn into animal monsters without eating the mythical devil fruit. It is possible that "One Piece" is tacitly moving away from the Marines, Shichibukai and Yonko power structure to a more massive and chaotic interaction of the major players in the "One Piece" world. Kaido and Big Mom can use their legions of cloned soldiers to overpower the Marines and other Yonkos. There would be no need to maintain the current balance of the world divided among the former world powers. The demise of the old world power structure is supported by the fact that one of the Yonko, Whitebeard, has died and his crew defeated by Blackbeard. As fans know, Blackbeard is a malevolent pirate who has shown the remarkable ability of wielding two devil fruit powers at the same time, a feat no other character in "One Piece" has ever displayed. In addition, the old guards from the Pirate King's generation have all retired like Vice-Admiral and Marine Hero Garp, Ex-Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Ex-Admiral Kuzan. There is a high chance therefore for upcoming "One Piece" chapter 840 to use the wedding of Pudding and Sanji as foreshadowing of the future chaos that would happen in the series. Research shows that prevention of neurodegenerative disorders comes from exercising and being fit. The report of American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Bulletin suggests that to keep your brain healthy, you must stay fit. Professor Urho Kujala of the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland said in a press release, "Overall, the study shows that moderately vigorous physical activity, meaning more strenuous than walking, is associated with better cognition after an average of 25 years." In a conducted survey of a team from universities of Helsinki, Jyvaskyla and Turku back in 1975 and 1981, people aged 45 years old were asked if they engaged in physical activity and how intense their workouts were. The next part of the survey was conducted between 1999 and 2015 through telephone interview. The results showed that vigorous activities besides walking could help better cognitive functions. Studies also indicate that physically active people have lower rates of Alzheimer's disease and other age-related neurodegenerative disorders. According to AARP notes, the hippocampus (part of the brain that is responsible for memory) shrinks as one ages and thus could be a reason for dementia. Walking for 40 minutes, three times a week for six months, increases the size of hippocampus. In contrast, walking less resulted to smaller hippocampi. In a report in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, it's been said that exercising can boost memory health no matter how vigorous people work out. It doesn't mean that exercising is good no matter how hard you train. The new research sheds the light on the link of physical activity to prevention of dementia. Exercise, as people know, is one step to protect oneself from diseases, even with the kinds affecting the brain. There may be no cure for dementia but at least it can be prevented. In addition to these results, exercise also helps younger adults gain better memory and better cognitive function. Exercise does miracles to your body. It may seem silly but the fruits of your labor are definitely worth it. The dreaded Zika Virus, which started in Brazil last year, has spurred panic among Asians as the number of cases continue to rise. In the Philippines, six new cases have been confirmed by health officials, bringing the total number to nine. The Department of Health (DOH) said the patients are 9 years old to 49 years old, where four are from Iloilo City and the other two are from Cebu City and Laguna. DOH spokesperson Dr. Eric Tayag confirmed that the new cases had no history of travel to other countries over the last month, before the symptoms of the disease emerged. "All exhibited skin rashes accompanied by joint pains, or fever or conjunctivitis, but they are expected to have recovered by this time," Dr. Tayag said, adding that the patients acquired the infection through mosquito bites from the Aedes aegypti species, the one responsible for dengue fever. In the Philippines, dengue fever is an all-year round disease, causing widespread outbreaks in various provinces. Though dengue fever is deemed more serious and life-threatening than Zika virus infection, the latter has been linked to birth defects among infants of pregnant mothers infected with the virus. "We have not recommended pregnant women not to visit Iloilo City. What we have recommended is for pregnant women to ask doctors any instructions regarding their pregnancy, especially those living in affected areas," Dr. Tayag added. New Public Health Updates About Zika The Zika virus outbreak in Brazil, neighboring countries and even in Asia, has spread uncontrollably because of the need for knowledge about the disease. Many individuals are still unaware of this disease and how to prevent it. There is still a need for mosquito control and public health education among residents especially those living in rural areas. In most cases, infected people become asymptomatic, meaning they do not show signs of the infection. Hence, it's harder for health practitioners to stem the spread of the infection. Mostly, hospitalization of infected patients may not be cost-effective since those who do not display the symptoms might spread the virus just the same. However, isolation of infected individuals from mosquito bites may help reduce the risk of virus spread. How To Prevent The Zika Virus The first and most important measure to perform in order to prevent Zika virus infection is avoiding mosquito bites. Pregnant women are at most risk for the infection since their unborn babies may acquire microcephaly, a birth defect that may cause neurological problems and abnormally small heads. Thus, health officials are reminding everyone to use insect repellants. For pregnant women, there are safe lotions or sprays they can use. Furthermore, citizens are reminded to always clean their surroundings especially areas which can be good breeding sites for mosquitoes such as stagnant water and drainages. Residents, especially those living in affected areas, are reminded to seek medical help if they feel any of the symptoms of Zika virus infection. Symptoms include pain in areas like in the back of the eyes, joints, and muscles, fatigue, fever, chills, loss of appetite, eye redness, headache, skin rash and vomiting. "Lucifer" Season 2 just kicked off last Monday and fans were not wrong in anticipating its return, as it delivered quite a good start. In fact, it was so good that the network even released a sneak peek of the next episode titled, "Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire." "Lucifer" Season 2 Episode 1 Recap To recall, Charlotte a.k.a. "Mum from hell," has made her way to Earth, following her escape from the Gates if Hell. The episode kicks off with Lucifer and Amenadiel in a jewelry heist where they think the leader is their mom in disguise. Unfortunately, the brothers were wrong. Amenadiel then suggests that maybe she's not in L.A. after all, but Lucifer isn't convinced. Moving on, Chloe informed Lucifer that she's eager to find out the truth by testing a blood sample. He agrees of the idea but Amenadiel thinks otherwise. This prompted Amenadiel to sneak into the cop shop to pinch a blood sample. Eventually, Amenadiel convinced Chloe that they had a rough childhood and Lucifer created his "Devil" persona as a way of coping, and that his "power" is merely one "of suggestion." Meanwhile, Maze resurfaced midway through the hour, without clearly indicating her disappearing act. She was surprised to hear that Charlotte is now walking among them, but promised Lucifer that she will never assist her former prisoner. The episode ended with Charlotte suddenly showing up at the door, covered in blood and gasped "Help... me..." "Lucifer" Season 2 Episode 2 Spoilers: "Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire" In "Lucifer" Season 2 Episode 2, Maze was asked by Lucifer to watch over Charlotte following the incidents in the previous episode. However, Charlotte is not an easy person to handle. Will Maze be able to deal with her successfully? Check out the synopsis for "Lucifer" Season 2 Episode 2 titled "Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire" "When Lucifer's mother, Charlotte, turns up at the scene of a grizzly murder pleading innocence, Lucifer is hesitant to believe her tale. Not wanting to leave her on her own, he instructs Maze to babysit her - and not to torture her, allowing him to investigate the case with Chloe." Meanwhile, episode 2 will not air on Monday as it gives way to the Presidential Debate between Democrat nominee Hilary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump. "Lucifer" Season 2 Episode 2 will return following a week break on Monday, October 3. MIT is collaborating with two Dutch universities to create a small fleet of self-driving boats that will first be tested in Amsterdam to ferry commuters and goods about the city. The $27 million, five-year project named Roboat is expected to launch its first watercraft in the canals of the Dutch capital next year. The researchers are also working to create other "dynamic" craft and temporary floating infrastructure such as on-demand bridges and stages that can be assembled or disassembled in a matter of hours. Roboat is a collaborative project between MIT and researchers from Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University in Holland. "Roboat offers enormous possibilities," Arjan van Timmeren, science director at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, said in a statement. "We'll also be exploring environmental sensing. We could for instance do further research on underwater robots that can detect diseases at an early stage or use Roboats to rid the canals from floating waste and find a more efficient way to handle the 12,000 bicycles that end up in the city's canals each year." Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions Self-driving "Roboats" could be used to form temporary floating infrastructure such as on-demand bridges and stages. While the university Roboat project is focused on watercraft for canals, private companies have been developing self-driving boats for a variety of other purposes for years. For example, Sea Machines in Boston builds autonomous control and navigation systems for the commercial marine industry. The company is on its third version of a heavy-duty autonomous workboat for offshore and nearshore operations. The Sea Machines V2 has robust enough stability for open ocean-floor surveying or to deploy geographically-sensitive acoustic positioning systems. The vessel has a propulsion system that can do 20 knots and pull three tons of cargo. Sea Machines Sea Machine's V2 autonomous boat has enough stability for open ocean-floor surveying or to deploy geographically-sensitive acoustic positioning systems. The vessel has a propulsion system that can do 20 knots and pull three tons of cargo. With a pilot house and helm, the V2 can be controlled autonomously as a robot or manually driven as a conventional boat. Saildrone, in Alameda, Calif., is building miniature sailboats that traverse the bay and shores to monitor fish stocks or gather environmental data, according to the MIT Review. This year, Rolls-Royce announced its vision for autonomous container ships that would traverse oceans sans crew. "Autonomous shipping is the future of the maritime industry," said Mikael Makinen, president of Rolls-Royce's marine division. "As disruptive as the smartphone, the smart ship will revolutionize the landscape of ship design and operation." Rolls-Royce An artist's rendering of a Rolls-Royce-built autonomous cargo ship. The technologies required for autonomous shipping, such as sensors and GPS, already exist and aren't the challenge for the industry, according to Rolls-Royce. The challenge is to find the optimum way to combine them reliably and cost effectively. For example, software that can help vessels decide what actions to take off sensor and camera data is still being perfected, according to the company, and regulations have yet to catch up to what is already possible. "To secure regulatory approval, as well as industry support and public acceptance, remote and autonomous ships will need to be at least as safe as existing vessels," the company said in a study. "They have the potential to reduce human-based errors but at the same time new types of risks will arise and will need to be addressed." IBM sold off its x86 server business two years ago to Lenovo, thinking it was exiting a cut-throat, low-margin business. But the cloud has only intensified x86 server chip sales, and IBM is paying attention. The company is adapting a new range of Power servers -- which typically run powerful systems -- for the cloud. The Power E870C and E880C servers, announced Monday, are flexible in handling many tasks and can scale for distributed computing and cloud integration. The new servers, which support Ubuntu Linux and Unix, sound similar to x86 servers powering internal and external clouds at companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. But IBM is packing in an extra set of features to make these systems reliable and flexible for public and private clouds. As more data moves from PCs and mobile devices to the cloud, the designs of servers -- which store and process the data -- are changing. There's a growing emphasis on distributed computing and virtualization, which requires servers to be flexible when assigning computing resources to specific tasks. That flexibility helps scale performance while saving power in data centers. IBM's new servers are built with the cloud in mind and have beefed up features for the OpenStack cloud computing software, which is highly scalable and handles large data sets. The servers also have features like IBM Cloud PowerVC Manager, which can set policies and manage compute resources for cloud-related tasks. PowerVM virtualization features are hardwired into the system to improve efficiency. Linux vendor Canonical announced on Monday that Ubuntu OpenStack will be supported across all Power servers. With PowerVC Manager and hardware-based virtualization, the new systems will be better equipped to handle OpenStack than other Power servers. A new feature called HMC Apps as a Service will help push more static data sitting in servers, including cloud, analytics, inventory, and performance data, to the cloud. Mixing databases, enterprise resource planning, and cloud services in a single box is something x86 servers can't do easily. Cloud servers are usually separated from other systems that do analytics and databases, but there are some exceptions, like Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Superdome servers. The new IBM servers will be linked to IBM's Bluemix cloud service, which is used for analytics, data collection, artificial intelligence, and other services. The servers support AIX, IBM i, and Ubuntu Linux operating systems. The systems have Power8 chips and support up to 32TB of memory. IBM said customers would need to contact the company for pricing, which will vary depending on the configuration. Since 2012 three Texas-based health care organizations have merged to create USMD Health System. During the past four years CIO Mike Yerrid has been on a mission to centralize and consolidate IT operations. And a big part of that is moving to Amazons cloud. Yes, as a health care organization, USMD is subject to stringent regulations for protecting patient information, and yes its moving to the public cloud. USMD isnt alone. Health care organizations are becoming more comfortable with cloud technology, says Lynne Dunbrack, leader of research firm IDCs Health Insights practice. +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: 9 Keys to a HIPAA compliant cloud | From CSO: What to think about when moving to the cloud + With the increased threats of cyber attacks, I think that health care providers are recognizing that the cloud service providers know about securing infrastructure and applications and have the resources to do so; more so than their constrained IT staff can handle. Two years ago, IDC Health Insights surveyed health care IT providers and found that 87.5 percent of respondents were comfortable with using cloud technology. The survey of 310 IT pros found that 35 percent of new infrastructure purchases would be made in the cloud. Last year the number rose to 40 percent. Economies of the cloud For Yerrid at USMD, the move to embrace the cloud came down to economics. After the mergers, USMD is now made up of two hospitals, four cancer treatment centers and 50 clinician offices. The reality is capital is being spent on other merger activities - growing the organization, he says, not necessarily on IT infrastructure. In Yerrids mind he has two choices: Either estimate the needs of his IT infrastructure and front-end the capital expense of buying it; or use a pay as you go cloud infrastructure. Yerrid believes that owning and operating his own infrastructure is just not efficient. If planned growth doesnt occur then youve overpaid for equipment that you didnt need, he says. If you did measure it right, then you still have to replace it all within a certain amount of time. In a cloud model, Yerrid provisions the infrastructure resources he needs based on demand. The elasticity of a cloud solution is ideal for a company that is growing, he says. We have the ability to turn very quickly. Without this ability, he says IT can be a roadblock. With the cloud, IT can keep pace with the growth. First SaaS, then IaaS The low-hanging fruit for USMDs cloud migration were SaaS apps. Yerrid implemented a NetSuite accounting system and a Human Resources app from ADP as his first cloud use cases. More recently Yerrid has migrated his practice management system to the cloud. It handles all scheduling, billing and registrations and is the main portal for many of the organizations 1,500 health care workers. Medical imaging is also being transitioned to be stored in the cloud, including diagnostic X-rays. To help manage the migration, USMD is working with a provider named ClearDATA, which specializes in helping health care organizations migrate workloads to the public cloud while remaining in compliance with health care privacy laws. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the primary law dictating the protection of health care information. The HITECH portion of the law instituted new regulations in 2009 for health care organizations to protect electronic health data. It now requires health care organizations to inform patients of data breaches and it outlines a patients rights. Chris Bowen, founder of ClearDATA, says there are three main focus areas for HIPAA and HITECH regulations related to technology: Administrative controls: Policies must be in place to determine who has access to what data. Technical controls: Rules must be in place to secure data. Physical controls: Standards for physical access to data and infrastructure resources must be abided by. Bowen says all three can be satisfied in a cloud environment, with the right precautions. In Amazon Web Services cloud, for example, it can be set up so that all activity in the cloud environment is monitored and logged and any unusual activity is flagged and reported, satisfying the administrative controls. All data in AWS can be encrypted and Amazon can provide assurances to customers regarding physical access to their data centers that host their clouds. ClearDATA provides a dashboard for customers to check their cloud-based environment against HIPAA regulations. USMD has signed a contract named a Business Associate Agreement - with ClearDATA to be responsible for ensuring HIPAA compliance in this cloud-based environment. Not everyones a cloudie Last year the CTO of another Texas-based health care organization named CHRISTUS Health told Network World that hes in no rush to move to the cloud. Lynn Gibson, who oversees a data center with about 200 physical hosts running 4,000 virtual machines for CHRISTUS, says, When you get to be our size you really have to analyze how much control you want to give away to an outsourcer." There are some people projecting that hospitals and healthcare organizations dont need data centers. I think thats a little cavalier. If you start doing that youre giving away control of your patient information and patient data and thats where the money lies. The key to everybodys future in healthcare is going to be around the knowledge that you gain out of the data you maintain," she says. This story, "This hospital is moving to Amazons cloud to protect its network" was originally published by Network World . Tesla Motors is considered one of the most cybersecurity-conscious car manufacturers in the world -- among other things, it has a bug bounty program. But that doesn't mean the software in its cars is free of security flaws. Researchers from Chinese technology company Tencent found a series of vulnerabilities that, when combined, allowed them to remotely take over a Tesla Model S car and control its sunroof, central display, door locks and even the braking system. The attack allowed the researchers to access the cars controller area network (CAN) bus, which lets the vehicles specialized computers communicate with each other. "As far as we know, this is the first case of remote attack which compromises CAN Bus to achieve remote controls on Tesla cars," the researchers from Tencent's Keen Security Lab said in a blog post Monday. "We have verified the attack vector on multiple varieties of Tesla Model S. It is reasonable to assume that other Tesla models are affected." The blog post is accompanied by a demonstration video in which the researchers show what they can achieve through their attack, which works either while the car is parked or being driven. First, while the car was parked, the researchers used a laptop to remotely open its sunroof, activate the steering light, reposition the driver's seat, take over the dashboard and central display and unlock the car. In a second demonstration, they turned on the windshield wipers while the car was being driven at low speed in a parking lot for demonstration purposes. They also showed that they can open the trunk and fold the side-view mirror when the driver is trying to change lanes. While these operations can be distracting to the driver in certain situations, causing a safety risk, the most dangerous thing they were able to do was to engage the car's braking from 12 miles away. Such an attack, performed against a car being driven at high speed on a highway, could result in a serious rear-end collision. The researchers reported all of the vulnerabilities through Tesla's bug bounty program, and the company is working on patches. Fortunately, Tesla cars can receive firmware updates remotely and Tesla car owners are advised to make sure that their vehicles are always running the latest software version. Car hacking has become a hot topic in recent years among security researchers, regulators and car manufacturers themselves. As cars become more interconnected, the ways in which they can be remotely hacked will only increase, so it's important that the computers handling critical safety features are isolated and protected. Within ten days of being notified, Tesla released an over-the-air software update (v7.1, 2.36.31) to fix these security vulnerabilities, a Tesla representative said via email. "The issue demonstrated is only triggered when the web browser is used, and also required the car to be physically near to and connected to a malicious wifi hotspot," the representative said. "Our realistic estimate is that the risk to our customers was very low, but this did not stop us from responding quickly." The story was updated with comments from Tesla Motors. Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. With this year's competition having already seen some of the biggest shocks in the long history of the blue Riband event, Wimbledon punters were able to have some respite this weekend. This began on Friday when locally trained Farloe Reply, a puppy having only the seventh race of his life, blitzed his way to a brilliant win in heat four. Trained at Wimbledon by popular handler Patsy Byrne, he has brilliant early speed and could well become the first locally based dog to make it to the final since the brilliant Pearls Girl six years ago. Friday was also a successful night for popular local boy Vinnie Jones. His two dogs Smoking Bullet and Smoking Wardy offered the former Wimbledon hero some consolation for his team's relegation troubles, when both qualified safely for this Saturday's third round. Jones, who was at the track to cheer on his dogs, was clearly delighted with their performance, and must now believe he has a real chance of lifting the famous Derby Trophy. Saturday's heats saw the first jaw-dropping run of the competition so far, when the brilliant Rio Riccardo blasted his way to outright favouritism with an awesome performance in heat 12. Leading from traps to line, the Harlow based dog clocked 28.76 seconds for the testing 480 metres, a time good enough to win the Derby in most years, One again Wimbledon saw fantastic crowds on both Derby nights, with increases of 20% on previous years justifying the track's decision to reschedule the Derby to May to avoid a clash with the finals of the Euro 2000 football Championships. Wimbledon General Manager Mike Raper said, "We've been delighted that the move has proven so popular, and I would like to thank the Wimbledon public for offering such support for our biggest race. The William Hill Greyhound Derby is the most important and historic greyhound competitions in the world, and like us, I think that people in this area recognise that it's an honour and a privilege to be able to stage it here at Wimbledon." p Third Round Heats: Saturday May 20 Quarter Finals: Tuesday May 23 Final: Saturday June 3. After a shootout in the city of Linden, New Jersey, police finally caught a man suspected to be involved in the New York bombing last weekend, which injured 29 people. A naturalized US citizen born in Afghanistan Ahmad Khan Rahami, with a nickname of "Mad", 28, was taken into custody after being reported as "wanted." Two police officers were wounded in the manhunt that turned out successful having Rahami in captivity. An alert was sent to millions of cellphones in the area thru New York City's emergency notification system, alarming citizens to be on the lookout for the suspect. Rahami's photos were also widely circulated in television news channels. Police got a tip from the owner of a bar who found Rahami asleep in the doorway of his bar. Two officers were shot and wounded in the arrestscene while Rahami was taken to the hospital after being shot in the leg and shoulder. In a report by The Guardian, FBI officials found links to Rahami being involved in the bombing in Chelsea on Saturday and to the other explosive device found nearby the scene. Both devices were said to have been made of pressure cookers with metallic fragmentation materials. The FBI also suspects that Rahami is linked with the pipe bomb blast in Seaside Park, New Jersey on Saturday and with those exposive devices found in Elizabeth on Sunday. According to Rahami's friend, Flee Jones, 27, a change in Rahami's behavior after a year-long trip to Afghanistan in 2014 became obvious. She added that Rahami acted and dressed differently than he used to. She added, "He was more quiet and more mature," Jones said. When she asked where Rahami had gone to, the latter mentioned that he's been on vactation. Rahami is facing charges of five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcemet officer which occured during his dramatic arrest. He is also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. His bail is set at $5.2million US dollars New York Times reports that the FBI is still examining if Rahami was inspired or directed by the Islamic State (ISIS) or any other terrorist organization. In a televised speech, Barrack Obama calls on Americans to "not to give in to fear." The top risk manager in the Wells Fargo unit at the center of an unauthorized-account scandal has taken a leave of absence and been replaced in that role, the San Francisco-based bank said Monday. Minneapolis-based Claudia Russ Anderson, 58, started a six-month unpaid leave on Monday, Wells Fargo said. In August, she was succeeded by Vic Albrecht, 57, who held a similar post in the banks wealth-management operation, according to the bank. The move comes after Wells Fargo agreed this month to pay $185 million in government fines to resolve claims employees opened millions of accounts that may not have been authorized by consumers. Wells Fargo employees secretly opened the accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses, regulators alleged, adding that some customers were then hit with fees or other charges because of the bogus accounts. The bank did not admit or deny allegations in agreeing to the settlement. Claudia Russ Anderson made a personal decision to take a leave of absence. Her position has been filled in her absence, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Richele Messick said in a statement. When asked whether Andersons leave was connected to allegations that led to the banks fine, Messick reiterated that it was a personal decision. Anderson was group risk officer for the community banking unit where the uanuthorized accounts were opened. She reported to Carrie Tolstedt, 56, who announced in July she was retiring at the end of this year. Tolstedt was replaced July 31 by Charlotte-based executive Mary Mack. Asked if any other executives in the unit are taking leaves of absence, Messick said she did not have further information to share. Like Mack, Albrecht is a former executive for Charlotte-based Wachovia, which Wells Fargo acquired in 2008. Albrecht is based in Charlotte, where Wells Fargo has its largest employment hub, and will report to Mack. Albrecht will also report to Mike Loughlin, Wells Fargos chief risk officer, who is based in San Francisco. On Tuesday, bank CEO John Stumpf will be in Washington to testify before the Senate Banking Committee about the banks practices. HIGH POINT Days after bombings in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota, Donald J. Trump assured supporters during a speech at High Point University today that he would improve national security through tougher immigration policies. "Were going to protect our country from radical Islamic terrorism. That one's not even close," Trump told a crowd of about 2,000 in the Millis Center on HPU's campus. "Over the weekend, there were Islamic terrorist attacks ...," he went on. "These attacks were made possible because of our extremely open immigration system which fails to properly vet or screen individuals or families coming into our country." Trump, the Republican nominee for president, appeared an hour late and spoke for about 20 minutes before departing to the deafening strains of the Rolling Stones. His remarks were more scripted than at previous rallies and focused on foreign policy, national security and immigration, with an emphasis on defending the country from terrorists specifically, radical Islamic terrorists, a term that Trump said his opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, refuses to use. "My opponent won't even say the words 'radical Islamic terrorist,'" Trump said. "In fact, Hillary Clinton talks harsher about my supporters than she does about radical Islamic terrorists." Refusing to condemn terrorists is a sign of Clinton's inherent weakness, Trump said, a refrain he's repeated several times since the weekend's attacks. The businessman has benefited from the exposure. According to an Elon University Poll released this morning, Trump and Clinton are virtually tied among voters in North Carolina. "Anyone who cannot name our enemy is not fit to lead this country," he said. "If you can't name your enemy, you don't know what the problem is, and if you don't know what the problem is, you can't fix this country." Without offering specifics, Trump pledged to tighten immigration standards, improve the country's infrastructure and pay down the national debt. He also made a brief overture toward the African American community by promising to fix inner cities and lessen poverty in low-income neighborhoods. "Schools are failing, jobs are leaving, and millions are trapped in poverty. So to the African American community I say, vote for Donald Trump. I will fix it," he said. "I will bring back your jobs, I will fix your schools. I will fix it. What do you have to lose? I will fix it. Remember that." He closed by pledging unity. "Imagine what our country could accomplish if we started working as one people, under one god, saluting one flag," he said, before once more imploring the crowd to "make America great again." Pam Callicutt, a Greensboro resident who plans to vote for Trump, said before the rally she was hoping the Republican candidate would speak about national security. "I'd just like to know what his plans are for keeping our country safe, because that affects my family," she said. "I like his enthusiasm for the people." Trump also pledged to bring jobs back to North Carolina by renegotiating trade agreements and punishing companies who relocate overseas, but local officials dismissed those remarks at a press conference before the rally. Instead, they endorsed Clinton as a job-creating candidate. "Unlike Donald Trump, who has a long record of putting himself first, Hillary Clinton is committed to building an economy that works for everyone not just those at the top," Charlie Greene, founder of Classic Gallery furniture manufacturer and former chairman of the High Point Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. Reddit Email 0 Shares By Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) The Syrian civil war is now in its sixth year, with occasional ceasefire deals made and violated by the warring parties being a cyclical process. The latest ceasefire agreement brokered by the U.S. and Russia, which came into effect on September 12, is standing on shaky grounds. The U.S.-led coalition air raid on Syrian army troops in Deir ez-Zour, an ISIS-controlled eastern Syrian province, has killed nearly a hundred soldiers prompting a strong warning from Russia that the ceasefire agreement was at risk. It is a serious reminder that peace in Syria, through a negotiated settlement of the conflict, remains as elusive as it has been since the Arab Spring violence broke out in March 2011. Tragically, the Syrians are paying the ultimate price of the war, in blood and treasures. They are the real losers. A total of 470,000 Syrians were killed by the end of 2015, with another 1.9 million Syrians wounded; the economic loss incurred between 2011 2015 stands at US $255 billion. These estimates are reported by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, a Damascus-based think tank. Additionally, 6.5 million Syrians are internally displaced and 4.8 million Syrians have become refugees in neighboring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and some European countries. The war has virtually obliterated most of Syrias economic assets, infrastructure, institutions and human resources, pushing the country literally back to pre-modern period. There are two oft-cited reasons why the Syrian civil war continues unabated. The first is the complex internal nature of the war. The chasms between the Al-Assad government and the numerous rebel groups have widened so much in the course of the war that they keep defying any initiatives for political reconciliations. The government and the opposition rebel groups, who often engage in infighting, operate from a matrix of zero-sum game calculations either we or they survive the war. The capture of territories in eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq by the ISIS has simply added further complexities to the war. The second reason is the takeover of the war by external parties Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the U.S. and Russia that train, financially support, supply arms and ammunitions and intervene to aid their respective allies in Syria. That means the Syrians hardly have any control over the war or their own fate. Beneath the complex dynamics of external involvements is a host of calculated interests each external power is pursuing and willing to protect at any costs. For Iran, Syria has been the only Arab strategic ally, especially since the beginning of the IraqIran war (1980 -1988). Their alliance relationship, despite big ideological (secular Baathism versus Islamic government) and cultural (Arab versus Persian) differences, solidified after they had signed a mutual defense cooperation agreement in June 2006, a military measure that sought to minimize post-2003 U.S. threats to Tehran and Damascus. Iran sees the loss of Syria to the anti-Assad rebel groups as an irreparable loss of the vital strategic link Damascus provides to the anti-Israel Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah. Tehran came to the defense of the Al-Assad government to protect two interests i) to maintain its strategic weight in the Middle East as a safeguard against Western military pressures to totally dismantle its nuclear program, though it concluded a nuclear deal with the U.S. in July last year; and ii) to protect its national security in a vast sea of hostile and unfriendly powers the Arab adversaries on the west coast of the Persian Gulf, the presence of U.S. military forces all around Iran, and a resurgent Turkey and a hostile Israel on the north and northwestern borders. Despite domestic economic ills, the Iranians have bankrolled the Al-Assad government by providing at least $6 billion per annum since 2013, in addition to credit lines to finance imports of food and energy. Tehran also convinced Hezbollah to commit troops to defend their common ally the al-Assad government. What Iran is looking for in Syria, at a minimum, is the guarantee that any government in Damascus, headed by Al-Assad or not, must accommodate Iranian interests, and that the hostile Arab powers led by Saudi Arabia must not have the upper hand in Damascus to deny Iran the use of Syria as a supply conduit to Hezbollah. Neither Saudi Arabia nor is the West ready to accept the minimum Iranian interests and this is what compels Iranian decision-makers not to back away from their post-Arab Spring Syria policy. Saudi Arabia, Irans arch rival, sees itself as the regional Arab leader, a position it is ready to defend militarily and financially. The fall of Saddams Iraq in 2003 to the invading U.S. forces a traditional bulwark against Iran and the decline of Egypt as the Arab worlds natural leader after the fall of Hosni Mubarak have motivated Riyadh to fill in the leadership vacuum. In Syria, the Saudis have sought the goals of containing Iranian influence by toppling the Al-Assad government and to install a pro-Saudi Islamist government to delink Iran from Hezbollah, an objective the U.S. and Israel also share. Back in late 2013, Riyadh launched the Army of Islam, an umbrella organization of fifty jihadist groups, to simultaneously fight the Al-Assad government and the ISIS caliphate. Although its interests have often diverged from that of the U.S. (in terms of a direct American military intervention to unseat President Bashar Al-Assad), Riyadh has refurbished the rebels with arms and money, mostly in collusion with the U.S. The Saudi rulers still remain committed to the overthrow of the Al-Assad government an objective the Iranians vehemently oppose by consistently insisting that only the Syrians could determine the fate of President Bashar Al-Assad. Turkeys initial Syria policy, that posed extra challenges for Iran but largely supported the Saudi policy of regime change in Damascus, backed the Syrian branch of Muslim Brotherhood forces. It also openly sided with the ethnic Turkoman rebel groups while being worried about the empowerment of Kurdish separatist forces in southwestern Turkey and their influence in Iraq and Syria. After failing to secure regime change in Damascus, Turkeys overriding concern has been to keep Syrian Kurds, led by the socialist-oriented YPG forces, under control and deny them any opportunity to establish a Kurdish mini-state in northeastern Syria. That was the principal motive driving Turkeys recent incursions into Syria, though officially Ankara justified that as a war on ISIS fighters. In the wake of the abortive July 15 coup, Turkey seems to gradually pivoting to Russia, a major strategic shift that closely support Russian and Iranian goals in Syria. The U.S. had initially pursued a regime change policy, best epitomized in the catch phrase Assad must go, but lacking the will to go for it seriously. Apparently, Washington was more worried about an acceptable alternative to the secular Al-Assad government; neither did it like to see a Saudi-supported Islamist government in Damascus nor a violent ISIS controlling the major parts of Syria. The changed U.S. objectives more resembled that of Israel a preference for a weakened Al-Assad government constantly fighting the insidious rebel groups and presiding over a rump state, with territorial jurisdiction limited to the Damascus province, would pose no threat to Israel but weaken Iran and its ally Hezbollah. But Russia, a traditional ally of Syria with a naval base in the Mediterranean seaport of Tartus, dramatically changed the course of the civil war by directly intervening to prop up the Al-Assad government. The Russian intervention sent shockwaves across the region and further challenged Americas waning influence in the Middle East. The intervention may be Russias return to the Soviet-era military activism for global influence, an attempt to fill in the gradual U.S. exit from the region or a sheer necessity to fight the Islamists in the Caucasus and in the Middle East to secure homeland security. The crude message is that Russia, after successful intervention in Ukraine, is a serious power-broker in the Middle East. While Russian and Iranian interests mostly converge in Syria, principally the defense of ally Al-Assad government and a possible defeat of the rebels, they are at serious odds with Saudi and U.S. interests. The diverse and contradictory interests of the internal and external parties are effectively nipping the required political chemistry for a meaningful Syrian peace process in the bud. The only area where their interests strike a chord is the urgency to fight and eliminate the ISIS caliphate. Two requirements are there to fulfil before a perfect chemistry can be found. First off, there must be a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia for a shift from mutual antagonisms to promoting minimum understanding on regional issues. Riyadh and Tehran compete on a wider regional scale and a comprehensive regional approach, with recognition of each others minimum interests, can avoid the current turmoil and human tragedies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. What the Middle East is painfully experiencing is no less than an Armageddon, a tragic situation Iran Saudi rapprochement can avoid. Secondly, a similar understanding is also a basic requirement between the U.S. and Russia that can aid a detente process between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Currently, Moscow and Washington are unsuccessfully trying military means to solve the Syrian conflict, which is squarely a political problem awaiting diplomatic solutions. The sooner the regional and external parties join hands, the better for the Syrians and for the Middle East region. Mohammed Nuruzzaman is Associate Professor of International Relations, Gulf University for science and Technology, West Mishref, Kuwait; E-mail: nuruzzaman.m@gust.edu.kw ; Research Webpage Related video added by Juan Cole: RT: 7-day ceasefire in Syria over, unclear if it will be renewed Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | President Obama met yesterday with Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi and discussed the coming campaign to take the northern Iraqi city of Mosul away from Daesh, entirely destroying the terrorist organizations territorial power in Iraq. Obama expects the campaign to be launched before the end of 2016, and said that the world would have to step up with contributions to rebuild Mosul in the aftermath (the only way to ensure that Sunni Arabs continue to reject radicalism and are reintegrated into Iraq is to ensure their economic prosperity and political dignity something the government of Shiite hard liner Nouri al-Maliki [PM 2006-2014] never realized). Obamas vision for Mosul will face challenges. First, the city will be liberated in part by hard line pro-Iranian Shiite militias, whose presence is not welcomed by the Sunni Arab Mosulis, and who have sometimes committed reprisal attacks against Sunni families they see as collaborators. Likewise, Kurdish fighters of the Peshmerga will play a key role, which again may disturb a lot of Sunni Arabs. The Baghdad government of al-Abadi and its army still have to prove to the Sunni Arabs of the north that they are national and not sectarian. Finally, international calls for help face a lot of aid fatigue in the wake of the refugee crisis kicked off by the US invasion and destabilization of Iraq. Getting the G8 to pledge aid for Mosul and actually collecting the pledges are not the same thing. Al-Bawaba reports that the arrival of hundreds of US troops at the Qayara base south of Mosul, and the focus of Iraqi military commanders on securing the city after the assault, show that the launching of campaign to take Mosul from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) is near. Yesterday, Daesh attacked Kurdish Peshmerga checkpoints northeast of Mosul but was repelled. Mosul is the third largest city in Iraq, after the capital of Baghdad and the southern port of Basra. Unlike the other two, it is largely Sunni Arab. It probably still has a million people, down from two million before its population brought Daesh in, in summer 2014, in hopes of escaping the rule of then prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, a hard line Shiite. The Mosul uprising against the Baghdad government was not itself fundamentalist in character, even if it allowed Daesh into the city. In a 2012 poll some 75% of Sunni Arab Iraqis said they wanted a separation of religion and state, and most had been shaped by the secularism of the left-leaning Baath Party 1968-2003. The Sunni Arabs of Mosul just had come to see al-Malikis rule as oppressive and sectarian, and wanted out from under it. Some 500,000 Mosul residents immediately escaped once Daesh took over (the Mosul political elite thought they could handle the guerrillas but the latter took over and screwed them). In the past two years my educated guess is that another half million have gotten out (sometimes at the price of turning their property over to Daesh). From accounts of Iraqi journalists who have sneaked in and out, it appears that by now everyone in Mosul is miserable and would welcome the Iraqi army, even if it is being sent by a Shiite prime minister, Haydar al-Abadi. The military campaign against Daesh, however, will not be prosecuted only by the Iraqi Army, which probably is still too weak to win it (the army collapsed in 2014 and only some units are back up to speed after US training and equipment, especially the special operations counter-terrorism regiment). Al-Abadi has pledged, over the objections of Sunni Arab notables from the north, that Shiite militias will play an significant role in the liberation of Mosul. Hadi al-Amiri, head of one of the major militias, the Badr Corps, announced yesterday that no foreign land troops would be involved in the battle of Mosul. He admitted, however, that there would be foreign (i.e. mainly American) air support. In part, he was rejecting the idea that Turkish troops might play a role in the assault. The other issue is the Americans. The Badr Corps has a close relationship to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (indeed is its Iraqi offspring) and its members are sensitive to charges of abetting imperialism by fighting shoulder to shoulder alongside US troops. The US special ops forces at Qayara, however, are not a war-fighting infantry but rather will advise the Iraqi army on tactics once the campaign begins. Al-Amiri may not be happy about this US support role, but he can honestly say that American infantry wont be part of the assault. He underscored that the Shiite militias will definitely play a central role in the assault on Mosul, alongside the Iraqi Army and the Peshmerga Kurdistan paramilitary. (The involvement of the Kurds in conquering a Sunni Arab city is also a touchy issue, especially since expansionist Kurdish nationalists have in the past vowed to incorporate Mosul into their Kurdistan superprovince of Iraq.) Iraqi military intelligence has managed to get large numbers of free cell phones to Mosul residents. Its spokesman assured them that Daesh does not have the technical capability to tap these cell phones and cannot know what is said on them. The Baghdad government is urging Mosul residents to call its officials and to convey to the army the vulnerabilities of Daesh inside Mosul. - Related video: The White House: President Obama and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi September 20, 2016 / TheNewswire / Vancouver, British Columbia- Nevada Energy Metals Inc. "the Company", TSX-V: BFF (OTCQB: SSMLF) (Frankfurt: A2AFBV) is pleased to report that American Lithium Corp (TSX-V: LI), the Optionee of the Company's Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project "the Project", has advised the Company that the BLM has approved a Notice of Intent describing proposed locations for up to 6 sonic drill holes on the property. Sonic drilling is capable of reaching a depth of 500 feet and is used for determining the characteristics and orientation of subsurface playa sediments. The ultimate goal of this program is to confirm the presence of a fine grained green sand and silt logged as volcanic ash in previous drilling on the property. This horizon is thought to be correlative to the Main Ash Aquifer on the adjacent Albermare/Rockwood lithium producing property. (ref. Geology and Conceptual Modeling of the Silver Peak Geothermal Prospect, Esmeralda County, Nevada; Jeffrey B. Hulen, PG, 2008) American Lithium Corp. holds the right to acquire up to a 70% interest in and to the Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project by making staged cash payments in the amount of USD$275,000, issuing 1,200,000 million common shares of American Lithium Corp in three tranches and incurring USD$1,000,000 in exploration expenses on or before the third anniversary date of the agreement. Rick Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Nevada Energy Metals, commented: "We are delighted to have American Lithium Corp. as our partner with which to advance the Clayton Valley BFF-1 property. The Project covers an area similar to the structural and geologic settings at Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium-brine operation, the border of which, lies only two hundred meters to the south east. We look forward to an exciting exploration program in the months ahead." About the Clayton Valley Project: The Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project is an early-stage lithium brine prospect in Esmeralda County, Nevada. A total of 77 placer claims encompassing an area of approximately 623 ha (1,540 acres) on the north-western side of the original Clayton Valley playa. The property position covers an inferred graben bounded by the Silver Peak Range front on the west and by an outlier of Paleozoic rocks known as Goat Island on the east. The exploration concept is that the graben is a sub-basin of the larger Clayton Valley basin and may represent a secondary trap for lithium brines within the greater system. The Clayton Valley BFF-1 NI 43-101 Technical Report by Alan Morris, CPG, QP, states " The property has strong potential to host lithium brine deposits in favorable geologic horizons within the basin fill. Another possible target is lithium enriched clay within the fill package and potentially in previous high stands of the playa." (April, 2016) Geologic and geophysical mapping conducted for geothermal exploration and documented by Hulen (2008) indicates previously unrecognized, deep graben lying between the Silver Peak range front and outcrops of Paleozoic rocks at Goat Island and Alcatraz Island. This area was their target zone for a deep circulating geothermal system they hoped to exploit for geothermal power. This graben is the main target for lithium brine as it may represent a separate sub-basin in Clayton Valley that holds brines not subject to pumping by production wells on the east side of the main valley. Exposed mineralization is confined to salt crust on the playa surface and other locations in the valley. Western Geothermal Partners drilled a 120 meter (400 foot) geothermal gradient test well in 2006 on what is now the Clayton Valley BFF-1 Project. Bottom hole temperature was 50C (122F) which showed moderate potential for geothermal power. Of significance, the well encountered a 25-foot-thick zone of volcanic ash reportedly similar to the Main Ash Aquifer in the Clayton Valley lithium operation. The presence of any felsic ash in this hole is significant in light of that, it is the presumed source for at least some of the lithium in the brines (Price et al, 2000). Qualified Person: The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Alan Morris CPG, Elko, Nevada. About Nevada Energy Metals: http://nevadaenergymetals.com/ Nevada Energy Metals Inc. is a well funded Canadian based exploration company who's primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's main exploration focus is directed at lithium brine targets located in the mining friendly state of Nevada. The Company has 100% ownership in 77 claims in Clayton Valley, only 250m from Rockwood Lithium, the only brine based lithium producer in North America. Nevada Energy Metals has also acquired, 100 claims (Teels Marsh West) covering 2000 acres (809 hectares) at Teels Marsh, Mineral County, Nevada, a prospective lithium exploration project, 100% owned without any royalties; the San Emidio Desert Lithium Project, consisting of 155 claims (approximately 3,100 acres/1255 hectares) in Washoe County, Nevada; the Alkali Lake Project in Esmeralda county, is a 60% earn in option agreement from Dajin Resources Corp, where near surface lithium values have been confirmed; the Dixie Valley Project consisting of 911 claims covering 73.6 square kilometers/28.4 square miles (7,363 hectares/18,194 acres) of salt marsh playa. Of the seven characteristics favourable for the formation of a lithium brine deposit as outlined in the U.S. Geological Survey deposit model, all seven are found in Dixie Valley. The lithium deposit model for Dixie Valley is a Clayton Valley-style brine deposit. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Rick Wilson, President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the contents of this release. Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information: The information discussed in this press release may include "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"). All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included herein concerning, among other things, planned capital expenditures, future cash flows and borrowings, pursuit of potential acquisition opportunities, our financial position, business strategy and other plans and objectives for future operations, are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "may," "expect," "estimate," "project," "plan," "believe," "intend," "achievable," "anticipate," "will," "continue," "potential," "should," "could," and similar terms and phrases. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, they do involve certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties and are not (and should not be considered to be) guarantees of future performance. It is important that each person reviewing this release understand the significant risks attendant to the operations of the Company. Nevada Energy Metals Inc. disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement made herein. Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sept. 20, 2016) - Prism Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PRS) ("Prism" or the "Company") announces that it has appointed Richard Dufresne as its Vice President of Exploration. Mr. Dufresne brings to Prism more than 25 years of experience in the mineral exploration and development industry. He has held senior positions with major mining companies including Anglo American Exploration (Canada) and Falconbridge (which was subsequently acquired by Xstrata/Glencore). More recently, he was a senior geologist for Balmoral Resources in northern Quebec and prior to this role between 2009 and 2014 he held the position VP Exploration for Camino Minerals in Mexico. Mr. Dufresne has considerable international exploration experience in Peru, Mexico, Dominican Republic and the Ivory Coast. He has participated in several new discoveries in the Raglan district of northern Quebec and the central lead-zinc-silver belt in Peru, where one discovery was recognized as the Mining Prospect of the Year by the Peruvian Mining Merit Awards Committee in 2002. Mr. Dufresne graduated from the University of Montreal with a B.Sc. in geology and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) and of Ordre des Geologues du Quebec (OGQ). Richard is fluent in English, Spanish and French. In addition Mr. Dufresne has been granted an option to purchase 300,000 common shares in the company at a price of $0.17. The Options are exercisable for a period of three years ending September 20, 2019 and have been granted in accordance with the terms of the Company's stock option plan. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Robert W Baxter President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. None of the securities issued in connection with the Financing have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this release. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, possible events and statements with respect to possible events. The words "is expected" or "estimates" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could" occur and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained in this release which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to the ability of the Company to secure financing on the proposed terms and for the aggregate amount. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold or certain other commodities; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, or other countries in which the Company may carry on business in the future; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining activities; the speculative nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licences and permits; diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; and contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of gold exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks). Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Company's actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. All of the forward-looking statements made in this release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators in Canada. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may vary, and future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements cannot be guaranteed. RENO, NEVADA--(Marketwired - Sept. 20, 2016) - NuLegacy Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:NUG)(OTCQX:NULGF) is pleased to report the assay results from hole AV-03, the second of two exploration holes drilled into the Avocado deposit so far in 2016. The newly discovered Avocado gold deposit, so named after the shape of the IP/Resistivity survey-anomaly that initially identified it, is the second Carlin-type gold deposit (Iceberg being the first) discovered within NuLegacy's 100% owned 38 sq. mile Cortez-trend property (the Red Hill project) in Nevada. Hole AV-03 drilled 2/3 of a kilometer (650 meters/2,130 ft.) east of AV-02 returned an assay of 1.04 grams of gold/t over 25.9 meters (from 312.6 to 347.5 meters). This is an important improvement on the grade of the discovery hole AV-02 which reported (Sept. 13, 2016) 0.26 g/t over 199.7 meters (655 feet) including 24 and 35 meter intervals of 0.5-gram material, and 10 and 13 meter intervals of better than 1.0-gram material. Plan map link. Notably the mineralized interval in AV-03 is in a brecciated Jasperoid (strongly silicified) that contains minor disseminated pyrite. This is more like the Iceberg gold deposit mineralization than the mineralization in AV-02 which is the black carbonaceous pyritic limestone material that hosts much of the gold mineralization in the deeper parts of Nevada's major Carlin-type gold deposits. With AV-03 drilled on the eastern margin of the Avocado IP anomaly this could represent a northern extension to the Iceberg gold deposit. "It's very encouraging to have both of our widely spaced (650 meters) initial 2016 exploration holes in the Avocado return useful intercepts of gold," commented Dr. Roger Steininger NuLegacy's CGO, "We are busy compiling and reinterpreting all the data from the two drill holes and the just completed additional IP geophysical lines surveyed in order to determine where the follow-up holes will be drilled." The results of these two holes improves the possibility of the Avocado being another substantial Carlin-style gold deposit within the 2.5 km long and 1 km wide geophysical anomaly. Assays for several Iceberg expansion holes are in process; drilling continues. About NuLegacy: NuLegacy Gold Corporation is a Nevada based exploration company focused on expanding its Carlin-style near-surface Iceberg oxide gold deposit with an established exploration target of 90-110 million tonnes of 0.9 to 1.1 grams of gold per tonnei, and exploring for additional gold deposits on its 38 sq. mile (98 sq. km) Red Hill property located in the Cortez gold trend of Nevada. The Iceberg gold deposit has similar geology to that of Barrick Gold's multi-million-ounce Pipeline deposit the discovery of which is credited to NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer, Dr. Roger Steininger. The Iceberg is located on trend and adjacentii to three of Barrick Gold`s multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits (the Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits) that are amongst Barrick's lowest cost and politically safest gold assetsiii. i These figures are conceptual in nature and derived from a compilation of 149 historic and 34 NuLegacy drill holes in and around the Iceberg deposit. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. ii The similarity and close proximity of these deposits in the Cortez Trend is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in the Iceberg deposit. iii As extracted from Barrick's Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 reports. On Behalf Of NuLegacy Gold Corporation James E Anderson, Chief Executive Officer Sampling Methodology, Chain of Custody, Quality Control and Quality Assurance: Reverse circulation drilling was conducted by AK Drilling of Butte, Montana under the supervision of Thomas Roman, Exploration Manager, and Dr. Roger Steininger, CGO (CPG 7417) and the chain of custody from the project to the sample preparation facility was continuously monitored. The samples were analyzed by American Assay Labs of Sparks, NV and sufficient commercially prepared standards, blanks, and duplicates were inserted to assure quality analytical results. Data verification of the analytical results included a statistical analysis of the duplicates, standards and blanks that must pass certain parameters for acceptance to ensure accurate and verifiable results. The reported gold intervals may or may not represent true thicknesses and/or widths as there is insufficient data at this time with respect to the shape of mineralization to calculate its true orientation. Dr. Roger Steininger, NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects responsible for preparing and reviewing the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. There are no known resources or reserves in the Iceberg and Avocado deposits and the proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore. In addition, the presence of gold deposits on properties adjacent or in close proximity to the Iceberg and Avocado deposits is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Iceberg and Avocado deposits. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including our annual management's discussion and analysis dated July 28, 2016 for the year ended March 31, 2016. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation. VAL D'OR, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Sept. 20, 2016) - Hinterland Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:HMI) ("Hinterland") is pleased to announce that it has acquired a strategic portfolio of four properties in the James Bay area of Quebec by staking. These properties were staked based on a compilation of publicly available data (Ministere de l'Energie et des Ressources naturelles du Quebec (MERQ) website, sigeom.mines.gouv.qc.ca) and in response to the recent increase of exploration activity in the area. Each property is described below in terms of its size, location, general geology and proximity to other projects in the area. "We are very pleased to have acquired a portfolio of prospective properties in the same area as Goldcorp's Eleonore mine, where there are several advanced projects underway and there are hundreds of promising mineral showings to explore. In terms of its mineral potential, the Baie James area is at the stage of development as the Abitibi belt was in the 1920's," commented Mark Fekete, Hinterland's President and CEO. The four new properties are in close proximity to the tectonic contact between the Opinaca and La Grande sub-provinces of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield. This major structural contact shows a strong spatial relationship to known gold deposits and showings in the area, including the Eleonore gold mine (Goldcorp.), the Clearwater (Eastmain), Cheechoo (Sirios), Sakami/Apple (Canadian Strategic/Matamec), Wabamisk (Goldcorp/Azimut), and Auclair, La Grande Sud, Poste-Lemoyne and Sakami River (Osisko Baie James) gold projects, and numerous other gold occurrences . New Properties The 103-claim (5,249-hectare) Nakami gold project is located just east of the La Grande-3 airstrip, and is accessible by the all-season Trans-Taiga Road . These claims cover a tight, east to south flexure in the Opinaca-La Grande contact zone, and are underlain mainly by basalt meta-volcanic rocks in contact with tonalite intrusive rocks. Regional airborne magnetic data suggests the presence of several narrow iron formations. The Nakami property lies 25 kilometres (km) east of and within the same band of rocks that hosts the Zone 32 deposit (Osisko-Baie James) where an historical mineral resource estimate* of 4.2 million tonnes (Mt) at 2.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) has been reported (Virginia Gold Mines press release, March 11, 1999). Three mineral showings are documented on the Nakami property. The Aeroport-A showing has retuned gold values up to 1.2g/t Au in grab samples (MERQ GM 53785). The Aeroport-B showing has returned values up to 20.7% copper, 112.0g/t silver and 1.2g/t Au in selected grab samples (MERQ GM 53364). The Lac Pikuyaukw showing has returned up to 2.4g/t Au in grab samples (MERQ GM 56503). The 40-claim (5,249 hectare) Sakami gold project is located approximately 0.9km north of the Sakami Apple property (Canadian Strategic/Matamec), where on-going drilling at the "La Pointe" or "025" zone has most recently intersected up to 2.5g/t Au over 48.6 metres (Canadian Strategic press release, September 8, 2016). Hinterland's Sakami claims are underlain mainly by basalt meta-volcanic rocks in contact with tonalite intrusive rocks, and cover a 5.5km segment of the north-trending Opinaca-La Grande contact zone. There is very little previous work documented within the claim block . The 9-claim (464-hectare) Dunite property adjoins the Sakami/Apple property (Canadian Strategic/Matamec) to the south and is located 13.5km south of the La Point zone mentioned above . It was staked to cover the "Nadine" chrome, platinum and palladium showing that occurs within a narrow band of ultramafic rocks that follows the north-trending Opinaca-La Grande contact zone for a distance of approximately 3.5km. The Nadine showing has returned up to 10.6% chromite (Goutier et al, 2000, MERQ RG 99-15), and 1.8g/t palladium and 0.8g/t platinum (MERQ GM 58697) from selected grab samples. The 40-claim (2,112-hectare) Auclair property is located approximately 85km northeast of the village of Nemaska. . The claims cover a fold nose along the Opinaca-La Grande contact zone, and are underlain mainly by a sequence of basalt meta-volcanic rocks of the Natel Formation that are in contact with paragneiss metamorphic rocks of the Auclair Formation. Several narrow bands of iron formation, gabbro and rhyolite and have been mapped within the sequence, and numerous gold showing have been identified on the adjacent Wabamisk (Goldcorp/Azimut) and Auclair (Osisko-Baie James) projects. The property is located 45km southeast of the Clearwater (Eastmain) deposit where a National Instrument 43-101 compliant measured and indicated resource of 7.2 Mt at an average grade of 4.09g/t Au has been identified, plus an additional inferred resource of 5.1 Mt at an average grade of 3.88g/t Au (Eastmain Resources website, www.eastmain.com). Mark Fekete, P.Geo is the designated "qualified person" as defined in Section 1.2 in and for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 that reviewed and approved the technical content of this release. *Note that historical mineral resources estimates pre-date National Instrument 43-101, and accordingly should not be relied upon. Hinterland is not treating the Zone 32 historical resource estimate mentioned above as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve estimate. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from targeted results. Such risks and uncertainties include those described in the Company's periodic reports including the annual report or in the filings made by the Company from time to time with securities regulators. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they are made or to reflect the occurrence of an unanticipated event. VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - September 20, 2016) - Midas Gold Corp. (TSX: MAX) (OTCQX: MDRPF) ("Midas Gold" or the "Company") today announced the appointment of Laurel Sayer as President and Chief Executive Officer of Midas Gold Idaho, Inc., ("MGII" or "Midas Gold Idaho, Inc."), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Midas Gold Corp. and the operating company for the Stibnite Gold Project in central Idaho. In addition, Midas Gold announced the appointment of Michael Bogert to the board of directors of Midas Gold Corp., replacing Ms. Sayer as she steps down to take on her new role. These appointments reflect Midas Gold's objective of increasing local accountability and local representation in all its activities. "In order to best reflect the needs and values of Idaho, Midas Gold has Idahoans at all levels of our decision-making process," said Stephen Quin, President & CEO of Midas Gold Corp. "Laurel Sayer's move from the board of Midas Gold Corp. to leadership of the operating company, Midas Gold Idaho, complements the strong technical team led by Bob Barnes, who will continue as Chief Operating Officer. We are excited that Laurel will take a hands-on approach to help guide us in shaping the future of the Stibnite Gold Project, particularly given her commitment to conservation and protection of the environment." Ms. Sayer will also be appointed to the board of directors of Midas Gold Idaho, joining four fellow Idahoans and two other US citizens, ensuring a dominant presence of Idaho interests at the operating level of the organization. "Michael Bogert joins fellow Idahoan Keith Allred on the board of Midas Gold Corp. and brings a strong regulatory track record, with considerable experience at the State and Federal levels, to Midas Gold's board of seven directors," said Peter Nixon, Chairman of Midas Gold Corp. "We are looking forward to Michael's input and guidance as we navigate the regulatory process for our Stibnite Gold Project." Laurel Sayer Ms. Sayer's extensive experience in the fields of conservation, government, collaborative enterprise and leadership qualities complement the local and technical experience of MGII's directors and staff. The team's immediate focus will be to further advance the Stibnite Gold Project through the regulatory process. In addition to her industry experience, having served on Midas Gold's Board of Directors since 2014, Ms. Sayer has worked extensively within the environmental and arts communities as well as within Idaho state politics and U.S. federal politics. Ms. Sayer currently serves as executive director of the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts, a position she accepted in 2013, and from which she will be retiring her executive role to focus on MGII. Prior to 2013, Ms. Sayer spent more than two decades working on policy matters with Idaho members of the U.S. Congress, Congressman Mike Simpson and Senator Mike Crapo, with an emphasis on natural resource matters. In her career, Ms. Sayer has a proven track record in building consensus amidst diverse opinions and political ideologies of key stakeholders in many situations, successfully creating meaningful relationships and delivering results with local, state, regional and federal government agencies. Michael Bogert Michael Bogert joins the Board of Directors of Midas Gold, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Ms. Sayer as she takes on an executive role at MGII. Currently an attorney in Parsons Behle & Latimer's Boise and Washington DC offices, Mr. Bogert is the former counselor to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, the former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") Region 10 office in Seattle and the former counsel to the Governor of the State of Idaho. As counselor to Secretary Kempthorne, Mr. Bogert advised the Secretary on various policy issues in the areas of endangered species and served as the Governor's lead policy negotiator on Tribal water rights settlements. As the regional administrator for EPA Region 10, Mr. Bogert was responsible for leading EPA's partnerships with the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska, as well as the 271 federally recognized Tribes in EPA Region 10. He has also previously served on the Board of Directors of a publicly-traded mining company. About Midas Gold and the Stibnite Gold Project Midas Gold Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is focused on the exploration and, if warranted, site restoration and development of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the StibniteYellow Pine district of central Idaho that are encompassed by its Stibnite Gold Project. CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Sept. 20, 2016) - BACANORA MINERALS LTD. ("Bacanora" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:BCN)(AIM:BCN), the Canadian and London listed lithium and borates company focussed on Mexico, has noted that Igneous Capital Limited ("Igneous"), a company in which Mr. Graham Edwards has an interest, notified SEDI in Canada on 17 September 2016 that it had agreed to sell 4.5 million shares in Bacanora on 16 September 2016 at 1 per share. Igneous' shareholding in the Company on completion of the sale will be 10.5 million shares representing 9.73% of the issued share capital of the Company. The Company also notes the announcement this morning by Rare Earth Minerals Plc that it has agreed to acquire 4.5 million shares in Bacanora with completion due by the end of the month, taking its interest to 19.8% of the Company's issued share capital. ABOUT BACANORA Bacanora Canada is a Canadian and London listed minerals explorer (TSX-V: BCN and AIM: BCN). The Company explores and develops industrial mineral projects, with a primary focus on lithium and borates. The Company's operations are based in Hermosillo in northern Mexico and it currently has two significant projects under development in the state of Sonora. The two main assets of Bacanora Canada are: The Sonora Lithium Project, which consists of ten mining concession areas covering approximately 100 thousand hectares in the northeast of Sonora State. The Company, through drilling and exploration work to date, has established an Indicated Mineral Resource (in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101")) of 4.46 Mt LCE contained in 259 Mt of clay at a Li grade of 3,200 ppm and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.74 Mt LCE contained in 160 Mt of clay at a Li grade of 3,200 ppm. The Magdalena Borate Project, in Sonora state, Mexico, where the Company's main borate zone, El Cajon, has an Indicated Resource (in accordance with NI 43-101) of 1.17 Mt of B2O3, at an eight percent cut-off grade. The Company has completed a number of measures to determine the geological and commercial potential of the project and is undertaking a prefeasibility exercise to determine the economic benefit of developing the mine and constructing a processing plant on site in order to become a supplier of boric acid. Reader Advisory Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: commodity price volatility; general economic conditions in Canada, the United States, Mexico and globally; industry conditions, governmental regulation, including environmental regulation; unanticipated operating events or performance; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, capital, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. California Governor Jerry Brown [official website] on Monday signed Senate Bill 1383 [legislative materials], which sets new state goals for cutting pollutants like methane, hydrofluorocarbons and soot, also referred to as black carbons [LAT report]. While comparing the fight against climate change to Noahs ark, Brown said that reducing this short lived climate pollution will help the battle. The purpose of SB 1383 is to achieve a reduction in methane by 40%, hydrofluorocarbon gases by 40%, and anthropogenic black carbon by 50% below 2013 levels by 2030. This is only the most recent in a series of bills related to climate change signed by Governor Brown. Earlier this month Brown signed into law [JURIST report] two bills that seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. At least since 1992, with the UN Conference on Environment and Development, treaties [JURIST backgrounder] on climate change have bolstered multi-national commitment to combating climate change. On the state level, California has finalized many pieces of legislation seeking to reduce greenhouse gasses and other alleged contributors to climate change for the last decade or more. The state introduced the Clean Car Law in 2002 and the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006. In the past year, Brown has traveled to the UN headquarters in New York, the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, the Vatican in Italy and the Climate Summit of the Americas in Toronto, Canada [press releases] to urge other leaders to fight against climate change with the same intensity as California. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] on Monday ruled [text, PDF] that Rowan County Commissioners in North Carolina may open public meetings with prayer. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and ACLU of North Carolina [advocacy websites] brought the suit in 2013 on behalf of three Rowan County residents who were alleging that the opening prayers violated their First Amendment rights. The focus of the lawsuit is the opening prayer at almost all meetings, which is focused only on Christianity. In a press release on Monday, the ACLU stated [press release]: In Rowan County, the officials themselves deliver the prayers, meaning people of different beliefs have no opportunity to do so, and the commissioners instruct those present to stand and join in the prayer, leading many residents to feel coerced and pressured into doing so. The ACLU argued that the Rowan County Commissioners practices violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and the federal district court in 2015 agreed. However, Mondays Fourth Circuit opinion rejected that arguing, stating that the practices are constitutional and supported by previous case law. The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] in 2014 Town of Greece v. Galloway [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that the practice of opening town meetings with a prayer does not violate the Establishment Clause [JURIST backgrounder] of the First Amendment [text]. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had ruled [JURIST report] in 2012 that the New York towns practice amounted to an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. In an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court reversed that ruling, finding a permissible ceremonial purpose. Gabons Ambassador to the US [official website] said [NYT op-ed] Monday that ballots from the contested presidential election will be recounted in the coming days. The election results sparked days of protests and outrage when it was announced that incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba [official website, in French] won by less than 10,000 votes. The ambassador stressed that election was held in compliance with international law. He further claimed that representatives of the candidates also assisted with the initial counting of the ballots. However to ensure continued transparency of the electoral process, the ballots will be recounted: Gabon invited more than 1,200 international observers from the European Union, the African Union, N.D.I. and other election experts to observe this process. All said, the election was free, fair, and transparent. The State Department and the African Union stated that any challenge to the election results conform to Gabonese election law. The Constitutional Courts review will also conform to the law. A recount of the vote will be completed by the Constitutional Court and the winner confirmed. The announcement comes after the contested election has continued to generate criticism and backlash. Jean Ping, an opposition leader in Gabon, had filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court in a move challenging the validity of the recent presidential vote [JURIST report]. A report released last week by Amnesty International condemned Gabon security forces [JURIST report] for using excessive force against protesters after the countrys disputed election. Amid recent protests and outbreaks of violence, Gabons Justice Minister Seraphim Moundounga resigned [JURIST report] rom his post earlier in September. Thailands Bangkok South Criminal Court found [Finnwatch report] British labor rights activist Andy Hall guilty of criminal defamation and violating cyber crime laws on Tuesday. The charges came about after Hall published Cheap Has a High Price [report, PDF], a report on labor abuse in the fruit canning sector. The 2013 report focused on a Natural Fruit Company Ltd. [corporate website] factory and alleged poor working conditions, low wages and instances of child labor. Natural Fruit, which is a major supplier to the western world, denied the allegations made in Halls report and brought criminal charges against him. The court held that Hall had violated the Computer Crimes Act [unofficial translation] and issued a three-year suspended jail sentence. Sonja Vartiala, Executive Director of Finnwatch stated her opinion on the ruling: Thailands laws that allow for criminal punishment and even imprisonment for defamation are in clear breach of Thailands international human rights obligations. Instead of allowing companies to take human rights defenders to criminal courts for alleged defamation, Thailand needs to thoroughly follow through on allegations of violations of migrant workers rights. Hall will appeal the sentence. Thailand has been home to significant human rights concerns for years, some of which stem from the nations court system. In particular, human rights groups worldwide have expressed growing concern over violations in Thailand since the military junta came to power in May 2014. Also in September the Thailand Supreme Court affirmed [JURIST report] a 20-year prison sentence given to protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul in 2012. Thai military officials in July charged [JURIST report] three human rights defenders with criminal defamation and violations of the Computer Crimes Act because of a report they published detailing acts of torture in Thailand. In April Human Rights Watch urged [JURIST report] Thailand to stop harassing and charging human right lawyers for defending victims of the governments abuses, and to revoke military police powers. [JURIST] UN representatives stated [press release] Monday that the organization needs access to Syrian refugees in order to better document war crimes. The remarks were made during an interactive dialogue between the UN Human Rights Council and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic [official websites]. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry, noted that it has become difficult to access witnesses and victims with fresh information as Syrian refugees flee the region, but the recent cessation of hostilities [JURIST report] has created a glimmer of hope. We are appealing to countries inside Europe hosting newly arrived Syrian refugees to grant us access and remove any barriers to our work, Pinheiro stated. The inquiry panel also urged major world powers to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court [official website]. The conflict in Syria [JURIST backgrounder] has continued for five years in a civil war surrounding the legitimacy of Assad. Last week Russian officials stated [JURIST report] that a US-led airstrike which killed Syrian troops could threaten the ceasefire agreed upon between Syrian and opposition forces. In August a top UN official submitted a report detailing an in-depth investigation into chemical warfare [JURIST report] used by Islamic State and Assad in Syria. That same month Amnesty International said that a suspected chlorine gas attack in Aleppo could amount to a war crime [JURIST report]. In July Human Rights Watch reported [JURIST report] cluster bombs have been targeted at civilians and rebels in Northern Syria. In June UN human rights experts called for the immediate protection [JURIST report] of thousands of Syrian civilians. The first new-generation, RHD, Holden-badged Opel Astra five-door hatchback destined for Australia and New Zealand was built in Poland at General Motors Gliwice plant rather than Ellesmere Port in England. The first car was red with a 150hp, 1.4-litre turbocharged I4 and will be delivered to a customer in Australia, WardsAuto.com reported. To date, in Europe we have already received more than 250,000 orders [for the new Astra], GMMP general manager Andrzej Korpak said in a statement. We are very proud that this Gliwice-made best-selling model will be offered in the markets of Australia and New Zealand as well. Polish production of Opel/Vauxhall Astras launched in Poland a year ago. Some versions, including wagons, are also made in Ellesmere Port, UK. Gliwice already produces Holden Astra GTC and Astra VXR models, both based on the previous-generation Astra, as well as the Holden Cascada and US-bound Buick Cascada convertibles, WardsAuto noted. The Polish Astras are the latest in a long line of C-segment models Holden has sourced from Europe and Korea and, earlier, by rebadging locally produced Nissan and Toyota models. The long-established GM Australia brand is ending local production of cars by the end of 2017. It will stop making the Cruze early next month but the home grown Commodore will continue until the end of next year. It is widely expected to be replaced by a variant of Opels next generation Insignia, built in Germany. Earlier this month, it announced it would sell a US-sourced, seven-seat Acadia SUV from 2018 and also announced the new Astra hatch, Barina small car, Trax small SUV and Thai-built Trailblazer full-size SUV to represent the next wave in Holdens ongoing product revolution, with a particular focus on the critical and growing SUV segment. NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Drinks Daily News The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Drinks Weekly News A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Drinks Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter We Nebraskans will soon decide whether to allow our state to execute its citizens. Those who believe the state should have this power say certain criminals deserve this worst punishment, and insist that the death penalty puts the fear of God into potential murderers. But according to 88 percent of criminal-justice experts, the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to murder. What is more, non-death-penalty states have consistently lower murder rates than states with executions. Yes, it will be difficult to improve sentencing guidelines. Execution is surely an easier solution, but in this hour we are challenged to do not what is easy, but what is right. It is unfortunate that cost is a factor in so profound a decision, but experts agree there will never be a way to make death penalty cases less expensive than life in prison cases. According to Loyola Marymount Law Professor Paula Mitchell, who did a recent long-term study in California, the legal costs for death penalty cases skyrocket to an extra $134 million per year, well above the costs of simple incarcerations. And Amnesty International, in a recent study determined that even if post-trial litigation were abolished, death penalty cases would still be more expensive. But the most compelling reason for restraining the powers of the state lie in the unwavering evidence for what is right and what is wrong. In study after study it has been determined that we have mistakenly executed innocent people, and disproportionate numbers of poor and uneducated people, especially racial and religious minorities. So shall we give the state the power to burn the final bridge over which the accused might travel toward remorse or redemption? Or shall we agree that the state has no business on that holy ground? Suzanne Kehm, Omaha This screenshot shows the tweet posted on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, by Donald Trump Jr., in which he compares Syrian refugees to a bowl of poisoned Skittles. The post caused a stir and negative tweets on the internet into Tuesday, including a terse response from Skittles parent company, Wrigley Americas. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy," Vice President of Corporate Affairs Denise Young said in the statement. (Twitter via AP) Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, takes a seat in the Royal Box on day eleven of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 7, 2016. Canada's fashion industry and those who watch it are abuzz ahead of a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, speculating whether any Canadian brands stand to benefit from the "Kate effect. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Ben Curtis Lawyer representing the taxi industry Marc-Antoine Cloutier, spokesman Guy Chevrette, and union representative Benoit Jugand, left to right, leave a courtroom Tuesday, September 20, 2016. A Quebec judge has rejected a temporary injunction request that sought to put the kibosh on Uber's plan to go ahead with a one-year pilot project in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson Cheyenne Fire and Rescue will host their 2nd annual safety open house at the training facility. The event will be on October 8 and is free for all residents to attend. Cheyenne Firefighters will have live demonstrations, an obstacle course, giveaways and much more! The overall goal is to spread education throughout the community about fire safety and also what the Firefighters do within our community. The event is being held in October to coincide with National Fire Safety Week. During the week Cheyenne Firefighters will be teaming up with Dominos and pizza delivery drivers. If you order pizza that and get a delivery from Firefighters they will check your smoke alarms. If they are working, you will get your pizza for free! The housing market looks OK at first glance. Home values are up sharply from the Great Recession, builders are busy, and home sales are on the upswing. But this market is a long way from normal. And it will be years before normality returns. The basic problem plaguing the industry: Too much demand and not enough supply. The pool of would-be homeowners has been growing at a steady clip in recent years. Low mortgage rates and an improving job market are giving more folks the means to buy their first home. But building fell during the bust that followed the housing bubble of the mid-2000s and hasnt caught up since then. Thus, the market is tight and getting tighter. New construction is growing at an annual clip of 10% and will continue at that pace for the next few years. But even that wont be enough to return construction to a healthy, pre-bubble level of starts anytime soon. Subscribe to Kiplingers Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. Save up to 74% Sign up for Kiplingers Free E-Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail. Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplingers expert advice - straight to your e-mail. Sign up Many would-be sellers are holding off now, opting to stay put and fix up their current homes rather than taking their chances on finding a new place when the pickings are slim and demand is strong. That will further constrain supply. But it bodes well for home improvement stores that sell all the remodeling stuff. Builders want to ramp up the construction of new homes, but they cant. Credit will remain hard to get because banks are reluctant to finance construction unless the homes are presold. Theyve been burned before by such loans going bad. New regulations stemming from the Basel III global banking standards require banks to hold more capital against possible losses, which also makes them less eager to lend. Moreover, builders face a dearth of skilled craftsmen the result of droves of workers leaving the building trades during the prolonged housing bust from 2006 to 2011. Theres also a shortage of buildable land and lots. Paul Emrath of the National Association of Home Builders says the shortage is the worst hes ever seen. The result: inventories of homes for sale will shrink even more in most areas of the U.S. Inventory is already down by at least 10% in most cities and by 30% or more in the hottest markets, such as Charlotte, N.C., and Salt Lake City. In parts of California, the crunch is so bad that sales are starting to slip a trend that will spread elsewhere. Prices will push higher, the inevitable consequence of such limited inventory coupled with strong demand. Figure on the median home price growing by 6% or so each year over the next couple of years, versus the current annual pace of about 5%. First-time buyers will continue to struggle to find homes they can afford. Builders credit constraints, rising land costs and the shortage of skilled workers make building low-prices starter homes uneconomical. Instead, most new construction will cater to the higher end of the market. Existing starter homes will be hot sellers. In a market this tight, more folks will ultimately have to rent instead of buy, a plus for landlords but a handicap for young adults looking to snag their first home and build equity as their parents did a financial headwind for an entire generation. China's finance ministry sells 3-month deposit at 2.55 pct-traders SHANGHAI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Finance auctioned 60 billion yuan ($9.00 billion) of three-month deposits at an average yield of 2.55 percent on Tuesday, traders said. That was lower than the yield on the ministry's previous three-month deposit auction which came in at 2.75 percent. The sale, like previous auctions, is part of the ministry's cash management programme. Banks bid for the right to take the deposits. ($1 = 6.6690 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. kitco news China's Premier Li Says Will Keep Yuan Basically Stable BEIJING, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Chinese yuan's exchange rate will stay basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said when he met U.S. President Barack Obama in New York, the official Xinhua news agency said. There is no basis for a sustained devaluation of yuan, Li was quoted as saying, adding that the Chinese economy has shown a steady upward trend and has ample room to manoeuvre. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Eric Meijer) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. kitco news HANOI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0057 GMT. Sept 20 Sept 19 USD/VND mid-point 21,953 21,959 USD/VND interbank 22,280/22,340 22,312/22,317 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.00/36.27 35.99/36.26 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank quotes are indicative bid/ask prices. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co, the gold manufacturer. Interbank offered rates are indicative, quoted from market sources. For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) Denver (Kitco News) - Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) has a diverse pipeline of mining projects around the world but one jurisdiction the companys CEO Gary Goldberg is really eyeing is Australia. In an interview with Kitco News, Goldberg, said on the sideline of the Denver Gold Forum, that as Australias largest gold producer, the company continues to see growth opportunities. We see Australia as a great place to do business, he said in an interview with Kitco News. Its a great mining country; they understand mining; they have got great talent and they have great resources. However, there is speculation that the companys optimism in the land down under could create a bidding war for total control over the countrys second largest mine, which it currently operates in a 50/50 split with Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE: ABX, TSX: ABX). It its second quarter earnings statement, Barrick Gold announced that it was interested in selling its 50% stake in Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines and is opening up the sale to what could be a competitive auction. According to reports, Newmonts CEO Gary Goldberg has expressed an interest in buying out its partner but only if the price is right. Data from Newmont reported that Kalgoorlie produced 316,000 attributable gold ounces in 2015 and in the last 30 years has produced more than 50 million ounces of gold. However, whether or not Newmont gets 100% control over Kalgoorlie, isnt stopping Newmont from expanding as Goldberg said that they are continuing to invest in Australia, in an effort to expand all their projects. Weak Aussie Dollar Strong Gold Price Although Goldberg likes the companys Australian assets over the long-term, one major short-term benefit has been the fact that gold priced in Australian dollars is extremely attractive and profitable. A weaker Australian dollar against a stronger U.S. dollar and a stronger global gold market pushed the price of the yellow metal in Aussie terms to record highs in late-June. Gold is still holding on to most of its gains, trading around A$1,742 an ounce. Along with a 50% stake in Kalgoorlie project, Newmont wholly operates the Boddington mine in Western Australia, which produced 794,000 ounces in 2015; the company also completely owns the Tanami mine, in the Northern Territories, which produced 436,000 attributable ounces of gold last year. Goldberg isnt the only one who is liking Australia for its mining potential. Earlier in the year, Canadian-based think tank the Fraser Institute named Australia as the top mining jurisdiction in the world. By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com Follow @Neils_C PRAGUE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA========================== Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: ==========================NEWS================================== BONDS: The Czech Finance Ministry will offer up to 38 billion crowns ($1.57 billion) worth of domestic government bonds in six primary auctions taking place in October as it ramps up borrowing to end the year, the ministry said on Monday. Story: Related stories: EPH: Vattenfall said it hoped to conclude an agreed sale of lignite assets in Germany to EPH during the autumn. Story: Related stories: CEE MARKETS: Budapest led a rise of Central European assets on Monday after Standard & Poor's unexpectedly upgraded Hungary's credit rating late on Friday, with its stocks jumping to a nine-year high. Story: Related stories: ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------ Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct change close on day in 2016 vs Euro 27.01 27.005 -0.02 -0.04 vs Dollar 24.178 24.189 0.05 2.75 Czech Equities 861.83 861.83 0.12 -9.88 U.S. Equities 18,120.17 18,123.8 -0.02 3.99 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500 GMT ======================PRESS DIGEST============================= HEALTHCARE: The Czech medical chamber CLK meets this week to discuss the situation in healthcare, mainly a shortage of doctors and nurses. Its head said a fifth of all medical school graduates head abroad. He said hospitals are trying to find nearly 1,000 doctors. At the end of last year, 1,266 Czech doctors worked in Britain, 1,014 in Germany and 106 in Austria. Pravo, page 17 (Reuters has not verified the stories, nor does it vouch for their accuracy.) For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com ($1 = 24.0260 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Prague Newsroom) DUBAI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Dubai's Gulf Navigation Holding said on Tuesday it had reduced its debt from $36 million to $21 million and hopes to end a long-running dispute with creditors by consolidating all of its borrowing before the end of the year. Dubai's only listed crude shipper expanded ambitiously at the end of the last decade just as oversupply hit the chemical tanker business and transportation rates plummeted. Subsequent debt disputes weighed on its performance and investor confidence for many years, but Gulf Navigation has now "reached an amicable settlement with its creditors", Chief Executive Khamis Juma Buamim said in a bourse statement. It did not clarify with how many creditors it had reached a settlement with, and did not provide further details or a timeframe over which the debt level fell. With its debt issues drawing to a close, the company was focused on expanding in the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, Khor Fakkan and Fujairah, Buamim added. Gulf Navigation shares were flat at 1.19 dirhams ($0.32) at 0745 GMT, although they have nearly doubled in value so far in 2016 as traders bet on an improving outlook for the shipper. ($1 = 3.6730 UAE dirham) (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by David French and Alexander Smith) HANOI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0409 GMT. Sept 20 Sept 19 USD/VND mid-point 21,953 21,959 USD/VND interbank 22,315/22,325 22,312/22,317 USD/VND unofficial 22,310/22,320 22,310/33,325 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.03/36.30 35.99/36.26 Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.4-0.7 0.4-0.8 1 week 0.4-0.8 0.4-0.9 1 month 1.7-2.2 1.7-2.4 3 months 3.3-4.2 3.3-4.2 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co. For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on . For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) UPDATE 1-Nigeria central bank holds rates, defying reduction call Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. kitco news

Photo by Mike De Sisti / MDESISTI@JOURNALSENTINEL.COM

Dr. Scott Reid injects a test sample into a chromatographic machine thatas used to read what compounds are in the E-cig juice at Marquette University. Lab testing of some popular brands of juice found evidence of diacectyl and 2,3-pentanedione, chemicals known to cause lung disease.

SHARE ECIGS JUICE - Samples of E-cig juice are seen near a a chromatographic machine that's used to read what compounds are in the E-cig juice, at the Todd Wher Chemistry building on the Marquette University campus. July 26, 2015. Photo by Mike De Sisti / MDESISTI@JOURNALSENTINEL.COM The Journal Sentinel bought five e-liquids dubbed top-sellers by sales clerks at vape shops around Milwaukee and had them tested for diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione. By Raquel Rutledge The Dripper's Paradise store, on Milwaukee's southwest side, carries dozens of brands of smoke juice, including a locally made favorite called Foghorn. One of Foghorn's top-selling recipes is Randy, a flavor described as a "blend of creamy custard, mixed berries and savory cereal notes." People who vape praise the Foghorn juice not only for its flavor but for its ability to create giant cloud puffs from deep drags ? a growing fascination known as "cloud chasing" among vaping enthusiasts. But the very molecules that make Randy delicious also could make it dangerous. The juice ? named after a character in the Canadian TV series "Trailer Park Boys" ? contains high levels of two chemicals known to cause permanent and sometimes fatal lung disease: Diacetyl and its chemical cousin, 2,3-pentanedione. There's no way vapers would know; founders of the year-old Foghorn company said they didn't realize it. The only way to determine whether the juice, or e-liquid, includes toxic chemicals would be to test it ? which the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did. There are no requirements that manufacturers test their e-liquids, nor are there any standards to meet. What testing is done is driven largely by the desire of e-liquid makers to market the safety of their products. But the Journal Sentinel's testing led to yet another discovery: The method typically used to analyze e-liquids for the industry is not sensitive enough to detect levels that could be harmful. As a result, e-liquid makers across the country claim their formulas are diacetyl free when sometimes they are not. "We're at a point where these are not regulated by anyone," said Michael Felberbaum, a spokesman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "It's a ?Buyer Beware' market." nnn Vaping is a burgeoning attraction for nicotine lovers looking to get their fix without lighting a flame to tobacco. Vapers can choose from a variety of electronic nicotine delivery systems, as they are technically called. These systems are battery powered and use liquid nicotine extracted from tobacco. The nicotine is mixed in a base of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin ? often with added flavors ? and heated into vapor for users to inhale. The first iteration to hit the U.S. market en masse was the e-cigarette in 2007, patented and made in China. E-cigarettes, or "cigalikes," are thin, stick-like devices that look like cigarettes. Some brands feature a light at the tip to mimic the glow of a tobacco cigarette. Some offer refills; others are disposable. E-cigs are typically bought at gas stations, convenience stores and online. Many of the most popular ones are manufactured by big tobacco companies. Other devices ? sometimes called mods ? are larger and feature refillable tanks that let users mix and match flavors. Dozens of devices and thousands of flavors, with multiple nicotine levels, are available online and at scores of vape shops popping up across the country. Despite its highly addictive properties, nicotine liquid is unregulated. While the FDA regulates smoking cessation drugs and devices, such as nicotine patches and gum, nicotine itself ? a stimulant tied to cardiovascular disease ? is not a controlled substance. It's for sale online. With easy access to ingredients and soaring demand, the global vaping market is awash with small startups trying to make a name for themselves in the e-juice business. Much like microbrewers, they experiment with recipes, come up with clever names and see how they sell. Some mix their liquids in the back of their stores. Others contract the work out to what they claim are accredited laboratories. At Foghorn, the liquid is mixed in a "clean room," which owners describe as a sanitary room dedicated to mixing e-liquids, that adjoins an office in a former storefront. Owners did not respond to repeated requests by the Journal Sentinel to visit the production space. With U.S. sales predicted by Wells Fargo Securities to reach $3.5 billion by the end of 2015, the vaping industry has gone from fledgling to flourishing in a few short years. And flavor is key. nnn Diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione are hailed for their buttery taste and are added to everything from chips and candy to cream cheese and ice cream. The chemicals are byproducts of fermentation and form naturally in butter, beer and other foods. They have been deemed safe to eat in trace amounts, but studies show they can be toxic when inhaled. Diacetyl is more commonly recognized for its links to injuries and deaths of microwave popcorn workers. More recently, a Journal Sentinel investigation found potentially dangerous levels of the chemical in coffee roasting facilities and exposed cases of lung disease in commercial coffee roasters and grinders. Diacetyl destroys the lungs' tiniest airways, leading to scar tissue buildup which blocks airflow. Its damage is irreversible. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted a warning to coffee industry workers in September. Nothing on the Foghorn e-liquid label mentions the lung-destroying chemicals. A warning reminds buyers only that the product may contain nicotine and should be kept away from children. Same with the stickers on the Vape Apes housebrand liquids. Vape Apes is a line of e-liquids and a wholesale and supply company owned by the same people who run Dripper's Paradise. The Vape Apes website assures customers that all its e-liquids are free of both diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione (also known as acetyl propionyl). But that promise applies only to Vape Apes brand juices, according to a note at the top of the page. Not the 30-plus other brands the store sells. Vape Apes co-owner Damien Thompson said he screens the outside brands as best he can but can't control what other e-liquid makers use. As for his in-house brand, he buys flavors from a few different manufacturers ? Michigan-based LorAnn Oils and California-based Capellas Flavors and Flavor West ? and says he trusts them not to sell hazardous chemicals. The Journal Sentinel bought five e-liquids dubbed top-sellers by sales clerks at vape shops around Milwaukee ? including Foghorn's Randy and a Vape Apes house brand called Goji Melonberry ? and had them tested for diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione. The results: All five contained both chemicals. And Foghorn's Randy had levels well above those that scientists say can destroy lungs, according to analyses by two different labs. Kyle Ehlert, co-founder of West Allis-based Foghorn, said he expected his flavor suppliers would have alerted him if there were dangerous ingredients in their products. He uses some of the same suppliers as Thompson at Vape Apes. "I just figured they would give you the kind without it," Elhert said. "I just assumed they would know it had diacetyl in it and give you something else or tell you about it." Websites for LorAnn Oils and Capella Flavors state that the companies do not use diacetyl in any of their products. LorAnn also has a disclaimer stating that none of the flavors had been approved for inhalation. "LorAnn Oils cannot make any claims as to the safety of the use of flavoring substances in e-cigarettes," it states. Flavor West posted a list disclosing its flavors known to have diacetyl and/or 2,3-pentanedione. It's unclear who does the company's testing and to what level of detection. nnn In conducting its spot check of e-liquids, the Journal Sentinel bought Wisconsin brands that boast their own recipes and labels. The samples were analyzed by a team from Marquette University, spearheaded by Scott Reid, a professor and chair of the university's chemistry department. "We clearly see that all of the samples contained the (chemicals) at some level," Reid said. "The key issue is what the long-term health effects are." Three of the liquids with the highest levels, including Foghorn's Randy, were then sent to Enthalpy Analytical, a North Carolina lab that specializes in e-liquid testing for the industry. Enthalpy's analysis ? like Marquette's ? found high levels of diacectyl and 2,3-pentanedione in Randy. It's what the lab didn't find that raises questions. Enthalpy's tests did not detect either of the chemicals in the two other samples. The standard testing the company does is designed to detect levels above 1 part per million, according to company representatives and printed information that accompanies the results. Yet Marquette's analysis found concentrations of both chemicals in each sample at concentrations ranging from 4 to 50 parts per million. Marquette and Enthalpy said their analyses passed their quality control measures and that they stand by their results. Patrick Rainey, a toxicology consultant with Creative Process Solutions in Raleigh, N.C., said the onus is on the industry ? not a lab ? to seek more sensitive testing. "If the industry out there selling the product is driving the investigation, where are the checks and balances?" he said. nnn Trade associations in the United States and Canada are taking their cue on how to test e-liquids from a cardiologist in Greece ? a doctor who touts the virtues of vaping. Konstantinos Farsalinos, with the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens, is an outspoken proponent of e-cigarettes to help smokers replace conventional cigarettes ? which are to blame for more than 438,000 deaths in the United States every year, according to the American Lung Association. He was the primary author on a study published last year by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco on sweet-flavored e-liquids and maintains that measuring parts per million is "more than enough" to detect dangerous levels of diacetyl. Farsalinos analyzed 159 e-liquid flavors from 36 manufacturers in seven countries and found as many as 70 percent of sweet-flavored e-cigs contain diacetyl. In his study, he compared exposures from vaping with proposed limits suggested by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, which were designed to protect Americans exposed to chemicals in the workplace. The NIOSH limits are "extremely strict," he said, noting they are figured to allow no more than one person in 1,000 to suffer lung damage over a 45-year work life. NIOSH is the research arm of the CDC. Farsalinos has advocated for the removal of diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione from e-liquids, saying they are an avoidable risk. Still, he's not alarmed about lower concentrations. By Farsalino's calculations, vapers should be able to withstand roughly 86 micrograms of diacetyl a day from vaping and not exceed NIOSH's recommended safeguards. For 2,3-pentanedione it would be about 182 micrograms. The Foghorn brand contained 92 micrograms of diacetyl in just 1 gram of e-liquid aerosol and more than 269 micrograms of 2,3-pentanedione. One gram is approximately equal to 1 milliliter of e-liquid. Farsalinos' studies suggest an average vaper will use roughly 3 milliliters a day, though other studies show the average is around 5 milliliters and in interviews conducted by the Journal Sentinel some vapers said they used more than 15 milliliters a day. Puffing behaviors vary and comparisons are rough, but inhaling vapor from 3 milliliters of e-liquid is similar to smoking 30 to 40 conventional cigarettes, or a pack and a half to two packs, in terms of number of puffs. That exposes Randy fans who vape an average of 3 milliliters to more than three times the level of diacetyl deemed acceptable for workers. And more than four times the amount of 2,3-pentanedione. Those who vape heavily face a greater threat. That's if you believe Farsalinos' framework for calculating the risk. Not everybody does. Some scientists familiar with the chemicals argue the exposures from vaping could be far more hazardous. Inhaling 86 micrograms in 500 to 600 breaths from vaping could be more detrimental to the lungs than stretching the same amount over 5,000 to 6,000 breaths in an 8-hour period, they say. In addition, occupational exposures are calculated factoring in 16 hours at home, away from any exposure, and two days off during the week. Because the two chemicals have similar toxicological effects, scientists also consider an "additive mixture formula," meaning exposure should be measured based on the combined levels. The Flavor and Extracts Manufacturers Association, a flavor industry lobbying group, called it "improper" to use occupational exposure limits as indications of safe levels of exposure from flavors in e-cigarettes. The group warns e-liquid makers that the flavors are not intended to be inhaled. And puffing from an e-cigarette pulls vapor deeper into the lung than simply breathing while you work, said Rainey, the toxicology consultant. Rainey wrote a white paper last year analyzing the existing literature on the toxicology of diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione in e-cigarettes. Moreover, comparing levels of the chemicals in e-cigarettes to conventional tobacco cigarettes is dicey science for the same reason. Scientists don't even agree how much of the chemicals are in conventional cigarettes. Studies show aerosol from vaping is deposited deeper into the lungs, to areas more susceptible to injury from toxic chemicals. "Arguing concentrations is fruitless," Rainey said. "You can have those discussions, but at the end of the day nobody is going to know. These things haven't been around long enough and been studied. "What's unfortunate is that young people are going to be the guinea pigs." nnn The number of young people using e-cigarettes tripled last year, according to data published in April by the CDC. Roughly 2 million high schoolers ? about 13 percent ? reported that they had used an e-cigarette in the last 30 days, findings from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey show. It's the first time since 2011, when the survey started collecting data on e-cigarettes, that current use among youth has surpassed use of every other tobacco product, including conventional cigarettes, according to the CDC's news release. Featuring flavors such as Blazberry Creme, Cola Gummy and Cherry Croissant, the e-cigarettes are drawing in college students as well. A survey of more than 700 randomly selected Marquette University students conducted in March found that about 30 percent had tried an e-cigarette, compared with about 20 percent who had smoked a conventional one. When asked if they knew what diacetyl is, 91 percent said, "No." Advertisements and other messages in the media purport e-cigarettes are a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes. Public Health England, the country's health protection agency, published a "landmark" report in August suggesting e-cigarettes are 95 percent safer than traditional cigarettes. The report was quickly criticized by heavyweights in health circles across the globe. An editorial in Lancet blasted the agency and said the finding was based on an "extraordinarily flimsy foundation," was "methodologically weak" and was rife with authors who had conflicts of interest. The report makes no mention of diacetyl or 2,3-pentanedione. A writer in the British Medical Journal called the report "appalling" and lacking "a shred of actual evidence." But the criticism didn't get the media attention that the agency's study did. That headline trumpeting e-cigarette safety traveled the world through the BBC, Bloomberg Markets and other news outlets. nnn Following a failed attempt in 2009, the FDA last year proposed new rules to regulate e-cigarettes. The rule-making process allows for stakeholders, including the public, to weigh in. The comment period ended in August 2014. Regulators received 135,000 remarks and are still sifting through them more than a year later. "All of our decisions are grounded in science," said Felberbaum, the FDA spokesman. "Rule-making is a complex process." The agency is involved in more than 50 studies relating to e-cigarettes and vaping, many of which will take years to complete. Felberbaum couldn't say when a final rule might be issued. "To date, the FDA has not been able to fully assess the public health impacts of unregulated tobacco products," he wrote in an email. "For example, some testing of e-cigarette cartridges has revealed significant variability in nicotine content and the presence of chemical constituents that raise concerns of toxicity." Meanwhile, the industry is left to regulate itself ? or not. Neither Vape Apes or Foghorn owners said they planned recalls of the flavors flagged as having diacetyl by the Journal Sentinel's testing. Instead, both said they were talking to their flavor suppliers. Ehlert said Foghorn emailed its distributors after being informed of the findings, to let them know the Randy flavor contains lung-destroying chemicals. "It's up to them what they want to do about it," Ehlert said of the retailers who bought Randy from his company. Thompson, of Vape Apes, said the industry is doing a fine job regulating itself. "It's not like we're just picking up juice out of some guy's backpack, or the back of his truck, and saying, ?That looks good,' " Thompson said. "I talk to the guys who make the stuff, find out what they're doing, how they're doing it." The conversations might last 30 minutes to an hour or two, he said. "You don't walk up to a used car lot with a blindfold on and say ?I'll take that one,' " he said. "It's common sense stuff." Research assistant Sarah Hauer contributed to this report. By Josh Farley of the Kitsap Sun EAST BREMERTON When it comes to Bremerton annexing land in Central Kitsap, Ed Wolfe finds himself in a tough spot. The Kitsap County commissioner, who happens to represent Central Kitsap, is a longtime Bremerton resident. The city in which he lives wants to be able to annex areas north of Riddell Road that fall within his county commissioner district. But county officials have yet to nullify an existing agreement that prevents that from happening. And now Bremerton is willing to take the county to court over what has become a protracted dispute. "I do believe my goal will be to find common ground and resolve this," Wolfe said. How a resolution can happen is unknown. Bremerton is challenging the county's recently passed comprehensive plan, a road map for growth, on the subject of what's called the urban growth area north of Riddell. It's still a part of the county but is destined one day to become part of the city were it not for an agreement between city and county signed in 2005. The City Council gave the nod to Mayor Patty Lent to file a case against the county with the Growth Management Hearings Board, and, failing that, to go to court. Lent said the city currently is not pushing for the annexation of the area, preferring community "champions" to come forward who desire urban services faster police response, for instance the city can provide. But she feels that there will be a time and a place and that the county shouldn't stand in the way of that. "We're fearful the county's comprehensive plan would restrict us from what we can do and should do in the future." But County Commissioner Rob Gelder said his board, including Wolfe, isn't ready to get rid of the 2005 agreement. Gelder wants an agreement in place for "transferring governance" in the area first and also wants to discuss other county areas like Navy Yard City and Rocky Point that remain outside the city but are wrapped within its borders. His hope, he said in an email, "is to address all the issues together." "The county has always desired to work with Bremerton for a smooth transition of the (urban growth area north of Riddell) to the city of Bremerton," he wrote. The 2005 agreement, signed by leaders of Bremerton and the county at the time, made urban growth areas in South and Central Kitsap "unassociated" with Bremerton, giving the county authority to "associate" them for annexation. The only unassociated urban growth area that remains is the one in Central Kitsap. Lent, who as county commissioner signed the very 2005 agreement she now wants rescinded, called the eventual annexation of the Central Kitsap area a "logical" extension of the city and one that will "provide sustainability" for the city, which she noted is losing Harrison Medical Center to a half-billion-dollar campus in Silverdale in coming years. Wolfe wants to see the county and city sit down and map out plans for how Bremerton annexes all Kitsap County areas due to come into the city West Hills, Rocky Point, Navy Yard City, Gorst and Central Kitsap. "The county prefers to address all of the issues together," Wolfe said. SHARE By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun BANGOR Chugach Federal Services, which provides operations support for Kitsap County Navy bases, notified 83 workers Friday that they will be laid off on Oct. 1. "While making the decision was exceptionally challenging, given the scope, nature and complexities of contract operations, the decision is unavoidable at this point in time," spokeswoman Christina Cober said in a statement. The Anchorage, Alaska-based company began providing services at Kitsap bases on June 1, 2014, replacing EJB Facilities Services. The one-year contract covering installations in the Northwest region was for $30 million, with four option years worth a total of up to $275 million. Services include security operations, fire and emergency, management of medical and nonmedical facilities, pest control, vehicle and equipment, environmental and utilities. The company has tried to be more efficient and cut costs over the past two years. The layoffs are a further attempt to operate more efficiently, Cober said. The number of layoffs could drop if other employees choose to resign voluntarily. They have received notices and must respond by Friday. Chugach is working with unions to ensure laid-off employees have help in transferring insurance and benefits and to seek other employment opportunities. WorkSource Kitsap area director Margaret Hess said her office is pulling together a rapid response team to provide information about services that are available. Employees who are laid off are entitled to benefits they earned under the collective bargaining agreement or Chugach personnel policies, or both. Those not covered by the CBA were given two weeks of severance pay, Cober said. SHARE Thomas Wesley Sanders of Port Orchard Jan. 26, 1923 to Sept. 13, 2016 Veteran Tom was a Radar Technician First Class aboard USS SeaRaven SS-196 during World War II and Project Manager WW2END Special Event aboard the USS Missouri. He was an accomplished amateur radio operator (W6QJI) who expertly designed antennas, and he was regional coordinator for the SETI Institute (Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence). Tom's strength inspired others to pursue their highest ambitions. He could have asserted his rare intellect to demonstrate superiority; instead, he helped countless people discover their own unique gifts. He was an aerospace engineering consultant who, with his team, identified and corrected design errors resulting in flight malfunctions. He was usually hired shortly before critical corporate and military deadlines. Tom, and others like him, were called gunslingers: decisive and aggressive risk takers. Engineering gunslingers are extraordinarily creative problem solvers. Tom spent his earnings to form a company, which was later embezzled by an employee. He set aside anger, refused to declare bankruptcy, represented himself in court, and worked for years to repay the debts. He and I, his wife Jana, met months after he discovered the embezzlement. Because he had the courage to trust again, we were blessed with a beautiful 48 year marriage. Online memorial and tribute wall at www.rill.com. SHARE Next week's presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton could determine the outcome of the election. As polls show Trump leading in some swing states and closing the gap in others, it appears the only burden he must overcome is the one Ronald Reagan shared, looking presidential enough that voters trust him with so much power. The way these debates have usually gone in the past is that the Republican candidate is asked about abortion, gay rights and other social issues and the Democratic candidate is asked about subjects that appeal to a wider range of voters. Lester Holt, the "NBC Nightly News" anchor, will moderate the first debate. Here are some questions he should ask: For Clinton: You once supported traditional marriage, but now favor same-sex marriage. Polygamists now want to be next in line to receive legal and cultural approval. Do you oppose polygamy, and if so on what basis? If elected president, how would we know you wouldn't change your mind on this issue? Follow-up: What is your standard for defining right from wrong? For Trump: You were pro-choice, you said, until you heard about a baby that was going to be aborted, but wasn't. You called the child a "total superstar." Do you have a utilitarian view of human life that a baby is only valuable if it grows up to be a superstar or is every life valuable? For Clinton: You said you would have a "bunch of litmus tests" for Supreme Court nominees, including requiring potential nominees to have a commitment to preserving a woman's right to an abortion. Would you overlook qualified candidates because they oppose abortion? Also for Clinton: You appear to have an interventionist foreign policy record. What is your standard for sending American forces into battle, especially in the Middle East where nothing ever seems to get resolved? Follow-up: In one of your emails you praise Sidney Blumenthal's son, Max, for his virulent anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments, favoring the dismantling of the State of Israel. Since Israel's enemies have also vowed to destroy the only democracy in the Middle East and one of the United States' few allies in the region, as president, would you support the Jewish state or demand that it give up more land to Palestinians when the land it has already relinquished has brought it no closer to peace? For Trump: Many voters are worried about your praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who routinely behaves like the KGB agent he once was. Putin has invaded and occupied territories, censored the news and been accused of murdering his opposition. Why do you admire his leadership? Should you become president, what do you think your public praise of Putin will accomplish that will be in America's interests? Follow-up: Under what circumstances would you use military force against Russia or our enemies in the Middle East? For both candidates: North Korea is developing nuclear weapons that will fit on top of missiles capable of reaching the U.S. Would you authorize a missile defense system able to shoot down North Korean missiles, despite China's opposition to such a system? For Clinton: The federal government took in record amounts of tax money in 2015 $3.18 trillion but the debt is approaching $20 trillion, and you want to spend more. Why won't you propose cutting programs that aren't working? For Trump: What agencies and programs would you eliminate or reform? Public interest for the debates will be at Super Bowl level. These and similar questions would produce the information undecided voters need to cast their votes wisely. The future of this country hangs in the balance. Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. SHARE Here's an anecdote from last week that indicates that Donald Trump has a credible chance to become the next president of the United States: I attended a lecture entitled "Where Are We in the War on Terror," presented by retired army Lt. Col. Jeffrey Addicott to several hundred retired residents of Sun City, Texas, about 35 miles north of Austin. Addicott has credentials: He's a Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. His bio says that he is an "internationally recognized authority on national security law." He has testified before congress and delivered more than 700 speeches. He has written more than 60 books and articles and given over 4,000 interviews to outlets that range from The New York Times to Fox News. Nevertheless, he was just plain wrong about a good deal of what he said. For example, he said that the great majority of the refugees fleeing Syria are men. No, United Nations data, as reported in a number of sources, indicate that males age 18-59 represent about 22 percent of Syrian refugees, less than the 24 percent who are women. Among all refugees, almost 40 percent are children under 12. If these figures are reliable, Addicott is just plain wrong. Addicott commended George W. Bush (he said that he has met Bush four times) for pursuing the war in Afghanistan after 9/11, but then Bush, he said, made the mistake of listening to bad if well-meaning advice about staying in the Middle East to build schools and roads. No, the bad advice Bush listened to came from his vice president and his secretary of defense, who urged him to use 9/11 as an excuse to pursue an unjustified war in Iraq, which turns out to have been the source of many of our current problems and much of the misery in the Middle East. Again, just plain wrong. Addicott pictured the 9/11 hijackers as religious radicals, and it's true that few things can radicalize people more than religion. But the hijackers had rational motivations, as well, including objections to American support for an oppressive Saudi monarchy and a long history of Western exploitation of Middle Eastern resources. Oversimplification is another way to be just plain wrong. Addicott quickly moved from misinformation to fear. He claimed to have predicted 9/11 in ALL CAPs, he said well before the attack, and now he's predicting another attack in the homeland, but this time the casualties will amount to 3 million rather than 3,000. Scary. At this point he sort of lost track of his theme and began to take generic, condescending swings at "liberals." They're unpatriotic (he's wrong in that blunt generalization). They believe that capital punishment is unconstitutional (again, wrong), and he displayed an unseemly enthusiasm for putting people to death. In fact, if the executioner has to call in sick, let him know and he'd be glad to fly in to throw the switch. Liberals might whine that, oh, we might accidentally execute an innocent person. But you know, he said, "Nobody's perfect." Huh? At this point I realized that we had moved into the realm of the surreal. But it was the ordinariness of the occasion, rather than its surrealism, that was alarming. The speaker had respectable credentials. The audience was made up of educated, successful, well-funded, white retirees. They were not the non-college, blue collar coal miners and steel workers whose decline in recent decades has inspired them to support a man who has promised to make America great again. No, America has been good to these people. A few walked out on Addicott and, I understand, a few registered complaints with the lecture's sponsors. But many applauded him or, at least, appeared to be content to reside in a place where facts are held in careless regard and where anyone who's very different from us is someone to be feared and subjected to harsh measures. In short, a land where Donald Trump could be elected president. John M. Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, teaches in the English Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas. Readers may send him email at jcrisp@delmar.edu. The Spin Off has done a voting guide for Auckland Council. They have mainly focused on whether people agree with their views on transport and housing. Sadly they have totally ignored anything about fiscal discipline and have endorsed several candidates who voted for the 9.9% rates increases (they are shown in italics do not vote for them). So voting for some of their endorsements will probably see many more years of large rates increases. While The Spin Off is left leaning, and many of the candidates endorsed are Labour and Greens affiliated, they have shown some free thought and endorsed Bill Ralston and Denise Krum for example. Worth reading their voting guide even if not agreeing to it. The Auckland Ratepayers Alliance has a list of 25 candidates who have signed their pledge to not vote for any rates increase over 2%. Also Auckland Future candidates have their own policy of not supporting a rates increase over 2%. Im not an Aucklander but follow Auckland politics closely. So Ive also done my own voting guide to whom I would vote for in each ward. The main criteria is fiscal responsibility, but also based on whether they would contribute well to the governance of the city. So if you want an affordable city, this is whom I would vote for. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Stuff reports: An Afghan immigrant, wanted over bombings in New York and New Jersey over the weekend, has been arrested after a shootout with police in New Jersey. The law enforcement official said two officers were shot in the gun battle. They were not believed to be seriously injured. Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said that the owner of a bar reported someone asleep in the doorway of his establishment. A police officer went to investigate and recognised the man as Rahami, police and the mayor said. Rahami pulled a gun and shot the officer who was wearing a bulletproof vest in the torso, and more officers joined the gun battle and brought Rahami down, police Captain James Sarnicki said. The arrest came just hours after police issued a bulletin and photo of Rahami, who lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey, near where an explosive device detonated on Sunday, a day after the New York explosion. Authorities said the blasts were looking increasingly like an act of terrorism with a foreign connection. "Last Train to Nibroc" tells the story of May, played by Rachel Norman, and Raleigh, played by Mark Jennings, a WWII soldier on his way to New York City. SHARE By Doug James, Special to the News Sentinel One bench, single wall backgrounds, minimal lighting, and two fantastic actors create an incredible night of theater at the WordPlayers' production of "Last Train to Nibroc," by Arlene Hutton. The WordPlayers is a local community theater group with a basis in providing Knoxville with a Christian-based season of productions that may or may not be biblical. They do shows that raise questions about the way life should be lived based on theology. This being said, they never preach at the audience but instead ask questions such as: What happens when we judge a book by its cover? Is our journey in life ever what we expect it to be? What molds us into the persons we are? What people or experiences do we allow to mold us? These are the questions raised in an incredible performance showing at Erin Presbyterian Church. "Nibroc" is set during World War II. May, played by the incandescent Rachel Norman, has traveled to California from Corbin, Ky., to see her soldier fiance. She is now on a train back to Kentucky when she meets Raleigh, played by the formidable Mark Jennings, another soldier on his way to New York City. May is extremely upset by the fact that her fiance has changed since being in the war. She is afraid she doesn't love him anymore. Raleigh introduces himself on the train and, through a lovable conversation about books, writers, and a "heathen" (but not really) festival called Nibroc, the two realize their desire to be a part of each others' life. This production is as close to what theater should be as it gets. By pulling away the flashy sets, crazy special effects and simply putting two actors on stage with a bench and a few props, Matthew Lloyd, the show's director, has transcended the community theater art form. The subtlety in his direction allows the audience to narrow their focus on two of the most amazing performances by community theater actors that I have seen in a long time. Rachel Norman, a company member of WordPlayers, knocks this performance out of the park. Her portrayal of May's insecurities paired with her quick wit and need to correct grammar left me howling from laughter and then tearing up at the climax of the play. She has an electricity in this role that captivates an audience a terrific feat if you consider that she cannot move from a sitting position for the first 30 minutes of the show. Not to be outdone, Mark Jennings is the perfect Raleigh. His puppy-dog eyes and charming smile allow the audience to fall in love with his Kentucky soldier. Raleigh loves to tease May any chance he gets. Most actors would use that to make him high energy and spunky. Not Jennings. He masterfully plays those moments with subtlety, a glint in his eye, and a smile that melts your heart. By doing so, he allows the audience to see that Raleigh has a painful past but such a positive outlook on life. His performance keeps the audience fighting for these two characters to send in a "love story." Lloyd has outdone himself with this production. He is a local director, actor, and stage manager who primarily works with the WordPlayers. This play is a perfect fit for him. The layers he has developed in these characters offers a fantastic opportunity for a performance that Knoxville should not miss. "Last Train to Nibroc" continues at Erin Presbyterian Church at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 and 23 and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 25. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for students and groups of 12 or more. For more information, see wordplayers.org. SHARE Jeff Lee, president and general manager of WBIR, Channel 10 By News Sentinel Staff KNOXVILLE Jeff Lee, the president and general manager of WBIR, Channel 10, has announced his retirement after 20 years. Lee told his staff Monday afternoon that his last day will be Dec. 31. He was named president and general manager in August 1996. In an email to acquaintances Monday, he said: "Somehow, I am about to turn 71. It's time. I have been fortunate to be at WBIR for 20 years. It is someone else's turn. "This is hard because I still enjoy every aspect of my job. Especially all of you. Christy wants me to take her some places that we never seem to have time for. while we still feel like going." In an interview Tuesday morning, Lee said he was "fortunate to have been sent to Knoxville." "I just love this community," he said. "We have a great community, and we love it. "We're not from here, but we're Knoxvillians at heart. We're not going anywhere." Margie Nichols, who worked with Lee for eight years and is the University of Tennessee vice chancellor emeritus for communications, was news director when he arrived in Knoxville two decades ago. "Jeff was a great boss," Nichols said. "When he came to WBIR he respected the great tradition of the station while moving it forward." Lee serves as a board member for the United Way of Greater Knoxville and the Knoxville Symphony Society. He is a graduate of the 1999 Leadership Knoxville Class. Lee was the 2002 campaign chairman and has served as chairman of the Board for the United Way of Greater Knoxville. "WBIR's Straight from the Heart brand means something, and the viewers hold us accountable for our brand," Lee said in a news release Tuesday. "We try every day to make a difference in our community." WBIR, an NBC affiliate, is part of TEGNA Inc. SHARE Blount County authorities are warning residents not to fall prey to a phone and text scam, pictured above, that is attempting to steal bank account numbers. By News Sentinel Staff Authorities are warning East Tennessee residents not to fall for a phone scam disguised as a TVA Credit Union alert. The Blount County Sheriff's Office has received several reports recently about phone calls and text messages phishing for account numbers, according to a news release Tuesday. The phone call prompts you to press 1 and enter your pin code. The text instructs you to call a number and then enter you 16-digit card number. Do not respond to this call or text TVA Credit Union never contacts its customers with requests for such information. More details as they develop online and in Wednesday's News Sentinel. SHARE By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel Since 1965, when its technology put "jungle boots" on the feet of U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War, Wellco Enterprises shod the military to the tune of billions of dollars with its "Made in the USA" footwear. But when investment firms took over the North Carolina manufacturer amid an economic downturn in 2008, installed Vincent Lee Ferguson of Knoxville as its chief executive and moved its headquarters to Morristown, Ferguson promised an "aggressive" push to turn the company around. What he didn't tell his board of directors was that his plan was to farm out manufacturing to the Chinese and trick the U.S. government and consumers into believing the boots remained worthy of the standards and public good will its "Made in the USA" label promised, federal prosecutors allege. Ferguson, 65, is accused along with four others, including three family members, of conspiring to rip off the U.S. Department of Defense to the tune of more than $8.1 million by marketing "Made in the USA" military-style boots to the government, to government contractors and to the general public that were actually manufactured largely in China and to a lesser extent in Peru and the Dominican Republic. The indictment, unsealed last week in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, charges the quintet of Wellco executives Ferguson, the CEO; Senior Vice President of Sales Matthew Lee Ferguson, 40, of Lenoir City; Director of Marketing Kerry Joseph Ferguson, 35, of Houston; Director of Distribution and Logistics Matthew Harrison Martland, 32, of Knoxville; and Operations Manager Stephanie Lynn Ferguson Kaemmerer, 44, of Knoxville with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, one count of "major fraud" of the government and one count of smuggling goods in the U.S. Prosecutors say the plot spanned from December 2008 to August 2012, after two investment firms acquired Wellco and made it a subsidiary of Tactical Holdings Operation Inc., which moved the operation from Waynesville, N.C., to Morristown in 2009. Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Gunn wrote in a rare "speaking indictment" that lays out details far beyond the bare allegations necessary to file charges that Wellco had pioneered boot-making technology that allowed the military to design footwear to meet specific needs on the battlefield, beginning with the Vietnam War. When Vincent Ferguson took the helm, the firm "was a major supplier of footwear" to the defense department, with sales to that agency topping $138 million from 2006 to 2012 alone, Gunn wrote. The firm also marketed to government contractors and the general public. When the firm hit financial trouble and left the hands of the family of German immigrants that founded it, Ferguson, now chief of the newly-titled Tactical Holdings, "discussed with Wellco's board of directors his turnaround plan" that included a move to "aggressively pursue" sales to the defense department. The indictment alleges Ferguson secretly shifted the manufacture of boot "uppers" to China and specifically instructed the Chinese to include the U.S. flag and the term "USA" on the labels before shipping them to Morristown, where the soles were then attached. At the executives' instruction, Chinese manufacturers stitched a "tearaway made in China" label onto the boot uppers, which was then removed at the Morristown plant, Gunn wrote. A few styles of boots were also manufactured using similar trickery in Peru and the Dominican Republic, the prosecutor wrote. The indictment does not indicate how the operation drew authorities' attention but notes Wellco and holding company Tactical Holdings declared bankruptcy in 2014. Original Footwear Holding Inc. then bought the firm's assets, including the Morristown manufacturing plant. Original Footwear is a major supplier of footwear for police tactical units and is not alleged to have been involved in the conspiracy. U.S. Magistrate Clifton Corker last week freed the five executives on $20,000 bond each. A trial before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer is set for Nov. 1. SHARE Campbell County Judge Amanda Sammons (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel JACKSBORO, Tenn. Joseph Ayers on Tuesday will return to the Campbell County General Sessions Court bench he lost in a narrow election two years ago. The Campbell County Commission on Monday night appointed Ayers to temporarily take the place of Judge Amanda Sammons the woman who bested him by a slim margin in the 2014 election. Sammons was suspended from the bench last month after a grand jury indicted her on four counts of official misconduct in connection with her handling of two cases highlighted as part of a monthslong probe by the News Sentinel into allegations of abuse of authority. An ethics probe by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct remains ongoing on other complaints filed against Sammons, a former prosecutor, since she won the August 2014 race. Ayers served 16 years as General Sessions and Juvenile Court judge before losing by less than 200 votes in a three-way race for the bench. He told commissioners he would need no learning curve and planned to take the bench for Tuesday's regularly scheduled docket as soon as another judge officially swears him into office. "I have the ability to do (the job)," Ayers said in a brief speech to commission before the vote. "I have the desire to do it, and I'm here asking for the opportunity to do that." Ayers promised to make no personnel changes during the interim judgeship. "There is enough upheaval right now," he said. Also vying for the appointment Monday night was veteran prosecutor Tom Barclay, who has served as a law enforcement officer and a city judge in Jellico, Tenn., before joining the staff of the 8th Judicial District Attorney General's Office, which oversees Campbell County. Barclay told commissioners his best selling point was that he was not a politician with "experience in every area of the General Sessions Court." Barclay promised to "return the civility and the dignity that court needs." The third candidate seeking the interim position, Kathy Parrott, ran a distant third in the 2014 election. She listed a series of complaints with how the court operates and said those mirrored the issues upon which she campaigned. Ayers and Barclay both drew nominations from commission members. Parrott did not. Ayers won with 11 votes. He only needed eight. Sammons faces trial in November on charges she boosted a child neglect charge filed against a LaFollette, Tenn., mother for not buckling up her children to aggravated child abuse without authority. She is accused of lying about it and issued a contempt petition against a lawyer and her client without request or cause and lied that about, too. In its investigation, the News Sentinel has also detailed instances in which Sammons removed children from their homes without a legal basis to do so, refused to dismiss charges against the wrongfully accused unless they paid a fee for legal services they did not use and jailing people for failing to show up for court when she instead had ordered the doors closed. The Board of Judicial Conduct has confirmed its probe is separate from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation case for which Sammons is now indicted and remains ongoing. The judicial board could recommend Sammons be removed from office. Only the state Legislature can do that. She has pleaded not guilty to the official misconduct charges. Although suspended, she continues to collect her pay. St. Joseph School first-grader Sophie Cuccia receives the FluMist vaccine Dec. 9, 2015. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL) By Kristi L. Nelson of the Knoxville News Sentinel Most Knox County elementary schools won't offer flu shots during regular school hours this year, according to Knox County Schools Director of Public Affairs Carly Harrington. Because this year's in-school vaccination program will use injectable flu shots instead of FluMist nasal spray vaccine, Knox County Health Department has scheduled two Saturday and three after-hours clinics for parents who want to be with their children when they get the shot, or whose schools aren't offering it. Harrington said the county let each site decide whether or not to host an in-school clinic. "I applaud the health department for working with our principals to accommodate their concerns," said Knox County Schools Interim Superintendent Buzz Thomas. "These are shots, and small children often want their parents when they get a shot. By middle school, that's all changed." The shift gives the health department the resources to offer flu shot clinics during school hours in every public middle and high school in the county, which didn't always offer annual FluMist clinics. But only students at those schools can get shots there. At the after-hours and Saturday clinics, located to cover areas where elementary schools aren't offering the shots, any child or adult can get a flu shot, the health department said. Insurance will be filed for those who have it, but no one will be charged for the shot. In its survey of parents, the health department said more preferred evening or Saturday options to before-school time slots. "Where parents take part in this program or not, we urge them to have their children vaccinated against the flu, a disease that still kills thousands of Americans every year," said Dr. Martha Buchanan, director of the Knox County Health Department. "The flu shot will soon be available at our three locations and it's already widely available elsewhere in the community at medical providers, pharmacies and Free Flu Shot Saturday on Oct. 1." Saturday clinics will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 22 at South-Doyle High School, and 9 a.m.-noon Oct. 29 at Gibbs High School. After-hours clinics will be 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at the health department's Teague Clinic, 405 Dante Road in North Knoxville; 3-6:30 p.m. at the main health department, 140 Dameron Ave. off Central Street; and 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the West Clinic, 1028 Old Cedar Bluff Road. No appointments are needed for the Saturday or after-hours clinics, which are open to all members of the community children and adults. For 12 years, the health department offered the FluMist nasal spray vaccine to Knox County public and private students each year, including some children at large child-care centers, to improve the community's overall immunity to influenza. And it was a success, the health department said; typically, almost half the children offered the vaccine got it. But when the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an advisory this summer saying FluMist hasn't been effective for the last three flu seasons, and telling providers not to use it, health officials knew this year would have to be different. Children could always get the shot at the clinics at the three health department locations, and some special-needs students got the shot in school, but the health department had never offered the injectable vaccine on a wide scale in all schools. This year, that's all it will offer. In-school clinics are Sept. 26- Nov. 2 at 47 public and private schools and large child-care centers; a full schedule is at www.knoxcounty.org/health/schoolflu. Parents must fill out a consent form, available from the school or online; they can come to school to be with their children when they get shots. SHARE The University of Tennessee is encouraging people interested in urban forestry and wildlife to attend the Institute of Agriculture's annual Woods and Wildlife Field Day on Friday, Oct. 14. Speakers at this year's event at the UT Arboretum, 901 S. Illinois Ave. in Oak Ridge, will focus on urban woods and wildlife species that thrive on the rural-urban interface, according to a news release from the UT Institute of Agriculture. At the event, experts and scholars will give educational presentations on birds, beetles, dogwood trees and deer management, among other subjects. Sam Adams, an arborist at UT, will give a lecture, "Residential Arboriculture A Toolbox for Homeowners," during a barbecue lunch. After lunch, UT students in the department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries will demonstrate forestry and arboriculture management skills. Sharon Jean-Phillippe, a UT associate professor of forestry, will discuss potential career pathways for people passionate about arboriculture and forestry. Registration for the event begins at 8 a.m. Oct. 14, but organizers encourage attendees to preregister at 865-483-3571 or emailing utforest@utk.edu. The $10 fee covers the cost of the event and helps pay for the barbecue luncheon. Deadline for early registration is Oct. 5. An early-bird networking breakfast will start at 7 a.m., with the day's events are scheduled to begin at 8:15 and conclude by 2:30 p.m. "We look forward to hosting a variety of visitors who want to learn about urban forestry practices and wildlife management," said Kevin Hoyt, director of the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center. For more information, visit www.forestry.tennessee.edu. By Megan Boehnke of the Knoxville News Sentinel University of Tennessee Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said Monday that he will ask the Legislature to fund a new engineering building, at least three new Governor's Chair faculty members and a new data science doctoral program that will be housed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Cheek told faculty Monday that he is hopeful that the funding priorities will be well-received by Gov. Bill Haslam and the General Assembly despite a rocky session earlier this year in which lawmakers defunded UT's Office for Diversity and Inclusion. "I don't think we can project what the Legislature is going to consider next year, but we have certainly done everything they've asked us to do and required us to do," Cheek said following his final "State of the University" report to the Faculty Senate. "We're looking forward to having a good conversation with them about the positive things that are happening on our campus." The top priority, he said, is a $129 million, 228,000-square-foot engineering building that will house the nuclear engineering department, student academic services and student and research labs. UT has received $10 million in donations from Min Kao and John Tickle, each of whom already have an engineering building named in their honor on campus. UT is asking the state to pay $90.2 million. The university is moving forward on design for the building this fall, officials said. For the doctoral program, Cheek said the university is seeking $6 million in one-time funding to launch the program. The data sciences and engineering program will be similar to the existing Bredesen Center, which started five years ago and currently has 142 students studying energy sciences and engineering at ORNL. "It will be a cross of a multitude of disciplines and also involve the health sciences center, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga," Cheek said. Also in a partnership with ORNL, Cheek hopes to add somewhere between three and six Governor's Chair faculty members. The program started under then-Gov. Phil Bredesen, who gave UT funding to attract high-level, problem-solving faculty at the forefront of new research. That funding has run out, Cheek said. The new positions would include emerging areas like 3-D printing and data science. "This data science, big data, data analytics, cyber security is something we think is very important, particularly as Oak Ridge deploys the fastest computer in the world," Cheek said. UT currently has 14 chairs at the Knoxville campus and two at the Health Sciences Center in Memphis. When asked by one faculty member if the Legislature would be receptive to the requests given last year's battles, Cheek pointed to the better-than-expected state revenues. "The resources are coming in at a greater extent than they anticipated, so there's quite a bit of money that's nonrecurring," he said. "I think the governor is always concerned about recurring money, and our top two requests are for nonrecurring money: for a building and also for the Ph.D. program." Lawmakers moved the budget for UT's Office for Diversity to minority engineering scholarships for one year after controversies arose about the office suggesting gender neutral pronouns and inclusive holiday parties. The school in May announced it had disbanded the office, including eliminating four staff positions and a $131,365 operating budget. The school is set to take control of those funds again next year, but Cheek said Monday the university has not yet decided how to use the money. Also on Monday, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution honoring Donna Braquet, a libraries faculty member who was director of UT's Pride Center, for her fight for inclusion on campus. She received a standing ovation from her peers, and from Cheek. State Rep. Joe Armstrong, with his wife, LeTonia, leaves the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse on June 19, 2015, after an initial hearing on charges of tax evasion and fraud. At left is attorney Gregory P. Isaacs. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel NASHVILLE Former state Rep. Joe Armstrong's legislative pension would provide him with $28,744 annually under the application he has filed, but state officials have yet to decide whether he qualifies to receive the benefits after a felony conviction for filing a false federal tax return. Shelli King, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, said Armstrong's application was received on Tuesday and officials are conferring with attorneys to decide whether it will be approved. King said Armstrong's application opts for receiving maximum monthly benefits with no survivor benefits upon his death. If approved, she said in an email, "Rep. Armstrong will receive $2,395.34 per month based on 27 years, 10 months of service in the General Assembly" or $28,744.08 per year. Those making the decision will include state Treasurer David Lillard, who oversees the pension system, Jill Bachus, the retirement system's executive director, and others, she said, and "not just a single person." She estimated the process of making a consensus decision one that might generate political controversy could take four to six weeks. Under state law, a legislator forfeits pension benefits if "convicted in any state or federal court of a felony arising out of that person's official capacity, constituting malfeasance in office." That provision raises the question of whether Armstrong's federal conviction arose out of his "official capacity" as a state legislator. The filing of his tax return was not an official duty as a legislator. But the conviction was based on a failure to pay federal income taxes on more than $300,000 profit Armstrong made by buying, through a tobacco wholesaler, Tennessee cigarette tax stamps at the rate prior to a 2007 increase in the state cigarette taxes which he supported as a legislator and helped approve then selling them after the increase became law. The jury acquitted Armstrong on two separate charges of conspiring with his accountant, Charles Stivers, to defraud the IRS and of "evading" taxes, which, unlike the false return charge, required a "willful," or deliberate, act. Armstrong testified in his defense that Stivers told him the taxes were paid, but that the accountant lied and instead kept the money for himself. The veteran lawmaker declined comment Tuesday, referring questions to his attorney, Gregory P. Isaacs, who is appealing the conviction. Isaacs said the conviction had "absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Armstrong's official duties" and that Armstrong is entitled to a pension based on service as a legislator since 1988. He said the jury's conviction on the "lesser charge" of filing a false return while acquitting on the more serious charges amounted to "rejection of the prosecution's theory" that the legislator's tax situation was tied to his legislative activities. The attorney also said Armstrong's vote for the tax increase made no real difference in approval of the bill by a solid majority and that the questioned tax activity came well after the legislative vote. The current state law was enacted in 2006 during a special legislative session on ethics, called by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen after seven current or former legislators were charged with felonies in most cases including bribery following an FBI sting operation with the code name "Tennessee Waltz." The lawmakers who had vested in the state retirement system at the time were allowed to draw pensions despite their convictions. Officials cited court rulings generally prohibiting new laws that retroactively deprive a person of benefits already acquired before the new law was enacted. The 2006 statute declares that, even if a legislator has already vested in the state retirement system, when seeking reelection "such person shall, as a condition of such election, be deemed to consent and agree to the forfeiture of such person's retirement benefits from the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System" if convicted of a felony related to official duties. Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, who chairs the state Council on Pensions and Retirement and who has advocated denial of pensions to legislators convicted of felonies, said Armstrong's application should be rejected. "My thinking is it (the conviction) is certainly related to the event of a law being passed" with Armstrong's involvement, the senator said. Legally speaking, McNally said a decision on Armstrong's pension eligibility is a civil law proceeding and subject to a different standard than a criminal case, where the defendant must be found guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." In such civil cases, he said, the rule is to decide a case on a "preponderance of the evidence" and, by that standard, Armstrong should be denied a pension. McNally said he contacted retirement system officials recently to ask about Armstrong's pension status and got no definitive answer. The senator said he was left with the impression that "Treasurer Lillard and his staff" would make the decision on eligibility, although King in a phone interview and an email exchange repeatedly declined to elaborate on the decision-making process or procedures for an appeal should Armstrong's application be rejected. "You're getting into questions that we're not prepared to answer," she said at one point. As a general proposition, any administrative decision by a state agency can be appealed under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act first to the agency itself and, if then rejected, to an administrative law judge who conducts a hearing. The administrative law judge's ruling can then be appealed to the regular court system. SHARE Beth Harwell Doug Overbey By Dave Boucher And Joel Ebert, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee NASHVILLE House Speaker Beth Harwell is working to create legislation that would address lawmakers' ability to invest campaign funds in private companies, and she said she would support new regulations on gifts to lawmakers. Both issues were raised Sunday in an ongoing Tennessean investigation into Jeremy Durham, who invested in a company owned by Andy Miller, a well-known GOP donor who's given money to the expelled lawmaker in the past. Miller paid for six lawmakers to go on a trip to Europe in 2011 that none of the lawmakers disclosed, nor were they required to disclose under Tennessee law. Gov. Bill Haslam said through a spokeswoman Monday that he would support additional disclosure of investments. "The governor believes it is good policy to disclose campaign investments just like personal disclosures made annually to the Tennessee Ethics Commission," said spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals. The personal disclosures require public officials to report any investments worth $10,000 or more. Harwell, R-Nashville, state Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Marvylle, and Rep. Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said separately there should be more transparency and regulations when Tennessee public officials invest their campaign funds. "I do not personally believe campaign contributions should be invested in private companies. I have directed our legal staff to research these issues and work with the Registry of Election Finance to identify the best remedy, so that legislation can be introduced to address it," Harwell said in an email Monday. "I believe in and support full disclosure and transparency in our campaign finance reports, and will always support legislation to that end. We should always strive to keep up to date on best practices, and I will be supportive of legislation seeking to address increased transparency or regulations on gift-giving or investments." As speaker, Harwell typically does not introduce legislation but works with leadership on bills. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, agreed there should be more transparency but didn't go as far as to suggest legislation. "I think it is entirely appropriate that we require full disclosure of a campaign's investments and interests, just as we do for personal interests and investments," the retiring lawmaker said. "While investments in campaign accounts should be permissible, they should be limited to investments that are public and available to all publicly traded stocks, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, etc. to eliminate even the appearance of undue influence." Both Sexton and Overbey said in different interviews they'd be interested in closing the legal loophole in Tennessee that allows those investments to be shielded from the public. Although Tennessee lawmakers are allowed to invest their campaign donations as long as they aren't using the money for personal purposes, they do not have to say specifically where they've invested the money. Other states, including Missouri, and federal law require disclosing such investments. Tennessee's campaign finance form provides space to list earnings from investments, but there's no way for campaign finance officials to know which lawmakers have investments or how those lawmakers are investing their money. State campaign finance officials confirmed to The Tennessean in August that Durham had invested in one of Miller's companies, information they'd discovered as part of an ongoing investigation. Durham has denied wrongdoing. As of now, Overbey intends to propose legislation that would curb the types of investments officials could make with donor's funds. "I definitely think it ought to be addressed. I personally think donors expect the folks they contribute to, to hold those funds in safe and secure accounts," Overbey said, referencing something like a federally insured bank account. "I don't think people donate funds to campaigns for the candidate to put in sort of risky investments." Some states, including Missouri, only allow lawmakers to invest in short-term treasury instruments or bank certificates. Others specifically prohibit lawmakers from investing campaign funds in publicly traded stocks. Clifford Curry When Clifford Curry died of a massive stroke at age 79 on Sept. 7, we lost a giant yet humble personality. He sang with big-name entertainers in world-class cities but never forgot that he started here in Knoxville. He was two years behind me in the Austin High School Class of 1955, but I soon knew the talents of the tall, slim guy from Bearden. For the past 61 years Curry had been a part of the music scene from Knoxville to the Netherlands and from Charlotte to Switzerland. He could sing the songs of the greatest artists or create his own sound. He could sing the lyrics of the immortals or write his own. He wrote and recorded many songs. He also wrote music for the Oak Ridge Boys, Ronnie Milsap, the Tams and others. Shortly before his death, I pulled out his 45 rpm recording of "Mr. Moon," which was done in 1955. It was the music of the Five Pennies featuring Curry, who wrote the song. It showcases his clear, distinct high school voice asking the moon to shine on his love and bring her to him. It reflected that simplicity in a time when love seemed uncomplicated and the moon and stars could work wonders. We who have followed Curry's career are aware of his hit song, "She Shot a Hole in My Soul," which hit the national pop chart in 1967. Although he had been performing for 12 years, that song made him a real star. It all began at Austin High when he began singing with the Echoes. He formed the Bingos a year later in 1956, and he performed with the Hollyhocks in 1957. As he came of age, he traveled with the Bubba Suggs aggregation and rocked nightclubs and dance halls throughout the region. They played backup for such noted recording artists as Joe Tex, Solomon Burke, Little Willie John, the Impressions and others. Of course, many entertainers must have stage names, so "Sweet Clifford" materialized in 1963. He sang with the Contenders from 1964-1967 and later with the Notations in 1970 before deciding to become a solo artist. Before long he was dubbed the King of Beach Music. His career in that genre really took off. Curry was featured on the cover of It Will Stand magazine in his signature white tuxedo along with a small inset photo of Knoxville native Granville "Stick" McGhee, who recorded "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" in 1949. The editor wondered if that was the first beach record. Curry also was featured in the fall issue of Shagger magazine. When I was the executive director at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Curry kept me aware of his travels, recordings and awards. There are many of his handwritten notes showing his appreciation for what the center and Knoxville meant to him. He knew I had been a French teacher and sent me a program from Paris during his European tour. He wrote, "I hope you can read this." The program said his tour with the Excello Legends was a "Premiere Blues Revival of the 1950s The Best of Black American Music." Curry was so proud to be a Knoxvillian and that he could represent the city in such a positive and entertaining way. He wrote and recorded at least two songs about K-town and the Big Orange. He performed here as often as he could, and the audiences always responded with an enthusiastic, packed house. Gov. Bill Haslam was the featured speaker at the Rotary Club of Knoxville lunch Tuesday, May 31, 2016. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is correct in believing that neither of the major presidential candidates is putting enough emphasis on education. Of course, there are official statements, party platforms with education planks and sound bites about the usual suspects: vouchers, charter schools, common core, and national versus state or local control. But there has been very little public talk about education from either Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or her Republican rival, Donald Trump. That lack of discussion rightly has the governor concerned. "We won't fix poverty issues until we address education issues," Haslam said at the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting. In the more than two dozen presidential debates thus far, Haslam said, there has been "a minute and a half of conversation about education." Moreover, Haslam said, when the candidates actually get around to talking about education, they are off base. Trump has blasted Common Core and federal intervention in state education, but Common Core is dead anyway. Meanwhile, Tennessee U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has helped keep the federal role at arm's length. As chairman of the Senate Education Committee, he recently engineered passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Haslam also was critical of Clinton, saying the Democrat has backed away from President Barack Obama's move to link teacher evaluations to students' end-of-the-term assessments. "Both parties are not focusing on one of the key issues," Haslam said. The governor, on the other hand, is definitely focused. He recently kicked off a tour of schools, visiting members of his first Governor's Teachers Cabinet. And last week, U.S. Secretary of Education John King praised Haslam's Tennessee Promise program, the last-dollar scholarship that pays tuition at a state community college or technical college for the state's high school graduates. The program costs an average of $938 per student in Tennessee. King's visit to Pellissippi State Community College occurred about 18 months after Obama's visit. The president used the occasion to announce America's College Promise, a program inspired by the Volunteer State's effort, but it gained little traction nationally at least initially even though Clinton and Democratic contender Bernie Sanders have advocated a national program to make college tuition free for most citizens. King is trying to build on the success of Tennessee Promise. He announced a 25-page playbook on which Congress should consider action. "That said, we do want to encourage and support communities that are taking action on their own," King said, adding that, since Obama's visit to Pellissippi State in January 2015, about 30 communities around the country have launched programs similar to Tennessee Promise. "Tennessee's work to ensure free community college is really an inspiration around the country," King said. We hope it will be an inspiration as well for the presidential candidates to publicly discuss in detail and in all seriousness the educational issues facing Americans. SHARE In response to the column "Thanks, Obama. No really, thank you," President Barack Obama did not receive a lot of abuse at the Republican National Convention. What was said about him is substantiated by fact. The low unemployment rate is rather misleading considering the millions who are working for minimum wage and/or working two or three part-time jobs to survive. Obama has shrunk the budget deficit to less than a third of $1.4 trillion, but that number pales in comparison to his reckless spending to the point we are now almost $20 trillion in debt. The so-called coalition that supposedly destroyed Syria's chemical weapons is a myth. As for preventing loose nukes (North Korea has a cache of them), rebuilding international alliances and goodwill, (that certainly does not apply to Israel) and an Iran deal that includes verifiable inspections (allowed only with 24 days' notice), all of these assertions are nothing but smoke and mirrors. Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor are certainly part of Obama's legacy, as they prefer to legislate from the bench, rather than follow the rule of law. Getting around the Senate to pass Obamacare also defies the Constitution and rule of law. As for Obama leaving our country in better shape, we are killing each other daily, we are racially polarized, terrorism is spreading throughout the homeland, and the economy will collapse if debtors call us due. Many Americans say the country is heading in the wrong direction. It seems to me the letter writer doesn't know anything. No thanks, Obama. Really, no thanks. Dick Southmayd, Oak Ridge Shin Dong-bin, Lotte Group chairman, closes his eyes surronded by reporters before entering the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Lee Han-soo Prosecutors questioned Lotte Group chief Shin Dong-bin on Tuesday over alleged embezzlement, breach of trust and other illegalities. "I am sorry for causing concerns," Shin told reporters before entering the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office. "I will fully cooperate with the prosecution's investigation." He declined to comment further. Prosecutors have been investigating Lotte's alleged wrongdoings since they launched raids on the group's headquarters in June. The chairman, 61, is suspected of orchestrating shady deals between the group's affiliates in the process of mergers and acquisitions and selling the assets of certain affiliates to others below market prices, according to prosecutors. "We have a lot to ask," said a prosecutor involved in the case. The prosecution suspects Shin and his family amassed profits trading in shares of hotels and resorts owned by the Lotte affiliate while the affiliates recorded a loss. It also suspects that Shin ordered Lotte Cinema to give work exclusively to the family's privately owned company. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin speaks to a reporter before entering the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office for questioning, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul The summons came about two weeks after the prosecution questioned Shin's elder brother, Shin Dong-joo, a former Lotte vice chairman, and his father Shin Kyuk-ho over similar allegations. But there are suggestions the prosecution has failed to find evidence of the Shin family's direct involvement in creating a slush fund, the initial target of the investigation. The summoning of chairman Shin signals the end of the Lotte investigation. The prosecutors' office has investigated more that 300 Lotte Group people and indicted Shin Young-ja, the daughter of Shin Kyuk-ho, and Ki Joon, the former CEO of Lotte Chemicals, for allegedly receiving 8 billion won from a local cosmetics brand in exchange for an exclusive operating license at Lotte Duty Free shops. By Lee Hyo-sik Park Sam-koo, chairman of Kumho Asiana Group Park Sam-koo, chairman of Kumho Asiana Group, looks desperate to buy back the group's tire unit, a key missing piece of Korea's former eighth-largest family-controlled conglomerate, according to industry analysts Tuesday. However, he is expected to face a bumpy road ahead as he is short of money after already spending tens of billions of won to take back control of Kumho Industrial and increase his shares in other group units. In addition, global tire makers and private equity funds are reportedly showing interest in acquiring Kumho Tire. Woori Bank, Korea Development Bank and other creditors, which hold a combined 42.1 percent stake in Korea's second-largest tire maker, issued a sales notice, Tuesday, sending request for proposal (RFP) letters to nearly two dozen entities. After receiving letters of intent, the creditors plan to select the highest bidder as their preferred bidder as early as January. If Park, who has a prior stock purchase right, is willing to pay the highest bidding price, he will take back control of Kumho Tire. But the tire maker will be sold to the highest bidder if he doesn't. Given Kumho Tire's share price hovering around at 11,000 won, the 42.1 percent stake is valued at about 630 billion won. Including management premiums, creditors expect the stake sale could reach as high as 1 trillion won. The banks acquired the stake in a debt-to-equity swap in 2010 when the company suffered a severe liquidity shortage. At the time, they signed an agreement that they would first negotiate with the Kumho chairman when unloading their Kumho Tire stake. To encourage foreign tire companies and financial investors to take part in the bid, creditors have decided to pay part of the costs incurred when bidders conduct due diligence. Creditors' attempts to bolster the sales price of Kumho Tire will likely make it more difficult for the Kumho chairman to buy back the company, said an official at one of the country's major business associations. "We all know that Park has repeatedly vowed to take back control of Kumho Tire from creditors to rebuild his fallen empire," the official said. "It is unfortunate that he won't be able to acquire the stake through a third party." Last December, Park successfully took back Kumho Industrial, the group's holding firm, via a special purpose company that he set up after attracting investments from corporations and financial investors. But the chairman is barred by creditors from using the same tactic, meaning that he has to use his personal wealth to take back control of Kumho Tire. Kumho Asiana Group said it will draw up a plan to acquire the tire unit after the preferred bidder is selected early next year. "As Chairman Park has repeatedly said, he will use all possible means to acquire Kumho Tire," a group official said. "But at the moment, nothing has been decided yet. We will continue to monitor the situation and remain vigilant to effectively deal with any changes." Outside Korea, Kumho Tire operates four plants in China, and one each in Vietnam and the United States. In the second quarter of this year, the company earned 744.8 billion won in sales, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier, while posting a 40.7 billion won operating profit, down 26.4 percent. AIA Korea CEO Cha Tae-jin, right, hands a pen to a customer at the company's service center in central Seoul. Cha served customers there himself, July 4. / Courtesy of AIA Korea By Kim Tae-gyu Seo Min-ja, a housewife in her 50s, stepped into an AIA Korea customer service center in downtown Seoul in the afternoon of July 4 to discuss some details of her policy and make a claim. A gentleman with a suit greeted Seo with a big smile. After asking why she visited the center, he handed over the necessary documents and a pen so that she could write them up while waiting. Seo asked the teller who he was, and to her surprise, the kind man was the company's CEO Cha Tae-jin who took the reins of AIA earlier this year. "I never thought that he would be the CEO of my insurer because he was so nice and humble," Seo recollected. "I won't forget his genial attitude and affectionate smile." AIA Korea, a mid-sized life insurer in Korea as a subsidiary of the pan-Asian insurance group AIA Group, had its 10 leading executives serve customers directly this summer. The measure, which is part of Cha's customer-oriented management initiative, resulted in good responses from customers as well as employees. "Through the event, I realized that my company really makes our customers a big priority," said an AIA official working at the customer center. "I expect that wide-ranging changes would follow so as to better take care of them." Executives who took part in the campaign also came up with various ideas to improve the customer center environment so it would be more comfortable for policyholders. Buoyed by the favorable results, Cha showed his desire to continue similar events down the road. AIA Korea is famous for its customer service as demonstrated by various awards. For example, the call center of the Seoul-based outfit was selected by the Korean Service Quality Index as best in 2016. AIA Korea has won the prestigious award, which is given by the authoritative Korea Management Association Consulting, for three consecutive years. Yet, it tries not to rest on its laurels by moving forward. "For AIA Korea, customer satisfaction always comes first. But this year, the agenda became our everyday creed and the very kernel of our management," an AIA representative said. Prosecutors said Wednesday they have indicted two Vietnamese fishermen on charges of murdering two South Koreans aboard a vessel in the Indian Ocean last month. The Busan District Prosecutors' Office said the suspects, both aged 32, are accused of stabbing to death the 43-year-old captain and the 42-year-old engineer of the deep-sea fishing vessel Kwang Hyun 803 in waters near Seychelles. The two arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, earlier this month. By Kang Seung-woo Opposition parties are increasing calls for the government to provide aid to flood-stricken North Korea. They claim the government should prioritize humanitarian needs of North Koreans, but the administration remains adamant against providing aid, citing the international community's move toward fresh sanctions for the North's fifth nuclear test, Sept. 9. Severe flooding in the country's northernmost province of North Hamgyong Province affected by the heaviest rains since 1945 has left 138 people dead, 400 missing and at least 140,000 in immediate need of assistance, including 69,000 who have been forced to leave their homes, according to the United Nations. "It is desirable to provide relief for the North Korean flood victims on humanitarian grounds," said Rep. Park Jie-won, the floor leader of the second-largest opposition People's Party, on his social network service (SNS) account, Tuesday. "Although we cannot accept the North's fifth nuclear test, it is a sin to turn our back on North Koreans in urgent need of aid." Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, also said Monday that the government should separate humanitarian aid from the nuclear test. "There was inter-Korean flood aid in the past even during times of heightened tension," he said. "As part of an effort for inter-Korean rapprochement, the government should provide assistance to the North." Justice Party Chairwoman Rep. Sim Sang-jeung also stressed that humanitarian support should be placed above political consideration as an act of human decency. However, the unification ministry made it clear that South Korea is not considering helping Pyongyang recover from the flood damage, citing the ongoing tension, sparked by the nuclear test. "Even if North Korea appeals for help, we do not think the possibility is high for assistance to be given under the current situation," ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told a briefing, Monday. He said that the Kim Jong-un regime should focus on rehabilitation efforts for the livelihood of its people rather than spending money on its nuclear development program. The ruling Saenuri Party supports the government's stance. Its floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk said the international community can only help the North when it ends its nuclear and missile provocations. A South Korean civic group asked the government in early September to approve its plan to contact North Korean officials in a third country in a bid to provide assistance for the flood damage. Since the North's fourth nuclear test in January, the government has banned inter-Korean exchanges at a non-government level and South Korean citizens' trips to the North. Seoul is concerned that its humanitarian aid may end up being diverted to the North Korean government and the development of its nuclear weapons program. Observers say the government's hard-line stance runs counter to President Park Geun-hye's Liberation Day speech stressing that South Korea "will not turn a blind eye to the plight of North Korean residents who suffer because of the wrong decisions made by the authorities there." While the South remains lukewarm in its support for the North, international aid agencies are stepping up efforts to help the country. The United Nations (U.N.) World Food Program delivered food assistance, including fortified biscuits and soybeans, to more than 140,000 people and it has also asked for $1.2 million (1.3 billion won) to provide supplies for children and women. In addition, other international aid agencies in North Korea also called for $28.2 million to assist North Koreans. "It is the established norm that humanitarian aid should be separated from political conditions even during times of war," said Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University. "That is why the latest U.N. sanctions on the North Resolution 2270 have humanitarian exemptions." Chang said that if the government is worried that its aid may be misused, it can use international humanitarian agencies in North Korea. A foreign resident in Seoul tries to learn how to use the city's bike-sharing service "Ttareungi" at a bike station in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Many foreign users complain about the complicated registration process for the service. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Buggy registration troubles foreign riders This is the second in a two-part review on Seoul City's bicycle-sharing system. ED. By Choi Ha-young Public bicycles run in Seoul, but with creaks for foreigners. The system, named "Ttareungi," provides English, Chinese and Japanese services for international users. However, it's not easy for foreign residents and tourists to enjoy this service, because of the complicated registration process. Buggy website, limited choice The service is available once people sign up on the website. Foreigners, who are not using a Korean mobile phone service or not fluent in Korean, have to use foreign language services. By Choi Ha-youngPublic bicycles run in Seoul, but with creaks for foreigners. The system, named "Ttareungi," provides English, Chinese and Japanese services for international users. However, it's not easy for foreign residents and tourists to enjoy this service, because of the complicated registration process.The service is available once people sign up on the website. Foreigners, who are not using a Korean mobile phone service or not fluent in Korean, have to use foreign language services. "Once I registered my ID and password for the Chinese service, the Japanese website popped up," Li Xinge, 24, university student from China, said. The same problem happened to Mark Zastrow, 30, a science journalist from the U.S. He tried to access the English website but it loaded Chinese version. "Unfortunately, the English site is very buggy and the payment system is limited," Zastrow said. "The worst thing about the English site is the actual payment process." One obstacle is the type of credit card required to pay. "I found out that you can't even use a Korean credit or debit card it has to be an international card," Zastrow said. Only foreign credit cards can be used on international versions of the website. That troubles foreign residents who are not fluent in Korean and don't have an international card. The website suggests various options for hours of use: seven days, 30 days, 180 days and 365 days with different prices. By Jung Min-ho When a magnitude 5.8 quake struck Korea's southern regions a week ago, the Korean Meteorologist Administration (KMA) said it would likely subside after secondary tremors over the next three days or so. On Monday night, however, a magnitude 4.5 quake rattled the regions again. Now, the KMA say it was just an aftershock from the previous quake, which was the most powerful since the nation started collecting records in 1978. But public fears are growing over the possibility of additional tremors. "I don't believe them," a 31-year-old Busan resident, surnamed Jang, said. "Some people say it might have been a foreshock and we may have to brace ourselves for a larger quake soon. The quake this time was weaker than the Sept. 12 one, but scarier." A foreshock is tremor occurring minutes to days or even longer before the main shock, and experts say this activity is detected for about 40 percent of all moderate to large earthquakes. The Sept. 12 quake occurred unexpectedly, but when the one came Monday, many people were already gripped with fear. "Some people left their houses immediately as if they knew it would come. Fears are growing over what may come next," she said. After some experts' predictions that there would be no strong aftershocks turned out to be wrong, many people now distrust them. The government's poor handling of the situation, including belated warning messages or no messages at all, has aggravated their concern. By Lee Han-soo Video footage of a man brutally assaulting a Cambodian woman at a food packing factory in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, has caused uproar in Cambodia, according to Oh My News, an online news website. The suspect is allegedly a Chinese supervisor at the factory. The footage shows the man assaulting the woman, 28, for 11 seconds. The video went viral in Cambodia after its release on Sept. 13. The victim also claimed she was raped. The footage has caused uproar in the Southeast Asian country and the Cambodian Embassy in Korea has sent an official diplomatic note to police, calling for a formal investigation and punishment of the supervisor. The woman recieved treatment in a local hospital with the help of the Cambodian Embassy. / Courtesy of Cambodian Embassy Facebook In the note issued on Sept. 15, the embassy said the supervisor "harassed and beat her seriously, as well as her friends," adding the victim's statement about how the supervisor threatened to kill her, according to the Cambodian Daily. Pictures of the woman being treated in hospital have been posted on the Cambodian Embassy's Facebook page. An illegal immigrant speaks to an immigration official at the Seoul Immigration Office in Mok-dong, Seoul, in this photo taken on Jan. 13, 2003. Illegal migrants will be exempt from an entry ban if they voluntarily leave the country by Dec 31. / Korea Times file By Lee Jin-a Foreigners illegally in Korea will avoid punishment if they leave by the end of the year, the justice ministry said Tuesday. The ministry extended the voluntary departure campaign that started in April and was to end this month because of better than expected results. Over the past five months, about 28,000 illegal immigrants left the country voluntarily, double the number who left in the same period last year. The estimated number of foreigners in Korea illegally dropped to 211,000 in August from 214,000 in December. "We decided to extend the period because it brought a highly successful result," the ministry said. In April, the government launched the incentive program aimed at encouraging foreign workers who overstayed their visas to leave the country voluntarily. Under the program, they will be exempt from fines and be allowed to revisit Korea. The ministry said foreigners who are willing to leave through the program must have valid passports and airline tickets and report to the immigration office on the day of their departure. Overstaying foreigners who do not leave voluntarily will be banned from re-entering Korea for five years. A ground test of a new rocket engine takes place in North Korea's Sohae Space Center in this photo released by the Rodong Sinmun, Tuesday. / Yonhap North moving to fire long-range missile By Jun Ji-hye North Korea said Tuesday that it has successfully conducted a ground test of a new rocket engine, signaling that it is continuing to advance its long-range missile capability. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North's latest move was apparently to test the efficiency of a new high-powered rocket engine that can be used for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is capable, in theory, of hitting targets on the U.S. mainland. The disclosure of the test came after Pyongyang conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test, Sept. 9, during which it allegedly detonated a miniaturized nuclear warhead that could be mounted on a ballistic missile. The North did not clarify when the test took place, but the announcement could signal an imminent launch of a long-range missile, possibly on or around the Oct. 10 anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party, analysts said. The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that leader Kim Jong-un visited the Sohae Space Center in the western region to "guide" the ground test of the new high-powered engine of a carrier rocket for geo-stationary satellites. "The newly developed high-powered engine is a single engine whose thrust is 80 tons," it said. "The test was aimed to make a final confirmation of the feature of combustion chamber, operation accuracy of valves and control systems and structural reliability of the engine during 200 seconds-long working time." The media called the test successful, noting that it showed that "thrust and other technological indexes of the engine accurately reached the estimated values and the feature values of all systems of the engine remained stable throughout the working time." The KCNA added that Kim requested officials and scientists "to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test." On Feb. 7, the North launched what it claimed was a newly developed earth observation satellite, "Kwangmyongsong-4." The international community viewed the launch as a part of the program to develop ICBMs with a range of more than 10,000 kilometers, given that the technologies for launching both a satellite and a long-range missile are almost identical. The JCS said the North seems to have made an improvement in the engine's propulsion power if its claim about the latest test was true. "We are still analyzing if the test was really successful," a JCS official said, adding that the South Korean military is closely monitoring the development of the situation in preparation for the possible launch next month. In the wake of Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test, analysts speculate that the North may be moving to test-fire an ICBM a KN-08 to show off its advanced technology that could threaten the United States. They cited that the latest nuclear test followed launches of short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles in recent months, noting that what now remains is the test-firing of the ICBM. Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said, "The North made the rare disclosure of the rocket engine test observed by Kim. It amounts to a forewarning of the launch of a long-range missile." If the isolated state pushes ahead with the test-firing of the ICBM, the missile could be mounted with a mockup of a miniaturized nuclear warhead. Concerns are also growing in the United States about the threats of the ICBM. The Wall Street Journal said in its Sept. 10 editorial that the accelerating pace of the Kim regime's nuclear and missile testing shows its determination to threaten Japan, South Korea and the U.S. homeland with nuclear weapons. "Significant challenges remain, including a warhead that could withstand the vibration and temperature changes of a long-range missile flight. But the North has repeatedly solved technical problems more quickly than expected," it said. By Kim Hyo-jin Some homeless people may take the witness stand during a National Assembly audit session next week to testify over the suspicious deaths at a welfare center in Daegu. Opposition lawmakers of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee proposed calling the homeless at the shelter as witnesses for a session scheduled for Sept. 26. If the ruling Saenuri Party agrees, they will take the stand. The lawmakers are seeking to question them over the deaths of some 129 homeless people reported at the shelter since 2014. The shelter, Daegu City Hope Village, has been accused of treating those housed there poorly. Civic groups and local media claimed last month that people there have faced human rights violations including cases of forced labor, exploitation of labor, as well as physical and verbal abuse. They also raised suspicions that operators of the center allegedly covered up the deaths by reporting the cases as accidents to the authorities and that they embezzled money. The shelter is run by the Daegu Diocese of the Catholic Church and is monitored by the Daegu local government. It consists of a residence, nursing and rehabilitation facilities for the disabled and the homeless and accommodates about 1,200 homeless and 155 staff. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has investigated the case since August and its results are expected to be published later this month. "We are seeking to call homeless people at the shelter so we can closely look into suspicions of poor management of the facility," said People's Party lawmaker Kim Kwang-soo. Committee members of rival parties are stepping up finalizing a list of witnesses for its audit of the welfare ministry. The first Assembly audit of government agencies in the 20th National Assembly will last until Oct. 15. Ruling Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk, left, whispers to Rep. Suh Chung-won during an interpellation session at the National Assembly, Tuesday. / Yonhap By Kim Hyo-jin Rival parties clashed over how to handle the threats posed by North Korea during a National Assembly interpellation session, Tuesday. Opposition lawmakers urged the government to drop its hostile stance toward Pyongyang, proposing that it send a special envoy to resume stalled talks between the two countries. But ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers dismissed the call as "naive" in the face of the North's advanced nuclear capabilities and called on the government to beef up the military's defensive posture. They renewed their calls to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil. "We need to immediately deploy a THAAD battery, strengthening our military capabilities against the North's nuclear threats," said Rep. Kim Sung-tae of the ruling Saenuri Party. He argued that the government's response to the North's nuclear ambitions had remained complacent until the reclusive country conducted the fifth nuclear test, stepping up his call for the adoption of the U.S. anti-missile system. Rep. Park Myung-jae of the Saenuri Party echoed a similar view, urging the opposition parties to join hands in pushing for the government's plan. "It is more threatening than Pyongyang's nuclear weapons that opposition parties keep opposing the THAAD deployment without presenting an alternative," Park said. "I hope the opposition bloc unites with us in security matters." Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers accused the government of raising security concerns with its failed North Korea policies. "The conservative governments' hard-line stance against North Korea has aggravated our security status. Now is the time to seek a new approach," Rep. Kim Boo-kyum of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) said. He suggested that the government promote dialogue with the North, noting the need to send a special envoy to Pyongyang to thaw icy inter-Korean relations. "I propose that President Park Geun-hye sends a special envoy to the North," Kim said. "I would not even oppose sending United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon even though he is said to be the most favored potential presidential candidate at the moment." Kim, also talked as a potential presidential contender of the opposition bloc, added that the South Korean government should support U.S.-North Korea diplomatic ties and sign a peace treaty. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn who appeared at the interpellation session, however, dismissed the calls, saying Pyongyang's nuclear renunciation should come first before any type of dialogue. Though they remained poles apart over the North Korea issue, lawmakers from the rival parties agreed on the need for a constitutional revision. Noting that the current Constitution does not reflect social changes made since its last amendment in 1987, they urged the government to step up the push for a revision. The lawmakers took issue with the current five-year single-term presidential system and the winner-takes-all single-member electorate system, saying these resulted in an imperial presidential style while failing to resolve social conflict. The debate has gained traction in the National Assembly since Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun called for a revision within the 20th Assembly in June. As alternatives, supporters have presented a four-year term under which a serving chief executive can be re-elected to a second term, or a power-sharing system between the president and prime minister. Cheong Wa Dae and the government, however, have remained reluctant to respond out of concerns that the move will divert attention from President Park Geun-hye's key agenda of revitalizing the sluggish economy and reforming the labor and public services sectors. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is surrounded by reporters in front of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Tuesday, before facing prosecutors' questioning over the group's alleged corruption. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Kim Se-jeong Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin appeared before the prosecution Tuesday to be questioned over alleged embezzlement and breach of trust. Appearing at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Shin, 61, apologized for causing public concern. "I will fully cooperate with the prosecution," he told reporters. Asked if he was aware of the companies' years of alleged illegal activities, he simply replied, "I will explain in detail during the investigation." He faces allegations of embezzlement and breach of trust worth over 200 billion won ($179 million). This is the first time for a Lotte chairman to be questioned as a criminal suspect in the group's 40-year history. The summons comes after the prosecution began investigating the nation's fifth-largest group, June 10. Among the allegations is that Shin ordered group affiliates to create a slush fund worth tens of billions of won. He is also suspected of having transferred losses inflicted in the process of mergers and acquisitions deals to group affiliates, causing losses to the affiliates, which constitutes breach of trust. The prosecution suspects Shin was involved in Lotte Construction's alleged creation of a 30 billion won slush fund over the last 10 years. He also faces allegations that he received 10 billion won every year from Japan-based affiliates as a board member in name only without actually being involved in management. They will also question him about the 40 billion won which several Korea-based affiliates provided to his elder brother, Shin Dong-joo, former vice chairman of Lotte Holdings in Japan, as a salary over the past 10 years. After the questioning, the prosecution will decide whether to apply for an arrest warrant. Previously, prosecutors questioned Shin Dong-joo and their father, group founder Shin Kyuk-ho. The senior Shin is accused of having taken 30 billion won a year from the group's affiliates without playing a role in management. The 94-year-old is also suspected of having orchestrated tax evasion worth 600 billion won when he gave stocks in Lotte Holdings to his common-law wife, Seo Mi-kyung. The prosecution has been unable to question Seo who has been staying in Japan and refuses to come to Korea. Prosecutors are considering indicting Shin Dong-joo, Shin Kyuk-ho and Seo without physical detention. Earlier, Shin Young-ja, the founder's daughter and chairwoman of Lotte Foundation, was arrested for allegedly receiving 8 billion won from a local cosmetics company in exchange for exclusive operating sites at Lotte Duty Free shops. The retail giant has 60 business units, employing 60,000 people in Japan and Korea. Since the investigation began in June, prosecutors have summoned a number of high-profile executives at several Lotte affiliates who are suspected of having been involved in the corruption scandal. The investigation was stalled after Lee In-won, the groupvice chairman and a close aide to the chairman, committed suicide before scheduled questioning in late August. Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens, right, who first came to Korea in 1975 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yesan County, South Chungcheong Province, sits with U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert, second from right, at the opening ceremony of the Peace Corps volunteer exhibit "Beautiful Journey, Endless Friendship" at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in downtown Seoul, Sept. 12. / Yonhap Donated keepsakes on display in Seoul By Jon Dunbar Over a period of 15 years, the Peace Corps sent between 1,600 and 1,700 American volunteers to South Korea to assist in various education and health initiatives, including English teaching, vocational training, special education, maternal heath and TB and leprosy control. The experiences of the Peace Corps volunteers are recounted at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History exhibition, Beautiful Journey, Endless Friendship. Former volunteers donated around 1,200 mementos from their time here, including pictures and correspondence, for the display. Ed Klein was among the first wave of Peace Corps members arriving here on Sept. 16, 1966. "My first impression was My god, what have I got myself into?'" he said. "My first impression was What did I sign up for here?'" said James Mayer, who spent 1978 to 1981 in Seoul as country director. Neither man chose Korea or knew much about it, but both grew to see it as a second home. Klein lived with a Korean family in the southwestern city of Gwangju, teaching English at a girls' high school for one year and another year at Chonnam National University. Mayer lived in Yeonhee-dong, western Seoul, with his own children, working downtown trying to get the Korean government to start its own Peace Corps. Today, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) cooperates with the Peace Corps in developing countries around the world. "It's the only former Peace Corps recipient that is now a donor nation," Mayer said. When the museum exhibit dates were announced, former Peace Corps volunteers wanted to return, with about 40 coming. For Klein and Mayer, their memories of leaving Korea still evoke strong emotions. "I can remember my Korean mother was going up to Seoul with me," said Klein. "I had to go to the back of the train because I was so deeply moved that I had to leave." "I didn't want to leave; I wanted to stay here," said Mayer. "I think the Peace Corps was making a bad decision to leave." The Peace Corps left Korea and three other countries in 1981 for budgetary reasons. "I thought there was a lot more we could do here and I still think that's the case," Mayer said. "The cover for the Peace Corps is the development work they do, but I think the real impact of the Peace Corps is as an opportunity for Americans to learn more about the world." The exhibit runs until Nov. 20. The Royal Asiatic Society offers a free tour tonight at 7 p.m., guided by Suzanne Crowder Han, a former volunteer and vice president of the NGO Friends of Korea founded by former Peace Corps volunteers. By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS Presidents, prime ministers and kings will convene in New York next week for the opening of the 71st General Assembly of the United Nations. The annual autumn session meets amid trying to solve or at least contain growing conflicts, a surge in refugees, terrorism and a nuclear armed North Korea, also faces the continuing challenge of empowering economic and social development. Yet contrary to many of the past sessions, there's far less political "buzz" or expectation and indeed there's a hint of dispirited resignation. Though last year's celebratory 70th anniversary session presented high profile politicos and even Pope Francis to advance lofty political goals, this Assembly meets in a vaguely melancholic mood, where the undertow of the bloody Syrian war, the entrenched crises in Congo, Libya and Sudan and the looming threat from a nuclear armed North Korean regime remain stubbornly unsolved and elusive. There's an end of an era mood too, as the ten-year tenure of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a South Korean, is ending. An election campaign has been going on for months with ten candidates vying for the position of the Chief executive of the 193 member state organization. Though regional geographical representation has deemed this is the "turn" of an Eastern European and preferably a woman candidate, there's a furious behind the scenes jockeying for favorites which is equally tinged by frosty relations between Washington and Moscow, two key veto holding power brokers. Syria's civil war has churned on for five years; over 500,000 people mostly civilians have been killed. Cities have been turned into rubble. Millions of refugees have fled the country. While a tenuous cease fire is finally holding, the crisis begs for a comprehensive political settlement. Though the U.N. and international humanitarian relief agencies have done an amazing job in alleviating the symptoms of the conflict, solving the root cause of the problem remains remote. Political deadlock in the U.N. Security Council between the USA and Russia makes a lasting settlement more elusive. Indeed, the geopolitical aftershocks of the so-called Arab Spring continue with violence, destabilization and attacks on the ancient Christian communities in Syria, Iraq and even Egypt. Chaos in Libya and Yemen continues. Ethnic conflict in Sudan's now forsaken Darfur region as well as a flare-up in fighting in South Sudan, Congo and the perennial Somali tragedy continue. The dangerously percolating crisis in Ukraine which has killed 9,600 continues to worsen. On the eve of the assembly, Ban Ki-moon outlined three key challenges facing the session, "First, the international community must come together in a spirit of shared responsibility for the world's refugees and migrants." He stressed the U.N. is holding a special Summit on Refugees and Migrants to work towards solutions. There are an estimated 65 million refugees in the world today, a larger number than at the end of WWII. His second point was Climate Change, "I am using every opportunity to push for the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement before the end of this year Last week, the world's two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement. This was a major step forward." But despite Ban's bubbly enthusiasm, the Secretary General seems to forget that though the Obama Administration has eagerly signed on to the climate deal, under the U.S. Constitution any treaty MUST be ratified by the U.S. Senate. An inconvenient truth for many. The Third point he added, "while many conflicts are causing enormous pain, none is causing so much death, destruction and widespread instability as the worsening war in Syria." Reflecting on his two terms as UN Secretary General, Ban conceded, "It has been a decade of progress and setback alike." Acknowledging the bloody Syrian impasse, Ban again implored all countries "to end this catastrophic conflict." When viewing a plethora of political violence especially in Africa and the Middle East, there's the reality that many of the conflicts are not regionally confined, but through refugee flows, are dangerously spilling over into Europe and the USA. It's long overdue to start solving the problems, and not just continue treating the tragic symptoms. U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed Monday to "invigorate" cooperation in the U.N. Security Council and law enforcement channels on North Korea for the sake of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, the White House said. Obama and Li held the meeting in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, condemning the North's fifth nuclear test, the White House said in a statement. The meeting came as Washington and Beijing have been negotiating fresh sanctions on Pyongyang. "Both leaders condemned North Korea's Sept. 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea," the statement said. The statement appeared to suggest active Chinese cooperation in efforts to punish the North. Cooperation from China is key to putting together any meaningful punishment for the North as it is one of the five veto-holding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and the main provider of food and fuel to the impoverished North. China, the North's last-remaining major ally, has been reluctant to use its influence over Pyongyang for fear that pushing the regime too hard could result in instability in the North and hurt Chinese national interests. Analysts say that China often increased pressure on the North in the past, especially when Pyongyang defied international appeals and carried out nuclear tests and other provocative acts, but China never went as far as to cause real pain to the North. (Yonhap) South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Monday the international community will only give aid to flood-stricken North Korea if the communist regime halts all provocations. North Korea has been struggling to cope with what is being called its worst-ever floods since the country's liberation from Japanese colonial rule (1910-45). In an apparent bid to seek help from abroad, its state media has been dispatching numerous reports on the damage inflicted on the country. "The international community can only help the North when it ends the nuclear and missile provocations," Chung Jin-suk, the party whip said. On Monday, South Korea's unification ministry also said the government is unlikely to give a helping hand to Pyongyang. However, opposition parties have been calling on the government to provide humanitarian aid. Earlier this month, North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test, continuing its provocations against the South and the rest of the world, who have called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap) A group of North Korean workers in Russia clashed with their Russian counterparts at a shipyard in Vladivostok over construction materials, a U.S.-based news media report said Tuesday. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), dozens of North Korean workers were seen engaging in a fight with Russian laborers in a video clip released by the Russia's Far East news portal Deita. The 26-second video showed the North Koreans hurling abuses at the Russians with some strangling and kicking them. The incident occurred last Friday. An official at the dockyard said the North Koreans employed by a local construction company clashed with Russian laborers when the latter attempted to move materials that were set aside days earlier. "Such tussles occur from time to time," the official said. He claimed that North Koreans react very sensitively to others touching their stuff and even destroy structures built with their materials. (Yonhap) The Communist Party of Vietnam delegation works with the KSCM Moravia. (Photo: baotintuc.vn) During a meeting with the Czech Communist Party (KSCM) - Moravia, Ms Mai and the KSCM First President Petr Simunek discussed measures to further heighten the traditional friendship and increase the efficiency of cooperation between the two Parties, including increasing cooperation among agencies of the two Parties and joining coordination at international multilateral forums. Vietnam appreciated the KSCM, with its important voice in the parliament and political circles, for supporting the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic and encouraging the Czech Government to increase multilateral cooperation with Vietnam, according to Ms Mai. Mr. Petr Simunek confirmed that the KSCM - Moravia attached importance to reinforcing the relationship with the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people. Meeting with representatives from the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) led by Michal Kucian, CSSD Secretary, the two sides praised the increasingly developed relationship between Vietnam and the Czech Republic with the contribution of the two ruling Parties. The two sides agreed to promote the relationship between Vietnam and the Czech Republic in terms of economics, education and training, labour and administrative management. Vietnam appreciated the Czech Republic bringing Vietnam to the list of 12 key markets with priority set in the foreign trade sector. The Head of the PCC Commission on Mass Mobilization applauded the Czech Republic for its support in promoting the European Union (EU) to promptly sign the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, and suggested the Czech Government create favourable conditions in granting visas for Vietnamese people. During the trip, she also worked with the Czech - Vietnam Association, praising the association for fostering the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and assisting the Vietnamese community in Czech. Marcel Winter, President of the Czech - Vietnam Association, confirmed that the association would stand by Vietnam in its renewal process, as well as in national construction and safeguarding. Working with Czech partners, Ms Mai informed them of the recent situation in the East Sea and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) judgement in the Hague, the Netherlands on the East Sea, confirming Vietnams consistent viewpoint in protecting its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and its guideline to address disputes by peaceful measures in accordance with international laws and regional agreements, including the 1982 United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./. Top diplomats of South Korea and Romania discussed the growing nuclear threat from North Korea with the latter promising cooperation to seek additional punitive sanctions against Pyongyang, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Romanian counterpart Lazar Comanescu held a bilateral meeting on Monday (local time) on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York and discussed diverse issues of mutual concern, including the North's nuclear threat, according to the ministry. During the meeting, Yun asked for cooperation in drawing toughened sanctions both from the European Union and Romania, saying that the latest nuclear test conducted by the North is a provocation that violates the U.N. Security Council's (UNSC) Resolution 2270 adopted in March. Reaffirming the country's support for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Comanescu promised to "closely" cooperate with the Seoul government in seeking additional UNSC sanctions and punitive measures from the European Union going forward, the ministry said. Romania earlier issued a statement in which it expressed grave concern and condemned the fifth nuclear test conducted by the North on Sept. 9. Yun also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Greece, Belarus and Ukraine later and asked them to cooperate with the Seoul government in seeking more sanctions against the North. In response, they renewed their support for South Korea in its push for punitive measures against Pyongyang, the ministry said. The meetings are part of South Korea's efforts to drum up strong international support as the UNSC is working on additional sanctions against the North in response to its latest nuclear device detonation test. (Yonhap) By Casey Lartigue Jr. If I hadn't known I was on TV, I would have learned it quickly because of the messages I started receiving: "Hey! Do you know you're on TV?" I rarely watch TV, even when I have been interviewed. But this time, I was parked in front of the TV along with colleagues (including one of the North Korean refugees who told me "You look better on TV"). We were watching a 50-minute cable TV special about an organization I co-founded here in South Korea. Being profiled by media is like sticking your head in the mouth of a circus lion. They can be well-trained, even docile at times, but a lion is a lion. The jaws come crashing down when editors take over later. Then, publication day, with the usual apology: "I'm sorry, my editor changed/added that." Last year I had a request from a movie director in the U.S. who wanted to do a documentary about me, but I recalled the observation from the late Shinae Chun: "The interview is the honeymoon; publication is the divorce." The proposed documentary sounded promising, but the director already had his concept etched in stone. He wanted to profile me as a black man in South Korea helping North Korean refugees, as an example of international solidarity. I passed up the opportunity, and got back to work. I recently received another request, from a South Korean film crew that wanted to highlight me. I stopped sharpening my knives after they explained they wanted to tell the story of how I had built an organization helping North Korean refugees, that I was an example of what they considered a "Little Big Hero." I agreed to the story, on the condition that they highlight the organization, not just me, because we have many "Little Big Heroes" among our volunteers and students. After dealing with me, they were probably happy with my suggestion. I can be like a day at the beach right after a storm has hit. I resisted their concept and complained about some of the things they wanted to record. I even typed a message, reminding myself not to get up and walk out when they started asking me the "some say" questions. Journalists find others or the always available "some say" to ask questions. Check the video, you'll see me tapping on my iPad, looking both bored and irritated. But the rest of the time was fantastic. They followed me around for more than a week to all of my meetings, had cameras pointed at me even as I sat at my desk typing, and seemed to be interested in everything I did. They even video-recorded my shoes as I walked. It was fun, but I never forgot that I was putting my head in the mouth of a lion. I often tell people to view media as a guide, not the gospel truth. I don't get upset by the angle, concept, or mistakes, I tell people: "That's the writer's opinion of me." There is acting and planning even in reality shows, the use of the "artist license" to make biographies more dramatic and interesting. If the TV team hadn't called ahead, the gym staff may have wondered if I really had a gym membership, based on how rarely they see me. Every once in a while, however, reality would pop up. A North Korean refugee hoping to study in our program walked in, unannounced. Thankfully I wasn't in the bathroom at the time, that might have been the focus, or we may have had to re-do the scene. It was so unplanned that the translator, who is supposed to be hidden off-camera, was recorded in the scene. The young man was confused when he tried to enter the door, nervously double-checking if he was in the right place, all of which the camera outside captured. He spoke absolutely no English, but he was there to announce in his North Korean accent that he wanted to learn English with us. That the cameras were there every moment allowed them to catch other unscripted moments, such as a diaper change (thanks to the daughter of a refugee studying with us). I had to warn an intern, so he wouldn't open the diaper to inspect it. And then there were the more than 100 phone calls, including some angry ones, the day after the show aired, from South Koreans asking if they could study in our small volunteer program intended for North Korean refugees. And then there were the unexpected donations from Koreans (refugees, native South Koreans, and Korean-Americans), who said they were moved to tears. The final result was fantastic, even though there are some parts I would have cut. I stuck my head in the lion's mouth again, enduring just bad breath, not death. Casey Lartigue Jr. is the co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR) in Seoul. He can be reached at CJL@post.harvard.edu. By Kyung Moon Hwang Once again the opening words of President Park Geun-hye's annual speech on Liberation Day, or Gwangbokjeol, have stirred controversy, even though she merely repeated what she has always said on this occasion: "Today marks the x anniversary of Liberation Day and the y anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea." She was referring to both Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation on Aug. 15, 1945, and the formal establishment, very purposefully, of the Republic of Korea on the third anniversary of liberation, Aug. 15, 1948. The emphatic inclusion of South Korea's "Foundation" in her remarks reflects in many ways the sharp disagreements among professional historians over the past decade or so. This complicated debate boils down to clearly opposing views on the accomplishments, purpose, and legitimacy of South Korean history within modern Korean history as a whole. I am not sure that President Park fully understands these larger stakes, but it's clear that she is determined, above all, to promote a historical view that protects or enhances the legacy of her father, former President Park Chung-hee. This focus has trapped her, however, in controversy and contradiction, and in considerable discomfort, I would imagine. Regardless of how one feels about her policies or performance, it is difficult not to feel sympathetic around this time of year, when she has to set aside her pain and put on a brave face in order to deliver the Liberation Day speech. On this day 42 years ago, as her father was making his own Liberation Day speech, a gunman fired several shots at the stage and mortally struck her mother, Yuk Young-soo. This brings forth, however, one of the main paradoxes that binds the current President: It was the culture of violence cultivated by her father's "Yushin" dictatorship of the 1970s that led to her mother's killing and, indeed, eventually to the assassination of her father as well, in 1979. So while she grew up in utmost privilege as a child of the country's President, President Park also suffered the horrible tragedies of the murder of both her parents. The military dictatorship that her father headed in the 1970s ultimately resulted from a coup that he engineered in 1961 to overthrow a democratic, civilian government, which in turn had been established following the popular overthrow of Syngman Rhee's authoritarian rule in 1960. Park Chung-hee's own death in 1979, after nearly two decades in power, directly spawned another military dictatorship, that of Chun Doo-hwan, but it also paved the way to formal democratization in 1987, when popular uprisings brought an end, at last, to authoritarian rule. President Park's speech reflects the conservative backlash against "leftist history" that condemns this long era of dictatorship, from Rhee to Park to Chun. Conservative historians instead interpret this experience as part of an even longer story of success that produced economic development and, yes, democracy itself, in time. The current President, then, can rationalize her claim that the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948 should be celebrated for laying the "foundation of liberal democracy," despite the terrible excesses of the ensuing Rhee dictatorship, which mocked the ideals expressed in the founding constitution. This triumphalist view of South Korean history says, in essence, that the ends (economic development, avoidance of communization and eventual democracy) justified the means (dictatorship), particularly given what North Korea became. On the opposing side is the now more mainstream historical perspective that emphasizes the people's struggle against dictatorship and questions the legitimacy of the 1948 founding of a separate South Korean state. In this prevailing view, which had actually developed in response to the official historical accounts of the dictatorship era, Aug. 15 should firmly commemorate liberation from Japanese rule, not the founding of South Korea. In some ways this conflict comes down to semantics, which takes us back to the significance of the terms used in the President's Liberation Day speech. Based on selective evidence, some conservative historians insist that when it became a national holiday in 1949, Gwangbokjeol ("restoration of light" or "glorious restoration," depending on interpretation) originally referred to the previous year's foundation day, not the liberation of 1945. President Park does not go that far, but the fact that she adds South Korea's founding, which is not an officially recognized holiday, to her observance of Aug. 15 is enough to offend progressive historians. Also aggrieved are descendants of anti-Japanese independence fighters, who insist that the Republic of Korea's origins date to the March 1st independence movement of 1919, just as the original 1948 constitution itself stated. All of this has served to further confuse regular citizens, who are left to wonder whether indeed the Aug. 15 holiday refers to both liberation and the nation's foundation, and if so, how the Republic of Korea could have also been founded in 1919, as the constitution still suggests. And how does this square, furthermore, with the mythical but official holiday for the founding of the Korean people, Gaecheonjeol (opening of the heavens)? Such are the paradoxes of the politicization of South Korean history. Kyung Moon Hwang is a professor in the Department of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Southern California. He is the author of "A History of Korea An Episodic Narrative" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Check this and Prof. Hwang's other columns on http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/category/subsection_633.html. South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Monday that Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon attended only three Cabinet meetings this year, adding the head of the country's capital city should make more efforts to expand communication with the government. Under South Korean law, the mayor of Seoul is required to attend Cabinet meetings that oversee the country's key policies. "Among the 37 Cabinet meetings held between January and August, Park only attended three," Rep. Hong Chul-ho of Saenuri said. "The reason the Seoul mayor is required by law to attend Cabinet meetings is because the position is responsible for 10 million residents, which take up a fifth of the national population," the lawmaker said, adding Seoul's policies thus call for mediation with the central government. "(Park) should have more willingness to communicate with the government," Hong argued, also suggesting a revision of the law to allow Park to send legal representatives instead. Park, one of the leading figures in the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, said earlier this month that he is considering running in next year's presidential election. (Yonhap) By Yim Hyun-su U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump once again affirmed his strong stance on reducing US military spending in allied regions including South Korea last week. In his speech on national security to the Union League of Philadelphia, he addressed the issue, saying: "I will be respectfully asking countries such as Germany, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia to pay more for the tremendous security we provide them." Though his remark shouldn't come as a surprise, coming from a man whose approach to foreign policy has been consistently America First,' throughout the campaign trail, it is worth noting that his tone has notably softened over the last few months. A closer look back on his previous statements paints a clear picture of how Trump's language has changed, a new tactic, many speculate, adopted in an attempt to present himself as more presidential. Only earlier this year, he reduced South Korea's contribution of nearly half the cost of the US military presence to "peanuts" in a CNN interview. In another interview with the New York Times, he said he was willing to withdraw U.S. forces from South Korea if the Korean government fails to increase its military expenditure on US troops. However, a more polished Trump as a public speaker does not equal actual changes in his position on foreign-policy issues. One mustn't forget the American-isolationist narrative Trump has adopted since the early stages of his campaign, is the backbone of his popularity. It's what has placed Trump in the lead in some of the recent polls. A tough stance against immigration, globalism, and trade deals; Trump has established and expanded his voting base opposing these core issues. While Trump might be advised to speak more politely, seeing him change his position on any of the issues above is very unlikely, as it would mean a complete betrayal to his voting base. A prime example comes from last month, which demonstrates that Trump's newly softened tone is merely used to cover his flip-flop on his promises. During the meeting with Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, the Republican presidential candidate referred to a border wall as a shared goal.' Only hours later, he told a cheering crowd back in America that Mexico will pay for the wall. Trump's view on trade deals is also negative. Not only has he been critical of TPP and NAFTA, he also slammed the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement signed back in 2012, calling it job killing,' and a disaster.' Back in July, Nomura's investor survey did predict South Korea and the Philippines are to be the two most affected countries in Asia under a Trump presidency. If Trump takes office and delivers on his hard-hitting promises, South Korea is most likely to pay more to keep the current U.S military presence. In another scenario where his policy is met with great public dissent in Korea, the U.S.-South Korea military alliance might finally come to an end. In that case, nuclear armament will be a possibility, which will lead to the spread of nuclear weapons in neighboring countries like Japan. As Trump's latest proposal to expand the US army arrives, he could, much to everyone's surprise, take on board advice from military experts like USFK commander Vincent Brooks who argue it's cheaper to keep 28,500 troops in Korea rather than in the United States. With the presidential election less than eight weeks away, the growing probability of Trump's America forces us to envision the ever so unpredictable dynamics into the U.S.-Korea relations it will bring, particularly in the military and trade sectors. Its result will unequivocally mark and influence a shift in world politics, and a new era here in Korea. The writer is a student at Catholic University of Korea, as well as a freelance writer specializing in international affairs. He can be reached at hyunsuyim15@gmail.com. By Lee Seong-hyon "Did that really happen?" asked a Chinese senior editor with a state-controlled newspaper. "It's hard for me to believe it because I monitor the South Korean news everyday personally. But I didn't see it." The Chinese editor was referring to the episode in which Xi Jinping refused to honor Park Geun-hye's hotline call in January to consult about North Korea's nuclear test. It raised many eyebrows and generated considerable hubbub among pundits here. The "non-event" with Xi came as a great contrast to the fact that Park held prompt phone consultations with U.S. President Barack Obama and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the very next day after the North's test. It was all too natural for the public to expect that Park and Xi, who were known to have personal bonds, would immediately be on the phone to address the regional crisis. That didn't happen. At a recent closed-door seminar that discussed Seoul-Beijing ties, a prominent Chinese analyst, who advises the Chinese government, also showed a similar surprise, completely oblivious about the matter, which was a big news item here. When Hong Ky-ttack, a South Korean, stepped down from his post as vice president of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a Chinese commentator on Korea remarked that Hong's quitting reflected South Korea's "displeasure" with China over the two countries' discord about the THAAD deployment issue. The truth is that Hong lost his job due to a domestic scandal in South Korea, involving his problematic supervision of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSEM). Regrettably, the remark by the Chinese "expert" entertained enough sound bites in the Chinese public sphere, already establishing a flawed interpretation of the matter and sowing bad faith in the bilateral relationship. After Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, China signed up for what was hailed as "the toughest ever" U.N. sanctions on North Korea, after some hesitation, calculating that doing so would lead to the cancellation of the THAAD deployment. It was simply another wrong-headed analysis and a failure to correctly "read" South Korea. South Korea does not fear the "rise of China." Yet it should be fearful about a China that does not analyze South Korea. It may mean China does not regard South Korea as an important stakeholder. China suffers a severe collective deficit of its pool of experts who really understand South Korea. China needs more professionalism in analyzing South Korea. What South Korea fears is not the presence of highly qualified, shrewd Chinese analysts who could "see through" South Korea, but the very lack of such qualified analysts on South Korea who propose a badly thought out policy prescription to their leadership, based on their poor grip of South Korea. China needs more professionalism in analyzing South Korea In that spirit, here are some specific suggestions. First, both countries should invest in cultivating scholars and experts on the other country. It's particularly imperative on China's part though. An expert panel meeting on the bilateral relationship often reveals the participants' poor grip on language, for instance. Resources should be allocated to help train them on language, particularly for those who are tasked with crafting policy suggestions. Second, the two nations should expand scholar-in-residence exchange programs for their young diplomats and researchers among think tanks. These opportunities should have a particular focus in helping them hone their understanding of the other's domestic politics. Third, the two nations should regularly sponsor young scholars' conferences for academic exchanges and facilitate their network-building opportunities. In Asian cultures, including Korean and Chinese, age and respect go together. Under such a cultural canopy, young Chinese scholars often have a difficult time in securing chances to attend conferences and seminars held in South Korea, as those opportunities are often prioritized for senior scholars. Finally, the two sides should also establish an online listserv forum for scholars and professionals to promote robust communication and reduce an inordinate amount of misunderstandings that plague the opinion fields. Recognize each other's different political systems The Chinese often show a preference for discussing a sensitive diplomatic matter in a closed-door, though an informal channel. In that manner, they note, both sides can engage in frank in-depth discussions without taking the risk of being known to the outside, and preventing public embarrassment. While it is indeed the case in China that a retired, former ranking official too often plays the role of diplomatic troubleshooting, China should understand that it will be a problematic protocol in South Korea, a democratic institution. There are layers of checks and balances on state affairs. Diplomacy is also increasingly seen as no exception. Backroom deals are frowned upon. There are legal implications too. When a nationally important diplomatic item is handled and processed without going through due process and public scrutiny, the official involved may have to be legally dealt with or face a hearing at the National Assembly. Lee Seong-hyon, Ph.D. is a research fellow at the Sejong Institute. Reach him at sunnybbsfs@gmail.com. The number of men giving up their Korean citizenship annually to dodge mandatory military service is on the rise, according to a report by Rep. Kim Joong-ro of the minor opposition People's Party. It is mandatory for all able-bodied Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 to serve in the military for about two years. But those who have attained dual citizenships either by birth or by moving abroad can dodge enlistment if they choose to renounce their Korean citizenship upon turning 18. This method has been used by many Koreans living abroad to dodge military service. Many Koreans who have carried out their military service are angered by such a practice. Based on data from the Military Manpower Administration, Rep. Kim found that the number of South Koreans who have been exempt from mandatory military service by giving up their Korean citizenship has jumped to a record 4,220 this year. The figure is a noticeable increase from 2012, when the number of nationality switching draft dodgers stood at 2,842. Among them, 31 were sons of senior public officials above director-general level. A total of 17,229 men subject to conscription have given up their Korean citizenship over the past five years. Most of those who choose not to serve in the military became either U.S., Japanese or Canadian citizens. The finding has angered many Koreans because many of the draft dodgers are sons of well-to-do families, including those who serve in senior posts in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches. In one case, all three sons of a high-ranking official were found to have dodged enlistment by giving up their Korean citizenship. At a time when the nation faces grave security concerns due to North Korea's increasing military provocations, it is alarming to learn that many senior public officials and their sons are showing disregard for the sacred duty of safeguarding the nation. On the other hand, there have been more cases of voluntary enlistment of overseas residents who do not have to enlist to recover their identity as Koreans and serve in their parents' country. Last year saw more than 600 such cases. These men set a good example for the draft dodgers who abandoned their homeland just for the purpose of evading military duty. Due to the falling population of young people, there is a lot of concern about retaining military manpower. Therefore, the government should strengthen sanctions against draft dodgers, such as levying heavier inheritance taxes on those who have renounced their Korean citizenships before fulfilling their military duty. They should also face heavier restrictions on their economic activities in Korea. Pressure, dialogue must be implemented simultaneously The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan have called for stronger international pressure on North Korea in response to Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test, Sept. 9. In a joint statement after their meeting in New York, Sunday, the three countries said they "explored ways to work together'' to ensure countries fully implement existing U.N. sanctions on the North. They also discussed work in the Security Council to tighten the sanctions and the possibility of taking measures of their own to restrict revenue sources for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met in New York on the sidelines of the 71st U.N. General Assembly. This is the first time that the three countries have issued a joint statement since 2010 after Pyongyang's artillery attacks on Yeonpyeong Island. Kerry said Washington remains steadfast in its "commitment to providing extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defense capabilities,'' to Seoul and Tokyo. His remarks were seen as an attempt to calm growing voices in South Korea to arm itself with nuclear weapons. The trilateral meeting appears well-timed, given that it could serve as a good occasion for the international community to jointly tackle the reclusive state's nuclear and missile provocations. It is especially encouraging that the three ministers concurred on the need to implement existing sanctions fully and take the lead in creating a new U.N. resolution. But the reality is quite worrisome, considering that the recalcitrant regime in Pyongyang has repeated nuclear and missile provocations in defiance of international sanctions. China, North Korea's only major ally, has been reluctant to use its influence over Pyongyang out of fear that pushing the isolated regime too hard might result in the collapse of North Korea at the expense of its national interest. The news that a Chinese company has been selling materials needed to make nuclear weapons and missiles to the North raises doubts about Beijing's sincerity in deterring Pyongyang's attempt to develop weapons of mass destruction. All this raises the need to apply stronger pressure on North Korea that has never been tried so far to help enhance the effectiveness of sanctions. These will include slapping an export embargo on the North's all mineral resources and imposing a "secondary boycott'' on Chinese companies and banks. But it's also true that sanctions and pressure alone can't help resolve the North's nuclear quagmire. It is notable in this regard that Kerry hinted at the possible resolution of the nuclear issue through negotiations during Sunday's trilateral meeting. Of course, meaningful negotiations are not easy, considering that Kerry urged Pyongyang to freeze its nuclear program as a first step toward starting serious talks and only a few months remain before the term of the Obama administration ends. Nonetheless, all options must be on the table so that even the smallest clue to reversing the nuclear deadlock can be found early. For this, the simultaneous implementation of pressure and dialogue is inevitable. A group of U.S. senators have sent a letter to President Barack Obama, urging the administration to expand sanctions on North Korea, including imposing "secondary sanctions" on Chinese entities assisting the regime in Pyongyang. The 19 senators, led by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), sent the joint letter to Obama on Friday, expressing concern that the rapid advancement of the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programs represents "a direct threat to the U.S. homeland in the immediate future." "In the wake of this latest provocation from Pyongyang, we ask you to take immediate steps to expand U.S. sanctions against North Korea and those entities that assist the regime, most importantly China-based entities," the senators said in the letter, referring to the North's fifth nuclear test. They also urged the administration to expedite the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea and take all feasible steps to facilitate stronger trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea to more effectively counter the North Korean threat. "We also ask you to urgently pursue an additional United Nations Security Council Resolution to impose additional multilateral sanctions against Pyongyang," they said. "This resolution must close loopholes of previous resolutions, such as the 'livelihood' exemption, which have allowed China to skirt faithful compliance with" the sanctions. Gardner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, is a key author of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 that went into effect in March to punish the North for its fourth nuclear test in January and its long-range rocket launch in February. "Your Administration's implementation of this legislation has been disappointing," the letter said. "While we commend the designation of North Korea as a jurisdiction of 'primary money laundering concern' and the designation of top North Korean officials, including Kim Jong-un, as human rights violators, these actions only scratch the surface of the sanctions authorities provided to you under the new law." More than anything else, the U.S. should designate entities assisting the North Korean regime, especially those based in China, the senators said, noting that trade with China accounts for about 90 percent of its entire trade and China has "historically served as Pyongyang's largest military and diplomatic protector." The letter also includes half a dozen questions, including whether the administration has credible evidence that entities in China are engaging in illicit activities under the U.S. sanctions law, if China is in full compliance with the latest U.N. sanctions resolution, and why the administration has not designated any entities for malicious cyber-enabled activities. They also include whether the administration believes the U.N. sanctions and the U.S. sanctions are having any effect on the North's ability to obtain luxury goods, whether the North's state-owned Air Koryo airline is involved in any activities outlined in the sanctions law, and what actions the administration has taken to discourage the North Korean forced labor camps. "Mr. President, we must send a strong message to Beijing that our patience has run out and exert any and all effort with Beijing to use its critical leverage to stop Pyongyang," the senators said in the letter. (Yonhap) Photo: Internet The large projection room in the old luxury Lucerna Cinema in the centre of Prague was almost fully booked, with more than half of the audience being Czech and foreigners. After the screening, Ms. Tran Thanh Hoa, a small trader has lived in the Czech Republic for more than 20 years, expressed her impression about the film, saying she hoped to have more opportunities to see Vietnamese films screened in the Czech Republic. According to Ms. Hoa, such cultural and art activities, including introduction about Vietnams cinema, actively contribute to promoting the image of the country and people of Vietnam to Czech and foreign people there, thereby helping them have a more sympathetic and comprehensive understanding about the Vietnamese community living, studying and working in the Czech Republic. Not only attracting Vietnamese audience, "Yens life" also conquered the sentiment of the Czech audience. Ivana Novotna expressed her love for the film because the story and images authentically portrayed the people and wonderful scenery of Vietnams nature. The ASEAN Film Festival in the Czech Republic is themed "ASEAN - One Vision, One Identity, One Community". It is held annually with the desire to bring an truthful look to Czech people about the life and people of ASEAN member countries. Vietnam has four films attending four previous film festivals, including "Pao's story" in 2012, "Endless field" in 2013, "Buddha fire" in 2014 and "Passion" in 2015. Vietnams cinema works have been warmly welcomed and appreciated by the Czech public and the Vietnamese community for their social messages and artistry./. Ambassador Doan Xuan Hung (third from right) presented friendship order to German organizations and friends (Photo: VNA) Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Doan Xuan Hung appreciated the valuable contributions and wholehearted support of German organizations and friends for Vietnam over the past years. With a variety of significant activities, such as organizing meetings to show solidarity with Vietnam, taking photos and making documentary films about battlefields, organizing workshops and presentations about Vietnam, supporting schools to train disabled Vietnamese children, translating Vietnamese poetry and literature into German, German organizations and individuals have supported the people of Vietnam materially and spiritually, actively contributing to the reconstruction, construction and development of the country, as well as building a bridge of friendship connecting the peoples of two countries. Ambassador Hung expressed his emotion before the sincerity of German friends. Many of them are now elderly and weak, but they still spend their affection for Vietnam, and for the future of the Vietnam- Germany relations. He affirmed the people of Vietnam show deep gratitude and appreciate the wholehearted contributions of the German friends. During the official visit to Germany in November 2015, State President Truong Tan Sang met German friends who have strong attachment to Vietnam, to show gratitude. The decision of the State and Government of Vietnam on awarding friendship orders to German organizations and German individuals this time is to recognize their merits and dedications. This is a deserved reward for the enduring efforts and effective, practical contributions of German organizations and friends in fostering the Vietnam - Germany traditional relations. Siegfried Sommer, Chairman of the Germany - Vietnam Association, and the individuals presented the orders said they were touched and honoured to be received the noble award of the State and Government of Vietnam. This is the recognition and great encouragement of the State of Vietnam for the works that they have been doing enthusiastically, coming from fondness and admiration of Vietnam. Many friends confirmed that with all their strength, they would continue to accompany, support and assist Vietnam and the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, as well as contribute to strengthening the Vietnam - Germany strategic partnership. On September 17th, Ambassador Doan Xuan Hung attended the 40th anniversary of the Germany - Vietnam Friendship Association in Dusseldorf and presented the friendship order to the association./. Mercedes tech boss Paddy Lowe shed some light on the brake issues which appeared to worry the team and its drivers Sunday evening in Singapore. Both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were urged by the Mercedes pitwall to pay close attention and manage brake wear during the 61-lap event, but Lowe insists the recommendation was simply a question of avoiding reaching a crucial threshold. "They didn't have any problems with brakes, it's a question of management," Lowe explained to Motorsport.com. "The quickest race car we can build doesn't allow the driver to brake flat out every lap, so they have to manage their brakes the same way they manage tyres and manage fuel. So you can't do qualifying laps every lap. "But you can't do that anyway, from a tyre point of view. At some circuits like this one the brake issue becomes more dominant. It's lift and coast, the same thing you do for tyres, fuel and brakes, just lift at the end of the straight a little bit." In the closing stages of the race, as Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo turned up the heat on Nico Rosberg, the German admitted to be worried about extreme solicitation of the Mercedes braking power. "When you have to manage the brakes and it costs performance, it becomes difficult," Rosberg said. "All the way through I had to manage the brakes. This is the track where the car is going to be on the limit, we knew that was coming, and we got it right. It's just pushing everything to the limit, as you do in F1." 2016 Singapore Grand Prix - Driver ratings REPORT: Rosberg takes title lead after Singapore thriller Breakfast with ... Bernd Maylander Barack Obama today held talks with Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari, where he lauded his effort in the fight against corruption and terrorism. Both presidents met on the sideline of the 71st United Nations General Assembly holding in New York City. Obama describes Nigeria as a very important country in the comity of nations which is why his administration decided to assist the administration in the fight. President Obama also pledged to assist in the area of economy, agriculture, promising to inject more fund to assist Nigeria come out of recession. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Pirelli has revealed the tyre choices made by all Formula One teams for the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix, which will see Mercedes and Ferrari receive the same allocations though both teams have split their strategies between their drivers. F1s official tyre supplier has nominated its hard, medium, and soft compound for the Sepang event, with most teams favouring the yellow-marked rubber. The Mercedes duo will slightly differ on their hard/medium allocations since F1 points leader Nico Rosberg will have one extra set of mediums available compared to his title rival Lewis Hamilton. Both will get the same amount of softs with seven sets apiece. Ferrari has proceeded in similar fashion, as Sebastian Vettel receives four sets of the middle compound while Kimi Raikkonen only has three. Red Bull has gone one step harder than its rivals, with only six sets of soft tyres made available to both Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Junior team Toro Rosso has come up with the most aggressive strategy, as Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat receive eight sets of the softest rubber each. Overall, the Malaysian GP tyre selection reveals less variety than last weekends Singapore race, though Williams, Haas, Renault, and Manor have also split their tyre allocations between their drivers. All teams had to make their selection 14 weeks in advance of the Kuala Lumpur contest, whill will be the third race featuring the hardest, orange-walled tyre this year after Barcelona and Silverstone. It will be interesting to see if the late September/early October date - combined with the recent surfacing of the Sepang International Circuit - will have an impact on tyre management. Quotes of the week - 2016 Singapore Grand Prix 2016 Singapore Grand Prix - Driver ratings REPORT: Rosberg takes title lead after Singapore thriller Breakfast with ... Bernd Maylander The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more PRESS RELEASE Russians Affirm Putins Leadership in Duma Election Sept. 19, 2016 (EIRNS)President Vladimir Putins United Russia received 54% of the vote and a likely 76% of the seats in Sundays national elections for the nations lower house of parliament, the Duma. While voter turnout was lower, at 47%, the result otherwise represents a full 50% increase from five years ago, when United Russia won just over 50% of the Duma seats. According to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission (CEC), United Russia is going to get 343 mandates for 76.22% of seats in the 7th State Duma; the Communist Party (CPRF) gained 42 mandates (9.34%); the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), 39 mandates (8.67%); A Just Russia, 23 mandates (5.11%); Rodina, Civic Platform (Grazhdanskaya Platforma), and independent Vladislav Reznik, gained 1 mandate each. The Communist Party comes second with 13.45% of the votes, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) is in the third place with 13.24% of the votes. A Just Russia gained 6.17% of the votes. Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer how these results will influence Putins decision whether to again run in the Presidential election in 2018. "I cannot answer this question," Peskov said. "But it is evident, that the overwhelming majority of the voters spoke de facto in support of the president. Putin has once again received a massive vote of confidence from the countrys people." Putin, himself, reflected on these results with his usual sage sense of irony. Commenting at the opening of a cabinet meeting this morning, he told colleagues, "Of course, we can ask ourselves, how is this possible given the big economic and social sector difficulties we have been facing and the drop in peoples real incomes?" If not a vote on their past work, he said, it must be their future work, "an advance on the part of our people," that got them the vote, "and we now must live up to their expectations." Putin also noted that the population desired stability in otherwise "uncertain" times, and that the result was a complete rejection of "attempts to exert foreign pressure on Russia, and of the threats, sanctions, and attempts to destabilize the situation in Russia from within." Liberal "opposition" parties failed to win a single seat, nationwide, in the elections. PRESS RELEASE Some 320,000 GermansTake to Streets in Germany against Obamas TTIP Sept. 19, 2016 (EIRNS)On Sept. 17, public rallies held in most of Germanys major cities against the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement ) drew up to 320,000 protesters. The largest rallies took place in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt, the main target of the actions being the German government and the EU Commission, but the implicit target was Obama. The Stop TTIP organizers said that 65,000 rallied in Hamburg, 55,000 in Cologne, 70,000 in Berlin, 25.000 in Munich, 50,000 in Frankfurt am Main, 40,000 in Stuttgart, and 15,000 in Leipzig. Although the government in Berlin supports the CETA deal between the EU and Canada, it is divided on TTIP: Chancellor Angela Merkel is for it, Vice Chancellor Gabriel against. Gabriels support for CETA, however, has come under strong attack from his own Social Democratic Party base, and certainly also was a factor in the SPDs losses in the Sept. 18, Berlin elections for the city-state parliament. The main shortcoming of the nationwide protests was that they were motivated by a lot of ecology issues, and lacked any real alternative like the New Silk Road paradigm, but the defense of labor and social standards against deeper-going liberalizations and deregulations as envisaged by CETA and TTIP did play a role for protesters as well. Sept. 19, 2016 (EIRNS)Just as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) bill is before Obama for his signature, three new revelations have come forward showing the deep, long-standing support of the Saudis for terrorism and their years of lying about it. On Sept. 17, The Chicago Tribune and Associated Press revealed that an accused al-Qaeda bomb-maker who attended college in Arizona told military interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay prison, that he believed an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family was part of an effort to recruit him for violent extremist acts before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to what the Tribune reports as a newly released transcript. In early 2001, Fhassan Abdallah al-Sharbi had just returned from Phoenix, where he had taken flight school courses at Embry-Riddle University in Prescott, Arizona, with two men who would become hijackers in the 9/11 attacks. Al-Sharbi said a religious figure in Saudi Arabia discussed his future on the telephone, calling the interlocutor "Your Highness" several times. The religious figure then urged al-Sharbi to return to the United States and participate in a plot that would involve flying a plane. Yet the 9/11 Commission had foundaccording to this evidence, wrongly, that there was no evidence to indicate that the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials had supported the attacks, and the Saudi Royals and government denied it. Al-Sharbi described the conversation in June to the Periodic Review Board, which judges whether Guantanamo prisoners can be released. On Sept. 15, the Pentagon posted a redacted transcript. He did not return to the United States, but went to Afghanistan, where he was captured in a house with Abu Zubaydah. When captured, the FBI found a cache of documents including an envelope from the Saudi Embassy in Washington, which contained his flight certificate, according to a document known as File 17. PRESS RELEASE Was U.S. Attack on Syrian Troops Really an Accident? Sept. 19, 2016 (EIRNS)Retired Defense Intelligence Agency officer Col. W. Patrick Lang, in a comment posted on his blog yesterday, questioned the U.S. militarys assertion that the U.S. air strike on Syrian troops in Deir Ez Zor on Sept. 17 was an accident. Lang notes that many of the readers of his blog know that accidents of that sort can happen. "But, there are some unusual things about this error," he writes. "The SAA [Syrian Arab Army] has been occupying these positions for six months or so. Presumably U.S. imagery and SIGINT analysts have been looking at them all that time and producing map overlays that show who is where in detail. These documents would be widely available, especially to air units and their targeteers. U.S. coalition-led air has not struck previously in the Deir al-Zor area. Why now? Were they asked to strike? The U.S. does not talk to the Syrian government. How would they have been asked? Who would have designated the targets? They struck in the presence of SAA troops without any ground liaison? And what of the timing, two days before the U.S.-Russian deal was to be expanded into active cooperation?" After taking note of U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Powers outburst after the emergency UN Security Council meeting called by Russia, Lang concludes: "IMO [in my opinion] it is an open question as to whether these air strikes on the SAA were accidental." Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO John G. Stumpf, who has been described as the Mr. Clean of banking, took his unflappable and well-groomed mien Tuesday to a hearing room on Capitol Hill to defend the bank against allegations that it had massively defrauded millions of its customers. Amazingly, he made himself and his bank look worse. This underscores the question we asked just a day ago: Why does he still have a job? The context of this question is the disclosure that Wells Fargo bankers opened as many as 2 million fake accounts in the names of existing customers and others, without their knowledge and permission, and stonewalled their inquiries and complaints. The scam went on from at least 2011 through 2015, though Stumpf revealed that the bank is now reexamining accounts from as early as 2009. On Sept. 8, it announced an agreement to pay $185 million in fines and penalties to two federal regulators and the Los Angeles City Attorneys office. Advertisement You should resign. You should give back the money that you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated. Sen. Elizabeth Warren confronts Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf The banks explanation has been that this was all a scheme mysteriously concocted by rogue employees coast-to-coast, of whom 5,300 have been fired. Stumpf denied on the stand, as he has in interviews, that the root cause of the outbreak of dishonesty was Wells Fargos relentless pressure on low-level bankers to cross-sell products push credit cards, personal loans and other deals upon all customers. He stoutly denied that the companys culture contributed to the problem. The companys sales goal was as high as eight accounts per customer, vastly more than rival banks thought reasonable, and it ceaselessly boasted to investors of its cross-selling success as evidence of its expertise in retail banking. Lets call this by its proper name, as did committee ranking member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio): I call it fraud because I got tired of the euphemisms a long time ago. On the whole, Stumpfs performance Tuesday followed the standard playbook for beleaguered CEOs: He mechanically offered contrite apologies, swore to rectify the fraud and not let it happen again, and vowed personally to accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices in our retail banking business. The hollowness of this pledge was promptly punctured by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Heres how that went: Since this massive years-long scam came to light, you have said repeatedly, quote: I am accountable, she observed. But what have you actually done to hold yourself accountable? Have you resigned as CEO or chairman of Wells Fargo? He started to reply, The board Have you resigned? No, I have not. All right. Have you returned one nickel of the millions of dollars that you were paid while this scam was going on? Well, first of all, Stumpf blustered, this was by 1% of our people, and and Thats not my question, Warren interrupted. My question is about responsibility. Have you returned one nickel of the millions of dollars that you were paid while this scam was going on? The board will take care of that. Have you returned one nickel of the money you earned while this scam was going on? The board will I will take that as a no, then. Warren further probed whether Stumpf had fired a single senior executive over the scam. The answer was no. OK. So you havent resigned, you havent returned a single nickel of your personal earnings, you havent fired a single senior executive. Instead, your definition of accountable is to push the blame to your low-level employees who dont have the money for a fancy PR firm to defend themselves. Its gutless leadership. She concluded her questioning with the bluntest assessment of the day: You should resign. You should give back the money that you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. As Warren and other committee members on both sides of the aisle pointed out, Wells Fargo didnt seem to take serious steps to rectify the damage done to customers, first revealed in 2013 by The Times, until it started to face pressure from regulators. Stumpf touted the banks decision to hire consultants at PricewaterhouseCoopers to help determine the scope of the problem but that happened in August 2015, years after it knew a problem existed. Under Browns questioning, Stumpf revealed that it took that step not on its own, but in consultation with federal regulators and the L.A. City Attorneys office, which was investigating. In other words, Wells Fargo had to be goaded into seeking outside help. It never occurred to you to bring in somebody? Brown asked. It was early in 2015, Stumpf replied, that we finally connected a dot. Nor has the bank ever disclosed in its public filings to the SEC that its activities were under investigation. Stumpf explained that it considered the problem immaterial. In strictly financial terms, that may be true: The bank collects revenue of about $90 billion a year and profits of more than $20 billion. But the damage to its reputation and future profitability may be enormous; treating this as immaterial and sweeping it under the rug was clearly a bad and dishonest call. But Wells Fargo still wishes to trivialize the matter. I disagree with the fact that this is a massive fraud, Stumpf said. The questions from Senate Banking Committee members that Stumpf refused to answer directly may have outnumbered those to which he did offer a response. Asked whether he thought fraud had been committed, he pleaded that he is not a lawyer. He was vague about when he first learned of his bankers unethical conduct, although he met weekly with Carrie Tolstedt, the much-lauded executive who led the division where the conduct occurred. Stumpf dodged questions about how the bank would calculate the real damage done to customers whose credit ratings may have been marred permanently because of credit card accounts fraudulently opened in their names. Some may have bounced payments on bills because Wells Fargo bankers stole money from their checking accounts to fund fake accounts. He said the bank has been refunding fees charged for fake accounts, but thats nowhere near sufficient. Some customers could face decades of higher mortgage or loan payments because lenders downgraded their creditworthiness based on the fake accounts. This is the untold disaster caused to Wells Fargo customers under Stumpfs regime, and even calculating the personal costs could be a superhuman task. Stumpf refused to say whether he would recommend that some of Tolstedts compensation be clawed back, stating that was up to the board of directors and he didnt want to influence or prejudice its deliberations. But of course, Stumpf is chairman of the board. Isnt it part of his job description to influence the directors? Noting that Stumpfs personal stockholdings increased in value by more than $200 million while the scam was ongoing thanks in part to Wells Fargos boasts about its cross-selling skills Warren said: You squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers and you could drive up the value of your stock and put hundreds of millions of dollars in your own pocket. And when it all blew up, you kept your job, you kept your multimillion-dollar bonuses and you went on television to blame thousands of $12-an-hour employees. Then she connected the most important dots: Wall Street executives almost never hold themselves accountable. Not now, and not in 2008, when they crushed the worldwide economy. The only way that Wall Street will change is if executives face jail time when they preside over massive frauds. ... Until then, it will be business as usual, and at giant banks like Wells Fargo, that seems to mean cheating as many customers, investors and employees as they possibly can. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. MORE FROM HILTZIK Watch a Harvard professor attack the estate tax because its just so hard on the rich The burning mystery at the heart of the Wells Fargo scandal: Why does its CEO still have a job? A little S.F. personal injury case threatens most important law on the Internet When the Senate Banking Committee grills Wells Fargo & Co.s chairman Tuesday about the banking giants sales scandal, look for the word clawback to come up more than once. Thats a reference to rescinding, or clawing back, part of an executives previously granted compensation, and critics in Congress and elsewhere are demanding Wells Fargo take back at least part of the multimillion-dollar compensation awarded to one or more top executives. But such clawbacks are unusual and its unlikely Wells Fargo will take that step, compensation experts said. Advertisement Wells Fargo Chairman John Stumpf was called to the hearing after the bank reached a $185-million settlement with federal and state regulators Sept. 8 over Wells Fargos aggressive sales tactics. In his prepared testimony to the committee, posted online by the New York Times on Monday, he made no mention of taking steps to claw back any pay, and instead offered a simple apology for the banks behavior. I am deeply sorry that we failed to fulfill our responsibilities, Stumpf said. I do want to make very clear that there was no orchestrated effort, or scheme as some have called it, by the company. I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices in our retail banking business. The tactics, first uncovered by the Los Angeles Times in 2013, involved thousands of bank employees opening as many as 2 million accounts that customers did not authorize in order to meet sales goals. Investigations by the Los Angeles city attorneys office and federal banking regulators described some of the steps employees took to open the savings, checking and credit card accounts as fraudulent and illegal. They included bank employees who transferred money from legitimate accounts into unauthorized ones, created personal identification numbers for debit cards that customers did not request and created fake email addresses to secretly sign up customers for online banking. Wells Fargos top executives have blamed lower-level employees for the problem and said there were no incentives to take improper actions. The San Francisco-based bank also said it discovered the problem itself and has fired 5,300 workers for improper sales practices since 2011. But critics such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) contend Stumpf who received $19.3 million in total compensation last year and other senior managers should be held more accountable for the scandal. Warren is a member of the Senate Banking Committee. Theyve also zeroed in on the compensation paid to Carrie Tolstedt, who ran the consumer banking unit that oversaw many of the sales practices. She announced her retirement in July after amassing salary, bonuses, stock, options and other compensation totaling $124.6 million in her career, Fortune reported, although others placed the figure in the mid-$90-million range. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton even weighed in, releasing an open letter to Wells Fargo customers Tuesday in which she demanded that compensation be clawed back from Tolstedt and other bank executives. Its hard to imagine that top executives were unaware of a problem that involved thousands of the firms employees. After all, they imposed sales targets and compensation incentives in ways that led to this behavior, Clinton said. And its frustrating that a bank can simply pay a fine and keep doing business as usual with massive compensation for the executives responsible. That compensation should be clawed back, she said. In a letter to Stumpf last week, Warren and four other senators urged Wells Fargo to invoke its own clawback authority that the bank implemented after the 2008 financial crisis. The idea was to discourage executives from taking excessive risks that could hurt the company, and Wells Fargos latest proxy notes that one trigger for a clawback is misconduct that could cause reputational harm to the company. In other words, these clawback provisions are designed to prevent exactly what happened with Ms. Tolstedt, the senators wrote in their letter. When Stumpf was asked by CNBCs Jim Cramer last week about a possible clawback, Stumpf three times said, to the extent thats a consideration, its a board process. Stumpf did not elaborate. Yet its likely nothing will be done with the compensation of Tolstedt and other executives because the decision is being made by Wells Fargo, said Nell Minow, vice chair of ValueEdge Advisors, which promotes strong corporate governance. At the end of the day its still a judgment on the part of management and theyre judging themselves, she said. Minow said the best bet a company has for getting some of the money back is to characterize [Tolstedts] departure as a firing for cause, which they have ample reason to do. Wells Fargo and Tolstedt declined to comment. In April, U.S. regulators proposed stronger new rules governing clawbacks especially at banks and other financial institutions as part of the Dodd-Frank reforms that grew out of the financial crisis. But those rules arent likely to be implemented until next year. For now, clawbacks arent common and often have gone undetected by shareholders and the public unless they stem from a high-profile incident. Its very fair to say they are rare, said Divesh Sharma, an accounting professor at Kennesaw State Universitys business school in Georgia who focuses on corporate clawback policies. In 2012, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it would pursue the maximum possible clawback about two years worth of total compensation from three employees involved in the London Whale trades that led to $6.2 billion in losses for the bank. JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon told shareholders in his annual letter that more than $100 million was recaptured by the clawbacks. Some clawbacks are initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of regulatory actions. In 2011, the SEC struck a deal with Maynard L. Jenkins, who was chief executive of CSK Auto Corp. when the company committed accounting fraud. Jenkins wasnt accused of any wrongdoing. But he agreed to return $2.8 million in bonuses and stock compensation. David Aboody, an accounting professor at UCLAs Anderson School of Management, said he did not expect a similar SEC action against Wells Fargo which has nearly $2 trillion in assets that would involve a restatement of its financial results and a clawback in executive compensation. However, sources said last week that the Justice Department was looking into Wells Fargos improper sales tactics. Its possible Wells Fargo might ponder rescinding part of its executives compensation simply because of the growing pressure from Congress and the public, Sharma said. But Wells Fargo might avoid doing so because that could indicate wrongdoing with the aggressive sales tactics and potentially open Pandoras Box in terms of lawsuits by shareholders and others, Sharma said. Wells Fargo neither admitted nor denied the allegations in its settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer. The companys shares, which had lost nearly 9% since the settlement was announced, closed up 1.3% on Monday to $46.01. Times staff writer Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report. james.peltz@latimes.com For more business news, follow James F. Peltz on Twitter: @PeltzLATimes ALSO Judge tells Hanjin Shipping to relinquish all of its chartered vessels ESPN targets Latino viewers with a new bilingual sports show Southern California home sales jump in August UPDATES: 12:05 a.m. Sept. 20: This article was updated with a statement from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. 5:37 p.m. The article was updated with the companys share price. This article was published at 4:35 p.m. The trouble at Wells Fargo & Co. started small, with a few employees at branches opening bogus accounts as they tried to meet aggressive sales goals and keep their jobs. Now, after an incendiary hearing during which U.S. senators told the banks chief executive he should resign and face criminal charges, its morphed into a widening scandal that has at least temporarily united Democrats and Republicans in Washington -- and could spread well beyond Wells Fargo. Members of the Senate Banking Committee pilloried John Stumpf, CEO and chairman of the San Francisco banking giant, over revelations that thousands of bank workers opened as many as 2 million accounts for customers without their knowledge, all in the name of meeting sales quotas that regulators say encouraged bad behavior. Advertisement Republicans and Democrats went after Stumpf in a rare display of bipartisan agreement that underscores the severity of the case against the bank. Its questionable practices were first reported in a 2013 Los Angeles Times article cited several times during the hearing. You have done something that has never happened in the last 10 years and united this committee on a major topic -- and not in a good way, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said. Tester and other members of the committee took Stumpf to task, pushing him to explain how he could have allowed bad practices to go on for years, why the bank has fired 5,300 mostly rank-and-file workers while not cutting the pay of top executives, and whether the bank is doing enough to help its aggrieved customers. Robert Hockett, a Cornell University law professor who has testified before the Senate Banking Committee, said he was struck by the unbroken barrage of questions thrown at Stumpf by senators. That was definitely a first, Hockett said. I guess we ought to congratulate John Stumpf on that one. He really did what seemed to be impossible. Some of the fiercest comments came from Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), known for her stinging criticism of Wall Street. You should resign, Warren said. You should give back the money you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stumpf was called to the nearly five-hour hearing after Wells Fargo on Sept. 8 agreed to pay $185 million to settle a lawsuit from the Los Angeles city attorneys office and to end investigations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and another federal bank regulator. But the deal with regulators has done nothing to settle the banks issues. Members of the House Financial Services Committee have called for hearings of their own into Wells Fargos sales practices amid an investigation by federal prosecutors in New York and California. Also, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on Tuesday called for regulators to look into whether the banks practices have harmed small-business owners. Wells Fargo is a major provider of government-backed Small Business Assn. loans. Whats more, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a federal bank regulator, said Tuesday that his agency would begin investigating sales practices at other banks in an attempt to determine whether the practice of creating fake accounts to meet sales goals might be more widespread. These practices undermine the fundamental trust that goes to the heart of the bank-customer relationship, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said. Wells Fargo has been singled out for its sales quotas and its focus on so-called cross-selling, which encourages customers to use more of the banks products and services, including checking accounts, credit cards and home loans, but quotas and cross-selling are common throughout the industry. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the consumer agency in their settlements painted a picture of a sales culture at Wells Fargo that pushed employees to meet unrealistic sales goals at any cost. That included opening credit card accounts for customers who never asked for them and creating fake email addresses to sign customers up for online banking. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) called it despicable that Wells Fargo has laid the blame on low-paid retail bank employees when the companys culture really was to blame. Stumpf repeatedly said he took responsibility for the banks failure to prevent those practices, but just as many times said that the employees who broke the rules amounted to a tiny fraction of the banks workforce. The vast majority did it the right way, Stumpf said. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and others, though, chided Stumpf for what they saw as doublespeak. All you say is, I accept responsibility, and by the way its the fault of those 5,000 people who just werent ethical enough, Merkley said. Thats not accepting responsibility. You are scapegoating the people at the very bottom. Senators also went after Stumpf for apparently not keeping close tabs on the banks operations. Several senators questioned Stumpf about when he first found out that employees had been creating fake accounts, and Stumpf repeatedly said he did not know until 2013. But Vitter pointed out that Wells Fargo in 2011 fired about 1,000 workers for those practices and said it was troubling that Stumpf did not know about the scandal until two years later. This is crystal-clear proof that an entity the size of Wells is not only too big to fail, but too big to manage, Vitter said. A key issue at Tuesdays hearing was whether Stumpf believed Wells Fargo should rescind some of the compensation owed to Stumpf and Carrie Tolstedt, the longtime executive who ran the banks consumer banking unit that oversaw many of the sales practices. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said it would amount to malpractice if Wells Fargo did not dock some of Tolstedts pay. But Stumpf said he was not an expert in compensation and would leave any decision about Tolstedt to a committee on Wells Fargos board. Tolstedt announced her retirement in July after amassing salary, bonuses, stock, options and other compensation totaling $124.6 million in her career, Fortune reported, although others placed the figure in the mid-$90-million range. Stumpf acknowledged Tuesday that Tolstedts retirement, announced over the summer, was motivated by the fake accounts scandal but defended the decision to allow her to retire rather that fire her. Stumpf did offer senators some information about how the bank will deal with fake accounts and try to prevent problems in the future. The bank will now review accounts going back to 2009, two years beyond what it agreed to in the settlement. The bank will also contact customers and ask them to visit a Wells Fargo branch or call a hotline to go over their accounts. The bank had committed to take those steps for California customers but will now do so nationwide. Beyond that, little new information came out of Tuesdays hearing, with Stumpf promising to get back to senators with more answers, including how the bank might compensate customers whose credit scores were hurt by the banks practices or workers who were fired for not meeting aggressive sales quotas. Though a rough day for Stumpf, Tuesdays hearing could be a victory for critics of the banking industry amid attempts by Republican lawmakers to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and water down other rules created in the wake of the financial crisis. This case is about protecting ordinary, middle-class Americans. Its almost a godsend for the CFPB, said Hockett, the Cornell professor. Youre talking about garden-variety banking products that are offered to ordinary folks -- people from the Andy Griffith show. jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com james.peltz@latimes.com james.koren@latimes.com Puzzanghera reported from Washington.Peltz and Koren reported from Los Angeles. ALSO Which fast-food chains served the meat, held the antibiotics? Protests filed over PG&E plan to shut down Diablo Canyon nuclear plant U.S. guidelines on driverless cars offer some direction on future policy UPDATES: 6:40 p.m.: This article has been updated throughout with additional information. 1:50 p.m.: This article was updated with Wells Fargos share price. 12:45 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments from Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry. 12:20 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments from Ed Mierzwinski of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. This article originally was published at 11:30 a.m. The senators grilling Wells Fargos chief executive are primed to be tough Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive John Stumpf most likely will face some hostile questioning about the banks improper sales tactics at todays Senate Banking Committee hearing, as the panel is filled with some of the industrys most outspoken congressional critics -- led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Stumpf plans to begin his testimony with an apology. I am deeply sorry that we failed to fulfill our responsibility to our customers, to our team members, and to the American public, his prepared testimony says. I have been with Wells Fargo through many challenges, none that pains me more than the one we will discuss this morning. But the pain probably will just be starting for Stumpf. Warren and four other committee Democrats -- Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Jack Reed of Rhode Island -- pushed for the hearing last week after Wells Fargo agreed to pay $185 million to settle investigations into sales tactics first uncovered by the Los Angeles Times in 2013. Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) agreed to hold the hearing and call Stumpf to testify. Although Shelby is friendly to the banking industry, hes no fan of big banks and could have some pointed questions. Another Republican on the panel, David Vitter of Louisiana, also has been critical of large financial institutions and has teamed with Warren and Brown on bills to crack down on banks that are too big to fail. But Stumpfs toughest time will come when Democrats are tossing the queries. Brown, the committees top-ranking Democrat, is a populist and longtime critic of big banks. Warren joined the Senate in 2013 after making a name for herself grilling bankers and regulators as head of the congressional panel overseeing the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout fund. Merkley was one of the key proponents of banning banks from trading for their own profit and limiting their ownership of risky investments. The provision, dubbed the Volcker Rule, was included in the 2010 Dodd-Frank overhaul of financial regulations. Menendez and Reed also have been outspoken about abuses by big banks. The five Democrats wrote to Stumpf on Friday, asking him to rescind -- or claw back -- the pay of some top executives because of the scandal. This was not the work of a few rogue employees over the course of a few weeks, the letter said, in a preview of the confrontational approach the senators are likely to take at the hearing. Wells Fargo had a long-standing, systemic problem created by stringent sales quotas and incentives imposed by senior management. Healthcare is very much in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. On the one hand, we had Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visiting the Dr. Oz show last week to reveal some tidbits about his physical condition (hes fat). On the other, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had a bout of pneumonia but declared herself fit as a fiddle (well see). The real story, however, wasnt that the two oldest presidential candidates in U.S. history are showing their age but that the rest of us are still getting creamed by rising healthcare costs. Advertisement The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that spending on healthcare rose last month by the biggest amount in more than three decades. The overall price of medical treatment increased by 1% in August. I know that doesnt sound like much, but its the largest monthly gain since 1984. And those seemingly itty-bitty monthly increases add up. If that 1% rate were sustained each month, youd see 12% growth for the entire year, and that would be very concerning, said Geoffrey Joyce, director of health policy for USCs Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. The cost of hospital services climbed 1.7% in August, the biggest gain since October 2015, while the average price of prescription meds jumped 1.3%. That means average drug prices are up 6.3% over the last 12 months, the largest such increase in two years. At the same time, many Americans are paying more out of pocket for healthcare as they try to keep a lid on monthly premiums by accepting higher insurance deductibles. Were definitely seeing growth in higher-deductible plans, said Matthew Rae, a senior health policy analyst for the Kaiser Family Foundation. If youre using healthcare services, you certainly might be paying more. The spread of high-deductible plans belies the relatively modest growth in costs seen in Kaisers latest survey of workplace health benefits, released last week. It showed that annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health plans are up an average 3% to $18,142. Family premiums have increased 20% over the last five years, which is a lot but a darn sight better than the 31% hike over the previous five years, and a huge improvement over the staggering 63% growth in the five years before that. Rae credited the slowdown in part to the healthcare system becoming more efficient, but also to high-deductible plans shifting a greater share of the spending burden to patients. In other words, it might look great on paper that premiums arent rising as fast as they were before. But thats due in large part to insurers keeping costs down by providing less-comprehensive coverage. Twenty-nine percent of all U.S. workers are now in high-deductible plans, up from 20% two years ago, according to Kaiser. Rae told me he expects the trend to continue as more employers offer health savings accounts as part of medical benefits. Slightly more than half of covered workers currently face an annual deductible at of at least $1,000. Meanwhile, prescription drugs arent getting any cheaper. Recent high-profile episodes, such as Mylan jacking up the price of its EpiPen by 500%, have attracted headlines. But more noteworthy is the way most drugs, including generics, receive annual markups that defy any sense of reason or market reality. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office found that while the average price of generics has come down in recent years, more than 300 generic meds have experienced at least one extraordinary price increase of 100% or more. Investigators found 15 generic meds that have seen price hikes of more than 1,000%. The report cited the example of clomipramine HCL, an antidepressant used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder. Over just a single year, the price of a 50-milligram capsule soared from 34 cents to $8.43 an increase of more than 2,000%. USCs Joyce said he doesnt favor price caps for brand-name drugs. That could deter innovation, he said. But when it comes to generics, Joyce said, we should treat them like public utilities. Make companies justify price increases. Last week, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senate and House members introduced legislation that would force drugmakers to defend to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources any price increase of more than 10%. Its chances of becoming law, in the face of what would no doubt be ferocious industry opposition, are slim to none. Californians will have a say on drug prices in November when they vote on Proposition 61, the Drug Price Relief Act. It would require that state health programs such as Medi-Cal pay no more for prescription meds than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which, because it can negotiate with drug companies, often pays about 25% less than other federal entities. Medicare is prohibited by law from negotiating drug prices for its 55 million beneficiaries, so the program pays whatever drugmakers can get away with. This country already spends $3 trillion annually on healthcare. That represents about 17% of total economic activity. The average for all nations within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is 9%. Its deeply worrying that one of our most robust and reliable engines of economic growth is the business of sick people. Unless, that is, having the biggest hospital and drugstore bills is a point of pride. David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com. MORE FROM LAZARUS As fire danger grows, some homeowners are seeing coverage dropped Thanks, Wells Fargo, for being such a bunch of weasels Allergan CEO is shocked (shocked!) by insane drug prices The stirring song rang out across the convention hall as Donald Trump took the stage at a rally in Miami: Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men? the chorus boomed over loudspeakers as the crowd cheered the Republican presidential candidate. It is the music of the people / Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart / Echoes the beating of the drums / There is a life about to start / When tomorrow comes. The rousing song is one of the signature numbers from the musical Les Miserables, an anti-monarchist call to arms signaling the climax of the bloody Paris Uprising of 1832. Advertisement For Trump supporters, the popular Broadway musical has become an unlikely rallying cry following Hillary Clintons comments this month in which she said half of her rivals supporters constitute a basket of deplorables. Instead of repudiating the pejorative label, many of Trumps fans have embraced it perhaps ironically at first, and then sincerely. An online meme emerged conflating deplorables with Les Miserables Les Deplorables, set above a graphic of a 19th century French barricade. The Trump campaign adopted the meme on Friday, using it as the visual backdrop as the candidate began his Miami rally. Welcome to all of you deplorables! Trump said at the top of his speech, drawing loud applause and cheers. Video of Trumps Les Miserables-inspired entrance went viral, prompting supporters to praise his theatrical flair, while his detractors lamented the ruining of a perfectly good musical. Trump isnt the first American presidential candidate to use Les Miserables for political ends. Supporters of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton employed the musical as rallying cries to bolster their votes during elections in 1992, 2008 and 2012. The creators of Les Miserables said Sunday that the musical has been used for political and social causes around the world. Adapted from the behemoth novel by Victor Hugo, the musical was written by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, and it was produced in London and on Broadway by Cameron Mackintosh. In a statement to The Times, a spokesman for the creators said the Trump campaign didnt ask permission to use Do You Hear the People Sing? at the rally Friday. He said the creators did not authorize or endorse the usage of the song, but they have never done so for any of the songs from the musical for this or any other political event. The Trump campaign didnt respond to a request for comment. Political campaigns have appropriated Les Miserables because of the musicals popularity and its depiction of a political and social revolt led by the common man, according to Kathryn Grossman, a professor of French at Penn State University and co-editor of the book Les Miserables and Its Afterlives. Its probably the best known musical around. If you want something that is about society, that has a social justice theme, it would be Les Miz, she said. But Trump supporters appear to be taking its themes out of context, she added, because Hugo had a big left-wing message. He always gave speeches on behalf on the rights of children and women and of men to work. During the 1992 presidential election, Bill Clinton supporters adopted the song One Day More heard at the end of Act 1 of the musical and turned it into an unofficial theme of the Democratic candidates campaign. At his inauguration celebration, Aretha Franklin performed a rendition of another song from Les Miz, I Dreamed a Dream. The 2012 election saw a pro-Obama YouTube parody of One Day More, retitled One Term More, urging Americans to vote for the incumbent president. Trumps embrace of Les Deplorables is certainly one of the oddest appropriations of the musical that weve seen, said Bradley Stephens, a senior lecturer in French at the University of Bristol in England, via email. His areas of study include the life and works of Hugo and their adaptations. He noted that Les Miserables has been appropriated worldwide in protests against hardline social regimes, including Hong Kongs so-called Umbrella Revolution to flash mobs in the U.S. Perhaps this is, in part, a swipe at the Democrats, since that partys candidates have a history of being associated with the musical in some form or another, he said. In recent years, the musical has also found nonpartisan uses. The number Bring Him Home, sung in the show by protagonist Jean Valjean, has been used extensively by military and veterans groups around the world in commercials and online promotional videos. Les Miserables was first produced in France in 1980 and made its West End debut in 1985. It came to Broadway two years later, where it ran for more than 16 years and won several Tony Awards, including the prize for new musical. The 2014 Broadway revival closed earlier this month, but a new North American touring version is expected to begin next year that producers no doubt hope will be yuge. david.ng@latimes.com UPDATES: 10:50 a.m.: This article was updated with additional comments. Media mogul Haim Saban has launched a special-purpose investment fund that is going public in an effort to raise at least $235 million for potential investments or acquisitions. The new company, Saban Capital Acquisition Corp., said in a regulatory filing Friday that it is offering 23.5 million shares in an initial public offering, priced at $10 a share, to raise funds for the unspecified purchase. Such a vehicle is known as a special-purpose acquisition company or a blank check company. A person knowledgeable of the effort said the billionaire may be interested in pursuing a deal in the emerging digital media space. However, rules prevent special-purpose acquisition firms from engaging in advanced talks with takeover targets until after the IPO closes, which in this case would be late October. Advertisement We have not identified any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to identifying any potential business combination target, the company said in a prospectus. Saban, who made a fortune off the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise and the sale of the Fox Family cable TV channel, is not the first Hollywood titan to establish a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Jeff Sagansky and Harry Sloan have also have used such a vehicle to make investments. The company was incorporated in the Cayman Islands in March, but its offices are located in West Los Angeles. Sabans longtime lieutenant, Adam Chesnoff, will serve as chief executive, and Saban will be the chairman. Chesnoff did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday, and a representative for Saban declined to comment. Board members include former Fox chief operating officer Chase Carey, who this month became chairman of Formula 1 racing; former Walt Disney Co. chief financial officer James Rasulo; and Bruce Rosenblum, who last week accepted a high-level job within the Disney ABC Television Group. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. are underwriting the offering. The investment banks received a 45-day option to purchase up to 1.5 million more shares at the initial public offering price to cover orders that exceed the planned offering amount. Sabans public offering comes as one of Saban Capitals major investments, Univision Communications Inc., has been mulling a public offering as a vehicle to allow the private equity owners to begin to wind down their investment in the Spanish-language media company. Sabans formation of a special-purpose company is not related to Univision, according to a person close to the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly. Wall Street has been anticipating the Univision IPO for nearly two years, but that offering has been delayed by last years swoon in media stocks. Univision is not expected offer its shares to the public until early next year. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour meg.james@latimes.com @MegJamesLAT Celebrities were deep in their feelings Tuesday morning, after learning that Angelina Jolie Pitt had filed for divorce from longtime partner Brad Pitt, and they took to the Internet try to process their many emotions. The couple had been together for 11 years and married in August 2014. They have six children, of whom Jolie Pitt has requested physical custody. The children were the primary concern of actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis appeared Tuesday morning on ABCs talk show The View to promote the upcoming season of her Fox series Scream Queens, and when asked about the celebrity breakup, she urged the audience not to support tabloid outlets that sought to profit off the familys struggle. Advertisement Do not support the public shaming of people who are public figures going through a divorce, Curtis said. I am a child of it, and I can tell you its heartbreaking and painful enough without having to have a public scrutiny of it. Curtis parents, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Hollywood luminaries in their own right, divorced in 1962. Jolie Pitts father, actor Jon Voight, told Inside Edition that he wasnt privy to why his daughter had filed for divorce, but said, Its very sad. Say a little prayer, before going on to say that he was concerned for his daughter and her children. Celebrities on Twitter had varying reactions to news of the split See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour However, its possible no one used the Jolie-Pitt news as well as Timothy Simons of HBOs Veep, who took the Internet fervor as an opportunity to admit unsavory things about himself, under the premise that no one would notice. Sorry, Timothy Simons. Nothing goes unnoticed on the Internet. libby.hill@latimes.com Twitter: @midwestspitfire ALSO PHOTOS: Brangelina through the years Angelina Jolie files for divorce from Brad Pitt, seeks full physical custody of their kids Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt exchanged love letters while filming abroad Brad Pitt on raising kids: Our life is their normal ... were migratory workers in a sense Bull, which premieres Tuesday on CBS, is the brainchild of Dr. Phil McGraw, the TV empathizer, and Paul Attanasio, who created Homicide: Life on the Street, and has been based on, or inspired by, or has some tangential relation to McGraws pre-celebrity experience as a trial consultant. Any physical resemblance between McGraw and Michael Weatherly, who plays the eponymous Dr. Bull sounds like? is strictly Hollywood. The show follows the lines of most every CBS procedural (which is also to say most CBS dramas). A brilliant, insightful, somewhat troubled or troublesome genius whose reading of people and situations is all but psychic and who never met a rule he/she wouldnt break in a pinch leads a crew of diverse types in the pursuit of justice. Here we have the neurolinguistics expert (Geneva Carr), hired away from the Department of Homeland Security; the master of the mock trial (Freddy Rodriguez), who also happens to be Bulls ex-brother-in-law; the investigator (Jaime Lee Kirchner); the caustic style consultant (Christopher Jackson); the quirky, somewhat nerdy younger person (Annabelle Attanasio, daughter of producer Attanasio). Its not just about the law, says the neurolinguist, who is also Bulls right-hand woman the way to win is to know your jurors down to their neurons. To that end, Team Bull gathers heaps of privacy-violating intel about each juror and then plugs it all into a 400-factor matrix that is scary in its predictive efficiency. Well know how they vote even before they do. Creeped out yet? Advertisement What could prove difficult or troubling in the long run unless it proves entirely beside the point is the idea, baked into the premise, that guilt or innocence or evidence mean nothing next to ones ability to game the system, to perform mental jujitsu on a jury. Bull is a procedural made for the Year of the Rigged; sending a signal that they know whats what, the writers give one juror a bumper sticker that says, The system is rigged. (Wow, says Bull, sincerely or ironically its hard to tell thats cynical.) At the same time and to be expected, given the Dr. Phil connection Bull has a soft, squishy core. The pilot is filled up with people filled up with feelings (or refusing to feel them, but having them anyway). Give yourself what you wish you could get from somebody else, Bull tells a young client eaten up with confusion. Bull will not only get you off, innocent, wounded accused person; he will make you better. The courtroom scenes are both melodramatic and unconvincing, with a surfeit of murmuring from the galleries and a prosecution that somehow never thinks to object no matter how provocative the defense gets. The production makes frequent use of man-on-the-street interviews and social media overlays, which makes it feel prematurely dated, rather than of the moment. Its a little ridiculous, and rarely convincing. Yet given how closely Bull adheres to what has been for the network a highly successful formula and a cast that makes the best of the least promising lines, its not hard to picture it doing well, all around the world, and crushing its fans when it finally leaves the air, sometime in the late 2020s. Bull Where: CBS When: 9 p.m. Tuesday robert,lloyd@latimes.com On Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd Michael Weatherly goes from NCIS into the world of Dr. Phil on Bull NCIS named most watched drama in the world Sometimes you see people win things and you go, Really? Are you kidding? mused Judith Light on the Amazon step-and-repeat after the Emmys on Sunday evening. That wasnt the case with the wins of Lights Transparent colleagues Jill Soloway (Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series) and Jeffrey Tambor (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series). [Their wins are] absolutely right. Whats so important is that their focus and their advocacy for the LGBTQ community, and particularly in this case the transgender community, is so true. Their advocacy is so real that theyre changing the culture. With these two wins under its belt, Amazon welcomed revelers into the Sunset Tower Hotel, where cast and crew from its shows Fleabag, Transparent, Bosch and Catastrophe danced in a photo booth and snacked on trays of shrimp, oysters, sushi, sliders and french fries, with waiters offering trays of milk and cookies and breakfast tacos in between. Actress Hari Nef was feeling grateful about her role on Transparent, but planned to keep her gaiety in check. Ill knock a couple back, maybe try to do some tipsy networking, Nef said. Id rather get someones email than dance all night. Advertisement Gaby Hoffman had something else in mind. I dont know how long Im going to last, Hoffmann said, But Im going to go upstairs, put on jeans and boots, and start a dance party. Holding court at a corner table were Tambor and Soloway, each with Emmy statuettes in one hand, forkfuls of asparagus in the other. Later in the evening Soloway switched to french fries, which she hustled from a congratulatory passerby wielding a paper bag full. Outside and toward the back, Real Housewife Lisa Vanderpump had Jon Voight cornered at the bar. Later and true to her word, Hoffmann had changed into a pair of Levis, and just before midnight could be seen getting down with Transparent costars Jay Duplass and Trace Lysette to Nellys Hot in Herre and Snoop Doggs Drop It Like Its Hot. As for how Boschs lead actor Titus Welliver would celebrate the evening? I will not be drunk in every gutter in Hollywood tonight, Welliver said. I can assure you. Larry David started a trend at HBOs post-Emmy party. Hoping to go unnoticed, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star sidestepped the red carpet in favor of the noncelebrity entrance (yes, there are two separate ways into every party). Alas, he was caught. Youre on the wrong side, called a reporter. As expected, the comedian didnt miss a beat. This is the right side to be on, David said. Most celebrities soon followed suit. Amy Schumer gleefully skipped her way inside wearing flip-flops. Keri Russell held hands with partner and costar Matthew Rhys. Chris Rock guided his girlfriend Megalyn Echikunwoke. Kit Harington kept his head down while walking swiftly. Luckily, Haringtons costar Emilia Clarke felt more obligated to talk shop since Game of Thrones had just picked up the nights last award, for Best Drama. Advertisement Im just so full of joy and pride for the whole show, Clarke said, adding that she planned to celebrate with Mr. Alcohol. Even so, Clarke lamented that she wouldnt be able to stay out too late since she had to get back to work in Belfast the following day. Most of the time, I do try and have something to change into [for after the flight]. I wear pajamas on the plane. But tomorrow I dont hold much hope. She admitted her post-flight look will be a stark contrast from the Atelier Versace gown she was wearing. Never look at pictures of famous people and think thats how we get out of bed cause it aint. Theres a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into the look. Of working on Game of Thrones over the last several years, Clarke reflected, Weve had the cushiest job in TV because were always working. And now, I have to pay off some debts. Meanwhile, the actress said she and her GoT character arent dissimilar. Weve fed each other in so many ways. Shes grown up and so have I. I just dont have a dragon annoying me. Elsewhere, Kerry Washington greeted Ballers actress Jazmyn Simon with a hug. You look like a statue yourself, Washington told the newcomer. Of their red carpet camaraderie, Simon said, Were all family. I remember meeting Kerry this time last year without the baby bump. She looked phenomenal. She is baby goals all the way. Washingtons Confirmation costar Zoe Lister-Jones echoed the sentiment. Kerry actually hosted a party for the cast and crew of Confirmation last night. Shes a marvel of a human. And to be pregnant and doing it all is a whole other level. Anthony Anderson attended with his daughter and mother. It was a little disappointing, he said of going home empty-handed (Jeffrey Tambor won the Emmy for a second year in a row). Still, Anderson said he was happy for the winners and felt lucky to be able to share the experience with his loved ones. My mother put her dreams of being an actor on hold to raise an actor in me. I do what I do for her. Shes enjoying herself tonight. Shes having a ball. Silicon Valley actress Amanda Crew was eager to hit HBOs famously elaborate buffet despite being treated to one of the bags of cookies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that host Jimmy Kimmel had handed out during the ceremony. It was actually a little stale, Crew said. They had to make 7,000 sandwiches and they started like a week ago. But the cookie was moist. Despite the long day, Crew said the night was still young. Once I get some food in me, I think I could last a while. But that stale sandwich didnt take me too far. Once inside, guests were treated to a live band that performed songs like Justin Timberlakes Cant Stop the Feeling and Bon Jovis Its My Life in addition to a fully stocked bar, massive dinner and dessert buffets, and extravagant decor that included an oversized fountain. Winners John Travolta and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who wore Carolina Herrera to the ceremony, clutched their hardware in separate corners of the room. John Mayer chatted with Katy Perrys BFF Shannon Woodward, who attended in support of her upcoming HBO sci-fi thriller Westworld. Meanwhile, another Taylor Swift ex, Tom Hiddleston, posed with Michelle Dockery for photos as Chris Noth hit the bar while a few female admirers looked on. After a whirlwind evening, what was Bryan Cranstons favorite part of the night? The ending! he laughed. Cool little indie brand Herbivore Botanicals is growing up. Five years after launching on Etsy, the Seattle-based natural skin-care and body-care purveyor responsible for the products filling the bathrooms of your chicest, hippest friends has rolled out to Sephora doors and landed on nordstrom.com. The retail push puts Herbivore on track to reach $6 million in wholesale revenues this year, up from $2.2 million last year, according to cofounder Alex Kummerow. Our goal initially was just to have a successful online shop via Etsy. I was actually really surprised when retailers started reaching out to us and wanting to carry the products, said Kummerow, who established Herbivore with his wife Julia Wills. We didnt set out reaching out to people and making it into a huge business. It just started happening. Advertisement Herbivore originated with an endearing beauty meet-cute between a woman trying to find her way and a soap-making kit. While Wills was taking a break from counseling work and contemplating what to do next, Kummerow gifted her the kit, and she began crafting soaps in the couples kitchen. The soaps relieved skin irritation Kummerow was experiencing, and a brand was born. I had eczema or psoriasis on my skin. The doctor didnt really know what it was, and Julias product cleared up my skin immediately, recounted Kummerow. From that moment forward, Julia has been formulating machine. Shes probably made 100 different products, Wills chimed in, I went to natural health college [Bastyr University]. Although I majored in psychology, my favorite electives were aromatherapy and Chinese medicine. Thats the background that got me interested. Herbivore doesnt quite have 100 products on the market today. It has about 30 and half that amount has been sold on Sephoras web site since last September. Four products that have been strong online for the beauty specialty chain gel mask Blue Tansy, facial oil Lapis, body polish Coco Rose and face mist Rose Hibiscus and one new exclusive item, night treatment Moon Fruit, are entering the discovery wall sections at Sephora stores. As Herbivore has expanded its product range, its increasingly shifted its focus to popular facial skin-care merchandise. Wills explained inspiration for the products comes from distinctive ingredients and appealing ingredient colors revealed through Herbivores glass bottles and jars. Moon Fruits formula, for example, contains the anti-inflammatory ingredient indigo powder giving it a lavender hue. In addition, the product, priced at $58, has prickly pear, goji berry, red raspberry seed, kokum and shea butters, alpha hydroxy acids, hyaluronic acid and enzymes derived from papaya, sugar lemon, orange, bilberry and cranberry. Its the most complicated product weve made so far, said Wills of Moon Fruit. Kummerow expounded, Its a multitasking product thats loaded with all of our favorite ingredients. It makes your skin really smooth and hydrated, and its a night treatment that can also be used in the day. Whats inside of Herbivores products is coveted, but the outside of them has perhaps been equally important to the brands success. Wills detailed it took roughly a year to fine tune the design that has a straightforward, minimalistic quality. Frequently emulated since Herbivore introduced it, the look helped the brand transcend the hippie-dippy reputation that has often pigeonholed natural beauty brands. The aesthetic was a throwback to luxury perfumes from way back. We felt like, when we put a natural product into luxurious packaging, that we had something new, especially in 2011, said Kummerow, continuing about the brand, It is our artistic outlet. We dont aim to develop something from a commerce point of view as much as we aim to develop things that we love and are obsessed with and [reflect] who we are as people. Herbivore does seem to be handling commerce proficiently, despite Wills admission that she didnt understand the concept of wholesaling at the dawn of the brand. Its available in approximately 500 retail doors, including at Urban Outfitters, Credo, Joyus, Goop, ABC Home and Birchbox, but has declined many more. Notably, Wills and Kummerow turned away Target to concentrate on Sephora. Because we are a smaller brand, we had to pick and chose. We basically had offers from Sephora and Target within a few weeks of each other, and we couldnt take on both at the same time. We decided to put Target on hold for now and go with Sephora primarily because we really liked our [Sephora] buyers, and everything they were telling us about the process of working with them, Kummerow said. He elaborated Sephoras step-by-step process tested Herbivore online before placing it on discovery walls and possibly building upon its presence in stores later on. Outside of the U.S., Herbivore is carried by Steven Alan in Japan, and is readying itself to broaden its reach to Europe. But Kummerow and Wills emphasized they arent in a rush to explode sales. We can only grow as fast as we can grow, Kummerow said. Julia and I still own 100 percent of the company, and I sleep well at night. Every year, we have tripled our growth. There might be a time where we might not have enough money to get to the next step, and we may want to seek an investor because we wont have the funds in our back account to do that, so we are open, but we have not taken investment. In fact, we have never taken a loan, and we are proud of that. We have grown the company off of profits alone. Southern California can add another craft distillery to its growing roster of booze businesses. Blinking Owl Distillery, which takes its name from the midcentury bar of the same name on Birch and 3rd streets in Santa Ana, will open to the public on Sept. 24. Co-owned by husband and wife Brian and Robin Christenson and their friend Kirsten Vangsness, the spirits producer is the first distillery in Orange County. While Santa Ana might seem an odd spot to set up shop, it was a natural fit for the Christensons. We love our cool hood, says Robin, and have lived in downtown Santa Ana since 2003. This is a very close-knit community where the food, beverage, and artisanal scene truly work together. Brian, whose great-grandfather was a bootlegger in Nebraska, studied spirits making in Seattle in 2013; he and Robin each hold Level 3 degrees from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. Head distiller is Ryan Friesen. Advertisement With no distilleries in Orange County, the time seemed ripe for Blinking Owl to arrive on the scene. Grain is our game changer, says Robin. We order such large quantities that we could literally support an entire farm. It was then we realized that we could significantly impact the local grain economy, and thats the big picture for us. This personal mandate to source locally and organically has been more difficult to realize. The Christensons contacted more than 50 farmers for grains and botanicals, but couldnt get the quantities they needed; in some cases, the grain brokers didnt even know where their grains came from. For botanicals, the distillery has had to source mostly internationally, although the orange peel, bay leaf and lavender that Blinking Owl uses are all California-grown. Ironically, hibiscus, which is the flower of Santa Ana, where the distillery is, cant be sourced in the quantities needed. As for the juniper needed for gin, the Christensons are working to forage berries from a location in Northern California. While the effect right now is subtle, Blinking Owl is playing a long game to become a 100% California product. Upon opening, the company will introduce three un-aged spirits vodka, orange-flavored vodka, and aquavit. Gin will come in November and whiskey, which will age for at least two years, is on the horizon. All the spirits can be sampled and purchased in the on-site tasting room. Finally, a relaxing and fortifying alternative to hiking through South Coast Plaza or braving Disneylands crowds. 802 E. Washington Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 542-5928, www.blinkingowldistillery.com. ALSO: 4 restaurants and 32 miles with L.A. restaurateur Jeremy Fall Get to know grisette a saison-like beer built to quench a miners thirst More great coffee and the revitalization of a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Feliz Of all the lies that James Grzeslo spread about himself from claiming that he was a decorated Marine who served in Vietnam to telling people he was a cardiothoracic surgeon even though he was really a nurse one claim in particular stood out for sheer gruesomeness, prosecutors say. He was supposed to turn people into Pez dispensers by sneaking up behind them and slicing their throat, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Oksana Sigal. Though Grzeslo, 59, did serve in the military, Sigal said he entered the service after the Vietnam War and there was no evidence he had ever killed anyone. Advertisement No evidence, that is, until Oct. 26, 2011. Thats when Sigal says Grzeslo acted upon his throat-cutting fantasy and nearly decapitated his girlfriend, 58-year-old Cathy Ann Carrasco-Zanini, in her Beverly Hills apartment. He was convicted of the killing last month and sentenced Monday to 26 years to life in prison. According to prosecutors, Zanini had few defensive wounds, suggesting that Grzeslo approached her from behind and attacked. Court testimony revealed the couple had no history of domestic violence, but Grzeslo kept a journal where he vented about his paranoid jealousies, Sigal said. He wrote a lot about obsessing about her relationships with other people even with relatives, she said. If Grzeslo saw his girlfriend talking with a man, he would think the man was flirting with her or vice versa, Sigal said. Grzeslo enrolled in anger management classes to help the relationship. But on that October morning, it all fell apart. Authorities arent sure exactly what transpired, but Sigal speculated that Grzeslo had gone to her apartment that morning to confront her about another one of her friendships. The victim was a pretty assertive woman, and he couldnt control her, and she most likely stood her ground, Sigal said. After cutting her throat, Grzeslo fled, authorities said. Carrasco-Zanini managed to write two letters on her apartment wall in blood: JG, Grzeslos initials. I think it aligned with his fantasy of how he killed people. The way he murdered her was almost like cutting her head off, Sigal said. After the slaying, Grzeslo called his son, his brother and then his anger management counselor and said he thinks he killed his girlfriend, Sigal said. Grzeslo was arrested at his anger counselors office after confessing to the slaying a second time to police. Joseph.serna@latimes.com For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter. The Los Angeles Police Commission concluded Tuesday that LAPD officers violated deadly-force rules in two controversial shootings last year, breaking ranks with Police Chief Charlie Beck. The decisions come as commissioners are pushing the LAPD to reduce the number of shootings by officers, prompting department brass to revamp policies and training to emphasize that officers try whenever possible to resolve tense encounters without using their guns. Both of the cases in the commissions Tuesday rulings raised questions about whether the officers could have avoided using deadly force. In one case, a woman armed with a knife was fatally shot by officers. In another, police killed a man who had thrown a beer bottle at their patrol vehicle. Advertisement The commission, a civilian panel that oversees the LAPD, announced that it had faulted both officers who fatally shot James Joseph Byrd in October after a bottle shattered the back window of their police cruiser in Van Nuys. The officers told investigators they believed they had come under fire. In the shooting of Norma Guzman nearly a week earlier, the commission found fault with the tactics and use of deadly force by one of the two officers who shot her as she was walking along a street near downtown while carrying an 8-inch knife. Beck had concluded that both officers who shot Guzman followed the departments policy for using deadly force, according to a written report he sent to the board. The chief also said he believed the initial rounds fired by the officers who shot Byrd fell within policy, but faulted the officers for firing an additional 11 rounds. The review of the shootings coincides with an ongoing national debate over the use of deadly force by officers. Criticism has largely focused on police shootings of African Americans, but the discussion has swelled to include broader calls for law enforcement reform. Byrd, a 45-year-old white man, had a history of schizophrenia, according to his autopsy report. Guzman, a 37-year-old Latina, suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness, attorneys for her family said. Commissioner Steve Soboroff split with his colleagues and found that both officers who shot Guzman were justified in doing so. Soboroff also voted alone in finding that one of the officers who shot Byrd didnt violate the LAPDs deadly force rules, though he agreed the other did. It was very, very hard to make that determination for all of them, he said. Theres possibility for reasonable people to disagree. It is now up to Beck to determine what, if any, punishment to hand down to the officers. Guzmans family, along with local activists, have called for criminal charges against the officers who shot her, questioning why they didnt use less-lethal devices, such as Tasers, before firing their guns. There was no reason to shoot Norma, period, said Arnoldo Casillas, an attorney representing Guzmans mother. Attorneys representing Guzmans family previously released video of the shooting, captured by a nearby security camera. The officers were also wearing body cameras, but videos from those cameras have not been made public. Surveillance camera footage provided by the law firm representing Norma Guzmans family shows the fatal shooting of Guzman by police on Sept. 27, 2015, in downtown Los Angeles. Officers confronted Guzman on Sept. 27, 2015, after someone reported a woman armed with a knife outside a barber shop on South San Pedro Street, according to Becks report to the commission. After spotting Guzman, the officers got out of their police SUV and drew their guns, standing behind another car parked on the street. Guzman walked closer, the blade in her hand. One officer yelled at Guzman to drop the knife video from his body camera indicated he shouted the command six times, according to Becks report. When she was about four feet from one of the officers, both fired their guns. Guzman yelled Shoot me! just before the gunfire, according to the body-camera recording cited in the report. The time-stamped security video, which has no sound, shows the shooting happened about 10 seconds after the first officer exited the SUV. I was afraid that she was going to stab me or cut me with the knife or my partner, one of the officers told investigators, according to Becks report. I had no choice. Beck concluded that it was reasonable for the officers to believe Guzman presented an imminent threat of death or serious injury and thus they were justified in firing their guns. A written summary of the rationale behind the commissions decision had not been made public as of Tuesday night. One of the officers was criticized for not carrying a Taser, despite orders handed down by department brass just days earlier requiring every officer in the field to carry one. The names of the officers were redacted from Becks report and it was unclear which officer was faulted. The LAPD has previously identified the officers who shot Guzman as Samuel Briggs and Antonio McNeely. Jamie McBride, a director for the union that represents rank-and-file officers, criticized the commissions decision, saying the two officers had acted appropriately to protect themselves and others from Guzman. McBride accused commissioners of sending officers a message: You can save your life or you can save your job, but you cant do both. I would have shot that suspect 10 feet away and would have had no issue, he said. I would have gone to bed with no issues at all. Police fatally shot Byrd less than a week later. Two officers were stopped at a red light in Van Nuys when the back window of their patrol car shattered. Fearing they were under fire, they jumped out of the cruiser and shot at a nearby man, Byrd, who they believed was responsible. One officer told investigators he thought Byrd had a gun in his hand. The other said he saw Byrd holding a black object. Police didnt find a gun or a black object. Instead, they determined Byrd had thrown a 40-ounce beer bottle. Beck and the commissioners were critical of the number of rounds 18 in all fired by the officers, which peppered nearby buildings. During the later bursts of gunfire, Beck concluded, it was not reasonable for the officers to believe that Byrd still presented an imminent threat. Byrd was shot six times, according to his autopsy, twice in the back. The LAPD previously identified the officers who shot Byrd as Zackary Goldstein and Andrew Hacoupian. The officers names were also redacted from the report released Tuesday. The Oct. 3 shooting came during heightened tension within the LAPD after a video had circulated on social media showing what police feared was a threat against officers: a person filming an LAPD patrol car, then flashing the camera down to show a revolver. After the shooting, attorney Gary Fullerton said the officers told investigators they thought they were being ambushed because of the video. The LAPD later determined that the video wasnt a threat against officers but a promotional clip filmed by an early 1990s rap group trying to make a comeback. On Tuesday, Fullerton said he believed the officers were unfairly judged despite the totality of the circumstances the video, hearing what they believed was gunfire and then seeing something in Byrds hand. They believed they were being attacked, Fullerton said. It turned out they were wrong, and thats a tragedy. I dont think the officers deserved to be punished for making a reasonable decision based on the facts that they knew. Guzman and Byrd were among the 36 people shot by on-duty LAPD officers last year. Twenty-one of them were killed. This year, on-duty LAPD officers have shot 17 people, according to a Times analysis. Fourteen of those people died. kate.mather@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @katemather ALSO One pilot dead, a second injured in U-2 spy plane crash in rural Northern California Mother of woman who died after being found unconscious in LAPD jail files legal claim Wildfire near Vandenberg Air Force Base swells to over 10,000 acres; Soberanes fire sets cost record UPDATES: 8:50 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from a commissioner, lawyers, a union representative and more details about each of the shootings and Becks analysis. 2:50 p.m.: This story was updated with more details about the number of people shot by LAPD officers. This story was originally published at 2:30 p.m. An Oakland police officer and a former Contra Costa County sheriffs deputy were formally charged with sex crimes Monday stemming from allegations made by a teenage trafficking victim who has said she slept with dozens of Bay Area law enforcement officers, according to court records. Giovani LoVerde, 34, and Ricardo Perez, 28, were both charged with felony oral copulation with a minor and would be forced to register as sex offenders if convicted, according to court documents released by the Alameda County district attorneys office. Perez also faces two charges of engaging in lewd conduct in public. Another Oakland police officer, Brian Bunton, 40, was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly leaking information about planned prostitution raids to the teenager in exchange for sex. Advertisement Two other officers were formally charged with crimes linked to the scandal last week, and two more are expected to be charged, according to the district attorneys office. Perez and LoVerde are set to be arraigned Sept. 30. Bunton is due in court Friday. Attempts to contact the officers and their attorneys have been unsuccessful. The charges are the latest turn in a sex crimes scandal that has roiled the Bay Area law enf orcement community for months. Oakland officials say they have been investigating the controversy for more than a year, but the matter gained national attention in June, when 19-year-old Jasmine Abuslin said in a televised news interview that she had sex with at least a dozen Oakland police officers. In all, four Oakland police officers have been fired and seven others have been suspended as a result. The revelations could also prolong federal oversight of the agency, which has operated under a court-appointed watchdog since 2003 to settle a brutality scandal. The Times does not normally identify the victims of sex crimes, but Abuslins name has been widely publicized by her attorneys and she appeared in public during a news conference last week. According to court documents filed by the district attorneys office, Perez admitted having sex with the teen several times in the summer of 2015, including at least one encounter when she would have been 17 years old. Abuslin did not turn 18 until Aug. 25, 2015, according to public records. She told investigators she had sex with Perez, a former Contra Costa County sheriffs deputy, about 10 times in the Oakland Hills in June or July 2015, when she was 17 years old, according to court documents. Perez told detectives he had sex with her between 5 to 7 days after Aug. 18, 2015, a time frame that would place the sex acts very close to the date of Abuslins 18th birthday, according to a court declaration filed by the district attorneys office. Two of the sex acts occurred in a public place, according to the document. LoVerde, who has been identified as an Oakland police officer, is charged with receiving oral sex from the teen inside an apartment entryway near Lake Merritt in Oakland in July 2015, according to court records. She would have been 17 at the time of that encounter. He told investigators he never met her in person, according to a probable cause statement filed by the district attorneys office. Prosecutors accused Bunton of warning the victim about a planned prostitution raid along International Boulevard, one of Oaklands most infamous prostitution strolls, on March 5, 2016, according to court records. The teen provided investigators with screenshots of her communications with Bunton, who was nicknamed Superman in her cellphone contacts list, to support her claims. Prosecutors contend she performed a sex act on Bunton in exchange for the warning, according to court records. Bunton was also charged with agreeing to engage in prostitution based on a March 7, 2015, text message exchange with her. In the messages, Bunton told her she needed a better manager after she complained about not making enough money as a sex worker, according to a probable cause statement. An email sent to a spokesperson for the city of Oakland inquiring about the work status of the officers was not immediately returned. City officials have declined to name the officers who were fired as part of an internal review of the scandal, citing state laws that protect the privacy of officers accused of departmental misconduct. james.queally@latimes.com For more breaking crime and cops news in Southern California, follow me on Twitter: @JamesQueallyLAT ALSO San Jose State student drowns in Sequoia National Park during school trip Man who cut out girlfriends heart and lung in motel bathroom sentenced to life without parole Long Beach police release video of person of interest in mysterious August slayings of mother, daughter The mother of a woman who died earlier this year after being found unconscious in a downtown Los Angeles jail has filed a $35-million legal claim against the city, setting the stage for a lawsuit. Lisa Hines spoke to reporters Tuesday morning outside the jail where her daughter, Wakiesha Wilson, was held, demanding more information about Wilsons death. She was joined by Carl Douglas, a prominent civil rights attorney who filed the claim on Hines behalf. We are hopeful that this claim for damages will be the first step for answering the questions of how and why Wakiesha Wilson lost her life far too soon, Douglas said. Advertisement Wilson died at a hospital on the morning of March 27, about an hour after she was found hanging from a piece of cloth tied to a phone cord in her jail cell, according to an autopsy report from the L.A. County coroners office. Coroners officials deemed her death a suicide. Wilsons relatives and local activists have questioned that account, saying the 36-year-old sounded upbeat when she spoke to her mother on the phone earlier that morning. They have also criticized the Los Angeles Police Department for a delay in notifying Wilsons family, saying they learned Wilson had died only after she didnt appear in court days later. Department critics have packed the Police Commissions weekly meetings, chanting Wilsons name as they pressed for more details about the events leading up to her death. The LAPD is investigating, which is standard protocol for all deaths that occur in police custody. The Police Commission will ultimately review the case to determine whether officers followed department rules while Wilson was in custody. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday that the department would present its investigation to the commission in the near future. Officers arrested Wilson shortly before 1 a.m. on March 26 after she allegedly assaulted a patient at a downtown L.A. medical facility, LAPD officials have said. She was booked at the LAPDs Metropolitan Detention Center on suspicion of felony battery. Shortly before 8:30 a.m. on March 27, jailers checked Wilsons cell and discovered she was unconscious and not breathing, the LAPD said. Paramedics took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead about an hour later. According to the claim filed this week, Wilson called her mother from jail the day she was booked and then again the next morning, talking about her upcoming court date and saying she looked forward to coming home. She promised to call again later that day to wish her aunt a happy birthday and speak to her 13-year-old son, Douglas said. The call never came. Hines went to court two days later, expecting to see her daughter. Days later, she learned from the coroners office that her daughter had died, not long after they spoke on the phone. Hines is unwilling to accept the coroners determination that her daughter died in a suicide, according to the claim. She believes that Wilson was involved in some sort of an altercation with a staff member at the jail that led to her death, according to the document. Beck said in June that investigators were not aware of any altercation between Wilson and jail personnel. The claim also accused the city of not properly training jailers or police officers in detecting the existence of mental or emotional disabilities in detainees whom they interview following their arrest, saying they should have learned that Wilson had a history of mental and/or emotional disabilities. At the end of Tuesdays news conference, a group of activists began chanting Wilsons name. Say her name! the crowd yelled. Hines locked hands with her family. Wakiesha Wilson! they shouted back. kate.mather@latimes.com Twitter: @katemather ALSO One pilot dead, a second injured in U-2 spy plane crash in rural Northern California Wildfire near Vandenberg Air Force Base swells to over 10,000 acres; Soberanes fire sets cost record Camp Pendleton Marine dies three days after he was mysteriously shot and left for dead in South L.A. Vladimir Putin is the man to watch on the global stage these days, the assertive Russian president who casts himself as a peacemaker even as he plays a troublemaker. From cyberspace to the Middle East, he has reset large parts of the international agenda and kept the White House and its allies off balance and often playing catch-up, as he trades compliments with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. For the record: This story incorrectly states that Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to address the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23. Putin did not attend the U.N. gathering. Russias foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is scheduled to speak there instead. Putin wants to restore Russias influence in the world to what it was in the Soviet times, said Cliff Kupchan, a Russia expert and chairman of the Eurasia Group, a risk-analysis organization based in New York and Washington. Advertisement Thus Putins speech Friday at the United Nations General Assembly, the largest of global stages, will be closely watched for possible clues to his plans and aspirations. Putins year-old military intervention in Syria already has upended the balance of power in the bloody civil war. It has saved the embattled president, Bashar Assad, who President Obama said had to go, and put Russia increasingly in control of Syrias future. Putin now is trying to wrest from Washington its long-standing, virtually exclusive role as mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to talks in Moscow next month. Both have accepted. The White House, which tried and failed to broker a peace deal in Obamas first term, has been left on the sidelines. He is committed to taking advantage of the opportunities where he can to enhance Russias global role and against anything that can look like a loss, said James Collins, U.S. ambassador to Moscow from 1997 to 2001 and now a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Despite a battered domestic economy, Putin has largely succeeded in his ambition to make Russia a world power again. He has repeatedly stepped in where U.S. policy has failed, been ineffective or is nonexistent, analysts say. That helps explain Putins decision to annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and his military support for pro-Russian insurgents in the former Soviet state, destabilizing the elected government in Kiev. Those moves made him a pariah in the West, but sent his popularity soaring back home. Moscow and Washington cooperated in negotiating a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, but Putin then irked the White House by boosting defense ties to Tehran. Russian bombers even briefly used an Iranian air base to launch attacks on opposition forces in Syria this summer. People who have spent time with Putin say he genuinely dislikes and distrusts the United States. His attitude was formed by what he perceives as slights, such as the U.S.-backed expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance all the way to Russias borders. U.S. intelligence officials believe Putin has sanctioned cyberattacks on U.S. political institutions and figures, just as U.S. spy agencies secretly conduct digital surveillance of Russian political leaders. Whats different is the U.S. emails have been repeatedly leaked, including an extensive hack of the Democratic National Committee. U.S. officials speculate that Putin, who denies a role in the attacks, is seeking to undermine faith in the U.S. political system. Syria has emerged as the greatest example of Putins resurgent Russia seizing the initiative. Syria is home to Russias only naval base in foreign waters and is Moscows chief ally in the Middle East. In mid-2015, after four years of war, Assads air force was running out of pilots and ammunition as Islamist fighters and U.S.-backed rebels pushed into Assads northwest strongholds. By September, U.S. intelligence officials believed Assads hold on power was slipping. While damage to his forces was reversible, U.S. analysts believed a point of no return was approaching. Putin made the same assessment, and decided to send Russian warplanes, armored vehicles and other forces to support Assads military, said a U.S. official who described intelligence on condition of anonymity. Russian airstrikes against opposition forces, as well as civilian targets, boosted morale for Syrias security forces. Moscow also helped marshal ground forces from Iran and Hezbollah, which took pressure off Assad and allowed his troops to rearm and regroup. With Assads forces regaining territory, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov negotiated a cease-fire in Syria last week. The fragile accord puts Russia in the position of adjudicating violations, giving it equal weight to the United States. Putins military gamble in Syria thus ended Russias diplomatic isolation since annexing Crimea two years ago. Russia has really inserted itself in the Middle East political process in a way that it really hasnt since the Cold War, said Dmitry Gorenburg, an expert on Russia at CNA, a nonprofit think tank based in Arlington, Va. In Syria, Moscow signaled that we have allies and if they need help we will come to their assistance, Gorenburg said. Russia has used the war to showcase its advances in military hardware, from cruise missiles to satellite-guided munitions. It is moving an aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, off the Syrian coast to launch airstrikes, showing its ability to deploy jets from the sea. Russian assistance to Assad has its limits, however. Putin has been unwilling so far to lend Russian air power to a full-scale assault to retake Islamic State and opposition strongholds in eastern Syria. Putin thus hasnt solved the broader conundrum of how to end the fighting and who could rule Syria, CIA Director John Brennan said during a security conference in July. I see Putin playing checkers here when this is really a five-dimensional chess game, Brennan said. I think hes used brute force, whether you talk about Ukraine or youre talking about Syria. And hes hoping that the chips are going to fall in the right place, Brennan said. Now, I think hes been able to achieve a fair amount of tactical progress, but as far as the longer-term effort, my moneys still on the United States. Perhaps emboldened by his progress in Syria, Putin has taken on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the dilemma that has bedeviled generations of diplomats. Early this month, Putin sent his deputy foreign minister to Jerusalem to invite Netanyahu and Abbas to a summit in Moscow. Even if the effort fails, as analysts expect, it marks another challenge to U.S. primacy and another step in Russias push for global power status. This initiative reflects Russias intention of gaining the upper hand in the Middle East and improving its relations with Arab countries, former Israeli diplomat Zvi Magen and retired army Gen. Udi Dekel wrote in an analysis for the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. At the same time, Russia wants to prove once again that it is succeeding in brokering processes where the United States and the West have failed. For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter ALSO Global leaders pledge more help for refugees; critics say pledges are not enough Waging war on Islamic State: The first step is to drop hundreds of boxes of leaflets The Philippines drug addicts, shunned by society and hunted by assassins, find they have nowhere to turn Gun rights advocates have a new hero. Jason Falconer, a part-time police officer who killed an attacker wielding a knife Saturday at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, Minn., earned high praise from local officials as well as his own trending hashtag on Twitter. He was put in unfortunate circumstances. I believe there was divine intervention, Corey Nellis, the police chief in the neighboring city of Avon, said at a news conference Monday. I think he was the person that needed to be there to prevent it from being worse than it was. Falconer was reported to be shopping Saturday when Dahir Adan entered the mall and began stabbing people. At least nine were wounded by the time Falconer intervened. Advertisement St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said surveillance footage shows the suspect go down and come back up three times as Falconer fires his weapon. An expert marksman, Falconer quickly became an icon in the debate over gun rights, a real-life example of the long-touted and much-disputed argument that an armed citizenry makes society safer. In the rhetoric of gun rights advocates, he was the proverbial good guy with a gun. Jason Falconer is a gun owner, #NRA-certified instructor, and owner of a shooting range; a good guy with a gun, the NRA tweeted Monday. Liz Sheld, a gun-rights advocate who goes by Assault Weapon Lizzy on Twitter, blogged on the website PJ Media that the mainstream press often tries to hush up any stories that follow the good guy with gun stops bad guy with a gun narrative. Especially when the good guy trains other good guys. Falconer ducked publicity as officials asked people to respect his privacy. But his credentials rapidly spread across the Internet and social media. For the last 13 years, he has been the owner and president of Tactical Advantage Firearms Training as well as a licensed instructor there. He is also a former police chief in the nearby city of Albany and a competitive shooter. If I was going to ask anybody to fire live rounds in a crowded mall, I would trust his abilities next to anybodys, Nellis told reporters. Firearms experts said that level of skill only comes with extensive training. Marc Holley, who runs Atlas Defense, a firearms training business in Minneapolis, said the good-guy-with-a-gun argument only holds up if the good guy has been trained to shoot from various distances, take into account whats behind the intended target and communicate with law enforcement to avoid being mistaken for the bad guy. There is a whole judgment process on making the decision to fire the weapon, said Holley, who was a Marine reservist for eight years and served in Afghanistan. Without training, some people freeze, he said, adding that an emphasis on the constitutional rights of gun owners has overshadowed the necessity of training. Holley said that Falconers participation in the U.S. Practical Shooters Assn. is evidence of how good a tactician he is. Albany Police Chief Osvaldo Carbajal, who took over for Falconer more than three years ago, said people who want to protect themselves should not stop with getting a gun and a concealed weapon permit. People should not just take the basic course, but should have continued training, he said. Its a perishable skill. Proficiency with a firearm is a skill and you have to use it and practice with it regularly. david.montero@latimes.com Twitter: @davemontero Cities and counties across the country have paid millions in recent years to settle lawsuits filed by families of people killed or mistreated by police. The latest big payout this time to the family of Sandra Bland, a black woman found dead in a Texas jail cell after getting pulled over for a routine traffic stop was announced last week. Heres a look at her case and a few others settled within the last five months, which add up to more than $17 million. Tokunbo Adenekan of Baltimore holds a sign during a candlelight vigil in Chicago in July to mark the one-year anniversary of Sandra Blands death. (Chris Sweda / Associated Press) (Test) Sandra Bland: $1.9 million Waller County, Texas What happened: Three days after her July 10, 2015, arrest following a routine traffic stop in a small city northwest of Houston, Bland was found hanging by a plastic bag in her jail cell. Dash-cam video from the arrest, which went viral, captured an argument between Bland, 28, who was black, and Brian T. Encinia, the white Texas state trooper who shouted, I will light you up! before arresting her. Blands death has been ruled a suicide a finding disputed by her family and civil rights activists. The aftermath: In January, a grand jury indicted Encinia on perjury charges after determining that he had lied about why he removed Bland from the vehicle during the traffic stop. Encinia, who was fired, has pleaded not guilty. The settlement: The agreement, which ends a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Blands relatives against Waller County, also requires the county to have a nurse or emergency medical technician at the county jail during all shifts. The county denies any wrongdoing in Blands death. The city of Chicago agreed to pay more than $4.9 million to the family of Philip Coleman, who was dragged handcuffed from his cell by police in an incident captured on video. (Chicago Police Department) (Test) Philip Coleman: $4.95 million Chicago What happened: After his December 12, 2012, arrest on suspicion of attacking his mother, Philip Coleman spent the night in a holding cell at the police station. The next morning in an interaction captured on video Coleman got into an argument with several officers and was shocked with a Taser. One of the jailers can then be seen dragging Colemans limp, handcuffed body out of the cell. He was taken to a hospital where, according to his autopsy, he died after reacting to an anti-psychotic drug. His body, the autopsy found, was covered in bruises. The aftermath: Chicagos police oversight agency last month called for suspensions ranging from 28 days to 120 days for six police department employees involved in the incident. The settlement: The city admitted no wrongdoing under the agreement approved in the spring. Demonstrators in Cleveland protest the police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. (Tony Dejak / Associated Press) (Test) Tamir Rice: $6 million Cleveland What happened: In November 2014, Cleveland police got a 911 call about someone brandishing a pistol the weapon, the caller said, was probably fake. Soon afterward in an incident captured on camera a cruiser pulled into a park and, within seconds, Tamir Rice, 12, slumped to the ground. The killing of Tamir, who was black, by a white officer became a rallying cry in the Black Lives Matter movement. The aftermath: Half a year after the shooting, Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice, which had earlier concluded that the police force had a pattern of using unnecessary force, agreed to a settlement requiring the department to change its use-of-force policy. In December, a grand jury decided not to indict the Cleveland officer who killed Tamir. Last week, 150 miles away in Columbus, police shot and killed a 13-year-old carrying a BB gun. The settlement: The city agreed in August to pay $6 million half of it this year, the other half next year to settle the lawsuit filed by Tamirs estate against the city and the officers involved in Tamirs death. A poster in New York announces a protest march a year after the shooting death of Akai Gurley. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) (Test) Akai Gurley: $4.5 million New York City What happened: On Nov. 20, 2014, a rookie cop fired his gun into a dark stairwell in a Brooklyn housing project. The bullet ricocheted off a wall before piercing the heart of 28-year-old Akai Gurley, an unarmed black man. The aftermath: Former New York Police Officer Peter Liang, who is Chinese American, was convicted of manslaughter in February and later sentenced to five years probation. The killing and conviction the first of an NYPD officer for an on-duty death in more than a decade drew impassioned cries of racial injustice from both the African American and Asian American communities. The settlement: Under the agreement, which was described by a spokesman for the citys law department as a fair resolution of a tragic matter, Liang will pay $25,000 to Gurleys family. The city is paying $4.1 million and the New York Housing Authority is paying $400,000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. marisa.gerber@latimes.com Twitter: @marisagerber A fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man by a white officer has reopened fresh wounds in this city with a fraught history among African Americans, white residents and police officers. A graphic police video shows Terence Crutcher, 40, being fatally shot by a police officer Friday night as he walks with his hands up toward his SUV, stalled out in the middle of the road. The incident quickly became the latest flashpoint in a string of controversial police shootings of black Americans. Protesters chanted Tuesday evening in downtown Tulsa, the ACLU asked that criminal charges be filed against the officer, and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said news of the shooting was unbearable. Advertisement Congressman: Eerie similarities between New York/New Jersey terror plot and Boston Marathon bombing We have got to tackle systemic racism, Clinton said on The Steve Harvey Morning Show. This horrible shooting again. How many times do we have to see this in our country? An attorney for Officer Betty Shelby, who shot Crutcher after responding to a dispatch call about an abandoned car, said Crutcher failed to heed police commands and that she and another officer, Tyler Turnbough, felt threatened and fired simultaneously. Turnbough used a stun gun. The citys police chief, who released both helicopter and dash-cam video of the shooting, called the images disturbing and vowed to achieve justice. Protesters quickly demanded that Shelby be fired, and the Crutcher family called for criminal charges against the officer, who has been put on routine administrative leave. The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation and local authorities are independently investigating the shooting. The last moments of life for Crutcher, a father of four who was on his way home from a class at Tulsa Community College, began with a pair of 911 calls reporting an abandoned car with its engine running and doors open in the middle of the road. I got out and was like, Do you need help? reported one caller, who said Crutcher took off running after asking her to come here, come here, and saying the car was going to blow up. I think hes smoking something, the same caller said. WARNING: This video contains graphic content. Tulsa police released several police car and helicopter videos after Terence Crutcher, an unarmed 40-year-old black man, was fatally shot by a white police officer. Police videos show Crutcher walking toward his SUV with his hands up. Four officers, three male and one female, approach Crutcher he walks to the drivers side and seems to lower his hands and put them on the car. The dash-cam video is blocked by officers, and Crutcher is partially blocked by his own car in the the helicopter video, making it difficult to see his movements. A man in the helicopter video suggests its time for a Taser before saying, That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something. Within seconds, Crutcher drops to the ground. Shots fired! a woman yells on police radio as officers slowly back away while holding their guns up. Officers wait more than two minutes before approaching Crutcher again. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police say the videos did not capture Shelby arriving on the scene because she did not turn her dash cam on. Shelbys attorney, Scott Wood, says that when she showed up and asked Crutcher whether the car was his, he did not respond. Crutcher put his hands in his pockets as he walked toward her, then removed them and put his hands up before walking toward the back of her patrol car and putting his hands back in his pockets, Wood said. He said she planned to arrest Crutcher, who she thought was intoxicated, and called dispatch. Crutcher did not comply when Shelby took out her gun and told him to get on his knees, but instead walked toward his car, the attorney said. Wood said Shelby fired her gun at the same time that Turnbough fired a Taser at Crutcher because she had tunnel vision and did not realize other officers had arrived on scene. When unarmed people of color break down on the side of the road, were not treated as citizens needing help. Were treated as, I guess, criminals suspects that they fear, said Benjamin Crump, one of the attorneys representing the Crutcher family. David Riggs, another family attorney, said there was nothing in the video to suggest Crutcher was dangerous. Riggs said he was seeking an immediate meeting with the district attorney. The Crutcher family doesnt want this ignored or swept under the rug or allowed to just go without being addressed, Riggs said. Police and the Crutcher family, which through attorneys has cautiously praised police for quickly releasing videos and audio of the shooting, have differed on key parts of Crutchers last moments: whether he disobeyed police or not, and whether he was reaching into his car. In initial reports, police said Crutcher was not following officers commands. But speaking to media Monday, Tulsa police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie said she wasnt sure what Crutcher did that made police shoot. Asked why Crutcher wasnt given immediate medical aid, MacKenzie said she was unsure. I dont know that we have protocol on how to render aid to people, she said. Police said they found PCP in Crutchers car but family attorneys, while not confirming that discovery, dismissed the possibility as playing a role in his death. A toxicology report is pending. Attorneys also contend that Crutchers drivers side window was up and left smeared with blood after he was shot, suggesting that police had no reason to fear him reaching into the car for a weapon. At a news conference, attorneys displayed enlarged and enhanced photos from the videos where the SUVs drivers side window appeared to be up. Police statements and a statement from Shelbys attorney say she shot because she feared Crutcher was reaching into his car for a weapon. Crutchers twin sister, Tiffany, choked up as she spoke to the media over the weekend and echoed the chants of the Black Lives Matter movement, saying her brothers life mattered. Just know that our voices will be heard. Lets protest. Lets do what we have to do, but lets just make sure that we do it peacefully, said Tiffany Crutcher, who celebrated a birthday with her brother a month ago. At a protest Tuesday evening, dozens of people turned out holding signs and calling for Shelbys firing. Fire! one person yelled as protesters responded with Betty. Protesters held signs saying silence is consent and white silence is violence, while holding their hands up in the air. Amanda Ruyle, 37, was at the protest with her 12-year-old son, Miles Fletcher-Ruyle. A lot of my white relatives stay quiet and staying quiet makes you compliant, said Ruyle. Tulsa is a pretty segregated city. Poor people and people of color dont have a lot of power. Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, called for criminal charges and said the shooting underscored how little regard police have for minorities in Tulsa. Police tactics in Tulsa, the second-largest city in Oklahoma, have come under increased scrutiny. The shooting comes four months after Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a manslaughter charge after shooting and killing Eric Harris, an unarmed black man, during an undercover operation in 2015. The white reserve deputy said he mistakenly reached for his gun instead of his Taser. That kind of conviction is rare. According to a Tulsa World database, there have been 162 fatal police shootings including 24 involving Tulsa police since 2007. Only two, including the shooting by Bates, led to criminal convictions. Of deadly police shootings in Tulsa, 29% of victims were black. The citys black population stands at 11%. The scars of a 1921 race riot in which white individuals attacked the black community, destroying businesses and leaving many homeless, are also still felt in Tulsa, where schools still teach history lessons on the incident. The death toll was estimated to be between 50 and 300, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. Dewey Morrow, who owns D&F Mini Mart in Greenwood, the site of the historic riot, says he doesnt understand how the incident Friday escalated from a car breaking down to a man being shot to death. What turned? How did it turn and why was deadly force used? the 58-year-old African American said. He had his hands up. There was nothing in that situation that wouldnt suggest to you or I that the police officer wouldnt help you. jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com Kaleem reported from Los Angeles. Special correspondent Eaton reported from Tulsa. ALSO North Carolina officer fatally shoots armed man, police say; protesters come out The sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets: A scrawled journal found with New York bombing suspect $1.9-million settlement in Sandra Bland death is the latest big payout in police-misconduct lawsuits UPDATES: 5:55 p.m.: Updated with comments from Officer Betty Shelbys attorney and protest details. This article was originally published at 4:15 p.m. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo described the bombing in Manhattan on Saturday night as obviously an act of terrorism even without evidence of the attackers motive. But the citys mayor, Bill de Blasio, hesitated at first to use that label. On Sunday, with the perpetrator still on the loose, he called the bombing an intentional act and a very bad incident but said there was no evidence of a connection to a terrorist group. To understand any specific motivation, political motivations, any connection to an organization, thats what we dont know, he said. Advertisement His reluctance to use the word terrorism quickly became fodder for Donald Trump supporters to criticize Democrats for political correctness and weakness in taking on the countrys enemies. The Republican presidential nominee has criticized President Obama for avoiding the term radical Islamic terrorism, arguing that acknowledging the problem is the first step to combating it. President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump all had something to say on the recent attacks on the East Coast. But determining whether an attack is terrorism can be far from simple. Federal law defines terrorism as an intentional act that endangers life and is designed to coerce or intimidate the population, influence government policy or affect the conduct of the government. In other words, for an attack to qualify as terrorism, it has to be more than just terrifying. It requires a broader political motive. By that definition, De Blasio had a point. The bombing, which occurred in the neighborhood of Chelsea, injured 29 people and spread fear. But in the immediate aftermath, before there was a suspect, it was difficult to say much with any certainty. How is someone rational supposed to call it terrorism without knowing who did it, let alone their motive??? tweeted Glenn Greenwald, the journalist and lawyer who has reported extensively on U.S. and British surveillance. Even Monday, after Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was identified as a suspect and taken into custody, it was unclear whether he drew inspiration from a foreign terrorist group, had direct links with such a group or had some other motive. Investigators said there was no evidence that he was part of a broader terrorist cell. This year, when the Los Angeles Times used government and police reports, terrorism databases, news accounts and independent reporting to compile the worldwide toll of terrorism deaths in the month of April, classifying violence sometimes proved difficult. In some cases, there was simply not enough information to say that a killing wasnt something other than terrorism a personal dispute or the work of criminals who arent motivated by ideology. In the clearest examples of terrorism, an attacker leave little doubt about motive. The killers in San Bernardino last year, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, swore allegiance to the Islamic State militant group, as did Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people in an Orlando, Fla., nightclub in June. Other instances are fuzzier. Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the attacker who killed 84 people with a truck in the French city of Nice in July, had developed a fascination with Islamic State, French prosecutors have said. But they havent found evidence that he pledged allegiance to the group. Then there are instances when a terrorist group claims acts of violence when the perpetrators have left it unclear. Such was the case Saturday night at a Minnesota shopping mall, where Dahir Adan stabbed nine people before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer. Adan was a soldier of the Islamic State, according to Amaq, the groups news agency. It is not the first time the organization has used that term to describe so-called lone wolves who were perhaps inspired by the group but have no direct connection. What is clear is that the use of the word terrorism has become highly political. Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? Trump tweeted after the Orlando massacre. Obama avoids that language, instead saying that America is at war with people who have perverted Islam, and that Islamic State isnt representative of Islam. In December, Clinton seemed to agree, telling a television interviewer that using the term made it sound like we are declaring war against a religion. Days after the Orlando attack, however, she altered course. To me, radical jihadism, radical Islamism, I think they mean the same thing. Im happy to say either, she said in an NBC interview. Campaigning Monday, Clinton and Trump accused each other of worsening the threat of future terrorist attacks. Trump said Clintons weakness had emboldened international terrorists. Clinton said that Trumps rhetoric made it easier for Islamic State to recruit followers but that he had no plan to defeat the group. Some analysts saw De Blasios caution in labeling the New York attack as a boost to Trumps campaign. If Trump wins the election, a persistent resistance to calling terrorism terrorism will be a major reason why, tweeted the politics editor at the National Journal, Josh Kraushaar. By Monday, De Blasio had changed his take. That morning, he edged closer to using the word terrorism, telling ABCs Good Morning America: Its definitely leaning in that direction, the more we know. At a news conference later in the day, he said, We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror. robyn.dixon@latimes.com Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT ALSO Suspect in New York-area bombings had traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan What we know so far about bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami Trump and Clinton responses to bombs offer voters a stark contrast on national security Hillary Clinton calls shooting of unarmed black man in Oklahoma intolerable (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) Hillary Clinton condemned the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Oklahoma last week, using the incident to reignite calls for criminal justice reform and to highlight racial biases in policing. In an interview on the Steve Harvey Morning Show Tuesday, Clinton called the shooting of Terence Crutcher, 40, unbearable and intolerable. Video footage shows Crutcher was unarmed with his hands visible when he was shot by Tulsa, Okla., police officers after his car broke down along a rural road, This horrible shooting again. How many times do we have to see this in our country? Clinton asked. In Tulsa? An unarmed man? With his hands in the air? I mean, this is just unbearable and it needs to be intolerable. Clinton, who has emphasized that police departments should reflect the communities they serve, said more must be done to curb racial bias. You know, maybe I can, by speaking directly to white people, say, Look, this is not who we are. Weve got to do everything possible to improve policing, to go right at implicit bias, Clinton said. There are good, honorable, cool-headed police officers. ... We can do better. We have got to rein in what is absolutely inexplicable, and weve got to have law enforcement respect communities and communities respect law enforcement because they have to work together. Another unarmed Black man was shot in a police incident. This should be intolerable. We have so much work to do. #TerenceCrutcher -H Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 20, 2016 Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has so far not commented on the shooting. Trump has called himself the law-and-order candidate and last week secured the endorsement of the National Fraternal Order of Police, the nations largest police union. Police are the most mistreated people in this country, Trump said at a GOP debate in January. We have to give power back to the police because crime is rampant. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump get face time with foreign leaders in New York Hillary Clinton meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP-Getty Images) As Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump vie to represent U.S. interests around the world, they had a series of dry runs on Monday with foreign leaders who were in town for the United Nations General Assembly. Based on accounts from campaign officials and reporters who were able to glimpse snippets of the meetings, it was clear that Clinton, a former secretary of State under President Obama, had more experience than Trump, a New York businessman. It really is a great pleasure to see you here again, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Clinton during their meeting. He expressed his sympathy for the recent bombings in New York and New Jersey, and talked about trying to create a society where women can shine. Clinton, who would be the first female U.S. president, thanked Abe and praised him for promoting the inclusion of women in the economic, social and political life of your country. Both Clinton and Trump sat down with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, separately, of course. Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi on Monday. (Dominick Reuter / AFP-Getty Images) Trump expressed support for Egypts struggles with domestic terrorism and noted his high regard for peace-loving Muslims, according to a description from his campaign. Its unclear whether they discussed Trumps proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, an idea he has recently recast as extreme vetting. Clintons campaign said she talked with Sisi about counter-terrorism cooperation and raised concerns about human rights violations in Egypt. Clinton also met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, whose country has been locked in a tug of war with Russia. Poroshenkos predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, had closer ties with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who Trump has praised despite his autocratic reputation. I am looking forward to our discussion about Ukraines progress, the challenges you face, the very real problems and threats from Russian aggression, and anxious to know how we can be supportive of those efforts, Clinton told Poroshenko. When UK-based photographer David Kittos posted a photo of Skittles to Flickr in January 2010, he didn't know it would spark a U.S. presidential campaign controversy six years later. And as a former refugee, he told the BBC, he's not happy that his photo is being used by Donald Trump's campaign to warn against Syrian war refugees. "In 1974, when I was six-years old, I was a refugee from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus, so I would never approve the use of this image against refugees, Kittos said. The photographer said the picture, which was widely circulated after Donald Trump Jr. posted it on Twitter, was used without his permission. Its labeled on his Flickr page as All rights reserved, which by definition means the copyright holder has the authority to distribute the work. "This was six years ago when there were no Syrian refugees at the time and it was never done with the intention of spreading a political message," he said. Kittos said he doesnt know if hell take legal action. The makers of Skittles signaled their own distaste for the Trump post. "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," a spokeswoman for the candy's parent company, Wrigley, said in a statement. "We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing." For the record, as the Washington Post noted, the Trump post is grossly misleading. The odds of being killed by a refugee in a terrorist attack are about 1 in more than 3.6 billion, according to a recent Cato Institute study. At the end of this month, the U.S. government is set to give up the last remaining shred of symbolic control it wields over the Internet. Thats a good thing, although the change is so minor, Internet users will be hard-pressed to notice it. Nevertheless, some congressional Republicans are trying to stop the hand-off, arguing that the Obama administrations plan would cede control of the Internet to the likes of Russia, China and Iran. Its curious to see lawmakers who are otherwise zealous promoters of deregulation and free markets argue against privatizing the worlds most important communications medium. More important, theyre wrong about the facts and wrong about the effect of stopping the planned transition. Simply put, the U.S. government doesnt control any aspect of the Internet today, and it hasnt for years. Yes, an entity it nominally supervises the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority manages the master online address list that organizes the virtual location of sites and services online. And that master list helps assure that the Internet remains an interconnected whole, not splintered into separate regional networks with incompatible addresses and protocols a key factor in the Internets transformative power. But the federal government turned over management of the numbers authority long ago to a California not-for-profit organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Significantly, ICANN was created to transfer issues related to Internet addresses and traffic management from the U.S. government into the hands of Internet stakeholders online service providers, data equipment vendors, user groups and the like. Advertisement Under a plan worked out over the last two years, the administration is scheduled to hand permanent control over the authority to ICANN after the current contract ends on Sept. 30. But critics led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) argue that doing so would throw the Internet to the wolves, that is, to the leaders of repressive regimes that want to censor and manipulate the Internet. As part of a must-pass spending bill for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, Cruz and company want to block the transfer by denying it funding. Make no mistake, preserving a free and open Internet should be one of Washingtons top priorities. Cruzs argument, however, is ridiculous. The only role the U.S. government plays today is an administrative one, checking to make sure that ICANN follows the correct procedures before any changes to the master list of domains can go into effect. Thats hardly the Internets last defense against the tyranny of despots. Yet in the wake of Edward Snowdens revelations about U.S. snooping on global data traffic, a number of less-than-friendly regimes have cited Washingtons involvement in the numbering authority as reason to give the rest of the worlds governments more control over all aspects of the Internet. Thats one of the main reasons the Obama administration has sought to turn the numbering authority over to ICANN to keep the United Nations or some other intergovernmental organization from claiming authority over the Internet. In response to the administrations demands for better accountability, ICANN has come up with a plan that gives Internet stakeholders the power to remove ICANN board members who dont carry out their wishes when it comes to domain names and addresses. Governments from around the world could continue to advise ICANN, but those recommendations wouldnt compel a response from the board unless they were effectively unanimous, giving the U.S. what amounts to veto power over hostile proposals made by other countries. That transition plan is supported by major Internet companies, their trade associations and many tech advocacy groups. If the administration backed away from it now, it would damage U.S. credibility and embolden countries eager to put the Internets technical functions under the control of world governments a move that could give countries the tools to censor content outside their borders and fragment the Internet into regional data enclaves. It could also prompt a replay of the foreign backlash against U.S. companies that the Snowden revelations triggered three years ago, when some foreign buyers concerned about Washingtons involvement in the Internet turned away from U.S. high-tech products. In other words, Cruzs crusade to maintain the limited amount of supervision the federal government exercises over Internet addresses could yield the exact opposite of what he says he wants to accomplish. Repressive regimes already wield excessive but imperfect control over the Internet within their borders. To prevent them from gaining even more leverage over global data traffic, the best route is to limit all governments role in the management of Internet names and addresses. Congress should let the administration give up what little ministerial power it holds over the Internets technical functions and allow a more accountable ICANN to move forward. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook California, to its credit, has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country. And they got a bit tougher this summer after Gov. Jerry Brown signed six bills which, among other things, required instant background checks for people seeking to buy ammunition, banned most people from owning high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 cartridges and barred bullet buttons that make it easier to reload semi-automatic rifles. Now, with Proposition 63, voters have the opportunity to impose additional restrictions. Despite a few niggling concerns, we encourage a yes vote on Proposition 63 to send a loud and clear message to the pro-gun lobby that California voters want more, not fewer, limits on access to firearms. Why more limits? Some 70% of California homicides are committed with firearms, and two-thirds of California suicides come at the end of a gun. National studies show that people with access to guns are three times more likely to commit suicide and twice as likely to be the victim of violence. Studies have also found that women in households where guns are present are three time more likely to be killed by an intimate partner. If we want a safer country, the answer is not, as the NRA argues, to make more guns more readily available; it is to reduce their presence. Perhaps the most significant element of Proposition 63 is its requirement that people who lose their eligibility to have a firearm (due to a felony conviction, domestic violence restraining order or other legal restriction) actually get rid of them. The measure requires judges to inform those who are ineligible that they can no longer legally possess a firearm, and it directs probation officers to report to the court whether the person has sold the weapon, given it away, stored it with a firearms dealer or turned it over to an identified trustee or to law enforcement. Currently there is no such system, and the state attorney generals office has struggled to remove firearms from those newly ineligible to own them. The backlog of such cases stands at fewer than 11,000, down from more than 20,000 in early 2013. Advertisement Proposition 63 also would require the attorney general to submit names of newly ineligible people to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The office currently does that voluntarily, but now it would be mandatory. Under the initiative, if a person notices or reasonably should have noticed that one of his or her guns gun is missing, the lost or stolen weapon must be reported within five days. The intent, in part, is to crack down on people who legally buy a firearm on behalf of a prohibited person, and when discovered, claim the gun was lost or stolen; under this provision, if they tried to make such a claim, they could be charged with a crime for having failed to report the loss. Brown has vetoed similar laws, arguing that they would be ineffective. Maybe, but the reporting requirement wouldnt hurt or be burdensome and is worth enacting. Opponents main concern with Proposition 63 is its requirement that before buying ammunition, people must obtain a four-year permit verifying they are not barred from owning a firearm. But while its true that the permit could take up to 30 days to process, the initiative would allow current gun owners to apply six months before it goes into effect after July 1, 2019. And new gun owners would be given a 30-day temporary permit to buy ammunition while they wait for their four-year permit to be processed. Thats hardly a burden. Besides, that aspect of the initiative may turn out to be moot under the law recently signed by Brown requiring a simple background check, much like those for gun sales, before an ammunition sale. In a bit of legalistic improvisation, that law pre-amended Proposition 63s permit requirement. Whether the pre-amendment would survive a court challenge is unclear, but the intent, and effect, of both is welcome by making it harder for those who dont legally own a gun to buy rounds for it. Because Proposition 63 is an initiative, it can only be repealed through another initiative. But it allows the legislature, with a 55% majority, to tweak the details as long as the changes are in keeping with the intent of the law, which is a welcome bit of flexibility (and which led to the so-called pre-amendment). Proposition 63 takes California farther down the path of meaningful, reasonable gun control. It deserves your vote. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook ALSO Its time to legalize and regulate marijuana in California. Yes on Proposition 64. The problem Proposition 53 aims to solve is speculative, but the damage it could inflict is very real Proposition 54 is a modest proposal to make lawmaking more transparent On Tuesday, the U.N General Assembly will hold a high-level meeting to discuss one of the greatest contemporary threats to global public health. Not war, not Ebola, not Zika but antibiotic-resistant microbes. Scientists and public health officials have been warning for decades that overuse of antibiotics would inevitably lead to a rise of bacteria that have adapted to the drugs and developed a resistance to them. This is no longer a distant threat. Old standby antibiotic treatments have lost the fight against some diseases and new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are emerging with terrible frequency. We havent yet reached the post-antibiotic era, but we are fast approaching it. Its good news then that the U.N. is taking this seriously. This should be the beginning of the long-overdue discussion about what steps nations must take to keep these superbugs at bay. At the top of that list should be efforts to curb the rampant overuse of antibiotics in healthcare and agriculture and to develop new treatments that can help reduce our overreliance on antibiotics. Advertisement The [CDC] estimates that as many as half of all antibiotics prescribed are not medically needed or are prescribed incorrectly. Heres a worrisome example of what may happen if we dont: About 78 million people a year contract gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause sterility, ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain and other unpleasant symptoms. Since 2003 the usual treatment has been a course of quinolones, a class of antibiotics. In August, the World Health Organization warned doctors not to prescribe quinolones anymore but to switch instead to another antibiotic because resistant strains have been popping up all over the world. But this might be a losing battle and experts say that gonorrhea may soon become entirely untreatable by any antibiotic. Even more alarming are the recent reports of patients and meat testing positive for bacteria that are resistant to what are known as last-line antibiotics colistin and carbapenem, which are like the nuclear option when all other antibiotics fail. If they stop being effective, far more people will die from diseases that were once easily treated. Already, authorities say that slightly more than 2 million people in the U.S. are sickened each year from antibiotic-resistant microbes. About 23,000 of them die. The problem with antibiotics is that they work so well to fight infections that we have gone hog wild, using them regularly not just to treat acute illnesses, but to prevent people from getting them. This is a dangerous habit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as half of all antibiotics prescribed are not medically needed or are prescribed incorrectly. Human overuse isnt the only factor. More than 70 percent of the use of medically important antibiotics (that is, the ones developed to treat human illnesses) is by the agriculture industry for disease prevention and control and for growth production of livestock, though the latter is on the wane since federal guidelines were released in 2013 restricting use. Antibiotics are routinely added to livestock feed and water to keep animals from getting infections. Just as in humans, this overuse helps create antibiotic resistant strains. Perplexingly, overall use of antibiotics in livestock has increased slightly since the federal guidelines went into place. Some consumer groups have called for the FDA prohibit the use of antibiotics for disease prevention in animals, saying the the agricultural industry is still too reliant on prophylactic use. Though an outright ban on disease-prevention may be excessive, clearly more needs to be done to rein in overuse. Perhaps this can be answered by California in the next few years. Last year the state adopted the strictest law in the nation limiting antibiotic use in agriculture. Once it goes into effect in 2018, well start to get better data that could shape an effective national policy on antibiotic use for livestock. Meanwhile, individuals can do more than just wash their hands or get vaccinated to prevent bacterial infections such as tuberculosis. They can quiz doctors about whether a course of penicillin is absolutely necessary. And urge local grocers and restaurants to carry meat by producers that do not use antibiotics routinely. Lets all do our part to ensure the life-saving drugs continue to be able to save lives. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To be fair, Donald Trumps statement on recent terror attacks didnt begin with praise for himself or attacks on his political opponents. He began by saluting the police, without whom our country is neither safe nor secure. That tribute out of the way, Trump asserted that this weekends attacks, from Minnesota to Manhattan, are just the latest to be carried out on U.S. soil under President Obama. And by the fourth paragraph he was boasting that I will bring an end to these senseless acts of violence. How exactly? Advertisement When I am president, Trump said, terrorists like todays suspect in the New York and New Jersey bombings, Ahmad Khan Rahami, and Saturdays knife-wielding ISIS sympathizer in Minnesota, Dahir Adan, will be stopped. We will not look the other way. We will not allow political correctness and soft-on-terror, soft-on-crime policies to threaten our security and our lives. (Trump implied that such softness explained the mistaken granting of citizenship to 858 immigrants, the subject of an embarrassing report by the Department of Homeland Securitys inspector general. Actually, the cause of that error was a flaw in fingerprint records.) To show how things would be different in a Trump administration, he cited his proposals for extreme vetting of immigrants from countries with a history of terrorism the kinder, gentler version of his total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States and his opposition to Hillary Clintons support for an increase in the number of Syrian refugees to be admitted to the United States. But many countries including France and the United Kingdom have a history of terrorism and its still unclear how Trumps extreme vetting would work. As for Syrian refugees, many are children. Moreover, fact-checkers have debunked Trumps claim that under the refugee policy Clinton supports there is no system to vet refugees or to prevent the radicalization of their children. In fact, there is an elaborate screening program. Trump didnt explain how extreme vetting of Rahami, who came to the United States from Afghanistan years ago with his family, would have predicted his alleged radicalization. Trump also said that, unlike Clinton, who uses the supposedly anemic phrase determined enemies to describe Islamic State and similar groups, he was willing to call them exactly what they are: radical Islamist terrorists as if saying these magic words would make a difference. Like Trumps campaign in general, his promise that he would be able to bring an end to these senseless acts of violence is simplistic. The problem for Hillary Clinton is that, with every new terrorist attack, simplistic solutions become more seductive for some voters. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook. Hillary Clinton is using her fundraising dominance to unleash all manner of modern voter tools that Donald Trumps organization is too cash-poor, disorganized or uninterested in to use but are they worth the massive price tag? The question will be argued until election day, and probably for years after. But one thing clear right now is the Clinton campaign is leaving nothing to chance. Launching apps that track the movements of paid canvassers and organizing poetry slams to build camaraderie in field offices, the Clinton operation is in the final frenzy of assembling some of the most sophisticated campaign infrastructure ever. For the record: An earlier version of this article indicated the amounts each candidate had spent on payroll were monthly. The totals are cumulative since the start of each campaign. It is building on the hallowed playbook written by President Obamas campaign teams, implementing technological advancements that enable field organizers to find, track and prod potential voters with even more precision and efficiency. Advertisement Clintons approach is a stark contrast from Trumps. He left field organizing in the hands of a Republican National Committee that must incorporate Trump into its broader effort on behalf of down-ballot candidates often at odds with the nominee. Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Sign up for the newsletter | The race to 270 The most advanced field technology available to Republicans is controlled by the Koch brothers network, which has declined to work on Trumps behalf. The field offices that are a hub of organizing activity are few and far between on the Trump side as compared with the dozens Clinton has operational. Gauging the likely return on all this investment is complicated. Strategists and scholars are still hotly debating how much credit Obamas vaunted high-tech get-out-the-vote operation deserves for his victories. Obamas 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, once described this part of the campaign as an elite field goal unit there to push the team over the top in a close race. Obama would probably have lost Florida in both his presidential races without a superior ground game. And in 2008, research suggests he would have been defeated in North Carolina and Indiana, too. Now, the infrastructure mismatch is the most severe it has ever been. We have never seen an imbalance as great as we are seeing this election, said Eitan Hersh, a political science scholar at Yale University and author of Hacking the Electorate. If Republicans fail to shore up their ground game in the crucial swing states, he said, they risk giving Clinton an advantage of as much as 3 percentage points in them. Clinton is pouring money from a war chest expected to grow to $1 billion by election day into a massive push to find and motivate voters who might have even the slightest inclination to vote for her. Since April, Clintons team has sent thousands of volunteers to dozens of field offices in crucial swing states and armed them with software designed to get voters invested in casting ballots. The programs compose personalized follow-up emails and texts from the canvasser, catered to the specific interests of the voters they chat up. Weve added digital components to the ground game that gives it a speed that wasnt there before, said Stu Trevelyan, chief executive of the software firm NGP VAN, which manages the Democratic Partys massive voter file. Canvassers carrying mobile devices have real-time script automation that guides their interactions with voters based on the way questions are answered, and then guides which text messages, online ads, fundraising pitches and reminders to vote are sent to the person. If voters cast their ballots in the last election through early voting, the campaign knows it and once voting begins will send gentle nudges. The pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA, which dwarfs all of the super PACs supporting Trump, has been road-testing its strategies for drawing voters to the polls in a few key states since the primaries. One involved targeting messages at Latino and African American voters that prompted 36,000 of them to look up their polling places on a Priorities USA website. Priorities USA is on track to have more than double the funding it did when it supported Obama in 2012, and it is aggressively expanding its get-out-the-vote efforts. Weve already been able to see what is effective and what is not effective, said Priorities USA spokesman Justin Barasky. It is brand-new for a Democratic super PAC to be investing in some of these activities. The tech innovations do only so much. Their effectiveness depends on an army of paid activists and volunteers, and Clintons early start and massive field office presence gave her a leg up in pulling one together even as her tepid approval ratings and discouraging poll numbers with millennials signal the campaign will struggle to attract a volunteer force the size of Obamas. The Clinton campaigns cumulative payroll was more than $51 million through July. The Trump campaign had spent just $3.2 million on payroll by then. Clintons Mujeres in Politics women in politics are scouring communities for Latina matriarchs such as church secretaries and small-business owners open to recruiting their social circles. All Latinas have a very powerful network, said Lorellla Praeli, the campaigns director of Latino outreach. Starting with one, youve committed them to reach out and engage five more. And that begins to multiply. The campaign is recruiting bilennials bilingual millennials in strongholds like California and New York to hit the phones to motivate Latino voters in states where they are becoming a growing force, such as Utah, North Carolina and Iowa. In Florida, where the Latino vote will be decisive, the large campaign payroll aims to look as diverse, and as fluent in Spanish, as the electorate. Republican officials bristle at the suggestion Trump is getting outmaneuvered on the ground. They point to tens of thousands of their people in the field and a far more robust and sophisticated presence in swing states than in 2012, when Obamas voter turnout organization far outperformed that of rival Mitt Romney. And they note encouraging registration figures in several swing states that suggest the advantage the Democrats hold in them is shrinking. But it is undeniable that the partys vows to revamp its campaign infrastructure, invest heavily in a united digital operation and create a framework that resembles what the Democrats had in both 2008 and 2012 was disrupted by Trump. Those goals have not been a priority for him. Trump only recently began to invest heavily in digital. His campaign enlisted the firm Cambridge Analytica, which helped drive Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs impressive voter targeting operation in the Republican primaries by developing psychographic profiles of voters propelled by consumer data. But prominent GOP digital strategists say the delay in getting such innovative efforts underway undermines their effectiveness considerably. There is, though, a wild card: the voter anger Trump has so successfully harnessed. It remains to be seen how he will use it to drive voters to the polls. Trump has gotten this far disregarding the usual rules, and analysts caution he may yet prove the laws of the general election turnout operations do not apply to him. There is no evidence that Republicans have the kind of presence in the field that Clinton does, said Hahrie Han, a political science professor at UC Santa Barbara who researches political organizing. But Trump is tapping into this populist outrage that is out there. We dont have a good sense of how strong it is and how much it will impact the ground game. evan.halper@latimes.com Follow me: @evanhalper Trumps climate science denial clashes with reality of rising seas in Florida Clinton acknowledges that some voters dislike of Trump isnt enough for her to count on their votes With a self-inflicted wound, Trump puts himself in new peril against Clinton Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump responded Monday to the string of bombings in New York and New Jersey largely by sticking to their playbooks: Clinton underscoring her experience, Trump linking security fears to his signature issue of immigration. I am the only candidate in this race who has been part of the hard decision to take terrorists off the battlefield, Clinton said at a news conference in front of her campaign plane, whose white-and-blue color scheme evokes the government jet she traveled in as secretary of State. Immigration security is national security, Trump declared at a rally in Estero, Fla. Advertisement The comments, coming amid a tightening race, underscored the choice before voters fewer than 50 days before election day, with Trumps blunt, get-tough talk matching up against Clintons multi-pronged strategy for battlefields both overseas and online. Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Sign up for the newsletter | The race to 270 President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump all had something to say on the recent attacks on the East Coast. Typically, unforeseen events are the nemesis of a presidential campaign, particularly as voting nears. Sen. John McCain of Arizona notably suggested a break in campaigning during the financial crisis in fall 2008, which was dismissed by rival Barack Obama as a political stunt. But Clinton and Trump appeared to barely break stride Monday, altering their schedules only to add morning news appearances. Trump, calling in to Fox News Fox & Friends, took a measure of credit for quickly identifying Saturdays explosion in lower Manhattan as a bombing before authorities had linked it to any criminal intent. I should be a newscaster because I called it before the news, he boasted. Clinton referred multiple times to a recent discussion with national security officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations and now support her. She cited others testimony that Trumps brash comments have been used by terrorist groups to recruit members. Lets not get diverted and distracted by kind of campaign rhetoric we hear from the other side, she said. This is a serious challenge. We are well equipped to meet it. We can do so in keeping with smart law enforcement, good intelligence and in concert with our values. She also questioned again whether tech companies were doing all they can to find terrorists online and undermine their recruiting efforts. The recruitment and radicalization that goes on online has to be much more vigorously intercepted and prevented, she said, renewing her calls for tech companies to step up. Those calls have been met with apprehension by firms struggling to balance privacy concerns with demands from law enforcement to enable more sophisticated and widespread surveillance. Later, after a speech in Philadelphia targeting young voters, she met with foreign leaders in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, a setting meant to highlight her fluency in foreign policy and familiarity with heads of state. Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi on Monday night. As Clinton portrayed steadiness and focus, Trump, whose campaign has been driven by anxiety over the economy and concerns about security, saw an opportunity to go on the offensive. Were in medieval times, he said, speaking in especially bleak terms during a rally in Estero, his first since the weekend bombings and a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota mall that wounded nine people. Islamic State claimed credit for that attack, in which the perpetrator was killed by an off-duty police officer. President Obama said no link has been found between the stabbings and the bombs in the Northeast. Trump claimed that Islamic State would prefer that Clinton becomes president, even though the group has publicly called his presidency a priority. They want her so badly to be president you have no idea, he said. It will be a field day. Trump suggested that current policy coddles terrorism suspects. He said the suspect in the bombings, Ahmad Khan Rahami, would get care from leading doctors and a top lawyer and probably even have room service. He accused Clinton and Obama of weakness and political correctness, asserting that Clinton talks tougher about Trumps supporters than she does about Islamic terrorists. Weakness invites aggression, he added. Were weak. Polls show concern about terrorism is on the rise, particularly among Republicans. A Pew survey taken in late August and early September showed that 40% of Americans believed that terrorists ability to launch a major attack was greater than it was before the Sept. 11 attacks, the highest percentage in the annual poll since then. Republicans, at nearly 60%, were almost twice as likely as Democrats to hold that view. Still, the issue is not a slam-dunk for Trump despite the fact that Republicans generally hold an edge in the question of who is better to defend the country against terrorism. A December Pew poll showed 46% of Americans said Republicans were better at handling terrorism, compared with 34% who said Democrats. But Trump has not gained in polls of the presidential race after recent domestic attacks. Clinton gained after the Orlando, Fla., nightclub massacre in June that killed 49 people and the July sniper attack in Dallas that left five police officers dead. And Clinton polled slightly ahead of Trump (49% to 46%) in a Fox poll taken in late August that asked voters whom they trusted to do a better job on terrorism and national security. Its a classic head versus heart difference, said Michael Steel, a Republican strategist who worked for Jeb Bushs campaign in the GOP primaries. I think that Secretary Clinton is making more cogent, substantive points, but theres a real emotional impact to the language that Donald Trump is using. Steel noted that Trump tended to gain support during the GOP primary race after the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino despite predictions from some that the events would benefit more conventional candidates. Now its a matter for the broader electorate. Though he made no mention of the political debate, Obama counseled Americans not to give in to fear that terrorists deliberately seek to stoke. As Trump again portrayed the administration as ineffectual in securing the country, Obama said that counter-terrorism and law enforcement officials at all levels the best of the best were working together to investigate the threat. By showing those who want to do us harm that they will never beat us, by showing the entire world that as Americans we do not and never will give into fear, thats going to be the most important ingredient in us defeating those who would carry out terrorist acts against us, he said. Twitter: @noahbierman, @mikememoli ALSO Voters on both sides increasingly see a Trump win as a possibility and that may get more people to vote Trumps climate science denial clashes with reality of rising seas in Florida Did a Clinton advisor promote birtherism? Emails show only he pushed other stories on Obama and Kenya UPDATES: 6:25 p.m.: This story was updated with Trumps meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi. This story was originally published at 4:20 p.m. Douglas Applegate knew he might get an earful when he started knocking on doors in this solidly Republican town, once home to Richard Nixons Western White House. Youre a Democrat? Youre in the wrong place, snapped one woman, holding her dog at bay before she sent Applegate on his way. That may have been true for generations in the coastal enclaves of Californias 49th Congressional District, but this once-impenetrable GOP stronghold is now in play. Applegate, a retired Marine colonel and Iraq war veteran, has Republican stalwart Rep. Darrell Issa sweating his bid for reelection. Advertisement Issa had trounced his opponents in eight straight elections, winning by an average margin of almost 30 percentage points. In the June primary, Issa finished ahead of Applegate, who is new to politics, by a mere 5.3 percentage points. As of June 30, Applegate had spent less than $50,000 on his campaign. Issa, the richest member of Congress, spent more than $700,000. Lets be clear. We basically did nothing in the primary, Applegate said during a recent interview at his Solana Beach campaign office. It was his negatives. That was what the primary was all about. Their rematch in the November general election has Democrats dreaming of unseating a GOP congressman who has been a relentless thorn in the side of the Obama administration. While chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a term that ended in 2015, Issa led investigations into the Benghazi attack, the Internal Revenue Service scandal, the botched Fast and Furious gun sting and other actions by the Obama administration, often without finding direct proof of wrongdoing by the White House. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista., right, then chairman of the House Oversight Committee, joined at left by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member, at a 2015 hearing to determine whether tea party groups were targeted by the Internal Revenue Service. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhit ) Applegate, who now has the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and California Democratic Party, is trying to paint Issa as a Washington insider who grew more concerned about his national image than his constituents back home. One sign of how tight the race has become is a recent flurry of accusations about underhanded politics. Last week, the Issa campaign pounced on reports that Applegate had been accused of harassing, stalking and threatening his former wife during their divorce proceedings more than a decade ago. The disturbing information in these public records [raises] serious questions that Doug Applegate hasnt come close to answering about his personal temperament, treatment of women and fitness for office, Issa campaign spokesman Jonathan Wilcox said in a statement. Applegate, 62, called the allegations a desperate and politically motivated attack orchestrated by the Issa campaign. Applegate also issued a statement from his former wife, who described the accusations as uninformed personal attacks against our family, adding that she supports her former spouses bid for Congress. Issa has also had some brushes with the law. As a young man, he was charged twice with car theft, although both cases were later dismissed. He also was charged twice with carrying a concealed weapon. When interviewed by the Los Angeles Times this month, Issa brushed aside speculation that he might be vulnerable. Still, he acknowledged being more active in his district since his close call in the June primary. Last month, he rolled up his sleeves to man a cash register at an Oceanside gas station. He also held a hearing in San Clemente about problems associated with sober-living homes and potential federal legislation giving local governments more control over where they can be put in their communities. This month in Oceanside, Issa praised Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange for her work on national defense issues and also backed her in Californias U.S. Senate race, a contest between two Democrats. Im running on my record. Ill probably spend a little more time publicizing the accomplishments of passing major legislation and working on issues across the aisle, Issa said. Thats probably appropriate. I havent done that in years. But other than explaining what Ive been doing representing the people of this district, I dont expect to do much else. Issa, 62, also said his image as a Republican attack dog who never tires of taking on the Obama administration was off the mark, saying he was just as aggressive with President George W. Bush. Issa said his committee was critical of the dysfunction of the federal Minerals Management Service under Bush after the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the $700-billion bank bailout initiative known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Ive always been willing to take on my own party or the other party, Issa said. Congress is not supposed to be a lapdog for the administration. Republican political consultant Jennifer Jacobs said Issa was doing Gods work when he headed the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and, despite his liberal critics, she believes the voters in his district will reward him with another easy reelection victory. Everything he was doing was to hold the administration accountable. He took a lot of arrows, Jacobs said. But Paty Newman of Fallbrook, a former member of the San Diego County Republican Partys central committee, said Issa should be worried. Newman said that she once served as an Issa delegate to a California Republican Party convention, and that the congressman has been absent from his district for way too long and people have noticed. I think hes petrified, Newman said. Theyre finally sick of all of these guys whove never done anything except for themselves and power. The 49th Congressional District stretches along the California coast from Dana Point to La Jolla, with San Diego County accounting for about three-quarters of the population and Orange County the remainder. Republicans have an 8 percentage point edge over Democrats in voter registration in the district, but that advantage has been slowly eroding in part because of the districts growing Latino population. Applegates military background could make up for the Democrats voter registration deficit in an area that includes the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, thousands of defense industry workers and a substantial veteran population, said Democratic political consultant Laura Fink of San Diego. However, that might be tempered by the fact that Issa served two stints in the Army as an enlistee and then an officer. Issas strong political allegiance with Donald Trump also may cut into his support among Republicans and independents who are wary of the controversial GOP presidential nominee, Fink said. With Trump as the top Republican on the ballot, GOP turnout may also be suppressed, she said. In any campaign, you have to disqualify the incumbent, Fink said. This is the weapon they are going to use to disqualify him. Applegate grew up outside Dayton, Ohio, where his father was a security officer at a propeller factory and his mother worked at an insurance firm. He joined the Marines after graduating from Arizona State University and, during his 32 years in the service, completed combat tours in Baghdad and Fallujah. He also served as a military lawyer for about three decades. After he retired from the Marines in 2006, he worked as a general practice trial attorney throughout Southern California. Applegate, who is twice divorced and has two children, lives in San Clemente with his girlfriend and his 17-year-old daughter. I really got frustrated that 95% of Congress had never been in a combat zone, Applegate said about his decision to run for office. They make the decision to send our children and grandchildren, our sons and daughters, in harms way. I dont think they ask the right questions. Applegates politics are solidly Democratic. He supports a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who entered the country illegally, as well as abortion rights for women, gay rights and the Affordable Care Act. He has also vowed to support legislation to combat climate change and increase renewable energy, a major policy difference he has with Issa. In the past, Issa has said that there is a scientific consensus that climate change is a myth. Hes still a climate change denier. I come from the party that believes in science, Applegate said. Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar, a Republican who is running for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, said Republicans who live along the coast tend to be a different breed from those in other areas. Theyre generally more moderate and not as impressed by politicians who make a partisan splash in Washington, she said. Hes definitely one who is bold in his leadership style. Hes definitely not a fence walker, Gaspar said of Issa. Hes got to demonstrate to the local community he serves that legislation hes working on directly impacts them here. Gaspar voted for Trump in the primary but has since become disillusioned by his campaign. She didnt respond when asked whether shell back Issa in November. Election 2016 | California politics news feed | Sign up for the newsletter phil.willon@latimes.com Twitter: @philwillon ALSO: Democrat challenging Rep. Darrell Issa was accused of threatening his ex-wife Issa challenger came out of nowhere, raised more money One of Californias best-known Republicans is backing Democrat Loretta Sanchez for Senate. Heres why Updates on California politics A roughly two-mile stretch of asphalt along MacArthur Boulevard in Newport Beach will be repaved from October through February. The City Council on Sept. 13 signed off on a contract with Santa Ana-based Hardy & Harper, Inc. to mill the surface of MacArthur between Ford Road and Bonita Canyon Drive south to East Coast Highway, and overlay the existing roadway with rubberized asphalt pavement. The estimated $2.2-million project will be paid in part using Measure M funds from the Orange County Transportation Authority. The city will provide roughly $1 million toward the effort. Major thoroughfares in the city are typically overlayed every 15 to 20 years to repair cracks and pot holes. MacArthur Boulevard road work (Steve Greenberg / Daily Pilot) MacArthur was starting to show signs of age, said Public Works Director Dave Webb. The rubberized asphalt, made of recycled tires that are ground up, is typically quieter than traditional asphalt. Area residents have been requesting it for the road for years, according to Webb. Sidewalks, median curbs, gutters and access ramps that have deteriorated over the years will also be reconstructed as part of the project. Crews will limit construction to non-peak traffic hours during the day. However, some delays and detours on Jamboree Road may be inevitable because of the project, according to city staff. Major intersections, such as where MacArthur meets with Ford Road and Bonita Canyon and East Coast Highway, will likely be paved at night, Webb said. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN The South Coast Water Districts proposal to build a desalination facility in Dana Point has drawn the interest of a company with an established presence in water treatment in Southern California. Officials from Poseidon Water, the Boston-based company that proposes to build a controversial desalination facility up the coast in Huntington Beach, last week sent a letter to South Coast expressing the desire to pursue the prospects of a public-private partnership on the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project. South Coast, which serves customers in South Laguna, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, owns a 30-acre plot of land near San Juan Creek that it hopes to use for a water treatment plant producing 4 million to 5 million gallons of water per day, with a possibility of increasing the output to 15 million gallons daily if needed. On a lifecycle cost and value-for-money basis, the [public-private partnership] delivery method can deliver the lowest risk-adjusted cost and greatest benefit to the district, according to a letter signed by Peter MacLaggan, Poseidons senior vice president. Such an arrangement would shift the cost responsibility of the project to [Poseidon] during development and construction, while the district will only pay for water once it is delivered, the letter said. South Coasts board is considering the benefits and drawbacks of owning and operating the facility versus partnering with a private agency, General Manager Andy Brunhart wrote in a email, adding that the district has held four public workshops on the Doheny project. South Coast will hold another public workshop to enable its board to consider pros and cons of different methods to deliver water, Brunhart said. A meeting date has not been scheduled. Experts say desalination would provide an additional source of water as the state endures its fifth straight year of drought. South Coast imports 80% of its drinking water from the Colorado River and Northern California sources. The remaining 20% comes from recycled and groundwater sources. Under the proposal, crews would drill wells extending from Doheny State Beach to draw water from under the ocean floor rather than open water. Design and construction of the Doheny desalination facility could cost $85 million to $90 million, the Coastline Pilot reported earlier this year. Doheny would not be the first public-private partnership for Poseidon. The company partnered with the San Diego County Water Authority on a desalination facility in Carlsbad that can produce 54 million gallons of water per day, according to the letter. The plant opened in December. The idea behind a public-private partnership is that a public agency, such as South Coast, would sign a long-term contract to purchase water from Poseidon, guaranteeing the company a steady revenue stream, Scott Maloni, vice president of project development, wrote in an email. Poseidon is seeking permits from multiple regulatory agencies, including the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California State Lands Commission, for changes to its seawater intake and discharge system for the Huntington Beach project, which could produce 50 million gallons of water per day, Maloni said. -- Bryce Alderton, bryce.alderton@latimes.com Twitter: @AldertonBryce It was mid-morning on Tuesday, July 19, 1960, and two 376-foot U.S. Navy destroyers, foghorns blaring, were groping their way through a dense fog bank five miles off the coast of Newport Beach. Both ships, the USS Ammen (DD-527), which was heading to San Diego from the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, where it had unloaded it ammunition, and the USS Collett (DD-730), sailing from San Diego to Long Beach, had been in the thick of combat in the Pacific during World War II. The Ammen had miraculously survived sinking during the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf when a Japanese kamikaze suicide plane plunged deep into its superstructure, causing fires, massive damage and the deaths of five crewmen and critical injuries to 26. The Collett had seen action at Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Philippines, and on Sept. 2, 1945 it was moored in Tokyo Bay next to the USS Missouri where Gen. Douglas MacArthur received the Japanese surrender. Both ships also saw combat during the 1950-1953 Korean War. Meanwhile, on that fateful day off Newport Beach nearly 57 years ago, as the fog thickened and the sea became increasingly choppy, Cmdr. Zaven Mukhalian, 41, skipper of the Ammen and his 235-man crew were presented with a sight that would strike terror in the heart of any mariner. Out of the fog loomed the Collett, carrying a crew of 239, traveling at an estimated speed of 17 knots (19.5 mph) directly toward the slower-moving Ammens port, or left side. Mukhalian and Cmdr. Albert T. Ford, 39, captain of the Collett, frantically ordered evasive action and instructed their helmsmen to reverse course. But it was too late. At 9:42 a.m., the bow of the Collett sliced into the port side of the Ammen, which was due to be decommissioned and sent to the Navys reserve or mothball fleet after it had reached San Diego. The force of the impact gouged a huge hole below the Ammens waterline, sending water rushing in and damaging its engine, electronics repair shops and fire rooms so badly they were left looking like a junkyard, the Los Angeles Times noted in a Page One story the following day. Aboard the Collett, a new bow fitted only two weeks earlier was crumpled back, its upper part pressed against the ships port side, its lower part ripped open and wedged against its starboard side. The Colletts left anchor was embedded in the Ammen and its gun control tower was sheared off at its base and lay on its side on the deck. The damage was described by The Times as grotesque. The situation aboard the Ammen was much worse. Wreckage from the USS Ammen that contained three sailors bodies is removed in a Terminal Island drydock the day of the collision with the Ammen off Newport Beach. (Charles Crawford / Los Angeles Times) Its aft engine room and forward fire room filling with water, the ship took a sharp list, and it was feared the Ammen would turn on its side and sink. But its pumps stemmed the flooding, and the Ammen remained afloat, although still listing at a dangerous angle. Several crewmen on the Collett, which was able to back free from the Ammen, suffered minor lacerations, cuts and bruises. But on the Ammen, it was a different story. Collett bow lookout Patrick Madeiros, then 19, who told the Associated Press that he had yelled ship dead ahead when he realized his vessel was rapidly approaching the Ammen, said he heard the awesome sounds of disaster coming from the Ammen when the two vessels collided. Frantic shouts ... the clanging of bells ... death screams ... the hiss of steam ... the rip and tear of steel, he recounted. The death toll on the Ammen reached 11. All those killed were enlisted men. At least 20 more crewmen received injuries. The force of the collision was so great that two Ammen crewmen, one of whom died later that day, and the other who suffered critical injuries, were catapulted from the deck of the Ammen to the deck of the Collett. Most of the dead and injured had been in the Ammens fire and engine rooms when the ships collided. There had been a foreboding of disaster among some of the officers and men aboard the Ammen just before the ramming. If we collide with another ship in this fog, we wont have a chance, crewman Royce L. Jones recalled he had warned his shipmates. Mukhalian stated at a Long Beach press conference that evening, If we hadnt unloaded our ammunition, including the depth charges, at Seal Beach before the collision, both ships would have been blown to kingdom come. Onshore in Newport Beach, rescue operations began at once when the authorities were alerted to the disaster. Learning of the collision from Coast Guard and Navy radio reports, Newport Beachs lifeguard rescue boat the Sea Watch and the Harbor Departments Boat No. 2 raced to the scene in heavy fog and choppy seas. Boat No. 2 was the first to arrive, and Bob McBride, one of its crew, told the daily Globe-Herald and Pilot, which a year later became the Daily Pilot, there was no panic aboard the ships when we came alongside and started to take off the injured. Stan Annin, deputy chief of the Newport Beach Harbor Dept. who was aboard the Sea Watch, told Almon Lockabey, The Globe-Herald and Pilots boating and marine editor, It was so foggy that we couldnt see more than an eighth of a mile. Wreckage on the Ammens deck was terrific. Cabins were caved in. The Ammens deck, which was only five feet above water, was crushed like a beer can, wrote Lockabey, a long-time friend of this writer and a fixture on the Orange Coast boating scene who died in 1995 at the age of 85. The Island Lady, a Newport-Catalina tourist boat, joined in the evacuation, assisting in the removal of the Ammens dead and injured as the ship continued its list, raising fears it might turn over. An emergency first aid station was set up in the parking lot of the Balboa Yacht Club to assess the injured and have them transferred to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where a call had gone out for area doctors and nurses, and to the hospital at Camp Pendleton and the hospital ship USS Haven based at Long Beach Naval Base. The dead were taken by hearses to the Navy morgue in Long Beach. Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps helicopters also had flown to the collision scene, but it was difficult for them to remove the injured and dead because of wreckage littering the decks of both ships. A Marine Corps helicopter carrying two doctors crashed on the stern of the Ammen. Its long rotors drooped sadly and its fuselage was ripped open, but no one was injured, reported Lockabey, who traveled to the collision site in a specially-chartered Globe-Herald Pilot press boat. Just a week before the disaster, wrote Lockabey, emergency agencies from Newport Beach and other Orange County communities had participated in a day-long practice exercise to prepare for sea emergencies. Practice paid off, Newport Harbormaster Al Oberg told Lockabey as emergency responders removed the dead and injured from the twisted wreckage. Lockabey added in his newspaper report that an officer on the ill-starred Ammen told him, I have never seen rescue operations conducted in a more calm and efficient manner. About 11:30 a.m., the dead and injured had been taken off the Ammen, and the Collett, assisted by a Navy tugboat, was able to limp under its own power to Long Beach Naval Base. The Ammen, still listing and its engine unoperable, was towed to Long Beach Naval Shipyard by the USS Gear, a submarine rescue ship. A week after the disaster, a Navy court martial heard testimony from the captains of the Ammen and Collett that their ships radars were working properly before the crash and they could not explain why the two warships had come together with such destructive force. Four months later, on Nov. 11, 1960, the L.A. Times reported that Ford had pled guilty of negligently handling his ship, but that he had pled innocent of maintaining adequate watches on his ships bow and in the radar room. The court subsequently reprimanded him and sentenced him to the loss of 100 numbers on the Navy promotion list. This effectively banned him from promotion to the rank of captain and terminated his Navy career. As for the futures of the two vessels, the Ammen was patched up at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and towed to San Diego, where it was decommissioned and sold the following year to the National Metal and Steel Corp. for scrapping. The Collett was fitted with its second new bow in three months and returned to active duty, conducting patrols in the Pacific and along the California coast. In 1974, it was bought by Argentina to serve as a spare parts ship for the Argentine Navys fleet. The Argentines, however, discovered that the Collett was in such good shape that they renamed it the ARA Piedrama and added the ship to its Navys seagoing inventory. During the 1982 Falklands War with Great Britain, the Piedrama served as a escort ship and rescued the survivors of the Argentine cruiser General Belgramo, which was sunk by the British attack submarine HMS Conqueror. Three years later, the 31-year-old Collett was decommissioned by the Argentine Navy and sunk by guided missiles during a naval exercise. Today, more than a half-century after the two destroyers collided off Newport Beach, the tragedy remains one of the worst peacetime sea disasters in U.S. Pacific coast naval history. -- Longtime Newport Beach resident DAVID C. HENLEY is a member of the Board of Trustees of Chapman University and a former foreign correspondent. The Catalina Flyers overall length is 124 feet with a 40-foot beam, her draft is 9 feet, 5 inches and she cruises at 30 knots. She is powered by twin 2350 Caterpillar turbo diesels and can make the trip to Avalon in 1 hour, 20 minutes with more than 500 passengers. The Catalina Flyer is Newport Harbors ride to Catalina for the general public. I had a chance to interview Capt. Steve Forbath of the Catalina Flyer this week. Forbath grew up in Costa Mesa and was first introduced to the harbor by attending Newport Beachs recreation sailing class in Naples Sabots at the age of 7-8. He graduated from Estancia High and then proceeded to UC Santa Barbara for his bachelors degree, then UC Irvine for his masters. Forbath started working aboard the Catalina Holiday when it opened in 1978. By 1980, he received his captains license and then took the helm of the Catalina Flyer. Because of the Flyers size, the vessel has two captains on board at all times while underway. The first captain is in charge of the wheel house, announcements and the helm. The second captain is in charge of the engine room and passengers. Should the vessel encounter limited visibility, both captains are in the wheel house. While underway, the first captain is constantly monitoring the sea state, engine gauges, GPS, auto-pilot and radar while all the time keeping a visual lookout for small recreational boaters and marine life. Forbath recalled a couple of years ago when a large 90-foot blue whale had died and drifted into one of the jetties off Newport. One of the lifeguard boats was towing the whale back out to sea when a couple of 18-to-20-foot great white sharks picked up on the whale. The sharks came up from behind the whale, then jumped out of the water, biting into the whale then spinning violently, thrashing back and forth, until they broke a large piece off. There have also been times when the Flyer has come upon an unsuspecting Fin Whale on the surface and had to dodge it, giving the passengers the opportunity to go eye-to-eye with the whale as the two went their separate ways. I asked him what had been some of the most interesting flotsam hed seen over the years. While departing Avalon, about three miles off the island, I noticed what first appeared to be a rather large person on a Jet Ski heading straight for us off our starboard side, Forbath said. The next moment I realized it was too big to be someone on a Jet Ski and tried to hail the object on the radio, channels 16, 13 and 14. Just about this time the Coast Guard started to question my inquiries over the radio, when a very strong U.S. Navy voice came over the radio and said this encounter never happened, and the periscope of the submarine quickly submerged under the water. I asked when the weather might be too rough for the Flyer to make the crossing. This winter we canceled more days than I can remember because of wind and swell, Forbath said. We are concerned about the passengers, we just dont want to hurt anybody. Its all about our passengers comfort. People get scared, they suddenly stand up and try to run and fall down. The boat, knock on wood, can handle anything in this area. We have to keep the passengers comfortable so it becomes more about the sea state rather than wind strength. There have also been times when the winds will come out of the Canyon of Avalon and we cannot get into harbor and I have had to return to Newport before because the harbor has been closed off. Some of you might recall the fires in Catalina over the last 10 years, he said. One night we had to stand off Avalon all night in case we had to evacuate all the residence from town because of the fire danger. I asked if there was anything hed like to say to the recreational boater that would make his day easier. Keep a safe distance, we move much faster than you would think we do, Forbath said. The captain and I talked more about our deliveries up and down the West Coast and shared similar stories of challenges while at sea. Forbath can talk the talk, and for someone who has been around as long as he has, I am quite sure he can walk the walk. We are all very fortunate that he is one of the captains that runs the Flyer here in Newport Harbor. I am headed out on the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon again this next week down the coast of California in the California Offshore Race Week. It is a three-race series starting from San Francisco to Monterey, then from Monterey to Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara to San Diego. Please wish us luck again, it always helps. Sea ya. LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist for the Daily Pilot. The Mediterranean-style Grand del Mar in San Diego during the past few years has ranked in the top 10 hotels in the country by U.S. News & World Report and TripAdvisor. Earlier this year it garnered Five Diamonds from AAA too. Fairmont Hotels bought the luxury digs last year and now is celebrating the hotels ninth anniversary with this deal: a break on room prices plus a free bottle of Champagne, free parking and a $50 dinner credit. The deal: Rooms for this offer start at $295 a night. When: You must book by Sept. 30 and stay by Dec. 23. Blackout dates apply, and the offer is based on availability. Advertisement Tested: Regular room prices in at this time of year start at $445 a night. The deal is a chance to try out this hotel, without the big price tag. Into: Fairmont Grand del Mar, 5300 Grand del Mar Court, San Diego; (855) 314-2030 ALSO Two millenniums of Chinese tradition come to life at Mid-Autumn Festivals TripAdvisors 10 best museums in America include two in California Deal: One-week sale on rooms, spa, dining at Beverly Hilton See Alaskas captivating Northern Lights on this Fairbanks tour Every year, locals in Yulin, a city in southwestern China, skin dogs alive, then season, cook and consume them alongside lychees and grain alcohol. Three years from now, in Shanghai 1,000 miles to the northeast world-class dog breeders will converge to show their greyhounds, Great Danes and cocker spaniels to a crowd of adoring onlookers. For years, activists have been protesting the annual Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, a midsummer celebration of all things dog meat; they say about 10,000 dogs are slaughtered at the festival each year. But now theyre turning their attention elsewhere: the World Dog Show, which Federation Cynologique Internationale, a Belgium-based coalition of kennel clubs, plans to host in Shanghai in 2019. Advertisement Activists say that unless the Chinese government shuts down the Yulin festival, the federation should hold its show elsewhere and the ensuing controversy has cast a spotlight on Chinas awkward relationship with dogs, which are regarded by some in the country as pets and by others as sustenance. It is not acceptable that the largest worldwide dog organization will support and arrange its biggest annual dog competition in such a country, said a petition on the website Care2 Petitions, which has garnered nearly 600,000 signatures. The federation, which has hosted its dog show in a different city every year since 1971, has shown no sign of backing down. For about four centuries, people in parts of southern and northeastern China have considered dog meat a delicacy, comforting on cold winter days. Yet attitudes toward dogs have changed in recent decades an upshot of growing wealth and exposure to foreign ideas and dogs have become popular pets among the countrys burgeoning middle and upper classes. In cities like Beijing and Shanghai, its common to see golden retrievers, poodles and Samoyeds bouncing through public parks. In some villages and small cities, gutted dog carcasses hang in restaurant windows. Yet these two worlds exist in proximity. Hu Shujuan, 28, an animal rights activist in Shanghai, works for an American company full time and spends her weekends rescuing stray dogs. She said that about 80% of the people she knows regard dogs as pets and that 20% enjoy eating them. The two camps fall along predictable lines: Dog lovers tend to be younger and live in major cities, she said; dog eaters tend to be older and live in villages. Some [acquaintances] are people who eat dog meat. I tell them you shouldnt eat it, I try to let them know, but you cant change people, she said. Sometimes, when we talk together, we just dont talk about dogs. The federations event is one of the worlds most prestigious and well-known dog shows; it attracts about 20,000 entrants each year. Winning dogs are deemed world champions. Last year, in Milan, Italy, the champion was a bearded collie. Activists are divided over the virtue of dog shows. Though some bemoan the practice of breeding, showing and selling dogs for the sake of competition, others see them as a platform to draw attention to animal rights. The dog breeding industry, the dog show industry and the dog meat industry have one thing in common: They are all profit-driven and severely compromise animal welfare, said Jason Baker, vice president of international campaigns at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Asia. Show dogs and those used for breeding are usually raised in small cages. The cat and dog overpopulation crisis is caused fueled by breeders and pet shops. Yet some organizations, including Chinese ones, find the coming Shanghai show encouraging. The event aims to raise the Chinese governments attention to companion animals and to call for the government to quickly establish laws that protect animals in order to save them from being abused and killed, the Beijing-based China Kennel Union said, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper. The huge increase in interest in dog showing in China will result in more people seeing them as pets first and foremost, said Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Britain-based Kennel Club. Marie Luna Duran, a marketing and public relations manager at Federation Cynologique Internationale, said the groups general assembly, though aware of the Yulin festival, voted last year to approve Shanghai as the location for the 2019 show without any comment or discussion whatsoever. The FCI is a canine federation whose members are the canine organizations at national level, she said in an emailed statement. The FCI applying the principle of non-interference with its member-countries, it is up to each member-countrys governing bodies to act for the welfare of dogs. She said that the federation includes Chinese members and that canceling the show would amount to abandoning pro-dog colleagues precisely those who have a good chance to cast a new light on how dogs are perceived in China. Yingzhi Yang in The Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report. jonathan.kaiman@latimes.com ALSO The Philippines drug addicts, shunned by society and hunted by assassins, find they have nowhere to turn Beijings wai mai drivers: Delivering dumplings and living to tell about it Taiwans president won a landslide election and then her popularity sprang a leak Tsai Ing-wen, a law professor known for consensus seeking and rebuilding her once-fractious political party, grabbed an early lead in Taiwans presidential race last year and won the January election by a landslide. She took office in May with more than a two-thirds approval rating, replacing a party that had fallen out of favor with voters. And now, it seems, so has she. Tsais poll ratings have plummeted 25 percentage points since she took office, and that hasnt been the only sign of discontent. This month, 10,000 tourism industry workers took to the streets, protesting that her government had allowed arrivals from China to slip. A week earlier, 110,000 people demonstrated outside the presidential offices, voicing opposition to a pension reform plan that, they feared, would diminish their retirement benefits. Advertisement People in Taiwan suddenly expect Tsai to act faster and more decisively on sticky issues that they felt her predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou, failed to resolve, political analysts and polls have found. Voters want her to revitalize a barely growing half-trillion-dollar economy, raise peoples incomes and make headway with Beijing on trade and investment links, including tourism that has fallen from a record 3.4 million visits last year. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a news conference at the Taipei Guest House on Aug. 20, 2016. (Sam Yeh / AFP/Getty Images ) Meeting those expectations will be her first political test and could be a long slog that affects ties with China, a rival of 70 years. The new government honeymoon period is over, so in the next half-year, shes got to come up with stuff, said Wu Chung-li, a political science research fellow at Academia Sinica, a university in Taipei. These kinds of protests will become more and more common ... as the industries hit hardest start coming out. Pressure has mounted quickly in part because Tsais Democratic Progressive Party controls 60% of parliament for the first time, making it easier to pass laws. In the past, [the party] could not do anything because they were not in charge and could not call the shots, said Shane Lee, a political scientist at Chang Jung Christian University in Taiwan. Now they can call the shots. So little by little, the Tsai government is changing course. You have to do something because once your polls are low, you really cant do much. Tsais approval rating fell from 70% in May to 56% in July, according to a Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation survey. Then it slumped to 45.5% in mid-August, a Taiwan Indicators Survey Research poll found. We were protesting to tell the government that were sick, and heres where it hurts. Travel consultant Tian Yi-hsiu Despite a reputation for caution and rigorous consultation before making decisions, Tsai has hardly been sitting idle. She is attempting to revamp Taiwans economy by reducing reliance on China, its top trading partner, whose economic growth has slowed since 2010. Taiwan would lean instead toward the fast-expanding markets of India and Southeast Asia. In September, the government announced a blueprint for an Asian Silicon Valley zone to help a $131-billion tech sector that has struggled in the face of competition from China. The government says it will spend $358 million next year on the zone, which isnt expected to open until 2023. Exports, the lifeblood of Taiwans economy, declined for 17 straight months through June because of changing consumer tastes in electronics, unstable demand in major markets and improvements in the export supply chain of China which already was cheaper for manufacturers. Since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, after which Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalists relocated their government to Taiwan, Beijing has claimed sovereignty over the island, despite polls saying most Taiwanese prefer todays self-rule. In her campaign, Tsai took a harder line on China than her incumbent opponent. President Mas government spoke of Taiwan and China as parts of one country, the same language used by Beijing. That proved politically unpopular, leading to demonstrations in early 2014 and ultimately to Tsais victory. Beijing, whose goal is reunification, has not been happy with the change. China is suspected of slowing permits for its citizens to visit Taiwan, although a slump in Chinese economic growth also could be keeping tourists closer to home. Group travel from China to Taiwan declined 30% from April to June. Taipei-based travel consultant Tian Yi-hsiu was a spokesman for the travel industry workers who demonstrated against Tsai. We were protesting to tell the government that were sick, and heres where it hurts, he said. His group wants Tsais government to discuss the matter with Beijing and plans more protests unless things improve. As Tsai began working on pension reform to keep the system solvent, she alarmed teachers, military employees and civil servants, who feared she would cut their retirement benefits. A day after their mass protest, the government said it would hold five forums through February to air all views. The Tsai government has only been in office more than three months, so we would urge people to bear with us, ruling party legislator Lee Chun-yi said. We will do what needs to be done. The presidents spokesman did not answer a request for comment. Tsai will face growing pressure to propose new conditions for dialogue with China, which would reject any talks that cast Taiwan as independent, analysts say. Without dialogue, Beijing could scale back economic cooperation with Taiwan that it pledged during Mas term. Officials have said no new deals will be signed with China until Taiwans parliament passes a bill that gives legislators and the general public more say in the process. Some fear Tsai may be too tangled in consensus building for strong or quick action. Taiwanese people are divided, not with just one position, so for [Tsai], its not such an easy matter, said Wu, the Academia Sinica researcher. Or Tsai may be taking her time to get things right. Whatever their affiliation, I think voters want President Tsai to be more consistent and appear less indecisive, said Sean King, senior vice president of the New York consultancy Park Strategies. But shes served only less than four months of a four-year term, so it may be a little too early to rush to any judgments. Jennings is a special correspondent. ALSO: Taiwans ties with China slip as new president fumbles for a formula Beijings dilemma when it comes to Hong Kongs election: The more it pushes against it, the stronger the opposition The Philippines drug addicts, shunned by society and hunted by assassins, find they have nowhere to turn Prolonged conflict, natural disasters and poor governance are among the obstacles that continue to keep billions of people around the world poor, hungry and living without access to basic amenities such as clean water and electricity. The United States is among several industrialized nations that provide financial aid to struggling economies in an effort to help stimulate and sustain development. But according to numerous polls, most Americans believe the country spends far too much on foreign aid and many question whether such assistance does more harm than good by creating dependency abroad and depleting resources that could help fix problems at home. Advertisement Gayle Smith, administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, is keen to bust the myths about foreign aid. First, its less than 1% of the federal budget, Smith told The Times in a recent interview. Second the American people provide billions of dollars on their own every year. Third, its a really important investment for us. Her additional comments have been edited for length and clarity. Why should Americans support foreign aid? I think a lot of people can make a national security argument, that if we have a world that is more stable, where countries and societies and communities are developed, where people have access to opportunity, can go to school, can get healthcare, work, [that gives us] better and more able partners with whom we can [work to] deal with some of the threats facing the world. Relief supplies from the United States Agency for International Development are packed in a U.S. plane in 2008 at the Yangon International airport. (Sergent Andres Alcaraz / AFP/Getty Images ) But we can also see some of the opportunities. Theres a clear interest in peace and stability and the kind of peace and stability that development brings. We are always searching for new markets that we can buy from [and] sell to. And some of the biggest, fastest emerging markets are in the developing world. So we have an economic interest in having partners with whom we can trade and engage economically. I think the third reason is a values reason. Every time theres an earthquake, a crisis, the American people are extraordinary in terms of how much they contribute. I think part of what that does is [show that] together we are saying to the rest of the world, if youre in trouble, Americas the country that comes to your rescue. How can foreign aid help stop terrorism? I think it can play a role, but I dont think its as simple as, if we provide more foreign aid terrorism will stop. I think that if you look at those places in the world where youve got transnational threats terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering, all those dangerous things that spill across borders most often they are able to flourish in countries where people either dont have access to opportunity or dont have equal access to opportunity. So I think that by investing resources in not only the well-being of people but their ability to inform the decisions of their daily lives, their ability to have kids who are healthy enough to go to school so that each generation is able to do better and better over time that protects us, and them, from these types of transnational threats. How do you respond to those who criticize direct aid to foreign governments? This is another case where I think the presumption of people is that the way we manage our foreign assistance is to write very big checks to governments. We give very, very little of our assistance directly to governments. We often work in partnership with governments, but we work either through international or local partners. Where it goes directly to governments, we do all sorts of due diligence to make sure they manage their finances transparently. What we also do is evaluations [of projects]. The purpose is to genuinely take look and say, are we achieving the outcome we anticipated? And if not, what do we need to do to course correct? A shepherd watches his cows in June 2016 in the bush near Bouake, central Ivory Coast. According to specialists gathered in Abidjan, trade of cattle increased by nearly 20% in West Africa and represents an important source of income, ensuring food security for millions. (Issouf Sanogo / AFP/Getty Images ) Where do you see progress and how do you measure success? I think you measure it in different ways and some things you can measure quantitatively. If you look at health for example, we can measure the fact that we have improved nutrition for 18 million kids through the work were doing a combination of our food security and global health work. We can measure that there are over 4.5 million kids alive today because of work in maternal child health that weve done. Particularly in health and agriculture there are tangibles that you can measure.You want to measure what the numbers are. You want to measure whether its sustainable, because if we just compensated for the holes created by poverty that wouldnt be sustainable. Its also ownership. How do you get local actors to do their part and take ownership? In most cases you dont have to try very hard because I think theres an increasingly assertive civil society around the world that doesnt want somebody to come fix something for them and tell them what to do. They want somebody to come work with them. So I think the demand for local ownership is there. On the governmental side, there are some governments that are simply not investing in education and health and agriculture and infrastructure, often in cases where youve got a great deal of corruption or a conflict. But if you look at our food security initiative, for example -- Feed the Future that was built on a foundation that was created by African leaders who committed themselves to increasing national expenditure on agriculture and agreed that every country should have a comprehensive plan. We took that as an assertion of ownership and responsibility. Which regions have been particularly successful? The region that has shown the most leadership in taking development on as a priority has been Africa. Africa was the only region to have a common African position on the [U.N.] sustainable development goals. Leaders have made commitments on health, on nutrition, on agriculture to what they themselves will do. Now, is it uneven within the broad borders of the continent? Of course it is. There are some who are more serious than others. You look at Asia and theres tremendous growth. You look at Latin America and I think we are entering into an era where development will become an increasing priority. I can look at any region in which we work and point to enough evidence of success to give me a great deal of hope. Bags of sorghum are distributed at a school in the village of Malikopo, which lies in Chikwawa -- one of the regions of Malawi most affected by drought. (Andrew Renneisen / Getty Images ) Where is work still needed? I can point to enough challenges to remind me that weve got to keep working hard and its a constant uphill struggle whether its climate change-induced crises, or the kinds of things were seeing in places like South Sudan, where you see other development failures. I think one of the biggest challenges is development in the Middle East. Part of that is the conflict and crises that exist and their unfolding across the region. What are some of the headlines in terms of achieving the U.N. sustainable development goals? If you look at the work weve done on maternal child health there are 4.6 million kids and 200,000 mothers that are alive in part because of our assistance. I think we have been able to put food security on the worlds agenda. There was a spike in world food prices in 2007/2008. We were able to triple our assistance to just over $3 billion and mobilize an additional $18 billion. Theres Power Africa. The goal is to double access to electricity in Africa. Weve been able to work with partners to figure out what the obstacle is project by project so that the private money flows. We have mobilized over $43 billion to work with people to bring these deals to close, so that they will eventually generate electricity. ann.simmons@latimes.com For more on global development news follow me @AMSimmons1 on Twitter German Chancellor Angela Merkel took partial responsibility for her partys worst performance in a Berlin state election, acknowledging Monday that her governments policies at the national level were a factor. Merkel pledged to work harder to address peoples concerns, particularly on migrants. Her Christian Democratic Union party, or CDU, received just 17.6% of the vote in the German capital. Thats very bitter, Merkel told reporters in Berlin, referring to the drop of almost 6 percentage points her party suffered. Advertisement The result means that Berlin states current coalition government, in which the CDU is the junior partner to the center-left Social Democrats, or SPD, has no majority going forward. A three-way coalition of Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Left Party is now likely in the capital. While the Berlin vote was seen partly as a referendum on Merkels handling of the migrant crisis, the state government has no control over Germanys immigration policy. The left-leaning coalition that could take over office likely would be more welcoming of refugees than the current state government. Both CDU and SPD which saw its share of the vote drop 6.7 points to 21.6% lost voters to the nationalist Alternative for Germany, which has campaigned heavily against immigration. The party, known as AfD, entered its 10th state parliament Sunday with 14.2% of the vote. The nationalists strong result is particularly remarkable because the city of 3.5 million is usually known for its liberal attitude. I take responsibility as party leader and chancellor, Merkel said at a news conference alongside her partys mayoral candidate, Frank Henkel. Speaking in unusually self-critical terms, Merkel edged away from her oft-repeated mantra first uttered during the height of the migrant crisis last year that we will manage. Merkel said that while she stands by the sentiment, some voters had taken it as a provocation in view of the massive challenge that the country faces integrating hundreds of thousands of migrants. She also acknowledged that for years, Germany had benefited from rules that required refugees to apply for asylum in the first European Union country they enter, shielding her government from the pressure felt by other nations on the blocs frontiers. If I could, I would turn back time by many, many years in order to better prepare the entire German government and everyone else in a position of responsibility for the situation that hit us largely unprepared at the end of summer 2015, Merkel said. She reiterated her view that Germany already has performed a herculean task to cope with the unprecedented influx of migrants over the past year, but acknowledged that more work needs to be done, including to prevent extremist attacks of the kind seen over the summer. Not every refugee came to our country with good intentions, she said. Merkel added that shes prepared to address voters concerns about migrants, but that if people simply dont want Muslim asylum-seekers because of their religion, then that would be counter to her Christian Democratic Partys basic principles, as well as Germanys. The CDU and I cant go along with that, she said. Henkel, who has been in charge of security matters in Berlin for the past five years, added it was wrong to think there had been no improvement over the past year. He noted that last fall, up to 1,000 refugees were arriving in the capital each day, while that figure is down to between 25 and 30 now. Berlins notoriously inefficient bureaucracy, rising rents and ailing transport infrastructure especially the much-delayed new airport dominated the election campaign in Germanys biggest city, driving voters away from the centrist coalition toward the left and right. The anti-capitalist Left Party, a descendant of the former East German communists, gained 3.9 points to 15.6%. The Green Party received 15.2%, down by 2.4 percentage points. Many disillusioned Berliners who didnt vote in the last election backed the nationalist Alternative for Germany, however, driving turnout up to 66.9% from 60.2% in 2011. The three-year-old party came fresh from election success in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania two weeks ago, where it beat Merkels CDU into third place. Party leaders announced Monday that they now are setting their sights on next years federal election and aiming for a double-digit result. AfD narrowly missed clearing the 5% threshold to enter the national Parliament in 2013. Since then, the party has shifted rightward and campaigned heavily against immigration. Party co-chairwoman Frauke Petry cited recent opinion polls predicting the party could receive 14% to 15% at the national level and suggested that AfD would be prepared to take on government responsibility from 2021 if it gets sufficient backing from voters. AfD has been dogged by revelations about members espousing extremist views and having ties to far-right groups including two candidates who stood for the party in Berlin. Co-chairman Joerg Meuthen said AfD was trying to solve the problem and stressed that the party wouldnt tolerate anti-Semitism in its ranks. Merkel said her party would reach out to disaffected voters, including those who had backed AfD in recent elections because of fears about the impact that migrants will have on the country. Germany will change, as we will all change, if were not of stone, she said. But its foundations wont be shaken. She declined to declare whether she will seek a fourth term in next years election, though she is widely expected to do so. Merkel indicated that she was willing to offer an olive branch to the CDUs Bavaria-only sister-party, which is part of her government at the national level together with the Social Democrats. Bavarian Gov. Horst Seehofer, who has been sharply critical of the chancellor on the migrants issue, told Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Monday that the situation for his and Merkels Union bloc has never been so difficult. Merkel said she wouldnt accept a static cap on the number of migrants coming to Germany, leaving open the possibility that some sort of flexible maximum could be introduced a position she previously has rejected. Global leaders promised Monday to better protect the rights of refugees and migrants, and undertake a more coordinated response to the worlds deepening crisis of displaced people. But human rights and humanitarian groups criticized the agreement for being weak and failing to address the magnitude of the problem. How to deal with the worlds more than 65 million displaced people was the focus of the U.N. General Assemblys high-level summit on the largest movement of refugees and migrants in 70 years. William Lacy Swing, left, director general of the International Organization for Migration, on Monday shakes hands with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after signing documents at U.N. headquarters in New York. (Julie Jacobson / Associated Press ) Advertisement U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the meeting a breakthrough in our collective efforts to address the challenges of human mobility. He said adoption of what is being called the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants would mean more children can attend school; more workers can securely seek jobs abroad, instead of being at the mercy of criminal smugglers, and more people will have real choices about whether to move once we end conflict, sustain peace and increase opportunities at home. The agreement is expected to lead to the development of standardized guidelines on the treatment of migrants in vulnerable situations, herald more equitable sharing of hosting refugees, and spearhead adoption of a global compact in 2018 that promises safe, orderly and regular migration. But many human rights and humanitarian groups slammed the resolution for failing to mandate concrete action that obligates countries to do their fair share. It definitely does not go far enough, said Margaret Huang, interim executive director for Amnesty International. Amnesty welcomes the secretary generals impetus to have this summit, but unfortunately, governments around the world have failed to step up to this call for the responsibility of sharing the resettlement and support of refugees. Wealthier nations have been criticized for not committing to take substantially larger numbers of refugees, such as 10% of the refugee population annually that was suggested in an earlier draft of the agreement, which member states are accused of watering down. In this photo taken Sept. 13, a Kurd Syrian mother gives cough syrup to her child at Ritsona refugee camp near Athens. (Petros Giannakouris / Associated Press ) Weve seen governments undermining any attempt to insert more concrete language into the declaration that would achieve more affirmatively what governments need to do now, said Josephine Liebl, who heads Oxfams global displacement campaign. We have a lot of qualifiers. For example, the agreement acknowledges the need to address gaps in humanitarian funding, but says only that providing additional resources would be considered as appropriate. The document also encourages the resettlement of refugees and migrants, and promises action to combat xenophobia, racism and discrimination against them, but again says that measures will be taken to improve the integration and inclusion of these people as appropriate. They adopted the declaration, which in large part contains nice words, but the question really is what will be different from tomorrow onward, Liebl said. Huang, the Amnesty official, expressed alarm over statements from countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Hungary that she said emphasize border security and national security and push for refugees to remain in the countries where they initially land. FROM THE ARCHIVES -- Fleeing Syria: A desperate migration U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May told the Guardian newspaper Monday that it was better to help more refugees in their own region than resettle a smaller number elsewhere. We have always taken the view that we can help more Syrian refugees by putting aid into the region, the paper quoted May as saying. As such, the majority of refugees remain stranded in poorer countries that have less capacity to support them. Together, Ethiopia, Kenya, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Turkey host a third of the worlds refugees, while accounting for 1.6% of the worlds economy, according to Amnesty. And only around 100,000 refugees are actually resettled annually, the human rights group said. (The Obama administration recently announced its intent to resettle 110,000 refugees in 2017, up from 85,000 this year.) In recent days, protests have been held in some nations to highlight the plight of displaced people. In Slovenia, dozens of refugees demonstrated Monday at an asylum center to object the slow pace of processing asylum requests. And demonstrators took to the streets of London to show their support for refugees and to urge the U.K. government do more to tackle the migrant crisis. Lifejackets that have been used by refugees to cross the sea to Europe are laid out in Parliament Square in London on Monday. (Carl Court / Getty Images ) While we are encouraged global leaders came together recognizing the need to address historic levels of displacement, the New York Declaration does little to change the status quo, Nazanin Ash, vice president for public policy and advocacy at the International Rescue Committee, said in an emailed comment. His group is among those calling for more robust and long-term support for host states, for alternative forms of admission to other states, and for a commitment to resettle 10% of refugees worldwide over the next three years, among other issues. Responsibility sharing for refugees exists more in rhetoric than in practice, Ash said. ALSO: As resources run dry, Syrian refugees cling to survival in Jordans urban hubs Op-Ed: Rethinking the way the world deals with refugees The Philippines drug addicts, shunned by society and hunted by assassins, find they have nowhere to turn Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank early Tuesday after he tried to stab a soldier, the latest in a recent surge in attacks, officials said. Troops opened fire because the 16-year-old posed an immediate threat to a soldier stationed at a checkpoint set up at the entrance to the Bani Naim village in the southern West Bank, officials said. The Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa identified the youth as Issa Tarayreh, a resident of the village. Advertisement Since Friday, Israeli security forces have reported at least nine knifing and car ramming attacks on targets in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Some six Palestinians and a Jordanian citizen have been killed in the violence, and several Israelis have been injured, including a 38-year-old border policewoman stabbed Monday morning outside Jerusalems Old City. The surge in violence comes two weeks before the start of holidays marking the Jewish new year. Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told Israels Army Radio that security forces have been bracing for an escalation, anticipating that the Jewish holidays might inspire a wave of lone wolf violence like the string of stabbings, car attacks, and shootings that started during the same period last year. Weve seen a rise in incitement on social networks and by the Palestinian Authority, Erdan said in an interview. There was an expectation that it could prompt individuals to carry out attacks. The killing of the Palestinian teen came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to New York for a meeting with President Obama and to address the United Nations General Assembly. Before departing, Netanyahu praised Israeli soldiers and police officers for an uncompromising struggle against brutal terrorism and called on the international community to support Israel. The wave of daily violence that started a year ago left more than 200 Palestinians and several dozen Israelis dead, though in the spring and summer the incidents subsided substantially. A Palestinian public opinion survey last June found support for knife attacks on the decline and that about half of respondents believed that the wave of violence was over. Much of the violence has taken place in and around the West Bank city of Hebron prompting the Israeli army to send reinforcements to the region and impose a clampdown on population centers. Israeli soldiers on Sunday started barring Palestinians between the ages of 15 and 30 from leaving Bani Naim, about four miles east of Hebron, after a pair of youths from the village on Friday drove their car into a bus stop outside the settlement of Kiryat Arba. In June, a teenager from the same village killed a 13-year-old Israeli girl from Kiryat Arba while she was sleeping in her bed. After a knife attack Monday morning at one of the entrances to Jerusalems Old City that wounded two border policeman, Israeli police ordered Arab merchants in East Jerusalem to close their shops. Palestinians view the Israeli accounts of the incidents as exaggerated to justify the use of deadly force, said Fadi Abu Sada, a West Bank reporter for the Arabic daily Al Quds al Arabi. Palestinians think that Israelis want this Palestinian uprising to continue for political reasons, Abu Sada said, to keep saying that Palestinians are terrorists, and that there is no partner for peace, and to relieve international pressure over expansion of Israeli settlements. Mitnick is a special correspondent. MORE FROM WORLD U.N. suspends aid deliveries to Syria after deadly attack on humanitarian convoy Vladimir Putin is the man to watch at the UN as he deepens Russias role in the Middle East In China, some people eat dogs; others have them as pets. Now an upcoming dog show is causing controversy Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his Argentinean counterpart Mauricio Macri have met in the United States to discuss the resumption of political and business contacts between the two countries, paying special attention to cooperation in energy, aerospace, aircraft building, and agriculture. "The heads of state noted the fact that the meeting between the Ukrainian and Argentine presidents was taking place for the first time in the last 16 years. The parties emphasized the importance of restoring active political and business contacts between the two states at all levels," the Ukrainian presidential press service reported. The two presidents confirmed mutual interest in developing bilateral trade and economic cooperation and outlined priorities, namely cooperation in the energy sector, aerospace, aircraft building, and agriculture. They also touched on issues of bilateral history. Poroshenko emphasized that Ukraine would always remember the fact that Argentina had been the only Latin American country to recognize the Ukrainian People's Republic in February 1921 and establish diplomatic relations with it. It has also been the first Latin American country to recognize the independence of Ukraine on December 5, 1991. Macri in turn said he highly appreciated the contribution made by the large Ukrainian Diaspora to the development of Argentina. Further, he noted that in 2017, his country would mark the 120th anniversary of the first Ukrainian settlements in Argentina. The terms of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) providing Ukraine with the next tranche were, among other things, refusing the moratorium on farmland sales and nationalization of large private Ukrainian banks, Head of the Batkivschyna parliamentary faction Yulia Tymoshenko has said. "[Among Ukraine's obligations are] the cancellation of the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land. If the moratorium is not prolonged, Ukraine will lose its main resource," she told journalists in Kyiv. The politician noted the conditions for obtaining the tranche also include a reduction in the network of educational institutions. "The nationalization of large Ukrainian private banks is foreseen. We want to know what the bank is, what the date of nationalization is and who will be responsible for the obligations the banks have to Ukrainians," she said. She said it is also planned to "virtually introduce external control over national, state Ukrainian banks." The commitments also entail a reduction in the network of Ukrainian educational institutions. Ukraine and Greece have agreed to start jointly designing feasibility aspects for the organization of a ferry between the two countries. According to a posting on the website of the Ukrainian Sea Port Administration, the agreement was reached in Athens at the first technical meeting of experts for development of cooperation between Ukraine and Greece in the sea sphere held on September 13 and September 14. The sides agreed to mutually support each other at the level of marine organizations and European structures and exchange information. Greece agreed to assist Ukraine in reforming its marine sector, in particular, port infrastructure to meet the EU standards. After the meeting a joint protocol specifying directions of bilateral cooperation in the marine area (road map) was signed and plans made for the two sides to create a permanent commission for cooperation in the marine sector. The next meeting will be held in 2017 in Ukraine. A 16-year-old Freedom High School girl assaulted another student and then three Bethlehem Township officers who responded to a fight call, police said. The school resource officer went to a classroom to investigate the initial assault at 11:41 a.m. Monday, police said. The girl resisted arrest, spitting at, biting and kicking three uniformed police officers, police said. The girl was taken to the Northampton County juvenile detention facility in Easton on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and related offenses, police said. The officers were treated at St. Luke's Hospital in the township and released, police said. They remained on duty, police said. Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy said, if he has his way, the student has spent her last day at Freedom. "We will not tolerate this type of behavior. Period," Roy said in an email. "The student will be afforded her legal due process rights, but I do not plan for this student to return to school." Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. It is getting harder for the Bethlehem Area School District to manage the conditions that make one of its middle schools prone to summer mold growth, so the district wants to spend $2.6 million upgrading the school's HVAC. East Hills Middle School in Bethlehem. Three years ago, the district found mold growing in 28 classrooms in a wing of East Hills Middle School that actually delayed the opening of school. Last year, the school board authorized borrowing $1 million as part of the final new Nitschmann Middle School bonds for HVAC work at East Hills Middle School. And the board agreed it needed to spend $865,200 to repaint the rusting stands at the district's stadium. Both projects were expected to be completed next summer. Superintendent Joseph Roy said the hot summers and humidity are making it much more difficult to manage East Hills' cooling system, so the district wants to shift priorities. The issues at East Hills this summer have made a more extensive HVAC overhaul necessary, said Mark Stein, director of facilities and plant operations. The administration is now recommending delaying the stadium repairs. Despite the district staying on top of managing the humidity levels in classrooms, some mold did start to grow on some furniture this summer, Stein said. It was quickly caught and treated under the direction of a certified industrial hygienist. The rooms and the cooling system are designed for rooms that are filled with people. Things become challenging when they sit empty all summer, Stein said. "When you don't have kids it over-cools," he explained. The school board will vote later this month on whether to design the projects and seek bids for $2.6 million of repairs to the heating and cooling systems at East Hills Middle School. The district already did the design work for a $503,546 replacement of the school's steam broiler and a $104,154 art room air handler. The district plans to pay for the work through a mix of bond funding, district capital reserve, the Nitschmann project contingency fund and the maintenance budget. The capital reserve will get a boost this year thanks to a 2015-16 budget surplus, which Chief Financial Officer Stacy M. Gober said will total at least $1 million. The surplus could be as much as $4 million, but Gober said the budget is not yet closed and she can't say why there could be such a surplus. The proposed East Hills work: Steam broiler replacement: $503,546. Paid for with the 2016 Nitschmann bond. Replace the unit ventilators and add dehumidification: $1,019,700. Paid for with $1 million 2015-16 budget surplus transferred into capital reserve. Replace art wing HVAC: $500,000. Paid for with part of $1.16 million Nitschmann project contingency fund. Replace HVAC in science wing: $580,000 Paid for from capital reserve; must defer stadium painting. Install automatic temperature control system: $300,000. Paid for from capital reserve; must defer stadium painting. Replace classroom carpeting with vinyl floor tile: $195,000. Paid for with maintenance budget. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. stlukesanderson.jpeg A patient Friday allegedly attacked staff at St. Luke's Anderson campus in Bethlehem Township. (file photo) ( ) A patient being treated at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem Township became combative and attacked two staff members, police said. Rene Francis Andino, of the 1400 block of Northampton Street in Easton, shortly before 9:30 a.m. Friday allegedly began arguing with an emergency room nurse and a hospital security guard. Andino then charged at the security guard, pushing him in the chest, and lunged toward the male nurse, police said. As the victims held Andino's arms to restrain her, she scratched the arm of the security guard and bit the nurse, according to police. Police said the bite mark on the nurse's arm had a full imprint of Andino's top and bottom teeth. Andino also allegedly scratched at the nurse's neck. By the time officers arrived, Andino was restrained to a hospital bed and was "loud and boisterous, trying to escape the restraints," police said. Andino is charged with one count of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault and harassment. She was arraigned before District Judge Richard Yetter III, who set bail at $15,000. In lieu of bail, Andino was taken to Northampton County Prison. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Phillipsburg woman wanted on a child endangerment charge was found by Easton police during a traffic stop. Monica Cartagena (Courtesy photo) Monica Cartagena, 30, of the first block of Hanover Street, at 7:30 p.m. Monday was stopped by city police in the 200 block of Fourth Street. Court records do not indicate the reason for the stop. Police discovered Cartagena was wanted by the Warren County Prosecutor's Office since Sept. 1 on a charge of endangering the welfare of children. She was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Richard Yetter III, who set bail at $75,000 and ordered her to Northampton County Prison. Cartagena is awaiting extradition back to New Jersey. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. The investigation into the killing of a Lower Macungie Township woman is progressing well and a person of interest has been developed, a Pennsylvania State Police lieutenant says. Stephanie Roof, 46, of the 6400 lock of Pinecrest Lane, was found with a mortal gunshot wound to the chest early in the morning of Sept. 13 in her driveway, authorities have said. Authorities have ruled out her live-in boyfriend or her most-recent ex-husband, as well as another ex-husband, Lt. Joseph Sokolofski said. As for the person of interest, Sokolofski wouldn't even identify a gender, saying he can't release any specifics for concern about the integrity of their investigation. No one has been charged in the crime. The public, however, is not in any danger, he said. Roof was targeted, he added. "We don't believe this is a random act of violence," he said. Three search warrants were served -- one if Roof's house, one in her 2013 SUV and a third that remains sealed, something Sokolofski said isn't unusual in a homicide investigation. To release information from the third warrant, "I think would impede forward progress of the investigation," he said. Roof's gun was found where it was expected to be in the home and she wasn't carrying when she was attacked, Sokolofski said. She didn't have any protection orders in place at the time of her death, an hour or more after she was shot, he said. An April 27 arson in Roof's garage will get a fresh look, Sokolofski said. It was the only recent contact Roof had had with authorities, he added. No suspects were developed in the initial investigation of the fire. "Arsons are tough," he said. As for police working three days in the neighborhood without releasing a great deal of information, that's because, "When we get there, we don't really know anything." As the probe developed, police "began to paint a picture" of who the victim was and who may want to do her harm, Sokolofski said. "If we felt the public was at any risk or neighbors at risk, we would get information out right away," he said. "That doesn't seem to be the case" in this crime. There is still a significant amount of evidence to be evaluated and ballistic evidence is currently at a state police lab, so Sokolofski said he couldn't say more about the weapon that killed the mother of two teenagers. Police will meet soon with the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office to provide an update, he said. "I'm really satisfied with the progress of the investigation," Sokolofski said. "I hope to release more information soon." Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A new law might not bring Jessica Padgett back to her sister. But it could lead to a death sentence for anyone callous enough to commit the crime Padgett's stepfather committed. Jessica Padgett's family and friends addressed the media after Gregory Graf was convicted of murdering her. In the front center is her father, Thomas Kaczman. On the far right is Michael Padgett, her husband. in the rear from left are: Becky Wendell, a family friend; Danelle Bittner, Padgett's mother; Jim Wilkins, a friend; and Kristi Davis, Padgett's sister. Gregory Graf, 54, of Allen Township, killed the 33-year-old Whitehall Township woman and then sexually abused her corpse in November 2014. He was convicted at trial after only six minutes of deliberation and was sentenced to life in prison. Padgett's sister, Kristi Davis, thinks the crime merits a death sentence. Prosecutors didn't have any of the aggravating circumstances needed to pursue the death penalty, though. Davis is fighting for a new law that would make desecration or mutilation of a corpse during a homicide an aggravating factor that could be considered for a death-penalty prosecution. "At least this would give Jess justice, at least it would protect other people after what happened to her," said Davis, who lives in Maryland. Graf lied about the crime for days and even helped family members search for Padgett. He later confessed and directed police to the body he had buried in a shallow grave behind his home. Police found video recordings of Graf sexually abusing the corpse. Jurors had to watch the horrific footage at the trial. State Rep. Julie Harhart, R-183rd District, introduced Jessica's Law on Aug. 15. The chairman of the judiciary committee told her Monday, Sept. 20, he hopes the law will be moved out of committee in October. "This law would add desecration or mutilation of a corpse to the list of aggravating factors for death penalty cases," she said. She said the murder happened across the street from her legislative office and she still gets the chills just talking about the case. About two years removed from the crime, it still isn't easy for Davis to get past the loss of her sister and best friend. "I don't remember when my baby was little. I don't remember graduating from college. These things happened when she was taken from me. I was robbed of those things," she said. Jessica's Law won't ever restore those memories but at least it will arm prosecutors with the weapon they need to seek justice on anyone treated as horrifically as Padgett, she said. "Sometimes I feel like it happened yesterday. Sometimes I feel like it's been forever since I've had my sister. I still miss her," Davis said. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. United States Border Patrol works to secure the United States border with Mexico along the Rio Grande river. United States Border Patrol agents stand guard while watching people on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande River. (Larry W. Smith | EPA) Why don't Mexicans stay in Mexico? Why are they swimming the Rio Grande, risking death in the desert to enter the U.S. illegally? What is the president of Mexico doing to keep his people there? What did the last 10 presidents of Mexico do to keep their people there? Could it be that they were corrupt, that they used their positions to enrich themselves? Sound familiar? The biggest threats to this whole world are self-serving politicians. They cause all the grief. Do drug cartels rule the roost in Mexico? Could a percentage of the Mexicans crossing into the U.S. be working for the drug cartels? Is the drug trade killing young Americans? Do we need to secure our borders? Yes, it should be the first step. Stop the current flow, then deal with the drug traders and gangs with extreme prejudice. The profiteers of the drug trade need to be stopped. Only then will the murders, illegal guns and violence against innocent victims of our cities cease. The last eight years failed to do this. No more stupid operations like "Fast and Furious," which only got our law enforcement officers killed, and no more "nonaction," which resulted in President Obama's Chicago disaster. Mexico needs to get its act together and give its people a country they want to stay in. The Mexican farmers need to be growing food, not poppies. Build the damn wall, and Mexico should pay for at least half of it. Fair enough? Larry Dabkowski Phillipsburg AR-15 AR-15 by Smith and Wesson is a very easy gun to shoot because of the low recoil. An accurate weapon with interchangeable parts and very easy to accessories. It is pictured here with a standard 30 round magazine. (PennLive.com file photo) Cocaine for an assault rifle. That was the deal undercover authorities in New Jersey reached with an alleged drug and gun trafficker, leading to his arrest last week after a three-month investigation involving local, state and federal agencies. William Carter, of Somerville, faces charges after allegedly trying to trade cocaine for an AR-15 assault rifle with undercover authorities. (Courtesy photo) The trade was to go down Sept. 15 in Hackettstown, where 32-year-old William T. Carter was arrested, according to an announcement Tuesday from the Warren County Prosecutor's Office. "A dangerous man was taken off the streets," said Carl J. Kotowski, the special agent in charge of Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey division, in a news release. "Anyone wanting to purchase an assault rifle with a defaced serial number has only bad intentions." Carter, of the first block of West Spring Street in Somerville, allegedly arrived with about 2 ounces of cocaine and carrying a .45 caliber handgun -- its serial number defaced -- and an extra magazine. He was ready to trade the cocaine for an AR-15 rifle -- also with a defaced serial number -- a flash suppressor, a threaded barrel for a .45 caliber handgun and a brass catcher, according to the news release. Authorities allege Carter expressed interest in the rifle and accessories during previous meetings with undercover agents. Subsequent surveillance revealed him distributing drugs in Warren and Hunterdon counties, according to the news release. Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke said there was no indication of Carter's intentions with the weapon, but noted "it's illegal to have it anyway." Carter, a convicted felon legally barred from owning a firearm, faces a slew of drug and weapons charges and was sent to the Warren County jail in lieu of $150,000 bail. Upon his arrest, authorities searched Carter's vehicle and residences in Warren County's Washington Borough and Lebanon Township in Hunterdon, the release says. The Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office; Independence Township Police Department; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms assisted the Warren County Prosecutor's Office and DEA in the investigation. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. During talks with U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has informed her about the situation in Donbas region saying that Ukraine is today striving for freedom and democratic values which unite the entire civilized world, the press service of the Ukrainian head of state reported. "The parties agreed that it is important to strengthen transatlantic unity and solidarity with Ukraine in order to confront Russian aggression. The effectiveness of sanctions policy against Russia was also noted," a communique reads released by the presidential press service on Tuesday morning. Poroshenko also thanked Clinton for her constant and firm support to Ukraine. In turn, Clinton stressed that in recent years Ukraine has demonstrated important progress in the fulfillment of reforms and expressed support for their continuation. In addition, the U.S. presidential candidate greeted the Ukrainian people on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of independence. As earlier reported, Poroshenko is paying a visit to the U.S. where he will deliver a speech at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly on September 21. A Pennsylvania man has admitted sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and offering an international trip to a witness to keep the witness from testifying, according to New Jersey authorities. Greivin Estrada, of Upper Saucon Township, Pa., pleaded guilty Sept. 19, 2016, to charges accusing him of sex with a 12-year-old girl. (Courtesy photo) Greivin Estrada, 27, of the 4700 block of Chestnut Hill Road in Upper Saucon Township, is to serve 15 years in state prison under a plea agreement, the Warren County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday. He faced up to 20 years if he had been tried and convicted. Estrada on Monday pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated sexual assault, drug possession and witness tampering, the prosecutor's office said in a news release. According to previous reports, Estrada assaulted the girl, who was known to him, on Dec. 31, 2013, in Phillipsburg. Later that day, police stopped him and found between a half-ounce and five ounces of cocaine. This summer, Estrada was charged with witness tampering after offering a paid-for trip to a foreign country so she wouldn't be available to testify against him. Estrada is in the Warren County jail as he awaits sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 28. Under the plea, he will be required to serve at least 12 years and nine months in prison, and will be subject to a lifetime of parole supervision and a restraining order, must register under Megan's Law and must undergo a psychiatric examination, the prosecutor's office said. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Laois TD and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charlie Flanagan has the honour of representing Ireland this week at the United Nations in New York. Minister Flanagan has begun a busy programme of engagements in New York where foreign ministers from around the world have gathered for the United National General Assembly. During his visit, Minister Flanagan will address the United Nations General Assembly and meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He is also due to undertake a series of meetings with foreign ministers from around the world at the General Assembly, as well as participating in an EI trade event, delivering a keynote address at Fordham University on Ireland and the EU, and engaging with the Irish community. The Minister will begin his visit to New York by hosting a business breakfast meeting with Enterprise Ireland and a number of its client companies active in the US market. Also on Monday Minister Flanagan was due to deliver a keynote address on Ireland and the European Union in Changing Times at the School of Law of Fordham University. He was due to underline that Ireland is wholeheartedly committed to our membership of the European Union and of the Eurozone and emphasise the attractive environment that Ireland offers US investors. Minister Flanagan will also speak to the audience at Fordham about the diverse range of markets with which Ireland now trades. Speaking ahead of his departure for the UN, Minister Flanagan said Irelands commitment to the principles and values enshrined in the United Nations Charter remains at the heart of the country's foreign policy and the annual UN General Assembly provides a valuable opportunity to set out Irelands priorities and to engage with international partners. Ireland is particularly active in both UN peacekeeping and in tackling hunger and poverty. In my address to the UN General Assembly, I will highlight the fact that conflict and deprivation are key drivers of the current migration crisis. The community of nations needs to work together to address the root causes of migration and the UN has a critical role to play in this regard. Todays migration crisis resonates with Irelands own sad history of emigration and I will be emphasising the need for the international community tackle the root causes of the migration crisis, rather than focus on addressing the symptoms of the problem, saaid Minister Flanagan. He is also due to meet many key Irish-Americans. Portarlington Paralympian Nicole Turner was given a hero's welcome this week as she returns home this week with Team Ireland. The Irish team arrived back into Dublin Airport from Rio on Wednesday, Sept 21 with their flight scheduled to touch down at 12:05pm. The Laois Marlins swimmer was given a big welcome at Portarlington's Leisure Centre later that day. Teachers and pupils at her secondary school, Colaiste Iosagain, are hoping Nicole will be able to make it to a school homecoming this Friday. Nicole aged 14 is a second year pupil at the school. Deputy Principal Siobhan Higgins says the school is looking forward to welcoming her home. We can't wait, she will get a hero's welcome, Ms Higgins said. What was an adversity in the beginning, through her tenacity and hard work, Nicole has shown that anything is possible, and to go after your dreams. She follows a gruelling training routine yet every day she comes to school with a smile on her face, the deputy principal said. Health service authorities have said there are no plans to end care for prisoners at Portlaoise hospitaldespite confirming that a multi-agency meeting has taken place in Tullamore in relation to prisoner treatment at the Offaly hospital. In a statement the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group played down fears that the meeting was part of the plan to downgrade the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise. Portlaoise hospital is located across the road from the Portlaoise prison complex which houses about 1,000 prisoners. It is Ireland's biggest prison complex. Portlaoise Prison house some of the countrys most dangerous criminals. There are fears that the meeting was held to organised to draw up new protocols for Tullamore ahead of it assuming Portlaoise hospital's role in treating prisoners. Prisoners from Midlands Prison Portlaoise are treated at both Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise (MRHP) and Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore (MRHT) depending on their particular condition or treatment requirement. There are no plans to change this approach. MRHT can confirm that a meeting took place last week between hospital management and officials from the Midlands Prison Portlaoise and Irish Prison Service last week. MRHT have developed a local policy to manage safe and effective care for outpatients serving a custodial sentence. Items discussed at the meeting included a routine review of security arrangements in respect of prisoners accessing services at MRHT, said the statement. A spokesperson said the meetings on prisoner care were regular and it was a routine meeting. No details were provided on how often such meetings take place. The agenda for the meeting was not provided. Both Portlaoise and Tullamore are managed by the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. A Kildare Fine Gael Councillor has slammed a fellow councillors description of Fine Gael as an old boys' club. Ahead of a Fine Gael disciplinary meeting tonight, Cllr Darren Scully responded to claims made by Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy that she was going to expose the old boys club as thats crazy stuff. Its very damaging to politics. Its very damaging to give the impression to people that politics is like that. The meeting of the national FG disciplinary committee will take place tonight in Dublin. Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy will be in attendance, as will the Chief whip of the Kildare group, Cllr Darren Scully; and Group leader, Cllr Ivan Keatley; and Cllr Mark Stafford. We will be giving our position and then we will be open to cross examination, then she will outline her position and she will be open to cross examination, said Cllr Scully. The group's complaint resulted from a motion of no confidence in Mayor of Kildare Brendan Weld last May, which was put forward by Cllr McLoughlin Healy against her fellow party man. There were 30 votes against the motion, one vote in favour (Cllr McLoughlin Healy) and five abstentions (SF councillors and Independent Cllr Brendan Young). Cllr McLoughlin Healy accused the mayor of trying to block her motions and not allowing her free speech. The Newbridge councillor said a special meeting was organised by the Mayor, who had tried to find ways to prevent her motions from being discussed. She also said her Fine Gael colleagues had also refused to second her motions. She said she had endeavoured to have a meeting with Mayor Weld but he refused, which then lead to her putting down the motion. Cllr McLoughlin Healy had also maintained there was a conflict of interest in relation the allocation of the Decade of Commemoration funds to the Bluebells and Buskers festival in Rathangan. She said the 600 grant application had been made in (former) Cllr Fiona OLoughlins brothers name and the former councillor had not declared her interest. At the meeting, Cllr Padraig McEvoy (Ind) said there was no conflict of interest possible, because while Cllr OLoughlins brothers name was on the application, the money went to a Rathangan community organisation. Cllr Scully said the meeting in question was organised by the mayor to meet with all the group leaders to try and streamline meetings because with 40 councillors, it was not possible for everyone to speak on every motion and there had to be time limits for everyone. He said there was no effort made to block Cllr McLoughlin Healys motions. He said someone, who had been at the meeting misinformed Cllr McLoughlin Healy that this had happened to cause a rift in the FG party. On Monday May 23 Kildares Fine Gael councillors voted unanimously to expel Cllr McLoughlin Healy from the party grouping. This means she remains in the party, but not recognised as a FG councillor. Following tonights meeting, the committee will take some time out to consider their ruling. The committee could reprimand the councillor, suspend or expel her from the party, or clear her. Cllr Scully said Mayor Weld had been held in the highest esteem as Mayor and was a hardworking councillor for many years. He pointed out not one councillor had supported the motion of no confidence. There was a slur put on his name and we as a group will not stand for it. She put down that motion of confidence without any consultation with her colleagues in the party, he said. Cllr Scully said he thought Cllr McLoughlin Healy was having a hard time dealing with her result in the general election and was trying to blame others and was using Cllr Weld as a scapegoat. He said she had been given every opportunity and the party had bent over back ways to help her achieve her political ambitions. He said if she was calling them the old boys club and hated Fine Gael so much, why didnt she just leave the party. Ukraine will raise the issue of Russia's illegally taking control of the airspace over Crimea by Russia and that of the inquiry into the MH17 crash at a meeting of the UN Security Council on September 22, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said. "A meeting of the UN Security Council on September 22 will deal with various aviation security matters. I will have a few key topics. I would like to focus on two of them. One is the MH17," Klimkin told Ukrainian journalists in New York. He also said a meeting of foreign ministers of five countries involved in the international group on the inquiry into the MH17 crash will take place on Tuesday. They will discuss further the tactics and strategy of action ahead of the publication of the report on the Dutch crash inquiry. "During the meeting of the Security Council, I plan to focus on this issue and on the topic of how Russia is trying to usurp control of the airspace over temporarily occupied Crimea," the minister said. The best of the best in the Irish business community have created an exciting but orderly queue as the nominations for The National Q Mark Awards 2016 have been revealed. The glitzy, black tie ceremony, which will take place on Friday the 30th of September, will see over 150 companies converge on Dublins Double Tree By Hilton Hotel on Burlington Road to battle it out for the much coveted Q Mark Awards. On the Queue for Best Leisure Centre in Ireland for Quality Management Systems is Aura Leisure Centre Leitrim. The Q Mark is awarded only to companies who achieve the highest standards of quality and excellence, with The Q Mark criteria ensuring that companies exceed legal requirements rather than simply meeting them. Companies who achieve The Q Mark provide their own customers with added confidence in their products and services as it is an incredible quality tool that monitors 100% of their systems, processes and procedures for best practice, 100% of the time. Irene Collins, Managing Director of EIQA (Excellence Ireland Quality Association) speaking at the launch of this years awards said To be nominated for The Q Mark Awards is an enormous achievement, particularly as the operating standards continue to increase year on year. She continued; Companies who hold The Q Mark demonstrate to their customers that the highest standards of quality and excellence are at the heart of their business and that really is something worth celebrating! Sinn Fein TD for Sligo-Leitrim has called on the Minister for Health to provide adequate compensation for those who have been adversely affected after been vaccinated with Pandemrix, Swine Flu vaccine. Deputy Kenny said: In reply to a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health Simon Harris, I was informed that 80 individuals have been diagnosed with narcolepsy as a result of receiving the Pandemrix vaccine. The majority of these are children and adolescents. The Department of Health states that 22.5% of the countrys population received at least one dose of Pandemrix vaccine. It also stated that the 5-19 age group had a significantly higher uptake of the Pandemrix vaccine and according to the National Narcolepsy Study Steering Committee which conducted a retrospective population based study there was a 13-fold higher risk of narcolepsy in children/adolescents vaccinated with the pandemic H1N1 2009 vaccine compared to unvaccinated children/adolescents. Narcolepsy severely impacts an individuals life. It can mean that a sufferer can no longer hold down a job, have and active social life and, in some cases, they cant be left alone for long periods of time in case they fall asleep in the wrong place. I am calling on the minister to engage with representatives of SOUND (Suffers Of Unique Narcolepsy Disorder) and to assist them in their quest for adequate compensation for all those who have been adversely affected after been vaccinated with Pandemrix Swine Flu vaccine. You can make a difference. By getting involved in the Soup for Simon campaign, you can help to give someone who is homeless, or at risk of being homeless, the stability, support and safety they need to make a fresh start. The concept is simple, local restaurants and cafes are donating 1 from each bowl of soup they sell during this years national Simon Week (Monday 26th September Sunday 2nd October). A small ask that requires little action and has the potential to make a powerful impact. All proceeds will be used effectively and transparently to prevent and address homelessness here in Sligo/Leitrim. If you buy a soup in any of the following cafes/restaurants during Simon Week 26th Sept to 2nd Oct 1 will go to the North West Simon Community: Sweet Geranium on the High St in Drumshanbo Beirnes of Battlebridge outside Leitrim Village The Brandywell and Coxs Steakhouse in Dromod Crumbs Sandwich Bar, The Oarsman, The Bush Hotel and Vittos in Carrick-on-Shannon. Don't worry we will remind you all again in time for lunch next week! Here is Alistair Carmichaels speech to Conference in full: It is good to be back in Brighton. It has been quite a year since we all left Bournemouth after autumn conference last year. I remember the journey home. We had had a good conference. Membership was up and we had more new members at conference than I had ever known Glee Club had been as hot, tuneless and tasteless as I had ever known it. Tim had delivered a stonker of a leaders speech The mood was upbeat. But too be honest I remember thinking on that train pulling out of Bournemouth that it was all a little suboptimal. I had just spent a week with good friends who had been fantastic colleagues in parliament but who had lost their seats just the same. Good men and women who hadnt deserved to lose. Vince Cable, Norman Baker, Simon Hughes, Mike Moore, Jo Swinson, Lorely Burt, Mark Hunter, Steve Webb, Lynne Featherstone, Dan Rogerson. I could go on. Mostly, replaced by Tories carried in on a national tide who, even sixteen months later, for the most part I would struggle to recognise let alone name. How their constituents must regret it now. That was hard. It was, quite honestly, hard to see a way ahead for this party that I first joined as a fourteen old. It was hard to see our purpose. It was even harder to see our future. After five difficult years in coalition it felt like the Tories had got all the benefit and we had got all the grief. They had won the majority in parliament. They wore the mantle of economic competence like they do so much in life with that unmistakable sense of Tory entitlement. As I say just a bitsuboptimal. Well, what a difference a year makes. Twelve months after that rather subdued journey from Bournemouth home to Orkney, the landscape looks pretty different today. David Cameron the Torys hero of the May election, the man who delivered their first commons majority since 1992 gone. George Osborne the Chancellor of the Exchequer the man with the economic plan the safe hand on the tiller of our nations finances gone. That mantle of economic competence? gone. Shredded. That Tory sense of entitlement well actually, thats still there. Our Prime Minister may lead a party with a majority but it has no mandate, no legitimacy and no clue about what to do next. The Carmichael family took our holiday in New York this year. As well as all the usual sightseeing Time Square, Central Park, Fifth Avenue we thought it might be nice to take in an evening in a comedy club. Apparently, most responsible parents dont take their fifteen-year-old children to Off-Broadway comedy clubs. In my defence, I would say that this was only explained to me after we had paid for the ticket. After this had been pointed out to us (and the whole assembled company) a few times, the final act came on stage. After identifying us in the audience and asking us where we had come from, he started on the same riff as all the others but then he stopped. . He broke off and suddenly it wasnt about comedy. In this New York comedy club he says, but seriouslyBoris Johnstonwhat is that about?. And, conference, at that moment I realised completely what these people and their sense of entitlement had done to my country. I had been in American many times before and always people there had seen our country as a force for good in the world. That had gone. Now they look at us with bewilderment. They see us as a laughing stock. Why? Because a handful of Bullingdon boys thought it would be easier to have a referendum on our membership of the European Union than it would be to take on and beat the swivel-eyed europhobes on their own back benches. So conference, that is why my mood has changed since last year. That is why the political landscape looks very different today. That is why no one can question our purpose today. That is why our country, our politics, needs liberalism today more than it ever has. And, conference, dont let the Tories fool you. Dont buy the line that somehow the party led by a grammar school girl is different from the one led by the Bullingdon Boys. The truth is very different. We know that because we have seen Theresa Mays instincts at the Home Office. This is the woman who wanted to introduce the Snoopers Charter but was thwarted by Nick Clegg. This is the woman who thought it might be a good idea to leave the European Convention on Human Rights joining a club with only one other member Belarus. This is the woman who, seeing millions of refugees coming across Europe, thought that it would be sufficient to commit to taking twenty thousand over five years. And make no mistake conference, you could see Theresas fingerprints over each of Camerons paltry announcements that came out drip by measly drip. Clearly she thought that helping these desperate refugees was less important than trying to meet her partys ludicrous immigration targets. For as long as Theresa May is in number ten; for as long as the Tories govern our country; for as long as our country is run by those who want to turn our country inwards. For as long as that remains the case this country will need a liberal alternative. This country will need the Liberal Democrats. Now, conference, as you know, David Cameron is gone; George Osborne is gone. But that is not all. There is another one who is gone and, brace yourself, I regret his passing. It is Michael Gove. Michael Gove may have been a difficult Secretary of State for Education but as Secretary of State for Justice he was showing signs of understanding some of the important basic truths about our justice system especially our prisons. That was why, when the Queens Speech in May committed the government to some fundamental reform of our prison system, I said that we in the Liberal Democrats would support it. Less than three months later, however, and Michael Gove was gone and the commitment to prison reform seems to have gone with him. That is something that every liberal should care about. Our prisons are full to bursting. The crisis is manifesting itself in the most depressing way -increasing violence and self-harm. In the 12 months to March 2016, 290 people died in prison, the highest number on record. Just think about that for a moment. 290 lives lost in the most depressing circumstances possible. For decades the rhetoric of successive Home Secretaries and Justice Ministers has been about toughness. About making prisons harsh unforgiving places of punishment rather than rehabilitation. And you know what? It has not worked. In just over a decade the prison population has risen by 92%. No thought has been given to reducing the numbers. Instead budgets have been stretched and understaffing has got worse. Prisoners end up spending more time locked in their cells, being warehoused rather than rehabilitated. And still we keep cramming them in with no thought for the consequences. It costs us, as taxpayers 35,000 per year to keep someone locked up in prison. Never mind the cost of police time, court time, witnesses, judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers. Surely as taxpayers we are entitled to a prison system that does more than detain the damaged before putting them back on the streets more damaged than when they went in. I worked for some years as a criminal court solicitor. First as a prosecutor, then as a defence agent. The young men (and yes, they were overwhelmingly young men) who were my clients had more often than not fallen through every safety net that society sought to provide for them. Failed by their families, failed by the education system, failed by the care system, failed by social work prison did nothing to arrest their fall. If anything it accelerated it. Of course those who commit crime must be punished but if that is the summit of our ambition then things are never going to get any better. Instead of locking prisoners in their cells for hours on end every day give them skills that might in turn help them to get a job at the end of their sentence. Rather than sending them back out on the streets unchanged. You wont do any of that, however, while our jails are fit to burst. Overcrowded prisons are violent environments where neither staff nor inmates can feel secure. It is not rocket science. Our prisons are overcrowded because we sent too many offenders into custody. That has got to change. So, conference lets start again at the beginning. What do we expect our prisons to do for us? I am not naive. There are some for who prison will always be necessary but prison should be reserved for those who have committed the most serious offences and pose a real risk to public safety. For the rest tough community sentences where the public can see justice being done is more useful and appropriate. Tagging meaning that curfews and other restrictions can be enforced and monitored at far less cost to the state. In Scotland we now have a presumption against sentences of less than three months. There a court has to actively consider whether a custodial sentence is the most appropriate disposal and if it is they have to explain why. Now the Scottish government is looking at going further because in fact three months has been a good start but does not go far enough. And that makes sense. The evidence is there. Short sentences do not work. Almost half of those released from prison will go on to be reconvicted within the year. And for those serving sentences for less than 12 months this jumps up to 60%. The evidence is clear custodial sentences of less than 12 months fill our prisons, make rehabilitation more difficult and we should not scared of saying so. Personally, I want to see a presumption against prison sentences of less than 12 months in all parts of the UK. Lets stop locking people up just for the sake of it. This is not an impossible dream, it can be done. In Coalition Liberal Democrat ministers prioritised reducing the number of young people that were being given custodial sentences. Over five years we managed to halve the number of under-18s being sent to prison. Today the number stands at 1000. Now this is still too high, but its a start and shows what can be done when politicians give a lead. Conference that is a liberal approach to criminal justice. An approach where we follow the evidence of what works rather than the rhetoric of toughness which has failed, continues to fail and will continue to fail. Conference, let others chase the easy headlines and the soundbites. If our voice is to be heard in the politics of today then our message must be clear and distinct. Above all else it must be liberal. Let others contest the mantle of orthodoxy. Let them offer solutions that have failed. Our future is as a party of ideas. A party unafraid of challenging orthodoxies wherever we find them: in prison reform, on immigration, on drugs policy, on health, on education. The road less travelled is not always an easy one to take but if the evidence says that it is right then we should follow our liberal instincts and take it. There is no room in politics for another party following the herd and tinkering with things that everyone can see have failed. So be prepared to be bold, be prepared to stand up for the things that we know to be right. Be prepared to give a lead to the millions of people in this country today who crave change. Let this party give a lead to Liberal Britain and Liberal Britain will follow this party once again. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has declared the elections to the Russian State Duma and its newly elected composition illegitimate due to the fact that the voting was also held in the temporarily occupied Crimea. A total of 264 lawmakers voted to pass a relevant statement at a plenary session on Tuesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. In particular, given the fact of holding the illegitimate elections to the State Duma (lower house) of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol temporary occupied by Russia on September 18, 2016, the Verkhovna Rada sees these elections as a breach of the law and the Constitution of Ukraine, the main principles and norms of international law, the UN Charter, the Budapest Memorandum, the UN resolution on Ukraine's territorial integrity, and other international legal acts, the parliament said in a statement. "The Verkhovna Rada does not recognize the legitimacy of the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 7th convocation, their results and legal consequences, and accordingly, its makeup, powers, acts and resolutions," reads the statement. In this statement, the Ukrainian parliament also urged the international community to act in a similar manner. In particular, the Verkhovna Rada appealed to the Security Council and the General Assembly of the UN, parliaments of foreign states, international parliamentary assemblies and organizations not to recognize the legitimacy of the elections to the State Duma of the 7th convocation and, accordingly, its composition and any resolutions passed by it. THE MINISTER for Health, Simon Harris, will soon pay a visit to the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick, following a week of major overcrowding in the Dooradoyle A&E. Around 200 patients were treated on A&E trolleys and additional trolleys, beds or chairs in the wards at UHL last week. On Wednesday, there were 52 patients treated on trolleys, which is understood to be one of the highest rates of overcrowding in nearly two years. At the request of Fine Gael Senator Kieran ODonnell, Minister Harris will shortly visit the A&E. "Whilst, everyone is looking forward to the opening of the new state-of-the-art A&E at University Hospital Limerick in 2017, in the interim we have another winter period to get through with the existing A&E. "The continued overcrowding in the A&E here is a constant source of concern and I want Minister Harris to see first-hand the challenges faced by the University Hospital Limerick, staff and patients on a daily basis. "Hopefully the winter initiative 2016/2017 scheme just announced by the Health Minister will help to alleviate some pressure on hospital services. However, the increased pressure on A&E services during the winter months has been a persistent and serious problem here in Limerick for a number of years, he said last week. He added: "My priority is to ensure that the necessary facilities are in place to provide the highest possible level of care to Limerick patients. As a response to consistently high levels of overcrowding over the past week, UL Hospitals Group issued a statement. "University Hospital Limerick has been experiencing a high volume of patients attending the hospital over a number of days. This is leading to significant delays accessing beds through the Emergency Department, resulting in excessive wait times for patients. "The public are reminded to keep the Emergency Department for emergencies only and to contact their GP or GP Out of Hours services in the first instance. Injury Units are open in Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday and 8am to 6pm at St. John's Hospital. Injury Units treat a range of minor injuries including sprains, strains, broken bones, minor burns and dislocations and a GP referral is not required," the spokesperson stated. LIMERICK is set to get a major jobs boost with the announcement that US-based Fazzi Healthcare Services is to establish a new coding and healthcare services company in Limerick. Headquartered at Northampton, Massachusetts the company is set to create 300 jobs at Georges Quay in the city over the next five years. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell-OConnor, who will announce details of the project later today has welcomed the investment by Fazzi. I am very keen to pursue opportunities for investment and job creation in new sectors, these are increasingly possible with our infrastructure and talented workforce which enables companies like Fazzi to undertake work for customers in different parts of the world. It is also very heartening that such a large project has been secured for a regional centre, she said. The companys Founder and Managing Partner, Dr Robert Fazzi said the company is thrilled to be opening an operation in Limerick. Our Irish employees are clearly smart, dedicated and incredibly talented. We are very thankful to the IDA and the Irish government for welcoming us and helping us to develop our business here. Without question, Ireland has proven to be a country strongly supportive to the creation of innovative and growth-oriented companies, he said, Martin Shanahan, chief executive of the IDA says todays announcement is a major boost for the region. The creation of 300 jobs is substantial and will spread the benefit over a wide area. There is a growing number of Healthcare Services located here and Fazzi, as the first company to engage in medical coding services in Ireland, is a positive addition to the Life Sciences profile of the Mid West, he said. Medical coding, a regulated process is the transformation of healthcare diagnoses, treatments, procedures, outcomes and services into universal medical alphanumeric codes, known as ICD. It is the international standard used for health information purposes in primary, secondary, tertiary and public health settings. The process is defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO). For updates, stay with limerickleader.ie or follow the Limerick Leader on our social media platforms - Twitter, Instagram & Facebook. YOUNG people and workers at Limerick Youth Service warmly welcomed an impressed Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, at its city training centre during a recent visit. Deputy Katherine Zappone spent two days in Limerick, as part of a ministerial overview of the citys youth projects, prior to the Governments next budget. Minister Zappone met with pupils at Corpus Christi national school, Thomond Primary School and Gaelscoil Sairseal. As well as being briefed on progress of the development of the Southside Education Campus, the Dublin South-West TD launched a crime prevention programme at University of Limerick, and visited members of Thomond RFC at Fitzgerald Park. When asked about the Limerick regeneration programmes progress, the Minister an active community worker in Tallaght before her political career said it is taking too long to get off the ground. I think I do understand what many of the problems and the issues are, in terms of the need to speed up the process, and also the effectiveness of a regeneration plan. There are lots of challenges there. What really needs to happen, and I am presuming that people are trying to do this, is that there are better systems and ways of the leaders engaging in making decisions in the context of a whole a community, or the pockets of the community, in order to identify what are the programmes that work, she explained. She commended Thomond RFCs efforts to improve facilities for young people, and ULs partnership which will benefit all young people nationally. AN INVESTIGATION by Fine Gael head office into serious irregularities of registered party members has yet to be concluded, ahead of the co-option convention next month, which will see the filling of Senator Maria Byrnes council vacancy. It is understood that the convention, which will see Elenora Hogan and Fergus Kilcoyne vie for the vacant seat, will take place on October 16. The first contest was cancelled with just hours to go in June, after Patrickswell publican Fergus Kilcoyne who was due to face Elenora Hogan of the South Circular Road sought an investigation from Fine Gael headquarters as he cited serious irregularities over some of the details of some of the members of the citys biggest branch. It is understood his complaint alleged that almost half the people registered to vote in the James Reidy branch in the convention were based outside the City West area, and therefore should not be entitled to vote in the convention. The initial claims made were that there were multiple Fine Gael supporters registered at the same address, with some members also claiming that some people on the 80-strong register had not lived in the James Reidy branch area for a number of years. However, it is believed that the headquarters has yet to furnish local members with their findings, though a verdict is expected within the next week. Mr Kilcoyne has since called for the James Reidy branch to be banned from voting for a year. The council seat has been left vacant since Sen Maria Byrne was elected to Seanad Eireann five months ago, in April. Sen Byrne was elected to the Agricultural Panel, and has since been selected to be the partys spokesperson on education in the Seanad. At a recent Limerick constituency meeting, a motion was passed to allow all members on a newly published register for the James Reidy branch to be allowed have their say. It is not known if any of the disputed names and addresses remain on the register, but numerous sources have indicated this is the case. As it stands, Ms Hogan a cousin of Ms Byrne is still due to face Mr Kilcoyne after being nominated by her branch. Although, former mayor Kevin Kiely says he will throw his hat into the ring, Ms Hogan would be the overwhelming favourite due to the fact her branch has more members than the Patrickswell and Raheen branches combined. Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan was replaced by Cllr John Costelloe, while FG TD Tom Neville was replaced by Cllr Adam Teskey. KYIV. Sept 20 (Interfax) - Valentyn Rybin, lawyer of arrested former deputy of the Communist Party of Ukraine Alla Aleksandrovska called on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, deputies Yulia Tymoshenko and Nadiia Savchenko to grant the guarantees to the Kharkiv Appeal Court to release his client from prison due to her health condition. "Aleksandrovska's health causes serious concerns. I believe, such inhumane treatment of an elderly woman is unacceptable in the country, which seeks European integration and all-round protection of human rights," he said at an Interfax-Ukraine press conference on Tuesday. He recalled that Aleksandrovska is suspected of infringement of Ukraine's territorial integrity and "organizing the illegal profit of a public official." Rybin said that a restrictive measure in the form of single-option placement into custody was selected due to the suspicion of infringement on the territorial integrity. At that, the lawyer said, "there was no infringement on the territorial integrity on Aleksandrovska's part, there is none and there never will be." "Having analyzed the files of the criminal case, I came to a conclusion that Aleksandrovska's criminal prosecution is a well-organized provocation of SBU [the Security Service of Ukraine]. The case files contain denunciation and false testimony," he said. Due to that he called on female deputies, in particular, the Batkivschyna faction leader Yulia Tymoshenko and parliamentarian Nadiia Savchenko, who "experienced the conditions of imprisonment first-hand," to provide written guarantees for Aleksandrovska to the Kharkiv Regional Appeal Court, which will consider the appeal against the restrictive measure on September 22. The lawyer also said that he addressed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. "I would like to request the president as guarantor of the Constitution [...] to pay attention to this case and give a relevant guarantee for Aleksandrovska to the Kharkiv Regional Appeal Court," Rybin said. "I would like to make a request with Yuriy Vitaliyovych [Lutsenko] to personally oversee the progress of the proceedings. I will file an application to initiate the criminal proceedings against the SBU department investigators, who signed the notification of suspicion, today," he added. The lawyer said that Aleksandrovska agreed to remain under house arrest, receive relevant medical care and appear during the pre-trial investigation and in court. "Aleksandrovska needs to be released immediately, unless we risk losing a person. [...] Aleksandrovska's diagnoses are exceptional even for convicted people. The people with these diagnoses are freed from serving a sentence and she is a suspect," he said. Oleksandr Shadrin, another lawyer of Aleksandrovska, said on June 28 that a search was conducted at the premises of his client and she was arrested. She was charged under the Articles 'infringement of Ukraine's territorial integrity' and 'offer, promise or providing the illegal profit to a public official' of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. Aleksandrovska currently remains in custody on the court's decision until October 28, 2016. May 3, 2021, 5 AM Members of the Universal Postal Union are meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, to set the rates countries must be paid for carrying letter mail and small parcels that originate in another country. At present, some of these rates are having a decided negative impa By Bill McAllister, Washington Correspondent This is a story about incredible international mail rates, one that a senior Amazon.com executive swore was true to Congress last summer. A small company in Marion, N.C., wants to send a 3.5-ounce package to Fairfax, Va. 340 miles away and itll cost at least $1.94, said Paul Misener, the Amazon executive. But that same parcel could be shipped by a Chinese company from Shanghai more than 7,000 miles away to the Washington, D.C., suburb for $1.22, Misener said. Similarly, shipping a 1-pound parcel to New York City from Greenville, S.C., would cost almost $6 via the United States Postal Service, but only $3.66 from Beijing to New York. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter That might sound like an international horror story but it was just one of a number of examples that Misener, Amazons vice president for global policy, and others laid out before a House Postal Service subcommittee last summer as it probed the arcane world of terminal dues and international mail rates. On Sept. 20, representatives of the worlds postal services gathered in Istanbul for their quadrennial effort to set the rates countries must be paid for carrying letter mail and small parcels that originate in another country. Those rates are called terminal dues, and as the testimony given to the House Government Operations Subcommittee on June 16, 2015, indicated, they can be extremely favorable to some countries and costly to others. A 2014 study by one postal consultant estimated the disparities could cost the postal systems of industrial countries as much as $2.1 billion a year. Losses to the USPS from inbound letters were estimated by the Postal Services inspector general at $75 million in fiscal 2014, the latest year for which figures are available. That loss was partly offset by a $119 million gain from international mail shipments from the United States, the inspector general said. The problem country that has received the most attention is China with its booming economy. Under international postal agreements, Misener explained, the U.S. Postal Service charges much lower rates for delivering foreign shipments from transfer points in the United States to recipients in the United States than USPS charges for handling comparable wholly domestic shipments between the same U.S. points. David C. Williams, then the inspector general of the USPS, put it bluntly: In the United States, China has an unfair edge over U.S. businesses. That is supposed to end or at least be eased after the Universal Postal Union ends its 2016 Congress in Istanbul Oct. 7. The State Department heads the U.S. delegation, but the USPS has already sought to assure U.S. mailers that the agenda for the UPU calls for increasing the terminal dues paid by foreign posts to a more realistic level. In addition, Kate Muth, executive director of the International Mailers Advisory Group, a trade association, has shared with her members word that China is scheduled to be moved from a developing country category to a higher level. That should boost its dues payments. Also, the new terminal dues proposal supposedly includes an accommodation in the rates for packets, in an effort to account for the flood of small e-commerce parcels that are now hitting postal systems. Small packets under 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) move as letters and are subject to terminal dues under UPU regulations. The higher terminal dues, expected to be approved in Istanbul, would become applicable in 2018. A December 2015 report by the USPS inspector general, however, cautions that changes from the UPU have been slow in coming. The USPS is telling mailers that the expected UPU changes should end the losses that the USPS says it sustains on incoming foreign mail under the current terminal dues plan the UPU enacted in 2012. Besides, noted Misener, the preference given Chinese shippers makes no sense now, given the strong trading position that China already enjoys. The UPU may also move on another international shipping issue that could have a direct impact on U.S. communities the flow of illicit drugs in the mail. There even is a proposal to make amendments to the philatelic code of ethics of UPU member countries, to discourage abusive issuances of stamps with themes alien to the culture of the issuing member country or territory, and which cannot be considered as contributing to the dissemination of its culture or to maintaining peace. Members of a Senate committee have been strong in denouncing the lack of advance disclosure foreign posts give on incoming parcels compared to the advance electronic customs information that commercial shippers, such as FedEx and UPS, must provide. Postal operators are said to be making progress on this issue, but there are varying levels of compliance among the 192 foreign posts. In his testimony before the House Government Operations Subcommittee last year, Robert G. Taub, the PRCs acting chairman, seemed to urge caution about expecting major changes from the UPU. I think the only conclusion that most onlookers unfamiliar with the UPU terminal dues system would come to is that progress on terminal dues has been glacial, he testified. David Partenheimer, a spokesman for the USPS, notes that terminal dues are intended to cover processing and delivery costs for inbound international mail and that the coverage is for letters and parcels up to four pounds. For most major mail flows, terminal dues are based on country-specific postage rates [currently 70 percent of retail domestic postage rates], he said. One reason that terminal dues rates can be lower than U.S. domestic postage is that the up-front costs of retail acceptance at a Post Office, pick-up from collection boxes or customer location, marketing and sale and other overhead expenses are incurred in the country in which the mail originates. Some countries, including China, must pay the Postal Service additional charges known as air conveyance dues to allow the Postal Service to recover domestic air transportation costs, Partenheimer said. He also pointed out that the USPS has a bilateral agreement with China Post for so-called ePacket service of some parcels and that these parcels pay a higher rate than they would under terminal dues alone. Because the terminal dues serve as a default to any bilateral agreements, China Post can opt out and use terminal dues rates for its U.S. mail. Thats one reason witnesses at the House hearing last summer said reforming the current terminal dues structure is important, adding that even under the current bilateral agreement between the United States and China, Chinese mailers get a significant price advantage over U.S. mailers. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. Kyiv. Sept 20 Research into electronic nicotine delivery systems has been conducted by by the M.D. Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology in partnership with the NGO New Technologies for Health. The research is being conducted for the first time. The results of the study will increase the level of scientific understanding of the impact of smoking alternatives on the cardiovascular health. This is a pilot comparative six-month study. The trial involves three groups of adult smokers: each group consists of 20 people, who have smoked more than five years and more than 20 cigarettes per day. The study involves three essential medical examinations of the cardiovascular system of the participants at the start of the study, after three months and after six months after switching from smoking conventional cigarettes to using electronic cigarettes and tobacco heating devices. One of these three groups is a control group, in which the participants continue to smoke their regular cigarettes. "The research of electronic nicotine delivery systems is being conducted for the first time in Ukraine," says Dmytro Rafael, head of the New Technologies for the Health. "Results of the research will help society to understand an alternative to smoking conventional cigarettes." Rafael said the project will finally shed some light on the question whether the long-term use of e-cigarettes and tobacco heating devices is less toxic than smoking regular cigarettes, according to Olena Kvasha, MD, head of the research group. "The study of various indicators will allow us to assess their impact on cardiovascular risk and, hopefully, will become an additional link in understanding the possibilities of using these devices as reduced risk products," Kvasha said. On April 28, 2016 the British Royal College of Physicians encouraged the popularization of electronic cigarettes as an effective measure to overcome tobacco dependence. According to the Royal College of Physicians, a wide usage of electronic cigarettes as an alternative for smoking, supported with the development of an appropriate legislation (which will make it impossible to spread these products among the children), could have a significant positive impact on the health of the UK population. A new study on smoking cessation in UK has been conducted by the University College of London (UCL) and published on September 13, 2016. Results show that around 18 000 people in England quit smoking with a help of electronic cigarettes. For two years there were no statements about serious side effects of electronic cigarettes.is a public initiative for development and advocacy of solutions for the important and urgent social problems in public health. The organization considers it reasonable to address public health issues to find effective approaches to prevent the causes of morbidity and costly medical treatment. The origin of illness frequency is an abundance of modified risk factors for health, including cardiovascular diseases, which cause the the majority of deaths in Ukraine.Anna Leskiv, e-mail: leskiv@newhealthtech.org.ua Cookies used for analytics help us improve our website by collecting the information on how you use it. This information is collected in a way that doesn't allow to directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work, please see our (Xinhua) 19:51, September 19, 2016 China strongly objects to the recent meeting between European Parliament leaders and the Dalai Lama, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. It was reported that European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Elmar Brok, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, met with the Dalai Lama on Sept. 15 despite strong opposition from the Chinese side. "They have broken the promises the EU made to China on Tibet," spokesperson Lu Kang told a press conference. Tibet issues are core interests of China, Lu said, stressing that the Chinese government is firmly against separatism. China opposes the Dalai Lama's visits in any name or capacity to any country or organization to engage in separatist activities, Lu said. China is also opposed to any contact between the Dalai Lama and officials from any country or organization. China-EU ties are at a new stage, and relations between the parliaments are sound, but the meeting between the European Parliament's leaders and the Dalai Lama harms China's core interests and the political foundation of inter-parliamentary communication, Lu said. China demands that the EU side take measures to nullify the negative effects of the meeting, the spokesperson said. With the increasing popularity of drones in China, the country is now considering whether to draft a military administrative law on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), an air traffic management official revealed on Sept. 19. Addressing the opening ceremony of the 6th China International UAS Conference, Liu Hao, deputy director of the National Research Center of Air Traffic Management Law and Standards, said that the National Air Traffic Committee Office is leading efforts to draft a regulation, which would act as the basis for more legislation. The laws implementation is reliant on a coordinated cooperation between military and local authorities to guarantee safety. It will also be based on experience and data collected through pilot projects and strengthened education for drone pilots, Liu said. Mike Lissone, secretary general of Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS), told the conference that China, being an important member of the organization, has offered valuable experience in UAS management. Drones operate under multiple regulations in China, including regulations on pilots and commercial use. While achievements have been made, challenges remain, including uncertainty regarding Chinas transportation administration and how China will lay out a development plan for UAS applications and boost industry development. There are also questions like how to supervise drones to guarantee safety. This will be decided not only by businesses within the industry, but also by those at the top level, said Director Li Bo of the Aircraft Airworthiness Inspection Office under the Civil Aviation Administration of China, at the UAS conference. Photo/ Courtesy of International UAS China 2016 The 6th UAS conference is currently being held in Beijing. This year brings a doubled exhibition space for the conference, with more than 300 representatives from 100 institutes and companies in attendance. Guests include 18 senior officials and UAS experts from China and abroad. The 6th China International UAS Conference & Exhibition (UAS 2016) opens in Beijing on Sept. 20. The exhibition will last till Sept. 23. By Kevin Schoenmakers, () 10:24, September 20, 2016 Chinese customers of ride-hailing app Uber have been getting their ride requests answered by scammers who have come to be known as ghost drivers, Sixth Tones sister publication The Paper reported Sunday. With profile photos that look like theyve just stepped off a horror movie set, the ghost drivers scare passengers into cancelling their trip, meaning they will owe the driver a few yuan for their troubles. Another scamming method used by the ghost drivers is accepting rides, saying the passenger has entered the vehicle, and cancelling the trip. The customer will have been taken for a ride worth a few yuan without noticing. Either way the ghost driver wins. Zhang Kun wanted to catch an Uber ride home with a friend on Sunday evening in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province in central China. The 24-year-old told Sixth Tone that a ghost driver popped up on the screen. I was scared to death, Zhang said, adding that he would never use Uber again. Zhuang Chunhui from Uber Chinas public relations department told Sixth Tone that the company is working to put a stop to the phenomenon. We are collecting all kinds of evidence and will pass them on the public security department, she said. Zhuang added that users can report incidents to customer service and that the company would refund the fees. Zhang Kuns run-in with a ghost driver cost him 4.20 yuan ($0.60), which Zhang said was such a small amount he didnt bother to report the incident. Chinese net users have taken to microblog platform Weibo to complain. How did they get through screening with such profile pictures? asked one commenter. Uber is responsible, but its more on people being dishonest and resorting to tricks! wrote another. Chinas ride-hailing industry is in the middle of a transformation. The Ministry of Transport in July announced new regulations to go into effect in November, which stipulate that prospective drivers must have held a license for at least three years before being hired, and may not have a record of violent crimes, dangerous driving, or drug abuse. Market leaders Uber China and domestic rival Didi Chuxing merged on Aug. 1, raising fears among both drivers and passengers that the lack of competition would bring an end to subsidized rides. The merger has also been followed by complaints that Ubers customer service isnt operating as it should. The Shenzhen Evening News reported on Monday that a government probe of ride-hailing drivers and their cars in the southern Chinese city found thousands of irregularities. Among the drivers whose papers were not in order, 40 turned out to be wanted for crimes, and 2,191 had criminal histories that included major crimes or drug abuse. The licenses of 1,479 drivers were abnormal, and more than 6,000 cars did not meet standards some 660 to the point that they were considered ready for the scrap heap. The numbers were made public during a meeting of the Shenzhen arm of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body, on Sunday. The city government compiled the statistics in August. In theory, ride-hailing apps have a safety advantage over traditional taxis because they leave traceable records of all rides. But users complain they frequently encounter drivers or cars whose information such as their cars license plate does not match the information they receive on the app. A flurry of incidents involving ride-hailing drivers and their passengers have also raised security concerns. In May, a driver for Didi Chuxing became a suspect in the death of a 24-year-old woman, his passenger, in Shenzhen. This article is reprinted from Sixth Tone. Additional reporting by Wang Lianzhang. China is firmly opposed to the choice of the European Parliament to meet the 14th Dalai Lama, and cannot expected to remain silent in light of this event, said China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sept. 19. China opposes any anti-China or separatist actions by the 14th Dalai Lama and his group, as well as any official contact between the Dalai Lama and government officials or organization leaders, said Lu Kang, spokesperson of the ministry, at a press conference. Lu stated that the Tibet issue is directly related to China's core national interests; therefore, the Chinese government is resolute in fighting against national separatism. President Martin Schulz of the European Parliament, together with Elmar Brok, chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, met with the Dalai Lama on Sept. 15, in blatant disregard of China's strong opposition and despite the European Union's commitment to China on Tibet-related issues. By obstinately clinging to the wrong path, leaders of the European Parliament have attempted to sabotage China's core interests and undermined the political foundation of bilateral parliamentary exchanges, Lu said at the press conference, responding to questions regarding a report that claimed several European Parliament delegations were prevented from visiting China. China hopes that the parliament will correct its misguided decision and take measures to eradicate the negative impact of the organization's error in judgment. The HMS Warrior was one of 151 British warships in the North Sea on May 31 and June 1, 1916, when a German fleet of 99 warships attempted to break out from the British naval blockade of the German coast. The wreck of the British warship HMS Warrior the "last shipwreck" from the Battle of Jutland during World War I has been discovered near Norway. The marine exploration team that found the shipwreck also recently located the wreck of a World War II-era British submarine in the same region. The HMS Warrior is the last of the Jutland wrecks to be located, out of 14 British and 11 German warships that were sunk on May 31 and June 1, 1916, as the Imperial German High Seas Fleet tried to break out from the Royal Navy blockade of the North Sea. "It's the only wreck left from the Battle of Jutland that we can categorically say is completely unspoiled," said Innes McCartney, a marine archeologist at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom. [See Photos of the Search for the WWI-Era HMS Warrior] "Its completely upside down, and it sank down into an area of very soft seabed, right to the level of the upper deck so everything inside it is completely sealed in, McCartney told Live Science. More than 250 warships took part in the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval engagement of World War I, and more than 8,500 men were killed, according to British and German wartime records. McCartney said the HMS Warrior, an armored cruiser, was heavily damaged during the battle by gunfire from the German cruiser SMS Derfflinger, but it had attempted to make its way back to Britain. A marine survey team located the wreck of the British warship HMS Warrior in Norwegian waters, 100 years after it sank from damage suffered during the Battle of Jutland, in 1916. (Image credit: Sea War Museum Jutland/JD-Contractor) When the ship's engines failed, the Warrior was towed throughout the night by a British aircraft carrier, the HMS Engadine. By morning, however, the Warrior had filled with water, and it was abandoned after its surviving crew of around 700 were taken off, McCartney said. He added that the final resting place of the Warrior was unknown until the wreck was discovered on Aug. 25, using sonar scans and a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) equipped with video cameras. Submarine find The Warrior is the second major shipwreck found in the area within a few months by McCartney and Danish marine exploration firm JD-Contractor AS, which operates the survey ship Vina. The survey is sponsored by the Sea War Museum Jutland at Thyboron in Denmark. In March, the team reported the discovery of the wreck of the HMS Tarpon, a British submarine from World War II that sank with around 59 crewmembers aboard after a battle with an armed German merchant ship in 1940. "The survey was initially aimed at Jutland, but there were 25 ships sunk in that battle, and we've found 10 times that number," McCartney said. "In the case of Tarpon, it was simply a matter that the direction that we left harbor took us past a potential location for this sub, so I requested we stop and do a survey there. And within about an hour or so we found it." [Sunken Treasures: The Curious Science of 7 Famous Shipwrecks] Last week, a Danish TV channel broadcast live video from the wreck of the Tarpon as divers from the exploration team were visiting the site. The submarine is now lying on the seafloor at a depth of about 130 feet (40 meters), located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the north coast of Denmark. McCartney said the sub had been heavily damaged by the depth charges that sank it 76 years ago, and that two of the submarines torpedo tubes are empty, which suggests the Tarpon had fired twice at the enemy ship. Wrecks in ruins Although the wrecks of the Tarpon and the Warrior are legally protected as war graves, McCartney said all war wrecks in the area are threatened by illegal salvage operators, who plunder them for the valuable metals inside. He said the most valuable items are the bronze condensers that were used in many wartime ships engines, which are worth tens of thousands of dollars as bronze scrap when melted down. "We estimate that in the last 10 years, anything up to 1.5 million pounds worth of bronze has been ripped out of these [Jutland] wrecks," McCartney said. "And the majority of those wrecks are also the graves of the sailors who died in the battle, and so it's just wrong that they should be doing this." McCartney said that salvaging naval vessels without permission from the owning navy is illegal under international law, but very little has been done to protect the wrecks. "There are millions of shipwrecks on the bottom of the ocean it's the world's largest museum. And at the moment it's being trashed just for a want of people standing up to their responsibilities," he said. He said the authorities in Europe, in particular, should track salvage ships and monitor their whereabouts. "And when they're stopping over wrecks that they're not allowed to be on, then they need to be [inspected] when they get back into harbor," McCartney said. Original article on Live Science. (Xinhua) 14:03, September 20, 2016 Chinese Premier Li Keqiangon Monday met with U.S. President Barack Obama, calling for stepped-up efforts to promote relations between the two countries. The Li-Obama meeting was held on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United NationsGeneral Assembly that opened earlier last week. Enhancing China-U.S. cooperation accords with the fundamental interests of the two peoples and the common wish of the world community, Li said. China is willing to further deepen bilateral, regional and global cooperation with the United Statesin a variety of fields, and expand pragmatic cooperation in economy and trade, military, law enforcement and judicial affairs, counterterrorism, cyber-security, people-to-people exchanges and local-level cooperation, the premier said. China is also willing to enhance coordination with the United States on major international issues including the Korean Peninsula and climate change, and work with the U.S. side to facilitate the implementation of the results of the latest G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, he added. Li urged the two sides to "inject new impetus" to carry forward the China-U.S. cooperation agenda and promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of China-U.S. ties. CORNERSTONE &PROPELLER Economic and trade cooperation is the "cornerstone" and "propeller" of China-U.S. relations, Li said. The two sides should work together to ensure an early conclusion of negotiations for a China-U.S. bilateral investment treaty (BIT), expand market access to each other, and create a better business environment and better cooperation prospects for enterprises from both sides, the premier said. The two sides should also properly handle economic and trade frictions to prevent bilateral economic and trade ties from suffering unnecessary distractions, he added. Meanwhile, the premier urged the U.S. side to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China. Obama said economic relations are the stabilizing factor of U.S.-China ties. The U.S. side supports China's reform process, the U.S. president said, hoping the two sides can make further progress in BIT negotiations. KOREAN PENINSULA China supports the UN Security Council to make further reaction to the latest nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the premier said as he met with Obama. At the same time, China expects all relevant parties to refrain from any action that may lead to escalation of tensions, and opposes the U.S. deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in the Republic of Korea, Li said. Li reiterated China's position on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula. "China is committed to the denuclearization of the peninsula, to maintaining peace and stability there, and to settling the issue through dialogue," he said. OTHER ISSUES During the meeting, Li also reiterated China's principles and stance on issues concerning Taiwan and Tibet, urging the United States to properly handle related issues. Obama reiterated that the United States remains committed to the one-China policy. On the Chinese currency, Li said the exchange rate of RMB will stay basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level, adding that there is no basis for a sustained devaluation of the currency. The two sides also exchanged views on global issues including sustainable development, refugees and peace-keeping, and agreed to maintain and enhance close communication, conduct effective cooperation and provide more public goods for the international community. It is of great significance to the world for the U.S.-China relations to stay stable, said Obama. The United States hopes relations between the two countries can develop in a strong and sustainable manner, and praises the cooperation the two sides have conducted on international and regions issues, Obama added. Although boredom is as familiar a feeling as excitement or fear, science has only begun to understand what makes people bored. Recently, six scientists who emerged after living for a year in isolation on the Mauna Loa volcano as part of the HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) experiment, which simulated the isolation that future space travelers might experience traveling to and living on Mars, said that boredom was their biggest challenge. Boredom "has been understudied until fairly recently, but its [worth studying] because human experience has consequences for how we interact with each our and our environment," said James Danckert, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo in Ontario in an interview with Live Science. It's easy to think of examples of mind-numbing situations, such as waiting in line at the DMV, listening to a monotonous lecture or being stuck in traffic. It's much more difficult to define boredom. A 2012 review (opens in new tab) of boredom research that was conducted in educational settings suggested that boredom is some combination of an objective lack of neurological excitement and a subjective psychological state of dissatisfaction, frustration or disinterest, all of which result from a lack of stimulation. The one aspect about which most people seem to agree is that boredom is unpleasant. "I describe it as an aggressively dissatisfying state," Danckert said. In this way, boredom is not the same as apathy, because bored people are in some way motivated to end their boredom. [10 Things That Make Humans Special] Boredom is also distinct from hopelessness and depression. Compared to hopelessness, "boredom may involve feeling stuck in a dissatisfying current situation, but it does not involve believing that success is impossible or that engaging in satisfying activity is unattainable in the future," said Taylor Acee, assistant professor of developmental education at Texas State University, San Marcos, in an email interview with Live Science. And although boredom is similar to depression, in that both are unpleasant states of low-arousal, Acee and Danckert agreed that depression tends to involve negative, inward-looking focus, whereas boredom relates to a negative feeling that arises from lack of stimulation from the outside world. Who gets bored more often? Research has shown that some people are more prone to boredom than others. A 2012 paper looked at the psychological attributes that could make a person more susceptible to boredom, and it found that people who have conditions that affect their attention, such as ADHD, may get bored easily. Also, people who are over- or undersensitive to stimulation, and those who are unable to express what activities might be engaging enough to combat their boredom, are more likely to get bored. In his own research, Danckert has found that people who are reaching the end of their young adulthood years, around age 22, may be less likely than those in their late teens to get bored. The reason may hint at a larger cause of boredom, he said. "In that age range, the frontal cortex is in the final stages of maturation," and this part of the brain helps with self-control and self-regulation, Danckert said. People who have experienced traumatic brain injury may also be more prone to boredom, which can affect their recovery, he said. It's possible that this relates to injury to the frontal cortex. [10 Things You Didn't Know About the Brain] The bright side of boredom The key to avoiding boredom, for those both inside and outside of the groups of people most prone to boredom, is self-control, Danckert said. "Those with a higher capacity for self-control are less likely to experience boredom," he said. Recent research has linked boredom to increased creativity. Danckert said that in studies that he has done, he has found that boredom tends to inspire creativity only in people with high levels of self-control. So far, there's no tidy, evolutionary reasoning to explain why we get bored. But that doesn't mean that boredom can't do us some good. "The positive side of boredom is that, if responded to in an adaptive way, it is this signal to explore, [to] do something else. That what you're doing now isn't working," said Danckert, noting that he was explaining the philosophical reasoning of University of Louisville professor of philosophy Andreas Elpidorou, who defends the value of boredom his is own work. How to stop being bored Research on boredom isn't far enough along to reveal ways to fight it. There are, however, some hints as to what might make a task boring or not. "Boredom is often experienced when an individual perceives themselves as being temporarily confined to a situation or activity that lacks value for one reason or another," Acee said. Tasks could lack value because they are unenjoyable, uninteresting, too easy or too difficult, or because we consider them unimportant on a personal level, he said. [So Bored! 8 Facts from the Science of Boredom] One way to keep a tedious task from being boring might be to think about it differently. "Reflecting about the potential usefulness, relevance or meaningfulness of an activity can help individuals increase the value they assign to the activity," said Acee. Although it hasn't been tested, Danckert similarly suggested that mindfulness training or meditation might help ward off ennui. It's important to note that, unless you find Candy Crush particularly meaningful, turning to technology is not the likeliest boredom cure. It may provide an increased level of engagement, but probably little else, said Danckert, emphasizing that there isn't really any way to say for sure whether what we're experiencing in our plugged-in present is any less boring to us than what preceding, smartphoneless generations have experienced. Why boredom matters Both Acee and Danckert said that boredom is something we need to know more about. Boredom has been associated with plenty of negative outcomes, including low academic performance, high dropout rates, mistakes on the job, depression, anxiety and a lowered sense of life purpose, Acee said. Even if it doesn't lead to these problems in most people, boredom plays a major role in our lives, particularly if we find that our work or time in the classroom is snooze-inducing. "Generating knowledge about boredom through research can help inform us about how to design educational programs, structure work environments, advise patients and clients and manage our day-to-day lives," Acee said. Original article on Live Science. An ancient Roman oven has sat undisturbed for the past 2,000 years in Scotland, and curiously, it looks as though it's never been used, according to a new report. Roman ovens which are composed of two interconnecting pits in the ground that together resemble a dug-out figure 8 are usually covered with charcoal and ash left after cooking, the archaeologists said. The newfound oven also has these two pits, but it doesn't have any charcoal layers or scorching within it, said Maureen Kilpatrick, an archaeologist with GUARD Archaeology, a company based in Glasgow, Scotland. "Unfortunately no ashy material was found in either of the pits, but the double-pit [shape] is very similar to other bread ovens which have been found on Roman military sites in Scotland," Kilpatrick told Live Science in an email. [In Photos: Ancient Roman Fort Discovered] A view of the linear ditch running obliquely through the excavated Roman site. (Image credit: Copyright Archaeology Reports Online) Without more evidence, it's difficult to determine whether the two pits formed an oven, Kilpatrick said. However, one of the pits had stones within it, suggesting that the pits could have been used as part of a stone oven, she said. Perhaps there were more stones in the pits at one time, Kilpatrick added. "[Rocks] are portable," she said. "Maybe they just moved them." The archaeologists found a number of other artifacts during the dig, which was part of a 2014 excavation near Falkirk, a town in the central lowlands of Scotland. The excavation was required before a retail center could be built there, Kilpatrick said. Earlier digs in the Camelon area had uncovered Roman forts, and the new site appeared to be an annex of one of those forts, the researchers said. In all, they found 21 iron artifacts, including a socketed bolt head, an ox goad and a dozen hobnails nails used to hold Roman shoes together. They also found ironworking slag at the site, she said. "The socketed bolt head is a type commonly recovered from Roman military sites," Kilpatrick said. "It is proposed that they may have been practice ballista bolt heads, as their blunt head would have made them easier to extract from targets and re-use during the frequent training, which must have taken place (and also less deadly should they miss the target)." A socketed bolt head (left) and an ox goad (right). (Image credit: Copyright Archaeology Reports Online) In contrast, the ox goad has a spiraled shape with a protruding point. "Such artifacts are thought to have been used on the end of a wooden shaft to control oxen pulling a plough," Kilpatrick said. "They tend to be Roman in date, though isolated Iron Age examples are also known in southern Britain." Roman-era pottery artifacts from the Redbrae Road Excavation in Camelon. (Image credit: Copyright Archaeology Reports Online) As for the hobnails, traces of mineralized leather suggest that they were still within the leather confines of a shoe when they were left behind, she said. "However, none of the hobnails are corroded together," suggesting they came from different shoes, "rather than the result of whole sandals or boots being deposited," she said. Much of the waste from the site was found in a pit that contained pottery pieces dating to the first century A.D., with a radiocarbon date between 41 B.C. and A.D. 116, the researchers found. [Photos: Mosaic Glass Dishes and Bronze Jugs from Roman England] In all, some of the findings, such as the socketed bolt head, indicate that the Roman army had a heavy presence there, but other findings, such as the metal ox goad, hint that other types of people lived there too. "The findings highlight that the annexes of Roman forts were not just for the military," Kilpatrick said. "Many civilians would have worked and traded within their confines." The report was published in August in the journal Archaeology Reports Online. Original article on Live Science. Having kids eat eggs and peanuts early in life may reduce their risk of developing allergies to these foods later, a new analysis suggests. Researchers analyzed information from nearly 150 previous studies involving more than 200,000 children. These studies looked at exactly when certain foods were introduced to children during their first year of life. The results showed that kids who were fed eggs when they were ages 4 to 6 months old were 40 percent less likely to develop an egg allergy, compared with those who were introduced to eggs later, the study found. In addition, kids who were fed food that contained peanuts (such as peanut butter) when they were 4 to 11 months old were 70 percent less likely to develop a peanut allergy, compared with those who were introduced to peanuts later. The findings suggest that "introducing egg and peanut at an early age may prevent the development of egg and peanut allergy, the two most common childhood food allergies," study co-author Dr. Robert Boyle, a pediatric allergy researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement. However, children who already have a food allergy, or those who have another allergic condition such as eczema, should not automatically be fed eggs or peanuts early in life, Boyle said. Parents of these children should speak with the doctor before introducing these potentially allergenic foods, he said. Boyle also noted that babies and toddlers should not be fed whole nuts, because there is a risk of choking. Instead, they should be given smooth peanut butter, Boyle said. The researchers also estimated that early introduction of eggs could prevent 24 cases of egg allergies per 1,000 people (in a population where the rate of egg allergy is 5.4 percent); and early introduction of peanuts could prevent 18 cases of peanut allergies per 1,000 people (in a population where the rate of peanut allergy is 2.5 percent), according to the new findings published today (Sept. 20) in the journal JAMA. [8 Strange Signs You're Having an Allergic Reaction] Doctors once recommended that children who were at high risk for food allergies avoid potentially risky foods such as eggs and peanuts until they were 2 to 3 years old. But as new studies emerged on the possible benefits of introducing these foods early, recommendations were revised to say that parents should not delay the introduction of these foods. Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued temporary (interim) guidance recommending early introduction of peanuts to kids with a high risk of peanut allergy. And soon, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is expected to release guidelines that may formally recommend early peanut introduction for kids with a high risk of developing allergies to peanuts, according to an editorial accompanying the new study, also published today in JAMA. This upcoming recommendation "reflects confidence in the evidence suggesting potential benefit of early peanut introduction with minimal risk, is supported by [the new study findings], and reflects a reasonable starting point to help deter the recent increase in prevalence of peanut allergy," Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, of Childrens Hospital Colorado in Aurora, wrote in the editorial. Still, the new study has limitations: Of the 146 studies included in the analysis, just five studies (involving a total of about 2,000 kids) were used to estimate the risk of egg allergy, and just two studies (involving about 1,500 kids) were used to estimate the risk of peanut allergy. More studies are still needed to validate the findings, the researchers said. They noted that estimates of exactly how much early introduction lowers the risk of developing egg and peanut allergies could change with future studies. The study also looked at early introduction of milk, fish (including shellfish), tree nuts (such as almonds) and wheat, but did not find a link between early introduction of these foods and a reduced risk of allergy to them. Original article on Live Science. Pigeons may be sometimes likened to "flying rats," but these birds are no dummies, according to a new study. Scientists recently taught pigeons to read kind of. In a new study, researchers trained pigeons to distinguish real words from gibberish, using 308 four-letter words that baboons had learned in a previous study. Some of the birds learned to identify dozens of words, with the most successful pigeon being able to recognize 58 words, the researchers said. The pigeons were presented with word and nonword stimuli along with a star symbol on a screen. When a word was shown, the pigeons were supposed to peck the word, and when a nonword was shown, the pigeons were supposed to peck the star. When the birds responded correctly, they were rewarded with treats from a hopper bird feeder. [The 5 Smartest Nonprimates on the Planet] Four of the pigeons excelled at the word recognition test, and the scientists continued more intensive training with these birds. These advanced pigeons were even able to distinguish correctly spelled words from those with rearranged characters, like "very" and "vrey," or words that were completely misspelled, the researchers said. "The pigeons performance is actually more comparable to that of literate humans than baboons performance," for the misspelling tests, the scientists wrote in the study. To determine whether the birds were learning to distinguish words from nonwords rather than merely memorizing the correct answers, the pigeons were introduced to new words throughout the study. According to the researchers, the pigeons correctly identified the new words as words at a rate that was significantly above mere chance. "This transfer suggests that during training, the pigeons derived some general statistical knowledge about the letter combinations that distinguish words from nonwords," the authors wrote. The researchers suggest that the pigeons tracked the statistical likelihood that certain pairs of letters, such as "EN" and "AL," were more likely to be associated with words or nonwords. One of the study's authors, neuroscientist Onur Gunturkun of Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, said that it's remarkable that the pigeons have the ability to visually recognize words (known as orthographic knowledge). "That pigeons separated by 300 million years of evolution from humans and having vastly different brain architectures show such a skill as orthographic processing is astonishing," Gunturkun said in a statement. The new study is the first to identify a nonprimate species as having these orthographic abilities. And the researchers said that by studying the pigeons' ability to learn words, they could provide insights into the origins and function of language. The study also highlights the intelligence of pigeons, which study co-author Michael Colombo, a professor of psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, said may spark the need "to seriously rethink the use of the term 'birdbrain' as a put-down." The findings were published online Sept. 16 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Original article on Live Science. Angelina Jolie Pitt and Brad Pitt attend the WSJ Magazine 2015 Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art on Nov. 4, 2015 in New York City. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie fans were left reeling Tuesday morning after news broke that the couple is getting divorced. According to the Associated Press, in the divorce papers she filed, Jolie Pitt cited "irreconcilable differences," a vague term that could apply to any number of reasons. The most common cause for divorce, however, comes down to communication differences, said Nicholas Wolfinger, a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah. [The Science of Breakups: 7 Facts About Splitsville] Communication problems are a huge predictor of divorce, Wolfinger told Live Science. For example, women may not communicate their emotional needs, or men may not hear them, Wolfinger said. Indeed, after a divorce that was initiated by a woman, men will often say that they don't know what happened, Wolfinger said. Women initiate divorce about two-thirds of the time, he added. Early reports on the reasons for Jolie and Pitt's divorce announcement cited their different approaches to parenting as a reason for the split. Pitt and Jolie have six children. But there isn't much evidence that shows having different parenting styles is a common cause of divorce, Wolfinger said. Every couple has differences about parenting, he added. The question is how they communicate these differences, he said. Other factors that may mean a couple is more likely to get divorced include if they get married young or if they are less educated, Wolfinger said. In addition, people who divorce and then remarry also have higher divorce rates, Wolfinger said. If a person has already shown that they're willing to resort to divorce, they're more likely to do it again, he said. Both Pitt and Jolie were previously married. Before their own wedding in 2014, the couple had been together for nearly a decade. Interestingly, research has shown that couples who live together before marriage have higher divorce rates than those who do not, Wolfinger said. The findings seem counterintuitive, because living together before getting married can seem like a "trial marriage," he said. Indeed, experts disagree about why this is, but one possible explanation is that people who are more likely to live together out of wedlock are also more likely to get a divorce, Wolfinger said. For example, very religious people are less likely to divorce, and also less likely to live together before marriage, he said. [5 Facts About Couples Who Live Together] Brangelina's breakup, however, doesn't mean that marriage is dead in America. Divorce rates have actually been decreasing over the past 35 years, Wolfinger said. And surveys have shown that Americans do value marriage and disapprove of adultery, he said. It's also important to keep in mind that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's actions don't represent trends in America, Wolfinger added. The lives of celebrities such as Pitt and Jolie are fundamentally very different from those of the average American, he said. Originally published on Live Science. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang(L) meets with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonin New York Sept. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met here on Monday with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the issue of development and climate change, pledging further support to the United Nations therefor. China has always been an active supporter to and participant in the cause of the United Nations, as well as a firm defender of the rules and principles of the UN Charter, said Li. China is willing to further support the United Nations in playing a key role in international affairs and contributing more to world peace and development, he said. Stressing that this year is the first year for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the first year since the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted, Li said China, as the biggest developing country, will continue to work with the rest of the world to shoulder the responsibility within its power and make relentless efforts to better global governance. China also hopes the United Nations could carry out its responsibility of international peace and put the development issue as its priority in order to let people of all countries to benefit from the development, he said. Speaking highly of China's role in international affairs, Ban said the United Nations commends China's participation in important agendas including climate change and sustainable development as well as its contribution to South-South Cooperation and the international peacekeeping operations. The United Nations is ready to closely work with China to address the common challenges of the human kind so as to promote world peace and development, said Ban. Li arrived here Sunday to attend the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. This is the first time for Li to visit the United Nations headquarters in New York since taking office in 2013. Releases In this section of the Lockheed Martin Newsroom, you'll find our news releases. The releases are listed in chronological order and are archived by year. If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. Ardagh Heritage Centre was transformed into a foodie haven on Friday night with the first pop-up vegan and gluten free restaurant in Ireland. 'Cook and Dine Longford' is a pop-up restaurant where guests first get demonstrations on how to make delicious dishes, before dining together in a unique venue. There was a full house on Friday night, with diners enjoying appetisers on arrival, four starters, a sorbet, three main courses and four desserts; all of which were gluten free and vegan friendly. Diners were also treated to music from a female, barbershop, a capella act called Cantabile and a beautiful solo performance from Aoife Mulligan from Longford. Happy with the outcome, chef Martin O'Connor said: I'll definitely do it again, although not necessarily the gluten free, vegan menu but I have some great ideas for other themed nights. Staying in tune to what's happening in the area, Martin said he would like to host seasonal events. Looking forward to the next occasion, Martin is already planning a Hallowe'en-themed dinner. Ardagh Heritage Centre are having their 'Fright Fest' week and have asked me to do a dinner on one of the evenings so we need to work out the details, but I already have loads of different ideas, he revealed. Find out when the next themed dinner evening will pop up by following Cook and Dine Longford on Facebook. Zhang Jianlong, administrator of Chinas State Forest Administration. (Photo/Zhang Ke) The number of urban forests in China has increased rapidly in recent years, and China is striving to enhance the urban greening process. The country's new goal is to build six national forest city groups by 2020, said Zhang Jianlong, administrator of Chinas State Forestry Administration. Zhang made his remarks in Xian, Shaanxi province on Sept. 19. According to Zhang, 118 cities in China have been classified as "national forest cities," with 80 more working to gain the title. Thirteen provinces have held activities to kickstart their own provincial forest cities. Statistics show that the annual afforestation area in each forest-building city is about 200,000 mu (32,947 acres). This number is equivalent to 1 percent of the total city area, which is much higher than the national average of forest growth over the same period. (Photo/Xinhua) The State Forest Administration has included forest development in its 13th Five-Year Plan. According to the plan, six national forest city groups, together with 200 national forest cities and 1,000 representative forest counties, will be built by 2020. Zhang pointed out that the key is to take mountains, water, road networks and forests, facilitating interconnectivity of regional ecosystems through urban greening and the construction of an ecological corridor. On the national level, China will focus on the construction of six forest city groups including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei province, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. Forests and wetlands will be installed in these regions in order to support sustainable urban development. Longford soldier Michael Tighe walked the red carpet at the film premiere of The Siege of Jadotville in the Savoy in Dublin on Monday night. The film is based on the true life incidents of 154 Irish UN soldiers, including Michael, who were attacked by a local Katangan force, led by French and English mercenaries in what became known as The Siege of Jadotville. Twelve Longford men were involved in the ambush, but despite being outnumbered and outarmed they prevailed for five days until they ran out of food, water and ammunition. Their Commanding Officer Pat Quinlan negotiated ceasefire, and the men were taken as prisoners of war for a month. On their release and subsequent return to Ireland, they were laughed at and treated as cowards. Speaking to the Longford Leader, Michael said the film was fantastic and very realistic, bringing back memories that were best forgotten. However, it was a superb show and I would find it hard to have a more memorable night. I met guys that I had not seen for 55 years. The men of Company A were recognised at a ceremony in Custume Barracks Athlone last Saturday, which Michael also attended. In next week's Longford Leader read an interview with Michael who will give his account of The Siege of Jadotville, from the trenches to the red carpet. Local News, National & World News, Travel & Local Attractions, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events By Long Island News & PR Published: September 20 2016 On Monday, September 26th, Hofstra University will be hosting the first of three Presidential Debates. Advisories are issued concerning road closures and prohibited items. Hofstra University will be hosting three Presidential Debates, the first of which is on Monday, September 26. Hempstead, NY - September 16, 2016 - On Monday, September 26th, Hofstra University will be hosting the first of three Presidential Debates. Advisories are issued concerning road closures and prohibited items. Presidential Debate Road Closures Traffic in the area of Hofstra University will be severely impacted. Roadways bordering on Hofstra University will be closed to all vehicular traffic as follows: From 5 AM until midnight on Monday September 26th Charles Lindberg Boulevard, and Earl Ovington Boulevard will be closed. Beginning at 11:30 AM on Monday, September 26 and ending at midnight: Hempstead Turnpike will be closed to all traffic between Oak Street and Merrick Avenue by Eisenhower Park. Oak Street will be closed from Hempstead Turnpike, North to Westbury Boulevard. Eastbound and Westbound traffic in this area should use alternate routes such as Front St, Old Country Road, or Stewart Avenue. Lawrence Street in Uniondale will be one-way Northbound only from Hempstead Turnpike to Westbury Boulevard. Courtenay Road in Hempstead will be one-way Southbound from Hempstead Turnpike to Front Street. No on street parking will be permitted on both Lawrence Street and Courtenay Road on Monday September 26th. There will be no access to Hempstead Turnpike from Front Street. Residents and other local traffic only will be permitted. The following streets will be one-way Southbound for one block South of Hempstead Turnpike: Manor Parkway Marvin Avenue Walton Avenue Gilroy Avenue Cunningham Avenue The Nassau County Police Department is advising that citizens avail themselves of alternate routes and should avoid travel in the area of the Nassau Coliseum and Hofstra University on the day of the debate. Presidential Debate Prohibited Items Pedestrians entering secure zones in and around Hofstra University are subject to search. List of prohibited items Aerosols Ammunition Animals other than service/guide dogs Back Packs Bags and signs exceeding size restrictions Balloons Bicycles Coolers Drones and other unmanned aircraft systems Explosives Firearms Glass, thermal, or metal containers Laser pointers Mace/Pepper spray Packages Selfie sticks Structures Supports for signs and placards Toy guns Weapons of any kind Any other item determined to be a potential hazard This list may not be all-inclusive and the N.C.P.D. reserves the right to prohibit any other items that are determined to be a potential public safety hazard. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events By Legislator Anker's Office Published: September 20 2016 On Friday, September 23rd, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker will host a free Senior Health and Wellness Expo at the Rose Caracappa Center in Mount Sinai, NY. The event is hosted in conjunction with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and the Stony Brook Trauma Center. Mount Sinai, NY - September 19, 2016 - On Friday, September 23rd, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker will host a free Senior Health and Wellness Expo from 10am to 12pm at the Rose Caracappa Center in Mount Sinai (739 Route 25A). The event is hosted in conjunction with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and the Stony Brook Trauma Center. Attendees will be offered free balance screenings and free flu vaccines, as well as be provided information about balance programs, falls prevention, Suffolk County senior advocates, emergency preparedness, and home safety. Suffolk County Police Officers will also be conducting Operation Medicine Cabinet, where residents can drop-off unwanted or expired medications, and the Sheriffs office will be providing free emergency identification cards. This is a great opportunity for senior residents to learn more about the different resources available to them in Suffolk County. For more information, please call Legislator Ankers office at 631-854-1600. Local News, Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: September 20 2016 Cold Case Tuesday: Troop L continues to investigate the 15-year-old death of Wyanda Williams. Freeport, NY - September 13, 2016 - The New York State Police Troop L Major Case Unit continues to investigate the 2001 death of a woman in Nassau County. Wyanda Williams, 35, of Freeport, was allegedly thrown from a moving motor vehicle on the Southern State Parkway in the early morning hours of September 9, 2001. On that date, the New York State Police were dispatched to the report of a body lying in the roadway of the Southern State Parkway in the area of Franklin Avenue in Nassau County. Williams was struck several times by passing motorists, and the vehicle Ms. Williams was allegedly thrown from was never positively identified. An investigation revealed Williams lived just miles from the crime scene and frequented the Hempstead area of Long Island. Very limited information is available about Williams family and friends. Anyone with information regarding the death of Wyanda Williams is encouraged to call the Troop L Major Case Unit at (631) 756-3300. Nature & Weather, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: September 20 2016 The strategic plan will advance the development of offshore wind along New Yorks coastline. DEC Orders $700,000 Penalty for Illegal Mining and Solid Waste Violations at Furrows Road Property in Holtsville Nature & Weather, Local News, Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: September 20 2016 A lengthy investigation into illegal sand mining and solid waste dumping at a property in Holtsville, town of Islip, has resulted in a $700,000 fine and an order to clean up the site. Holtsville, NY - September 15, 2016 - A lengthy investigation into illegal sand mining and solid waste dumping at a property in Holtsville, town of Islip, has resulted in a $700,000 fine and an order to clean up the site, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today. "This was a classic 'scoop and fill' case. Illegal mining activity was followed quickly by illegal landfilling of solid waste," said Commissioner Seggos. "We succeeded in getting those responsible to take action for a full site restoration, and I applaud the work of our Environmental Conservation Officers and other agency staff who worked on this important action." In July 2015, DEC was made aware of an illegal sand mining site being backfilled with fill of unknown origin. While DEC staff were unable to observe active mining or backfilling onsite, DEC's investigation determined that the owners of this commercially zoned property on Furrows Road violated a number of state Environmental Conservation Laws while conducting unauthorized mining and solid waste disposal activities. Violations include: Mining more than 1,000 tons or 750 cubic yards of minerals in a calendar year without a permit Failure to submit a mined land use plan for the operation on a mine Failure to submit a reclamation bond to ensure proper reclamation of the mine Failure to pay mining fees for the operation of a mine Using solid waste as backfill in a mined property without a permit or authorization The respondents, the Joan Ciardullo Trust and Estate of Albert Ciardullo, signed an Order on Consent and are obligated to implement a Soil Characterization Work Plan approved by DEC, which will ultimately dictate the appropriate restoration and management of the site. The DEC Order assessed a total penalty of $700,000, with a $100,000 payable penalty remitted at the time of signing of the Order. An additional sum of $250,000 is designated to be contributed to an Environmental Benefits Project. A total of $350,000 in penalties will be suspended, unless the respondents fail to implement the Consent Order. A DEC Environmental Monitor will oversee the site characterization and remediation. DEC staff will also assess the ambient air quality to determine if air monitoring in the vicinity is warranted, and will visit the area in mid-September. "The settlement addresses the seriousness of the violations and sends a clear signal to those who consider breaking New York State's environmental laws for personal gain-DEC is watching," said Commissioner Seggos. Individuals who observe illegal environmental activities on Long Island are encouraged to call DEC's Division of Law Enforcement at (631) 444-0250 on weekdays during business hours, and 1-844-DEC-ECOS (1-844-332-3267) at all other times. For more information on DEC programs and regulations, please visit the Department's website. Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases Cao Haofei meets Hou Xiangwei, the police officer who saved her in the Temple of Heaven in 1994. A 23-year-old Chinese-American woman who was adopted 16 years ago by an American couple returned to China on Sept. 19 in order to find her birth parents. She also wanted to extend her gratitude to the police officer who rescued her when she was abandoned as a baby. Cao Haofei and Hou Xiangwei. The woman, named Cao Haofei, was abandoned by her birth parents in 1994 near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Saved by a police officer named Hou Xiangwei, Cao spent the next six years in a local orphanage, after which she was adopted by an American couple in 2000. Since then, Cao has made a home for herself in a country half a globe away. She quickly adapted to her new environment and became a top student at her American school. Cao Haofei and her stepparents. Cao feels quite grateful for her special experience. She has come back to China every summer since she turned 15 to volunteer at the orphanage where she lived as a child. She is indebted to many people who helped her on her journey, but no one more so than the police officer, Hou. Although she has a wonderful life in the U.S., Cao still wishes to find her birth parents. She said she bears no resentment toward them, since abandoning her may have been their only option at the time. Cao has asked Hou to help her look for her biological parents. [File photo] Chinas State Council has issued a set of new guidelines regarding the disclosure of information by the government, which stipulates that information shared should be the principle, while information concealed should be the exception. The guidelines, approved by Premier Li Keqiang, aim to increase government credibility, as well as to improve administrative efficiency and government services, Xinhua reported on Sept. 20. According to the guidelines, government information is divided into three groups: unconditionally shared, conditionally shared and concealed. For information to be classified "concealed," a reasonable legal or administrative explanation must be offered. The guidelines also emphasize the disclosure of public information online, stipulating that all government information systems should be linked to a national database so that the public doesn't have to submit the same information twice. Chinas first regulation regarding government disclosure was issued in 2007. As the countrys anti-corruption campaign grows, the government has been making greater efforts to boost its own transparency. In March, Premier Li told media that the Chinese government will increase the openness of its affairs and respond to public concerns by various means, including the Internet and cloud computing. According to a government transparency report released in March by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Shanghai Municipal Government is the most transparent administration. Beijing's government also made it into the top 10. (Xinhua) 09:03, September 20, 2016 DAMASCUS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army announced Monday the end of the Russian-U.S. brokered truce in Syria, without talking about possible extension, according to the state news agency SANA. The Syrian army said the seven-day truce that was brokered by the United States and Russia ended Monday, as previously declared. Still, the army didn't speak of any possible extension to the week-long truce, but accused the rebels of committing over 300 violations to the truce. "The terrorists have taken advantage of the ceasefire to amass themselves and continue to attack residential areas and military positions, mainly in the provinces of Hama, Qunaitera, and Aleppo," the military statement said. The statement said the military forces have practiced high self-restraint, and responded in a few cases when it had to do so to silence the fire sources of the rebels. It renewed old pledges that the army will continue to fight terrorism until restoring peace and stability to Syria. Last Monday, a Russian-U.S. ceasefire was implemented in Syria, bringing relative calm to the most troubled areas, including Aleppo. Still, both warring parties traded accusations of breaching the ceasefire, which was deemed as a good chance to bring the bloodletting in Syria to a close. A model presents a creation during a fashion show at Yellow River stone forest national geological park in Baiyin, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 19, 2016.(Xinhua/Dang Yun) (For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook The National Directorate of Security, Afghanistans intelligence agency, recently raided an al Qaeda encampment and killed five Pakistan terrorists in the southeastern province of Zabul. The operation was executed by special operations forces attached to the National Directorate of Security, or NDS, and took place in the village of Nasiran in the Mizan district in Zabul. The NDS announced the raid against al Qaeda on its Facebook page. The NDS also captured two jihadists during the raid, in addition to a stockpile of weapons, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade warheads, ammunition, two suicide vests, communications equipment, computers, and two Pakistani ID cards. NDS commandos destroyed the al Qaeda base before departing. US officials have not yet commented on the NDS operation against al Qaeda. The base in Zabul is the fifth such encampment to have been detected in Afghanistan in just over a year. The US military discovered the first al Qaeda camp in the Barmal district of Paktika province and attacked the encampment in the summer of 2015. Abu Khalil al Sudani, a top al Qaedas leader, is thought to have been killed during that raid. Intelligence from the Barmal operation led US troops to two camps in the Shorabak district in Kandahar. In Oct. 2015, a large US military strike force took four days to clear the two al Qaeda camps in Shorabak. One camp covered more than 30 square miles, and included large caches of weapons, ammunition, and other supplies. An al Qaeda media cell was also based there. [See LWJ reports, US military strikes large al Qaeda training camps in southern Afghanistan, and Al Qaedas Kandahar training camp probably the largest in Afghan War.] After the Shorabak raid, General John Campbell, then the commander of Resolute Support, noted that US military and intelligence officials were surprised that the camp even existed. Its a place where you would probably think you wouldnt have AQ [al Qaeda]. I would agree with that, Campbell told The Washington Post. This was really AQIS [al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent], and probably the largest training camp-type facility that we have seen in 14 years of war. The US raided another al Qaeda facility in Afghanistan this year. On May 9, US special operations forces rescued Ali Haider Gilani, the son of Pakistans former prime minister, during a raid against an al Qaeda safe house in Paktika province. Gilani was held by al Qaeda for more than three years. Yesterday, Gilani told Dawn that al Qaeda Punjab, or al Qaeda members from Pakistans Punjab province, were responsible for kidnapping and holding him in Afghanistan. The US government and the military has downplayed al Qaedas presence for more than six years, despite evidence that al Qaeda has remained entrenched in Afghanistan some 15 years after the 9/11 attacks. Since 2010, US officials claimed that al Qaeda has been decimated in Afghanistan and has maintained a consistent minimal presence of 50 to 100 operatives. In April 2015, Resolute Support, NATOs mission in Afghanistan, was forced to admit that previous long-held estimates on al Qaedas strength in Afghanistan were wrong. Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, the top spokesman for Resolute Support, told The Washington Post that al Qaeda has forged close ties to the Taliban and is resurgent in the country. Additionally, Buchanan told CNN that al Qaeda may have upwards of 300 operatives in the country, but that number does include other facilitators and sympathizers in their network. [See LWJ report, US military admits al Qaeda is stronger in Afghanistan than previously estimated.] Buchanan said the military was forced to revise the estimate upward after the Shorabak raid, where more than 150 al Qaeda were at a single location. If you go back to last year, there were a lot of intel estimates that said within Afghanistan al Qaeda probably has 50 to 100 members, but in this one camp we found more than 150, Buchanan told CNN. Despite Buchanans statements and the presence of al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, the US State Department claimed that al Qaeda was severely degraded in its 2016 Country Report on Terrorism. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. The State Department announced today that Jund al Aqsa, an al Qaeda front group in Syria, has been added to the US governments list of specially designated global terrorist organizations. State notes that Jund al Aqsa primarily operates in Idlib and Hama provinces and was responsible for the February 2014 massacre in the village of Maan in central Hama province, killing 40 civilians. Jund al Aqsa was established in 2012 as a subunit of Al Nusrah Front, al Qaedas official branch in Syria, but split from Nusrah and now carries out operations independently. Despite operating on its own, Jund al Aqsa is still openly aligned with Nusrah. Indeed, the jihadist organization routinely participates in battles alongside Nusrah. Two Jund al Aqsa suicide bombers helped pave the way for a Nusrah-led offensive in Idlib province in March 2015. In addition, a contingent of Jund al Aqsa leaders reportedly joined Nusrah in February. Jund al Aqsa endorsed Nusrahs rebranding, remains loyal to al Qaeda The emir of Nusrah, Abu Muhammad al Julani, announced on July 28 that his group had been rebranded as Jabhat Fath Al Sham (JFS, or the Conquest of the Levant Front). Julani said at the time that he and his men had no affiliation to any external entity. That phrasing was widely interpreted as meaning that Nusrah had broken off from al Qaeda. However, Julani, who was dressed like Osama bin Laden during his announcement, did not explicitly say that he had split from al Qaeda. Julani made no mention of his bayah (oath of allegiance) to Ayman al Zawahiri. And al Qaeda itself is not an external entity, as it has senior figures inside Syria. Al Qaeda has long sought to obscure its role in the Syrian rebellion and Nusrahs rebranding is entirely consistent with Ayman al Zawahiris original strategy for the multi-sided war. In fact, Zawahiris own deputy, Abu Khayr al Masri, blessed Julanis move beforehand. Jund al Aqsas general command endorsed Nusrahs rebranding in a carefully worded statement released on July 31. The organization made it clear that al Qaedas leadership was responsible for Nusrahs repositioning in the Syrian insurgency. Jund al Aqsas leaders said they were optimistic about Al Nusrahs new garb, or new appearance. They added that al Qaedas emirs and clerics must have carefully deliberated the move, determining that it was in the best interest of both the people and the jihad in Syria. In so deciding, Jund al Aqsas men said, al Qaedas leaders have once again proven their sacrifice in service of the ummah (worldwide community of Muslims). The jihadists can [use] any name they want, the statement continued, so long as they stay true to the principles of the prestigious first generation of mujahideen and follow the Prophet Mohammeds methodology. Jund al Aqsas leadership wrote that they hoped Al Nusrahs rebirth as Jabhat Fath al Sham would lead to the creation of a new Islamic authority that governed according to sharia law, protected the lives of the people, and yet remained truly independent. The al Qaeda group did not say that Jabhat Fath al Sham was such a government, but instead that it would hopefully be a prelude to the creation of one. There has been some confusion in the reporting on Jund al Aqsa, especially because some members have defected to the Islamic State. It is also likely that Abu Bakr al Baghdadis caliphate, which is a rival to al Qaeda, has infiltrated Jund al Aqsas ranks. Sporadic reports indicate that cells within Jund al Aqsa have targeted their own comrades in Idlib and elsewhere. Jund al Aqsa and Ahrar al Sham, another al Qaeda-linked group, may have also clashed at times. But this doesnt mean that Jund al Aqsa itself has defected to Baghdadis cause. As Jund al Aqsas July 31 statement made clear, the group remains loyal to al Qaedas senior leadership. This is unsurprising as al Qaeda has embedded key operatives in its ranks. Al Qaeda veterans have led Jund al Aqsa Jund al Aqsa was founded by Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Qatari, who reportedly fought for al Qaeda in Afghanistan. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Qatari (pictured on the right) was close to Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri and Abdullah Azzam (bin Ladens ideological mentor). Qatari fought in Chechnya and also in Iraq, where he was allied with Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the founder of al Qaeda in Iraq. Qatari died under mysterious circumstances in 2014. Jund al Aqsa blamed the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF), which was backed by the West before being disbanded, for Qataris death. In late 2014, Nusrah and Jund al Aqsa worked together to clear the SRF from several towns and villages. The offensive helped set the stage for Jaysh al Fateh, a coalition led by Nusrah and its allies, to sweep through Idlib province several months later. In April 2015, Jund al Aqsa mourned the death of its military commander, a Saudi named Adel Radi Saker al Wahabi al Harbi. His death notice (seen on the right) was posted on Twitter. Harbi was a senior al Qaeda operative wanted by the US government, which offered a reward of $5 million for information leading to his whereabouts. According to the US Treasury Department, al Harbi had served as the deputy leader of al Qaedas network in Iran prior to relocating to Syria. Harbi worked for Muhsin al Fadhli in Iran. Fadhli himself relocated to Syria, where he became a key figure in al Qaedas so-called Khorasan Group before meeting his own demise in July 2015. In May 2015, another al Qaeda member, Said Arif, was killed while leading Jund al Aqsas forces. The US State Department had previously designated Arif as a terrorist, identifying him as an Algerian army officer deserter, who traveled to Afghanistan in the 1990s, where he trained in al Qaeda camps with weapons and explosives. Arif was implicated in multiple al Qaeda plots against targets in Europe. State described him as a long-time terrorist who was a suspect in al Qaedas December 2000 plot to bomb the Strasbourg Christmas market. He was arrested in 2003 and tried in France along with 25 others, all of whom were accused of belonging to the Chechen Network, which plotted to blow up the Eiffel Tower and launch chemical attackson malls and police stations in France. Arif was convicted in 2006 for his role in these planned attacks. After his arrest, State reported, Arif threatened that al Qaeda was planning to attack an American military base in Spain using chemical weapons. Jund al Aqsas continuing loyalty to al Qaedas leadership, as well as the presence of Harbi and Arif in its ranks, indicates that the group may be used as a front for anti-Western plotting in the future. To date, however, Jund al Aqsa has largely focused on the jihadists war inside Syria. The group regularly produces propaganda from the fighting in Hama and elsewhere. And on Sept. 19, Jund al Aqsa issued a series of tweets endorsing a proposed merger of rebel groups with Jabhat Fath al Sham, as long as the others remained true to the jihadi cause. As The Long War Journal reported in January, this was one of the key reasons for Al Nusrahs rebranding in the first place. Al Qaeda wants to pool the insurgents resources, thereby masking its influence and increasing the jihadists efficacy in the war against Bashar al Assads regime. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. The Chinese and Russian navies stage a mission to seize an island on Sunday, marking the end of the two countries' joint drill this year.[Photo by GAN JUN/CHINA DAILY] The Chinese and Russian navies staged a mission to seize an island on Sunday as part of an eight-day exercise in the South China Sea. As the key element of the annual drill, the navies dispatched warships, marine forces, helicopters and amphibious armored equipment for the mission. The exercise demonstrated the Chinese and Russian navies' capacities in command management, telecommunications coordination, and intelligence and information sharing, said Senior Captain Li Xiangdong, who commanded the Chinese warships. The mission marked the end of the China-Russia Joint Sea 2016 drill, which started on Sept 12 in eastern waters off Zhanjiang, the southernmost city in Guangdong province and the base of the Nanhai Fleet. A closing ceremony was to be held on Monday. Compared with previous years, the 2016 drill focused more on confrontational capacity such as surface warships, submarines and land-based defenses, Li said, adding that the use of an advanced command system made communication between the two navies smoother. It was also the first time the China-Russia joint exercise had been held in the South China Sea. Premier Li says $100 million earmarked for countries and international groups Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a high-level meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants at the United Nations General Assembly in Manhattan, New York, US September 19, 2016. [Photo by Zhao Huanxin/chinadaily.com.cn] China pledged $100 million in humanitarian aid on Monday to help countries and international organizations to resolve refugee and migrant crises and will consider additional support measures. The vow was made by Premier Li Keqiang when he addressed a meeting at the United Nations on refugees and migrants. Li said China would also consider using part of the China-UN peace and development fund to support refugee and migrant work in developing countries, and to explore ways to enhance cooperation with developing countries and international agencies. President Xi Jinping announced China's decision to establish a 10-year, $1 billion China-UN peace and development fund during the 70th session of the UN General Assembly last year. Li said resolution of the refugee and migrant issue calls for ramped-up international cooperation and efforts by native countries of refugees and migrants. He said China has actively joined efforts to resolve refugee and migrant issues. The number of displaced people reached a record 65.3 million at the end of last year, an increase of more than 5 million from 2014, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. They include 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers and 40.8 million migrants. Opening the daylong session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to commit to "upholding the rights and dignity of everyone forced by circumstance to flee their homes in search of a better life". Li arrived in New York with his wife, Cheng Hong, on Sunday afternoon, marking his first visit to UN headquarters as premier. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the restoration of China's rightful seat at the UN. China was one of the founding members of the international organization, but until 1971 its seat was held, with help from the United States and its allies, by authorities of China's island of Taiwan. In July, Li met with Ban, and in August he met with Peter Thomson, president of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, when they visited Beijing. During his four-day stay in the city, Li is expected to offer China's viewpoints on major issues regarding the international order, global governance and peace and development. "An active supporter of all causes of the UN, China strongly defends the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and actively participates in the work of the UN as a permanent member of its Security Council," Li said upon his arrival. "China is willing to work with all sides to make contributions to better address global challenges and promote world peace and development." The premier is scheduled to attend the annual general debate and roll out a raft of pragmatic measures to support the UN's work in coping with global challenges, such as terrorism and the refugee crisis, according to the Foreign Ministry. Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, said Li would offer measures to help promote peace and development throughout the international community. Regular readers of this column will recall that earlier this year, I had three credit-card numbers stolen across a few months. This has led me to express joy and wonder at the growth of Apple Pay in the real world and for in-app physical purchases, and of course Apple Pay in Safari, coming to Sierra and iOS 10. (Android Pay and other options are also coming to Web-based ecommerce.) But we cant use Apple Pay everywhere. Thats where a product like Final may remain useful for some time. Final revives and improves on an idea that merchant banks introduced many years ago: virtual, sometimes disposable, credit-card numbers. I recall using this as early as 2004 with a Chase card. In that model, you go to a website, make some choices, and generate a card. The process was a little ugly, only available for some cards, and didnt seem to be available for long. I see its being revived by some banks now, including Citi and Bank of America. And Square just added an option to create a single virtual card to Square Cash on September 9. This approach firewalls your card numbers online. A stolen number will be blocked when its used outside of set parameters, and you wont need to get a new physical card, either. The Final frontier You can manage virtual cards in the Final app and see associated transactions. Finals twist on this is an app: you generate virtual credit cards directly within the app, and then can copy and paste the number into a Safari-based form. You can also use Finals website to create virtual cards, see charges, and make payments. An iOS app is out already, and Android is coming. (Citi and Bank of America appear to require use of their respective websites.) The approach is very simple. In the app, you tap a card icon, pick between a merchant-locked card and a one-time use card, and then tap Generate. The app talks to the backend and uses secret sauce to come up with a legitimate fresh Visa number. (The company said it wont discuss the process with which it works with its banking partner, First Bank & Trust.) The number has its own expiration date and CVV (the security code typically printed on the back of a card) and it can be used globally like any other Visa. While you cant specify a merchant in advance to which to lock the virtual card, the first merchant that charges using the number you generate occupies that role. With a one-time card, after the first charge, the number is deactivated. For recurring payments or sites that you frequent and trust, a merchant-locked number makes sense; for purchases from sites you dont want to provide any recurring method of payment, a one-time card is the right way to go. Youre still obligated to pay legitimate transactions! A merchant-locked card will work indefinitely for a single charging identity, but if its used elsewhere, the transaction is blocked and Final notifies you. Final has an admirable set of alert selections, so you can refine very precisely what you want to know about and what you dont, and choose to receive the alerts via push notifications, email, or both. This compartmentalization doesnt change your exposure: in the U.S., your liability for a stolen credit-card numberwhether you report it as stolen first or the card issuer determines its being used by thievesis just $50, and effectively all U.S.-issued credit card networks take that down to $0. But your time has value. If a virtual number is stolen, you just have to replace that number at a single merchantand youll know which merchant has a leaky operation, too. Ostensibly, Final and other virtual-card issuers will eventually be able to pinpoint card leakage more rapidly than any current system. This could also drive poorly secured merchants out of business, because card issuers and customers alike will be less likely to trust them. That can help with a virtuous cycle of card-accepting online retailers improving how they secure systems. Square Cash lets you create a single virtual card to pay out from your balance. This gets you closer with online purchases to EMV and mobile payments. Those real-world systems generate tokens and use cryptography to pass along card information without revealing too many details to the point of sale and points in between. Final and the like still require you paste an unencrypted credit card number directly into a form, but its far, far less leaky than using the same number printed on your card for every online purchase. Any virtual card can be disabled with a tap or click in the iOS or Web app, although Final helpfully notes this doesnt eliminate your contractual liability to pay legitimate charges. Square Cashs latest release lets you create a virtual Visa credit card thats linked to a balance held in a Square Cash account, or that can be funded by transferring money from a linked account. However, its a single card, not linked to any merchant. Lets not take virtual too far A significant limit with a virtual card is that you shouldnt use it for a transaction you have to confirm in person, because you cant present a physical card. Most businesses are going to look askance at that, or think youre trying to commit fraud, Id wager. There have been virtual card wallets in the past that let you scan a card and carry a single digital device with an electronic magnetic stripe, and some are soon coming to market. I have never seen someone try to use that with a retail clerk, especially at locations that check the card number and signature. Final doesnt try to play that gameat least not yet! They issue a conventional credit card with both an EMV chip and a stripe, and recommend sensibly to dip the card whenever possible. If the physical card number is stolen or the card lost, this doesnt affect any of your virtual card numbers; they just reissue a card. Theres one thing Final could do to make its process better: release a Safari extension, like many password-storage app makers have done. In that scenario, I could be in Safari in iOS, tap the Share button, select Final, use Touch ID for authentication, and then use its extension to generate and fill in a card in the form completely, rather than a round-trip that involves copy and paste. Final is in a slow rollout, so you currently have to sign up for a waiting list to apply. But the company says its gradually accelerating customer acquisition and hopes to remove the waiting list in the next couple of months. With both startups like Square and Final and established banks like Citi and Bank of America revving this up, perhaps the inevitable leaking of credit cards online will inconvenience us less at last. A US pharmaceutical firm is set to create 100 jobs by setting up a new European office in Maidenhead. Massachusetts-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals announced today it is opening a new development and commercial hub in the town with space for 100 employees. The firm is taking over offices at Braywick Gate, in Braywick Road, after a deal was agreed earlier in the summer. The company specialises in RNAi therapeutics, a process which could 'silence' harmful genes. Akshay Vaishnaw, executive vice president of R&D and chief medical officer at Alnylam, said: "We're thrilled to be expanding our global presence in the United Kingdom and Maidenhead in particular. "This important new office will play a critical role in advancing our cutting-edge investigational RNAi therapies toward regulatory approval and launch in European markets to benefit patients with life-threatening diseases as quickly as possible." Counsel at Red Lobster, Atlassian and two other companies say its hard to register descriptive terms, but that it can be worth the slog in some cases The AIPPI World Congress took place in Milan this week. The Managing IP team was onsite producing the AIPPI Congress News daily newsletter. You can download the AIPPI Congress News by visiting our Conference Newsletter section here, or by clicking on the individual days below. Day 1Day 2Day 3 Among the highlights were a speech at the opening ceremony by WIPOs Director General Francis Gurry, who outlined five challenges for the IP system. In an interview with us after the speech he discussed the trend towards bilateral and multilateral agreements, many of which address IP including TTP, TTIP and RCEP. It would be a pretension to think you can impede that, Gurry said, adding: It raises the question of coherence. Things should fit like Russian dolls. If one is square and not round, youre in trouble. The following day, EPO President Benoit Battistelli gave a lunchtime keynote speech outlining how the EPO is tackling its backlog. The Office expects to register about 90,000 patents this year, an increase of about one-third on last year, when it registered 68,400 patents. Battistelli said the growth in registrations was due to a record increase in productivity without compromising patent quality. The number of products (such as search reports) completed by each full-time equivalent staff member has increased from 49.8 in 2014 to 60.3 this year. Other highlights from the Congress include Jordan being accepted as new AIPPI national group, a panel of judges discussing the role of expert evidence, a session on the implications of Brexit, food companies having a taste for 3D trade marks, pharmaceutical practitioners outlining their concerns about patentable subject matter and an interview with the new AIPPI President, Hao Ma. New Delhi : As clamour for strong action against Pakistan over the Uri attack grew, the Army today said it reserves the right to respond at a time and place of its choosing even as various options were discussed in a flurry of high-level meetings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Pranab Mukherjee to brief him on the developments related to yesterday's cross-border terror attack, hours after he discussed the issue with senior ministers and top officials at a high-level meeting. The death toll in the pre-dawn attack yesterday, meanwhile, rose to 18 with Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan, who was airlifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital here after being critically injured, succumbing to injuries. "The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in hinterland. However, we have the desired capability to respond to such blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us," Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh told reporters. "We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing." The total recoveries from the four slain terrorists was four AK 47 rifles, four Under Barrel Grenade Launchers, 39 Under Barrel Grenade Launcher grenades, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPSs, two map sheets, two matrix sheets, one mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets having Pakistani markings, he said. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag besides other senior officials attended the meeting convened by Modi. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was conspicuous by her absence. As the worst ever attack on the Army in many years continued to spark outrage and triggered calls for Pakistan's diplomatic isolation, Union Information and Broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu said India will have to respond and punish the perpetrators of the attack and "can no more take it lying down". PTI (Xinhua) 10:32, September 20, 2016 NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiangon Monday called upon China and the United Statesto step up efforts to promote economic and trade ties between the two countries. The statement was made when Li met with U.S. President Barack Obamain New York on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st session of the United NationsGeneral Assembly that opened earlier last week. Economic and trade cooperation is the "cornerstone" and "propeller" of China-U.S. relations, Li said. The two sides should work together to ensure an early conclusion of negotiations on a China-U.S. bilateral investment treaty (BIT), expand market access to each other, and create better business environment and better cooperation prospect for enterprises from both sides, the premier said. The two sides should also properly handle economic and trade frictions to prevent bilateral economic and trade ties from suffering unnecessary distractions, he added. Meanwhile, the premier urged the U.S. side to relax restrictions on high-tech exports to China. For his part, Obama said economic relations are the stabilizing factor of U.S.-China ties. The U.S. president added that the U.S. side supports China's reform process, hoping the two sides make further progress in BIT negotiations. Will the next president delete the dreaded form? Image from Internal Revenue Service. This article centers on tax policy, which can evoke emotions from both sides of the political aisle. Please recognize our sole interest here is in assessing how changes in tax policy have historically affected stocks in order to frame expectations for what may happen if taxes are changed after 2016's election. Maybe you have already heard whispers alluding to this, but in a short 49 days Americans will head to the polls and select the next president. While this election's atypical characteristics have stolen headlines all year, on one point, this is election season as usual: People are politicking, and when they politic, they usually make a fuss about taxes. Politicians seem perpetually unable to find the goldilocks level of taxation that is "just right"-taxes are forever too high or too low; "fair" or "unfair" for whatever reason; their plan will boost growth while their opponent's will crush it. Unsurprisingly, with all this talk, investors have a tendency to get caught up in rhetoric about tax plans-a way for political bias to infect your investment decision making. Allow us to inoculate you from this risk: There is no evidence tax changes carry the big market impact many presume-for good or ill. Vote based on tax policy if you like, but investing based on it is likely an error. As usual, all four 2016 presidential candidates have tax plans.[i] As noted above, some want higher rates and some lower; some want more "fairness," although there are literally three different definitions of what that means this year. Of course, presidents can't unilaterally raise, lower, abolish, restructure, rewrite or reform taxation-something President Obama encountered after campaigning to eliminate the "Bush Tax Cuts" in 2008. Despite his Democratic Party having control of Congress from 2009 - 2010, Obama wound up extending those rates through his first term. When changes were made in 2013, they were vastly watered down from campaign rhetoric. On the Republican side, George H. W. Bush famously instructed us to read his lips-"No new taxes."[ii] Yet taxes rose shortly thereafter. The Constitution says Congress gets the power to tax and spend-the president cannot act on his or her plans unilaterally, and the result can be very different from campaign-speak. Most of the time, investors seem to think lower taxes are uber-bullish and fear higher taxes spell trouble for stocks. In theory, this seems logical. Lower taxes mean more money in consumers', businesses' and investors' pockets to invest and spend as they see fit. Lower capital gains taxes may even make investing more attractive! Lower corporate taxes mean bigger profits for businesses. Higher taxes? Reverse all those. But here is the thing about theory: You have to square it up against history. History is your laboratory for testing the probability your theory is correct. If your theory hasn't been repeatedly true before, buying it now may just be falling prey to bias. For some of us, lower taxes may be joyous indeed. But does that translate to equity returns? In short, the answer is no. Exhibits 1 - 3 show the direction of a tax rate change (cut or hike) paired with whether US stocks rose or fell in the six and 12 months after the date the change was effected. As you'll see, hikes do not automatically spell trouble for stocks. Take Exhibit 1, for example. Stocks have risen the six and 12 months following a personal income tax hike 12 times and fallen in only two. So are hikes bullish? Conversely, stocks were much more mixed in the six and 12 months after a tax cut! Exhibit 1: US Stocks, Six and 12 Months from Personal Income Tax Rate Change Source: Global Financial Data, Inc., as of 9/16/2016. 12/31/1926 - 12/31/2015. Tax rate change is to the highest bracket. Exhibit 2: US Stocks, Six and 12 Months from Corporate Tax Rate Change Source: Global Financial Data, Inc., as of 9/16/2016. 12/31/1926 - 12/31/2015. Tax rate change is to the highest bracket. Exhibit 3: US Stocks, Six and 12 Months from Capital Gains Tax Rate Change Source: Global Financial Data, Inc., as of 9/16/2016. 12/31/1950 - 12/31/2015. Tax rate change is to the highest bracket. That may seem counterintuitive, but it really isn't. For one, stocks move most on surprises and, as discussed above, tax plans take a long time to enact and play out very publicly. Surprise power is reduced greatly. But also, since the Great Depression, income tax cuts have occasionally been used as a form of economic stimulus when politicians realize (usually pretty late) a recession is underway. While such tax cuts might provide a small tailwind to growth in such a scenario-and aren't totally inappropriate policy-history shows cyclical factors swamp them. Therefore, it isn't so illogical that stocks fall more frequently when income tax rates are cut than hiked. Changes to corporate rates and long-term capital gains tax rates happen less frequently, but there is still no set relationship between tax changes and stocks' direction. Ultimately, tax policy will create winners and losers. It can affect sentiment, both toward a candidate and markets generally. And it can impact the economy, to an extent. However, it is a mistake to overrate its importance. Remember always: Global markets are vast, flexible and complex. They adapt to widely known information near instantaneously, and tax debates are very widely followed. Not all investors are even subject to American tax: Some are retirement plans; others are non-US investors; still others institutions. Tax policy may be a big political issue, but for markets, it's not so huge at all, really. London Housing Market Bubble 2016, London Bridge Comes Falling Down I just got back from a seminar in London. I spoke there late last year for Graham Rowan, who heads the Elite Investor Club. This time, my promoters in Australia, Greg Owen and Steve and Corinna Essa, decided to team up with Graham to promote a two-day Secure the Future seminar in London. I was more than happy to do that. I love London, even though its always cloudy and drizzly. But it was also a great opportunity to promote my new book, The Sale of a Lifetime (out now!), because it touches on many of the same themes I wanted to discuss with my British audience. My first message to them was that the Brexit represents the peak of the massive globalization trend going back to the 1970s. Going forward, the UK is likely to become the safe haven of Europe because Germanys demographic trends sink in the coming years and the euro and Eurozone with it just like Japans did in the 1990s.In other words, the UK was smart to exit first!The markets have already rewarded the FTSE stock market there versus the continued lagging markets in Germany (DAX) and broader Europe (The Stoxx 50 and 600).But the main point is that Europe is going to continue disintegrating in the years ahead. I even think the social divide in the U.S. could cause a similar Brexit here, with Trump leading that especially if he loses.London really is a great city. This time around I got to see more of it thanks to several media appearances and dinners.Andy Pancholi from markettimingreport.com is my favorite cycles guy there and will be speaking at our Irrational Economic Summit next month in Palm Beach, FL. A friend of his just happens to be my favorite actor there James Cosmo. Hes the John Wayne of Scotland, starring in films such as Braveheart and Troy.He was even featured in the infamous Game of Thrones TV series.I was lucky enough to sit down to dinner with him twice on this latest visit. And there were some other interesting entrepreneurs at the table with us. They included John Morris who runs a recruitment consultancy Steve Briese of Smart Money Investor and his wife Jeanette and Hamish Risk of the research firm Substantive Research, Ltd.John is my idol in entrepreneurship. Hes always looking to invest in socially beneficial ventures like bringing low-cost Internet access to Africa and India and he does it successfully. I know how hard that is, having lost much money myself doing similar investments.Steve is an expert when it comes to analyzing the Commitment of Traders (COT) reports that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) releases. Ive featured some of those same reports in recent articles to suggest that gold and T-bonds are about to turn down. (He and his wife now live in Malta. We compared notes on living there versus my new home in San Juan and Culebra, Puerto Rico.)Many of your fellow subscribers came out to hear me speak at this London Secure the Future conference and got an advanced electronic copy of The Sale of a Lifetime Besides telling them that the UK could likely be the cleanest dirty shirt in Europe in the deflationary spiral ahead, my main message regarded Londons real estate.London is one of the largest real estate bubbles in the world among all of the worlds great English-speaking cities. They attract affluent foreign buyers that are laundering their money from other countries, trying to escape their own bubbles, corrupt governments or both.London attracts more of the Russian and Arab buyers, but also the Chinese. And Ive seen it firsthand.The last time I was there, I stayed in Kensington. I was in a very nice boutique hotel, and almost all of the channels on the TV were in Arabic. Everyone there kept complaining that the Arabs and Russians had taken over downtown London.At the conference, I showed the audience the following chart on London real estate: Real estate there has gone up four times since 1999 and, using my new Bubble Model, I project that it will go down 64% or so. Thats actually a bit less compared to other markets like Manhattan, San Francisco and Shanghai. Demographically speaking, the UK is actually a bit stronger than the U.S. longer-term, and much better than most of the rest of Europe outside of Scandinavia and France. Germany, of course, is the worst, along with all of Southern Europe and Austria. And dont even ask me about Russia and East Europe! My view is that if Germany goes down like Japan did in the 1990s (with even worse demographic trends), there is no way that the euro and Eurozone holds up. This will make the pound the safe haven currency in Europe, while the U.S. dollar becomes the safe haven currency of the world. The same goes for their respective economies at least in the early stage of the next great depression as debt and financial assets deleverage. Get Out Now After seeing the greatest bubbles in debt and financial assets in modern history, we finally look due for a major correction and worse. This bubble is already showing signs of bursting in the high-ends of the leading cities from London to Manhattan to Miami. Others, including Singapore and Vancouver, are already down 22% and 24%, respectively. Italy is already bankrupt with bad bank loans at about 18%. It will likely default by early 2017 Chinas massive real estate bubble also looks dangerously close to bursting Major events like these will send a tidal wave around the world in the next year or so. And theres nothing the central banks can do about it this time! So, be like Baron Rothschild and get out a bit early. That way, you can preserve your capital when everything goes on sale. And make sure you get my new book, The Sale of a Lifetime, today to get the complete story on bubbles and bubble bursts and why you need to prepare NOW for the wreckage ahead. It is both the best-written (with the help of my editor Teresa van den Barselaar at Dent Research) and the most-timely book I have ever written! It is officially available on Amazon now get your copy. Harry http://economyandmarkets.com Follow me on Twitter @HarryDentjr Harry studied economics in college in the 70s, but found it vague and inconclusive. He became so disillusioned by the state of the profession that he turned his back on it. Instead, he threw himself into the burgeoning New Science of Finance, which married economic research and market research and encompassed identifying and studying demographic trends, business cycles, consumers purchasing power and many, many other trends that empowered him to forecast economic and market changes. Copyright 2016 Harry Dent- All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Harry Dent Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. MARTINSVILLE Dont panic. Area gasoline supplies are not expected to run out due to a ruptured pipeline in Alabama, at least not yet, according to a petroleum marketer. But the owner of a local service station is encouraging people to fill up their vehicles tanks just to be on the safe side, considering there have been gas shortages elsewhere, including North Carolina. Customers should be prepared to pay a little more at the pump. And be patient. "Its been a little challenging over the weekend, and it will be for a few days to come," said Blair Clark, president of Clark Gas & Oil Co., which operates Exxon On The Run gas station/convenience stores in Martinsville, Ridgeway and Stuart. "We do not anticipate any of our stores running out" of gas, Clark said, adding that he also does not expect any rationing to occur. He said he understands that some "mom-and-pop shops" and other retailers that sell "unbranded" or lesser-known brand gas have run out. When there are problems with a pipeline, some gas supply contracts cannot be fulfilled, so "unbranded fuel gets cut off immediately," he explained. The advantage to being affiliated with a major brand such as Exxon is not running as large of a risk of supplies running out, Clark said. But the rupture is "making it hard to get gas" when supplies run low, said Steve Wallace, owner of Wallaces Exxon in Collinsville. "If we run out, it will be hard to get more." Bucks Fuels, an independent gas station in Martinsville, is rationing fuel, limiting people who are not regular customers to $15 worth, said owner/operator Carrie Wells. "We have to take care of our regular customers" first, Wells said, because in terms of supply, "we just dont have what we normally have." The next time that a shipment of gas is ordered, it wont be a regular 10,000-gallon load but "probably half of that," she said. She does not foresee her station running out of fuel, either, she mentioned. The gas station operators said they recently have seen increases in business, despite higher prices. People are not panicking, but they are concerned about the pipeline situation, they said. Wells said she has seen her cost for gas purchases increase by 75 cents to $1 per gallon, including taxes and hauling fees. "We (retailers) dont have a choice" but to pass along at least some of the higher cost to customers, she said, mentioning that her station raised the price of a gallon of regular gas by 30 cents per gallon recently. Similarly, Wallace said regular gas has gone up by 25 cents per gallon at his station. During a phone interview, Clark said he could not immediately find figures showing how much, if any, On The Run stores have raised their prices. Increases in costs for transporting gas largely are responsible for the price hikes, he said. Stations supplied by his firm have received "split loads," Clark said instead of a tanker truck delivering a full load to one station, it will divide its load among two or more to ensure that no station temporarily runs dry. As a result, more trips are being made to stations, he said, which increases mileage on trucks and, in turn, causes expenses to climb. A random check of some gas stations in the Martinsville area on Monday afternoon revealed prices ranging from $1.95 to $2.40 for a gallon of regular gasoline. Filling up some plastic gas jugs at the On The Run in Martinsville, Dean Reynolds of Axton said she thinks the increase in the cost to motorists is "just a price hike." "Its been down for so long," she said of prices, that she believes companies just wanted to find a way to raise them. Reynolds is not overly worried that a gas shortage will occur. She said she was filling the jugs just in case, but mainly to ensure that her lawnmowers have fuel. Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday signed an executive order that directs state agencies to take immediate action to address any verified reports of price gouging among gasoline retailers. The main purpose of the order, declaring a state of emergency in Virginia, is to try and ensure that gas supplies statewide are uninterrupted. It waives laws limiting how many hours that tanker drivers can drive weekly. On Monday, Colonial Pipeline announced that gasoline from the Gulf Coast would be shipping out Tuesday to Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South and North Carolina terminals. Colonial typically delivers an estimated 2.6 million gallons of gas each day, but with the pipeline leak, that's been delayed. Between 252,000 and 336,000 gallons of oil spilled due to the leak in Helena, Alabama. Pipeline officials said they expect things to be back to normal by the end of the week. Clark and Wallace said they understand that a temporary line bypassing the rupture is supposed to be installed by the end of the week. But that is uncertain, and gas retailers and suppliers are receiving limited information. "Theres been poor communication from the powers that be," Clark said. "The general public knows about as much (about the rupture) as me." Wallace said he has heard that once the rupture is fixed or a bypass can be installed, it could take 2-3 weeks for supplies to get back to normal. As demand dictates, "prices are going to rise (even more) in the short term," Clark predicted. Wells said she recommends that motorists "fill up your tanks as much as you can" now to avoid further price hikes and/or a local gas shortage. Mickey Powell reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at mickey.powell@martinsvillebulletin.com. MARTINSVILLE Kmart will close its discount department store on Greensboro Road before Christmas, the company confirmed Monday. The local store is among 64 Kmart stores in 28 states that will shut their doors, business news websites reported. Company officials could not be reached by phone on Monday. However, Howard Riefs, corporate communications director for Sears Holdings, Kmarts parent firm, said in an email that the local store will close in mid-December. A liquidation sale will begin Thursday, he said. Riefs did not give a specific reason why the local store is closing, but he said Kmart has been "strategically and aggressively evaluating our store space and productivity" and, in doing so, is closing unprofitable stores. A news release issued by Sears Holdings on Aug. 25 stated that the company reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $395 million for the second quarter of 2016 as compared to net income attributed to shareholders of $208 million for the same period last year. Kmart comparable store sales declined by 3.3 percent in the second quarter of this year, the release stated. "We continue to face a challenging, competitive (retail) environment," company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edward S. Lampert said in the release. He said the company "will remain focused on our best stores." Kmart often hears from customers who are disappointed when a store closes, Riefs said. Yet customers also can shop at other Kmart stores, as well as online through the companys websites and mobile apps, he said. "As a result," he continued, "we hope to retain a portion of the sales previously associated with this store by maintaining our relationships with the members (customers) who shopped this location," he said. The nearest Kmart stores that will remain open are in Danville and Madison, N.C. Riefs declined to disclose the number of employees at the local store. He said, though, that most of the workers are part-time, hourly personnel. Some employees will be eligible for severance pay and to apply for open positions at other area Kmart stores, he continued. A supervisor at the local Kmart said that employees could not publicly comment on the closing. Kmart has been in Martinsville-Henry County for more than 40 years. Originally, the store was across the road from its current location, in a shopping center with a Winn-Dixie supermarket and a Revco drug store. That center no long exists. The current store is in a shopping center with a Food Lion supermarket and other businesses. The nearest other Kmart stores that also will close are in Mount Airy, N.C., and Burlington, N.C., according to business news websites. Mickey Powell reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at mickey.powell@martinsvillebulletin.com. MARTINSVILLE A man pleaded no contest Monday in Martinsville Circuit Court to five counts of distributing cocaine and one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine. Judge G. Carter Greer told Tason Lee Foreman Jr., 49, of 1303 Carver Court, Martinsville, that a no-contest plea has the same effect as a guilty plea, and after hearing the commonwealths summary of evidence, Greer found Foreman guilty of all six charges. Martinsville Commonwealths Attorney Clay Gravely alleged that that Foreman, also known as "Pug," sold a confidential informant a total of $400 worth of substances containing cocaine on Jan. 15, Jan. 20, Sept. 9 and Sept. 18, all in 2015; and that on Feb. 10, 2015, Foreman and another person together sold a confidential informant a total of $100 worth of substances containing cocaine. Judge Greer ordered a presentence report and scheduled sentencing for Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. PATRICK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT In Patrick County Circuit Court on Monday, Jason Ray Ziglar, 33, of Stuart, pleaded guilty to three counts of sell a schedule 1 or 2 controlled substance (lisdexamfetamine, or brand name Vyvanse), one count of sell schedule 3 controlled substance (hydrocodone/acetaminophen) and one count of conspiracy to sell a schedule 3 controlled substance (hydrocdodone/acetaminophen). He also pleaded guilty to felonious hit and run, involving personal injury; and drive while suspended. According to the commonweaths evidence, Ziglar allegedly sold a total of a few hundred dollars worth of drugs in April and May 2014. The hit and run and drive while suspended charges against Ziglar stemmed from a traffic crash Feb. 19, 2016, on Elamsville Road, according to court records. Ziglar allegedly was driving a 1986 Ford Ranger pickup truck that rear-ended a 2012 Chevrolet Impala and fled the scene. Three people in the Impala Freddie and Denese Kendrick and their daughter of Woolwine were injured, according to the commonwealths evidence. Judge Martin F. Clark Jr. ordered a presentence report and scheduled sentencing for Dec. 14 at 9 a.m. Also in Patrick County Circuit Court on Monday, Judge Clark sentenced Eric Lewis Griffith on three charges he previously was convicted of: grand larceny of firearm, grand larceny of a vehicle and statutory burglary (breaking and entering). Clark sentenced Griffith, 21, of 211 Triple Smith Road, Ararat, to 5 years of active time, plus supervised probation and good behavior, and ordered him to pay $7,534.19 in restitution. Griffith allegedly broke into the home of Clark Boyd of Ararat, stole a gun collection and stole Boyds truck in November 2014. Also Monday, Judge Clark, prosecutors and the lawyer for defendant Tracy Willy Willard, who is charged with aggravated sexual battery, discussed a defense psychologists determination that Willard is unrestorably incompetent to stand trial. Willards lawyer argued that despite a finding previously by a mental facility that Willard had been restored to competency to stand trial, she doesnt believe he ever really was restored. Prosecutors argued that Willard should be committed now to an in patient mental facility in an effort to restore him to competency. Judge Clark ruled that Willard will be committed to an in patient facility in an effort to restore him to competency; and if that facility does restore him to competency, the defense psychologist will have an opportunity to evaluate him, which the defense lawyer requested. Willard, 53, of 721 Goblintown Creek Road, Stuart, allegedly inappropriately touched an 8-year-old on June 28, 2015, according to a criminal complaint. Also in Patrick County Circuit Court on Monday, a plea hearing was scheduled for Justin Whitt-Lowe Gilbert of Galax, who is charged with two counts of sell a schedule 1 or 2 controlled substance (DMT, a hallucinogen) and one count of conspiracy to sell a controlled substance in July 2015 at FloydFest. Judge Clark set the hearing for Nov. 30 at 9:15 a.m. Gilberts co-defendant, Lisa Dean Crockett (surname now Gilbert), of Galax, who was his girlfriend in July 2015 and now is his wife, pleaded guilty to sell DMT and conspiracy to sell DMT. Lawyers indicated she played a lesser role in the offenses than Justin Gilbert. Judge Clark took the cases against Lisa Gilbert under advisement for one year, and if she fulfills certain conditions, the charges could be reduced or dismissed. Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin and can be reached at paul.collins@martinsvillebulletin.com. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.20 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Over $68.2 billion has been invested in Azerbaijans oil and gas sector from 1995 till 2016 as part of the production sharing agreements, said Rovnag Abdullayev, president of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR. Currently, SOCAR successfully represents Azerbaijan in 17 production sharing agreements signed with 23 companies from 15 countries, said Abdullayev in his article published in local state newspapers. At the same time, the activities of 36 joint enterprises, six alliances and subsidiaries created with participation of SOCAR cover all spheres of the oil and gas industry abroad, he added. The worlds industry giants, in particular, such companies as BP, Total, Petronas, TPAO, Chevron, Statoil, LUKOIL and others are among our foreign partners with which we cooperate within the joint projects, said SOCARs president. Much can be said about Azerbaijans success achieved together with foreign partners, added Abdullayev. Exploration and drilling work has been carried out offshore and onshore, at more than 30 areas, he said. Most importantly, the national oil and gas specialists got great experience and SOCAR turned into a company meeting modern requirements. It has turned into an operative, modern company able to compete on international markets. Technological advantages which we have gained together with foreign partners play an important role in the projects implemented by us, said Abdullayev. TODAY'S WORD is coriaceous. Example: His favorite thing about fall was walking through the coriaceous leaves and hearing them crunch. YESTERDAY'S WORD was fipple. It means the mouthpiece of a recorder. Example: He connected the fipple to the rest of the recorder before starting the performance. Ruritan Club meets The Ridgeway Ruritan Club will get together tonight at 6:30 p.m., over at the Ruritan building on Magnolia Street. The directors will meet before that, at 6 p.m. All members are asked to come, as it will be an important meeting. Artisan and Crafts Fair coming The Strollers not exactly what you would call craft oriented. His niece still remembers a failed attempt last year to build a gingerbread house at Christmas. He would much rather admire the skill of others. If youre like that or just looking for some crafts, the annual Grove Artisan and Crafts Fair is going on this Saturday at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church, 1000 Snow Creek Road in Martinsville. Itll run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with local artists, crafters, a silent auction, an art raffle and some different vendors. There will be music, a food court, a bake sale and activities for kids. The money goes to a good cause, as itll help support church building projects. Country Breakfast at Ruritan The Rangeley Ruritan Club will host a country breakfast this Saturday, from 6 to 9:30 a.m. The menus got bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, apples, fruit, hashbrowns and jelly, with your choice of juice or coffee. The club will also have some fried apple pies for sale. Sons of the American Revolution gather The Colonel George Waller Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution will hold its fall muster on Saturday at 9am at the Dutch Inn in Collinsville. Members and visitors are welcome. Family reunion The descendants of Samuel Adie Nichols and Maude Hopkins Nichols will get together Sunday for their family reunion at Fisher Farm Park. People are asked to bring a covered dish for the 1 pm meal, with drinks and paper products provided. Family Day coming Reach Out Apostolic Tabernacle, 225 Brenda Drive in Axton, will have their annual Friends and Family Day this coming Sunday, during the 11 am service. Martinsville hosts congressional candidate The Martinsville-Henry Democratic Committee is hosting Derek Kitts, the Democratic candidate for the 9th Congressional District, at a Raise the Roof Party this coming Sunday. It starts at 5 pm, at the home of Naomi Hodge-Muse, 300 Stonewall Jackson Trail in Martinsville. TRIVIA QUESTION: Cities come in all sizes. Some are smaller, with less than 10,000 people. Others have a population stretching into the millions. What is the largest city in the United States? The answer will be in tomorrows Stroller. TRIVIA ANSWER: How many pints of blood does the human body hold? The answer depends on the person. There are eight pints of blood in the average person. For someone larger, that can climb up to 10 or 12. For someone smaller, that can shrink all the way down to 5 or 6. Overall, the adult heart pumps out an estimated 5 quarts of blood each minute. That means about 2,000 gallons of blood flows through the body on a given day. 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(Republican File ) SPRINGFIELD -- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority might increase capacity on its busy Red Line by replacing 86 subway cars instead of refurbishing them -- a move that could bring more business to Springfield and the massive CRRC rail car factory now under construction on Page Boulevard. The MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board heard a proposal Monday from engineers to buy new Red Line cars in addition to the 132 the agency has already ordered from Chinese-owned CRRC USA Rail Corp. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said no decisions have been made on the potential expansion of the order. There is no time frame yet for when -- or even if -- the MBTA will order 86 more Red Line cars. If the proposal does move forward, the order would complete the replacement of every Red Line car in the MBTA's fleet. Following news of the briefing, CRRC spokeswoman Lydia Rivera said the company -- a subsidiary of the world's largest manufacturer of railroad cars and locomotives -- is focused on the contract it already has in hand: a $566 million deal to manufacture a total of 284 subway cars for the MBTA, Greater Boston's mass transit system. "Certainly we would be interested in continuing our partnership with the T," Rivera said. Referring to the proposal to buy an additional 86 cars, she added: "This is new to everyone. We are concentrating now on car design for Red and Orange lines." Being able to use the same design for each order of Red Line cars would streamline the process, she said. Of the cars CRRC is already contracted to build, 152 will be for the Orange Line and 132 will be for the for the Red Line. The first delivery of the Orange Line cars is expected in March 2018, with Red Line cars to follow. Production on the order is expected to last five years. CRRC will assemble the cars at a new $95 million plant it is building at the former Westinghouse site in East Springfield. The state went without federal funding for the cars so it could mandate that they be built in Massachusetts. The idea was to foster a transit car industry here. Springfield was selected from a number of cities from around the state that submitted proposals to host the facility CRRC officials have said they want to use Springfield as a beachhead on the North American market for rail and subway cars. They have said the company plans to compete for more contracts, to keep the Springfield factory busy even after the 284 subway cars on order are completed in 2023. Increasing Red Line capacity Replacing the entire fleet of Red Line cars could lead to a 50 percent increase in passenger capacity without heavy infrastructure construction such as adding new rails or stations, according to the presentation shown to the MBTA board Monday. The capacity increase -- boosting the schedule from 13 to 20 trains per hour -- would be possible because the new cars brake better and have a shorter stopping distance than the cars they will replace. The shorter stopping distance means cars could run closer together while maintaining a safe following distance, travel faster between stops and spend less time stopped at each station. The 132 cars the MBTA has already ordered from CRRC will replace cars built between 1969 and 1989. The possible order of an additional 86 cars would replace ones built between 1993 and 1994. Springfield was once a center for the manufacture of railroad and trolley equipment. Wason Manufacturing Co., which was one of the largest makers of railroad cars and locomotives in the country, operated here from 1845 to the Great Depression. Red Line Capacity Constraints Sept 19 (3) by Jim Kinney on Scribd France World War Z Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pose for photographers at their arrival for the French premiere of "World War Z" on June 3, 2013. (AP file photo) Updated at 4:08 p.m.: Brad Pitt released a statement on the split: "I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the wellbeing of our kids. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time." ________ Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are calling it quits The actress, 41, filed for divorce from her husband of two years - and partner of 12 - on Monday, according to TMZ. (The filing was later confirmed by CNN.) The Oscar-winner cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split. But the website reports that Jolie filed for divorce because she was "extremely upset" with the way Pitt, 52, was raising their six children. Jolie has requested physical custody of the couple's children and is not asking for spousal support, according to TMZ. The date of separation is listed as Sept. 15, 2016. It was the third marriage for Jolie and the second for Pitt. The two met on the set of the 2005 movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," while Pitt was still married to "Friends" actress Jennifer Aniston. The relationship was tabloid fodder with Jolie portrayed as "the other woman," who broke up the Pitt-Aniston union. In addition to their onscreen stardom, Jolie and Pitt are well known for their social activism. Jolie is a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, while Pitt has worked to combat poverty. The couple established a $8.5 million charitable organization, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, in 2006. It has donated to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders and aided refugees worldwide. SPRINGFIELD -- With the cost of higher education ever rising, federal education officials have honored institutions working to educate students at a lower cost. The U.S. Department of Education published a list of 25 community colleges located across the country that provide significant opportunities to low income students. Of the 25 schools, three are located in Massachusetts. "It's important to know that both the college you select and the program you enroll in can have an impact on your post-college earnings - schools that offer more technical or health programs, or where a lot of students transfer to a four-year college, often have higher earnings," states U.S. Department of Education website. North Shore Community College in Danvers, Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester and Springfield Technical Community College made the list. The majority of Springfield's community college students - 56 percent - are considered low-income by federal standards. While the annual cost of attending nearby four-year institutions can approach $60,000, the average full-time STCC student pays $8,754 in tuition and fees. Three years after graduation, 73 percent of students have paid off their student loans. Quinsigamond Community College students typically graduate with even less debt. The average net price is $7,221 per student, which seven of every 10 students pays off in three years after graduating. The median QCC graduate exits college earning $32,700 per year. Further east, North Shore Community College graduates also can expect to obtain a job offering a higher annual salary than their student debt load. The average student pays $8,150 in tuitions and fees at the Danvers college and makes a little more than $30,000 after graduation. Like other Massachusetts community colleges honored, the majority of NSCC students pay off their student loans within three years of graduating. HUNTINGTON - Landline 911 service has been restored in Huntington and Chester after an outage that lasted for several hours on Monday. Massachusetts State Police blamed technical problems, but said the exact cause of the outage is unknown. Service was down from about 11 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. During that time, people in both towns were told to call 911 from a cell phone or use an alternate number that connected to a municipal office in Huntington. 21147482-mmmain.jpg After attempting to arrest a man with an active warrant, at least one Mashantucket Pequot Tribal police officer opened fire Tuesday. "As Mashantucket police officers attempted to take the suspect into custody in the Fox Tower parking garage, he pointed a firearm at them," the department said in a statement. "Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Police ordered the suspect to drop his weapon, however he did not comply." The Foxwoods patron was on the fourth floor of the Fox Tower garage when police say he brandished a weapon. After the officer fired his service weapon, the man fell to the ground. He was pronounced dead on scene. The man's identity is being withheld until next of kin is notified. While it was reported earlier that the tribal officer fatally shot the suspect, police now say it's not currently known if he was hit with a bullet. "The safety and well-being of our guests and employees remains Foxwoods' top priority, and there is no current threat to anyone on the premises," the casino said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. The casino did not close during or following the incident. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 Trend: The direct flights can be established between Indonesia and Azerbaijan just like the ones which are made between Indonesia and Turkey, Husnan Bey Fananie, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Indonesia to the Republic of Azerbaijan, said. Fananie made remarks at the meeting with a delegation of Caspian Energy headed by Natalya Aliyeva, president and editor-in-chief of the Caspian Energy International Media Group. In this way, we can attract many Indonesian tourists to Azerbaijan, the ambassador said. If we want to build our cooperation in the economy, we have to establish good transportation links Baku-Jakarta and Jakarta-Baku and cooperation between AZAL and Indonesian Airlines. The ambassador has also noted a very key opportunity in terms of increasing people to people visit. Every day we have people traveling to Umrah (Hajj), he said. We can send them back to Indonesia through Azerbaijan as an alternative to several well established transit points. It will not only help to develop further cooperation in the field of tourism but also develop a certain awareness and understanding between Indonesia and Azerbaijan, he said. The discussions during the meeting focused on the possibilities to expand contacts on the informational level within the Caspian European Club (Caspian Business Club) and Caspian Energy International Media Group, as well as the issues of participation of Indonesian companies in the Caspian Energy Forum on December 7, 2016. Fananie mentioned that his mission in Azerbaijan started in May 2016, when the economic situation in Azerbaijan deteriorated amid the crisis on the global oil markets. But for me and for our country Azerbaijan is obviously a strategically important country, not only within its region, but also across Central and Eastern Europe, the ambassador said. Along with high level visits, playing a key factor in strengthening bilateral relations, the ambassador also underlined the importance of business to business contact. It is very important to strengthen our relations, trade, and to encourage the visit of Azerbaijani investors to Indonesia, and Indonesian investors to your country to further discuss investment-related matters, he said. This will make it possible to establish mutual business cooperation between Indonesian investors and Azerbaijan companies. Describing the bilateral economic cooperation between the countries, the ambassador said that Indonesia is a huge country with the population of 155 million people and consisting of 17,500 islands. Fananie stressed that such a large population requires a large amount of energy and electricity. Indonesia has oil like Azerbaijan does, he added. We do produce 800,000 barrels per day, but we need 1,600,000 barrels per day. Indonesia has to import about half of the required volume. We buy oil from Azerbaijan while also acquiring it from Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iran, he said. To that end, every year we spend as much as $2.4 billion. From Azerbaijan we import from 400,000 up to 600,000 barrels. That is why, in recent years Indonesia has been the third largest trade partner of Azerbaijan, after Italy and Germany, he said. In addition, we also buy black oil from Azerbaijan. He emphasized that due to those certain facts, Azerbaijan will continue to be an important business partner, as well as an important partner in the field of energy security for Indonesia. At the end of the meeting the ambassador gave an exclusive interview to Caspian Energy. In the course of the interview the ambassador touched the possibilities of development of bilateral relations, expansion of the economic and investment cooperation, spoke about expansion of business and transport ties. The ambassador also touched the issues of development of the tourism sector and energy cooperation. EAST LONGMEADOW -- Members of a search committee to select a new police chief violated the state's Open Meeting Law earlier this year through a procedural "misstep" at one meeting and by voting on finalists for the post via a secret ballot at another, according to a ruling by the state Attorney General's office. In the Sept. 8 decision, Assistant District Attorney Hanne Rush ordered the town to release minutes from the executive session held during a search committee meeting on March 9, to revise minutes currently on file from a Feb. 26 executive session and to release the results of the secret ballot vote. "We find that the Committee violated the Open Meeting Law by failing to comply with the procedural requirements for convening an executive session during its March 9 meeting and by taking votes by secret ballot during its February 26 executive session," the decision reads. "We order immediate and future compliance with the Open Meeting Law." The review followed a complaint filed June 9 with the attorney general's office by Attorney Austin Joyce, who represents former East Longmeadow Police Chief Douglas Mellis. The five-member panel was appointed in February, after the then-Board of Selectmen voted 2-1 to put Mellis' contract out to bid. Current Police Chief Jeffrey Dalessio was hired in a controversial push to replace Mellis in March. The committee was charged with recommending three finalist candidates to the Board of Selectmen. At the beginning of the March 9 meeting, members of the search committee entered executive session in order to approve minutes from previous meetings -- but took no voice vote to do so, the decision says. The procedural "misstep" members committed, according to the decision, was that the motion to enter executive session should have listed specific meeting dates for which minutes would be approved. When the group returned to open session, members explained to the audience that during a Feb. 26 executive session, the committee took a vote to recommend three candidates to the Board of Selectmen. "The Committee's voting process was conducted by secret ballot wherein members submitted individual written ballots to the Town Administrator indicating their top three choices," the decision reads. "The Committee members did not disclose their choices to each other or otherwise announce their votes during the meeting." The Open Meeting Law bans votes by secret ballot, and requires that votes taken in executive session be recorded by roll call and included in meeting minutes. The state ordered East Longmeadow officials to release the votes taken during the secret ballot, and to release minutes from the Feb. 26 executive session. BERNARDSTON -- Police warn of a white Nissan sedan with Florida plates that may be involved with suspicious activity in the area. Police, posting on the department's Facebook page, wrote that a white male and female associated with that vehicle have been seen in town over the last few weeks. "If you see a similar vehicle in your neighborhood and it appears suspicious, please call your local police department to report," states the post. The male has been arrested twice, most recently Monday night after he allegedly stole from a local business. Witness statements and surveillance footage led to the suspect's arrest at the Greenfield bus station. Police have not yet released the suspect's name. Bernardston police warn of vehicle that may be involved in suspicious activity in area Foxwoods Resort Casino Mashantucket Ct UPDATE: While it was reported earlier that the tribal officer fatally shot the suspect, police now say it's not currently known if he was hit with a bullet. Armed man falls four floors from Foxwood garage after police opened fire LEDYARD, Conn. -- A member of the Mashantucket Tribal Police shot and killed an armed patron in the parking garage outside Foxwoods Resort Casino, The Day reports. Foxwoods officer-involved shooting, suspect deceased, no other injuries. Avoid Fox Tower garage as CSP detectives continue investigating. CT State Police (@CT_STATE_POLICE) September 20, 2016 The casino's security force, the tribal police, and Connecticut State Troopers responded to the incident, which occurred around noon on Tuesday. A casino representative told The Day the situation is now "contained" and patrons and employees are safe. Connecticut State Police initially called the event an "active" "officer-involved shooting" in a message to 22News' sister station, News 8. According to The Day, tribal police confronted the armed patron on the fourth floor of the Fox Tower parking garage. The suspect produced a weapon, shots were exchanged and soon the suspect lay dead. Nobody else suffered injuries, according to The Day. New London County State's Attorney's Office plans to investigate the shooting, The Day reports. Ambulance leaves Foxwoods area pic.twitter.com/fAuTZirK11 tina detelj (@tinadetelj) September 20, 2016 chamberlogo1.jpg (IMAGE FROM FACEBOOK PAGE) HOLYOKE -- The economic development business breakfast of the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed to Feb. 8, an official said Monday. A number of other events being held this week resulted in conflicts and low registration for the breakfast, chamber Business Manager Wanda Zabawa said in an email. The meeting at at Wyckoff Country Club at 233 Easthampton Road was to feature remarks from local officials and items such as welcoming of Bennett W. Walsh as superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, a state facility on Cherry Street, a press release said. Walsh began in May. Also to be recognized were new restaurants on Whiting Farms Road, Applebee's and McDonald's, and Michael R. Knapik, former state senator, in his new job as director of Gov. Charlie Baker's Western Massachusetts office in Springfield, the press release said. As the death count from Massachusetts' opioid addiction has risen, both Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni and outgoing Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe have repeatedly said the crisis cannot be solved by prosecutions alone. Both support drug courts and diversion programs for addicts. Gulluni has issued public warnings when particularly strong batches of heroin are on Hampden County streets, in an effort to avoid waves of overdoses. Ashe has pushed forward with plans to relocate the Western Massachusetts Correctional Addiction Center to Mill Street in Springfield, despite legal challenges and objections from neighbors. On Tuesday, Gulluni and Ashe unveiled another element of their anti-addiction toolbox: a medicine return system to help residents safely dispose of unused prescription drugs. Eighty percent of opioid addicts start by using prescription painkillers, Gulluni said. By placing secure drop-boxes in police stations around Hampden County, which can be used anonymously, authorities hope to reduce off-label use of those medications. "The scourge of addiction knows no boundaries," Gulluni said. "This is what we can do to make sure that medicine cabinets and kitchen cupboards don't become the breeding grounds for addiction in our houses." Ashe thanked Gulluni for launching the initiative, and said he was proud to have the sheriff's department participate." "When you look at our inmates, I always say 90 percent of them are there for substance abuse issues," Ashe said. Chicopee Police Chief William Jebb said his department has hosted a med return box since June, and the results have been promising. It fills up at about once per week and like all the boxes is subject to 24/7 monitoring, he said. Eight med return boxes are currently active, and another six are scheduled to open soon. Anyone can dispose of medications in the boxes, which are then secured by the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and burned in the Covanta incinerator in West Springfield. Disposal of liquids and syringes are not allowed. Med return boxes are currently open in the following locations: the Agawam Police Department, Chicopee Police Department, Hampden Police Department, Longmeadow Police Department, Ludlow Police Department, Monson Police Department, Southwick Police Department and Westfield Police Department. Boxes will also be deployed at police stations in the East Longmeadow, Palmer, West Springfield and Wlbraham, as well as the Hampden County House of Correction and the WMass Regional Women's Correctional Center. Absent, however, are the police departments of Springfield and Holyoke, which are two local centers of the illicit drug trade. Gulluni said he could not comment on why those departments are not participating in the medicine return program. The Springfield and Holyoke Police Departments did not immediately return a request for comment. Thirteen Walgreens stores are operating similar medicine disposal programs in Massachusetts under a state program, including one in Springfield. There were 488 confirmed opioid overdose deaths in the first six months of 2016, with another 431-509 estimated deaths, according to statistics from the state's Department of Public Health. Those figures place 2016 on track to eclipse 2015's record-high overdose death toll of 1,531 -- evidence that the crisis has not begun to ebb, even as law enforcement, lawmakers and health officials have changed policies and dedicated resources to fighting addiction. foxwoods.JPG LEDYARD, Conn. -- The suspect of a shooting at Foxwoods Casino on Tuesday had an outstanding arrest warrant, Connecticut State Police told the Hartford Courant. It was not immediately clear if police were trying to serve the arrest warrant at the time the shooting occurred late Tuesday morning, the Courant reported. It was not immediately clear what the arrest warrant was for. While it was reported earlier that the tribal officer fatally shot the suspect, police now say it's not currently known if he was hit with a bullet. No one else was injured and the investigation is ongoing. Foxwoods officer-involved shooting, suspect deceased, no other injuries. Avoid Fox Tower garage as CSP detectives continue investigating. CT State Police (@CT_STATE_POLICE) September 20, 2016 The suspect has not yet been identified, but was a patron at the casino and allegedly displayed a weapon before police fired. New London State's Attorney Michael L. Regan said his office is investigating the incident. Under a new law, the investigation of use of force would have to be transferred to a state's attorney's office outside of the jurisdiction, Regan told the New London Day. Connecticut and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe completed an agreement in 2014 giving the tribal police department powers that match any municipal police department in the state, The Day reported. static2.politico.jpg Shown here is former President George H.W. Bush. (Associated Press) Former Republican President George H.W. Bush will cast his ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in November, according to Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, a daughter of Robert Kennedy. On Monday, the Maryland Democrat posted on Facebook a photograph of the two shaking hands, captioned, "The President told me he's voting for Hillary!!" Bush's spokesman, Jim McGrath, did not confirm nor deny the claim. "Those reporting how George H.W. Bush will vote this year: It's not clear anyone was there to verify [Townsend]," McGrath said on Twitter. "Still checking, keep your powder dry." In an email to The New York Times, McGrath added, "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim." Earlier this year, in May, McGrath said Bush, 92, would not endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Neither would former President George W. Bush, Bush's oldest son, McGrath added. At the time, McGrath described Bush as old and officially "retired from politics." A cadre of prominent Republicans have also refused to endorse Trump. Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary under George W. Bush, wrote a strident Washington Post editorial in June, which said he would vote for Clinton. "Trump is a phony and should not be president," Paulson wrote in a Washington Post editorial. "We are witnessing a populist hijacking of one of the United States' great political parties. The GOP, in putting Trump at the top of the ticket, is endorsing a brand of populism rooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism. This troubles me deeply as a Republican, but it troubles me even more as an American. Enough is enough. It's time to put country before party and say it together: Never Trump." Holyoke High (Republican file photo) HOLYOKE -- City police were called to Holyoke High School after a taser was found on school property. Students and staff temporarily exited the building Friday morning for a practice drill. While outside, a teacher reported hearing snapping sound consistent with a taser being fired. "An investigation found that a student had a taser in his backpack," Holyoke Police Lt. Jim Albert said, after reviewing the police report. The student, a 16-year-old, was not identified due to his age. He was arrested on the charge of carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds, a felony charge. Massachusetts General Law prohibits all, except law enforcement officers, to carry a weapon on the grounds of any elementary or secondary schools, as well as colleges and universities. Judy Taylor, director of communications for Holyoke Public Schools, declined to comment on the incident, citing student privacy laws. SPRINGFIELD -- Commutes along Interstate 291 have been made more complicated by multiple crashes Tuesday afternoon. Massachusetts State Police were called to I-291 eastbound just before the Massachusetts Turnpike junction after 4 p.m. Tuesday. The multi-vehicle crash resulted in one occupant being taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, though the extent of injuries was not immediately available. A lane was closed and reopened within the hour when another crash occurred in the eastbound lanes. Massachusetts State Police in the Springfield barracks were called to the second crash minutes before 5 p.m. NORTHAMPTON -- Representatives of Catholic Charities and the city of Northampton spoke during an hourlong presentation on plans to resettle 51 refugees to the city next year. They were met with an hour of questions during a public forum at JFK Middle School in Florence Monday evening. The speakers, including Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, asked for support -- for volunteers to help refugees learn languages, outfit their new homes, find work and integrate with their neighbors. The audience of about 200 people mostly gave it to them, asking how they could help, though some raised concerns about the resettlement process. "I'm so incredibly proud to be mayor of a city is stepping forward when others aren't stepping forward," Narkewicz said. "We're stepping forward to say we're a welcoming community, we're a community of immigrants." Catholic Charities of Springfield, the agency contracted with the State Department to facilitate the resettlement, hosted the session along with a "welcome home" steering group of local leaders. Susannah Crolius, the Catholic Charities coordinator of outreach and resource development, said the conversations are part of an effort to build a long-term support and integration network for the refugees. The State Department typically provides funding for 90 days of services after refugees relocate to the United States, Crolius said earlier this month. Catholic Charities is looking beyond that time frame, and is working with local aid organizations and residents to help the incoming refugees, who are expected to arrive next year, adjust to the culture of their new home. At Monday's meeting, Crolius said that only a small fraction of refugees receive the support they need. Of 21 million refugees recognized by the U.N.Refugee Agency, half are children, and the vast majority have not been permanently resettled. The United States plans to accept 110,000 refugees next year. One young man criticized the plan, describing Muslim immigrants as a terrorism and crime risk and citing the March bombings in Brussels, Belgium that killed 32 civilians. "Putting Muslim refugees in the city is foolish," said the man, who would not give his name. Marcus Simon, a Muslim Northampton resident, responded by inviting the man to have a conversation. "We're already a part of the community," Simon said. "There are hundreds if not thousands of families who are practicing Muslims in the Springfield area." One questioner, a public school teacher, asked about financial support for Northampton's schools; Catholic Charities of Springfield Executive Director Kathryn Buckley-Brawner said the group would be seeking education grants. Another suggested housing refugees in the disused St. Mary's of the Assumption Church rectory; Buckley-Brawner said it had been considered, but that asbestos and lead contamination made the rectory unsuitable for family apartments. A Northampton woman said she was concerned that the focus on refugees would overshadow the needs of homeless and poor people already living in Northampton. Narkewicz said that both issues are important, and that the resettlement would not divert resources. "It's not an either or situation," Narkewicz said. "We're not walking away from our commitments to any of those important issues." Other residents praised the plan, or asked how they could help. Catholic Charities was asking for volunteers to help employ, education, transport or temporarily house refugees; by the meeting's end over 130 people had written their names on signup sheet. "They were doctors, they were dentists, they were teachers, they were farmers," Buckley-Brawner said. "Are you willing to employ or apprentice a refugee adult?" In December, the Northampton City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the city to serve as a sanctuary for refugees from the Syrian civil war, which has killed at least 470,000 people, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research. The nationalities of Northampton's 51 refugees has not yet been decided, and will be assigned by the State Department. Catholic Charities has applied for refugees from Syria, Iraq, Burundi and the Congo, and the background or religion of the families is not yet known, TK said. In July, Narkewicz said the city was studying affordable housing, transportation and education for the refugees, as well as and potential impacts on Northampton's school system. Catholic Charities is adopting a small-scale, carefully planned approach, Crolius said; 51 is the minimum number of refugees a host community can accept. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 Trend: PR and communication before crisis training supported by Excelsior Hotel & Spa Baku and organized by APRA will be held for PR specialists in Baku on September 30. The graduate of the US University of Maryland, head of PreMark PR and media consulting company Azer Nazarov will conduct the training. The following themes will be touched during the training: The correct communication during the crisis; The required leadership skills for insurance against crisis; Tactics for changing the negative opinion to positive; Restoration of the reputation. For taking part in the training PR specialists can apply to [email protected]. The participation is free of charge. Places are limited. Registration is till Sept. 27, 2016. Meghan Hukowicz Zoll.jpg Meghan Hukowicz Zoll (Submitted photo) NORTHAMPTON - The second Meghan's Light 5K Road Race and Family Fun Walk to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research and for an Elms College scholarship fund is scheduled for Oct. 1. The run is to be held at Look Park. It will begin with check in for pre-registered participants and race day registration from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. The run and walk will begin at 11 a.m. The registration fee is $30 for the run, $20 for the walk and children under 12 can participate in the walk at no cost if accompanied by an adult. There is also a $75 family package, which is limited to six family members. The fee includes an event t-shirt, parking fee, and a grinder lunch. People can register for the race at www.meghanslight.com. The race is being held in honor of Hadley native Meghan Hukowicz Zoll, who died one day after her 39th birthday after a long fight with Cystic Fibrosis. An Elms College graduate, she was the daughter of Elizabeth Teahan Hukowicz and Ed Hukowicz, the wife of Frank Zoll and mother of a son, Brady. Funds raised will be donated to Boston Children's Hospital's Cystic Fibrosis Discovery Fund in support of Dr. Craig Gerard's Pulmonary and Respiratory Disease research and the Steven J. Vertuccio Memorial Fund which supports patient care, staff education, new technologies and treatments, and other initiatives as needed in the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic. The event will also raise funds for an endowed scholarship for need-based students at Elms College, Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.20 Trend: Armenia must realize that relying on the status quo and armed provocations is a grave miscalculation, said Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in New York. He made the remarks during the first meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. I would like to thank the Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, for having organized and chairing the first meeting of the OIC Contact Group on the aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan, said Mammadyarov. I warmly welcome the members of the group and express my sincere gratitude to each of them for joining the contact group. Establishment of the OIC contact groups has proved itself to be a successful practice in focusing more attention of the OIC member states to the issues of crucial importance for the organization, according to the foreign minister. In this regard, I believe that the meetings of this contact group will be an opportunity for updating the OIC member states about the latest status of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and exchanging views on possible contribution of the OIC to the conflict settlement process, said Mammadyarov. As you all know, the Republic of Armenia unleashed the war and used force against Azerbaijan, occupied almost one fifth of its territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, carried out ethnic cleansing of the seized areas by expelling about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes and committed other serious crimes during the conflict, he added. The foreign minister noted that the international community has consistently deplored the use of military force against Azerbaijan and the resulting occupation of its territories. He recalled that in 1993, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), condemning the use of force against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories and reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders. In those resolutions, the Security Council reaffirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is part of Azerbaijan and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, added the foreign minister. The UN General Assembly adopted three resolutions on the conflict (48/114 of 20 December 1993, 60/285 of 7 September 2006 and 62/243 of 14 March 2008), and since 2004 the special item entitled The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan has been included in the agenda of the regular sessions of the UN General Assembly, said Mammadyarov. Since the eruption of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, OIC, on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, has explicitly determined the actions of Armenia on the territory of Azerbaijan as aggression and condemned in the strongest possible terms the use of force against Azerbaijan and the occupation of its territories, he said. Taking this opportunity, I would like once again to express my gratitude to the OIC member states for their solidarity with and support for the just cause of Azerbaijan, added Mammadyarov. Twenty-four years have past since the beginning of the armed conflict. However, in total disregard of the demands of UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions, decisions of OIC and other international organizations and positions of individual states, and in flagrant violation of the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, Armenia continues to unlawfully occupy the territories of Azerbaijan, said the foreign minister. Armenia continues to undertake efforts aimed at further consolidating the current status quo of the occupation, strengthening its military build-up in the seized territories, changing their demographic, cultural and physical character and preventing the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani forcibly displaced persons from returning to their homes and properties in those areas, he added. Moreover, regular ceasefire violations, attacks on the towns and villages in Azerbaijan situated along the line of contact of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the border between the two states have become more frequent and violent in recent times, resulting in the killing and injuring of many Azerbaijani civilians, he said. Most recently, Armenia conducted large-scale attacks against the civilian population of Azerbaijan in early April of this year. The April escalation was a vivid reminder to us all that the status quo, which has been acknowledged as unsustainable and unacceptable by the international community, is dangerous and has the potential to re-escalate at any time with unpredictable consequences, he noted. Armenia must realize that relying on the status quo and armed provocations is a grave miscalculation, said Mammadyarov. Azerbaijan expects from Armenia to halt its military build-up in occupied territories, and engage in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith so as to find a political solution to the conflict, which is long overdue, he said. The sooner Armenia withdraws its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the better it is for the regional security. The establishment of the OIC contact group and its effective functioning is of great importance, considering the urgent need for more concerted efforts to force Armenia to comply with its international obligations and the persistent calls of the OIC to its member states and the international community to use such effective political and economic measures in order to put an end to the Armenian aggression and occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, according to Mammadyarov. We believe that the deliberations within this contact group will contribute to the implementation of the relevant OIC resolutions and will help to harmonize the individual and joint efforts of the OIC member states to this end, he said. In conclusion, I would like to wish a successful start and fruitful deliberations to the OIC contact group on the aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan and extend once again our appreciation to the OIC Secretary General Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani and his highly dedicated team for their valuable support in the establishment and the realization of the goals and objectives of this contact group, added the foreign minister. The second debate between Gov. Steve Bullock and his Republican challenger Greg Gianforte highlighted contrasts in how the candidates view the current condition of Montana and their vision about the role of government in its future. At the Monday night debate in Petro Theater on the Montana State University Billings campus, Bullock and Gianforte sparred over leadership qualities and ethics as well as policy views ranging from natural resource development and taxation to civil rights and refugee resettlement. JAYME FRASER and HOLLY MICHELS Full Story: http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/candidates-for-governor-outline-goals-for-state-economy-spar-over/article_41c007a8-eded-5a21-bcba-c63b5950dacd.html By and large, humans are terrible drivers. The sobering reality of the 1.3 million dead each year in automobile accidents is proof of that. "It may shock you, but Americans spend more than $2 trillion every year on car ownership more money than we spend on food. Whats even more staggering is that for all the money we spend on them, the 250 million cars in America are only occupied 4% of the time. Thats the equivalent of 240 million of the 250 million cars being parked at all times. For the most part, your car isnt actually a driving machine at all. Its a parking machine." According to his manifesto, there are 700 million parking spaces in the US. If each space was joined together, it would create an asphalt landmass bigger than the state of Connecticut. by Matthew Hughes http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/09/18/lyft-president-john-zimmer-is-right-private-car-ownership-needs-to-die/#gref *** Lyfts John Zimmer shares his vision for autonomous transportation future http://www.matr.net/article-73379.html With the help of the Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation (MICDC), Big Sky Western Bank and the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, construction has begun on a remodeled Butte Copper King Hotel and Convention Center in the South Harrison Avenue corridor. Developers Matt and Ben Nistler and Rex Leipheimer purchased the property in December 2015 and plan to reopen the hotel in May 2017 with a sophisticated conference and event center, as well as a Rib & Chop House restaurant. The Copper King was a Butte mainstay for decades, providing a much-needed gathering spot for the community. Over the last 10 years, mismanagement and a series of ownership changes led to the propertys decline. Three years ago, the most recent owner filed bankruptcy and closed the hotel. The Nistlers and Leipheimer wanted to see the landmark brought back to life, but the cost to remodel the hotel made the project too expensive. To make the project work, the developers partnered with MICDC and Big Sky Western Bank to bring NMTCs to Butte for the third time. "We work with banks to turn the federal tax credits into cash and then use the money to invest in businesses that will have a profound effect on areas that need revitalization," said Dave Glaser, MICDCs President. "In the case of the Copper King, $9.925 million was allocated to the project through the NMTC Program." The remodeled Copper King will mean good jobs for Butte; the developers plan to hire 63 full-time and 35 part-time workers. But the hotels impact goes well beyond jobs. The Copper King is also expected to be a catalyst for more development nearby, and several adjacent projects are already in the works. The addition of a conference center will also allow Butte more opportunity to be a host city for large events. With its location near the Bert Mooney Airport, the hotel will also provide a welcoming first impression for visitors. In November, more tax credits may be available for Montana businesses. This year, the federal government authorized $7 billion for the NMTC Program. MICDC has secured $341 million for Montana and Idaho since 2008, and hopes to receive more this year. "The redevelopment of the Copper King Inn by Matt and Ben Nistler and Rex Leipheimer is great news and much appreciated," said Pamela Haxby-Cote, Executive Director of the Butte Local Development Corporation. "Their new multimillion-dollar facility will provide a unique combination of first-class dining, meeting and room accommodations. The project will support many new jobs and will generate new economic activity for Butte. The BLDC is pleased that MICDC was able to bring New Markets Tax Credits financing to the project, ultimately making it viable." U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines have been supportive of the NMTC Program for years and would like to see it used more in Montana. "This is a great project for Butte that capitalizes on the rich history of the Mining City and also moves the community forward by creating jobs and strengthening tourism," Tester said. "This is a prime example of how New Markets Tax Credits help revitalize and transform Montana." "The New Markets Tax Credit is a proven vehicle that spurs private development, creates good-paying jobs and increases economic opportunity," Daines said. "This tax credit will help facilitate the creation of almost 100 new jobs in Butte and will help to continue to spur new economic development." Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation (MICDC) provides consulting services and financing to entrepreneurs and small business owners across Montana and Idaho, as well as affordable housing solutions in Montana. MICDC was one of the first Community Development Finance Institutions in the country to be certified by the U.S. Treasury, and its powerful New Markets Tax Credit Program creates new partnerships with bankers, businesses and local development organizations throughout the region. Since its start in 1986, the nonprofit MICDC has grown to nearly $400 million in loans under management, with offices in Missoula, Bozeman and Boise. Learn more at http://mtcdc.org/. New Markets Tax Credit Program The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program was established by Congress in 2000 to encourage the investment of private capital to create jobs, generate economic activity and improve the quality of services in designated low-income communities and to low-income people. Learn more at https://www.cdfifund.gov/. Details added (first version posted on 09:10) Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.20 Trend: Armenia must realize that relying on the status quo and armed provocations is a grave miscalculation, said Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in New York. He made the remarks during the first meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. I would like to thank the Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani, for having organized and chairing the first meeting of the OIC Contact Group on the aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan, said Mammadyarov. I warmly welcome the members of the group and express my sincere gratitude to each of them for joining the contact group. Establishment of the OIC contact groups has proved itself to be a successful practice in focusing more attention of the OIC member states to the issues of crucial importance for the organization, according to the foreign minister. In this regard, I believe that the meetings of this contact group will be an opportunity for updating the OIC member states about the latest status of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and exchanging views on possible contribution of the OIC to the conflict settlement process, said Mammadyarov. As you all know, the Republic of Armenia unleashed the war and used force against Azerbaijan, occupied almost one fifth of its territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, carried out ethnic cleansing of the seized areas by expelling about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes and committed other serious crimes during the conflict, he added. The foreign minister noted that the international community has consistently deplored the use of military force against Azerbaijan and the resulting occupation of its territories. He recalled that in 1993, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), condemning the use of force against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories and reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders. In those resolutions, the Security Council reaffirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is part of Azerbaijan and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, added the foreign minister. The UN General Assembly adopted three resolutions on the conflict (48/114 of 20 December 1993, 60/285 of 7 September 2006 and 62/243 of 14 March 2008), and since 2004 the special item entitled The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan has been included in the agenda of the regular sessions of the UN General Assembly, said Mammadyarov. Since the eruption of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, OIC, on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, has explicitly determined the actions of Armenia on the territory of Azerbaijan as aggression and condemned in the strongest possible terms the use of force against Azerbaijan and the occupation of its territories, he said. Taking this opportunity, I would like once again to express my gratitude to the OIC member states for their solidarity with and support for the just cause of Azerbaijan, added Mammadyarov. Twenty-four years have past since the beginning of the armed conflict. However, in total disregard of the demands of UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions, decisions of OIC and other international organizations and positions of individual states, and in flagrant violation of the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, Armenia continues to unlawfully occupy the territories of Azerbaijan, said the foreign minister. Armenia continues to undertake efforts aimed at further consolidating the current status quo of the occupation, strengthening its military build-up in the seized territories, changing their demographic, cultural and physical character and preventing the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani forcibly displaced persons from returning to their homes and properties in those areas, he added. Moreover, regular ceasefire violations, attacks on the towns and villages in Azerbaijan situated along the line of contact of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the border between the two states have become more frequent and violent in recent times, resulting in the killing and injuring of many Azerbaijani civilians, he said. Most recently, Armenia conducted large-scale attacks against the civilian population of Azerbaijan in early April of this year. The April escalation was a vivid reminder to us all that the status quo, which has been acknowledged as unsustainable and unacceptable by the international community, is dangerous and has the potential to re-escalate at any time with unpredictable consequences, he noted. Armenia must realize that relying on the status quo and armed provocations is a grave miscalculation, said Mammadyarov. Azerbaijan expects from Armenia to halt its military build-up in occupied territories, and engage in negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith so as to find a political solution to the conflict, which is long overdue, he said. The sooner Armenia withdraws its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the better it is for the regional security. The establishment of the OIC contact group and its effective functioning is of great importance, considering the urgent need for more concerted efforts to force Armenia to comply with its international obligations and the persistent calls of the OIC to its member states and the international community to use such effective political and economic measures in order to put an end to the Armenian aggression and occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, according to Mammadyarov. We believe that the deliberations within this contact group will contribute to the implementation of the relevant OIC resolutions and will help to harmonize the individual and joint efforts of the OIC member states to this end, he said. In conclusion, I would like to wish a successful start and fruitful deliberations to the OIC contact group on the aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan and extend once again our appreciation to the OIC Secretary General Mr. Iyad Ameen Madani and his highly dedicated team for their valuable support in the establishment and the realization of the goals and objectives of this contact group, added the foreign minister. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by State Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus Stanislav Zas. The head of state recalled with pleasure his recent meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Bishkek. Noting that Azerbaijan and Belarus enjoy very close and friendly relations, President Ilham Aliyev said the two countries cooperate on all fronts, trust, respect and support each other. President Ilham Aliyev noted that relations between the two countries leaders gave impetus to the expansion of cooperation among all bodies in Azerbaijan and Belarus, including those dealing with economic, foreign policy and security issues. The head of state stressed the importance of correctly assessing dangers and joining forces against these threats in todays complex world. President Ilham Aliyev underlined the significance of the visit of State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council Stanislav Zas to Azerbaijan in terms of developing the bilateral ties and cooperation. The head of state said the visit will create good opportunities for discussing and addressing the issues on the agenda of the bilateral relations. State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council Stanislav Zas recalled with pleasure that he studied at a military school in Baku from 1980 to 1985. Noting that he eye-witnessed huge development in Baku, Stanislav Zas said he is very happy with the dynamic development of Azerbaijan, especially its capital. He hailed President Ilham Aliyevs special services in all achievements of the Azerbaijani people, adding he is deeply impressed by these outstanding accomplishments. They praised mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, military-technical and other areas. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 Trend: Azerbaijan supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev said Sept. 20. He made the remarks answering to Trends question regarding a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry statement in connection with holding of elections to Russias State Duma (lower house of Russian Federal Assembly) in cities of Crimea and Sevastopol, and Ukraines appeal to other countries. This position of Azerbaijan was also expressed when the UN General Assembly resolution on Ukraines territorial integrity was adopted, Hajiyev said. The elections to the State Duma of Russia were held September 18. Student leaders at McDowell High School are assisting ninth grade newcomers with transitioning from middle to high school thanks to a new program funded by a federal grant. McDowell High School was one of 25 schools in North Carolina to participate in a mentoring program called Peer Group Connections (PGC). Junior and senior students were handpicked to become peer leaders to freshmen students to help create a fun, creative learning environment. We have 11th- and 12th-graders who are trained on how to do activities to bring chosen ninth graders together for communication skills, building relationships with other people, or just how to navigate life in ninth grade into a high school of 2,000 students, said PGC facilitator Jennifer Brooks. It gives them a mentor. It gives them a support system with other students to help them find their way into our school. Recently, the peer leaders held an activity day at Grace Community Church. The upperclassmen lead the freshmen through several different group activities that included making a human bridge, a human knot, getting to know each other, expectation sharing and reflection. Building trust and relationships is important to me. I want everyone at MHS to feel like they fit in. I want to help these students meet new friends and learn about themselves, said peer leader Arjune Patel. According to their website, the PGC shows evidence of ninth graders who participate in the program earn higher grades, are less likely to have discipline issues and are more likely to graduate. We didnt realize that giving up a couple days during the summer would turn into this. Were excited to be there for these kids, said student Connor Good. Before the program started in school this year, the peer leaders attended a three day retreat to learn more about their role in PGC. What I learned at the retreat is that you have to give people a chance. Were doing this for you, as teachers, were going to build strong students for all of our teachers, said student Emory Sprouse. From here the leaders and freshmen will meet once a week to partake in outreach sessions to help them practice essential academic, social and emotional skills. Weve learned a lot about how to listen to people. Like really listen. I learned how to listen without feeling the need to give advice, said peer leader Alyson Blackwelder. These freshmen should set goals for themselves and Im excited to help them do this. Were going to change lives. Titan Academy Administrator Jennifer Croymans said she is proud of the leaders and students for their participation and efforts. I've watched these young men and women grow into amazing leaders. To say that I'm proud of them would be an understatement. I'm blessed to work in a school filled with students who are willing to dedicate their time and efforts to supporting and modeling positive behaviors. It's more than school spirit, it's Titan Pride. Peer Leaders: Abby Elizabeth Calhoun Alexis Julian Good Alyson Claire Blackwelder Arjune Mansukh Patel Brittany Brooks Christian Avery Wilkerson Cole Grayson England Connor Angelo Good David James Patton Dawson Robert Lytle Destiny C Thompson Divese Caine Carson Emory Copeland Sprouse Gabriel DeWitt Cole Hannah Elizabeth Shelton Jeffrey Isaiah Burch Jennifer Nicole Smelcer Jorge Carlos Lopez Enriquez Julie Ann Brooks Kayley Hope Butner Kinsey Sage Smith Krystal Lea Moore Kylie Nicole Massey Makenzie Susanne Elliott Meredith Leigh Poteat, Reagan Elizabeth Waugh Ricky Aguirre Amador Rose Pania Vang Samantha Noel Burnette Sierra Elizabeth Moore Skyler Landon McKinney Taylor Renee Ingle Tiffany Nicole Ingle Travis Davon Corpening Ulises Bustos Michael Ross Wright On Sunday, Oct. 2, people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds in McDowell County will come together to worship God and celebrate living together in unity. A special service called A Celebration of Unity is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday at the First Baptist Church of Marion. This will be an afternoon of prayer and worship celebrating the opportunity and calling we share to be united together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Leaders from the city of Marion, McDowell County, local ministers, law enforcement and the school system will participate. This will be the first service of its kind in McDowell County but it wont be the last, said organizers. The Rev. Dr. Scott Hagaman, pastor of First Baptist, said this special service came out of conversations here in McDowell by local leaders about what was going on across the nation. They talked about the massacre of nine African-American people during the Charleston church shooting last year and the shooting of white police officers in Dallas, Texas in July. They also discussed the shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge, La. which came about after the killing of a black man by white officers. All of these tragic incidents have illustrated the amount of division that exists between the races in other communities and the mistrust and suspicion that many African-Americans and Hispanics have regarding their law enforcement. It took a while for those conversations to turn into something tangible, said Hagaman. Here in McDowell, local leaders wanted to do something that would celebrate unity and harmony. And they want it to be done now rather than wait for something horrible to happen and then react to it. We live in a relatively peaceful, harmonious community where the average person cares about their neighbor, said Hagaman. We are all in this together. The Scripture verse that embodies this goal comes from Psalm 133:1. It reads How good and pleasant it is when Gods people live together in unity. On Tuesday, organizers of this special service met to talk about how it will be conducted. On Sunday, Oct. 2, the special service at First Baptist is scheduled to begin with music from the choirs of Addies Chapel United Methodist and Mount Zion AME churches. Mayor Steve Little will welcome all those who attend. Students from McDowell High are scheduled to participate as well. Some of the scheduled speakers include Ray McKesson, president of the McDowell chapter of the NAACP, and Police Chief Allen Lawrence. The Rev. Michael Smith with Mount Moriah Baptist Church will read from the Old Testament. Other speakers will include Sheriff Dudley Greene and Board of Education Chairman Terry Frank. The Rev. Armando Juarez will read from the New Testament, according to the plans for this service. The Rev. Walter Pegues of Addies Chapel is scheduled to deliver the sermon and Greg Conley will sing a solo. Mayor Pro Tem Billy Martin will give the benediction. Organizers of this event said they hope it will lead to an even more unified McDowell County. I think its important to think about what we do after this, said Lawrence at Tuesdays planning meeting. Jan Ramsey, one of the organizers, said she hopes it will become an annual service. One of the things I would love to see come out of this is how to be a good neighbor, said School Superintendent Mark Garrett. Child care will be provided at this service and a reception will follow in the Blanton Family Ministry Center at First Baptist. For more information, contact 652-6030 or 659-2248. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.20 Trend: An official opening ceremony of the Azerbaijani Village was organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the Place Joffre square close to Eiffel Tower in Paris. Azerbaijan's first lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva attended the event. The event participants also included well-known public and political figures of France. The host of the event said the Azerbaijani Village aroused great interest in France. Rachida Dati, mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris, where the Azerbaijani Village opened, praised the opening of the village in the district, expressing hope that it will help people of France learn more about Azerbaijan. She hailed Azerbaijan's achievements in excellently hosting a number of prestigious international events, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation's contributions to the development of relations between the two countries, and described Azerbaijan as a modern country with an ancient history. Mehriban Aliyeva made a speech at the event. She warmly welcomed the event participants and thanked them for their participation in the opening of the Azerbaijani Village. She noted that this project has already been successfully implemented for three years in Paris and contributed to the strengthening of friendly relations between the two countries and our peoples' better knowing each other. Mehriban Aliyeva expressed her gratitude to the Mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris Rachida Dati and all employees of the Mayor's Office for their contribution to the opening of this village. The first lady noted that Azerbaijan, whose independence history spanned 25 years, has made great strides over this period. She described Azerbaijan as the regional leader. "All large-scale projects which are carried out in the South Caucasus involve, and in most cases, are initiated by Azerbaijan." She also hailed multiculturalism and tolerance in Azerbaijan, saying representatives of different religions, nationalities and cultures have always lived in peace and as one family in the country. The first lady also paid tribute to victims of terror attacks in France. She hailed French-Azerbaijani cooperation and bilateral relations in economic and cultural areas. Mehriban Aliyeva praised France's role in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Speaking at the event, President of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan Jean-Francois Mancel noted that the event has attracted the attention of all the Parisians. He described Azerbaijan as a model of tolerance for the whole world. Mansel hailed the importance of the soonest resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Mehriban Aliyeva expressed gratitude to Jean-Francois Mancel for promoting the Azerbaijani realities in France. Acclaimed American photographer, author of the book "Culture of Azerbaijani cuisine" Peter Lippmann, who lives in France, highlighted the publication of the book. The event participants then viewed the village. There are carpet weaving, copper and networking, wood carving, pottery, kalagayi making and other workshops in the village. The Kids' zone is another innovation in the village. There is also a museum which showcases exhibits on ancient and rich history and culture of Azerbaijan, including copper products, national clothes, musical instruments, carpets and other works of arts. The exhibition section of the village features "In the footsteps of a partisan" exhibition dedicated to Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov, participant of the Second World War, prominent representative of the French Resistance Movement. Azerbaijan's First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva met with Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov's son Javanshir Jabrayilov who thanked the first lady for respect for his father's memory. Another exhibition as part of "Under one sun" project demonstrates photos and a promotional film on the traditions of multiculturalism and tolerance in Azerbaijan. The photos and films featured in the exhibition were shot in different parts of Azerbaijan. These photos and footages reflect the history and traditions of 20 ethnic minorities living in the country. The other exhibition "Ganja and Gabala: two cities seen through the eyes of French photographers" presents the beauty of Azerbaijan's nature, as well as its unique culture and traditions. For this exhibition French photographers Samuel Gratacap and Jean-Francois Rauzier visited Azerbaijan's Ganja and Gabala cities and took photographs of the landscapes, monuments and daily life of both cities. The village also presents "Center of Tourism" project for the first time which provides information about Azerbaijan's tourism regions and routes. The event also saw the launch of "Culture of Azerbaijani cuisine" book. An international art festival "Maiden Tower" was also held for the first time as part of the event. Visitors can view the first official gift and souvenir brand "I Love Baku" and the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan stands here. First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva signed the guest book of the Association. A restaurant in the village offers delicious dishes of the Azerbaijani national cuisine. The model of Icherisheher is also on display here, offering visitors a visual tour of the Azerbaijani old city. Then a dinner reception was given on behalf of Azerbaijani First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva in honor of the participants. Mehriban Aliyeva addressed the reception. The village will remain open until September 25. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation organized the first Azerbaijani Village in 2014. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: Kazakhstan plans to yield 22 million tons of grain in bunker weight in the current marketing year, Kazakh Agriculture ministry reported on Sept. 20. Harvesting started in all the regions of the country in the third decade of August. As of September 20 grain was reaped from 11.1 million hectares, which accounts more than 72 percent of the sown area, First Vice-Minister of Agriculture Kairat Aituganov said delivering a report at the governmental meeting. As much as 16.5 million tons of grains were harvested in this period. The average yield was 14.9 centners per hectare, which is 3.4 percent above last year's level, Aituganov said. According to preliminary data, the gross yield is forecasted at 21 million tons. The volume will allow to meet the domestic demand and increase grain export to 9 million tons. Kazakhstan is among the world's major grain exporters. In 2015 Kazakhstan harvested 19.95 million tons of grain, which is 16 percent more than in 2014. Kazakh Agriculture Ministry earlier told Trend that in January-July 2016 Kazakhstan exported 4.6 million tons of grain, including flour in grain equivalent, which is 1.3 million tons more than in the same period of 2015. In the current marketing year, the main volumes of Kazakh grain will be exported to traditional importers the countries of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan), as well as Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Iran, the ministry said. Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, September 19, 2016 Wood from weathered barns, dilapidated hotels and fire-stricken buildings full of rich character provides an amazing way to restore history. In fact, uncovering that history of the reclaimed wood made into tables, chairs or other pieces of furniture makes the pieces that much more special. Without search engines the history would become incredibly difficult to uncover. While some experiences just don't start from a search engine, the Internet tools can lead to more information on a topic or event. My husband and I didn't find the reclaimed wood table made from the floor of the remodeled Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone by searching for it on the Internet, but we did learn more about it after making the purchase. We found the table in Jackson Hole at the Western Design Conference. The maker of the table is Travis Anderson, a Ferrier in Idaho living on a four-acre ranch with his wife and six children. Although he is 15 years into the profession of shoeing horses, he's looking for additional opportunities to support his family. Custom furniture has become one. (There's an audience signal for ad targeting somewhere in there.) advertisement advertisement Those who love old wood know that the history gives the piece life. The Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park opened in 1904, made from local wood and stone, but it would be years later that my husband and I both walked over the Inn's floor at different points of time in history. The park had nearly 14,000 visitors when the inn opened that year, but during the next 10 years, that number grew to an average of 21,500 visitors annually. Builders around the Wyoming landmark marvel at the advanced techniques used to build the structure. I marvel at the fact that I have a piece of the old. Owning the table also led me to searches about "how to prepare reclaimed wood." Search the Internet to find companies across the U.S. that restore and sell reclaimed wood. Each piece generally has a story. A search on google.com answers that question about 2,970 times, and Bing, nearly 100. Both search engines provide queries on everything from removing old tacks to the supplies needed. Reduce, reuse, recycle -- and then discover the history behind the piece. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, September 19, 2016 Facebook is asking a federal appellate court to let stand its recent ruling that the defunct aggregation service Power Ventures violated a federal hacking law by "scraping" Facebook's site. The social networking company wants the court to reject arguments by the ACLU and other digital rights groups, who have asked the court to reconsider its ruling. The ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation and others argue that the original decision could have far-reaching consequences -- including the prosecution of users for sharing their passwords. Facebook counters in papers filed late last week that the dispute with Power "involves especially uncommon facts," and therefore "certainly isn't the case for issuing broad guidance." The decision, issued last month by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit, stems from a 2008 lawsuit by Facebook against Power Ventures. advertisement advertisement Power aggregated data from a variety of social networking services, enabling people with accounts through MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and other services to access all of their information from one portal. To accomplish this, Power asked users to provide log-in information for their social networking sites and then imported people's information. In late 2008, Facebook sent a letter to Power demanding that it cease and desist accessing the site. Power allegedly continued to draw on the passwords that users had provided in order to access their information. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled last month that Power violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by continuing to access Facebook after receiving the cease-and-desist letter. That law, which provides for private lawsuits as well as criminal penalties, prohibits anyone from accessing computers without authorization. Power has asked the 9th Circuit to reconsider that ruling; the EFF and ACLU are backing the request. The rights groups argue that Power never "broke into" Facebook's computers, because users voluntarily gave their passwords to Power. The organizations also warn that the decision appears so broad that it could lead to prosecution of people based on password-sharing. "At root, the panel fails to tie its decision back to any alleged computer break-in," the organizations argue. "In so doing, the decision threatens to turn innocent Internet users into criminals on the basis of password sharing." But Facebook says the appellate judges dealt with the "egregious" facts of the dispute, and not "hypothetical" questions about activity like password sharing. "The typical couple sharing an online bank account, or an academic researcher studying an internet platform, hasnt first received a cease-and-desist letter demanding that they keep out of the computer system," Facebook argues. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Seba Aghayeva Trend: Bulgaria intends to expand cooperation with Azerbaijan in all spheres and considers the country as a transit route to Central Asia, Nargiz Gurbanova, Azerbaijani ambassador to Bulgaria, told Trend Sept. 20. Gurbanova said that Azerbaijan is also interested in entering the Bulgarian market and further to the European markets. Of course, a developed transport infrastructure is required to fulfill these intentions, she said. "Azerbaijan has great potential in the transport sector, delivering broad opportunities for Bulgaria to enter the Central Asian markets," the ambassador added. The cooperation opportunities in the transport sphere will be discussed during the talks between the two governments during the next meeting of the Azerbaijani-Bulgarian intergovernmental commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation in Baku in late September. The Azerbaijani-Bulgarian intergovernmental commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation was established in 1995. According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $16.5 million in January-July 2016 compared to $6.6 million in the same period of 2015. Such an increase has been achieved through an increase in import operations by 2.5 times. by Philip Rosenstein , September 20, 2016 4C Insights, a data science and media technology company, announced on Tuesday the finalization of a $26 million series C financing round. The company plans to use the funds to increase its market presence, focusing on geographic and product growth, and increasing affinity-based targeting across TV, video and social media. 4C also plans to bolster its team with additional technical and sales talent. The round was led by private equity firm Kayne Partners, with all previous investors also involved. Before the series C funding, 4C had raised $11.6 million over three years. VP at Kayne Partners, Leon Chen, will join 4Cs board of directors. by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, September 20, 2016 Jason Kander, Missouris current Secretary of State, has boosted his chance of unseating incumbent Republican Roy Blunt with a powerful new ad on gun control. The ad has raised eyebrows and Kanders national profile; a win would make him the youngest serving Senator. The ad Background Checks, released within the past few days, shows Kander, a former Army captain, assembling an AR-15 assault rifle while blindfolded. While doing so, his covered eyes remain fixed to the camera, showing his utter confidence sporting the high-powered weapon. Senator Blunt has been attacking me on guns, explains Kander, as he begins to assemble the rifle. Amid the sounds of the rifle parts clicking into place, Kander continues: In the Army, I learned how to use and respect my rifle. I also believe in background checks, so that terrorists cant get their hands on one of these. advertisement advertisement Kander concludes the ad taking off his blindfold: I approve this message because Id like to see Senator Blunt do this. The powerful ad highlights a couple of important points. Foremost is the erroneous claim that Democrats who fight for stronger gun control laws are somehow averse to the Second Amendment. Gun control policies have no intention of eliminating a citizens right to own a firearm. Kanders use of a gun in a campaign ad makes that point loud and clear. Many Republican candidates play on the support for lax gun regulations by firing weapons in campaign ads. Very rarely do they show the kind of comfort with guns that Kander does in Background Checks. He powerfully puts to rest the idea that gun control activists are inherently afraid of, or less knowledgeable about, firearms. The question still remains as to whether this will significantly move any voters. Missouri is a solidly red state, and a statewide gun regulation bill was just defeated. Nevertheless, early indications are that Kander is rising in the polls. The most recent poll, conducted from September 9-13, has Kander up 2 points on Sen. Blunt, whereas the poll prior to that had Blunt with a 7 point lead. Trump retains a strong lead over Clinton in Missouri, with FiveThirtyEight giving Trump a 91.7% chance of taking the state. A Kander win would not only give Missouri two Democratic Senators, but a likely example of split ticket voting. by Sara Guaglione , September 20, 2016 SpinMedia has hired a new editor-in-chief, associate editor and senior writer amid reports the company may be up for sale. SpinMedia has hired Puja Patel as editor-in-chief of its flagship music brand, Spin. Patel previously worked for Spin as an associate editor in 2014. She was most recently senior editor at Deadspin and led the Adequate Man vertical. Patel has started building her team and hired Pitchfork's Jeremy Gordon as associate editor and former Gawker writer Andrew Cush as senior writer. Worthy of note: Patel and Cush are coming from sites owned by Gawker Media, which was embroiled in controversy and a lawsuit before being sold to Univision in August for $130 million. advertisement advertisement According to a spokesperson, the hires are part of SpinMedias strategy to expand the brands culture coverage, in an effort to tap into Spins earlier days when the magazine covered topics like the AIDS crisis and the war in Sarajevo. In an email, SpinMedia CEO Stephen Blackwell praised Patels strong opinions about what our audience wants to read, watch and shareand has the unique ability to execute on it. When asked about the potential sale, the spokesperson told Publishers Daily that SpinMedia retains financial advisers to consult on divestitures, acquisitions and strategic partnerships. As previously reported, SpinMedia and its pop culture sites are reportedly up for sale after losing an estimated $5 million a year. SpinMedias number of unique visitors was down to 25 million in July, per comScore. SpinMedia's music properties also include Vibe, Stereogum, Idolator, Buzznet, PureVolume and Death and Taxes. by Sara Guaglione , September 20, 2016 The Wall Street Journal has acquired exclusive rights to global markets and macroeconomics email newsletter, The Daily Shot. When The Daily Shot transitions to The Wall Street Journal on November 1, it will be available only to WSJ subscribers. Founded in May 2014, The Daily Shots readership is predominantly in the financial services industry, with over one-third of them holding C-Suite and other senior roles, including traders, central bankers, risk managers, wealth advisors and institutional investors. The Daily Shot currently has 35,000 subscribers worldwide. In a statement, The Wall Street Journal describes the newsletters' mobile-first approach and its use of charts and graphics, allowing readers to speed read the markets on their devices each morning. The newsletter is available in the early mornings, before the open of the London markets. The Daily Shot aims to be free of political and economic bias, and does not offer investing advice, according to the statement. advertisement advertisement Lev Borodovsky, founder of The Daily Shot, will continue to run the newsletters day-to-day operations as it transitions to the WSJ. Dennis K. Berman, financial editor of The Wall Street Journal, will oversee the newsletter. He suggested his team will make few changes to the newsletter. Our goal is simple: Continue to have the most comprehensive markets coverage in the world, Berman stated. Lev has the single best and easiest-to-read markets emails I have come across. by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, September 20, 2016 P.J. Bednarski is on vacation. This is a blog from July. Every year at the Television Critics Association press gang conference, some producer or star with a new project on Netflix will exclaim that nobody over there ever talks ratings. The creative process, in this telling, is just an ever blooming, never-bothered flower. And these stars find it so refreshing! We dont have any actual numbers, Tiny Fey told TCAers last summer, exclaiming over her total non-knowledge of viewership for The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I feel a lot of people are watching the show. Lets go with that, she said, according to The Wall Street Journal. Maybe thats a little bit true, but I have never quite swallowed the idea that Fey or Kevin Spacey just agree to some licensing fee for additional episodes of their Netflix series without knowing whos watching. Particularly for Spacey and House Of Cards, those figures would be especially relevant. House of Cards verily put the Netflix on the map with what is euphemistically called the creative community and the viewers who follow that kind of stuff. advertisement advertisement Netflix said audience size meant nothing to them; subscribers did. It would seem to follow that people would not continue subscribing if the programming failed. But that rating and share stuff was strictly old-school TV head-counting. So it was news recently when Nielsen had put out data on viewership for some Netflix, Hulu, Amazon other streaming service programs. It was not a complete data dump. According to published accounts, Nielsen only gave data for three shows: Orange Is the New Black and the streaming package of Better Call Saul on Netflix, and the very expensive package of Seinfeld reruns on Hulu. A lot more wasn't forthcoming. The fourth season premiere episode of Orange that premiered in June was seen by 6.7 million people, a substantial showing that would put it up there with best-viewed programming on cable. Seinfeld reruns reached over 700,000 viewers in the first five days after they were available, which doesnt sound so stellar except that Seinfeld reruns have been seen to death since the show ended on NBC in May of 1998. And the WSJ points out that the viewer composition for Better Call Saul in its rerun resurrection on Netflix was far younger than when it telecast originally on AMC. Nielsen says 44% of the audience were millennials, compared to just 24% when it showed on TV. That would seem to be an awesome selling point for Netflix, if Netflix sold advertising. It doesnt, though. That is is one of the reasons Netflix claims it doesnt report viewership or demographics. I wish we knew more, even if its just out of curiosity. But Nielsen only released a few drops of info. These ratings were compiled only TV studios that wanted it; Nielsen uses audio fingerprinting in homes where it has a meter to come up with its figures. It is amazing to me that investors, and the studios, dont press for better data. Somehow, investors learned that daily newspaper readers have now become too old to be as valuable to all advertisers. It wasnt just declining circulation that led to the decline of the value of papers. That and other things led to the decline in the value of papers. Likewise, the evening newscasts on network TV can only get advertising skewed to old viewers because Nielsen data have made it emphatically clear the audience is aged, aging or possibly dead. Six months ago, NBC blabbed some data it collected on SVODs that, in NBC research chief Alan Wurtzels analysis suggested the bleed of viewers wasnt so big. NBC's number, from Symphony Advanced Media of 15,000 viewers over 35 revealed that, for example, Jessica Jones on Netflix attracted 4.8 million viewers over that time period, and Aziz Ansaris excellent Master of None got 3.9 million. Narcos found an audience of 3.1 million. Wurtzels point is that streaming hits start big, with a swell of viewers and bingers, and then settle into relative nothingness. Theres probably truth and spin in that report. The fact remains that while Neflix is leading a historic, revolutionary out-migration of TV viewers, it appears that only a very small handful still know whats really going on. ON FOURTH THOUGHT: I grew up at a time some people put American flag decals on the back of their Fords and beat up kids who sewed American flag patches on their ripped blue jeans. That was just damn unpatriotic. We now live in a time in which America is a temporary brand name for a beer, and the man who pledges to make America great again also encourages his supporters to beat up/shut up those who disagree with him. Read the Declaration of Independence sometime in the next few days. Then, as they say, pass it on. pj@mediapost.com Amgen has announced detailed global Phase 2 results showing erenumab demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in monthly migraine days compared with placebo in patients with chronic migraine. The data will be presented in posters #P057 and #P058 at the 5th European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress (EHMTIC) in Glasgow, Scotland. "Chronic migraine patients lose more than half of their life to migraines with 15 or more headache days a month, facing intolerable pain and physical impairment," said Stewart Tepper, M.D., professor of neurology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. "As a neurologist, these findings are exciting because they demonstrate that erenumab could serve as an important new therapy option for reducing the burden of this often-disabling disease." The study included 667 patients (mean age 42.1, 79.0 percent female) who were randomized to receive either subcutaneous placebo (n=286) or subcutaneous erenumab 70 mg (n=191) or 140 mg (n=190) once a month. Patients had a mean baseline of 18.0 migraine days per month and a mean baseline of 21.1 headache days per month. Patients randomized to both erenumab dose groups experienced a statistically significant 6.6-day reduction from baseline in mean monthly migraine days compared with 4.2 days observed in the placebo group (p<0.001). All endpoint assessments compared the last four weeks of the 12-week treatment phase to baseline. A reduction of 50 percent or more in number of monthly migraine days was observed in 40 percent and 41 percent (70 mg and 140 mg doses, respectively) of individuals in the erenumab groups at week 12, representing a significantly higher likelihood of response compared to 24 percent of those receiving placebo (both p<0.001). Reductions in monthly acute migraine-specific medication days were 3.5 days and 4.1 days in the 70 mg and 140 mg groups, respectively, representing significant improvements from baseline compared to a 1.6-day reduction in those receiving placebo (both doses p<0.001 versus baseline). All groups showed numeric improvements in cumulative monthly headache hours. Compared to a 55.2-hour reduction versus baseline in the placebo group, reductions were 64.8 hours for 70 mg erenumab and 74.5 hours for 140 mg erenumab. In an analysis of exploratory endpoints, both doses of erenumab were associated with significant improvements in health-related quality of life, headache impact, disability, and level of pain interference, compared to placebo.* "Erenumab is specifically designed to prevent migraine by blocking a receptor that is believed to have a critical role in mediating the incapacitating pain of migraine," said Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "The results from this global chronic migraine study are exciting because they support the efficacy of erenumab for a patient population that has had few therapeutic options. We look forward to advancing erenumab to help provide a potential new treatment option for patients with this debilitating disease." The safety profile of erenumab was similar to placebo across both treatment arms. No adverse event was reported in greater than five percent of patients treated with erenumab. The most common adverse events (in placebo, 70 mg erenumab, 140 mg erenumab groups, respectively) were injection site pain (1.1 percent, 3.7 percent, 3.7 percent), upper respiratory tract infection (1.4 percent, 2.6 percent, 3.2 percent) and nausea (2.5 percent, 2.1 percent, 3.2 percent). The World Health Organization ranks migraine as one of the most debilitating of all illnesses.1,2 Chronic migraine is the most disabling form of the disease, and is associated with personal and societal burdens of pain, disability and financial cost.3 Results from Phase 3 studies investigating erenumab in episodic migraine are expected later this year. Erenumab is being co-developed by Amgen and Novartis. As part of the collaboration, Amgen retains commercialization rights in the U.S., Canada and Japan, and Novartis holds rights in Europe and rest of world. *Assessment tools for exploratory endpoints including the Headache Impact Test (HIT-6), the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS), the Migraine-Specific Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (MSQ), and the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS). Pain Interference Scale Short Form. Exploratory endpoints were not adjusted for multiplicity. About the 20120295 Study The 20120295 study is a global Phase 2, randomized, 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety and efficacy of erenumab in chronic migraine prevention. In the study, 667 patients were randomized to receive once-monthly subcutaneous placebo or erenumab (70 mg or 140 mg) in a 3:2:2 ratio, respectively. The primary endpoint was change in monthly migraine days from baseline to the last four weeks of the 12-week treatment phase in patients with chronic migraine (the number of migraine days between weeks nine and 12). Secondary study endpoints included reduction of at least 50 percent from baseline in monthly migraine days, change from baseline in monthly acute migraine-specific medication days and change from baseline in cumulative monthly headache hours. About Erenumab Erenumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody specifically designed for the prevention of migraine. Erenumab targets and blocks the Calcitonin-Gene-Related-Peptide (CGRP) receptor, thought to be pivotal in the genesis of migraine. Erenumab is currently being studied in several large global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials to assess its safety and efficacy in migraine prevention. Researchers could not completely rule out an increased risk for specific defects. The H1N1 influenza vaccine, Pandemrix, administered in pregnant women in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy does not seem to be associated with an increased risk for overall birth defects when genetic and environmental factors are considered. However, risk increases for specific birth defects could not be ruled out completely. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Pregnant women are a high-risk group for severe H1N1 influenza and the World Health Organization recommends vaccination for them. Research has shown conflicting risk estimates for birth defects in pregnant women receiving Pandemrix in the first trimester. Although several studies have attempted to adjust for confounding factors, none has studied siblings discordant for vaccination exposure, which, by design, would control for familial confounding (genetic and shared early environmental factors). Researchers examined the risk for any birth defects, and specifically congenital heart disease, oral cleft, and limb deficiency, in a large population-based cohort that included more than 40,000 children of mothers exposed to Pandemrix. To minimize the influence of intrafamilial confounding, siblings were also used as comparators. The researchers found that vaccination during pregnancy did not seem to be associated with an increased risk for overall birth defects when controls from the general population were used. They also did not see an association with overall birth defects when intrafamilial confounding was taken into account. However, risk increases for specific birth defects could not be ruled out completely. Preparing for air travel can be highly challenging for nut-allergic passengers, a Short Report published in the Medical Journal of Australia has found. Over 90 million passengers are carried on Australian flights each year, with 1-2% reporting they have documented food allergies. Dr Mark Hew and colleagues from the Alfred Hospital conducted a survey of all domestic and international airlines that fly from Tullamarine to assess their nut allergy policies. The researchers found that 61% of airlines had online or telephone hotline information about nut allergy policies. Only a minority of airlines were able to provide nut-free meals. "Nine airlines (27%) offered nut- free meals, two routinely and seven on request. For the other airlines, nut-allergic passengers would need to fast (only practical on short domestic routes) or bring their own food," the authors wrote. A third of the airlines could restrict the distribution of packaged nuts on flights if required. Only one airline operating from Melbourne's Tullamarine airport confirmed that emergency adrenaline was available on all flights. For nut allergic individuals, the authors recommended that they contact their airline before travelling, develop an allergy plan with their doctor, carry their own emergency adrenaline, and consider bringing their own food. "Airlines should make their nut allergy policies more accessible and consider carrying emergency adrenaline on all flights," the authors concluded. Article: Airline policies for passengers with nut allergies flying from Melbourne Airport, Stephanie Stojanovic, Celia Mary Zubrinich, Robyn O'Hehir and Mark Hew, Medical Journal of Australia, doi: 10.5694/mja16.00384, published 20 September 2016. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR is interested in entering the Bulgarian oil products market, head of SOCAR Balkan Murad Heydarov told reporters. He noted that currently SOCAR is holding talks on the possibilities of benefiting from Bulgarias gas and oil products markets. Such talks are underway. We believe this market is very promising. From Bulgarias point of view, this also covers the diversification of oil products supply. However, this is a long-term project. This issue will also be discussed during the upcoming meeting of the Azerbaijan-Bulgaria intergovernmental commission in Baku, said Heydarov. The fourth meeting of the Azerbaijan-Bulgaria intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation will be held Sept. 27-29 in Baku. Bulgaria is one of the buyers of Azerbaijani gas. The country will receive gas from Azerbaijan from 2020. Bulgarian government plans to buy 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year with the possibility of increasing the volume in the future. Currently, the talks on delivering Azerbaijani gas via the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) continue. IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor. Bulgaria also believes that not only this can be an area of cooperation in the energy sector. Bulgarian government presented a package of projects to Azerbaijan in 2015 for energy cooperation. Azerbaijani side was proposed to take part in the construction of a gas station, to invest in construction of oil and gas storages and refineries. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. In an article titled "The Arab Nation is in the Hands of UN Mediators" in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, veteran Lebanese journalist Samir 'Atallah wrote that Arabs are only able to negotiate with each other via foreign mediators. However, he adds, even mediated talks are sterile, because the sides are uninterested in dialogue but only want to "demand, impose and threaten." Furthermore, they fail to see that the damage they cause each other is far greater than the damage caused to them by external enemies, for "the brutal [external] enemy destroys a house or two from time to time while the gracious [Arab] brother destroys cities, re-destroys them." The following is the article, as it was published on the daily's English-language website.[1] Samir 'Atallah (Image: beirutobserver.com ) "From the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf, 'the great Arab homeland' is in the hands of international mediators. Each team of 'brothers' and 'comrades' does not talk to the opposing team, except in a third country. For the first and last time, I found myself agreeing with the Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil when he caused the suspension of the '[Lebanese] national dialogue' because he knew that he was going to a vacuum to demand, impose and threaten rather than discuss. "The Lebanese National Dialogue that was suspended after Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil's party walked out of it was not sponsored by the UN. All the other conflicts have an international mediator assigned to them, and this mediator works hard, becomes miserable, travels, comes back, gets tired and is then replaced by another mediator. This cycle continues and then the successor does not return. "What do mediators want? They want to convince us that there are solutions to issues that do not involve the destruction of the homeland. They want to convince 'Ali Saleh[2] that one does not fight someone who was one's citizen yesterday and they want to convince the Houthis that Yemen is more permanent that Iran is. They also want to convince the Syrian regime that half a million dead people and 12 million homeless people cannot all be infidels. "We hope that there remains what is possible to mediate or negotiate about. Hamas must be thanked for suspending 'recent rounds' of negotiations, reconciliations and mediations, and for undergoing the journey from Mecca to Senegal[3] to meet the brothers from Fatah so that they could stop the confrontation between themselves and not the confrontation with the brutal Zionist enemy. "That is language that the Arabs have forgotten or are ashamed of repeating in front of their children; the brutal enemy destroys a house or two from time to time while the gracious brother destroys cities, re-destroys them and then sees a wall that is still standing and vies for it. "You might think that these things only happen in the worst nightmares, but then you wake up and realize that the nightmare and the reality of the nation is one and that the role of intermediaries is an unconscious complicity in procrastination, hypocrisy, digging people's graves and burying hope. Arabs do not know the meaning of dialogue and this is what Gebran Bassil emphasized. 'Let us negotiate, but you're not allowed to speak,' [Iraqi vice president] Izzat Al-Douri told [Kuwaiti crown prince] Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah [following Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait]. The rest is well known." Endnotes: Russia This Week is a weekly review by the MEMRI Russian Media Studies Project, covering the latest Russia-related news and analysis from media in Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. Cartoon Of The Week "We should choose today, what will be Russia's future tomorrow" - Russian bear carrying sword with caption "my choice" guards "Elections 2016" ballot box against foreigners (Vk.com/13studiya, September 17, 2016) Quote Of The Week: Commenting on United Russia's victory in the 2016 Duma elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "[Life] is hard and not easy, and people are still voting for United Russia." (Ria.ru, September 19, 2016) In The News: Duma Elections The results of the September 18 Duma elections were no surprise. The ruling party, United Russia (UR), led the polls, followed by the Russian Communist Party (CPRF), the right wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and Fair Russia. UR received a constitutional majority, winning 343 mandates (140 seats in the federal district and another 203 in single-member constituencies) in the 450-member Duma (76.22% of seats), the CPRF won 42 mandates (9.34%), the LDPR 39 mandates (8.67%) and Just Russia 23 mandates (5.11%). Rodina, Civic Platform (Grazhdanskaya Platforma), and independent candidate Vladislav Reznik gained one seat each. (For more, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6618, September 18 Duma Elections - The Results, September 19, 2016; Special Dispatch No. 6615, Russia Goes To Vote - September 18 Duma Elections Update, September 18, 2016; Special Dispatch No. 6614, September 18 Duma Elections Update - A Step Towards The 2018 Presidential Elections, September 16, 2016; Special Dispatch No.6612, September 18 Duma Elections - Russian Analyst: Without Real Competition, Politicians Are Under Little Pressure To Lift The Economy Out Of The Crisis, September 15, 2016; and Special Dispatch No. 6609, September 18 Duma Elections; Russian Daily Kommersant: All The Candidates Of The 2016 Elections Are Trying To Get Noticed By Vladimir Putin, September 14, 2016) Putin: "The Election Result Was Also An Expression Of The People's Reaction To Attempts To Exert Foreign Pressure On Russia" During a meeting with Government members on September 19, Putin stated: "United Russia, the ruling party and Russia's leading political force, obtained a good result. Of course, we can ask ourselves, how is this possible given the big economic and social sector difficulties we have been facing and the drop in people's real incomes? I think there are several factors here that merit our attention. "First, at a time of difficulties and many uncertainties and risks, people certainly choose stability and trust the country's leading political force and the government, which relies on United Russia's support in the parliament. They are confident that we will act professionally in the interests of our country's people. "The election result was also an expression of the people's reaction to attempts to exert foreign pressure on Russia, and to the threats, sanctions, and attempts to destabilize the situation in Russia from within. "What conclusions should we draw from this parliamentary election? First, in domestic policy, we must listen to all political parties and hear their message, including the parties that did not make it into the parliament. We must and will develop our country's multi-party system and support civil society, including patriotically-inclined non-governmental organizations... In foreign policy, we must follow a balanced policy of cooperation with all partners, without a shadow of aggression, but with unquestioned respect for our national interests and ensuring our country's defense capability. "Let me say again that this election result is good, but it is without question an advance on the part of our people, and we now must live up to their expectations. I hope very much that the government and the new parliament will act in consolidated fashion, combine their efforts and work towards the goals I just mentioned, above all in the interests of Russia's people." (Kremlin.ru, September 19) (Kremlin.ru, September 19, 2016) Yabloko's Reactions To Election Result: The Low Turnout Is A "Shame For This System" The big loser of the election was the democratic opposition. Yabloko (The Russian United Democratic Party), which won 6.58% in 2011, received only 1.9% of the vote, whereas Parnas (The People's Freedom Party) received less than one percent. Commenting on the results of the elections, Yabloko's leader Grigory Yavlinsky said that the most important thing in this electoral campaign was to declare that "war with Ukraine is an unacceptable policy, the situation with Crimea cannot remain as it is now, and Russia's political and economic system has exhausted itself, and no longer has any resources." He then added that the party was aware that "it would be naive to expect that with such a stance we would be invited to the State Duma." Yavlinsky said: "If such a party with such a stance could be part of the State Duma, it would have been a different country. Therefore, the most valuable for us was the fact that we, in our own country and in the most difficult moment, managed to say what we considered was most important, and we were heard." Commenting on the low turnout (47.9%), Yavlinsky said that it is "a shame for this system", and proved once again that "the system was at a dead end." He also accused authorities of having employed a special technology to suppress the turnout, "because living standards have been falling, the economy was in freefall, and [the ruling party] United Russia could not even promise anything." Yavlinsky then stated: "[The Duma] will maintain the policies towards isolation from common sense, the policies towards isolation from the future, the policies suppressing the most active part of the population." (Yabloko.ru, September 19) The cartoon plays on the word "Yabloko," which in Russian means "apple" (Novayagazeta.ru, May 21, 2016) Khodorkovsky.com: "There Are Various Ways Of Ensuring You Get The 'Right' [Electoral] Result" The Open Russia movement, sponsored by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was also unsuccessful in the elections. Open Russia supported 18 candidates in various districts, 5 of whom belonged to Parnas. Open Russia candidate Maria Baronova, which was described by the international media as the face of Russia's opposition (Time.com, September 16), lost to United Russia candidate Nikolai Gonchar in Moscow's central district. Khodorkovsky's website published an analysis of the vote, accusing the authorities of violating the electoral system: "Well, there are various ways of ensuring you get the 'right' result: stuffing the ballot boxes (You Tube has any number of videos showing this taking place) or bussing in voters from other constituencies (where they have already voted) and giving them 'extra' voting papers. Bussing people in is called a 'carousel' in Russian - what goes around, comes around... In one Petersburg constituency, a local journalist managed to get the necessary mark put in his passport, indicating that he was a 'carousel' voter. Even though his passport showed he was registered to vote in another constituency, he was given four extra voting papers, for which he signed the name he was told to use. He then revealed who he was and what he had done: the police were sent for and he, rather than the person who had given him the extra papers, was carted off to the police station. Similar goings-on were recorded in other parts of St Petersburg (and throughout Russia...)." (Khodorkovsky.com, September 19, 2016) (Khodorkovsky.com) Independent Opposition Website Meduza.io Reports On Electoral Violations According to Sergey Shpilkin, a long-time elections watcher and physicist who runs statistical research on the open source electoral patterns, up to 45% of votes in favor of United Russia are falsified. He also stated that real turnout was 35%. (Meduza.io, September 19) (Podmoskovnik.livejournal.com, September 19, 2016) The Case Of Mordovia And Tatarstan According to official statistics, UR gained 90% of votes for the local parliament representation (the elections were also conducted for local parliaments, with the same federal party participation) in the Republic of Mordovia. In Tatarstan, a secular Muslim republic in central Russia, UR gained 85.3% of the vote in the Duma elections, while none of other parties surpassed threshold of 5%. (Kommersant.ru, September 19) Tensions Between Russia and Ukraine Over The Voting During her weekly press briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Maria Zacharova said that "the ballot stations on Ukrainian territory will be opened in the Russian embassy and in our Consulate-Generals," despite the restrictions posed by the Ukrainian government. Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed the country's Foreign Ministry to inform the Russian government that it was impossible to hold Russian elections on Ukrainian territory. The Russian Foreign Ministry promptly responded, saying that the Ukrainian move was a "clear violation of the customary norms of civilized behavior." The press release stated: "Having notified the Kiev authorities, in keeping with the customary international norms of behavior and the principle of reciprocity, of the voting process to take place at the Russian embassy in Kiev and consular departments in Lvov, Odessa and Kharkov on September 18, the Russian authorities requested that Kiev ensure their safety. In keeping with its international commitments, including the Vienna conventions, Kiev must ensure the safety of Russia's diplomatic and consular offices in Ukraine every day, and not just on election days. However, numerous provocations against Russian offices have been staged recently, many of them under the passive eye of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies. "We would like to remind Ukrainian officials that they received their current functions following the early presidential election in 2014 and the parliamentary election in 2015, which were also held on the territory of Russia, which reliably ensured safety at all sites specified by Ukraine, regardless of any tensions in our bilateral relations. Kiev's decision of September 10 aims to deprive Russian citizens who permanently or temporarily reside in Ukraine of their inalienable right to freedom of expression. Kiev has again made a deliberate choice in favor of the further aggravation of tensions in its relations with Russia... Kiev's attempts to present ultimatums to Russia and to tie up the opening of polling stations in Ukraine to elections in Crimea are ridiculous. Crimea is an inalienable part of Russia, and any decision to hold elections there is the exclusive right of the Russian Federation." (Mid.ru, September 12; Rt.com, September 15) On September 18, the residents of Crimea voted in the Duma elections for the first time since its annexation to Russia in 2014. The U.S. criticized the voting in Crimea and stressed that it would not recognize its legitimacy. State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said: "The United States does not recognize the legitimacy, and will not recognize the outcome, of the Russian Duma elections planned for Russian-occupied Crimea on September 18th. Our position on Crimea is clear: the peninsula remains an integral part of Ukraine. Crimea-related sanctions against Russia will remain until Russia returns control of Crimea to Ukraine." (State.gov, September 16) Ukrainian right-wing activists from Svoboda and the Right Sector protested the elections in Kiev and Odessa,. In Kiev, activists blocked the entrance to the embassy. Svoboda Party MP Igor Miroshnichenko tried to break the embassy fence. (Rt.com, September 18; Kyivpost.com, September 18) Ukrainian right-wing activists prevent Russian citizen from entering the Russian embassy in Kiev to vote in the elections on Sept. 18. (Kyivpost.com, September 18) Kadyrov Wins 98% Of The Votes On September 18, elections were also held in several regions to elect governors and regional heads. In Chechniya, Ramzan Kadyrov, as a United Russia party nominee for the republican presidency, received 98% of the vote. He has held the position as Head of the Chechen Republic since 2007. (Rt.com, September 19) Strange But True To celebrate Chechen Women's Day on September 18, the day of the elections, Chechen leader Kadyrov appeared in a suit of armor, complete with helmet and spear, at the Safiya Palace in Grozny. (Rt.com, September 19) Kadyrov wearing a suit of armor at the celebrations for the Chechen Women's Day (Rt.com, September 18, 2016) India has stepped up the aggression in the Lachipur area in Uri sector after 15 more terrorists tried to infiltrate into the Indian Territory. According to initial reports, 10 of those have been killed in an intense gun battle. #BREAKING India retaliates to Pak firing. Army foils infiltration bid; guns down at least 8 terrorists in Uri sector, J&K pic.twitter.com/kWlY4JvM7H TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) September 20, 2016 2 more terrorists killed by Army in Lachipura area of J&K's #Uri. Total 10 terrorists killed, reports ANI LIVE | https://t.co/8tGvyY902v Times of India (@timesofindia) September 20, 2016 This infiltration bid from the Pakistani side is being seen as an escalation of the already tense situation at the border. This comes just two days after the Uri attacks after which Pakistan has been completely cornered in the international community. Many experts were of the view that India needed to be swifter in retaliation and this move has justified their stance. BCCL Reports are also coming in that India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will boycott the SAARC summit to be held in Pakistan and instead hold a State-Sponsored Terrorism Conclave against the nation instead. Sushma Swaraj is also expected to corner Pakistan at the UNGA session where efforts are being made to reach out to the member countries sensitizing them about the provocative acts of terrorism from the other side of the border. More details on the story are awaited as the situation is still not under control. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Aygun Badalova - Trend: Konstantinos Xifaras, managing director at DESFA, the natural gas grid operator, has resigned from his post after holding a discussion with the leadership at the energy ministry, Greek media reported referring to the sources. The ministrys top-ranked officials believe Xifarass leadership at DESFA no longer facilitates the operators smooth functioning, nor it is constructive in the effort for an agreement with Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR to complete the operators pending privatization. The operators current president Sotiris Nikas may take on the managing directors role. SOCAR won a tender in 2013 on the purchase of a 66-percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros. Earlier, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said that the deal on SOCAR's purchasing the 66-percent share in Greece's DESFA will be completed after Italy's Snam purchases 17 percent of that share. In July 2016, Greek Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Panos Skourletis accused the European Commission of delaying the deal on selling a share in Greece's DESFA to SOCAR. Skourletis said that a number of conditions, set by the European Commission, greatly slowed the privatization process of the gas operator. In particular, the company will become a passive shareholder, not entitled to vote in the management of the company, as a result of decreasing SOCARs share in DESFA up to 49 percent. Greek MPs stressed that the problems with the privatization of DESFA may deprive the countrys economy of SOCARs huge capital injections. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Aygun Badalova - Trend: Greece is working to overcome snags in the sale of its natural gas grid operator DESFA to Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR, Reuters reported referring to Greek energy ministry officials. "The government is open to talks with all involved parties for the process to conclude smoothly," one of the officials said without naming the parties. "Talks continue in a constructive manner." SOCAR won a tender in 2013 on the purchase of a 66-percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros. Earlier, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said that the deal on SOCAR's purchasing the 66-percent share in Greece's DESFA will be completed after Italy's Snam purchases 17 percent of that share. In July 2016, Greek Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Panos Skourletis accused the European Commission of delaying the deal on selling a share in Greece's DESFA to SOCAR. Skourletis said that a number of conditions, set by the European Commission, greatly slowed the privatization process of the gas operator. In particular, the company will become a passive shareholder, not entitled to vote in the management of the company, as a result of decreasing SOCARs share in DESFA up to 49 percent. Greek MPs stressed that the problems with the privatization of DESFA may deprive the countrys economy of SOCARs huge capital injections. Earlier Director General of SOCAR Energy Greece Anar Mammadov said that SOCAR expects compromise proposals from the Greek government for the successful completion of the deal. He said that the new rules for calculating tariffs for gas in Greece will have a negative impact on the profitability of DESFA. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: Kyrgyzstans President Almazbek Atambayev took a short vacation to undergo a medical examination, the presidential press service reported Sept. 20. The vacation will presumably last until Oct. 1, 2016, the press service added. Yesterday Atambayev suddenly felt ill on the way to New York and was advised by his doctors to pass a preliminary medical exam. The exam discovered some symptoms of possible heart problems. Atambayev had to cancel his visit to the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York as a result. The Kyrgyz delegation in the UN General Assembly will be led by Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova Tehran, Iran, September 19 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: The new British envoy in Iran, Nicholas Hopton hopes that during his tenure in Tehran, the tourism industry will see a huge boom in the land of the rich Persian culture. I think Iran offers huge potential for a developed tourism market as it used to have in the past," the ambassador said Sept. 19 in an interview with Trend - his first with a news agency since appointment. Hopton said that there is a great deal of interest from the British tourists and companies to explore and get to know Irans fantastic history and cultural heritage and enjoy the cuisine of Iran and the geography, he said. Hopton was appointed as ambassador to Iran on September 5, after five years of disrupted diplomatic ties between Iran and the UK. Hopton previously served as the UK's ambassador to Qatar, and helped improve the tourism between the UK and the Arab country. Especially now that British Airways is flying directly between the countries, I would expect the tourism market to expand rapidly and in a very positive way benefiting the relationship between the two countries, Hopton said. A Boeing 777 of British Airways landed in Tehran September 2 after four years of the airways no flights to the Islamic Republic. The flights had been stopped in 2012 under international sanctions on Iran. Hopton also welcomed the reopening of British and Iranian embassies as a major step toward the improvement of mutual relations, especially in the field of economy. We now have a very positive platform of full diplomatic relations to move the relationships forward across all the sectors. Britain and Iran called their ambassadors home in 2011 amid tautened political relations. Tehran, Iran, Sept. 19 By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend: CAPA Center for Aviation, a provider of independent aviation market information and analysis, says whether Iran manages to buy new aircraft depends on a green light from the US, despite the fact that the aviation group held a high-level conference in Tehran to help find a way to push through Irans aircraft deals. At the end of the day it comes down to what happens in Washington. Unfortunately thats what we were hearing here today, but also every other day in the world, CAPA Executive Chairman Peter Harbison told Trend September 19 on the sidelines of the conference. During the conference, the parties, including Iran Minister of Transport Abbas Akhondi and foreign officials as high-level as UK Ambassador to Tehran Nicholas Hopton and his French and Australian counterparts Francois Senemaud and Ian Biggs, discussed the situation under which Irans attempts to buy airplanes have been hampered by the US despite the removal of sanctions. Speaking on the first day of the conference on September 18, Akhondi blamed the US Treasury restrictions as the only snag that makes Irans airplane purchase deals impossible. Right after the sanctions were removed in January, Iran signed a deal with Airbus over 118 new airplanes. Tehran made a similar deal with Boeing in a bid to refurbish its ageing fleet. US approval of Irans purchase of Airbus aircraft is necessary because more than 10 percent of components of Airbus planes are of American origin. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has refrained from sanctioning business deals with Iran. Deputy Managing Director of Boeing Martin Benturd said September 16 that the company is prepared to sell planes to Iran, adding however that the sales should be permitted by the OFAC. Intense competition between two giant aircraft manufacturers has posed obstacles over Irans purchase of Airbus planes. Meanwhile, the US is seeking to resolve the issue of a possible deal on exporting Boeing aircraft to Iran before issuing the authorization for Airbus purchase. Harbison further expressed hope that the conference in Tehran will help as much as it can to ease the restrictions. The most benefit is talking about these issues in the open and exchanging views, that is the main benefit. So, I think that is the good part of it, we can echo that and that is the role we are playing, the CAPA chairman said. Alternate Minister of European Affairs Nikos Xydakis, participated in the meeting of the European Ministers from the Party of European Socialists (PES) today. Harlem Desir, Chair of the PES GAC Network, extended a warm thanky you to our country since, as he said, in the meeting the European Progressive Ministers had on the 10th of September in Athens, there was a real debate on European economic and social cohesion issues, which will lead to a new European vision by means of right and proper contributions. The Ministers of Portugal and Malta seconded the aforementioned and sided with Germany and Sweden in voicing skepticism or even criticism as to the political outcome of the Bratislava Summit. In his address Alternate Minister Xydakis said that, unfortunately, in Bratislava not even some productive compromise was reached ahead of the Rome Summit of March 2017, which will be commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Rome. On the contrary, divergence and discrepancies among the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament became more apparent, as is the case with the Old and the New Europe. The Alternate FM for European Affairs pointed out that Germany is trying to proffer a unifying frame and help bridge differences, nonetheless certain countries continue to harbour notions, such as flexible solidarity, which run counter to the very Founding Treaties of the EU. We will need to put a convincing and appealing European vision in place in view of the Summit in Rome or else fear and authoritarianism will eventually prevail. The European Union can only proceed as a democratic Union, with social and political priorities for its citizens, and not as an area for the movement of goods and capital. Should we, progressive statespersons, fail to speak in political and combative terms, the voice of the far-right will end up sounding antisystemic-like, N. Xydakis concluded. Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias met his peer, Yun Byung-se, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, on Monday, September 19. During their meeting the two Ministers agreed to promote deeper bilateral cooperation and inaugurate a political consultation process between their Ministries. Actually the two Ministers exchanged mutual invitations for reciprocal visits in the near future. They also agreed to host Greek Week in the Republic of Korea to celebrate the culture of Greece and have a Week dedicated to Korean culture in Greece prior to the Winter Olympic Games, which are due in the city of PyeongChang, in the Republic of Korea, in 2018. Last, the two Foreign Ministers discussed topical issues of mutual and global concern, the Korean Foreign Minister expressing satisfaction with the consistent stance of Greece on the issue of nuclear tests conducted by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. On Wednesday September 21, the first trilateral meeting between Greece, Cyprus and Palestine will be held in the framework of the 71st Session and the high-level Week of UNGA, with the participation of the respective Ministers, Nikos Kotzias, Ioannis Kasoulidis and Riad Malki. Thereafter, Foreign Minister N. Kotzias is having meetings with his Libyan counterpart Mohamed Taha Siala and Amos J. Hochstein, US Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy affairs. Next, he is meeting with Qatari Foreign Affairs Minister, Sheik Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, as well as Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Additionally, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will take part in the meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Finally, Foreign Minister Kotzias is going to attend the reception his German counterpart F.-W. Steinmeier is hosting to mark the official start of Germanys campaign for a non-permanent UN Security Council seat in 2019-2020. In the framework of the 71st Session and the high-level Week of the UN General Assembly in New York City, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias met, on Tuesday, September 20th, with Bolivian Foreign Affairs Minister, David Choquehuanca Cespedes. During this meeting, the two Ministers discussed a range of issues of mutual and global concern as well as ways to boost the bilateral cooperation. The two Ministers had the opportunity to talk about the Greek initiative of establishing the GC9, an Organisation of the ten oldest world cultures and civilisations, including Bolivias. Actually, Foreign Minister Kotzias extended an invitation for his Bolivian counterpart to take part in the upcoming Conference which is due shortly in Athens, in the context of this initiative. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: An Iranian senior official has called for increasing the volume of trade turnover with Azerbaijan by at least 300 percent over the next year. Hossin Esfahbodi, an Iranian deputy minister of industry, mine and trade, told Trend that the volume of trade turnover between the two countries currently stands at about $100 million but it must increase considerably. Elaborating on existing trade capacities between the two countries, the deputy minister said that the current level of turnover is not satisfactory and it must surpass $300 million over the next year. Esfahbodi made the remarks on the sidelines of the ongoing Iran Project 2016 in Azerbaijan, Baku. Over 50 Iranian companies specializing in oil, gas, construction, pharmaceutical, car making and other industrial spheres have showcased their capabilities during the three-day exhibition. Saying that short distance between Iran and Azerbaijan creates a proper opportunity for traders from both countries, the deputy minister called for expansion of cooperation in both, oil and non-oil sectors. The volume of trade turnover between the two countries soared by 70 percent over the first seven months of the current year. According to Azerbaijani officials, Iranian companies have already invested $2.6 billion in Azerbaijans economy. About $145 million of the total amount has gone to the non-oil sector. This is while some 450 companies with Iranian share operate in Azerbaijan. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $122.08 million in January-August 2016, $30.66 million of which accounted for the export of Azerbaijani goods to Iran, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Five countries including China, UAE, Iraq, Turkey, and South Korea imported 67 percent of Iran's total non-oil goods in terms of value in the first five months of current Iranian fiscal year (March 20- Aug. 21, 2016). China was the main importer of goods from Iran in the mentioned period. The country's imports accounted for 17.8 percent of Iran's total exports in terms of value, according to the latest statistics released by Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI). Iran exported $3.405 billion worth of goods to China during the five-month period, indicating a rise by 3 percent year-on-year. Iran also exported $2.914 billion worth of goods to the UAE (16 percent fall), which marks 15.3 percent of Iran's total exports value. Iraq ($2.485 billion), Turkey (with $2.251 billion), South Korea ($1.741 billion), India ($1.256 billion), Afghanistan ($964 million), Japan ($549 million), Pakistan ($333 million) and Oman ($321 million) were other top importers of Iranian goods. Iran's exports to South Korea registered a huge rise by 1407 percent in the period, meanwhile the country's exports to UAE and Iraq decreased by 16 and 2 percent. Tehran's exports to the Turkey and India increased by 9 and 10 percent respectively compared with the 5-month period of preceding year. Meanwhile Afghanistan and Japan imports from Iran witnessed fall by 8 and 13 percent respectively during the same period. Tehran, Iran, September 20 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Mojtaba Zonnuri, member of the Iranian Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said that the Iran-40 (Arak heavy water facility) will continue to run in full force. The Arak heavy water production factory goes on to work nonstop as it did before the JCPOA, he said after visiting the facility along with some other members of the commission, Fars news agency reported September 20. Irans commitments about the reactor under the JCPOA have also been fully implemented, the lawmaker noted. He went on to say that Iranian, Chinese, and US officials are holding their regular talks over redesigning the reactor. The reactor core which was filled with concrete has been removed and room has been made for the new reactor to be installed and start operating, he stated. Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to redesign the IR-40 reactor, with assistance from the P5+1, to minimize its plutonium production and avoid production of weapons-grade plutonium. Iran also agreed to remove the reactor core or calandria and fill it with concrete to render it unusable, and to export all spent fuel within one year of its removal from the reactor. Sorry for the inconvenience but we are performing some redevelopment at the moment. we will be back online shortly! Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs & Tourism (MICAT) CASEVILLE The members of the Caseville Historical Society had their monthly meeting on Sept. 15 at Maccabee Hall, 6733 Prospect St. in Caseville. There were 19 members present. President Rich Bass opened the meeting with the sad news of the death of Bruce Leipprandt, a long-time member of the group. A moment of silence was observed in Leipprandts memory. The treasurers report and the minutes from the previous meeting were presented to the group and approved with no changes. Bass opened the meeting with a welcome for all. He reminded attendees of the upcoming Historical Society of Michigans History Skills workshop on basic archives. The workshop will be Oct. 7 in Lansing. Bass said the Huron County Historical Society will be meeting at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13 in Maccabee Hall. Audrey Jesmore volunteered to coordinate refreshments for the county meeting. Volunteers will be needed to bring in snacks. Maccabee Hall will also be the site for the Oct. 10 Caseville City Council meeting. Members were reminded the societys October meeting will be the annual meeting for the election of officers. Bass said four trustee terms are expiring and a nominating committee of Joyce Miller, Audrey Jesmore and Gloria Peterson has been appointed to suggest candidates for those openings. A sign-up sheet was circulated asking for members to work at the museum to help keep the doors open. Membership Committee Chairwoman Mary Taylor reported there were two new members. Bill Sova is a senior member and Warren Kappen of Caseville Resort is a new sponsor member. Reporting for the Events Committee, Joyce Miller said the museum had between 1,400 and 1,500 visitors over the Cheeseburger in Caseville event. Dave Vizard updated everyone regarding the up-coming Classic Car Show sponsored by Moore Shoreline Auto Dealership. The show is scheduled to take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 24. Automotive memorabilia is already being collected and is on display in the museum. Additional items for display are welcome and may be brought to the museum anytime it is open between now and Sept. 24. Entrants to the car show will receive a commemorative key ring. There will be 20 winning vehicles and a Peoples Choice awarded by a vote of attendees. Refreshments will be sold by the Caseville School Boosters. Other up-coming events include the Michigan in the Civil War presentation to take place in the Caseville School Auditorium. A date has not yet been established for this event. The Christmas Dinner will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 11. Tickets for this event will be available at the October meeting. Donations of items for the auction that will take place following the dinner, are being accepted and may be brought to the museum. Bass suggested an Old Fashioned Checkers Tournament to take place at the museum during Shanty Days in February. The group expressed an interest in further consideration of this event. Reporting for the Archival and Museum Committee, Bass said 123 visitors, in addition to the Cheeseburger attendees, toured the museum over the past month. Bass said items had been donated over the past month from Jack Perry, Ruth Depner, Bud McCormick, Marilyn George, Sheryll Twork and Ron Rogers. Miller said the hunting cabin display is pretty much complete, with the addition of a few items to be completed over the next few days. As chairman of the Genealogy Committee, Barb Eimers is available the first Thursday of each month at 1 p.m. at Maccabee Hall to assist persons interested in researching family histories. Research materials are available at the museum, and Eimers can help guide a persons search. Reporting for the Development Committee, Bass said the upstairs project is nearly complete. A few things remain to be done and will be competed as time is available. Bass offered up a big Thanks to D&D Construction, Last Call Drywall, All Pointes Services, Jim Flock Plumbing, Centerline Heating & Cooling and Caseville True Value Hardware for their help in getting this project nearly finished. The next meeting will take place Oct. 20. All meetings are open to the public, and everyone is invited to attend. Meetings are a great way to meet and interact with persons interested in preserving the history of the Caseville area. For more information, call 989-856-9090, visit www.thehchs.org/caseville, e-mail chscm@comcast.net, or like the group on Facebook. MEADE TOWNSHIP A fire completely destroyed a shed and its contents, causing around $60,000 worth of damage at a residence at 4236 North Pinnebog Road Sunday afternoon. According to Kinde Assistant Fire Chief Adam Zimmerman, firefighters were called to the scene around 4:30 p.m., where the 20 by 30 foot wooden pole barn was completely engulfed in flames. A total of 25 firefighters from several departments were on scene for about two hours fighting the blaze. Zimmerman said the shed was a complete loss, as well as a Jeep that was inside, some chain saws and firewood. A cause has yet to be determined, but it is suspected it could have started with the vehicle, which was hooked up to a battery charger. Homeowner James VanValkenberg was home at the time, but he was not injured. Tehran, Iran, September 20 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for sectarian tolerance and amity in a region of rampant extremism and hatred. Any kind of insult to the Sunni elite will in fact make it impossible to hear the logical, well-founded bases for believing in the Imamah (religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Islamic nation), he said. Khamenei made a public speech on the occasion of the Shia celebration of Eid al-Ghadeer, which glorifies the nomination of the first Shia Imam, Ayatollah Khameneis official website reported September 20. It is in fact an English version of Shiism to agitate the sentiments of other Islamic sects under the name of Shia, which will result in the formation of such vile groups and hirelings of the US and the British (Secret) Intelligence Service as Daesh (the Islamic State, aka IS, ISIS, ISIL) and Al-Nusrah (Front), which have committed many a crime and wrought much havoc in the region. The terrorist group IS took great swathes of land to the west of Iran in Iraq and Syria in 2014 and continues to be a threat to the regional countries, including Iran. Iranian officials dismiss the IS for misusing religion to attain political and economic goals through extreme acts of terror. HARBOR BEACH The nationally acclaimed Michigan Libraries for Life program is expanding its statewide participation for the seventh consecutive year. The partnership, led by the University of Michigans Taubman Health Sciences Library and Gift of Life Michigan, was recognized by Donate Life America in 2015 as the top organ, tissue and eye donation promotional activity in the country, and has received an $18,000 grant from the Gift of Life Foundation to reach an even greater number of Michigan residents this year. This seven day campaign involves more than 100 libraries across the state, each inspiring local residents to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, and educating them on the facts of organ, tissue and eye donation. Tehran, Iran, September 19 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Australian Ambassador to Iran Ian Biggs says the flow of illegal Iranian asylum seekers to his country has undermined the legal procedure of issuing visas. When refugees enter Australia through illegal channels, it complicates the process of encouraging other visitors of issuing visas in regular circumstances, Biggs told Trend September 19. Thats the trickiest part We need to have confidence in the process of granting visas in both directions. A 2015 report estimated that some 9000 Iranians were seeking asylum in Australia. Almost 300 Iranian asylum seekers were then on Manus Island and 166 on Nauru. Another 440 Iranians were in detention centers on the Australian mainland, while 8000 had been issued bridging visas. In June of 2015, Iranian and Australian officials met in Canberra to discuss the issue of Iranian asylum seekers held in immigration detention by Australia. There are many Iranians who come to Australia happily and legally and directly and that works very well But the asylum seekers continue to be subject to discussion between the two governments, the Australian ambassador stated. The only thing I can say at this stage is that discussions continue between the Iranian and Australian governments at foreign ministry level and between foreign ministers to find dignified and humane approaches to the irregular immigration, he noted. Russian and US officials will hold urgent meetings on Monday night and Tuesday to discuss the collapse of the ceasefire in Syria, according to a US official, Sputnik International reported. "We are also going to be meeting with the Russians at high levels to try to get a sense from them about where they think Syrian ceasefire can go from here," the US official said. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that an airstrike on aid workers on Monday has done significant harm to the peace plan. "What happened today has dealt a serious blow to our efforts to bring peace to Syria," the official stated, claiming that the aid workers were hit by a strike not launched by the US-led coalition. Over the weekend, US-led airstrikes struck a Syrian Army position, killing 62 servicemen and injuring 100 more. US Central Command has admitted responsibility for the strike, claiming it mistook the Syrian forces for Daesh terrorists. In addition to American fighters, the UK, Australia, and Denmark were also involved in the incident. Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses. This segment offers financial products and services through branches, automated teller machines, and mobile sales network. Its Wealth Management segment provides a suite of advice-based solutions and strategies to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, and institutional clients. The company's Insurance segment offers life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities, and reinsurance advice and solutions; and business insurance services to individual, business, and group clients through its advice centers, RBC insurance stores, and mobile advisors; digital, mobile, and social platforms; independent brokers; and travel partners. Its Investor & Treasury Services segment provides asset servicing, custody, payments, and treasury services to financial and other investors; and fund and investment administration, shareholder, private capital, performance measurement and compliance monitoring, distribution, transaction banking, cash and liquidity management, foreign exchange, and global securities finance services. The company's Capital Markets segment offers corporate and investment banking, as well as equity and debt origination, distribution, advisory services, sale, and trading services for corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, private equity firms, and governments. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The Turkish military said Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters had taken control of two residential areas from Daesh, Anadolu reported. In a statement, the Turkish General Staff said the Sandarah and Kardish areas, located in Syria's Al-Rai town, were taken as part of Operation Euphrates Shield. This operation began last month and saw the FSA, backed by Turkish Armed Forces, take the city of Jarabulus from Daesh. The two areas lie to the west of the town of Al-Rai, known as Cobanbey in Turkish. Mondays statement added that a total area of 900 square kilometers (347 miles) had been cleansed of terrorists. The statement also said 75 Daesh targets were hit with 289 rounds from Firtina [storm] howitzers by the Turkish army in northern Syria. The statement added that over 760 Daesh targets had been struck since the start of Operation Euphrates Shield on Aug. 24. The venerable Vietnam-era OH-58D Kiowa scout helicopters have done the job as the valued eyes and ears of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, but today's more complex battlefields demand the switchover to AH-64 Apaches, Col. Erik Gilbert said Monday. In a telephone conference from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Gilbert, commander of the 82nd Airborne's Combat Aviation Brigade, said the Army's "last pure Kiowa Squadron," now deployed to South Korea, is preparing for the switch. When the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, returns to Fort Bragg early next year, the Kiowas will likely be available for foreign sales; some will be put in storage; and others may go to the National Guard, Gilbert said. "This rotation will be the final Kiowa Warrior Squadron mission in the Army," Gilbert said of the South Korea deployment. He praised the Kiowa's versatility but said the Apache has more speed, durability and firepower, and "is just a far more capable platform." However, Gilbert acknowledged that the Apaches still can't match the speed at which the smaller and lighter Kiowas can be deployed to a remote airfield and be in the air to provide cover and reconnaissance for ground troops. Kiowas can go aboard C-130 Hercules aircraft and be in the air within a half hour of landing, Gilbert said, while the bigger and heavier Apaches aboard a C-17 Globemaster take three hours. The difference, Gilbert said, is that the Kiowas can simply be pushed off the C-130 while the Apaches have to be winched out of the C-17 and "their blades fold up a little differently." "No other unit in the Army is capable of such rapid night-time employment of AH-64 Apaches," Gilbert said, but "frankly, I think we can get faster." The great advantage of the Apaches will be their ability to marry up with expeditionary Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to provide commanders with more battlefield options. "The UAS is a game-changer for us," Gilbert said. The 82nd Airborne currently has the RQ-7 Shadow UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle, which can be controlled by an Apache crewman to survey enemy positions and relay information to ground forces. For commanders, "it gives them another data source," Gilbert said. In the coming months, the Combat Aviation Brigade also will be acquiring the MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS, similar to the Predator UAV, which has greater range, Gilbert said. Against more advanced enemies, the Apaches tend to loiter low to avoid enemy radar, making it "harder for them to pick out targets," Gilbert said, but the UAVs can provide that intelligence at less risk. The transition from the Kiowa to the Apache was part of the Army's Aviation Restructuring Initiative, a five-year plan aimed at retiring "legacy systems" to make way for newer technologies. The Kiowa first flew in 1966 and was used extensively from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Kiowas first came to Fort Bragg in 1990. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related Video: The last surviving member of the "Doolittle Raiders" who led morale-boosting airstrikes in and around Tokyo during World War II took center stage at this year's Air Force Association conference outside Washington, D.C. Richard E. Cole, the 101-year-old retired lieutenant colonel, was invited by Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to announce the name of the service's new Long Range Strike-Bomber, or LRS-B, to be known as the B-21 Raider in homage of the historic mission. Afterward, Cole appeared on the floor of the show, held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, just south of Washington, D.C., to talk to and pose for pictures with attendees. He also agreed to participate in an on-camera interview with Military.com. Related Video: VIDEO AFA 2016: Doolittle Raider Cole served as co-pilot to Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who led 16 B-25 bombers and 80 crew members from an aircraft carrier in the western Pacific Ocean on a strike to target factory areas and military installations in and around Tokyo on April 18, 1942 -- a successful mission that helped boost morale after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Check out Military.com's coverage of the AFA's Air, Space & Cyber conference. "I thought it was quite a nice tribute," Cole said after his appearance on stage. "I would feel a lot better about it if all the guys were here but it's not possible." When asked to describe what he was thinking when he flew from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet on the first American mission to strike the Japanese home islands, he said, "Well, having not flown that long before we didn't know any better. Unfortunately, it was a little bit hairy but we came out unscathed." Cole added, "We were fairly confident but you can't escape the fact that you have to entertain other ideas that might take place. You just grin and bear it." Fifteen of the 16 bombers reached China as intended but either crash-landed or required crew to bail out. The other aircraft landed in the then-Soviet Union. When asked what the most memorable part of the mission was, he said, "I think the most important thing I remember is when the parachute opened." Cole laughed and said he was "very much" relieved it did. "All of us were very happy that we lived up to our training and we did what we were supposed to do," he said. "The flight was designed to do two things: one, to let the Japanese people know that they could be struck by air; and the other thing was the morale, and we did that so we were very proud of that." -- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry. The Air Force will consolidate eight locations it uses to train its battlefield airmen into "three or four," the head of Air Education Training Command said Monday. "This is a very important piece of our warfighting capability," Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson told reporters during a briefing at the Air Force Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference outside Washington, D.C. "Modernization and recapitalization for our battlefield airmen is occurring across five strategic pillars" -- recruiting; manpower and leadership; equipment; infrastructure; and curriculum, he said. The current centers are scattered around seven states, forcing airmen to move back and forth too much, Roberson said. "Every time we need to send an airman [somewhere different], we lose a week of training." The consolidation, which could take more than a year, is designed to provide improved infrastructure with enhanced aquatic training for combat rescue and other missions. "Right now, we do not have an adequate pool, aquatic training facility," Roberson said. "We're doing it, but when we consolidate to the three or four, we're going to be able to hopefully build a new aquatic system." The service is conducting environmental assessment surveys for the following eight locations: Eglin Air Force Base, Patrick AFB and Hurlburt Field in Florida; Joint Base San Antonio, Texas; Keesler AFB, Mississippi; Little Rock AFB, Arkansas; Shaw AFB, South Carolina; and Vandenberg AFB, California. The Air Force in June stood up a Battlefield Airman Group dedicated to "train the service's ground component at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland." The unit is designed to address a "growing need for 'fifth-generation warriors' who integrate air and ground operations on the joint battlefield," according to an Air Force release. The group replaced the 342nd Training Squadron, which incorporated entry-level training for pararescue, combat control, special operations weather, and tactical air control party airmen. Training Stress A tragedy at the 342nd in April has led the Air Force to re-evaluate the battlefield program and how it responds to airmen who want to quit. On April 8, Tech. Sgt. Steven D. Bellino shot and killed Lt. Col. William Schroeder, the squadron commander, and then took his own life. Bellino, 41, allegedly quit the program after a contested swim test last year. A few days later, he went absent without official leave. After he was charged with going AWOL, Bellino sought an administrative discharge including nonjudicial punishment. However, the Air Force had yet to process the discharge, according to Daniel Conway, his attorney at the time. The events that took place that day are still under investigation. "We have been engaged since the moment and even before that happened," Roberson said in regard to the shooting. "Training is very tough. It's very demanding. There's no doubt. And we immediately did a quick, 'What do we think happened here, and what can we do to try to make sure this doesn't happen again?' " Roberson said changes to the battlefield program are constantly being evaluated to avoid future misfortune. For example, "when a member of the battlefield airman training system declares that they want to quit or stop their training, there was in place by law a process that everyone had to go through. That process, we think, could be done a little bit quicker, more smoothly," which has now been amended through additional policies, he said. "We have a process, we have a system; it's law based. There's legal pieces, and it just takes time," Roberson said. "What we're trying to do is expedite, help that, make it smoother and faster, with commander input when these kind of things happen." Roberson added there will be other, streamlined processes added to better assist airmen who have previously served in sister services. Bellino had served in the Army prior to joining the Air Force. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@Oriana0214. The United States and China agreed to invigorate cooperation in the United Nations Security Council after North Korea's fifth nuclear test and also said they would strengthen cooperation on law enforcement channels, the White House said in a statement, Reuters reported. China and the United States have started discussions on a possible U.N. sanctions resolution in response to the test earlier this month, UN diplomats had said. Despite Flipping in Surf 4 Times in a Year, Marines Say New ACV Is the Future of Amphibious Warfare Some Marine veterans familiar with the vehicle and its operations have worried about the reliability of the ACV. A mandatory "operational pause" for all Marine F/A-18 Hornet squadrons in August allowed the units to review procedures in hopes of reversing an increase in ground mishaps, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller told Military.com this month. The 24-hour stand-down, reported in early August, came after two Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornets crashed within a week of each other. On July 28, Maj. Richard Norton of Marine Attack Fighter Squadron 232 was killed when his aircraft went down during training near Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. Days later on Aug. 2, a Navy pilot was injured after ejecting from a Hornet from the same squadron that had been on loan to Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada's Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Detachment. That squadron also suffered tragedy last October, when Marine Maj. Taj Sareen went down with his Hornet near Royal Air Force Airfield Lakenheath in England while returning to the U.S. after a six-month deployment to the Middle East. But in a brief interview Sept. 15, Neller said the operational pause was focused on lower-level Class C mishaps -- those nonfatal accidents causing between $50,000 and $500,000 worth of damage to aircraft, or injuries that result in lost work hours. Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. Jon Davis told lawmakers in July that aviation Class C mishaps had nearly doubled over the past year, a phenomenon he struggled to explain. "Our real focus on the stand-down was Class C things, things that were happening on the ground and were clearly avoidable by folks following [tactics, techniques and procedures] and paying a little more attention to detail and leaders doing a better job of supervising," Neller said. "So I think Gen. Davis' intent was to get after that, and I'm confident he did." According to a Marine Corps quarterly safety newsletter published in May, the service was already at 32 Class C aviation mishaps for the year then, compared to 55 Class C mishaps for the entire previous year. Those 32 mishaps cost the service more than $1.8 million and resulted in almost four years in cumulative lost flight days. "In the last eighteen months, the Marine Corps lost nearly eleven years of aircraft availability to Class C mishaps!" the newsletter states. "The average aircraft requires fifty-five days of work before its next flight. In more extreme cases, the aircraft is unavailable for fifteen months or more. This translates to 7.2 aircraft that are unavailable every day due to Class C mishaps." Neller suggested the issue came down to attention to detail and precision on the part of the aircraft maintainers. "It's hard to bring your A-game every day, but that's what we're asking Marines to do every day, is bring their A-game," he said. "We've got to keep every airplane we have in the best condition we can make it so it can fly, so the air crew can get their hours, and we can go where we have to go." Despite three Hornet crashes in a year and the horrific collision of CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters in January that killed all 12 Marines aboard the two aircraft, Neller and other Marine officials maintain there is no link between the crashes and readiness shortfalls that have limited pilot flight hours. "Our accident rate, we never want to have any accidents, but it's pretty consistent," Neller said. Due to tight budgets, a high operational tempo, and delays in planned modernization, Marine officials are working to claw back from a plunge in aircraft mission-capable rates. "We're working really hard on aviation, because we've dug ourselves a deep hole," Neller said. "We're digging ourselves out. It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to happen if we get consistent, stable funding of parts and sustainment, and we get new airplanes." -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck. Related Video: Depending on your PT test, the order of swimming may best be determined by where it is in the order of events of that test. It seems rather unlikely that the Astros will receive further contributions in 2016 from lefty Dallas Keuchel or infielder Alex Bregman, according to updates from GM Jeff Luhnow, via MLB.coms Brian McTaggart (Twitter links). Theres at least some positive momentum, though, for righty Lance McCullers Jr., who Luhnow says will throw off of a mound in the coming days, as Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Keuchel, who is dealing with shoulder inflammation, wouldnt be available unless the team is able to qualify for and go pretty deep in the postseason, per Luhnow. He has yet to begin throwing at this time, Kaplan tweets, so theres obviously a long way to go. The 28-year-old last appeared on August 27th, so hed certainly need to fully build back his arm strength even if the inflammation dies down. The timeline isnt much more optimistic for Bregman, whose hamstring injury is significant enough that it would typically require a four to six week layoff. While Luhnow suggests that its possible to push a recovery in this situation, even an aggressive timetable would seemingly leave the talented youngster unavailable until early October. McCullers, meanwhile, has been out for much longer than the other two players with elbow issues. News on his progress has been limited since his last appearance on August 2nd. Presumably, the Stros will continue to exercise caution with the prized 22-year-old. But its at least promising to hear that he is now in a position to begin working back toward mound work. Whats clear is that Houston wont receive any contributions from this key trio of players down the stretch. With a three-game gap between the club and a Wild Card spot entering todays action, itll take a huge showing over the next two weeks just to gain a chance at the playoffs. If the Astros can somehow sneak in and escape the one-game Wild Card play-in game itll be interesting to see if any of the three are ready for activation for a full postseason series. Self-driving Uber (Uber) DETROIT - The argument in favor of more automated vehicles on U.S. roads is they will improve safety and efficiency. But the key to allowing both of those factors to take hold is to have the federal government play a role that does not hinder the development of self-driving cars, while also ensuring the technology's growing presence is not chaotic. That's the message from the U.S. Department of Transportation, as it rolls out long-awaited guidelines for the burgeoning technology, which is already on U.S. roads in various forms. Calling it the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy, the DOT said Monday it sets what is supposed to be a uniform standard for automakers and others developing self-driving cars. Here are 12 key things to know about the new guidelines: 1. It's all about balance It's all about striking a balance between keeping the technology's development safe while not hindering the progress of automakers and tech companies, both of which have been throwing their proverbial hats into the autonomous-vehicle ring. But in its policy report, the DOT says it sees automated vehicles as a revolutionary step forward in personal transportation, likening it to when personal automobiles were first popularized almost a century ago. 2. A new way of vehicle safety regulation For automakers especially, one major change the policy calls for would be for companies to certify the automated vehicles with a 15-point safety checklist before they could be sold. Currently, manufacturers self-certify their vehicles, including semi-automated systems. The DOT said that a more proactive approach is necessary so that safety can be addressed on the front-end of development in a transparent manner, rather than scrambling to keep up with new technologies. "New technologies developed in the 20th century, like seat belts and air bags, were once controversial but have now saved hundreds of thousands of American lives," DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. "This is the first in a series of proactive approaches, including the release of a rule on Vehicle to Vehicle communications, which will bring lifesaving technologies to the roads safely and quickly while leaving innovators to dream up new safety solutions." 3. There are 4 key areas In addition to the 15-point checklist (key area 1), the new federal guidelines focus on building a consistent national framework of regulation across state lines (2); on using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's current tools to accelerate the development of automated vehicles (3) and giving the NHTSA new tools to regulate automated vehicles and their safety. 4. NHTSA mostly focused on "Level 3" autonomy and above The NHTSA will use the five-level scale of autonomy developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers, and its assessments will mostly affect vehicles developed at "Level 3" or higher. Level 3 autonomy denotes a vehicle that is controlled by a computer system but in which a human driver can intervene. Level-4 and -5 vehicles are fully automated, and do not have human intervention. However, the DOT said some portions of the policy apply to lower-level automation, including some of the driver-assist features already found in newer vehicles. 5. States would have control over things such as licenses, liability While federal regulators would govern the self-driving cars, states would still oversee the licensing and liability of the people who use them. For example, the policy documents say states "should consider how to allocate liability among (automated vehicle) owners, operators, passengers, manufacturers, and others when a crash occurs. For example, if an (automated vehicle) is determined to be at fault in a crash then who should be held liable? For insurance, States need to determine who (owner, operator, passenger, manufacturer, etc.) must carry motor vehicle insurance." And it will be up to the states to determine who or what, exactly, is the driver of an automated vehicle. States could even say in some instances that a crash involving a human driver could be the liability of a manufacturer who made the self-driving system. 6. Open to public comment The DOT plans to issue another policy update within a year, and then continue to update it annually. The policy is open to public comment for 60 days. You can view it at www.transportation.gov/AV. 7. Decided by Congress Much of the more drastic changes in the policy guidelines, including those that go beyond the NHTSA's current authority, will likely need to be decided by the next Presidential administration and Congress. 9. Ethical questions persist The DOT has acknowledged there remain many questions on how computers will fare in ethical situations. For example, if the system controlling a self-driving car needs to make a split-second decision and its only options are to hit a metal pole, seriously injuring or killing its occupants, or to swerve and injure or kill a pedestrian, which would and should it choose? Such a scenario can be altered in a seemingly infinite number of ways, and it's why some industry observers believe fully autonomous vehicles without drivers are still decades from becoming a reality on public roads. 10. Some affected companies welcomed the new guidelines A group that represents affected companies, including Ford, Google, Lyft, Uber and Volvo Cars, welcomed the policy guidelines. "This is an important step forward in establishing the basis of a national framework for the deployment of self-driving vehicles," the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets said in a statement. "Historically, the U.S. has been a pioneer and world leader in automotive technology. A federal approach to the self-driving industry will be key to enhancing motor vehicle safety while continuing to promote U.S. leadership, competitiveness and innovation. The operating guidance will help create the foundation necessary to inform industry and future regulatory and legislative efforts." 11. And so did some Michigan lawmakers U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, said in a statement that as a co-chair of the House Smart Transportation Caucus, she looks forward to reviewing the guidelines, and will look to Congress to help ensure the U.S. becomes a global leader in safety and innovation as it pertains to mobility. "Importantly, Michigan's American Center for Mobility will have a clear role to play here, and I look forward to working with Secretary Foxx and NHTSA to define that moving forward," Dingell said. And Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, said he is "pleased that this guidance encourages the auto industry in America to continue their collaborative work with partners in government and academia to develop, test and validate connected and automated vehicle technologies." "This work is already well underway in Michigan at testing facilities like Mcity in Ann Arbor, and will soon be taking place on a larger scale at the American Center for Mobility in Ypsilanti, which will serve as a model public-private partnership for stakeholders seeking to shape the future of transportation in this country." 12. 'Wild West' reigned in In general, Michael Harley, an analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said the policy guidelines should help "standardize the Wild West chaos" that the rapidly evolving technology seems to currently be occupying. "The new rules and guidelines will spell out design and operation specifics that will increase uniformity across the industry, improve safety for passengers and pedestrians and educate drivers on the current engineering limits of automated vehicles," Harley said. "The DOT and NHTSA have committed to reviewing and updating the policy annually, which is rational considering that automated vehicles will be the biggest challenge each will face over the next decade." GM Oshawa Workers at GM's Oshawa Assembly Plant celebrate production of the Chevrolet Equinox in 2010. (GM) DETROIT - General Motors and Unifor tentatively agreed to a new contract that will put new investment at the Detroit automaker's facilities in Canada. The two sides seemed to be standing across a chasm from each other when negotiations began, as GM's plant in Oshawa, Ontario in particular had products that were set to be phased out with no replacements on the horizon. The threat of a strike loomed as a deadline neared Monday night. But Unifor President Jerry Dias told reporters early Tuesday morning that Oshawa and GM's other plants have been promised "hundreds of millions of dollars, therefore our fear of closure in 2019 is now over." Though details still need to be ironed out, GM's plant in Oshawa will be the only facility in North America that will be able to produce both cars and trucks, Dias said. And GM's plant in St. Catharines will see volume shifting there from Mexico, the kind of move that runs counter to what much of Canada and the U.S. Midwest has seen in a post-NAFTA world in recent decades. "It really turns the tide of what has transpired in the auto industry in this country for a decade," Dias said of the tentative agreement, to which both bargaining committees have unanimously agreed. The tentative agreement comes as GM has been seeing record profits but also as automakers have been shifting some production - especially that of small cars - to Mexico. About 2,600 workers currently build the Chevrolet Impala, Equinox, Buick Regal and Cadillac XT5 on a flex line at the Oshawa site. The facility lost production of the Chevrolet Camaro last year as the pony car's assembly was shifted to GM's Lansing Grand River Plant. GM employs a total of about 6,600 Unifor members at sites in Ingersoll, St. Catherines and Oshawa. Unifor selected GM to lead negotiations for new contracts with Detroit automakers. It begins negotiations with either Fiat Chrysler or Ford Motor Co. next - on Tuesday morning it had not yet said which. The union's contract with GM was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Monday while FCA and Ford's contracts had been extended. Heading into negotiations, Unifor members voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike, with margins of 97 percent at GM, 99 percent at Ford and 99 percent at FCA. There are about 23,050 Unifor members at the Detroit Three automakers. French President Francois Hollande warned on Tuesday that every country could become a target of a terrorist attack as he urged the United Nations to pull together in the face of this threat, Sputnik reported. France has been tightening security after a spate of attacks by Islamist terrorists claimed hundreds of lives in less than a year. A series of nearly simultaneous bomb and gun attacks in Paris in November 2015 killed 130 people, while a truck attack in Nice on the Bastille Day in July left 86 people dead and prompted France to extend the state of emergency for six months. "Every country is potentially a terrorist target these days," Hollande said. "That is why I expect that the United Nations also takes on its responsibilities." FILM REVIEW 'Snowden' 3 stars (out of 4) MPAA rating: R for language and some sexuality/nudity Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Rhys Ifans Director: Oliver Stone Run time: 134 minutes Oliver Stone has frequently been labeled a political filmmaker, but that's a superficial observation. Whether spinning portraits of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush or depicting the horrors and aftermath of a divisive war in "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July," he frequently transcends the contentious elements of the stories - the stuff of popular debate - and tells stories about people and their inner lives. "Snowden" is a perfect example of this approach. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency systems administrator who, in 2013, famously exposed his employer's morally and legally questionable surveillance program, which accessed the cell phones and webcams of millions of citizens, both in the U.S. and abroad, and now lives in exile, in Russia. Some have labeled him a traitor, and others, a patriot; President Obama famously dismissed him as "a hacker." Stone's film - which clearly labels itself a "dramatization" in a subtitle - lionizes Snowden as a selfless hero pursuing the truth at any cost. The director's conduit into Snowden, the man, beyond Snowden, the icon, is via his significant other. When Snowden first meets Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley), an artist and photographer, she shoots candid pictures of him, and playfully debates his conservative politics with her liberal views. He's fairly new in the government-spy game at this point, working at the Central Intelligence Agency in the counter-terrorism department, where he learns about the government's ability to tap into most any personal device connected to the internet. After a long day working an undercover sting operation of sorts, he goes home to Lindsay, and as they're having sex, he looks over her shoulder to her laptop. It's open. The webcam is pointed at them. Here, Stone makes his revelation, at a vulnerable moment in his protagonist's life. All the security cameras and phones and computers surrounding Snowden are a constant reminder of the burden on his conscience, and the narrative builds on that. Knowing that a photo can be snapped and loaded onto the internet and tagged to a location in a matter of seconds makes Snowden camera-phobic, and in these moments are the genesis of his future plan to reveal classified information to the world, potentially jeopardizing national security - and his own well-being - for a more abstract moral reason: our right to privacy. So Snowden's paranoia is justified, rooted in the rare conspiracy theory rooted in fact, making "Snowden" a far cry from Stone's calculated pot-stirring in perhaps his most famous film, 1991's "JFK." But the director's days of sensationalized storytelling appear to be behind him. The new film is righteous, grounded and reasonable in both point-of-view and visual style - it only occasionally shows flashes of his characteristic patchwork, hyper-edited visual style, which he has tamed considerably in the last decade. The film doesn't feel as if it was shot out of a cannon, like his raucous '90s output (best being the wildly indulgent "Natural Born Killers," worst being the gassy, overbearing "Any Given Sunday"). It seems as if he's determined that a calm, measured statement can be stronger than one bellowed at maximum volume. "Snowden" isn't always a thrilling or suspenseful work - Stone tries hard to compensate by drumming up some tension on the big day, when Snowden hides a computer chip in a Rubik's Cube and smuggles it out of NSA headquarters. But it's a sturdy film on all fronts, relying on Gordon-Levitt's understated performance (he's good at imitating Snowden's stiff vocal mannerisms) and the proliferation of ideas and implications in Snowden's actions and justifications. The film is structured mostly in flashback, bookended by the events of 2013, when Snowden called upon The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) to reveal the NSA documentation, and documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to chronicle it. Poitras' film, "Citizenfour," won an Oscar; "Snowden" follows an almost too-similar dramatic arc, although it digs deeper into the man and his motives. Even after more than two hours of drama both interpersonal and international, Stone doesn't provide much of a satisfying emotional release. But the implication is, this isn't the end of Snowden's story. It's only the beginning. ANN ARBOR, MI - The city of Ann Arbor is going to spend more money than expected on studying options for a new Amtrak train station. The City Council voted 9-1 Monday night, Sept. 19, to approve a $189,883 change to a contract with AECOM/URS Corp., a consultant hired by the city three years ago to work on the Ann Arbor Station project. The extra money is for additional environmental review and public engagement efforts. The City Council approved the original contract in 2013 for conceptual design and environmental review services for $761,791, plus a $63,084 contingency. Eli Cooper, the city of Ann Arbor's transportation program manager, speaks before the City Council on Sept. 19, 2016. The changes to the contract approved Monday night bring the total amount of the contract to $951,674, which includes using the full contingency plus an additional $126,799 from the project budget. Much of the consultant's work is being funded by a federal rail planning grant. Eli Cooper, the city's transportation program manager, explained the original scope of work anticipated environmental review for one preferred alternative in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. But now that the Federal Railroad Administration has asked the city to further consider four options for a new train station -- on both Depot Street and Fuller Road -- the city must prepare a NEPA document for multiple locations. "It does please me to have to bring this before council for these additional resources," Cooper said, going on to explain that, as a condition of accepting FRA funds covering 80 percent of the project costs, the FRA provides guidance and direction regarding the work that must be completed. "At this point in time, the primary reason why we have multiple sites is that the FRA has determined that there are multiple sites that are still, in their view, reasonable alternatives," Cooper said, adding that more detailed information about the four options needs to be put together for public review "as we move forward to bringing a series of alternatives down to a single one." The additional work to be performed at the request of the FRA includes an additional round of public meetings and collection of feedback, development of an initial concept plan that provides both illustrative and narrative descriptions of the four remaining design alternatives, and completion of an environmental assessment of the four design alternatives. Council Member Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, cast the lone dissenting vote on spending the additional money. Sabra Briere, D-1st Ward was absent. Mayor Christopher Taylor said he shares frustrations that the FRA did not give the city more clear direction at the end of what he describes as a very long alternative analysis process, leaving four options on the table for further study. But he said he was happy to be moving forward in the process. "We are interested in providing that which Ann Arborites demand, and that is expanded and improved rail service in the city," he said. "I've knocked a lot of doors over the past couple of years, and whenever rail service comes up there's a lot of head nodding and a lot of we-need-its, and that's truly true." "I suspect we've invested $1 million or more in local tax dollars already," said Council Member Jane Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, taking a guess at the city's costs for train station studies over the last several years. The only way to improve rail service and bring expanded Amtrak service and commuter rail service to Ann Arbor, Taylor said, is through a new station. "So I'm delighted, even if we are moving slowly, that we are moving forward, and so I appreciate the work that staff has done to date on this," he said. "It's been dogged. I appreciate the public conversation that has occurred and will occur and look forward to moving this along." Council Member Jane Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, said she wants to know how much local taxpayer money the city has spent studying options for a new train station over the past several years. The city's staff was unable to confirm the full amount at Monday night's meeting. Back in 2012, Lumm said, the city provided a spreadsheet that indicated $790,000 in local money had been spent on train station studies at that point, and then the council voted in October 2012 to spend another $550,000 from the city's cash reserves as a match for a $2.8 million federal grant. The city's staff indicated in a memo to council on Monday that $159,366 in local money has been spent as a match to the current federal grant, and that represents about 20 percent of the expenses so far under the grant. The anticipated total local funding for the current consultant contract is $190,355, the memo stated. "I suspect we've invested $1 million or more in local tax dollars already," Lumm said, taking a guess at the city's costs for train station studies. "And honestly that's a huge amount of money to study anything, let alone improving an asset that the city doesn't even own," she said, adding she's troubled that the city continues to put more money into studies. "Obviously we're still early in the process," she added. "There's a lot more cost to be incurred before a shovel ever goes into the ground, if it does. So, we're not finished with the studies, and once that happens, I mean, there will be a couple million dollars more in design costs. I mean, basically it's not clear when this will end or how much local taxpayers are ultimately going to pay before they even have an opportunity to weigh in on the decision, so that is bothersome." She added, "Having said all that, I will support this because, I mean, I do think URS is being asked to do more than was originally contemplated in the contract -- that's clear -- and they should be compensated for that." Lumm notes the city also spent money on new water and sewer utilities in the area of the Fuller Road site, which the city previously identified as the preferred location for a new train station. The council approved a contract for that work in 2011 with a total cost up to $1.34 million. City officials have argued the work needed to be done regardless of whether a train station was built. Council Member Graydon Krapohl, D-4th Ward, said spending additional money unexpectedly is never something the city wants to do, though he thinks in this case it's a necessary step in the process to select the right site and ensure the city can qualify for additional federal funds to get a new station built. "Because I think the longer vision is we have congestion in the city and it's only going to get worse unless we start developing alternatives to be able to move people in and out, to get them into areas where they work, where they want to recreate and where they want to do things," he said. Krapohl said it's unfortunate that the United States after World War II went through a systematic process of deconstructing mass transit systems, including rail lines, and went to individual automobiles. "I think we're going 'back to the future' in some ways in developing and getting back on board with these types of transportation systems," he said. Council Member Kirk Westphal, D-2nd Ward, said he thinks there's a benefit to having multiple options for a new train station still on the table. "It certainly would be a lot cleaner and clearer if there was just one possibility for a location here, but there's a lot of moving parts," he said. "And I can see pros and cons, just from a development angle, but the environment is so important to the citizens that I think having this extra layer of review and consideration for all of these different options is really important, so I'm happy to invest the extra time and expense that it would take to get to the bottom of it." A citizens group called Protect A2 Parks, which has created the website AllAboardOnDepotStreet.com, is continuing to make the case for a station on Depot Street. The option on Fuller Road, in front of the University of Michigan Hospital, would require using a portion of Fuller Park. In addition to the existing Amtrak site on Depot Street and the site in Fuller Park, the city has been asked by the FRA to take a closer look at returning the historic depot building that now houses the Gandy Dancer restaurant to use as a train station. It sits just to the east of the Amtrak station on Depot Street. A city staff memo provided to council on Monday stated that, given the complexities of understanding the design requirements for the historic depot building, including better understanding the layout and square footage of various components of the proposed station, additional unanticipated time and expense already had accrued to that particular alternative. As for whether the restaurant's owner would agree to sell the property, Cooper said the company has not responded to the city's inquiries. The company also has not responded to requests for comment from The Ann Arbor News. The city is hoping to complete the environmental review, which will involve identifying a preferred site, yet this year, followed by completion of preliminary engineering plans for the preferred site by the end of May. The city's $2.8 million federal rail grant expires on Sept. 30, 2017, and the city is working to get all grant-related work completed by the end of May so the FRA has time to process the invoices prior to the grant expiring. "As I'm standing here before you, there's still time to complete the alternatives analysis public process, the environmental assessment process, including the public hearing, and federal review, and preliminary engineering," Cooper told council members Monday night, acknowledging there is a chance the preliminary engineering work might not be completed if there are delays. Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com. Howard_Lazarus_081516_RJS_02.jpg Ann Arbor City Administrator Howard Lazarus. (File photo | The Ann Arbor News) ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor officials still haven't released many details about a mishap that's believed to have sent up to 600,000 gallons of sewage into the Huron River, but they've confirmed it was related to construction work being done on Geddes Avenue near the entrance to Gallup Park. "It did occur pursuant to construction that was being done by contract," City Administrator Howard Lazarus said at the City Council's meeting Monday night, Sept. 19, describing it as a unfortunate incident. "It is always our intent to be protective of our natural environment," he said. "When something like this occurs, we all feel that we have let the public down in protecting our natural resources, and we will be ever more diligent in making sure that, to the best of our abilities, it does not occur again." A sanitary sewer overflow was discovered in a construction area on Geddes Avenue near the entrance to Gallup Park at about 7 a.m. Monday. The city issued a press release about the incident at about 5 p.m. Monday, saying the cause of the overflow was determined to be construction debris that had accumulated in a sanitary sewer pipe, blocking flow. It remains unclear exactly how the debris got into the pipe, exactly what work was being done, and how the problem was discovered. The City Council voted last year to award a $6.9 million contract to Midland-based Tri-City Groundbreakers Inc. for the Geddes Avenue road reconstruction project. The work is ongoing. John Schmidt of Tri-City Groundbreakers said Tuesday morning he was headed to the site and would provide comment later in the day after he had more information following a project meeting. He declined to comment until then. Jennifer Lawson, the city's water quality manager, and Paul Matthews, the city's assistant public works manager, couldn't be reached for comment. City officials said the blockage was immediately removed and flow was restored on Monday. They believe the overflow occurred sometime between 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, and 7 a.m. Monday, Sept. 19. "It is an unusual occurrence and we will do everything we can to make sure that all of our contractors and all of our crews comply with all requirements for protection of the environment," Lazarus said Monday night. In accordance with regulatory protocols, city staff contacted the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to report the incident. The city also suspended Geddes Pond stillwater paddles and Argo-Gallup canoe trips until water test results are obtained. Check here for updates. Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com. ANN ARBOR, MI - Concerns about lack of transparency surrounding Ann Arbor's train station study reemerged Monday night, Sept. 19. As the City Council was asked to approve additional consultant expenses, Council Member Sumi Kailasapathy, D-1st Ward, noted she has received a lot of emails from constituents about the train station project. Some residents spoke out at Monday night's meeting, and transparency was one of the issues raised. Ann Arbor City Council Member Sumi Kailasapathy, D-1st Ward, holds up copies of redacted emails between the city and the Federal Railroad Administration on June 6, 2016. "Part of this nagging problem is the whole issue about transparency," Kailasapathy said, referring to the city's decision to heavily redact emails between the city and the Federal Railroad Administration before turning them over to The Ann Arbor News under the Freedom of Information Act earlier this year. The city also refused to release a draft copy of a report the city submitted to the FRA last year, though on Sept. 1 it made a current version public. Citizens who have been closely following the process still are interested in seeing what discussions took place between the FRA and the city this past year, and so far the city's administration has been unwilling to release the emails. The City Council also voted 6-5 against releasing them in June. "Now that the report is out, is it possible at all to release the emails that were all redacted so that we provide more transparency?" Kailasapathy asked at Monday night's meeting. "Or is that not possible?" Eli Cooper, the city's transportation program manager, responded to Kailasapathy's question. "That may not be in the best interest of transparency," Cooper said. "And it's not that there's anything that is hidden." Cooper said all the materials necessary to make a decision about potential sites for a new Amtrak station are in the report released Sept. 1. "Back-and-forth machinations between the various governmental offices in Washington, D.C, and in Lansing and in Ann Arbor, and what was important at a point in time historically may bear no relation and even at this time may be confusing to some citizen who would come across (the emails)," he said. Cooper suggested citizens reading the emails, if the city released them, might see things that were said in 2015 that weren't carried forward. "And that was part of the deliberative process in drafting and reacting, and reviewing and responding," he said. "So, although it may not be the satisfactory answer that 'we'll just put it all out there, people are smart enough to figure it out,' rest assured, having been the project manager working through this period of time, some of the information that comes forward and how it gets reviewed and responded is at times not abundantly clear. And it was an institutional review/decision that we believe that it is in the best interest of the decision-making process to provide clear information that the public can understand." Cooper said members of the public have an opportunity to get an overview of the remaining train station options at meetings this Wednesday, Sept. 21, as well as a broader community meeting next Monday, Sept. 26. "We'll answer any question that someone has about the materials that are provided for public review," Cooper said. "There's no hidden agenda," he added. "It's the deliberative process that, in working with multiple agencies with a variety of interests, results in some of the information not being, in the city's view, suitable for (public review) or might be more confusing than beneficial for understanding of how we're to move forward with the project." Cooper said the goal is to keep the messaging and information clear and consistent, and to move forward as quickly as possible. Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com. The Bay City Commission on Monday, Sept. 19, unanimously voted against giving a tax break to a developer looking to build a low-income senior apartment complex near downtown. BAY CITY, MI -- A new low-income senior citizen apartment complex won't be built near downtown following a unanimous vote by the Bay City Commission that rejected a required tax break for the project. At its meeting Monday, Sept. 19, the commission, on a 9-0 count, voted to receive, but not approve, a request for a PILOT -- payment in lieu of taxes -- agreement by a developer looking to build a three-story, 47-unit apartment complex for low-income seniors. "I cannot support utilizing city services, from sanitation to streets to our public safety officers for people who will not being paying anything," said Commissioner Brentt Brunner, 4th Ward. "That's taking money out of our taxpayer's pockets and putting it in someone else's. We can't do that as a city." Westbrook Housing Development, a firm made up of partners from Saginaw-based Wolgast Corp., proposed the development, which was to be located at the unused parking lot at Fourth Street and Madison Avenue. John Dupont, who has been presenting the development team's plan to city officials for the past couple months, did not attend Monday's meeting for the vote. His team needed the PILOT agreement in order to secure $7 million to $10 million in federal tax credits from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. The development team proposed making a one-time $200,000 payment to the city as an incentive to approve the PILOT, which would generate $15,000 per year in taxes for the city for the next 50 years. City officials say the location of the proposed project is prime for a market-rate building that could generate significantly higher tax revenue. Several members of the public spoke against the plan at Monday's meeting, including 83-year-old Mary Lee, a West Side Bay City resident. "I'm all for developing some things, but we need to put our money into something that is a little more substantial to this city," she said. "I'm tired of people coming to our city and asking us for money." Annette Jeske, a program development manager with the Region VII Area Agency on Aging, spoke in support of the project, arguing the demand for low income senior housing is too high to ignore. "The baby boomers are coming," she said. "There are 10,000 people per day who turn 65. There's a true need." Jeske said she was speaking on behalf of herself and not her employer. Over the course of the past several weeks, city officials have argued against the project, pointing to a recently published citywide housing study that says the city has an excessive amount of low income housing available and it should only pursue opportunities to build above the market. BAY CITY, MI -- A 26-year-old parolee is charged with repeatedly stabbing a man and beating him with a cane. Police at 11:11 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 5, responded to a disturbance at 2101 Fifth St. on Bay City's East Side. Officers found 54-year-old Jeffrey G. Wald suffering from multiple stab wounds. Officers arrested Gregory A. Wiseman at the scene. According to an affidavit authored by an officer and contained in court files, Wiseman took Wald's cane and struck him with it. Then, as Wald was on his back, Wiseman took a knife and stabbed him in his arm and in his legs several times, causing extensive blood loss. Wald was transported by ambulance to Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw for treatment. Wiseman lives at a different place in the city. Bay City Public Safety Capt. Mark Turner previously said Wiseman is friends with someone who lives at the same address as Wald. Police have not elaborated on what prompted the dispute between Wiseman and Wald. Wiseman on Friday, Sept. 16, appeared in Bay County District Court for arraignment on single counts of assault with intent to cause great bodily harm less than murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. The charges are 10- and four-felonies, respectively. The arraigning judge set Wiseman's bond at $150,000 cash-surety. Wiseman is to appear for a preliminary examination before District Judge Timothy J. Kelly at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5. The Michigan Department of Corrections paroled Wiseman, he with "Bay City Boss Time" tattooed on his back and a bullet wound to his right elbow, on March 24. He was to remain on parole until June 24, 2017. A Clinton County judge in June 2009 sentenced him to 18 months to five years in prison for unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle. This was followed by a Bay County judge in October 2010 sentencing him to 28 to 90 months for third-degree home invasion. Most recently, a Bay County judge in May 2015 sentenced him to 16 months to four years for assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police. Wiseman also has prior convictions for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, larceny in a building, receiving and concealing stolen property, and assaulting police, dating back to at least 2007, the MDOC website shows. BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay City teen is charged with a felony after allegedly threatening to kill people at his high school. Nicholas L. Rochow, 17, on Friday, Sept. 16, appeared in Bay County District Court for arraignment on one count of false report of terrorism. The charge is a 20-year felony. The arraigning judge set Rochow's bond at $10,000, which has been posted on his behalf by a bonding agency. According to an affidavit authored by a Bay City police officer and contained in court files, Rochow on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at his home in the 100 block of High Street "made threats to shoot and kill people at school to at least two different individuals. Rochow used a cell phone and text messaging to communicate these threats to the individuals, both of (whom) attended the school where he threatened to shoot and kill people." Bay City Central High School, 1624 Columbus Ave., is listed as the school. Sgt. Ed Bromberg in an interview said Rochow was not making threats against specific individuals and that his statements were generalized. The case came to light when a classmate's mother notified one of the school's assistant principals, Bromberg said. The assistant principal notified police. Police interviewed Rochow, who told them he has anger issues, Bromberg said. Police did not find or confiscate any firearms at Rochow's residence, the sergeant added. The Times was unable to reach Central High Principal Tim Marciniak or Bay City Schools Superintendent Janet Greif for comment. Rochow is to appear for a preliminary examination before District Judge Timothy J. Kelly at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Switzerland would welcome a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the country in the near future, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, Sputnik reported. "Lavrov has a standing invitation to Switzerland," Burkhalter stated at the UN General Assembly in New York. "Normally, we find time to arrange for a bilateral [dialogue] in Russia or in Switzerland every year." During Burkhalter's last visit to Moscow in April, the two ministers discussed strategies for increasing cooperation between the countries and promoting political and economic stability. "We have a very good collaboration," Burkhalter stressed. "We have a series of dialogues in all main domains and issues of political life, we try to maintain this dialogues despite the different tensions that mark this special time we are living in, and I think we have been able to do that during the last years and I hope we will be able to do that over next years." On Wednesday, Burkhalter and Lavrov are expected to discuss the ongoing csises in Syria and Ukraine during a meeting at UN General Assembly. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.20 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Non-fulfillment of Ankaras demand for extradition of Fethullah Gulen by US authorities disappoints Turkey, said Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Although the relations between Ankara and Washington continue, Turkey is waiting for Gulens extradition, he told CNN International. Cavusoglu pointed out that Turkey has provided all the evidence confirming Gulens involvement in the military coup attempt in Turkey. On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people, excluding the coup plotters, and over 2,000 people were wounded. He also declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Turkey continues to encourage the Syrian opposition to abide by a truce recently brokered by the U.S. and Russia, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday, Anadolu reported. The comments came at a ministerial meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York. The body agreed "despite continued violence, there was still an imperative to pursue a nationwide cessation of hostilities based on the arrangement reached last week in Geneva between the United States and Russia," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a readout of the meeting. According to a statement from Cavusoglu spokesman's office, he told member countries representatives that the Syrian regime would be responsible for any violations to a recent cessation of hostilities deal. Cavusoglu stressed the importance of unfettered humanitarian aid access to Syrias besieged neighborhoods but acknowledged he does not know how to realize the goals of the U.S.-Russia deal in an atmosphere where UN aid convoys are hit in airstrikes. During their meeting, Secretary of State John Kerry roundly condemned a deadly airstrike Monday that targeted a UN aid convoy, according to Kirby. The strike killed 12 people including aid workers and drivers. The strike followed an announcement hours earlier by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the truce was no longer in effect. America's top diplomat "and the other ministers expressed their condolences for the loss of innocent life and reaffirmed the absolute necessity of establishing immediately the unimpeded, safe and sustained flow of access for humanitarian supplies," Kirby said in a statement. Kerry told reporters after the ISSG meeting that the cessation of hostilities has not yet ended. The U.S. and Russia agreed Sept. 8 to a seven-day cessation of hostilities under which moderate opposition and regime forces would cease armed conflict and allow humanitarian aid into the country. It began on Sept. 12 and was extended for 48 hours last week. On the weekend, U.S.-led anti-Daesh aircraft hit a Syrian military camp and killed 62 Syrian soldiers. The ISSG includes Turkey, U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, France, EU, Arab League and several other countries. Myanmars struggling bamboo sector requires a big boost in both technical support and government promotion if the fledgling industry is to one day formalise and get off the ground, industry experts say. Speaking at a workshop in Yangon on September 18 to mark World Bamboo Day, U Kyaw Thu, chair of the Rattan and Bamboo Entrepreneurs Association, said there is a lot of potential for small business to emerge in the industry, as bamboo offers a cheaper alternative for use in flooring, walls or entire homes than many hardwood varieties. However, local producers suffer from a lack of technical knowledge, while little government promotion, means bamboo is cut from forested areas and not grown on an industrial scale, he said. Myanmar people dont have the knowledge to ensure a healthy bamboo industry and they also dont understand the market, he said. People are more interested in timber and other hardwood, that they consider more valuable than bamboo, but bamboo is cheaper than these products, he said. In an effort to discourage bamboo cultivation in forested areas, the government should encourgae bamboo farming in specific areas on an industrial scale, as they do in parts of China, U Kyaw Thu said. More can be done to promote the benefits of bamboo to consumers, he added. If the government supports growing bamboo in a specific area, in one district, people will cultivate it and small to big industries that produce different products from bamboo will also develop in this area, he said. If we use this model, there will be no waste product and we can also help control deforestation. Speaking on the conference sidelines, U Nyi Nyi Kyaw, a director general at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, said bamboo is being considered as part of the governments policy discussions, but the details are yet to be determined. For making local products, current practices are okay, but for producing for export we need greater technology for a sustainable industry that can achieve international standards, he said. The industry is working with the International Rattan and Bamboo Network based in China to determine how best to develop the sector, U Nyi Nyi Kyaw said. From cultivation to product development, the entire supply chain needs support, said U Thuta Aung, country director of Business Innovation Facility, a UK-funded program designed to highlight problems in particular developing markets. If producers cultivate bamboo, they can make products with that bamboo so they will have a greater understanding of the raw material, which will lead to greater-quality products, he said. But now they cut bamboo from the forest, so they dont make good-quality products. For now, the market is still in its infancy, but as other industries begin to grow, people want to know more about the different materials they have available to them, said a salesperson from Asia Green Gold company. Right now our main focus is on floors, but recently we have started to make bamboo cupboards, chairs and other furniture products, he said. Additional reporting Khin Wyne Phyu Phyu A draft of the long-awaited Myanmar Investment Law has been submitted to parliament and will be passed soon, bringing a more strategic and nuanced approach to tax exemption in addition to simplifying investment, according to U Aung Naing Oo of the Directorate for Investment and Company Administration (DICA). We have already put the bill to parliament after finalising the draft, and it will be enacted during the next parliament, the DICA director said at a press conference in Yankin township last week. The next meeting of parliament will be held in the first week of November. The new law combines into one document the Myanmar Citizens Investment Law, which governs investment by locals, and the Foreign Investment Law, which governs foreign entities. Drafted with help from the International Finance Corporation, U Aung Naing Oo said the new framework would simplify investing in Myanmar. One significant point in the draft law is a reduction in the number of investment projects that require permission from the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), he said. Investors dont need to apply to the MIC to invest in all businesses, he said. Application will only be required for projects that are highly capital-intensive, that have potential impact on the environment or that the government deems strategic, according to U Aung Naing Oo. This latter category would include key infrastructure projects. But all investors [will still] need to inform the MIC about what businesses they are investing in so that there is a record, he said. U Aung Naing Oo added that under the existing Foreign Investment Law, foreign investors doing business with an MIC permit qualify for tax benefits, including an income tax exemption. Under the new law, tax benefits will be tailored and strategic rather than automatic, he said. Tax exemptions will be granted only to businesses in sectors that the state needs to boost the economy, he said. Local firms have argued that they are at a disadvantage because they do not qualify for the same tax exemptions as international competitors. An MIC permit typically requires a high level of investment. Although this differential treatment is concerned with the size of the investment, some observers say it is important to lure international entrants into Myanmar, bringing a higher level of investment than local business in the same sector cannot match. Generally local companies reinvesting profits would struggle to satisfy the conditions for an MIC permit required for the tax breaks, Robin Scott, general counsel of City Mart, told The Myanmar Times. Their [local firms] large set up costs will have been incurred some time ago. The duration of the tax exemption will also be tailored under the new law, according to U Aung Naing Oo. For example, three years [for investment] in developed regions and seven years in less developed regions, he added. The draft also takes seriously the issue of environmental and social impact, and updates long-outdated offences and punishments in the old Myanmar Citizen Investment Law, he said. Translation by Thiri Min Htun French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard famously said that movies were truth at 24 frames per second. Its technically a fallacy as frame rates can vary depending on camera settings and country of origin or screening. But tedious film facts aside, Jean-Luc was definitely onto something and its currently being proven at the 25th European Film Festival at Nay Pyi Taw Cinema in Yangon. Theres the more literal truths of documentaries, such as Swedish offering Nice People, where Somali refugees struggle to find their place in a new Scandinavian home. And the more intangible truths about life and death like those wrestled with by materially-rich-yet-emotionally-unfulfilled Jep Gambardella in Italys The Great Beauty. Then theres a practical truth that this is a time at least for now when a film from Great Britain can still feature at a European cultural event. Films are a great way for the mind to travel to places one cannot reach physically, charge dAffaires of the EU Delegation to Myanmar Colin Steinbach told The Myanmar Times. While European tourism to Myanmar is increasing very rapidly, many Burmese do not yet have the chance to go there. All taken together, this collection of films presents a snapshot of Europe at the start of the 21st century in all its hopeful, messy truthfulness. It was a point echoed by director of Goethe-Institut Myanmar Franz Xaver Augustin: This festival invites the Myanmar audience on a journey to an unknown part of the world with its cultural diversities, different mentalities and customs, geographical and psychological landscapes. But not everyone has been happy about the cinematic truth on display. As in previous years, festival organisers were required to present all the films to the National Censorship Board before screening. Officials were concerned that the dolce vita (Italian for sweet life) was a little too dolce in the aforementioned The Great Beauty from Italy. Paolo Sorrentinos masterpiece which won an Oscar in 2014 and 30 other prestigious international awards was about to be cancelled totally, Mr Augustin said. Such an intervention would have happened for the first time in a quarter of a century of the EUFF in Yangon. We convinced the authorities that this would cast a very problematic light on the freedom of the arts in the New Myanmar. It went ahead, albeit with a few alterations: Some of the more amorous scenes were blurred out. There are several films in the coming days that Yangon cinefiles are particularly looking forward to. Tonight, Two Days, One Night from Belgium gives audiences the chance to see Marion Cotillards Academy Award-nominated performance as a young mother who has suffered a nervous breakdown. And dont miss the September 22 screening of Germanys Victoria. The 138-minute feature was filmed entirely in one shot. The 2016 edition of the festival will also be the first to include a lineup especially for children with a number of screenings at the Yangon Gallery in Peoples Park on the weekend. Most of the films we get in Myanmar are from Asia or America, said 22-year-old attendee Van Tha Par after watching Great Britains X+Y. This festival is so unique. She said that both the technical and storytelling devices on show were a refreshing break from the usual blockbusters that screen in Nay Pyi Taw Cinema. But although the people and cultures [on screen] seem far away it actually makes me think were not that different at all. The 25th European Film Festival runs until September 27. For more information visit the Goethe Institute website or the event Facebook page. An international environmental advocacy group is to give tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to allow Myanmar students to pursue their studies. World Wide Fund for Nature Myanmar will present the Education for Nature fellowship awards next March. WWF Myanmar has already handed out three awards this year: two to masters students and one to a PhD candidate. They will assess how much financial support each successful applicant needs and will decide whether or not they can grant further awards in the coming year, said U Thiha Oo, the EFN coordinator for WWF Myanmar. The funding up to US$30,000 a year, and not more than $60,000 for two years supports two years of study for successful candidates at top universities around the world, so that they can then return to use their expertise in Myanmar for at least two years. I hope more students will receive the awards in the coming year, he said. Though the grant can cover the two-year period of a masters degree program, PhD students on a three-year course will have to fund their final year. U Win Maung Aye, one of the successful PhD applicants, said, Students who live in developing countries like Myanmar cant easily afford to go abroad to study. This program will provide an opportunity for further study. Im very glad that WWF is allowing students in developing countries to help maintain their countries natural resources. EFN has operated in Myanmar since 2014 and has funded eight students five masters and three PhDs over the past three years. They also offer professional development grants for short-term training, organisational workshop grants and reforestation grants. Myanmar's preeminent trade union confederation has called on the government to take action to protect migrant workers from exploitation and unfair treatment abroad. Daw Htwe Htwe Thein, a director of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM), called for stronger regulation of employment agents who recruit and send Myanmar nationals to work overseas. Of the difficulties faced by migrant workers, Daw Htwe Htwe Thein said, Most migrant workers travel abroad illegally. Many of them are from the rural areas and have very little knowledge, meaning that they are heavily reliant on brokers. They often pay large sums of money to these brokers. Some workers who initially travel and work legally eventually become illegal because they overstay their visas in order to earn enough money to pay back the fees they owe to brokers. Many of those who return also have debts that they owe to brokers, she added. In addition to incurring debt, many migrant workers also face dire working conditions in the countries they travel to. Many are unaware of their rights, as the case of exploited chicken farm workers in Thailand recently illustrated. The Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation (MOEAF) sent more than 100,000 workers overseas last year and has sent over 80,000 so far this year, according to MOAEF office head U Tun Tun Wai. Malaysia is the second-biggest destination for Myanmar migrant workers after Thailand, where around 58,000 workers have been sent so far this year, he said. Workers are also sent in large numbers to Singapore, Japan, Macau and the United Arab Emirates. Last month MOEAF released a code of conduct, developed with assistance from the International Labour Organization (ILO), which was designed to improve migrant working conditions. But Daw Htwe Htwe Thein did not offer an overly optimistic assessment of the future success of the industry-based code. We will have to wait and see whether the agencies will actually follow the rules or not, she said. In response to the CTUMs calls, U Thein Win, an official from the Department of Migrant Affairs, said there have been laws relating to overseas employment in place since 1999. He added, however, that the government has been working for the past two years to update this legislation to better align with international standards. We are working together with many experts such as the ILO to amend this law. We are trying our best to finish it as soon as possible and hopefully we may be able to finish within this year, he said. A rare bird species in Tanintharyi Region is in danger of being wiped out as its habitat is eroded by economic development. The International Union for Conservation of Nature says Gurneys pitta, said to be the living symbol of the peninsular region, is listed as endangered. The species can survive only in lowland tropical forest. Flora and Fauna International program coordinator for Tanintharyi Region U Nay Myo Shwe said about 20 birds were found in Tanintharyi Region this year. It is not clear how many more might still exist. The species is already nearly extinct in Thailand. Since the start of this year, only four Gurneys pittas have been found there, according to the Thai forestry department. Were trying to conserve them, said Somying Thunhikorn, a technical officer with the department. The spread of rubber and palm oil production in the region has taken a heavy toll on the birds natural environment. The population of the species has been decreasing because of the loss of their habitat, said Daw Thiri Dawei Aung, conservation manager of the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA). BANCA and FFI researchers say Gurneys pitta is found in secondary forest, semi-evergreen forest, primary degraded forest, bamboo forest and betel nut plantations. We also found them in bamboo forests, but I dont know if they were just passing through or nesting, said Daw Thiri Dawei Aung. Most surviving birds settle in the Nga Wun reserve forest between May and October, the research indicates. Gurneys pitta was rediscovered in 2003. Its prime habitat, natural forests at an elevation of 150 metres, has been largely turned over to palm oil plantation since 2010, said Daw Thiri Dawei Aung. Conserving all the lowland forest would allow the conservation not only of Gurney pitta but also of a wide variety of other species, she said, adding that the forest was being eroded. According to FFIs latest research, the birds were found around the Nga Wun plains and Phayartan and surrounding villages in 2016, said U Nay Myo Shwe. Gurneys pitta is almost the living symbol of Tanintharyi Region, said FFIs U Nay Myo Shwe. We still have the forest and the birds. Its still possible to conserve them. But we have to act before its too late. Myanmar is home to at least 1126 species of birds, of which 134 species can be found only in Tanintharyi. Nine species are considered to be critically endangered and three are endangered. Following a rare verdict last week holding Tatmadaw soldiers accountable for civilian deaths, the Kachin Baptist Convention is preparing a letter to urge a similar mea culpa in a separate case. The KBC said it will send its missive to Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, asking her to appeal to the government to seek justice for two Kachin volunteer teachers raped and murdered in northern Shan State last year. Reverend Samson Hkalam, the general secretary of the KBC, told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the letter will be sent after a central executive committee meeting at the end of September. People are very concerned that the NLD [National League for Democracy]-led government has failed to find out the truth and bring this case to justice, he said. The international community will have to apply pressure. Ms Lee said yesterday that she has continuously raised this case with authorities and will continue to do so. I am extremely concerned that over a year and a half after the horrific rape and murder of Ms Maran Lu Ra and Ms Nan Tsin, the perpetrators have yet to be brought to justice, she said. Kachin organisations and Kachin locals believe the perpetrators were soldiers from the 503rd Light Infantry Regiment under the Northeast Region Command. The regiment had established a temporary base in Khaung Khar village, Shan State, two days before the two teachers were killed. The base was located about 100 metres (330 feet) from where the incident occurred. A police colonel from the Shan State Police Force said yesterday that 28 soldiers from the 503rd Light Infantry Regiment have already been interrogated about the crimes, with the interviews shedding no light on possible perpetrators. We want to interview four villagers who are suspected by the police but cannot because they are being harboured in KIO-controlled territory and we cannot go there, said the police colonel, who declined to be named, referring the Kachin Independence Organisation. However, the KBC maintains that the villagers have been scapegoated, and wants permission to directly speak with Major Aung Phyo Myint, the head of a Tatmadaw column, as well as soldiers from the 503rd Light Infantry Regiment. In May, Maj Aung Phyo Myint provided testimony to the Lashio township police but the KBC was not allowed to question him. One year after Kachin teachers death, justice still elusive We will also send the letter to President U Htin Kyaw requesting permission to interview the Tatmadaw soldiers directly, said Rev Samson Hkalam The two female volunteers, Maran Lu Ra, 20, and Tangbau Hkwan Nan Tsin, 21, were working for the KBC in Kaung Khar village teaching children whose education had been disrupted by persistent fighting in the region. On January 19, 2015, their naked bodies were found with stab wounds and head injuries after villagers reported hearing screams the prior night. After a series of deadly sinkings involving unlicenced vessels, authorities in Rakhine State are cracking down, informing helmsmen they must register or face hefty fines. Since the beginning of August, joint teams representing the Water Transport Department, township administration offices, the Myanmar Police Force, the Immigration and National Registration Department, Myanma Insurance and the Department of Fisheries have been conducting an education and awareness campaign. Boat owners have been instructed on registration paperwork, and have been warned that disciplinary action will now be enforced on the local waterways. Vessel owners in townships where we conduct education campaigns have to register within 10 days of our discussions, said U Htin Kyaw, head of the Inland Water Transport Department for Rakhine State. They will face fines if they do not comply within the required period. Under the Vessels Law, fines for unregistered vessels range from K500,000 to K2.5 million, and fines for vessels with no business licence are K300,000 to K500,000, he said. All fishing boats and all ferries carrying either cargo or passengers must register. The joint team is registering boats and issuing business licences after conducting inspections. For vessels with engines below 20 horsepower, the township administration offices are responsible for the registration. For vessels above 20 horsepower, the Inland Water Transport Department will issue business licences. So far, across the state we have licensed more than 3000 vessels with engines below 20 horsepower, and more than 800 vessels with engines above 20 horsepower. The process including collecting data, issuing licences and conducting inspections is continuing, said U Htin Kyaw. Boat owners admitted to letting their licences lapse when enforcement was lax. I registered when I started my business ferrying cargo. But as no inspections were conducted, the other vessel owners and I stopped bothering to update our licences, said an owner of a ferry in That Kay Pyin village who asked not to be named. The port officials and I conducted business through a mutual understanding. I didnt know there were heavy fines for not registering. U Htin Kyaw said that the water transport authorities were trying to be reasonable about notifying boat owners before starting to impose fines. If we took action at once without educating them, the vessel owners may face financial losses. Thats why we are conducting education as a first priority, he said. On September 7, three women drowned and another three went missing and were believed to have drowned after a private motorboat ferrying them between townships in southern Rakhine State sank in turbulent conditions. The accident was at least the fourth of its kind this year alone. Two boats carrying schoolchildren sank in June and August, claiming a total of 11 young victims. MPs blamed the state government for not properly enforcing safety standards. In response, state authorities announced in August that boat owners must keep lifejackets onboard all vessels, and will have their licences revoked if they fail to abide by the new regulation. Translation by Zar Zar Soe President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on world leaders at the United Nations to work towards an immediate political solution to resolve the crisis in Syria, Daily Sabah reported. He said: "We cannot lose more time to realize the political resolution process and end the root of the problem, which is the fighting in Syria, terror and atmosphere of cruelty." Erdogan also voiced his disappointment over Western organizations' and governments' reluctance to help tackle the refugee crisis. Reiterating that Turkey has done its share to help refugees by spending over 25 billion dollars, Erdogan also criticized the UN and EU for not fullfilling their pledges on providing funds for refugees. "Turkey has spent over $25 billion while the United Nation, the platform I am speaking now, only delivered $525 million. There was no support from the European Union and Unicef only sent $178 million and that is it." Erdogan told the Assembly. "The West may not, but we will keep on admitting them [Syrian refugees], because we are human beings," said the president, lashing out at other world leaders. Stating that Syrian people were under the governance of a tyrant, brute and terrorist while also fighting against the relentless attacks of terror organizations, Erdogan said the international community failed to carry out its humanitarian duties in Syria. "Turkey's incursion into northern Syria in early September had led to establishing peace, balance and stability in a region taken over by hopelessness," he also said, stating that the Syrian regime encourages civilians to either surrender or die. "International powers should no longer tolerate it," he said firmly. Turkey's incursion into Syria came after it had called for several years for world powers to help create a "safe zone" along the Syrian border, with the aim of clearing out Daesh and the PKK's Syrian wing the PYD/YPG and of stemming a wave of migration that has caused tension with Europe. He said that Turkey has no interest in Syrian territory, noplans to stay there. ""We respect Syria's territorial integrity. Syria belongs to Syrian people, nobody must have any other plans for it." The president also accused the European Union of not keeping its promises over Turkey's EU membership. Erdogan urges world to act against Gulen movement Erdogan also demanded international action against the leader of FETO terror group Fetullah Gulen, the mastermind of July 15 coup attempt. "I am calling, from this podium, to all our friends, to swiftly take the necessary measures against the Gulenist terrorist group for their own safety and the future of their nations,"he told the UN General Assembly. Gulen's "terrorist network" that threatens the national security of not only Turley but also other countries, he added. "It is evident from our experience that if you do not fight the Gulen network at this stage, it may be too late later." Erdogan also said that he takes pride in Turkish nation for repelling the coup attempt and showing a very noble stance. The Rakhine State Ministry for Border Affairs and Security will hold a press conference today addressing the defamation charges filed against an Arakan Liberation Party communications officer. According to the Sittwe Police Department, the press conference will provide an update on the case against U Khine Myo Tun and will address the Tatmadaws reasons for charging him. A Sittwe police officer who declined to be named said that the press conference was being held in order to avoid disruptions at the mans hearing on September 26. He added that the ministry may request that the defendants supporters not attend the hearing. The ALP member was arrested on July 25 for alleged incitement and defamation under sections 505(b) and (c) of the penal code. The case relates to a feud from early this year, when the ALP produced a report accusing the Tatmadaw of forcing Rakhine civilians to act as porters and human shields. The report, which included video and photo testimony, claimed that the Tatmadaw had committed war crimes and violated the Geneva Convention. The Tatmadaw has denied the allegations. Communications officer U Khine Myo Htun went into hiding shortly after the reports release when an anonymous phone caller warned him of an imminent plan to charge him with sedition. A source at the security and border affairs ministry told The Myanmar Times in May that there was no plan to charge the communications officer, but that he had been asked to withdraw the allegations. The ALP, an ethnic armed group, has been pressured to issue a retraction of their claims. They have not complied with this request. The Rakhine State Information Department confirmed that the press conference will take place and is related to the Ministry for Border Affairs and Security but did not provide any further details. If found guilty of both charges, U Khine Myo Tu could face up to four years imprisonment. Additional reporting by Yi Ywel Myint The consensus is overwhelming. Kachin locals want the Myitsone megadam to be scrapped, the commission tasked with reviewing the currently suspended project heard this weekend. Commission members undertook a field visit to Kachin State from September 15 to 18, and surveyed residents and local civil society groups around Myitkyina, the state capital. The cacophony of dissent left little wiggle room for interpretation, not just over the Myitsone dam but also about several other hydropower projects slated for development along the Maykha and Malikha rivers, tributaries to the Ayeyarwady. All people we spoke with demanded we cancel the seven hydropower projects under review. We noted the peoples voices and will incorporate their comments in our report, said a commission member, speaking on condition of anonymity. Kachin CSOs slammed the visiting commission, however, as the members did not make time for the one-on-one meeting the local organisations had requested. Instead, the commission for reviewing and scrutinising hydropower projects along the Ayeyarwady River held a townhall-style dialogue. Only 13 people were allowed to speak during the meeting. None of them were members of local CSOs, though they all also objected to these projects. All 653 attendees were there to voice their objection, said Daw Nan Pu, a member of the Htoi Genda Foundation. Yesterday, the commission released a statement in state-owned media saying that they are still in the process of scrutinising documents related to the hydropower projects along the Ayeyarwady River. The commission will collaborate not only with local experts but also foreign experts, as necessary, the statement said. The statement added that commission members have been briefed by the Myitsone hydropower projects developers, China Power Investment Corporation, on the power supply arrangement. Much of the controversy over the project, and the public resistance to it, stems from the fact that 90 percent of the electricity generated would be transmitted to China. CPIs officials want to continue the project but we cannot give an answer to them yet, a commission member said. The commission has been tasked with reviewing project contracts and finding solutions that will balance both the needs of the local people and the environment they depend on, and relations with foreign investors eager to capitalise on untapped natural resources. The commission must submit an initial report to the president on November 11, though members have indicated that no major recommendations will be included in the document due to the short timetable for the reports release. Chinas CPI Yunnan International Power Investment Company entered into an agreement to develop the US$3.6 billion Myitsone dam with a military-owned conglomerate and the government in 2006. Then-president U Thein Sein suspended the 4600-megawatt project in 2011 amid widespread public outcry. Daw Ja Hkaung, a member of the Mungchying Rawt Jat organisation in Kachin State and a veteran opponent of the Myitsone project, said the commission should accept the public consensus. If the commission fails to listen to the peoples voice, the government will be accused of ignoring the wishes of the people, she said. Seemingly fearful of an impending cancellation, Chinese state-run media yesterday also addressed the public backlash against the Myitsone dam. Noting that suspension of the project was a sore spot in bilateral relations with Myanmar, The Study Times, a newspaper run by the Communist Party of China, said Myanmar was paying attention to resolving Sino-Myanmar economic cooperation difficulties, including the problem of the Myitsone dam. The paper called on State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to avoid a lose-lose solution in regard to Myitsone, and took pains to note Chinas costly investments in the neighbouring country. With regards to the Myitsone dam in Kachin State, we are seeking an appropriate solution. This means the [National League for Democracy] will not agree with the previous governments indifference toward this issue, the paper said. It added that during Daw Aung San Suu Kyis trip to China last month, extreme voices in Myanmar media fomented public objections to the continuation of the Myitsone project. The peoples extreme opinions flood Myanmars privately owned media, causing a huge surge in negative opinion, which can greatly destroy the cooperation between Myanmar and China, it said. With additional reporting by Lillian Kalish Pressure is growing on the European Union to again table a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution critical of Myanmars human rights record, after the EU signalled last week that the 28-nation bloc was dropping the motion for the first time in a quarter century. Only one of the 17 different calls for action to improve human rights made in last years resolution has been met, the European Burma Network, a coalition of nine groups across six European countries, said in a statement yesterday. The network pointed to remaining political prisoners, ongoing rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by the military and continued persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State as among concerns enumerated in last years UNGA resolution that have not been addressed. A decision not to go ahead with the resolution will undermine efforts to improve human rights in Burma and be interpreted by the military as a licence to continue human rights violations against civilians in ethnic states and their blocking of constitutional reform to make Burma more democratic, the networks statement said. The European Union is putting trade and geo-political interests ahead of human rights in Burma, it added. The EU delegation to Myanmar told The Myanmar Times on September 16 that the bloc would not be sponsoring a resolution this year, as a recognition of Myanmars progress on democratic transition, the reinvigoration of the peace process and the positive steps taken by the new government to improve human rights. Since 1991, in the wake of the then-juntas brutal crackdown on a nationwide pro-democracy uprising three years earlier and nullification of Myanmars 1990 election results, the EU has sponsored an annual resolution calling for improved human rights conditions in the country. The European Burma Networks pro-resolution statement this week came after a coalition of six rights groups made a similar call earlier this month ahead of the annual UNGA Regular Session, which convened on September 13. The Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Human Rights Foundation of Monland have also indicated their support for a 2016 resolution. Since the new NLD-led government came to power, we have continued to document serious human rights violations by the Burma Army, during their ongoing systematic offensives in northern Shan State. Dropping the resolution will be giving a green light to these violations, the SHRF told The Myanmar Times yesterday. State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads a civilian National League for Democracy administration that lacks oversight of the military, was due to address a UNGA summit on migrants and refugees in New York yesterday. Last week she secured the lifting of most remaining US sanctions during a visit with US President Barack Obama, in a move that was similarly criticised by human rights groups as prematurely ceding leverage for further reform. The law behind authorities much-reviled midnight inspections was finally scrapped yesterday by a parliament dominated by former political prisoners. The controversial clause in the Ward and Village Tract Administration Law prompted a protracted arm-wrestle between military MPs and human rights advocates, with amendments to the legislation pinging back and forth between the two houses of parliament. The feud ended yesterday when the Pyithu Hluttaw narrowly voted in favour of sustaining the upper houses version of the legislation. That third and final iteration of the draft had removed the offending clause a stipulation that households must submit overnight guest lists to local authorities. We removed the clause requiring the submission of guest lists to the relevant administration office. We debated re-adopting the clause based on the argument that such information is necessary for the security of wards and villages, said U Kyaw Soe Linn (NLD; Pyigyitagun), an MP and member of the Pyithu Hluttaw Bill Committee. But most representatives agreed that this guest list process should not be in use anymore so we approved the bill the same as the Amyotha Hluttaw did. The ratified form of the bill does contain a caveat: Guests remaining in a ward or village for more than one month will still need to inform the relevant administration office. U Kyaw Soe Linn argued that the stipulation is in the interests of the people since if a guest does not inform authorities, he or she could be in danger should there be a natural disaster or other emergency requiring the assistance of officials. However, no action will be taken against those who fail to inform authorities of their guests, a far cry from the draconian legislation the draft replaces, which outlines imprisonment as a potential penalty. The long-standing guest list provision was used by the military regime as a way of controlling the movements of its opponents and their supporters, as well as to justify unannounced household inspections that infringed on privacy and created a climate of fear and intimidation. The provision was mainly used to target social and political activists. Notoriously, the military authorities even deployed the law against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi when an uninvited American stayed overnight illegally in her lakeside Yangon compound in 2009. For many, the registration requirement also proved inconvenient and costly, as it ensured that migrants and renters had to register weekly with ward or village-tract officials, typically paying an under-the-table fee for permission. Military MPs in both houses of parliament had objected to removal of the overnight guest clause using the rationale that it was needed for national security purposes. It is necessary to prevent a possible threat to the security of a region. If something happens, we cannot ensure the security of a ward or village if strangers are free to roam, said Colonel Tun Myat Shwe. He told parliamentarians that the contentious clause supports the rule of law, administration, security, and peace and stability of a village tract or ward. But MP U Myint Tun (NLD; Ta-sei) strongly objected to the notion that the law had any place in a democratic society. I dont quite believe that requiring the registration of guests translates into the safety of the people, he said. I have hardly ever heard of bad guys, criminals and absconders being caught because they happened to be registered on the overnight guest list of a household. Such ill-intentioned people would not likely inform the authorities of their visit to a region. Only good people undertake the due diligence required to go to the office and inform administrators of a guest at their home. Human rights groups had called on the government to repeal or amend the law, which was last updated in 2012 when it replaced two earlier bills dating back to the colonial era. In the hluttaws secret ballot yesterday, there were 235 votes in favour and 155 against the amended legislation. Translation by Thiri Min Htun A British activist was found guilty of criminal defamation and breaching Thailand's strict computer laws and given a three-year suspended jail sentence, his lawyer said this morning, over a report on labour abuses in the country's lucrative fruit sector. Andy Hall, who lives in Thailand, has faced a cascade of legal actions for co-authoring a 2013 report on a Natural Fruit factory in the south of the country, alleging poor working conditions, low wages and child labour. Natural Fruit, a major supplier to the European drink market, brought the action against Hall. The activist "was found guilty of defamation and under the computer crime act... the court sentenced him to four years in jail, reduced to three," his lawyer Nakhon Chomphuchat told AFP after the verdict, adding that the sentence was suspended. Rights groups say criminal defamation and computer misuse laws are routinely used to stifle investigative work. The contentious report "Cheap Has a High Price" was published by the Finnish civil rights group Finnwatch. The report heaped pressure on Thailand's food industry, which has for years faced allegations of mistreatment of its mainly migrant labour force. In particular, Thailand's seafood and poultry packaging industries, which employ a largely Myanmar migrant workforce, have come under fire for abusive labour practices. Natural Fruit has denied the allegations in the report and has also launched a civil case seeking US$10 million in damages. Mr Hall, who said he will appeal the verdict, stands by his research and has accused the company of trying to detract from the report's damning findings through legal action. Speaking after the trial today, Mr Hall said the verdict "shows people are not free or at liberty to do this kind of research". "There's a huge problem with human trafficking in Thailand. There's a huge problem with labour exploitation," added the activist, who in recent years has also drawn attention to abuses in Thailand's shady fishing and poultry sectors. Interview: Andy Hall talks NLD migrant policy updates The president of Natural Fruit was in unforgiving mood after the ruling. "No foreigner should think they have power above Thai sovereignty," said company president Wirat Piyapornpaiboon. Mr Hall was acquitted by a court last year on a separate defamation charge pursued by Thailand's Attorney General. Finnwatch argue that their organisation should have been sued if Natural Fruit disagreed with their report rather than going after Mr Hall personally. Civil society organisations, relevant government departments and the general public must work together to sustainably manage the Ayeyarwady River and conserve forests in Magwe Region, according to U Than Tun, a retired assistant director of the Forestry Department. U Than Tun, who is also a freelance consultant on environmental conservation, urged the broad-based cooperation at a talk held on September 17 in the town of Magwe. Responsible management of the forests of Magwe Region, a watershed for both the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers, is seen as crucial to the environmental health of the region and downstream areas. The weekends discussion included shared experiences of sustainable natural resources management, with topics ranging from climate change and its effects to the health of the Ayeyarwady River and environmental impacts on local populations. Forests will cover the watershed areas in the next five or 10 years by conserving natural forests and growing more trees working together among people and ministerial departments including civil society organisations in each township mainly using people power, U Than Tun said. According to surveys on deforestation, some 500,000 acres of forest cover were lost annually from 1975 to 1990, rising to an average of 900,000 acres a year during the 20 years from 1990 to 2010. In the past, if 500,000 acres of forest were cut down, trees were grown for 100,000 acres with spending from the government budget. It was [making up for] 20 percent of deforestation. But at the present, although the deforestation rate is 900,000 acres, trees can be grown for 8000 acres only, U Than Tun said. Dr Aung Moe Nyo, chief minister for Magwe Region, said in a speech at the weekend discussion that while climate change is a global threat, Myanmar is a country particularly vulnerable to its impacts. That assertion was backed up by a 2015 report by the think-tank Germanwatch, which ranked Myanmar the second-most vulnerable nation in the world for climate change-linked extreme weather events from 1995 to 2014. Magwe Region was one of the areas hardest-hit by flooding in July and it also took a pounding in the 2015 inundation that impacted much of the country. According to the 2014 census, Magwe Regions population stood at 3,786,538. Translation by Thiri Min Htun A Pyithu Hluttaw MP is demanding more specifics after the government last week recommended taking out two loans from international lenders totalling more than US$200 million. Lawmaker U Aung Hlaing Win (NLD; Mingalardon) told a session of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw session on September 16 that he was unable to speak substantively with his constituents about the vaguely detailed development initiatives the loans would fund. Three ministries Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation; Education; and Health and Sport presented proposals to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on September 12 that would borrow $185.5 million from the Asian Development Bank and 25 million euros ($28 million) from the French Development Agency. But U Aung Hlaing Win criticised the Union governments representatives for only reading six or seven lines about the projects that would receive the money. He singled out a proposal for the Ministry of Education, which would get $98.5 million from the ADB loan to in part fund a vocational training schools initiative. The budget allocation for projects building roads in the entire Rakhine State is K5 billion [$4.1 million]. But for the project constructing only four [vocational] schools is K120 billion, he said. The number of people to enjoy the benefit of the schools is about 3000 people. So I think we need to review whether the project really requires that amount. He said more detail would need to be provided if he is to be able to adequately explain spending priorities to constituents who may wonder why the government is unable to fund additional basic education schools or bridges. He added that it was the duty of MPs to act as a check and balance on the executive branch by scrutinising the loans, which will ultimately need to be paid back with taxpayers money. Amyotha Hluttaw lawmaker U Than Soe (NLD; Yangon 4) seconded calls for greater transparency in the governments disbursement of international loans, saying spending could be susceptible to corruption without an adequate accountability framework. Government representatives will return to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw chamber to further elaborate on the loan proposals today, when an up-down vote on the borrowing is expected from Union parliament lawmakers. Translation by Thiri Min Htun and Win Thaw Tar Nearly half of the 316 striking Sakura garment factory workers have returned to work, while the remainder are still holding out to see a reduction of the daily production target that was the primary cause of the work stoppage. We havent gone back to work, said Ma Thu Zar Win, an employee who has worked at the Sakura operation for four years. We will ask until we achieve our main goal. Compensation for the striking period is not important. We only want our original daily production [target reinstated]. The workers who remain on strike outside the factory in Hlaing Tharyar township told The Myanmar Times yesterday that they were not satisfied with the Central Arbitration Councils recent ruling in the Sakura dispute and would seek the assistance of Action Labor Rights, a local advocacy group. Now we are just starting our new plan to ask for our rights. We are still discussing with Action Labor Rights about how we will proceed, said Ma Cho Cho Latt, one of the factorys labour union leaders who is among the holdouts. Workers outside the factory said that about 145 workers led by labour union chair Ma Tin Moe Khaing got back to work on September 17. Calls by The Myanmar Times to Ma Tin Moe Khaing went unanswered. We were satisfied with the regional councils ruling. But now we are not satisfied with the central councils ruling because its a one-sided decision, said Ma Nwae Nwae Ye, who joined the majority in holding out. Ma Nwae Nawe Ye said most of the 145 Sakura employees who went back to work were also dissatisfied with the Central Arbitration Council decision despite returning to the production line. They all had to get back to work because they expect they will get a settlement if they discuss with factory officials about the daily production target, she said. A factory official declined to comment, saying she was not authorised to speak for the company, when contacted by The Myanmar Times yesterday. The workers strike outside the Japanese-owned Sakura garment factory began in late July when factory officials tried to increase the workforces daily production targets without employees consent. The workers balked, saying the new targets could not be met without increasing staff levels, and appealed to the township labour relations department to resolve the dispute. The Yangon Region arbitrational body had instructed the factory to rehire the 316 striking workers, consult with them over revising production targets and compensate with back pay over the striking period. Factory officials objected to those terms and appealed to the Central Arbitration Council, which on September 12 affirmed the order to rehire the workers but in a reversal ruled that they should not be paid for the period during which they were on strike. The Central Arbitration Council did not weigh in on the dispute over production quotas, leaving that to be negotiated between employer and employees. Ko Sai Yu Maung of Action Labor Rights told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the employer was not allowed to make unreasonable demands on its workers output. We will figure out a solution for their dispute. Actually, this dispute was not a big one, but the dispute became big because of labour officials who didnt want to take responsibility, he said. He added that the arbitration councils had failed to properly consider whether the employers new production quotas were acceptable or not. Factory owner Ito Kiyokazu opened the Sakura operation in 2006. For a great power to lead the world there are a few qualities that it should bring to the table. These include, but are not limited to, material strength, an aspiration for recognition and sufficient international support. Does China currently possess these qualities? Material strength is the idea that a great power can survive a natural disaster or a man-made catastrophe by virtue of its geographical advantage or large population. Russia, for instance, was able to hold back Napoleons ambitions and, later on, undermine Hitlers aggression. The United States also had enough material strength to play a dominant role in rebuilding the world after the devastation of World War II. And, more recently, Chinas material strength led it to dominate the regional response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis. Leaders of great powers often feel obliged to take on more responsibility in governing the world. This sense of responsibility is rooted in national identity. But looking for this international recognition can lead to both the overestimation and underestimation of national power. Japans quest for dominance in Asia is a pertinent example of the former. And the latter can be seen in present-day China, which is already a major power in the world but still unprepared to play its role. Finally, great powers are expected by the rest of the world to provide leadership and help maintain international order as only great powers can be relied upon to do so. Chinas continuous economic growth over the past three decades has led to rising international expectations that it will take on a leadership role. New concepts such as a G2 of China and the United States, and the emergence of China as a responsible stakeholder in the international order illustrate this trend. The rest of the world, and particularly the United States, has an important role to play in encouraging China to accomplish its mission in a constructive way. But they must wait patiently as China is not ready to become a great power just yet. There are four reasons for this. First, there is no domestic consensus within China. Chinese leaders and the Chinese people are deeply divided over a wide range of domestic issues, from the governments role in economic and social life to foreign policy issues such as the South China Sea territorial disputes. New leftist arguments (promulgated by scholars such as Wang Wen, Su Changhe and Wang Yiwei) currently hold favour in China, and tough nationalist arguments are on the rise. The rift between the left and the right in China is deepening. How can a divided China lead the world? Second, China refuses to accept key values of the liberal international order such as democracy, liberty and the rule of law. In recent years, lecturers within China have been given repeated orders that they cannot discuss these values in the classroom. This raises more questions regarding Chinas leadership potential. While rejecting popular liberal values, China also fails to provide any appealing alternatives. Communism has lost its attraction domestically and abroad, and the core values of Confucianism which emphasise social hierarchies appear unacceptable in light of the contemporary importance given to equality. China will be considered a leader once it either accepts the dominant liberal values or else establishes some viable alternative that is internationally acceptable. Third, China does not provide sufficient public goods for the international community. The United States rose to global hegemon status by facilitating a diverse range of public goods under the umbrella of the Bretton Woods system. Thus far, China has initiated the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and is now leading development of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, but these are only regional initiatives. The provision of public goods is a function of both the material resources of a nation and its human resources. China is severely constrained in its ability to provide public goods due to the gap between skyrocketing demand for international talent and Chinas actual domestic supply. For instance, until November 2011, there were only 519 Chinese young volunteers working in 19 countries, compared to the more than 220,000 American Peace Corps volunteers who have served in 140 countries since 1961. China also lacks a great power mentality that can inspire the world. The citizens of a great power should care about the well-being and prosperity of people both domestically and abroad. Great powers are expected to be happy to give more and take less rather than operate on a strict cost-benefit basis. But China is not ready to give more. China offers foreign aid bilaterally based upon mutual benefit rather than seeking to foster multilateralism. Foreign aid policy, more often than not, attracts fierce opposition in China. And, to make matters worse, nationalism is on the rise within the netizen community, a trend that will likely result in Chinas isolation from the world rather than any deeper integration. So, while it might be time for China to take on the burden of global responsibility on a partnership basis, China is still not ready to become the great power. East Asia Forum Liang Xiaojun is an associate professor in the Department of Diplomacy at China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing. Soon after the May 2014 coup I joined the faculty of Mahidol University and was asked to teach a course on Democracy as a Political System. I wondered at what seemed a poisoned chalice. A colleague told me, only half-joking, to keep a wad of cash for a sudden escape. The subject was not new, but the setting was. How do you teach democracy in a country that has just suspended it? The answer is simple the same way that you should teach democracy anywhere: by giving them the critical tools to think about the issues, by getting them to engage with unfamiliar points of view and by encouraging them to develop their own perspective. In this spirit we explore the arguments used for and against democracy throughout history only in the past few decades have the former gained the upper hand. We look at the strengths and weaknesses of democracy as a form of government. We consider the ambiguities, even contradictions, of the easy formulation rule by the people. We examine the various designs of democratic systems that have tried to put this principle into practice, and we compare their performance. We consider how and why countries become democratic. Is democracy a delicate hothouse plant that only thrives in a particular social or cultural soil, or is it a hardy shoot sustained by human aspirations that are universal in nature? We end by considering the future of democracy. Enduring tensions between its principles and practice make democracy an unfinished journey, especially in an era of transformative change. Are globalisation and democracy compatible? Will the revolution of virtual media invigorate or weaken popular rule? What of the rising challenge from non-democratic states? All these questions are more complex than the shrill simplicities of pundits and soundbites admit. None has an easy answer, and few answers are final. No less important is to discuss them in a democratic spirit. Consider an argument on its merits and not because of who expresses it. By all means hold strong views, but listen respectfully to others. Tell someone why you disagree: Dont tell them they are wrong. What I do not do is share my views, at least not in the classroom. That is not the place for them: My job is to illuminate, not advocate. Occasionally a student will press me to say what I really believe, perhaps hoping they will get a better grade if they repeat this in the exam. I reply that a well-argued case will earn more credit than a poorly argued one, whether or not I happen to support its conclusions. None of this should detract from the cases of students and educators who have been detained for expressing peaceful political views. But it is possible to create space for real discussion of democratic ideas and practice in a way that can benefit, and even bring together, supporters, opponents and the undecided alike. Those who value democracy should remind themselves why they believe what they do. Orthodoxy becomes complacent if it is not tested and kept sharp by contact with criticism. Worse, it can lead to didactic condescension toward those who disagree. A new academic year has begun at Mahidol, and enrolment in our democracy course has doubled. After the recent Thai constitutional referendum and the Brexit vote, and in the midst of a US presidential election campaign unlike any other, questions of why democracy should be valued, how well it is working and what its future might look like are being posed more widely and urgently than ever. There is no better time to study democracy and not only in Thailand. Bangkok Post Nigel Gould-Davies teaches at Mahidol University International College. He holds a PhD from Harvard University and is an associate fellow of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Brother of Aide of Former Chinese President Hu Jintao Charged with Graft The brother of former President Hu Jintao is charged with graft. (Photo : Getty Images) The brother of former President Hu Jintao's aide was slapped with graft charges on Wednesday, in line with the pursuit of the Communist Party of corrupt members. The accused is Ling Zhengce, former deputy head of the parliamentary advisory body of Shanxi. He is the elder brother of Ling Jihua. Advertisement Ling Jihua was jailed in July for creating damage to the image of the Party. Ling Zhengce was accused of collecting bribes and special favors from companies, according to the statement released by the Supreme Court. He will be tried in the court of Changzhou located in the eastern part of the Shanxi Province, which is rich with coal-producing factories. The coal-rich province is described to be full of corrupt practices. Vice Premier Ma Kai last year described it as "like cancer." The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has been investigating the cases of the two brothers and was reported to be in communication with U.S. officials for charging the third brother. The commission expelled Ling Zhengce for corrupt practices in the Communist Party last year. In a statement, the commission said, "In addition to this, Ling Zhengce's behavior interfered with and hindered the organizational investigation." President Xi Jinping, from the beginning of his administration, has been aggressive in charging corrupt officials of the Party, stating that the campaign is important in the country's leadership to maintain political power. Two allies of disgraced retired domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang were also charged with corruption. Zhou, 72, is the most senior official who was sentenced to life imprisonment. China's Supreme Court also said that along with Ling, charges of bribery will be filed to Chen Chuanping and Sun Hongzhi, two top officials in Shanxi involved in commerce and industry. [September 20, 2016] Featured Speakers Announced for OpenStack Summit in Barcelona as Adoption Continues Growth in Europe Today at OpenStack Day UK, OpenStack Foundation Executive Director Jonathan Bryce offered a sneak preview of speakers committed to the next OpenStack Summit, the must-attend cloud computing event, taking place October 25-28 at the Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona (CCIB) in Barcelona, Spain. Approximately 6,000 attendees from 50+ countries are expected to attend the Summit to discuss how the OpenStack open source cloud platform is helping companies increase agility and save money as software becomes more strategic to their business. (Media and analyst passes are available. Contact [email protected].) Featured speakers include OpenStack users and community members at Banco Santander, CERN, China Mobile, Comcast, Constant Contact (News - Alert), Crowdstar, Deutsche Telekom, Folksam, Google, Mesosphere, Sky UK, Snapdeal, Swisscom, Telefonica, United States Army, Verizon, Walmart and many more. View the full schedule, follow updates and register to attend at https://www.openstack.org/summit/barcelona-2016/. From 2015 to 2016, OpenStack vendor revenue in Europe grew 48 percen to US$478 million, and it is projected to grow more than 200 percent to US$1.5 billion, according to the 451 Research MarketMonitor from August 2016. OpenStack is widely recognized as the open source private cloud software of choice globally, with adoption by 50 percent of the US Fortune 100. The Barcelona Summit, however, will focus on the explosive growth of public cloud service providers in EMEA, as well as adoption by global telecoms as an enabling technology for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). Attendees will learn about the latest OpenStack release, Newton (scheduled for release on October 6), directly from the contributors who built it, as well as what's on the product roadmap for the next 18 months. The Summit will also feature technology demonstrations, including: OpenStack multi-vendor interoperability challenge, showcasing common applications deployed across multiple OpenStack private and public cloud environments Demo of features from Newton, the newest version of OpenStack NFV fault management demonstration using OpenStack Vitrage and Congress, based on the OPNFV Doctor framework OpenStack and AWS hybrid cloud management NFV interoperability demo based on OpenStack run by the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) on behalf of The New IP Agency (NIA) The international event spotlights enterprise IT strategies, cloud application development, emerging NFV architectures in the telecom ecosystem, and exciting new projects and technologies within the OpenStack community. Developer working sessions will determine the roadmap for Ocata, the 15th release of OpenStack software, expected in February 2017. Presentations will cover topics including: ROI case studies Multi-cloud strategy Next-generation telecom networks Managing containers on bare metal or in virtual machines Cloud reference architectures proven in production Enabling application developers About OpenStack OpenStack is the most widely deployed open source software for building clouds. In use globally at large and small enterprises, telecoms, service providers, and government/research organizations, OpenStack is a technology integration engine that supports the diverse ecosystem of cloud computing innovation. Current news and alerts signup at: http://www.openstack.org/news/signup. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005686/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 20, 2016] Mobile Internet Users in Latin America to Grow by 50 Per Cent by 2020, Finds New GSMA Study The number of people across Latin America using their mobile devices to access the internet is set to grow by 50 per cent by the end of the decade, according to a new GSMA (News - Alert) study. It is forecast that 150 million new mobile internet subscribers1 will be added in the region by 2020, bringing the total to 450 million and driving economic growth, innovation and digital inclusion. The new report, 'The Mobile Economy: Latin America and the Caribbean 2016', was published at the 'GSMA Mobile 360 - Latin America' event being held in Mexico City this week, which brings together leading mobile executives from across the region. "Latin America has seen rapid growth in the number of mobile internet subscribers over recent years, helping to build an 'app economy' in areas such as mobile commerce and mobile content, and supporting a flourishing local start-up environment," said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. "This is due in large part to local mobile operators being able to successfully migrate existing subscribers to smartphones and mobile broadband networks, despite dealing with growing competitive and regulatory pressures in many regional markets." World's Second-Fastest Growing Mobile Region The Latin America region will enjoy strong subscriber growth for the remainder of the decade, as large markets such as Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru add millions of new subscribers. The overall number of unique mobile subscribers2 in Latin America is forecast to reach 524 million by 2020, up from 414 million at the end of 2015, making Latin America the second-fastest growing global region during this period after Sub-Saharan Africa. Mobile subscriber penetration is forecast to increase from 65 per cent of the region's population in 2015 to 78 per cent by 2020. However, the picture varies widely by country, with penetration currently as low as 28 per cent in Cuba, but above 90 per cent in markets such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Smartphone adoption in Latin America has risen sharply in recent years, accounting for half of regional connections3 at the end of 2015. The region is expected to add 262 million smartphones connections4 by the end of the decade. Adoption continues to be stimulated by falling smartphone prices and a growing range of mid- and low-end devices. Smartphones are also driving migration to 3G/4G mobile broadband networks. Ongoing operator investments in 4G mean tat 4G coverage is available to 60 per cent of the region's population today and is set to cover 80 per cent by next year. Mobile Contributing to GDP, Jobs and Public Funding The use of mobile technologies and services across the Latin America and Caribbean region generated $255 billion in economic value last year, equivalent to 5 per cent of the region's GDP5. This contribution is expected to increase to more than $315 billion by 2020, or 5.5 per cent of expected GDP. The region's mobile ecosystem also supported approximately 1.9 million jobs in 2015 and made a $40 billion contribution to the public sector via general taxation. This contribution excludes government revenue raised via spectrum auctions, which totalled almost $450 million in 2015. Mobile operators in the region are jointly set to invest more than $76 billion in capital expenditure between 2016-2020. "Our new report underlines how mobile is making a valuable social and economic contribution to the economies of Latin America, fuelling a virtuous circle that reduces poverty, improves infrastructure and services, and further increases internet access and usage," added Granryd. "To continue this growth, the mobile industry and government must work together to tackle barriers to digital inclusion in areas such as network coverage, affordability, digital skills and the availability of locally relevant content." Granryd continued: "Modernising existing regulatory frameworks will be the next challenge in enabling future mobile services growth, fostering industry investment and maximising future digital ecosystem opportunities for Latin American economies. These new ecosystems will be driven by the local, small and medium enterprises that are leveraging increased connectivity to develop the content, applications and value-added solutions that are transforming the lives of consumers and businesses across the region." The new report 'The Mobile Economy: Latin America and the Caribbean 2016' is authored by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA. To access the full report and related infographics, please visit: http://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/latam/. -ENDS- About the GSMA The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress (News - Alert), Mobile World Congress Shanghai and the Mobile 360 Series conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter (News - Alert): @GSMA. 1 A mobile internet subscriber is defined as a unique user who has used internet services on their mobile device(s) at the end of the period. Mobile internet services are defined as any activity that consumes mobile data (i.e. excluding SMS, MMS and cellular voice calls). 2 A unique mobile subscriber represents an individual that can account for multiple mobile connections (SIM cards) 3 A mobile connection refers to an active SIM card registered with a mobile network, excluding M2M connections. The total number of mobile connections in the Latin America and Caribbean reached 682 million in 2015 and is forecast to rise to 829 million by 2020 4 A smartphone connection is defined as a SIM card registered and used in a smartphone device at the end of the period. It does not represent the number of smartphone devices sold or shipped. 5 GDP total includes contribution from mobile operators (1.0%); related industries such as devices and infrastructure players (0.5%); indirect impact (0.4%); and productivity impact (3.1%) View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160920005058/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] More people in China are getting private health insurance because of dissatisfaction with the government's health system. (Photo : Getty Images) More Chinese companies and individuals are subscribing to private health insurance policies to cover their medical needs. These consumers are taking into health insurance because their government insurance policies fail to cover their needs. According to a report released by VC Beat, 29 private companies have invested in health insurance providers since 2015. Advertisement Income of private insurance providers jumped to 92 percent from last year's 52 percent, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. More affluent families are reported to take on insurance policies to cover chronic illnesses. Luo Ying, partner and managing director at consultancy Boston Consulting Group, said, "The growth is sustainable because all the drivers will continue to be there, especially the demand for health care services." Research from McKinsey and Company in 2012 stated that "Patients still need to contribute out-of-pocket sums. Inpatient costs can easily add up to several times the average income levels, especially if they involve complex procedures, expensive devices or patented drugs." Many Chinese citizens experience heavy expenditures in times of sickness and due to the lack of government's ability to cover expenses, they are burdened to produce cash. The report also stated that there are "low caps for total reimbursement likewise increase the risk of patients with acute or chronic conditions will end up paying the 1large portion of their hospital bills out-of-pocket." Zhao Heng, the founder of a local health care consultancy called Latitude Health, said that many of the health insurance providers struggle with the kind of care package to offer. These companies want to offer a larger scope of coverage and diversify into other services. McKinsey reported that "approximately 30 percent of China's urban population currently possess some kind of private care insurance while another approximately 20 percent are planning to buy some sort of health insurance in the near future." Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington has claimed her purse was stolen from under her seat while she was collecting a prize at the Emmy Awards. The star said the purse went missing while she was on stage and doing subsequent interviews. Abbington tweeted: We went up to collect the Emmy, did some press, came back to my seat and [someone] had nicked my purse from under my seat. The Los Angeles Police Department said they had no information about a theft. Neither the Emmys or the Microsoft Theatre, where the event was held, have yet commented. Sherlock: The Abominable Bride won the prize for outstanding television movie at Sunday nights ceremony at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles. Abbington is married to her Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman Abbington, who appears as Mary Morstan in the series, said her driving licence and phone were both in the purse. One of her followers suggested: Perhaps it accidentally got kicked away from under the chair and then someone handed it in to staff? But Abbington responded: No, I hung around until everyone had left the auditorium. Nothing there. 20.09.2016 LISTEN Stars and dignitaries gathered in Mayfair on the 1st of September for the 8th annual BEFFTA UK press and nomination launch where the official final nominations were revealed. The the awards which honors excellence in media, arts, journalism and crafts, unveiled African nominees like, Shatta Wale, Yemi Alade, Efya, Tiwa Savage, Zahara, Victoria Kimani and many more. However the toast of the Night was Nigerian-British movie producer, Rhoda Wilson; who was nominated in two categories. Rhoda Wilson who has a background as a TV presenter was nominated for best producer for her hit TV series, "Housewives and Girlfriends", which also grabbed a nomination for best TV series. Speaking to YFM's Official Kwame, Rhoda Wilson spoke about her setbacks and challenges while making the nominated TV series and also expressed excitement for being the first NollywoodUK production to be nominated for the awards. "When we did housewives and girlfriends, if I tell you the challenges we went through, you'd not believe. Everybody said it couldn't be done", Rhoda said as she went on to encourage listeners of the interview to be tenacious and aim for higher heights. Rhoda announced her decision to work with more Ghanaian actors in upcoming productions, as she had already worked with a few Ghanaians including Van Vicker on Housewives and Girlfriends. Ghana's most versatile musician Rexford Kojo Amoah well-known in showbiz as Shatta Rako successfully launched his much publicized Preface album at the Plush Lounge on KNUST campus over the weekend. The event which started around 11pm saw an appreciable number of good music lovers including media personalities, the corporate world and club goers. After a special album listening session, award-winning radio presenter and host for the night NY DJ shed more light on the direction of the Preface album. Head of reggae and dancehall music at the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Mr. Root Eye (who was a special guest and also featured on Shatta Rako's Preface album) joined the band to perform Whatever You Need; his newly penned yet to be released single. Shatta Rako set the record as the first artist to ever perform with a live set at the ultra-modern Plush Lounge. Performing some songs off his classical remixes album, the fans could not resist the temptation of dancing as they joined him dance to the beautiful songs. He performed with the Massive Music Band. Other performers on the night included Nana Trimudehene, Phrimpong, Ratty, Benjee, Sly Gee and a host of others. CEO of Obibini Blackman distilleries, Dr. Thomas Aboagye Dompem and Osei Owusu Erasmus (Osewus Ventures) bought the first and second copies for a GHC20,000 whilst morning show host for Abusua FM, Kwame Adinkra bought the third copy for GHC5,000. With a new approach to making the album available and a first of its kind, Shatta Rako's new album is loaded on a well branded 8GB drive that makes it easy to be carried along by owners. The Preface album is also available on CDs for people who love to own copies. The album launch was supported by NY DJ Live Media, Plush Lounge, Y102.5FM and L2M Production. Photo Credit: L2m Productions. Author: Ebenezer Donkoh 20.09.2016 LISTEN Ace gospel musician Diana Hopeson, formerly Diana Akiwumi says veteran gospel musicians, including herself, are still relevant. The former president of Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) believes that they can equally deliver whenever they are called upon to perform. Mrs Hopeson who has released Aseda which features Okyeame Kwame after Diana Hopeson, after 10 years, has promised to release a new song every three months and she is hoping to launch her tenth album next year. She says she and other gospel musicians like Mary Ghansah, Daughters of Glorious Jesus, Tagoe Sisters among others should not be overlooked by corporate bodies when booking artistes for events. Speaking on TIG Show with Franky5 on Hitz FM Sunday, Mrs Hopeson, who has been in the gospel industry for some 25 years, said age is not a barrier because they still have the talent and are on top of their game. She noted that veteran gospel musicians are always poised for action but was quick to admit that they may not necessarily match the energy of the new crop of gospel musicians. Mrs Hopeson has set her sights on grooming new talents for the Ghanaian gospel music industry. She, therefore, appealed to pastors, churches and cooperate bodies to assist her with some instruments to train budding musicians. Asked about why MUSIGA has always been criticised by the public and some musicians, she stated that it is unfortunate for people tag the leadership as thieves and that they mismanage resources. She challenged people making those allegations to back them with evidence. She advised people fond of insulting and lambasting MUSIGA for no reason to desist from the act. She believes MUSIGA is not thriving because some of the musicians who have been assigned roles at the Union are not qualified hence the deficiency. Mrs Hopeson thinks the current president Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour) is also doing his bit to help build the Union. Fashion students of the Joyce Ababio College of Creative Design (JACCD) made a bold fashion statement as forces to reckon with in Ghana's fashion industry, wowing fashion enthusiasts with their amazing designs last week. This was at the school's 2016 graduation ceremony held on Saturday with a runway event at the school's premises opposite the 37 Military Hospital in Accra. It was under the theme: 'Fashion Face-Off; Couture & Avant-Garde' and attracted major stakeholders in the fashion industry, including Ken Attoh, Creative Director at Sparrow Productions and Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts, Dzifa Gomashie. The outgoing students showcased various stunning and exceptional designs appropriate for various occasions such as red carpet events, church activities, conferences and more. Overall, 160 students graduated in certificate course, including 154 fashion students and six graphic designers. The most outstanding students went to Mercy Elorm Dansu and Priscilla Scott-Obaro, while Jonathan Djieagu took the Vlisco Designer Competition Award at the ceremony. The Joyce Ababio College of Creative Design is a creative design institution launched in 2013 in Accra, Ghana, by top fashion designer, Mrs Joyce Ababio. She established and ran Vogue Style School of Fashion and Design for 17 years. Transitioning into Joyce Ababio College of Creative Design (JACCD) for the past three years, it is a new design and an independent private institution running programmes in Fashion Design and Graphic Design and Entrepreneurship. Currently, it has trained thousands of young fashion designers across the continent. By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50 Email: [email protected] ) A kumasi based movie producer cum radio presenter Eric Adu has descended heavily on movie stars who have endorsed the Candidature of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama second term bid. According to him these industry players are endorsing the president because of greediness. Eric Adu known in the industry as pawpaw shew reacting to the latest reports that section of the industry players in kumasi have been given a brand new Chevrolet cars from the President through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts . Pawpaw shew addressing the issue on his program dubbed Boss Countdown on Boss Fm in kumasi subjected these players into serious ridicul . On his program, he made mention of few stars who have been given the cars including the likes of Bill Asamoah, Michael Afrane, Christiana Awuni and Kwadwo Asare Bediako. He described the aforementioned stars as persons who have sold their conscionce at the cheapest level. "Person like Michael Afrane ,as a senior most player how can you stoop so low for this small car." The furious presenter further threw verbal punches on these stars and insighted the public against them.He called on the movie lovers in kumasi not to Patronize on movies that features these icons. Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. TMZ reports that the actress filed papers on Monday citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split and asking for physical custody of the couples six children. A source close to the couple said Jolie, 41, made the decision to file because of the way Brad was parenting the children, adding that she was extremely upset with his methods. That same source claims Jolie became fed up with Pitts consumption of weed and possibly alcohol mixed with his anger problem. The pair began dating in 2004 and were married in August 2014. Jolie, who is being repped by Laura Wasser, is not asking for spousal support in the divorce. Wasser most recently represented Johnny Depp in his divorce from Amber Heard. Jolie has listed the separation date as September 15, 2016 , just last Thursday. The couple had not been seen together in months and were last photographed at a event together in November of last year while promoting their film By the Sea. This will be the third divorce for Jolie, who was previously married to Sherlock star Johnny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton. Pitts first marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston ended in 2005 as a result of his relationship with Jolie, who he met when the two worked on the 2005 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The split comes less than a year after the two released By the Sea, which told the story of an unhappily married couple. Jolie directed and starred in the film alongside Pitt, and admitted how difficult the shoot was at times. It was our way of testing ourselves. We knew that if we could get through this, wed come out even stronger and happier. And we did, she said of making the film. Weve always liked putting ourselves through challenges, even though it was maybe a little more dangerous for us as a couple. She then added: I dont think we want to go through it again though. Jolie adopted her first son Maddox in March 2002, two years before she met Pitt on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith back in 2004. The film was originally set to star Nicole Kidman, but the actress dropped out at the last second. The couple denied that they were together, even after US Weekly ran photos in August 2005 of the two playing with Maddox at their rented villa on Diani Beach, Kenya. It was later revealed that Pitt, 52, had been by Jolies side one month prior when she adopted daughter Zahara from a orphanage Ethiopia. Soon after this is when Pitt formally adopted Jolies son Maddox, with the children changing their surname to Jolie-Pitt. The pair finally announced they were together in 2006 after Jolie became pregnant with Pitts child. Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was born in May 2006 in Namibia, with the couple choosing to give birth in Africa to avoid a press frenzy. The following March the couple adopted again, this time travelling to Vietnam and adding 3-year-old Pax Thien as the newest member of the family. Jolie then became pregnant once more, confirming in May 2008 that the couple was expecting twins. Knox and Vivienne were born in July of that year, with the first photos of the two selling for an astounding $14 million in a deal between Hello and People. -dailymail Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. Chinas Navy Becomes Stronger with More Modern Vessels and Training The Chinese navy celebrates its modernization and upgrading of training skills. (Photo : Getty Images) The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is increasing its influence over the East China Sea by deploying its destroyer flotilla in its frontline. Xu Haihua, the captain of the flotilla, said, "As a combat troop, the fundamental mission is our ability to win. There is no doubt about our fighting strength." Advertisement Known as the "iron fist of the sea", the flotilla has sophisticated equipment and crewmen have superior naval skills. The two destroyers are named Fuzhou and the Hangzhou and have cutting edge technology in terms of size, firepower, seaworthiness, and anti-ship capabilities. The flotilla was also used in the recent naval exercises with Russia in the East China Sea. "First, it boosted our modernization and equipment development; second, we learned a whole new set of skills through operating the vessels; last, we cultivated lots of elite seamen," Xu said. Xu explained that his troops had training that was mission-oriented. He said, "First we should make clear what mission the troops are undertaking, and what environment and opponents the troops will face before they receive training on how to defend and attack." He added that training with the Russians and "introducing the destroyers brought lots of progress, including training methods, combat conception, and equipment upgrading." Meanwhile, Japan recently expressed support to the U.S. Naval fleet in its intention to uphold the UNCLOS decision on China's claim to the South China Sea. Japan's newly-appointed Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, said that "Japan strongly supports the US Navy's Freedom of Navigation operations." She added, "Japan, for its part, will increase its engagement in the South China Sea through, for example, Maritime Self-Defense Force joint training cruises with the US Navy and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies." Johannesburg (AFP) - South African students and campus security guards clashed in Johannesburg on Tuesday, hurling rocks at each other as demonstrations over higher fees turned violent. Unrest has hit many South African universities over the past year, as students protest fee increases that they say force poorer, often black, pupils out of education. Students and guards battled outside the Great Hall auditorium at Wits University in Johannesburg, leaving many of the building's windows broken and the ground littered with rocks before police moved in to break up the fighting. "The students wanted to gather, and we were denied entry (to the Great Hall), that is when things turned violent," student Sizwe Mangena, 20, told AFP. "Things started to fly, everyone running for cover. It was like a scene from the townships during apartheid. Students at Wits University in Johannesburg protest and disrupt classes after a call to shut down the university as part of the "FeesMustFall" movement on September 19, 2016 "Our demand is simply that we want free education. Our parents can't afford to pay." Earlier police fired stun grenades to clear a main road in Johannesburg, and students blockaded campus entrances and disrupted classes. Tuesday's protests came a day after the government said that next year's fee hikes would be capped at eight percent. Protests were also held at campuses in Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfontein. The government said it would cover the increase for students from families earning less than 600,000 rand ($43,000, 39,000 euros) a year, but student activists have demanded free education for all. "About 200 students in roving groups are moving from campus-to-campus disrupting classes... and intimidating students," Wits, one of the country's most prestigious universities, said in a statement on Tuesday morning. Protests at Wits University came a day after the government said that next year's fee hikes would be capped at eight percent "We are deploying security and the police. Students will be arrested if they do not comply with police orders." TV footage showed stun grenades being fired to clear a major road in Johannesburg, while local media said that 31 people who had been arrested for blocking a campus entrance, were released with a warning. 'Disturbing images' Student medics at Wits told AFP that they had treated at least 20 injured people. "I'm very disturbed about this because... as much as students have the right to protest, there is no basis for this protest here," Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande told 702 radio. "I don't like to see the sight of police in our universities. It's not good." Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of major protests which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016. Throughout this year, there has been sporadic unrest which has seen accommodation buildings and libraries set alight, and in May, an auditorium at Johannesburg University was firebombed. The issue of education fees has ignited widespread frustration over a lack of opportunities for young people, worsened by a weakening economy and high unemployment. The University of Free State closed its Bloemfontein campus Tuesday, while classes and lectures were also abandoned at the University of Cape Town. "Burning schools, libraries and university buildings means burning the future," President Jacob Zuma said after campus riots earlier this year. Kinshasa (AFP) - Several people died in a second day of violence in DR Congo Tuesday, with three opposition HQ buildings torched in a fresh bout of clashes between police and opponents of President Joseph Kabila. The renewed violence came after a bloody day on Monday during which opposition groups said more than 50 people had died in protests calling for Kabila's resignation. The national secretary of the main opposition group blamed a "commando" unit from the regime for torching the opposition headquarters buildings. "Does a normal state respond with reprisals?" said Felix Tshisekedi from the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). At least two burnt bodies could be seen in the fire-ravaged UDPS offices. Two others were burned alive and another injured, AFP journalists said. Fire was still raging at the building where a tearful woman in her 40s said that her husband had been there when unidentified assailants attacked the building. "I've just put my husband's body in the morgue. He was killed in the clashes," she told AFP. By early morning, the flames were dying down at the other two headquarters buildings -- belonging to the Forces of Union and Solidarity (FONUS) and the Lumumbist Progressive Movement (MLP) in the north of the capital Kinshasa. Demonstrators pile up rocks to block a road during a protest in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on September 19, 2016 A FONUS member said that armed men in civilian clothes arrived at the office in a jeep, sprayed petrol and set the building on fire. Jose Maria Arnaz, the director of the Joint Office of the United Nations for Human Rights in DR Congo, inspected the UDPS office to "investigate" the fire. "We are seeing what we can do to reduce the political tensions and bring those responsible for deaths to justice," he told AFP. 'Systematic repression' Monday's violence started just before an opposition rally by demonstrators who fear Kabila -- who has ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001 -- is planning to extend his rule unconstitutionally. Former colonial ruler Belgium bled the mineral-rich central African nation dry and it has been wracked by unrest since independence in 1960. It has never known a peaceful transition of power. The government had put the toll from Monday's violence at 17 but warned it could rise further. The opposition said that security forces fired live ammunition into protesters and urged supporters to pour onto the streets again to demand Kabila step down when his term expires. It urged people "to keep up without hesitation the demands." Human Rights Watch researcher Ida Sawyer said the monitor "received credible reports that security forces shot dead at least 20 people (on Monday) during Kinshasa protests against election delays". The clashes were the worst violence in the capital since January 2015 when a police crackdown on another opposition protest left several dozen people dead. Kabila's mandate ends on December 20 and although the constitution bans him from running again, he has made no effort to schedule elections, fuelling fears he will attempt to cling on to power. In May, the Constitutional Court said Kabila could remain in office in a caretaker capacity until an election is held, triggering a wave of angry protests. France and Belgium have voiced concern over the unrest and urged political forces to organise an election quickly. A fringe opposition group has been meeting with the government in a bid to organise a schedule for elections, but veteran opposition leader Tshisekedi has refused to participate in the talks which are due to end on Saturday. Last week, Amnesty International accused Kinshasa of the "systematic repression" of those seeking Kabila's departure. Kinshasa (AFP) - The headquarters of three DR Congo opposition parties were torched overnight and early Tuesday, a day after deadly clashes between police and opponents of President Joseph Kabila, AFP journalists said. One person was injured at the offices of the main opposition, while by 8:30 am (0730 GMT) flames were dying down at the headquarters of the Forces of Union and Solidarity (FONUS) and the MLP in the north of the capital Kinshasa. Minneapolis (AFP) - The Somali community in the US state of Minnesota braced for a backlash after a man who stabbed 10 people in a mall over the weekend was identified as one of their own. The FBI is investigating the Saturday attack in the city of St. Cloud as a potential act of terrorism. Authorities late Monday officially identified the attacker as Dahir Ahmed Adan. Police said he was 20 years old, but local newspaper reports and community leaders said he was 22. Adan allegedly attacked shoppers at a mall, where police said he asked at least one victim whether they were Muslim before stabbing them, and made "some reference to Allah." Dahir Ahmed Adan, the Somali American has been named as the perpetrator of the weekend stabbing rampage in Minnesota He was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Authorities had initially reported that nine people were attacked. As investigators viewed additional security video of the incident, they discovered a tenth victim -- a 21-year-old man who had not sought out medical attention or notified authorities of his injuries, police said. A news agency with ties to the Islamic State group said the rampage was carried out by an IS "soldier," but it was not clear what connection the attacker had with the terrorist organization. "We strongly condemn what happened," said Haji Yussuf, cofounder of the activist group #UniteCloud, during a Sunday news conference. "That is not what this community is, that is not who we are." Reports of harassment Eyewitnesses reported on Sunday evening that a handful of pickup trucks, some flying American and Confederate flags, buzzed by apartment complexes where many Somali-Americans live. Meanwhile, a group of flag-waving motorcyclists circled around another Somali neighborhood. Community advocates like Lul Hersi were getting texts Sunday night from frightened residents. "One person does something, and the whole community pays for that one person's actions," she said. The perpetrators were employing "racial slurs, various hand gestures," said community activist Justin Michael, who was working with the St. Cloud Police Department to help prevent further incidents. The growth in the Somali refugee population in St. Cloud has escalated tensions, particularly in the school system "It's really important that we are, as a community, able to share the true, lived experience of the Somali community members that we love so much," he said. St. Cloud's Somali population has its roots in the 1990s and has grown rapidly in the last 10 years. The state of Minnesota is home to a third of the more than 85,000 Somalian refugees resettled in the country, according to the US Census. Twenty percent of students in St. Cloud's school district are from a home where the primary language is Somali, according to the St. Cloud Times. Ismail Ali, a student at St. Cloud State University where Adan attended college, said the city was at a crossroads. "We can either choose to let hate win and be divided as a community, or we can choose to come together and love one another and move on," he said. 'Coming together' Governor Mark Dayton, alluding on Monday to the need for unity, expressed "deep concern for what occurred" and pledged to aid in the "community's recovery from that and coming together more unified and stronger than ever before." Yussuf hoped authorities are able to quickly piece together what happened, so they can better address whatever broader problems may have been behind the rampage. "We need to know, so that we make sure as a community, we stand together as a community, and make sure it does not happen to us ever again. Never again in our town should we see something like this. So, let's find solutions," he said The growth in the Somali refugee population in St. Cloud has escalated tensions, particularly in the school system. In 2012, the US Department of Education reached an agreement with the St. Cloud school district after an investigation into alleged harassment of Somali Muslim students. Last year, students staged two walkouts in support of a Somali student was falsely labeled on the social media app Snapchat as a member of Islamic State. The group Yussuf founded, #UniteCloud, was created to try to address tensions and create better relations between Somalis and the community at large. He feared the attack will set back his efforts. "Thirty years of relationship building could be undone by this one incident," he said. Minneapolis (AFP) - Dahir Ahmed Adan, the Somali American named as the perpetrator of the weekend stabbing rampage in Minnesota, was a high-achieving student with no known history of violence. Adan -- who police said was 20 years old, but community members said was 22 -- was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman after Saturday's attack, which the Islamic State group claimed as the work of one of its "soldiers". Members of St Cloud's close-knit Somali refugee community expressed shock that one of their own had stabbed 10 people at a mall in the city 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of the state capital St Paul. Adan's father, in an interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, said his son was born in Kenya but grew up in the United States. He said he had "no suspicion" of his son having any ties to terrorism. The younger Adan graduated with honors from a local high school and was attending a nearby university, said local Abdul Kulane. "He worked part-time as a private security officer," Kulane told a Sunday news conference. Dahir Ahmed Adan was shot and killed by an off-duty policeman after the weekend stabbing rampage in Minnesota "He was helpful to his family and as far as we know, he never had a violent history, as far as his family and the community can remember. He was a friendly and active community member." Adam Hammer, a spokesman for St. Cloud State University, told AFP that Adan's "intended" major was information systems. Hammer said Adan's last semester at the college was in the Spring of this year, and he had not registered for the Fall semester. Kulane said "the families are grieving and are in dismay... And the entire community (is) shocked by this incident." A news agency with ties to IS claimed the St Cloud attack was carried out by a jihadist "soldier," and President Barack Obama said Monday that the FBI was investigating the incident as a "potential act of terrorism." Police in St Cloud said the attacker was dressed in a private security guard uniform and had made "some references to Allah" before the stabbing spree. "He asked at least one person if they were Muslim," St Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson told a news conference. The Minnesota attack came the same day as bombings in New York and New Jersey, which stoked terror fears less than 50 days before the US presidential election. Police wounded and captured a 28-year-old Afghan-born American in connection with those attacks. Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo Addo will resume his 2016 election campaign with a tour of some constituencies of the Greater Accra Region. He is expected to visit Dodowa, Adentan and some other constituencies in the Region. The tour marks the beginning of the second phase of his campaign ahead of the December polls. Nana Addo has already visited all ten Regions in Ghana with his message of change and hope for the Ghanaian electorate. Northern Region Nana Addo, during his recent tour of the Northern Region paid a courtesy call on the overlord of the Mamprugu traditional area, the Nayiri Mahami Bahigu Sheriga at his palace in Nalerigu. Nana Akufo Addo's campaign team on day two of the visit also paid courtesy calls on some chiefs in the Tamale Metropolis. Upper East Region In the Upper East Region, Nana Addo, among other things touched on his message for 'change of government' in the upcoming general election and social intervention policies an NPP government will implement in the region. He also interacted with the regional and constituency executives later in the evening and attended the funeral rites of late former chairman of the Upper East Regional council of elders Col. George Miyinlla in Navrongo By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana 20.09.2016 LISTEN The National Democratic Congress (NDC) honored Ghanaian President, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, with a truly memorable fundraiser/dinner dance. The date was September 10th, the place524 Park Avenue in the heart of the City that Never SleepsNew York, New York. This was the latest successful fundraising event hosted by the NDC New York branch under the auspices of the NDC-USA Chapter as the Party gears up for the December 7th general election. An enthusiastic crowd jammed the venue where the presence of traditional rulers in their elegant outfits provided a must-see moment. Attended by dignitaries, the patriotic men and women of the NDC, and chosen Kings and Queens, this was a night to celebrate the glory of country, a night for Ghanaian pride. The events high octane inspiration was fueled by stirring speakers and pulsating music. An all-star line-up of officials offered words of wisdom: Rev. Grace Gator of Full Stature Missions International Invited Gods presence by reciting the opening prayer. A Muslim prayer followed--delivered by Chief Imam of the Yankusa Association. In his welcoming address, Moses Klu Mensah, NDC New York Branch Chairman, declared, We meet here tonight in a borough noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a state noted for strength. The point made was that President Mahama is working to ensure all three for Ghana and that NDCs united front will yield tremendous dividends in this regard. Observing the unprecedented turnout, the Chairman buoyantly promised a larger venue next time. Nii Armah Ashiboi, Chairman, NDC-USA Chapter, reviewed the history-making development Ghana has experienced under the leadership of President Mahama and the NDC government. He exclaimed that he was proud to have NDC DNA in his blood. Obaapanine Nana Ama Dufie, Queen Mother of Agona Wamase, led the introduction of the traditional rulers comprised of Kings, Queens-mothers 2 Citing the good works of President Mahama encompassing construction (including roads, hospitals, schools, airport and harbor expansion, stadiums, and factories), peace, and security, she advised Ghanaians to not succumb to lies propagated by unbalanced individuals seeking to undermine NDC popularity. Since government spending is necessary for national growth, the Queen-mother remarked, expenditures for developmental projects are not debt, but fine investment. Nana Osei Owusu Kuffour II, Senior Linquist of Essumeja-Asantemanso traditional area spoke on behalf of Nananom in the US and in Ghana. He explained why traditional rulers quickly respond to NDC calls for action and patronize its programs. While the constitution of Ghana does not allow Nananom to engage in party politics, it does not prevent endorsement of, and participation in, worthwhile courses of action. The keynote address was delivered by Jojo Bruce - Quansah, representative of the Ghana Ambassador to the United States. Mr. Bruce-Quansah reminded the gathering to be ever mindful of the historic accomplishments and ongoing projects which are transforming Ghanaian lives in a visible way. He advised that in the evidence-based NDC campaign, the facts are the armament against any dogmatists who distort the truth by denying the reality of progress achieved and continuing. Spynews correspondent, Seth Mifetu, made an appeal for funds. In his remarks, Mr. Mifetu noted that It is the size of ones will which determines ones success. Correspondingly, if the will of the people is manifested through immeasurable support for the NDC, party and country will be propelled forward mightily. No Big Apple happening would be complete without a celebrity sighting. This NDC event did not disappoint. The already energized crowd was seriously pumped up when the famous Ghanaian hip life rapper, Edem Agbreviadey A.K.A. Ayigbe Edem, was spotted in the midst of dignitaries. Initial surprise turned to scream-out-loud delight when Edem took the stage to thrill the audience in his own special way. This was a hugely successful night on behalf of the worthiest of causes. Substantial funds were raised and spirits uplifted. The silence of the lion (in contrast to the noise of others) is not a sign of passivity. NDC is committed to the responsibility entrusted to it by the good people of Ghana. As Mr. Bruce- Quansah observed, the people of our country whom NDC serves have seen our work and will cast their votes on December 7th in favor of continuing our noble march. 20.09.2016 LISTEN INTRODUCTION Reformation literally means improving on someone or something by removing or correcting faults and problems with the intention of making it better than before. In Church history, Reformation was a term given to the sixteenth century religious movement in Europe that set out to reform some of the doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the development of Protestantism. One motive often given for the European penetration on the African soil, commonly known to them as a place in the Sun, was to spread Western Christianity to the Africans. There was a popular ideology amongst most Europeans that Africans had no religion, idea about God and hence, were pagans. However, as a result of missionary activities in the Gold Coast, Christianity was planted on the African soil. As indicated earlier, the African saw the western Christianity as an alien religion full of European culture which had no basis in the Bible and hence sought to indigenise it by adopting certain traditional practices from the African Traditional Religion. This resulted in schism in the various missionary churches in Africa. This schism resulted in the formation of independent and Pentecostal churches in many African countries. The charismatic churches, however, came later. One may ask which churches in Ghana can be referred to as protestant churches? One characteristic of all protestant denominations is the rejection of the notion of papal supremacy over the church and generally deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.1 1 Information retrieved from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism on 25th August, 2016. 2 If this is so, then we can generally conclude that protestant churches in Ghana are mainly the churches or Christian denominational groups outside the Catholic church. This will therefore comprise of the charismatic, Pentecostal, African Independent churches and even the prayer centers. However, it should be noted that all these Christian denominational groups also emerged from the earlier protestant churches such as Anglican, Presby, Adventist, Methodist, Assemblies of God and the Baptist church. These churches were the groups that directly broke away from the Catholic church during the Reformation period in the sixteenth century. Having been able to identify protestant churches in Ghana, the next question for us to tackle will be what should these protestant churches reform? First of all, to be able to understand what these churches should reform, it is important we look at a brief history about the existence of these protestant churches to be able to understand and appreciate their practices. BACKGROUND TO THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENT Initially, the Catholic church was the sole Christian denomination in the World. However, some people such as John Wycliffe (1330-1384), Martin Luther (1483-1546), and John Calvin (1509-1564), began to question some teachings of the Catholic church and challenged the authority of the Pope as the head of the Church.2 The term Protestants was not initially applied to these reformers, but later was used to describe all groups protesting Roman Catholic orthodoxy. Several reasons have been given for their protest against the Catholic church. Some of these reasons were, simony, nepotism, the wealth of the church, extortion of money from the members, the selling of indulgences, the influence of the ideas of the Renaissance, the printing press etc. These early 2 Information retrieved from www.theopedia.com/protestant-reformation on 24th August, 2016. 3 reformers tried to reform the Catholic church by protesting these teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. But the teachings of these early reformers were considered as heretical, hence most of them were excommunicated and burnt at stake by the Catholic church. However, after the death of these early reformers, their teachings lived on and led to the establishment of many protestant churches across Europe, which later spread to the African continent. It can be deduced that the primary objective of these protestant churches was to reform the Catholic church and to eradicate all forms of unaccepted teachings and practices within the Church. It is, however, surprising that some protestant churches in Ghana today still practice some of these corrupt teachings and practices of the Catholic church during the Middle Ages. WHY PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN GHANA NEED AN URGENT REFORMATION First of all, one reason why the Protestant Churches in Ghana need an urgent Reformation is that the practices of extortion in the form of money, which existed in the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages still persist among various Protestant Churches in Ghana today. During the Middle ages, the clergy extorted money from the members and minors of the church. The money was mainly used by the Pope and the clergy for their selfish interest. Again, the monies collected from the sale of indulgence was mostly used to build huge and expensive monasteries. Thus, the plight of the members in the church was not the primary concern of the Roman priests. There was also excessive demand for money for tithes and burial services. (Hurstfield, 1965). This situation is not different from what is happening among many Protestant Churches in Ghana today. For example, a Protestant Church in Ghana can give as many as three different types of offerings at a 4 service and notwithstanding the collection of tithes, fellowship dues, Kofi and Ama3 and many more. More so, many protestant churches have adopted the habit of selling the so called Holy Water, anointing oil etc. to members in the church at a higher cost. The situation even becomes worse when the Holy Water is not sold at the same price; Some may cost more than the other. All these practices by protestant churches in Ghana are in a form of extortion in one way or the other. There is no wrong in demanding tithes and offerings from members in the church. But what is the intention behind asking members to pay three different types of offering? I am pretty sure that the offering of the poor widow recorded in Luke 21:1-4 and Mark 12:41-44 was offered once. Because if the temple had demanded more than one type of offering, do you think that the poor widow could have gotten extra mite as her offering? Meanwhile Jesus Christ commended her effort, Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all, but she out of her poverty has put in all the livelihood that she had. This indicates that it is not the number of times you pay offering at church that it will be accepted by God. If the church continues with this habit, it prevents the not to do well persons in the society to attend church. Obviously, if the poor widow knew that three different types of offering will be collected at the temple, she may have stayed home. The protestant Churches in Ghana need to reform themselves to refrain from such bad habits of taking money from the poor and using it for their selfish interest. 3 Kofi and Ama is a competition offering collected among many Ghanaian protestant churches in accordance with the members names and the days they were born. The group of names and day with the highest amount of money wins the competition. Secondly, the Protestant Churches in Ghana need a Reformation because corruption has been the order of the day for them. Prior to the Protestant Reformation which we have discussed above, there was the practices of selling indulgence. The granting of indulgences proved to be a popular way of raising money for the church particularly because, unlike tithes, it was voluntary 5 (Encyclopedia Britannica Online). Most of the clergy also paid for their positions. Many Protestant Churches in Ghana today demand huge sums of money from members before they have a consultation with the Bishop or the senior pastor. These Protestant Churches today have made it seem as if it is only the Bishop who can help to solve the problems of their members as it was in the case of the Pope during the Middle Ages. Normally, members in the church discuss issues such as bareness, sickness, diseases, infirmity, unemployment, family matters relating to marriage, the abundance of poverty in the family, witchcrafts etc. with their pastors. Many Protestant churches in Ghana today have also proved that they are capable of solving such intricate problems of members. Therefore, members are required to pay huge sum of money before they are able to have their problems addressed by their pastors. Therefore, in as much as one cannot fulfill the demands made by the Church by paying consultation fees, the individuals problem will still persist until the consultation fee is paid. There is no doubt that one of Jesus Christs commission was to heal the sick and even after his resurrection and ascension to heaven, the apostles of the early church also began to heal the sick. The problem, therefore, is that did Jesus Christ or any of his apostles demand for money or any kind before performing the healing miracles to the needy? Among the thirty-one individual Healings of Jesus Christ in the Bible, He never demanded anything from the victims, not from the leper in Galilee (Mark 1:40-45), the widow of Nain (Luke:11-16), the two blind men from Capernaum (Matthew 9:27-31), the Woman with the issue of blood at Capernaum (Luke 8:43-48), nor the man born blind at Jerusalem (John 9:1-12). Peter, an apostle of Christ, told the lame man at the beautiful gate that Silver and Gold I do not have but what I do have I give you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk (Acts 3:6). So lets ask ourselves, what do these pastors have for us? Comparing the nature of ministry in the early days to presently, it is clear that the leaders in the early church were generally concerned about the plight of their 6 followers but certainly the same cannot be said about many pastors in protestant churches in Ghana today. Protestant churches in Ghana have now changed the phase of ministry to a more economic oriented. And I can state emphatically that many protestant churches in Ghana have opened more radio and television stations in order to advertise their economic ministry but not, necessarily, the salvation of mankind. To attest to this fact, I personally watched a pastor on one of the MultiTv channels advertising his spiritual soaps, anointing oil, spiritual spray and other spiritual medications to his church members and the audience. These items are generally believed by members of the church to solve certain spiritual problems. Surprisingly, one of these anointing oil cost GH500.00 and others not less than GH50.00. How many women in such churches can get such amount of money? How much did Jesus Christ collect for the miracles he performed? Also, during fundraising in many protestant churches in Ghana, certain amount of money attracts the blessing of only the Bishops while other low amount attracts the blessing of the junior pastors. Therefore, Protestant Churches in Ghana need an urgent Reformation to eradicate all these corrupt attitudes and to redefine the nature of church ministry. If health-care cannot be accessible to all, certainly Gods salvation is free for all. Lastly, Protestant Churches in Ghana need urgent Reformation because these churches have buried their heads in material things instead of focusing on spiritual perfection. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic church was more concerned about acquiring wealth. The priests lived like kings and were more interested in acquiring wealth for themselves. Hence, individuals spiritual life was not their concern. This habit and practice is very common among many pastors in Protestant churches in Ghana. Most of the Bishops in the Protestant Churches only preach about prosperity, marriage, prophecies and others while relegating or in some cases share just a little message on salvation, relation with other neighbours and individual holiness. These worldly 7 sermons have been widely accepted by the members so much so that even if a pastor attempts to hammer on individual holiness in the church, members begin to excommunicate themselves from the church. Women are more interested in the hearing of marriage and prophetic sermons while the men stick to the prosperity sermons. This, however, makes it difficult for pastors who want to preach the Gospel as it is while other unscrupulous pastors also capitalise on the demands of the members relegating the meaning of the true nature of the Gospel. I think we cant overlook the two most important terms in economics, Demand and Supply, at work here. Jesus Christ never preached about marriage, wealth and others. Jesus Christs vision was towards the eternal salvation of man. All His teachings were based on love for one another and individuals struggle for a perfect life devoid of any impure attitudes. Protestant churches in Ghana are gradually moving away from the doctrines of Jesus Christ as it was during the Middle Ages. Reformation is necessary to restore the Protestant Churches in Ghana to the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. To sum up, from the above arguments there is no doubt that Protestant Churches in Ghana need to undergo an urgent Reformation to eradicate all issues of corruption, extortion, and the materialistic doctrines which has been developed by these Protestant Churches. These practices were the same reasons that prompted Martin Luther and other reformists to call for a Reformation in the Catholic Church. Even the Catholic Church responded with a Counter- Reformation which removed all the corrupt practices of the clergy and the Popes. If Protestant churches in Ghana will take a second look at some of their practices and doctrines, Christianity will become more attractive and interesting to be part of. However, if these practices continue in our protestant churches then there is no doubt in saying that Protestant Churches in Ghana are still living in the Middle Ages. Telecom operators have told Citi Business News there have been less challenges with the payment of second quarter interests on mobile money accounts. The second tranche of interest payments, begun on Sunday, September 18, 2016; a week after the first tranche of payments. Some customers had expressed varied concerns over the apparent delay in payments for the first quarter. Some telecommunication companies also attributed the challenges to the relative new systems and high numbers involved. But the Director of Vodafone Cash, Matinson Obeng- Adjei explained to Citi Business News, there have been less challenges this time round. The second round of payment has been smoother than the first because that was our first attempt as an industry but I think from then we learned a few things that has made this payment rather better, he stated. About 500,000 Vodafone customers were expected to receive interest for the second quarter. Mr. Obeng- Adjei further assured all customers will all receive their interest on their mobile money wallet. We have started paying our customers from midnight and as at the process is still ongoing. Some customers as at now must have received their interest and some customers are yet to be paid. At this point we have paid over 60% of the customers, he said. About 12 million cedis were distributed by the four telecom companies offering mobile financial services for the first and second quarters respectively. Customers are expected to earn between 1 and 7 percent in interests on their mobile money wallets. By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Sex Workers Wait For Clients To Choose From In Xining (Photo : Getty Images) U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley doubled the sentence of a Chinese woman accused of sex trafficking to 12 months and one day from the maximum six months prison sentence. The woman, Hui Li, initially claimed she did not know that the Asian women who approached her for help to find jobs are working as sex trade workers in massage parlors who work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The 47-year-old resident of Chesley Court on the Northwest Side claimed she was unaware the women were working as prostitutes in the parlors. Advertisement Hui operated five massage parlors. These are Happy Fingers Spa at Northwest, Best Asian Massage on Hilltop, Happy Fingers Spa/Asian Magic Touch in Cincinnati and two more parlors in Illinois. She was looking for another location in Kentucky. In November 2015, Hui pleaded guilty to sex trafficking, but she still used her massage license to help open a massage parlor in Kettering for her sister. Police found evidence that the masseuse at the Montgomery County parlor offered paid sex. Police said Hui made the women wear revealing attire and bought sex advertising on websites Backpage and Craigslist where she posted their sexy photos, reported Dispatch. James Gilbert, lawyer of Hui, said the woman believes she is actually helping migrants find jobs in the U.S., accommodation and food. But Hui admitted she failed to make the immigrant workers follow rigid rules she set. Hui herself is a migrant from China whose husband was incarcerated for opposing the Chinese government. She divorced her husband, married again in the U.S. and acquired citizenship but also divorce her second husband who was abusive. Hui studied massage. The NDC party launched its 2016 manifesto in Sunyani, last Saturday in the Brong Ahafo Region. Various speakers, including President John Dramani Mahama, Hons. Alban Bagbin, Nana Oye Lithur and Fiifi Kwetey made some claims at the event, with some quoting statistics. Out of eight of such claims which were fact-checked, only one of them was found to be entirely true. Below is the breakdown of the personalities, their claims and the verdicts the fact-checking team arrived at. President John Dramani Mahama Claim 1: This record (corruption) is even made clearer if you analyse Ghana's course on the Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. This is the most credible corruption perception index in the world. Here again, our record is better than any other year between 2001 and 2008 Verdict: Half True Claim 2: Ghanaians are living longer per the Human Development Report of an average of 63 years life expectancy in Ghana. On this composite index we are second only to Cape Verde in West Africa and far ahead of other countries in the same sub region. Verdict: Half True Hon. Alban Bagbin Claim 1: Ghana is the second largest economy in West Africa after Nigeria and the 12 largest in Africa." Verdict: Entirely True Claim 2: Ghana has the "highest national income" amongst its neighbours Verdict: True but Misleading Claim 3: The quality of life of Ghanaians has increased tremendouslythe life expectancy of Ghanaians has improved from 58 years in 2008 to 64 years in 2012. This means that Ghanaians live longer and better lives than they did in 2008. Verdict: Mostly False Hon. Nana Oye Lithur Claim 1: In 2008, they registered a 1,640 households. As we speak today, H.E. President John Dramani Mahama has registered 217,000 households under LEAP. Verdict: Not Verifiable Hon. FIIFI KWETEY Claim 1: But listen, even though they [The NPP] had so much more revenue than us, between 1993 to 2000NDC was able to build houses...How many houses did NPP build? Zero, not even one chamber and hall! Not even one single room was completed in eight years of the NPP. Verdict: Completely False Claim 2: Now under transport, JM has brought about the largest investment in the history not just in Ghana but in Africa. 1.5 billion dollars that has been invested to transform the ports of Ghana. Verdict: True but Misleading As part of its project to promote issues-based and fact-based campaigning, the MFWA has commenced a project to fact-check claims and allegations being made by key political stakeholders in the electioneering process. The fact-checking project is being implemented with funding support from Germany's leading media development organisation, DW Akadamie. A dedicated team of experienced journalists and researchers have been engaged and trained for the fact-checking of campaign claims based on a fact-checking Instrument. Fact-checkers also have back-up support from international fact-checking experts. Claims are fact-checked by cross-checking claims with existing empirical data from credible and trusted national and international institutions. Kindly visit www.fact-checkghana.com for the full reports on these claims and more fact-checked reports on other key political actors. By Dag Heward-Mills Never forget that you reap what you sow. If you are a traitor, traitors and rebels will surround you. If you are a loyal person, loyal people will surround you. If you are honest, dishonest people will not flow with you. If you are holy, unholy people will not be at ease to become your friends. As they say, Birds of a feather flock together. Some people accept well-known rebels and treacherous people around them. Some people even delight in having assistants of former enemies as their assistants. Welcoming treacherous people never ends up well. King David knew this well and refused to accept such people into his camp. Why You Must Refuse Treacherous Friends King David wisely refused to accept the killers of Saul as his friends. It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance. And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also. And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead? And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: . . . And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. AND DAVID SAID UNTO HIM, HOW WAST THOU NOT AFRAID TO STRETCH FORTH THINE HAND TO DESTROY THE LORD'S ANOINTED? AND DAVID CALLED ONE OF THE YOUNG MEN, AND SAID, GO NEAR, AND FALL UPON HIM. AND HE SMOTE HIM THAT HE DIED. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD'S anointed. 2 Samuel 1:2-16 King David wisely cursed his assistant Joab after he murdered Abner. And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: LET IT REST ON THE HEAD OF JOAB, AND ON ALL HIS FATHER'S HOUSE; AND LET THERE NOT FAIL FROM THE HOUSE OF JOAB ONE THAT HATH AN ISSUE, OR THAT IS A LEPER, OR THAT LEANETH ON A STAFF, OR THAT FALLETH ON THE SWORD, OR THAT LACKETH BREAD. 2 Samuel 3:27-29 Absalom unwisely accepted Hushai the Archite as a friend. And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king. And Absalom said to Hushai, IS THIS THY KINDNESS TO THY FRIEND? WHY WENTEST THOU NOT WITH THY FRIEND? And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide 2 Samuel 16:16-18 What is the secret to having genuine friends? Be a genuine friend yourself! A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 One of the first things a leader does is to make friends. It is these same friends who will help him. The people who support you will become your followers. Are you a person who makes friends, or scatters people? Your friendships form a basis for acts of loyalty, support and even sacrifice. [email protected] President of the Kuapa Kokoo Co-Operative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU); Madam Fatima Ali has outlined moves to ensure that farmers enjoy good health to enable them produce more. Madam Ali who was speaking at the 22nd Annual Delegates Conference of the Union emphasized KKFU's focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She explained that many farmers with serious health complications have received treatment at the Kuapa Health outfit without having to pay anything due to Kuapa's robust Health Insurance scheme. The President was full of praise for the Director of Health Services at Kuapa Kokoo; Dr. Fred Bedzrah for doing exploits as far as farmers' health is concerned. She explained plans to expand KKFU's Health facility into a bigger facility capable of admitting sick farmers and treating a lot more people. She also explained that the mobile clinic concept which KKFU already operates will be expanded to enable them go further into farming communities to cater for the health of farmers. "Already, our mobile clinic has covered 23 localities and is still moving". She also announced that Kuapa kokoo Farmers' Union is now a fully registered Cooperative Credit Union with a concomitant name change; Kuapa Kokoo Co-Operative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU), and encouraged farmers to be part of the cooperative and participate actively in all its activities. She also named other projects undertaken with the collaboration of their partners including the launch of a teleAgric Consultation kkfu_agm1Centre, Construction of classroom blocks, gender programmes among several others being undertaken to empower farmers. Also in attendance were Barima Offe Okogyeasuo II, a representative of Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni (CEO, Ghana Cocoa Board), Chief Nathaniel Nsarkoh (Country Director-Millenium Promise Alliance, Ghana), Ms. Sophi Tranchell (MD-Divine chocolate) among several other guests. The YOUTH ACHIEVERS SUMMIT, one of Ghanas largest gatherings of young achievers, coveted & brewed in their individual skills & talents embarks on a tertiary tour which kick starts on Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. It features personalities who are blazing trails in various fields of endeavor. Part of its objective is to inspire other hundreds of young people to unleash their talent and ideas to make a difference in the world. THE YOUTH ACHIEVERS SUMMIT is spearheaded by TWENTYPLUS GROUP OF COMPANIES; a three times awards winning company in collaboration with National union of Ghana Students on KNUST. The tour features top personalities in the creative art industries such as Abeiku Aggrey Santana, Caroline Sampson, George Mensah Britton, Mauvie Hayford, Kwame A.A Opoku, Richmond Amofa-Sarpong, Derrick S. Vormawor, Emmanuel Oscar and Perfectual Labik. Great speakers from various sectors of the economy via music, media, blogging, fashion, consulting, technology, publishing, authorship, logistics, motivational speaking, MCing, photography, hospitality, financial services, event management, auto finance, health etc. EVENT DETAILS VENUE: KNUST LAW AUDITORIUM DATE: SATURDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2016 TIME: 10AM TO 2PM YoungAchieversSummit2016 is sponsored by WAGCOL (West Africa & Gulf Company LTD) , Top Bright Consultancy, Campuscrashtv, Maa U catering services and PulseGhana. VK Facebook Alex Odoi Nartey 20.09.2016 LISTEN Investigations by etv News has uncovered the return of some personnel of NHIA, who in January, 2016, were interdicted over alleged financial malfeasance. According to intelligence gathered, almost all of the personnel who were interrogated by the National Bureau of Investigation have returned to their respective posts and resumed their normal duties. Claims are being made by the returnees that there was nothing incriminating about the report released by the Bureau of National Investigations on the alleged case of financial malfeasance. Almost all of the 19 workers, according to findings, have been recalled to resume work at their various posts. Further conducts of mini-interrogations were done before the interdicted workers were allowed to re-instated. E.tv News cannot confirm what the mini-interrogation sought to do. [/PHOTO] Top officials including Alex Odoi Nartey- Deputy Chief Executive, Finance and Investment, Dr. Gustav Cruickshank, Director- Internal Audit, Rudolf Zimmermann, Director, Financial Accounting including some other officials of the authority have returned to their respective posts since April, 2016. The National Health Insurance Authority early this year came under intense scrutiny after cases of alleged financial malfeasance were leveled against some members. The Boss of the authority, Sylvester Mensah was arrested and interrogated. Mr. Sylvester Mensah was subsequently granted bail. Nineteen others including top officials at the authoritys national headquarters and regional as well as district offices were told to their leave posts to help with investigations. Intelligence gathered hints of a possible internal politicking or saboteurs as the cause for the arrests and interrogations which according to returnees vindicated them. What is unclear now is why the agencies that were initially involved are keeping mute considering the camaraderie the initial accusations received. The claims made by the returnees are yet to be authenticated by the appropriate agencies that were involved in the whole saga. The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has endorsed the action of its supporters who carried a coffin bearing posters of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Sunyani, Brong Ahafo over the weekend. At the official launch of the ruling party's manifesto, the supporters provocatively carried the NPP leader's 'coffin' as if he were dead in the full glare of President John Mahama, his Vice, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, as well as all the NDC leaders at the Sunyani Coronation Park. Nobody was able to call the errant youth to order. Kofi Adams, the 2016 Campaign Coordinator for President Mahama, virtually endorsed the sacrilegious acts of his party faithful yesterday on radio, saying it is not new in our politics. The coffin was said to have been brought from Bole, the home town of President Mahama. Without condoning the act, I must say it is not new in our politics. This is done in both the NDC and NPP, even sometimes it happens in internal elections, Mr Adams, who is also the National Organizer of the NDC, told Okay FM in Accra. I saw this same act being done in our recent primaries in one of the areas that I visited. The carrying of Akufo-Addo's coffin was mere symbolism and wasn't part of our programme, he said. Mr Adams partly blamed the media for exaggerating the episode, saying the media is always quick to bring such things on the front burner. Our focus on the day was selling our transformational agenda to the public which will see the living conditions of Ghanaians, including Akufo-Addo being enhanced. On his part, Mustapha Hamid, a spokesperson of the NPP leader, described the action of the youth as 'reckless' and 'unfortunate. On Facebook, Hamid said until we raise our game as young people in active politics, politicians will never respect us. Mahama brought these young guys to his manifesto launch; all he could do was to ask them to engage in this. Find a coffin and put Nana Addo's poster on it and exhibit such crass buffoonery! He said, Elsewhere young people are playing key roles in political campaigns in formulating policies to provide alternative direction to build their nations. In the NDC, the young people are trained to be dispensable buffoons- used and dumped and used again when it is elections. I bet 100% of these guys are jobless. Even after carrying this coffin, they'll leave Sunyani jobless. How many times haven't the NDC pronounced Nana Addo dead and how many times has God proven to them that He alone decides who lives and who dies? Hamid quizzed. The NDC will never learn. Instead of finding ways of retrieving the DKM monies from Lordina to pay those poor customers, they waste time on praying Nana dies. I now understand why the rains came. By William Yaw Owusu But for the timely intervention of personnel of the Accra Regional Police Command, a beautician would have been lynched for stealing at Tudu in Accra. The suspect, Ekua Sarpomaa, according to reports, went to a fabric shop to purchase some materials but allegedly stole the money belonging to the shop owner. Reports said the suspect allegedly hid the money in some of the fabrics but luck eluded her when the shop attendant realized that the money had been stolen and caused her arrest. Accra Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), ASP Effia Tenge, who confirmed the story to DAILY GUIDE, said the incident occurred on Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at Tudu. The lady at about midday on that fateful day went to the fabric shop to buy some materials. The shop owner offered her a seat and served other customers. The lady, who was sitting close to where the bag containing the money was being kept, allegedly took the money inside the bag, wrapped it with a fabric she was about to buy and hid it in the shop. After some minutes, the victim could not locate the money and confronted the suspect. The suspect, upon interrogations, admitted taking the money and led them to it. Some of the traders subjected her to severe beatings so the shop owner called the police for assistance. The suspect was later handed over to the police to assist in further investigations. By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey ([email protected]) An Accra Circuit Court yesterday sentenced two persons to a total of 47 years' imprisonment for robbing Bismark Boateng, the manager of the Bext Nascent Forex Bureau of his monies at Mpamprom, Kaneshie in Accra. They are Yakubu Alhassan, 23, welder and Haruna Abdulai aka Borbor, unemployed. The court, presided over by trial judge Aboagye Tandoh, last month slapped a 21-year jail term with hard labour on Borbor, who at the initial stages of the trial changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. This compelled the court to have a full trial for Yakubu, who vehemently denied the charges of conspiracy to rob and robbery. The duo and two others currently on the run are said to have at about 2:30 pm on March 23, this year robbed Bismark Boateng, the manager of the forex bureau of GH150,000 in both local and foreign currencies. Judgement But the court found Yakubu guilty, indicating that the prosecution had been able to establish a case against him. The judge noted that Yakubu was only interested in telling the court Kwaku Ananse stories. Explaining further, Mr. Tandoh said the CCTV captured the robbery vividly. He argued that one does not require a soothsayer or prophet to see that the convicts had a well rehearsed plan to rob, adding that this was done to my admiration. The judge said Yakubu, who led a group of armed robbers, was detailed to initiate the action while Borbor, who was in charge of another group, told customers that the Forex Bureau could not attend to them at the time of the operation. The trial judge, however, noted that the court could not tell whether there was contribution from any insider at the Forex Bureau, especially since that was not a matter before the court. Mr. Tandoh said the accused persons did not deny the fact that they entered the Forex Bureau and that Yakubu had a gun on him. He stated that the prosecution, led by Chief Superintendent Duuti Tuaruka, could not tell the specific amount of money the convicts took away from the Forex Bureau, stressing that the amount was in excess of GH58,000. Mitigation The convicts, who did not have lawyers, urged the court to deal leniently with them. Yakubu said he should be given a lesser punishment so as to learn sense. On his part, Borbor, who is already serving a 21-year jail term for robbery, he said he had lost both his parents and has nobody to take care of his kids. Sentence In sentencing the duo, Mr. Tandoh noted that the court took into consideration the plea for mercy by the convicts. The court said that in sentencing people who partake in group crimes, the person who played the key role must receive the harsher punishment and a lesser sentence for the person who played a minor role. He said the court took into consideration the six months the accused persons had been in custody. Mr. Tandoh accordingly sentenced the convicts to 22 years' imprisonment each for the charge of conspiracy. It also sentenced Yakubu to 26 years' imprisonment for the charge of robbery. The court ordered the destruction of the exhibits three months after the judgement under the supervision of the registrar of the court. Facts C/Supt. Tuaruka said on the said date, the convicts and the others on the run went to the Bureau under the pretext of doing business. He said in the process, the convicts pulled a locally made pistol on Boateng and two others workers at the Bureau, took them hostage and made away with monies in the safe and drawer. C/Supt. Tuaruka noted that after the robbery, a staff at the bureau raised an alarm and with the assistance of a police patrol team from Kaneshie and the people in the vicinity, the accused persons were arrested but the two others escaped. He said when Yakubu and Haruna were being chased by the mob, they fired indiscriminately and in the process 14 persons sustained gunshot wounds and were rushed to the police hospital. The senior police officer said due to the severe injuries sustained by Haruna, he failed to give his statement to the police. Yakubu admitted the offence in his caution statement and mentioned Haruna as his accomplice. He stated that GH58,000 and the locally-manufactured pistol were retrieved from Haruna and Yakubu. By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson [email protected] The Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC), utilities regulator, has fined the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for breaching its obligations to power consumers. The Commission has asked ECG to pay GH202,640 for failing to adhere to opening hours of its customer service centres and pre-payment metering vending points that serve consumers. The company will also pay additional GH10,000 as penalty for failing to comply with the set date of payment of the actual fine of GH202,640. Nana Yaa Jantuah, Public Affairs Director of PURC, in a statement released last Friday, said the GH202, 640 penalty also covers the ECG's refusal to provide contingency measures to ensure customers of pre-payment metering could proceed to buy credits during the industrial strike, which was embarked on by the ECG workers in the first week of September 2016. The order to pay penalties should be adhered to by the ECG before Friday, September 16, 2016 as stipulated by law. Failure by the ECG to comply with this order shall attract an additional GH10,000 for each non-compliance order, she warned. It would be recalled that customers of ECG were unable to purchase credits at the beginning of September 2016 because the ECG workers embarked on a strike action over the privatization of ECG. The aggrieved workers even turned away customers who came to the centers to pay their bills. The PURC, as the regulator of water and electricity services, wishes to indicate that the Commission has a mandate to protect the interest of the customer and ensure the financial viability of the utility service provider, and we will tip this balance carefully and equitably by using all the relevant laws and regulations available to assist us fulfill our regulatory mandate, the statement said. By Cephas Larbi [email protected] The first batch of graduands of the Youth Enterprise Support (YES) Initiative has stated they have not received any financial support to start or enhance their businesses as some functionaries of the National Demopcratic Congress (NDC) are claiming. We were promised to be given an amount of GH50,000 each to help start our businesses. But since we completed the training about eight months ago, nothing has been given to us. Yet government functionaries go on radio and other platforms to spew lies to Ghanaians that beneficiaries of the YES Initiative have been given their package, they alleged. The 107 graduands claimed they were taken through three-month training in poultry, piggery and fish farming and greenhouse farming methods, aquaculture and ICT, among others, in August, last year at the University of Ghana's Research Centre at Kade in the Eastern region. Showiness They disclosed that before the training, they were taken to the Flagstaff House to meet President John Mahama who assured them that immediately after the three-month training they would be assisted to pursue their dreams. At the graduation ceremony in February, this year, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the YES Initiative, Helga Boadi, indicated that GH2.5 million was to be disbursed to the 107 beneficiaries. According to her, GH50,000 was the cap for each beneficiary depending on the project proposal and that the beneficiaries were also expected to repay those monies with no fixed interest. However, speaking to BUSINESS GUIDE, Manfred Darko-Konadu, leader of the Green House Farming Trainees, mentioned that they always become furious whenever they hear activists of the ruling NDC peddling falsehood that the beneficiaries had been given their package. White Elephant The YES project is just there by name. It is not working; in fact the youth are not getting anything from the initiative. May be it can be one of the avenues to create, loot and share which has been the hallmark of the NDC government, he asserted. He stated that As I speak to you, none of the about 107 first batch of the beneficiaries has receive any money or the so-called technical assistance which was promised. Mr Darko-Konadu pointed out that the YES Initiative was one of the many unfulfilled promises of the current government. He indicated that the initiative was working effectively when it was the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) under the previous Kufuor administration. Backdrop The YES Initiative was established in August 2014 as a special youth initiative under the Office of the President with a seed fund of GHC10 million to support the youth to create their own businesses. Young Ghanaians between the ages of 18 and 35 with a minimum of a Junior High School (JHS) qualification and viable business proposals qualify to apply to YES for financial and technical support. Applicants are required to present and defend their business proposals before an expert panel drawn from relevant professional bodies and business sectors. From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi A weeding robot works on the field in a farm in eastern France. (Photo : Getty Images) The use of self-driving tractors and agricultural robots will revolutionize farming in the next decade, according to an article published by technologynewschina.com. Farmers will soon adopt autonomous technologies as the need to manage farm costs and increase harvest become urgent amid a decline in sales of farm machinery and weak prices for major crops such as corn and soybeans, the report said. Advertisement "They (farmers) are a pretty cautious bunch, which is understandable," according to Kraig Schulz, co-founder and CEO of Autonomous Tractor Corp., a Minnesota-based company developing AutoDrive technology, which turns existing tractors into semi-autonomous machines. According to experts, higher-value crops which include tree nuts, vineyards and fresh produce will benefit from the first wave of autonomous agriculture technologies. They added that self-propelled autonomous implements, such as sprayers in row crops, orchards and vineyards or other robotic equipment to do other tasks on the farm, will replace big tractors. Goldman Sachs predicted that the agricultural suppliers will have a $240-billion market opportunity for farm technologies, with a $45 billion market on small driverless tractors alone. The firm said the investment could reach tens of billions on advanced tech for major farm uses that include planting, irrigation, precision fertilizer, and spraying. The report said that the shift to autonomous tech will be further driven by the rising cost of farm labor and the falling costs of self-driving technology. In California, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday, Sept. 19, a historic bill that gives state farm workers overtime pay. "This is going to have a serious effect on farming out in California," Schulz said. He said that the rise in farm labor costs could be an opportunity for autonomous and even semi-autonomous equipment to replace human labor in farming. "Rising labor costs would certainly be a positive for adoption of automated processes," said Jerry Revich, an analyst at Goldman Sachs. Development in the self-driving technology for cars such as sensor capabilities using multi-camera system, radar and lidar technology, can help speed up and reduce the cost of developing automated farm equipment. "Some of the new sensors that help you autonomously park your car, parallel park, backup sensors, cameras and things like that - all that stuff - the cost has come way down on it and it's allowed us to leverage it more in our machines," Matt Rushing, a vice president in charge of precision agriculture and advanced technology for AGCO, said. Revich said that driverless cars cost about $2,700 per vehicle, but for autonomous driving equipment for farms would be more complex but "not disproportionately higher." "We're watching the sensor and technology prices really move down," said Rob Zemenchik, global product marketing manager for Case IH's precision farming unit, Advanced Farming Systems. At the Farm Progress Show in Iowa last month, CNH Industrial, a European company known for its Case IH tractor brand, unveiled an autonomous concept tractor that could work around the clock unmanned and uses GPS and sensor technology. The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has organized special training for some of its officers as part of efforts to position customs as a transparent and accountable institution. The three-day course, which forms part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reform agenda, focused on ethics and anti-corruption in the service, and the beneficiary officers resolved to help promote integrity in customs. In their communique, the participating officers urged management of customs to take ownership of the integrity initiative. They also tasked the management to be firm, committed, transparent and efficient in the implementation of rules and regulations and policies of the customs. According to the trainees, the internal anti-corruption units in the customs should be brought under one unit and strengthened in the fight against corruption. At a short closing ceremony, Commissioner of Customs Division of the GRA John K. Vianney, said a trainee's manual and plan had been developed to continuously build the capacity of the staff in the integrity initiative, adding that they were using the beneficiary officers who he called 'focal persons' to lead the campaign. These initiatives are part of a country-wide plan to reorient custom officers, and to infuse in them the tenets of professionalism, higher ethics and renewed sense of discipline, the commissioner said. He said GRA has launched two telephone hotlines that will enable the public and other stakeholders to report corruption related issues to the authority, saying these hotlines will complement other media channels available to the public who seek information on tax matters, and to report on poor customer services by staff. A representative from the UNDP said any country that seeks to facilitate trade and make economic progress must be able to put in place an effective customs administration. She said customs administrations all over the world over are among organizations that are vulnerable to many kinds of corruption from passive bribery to substantial fraud. She said the 2011 Global Integrity Report found that trading route checkpoints in Ghana foster corruption and the perception was corroborated by the 2014 Global Enabling Trade Report. She said that steps being taken by customs to reverse the trend were reassuring. Director of Anti-Corruption at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Charles Ayamdoo, who was one of the resource persons, urged the officers to live above reproach and make customs an important component of government business. He said building integrity in Ghana and for that matter GRA is critical. Integrity is an important component in our struggle to deal with the canker of corruption, as it is an important tool for changing systems, values and mindset rather than blaming individuals, he said. By William Yaw Owusu Geneva (AFP) - More than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year -- far fewer than the 520,000 who arrived during the first nine months of 2015, the UN said Tuesday. "The number of refugees and migrants reaching European shores this year passed the 300,000 mark today," William Spindler, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, told reporters. The chief of staff, Mr Julius Debrah, is in the Upper West region for a six-day campaign tour for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was received by a large crowd who lined up the streets on entry into Wa through to the Residency where the Upper West Regional Minister, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, foot soldiers and other party and government stalwarts welcomed him. During his campaign in the region, the Chief of Staff will pay courtesy calls on the chiefs, constituency party activists, campaign task forces, executives, elders and cadres. Places he is expected to tour include Wa, Nadowli, Nandom, Lawra, Bulenga, Kaleo among others. The tour is expected to end by close of week. The Kufuor administration and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wasted reliefs from the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative on tiny toilets, the governing National Democratic Congress Campaign Spokesperson, Mrs Joyce Bawah-Mogtari, has said. Berating a press conference organised by the NPP flag bearers Policy Advisor, Boakye Agyarko, on Monday, which accused the Mahama administration of making Ghanaians poorer and prioritising corruption over citizens welfare, Mrs Bawa-Mogtari accused the NPP of attempting to paint a rosy picture of the Kufuor administrations eight years in office as if candy and butter ran through peoples taps during that time. These were eight years of a HIPC benefit that only gave us tiny little toilets in the wrong places and you can still go round the country and look at them she added. This is not the first time the NDC has levelled that accusation against the NPP and the Kufuor administration. On Thursday, 3 December, 2015, Mr James Klutse Avedzi, the chairman of parliaments Finance Committee, said President John Kufuors government spent $4 billion of HIPC relief funds on just public toilets. Mr Avedzi made the comment while responding to an assertion by the NPP that although the Mahama administration had borrowed more than any government in the history of Ghana, not much could be accounted for. The NPPs vice-presidential nominee, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, at a press conference to critique the 2016 budget that was presented in November 2015, said unlike the current administration, the Kufuor administration achieved a lot with little resources. He denied earlier comments by President Mahama that the Kufuor administration was responsible for 41% of Ghanas $14billion external debt stock, adding that the Kufuor government did much more for Ghana though it borrowed little and had no oil revenues to spend. "The evidence shows that notwithstanding the massive increase in the debt stock, capital expenditure as a percentage (%) of GDP has actually been on the decline from 9.1% of GDP in 2008 to 4.1% by 2015. Capital expenditure as a percentage of GDP averaged 11% for 2001-2008 (without oil) while that for 2009-2015 has averaged 5.7% (with oil)," he said. Mr Klutse Avedzi, however, told Ekow Mensah-Shalders on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show that Dr Bawumia peddled "untruths". "He (Dr Bawumia) also said that by the time they left power in 2008, they had left behind $3.8bn as Ghanas external debt. If that figure is anything to go by, he should come with the truth and say that it is during that same period that they, as a government, enjoyed $4billion HIPC initiative [funds]. But he didnt come up with that fact," he said. According to him, if the $4 billion HIPC initiative funds enjoyed by the Kufuor administration were "added to the $3.8billion, that alone will give you $7.8billion. "Now the HIPC initiative, what can they point to Ghanaians that that is what they used the money for? HIPC toilets and [they are] there for everybody to see," he said. "$4billion HIPC initiative is used to build toilets. So, there is an untruth that they have performed very well in terms of contracting loans. You might not borrow enough as we are doing now, because you had $4bn to run the state, to build toilets." A member of the Convention People's Party (CPP) has petitioned the partys disciplinary committee over comments made by the partys flagbearer, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet suggesting that President Mahama did nothing wrong in accepting a ford expedition vehicle gifted him by a Burkinabe contractor. According to the petition sighted by Citifmonline.com, Greenstreet's position on the matter calls for an application of Article 111(b) of the party's constitution which states that any member who brings the name of the party into disrepute should be sanctioned. The petitioner, Zir Zirmio Dy-Adaba told Citifmonline.com said his action was to protect the image of the party. He said, Mr. Greenstreet, who is the elected flagbearer of the party vehemently supported the president's acceptance of the gift. This singular act convinced many Ghanaians that the CPP was not ready to fight corruption. Indeed a lot of people think CPP endorses corruption. 'President Mahama didn't take a bribe' Ivor Greenstreet, at an Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Evening Encounter series in July said he will not be forced to join persons accusing President John Mahama of corruption following the expose that he received a Ford Expedition as a gift from a Burkinabe contractor, who was subsequently given some lucrative contracts from the state. Greenstreet further accused the party's Youth League of acting arbitrarily in petitioning the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) over the matter. 'Greenstreet breached procedure' The petition also cited an instance where Mr. Greenstreet threatened that the CPP would not contest in the upcoming elections if the Electoral Commission does not review downwards the GH 50,000 filing fee for presidential candidates. According to the petition indicated the flagbearer's sole declaration without consultation with the Central Committee was a breach of procedure and therefore needed to evoke some disciplinary measures. By: Jonas Nyabor/Citifmonline.com/Ghana Deputy Education minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says 23 of government's munch-touted new Community Day schools will admit their first batches of students who have passed their Basic Education Certificate Examination this academic year. He said the Education ministry has submitted the list of schools that are ready to accommodate students to the Computerised School Placement System (CSPS) for selection in September 2016. Governments pledge to build 200 new Community Day Senior High Schools is at the heart of its ambitious education infrastructure expansion programme. The pledge was made by president Mahama during his 2012 campaign. Ten schools have been commissioned out of the 123 which the government has consistently said are at various stages of construction. While the opposition has not hesitated in pointing out that 10 school buildings in nearly four years is an abysmal return on a key promise, government has been patting itself on the back. In my next term of office, by the grace of God, we will complete all the 200 new senior high schools that I promised the President vowed during the September 5 commissioning of Abodoman Community Day Senior High School in the Agona East District of the Central Region. Discussing the expansion in facilities, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said that in addition to 10 Day Community schools commissioned by the president, 13 more should be ready by the time a new intake of SHS students gets underway. BECE graduates are expected to start their first day in Senior High School later in September. The World Bank has made available $156million to help government build 23 of the 200 schools. The Government of Ghana is funding the rest from its own resources. According to a Daily Guide report, government is struggling to raise funds to fulfill its part of the commitment. The report claims that the completed schools are those funded by the World Bank loan for expansion in infrastructure. Refresh for more... Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|Edwin Appiah|[email protected] Please do not read the NDC 2016 manifesto. It is a litany of promises never to be delivered. Rather, I urge you to go back and find the 2012 document they issued. Got it? Now read it in detail and look around. Anything there seem familiar? Can you reconcile the crass dumping of words at that time to the physical environment you have today? I am looking for a paragraph, which explains where they said they would develop this country and ready it for take off in the future to come. Does it say anywhere that that they are building an infrastructure-based economy that would move us forward to a Ghana utopia? Because that is the new song on the campaign trail. Next year we turn 60. If you believe in karma, note this coincidence. After ruling the country for many decades the NDC and its previous versions lost the elections in 2000 and handed over to the NPP just as Ghana celebrated its golden jubilee in 2007. Can't tell you why, but is it just a coincidence that the NDC party maybe will not get an opportunity to reward themselves on another decade of mismanagement? It has become a very difficult sell for the Government, trying to justify what they have achieved in infrastructure as claim to a place in history as the best government this country has ever had. Now there are better comparisons over Kwame Nkrumah's CPP despite all the previous noise and praise touting their origins from that party. But you have had a chance to flick through the glossy Accounting to the people magazine. All the lovely pictures comingled with the artist sketches of yet to be completed building, unoccupied ones and future ones yet to be sod-cut. But all the same displayed as the achievements of Government. I was on air with a Presidential Staffer (I don't know what that position entails) on Citifm's the Big Issue on Saturday Mr. Seth Ofori and I was at pains to understand how all these great infrastructure projects and road development promises have translated into a Better Ghana and made the people better off in life. Then I heard for the first time that they were preparing the ground for a major escalation in wealth creation just as had been done in Singapore and South Korea. I didn't realise we were simulating anything from Singapore? But in 2012 the NDC titled its manifesto Advancing The Better Ghana Agenda with a footnote; Jobs, Stability, Development. Now, I am lifting these notes straight from the NDC 2012 manifesto focusing on the sectors they claim showcase their most achievements. Roads Eastern Corridor: Tema-Asikuma-Ho-Hohoe Jasikan-Yendi-Nalerigu-Kulungugu with Nkwanta in the Volta Region as an inland port; Western Corridor: Elubo-Asemkrom-Enchi Goaso-Sunyani-Bamboi-Bole-Wa-Hamile with Gambia No. 2 in the Brong Ahafo Region as an inland port; and Central Spine: Accra-Kumasi-TechimanTamale-Bolgatanga-Paga with Boankra in the Ashanti Region as an inland port. Railways Refurbishment and modernization of the Western Line; Rehabilitation of the Accra-Tema, Kumasi Ejisu, Accra-Nsawam and Takoradi-Kojokrom rail networks; Aviation Upgrading of the Tamale Airport into Ghana's second international airport; Commence feasibility studies for the establishment of an alternative International Airport to Kotoka International Airport; Expand and modernise the Kotoka International Airport and the Takoradi, Kumasi and Sunyani domestic airports to handle increasing commercial activities and passenger loads. Work towards the incorporation of a new national carrier. INFRASTRUCTURE The next NDC Government will implement the following programmes: Increase power generation from 2,443 megawatts to 5,000 megawatts by 2016; Launch an 'Energy For All' programme under which universal access to electricity will be targeted by 2016; Increase social housing and improve sanitation and social facilities that promote secured settlements for the people's improved welfare; Continue the Western and Eastern Corridor Roads and modernise the Central Spine; Construct a new deep sea port in the Western Region; Use oil and gas development as a catalyst to diversify the economy; Target the development of the country's potential in mini hydro power projects with capacities below 100 megawatts, especially in the northern savannah zone, in partnership with SADA; Construct two National Science Parks to spread the benefits of technology across Ghana. JOB CREATION INITIATIVES Activities in the under-mentioned areas will create thousands of jobs. Manufacturing/Industry: With the anticipated commercial exploitation of crude oil and gas, we are laying the foundation for: An integrated petroleum industry based on bauxite; A petro-chemical industry based on salt and natural gas; A fertilizer industry to give impetus to agro-development; A salt-based chemical industry for caustic soda; Allied consumer products and exports based on oil and gas; and An integrated iron and steel industry based on the iron ore deposits at Oppon Manso in the Western Region. Cheap gas-fired energy will facilitate the full revival of the following industries: Volta Aluminium Company; Textile industries and ventures in their value chain; Ceramics, brick and tile manufacturing; Glass factories; and Steel mills. I will not pass judgment on what has been achieved. The problem we have in this country is the persistent denial of facts by Government. Nothing interpreted by anyone else other than Government is true and accurate. All of us are guilty of wanting to distort the BDC agenda in favour of the NPP, because we all want to replace the NDC with the NPP. And since that is the general song we play, why doesn't the NDC step away and allow the people of this country to have their will? We are all (those who don't sing the praises of JDM) blind to success. But if all this expected to be achieved has been done, then why are we complaining? All we want is a lot of peace and quiet so we can thrive to our best capabilities and manage our lives more successfully. Read the paragraphs above and make your own decisions. We either carry on like this or we move into another era and flex our quadrennial authority. President John Mahama on the podium launch of the NDC 2016 manifesto spent a considerable time touting the biggest blessing in his life; Lordina the mother of his children. Even as he produced another litany of items knowingly never to be achieved, he sang praises of the woman to whom he had pledged faithfulness and forever love, just the same as he had sworn an oath to serve God and Country and echoed the words in the National Anthem; . make us cherish fearless honesty and make us to resist oppressors rule with all our will and might for evermore. And that brings things round that I have only ever seen one portrait of the first family and that showed six children. There are rumours all over the place that there are seventeen or nineteen children, seven in wedlock and the rest claimed out of wedlock. He declared nine at some time, but this report by the Daily Guide as far back as 2008 when JDM was still making his way to the top says different. Lordina did not want him to be in politic s, she had no problem with him not keeping his religious vows but now together they bask in political sycophancy. Surely there has to be an honour-code in his life somewhere; because there certainly is none that I can see in his code with Ghanaians. This week I settled on a tickling phrase by US First Lady Michelle Obama. She recounted her eight-year stay in the White House with Barrack and said you know the Presidency does not change you, it reveals you. I like. Ghana, Aha a y din papa. Alius atrox week advenio. Another terrible week to come! Sydney Casely-Hayford, [email protected] Over one hundred and fifty lower court judges are planning to abandon the court next week if their demands for a ten percent salary increase are not adhered to. A letter from the Chief of Staff seen by Citi News some months ago, approved the demands of the judges. But the judges say government has failed to pay their monies months after the approval. Sources within the association told Citi News they arrived at the decision after several failed attempts to get the Finance Ministry to pay them their monies. Lower court judges angry over salary slash In June, lower court judges issued a stern warning to government to immediately abandon a planned move to revise their conditions of service. The judges who work in the magistrate and circuit courts across the country said they were being short-changed with the proposal presented to them for a review of their salaries. Speaking on behalf of the judges, His Honor Aboagye Tandor, said they will advise themselves if nothing is done about their concerns. Certain reforms have been done with regards to our salaries without any views or recourse to us. No inputs were made to us and we saw that there were some discrepancies so our members were of the view that the purported letter that was brought should be withdrawn.We were surprised that as members of the lower bench we would have conditions reviewed even before we are notified. You cannot review that recourse, it should be withdrawn By: Fred Djabanor & Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Hundreds of customers of DKM Microfinance have converged on the Sunyani Coronation Park in the Brong Ahafo region for the first creditors meeting with the Official Liquidator for the liquidation process. Today [Tuesday]'s meeting is the first of three to be conducted across the country by the close of the week. About 70,000 customers have so far been validated by the Registrar General's Department (Official Liquidator) and are expected to receive their locked up cash from next month. DKM customers at the Sunyani Coronation Park The Acting Registrar General, Jemima Oware explained to Citi Business News the meetings will outline to the creditors the modalities for the repayment of their investments. We will be informing them on schedules in relation to when and how much and how many people will be paid so we urge all the creditors to be present, she said. security at the park Earlier, some of the concerned customers raised their dissatisfaction at what they said was the lack of official correspondence from the Official Liquidator. But Jemima Oware responded as, We have published the information in the national news papers there are about 63,000 to 70,000 creditors; as such we cannot be able to call them up individually. So once we are aware that the media has been able to get wind of the information, we consider it circulated. And we equally expect them to inform other creditors. DKM's operations were suspended by the Bank of Ghana in 2015 after the central bank cited the company for failing to comply with laid down rules on operations in the financial industry. By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana The National Food and Agric Show Secretariat FAGRO Secretariat assures all exhibitors, sponsors and patrons of the upcoming FAGRO 2016 that preparations are in top gear to make the event a compelling success. We are looking forward to a great event which will turn out to be rewarding to all stakeholders. The one-stop platform for all exhibitors will offer amazing networking opportunities that should snowball into a number of business deals. FAGRO 2016 will leave stakeholders with unforgettable experiences Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, General Manager, Fagro Secretariat, stated. This years event is themed: Preparation, knowledge and Training = Business, and it comes with a free training session for agribusinesses aimed at shoring up their business plan writing skills. The training will be facilitated by officials from IE Singapore and Africa Lead, who are both event partners. Trainees will undertake a proposal writing contest at the end, after which the best three (3) proposals will be assisted to access grants to boost their businesses. We chose this theme because after FAGRO 2016, we expect stakeholders in the industry to begin to see and approach their endeavours as businesses that require proper management to be sustainable and hugely successful. FAGRO 2016 is packaged to serve as the icebreaker in changing the complexion of Agriculture in Ghana, Alberta added. Among the institutions that will be mounting exhibitions at FAGRO 2016 include, RST, Wynca Sunshine, Stanbic, The Netherlands Embassy, Yara Ghana, Israel Embassy, Tikola, Ranaan Fisheries, Young Farmers League, Kickstart, Lakesyde Farms, John Deere, Daysah Ventures, Wienco, Association of Agricultural Teachers of Ghana, Central Regional Fishermen Association, National Award Winners Association, Cocoshe, Sens Fish Ventures, Brazilian Embassy, Dizengoff Ghana, Esoko, Agriseed, All directorates under the ministry of food and agriculture, etc. We invite all stakeholders, students and the general public to come, network, learn new and best practices in agriculture and identify business leads and opportunities. The Ghana International Trade Fair Centre, venue for the event, is being put in shape for FAGRO 2016 which will hold from September 28 to 30. Sponsors for the event are Stanbic Bank, Yara Ghana, Africa Lead, Tedford, TT Brothers, Indomie and GIHOC Distilleries. India to Take Action against Pakistan for Muslim Militant Attack at Kashmir Funeral for one of the Indian soldiers killed in the Uri attack. (Photo : Indian Army) The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will definitely respond forcefully to Sunday's attack by Kashmiri Muslim militants on an Indian Army base in Kashmir but the choice seems to lean more towards diplomatic rather than military action. Indian media is reporting a lively debate among Cabinet officials for and against taking some form of punitive military action against Pakistan for this country's alleged role in masterminding the attack that killed 18 Indian jawans or Indian soldiers. Advertisement The army said the assault on its base at Uri had the trademark of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. It claims weapons and other equipment seized from the four dead Muslim militants that carried out the gun and grenade attack had Pakistani markings. No Kashmiri Muslim militant group has claimed responsibility for the deadly strike, however. The army immediately accused Pakistan of being behind the attack. General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army, toured army units in Kashmir only a few days before the attack as part of Operation Calm Down. Gen. Singh said India has "the capacity to react to such blatant acts of aggression and violence," adding "we reserve the right to response to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing." Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, Director General, Military Operations, said evidence gathered at the scene indicated the attackers were foreign and their equipment bore Pakistani markings. "Our men are ready to give a befitting response," said Gen. Singh without explaining what this exactly meant. Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the "cowardly terror attack". "I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished," Modi said in Twitter posts. Despite the tough talk, Delhi might not have a viable military option that will risk an all-out war against Pakistan, said some analysts. India's best course of action is to rally the world against Pakistan's alleged state-sponsorship of terrorism targeting India. India said it will launch a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan and step up pressure to isolate Pakistan at international gatherings. It will likely raise the Kashmir attack at the United Nations General Assembly when Kashmir comes up on the agenda. "To do anything, we must think with a cool mind, consider it properly and work according to a strategy," said junior foreign minister, retired former general Vijay Kumar Singh. Gen. Singh was COAS preceding Gen. Dalbir Singh. Defense analyst Rahul Bedi said "military options are not only restricted, I think they are virtually non-existent." Pakistan makes a distinction between good terrorists (or those it uses as an instrument of state policy such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed against India) and bad terrorists such as the Pakistani Taliban responsible for unrelenting attacks on Pakistani soil. Pakistan has also called the UN to investigate alleged human rights abuses by Indian security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, which has been hit with street protests that have killed nearly 80 people over the past two months. The MFWA and Christian Aid in collaboration with the CSOs Platform on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will on Thursday September 29, 2016 hold a one day forum to mark the one year anniversary of the SDGs adoption in Ghana. The forum will bring together key stakeholders to assess progress made and challenges being encountered in the SDGs implementation processes in Ghana. Stakeholders will also deliberate and make key recommendations to foster coordination in the attainment of the Goals. The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Director General of National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and other prominent stakeholders will make statements at the forum. The one day forum is a joint activity with funding support from Christian Aid Ghana. It is under the theme:Localising the SDGs, where are we one year since adoption. Johannesburg (AFP) - South African police fired stun grenades in Johannesburg on Tuesday as protesting students blockaded campus entrances and disrupted classes to demand free education after the government announced fee increases. Campus unrest has hit many universities over the past year, with demonstrations and outbreaks of violence as students protested against higher fees forcing poorer, often black, students out of education. Tuesday's protests came a day after the government said that next year's fee hikes would be capped at eight percent, with the unrest affecting campuses in Johannesburg, Cape Town and elsewhere. Although the government said it would cover the increase for students from families earning less than 600,000 rand ($43,000/39,000 euros) a year, student activists are demanding free education for all. "About 200 students in roving groups are moving from campus-to-campus disrupting classes... and intimidating students," Wits University in Johannesburg said in a statement. "We are deploying security and the police. Students will be arrested if they do not comply with police orders." TV footage showed stun grenades being fired to clear a major road in Johannesburg, while local media said that 31 people who had been arrested for blocking a campus entrance, had been released with a warning. 'Disturbing images' "I'm very disturbed about this because... as much as students have the right to protest, there is no basis for this protest here," Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande told 702 radio. "I don't like to see the sight of police in our universities. It's not good. "It reminds one of the terrible apartheid period." Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of major protests which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016. Throughout this year, there has been sporadic unrest which has seen accommodation buildings and libraries set alight, and in May, an auditorium at Johannesburg University was firebombed. The issue of education fees has ignited widespread frustration over a lack of opportunities for young people, worsened by a weakening economy and high unemployment. The University of Free State closed its Bloemfontein campus Tuesday, while classes and lectures were abandoned at the University of Cape Town. The General Secretary of Ghana Medical Association Dr. Frank Serebuor has stated that government did not construct University of Ghana Teaching Hospital. He refuted assertions that it is a government funded project and wondered why government will claim ownership of the facility to score cheap political points ahead of elections. President John Dramani during the highlights of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto among other health facilities said it built the teaching hospital. But speaking on Kumasi-based Abusua FM, Dr. Serebuor said government is throwing dust in the eyes of the public and that the project is solely private. He said government only served as a loan guarantor, saying the loan is being paid by the university and not government. He disclosed that the teaching aspect of the facility had to even be negotiated among the parties involved. 'The University of Ghana Teaching hospital, that hospital is a private hospital, the university built it by seeking funding from Israel. I am telling you, I know that even for people to agree that Doctors in training (post graduates) to get access to the facility was a problem, you won't believe the kind of negotiations that went on just to open up the place for training. I wasn't surprised that the president during NDC manifesto highlights claimed ownership of the University of Ghana Teaching hospital, because sometimes politicians look at the infrastructural developments put up in the regime and claim ownership, as far as I know, government did not build that facility, it only guaranteed the loan for the establishment, he said. Dr. Serebuor said the facility cannot be accessed just like a public one, saying poaching of Doctors was problematic. He remarked that government has fairly improved the health system, saying there is still more work to be done. Ultimate FM An evangelist of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has cautioned people who wield political power in the country against the misuse and stealing of monies belonging to the people. According to Evangelist Seth Darko, those who dip their hands into the national coffers, and use the resources of the country to advance their personal gains need to be warned that they will face punishment for their unpatriotic acts against the people who voted them into office. The resources of Ghana belong to the people who are suffering; and the people have voted you into office to manage the resources for them to enjoy some decent living. If politicians think they can steal the peoples money and go scot-free, then they are deceiving themselves because they will face judgement one day for their actions, Evangelist Darko cautioned. He gave the caution while preaching a sermon on the theme You Cant Serve God and Wealth at the South Baatsona congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana last Sunday. He explained that the judgment that awaits corrupt politicians could take various forms, including the laws of the country catching up with them one day and facing natural justice as a result of creating problems for the people with such practices. If you are lucky to avoid all these forms of judgment, one thing that is certain is that you cannot escape Gods judgement, he stressed. Evangelist Darko bemoaned the increasing tendency of some politicians to see governance as a means of using the resources of the country to enrich themselves, while the people continue to suffer, with some of them not able to even feed their families. Are they happy seeing the very people who gave them power living miserable lives, without any hope of where the next meal will even come from, while they enjoy with their wives, families and friends? Dont they think the suffering people are Gods children who should be cared for? Are they not aware God will request them to account for their stewardship about how they cared for His children when they had the opportunity to rule them? he queried. Evangelist Darko urged politicians to always think about the collective good of the country, especially about the well-being of the masses, by using the nations resources in ways that will bring some comfort to the suffering people. Attorney-General (A-G), Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, is expected to explain a contentious clause in the Millennium Challenge Compact II agreement that could affect the function of the PURC. She must clarify if the tariff fixing function of the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) would be affected by the agreement. The controversial provision states that; The Government will proceed in a timely manner to complete all of its domestic requirements for this Compact to enter into force. The Parties understand that this Compact and the PIA, upon entry into force, will prevail over the domestic laws of Ghana. It forms part of an agreement between Ghana and US governments that will see the handing-over of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to a private concessionaire to improve the efficiency of power distribution in Ghana. PURC had demanded interpretation of that portion which it believes could hamper its constitutionally mandated function of setting electricity prices in the country. Director of Public Affairs at PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah, told Joy News on September 15 that it would be prudent the A-G is courted to explain the provision. We all need an interpretation of Article 7.1 [of the MiDA Compact II]we also need to find out the spirit behind 7.1. It is not clear to everybody. Commenting on the issue, Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor, says the A-G will put to rest all forms of misunderstanding when she completes her work. The A-G is the legal advisor of government and since it is just an issue the PURC has raised [because] they are not satisfied. It would be done for them, he said. He explained it is a routine for the Power Ministry that anytime they are faced with legal issues the A-G is brought on board to clarify those issues and this would not be different. We are a policy making ministry and deal with the technical aspect of the contract [but] it is too premature to draw the conclusion the provision will affect the work of PURC he said. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | AKABP The University of Ghana Teaching Hospital was built by the Government, former Minister of Finance Dr Kwabena Duffuor has said. Dr Duffuors clarification follows claims by the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Frank Serebuor that the health facility was a private project undertaken by the University but with the assistance of the government who only served as a loan guarantor. President John Mahama listed the hospital as one of the achievements of his government in the health sector when he presented highlights of the partys 2016 manifesto in Accra last week. However, Dr Serebuor told Kumasi-based Abusua FM that: The University of Ghana Teaching hospital ... is a private hospital. The university built it by seeking funding from Israel. I wasnt surprised that the president during the NDCs manifesto highlights claimed ownership of the University of Ghana Teaching hospital because sometimes politicians look at the infrastructural developments put up in the regime and claim ownership, as far as I know, government did not build that facility, it only guaranteed the loan for the establishment, Dr Serebuor said. In a response, Dr Duffuor said: Those who are making such allegations, let me ask them this: If a Finance Minister presents papers covering a project to cabinet, and it is approved in parliament, who seeks for the loan? Definitely it is Ghana government. Its really disturbing that some people are making such allegations. Its not true, he insisted, adding: I was personally involved in the process of that loan as the Finance Minister and worked on all the papers. One Dr Lawson was the Coordinator of this project; ask him the details of the project. Government sought for the loan for the University from Israel, I signed all the papers; they should come forward with their papers so that we debate the issue. All the documents can be found in the Finance and Health Ministries. I am telling you the truth. Residents of Obuasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana heaved a sigh of relief when the Member of Parliament for Obuasi East, Honorable Edward Ennin commissioned an ultra-modern library complex on Wednesday, 14th September, 2016 from his share of the MPs Common Fund. The mining town of Obuasi has been known for its enviable records in topping Basic Education Certificate Examinations chart nationwide. Concerns had been raised about the dilapidating nature of the only existing public library in the municipality. This occasioned Honorable Edward Ennin to start the constriction of the modern library Speaking as the chairman of the occasion, the Adansihene, Opagyakotwere Bonsra Afriyie II praised the Member of Parliament for Obuasi East for his effort in making the library complex see the light of day. He said education is the key to development of Adanseman hence, as a formal teacher himself he believes the library will go a long way to accelerate educational development in Obuasi. The Overlord of Adansi again, tasked teachers to give their student assignment which will help them access the library on regular basis. The Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, Honorable Richard Ofori Agyeman Boadi said the presence of leaders of political parties at the programme symbolizes the deep-rooted unity among the various political groupings within Obuasi. He further refuted the notion that Members of Parliament are only restricted to law making. He said MPs are development partners and praised Honorable Ennin for his other monumental projects such as nurses quarters, street lights, boreholes and roads. Honorable Edward Ennin in his speech said his motive to build the library was nurtured in 2006 and informed by the deplorable state of the old library which had received no face lift since its establishment in 1967. He praised the Municipal Assembly for making land available for the project and said the ultra-modern library complex consist of two big halls, reception, two cafe centers, two offices and washrooms. The lawmaker advised students and various users of the facility to make good use of the facility and also guard against using the facility for internet fraud locally known as sakawa the law maker also pledged to still contribute to the development of Obuasi even after exiting office at the end of the year. The Ashanti Regional Minister, Honorable John Alexander Ackon also patted Hon Ennin at the back for the library which will serve the people of Obuasi and its environs. He again appealed to the various political parties to sustain the existing unity and peace among them in Obuasi ahead of the general elections. Hon. Edward Ennin has served as the Member of Parliament for Obuasi since 2005 before the constituency was divided into Obuasi west and Obuasi constituencies. The Brazilian Ambassador, Ms. Irene Vida Gala members of parliament, various heads of Department, political party representatives and the media were all present. Selfies, selfies and selfies. This is what some persons think Instagram is all about. No. There is more to this photo sharing website than just selfies. And as a budding entrepreneur, who is also social media savvy, you have to think outside the box to explore and maximally take advantage of this very influential social network for your small business. This is a cost-effective way to reach customers. Entrepreneurs have unhindered access to over 400 million active users, over 60% of users log in daily, making it the second most engaged network after Facebook; 30% of internet users are now on Instagram and 90% of Instagram users are younger than 35. If this doesnt appeal to you, perhaps the marketing statistics will; 48.8% of brands are on Instagram and by 2017, it is expected to rise to 70.7%. In addition, engagement with brands on Instagram is 10 times higher than Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest and 84 times higher than twitter according to brandwatch.com . So, small enterprises dont need to break the bank to market their businesses. In line with this, Jumia Travel , Africas number one hotel booking portal shares some ideas on how Nigerian entrepreneurs can effectively and properly deploy Instagram for their small businesses. Connect Instagram to your other social media channels For persons who are familiar with Instagram, you can link your account with others like Twitter and Facebook. So anything you post on Instagram will simultaneously be shared on your other accounts. This will go a long way in helping you get more engagements and tractions. Dont overlook videos You dont need a video camera to shoot a video. You can simply use your phone to record the services that you provide. The interesting thing is that these videos are simple and short and it can easily maintain your followers attention span. Respond to comments When your followers comment on your postings, they always expect a response from you. In addition, follow your fans back and try as much as possible to interact with them regularly. Use Hashtags Hashtags (#) is the way to search for images on Instagram. So, you use as much as 30 hashtags. However, ensure that they are related to the image and what you are marketing. Reward your followers To maintain and sustain your presence and your followers on Instagram, it is important for you to reward them. You should do this intermittently. And it doesnt really matter how small the reward is. Use flawless pictures Instagram is all about images. If these images are blur, sooner rather later, you will lose your followers. So, always post flawless images! Geneva (AFP) - Burundi's government is behind systematic human rights violations, including executions and torture, UN investigators said Tuesday, warning of the looming risk of "genocide". "Gross human rights violations have and are taking place, committed primarily by state agents and those linked to them," the investigators concluded in a report, adding: "Impunity is pervasive." They said they could "not exclude that some instances of these gross human rights violations amount to crimes against humanity." The three independent experts said they had compiled a list of alleged perpetrators of serious abuses with the aim of ensuring they are brought to justice. Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has been in power since 2005 The investigators were tasked by the UN Human Rights Council in January with probing the extent of rights abuses in Burundi since it descended into violence in April 2015, over President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision to run for a third term -- a vote he won in July. After making two trips to Burundi in recent months and conducting 227 interviews, the experts painted a bleak picture, pointing to some estimates that more than 1,000 people have been killed since the crisis began. Targeted assassinations The UN human rights office has verified 564 cases of executions between April 26, 2015 and August 30, 2016, the report said, stressing that this was "clearly a conservative estimate". Thousands more people have been tortured, suffered sexual abuse or disappeared, while arbitrary detention has happened "on a massive scale", it said. Nearly 300,000 people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision to run for a third term Nearly 300,000 people have fled the country as refugees. The experts warned that without dramatic changes from Burundi's government and "robust engagement" from the international community, "the country's downward spiral is unlikely to be reversed," endangering the entire region. They said they had satellite images and received testimony corroborating the existence of mass graves, as well as several lists of both civilians and military personnel destined for "targeted assassinations" by security forces. Spiralling out of control Horrific torture meanwhile appeared to be "a common feature of the crisis," the report said, listing 17 methods described by victims and witnesses including forcing a victim to sit on acid and attaching weights to testicles. Sexual violence was also widespread, especially against women and girls related to men in the opposition. Many of the victims were also sexually mutilated. Human rights activists have identified several mass grave sites across Burundi Perhaps most worrying was "the general trend of ethnically divisive rhetoric by the government," the experts said, warning this carried "a serious potential of the situation spiralling out of control, including beyond Burundi's borders." "Given the country's history, the danger of the crime of genocide also looms large," the report warned. Burundi suffered a brutal civil war from 1993 until 2006 between majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, which claimed an estimated 300,000 lives. The current unrest has also sparked fear of a wider crisis in Africa's volatile Great Lakes region, with the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda having been fuelled by similar ethnic tensions. Tuesday's report urged swift international action to "prevent further mass violations with ethnical connotations." It called on the UN rights council to create a Commission of Inquiry to investigation the violations in Burundi, and allegations that cross-border armed groups are operating in the country and that other states may be implicated. And they asked the UN General Assembly to consider whether Burundi could remain a Human Rights Council member -- marking a first in the council's decade-long history. The Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has debunked claims suggesting that President John Dramani Mahama promised to distribute tablets to each student in the country. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo expressed surprise at what he said is the misinterpretion of what the president said. President Mahama never promised one tablet, one student during his presentation he stated. Ofosu Ampofo who also doubles as the Director of Elections of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) was speaking, Monday on Adom FMs current affairs Burning Issues hosted by Afia Pokua. Presenting highlights of the NDCs manifesto to Ministers of State and other dignitaries at the state banquet hall, President John Mahama said students at the basic level will get the benefit of electronically accessing text books [tablet] to improve education if his party wins the upcoming election. According to the president the said initiative will be piloted with the aim of helping to boost the competencies of the students in core subjects. The president added that if the pilot is successful, the project will be expanded to include all students. Discussing details in the NDCs Manifesto which was launched at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region last Saturday, Ofosu Ampofo said the said project is to improve teaching and learning. Ofosu Ampofo stressed that the project will make learning more attractive to the students when all the subjects will be loaded on the tablet after the pilot programme in President Mahamas second term in office. President John Mahama has supplied several laptops to students in the country and this initiative will all add up to government plans to make learning more attractive Ofosu Ampofo emphasized. Government has extended electricity to rural communities and we will continue to spread it across the country for students in rural communities to benefit from this initiative the Director of Elections stressed. Ofosu Ampofo also assured Ghanaians to vote massively for President John Dramani Mahama to continue his good work as the country is experiencing. BAC Concorde (Photo : BAC) NASA and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are teaming-up to design and build the successor to the iconic Concorde supersonic jet airliner that flew thousands of passengers at mach speeds across the Atlantic from 1976 to 2003. The NASA and DARPA successor aircraft is being developed under the joint "Quiet Supersonic Technology" or QueSST. QueSST will fly faster than Concorde but will be much quieter, hence the project's name. Advertisement NASA recently awarded a contract for the preliminary design of a low sonic boom flight demonstrator aircraft known as the "QueSST X-plane." This is the first in a series of X-planes in NASA's New Aviation Horizons initiative, introduced in the agency's Fiscal Year 2017 budget. NASA said the new planes could take to the skies as early as 2020 if it receives the funding as planned. QueSST is designed to fly at Mach 1.4, 55,000 feet above the ground. The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks and expansions associated with supersonic flight to reduce the loud sonic booms associated with supersonic aircraft. Concorde's sound at cruising altitude was about 105 decibels, but the X-plane might generate 70 to 80 decibels of noise. Quick and quiet are the buzz words. QueSST's "heartbeat" will be dramatically quieter than the traditional "N-wave" sonic boom associated with the current supersonic aircraft in flight today. The Skunk Works team has been advancing this technology for the last 20 years as part of multiple efforts. Skunk Works is the official alias for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP). It was responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, and the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. NASA selected a team led by Lockheed Martin to complete a preliminary design for the QueSST X-plane. This endeavor supports NASA's Commercial Supersonic Technology Project, which aims to better understand acceptable commercial supersonic aircraft sound levels across the United States and develop a way for piloted aircraft to fly fast with low sonic booms. At 90 feet long, the demonstrator will be smaller than future civil supersonic aircraft. The goal is to eventually have commercial supersonic transportation. Lockheed Martin has worked with NASA for more than a decade to develop the tools and technology needed to make environmentally responsible commercial supersonic flight a reality. NASA's plan for the X-plane is very ambitious, setting out to develop a whole series of new X-planes over the next 10 years. One of the planes will be roughly the size of a business jet that burns low-carbon bio-fuels and generates such quiet sonic booms that people on the ground will barely hear them DARPA, however, is working on a design of their own for an X-plane with a stacked wing frame with a series of rotors mounted in between. The rear-mounted wing will create a vertical thrust for takeoff and landing, then rotate to provide horizontal thrust for cruise and second, smaller wing near the nose of the plane would work the same way. DARPA says its X-plane might fly as fast as 460 mph and could be in the air by as early as 2018. A nine-member Board of Trustees for the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospitals (KBTH) Trust Fund has been inaugurated to manage its newly established trust fund. It is an investible fund that is meant to mobilise resources to support needy patients as well as provide equipment and infrastructure, all aimed at improving the patients experience. The Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia, who inaugurated the Board commended the leadership of KBTH for taking the initiative to set up the Fund. "This initiative has come at a time that the country has been classified as a lower middle-income economy which has affected the flow of donor support and urged the other teaching hospitals to emulate same," he said. "In spite of the massive injection of resources into Ghanas premier teaching hospital, there is still the need for more support to enable Korle-Bu maintain its leadership role in providing healthcare services, the Minister said. He advised the trustees to be accountable and transparent in the discharge of their duties as that is the only way to attract donors to contribute to the Fund. The Board of Trustees is made up of Justice Senyo Dzamefe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal; Nana Obokomatta IX, the Amankorahene of Gomoa Akyimpim Traditional Council; Mr Thomas Svanikier, Chairman of Global Strategic Ventures Ltd; Nii Nikoi Amasa, Corporate Monitoring Manager, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority; and Rebecca Okai, a Procurement Specialist, Ministry of Communications eTransform Project. The rest are Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies; Dr Seth Adjei Baah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Shaaba Group; Lawrence Addo, Managing Director of Relish Health Foods Ltd; and Dr. Gilbert Buckle, CEO of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. In an address, the CEO of KBTH, Dr. Buckle said that the establishment of the Fund was a dream which started a year ago and the idea was to create a vehicle for both public and private sector bodies to lend their support to the hospital. He said the Trust Fund will go a long way to help people who cannot afford certain medical expenses and called on corporate bodies and philanthropists to donate generously to the Fund. The KBTH Trust Fund was launched in March this year and realised an amount of GHa700,000.00. Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com New Delhi, ACCRA, Sept. 20 - (dpa/GNA) - At least eight children were killed when a school bus rolled into a large canal in India's northern state of Punjab on Tuesday, police said. The bus, carrying 37 children, was bringing the students home after school when the accident occurred near Amritsar city, regional police chief Harkamal Preet Singh said. Eight of the 20 injured children died, while 17 children others were rescued or swam to safety. Those who died were mostly kindergarten and nursery school students, the police chief said. Initial investigations indicated the accident happened after the driver lost control of the vehicle. Most children had been accounted for, but operations were continuing at the site. India's high rate of fatal traffic accidents - an average of 135,000 people annually for the past five years - is due in part to poorly maintained roads and vehicles. GNA 20.09.2016 LISTEN Istanbul/Beirut, ACCRA, Sept. 20 - (dpa/GNA) - The United Nations suspended all humanitarian convoys in Syria on Tuesday after 18 aid trucks were bombed in northern Aleppo province the day before, killing aid workers and civilians in an act that the UN said could amount to a "war crime." The US charged that either a Russian or a Syrian plane hit the aid convoy late Monday and placed most of the blame on Moscow, the main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The UN will reassess the security situation in the wake of the attack, spokesman Jens Laerke said in Geneva. The bombing came just hours after the Syrian army declared an end to a week-long truce, brokered by the United States and Russia. The trucks that were hit were part of a 31-vehicle convoy that was unloading urgently needed food and medical supplies for tens of thousands of people at a warehouse of the Syrian Red Crescent, trying to take advantage of the truce. "The destination of this convoy was known to the Syrian regime and the Russian federation and yet these aid workers were killed in their attempt to provide relief to the Syrian people," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said. The UN also said the parties to the conflict were informed about the delivery. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped organize the convoy, announced it was in mourning and denounced the attack as a violation of international law. "If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," warned Stephen O'Brien, the UN's top humanitarian official. David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN in southern Turkey, warned that as a result of the collapse of the ceasefire and the attack, people in need would not receive aid. An estimated 13.5 million people, including 6 million children, need assistance. "The aid convoy that we had planned under the cessation of hostilities had to be put on hold," Swanson said. "We are devastated by what has transpired." Airstrikes have been pounding Aleppo and other areas of Syria since the ceasefire was ended on Monday. Fresh fighting also took place between ground forces in the north of the country, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The rebel-held east of Aleppo city, with hundreds of thousands of residents, has been cut off from aid deliveries since July despite the ceasefire, making the situation at hospitals treating the wounded more complicated due to shortages. US officials appeared to be holding out hope that the could negotiate a new truce deal with the Russians. The week-long truce did manage to reduce the violence in the country and allowed some aid to reach tens of thousands of people in need. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia did not expect to reinstate the ceasefire, according to state news agency TASS. GNA By Laudia Sawer, GNA Dawhenya (GAR), Sept.20, GNA - The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has encouraged residents of the Ningo-Prampram District to actively participate in the December 7 general elections. The NCCE, with the support of the European Union, is organising series of engagements with more than 20 women and marginalized groups in the District to whip up their interest in the upcoming elections to ensure a higher voter turnout. Miss Gifty Agyeiwaa Badu, Ningo-Prampram District NCCE Director, speaking to members of Peace and Love Ladies Club at Dawhenya, reminded the electorate that shunning away from the elections meant shirking their civic responsibility. Miss Badu said the 1992 constitution of Ghana has given power to the electorate to decide who rules the country and represent them in Parliament. She added that the Constitution places national sovereignty in the hands of the people, therefore, the need for them to exercise it through voting. "When you vote, it means you've taken the important decision on who should govern you", she said adding that not doing so meant allowing others to choose for them. She advised them against selling of their votes and basing their decision to vote for a candidate on the amount of money and other material things presented to them. Miss Badu asked the electorates to vote based on issues and their conscience rather than on money, religious, ethnic and family ties. Touching on the voting process, she said voting would start at 0700 hours and end at 1700 hours on December 7. She took them through the various steps of voting and advised them to leave the polling centres after voting and return later to observe the counting of votes. Miss Badu announced that the Electoral Commission has revised its rules to allow the electorates to thumbprint on the picture of their favourite candidates. The Ningo-Prampram District NCCE Director explained that the review was to reduce drastically the high number of rejected ballots as witnessed in previous elections. She said to ensure peace, the law barred people from wearing party paraphernalia to the voting centres as well as intake of alcohol before visiting the polling centres. She called on political party activists in the District not to engage in politics of insults but rather have issue-based campaigns and tolerate views of their opponents. GNA By Patience A. Gbeze, GNA Accra, Sept. 20, GNA - The Ga East Municipal and the Ablekuma South-West Sub-Metro Office of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has organized series of programmes within the Municipalities on civic and voter education. The two-week programme is being sponsored by the European Union. It focuses on women and marginalized groups including faith-based organisations, Persons With Disabilities, first time voters, traditional authorities/opinion leaders, women's groups, artisan groups and identifiable groups. An official statement issued and signed by Aliyu Sayuti, Chief Executive Officer, Ga East Municipal NCCE and copied the Ghana News Agency, said the programme aims at helping to deepen democracy through creating an atmosphere of tolerance and civic awareness of the voter. The statement said issues discussed include the right to vote, how to vote to reduce rejected ballots, voting steps, electoral laws, voting on issues, and tolerance before, during and after the elections. It said the electorate were advised to be tolerant before, during and after the 2016 elections and try to accommodate dissenting views In another development, the Ablekuma South-West Sub-Metro Office of NCCE has visited the Mamprobi Help Age to educate them on voting processes to promote inclusiveness and participation in the upcoming election. Mr Stephen Y. Heymann, Officer In-Charge, said the visit was necessitated by the high percentage of spoilt or rejected ballots that characterized the country's election. He said the high incidence of spoilt or rejected ballot was a dent on the country's young democracy adding that there is the need to intensify voter education among the registered voters. Mr Tetteh Tennyson, Acting Chairman of Mamprobi Help Age, commended the Commission for its efforts to reach out to the aged who are often marginalized by society. It has been estimated that in 1992, rejected ballots accounted for 3.6 per cent of the total valid votes cast as against 1.53 per cent in 1996. In the first round of the 2000 elections, rejected accounted for 1.8 per cent while in 2004 it constituted 2.2 per cent of the total votes cast. In 2008, rejected ballots went up recording an overall 2.4 per cent of valid votes cast while in the 2012 elections the number of rejected ballots stood at 251,720 representing 2.3 per cent. GNA By Kamara Osman Faisal, GNA Chereponi (N/R). Sept. 20, GNA - Youth activists in the various political parties in the country have been urged to desist from indulging in negative acts that would disturb the peace of the country. Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, the Chereponi District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), said this a day's workshop aimed at equipping the youth to stand firm against any forms of violence. The European Union (EU) supported the NCCE to organize the workshop in Chereponi, which was also aimed at educating political party youth activists on the need to maintain peace during the 2016 general elections. The workshop was on the theme: 'Empowering the youth to stand up for Ghana for a peaceful 2016 election'. Mr Ibrahim said elections always come with issues and challenges and that if not managed carefully could lead to serious problems that would plunge the country into chaos. He said no one wins during electoral violence adding that, 'I therefore entreat you to use the knowledge gained from the workshop to share and educate your peers and families on the need to maintain peace in the country'. He said the NCCE would continue to play its role of educating Ghanaians on pertinent issues of national interest and appealed to the leaderships of the political parties to always preach peace to their followers. Mr John Waalo, the Deputy Northern Regional Director of NCCE, speaking on the topic: 'Code of conduct for political parties and the directives principle of state policy', urged participants to maintain law and order at all times. Mr Awufu Zakariah, the Deputy Exhibition Supervisor for EC, made a presentation on relevant sections of electoral offences and sanctions under CI94 of the EC laws. A communiquA issued at the end of the workshop advised against abuse of incumbency, multiple voting, defacing of party symbols and called on leaders to exhibit exemplary leadership. GNA 20.09.2016 LISTEN By Samuel Akapule, GNA Bolgatanga-Sherigu (U/E), Sept. 20, GNA - Eighteen communities in the Bolgatanga-Sherigu area of the Upper East Region have called on the government to provide them with electricity and rehabilitate their roads. At a press conference held at Sherigu, they said the area has not been developed and lacked the necessary infrastructure that could attract both local and foreign investors. Mr Anthony Asakisango, the Spokesperson for the communities, said as a result of lack of electricity in the area, nurses who are supposed to stay in the Community Health based Planning Centre (CHPS) commute from Bolgatanga to work every day. He said the communities have made several appeals to the government to rehabilitate the road network in the area but that had not been done, making movement very difficult during the rainy season. He said the communities had decided that they would not vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as they had been doing since 1992 if they did not get electricity before December because they would be voting only for development. Mr Francis Aduko, the Assembly man for the area, said majority of the women in the communities were basket weavers but could not weave at the night due to the absence of lack of electricity. The entire area has a total population of 24,000 and a voter population of 10,000. Among the communities in the Bolgatanga-Sherigu who organised the press conference are Kembisi, Zuribisi, Kumperigo, Agondui, Nyorkor, Nyorkor-Agondui, Akulidoone, Sapio, Tinganbisi, Kunkua, Kariyase, Avogeribisi, Zinga, Nayire, Bugelego, Aguribisi and Abokobisi. GNA 20.09.2016 LISTEN By Jerry Azanduna, GNA Bawku (U/E), Sept. 20, GNA - A suspected notorious armed robber was at the weekend lynched by the Zemmasa community members near Bawku in the Upper East Region after he resisted arrest and shot at them. The suspect, Ali Haruna, 25, has been on the Bawku police and the Zemmasa community wanted list for a long time and was spotted in the community with an AK 47 assault riffle. Deputy Superintendant of Police (DSP) Mr Benjamin Ofori Acquah, the Crime Officer of the Bawku Divisional Police Command, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said when the community members attempted to arrest him, he resisted the effort and opened fire on them until he ran out of ammunition. He said when the community members realized that he had run out of ammunition, they pounced on him and beat him to death. DSP Acquah said the suspected armed robber had been robbing traders and travelers of their monies and other valuable items in the area and was identified by some community members as one of the robbers who attacked traders from Burkina Faso at the Kulpelgu Forest Reserve near Bawku a few weeks ago. DSP Acquah said the community members found a weapon in a bush nearby where the last robbery took place and suspected it was for one of the robbers who had been robbing the area so laid ambush till the owner arrived. He said a few days later, they saw the suspect walk towards the weapon and this resulted in a hot chase leading to the altercation and resultant lynching. DSP Acquah called on the community members to desist from instant justice and hand over any suspect to police as that would help the police in its investigation to track down more criminals. He urged the community members to be each other's keepers as that would help them to track down criminals in the area. GNA 20.09.2016 LISTEN By Lydia Asamoah, GNA Accra, Sept. 20, GNA - The 2016 International Land Conference has started in Accra to enable participating countries deliberate on land policies and reforms and their impact on food security and poverty reduction in Africa. The three-day conference and Regional Assembly meeting, organised by International Land Coalition (ILC) is being hosted by Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL) on the theme: 'Promoting People-Centered Land Governance in the implementation of the post 2015 agenda: Challenges and opportunities in Africa.' The forum would also enable participants to understand the intricacies of land rights and governance issues within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Among participating countries are Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Benin, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Madagascar, Burundi, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia Nii Osah Mills, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said land governance in Africa had become a critical component of the development agenda as many African governments and institutions see it as a critical structural tool for transformation of their economies. He said in Ghana, more than 73 per cent of Gross Domestic Products is related to the land economy with a land area of 23 million hectares, making about 95 per cent of cultivable land. Nii Mills said between 2001 and 2006, African Governments committed themselves to improve land policies, governance, rights and administration through the African Union Platform that also brought about the establishment of the Land Policy Initiative. He said Ghana, on her part also introduced the Land Administration Project (LAP) 13 years ago which has made considerable achievement in the transformation of the land administration system in the country. He said LAP, was embarked upon by the Government as part of efforts to improve the governance system in land administration by improving access to land, ensuring security of title to land and facilitating institutional capacity development in land administration agencies. He said through the LAP, a new Draft Land Bill for Ghana had gone through the process of stakeholders' consultation and was being formulated for Cabinet approval. LAP, has also given birth to the establishment of a network of civil society organisations and individuals working on land in Ghana called CICOL, while a Rural Parcel Rights Boundary Demarcation has been established to enhance the voices of the rural folks and their participation in land governance, he noted. The Minister said in order to promote people-centered Land Governance in the implementation of the Post 2015 Agenda, good land administration and trusted land information system was very fundamental to ensure responsible governance of tenure, managing the land use, coping with climate change, enforcing equity and human rights as well as achieving sustainable development. 'As we strive to pool resources and efforts together to improve our land administration system in Ghana, it is my hope that together, we will work to strengthen the voice of Africa in our participation in good land governance to end poverty and improve the livelihoods of the poor and marginalised in our environment' he said Naa Professor John S. Nabilla, President of the National House of Chiefs, said land continues to be the subject of conflicts between local populations, investors, the state and mining companies while the high demand on land and its management has brought about challenges of indeterminate boundaries of stool/skin lands resulting directly from lack of reliable plans, and the use of unapproved old inaccurate maps, leading to land conflicts and litigation between stools, clans and other lands owing groups. Prof Nabila said the LAP through the Office of Administrator of Stool Lands has assisted customary authorities to work with formal land administration agencies to enable the development of procedures that are simple and cheap with more formal survey and registration procedures for landholders and customary administrations through the strengthening of old laws and establishment of new ones, for proper record keeping, and prevent or reduce multiple sales of land. Prof Nabila expressed the hope that participatory countries would learn from each other's innovations in the management of customary lands and sharing of current land reforms and policies across Africa. Mr Richmond Antwi Bediako, Chairman of CICOL, said members of the Coalition have met to promote and secured equitable access to and control over land; reduce poverty and contribute to identity, dignity and inclusion, especially of women and marginalized in land administration and ownership in Africa. 'We believe the varied expertise and experience from various African countries models of land governance, policy reform and general reform of land administration will create the opportunity for learning and sharing of best practices,' he said. Mr Mike Taylor, Director of International Land Coalition, said statistics reveals that 65 per cent of land is claimed by communities globally, but only 10 per cent have legal protection and are registered by governments, leading to insecurity. Therefore, the meeting would help come out with an action plan that would help address such insecurity and restore orderliness in land administration. GNA The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has described brother of the late President John Evans Atta Mills as an opportunist. This follows threats by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Komenda Edina Eguafo (KEEA) in the Central Region, to let Ghanaians in on the history behind Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduoms name change from Joseph Yorke to his current name. The threat issued by Samuel Atta Mills, follows demands by Dr. Nduom for the governing NDC, to publish the late President's autopsy report to prove they had no hand in his death. At the PPP's first national rally at the Kawukudi Park in Accra, the party's General Secretary, Murtala Mohammed, dared the NDC to release the autopsy report to prove their innocence. If you didn't kill Mills and if you are not happy Mills died, produce the autopsy report. We are challenging John Mahama to produce the autopsy report of [late] President Mills. The Central Region people here, I want you to listen to me: if John Mahama comes to your region, tell him to produce the autopsy report, he insisted. Mr. Samuel Atta Mills who felt offended by the demand, subsequently responded to Murtala Mohammed's threats, saying the family of the late President will expose the reason behind their Flagbearers name change if they keep digging into the cause of the late Presidents death. But the PPP, has in a sharp rebuttal called the bluff of the late Presidents family, saying threats by Mr. Samuel Atta Mills to expose the history behind Dr. Nduoms name change confirms that he is not a native of KEEA. The eccentric manners of Samuel Atta Mills and his ilk who in this 2016 year of our Lord thinks that there is something negative to expose about Dr Nduom's name Papa Kwesi Nduom is a confirmation that truly he does not even come from KEEA. Below is the full statement SAMUEL ATTA MILLS THE OPPORTUNISTIC STRANGER IN KEEA On July 24, 2012, Prof Mills became the first Ghanaian leader to die in office, but with the exact cause of death withheld from the public, speculations have been rife that there may have been foul play in the former law professor's passing which occurred only six months to the 2012 polls. Prof Mills' health had deteriorated by then and he had been considered too weak to endure the physical demands of campaigning. The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has learned with utmost unbelief the unwarranted attack by Samuel Atta Mills on comments Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom allegedly made that some in the NDC thanked God for Mills' death. It is a fact that President John Mahama and the NDC have repeatedly sought to use the death of the late President Atta Mills for political gain. This obviously has suited the interests of Samuel Mills. Does the younger Mills not know that the late Atta Mills was President for the whole Ghana and not his family only? For crying out loud, what has Samuel Mills done to pursue his brothers death certificate and cure the inconceivable insult of his strange death and illegal burial? The eccentric manners of Samuel Atta Mills and his ilk who in this 2016 year of our Lord thinks that there is something negative to expose about Dr Nduom's name Papa Kwesi Nduom is a confirmation that truly he does not even come from KEEA. We cannot also rule out misguided mischief since the NDC from 2001 have tried to call Dr Nduom Peter Yorke, John Yorke etc. Every Fante has both ancestral and Christian names and this is common among Fante families. So it is only non proper Fantes like Samuel Mills who will cry over such basic Fante naming values. Everyone who is from KEEA and specifically Elmina knows that in Dr Nduom's family there are popular names such as Nduom, Asankoma and Yorke. And it is public knowledge that at birth, Dr Nduom was named Joseph Hubster Yorke Jnr after his father and Papa Kwesi Nduom after one of their illustrious family members. If Samuel Atta Mills cares to know, both names are in Dr Nduom's baptism and birth certificates. Who in Elmina does not know Dr Nduom as Papa Nduom since his childhood? Obviously, it is only a stranger who is trying so hard and quite unsuccessfully to convince people that he is also from KEEA who can expose himself about his ignorance; to the extent of publicly threatening to expose Dr Nduom about a so-called change of name from Yorke to Nduom; when in actual fact, there has not been any change of name. We are fatigued on understanding how and why Samuel Mills could open his mouth so wide to give people evidence that he is NOT from KEEA and is just trying to use his late brothers name to win sympathy votes. Must we remind Samuel Atta Mills that Dr Nduom's parents are known very well in KEEA and they taught many people who grew up in the area? Perhaps, Samuel Atta Mills does not even know that Dr Nduom's father knew the father of the late President Atta Mills who taught at the Komenda Teacher Training College which is how he came to live in Kissi. To set the record straight, it was Dr Nduom's father who led Teacher Atta Mills to acquire the farm land at Essaman in Elmina; for which today, Samuel Atta Mills has hired landguards to terrorize innocent people even though he is unqualified to contest any election in KEEA. Was it not when the late Atta Mills became president that his family built a house at Essaman? The question is, so at what point did Samuel Atta Mills realize that he is from KEEA? Has he not always pointed to Cape Coast or Otuam as where they come from? And if night should turn to day, now, Samuel Atta Mills would definitely run away. Signed Paa Kow Ackon Director of Communication By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @EfeAnsah The Pirate Bay is an online index of digital content , founded in 2003, where visitors can search, download and contribute magnet links and torrent files, which facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing. (Photo : YouTube/ReviewTechUSA) TorrentHound has voluntarily shut down after Torrentz.eu did the same back in August and KickassTorrents (KAT) was shut down on the United States government orders in July. In the wake of their shutdown, The Pirate Bay (TPB) and Extra Torrent have recorded an increase in traffic as users migrate to new sites for their torrent needs. Advertisement Initial rumors surrounding the closure of TorrentHound were similar to those of Torrentz.eu. However, latest investigations suggest that the shutdown of the former was because of a lack of interest on the part of its team amid declining traffic numbers. "It's a combination of less traffic, less revenue and our bills piling up," an anonymous founder of TorrentHound told Torrent Freak. "Then add on constantly getting bugged by anti-piracy agents, just wasn't worth the headache anymore." TorrentHound becomes the third website among the top 10 torrent sites to shut down this year, either voluntarily or by force. According to the latest rankings by Alexa, TPB and Extra Torrents are the biggest beneficiaries of the shutdowns. Both TPB and Extra Torrent were already experiencing traffic surge since the demise of KAT and Torrentz.eu. With TorrentHound biting the dust, it should be an addition to the popularity of the remaining two alternatives. TorrentHound was founded in 2007, and therefore, the site had been in operation for almost 10 years. The website enjoyed a relatively large base of users with its millions of visitors per month, although it never reached the status of giants like Torrentz.eu, The Pirate Bay (TPB), and KickassTorrents. It seems like copyright holders had no problem finding TorrentHound. For several years, the website became the target of different industry complaints and it was blocked in a number of countries. However, TorrentHound remained online, until recently. It is unlikely that TorrentHound was facing solid legal pressure since it is currently connecting several "not terrible" alternative torrent websites on its homepage. Its voluntary shut down raises the question as to whether the remaining torrent giants will follow suit. TPB owner previously expressed their confidence that the website will not shut down. They believe that The Pirate Bay will continue operations for the next 20 or 30 years. Currently, TPB is hailed the "King of Torrents" after experiencing traffic surge following KAT and Torrentz.eu demise. Here is footage to have a glimpse of the top 10 alternatives following the shutdown of KAT, Torrentz.eu, and TorrentHound: The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has dared the brother of the late John Evans Atta Mills to go ahead and expose any skeletons he claims he knows about in Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom's closet if he has any such dirt on the party's flag bearer. If we are going on an exposing spree, let him (Samuel Atta Mills) bring it on, General Secretary of the PPP Murtala Mohammed told Class News' Atiewin Mbillah-Lawson in an interview. The PPP's challenge is in response to threats made by Mr Atta Mills in an interview on 12Live on Class 91.3FM on Monday, September 19, to expose the skeletons in Dr Nduom's closet if he kept asking questions about the death of Professor Mills. Mr Mohammed had earlier at a rally called on the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) to make the autopsy report of Professor Mills public if they had no hand in his death. Mr Mohammed's comments came within the same week Dr Nduom, at a rally in Cape Coast, had said some NDC officials put on a public show of sorrow with Prof Mills' demise but privately rejoiced over his passing, saying it had paved the way for their electoral triumph in 2012. In response, Samuel Atta Mills told Class News: Now what Papa Kwesi Nduom [needs to do] and I'm sorry to call him Papa Kwesi Nduom is, he needs to explain to Ghanaians why he changed his name from Joseph Yorke to Papa Kwesi Nduom. Look, the fact that we are peaceful doesn't mean that you can take us for a ride. Papa Kwesi Nduom, this is a warning to him, he needs to shut up about always asking questions about who killed Prof. Now if he keeps on saying that then it means he has some information. If he keeps on doing that his clan will have to come and explain to our clan what happened. My advice to Papa Kwesi Kwesi Nduom is this: 'If you don't want a dog to lick you in the face, you don't play with it.' I don't know why Paa Kwesi Nduom is making it his crusade. If he doesn't shut up about that, I will make it my project [to expose him], In reaction to Mr Atta Mills' threat, Mr Mohammed said the PPP stands by its demand for the autopsy report to be made public and dared Mr Atta Mills to go ahead and carry through his threat. We are giving him the go-ahead to expose [Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom]; the reason is that there is nothing to expose. Again we have a press release to that effect to explain what they claim as name change. There is nothing like name change the same Yorke is Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom. Fantes have traditional names or local names and other names. I don't know what they are going to expose We say the party has given him the go-ahead to expose Dr [Nduom]. Apart from being the former president's brother, what do you know about him (Samuel Atta Mills)? We have people like Dr [Nduom] who have achieved big in this world and you think you can teach him common sense? We know they come from Otuam, nobody knows Samuel Atta Mills in Elmina, and he will lose that election. If that is the reason why he is coming at Dr [Nduom], we will expose him the more and we know when his father came to Elmina. If we are going on an exposing spree, let him bring it on, Mr Mohammed threatened. I was the one who made that request The founder of NDC was the first person to tell us this story. Anita Desosoo also said the same thing. Anyidoho said he was going to speak at the right time; [there are] rumours all over the place about how Mills died and what killed him as the first citizen of the land. The PPP is demanding they produce the autopsy report -Classfmonline Its a painful trail to go through nine months of pregnancy. Much excruciating the pain that follows. But whether it turns out rewarding or fatal remains a probability that sadly, differs according to the country and economy a pregnant woman finds herself with child. Invariably, one single event that stands out for which reason maternal and neonatal deaths was put on the front burners, was the millennium development goals four and five which targeted reducing under five child mortality by two-thirds and improve maternal health by 2015 Sadly though the targets werent achieved. Ghana loses 144 mothers to every 100,000 live births at its health facilities. This Fell short of the MDG target of 54 per 100,000 live births, the 2015 Ghana Millennium Development Goals reports. The Ghana Demographic and Health Survey report of 2014 also suggests that out of a thousand children born alive 60 die. Again a failure to meet the 2015 MDG target of 40 deaths per thousand live births. Over the past twenty years there has been the MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF), High Impact Rapid Delivery (HIRD) approach, Ghana VAST Survival Programme, Prevention of Maternal Mortality Programme (PMMP), Making Pregnancy Safer Initiative and the Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC). I set out into the under privolleged communities where medical doctors have proven to be, the place with the highest incidents of maternal and neonatal mortality. My interaction with a few families who have lost their children at birth, or had children born with disabilities and families who lost mothers points to one thing. The good health facilities have been put in place, the doctors and midwives have been efficiently and effectively trained on how to handle birth issues. But what goes on with these pregnant women outside the health facility is the stress that lays waste, all that policy aims to correct. I call it the leaking bucket syndrome. That is exactly the case with Martha Frimpong, the mother of the deceased Violet Frimpong. Thanks to governments provision of good health facilities and well trained doctors, she delivered a baby girl. After several months little violet Serwaa Antwi was diagnosed with down syndrome. With no help from family, she couldnt identify any of governments intervention for babies with similar plight to her baby, and then the real pressure began to set in. Talk of the emotional stress as well; unfortunately she lost Violet after four years of handling the pressure all alone she tells me. Its heart breaking when people think you gave birth to a child with special needs because of the curse of sin. When I gave birth to my child, lots of people told me I was reaping the consequences of my sins But these are the results of nature .One out of every ten women give birth to such children There were times when people especially those who are not educated would not even want to touch my child. They said they feared they will also have a child with Down syndrome if they touched her. The stress alone could have compelled me to hide my child But I considered that my baby was also Gods creation. I took her to every place I went without shame .If not I would have thrown her away But it hurts me that she never enjoyed life .She lived on medication all her life till she died. Her story is slightly different from that of Madam Hawa Oti who, due to the stress she experienced during her pregnancy lost one of her twins leaving the surviving twin Who Weighs below her age, compared to other healthy kids putting her health and live at risk. Now 11 months old Rabbi weighs 6 pounds. Jobless, she husband and their 11 month old baby live in a container, at Buokrom Zongo. She tells me despite how good the Doctor was she feels her situation would have been different if the Doctors and midwives she encountered during her pregnancy apart from medical attention had gone the extra mile to help reduce her stress. After I delivered my first child, I got pregnant with twins. But I miscarried after seven months. I was advised not to get pregnant again until after one year. When I took seed again, it was twins. But the doctors at the Manhyia hospital where I attended antenatal, put me under keen observation because of the previous incident. I had very high blood pressure I had to take a lot of drugs to suppress it. At a point I had to walk with a walking stick. After six months of pregnancy my condition was worsening. Every part of my body was swollen. My doctor had to perform an operation to take the babies out premature. But this became difficult as I# had to pay for every cost for running the incubator. Oxygen alone for each twin was twenty cedis a day. We couldnt keep up with all the medications .So the girl didnt survive. It was the male who survived. But through all that I never had any encouragement from anyone .I can understand because the doctors are overwhelmed with numerous patients. The first time I met the doctor who took care of me, I expected him to give me some words of encouragement. But no! He didnt. At least that would have made me forget some of my woes. Dr Ernest Kuako is a gynaecologist obstetrician with the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi. His department sees patients referred from peripheral facilities in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and northern regions. He corroborates the facts from experience, that stress has had some dire impact on pregnant women and their unborn babies. A pregnant woman just like any other adult can also have both physical and mental stress, she may even be stressed from financial difficulties not being able to cater for the pregnancy, antenatal and all that. If a pregnant woman is stressed, it can affect the amount of blood that goes to the baby and therefore the food and air that the baby can get , and therefore it can affect the babys growth, we call it growth restriction, it comes with so many problems including, later, the baby having mental disability A not for profit organisation, Pregnancy Stress Foundation Ghana is headquartered in Kumasi. Its founder Victoria Darko tells me she had a heartfelt desire to help out such women as she personally went through a similar experience like Martha and Hawa. Pregnancy stress foundation, she tells me, looks out for less privileged pregnant mothers in society going through various forms of stress and manages them; an area she believes has been neglected. There are a lot of areas that government is working on when we talk about this goal, But I believe this particular area has been ignored, looking at the fact that lots of pregnant women in Ghana go through extreme phsychological and emotional stress and the impact on their health and the baby is dire such that there is the need to pay attention to this area to be able to save the lives of these women and their children. When it comes to building hospitals and all I think is much easier compared to identifying these women and talking to them about their problems and aligning their problems to their health needs . The situation has also caught the eyes of the legislature. Elizabeth Agyeman is a member of parliament for Oforikrom and a member of the health committee of both the Ghanaian parliament and the ECOWAS parliament. She has set up an organisation called the Easy Birth Foundation to bring counseling and direct help to the homes of such targeted women. What causes that stress, is the fact that sometimes the person doesnt have money to go to the hospital, maybe the husband is refusing to support because some men refuse to take responsibilities after the pregnancy and that causes stress. Some of the men are killing some of the women. The policy makers can draft their policies. Governments can build the best of facilities. But these conditions that stare the pregnant woman outside the health care system continue to drain efforts. What i call the leaking bucket syndrome. If the goal is to ensure that no woman or baby should lose their lives before, during and after pregnancy. Then there is the need to leave no stone unturned in this quest. This Production is with funding support from Media Foundation for West Africa and UNDP Ghana Theresa Oppong, Ultimate [email protected] Cape Town (AFP) - South African anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu was "jovial as usual", the country's deputy president said Tuesday after visiting him in hospital. Cyril Ramaphosa visited Tutu in the Cape Town clinic where the retired archbishop, 84, was re-admitted on Saturday just three days after being released following three weeks of treatment. "I was encouraged to see the Archbishop in high spirits, sharing light moments with his family and friends. He was jovial as usual," said Ramaphosa in a statement. Tutu underwent a "minor surgical procedure" two weeks ago to determine the cause of a recurring infection. He was also hospitalised last year over the infection, which was a result of the prostate cancer treatment he has been receiving for nearly 20 years. His daughter Mpho Tutu-van Furth told reporters in Cape Town that the latest setback "wasn't completely unexpected, because previous therapies that he has had for prostrate cancer have retarded his healing." She said he was responding well to treatment and was expected home again soon. The much-loved former archbishop of Cape Town gained worldwide prominence for his strong opposition to white-minority rule in South Africa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. The Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah , has urged Ghanaians not to vote for politicians who have no experience to lead the country, saying the presidency is not a place for experiments. The destiny of a nation does not rely on trial and error leaders but in systems that work, he said. The Chief of Staff made these remarks when he paid a courtesy call on the Wa Naa and President of the Wala Traditional Council, Naa Seidu Pelpuo IV, as part of his six-day tour of the Upper West Region. According to him, the presidency is about implementing programs and policies that impact on the life of the people positively and not about trial and error. Try me Nana Addo to Ghanaians Flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the electorate to try him in this year's elections after two failed attempts at the presidency. Speaking on various campaign tours, the NPP flagbearer appealed to Ghanaians to give him the chance in the December polls to lead the country for a prosperous future for the citizenry. But Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah said the electorate should not try anybody in the upcoming elections because President Mahama has demonstrated enough capability in transforming the lives of the people and the country's economy. Campaigning for President Mahama, who is currently in New York, USA, for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Mr. Debrah, said the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), is working assiduously to transform Ghana and Change lives through workable and tested policies. Countries like China, Malaysia or Singapore have achieved more because they kept a particular government that was doing something right to continue, Julius Debrah noted, adding that being a president should not be premised on trial and error. According to him, the Mahama administration is already transforming Ghana through massive infrastructural projects and this is being acknowledged by the Chiefs and people across the country. There is every justification to keep President Mahama and the NDC in power for another eight years, he added. Mr. Debrah implored the rank and file of the governing party to intensify their engagement with the people and to explain the party's manifesto to the people to make certain NDC's victory on December 7, 2016. Mr. Debrah said the next NDC administration under President Mahama will enhance the agricultural sector and make it attractive to Ghanaians, especially the youth. According to him, the Mahama administration intends to improve the systems of agriculture by introducing modern farming implements to make farming appealing. He explained that, the government will take advantage of all arable lands lying fallow and put them to good use as well as enhance the agriculture-mechanized centers across the country. By: Awudu Mahama/ghelections.com/Ghana Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwe on Tuesday warned against the production, sale and use of the national flag without official permission after activists turned it into a symbol of anti-government protests. "Members of the public who participate in any action or activity involving the national flag or bring the national flag into disrepute are warned they are liable to prosecution," justice minister Virginia Mabhiza said in a statement. She said offenders faced up to a year in jail or a $200 (180 euros) fine -- or both. The national flag became a symbol of anti-government protests after evangelical pastor Evan Mawarire posted a video in April in which he appeared with the flag wound around his neck as he bemoaned the country's worsening economic crisis. Mabhiza said she was "concerned with increasing incidences whereby members of the public have been using the national flag in a manner that is prohibited by the constitution". The warning came as the country experiences a surge in protests against veteran President Robert Mugabe's rule amid a worsening economic situation which has seen banks running out of cash and the government failing to pay its workers on time. Protesters are also demanding a raft of electoral reforms ahead of general elections scheduled for 2018. Pastor Mawarire's clips went viral, attracting tens of thousands of viewers and spawned the "ThisFlag" campaign that has fuelled angry street protests and brought Zimbabwe's situation to international attention. The campaign triggered a spike in demand for the flag with vendors selling the national colours in a variety of shapes and sizes. Mawarire was arrested following street protests which shut down schools and offices and paralysed the public transport system. He was released after a court threw out charges that he had attempted to overthrow the government. Mugabe singled out Mawarire, warning him sternly against further protests. Mawarire is in the United States where he is leading protests against Mugabe at the UN general assembly in New York. Nana Akufo-Addo, 2016 presidential nominee of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said his proposals are not promises but solutions meant to address problems confronting citizens. I'm not making promises. I am offering solutions to the problems of this country, and not promises. However, in order to bring all these policies into fruition, I need you and the people of Greater Accra and the Ghanaian electorate in its entirety to vote for me and the NPP in this year's elections, he said. Akufo-Addo made this known on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, when he paid a courtesy call on the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, in Dodowa, at the commencement of his 4-day tour of the Greater Accra Region. The NPP flagbearer has promised a '1-District-1-Factory' policy, '1-Village-1-Dam' policy, the diversification of the country's agriculture, the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy, the setting up of an Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) free SHS policy, among others. Akufo-Addo further accused the National Democratic Congress government of destroying the foundations laid by the Kufuor administration saying that he will restore the nation back to the path of prosperity if given the nod on December 7. That foundation has been destroyed these last few years. However, my message to the people is that they should not despair and must not lose hope. I am appealing to Ghanaians to look up to and ride on the back of the 'Elephant', so we can bring progress and prosperity to the people. We have the men and women, and policy initiatives to give this country a first class government, he stressed. He also promised to boost employment opportunities in the country. We need to do something about employment for our young people. We cannot tackle this problem if we don't have good policies that will attract money into the economy and bring investment into Ghana. Ghanaians who have money are hiding it because the business environment is not conducive. We want them to bring their monies out, and also foreigners to bring investment into Ghana, so that we can create jobs and get this economy moving again, he said. He continued, You have heard me say that in every district, we are going to help set up one factory. We are not going to do this alone as a government, but we will encourage public-private partnerships. We are blessed in this country. In every part of this country, there is a resource, which when properly harnessed, will help the citizenry. By: citifmonline.com/Ghana Today, September 21, marks a very important day in the history of Africa and the world. Today marks the birth of a Visionary Leader, a Revolutionist, a Path Breaker and a strong Pan-Africanist, a man named Francis Nwia-Kofi, later known as Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. If today marks the birthday of my mentor and founder of my alma Mata, Ghana National College, Cape Coast, I may not have flowers to put on his grave, shout his name on radio but what I can do to honour such a personality is to bring back memories of his primary goal for Africa. So if God has blessed us with such a wonderful day to celebrate, it is important we re-enact history in order to understand the present situation and to guide us in making future decisions to bring improvement in our lives. As recorded in the Bible, at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. This often cannot be said about Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. However, at the name of Kwame Nkrumah generates a lot of controversies about his leadership style and foreign policies, perhaps, people have not yet been able to decipher the real Nkrumahist philosophy. However, I must state categorically that this article does not concern itself with whether or not if Nkrumah was a good leader, instead it focuses on who Nkrumah was and what he stood for. It concentrates, primarily, on Nkrumahs philosophy for a continental Unity of Africa. It assesses what entails African Unity and why unity is necessary for the African continent. As indicated by Nkrumah, There are those who maintain that Africa cannot unite because we lack the three necessary ingredients for unity, a common race, culture and language. [1] It is evident that some political leaders and the masses still maintain that African Unity is irrelevant or cannot manifest. If you subscribe to such notions, perhaps, you should do away with such Eurocentric views about Africa before making an attempt to read further. From the 1960s, many African nationalists and freedom fighters had managed to secure independence for their various countries. Under many circumstances such independent heroes such as, Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Julius Kambarage Nyerere (Tanzania), Sylvanus Epiphanio Olympio (Togo), Sekou Toure (Guinea), David Dacko (Central African Republic) and Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) were elected as President of the first Republic. Some of these leaders had to employ constitutional means while others had to engage in war for their countrys independence. The irony in the situation was that to the masses, who aided these leaders to achieve political freedom believed that independence was a sign of prosperity and a good life, after all, the oppressor has been sucked and made to go back to his country. And it is not surprising that even in this twenty-first century, some people still hold on to this notion. To some extent, this notion was widely accepted by the military, so much so that, they capitalized on this notion to seize power from civilian leaders when the economy of many African states was in shambles. To be able to decipher the whole situation very well, one must know that colonialism deals with dominating a countrys political, social and most importantly, economic fields. I should state emphatically that the underlying reason for the acquisitions of colonies in Africa was not so much of political, instead, economic. With the rise of capitalism in Europe, the search for raw materials and new markets for Europeans manufactured products during the industrial revolution was the primary objective of the imperial powers. Hence, to the imperial powers, granting Africans total independence will be tantamount to the collapse of their economy. Therefore, granting Africans political freedom was not so much of a problem to the colonial masters. The real problem, therefore, was granting Africa an economic freedom. Economic freedom in the sense that Africans will be supported and encouraged to build industries to process her vast raw materials in order to increase its value in the world market. It is, therefore, obvious that the arduous task that faced Africans decades after independence was to enter into a new struggle for economic independence, so that the ordinary citizen can enjoy the full benefit of Africas independence like peoples in the United States of America. However, in Africa once you become part of the presidents family, you dont need to bother about this because all what the leaders care is to fill their banks with the state coffers so that when their tenure of office is over, they can live lavishly with their families. Fortunately, as visionary and intelligent as he was, Nkrumah found the only solution that will surely enable Africa to attain economic independence as the same way he was able to find a strategy to accelerate the decolonization of African countries. Nkrumah believed that if Africa can be economically independent, then neo-colonialism and its major instrument, balkanization be removed from Africa. For a better understanding of the nature of Neocolonialism read Nkrumahs book, Neo Colonialism, the last stage of Imperialism. However, for the sake of this article, I will talk briefly about the two phenomenon. Neocolonialism has to do with the imperial powers using various subtle means and agencies like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to manipulate the economies of African countries. We should not forget that the IMF and the World Bank are controlled by the imperial powers and under no circumstance will they put Africas interest at heart. The leaders of these agencies are accountable to their citizens so as our leaders should be accountable to us. Balkanization has to do with breaking large territories into smaller sizes. As Nkrumah puts it, Converting Africa into a series of smaller states is leaving some of them with neither the resources nor the man power to provide for their own integrity and viability. [2] This has accounted for the reason why some countries in Africa cannot develop and they are constantly at the mercies of the so-called aid from Europe. To Nkrumah, the only remedy for neo-colonialism and balkanization lied in African Unity. In his book, Africa Must Unite, Nkrumah proposed that the salvation of Africa lied in Unity. As he puts it, the activities of the Union of African States (U. A. S), which comprised by then of Ghana, Guinea and Mali, was to adopt a common domestic and foreign policies. Nkrumah believed that African Unity will define a common set of directives relating to economic planning, which was aimed at the complete decolonization of the set ups inherited from the colonial system and organizing the development of the wealth of African countries in the interest of the people. Also, in African Unity, there will be the organization of a system of joint defense, which will make it possible to mobilize all the means of defense at their disposal of the state, in favour of any state of the union which become a victim of aggression. [3] In short, African unity will provide Africans equal opportunities, collective mobilization of African resources and a high military command for Africa. As the saying goes, United we stand, divided we fall. This adage indicates that there is power in Unity. Which African country can one say has power in World politics today? What do you think will happen in World affairs if Africa unite with one president? Have you ever imagined how powerful such a president will be in the world? Why do you think the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, the United States of America and Canada etc., united to form one block? The thirteen English colonies in the New World after fighting for their independence from Britain united to form the United States of America because these colonies were convinced that if they stood alone, it was likely that Britain would assert her authority over them again. Hence, the colonies United to provide military support for each other. The USSR also united but later disintegrated. However, we cannot overlook the fact that the USSR was at her peak during the cold war. Had the various English colonies in the New World stay independently, Britain could have managed to get them back on their knees after their independence. This is a simple example African leaders should consider to revisit the issue of African Unity more importantly and not to be holding numerous AU conferences without results. The present situation in Africa constantly reminds us that Nkrumah never dies. What right does America or the West has to invade Libya? Governance and standard of living in Libya was so good that even many people from other African states run to Libya to seek for greener pastures for their families, yet Libyas leader, Muammar al Gaddafi, was tagged as a tyrant leader and killed. Look at what the International Monitory Funds and the World Bank have done to the economies of many African countries. Decades after Africas independence, the IMF encouraged many African countries to allow trade liberalization. African countries were ordered to remove all forms of protectionism. The effect of these policies was that local industries were stifled. Ironically, these same European nations, who manage the IMF and the World Bank, adopted a similar policy of protectionist during the height of the industrial revolution in order to protect their local industries. All evidences point out to the fact that it is only Africans who understand and can solve their own problems. So African leaders should halt the habit of seeking for aid from the imperialist powers and find a lasting solution to Africas problem which lies only in UNITY. As indicated by Dambisa Moyo, Aid is never the solution to Africas problem. [4] Sons and daughters of Africa today, the mantle has been handed down to us, the foundation is well laid, it is up to us to take up the challenge as our ancestors did to secure independence for us. It is time for us to continue the revolution which will set Africa free from the shackles of neo-colonialism and balkanization. I will end with an African proverb which says, The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time is now. To the Memories of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Long live Africa!!!!! The Author COLLINS NANA YAW ABEBRESE (B.A. HISTORY & RELIGION) UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST E-mail : [email protected] Tel : +23354 2083 047 REFERENCES Nkrumah Kwame, Africa Must Unite, New York: Frederick Inc., 1963 Moyo Dambisa, Dead Aid: Why Aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa, New York: Macmillan, 2009. [1] Nkrumah Kwame, Africa Must Unite, New York: Frederick Inc., 1963. p.132 [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid. p. 142 [4] Moyo Dambisa, Dead Aid: Why Aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa, New York: Macmillan, 2009. kwame Nkrumah 20.09.2016 LISTEN History has it that on the 21st day of September 1909, a boy was born in a tiny village of Nkroful, somewhere in the Western Region of present day Ghana. The boy grew up as a young man with his country and continent at heart. He believed and had a firm conviction for the liberation of his country and continent. He attended the prestigious Achimota College in Accra, and later became a Teacher. At age 26, Nkrumah left the Gold Coast to study at the Lincoln University, USA. There, he read widely from the Literature of Karl Marx and Marcus Garvey. From there, ideas of socialism became appealing to him. In the United States of America, he came across writings of George Padmore and Co, who were in the Pan-African Movement, W.E.B Du Bios and all. And eventually he linked up with them in Manchester, United Kingdom, where they organized the fifth Pan- African Congress and they decided to accelerate the struggle for the liberation of Africa ~ kwesi Pratt Jnr. From there, this was after the World War II, the fight for the decolonization of Africa begun in earnest. In his book, I speak of Freedom, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah wrote: Divided we are weak. United Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world. After some years, he was invited to become secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention (U.G.C.C). In the year 1948, Ghanaians had boycotted British goods because they felt the goods were expensive. The leaders of U.G.C.C were blamed for that and those led to the arrest of Kwame Nkrumah and other members of the UGCC and were later charged with instigation, looting and rioting. However, that did not dampen his spirit and enthusiasm. He soldiered on. In the year 1951, Gold Coast went to polls to vote for self-rule, and this time, Kwame Nkrumah had split from the UGCC and formed his political party, the Conventions Peoples Party (CPP), with its Motto Forward Ever Backward Never. He picked T. Hutton Mills as his running mate and eventually won by a landslide victory. All this while, the Osagyefo was still in prison. These circumstances, with the pressure from the masses, compelled the British to released Nkrumah from the James Fort prison and later, he was recognized as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast by Sir Charles Arden-Clark. On the 6th day of March the year 1957, Ghana gained her political independence and Kwame Nkrumah declared, thus, At long last your beloved country is free forever. He added that Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent. This event made Ghana the first country in the sub-Saharan region to gain her political independence. Later, many countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Zambia and many others had their freedom from their colonial masters. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was a leader who can be described as a man with the foresight of a Jewish Prophet. Many who are familiar with history will remember that on the 24th day of May 1963, Kwame Nkrumah assembled 32 African leaders in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. On that day, he said to the leaders present at that forum, that Africa must unite. He envisioned an Africa with a common armed command, a common currency, with no restriction of boarders, no passports to ease movement and many more. But unfortunately, he did not win the day. And on the 25th day of May 1963,32 leaders signed the Charter to create the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU). The great Osagyefo is today remembered for many great things he achieved while he was president. He is noted for the construction of the Tema Motorway, Tema Township, KNUST, Akosombo Dam, his role in Ghanas independence and also his key role in the formation of the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU). After several attempts on his life, he was ousted by a coup set up by Kotoka on th 24th day of February 1966. He later died in Bucharest, Romania in April 1972. Today, many of us who believe in the Nkrumaism ideology share in his beliefs and vision. I see a much reason why we ought to celebrate him on this day. Truly, Kwame Nkrumah Never Dies! Happy Founders Day! God Bless Mother Ghana! For many of us, any occasion is welcome for discussing the restitution of the Benin artefacts and the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, and Brexit is no exception. But we must state clearly that neither the Greek sculptures nor the Benin treasures are intrinsically linked to the political wisdom or folly that may be currently prevailing in the British Isles. Whilst the raising of the question of the Nigerian artefacts often recalls the existence of the dispute relating to the Greek treasures, the two issues must in no way be amalgamated. The nature of the objects, the history of their acquisition, the relevant legal and political ramifications and the possible difficulties of their restitution, are obviously not the same. We must put on record our unflinching support for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles and for the restitution of the Benin Bronzes. Whilst we would like to state our boundless admiration for the Greek government and officials for their persistent, historic, recorded and enduring efforts to recover their cultural treasures, we would be very hesitant to state the same about Nigerian efforts in this context. Our love and commitment to Nigerian culture and efforts to recover looted/stolen Nigerian cultural artefacts have been amply stated in various places. But have Nigerian officials expended as much effort as the Greeks have done to recover the national treasures? Prof. Wilhelm Ostberg, former Director of the Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm, has suggested that Nigerian officials may have other interests in lending national treasures without seeking reciprocity and that may also explain why the same officials are not keen to submit formal requests for restitution. No one has contested that assertion. Our own conclusion, after years of reflecting on the issue of restitution of Nigerian artefacts, is that if the Nigerian officials had put in sufficient efforts we would by now have recovered a large number of the thousands of Nigerian artefacts that are illegally and illegitimately detained in several Western museums. To start with, the Nigerian officials could establish and publish a simple list of the artefacts they would want back. To date no official Nigerian list has been produced. The Cairo Conference on restitution in 2010, under the leadership of Zahi Hawass, asked for such a list. We have heard from some officials that they do not know where looted Nigerian artefacts are. However, many books and exhibition catalogues provide some of the required information. Moreover, a short visit to any major Western museum in London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and elsewhere would yield useful relevant information. Has Nigeria ever reported any lost/stolen artefact to Interpol and other international bodies that might be able to assist in the recovery of such items? Has the loss of Olokun ever been reported to a competent body? Some officials even deny that Nigeria has lost any such treasures. One task Nigerian officials could usefully perform would be to provide to their own public precise information on the efforts that have so far been made to recover artefacts abroad. They would thereby enable the public to learn more about Nigerian artefacts and the history of their journey abroad and efforts for their recovery. But it appears that some Nigerian authorities are not interested in Nigerian history and have even prohibited the teaching of history in schools. Nigerian officials talk about quiet diplomacy and refuse to reveal any details about their efforts at restitution so far. Are public servants who are not dealing with defence matters allowed to pursue such a policy which makes it almost impossible to know what they are doing or not doing? How can Nigerians practice quiet diplomacy when their Western counterparts are open about their activities? How can they whisper in dining rooms and reception halls whilst their Western colleagues are shouting loudly on roof tops that they would not return any Nigerian artefacts? What kind of game is this where each side seems to have a different set of rules? It is obvious to many that Nigerian officials would have to abandon the policy of quiet diplomacy that has so far not resulted in any restitution since Independence in 1960. This failed policy must not be pursued further. The many thousands of looted/stolen Nigerian artefacts abroad will not return home through quiet diplomacy. The examples of Italy, Egypt and Turkey demonstrate that only a vigorous and open campaign can yield tangible results. Queen-Mother Idia, Oba Esigie, Oba Akenzua and others will not return from imperialist detention and exile until the strident voice of Nigeria is loud enough to be heard even in the mighty citadels of looted artefacts. Whispering at cocktail parties will not liberate the detained nobles. Kwame Opoku. 17 August, 2016. By Joyce Danso, GNA Accra, Sept. 20, GNA - Yakubu Alhassan, one of the robbers who took part in a armed robbery, in which GH 150,000 was stolen from a Kaneshie forex bureau, has been sentenced to 26 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court. This was after the Court had found Alhassan guilty of the charges of conspiracy to rob and robbery. The Court, presided by Mr Aboagye Tandoh, on August 22, this year, sentenced his accomplice Haruna Abdulai, a mechanic, to 21 years imprisonment after he changed his plea of not guilty to guilty on the charge of robbery. However, the Court deferred 22-year-old-Abdulai's sentence pending the trial of Alhassan. In their plea for mitigation, Alhassan prayed the Court to give him a lesser sentence so he would learn from that, while Abdulai told the court he had a son who was not being cared for, and both of his parents were dead. According to the prosecutor, Chief Superintendent Mr Duuti Tuaruka, Alhassan was a welder, who resided at Agbogbloshie, while Abdulai was unemployed and lived at Ashaiman. On the 23 of March, Alhassan and Abdulai, with two other suspects, at large went to the forex bureau under the pretext of conducting business. They pulled locally manufactured pistols and robbed the forex bureau, at gun point. The prosecution said one of the forex bureau staff raised the alarm and with the support from a Police Patrol Team from Kaneshie, Alhassan and Abdulai were apprehended, while two of their accomplices escaped. The two, while on the run, fired indiscriminately into a mob that was chasing them, injuring 14 people. Alhassan admitted the offence in his caution statement and mentioned Abdulai and one Issah, who lived at James Town, and another person whose name he did not know as accomplices. He later told the Court that he embarked on the robbery spree because he wanted to establish a welding shop and needed money to that effect. Handing the jail terms, the Court sentenced Alhassan and Abdulai to 21 years on the charge of conspiracy. However, on the charge of robbery, Alhassan had 26 years and Abdulai had 21 years. The sentences are to run concurrently. Out of the amount robbed, only GH 58,000 was found with the convicts, while two pistols were retrieved. The Court stated that the Prosecution had established their case beyond reason doubt, adding the sentences were rolled out following the propensity of the role each one played in the robbery. According to the Court, Abdulai did not waste time by admitting to the crime, while in the case of Alhassan, he decided to tell the Court 'Ananse stories' purported to throw dust into the court's eyes. Alhassan, as part of his defence, told the Court that he was a victim of the robbery and that when he and one Isaac, now at large, entered the forex bureau, it was one Issa who engaged a cashier of the forex bureau. It rejected Alhassan's assertion that he was a victim, who was forced to flee with the robbers on the day of the incident. 'A look at the CCTV shots showed Alhassan collecting monies into a bag. Alhassan knew all the accused persons who took part in the robbery,' the Court stated. It stated that the convicts' identities were not in dispute and they admitted entering the forex bureau on the day of the incident. The Court explained that the convicts, one Issa and another person now large, walked together to Kaneshie Old Takoradi Station, divided themselves into two groups and entered the forex bureau, hence the establishment of the charge of Conspiracy. This, the Court stated: 'Did not require a soothsayer or prophet to ascertain their intent. The acts of the convicts were well planned.' According to the Court, it was, however, not clear as to whether there was an insider who fuelled the act. GNA Nexus 2016 Rumors (Photo : Twitter / xdadevelopers) Previous rumors had suggested that the upcoming Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones would be unveiled on Oct. 4. Now, a teaser from Google on Twitter officially confirms that the Pixel smartphones are going to be revealed to the world on Oct. 4. The launch event will be held on Oct. 4 at San Francisco at 8:00 AM PT. Google has also started a dedicated website - madeby.google.com that clearly mentions the Oct. 4 date. Advertisement However, all the leading tech sites have reported that Google will be announcing Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones on Oct. 4. When the same madeby.google.com website is visited using an Indian proxy website, it shows a different date of Oct. 5. In select markets like India, the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are going to launch on Oct. 5, TheBitBag reported. Google Pixel, Pixel XL Release Date, Price Last year, the Google Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P smartphones were readily made available for purchase after they were announced on Sept. 29. Hence, the upcoming Pixel smartphones are expected to be available immediately after they get announced. The Pixel smartphone with 32 GB will be the lowest storage that will cost $649 whereas the lowest storage version of Pixel XL is rumored to be priced at $749, Android Police reported. Why is Google Axing Nexus Branding? Since the upcoming Google smartphones are coming with Pixel branding, it can be assumed that it has killed the Nexus branding. Google has not released a new Nexus player or a Nexus tablet since 2014. Hence, speculations are rife that the search engine giant will be killing the Nexus brand. However, Google is yet to reveal official statement on why it has axed the Nexus lineup. Google partner with different OEMs to release Nexus products. These devices always carried the names of the manufacturer. Last year, Google released the Pixel C tablet. It was sold as a product that was manufactured by Google even though it was built by partnering with another OEM. In the same way, the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones that are scheduled to launch on Oct. 4 will not be sold as HTC devices even through it will be assembling both the devices. Leaked photos of Pixel and Pixel XL show that both the smartphones will carry Google's 'G' logo. Here is a launch date teaser video of Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones Accra, Sept. 20, GNA - About 1,500 Residents of Adabraka and its environs have benefitted from a free health screening exercise organized by Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) in partnership with the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL). The exercise comprised free dental screening, eye care, general medical screening and Hepatitis B and C screening and vaccination. People under the age of 18 as well as those above 60 were registered for the National Health Insurance Scheme. Mr Graham Lurie, the Finance Director of ABL, said the annual event fulfils the company's objective of helping to create a thriving world where incomes and quality of life are growing. He said ABL will continue to support the acceleration of growth and social development through its value chains with such health interventions. 'Health is an essential component in the development of every community. At Accra Brewery, creating a thriving world also means, investing in people but most importantly it is investing in physical well-being which fosters prosperity for all' he said. Mr Lurie assured the Adabraka community of ABL's continuous support and thanked its partners in the exercise - Graphic Communications Group Limited as well as Voltic (GH) Limited, for donating natural mineral water to refresh the beneficiaries. The Hepatitis B Foundation and the Accra Diamond Lions Club also provided free services. Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, the Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited, expressed his appreciation to the community for creating a peaceful atmosphere for his company to thrive, noting, that free healthcare is an expression of gratitude to the people of Adabraka for being a kind host. Over the past years, ABL has undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at supporting health care delivery in the Ghana in its quest to augment government's efforts to attain the nation's Sustainable Development Goals. The company has been investing in an annual free HIV/AIDS screening for residents of Agbobloshie. It has, for the third year running, been engaged in a campaign to prevent alcohol consumption among pregnant women in a campaign aimed at reaching 5000 women this year. This is the eighth collaborative health intervention between ABL and Graphic Communication Group Limited for the Adabraka community and its environs. GNA 20.09.2016 LISTEN Atorkor, (V/R), Sept. 20, GNA - A Dallas based Ghanaian Nurse, Mr Anthony Kokutse on Monday donated assorted medical drugs valued at $120,000 to the Atorkor Community Medical Centre in the South Ketu District of the Volta Region. The drugs donated by Mrs Karen Hall, a philanthropist from Texas, comprised cypro, pain killers, eye drops, nasal drops, sterile foley catheters, first aid kits, wound care kits, sanitary pads, eye glasses and stethoscopes. The sterile catethers have been donated to the Beta Government Hospital. Mr Kokutse said Mrs Hall had decided to assist Ghanaians living in the rural areas who need medical care. Receiving the donation, Madam Theresa Akorfa Agbenyega Administrator of the Atorkor Development Foundation, thanked the donors for the kind gesture. Mr Kokutse also undertook health screening for people including checking their blood sugar level, hypertension and diabetes. Sixty female patients were each given a sanitary pad. 120 female students from the Atorkor vocational institute also received sanitary pads. GNA 20.09.2016 LISTEN We continuing from the Part 2 Fact #3: Your past Prostate Supplement Taken Maybe Didnt Work for a Very Good Reason Most men get frustrated with natural supplements because they didnt work and there is a very good reason for that. Its plain and simple. What you have been purchasing in the past either did not have the right ingredients that have been shown to be successful in the clinical trials; or you were not getting the correct dose in the amounts to make a difference. Most prostate supplements have very minimal dosages of the ingredients required to make a difference. Even the most popular brands of prostate supplements you see on TV only have minimal ingredients. You cannot expect to fight a war with a single soldier! You need an army of ingredients to win the war on better prostate health. Read the ingredients and add up the total milligrams in the formula you are taking. Most of them also have only one active ingredient. You are being told over and over again on TV to take beta-sitosterol as a magic cure but nothing could be further from the truth. You need a combination formula in the right ingredients to make a difference. You cannot rely on a single ingredient to get you back to better health and this is why the herbal hospitals in Ghana are missing the boat. One final thing on this point: most companies also hide the actual amount of ingredients in a proprietary blend. This is a way to hide the actual amount of ingredients in each bottle. Count up the actual ingredients and look at the active ingredients that have real studies and clinical research to back up those claims. I have seen cases of this and even hard argument with the manufacture. So only buy from companies that fully disclose all the ingredients on the Supplement Panel. So you know exactly what you are paying for. Fact #4: Prostate Supplements Dont Work for All Men Get this fact straight. Prostate Supplements dont work for all men. Those companies that claim otherwise are simply wrong. But here is the other truth; the DRUGS that men purchase or are prescribed by their doctors for the same purpose work less than 60% of the time! And the drugs come with side effects like an increased risk of prostate cancer (Proscar) and sexual dysfunction (Flomax). One product, Prost-P10x has one of the Highest Independent Ratings on Independent Review Site Amazon.com with 89% four and five star positive reviews. Nothing works 100% of the time for 100% of the men. What Prost-P10x is however is the BEST chance at a natural solution. If you are going to try supplements then you might as well use the most clinical grade formula with the most positive results for their customers. Even Prost-P10x does not work for 100% of men. No company can claim this. The company gets fantastic results for those men that we are helping to lead better lives. In fact, Prost-P10x also posts their NEGATIVE reviews online as well as all their POSITIVE reviews. The company does this so that men have ALL the information they need to make up their minds. I dont know of a single other company that openly posts their negative reviews. Fact #5: Do You Know Who Formulated Your Prostate Supplement? A very important question to ask before making up your mind. You also need to ask and research who actually made the product you are putting in your mouth every day and more importantly, was it formulated in actual, clinical practice by a Doctor who specializes 100% in prostate health . Most companies who market prostate supplements are good marketing companies but they are not in the business of prostate health . Look for a prostate supplement that is formulated by a doctor who 100% specializes in prostate health . And look for a product made by a company that only makes prostate health supplements and who are up to date on all the latest research and clinical trials as to what works and what doesnt. With my research on this unlike Prost-P10x, most prostate supplements are not formulated by doctors or naturopaths in the field of holistic urology. In fact, I have not seen a single other product that is formulated by a naturopathic urologist that 100% specializes in prostate health like Dr. Geo in the USA, the formulator of Prost-P10x. Not one! If you find another product formulated by an actual naturopathic urologist send me his name and will research on this. So now, look at your prostate supplement. Who made it? Who formulated it? Do you know the answers to these questions? You should: or are you just relying on the integrity of the late night TV ads to give you confidence? The doctors you see are mostly paid actors. And the real doctors that endorse products are mostly in a completely unrelated practice to have any knowledge of urological conditions. They are paid to endorse the product but they had no role in the formulation. Just because there is a picture of a doctor on the website it doesnt mean anything. Research that doctor. What does he specialize in? Is he an urologist? A naturopath doctor?Or both of those, like Dr. Geo , the formulator of Prost-P10x? Chances are your product is being formulated by a chemist or someone with no urological or prostate experience. Ask yourself what authority they have to commentate or sell you a product if they are not practicing every day in prostate health and seeing patients with problems like yours all day. Fact #6: Only Buy Ingredients that Have Been Proven to Work! When you want to buy, only buy only those ingredients that have been shown in the clinical studies to work. And you become part of a community of people that are dedicated to keeping you informed and up to date with the best information and latest research on your health. If I was to ask you to name 2 ingredients for prostate health you would probably say saw palmetto and beta-sitosterol right? They are the most commonly known. But they are also the least understood. Saw palmetto, for example, only works when it is in a combination formula like the ingredients in Prost-P10x . That is what the studies have shown. On its own it is no better than a placebo and that is why I have problems with medics prescribing only Saw palmetto and croton membranaceus singly for mens prostate health. Even the RDA of 320mg is ineffective on several occasions I have seen. 640mg and above work for BPH if combine. Beta sitosterol is also widely misunderstood likewise croton membranaceus used by Herbal Hospitals in Ghana. Its well marketed by big supplement companies and Hospitals as a miracle ingredient however the best clinical studies on beta sitosterol have been (1) at 3 x 20mg a day and (2) a study showing 130mg a day; thats all. There are no studies showing higher levels work better for prostate health; only one showing 800mg worked for cholesterol, not prostate health. Ask the companies you are looking at buying from to show you the studies that show more is better. I know for Prost-P10x clients are sent copies of the major clinical studies when ordering they only include those ingredients in the levels that have been proven. These are only two of the 12 ingredients in Prost-P10x. In fact we have over 5x the levels of ingredients in total than commercially available products. What is important however is the following: Dr. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu is a Research Professor of Prostate Cancer and Holistic Medicine faculty of Holistic Urology, Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine, Larnaca City, Cyprus. He is the National President of the Alternative Medical Association of Ghana (AMAG). A registered alternative Medical practitioner with specialty in orthomolecular oncology, Prostate Cancer Policy maker and researcher. He can be reached on 0541090045. E mail: [email protected] I wonder what the Minister of the Environment, Science and Technology, Mr Mahama Ayariga, thinks of the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to include in its remit, . crimes assessed in the light of,,,, the social, economic and ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE INFLICTED on the affected communities. In an announcement made in the Hague, Holland, on 15 September 2016, the ICC said its ICC Prosecutor's Office will, henceforth, give "particular consideration to prosecuting Rome Statute crimes that are committed by means of, or that result in the destruction of the environment, the illegal exploitation of natural resources, or the illegal dispossession of land. Mr Ayariga will definitely be hauled before the ICC, if he continues to insist that the problem of galamsey in Ghana, which has resulted in the destruction of many of the most important water-bodies in Ghana, cannot be tackled by the law enforcement agencies in Ghana. His Government apparently believes that our borders must be effectively controlled; that crime in the society must be tackled head-on; but when it comes to environmental destruction of a type not known anywhere in the world -- even during the rampage by mining companies that came with colonisation -- the matter can be left in the hands of "stakeholders" to deal with. He must be warned that if his Government is hauled before the ICC, it will suffer disgrace of a type not suffered on the international scene since the Nazis were tried in the Nuremberg trials, that focused on crimes against humanity, at the end of World War Two. If that happens, the Government of Ghana must not pretend that it has not been warned of the effect of galamsey and that the complaint against it is being orchestrated by "mischief-makers." In February 2016, Minister Ayariga made a statement in Parliament describing in detail, the water situation in Ghana. After he had finished his statement, a Member of Parliament, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, (MP for Efutu) got up to tell the Minister and the House that: (See: http://www.parliament.gh/ publications/30/1294 ) the Minister had called on all Members of Parliament to help ensure that pragmatic steps are taken in stopping environmental degradation. The Minister had cited illegal mining as one example. But this call fell short of explicitly telling the people of Ghana, the new policy direction aimed at ending galamsey. If after all the efforts made to procure loans to improve on water supply networks, we still allow people from this country and foreigners to pollute our water bodies in search of gold, would there be any water at all to be supplied?" In his consistency, Effutu, (Mr Afeny-Markin said) he had had an interaction with the District Manager of Ghana Water Company Limited, and the Manager's position was that there was "no water coming from upstream into the River Ayensu. As a result, they were unable to even get the minimum two metres to enable them pump!" Mr Afenyo-Markin went on: We are aware that River Oti is polluted, Densu is polluted, Pra is polluted and Offin is polluted. It is not a one-day affair. Mr Speaker, even when His Excellency the President visited Dunkwa-on-Offin on 28th of February, 2014, he ... made an observation [that] 'It is the responsibility of the Government to protect our people, our land and our resources but Government cannot do it alone. ... I agree with Mr President. The President [went] further [and said]: All of us must be seriously involved so that we can win this fight against galamsey. Mr Speaker, on the same day, the President is quoted as having said that he noted that the River Offin, which used to provide fish and drinking water, could no longer provide these benefits to the people. He further warned that if galamsey was allowed to continue, the effect of it, which is the release of toxic chemicals, could be [to poison] the land and water-bodies and water tables; and even boreholes would get infected by toxic materials in the areas concerned. So, Mr Speaker, clearly, the issues are known ... even if the Hon Minister is able to drill thousands of boreholes, and [the boreholes] get infected, the people would not get clean water." Mr Afenyo-Markin asked: So, WHAT are we doing to end galamsey? Mr Speaker, when I started talking about galamsey, some good friends said that I am lucky I do not come from a mining community. Another friend told me that he would not dare talk about galamsey because he may lose votes. But for how long can we overlook the effect of galamsey on our water-bodies and in our water-bodies? "Mr Speaker, I expected the Hon Minister to come out with a very bold step. With the greatest respect, I am disappointed and it is not personal to him. But ... we [must] come out with a bold decision as a country, to tell the galamsey operators that enough is enough! The time is now! Let us save Ghana. This is because if we expand, take loans and cannot supply [WATER] because somebody is mining in that same water-body, or because somebody is using that source of water and because of that, a farmer cannot use that water to farm, then there would be food security challenges. Mr Speaker, at least, I know a beautiful article has been written by a journalist by [the] name Asumin Gyamfi [published on] August 13, 2015. [ED: It was a radio Ghana news commentary and the link is provided below.) "This journalist has spelt out the effects of galamsey and the threats of galamsey on our livelihood as a people in this country. Mr Speaker, are we saying that the drought [we have are experiencing] is so natural? Are we saying that the degradation of our environment is natural? And are we saying that the human activities cannot be controlled? I disagree on the score that human activities cannot be controlled! Human activities CAN be controlled. We have our security agencies; political leaderships and state institutions who have the mandate. What are they doing? Mr Speaker, we cannot leave it and pretend that it is not a problem. This is because throughout the over 35 minutes Statementmade by the Hon Minister [OF THE ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY], he did not deal comprehensively with the issue of galamsey; of course, I know that it is not the core mandate of his Ministry. It is a collaborative effort but, at least Mr First Deputy Speaker [interrupting]: I am glad you recognise that. It is collaborative and we are currently dealing with some I do not know if they have completed it from the Ministry. Not the Water Resources, Works and Housing but the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources trying to find solutions to some of these problems. Mr Afenyo-Markin: Mr Speaker, the reason I am drumming this point in is because it is an interlocked matter, this issue of galamsey and the efforts that are to be made by the Ministry in supplying water and efforts by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, are such that if the two do not work together That is why I submitted that I was expecting a Statement from the Hon Minister to the effect that they have acknowledged and recognised that it is a major challenge and that efforts were being made Mr Deputy Speaker: Hon Member, we have very limited time. Could you furnish us with the article you referred to for the benefit of the Ministry? Mr Afenyo-Markin: Mr Speaker, I would graciously hand [it] over. Everything is here. Mr First Deputy Speaker: Very well. That will help them. Mr Afenyo-Markin: Mr Speaker, we are equally aware -- and this is very important -- that people are selling their cocoa farms. These are all captured in this article. People are felling off trees for the purposes of galamsey. The effect of the use of the cocoa farms for galamsey is that we are even unable to produce the expected tonnage. It is not only affecting water. "So Mr Speaker, I am urging the Hon Minister, and for that matter, the Government, to do everything humanly possible to save our water-bodies so that all the loans that they have procured would not become a debt that they would not be able to pay, and that there would not be any health hazard which would affect the people of Ghana. [For] ... with all the effects of galamsey on our water-bodies, I do not see how, as a country, we can produce potable water in five years [time]. I do not see how in [the next] five years, we can produce enough water even to support agriculture. Mr Speaker, on that note, I rest my case and as you directed, I take this opportunity to accordingly tender ... the article by Mr Asumin Gyamfi [August 13, 2015] ( http://www.gbcghana.com/1. 5988261 )...and [another] article, Galamsey The good, the bad and the ugly... published by Ghana Business (16th February, 2014). http://citifmonline.com/2014/ 02/16/galamsey-the-good-the- bad-and-the-ugly/ OccupyGhana says it is determined to take up this matter of galamsey. Generations of Ghanaians yet unborn will have Mr Afenyo-Markin and patriots like him to thank, if they are able to stop in its tracks, this inexorable and unbelievably stupid march by Ghana towards what I have no choice but to describe as a national, 'self-inflicted-genocide'. www.cameronduodu.com In the recent past, anyone appointed to the office of minister of state was regarded as a person of wisdom and moral decency; one that, amidst high political tempos and enthusiasm will maintain focus to advance the agenda of the people. Nevertheless, appointees of government, must constantly be reminded that they are fed and clothed with the tax payers money. I am a Ghanaian, I do not have a short memory [President John Dramani Mahama said Ghanaians have short memory]-The recent divisive comments made by Collins Dauda, made me question the credentials that served as the yardstick for his appointment. I expected that, he being the minister for local government and rural development, He would have known better, than to suggest that Nana Akuffo-Addo will discriminate against Muslims when given the nod. To make matters worse, How could Nii Lantey Vanderpuije [Minister of Sports] say that, the Presidency isnt for short people? He made this uncouth remark at the NDCs campaign launch. This is absolutely irresponsible and illogical. Very sad, our African Politics is amazingly getting insane. Petty enough, the NDCs youth organizer reiterated this immature comment at the just ended NDC Manifesto launch in the Brong Ahafo Region. Very cynical, barbaric and culturally insensitive enough, the NDC at their just ended Manifesto launch, decorated a coffin with Nana-Addos posters signifying his death. Ideally, if this act were done after the conduct of election 2016, it would have been considered as a normal political mockery. But, to commit this infamous act before elections, calls for a probe into the moral sanity of the NDC and its operatives. For the NDCs obsession with violence, another set of NDC operatives; the notoriously popular montie trio, out of insolence verbally attacked the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana and were ceremoniously pardoned by their pay master, His Excellency John Mahama, the President of the Republic of Ghana. For quite some time now, the President has lowered the standards of the Presidency to the extent that he makes comments that not even political amateurs will make. Nana Addos recent visit to the Western Region exposed the poor nature of the roads in the region, contrary to what the NDCs dubious communicators have been taunting. President Mahama in an attempt to respond to Nana Addos expose, loosely remarked that Nana was sleeping on his way hence couldnt see how good in state the roads were. The President some time past, insinuated that, no one apart from former Presidents are qualified to criticize him. In fact, this has been one of the lamest comments ever to have been made by a President. The ford expedition saga and many other similar situations have soiled the President to the extent that, members of his party; behind closed doors admit to how difficult it is to even defend the President. Sadly, I must confess, if the governance of Ghana were like earning a university first degree, I would have said that, the president has majored in minors! No society can survive without order. Where is the order in this country, when Collins Dauda and the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister are terrorizing people in their respective constituencies? The turmoil in the labour sector, the unemployment crises that have bedevilled the Ghanaian youth are enough to legally oust President Mahama .Agents of corruption working for various reasons have infiltrated various levels of governance. Ghana is in a very dark pit. The Ghanaian electorates are not dumb as the President thinks, we are very discerning and will consider the back-breaking utility tariffs, acute rise in unemployment, high cost of living, non-functional health insurance scheme, chronic dumsor, exorbitant school fees and many unfortunate calamites that have befallen Ghana since the NDC took over the mantle of leadership of this country. The electorates will use this epic failure of John Mahama as a measure to inform their decision to vote for Nana Akuffo-Addo in the upcoming Presidential election. Nana Akuffo-Addo is a man with a vision. Hes the man with the antidote to Ghanas problems. Humbly, remember to vote for NPP Parliamentary candidates too. To those of the Bole-Bamboi constituency, kindly remember to vote for Madam Victoria Alele Heming as MP, to put John Mahama and his cronies to shame. Rapahel Kumah Abolasom [Ex- SRC President, UDS,Tamale] [email protected] you are here: business Expect $60 mn profit for FY18 from Zambia project:Nava Bharat GRK Prasad, Executive Director, Nava Bharat Ventures expects USD 220 million of revenue from Zambian project on an annual basis. He also expects net profit of USD 60 million for FY18. The Dalai Lama is welcomed by European Parliament president Martin Schulz at his arrival at the European Parliament. (Photo : European Parliament) China has threatened unspecified punishments against the European Parliament (EP), the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU), in a display of juvenile pique after the Dalai Lama spoke before the EP at the French city of Strasbourg and met its president, Martin Schulz. Advertisement The Dalai Lama, whose real name is Tenzin Gyatso, is both the spiritual and head of government of Tibet. China conquered Tibet in 1950 under the pretext of a "peaceful liberation." The Tibetans rose against the Chinese in the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion. This rebellion was crushed and the Dalai Lama fled to India. He established the Tibetan government-in-exile in India in 1959. He has been in exile since but remains the spiritual and temporal head of Tibetans fighting for a restoration of Tibetan independence. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. China said it was angry at the European Parliament, and by extension the EU and threatened punitive measures against both after the Dalai Lama spoke at the European Parliament. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the European Parliament and Schulz ignored China's "strong opposition" about meeting the Dalai Lama. He incredibly claimed Schulz's action was against alleged EU promises to China on the issue of Tibet. Lu also said this erroneous position by the parliament's had damaged China's core interests. "China is resolutely opposed to the mistaken actions of the European Parliament," said Lu. "China absolutely cannot remain indifferent, and we will make the correct choice in accordance with our judgment of the situation." Lu didn't specify what China's countermeasures would be but will probably be limited to more harsh words but no specific actions that will threaten its massive trade with the EU. The EU will defend its parliament against China and will certainly strike back at any Chinese attempts to punish the European Parliament. The Dalai Lama told the European Parliament he hoped the Tibetan issue will be resolved and urged the outside world and the European Union in particular not to hold back from criticizing Beijing. Rights groups and exiles accuse China of trampling on the religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan people. China is engaged in a decades-long effort to stamp out Tibetan culture and replace it with the Han culture. interview CBI arrests Jignesh Shah: Nobody is above law, says Maneshinde Financial Technologies India (FTIL) promoter Jignesh Shah Tuesday was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the MCX-SX Sebi case. business Buy Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki on declines: Mitesh Thacker According to Mitesh Thacker of miteshthacker.com, one can buy Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki on declines. [Editors Note: Today we continue our focus on Sam Volkerings Water Bear Stock success stories. As youll see in this new report, where Sam covers his four top picks for next year, Water Bear Stocks are the SAS of full-on, outer-limit market conditions. As Sam says, I believe they are the key to making very big, very fast capital gains in extreme market conditions. They allow you to make bagger gains of despite the current stock market climatebut because of it. Below is a brilliant example of how correctly selected Water Bears can thrive in a falling market] A 103.4% gain in nine months is pretty remarkable. Making that 103.4% while the wider stock market fell by over 6% is an even more attractive proposition. Thats the modus operandi of Sam Volkerings Water Bear stocks. Equities that thrive in extreme market conditions. And that was the gain made by one of them, a global innovator in the outdoor advertising market, between August 2015 and June 2016. Its an excellent example of how catching a disruptor at the right time can make you a lot of money even in a rotten market. In January last year there was a billboard on Airport drive, as you exited the Tullamarine Freeway heading to Melbourne airport. It was for Porsche. But it was no ordinary billboard. What it did, for the week it was tested, was pick out Porsches driving towards it. When it spotted one, it changed. Its wording morphed into, Its so easy to pick you out in a crowd. It sounds like science fiction. But this is the new breed of advertising. Interactive, innovative, world-leading advertising. And its all happening right in Australia; largely thanks to one little-known, ASX-listed small-cap advertising company. A company taking the global industry into a new era. Sam Volkering added Aussie outdoor-advertising specialist oOh!Media to his Water Bear stock list in August 2015. He realised they were about to launch a major assault on a ballooning new global market worth $13.4 billion. What Does oOh!Media Ltd Do? Out-of-home (OOH) advertising market is an old and mature market in Australia, and around the world. You see it everywhere. On the streets, the sides of buildings, at the train station. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimated the global OOH advertising market was worth US$36.3 billion in 2014. They further forecast that by 2019 the OOH advertising market will be worth $45.37 billion per year. But theres an evolution taking place. This new market is called Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) advertising. Its pretty much what its name says. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) explains DOOH as, A variety of screen shapes, sizes, and levels of interactivity. From digital billboards and signs on taxis, to digital signage at airport gates and gyms and waiting rooms, these varieties underline a necessary bridge between context and location in relevance and favourable recall. PwC forecast that the digital OOH advertising will almost double from US$9.71 billion in 2014 to US$18.04 billion in 2019. They say the best penetration will be in major cities. For example, in Singapore over 60% of OOH spend will be on digital media. The developing world will see substantial growth in both physical and digital advertising. In some regions like India, both will grow at double digit pace every year. But in developed OOH markets, like the UK and Belgium, DOOH is replacing the physical, static advertising. PwC has identified a mass transition from old static billboards and traffic furniture advertising to interactive and engaging advertising. And last year Sam identified a small Australian company that was about to become one of the leaders in this transition. Why the oOh!Media Share Price Rose When he recommended oOh!Media last August his target gain was 106%. Sam explained that to achieve that return, the company would barely have to do anything. The main opportunity Sam highlighted was the fact that the market simply undervalued the company. He was right. In June 2016, after just nine months on the buy list, oOh!Media breached the 106% return mark. The next day the stock slid back slightly, and Sam advised his readers to bank the 103.4% gain. He wrote, With the market valuing the company in the same light as its competitors, I believe the company is at fair value. I dont think there are incredible amounts of gains left. Now, I could be wrong, but, with over 100% total returns, the stock has done exactly as I predicted. As is often the case, Sam was on the money with his recommendation to take the gain off the day. oOh!Media shares reached $4.95 on the day he issued the sell call. Yesterday they were trading at $4.75. (To find out Sams top four marquee Water Bear Stock picks for 2017, click here.) Apple Software Engineering SVP Craig Federighi introduces the new iOS software at an Apple event at the Worldwide Developer's Conference on June 13, 2016 in San Francisco, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Justin Sullivan) iOS 10 is officially out and now Pangu finds itself in the limelight. After showcasing that celebrated iOS 10 jailbreak at MOSEC 2016 back in July, Apple has repeatedly found ways to thwart attempts to hack their mobile operating system, Yahoo reported. Advertisement The last iOS jailbreak that Pangu was able to render was that one involving iOS 9.3.4. The release of that crack was unexpected but so was the iOS 9.3.5 release by Apple. The surprise release was a result of a security issue that was brought to the attention of the Cupertino company. According to Forbes, Pangu should not encounter problems with an iOS 10 jailbreak. Apple barely touched on the security features of the latest OS meaning the Chinese hacker group should find it fairly easier to come up with an iOS 10 jailbreak. This is despite the fact that the initial iOS 10 jailbreak they showed was from an earlier beta, something that obviously underwent changes through the months. Aside from that, there could be other areas Apple may have patched up, further problems to Pangu and other jailbreaking teams. Until Pangu is able to come with a working iOS 10 jailbreak, Apple owners are urged to refrain from downloading other claimed hacks that come from unknown groups or independent hackers. That includes Lucas Todesco who continues to show off is alleged iOS 10 jailbreaking breakthrough. Todesco claims to have accomplished some breakthrough with his iOS 10 Gold Master edition and has followed that up with a second video. The latest video from Todesco continues the breakthrough he was able to accomplish using the YaluX which reportedly works on arm64ie.64bit devices. Even with his convincing breakthroughs, Todesco has not publicly released any working iOS 10 jailbreak. Going back to Pangu, it will be interesting if they are able to release an iOS 10 jailbreak by October. This is a more conservative wait over previous expectations of seeing a crack this September. The understanding in the minds of the Apple Jailbreaking community is that if Pangu is able to release iOS 9.3.4, iOS 10 should be fairly easier considering they are believed to have been working on it for some time now. As most await for an iOS 10 jailbreak to come out, the video below educates us on the new features of Apples latest operating system. Listed information, including addresses, has been gathered from arrest and incident reports publicly available at area law-enforcement agencies. The following charges were placed by Burke County Sheriffs Office or Morganton Department of Public Safety. If your name appears here and your case was dismissed or you were cleared of the crime, let us know by calling Lisa Wall at 828-432-8939, or by emailing editor@morganton.com. SEE WHOS IN JAIL Want to see who is in jail? Visit www.morgantonps.org to view arrest reports, incident reports and to see current confined individuals. The following charges were served on Thursday, August 25: Vicki Lynette Walker, 47, of 3390 NC 181, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. She was released on a written promise to appear and a trial date was set for Oct. 3. Jonathan David Brittian, 29, of 100 First St. NE, in Hildebran, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was issued a $4,000 secured bond and released and a trial date was set for Sep. 13. Jessica Warren Lingerfelt, 30, of 4407 Calico Road, in Lenoir, was charged with misdemeanor unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 29. Evin Elizabeth Campbell, 22, of 3900 Rose Creek Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor larceny by trick. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $500 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 26. Bobby Wayne Smart, 23, of 8085 Ervin Drive, in Connelly Springs, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,500 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 19. Ashley Sylvester Butler, 34, of 3914 Highway 126, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor probation violation and failure to appear. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $15,000 secured bond. He was also issued an additional $10,000 secured bond and a trial date was set for Sep. 26. Curtis Lamont Summers, 38, of 211 Baxter St., in Drexel, was charged with misdemeanor probation violation. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail. His trial date was set for Sep. 26. Jessica Warren Lingerfelt, 30, of 4407 Calico Road, in Lenoir, was charged with misdemeanor larceny by trick. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 14. Chai Lor, 33, of 111 Scott St., in Glen Alpine, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance in prison or jail. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $30,000 secured bond. Kristie Dawn McCrain, 43, of 337 11th St. SW, in Hickory, was charged with felony obtaining property by false pretense. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. Charles Lewis Abernathy Jr., 44, of 337 11th St. SW, in Hickory, was charged with two counts each of misdemeanor probation violation and failure to appear. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. He was also issued an additional $16,000 in secured bonds and a trial date was set for Oct. 7. Shawn Mitchell Lingerfelt, 37, of 4893 Carpenter Road, in Granite Falls, was charged with misdemeanor domestic criminal trespassing. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail. His trial date was set for Sep. 6. Mary Elizabeth Brown, 28, of Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor first degree trespassing. She was released on a written promise to appear and a trial date was set for Sep. 19. Brian Eugene Bristol, 31, of 1136 Mark Bristol Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor first-degree trespassing. He was released on a written promise to appear and a trial date was set for Sep. 19. David Lee Hardin, 28, of 4813 Crystal Creek Road, in Morganton, was charged with felony possession of a schedule II controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of a schedule VI controlled substance. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $25,000 secured bond. Alexis Symone Lewis, 20, of 2606 Old NC 18, Lot 1, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. She was cited and released. Her trial date was set for Sep. 27. Devante Jamal Staples, 20, of 2606 Old NC 18, Lot 1, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. He was cited and released. His trial date was set for Sep. 27. Rodney Dwayne Brendle, 46, of 3413 Icard Dairy Barn Road, 56b, in Connelly Springs, was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and a trial date was set for Sep. 13. Rodney Dwayne Brendle, 46, of 3413 Icard Dairy Barn Road, 56b, in Connelly Springs, was charged with felony speeding to elude arrest and one misdemeanor count each of failure to heed light or siren, speeding over 15 mph over posted limit and aggressive driving. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $6,000 secured bond. The following charges were served on Friday, August 26: Laurie Marie Adams, 62, of 670 Upper Hanging Rock Road, in Spruce Pine, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. She was cited and released and a trial date was set for Sep. 27. Shelia Rene Christian, 53, of 206 Amherst Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $500 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 27. Sabrina Nicole Gilliland, 20, of 135 EP Boyd Drive, in Marion, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 27. Ewart Wilson Whitesides III, 39, of 4418 Epley Road, in Morganton, was charged with one count each of misdemeanor domestic criminal trespassing, cyber stalking and making harassing phone calls. He was released on a written promise to appear and a trial date was set for Sep. 26. Marvella Sue Hunt, 62, of 616 Settlemyre Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second degree trespassing. She was served by a criminal summons to appear. Rodney Winfred Crisp, 50, of 3162 Ed Bowman St., in Morganton, was charged with felony failure to report as a sex offender or non compliance and misdemeanor failure to appear. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $5,500 secured bond. Reginald Eugene Jones, 48, of 427 Folk St., in Lenoir, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. He was cited and released and a trial date was set for Sep. 27. Chelsea Marie Clontz, 25, of 141 Stonebridge Drive, Apt. B, in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of possession of a schedule IV controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, hit and run with property damage and driving during revocation. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 26. Jawer Canderly Jerez Ochoa, 27, of 212 Jefferson St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 13. The following charges were served on Saturday, August 27: Michael Dale Franberg, 27, of Morganton, was charged with felony larceny all other. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $30,000 secured bond. Fermin Benavidez, 42, of 114 Airpark Drive, H, in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of driving while impaired, open container after consuming, driving while license revoked and failure to maintain lane control. He was given a custody release and a trial date was set for Sep. 26. Mateo Pedro Martin, 27, of 206 Kela Drive, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor aiding and abetting driving while impaired and open container after consuming. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 26. Gage Kendall Chavis, 25, of 107 Ross St., Trailer C, in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of communicating threats, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to stop for light and siren and failure to burn headlamps or rear lamps. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,500 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 26. James Chadwick Sprouse, 37, of 331 North Shelby Street, in Blacksburg, SC, was charged with felony fugitive from justice. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail. Randy Paul South, 40, of 318 Walker Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering. He was released on a written promise to appear and a trial date was set for Sep. 12. Artemio Leyva-Ortiz, 32, of 51 Summit St., Apt. 2, in Burnsville, was charged with misdemeanor drunk, intoxicated and disruptive. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 13. Kenetha Spencer Pearson, 50, of 208 White St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor cyber stalking. He was released on a written promise to appear and a trial date was set for Sep. 14. The following charges were served on Sunday, August 28: Danielle Esther Bradley, 28, of 117 Wilbur-Newton St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $2,500 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 7. The following charges were served on Monday, August 29: Tony Lee Young Jr., 38, of 1989 Cape Hickory Cutoff Road, in Hickory, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 14. Tony Lee Young Jr., 38, of 1989 Cape Hickory Cutoff Road, in Hickory, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 21. Stephanie Renee Bumgarner, 31, of 3866 Pea Ridge Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear. She was issued a $1,500 secured bond and released. Her trial date was set for Oct. 11. Stefanie Michelle Holland, 31, of 1026 Dinah St. SW, in Valdese, was charged with felony possession of a schedule II controlled substance and one count each of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and probation violation. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $25,000 secured bond. She was also issued an additional $25,000 secured bond. Phillip Nicholas Jones, 26, of 131 Stephens Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor making harassing phone calls. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. Marvella Sue Hunt, 62, of 616 Settlemyre Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. She was served by a criminal summons to appear. Charles Thomas Prevatte Jr., 49, of 1793 NC 109 S, in Wadesboro, was charged with misdemeanor damage or injury to real property. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $500 secured bond. His trial date was set for Dec. 14. Dallas Christopher Hopkins Jr., 31, of 4392 Highway 10 W, N07, in Newton, was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female and breaking and entering. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $2,500 secured bond. His trial date was set for Nov. 8. William David Benfield, 43, of 425 Highridge Drive, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor child abuse. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,500 secured bond. His trial date was set for Oct. 24 The following charges were served on Tuesday, August 30: Christian Nicole Wallace, 30, of 2218 Chatham Road, in Newton, was charged with felony obtaining property by false pretense. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $3,000 secured bond. Kristian Nicholle Wallace, 30, of 2218 Chatham Road, Lot 6, in Newton, was charged with felony possession of methamphetamines. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. Angela Dawn Saine Johnson, 48, of 845 W Main St., in Rutherford College, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $2,000 secured bond. Justin Wayne Singleton, 28, of 3206 Windy Hill Drive, Lot 3, in Valdese, was charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $500 secured bond. Matthew Howard Roark, 29, of 4811 Frank Barus Ave., Lot 3, in Valdese, was charged with one felony count each of larceny of a credit card and obtaining property by false pretense. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. Kristie Dawn McCrain, 43, of 337 11 St. SW, in Hickory, was charged with felony possession of crack cocaine and one misdemeanor count each of possession of a schedule II, II, IV controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. John Thomas Miller Jr., 37, of 64 Duke Power Road, in Granite Falls, was charged with felony habitual felon. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. Ashley Victoria Davis, 27, of 2681 Laurel Pointe Drive, in Nebo, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple worthless check. Her trial date was set for Nov. 16. Mindy Michelle Davis, 32, of 5554 Old Linville Road, in Marion, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance in prison or jail. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. Cynthia Whisenant Byrd, 45, of 2105 Roselle Place, in Lenoir, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 27. Tina Marie Shular, 32, of 1921 Wall St., in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor simple assault. Her trial date was set for Sep. 19. Emily Gaither Connelly, 33, of 9344 Montford Cove Road, in Marion, was charged with one count each of felony forgery by uttering and misdemeanor simple worthless check. She was issued a $1,000 secured bond and released. Her trial date was set for Sep. 26. Connor James Drum, 22, of 2125 White Pine Drive, in Granite Falls, was charged with misdemeanor damage to personal property and second-degree trespassing. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. Jerry Ray Hefner Jr., 34, of 4755 Huffmans View Trail, in Morganton, was charged with one count each of felony armed robbery and first-degree burglary. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $50,000 secured bond. Brodus James Jackson, 28, of 215 Conley Road in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear. He was issued a $1,000 secured bond and released. Bailey Colleen Presnell, 19, of 9198 Blackberry Road, in Lenoir, was charged with three felony counts of motor vehicle theft, two felony counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and misdemeanor larceny all other. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $15,500 secured bond. Ramona Suzette Westbrooks, 59, of 607 Valdese Ave., in Morganton, was charged with felony larceny by employees. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $10,000 secured bond. The following charges were served on Wednesday, August 31: Michael Shaun Worley, 38, of 8937 Bridges Ave., in Hildebran, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,500 secured bond. Steven Scott Lowdermilk, 29, of 905 Salem Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to return rental property. He was served by a criminal summons to appear for a trial date set for Sep. 21. James Richard Wilson, 34, of 1319 Carbon City Road, in Morganton, was charged with felony possession of a weapon by a felon. He was issued a $5,000 secured bond and released. His trial date was set for Sep. 26. Sidney Jay Hallyburton, 29, of 2665 Mill Race Road, in Morganton, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $500 secured bond. He was also issued an additional $500 secured bond and a trial date was set for Sep. 21. Hanna Elizabeth Harton, 37, of 101 Walker Lane, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,500 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 15. Rachel Elizabeth Benfield, 35, of 1318 Salem Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor communicating threats. She was served by a criminal summons to appear for a trial date set for Sep. 21. Derek Ray Minton, 30, of 105 Litton St. SE, 8, in Valdese, was charged with one count each of felony possession of a schedule II controlled substance, misdemeanor resist, delay or obstruct and failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $6,000 secured bond. Rebecca Goodman Abee, 37, of 3966 Baptist Camp Road, in Connelly Springs, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. She was issued a $400 secured bond and released. Her trial date was set for Oct. 17. Diamond Sharell Lipscomb, 31, of 110 Newland St., in Morganton, was charged with felony possession of crack cocaine with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver and misdemeanor resist, delay or obstruct. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $77,500 secured bond. Cody Nelson Mace, 22, of 6274 Lor Road, in Morganton, was charged with one count each of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon and simple assault. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 21. The following charges were served on Thursday, September 1: Kelly Rae Schreiber, 28, of 133 Sterling Forest Drive, G, in Morganton, was charged with one felony count each of possession of stolen goods and possession of methamphetamines with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $25,000 secured bond. Johnny Joshua Corpening, 31, of 133-G Sterling Forest Drive, in Morganton, was charged with one felony count each of possession of stolen goods, possession of a schedule VI controlled substance with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver and possession of methamphetamines and one misdemeanor count each of driving during revocation and larceny all other. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $74,000 secured bond. Michael Bradley Forth, 28, of 6251 Greedy Highway, in Hickory, was charged with misdemeanor failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $2,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Oct. 19. Jerry David Clark, 38, of 2991 Icard School Road, in Connelly Springs, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,000 secured bond. He was also issued an additional $500 secured bond. His trial date was set for Oct. 17. Kasie Nicole Pugh, 22, of 1701 Bethel Road, Lot 1, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor probation violation. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. Her trial date was set for Sep. 28. Kevin Sherrill Buchanan, 51, of 305-B West Union Street, in Morganton, was charged with one count each of felony possession of a schedule VI controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of a schedule II, III, or IV controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $6,500 secured bond. Robin Beam Wilson, 51, of 112 Quail Drive, in Morganton, was charged with felony possession of a schedule VI controlled substance and one misdemeanor count each of possession of a schedule II, III, or IV controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and first-degree trespassing. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $6,000 secured bond. Mark Craig Lawrence, 61, of 7396 Corn Hill Road, in Connelly Springs, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of failure to appear. He was issued a $500 secured bond and released. His trial date was set for Oct. 12. Morgan Tiara Smith, 17, of 117 Jim Grady Road, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor second-degree trespassing. She was served by a criminal summons to appear for a trial date set for Sep. 21. Zachary Adam Elliot, 30, of 8090 Bill Tuck Highway, in South Boston, VA, was charged with misdemeanor larceny all other. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $500 secured bond. His trial date was set for Oct. 25. Anna Maria Jones, 36, of 1068 Leigh McKay Trail, in South Boston, VA, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of larceny all other, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $1,100 secured bond. David Clark Tucker, 33, of 1068 Leigh McKay Trail, in South Boston, VA, was charged with felony larceny by defeat of anti-theft device and one misdemeanor count each of larceny all other, failure to appear, hit and run with property damage, reckless driving to endanger, failure to wear seatbelt and driving during revocation. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $3,800 secured bond. Jesse Joe Potter, 26, of 51 39th St. NW, in Hickory, was charged with four misdemeanor counts of failure to appear or comply. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $30,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Sep. 26. Brittney Danielle Bollinger, 27, of 6257 Bollinger Loop, in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of child abuse, drunk, intoxicated and disruptive and direct criminal contempt. She was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $5,100 secured bond. Calvin Wayne Sprouse, 54, of 1299 Washboard Lane, in Morganton, was charged with misdemeanor forced breaking and entering. He was transported to Burke-Catawba jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. His trial date was set for Nov. 22. Three local governments in Burke County are getting money for free public internet access. The Appalachian Regional Commission is awarding a total of $272,000 in grants to 10 western North Carolina communities that plan to offer free Wi-Fi access in their downtown areas. The grants require a local match. The town of Valdese will get $49,094, the town of Rutherford College is getting $31,720 and the city of Morganton grant is for $30,783, according to information from the state. Valdese Town Manager Seth Eckard the towns public access Wi-Fi project is estimated to cost $75,000. He said in addition to the nearly $50,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Rostan Family Foundation awarded the town $15,000 for the project and Valdese will use existing funds in its budget to cover the remaining $10,000. Eckard said he anticipates the free public Wi-Fi going live in spring of 2017. He said over the next couple months, the town will begin to solicit bids from vendors and anticipates selecting a vendor this winter. We are excited to be able to offer this new service to our merchants, citizens and visitors, Eckard said. One of the biggest benefits of offering free Wi-Fi is that it increases the time customers spend downtown. Customers tend to stay longer if they can use their tablets and laptops via Wi-Fi . Rutherford College Town Manager Kenneth Geathers said the towns required grant match is $13,504 and the money will be used to help expand current Wi-Fi capabilities at the town park. The intention is to expand the Wi-Fi radius up to a half-mile throughout the town, he said. Geathers said because the grant is federally subsidized, there will be a structured bidding process with the selection of a contractor/vendor to install the Wi-Fi equipment and manage the system monthly. He said hes interested in speaking with other local communities who received the grant award to consider a cooperative approach to system installation/management. Sonja G. Marston, assistant city manager for Morganton, said the citys match requirement for the grant will be $13,193. Marston said the grant will be used to improve the quality of the citys existing Wi-Fi, which is located on the courthouse square. In addition to improving the quality, the area covered by the service would be expanded to cover the downtown business area, she said. Marston said the current area of the citys Wi-Fi is limited to the courthouse square and it is unreliable at best. The increased area will cover a radius of approximately two blocks outside of the square. So patrons of Brown Mountain Bottleworks, Treat, Root & Vine, Kitchen Connection, Wicked Smoke and others will be able to sit outside and have access to Wi-Fi, Marston said. She said there will be limitations depending on the number of users, ability to penetrate buildings and time limits, so the citys upgrade is not something that business owners can use for their business purposes. It will truly for downtown patrons, Marston said. Other towns and cities receiving grants for public Wi-Fi are: Granite Falls with a grant amount of $29,681 Hudson with a grant amount of $40,735 Bryson City with a grant amount of $10,493 Forest City with a grant amount of $21,200 Rosman with a grant amount of $5,780 Walnut Cove with a grant amount of $17,944 Wilkesboro with a grant amount of $35,000 N.C. Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla, III, N.C. Department of Information Technology Secretary Keith Werner and ARC Federal Co-Chair Earl Gohl awarded the grants last week at Isothermal Community College in Rutherford County. Broadband access brings modern vitality to North Carolinas historic business districts, Skvarla said in a release. These investments will serve approximately 415 businesses and attract visitors. Wi-Fi is also a critical resource for secondary and post-secondary students in these communities who may not have high-speed Internet access at home. The ARC-supported Wi-Fi projects advance the goals of North Carolinas State Broadband Plan, which guides policies and programs that seek to leverage broadband infrastructure as a catalyst for education, economic development and public-service delivery. The plan was developed in 2015 by the North Carolina Information Technologys Broadband Infrastructure team, according to information from the state. Sharon McBrayer is a staff writer and can be reached at smcbrayer@morganton.com or at 828-432-8946. One of the bodies found inside a burned vehicle has been identified, and the case has been declared a homicide. The burned body of Albert Alexander Austin was discovered over the weekend along with the remains of another person that has yet to be identified. Police are now offering a $1,000 reward for information in the case. Deputies with the Burke County Sheriffs Office were called to Canoe Creek Way in Morganton on Sunday morning around 8 a.m. When they arrived, officers found a burned Cadillac Deville with human remains inside, according to a press release from BCSO. The Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigation Division and SBI are continuing to aggressively investigate the case, Sheriff Steve Whisenant said. Investigators learned the Cadillac belonged to Austin, 35, of 555 Poors Ford Road, Lot 5, in Forest City. However, the vehicle was registered to Spencer Jermain Murray, 29, of 165 Astrid Lane, in Forest City, the release said. Law enforcement is asking for the publics help with any information on the location of Murray. Along with BCSO, the Burke County Fire Marshalls Office, Burke County Medical Examiner, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina License and Theft Bureau, Forest City Police Department and the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office are all assisting in the ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact BCSOs Criminal Investigation Division at 828-438-5500, or Burke County Crime Stoppers at 828-437-3333 anytime day or night. Without providing their name, Crime Stopper callers will be assigned a number. If the callers information leads to an arrest of the suspect(s) the caller will be paid a reward. A check will be used to the callers number (not their name) and the caller can pick up the check at a designated location. "I know you are, but what am I? Maybe you remember that one from the schoolyard. It was one of those unanswerable taunts Im rubber, youre glue was another widely favored by smart-alecky kids, a bit of verbal judo that took an attackers thrust and turned it back against her. I know you are, but what am I? Most of us outgrew the riposte about the same time we outgrew passing notes in class. Apparently, Donald Trump never did. Far from leaving it behind, he has honed it into a potent political tool perfect for this era of post-factual lassitude and cognitive dissonance. As Campaign 2016 grinds toward a reckoning, we are seeing that tool employed with breathtaking shamelessness. It works like this: Whatever Trump is called or accused of, he turns it back on the accuser. Did you ever see that scene in The Equalizer where a bad guy points a gun at Denzel Washington and, faster than the eye can follow, Denzel snatches the gun and points it back at him? Its something like that, except with words. So the man who claims that hes always opposed the Iraq War (even though he didnt), the man who said the election is rigged, (even though it isnt), the man who told us Barack Obama founded ISIS (even though duh! he didnt), the man whose PolitiFact scorecard rules over 80 percent of his rated statements as half-truths and untruths . . . that man complains that Hillary Clinton is a world-class liar. And the man whose idea of releasing medical information is a brief note from his doctor so loopy, imprecise and filled with wild, extravagant claims (Trump will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency) that one doctor dubs it medically illiterate . . . that man tells us its the mysteries of Hillary Clintons health we ought to be concerned about. And the man who said a judge was unfit to judge because he is of Mexican heritage, the man who wants a ban on Muslim immigration, the man who retweets racists and anti-Semites, the man who is openly beloved by white supremacists to the point that former Klansman David Duke seems about ready to kiss him on the lips . . . that man condemns Hillary Clinton as a bigot. Not to put too fine a point on it, but having Donald Trump lecture you about bigotry, transparency or truth is rather like having Kanye West tell you to stop behaving like a jackass. In psychology, they have this phenomenon called projection. The Cambridge Dictionary of Psychology defines it as a primitive defense mechanism that involves the unconscious warding off of negative experiences or emotions by denying an experience, perceiving it in another person and then seeing that negative experience as being directed back at the projector. Which sounds like what were seeing here, except there is nothing unconscious about it. No, this is calculated, born of a conviction that there really is a sucker born every minute and that an alarming proportion of them vote in American elections. So the challenge here is simple: What will we say in response? How will we answer this insult to intelligence? Or are we too sick of it all to care? One has a sense of an electorate pummeled into emotional submission. Which is hardly surprising. Its been a long, dispiriting campaign largely bereft of ideas, proposals and uplift. But it is important to remember that November will be a moment of truth in more ways than one. Indeed, November will answer a critical question. You say Trump is an ignorant narcissist unfit for the White House? Yes, we know he is. But what are we? Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist with the Miami Herald. A general view of atmosphere at the Logitech holiday preview. (Photo : Getty Images/Araya Diaz) Logitech has acquired the Saitek brand and its line of controller products. The peripheral manufacturer wants to take on the industry of virtual reality with this acquisition. According to the official blog of Logitech, the manufacturer has recently acquired the Saitek brand, and the Saitek line of flight, farm, and space simulation game controllers. These game controllers are used for different video games like "Elite: Dangerous," "Eve Valkyrie," and other simulator games. Advertisement The manufacturer praised the products made by Saitek and they know a thing or two about what makes a gaming product stand out. These products have delivered exceptional experiences when they were launched. They also said that the fans from the Saitek forums have praised the products for their excellent performance. Another reason why the manufacturer purchased the controller manufacturer was to take on the VR industry. They think that simulation games are getting better as the years go by and VR tech integration will come to more of these games soon. These game titles have VR technology enabled and they believe that dedicated controllers will simulate and enhance the experience. Logitech revealed that they are excited to become a bigger part of the simulation community. They have already produced gaming wheels in the driving simulation market and this will be an addition to their product line. These new products will make it an even more complete experience for their consumers. The previous owner of Saitek, Mad Catz, sold the brand to their new owners for $13 million only. The gaming peripheral manufacturer purchased the brand for $30 million in 2007, which is a huge difference. From there, they produced its two most popular devices, the X-52 in 2008 and the X-55 in 2014. The X-52 is considered the standard for spacefaring games, since it is modeled into the in-game cockpits in "Elite: Dangerous." For fans who love terrestrial flight sims, they prefer the X-55. According to Polygon, after these two popular products were manufactured, many fans have complained about the drop in the quality of Saitek devices. The quality drop happened after Mad Catz took over as owners. Different online stores like Amazon have low customer review ratings for their products. Check out Saitek's Pro Flight Simulator cockpit build video below: Last months imposition of the 15 per cent foreign buyers tax by the British Columbia government has spurred a mass exit of hopeful home owners from Vancouver to Toronto and Seattle, according to an international real estate portal.Latest numbers from realty listings website Juwai.com, which serves Chinese buyers of homes abroad, revealed that purchase inquiries for Vancouver properties drastically fell by 81 per cent on a year-over-year basis in August, GlobalNews.ca reported.Juwai officials surmised that the B.C. taxintended to cool down demand from foreign nationals, who have been cited as a crucial factor in Vancouvers price increases over the past few yearshas pushed away would-be buyers to other leading metropolitan markets in North America like Toronto and Seattle.Vancouver has been losing local and overseas buyers all year, Juwai president of the Americas Matthew Moore stated. The shift is towards cities with similar appeal but lower entry prices.August 2016 saw the greatest volume of Juwai searches in Toronto in the past three years. Inquiries for properties in the city grew by 142 per cent year-over-year last month, according to Juwai.Meanwhile, Seattle has become the top choice in North America for inquiries from Chinese buyers, with property searches in August rising by 143 per cent compared to the same time last year.In its latest report, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) revealed that Canadian home sales dropped for the 4th consecutive month in August, with Vancouver seeing the greatest decline. National sales numbers last month weakened by 3.1 per cent from July, while Vancouver transactions fell by 18.8 per cent in the same period.CREA further predicted that B.C.s new levy will lead to a 4 per cent decline in sales activity by next year, a forecast that has been backed by market observers.We expect some of the extreme weakness in August to be reversed in the coming months as the shock of the new land transfer tax on foreign buyers dissipates, Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Diana Petramala wrote in a research note. Nonetheless, we expect the market to remain weak at least through early-2017. Training and Events; Non-Agency Primary/Secondary Market Trends; PHH Layoffs Bill C. writes, I found a new pitchman for the mortgage industry (at least in Russia). President Vladimir Putin advises people to take out mortgages right now." Hey, why wait for rates to drop below 11% for that little dacha in Volokolamsk? Non-agency and jumbo news in the primary & secondary markets... Most of the non-QM or non-agency (e.g., jumbo) loans are going straight into portfolios. And staying there. But there are shifts in the non-agency biz that borrowers are seeing. US Bank's Bulletin 16-039 stated its JUMBO LPMI Loan Level Price Adjustment Changes take effect for any locks taken on or after September 7th. Re-locks on existing Jumbo LPMI loans will also be subject to the new loan level price adjustments. Elite Jumbo LLPAs for cash-out and ARMs in the state of California will be updated for locks on or after September 6. Check with Plaza Wholesale for details. For Non-Agency loans submitted to AmeriHome for Eligibility Review, if the review is suspended for incompleteness (showing Pended status in Seller Portal), all items needed for completion must be received within 10 calendar days of the suspension date, in order to maintain the loan's priority in the underwriting queue. The new mineral, gas, and oil rights requirements apply for AmeriHome 's transactions with new locks taken in the Core Jumbo, Non-Agency Hybrid ARM, and Expanded QM programs. NationStar Mortgage has updated its Seller Guide. Click here to download the complete update. Impac Mortgage offers an alternative documentation program with realistic guidelines to help borrowers qualify which includes qualification using 12 months of bank statements. Click here to view program guidelines. And there wouldn't be much of a primary market if it weren't for the secondary markets being driven by investor interest. There's never been a lack of demand for agency products. But what about securities backed by loans "a little off the beaten path?" Lenders are working with different structures to both increase the supply of residential mortgage-backed securities and to relieve concerns of investors who fear that all the problems with securitization haven't been addressed. Last month Angel Oak issued a non-QM security. Earlier this year, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. issued securities that included insurance that would protect the investors in the securities. Other RMBS (residential MBS) alternative structures include securities of the mortgages of single-family rentals and repackaging pre-crisis RMBS into new securities. Invitation Homes, Colony, Starwood, Silver Bay, Blackrock, and Blackstone Group have all issued rental home securities, with a portion of the rents paying bondholders. The market for rental home securities, however, is not as large as that of the non-agency market. But the demand is there. And there is, in some cases, a change in the way the loans are underwritten. For example, instead of analyzing the borrower's creditworthiness, Colony American Finance bases its decision on the income of the property being mortgaged. Following the private label RMBS market's peak in 2007 and the ensuing credit crisis, many consumers with marred credit or unique circumstances have been either barred from accessing housing credit, or have found the process extremely challenging for a number of reasons, including large institutional risk aversion and tighter credit standards influenced by regulation. Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) put out a piece noting that this appears to be changing. Through the re-emergence of more than a dozen non-prime mortgage origination programs that intend to use securitization as a funding source. To date, KBRA is aware of at least four securitization sponsors that have accessed the private label securities market across nine issuances, two of which include rated offerings. In the publication, "KBRA presents and discusses the defining characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of five primary sub-categories of expanded or non-prime origination including Expanded Prime, Prior Credit Event, Alternative Documentation, Business Purpose, and Foreign National." "Originations of such non-prime loans under sound compliance with the Ability-To-Repay (ATR) rules are expected to exhibit better performance than 2005-2007 vintage loans with similar credit parameters due to strengthened underwriting. Loans to borrowers with recent prior credit events will, in some cases, exhibit increased default risk relative to those which lack similar credit disposition activity, even where credit scores may indicate little differentiation. KBRA notes that particular attention should be paid to differences between non-prime and non-QM, as the two designations are different and are not necessarily linked. However, KBRA notes that where there is overlap between the two, the risk of higher loss severities can increase significantly due to greater potential likelihood of a borrower raising a claim that the originator did not appropriately consider the borrower's ability to repay, and the greater potential success rates of such claims." Upcoming events & training? There certainly are - and many are free! The free monthly conference call of the California Mortgage Bankers Association's Mortgage Quality and Compliance Committee (MQAC) is this Thursday at 11AM PT. The topic is "New CFPB Servicing Rules; New FHA Servicing & QC Requirements" and the speaker is Nicholas Corpuz, VP of Servicing Oversight, MQMR. "The webinar will cover CFPB Servicing Rules: Highlights and Low Lights for Servicers, FHA Servicing QC Changes and Highlights, and Highlights of Forthcoming QC and Servicing Rule Changes." Register here. MBA Education is hosting a one-day workshop on September 28th designed to cover the overall aspects of appraisal underwriting for conventional and government loans. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in an open forum to discuss appraisal analysis and best practices for leveraging technology. The workshop is being instructed by Alice Alvey, CMB, of Indecomm Global Services and Zachary Dawson, Director of Collateral Strategy, Fannie. MBA Education is also hosting a FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool Deep Dive Workshop on September 27th. Join MBA and leading cybersecurity experts for an exhaustive and interactive conversation on how to successfully implement and use the tool for your unique business needs. Do you want to learn about the MERS System and its supporting processes in a live training environment? If so, mark your calendar for one of the MERS Regional Workshops! You'll be able to ask questions of MERS trainers and interact with other MERS System members. These interactive half-day workshops will be located in the following cities: Western Region | Salt Lake City, UT | October 5, Northeast Region | Glen Allen, VA | November 10, Southern Region | Dallas, TX | November 17. Registration is only $95 per person and includes the training, resource manual, and a continental breakfast. On September 28 major foreclosure reform becomes effective in the State of Ohio. The legislation provides for a fast-track foreclosure process for vacant and abandoned property, as well as improvements in the sheriff sale process in general. On October 14th, Brian Deas from the Manley Deas Kochalski Law Firm will conduct a 1-hour webinar on the important provisions of this legislation. The CFA Society of LA is running another MBS Boot Camp on Thursday and Friday, October 6th and 7th. It's two full days of training and information on the MBS product and markets, and is "designed to introduce participants to the broad variety of mortgage and MBS products, explain technical aspects of MBS performance, and demonstrate why and how different types of MBS structures are created." Here is a link to the Society's web site, where details on the curriculum and registration information can be found. Sun West offers live 203k training webinars. Click Here to view is training calendar. The Washington Association Mortgage Professionals (not-for-profit) is having its annual conference October 13th and 14th TECH conference, the NW MORTGAGE EXPO & REAL ESTATE SUMMIT; Your Business of Tomorrow. All the information you need plus registration details is available here. Sign up for Zillow's "Overcoming the Toughest Hurdles: Advanced Best Practices for Mortgage Contact Conversion." In this October 5th webinar, Zillow Group Mortgages will be addressing some of the toughest situations that mortgage professionals face with online lead generation and conversion. Registration is currently open. Lenders around the nation had a wonderful August, but how is the autumn shaping up. Most seem to be talking about a gentle decline this month. And Fannie's trading desk reports it is hearing of a tapering off of lock volumes last week, down 15-20%, with Monday being the largest lock day. "Seasonal activity and higher rate ranges are the primary drivers of the rate lock declines." This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, and CEOs and heads of production with their eyes on horizon are thinking about locks taken now closing during the holidays, maybe even in 2017. In terms of rates, U.S. Treasuries, and securities backed by mortgages, traded in a tight range Monday with no news of substance to budge them. We saw the usual Fed activity, in buying agency MBS as entirely expected and forecast, and the usual sellers, and hedgers trying to pick up the mandatory versus best efforts spread (30-40 basis points). We began the week with the 10-year closing at 1.70% and MBS prices worse a tick. Today we'll have the Senate's hearing on Wells Fargo's retail business practices. While not directly impacting mortgages, the hearings will be followed. As Joe Garrett put it on the subject of sales quotas, "There is nothing wrong with quotas. What was wrong was the lack of ethics and inadequate controls to make certain no one cheated." We've already had all the schedules news we're set to receive: August Housing Starts and Building Permits (-5.8% and -.4%, respectively, weaker than expected - mostly in the South). We've also had Philadelphia Fed's non-manufacturing PMI for September (16.7). After that we find the 10-year at 1.69% and agency MBS prices a smidge better. Jobs and Announcements In this country rates are lower and business is pretty darned good. "If you are looking for something new and are tired of spending your day on regulatory compliance, this is for you! Jordan Capital Finance (JCF) is hiring Account Executives in Washington D.C./Virginia, New York/New Jersey, and Texas. The AEs will generate business from mortgage bankers and brokers. JCF is also hiring for Inside Sales positions in its Northbrook, Illinois corporate office; JCF provides sales leads! The AE must have 3+ years of recent experience with exceptional sales success in wholesale/correspondent channels and demonstrate an excellent client following. Both positions will receive a base plus a competitive commission plan. JCF, a top 5 lender in its industry, provides private money financing for investors who buy, renovate, sell, and rent residential real estate. "We offer lines of credit up to $7.5M in 40+ states. JCF, funded by Garrison Partners, a $5 billion New York private equity firm, is on an aggressive growth path." Resumes and inquiries should be directed to SVP Patti Kaiker. Pendo Management Group, an Appraisal Management Company, continues to grow and expand nationally. They recently added two new account managers - Angie Scribner on the West coast and Ben Scribner on the East coast. The company plans to hire a VP of Revenue to join its executive team, responsible in overseeing, developing, and expanding the sales team in growth activities nationally. Experienced candidates should contact Jeff Sandman. In addition, the company has added a VP of Marketing, Alicia Branstetter, to lead their brand and marketing strategy. The company's growth comes as no surprise after being named toIngram's Corporate Report 100 and the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies. This is the 3rd consecutive year the company has been named to both lists. Lakeview Correspondent is pleased to announce the addition of Erika Harvell to its seasoned sales team! "Erika will be covering Northern California and the Pacific Northwest and is a great addition to the exceptional sales team at Lakeview Correspondent. Lakeview is a top 10 agency servicer with a robust correspondent platform buying mandatory and best efforts agency and government production as well as a suite of non-agency portfolio products. If you are not already partnering with Lakeview, please contact the business development director in your neck of the woods." In retail news, Assurance Financial is seeking experienced mortgage loan originators and branch managers to continue selectively expanding its footprint. The company is looking to hire great people in good markets across the southwest and southeast, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Assurance has a solid reputation for closing loans on time. Its back office supports its mortgage loan originators and branch managers so they can focus on originating more new loans rather than worrying about closing their pipeline. If you're interested in learning more about these great opportunities, contact Paul Peters, CMB at 225-239-7948 or visit lendtheway.com/careers. Congrats to Don Klein who Flagstar Bank has hired SVP of Business Development charged with expanding the reach of its subservicing. (Flagstar is the 7th largest subservicer and the only full-service bank actively pursuing subservicing.) On the flip side of the coin, the servicing arm of PHH is laying off 91 employees no longer needed with HSBC selling the servicing rights to about 139,000 mortgage loans subserviced by PHH. (Those impacted can place their resume, at no charge, on www.LenderNews. com) And Nicolet National Bank ($2.3B, WI) said it will close 6 branches this year or about 14% of total offices. The U.S. Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants from Washington, D.C., will present a free musical performance at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on Saturday, October 22 at 7:30 pm. Due to the popularity of this free concert, tickets are required and will be available for public distribution beginning at 9 am on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Tickets may be obtained one of three ways. Beginning Sept. 21, requests can be made in person at the museum Monday-Friday from 9 am-4 pm. Those who cannot make it in person may request tickets by submitting an online form at www.surveymonkey.com/r/USAirForceBandConcert or by calling (937) 255-5924. Those requesting tickets must provide their name, phone number, mailing address, and the number of tickets they would like mailed to them. The limit is four tickets per person, and they will be mailed beginning Sept. 30. The Concert Band and Singing Sergeants are two of six ensembles that comprise The U.S. Air Force Band. They frequently perform together for national television broadcasts and online videos, including the Bands annual holiday flash mobs which have been viewed by millions worldwide. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the worlds largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 360 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year about one million visitors from around the world come to the museum. For more information, visit www.nationalmuseum.af.mil. September 21st is the United Nations International Day of Peace, and is the last official day of summer. The cusp of the Autumnal Equinox and a worldwide celebration of peace is the perfect day for Daytons 2nd annual Dayton Big Quiet. Organizers from Heartfulness Dayton and Venus Child Productions have come together once again to host this free community event, to demonstrate the inner peace that comes from yoga and meditation. At 5:30pm, there is a free yoga 45 minute yoga class hosted by three area instructors: Melissa Ledinsky of Real Deal Yoga, Jeanine Parisi of Day Yoga, and Alex Keller of Do Yoga Dayton. Please bring a mat if you participate in the portion of the program. Immediate following the yoga session, meditation trainers from the Natural Path Meditation Center in Beavercreek will do a brief introduction to the silent, heart-based meditation style known as Heartfulness. Its non-denominational, and can be practiced by all faiths. Some chairs will be available, however if you can, please bring a blanket or pillow to ensure you are comfortable. The event will wrap up by 7pm. Remember world peace starts with each of us individually! Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) is calling for an investigation into the Department of Justice for failing to prosecute anyone in connection with the 2008 financial meltdown. Warren called the DOJs failure to do so outrageous and baffling and an abysmal failure. In a heavily footnoted, 20-page letter to the Justice Departments Office of the Inspector General, Warren wrote that nine individuals and 14 corporations had been referred to the DOJ by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission because of serious indications of violation(s) of federal securities our other laws. So far, however, none of the nine individuals the FCIC referred for investigation has gotten into serious legal trouble. Not one of the nine has gone to prison or been convicted of a criminal offense. Not a single one has even been indicted or brought to trial, Warren wrote. Only one individual was fined, in the amount of $100,000, and that was to settle a civil case brought by the SEC. A second individual recently agreed to a civil settlement with the SEC in which he admitted no wrongdoing and paid no personal fine. Nor have any of the 14 corporations referred to the DOJ by the commission been criminally prosecuted. (The) outcome of the referrals by the FCIC to the DOJ represents an abysmal failure, Warren wrote. It means that key companies and individuals that were responsible for the financial crisis and were the cause of substantial hardship for millions of Americans faced no criminal charges. This failure is outrageous and baffling, and it requires an explanation. Warren called for the IG to investigate the actions the DOJ took in response to the referrals. Warren also wrote to FBI Director James Comey, requesting that he FBI release materials related to the investigations and prosecutorial decisions around the companies and individuals the FCIC referred. The request comes after Comey made the unusual decision to release records of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons emails to satisfy intense public interest. These new standards represent a compelling case for public transparency around the fate of the FCIC referrals, Warren wrote. I can think of no matter of intense public interest about which the American people deserve the details than the issue of what precisely happened to the criminal referrals that followed the 2008 crash. As a college student, youve probably started to receive credit card offers in the mail. Although a credit card can be great to have in case of an emergency or to build your credit, it can also get you in a hole that can be hard to climb out of. Before you apply for a credit card, Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin offers every day tips and advice to avoid credit card fraud. According to ConsumerUnion.org, credit card companies are successful at marketing credit cards to college students. Most college students have a clean credit history, which is appealing to both credit card companies and thieves. As you head back to campus, beware of the freebies that are offered at back-to-school tables and fairs if you sign up for a credit card. Be careful when giving out your personal information to someone you dont know. Instead, do some research first, and only sign up using secure websites. Credit card companies use these easy credit traps because they know how busy students can get and how easy it is to miss a payment. Credit card debt can be difficult to pay back, especially when you add interest and late fee charges into the mix. If youre charging more than you can afford to pay back at the end of the month, consider thinking twice about signing up for a card that could do more harm than good. However, credit cards can be useful in the case of an emergency, shopping online, paying for gas and for establishing good credit. Good credit makes it easier to get approved for loans, buying a car and signing a lease. BBB advises students who are considering applying for a credit card, or who already have one, to use it wisely, as credit cards can offer more protection in case your card is stolen or used fraudulently. To protect yourself against credit card fraud, your BBB and the FTC offer the following tips: - Report lost cards and incorrect charges immediately. Call the card issuer as soon as you realize your card has been lost or stolen. Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with this. Once you report the loss or theft, the law says you have no additional responsibility for charges you didnt make; however, your liability for each card lost or stolen is $50. - Dont lend your card to anyone. And dont leave your cards, receipts or statements around your home or office. When you no longer need them, shred them before throwing them away. Also, never leave a purse or wallet on a chair or table unattended, even to save a seat. If you can, carry your cards separately from your wallet, in case of theft. - Write down important numbers. Make copies of the front and back of each credit card and store in a safe place in your home. Write down the customer service contact number (and even store it in your phone) to report lost or stolen cards. - Request a new card if you notice unauthorized charges. Fraudulent charges mean your card information has been compromised. Be on the safe side and request a new card. Remember to check statements regularly and carefully. - Never sign a blank charge slip. Draw lines through blank spaces on charge slips above the total so the amount cant be changed. - Use caution when ordering online or over the phone. Always be cautious about disclosing your account number on the phone or online unless you know the person you are dealing with represents a reputable company. Use a credit card instead of a debit card for online purchases. - Activate text updates. Contact the card company to be notified by text when charges are posted to the credit card account. Monitor balances over the phone by calling the number on the back of the card. Heather Massey is the regional director for the Permian Basin office of Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. Heather is available for media interviews and speaking engagements. You can reach her by phone: (432) 741-2592 or email: hmassey@permianbasin.bbb.org. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) Neighbors said filthy children regularly climbed into trash bins and scavenged for food behind the West Texas house where 11 children lived with their parents. Other residents heard screaming at night one described "shrieks of terror" that were quickly followed by loud music to cover the sounds. "It never stopped whenever they were living there," neighbor Paige Figge told a judge last week, after the children were taken into state custody. The testimony came during a court hearing for William and Claire Rembis, who have faced child welfare investigations in at least three states since 2001. The couple is now accused of neglect in Lubbock, where one investigator suggested the family may be moving to avoid such investigations, which are difficult to track across states. The couple denies the allegations, saying they move for jobs and that Texas officials are targeting them because they choose to homeschool their family, oppose vaccinations and simply have so many children. "They don't eat out of the trash," 36-year-old Claire Rembis told The Associated Press outside the courtroom in Lubbock. Her 48-year-old husband called the allegations "ridiculous." The couple hasn't been criminally charged, but they face a host of problems in Texas: Their children, who range in age from 16 months to 17 years old, were taken into state custody in late August, after child welfare workers discovered 10 of them had been taken to Colorado amid the Lubbock investigation. The family was evicted from their rental home on Tuesday, and the parents' custody hearing continues next week. Two of the children also were briefly removed from the family's home in Plano, about 300 miles east, in 2013, and all were removed in a separate case there last year. In Michigan, child welfare officials received five complaints between 2007 and 2012, including one about unsupervised children eating out of garbage cans. In New Jersey, the couple was investigated after their oldest son, who was about 2 at the time, was found wandering alone in 2001, according testimony in the Lubbock case. No national database exists to track such cases across states. The Rembises disclosed their past addresses toTexas officials, but if families don't divulge that information, case workers have to find it, said Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman Paul Zimmerman. Even then, a lot of digging must be done. "It's easier to track a stolen car," said child welfare consultant Timothy Turner, who has worked for state welfare agencies in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. "It's very tedious and piecemeal," Turner said, noting it can take a long time, letters and phone calls to find cases in another state. "And by the time that all occurs, a lot of times they disappear." State agencies often can't release details in such cases, especially if no action was taken. In New Jersey, where most family court records are confidential, state law bars the Department of Children and Families from even confirming whether the agency was involved with the Rembis family, spokesman Ernest Landante said. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Bob Wheaton said records in such cases are also closed in Michigan. Those cases were briefly cited during last week's custody hearing, where child welfare investigator Kristin Stecklein said some of the children didn't have beds when she visited the home earlier this year, including a 5-year-old girl who another child told her slept in a box in a closet. The couple homeschooled their children, but Stecklein said she didn't "see any signs" of school material a point William Rembis disputed on Friday. Texas Tech University students who lived next door to the family testified that children were in the alley scavenging in trash bins six days a week. One student, Madison Burnham, said she saw a child eating food from a box she'd recently thrown out. "I don't think children should be allowed to do that," Burnham told the judge. Other neighbors testified that after screaming began inside the house, loud heavy-metal music was played to cover the sounds. Claire Rembis denied the noise allegation. She also said her children wear hand-me-down clothing and doesn't mind them going barefoot. "It's just being natural," she said. "To us, it's just normal." Stecklein said the family's home had a "strong foul odor" and not enough food to feed 11 children and two adults when she visited. William Rembis also disputed that allegation in testimony, noting his family received about $1,100 a month in food stamps "We've never had a problem with having enough food," he told the judge. "My kids are well fed." Rembis said he wanted to move to Colorado for "better jobs" after losing two jobs since April in Lubbock. Lubbock County Child Protective Services attorney Kacee Harvey suggested another motivation, telling the judge that moving "is a pattern with this family." The judge upheld an objection from William Rembis' attorney about keeping testimony focused on the Lubbock case. Rembis said he simply wants to get his children back, and "we'll go to whatever lengths are necessary." HOGP GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) Records show the man charged in the death of a North Texas college student whose body was found dismembered and burned was released from jail just days before the two were seen together. Thirty-year-old Charles Dean Bryant is being held on a $1 million bond on a charge of capital murder in the death of 24-year-old Jacqueline Vandagriff. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In recent years, the Texas Tech University System has expanded its influence in West Texas. As the system celebrates its 20th year, Chancellor Robert Duncan said serving the region is at the forefront of its goals. The creation of the system allowed us to plan for expansion to serve the needs of this part of the state, Duncan said. In Midland, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center operates clinics for family medicine, womens health and internal medicine. This year, TTUHSC finished renovations on a local psychiatry clinic, which will add four medical residents to its staff in November. Last year, 233 TTUHSC students were in the Permian Basin. Despite the recent expansion of the TTU System in the area, Duncan said he recognizes the importance of other institutions in the region. He views the growth of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin as an opportunity to share resources. With UTPB, we have a collaboration, Duncan said. I dont think its a disadvantage. The TTU System formed in 1996 and now has four institutions, which operate locations throughout the state. Enrollment for the university system neared 50,000 students in 2015 a 60 percent increase from 2003. Last fall, nearly 700 Texas Tech University students were from Midland County. The TTU System is hoping to expand, with plans to add dental and veterinary medicine schools in El Paso and Amarillo resprectively in upcoming years. Duncan said larger Texas universities should be concerned about providing quality education with anticipated growth. We have to be careful about when we grow so large the mentoring aspect is diminished, Duncan said. One consideration for the TTU System expansion is funding from the state. In 2011, the Texas legislature made budget cuts, dropping spending for higher education by nearly 8 percent. I dont know if it will be a substantial cut year, Duncan said. I think it will remain stable for higher ed. Duncan served in both houses of the state legislature before he was appointed chancellor in 2014. He said the TTU System is considering how it will plan future growth. The budget is in two-year cycles, Duncan said. We really have to think 10 years out. I always thought that when I was in the legislature we needed to think ahead. He said one asset for West Texas is strong representation in the state legislature. State Rep. Tom Craddick and state Sen. Kel Seliger were among the legislators he listed as working together for the region. We are very fortunate to have senior leaders in West Texas not just leadership here, but they end up leading and chairing positions, Duncan said. It has made a huge difference at Tech. Another factor making a difference for the TTU System is philanthropy, according to Duncan. Philanthropy plays a major role, Duncan said. Its one of the reasons Texas Tech has been able to expand in our region. The communities including Midland and Odessa have supported us. Considering funding helps institutions achieve 60x30TX, the states strategic plan for higher education. The goal is for at least 60 percent of Texans aged 25 to 34 to have a certificate or degree by 2030. The purpose is to have a qualified, educated workforce, Duncan said. Its a significant challenge, but its going to be critical. Were looking five, 10, 15 years down the road. Dallas Police Chief David Brown will speak at the University of Texas at Austin commencement ceremony in May because his words pack a really powerful punch. Brown accepted the invitation Friday. Choosing the retiring chief to speak shows the schools commitment to progress, to social justice, to moving forward collectively as a community, said Kevin Helgren, the schools student body president. Brown revealed he had been asked to speak at the commencement during his speech at an event Friday morning at Belo Mansion. .@DPDChief says he got call today from UT president, asking him to speak at commencement. Asks room to keep it quiet. (Sorry). @dallasnews -- Mike Wilson (@mWilstory) September 16, 2016 Brown, who retires from the Dallas Police Department next month, is at the height of his national popularity. He has not publicly discussed his post-retirement plans, but many have speculated that he wont be out of the limelight. During a news conference on his retirement announcement, Brown said he has a story to tell. That story is why a panel at UT chose him to speak at the 2017 graduation ceremony. The school does not pay its commencement speakers. Brown gained national attention for the calm way he handled the aftermath of a lone gunmans ambush on police officers as a downtown protest was ending July 7. Five officers were killed, and nine others were injured. The chief was praised for how he handled the crisis. And he spoke candidly about how police are often asked to do too much, saying they are asked to fix all societal ills. Helgren described Brown as charismatic. He has the ability to make a powerful statement without coming across as political or controversial or adversarial, Helgren said. The UT selection panel was made up of students, faculty and staff. They reviewed Browns interviews and remarks before choosing him. He falls at an interesting intersection: that of the law enforcement community and the African-American community, Helgren said. He focused on lifting these differences up and rallying our community around one common cause, that cause being love and peace and universality. Brown grew up in South Oak Cliff and often points to his inner-city Dallas roots when discussing police-community relations. Commencement speakers tend to be celebrities or activists, but Helgren said he doesnt consider Brown to be a celebrity. More than a celebrity, he is a hero and advocate whose words pack a really powerful punch, he said. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency Clarification of a vaguely worded state law that requires cameras in special education classrooms will cost school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars more than expected, according to officials. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released an opinion last week that said the camera mandate, which passed last year and went into effect this school year, was written in a way that is much broader -- and costlier -- than what lawmakers had intended. The implementation of (the law) could impose significant financial burdens upon certain school districts, Paxton said in his opinion. Originally, lawmakers who carried the bill -- state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, and state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville -- and school officials thought that if a parent requested cameras in his or her childs special education classroom, the law would require cameras in that one classroom. However, Paxton said that, according to his reading of the law, even if one camera is requested, cameras must go into all special education classrooms throughout the district. For some school districts in Central Texas that means spending as much as a million dollars on buying and installing cameras. With the new attorney general opinion, if we are made to comply with such opinion, that will skyrocket district expenses for these cameras which will include additional cameras and servers for memory space. We can be looking at additional costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars which are currently not budgeted, said Eduardo Ramos, deputy superintendent for the Hutto school district. Texas Education Agency spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said that state education officials will follow Paxtons opinion and release revised rules in the next few weeks. New bill Lucio and Thompson plan to introduce a bill in the next legislative session to tighten the language to take the burden off school districts. The cameras should only go into the areas that you have the concern about, not the whole district, said Brete Anderson, Thompsons chief legislative director. The law came in response to a flurry of accusations that educators had abused special education students. Cameras will catch or deter wrongdoing as well as disprove false claims, proponents of the law say. The Coalition of Human Rights Policy Advocates, an Austin-based statewide advocacy group for special education children, pushed for cameras in all classrooms. The coalitions board president, Stacy Ford, said that although having cameras in a handful of classrooms isnt a deal breaker, she believes district officials are overestimating the costs of implementing cameras districtwide. They can apply for a grant through TEA that can help them supplement the cost. They can also receive donations. Nobody has ever contacted me or our organization to help them with fundraising, Ford said. Its our first priority to make sure that this legislation is implemented. The point is to safeguard our kids. They dont have a voice. These cameras are their voice. ---- Paxton on the camera law Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to clarify the state law requiring cameras in special education classrooms in public schools. Heres what Paxton said: Are cameras supposed to go in one special education classroom or all special education classrooms? The law says that the cameras must go not to a single classroom but each special education classroom in each school. Who can request a camera in a classroom? The law says a parent, school board trustee or staff member -- including a teacher, paraprofessional, or educational aide assigned to the special education classroom and their principal or assistant principal -- can request cameras in special education classrooms. What if the person who requested the camera is no longer at the school district or their child leaves the school district -- do the cameras have to remain? Yes. The law says that the district can stop using cameras only if the classroom is no longer a special education classroom. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency Each year, Congress hosts the Congressional App Challenge, a competition for high school students to highlight the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. I am very excited to extend an invitation to all high school students in my district to participate in the 2016 App Challenge. Students can choose to work on their own or in teams of up to four students to create an app on any topic for mobile, tablet or other computing devices on a platform of their choice. As the technology industry plays a growing role in our economy, STEM education is an increasingly important component of todays schooling. All students are welcome to submit an entry, regardless of their level of experience with coding. Students will expand their knowledge of programming during the development of their app and will have the opportunity to work with our partner technology experts for a fun and educational experience. The competition extends to Nov. 2, and students may participate either as part of a school assignment or on their own. Registration for the CAC takes place online, where students will submit their app along with a short demonstration video. The CAC website -- www.CongressionalAppChallenge.us. -- contains all the guidelines for the challenge. There are additional resource organizations and companies that offer professional volunteers whom will assist students in their coding and App Challenge journey. These are listed on the website. If you have any questions about participating in the Congressional App Challenge, please contact Diane Williams in the Granbury office at 682-936-2577 or Diane.Williams@mail.house.gov. I look forward to working with students, educators and parents to expand computer science and STEM education efforts in the 11th District. Sisi discussed with both US presidential candidates the importance of combatting the Islamic State group Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Monday with the Democratic and Republican US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The two presidential candidates spoke with El-Sisi on working closely to combat the Islamic State group threat. Egypt is facing an Islamist insurgency, with battles mainly focused in North Sinai. Hundreds of Egypts security forces have been killed over the past several years and Egypts army has also announced the killing of hundreds of militants. Trump released a statement that said the meeting with El-Sisi highlighted how Egypt and the U.S. share a common enemy and the importance of working together in defeating radical Islamic terrorism." The statement also said that the Republican candidate told El-Sisi that "under a Trump Administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally, that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead." "If he [Trump] were fortunate enough to win the election in November, he would invite President El-Sisi on an official visit to the United States and would be honored to visit Egypt and the Egyptian people who he has a great fondness for," the statement added. El-Sisi told Clinton that Egypt was moving toward "a new civil society, a new modern country that upholds the rule of law and respects human rights and liberties," Reuters reported. Egypt has been repeatedly criticised by rights groups for committing human rights violations and cracking down on dissenters. Egypt denies the accusations, saying it acts in accordance with the law. The White House recently released a statement calling for the release of Egyptian-US activist Aya Hegazy, to which Egypt responded by slamming American officials for undermining the rule of law by demanding Egypt drops legal charges merely because the defendant holds an American nationality." El-Sisi flew to New York on Sunday to attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. On Monday, he gave a speech highlighting Egypts efforts to combat illegal migration from the country. El-Sisi also met the UN-secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and the head of the European Council Donald Tusk. He is due to hold talks with the French President, the British PM and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Search Keywords: Short link: In a very busy schedule, Egypt's president met with a range of world leaders and US politicians during the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Monday Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Monday a number of world leaders, US politicians and former officials in New York during the 71st United Nations General Assembly meeting. El-Sisi met UN-secretary general Ban Ki-Moon in New York where they discussed the latest regional developments, the Egyptian presidency said. According to an Egyptian presidential statement, El-Sisi and Ki-Moon discussed the latest developments concerning the peace process in the Middle East between the Palestinians and Israelis as well the efforts to restore stability in Libya. During the meeting, El-Sisi praised the efforts of Ki-Moon during his terms as the UN secretary-general. Ki-Moon's current tenure will end on 31 December. El-Sisi also met Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, discussing Egyptian-Austrian political and economic relations. The Egyptian president also met his Cypriot counterpart, Nicos Anastasiades, and discussed bilateral relations between Egypt and Cyprus, with a focus on economics - specifically in the fields of agriculture and fish farming. During another meeting with the head of the European Council Donald Tusk, El-Sisi discussed the latest developments of Egypt's political and economic reforms as well the importance of the Egyptian-European relations. Tusk and El-Sisi also discussed regional developments as well challenges in the Middle East. "The president stressed the importance of solving the problem of irregular immigration through political solutions to the crises in the Middle East as well through opening legal channels for migrants," said presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef. El-Sisi also sat down with Republican U.S congressman Dana Rohrabacher -- the head of the Bipartisan House Egypt Caucus -- as well the Republican US congressman French Hill, a member in the House committee for financial services. The Egyptian president discussed the strategic bilateral relations between the United States and Egypt in various different fields -- including joint counter-terrorism efforts and military cooperation. El-Sisi held a meeting with a number of former political and military officials as well as the heads of research centres and think tanks where he spoke about the political and economic reforms in Egypt and the latest developments in the Middle East region. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have signed the final contracts for the long-awaited technical studies on the impact on downstream countries of a giant dam that Addis Ababa is building, Egypts state news agency MENA reported. The signing that took place in Sudans capital Khartoum on Monday was made with French consultancy firms BRL and Artelia, as well as British law firm Corbett, which will carry out studies on the potential impact of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam on the flow of the Nile. Water and irrigation ministries from the three countries attended the signing ceremony during the 12th session of a tripartite ministerial committee. In a statement obtained by Ahram Online, the Tripartite National Committee (TNC) of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan said the meeting "was conducted in a very friendly and warm environment and reflected the cooperation among the three countries and all in attendance expressed their support and appreciation for the efforts exerted by the three countries." The giant hydroelectric dam Ethiopia is building has been the source of contention between Cairo and Addis Ababa. Egypt, which relies almost exclusively on the Nile for farming and drinking water, fears the dam would significantly diminish its share of the river's water. The studies the French firms will conduct will include the modeling of water and hydroelectric resources as well as an assessment of the cross-border environmental, social and economic impact of the mega project and will take 11 months, Egypts Water Resources Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty said. A panel of international experts concluded in May 2013 that earlier assessments on the potential impact of the dam was insufficient, and recommended that further, more in-depth studies be conducted. The Egyptian minister hailed Tuesdays contracts as historic, adding that Cairo aims to cooperate with Sudan and Ethiopia to achieve development in the three countries and reduce wastage of electric power, according to MENA. We have faced significant challenges and managed to overcome them by making an effort and offering flexibility, the minister said during his speech, in reference to the long delay of sealing the contracts. The final signing of the contract came following a series of delays, the latest earlier in September, over "outstanding issues between the French consultancy firms [BRL and Artelia] conducting the technical studies and the legal firm's [UK's Corbett&Co] wording of the contracts." A cooperation agreement of principles was signed in March 2015 between the three countries on the sharing of the Nile water and the protection of the interests of downstream countries when the dam's reservoir is filled. Signatories to the agreement pledged to protect the interests of downstream countries when the dam's reservoir is filled. Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile in May 2013 to build the 6,000 MW dam that has a capacity of 74 billion cubic metres and will be Africa's largest when completed in 2017. Ethiopia has maintained that the project which is 70 percent complete will have no effect on Sudan and Egypt and should benefit all sides. Search Keywords: Short link: Poverty should not be barrier to ... Khaled El-Azhary is facing charges of instigating the burning of the Giza governorate headquarters in 2013 A Cairo criminal court ordered on Tuesday the release pending trial of former manpower minister Khaled El-Azhary who served under former president Mohamed Morsi on condition that he check in at a police station three times a week. El-Azhary faces charges of instigating the burning of the Giza governorate headquarters during the violence that followed the dispersal of the pro-Morsi Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit in August 2013. El-Azhary, a prominent labour activist, was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood's now-dissolved Freedom and Justice Party, and was elected in 2011to the Peoples Assembly, the parliament's lower house. He was among 100 members chosen by the parliament to draft the 2012 constitution and was named minister of manpower in Hisham Qandeel's government the same year. After Morsi's ouster, the entire cabinet submitted its resignation. Since Morsi's overthrow, several Muslim Brotherhood members and loyalists have been arrested and charged with instigating or committing violence. Though hundreds of Morsi supporters have been released over the past few months, El-Azhary is among the few leading members to be released. Search Keywords: Short link: In a lengthy interview with veteran host Charlie Rose, President Sisi discussed several issues ranging from the human rights situation in Egypt to the countrys international relations Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi defended Egypts human rights record during an interview with veteran journalist Charlie Rose on the US-based PBS TV channel, stressing that there can be no return to dictatorship in Egypt. In the lengthy interview covering a number of domestic and regional issues, President El-Sisi said that media outlets have not given an accurate representation of the human rights situation and the state of NGOs in Egypt. The president, who is currently in New York to attend the 71st United Nations General Assembly, stressed that Egyptian media says what it wants as there are no restrictions and there is no dictatorship in Egypt, according to an Arabic transcript of the interview released on Tuesday by Egypt's state-owned MENA news agency. He added that the Egyptian government is trying to achieve security and stability as there is a faction in Egypt that routinely resorts to violence against the state and the Egyptian people. The president said that Egypt's House of Representatives is currently discussing a law regulating NGOs, adding that there are 4,000 such organisations in the country that are providing valuable services to society. There is a misunderstanding regarding this case [NGOs] which is giving a negative impression about Egypt, he said, adding that friends understand each other, especially at a time when radical groups are working to destabilise the region. An Egyptian court upheld on Saturday an administrative order freezing the assets of five prominent rights activists over accusations of receiving foreign funding with the aim of destabilising the country following the 2011 uprising. The decision sparked an outcry in the United States and Europe. The president said that some issues had taken place before he came to office, such as the arrest of Al-Jazeera journalists Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy in 2013, which he said he worked to settle by issuing presidential pardons. President El-Sisi revealed that he gave the secretary of the US Department of State a list of names of people who have been released from detention in Egypt, whether by the courts or by presidential pardon, in order to demonstrate to the US administration Egypt's efforts on the issue. "But there is no media coverage of this," El-Sisi said. When asked what message he would like to deliver to the US president, El-Sisi said that Egypt is committed to bilateral relations and stressed that Egypt has seen significant changes since the 2011 uprising, adding that the past five years have tested Egypts strong, three decades-long relationship with the US. No religious discrimination in Egypt El-Sisi stressed in the interview that there is no religious discrimination in Egypt, and that all Egyptians have the same rights and duties and that no one is defined by their religion. El-Sisi talked about the recently passed law introducing reforms to address the restrictive environment faced by those looking to build churches in Egypt, adding that the mass attacks on churches in 2013 was the work of a radical faction. All the churches [damaged in the 2013 attacks] will be fully restored by the end of this year, the president said, adding that there is a need to promote equality and end discrimination in Egyptian society. The country saw widespread attacks on churches in August 2013 after the government dispersed sit-ins in Cairo protesting the armys removal of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following massive protests against his rule. El-Sisi, who was defence minister at the time, ordered the Armed Forces to take charge of rebuilding or restoring the churches attacked during the unrest. The economy When asked about the current state of Egypt's economy, El-Sisi said that terrorism has deprived Egypt of major sources that traditionally contribute to the economy, adding that terrorists were trying to weaken the society. Egypt has been facing a fierce war against terrorism for more than three years and needs to ensure security on its borders... which requires huge efforts and resources, he said. Regarding the loan programme recently signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Egyptian president said that it would give creditability to the economic reform plan adopted by the Egyptian government. Egypt reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF in August to secure a three-year $12 billion loan facility, which is awaiting approval from the fund's executive board. El-Sisi added that the Egyptian government is keen on boosting economic growth as well as solving the foreign currency problem in Egypt by the end of 2016. Middle East peace process and international relations Regarding the peace process in the Middle East and reaching a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, President El-Sisi said that when he calls for Israel to embrace peace in his speeches and public statements, he directs his comments not only to the Israeli leadership, but also to the people of Israel. Peace can change the Middle East region, he said, adding there is a huge difference between convincing the citizens of the importance of peace and forcing a solution through pressure, which would not be effective. The Egyptian president suggested that the Palestinian issue was among the primary factors fuelling terrorism, and that if a peace settlement is reached this can bring stability between Israel and the Arab countries. When asked about Turkish-Egyptian relations, the president said that so far there has been no improvement in the strained relationship between the two countries. The Middle East region is witnessing enough conflict, and Egypt is trying to give time for others to understand the region's circumstances and the current circumstances in Egypt, he said. Relations between Turkey and Egypt have been strained since the 2013 ouster of Morsi, a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP government. Erdogan has repeatedly made statements in support of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood group, which Egypt has condemned as provocative. However, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said last month that Turkey was looking to improve relations with Egypt. Regarding Egyptian-Russian relations, President El-Sisi said that Egypt has granted Russia a tender to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt, as its offer was the best among those made by several countries. In November 2015, the Egyptian government signed an agreement with Russia to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant at Dabaa, located in the countrys Marsa Matrouh governorate, which aims to generate total of 4,800 megawatts through four units. Search Keywords: Short link: Calaveras County Sheriff View Photos San Andreas, CA Calaveras County sheriffs officials have released the name of the man killed outside a home in Wilseyville, apparently by a residents single gunshot. As reported here, shortly after 5 a.m. Friday morning deputies were dispatched to a home on the 2900 block of Oak Haven Lane. Allegedly a man who allegedly refused to leave the property confronted the residents outside the home and was mortally wounded by one of them. Today Capt. Jim Macedo identifies the deceased man as Kenneth Aaron Livesey, 33, of Stockton. Providing more details about the incident, Capt. Macedo shares, The person that fired the weapon was reporting that they were in fear for the safety of another family member and we have not made any arrests in the case but we have identified the shooter and we have taken statements from individuals that were involved. Declining to provide the shooters name, the captain points out that paperwork is still being prepared for submission to the District Attorneys Office in order to determine if the shooting was justified or if charges should be brought. He adds, I know that the deputies that were onscene did provide first aid to the victim, who unfortunatelydid not survive. The Shooter Allegedly Did Not Know The Shooting Victim While it is also too early to do more than ponder a motive, he indicates that, according to interviews with investigators, the shooter and shooting victim did not know each other. The captain says, according to the shooters statement, The individual that fired the weapon had a family member with him at the time that the shooting victim showed up at the residence. According to the person who fired the shot and the family member the shooting victim was acting strangely and his behavior caused the shooter to be concerned for the other family memberand that is when the shot was fired. According to investigators current information Capt. Macedo states, We dont have a great timeline how he got from Stockton to Amador County but we were informed he was with some associates in Amador County and ended up in Calaveras County but we dont know why he ended up at the home or property of the person that ended up shooting him. Too, he shares, There was concern that the individual that was shot may have been under the influence of somethingbased upon his behavior. An autopsy report is not yet available, according to the Coroners Office; toxicology results will likely take a few weeks. Capt. Macedo additionally states that the sheriffs office met on Monday with some of Liveseys family members to share what is known at this point about the case and what evidence statements were made. Sacramento, CA Californias Secretary of State and the nations largest postsecondary education system are teaming up to help grow the youth voter base. On Monday Sec. Alex Padilla officially announced a resolution recently passed by the California Community Colleges (CCC) Board of Governors. It allows them to effectively roll out a joint nonpartisan effort between the CCC system and his office, geared to greatly increase voter awareness, registration and participation from the states next generation of voters. Dubbed the California Students Vote Project, plans call for providing each of the CCCs 72 districts and 113 colleges, including the Mother Lodes own Columbia College, with current student registration metrics and a best practices memo of understanding. The MOU supports student voter outreach goals and each college is being encouraged to sign on in support. Padilla shares, This effort has been a long time in the making and is an exciting first step, but the real work is about to begin. I look forward to working with each California community college campus to ensure best practices are adopted, they receive the support they need from my office, and together, we finally close the voting gap. His office reports that only 52 percent of eligible youth 18 to 24 were registered to vote in the 2014 General Election and that only eight percent actually cast a ballot. Of the states 2.8 million public college and university students, less than 8,500 or about one-third of one percent registered through online means available through their educational institution. The MOU includes a webpage hosted by Padillas office designed to support student voter information and related activities. Andres Arauz, 18, has a prosthetic arm but that hasnt stopped him from discovering his impressive musical talents. Andres Arauz was a longtime Tampa Shriners patient 18-year-old Ecuadorian has had arm prosthetic adjusted yearly He marked final fitting with a musical performance Arauz has been a patient at Tampa Shriners Hospital since he was a toddler. Doctors there said a condition called amniotic band syndrome caused him to be born without his left arm. With occupational therapy and yearly adjustments to his prosthetic arm, Arauz was still able to learn to play both the piano and guitar. "It's great to just play, Arauz said. The young musician lives in Ecuador with his family but travels to Tampa for appointments with a doctor. Because he's now 18, Tuesday marked his last one. "It's kind of sad to see him go, prosthetist Bryan Sinnot said. It's like your own kid graduating from high school. You know he's moving out into the world." As a farewell, Arauz played for staff and patients one last time. The young man said he is sad to say goodbye but eager to move forward. Arauz said he has one semester left at the conservatory he attends in Ecuador and then plans to attend college. Donald Trump returned to North Carolina's voter-rich Piedmont Tuesday, but he's also making a stop where presidential candidates aren't normally seen, in the rural East. Donald Trump made made campaign stops in North Carolina on Tuesday The campaign stops focused on national security, immigration FLORIDA DECIDES COVERAGE: Latest headlines | How to vote in Florida The Republican nominee scheduled two rallies in the battleground state Tuesday. It's his seventh visit to this state since winning his party's nomination in July. Trump kicked off the first of two stops in North Carolina with a mid-day rally at High Point University. He started his speech by talking about national security, referencing the bombings in New York and New Jersey over the weekend. He says the country must protect itself from and defeat radical Islamic terrorism. "Immigration security is national security," Trump said. "It's just a plain fact that our current immigration system makes no real attempt to determine the views of the people entering our country. We have no idea who they are (or) what they think." He also blamed Democrat Hillary Clinton's actions while secretary of state. "She allowed thousands of criminal aliens to be released into our communities because their home countries would not take them back. They were too bad, they didn't want them, so we took them," Trump said. Trump promised to cut taxes, renegotiate trade agreements, and create more jobs. "My economic agenda can be summed up in three beautiful words: jobs, jobs, jobs," Trump said. He also renewed his appeal for African-American voters' support. "What do you have to lose? Your education is broken, your communities are unsafe. There are no jobs," Trump said. While the rally was going on, hundreds of High Point University students, alum and professors held a peaceful protest outside. Protesters said they don't want to see hateful rhetoric or spite in their home. One protester says she feels the school's decision to host Trump doesn't align with a philosophy of diversity. "If you go to this school you know that diversity is slipping further and further down on their list of priorities, and it's sad. I want to see a diversity of thought and ideas and races and creeds but that's not the environment we have here," said Liz Reichart, HPU Student Diversity Council. From High Point, Trump headed east and made a stop in Kenansville to speak at the Duplin County Events Center, commonly a locale for agricultural shows and festivals. During his rally in Duplin County, he was quick to take jabs at Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, and he discussed his stance on everything from national security to employment. Trump has been coming to North Carolina nearly every week for public events. North Carolina is considered a must-win for Trump on the path to get enough electoral votes to win Nov. 8. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton visited Greensboro last week. The latest Elon poll shows Donald Trump with a slight lead over Hillary Clinton in North Carolina. Gov. Rick Scott has formally asked President Barack Obama to make a major disaster declaration for Florida because of Hurricane Hermine. Dozens of counties affected by Hermine The storm brought flooding, damage along the Gulf Coast Disaster declaration would free up state resources The declaration includes areas impacted by the storm before it made landfall as a hurricane in the panhandle. The National Hurricane Center designated Tropical Storm Hermine on Aug. 31. The storm caused major flooding throughout Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties. The storm made landfall near the Wakulla-Jefferson county line as a hurricane Sept. 2, causing more flooding, damage and leaving thousands without power. The governor's request extends through the post-storm period to Sept. 11. Scott declared a state of emergency in 51 states during the storm's journey up the Gulf Coast. The letter to the president and FEMA representatives state the magnitude of the response needed is beyond the ability of state and local governments. Over the last year, the state has had to deal with numerous events that have hampered the state's ability to financially respond to disasters, including flooding in 2015, the algae blooms in Lake Okeechobee, the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando and the response to the Zika virus. The state said preliminary damage assessments run more than $36 million in public assistance damages because of Hermine. A presidential disaster declaration would open up federal resources to support the recovery, including both individual assistance and public assistance. You can read the full request on Scott's website. SAN ANGELO Following a one-day trial on Monday before Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, a federal has jury convicted Jesse Huerra, 31, of San Angelo, Texas, on methamphetamine distribution and firearms charges outlined in a May 2016 federal indictment, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Specifically, the jury convicted Huerra on one count each of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine; possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and being a convicted felon in possession of firearms. The government filed a notice of enhancement because Huerra has two previous felony drug offenses. If the court finds those convictions are final and valid, then, by statute, the court must impose a life sentence without parole as to the methamphetamine count. A sentencing date was not set. Huerra has been in custody since his arrest on July 13, 2016, when numerous defendants, most from the San Angelo area, were arrested in a joint Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the San Angelo Police Department. Twelve defendants, including the drug trafficking organizations leader, Rudolfo Ledesma Castaneda Jr., 31, were charged in an indictment with various felony offenses stemming from their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in San Angelo. While Castanedas trial date is set for Nov. 7, 2016, most defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles and are awaiting sentencing. The government presented evidence at trial that on Dec. 4, 2015, the San Angelo Police Department executed a search warrant at Huerras residence on Estella Drive in San Angelo. After being advised of his constitutional rights, Huerra stated that he had methamphetamine in his dresser in the master bedroom and in the top bunk of his childrens bunk bed. He also stated that he had pistols in the master bedroom closet. A search of Huerras residence yielded more than 1,500 grams of methamphetamine, three firearms (one with the serial number removed), and several items of drug trafficking paraphernalia. A law enforcement witness testified that the street value in San Angelo for the methamphetamine was approximately $125,000. The DEA, Texas DPS and the San Angelo Police Department are leading the investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations, and the Tom Green County Sheriffs Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Haag and John Eric Nickols are prosecuting the case. In a live interview with ONTV channel, Pope Tawadros said that President Sisi's visits abroad aim to 'present the new Egypt' and that the church's support should not be seen as a political act Pope Tawadros II, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, said on Tuesday that the Churchs support of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's efforts to improve Egypt's image abroad is an act of patriotism, not politics. In a live interview with ONTV channel, Pope Tawadros said that President El-Sisi's visits abroad aim to present the new Egypt and that the church's support should not be seen as a political act. Last month, the pope urged Egyptian Coptic expats in the US not to demonstrate in front of the White House hours before a planned protest over attacks against Christians in Egypt. The pope argued that such demonstrations do not help or change the situation, but instead stain the image of Egypt locally and internationally. Pope Tawadros said that the recent sectarian violence that took place in Upper Egypt's Minya is not a sign that Egypt suffers from sectarian strife. He described Minya as a special case, saying that it suffers from a high population rate, high illiteracy rates and few development projects. Last month, Muslim assailants set ablaze Christian homes in the village of Abu Yacoub in Minya over a rumour that a Christian intended to turn a kindergarten into a church. Last week, a Muslim mob stabbed a Christian to death in the village of Tahna also in Minya during a street argument. Tawadros also defended the law recently passed by parliament facilitating the process of constructing churches. Egyptian Christians, estimated to make up over 10 percent of the country's population of 90 million, have long struggled to obtain the official permits required to build churches, with the process at times taking years. "We [Copts] have been asking for such a law for the past 160 years," the pope said, adding that the absence of such a law was the reason behind most of the sectarian violence that took place over the past years. However, the church had expressed disapproval over some of the articles in the new bill before it was passed by parliament. Before its approval, the Coordinating Group on Citizenship and Civil Forces which includes intellectuals, human rights advocates and several Coptic activists warned that Church representatives were being pressured to accept a bill that would lead to the return of crisis. However, Tawadros said that having a law now guarantees that the right [to build a church] can be obtained through court. Search Keywords: Short link: LUBBOCK -- Texas Department of Transportation wrote US 87, from I-27 in Lubbock to I-20 at Big Spring is part of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor from Mexico to Canada and is essential for providing additional connectivity between interstates serving the energy sector in West Texas, in accordance with the federal register consideration of (6) access to energy exploration, development, installation, and production areas. TxDOT adds: In addition, we request USDOT utilize the discretion provided in 49 USC 70103(b)(2)(G) and consider including any remaining highway segments of the Ports to Plains Corridor and the I-69 Texas Corridor to the NMFN in accordance with the federal register considerations (3) access to border crossings, airports, seaports and pipelines; (4) economic factors, including balance of trade; (5) access to major areas for manufacturing, agriculture or natural resources; (6) access to energy exploration, development, installation and production areas; (10) facilities and transportation corridors identified by a multi-State coalition as having critical freight importance to the region; and (12) the significance of goods movement, including consideration of global and domestic supply chains [49 USC 70103(c)(2)(C),(D),(E),(F),(J), and (L)]. Both routes serve as major freight corridors, connecting rural and urban regions of both Texas and the US; serve various industries including manufacturing, agriculture and livestock, forestry, and energy development and production; and facilitate international trade with Mexico. MERIDEN Four new officers will be patrolling the city in the near future after recently graduating from the police academy. The police department welcomed the officers Monday in a message on Facebook. All are completing in house training and will be on the streets soon with their Field Training Officers, the message said. Ethan Busa, Ahmed Mansoor and Andrew Velez graduated from the police academy last week, while Ryan Holden graduated at the end of August. Holden, a military veteran, has a criminal justice degree. Busa has experience as a federal investigator and a degree in criminal justice. Mansoor, fluent in two languages, has a mechanical engineering degree and is pursuing a masters degree in computer science. Velez, a Meriden native, has experience as a corrections officer. The police department has dealt with several retirements and transfers since the year started. In late August, Police Chief Jeffry Cossette eliminated a school resource officer position at the elementary schools, saying the move was due to a shortage in staff and the 11 months needed to train a new officer. The City Council subsequently approved adding $60,000 to the departments overtime budget to fund the SRO position. At the time, Cossette said there were nine openings for officers. The website provides various services for women's employment such as online learning of entrepreneurship and advertising of job opportunities, training and ICT events for women in Egypt and abroad Egypt's communication and information technology ministry launched on Tuesday a website on information and communications technology (ICT) to support and empower women in the field of ICT and other aspects of life. The website, entitled "ICT for Women," provides various services for women's employment such as online learning of entrepreneurship and advertising of job opportunities, training and ICT events for women in Egypt and abroad. Although women make up around 50 percent of the country's population of 91 million, they constitute less than a quarter of the country's labour force, according to a March report from the state's official statistics body CAPMAS. In a statement published by official state news agency MENA, the ministry said that it aims to bridge the gap between men and women, raise awareness of challenges facing women in the labour market and overcome them. According to the website, ICT for Women provides abundant information on gender in Egypt through local and international studies on women in addition to statistics on gender issues in Egypt in the public and private sector, employment, family, education and health. Information on gender issues is available through few outlets in Egypt. Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said on Monday that Egypt's government aims to provide women and youth with lines of credit for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), adding that women-owned SMEs are the key to female empowerment, both politically and socially. Women have contributed up to 50 percent to the 1.2 million micro enterprises across Egypt supported by the Social Fund for Development (SFD) from 2009 to 2015, according to a CAPMAS study titled 'The Reality of Small and Medium Enterprises' released in September. Egypt ranks 136th out of 145 countries in gender equality according to the Global Gender Gap report 2015 by the World Economic Forum. Egypt ranks 125 on economic participation and opportunity index, 115 on the education attainment index, and 97 on the health and survival index. The website could be reached at www.ictforwoman.gov.eg Search Keywords: Short link: A state appeals court on Monday rejected San Franciscos latest attempt to restrict tenant evictions under the states Ellis Act, an ordinance requiring landlords to wait 10 years before merging rental units into one residence that they could sell as a single-family home. The Ellis Act, backed by the real estate industry and passed in 1985, allows property owners who decide to go out of the rental business to evict their tenants. Cities intent on preserving their supply of rental housing have tried to set conditions on landlords a previous San Francisco ordinance, struck down by the courts in 2004, would have required the owner of a residential hotel to provide replacement housing, or pay a fee to the city, before evicting all tenants. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate One Air Force pilot was killed and another was injured Tuesday morning when a U-2 spy plane they were flying crashed in Sutter County during a routine exercise, military officials said. Officials at Beale Air Force Base east of Marysville (Yuba County) said the two-seat training plane went down about 9 a.m., shortly after taking off from the base. Both pilots ejected from the aircraft before the fiery crash, which sparked a blaze that consumed a little more than 250 acres of vegetation, authorities said. The identities of the pilots were not released Tuesday, nor was the cause of the crash. The plane was in the middle of a training mission, said Brooke Brzozowske, a spokeswoman for the Air Force. Everything about the flight today was routine, Col. Larry Broadwell, commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at the base, said at a news conference. More Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee The U-2 went down near West Butte and Pass roads in the Sutter Buttes, a remote area of volcanic domes formed about 1.5 million years ago. The crash site is about 50 miles north of Sacramento. Initial reports from the militarys Air Combat Command indicated the pilots landed safely, but officials at Beale Air Force Base later released a statement confirming that one pilot died in the incident and the other on board was injured. The plane was part of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, the militarys oldest flying unit. One person on board was an instructor and the other a student, Broadwell said. He did not say which of the two flew the plane or which one died. Ejection seat technology is wonderful, but certainly not foolproof, Broadwell said. Were focused on the families, making sure they get the support they need. Twenty fire engines, one air tanker and a helicopter were used to put out the wildland fire sparked by the crash. It was fully extinguished just before 1 p.m., said Chuck Smith, a spokesman for Sutter County. Video footage taken by a witness and provided to KCRA shows the plane flipping as it tumbles to the ground with two white objects, presumably parachutes, overhead. Pass Road, the only public roadway through the buttes, will be closed for several days as military officials investigate the crash, Smith said. The last U-2 plane that crashed out of Beale was in 1996, when the aircraft landed in a busy commercial area of Oroville, killing the pilot and a person on the ground. U-2s can reach speeds in excess of 400 mph and fly as high as 70,000 feet, or more than 13 miles. The military uses them to collect imagery and signals for intelligence analysts. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov A federal judge has sided against Cowboys Dancehall in a lawsuit claiming that its mortgage lender wrongfully foreclosed on the Northeast Side nightclub and forced it into bankruptcy. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald King dismissed the case in which the San Antonio club argued that it didnt default on its mortgage agreements and that Missouri-based EverBank Financial Corp. and its subsidiary Business Property Lending wrongfully accelerated the venues foreclosure, according to an order signed Monday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Social media exploded Tuesday with news of Angelina Jolie filing for divorce from her husband of two years, Brad Pitt. After TMZ and CNN released news of the divorce, it took no time for #Brangelina to begin trending on Twitter. Naturally, Texas' favorite fast food chain, Whataburger, took to Twitter to express an opinion in the matter. The restaurant folks were able to put the situation into words that we could fully grasp as Whataburger fans. It's like we just found out that fancy ketchup broke up with Whataburger fries #brangelina FULL REPORT: Jolie files for divorce from Pitt 'for health of the family' Other fans of Brangelina were caught in mourning over the loss of the relationship, while others were rejoicing for Pitt's ex, Jennifer Aniston. Pitt was previously married to Aniston, but they divorced in 2005 after Pitt began dating Jolie in 2004. Pitt and Jolie got close to each other during their costar roles in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith." According to documents obtained by CNN, the couple separated on Sept. 15. Jolie is seeking physical custody of their six children and is asking the court to grant Pitt visitation rights. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee Page Six reported that Jolie hired a private investigator to look into Pitt when he was on the set of his latest film "Allied." According to the gossip site, Pitt was seen "cozying up" with his co-star Marion Cotillard. LOOK BACK: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie get custom pistols from Jesse James When Alison Vasquez came back to San Antonio after getting her masters degree from Ohio State, she looked around for a theater company to work with. Specifically, she wanted to find a company that focused on Latino stories. She didnt find one. There are companies that pay homage to Latinos, but its not the bulk of their programming, she said. Thats where Teatro Audaz San Antonio, a new company she co-founded and serves as executive director, comes in. I wanted to do what I trained to do, but Latinx stories were missing, said Vasquez, using the gender-neutral term. Our stories need to be told, and we believe there are spaces we can use to tell them. Audaz translates as earthquake; it also means bold. This is what this is going to be fearless, said Maximo Anguiano, who is chairman of the companys board. Teatro Audaz did a summer theater camp for children this past summer and plans to do that annually. There also are plans taking shape for a spring break camp. Production-wise, things get going this week with three nights of staged readings titled Nuestra Voces: Our Voices. The first two will be at McCreless Theatre at San Antonio College: The Panza Monologues, an exploration of womens bodies written by Virginia Grise and Irma Mayorga, can be seen at 7 p.m. Thursday ; and Anguianos Requiem of the Oppressed, which was inspired by his volunteer work in a prison, plays at 7 p.m. Friday . Admission to both readings is free. The action then moves to the Bang Bang Bar, 119 E. Mio Drive, for Aye, No! at 7 p.m. Saturday. Liz Coronado Castillos piece digs into the cultural misunderstandings that arise when a gay Latina brings her current flame a blonde Anglo woman home to meet her family. Donations will be accepted. Beyond this weekend, the company hopes to stage a pastorela, or nativity play, over the holidays, and they are working on obtaining the rights for a show in 2017. Theyre also working on nailing down venues for those shows. Were still looking for a home, but whats happening in San Antonio (theater) is that theres a lot of transition in leadership right now, Vasquez said. Rather than wait (for a space to open), we really want to take the opportunity to create an audience base in San Antonio and produce works for an unreached market. If we cant have a Latino theater company in San Antonio, where can we do it? dlmartin@express-news.net Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN The Egyptian president also met with Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas, Iraq's Haidar Al-Abadi and King Abdullah II of Jordan According to a statement by Egypt's presidency spokesman Alaa Youssef, the British PM urged the developing of bilateral relations on the political and economic levels as well as the increasing of British investments in Egypt. May expressed the UK's support of Egypt's preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in August to secure a three-year $12 billion loan facility. The Egyptian and British leaders discussed the security procedures and efforts undertaken in Egypt's airports and agreed on working on the resumption of British flights to Sharm El-Sheikh. Since November 2015, the UK and several other countries have suspended flights to the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh following the downing of a Russian airliner over central Sinai in October of that year, which killed all 224 people on board. Meetings with Arab leaders According to the presidency spokesman, El-Sisi also met on Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In his meeting with the Iraqi PM, Egypt's president expressed Egypt's utmost support of Iraq's efforts to fight terrorism and restore peace and security in the country. Al-Abadi talked about the latest advances made by Iraqi forces against the Islamic State militant group, adding that Iraq aims to rebuild areas devastated by the conflict and achieve economic and social development. They also discussed promoting bilateral cooperation, particularly in projects on infrastructure. El-Sisi's meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan tackled regional issues, with the two leaders stressing on the importance of uniting Arab countries and settling conflicts in the Middle East to resolve the refugee crisis. During his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, El-Sisi assured that the Palestinian cause would remain at the top of Egypt's foreign policy agenda, stressing Egypt's support for initiatives that work towards resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while Abbas hailed Egypt's support in the peace process. The two leaders agreed on coordinating in future endeavours to reach fair and comprehensive settlements for the Palestinian people. Regarding the peace process in the Middle East and reaching a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, President El-Sisi said earlier today during an interview on the US-based PBS TV channel that when he calls for Israel to embrace peace in his speeches and public statements, he directs his comments not only to the Israeli leadership, but also to the people of Israel. El-Sisi flew to New York on Sunday to attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. On Monday, he gave a speech highlighting Egypts efforts to combat illegal migration from the country. In a very busy schedule, El-Sisi also met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the president of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and the head of the European Council Donald Tusk, as well as with the Democratic and Republican US presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Search Keywords: Short link: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LOS ANGELES Giants manager Bruce Bochy spoke expansively before Mondays loss about his teams bullpen failings, even where he believes he fell short, but adamantly rejected the notion that he stuck with Santiago Casilla at closer too long out of loyalty. Thats wrong, Bochy said at Dodger Stadium. Were putting out who we think are the best guys to win ballgames. Casilla has blown saves in three of his seven appearances in September and nine overall, the most by a Giants reliever since Robb Nen in 1999. In another game, at Colorado, Casilla started the ninth inning and allowed a Nolan Arenado homer in a two-run game before Joe Nathan was charged with a blown save in a 6-5 loss. Where fans might see a manager sticking with a core reliever because of past glories, Bochy sees a pitcher who still throws in the mid-90s with good secondary pitches and a history of success, even this year. He did save 31 games and he was hot for a while, Bochy said. He saved us. There were a lot of games I put him in a tough spot, like New York, when I brought him in with two guys on (in the 10th inning of a win against the Yankees). People forget how good this guy was for us. Bochy said roles need to be earned and noted the Giants lost to the Padres when he sent Hunter Strickland to save a game in the ninth with a three-run lead. Bochy got into a conversation about the bullpen answering a question from a national reporter who asked if this was his most difficult year managing relievers. Its been the most trying season for me getting the bullpen in order, Bochy said, acknowledging that constantly playing matchups might have put more pressure on relievers thinking they might face one hitter. Sometimes you may overthink it a little bit because youre struggling, he added. I think I have a couple of times with the closing situation. Ive tried to mix it up where something can work. To be honest, it hasnt gone well. Title aspirations: Bochy publicly has stressed the Giants are still eyeing a division title. Weve talked about it, Bochy said. We know our work is cut out for us. We understand that. Theres time left. The most important thing is to go out and win ballgames. It doesnt matter who youre playing. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Leading off Late losses: Monday was the Giants ninth loss when leading after eight innings this season, breaking a franchise record set in 1945 and tied in 1999. Henry Schulman On deck Tuesday at Dodgers 7:10 p.m. CSNBA, ESPN2 Cueto (16-5) vs. Hill (12-4) Wednesday at Dodgers 7:10 p.m. CSNBA, ESPN Moore (11-11) vs. Maeda (15-9) Thursday at Padres 7:10 p.m. CSNBA Samardzija (9-10) vs. Friedrich (5-10) Washington, D.C. It should come as no surprise that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand enthusiastically supports the presidential bid of her Senate predecessor, Hillary Clinton. And for Gillibrand's legislative agenda, there's a possible advantage should Clinton emerge victorious: Gillibrand could well achieve her long-cherished goal of taking the chain of command out of the loop in military sexual assault cases. "With Hillary Clinton as commander in chief, I think we can do this," Gillibrand said in an interview. "When you have a commander in chief willing to change policy, that tends to shake things up in the military." Clinton has endorsed Gillibrand's approach, which would put military prosecutors in charge of prosecuting alleged offenders in uniform instead of commanders who may face conflicts of interest in deciding whether to move forward. Gillibrand has won a majority of senators for her position but failed twice to achieve the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee President Obama has remained neutral and the Pentagon opposes it. The Senate's other leader on the issue, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., in 2014 pushed through reforms of how the military treats sexual-assault cases. But she disagreed with Gillibrand on the chain-of-command issue. In the Senate, the numbers are not heading in Gillibrand's direction. Her measure won the support of 55 senators in 2014, including 11 Republicans. Among them: arch-conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. In 2015, the proposal won just 50 votes, including 10 Republicans. Gillibrand attributed the decline to turnover and retirements surrounding the 2014 off-year election. But she said the bill gained two new Republican supporters and could well gain more from both parties even if Clinton falls to Trump. But presidential support can change everything, Gillibrand said. She pointed to President Obama's support for taking away the power of commanders to overturn jury verdicts. Once that happened, the Pentagon's civilian and military leadership fell in line. The new policy became law via the 2014 defense authorization act. The Pentagon logged 6,083 reports of sexual assault in fiscal 2015, a 1 percent decrease from 2014. Eight percent of the 6,083 were for assaults before the victim entered military service. Of the 566 complaints resolved in 2015, 56 percent were substantiated and 44 percent were unsubstantiated, according to Pentagon data. In 2014, the Pentagon estimated 20,300 assaults had taken place, which Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said was "far, far too many." But Carter insisted the military was making progress. "We'll keep getting smarter, we'll keep getting better, we'll keep doing everything we can to beat back sexual assault, and we won't let up," he said. Even so, the Pentagon's numbers and reassurances mask its inactions on several fronts, including retaliation against those submitting complaints, Gillibrand said. "They put more effort into fighting reform than changing the status quo," she said. "We've done all the small-ball things feasible. The problem is structural." "We see retaliation as a symptom of a broken system," said Miranda Petersen, program and policy director of Protect our Defenders, a nonpartisan group that backs Gillibrand's proposal. When a commander oversees both attacker and victim, "it affects perceptions about both of them within the unit and contributes to a toxic environment," she said. The Gillibrand measure "would go a long way toward creating a better climate for victims." There's little guarantee Clinton will defeat her Republican rival, New York real estate magnate Donald Trump. Recent polling shows Trump narrowing Clinton's lead in battleground states and nationally. Trump brought the issue of sexual assault and harassment in the military back into play earlier this month at the NBC "Commander-in-Chief Forum," saying it is a "massive problem" and "nobody gets prosecuted. There are no consequences." He declined to distance himself from a 2013 Tweet in which he said: "What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?" Gillibrand joined in the chorus criticizing Trump. "He doesn't understand the issue," she said in the interview. "Clearly this is something he has not been well-briefed on." Trump's comment about "men and women together," she said, also suggests ignorance of a little-understood fact about the issue: Although women victims are the majority of those filing complaints, men constitute over half of the 20,300 estimated assault victims. "There's a misconception this only happens to women," said Heath Phillips of Cincinnatus in Cortland County, a Navy veteran and sexual assault victim. "I was very offended by Trump's comment." Phillips enlisted in the Navy at age 17, and suffered sodomy and rape at the hands of male shipmates in the late 1980s. In one incident, three shipmates grabbed him from a shower and ultimately penetrated his anus with a toilet scrub brush. His superiors met his complaints with disbelief and accusations that he was lying. Their solution was to put him back aboard ship with his tormenters. Phillips attempted to hang himself in his ship's storage room and failed. Ultimately he went AWOL, living on the streets of Cortland, where he was arrested for stealing hot dogs. The Navy gave him a less-than-honorable discharge, which precluded the VA benefits he needed for recovery. In 1989, he embarked on a 20-year dark period of homelessness, alcoholism and drug abuse. "I wanted to die," he said. "All those years I thought I was alone." Phillips, now 45, found himself one night in 2009 "drunk, driving home (and) wanting to find the perfect tree to hit. The next day I dumped everything down the drain and have not drank since." Eventually he got the help he needed through congressional intervention and the Protect Our Defenders organization. He is on 100 percent service-connected disability and is active in the movement to raise the profile of victims and win approval of Gillibrand's measure. "If I had been able to come forward outside the chain of command, they would have listened to me," he said. "But the commander's response generally is 'let's sweep this under the rug."' dan@hearstdc.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORDTwo notable authorities on senior social services in the region will discuss next month the ramifications of an expected surge of the senior citizens population. SilverSources Autumn Breakfast will be held at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 27 at the Italian Center of Stamford at 1620 Newfield Ave. The two keynote speakers for the event will be Lindsay Goldman, deputy director of healthy aging at the New York Academy of Medicine, and Julia Evans Starr, former executive director of Connecticuts Legislative Commission on Aging. Tickets are $75 and are available at www.SilverSource.org or by calling 203-324-6584. Sponsorships are available. Silversource Awards will also be presented to recognize individuals, businesses, community groups and organizations that have significantly contributed to improving the lives of older adults. The Connecticut Data Collaborative and Connecticut Legislative Commission on Aging projects the percentage of the state population older than 65 will grow by 57 percent by 2040, according to Kathleen Bordelon, executive director of SilverSource. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee Local government must prepare for the shift by understanding the needs of this population, recognizing infrastructure impacts, and taking steps to put accommodations in place so that our region is a place where people will want to continue to live as they age, Bordelon said. GREENWICH Watering your lawn could cost you $90 beginning Thursday. On Thursday, First Selectman Peter Tesei said he and Board of Selectmen would enact an existing town ordinance for water conservation measures preventing people from using irrigation systems to water their lawns. If you have an irrigation system you are to shut it down, Tesei said. Aquarion is able to monitor their largest customers and determine changes to flow. But when the Board of Selectmen enacts the ordinance, there is a mechanism within the code which allows for enforcement and fines. The restrictions were made after Aquarion put in mandatory water restrictions for Greenwich and other communities last week. The town ordinance prohibits all outdoor water use, including watering lawns at homes and businesses except for when using a hand-held hose. A variance can be obtained from the town for recently planted lawns. Water cannot be used for ornamental or decorative purposes: not for fountains, waterfalls or reflecting pools. Water cannot be used to wash driveways, sidewalks, decks, the outsides of buildings or structures. People cannot wash cars or clean windows unless it is a means of livelihood. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee No new water diversions or hookups, including new wells or diversions from surface water supplies, will be permitted. The restrictions will be in place until further notice. Put in place by the Board of Selectmen, they can only be lifted by them. The last time the town had to use mandatory restrictions was in 2002 during a drought. The town had already put in non-mandatory calls for water conversation this year, something it has also had to do in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Tesei made the announcement at Monday nights Representative Town Meeting. Town Conservation Director Denise Savageau said the Greenwich Police Department will be monitoring enforcement and can issue tickets for $90 fines per offense. A person caught breaking the ordninance on different days will be charged with separate violations. This situation is serious and is one that requires all of our cooperation, Tesei said. Savageau said Mondays rain, at little more than an inch, was too little and very spotty for it to have much of an impact, especially because it was limited to the southern part of town. Reservoir levels are at 34.9 percent, down from 38.6 percent last week. In a press release on Tuesday, Tesei said Aquarion and town officials are especially concerned about Putnam Reservoir and its ability to meet the high demand for water. Savageau said that reservoir, along with the Rockwood Reservoir in town, are at 25 percent capacity because the demand has been so high they have not been able to recharge. We have been monitoring the drought all summer and have asked residents to voluntarily reduce outdoor water usage, Savageau said. Unfortunately we did not see any compliance with this request and now we need to implement mandatory measures. Last week Aquarion announced mandatory restrictions for Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan and Darien as a result of the severe drought Connecticut has been in for the summer. Greenwichs average demand for water during the winter is 12 million gallons per day. During hotter weather, the demand increases to 18 million gallons a day. The town said the current stretch of hot, dry weather had pushed that demand to more than 32 million gallons a day. The town attributed that spike to how much water is used for lawn irrigation. According to the town, there are concerns about wells going dry and low surface water volumes. The extended forecast for the week from the National Weather Service calls for continued sun, with a chance of some rain showers late Friday into Saturday. The restrictions cover people using the town water supply as well as private wells. The Greenwich restrictions are in line with the ones that have already been issued by Aquarion. Irrigation systems, sprinklers and soaker hoses cannot be used in the affected municipalities. The ban went into effect on Friday. We are doing this to ensure that we have an adequate water supply for everyday use and fire protection, Aquarion President and CEO Charles Firlotte said last week. Tesei said the ordinance power the Board of Selectmen has stems from a drought in Greenwich in the late 1970s where the town was down to a two-week supply of water. Savageau said significant changes have been made since then, including connecting Greenwichs water supply with Aquarions providing access to emergency water if needed. The dry conditions have also led to town concerns about fire fighting since water supply is needed for public safety. Greenwich Fire Chief Peter Siecienski said that the current forest fire danger in Connecticut is ranked at moderate but it will increase as people start raking up leaves and collecting them in the fall. Remember that dry vegetation should be cleared at least 30 feet from homes and out buildings, Siecienski said. Be sure to dispose of hot charcoal and ash carefully and store firewood and kindling outside your cleaned area. kborsuk@scni.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY - A Vietnam Wall ceremony is planned Saturday to commemorate the wounded and war dead. The 10 a.m. ceremony is planned at the War Memorial Building in Rogers Park. Participants will gather at the monument created after the Vietnam Wall replica came to Danbury in 2012. A previous post incorrectly reported that the Vietnam Wall replica was coming to Danbury on Saturday. Saturdays ceremony, sponsored by the Danbury Council of Veterans, is being hosted by the Catholic War Veterans. The public is invited. 1 Home confinement: The chairman of Ron Pauls 2012 presidential bid was sentenced Tuesday to probation and home confinement rather than prison, and two other top aides were awaiting their sentences for a scheme to cover up campaign payments to a former Iowa state senator who agreed to endorse their boss. Although Des Moines prosecutors were seeking more than two years in federal prison, Jesse Benton was sentenced to two years probation and six months of home confinement, along with community service and a $10,000 fine. He was convicted of conspiracy, causing false campaign contribution reports to be filed to the Federal Election Commission and participating in a false statement scheme. 2 Murder-for-hire: A man who served prison time for a murder-for-hire plot in 2004 has been convicted of aggravated murder and other charges in a contract killing two years later in which a hired killer went to the wrong home and killed someone with the same name as the intended target. A jury on Monday convicted Joe Rosebrook of all counts in the fatal shooting of Daniel Ott in 2006 in a Cleveland suburb. Authorities said another Daniel Ott was targeted for double-crossing Rosebrook in 2004. Rosebrook is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 6. Russia said Tuesday that its military was looking into "information" about an air strike on an aid convoy in Syria after the regime announced an end to a week-long ceasefire. "I don't think it is possible or correct to make any unsubstantiated conclusions. Our military is currently verifying information about this strike and I hope they will receive concrete information from the ground and can then release a statement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Search Keywords: Short link: NORWALK Narcotics officers arrested a self-proclaimed gang member Sunday night and were forced to Taser the suspect after he resisted arrest, police said. Officers from the Norwalk Police Departments Strategic Narcotics Enforcement Team (SNET) observed the suspect, 18-year-old Samuel Branch, walking from South Main Street toward Woodward Avenue. Police recognized Branch from previous encounters and also as a self-proclaimed gang member of the Money Avenue Boys, which operates out of the Roodner Court housing complex. The officers stepped out of their vehicle as Branch was crossing the street and while in the midst of conversation, police said that Branch reached into his waistband. That movement was consistent with someone who may be reaching for a weapon and officers, fearing for their safety, brought him down to the ground. Police said that Branch continued to reach into his waistband while on the ground, and ignored officers verbal commands to show his hands. One of the officers deployed his Taser in order to subdue the suspect and place him in handcuffs. Police said that while handcuffed, Branch continued to reach toward the side of his waistband. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee During the struggle with police, a childs sock was dropped by Branch. Police said that it contained five glassine bags of a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for heroin. Branch, of Ely Avenue, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drugs with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school, interfering with an officer, breach of peace, and negligent use of highway by a pedestrian. Court records show that Branch was charged with similar violations on Aug. 19 and was out on bond. During Branchs arraignment on Monday, Norwalk Superior Court Judge Alex Hernandez reinstated Branchs $50,000 bond on the prior charges and set his bond on the new charges at an additional $50,000 cash bond. llake@hearstmediact.com CASS CITY Legislative candidates for Michigans 84th District discussed economic development, taxation and other issues Monday morning at Rawson Memorial Library. About 20 people attended the discussion on library funding, in which questions had been sent to candidates Edward J. Canfield (R-Sebewaing) and James Wencel (D-Bad Axe) in advance. The candidates also weighed in on Internet access to rural libraries. If we dont provide good quality Internet services to our libraries, (businesses) wont come here, Wencel said. Why would they? Theyll find another source for that. Were in a rural area. We cant assume every child has the Internet at home. Bills dont get paid. They sometimes have to borrow; they have to come to libraries or back to the schools to get their online subject and online learning done, which is a requirement in the state of Michigan. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee Canfield agreed that Internet service is important to the area, but said it will take time to provide adequate access. This is something thats going to take a bit of time to improve our Internet service, he said. I think its happening, but I think its going to continue to take some time. Bryon Sitler of the White Pine Library Cooperative moderated the discussion. The cooperative consists of 49 libraries in 12 counties, including the Thumb. He said 10 percent of knowledge is online, while 90 percent is in libraries. A lot of whats on the Internet is there the scare people, Canfield said. But theres a lot of good information on the Internet. Its very important for us not to perceive that libraries and physical books are not important. Our Internet service, while important, and probably what were going to use in the future, I think that there is risk in that well always have to have a backup, and that backup should be books in our libraries. Canfield said the state has to support Internet access to libraries, but its not entirely a legislative problem. The Legislature can provide funds, but its up to the libraries and communities to decide how the money is spent, he said. Other than that, we ought to probably keep our hands out of the cookie jar, he said. Right of way access can be addressed by the Legislature, Sitler said. Our job is to take ... road blocks away, Wencel said, and not create more roadblocks for simple things to happen. School libraries are being eliminated across the state, and public libraries are in decline, Sitler said. He asked what can be done to correct this. Canfield said this is also a local issue. We need to have strong communication between local citizens and their school boards directing local schools boards and superintendents on how they want their money spent, Canfield said. Money to the libraries is not on the decline, actually, said Canfield, who sits on the state House Appropriations Committee. We voted last year to put an extra million dollars in the pot, so we almost increased it by 10 percent, he said. Its not at the peak, but as our economy improves, well try to invest more money. But if youre asking the Legislature to supercede in addressing the library at the state level, I would not be for that. I would support citizens going in and talking toothier libraries. Were liable muck is up (rather than to) make it better. Wencel disagreed on the funding issue. In the 1990s. Proposal A eliminated property taxes for educational funding, and added to the state sales tax. We had a lot of money. Schools were flourishing, Wencel said. Property taxes were cut, and a lot of districts built new buildings. Eleven-year recession hits the last couple years of (Michigan Gov. John) Engler (R), he said, and all the money was spent. After that, he said, the automobile industry was in decline. So funding was then diverted, Wencel said. The economy got better, and people started to buy cars again, he said. Instead of putting that money into the proper places, they started paying for colleges and universities out of the K-12 fund. ... So a big chunk of money (came) out of that. Our recession came to a close, but our school funding and our revenue sharing for our cities and other things did not increase. That, combined with declining enrollment, caused cuts in school budgets, including media specialists, who read with children, and reading recovery programs. When our local library wasnt doing very well because of their funding model, I joined hands with Mimi Herrington and helped create a district library so we could tax based on our school district instead of the city. Weve go to get that money back to where it belongs, and its going to take a while to do that because of whats going on in our state Legislature today. Theres one man who has too much influence, and hes buying everybody off. Canfield said when he came into the Legislature in 2012, libraries were 52 percent underfunded. Now they are 32 percent underfunded. The money is coming back, he said It is about economic improvement. He said he isnt aware that hes supported the diversion of funds. There are all sorts of ways that things get put through that people dont understand quite what funding is. And believe me, theres a lot of information that goes through a legislators office, and its very difficult to put your hands around all of them, Canfield said. So individual input is necessary, he said. Wencel said taxpayers are paying the price for tax breaks to businesses. Were picking up the tab for Lansing, Wencel said. If you ask Lowell McDonald of McDonalds Food & Family, if he gets a tax break, hes not going to hire another person if he doesnt need them. Services to communities suffer as a result, Wencel added. Canfield said horrific tax giveaways were one product of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Graholms (D) administration. Wencel said he agrees, but those were not the tax breaks he was referring to. The ones that came at the beginning of the Snyder administration were worse than that, Wencel said. Air raids and shelling pounded key battlefronts in Syria on Tuesday, as outrage mounted over a strike on an aid convoy hours after Syria's military declared an end to a week-long truce. The United Nations said it was suspending all humanitarian aid convoys in Syria after the deadly raid late Monday, which killed several civilians including a senior employee of the Syrian Red Crescent. The strike and renewed violence across the country dimmed hopes that the fraught ceasefire negotiated by Moscow and Washington could be revived. Key players including the United States and Russia were to meet in New York Tuesday in an effort to salvage the peace process, which US Secretary of State John Kerry had warned could be the "last chance" to end Syria's civil war. But on the ground in Syria, activists and AFP correspondents reported intensifying fighting. In the battleground city of Aleppo, air raids and artillery fire hit rebel-held districts until approximately 2:00 am (2300 GMT Monday), an AFP correspondent said. Residents spent the night huddled in their apartments sharing news about the collapsing truce via text messages and heard loud intermittent booms on Tuesday morning. At least 39 civilians were killed in overnight bombardment of Aleppo and the surrounding province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, and fresh clashes erupted on the city's southern edges. In the week after the truce was declared on September 12, only 27 civilians were killed as fighting dropped significantly across the country. Monday night's raid on the convoy destroyed at least 18 of 31 vehicles delivering aid under a joint UN, Red Cross, and Red Crescent operation for the town of Orum al-Kubra in Aleppo province. The Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group, said 12 Red Crescent volunteers and drivers had died in the strike. Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, told reporters in Geneva that as an "immediate security measure, other convoy movements have been suspended" following the raid. This marks a "very, very dark day for humanitarians in Syria and indeed across the world," he said, stressing that it was "paramount that we are able to establish the facts through an independent investigation." Red Cross spokesman Benoit Carpentier told reporters that a senior official of the Syrian Red Crescent was among those killed. Infuriated UN officials had earlier warned the strike could amount to a war crime. "If this callous attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of humanitarians, it would amount to a war crime," aid chief Stephen O'Brien said. An AFP correspondent at the scene of the strike early Tuesday saw damaged boxes of medical supplies and bags of aid spilling out of charred green trucks. Aid to desperate civilians was a key element of the US-Russia deal, but deliveries were minimal during the truce and cross-border assistance for besieged civilians in eastern parts of Aleppo city never entered Syrian territory. Syria's military unilaterally announced the end of the truce on Monday night, accusing rebels of failing to "commit to a single element" of the deal. In the northwestern province of Idlib Tuesday, activist Nayef Mustafa said planes circled over the town of Salqin, held by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate in alliance with Islamist rebels. "It's calm now, but there was machinegun fire by military aircraft overnight," Mustafa told AFP. "The ceasefire has collapsed and people are getting ready to be hit by barrel bombs." At least four air strikes hit the central rebel-held town of Talbisseh on Tuesday morning after artillery fire throughout the night, activist Hassaan Abu Nuh said. The truce deal's primary sponsors, Washington and Moscow, and other key players in the International Syria Support Group were to meet in New York on Tuesday to assess the situation. Kerry is expected to try to speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York, where leaders are gathered for the UN General Assembly, before Tuesday's meeting. The two top diplomats had negotiated the deal earlier this month, hoping to put an end to more than five years of conflict in which more than 300,000 people have been killed. The truce was already under massive strain when a US-led coalition strike on Saturday hit a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where government forces are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the truce could only resume if attacks ceased on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. "The conditions are very simple. The shooting needs to stop and the terrorists need to stop attacking Syrian troops," Peskov said. "And of course it wouldn't hurt if our American colleagues didn't accidentally bomb the Syrians." He said Russia was "verifying information" about the strike on the aid convoy and warned against drawing "unsubstantiated conclusions". Search Keywords: Short link: BAD AXE A Kinde man accused of molesting a young girl during a three-year period denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to several criminal sexual conduct-related charges in circuit court Monday. Joseph Howard Jahn is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct-first degree, person under 13, and two counts of criminal sexual conduct-second degree, person under 13, stemming from an investigation by authorities earlier this year. Its alleged the 45-year-old sexually abused the victim, who is not immediately related to the defendant, between 2009 and 2011 in Huron Township. According to police reports, Jahn allegedly put his fingers into the victims vaginal area multiple times during the three-year period. The victim was between the ages of 9 and 12 when the incidents occurred. Years later, law enforcement began receiving information regarding the allegations. Following an investigation, Jahn was arrested May 2. On Monday, Jahn and his attorney, Diana Kessler, appeared before Huron County Circuit Judge Gerald M. Prill for arraignment. Kessler pleaded not guilty, on her clients behalf, to all four charges. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee A trial date was set for Jan. 10, 2017, and is anticipated to last up to two days. Prior to concluding the proceeding, Huron County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Schumacher informed the judge of a plea agreement the People offered the defendant. If Jahn accepts the agreement, he would plead guilty to one count of criminal sexual conduct-second degree and the remaining charges would be dismissed. The cutoff date to accept the agreement was set for Jan. 5. If convicted of the first-degree charges, Jahn faces up to life in prison or any term set by the court and no more than 15 years for the second-degree charges. If the agreement is accepted, Jahn faces a 15-year felony. Jahn will be placed on Michigans sex offender registry if convicted on any of the four charges. Jahn will appear in court next on Dec. 10 for a final pretrial. He remains free on a $20,000, 10 percent bond. Contributed photo WESTPORTFormer White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, who was endlessly attacked for an affair with former President Bill Clinton is coming to Westport to speak on bullying and resilience. Lewinsky will speak as part of Westport Arts Centers MORE Than Words exhibition on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Featuring artists such as Cory Arcangel, Andrea Bowers and Cary Leibowitz, MORE Than Words seeks to address imbalances, appropriation and abuse of power associated with bullying. The show covers a wide-range of topics from racism to LGBT issues. Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake a northern town from the IS group in the latest move to prepare a broad offensive on jihadist bastion Mosul. Army and tribal forces pushed towards Sherqat, a town IS militants took more than two years ago when they swept across Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland. The town lies on the west bank of the Tigris river 260 kilometres (160 miles) northwest of Baghdad and around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Mosul. Iraqi forces have already reconquered other towns north of Sherqat on the way to Mosul but the question of Shia militia involvement in military operations there had held up the push. "The operation to liberate Sherqat started at 5:30 am (0230 GMT) from several directions... with the support of coalition forces," Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool said. "We are making good progress," he told AFP. "Sherqat is important, we can't move on Mosul and have terrorists control Sherqat." Sherqat lies in the far north of Salaheddin province, which includes the cities of Samarra and Tikrit, and close to the border with Nineveh province of which Mosul is the capital. Ahmed al-Assadi, the spokesman of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary force, also announced the operation. "The sons of Hashed al-Shaabi and the Iraqi army backed by the air force launched the 'Sherqat Dawn' operation to finish expelling those terrorist gangsters from usurped Iraqi land," he said. The Hashed al-Shaabi, which has played a big part in retaking IS-held areas since 2014, is nominally under the control of the prime minister but dominated by Tehran-backed Shia militia. It also includes less powerful Sunni tribal forces supporting the government against IS. Rasool stressed that only tribal forces -- sometimes referred to as Hashed al-Ashaeri (Tribal Mobilisation) -- were fighting in Sherqat, not Shia militias. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaking from New York where he met US President Barack Obama, said the same operation also included efforts to flush out IS fighters from desert areas near Ramadi and Heet in the western province of Anbar. While most towns and cities in Anbar are now under government control, IS fighters are still able to move across parts of the vast arid province and have continued to harass Iraqi forces. Hashed al-Shaabi forces had vowed they were days away from Sherqat almost a year ago, when they tried to keep their momentum after retaking the town of Baiji and pushed on northwards. They stopped advancing however when air strikes by the US-led coalition, which has been reluctant to support groups loyal to Iran that have attacked US interests in the past, also stopped. Popular Mobilisation forces took significant casualties in recent fighting against IS in Jazirat al-Khaldiyeh, an area in Anbar that was a major crossroads for fighters and supplies moving across Iraq. Iraqi forces have been moving northwards from Baghdad for almost two years, gradually retaking areas over which IS declared its "caliphate" in June 2014. They have left some pockets of IS jihadists on the way however -- such as in Hawijah or in the Hamreen mountains -- and priority was given to Qayyarah, a town further north which will be used as a launchpad for an offensive on Mosul. Speaking before talks with Abadi, Obama said he could see quick progress in the battle for Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq since government forces retook Fallujah in June. "We feel confident that we will be in a position to move forward fairly rapidly," Obama said, vowing to fight "right at the heart of the ISIL operation in Mosul." The United States alone now has 4,460 troops in the country, backed by hundreds more from Western allies, advising and assisting Iraqi government and Kurdish forces. Search Keywords: Short link: A military helicopter crashed in eastern Libya on Tuesday, killing five people including officers loyal to authorities that have refused to cede power to a unity government, parliament said. It was not immediately clear why the aircraft came down. The victims included General Idris Yunis al-Dressi, chief of staff for Aguila Saleh, speaker of the internationally recognised parliament based in Tobruk in eastern Libya. His son Ahmed Idris al-Dressi, who worked in the parliament, was also killed along with two air force colonels and one lieutenant. The four officers belonged to the forces under the command of military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has refused to get behind a UN-backed unity government and supports the parallel authority based in eastern Libya near the border with Egypt aligned with the Tobruk parliament. According to a statement posted on parliament's website, the helicopter was returning from an official visit to Ras Lanuf, a key oil export terminal. Last week, forces led by Haftar seized Ras Lanuf and three other ports in the so-called "oil crescent". They later handed them over to the National Oil Corporation. On Sunday fighters loyal to the unity government launched an attack aimed at retaking two of the ports but were repelled. Search Keywords: Short link: North Korea has successfully tested a new, high-powered rocket engine, state media said Tuesday, a move Seoul said was designed to showcase its progress towards being able to target the US east coast. The ground test comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang detonated what it said was a miniaturised atomic bomb. Taken together, the two tests raise the prospect that the isolated state could be inching towards its ultimate goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could hit Washington DC. State-run news agency KCNA trumpeted the engine test, which it said would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites". Rocket engines are easily re-purposed for use in missiles, and outside observers say that Pyongyang's space programme is a fig leaf for weapons tests. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un hailed the test and called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come", KCNA said. A geostationary satellite must be propelled to an altitude of 36,000 kilometres (22,500 miles), a Unification Ministry official was quoted as saying by South Korea's official Yonhap news agency. "The distance to the eastern part of the United States is some 12,000 kilometres. The North is thus showing off its ability" to hit the US east coast, the official added. Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at the South's Korea Aerospace Research Institute said such an engine would represent "a technical leap forward" in developing launch vehicles. It suggests the North is "coming close to having an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland". Pyongyang regularly parades homegrown missiles and boasts of its plan to develop long-range missiles capable of targeting America. It has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches, most recently in February, and has fired missiles from a submarine. A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile system would allow deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a "second-strike" capability in the event of an attack on the North's military bases. After supervising the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians "to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible", KCNA reported. Kim "expressed great satisfaction" with the results of the test, according to KCNA, and said the North had made cutting-edge scientific advances despite difficult economic conditions. North Korea has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006, but has insisted it will continue. Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said the North had set a five-year space development programme that ends this year. "This new test heralds an upcoming landmark ICBM test. The next test, disguised as a satellite launch, is likely to come when the UN Security Council adopts new sanctions over its last nuclear test or around the time when the US presidential election takes place in November", Yang said. The US has a range of missile-defence technologies at its disposal, including the Aegis Combat System, Patriot missiles and sophisticated radars. Washington is also working with Seoul to install a missile defence system known as THAAD in South Korea, though Beijing says the hardware poses a significant threat to regional security. Yonhap news agency said two B-52 heavy bombers were to be sent from Guam to the South as a fresh show of force against the North this week. Search Keywords: Short link: A Spanish regional government has overturned a school's ban on a young Muslim woman wearing a hijab headscarf after she protested that the rule was discriminatory. The Valencia regional education department confirmed Tuesday it had ordered Benlliure high school to allow Takwa Rejeb, 22, to wear the Muslim garment in class. Rejeb, who is enrolled in a professional tourism course at the school, was told last week that the school's rules prohibited students from wearing head coverings. She appealed to the SOS Racism watchdog group for help, saying the headscarf was part of her identity. The education department said it would draw up new regulations to avoid similar cases. No one was immediately available at the school to comment on the case. Search Keywords: Short link: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate One of Texas strictest federal judges serving a years ban from hearing cases after being slapped hard by a panel of appeals court judges last year has retired amid a renewed investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. of Waco, was publicly reprimanded for sexual misconduct last fall over a 1998 incident in which he reportedly groped and kissed a court clerk. He submitted his resignation to President Obama last month, effective Sept. 14, and will draw an annuity equal to his current salary, $203,100 per year, for the rest of his life. It was unclear if the resignation will end the investigation, which was restarted this year after an appeal by Dallas lawyer Ty Clevenger, who filed the original complaint against Smith and who wants the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach him. A committee of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decided in July to continue investigating to see if Smith made advances towards other women. A spokesman for the 5th Circuit could not immediately say Tuesday whether the courts Judicial Council will make its full investigation report public or whether the investigation will now end. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee Good riddance, Clevenger said of Smith on Tuesday. Thank goodness he wont be able to hurt anybody else. Clevenger said he still wants Smith to be impeached for two reasons: One, I think its appropriate. And, I dont think he needs to be paid $200,000 after what hes done. The Judicial Council issued the reprimand last fall, suspending Smith from hearing any new cases for a year, but did not recommend impeachment. The panel found he had made inappropriate and unwanted physical and non-physical sexual advances toward a court clerk in his chambers in 1998, which it deemed in contravention of existing standards of behavior for federal judges. The councils order also said Smith does not understand the gravity of the inappropriate behavior and allowed false factual assertions to be made in response to the complaint, which together with the lateness of his admissions, contributed greatly to the duration and cost of the investigation. The suspension would have expired Dec. 3. Smith, at 75, is eligible to take senior status or retire. His resignation leaves yet another vacant bench in the San Antonio-based Western District of Texas, which has been waiting for numerous new judges while staying one of the three busiest federal judicial districts in the country. Smith was appointed in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan. In his long career, he presided over a trial in San Antonio of 11 survivors of the fatal raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco in 1993, who were charged with trying to kill federal agents. The jury acquitted the 11 of conspiring to murder but found eight of them guilty of voluntary manslaughter and weapons charges. Smith sentenced them to the maximum 40 years, and the jury forewoman publicly denounced the sentences as too harsh, according to published reports. While presiding over a civil trial that some Branch Davidian survivors filed, Smith ordered the government to turn over all of its documents related to the siege of the armed fundamentalist Christian cult. Besides the tough sentences, Smith was a stickler for decorum he required men to wear suit jackets in his court, and if they did not have any, coats were loaned to them outside the courtroom. He was also known for his verbal dressing-down of lawyers and enjoyed considerable autonomy as the only federal judge in the districts Waco division I can do pretty much whatever I want, he told the Dallas Morning News in 1999. gcontreras@express-news.net SAN ANTONIO The San Antonio Police Department released the name of a 14-year-old boy who was struck and killed by a semi-truck Monday while crossing oncoming traffic on Interstate 10. Iszah Cruz Ramirez, a ninth grader at Highlands High School, died Monday morning following the crash that occurred Monday morning in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 near S. Walters, police said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate More than 100 residents showed up for a meeting Monday night of the Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association to get answers about a notorious convenience store that will close Oct. 7 only to hear that the property owner might reopen it at some point. If I close it, it will just become an abandoned building, said Anwer Andrew Rajpari. We will do what we have to do to keep it open. Well find someone else who will make it light and good. We wont sell to anybody that will hurt the neighborhood. That didnt placate residents worried that reopening the Handy Stop will restart the crime and violence associated with the store and gas station on the East Side, trouble that had lessened some in recent times thanks to enhanced police foot patrols. Last year I saw a man get shot near the store, said Michelle Herrera. I want that door closed. It doesnt matter how many lights or cameras or whatever you add. All that stuff is still going on. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee District 2 Councilman Alan Warrick assured attendees that Handy Stop was closing, but Deputy City Attorney Joe Nino couldnt tell residents how long the store, at 627 N. New Braunfels Ave., might stay shuttered and what might happen later. Were going to set up a meeting with (the property owners) and set forth some stipulations, Nino said. Some residents said theyd heard rumors that the store was still selling crack pipes from behind the counter even though the owner said drug-associated paraphernalia were discontinued, as they told to do by the city. Warricks office had mistakenly communicated that the Monday night meeting was strictly focused on the convenience store issue. Actually, that meeting will take place next Monday, Sept. 26, at Antioch Baptist Church. So, only a handful of residents were able to speak Monday because time was limited. I've never been in that establishment because Im terrified of it, said Brian Willeford said. The business owners the lessees have signed a settlement agreement to voluntarily shut down in October after the city had threatened them with a lawsuit under Chapter 125 of the states Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which deals with public nuisances, because of long-standing criminal activity at the store. Nino said that if the city had sued, the store could have been shut down for a year. A city Dangerous Assessment and Response Team inspected the store July 26 and found numerous health code violations, which the managers agreed to fix in order to stay open just through the end of August. They scored a 67 in that July report, but had scored as high as 92 on a food inspection report from May, obtained by the Express-News through a public records request. San Antonio police have responded to more than 600 calls for service there between January 2012 and early August this year. Rajpari has owned the property for about 15 years. He leased it to two other people, who then subleased the building again to an entity called BSRP Enterprises, which includes several partners. It is BSRP Enterprises partner Inderjit Multani who paid for improvements to the property over the last year and who worked with the San Antonio Housing Authority to fix up the area and hold community events on the Handy Stop site as part of a federal crime-prevention initiative called the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant. Multani worked closely with SAHA on multiple programs, installing new fencing around the property and new security cameras and painting the building, improvements that cost him between $7,000 and $7,500, according to SAHA. But after the city opened a review of the store, Multani and his business partner agreed to shut down by the Oct. 7 deadline. The city had asked them to hire a peace officer to patrol the property or else face a lawsuit. In an August interview, Multani said he could not afford that kind of expense. But he did agree to immediately close the store between midnight and 8 a.m. Previously, it had operated 24 hours a day. Multani said Monday that he is no longer working at the store, saying it had become too stressful for him and his family. He said he doesnt want to speak publicly about the situation and added that his company BSRP is not associated with the store now. Sam Shahid, who managed the Handy Stop before Multani, has returned. Since the city opened its review, Rajpari, the property owner, said he has worked with lessees to fund additional improvements. Hes agreed to pay for half of several upgrades, including new security doors that close over the windows at night and repaving of the back parking lot. New lighting was added to an outside canopy over the store gas pumps, and the building is being painted. We are trying to fix everything, said Rajpari, whose company San Pedro Real Estate owns several properties. According to the Handy Stop rental agreement, the lessees pay him rent. Hes responsible for maintaining the roof and the foundation, but the lessees pay for everything else but keep all sales proceeds from the store. As Rajpari stood outside the Handy Stop on Monday morning, he gestured to a boarded-up property across New Braunfels. You see the property across the street? he said, pointing. If the Handy Stop closes, its going to end up just like that abandoned building, he said. And that, he believes, will only encourage more crime in the area. Crime has been a major problem on the New Braunfels Avenue corridor, and the near East Side, for decades. The Byrne grant implementation plan, written in 2014, identifies two major crime hot spots along New Braunfels: one at the intersection with Interstate 35 and another at Houston Street, one or two blocks from the Handy Stop. Warrick, the councilman, has said hed like to see something like a cafe in the convenience stores place. But some area residents and patrons have said the store managers had worked to combat crime. They also say focusing on the Handy Stop has only resulted in the criminal activity moving to other spots in the neighborhood, other convenience stores. On a recent Friday night, not long before closing time, things were calm at the Handy Stop. Cars pulled up, got gas. Some customers hopped out of their vehicles to buy something inside. A handful of homeless people lingered on the corner. vdavila@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 BILLY CALZADA, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 2 of 3 BOB OWEN /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Political pundits say the Latino vote could be a swing factor in the heated presidential election, and thats the focus of a symposium at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the University of the Incarnate Word. At the event, Lydia Camarillo of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and longtime political consultant Lionel Sosa, who recently left the Republican Party and is doing Latino outreach for Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson, will join UIW Professor Gilberto Hinojosa, whose research has focused on the formation of Mexican-American communities; Congressman Henry Cuellar, a former Texas secretary of state; and state Rep. Diego Bernal, who as an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has litigated voting rights and other civil rights cases. Billionaire investor George Soros said on Tuesday, he would invest $500 million to meet the needs of migrants and refugees. The investment comes in response to the Obama administration's "Call to Action" initiative, asking U.S. companies to help ease the migrant crisis. "We will invest in startups, established companies, social impact initiatives, and businesses started by migrants and refugees themselves," Soros said in a statement. "These investments are intended to be successful. But our primary focus is to create products and services that truly benefit migrants and host communities." Soros, founder of the Open Society Foundations, also said he plans to work closely with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Rescue Committee to guide his investments. This comes a day after the ceasefire between the U.S. and Russia in Syria collapsed, after a deadly attack on a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies near Aleppo. Soros first made the announcement in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. Search Keywords: Short link: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Records obtained by mySA.com reveal a man died last summer after getting stuck in quicksand on the San Antonio River and drowning in South Texas. The extremely rare quicksand case, which previously went unreported by news outlets, is the only one of its kind in at least five years in Texas, according to records detailing the 580 deaths that occurred on rivers and lakes in that time period, obtained from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. RELATED: Deadliest rivers, lakes in Texas Jose Rey Escobedo, who was 50 at the time of his death, was reported missing July 7, 2015 around 10 a.m., two days after he picked up a prescription. On July 8, police received a call reporting a light blue car had been parked underneath the San Antonio River Bridge in Goliad County for several days, according to a Goliad County Sheriffs Office incident report obtained by mySA.com. Officials found a blue Mercury sedan parked on the east side of the Highway 239 bridge over the San Antonio River. Inside, authorities found Escobedo's glasses and shoes that were confirmed to be his the next day. Escobedos family told officials the 50-year-old often took to swimming alone in the river. MORE: San Antonio man who died saving teens from Medina River dam was a decorated Marine Corps vet He was known to access the river in the Falls City area, but it is possible he went swimming and did not return to his vehicle, Lt. Will Johnson, of the Karnes City Police Department, wrote in the incident report. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee There was no indication Escobedo had gone fishing or camping just by looking at his vehicle, according to the report, and it didnt seem he like met someone and left with them, leaving his car behind. On July 10, three days after Escobedo went missing, a helicopter supplied by the Texas Department of Safety flew from the Highway 239 bridge to the U.S. 59 bridge. Officials found nothing. RELATED: Teenage boy dies from accidental drowning at Hamilton Pool, officials say The following day, Game Wardens Kevin Fagg and William Zappe searched the San Antonio River by boat and found Escobedos body lodged in quicksand, 350 yards upstream from the bridge where he parked his car. He had expired and fallen face-first over the sandy outcropping, the report said, adding that his body was lodged in the quicksand from his feet to the bottom of his buttocks. Officials found no evidence of foul play and on July 13, an autopsy ruled his cause of death to be drowning. Escobedo's death was one of 114 to occur across the state in rivers and lakes in 2015. When Escobedo was reported missing, there was not "a whole lot of rain" that day, said Trevor Boucher, National Weather Service meteorologist, Tuesday. In the days before Escobedo's death was when the area was the wettest, he said. MORE: A look back at catastrophic floods that swamped Texas "(The) bulk of the rain fell on (July) 1-3 and partially on (July 4), which resulted in the river beginning to peak into (July 4)," Boucher said. The San Antonio River "got as a high as 8.3 feet on July 4," he said, adding that the first four days of the month saw about 4-5 inches of rain upstream in Bexar and Comal County. Normally, the river hovers around 5 to 6 feet, he said. On July 7, when Escobedo was reported missing, Goliad County near the river was not "significantly wet," he said. "With the San Antonio River, it's going to have to go somewhere, and it's going to flow down the river," he said. "It takes time to get down there." There is little available information on quicksand in Texas where it is or how many deaths have been associated with the saturated sediment. (Thats the) first quicksand question Ive ever had and Ive been here a long time, said Steve Lightfoot, TPWD news manager. RELATED: Corpse found in San Antonio River near Brackenridge Park on July 4 But research shows humans are typically not dense enough to get fully swallowed up by quicksand, which is a combination of fine sand, clay and salt water, according to National Geographic. Although humans can get stuck in the sand because it liquefies fast, it is possible to escape. The way to do it is to wriggle your legs around, Daniel Bonn, a physics professor at the University of Amsterdam told National Geographic. This creates a space between the legs and the quicksand through which water can flow down to (loosen) the sand. You can get out using this technique, if you do it slowly and progressively. While struggling in quicksand doesnt make the situation worse as some movies have projected, getting stuck in quicksand near rising waters can be deadly, because when the high tide hits, one could drown, Bonn said. The only report of Escobedo's death was written by Beeville Bee-Picayune, but had no mention of quicksand or his cause of death. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate RIO GRANDE CITY Federal agents have arrested a Rio Grande City police detective on drug conspiracy charges and allegations that he accepted bribes and staged drug busts on behalf of the Beltran drug trafficking organization. Investigators allege that Ramon De La Cruz Jr., also known as Ramey, played a key role in helping drug traffickers move drugs, dispose of weapons and steal drugs from suppliers. De La Cruz was taken into custody on Friday. On Jan. 21, 2013, the Victoria County Sheriffs Office stopped a Sooner horse trailer, seizing around 600 pounds of marijuana and two race horses inside. The arrest led investigators in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations to Ramon De La Cruz Jr., a Rio Grande City police detective and former Starr County Sheriff's Office deputy. The Beltran organization owns and uses ranches as well as race horses to smuggle drugs and launder their illicit proceeds, according to a criminal complaint. The organization smuggled thousands of pounds of marijuana from the Rio Grande Valley to areas near Dallas, Houston and Baton Rouge, among others, from 2008 to 2013. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee Five members of the Beltran organization were indicted this January in the Southern District of Texas, leading to 10 additional indictments and cooperating sources who detailed how the organization moved drugs from the border, faked busts and stole drug loads from suppliers. Investigators allege that De La Cruz, working for the Beltran organization, disposed of rifles and other tactical gear used in a kidnapping and murder in mid-May. An informant also told investigators that De La Cruz regularly scouted highways for Starr County law enforcement during Beltran smuggling runs, according to the complaint. De La Cruz is accused of providing official documents to the Beltran organization to help facilitate the theft of drug loads. Investigators learned it was common for the Beltran organization to steal portions of marijuana loads they had been contracted to smuggle, then a law enforcement bust would be staged to provide the organization cover for the stolen drugs. De La Cruz was allegedly paid to provide official documentation to the Beltran organization as proof to distrustful suppliers, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators allege that De La Cruz also escorted a load of marijuana in late 2011 or early 2012, and that he took a $5,000 cash bribe. De La Cruz and Ramiro Beltran Sr. are believed to be good friends who spent time together at the horse racing tracks, according to the criminal complaint. In early 2012, De La Cruz gave Beltran Sr. a police radio that was later used by the organization to scan local police frequencies during smuggling operations, the complaint alleges. anelsen@express-news.net The Witte Musuem, Guadalupe Cultural Arts and San Antonio Living History Association are among the nonprofit arts, educational, recreational, cultural and history groups and charities named as partners for San Antonios yearlong tricentennial celebration in 2018. The 44 partners were announced today at the nonprofit Tricentennial Commissions new office and exhibit space in the Centro de Artes Building in Market Square. Edward Benavides, CEO of the commission, thanked the groups for contributing to the rich diversity of our community. Law enforcement officials arrested 15 men in a prostitution sting in South Texas over the weekend. Officers from the Harlingen Police Department went undercover Sept. 16-17 and were approached by the suspects near Gutierrez Park, according to a department news release. RELATED: 32 arrested in Harlingen prostitution sting Undercover police officers were approached by the suspects and solicited or agreed to engage in a sex act for compensation, according to the release. The suspects were arrested for solicitation of prostitution and were taken to the Harlingen Police Department. The department did not immediately respond for comment. RELATED: SAPD: 8 men arrested for soliciting sex from undercover detectives in prostitution sting Harlingen is a destination city in the Valley that values quality of life for families and individuals where they can live without crime, or the fear of crime in a clean and safe community, Police Chief Jeffry Adickes said. We will continue these efforts to support those community values as we serve this great city. RELATED: 15 women arrested, 8 brothels shut down in Dallas prostitution sting Solicitation of prostitution can result in up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 Two robbers shot a clerk at a convenience store in the 1400 block of East Southcross Boulevard late Monday, San Antonio Police said. The clerk, who was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center, was in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BALMORHEA State park officials dont believe oil drilling around this small West Texas town would contaminate or deplete the regions famous artesian springs. Officials said they have no evidence to indicate concern about Houston-based Apache Corp.s plans to drill oil and gas wells on 350,000 acres surrounding the famous pools and canals of Balmorhea State Park. Stephanie Salinas, a spokeswoman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said the oil wells are lower than or equal in depth to the springs. Since water doesnt flow up-gradient, the park should not be affected by oil and gas drilling. Apache announced last week the discovery of a new oilfield it named Alpine High in the prairie north of the Davis Mountains. It estimated the field holds more than 15 billion barrels of oil and gas, potentially one of the largest discoveries in recent years. Some residents of this 500-person town, however, have worried about the impact of such a vast find. Theyre concerned the drilling could contaminate the aquifer, spoil the water or use up the springs hydraulic fracturing requires millions of gallons of water to flood the well, crack shale and release oil. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee Apache sent executives and workers to Balmorhea on Friday to meet with city and regional officials, the company said. Apache said it has leased the mineral rights under the town and the state park, but promised not to drill on or under either. The park service said it would continue to monitor the situation. A Texas woman's Twitter account had a new tweet the day after she was found dismembered and burned. Her accused killer who was arrested Sunday in Fort Worth posted strange things on his Facebook page before and after her death. Jacqueline Vandagriff, 24 and from Frisco, was discovered in Acorn Woods Park on Wednesday by the Grapevine Fire Department. Charles Dean Bryant, 30, was arrested and charged with capital murder, according to the Grapevine Police Department. READ MORE: Body found burned, dismembered in North Texas On Sept. 13, the last night Vandagriff was seen alive, she tweeted that she was thinking of going on a date with a Tinder match but decided to go to the bar instead when the date fell through. According to news station KXAS-TV, police said Vandagriff was last seen leaving a bar with Bryant around 11 p.m. that same night. READ MORE: Police release new photos of scene where man was dismembered, burned in San Antonio That same night, Bryant left an eerie post on his Facebook page with a timestamp of 10:56 p.m., around the time police said Vandagriff was last seen with him. On Thursday, the day after Vandagriff's body was found, a new tweet appeared on her Twitter account. Bryant also posted a cryptic message on his Facebook page. Other posts on Bryant's Facebook page have check-ins to different parks in Grapevine and Dallas. Bryant's posts between the time of Vandagriff's death and his arrest are similarly strange. "Early mornings and sleepless nights but she got you feeling alright," Bryant wrote on a Friday check-in at Colorado Park in Dallas. More for you Man charged with stalking Black Rifle Coffee employee Police have not commented on who was tweeting on Vandagriff'as account after her body was found. KXAS-TV also reports Bryant was arrested Sept. 7 for trespassing and stalking a University of North Texas student. He was released Sept. 9 from Denton County Jail, days before he was seen with Vandagriff. Bryant is held on $1 million bond in Vandagriff's death. The smart cards are part of a government programme to prevent the leakage of subsidised petroleum products onto the black market and into the hands of smugglers The long-planned smart card system at Egyptian gas stations will most likely be activated by the end of this year, an official from E-Finance Company, which is tasked by the government to execute the project, said on Tuesday. E-Finance's strategy and business planning director Haitham Tarabeek told Ahram Online on the sidelines of the Euromoney Egypt Conference that although there is nothing official yet and that the system is currently on hold, it will be activated very soon. The smart cards are part of a governmental programme to prevent the leakage of subsidised petroleum products onto the black market and into the hands of smugglers. The project was initially scheduled to start in June 2013, with E-Finance training fuel workers and introduced the system to all gas stations, but the start date was indefinitely delayed, Tarabeek said. Tarabeek stated that 15 days prior to the activation of the smart card system in 2015, the government said to [put it on] hold in order to add more vehicles, such as the three-wheeled tuk-tuks, to the system. Tarabeek said that since then, E-Finance put the mechanism in place, registering tuk-tuks in a number of governorates to the system, adding that incorporating all tuk-tuks nationwide to the system "needs a government push." In 2014, the government raised fuel prices by up to 78 percent to reduce subsidies by up to EGP 44 billion as part of a reform programme to phase out energy subsidies in an attempt to curb the growing state budget deficit, which is estimated at 11.5 percent in the fiscal year 2015/16. The government plans to trim the petroleum subsidy bill in the 2016/17 budget by 43.5 percent to reach EGP 35 billion. The state budget was approved by parliament in July. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt is currently negotiating a $4 billion loan from China to finance the countrys renewable energy strategy, an official from the international cooperation ministry said on Tuesday. China has shown readiness to provide the fund, Shehab Marzban, the deputy minister for economic affairs, told Ahram Online on the sidelines of the Euromoney Egypt conference. According to Marzban, the loan will finance renewable energy projects to generate a total of one gigawatt of electricity. One of the projects will be a solar cells factory. Last month, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said that Egypt is discussing a $1 billion fund from China to finance local sanitation projects. In January, the Egyptian government announced during the Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Cairo a finance package from China worth $15 billion including commercial and soft loans for FX reserves support and projects in energy, transport and sanitation. Part of this package is expected to be invested in the infrastructure of Egypt's planned new administrative capital. Search Keywords: Short link: One hundred and forty years ago, the people of Texas laid out their will in the state constitution that the University of Texas at Austin be a university of the first class. We embody that every day, with our university and our people serving as the intellectual center of Texas. We receive the most federal research funds of any Texas university. We will graduate more than 10,000 students this year with bachelors degrees, the largest number in university history. We welcomed more than 8,700 freshmen last month, another record. Even on a new state law allowing concealed handguns on campus an issue on which many passionately disagree we have had an open and constructive debate where all voices were heard But even the best can do better. As Gov. Greg Abbott, a tremendous supporter of higher education who will be recognized next month as a distinguished alumnus, said about our university, Great is not good enough. To realize our potential, UT must do even more to prepare students to be leaders, conduct research with global impact and influence, transform the health care system, and nurture a campus culture in which every voice is heard and valued. For students to obtain such an outstanding education, it must be accessible and affordable, no matter their circumstances. Thats why I announced an additional commitment of $15 million in financial aid over the next two years for students from middle-income families. Students from families with annual incomes starting at $60,000 will be eligible for these grants beginning in fall 2017. Once on campus, students must have the opportunity to enroll in degree programs that incorporate the most effective approaches to classroom teaching, and focus more time and resources on the unique learning experiences that distinguish undergraduate education at a leading research university. As just one example, our government department and LBJ School of Public Affairs have developed a course where students have their credits broken into an hour each for classroom learning, research and internships. Students in this course have won prestigious research awards, presented at international conferences, conducted fieldwork in Africa and Asia, and taken internships or started careers in the White House Council of Economic Advisers and the Federal Reserve Bank. As we have seen in many areas of research, breakthroughs happen when we break down silos of knowledge. And we are doing that now. We are creating an initiative we are calling Bridging Barriers. This interdisciplinary program across the campus will tackle some of the hardest questions in the natural and human-made worlds. We will make a substantial investment and enhance our research mission by adding 50 new faculty positions during the next several years. Excellence also depends on fostering a culture on campus that includes all students and that has diversity and inclusion as top priorities. This summer we began developing a campuswide Diversity Action Plan that will clearly define the needs for improving diversity and inclusion, identify shortcomings, and chart a course for advancing our values. From recruiting diverse students more effectively, to responding to hate incidents more quickly, to ensuring that underserved students have access to appropriate counseling, transportation and other services, we must and will take action. For students to excel, they must feel safe. Thats why we are taking steps both to improve security and address the grave national problem of sexual assault. We must make this a university that does everything it can to prevent sexual misconduct, where everyone is empowered to report it, and where survivors are confident the university takes them seriously, investigates expeditiously and has due process. Yes, we have ambitious goals. And achieving these goals will require support from policymakers, benefactors, industry partners and alumni. On campus, we must be willing to make hard choices, spend resources wisely and be accountable to the taxpayers of Texas and the parents and students who pay tuition. We are the flagship university for the worlds 12th largest economy. We are uniquely positioned by the blessings of our scale, resources and pioneering spirit to drive change and accelerate the pace of progress. Gregory L. Fenves is president of the University of Texas at Austin. With her bout of pneumonia and the delay in being forthcoming about it, Hillary Clinton last week reportedly had one of her worst two weeks since the presidential campaign began. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to lie. He (again) suggests violence against Clinton. On terrorism, he offers counterproductive policy. And his weeks are apparently hunky-dory. First the lie. Trump, after five years of consistently casting doubt on the presidents birthplace and religion acknowledged that Barack Obama is indeed U.S.-born. This was blatant political posturing. He knows voters desperately want him to start acting presidential. What came next, however, was anything but. He then blamed Clinton for starting the birther nonsense in her first run for president against Obama. And he said it took his badgering of the White House for the president to release his long-form birth certificate, which then allowed him to end the controversy. This proves hes a closer, said his campaign. There are a couple of problems with that. Clinton did not start the birther controversy. And even after the president released his birth certificate, Trump continued harping on the topic to delegitimize the nations first African-American president. PolitiFact looked into Trumps claim against Clinton. And, like other fact-checking organizations, found it false, the only credible question being why it didnt reach a pants on fire rating. There was a memo in the 2007 Clinton campaign by aide Mark Penn that counseled the campaign to point out Obamas lack of American roots. It was an unsavory proposal, but one effectively rejected by Clinton. Neither she nor her campaign ever went there. Not so Trump. Just before he graciously granted the U.S. president citizenship last week, he had refused to say the president was U.S.-born. Moreover, his acknowledgment of the presidents U.S. birthplace was terse, and the event essentially called for veterans on stage to sing his praises and for him to showcase a new hotel he opened in Washington, D.C. There is no other word for what Trump did here and many other times during the campaign. He lied. Knowingly and purposely. He is playing American voters for chumps. And he is a master of misdirection. If hes called a bigot with good reason he calls Clinton one. If hes called a liar, he doubles down on that word for Clinton, though its a wonder why his pants arent continuously in flames. He slams Clinton for lack of transparency and wont release his tax records. Also last week, Trump suggested Americans should see what happens if her Secret Service guardians were to disarm. This was allegedly to highlight her hypocrisy. In Trumps lying words, she wants to gut the Second Amendment and take away Americans guns, while shes OK with being guarded by people with guns. No, Clinton has no such intentions on the Second Amendment, though she does want more thorough background checks to ensure guns dont get into the wrong hands. And even people who want stricter gun control than Clinton arent suggesting that law enforcement disarm. It would be easier to not see this as a suggestion of violence against Clinton had this not been preceded by his suggestion that perhaps Second Amendment folks have a solution for Clinton. Such talk even veiled as a joke not only incites violence but represents a vote of no-confidence in Americans. And, on Monday, following the New York City bombing, Trump suggested that authorities use racial profiling to combat terrorism. Clinton correctly says that such talk plays into the hands of terrorists whose recruiting depends on convincing people that the U.S. is waging a war on Islam and those who practice it. Lies. The media have been too bashful with the word. We are not. These are an adoption of Big Lie tactics. Say it often enough, it becomes true, though patently false. And that best describes Trumps campaign rhetoric overall. Mark Millers candidacy for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission is a prime example why voters should never pull the lever just for their preferred political party. Miller, the Libertarian Party nominee, is the only qualified candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, which has nothing to do with railroads. It is the regulatory authority for the oil and gas industry. Miller is vastly superior to the Democrat and Republican nominees for this office, neither of whom has experience working in the oil and gas industry, much less the requisite knowledge to regulate it. Miller, on the other hand, has worked for decades in petrochemical engineering. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and spent 18 years teaching petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, in addition to his work in the private sector. Ask him about complex issues facing the industry, and he answers with detail, nuance and clarity. He has even written the perfect book for the job: Oil & Gas and the Texas Railroad Commission: Lessons for Regulating a Free Society. This editorial board interviews numerous candidates each year and almost exclusively endorses candidates from the major parties. Third party candidates are usually interesting and well-intentioned but a little too fringe to serve the greater public good. Miller is a true exception. He knows the issues, and he consistently strikes the right balance between industry needs and protecting public health and safety. In comparison, the mainstream party candidates come across as fringe. Wayne Christian, the Republican Party nominee, is a former state lawmaker with a knack for making political enemies. He once pushed legislation to exempt his beachfront property from the Texas Open Beaches Act. It was a model for self-serving public service. Grady Yarbrough, the Democratic nominee, is running a front-porch campaign. The retired educator, who spent time in San Antonio, has no experience in the oil and gas industry and is not qualified for the job. He is a perennial candidate, having run for various offices over the years. Also running is Green Party candidate Martina Salinas, who also lacks experience in the industry. Regulation is usually a four-letter word for libertarians, but regulations are necessary to protect public health and safety. Miller gets this. He supports the recent Sunset Commission recommendations for the Texas Railroad Commission, which would bolster oversight and streamline the agency, for example. He believes the Legislature has failed to balance the needs of surface rights owners with mineral rights owners, he supports studying the likely link between fracking and earthquakes, and he has genuine concerns about protecting groundwater. Miller is a Libertarian, and he is passionate about property rights, free markets, personal freedom and limited government. But limited government is not the same as no government, and Miller knows his stuff. Miller would bring rigor and transparency to the Texas Railroad Commission, which would be refreshing. We strongly encourage voters to look beyond the major party candidates and consider Miller for railroad commissioner. He is, far and away, the best candidate for this important job. The 7th Annual Alzheimers Symposium will be held 9 a.m.-2:45 p.m. Oct. 19, 2016 at the McKenna Events Center, 801 W. San Antonio St. in New Braunfels. The free event is sponsored by Sodalis Senior Living and the Alzheimers Association San Antonio and South Texas Chapter. Local and national experts with share the latest lifestyle engagements, activities and memory-enhancement programs that work best for those with Alzheimers or dementia. Codeine is processed by the liver into morphine that can ease pain. But genetic differences can trigger the liver to create dangerous or even fatal slowdowns in breathing Codeine isnt safe for children and shouldnt be used to ease pain or relieve coughs, a leading U.S. pediatricians group warns. Codeine has been prescribed for decades for both purposes, despite mounting evidence that it doesnt always work and sometimes causes serious or potentially fatal side effects, doctors argue in a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. We firmly believe that there is never a reason to use codeine, said the lead author of the statement, Dr. Joseph Tobias of Ohio State University and Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, in email to Reuters Health. Codeine has been linked to life-threatening or fatal respiratory problems in children for more than a decade, Tobias and colleagues note in the statement published in the journal Pediatrics. A recent review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of potentially dangerous side effects in kids using codeine identified 64 cases of severe slowed breathing rates and 24 deaths related to the drug, including 21 deaths in kids under 12. Respiratory issues often developed after children had surgery to remove their adenoids and tonsils, a procedure done to address obstructed breathing during sleep or treat acute or chronic tonsillitis. Generally, the life-threatening events and deaths associated with codeine were found in relatively young kids who received a combination of acetaminophen and codeine after surgery. Some children with undiagnosed nighttime breathing problems may also have respiratory problems after taking codeine, and obesity may increase the risk of this occurring. As doctors weigh the risks of prescribing codeine to children, they also need to consider the instances when theres not enough evidence that the drug works, according to the AAP statement. Theres little proof codeine is effective for kids coughs, and mounting evidence suggests that some children may not respond to treatment for pain. Part of the problem is the way codeine is processed by the body. Its converted by the liver into morphine that can ease pain. But genetic differences can trigger the liver to create too little or not enough morphine. Too little means the medicine doesnt work; too much means there could be dangerous or even fatal slowdowns in breathing. The FDA ordered whats known as a black box warning its strongest on codeine in 2013 cautioning doctors not to give the drug to kids having surgery to remove their adenoids or tonsils. Opioids should never be prescribed for cough and there are other oral opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone that are available for use in children and these should be prescribed instead, Houck added by email. Parents shouldnt assume codeine is ok to give kids without seeing a doctor first, said Dr. Alan Woolf, a researcher at Harvard Medical School who wasnt involved in the AAP statement. They should ask what the alternative pain relievers are, Woolf said by email. Parents should not give their child codeine for coughs or colds. Search Keywords: Short link: This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settings ACCEPT Pigeons can learn to distinguish real words from non-words Phys.org (RM). Deeply Sorry Stumpf Says Wells Fargo Too Slow to Tackle Abuses Bloomberg Media Grossly Downplaying the Depths of the Wells Fargo Scandal Bill Black, TRNN Mike Scher: Three questions for Wells Fargo The FCPA Blog (J-LS). Exclusive: Google may face over $400 million Indonesia tax bill for 2015 government official Reuters Cable lobby tries to make you forget that it represents cable companies Ars Technica Illinois State Pension Board Stops Trying to Beat the Market WSJ When Did Fashion Stop Caring about Clothing? The Fashion Law Ride-Hailing App Grab Raises $750 Million WSJ Cops arrest New Jersey resident Ahmad Khan Rahami, wanted for NYC and N.J. bombings, after he shoots police officer NY Daily News Thieves Helped Crack the Chelsea Bombing Case, Sources Say DNAinfo. Who in this world finds a pressure cooker with a phone and just takes the bag? a law enforcement source said. Welcome to Ankh-Morpork. The Terrorism Tax hits Europe Global Guerillas. And America? China? Americas Pacific pivot is sinking FT Syraqistan US builds working theory on cause of Syrian airstrike CNN. US, British, Danish and Australian aircraft may have incorrectly assessed intelligence and targeted the site. Mainstream media nearly ignored Die Linke rise in Berlin state election the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens (CS). German producer prices turn negative in August FT War Drums The Federal Reserve confronts a possibility it never expected: No exit. WaPo United States Air Force grounds F-35As after cooling kit cracks up Register 2016 Donald Trump can now officially be called Fat Donald NY Daily News and Donald Trump Charity Failed to Heed States Rules With Veterans Event NYT. Im putting these two links here to make the point that in June and July the Clinton campaign painted Trump as historys worst monster: The second coming of Adolf Hitler and George Wallace. So now, after Labour Day, now that people are paying attention, we get stories like these, or stories that Trump knows how to work the system by getting government money for real estate projects. They threw the kitchen sink at Trump early, then they threw another one, and now theyre throwing kitchen sponges, little bits of soap, flapping the towels. Clinton really is running a terrible campaign. After you call Trump Hitler, and he pulls even with you in the polls, where do you go? Bloomberg asks Clinton if Russians were behind attack to help Trump The Hill. Well, Putins behind everything else, so why not? Clinton: Into the Headwinds Elizabeth Drew, NYRB. Clinton is having trouble assembling the coalition that twice elected Obama. Then its not much of a coalition, is it? Bernies Gambit in Ohio Politico (BK). Jill Stein Has Got to Be Kidding Esquire. Pearl clutching. Foot Fetishists Are Freaking Out Over Hillary Clintons Feet Vice (RS). I really shouldnt have run this The only elements that differentiate Theresa Mays latest move from a Monty Python skit is her lack of a pith helmet and safari jacket. The British Prime Minister, per the Financial Times, plans to visit with top executives of major Wall Street firms to canvass them on how Britain should structure its departure from the EU to reassure them that Brexit will not damage their UK business. Mind you, she is not making this kiss-the-ring trip to New York to reassure the financial behemoths. That would mean the UK has a plan and is making the rounds to sell it and perhaps make cosmetic changes around the margins to make them feel important. Nor is it consult, which is diplo-speak for, Well listen to your concerns but are making no commitment as to how much if any well take under advisement. No, canvass means they are a valued constituency she intends to win over and is seeking their input for real. This canvass is yet more proof of how out of its depth the UK government is in handling the supposedly still on Brexit. Theres a decent likelihood that May is running to the US because her team is short on staff and ideas and those clever conniving Americans might have some useful ideas up their sleeves. After all, they dont want to go through the bother of getting more licenses and moving some staff to the Continent or Dublin. Its much simpler to keep everything in London, particularly since top New York execs might face a tour of duty there, and the housing, shopping and schools are much more to their liking. Mind you, most financial services would remain in London with a Brexit, but Euroclearing will require a restructuring (that will have to be done out of an EU entity). The embarrassing part is that May is apparently have to solicit input, when the big issue is obvious and binary: will the UK keep passporting rights for banking? This is binary and not hard to understand. If not, UK and US banks will need to obtain EU licenses to do certain types of business and some customer-facing personnel will need to be domiciled in the EU, not the UK. Numerous estimates have been bandied about, and they vary widely. Note that many important operations, like foreign exchange trading, were centered in the UK long before it entered the EU, are not regulated, and are conducted by phone and electronically, so theres no reason to think they will need to migrate. But the City has taken a harder look, and a lot of core services, like cross-border lending and deposit-taking, would be vulnerable to a Brexit. And law firms and accounting firms that support these activities are likely to shift their staffing commitments across international offices to follow the financiers. However, the UK banks are operating in a state of delusion as to what they are likely to get out of a Brexit negotiation. Theyve managed to convince themselves theyll get passporting rights, which means that the status quo would remain largely intact. As we wrote last month in Brexit Delusion Rises Even Further: City Pumping for Presumptuous, Nightmarish-to-Negotiate Swiss Plus Plan: As to why the Citys plan is wildly off base, lets start with the overview from the Financial Times: The City of London has given up hope of universal access to the EU single market and is now seeking a bespoke deal for its different sectors to trade with Europe, with similar but stronger ties than Switzerland Mr [Anthony] Browne [chief executive of the British Bankers Association] cited Switzerlands trade deals with the EU that give some sectors, such as life insurance, full two-way access to the single market via a so-called passporting deal in return for keeping its regulation at an equivalent level to that in the bloc. Swiss banks do not benefit from any such trade deal, meaning they must do most of their EU capital markets business from their London subsidiaries. But the City, which was overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the bloc before the June 23 referendum, will argue that because the UK is the biggest export market for the rest of the EU it should be able to negotiate a beefed-up version of Switzerlands arrangement Earlier this week, Michael Roth, Germanys European Affairs minister, said that the UK could gain special status with the EU and have a bespoke deal. He repeated warnings, however, that the UK would not be able to cherry pick its position. Why is this nutty? Europan officials have made it clear that any Brexit arrangement needs to be consistent with the templates for other deals. Consistent does not mean the same but it means generally that it needs to be fair with respect to the gives and gets of the arrangements that other non-EU members have. In other words, even the very term Swiss plus which seems to reflect an expectation that the Brits can get a better arrangement that Switzerland has, is fundamentally wrong-headed. Conceptually, they could use the Swiss treaties as a starting point for formulating their relationship, but the negotiators need to expect to make tradeoffs: if they want a better deal than Switzerland on one axis, they need to make a concession on some other element. The general tenor of the EU negotiating posture has become frostier since the UK voted for Brexit. The cheery belief that the UK will get special breaks because it is oh so important is contradicted by the consistent cool messages EU leaders have sent, and more important, their stern posture toward other trade supplicants of late. Swiss citizens in a binding referendum voted in 2014 to restrict immigration and the arrangements must be in place by early 2017. The EU has said firmly that Switzerland will lose its access to the single market if it restricts immigration. Similarly, Canada and the EU recently agreed on the terms of a trade pact which took seven years to conclude. In the wake of the Brexit vote, the European Commission threw a spanner in the works by stipulating that the pact be ratified by all the parliaments in the 28 member states. This means that any country that feels the Canadian deal will put it at a disadvantage has a veto. Passporting rights for financial services is a huge ask. Note, as the pink paper points out, that the Swiss arrangement has passporting for life insurance only, a much smaller sector for them than banking. Recall that the EU was already trying to take a chunk out of the City by requiring that the UK be barred from Euroclearing. The only reason the EU lost that suit (in which the powerful ECB was one of the plaintiffs) was that the European Court of Justice ruled that discrimination of that sort against an EU member was not permitted. With the UK out of the EU, the Euroclearing business will need to be migrated to the Continent. Weve also pointed out that European member states, such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain have large banks that are eager to take a piece of the Citys business. And even though British and American concerns that operate out of the UK can probably hold on to much of their franchises by reorganizing their operations, the UK still comes out a loser because people and activities will move out of London to other cities in the EU. Back to the current post. In case you think that reading was unduly negative, today the Germans said Hell no to the idea of the UK getting passporting rights if it were not at least part of the EEA, which is what a Swiss plus deal means (see here for more background). From Sky News: British-based financial institutions will lose passporting rights in the European Union unless Britain remains at least part of the European Economic Area, according to Germanys top banker. Passporting enables banks to trade seamlessly across the European single market without the need for licences in individual countries. Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said the passporting rights are tied to the single market and would automatically cease to apply if Great Britain is no longer at least part of the European Economic Area. If one assumes an uncharacteristic outbreak of Brexit-related competence from the Government, perhaps the repeated, loud messages of EU officials to their UK counterparts, like No special deals, and No restrictions on labor movement if you are to have access to the single market have finally begun to penetrate. Perhaps May is going to the US banks to get some ammo to challenge the complacency and happy talk on her side and/or build the case as to why a Brexit would come at an unacceptably high cost to the UK and would do more damage to the Tories than finding a way to back out. But I wouldnt bet on it. But assuming these meetings are what they appear to be, they reveal a rudderless negotiating team looking overmuch for input from corporate interests who dont have a stake in the UKs best interest, just their profits, top manager pay, and bureaucratic convenience. The comments at the FT are acid. For instance: Robo63 So she wants advise from bailed out, fraudsters and market riggers, of course theyd know whats right for a sovereign nation. Maybe some thing the help Greece got from Goldman? Iron Knee Hedge Funds will make a fortune from Article 50, bet they are all telling her to go for it Harry Bollinger Soft exit = free movement = not available = hard exit = oh dear! Adam Pharaoh How ridiculous and how embarrassing! That the silly post Brexit PM should be asking a few US banks what her Governments most important strategic decision should be and yet not show the slightest inclination to ask either the EU governments upon whom she depends for any deal whatsoever, nor the experts within her own country, just shows how out of her depth the whole Brexit Government which she now leads is on every single dimension to this question. Never in the post war British history has so much depended on the incompetence of so few! The sooner they make complete fools of themselves the better, for perhaps the UK now needs to make a stupid hard Brexit decision before some sensible political coalition regains power in 2020 and re-applies to return to the EU. What is discouraging in watching this process from afar is that we are coming up on three months after the Brexit vote, and there is no evidence that Tory leaders have listened much, if at all, to their European counterparts, come to grips with what the negotiations entail, or done any planning as to how to deal with the fallout. Its as if the Conservatives still regard this all as a lark, that things will sort themselves out, and life will continue more or less as before. The British public had better hope that this dilettantish attitude is a sign that the Tories have no intention of pulling the Article 50 trigger. If not, the lack of any sort of serious planning will guarantee a train wreck. By Lambert Strether of Corrente This is important work by Ferguson and his colleagues, Paul Jorgensen, and Jie Chen, and especially relevant to the 2016 election. From the executive summary at iNet: Social scientists have stubbornly held that money and election outcomes are at most weakly linked. New research provides clear evidence to the contrary. Thomas Ferguson, Paul Jorgensen, and Jie Chen reveal strikingly direct relations between money and major party votes in all U.S. elections for the Senate and House of Representatives from 1980 to 2014. Using a new and comprehensive dataset built from government sources, they find that the relationship between the proportions of money spent by the winning party and votes is close to a straight line. (Here is the PDF of the full paper, How Money Drives US Congressional Elections, Thomas Ferguson, Paul Jorgensen, and Jie Chen, Working Paper No. 48, August 1, 2016.) First, Ill look at the dataset. Then, Ill look at that straight line relation. Finally, Ill look at some of the political implications of Fergusons work for thinking about 2016. The Dataset If you are a data person, and especially a big data person, Fergusons project is thrilling. Most everyone will be familiar with the problem of determining whether Mr. Bob Smith, 1234 Your St., Anytown USA and R. Smith, Yore Avenue, Anystate are really the same person; theres a whole industry built up to work that stuff out because marketers (and debt collectors) need it. How much more complex when the names and addresses are entered by people with every incentive to conceal their identities! From the full paper (pp. 8-9): For this paper, the thornier data problems arise from the fragmentation of reporting sources and formats whose chaotic realities are, we are sure, a major reason why progress has been so slow in understanding campaign finance. Because we have extensively discussed elsewhere the measures we have taken to overco me these problems, our discussion here will be summary. The guiding idea of our Political Money Project is to return to the raw data made available by the FEC and the IRS and create a single unified database containing all contributions in whatever form. This is a tall order, as anyone with any familiarity with our vastly different data sources will realize. In particular, FEC sources are sometimes jarringly inconsistent; many previous analysts do always appear to recognize the extent of the flow of funds anomalies in this data. And not all the IRS contributions are easily available in electronic form for all years. But our real work commences only once this stage is completed. At both the FEC and the IRS, standards for reporting names of both individual and corporate contributors are laughably weak. Both companies and individuals routinely take advantage of regulatory nonchalance about even arrant non-compliance. Along with an enormous number of obviously bad faith reports (such as presidential contributions listed as coming from individuals working at banks that were swallowed long ago by other giants) all sorts of naive, good faith errors abound in spelling, consistent use of Jr., Sr., or Mr., Ms., and Mrs., along with many incomplete entries and hyphenated names. Many people, especially very wealthy contributors, legitimately have more 9 than one address and fail to consistently list their corporate affiliations (retired as a category of contributor is extensively abused; some people who chair giant c orporations claim the status). From the outset we recognized that solving this problem was indispensable to making reliable estimates of the concentration of political contributions. We adapted for our purposes programs of the type used by major hospital s and other institutions dealing with similar problems, adding many safeguards against tricks that no medical institution ever has to worry about; all the while checking and cross-checking our results, especially for large contributors. In big data efforts , there is never a point where such tasks can be regarded as unimpeachably finished. But we are certain that our data substantially improve over other sources on offer, including rosters of campaign contributions compiled by for-profit companies and all public sources. Because we can compare many reports filed by people who we recognize as really the same person, we are able to see through schemes, such as those encouraged by the Obama campaigns (especially in 2008)[1], that encourage individual contributors to break up contributions into what looks like many small donations. We are also able to fill in many entries for workplace affiliation left blank. By itself, these steps lead to a quantum leap in the number of contributions coming from the same enterprises. But we have also used business directories and data from the Securities and Exchange Commission to pin down the corporate affiliations of many other contributors, whose identifications, once established, are similarly extendible. Again, I cant stress enough how excellent and important this work is. And its really hard to do! The Straight Line Relation Now lets jump straight to the conclusion (full paper, page 10): Data compiled like this allows us to brush past artificial efforts to distinguish kinds of spending in Congressional races, such as inside vs. outside funds (that is, spent by candidates own committee or by allegedly independent outside groups) or the spending of challengers or incumbents. Instead we simply pool all spending by and on behalf of candidates and then examine whether relative, not absolute, differences in total outlays are related to vote differentials. If conventional claims about the limited importance of political money are correct, then the individual data points particular House or Senate election outcomes should be scattered indifferently across the graph. Money just wouldnt predict voting outcomes very well. If on the other hand, money is strongly associated with votes received, then the fit would approximate a straight line. All kinds of intermediate cases, of course, can be imagined. And here are those straight lines: (These table is an excellent example of the power of Tuftes small multiples. Readers who are clever about statistics (and I am not) will have objected that Fergusons methodology may not be able to tease out money as an effect from money as a cause, to which Ferguson et al. respond as follows: [T]here is one last redoubt in which skeptics can take refuge: the possibility that money and votes are reciprocally related. AsJac obson artfully frames the conundrum that protects this escape hatch: Money may help win votes, but the expectation that a candidate can win votes also brings in money. To the degree that (expected) votes influence spending, ordinary measures will exaggera te the effects of spending on votes. Our response to this challenge consists of two parts. Firstly, at least one clear natural experiment exists, in which it is possible to say with reasonable certainty that a tidal wave of money helped produce a sho cking political upset that was anticipated by scarcely anyone: The famous 1994 election in which Newt Gingrich and a Golden Horde of donors stunned the world by seizing control of the House of Representatives for the Republicans for the first time since 1954 (and only the third time since 1932). Taking a leaf from recent studies in economics and finance of event analysis, we use published estimates of the change in the odds of a Republican takeover to rule out appeals to confident expectations of taking over the House as the explanation for the wave of money that drowned House Democrats that year. But 1994 is only one case, though admittedly a momentous one. We have not been able to locate usable odds compilations for other elections. In the hope of bypassing tedious debates over a host of less clear cut cases, we searched for more general approaches. We suspect that where politics and money is concerned, the search for good instruments is in most instances akin to hunting the Snark. A better approach is to search for estimation methods that do not require us to lean so heavily on thin reeds. This quest led us to the work of Peter Ebbes and his colleagues. Ebbes and his associates have developed latent instrumental variable (LIV) models into a practical working tool, where the instrument is unknown, and used them to attack a variety of problems. These methods are relatively new and, of course, like virtually all statistical tools, rely on assumptions for their validity, but the assumptions required do not appear any more farfetched than more conventional approaches to tackling the question. Irene Hueters recent critical review is very helpful in clarifying important points. While critical on various secondary issues, she concludes that the method appears to be fundamentally sound and to work in practice: the solutions it gives to some classical econometric applications appear reasonable and in line with results using more traditional methods. We think it is time to try the approach on money and politics, particularly since we can crosscheck its findings with our results on 1994, obtained by the completely different approach now conventional in finance. Personally, I have to accept Fergusons authority on this, but the Naked Capitalism commentariat being what it is, perhaps readers will be able to comment on the latent instrumental variable approach. The 2016 Election One more conclusion that Ferguson et al. draw is that yes, we do live in an oligarchy (although factional conflicts take place among oligarchs: We demonstrated, for example, that the 1% defined quite carefully dominated both major parties; at the same time, however, our results once again directly confirmed the huge differences in the extent to which specific sectors and blocs of firms within big business differentially support Democrats or Republicans. The results point up the futility of trying to underst and the dynamics of American politics without reference to investor coalitions and strongly support a broad investment approach to party competition. We showed that the case of the Tea Party was no different by tracking the rates of support for its candidates within business as a whole but, most importantly, within big business. Claims that major American businesses do not financially support Tea Party candidates are plainly false. Im not sure whether Fergusons results for House (and Senate) races translate directly to Presidential races. However, it would seem to me that at least in 2016, the relationship between money and electoral success has not been linear. After all, how much did George Bush blow? $270 million? And while Clinton is far better funded than Trump, its not at all clear that shes getting any kind of bang for the buck. Perhaps candidate quality is a wild card at the Presidential level. NOTE [1] Well, well. I remember raising this issue in 2008, and being scoffed at. It would be interesting to know if the same techniques were used by the Trump campaign, which just came out with a small donors story, and, to be fair, whether they were used by Clinton or even Sanders. Home to the Salah El-Din Citadel, Tekeyet El-Mawlawiya and Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque, El-Khalifa is a journey in time through Cairo's Islamic history When crossing Salah Salem Road at any time of the day, you cannot miss the iconic Citadel of Salah El-Din dominating the eastern edge of the city. One might think this is the best this side of the city has to offer, but there's a world behind the beautiful fortress that holds a fine collection of Cairo's Islamic architectural gems. Take a small detour off the main Salah Salem road towards Salah El-Din Square and get ready to embark on a special journey through the sites of El-Khalifa neighbourhood. While many of the nearby districts may be more well-known for their monuments and touristic sites, the streets and nooks of El-Khalifa neighbourhood are perfect for a day-walk if you are looking to see a great collection of monuments and mosques in a less crowded and non-commercial area of Cairo. Sabil Um Abbas: Ottoman era Starting off the walk at Salah El-Din Square, you will start noticing the decorative Islamic designs on some of the buildings, and further down the street you cannot miss the remarkable Ottoman landmark resting on a street corner; Sabil Um Abbas. The landmark was originally built on the orders of Banbah Qadin, the mother of Abbas Helmy I, who ruled Egypt from 1848 to 1854. At the time, sabils were built to serve clean water for passersby as well as serve as a Kutab, or a small educational institution. Thirteen years after his death, Abbas's mother ordered the construction of this sabil in the honour of her son, whose reign was marked with cruelty and culminated in his assassination. Though sabils are not uncommon in Cairo, Sabil Um Abbas is particularly splendid. The structure is marked with a beautiful marble facade, with wooden hoods engraved with Arabic calligraphy and Qur'anic verses. The sabil also boasts beautiful bronze window grills and unique marble ornaments, with full-blossomed flowers on its different sides. The luxurious landmark catches the eye from afar, though sadly it has long been closed to the public. Amir Taz Palace: Mamluk era If you take a right at the sabil and walk a few metres down the street, you will come across the entrance to the magnificent Amir Taz Palace at the intersection of Saliba and Siyufiya streets. The palace, which dates back to the Mamluk era and now serves as a cultural centre, is open to the public free of charge. As you step inside, you find yourself in a courtyard at the centre of the structure, facing the different rooms. Unlike some other historical palaces that still hold the belongings of their original masters, there is not much to see inside the rooms of the Amir Taz Palace. However, the beautifully designed building, with its chandeliers and walls adorned with Arabic calligraphy, is splendid to behold on its own. The palace also serves as host to many cultural events and exhibitions, especially during the month of Ramadan. Tekeyet El- Mawlawiya: Ottoman era Beyond the intersection where the palace stands lies Tekeyet El- Mawlawiya, or the Mevlevi Museum. Although one of the less popular touristic or historical sites in the area, Tekeyet El- Mawlawiya still has much to offer behind its doors. The place was built during the Ottoman period to serve as a house for dervishes following the Mevlevi Sufi order. Inside the complex, you first come across a room that serves as a museum where the clothes and belongings of the dervishes are displayed. The main attraction of the site, however, is the Sama'a Khana; a two-floor dance hall for the dervishes where Sufi performances are held to this day. The ceiling of the Sama'a Khana is an art piece adorned with Sufi writing, and the hall holds colourful mosaic windows and a chandelier. You may find one or two visitors during the day if you visit on a weekend, though most of the time the place is free of visitors unless there is an event. Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque: Tulunid Dynasty A 10-minute walk from the sabil will take you to the gate of the Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque. Ibn Tulun is one of the oldest standing mosques in Egypt that remains in its same original form. It was built by Ahmad Ibn Tulun, a soldier who came to Egypt from Iraq and went on to found the Tulunid Dynasty, forming a new Egyptian capital; Al-Qata'i. Inside the mosque, you cannot miss the unique arches and the windows all around the courtyard with beautifully carved stucco, as well as the coloured, red-brick columns, each representing a different era. The architecture and the different decorative additions made to the mosque are a reflection of the Abbasid Dynasty architecture. The mosque is perched on the rocks of Jabal Yashkur as a way to ensure its protection. While the Amir Taz Palace and Tekeyet El-Mawlawiya serve mainly as tourist attractions, the Ibn Tulun Mosque sees visitors from all walks of life. When visiting the mosque, you may want to check out the upper floor, where you can get a great view of the courtyard as well as the Citadel of Salah El-Din. You can also take the Samarran-inspired spiral staircase up to the mosques minaret. From within the walls of Ibn Tulun, you can find a small gateway to the south of the mosque's entrance that leads to the world of Gayer Anderson. Gayer-Anderson House The Gayer-Anderson House and Museum, also known as Beit El-Keretleya (the House of the Cretan Woman), consists of two connected 16th century houses that hold a beautiful collection of artefacts, furniture, letters, artworks, images and objects that once belonged to the British major and army doctor John Gayer-Anderson. Gayer-Anderson was a British officer and doctor who first came to Cairo in 1906 as part of his service in the army, eventually settling down in the city in the 1940s. Gayer-Anderson was a great collector of objets d'art, monuments and furniture from all around the world. The house is notable not only for the objects and unique collection of artefacts that Gayer-Anderson left behind, but also for its architecture, as the residence was made up of two 16-century houses which Gayer-Anderson restored. Gayer-Anderson, who lived in the house until his death, bequeathed the house and its contents to the Egyptian state, which turned it into a museum. Unlike many other historical houses or palaces, this museum is one of few that still contain all the well-preserved belongings of the original owners. Every small detail of the house is a masterpiece in its own right, from the Damascus Room, Queen Anne's Room, the Reading Room to the Haramlek and Salamlek. Even the doorknobs, the library has on its door a small figurine of an angel and on top of it an engraving that says, Love knocks on your door and love starts. The house also partially served as a set for the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Unlike many of the other sites on El-Khalifa that offer free entrance, the museum has an EGP 5 entrance fee and an EGP 50 photography permit, though it is certainly worth the price of admittance. Search Keywords: Short link: Lambert here: I guess Im not the only one By Wolf Richter, a San Francisco based executive, entrepreneur, start up specialist, and author, with extensive international work experience. Originally published at Wolf Street. Hanjin Shipping Co. filed for the equivalent of bankruptcy protection in South Korea on August 31 and over the past two weeks in the US and dozens of other countries. Some of its ships are still idling at sea, trying to out-wait the uncertainty, and being seized by creditors. Some have made it to port and are being unloaded. Others have already been sold at fire-sale prices. When US Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood asked Hanjin lawyer Ilana Volkov if the carrier was liquidating, she said: There is no clear visibility yet on what will happen with this business. The seventh largest container carrier in the world is not the only carrier in financial trouble. Another huge Korean carrier, HMM, was restructured and bailed out earlier this year, with creditors, including the Korean taxpayer, taking a big hit. The state-owned Korean Development Bank is now its largest shareholder. Whatever the company-specific reasons, the entire industry has been caught up in a collapse of the rates they charge to transport containers across the seas. This started in early 2015, as a result of a shipbuilding boom of historic proportions, fueled by cheap money, endless liquidity, yield-desperate investors, and over-optimistic projections of demand. It created a vast oversupply of container ships that will continue to get worse through 2017 as a slew of new ships, ordered years ago, are being delivered. It coincided with lackluster demand for shipping goods, particularly a decline of exports from China (-1.8% in 2015) and South Korea (-5.1% in 2015). Having acquired these ships with borrowed money, carriers are now weighed down by enormous amounts of debt, and when cash flow curdled, the math, which had been iffy before, no longer worked at all, turning some of these carriers into zombies. But since Hanjins collapse, the meme has started to circulate that container shipping rates would soar, that Hanjins ships would be sidelined during peak shipping season and that shippers would have to scramble to find other carriers to transport their containers, and those carriers would jack up rates and get away with it. That optimism may have been largely based on wishful thinking. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which tracks only spot-market rates (not contractual rates) of shipping containers from Shanghai to 15 destinations around the world, had started plunging in February 2015. Carriers, desperate to get loads together, were accepting rates far below cost. Last March, there finally were rumors that some carriers quoted rates of zero. At the time, we warned of Hanjins impending bailout or bankruptcy and, as I wrote, the awkward side effect of stranded cargo. The SCFI, which is very volatile, hit 415, down 62% from February 2015! But the zero rate rumors marked the low point of the rates. In April, the SCFI began to zigzag higher, reaching a still unsustainably low 750 at the end of June, up 80% from the March low, before it plunged, jumped, dropped, and jumped again in its volatile spot-prices manner. The chart of the SCFI shows this volatility. But during the first two complete reporting weeks since the Hanjin collapse, circled in black, the index has barely budged and is now at 794. It remains 28% lower than it had been in February 2015: During the week, spot rates from Shanghai to the US West Coast dropped by $7 to $1,749 per FEU (40-foot equivalent unit container). Spot rates remained flat to the US East Coast and dropped to several other destinations, including an 8% plunge to South America. Rates increased significantly to the Mediterranean and South Africa. Rates to Europe edged up $23 to $966 per TEU (20-foot equivalent unit container). This is where the action has been. After bottoming out in March at a catastrophically low $211/TEU, rates to Europe have since soared 357%, most of it over the spring and summer, before the Hanjin collapse. But the much broader, less volatile, and more indicative China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI), which tracks contractual and spot-market rates for shipping containers from all major ports in China to 14 regions around the world, hasnt moved nearly as much. In April, it hit a record low of 636, down 41% from February 2015, and down 36% since its inception in 1998 when it was set at 1,000. Then it began an upward trend. In the latest reporting week, it edged up 1.3% to 712, up only 12% from the April low, but still down 34% from February 2015, having barely budged since the Hanjin collapse, circled in black: The fact that the CCFI failed to move vigorously since last March, despite the Hanjin collapse, shows that contractual rates are still bogged down. These rates are still way too low for carriers to survive. The collapse in oil prices in 2015 and early 2016 pushed down the price of bunker the fuel large ships run on a saving grace for the industry. But bunker prices have risen sharply recently, driving up costs. And Hanjins ships arent going to evaporate to knock down capacity. The oldest ships might get scrapped. But the rest will continue to ply the routes, most likely under new ownership some have already been acquired by other carriers. Thats the problem with a glut: Bankruptcy removes neither the assets nor the capacity. It only changes their ownership and forces investors to accept big losses. There may be a brief period of confusion and price spikes on some routes as shippers in peak season get desperate for their merchandise. But the glut of ships, in the face of weak demand, is such that the pain for carriers is likely to continue, with many more false-hope ups followed by brutal smack-downs, and with more carriers cracking under their debt. Theres now a new and potentially lethal problem for weaker carriers: shippers, whod counted on a bailout of Hanjin but got caught with their pants down when it didnt happen, dont want to see their merchandise get stranded again. So theyre scrutinizing carriers and will try to avoid those that dont pass the smell test, which would only hasten their demise. And creditors, whove learned from the Hanjin fiasco to not count on government bailouts of even the biggest carriers, are likely to try to protect their balance sheets more carefully. So theyll pull back at the worst possible time, just when that carrier needs it the most. This is what caused Hanjin to keel over. Hanjins bankruptcy shatters the complacency that too-big-to-fail carriers are immune to failure. Read Zombie Apocalypse: The Hanjin Bailout that Didnt Happen Graphene nanoribbons show promise for healing spinal injuries (Nanowerk News) The combination of graphene nanoribbons made with a process developed at Rice University and a common polymer could someday be of critical importance to healing damaged spinal cords in people, according to Rice chemist James Tour. The Tour lab has spent a decade working with graphene nanoribbons, starting with the discovery of a chemical process to unzip them from multiwalled carbon nanotubes, as revealed in a Nature paper in 2009. Since then, the researchers have used them to enhance materials for the likes of deicers for airplane wings, better batteries and less-permeable containers for natural gas storage. Now their work to develop nanoribbons for medical applications has resulted in a material dubbed Texas-PEG that may help knit damaged or even severed spinal cords. A paper on the results of preliminary animal-model tests appears today in the journal Surgical Neurology International ("Spinal cord fusion with PEG-GNRs (TexasPEG): Neurophysiological recovery in 24 hours in rats"). An illustration shows the process developed at Rice University that uses potassium atom insertion between layers of multiwalled carbon nanotubes to split them into graphene nanoribbons. This is followed by the addition of ethylene oxide (not shown) to render the edges with solubilizing polyethylene glycol addends on the edges. This leaves the flat surfaces of electrically conductive graphene nanoribbons intact to give a conductive surface for neuron growth between the two ends of a severed spinal cord. (Courtesy of the Tour Group) Graphene nanoribbons customized for medical use by William Sikkema, a Rice graduate student and co-lead author of the paper, are highly soluble in polyethylene glycol (PEG), a biocompatible polymer gel used in surgeries, pharmaceutical products and in other biological applications. When the biocompatible nanoribbons have their edges functionalized with PEG chains and are then further mixed with PEG, they form an electrically active network that helps the severed ends of a spinal cord reconnect. Neurons grow nicely on graphene because its a conductive surface and it stimulates neuronal growth, Tour said. In experiments at Rice and elsewhere, neurons have been observed growing along graphene. Were not the only lab that has demonstrated neurons growing on graphene in a petri dish, he said. The difference is other labs are commonly experimenting with water-soluble graphene oxide, which is far less conductive than graphene, or nonribbonized structures of graphene. Weve developed a way to add water-solubilizing polymer chains to the edges of our nanoribbons that preserves their conductivity while rendering them soluble, and were just now starting to see the potential for this in biomedical applications, he said. He added that ribbonized graphene structures allow for much smaller amounts to be used while preserving a conductive pathway that bridges the damaged spinal cords. Tour said only 1 percent of Texas-PEG consists of nanoribbons, but thats enough to form a conductive scaffold through which the spinal cord can reconnect. Texas-PEG succeeded in restoring function in a rodent with a severed spinal cord in a procedure performed at Konkuk University in South Korea by co-authors Bae Hwan Lee and C-Yoon Kim. Tour said the material reliably allowed motor and sensory neuronal signals to cross the gap 24 hours after complete transection of the spinal cord and almost perfect motor control recovery after two weeks. This is a major advance over previous work with PEG alone, which gave no recovery of sensory neuronal signals over the same period of time and only 10 percent motor control over four weeks, Tour said. The project began when Sikkema read about work by Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero. Sikkema thought nanoribbons might enhance research that depended on PEGs ability to promote the fusion of cell membranes by adding electrical conductivity and directional control for neurons as they spanned the gap between sections of the spinal cord. Contact with the doctor led to a collaboration with the South Korean researchers. Tour said Texas-PEGs potential to help patients with spinal cord injuries is too promising to be minimized. Our goal is to develop this as a way to address spinal cord injury. We think were on the right path, he said. This is an exciting neurophysiological analysis following complete severance of a spinal cord, Tour said. It is not a behavioral or locomotive study of the subsequent repair. The tangential singular locomotive analysis here is an intriguing marker, but it is not in a statistically significant set of animals. The next phases of the study will highlight the locomotive and behavioral skills with statistical relevance to assess whether these qualities follow the favorable neurophysiology that we recorded here. Single crystal measures radioactivity (Nanowerk News) A research team at Empa and ETH Zurich has developed single crystals made of lead halide perovskites, which are able to gage radioactive radiation with high precision. Initial experiments have shown that these crystals, which can be manufactured from aqueous solutions or low-priced solvents, work just as well as conventional cadmium telluride semi-conductors, which are considerably more complicated to produce. The discovery could slash the price of many radio-detectors such as in scanners in the security sector, portable dosimeters in power stations and measuring devices in medical diagnostics. Gamma photons virtually always accompany the radioactive decay of unstable isotopes. In order to identify radioactive substances, cost-effective and highly sensitive gamma detectors that work at room temperature are thus in great demand. Finding suitable substances, however, is easier said than done, as Maksym V. Kovalenko, a professor at ETH Zurich and research group leader at Empa explains: the coveted semiconductor has to be of an outstanding electronic quality, i.e. exhibit a high mobility and lifetime of carriers, along with a low density of trap states as well as of intrinsic carriers at room temperature. Second, it must be composed of heavy elements that can absorb highly energetic gamma photons. Third, it should be possible to grow large single crystals of this material and these crystals must be stable, both mechanically and thermally. Lead halide perovskite crystals not only can detect radiation but can also serve as a novel class of brightly fluorescent 'inorganic pigments'. Classical beaker chemistry Thus far, only cadmium telluride (CdTe) had fulfilled these requirements. However, the substance also used to produce thin-film solar cells is not water-soluble and only melts at temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius, which renders the production of detector crystals complicated and expensive. Kovalenko and his team have now succeeded in manufacturing single crystals from another family of novel semiconductors (lead halide perovskites) in a usual glass beaker at a cost of just a few Swiss Francs per crystal. These crystals can be used as highly sensitive detectors for gamma radiation, as the researchers recently reported in the journal Nature Photonics ("Detection of gamma photons using solution-grown single crystals of hybrid lead halide perovskites"). One possible application might be a mini Geiger counter, which can be connected to smartphones. This might enable people in contaminated areas, for instance, to test their food for radioactivity. Applications in neurodiagnostics Another potential field of application for the new crystals is diagnosing metabolic problems in the brain. Dopamine receptor disorders can have numerous consequences: Parkinsons, schizophrenia, hyperactivity (ADHD), social anxiety disorders or drug addiction and alcoholism. These disorders are diagnosed by giving patients radioactive tracer substances, which render the brain activity visible in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Administering radioactive substances is not without its hazards, though: if the substance is impure, it can have adverse health effects. However, its purity has to be verified swiftly as the tracer substance has a rather low half-life, which means it degrades rapidly. In order to demonstrate the capabilities of lead halide perovskites, Kovalenkos team used the new single crystal detector to test the isotope purity of 18F-fallypride, a tracer substance used in clinical trials on dopamine receptors. 18 F-fallypride is radioactive and has a half-life of 110 minutes, which means there is precious little time to test the substances radioactive purity between its production and injection. Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. (Beijing) Beijing has ended the distinction between urban and rural residents in the city's household registration system, giving both groups access to the same level of public services, but analysts said it may not immediately narrow the gap between city and countryside. The decision announced on Monday will affect 2.9 million residents categorized as agricultural workers. A hukou in China determines what public services one can access and where. For example, those with an agricultural hukou are paid less out of the state-run health insurance program and must pay an extra fee to enter elite public schools in the city. Rural residents also receive lower pensions. The central government decided to abolish the nearly six-decade-long distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural workers in the country's household registration system in 2013. Beijing has lagged behind other major cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou when pushing for reforms. The change is part of the country's urbanization push, which aims to have 60 percent of its population living in cities by 2020. But in recent years, a booming property market has pushed up the value of land owned by rural farmers, and many particularly those in the affluent east coast have opted to hold on to their agricultural hukou because of the rising value of the land and benefits tied to their land. However farmers' plots remain collectively-owned via a village committee meaning that villagers faced the risk of the village committee selling their land to developers, without giving individuals much say in the process. Beijing's decision to unify its household registration system would benefit elderly farmers by giving them access to affordable medical care, Professor Zhu Lijia from the Chinese Academy of Governance told The Beijing News. But authorities should introduce policies to protect farmers from illicit land-grabbing and allow them to trade their land in the open market, he said. Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com); editor Poornima Weerasekara (poornima@caixin.com) The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals has created a glossary that provides Spanish translations of terms used by the real estate and mortgage industries. The glossary was unveiled during the trade association's annual convention in Los Angeles. It seeks to address the need for consistency and guidance in the Spanish translations of words and phrases used in real estate transactions. Latino agents and loan officers said they conduct 40% of their transactions using Spanish at some point, and up to 25% of their transactions occur entirely in Spanish, a recent survey found. "This glossary is intended to be a guide to corporations, practitioners and governments looking to create Spanish language resources for their clients and the general public," NAHREP President Joseph Nery said in a news release Tuesday. Notably, the glossary provides both the technical translation and colloquial phrasing for English terms. For example, with the word foreclosure, the glossary provides both the technical phrase (ejecuci-n hipotecaria) and additional colloquial terms (embargo, reposesi-n and reposeer). The glossary is available for download at NAHREP's website. Theodore "Ted" Tozer, president of the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), speaks during an interview in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 28, 2015. Ginnie Mae, which guarantees $1.5 trillion of mortgage bonds, is wrestling with an expansion of smaller and less-regulated issuers of its securities after a pullback by the largest banks in recent years. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Ted Tozer Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg The next administration in the White House must act swiftly to move reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac off dead center, according to two key housing advisors in the Obama administration. But Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer suggested that the model for a new secondary market is already in place. "The thing the GSEs are trying to build, we have today" at Ginnie Mae, Tozer told a crowd of nearly 1,000 at a summit the agency is hosting this week. "It's the Washington way try to build what we already have." In the opening session, Jim Parrott, who severed several years as a senior advisor at the National Economic Council, where he led a team charged with counseling President Obama and his cabinet on housing issues, said the impetus for GSE reform "has got to come from leadership." "It will take leadership" to make sure reform "is coherent so there is not some monumental waste of effort," he said. Michael Stegman, who followed Parrott as senior policy advisor on the NEC, agreed, saying that the new administration "has to view reform as an actual issue." Noting that homeownership is "still a major stepping stone to the middle class," Stegman said the housing finance system "has to adjust to the new realities" of the market, and the sooner, the better. "The issues are so complex with so many stakeholders and so many interests that without strong leadership, reform is not going to go anywhere," he said. Parrott, who is now a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, suggested that reform should be undertaken in a two-pronged approach one near-term step that identifies what is working now and a second step a few years later so "we can talk intelligently about what needs to be fixed." His proposal, he said, "will allow for a much more intelligent discussion within a broader framework." There has to be a "long conversation," he said. Otherwise, the system will "remain stuck in limbo and the conversation will remain frozen." Parrott described his plan as a "much more humble way to think about reform. It's a lot less scary and were a lot less likely to screw it up." Kicking off Ginnie Mae's largest conference ever, including delegations from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Tozer said that for the most part, his agency is "now the industry." "Credit access wouldn't be close to what it is today without Ginnie Mae," he said. "We led the housing market out of its malaise." Eight years ago, he noted, Ginnie Mae had a 5% share of the mortgage-backed securities market. Today, it has a third of the MBS market, issuing more than Freddie Mac, all with a staff of 140, "each doing the work of four people." Ginnie has $1.7 trillion in outstanding securities totaling 10 million loans, Tozer also reported. And as "the second largest issuer," it has this year put out a record $468 billion in MBS on the books through August. "We are supporting housing," he declared. And despite the notion that Ginnie Mae's work is not scalable, he added, "our system has a tremendous amount of capacity. It can really work. The only reason it handles only government loans is because of our charter, not because of our programs." China COSCO Shipping has given up its plan to take advantage of Hanjin Shipping's bankruptcy by raising prices after a surge of international cargo prices turned out to be temporary. A number of shipping agency representatives at Shanghai's port told Caixin that China COSCO had made it clear it would not raise its shipping prices as it had planned. In the first few days after Hanjin the world's seventh-largest shipper and South Korea's largest filed for court receivership on Aug. 31, the shipping market witnessed a spike in prices. One container shipped from China to the western coast of the United States, for instance, cost about $695 shortly before Hanjin filed for receivership. But on Sept. 2, the price jumped to $949, an increase of nearly 40 percent. Market observers had predicted that the Hanjin crisis would lead to a shipping capacity shortage and, therefore, cause steep price rises. China COSCO had told major shipping agencies on Aug. 31 that it could start raising shipping prices on Sept. 15. Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Co. and Japan's "K" Line shipping company also had plans to raise the prices. But both later backed down. China COSCO recently told the shipping agencies it would not raise the prices after Sept. 15, but keep the current prices. A shipping agency representative, who only gave his surname as Xu, told Caixin that overcapacity of the shipping market has led to abandoning price hikes. After Hanjin's ships withdrew from the market, Copenhagen-based Maersk Line, the world's largest shipper, allocated ships to fill in the vacancies left by Hanjin. The market supply and demand soon reached a balance, Xu said. South Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the country's second-largest shipper, also plans to deploy ships on Hanjin's operating routes, according to a report Monday by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Xu said the demand this year is actually much weaker than previous years. "Had it not been affected by the Hanjin bankruptcy incident, the container shipping prices in September could have already seen huge falls," Xu said. "Signs are showing that the prices are likely to fall in late September." According to Yonhap, about a third of Hanjin's 97 container ships stranded at ports or out at sea around the global have completed their cargo unloading as of Sunday. The Seoul Central District Court is ordering Hanjin to sell their ships or return chartered ships to their owners, local media reports said. But a dozen ships stranded at Chinese ports are still not allowed to leave. Contact reporter Wu Gang at gangwu@caixin.com; editor Ken Howe at kennethhowe@caixin.com. (Beijing) -- The government has approved a first-of-its-kind debt restructuring for a troubled metals and mining conglomerate, kick-starting a long-discussed program aimed at rescuing heavily indebted state enterprises through debt-equity swaps. Overdue bank loans worth 30 billion yuan ($4.49 billion) will be replaced by convertible bonds and later converted into equity on behalf of Sinosteel Corp., according to the unpublished plan approved recently by the State Council, China's cabinet, and seen by Caixin. The plan calls for Sinosteel to form a new subsidiary in which future equity holders will hold stakes. The subsidiary will be eligible for government support. Indeed, according to the plan, the subsidiary will receive an initial investment of 10 billion yuan from the central government's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. That injection plus as-yet-unnamed assets transferred to the subsidiary from Sinosteel will provide equity backing. The State Council's move makes Sinosteel the first state-owned enterprise (SOE) to take advantage of a government decision in July to revive debt-equity swaps. A number of indebted SOEs clawed out of debt thanks to a 1999-2004 debt-equity program through which government-backed asset management firms bought non-performing loans from banks. Some of that debt was later converted into stock. Beijing authorities consider the latest program a strategic plank in a broad effort to defuse the nation's corporate-debt problem. According to second-quarter data released by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, commercial banks held a combined 1.4 trillion yuan worth of non-performing debt, most of which was owed by companies. Officially, 1.75 percent of all commercial bank loans were in default at the end of June. But regulators say this data may be telling only part of the story: Many fear the amount of toxic debt held by banks could be much greater, partly because banks have used creative accounting methods to hide bad debt, sometimes with government support. Certain heavily indebted SOEs have been dubbed "zombie enterprises" because they pay employees but produce little or nothing. These companies are kept artificially alive in hopes of staving off layoffs. Sinosteel, which operates mines and factories while also trading iron products, is not considered a zombie at least not yet. The company was favored by banks years ago when the Chinese economy was booming. But later the tide turned, and as of December 2014, the firm and its subsidiaries had defaulted on loans worth more than 100 billion yuan, including 75 billion yuan borrowed from more than 80 Chinese and foreign banks, according to a government-led committee formed by creditors to resolve the debt problem. Sinosteel is "not turning into a zombie enterprise yet," said a source at one of its creditor banks who asked not to be named. In fact, he said, the company has good assets and is worth saving. "There's hope that by stripping off some debt, it can manage to make the other assets work," the source said. The 30 billion yuan in loans slated to be converted into bonds is about half the amount Sinosteel currently owes creditors, according to the restructuring plan. The company will continue to pay off the other half along with about 3 percent annual interest. Participating banks will hold the Sinosteel subsidiary bonds for three years before equity conversions can begin, according to the plan. The subsidiary may eventually launch an initial public offering, giving equity holders a chance to sell out. Whether banks will be able to turn a profit by selling Sinosteel subsidiary equity on the stock market in the long run hinges on "how well the new company operates in the future," said a creditor bank source. Converting debt into equity is not necessarily what Sinosteel's creditors wanted, said another creditor bank source. Rather, the swap represents a compromise that the banks must accept. "The economy is slowing down, so the government and banks have to make tough choices," he said. "Banks have to find a balance and ride it out because they'd be even more helpless if a borrowing enterprise fails completely." Contact reporter Wang Yuqian at (yuqianwang@caixin.com); and editor Eric Johnson, at (ericjohnson@caixin.com) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attended the opening of the annual General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday (20 September 2016). This years debate focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals an important step towards addressing the root causes of instability and conflict, such as poverty and inequality. The Alliance is playing its part in tackling global security challenges together with the United Nations. In 2015, NATO pledged enhanced support to UN peace operations. Over the past year, NATO experts have supported the United Nations in better preparing peacekeepers for the challenges they face in the field. NATO and the UN have improved training to counter roadside bombs and the Alliance has helped the UN to develop enhanced training for its field headquarters. NATO will continue to work closely with the UN Secretariat to provide effective and tailored support in this field. On Wednesday, the Secretary General is scheduled to meet with several high-level officials in the margins of the UNGA, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Mr. Stoltenberg will also hold talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. (NaturalNews) The growth of the Chinese economy, while slipping a bit in the first quarter of 2014, is still quadruple that of the United States, as the Asian giant continues its industrial rise.But China's dramatic growth in production has come at a cost: Its major cities are choked with fumes and exhaust, soil is quickly becoming contaminated, and water supplies in the heaviest production centers are being irreversibly tainted.In recent days, the government of Lanzhou Province informed its 3.6 million residents that drinking water would be carcinogenic for a 24-hour period; it seems that the chemical benzene, which is used in the manufacture of plastics, was the immediate cause, but that wasn't the worst revelation to come from the crisis. A few days later, it was revealed that the benzene had been introduced into the environment as a result of oil pipeline explosions years earlier -- in 1987 and 2002.At the time, the pipelines, which were owned by state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, were repaired -- but not before about 34 tons of soil was contaminated -- and then left in place, thus allowing the benzene to seep into an underground water duct whose contents eventually make their way to kitchen and bathroom sinks."It's a horrifying revelation, but not an uncommon or surprising one. Indeed, even though air pollution gets the headlines, it's water pollution that will stand as the enduring, hazardous legacy of China's industrial renaissance," reports Adam Minter forThe examples are as rampant as they are revolting. For instance, in 2013, 16,000 dead pigs were seen floating down Shanghai's Huangpu River; in 2005, a chemical explosion in the Jilin Province resulted in the release of 100 tons or more of toxic chemicals, which included benzene, into the Songhua River, creating a 50-mile "spill."There are numerous other smaller incidents, Minter writes, and most of them never get officially reported. Nevertheless, they are visible all across rural China where, "in my experience, every town shares two features: an elaborate Communist Party headquarters, and a poisoned canal."It's not as if Beijing does not realize it has a pollution problem. In recent years, the government has released national-level data that portrays a legacy of environmental destruction. In 2012, Minter writes, the Ministry of Water Resources admitted that some 40 percent of the country's rivers were seriously polluted in 2011, and that 20 percent of them were "too toxic even to come into contact with,"reported.Minter reported further:How did it get this bad? Like the shockingly horrible air pollution, the Asian giant's water pollution problem is a predictable result of a government agenda that prioritized economic growth and, as such, lifted restrictions on local governments and state-owned enterprises in order to achieve it.Freed from concerns about long-term health and environmental damage as a result of their production modes, job creators in China planned haphazardly, to say the least. For instance, in Lanzhou, the China National Petroleum Corporation seems to have built pipelines in close proximity to water supplies, and then did not take reasonable environmental clean-up measures once the pipelines ruptured."In a more accountable system of government, a local official or two -- theoretically -- would have pushed back. Under China's system, those officials knew that they had everything to gain by not interfering with powerful state-owned oil monopolies," wrote Minter.What's more evident is that, unlike air pollution, where you can simply shut down a factory and clear things up, water pollution is much more long-term. Polluting aquifers means that that source of water, for the foreseeable future, is pretty much useless for consumption.China's communist government may be playing catch-up far too late to clean up the worst environmental damage. (NaturalNews) A recently published investigative report has found that, despite reams of U.S. mandates and rules regulating proper, healthy disposal of harmful toxins, the manner in which they are actually dealt with is little more than a noxious shell game.According to the report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, which was produced in collaboration with the U.S. editorial offices of Britain'snewspaper -- the publication that revealed NSA spying secrets turned over by whistleblower Edward Snowden - toxic waste can be shuttled all over the country where it is never really adequately dealt with or disposed of, oftentimes ending up right back where the shuttle journey began.As reported by the Center:Along the journey, the report said, numerous environmental violations take place at the various waste treatment plants. And byproducts that are created during treatment processes are then shuttled off to one plant after another, after another (see the animation graphic here ). After moving all around the country, investigators found that some of the waste came right back where it started, in this case at a treatment facility just a couple miles away in Silicon Valley, the focus of the investigative report.It's a toxic shell game , giving the appearance of actually addressing one environmental danger that is, in reality, merely offloaded somewhere else in the form of a new hazard or problem."There's really no such thing as throwing something away," Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Rusty Harris-Bishop told the investigative team at the Center. "You're always throwing it somewhere."Supposedly, the agency pays very close attention to the more than 1,300 hazardous waste sites that belong to its historic Superfund program, which has cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over the years and is slated to cost hundreds of billions more over the next three decades, the EPA says The key gap in the system: Once waste-transporting trucks dump their loads and head out, the agency considers the waste job. As such, the agency is essentially creating its own "legacy of unintended consequences," as it tries to handle environmental problems left by previous generations. And in the process, toxic waste that is contained is summarily transformed into a gaggle of out-of-control -- and potentially worse -- problems all around the nation.The scope of some of the toxic waste problems is immense. In the case of Silicon Valley, the Center reports that it would take 700 years of constant treatment to make the groundwater potable.For the EPA, officials know the trail exists, but they say the agency has difficulty following it."It's not that we don't care about the material," said Carlos Pachon, who leads the EPA's green cleanup efforts. "We just don't have control over it."Some of the Center's findings include that:-- at every step in the treatment process is left behind a new batch of waste that then has to be transported somewhere else;-- one plant in Wisconsin actually creates more waste than it processes;-- treatment necessarily creates new hazards; and-- clean-up efforts at Silicon Valley and other sites simply aren't working.Read the full report here Ohio cannabis law leaves production, prescription and distribution in the dark Cannabis freedom strongly needed at the federal level (NaturalNews) Ohio has become the 25th state to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes. Provided with this new choice for treatment, people with PTSD, AIDS, Alzheimer's, debilitating pain and cancer should be able to access cannabis immediately; however, questions still remain about how patients will legally obtain this herb and its medicinal parts Dispensaries take time to set up, and may not be welcome in some communities. Medical professionals may be averse to the plant and misunderstand how it should be used and prescribed. As great as these medical cannabis laws are, they still cannot undo decades of brainwashing that has cast members of all facets of society against one another. The misunderstanding and misinformation still exist.The Ohio law is incomplete, because it doesn't outline a clear path to help doctors, patients, pharmacists and law enforcement officers understand how medical cannabis is going to be managed, prepared and dispensed. The rules for medical cannabis production, prescription and distribution weren't even outlined in the law. The law won't be even partially functional until September 2018, when rules for distribution and regulation are established. In the meantime, patients may seek out substandard cannabis products that aren't scientifically validated.The Ohio state Medical Board has not established any clear guidelines on how doctors should recommend cannabis to patients. Reginald Fields, speaking for the Ohio State Medical Association, said: "There's a little confusion out there, so we're essentially asking physicians to stand by until some of these issues are clarified and we can assure they're acting on the right side of the law." Employers may still enact zero tolerance policies against cannabis even though employees are legally allowed to use cannabis oil, edibles, patches or a vapor form.With each state crafting its own rules on how cannabis can be used it is inevitable that these rules will conflict with one another and interfere with patients' rights to access treatment. A soldier experiencing PTSD in one state may have to travel across state lines to be prescribed cannabis for his condition. A doctor in one state may not be allowed to prescribe cannabis oil for cancer patients, and therefore would have to turn away a patient that could have been significantly helped.On top of these conflicting rules, the federal government has its own power to break down doors to harass and intimidate people who use cannabis. Even though cannabis may be legal in one state, this won't stop the DEA from setting their own rules and destroying people's lives. Federal laws also prohibit banks from accepting cash from cannabis-related businesses, whether the business is legal in a state or not. Patients that can legally use cannabis are also not allowed to move freely through airports. The Controlled Substances Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, the Patriot Act and RICO are all making it difficult for people to utilize medical cannabis.These are all reasons why it's so important for cannabis freedom to be enacted at the federal level. The DEA's war on cannabis could be put to an end. Freedom would mean that the many cannabis researchers and growers could breed and formulate the best scientifically validated cannabis products, while distributing them without fear to any patient seeking help. It would also mean that there would no longer be a war restricting people from this plant's healing virtues. The best cannabis would become available to anyone seeking help.If this war were to end completely, all states could openly accept cannabis and other herbs with healing properties . Freedom would end the black market and bring transparency to natural medicine. Perhaps medicine could be returned to its foundation, as herbalists and scientists selectively breed, isolate and combine the components and properties of plants and trees that correspond and resonate with the human body. New Madrid fault zone Man-made quakes on the rise (NaturalNews) According to experts, it is almost inevitable that the "big one" a mega earthquake will rock the United States shortly. While Los Angeles or San Francisco along the San Andreas Fault are certainly prone to the devastating effects of mother earth, many experts now believe that the next megaquake will be somewhere entirely different.Concerns are rising that the next big hit could soon be seen in the middle part of the country, along the New Madrid fault zone.The New Madrid fault zone, which is approximately six times larger than the San Andreas fault zone in California, runs for more than 130 miles through the southern and Midwestern United States. As reported by, scientists assure us that the New Madrid fault is a ticking bomb ready to go off anytime soon.The New Madrid fault is around 30 years overdue for a major seismic event. Scientists predict that when it finally happens, it is going to be the biggest disaster in modern American history, surpassing the events of the 1811 and 1812 New Madrid earthquakes.Due to a greater population and lack of earthquake building codes, a "big one" could cause more destruction than a major quake around the Cascadia and San Andreas fault combined. According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, earthquakes along the New Madrid fault shake and damage an area that is approximately 20 times larger than earthquakes in California and most other active seismic areas.In addition, 15 nuclear reactors are situated alongside the New Madrid fault zone, which could cause a disaster 15 times worse than Fukushima Recently, eight states Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas took part in a major drill, "Show Me Mass Care Exercise," to practice how they would react during a mega-earthquake along the New Madrid Fault Line.These eight states are not the only ones preparing for a major disaster . In June, FEMA ran an exercise called "Cascadia Rising" to test the response to a megaquake and tsunami hitting the U.S. West Coast. Some scientists believe that the Cascadia Fault could erupt with the biggest earthquake and tsunami in recorded history, while others predict that the San Andreas Fault or New Madrid Fault will go first.Government institutions are actively urging and helping people to prepare . And when that happens, you can be sure that a disaster is not far off.Earlier this month, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the Oklahoma earthquake as the largest the state has ever experienced. In recent years, the number of significant earthquakes with a magnitude 3.0 and higher in the eastern and central sections of the nation have risen dramatically.Oklahoma has never historically been at risk for significant earthquakes. However, USGS scientists found that since fracking started in the Midwest the number of earthquakes has shot through the roof, putting the area at risk of more of these record-breaking quakes.While all scientists agree that a major earthquake is about to hit the United States, opinions on the location are divided.Don't wait until it is too late; start informing yourself and preparing for the worst. At the very least, you should have emergency food , supplies for a power outage and drinking water at hand. What about our constitutional rights? DNA evidence is not infallible (NaturalNews) As America continues its descent into authoritarianism, police are now taking advantage of a lack of legal restrictions so that they can collectfrom innocent people.More and more police forces in Florida and other states have initiated a practice nicknamed "stop and swab" or "stop and spit," which involves using mouth swabs to collect samples to build DNA databases and they are collecting these samples at random from people who often have committed no crime or who are not even considered suspects in a crime.Many legal experts consider this an invasion of privacy and a violation of constitutional rights, but so far there have been no clear precedents established in the courts determining whether such practices are within the boundaries of the law.From"Over the last decade, collecting DNA from people who are not charged with or even suspected of any particular crime has become an increasingly routine practice for police in smaller cities not only in Florida, but in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and North Carolina as well."Constitutional rights advocates worry that the practice could lead to many types of abuses of rights and even false convictions.One of their concerns is the fact that many of the police forces now collecting the DNA samples are using private labs to process and store the data:"While the largest cities typically operate public labs and feed DNA samples into the FBI's national database, cities like Melbourne have assembled databases of their own, often in partnership with private labs that offer such fast, cheap testing that police can afford to amass DNA even to investigate minor crimes, from burglary to vandalism."One of the problems with using these private labs is that the data may not be accurately processed and stored. An FBI agent toldthat the profiles kept in these private databases "do not meet the strict eligibility, quality, and privacy standards set forth in the federal law."Even when DNA evidence is collected, processed and stored according to the strictest standards, such evidence is not as infallible as commonly believed.For example, many law enforcement agencies and prosecutors are now using what is called "touch DNA" to convict people of crimes. Touch DNA is generated from just a few skin cells found in fingerprints, and is used to create DNA profiles, but as one genetics expert warned, this type of evidence can be highly unreliable.Cynthia M. Cale, lead forensic DNA analyst III at Strand Diagnostics, wrote in aarticle: "The term 'touch DNA' conveys to a courtroom that biological material found on an object is the result of direct contact."In fact, that may not be the case at all. For example, if someone shook your hand and then touched another object, said Cale, enough of your own DNA could be left through secondary, indirect contact that you might be implicated falsely in a crime based on faulty DNA evidence It's easy to imagine a situation in which a jury that has watched too many crime shows and has been led to believe that DNA evidence is infallible, ends up convicting an innocent person of a serious crime such as murder.Such cases have already occurred enough, in fact, to lead the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review its own convictions based onfor more than the past decade.And regardless of the possibility of false positives occurring through mishandling or misinterpretation of DNA evidence, should the police be allowed to collect DNA at all without someone's having committed or even being suspected of a crime?Anyone with common sense and respect forrights regarding reasonable suspicion and the collection of evidence would of course say, "No." FDA downplays astonishing findings Bees and consumers suffer (NaturalNews) Freedom of Information documents obtained by the group U.S. Right to Know reveal that the FDA has confirmed the presence of glyphosate contamination in honey being sold on U.S. store shelves.Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the world's top selling herbicide. Roundup's explosive commercial success has been largely driven by the use of crops genetically engineered to withstand direct application of the herbicide. In 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared the chemical a probable human carcinogen.The documents show that every honey sample tested by the FDA contained glyphosate residue, in some cases at levels twice those allowed in the European Union (EU).Although the FDA conducts annual tests for pesticide residues in many food products, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) annually tests produce, both agencies have historically declined to test for glyphosate residue, claiming that the chemical is so safe that there is no need.In 2014, the U.S. Government Accountability Office criticized the FDA for this policy, and new pressure came with the IARC's 2015 ruling. A number of researchers conducted their own independent tests, finding glyphosate residues in various grain-based foods, including non-GMO products such as oats. Critics noted that even small amounts of residue can add up to alarming doses given how widespread glyphosate is among foods that are consumed regularly.So the FDA initiated a "special assignment" this year to test some foods, including honey. Scientists tested honey gathered from across the country sold by brands including Louisiana-based Carmichael's Honey, Florida-based Leighton's Orange Blossom Honey and the Iowa-based Sue Bee Honey cooperative."It is difficult to find blank honey that does not contain residue . I collect about 10 samples of honey in the market and they all contain glyphosate," one researcher wrote in an internal email.Even a brand of honey marketed as "organic mountain honey" contained glyphosate.The scientists found glyphosate concentrations of 22 parts per billion (ppb) in Leighton's, 41 ppb in Sue Bee and 107 ppb in Carmichael's. This is consistent with a prior independent study that found average residue levels of 64 ppb in 41 of 69 honey samples.What happened when FDA scientist Narong Chamkasem informed his fellow scientists that some of the samples far exceeded the EU tolerance level of 50 ppb, and that technically, any levels of residue violate U.S. law because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never set an acceptable threshold?Chris Sack, the FDA's head of pesticide residue testing, dismissed the glyphosate contamination as only "technically a violation," and said that he had informed the EPA that they should set tolerance levels for honey. If, as expected, the EPA sets levels higher than 106 ppb, the problem will disappear with the stroke of a pen.Honey farmers expressed distress at the findings. Sioux Honey vice president Bill Huser whose company markets its product as "100% pure, 100% all-natural and 100% American" noted that glyphosate gets into honey because it is sprayed on the agricultural fields that bees forage in."I don't understand how I'm supposed to control the level of glyphosate in my honey when I'm not the one using Roundup," said another honey company operator. "It's all around me. It's unfair."Research suggests that glyphosate actually functions as a toxin to bees , and may be contributing to declining populations worldwide.Like the FDA, the USDA also initiated a "special project" to test soybeans for glyphosate residue this year. The findings showed widespread contamination. Similar results have been found by a special USDA division that tests wheat destined for export to countries more skeptical about claims that glyphosate is "harmless."Meanwhile, the EPA is still working on a risk assessment report to decide if glyphosate use should be limited. Originally expected in 2015, the report is now due in "spring 2017.""There is no sense of urgency around these exposures that we live with day in and day out," said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. Press On this page Springer Nature Press Office Please visit the Springer Nature Press Office Site for an archive of Springer Nature press releases (2015-2019) and contact information for corporate media inquiries and book or journal related inquiries. Press releases published before 2015 are available by downloading zip files via the links below. Press release archives (zip): 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 Susie Winter Director of Communications and Engagement, Research London, UK Phone: +44 (0)203 426 3325 E-mail: susie.winter@springernature.com Top of page Journals and Editorial Press Office The Journals and Editorial Press Office provides a service for science journalists and science writers. For enquiries regarding content in the Nature Portfolio journals, please contact press@nature.com or visit https://press.nature.com. Alice Henchley Communications Director, Journals & Editorial London, UK Phone: +44 (0) 20 7843 4562 E-mail: alice.henchley@springernature.com Lisa Boucher Press Manager London, UK Phone: +44 (0) 20 7843 4804 E-mail: l.boucher@nature.com Michael Stacey Senior Communications Manager London, UK Phone: +44 (0) 20 7843 4795 E-mail: michael.stacey@nature.com Sarah Hausman Press Manager New York, USA Phone: +1 (212) 726 9378 E-mail: sarah.hausman@nature.com Sarah McClenaghan Press Manager London, UK Phone: +44 (0) 20 7843 4570 E-mail: sarah.mcclenaghan@springernature.com Emily Cooke Press Officer London, UK Phone: +44 (0) 20 7418 5534 E-mail: emily.cooke@springernature.com Isobel Lisowski Assistant Press Officer London, UK Phone: +44 (0) 20 3192 2097 E-mail: isobel.lisowski@springernature.com People can now explore the Martian surface using Microsoft's virtual reality headset in NASA's "Destination: Mars" exhibit. There's no better person to help launch a virtual reality, interplanetary-themed exhibit than by a moon-walker himself. Former astronaut and moon-walker from Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin, helped open the new Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's "Destination: Mars" virtual reality exhibit. Last Sept. 18, a media preview was led by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin to introduce the "Destination: Mars" virtual reality tour of the red planet. The moon-walker guided the visitors as they traverse through the Martian surface through virtual reality. "This experience lets the public explore Mars in an entirely new way. To walk through the exact landscape that Curiosity is roving across puts its achievements and discoveries into beautiful context," Doug Ellison, visualization producer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. In order to learn about the regions on Mars, guests were guided by Aldrin while using the HoloLens headset by Microsoft. The exhibit is a "mixed reality" environment, where virtual components were combined with an actual physical environment where people can interact. Even NASA officials were amazed by the exhibit. Kennedy Space Center director Robert Cabana even said in a statement that the "Destination: Mars" experience is "so cool." "Destination: Mars" is also an adaptation of a project called "OnSight," a Mars rover mission tool developed by Microsoft and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. OnSight uses holographic computing that enables scientists to work virtually on Mars. Aldrin also took the opportunity to campaign for NASA so that the agency may gain support from the next administration. This he did so that mankind may be able to "call two planets, home," Aldrin said during the media preview. The moon-walker is an avid Mars colonization advocate who published his own book in 2013 called "Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration." However, Aldrin and experts believe that it will take time before that happens. So while waiting for the actual Mars colonization, students, scientists and the public can wonder on the Martian surface by using virtual reality during the exhibit. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in partnership with Microsoft, developed the exhibit. By using the images taken by the NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover, visitors can explore certain regions on Mars during the event that will be open to everyone until Jan. 1, 2017. Mars is believed to be the second planet "most-likely" capable of holding human habitation with the help of life-supporting technology and habitation systems. Scientists have also been pointing out the Earth-like properties of ancient Mars before it turned into the dry object that it is today. A recent study even suggests that ancient Mars supported life longer than previously thought. Due to clues embedded in rock formations on the red planet, as well as the manifestations of some of its Earth-like properties, many scientists argue that Mars was able to hold water and potentially used to support life. But a new study suggests that it has been supporting life longer than what scientists previously thought. Based on research, the streams and lakes on the red planet still have flowing water two to three billions years ago. These new findings are baffling scientists because most of them thought that by that time, Mars had already lost most of its atmosphere, preventing it from holding water or any life forms. "This paper presents evidence for episodes of water modifying the surface on early Mars for possibly several hundred million years later than previously thought, with some implication that the water was emplaced by snow, not rain," Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) project scientist Rich Zurek from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. The researchers believe that there is still a "considerable" amount of water flowing on several lake basins and that they were still overflowing during the said timeframe. One of the newly discovered lakes is said to be as large as Lake Tahoe that holds 45 cubic miles of water, according to study team lead Sharon Wilson from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Virginia. The study focused on the lake and stream system to arrive at their findings. NASA's MRO and other missions such as the Curiosity Rover identified that lakes and streams existed on Mars 3.7 billions of years ago. However, the loss of Martian atmosphere resulted in the planet's cold climate. "The rate at which water flowed through these valleys is consistent with runoff from melting snow," Sharon Wilson, lead author of the study said in a statement, "These weren't rushing rivers. They have simple drainage patterns and did not form deep or complex systems like the ancient valley networks from early Mars." Wilson also suggested that the said water is consistent with melting snow. The new discovery, according to researchers, will drive scientists to investigate how the planet's temperature increased over time, and how the environment of ancient Mars allowed flowing water to exist. The United Launch Alliance (ULA) has delayed the launch of a satellite due to a wildfire around the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The WorldView-4 satellite, an Earth-imaging satellite owned by DigitalGlobe, was slated to launch on board ULA's Atlas V rocket on Sept. 16. But controllers cancelled the launch due to a leak detected in the hydrogen fuel. The launch was moved to Sunday, Sept. 18, but was again called off due to a wildfire in the region that broke out south of the Vandenberg Air Force Base property. According to ULA, the launch vehicle and payload are securely tucked away at the Mobile Service Tower while the fire crew battled the growing blaze. Given the circumstances, ULA announced that the launch will be moved to Sept. 26, Monday. The wildfire began on Sept. 17, Saturday, and the delay in the launch would give the fire team ample time to put out the fire. "Our procedures require stand-by firefighting crews for every launch to ensure safety of our personnel and facility protection," Col. Paul Nosek, Emergency Operations Center commander, said in a statement. "We've delayed the launch in order to concentrate our resources on the situation at hand." According to Vanderberg Air Force Base officials, no space launch complexes or critical range assets are in immediate danger. But some power lines have been damaged by the fire, the U.S. Air Force said. The blaze has grown to nearly 500 acres on south Vandenberg, and about 800 fire crew from the Vandenberg AFB, U.S. Forestry Service, CalFire and Santa Barbara County rushed to contain it. Apart from hand-crews and bulldozers, air assets also provided assistance in the containment, Vandenberg fire chief Clem Marrero said in a statement. The WorldView-4 satellite, which was built by Lockheed Martin, is the second satellite to be launched by ULA's Atlas V rocket for DigitalGlobe, a company that provides commercial satellite imagery. The 4,601-pound satellite could capture images of the Earth's surface with a resolution of up to 31 centimeters (12.2 inches). Atlas V will take WorldView-4 to a sun-synchronous orbit of about 617 kilometers (383 miles) from the Earth, NASA Spaceflight reports. Private commercial space flight company SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, just hinted that a technology developed by the company could go "well beyond" Mars. By looking at the company's track record, the question still stands: is SpaceX really capable of doing it? Earlier this year, SpaceX announced that they would be able to offer cargo services to the red planet once the development on Mars has started. At a hefty price of $62 million, SpaceX is willing to send building materials or habitation systems to Mars using the company's heavy-duty rockets. This service is officially available on SpaceX website at for the price of $62 million, signifying SpaceX's confidence that Mars colonization is possible and it's happening fast. "Now is the first time in the history of Earth that the window is open, where it's possible for us to extend life to another planet," said Musk in a statement. Unmanned trips to the red planet are also in the works with China, NASA and SpaceX vying for the first institution to land on the red planet in the coming years. Musk also announced that his commercial space flight company would be able to send people to Mars by 2024, a rather short timetable for the company to create a rocket strong enough to withstand the interplanetary deep space travel and the potentially hazardous environment on Mars. But Musk just expressed his confidence that SpaceX can do more than deliver goods or men to Mars. Musk said that his heavy-duty spacecraft called the Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) designed to carry 100 tons of cargo or a total of 100 people to Mars can do more than that. "Turns out MCT can go well beyond Mars, so will need a new name," Musk said in a Tweet. Musk, known for his cryptic tweets, followed it up with a confirmation that he has received some interesting name suggestions for his heavy-duty Mars colonial transporter. However, very little is known about SpaceX's capabilities beyond Mars and if the company is already planning a launch that will go beyond the red planet. But with SpaceX's track record, it may not be impossible for them to develop a space rocket technology that can withstand deeper space explorations that are capable of conquering places beyond the red planet. Despite suffering from an "anomaly" last Sept. 1, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, Musk remains unfazed and determined that his commercial space company SpaceX, will be able to provide its promises to its clients, a dependable transport system from Earth to space and vice-versa. They are charged with protecting our nations democracy, but a joint investigation between NBC Bay Area and WRC (NBC4) in Washington uncovered extensive evidence the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) often does nothing to enforce elections laws. Ranking members of the FEC tell NBC that political gridlock prevents the agency from enforcing those laws that regulate campaign spending and keep elections honest and fair. NBC Bay Area along with WRC reviewed 1,893 FEC complaint cases dating back to 2000. The teams analysis found that complaint cases stalled for an average 440 days before the commission decide whether or not to take action. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE FEC? Founded in wake of the Watergate scandal that eventually showed mis-use of campaign funds by the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) for Richard Nixons second term, Congress established the FEC to prevent future campaign violations. The current commission is comprised of three republicans, two democrats and one independent commissioner who voted in unison with the Democratic commissioners 92 percent of the time, according to an NBC analysis. The agency is mandated to oversee both candidates and committees that try to influence elections, but Bay Area native and current FEC commissioner Ann Ravel believes that the agency has become partisan and toothless in recent years. We're not accomplishing what congress intended us to accomplish, Ravel told NBC Bay Area. Ravel has served as both chair and vice chair at the FEC. The NBC teams analysis of commission votes during the current presidential election cycle found that Republican commissioners voted as a bloc 98 percent of the time, while Democrats and the Independent on the commission voted together as a bloc 87 percent of the time. The partisan split often left cases gridlocked without any enforcement action. In many other instances, the cases were resolved years later, long after the election and the committees involved ceased to have reason to exist. CONDOMS AND CASH One significant case that fell through the cracks was a 2012 complaint by the Aids Healthcare Foundation concerning a Los Angeles County measure that would require condoms during porn shoots. The complaint alleged that opponents against the ballot measure accepted foreign money to help defeat the proposed law. US election laws prohibit foreign money from funding political campaigns. Yet the FEC did not take any enforcement action at all, forcing Californias Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to intervene, issuing a $61,500 fine. The ballot measure process in California is the peoples voice. Keeping that strong and acting on foreign nationals making contributions to influence California elections was very important to us, Galena West with the FPPC told NBC Bay Area. Ravel says the issue surrounding Measure B is one of numerous examples where the agency failed to act. This issue was really upsetting to me because it's related to a local ballot measure and that's a place where people are really subject to a lot of influence, said Ravel. Ravel believes the FEC has done nothing on nearly every single important decision involving election laws since she joined the commission in 2013. TOOTHLESS ENFORCEMENT? Paul S. Ryan serves as deputy director of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center. Ryan agrees that the agency has become ineffective. The FEC is atrocious at enforcing our campaign finance laws, Ryan said. Nothing is getting done. Lots of deadlocks. The FECs own calendar shows deadlocks kept some cases open four years or longer, with one case that remained open nine and a half years. The Republican commissioners are just as unwilling to enforce the law against Democrats who break it as they are to enforce it against republicans who break it. So they're not trying to do republicans a favor. They're trying to do all candidates and parties and outside groups big spenders a favor by letting them run roughshod over the law, Ryan said. Ravel believes that while reform is necessary, it is unlikely to come from the US Congress. I do believe that there are people in power who like [the current system]. There are people who do not want any change at the FEC, Ravel said. They understand that if the law is actually enforced at the FEC, it can have implications for how campaigns are run. FAIR ENFORCEMENT Republican appointee and current FEC Chairman Matthew Petersen disagrees with Ravels assertion that the agency has become too partisan to enforce election laws. There's no signaling so to speak to say you're free and clear to do whatever you want because we're just not going to enforce, Petersen said. The cases where we've had disagreements are based on a disagreement over what the law requires and prohibits. But even the Chairman conceded the FEC can do better. There have been times when I think all of us agree that we need to do a better job, but I think that we have done a better job this year of getting through those matters, Petersen told the NBC team. Republican commissioners defend their votes and maintain that the debate is part of the proper role of the First Amendment. To read their entire statement in response to NBCs investigation click here. FEDERAL RULING UPDATE A federal court decided Monday that the FEC misconstrued campaign finance law when it dismissed complaints against two conservative super PACs who were raising "dark money," or funds that tend to have certain political motivations behind them. That ruling may curtail the use of untraceable campaign cash in the future, experts say. If you have a tip for the Investigative Unit, give us a call at 1-888-996-8477, or you can reach us via email at TheUnit@nbcbayarea.com The developer of the sinking Millennium Tower on Tuesday blamed its recent troubles on the reckless behavior of the public agency that is constructing a $2 billion plus Transbay transit hub next door. At a press conference Tuesday, Millenniums founding partner, Chris Jeffries, said the Transbay agencys work next door drained the soil around the 58-story tower at 301 Mission Street home of such notables as Joe Montana and Hunter Pence. Unfortunatelya pattern of reckless behavior by state-sanctioned Transbay Joint Powers Authority, Jeffries said, over the course of several years has caused the settlement issues at the building. He said media reports aside, the building is safe. Still, the building has sunk 16 inches and one independent expert predicts it could sink nearly twice that amount. It also leans to the north and west, away from the Transbay transit terminal on the buildings south side. Since the sinking issue became public last month, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority agency building the terminal has blamed Millenniums defective foundation for not anchoring its piles to bedrock 200 feet below the structure. But on Tuesday, Jeffries insisted that the towers foundation a concrete slab supported by nearly 1,000 piles driven 80 feet down into Bay mud was state of the art. He noted that while four buildings near the terminal go to bedrock, most others dont. The only buildings in this area built to bedrock are these four these represent a dramatic change in the way buildings are designed in San Francisco, he said. It is a standard that has been imposed in the press and in press releases as what everyone should be doing in the city of San Francisco. He said the company did not tie the foundation to bedrock to save money. Theres no necessity to go to bedrock because the state of the art foundation designin this area, is not to go to bedrock. We did this building the right way, he stressed, adding that Millennium relied on top-notch engineers and design experts in the Bay Area. He pointed to a letter in which Mayor Ed Lee vouched that the Millennium project met city code requirements. There has never been any question about that, he said, but there has been plenty of misinformation about that. Two experts, meanwhile, have studied the sinking and have declared the structure 100 percent safe, Jeffries said. The reports will soon be turned over to the city, he added. While Jeffries acknowledged that while the building was originally thought to only six about a half a foot, he pointed out that Millennium notified the city back in 2009 that the first estimate was too low and the structure had sunk more than 8 inches and could sink up to 12.3 inches. Millennium blamed the draining of too much water from the soil around and under it, he said. It was not considered a significant event, Jeffries said of the companys 2009 acknowledgement, although documents obtained by NBC Bay Area show that a city building inspection engineer did express concern to Millennium about the issue at the time. The building was designed to settle far more than even the amount of settlement that occurred at that time, Jeffries concluded. Still, he said, the problem did not end there, thanks to the Transbay project. During construction of a $58 million wall, contractors drained the ground water starting in 2011 under Millennium, by Millenniums account. Jeffries said that the digging of a massive hole led to a drop in the water level by a staggering 20 feet as of last year, more than six times the cap the authority committed to on draining. While Transbay assured Millennium that its water removal did not begin until early 2013, Jeffries cited evidence he says indicates water removal began as early as 2011. We were promised there would be zero impact on ground water, Jeffries said. The water depletion, he said, turned out to be unprecedented, and continued until recently. He said the reckless conduct over several years has caused the settlement issues The behavior here is so outrageous to me, Jeffries said. Worse, he said, the agency shut off ground water monitoring equipment in 2015 and has since refused to share data about the problem. Jeffries said the company hired an outside expert after Transbay authority as of 2014 refused to cooperate with the developers in protecting the building. Still, he said, Millenniums purpose is not to engage in finger pointing. Transbay officials late Tuesday issued a statement responding to accusations from the Millenium partners. "There is no evidence to support Millennium Partners claim that the TJPAs dewatering is the cause of the excessive vertical settlement and tilting of the Millennium Tower," TJPA said in a statement. "By the time the TJPA started dewatering adjacent to the Millennium Tower in May of 2013, the Tower had settled approximately 12.1 inches and was tilting further to the west/northwest. This excessive settlement and tilt is due exclusively to the deficient foundation system for the Tower. Other buildings adjacent to the TJPAs excavation have not experienced similar settlement as a result of dewatering." Also on Tuesday, NBC Bay Area first reported that City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued a subpoena against the developer for documentation of what it disclosed to would-be purchasers of the building back in 2009. Millennium officials insisted Tuesday they would have been happy to simply give that information without a legal demand. At the moment, Jeffries said, the companys greatest concern is to talk about a fix in order to fix and solve the problem, we need to have the information. We have not been able to get that information from the authority. Jeffries called upon the city of San Francisco, which has representatives on the authoritys board, to help us get the information we need so the company, working with the owners, can fix this problem. He did not outline what such a fix might be. Meanwhile, city Supervisor Aaron Peskin will preside over a hearing on Thursday on what the city knew and did after being alerted to the problem back in 2009. Taking another step in the fight against climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill with new restrictions on super pollutants Monday in Long Beach. Super pollutants like black carbon and methane trap more heat than carbon dioxide but stay in the atmosphere for a shorter time. Reducing super pollutant levels can have a more immediate impact on climate change, he said during the signing event in Long Beach. "Cutting black carbon and other super pollutants is the critical next step in our program to combat climate change," Brown said. "This bill curbs dangerous pollutants and thereby protects public health and slows climate change." The new legislation establishes the countrys toughest restrictions on these pollutants. The law mandates a 50 percent reduction in black carbon and 40 percent reduction in methane and hydrofluorocarbon from 2013 levels by 2030. The pollutants are generated by sources including waste-disposal, petroleum-based fuel, agriculture and synthetic gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning and aerosol products. The National Federation of Independent Business criticized the legislation, with the organization's state director Tom Scott saying it creates an inconsistent policy that will "further increase the cost of doing business in California," particularly for the agricultural industry. The mandated reductions represent "a direct assault on California's dairy industry and will hurt manufacturing by creating an arbitrary limit on natural gases which dissipate quickly," he said. The signing comes just weeks after Brown extended by 10 years another climate change law which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The expanded law set a new target for 2030. The bill signing also coincides with the start of Climate Week in New York City and the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly since the Climate Change Conference in Paris last December. New data shows hate crimes against Muslim Americans are at their highest levels since the weeks immediately following the September 11th attacks. Researchers say sentiments coming from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and others cannot be dismissed as contributors to anti-Muslim attacks. After 9/11, that has shown a significant increase. In fact, the second biggest number of anti-Muslim hate crimes since 2001 and the most precipitous rate of increase since 2001. So this is a disturbing development and one for concern, study author Brian Levin said. Over the weekend, the Cal State San Bernardino professor and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism released new data showing hate crimes against Muslim Americans were up 78 percent last year and 122 percent just in California. This is in sharp contrast to overall hate crimes, which were up by 5 percent. Other serious increases include anti-Arab and anti-gender/transgender incidents, with increases of 219 percent and 40 percent, respectively. More, in the four days immediately following Trumps call for a ban on Muslims, researchers say there were 15 anti-Muslim hate crimes, an increase of 87 percent. [The San Bernardino attack] might have been the fuel, and the match may well have been these statements, Levin said, contrasting it to President George W. Bushs speech Islam is Peace in the days after the 9/11 attacks. After President Bushs statement in September of 2001, hate crimes declined precipitously by as much as 66 percent. Levin is the author of the nonpartisan study. FBI data will not be out until November, but Levin says he used law enforcement criteria and standards to categorize the hate crimes from 20 states. And he did not count some incidents previously reported by advocacy groups as hate crimes because they were clearly not motivated by prejudice. Regardless, the record levels are still there, and Levin says the problem now is that the hate crimes dont seem to be stopping. There has been a deep reservoir of prejudice against Muslims. After a terrorist event, we see a dramatic increase in hate crimes directed against Muslims, and it appears that now that increase is being sustained, certainly at somewhat lower levels, but it is a sustained increase, Levin said. The Council on American Islamic Relations Executive Director Zahra Billoo says there has been a sense of heaviness in the past year. The last year has felt like a nonstop daily assault on myself and members of the Muslim community, Billoo said, explaining she told her staff to brace itself for hate calls in the days after the bombings in New York City and New Jersey and the stabbings in Minnesota. She has also heard stories of Muslim American parents on the East Coast afraid to send their children with the name Ahmad to school, fearing they will be bullied. CAIRs office in Santa Clara was one of two that received an envelope filled with an unknown powder in December, after a prior terror attack. Billoo says even if Trump loses in November, the damage to the communitys reputation is done. For us, no matter what happens, the groundwork has been laid to normalize bigotry in a way we havent seen in the last 15 years. So were worried its not slowing down, Billoo said. Levin says with the data he has, he cannot predict whether there will be a new wave of anti-Muslim hate crimes after the New York City attack last weekend. What is important, he says, are the words everyone chooses to use in the coming days. Read the full report here. A 19-year-old man suspected of viciously beating and robbing an 88-year-old woman inside her San Jose home last week was charged with attempted murder Monday as new details were revealed in the case. Prosecutors say Zachary Cuen was trying to kill Flo Douglas during a robbery at her home in the Alum Rock neighborhood. A shackled Cuen made his first court appearance at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, and the victim's family was there to hear the charges against him. "When the victim, Ms. Douglas, said she didnt have any money, he started punching and kicking her multiple times," deputy district attorney Rebekah Wise said. "Ms. Douglas fell to the floor. He then continued to kick her." Wise said Cuen also threatened to kill the woman known around the neighborhood as "Miss Flo." "It was attempted murder, and he tried to kill her and demanded money and beat her brutally," said Michael Wallace, the victim's nephew. "It's just disheartening without question." The attack happened on Sept. 12 in the home where Douglas lives alone. Investigators said Cuen initially left then returned to beat the victim again, ransacking her house and stealing her car. Detectives said they also found one of Cuens fingerprints at the home. Cuens family also was in court Monday. They declined to comment. Douglas remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit after suffering hemmorraging in her eye and brain. Cuen was on probation in connection with a February vehicle theft and hit-and-run. He also attempted to burglarize an 85-year-old woman who lives in the same neighborhood as Douglas, sources said. As law enforcement authorities on the East Coast sort out a string of bombings and suspicious activity, some public safety officials in the Bay Area are mounting efforts to keep communities safe. The safety precautions will be visible on multiple transportation platforms throughout the region in addition to some high pedestrian traffic areas such as downtown San Francisco. "We're also working with BART as well as Muni to make sure that all public transportation is taken care of and people feel safe coming and going throughout the city," Officer Giselle Talkoff of the San Francisco Police Department said. The streets around Moscone Center were jammed with people heading into and out of the Oracle convention on Monday. Talkoff said theyre working with private guards to provide security. "What we are doing is ramping up police presence," Talkoff said. "Right now, we have the (Oracle Open World) going on." BART added that the transportation agency will be ramping up the amount of officers on its trains and platforms to help thwart any kind of potentially dangerous activity. Despite the explosive scenes on the other side of the country, Bay Area folks seem to be carrying out their normal routines without much panic. "I don't think I fell less safe or anything like that," Dai Troung from San Jose said. Rick Smith, a former FBI agent now working as a private investigator, said a follow-up attack in the Bay Area is not likely. "You know, I dont think it's any more dangerous than it was last week," he said. "Its dangerous. It just hasnt happened in San Francisco. San Francisco International Airport continues to monitor the events in New York City and New Jersey and are in constant contact with federal authorities. Oakland International Airport wouldnt discuss specific security changes and Mineta San Jose International Airport said travelers wont see any changes. The Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District along with SamTrans are maintaining normal security measures, but are closely monitoring the East Coast and updating their strategies if necessary. The main adage voiced by several public safety agencies is, "See something, say something." NBC Bay Area's Mark Matthews contributed to this report. A 33-year-old San Francisco man is recovering from life-threatening injuries he suffered early Monday morning after someone shot him in the head several times with a paintball gun at point-blank range. The shooting occurred in the 5800 block of Mission Street at the San Francisco-Daly City border. Police are searching for a suspect but have few leads other than security cameras at a corner Arco gas station. The Arco manager said police contacted him Monday afternoon for footage, but he wasn't sure he had anything solid to give them. The manager said footage shows people running around at the time of the attack, and the manager believes they knocked down signs at his station. But it's not clear if they're connected to the attack. Neighbor Jamal Benhaddi said he typically gets home just after midnight, and Monday he arrived home to a strange and scary sight just a few hundred feet from his house. "I turned my face and saw someone laying on the ground," he said. San Francisco police believe there may have been a verbal altercation that happened right before the shooting, and the suspect may have come back and attacked the victim with a paintball gun. "I'm sorry for the guy, really sorry for him," Benhaddi said. The victim, a homeless man, has since been upgraded to stable condition. It was the second reported paintball gun attack in the city this year. The first happened in May, three miles north on Mission at Cortland. In that incident, the victim was hit in the eye. No arrests have been made in that shooting. A San Jose State University student body leader has stepped down from his post after being arrested for alleged domestic battery, school officials said. In a story that was first reported by the universitys newspaper, the Spartan Daily, Joshua Romero was taken into custody on Sept. 1. Romero, a former Associated Students Vice President, resigned effective Sept. 14, according to a statement by the student body. The fourth-year political science major, whose biography says he is from San Francisco, first served as a student-at-large committee member, then spent three terms as a board member, before being before elected as vice president, the statement said. It continued: "Associated Students values Mr. Romero's leadership, commitment to the organization, and the numerous contributions he has made to the students of San Jose State University." Romero was booked into Santa Clara County Jail for felony false imprisonment, misdemeanor domestic battery and violating a restraining order, also a misdemeanor, Lt. Jim Renelle with the SJSU police department said. San Leandro police caught a break in a violent attempting kidnapping case on Tuesday when a man suspected of macing and trying to abduct a woman in broad daylight in July was arrested. "This is a very impactful type of crime," San Leandro Police Department's Acting Chief Jeff Tudor said. "It's a fearful crime." Police said the 43-year-old man decided to head north to San Leandro after being released from parole in Orange County. Once in the East Bay, he "tried this very, very violent and serious crime," Lt. Robert McManus said. The still unidentified man reportedly fled California after a Good Samaritan foiled the attack, police said. "Within one hour of attempting the kidnapping in San Leandro, he abandoned his vehicle in east Oakland and ... he got onto an airplane," McManus said. A business owner recognized the suspect's car from prior news coverage and told police that he had seen the man's vehicle near Oakland International Airport, McManus said. "We were able to get DMV records to identify who the owner was," McManus said, and "that led us to a 43-year-old man from Orange County, California." Police found evidence linking the suspect to the attempted kidnaping at his Southern California home. Ultimately, U.S. marshals arrested the man last week, hundreds of miles from the Bay Area. Although the man is being extradited back to the Bay Area, police remained tight lipped Tuesday. They would not specify where the suspect ran to or how he was arrested, saying only that they are contacting other police agencies to determine if he responsible for other similar attacks. Police say the man, who is accused of violently attempting to kidnap a woman on July 28 on the 14700 block of busy Washington Avenue, may also be linked to two other kidnapping attempts. Yong-Sung Leal rescued the female victim, who was heading to a bus stop en route to work, police said. The 23-year-old San Leandro man was also maced as he fought off the attacker, who managed to get away. "It's so shocking that someone could do something so bad and get so far away," San Leandro resident Joseph Serrano said. Only former Congressman Joe Walsh would take credit for one of the most incendiary tweets of the past year. On Monday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted out a meme comparing Syrian refugees to a bowl of poisoned Skittles, but Walsh later pointed out that he made the same point last month. If I had a bowl of skittles [sic] and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful, the meme asked. Thats our Syrian refugee problem." The tweet, which is stamped with the Trump Pence logo, has since received widespread backlash on social media. Walsh responded Monday evening seeking credit for the controversial tweet. Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, thats the point I made last month, Walsh tweeted at the billionaires son. Glad you agree. Walsh, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois 8th Congressional District from 2011 to 2013, tweeted out a strikingly similar message in August. If I had a bowl of Skittles and told you 3 of them would kill you: Would you eat a handful, Walsh asked in the tweet. No? This is our refugee problem. According to the Chicago Tribune, Walsh told Chicago Inc. Tuesday that Muslim countries have to stand up and do more. He also said he would tell a refugee who was trying to bring their family to safety and found his analogy to be foolish, Tough. He also told Chicago Inc. that his favorite Skittles are the purple ones. Skittles responded to Trump Jr.s tweet in a statement obtained by NBC News Tuesday. Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy, Skittles Vice President of Corporate Affairs Denise Young said in a statement. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing. According to the Tribune, the senior Trump has advocated ideological vetting for Muslim visitors to the U.S. and has called for a moratorium on immigration from war-torn Syria, a region that has been crippled by the rise of ISIS. Chicago Cubs owners Joseph and Marlene Ricketts are now backing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and plan to put money into his campaign, NBC News reports. Brian Baker, a spokesperson for the Ricketts, said the family decided to back Trump because they dont want to see Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton win in November. According to Baker, the Ricketts think Trump performing well in the election will improve the GOP's chances of holding on to the Senate. The Chicago Tribune reports the Ricketts plan to spend about $1 million in support of Trumps presidential bid. However, Baker would not give NBC News an estimate of how much the family would spend. When asked if the family would donate $10 million or $50 million, Baker said it could be either. It isnt clear how exactly the Ricketts will donate the money. Their super Political Action Committee, Ending Spending Action, already has a hand in down ballot races. Baker told NBC News they could create a new entity or use their current super PAC to donate. In any event, Baker noted that the family will not donate to a super PAC controlled by someone else. According to a Monday CNN report, billionaire Sheldon Adelson will likely give $5 million to the Ricketts political efforts. I hope so, Baker said, although he noted that he first heard about the potential donation from the CNN report. During the primaries, the Ricketts spent $5.5 million on negative advertising against Trump, the Tribune reports. In response, Trump sent a veiled threat to the family in February. I hear the Rickets [sic] family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $s against me, Trump tweeted. "They better be careful, they have a lot to hide! Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts, Joseph and Marlene Ricketts son, responded later that month. Its a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom, he told reporters at the time. The fact is, whether its my mom or my dad on his Ending Spending stuff or my sister on marriage equality or my brothers and what they do or what we do with the team, were pretty much an open book. "We stand up for what we believe in. Thats what America should be, he added. The Ricketts family has deep and varied political ties. Pete Ricketts, another son of Joseph and Marlene Ricketts, is the Republican governor of Nebraska. He endorsed Trump in May, the Tribune reports. Additionally, Laura Ricketts, the daughter of Joseph and Marlene Ricketts, is a prominent LGBTQ activist who hosted a big-ticket Clinton fundraiser in July. A Chicago federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a former Illinois National Guard soldier and his cousin to prison for plotting to join Islamic State fighters and to attack a U.S. military facility. Hasan Edmonds, 23, the former soldier, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 30 years in prison. His cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 30, received a 21-year prison sentence. The sentences matched what prosecutors asked for the men, both residents of suburban Aurora. Hasan Edmonds devised a plan to travel to the Middle East while Jonas Edmonds attacked the National Guard armory in Joliet, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, according to prosecutors. The goal, prosecutors say, was to kill as many as 150 people at the facility. Jonas Edmonds said he dropped Hasan Edmonds at the airport to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State fighters. But Jonas Edmonds denied he would have attacked the military armory. "The person they're trying to make me into, I'm not that person," Edmonds told U.S. District Judge John Lee. Defense attorney James Graham told the judge that Edmonds was a heavy smoker of marijuana and was boastful, but had no weapons and never would have gone through with the attack. It was a characterization that was dismissed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, who noted as he held up a duffel bag filled with National Guard uniforms that Edmonds planned to don the uniform to help him blend in and gain access to the armory for the attack. "Thank God the FBI was there to stop him," Jonas said. After dropping his cousin off at Chicago's Midway International Airport on March 25, 2015, Jonas Edmonds went to his cousin's home and collected the uniforms, according to prosecutors. Hasan Edmonds, filings say, instructed Jonas to kill high-ranking officers first. Agents arrested Hasan Edmonds at the airport and detained Jonas Edmonds at his home shortly thereafter. Under plea agreements, Hasan Edmonds pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Jonas Edmonds pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and lying to federal agents. Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich quietly decided months ago to suspend a vocational program recruiting men from Latin America to Chicago to become priests, but that decision was never made public until now. In an NBC 5 exclusive, the Chicago Archdiocese released information surrounding the suspension of Casa Jesus, a program aimed at preventing a shortage in priests by invited young men to Chicago and teaching them English. Theres a similar program in place for men from Poland. Back in April, officials confirmed Cupich decided to suspend operations of Casa Jesus pending further review. Those decisions were communicated to the board of both programs in April of this year, according to Archdiocese spokesperson Susan Burritt. Controversy first began brewing at the seminary just steps from Holy Name Cathedral last November. When I was at Casa Jesus, I used to go to gay bars, bring my friends, said Luis Stalin, a former Casa Jesus seminarian. They didnt say anything. Stalin, who ultimately left the program, said while the men were considering priesthood, celibacy was often ignored. Then, last year, multiple sources told NBC 5 and Telemundo Chicago that three seminarians were removed after visiting a gay bar. The director of the program, Father Octavio Munoz, was also removed. Over the years, Munoz traveled to Latin America at the Archdioceses expense to invite young men to apply to Casa Jesus. But in 2015, he was transferred and sent to rehab, according to multiple sources, after pornography was allegedly discovered on his computer. Later, two other priests who started at Casa Jesus were also removed from the Archdiocese after questions over sexual misconduct. In the nearly 30 years Casa Jesus has been in operation, 260 men attended the program, but only 53 have been ordained as priests. The Archdiocese was spending roughly $30,000 a year for each seminarian who came to Chicago on a special religious visa. For a year, those seminarians would attend classes at University of Illinois Chicago, adapting to English while considering life as a priest. If you say you were going to have a house, you are going to have a car, a salary, of course, who doesnt want that life? Stalin said. Suspending the Casa Jesus program wasnt known to even many Chicago priests. As it reviews the program, the Archdiocese told NBC 5, four men from Casa Jesus and two from Bishop Abramowiczs seminary are now living at the Mundelein seminary. Cupich was not immediately available for comment and Munoz could not immediately be reached. It was not clear what would happen to the building, which was partially renovated for the late Cardinal Francis George before he became too ill to move in. An extra-alarm fire triggered multiple explosions overnight at a pallet factory on Chicagos West Side and the blaze is now being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firefighters responded to a fire around 11 p.m. Monday in the yard of a West Town neighborhood warehouse in an industrial area near North Damen and West Grand Avenues, officials said. The company who owns the property makes and repairs wooden pallets, making it hard for crews to fight down the burning blaze. Flames shot high into the sky and propane tanks exploded, prompting a hazmat response as crews worked to keep the fire contained. We had a large volume of fire with all the pallets burning themselves, Chicago Fire Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner William Vogt said. Firefighters managed to prevent the blaze from spreading to two adjacent warehouses, but the fire burned the attic of a neighboring two-story home. Two residents inside were able to escape safely with their pets, fire officials said. It took more than an hour for about 100 firefighters to get the fire under control. The pallet companys owner was on the scene, telling NBC 5 he plans to rebuild following the destruction. It is still unknown what caused the fire to start. A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for a downstate Illinois man sought in connection to the disappearance of a teenage girl and her 2-week-old son, authorities confirmed Monday. Christopher Derleth, 39, of Edwardsville, is wanted on charges of aggravated kidnapping and child abduction charges, according to the Madison County States Attorneys office. Katherine Derleth, 13, and her son Christopher Derleth, may be in the company of Katherines stepfather, Christopher, according to the Madison County Sheriffs office. He is known to drive a green 1997 Mercury Villager Minivan with Illinois Registration E833210. He is an avid camper and may be in a rural camp ground or hotel or motel, authorities said. Law enforcement believes the trio may be in West Virginia, Madison County State's Attorney Tom Gibbons said in a phone interview Monday. "Early in the investigation there were indications the defendant may be trying to take the 13-year-old and the baby to West Virginia," he said. Gibbons said the West Virginia State Police issued an AMBER alert that yielded a possible siting on I-77 South just outside of Charleston near mile marker 94. Gibbons also said there was previously a Bond County no contact order issued against the elder Christopher Derleth regarding Katherine. "There was a juvenile abuse petition filed and in August an order was issued in that case that prohibited him from having contact with her," Gibbons said. Christopher was not charged with any crimes but investigations were ongoing in Bond County, Gibbons said. He said Katherine and her sister were in the custody of a foster family in Madison County when authorities believe she and her son were taken. The primary concern authorities have right now, Gibbons added, is getting the young mother and child somewhere safe and ensuring they both have proper medical attention. "I think it's fair to say that this is a family in crisis and really a broken situation," he said. Anyone with information on the matter is asked to contact the Madison County Sheriffs Office at 618-692-4433. Police have released community alerts on multiple attacks against women around Loyola Universitys campusfour of them in September aloneincluding two on the same street. Tatjana Williams-Jones, 19, said she was attacked walking home from the library before 1 a.m. on Sept. 7 on the 6300 block of North Winthrop. Somebody came up behind me on a bicycle and started groping me, she said. Williams-Jones said she fought the attacker off and that he looked a little older than her. He looked Middle Eastern, he had a very heavy Arabic accent, Im guessing, and so he was like its different in my country, you can do this, she said. I was so in shock I didnt know what to do so I just grabbed and tried to like throw him to the ground. Police released a community alert Monday night with information on three separate attacks on women in the Loyola area in the past two weeks. The alert details four different gropings near the universitys campus reported to police by three students and a faculty member between Sept. 6 and 18. In three of the reports the individual is reportedly riding a bicycle when they victims are accosted. According to the community alert, the man is described as either Hispanic or Middle Eastern, in his 20s with dark skin, dark wavy hair and often on a mountain bike. Loyola and Chicago police say if you live or go to school in that area you should not use headphones if walking alone. They also say, if you are attacked, try and remember any details about the attacker and call police immediately. The teen who robbed Mayor Rahm Emanuels son nearly two years ago has been sentenced to prison boot camp for two other crimes he committed while on probation for the high-profile mugging. Phillip B. Payne, 19, pleaded guilty last week to felony counts of dealing cocaine and possessing a stolen car, getting sentences of four years and three years, respectively. But a judge also recommended that the state corrections department admit Payne into its boot camp program, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. If Payne qualifies for and completes the program, he would be released in about six months. If not, his seven-year sentence would stand, with Payne spending a little more than two years in prison under day-for-day credits for time served. The Sun-Times last year revealed Paynes downward spiral in the wake of the Dec. 19, 2014, mugging of Zach Emanuel, the mayors then-17 year-old son. In between his drug and stolen-car arrests last year, he grieved the loss of his older half-brother, BoShaun Jackson, a fellow gang member who was shot and killed in April 2015. The police have said Payne has refused to give up his accomplice in Zach Emanuels mugging, which happened around 10 p.m. as Zach Emanuel was talking on his cellphone not far from the Emanuel homes front door in Ravenswood. The pair approached Zach Emanuel from behind, punched him, placed him in a chokehold and took off with the phone after demanding he give them the code to unlock it, the police have said. Zach Emanuel, shaken by the mugging, was treated at home by a family doctor. The police were able to bust Payne because the stolen phone, subsequently sold online, didnt work. So it was brought to a store, where the serial number turned up the name of the original owner, the mayors son, in a database tracking stolen phones. Investigators said they traced the phone to a man who said he got it from Payne. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi last year described the robbery as a crime of opportunity facilitated by the fact that the victim was unaware of his surroundings because he was talking on his cellphone. He also said the victim and Phil Payne did not know each other and had no contact prior to Payne and his accomplice assaulting him that night. Emanuels office had no comment on Paynes sentencing, which was first reported by the blog Crime in Wrigleyville and Boystown. Payne reported to Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet on Friday. He also was ordered to pay $1,539 in fees. An apartment building on Sisson Avenue in Hartford was evacuated early on Tuesday morning following a small kitchen fire, according to firefighters. Hartford firefighters told NBC Connecticut the fire broke out on the first floor of 7 Sisson Avenue, filling it with smoke. Residents were evacuated from the building, but no injuries were reported. Firefighters quickly knocked down the flames and aired out the building before letting residents back inside. Authorities are searching for a Middletown mother and son who did not return from a fishing trip off Block Island, according to NBC affiliate WJAR. According to the US Coast Guard, 54-year-old Linda Carmen and her 22-year-old son Nathan haven't been heard from since Saturday, when they left from Point Judith, Rhode Island for an off-shore fishing trip. Friends reported the pair missing around 6:30 p.m. Sunday when they did not return home. Sharon Hartstein of Rocky Hill has known Linda Carmen for over 20 years and said the mother and son often go on fishing adventures. "They like to go off the beaten track and see some of the nature." Hartstein said Linda told her they'd be back around 9 a.m. Sunday, but so far no one has heard from them. Hartstein said Linda is not the type to disappear without warning and she's worried for her friend's safety. "Frustrating, frustrating. I could you know go take a walk and look for somebody, join a search if somebody was missing locally I can't do that on the water," she said. The Coast Guard said the pair was traveling in a 32-foot aluminum center console boat. The Coast Guard and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management are both involved in the search. Anyone with information about the Carmens or their missing vessel should contact Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New Englands Command Center at (508) 457-3211. The Connecticut Supreme Court will hear an expedited appeal of a landmark court ruling declaring the state's education funding system unconstitutional. Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers on Tuesday approved the appeal request by state Attorney General George Jepsen. Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher ruled earlier this month in an 11-year-old lawsuit that the state must submit plans to overhaul its education system and change its school funding formula within 180 days. Jepsen says the legislative and executive branches not a judge should determine state education policy. The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of municipalities, school boards, parents and students. It claims the current system relies too heavily on local property taxes and results in a big gap in test scores between students in rich and poor towns. Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lockheed Martin, parent company of Sikorsky, have reached a deal to keep the company's headquarters in Connecticut until 2032. The agreement promises to retain and grow approximately 8,000 jobs at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford over the next 16 years, the governor said. Under the deal, Sikorsky will build nearly 200 CH-53K King Stallion Helicopters in Connecticut for the United States Navy, after Lockheed Martin had considered a number of other states to produce the helicopter. A special session for state legislative to approve the agreement will happen in the next few months, the governor's office said. Lockheed Martin, under the agreement, will not only keep the headquarters in state and produce 8,000 jobs, but also, double its spending of $350 million a year with local Connecticut suppliers and increase its capital spending for machinery and equipment by 22 percent. In exchange, the state will provide financial incentives totaling up to $220 million over the term of the agreement. The company will earn grants of up to $8.57 million on an annual basis, sales and use of taxes will be exempted up to $5.7 million per year and if Lockheed Martin exceeds the target level employment by 100 to 550 jobs in any given year, the company will be eligible for a performance incentive grant of up to $1.9 million. Las Vegas police responded to the city's international airport Monday evening after a shooting that appeared to be related to domestic violence, authorities said. There were few details on the shooting available Monday night, though the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department called the shooting an ongoing investigation at about 6:40 p.m. PT Police told NBC affiliate KSNV that two people were shot at the Terminal 1 parking structure. The incident was reported at 5:56 p.m. PT, according to the official McCarran International Airport Twitter feed. Two people were taken to local hospitals, according to that Twitter account. An earlier tweet said their condition wasn't immediately clear. The shooting suspect was not on airport properly shortly before 7 p.m. PT, according to another tweet from the airport. it wasn't clear if that meant a suspect was at large. Police cruisers could be seen near a parking garage soon after the shooting. Check back for more information on this developing story. An American Airlines plane bound for Tampa, Florida, was forced to land after a warning light came on in the cockpit, the airline said Tuesday. According to a spokesman for the Fort Worth-based airline, the Airbus A320, traveling from Phoenix, Arizona, landed safely just before midnight. None of the 146 passengers were hurt. Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA reported passengers were told to brace for a possible impact upon landing. Passengers said there appeared to be a problem with the landing gear, but an airline spokesman would not confirm this. Jery Penacoli, a WFLA daytime television host onboard the flight, said the flight attendants yelled "Brace! Brace! Brace!" as he and those around him said their goodbyes to each other. Penacoli added the pilot deserved high praise. Dallas police said officers shot a man who fired at them outside an Oak Cliff apartment Tuesday morning. [[394086861,C]] Police said the officers responded to a disturbance call in the 1500 block of Argentia Drive at 1:36 a.m. Dallas police spokesman Jimmy Vaughan said the man fired at officers when they went into the apartment. Officers fired back, striking the man once. The man was transported to a hospital with injuries that Vaughan said were not life threatening. No officers were injured, according to authorities. No further details have been released. Stay tuned to NBC 5 for the latest updates. A man charged in the death of a North Texas college student whose body was found dismembered and burned in a park was the subject of a protective order following complaints of stalking and harassment by a former girlfriend, records show. Charles Dean Bryant, 30, is being held on $1 million bond on a charge of capital murder in the death of 24-year-old Jacqueline Vandagriff. He was released from jail on a stalking charge just days before meeting Vandagriff at a bar Sept. 13. Her body was found the next morning after firefighters extinguished a fire in a Grapevine park. According to an arrest warrant, Vandagriff is seen on a security video meeting Bryant at the bar in Denton, where she attended Texas Woman's University. They are later seen going to another bar, then leaving together at about 9:45 p.m. Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling has said that it's not known if the two knew each other before meeting at the bar. Cell phone data indicate that early on the morning of Sept. 14, Vandagriff's phone was in the vicinity of Bryant's home in Haslet, about 25 miles southwest of Denton, according to the arrest warrant. Video evidence showed Bryant buying a shovel at 4:41 a.m. at a Wal-Mart, and there was evidence at his home that someone had tried to dig a hole in the ground. Officials responding to a fire about 6:30 a.m. found Vandagriff's body in a plastic kiddie pool in a park in Grapevine, located about 20 miles from Haslet. The arrest warrant (see below) says a witness saw a man standing over the fire before leaving. Jail records show Bryant was arrested Sept. 7 by University of North Texas police on a stalking charge and posted bond at the Denton County jail on Sept. 9. He was also arrested by UNT police Sept. 6 and released the same day on bond for criminal trespass. According to Denton County court records, the stalking and criminal trespass arrests came after Bryant continued to contact his former girlfriend, despite her desire that he not after she ended their dating relationship Aug. 23. Upon Bryant's stalking arrest, a judge issued the emergency protective order. Court records show that on Saturday -- three days after Vandagriff's body was found -- his ex-girlfriend told police she'd received emails from Bryant saying he missed her and wanted to talk to her. Police on Sunday arrested him, and he was later charged with capital murder. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. Texas Woman's University said Vandagriff was a nutrition student there. Eberling said Bryant had worked at the Urban Cowboy Saloon in Fort Worth. The gay dance club said on its Facebook page that he was fired on Sunday for not showing up for his shift. According to the arrest warrant, officials executing a search warrant at Bryant's home found Vandagriff's purse in the trash. The document also said the search found a kiddie pool in the backyard that looked similar to the one found with Vandagriff's burning body in it, and saw a patch of dead grass where it appeared a similar pool had been. Bryant's roommate told police that there had recently been two kiddie pools in the backyard. Vandagriff's cause of death has not yet been released. Arrest Affidavit: // Arrest-Warrant-Charles-Dean-Bryant-Jr (PDF) Arrest-Warrant-Charles-Dean-Bryant-Jr (Text) Since last spring, Amber Briggle has been speaking out in favor of transgender rights. Her son, who was born a girl named Gracie, transitioned into a boy named MG when he was in first grade. When there was discussion about so-called bathroom bills, and school policies were brought up, Briggle immediately began speaking out for her son. When Texas and other states challenged new justice department guidelines allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice, Briggle was in court. This is my baby, said Briggle. But it has not always been easy. Briggle said the majority of comments and support she has received has been positive. But she has gotten some emails, and comments Facebook and Twitter filled with hate. People have posted comments say things like Child Protective Services should take away her children and that she is doing this for publicity. Briggle says nothing could be further from the truth. She tries to focus on the positive, but says the hate is still there. I try not to read the comments, but it gets on you," Briggle said. "You know, its like trying to go to the pool and not get wet. With enough people splashing around, its just going to get on you, said Briggle. She says the difficult mail ebbs and flows. When the school year began, it picked up again. There are a lot of people out there who don't necessarily feel safe or comfortable speaking up, and so, for better or for worse I feel we need to speak for them, said Briggle. Deep Ellum is known for its bars and restaurants, its murals and art scene, and its eclectic population. The Dallas neighborhood is not known for its public gathering spaces. "So there's a lack of public space," said Jessica Burnham, executive director of the Deep Ellum Foundation. "So this is kind of looking at how can we fix it and help it." For the month of September, three blocks of Crowdus Street in Deep Ellum are closed to traffic. It's a community social experiment to re-imagine what Deep Ellum could be. "So it's a test. What are all the things you could do in a year?" asked Burnham. "Let's try do to them in a month." This week is "holiday week" on Crowdus. Tuesday it's the Fourth of July, Wednesday is Halloween, Thursday is Thanksgiving, Friday is Christmas and Saturday is a New Year's Eve. Monday night was St. Patrick's Day. "This is something different," said Deep Ellum resident Joseph DeLeon. "Just random people showing up and having a good time, like it was intended." "Just stopped and just forgot what you're supposed to do," said Italian tourist Andrea DePaoli. "Forget your daily routine and have a good, relaxing time." DePaoli followed the music to Crowdus Street as he looked for a place to eat dinner Monday night. He said it reminded him of home. "We have a lot of pedestrian streets like this because it's a way to gather people," DePaoli said. The Reimagine Crowdus events continue all month. Burnham said the goal is to see if this experiment can be more permanent. "We either need to figure out if this is the right idea for our neighborhood, or find a different idea," Burnham said. Following the attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota over the weekend, Senator Ted Cruz wants to stop the flow of refugees from coming into the United States. On Monday, Cruz released the following statement that said, in part: We must start by fully supporting our law enforcement community, from the heroic off-duty officer Jason Falconer, who neutralized the terrorist in the St. Cloud mall, saving many lives, to the FBI officers in New York who have worked swiftly to identify and apprehend the likely mastermind of the weekend bombings. We also desperately need the active participation of American Muslims who see the jihadis for what they are: the enemies of all who celebrate freedom and tolerance. Congress should act to prevent Americans who have travelled abroad for training from returning here, and to stop the flow of refugees from hotbeds of terrorism in the Middle East that President Obama is determined to bring to our country. We cant overcome our enemies by pretending they dont exist, and undermining our first line of defenders. Only together, clear-eyed and determined, can we defeat this foe. Cruz proposed a similar plan last year called the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act. Brangelina is history. Citing irreconcilable differences, Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from husband Brad Pitt after two years. Jolie's lawyer Robert Offer told The Associated Press the decision was made "for the health of the family." In a statement released to People Magazine, Pitt also said his focus is on the "well-being of our kids." Photos: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Through the Years "I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids," he said in the statement. "I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time." The couple have six children together and married on August. 14, 2014, after a 12-year relationship. They first worked together on the 2004 set of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." [NATL] Celebrity Breakups The stars separated on Sept. 15, according to court documents, less than a month after their two-year wedding anniversary. The documents listed the date of the filing as Monday. In a statement released to E! News, Jolie's manager Geyer Kosinski said her focus was now on the children. "Angelina will always do whats in the best interest to protect her children. She appreciates everyone's understanding of their need for privacy at this time." [NATL] Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: The Most Shocking Star Splits Pitt was previously married to actress Jennifer Aniston in 2000, divorcing in 2005. This was the third marriage for Jolie, having previously been wed to Jonny Lee Miller in 1996 and Billy Bob Thornton in 2000. [NATL] Emmy Awards 2016 Red Carpet: Best and Worst Dressed The divorce was first reported by TMZ. In 2014 the couple wed privately in the French hamlet of Correns in Provence with their children serving as ring bearers and throwing flower petals. The pair adopted children from Cambodia, Vietnam and Ethiopia. And they sought to direct the glare of their celebrity toward other causes. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, became an outspoken voice for refugees and various causes in Africa, as well as for breast cancer treatment after undergoing a double mastectomy in 2013. Jolie is asking for physical custody of their six children, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Viviennne. The couple most recently worked together on the 2015 film "By The Sea," on which Jolie also served as writer and director. A year ago, the couple talked about growing old together. "As much as we can argue and fight, and we all have our challenges, at the end I say, 'My job is to love him,'" Jolie told People magazine. "I'm more interested in his 50-year-old self than his 40-year-old-self, she said. "And then you look forward to even more years together." Meanwhile, in an interview with The Telegraph, Pitt said, "And I'm surprised how much our history Angie's and mine means to me. That we have this story together. That we know each other. That we watch each other getting older, through amazing moments, joys, pains." "You know, nowadays I really can't wait to get home," he said. "More than at any time in my life, I've got purpose real purpose. It feels like I've found my place." A woman was arrested for felony hit and run and DUI after striking two pedestrians and crashing into a building on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday afternoon, police said. The female driver was involved in two crashes, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The woman first struck a vehicle on Hollywood Boulevard and Las Palmas Avenue. Then, she continued on before crashing into two pedestrians and a building on Hollywood Boulevard and McCadden Place. The second crash was reported around 3 p.m. at 6724 Hollywood Blvd. near the Museum of Broken Relationships, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The two pedestrians were not seriously injured. One of the victims was taken to a local hospital in stable condition and the other was treated at the scene for minor bumps and bruises. The driver was uninjured. Loyola Marymount University is increasing campus security after a sexual assault took place in a campus bathroom over the weekend. The incident occurred Sunday between 6 and 8 p.m., according to LMU's Department of Public Safety. The assault is reported to have occurred in the first floor bathroom of the library. The female victim described the suspect as a white male adult, approximately 18-20 years old. The man's height and weight are unknown. She added that there may be blood on the man's shirt. The Los Angeles Police Department is assisting the university's Department of Public Safety in the investigation. A campus-wide alert was sent to students to alert them of the crime. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact the LAPD at 877-275-5273 or the LMU Department of Public Safety at 310-338-2894. El Monte police were searching Monday for a man with a dragon tattoo on the back of his head who allegedly tried to abduct a 9-year-old boy in front of an elementary school. The incident occurred Thursday in broad daylight when a man attempted to take a 9-year-old boy outside La Primaria School, according to a news release from the El Monte Police Department. The boy was waiting to be picked up by his mother outside the school around 2 p.m., when the would-be kidnapper allegedly tried to forcefully take the boy, grabbing his wrist before the boy broke away. The man then ran eastbound down Ramona Boulevard, police said. The man was described as being between 6 feet, to 2 to 3 inches tall, in his 30s, with pock marks on his face, a large dragon tattoo on the back of his head, "Maria" inked onto his neck and a skull on his chest. Anyone with information on the man's whereabouts is asked to call the El Monte Police Department at 626-580-2114. A Rancho Cucamonga grandfather was arrested on suspicion of child abuse after taking his severely burned grandson to the hospital, police said. Jerry Ortiz Villareal, 45, was arrested after taking his 2-year-old grandson to a hospital, police said. The boy had second-degree burns on large portions of his body, said Deputy Jacob Bailey, a spokesman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. He was in critical condition. "Villareal claimed the victim was burned with boiling water from the stove several days prior, but Villareal failed to seek medical attention for him," authorities said in a news release. As a result, the victim's injuries became more severe and he was airlifted to a burn unit in Northern California for a higher level of care. At 15 years old, Emily shouldn't have to speak on behalf of her mother. But Emily and her little sister hope that by doing so, their pain will wake someone up in South Los Angeles to find their mother's killer. Their mother, Dianey Santos, 39, was waiting for a bus on a Friday night in June at 83rd Street and Broadway when she was gunned down by a bullet meant for someone else. "I'm sorry, it's really hard," she said during a news conference announcing a $50,000 reward in the case. "It's hard to believe." LAPD Capt. Peter Whittingham, said Emily's mother wasn't in the wrong place. "She had a right to be there," he said. "What is wrong is that we have killers on the streets of Los Angeles thinking they can simply do what they want to do and get away with it because no one in the community is going to talk about it. Nobody's going to point them out." Surveillance video shows the intended target running for his life. Detectives said that if he knows who was after him, he's not saying. "This is an innocent person waiting for the bus," said LAPD Detective Shawn Svoboda. Meantime, two orphans are left as motherless children. "If anyone knows anything, just please, I want justice for my mom," Emily said. Investigators found the drug PCP in the vehicle of an unarmed black man fatally shot by a white officer, according to Oklahoma police, but attorneys for the slain man's family say discussion of drugs distracts from questions about the use of deadly force. Tulsa Sgt. Dave Walker told the Tulsa World on Tuesday that investigators recovered one vial of PCP in Terence Crutcher's SUV, but he declined to say where in the vehicle it was found or whether officers determined if Crutcher used it Friday night. Walker confirmed to The Associated Press that what he told the newspaper was true, but declined further comment. Attorneys for Crutcher's family said the man's relatives did not know whether drugs were found in his vehicle and, even if they were, that wouldn't justify his fatal shooting. "Let us not be throwing a red herring, and to say because something was found in the car that was justification to shoot him," said attorney Benjamin Crump, one of the family's lawyers. Crump compared Crutcher's shooting to Monday's arrest of New York bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, who police say engaged officers in a shootout. "He wasn't killed. So why was an unarmed black man who has committed no crime, who only needs a hand, given bullets in his lungs?" Crump said. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby fatally shot the 40-year-old Crutcher on Friday after responding to a report of a stalled vehicle. Sgt. Shane Tuell said Tuesday that Shelby had a stun gun at the time of the shooting but did not use it. Officer Tyler Turnbough, who is also white, used a stun gun on Crutcher, police said. Two 911 calls described an SUV that had been abandoned in the middle of the road. One unidentified caller said the driver was acting strangely, adding, "I think he's smoking something." Oklahoma prison officials confirmed Tuesday that Crutcher served four years in prison on a drug conviction from 2007 to 2011. But Damario Solomon-Simmons, another attorney for Crutcher's family, said Shelby and other officers had no way of knowing about Crutcher's background or the potential for drugs in his vehicle when they approached him Friday. "It's undisputed that the officers on the scene had no idea what may be in Terence's car," Solomon-Simmons said. "At that particular moment that he was shot, he was not a suspect for any crime. Period." Police Chief Chuck Jordan said Monday that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot. It's not clear from dashcam and aerial footage what led Shelby to draw her gun or what orders officers gave Crutcher. Shelby's attorney, Scott Wood, said Crutcher was not following the officers' commands and that Shelby was concerned because he kept reaching for his pocket as if he was carrying a weapon. "He has his hands up and is facing the car and looks at Shelby, and his left hand goes through the car window, and that's when she fired her shot," Wood told the Tulsa World. But attorneys for Crutcher's family challenged that claim Tuesday, presenting an enlarged photo from the police footage that appeared to show that Crutcher's window was rolled up. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted in the shooting or if Crutcher's civil rights were violated. Police helicopter footage was among several clips released Monday that show the shooting and aftermath. A man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying "time for a Taser" and then: "That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something." Betty Shelby's mother-in-law, Lois Shelby, said the officer is grieving for Crutcher's family and isn't prejudiced. She told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday that Shelby "thought she had to protect her own life" when she shot Crutcher. "She wouldn't harm anyone, we're all sick, we feel for the (Crutcher) family," Lois Shelby said. "But, you know, we have a family that goes out every day and faces life and death. And when she is being accused of things she didn't do wrong, it's too much, and they don't think about our family." Betty Shelby declined comment Tuesday, referring calls to her attorney. Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female officer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the driver's side of the SUV, more officers arrive and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle before the officers surround him. Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, "I think he may have just been tasered." Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, "Shots fired!" and Crutcher is left lying in the street. Shelby's attorney, Wood, said Turnbough fired the stun gun at the same time Shelby opened fire because both perceived a threat. The shooting comes four months after ex-Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction in an unarmed black man's 2015 death. Bates said he mistakenly grabbed his gun instead of his Taser. Shelby worked as a Tulsa County sheriff's deputy for four years before joining the Tulsa Police Department in December 2011, officials said. She has been placed on paid leave. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Havana Monday for a one day official visit. Rouhani was set to meet with Cuban Leader Raul Castro and retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Both countries have recently expressed their interest in expanding and strengthening economic relations. Foreign media have reported that before leaving Tehran, Rouhani described Cuba as a "friendly and revolutionary county." In the past, both countries have held meetings to identify opportunities for trade and investment and ways to introduce medical-pharmaceutical products from the island nation to the Iranian market. Rouhani is scheduled to leave Havana to New York Tuesday morning. A scary moment onboard an American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Tampa overnight as the plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to a malfunction issue with landing gear. Flight 574 was scheduled to land at Tampa International Airport around midnight, but the pilots pulled the plane up shortly before landing and the plane circled the area for moments. Passengers told NBC affiliate WFLA-TV that flight attendants told them to brace for a crash landing. Eventually, the plane was able to land on the ground and passengers were able to exit the aircraft. They were taken by bus to the terminal and no injuries were reported. American Airlines released a statement saying in part: AA flight 574, an A320 aircraft traveling from Phoenix to Tampa, experienced an indicator light in the cockpit prior to landing. The aircraft landed normally and passengers were deplanedThe aircraft is currently being evaluated by our maintenance team. A Florida man was arrested after he intentionally struck an elderly man with his car at a Pasco County elementary school Tuesday morning. Lawrence Dean Franklin, 34, was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with a vehicle on a person over 65 years old following the incident at Calusa Elementary School, Pasco County Sheriff's Office officials said. Officials said Franklin was in the drop-off loop at the school when he refused to go into the proper lane. William Denamen, a 79-year-old volunteer, was assisting in the drop off loop and stood in front of Franklin's car to show Franklin he was serious and had to leave, officials said. Franklin refused to comply and took his foot off the brake, letting his Cadillac CTS hit Denamen, officials said. Denamen suffered a minor injury to his leg and had a noticeable limp, officials said. Franklin said he "felt threatened" by Denamen when he told him to move to another lane, officials said. Jail records didn't list Franklin, and it's unknown if he's hired an attorney. Authorities say a Port Richey man grabbed his drugs but left behind an infant and two caged dogs after accidentally causing an explosion. News outlets report 24-year-old Steven Brown turned himself in to Pasco County investigators Monday. He faces arson, drug and aggravated cruelty to animal charges, among others. Kevin Doll with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office says Brown was trying to cook butane hash oil inside his home Sept. 3 when a fire started, burning his house down. Deputies say Brown took his drugs and fled the residence, leaving behind a 1-year-old child and two dogs. The child wasn't hurt, but the dogs died. Authorities had been searching for Brown, who they say fled from a traffic stop Sept. 9. It is unclear whether he has an attorney. A Broward County man is facing charges after authorities say he was caught snorting heroin in a car with a pregnant woman while a 3-year-old child was with them. Robert Bonaiuto, 38, was arrested at the 7-Eleven at 4800 S. State Road 7 in Hollywood Monday night on charges of child neglect without great bodily harm and possession of heroin, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office arrest report. Bonaiuto appeared in court Tuesday where he was ordered held on $2,000 bond. No attorney information was available. The arrest report said a BSO crime suppression team was at the 7-Eleven when Bonaiuto parked his Ford Expedition in the parking lot. Detectives watched as Bonaiuto, another man and the woman snorted heroin, the report said. As detectives approached the SUV, Bonaiuto tried to shove an Advil bottle between the seats, the report said. They also discovered that a 3-year-old child was in the vehicle. "I can get you guys whatever you need, I just don't want to go to jail," Bonaiuto said, according to the report. "Man I relapsed and started using heroin again." Detectives found 10 baggies of heroin inside the Advil bottle, the report said. They also found two plastic baggies that had been dropped out of the SUV with heroin residue inside, the report said. Hollywood Fire Rescue responded to evaluate the child's health, and the child's mother was allowed to take the kid home. The report said the woman who was snorting heroin in the car is four months pregnant with twins. A man was struck by lightning while working on the roof of a building at a northwest Miami-Dade construction site Tuesday, officials said. The worker was on the building at Northwest 62nd Avenue and 7th Street when he was struck, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said. Several units responded and the worker was hoisted down the building. He had to be hoisted after there was a power outage in the building due to the storm that knocked out elevator service, officials said. The worker was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center where his condition was unknown. Check back with NBC 6 for updates. What to Know A Linden, New Jersey, bar owner found the FBI's most wanted man in the tri-state sleeping outside his tavern Harry Bains says Ahmad Rahami was asleep outside his bar for hours Monday morning before he decided to follow his instinct and call police Bains' gut feeling proved crucial to Rahami's capture responding officers took him into custody after a gunfight It was just another day of work for one New Jersey bar owner until he encountered the most wanted man in the tri-state sleeping outside his tavern. As a massive manhunt was underway for New York City bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami, business owner Harry Bains noticed a man sleeping in the doorway of his Linden bar, Merdies Tavern. Bains said the man had been asleep there for hours Monday morning and thought that he may have been a drunk who passed out. He said the man looked tired and exhausted as rain poured down around him. The news of a terror suspect on the loose had been on in Merdies Tavern all morning. He said he had a gut feeling about the sleeping man, as the story ran over and over on television and Rahamis image replayed in his mind. I was watching the news since this morning and I said, 'This guy looks so like this guy.' And I kept looping the same story three or four times, Bains said. Bains finally decided to follow his instincts about the man. He said he made a call to Linden police. When officers arrived, things escalated quickly. The officers woke Rahami. When he lifted his head they recognized him as the man in the FBI wanted poster released just hours earlier. They told him to show his hands and he pulled out a gun and fired, hitting one of them, according to police. Rahami then allegedly walked down the street firing at random passing vehicles. Eventually police were able to take him down. He was hauled away in an ambulance, wounded by police bullets, but still alive. Bains was nearly hit by bullets during the gunfight, but he says in the end hes glad he followed that uneasy feeling he had. I'm just happy that I did it and it came to be that guy, you know? Bains said. But the totality of the whole situation was still settling in for Bains later on Monday. Why in the world? Of all the places in front of my bar? The guy is lodging in front of my bar. What to Know Ahmad Rahami was captured Monday in Linden, New Jersey, following a shootout with police He is suspected in a series of bombings in New York City and New Jersey Authorities say there is no known link to an organized terror cell, and they believe he acted alone The father of Ahmad Rahami, the suspected bomber in a series of explosions in New York City and New Jersey Saturday, says he had "no idea" his son was involved in any alleged terror plan. Mohammad Rahami, who owns the fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, that was raided by FBI and other officials as law enforcement escalated their manhunt for the suspect, had little else to say about his son's arrest. Asked by NBC News if he knew his son was allegedly involved in bomb-making, Mohammad Rahami said, "No. No idea." They called it a war zone and something out of the movies. Witnesses describing the dramatic scene as police closed in on suspect Ahmad Rahami in Linden this morning. Sarah Wallace reports. Federal investigators interviewed Mohammad Rahami in 2014 after a neighbor heard the father scream, "You are a terrorist!" at his son, who had just allegedly punched his sister and stabbed his brother in the leg during a fight, senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News. The neighbor called police, and police told counter-terrorism officials, who questioned the father and relatives. The father said he had made the comment out of anger and denied feeling as if his son were a terrorist or in any way radicalized, the officials told NBC News. Mohammad Rahami admitted his son was hanging out with a bad crowd, but described his friends as drinkers and thugs, the officials told NBC News. The FBI interviewed Rahami again later and the father reiterated his statements. The FBI conducted additional interviews and found no indication of terrorism. Ahmad Rahami spent three months in jail after the domestic dispute, but a grand jury declined to indict him and the matter was dropped. Meanwhile, authorities are looking to question Ahmad Rahami's wife, who was out of the country at the time of the bombings. A senior law enforcement official says investigators do not consider her travel suspicious. Ahmad Rahami, a 28-year-old native of Afghanistan, was taken into custody Monday after a shootout on the street with police officers in Linden, New Jersey. Two officers were shot in the chaos, but are expected to make full recoveries. One left the hospital Monday night; the other was released Tuesday. Rahami, who was also wounded and remains hospitalized, has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. Ahmad Rahami, the naturalized 28-year-old native of Afghanistan hunted in connection with a series of bombings in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend, has been charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer after a gun battle that left two officers wounded, officials said. Ida Siegal reports. Federal prosecutors have filed charges against Rahami in the bombings and bombing attempts, including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing public places, according to a criminal complaint unsealed at a federal court in Manhattan Tuesday. Grainy surveillance video captures bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami running from police as a gun battle erupted on a street in Linden, New Jersey, Monday. He's also facing five counts of attempted murder in the police shootout, as well as second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Monday evening. Bail for Rahami in the Linden shootout was set at $5.2 million. It wasn't clear if he'd retained an attorney as of Monday night. Authorities had been looking for Rahami in connection with bombings that rocked a crowded Manhattan neighborhood and a Jersey shore town over the weekend. A senior law enforcement official says a fingerprint collected from an unexploded device led investigators to Rahami as a suspect in the bombings at the Marine 5K race and the blast in Chelsea. [NATL-NY] Bombs in New Jersey, New York Spark Manhunt Investigators said Tuesday Rahami was also linked to a cluster of pipe bombs found at a commuter rail station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, late Sunday, not far from where the suspect was later captured. A robot trying to disarm one of the bombs inadvertently detonated it, but no one was hurt. The blast in Chelsea injured more than 30 people, though all have since been released from the hospital. The explosion left twisted metal and shrapnel scattered across 23rd Street. An unexploded pressure cooker with a cellphone attached and wires protruding was found four blocks away; it was taken to a firing range, where it was safely detonated. Mayor de Blasio was set to visit the scene Tuesday as the neighborhood worked to return to normal. The discovery of the Manhattan devices came hours after a pipe bomb exploded in a trash bin at the Marine 5K in Seaside Park. Authorities had said they believed the device had been timed to go off as participants were running by, but the race had been late. It was canceled and no one was hurt. Leaked video of the initial explosion in #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/nBMbh7iBCl REGATED (@regated) September 18, 2016 Old-fashioned flip phones were found on the devices in Manhattan and in Seaside Park, law enforcement officials close to the investigation told NBC 4 New York. All of the phones were purchased at the same New Jersey discount store and were made with commonly available materials that can be bought without raising law-enforcement suspicions, authorities say. After hedging on any potential terror angle over the weekend, Mayor de Blasio said at a news briefing Monday that there is "every reason to believe" the bombings in the city and in New Jersey were "an act of terror." Authorities said, though, that there was no indication of a terror cell in the area, and officials believe the suspect acted alone. In a closing dispatch to the world he's tried to shape, President Barack Obama conceded Tuesday that the United States and other major powers have only limited ability to solve the world's most profound problems, including Syria's civil war. He lamented the "cycles of conflict and suffering" that seem to kick in every time humanity finally seems to be getting it right. "Perhaps that's our fate," Obama said in his last speech to the U.N. General Assembly. Four months before leaving office, Obama called for a "course correction" to ensure that the unstoppable forces of globalization don't lead nations to entrench behind their borders and ignore the most vulnerable. He chided foreign leaders for stoking ethnic and religious divisions while faulting Russia for a brutish approach to its role on the world stage. Still, Obama insisted it was critical not to gloss over "enormous progress" on economics and global cooperation that he said formed a template for tackling the problems of the future. In a less-than-subtle jab at Donald Trump, the Republican running to replace him, Obama said, "A nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself." Obama's parting words to the global body contained a grim assessment of the challenges he's leaving behind: a devastating refugee crisis, terrorism, financial inequality and a tendency to make immigrants and Muslims scapegoats. Across the Middle East, he said, "basic security, basic order has broken down." "This is the paradox that defines our world today," Obama said. "A quarter-century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before. And yet our societies are filled with uncertainty and unease and strife." This year's U.N. gathering has played out against the harrowing backdrop of the deepening civil war in Syria and the renewed failure of U.S. and Russian diplomatic efforts to stem the violence for any meaningful period of time. With no better alternatives, the U.S., Russia and others clung unconvincingly Tuesday to the notion that a week-old cease-fire was not moribund, even as Syria declared it over and the U.N. suspended all convoys of aid. Obama acknowledged that the extremist and sectarian violence wreaking havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere "will not be quickly reversed." Still, he stuck faithfully to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria's war and other conflicts. "If we are honest, we know that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long," Obama said. "Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer." The president was unabashed in his critique of Russia as he laid out his diagnosis of the world's ills. His tough talk illustrated how little progress has been made in reconciling the two powers' diverging interests that have allowed the Syria crisis to continue to fester. "In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russia attempting to recover lost glory through force," Obama said. A year ago, Obama stood at the same podium and declared anew that Syrian President Bashar Assad must leave power, while Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a dueling speech warning it would be a mistake to abandon Assad. Since then, Moscow's leverage in the conflict has strengthened significantly, buoyed by a Russian military intervention that bolstered Assad's standing without pulling it into the military "quagmire" that Obama had predicted. White House officials said Obama had been mindful of the fact that his U.N. speech was one of his final opportunities to define his leadership on the world stage. At the heart of his approach, Obama said, is a belief that conflicts are best solved when nations cooperate and a willingness to engage with erstwhile adversaries like Cuba and Myanmar. It's a theme that Democrat Hillary Clinton has put at the forefront of her presidential campaign her slogan is "Stronger Together" as she casts herself as the natural heir to Obama's legacy. The president peppered his speech with subtle references to Trump, his calls for building a wall on the Mexican border and his denigration of Muslims and immigrants. Standing before the 193-member U.N. body, Obama sought in broad strokes to lay out a blueprint for addressing other unresolved conflicts. He called for the world to impose "consequences" on North Korea for its latest nuclear test and, in less direct terms, for China to abide by a recent U.N. tribunal ruling against its territorial designs in the South China Sea. A day before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he drew a parallel between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the need to respect racial minorities in the U.S. "Surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land," Obama said. Ahmad Khan Rahami, a suspect in the bombings in New York City and a shore town in New Jersey, immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan and lives in New Jersey, where his father owns a fried chicken restaurant. Rahami was wounded during a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey, Monday after he was found sleeping in the doorway of a bar, according to authorities. Two police officers were shot, but both have been released from the hospital. Rahami was taken into custody and, Monday evening, charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law-enforcement official in Union County. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors filed charges in the New York and New Jersey bombings and bombing attempts. Rahami, 28, is a U.S. citizen whose family opened First American Fried Chicken in 2002 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The restaurant was searched by authorities Monday. The family came to the United States in 1995 as asylum seekers. Rahami lives with his family above the restaurant, according to The Associated Press. "He's a very friendly guy, that's what's so scary," Ryan McCann of Elizabeth told the AP. They called it a war zone and something out of the movies. Witnesses describing the dramatic scene as police closed in on suspect Ahmad Rahami in Linden this morning. Sarah Wallace reports. Travel to Pakistan, Middle East A senior U.S. intelligence official told NBC News on Monday that Rahami, who was born on Jan. 23, 1988 in Afghanistan, made several trips to Pakistan and visited Afghanistan in 2013. The Afghan Taliban distanced themselves from Rahami, telling NBC they knew nothing of him. He was not on a U.S. terrorist watch list nor on one maintained by the New York Police Department, senior officials told NBC News. Previous FBI Investigation The FBI looked into Rahami two years ago after his father called his son a "terrorist" following a domestic dispute involving Rahami's sister and brother, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. A neighbor overheard and called police, prompting an FBI probe, law enforcement officials said. The father walked back the statement, telling FBI investigators he just meant his son was hanging out with the wrong crowd, the officials said. He reiterated as much in a later FBI interview. The FBI checked its databases, interviewed other relatives and found nothing connecting Rahami to terror groups, three law enforcement officials said. The case was closed in a matter of weeks. Rahami was not interviewed at the time because he was jailed in connection with the domestic dispute. A grand jury declined to indict him and the matter was dropped. Grainy surveillance video captures bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami running from police as a gun battle erupted on a street in Linden, New Jersey, Monday. High School and College Friends and former classmates told NBC News that Rahami was a "cool dude" in high school with the nickname Bo. He liked to have fun and served as a father figure to his younger siblings. "I played lacrosse with him until he was kicked off the team for being late all the time," said one former classmate, who didn't want his name made public. "He definitely didn't seem like the kind of guy you would think would do something like this." Rahami was a criminal justice major at Middlesex Community College from 2010 to 2012 but did not graduate, a college spokesman said. The school said there was nothing concerning in his file. Ahmad Rahami, the naturalized 28-year-old native of Afghanistan hunted in connection with a series of bombings in New York City and New Jersey over the weekend, was taken into custody after a gun battle with police that left two officers injured, four law enforcement sources and other officials said. Wives, Girlfriends and Kids Rahami has a wife, Aziza, who is not in the United States. Rep. Albio Sires, who represents Elizabeth in Congress, told NBC that Aziza Rahami had previously sought a visa to entire the United States via Pakistan, but was denied because her passport was expired. Rahami also has a child with a former high school classmate, Maria Mena. She went to court Tuesday seeking a restraining order against him as well as full custody of their child. Mena told the court she has not spoken to Rahami since January. Court records show that as of last year, he owed thousands of dollars in child support. Rahami Family's Lawsuit Five years ago, Mohammed Rahami and two relatives claimed in a lawsuit filed in federal court that they were harassed by city officials over the restaurant's hours of operation. Neighbors had complained that the restaurant was a late-night nuisance. They accused the city of targeting them because they were Muslim, according to the the civil rights complaint. [NATL-NY] Bombs in New Jersey, New York Spark Manhunt The restaurant had an exemption to stay open past 10 p.m., but police repeatedly tried to close it early, according to the lawsuit. During one confrontation with police, one of Ahmad Rahami's older brothers was arrested after a fight with an officer, and later fled to Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. One man, James Dean McDermott, told the family, "Muslims make too much trouble in this country," according to the complaint. McDermott, a freelance television cameraman, denied the accusation, telling NBC News, "it never happened." He said his dispute with the Rahamis was over the restaurant's hours and not their religion. Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage told The AP that Rahami's father and two brothers sued after the city passed an ordinance requiring it to close early. The owner of a neighboring business described the family as "very secluded" and said the children usually worked behind the counter. Rahami's father told NBC News in a brief interview Monday that he had no idea his son was plotting an attack. For more coverage of the New Jersey and New York bombings, click here. Jose Vazquez, 66, trembled as he recounted being helped by stranger. Erica Byfield reports. Hillary Clinton mocked Donald Trump's continued praise of Vladimir Putin, talked about challenges on the campaign trail and even got some hair advice during an interview on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Monday. Noting that Trump had appeared on program a few days before her, Fallon joked that the real estate mogul had left behind some belongings in a brown paper bag. "Let's look. I mean, let's see what's in there," Clinton said, playing along during the interview. Out of the bag, Fallon pulled out a small, heart-shaped frame with the Russian leader's face in it. "No, that's not Melania, is that?" he first wondered. "No," Clinton responded, before referring to Trump and Putin's relationship as "the most famous 'bromance.'" Clinton did not hold back on her opponent, blasting his role in the sickening" birther movement that questioned President Obama's American citizenship. She added that Trump is not happy about the barriers being knocked down by her nomination. You just have to take a deep breath and say to yourself, what kind of country do we really want? she told Fallon during the interview. And I want a country where barriers are knocked down, and little girls and little boys can feel like they can go as far as their hard work will take them without regard to race and ethnicity and religion and gender and sexual orientation and all of that. The Democratic presidential candidate spoke to Fallon about her historic nomination, but told the host that she did not dream of being president as a child. It wasnt even within the realm of the possible for little girls back then, Clinton said. She said it's difficult at times to be a woman on the campaign trail as she finds herself being criticized for being too serious. She said that it can be tough to find a balance between being positive and being serious. One of the most light-hearted moments on the show featured Fallon reading Letters to Hillary sent by children. One anonymous writer told Clinton to post less on Instagram. 200 posts in [a] month!! Thats a lot.. the letter said. It also advised her to post more on SnapChat and to cut her hair. Best hairstyles was when you were senator and in November 1994, the letter said. Another letter, from a girl named Brijani Ellis, was filled with encouragement for Clinton as she works to knock down the wall called Donald Trump. Its our job to gear up and knock down the wall and show that women have a place in this world, she wrote. P.S. Im 12 and I approve this message. Vote Hillary. A suspected armed robber apparently chose the wrong man to target in the parking lot of a Northeast Philadelphia bank late Monday night. The outlandish investigation began when police officers responded to the parking lot of the Wells Fargo bank on Bustleton Avenue near Bleigh, behind the Roosevelt Mall, about 11 p.m. for what they initially believed to be a victim in a hit-and-run crash. When they arrived, officers found a man with severe head injuries and a hood pulled tight over his head lying on the pavement, according to Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum, of Northeast Detectives. After medics took the man to a hospital, accident-investigation officers arrived at the scene, and learned there might be more to the story: As they investigated, the officers found a large knife apparently belonging to the injured man in the parking lot, Rosenbaum said. Other officers managed to track down the striking vehicle parked on Rutland Street near Tyson Avenue, in the Castor neighborhood, not far from where the man was struck, Rosenbaum said. They found the windshield broken, he said -- damage consistent with striking a person -- but also discovered what appeared to be a hole in the glass made by a knife. "[Accident investigation] goes over there and notices it looks like the knife went through the windshield, so right away, he knows something's up," Rosenbaum explained. "There's something more to this." Officers finally managed to track down the car's owner, a man who Rosenbaum said didn't speak much English. Through an interpreter, police learned that the man had stopped at the drive-up ATM at the Wells Fargo bank earlier that night, about 10:50 p.m., with his wife and child in the car. As he used the ATM, a robber approached him at gunpoint, Rosenbaum said. The man got back into his car and took off, but realized he left his card in the ATM, according to police. He drove around the block and stopped back at the ATM to get his card, but when he got there, Rosenbaum said, the robber jumped back out at him -- this time, armed with a knife. Rosenbaum said that's when the man hit the armed robber with the car, according to his statement to police. As the man lay injured on the ground, Rosenbaum said, the driver -- who police now say is the true victim in the case -- went to him and took back the cash and ATM card he'd stolen, then drove to his home. Rosenbaum said police obtained some surveillance stills from the incident that do indeed show the man who was struck by the car approaching the victim with a gun in his hand. Police still haven't located that gun, the lieutenant said, although they did recover the knife he used later from the parking lot. The suspected robber remained hospitalized later Tuesday in critical condition, Rosenbaum said. He'll face armed-robbery charges when he's released. "We did get the bank's surveillance still shots, and that corroborates the complainant's version of the events," Rosenbaum said. "So we're going to request a warrant and formally charge him with robbery and related offenses." Rosenbaum said the suspected robber, whose identity has not yet been made public, has had several prior run-ins with the law. He said detectives will also be looking into the possibility that he could be connected to at least one other recent armed robbery done in a similar fashion in the same neighborhood. Richard Basciano, owner of the "Hoagie City" building that collapsed during demolition in June 2013 and left seven dead and 12 injured, appeared in court Tuesday on day two of the catastrophes long-coming civil trial. The elderly developer wore headphones to hear his defense attorney Thomas Sprague present his opening statement. He left after Sprague finished a nearly three-hour presentation, hobbling out of court with the help of two associates and a cane. He did not return, following a break, to hear defense attorneys present their openings for fellow defendants Griffin Campbell, the contractor for the demolition of 2136-38 Market St., or Plato Marinakos, Bascianos project representative. Marinakos was again in court Tuesday. He was the lone named defendant to appear Monday when attorneys for the 19 plaintiffs gave their openings. The six defendants are Basciano and his company STB, Marinakos, Campbell, Campbells demolition excavator operator Sean Benschop, and the Salvation Army, which owned the store that Bascianos building crushed the morning of June 5, 2013 when four stories of concrete, brick and steel fell suddenly.[[363564281,C]] Campbell and Benschop were the only people criminally charged and are each serving lengthy prison terms for involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. The Salvation Army, plaintiffs attorneys argued Monday, are at fault because company officials failed to heed warnings that the attorneys claim were evident in numerous emails from those working for Basciano. But in his opening statement Tuesday afternoon, the Salvation Army's lead attorney, Jack Snyder, argued that what plaintiffs' attorneys described as "warnings" were mischaracterized, saying STB's project manager was prone to "hyperbole" and that if not for Benschop's actions the day of the collapse, the catastrophe would never have happened. He also claimed that the New York-based non-profit's executives did respond promptly whenever officials with the demolition project reached out to them. In his opening to start the morning session, Sprague argued that Basciano had no direct connection to the demolition work being done by Campbell and Benschop. On several occasions, Sprague told the jury, that Basciano had nothing to do with "the means and methods" of the contract and excavator operator. Sprague also said the evidence would show over the course of the lengthy trial ahead that Bascianos representative, Marinakos, also failed to communicate any potential for catastrophe in the days before the collapse. "Mr. Campbell allegedly called Mr. Marinakos and told him the morning of June 5 that the wall is down," Sprague said of a dangerously free-standing four-story wall of concrete and bricks attached to the Salvation Army store. But the wall was not taken down, Sprague said. What did Marinakos do? Sprague asked. "He doesnt notify police. He doesnt notify L&I. He does not notify Mr. (Thomas) Simmonds (Bascianos project manager). He doesnt notify Mr. Basciano. Marinakos attorney, Neal P. Clain Jr., told the jury in his opening that Marinakos did find fault in the way the demolition was being performed and demanded on June 4 that Griffin take the dangerous wall down immediately. Clain also told jurors that Benschop, who had experience demolishing "hundreds of buildings" in Philadelphia over his career, was operating the excavator at the moment the collapse occurred and that Campbell had direct oversight of Benschop, not Marinakos. He said at no point during the trial will anyone testify that "Mr. Marinakos controlled or knew about what Mr. Benschop was doing in the excavator that morning." Mr. Campbells attorney, Brian Werley, said his client was never included in any of the emails and other communication between Simmonds, Marinakos, Salvation Army officials and attorneys for both Basciano and the Salvation Army that discussed the project and potential risks it posed to those who worked and shopped inside the Salvation Army store at the corner of 22nd and Market streets. Benschop does not have an attorney. Opening arguments, as Sarmina told the jury Monday and Tuesday, do not count as evidence. Day one began with an attorney for nine plaintiffs, Robert Mongeluzzi, delivering a stinging two-hour appraisal of what led up to the collapse. "The evidence in this case will show you this was the blind leading the blind leading the blind," Mongeluzzi told the jury. After Mongeluzzi, who is representing nine plaintiffs, finished his opening, several other attorneys representing other plaintiffs gave short introductions to the 12-person jury. They were followed by a motion from the attorney representing STB, Peter Greiner, asking Sarmina for a mistrial. Griner argued that the use of the phrase "buried under the rubble" by some of the plaintiffs attorneys may have poisoned the jurors minds before the presentation of any evidence had commenced. Opening arguments, as Sarmina told the jury, do not count as evidence. The judge denied Greiners motion. Defense attorneys made two more motions for a mistrial Monday afternoon after plaintiffs' attorneys Steven Wigrizer and Andrew Stern gave their opening statements. Each told jurors they'd prove the Salvation Army was grossly negligent and reckless for failing to investigate warnings of potential danger, not communicating any of the information to workers or customers and for failing to close the thrift store until the safety issues and arguments with Basciano's team were worked out. "By simply not closing that store, they did the most harm," Stern said of the Salvation Army, referring to the organization's own promise: Doing The Most Good. Judge Sarmina denied those motions as well. The trial is expected to last two months or more. Sarmina said at one point Monday that as many as 150 people could be on the witness list, which has not yet been made available. The judge did rule that it would become available to the press as soon as possible. Testimony was set to begin Wednesday. Vince and David discussed their college tour and what they learned during a LIVE SHOW on Facebook. Watch the full show in the link embedded above. What are the main issues impacting millennial voters this political season? NBC10 reporters Vince Lattanzio and David Chang went on a college tour to find out. In the weeks leading up to the election, the Battleground Brothers visited different college campuses in Pennsylvania and spoke with students about the issues theyre concerned about amid the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They first visited the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC to take a look at the political affiliations and trends of millennial voters. According to Pew Research, 41 percent of millennials identify as Independent, 34 percent identify as Democrat and 25 percent identify as Republican. Yet when asked which party they lean toward in their political affiliations, 54 percent of millennials either identified as Democrat or leaned towards Democrat. That "Democratic lean" is larger (more than 10 percent) than any other generational group in recent history. One of the biggest issues that millennials are concerned about during this election is the economy. Millennials grew up during the Great Recession and they're facing challenges when it comes to paying for school, buying a home and finding well-paying jobs, according to Pew Research Center Senior researcher Alec Tyson. Tyson also provided data on how millennials viewed the concept of the American dream and the country's current economic system in comparison to other generations. According to Pew Research, the majority of millennials believe that most people can get ahead if they're willing to work hard. At the same time however, they also feel that the U.S. economic system unfairly favors powerful interests. Despite this, millennials are still optimistic that their personal financial situation will improve over the next year. The first stop of the college campus tour was Penn State University where Donald Trump supporters are feuding with their fellow Republican counterparts and the love for Hillary Clinton is lackluster among Democrats. Those feelings are compounded by concerns over the nations economy as young people prepare to enter the workforce. You can watch their Penn State trip in the video below. Drama, apathy and downright defiance can be felt among students at Penn State as the 2016 presidential election nears. Trump supporters on campus are feuding with their fellow Republican counterparts and the love for Hillary Clinton is lackluster among Democrats. Those feelings are compounded by concerns over the nations economic health as young people prepare to enter the workforce. NBC10s... The second stop of the college campus tour was Temple University where Vince and David spoke to students about the fight for social equality, another huge concern for millennials during this election season. Yet while the movement is loud at Temple University, not every student believes they can participate or supports the movement. You can watch their Temple University trip in the video embedded below. The fight for social equality is a top of mind concern for Millennials this election season and the movement is loud at Temple University. But not every student believes they can participate or supports the movement. #BattlegroundBros David Chang and Vince Lattanzio spoke to students about how the issue could change their vote for president on election day. PAST EPISODES... The third stop of the college campus tour was Widener University where Vince and David spoke to students about Climate Change and the effects inaction will have on their future. You can watch their Widener University trip in the video embedded below. A majority of Millennials accept that Climate Change is happening and theyre concerned about what effects inaction will have on their future. But will the next president take the steps to protect that future? NBC10.com #BattlegroundBros Vince Lattanzio and David Andrew Chang went to Widener University to hear from young voters about where the environment ranks in #Decision2016. The final stop was Kutztown University where Vince and David spoke to students about gun control, an issue that's not as polarizing among millennial voters as you might expect. You can watch their Kutztown University trip in the video embedded below. The issue of gun control is not as polarizing amongst Millennial voters as you might expect. A majority of young voters are for protecting gun rights, data from the Pew Research Center shows. That doesnt mean, however, that there isnt a willingness to enact new laws on guns. NBC10.coms Battleground Bros. Vince Lattanzio and David Chang visited Kutztown University in... Follow Vince and David on the NBC10 app, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for interviews, stories and much more from their college campus tour. A Philadelphia woman has pleaded guilty to plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 32-year-old Keonna Thomas pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization. Defense attorney Kathleen Gaughan said her client has accepted responsibility and "looks forward to putting this behind her and being a mother to her two young children." Thomas, who was arrested in April at a public housing development in north Philadelphia, is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 17. Authorities allege that she called herself Fatayat Al Khilafah and "YoungLioness" as she sought to raise money online, and once told an Islamic State group fighter that taking part in a martyrdom operation "would be amazing." In front of the judge and jury sat lawyers four tables deep, representing 19 plaintiffs and six defendants Monday on day one of the long-coming civil case for the 2013 Market Street collapse that killed six and injured 13 more. Behind them sat survivors of the Salvation Army store crushed three summers ago by a four-story wall of brick and concrete, along with the families of those killed. And off to one side of the courtroom's gallery, in a spot where he couldn't see the large video screen that plaintiffs' attorneys used to show taped depositions and photos of the tragedy, was Plato Marinakos. The Philadelphia architect was the lone named defendant to appear in person, though a couple executives of the Salvation Army, which is also a defendant, were in attendance too. Marinakos held a somber look throughout the first day, his expression unmoved even as attorney Robert Mongeluzzi delivered a stinging two-hour appraisal of what led to the catastrophe. He argued that the demolition of 2136-38 Market St. was doomed from the moment the building owner put people in charge who were inexperienced and unqualified. Marinakos served contractually as owner Richard Bascianos representative for the demolition of the four-story Hoagie City building next to the Salvation Army. He reported directly to Thomas Simmonds, who was described as Basciano's "right-hand man" and project manager. They in turn hired contractor Griffin Campbell. All three, Mongeluzzi claimed, had no business taking down the long-vacant and dangerous structure. The evidence in this case will show you this was the blind leading the blind leading the blind, Mongeluzzi told the jury. The defendants are Basciano and his company STB, Marinakos, Campbell, excavator operator Sean Benschop, and the Salvation Army. In addition to the claims against Basciano and those he hired for the demo, Mongeluzzi and two more plaintiffs' attorneys, Steve Wigrizer and Andrew Stern, argued that the Salvation Army failed to adequately warn and protect its workers and customers of dangers that loomed next door to its store at 22nd and Market streets. Wigrizer claimed Simmonds and an attorney for Basciano sent numerous emails to Salvation Army "upper command" about the progress of the demolition and some potential problems that should have raised red flags among the Salvation Army officials. "They received clear warnings. They were told about the risk of collapse," Wigrizer said. "And they dismissed them." He said experts will testify during the trial for the plaintiffs that the Salvation Army's upper management failed in their most important task: protecting their workers and the public. "You're going to hear from our experts that the only reasonable outcome would have been to close the store," Wigrizer said. Opening arguments are not to be used as evidence when the 12-person jury begins deliberations, Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said on two separate occasions. Basciano, a 91-year-old New York City native who made his fortune in Times Square real estate decades ago, unsurprisingly did not appear. He rarely gives interviews or has appeared in public. His presence was felt at times, however, when the plaintiffs' attorneys used portions of the deposition he gave in December. Campbell and Benschop are currently serving prison terms for involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. They were the only two criminally charged. Prior to the first lunch break in what is expected to be a multi-month trial, the attorney representing STB, Peter Greiner, asked Sarmina for a mistrial. Greiner argued that the use of the phrase buried under the rubble by some of the plaintiffs attorneys may have poisoned the jurors minds before the presentation of any evidence had commenced. The judge denied Greiners motion. Later, during the last break of the day, the gaggle of jurists argued for 15 minutes about whether Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina should make public the trial's list of witnesses. She ruled that the list could be given to the press. A gunman shot a man and two women, including a mother who was carrying her baby, in Philadelphia late Monday afternoon. Police say a 32-year-old woman whose 10-month-old son was strapped to her, a 61-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man were all on 18th and Wharton streets around 4:30 p.m. Monday when a gunman opened fire. The 32-year-old woman was struck in the leg, the 61-year-old woman several times in the right leg and the 40-year-old man in the left leg. The 10-month-old baby was not injured during the shooting. All three victims were taken to Presbyterian Hospital. The 32-year-old woman and 40-year-old man were both treated and released. The 61-year-old woman is currently in stable condition. Police say the gunman fired at least 17 shots from a semiautomatic weapon. They're unsure whether or not the three victims were intended targets. Police also say a 32-year-old man suffering from a broken toe was spotted running from the scene after the shooting. The man had a weapon in his possession and was taken into custody for questioning, according to investigators. No charges have been filed however. Three days after a lone gunman stalked through West Philadelphia's streets, firing apparently at random at anyone he came across -- including a Philadelphia Police sergeant, two bar employees, a woman and man in a car and a University of Pennsylvania police officer -- a more complete picture is emerging of the shooter. Sources have shared with NBC10's Deanna Durante more about what gunman Nicholas Glenn wrote in the rambling note addressed to "doomed people" that police found on the 25-year-old after they shot him dead in a shootout after his violent spree on Friday night. In the note, NBC10 has learned, Glenn wrote in the third person, referring to himself as "Solo Tattoo Tears." He wrote about seeing his probation officer, adding that "Solo Tattoo Tears" doesn't like that the officer sent him for another mental-health evaluation. In another line of the note, according to sources, Glenn wrote about himself walking among the doomed population. The note, described as "ramblings" by law-enforcement officials, contains rants and raves of Glenn's dislike for police and his probation officer, but stops short of indicating exactly why he chose Friday night to take a 9mm handgun and open fire in his rampage, which began shortly after 11 p.m. at 52nd and Sansom streets. The note, in which Glenn referred to prosecutors as law counselors and his defense attorney as his spokesperson, gives no indication that he would harm civilians. Glenn was no stranger to the law. NBC10 Investigator George Spencer delved into the young man's court and prison record and learned that Glenn was jailed eight different times since 2009, and that during those stints in the Philadelphia Prison System, he was placed in "punitive segregation" three times over the last two years for fighting. A spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Prison System said that punitive segregation is not solitary confinement, but it was unclear exactly what it means. A woman whose mother took Glenn and his sister in when they were young children told NBC10 that although she hadn't spoken with Glenn in several years, she heard from other family members that he changed while he spent time behind bars. "His sister was telling me that the last time he got locked up that they had kept him in the hole," the woman, who asked not to be identified, said. "And when he came home, he was like, out of it. He tried to commit suicide. He left a suicide note." The woman said she was shocked to learn that the boy she grew up with became the rampaging gunman she heard about on the news over the weekend. She said he was a "great child" and didn't have any behavioral troubles when they were children. "He went to school, got good grades and graduated, even went as far as looking for a job, trying to work and stuff like that," she said. "This is something I can't believe he did." Glenn's attorney, Anthony Petrone, also said over the weekend that Glenn spent stretches in what he described as "solitary confinement" for fighting while in jail. Petrone also said it seemed that jail changed the young man. "I did notice with him a serious change in his attitude and overall demeanor during the period of time that he was incarcerated up in the county prison," Petrone told NBC10. "I remember visiting him frequently, and he had to be pulled out of solitary, and I remember he was having a very difficult time in dealing with the solitary confinement." Petrone added that Glenn slowly became "more and more despondent" and that he saw a change in his demeanor and ability to communicate. The majority of Glenn's arrests stemmed from drug cases, but he was also arrested for allegedly participating in a gang rape of a woman in 2009 -- but that case was dropped. Virtually all of Glenn's crimes happened within a few blocks of his shooting rampage. Twice he was arrested on drug charges at 55th and Sansom streets, according to records. He also faced a drug arrest nearby, at 57th and Walnut streets. At 55th and Locust streets, also in the same West Philadelphia neighborhood, he was arrested after being accused of assaulting a relative. The gang-rape case that was eventually dropped occurred at 56th and Walnut. The first person Glenn met and shot in his deadly rampage Friday -- during which police say he fired more than 50 rounds over the span of several blocks, discarding empty magazines and reloading -- was Philadelphia Police Sgt. Sylvia Young. Young, who is assigned to North Philadelphia's 22nd District but was on a patrol detail in West Philadelphia at the time, sat in her marked cruiser at 52nd and Sansom when authorities say Glenn approached her window and fired 18 shots. She suffered gunshot wounds to her shoulder, arm and side, but miraculously, survived and is in stable condition. Responding officers began to respond, pursuing Glenn as he continued east on Sansom Street. Along the block between 51st and 52nd streets, Glenn passed the Maximum Level Lounge, where a 42-year-old man who works as a bar manager and a 41-year-old woman who tends bar there were helping a wheelchair-bound patron in the open doorway. Glenn passed the bar, then turned and fired off five rounds into the doorway, police said, wounding the manager in both legs and the bartender in her ankle. Both were in stable condition and are expected to survive. Glenn continued along Sansom Street, stopping on the 4800 block to approach a Nissan Altima where 25-year-old Sara Salih, who lived on the block, sat with a 36-year-old man. Glenn opened fire on the pair, fatally wounding Salih with a barrage of bullets to her chest, and critically injuring the man. Glenn's spree didn't end there. As two police officers responding to the frantic "shots fired" calls and Young's calls for help screaming over police radio, police say Glenn turned toward their marked police SUV on the 4800 block of Sansom and opened fire, sending bullets into the truck's hood and driver's side door. The officers were not hit. Glenn then continued onto 48th Street, where he met Edward Miller, a retired Philadelphia Police sergeant who works for University of Pennsylvania's police force. Miller confronted the raging gunman, exchanging gunfire with him, and Glenn managed to fire rounds into the officer's hip and leg. Miller has since been released from Penn Presbyterian Medical Center after undergoing treatment. Police say other officers then rushed in and confronted Glenn, who exchanged gunfire with them until their return fire wounded him several times. He fell to the ground there, on the 100 block of South 48th Street, and died at 11:45 p.m. Officers recovered the firearm Glenn used, a Ruger Model SR9 9mm pistol with the serial number scratched off, at the scene. When they found it, police said, the gun still had 14 live rounds. Empty magazines Glenn had discarded along his way were found scattered throughout the four-block crime scene. Where Glenn obtained the gun, and exactly what sparked the mass shooting, remain under investigation. Authorities charged 180 people with underage drinking at an off-campus party near the University of Delaware. Newark Police and other law enforcement agencies joined forces to charge people attending the party Saturday at a house near campus. Authorities busted the party on E Park Place near Haines Street after getting a search warrant, said officials. About 200 people showed up at the party, and that alcohol was being freely distributed to guests, many of whom were younger than 21, said Newark Police. Police Lt. Bill Hargrove said the hosts of the party, who haven't been named, are likely to face additional charges. Police said the hosts are members of an unsanctioned fraternity called APES. The university stressed the party was organized by a group with no connection to the university's Greek system or ant national organization. One person was found unresponsive inside the house and was taken to Christiana Hospital for an alcohol overdose. The person was treated and released. "The safety and welfare of our students is our highest priority," said dean of students Jose-Luis Riera. "Our primary philosophy is to help students be safe by promoting smart choices when they do opt to drink and ensuring that they know they will be held accountable for their actions if they consume alcohol under the age of 21. To that end, we provide a number of prevention and intervention programs designed to assist our students in making personal choices." The university said it's committed to working with the Newark community "to ensure that the quality of life for both students and residents." U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, who has cautioned fellow Democrats about stooping to Donald Trump's level with personal attacks on political opponents, had strong words for the Republican presidential nominee. Speaking Sunday at an annual Democratic rally in southern Delaware, Coons called Trump "a thin-skinned reality TV star" and "a Cheeto-faced short-fingered vulgarian."[[393910901,C]] Coons also described Trump as "a serial developer of casinos and beauty pageants" whose knowledge of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, "seems so shallow as to shock the conscience." In an email Monday confirming his remarks, Coons acknowledged that he had "diverted from my usual bipartisan tone" at the political rally. Coons also noted that many world leaders have expressed concern about Trump, and that Trump may not understand that what he says and does has real consequences. The city took a big step forward Monday on their journey to improving accessibility in Balboa Park. San Diego City Council voted 8-1 in favor of establishing Balboa Park Plaza de Panama as a Capital Improvement Project (CIP). The move to advance the plan to the CIP stage allows for the creation of a project bank account and finalization of construction documents. The council also approved the appropriation of up to $1,000,000 for necessary design revisions and a new estimate of the projects cost. According to the official docket, up to $602,576.04 comes from Fund 200215, Unappropriated Reserve Balboa Park CIP, and up to $397,423.96 is from Fund 400000, Capital Outlay-Sales Tax. Finally, the council authorized the Chief Financial Officer to transfer $352,214.26 into Fund 200215. The Director of Communications for the Office of Councilmember Todd Gloria said that the action was more of a step, rather than approval of the final project or any major funding. If approved, the project will bring an underground paid parking structure with a 2.2-acre rooftop park, a pedestrian bypass bridge and other accessibility improvements. A 102-year old hotel in the East Village opened its doors to dozens of homeless veterans and at-risk youth in San Diego on Monday. Hotel Churchill was renovated into a housing building with affordable rental studios that include a kitchen and a bathroom. There will be 72 units inside the hotel that will house 56 homeless veterans and at-risk youth. The project is part of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconers Housing Our Heroes Campaign, which began in March. "We've restored this historic building, breathing new life into it so it can provide quality affordable housing for men and women who served our country. Now they have housing and the support to turn their lives around," said Mayor Faulconer in a statement. On Monday, he joined other local leaders and community members at the reopening ceremony. He said this is a very important step for San Diego in helping get homeless veterans off the streets. The good news is that we are a third of our way to our goal. We've already secured housing for more than 320 veterans and the list is growing every week, he said. Hotel Churchill also includes on-site social services and case management for qualifying residents who meet the Housing First model implemented by the City of San Diego and the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC). Luis Milan, a Navy veteran and new resident of Hotel Churchill, says he found himself on the streets one day and after his unemployment ran out, things just went downhill for him. He spent most of his time in La Mesa or Lemon Grove, carrying all of his things with him. But he says now he feels safe. I dont have to worry about being chased off by police or being attacked by anybody so I really feel safe there, Milan said. I have my privacy that I need. I can cook my own food, which makes me happy. The Navy veteran also thanked everyone involved in the program on behalf of all of the 56 veterans. After unruly crowds prompted a police response at the KAABOO Musical Festival in Del Mar this weekend, some festival goers say they plan to stay away from the festival next year. As many as four people were arrested by San Diego County Sheriffs Deputies Saturday when at least one fight erupted between ticket holders turned away from seeing rapper Ludacris and DJ Steve Aoki at the ENCORE stage. "I thought I was going to get trampled to death," one festivalgoer wrote on Facebook. "...Realizing how unsafe this festival was, we left early ... Never going back to KAABOO," another wrote on Facebook. A San Diego County Sheriff's Lieutenant told NBC 7 San Diego the venue filled up as people from other venues were trying to leave, and the crowd became unruly. There were several fights, the Lieutenant said. A KAABOO spokesperson siad they understood some people were disappointed they could not get into the venue, but the matter was an issue of safety. The spokesperson said they do not release specific numbers for venues. Though Tim Fennell, CEO/General Manager of the Del mar Fairgrounds, where the festival was held, says more than 75,000 people attended the three day festival. Fennell says theres a simple fix to the issue that sparked the chaos Saturday night. You want to make sure the programming is correct, so traffic flow is better. So from a programming standpoint, we'll sit with KAABOO and work out what shows are on what stage. When do stages let out, so you can increase traffic flow," said Fennell. Despite the incident, officials say no one was injured. Sheriff's officials formed a skirmish line and people eventually dispersed into the parking lot to end the incident. However, festivalgoer David Lopez, a Chula Vista resident, said the incident was a beyond-hectic experience. "It turned into a big chaos riot," Lopez recalled. "People throwing stuff, fights breaking out and cops tackling people with pepper spray and tasers." Fennell says they are in the process of reviewing complaints left on a hotline setup to field concerns. A member of the City Manager's office says they will get reports from the Fairgrounds and relay them to City Council members, most likely at their October meeting. The most we can do is if we perceive there's a gap in security, we can point it out and say hey next time maybe you want to do it better. But I suspect they did it right, said Del Mar City Councilman Dwight Worden. KAABOO has a five-year-contract with the Fairgrounds. If safety or other issues arent addressed accordingly, that contract could be revoked. But officials say KAABOO has been diligent about being a good neighbor and has actively tried to remedy noise concerns. Festival organizers are now working with Fairgrounds officials to fix any safety issues. A 19-year-old Marine who was known for his generosity and spending his free time helping others died Monday, three days after he was found shot in a car in South Los Angeles. A coroner official confirmed that Lance Corporal Carlos Segovia died Monday night. Segovia was found with a single gunshot to the head late Friday in a Dodge Charger in the 2100 block of 31st Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Family members told NBC4 Southern California he was in grave condition. Doctors said his wound was irreversible. "This is a big loss to the USA," said mother Sandra Lopez. "A big loss." No arrests were reported. "At this point, it's absolutely a mystery," LAPD Capt. Peter Whittingham told the Los Angeles Times. "Like so many cases in South L.A., we have nothing to go on at this point." A friend told NBC4 Segovia has "no enemies, whatsover." Segovia was on leave from Camp Pendleton near San Diego and visiting family and friends in Los Angeles. He left the base Friday and was struck by gunfire later that night after leaving the home of girlfriend's parents, family members said. Neighbor Walter Baldwin came out when he heard a noise and was sickened by what he saw. "He was slumped over the steering wheel with nothing but blood on him," he said. Segovia was not in uniform during the shooting, The Associated Press reported. He was found slumped over in the driver's seat of the car, shot in the head, and was unlikely to survive, officials said. He joined the Marines about six months ago after finishing high school. His mother said he became a Marine so he could offer even more to his community and the country. "He was a giving person," Lopez said. "He became a Marine because that wasn't enough, what he was doing for the community." Segovia worked with LA on Cloud9, helping to develop the Teen Project program and supporting the homeless community through Street Team Soldiers, according to the organization. "He was a motivator, a mentor," said Claudia Perez, of LA on Cloud9. "He was always encouraging everyone around him to do something for the community." He also was a junior counselor for children in South Los Angeles through the USC Troy Camp. Jonathan Lloyd, Patrick Healy and Marin Austin contributed to this report. The San Diego County District Attorney's office has filed new charges against a U.S. Navy Commander accused of attempting to rape a colleague. Former Commander John M. Neuhart II, 39, now relieved of duty, arrived in court on crutches, carrying a rosary, as his well-known attorney Kerry Armstrong entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Neuhart arrested last week by San Diego Police (SDPD) patrol officers. He was formally charged Monday on charges of attempted forced rape, assault with intent to rape, hot prowl burglary and resisting arrest. Neuhart is out on bail. "A hot prowl residential burglary just means essentially - a person entered in this case is a residence with the intent to commit a specified offense here it would be rape," said Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Tag. The former commander is married and has worked in the military for more than 15 years, officials revealed in court. Neuhart is the commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, based at Anderson Air Force Base on Guam. He was relieved of duty Monday morning. "The decision to relieve was based on actions taken by Cmdr. Neuhart that demonstrated a lack of good judgment and professionalism, calling into question his leadership and undermining his credibility to continue to serve effectively in command," a statement from the U.S. Navy read. The incident took place Monday, Sept. 12, when San Diego police responded to a call of a sexual assault occurring in the city's Valencia Park neighborhood, SDPD Sex Crimes Lt. Paul Phillips said. Neuhart and the victim, both members of the Navy, met at a hotel downtown when the victim, with a group of friends, recognized Neuhart, according to Phillips. The group talked for a while until the victim left the bar to go home, with Neuhart going as well. Neuhart allegedly followed the victim into her house, at which point he allegedly attempted to rape her. "The suspect immediately became forceful with her and attempted to sexually assault her," Phillips said. The victim fought the suspect off and screamed loudly, Phillips said. A neighbor heard the screams and ran to the front of the house to ask if the victim was okay. When she answered no, the neighbor called 911 and said through the window that the police were on the way. Neuhart apparently heard the remark, Phillips said, and escaped through the back door. The neighbor flagged down police when they arrived and pointed out Neuhart, who was running down the street and into a nearby canyon. Officers apprehended Neuhart in the canyon and took him into custody. Though both the victim and defendant are members of the U.S. Navy, the Deputy DA Tag explained why they are not being tried in military court. "The defendant and the victim are both members of the U.S. Navy; where this occurred was in the jurisdiction of the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Police Department responded, so what happens in those situations is that San Diego Police Department and state court would have initial jurisdiction," Tag said. According to a website for the Navy, Neuhart joined the "Warhawks" of Fleet Replacement Squadron, HS-10 in San Diego in 2002. Since then, he was deployed aboard USS Harry S. Truman, and served as a Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) at the Seahawk Weapons School "Seawolf" in Fallon, Nevada. The Navy Times reports Neuhart was in San Diego for a conference. The mother of a 19-year-old U.S. Marine shot in the head while on weekend leave in Los Angeles pleaded for help in finding his killer. Lance Cpl. Carlos Segovia Lopez died at a hospital Monday night, according to the coroner's office. The Marine had been on life support since he was found Friday night slumped over in the driver's seat of his car in South Los Angeles. No suspects were identified and investigators did not have a motive. "He's a loving boy," his mother, Sandra Lopez, said. "Really I don't understand this person who, who shot him. The only way that we can stop crime, is that we need to speak up." Family and friends described Lopez as a caring young man who served his community, whether it was through volunteer groups or military service. He was visiting family and friends while on leave from Camp Pendleton near San Diego. The Marine had spent time with his girlfriend and was on his way to family friend Claudia Perez's home, where he usually stays while in Los Angeles, when he was struck by gunfire, she said. "He texted my son that he was bringing pizza home. He never made it," Perez said. A vehicle pulled up beside the Marine's car, and at least one person opened fire, striking him once in the head, LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman said Monday. He was not in uniform. "At this point, it's absolutely a mystery," LAPD Capt. Peter Whittingham told the Los Angeles Times. "Like so many cases in South L.A., we have nothing to go on at this point." Lopez was born in El Salvador and came to the U.S. with his mother. Both are U.S. citizens, Perez said. He joined the Marines about six months ago. During his short time in the Marines, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Certificate of Commendation. Segovia worked with LA on Cloud9, helping to develop the Teen Project program and supporting the homeless community through Street Team Soldiers, according to the organization. A statement from the School of Infantry-West and USMC Training Command remembered the Marine. "The news of Lance Cpl. Carlos Segovialopez's death weighs heavily on our hearts. The Marine Corps extends its deepest condolences to his family and friends as they deal with their loss. The overwhelming support and prayers we witnessed in support of this young man are a testament to the mighty son, friend and warrior that he was. Although we grieve the loss of one of our own, we will continue to stand with and support Carlos' loved ones as they work through this tragedy. In a very short time, LCpl Segovialopez deeply impacted those who came to know him and his unselfish and honorable legacy will live on in our Corps. Once a Marine, always a Marine." He also was a junior counselor for children in South Los Angeles through the USC Troy Camp. A suspect wanted in connection with a kidnapping lead authorities on a pursuit through North San Diego County before he was taken into custody, according to San Diego Sheriff's Officials (SDSO). The pursuit began around 10:23 a.m. Tuesday in Valley Center; the suspect lead deputies through back roads off the 395, over towards Vista on Gopher Canyon Road. Fugitive Task Force officials attempted to stop Brian Leigh, 53, wanted in connection with a kidnapping. As the pursuit went through risky terrain, vehicles backed off, but the Sheriff's ASTREA copter remained overhead to purse the suspect. At one point, deputies laid out a spike strip, but it did not stop him. The pursuit ended near Bonsall, when Leigh drove his car through brush, deputies said. Deputies say Leigh resisted arrest and suffered minor injuries, including a bump to the head. Two other members of law enforcement also suffered minor injuries: scrapes and bruises. Leigh was taken into custody. No one was reported to be with him. It was unclear if Leigh was armed. No other information was immediately available. Mexican authorities believe that a stolen truck outfitted with a cannon and parked near the U.S.-Mexico border was used to launch items into Douglas, Arizona. Federal police found the van parked in a street in Agua Prieta, Mexico, which borders with Douglas, Arizona, last week. The van was reported stolen out of Hermosillo over the summer. Photos provided by Mexican authorities show a black van with a giant cannon coming out of it. Drug smugglers have used similar methods in the past, including using catapults to literally send drugs flying over the border. In 2011, a drug catapult was discovered near Naco, Arizona. Officials found the catapult attached to a trailer and abandoned just on the other side of the border. Border Patrol spokesman Vicente Paco said finding cannons is rare and only happens every couple of years. Smugglers also use ultralight aircraft to deliver drugs over the U.S.-Mexico border. The aircraft are like gliders, but with engines and the pilots are seated. One such aircraft crash landed in March 2014 in the Laguna Mountains. Officials discovered the wreckage and 250 pounds of marijuana but no pilot. Paco said the most common method is throwing softball-sized marijuana packages over the border fence that are picked up by smugglers on the U.S. side. Registered San Diegans voting in the Presidential General Election this November will get a two-card ballot for this first time. County officials are making the change because of the large number of state and local propositions on the ballot come this Nov. 8. The ballot will also include the presidential election, U.S. Senate and House of Representatives elections and the California Legislature election, in addition to the propositions. Because of the length of the ballot and the expected high turnout, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters is urging residents to plan ahead to save time at the polls. One way to do so is to vote by mail. You can sing up to be a permanent mail ballot voter by clicking here. You will need 67 cents in postage because of the weight of the two-card ballot. Another way to save time for voters heading to the poll is to mark your selections on a sample ballot pamphlet before going to the polls. On Nov. 8, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. To find your polling place, use the County's polling place locator online by clicking here. Students at American University protested Monday night over racial incidents on campus earlier in September. Protesters said they are fed up with hate-filled incidents against African-American students at AU. They were frustrated that two Sept. 8 incidents, one where an African-American woman said a banana was thrown at her and another African-American woman found a rotten banana and obscene drawings on her dorm room door, are not being investigated as hate crimes. The AU students were joined by students from George Washington University, Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia. Alaina Mastrippolito, a junior at American University, thought the events reported on campus were hard to believe. She came to the protest, because she wanted to hear the thoughts of the black community on campus. "AU promotes being such an inclusive community, and it's hard to see that some students are just on the complete opposite spectrum," she said. "It's obviously different to see what has been reported and what the students are actually thinking. With the number of people at the event, Mastrippolito is hopeful that there will be a change. "But once again, the change starts with us," she said. "So it takes the effort of everyone not just a certain group." Sydnee Martin, a freshman at George Washington University, saw only a part of the protest but said seeing so many people standing up for a certain reason is something that many people should know about. "Not many people knew about this [protest] that happened today, and I just think it needs to get out there so people become more aware of it," she said. She said she believes the events on campus were racially charged. Student protesters met with university officials over the weekend at a town hall meeting. They said they were unsatisfied by the response of the school administration and called for the suspension of the students responsible. American University said the students responsible for the incidents have been disciplined. American University President Neil Kerwin has called for campus events to address racial problems and create a more inclusive culture. Kerwin issued a statement on Monday: We will confront racist expressions with forceful condemnation and respond to discrimination with every tool at our disposal. It is incumbent on the university to respond clearly and to educate those who cause harm with their insensitivity and ignorance. A Prince George's County man has been charged with murder after his wife's grandson died from he abuse he allegedly suffered while in the man's care. Lenwood Pearson, 48, picked 6-month-old Demetri Hooper up from daycare on Sept. 13, police said. Demetri's father, Leonard Hooper, was running late to the daycare and asked Pearson, his mother's husband, to get the baby, according to police. When Demetri's father later went to Pearson's Capitol Heights, Maryland, home to pick the boy up, he saw the child was unresponsive. "It just seemed like something was off," Hooper said. "I saw my son in the car seat. I thought he was sleep." But when he looked closer, he noticed his son was unresponsive. Relatives told News4 Demetri suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs and was brain dead. Demetri died from his injuries two days later. Police say an autopsy determined that Demetri died from trauma to his head. The manner of death was ruled a homicide. Police say the injuries occurred while the baby was in Pearson's care, but Hooper said Pearson didn't tell him what happened. "He never explained anything. He never explained anything," Hooper said. Hooper and his girlfriend, Denita Whittaker, are devastated by the death of their only child. "This man got super close to us. We thought we could trust him with our child," Whittaker, said. Police arrested Pearson and charged him with first- and second-degree child abuse. A homicide charge was added after Demetri's death. There is no credible threat against the nation's capital, but Washington is on high alert after a bomb blast in Manhattan hurt 29 people and two other bombs exploded in New Jersey. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said officials are closely monitoring any potential security threats. "We have no specific reason to be concerned, but we're the nation's capital, so we remain at a highly vigilant level," she said at a news conference. "We are continuing to monitor what happens in New York," Bowser said. "We are paying very close attention to it and working with our federal partners." Bowser said there are no plans to alter events this weekend, as thousands of people are expected on the National Mall for the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Increased security was apparent at Union Station on Monday, with additional bomb-sniffing dogs and uniformed security officers. Amtrak told riders on Monday morning to expect cancellations and delays, though there were no "specific or credible threats," Amtrak said. "Enhanced security measures are in place at stations, on trains and along the tracks," the rail service said in a statement. When Lisa Daly and Anthony Slamins were working as volunteer EMTS with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, they noticed that when fire hoses go out of service, they typically end up in dumpsters and landfills. Now Daly and Slamins -- who have since become husband and wife -- run a volunteer organization that works to put these old fire hoses to a good use. Hose2Habitat provides zoos, sanctuaries and wildlife rehabilitation centers with toys and beds made from old hoses and other donated materials, said Daly, executive director of the organization. Based in Rockville, Hose2Habitat has kept "miles and miles" of hose out of landfills, she said. "We take fire hose donations but now we also take other materials as well, all kinds of materials, PVC pipes and barrels and things like that, and recycle them into enrichment for what we call captive wild animals," she said. "We travel around and teach keepers of zoos how to make these things and then we facilitate donations... so [these materials] go to animals instead of into landfills." Hose2Habitat sometimes makes its own toys to provide to the animals, but Daly said the organization has a larger impact when its members facilitate donations, travel to hold workshops and teach keepers how to make items themselves. The organization receives donations from the surrounding areas and across the country, and has provided materials to the Smithsonian's National Zoo, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and about 100 other centers nationally, Daly said. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue recently donated at least 1,000 feet of hose that became toys for animals at Noah's Ark in Locust Grove, Georgia, Daly said. Boring Volunteer Fire Company (side note: yes, you read that right) in Reisterstown, Maryland also donated hose that became toys for the animals in Locust Grove. "While [the animals] are there, we're going to make their lives more joyful," she said. Lyft is planning on opening a regional headquarters in Virginia, employing more than 30 people, according to a release from the Virginia governors office. Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the transportation network company will invest $350,000 to establish a Mid-Atlantic headquarters in Crystal City, Virginia, that will employ 35 people. McAuliffe met with the company in San Francisco during his March 2016 Marketing Mission. Arlington County has become a hub for the thriving technology sector, and Lyft will be a strong addition to our corporate roster, the governor said. Attracting companies that represent this kind of high-tech entrepreneurship is vital to our efforts to diversify and build a new Virginia economy, and today is a big win for the Commonwealth. Lyft is currently available in more than 200 U.S. cities, including many in Virginia. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Arlington County to secure the project for Virginia. Police in Annapolis, Maryland, say several children have admitted to making up a story about seeing people dressed as clowns in different neighborhoods in the city. The kids claimed that the most recent incident happened on Bens Drive near Victor Parkway at about 8:30 a.m. Monday. False sightings were also reported in the 700 block of Newtowne Drive and the 1400 block of Tyler Avenue. The first such incident was reported last Thursday, according to police. Only children reported the false incidents. Police previously said it wasn't clear whether the incidents were a bad prank or malicious in nature. It's unclear why the children fabricated the story. Police said shortly before noon Tuesday that it wasn't true. Mysterious sightings of creepy clowns have been reported in other states in recent weeks. Earlier this month, police in Lexington, South Carolina, received reports about two people -- one dressed as a clown and the other as a bear -- reportedly trying to convince children to get into their vehicle. Online retail giant Amazon is preparing to open its first bookstore in the Boston area. According to its job postings website the new location will be at Legacy Place Mall in Dedham. The company is hiring nearly 20 people for the bookstore. It would join three other bookstores around the country, one in Seattle, one in San Diego, and a planned one in Portland, Oregon. There is no word on when that bookstore could open. Authorities in Maine have found a body on the property of a Fairfield woman who went missing late August, according to necn affiliate WCSH. Valerie Tieman, 34, was last seen Aug. 30 at the Wal-Mart in Skowhegan, and was reported missing on Sept. 9. Tuesday's search started late in the morning on the Norridgewock Road property, where state police and warden investigators were seen in a wooded area with K-9s and buckets and shovels. By 3 p.m., state police announced they had found a woman's body about 200 yards behind the Tieman house. The identity of the discovered body was not immediately released by authorities. Earlier this month, police said she was last seen in a pickup truck she shared with her husband, Luc Tieman; when he went inside the store, and when he returned, Valerie Tieman was missing. Valerie's family and friends, including her husband, are cooperating in the investigation, according to state police. No one has been charged in her disappearance. A bicyclist was killed Monday afternoon in a collision with a vehicle in Charlestown, New Hampshire, according to state police. Authorities said the bicyclist, identified as Lance Torrey, 50, of Charlestown, was traveling north on Route 12 in the breakdown lane when he somehow veered into the travel lane and into the path of an Acura Integra. Torrey was transported to Springfield Hospital in Vermont where he was pronounced dead. Traffic on Route 12 was closed for four hours while police cleared the scene. The incident remains under investigation but police said speed and alcohol did not appear to be factors and it does not appear that any criminal charges will be filed. Massachusetts State Police are working with federal authorities to investigate a bomb threat in Maynard, believed to be a hoax. Police received a call just before 6 p.m. from a resident who found shotgun shells in a bag on the sidewalk in front of her house. Authorities said messages were written on the shells which made references to terrorism and an alleged bomb planted on a bus. The Massachusetts State Police Fusion Center and federal authorities were notified. Authorities said all four of the town's school buses were thoroughly searched and nothing was found. The shotgun shells were taken by state police. "While we believe this incident is most likely a hoax, we are taking it very seriously and conducting a thorough investigation, utilizing all of the resources at our disposal," said Maynard Police Lt. Michael Noble. "We will prosecute those responsible." Anyone with information on the incident is urged to call 978-897-1011 or 978-897-1012. It's a community staple on Centre Street in Brockton, but lately customers cannot help but miss the man who was always behind the counter at Supreme House of Pizza. Owner James "Jimmy" Lambrakis died suddenly after a heart attack last month. He was 65. His family who runs the restaurant temporarily shut down after his passing. "We couldn't go on. He was our rock," his son Manny Lambrakis said. This week the family found the strength to reopen without him, but they had no idea how many customers would be there to support them. The community launched the "Supreme Challenge" on social media, urging customers to eat at the restaurant every day this week. They hope to help the family pay for the funeral and make up for the cost of closing. "They've always been great to us but it really shows how much they actually loved us," Lambrakis said. "It's a really tough time and they came in full support of us." The family says support and the service the restaurant is known for will not go away. They plan on honoring their father's legacy not just with pictures that now hang in the restaurant, but also with a new sign out front in the future. "He was all of it and I believe he's still here," customer Tami Mahoney said. "He'll always be here." The former finance director of Hunger Free Vermont was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Tuesday. Sally Kirby, 61, was charged with embezzlement from Vermont's leading anti-hunger organization. Kirby was also ordered to serve three years of probation and has been ordered to pay full restitution of $165,000 she stole plus additional expenses the organization incurred to repair their accounting systems. Kirby will also be required to pay 10 percent of her future income to Hunger Free Vermont until the money is paid in full. "We are grateful to Judge Sessions for acknowledging this crime was not only against the staff and board at Hunger Free Vermont and those we serve, but that it was a crime against our whole community," said Marissa Parisi, executive director of Hunger Free Vermont. "All of us at Hunger Free Vermont are glad to have this case behind us and to move forward doing our good work." A New Hampshire man is being held on $10,000 cash bail after a 5-hour standoff with police in Hooksett. Officers responded to an area of Campus Drive at 9:23 p.m. on Monday for a report of an unstable man who was armed with a semi-automatic rifle. When police got to the scene, four to five rounds were heard being discharged in an unknown direction. After backing off, a perimeter was set up and the SWAT team arrived. The man, identified as Christopher Garon, 23, was then contained in the cul-de-sac at the end of the street. By 2:24 a.m., Garon was taken into custody without further incident. Garon was expected to be arraigned Tuesday on felony reckless conduct and disorderly conduct charges. A Worcester, Massachusetts, dentist already charged with sexually assaulting one patient is facing allegations from two additional patients. The Telegram & Gazette reports that Nikhilkumar Patel pleaded not guilty on Monday to five counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over age 14 in connection with the latest charges. Prosecutors say Patel is charged with rubbing his crotch against the arm of one female patient and touching the breasts of another woman on multiple visits. In the August case, he was also charged with touching a female patient's breasts. Patel's lawyers say he denies the allegations and they are "100 percent confident these charges will be dismissed." Patel is free on $1,000 bail in the August case and was released without bail in the latest cases. A Massachusetts teacher is back at school, despite his recent arrest. According to the Gloucester Times, Anthony Altieri is accused of assaulting his girlfriend during an argument in Essex and smashing her face into a door frame just over a week ago. Altieri is a 13-year-veteran of Wilmington High School. "It's definitely upsetting. We never expected it from him," said senior Madison Knibbs. "He's like a gentle giant." Altieri told police he admitted to the attack, but only after his girlfriend slapped him first. "Well obviously it was wrong if that's what happened," said senior Robbie Ducharme. "I don't condone it but everyone has their right to the legal system. I think people are going a too little over the top with it because in no way shape or form I think our safety is being affected in any way." Students told necn Altieri is already addressing the issue in gym class. "He apologized and he said he doesn't want us to look at him differently," said junior Lauren D'Angelo. "He said he doesn't want us to hesitate to ask him questions." Wilmington Superintendent Mary DeLai said, in part, in an email to the school community, "The decision to permit his return to the classroom is based on his tenure and record of performance. We hope that people respect that he is owed his day in court and his right to privacy." According to the Essex District Attorney, Altieri posted bail after his arraignment and is due back in court in mid-October. "In the school building he's a real good guy, real respectful," said senior Dave Woods. "He's by the book, he's innocent until proven guilty, it's not our job to judge him." Altieri is facing several charges including assault and battery, and destruction of property. "I also thought it's a good thing he came back it shouldn't have been everyone's business," said senior Haley DiLorenzo. "And they also don't know if he's guilty or not." Monday night, Superintendent DeLai responded to necn's request for a comment: "Wilmington Public Schools is aware of the concerns of some individuals surrounding its decision to allow Mr. Altieri to return to his position as a physical education teacher at Wilmington High School following recent allegations of domestic assault. The school district wants the public to know that before making the decision to return Mr. Altieri to his position, it thoroughly considered all aspects of this matter before concluding that he should be returned to work. Last week, Mr. Altieri was placed on paid administrative leave for several days in order to allow the school district to gather more information about the incident, to allow it to assess whether or not Mr. Altieris return to his teaching position would pose a threat to the safety of students or staff, and to allow the school district the opportunity to consult with legal counsel. Based on the information gathered, the school district made the decision that Mr. Altieris return did not pose a threat to the safety of students or staff and it returned him to his teaching position at the start of this week. The school district has looked at this issue from multiple perspectives, including reviewing Mr. Altieris' record as an educator in Wilmington for the past thirteen years. Our first concern is the safety and well-being of our students, staff and families and we would not have returned Mr. Altieri to his position if we did not believe that he did not pose a threat. At this point we will defer to the legal process and will continue to monitor this matter moving forward." Two twin boys are recovering at a Rhode Island hospital after police say their mother threw the toddlers out of a first-floor window at their apartment in Providence. Thirty-seven-year-old Benita Barbour was held on surety bail Monday after being arraigned on charges of disorderly conduct in Providence District Court. Police say a neighbor reported to the state Department of Children, Youth and Families that she saw Barbour toss both of her 2-year-old boys out the window onto a front porch. Some of the incident was captured on video and turned over to authorities. Police say officers investigating the incident encountered an intoxicated Barbour, who they reported as showing no remorse at the scene. It's unclear if Barbour has an attorney who can comment. Police may bring additional charges against her. Police say a 27-year-old man suspected of domestic violence is in custody after stabbing a Lewiston, Maine, police officer five times. Lewiston Police Cpl. Michael Dumond received treatment for non-life threatening wounds to his hands and upper torso early Monday. Police arrested the alleged attacker, Jonathan Order, on charges including aggravated attempted murder and two counts of assault on a police officer. He was also charged with assaulting two corrections officers, along with aggravated domestic violence assault. Lewiston police said that Order stabbed Dumond after officers negotiated with him for 30 minutes. Police say Order awaits arraignment at Androscoggin County Jail, where he was held on Monday. A jail official said it was unknown if he had hired a lawyer. Amid the nation's opiate addiction crisis, police agencies are taking extra steps aimed at protecting officers from exposure to toxic residue from drug evidence. Police in Burlington, Vermont, now have Naloxone at the ready in secure areas of the station, in case officers handling drug evidence are exposed to heroin or fentanyl and need the symptoms reversed. "Could it be an incident right here in the police station? Absolutely," said Deputy Chief Shawn Burke of the Burlington Police Department. Fentanyl is a far more potent, synthetic cousin to heroin, and is now increasingly being found as a component in fatal overdoses. Concerns over police officers accidentally ingesting fentanyl were highlighted last week, when a Hartford, Connecticut, drug raid saw cops use a flash grenade that sent drug powder into the air. Inadvertently, some of that powder entered the systems of 11 members of the SWAT team, the department said. The symptoms the officers suffered included light-headedness, nausea, sore throats, headaches, and vomiting, the department told NBC Connecticut. Authorities said the officers were sickened while seizing 50,000 bags of heroin, three-quarters of a pound of raw heroin, and fentanyl. All the officers who were treated at a hospital and released. The Burlington Police Department explained that fentanyl's particles are much finer than heroin's, so can become airborne more easily, then absorbed through the eyes or skin. That is why the new naloxone antidote kits are available inside the evidence handling area, the department said. "If fentanyl becomes airborne and we have an officer experience an overdose, we have to be able to help them as quickly as possible," Burke told necn. The chief of the Colchester, Vermont, police department recently directed her officers to stop conducting chemical tests of powder drug evidence in the field. Instead, all such tests should be conducted in a protected lab environment, the department said. Chief Jennifer Morrison explained the directive was aimed at reducing the chances of trace amounts of powdered drug material somehow blowing into the faces of officers, or otherwise putting them at risk of ingestion. Morrison told necn she also has reminded her department of the importance of using gloves and eye protection around suspected powder drugs, and to evacuate a vehicle or building if officers detect loose powder or residue that is at risk of becoming airborne. Morrison also said she recently shared with her department a video produced by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The officer safety alert warned about the dangers of fentanyl powder. "A very small amount ingested could kill you," Jack Riley, the deputy administrator of the DEA, said on the video. The video contained first-person accounts from two New Jersey officers, who recalled how they got tiny amounts of fentanyl to the face while forcing air out of an evidence bag. "I thought I was dying," E. Price, a county detective in Atlantic County, New Jersey, remembered on the video. "That's what my body felt like." "You couldn't breathe; very disoriented," recalled D. Kallen, a county investigator in Atlantic County, who also appeared in the DEA video. "It was just a very minuscule amount, and that's the scary thing about it." Burlington Police said aside from officers, the dangers fentanyl poses to addicts who use it underscore why a large-scale, community-wide response to the regional and national opiate addiction crisis is so urgent. A Rhode Island man charged with conspiring to help the Islamic State group has decided to plead guilty to charges he plotted with others to kill conservative blogger Pamela Geller, his lawyer and prosecutors said Tuesday. Nicholas Rovinski, 25, is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries. Prosecutors say the Warwick man plotted with two Massachusetts men to behead Geller. She angered Muslims when she organized a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, in May 2015. The contest ended in gunfire, with two Muslim gunmen shot to death by police. The plot against Geller was not carried out. A document filed in court Tuesday says a change-of-plea hearing for Rovinski is scheduled for Thursday. Rovinski's lawyer, William Fick, confirmed that Rovinski plans to plead guilty to both conspiracy counts. In a superseding indictment filed in April, prosecutors alleged that Rovinski - even from jail - tried to recruit people to help carry out plans for violent attacks in the United States, including the beheading of nonbelievers. But Fick said Rovinski now renounces violence and any allegiance to the IS group. "Nicholas Rovinski is a vulnerable young man who fell deep into a rabbit hole of extremist ideology," Fick said in a statement. "Nicholas has unequivocally renounced violence and disavowed any sympathy for ISIL," Fisk said, using an alternate name for the IS group. "Nicholas hopes he will have opportunities in the future to help others reject twisted ideas and avoid making the same mistakes he did." Prosecutors alleged that Rovinski plotted with David Wright, of Everett, Massachusetts, and Wright's uncle, Usaamah Rahim, of Boston, to behead Geller. Rahim, who had been under surveillance, was killed in June 2015 by investigators who said he lunged at them with a knife when they approached him in Boston. Wright has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. In the superseding indictment, prosecutors said Islamic State group recruiter Junaid Hussain communicated instructions about the plot to kill Geller directly to Rahim from overseas in May 2015. Hussain was later killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria. The U.S. military has said Hussain had been recruiting sympathizers in the West to commit lone-wolf terrorist attacks. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz confirmed Rovinski's decision to plead guilty to the conspiracy charges but declined to comment further. Geller did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Police in Worcester, Massachusetts, say they have arrested a woman accused of robbing a bank Monday. Regina Flynn, 36, of Shrewsbury, is facing a charge of unarmed robbery. Police say Flynn went to the Leominster Credit Union and handed a note to the teller demanding money. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money and Flynn allegedly fled the area on foot. Officers in the area found a car parked the wrong way on Henchmen Street and found two women inside. Flynn matched the description of the suspect and the stolen money was found inside the vehicle. It's unclear when Flynn will be arraigned or if she has an attorney. A serial sex offender who was already convicted of killing two women in Hartford was charged on Monday for the homicides of two more women from over the last 19 years, the state's division of criminal justice said. Robert White, 56, was charged after an investigation by the Cold Case Unit found that he had allegedly murdered two women: one in 1997 and one in 2012. White faces one count of capital felony murder and murder for the 1997 slaying of Shiraleen Crawford and one count of murder with special circumstances, felony murder and murder in the death of Sonia Rivera in 2012, the state said. He is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and his bond was set at $1 million for each case. In 2013, White confessed to suffocating and stabbing his 59-year-old girlfriend Sawarie Krichindath, who was found inside her Hartford apartment. In 1998, he was convicted of sexual assault, spent almost 14 years in prison and was forced to register as a sex offender. White was charged with first-degree sexual assault in 1998 and third-degree sexual assault in 1993. In the 1980s, White was convicted of manslaughter. Family and friends of a murdered Methuen, Massachusetts, woman gathered on Monday night for a vigil to denounce domestic violence. Wanda Rosa was found strangled to death in her apartment last week. The 29-year-old's estranged boyfriend and father of her 5-year-old son, Emilio DeLarosa, 32, is wanted in connection with her death. "I thought I could love the hate out of him, move," words written by Rosa herself just days before she was murdered, were read at the vigil. DeLarosa has a history of domestic violence and served time for attempted murder for an incident involving Rosa. "She always said it, she always knew it," said Eduardo Rosa, brother of Wanda. "And I used to tell her off about it saying, 'don't think like that because you're not supposed to think like that.'" Rosa had a restraining order against DeLarosa but asked that it be lifted so that they could spend some time together as a family. "Wanda meant a lot to us, a great person, a great friend and an even better mother and that's exactly what she was trying to do for her son was to provide," said a friend at the vigil. Rosa's loved ones say they wished they had done more and said more. A Vermont restaurant said a trial run, during which it asked customers to pay more for meals in order to give raises to employees, has been a success. Popolo, an Italian-inspired farm to table restaurant in Bellows Falls, now adds 6 percent to diners' bills in order to boost the pay for staffers who don't get tips. The restaurant is owned by 26 shareholders. Today, dish washers, prep cooks, and bussers make $15 an hour. That so-called living wage is more than $5 higher than Vermont's current minimum wage of $9.60. "There were plenty of people who told me to my face we would crash and burn," recalled Gary Smith, Popolo's general manager. Smith said the 6 percent adjustment on meal checks is better than raising food prices, because that would've also increased taxes. The business operates on "razor-thin margins," according to a message about the living wage adjustment posted on Popolo's website. After a three-month trial run this summer, Popolo is now celebrating because Smith said business is steady, and most customers seem supportive. "To be honest, there are some people who have stopped coming," Smith revealed. "But they aren't many. And there must have been others who have taken their place at the tables if our business is stable." Going to a restaurant is obviously a consumer's choice. But when it comes to mandating increases in wages through new laws, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has historically opposed such proposals, arguing it would unfairly burden businesses and could cause job losses. Consumers necn asked about Popolo's new policy had a mixed reaction to the concept. "I think if you can afford to go out to eat, you can afford to do it," said one woman who asked necn to not publish her name. "I'm not sure I would be in favor of the 6 percent," said Chris Barry, an area resident. "But I would feel comfortable with some percent being added, as long as it was going directly to people and not the restaurant." Tuesday, Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vermont, congratulated the business on the move. "We need a lot more of this happening across Vermont and across America," Shumlin told a group that gathered at the restaurant to mark the end of the trial run. Smith predicted the new policy will help retain staff and attract strong applicants. Smith noted that wait staff who earn tips may occasionally benefit from the new policy, too. He said if Popolo has a slow night and servers fall below the $15 an hour livable wage threshold, the 6 percent adjustment will help management give them a boost. Smith expected the move to generally affect about 10 of the restaurant's 20 employees. The question moving forward will be whether customers can stomach that adjustment to their bills, but Smith said, so far, they are. The company added, in a statement posted on its website, that it is not demanding all businesses pay employees a $15 wage. "Every business is different and business owners feel differently than we at Popolo feel," the statement read. "Owners need to decide for themselves what the appropriate path will be for their businesses." Anna Price encourages Christians to engage positively with Halloween rather than hide away, on what many see as the darkest night of the year. Anna Price encourages Christians to engage positively with Halloween rather than hide away, on what many see as the darkest night of the year. First service takes place at Norwich church site SOUL Church hosted around 400 people for a special service on the site of their new building on Heartsease Lane. Read more Dereham draws up list of warm places for winter As rising energy prices make it harder to heat homes, churches in Dereham are leading the way in creating warm spaces where people can go. Read more South Norfolk church scoops national award A medieval Anglican church in a tiny hamlet in South Norfolk has won a national award and a 10,000 boost. Read more Dereham churches help people to help themselves A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training. Read more Executive assistant and nursery manager jobs SOUL Church is a vibrant, welcoming and growing church in Norwich. They are seeking an organised and versatile Executive Assistant to provide key support to the churchs Senior Pastors, as well as a qualified Nursery Manager to head up SOUL Nursery. Read more Halloween light in Gorleston church On Halloween this year, St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston will be preparing to welcome around 200 families to experience their Light on a Dark Night event. Read more An opportunity for Norwich to pray for the nation Rev Nigel Fox, who has served as a Methodist Minister for 15 years in Norwich, shares an open invitation to pray for the nation at a crucial moment. Read more Norwich church seeks musicians Kingdom Ambassadors International Church is appealing for instrumentlists, keyboardists and guitarists to be part of their worship experience. Read more Please keep Rishi in your prayers Andy Bryant urges us to pray for our political leaders, especially the new Prime Minister, and avoid unhelpful judgementalism. Read more Emilys art boosts growing Yarmouth foodbank A pupil at a primary school in Bradwell has been selling her pictures in order to raise money for the Yarmouth and Magdalen Foodbank, which is expanding its capacity and is seeking more volunteers. Read more Patrick Regan helps Norwich to bounce forwards On Saturday St Stephens in Norwich hosted Bouncing Forwards as part of a national tour by the mental health charity Kintsugi Hope. Read more Painting and biblical feasting in Overstrand There will be opportunities to improve your painting skills and indulge in some biblical feasting next month at the Pleasaunce in Overstrand in North Norfolk. Read more Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more National award for Dereham Christian bookshop The Green Pastures Christian bookshop in Dereham has won a national award for providing boxes of Christian books to 21 local schools. Read more Norma's care home jigsaw challenge complete A resident at Norwich-based care home Corton House has completed an incredible 70 jigsaw puzzles in celebration of the homes 70th anniversary this year. Read more Norwich charity's appeal to support Palestinian students A Norwich educational charity, set up in memory of a Norwich Anglican priest, to support students from a Palestinian refugee camp, is inviting people to support its Christmas appeal to be launched on November 29. Read more Norfolk drug and alcohol charity pays tribute to its founder Andy Sexton, CEO of the Matthew Project, introduces a series of tributes from the charity to its founder, Peter Farley. Read more Christian welcome offered to Norwich-bound refugees Early on Saturday September 24, three boat loads of people navigated the river Wensum to alight at Pulls Ferry in a symbolic gesture to show that refugees and asylum seekers are welcome in Norwich. Helen Baldry reports As the first boat approached, jubilant singing could be heard from the passengers, which included local Christians and asylum seekers and refugees to the city. The purpose of the event was to be a display of welcome from the churches in the city, regardless of faith or nationality. Carrie Sant, from Norwich-based City Saints organised this event, which was inspired by the Bishops Pilgrimage day. It was announced that a prize would be given for the most imaginative way of travelling, which sparked Carries idea to orchestrate the river-bank welcome. She said, We are focusing on asylum seekers and refugees but the boats will be decorated with flags which include European and Eastern European flags also to make sure that the welcome is inclusive as part of our stand against racism. Carrie works closely with refugees and asylum seeks coming to the city and ensures they can access the support and services they need. Todays arrival on the river was symbolic of the many people to come to Norwich there were representatives from Sri Lanka, the Congo, Pakistan and Egypt. Bishops Chaplain Revd Susanna Gunner said, There is a long tradition of Norwich being a welcoming city. We are putting our heads above the parapet to show that our city is a welcoming place. The Bishop of Thetford Rt Revd Alan Winton said words of welcome to the travellers and helped them off the boat to be greeted by a group of people from various denominations and backgrounds. Words from the welcome that was said It seems the topic of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) comes ups in almost every conversation I have with IT leaders regarding their data center modernization plans. A few weeks ago at VMworld, VCEthe converged systems group of EMC, now Dell Technologieshosted an analyst breakfast, and as expected, HCI was a significant part of the discussion. Since then, Ive had some time to talk to businesses about HCI and to noodle on the open discussion that we (the analysts) had with the head of VCE, Chad Sakac. I believe VCE's products and the way they go to market positions the combined Dell-EMC extremely well in the HCI market During the breakfast and in a pre-call with the analysts, Sakac said the products in the HCI portfolio (VxRack and VxRail) greatly exceeded internal expectations. Moving forward, I see the strong momentum continuing, with VCE eventually becoming the market leader in HCI for the following reasons: Customers buying criteria has changed . IT used to be based on the concept of buy and assemble, meaning organizations would purchase individual components and put the infrastructure together, then run applications on it. The assemble process can take months to complete and often puts companies behind schedule. An interesting data point from ZK Research is that 90 percent of IT projects are delivered late. Much of the delay is due to trying to piece together a bunch of disparate IT components and then spending months tweaking and tuning. Now, instead of buy and assemble, organizations would rather buy and consume, which has been the primary driver for converged systems, such as VCEs Vblock and now HCI solutions. . IT used to be based on the concept of buy and assemble, meaning organizations would purchase individual components and put the infrastructure together, then run applications on it. The assemble process can take months to complete and often puts companies behind schedule. An interesting data point from ZK Research is that 90 percent of IT projects are delivered late. Much of the delay is due to trying to piece together a bunch of disparate IT components and then spending months tweaking and tuning. Now, instead of buy and assemble, organizations would rather buy and consume, which has been the primary driver for converged systems, such as VCEs Vblock and now HCI solutions. VCE magic. VCE began as a joint venture between VMware, Cisco and EMC. The company was put together to simplify the deployment of technology from three market leaders so customers could enjoy the benefits faster. VCEs flagship product, Vblock, was born from this vision. When VCE was founded, I recall a conversation with Ciscos COO at the time, Gary Moore, where he told me, VCE can stand up a fully functional private cloud in a few days. No other vendor can do that. He was right about that, and since then, VCE has nearly perfected the process of assembling, sustaining and maintaining engineered systems. While there are other HCI vendors available today, VCE has a longer history and a stronger track record than any other vendor when it comes to building engineered systems. While there are other HCI vendors available today, VCE has a longer history and a stronger track record than any other vendor when it comes to building engineered systems. Tight alignment with VMware . Theres an obvious benefit in being under the same ownership structure as VMware. VCEs VxRack and VxRail solutions are in lock step with the vSphere roadmap. If a customer has a high reliance on vSphere, then it makes sense to use a company that develops HCI solutions that natively integrate with it. Conversely, if vSphere isnt a strategic vendor for a customer, then VxRail and/or VxRack are likely not the best choices. However, the VMware install base is enormous, so most organizations will be running vSphere in some capacity, giving VCE a large addressable base to go after. . Theres an obvious benefit in being under the same ownership structure as VMware. VCEs VxRack and VxRail solutions are in lock step with the vSphere roadmap. If a customer has a high reliance on vSphere, then it makes sense to use a company that develops HCI solutions that natively integrate with it. Conversely, if vSphere isnt a strategic vendor for a customer, then VxRail and/or VxRack are likely not the best choices. However, the VMware install base is enormous, so most organizations will be running vSphere in some capacity, giving VCE a large addressable base to go after. Distribution channel. One critical component of a vendors success that is often overlooked is distribution channel. Having great technology is important, but its not very useful if one cant get the products in front of customers. EMC has always had tremendous distribution capabilities, and when it acquired VCE from Cisco, VCE inherited this channel. The other half of the channel equation is customer demand. I attended both EMC World and VMworld, and based on the tremendous interest at the shows, interest from these two customer bases is high. Also, since the Dell-EMC acquisition was announced, Ive talked to many Dell channel partners and there is definitely pent-up demand for VCE products. I believe Dell will be a significant distributor for both VxRail and VxRack. Dell also resells Nutanix, so it will be interesting to see how the company juggles competitive products. Dell hasnt made any statements on the future, but I suspect over time VCE products will fulfill most of the HCI business that flows through the company. The HCI market has been led primarily by startups, but recently there has been a flurry of activity from mainstream IT vendors, which will shake up the industry. Of all the tier 1 infrastructure vendors with HCI products, Dell-EMC seems well positioned to become the market leader in a relatively short period of time. Summer 2016 was not a good time for data breaches. First, news broke that the Democratic National Committee was hacked, leading to the resignation of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and driving a wedge between Democratic Party members. Later, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that Russian hackers had illegally accessed its Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) database, leaking confidential medical information for U.S. athletes, including Simone Biles and Serena Williams. Then earlier this month, passwords, usernames, email addresses and other personal information was published for more than 2.2 million people who created accounts with ClixSense, a site that pays users for completing online surveys and viewing advertisements. These were not the only breaches of the summer, nor were they the largest. However, each is a clear example of the changing face of data breaches and the rise of identity theft. The rise of identity theft According to Gemaltos Breach Level Index, for the first six months of 2016, identity theft was the leading type of data breach, accounting for 64 percent of all data breaches, up from 53 percent in the previous six months. Malicious outsiders were the leading source of data breaches, accounting for 69 percent of breaches, up from 56 percent in the previous six months. What we have been seeing over the past two years is that data breaches have shifted from stolen credit card data and financial information to the theft of something much more intimateidentities. As a result, data breaches are becoming much more personal and the universe of risk exposure for people is widening. In the case of the DNC and WADA breaches, sensitive data was leaked to publicly smear people. Contrast that with the IRS data breach involving more than 700,000 stolen Social Security numbers that resulted in thousands of false tax returns being filed. As companies, governments and other organizations collect ever-increasing amounts of customer information and as our online digital activities become more diverse and prolific, more data about what we do, who we are and what we like is at risk to be stolen from the companies that store our data. Apathy abounds So, why isnt anyone paying attention? The truth is that despite todays daily headlines about data breaches, the problem with cybersecurity is that theres a lot of apathy regarding the issues. Consumers know their credit cards will be replaced and they will not be responsible for financial losses. Breached companies know their stock prices will rebound eventually, and government regulations are simply not a good prescription for security. At this point the daily noise around data breaches is making it more difficult for consumers, government regulatory agencies and companies to distinguish between nuisance data breaches and truly impactful mega breaches. News reports fail to make these distinctions, but they are important to understand because each has different consequences. A breach involving 100 million user names is not as severe as a breach of 1 million accounts with Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information that are used for financial gain. At the end of the day, the best way to protect data is to kill it. That means ensuring sensitive data is protected with encryption so it is useless to the thieves. In my first column, I stressed the need for organizations to create a "Secure Breach" environment to safeguard data. In this increasingly digital world where greater and greater amounts of data are being stored, managed and shared via the cloud and multiple (and unsecured) devices, it is clear that data breaches are going to happen. That is why companies need to shift from a total reliance on breach prevention to strategies that help them secure the breach once intruders get past network defenses. That is why more focus needs to be on understanding what really constitutes sensitive data and where it is stored, and using the best means to defend it. At the end of the day, the best way to protect data is to kill it. That means ensuring sensitive data is protected with encryption so it is useless to the thieves. Even though encryption is widely known, less than 4 percent of all data breaches this year involved data that was encrypted in part or in full, according to the Breach Level Index. This number has stayed more or less the same for the past several years, and thats unacceptable. While credit cards can be easily replaced and fraudulent charges covered, the damage from stolen identities and sensitive personal information is much longer lasting. So, what will that be the tipping point that moves companies to adopt a secure breach strategy? In my next blog, Ill present some strategies for how companies can better defend data and secure the breach. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts in the comments. Team raises more than 2,500 for cancer charity A GROUP of fearless Newbury Building Society employees have thrown themselves out of a plane to raise money for the companys charity of the year. Louise McCormack, who is based at the Newbury head office, was joined by colleagues Nicola Pope, Ellen Harmon, Aishling Breakspear, Laura Whale, Gemma Adolph and Pippa Bracey for the tandem skydive over Swindon earlier this month. The group braved the elements in aid of the Pink Ribbon Foundation, which is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year. After the skydive, Laura Whale, said: It was incredible. The jump was a fantastic experience, especially being in the clouds, and we got to do it all for a wonderful cause I would definitely do it again. The foundation funds projects and provides financial support to UK charities which relieve the needs of breast cancer sufferers. The team has raised 2,570.99 so far, having also held a number of cake sales and competitions. Cremations are increasing by 3 percent a year, and Korea is headed for the 70 percent cremation rate of advanced countries this year. In 1970, when Korea was still under strong influence of Confucian cultural tradition, the proportion of people who chose cremation over burial was just 10.9 percent. By 2008, it was 61.9 percent. Shin Seung-il, an official at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said, "With the current pace, the cremation rate will be 70 percent or so this year." A Ministry official said many European countries with a Christian culture such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Denmark show a 70 percent cremation rate. Here, 70 percent "means cremation is becoming the standard funeral culture," he added. The Ministry plans to make it possible for non-hospital, small and independent funeral halls to build cremation facilities. It also plans to announce ways to promote cremation. A man sought by police in connection with bombings in New York and New Jersey on Saturday is in custody following what has been described as a shootout with police. Law enforcement officials said Ahmad Rahami, 28, was detained in Linden, New Jersey, late Monday morning. CNN showed video of a man it said was Rahami, conscious and on a stretcher with what appeared to be a bloodied right shoulder, being loaded into an ambulance. Authorities later said he was undergoing surgery for a leg injury. Two police officers and Rahami sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the shootout, local authorities said. Police were searching for anyone linked to four explosives-related incidents in the last three days, including a blast Saturday night that injured 29 people in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Rahami is the sole person believed to be involved in the New Jersey and New York explosions. "There is no other individual we are looking for at this time," he told reporters at a news conference after Rahami was detained. As local officials have publicly debated for two days how to label the bombings, de Blasio said Monday: "We have every reason to believe this was an act of terror." Local and federal police announced their search for Rahami early Monday. Police say Rahami, a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, was last known to live in Elizabeth, New Jersey, about 6 km from where he was detained in Linden. Local media reports say his family ran a restaurant there on the first floor of their home. The FBI said Rahami is wanted for questioning in the Chelsea explosion, which happened around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, as well as in another bombing hours earlier in Seaside Park, New Jersey, about 135 kilometers south of New York City. Explosives detonated in a trash bin there just before the start of a 5-kilometer foot race. No one was hurt in that blast. The FBI and police in New York have also been searching for possible links between the Saturday blast in Chelsea and another explosive device found a few blocks away that did not detonate. The second device, recovered a short time after the first went off, involved a pressure cooker with a cellphone attached to it. Police safely removed it from the area and said Sunday they blew it up in a controlled explosion. Yet more devices were found late Sunday in a backpack in a trash can at a train station in Elizabeth, located just outside New York. Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said one of the devices exploded as police tried to disarm it with a robot. The incident briefly disrupted train service throughout the region, along one of the country's busiest rail corridors. Speaking from New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President Barack Obama said investigators have not established any connection between the New York and New Jersey blasts and a mass stabbing in Minnesota on Saturday that injured 9 people. The suspect in that incident was fatally shot by police officers at the scene. Early election results show Russia's ruling party has won Sunday's parliamentary election, amid reports of election violations and visible voter apathy in the country's two largest cities. With nearly all votes counted, President Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party has more than 54 percent of the vote, with the Liberal Democrat Party and the Communists trailing with about 13 percent each, and A Just Russia with 6 percent. The chief of the Russian Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said in a televised briefing that she sees no reason to nullify results in any location in the country, despite reports of election fraud. Pamfilova conceded, however, that the election "was not sterile," adding that reports of ballot stuffing were confirmed in three polling stations. As expected, the ruling United Russia Party will retain its absolute majority in Russia's lower house, State Duma. United Russia, led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a loyalist of President Putin, currently has 238 of 450 Duma seats and dominates the more than 80 regional parliaments. The party is likely to gain another 100 seats in the Duma. The election for lawmakers comes 18 months ahead of the next presidential election. A report of an exploding battery in a Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in China was a hoax aimed at getting compensation from Samsung. The hoaxer tried to ride the coattails of a global scandal over combustible batteries in the model, but the batteries in his phone were made by ATL and not implicated in the recall. The combustible Note 7 batteries were made by Samsung SDI. The alleged incident was reported on Sunday with a photo of a scorched Galaxy Note 7 on Chinese portal Baidu. The person who posted the photo claimed that the screen of the Note 7 suddenly darkened and the device soon burst into flames. Samsung's call center in China received another report of an exploding Note 7 the same day. Samsung and ATL checked both handsets, and x-ray and computer scans showed that the batteries had been exposed to external heat, Samsung said. The devices retrieved in China showed massive heat damage while the battery remained relatively unscathed, whereas in the incidents that triggered the recall only the battery caught fire and scorched the surrounding frame. One of the hoaxers was discovered to have posted a message on WeChat expressing hope that his phablet would explode so he could get compensation. Samsung said it is considering a criminal complaint against the hoaxers. The foreign ministers of Korea and Japan met in New York on Sunday to revive the prospect of an intelligence-sharing pact. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has been pushing for the plan to be revived, according to a Foreign Ministry source here to forge a joint response to the North Korean nuclear threat. Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se pointed out that the matter requires public support. A previous attempt in 2012 to forge a military intelligence-sharing pact was shot down by massive public resistance here. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also raised the issue during a meeting with President Park Geun-hye in Laos earlier this month and during a trilateral summit in Washington in March. A U.S.-led multinational air drill next month will practice bombing North Korean nuclear facilities, the South Korean Air Force said Monday. Exercise Red Flag will be held at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska on Oct. 3-21. Forces from the U.S., South Korea, New Zealand and NATO will be taking part, but only the U.S. and South Korea will mobilize fighter jets. "The drill comes in response to the nuclear and missile threats from the North, which have emerged as the biggest security challenge in the wake of two nuclear tests and about 20 ballistic missile launches by the North this year," a military officer here said. Some 50 South Korean and U.S. fighter jets will practice recision bombing of a North Korean nuclear facility. South Korea's F-15Ks are expected to practice bombing the North's nuclear and missile facilities by dropping so-called JDAM bombs. A Cheong Wa Dae official said Seoul and Washington have recently agreed to work out out a fresh deterrence strategy to counter the threat of the North's use of nuclear weapons. What if one blood test could screen for more than 50 types of cancer? Champaign, IL (61820) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 58F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia. Acitretin Consumer Medicine Information What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about NEOTIGASON capsules. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you taking NEOTIGASON Capsules against the benefits they expect it will have for you. If you have any concerns about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Keep this leaflet with the medicine. You may need to read it again. What is Neotigason used for NEOTIGASON contains the active ingredient acitretin. NEOTIGASON is used to treat severe psoriasis (skin disease with thickened patches of red skin, often with silvery scales) and other severe disorders of the skin. NEOTIGASON belongs to a group of medicines called retinoids, which are very similar to Vitamin A. Vitamin A, which we obtain from food, is important for the normal growth and development of the body, especially the skin. In severe psoriasis and some other skin disorders, where there is problem with the normal development of the skin, NEOTIGASON helps return the skin to normal. There are many different types of medicines used to treat skin conditions. Your doctor may have prescribed NEOTIGASON for another purpose. Ask your doctor if you have any questions why NEOTIGASON has been prescribed for you. This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription. Before you take Neotigason Do not take NEOTIGASON if: you are pregnant, or intend to become pregnant during treatment or in the 3 years after stopping treatment. The possibility that you may be pregnant must be ruled out by you and your doctor before you start taking Neotigason. A pregnancy test must be negative when performed within one week before beginning of treatment. NEOTIGASON is highly teratogenic and there is an extremely high risk that a severely deformed baby will result if taken before or during pregnancy, no matter for how long or at what dose. You must use effective contraception (preferably two complementary forms), without interruption for one month before, during and 3 years after treatment. A combination hormonal contraceptive product or an intrauterine device should be used. It is recommended that a diaphragm is also used. Low dose minipills (progesterone only) are not recommended. you are breastfeeding. Breastfeeding must be stopped before treatment begins. Do not breastfeed while taking NEOTIGASON. you have had an allergic reaction to NEOTIGASON, Vitamin A, other retinoids or any ingredients listed in the Ingredients section of this leaflet. you are taking tetracycline antibiotics (such as doxycycline HCl: In Australia, Doryx, Vibramycin; in New Zealand Doxine, Doxy 50, or Minocycline HCl, Minomycin) you are taking vitamin A, or preparations containing vitamin A. You have severe liver or kidney disease or abnormally high fat levels in your blood You are also taking methotrexate Do not take NEOTIGASON after the expiry date (EXP) printed on the pack. It may have no effect or, worse, an entirely unexpected effect if you take it after the expiry date. Do not take NEOTIGASON if the package is torn or shows signs of tampering. If you are not sure if you should be taking NEOTIGASON, talk to your doctor. You must tell your doctor if: 1. you are allergic to any other medicines, foods, dyes or preservatives. 2. you have any other health problems including: diabetes, or a history of diabetes in your family liver disease high triglycerides or cholesterol levels in the blood, or a history of high blood triglycerides or cholesterol levels in your family Taking other medicines Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines including any that you have bought from a pharmacy, supermarket or healthfood shop. Other medicines may interfere with NEOTIGASON. These medicines include: tetracycline antibiotics (such as minomycin, or in Australia, Vibramycin; in New Zealand, Doxine) phenytoin (such as Dilantin) methotrexate alcohol containing medicines you are taking a low-dose progestogen oral contraceptive (also called the "mini-pill") vitamin A supplements, or preparations containing vitamin A. Your doctor or pharmacist has a complete list of medicines to avoid while taking NEOTIGASON. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell them before you start taking NEOTIGASON. Use NEOTIGASON exactly as your doctor has prescribed. Use in Children NEOTIGASON should only be used in children where alternative therapy cannot be used. How to take Neotigason Follow all directions given to you by your doctor or pharmacist carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet How much to take Take NEOTIGASON exactly as your doctor has prescribed. Your doctor will tell you how many NEOTIGASON Capsules to take each day. This quantity will be especially matched to your needs and whether you develop any side effects. The initial dose is usually 25 mg (1 x 25 mg capsule) or 30 mg (3 x 10 mg capsules) per day for 2 to 4 weeks. Your dose will probably then be adjusted. You may notice the first signs of improvement during the first week but, more often, after 2 or 3 weeks. It may take 2 to 3 months before the full effect is seen. The affected skin will either peel off or gradually clear. Sometimes there will be more redness or itching at first, but this will normally improve as treatment continues. How to take it Capsules should be swallowed whole with a glass of water or milk. When to take it NEOTIGASON is usually taken once daily with meals or with a glass of milk. If you are female, you should wait until the 2nd or 3rd day of your next normal menstrual period before you start NEOTIGASON therapy. How long to take NEOTIGASON Continue taking NEOTIGASON until your doctor tells you to stop. If you forget to take NEOTIGASON If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the dose you missed and take your next dose when you are meant to. Otherwise, take it as soon as you remember and then go back to taking it as you would normally. Do not double a dose to make up for one you have missed. If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist. If you have trouble remembering your dose, ask your pharmacist for some hints. In case of an overdose Immediately telephone your doctor or Poisons Information Centre (telephone 13 11 26) in Australia or New Zealand National Poisons Centre (0800764766) for advice or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital if you think that you or anyone else may have taken too much NEOTIGASON. Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention. There is no information currently available on the effects of overdose with NEOTIGASON. However, based on experience with excessive vitamin A and other drugs similar to NEOTIGASON, signs of overdosage may include transient headache, vomiting, flushed face, dry skin and lips, pain in the stomach, dizziness and unco-ordination. You should recover without any after effects. You may need some tests to see if your liver has been affected. Keep telephone numbers for these places handy. If you are not sure what to do, contact your doctor or pharmacist. While you are taking Neotigason Things you must do Tell all doctors, dentists and pharmacists who are treating you that you are taking NEOTIGASON. Tell your doctor if, for any reason, you have not taken your medicine exactly as prescribed. Otherwise, your doctor may think that it was not effective and change your treatment unnecessarily. Be sure to keep all of your appointments with your doctor so that your progress can be checked. Your doctor may want to do some blood, liver function and other tests from time to time to check on your progress and detect any unwanted side effects. Your cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels should be monitored when NEOTIGASON is used for a long time. Tell your doctor if you are taking vitamin supplements that contain greater than 2500 IU of Vitamin A. If you are not sure, check with your doctor or pharmacist. Avoid alcohol in drinks, food or medicines during treatment. Alcohol should also be avoided for 2 months after stopping treatment with NEOTIGASON. FOR FEMALE PATIENTS: You must use two forms of birth control without interruption for at least 1 month before you start NEOTIGASON and for the whole time you are taking NEOTIGASON and for at least 3 years after you finish taking NEOTIGASON. Therapy should be started on the second or third day of your next normal menstrual period. Stop taking NEOTIGASON immediately and tell your doctor if you do become pregnant while you are taking NEOTIGASON. You must also tell your doctor if you become pregnant in the three years following the end of treatment. Your doctor may ask you to have a pregnancy test every month during use and every 1-3 months after stopping until 3 years have passed. Things you must not do Do not stop taking NEOTIGASON or lower the dose without first checking with your doctor. Do not let yourself run out of medicine over the weekend or on holidays. Do not donate blood during treatment or for at least 3 years after stopping treatment. Do not use oral contraceptive "Minipills" (progestogen only pills) as contraception during treatment. Do not give NEOTIGASON to anyone else even if their symptoms seem similar to yours. Do not use NEOTIGASON to treat other complaints unless your doctor says to. Do not take any other medicines whether they require a prescription or not without first telling your doctor or consulting a pharmacist. Things to be careful of Normally your ability to drive cars or operate machinery is not affected by NEOTIGASON, however decreased night vision has been reported. Patients may need to be cautious before they drive a car or operate machinery at night. Wearing contact lenses during treatment and for a little while after treatment with NEOTIGASON may cause discomfort. An eye lubricant, or artificial tears, available from your pharmacist (chemist), will assist with this problem. Otherwise, you may temporarily need to wear glasses instead. Your skin may be more sensitive to sunburn while on NEOTIGASON. Avoid excessive sun exposure and apply a sunscreen while taking NEOTIGASON. Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking NEOTIGASON. NEOTIGASON helps most people with skin conditions but it may have unwanted side effects in some people. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. If side effects do occur, they may be: dryness of the lips, mouth, nose, eyes and skin. A moisturiser or petroleum jelly can be used to soften the lining of the nose, lips and the skin thinning or peeling of the skin that was not previously affected (for example, hands and feet) sticky skin may occur hair loss sometimes occurs (and in rare cases, has persisted) rash, "redness of the skin" or itchiness flushing. These side effects will probably stop after the dose of NEOTIGASON is lowered or stopped. Tell your doctor if you notice any of the following and they worry you: unusually severe or persistent headaches nausea diarrhoea tenderness or stiffness in your joints or muscles or bones fatigue dizziness sleepiness mood changes depression male breast enlargement water retention gastritis heartburn changes in hearing irregular menstrual bleeding sore mouth or inflammation of the gums taste disturbances tingling, numbing or weakness in the hands or feet. These side effects could mean that the dose of NEOTIGASON needs to be adjusted. Stop taking NEOTIGASON and see your doctor if you experience any of the following: nausea vomiting headache blurred vision or visual disturbances This is not a complete list of all possible side effects. Others may occur in some people and there may be some side effects not yet known. Tell your doctor if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell, even if it is not on this list. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you don't understand anything in this list. Do not be alarmed by this list of possible side effects. You may not experience any of them. After taking Neotigason Keep your capsules in the blister pack until it is time to take them. If you take the capsules out of the blister pack they may not keep well. Keep NEOTIGASON in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25C. Do not store it, or any other medicine, in a bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it in the car or on window sills. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Protect NEOTIGASON from light. Keep NEOTIGASON where young children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines. Disposal If your doctor tells you to stop taking NEOTIGASON, or the capsule has passed its expiry date, you should return any capsules remaining at the end of treatment to your dermatologist. Product description What NEOTIGASON looks like NEOTIGASON 10 mg hard gelatin capsules have a white opaque body and a brown opaque cap with a "10" printed on the body. NEOTIGASON 25 mg hard gelatin capsules have a yellow opaque body and a brown opaque cap with a "25" printed on the body. Ingredients Active ingredient - acitretin each 10 mg capsule contain 10 mg acitretin each 25 mg capsule contain 25 mg acitretin Inactive ingredients - gelatin, glucose liquid spray-dried, sodium ascorbate, microcrystalline cellulose and the colours iron oxide black (CI77499), iron oxide yellow (CI 77492), iron oxide red (CI 77491) and titanium dioxide. NEOTIGASON Capsules are gluten free. NEOTIGASON Capsules are lactose free. NEOTIGASON Capsules come in cartons of 100. In Australia Sponsor: Teva Pharma Australia Pty Ltd Level 1, 37 Epping Rd Macquarie Park, NSW, 2113 Telephone: 1800 288 382 In New Zealand Sponsor and Distributor: Teva Pharma (New Zealand) Limited Auckland, New Zealand Please check with your pharmacist for the latest Consumer Medicine Information. Ulises Mantilla was a 21-year-old college student when he suffered a stroke at his home in Newark in 2012. The last thing he remembers about that day is dialing 911. He awoke from a coma a month later in the hospital, unable to walk or perform simple tasks. After a year of recovery, he underwent three brain operations to alleviate problems resulting from the stroke - but those surgeries resulted in more complications. "I was told my radiation surgery could have side effects over time. It manifested a year later. I started falling, suffering seizures and lost control of the right side of my body," he says. Although Mantilla returned to school in 2013, he spent most of 2014 hospitalized with side effects from the surgeries, as his weight ballooned from 170 to 300 pounds from medication, but he was resolved to reclaim his life. He underwent four weeks of acute physical therapy before being discharged. "I was determined to do what I could to return to school," he says. "I had such trouble with memory loss, I needed my studies to jumpstart my brain." Mantilla returned home in 2015, walking with a cane but with strength so limited he could not even grasp a sponge. "I needed to continue outpatient therapy, but the hospital was too far from my home," says Mantilla, whose therapist suggested the Community Participatory Physical Therapy Clinic (CPPT) in Newark. "That's when my life began to change," he says. Operated by Rutgers School of Health Professions, the free, student-run CPPT clinic serves the greater Newark community with physical therapy services and education on wellness and health. Mantilla is one of 500 patients served by the clinic since it opened in 2011. Each year, 65 students pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy volunteer, supervised by a licensed physical therapist, as part of their coursework. Patients can attend therapy sessions without a referral for as long as determined to be therapeutically necessary to relieve pain or improve their function. Mantilla, who began going to the clinic weekly, noticed a difference in the care he received. "The students don't just give me exercises. They allow me to be very open with my concerns and desires for treatment. I did not feel I had that level of communication with my other therapists," he says. "For example, my seizure medication can make me feel sluggish and drowsy. They helped me understand what my body can do in spite of how I feel." This welcoming environment makes healthcare accessible to people who might not otherwise seek it. "Some of our patients live in shelters or have mental illness," says Sue Paparella-Pitzel, the clinic's director. "They are comfortable here because there is no judgment, no payments, no questions about living arrangements." The students build a rapport with patients and often refer them to their physician or the New Jersey Medical School Clinic for treatment of other conditions like uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes. "Sometimes, our referral is what prompts patients to see a physician. They know the students will inquire about it at the next visit," says Paparella-Pitzel. The clinic also operates the Synergy Program, a one-hour group session for patients like Mantilla who are living with chronic stroke. It combines physical therapy with peer support. "I look forward to the group. I love the sense of community and positivity - it's something other therapists didn't offer," he says. "The program was integral to helping me regain flexibility lost to atrophy and allowed me to perform my exercises better. My sessions at the clinic not only helped me regain my mobility, but they also helped me return to my normal weight." After a year of working diligently to improve his balance and motor skills, Mantilla, now 27, is walking without his cane, has graduated from community college and this fall started his first semester at Rutgers University-Newark, where he is studying neurobiology. "Before I had my stroke, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life," he says. "Throughout this whole ordeal, I have been inspired by my neurosurgeons and the physical therapy students to help improve the quality of life for others who suffer neurological trauma as I did." Concussions can create a host of symptomsheadache, dizziness, moodiness, upset stomach and other issues. In most cases, those symptoms eventually dissipate, but about 15% of young people who get concussions struggle with persistent symptoms despite seeing doctors and receiving medical care. The ongoing symptoms interfere with school, social life and physical activity. Researchers at Seattle Children's Research Institute published a study in the journal Pediatrics showing a new intervention for adolescents with persistent post-concussive symptoms that improved health and wellness outcomes significantly. The approach combines cognitive behavioral therapy and coordinated care among providers, schools, patients and families. "We were pleased to find that using an approach that adds a psychological care component to treating concussions and providing coordination of care in areas of the patient's life significantly improved outcomes," said Dr. Cari McCarty, a psychologist and researcher at Seattle Children's Research Institute who led the study. "This new approach aims to improve the quality of life for patients who were otherwise left to deal with unrelenting concussion symptoms." A fall off a horse causes a persistent concussion Carmen Einmo, 16, loves to ride horses. In November 2014, she fell off her horse and broke her arm. At first, she didn't complain of typical concussion symptoms, but after a few weeks it became clear something was amiss. "I developed really bad headaches and became very sensitive to light," Carmen said. "I started having memory issues and would forget words in the middle of a conversation." As her symptoms persisted over a couple months, Carmen's doctor at Seattle Children's, Dr. Elaine Tsao, suggested she sign up for McCarty's study. The family was excited to have found another treatment option to pursue. "A lot of Carmen's schoolwork had to be done on an iPad, and spending long amounts of time on it hurt her eyes and head," said Diana Einmo, Carmen's mom. "Some of the teachers didn't understand that Carmen couldn't spend a lot of time on an iPad, and they didn't know what to make of how long her symptoms had been going on." Carmen's grades had started to slip and she worried about how the persistent symptoms got in the way of schoolwork. "I entered my second year of high school ready to start off strong, but the concussion set me back," she said. "My PE class was especially challenging because I couldn't run, so I would walk, and I got penalized for it in my grade." A coordinated approach to concussion care As a participant in the study, Carmen got support from a research team member that created a coordinated care plan for her. The researcher worked with the school and family on a plan that would allow Carmen to continue school with accommodations as she recovered. The plan included a homework priority list, allowing her more time to finish work and access to another room if she became tired from light and sound in class. In addition, Carmen received cognitive behavioral therapy that involved her parents and sister. "Cognitive behavioral therapy involves changing both behaviors and thinking patterns," McCarty said. "In our study that included relaxation techniques, teaching coping skills and offering pain management. We found that incorporating a psychological care component improved health outcomes and quality of life for these kids." Only 13% of patients who received the coordinated care and psychological intervention in the study reported high levels of post-concussive symptoms after six months, compared to 42% of patients who received standard concussion care. In addition, 78% of patients who received the specialized care reported reduction in depression symptoms, compared to just 46% of patients who received standard care. Getting back in the saddle Carmen is feeling more like herself now and has been cleared to ride horses again. She and her mom say one of the most important things they learned during this experience was to take concussions seriously, especially because the effects and symptoms might not be apparent right away. "It's especially challenging when a teenager gets a concussion because it's hard to tell if a change in behavior is because of a concussion, or because a teenager is going through a growth and development phase," Einmo said. "We found the therapy to be especially helpful in figuring some of this out." Carmen adds that having a plan and realistic expectations with school helped immensely. "I would tell young people struggling with a concussion to stick up for yourself and what you need," she said. "Take it one day at a time and do your best, and ask for the help you need." The University of Liverpool and the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) in Baltimore have been awarded a 1.9m grant from the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to lead a network to address child mental health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). The network, which is being run in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Human Development Research Foundation (HDRF), is a part of the NIMH's global initiative to promote research in mental health and is due to run for five years. Led by Professor Atif Rahman from University's Department of Psychological Sciences and Professor Lawrence Wissow from JHSPH and supported by Anna Chiumento and Syed Usman Hamdani - both from the University of Liverpool, the network will conduct a range of research and mental capacity building activities. Mental health workforce The EMR comprises 22 countries including; Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Iran. Disasters, emergencies and conflicts present a continual challenge to health in the region. These pose a constant threat to physical and mental health and can affect already vulnerable members of the population, including children and adolescents, in different ways. As a result child mental health has been identified as a priority in the EMR by members of the World Health Organisation (WHO). To address the mental health needs of children in the area the network is working towards a life-course approach being adopted by schools and integrating interventions into social and health systems. The interventions are aimed at those involved in education including: teachers, administrators, nurses, social workers, and school counsellors. They emphasise strategies that can be implemented at low-cost and at scale, incorporating key principles of task-shifting whereby mental health care is provided by a non-specialist mental health workforce. Identification and Intervention School-based mental health programs have been demonstrated to lead to improvements in the social, behavioural, emotional and academic functioning of students, and the wellbeing of teachers. These programs offer opportunities for early identification and intervention to address problems when they are easier to ameliorate and interventions less costly to provide, offering the potential to prevent mental health problems in later life. The network aims to increase the use of these programs. This will be done by gaining a greater understanding of how to move these programs to a national / cross-national scale in a way that preserves or even enhances their effectiveness in addressing the needs and capacities of the people involved. This is particularly challenging given the tremendous diversity within these countries. The project builds on Professor Rahman and his colleagues' long history of work in Pakistan and the key role that they have played in developing scalable interventions. Unique network partnerships Professor Atif Rahman, said: "Mental health systems in almost all countries of the region are a long way from meeting current needs. The participation of primary health care in the delivery of mental health services is limited. In addition, primary care providers are inadequately trained to effectively handle psychosocial problems. "This project takes advantage of unique network partnerships, involving policy makers, governments, inter- and non-governmental organisations, and academics working collectively to surmount the challenges faced within EMR to address child mental health in schools." Professor Lawrence Wissow, adds: "Despite the huge burden of mental disorders in this region, few resources are directed towards mental health care. The scarce resources that are available are often inefficiently used and inequitably distributed, resulting in treatment gaps. "This is a new project but it grows from a substantial body of work that has really put Liverpool and HDRF "on the map" of the global mental health effort. "The overall aim of the network is to improve the support available for those that urgently need it the most." Scientists and staff at the new Francis Crick Institute in London will be able to negotiate their way around Europe's biggest biomedical laboratory with the help of a web-based wayfinding app. It applies 'blue-dot' navigation, familiar from systems such as Google Maps, to create an indoor positioning system. For the first time in the UK, this has been achieved using the existing Wi-Fi network, rather than using a separate system. With nearly 1,500 staff moving from four different sites into a brand new building of 1,553 rooms and a floor area covering nearly 93,000 m2, navigating around the Crick laboratory building could be a particular challenge. The app has been designed to make it easier for researchers and staff to find their way around the building as they move in, enabling them to settle in effectively. Alison Davis, Director of IT&S at the Crick, said: The Crick's vision includes being bold and imaginative, and we want our approach to digital technology to reflect that. To the best of our knowledge, we believe we are the first organisation in the UK to have implemented indoor navigation capability from a Wi-Fi network. Shopping centres, hospitals and airports are some of the public places that have already benefited from indoor wayfinding apps, but unlike the Crick's app, they are powered by iBeacons or QR codes via Bluetooth technology. iBeacons technology has faced a number of drawbacks such as inaccurate real-time positioning, poor battery life, and erratic beacon signals. The Crick's new app will address these limitations as it can generate the moving 'blue dot' from an internal Wi-Fi network. Over 300 Wi-Fi access points distributed across the Crick will provide users with seamless connectivity as they walk around the building, creating the Crick's own internal GPS-style solution. The Crick Wayfinder features floor plans and the ability to search for people's rooms or laboratories as well as points of interest, such as shared scientific equipment and printers. The app determines the user's geographical location on each floor to the accuracy of 5-7m and will display a step-by-step route to wherever the user wants to go. The app will take into account the most suitable route by sticking to the main corridors, conscious not to disturb those working in the nearby labs. It also offers wheelchair-friendly routes. The app will not take users to another person, only to their lab area, and will not track staff members' movement. The app will only be accessible to members of staff and only when they are on site. However, those visiting the building will be able to take advantage of the service from the main reception desk. The new wayfinding app will be accessible through a web browser, meaning the user does not have to download any software to their devices. The web-based app also has the advantage of being accessible across desktops, tablets and mobile phones. The networking capabilities for the Crick Lab have been installed by Block Solutions in partnership with Cisco, including the introduction of Cisco's Mobility Services Engine (MSE). The website itself has been developed by 22 Miles, a digital signage solutions company based in the USA, whose platform provides direct integration to the Crick Cisco MSE system. Importantly, this platform also enables the Crick Wayfinder to be responsive to any changes in the building layout, by providing the supporting team with the capability for 1-click publishing of any changes. While the need to navigate a new building will be particularly relevant to staff in the first few months, the Crick team are keen to build on the capabilities of the app and to produce further releases. For example, it could be linked to an equipment booking system, to identify in real time which pieces of equipment are available for use. Source: http://www.crick.ac.uk/ The Center for Global Health in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is pleased to honor Ernest Madu, MD, chairman and CEO of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean with its first annual Global Health Champion Award. Madu was presented with the award on Thursday, Sept. 15 as part of a celebration for Penn's newly launched Center for Global Health. Madu is an internationally recognized authority in cardiovascular medicine and innovative healthcare solutions. He has led multiple transformational health care projects that bridge gaps in access to quality health care delivery in Africa and the Caribbean. "We are thrilled to bestow Madu with our inaugural Global Health Champion award," said Glen Gaulton, PhD, vice dean and director of Global Health in the Perelman School of Medicine. "Madu's commitment to health care quality and access is truly remarkable. His tremendous achievements in global health serve as an inspiration to our students and faculty as we continue to build upon our mission to advance worldwide health equity through enhanced awareness and access to care." Madu founded the Heart Institute of the Caribbean (HIC) in Kingston, Jamaica in 2004. The revolutionary health clinic serves as the center of excellence for cardiovascular diseases, occupational health, diabetes care, and general internal medicine in the West Indies. Prior to HIC's inception, the only option for patients in need of these services was to travel at huge expense to the United States or other countries with more developed health care infrastructure. To date, HIC has provided more than $1 million in free or reduced care to its patients, a significant contribution in an area where 56 percent of hospital deaths are caused by cardiovascular disease. "This award is a true honor and signifies the increased efforts from the global health community to prioritize non-communicable diseases," Madu said. "Today, cardiovascular disease is second only to HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. I look forward to a continued partnership with the Penn Center for Global Health to combat this growing epidemic and help improve the health and lives of people in need around the world." In addition to his role as Chairman and CEO of HIC, Madu has published more than 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed medical journals and his work has been profiled in leading journals and magazines. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology and the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and was most recently awarded the fellowship of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences. Madu is also the Managing Partner of IHS Group, Nashville, Tenn. The first scientists have moved into the new 650 million Francis Crick Institute building in London and are starting work in their purpose-built labs. Next to St Pancras station and the British Library, the Crick will be the biggest biomedical research institute under one roof in Europe. Research groups will continue moving in each week until the end of the year, as lab space is adapted for each research group. The start of 2017 will see the Francis Crick Institute up and running with all staff moved in and research projects ramping up. The Crick Research at the Crick aims to discover how and why disease develops in order to find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat conditions such as cancer, heart disease and stroke, infections and neurodegenerative conditions like motor neurone disease. The Crick has been established through the collaboration of six founding partners: the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King's College London. The institute is bringing scientists together from across disciplines to tackle the pressing health concerns of the 21st century. By being open to collaboration, by training future science leaders and by seeking to improve people's health and wellbeing, the Crick aims to boost UK science and health and help drive the UK economy. The building The Crick's building is one of the most complex buildings in London. It has been designed by architects HOK with PLP Architecture and constructed by Laing O'Rourke. Arup and AKT II were the engineers on the project, with Arup also the project manager. Turner & Townsend were cost consultants on the project and Cordless Consultants have provided IT and AV facilities. The design, construction and commissioning of the 170m-long building with approaching 1 million square feet of floor space over 12 floors has been a technically challenging undertaking and an engineering project in itself. It required very high specifications to be met for the most sensitive and advanced research equipment to be used - such as high vibration resistance, close temperature control, minimisation of electromagnetic interference and high rates of air change. The building has also been designed to minimise impact on the environment, with solar panels on the roof and its own combined heat and power system. The energy-saving features should reduce the energy bill by a third and the building has been given an 'excellent' BREEAM rating. Our approach On 1 April 2015 the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research and Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute merged to become the Francis Crick Institute. These research groups are being joined by scientists from our university partners (UCL, Imperial and King's), who bring with them specialist knowledge, skills and resources across a range of scientific disciplines. In particular, university researchers working in the Crick help add expertise in the physical and clinical sciences. Collaboration and interdisciplinary working is designed in to the Crick. Research groups from different disciplines and from different original organisations have been given neighbouring lab space. Coupled with lots of open work space, breakout areas and shared core facilities, this means scientists can't help but bump into each other, have conversations and share ideas. It is all expected to lead to the generation of new insight, research directions and innovations. Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today The new building is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for biomedical research. Genetics and genomic studies have access to advanced DNA sequencing, while the latest mass spectrometry equipment allows gene expression, proteins and metabolic pathways to be characterised. Bioinformatics support allows studies involving very large datasets. The robots in the high-throughput screening facility allow tens of thousands of drug candidates to be tested in cells. Electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance suites allow biological structures to be studied in fantastic detail. The Crick specialises in discovery science: investigating the fundamental biological processes underlying human health and disease. But the increased understanding of these key processes can lead to opportunities to develop novel drugs and innovative new treatments. Translational research - the turning of biological discoveries in the lab into treatments for patients in the clinic - will be a focus for the Crick. For example, the institute has an ongoing partnership with GSK in which teams of scientists from both organisations work side by side in the lab and benefit from the sharing of ideas and approaches in investigating biological systems. Public engagement and schools outreach are another focus of the Crick. The education team visits local schools in Camden with science activities, demonstrations and experiments, and there a discovery lab on site for school visits will soon be open. The aim is to reach all 27,000 state school children in Camden every year with some activity from the Crick. Dedicated public space with a gallery, cafe, a large 450-seat auditorium and versatile seminar rooms means the Crick can also run a significant and varied programme of events, talks and exhibitions. With all of this available on site, people can directly engage with the work of the Crick and the scientists that work there. Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, said: A remarkable state-of-the-art new home for the Crick has been completed and the occupation by scientists has started. But this is only the beginning. As all our research groups move in over the rest of the year, it will be the discoveries we make here that will establish our place at the forefront of science in London, the UK and worldwide. David Roblin, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Scientific Translation at the Francis Crick Institute, said: A new study of classical Chinese medical texts identifies references to age-related memory impairment similar to modern-day Alzheimer's disease, and to several plant-based ingredients used centuries ago -- and still in use today -- to treat memory impairment. Experimental studies of five of these traditional Chinese medicines suggest that they have biological activity relevant to Alzheimer's disease, according to an article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/). The article is available free on The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/acm.2016.0070) website until October 21, 2016. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Charlie Xue, PhD and coauthors from Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, China, and RMIT University, Australia, performed a comprehensive, systematic search of the Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a database of more than 1,000 Chinese medical books dating back to the fourth century. In the article "Memory Impairment, Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease in Classical and Contemporary Traditional Chinese Medicine (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/acm.2016.0070)," the authors describe specific mentions of signs and symptoms of memory impairment associated with aging and the formulas and ingredients most commonly used to treat these disorders. "Recent research out of UCLA that was the subject of the JACM editorial in August shined a spotlight on the potential role of natural agents in a whole person protocol for reversing Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Xue and his colleagues have provided an important addition from traditional Chinese medicine to this emerging literature," says The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine Editor-in-Chief John Weeks, Seattle, WA. Loneliness is linked to poor physical and mental health, and is an even more accurate predictor of early death than obesity. To better understand who is at risk, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine conducted the first genome-wide association study for loneliness as a life-long trait, not a temporary state. They discovered that risk for feeling lonely is partially due to genetics, but environment plays a bigger role. The study of more than 10,000 people, published September 15 by Neuropsychopharmacology, also found that genetic risk for loneliness is associated with neuroticism and depressive symptoms. The research was led by Abraham Palmer, PhD, professor of psychiatry and vice chair for basic research at UC San Diego School of Medicine. In their paper, Palmer and team explain that just as physical pain alerts us to potential tissue damage and motivates us to take care of our physical bodies, loneliness triggered by a discrepancy between an individual's preferred and actual social relations is part of a biological warning system that has evolved to alert us of threats or damage to our social bodies. But not everyone perceives loneliness in the same way. "For two people with the same number of close friends and family, one might see their social structure as adequate while the other doesn't," Palmer said. "And that's what we mean by 'genetic predisposition to loneliness' we want to know why, genetically speaking, one person is more likely than another to feel lonely, even in the same situation." The heritability of loneliness has been examined before, in twins and other studies of both children and adults. From these, researchers estimated that 37 to 55 percent of loneliness is determined by genetics. Previous studies also tried to pinpoint specific genes that contribute to loneliness, focusing on genes related to neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, or other cellular systems associated with human attachment, such as oxytocin. But, Palmer said, these studies mostly relied on small sample sizes. In their latest research, Palmer and team used a much larger sample size they examined genetic and health information from 10,760 people aged 50 years and older that was collected by the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal study of health, retirement and aging sponsored by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health. As part of this study, participants answered three well-established questions that measure loneliness. The survey doesn't actually use the word "lonely," as many people are reluctant to report feeling that way. Instead, the questions were: Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today How often do you feel that you lack companionship? How often do you feel left out? How often do you feel isolated from others? The study accounted for gender, age and marital status, as married people tend to be less lonely than unmarried people. Here's what Palmer's team found: Loneliness, the tendency to feel lonely over a lifetime, rather than just occasionally due to circumstance, is a modestly heritable trait 14 to 27 percent genetic, as compared to the previous estimates of 37 to 55 percent. This new estimate of the genetic contribution to loneliness could be lower than previous estimates because Palmer's team relied on chip heritability, a method that only captures common genetic variations and not rare genetic variation. The researchers also determined that loneliness tends to be co-inherited with neuroticism (long-term negative emotional state) and a scale of depressive symptoms. Weaker evidence suggested links between heritable loneliness and schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. In contrast to previous studies, the researchers did not find loneliness to be associated with variations in specific candidate genes, such as those that encode dopamine or oxytocin. According to Palmer, these results could differ from previous loneliness findings in part because the team exclusively surveyed older adults in the United States, whereas other research groups looked at young adults in Europe. Palmer and team are now working to find a genetic predictor a specific genetic variation that would allow researchers to gain additional insights into the molecular mechanisms that influence loneliness. The University of Chicago Medicine is opening its new 25,000-square foot Family Birth Center inside Comer Children's Hospital, bringing a more customizable birth experience to women on the South Side and south suburbs. The new state-of-the-art facility, replaces the hospital's labor and delivery unit inside Mitchell Hospital, beginning Sept. 19. "We've always prided ourselves on providing high-risk, specialized obstetric care," said Kenneth Nunes, MD, Director of Labor & Delivery in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "But we also knew we could do, and needed to do, more to serve the entirety of our community. The Family Birth Center makes sure all women - not just those with complicated pregnancies - are able to give birth the way they want to, in an elegant, comfortable, intimate setting supported by the region's best obstetric and pediatric experts. The obstetrics team at University of Chicago Medicine is committed to providing the best possible care for all pregnant women in the Chicagoland area." The Family Birth Center includes nine private delivery suites that were designed specifically so women could give birth in a nurturing, pleasant and supportive environment with their family present. Expectant mothers can choose from customizable traditional and natural childbirth options, which include built-in warm water immersion tubs, special equipment designed to encourage movement during labor, drug-free pain management and hormone-free induction options. After birth, new mothers recover in private suites in the new Family Birth Center's Mother and Baby Unit, which opened in February. The unit provides a state-of-the-art setting for mothers to heal while bonding with and nurturing their newborns. "The midwives at University of Chicago Medicine want women to know, though we have remarkable experts in complex pregnancies, we can also support women with their well healthy pregnancy and birth," said Erin Irwin, MSN, APN, CNM, a certified nurse midwife and director of midwifery services. "We are excited to have a beautiful new unit, with a group of experienced midwives, ready to help women feel strong and capable of having the birth they want." The Family Birth Center is staffed by a well-rounded team of highly skilled obstetricians, midwives, obstetric nurses, obstetric anesthesiologists and lactation specialists. The academic medical center's care team also includes high-risk pregnancy experts and has all specialties available to support a new mother and her child. Meanwhile, its location inside Comer Children's mean babies will have immediate access to specially trained neonatologists in the Margaret M. and George A. Stephen Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The first labor and delivery unit affiliated with the University of Chicago opened in 1895 and was the city's first outpatient clinic to provide maternity care for underprivileged women. Over the years, it grew to become a model for maternity hospitals around the country. Since a dedicated maternity hospital - Chicago Lying-In - opened on the UChicago campus in 1931, tens of thousands of children have been born on the medical campus. More than 2,100 babies were born at UChicago Medicine over the last twelve months. Source: University of Chicago Medical Center 'Atithi Devo Bhava', a Sanskrit word meaning guests are equivalent to God. People in India have the highest regards for their guests and one of the most defining characteristics of the Indian culture is its hospitality. In fact, Indian hospitality is one of the key aspects that drives the Indian tourism sector. Of course, there is a different side to the story as well where reports of autowallahs charging tourists high fares, foreigners having security issues have tarnished India's reputation as a warm host. However, anyone who has ever visited India has also spoken about the warm welcome, comfortable stay, friendly people and the traditions and culture of India. As a guest to India, whether they have stayed in a hotel or spent a night at a house of a native, tourists have narrated every now and then incidents how everyone in the country has been willing to lend a helping hand, care for them, treat them in a friendly manner and helped in making their trip as memorable, easy and enjoyable as possible. In fact, people in India are so approachable that tourists never feel out of place. Just like this tourist who had come on a tour to India and ended up falling in love with people of the country. A Facebook post on the verified page of Humans of Bombay - a page that chronicles the lives of people living in Mumbai - described this tourist's experience in the country. The post talks about how he was made to feel so special by the people he met during his trip that he went onto to say "Ive noticed that Indians go out of their way on so many occasions and Ive never seen that before.No other place can boast of having such a large heart. Yes we totally agree on that. Read full post here Chandigarh: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Monday suggested a strong two-pronged retaliatory strategy against Pakistan and extremist separatist groups in Kashmir for "permanent peace" and preventing terror strikes. "All retaliatory options short of war must be explored and executed," he said, adding the issue is to maintain the morale of the Army. "This is absolutely unacceptable," Amarinder said suggesting India should explore the option of preemptive strikes like those carried out by Israel. Amarinder attributed the "weak and soft policy" adopted by the government toward the Kashmiri separatists for the rise of such incidents. "Until you break the back of the militancy in Kashmir, those aiding and guiding it will not come to the negotiating table," he said, calling to end the appeasement policy. Amarinder demanded an inquiry into "lapses" that led to the attack on the Army base in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed. Former Pakistan president and the architect of the Kargil war, General Pervez Musharraf, has warned India that Islamabad will strike at "a time and place of its choosing" if New Delhi resorted to any military retaliation to the Uri attack. This is the full transcript of the interview. Zakka: The Uri attack is the worst in a decade and the Pakistan Authorities has nto even condemned the attacks...instead said that India is jumping to conclusions...Will you as a former Pakistani Head of State even condemn the attack? Pervez Musharraf: The issues in Kashmir are not that simple...The people of Kashmir are involved and it is a UN resolution which demands a plebiscite & the right ofself-determination...so it is a more complicated issue than simply an attack which has to be condemned... Zakka: What has the Uri attack got to do with what is happening in Kashmir? Pervez: It is located in Kashmir....Anything that happens in Kashmir has a connotation on the freedom struggle.... Zakka: But the Government of India is clear that there were Pakistanis who fermented the attacks...and crossed the LOC and attacked the Brigade headquarters... Pervez: Unfortunately our experience in Pakistan is always this that whenever there is an attack in Kashmir...the 1st reaction from the PM to everyone is that Pakistan did it...Pak govt is involved, Pak military is involved....without investiating they declare this position.. Zakka: The evidence found at the attack site says otehrwise...The I com site recovered is something that only the Pak army uses... Pervez: You can get any ammunition, any kind of weapon or equipment from any prt of the world...everyone...the taliban are carrying the same....the al -Qaeda are carrying the same... Zakka: Even ammunitions that have Pakistan ordinance factory markings on them can be procured by anyone? Pervez: any weapon with any marking can be procured in the world...these are not credible evidence to say that these people came from Pak....the Indian govt is trying to say as if the Pak army and the Pak govt is involved... Zakka: The DGMO has said that Jaish-e-Mohammad was involved...Do you buy that sir? Pervez: I don't know the basis of him saying this within hours of the attack....and in any case the statements were offensive which the DGMO gave... Zakka: You are aware of the JAish-e-Mohammad...When you were President, you shut down the Jaish-e-Mohammad... Pervez: Well, I don't think they are active here in Pak...they are not at all active...But whenever something happens they credit or discredit them... Zakka: The Pathankot attack was attributed by Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Uri attack is also attributed by Jaish-e-Mohmmad...saying that they are not active is not accurate Sir... Pervez: The Pathankot attack was attributed to Lahskar-e-Taiba...and then JeM...then our team went there...they returned totally disappointed as they had no clue for anything...it was said that the Indian army managed and staged something like that... Zakka: Why would the Indian army manage something like that? The JIT was allowed in India on the basis of reciprocity....there was an understanding that an Indian team would visit Pak...a word which Pak did not keep its promise... Pervez: I don't know what was the agreement but I know the Pakistan team went...and they returned disappointed as they were not allowed to investigate properly...and they said it was all state managed.. Zakka: They were given access to airbase they were given access to NIA...but let's focus on the URI attacks....Do you feel that your country Pak is being isolated globally even as the UNGA is beginning...I can name any country who is strongly condemning the attack Pervez: Well...they maybe condemning the attacks but it is not a case of isolation...this is a world issue that an attack has been condemed.... Zakka: A lot of countries are saying that if the attacks have come from some other country then the onus is on that country....isn't that alluding to Pakistan... Pervez: Do you know what the Pakistan army is doing? They are trying to curb terrorism across Pakistan....and extremism in all its forms...and we are trying our best from the Pak front.... Zakka: But are they acting with the same vigour on the eastern front as much as on the western side?? Are they cracking down on LeT or the JeM? Pervez: These are organisations and Pak govt has a stand on them....JeM is a banned organisation even now....LeT is not....However Pak govt is taking actions as required in accordance with their domestic requirement.... Zakka: Massod Azhar and Hafiz Saeed are roaming free on the streets of Lahore.... Pervez: I don't know about that/....Did you go to Lahore and see him there? Zakka: There were videos of them roaming freely...after Burhan Wani killing.... having massive prayer service in lahore. Mood in india is to have a military retaliation for what happened in Uri Pervez: Person whoz talking about military action should undertsand the consequences. DGMO should learn that you have to war game the issue to the end. If you think that you can strike at time and place of your chossing then we can strike back at our time and place of choosing. So dont stop at your action only and waht will follow should also be considered Zakka: Do you think the provocation came from Pakistan ? Pervez: It dint come from Pakistan. It came from some individuals. And you know your army has killed 80 civillians in Kashmir. Zakka: who are these people ? are they non state actors Pervez: India and Indian army would be very naive not to think that kashmir people will not react if you kill 80 of their people. You fire shotguns at them. You blinding young people and young boys and you expect that their will be no reaction. Zakka: But the reaction has come from pakistani terrorists. Who are these people. Are they the same non state actors? Pervez: I cant hear i haven't completed my answer. I was saying that when you do all that in Kashmir, then you must expect response. And it has a effect in Pakistan because pakistanis have sympathy towards them. So it has a response. So what can we do about it. An your army is to be blamed for creating a response in that manner... Zakka: Who are these people who attacked Uri. The Indian army believes that they were Pakistani nationals. The weaponry recovered was made in Pakistan, Ammo is from Pak, communication equipment recovered is used only by the Pakistan army. Pervez: If you see taliban and al-qaida, they use weapons made in america. So should we say that Obama is responsible for recruiting them. Weapons are available, their is a proliferation of weapons with evryone from Africa to anywhere. Zakka: What about the series of attacks that have happened in the recent past? We have had Pathankot, Udhampur, Gurudaspur...why is there sudedenly a step up of attacks from Pakistan...Is the Pakistan army getting desperate? Pervez: If you do not get into the cause of the issue, which is the KAshmir issue....When you killed 80 people and maimed thousands of them this is likely to happen... Zakka: But I am not asking about Uri, I am asking about Pathankot....Udhampur...Gurudaspur....What has that got to do with Kashmir? Pervez: Again...you should find out who they are.... Zakka: The government of India says the Jaish-e-Mohammad is responsible for that... Pervez: Well, if you let JIT go to all those sites and investigate, I am sure the Pakistan govt will take action if they are to be blamed... Zakka: General you cracked down on the JeM...How is it that the Jaish si still active? How are they still running terror camps? Pervez: I don't think they are running any terror camps...Pakistan govt has to answer on that...I do not know the reality.... Zakka: Why did you shut them down when you were the President? Pervez: I know they were responsible for terrorism within Pakistan...and they were responsible for attacking me also... Zakka: And they were responsible for attacking India as well...and they were running terror camps as well.. Pervez: I really don't know if they were responsible for attacking India....I have no proof....It is what you say... Zakka: What si going on in Pakistan Sir? IS NAwaz SHarif in control of the situations in Pakistan? The general perception here in India is that the general is running the show...General Raheel Sharif... Pervez: Well, I wouldn't like to comment....that is Pakistan's matter...I think the PM is in office....Sharif is the PM and Raheel Sharif is the chief of army in Pakistan.... Zakka: He is in office....but is he in control? Pervez: I am sure he is.... Zakka: There is a general perception in India that there is a step up in attacks is because Raheel Sharif's retirement is due......Would you support an extension for it? Pervez: Again an internal matter....I have already said that I support hsi extension... Segment 2: Zakka: The governor of India has decided to grant political asylum to the Baloch leaders including Bugti....What are your thoughts on that? Pervez: Thank you for raising this issue....You call on non-state actors operating in Kashmir....here in Balochistan it is the state actors....from yoru side it is your state which is acting in Balochistan which is more serious...We do not talk about what you are doing to Pakistan, we only speak of what Pakistan is doing to India...This is why I totally condemn it...he should not be given any asylum...He is a terrorirst...You cannot demand that your terrorrists are our terrorrsits but our terrorrrists are not your terrorists... Zakka: Are you worried after Narendra Modi's speech on Balochistan? Is Pakistan worried that Baloch issue will become an international one? Pervez: We are not worried....We know India is doing a lot to internationalise this issue...Specially in US Congress...it is all Indian mechanisation....It makes relationship between India and Pakistan alll the more tense... Zakka: Other than China and a handful of OIC countries, which other countries are standing by Pakistan? Pervez: No comments...This is the government's responsibility....We ahve some difficulties...But Pakistan is not a small country...Pakistan is a country with 200 billion people....it should not disturb us...Up and downs are always there... Zakka: Do you believe as far as diplomatic relations are concerned , Pakistan is in a bad place today than they were when you were president? Pervez: Yes when I was the President we were very well off....internationally, regionally.... we were recognised and domestically we were doing very well... Zakka: And is that because of teh terrorism issue? IS it because the world is saying that much of terrorism inflicting South Asia is coming from Pakistan? Pervez: I convince the world and the major players that Pakistan is the victim...Mnay things that is happening in Pakistan is because of India...We had conveyed that....We have spoken about Kashmir and conveyed to the world that KAhsmir issue needs to be resolved...if India-Pakistan tension is to be eased out... Zakka: What about now? You have strained ties with the US, the Afghanistan, Bangladesh, why is that? Is that because of the terrorism issue? Pervez: That is because of your mechanisation...in Bangladesh, and in Afghanistan it is Indian mechanisation...because of which all that environment has been created... Zakka: What about the terror attacks in Kabul? Or the one happened in dhaka? Pervez: I don't know about it....You ought to know it better because you contacted them...Your voice is very very active there...You ought to be knowing who is doing all that....And of course you should understand that in Afghanistan there is an open war going on...between Taliban and the govt forces... Zakka: If India and Pakistan were to go on war, whoe responibility is it? Pervez: If we go to war under the present circumstances, where you have taken such an aggressive stance, India will be responsible ...it depends on how it goes....I mean today your DGMO Defence Minister is clearly saying that 'we are going to attack you' in whichever time and place of our choosing...not war gaming a step further...what will happen after that? why wouldn't Pakistan strike back at its time and place of choosing...and that is how things get escalated.....and go in to war.... Zakka: But the Pakistan Defence Minister has also been saying things which you wouldn't normally associate with somebody holding such a high stature...talking about nuclear weapons...that is not something talked about publicly... Pervez: I don't know what he said about the nuclear aspect, but obviously it agitates anywhere in Pakistan, let India understand and let your leadership understand...Please don't treat Pakistan like they are a nobody...We are not a small little country...We are huge country of 200 million people.,..and we are a nuclear power...and a missile power...And we have got a huge military....So don't treat us as any country treats another small country....to just come and take action and teach us a lesson....you can't teach us a lesson...we will teach you a lesson.... Mumbai: Goa Children's Court is slated to pronounce the final verdict on September 23, 2016 in rape and murder of Scarlett Keeling, the 15-year-old British school girl found dead in a semi-nude condition on Anjuna beach in Goa on February 19, 2008. Scarlett's mother Fiona MacKeown, reached Goa on Tuesday. "At this stage I don't know which way the judgement would go. This trial is a test of the competence of the CBI. I am told they are the best investigating agency of India," Fiona told CNN-News18. When asked about her life after the unfortunate murder of her daughter, She said, It's not been brief, it's been a long eight years as I have been unsure of where I stood most of the time. "Those who killed my daughter perhaps had the confidence that I would not be able to last the slow process of a trial. But my resolve to stand up and fight for my daughter's justice has not diluted,"she said. Vikram Varma, advocate appointed by Fiona, said that the verdict will be a test for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as they took over the case after the state police tried to cover up the case by terming it as a case of accidental death. Politicians at that time took a stand saying that there is no narcotics business prevalent in Goa. Drugs were hidden under the kitchen table of one of the accused. Politicians know the truth, but do not want to hamper the narcotics business in order to please the vote bank, Verma further added. Bengaluru: Karnataka will challenge the Cauvery Supervisory Committee's Monday order to release more water to Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, said state Home Minister G. Parameshwara. "As the committee's order to release 3,000 cusecs daily for 10 days from September 21-30 is disappointing and a blow to our interests, we have decided to challenge it in the Supreme Court on Tuesday," Parameshwara told reporters here. The panel's order comes into force after the state would complete releasing 12,000 cusecs daily on Tuesday as per the apex court's September 12 order, which is a modification of its September 5 directive to release 15,000 cusecs daily for 10 days from September 7. "Our state is repeatedly facing injustice. The chief minister and the cabinet will decide the next course of action after Tuesday's hearing in the apex court. We will plead for relief as we are not in a position to release more water due to distress and have just enough to meet for drinking water till June next," said Paremeshwara. The panel's directive came earlier in the day after the two warring states failed to reach a consensus on the quantum of water to be shared during distress due to deficit rains and lower levels in the four reservoirs across the river basin this year. State water resources department officials, however, said as 3,000-5,000 cusecs flows daily to Biligundlu on the inter-state border where the release is measured, owing to gravity, ground water and downstream, additional water may not have to be released from the depleted reservoirs of Kabini, KRS, Haranghi and Hemavathy. The panel's order sparked protests in the region, especially at Mandya, about 100km from here, by farmers and traders, which led to blocking of vehicular traffic between Bengaluru and Mysuru. "We have intensified security and stepped up vigil to prevent any untoward incident in the wake of the panel's order and the hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday," the minister said after a meeting with the top police brass in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Police also banned sale of liquor and opening of bars, wine shops and pubs on Tuesday in and around the city. Srinagar: A MiG-21 fighter jet on Tuesday made an emergency landing at the airport in Srinagar after developing a "technical snag" but no one including the pilot was hurt in the incident. "The fighter jet made an emergency landing at the Srinagar Airport after the pilot noticed a technical snag in the plane," airport sources said. They said fire tenders were rushed to the runaway to ensure that the aircraft did not catch fire. "The tyres of the jet were badly burnt due to the emergency landing but timely action saved the plane," they added. Meanwhile, the civilian flights to and fro Srinagar Airport were briefly delayed in view of the jet making emergency landing. Indian Air Force officials refused to comment on the incident while Public Relations Officer, Defence, said he would comment after collecting information from the authorities concerned. I don't know the basis of him (Indian DGMO Lt General Ranbir Singh) saying this within hours of the attack. And in any case the statements the DGMO gave were offensive, he said, adding that India always blames Pakistan and its military for any attack in Kashmir. : Former Pakistan president and the architect of the Kargil war, General Pervez Musharraf, has warned India that Islamabad will strike at "a time and place of its choosing" if New Delhi resorted to any military retaliation to the Uri attack.The persons who are talking about military retaliation - including your DGMO, your defence minister - should understand the consequences. The DGMO should learn a lesson of military that you have to wargame it till the end .If you strike at the time and place of your choosing, we will strike back at the time and place of our choosing as well. It doesn't stop at your action; what will follow should also be considered, he told CNN-News18 exclusively from his residence in London.Musharraf categorically denied that the Pakistan Army-propped Jaish-e-Mohammed was responsible for the Uri attack.When quizzed specifically on how Islamabad can wash its hands off the matter since the evidence found at the Uri attack site includes Pakistan Army issue I-com wireless sets, Musharraf claimed they can be "bought from anywhere".You can get any ammunition, any kind of weapon or equipment from any part of the world. Everyone from the Taliban to al Qaeda is carrying the same. Any weapon with any marking can be procured in the world. These are not credible evidence to say that these people came from Pakistan. The Indian government is trying to say as if the Pakistan army and the Pakistan government is involved, he said.Musharraf also claimed that JeM was not at all active in Pakistan. These are organisations and Pakistan government has a stand on them. JeM is a banned organisation even now. Lashkar-e-Toiba is not. However Pak government is taking actions as required in accordance with their domestic requirement, he said NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court order to the Centre to constitute Cauvery Water Management Board to take decisions on Cauvery water usage and distribution in the next four weeks is expected to complicate the already vexed dispute further. The Tamil Nadu had always been demanding that the Centre should set up the board to manage the water of Cauvery water and Karnataka had been opposing it tooth and nail for a long time. The SC decision is being seen as a huge setback to Karnataka government which is already facing the ire of farmers over release of water in the Cauvery basin. The Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa had demanded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up the board during her last visit to New Delhi. But the Centre avoided the controversy by keeping quiet over her demands. According to rules the Centre will appoint the chairman and all the members of the management board. All four Cauvery riparian states Karnataka, TN, Kerala and Puducherry will also have their representatives. Once the management board is set up all four Cauvery reservoirs in Karnataka will come under the control of the board and the state will lose its rights over the management of water. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah had opposed it saying that it would be against the federal system and the state would not tolerate the Centre managing Karnataka dams. Speaking to News18 veteran leader of the Cauvery basin farmers G Made Gowda said that the SC decision was a death warrant for Karnataka and the state must oppose it. He said "this management board can be a puppet in the hands of the Centre. There is no guarantee that it will protect the interests of people of Cauvery basin including state capital Bengaluru. The consequences of agreeing to such a board would be disastrous". Siddaramaiah who is already under intense pressure to oppose the SC decision and not to release water to TN will find it very difficult to handle the fresh crisis says well known irrigation expert Professor C Narasimhappa. Reacting to the SC order he said "it is actually a surrender. Karnataka will have no say. Outsiders decide everything. If the management board is impartial, then there would be no problems. If the Centre wants to use the management board to settle scores with Karnataka, then it can lead to huge problems and riots during distress years". He added that all four dams in Cauvery basin KRS, Hemavathi, Harangi and Kabini would come under the jurisdiction of the board. How can we tolerate such thing? he said. Stunned by the SC order Siddaramaiah has called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet to decide future course of action on Wednesday. If he agrees to release 6000 cusecs of water to TN till next week, dams may reach dead water level by December January itself say irrigation experts. The opposition JDS has advised him to step down and face contempt of the court case. Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said "if Siddaramaiah is ready to go to jail expressing his inability to release more water to TN, I will also go with him. Under no circumstances Karnataka can accept these things. I have also asked him to convene an emergency session of the state legislature. I request all political parties in Karnataka including Congress and JDS to boycott elections after dissolving the assembly." The SC decision has hit us hard by ordering the setting up management board. It is a death blow to the farmers of Karnataka. The Centre has give us poison. It has shaken our belief in the federal system. Cauvery dams are our dams. We have built it with our money, blood and sweat. Who is the Centre to control these dams?he said. On Monday, the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC) had ordered Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water till September end. Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had opposed it in the SC. The SC increased it to 6000 cusecs on Tuesday. Earlier in the day there was a war of words between TN and Karnataka lawyers in the courtroom. Appearing for the Karnataka government senior advocates Fali S Nariman and Harish Salve told the SC that it will have to part with drinking water of the state, if it is forced to release water to TN for irrigation. Karnataka water resources minister M B Patil said that the state was not in a position to release the water and the outflow continues like this Cauvery basin in Karnataka could become another Latur, the worst drought hit district in Maharashtra. Anticipating trouble Karnataka police have made elaborate security arrangements across the Cauvery basin districts including state capital Bengaluru. Two weeks ago the SC had ordered Karnataka to release 15000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 20. It led to wide spread violence in both the states killing two and damaging properties worth several crores. ________________________________________ At Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting on Monday over the terror attack in Uri , the mood was sombre and grim. It was clear to the top ministers that the PM was very shaken and determined to hit back. But it was also clear that an immediate strike or any kneejerk reaction was not the way out. Surprisingly, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was not a part of the meeting, but the word afterwards was that she would be the aggressive face of India at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26. Sources have exclusively told CNN-News18 the tone and content of Swaraj's speech. On Uri, she will mince no words and will highlight Pakistan's role in it as also in the Pathankot killings earlier . This apart, the obvious and clear patronage given to Hafeez Sayeed and Dawood Ibrahim by Pakistan will be raised. The unrest in Kashmir because of meddling by Pakistan is also on Sushma's list. While Nawaz will prominently raise the issue of alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, Sushma will raise the matter of human rights violation in Balochistan. The fact that Balochistan Republican Party leader Brahumdagh Bugti formally sought asylum in Delhi will be showcased as proof. The Prime Minister has decided to isolate Pakistan internationally and shame it on the world stage. UNGA offers this platform and the key point which India wants to assert is that it has the right to protest and that the world should support this protest. Bishnah (Jammu): Little did Naib Subedar Karnail Singh know that he will not be able to fulfil his promise to visit his family on a "short leave" in a few days while making his last phone call to them. As the Army brought home the body of the brave-heart, who was killed in Sunday's Uri terror attack, wrapped in tricolor, his family members said death prevented him from fulfiling his promise when he made the last call to them on Saturday. A pall of gloom descended on Shibu Chak in Bishnah tehsil of Jammu district which lost one of its sons, 48-year-old Singh, who is among the 18 Army men who lost their lives while fighting terrorists who attacked the Army Brigade Headquarters in Uri sector of Baramulla district on Sunday. After a 'guard of honour' and 'gun salute', Singh's mortal remains was consigned to flames with full state honours at his native village, where over 6,000 people had gathered. Youngsters were present at the function chanted 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Ramesh Chaudhary Amar Rahey' while family members lit the funeral pyre of the martyr. "My father had called me from Uri on Saturday last to tell that he will meet us when he would come to home on a short leave in few days as his unit was shifted to Pathankot," Singh's son Arun said. "But he has failed to keep his promise," he added. The soldier left behind his mother Ratna Devi, Geeta Devi and his three son Anmol, Arun and Shivam. While Anmol is studying in First year of a Degree course, Arun is a student of class 11 and Shivam is class 1. People of Shibu Chak village felt proud of their son over his bravery making them proud as well as with his martyrdom by foiling terror attack and killing a terrorist in retaliatory firing. "He has made the village a proud with his martyrdom. We heard he was one who fired back first and killed a terrorist", Madan Lal a villger said. New Delhi: The fundamental question India has to address after the Uri terror attack is whether it is ready to go to war with Pakistan, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda told News18 on Tuesday. And that cannot be a majoritarian decision. We will have to have a consensus, for which we will have to bury our political differences, he said. The former PM felt fresh efforts to isolate Pakistan diplomatically may not bear fruit as there would always be countries willing to stand with Pakistan. War or a military option cant be just a government subject. The Pakistan Army chief has declared that they are ready for anything indicating that they will not hesitate to use even nuclear weapons. In such a scenario, going for a war or a military action would be extremely risky. Gone are the days of conventional war. If the government decides that war is the only option they should be ready to face the consequences, he said. The former PM said that Pakistani military runs the country and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was just a puppet. Gowda said that the Narendra Modi government has contacted neither him nor the opposition on the issue and it would be improper on his part to give unsolicited suggestions to the government. The BJP alone has 282 MPs in the Lok Sabha. They have an absolute majority. They can take any decision. But I advise them to weigh all pros and cons before taking a firm decision, he said. Criticising Indias Pakistan policy over the last two decades, he said it was a mistake that India gave legitimacy to military-led governments in Pakistan in the past. When General Pervez Musharraf ousted Nawaz Sharif from power, even several Muslim countries refused to recognise his government. But India rushed to recognise his government, he said. Asked about his experience in dealing with Pakistan while he was the PM between 1996-97, Gowda said: I tried to deal with Pakistan. But realised that elected governments in Pakistan has little say in matters of peace with India. Gowda said that handling of Kashmir situation was not satisfactory and peace cant be restored by using only Army. New Delhi: India has launched a strong diplomatic offensive against Pakistan trying to isolate it internationally over the terror attack at the Army base camp in Uri. Because of this, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's missives to the US, UK, France, Russia and China urging them to put pressure on India over Kashmir have failed. While the US, UK and France have rejected Pakistan's claims, Russia has gone a step ahead and called off the joint military exercises with Pakistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India has also complained about Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and leader of United Jehad Council Syed Salahuddin at the UN Human Rights Council, saying the terrorists were allowed to roam freely in Pakistan. In a statement to the UNHRC, India said the fact that terrorists like Saeed and Salahuddin have been able to hold huge rallies in Pakistan's main cities is a reflection of the state of affairs in that country. It said the active support for Saeed and Salahuddin showed that a blatant disregard for rule of law is the new normal in Pakistan and that instead of internationalising issues with India, Islamabad should cleanse its area of terrorists . PM Sharif also met US Secretary of State John Kerry at UN and raised the Kashmir issue but Kerry, according to sources, asked him about the Uri attack. Sharif is said to have told Kerry that the Kashmir issue can't be ignored due to one incident and that from Clinton to Obama, everyone promised a solution to the Kashmir issue. Sharif also implored the US to intervene in Kashmir, going to the extent of saying that the US as a friend of Pakistan must act. Pakistan is having a tough time in its immediate neighbourhood as well with Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali invoking the spirit of 1971 war in pledging support to India. "It's a sensitive military issue. As close neighbours and ally and friends we will act together. Bangladesh will help India. As a freedom fighter of 1971, we fought with the Indians together during our war of liberation, I want the spirit of 1971 to remain in our relations." Supporting India in the war against terror, Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Mohd Abdali said, "We condemn this strongly. We fully support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for strong action against those countries that use terrorism as foreign policy." After India's diplomatic offensive, sources said the Narendra Modi government will not react in a kneejerk fashion but surgical strikes and targeting Pakistan terror bases is an option. The proof against Pakistan is undeniable as ammunition found on the terrorists in Uri attack have Pakistan markings. They were also carrying food items made in Karachi. Among the arms and ammunition recovered in Uri were 39 UBGL grenades, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two GPS devices, two maps and "large quantities of food and medicines with Pakistani markings on them", DGMO Lt General Ranbir Singh said. Eighteen soldiers lost their lives in the worst terror attack on an Army camp in a decade. New York: New York City will deploy "bigger than ever" police presence during the upcoming UN General Assembly week after an explosion injured 29 on Saturday evening, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday. "You will see a very substantial NYPD presence this week, bigger than ever," de Blasio told reporters at a press conference on the explosion, Xinhua reported. Police officers will be deployed in force in key public locations around the United Nations headquarters and the Times Square, including the newer units of Critical Response Command and Strategic Response Group, said de Blasio. The city will also see an increased bag search and canine activities throughout the mass transit systems, said city officials. At the press conference, the mayor said all 29 people wounded in Saturday's blast were released from hospitals and the motivation behind the explosion remains unknown. He termed the Saturday blast "a very serious incident", saying a lot more work needs to be done to find out the motivation behind the blast. He called the blast an "intentional" and "criminal" act. However, he declined to call the blast a terrorist attack. "We'll not jump to conclusions," he said. A second explosive device was found a few blocks near the explosion site. The mayor noted there was no specific and credible threat against the city, calling for the vigilance of New Yorkers and asked for tips and information from the public. He also said there was no specific evidence of connection between the New York explosion and a New Jersey pipe bomb blast, which happened on Saturday along the route of a Marines charity run, causing no injuries or damage. Meanwhile, New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill said at the press conference that no one has claimed responsibility for the New York explosion, which he categorized as a "violent criminal act". City officials confirmed that the explosion in the popular Chelsea neighborhood was caused by a bomb with "components indicative of an IED", not an accident. New York police are beefing up extra security at bus terminals, airports and on subways in the city for the UN General Assembly week. In an earlier press briefing, New York State Governer Andrew Cuomo also said the state will be deploying an additional 1,000 state troopers and members of the National Guard throughout New York City. The suspects and motives were still unknown, and investigations were still in early stages, according to city officials. Such an act would establish a formal, fair and humanitarian process, he wrote. Gandhi was unreachable for comment while doing this story. : Baloch leader Brahumdagh Bugti on Tuesday approached Indias Permanent Mission in Geneva to request political asylum in India, a first step before he files the formal application with the Indian embassy in Berne, Switzerland. If okayed, this would be the highest profile individual to get political asylum from New Delhi after 1959, when it received Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama who was fleeing atrocities by China.This then will have to come through an executive order, because India does not have any national law on refugees or people seeking asylum. Neither is it a signatory of the United Nations Refugee Convention even though it has around 200,000 documented refugees. Perhaps in recognition of this, three separate bills dealing with refugees were introduced in Parliament on the same day last year.A raft of parliamentarians ranging from Congress Shashi Tharoor to BJPs Varun Gandhi to BJDs Rabindra Jena have tried their hand at bringing a refugee law, but not much has moved on that front. Tharoor introduced The Asylum Bill, 2015, as a private members bill while Varun Gandhi introduced The National Asylum Bill, 2015.Rabindra Kumar Jena of the BJD introduced The Protection of Refugees and Asylum Seekers Bill, 2015. All three bills incidentally, introduced on December 18, 2015 are currently pending in Parliament.The bills seek to create legislation that provides refugees with a clearly defined legal status and humanitarian protection. In the absence of a legal framework, the governments refugee policy will be based on executive policies and judicial pronouncements. As strife around the globe intensifies, India should expect more refugees in the future, necessitating an institutionalised legal approach rather than deciding policy on a case by case basis.Varun Gandhi, in a newspaper article, said that a properly defined asylum policy could distinguish between refugees fleeing persecution and migrants escaping penury.Gandhis legislation states it is a bill to provide for the citizenship rules of refugees and asylum seekers and that it has provisions for the definition, registration and the general obligations of refugees. It also has procedures to deal with a mass influx of refugees.India has hosted different refugee populations at different times. Tibetans (1959), Bangladeshis (1971), Chakmas (1963), Afghans (1980) and Sri Lankan Tamils (1983) have fled to India following strife in their homelands. Apart from this, India also hosts Iraqis, Syrians, Myanmarese, Somalis and other refugees.Not having legally-backed rights and papers in India makes the life of refugees difficult. Renting accommodation, getting children admitted to schools, finding employment or even buying a SIM card - all need proper documentation.A refugee is someone who has fled his or her country because of a fear of persecution on grounds of race, religion, sex or ethnicity. Currently, refugees are treated on par with any other foreigners in India, as per the Foreigners Act, according to Vasudha Reddy, a legal protection officer with the Ara Trust, which is a centre for refugee law.The Ara Trust helped Tharoor draft his bill, which seeks to incorporate the current policy on refugees, Constitutional principles and Indias international obligations. Tharoor was travelling, and could not be reached for this story.The Government of India currently relies on the Foreigners Act, 1946 and The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939 to govern the entry, stay and exit of refugees. These laws treat refugees on par with other foreigners, not taking into account that the former need a special status based on humanitarian grounds, Reddy said. Indias treatment of refugees has generally been considered humane, she added.Probably the biggest refugee influx into India was in 1947 when around seven million Hindus and Sikhs arrived from parts of undivided India that went to Pakistan, and were rehabilitated by the government. The BJPs 2014 election manifesto says that India shall remain a natural home for persecuted Hindus and they shall be welcome to seek refuge here.There have been reports that the Home Ministry was amending the citizenship law that will exempt refugees from minority communities in Pakistan and Bangladesh from being tagged as illegal immigrants. Islamabad: Pakistan will not succumb to the threats by India and would continue to support Kashmiris' struggle for self-determination, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan said on Tuesday. "Kashmiris' legitimate and just struggle for self-determination cannot be suppressed by state repression," Khan told Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider Khan who called on him here. According an official statement, the two leaders held detailed discussion on the alleged oppression of innocent Kashmiris by India and the continuing human rights abuses. "Pakistan will not succumb to threats by India and will not shy away from providing political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of occupied Kashmir," he said. He said that the violation of human rights in Kashmir and rejection by India of the UN resolution was a challenge not only for the UN but also for other countries which are considered as champions of democratic values. He said the Indian attitude of hurling baseless allegation at Pakistan and its avoidance to hold meaningful talks with Pakistan are the main hurdle for peace in the region. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmir's Uri town early Sunday. Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Indian Army. India's DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has said all the four killed militants were foreign terrorists and had carried with them items which had Pakistani markings and that initial reports indicated that they belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-E-Mohammed terrorist group. "We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing," Lt Gen Singh had said. Amitabh Bachchan is a man with nothing in his head, & since mediapersons praise him I doubt there is anything in their heads too Markandey Katju (@mkatju) September 17, 2016 ' If you cannot give the people bread, give them circuses ". pic.twitter.com/SMpsXEvGUW Markandey Katju (@mkatju) September 17, 2016 Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan said on Monday that he has no rivalry with former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who recently commented that the actor is a man with "nothing in his head".On September 17, Katju, in a Twitter post, commented: "Amitabh Bachchan is a man with nothing in his head, and since most media persons praise him, I doubt there is anything in their heads."Asked about it, Amitabh told the media here: "Justice Katju is right. I really don't have anything inside my head. We can be a part of what is going on and work towards it. But he is right. My head is khallas (finished)."The 73-year-old said Justice Katju and he went to the same school in Allahabad.Was there any old rivalry?"There is no rivalry between us. I will have to fold my hands and stand before him. He is a judge," said Big B, who was here to talk about the response to his latest release Pink.When Justice Katju was asked to elucidate his comment on Amitabh, he posted: "Amitabh Bachchan's films, like those of Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, etc are like drugs, they take the people to a world of make believe, and they are therefore very useful to our rulers since they keep people pacified.""Apart from being a good actor, what is there in Amitabh Bachchan? Has he any scientific ideas for solving the country's massive problems? There are none. From time to time he appears on some media channels giving sermons and homilies, and from time to time he is shown to be doing good deeds, but who can not do this with tons of money." Fresh from the controversy over his visit to Finland during the Chikungunya crisis in the national capital, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia spoke to CNN News18 and defended the allegations against the state government. CNN News18: You had gone to Finland.. at that time Delhi was going through an outbreak of Chikungunyua, Dengue and now we are also getting to hear about Malaria. On the 13th, is is not just that you were not there. The Chief Minister also left, the Health Minister was also not there, Gopal Rai was also not there. Kapil Mishra was the only minister available on that day. In retrospect, do you think that it was a mistake and could have been avoided? Manish Sisodia: You see first of all, let me underline your introduction to me - 'Finland returned minister'. I am surprised that a minister's going to Finland and returning to India has become a huge benchmark in politics. 'Finland returned minister. On that particular day, for some hours it was like this. I left in the morning and Satyender Jain arrived in Delhi in the afternoon. It was a matter of hours. We knew this. That I would be leaving in the morning and Satyender would be returning in the afternoon. So Satyender would be there, Kapil would be there and Gopal Rai is also there in the country and available on phone and part from the seven-eight hours I would be spending on the flight, I would be available on the phone. CM himself was available on the phone that day. There was no management issue that was not being handled on that day. But it was made into a big issue - as if all issues of corruption, terrorism, violence and hatred were non-issues and the biggest issue was that for 3-4 hours in Delhi, Satyender Jain, Manish Sisodia, Arvind Kejriwal were not there and had they been there, all issues would have been solved. I agree that when there are six ministers, at any point of time, the more number of ministers are present in Delhi, the more effective the Government will be. We also have a sense of time. He ( Satyender Jain) could have returned at 8 in the morning instead of returning at 1.30 pm in the afternoon. However, the hue and cry for a gap of two to four hours was highly disproportionate, that if they had been here, things would be alright. But that is not the case. management happens on the phone. Management happens online also. That Jain and Sisodia were not in Delhi was portrayed as the biggest crime in politics. CNN News18: Delhi has a Chief Minister and a Dy Chief Minister. Do you think it was an ideal situation? Either of you should have been here in Delhi? Manish Sisodia : This is post-even post mortem. I also feel had Satyender Jain returned in the morning, it would have been better. However, there was no management crisis in those hours when I, Jain or CM were not in Delhi. Our hospitals were already prepared ( to meet requirements of a Dengue ot Chikungunya outbreak). I had already reviewed steps. The CM had also reviewed the preparations. Satyender Jain was reviewing preparations ever week. In the revenue department, we had held meetings with the DM and SDM. None of us had any idea of the extent to which MCD had failed in taking preventive steps. CNN NEWS18: Has that come as a shock to you? Manish Sisodia: We never thought that the MCD would have done nothing. We thought the way we were preparing , they would also be doing the same. We have departments of Revenue. Flood Control, Health - we review preparations in each. I have held at least four meetings in the past three to four months in which I have said that we do not want last moment hue and cry, hospitals should be prepared, there should not be any crisis in the availability of beds. We had even identified places in schools and committee centres to accommodate more beds if necessary. We released more money to the MCD in an extraordinary measure. Despite that there was no preventive action by the MCD. MCD has failed badly. We all should take responsibility for what happened in Delhi. Why should the citizen of delhi worry about multiplicity of authority. CNN NEWS18: Exactly: people say, ' humne toh kejriwal ko vote diya' aur ummedein unse hai... Manish Sisodia: People of Delhi voted for Kejriwal. MCD. Lok Sabha. I too am an aam aadmi. From the perspective of an aam aadmi, why should I get into this labyrinth of multiplicity of authority? That is the responsibility of the government. Being in the government, it is our headache to club all. Therefore when MCD has failed, we should take the responsibility. MCD did not work as much as it could have when it comes to taking preventive steps. Now we will do it. CNN NEWS18: So you are taking the responsibility for the failure of the MCD and the situation that is there in Delhi? Manish Sisodia: Absolutely. We can't say, ' Oh we cannot do anything'. If we had an inkling of the extent of MCD's failure we could have done more. CNN NEWS18: On the 13th, the other thing that went wrong was the CM tweet 'ask the LG, ask the PM'. Obviously, he was angry and he reacted and that sent out a message that we do not have any powers and therefore we are not responsible and you better start asking questions to the LG? I can understand where he is coming from but it politicized the whole issue. Manish Sisodia: No one of us, any officer or political activist can dare to tell the aam aadmi to go talk to the LG. When media asks, especially that section of the media which says 'Arvind Kejriwal ko apni aukaat mein rehna chahiye. Arvind Kejriwal ko samajhna chahiye woh kis rajya ke minister hain. After the high courts judgement look at the tweets of many journalists who say, at least now Arvind Kejriwal should know his limits. What kind journalism is this? On one hand they say that Arvind Kejriwal should stay within his limits, he is the Chief Minister of a quarter of a state and, on the other hand they are the ones who ask why is he not controlling the MCD and the Delhi police , why is he not taking responsibility for the whole world. They need to be given an answer. CNN NEWS18: You agree then that as an elected Government , which also got a massive mandate, it is the AAP government which is not just responsible but also accountable regardless of all the hurdles you face. Is that an acknowledgement? Manish Sisodia: It is not an acknowledgement it is acceptance. We have accepted this challenge. It is only now that we are in power. When we did not have any power we were fighting for these issues. Even today we have to fight for these issues with whatever power we have. CNN NEWS18: By constantly asking questions of the LG are you trying to make him more accountable and take more responsibility? Manish Sisodia: Rights come with duties. I always tell the LG that he has the DDA, the Delhi police.. I have advised him he should be looking into the kind of corruption that exists amongst SHOs. Plots and acres of land is under arbitration in courts because your people take bribes. LG has to understand that rights should come with duties. You cannot just claim that I am an administrator - you have duties you, should also have some feelings. CNN NEWS18 Do you feel that LG doesnt express that kind of responsibility towards Delhi? Manish Sisodia: LG is not an issue at all. Issue is Modiji . He always talks about federalism we extended our full cooperation to him we did not even ask for money. please remove the administrative blockages. We will make Delhi the cleanest city . We will set such high standards in health and education that it can become a model for the whole world. But he follows the gujrat model of governance that is crush every voice taht speaks against you by hook n crook. He has brought that model to Delhi . Arunachal and uttrakahnd are examples of how he does not have the ability to tolerate political opponents. He doesnt believe in democracy he only talks about federalism does not believe in it.he knows only to crush voices. CNN NEWS18: Critics will say that AAP to deflect attention from itself is attacking the PM? Manish Sisodia: Please tell me why is the Modi govt sitting on all our bills. If it is being done without his knowledge he is a failed Prime Minsiter and if he is doing it knowingly then it is proof of the kind of democracy he believes in. CNN News18 People are not questioning your Finland trip. They are questioning the timing of your trip Manish Sisodia: Delhi once again I will say that 26 lakh students are being taught in Delhi. 5 to 7 lakhs are getting good education including those studying in private schools and good government schools. The rest 20 lakhs have no careers to speak of. Is that not a crisis? Because media says one issue is a crisis, is the other not a crisis? I would say there is no bigger crisis than that confronting Delhi's Health and Education systems. For me health and education both are undergoing crisis. CNN NEWS18: People are questioning the timing of your trip. Maybe that could have been reworked and avoided? Manish Sisodia: Had planned this a month ago. Otherwise Satyender Jain was there. Kapil was there. Satyender Jain is the health minister. We already had all preparations in place. And it seems that by going to Finland, I have committed a great sin and even more so by having an ice cream there. In Finland people drink wine. They offered me some. I am a teetotaler and therefore I said no. I spoke with their children and wives about their educational system because they have a first hand experience of education in that country and compare it with the system in India. They are showing photographs of that and calling 'five star gala'. Where are you taking the discourse of the country. At least people who know the issues confronting the country should not get involved in this. CNN NEWS18: That is because of the image that the AAP has projected and promised when it came to power? Manish Sisodia: It is our claim that we will practice a life and politics of simplicity and we do that. We do not demand high security, but the problem is some people sitting somewhere else are trying to define our simplicity and trying to tell us what to do? How can you have an ice cream? How can you sit and eat with this people, you are there to work. Where did they get this definition from? Do you know who these people are? The people who say that we had a lot of expectations of you? There are some people who, at the time of elections, were against us and were spouting poison. I won't name them. But the big so-called writers that we had great expectations of you but even then they were against us and are against us even now. That's fine. But then don't try to say that you had a lot of expectations. CNN NEWS18: What about the speculation that the CM will move to Punjab and why, if it is untrue, why are people from the party and government quiet on it. Why can't they come forward and say ' it is not true'. Manish Sisodia: The problem is in our country the media loves to decide what our party should do, define simplicity for us. That is all decided by journalists sitting in the studios. The moment a politician leaves a party, the speculation begins. They even decide his date of joining and in what position? CNN NEWS18: Is there a serious possibility of the Chief Minister moving to Punjab? Manish Sisodia : The people of Delhi have chosen Arvind Kejriwal as their Chief Minister. Now whether Arvind Kejriwal becomes Chief minister of Punjab, Goa or Gujarat, that is your speculation. Why are you now asking whether he will become the CM of Goa or Gujarat or MP. In some sections of the media, the decision, it seems has been made. CNN NEWS18: So it is not true. It is futile speculation. It is not going to happen? Manish Sisodia : Delhi these are baseless speculations. They make up stories and send Kejriwal to Punjab, to Goa. If thats what media wants to do they can, but dont put words into our mouth. CNN NEWS18: Uri saw the most horrific attack. It is a difficult moment for the country and all political leaders whether they are in Government or opposition. Of course, it is the PM's responsibility. But every political leader or citizen looking at the attack is worried about how to respond. What is your response to that? Manish Sisodia: Violence and terror should always be met with a strong hand, and not just in your heart but in your actions too. But at the same time, you need to solve your internal crisis. I think, in the past one and half years, the problems in Kashmir have escalated because of political reasons. Because the kind of unrest we have seen in the past two or three months and I have covered Kashmir but this kind of unrest I have never seen. There have been moments like this but very few. It is after 26 years that we are seeing these kinds of moments which is a big failure. It is a political failure. The central government and the government of Jammu and Kashmir need to do some trust building for the people of kashmir. They need to think of them as their own. The people of Kashmir need to feel that the Government is their own. They have ended this trust. What Pakistan did, killing the people of innocent families. As a nation we are losing confidence. Yesterday, it happened in Uri. Tomorrow it might happen in Delhi. We saw it happening at Pathankot. France is seeing this kind of attacks in their schools. Florida is seing these kind of attacks in their malls. What are we doing? It is a big failure. The Central Government is responsible for this failure. Modi ji believes in 'show-off' politics', they need to get into nitty gritty of things. Modi is a good brand but where are the nitty gritties. Problems don't get solved by eating Biriyani, he has failed in the minor details. AAP is a very small party but all political parties should meet and talk. Congress party has its wealth of experience, BJP has their own experience and our party has a new way of working. We should talk about what Kashmir needs, how we should talk to Pakistan and the confidence building should take place. CNN NEWS18: If the Prime Minister takes steps, as the central government because now it is the need of the hour that the GOI should send some sort of message so that people at least would understand that it may not happen again? Will you strengthen the Prime Minister's hands in his efforts? Manish Sisodia: The Government of India is not just Modi. The Government of India is my country's government. The Prime Minister is my country's Prime Minister. Whatever be the name of my party, and whatever be the name of their party and no matter what they do if they are doing it for the betterment of the country and taking the country along with them, by talking with all political parties and hammer a consensus - he should be supported regardless of political considerations. Of course, we will support him. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address may soon be 7, Ekatma Marg - and not 7, Race Course Road as it's now called. That is, if the New Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) accepts Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Meenakshi Lekhi's suggestion to change the name of the street where he lives to Ekatma Marg. Lekhi has written to the government saying it should called Ekatma Marg to project the ideal of one nation and integral humanism, the philosophy propounded by the BJP's icon Deen Dayal Upadhyaya whose birth centenary is being celebrated this year. "The highest office, the PM, has taken into account these ideals. And Ekatma represents this. He has followed a path of principles which will now reflect in this new name," Lekhi said. She also added that the present name - Race Course Road - does not suit the culture of the country. The area comes under the NDMC which is meeting on Wednesday evening to take a call on Lekhi's suggestion. The NDMC is headed by Arvind Kejriwal, but since the Delhi Chief Minister cannot attend because he is undergoing medical treatment, Lekhi will chair the meet. It's likely to be smooth sailing . anyone's guess. With just months to go for the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said he wants to see his younger sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra playing an active role in politics."I trust my sister more than anybody else. I'd like her to be actively involved in politics, but it's up to her to decide when, how and if she wants to do it," Rahul said in an interview to Times of India The remarks came during his ongoing 'Deoria to Dilli kisan yatra' in which he is reaching out to farmers and meeting people across all sections of the society.Time and again demands are being raised by Congress workers that Priyanka should lead the party ever after party's dismal show in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and consecutive state polls.Rahul has been undertaking roadshows, addressing khat sabhas targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not doing enough for farmers."Narendra Modi made different promises...of Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts of the people, fair price for farmers, employment to 2 crore and many others... He is a machine that takes selfies and makes promises," Rahul had said addressing a gathering during a roadshow in Orai. Kinshasa: More than 50 people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, opposition groups said, calling for further anti-government demonstrations. The government earlier said that at least 17 had died in the violence in Kinshasa ahead of a planned opposition rally, but had warned that the death toll could rise. "The coalition (of opposition groups) deplores the number of victims, more than 50 dead at this point, victims of the firing of real bullets by the police and the republican guard," it said in a statement yesterday. It also called on people to gather on Tuesday "to keep up without hesitation the demands made today." The rally, which the authorities cancelled, had been called to demand the resignation of President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001. Opponents fear he is planning to extend his rule unconstitutionally. The clashes Monday were the worst violence in the capital since January 2015 when a police crackdown on another opposition protest left several dozen people dead. Interior Minister Evariste Boshab described the violence as an attempted "uprising" and said the victims included three police officers. The main opposition parties had called for a nationwide demonstration to "give notice" to Kabila, whose mandate expires on December 20. Although Kabila is banned by the constitution from running again, he has not made any move to schedule elections, fuelling fears he will seek to extend his stay in office. In May, the Constitutional Court said Kabila could remain in office in a caretaker capacity until an election is held, triggering a wave of angry protests. France yesterday described the unrest as "very dangerous and extremely worrying" and urged Kabila to lay out a clear timetable for a vote. "What matters is the date of elections," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "If they're delayed endlessly, that means that Kabila intends to stay in power," he said. "That's a situation that is not acceptable." Former colonial power Belgium called in a foreign ministry statement for "restraint" and urged all political groups to "quickly" organise elections. So far, there has been no move to schedule elections and at this stage, it appears practically impossible to organise a poll before the end of the year. New York: Baloch activists will hold protests outside the UN General Assembly headquarters here tomorrow during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the General Debate, to highlight "atrocities" and human rights violations by Pakistani forces in Balochistan. The 'Coalition of American Friends of Balochistan' and Indian-American Organisations said they will hold a "peaceful protest" against Pakistan for "its state sponsored atrocities and terrorism on the people of Balochistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir and minorities". The Baloch National Movement of North America (BNM) said a joint protest of Baloch and Sindhi activists will be held outside the UN headquarters to protest the "ongoing military operations" in Sindh and Balochistan. "Baloch people have welcomed and are grateful for the support extended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at such a critical juncture when our nation is struggling to be free from the illegal military occupation of Pakistan since 1948," BNM said in a statement. Sharif will address the General Debate tomorrow and has said he will raise the Kashmir issue at the UN. The group said that since 2003, more than 20,000 Baloch political activists have gone missing, "illegally abducted" by the Pakistani state security forces and victims of enforced disappearances are being "tortured and executed" in custody. The group also blamed China for joining hands with Pakistan and causing displacement of people living in the tribal and coastal areas with its economic activity. "China is Pakistan's strategic partner in the economic plundering and mass murder of Baloch civilians, particularly in the coastal belt of the Makran region of Balochistan," it said. Strongly criticising the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the group said thousands of Baloch tribal people have been dislocated due to the development of the corridor. Paris: French authorities on Tuesday made eight new arrests in connection with the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that left 86 people dead, the Paris prosecutor's office said. The office said the suspects detained on Monday were French and Tunisian and had links to the attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who plowed a 19-ton truck down Nice's Promenade des Anglais and into a crowd assembled for a July 14 fireworks display. All eight were arrested in the Alpes-Maritimes region in the southeastern corner of France that includes Nice. At least five people already face preliminary terrorism charges in the attack, and are accused of helping Bouhlel obtain a pistol and providing other support. It was not immediately clear what role is suspected for the men arrested this week. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the July 14 attack. French authorities say Bouhlel, a Tunisian with French residency, was inspired by the extremist group's propaganda, but they say no evidence has been found that IS orchestrated the attack. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will address the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, prominently raising the issue of alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Nawaz Sharif is all set to use the world stage to display his support for Kashmir and the ongoing unrest in the Valley following Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's death, sources told CNN-News18. In an attempt to deflect the blame for Uri terror attack, Nawaz at UNGA will also argue that India is targeting Pakistan for attacks to distract the world's attention from Kashmir, sources said. But Pakistan's rhetoric may have already run its course with at least four of the permanent members of the security council issuing statements in India's favour after the Uri terror attack. Heavily-armed militants on Sunday stormed a battalion headquarters of the Indian Army in North Kashmir's Uri town in the wee hours, killing 18 jawans and injuring 19 others in the attack in which all four terrorists were gunned down. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also urged the US to help resolve issues between Islamabad and New Delhi. Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing 71st UN General Assembly session, Dawn online reported. "Pakistan has always fought terrorism as a moral obligation. I have always reached out to neighbouring countries for regional peace, stability and prosperity," he said. "I still remember (former) president (Bill) Clinton's promise that the US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India." "I expect the US administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help resolve issues between Pakistan and India," the Prime Minister added. Sharif emphasised that strong relations between Pakistan and the US remained a mutual desire and this partnership was critical to ensuring regional peace and stability. Nawaz Sharif arrived in New York on Sunday and is scheduled to address the session on Wednesday where he would specifically focus on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Manila: A false alarm prompted Philippine police to surround a Saudi Arabian Airlines plane at Manila airport on Tuesday, an airline spokesman said. There was a "false alarm for hijack for Flight 872," the spokesman said in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The airline, known as Saudia, gave the same information on its Twitter account, adding that the aircraft had flown to Manila from the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio said earlier that the plane had been "isolated" on the runway after reports it was "under threat". Thousands of people fled from a fire at a migrant camp on Lesbos on Monday night, a police official on the Greek island said, noting that there had been noticeable tension among residents earlier in the evening, before the blaze started. The fire brigade was investigating the cause of the fire, the official said. "There is a big fire at the hot spot (migrant camp). Almost all the migrants evacuated," said the official, who declined to be named. "There was tension in the evening. Our main concern is the safety of the people. The fire is quite big." Greece is struggling to reduce overcrowding at migrant camps on its islands, even though the flow of people is less than last year, and the slow processing of asylum requests is adding to frustrations that sometimes spark violence among residents. More than 13,500 migrants and refugees are now living on five Greek islands close to Turkey, with capacity for 7,450, according to government data. Including those on the islands, there are 60,000 migrants stranded in Greece, most of whom have made risky journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to escape war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. About 5,650 migrants and refugees are being housed on Lesbos in facilities equipped for 3,500 people. The Central Virginia Academy for Nonprofit Excellence (CVANE) Board of Directors will host a lunch and networking event at noon Friday at Oakwood Country Club at 3409 Rivermont Ave., Lynchburg. At 12:30 p.m., there will be an introduction to CVANE and a chance to ask questions and make comments and suggestions. Lunch is $15 and includes salad, lasagna and beverage and can be paid for at the door by cash or check payable to CVANE. Reserve a seat and lunch by emailing info@cvane.org no later than 5 p.m. today. For more information, contact board president David Neumeyer at president@cvane.org or (434) 238-2222. Attorneys for Halisi Uhuru argue that when he formed the 99 Goon Syndikate gang, he never intended for its purpose to become criminal or violent. Lynchburgs Department of Parks and Recreation is taking steps to remove graffiti blemishing the walls along the Riverwalk Trail near downtown Lynchburg. Reached Monday for comment, Park Services Manager Andy Reeder initially was unaware of the new graffiti but said it is an area that does attract graffiti because there are so few walls within the citys park system to write on. He said his department typically sandblasts graffiti or paints over it, depending on the kind of paint used. The department also reports graffiti to the police. According to the Lynchburg Police Department, the graffiti has been documented and an investigation opened. Parks and Recreation spends a couple dozen maintenance hours annually dealing with graffiti, according to Reeder. Usually once theyre reported to us, usually sometimes its the same day, and usually at the most its a matter of 48 hours before its removed or covered, he said. Reeder said Lynchburg is lucky and we really dont have the vandalism problem that other localities have. He said residents should report graffiti within the park system to (434) 455-5876. In addition to races for president and Congress, Virginians will vote in November on a proposed amendment that would put the provisions of Virginias right-to-work law into the state constitution. The right-to-work law says that participation in a union may not be a condition for employment in Virginia. A second proposed constitutional amendment on the Virginia ballot Nov. 8 is meant to aid the families of first responders killed in the line of duty. It would allow localities to exempt a surviving spouses real property from taxation. Virginia has had a right-to-work law since 1947. Backers of the proposed amendment, which the General Assembly passed in party-line votes, say embedding the provision in the state Constitution would make it harder for a future General Assembly to undo. Although the General Assembly may change a law, a constitutional provision can be changed only through a future constitutional amendment. Such a measure would have to pass the legislature in two separate years and then be approved by the voters in a referendum. The proposed amendment, sponsored in the House by Del. Richard P. Dickie Bell, R-Staunton, and in the Senate by Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, has the support of the Virginia Chamber and the National Federation of Independent Business. Bell said the right-to-work law is a crucial factor in Virginias rankings as one of the best states for business. He has said that by adding the provision to the state constitution, we are protecting it from the whims of the legislature and thus ensuring it can remain in place for generations to come. The Virginia AFL-CIO, which opposes the measure, said the proposed amendment is unnecessary, and would be nearly impossible to reverse. It said the amendment is designed by a handful of powerful corporate interests to silence the voices of hardworking Virginians. During the state Senate debate on the measure in February, Democrats said Virginias right-to-work law is not under attack. In the 41 years that Ive been here, nobody has ever put in a bill to repeal the right to work, said Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax. Another proposed amendment The other proposed constitutional amendment would authorize the General Assembly to enact a law that would let a locality exempt from taxation the real property of the living spouse of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, search and rescue personnel member, or emergency medical services personnel member killed in the line of duty. The exemption from taxation would apply to the surviving spouses principal place of residence. It would cease if the surviving spouse remarries. This proposed amendment, sponsored by Del. Timothy D. Hugo, R-Fairfax, passed the legislature without opposition. Article X, Section 6-A of the Virginia Constitution already requires the General Assembly to exempt from taxation the real property including the joint real property of a husband and wife of any veteran with a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability, as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the real property of the surviving spouse of an eligible veteran. The state constitution also authorizes the General Assembly to exempt from taxation the real property of the surviving spouse of any member of the U.S. armed forces who was killed in action, as determined by the U.S. Department of Defense. Hawk Claus spreads Christmas cheer in DC's Grifter Got Run Over By a Reindeer first look Take a look at two stories from the DC holiday special including the titular chapter and a Hawkwoman and Hawkman tale Install the Newser News app in two easy steps: 1. Tap in your navigation bar. 2. Tap to Add to Home Screen. (Newser) The Antikythera shipwreck has yielded many exciting results since its discovery off Greece a century ago, most notably the world's oldest known computer (the 2,000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism). Now divers say they've unearthed surprisingly well-preserved human remains (as well as huge anchors and a teardrop-shaped lead weight), raising the hope that enough DNA has survived to be sequenced, reports the Guardian. A leading expert who examined the skull from the new find says it's "amazing" that both petrous bones behind the ear are intact because DNA is best preserved there, reports Nature. If DNA is recovered, it could give clues as to hair and eye color, as well as geographic origin. Uncovered in late August, the remains include parts of a skull with three teeth, two arm bones, rib pieces, and two femurs, and the early guess is that they all belong to a young man who was trapped as the ship went down and buried quickly. Researchers dubbed him "Pamphilos," a common Greek name found etched into a wine cup recovered from the wreck. Your mind starts spinning, says one researcher. Who were those people who crossed the Mediterranean 2,000 years ago? Maybe one of them was the astronomer who owned the Mechanism. Finding human remains in shipwrecks is so rare that one of the only other instances is from this same wreck, when Jacques Cousteau excavated the site in 1976 and uncovered scattered remains from at least four individuals. (See what else divers recently found.) (Newser) An unarmed black man killed by a white Oklahoma officer who was responding to a stalled vehicle can be seen in police video walking away from officers and toward his SUV with his hands up before he approaches the driver's side door, where he drops to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun then fatally shot, the AP reports. In Tulsa police helicopter footage that was among several clips released Monday showing the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher and its aftermath, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can been heard saying "time for a Taser." He then says: "That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something." Crutcher's family, the ACLU, and dozens of protesters are calling for the immediate arrest of Officer Betty Shelby, who allegedly fired the fatal shot, the AP reports. Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced before the video and audio recordings' release that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot Friday. It's not clear from the footage what led Shelby to draw her gun or what orders officers might have given Crutcher. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted in the shooting or if Crutcher's civil rights were violated. Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV with his hands up and a female officer following him. The vehicle is stopped in the middle of the road. As Crutcher approaches the driver's side of the SUV, three male officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle. The officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the police dashboard camera's angle. Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, "I think he may have just been tasered." One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly. Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, "Shots fired!" Crutcher's head then drops, leaving him completely lying out in the street. (Read more police shooting stories.) (Newser) Jim Carrey's on-and-off girlfriend Cathriona White was married to somebody else when she killed herself last yearand he is now suing the actor. Oregon man Mark Burton accuses Carrey of illegally obtaining the prescription drugs that killed the 30-year-old Irishwoman, USA Today reports. Burton, who filed a lawsuit for wrongful death and drug violations in Los Angeles on Monday, accuses Carrey of obtaining the drugs under the fake name Arthur King and giving them to White despite being aware that she suffered from depression and was "ill equipped to ingest and manage highly addictive prescription drugs." She left a suicide note addressed to Carrey. Carrey has made it clear that he plans to fight the lawsuit, E! Online reports. In a statement, Carrey said it would be easy for him to make the lawsuit go away, but there are times "when you have to stand up and defend your honor against the evil in this world." "I will not tolerate this heartless attempt to exploit me or the woman I loved. Cat's troubles were born long before I met her and sadly her tragic end was beyond anyone's control," he said. "I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace." Sources tell People that White and Burton were separated at the time of her death and that relatives in Ireland were unaware she even had a husband. (Read more Jim Carrey stories.) (Newser) A 29-year-old woman met a boy 15 years her junior at a Denver park and started a sexual relationship with him resulting in two children, prosecutors say. Authorities allege Alicia Hernandez, now 33, first met the boy in 2011 or 2012when he was just 14, though he claims he told Hernandez he was 18, per KMGH. He told authorities the pair began having sex about a year later, per WXIA, though their relationship was only reported to police earlier this month. It isn't clear when Hernandez learned the boy had lied about his age. Hernandezwho gave birth in June 2013 and January 2015is now charged with sexual assault on a child, a felony, and sexual assault with a 10-year age difference, a misdemeanor. She is out of jail on a $50,000 bond and is due back in court on Oct. 18. In a separate case out of Denver, authorities say Alexandra Kuisis, 41, is charged with sexual assault on a child after she befriended a family and assaulted their 8-year-old daughter, who recently spoke out, reports the Denver Post. (A teen who impregnated his teacher just won $6 million.) (Newser) Bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami was taken into custody after a shootout Mondayand Donald Trump is not happy about the standard of care he believes the 28-year-old Afghan immigrant is receiving. "Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world," Trump told a rally in Florida, per ABC News. "He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he'll probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is. And on top of all of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer." Trump called for the use of "whatever lawful methods are available" to get information from the suspect. Trump called for "speedy, but fair trials" and "a just but very harsh punishment." He lamented that Rahami's case will probably be tied up in the courts for yearsand "his punishment will not be what it once would have been." Mediaite reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in response to Trump's remarks, said that protecting America means protecting rights. "Welcome to America. We have a system of jurisprudence," he said. "You're innocent until proven guilty. You have a right to counsel. And you have the right to hospitalization if you're ill." Hillary Clinton slammed Trump's "irresponsible, reckless rhetoric" and said his response to the bombings was "demagogic," CNN reports. (Read more Donald Trump stories.) (Newser) In the race to sell smartphones, it turns out that Apple was the tortoise and Samsung was an exploding hare. Sources tell Bloomberg that Samsung rushed the Galaxy Note 7 to market to take advantage of what the company had discovered would be an unexciting iPhone 7 from Apple. The sources say suppliers were under pressure to quickly deliver new features for the Note 7including a more powerful batterywhich resulted in a production error at one supplier that caused faulty batteries, which were not uncovered during the rushed testing process. Reports of battery fires and explosions after the Note 7 went on sale led to a global recall, which experts say was bungled by Samsung. "Clearly, they missed something," says Bloomberg analyst Anthea Lai. "They were rushing to beat Apple and they made a mistake." The debacle is believed to have wiped around $14 billion off Samsung's market value, while Apple's stock price is soaring despite what Brian Solomon at Forbes calls a "boring" new iPhone that offers slight refinements instead of eye-catching new features. "It appears that more of the same, rather than top-of-the-line innovation, was the way to win this year," he writes. (Read more Galaxy Note stories.) (Newser) A 42-year-old white female police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in Oklahoma on Friday has a clean record with the Tulsa Police Department, a police official tells the Tulsa World. Officer Tyler Turnbough was IDed by Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan as the cop who initially used a stun gun on 40-year-old Terence Crutcher, who reportedly had been having car trouble on the side of the road Friday evening, NBC News reports. But Jordan says Betty Jo Shelby, a member of the Tulsa force since 2011, pulled the trigger of her real gun after she told a dispatcher that "she's not having cooperation from Crutcher." Shelby is on paid administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated, including by the Justice Department and Oklahoma authorities, per CNN. Public outcry has been fierceincluding a local activist group calling for Shelby's immediate arrest, per the Worldsince the Tulsa PD released the 911 audio, dashcam video, and footage from a chopper, with even Jordan conceding the footage is "very disturbing." In audio from the chopper, an officer is heard describing Crutcher as a "bad dude" as four cops, including Shelby, follow him to his car. A Tulsa PD rep says once Crutcher reached the SUV, the officers thought he was reaching into the driver's-side window. An attorney for Shelby, who started her career with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, says his client told Crutcherwho can be seen in the police footage walking toward his car with his hands in the airto stop walking and he didn't comply, and that she also feared he may have had a weapon in his pants pockets. (Read more Terence Crutcher stories.) (Newser) Donald Trump Jr.'s tweet comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles didn't go over well with the public, the candymaker, and now, the UK photographer who took the photo he says Trump stole for his tweet, the BBC reports. David Kittos says he took the pic of the colorful candies in 2010 while testing a lighting technique and posted it on Flickr, and the fact that Trump used it to push his political agenda is particularly bothersome to the 48-year-old photographer for a compelling reason. "In 1974, when I was 6 years old, I was a refugee from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus, so I would never approve the use of this image against refugees," he says, adding that the image has never even been for sale. "This was not done with my permission, I don't support his politics, and I would never take his money to use it," he says. Kittos, a Greek Cypriot who's now a British citizen, recalls living in Cyprus under the hand of the Turkish military as a youngster and how "we had to leave everything behind overnight." He says he wants the Trumps to stop using his image, but he doesn't know if it's worth his time and effort to take legal action against what he calls their "pure greed." "They should not be stealing an image, full stop," he says. (Read more Donald Trump Jr. stories.) Srinagar: The reign of terror continues to engulf the Kashmir Valley as terrorists attacked a police post near Handwara, Kashmir a day after the terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri that killed 18 soldiers, news agency ANI has reported. As per media inputs,the terrorists had opened fire at the checkpost in Langata, Handwara late on Monday evening. As per intial reports coming in on the attack, it was not clear as to how severe the attack was and what were the casualties inflicted by it. Is is noteworthy that Handwara, in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, is about 70 km northwest of Srinagar. It lies close to the Line of Control (LoC). For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New York: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday night evaded questions from reporters on Uri attacks, which left 18 Indian Army soldiers martyred and 19 other jawans injured. Sharif's advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also refused to take any questions from reporters on Uri attack, ANI reported. Earlier, Sharif brought up the issue of Kashmir in meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and asked him to intervene to resolve Kashmir 'dispute'. Sharif sought help from the US to resolve tensions between India and Pakistan, as he raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir. Sharif met Kerry during which he raised the Kashmir issue. WATCH (New York City): Nawaz Sharif avoids answering questions on #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/SKIb2NboXB ANI (@ANI_news) September 19, 2016 The Prime Minister said that more than 107 people have been assassinated in Kashmir, thousands injured and worst human rights violations are being committed at the state level, according to a readout of the meeting issued by Pakistan. ALSO READ: Stop inciting, supporting terrorism in India and PoK: India tells Pakistan in UNHRC Sharif told Kerry that he still remember President (Bill) Clintons promise that US will play its role to help out in resolving bilateral disputes and issues between Pakistan and India. Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also refused to take any questions from ANI #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/O3pRwx43zI ANI (@ANI_news) September 19, 2016 I expect US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India, the statement quoted Sharif as saying. Sharif said Pakistan has always fought terrorism as a moral obligation and he has always reached out to neighboring countries for regional peace, stability and prosperity. Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Pakistans envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi and US Special Representative for Af-Pak Richard Olson were also present at the meeting. The meeting comes amidst a fresh war of words between Pakistan and India after terrorists killed 18 Indian soldiers in Kashmir. According to the statement, Sharif said that terrorists infrastructure had been dismantled and they were on the run due to the indiscriminate action against all terrorist groups. The national resolve against terrorism and extremism is unflinching, the statement said, citing Sharif. Discussing the situation in Afghanistan with Kerry, Sharif stressed the need for meaningful engagement with Afghanistan, the statement said. Sharif, who is here to attend the 71th Session of United Nations General Assembly, earlier called on the permanent members of the UN Security Council demanding that India should be forced to stop its alleged brutalities in Kashmir. He has said he will highlight the Kashmir issue in his address at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. Heavily-armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the Indian Army in North Kashmirs Uri town in the wee hours on Sunday, killing 18 jawans and injuring 19 others in the attack in which all four terrorists were neutralised. It was the worst attack on the Indian Army in many years. Indias DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh has said all the four killed militants were foreign terrorists and had carried with them items which had Pakistani markings and that initial reports indicated that they belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-E-Mohammed terrorist group. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Kinshasa: More than 50 people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, opposition groups said, calling for further anti-government demonstrations. The government earlier said that at least 17 had died in the violence in Kinshasa ahead of a planned opposition rally, but had warned that the death toll could rise. "The coalition (of opposition groups) deplores the number of victims, more than 50 dead at this point, victims of the firing of real bullets by the police and the republican guard," it said in a statement on Monday called on people to gather on Tuesday "to keep up without hesitation the demands made today." The rally, which the authorities cancelled, had been called to demand the resignation of President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001. Opponents fear he is planning to extend his rule unconstitutionally. The clashes Monday were the worst violence in the capital since January 2015 when a police crackdown on another opposition protest left several dozen people dead. Interior Minister Evariste Boshab described the violence as an attempted "uprising" and said the victims included three police officers. The main opposition parties had called for a nationwide demonstration to "give notice" to Kabila, whose mandate expires on December 20. Although Kabila is banned by the constitution from running again, he has not made any move to schedule elections, fuelling fears he will seek to extend his stay in office. In May, the Constitutional Court said Kabila could remain in office in a caretaker capacity until an election is held, triggering a wave of angry protests. France yesterday described the unrest as "very dangerous and extremely worrying" and urged Kabila to lay out a clear timetable for a vote. "What matters is the date of elections," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "If they're delayed endlessly, that means that Kabila intends to stay in power," he said. "That's a situation that is not acceptable." Former colonial power Belgium called in a foreign ministry statement for "restraint" and urged all political groups to "quickly" organise elections. So far, there has been no move to schedule elections and at this stage, it appears practically impossible to organise a poll before the end of the year. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: More than three-fifth of Indians support use of military force to defeat the scourge of terrorism, according to a latest Pew Survey which said that about half of the respondents disapprove of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Pakistan policy. With roughly half (52 per cent) the Indian public worried that ISIS poses a major threat to their country, about six-in-ten Indians (62 per cent) believe that overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism around the world. Just 21 per cent say relying too much on such force creates hatred that leads to more terrorism, said Pew Research Center in its report running into 40 pages. ALSO READ: PM Modi garners favourable public support, Kejriwal's ratings dip cites Pew survey While 68 per cent of the respondents feel that India is playing a more important role in the world than it was doing 10 years ago, the Pew Research Center in its annual survey, which was conducted among 2,464 respondents from April 7 to May 24, said half of the respondents disapprove of Modis management of Indias volatile relationship with Pakistan. His Pakistan policy is approved by just 22 per cent, said the survey which was conducted in the months after the terrorist attack at the Pathankot Air Force base coming from across the border. Notably, however, more than half of BJP supporters (54 per cent) and a plurality of Congress party adherents (45 per cent) disapprove of the prime ministers handling of relations with Pakistan, the report said. In the handling of China, supporters of Modis own party, the BJP, are more likely than adherents of the Congress party to favor his conduct of bilateral relations. Pew said Indians are ready to support more defence spending. Across party lines, more than six-in-ten (63 per cent) think the country should increase spending on national defence, just six per cent want to decrease it and 20 per cent want to keep it at current levels. Notably, Indians who see Chinas growing military power as a very serious problem are more likely than those who see Chinas growing military power as a less serious threat to favor increased military spending, it said. According to Pew, the Indian publics satisfaction with the direction of the country has increased 36 percentage points since 2013, the year before Modi took power. The survey found that Indian publics ciews on the economy have improved by 23 points. And belief that todays children will be better off financially than their parents is up eight points. Pew said eight-in-ten Indians believe their economy is doing well, up 16 points since 2014. And 35 per cent of Indians today say the economy is very good. People in the northern states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh express the most satisfaction (71 per cent) with the direction of the country. Those living in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are the least satisfied (55 per cent). Roughly four in-ten living in the north say the economy is doing very well (42 per cent), while people living in the western states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh (26 per cent) and in the south (30 per cent) are less likely than those in the north to believe the economy is performing very well. People living in the eastern part of the country in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal are more confident (83 per cent) than those in the north (62 per cent) and west (70 per cent) about prospects for the next generation. Crime (82 per cent), lack of employment (81 per cent), corrupt officials (80 per cent) and terrorism (78 per cent) are the top four national problem, according to the respondents surveyed by the Pew Poll. On Modis popularity, Pew said while he continues to have a favorable rating of 81 per cent, the share of Indians with a very favorable view of Modi is down 11 percentage points in the last year. In both 2015 and 2016, Modis lowest approval rating (53 per cent) was for his handling of communal relations. On India US relationship, more than half (54 per cent) of Indians approve of Modis dealings with Washington. Just 15 per cent disapprove, it said. Notably, public approval of Modis handling of America is down 12 percentage points since 2015 despite his having visited the US more than any other country during his premiership, Pew said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The latest Pew Research Center survey on the countrys attitudes has given a positive verdict to the Prime Minister Narendra Modis efficiency in running the economy and government in the eyes of the citizens of the country. The report cited that the Indian Prime Minister holds a 81% favourability rating with the Indian public. Though the PM's rating has taken a dip by six percentage points as compared to last year, the survey concludes that Modi continues to ride a wave of public good feeling about the way things are going in India. Here are some of the key parameters on which the Prime Minister was rated by the people of the country 1. Indias economic growth rate Questions remain about Indias economic growth rate, but 80% of Indians said the current state of the economy is good up six points from last year and 16% more than when Modi was elected in 2014. 2. Direction of the country A positive trend was evident in responses to questions about the direction of the country. Sixty-five per cent said they were satisfied, up 9 points from last year and more than double what was felt in 2013. Modis approval is strikingly high with 57% of Indians expressing a very favourable opinion and 24% giving a moderately favourable view. While his overall approval rises to 94% among BJP supporters, even 61% of Congress supporters gave him a thumbs-up. A plurality of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters (47%) also took a positive view. In what may be an indicator of next years state election results, 71% of North Indians expressed satisfaction at the direction of the country the highest figures across the country.Though only 42% of North Indians say the economy is doing well, that is still the second-highest among the regions. 3. Modis popularity cuts across demographic groups Modis popularity, noted the report, cuts across demographic groups to both men and women, and among all age groups, educational backgrounds and income levels.Men were more likely to like Modi than women by a small margin: 85% to 77%. The younger the Indian, the more likely he is to be a Modi supporter. Nine out of 10 Indians with some college education approved of Modi, among those with less than a secondary school education the figure fell to 79%. Rural and urban support for Modi was almost identical. The report noted an unsurprising division of opinion between BJP and Congress supporters on Modi. When asked, for example, whether Modi cares about people like me, there was a 31-point gap between the partisan respondents. 4. Policy Specific Matters Asked to judge the NDA governments ability to tackle specific policy problems, Modi did the best in helping the poor and unemployment with a 62% positive approval rating. He fared the worst in communal relations and air pollution, with approval for both at 53%. Indian respondents listed crime, jobs and corrupt officials as the countrys primary problems by an overwhelming 95%. Communal relations received the lowest sense of concern out of six policy areas 76%. 5. Modi's popularity rises but BJP's ratings slips as a party Modis party, the BJP, has not fared as well as its leader though it remains well ahead of the Congress. While the Congress has seen its popularity rise six points to 67% from last year, the BJPs has fallen by seven points to a still commanding 80%. BJP support has fallen the most in rural areas, down 16 points from last year, and its support is weakest in western states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra. Congress approval is strongest in the South. The rising tide of public confidence, however, has lifted other political boats. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have seen their ratings rise to 65 and 63%, respectively, up from 49 and 50% in 2013. But AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has seen his numbers drop 10 percentage points from last year to 50%. The annual India poll by the Washington-based research centre was based on interviews of nearly 2,500 Indians across 16 states and in eight languages, which were conducted between April 7 and May 24. Also Read: 50 per cent Indians disapprove of PM Narendra Modi's Pakistan policy: Pew survey For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Damascus: Syria's armed forces on Tuesday announced an end to the week-long ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia, blaming rebel groups for its failure. "Syria's army announces the end of the freeze on fighting that began at 7.00 PM (1600 GMT) on September 12, 2016 in accordance with the US-Russia agreement," the statement carried by state news agency SANA said. The truce "was supposed to be a real chance to stop the bloodshed, but the armed terrorist groups flouted this agreement," the statement said. It accused rebel groups of carrying out more than 300 truce violations across the country and of failing to "commit to a single element" of the deal. A military source had earlier told AFP that the ceasefire deal was set to expire at 7.00 PM (1600 GMT) this evening. The agreement, negotiated by top diplomats from government backer Russia and the United States, saw an initial drop in fighting across the country after it came into force on September 12. But violence began to escalate late last week. Syria's armed forces "exercised the highest degree of self-restraint while facing violations by terrorist groups," the statement said. "The Armed Forces confirms its intention and determination to continue... fighting terrorism to restore security and stability to Syria." (AFP) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The country on Tuesday bid tearful adieu to the 18 bravehearts who were martyred in the deadly terrorist attack in Uri. The mortal remains of the soldiers reached their ancestral places for their last rites on Tuesday. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, senior Army and police officials on Monday paid tributes to the martyrs at the army headquarters in Badamibagh. Here are the live updates: Balia (UP): Last rites of Lance naik RK Yadav who lost his life in #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/vHvUClcepV ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 Rajawa village (Rajasthan): Last rites of havildar NS Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttacks. pic.twitter.com/dZDAsANOvm ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Bihar: Havildar Ashok Kumar Singhs son at his last rites ceremony in Bhojpur. pic.twitter.com/UouyHiHVVv ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Bhojpur, Bihar: Last rites of havaldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life during #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/rXDeQRKR4q ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Bhojpur, Bihar: Last rites of havaldar Ashok Kumar Singh, who lost his life during #UriAttacks pic.twitter.com/UArFVeuiCR ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 "Wanted to study in IIT Delhi,but now I'm not sure," says young daughter of slain soldier SK Vidyarthi as family mourns his death #UriAttack pic.twitter.com/lgDcgzQOWE ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Maharashtra: Wife of Lance Naik G Shankar (who lost his life in #UriAttack) pays her last tribute, Last rites ceremony underway in Satara pic.twitter.com/oWvZuGDoFp ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Maharashtra: Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Satara. Last rites ceremony underway. pic.twitter.com/3BuIaf4Dq3 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh): Last rites of soldier Rajesh Kumar who lost his life in #UriAttack (Sep 19) pic.twitter.com/Mtle4L3T9g ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 Maharashtra: Mortals remains of Lance Naik G Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Satara for last rites ceremony. pic.twitter.com/oULnnqq1x6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Rajasthan: Mortal remains of Havildar N S Rawat who lost his life in #UriAttack being taken to his native village from Bhim pic.twitter.com/yQo6eWKdI6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 #PM ji aisa kaam kare ke Pakistan ko uske kiye ki saza mil jaye, taaki shaheed jawano ki aatma ko shanti mile: Kin of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar. ALSO READ: A day after Uri attacks, terrorists open fire at police check post in Handwara #He always wanted to join army. PM Modi should take some strict action against Pakistan. Dont make fake promises: Villager. Sant Kabir Nagar (UP): Family members mourn death of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar who lost his life in #UriAttack. pic.twitter.com/5WhHg5V5sN ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 Mortal remains of Sepoy K Vikas Janardhan who lost his life in #UriAttack brought to Nagpur, will now be taken to Yavatmal for last rites pic.twitter.com/D4nJfLRJtM ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Puri (Odisha): Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik pays tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in #UriAttack through his sand art pic.twitter.com/mHCTtEcM7M ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Gun salutes paid to Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui (who lost his life in #UriAttack) during his last rite in Howrah (early morning visuals) pic.twitter.com/oNA2urObhF ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Howrah (WB): Last rites of Sepoy Gangadhar Dalui who lost his life in #UriAttack (early morning visuals) pic.twitter.com/FBqRYR3YfY ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh): Last rites of Sepoy Harinder Yadav who lost his life in #UriAttacks (last night visuals) pic.twitter.com/36b6dE1lcu ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 20, 2016 Agartala (Tripura): Student groups' hold candlelight vigil to pay tribute to soldiers who lost their lives in #UriAttack pic.twitter.com/ZJNoNtm3N6 ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 Residents of Samba, who gathered on Monday to pay their last respects to Havildar Ravi Paul, killed in terrorist attack on an Army base in Uri, said it is high time for India to react strongly to the Pakistan-sponsored proxy war. ALSO READ: Before UNHRC speech, Nawaz Sharif rakes up Kashmir with US; evades questions from media on Uri attacks Relatives of Paul said he laid down his life for a cause and it was for the Government of India to take a call and respect the death of the soldiers. We want the incubator of terrorism, the country which sends terrorists to our country, be taught a strong lesson. The sacrifice of our brother and 17 others should not go waste, but it should be a turning point for Pakistan, Mohan Lal the elder brother of Ravi Paul said. How long we will continue to lose our young bravehearts to the bullets of cowards. It is high time for the Union government to say that enough is enough and teach Pakistan a lesson, Mohan Singh Bhatti, Sarpanch of Jarda village, who came to pay his last respect to the soldier said. People who poured in to pay their homage to Paul, one of the 18 soldiers who killed in the terrorist attack on Sunday, echoed similar view of teaching the hostile neighbor a lesson. Pakistan has been pinching us for several years now and yesterdays attack is an act of war on our country. Never in the past have we lost so many brave men in one attack, it is high time for the countrys leadership to take decision and teach Pakistan a lesson, Madan Kumar a resident of Sarva village said. Residents of the border area have been bearing the brunt of the hostilities and the proxy war sponsored by the Pakistani side, he said. Whenever there is a terrorist attack or whenever there is cross-border firing the residents of the border areas became the worst sufferers. We have been demanding from the Government of India to finish this once and for all, he said. (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The recent terror attack on an Indian army base in Uri saw 18 infantry soldiers from the Bihar and Dogra regiment attain martyrdom. It is not the first time that the valiant infantry men who actually are the first line of defence along the Line of Control sacrifice their lives to combat the enemy. Ever since independence, all the fighting wings better known as the combat arms of the Indian army like the Armoured Corps, Artillery, Air Defence and the Corps of Engineers have played a pivotal role in defending the borders of our nation whenever an the enemy has tried to invade into our territory. Then we have the support wing of the army better known as the Services who provide all the logistics and administrative support to the fighting arms. Their role is also paramount to the armys success. As the famous military cliche goes No army can fight on hungry stomach But one would have to agree that it ultimately is the infantryman who faces the enemy heads on and has to eventually take the battle to the enemy. The cavalry might charge, the tanks might roar, the guns of the artillery might boom but it is eventually the Infantryman who either holds ground to defend every inch of his motherland or goes behind lines into enemy territory to capture features and raise the Tri Colour. Many defence experts have hailed the cavalry as the King of the Battle, Napoleon hailed the Artillery as the God of war but it is the infantry which has been christened as the Queen of Battle. Hence infantry can be aptly labelled as the queen on the military chessboard around which most of the combat strategies are devised. The history of the present day Indian infantry regiments goes back to the pre independence era. The very concept of martial races was introduced by the British. While expanding their territory across the Indian landscape the British who fought some pitched battles against the Sikhs, Jats, Marathas and Gurkhas were very impressed by their valour and courage. The Englishmen gauged that these clans exhibited qualities of bravery, courage and loyalty which were ideal for fine tuning them into infantry soldiers of the highest pedigree. Hence in a tactical move to win them onto their side, they started recruiting boys from these clans into their 'Native' regiments and that formed the very basis of class and clan composition of infantry regiments in India. The Indian army soldiers is worth his weight in gold. The jawans have no second thoughts when it comes to laying down their lives for defending the motherland. The feeling of patriotism and nationalism runs high through them. The soldiers who serve along the borders in the extreme conditions, not only combat the enemy but the extreme weather conditions too. Guarding the borders in the cold Himalayan region, fighting counter insurgency in the thickly forested jungles of the North East or for that matter enduring the extreme heat of the Thar desert requires that extra bit of Josh and Junoon. Even after enduring such kind of hardships, the soldiers never back an eyelid and performs their duties to the best of their abilities with a smile on their faces. The Indian army is a battle hardened army and is equipped to deal with different combat situations as they have done For an Indian soldier the Naam, Namak Aur Nishan better worded as the name of your country and regiment, loyalty towards the nation and respect to the national Flag is of utmost importance. During war time, the infantry comrades are brothers in arms and go charged up into the battle field with a War Cry that echoes hard into the ears of the enemy. Some of the famous ones like 'Jo Bole Jo Sau Nihal' (Sikh Regiment), 'Jai Mahakali Ayo Gorkhali' (Gurkha Rifles) and 'Jat Balwan Jai Bhagwan' (Jat Regiment) send down shivers in the enemy camp. The soldiers take great pride in wearing their uniform and the regimental beret which bears the regimental crest or insignia. Ask a Gurkha soldier about how he uses his curve edged knife, the Khukri, and they would rattle off a number of interesting tales. The battle and theatre honours won by regiment are a constant source of motivation for them to replicate such feats and bring back glory to their regiment. The gallantry wards won by the regiment remind the troops of the extraordinarily heroics performed by the battle heroes who displayed daunting acts of valour while facing odds to turn the tide of a battle. The officer and soldiers of the Indian army live and die by the famous military credo -The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time. In an age of mechanization where military warfare has become highly advanced and technologically enabled, you still need men on ground to go out and get the job done. So in a nutshell, we can conclude that in war or peace, the Infantry soldiers spirit is indomitable and never dies. He truly is the unsung hero of our nation. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New York: A Sikh bar owner in the US is being hailed as a hero for helping capture the 28-year old Afghan-American wanted for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. Harinder Bains, the owner of a bar in Linden found Ahmad Khan Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his bar on Monday. Bains said he was watching news on TV on his laptop from another business across the street. At first, he thought he was some drunk guy resting in the vestibule but then recognised Rahami and called police. Im just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do. Cops are the real heroes, law enforcement are the real heroes, Bains said. ALSO READ: New York, New Jersey bombings suspect in custody When officers responded, Rahami pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking an officer in the chest. A foot chase ensued, during which Rahami shot at a police car, causing a bullet to graze another office in the face. The chase ended when Rahami was shot multiple times. He was taken to a hospital for surgery. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said. Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra said that Bains dared to honour his Oath of Citizenship to protect & defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic - and its turns out that the Chelsea Pressure Cooker Bomber suspect, a naturalised citizen, is caught by another immigrant, an Indian-American Hero-Sikh. In a statement, the National Sikh Campaign said this was brave and courageous act by Bains. A Sikh helps police get to the terrorist involved in New York and New Jersey bombing over the weekend, it said. He heroically helped save many innocent lives and yet gave credit to law enforcement officers. Harinder Bains certainly did what every responsible citizen in America ought to do. Brave and courageous act! said the National Sikh Campaign. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mathura: A man from Mathura, who was stranded for over four months in Saudi Arabia after failing to pay an agent, who had promised him a job in that country, returned with the help of the Ministry of External Affairs, his family members claimed. An agent had taken Virendra (32), a resident of Bhainsa village here and a welder by profession, to Saudi Arabia by promising him a job there. But when he didn't get a job, he asked him to send him home, Prakash Singh, one of his relatives, claimed. The agent started putting pressure on him for Rs 3 to Rs 7 lakh and also seized his passport and other documents, he alleged. Virendra somehow managed to contact his family members and narrated his ordeal. They in turn approached the local police and through them the MEA, Singh claimed. Following this, officials of the Indian Mission in Saudi Arabia on Monday arranged for Virendra's return to Delhi. He reached on Monday, his elder brother Fatah Singh said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: 1. "India has a mentality to punch below its weight. We should not punch below our weight or above our weight, but improve our weight and punch proportionately." 2. "Do not overreact (on Kashmir unrest), it will pass off as they cannot sustain beyond a point." 3. "The supreme interest of the country has to be protected." 4. "The war is on till we are victorious" 5. "If you make a provocation, you are partly responsible. But if you are not able to exercise power, it is as good as not having it." 6. You may do one Mumbai; you may lose Balochistan. These are the famous statements given by India's National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval during his public appearances in the last five years. In the wake of deadly terror attack on Army camp in Kashmir's Uri sector on Sunday, there is a rising demand from every corner of the country to take strong action against Pakistan. In another debate in online media, netizens are also saying that the Narendra Modi government is following the 'Doval Doctrine' while dealing with the 'enemy' nations in our neighbourhood. Many other people have a different view that the 'Doval Doctrine' is the only solution if India is serious to end the menace of terrorism coming from country's western border. Let's understand what is the 'Doval doctrine', and from where it emerged- Who is Ajit Doval? Ajit Kumar Doval is a 1968-batch IPS officer who has also served as the director of Intelligence Bureau (IB). Doval was characterised by AS Dulat, the former head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), as 'the hawkish Ajit Doval'. Hes known to be a hawkish thinker who has carried out multiple covert missions in his career as an IB agent. Infiltration into the then underground Mizo National Front to win over its top commanders, walk into the Golden Temple in Amritsar posing as a Pakistani agent before the Operation Black Thunder in 1988 to obtain intelligence, and a seven-year tour of duty in Pakistan - these are the key highlights of Doval's career as an Indian agent. As India's National Security Advisor, he provided key background for the Prime Minister Narendra Modis trips to the US, Australia, Myanmar, Fiji and the engagement with South Asia and European countries. Doval believes, In a changing world order India is engaging powers who have conflicting views. So we engage China and Japan as well as Russia and the United States. Covering a slew of issues that have dominated Indias security concerns, Doval also underlined Modi governments focus on emerging technological threats from cyberspace. What is 'Doval Doctrine'? The 'Doval Doctrine' named after him in two lectures delivered in 2014 and 2015. Two important lectures delivered by Doval on national security constitute the core of the Doval Doctrine. 1. Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture at Shastra University, Tanjore, in February 2014, 2. Lalit Doshi Memorial Lecture on State Security Statecraft and Conflict of Values at Mumbai in August 2015. He has delineated his approach to Pakistani terrorism through the 2 lectures and this constitutes the core of the 'Doval Doctrine'. Watch Video: Ajit Doval giving lecture on strategic response to terrorism at Sastra University, Tanjore, in February 2014 Watch Video: Ajit Doval at Lalit Doshi Memorial Lecture lecture at Mumbai in August 2015 In short, Doval believes the enemy is to be engaged at 3 levels- A. Defensive, B. Defensive-offensive, C. Offensive modes. On Pakistan According to him, the defensive mode is ineffective and irrelevant. Doval says, "India needs to go into the 'offensive-defensive' mode when dealing with a rogue state like Pakistan. India should tackle the problem where it originated." And to make it clear, he used the famous phrase: "You may do one Mumbai; you may lose Balochistan." On Terror groups On the issue of terror organisations, Doval says these outfits could be bought with money, weapons and manpower. These groups can be managed with the use of high technology and intelligence-driven covert operations. Doval also believes that individual morality should not be imposed on the larger values of the state. The core of the 'Doval Doctrine' can be seen in the statement - "Either Pakistan give up terrorism against India as a state policy or India would let it bleed with the Taliban". On Kashmir unrest According to him, the values of the state are above the values of any individual. His message is clear that the policy of appeasement will not work while dealing with issue of Kashmir. "Do not overreact (on Kashmir unrest), it will pass off as they cannot sustain beyond a point," he had said on Kashmir issue in 2010.Doval's policy prescription is marked by three themes, particularly on Kashmir - 1. Irrelevance of morality, 2. Extremism freed from calculation or calibration, 3. Reliance on military might. Read More | Uri Terror Attack: 'Now time has come to teach Pakistan in its own language,' tweets India Is it working? Opposition parties claim that the country has not seen much clarity in Indian strategic thinking in the Narendra Modi government in the last two years. The critics of the 'Doval Doctrine' say that the recent terror attacks in Pathankot and Uri may be Pakistans response to not only the Kashmir unrest but also Indias 'Defensive Offence' over the issue of Balochistan. The latest attack in Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed brings into question the Doval Doctrine's implications. Isn't the Uri attack the Pakistani armys way of telling India: Say what you want, we will keep doing it. The idea of 'Doval Doctrine' puts a disproportionate pressure on government to compensate for the strategic weaknesses. This framework does not help peace-building and it neglects the traditional tools of diplomacy. What's next? Uri attack is a big question mark on the Modi government's policy towards Pakistan. Should India continue its 'Defensive Offence' approach against Pakistan? Is there an immediate need to change India's approach to strategically fight Pakistan sponsored terrorism? In short the big question is that, should India continue with the so-called 'Doval Doctrine'? Please share your comments in the comment box below or take a poll here: (With inputs from Quartz, Atimes, Quora) Click here to see the poll results In the wake of Pathankot and Uri attacks, do you think the so-called 'Doval Doctrine' is working for India? Uri Terror Attack: 'Now time has come to teach Pakistan in its own language,' tweets India For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Kashmir: Indian Army on Tuesday killed at least 10 terrorists while retaliating to Pakistan firing. According to reports, the firing by Pak troops was top cover the infiltration bid by terrorists in Uri sector. The attempt has been foiled successfully. Two days after 18 soldiers were martyred in a terror attack, Pakistan on Tuesday violated ceasefire Jammu and Kashmirs Uri. The Pakistani troops violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Uri sector of Kashmir, the Army confirmed on Tuesday. Heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based JeM had stormed an army base in Uri in Kashmir on Sunday, killing 18 jawans. As it happened: 10 terrorists killed by Army in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/0fVXhQiccS ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 # Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls for a cabinet meet on Wednesday, Uri attack likely to remain high on agenda. # 2 more terrorists dead, operation still underway # Three more terrorists killed by Army in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector. Total 8 terrorists killed. # Indian Army kills five terrorists in Lachipura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector This is second terrorist strike in Indian Army's headquaters in Srinagar's Uri after four terrorists inflitatrated the base camp on Sunday and opened fire at unsuspecting soldiers, leaving 18 bravehearts dead. The attack began at around 0400 hours and the number of militants was believed to be three. Immediately after the militants entered the camp, explosions and exchange of heavy fire were heard from inside, official sources said. The attack attracted heavy criticism against Pakistan, as the world community showed solidarity with India and slammed Pakistan. Indian Army has said that it will respond on time and place of its choice. Also read: Terrorist attack on Uri Army camp in J-K: As it happened Who is India's NSA Ajit Doval and what is 'Doval Doctrine'? Uri terror attack: National Investigation Agency files FIR, six-member team to begin probe soon For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Centre onA A announced the next set of cities for financing under the Modi-government flagship Smart City Mission. Here is the list of 27 cities (From 12 states) announced by the government onA - A 1. Agra (UP) A 2. Ajmer (Rajasthan) A 3. Amritsar (Punjab) A 4. Aurangabad (Maharasjtra) A 5. Gwalior (MP) A 6. Hubli-Dharwad (West Bengal) A 7. Jalandhar (Punjab) A 8. Kalyan-Dombiwali (Maharashtra) A 9. Kanpur (UP) 10. Kohima (Nagaland) 11. Kota (Rajasthan) 12. Madurai (Tamil Nadu) 13. Mangaluru (Karnataka) 14. Nagpur (Maharashtra) 15. Namchi (Sikkim) 16. Nashik (Maharashtra) 17. Rourkela (Odisha) 18. Salem ( Tamil Nadu) 19. Shivamogga (Karnataka) 20. Thane (Maharashtra) 21. Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu) 22. Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) 23. Tumakuru (Karnataka) 24. Ujjain (MP) 25. Vadodara (MP) 26. Varanasi (UP) 27. Vellore (Tamil Nadu) One each from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Nagaland and Sikkim #SmartCities a ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 5 from Maharashtra, 4 each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, 3 from UP 2 each from Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh #SmartCities a ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 As per the Misison guidelines, as many as 40 cities have to be announced during this financial year. As the government had already announced 13 cities in May, a slot of 27 cities remained vacant against which the announcement would be made by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah NaiduA . In January, the government had announced a list of 20 cities for partial funding to be developed as smart cities which would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. Each city will receive Central assistance of Rs 200 crore in the first year and Rs 100 crore over the three subsequent financial years. State governments and respective urban local bodies will also match the Centre's contribution. The Modi-government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Centre providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years.A For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday hit out at Delhi Police over the murder of a 21-year-old woman in Burari, saying the force should focus on ensuring security of people rather than harassing AAP legislators. The woman was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight by her 34-year-old stalker, who attacked her nearly 22 times this morning as passersby looked on. Shocking incident in Delhi of stabbing of 21-yr old woman. Delhi Police needs to focus on citizens security than harassing AAP MLAs (sic), Sisodia tweeted. At least 11 AAP MLAs have been arrested by the Delhi Police since the party came to power in the national capital in February last year. In July, Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested after a woman alleged that a vehicle he was sitting in tried to mow her down. Deoli MLA Prakash Jarwal was arrested on charges of misbehaving with a woman the same month. Another party MLA Dinesh Mohaniya was arrested in June on charges of molestation and sexual harassment amid high drama when he was addressing a press conference. New Delhi: 1. Chinese real estate giant Dalian Wanda seeks concessions for its $10 billion India investment Chinese real estate giant Dalian Wanda after its announcement of $10 billion investment in India is looking for several concessions for the industrial park that it plans to develop in Haryana. These benefits relate to the route through which it will bring the money into India and concessions on various taxes. Also Read: Chinese real estate giant Dalian Wanda seeks concessions for its $10 billion India investment 2. Twitter's discontinuation of engineering tasks in India will lead to lay offs A big lay off by Twitter is on the cards at the microblogging social interactive platform's development centre in Bengaluru. This announcement comes in light with Twitter putting an end to its engineering tasks in India. The company did not disclose the number of people being handed pink slips. When contacted, Twitter in an emailed statement said: "As part of our normal business review, we have decided to stop the global engineering work at the Bengaluru development centre. Also Read: Twitter's discontinuation of engineering tasks in India will lead to lay offs 3. Indian Stock markets dip ahead of Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meeting The Indian stock markets dipped after a four-day bullish streak, ahead of Wednesday policy decisions by the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve. The BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 111 points at 28,523. The BSE Sensex opened at 28,691 touched an intra-day high of 28,699 and low of 28,481.The NSE Nifty closed with a loss of 33 points at 8,776. The NSE Nifty opened at 8,816 hitting a high of 8,816.45 and low of 8,759. Also Read: Indian Stock markets dip ahead of Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meeting Jammu: Scores of candlelight marches were held in Jammu on Tuesday in remembrance of the 18 soldiers who were martyred in Uri terror attack even as people raised anti-Pakistan slogans and demanded stern action against those sponsoring terrorism. On Sunday, heavily armed militants suspected to be from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had stormed the army base in Uri in Kashmir killing 18 jawans. Expressing their anguish over the attack, the protesters demanded strong action by India in retaliation to the attack in order to teach Pakistan a lesson. Members of the civil society, trade associations and religious organisations came out in large numbers at several places in the city to pay their respects to the slain soldiers. Pakistan has been continuously stabbing India in the back, be it Samba, Kathua, Gurdaspur, Udhampur, Pathankot and now Uri and we are tolerating all this without doing anything, a protestor Pardeep Gupta said. Every time we are attacked by Pakistan-sponsored, trained and funded terrorists we adopt a week-kneed approach, but this time the Indian government should show some guts and punish those responsible for the killing of our soldiers, he added. The protesters also set on fire an effigy of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. They said the entire country would stand behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he decides to take strong step to teach Pakistan a lesson. Taranjeet Singh, a resident of Vijaypur, said India is fed up with the daily pin pricks by Pakistan and its threshold of patience has been breached. If the killing of 18 soldiers does not wake us, nothing else ever will. The incubator of terrorism should be taught a lesson. India must target Pakistan diplomatically and strategically to avenge the killings of our 18 brave men, said Singh. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Srinagar: Pakistan has shown its true colours once again as it violated ceasefire in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir. They have targeted Indian army positions with small firearms and its the second time within the period of two days that our soldiers have put their lives at stake to protect our borders. Two days after the terror attack in Uri, Pakistani troops today violated the border ceasefire in the same sector of Kashmir, targeting Indian army positions with small firearms. However, there was no damage in the incident, army said. "Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing by small arms towards Indian positions in Uri sector this afternoon," an army official said. He said the firing from across the Line of Control took place between 1.10 pm and 1.30 pm. The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited. The ceasefire violation comes two days after four Jaish- e-Mohammad militants stormed an army base in Uri Sector, killing 18 soldiers and injuring several others. All the four militants were also killed. The terror attack has heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New York: US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, as he expressed strong concern over the violence in Kashmir particularly the terror attack on an Indian army base. Kerry met Sharif on Monday on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. Sharif raised the issue of alleged human rights violations and killings in Kashmir and sought American help to resolve the Kashmir issue. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US want to see more progress from Pakistan in dealing with the terror groups effectively. Weve seen some progress; we want to see more, and I think moving forward well just continue to work closely and try to encourage greater counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan but also within the region, Toner said. Later, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said that Kerry reiterated the need for Pakistan to prevent all terrorists from using Pakistani territory as safe havens, while commending recent efforts by Pakistani security forces to counter extremist violence. The Prime Minister and Secretary Kerry expressed strong concern with recent violence in Kashmir - particularly the army base attack - and the need for all sides to reduce tensions, he said. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed and as many others injured as heavily armed militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmirs Uri town early Sunday. Kerry also stressed the need for restraint in nuclear weapons programs. According to a readout of the meeting by the Pakistan mission, Sharif asked the US Administration and Secretary Kerry to use his good offices to help in resolving bilateral issues between Pakistan and India. In his meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sharif again raised the Kashmir issue and asked the British leader to play her role in convincing India to stop the alleged use of force against the people in the region. Sharif said Pakistans support for Kashmiri people in their legitimate struggle for self determination and its commitment to the Kashmir cause are non-negotiable, according to information released by the Pakistani mission. Sharif alleged that human rights violations and state oppression is at its peak in Kashmir and it is the duty of the international community to ask India to immediately end state atrocities on innocent and defenceless Kashmiri people. He said the people of Jammu & Kashmir must be allowed to chose their destiny and longstanding resolutions of the UNSC on the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people need to be implemented. He added that if the international community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the people in Jammu & Kashmir, India will be encouraged to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The under-five child mortality rate fell by an average of four points during 2014 with Uttar Pradesh and Assam among the best performing states registering a 7-point decline each, the government on Tuesday said. It said the country is on track to bring the Under-5 Mortality Rate (U-5MR) further down and achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG). The RGI Sample Registration Survey (SRS) on U-5MR for 2014 found 15 states/UTs registering a decline of four points and 16 that of three. States like Bihar and Andhra Pradesh registered a decline of one point. The SRS also found that Kerela was the only state to register an increase in U-5MR, by one point. Union Health Minister JP Nadda said focussed, committed and targeted interventions by the government have borne positive fruits in 2014 and by the time the 2015 data comes, the country would have achieved the MDG target. He said there was an 8.16 per cent decline in under-five mortality during 2013-2014 as compared to 5.76 per cent decline during 2012-2013. In 2012-13, U-5MR had reduced from 52 to 49 (per 1000 live births) and to 45 the subsequent year, which is a decline of four points, he said. We have been able to save lives of approximately 1.26 lakh children, Nadda said. Noting that achieving U-5MR of 42 (per 1000 live births) is the MDG goal, he expressed hopes that when the SRS report for 2015 are available, we would have achieved (the goal). Lot of intensive programmes have been undertaken in 2014 so we believe we will cover the three points (to reach the target), Nadda said. According to the data, 15 states have achieved a decline of more than four points, with Uttar Pradesh and Assam registering the highest decline of seven points each followed by Rajasthan and Odisha which registered a decline of six points each. Other states in this category include Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal (all recording a decline of 5 point); Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab (all recording a decline of 4 point). Sixteen states/UTs, however, registered a decline of three points. U-5MR declined by two points in Tamil Nadu. The success has been possible due to dedicated efforts during the neonatal period through establishment of special new-born care units (SNCU), systematic home visits by ASHA workers and improvement in quality institutional delivery, Nadda said. The rural-urban differential in U-5MR is reduced to 23 points in comparison to 26 points in 2013 indicating good progress in rural areas. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. United Nations: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday asked nations engaged in proxy wars to end them, warning that if communities are not allowed to co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn causing sufferings to countless human beings and export of extremism overseas. In his eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as the US President, Obama admitted that the extremist and sectarian violence destabilising the Middle East and spreading elsewhere will not be quickly reversed. No external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long, Obama told the world leaders gathered here for the 71st UN General Assembly session. Until basic questions are answered about how communities co-exist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn. Countless human beings will suffer and extremism will continue to be exported overseas, he warned. Across-the-regions conflicts, we have to insist that all parties recognise a common humanity and the nations end proxy wars that fuel disorders, he said. India accuses Pakistan of waging a proxy war by supporting, arming and training militant groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba who launch cross border attacks. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian Army in recent years, 18 soldiers were killed by heavily armed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militants who stormed a battalion headquarters of the force in Kashmirs Uri town early Sunday. Obamas remarks a day after his Secretary of State John Kerry asked Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prevent terrorists from using his countrys territory as safe havens. In his speech, Obama recounted the progress made in the last eight years of his presidency and said from the depths of the greatest financial crisis of our times we coordinated a response to avoid further catastrophe and return the global economy to growth. We have taken away terrorist safe havens, strengthened the non-proliferation regime, resolved the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy. We opened relations with Cuba...and we welcome a democratically elected leader of Myanmar to this Assembly, he said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Former Pakistani military leader Pervez Musharraf said that India shouldnt provide asylum to Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti because hes a terrorist. I totally condemn it, he shouldnt be given any asylum. Hes a terrorist. You cant demand that your terrorists are our terrorists but our terrorists are not your terrorists, Musharraf told CNN IBN. Brahamdagh Bugti approached the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva for filing asylum papers on Tuesday. Speaking to the media, Bugti said, People are frustrated in Balochistan except for those who have been threatened and bribed to agree with the government. Also read: Exiled Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti approaches India for asylum Accusing India of pinning all blame on Pakistan for terrorists attacks, Musharraf said, You call off non-state actors operating in Kashmir but here in Balochistan its state actors. We dont talk about what India is doing to Pakistan but what Pakistan is doing to terrorists. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Yinchuan Biennale set to promote art in NW China From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-09-20 09:45 Visitors get up close and personal with contemporary art at the Yinchuan Biennale, a major art event in northwestern China.[Photo provided to China Daily] A biennial aims to promote international and contemporary art among residents of Northwest China. Lin Qi reports from Yinchuan. Xie Suchen says she often awoke with anxiety during the eight months of planning the Yinchuan Biennale. The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan's artistic director led a young and inexperienced team for the museum's first biennial - an event for which most establishments spend two years preparing. The MOCA Yinchuan opened a year ago in a commercial compound along the Yellow River, about one hour's drive from the downtown of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region's capital. "People in Northwest China have the same privileges to enjoy art as people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou," says Xie, who's from Taiwan. "They're as curious and passionate about art." She invited Mumbai-based artist Bose Krishnamachari to curate the event. He founded India's first biennial, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, in 2012, that advanced contemporary art in Kochi city. Xie hopes his experiences can be transplanted in Yinchuan, a critical node of the ancient Silk Road. Xie Suchen, artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan.[Photo provided to China Daily] The inaugural event, For an Image, Faster than Light, that runs from Sept 9 through Dec 18, features a star lineup of 73 artists from 33 countries, including Yoko Ono, Anish Kapoor and Song Dong. Works inside and outside the museum address wide-ranging political, economic and cultural issues and ways to improve the world through better thinking, Krishnamachari says. Beijing-based lithographer Yang Hongwei visited Yinchuan for the first time to attend the biennial's opening. His Century Altar series is on show. "The city has more than 1,000 years of history and deep cultural traditions," he says. "I've come here to present contemporary art. I hope to activate the modern parts of Yinchuan's cultural DNA." It isn't a place for artists to gain fame and fortune like they can in such art hubs as London and New York. Instead, they take nourishment and energy. British artist Abigail Reynolds says displaying her works is only part of her visit to the city. She won Art Basel Hong Kong's third art-journey award six months ago for her The Ruins of Time: Lost Libraries of the Silk Road series. She will start from Yinchuan and travel to the sites of libraries destroyed by conflict and natural disasters across China, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Italy. "This is an old and new city with a very strong relationship with the Silk Road, both in the ancient form and contemporary manifestation," she says. Xie Suchen, artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan.[Photo provided to China Daily] "The earliest-dated printed book was found (in Mogao Cave in neighboring Gansu province's Dunhuang city). So it is quite fitting to start my journey here." Xie says the biennial is an initial step toward boosting the local art scene. "We'll achieve our goal slowly, because we have to," she says. Organizers brought professional workers from the national capital and bought tools online to trim expenses, she says. "It's painful," Xie says. "We only hope we don't let the audience down." The event not only continues the MOCA Yinchuan's efforts to educate locals about contemporary art but also shows art can be close to everyday life. Many works are made with such local items as clay and rice stems. The MOCA Yinchuan has staged several contemporary-art shows along with permanent displays of its collection of antique maps and oil paintings. Xie says the museum receives 200 to 300 visitors on weekends, and less than 10 percent of them are tourists. "Many are families of three generations, and I often secretly follow them. I know it sounds odd, but I enjoy it." [Photo provided to China Daily] She often overhears visitors say they can't understand the works. "That's OK," she says. "It's great that people have questions about, or marvel at, the works. I feel that even people's misunderstandings of a work can make it more beautiful." Krishnamachari agrees. "I think everybody in Yinchuan should visit the show, and they don't necessarily understand anything and everything at the first sight." He never imagined the Kochi-Muziris Biennale would become globally significant, he explains. "It's achieved only through the local people - they need to understand the depth and power of it and then share it with others," he says. "Once in Kochi, a family came to the biennale and was asked by a journalist about their feelings. The mother was quoted as saying: 'This is completely crazy. We're coming the third time.' This is what I think is important (of a biennale) - that people keep coming back." If you go 10 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays, through Dec 18. MOCA Yinchuan, 12 HeLe Road, Xingqing district, Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region. 0951-842-6111. Tracing the story of how Beijing became the capital From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-09-20 10:46 The Capital Cities of the Yuan Dynasty retraces Beijing's development to the present day.[Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily] Many people take Beijing's metropolitan status for granted. An ongoing exhibition at the city's Capital Museum examines the process by which it became the national capital. The Capital Cities of the Yuan Dynasty, which runs through December, displays 160 sets of relics from the Capital Museum and 14 other museums and research institutions across northern China. It marks the 740th anniversary of construction of Khanbaliq, the predecessor of today's Beijing, which was also known as Dadu (meaning "the great capital"). It was one of the capitals of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), which was founded by Mongol ruler Kublai Khan five years later. Because the empire was based upon the nomadic life-style of the grasslands, Yuan rulers established two capitals. The other is Xanadu or Shangdu (the upper capital) in what is today the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Xilin Gol League. According to the exhibition's curator, Tan Xiaoling, emperors headed to Xanadu in March or April for the sum-mer. They returned to Beijing in August or September. The dynasty planned to build a third capital, Zhongdu (the middle capital), in today's Zhangbei county, Hebei province. But construction was suspended. Cultural relics revealing the vicissitudes of all three capitals are juxtaposed at the exhibition. "We want to show the dynasty's history and customs from a comprehensive perspective, from urban construction and the rulers' palace lives to various aspects of ordinary people's daily lives," says Tan. "This is an unprecedented event to examine the Yuan's history by bringing so many precious items together. It'd be boring to simply introduce the three cities' history. That's why we focus on human stories. No matter how a city flourishes, its people are most important." This is why the exhibition highlights Liu Bingzhong, the official who led Khanbaliq's construction, and Zhang Hongfan, a general once stationed in the city. Displays include porcelain, textiles, gold artifacts, construction materials and figurines. Many items have never been exhibited publicly. Others are familiar to those with a basic knowledge of China's fine art history. [Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily] Pieces include a pottery figure of a dancing man - the only of its kind from the period that has been discovered. A ceramic pillow with depictions of an opera stage, and a porcelain bowl adorned with lotus and tortoise patterns demonstrate the era's best craftsmanship. A "magic square" from Zhongdu provides early evidence of Chinese use of Arabic numerals, says Gao Hongqing, who selected the show's relics. It's arranged so the numbers in each of the six rows, six columns and secondary diagonals add up to the same sum. A section of the show emphasizes religious inclusiveness during the Yuan Dynasty. "Buddhism, Taoism, Islam and Christianity thrived," says Gao. A ceramic epitaph inscribed with Nestorian doctrine and a cross-shaped bronze scepter proves Christianity's popularity in China during the period. Gao says some relics came from county-level museums. "Their collections may be smaller but are unique," he says. Gold ornaments from Inner Mongolia's Aohan Banner Museum, for instance, reveal prosperity and the aesthetic sensibilities of Mongol nobles. "The Yuan Dynasty existed for less than a century, so its relics are relatively few," says the museum's director, Guo Xiaoling. "China spent more time split than united before the dynasty. The Yuan created a solid foundation for lasting cohesion. So it's important to study." One important aspect of this was Beijing's elevated status, the historian explains. "Beijing was only a regional center before." One way this can be seen outside of the exhibition is that some names of Khanbaliq's city gates like Anzhenmen and Jiandemen are still used - for subway stations, that is. Silk Road film festival features cultural diversity From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-09-20 13:45 The third Silk Road International Film Festival opened in Xi'an on Monday, attracting 676 films from 35 countries to compete for awards. The five-day festival was given the theme "film in development, culture with diversity." It comprises film reviews, screenings, forums and cultural shows. The films come from countries including China, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Russia. They will vie for five awards: best feature, best documentary, best animation, best male actor and best female actor. During the event, more than 300 films from countries and regions along the Belt and Road will be screened in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province. Chinese director Huang Jianxin, who leads the festival jury, said he hoped the festival would boost the film industry in countries along the Belt and Road. The festival invited Jackie Chan as ambassador and young actor Kris Wu as youth ambassador. Founded in 2014, the Silk Road film festival is held in Xi'an and Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province in turn to promote film exchanges among countries along Belt and Road. The two cities are seen as starting places of the two routes. Journalists criminalized in America: Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and Pete Santilli targeted We are entering a phase of our history when wrong is touted as right, bad as good, and tyranny masquerades as the public good. Journalism, in particular, is suffering mightily. That is to say, independent journalism. If you are a paid hack disguised as a reporter working for a so-called mainstream outlet, youre fine as long as you toe the official government line. But anyone unaffiliated with corporate media can, and will, be targeted for retribution by governmental powers that be. Take the case of Amy Goodman, a host and executive producer for Democracy Now!, an independent global news agency. After taking a team to cover Native American-led protests against the Dakota Access pipeline under construction in North Dakota, she was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor, and a warrant for her arrest was issued by authorities in Morton County. On Sept. 3, the news agency reported on its web site, the Democracy Now! team filmed security guards who work for the pipeline company as they used dogs and pepper spray to allegedly attack protesters. The report went viral online, rebroadcast on several mainstream news outlets including CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and others. This is an unacceptable violation of freedom of the press, said Goodman in a statement. I was doing my job by covering pipeline guards unleashing dogs and pepper spray on Native American protesters. Goodman acknowledged that she has received the warrant, as reported by Anonymous. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. The Anonymous site also reported that Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein attended the protest as well, painting I approve this message on one of the bulldozers, which also drew an arrest warrant for criminal trespassing and criminal mischief. Currently lawyers representing various U.S. and Canadian Native American tribes are attempting to get the pipeline project killed in court. If it is built at a cost of about $3.8 billion, it would transport 500,000 of crude oil per day from North Dakotas Bakken oil field to Illinois, where it would meet up with an existing pipeline that would carry the oil to Texas refineries. Goodman isnt the only independent journalist who has been targeted by law enforcement. Pete Santilli, an independent radio host and journalist from Cincinnati, was arrested by federal authorities and charged with conspiracy in connection with his reporting on the occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge in January, though NewsTarget reported recently that federal prosecutors had decided to drop charges against Santilli for his Oregon reporting. Now, however, he will now be extradited to Nevada to face charges in connection with Cliven Bundys standoff with federal agents from the Bureau of Land Management in April 2014. This, despite the fact that he was one of the primary voices of calm and reason, calling for peace and urging non violence. Sources: DemocracyNow.org DemocracyNow.org AnonHQ.com TheGuardian.com NewsTarget.com Submit a correction >> VANKLEEK HILL, ON, Sept. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - Eastern Ontario craft brewery Beau's All Natural has announced a project that will help a female entrepreneur start up a locally owned and operated craft brewery in the African republic of Rwanda. Beau's will be providing financing, expertise, and hands-on employee training to the start-up brewery, and has sourced brewing equipment from industry suppliers. Beau's is also launching a Kickstarter campaign for the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project that aims to raise $95,000 in donations over the next two months to fund the purchase of a bottling line. At the heart of the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project is owner Josephine "Fina" Uwineza, a Rwandan woman who is no stranger to entrepreneurship. Uwineza is a successful restaurateur in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali, where she opened the city's first-ever Chinese restaurant. It became a go-to destination for tourists and the embassy crowd, and at one time, between her two popular restaurants, she had more than 50 staff employed. More recently Uwineza shared a business idea with the CG Group's Nancy Coldham, a Toronto-based consultant who has traveled to and worked extensively in Rwanda as a mentor to female entrepreneurs. The connection with Coldham sparked an idea for a Canadian-inspired craft brewery in Rwanda. Coldham reached out to the Ontario Craft Brewers association on behalf of Uwineza, who connected the women with Beau's. A team from Beau's that included CEO Steve Beauchesne and CFO Tanya Beimers travelled to Rwanda this past spring to meet Uwineza in person and get a sense of the scope of the project, as well as some of the specific challenges associated with it. The team also met with officials from the City of Kigali as well as the Republic of Rwanda, and were offered a warm welcome and assistance to help get Uwineza's Rwanda Craft Brewery Project off the ground. "Meeting Fina with her passion and confidence, and then also seeing the support from the government, women's groups and the community, we knew this was a project that we had to be a part of," says Beimers. Beauchesne and Beimers appealed to equipment suppliers on behalf of the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project to see if special funding considerations were a possibility. The request brought the donation of a brewhouse from BC-based Newlands Systems Inc. (NSI). Their COO, Christian Riemerschmid von der Heide, has experience brewing in Africa and will work with Beau's brewmaster, Matthew O'Hara to help develop a beer recipe that will be a fit for the Rwandan market. Beau's co-founder Steve Beauchesne is careful to point out that no profits from the new brewery will flow back to Beau's or to the other partners. "We have always done what we can to help other craft breweries, be it lending supplies and equipment, or looking over business plans. This project is significantly more involved, but it's rooted in the same principles of being open and willing to help." Some elements of Uwineza's craft brewery are still in development, but her current plans are for a brewpub-style set-up in downtown Kigali that will offer onsite tastings as well as packaged beer to take home. The plan is also to use as many local ingredients as possible from nearby co-ops that provide employment for women who grow and harvest crops, as well provide health services and invest in their education and training. Uwineza has travelled to Canada to help kick off the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project Kickstarter campaign, as well as spend some time learning more about beer and brewing hands-on at Beau's in Vankleek Hill. She will be a guest of honour at Beau's Oktoberfest September 23 and 24, and will be speaking on a special panel about the project on the Saturday afternoon. The next steps of the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project require $95,000 in funding to purchase a bottling line, which is what the Kickstarter campaign is intended to achieve. To lend support to the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project visit www.beaus.ca/rwanda. Beau's All Natural is an employee-owned and totally independent Canadian craft brewery. Founded in 2006 by father and son Tim and Steve Beauchesne, Beau's brews interesting, tasty beers using best-quality certified organic ingredients & local spring water. Beau's has been a recipient of more than 85 awards for brewing, packaging design and business practices. Beau's beer is available in Ontario, Quebec, BC, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and New York, and is coming soon to the rest of Canada. Oh yeah! Website: www.beaus.ca Twitter & Instagram: @beausallnatural Facebook www.facebook.com/beausbrewery SOURCE Beau's All Natural Brewing Company, Ltd Image with caption: "Group [L-R] Beaus CEO Steve Beauchesne, Rwandan entrepreneur Fina Uwineza, Beaus CFO Tanya Beimers, Beaus Creative Director Jordan Bamforth, credit Brendan Coutts (CNW Group/Beau's All Natural Brewing Company, Ltd)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160920_C8336_PHOTO_EN_776543.jpg For further information: For more information about Beau's All Natural or to request an interview, please contact: Jen Beauchesne, Media Relationships, Beau's All Natural Brewing Co., [email protected] (613) 678-2301; (613) 307-0066 for deadlines/ beer-mergencies Country's fastest-growing meal kit delivery start-up to use funds to grow e-commerce team and expand nationwide TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - Chefs Plate, Canada's market leader in the fresh ingredient and recipe delivery space, today announced $6 million in new funding, led by Acton Capital Partners a global investment firm associated with a long track record of investing in successful e-commerce brands. Existing investors, Emil Capital and BrandProject, also participated in the round. The capital will be used to fund recruitment and market expansion across Canada, including a new fulfillment centre in Western Canada. "With this new capital, the focus will be on supporting our rapid growth, including hiring top talent across all divisions," said Jamie Shea, Co-Founder, Chefs Plate. "Our mission is to create meaningful connections through food. These funds allow us to offer more Canadians well-priced meal-kits with farm-to-table ingredients that are often fresher and less costly than the grocery aisle." Chefs Plate is experiencing rapid growth. The company will double its current workforce within the next 12 months, translating to over 100 new jobs in Toronto and Vancouver. The investment will also expand direct relationships with Chefs Plate's supply chain of Canadian growers, farmers and producers that allows for food to go directly from its network of artisan farmers and purveyors to customers' kitchens within three days or three times faster than grocery stores. "Chefs Plate is changing the way Canadians eat," said Vancouver-based Acton venture partner, Hannes Blum. "In just under two years Chefs Plate has grown to be the leader in the meal-kit delivery category in Canada. The company's unique model makes it very well-positioned to grow quickly while preserving its value propositions of freshness, quality and convenience at a highly competitive price." The news marks the latest in a series of milestones for Chefs Plate. In June 2016, the company announced delivery of 100,000 meal-kits monthly, a new family plan, and extension of delivery outside of Ontario to B.C., Alberta and Manitoba. Chefs Plate prioritizes the purchase of Canadian grown and farmed produce, dry goods, meats, seafoods and specialty foods. Each month, the Toronto-based start-up ships approximately 200,000 pounds of food comprised of fresh, Canadian-sourced produce, meats and seafoods. About Chefs Plate Chefs Plate, Canada's leader in the meal-kit delivery market, delivers pre-portioned, locally-sourced farm fresh ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes in refrigerated kits right to its customers' homes, all at $10.95 per plate or less. It's cooking made easy. As a food-tech company, its innovative business model connects people to local farmers and purveyors, re-investing in Canada's farm-to-table platform. The company was founded in 2014 and has grown to 125 employees. For more information, please visit www.chefsplate.com, or connect via social media on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. About Acton Capital Partners: Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.com) is a Munich-based growth venture fund for internet companies. It focuses on startups in the fields of marketplaces, e-commerce, e-services, digital media and SaaS. Acton invests in Europe and North America. The team has been working together successfully for many years and has invested in more than 65 companies since 1999. The most renowned investments include AbeBooks, Alando, AlphaSights, Ciao, Elitepartner, Etsy, HolidayCheck, Linas Matkasse, Lumas, mytheresa.com, OnVista and windeln.de. In addition to Chefs Plate, Acton is currently invested in Canadian companies Clio, Indochino and Mobify. About Emil Capital: Emil Capital is an entrepreneurial, private investment company based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and managed by the fifth generation of one of the world's most successful and venerable family business concerns. Emil seeks out companies whose goods or services are established and sought-after in their markets, and whose execution fosters consistently superior customer experiences. For more information, visit www.emilcapitalpartners.com. About BrandProject: With its team of seasoned entrepreneurs based in New York City and Toronto, BrandProject rapidly scales early-stage consumer businesses with Founders. BrandProject takes a strategic approach to building solid foundations, focusing on key business building pillars, and providing the financial and operational resources to succeed. For more information, visit www.brandproject.com. SOURCE Chefs Plate Image with caption: "Chefs Plate (CNW Group/Chefs Plate)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160920_C8664_PHOTO_EN_775611.jpg PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2016/09/20/20160920_C8664_PDF_EN_775348.pdf For further information: or to request an interview with Jamie Shea or Hannes Blum, please contact: Andrew Findlater, V & Co., 416.659.1197, [email protected] Cultural expo kicks off in Dunhuang From:chinadaily.com.cn | 2016-09-20 15:46 The first Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo opens at the Dunhuang International Conference and Exhibition Center. [Photo/Xinhua] The first Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo opened in Gansu province's Dunhuang city this morning. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his congratulations. He accentuated the significance of the cultural feast in building friendships and making the world a better place. Vice Premier Liu Yandong attended and delivered the keynote speech. As the only high-level forum and exhibition platform organized by the Chinese government for cultural exchanges among countries and regions along the ''Belt and Road", the expo attracted 95 foreign delegations from 85 countries and five international organizations. Coupled with 66 overseas establishments, a total of more than 1000 guests attended the expo. The expo is centered on cultural exchanges and cooperation. It carries forward the Silk Road spirit of "peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit". And, following the principles of negotiation, joint development and sharing, the Dunhuang Declaration will also be drawn up and released. It is going to be one of the expo's most important achievements. Over the next few days, one main summit, five sub summits, five special summits and various cultural activities will be held. More than 8000 precious cultural heritages from 60 countries will be on display. Art performances, including the long-awaited dance drama Silk Road, Flower Rain, will be staged. According to deputy director Liang Yanshun of expo's executive committee, the Gansu provincial government is expected to sign a dozen agreements and work on 90 cultural projects with foreign countries, regions and international organizations. The amount of contracts are tipped to amount to100 billion yuan. The gala See You in Dunhuang will be held and broadcast live on Gansu TV at 8 pm tomorrow. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA, Sept. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - Pollard Games, Inc. (dba "American Games"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pollard Banknote Limited (TSX: PBL), is pleased to announce that, under a new contract, it will supply the Iowa Lottery with 337 new pull-tab vending machines (PTVMs) and related maintenance services. Beginning October 1, 2016, this three-year contract provides the Lottery the option of exercising three, one-year extensions. The contract value, including extensions, is estimated at $3.1 million (USD). This contract award builds upon a 29-year partnership between American Games and the Iowa Lottery. Since 1987, American Games has produced more than one billion pull-tab tickets for the Lottery and, since 1991, has installed more than 4,000 vending machines in Iowa. The well-established relationship also goes beyond pull-tab products; Pollard Banknote supplies the Iowa Lottery with instant scratch tickets, including some of the company's patented and specialty products. "We're thrilled to again be selected as the Iowa Lottery's partner for pull-tab vending machines and related services," said Steven Fingold, President, American Games. "We are very proud of the working relationship we have built with the Iowa Lottery since we began manufacturing their pull-tab tickets nearly 30 years ago. Our vending platform has also come a long way since then and we have the Iowa Lottery to thank for driving many of the enhancements to our vending machines." "The Lottery is pleased that American Games will continue to supply and service our pull-tab vending machines," said Larry Loss, Executive Vice President of the Iowa Lottery. "American Games is an Iowa-based business that has played an important role in the development of our pull-tab business with entertaining games for players and vending machines that are user friendly for both players and retailers. In addition to products, American Games offers market knowledge that we have been able to leverage to help raise funds for good causes in the state." American Games' PTVMs are the machines of choice for members of North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL); over the years, American Games has signed vending machine contracts with numerous lotteries throughout the U.S. and Canada. In addition to lotteries, these vending machines can also be found in many charitable gaming markets. Worldwide, the company has supplied more than 15,000 PTVMs that, in turn, have vended billions of secure gaming products. Since its inception in 1985, the Iowa Lottery has raised more than $1.7 billion for state programs that benefit all Iowans. Today, lottery proceeds are allocated to three main causes: support for veterans and their families through the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund, help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund, and backing for the Vision Iowa program, which was implemented to create tourism destinations and community attractions and build and repair schools. In FY2016, pull-tab sales accounted for $15.1 million of the Lottery's total lottery sales of over $366.9 million. About Pollard Banknote Pollard Banknote is a leading lottery partner to more than 60 lotteries worldwide, providing high quality instant ticket products, licensed games and strategic marketing and management services for both traditional instant games and the emerging iLottery space of web, mobile and social channels. The company is a proven innovator and has decades of experience helping lotteries to maximize player engagement, sales and proceeds for good causes. Pollard Banknote also plays a major role in the charitable pull-tab and bingo markets in North America. Established in 1907, Pollard Banknote is owned approximately 73.5% by the Pollard family and 26.5% by public shareholders and is publicly traded on the TSX (PBL). For more information, please visit our website at www.pollardbanknote.com. Forward-looking Statements Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking" statements and information, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used in this document, such statements include such words as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "plan," and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this document. There should not be an expectation that such information will in all circumstances be updated, supplemented, or revised whether as a result of new information, changing circumstances, future events, or otherwise. SOURCE Pollard Banknote Limited For further information: Doug Pollard, Co-Chief Executive Officer, E-mail: [email protected]; John Pollard, Co-Chief Executive Officer, E-mail: [email protected]; Rob Rose, Chief Financial Officer, E-mail: [email protected]; Pollard Banknote Limited, Telephone: (204) 474-2323 Canadian innovation brings new learning tools to the next generation of physicians around the World TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - No matter where they are, the next generation of physicians will now be able to learn from the best medical professors in the world for free. Launching today, medskl.com will make medical education more accessible and more effective. A Canadian innovation, medskl.com is a new way of teaching medicine. The open-access, online resource uses video lectures, white-board animations and summary notes to help students and doctors diagnose and treat a broad range of illnesses. Dr. Sanjay Sharma, a retina specialist and professor of ophthalmology and epidemiology at Queen's University, came up with the concept after recognizing that the traditional medical lectures were not the ideal learning environment for digital natives. "Today's students are attuned to learning online, not sitting through long didactic lectures," he notes. Dr. Sharma and his team spent two years reaching out to medical schools and students across North America to identify the best professors to be involved in the project. To date, over 170 professors have been recruited to author the content, drawn from such prestigious centres as the University of Toronto, Queen's, McGill, Dalhousie and UBC here in Canada, and Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic in the U.S. "The lessons are designed to be short, fun and engaging so the information sticks," Dr. Sharma explains. The learning modules are also meant to support the 'flipped classroom' approach now being used in many leading North American medical schools where students learn material outside the classroom and use lecture time instead for discussion. Some 100 modules have been created so far, and approximately another 100 modules are to be added in the next few months. Since the soft launch of medskl.com in July, students from over 50 universities have already registered. Most Canadian medical schools will start using medskl.com content this Fall. In the U.S., Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Duke will be incorporating medskl.com into their medical curriculum this year. And because medskl.com is available anywhere there is an internet connection, it will help remove barriers to medical education throughout the world. "While we tend to think of medical care as being the exclusive domain of physicians, in a holistic sense it is often delivered by others, especially in developing countries," Dr. Sharma notes. "Our goal is to bring this information to a global audience, and medskl.com now makes it possible. Medical students, caregivers and patients whether they're located in Toronto, Lagos, Mumbai or anywhere else can now learn from the best professors and the most effective educational resources." Go to medskl.com to find out more, meet the Faculty, and view the learning modules. Dr. Sanjay Sharma is available for interviews. Participating professors and students at medical schools are also be available for interviews in the following centres: St. John's, NL Halifax, NS Saint John, NB Montreal, Sherbrooke, QC Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, Sudbury, London, ON Saskatoon, SK Calgary, Edmonton, AB Vancouver, BC About medskl.com medskl.com is an international effort to digitize medical education. Its authors are award-winning Faculty members from many of North America's leading medical schools. The learning modules are available for free. About Dr. Sanjay Sharma Dr. Sanjay Sharma is an ophthalmologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of retina diseases. He is the Director of the Retina Service in the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston, Ontario and also is a professor of ophthalmology and epidemiology at Queen's University. Dr. Sharma is the author of over 200 articles and three books. He has received awards from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. SOURCE medskl For further information: Media Contact: Megan Stephens, [email protected], 416-777-0368 Industry leader on board to take Okanagan Valley's unique wines to the world; the natural progression in celebrating the excellence, the beauty, the outstanding opportunity that is Mission Hill Family Estate OKANAGAN VALLEY, BC, Sept. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - Mission Hill Family Estate Proprietor Anthony von Mandl is pleased to announce the appointment of Ian Morden as Managing Director. Prior to taking the leadership role at Mission Hill Family Estate, Ian was the Estate Director of Cloudy Bay Vineyards, which is part of the LVMH Group. With his team there he delivered 8 consecutive years of creatively fueled growth for the iconic New Zealand winery. As well as reinforcing a meticulous focus on wine quality and style evolution during his tenure, Ian led Cloudy Bay's development as a next generation luxury wine brand, inspired by the simple pleasures and natural riches of its New Zealand provenance. Von Mandl observed: "Many years ago on a fly fishing trip to New Zealand, I visited Cloudy Bay winery and stayed in its then humble guest house, the Shack. I recall not only being impressed by the wines but by the way a newcomer like New Zealand was making its mark in the world of wine. Having seen the progression of Cloudy Bay globally under Ian's leadership, I felt like he was the right person to take Mission Hill to the next level with me. I am a great believer in our distinctive and unique Okanagan Valley wines and I am personally looking forward to Ian bringing his experience in building a New World region and an iconic brand and taking them to the world stage." When asked about the motivations for his move to Mission Hill, Morden said: "It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with the visionary Anthony von Mandl and the Mission Hill team. Anthony understands wine and his broader vision goes beyond that. The landscape, distinctive wines and people of the Okanagan have inspired me in a similarly primal way to when I first set foot in Marlborough. Canada fills the senses. It is like New Zealand in panorama the mountains are higher, the lakes are larger and the climate is more extreme. This is a landscape of imposing proportions and my experience in places like Central Otago is that great wines are often born of this kind of adversity. My first taste of a fine Canadian Pinot Noir was one of those 'discovery moments' of my wine career. It was a Mission Hill wine at the Cloudy Bay 2012 international benchmark tasting. The Okanagan climate delivers the kind of fresh, vibrant wine styles that resonate with modern palates and cuisine. This is the New New World of wine operating at the avant-garde, working with a great group of like-minded people, which is personally where I want to be. I'm delighted to be in Canada, and with some major US markets on our doorstep and the Pacific Northwest's natural pivot towards Northern Asia, I sense enormous potential ahead." Morden also assumes responsibility for the von Mandl Family's extensive Sebastian Farms vineyard estates which grow up to 95% of Mission Hill's grapes, are leaders in viticulture research in the Okanagan Valley, and are focused on "cultivating excellence." Ian takes up his new Mission Hill role from mid-September 2016. About Mission Hill Family Estate Since 1981 Mission Hill Family Estate has pioneered British Columbia's Okanagan Valley as a premium wine making region. The iconic winery is known for its international award-winning wines and dramatic architecture including a 12 story bell tower and cellars blasted into volcanic rock, set against a backdrop of majestic mountains, scenic lakes and the geometric beauty of the vineyards that define the valley. Darryl Brooker, originally from Australia, leads the Mission Hill winemaking team in the pursuit of making wines that reflect the numerous distinctive terroirs and climate zones found in the Okanagan Valley. Mission Hill's elegant and internationally acclaimed wine portfolio celebrates the unique and diverse micro-climates of perhaps the world's most exciting emerging wine region. Sustainability and harnessing climate change is key to the family's approach in farming with the von Mandl family's European heritage evident in their artisanal approach to winemaking, and total commitment and passion to excellence. Conde Nast Traveler has described Mission Hill as 'The Gold Standard of Wineries'. SOURCE Mission Hill Family Estate Image with caption: "Ian Morden appointed Managing Director at Mission Hill Family Estate winery in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. (CNW Group/Mission Hill Family Estate)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160920_C5730_PHOTO_EN_777439.jpg Image with caption: "Mission Hill Family Estate winery located in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. (CNW Group/Mission Hill Family Estate)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160920_C5730_PHOTO_EN_777515.jpg For further information: Ian Galbraith, Director Communications, Mission Hill Family Estate, Tel: (604) 269-7017, [email protected] THUNDER BAY, ON, Sept. 19, 2016 /CNW/ - Red Metal Resources Ltd. (OTCPINK:RMES) ("Red Metal") is pleased to report that it has signed a Letter of Intent ("LOI") to sell, pursuant to a takeover bid, business combination or similar transaction, all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Red Metal Resources Ltd., namely 34,290,302 common shares, as well as all of the common shares of Red Metal that may be issued upon the exercise of any options, warrants or other convertible securities after the formal filing of the transaction but before its closing (the "Transaction"). The proposal would be that such Red Metal shareholders will receive in exchange an aggregate consideration of CAD$3,250,000 payable through: (i) the payment in cash of the Red Metal's debts for a maximum amount of CAD$500,000; and (ii) for the remainder of the aggregate consideration, the issuance of class "A" common shares of the capital stock of TomaGold at a price that is the higher between the average market price over the 20 days before the execution date of the Definitive Agreement and of CAD$0.15, subject to a maximum price of CAD$0.20. The parties to the transaction are at arm's length. The LOI includes customary provisions, including non-solicitation of alternative transactions, the right to match superior proposals and the closing by TomaGold of a financing of CAD$700,000 before the closing of the Transaction. The parties have agreed to a break-up fee of CAD$175,000 (i) payable to TomaGold if Red Metal is in default of this LOI and if a superior proposal is accepted by Red Metal's shareholders, and (ii) payable to Red Metal if TomaGold does not complete the Transaction for reasons other than discovering an issue with their confirmatory due diligence. Red Metal owns, or has the option to own, 100% of three projects (Farellon, Perth and Mateo) located in the prolific Candelaria iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) belt of Chile's coastal Cordillera, host to Freeport McMoRan's Candelaria Mine and Anglo American's Mantoverde Mine. Farellon property (100% interest in six claims and option to earn a 100% interest in two claims) The Farellon property is located 150 km southwest of Copiapo, Chile, and consists of eight mining claims totalling 1,234 hectares in the Carrizal Alto mining district, more precisely 3 km southwest of the historic Carrizal Alto mine. It is easily accessible year-round by dirt roads and is located close to power, water and a major urban centre, Copiapo, with a readily available mining workforce. Historical records indicate that copper mining commenced at Carrizal Alto in the 1820s and continued on a significant scale, mostly by British companies, until 1891 when disastrous flooding occurred and mines closed. Historical reports indicate that the larger mines were obtaining good grades over significant widths in the bottom workings at the time of closure. It is estimated that during this period, over 3 million tonnes with grades in excess of 5% copper and widths of 8 m was extracted, including a large quantity of direct shipping mineralized material at 12% copper (Source: Ulriksen, C. (1991), Carrizal Alto Mining District, Vallenar, III Region, Chile, 7 p.). Work completed to date on the Farellon property has been focused on a 1.6 kilometres stretch of mineralized veins hosted in a 10 to 25-metre-wide shear zone, a further 2.5 kilometres of this shear zone have been explored on surface and show similar geology and mineralization on surface as the zone that has been previously drilled. A total of 6,992 metres of drilling was completed in three programs along a 1.3 km strike length. The following table summarizes the best results obtained to date. HOLE_ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Cu (%) Au (g/t) FAR-96-007 25 34 9 1.05 0.38 FAR-96-009 72 83 24 1.01 0.57 FAR-96-009 62 65 3 2.24 0.67 FAR-96-015 59 79 20 0.98 0.99 FAR-96-015 99 109 10 1.02 0.18 FAR-96-022 29 39 10 1.31 1.53 FAR-96-022 100 108 8 2.49 3.72 FAR-96-023 132 147 15 1.42 0.60 FAR-96-024 33 36 3 2.89 0.94 FAR-96-025 65 85 20 1.22 0.97 FAR-09-B 75 86 11 0.67 1.35 FAR-09-C 73 103 30 0.79 0.55 FAR-09-C 77 82 5 4.16 2.57 FAR-11-001 36 49 13 2.51 0.35 FAR-11-001 36 44 8 3.95 0.53 FAR-11-001 37 43 6 5.09 0.64 FAR-11-006 80 112 32 1.35 0.99 FAR-11-006 84 96 12 2.18 2.10 FAR-13-002 47 54 7 2.15 0.28 The table above shows grades and widths of mineralization which are consistent with historic drilling results and have also given valuable geological information showing multiple veins and the potential for wide zones of economic mineralization. The true width of the drill hole intersections cannot be determined from the information available, as it was RC drilling. In 2014, Red Metal entered into a contract with a Chilean artisanal miner allowing the artisanal miner to mine on the Farellon property in return for a 10% net sales royalty. In January 2015 the artisanal miner first started selling mineralized material to ENAMI, a Chilean national mining company, and has since sold 9,953 tonnes of sulphide mineralized material grading 1.82% Cu, 6.56 g/t Ag and 0.25 g/t Au, as well as 1,813 tonnes of oxide mineralized material grading 1.56% Cu (Source: RMES Annual and Quarterly Reports). In April 2015, the artisanal miner received all the necessary permits allowing them to increase their operations from 500 tonnes per month to 5,000 tonnes per month. Continued expansion of the Farellon property's small-scale mining operation, through minimal capital expenditures, could significantly increase revenues and provide important geological and metallurgical information. Perth property (100% interest) The Perth property consists of 12 mining claims totaling 2,245 hectares in the Carrizal Alto mining district. It is contiguous to the Farellon project, but geologically different. The property has been known to host gold and copper mineralization since the early 1900 when it was part of the Carrizal Alto mining complex. Modern exploration on the property started in 2008 and multiple surface mapping, trenching and drilling programs have been completed since then. More than 12 mineralized veins have been identified on the property. Significant results obtained from surface channel sampling are listed in the table below. Sample ID Northing Easting Elevation Length Au g/t Cu % 778 6895914.00 308888.00 772 Reconnaissance 16.50 2.87 1962 6893308.58 308065.74 648 1.10 15.26 0.93 1977 6895153.72 308780.84 714 2.10 14.43 0.72 2938 6895006.00 308352.00 888 0.50 14.00 3.62 1960 6893313.57 308068.57 648 1.10 9.77 1.36 2975 6894308.00 308364.00 727 0.40 8.92 1.84 1903 6892715.11 307888.80 588 0.60 8.52 1.56 1952 6892720.24 307889.38 588 1.50 8.37 2.14 1961 6893307.92 308066.42 647 1.10 8.14 2.83 1923 6893265.79 308261.54 622 0.30 7.60 1.04 1921 6893260.81 308515.88 638 0.40 7.38 2.43 1913 6893501.66 308143.50 687 0.60 6.73 7.16 252 6892373.78 307952.33 581 0.35 6.48 1.32 1821 6896660.00 309450.00 671 1.10 5.86 4.09 1813 6896586.00 310019.00 584 1.30 5.71 2.88 3037 6895254.00 308254.00 901 0.30 5.26 8.76 2951 6894414.00 308406.00 741 0.55 4.89 2.08 1972 6895140.00 308797.00 778 1.20 4.75 1.68 1975 6895151.55 308790.60 757 1.40 4.47 5.90 2007 6897060.00 309956.00 563 1.50 4.07 3.78 1905 6893092.03 308001.35 660 0.80 3.13 3.98 Mateo property (100% interest) The Mateo property is a copper-gold-silver project consisting of 14 mining and exploration claims totaling 1,184 hectares located approximately 10 km east of Vallenar. The property has undergone limited modern exploration including surface and underground RC drilling and artisanal mining on three separate mine sites, the Irene, Margarita and Santa Theresa mines. During August through October 2011, Red Metal carried out an in-depth geological mapping and sampling program on the property. A total of 138 reconnaissance samples were collected. The highest assay values returned from reconnaissance samples were 21 g/t Au and 10.3% Cu but more common values were between 1-3 g/t Au and 1-3% Cu. Detailed mapping identified nine significant mineralized zones where further work is recommended. This LOI will automatically terminate without further action by TomaGold or Red Metal and be of no further force and effect upon the earliest to occur of: (a) the entering into of the Definitive Agreement; (b) the mutual written agreement by TomaGold and Red Metal; and (c) the 60th day following the date that this letter agreement is fully executed, or such later date as may be agreed to in writing by TomaGold and Red Metal. The Transaction is subject to applicable shareholder, court and stock exchange approvals and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature. The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by Caitlin Jeffs, P Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Red Metal Resources Ltd. Red Metal Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on aggressive growth through acquiring, exploring and developing copper-gold assets in Chile. Our projects are located in the prolific Candelaria iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) belt of Chile's coastal Cordillera, host to Freeport-McMoRan's Candelaria Mine and Anglo American's Mantoverde Mine. Red Metal is a fully reporting US public company quoted on the OTCQB under the symbol RMES. For more information, visit www.redmetalresources.com. About TomaGold Corporation TomaGold Corporation is a Canadian-based mining exploration company whose primary mission is the acquisition, exploration and development of gold projects in Canada and abroad. Except for the statements of historical fact, the information contained herein is of a forward-looking nature. Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by statements containing forward-looking information. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on statements containing forward looking information. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We may use certain terms in our press releases, such as "measured," "indicated," and "inferred" resources, which the SEC guidelines generally prohibit companies from including in their filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K, which may be obtained from us, or from the SEC website. SOURCE Red Metal Resources Ltd. For further information: Red Metal Resources Ltd., Caitlin Jeffs, P.Geo, CEO, 807.345.7384, www.redmetalresources.com Video footage seen by New Scientist appears to show a dog walking three weeks after its spinal cord was almost completely severed. Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero says the technique used to treat the dog will make a human head transplant possible next year. The idea is that someone paralysed from the neck down, for example, could have their head connected to the body of someone who is brain dead, restoring their ability to move Papers published today detailing the spinal cord repair technique applied to the dog have prompted other scientists to express concerns over the work. These papers do not support moving forward in humans, says Jerry Silver, a neuroscientist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. In a series of three papers, all edited by Canavero for the journal Surgical Neurology International, researchers in South Korea and the US claim that a chemical called polyethylene glycol, or PEG, may help reconnect a severed spinal cord. C-Yoon Kim at Konkuk University in Seoul and his team who have been working closely with Canavero severed the spinal cord of 16 mice. They then injected PEG into the gap between the cut ends of the spinal cord in half of the mice, while the rest were injected with saline. After four weeks, they report that five of the eight mice in the PEG group had regained some ability to move, compared with none of the control group. The other three PEG-treated mice died, as did all those in the control group. Even better spinal cord repair treatment with graphene nanoribbons A team at Rice University in Houston, Texas, has been working to develop a better version of PEG. Hearing about Canaveros plans to use the solution in a human head transplant, the team believed it could improve it by adding graphene nanoribbons an electrically conductive material that acts as a scaffold that neurons can grow along. My motivation is spinal cord repair. If this works, its going to have huge ramifications for spinal injuries, says James Tour, who is part of the Rice team. But we thought, if youre going to be working towards a head transplant, youre going to need this, so let us help you. In a final experiment, the South Korean team tested the original PEG in a dog immediately after it was given a near-complete cervical (neck) spinal lesion. Visual inspection suggested more than 90 per cent of its spinal cord had been severed similar to what is seen in people who receive stab wounds to the spinal cord. The following day, the dog was completely paralysed, but after three days, the team reports minimal movement in all four limbs. After two weeks, the dog was able to drag its hind limbs by its torso and forelimbs, and during the third week, it was able to walk. The team claims that the dog began to grab objects, wag its tail and resume a normal life. There was no control in the experiment. Human head transplant scheduled for Dec, 2017 The worlds first head transplant patient has scheduled the procedure for December 2017. Valery Spiridonov, 30, was diagnosed with a genetic muscle-wasting condition called Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, and volunteered for the procedure despite the risks involved. Nextbigfuture has covered the proposed full human body [aka human head transplant] transplant procedure several times. The background information and science behind the procedure is below. Dr. Sergio Canavero, an Italian neurosurgeon, will perform the procedure on Spiridonov. The procedure is expected to last up to 36 hours, and it will require Spiridonovs head be cooled as well as the donors body. Canavero calculates it will take two years to plan and prepare for a successful procedure. The surgery will be done once the doctor and the experts are 99 percent sure of its success. Russian computer scientist Valery Spiridonov, suffering from Werdnig Hoffmans disease, has volunteered for the worlds first head-to-body transplant. Vladimir Smirnov/TASS/Corbis Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero announce a project perform a human head transplant at a keynote lecture at the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons annual conference this June. He believes the patient would be able to speak in his own voice upon waking and that walking could be achieved within a year. If society doesnt want it, I wont do it, Canavero says. But if people dont want it in the US or Europe, that doesnt mean it wont be done somewhere else. Most other surgeons do not believe the procedure will be successful. New Scientist reports that Xiao-Ping Ren of Harbin Medical University in China recently showed that it is possible to perform a basic head transplant in a mouse. Ren will attempt to replicate Canaveros protocol in the next few months in mice, and monkeys. CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics Allogeneic Head and Body Reconstruction: Mouse Model Rens approach, pioneered in mice, involves retaining the donor brain stem and transplanting the recipient head. Our preliminary data in mice support that this allows for retention of breathing and circulatory function. Critical aspects of the current protocol include avoiding cerebral ischemia through cross-circulation (donor to recipient) and retaining the donor brain stem. Successful clinical translation of AHBR will become a milestone of medical history and potentially could save millions of people. Rens mouse experiment confirmed a method to avoid cerebral ischemia during the surgery and solved an important part of the problem of how to accomplish long-term survival after transplantation and preservation of the donor brain stem. Head Transplant Procedure * The sharp severance of the cervical cords (donors and recipients), with its attendant minimal tissue damage * The exploitation of the gray matter internuncial sensori-motor highway rebridged by sprouting connections between the two reapposed cord stumps. This could also explain the partial motor recovery in a paraplegic patient submitted to implantation of olfactory ensheathing glia and peripheral nerve bridges: A 2-mm bridge of remaining cord matter might have allowed gray matter axons to reconnect the two ends * The bridging as per point 2 above is accelerated by electrical SCS straddling the fusion point * The application of fusogens/sealants: Sealants seal the thin layer of injured cells in the gray matter, both neuronal, glial and vascular, with little expected scarring; simultaneously they fuse a certain number of axons in the white matter. During CSA, microsutures (mini-myelorrhaphy) will be applied along the outer rim of the apposed stumps. A cephalosomatic anastomosee will thus be kept in induced coma for 3-4 weeks following CSA to give time to the stumps to refuse (and avoid movements of the neck) and will then undergo appropriate rehabilitation in the months following the procedure. In addition, the immunosuppressant regime that will be instituted after CSA is expected to be pro-regenerative Figure 1: (a) Longitudinal cut along a primate spinal cord depicting the internuncial system (gray matter motor highway) and the nano-size of the proposed severance (left). The red circle on the right side of this panel is the pyramidal tract, shown in two exploded views of a sharply transected cord (middle right) and of the cord in the vertebral canal (lower middle right). (b)Visualization of the severed pyramidal tract. The uppermost image depicts a motor neuron in the cortex sending forth the axonal prolongation. Middle panel: The pyramidal tract (red) and a portion of its severed axons. Lower panel: The sharply severed axonal extensions (adapted from Laruelle 1937 and several images in the public domain) The project for the first head transplant in man is code-named HEAVEN/GEMINI (Head Anastomosis Venture with Cord Fusion. I covered the internet and news reactions to the 2013 discussion of technical feasibility of head transplants. I consider the 2013 proposed procedure in the context of organ donation and xenotransplantation. The technical hurdles have now been cleared thanks to cell engineering. As described in his paper, the keystone to successful spinal cord linkage is the possibility to fuse the severed axons in the cord by exploiting the power of membrane fusogens/sealants. Agents exist that can reconstitute the membranes of a cut axon and animal data have accrued since 1999 that restoration of axonal function is possible. One such molecule is poly-ethylene glycol (PEG), a widely used molecule with many applications from industrial manufacturing to medicine, including as an excipient in many pharmaceutical products. Another is chitosan, a polysaccharide used in medicine and other fields. HEAVEN capitalizes on a minimally traumatic cut of the spinal cord using an ultra-sharp blade (very different from what occurs in the setting of clinical spinal cord injury, where gross, extensive damage and scarring is observed) followed within minutes by chemofusion (GEMINI). The surgery is performed under conditions of deep hypothermia for maximal protection of the neural tissue. Moreover, and equally important, the motoneuronal pools contained in the cord grey matter remain largely untouched and can be engaged by spinal cord stimulation, a technique that has recently shown itself capable of restoring at least some motor control in spinal injured subjects. Surgical Neurological International HEAVEN: The head anastomosis venture Project outline for the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage (GEMINI) * a head of a monkey was transplanted in the 1970s but the spinal cord could not be repaired at the time * Spinal cords have been regrown in rats. * In 2000, guinea pigs had spinal cords surgically cut and then protected with PEG chemical (like what is proposed here) and they had over 90% of spinal nerve transmission restored with a lot of mobility and function restored Over the last 30 years, scientists have worked to chemically encourage regrowth. Two chemicals, chondroitinase and FGF, show strong signs of doing exactly thatin rats, at least. Independently, over the past three decades, each chemical has shown some promise in restoring simple but crucial rat motor processes, like breathing, even with entirely severed spinal cords. Two surgeons in the field figured that a combination of the chemicals might enhance the regrowth even more. The surgeons, from Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic, began by entirely severing the spinal cords of 15 rats to ensure no independent, natural regrowth. That shut off the rats bladder control (a nervous system process that is especially important in rats, since they urinate often and to mark their territory). The researchers then injected the two growth-stimulating chemicals into both sides of the severance, and reinforced the gap in the cord with steel wiring and surgical thread. The Cleveland clinic has the full description of the rat spinal cord repair. The indications for HEAVEN would be far-reaching (including non-brain cancer), but, given the dearth of donors, a select group of gravely ill individuals would be the target. This would include for instance people with some kinds of muscular dystrophies, which prove eventually lethal and a source of major suffering. A Possible Head Transplant Scenario is Described What follows is a possible scenario in order to give the reader a feel for the whole endeavor. Donor is a brain dead patient, matched for height and build, immunotype and screened for absence of active systemic and brain disorders. If timing allows, an autotransfusion protocol with Ds blood can be enacted for reinfusion after anastomosis. The procedure is conducted in a specially designed operating suite that would be large enough to accommodate equipment for two surgeries conducted simultaneously by two separate surgical teams. The anesthesiological management and preparation is outlined elsewhere. Both R and D are intubated and ventilated through a tracheotomy. Heads are locked in rigid pin fixation. Leads for electrocardiography (ECG), EEG (e.g., Neurotrac), transcranial measurement of oxygen saturation and external defibrillation pads are placed. Temperature probes are positioned in tympanum, nasopharynx, bladder, and rectum. A radial artery cannula is inserted for hemodynamic monitoring. Rs head, neck, and one groin are prepped and draped if ACHP is elected. A 25G temperature probe may be positioned into Rs brain (deep in the white matter), but, as highlighted, a TM thermistor should do. Antibiotic coverage is provided throughout the procedure and thereafter as needed. Before PH, barbiturate or propofol loading is carried out in R to obtain burst suppression pattern. Once cooling begins, the infusion is kept constant. On arrest, the infusion is discontinued in R, and started in D. An infusion of lidocaine is also started, given the neuroprotective potential. Organ explantation in R is possible by a third surgical team. Rs head is subjected to PH (ca 10C), while Ds body will only receive spinal hypothermia; this does not alter body temperature. This also avoids any ischemic damage to Ds major organs. R lies supine during induction of PH, then is placed in the standard neurosurgical sitting position, whereas D is kept upright throughout. The sitting position facilitates the surgical maneuvers of the two surgical teams. In particular, a custom-made turning stand acting as a crane is used for shifting Rs head onto Ds neck. Rs head, previously fixed in a Mayfield three-pin fixation ring, will literally hang from the stand during transference, joined by long Velcro straps. The suspending apparatus will allow surgeons to reconnect the head in comfort. The two teams, working in concert, would make deep incisions around each patients neck, carefully separating all the anatomical structures (at C5/6 level forward below the cricoid) to expose the carotid and vertebral arteries, jugular veins and spine. All muscles in both R and D would be color-coded with markers to facilitate later linkage. Besides the axial incisions, three other cuts are envisioned, both for later spinal stabilization and access to the carotids, trachea and esophagus (Rs thyroid gland is left in situ): Two along the anterior margin of the sternocleidomastoids plus one standard midline cervical incision. Under the operating microscope, the cords in both subjects are clean-cut simultaneously as the last step before separation. Some slack must be allowed for, thus allowing further severance in order to fashion a strain-free fusion and side-step the natural retraction of the two segments away from the transection plane. White matter is particularly resistant to many of the factors associated with secondary injury processes in the central nervous system (CNS) such as oxygen and glucose deprivation and this is a safeguard to local manipulation. Once Rs head is separated, it is transferred onto Ds body to the tubes that would connect it to Ds circulation, whose head had been removed. The two cord stumps are accosted, length-adjusted and fused within 1-2 minutes: The proximal and distal cord segments must not be accosted too tightly to avoid further damage and not too loose to stop fusion. A chitosan-PEG glue, as described, will effect the fusion. Simultaneously, PEG or a derivative is infused into Ds blood-stream over 15-30. A few loose sutures are applied around the joined cord, threading the arachnoid, in order to reinforce the link. A second IV injection of PEG or derivative may be administered within 4-6 hours of the initial injection. The bony separation can be achieved transsomatically (i.e., C5 or C6 bodies are cut in two) or through the intervertebral spaces. In both R and D, after appropriate laminectomies, a durotomy, both on the axial and posterior sagittal planes, would follow, exposing the cords. In D, the cord only has been previously cooled. If need be, pressure in D is maintained with volume expansion and appropriate drugs. The vascular anastomosis for the cephalosomatic preparation is easily accomplished by employing bicarotid-carotid and bijugular-jugular silastic loop cannulae. Subsequently, the vessel tubes would be removed one by one, and the surgeons would sew the arteries and veins of the transplanted head together with those of the new body. Importantly, during head transference, the main vessels are tip-clamped to avoid air embolism and a later no-reflow phenomenon in small vessels. Upon linkage, Ds flow will immediately start to rewarm Rs head. The previously exposed vertebral arteries will also be reconstructed. The dura is sewn in a watertight fashion. Stabilization would follow the principles employed for teardrop fractures, anterior followed by posterior stabilization with a mix of wires/cables, lateral mass screws and rods, clamps and so forth, depending on cadaveric rehearsals. Trachea, esophagus, the vagi, and the phrenic nerves are reconnected, these latter with a similar approach to the cord. All muscles are joined appropriately using the markers. The skin is sewn by plastic surgeons for maximal cosmetic results. R is then brought to the intensive care unit (ICU) where he/she will be kept sedated for 3 days, with a cervical collar in place. Appropriate physiotherapy will be instituted during follow-up until maximal recovery is achieved. More Background and History of head transplants and spinal cord repairs There have been many studies on spinal cord repair, but many have the repair performed after waiting for one week. It would be far easier to repair if the repair is done right away and separation and reattachment is done in a careful surgical way. In 2000, there was immediate recovery from spinal cord injury through molecular repair of nerve membranes with polyethylene glycol. (10 pages) Immediate and full (over 90%) recovery from a severed spinal cord was performed in adult guinea pigs with the application of one of the chemicals proposed in the human head transplant project. A brief application of the hydrophilic polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG) swiftly repairs nerve membrane damage associated with severe spinal cord injury in adult guinea pigs. A 2 min application of PEG to a standardized compression injury to the cord immediately reversed the loss of nerve impulse conduction through the injury in all treated animals while nerve impulse conduction remained absent in all sham-treated guinea pigs. Physiological recovery was associated with a significant recovery of a quantifiable spinal cord dependent behavior in only PEG-treated animals. The application of PEG could be delayed for approximately 8 h without adversely affecting physiological and behavioral recovery which continued to improve for up to 1 month after PEG treatment. Stem cell injections help repair damage and restore function. The early-stage neural stem cells grew new axonal connections across the injury and re-established significant mobility, something that hasnt been done before, Tuszynski said. Both rat and human neural stem cell transplants restored function. The stem cells improved mobility on a 21-point scale, from 1.5 after spinal cords were severed to 7 after the treatment. The rats were treated a week after the injury, a clinically relevant model for human therapy. Rats with spinal cord injuries and severe paralysis are now walking (and running) thanks to researchers at EPFL. Published in the June 1, 2012 issue of Science, the results show that a severed section of the spinal cord can make a comeback when its own innate intelligence and regenerative capacity is awakened. In 1959, China announced that it had succeeded in transplanting the head of one dog to the body of another twice. On March 14, 1970, a group of scientists from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, led by Robert J. White, a neurosurgeon and a professor of neurological surgery who was inspired by the work of Vladimir Demikhov, performed a highly controversial operation to transplant the head of one monkey onto anothers body. The procedure was a success to some extent, with the animal being able to smell, taste, hear, and see the world around it. The operation involved cauterizing arteries and veins carefully while the head was being severed to prevent hypovolemia. Because the nerves were left entirely intact, connecting the brain to a blood supply kept it chemically alive. The animal survived for some time after the operation, even at times attempting to bite some of the staff. Other head transplants were also conducted recently in Japan in rats. Unlike the head transplants performed by Dr. White, however, these head transplants involved grafting one rats head onto the body of another rat that kept its head. Thus, the rat ended up with two heads. The scientists said that the key to successful head transplants was to use low temperatures. * Effective repair of traumatically injured spinal cord by nanoscale block copolymer micelles (Nature Nanotechnology, 2009) These experiments treated the damage after about ten minutes and were able to get a lot of movement back in most cases. The damage was a crushing of the spinal cord, so the transplant procedure would have better results because it would be a careful separation of the spinal cord under cold conditions with immediate application of the protectant chemicals. Spinal cord injury results in immediate disruption of neuronal membranes, followed by extensive secondary neurodegenerative processes. A key approach for repairing injured spinal cord is to seal the damaged membranes at an early stage. Here, we show that axonal membranes injured by compression can be effectively repaired using self-assembled monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactic acid) di-block copolymer micelles. Injured spinal tissue incubated with micelles (60 nm diameter) showed rapid restoration of compound action potential and reduced calcium influx into axons for micelle concentrations much lower than the concentrations of polyethylene glycol, a known sealing agent for early-stage spinal cord injury. Intravenously injected micelles effectively recovered locomotor function and reduced the volume and inflammatory response of the lesion in injured rats, without any adverse effects. Our results show that copolymer micelles can interrupt the spread of primary spinal cord injury damage with minimal toxicity. Improvement in the locomotor function in the micelle-treated group was evident by a more rapid increase of BBB scores in the first 14 days and continuation of improvement over the following two weeks. Specifically, at 28 days post-injury, the BBB scores were 12.5 + or minus 3.1. From a clinical perspective, an animal with a BBB score equal to or less than 11 lacks hindlimb and forelimb coordination, whereas a score of 12 to 13 corresponds to occasional to frequent forelimb and hindlimb coordination. Reaching a BBB score of 12 is significant in that it is a sign of axonal transduction through the lesion site Illustration of the monkey head transplant from the 1970s. Ethical full body donation The need for organ donors has never been greater. Presently, there are more than 110,000 people on the national waiting list who need a life-saving organ transplant. Organ donations in the USA are made after a donor has been declared brain dead. I do not see the argument that donating all of the body of a brain dead person to another recipient is unethical. It seems that careful policy would make it as ethical as organ donation from someone deceased. Experiments on animals for body transplant also seems ethical as it would be work to lead to clinical treatment. Data on the number of US organ transplants in each year. The number of organ donors ranges from about 6 to 34 donors per million people depending upon country. There are plans to get up to 40 donors per million people. The number of organ transplants is higher because one donor could provide organs for multiple transplants. There has been work to make genetically modified pigs as a source for human heart transplants. Xenotransplantation is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. There have been a few dozen xenotransplantations into humans. So how far could an ethical boundary go ? Could genetically modified pigs be used for body donation to keep someones head alive for extended periods of years ? Could you transplant someones head, arms and legs to the genetically modified pig ? Could genetically modified chimps or gorillas be mass produced for whole body donation ? The immune system would be modified for compatibility but other aspects would remain to prevent it becoming too human as a source. There has been research on giving mammals improved regeneration and self-healing capabilities like those that exist in salamanders. Regeneration and healing genetic enhancement has been done mainly in mice. It could be adapted to chimps, gorillas and pigs. It would be immune and healing steps to enhance the level of recovery of the spinal cord and acceptance of the transplant. SOURCES- New Scientist, FAS, Wikipedia, Cleveland Clinic, University of Purdue, transplant living Berkeley engineers have built the first dust-sized, wireless sensors that can be implanted in the body, bringing closer the day when a Fitbit-like device could monitor internal nerves, muscles or organs in real time. Neural dust researchers have already shrunk them to a 1 millimeter cube about the size of a large grain of sand contain a piezoelectric crystal that converts ultrasound vibrations from outside the body into electricity to power a tiny, on-board transistor that is in contact with a nerve or muscle fiber. A voltage spike in the fiber alters the circuit and the vibration of the crystal, which changes the echo detected by the ultrasound receiver, typically the same device that generates the vibrations. The slight change, called backscatter, allows them to determine the voltage. A major hurdle in brain-machine interfaces (BMI) is the lack of an implantable neural interface system that remains viable for a substantial fraction of a primate lifetime. Recently, sub-mm implantable, wireless electromagnetic (EM) neural interfaces have been demonstrated in an effort to extend system longevity. However, EM systems do not scale down in size well due to the severe inefficiency of coupling radio waves at mm and sub-mm scales. They propose an alternative wireless power and data telemetry scheme using distributed, ultrasonic backscattering systems to record high frequency (~kHz) neural activity. Such systems will require two fundamental technology innovations: 1) thousands of 10 100 um scale, free-floating, independent sensor nodes, or neural dust, that detect and report local extracellular electrophysiological data via ultrasonic backscattering, and 2) a sub-cranial ultrasonic interrogator that establishes power and communication links with the neural dust. We performed the first in vitro experiments which verified that the predicted scaling effects follow theory and that the extreme efficiency of ultrasonic transmission can enable the scaling of the sensing nodes down to 10s of um. I [Michel Maharbiz] think the long-term prospects for neural dust are not only within nerves and the brain, but much broader, said Michel Maharbiz, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and one of the studys two main authors. Having access to in-body telemetry has never been possible because there has been no way to put something supertiny superdeep. But now I can take a speck of nothing and park it next to a nerve or organ, your GI tract or a muscle, and read out the data. The UC Berkeley team powered up the passive sensors every 100 microseconds with six 540-nanosecond ultrasound pulses, which gave them a continual, real-time readout. They coated the first-generation motes 3 millimeters long, 1 millimeter high and 4/5 millimeter thick with surgical-grade epoxy, but they are currently building motes from biocompatible thin films which would potentially last in the body without degradation for a decade or more. Neuron Wireless Recording in the Peripheral Nervous System with Ultrasonic Neural Dust Highlights First in vivo electrophysiological recordings with neural dust motes Passive, wireless, and battery-less EMG and ENG recording with mm-scale devices Recorded signals transmitted via ultrasonic backscatter from implanted neural dust motes Ultrasound as a scalable means of providing wireless power and communication Summary The emerging field of bioelectronic medicine seeks methods for deciphering and modulating electrophysiological activity in the body to attain therapeutic effects at target organs. Current approaches to interfacing with peripheral nerves and muscles rely heavily on wires, creating problems for chronic use, while emerging wireless approaches lack the size scalability necessary to interrogate small-diameter nerves. Furthermore, conventional electrode-based technologies lack the capability to record from nerves with high spatial resolution or to record independently from many discrete sites within a nerve bundle. Here, they demonstrate neural dust, a wireless and scalable ultrasonic backscatter system for powering and communicating with implanted bioelectronics. They show that ultrasound is effective at delivering power to mm-scale devices in tissue; likewise, passive, battery-less communication using backscatter enables high-fidelity transmission of electromyogram (EMG) and electroneurogram (ENG) signals from anesthetized rats. These results highlight the potential for an ultrasound-based neural interface system for advancing future bioelectronics-based therapies. Can get to 8000 times less volume than existing millimeter cubes While the experiments so far have involved the peripheral nervous system and muscles, the neural dust motes could work equally well in the central nervous system and brain to control prosthetics, the researchers say. Todays implantable electrodes degrade within 1 to 2 years, and all connect to wires that pass through holes in the skull. Wireless sensors dozens to a hundred could be sealed in, avoiding infection and unwanted movement of the electrodes. The original goal of the neural dust project was to imagine the next generation of brain-machine interfaces, and to make it a viable clinical technology, said neuroscience graduate student Ryan Neely. If a paraplegic wants to control a computer or a robotic arm, you would just implant this electrode in the brain and it would last essentially a lifetime. In a paper published online in 2013, the researchers estimated that they could shrink the sensors down to a cube 50 microns on a side about 2 thousandths of an inch, or half the width of a human hair. The beauty is that now, the sensors are small enough to have a good application in the peripheral nervous system, for bladder control or appetite suppression, for example, Carmena said. The technology is not really there yet to get to the 50-micron target size, which we would need for the brain and central nervous system. Once its clinically proven, however, neural dust will just replace wire electrodes. This time, once you close up the brain, youre done. The team is working now to miniaturize the device further, find more biocompatible materials and improve the surface transceiver that sends and receives the ultrasounds, ideally using beam-steering technology to focus the sounds waves on individual motes. They are now building little backpacks for rats to hold the ultrasound transceiver that will record data from implanted motes. Theyre also working to expand the motes ability to detect non-electrical signals, such as oxygen or hormone levels. The vision is to implant these neural dust motes anywhere in the body, and have a patch over the implanted site send ultrasonic waves to wake up and receive necessary information from the motes for the desired therapy you want, said Dongjin Seo, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer sciences. Eventually you would use multiple implants and one patch that would ping each implant individually, or all simultaneously. SOURCES- Berkeley, Neuron India is offering Musks SpaceX a big chunk of land and permission to do the required Hyperloop testing in Pune, a city 118 kilometers away from Mumbai. The countrys Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said he made the proposal to Hyperloops parent company SpaceX during his recent visit to the United States If Hyperloop manages to materialize its commercial plans and bring it to India it would enable people in Mumbai to go to Nagpur in 35 minutes, Gadkari said. In comparison, the same 800 kilometers trip takes nearly 14 hours by train. Earlier this year, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced that it had signed an agreement with the government of Slovak Republic to explore building a Hyperloop system that connects Bratislava with Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary. SOURCES- Mashable Israels army estimates that thousands of rockets could slam into the Jewish state in any future war, military sources said Friday ahead of a nationwide civil defence drill. The drill is based on projections of the armys Home Front Command, which estimates 1,500 rockets crashing into the country each day, military sources said in a briefing to Israeli reporters, local media reported. Hamas is said to have been left seriously weakened after a 2014 Gaza war against Israel, but it still holds thousands of rockets, according to a military official. Hezbollah has at least 100,000 and probably more, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Only around one in 100 rockets is likely to hit a building, military sources say, with the rest falling on open ground or being intercepted by Israels Iron Dome missile defence system. They say 95 percent of rockets fired will likely carry a light payload and have a range of less than 40 kilometers (25 miles), but Hezbollah can hit densely-populated central Israel with dozens of rockets each day. During the 2014 war in and around Gaza, Hamas and other terror organizations fired 4,594 rockets at Israel. Of those, the system chose to intercept 799 projectiles if is designed to focus only on missiles deemed threatening to populated areas hitting 735 and missing 64, according to a Channel 2 report. Israel, while pushing Iron Domes larger cousin, Davids Sling, to operational status, has also increased the performance envelope of the existing system. Israel successfully upgraded its Iron Dome missile-defense system in 2015. Davids Sling was formerly known as Magic Wand. It is a medium to long range Israel Defense Forces military system being jointly developed by the Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the American defense contractor Raytheon, designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, fired at ranges from 40 km (24.85 miles) to 300 km (186.41 miles). Davids Sling is meant to replace the MIM-23 Hawk and MIM-104 Patriot in the Israeli arsenal. It is designed to intercept the newest generation of tactical ballistic missiles, such as Iskander, using an on-board dual CCD/IR seekers to distinguish between decoys and the actual warhead of the missile, in addition to tracking by Elta EL/M-2084 Active electronically scanned array multi-mode radar. The multi-stage interceptor consists of a solid-fuel, rocket motor booster, followed by an asymmetrical kill vehicle with advanced steering for super-maneuverability during the kill-stage. A three-pulse motor provides additional acceleration and maneuverability during the terminal phase. Davids Sling was planned to be deployed in 2015, but budget shortfalls for infrastructure for deployable missile batteries will delay its operational date. Davids Sling is meant to bolster the second tier of Israels theater missile defense system. The two-stage radar and electro-optic guided system has a 70300 kilometer range, three times that of Iron Dome. The system can be deployed against aircraft and missiles, with plans to convert the system to intercept cruise missiles in the future. Davids Sling will form one level of Israels future multi-tiered missile defense system that Israel is developing, which will also include Arrow 2, Arrow 3, Iron Dome and Iron Beam from as early as 2018. Davids Sling Weapons System Stunner Missile launch during final milestone test SOURCES- Wikipedia, spacewar By GMM 20 September 2016 - 11:30 Singapore authorities have rejected reports that Maurizio Arrivabene was detained and fined for discarding a cigarette butt last week. Based on information from the Spanish dailies ABC and Marca, and repeated by Britains Telegraph, we reported earlier that the Ferrari chief was in custody for six hours and fined 1000 Singapore dollars. The city-states stance on street littering is infamous, with stringent enforcement and harsh penalties in place for infractions. But the local Channel NewsAsia contacted Singapores National Environment Agency (NEA) and said the reported incident involving Arrivabene never happened. "Reports in the international media on this matter are bogus," the agency reportedly said. Singapore authorities also played down reports that last weekends night race saw the lowest ever spectator turnout in the events nine-year history. "Thats really more a reflection of the global environment in terms of economic uncertainty and so on," government minister S Iswaran is quoted by the local Today publication. "Its a little bit like in 2009, when you had the global financial crisis," he added. "There was a major correction and then it went up again quite strongly." The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Alhassan, collapsed Monday at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Fufore Local Go... The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Alhassan, collapsed Monday at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State while addressing vulnerable IDP women inside a store in the camp.Alhassan, who was in crutches when she arrived the camp, and after addressing the IDPs, entered the store to discuss with some of the said vulnerable women sequel to an allegation by some foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on violation of some girls and women at the IDPs camps in the North-east.While discussing with the women, she collapsed, but was quickly assisted to a chair and given a bottle of Coke to drink, which revived her.According to some of her aides, she had been diagnosed with low sugar, a problem that creates serious weakness of the body.But despite her state of health, Thisday Newspaper reported that she managed to explain to journalists at the camp that her fact-finding mission to Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States tend to confirm the foreign NGOs allegation.Alhassan also paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Muhammadu Bindow, and told him that her visit to the IDPs was to investigate allegations of violation of girls and women and the compound issues of orphans and the vulnerable.Hajiya Alhassan, returned to the country on July 30th after a successful knee surgery in the United States(ThisDay) THE All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has accused the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, of squandering over N200bn of the... THE All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has accused the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, of squandering over N200bn of the states resources.The APC also alleged that the governor had borrowed over N150bn within a year, adding that rather than apply the resources at his disposal to touch the peoples lives, Wike was busy commissioning projects initiated and completed by the immediate past administration.The state Chairman of the party, Dr. Davies Ikanya, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday, described the governor as a squandermania and that he (Wike) had wasted state resources in hosting clubs and associations.Reacting, the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George, described the APCs criticisms as baseless, maintaining that Wike met Rivers State as a critical patient in the intensive care unit.Tam-George pointed out that the state was a victim of brutal administrative vandalism by the immediate past APC government of Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.However, the state APC chairman explained that Wike had refused to pay civil servants and pensioners their salaries and pensions respectively.Wike, whose middle name is Squandermania, has busied himself, wasting Rivers States lean finance by hosting all manners of clubs and associations in Port Harcourt.He has refused to pay our civil servants and pensioners their salaries/dues or to embark on any meaningful project since he was forced upon Rivers State.Wike has turned the state to rivers of blood where security agents, men of God, politicians and mother of triplets are butchered or killed in cold blood. He does this by arming criminals in the state with fake amnesty and not retrieving the arms, which they use to kill and maim innocent people, the statement read.Ikanya commended Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State for advising Wike to try to be man enough by paying Rivers civil servants their salaries.The APC urged Wike to learn from the Edo State Government which though not economically viable as Rivers State, did not only pay her workers, but went ahead to increase the minimum wage from N18,000 to N25,000 per month.In his response to allegation of insecurity, Tam-George described it as a grotesque and silly fabrication.He said, It is a silly fabrication. We challenge the APC to provide proof to support their grotesque allegations.The state was a victim of brutal administrative vandalism by the past APC government of Rotimi Amaechi. Today, the story of Rivers State is different. We have the largest amount of ongoing infrastructural projects in the country.Governor Wike has financially empowered 35,000 micro and small business owners in one fell swoop. Rivers State is moving forward with vibrant hope. But the APC is trapped in its bubble of juvenile propaganda and lies. The Nigerian Army, Theatre Command, Operation Lafia Dole, has clarified that reports of alleged suspected Boko Haram terrorists attack at ... The Nigerian Army, Theatre Command, Operation Lafia Dole, has clarified that reports of alleged suspected Boko Haram terrorists attack at Chibok is not correct.A statement Monday night on behalf of the command by Army spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, explained that what happened was that 2 persons were murdered at Kwamjilari village, (over 30 kilometres from Chibok, and very close to Sambisa forest), by remnants of Boko Haram terrorists looking for food.We wish to reiterate that they werent killed outside or near a church as being bandied around. The people from the said village are all in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Chibok.Those who went back to the village without authorization were moved back to Chibok two weeks ago. Those killed went back on their own contrary to security advise.Nevertheless, a patrol team sent from Chibok went to the village this morning. Adequate measures would be taken to ensure no one go back to the village for now. Outspoken Czech President Milos Zeman announced Tuesday he is backing US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, pitting himself aga... Outspoken Czech President Milos Zeman announced Tuesday he is backing US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, pitting himself against his countrys prime minister who favours Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.Id vote for Donald Trump if I were a US citizen, Zeman said, quoted by the Dnes Czech daily.Branded a populist by his critics, the ex-communist leftist Zeman shares Trumps staunch anti-migrant stance and a fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin.Hungarys anti-migrant right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban also a Putin fan became the first European leader to endorse Trump, calling him a better option for the bloc than Clinton.But in August leftist Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka insisted Clinton was better than Trump for the NATO alliance on security issues as relations between Russia and the West reach their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War.Trump drew the ire of eastern NATO members including Lithuania and Estonia that were ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era by appearing to suggest that he might not protect them from Russian aggression.Trump has also enthusiastically touted his readiness to work with Putin, at one point even describing the Russian strongman as more of a leader than US President Barack Obama.Putin on Saturday offered what appeared to be his strongest support for Trump so far without explicitly naming him.We are carefully watching what is happening in the United States and we, of course, view with sympathy those who publicly state that it is necessary to build a relationship with Russia, on the basis of equality, he told journalists at a televised briefing. Kim Kardashian took out a full-page advert in Saturdays New York Times attacking those who denied the Armenian genocide, an event that claimed the lives of more than a million Armenians.This comes nearly six months after The Wall Street Journal published an ad in support of the Armenian genocide denial.Kim wrote in the ad,Kim, who is of Armenian descent, has previously raised awareness of the tragedy on the anniversary of the genocide, when 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Turkish government in April 1915.The advert read: Dr Zebulun Takwa, adviser to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Peace and development, has called on Nigerians to take personal respon... Dr Zebulun Takwa, adviser to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Peace and development, has called on Nigerians to take personal responsibility to ensure a peaceful Nigeria.Takwa told newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, that Nigeria was going through a challenging moment that requires everyone to be part of the solution.We are commemorating the International Day of Peace at a very challenging moment; it should be a wake-up call and to ask if this is what Nigeria merits.Nigeria does not deserve what is happening on the ground. We all can be part and parcel of seeking for solution. We should move from blame-game and see how we, who are not part of the problem, can become part of the solution, he said.Takwa challenged Nigerians to start asking what he or she could do to put the country on the path of peace and development.I can link it to the ongoing Change begins with me campaign by the present administration; the same message goes for the issue of peace and values that we all propagate.What am I doing to make peace happen in Nigeria? What is the role of my household in ensuring peace in Nigeria? I think that is the question that everybody should write and put on the walls of their homes; when we start reflecting like this, the answers will come.He explained that peace is not a slogan or rhetoric, but a substance that everybody must invest in before it yields fruits. According to him, peace is a process that requires to be consistently worked on before it is achieved.Peace is not like an equation that you have a ready-made formula for or like a medication that you just swallow and sit down, expecting it to work. It must be watered like a flower each day. It (peace) requires watering, pruning, putting the manure and everything before you will reap the flower in the future.If you dont do that and you miss one day, then there is a loophole in achieving it, he said. The theme for the 2016 Day is: The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace.The Peace Day is commemorated every Sept. 21 in accordance with the UN General Assembly Resolution 55/282 of September 2002. TRENTON -- How students fare on standardized tests would no longer influence how teachers and administrators are evaluated under a bill that cleared an Assembly committee Monday. The growing emphasis of PARCC, New Jersey's standardized assessment, sparked the bill. Testing affects only 15 percent of teachers, principals and other educators in the state, and up until this year, test results accounted for 10 percent of a teacher's evaluation. In August, Deputy Education Commissioner Peter Shulman announced the test results would make up 30 percent of an educator's score. "Using test scores to evaluate teachers puts pressure on teachers to teach to the test, which takes away from invaluable classroom instruction and learning," said Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D-Bergen), one of the bill's sponsors. "If the end goal is to ensure teachers are indeed reaching their students, then let's use measures that will give us a more accurate glimpse of who is doing a good job, and who is lacking." Student performance on standardized tests was added as a factor in some teacher evaluations beginning in the 2013-14 school year as part of New Jersey's landmark tenure reform law. The weight of student test scores in teacher evaluations was dropped from 30 percent to 10 percent in 2014-15 when New Jersey switched to the new PARCC exams, short for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). New Jersey's statewide scores improved on nearly every exam during the second year of PARCC testing, but the majority of students in grades 4-8 still failed to meet grade level expectations. The New Jersey Education Association, the state's dominant teachers' union with 200,000 members, testified for the bill (A4122). "When high-stakes tests are used to judge a teacher's effectiveness, everyone loses," according to NJEA president Wendell Steinhauer's testimony. "Students lose because they feel the pressure from high-stakes tests, which is compounded for our special education students. They lose because preparing for the test comes at the expense of the arts, recess, reading books, even sometimes other subjects like social studies, science, and foreign languages," Steinhauer said. "Teachers judged by these tests, currently fourth and eighth grade language arts and math, lose because their performance is based on a snapshot of a student that fails to take into account mitigating factors outside the teacher's control," he said. The Assembly Education Committee approved the bill by a 8-1 vote with two abstentions. NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Adam Clark contributed to this report. Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. anthony-bourdain-wife-split.jpg Anthony Bourdain and his wife, Ottavia Busia, in 2015. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Traveling foodie and TV host Anthony Bourdain has separated from Ottavia Busia, his wife of nine years, People reports. Bourdain, 60, who grew up in Leonia, met Busia, 38, a former general manager at the restaurant Geisha, through chef Eric Ripert, a friend. They soon had matching chef's knife tattoos. In 2007, Bourdain married Busia, who grew up in Lombardy, Italy and came to the United States in 2000. The same year, the couple welcomed a daughter, Ariane. "Because of professional decisions we both have made, my husband and I have been for years in an unconventional relationship," Busia told Page Six. "Nothing has changed. We love each other. We respect the decisions the other has made. And we'll always consider ourselves a family." The website reported that friends of the couple said Busia and Bourdain had been separated for a while. In 2012, Busia told the New York Times that after having her daughter and seeing the mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano at the Prudential Center in Newark, she developed a passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA. Bourdain, who was often traveling for work during the marriage, tried MMA, too, and would attend events with his wife but has said he does not share Busia's level of enthusiasm for the sport. "I love my family but it's not an ordinary family," Bourdain recently told People. Bourdain, who is heading up the Singapore-inspired large Bourdain Market project at Pier 57 in New York, recently won his fourth consecutive Emmy for outstanding informational series or special for CNN's "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown." Busia congratulated him on the win last week via Instagram, where she goes by the name Ottavia Bourdain. Bourdain was previously married to Nancy Putkoski, his high school sweetheart, for 20 years. #teamwork A photo posted by ottaviabourdain (@ottaviabourdain) on Dec 25, 2015 at 2:40pm PST Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook. Baraka municipal ID.jpg The City of Newark on Tuesday opened its third and latest location where residents can obtain a municipal photo ID card, entitling them to city services and other benefits. Mayor Ras Baraka modeled for this sample ID card. (City of Newark) NEWARK -- After issuing more than 9,600 identification cards in the program's first year, Newark is again expanding a municipal ID program that allows residents without a passport, driver's license or other forms of federal or state identification to obtain city and financial services, and access cultural and other institutions. "We want to help all citizens and residents to engage with the city and its resources," Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement about the ID program. "We want them to feel comfortable contributing positively to Newark socially, culturally and economically." On Tuesday morning Baraka and other city officials were at the opening of the third and latest location where residents can obtain the ID's, at the Vince Lombardi Center of Hope, 201 Bloomfield Ave. The Lombardi Center, which mainly offers youth programs, is in a section of the city's North Ward populated largely by Spanish speakers, many of them immigrants. Kevin Brown, president of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, Ari Rosemarin of the state ACLU, and Alix Nguefack of the Immigration Alliance, joined officials at the opening in support of the municipal ID program. The photo IDs, available to anyone at least 14 years old, serve as proof of identity and residency for anyone living in Newark, regardless of immigration status. Applicants must show proof of residency, in the form of a utility or phone bill, lease agreement or other paperwork. The IDs allow access to schools, libraries and cultural institutions. Officials said the ID's also serve as valid identification during encounters with Newark Police, for example while complaining of a crime or being stopped. A total of 9,640 IDs have been issued since the program was launched in August 2015, underscoring the demand for proof of identification among people who have been marginalized due to their youth or old age, economic situation or immigration status, said Crystal Rosa, a city spokeswoman. Officials say the city is also working with financial institutions to get the ID's accepted for services including opening checking or savings accounts and obtaining credit or debit cards, though only a limited number of banks have agreed to accept the cards so far. One reason undocumented immigrants and others without standard ID's are at a high risk of being robbed, official say, is that they have to carry cash for their purchases and other transactions. The city began issuing the IDs a year ago at the Newark Health Department office at 394 University Ave., where officials said 1,493 IDs were given out in the first two weeks. In December, the city opened a second location, at Councilman Augusto Amador's East Ward office, at 113 Monroe St., known as "Little City Hall." Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. -- An 18-year-old Hackensack man is accused of threatening acts of violence in Livingston earlier this month, authorities said Tuesday. John Coulouris was arrested at his home late Monday on a range of charges, including endangering the welfare of a child by distributing child pornography, invasion of privacy, terroristic threats and two counts of cyber harassment, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Livingston Police Chief Craig M. Handschuch announced in a joint statement. Coulouris posted messages on various social media sites "threatening violence in Livingston on or about Sept. 6," officials said in a statement. Livingston police learned of the menacing posts based on reports from concerned citizens. The prosecutor's office later said Coulouris was charged with threats against Livingston High School. Authorities on Sept. 13 announced they were investigating a "a non-specific threat" on social media, which mentioned the town's high school. Officials assured residents the threats were not considered credible, but increased police presence at the school. The threats continued on social media and reportedly included a message that a person would "shoot up" the school. In response, the district canceled its planned back-to-school night and had a delayed opening. "Please know these actions were not made by a current LHS student," Superintendent Christina Steffner and Livingston High School Principal said in a previous joint statement. "Police have called the threats not credible." The prosecutor's office did not immediately disclose what led to the child pornography and invasion of privacy charges against Coulouris. It was also not yet clear what, if any, connection the Bergen County resident had to the town or school district. Coulouris was ordered held at the Essex County jail in lieu of $175,000 bail, according to officials. "Additional charges may be forthcoming," the prosecutor's statement added. "The investigation is active and ongoing." Authorities asked anyone with information to call the prosecutor's office tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432. This story was updated Wednesday with new information provided by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- A court appointed attorney pleaded with a judge Tuesday afternoon Matthew Nathan appears in CJP on Sept. 20, 2016. Caitlin Mota | The Jersey Journal to lower bail for the 19-year-old charged with setting fire to a row of homes on Wegman Parkway. Matthew Nathan is charged with breaking into 98 Wegman Parkway on Sunday morning and setting two bags of his clothing on fire. Officials said Nathan was recently evicted from the first-floor apartment. The 19-year-old was being held on a $75,000 cash-only bail before he made his first court appearance. Nathan's attorney, Chris Godin, asked that bail be set at the bottom of the guidelines -- $35,000 cash or bond -- so the "good student" could return to school. Godin said Nathan is a second-year psychology major at New Jersey City University, less than a mile away from where the 4-alarm blaze occurred. The attorney said Nathan attends the school on a full scholarship. A spokesperson from NJCU could not immediately confirm Nathan's enrollment status at the school. Sunday morning's blaze quickly spread to two neighboring homes. Residents at the scene hours after the fire erupted suspected arson from the beginning. Judge Ramy Eid said he felt the state was being fair by asking for bail to be set at $50,000 cash or bond. Godin asked if a 10 percent cash option could be applied, but that was rejected by Eid. Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- Developers have pledged to build a new public school for Jersey City as part of a $370 million housing development planned for the city's Paulus Hook neighborhood. The 200-student school, for pre-k, kindergarten and first grade students, will be the second privately funded public school to open in the city in recent years. Today's announcement comes less than two weeks after the public-school district opened its first new public school in a decade, the state-funded School 20 on Ocean Avenue. The 28,000-student school district faces overcrowding issues that it believes will become more acute as residents flock to the city's new high-rises and families decide to remain city dwellers instead of fleeing for the suburbs. In a statement, Mayor Steve Fulop said initiatives like the new school, planned for Columbus Drive near Washington Street, will help ease those overcrowding issues. "This project represents an amazing opportunity for Jersey City to be innovative at how we look at both development and creating new school facilities in an urban setting," Fulop said. "What's even better, without spending a dime, we're getting more mixed-income housing, preserving affordable housing, and building a brand-new public school for young children." The new 35,000-square-foot school and residential tower are planned for 25 Columbus Dr., on an existing parking lot adjacent to the 23-story Paulus Hook Towers. The location is three blocks from the Waterfront. The developer behind the project is PH Urban Renewal, a joint venture of L+M Development Partners and Low-Income Housing Corporation. Both have offices in New York. L+M is a part owner of Paulus Hook Towers. The school district has agreed to purchase the new school for one dollar, a deal approved unanimously by the school board in August. Details of the residential development that would accompany the new school have yet to be revealed. The city Planning Board is expected tonight to approve changes to the Paulus Hook Redevelopment Plan that would allow the developers to build as many as 750 new apartments on the site. Paulus Hook Towers has 308 units. "We look forward to embarking on this project with the support of Mayor Fulop and to providing much needed school seats and mixed-income housing that is responsive to the needs of this growing community," Jonathan Cortell, vice president of development at L+M Development, said in a statement. Thirty seven of the units in the new tower would be set aside as affordable housing, the city said today. It's not known when construction is expected to begin. The final site plan would need to be approved by city planners, a step separate from tonight's expected approval of changes to the area's redevelopment plan. The school district's classroom shortage was detailed in a 2014 study the district commissioned, which said the student population could increase by 25 percent by 2017. The largest gains will be found in grades pre-k through five, the study found. Developer Pennrose Properties opened a Head Start pre-k center in the public Gloria Robinson Court Homes complex in July, part of a Fulop administration push to trade city subsidies for new public classrooms. In January 2015, officials broke ground on a new state-funded public elementary school at Summit and Laidlaw avenues. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY - A defense expert at the retrial of a Secaucus lawyer charged with trying to stab his girlfriend to death in 2011 testified today that all of the woman's wounds were consistent with self-inflicted injuries. "Every single wound?" asked defense attorney Peter Willis who is representing Todd Gorman, 51, who is charged with the attempted murder of Stephanie Schwartz on Sept. 29, 2011, in the Secaucus home they shared on Sandcastle Key. "Every single wound," replied Dr. Angelo Caprio on the witness stand. Willis went on to ask if left unattended, would Schwartz have bled to death. "No sir," the doctor said of Schwartz's seven lacerations. "First of all, whenever you get a laceration or a cut, bleeding stops by itself. None of the lacerations or injuries were near a major blood vessel. None of them were near a major artery, and the way someone is cause to bleed to death is by cutting a major artery." Willis then asked if the bruises and scrapes suffered by Gormen, including small cuts to his fingers and an inch-long cut on his palm, could have been defensive wounds. "Yes sir," the doctor said, adding the bruises and scrapes were consistent with a physical struggle. The defense contends that on the night of the incident, Schwartz was trying to hurt herself and when Gorman tried to intervene, she attacked him and he was merely defending himself. Willis said the pair had met in an online forum which provided information on methods to commit suicide. Schwartz killed herself before Gorman's first trial which ended in a hung jury this winter. Willis said Gorman and Schwartz were both successful professionals but were alcoholics who suffered from depression. Gorman went to college on a full R.O.T.C. scholarship and earned a degree in aero engineering. He also got a master's degree in foreign affairs and retired from the Air Force at the rank of captain. But during his first trial, the prosecutor said at the time of the incident, Schwartz had given him a credit card and phone and was supporting him while he was unemployed and doing community service following a DWI arrest. She said Gorman attacked Schwartz with a kitchen knife that night because she told him he was no longer welcome in her home and had called his sister asking her to come get him. Under cross examination, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Greg Mullens ask Caprio if it can really be possible to say that Schwartz's wounds were all self-inflicted. "You have to agree that no one can really say that a wound is self-inflicted?" Mullens asked. "I said they are consistent with self-inflicted wounds," the doctor replied. But Mullens then noted in Caprio's report, he wrote "There is no way anyone can say if a wound was self-inflicted." "Yes," the doctor replied. Gorman is expected to take the stand in his own defense tomorrow, as he had in his first trial. Willis said he expects he will finish presenting his case tomorrow. Gorman faces 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted. The trial will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m. before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mark Nelson in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City. galaxy.JPG The Galaxy Towers in Guttenberg were just one of the buildings threatened in an email promising widespread destruction to the town, where officials closed its one school. (File Photo) This post has been updated to include information regarding the results of a police investigation and a scheduled school reopening. GUTTENBERG - Guttenberg was cleared of any threats and its school will reopen on Wednesday, the mayor said, following a threatening email Tuesday morning that upended the tiny Hudson County town. "We're back to normal," Mayor Gerald Drasheff said late Tuesday afternoon. "School will be open tomorrow." After posting an emergency early morning bulletin that the Anna L. Klein School would be closed on Tuesday, the district posted a follow-up message in the afternoon advising the K-8 school's parents, 1,000 students, and staff that classes would resume the next day. "Meet the Parents Night has been rescheduled for September 22, 2016," the notice added. Drasheff said the school was the last building cleared, at about 2 p.m., after officers and bomb sniffing dogs sent by other departments had also swept Town Hall and the parking garage of the huge Galaxy apartment complex, whose three towers along the Palisades form the town's most recognizable landmark. Guttenberg closed its one public school Tuesday after an email threatened a widespread attack on students and others in the tiny Hudson County community overlooking Manhattan. The threat comes a day after police arrested a suspect in a bombing in Manhattan that injured 29 people on Saturday, and an incident involving an explosive device found in Elizabeth on Sunday night that was later detonated without injuries by police using a robot. In light of those incidents, as well as pipe bomb explosion in Seaside Park on Saturday morning, Guttenberg Mayor Gerald Drasheff said the town had no choice but to take the email seriously. "I think in this day and age, you have to treat any threat as credible," Drasheff said. "We've seen it in New Jersey, we've seen it in New York." He said the community was responding to a threatening email message sent early Tuesday morning. Drasheff said the FBI had been notified. He also thanked State Police and officers from several departments in Hudson County for assisting in the response, which included providing K-9 units to sweep Town Hall, the school and other buildings. Guttenberg, which sends its high school-aged students to neighboring North Bergen, measures less than a quarter of a square mile, sitting mostly atop the Palisades above the Hudson River. With close to 12,000 residents, Guttenberg is one of the nation's most densely populated communities, similar to its crowded Hudson neighbors. Drasheff said the Anna L. Klein School would be swept by bomb sniffing dogs after police had secured other locations that were also threatened but were not as easily vacated. Drasheff said police had closed Ferry Road, which runs under the Galaxy garage, and John F. Kennedy Boulevard East at the top of the cliff. Drasheff said State Police troopers and officers from Jersey City, West New York, North Bergen, the Hudson County Sheriff's Office were on hand to assist Guttenberg's police force. He said the Hudson County Office of Emergency Management set up a command post in town. He said the heavy police response was likely to come at a cost to taxpayers in terms of overtime. But, he added, better safe than sorry. "I felt very, very good as the mayor at the level of response," Drasheff said. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- The shooting death of a 20-year-old on Forrest Street Monday morning has been ruled a homicide by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office. Ahmin Colclough was shot multiple times in the driveway of 391 Forrest St. at about 10 a.m. He was brought to Jersey City Medical Center were he was pronounced dead, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced. Colclough's stepfather was at scene a short time after the shooting and said the 20-year-old grew up just steps away from where he was gunned down. A memorial has grown along the wooden garage where Colclough was killed, with friends and family leaving balloons, candles, and messages on a white T-shirt hanging in the driveway. His death is the 18th homicide in Jersey City this year and fourth in 13 days. No one has been arrested in connection with Colclough's death. Anyone with information can contact the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office at 201-915-1345 or by leaving a tip online. All information will be kept confidential. Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. Turkey and the Wolf wins with whimsy: a new restaurant in New Orleans WASHINGTON (AP) The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all. Welcome to nonleaguedaily.coms news provision, your go-to source for all non league updates, rumours, interviews, and much more besides. Founded by a team with a genuine passion for the world of non league football, nonleaguedaily.com understands exactly what supporters of the so-called lower leagues are looking for. You want the high-quality reporting, in-depth analysis, and match reporting that matches that is more commonly found in the journalism for the top flights, but with the focus firmly fixed on the national leagues. We understand that your passion, interest, and dedication is constant, and we believe you need a news service that matches that commitment with its own dedication and thoroughness so thats what you can expect from our site. The latest non league news, as and when it happens Conventionally, non league news has always travelled fairly slowly, especially when compared to the instantaneous, constant breaking news cycles found in the upper leagues. Tales are told on terraces, rumours passed between pub patrons and circled between supporters at the latest game, often forced to remain somewhat local initially before word eventually spreads to other locales. For us, this slow spread may be fairly organic in nature, but it simply isnt compatible with the modern football environment. Its also not conducive to the current fast-paced, always-available media landscape, nor the way that people tend to consume news nowadays. Thats why we have put together a non league news source that fans can turn to for the latest updates, as and when they happen, and as and when you want to read them. Non-league news now is the only acceptable speed at Betting.co.uk. We update our non-league football news coverage constantly, bringing you all the latest developments and seeking to spread the word as quickly and accurately as possible. So if youre wondering whats happening both with your local team and with the lower leagues as a whole, you can visit us for non league news now, and be confident the stories you find are completely up to date. News reported by passionate fans Our efforts to bring you the very best non league football news are undeniably a professional concern, and one that we take seriously. We are if youll excuse the uncharacteristic tooting of our own horns good at what we do, and we know that the efforts we make in this regard are one of the reasons our site has enjoyed such success thus far. However, everyone who writes for us also shares our readers enthusiasm for non league football. Were not just churning out content in the hopes of cashing in on a professional dream; were here because we want to be, and will always be dedicated and committed to non league football as an entity and thriving in the experience of being able to talk about our favourite subject whenever we can. We create non-league news now that is written by genuine fans and enthusiasts, for fans. We know what you want to know and what matters most to an ardent non league supporter, and we always ensure that focusing on these elements is our guiding principle as we seek to solidify our status as an online non league paper fans can always rely on. When compiling non league news, we think with the mind of a fan first and foremost. We cover the angles and stories that we find compelling and that we know our fellow non league enthusiasts also care about. News doesnt have to be dry and formulaic, in our opinion. When its written by people who are genuinely as fascinated by the stories they are reporting on as their readership will be, we believe news can be interesting, compelling, and even have a sense of personality and humour. News content written with passion and expertise We believe that thanks to our dedication, insightfulness, and commitment to our subject matter of non league today, we are offering the best of both worlds to those searching for an online non league paper. We give you the professional approach we feel is appropriate for news about one of the most intriguing aspects of UK football; an aspect that we genuinely feel does not receive the interest and plaudits that it should be generating. Nevertheless, we dont let that professionalism take over everything we do: we remain committed fans, nurturing our own personal interest in non league football and ensuring every word we compose is infused with a sense of passion and dedication that enhances the posts we create. Its therefore obvious that our non-league content today isnt ever going to be dry, basic, or put together by a tired staff writer who has never heard of any team below the Championship before they rush off to the pub for the evening. Our writers are genuine experts: were covering non league football because we want to, because we believe in it, and because its where our strengths lie. The result is informed content that capitalises on our deep knowledge of the history, as well as the present-day realities, of non league football in the UK. 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As our commitment to providing interesting interviews amply demonstrates, we want to be involved in breaking the stories that everyone then talks about, rather than following along and focusing solely on what everyone already knows. If youre looking for leading content that you cant find anywhere else, and that goes right to the centre of the non league world, then you can turn to nonleaguedaily.com for all the benefits of a conventional non league paper, but in electronic, easily-accessed form. A host of other content to enjoy alongside the non league today Our focus on providing non league news will always be maintained: we consider this aspect the most important of what we do, and it will always be the recipient of our time, dedication, and interest. Well be here, a consistent and trustworthy news portal, for as long as non league football news exists. With that said, when you have read up on the latest goings-on, were here with further content for you to enjoy. 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Less instantaneously topical but still hugely relevant to the modern game, our features are the dream deep dives that we feel non league fans deserve. Were always striving to do better, offer more, and ensure that non league fans can enjoy the same wealth of content as followers of the top tiers, so you can expect top-flight content with the same commitment and dedication as found throughout the upper echelons of the sport. So whether youre looking to find the most recent non league football news, seeking a new bookmaker for your non league bets, or hoping to delve deep into a niche non league-related topic, nonleaguedaily.com is always going to be worth a visit. Return to nonleaguedaily.com for all your non league news needs Weve told you what you can expect from nonleaguedaily.coms news; now we need to put our confidence where our promises are, make sure we deliver on those promises, and establish trust as an online non league paper you can trust. We look forward to welcoming you back to our news section and showcasing the best we have to offer, from exciting new non league interviews to cutting-edge news to transfer speculation. If you want to truly have your finger on the non league pulse, then nonleaguedaily.com is always going to be here for you. Community Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Our free email updates are the best way to get headlines direct to your inbox A spider believed to be the most venomous in the UK has arrived in Nottinghamshire. The false widow (Steatoda nobilis ) spider was discovered at Attenborough Nature Reserve last weekend, hiding in its web. After some coaxing with a piece of vegetation, experts were able to catch the creature and officially identify it. It is believed to be the first time a false widow has been spotted in Nottinghamshire, with the species slowly moving northwards from the warmer southern counties. But don't be too alarmed - although false widow bites can be painful, they are not lethal. Tim Sexton, of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Attenborough Nature Centre, said: "Whilst sightings north of Bedfordshire are still infrequent, the false widow reached Leicestershire in 2014, so it was only a matter of time before they appeared in Notts. "I've been looking for them at Attenborough for the last year, although before the weekend I had only found their smaller cousin, known as the rabbit hutch spider ( Steatoda bipunctata )." Originally from the Canary Islands, the spider first appeared on the south coast in 1879 - having been accidentally introduced via shipments of bananas. For many years it was restricted to the warmer southern counties, but it is believed that milder winters over the last decade have enabled the population to expand its range. Tim added: "The spider was found under one of our interpretation panels on Saturday night. I only managed to get a quick glimpse at first as it retreated back in to its web, but was certain it was a false widow. "After coaxing it out with a piece of vegetation, I managed to get it into a pot to formally identify it. "The following morning I was able to photograph it and confirm that it was indeed Steatoda nobilis , and in this case was an immature female. "To be certain I emailed photographs to a local spider recorder, Howard Williams, who forwarded my pictures to Peter Harvey from the Spider Recording Scheme. Both agreed with my identification and confirmed that it was a first for Nottinghamshire." The false widow has been referred to as the Daily Mail spider after reports of people becoming ill after being bitten by the spiders. But while they do bite, the Wildlife Trust is keen to allay people's fears. Bites have been described as similar to a bee sting but lasting for up to 12 hours - however, they are not lethal. Tim added: "False widows are mostly active at night and from my experience, would rather make a hasty retreat than bite you for the sake of it. It is unlikely you would ever see one on the Reserve during the day, unless you are really looking for it. "This discovery is another example of how we are currently experiencing a change in our environment as invertebrates, and indeed larger creatures such as birds, are taking advantage of a milder climate to increase their range." The National Wildlife Federation brings nature to life in the pages of our publications, inspiring people of all ages and reading levels to develop a deeper relationship with our natural world. To learn more about receiving magazines from the National Wildlife Federation, please visit our subscription page. For information about rights and permissions, visit our Permissions page or contact permissions@nwf.org. MICHIGAN CITY The Michigan City Municipal-Phillips Field Airport has secured a $150,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to study relocating U.S. 20 to make way for an extension of its runway safety area. The airport hopes to start the project in 2018, according to airport manager Jessica Ward. The current plan is to create an underpass for U.S. 20 so the runway safety area can be extended southward above the road. The runway now ends just north of U.S. 20. The project would actually have the impact of making the runway longer, since part of its south end now has to be reserved as an FAA-required safety area. The FAA grant will fund an environmental assessment of the project, which will determine if the current plan is feasible. U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, welcomed the news along with Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer.Michigan City has consistently made progress to invest in their transportation infrastructure and invigorate their economy, Visclosky said. A stock analyst upgraded U.S. Steel stock this week, which had been falling after soaring to a yearly high of $27.49 when new steel tariffs were announced in June. KeyBanc Capital Markets gave the stock, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol X, a more bullish assessment this week. The bank's analyst upgraded U.S. Steel from underweight to sector weight, meaning it went from being underperforming for its sector to on par with its peers. U.S. Steel stock had been surging in the first half of this year on the strength of new tariffs and trade laws, but has been declining since the summer because imports have continued to rise. KeyBanc analyst's note said U.S. Steel stock now priced more appropriately to reflect both risk and reward. "Our bias still leans cautiously on the group, though risk-reward in the equities seems more finely balanced, particularly as one considers typical seasonal momentum in the space during C4Q-early C1Q," KeyBanc Analyst Philip Gibbs said. KeyCorp and Jefferies Group both recently set a target price of $18 for U.S. Steel stock. The 22 firms that track it have given it an average rating of hold. U.S. Steel stock had been trading for as little as $6.89 a share in January, when investors had concerns about a global import crisis that cost domestic steelmakers nearly a third of their business and resulted in 19,000 layoffs. It closed at $16.64 a share at the end of trading Tuesday. ArcelorMittal, Northwest Indiana's other major steelmaker, saw its stock close at $5.45 per share at the end of business Tuesday. Diners wishing to get a glimpse at the preparation of a few Italian specialties won't want to miss the latest cooking class at Ciao Bella Ristorante. The Schererville restaurant will present its "Cooking Demo with Chef Luis Hernandez" Tuesday. A reception begins at 6:30 p.m. with class at 7 p.m. In addition to the demo, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy a four-course meal featuring many of the dishes the chef showcases in his class. On the menu will be a rolled eggplant appetizer, salad, lamb chops on a mushroom risotto and tiramisu. Each course will be paired with wine. Cost for the class/dinner is $45 per person. Reservations are required. Call (219) 322-6800 for more information. Ciao Bella, located at 1514 Indianapolis Blvd., regularly hosts special events and demonstration classes. Visit ciaobellaonline.com - Eloise Marie Valadez PORTAGE After leading Portage and Gary police on a high-speed chase through the two cities Monday morning, Walter Thomas allegedly told officers he "didn't have time to go to jail today." Thomas, 31, of Gary, ended up in Porter County Jail on charges of fleeing law enforcement, operating while intoxicated, driving while suspended, leaving the scene of a crash, criminal recklessness with a vehicle, reckless driving and possession of paraphernalia. The incident began about 10:30 a.m. Monday when an officer spotted Thomas driving 70 mph east on U.S. 20. Thomas initially stopped, but as the officer approached the vehicle, he "squealed" the car's tires, did an illegal U-turn and headed west on U.S. 20. Thomas allegedly drove from 90 to 100 mph on U.S. 20 as it connected to U.S. 12, disregarding traffic signals. Other Portage and Gary police joined in the chase as Thomas continued to drive west on U.S. 12. At one point, at the intersection of U.S. 12 and Aetna Street, a Portage officer attempted a PIT or precision immobilization technique and slowed down Thomas who was then headed south on Aetna Street. The officer got behind Thomas again and at the intersection of 13th Avenue and Cass Street performed a successful PIT maneuver. Other police units then boxed him in. Thomas allegedly refused to get out of his car and had to be pulled from the car by police. Thomas told police he had been drinking the night before, was headed home and didn't have time to go to jail. He was taken to Portage Hospital for a blood draw before being taken to jail. CROWN POINT For Kristen Burton, 22, of Merrillville, the one-year prison sentence she received Tuesday from Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez came as an unexpected and tearful surprise that left her sobbing uncontrollably as she was handcuffed. On Aug. 8, Kristen Burton pleaded guilty to the 2015 robbery of the Best Fashion store in Merrillville, a level 5 felony, in a plea agreement worked out between her defense attorney John Maksimovich and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Nadia Chivers. She, her husband, Corey Burton, 22, and 22-year-old Gary resident Josselyn Patricia Johnson, were each originally charged with level 3 felony robbery resulting in bodily injury for beating the stores owner, a 60-year-old female Korean immigrant, as well as taking clothes and jewelry. That robbery took place Aug. 25, 2015. Both Burtons have been out on bond since March. According to court records, the victim was alone in the store she had opened about 15 years before at 6162 Broadway after immigrating to the United States from South Korea. She told police that a man, later identified as Corey Burton, walked into her store and offered to help him. As the owner was speaking to him, she said she saw three other people walk into the business. Nodding at the others, Burton grabbed the woman and dragged her to the back of the store. There he punched her in the face while the others took clothing and jewelry, the probable cause affidavit stated. Police were called after the injured women ran to a furniture store next door to her business. In presenting his clients case for leniency, Maksimovich told Vasquez that Kristen Burton qualified for the Lake County Community Corrections program during her presentence investigation. She took a blouse or a T-shirt. She was going to ITT Tech, which closed and shes left with tens of thousands (of dollars) in student debt. There is guilt by association, but shes not an aggressive woman Maksimovich said. The 175 days she spent in jail really opened her eyes. During the prosecutions portion of the sentencing hearing, Chivers read aloud the victim impact statement, written by the womans son because his mother doesnt write English. After enduring a difficult life in her native country, the victim said she looked forward to new beginnings in the United States. She opened Best Fashion as part of her dream, and although the business took an economic hit during the recession, she managed to keep its doors open. This is the greatest trauma Ive ever suffered, the womans statement said. Afraid to be alone, she said she still suffers from flashbacks of the beating when she hears certain sounds. The physical and emotional scars have left her unable to continue living on her own, the statement said. As a result of the robbery and beating, she was forced to close her shop and move away, wrote the son. Describing himself as a proud member of the U.S. military, the son said he had to leave his military career behind to take care of his mother. Chivers asked for a three-year prison sentence with Kristen Burton receiving credit for her jail time, with the remainder to be served in the community correction program. However, Vasquez told Kristen Burton that her co-defendant Johnson received a five-year prison term for this crime. This is a big deal, a life-changing event for the victim. This is about punishment, the judge said. As Vasquez sentenced her to one year in the DOC, Kristen Burton began sobbing as she took off her hair band and was placed in handcuffs by a court bailiff. The loud sobbing continued for about another 15 minutes, then subsided as she waited to be taken by a female Lake County Jail guard to be processed. She will receive 58 days credit for her incarceration in Lake County Jail. Corey Burton, who accompanied his wife to court, also began crying, although more softly, as he sat in the courtroom. He returns to court Oct. 5 to be sentenced by Vasquez. Three people, including the victims girlfriend and her twin sister, have been arrested in connection with a Sept. 7 home invasion in southern Porter County where the homeowner was shot in the leg. Andrea and Leslie Wert, both 36 and of Pleasant Township, were booked into Porter County Jail late Friday night. They were both charged with two counts of aiding in a burglary and aiding in robbery. Joseph Potts, 32, of northern Jasper County, was arrested Tuesday morning, according to Porter County Police Sgt. Jamie Erow. He is being charged with two counts of burglary, robbery and criminal confinement. According to court documents, Andrea Wert is the girlfriend of the victim. Police say she, with the help of her twin sister, arranged the burglary. The victim told police he fell asleep on the couch at his home in the 400 block of East County Road 1000 South on Sept. 7 and was awakened when he was hit on the head with the butt of a pistol. He said two men wearing ski masks tried to tie his hands, but he fought back and attempted to escape through a window. As he tried to escape, he was shot in the leg. He said the two men dragged him to his porch, tied his hands with zip ties and demanded he open a safe in his barn. He told police he gave the men bad safe combinations. When the men couldnt open the safe, they beat him. They eventually dragged him to the barn. Andrea Wert told police she arrived home while the men were at the house and was grabbed by one of the men and taken to the barn. But the victim told police the men did nothing to her and were not alarmed she was with them. He said when the men threatened his children he opened the safe. He told police the two men took cash out of the safe and fled in a black Chevy pickup truck. Detectives said Andrea Wert disappeared from Sept. 10 to Sept. 12, and her twin sister, Leslie Wert, texted the victims mother that she and Andrea were with her children at a water park in Illinois. Detectives interviewed Leslie Wert on Sept. 13. According to court documents, she told them she was at Coco Keys water park with a friend, her boyfriend and her nephews. But police said Coco Keys had been closed for more than a year. Police learned from another relative that they had gone to a Wisconsin Dells water park and met up with a friend and a man named Joe, who drove a black Chevy pickup truck. Police learned that the friend was Joe Potts sister, who lived in northern Jasper County. Andrea Wert told detectives Friday she had told her sister and Potts that it would be funny if someone stole her boyfriends money. She said she arranged for all of them to be out of town on Labor Day weekend to allow them to break in. Andrea Wert told police that the first attempt to take the money over Labor Day weekend failed. She told police Joe Potts and the other man, who has not been identified, told Andrea Wert that they would just rob her boyfriend. She said she left with their children and did not return until she thought they would be gone. According to police, she said she didnt know they were bringing guns to the robbery. She told police she received no money from Joe Potts, but Potts gave them money at the Wisconsin Dells to go out and he paid cash for their hotel rooms. Leslie Wert told police she, her sister and Potts agreed to split the money three ways. Police said the case is still under investigation. UNION TOWNSHIP John Simatovich Elementary School maintenance director Joe Krawczyk was nowhere to be found Monday morning on international Talk Like a Pirate day. But Captain Joe sure was. Krawaczyk has been at JSE for 31 years and has become a role model to the students and a treasure to his colleague, said Principal Leigh Barnes. Every year, Krawczyk dresses up like a pirate and plans fun activities for the kids, which included burying a time capsule treasure this year. I really started this as a dare in 2007, said Krawczyk. When Principal Barnes came in, I was thankful she wanted to continue the fun tradition because it makes the kids happy. I love the fact that they get so excited and curious about learning and thats really what its all about. Barnes said that the day is more than a fun learning activity for the kids. She said its a way for her students and colleagues to celebrate the impact that Krawczyk has on the entire school. Mr. Joe is very humble and he just loves the kids, said Barnes. Whenever I have situations in the bathrooms I remind the students who has to clean the bathrooms and I never have problems the rest of the year. Joe is a hero in our school that has been making great memories for over 30 years. The day started with teachers, clad in pirate attire, giving kids a special welcome off the bus, Pirates of the Caribbean music blared over the PA, a JSE news bulletin led by Captain Joe and followed by a special story Pirates Dont Change Diapers read in the classroom. As Captain Joe departed the classroom to many cheers and thanks, a small voice from a distance reminded her peers, Isnt Mr. Joe the best? INDIANAPOLIS Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb unveiled plans Tuesday to spend billions of dollars improving Indiana's workforce and infrastructure, including speeding travel through the Region on the South Shore Line, if he's elected governor Nov. 8. However, the Republican clammed up when asked how he'd pay for his massive list of projects while keeping his promises to maintain Indiana's balanced budget, $2.2 billion reserve fund and top credit rating. "That will come during the legislative process," Holcomb said. "We'll be discussing how we're going to pay for it." Much of Holcomb's economic development plan merely implements, continues or expands programs begun under Republican Gov. Mike Pence, including state support for start-up companies, improved workforce training, funding for Regional Cities projects, completing Interstate 69, defending the use of coal energy and adding an Ohio River port. Holcomb insisted those old ideas should be considered new, because he's actually going to follow through on them. "All of this is my plan," Holcomb said. "I was talking about I-69 in 1998, so that's been a goal of mine going back a few years prior to both of my predecessors." Holcomb's proposal does contain the strongest executive branch endorsement to date for double-tracking the South Shore Line between Gary and Michigan City to reduce travel times for Northwest Indiana residents headed to and from Chicago jobs. "The South Shore Line ... was built in 1916, a century ago. It's long overdue for some serious upgrades," Holcomb said. "I want to be a partner with the Region as they develop their destiny in this 21st century." On roads, Holcomb said he would apply a "data-driven" approach to deciding which state and local thoroughfares should be built or repaired, and he's open to allowing the private sector to take a lead role in paying for construction. Unlike Pence, Holcomb did not rule out supporting tax increases or tolls to pay for infrastructure improvements. He said he's committed to working with the Legislature to find the right long-term solution. "What I won't do is say, let's just borrow our way or raid our way into paying for things and start writing checks that I can't cash," Holcomb said, criticizing the $3.2 billion infrastructure plan of his Democratic opponent, former House Speaker John Gregg. Holcomb declined to stake a new position on state civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers, saying the existing patchwork of local ordinances is satisfactory. That rankled Democratic Party spokesman Drew Anderson, who said Indiana's economic future depends on making every person, including LGBT individuals, feel welcome in the state. "Eric Holcomb will only continue the same policies of Mike Pence an agenda that discriminates based on who you love, strikes down laws that only enable wages to fall further behind the national average and takes more activity out of our state's economy," Anderson said. Holcomb vowed to announce his ideas for education and other issues in the coming weeks. Gregg's policy proposals have been posted on his campaign website for months. INDIANAPOLIS The states most prominent gay elected official is condemning Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Young for his past support of policies aimed at excluding homosexuals from the nations military. Democratic South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Navy veteran who announced last year that he is gay, said Tuesday that Youngs support for the federal Dont Ask, Dont Tell law which mandated gay service members conceal their sexual orientation to remain in the military should make Hoosiers think twice about promoting Young to the Senate. Congressman Young was on the wrong side of history, Buttigieg said. He was comfortable telling people like me, and many brave men and women that Ive served with, that they didnt have a place in the military. Buttigieg and House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, an Army veteran from Michigan City, said as Young campaigns across Indiana touting his experience as a Marine, Hoosiers need to know that Young stood against providing all Americans the same opportunity to serve their country. Hes part of a school of thought that believes if you keep our LGBT citizens on the sidelines that you will win votes, Pelath said. Thats certainly not one that we want to elevate to be the representative of our entire state, particularly at a time when were still suffering the aftereffects of RFRA. In 2015, Indiana briefly was subject to business boycotts after Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential nominee, signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which many Hoosiers believed, prior to its revision, licensed discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. Young spokesman Jay Kenworthy said Young supported Dont Ask, Dont Tell as a U.S. House candidate in 2010, because military leaders claimed repealing it would harm morale and readiness. He is now convinced it has not, and he does not object to the current policy, Kenworthy said. Youngs Democratic opponent, former U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, voted in favor of repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell in 2011. VALPARAISO The Valparaiso Fire Department is donating a decommissioned rescue ambulance to the Valparaiso University Police Department, which plans to convert it to an emergency police command/communications vehicle. Assistant Fire Chief Jonathan Daly, at a recent Board of Works meeting where the donation was approved, said the department has three newer rescue ambulances and two good backups making the one going to VU not needed. He said the ambulance was worth only about $2,000 in a trade-in. INDIANAPOLIS Indiana Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg derided Republican candidate Eric Holcomb on Monday for being slow to offer plans for what he would do if elected to the states top office. Holcombs campaign announced afterward that he would discuss an economic development proposal on Tuesday his first policy announcement coming seven weeks before Election Day and eight weeks after he was picked to replace Gov. Mike Pence as the Republican nominee. Holcomb, meanwhile, said in weekend interviews that the state has gotten through the religious-objections law signed last year by Pence, which sparked national uproar as opponents maintained it wouldve sanctioned discrimination against gays before GOP legislators approved revisions. Gregg toured an Indianapolis high schools career center Monday with Democratic state school Superintendent Glenda Ritz to highlight their proposals for improving vocational training programs around the state. Gregg said afterward that Holcomb has offered only rhetoric on issues such as education and economic development since Republican leaders selected him as their candidate after Pence ended his re-election bid to become Donald Trumps running mate. Gregg, a former Indiana House speaker, pointed to lengthy proposals he has released on his campaign website and discussed while touring the state. Gregg said Holcomb cant point to accomplishments in government because much of his career has been as a political operative, including as a campaign manager for former Gov. Mitch Daniels and state Republican chairman before being appointed lieutenant governor in March. Hes got no program, Gregg said. He has no program. Theres nothing out there. Thats because, whats he going to do, say he knows how to run a good campaign? Holcomb has said he wants to continue what he calls the states progress under the past 12 years of Republican governors, touting Indianas improving unemployment rate, large budget surpluses and funding increases for schools. On the campaign trail, Eric has consistently focused on the four areas he believes are necessary to continue Indianas forward momentum: economic development, community development, excellence in education and providing good state government at a great taxpayer value, Holcomb campaign manager Mike OBrien said in a statement about Tuesdays announcement. This plan, and the ones to follow, have been developed after discussions with Hoosiers across the state. Gregg has persistently criticized Holcomb and Pence over handling of the religious-objections law and called for the extension of full civil rights protections to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Holcomb told WXIN-TV of Indianapolis that the LGBT rights question is not an issue Im focused on at all. It is 2016 right now. Its not 2015, he said in an interview broadcast Sunday. Weve gotten through that. Weve moved forward as a state. Holcomb said few people bring up the issue when hes traveling around that state. In Indiana were going to protect religious liberties and freedoms in the state constitution, and municipalities can pass local ordinances (extending LGBT protections), he told The (Anderson) Herald Bulletin. Thats how weve been operating. It seems to be working. Gregg spokesman Jeff Harris said the civil rights issue remains the top worry of Indiana businesses and that the religious objection-law aftermath continues to scare away investment in the state. Clearly, Eric Holcomb has his head in the sand to think that the LGBT issue has passed, Harris said. In August 1996, State Rep. John Gregg pulled a motorist from his burning car after an accident near my deceased wife's hometown in northern Knox County. When other onlookers were reluctant to help, John pulled the motorist out to safety, although the badly burned motorist had to have his foot amputated. This resulted in much praise from southern Indiana TV stations and an "Award of Valor" from the Indiana Legislature. With John Gregg running for the office of Indiana governor, I told a former neighbor of mine in DeMotte of this incident. He then remarked, "We need more officeholders concerned about others and less about themselves." I would hope this would be a quality that many would look for as they cast their vote for governor of Indiana. Lary Sakel, DeMotte Nine of the 10 largest steel producers in China are owned by the Chinese government, and the top two produced more steel in 2015 than the entire American steel industry. Yet China maintains that it should be granted market economy status in December on the 15-year anniversary of China joining the World Trade Organization. Significant aspects of the Chinese economy remain under government control or influence. As a result, prices for important inputs remain distorted and unreliable for use in anti-dumping investigations. This is especially true in the Chinese steel industry. It is critical that the administration continue to reject Chinas demand to be designated a market economy until China fully reforms its government-controlled economy. A report by three NAFTA region economists last year found that prematurely granting China market economy status in anti-dumping cases would lead to losses of 400,000 to 600,000 jobs in the U.S. and near-term losses in Canada of up to 60,000 highly skilled, well-paying jobs. We urge you to communicate with candidates and elected officials and encourage them to continue working to ensure there is a level playing field for domestic steel manufacturers. Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO, American Iron and Steel Institute Men and Breast Cancer While breast cancer is more than 100 percent less frequent in men, doctors do recommend periodic self exams. Gynecomastia, which is the development of breast tissue in males, does occur, usually secondary to medications, underlying medical conditions, and many times with unknown cause, says Tiffany L. Robinson, MD, director of breast imaging at Franciscan St. Margaret Health. These men may present with either a breast lump or breast pain and we can assess and diagnose them with a clinical exam, mammography and ultrasound. Men arent typically screened for breast cancer since they account for less than 1 percent of all male cancers in the United States. Robinson encourages all men to perform self exams and to watch for abnormal pain, discharge, or a palpable lump, seeking out care from a physician if any of these symptoms arise. President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations for the final time, delivering a ringing endorsement of global cooperation and integration, and denouncing what he called the "aggressive nationalism" and "crude populism" of some leaders in what appeared to be a clear shot at Donald Trump. Roger Clark filed the following report. President Barack Obama used his final address at the United Nations to call for a course correction for globalization - more engagement, not less, to ensure nations don't retreat to a more divided world without human rights, equality or tolerance. "We can choose to press forward with a better model of cooperation and integration. Or we can retreat into a world sharply divided, and ultimately in conflict, along age-old lines of nation and tribe and race and religion," Obama said. The president took a less-than-subtle jab at Donald Trump, the Republican looking to replace him, who has made building a wall between the United States and Mexico to keep out the undocumented a foundation of his campaign. "Today, a nation ringed by walls would only imprison itself," Obama said. But the president acknowledged that globalization has caused problems that cannot be ignored, an argument made by Sen. Bernie Sanders during the Democratic presidential campaign. "We must work together to make sure the benefits of such integration are broadly shared, and that the disruptions - economic, political, and cultural - that are caused by integration are squarely addressed," Obama said. The president touted his foreign policy, saying the U.S. has been a force for good. He acknowledged that extremist and sectarian violence will not be quickly reversed, but insisted diplomacy is the only answer to resolve conflicts like the Civil War in Syria. He called for global action to help refugees. "In the eyes of innocent men and women and children, who through no fault of their own have had to flee everything that they know, everything that they love," Obama said, "We have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children." Obama also talked about the divide around the world between the rich and poor, saying the global economy must work better for all people, not just those at the top. On a typical day at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, only a few police dogs can be seen sniffing out large bags. But on Monday, the canines were everywhere, checking out even the smallest containers. "Its good that the police is here," said tourist Olyvyer Vanlraer. Vanlraer and his wife are from Belgium. Like many tourists, the rode on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. The couple says they live in Brussels - near where suicide bombers killed 32 people in March. They say the scene in New York after Saturday's bombing in Chelsea is all too familiar. "It can happen everywhere," he said. The NYPD says it added officers at the ferry terminal and train stations on Staten Island Monday. Officials from the Port Authority say it has increased personnel as well at all of its bridges in the borough. Many we spoke with were happy to security beefed up. "We are New Yorkers. We have a very good system here. The NYPD is doing a wonderful job here," said a ferry rider. "Unfortunately now I think we live in a state of constant terrorism," added another rider. Congressman Dan Donovan says there is also increased security going on behind the scenes. "There is going to be a lot of security that the public will not be able to see but its there. Whether it would be undercover police officers whether it would be devices that we use to detect things with gun powder in them or radiation. There is a lot of protection," said Donovan. Donovan's advice to Staten Islanders: If you see something, say something. "Just to be alert. Live your lives but be cautious. Know your surroundings. Be aware of your surroundings," he added. Something many Staten Islanders we spoke with say they plan do to. (Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.) Good morning. Heres what you need to know: Latest in the bombing investigation. With the manhunt over for Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect in the bombings in Manhattan and on the Jersey Shore, law enforcement officials are turning their attention to the motive behind the attacks. One official said that Mr. Rahami may have constructed all of the explosives, raising the possibility that he had received training from someone with experience building bombs. What we know about the suspect. Mr. Rahami, 28, was born in Afghanistan and came to the U.S. as a child. He had been living in Elizabeth, N.J., with his family. A federal official said Mr. Rahami had recently spent a year in Pakistan, where he is believed to have married. TUESDAY PUZZLE Tracy Bennett is a fabulous crossword puzzle constructor, but I worry about her cooking skills. Its perfectly fine to be daring in your baking ventures. But if youre going to present your solving audience with a series of desserts, you should at least warn them in advance that these confections are going to go from composed and served cold to baked in the oven for a few minutes to abused and aged and set on fire. Still, I applaud her culinary derring-do. Also, the ACVX crossword moves to its new home on Slate Plus starting Wednesday, September 21. Links to Slate Plus are below. Todays Theme Were having dessert first today, and thats O.K. by me. Ms. Bennett offers us three desserts, ENGLISH TRIFLE, BAKED ALASKA and PLUM PUDDING, along with a humorous revealer, NO PIECE OF CAKE, which is what chefs would call the desserts. And thats true; none of these qualifies as cake as I understand it. She graduated with a bachelors degree from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. I grew up with a love of food, she told The New York Times in 2002. My mother always gave my four siblings and me a choice of lobster or prime rib for our birthdays. On Sundays, my Czechoslovak grandmother would cook three kinds of meat and eight different vegetables for the family. I was so into cooking that at 17, I bought a set of five flaming-orange cast-iron pots with my first paycheck. Still, as a young girl growing up in Brooklyn, she could not distinguish a slice of Brie from a scoop of Camembert, Linda Pelaccio wrote in Savoring Gotham: A Food Lovers Companion to New York City (2015). But after spending her college years in Newcastle in England, Ms. Pelaccio added, with the friendship of several French schoolmates and frequent trips to France, she learned that there was life beyond Velveeta. After three years with the Peace Corps in Thailand, where she taught English, Ms. Hamilton hoped to open a restaurant in Paris or Hawaii. But money was tight, job offers were few, and she wound up working as a receptionist for her fathers trade school to pay off student loans. She was promoted to financial aid director and earned a masters in business administration from New York University. Her marriage to Douglas Hamilton ended in divorce. She is survived by their daughter, Olivia Hamilton. On a tour of European vocational schools as a board member of the National Association of Trade and Technical Schools in 1980, Ms. Hamilton visited a training program for chefs in Paris. I was in heaven, she recalled. When we ate in the school restaurant, I found it to be one of the best meals in my life. Why couldnt we have a school like this in the States? Whats more, it was going through an official Turkish border crossing that was supposed to be closed. It was hard to believe, so we got in the car and went to see for ourselves. Sure enough, at the crossing we saw groups of laborers pushing carts filled with bags of fertilizer across the border. Of course, fertilizer is meant for farming, and only certain types are good for making explosives. But we clearly saw markings on the bags identifying the product as ammonium nitrate, which has been a key ingredient in some of the worlds most infamous terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995 and the bombings of the United States Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998. SEASIDE PARK, N.J. It was a deserted Monday at the end of the summer season; a determined rain and the news were keeping people inside, watching their flat-screen televisions. Live on Fox and CNN, local and federal authorities were announcing the arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old of Afghan descent from Elizabeth, N.J., who is suspected of planting bombs in New Jersey and New York. A copy of The Daily News lay on Marilyn Caseys wooden coffee table. TERROR, the front page said. It was hard to imagine that it all started here, the terrorist bombing spree that has riveted the New York metropolitan area for three days, at this sun-cosseted sliver of beach, boardwalk and seafood restaurants on the Jersey Shore. On the morning of the explosion, Ms. Casey was concentrating on a crossword puzzle. Her neighbor down D Street was having her morning coffee. Another neighbor was getting ready to go out for a haircut. The couple across the street had taken a leisurely bike ride to the south end of the boardwalk. In politics, geography is money. Political candidates in New York typically trek to Manhattans wealthiest neighborhoods to rake in big contributions, often neglecting more far-flung parts of the city. But not always. Mayor Bill de Blasios fund-raising this year, as his 2017 re-election bid gets closer, shifted toward smaller contributions from many parts of the city a sharp contrast to the way he raised money last year. The geography of political fund-raising in New York can be seen more clearly through a mapping website developed by the citys Campaign Finance Board and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. On the website, users can customize maps that focus on races or candidates. On a color-coded map showing contributions received by Mr. de Blasios re-election campaign during the six-month period from July 2015 to early January, a small number of areas are shaded dark red, indicating average contributions of $1,000 or more, with donations from the Upper East Side in Manhattan dominating. The map indicates that during that period, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, received 461 individual contributions averaging $2,228 each. NEW PALTZ, N.Y. This crunchy college town, between the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains, feels like an ideal place for a Woodstock attendee to retire. Amble down Main Street, and youll see a yoga studio, a gluten-free bakery and a clothing store called the Groovy Blueberry. Im already against the NEXT war, a passing bumper sticker reads. Make no mistake: This is Bernie Sanders country. The Vermont senator got a heros welcome here on Friday when he emerged onstage at a park near the State University of New Yorks New Paltz campus. He was there to campaign for Zephyr Teachout, a Democrat and Fordham University law professor who is in a tight race to represent New Yorks 19th Congressional District, which includes New Paltz. Now that his presidential ambitions have been dashed, Mr. Sanders seems to understand that his role is to act as a sort of political conduit, transmitting progressive voters undying love for him to state and local candidates. And, he hopes, getting Hillary Clinton elected president, too. Few of the young people I talked to at the rally had heard of Ms. Teachout or the congressional race. But Mr. Sanders had brought them there, and they were open to learning more. There are 435 members in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Sanders told the crowd. You are about to elect the most outstanding member, a leader at a time when we need leaders. Arthur: You could see it going either way. In 2008, pundits couldnt decide whether overseas crises would drive people toward the old hand with foreign policy expertise (even though he came from the same party as the sitting president) or the outside challenger who had less experience but who could more effectively indict the status quo. The situation is similar now, though inverted. But I suspect that chaos that involves terrorism in particular will tend to increase Trumps support, if only because hes staked out the law and order territory so thoroughly, and the Democrats have unwisely ceded it to him. Gail: We havent even mentioned the great Obama-birther moment last week. Im hoping that will be a turning point. If the polls are correct, Hillarys big problem is a perception that shes not honest. Now we have finally gotten a resolution of Trumps long-running claim that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and ineligible to be president. Its a lie. Obama proved it was a lie in 2011, when he released his definitive, official, long-form birth certificate. Arthur: No argument from me here. Gail: Trump, who made his political name with the birther movement, never retracted. Then his campaign realized the whole thing looked so insane, they had to make it go away. But Trump still couldnt bear to admit hed been in the wrong. He created another huge lie about Hillary Clinton starting the whole thing. Arthur: Yet the Amazing Trumpini once again demonstrated his utter dominance over the press. The networks slavishly covered him as he raised the conspiracy anew, called a news conference, held it inside his new hotel, and started it with a 20-minute advertisement for that hotel on free national media. And then he went back to his technique of saying something that totally contradicted what he said that generated the attention in the first place, as if that was what he meant all along. The whole thing was more amazing than escaping from a steamer trunk at the bottom of a swimming pool while handcuffed. Gail: This is pretty hard-core. I dont think most Trump voters believe the birther rot. And even if they did, their candidate now says it wasnt true. But he also demonstrated hes a man who can never admit being wrong. Or apologize for an egregious wrongdoing. Do they want a guy like that in the White House? Arthur: We will learn the answer to your question soon enough. But youve raised the fascinating issue of conspiracy theories not as glamorous as mean reversion, but hey. World leaders are gathering in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, and at the top of their agenda sits a refugee crisis that has reached a level of urgency not seen since World War II. The United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants and President Obamas Leaders Summit on Refugees represent a watershed moment that is putting a global spotlight on the need for an effective response to a growing humanitarian crisis. Our shared perspective is informed by the sober awareness of the dangers we face. In the aftermath of an explosive device going off in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York last weekend, and other attacks in cities throughout the world, we recognize that the security of all our residents is paramount in large, open, democratic societies. But it is wrong to characterize immigrant and refugee communities as radical and dangerous. Therefore, we must continue to pursue an inclusive approach to resettlement in order to combat the growing tide of xenophobic language around the globe. Such language will lead only to the increased marginalization of our immigrant communities, and without making us any safer. As the mayors of three great global cities New York, Paris and London we urge the world leaders assembling at the United Nations to take decisive action to provide relief and safe haven to refugees fleeing conflict and migrants fleeing economic hardship, and to support those who are already doing this work. We will do our part, too. Our cities pledge to continue to stand for inclusivity, and that is why our cities support services and programs that help all residents, including our diverse immigrant communities, feel welcome, so that every resident feels part of our great cities. Colleges that ask about criminal convictions on their applications frighten away untold numbers of students who could succeed academically and who present no risk to campus safety. Fortunately, the trustees of the 64-campus State University of New York did the right thing last week when they voted to remove the felony question from admissions applications. Colleges elsewhere in the country would do well to follow this example. Campus crimes are mainly committed by outsiders or by students who do not have criminal records. In recent decades, however, colleges have reacted to a few highly publicized campus crimes by making it more difficult for people with criminal convictions to gain admission. This kind of screening became easier in 2006 when the Common Application used today by more than 600 schools added questions about criminal convictions and even high school disciplinary records. This made it easy for colleges to exclude applicants, nor just for minor offenses but also for school disciplinary infractions that might once have been written off as adolescent indiscretions. This has been particularly damaging to minority students, who are disproportionately and unjustifiably subject to suspensions, expulsions and other penalties. Image The campus of Alfred State College, part of the SUNY system. Credit... Brendan Bannon for The New York Times The Obama administration warned colleges earlier this year that they risked violating state and federal laws if they automatically screened out applications based on criminal histories instead of taking into account the specific record of each applicant. It also pointed out that some of the largest university systems including those in Arizona, California and Texas did not consider an applicants criminal history. How does a lie come to be widely taken as the truth? The answer is disturbingly simple: Repeat it over and over again. When faced with facts that contradict the lie, repeat it louder. This, in a nutshell, is the story of claims of voting fraud in America and particularly of voter impersonation fraud, the only kind that voter ID laws can possibly prevent. Last week, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that nearly half of registered American voters believe that voter fraud occurs somewhat or very often. That astonishing number includes two-thirds of people who say theyre voting for Donald Trump and a little more than one-quarter of Hillary Clinton supporters. Another 26 percent of American voters said that fraud rarely occurs, but even that characterization is off the mark. Just 1 percent of respondents gave the answer that comes closest to reflecting reality: Never. As study after study has shown, there is virtually no voter fraud anywhere in the country. The most comprehensive investigation to date found that out of one billion votes cast in all American elections between 2000 and 2014, there were 31 possible cases of impersonation fraud. Other violations like absentee ballot fraud, multiple voting and registration fraud are also exceedingly rare. So why do so many people continue to believe this falsehood? Suppose that Donald Trump stops insisting President Obama was born outside the United States, and then saddles Hillary Clinton with starting the rumor in the first place. Is that stretching the truth? An unfounded assertion? An error? A falsehood? Or is it a flat-out lie? The New York Times voted for lie in writing last Friday about Trumps decision to abandon the birther movement, using the word in two stories and a front-page headline: Trump Gives Up a Lie but Refuses to Repent. Its not all that often that The Times newsroom throws around the word lie, but Trump seems to bring it out in the place. Another story that ran in recent days used the term to describe Trumps deception on his plans for a $1 trillion small-business tax cut. Its probably not surprising that the words swift emergence has provoked some readers. There was a time when the front pages of the newspaper printed news. Editorials had their own page, wrote Kenneth Christiansen. Apparently that tradition has ended with this years presidential campaign. Such phrases as Trump gives up a lie and refuses to repent are opinions; they belong on the editorial page...I happen to agree with the Times assessment of Mr. Trump, but putting it on the front page lessens the Times credibility as an objective, fact-based messenger of the news. Twice a year for a month at a time, when the tourists melt away in the heat and the mangoes are really good, the sisters Lily and Hopie Stockman return to Rajasthan, India, where they have been traveling for the last five years to oversee the production of their textiles line, Block Shop. Beloved for its wood-printed scarves which are conveyed along the international style route by such retailers as Playmountain in Tokyo and the Hammer Museum shop in Los Angeles the label recently grew to include topstitched quilts and flat rugs known as dhurries that reflect, as Hopie explains, the subcontinents mashed-up confluence of overland influences: including pre-partition cotton weaving techniques, the dusky desert palette and the visual principles of jaali, stacked geometric forms found in Mughal and Islamic architecture. Traditionally used both indoors and outdoors, or wherever there might be dirt and weary legs, the dhurries are featured in Ts Design & Luxury issue, out this Sunday, and are durable enough to withstand a power rinse at the carwash, Lily jokes. They are made about a 40-minute taxi ride north of Jodhpur, by members of a collective who weave at home. A discussion about product design at the early-rising chai hour might start out languorously, with just the foreman, until there are 15 faces leaning over the rug pointing out things, says Lily of the supersocial process of weaving. You realize youre not in control of anything, she says, noting that Block Shops production schedule is also affected by monsoon rains, as well as the mysterious workings of love. That Hopie and Lily produce their rugs entirely in one village means work might cease for a wedding; that they use natural dyes including blacks derived from fermented jaggery and oxidized horseshoes means tonal variation across the hanks of fiber. The weather and the gods dictate our schedule, says Lily, a painter who first arrived in India six years ago as an artists apprentice and had her first solo show at Gavlak Gallery this year. Thats the difference between being a tourist or a traveler in India and running a business there, adds the Harvard Business School-trained Hopie. We cant just take inspiration. We have an obligation to make a decision about how we want to participate. I love your outfit, Michael Smith says as he looks up from a sheaf of fabric swatches to greet Kim Gordon, dressed on a hot Los Angeles afternoon in a gray A-line dress. Its deliciously matte a simple but surprisingly effective icebreaker for this arranged meeting. Smith, a well-known, high-end interior designer who has been the White House decorator since President Obama was first inaugurated in 2009, often spends time entertaining dignitaries and celebrities in Madrid, where his partner, James Costos, is the U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. Gordon is an indie-rock legend who co-founded Sonic Youth, playing bass and singing for the seminal alternative group until their final performance in 2011. She is also the author of last years acclaimed memoir Girl in a Band, and an artist who experiments with paint and Plexiglas, and has shown at Gagosian in London and White Columns in New York. We caught the pair, who seem to come from vastly different milieus but who both once lived in nearby Santa Monica, as they were heading out of town, Gordon to Seattle for some art fair, Smith to Washington, D.C., for the presidents birthday. Michael Smith: So, I was Googling you: We both went to the Otis College of Art and Design. It has a new location by the Los Angeles airport, but it used to be in MacArthur Park where there were a lot of artists and studios. WASHINGTON Federal auto safety regulators on Monday made it official: They are betting the nations highways will be safer with more cars driven by machines and not people. In long-awaited guidelines for the booming industry of automated vehicles, the Obama administration promised strong safety oversight, but sent a clear signal to automakers that the door was wide open for driverless cars. We envision in the future, you can take your hands off the wheel, and your commute becomes restful or productive instead of frustrating and exhausting, said Jeffrey Zients, director of the National Economic Council, adding that highly automated vehicles will save time, money and lives. The statements were the most aggressive signal yet by federal regulators that they see automated car technology as a win for auto safety. Yet having officially endorsed the fast-evolving technology, regulators must now balance the commercial interests of companies including Tesla, Google and Uber with concerns over public safety, especially in light of recent crashes involving semiautonomous cars. Does a bear poop in the woods? Of course it does, and so, apparently, do a whole lot of humans. Discarded toilet paper is just one of the problems that Rocky Mountain National Park has been dealing with as it leapfrogged ahead of Yellowstone and Yosemite in popularity last year. Its 4.16 million visitors in 2015, an increase of 21 percent from the year before, is behind only Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with 10.71 million guests, and Grand Canyon National Park, with 5.52 million. With that increase, we started to see a different behavior in our visitors, said Kyle Patterson, a Rocky Mountain National Park spokeswoman. While most people behave properly, the number engaging in illegal activity increased so much that the park this summer issued a plea for assistance in trying to educate visitors about park etiquette. The Please Help Your Friends to Behave Better to Protect Rocky Mountain National Park statement covered a variety of topics, including avoiding the park between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer and fall, restrictions on campfires, keeping a distance from wildlife, not taking items from the wild, the prohibition on pets in most places, parking and, yes, bathroom habits. If your friend is a frequent pooper, suggest taking care of that before hiking. If nature calls, plan ahead bring a waste bag, or research tips on how to poop in the woods, it said. Friends dont let friends go to the bathroom near water sources. Just think, you might be drinking from that water source the next day! ALBUQUERQUE Lawyers in the trial of two former police officers charged in the fatal 2014 shooting of a homeless man on Monday painted starkly different views of how the encounter unfolded. A special prosecutor said the officers could have backed away from a confrontation. Defense lawyers said the officers were simply doing their jobs. In her opening statement, the prosecutor, Randi McGinn, said the officers could have stopped at any point and established distance between themselves and the man, James Boyd, a paranoid schizophrenic who had been illegally camping on a craggy mountainside on this citys east end in March 2014. But they did not. As Mr. Boyd turned his back on the officers, as if ready to surrender, the officers set off a flash-bang grenade, followed by six shots. Keith Sandy, who has retired since the shooting, and Dominique Perez, who was fired after his indictment, face second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting of Mr. Boyd. Having an M.R.I. during pregnancy presents no danger to the fetus or the offspring, researchers have found, but the risks appear to change when a contrast agent is used. Researchers tracked 1,424,105 deliveries of live and stillborn infants in Ontario from 2003 to 2015. Among them were 5,654 women who had M.R.I.s and 397 who had an M.R.I. with a contrast agent called gadolinium, which can enhance the image. The study was published in JAMA. The incidence of congenital abnormalities for women who had first-trimester M.R.I.s without contrast was no higher than for those who had none at all, and there were no differences in abnormalities among their children, who were followed up to age 4. Among women who had gadolinium-enhanced procedures, there was a slightly higher risk of still births and neonatal death, and their children had higher rates of a range of skin diseases and inflammatory conditions. But there were not enough women with enhanced M.R.I.s to draw definitive conclusions about the risk of any single outcome. Mr. Obama said that the Islamic State had lost more than half its populated territory in Iraq and Syria. As we take away more of their territory, he said, it exposes ISIL as the failed cause that it is. And it helps to undermine their ideology, which over time will make it harder for them to recruit and inspire people to violence. Mr. Obama, his aides have said, would like to leave office with military offensives well underway to retake Mosul and Raqqa, the Syrian city that serves as the Islamic States de facto capital. Still, Mr. Obama conceded that the battle for Mosul would be tough. In addition to expelling the militants, he said, Iraq and the United States would have to provide humanitarian aid to thousands of people who are likely to be displaced by the fighting. And he said they would have to rebuild the city in a way that assures not only ISIL does not come back but extremist ideologies born out of desperation do not return. This is going to be hard, this is going to be challenging, he said. We are going to be asking Congress to step up in support of this effort. On his final visit to the United Nations General Assembly as president, Mr. Obama had hoped to summarize his diplomatic accomplishments and to lay out a blueprint of how to handle future crises overseas. But the attacks have created a sense of crisis at home, one magnified by the harsh words on the presidential campaign trail from Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump. Mr. Obamas hectic schedule captured the diplomatic, political and security crosscurrents. After speaking to reporters about the attacks, the president left to raise money for Democratic senatorial candidates. Then, Mr. Obama returned to his hotel to meet with Chinas prime minister, Li Keqiang. The White House said that Mr. Obama and Mr. Li pledged to coordinate efforts in the United Nations Security Council and through law enforcement channels to punish North Korea for its nuclear test on Sept. 9. Mr. Obama has often struggled to persuade the Chinese to crack down on the North Koreans. The Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation is raising the roof: it held a ceremonial roof-breaking performance on Tuesday to mark the beginning of a $25 million construction project that will add three more stories of studios, classrooms and offices to its Manhattan home. The expansion of the building, the Joan Weill Center for Dance, which opened in 2005, is being designed by Iu & Bibliowicz Architects. One of the partners, Natan Bibliowicz, is the son-in-law of Mrs. Weill, a major Ailey supporter who stepped down as chairwoman of its board in 2014. Cultural institutions supported by the Weill familys philanthropy, including Carnegie Hall, have hired the firm for big projects in the past, sometimes prompting questions about potential conflicts of interest. The extension will build the stories to the shorter midblock portion of the building, at 55th Street and Ninth Avenue, so that it matches the six-story corner in height. It will add 10,000 square feet space to the bustling center, and a new glass facade with an undulating pattern inspired by Revelations, Alvin Aileys signature dance. It is scheduled to open next fall, and will be called the Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation Education Wing. The project will be paid for in part by a capital appropriation of $4 million from the city, Ailey officials said. The rest is coming from private donors: The foundation announced that it had raised $48 million of the $50 million it is seeking as part of a campaign that was inaugurated by Mrs. Weills husband, Sanford I. Weill, the financier and philanthropist, to honor her work at Ailey. Designated Survivor is about a man with no obvious qualifications who suddenly becomes president of the United States. That would be an alarming scenario in real life, but in fiction its not so bad, because the accidental president happens to be Jack Bauer. Actually, Tom Kirkman, the character Kiefer Sutherland plays in Designated Survivor (Wednesday on ABC), combines elements of Bauer, the grimly heroic patriot he played on 24, and Martin Bohm, the weepy father he portrayed on Touch. Based on the one episode ABC made available, Kirkman, as president, will be the countrys tough but fair dad, standing up to the bullies and then reading us a bedtime story. If youve managed to avoid ABCs saturation promotional campaign for the series, heres how Kirkman takes office (based on actual law): As the secretary of housing and urban development, hes 12th in the line of succession. When the show opens, hes lounging in a secure location in his Cornell sweatshirt and jeans, having been named the designated survivor for a State of the Union address if something bad happens to everyone else, he becomes president. It does, and he does. The execution of this premise, which takes up not quite the first half of the pilot, is taut, fast-moving and reasonably believable, offering some promise that Designated Survivor could develop into an entertaining hybrid of political thriller and family drama. Once Kirkman arrives at the White House, though, the momentum fades as various tedious-looking subplots are introduced, and disbelief becomes more difficult to suspend. The odds of victory, at this point, look to be about 50 percent. Great partnerships are often forged when each party enjoys a surplus of something the other needs, and theres little conflict in their ambitions. By that logic, two of Silicon Valleys best-known firms, Apple and Tesla Motors, really need each other right now. An investment in Tesla by Apple in return for some of the carmakers innovation dust might be just the ticket. Timothy D. Cook, Apples chief executive, is revamping the companys approach to self-driving cars and its broader role in the future of transportation. He just fired some of the companys autonomous car team, according to The New York Times. At Tesla, the founder, Elon Musk, needs billions of dollars of capital as he ramps up the company toward its target of making 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018. He could also use an injection of corporate credibility as his proposed deal to buy his solar-panel venture SolarCity, also publicly traded, appears to be running into unanticipated headwinds. The idea of Apple acquiring Tesla in its entirety isnt new. It surfaced even before Mr. Cook poached some of Mr. Musks engineers a year ago. That move prompted Mr. Musk to tell a German newspaper: If you dont make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. But it might not require a full purchase to address the strategic challenges of the two companies which, arguably, are each becoming most prominent in areas where the other could fairly easily help. WASHINGTON The more the chief executive of Wells Fargo tried to explain, the more skeptical the senators became. For more than two hours testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, John G. Stumpf expressed regret that Wells Fargo had created as many as two million bogus bank and credit card accounts without its customers consent. He apologized for failing to stop the illicit behavior sooner, and vowed to make amends. Some of the senators on the committee scoffed. Mr. Stumpf, they said, was offering little more than platitudes while allowing his top executives to avoid any real consequences like being fired or having their enormous pay packages clawed back. Instead, the banks lowest-paid workers have borne the brunt of the punishment, the senators noted. Senior management, they said, seemed to ignore this practice because it helped turn the bank into a profit machine. In recent years, General Motors has pulled back production in Canada. The company is gone from Windsor, Ontario, the city across the river from Detroit. Most of what was once a transmission plant there is now a pile of demolition rubble. From the site, the cylindrical towers of G.M.s world headquarters are now clearly visible. Unifor feared a similar future awaited Oshawa, where the company and its predecessors have been making cars for 108 years. The Oshawa plant has two assembly lines. One, which produces the Chevrolet Equinox, is set to close under the new deal. The other builds the Cadillac XTS, the Buick Regal and the Chevrolet Impala. A much newer G.M. plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, seems to have a comparatively secure future. It is the companys main source of the Equinox, a top-selling small sport utility vehicle, as well as of the similar GMC Terrain. That factory is covered by a separate contract that expires next year. G.M. also operates a plant that produces engines and transmissions in St. Catharines, Ontario, which Mr. Dias said also required investment from the company. Under the new labor pact, G.M. is to move some engine production to St. Catharines from Mexico. The new pact also calls for wage increases. And temporary workers will switch to full time. But, in a concession from Unifor, new employees at G.M. Canada will receive defined contribution retirement plans, rather than full pensions. This doesnt mean the United States should pull up the drawbridge, as Mr. Trump proposes. But it does suggest that any effort to change immigration laws and practices faces a big democratic challenge. Mr. Trumps immigration strategy has little contact with reality. Even under the most favorable circumstances its costs would exceed its potential benefits. According to some immigration experts, his vaunted border wall could even increase the number of immigrants living and working illegally in the United States. Unless Mr. Trump were also prepared to impose a police state that would hunt down and deport every foreigner, immigrants facing a higher cost of entry higher smugglers fees, greater odds of dying on the way would be more likely to stay once they got in. What the U.S. government is doing in terms of border enforcement, mass deportations and other restrictive policies just isnt relevant to the decision to stay home, noted the Mexican Migration Field Research and Training Program of the University of California, San Diego, which has interviewed thousands of immigrants and potential immigrants in communities across Mexico. Wayne A. Cornelius, who heads the effort, concluded that border enforcement, in whatever form and at whatever level, has never been a cost-effective deterrent. If Mr. Trump were able to cut immigration to zero, it would have other consequences. The United States would have not just a smaller population in the future but also an older one. The work force, which powers economic growth, would be smaller. Each worker would have to maintain more retirees. But Mr. Trump is not the only politician misleading the public about immigration. For decades, the political debate over immigration has been mired in implausible possibilities. Notably, even reformers on the pro-immigration side still peddle the notion that illegal immigration could be stopped after the latest batch of unauthorized immigrants obtained legal residence. This proposition doesnt mesh with an ineffectual enforcement policy and a border that, to most voters, looks like Swiss cheese. What it does is squander voters trust. What trips this up is that politicians are continuously making claims which turn out not to be true, Mr. Chamie, the demographer, told me. After graduating from Yale, Mr. Levin went into finance but soon switched from peddling stocks to paddling pastry crust at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Then, after joining Michael Whites Altamarea Group he is the executive pastry chef at Osteria Morini in Washington he started reinventing the pastries of his childhood. In an article in 1958, Mr. Claiborne praised Mrs. Nadich, who died in 2008, for her honey cake and her teiglach, boiled knots of dough soaked in honey. My grandmothers honey cake was a staple at every Rosh Hashana meal, Mr. Levin said. Her version was traditional and elegant. For the holiday, which starts on Oct. 2, he omits her cloves, allspice and raisins, and adds an apple cider compote to the batter, which moistens the cake and gives it a caramelized apple flavor. On a recent afternoon, he pulled out a cast-aluminum Bundt pan that his grandmother bought at Zabars, one he still uses for the cakes she taught him. For the second day of Rosh Hashana, Mrs. Nadich made double-crusted stone fruit and apple pies, her grandson recalled. He also makes fruit pies, but for his plum tart, he uses a sable butter crust flavored with vanilla bean; a filling made simply of almonds or pistachios, sugar, egg and a bit of flour; and a topping of sliced plums. In New Haven, Mr. Freedmans pizza loyalty lies with Zuppardis Apizza and its clam pies, for which the clams are shucked to order. It takes a little longer, but its worth it, he said. Of the young, ambitious restaurants on the scene now, Mr. Freedman thinks a few may just be in the same league as his 10: Benu, in San Francisco, with its distinctly modern American aesthetic, comes up. So does Husk, in Charleston, S.C., and its ethos that goes far beyond farm-to-table, into reviving historical ingredients. The burger chain Shake Shack, Mr. Freedman notes, could be another contender, with its capacity for high-end and high-quality reproduction. For dessert at Delmonicos, Mr. Freedman ordered a baked alaska. It wasnt just dessert, but a carefully preserved artifact from one of Charles Ranhofers old menus: banana ice cream sandwiched in walnut cake, sticky with apricot jam, swaddled in a thick layer of spiky torched meringue. One of the more remarkable things about Mr. Freedmans book is the way it shows how culinary history repeats itself. By 1867, when Mr. Ranhofer served this dessert, Delmonicos was buying produce at local markets. But for many years before that, Mr. Freedman pointed out, the restaurant relied on its own farm in Williamsburg. Yes, even Americas first restaurant cycled through the Brooklyn farm-to-table thing. Here are the 10 restaurants that made Mr. Freedmans list. What would you add to it and why? Tell us in the comments. The man who the authorities say set off powerful bombs in Manhattan and on the Jersey Shore over the weekend planned the attacks for months, conducted a dry run just days before unleashing his assault and took inspiration from Brother Osama bin Laden and other international terrorists, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on Tuesday. The man, Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was charged with several crimes, including use of weapons of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, and the criminal complaint against him outlines how close the attacks came to causing death and even more destruction. The bomb in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night was powerful enough to vault a heavy steel Dumpster more than 120 feet through the air, according to the complaint. Windows shattered 400 feet from where the explosion went off, and pieces of the bomb were recovered 650 feet away. Among the 31 victims two more than first reported one had to have multiple ball bearings removed from her body as well as bits of metal from an ear and wood shards from her neck, the complaint says. The charges came on a day when it was revealed that Mr. Rahamis father told the authorities two years ago that he feared his son was a terrorist, prompting a review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that did not find any basis for a fuller inquiry. The curtain had gone up on the play Quietly about 25 minutes earlier. On stage, two middle-aged men in a pub, Jimmy and Ian, spoke about the atrocities they had lived through. They sat at a bar that was the portrait of ordinariness, a place no one would have given a second thought or glance. You look younger than me life done you less damage, Jimmy said. Weve seen the same thing, said Ian. At that instant, a tremendous bang echoed through the theater. The stage shook, the seats trembled. Was it the thunderclap of a late summer night? Perhaps a sound effect? A correction officer at Rikers Island pleaded guilty on Tuesday to helping cover up the fatal 2012 beating of a 52-year-old inmate who had kidney problems and walked with a cane. Prosecutors had accused the officer, Byron Taylor, 32, of helping to hold the inmate, Ronald Spear, face down with his hands behind his back while another officer kicked him repeatedly in the head. Mr. Spear was pronounced dead a short time later. Mr. Taylor, who was scheduled to be tried next month with the other officer, Brian Coll, admitted on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan that he had conspired with others to obstruct an investigation into Mr. Spears death. He said that he had made false statements to the New York City Correction Department and the Bronx district attorneys office, and that he had lied before a federal grand jury. I knew what I was doing was illegal and wrong, Mr. Taylor told Judge Loretta A. Preska. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice and to perjury. To the Editor: With the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey, terrorism has once again gripped the nations mind. As Muslims, we would love to argue against the notion that Islam and terrorism are linked. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so when we see young Muslim men murdering innocent people across the world in the name of their, and our, religion. How can we convince others that Islam, our religion, is a religion of peace? If we werent born Muslims ourselves and had not personally experienced the kind, merciful and peaceful side of our religion, we would also have a hard time believing that Islamic faith teaches compassion, mercy and kindness and not the savagery that is on display by the likes of ISIS and Al Qaeda. We understand the fear Americans feel. We understand the anger and unease of our fellow Americans. We understand your perspective. And we can only hope that you can understand ours. Russians who protested the fixed elections were branded as national enemies. Nongovernmental organizations were forced to register as foreign agents. Mr. Putin even claimed that Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, gave the signal to the Russian opposition to go on the streets. The notion that defending democracy meant betraying Russia was perfectly consistent with Ilyins view. Since then, Mr. Putin has relied on Ilyins authority at every turning point in Russian politics from his return to power in 2012 to the decision to intervene in Ukraine in 2013 and the annexation of Ukrainian territory in 2014. Last spring, he claimed that the American intelligence services would intervene in the Russian parliamentary elections held this past weekend and in the Russian presidential elections of 2018. The question of whether anyone in the Kremlin actually believes this is beside the point. These claims of constant American interference are intended to show that the democratic process is nothing more than a geopolitical game. While Russian leaders consciously work to hollow out the idea of democracy in their own country, they also seek to discredit democracy abroad including, this year, in the United States. Russias interventions in our presidential elections are not only the opportunistic support of a preferred candidate, Donald J. Trump, who backs Russian foreign policy. They are also the logical projection of the new ideology: Democracy is not a means of changing leadership at home, but a means of weakening enemies abroad. If we see politics as Ilyin did, Russias ritualization of elections becomes a virtue rather than a vice. Degrading democracy around the world would be a service to mankind. If democracy is merely an invitation to foreign influence, then hacking a foreign political partys email is the most natural thing in the world. If civil society is nothing but the decadent opening of a rotting society to foreign influence, then constant trolling of media is obviously appropriate. If, as Ilyin wrote, the arithmetical understanding of politics is harmful, then digital meddling in foreign elections would be just the thing. For a decade, Russia has been sponsoring right-wing extremists as election observers most recently, in the farcical referendums in the Crimea and in the Donbas region of Ukraine in order to discredit both elections and their observation. Since democracy is a sham, as Ilyin believed, then it is right and good to imitate its language and procedures in order to discredit it. It is noteworthy that the Trump campaign has now imitated this very practice, supplying both its own private observers and the advance conclusion about the fraud they will find. The technique of undermining democracy abroad is to generate doubt where there had been certainty. If democratic procedures start to seem shambolic, then democratic ideas will seem questionable as well. And so America would become more like Russia, which is the general idea. If Mr. Trump wins, Russia wins. But if Mr. Trump loses and people doubt the outcome, Russia also wins. From Moscows point of view, it is easier to bring down democracy everywhere than it is to hold free, fair elections at home. Russia will seem stronger if other states follow its course of development toward a cynicism about democracy that allows authoritarianism to thrive. So we might as well get used to the interference, and take sensible precautions. It no longer makes sense to carry out elections and regulate campaign finance as if such matters were of no interest to hostile foreign powers. Americans have plenty of other reasons to reform the democratic process, but protecting their integrity should take priority. Paper ballots for every voter and public financing of campaigns, to give two examples, would make sense both for citizens and for the electoral system. A simpler democracy would be a more secure one and a more exemplary one. To the Editor: Re Borrowing From Jefferson at Israels Start (What in the World series, Sept. 16): Israel was not alone in seeking legitimacy in 1948 by borrowing the words of Thomas Jefferson in an early draft of its founding document. In September 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese independence, telling a crowd in Hanoi: All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. And just as Jeffersons Declaration listed the abuses committed by King George III against his American subjects, Ho similarly outlined the grievances of the Vietnamese against France, their colonial master. And like Jefferson, he ended with a pledge: The entire Vietnamese people are determined to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty. Franklin D. Roosevelt had strongly supported Indochinese independence in 1943 and 1944 and told Stalin at Yalta that the Indochinese were not warlike and that France had done nothing to improve their condition since it had those colonies. During 20 years worth of guest appearances on The Daily Show, Lewis Black has gone through many moods: incensed, seething, irate, furious, aggrieved, annoyed. All right, not that many moods, then. At his quietest, he appears to be struggling to hold back another choleric eruption. But the dyspeptic persona Mr. Black deploys in his full-length act is less in-your-face intense. In his latest performance, Black to the Future (Mondays at the Marquis Theater, when the musical On Your Feet! is dark), the comedian works in a key even lower than that of his last couple of shows, 2013s Old Yeller and 2012s In God We Rust. Maybe it is this particular election year thats bringing him down. For once, Mr. Black sounds not so much angry as defeated. Were living at the intersection of satire and reality, he says about current American politics in a tone halfway between disbelief and despair. We live in fictional times. One result, Mr. Black points out, is that comedians like him are in a tricky position: How can they possibly ridicule the ridiculous? When Donald J. Trump campaigned in South Carolina in December, in a crowded and tightening Republican primary, he made a pointed declaration about one of his opponents, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. He totally knew about it, Mr. Trump told his supporters, referring to the 2013 shutdown of the George Washington Bridge by Christie aides, allegedly to punish a political foe. Theyre with him all the time, the people that did it. Mr. Christie, who was not charged, has repeatedly denied such claims. But in a federal courthouse in Newark on Monday, a prosecutor from the United States attorneys office affirmed Mr. Trumps view of the scandal, which helped scuttle Mr. Christies hopes for the presidency. The prosecutor, Vikas Khanna, said that the aides, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, had boasted to the governor about closing several lanes of a ramp connecting Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge. WASHINGTON After an unexpected delay, the Senate is scheduled to vote on Tuesday to advance a bill to keep the governments lights on and to help fund the fight against Zika, while paving the way for Planned Parenthoods partner in Puerto Rico to have access to some of the roughly $1.1 billion in planned federal money in its efforts against the virus. The timing of the vote, which had been scheduled for Monday evening, may slow the Senates race to the early recess sought by Republicans craving the chance to return home to campaign. The delay could also work against the White House. President Obama is planning to veto a bill this week that would allow the families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for any role in the plot. If the Senate stays in town into next week, which seems likely, a veto override would seem in the offing. While Republicans and Democrats have been fighting for months over Planned Parenthood funding, the issue seems largely resolved. The campaign of Donald J. Trump, whose grass-roots organizing in Florida is far behind that of conventional presidential nominees, promised $1.9 million for a ground game in the state but has yet to come through with the money, less than five weeks before early voting begins. Warning that there is no time to waste, Susan Wiles, Mr. Trumps Florida state director, wrote in an internal email on Sunday that the campaigns New York leaders gave a green light to begin spending a seven-figure sum for a field program to get out the vote. On Monday, Ms. Wiles said the money was being delayed. Ms. Wiles wrote the internal email to a senior aide Sunday morning while awaiting a phone call from David Bossie, Mr. Trumps deputy campaign manager, and Stephen K. Bannon, the chief executive. I am waiting for a Bossie/Bannon call so am sending an email rather than talking but Bossie directed to begin to spend on a field programgreen light to go ahead, Ms. Wiles wrote. We dont know if well get the entire $1.9 million (think well get it all or close) but we are assured a good slug so we need to get going. No time to waste. It is not hard to see why Americans shun the topic. They have experienced the war as a long series of bitter failures and of noble missions that turned out not to be. They have disengaged out of moral self-preservation as much as exhaustion. For decades, leaders portrayed Afghanistan as a beautiful but lawless land to which the United States would bring order and American values, somewhat similar to the old Western frontier. Their adventure began in 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded and the United States armed Afghan rebels. President Ronald Reagan called this a compelling moral responsibility of all free people and a battle for the human spirit. Rebel leaders were romanticized and taken on tours of American churches, according to The Looming Tower, a book by the journalist Lawrence Wright. Those rebels turned against one another in a long civil war that gave rise to the Taliban. Americans were then sold on invading Afghanistan in 2001, to bring the Sept. 11 attackers and their accomplices to justice. The Taliban government quickly fell, raising a question that became obvious only after it was raised: Now what? What should take the Talibans place, and how to make it stick despite the groups continued support? Iraq quickly distracted attention and resources from the Afghanistan question until 2008, when Barack Obama was elected president while promising to end the former and win the latter. Afghanistan became the good war. Americans were sold on promoting democracy and, later, on saving the women an ambition captured by a 2010 Time magazine cover showing an Afghan woman who had been mutilated by Taliban officers. But practice did not match the ideals. Seeking allies where it could, the United States often directly empowered warlords whose corruption, drug trafficking and violence seemed little better than the Talibans. Drones proliferated overhead and airstrikes killed civilians on the ground, provoking anguished debate at home. Pakistan, at once Washingtons closest and least reliable ally in the war, played both sides. Americans were left feeling they had compromised their morality, and to little gain. As the 9/11 attacks receded more than a decade into the past, it became harder to argue for the wars necessity. American gains against Al Qaeda only drew more attention to the loftier goals that never seemed to advance. MANILA For one outspoken critic of President Rodrigo Dutertes deadly antidrug campaign in the Philippines, the denouement came quickly. Within 24 hours, the critic, Senator Leila de Lima, was stripped of her post as chairwoman of the Senate Justice Committee, which recently had heard damning testimony from a professed Duterte hit man, and the House of Representatives opened hearings on allegations that she had received payoffs from drug lords. Speaking on the Senate floor, her voice catching at times, Ms. de Lima said on Tuesday that she was the victim of a new McCarthyism aimed at ending her inquiry into the presidents possible role in extrajudicial killings. Many friends and colleagues have told me, if only I did not call out the president on the murderous consequences of his war on drugs, and decided to be as meek as a sheep, I would not be in this trouble, she said. Once celebrated as the voice of Chinas rebellious youth and the countrys most-read blogger, Han Han, who turns 34 on Friday, has shifted more of his energies in recent years into his career as a racecar driver, filmmaking and family life. Since 2013, he has rarely updated his blog, preferring short messages on his Weibo account, and often addressing personal issues rather than the scathing social and political criticism that made his early reputation. He writes movie scripts, song lyrics and, in 2014, he directed his first movie, the road trip comedy The Continent. He is working on two more films, adapted from his own novels. His range of interests is evident in a new collection of his writings translated into English, The Problem With Me: And Other Essays About Making Trouble in China Today. The 40 essays, the first written when he was 18, delve into the prospects for democracy in China, censorship, bureaucratic inefficiency, the role of intellectuals in society and life as a father. The books translators, Alice Xin Liu and Joel Martinsen, commented in a joint email: Han Han has had an atypical life trajectory, but the general experiences he writes about are shared by huge numbers of fellow citizens. His observations on the past decade and a half offer insight into the environment shaping Chinese young people today (and Chinas future leaders). In an interview, Han Han discussed his writings, the turns his life has taken and what people in the West fail to understand about China. The police in northeastern China have announced a criminal investigation into a Chinese conglomerate that does extensive trade with North Korea, which researchers in South Korea and the United States say included materials that can be used in the production of nuclear weapons. The Public Security Department of Liaoning Province said on a government website last week that the Hongxiang conglomerate, based in Dandong, a major trading center with North Korea, was suspected of serious economic crimes. During their work, the Liaoning public security authorities discovered that for a long time the Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Company Ltd. and a relevant responsible individual engaged in suspected grave economic crimes during trading activities, the department said. The police did not specify whether the companys prominent chairwoman, Ma Xiaohong, was under investigation, nor did it say whether the company was the object of scrutiny for its North Korean business, which makes up the bulk of its trade. SEOUL, South Korea North Korea said Tuesday that it had conducted the ground test of a new long-range rocket engine used to put a satellite into orbit, an effort long considered by Washington and the United Nations Security Council to be a cover for developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. The announcement followed the Norths nuclear test on Sept. 9. The United States and its allies are calling for the Security Council to adopt a new resolution to enforce tougher sanctions to punish the North for the latest nuclear test, its fifth since 2006. In the past, such sanctions have usually prompted the North to respond with provocations, like another nuclear test or a rocket launch to place a satellite into orbit. North Korea last launched a carrier rocket in February, a month after its fourth nuclear test, to place its Kwangmyongsong, or Shining Star, satellite into orbit. (The country also launched a rudimentary satellite in 2012.) Among other reported abuses, the report said that the family of a worker who died from electric shock had received at most 10 percent of the financial compensation required by law. It also said the company had confiscated workers passports and forced them to pay deposits to get them back for trips home. The defamation charge against Mr. Hall was based on an interview he had given to Al Jazeera in connection with the reports findings. The computer crimes charge stemmed from claims that he had uploaded confidential communications to Finnwatchs website, which the organization has denied. Mr. Hall, 36, who has mostly lived in Thailand since 2005, said he planned to appeal the verdict. He said he had expected to be acquitted of all charges because his advocacy work benefited Thai society and migrant workers. I respect the decision of the court, but Im very disappointed in it, he said by telephone after leaving the courthouse in Bangkok. He later wrote on Twitter that the court had returned his passport, which was confiscated after his indictment. Ms. Vartiala of Finnwatch said Mr. Hall planned to travel to Finland on Thursday. The British Foreign Office said in an emailed statement that Britain supports the right of human rights defenders to raise concerns about human rights violations without fear of reprisals or legal action to prevent public participation. It said it would raise Mr. Halls case with Thailand and offer him support if needed. Kachin Komneeyawanich, the vice president for Natural Fruit, said Tuesday that he was happy with the verdict, saying that the report had caused colossal damage to the companys profits and reputation. We are fighting for our honor, Mr. Kachin said by telephone. We thank the court and the justice system for having mercy on us. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey defended his decision to send ground troops into Syria on Tuesday, saying that his militarys incursion had helped establish peace, balance and stability in a region taken over by hopelessness. Mr. Erdogan urged world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly to find an immediate political solution to the Syrian crisis that does not tolerate the starve-or-surrender policy employed by the Syrian government against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. We cannot lose more time to realize the political resolution process and end the root of the problem, which is the fighting in Syria, Mr. Erdogan said, citing terror and an atmosphere of cruelty. A Finnish court convicted on Tuesday five players from Cubas national volleyball team of raping a woman while they were in Finland for a Volleyball World League tournament in July, before the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, according to news reports. Prosecutors said the rape took place at a hotel in Tampere, about 105 miles north of Helsinki, in southern Finland, where the team was staying. The men had denied the accusation, saying that the woman had consented to sex. The District Court of Pirkanmaa sentenced four of the men, including the teams captain, to five years in prison, while a fifth man was sentenced to three and a half years. A sixth member of the team was acquitted. ATHENS Thousands of people were left homeless after a fire tore through a refugee camp Monday night on the Aegean island of Lesbos, and the Greek authorities appealed on Tuesday to the European Union for more support in managing the migration crisis. The fire, which started in the islands main Moria camp, destroyed 50 prefabricated homes and dozens of tents, driving 4,400 migrants into nearby fields, according to humanitarian aid workers. Footage aired on Greek television showed the bulk of the camp in flames. About 100 unaccompanied children were the first to be resettled to a hostel Monday night, and about half the families had returned to the Moria camp by midday on Tuesday. The Shipping Ministry said it would send a vessel to anchor at the island, providing temporary accommodation for about 1,000 of the migrants. Things are very difficult, an Interior Ministry official, Nikos Toskas, told Greek radio. The Europeans must send real, genuine aid, he said. GENEVA The United Nations suspended all aid convoys in Syria on Tuesday, the day after a deadly airstrike on trucks loaded with crucial supplies of food and medicine. The airstrike came after the Syrian military had declared an end to a seven-day partial cease-fire. Officials are seeking to confirm the number of people killed and wounded in the attack on Monday night, and an assessment of the security situation in Syria is underway, Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations, told reporters in Geneva. Stephen OBrien, the head of the United Nations agency that coordinates aid, said in a statement that the attack would amount to a war crime if it were found to have targeted humanitarian aid workers. He called for an independent investigation, adding that the perpetrators should know that they will one day be held accountable for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. No matter what the intent, killing civilians by mistake can amount to a war crime, though the military almost never brings criminal charges against those involved. That was the case with the strike on a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, in 2015, that killed 42 people. The militarys own investigation found that those who took part in the attack failed to comply with the laws of armed conflict, and though 12 service members were disciplined, none faced criminal charges. Fixing the problem, though, has proved far harder than identifying it. One of the issues, experts say, is the culture of the Air Force itself, which does not give much credence to the idea of the fog of war, experts said. One of the core aspects of air power theory is this idea that with enough reconnaissance, with enough data with enough data crunching, we can paint an extremely hyper-accurate picture of the battlefield that is going to not only eliminate accidental strikes, but its going to make it so we can strike directly and precisely, Mr. Farley said. So in some sense, that kind of extreme optimism about air-power targeting is baked into Air Force culture, is baked into the Air Force cake, he added. But bad information leads to bad outcomes. Faulty readings of surveillance from drones and other sources appear to have been involved in the strike in Syria, which infuriated the Syrian government and its Russian backers, further undermining an already shaky cease-fire there. The attack occurred on Saturday night when fighter jets from the American-led coalition struck what the military believed was an Islamic State position. The attack was methodical and merciless the jets took run after run over the camp in an effort destroy it, cutting down men as they fled. But about 20 minutes into the strike, Russia notified the United States that the jets were hitting troops loyal to the Syrian government, not the Islamic State. Russia and Syria have since said that more than 60 Syrian troops were killed. About 2,200 Palestinians were killed during the 2014 conflict, more than half of them civilians. On the Israeli side, 73 people were killed, most of them soldiers. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that both Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants had been responsible for violations of international law that could amount to war crimes. The Constitution of the International Criminal Court stipulates that it should only intervene in cases where countries are unwilling or unable to investigate themselves. At the urging of Palestinian leaders, prosecutors at the international court have been conducting a preliminary inquiry into possible war crimes in Palestinian territories, but the chief prosecutor has not yet made a decision regarding the courts jurisdiction to investigate events during the 2014 war. BTselem does not have access to military intelligence materials or other tools used by the army investigators, but it is critical of the overall system. It says the Military Advocate General faces an inherent conflict of interest being both in charge of investigations within the military and the body responsible for providing the military with legal counsel before and during the fighting. BTselem added that there were no investigations of what it called the true culprits government officials and senior military commanders who devised policy and were responsible for the orders because the inquiries had been limited to isolated cases and had focused exclusively on the soldiers in the field. As in a previous report, BTselem criticized the Israeli practice of targeting residential buildings thought to be harboring militants or weapons. Two years later, it said, there had still been no investigation of the policy of targeting inhabited homes, which it said had resulted in the death of hundreds of people. In several of those cases, it said, the military had concluded that its attacks were lawful, even if the results were regrettable and the result of faulty or inadequate intelligence or of ineffective warnings. The Israeli military said that the latest BTselem report rehashed old allegations and displayed a complete lack of comprehension of the reality of combat in the Gaza Strip, as well as a lack of expertise in the interpretation and application of the Law of Armed Conflict in such a context. The report, the military said, failed to acknowledge that most of Israels aerial attacks in Gaza in the summer of 2014, which numbered more than 6,000 over 50 days, did not result in any civilian casualties. Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israel during the fighting in 2014. The elements of Istiklals decline were evident well before the recent downturn. For years, the citys intelligentsia bemoaned the changes taking place not just on the street, but in the entire neighborhood, called Beyoglu. Once a cosmopolitan place of old cinemas, bookshops, outdoor cafes and dive bars, it had evolved under the Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan into a tacky urban space dominated by chain stores and faux-Ottoman shopping malls. All the characteristic landmarks that made Beyoglu special disappeared one by one, said Mucella Yapici, a member of Istanbuls Chamber of Architects. That group has opposed many of the governments urban development projects, including the one for Gezi Park, at one end of Istiklal, that set off antigovernment protests in 2013. And the neighborhood turned into a place that entirely lost its soul. Old taverns, bookstores, theaters, and especially movie theaters, shut down. The government, Ms. Yapici noted, has removed the protected status of some historical buildings to make way for new ones. It also changed the law to allow longtime tenants, whose rents had been below market rates, to be evicted. These tides claimed one of the most famous places on the street, an old corset shop. What replaced the old hangouts were chain stores, fast-food restaurants, fancy cafes and shopping malls, all of which are now feeling the effects of a declining economy brought on by a fall in tourism. New York - 20 September 2016 1. Wide of briefing 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ben Rhodes, White House Deputy National Security Adviser: All of our information indicates clearly that this was an airstrike. That means there only could have been two entities responsible - either the Syrian regime or the Russian government. In any event, we hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this space, given that their commitment under the cessation of hostilities was to certainly ground air operations in places where humanitarian assistance is flowing. So thats the first point I make. Second, with respect to what comes next - clearly this represents an enormous humanitarian tragedy that should be condemned and I think youve seen condemnation from the international community here today. It presents an enormous challenge to the process that were seeking to implement through the agreement. Secretary Kerry was able to meet today with the international support group for Syria, thats the group of countries that we generally co-ordinate with in terms of our approach to the situation in Syria. The uniform view around that table is that we need to continue to determine whether or not the cessation of hostilities can continue. The preference is to see if it can given that it offers right now the best opportunity to provide for an opening to reduce the violence and address humanitarian concerns. That doesnt mean were not significantly concerned by the complete failure to demonstrate good faith on the Russian side. It just means that were going to continue to review the circumstances with our closest partners, speak very directly to Russia about whether or not its serious about pursuing the agreement, test whether or not we can make progress in the coming days. If we can, we believe thats the preferable course of action. If we cant we clearly will not be able to move forth with the terms of the agreement. In Japan, even in areas far less sensitive than religion, newcomers often receive a chilly reception, and start-ups are rarer than in other rich countries. Among the explanations are a scarcity of venture capital, the political clout wielded by established businesses and a culture that values stability over the creative destruction that drives growth in countries like the United States. Yet religion may prove to be an exception. It is so opaque and so removed from the day-to-day lives of many modern Japanese that a little technological disruption may prove welcome. The stakes are material as well as spiritual. As with religious institutions in many other countries, temples in Japan receive generous tax breaks. If it becomes a fee for services instead of a donation, and the government says, O.K., were going to tax you like a regular business, how are we supposed to object? said Hanyu Kakubo, a priest at the Japan Buddhist Federation, which opposes obosan-bin. As with adherents of many religions, Buddhists typically give donations to priests for their services. Proponents of obosan-bin argue that conventional temples already operate like businesses ones that put customers at a disadvantage though murky pricing. The amount is left up to the donor, a custom that leads many to overpay, Mr. Soko said. They dont want to make things clear, he said. Much of the reaction in Japan to obosan-bin has been positive, for equally familiar reasons: It offers convenience and low, predictable prices. In His Final Battle, Joseph Lelyveld, a former executive editor of The New York Times, has written a gripping, deeply human account of the last 16 months of Roosevelts life, focusing on his struggle to cement the final great achievement of his presidency. In March 1944, after months of failing health, the president received a diagnosis of acute congestive heart failure. In early July, an eminent medical specialist warned Dr. Ross MacIntire, Roosevelts personal physician, that if he ran for re-election, he probably would not finish out his term. A day later, Roosevelt announced he would accept the 1944 Democratic presidential nomination. There has long been speculation about how much he knew about his prognosis. No one knows the answer: He was a secretive man by nature, and this appears to have been one of his most closely guarded secrets. In late January 1944, MacIntire had told reporters that Roosevelts health was the best it had been since 1933, the year he became president. Several days later, the doctor, a naval officer, was promoted to rear admiral. Lelyveld suggests that the promotion may have been MacIntires reward for upholding the impression of physical vitality that Roosevelt, great actor that he was, managed to convey. It was a duty at times more important to the patient than the actual medical treatment Roosevelt received. If the American public had known how gravely ill he was, his chances of re-election would have been greatly jeopardized, if not destroyed. So would his hopes of success in his final battle: winning the cooperation of Joseph Stalin in building a new international organization that Roosevelt believed would effectively keep the peace, unlike Wilsons League of Nations. In his minds eye, Lelyveld writes, Stalin was the key to victory and the postwar world. Roosevelt was certain that if he reached an agreement with Stalin on how to stop future aggression and enforce the peace, other countries around the world would fall in line. In pursuing that plan, he constructed an image of the ruthless Soviet dictator and his totalitarian regime that bore no resemblance to reality. I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask nothing from him in return . . . he will not try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace, he wrote to his friend William Bullitt. On a recent evening, Liev Schreiber wandered through several rooms of 18th-century French portraiture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum had closed an hour before, allowing Mr. Schreiber private communion with the heaving bosoms and coy smiles, the swathes of silk and froths of lace. He wasnt impressed. He dismissed a Fragonard painting of a woman reading a love letter as chocolate box. Mr. Schreiber wanted scandal. He wanted perversity. He wanted outrage. Instead he got a powdered coquette and a petulant dog. Its not nearly risque enough, he said. He even disparaged the brush strokes. He hopes to bring something more risque and risky to the latest Broadway revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the stage adaptation of the infamous 1782 novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, which begins performances on Oct. 8 at the Booth Theater and is directed by Josie Rourke. Mr. Schreiber plays the Vicomte de Valmont, a notorious womanizer and the greatest rake in all of Paris, with Janet McTeer as his erotic adversary, the Marquise de Merteuil. (When Ms. Rourkes production opened at the Donmar Warehouse last winter, Dominic West of The Affair played Valmont.) Mr. Schreiber, who turns 49 early next month, has spent more than two decades as an actor. The years dont seem to have blunted the startling mix of intensity and uncertainty, audacity and anxiety, with which he approaches each role. At some affordably priced hotels in the United States, a free breakfast is increasingly a perk of a stay. And these arent the expected cereal and toast meals: Properties are getting creative by offering expanded buffets and health-conscious dishes. Best Western Hotels & Resorts, for example, where room rates average $120 a night, recently introduced a revamped breakfast program at its more than 1,000 properties in the United States. While a free breakfast has been a brand standard for several decades, it comprised basic items such as toast and cereal, said Ron Pohl, Best Westerns senior vice president for brand management. Now, clients are offered a wide-ranging buffet. Build Your Own stations are the cornerstone of the makeover: All Best Westerns have a yogurt parfait and oatmeal bar with toppings like granola, shredded coconut and honey sourced from local bee farms. How four pollsters, and The Upshot, interpreted 867 poll responses: Clinton +3 Charles Franklin Clinton +1 Patrick Ruffini Clinton +4 Margie Omero, Robert Green, Adam Rosenblatt Trump +1 Sam Corbett-Davies, Andrew Gelman and David Rothschild Clinton +1 NYT Upshot/Siena College Youve heard of the margin of error in polling. Just about every article on a new poll dutifully notes that the margin of error due to sampling is plus or minus three or four percentage points. But in truth, the margin of sampling error basically, the chance that polling different people would have produced a different result doesn't even come close to capturing the potential for error in surveys. Polling results rely as much on the judgments of pollsters as on the science of survey methodology. Two good pollsters, both looking at the same underlying data, could come up with two very different results. How so? Because pollsters make a series of decisions when designing their survey, from determining likely voters to adjusting their respondents to match the demographics of the electorate. These decisions are hard. They usually take place behind the scenes, and they can make a huge difference. To illustrate this, we decided to conduct a little experiment. On Monday, in partnership with Siena College, the Upshot published a poll of 867 likely Florida voters. Our poll showed Hillary Clinton leading Donald J. Trump by one percentage point. We decided to share our raw data with four well-respected pollsters and asked them to estimate the result of the poll themselves. Heres who joined our experiment: Charles Franklin, of the Marquette Law School Poll, a highly regarded public poll in Wisconsin. Patrick Ruffini, of Echelon Insights, a Republican data and polling firm. Margie Omero, Robert Green and Adam Rosenblatt, of Penn Schoen Berland Research, a Democratic polling and research firm that conducted surveys for Mrs. Clinton in 2008. Sam Corbett-Davies, Andrew Gelman and David Rothschild, of Stanford University, Columbia University and Microsoft Research. Theyre at the forefront of using statistical modeling in survey research. Heres what they found: Pollster Clinton Trump Margin Well, well, well. Look at that. A net five-point difference between the five measures, including our own, even though all are based on identical data. Remember: There are no sampling differences in this exercise. Everyone is coming up with a number based on the same interviews. Their answers shouldn't be interpreted as an indication of what they would have found if they had conducted their own survey. They all would have designed the survey at least a little differently some almost entirely differently. But their answers illustrate just a few of the different ways that pollsters can handle the same data and how those choices can affect the result. So whats going on? The pollsters made different decisions in adjusting the sample and identifying likely voters. The result was four different electorates, and four different results. Pollster Result White Hisp. Black Sample There are two basic kinds of choices that our participants are making: one about adjusting the sample and one about identifying likely voters. How to make the sample representative? Pollsters usually make statistical adjustments to make sure that their sample represents the population in this case, voters in Florida. They usually do so by giving more weight to respondents from underrepresented groups. But this is not so simple. What source? Most public pollsters try to reach every type of adult at random and adjust their survey samples to match the demographic composition of adults in the census. Most campaign pollsters take surveys from lists of registered voters and adjust their sample to match information from the voter file. Which variables? What types of characteristics should the pollster weight by? Race, sex and age are very standard. But what about region, party registration, education or past turnout? How? There are subtly different ways to weight a survey. One of our participants doesnt actually weight the survey in a traditional sense, but builds a statistical model to make inferences about all registered voters (the same technique that yields our pretty dot maps). Who is a likely voter? There are two basic ways that our participants selected likely voters: Self-reported vote intention Public pollsters often use the self-reported vote intention of respondents to choose who is likely to vote and who is not. Vote history Partisan pollsters often use voter file data on the past vote history of registered voters to decide who is likely to cast a ballot, since past turnout is a strong predictor of future turnout. Our participants choices The participants split across all these choices. Pollster Who is Likely Voter? Type of weight Tries to match... Their varying decisions on these questions add up to big differences in the result. In general, the participants who used vote history in the likely-voter model showed a better result for Mr. Trump. At the end of this article, weve posted detailed methodological choices of each of our pollsters. Before that, a few of my own observations from this exercise: These are all good pollsters, who made sensible and defensible decisions. I have seen polls that make truly outlandish decisions with the potential to produce even greater variance than this. Clearly, the reported margin of error due to sampling, even when including a design effect (which purports to capture the added uncertainty of weighting), doesnt even come close to capturing total survey error. Thats why we didnt report a margin of error in our original article. You can see why herding, the phenomenon in which pollsters make decisions that bring them close to expectations, can be such a problem. There really is a lot of flexibility for pollsters to make choices that generate a fundamentally different result. And I get it: If our result had come back as Clinton +10, I would have dreaded having to publish it. You can see why we say its best to average polls, and to stop fretting so much about single polls. Finally, a word of thanks to the four pollsters for joining us in this exercise. Election season is as busy for pollsters as it is for political journalists. Were grateful for their time. Below, the methodological choices of the other pollsters. It was a grand Hollywood romance that made its presence felt far and wide, from the red carpet to refugee camps in the worlds trouble spots. It was chronicled in lavish photo spreads in high-end fashion magazines and in paparazzi shots that appeared in the tabloids and on the gossip sites, as if to undercut the couples mythic status. Now, with a lawyers blandly worded press statement on Tuesday morning, the love story of Angelina Jolie Pitt and Brad Pitt, who were married in 2014, has come to an unhappy end. This decision was made for the health of the family, Robert Offer, a lawyer for Ms. Jolie Pitt, said in the statement. She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time. LAGUNA BEACH For Paul Good and his wife, Rebecca, cleaning up Aliso Beach was a sort of duty they felt they owed to a seaside town they visit often. The Yorba Linda couple for years has selected Laguna Beach as a weekend destination mainly for its scenic cliffy coves and its restaurants and art festivals. When they heard about the beach cleanup organized by James Pribram and his ECO Warrior Foundation, they had to make the drive down, they said. The Goods were among 126 volunteers who on Saturday scoured the popular beach for trash and debris. In all, volunteers collected 219 pounds most of it cigarette butts. It sure would be nice if they banned smoking there, said Paul Good, who counted at least 100 butts. It really messes up the sand and gets into the water and pollutes the ecosystem. Pribram partnered with OC Coastkeeper and the California Coastal Commission for the cleanup. The event was part of the statewide California Coastal Cleanup Day, which marked its 32nd year. The event coincided with International Coastal Cleanup Day, during which an estimated 800,000 people worldwide help pick up about 18 million pounds of trash each year on the same day. Eben Schwartz, spokesman for the California Coastal Commission, said with about 70 percent of the tallies in, there were about 52,124 volunteers statewide who picked up nearly 601,000 pounds of trash Saturday. Cleanups will continue through November with Adopt-A-Beach events organized by the California Coastal Commission. Pribram, a professional surfer born and raised in Laguna Beach, started ECO Warrior in 2014 to create an awareness among Orange County residents to take care of their beaches. Ive done a lot of environmental work around the world but really wanted to focus on beaches in my own backyard, he said. We had people come here from as far away as Las Vegas. I was a bit disappointed not to see more Laguna Beach residents on Saturday, he said. Trash on the beaches has been a hot topic here. Sooner or later, words fall on deaf ears unless you take action. If youre a Laguna Beach resident, you have to show up to at least one beach cleanup, then Ill let you off the hook. Mindy Zoller was among about a dozen Laguna Beach residents to show up. Ive lived here since 1978 and feel like I need to do something to protect where I live, she said. She, too, found a lot of cigarette butts but was otherwise surprised that Aliso Beach was much cleaner than nearby Thousand Steps Beach. Pribram had organized a cleanup there a few weeks ago with resident Chris Tebbutt during which volunteers collected 500 pounds of trash. I will do more in the future and try to spread the word among my community, Zoller said. I want to shame them into doing it. Zoller said she was impressed with folks like the Goods who drive a distance to help. But for the Goods it was a no-brainer. I like Newport Beach, said Paul Good. But Laguna Beach is just something special. Its the most beautiful beach in Southern California. We just wanted to do something to help keep it that way. Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or on Twitter:@lagunaini This is the third story in a series on how mental illness is perceived and addressed in different cultures. Zuher Belal put a black pencil on the rectangular piece of paper stretched out on a table. The 21-year-old Damascus native with a shock of brown hair and a playful smile, drew a Muslim man with arms outstretched in prayer. Then, he drew an airplane dropping a bomb. This was Belals daily dose of reality until four years ago when he fled the only home hes ever known with his parents and three siblings. The man is praying, Belal says in halting English, explaining his art. He wants the bombing to stop. Like most others in Access California Services Stigma Arts class, Belal is a refugee. This is the fourth year the Anaheim-based nonprofit that provides services and support for Orange County refugees has held this particular art program. It is designed to explore the stigma of mental illness from a culturally competent perspective through arts as opposed to verbal communication. The classes aimed at reducing mental health stigma in ethnic communities such as Arab, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Latino and Persian, are being held in Orange County. Art classes at community clinics for underserved minority populations are funded by a grant from the Orange County Health Care Agency under the umbrella of the Multi-Ethnic Collaborative of Community Agencies, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit. In the Arab community, stigma prevents people from getting help, said Nahla Kayali, executive director of Access California Services. The problem is so severe that many people stigmatize themselves, she said. They feel they are crazy. In Arabic, the word majnoon means crazy. Thats often the word used to describe those with mental illnesses, Kayali said. Her organization, while fighting to reduce and eliminate such stigma, has also been put in the strange position of accommodating it. Otherwise, people wouldnt come, Kayali said. Those who visit the clinic for mental health counseling enter through an unmarked glass door, strategically located so those on the outside cant tell if the person entering is going to get counseling or walking into an urgent care center next door. Waiting rooms are designed so patients dont see one another. Many people dont even tell family members that they are going to counseling, Kayali said. With kids, and particularly girls, its even more, because parents are worried theyll get labeled. Kayali has seen the art program open up peoples minds and personalities. Its advertised as an art class. But counselor Muna Brejeyeh explains the purpose of the program to participants during the first class. About 25 percent of those who attend the art classes seek counseling later, Khayali said. Art is something that goes much deeper, she said. Its a way for them to get their frustrations and anxieties out. Sama Wareh, a Silverado Canyon artist who has taught this class at Access for four years, has one rule for her students. Take everything thats occupying your mind and let it go, says Wareh, whose parents are immigrants from Syria.We are going to find out things about ourselves in this class. The class is also a place, she adds, where they can discuss their problems. We all have problems, but the issue with our community is we dont like to talk about them, she says in Arabic. We pretend to have prefect lives when we dont. As a first exercise in expressing their feelings, Wareh asks participants to draw four emotions: joy, sorrow, peace and anger. Nawal Nasri, 71, of Anaheim, came from Syria as a refugee who fled after her home was destroyed by a bomb. Three of her grown children are still in Syria because they didnt get visas to leave the country, and she worries about them every day. Art gives her hope, she says. Most people who come here are refugees or asylum seekers, she said. We understand each other and share our sadness. For Wareh, the class has taken on new meaning this year. Eight months ago, her brother committed suicide after his long struggle with depression. She talked about it for the first time in class as participants listened in silence. Her parents, who spent eight years getting their son the treatment he needed, were heartbroken, Wareh said. They went public with her brothers suicide because they wanted to remove the stigma around mental health issues, which still remains in the community, she said. Our imam talked about it in the mosque, I talk about it now, she said. Sharing our stories can be a powerful thing. People need to be more honest about these issues. I teach this class every year. But this year its different because Ive gone through it myself. The stigma is strong whether youre a refugee or someone like Heba Morsi, a Tustin resident and mother of three who moved with her parents from Egypt when she was 8. Morsi says its a cultural and religious issue. People in our community dont even recognize mental illness, she said. You dont air your laundry in public. Islamic teachings say we should be patient and pray through our problems, that God is testing us to purify us. But Morsi says she has seen first-hand the benefit of opening up to others. When I do that, I know youre human just like me. This article was produced as a project for the California Health Journalism Fellowship, a program of the Center for Health Journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com TULSA, Okla. An unarmed black man killed by a white Oklahoma officer who was responding to a stalled vehicle can be seen in police video walking away from officers and toward his SUV with his hands up before he approaches the drivers side door, where he drops to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun then fatally shot. In Tulsa police helicopter footage that was among several clips released Monday showing the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher and its aftermath, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying time for a Taser. He then says: That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something. Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced before the video and audio recordings release that Crutcher had no weapon on him or in his SUV when he was shot Friday. Its not clear from the footage what led Betty Shelby, the officer who fired the fatal shot, to draw her gun or what orders officers might have given Crutcher. Local and federal investigations are underway to determine whether criminal charges are warranted in the shooting or if Crutchers civil rights were violated. Crutchers twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, called for charges Monday. The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father, she said. That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week. That big bad dude, thats who he was. Police video shows Crutcher walking toward his SUV that is stopped in the middle of the road. His hands are up and a female officer is following him. As Crutcher approaches the drivers side of the SUV, three male officers walk up and Crutcher appears to lower his hands and place them on the vehicle. The officers surround him, making it harder to see his actions from the dashboard cameras angle. Crutcher can be seen dropping to the ground. Someone on the police radio says, I think he may have just been tasered. One of the officers near Crutcher backs up slightly. Then almost immediately, someone can be heard yelling, Shots fired! Crutchers head then drops, leaving him completely lying out in the street. After that someone on the police radio can be heard saying, Shots fired. We have one suspect down. Officer Tyler Turnbough, whos also white, used a stun gun on Crutcher, police said. The shooting comes just four months after former Tulsa County volunteer deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction in the 2015 death of an unarmed black man. Shelby worked as a Tulsa County sheriffs deputy for four years before joining the Tulsa Police Department, officials said. Dana Point-based North American Health Care Inc. and two of its executives will pay $30 million in a Justice of Department settlement after they billed government health care programs for unnecessary treatments. According to the DOJ, which launched its probe of NAHC in 2008, the company submitted false claims to Medicare and TRICARE for unnecessary rehabilitation services. The services were provided to residents at the companys 35 skilled nursing facilities, most of which are in California. Skilled nursing facilities such as NAHC treat some of the most vulnerable patients in the health care system, Brian J. Stretch, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, said in a statement. These facilities, and the individuals who run them, will be held accountable when they provide treatment based on financial motivations instead of the patients needs. In a statement, NAHC denied all impropriety allegations and wrongdoing. The company will pay $28.5 million, the bulk of the settlement, while John Sorenson, chairman of the board, will pay $1 million. Margaret Gelvezon, senior vice president of reimbursement analysis, will pay $500,000. The DOJ said Gelvezon created an improper billing scheme, and Sorensen enforced the scheme. Medicare patients and those insured by TRICARE are entitled to receive care necessary for their clinical needs and not the financial needs of their health providers, Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, head of the Justice Departments Civil Division, said in a statement. Health care providers will be held accountable if they bill for unnecessary services or treatment. S Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $30.6 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $18.5 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs. Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans Hillary Clinton condescendingly called half of Donald Trump supporters deplorables and looked at them with contempt. Trump then proposed allowing working families to deduct the cost of childcare, one of the biggest entitlements proposed in years. One would think that after seemingly four years of primaries, the Dems and the GOP would, by now, have at least nominated someone from their own parties. Hillarys carefully controlled, personal doctors press release said in measured terms that she is OK and should be well enough in a week to return to lying to the American people, deleting emails, and smashing her cell phones like Gallagher at his Branson, Missouri show. Then Trump goes on the Dr. Oz Show, the Mayo Clinic of daytime TV, to reveal his healthiness. To date, Trump had released a one-page letter from his doctor, who looks like he got his medical degree at a Grateful Dead concert, saying Trump is the most magnificent physical specimen since Fabio. The letter went on to say that he could wrestle a bear and should be drafted by the New York Jets in the second round next year. Im not sure when it happened, but now politicians just lie to us without consequences. Obama sold Obamacare on lies: If you like your healthcare, you can keep your healthcare. Period. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Period. Then he said Obamacare would reduce the average familys healthcare costs $2,500 a year. All premeditated lies. Hillary and Obama lied and said the Benghazi attacks were because of a YouTube video. They even had the filmmaker arrested. Scary. The IRS targets Obamas political opponents and then its officials take the Fifth; they do not answer subpoenas and smirk at justice. After Hillary lied about her emails, members of her State Department tech crew took the Fifth; one didnt even show up after being subpoenaed by Congress. Hillary lied, too. This birther thing Hillary is blaming Trump for? It turns out that, in the 2008 presidential race, the Clinton camp (a camp Id advise not sending your kids to) started the rumor. Hillary learned from her experience serving on the Watergate committee (from which she was fired) what to do with damaging evidence. If Nixon had destroyed the tapes, he would have gone down in history as a great president. Nixons men engaged in political shenanigans that would be childs play today. No one died, unlike Benghazi. No national secrets were compromised by using a personal server to send classified documents. What Nixon did would be called opposition research today. Nixons famous line was, I am not a crook. By Hillary Clintons standards, he was not. Maybe they get away with such lies and indignities today because the press no longer investigates Democrats. The media are advocacy media; they never turn on one of their own. The mainstream media treated Trump well, urging him on and promoting him in the GOP primary against the other sixteen candidates because they thought hed be easier for Hillary to defeat. Now they run negative story after insulting story about him since there is a chance he could win. With the death of fair journalism, politicians can now do what they like without consequences. Since they have lost all journalistic respectability, the new leftist media game is so-called fact checking. They dubiously check facts that fit their narrative. Hillarys longtime staff, either paid for with your tax dollars at the State Department or by the Clinton Crime Family Foundation (or both simultaneously), protect her. Hillary surrounds herself with sharp-elbowed Democrat thugs who look like they could be in a womens prison gang. They yell Chauvinism! when allegations are brought, but never address the facts. Everybody wants to work for Hillary except her lungs. They spin everything to fit their narrative. They want to tax us on carbons, so they blame every rainstorm, heat wave and fire on global warming. The fires in California probably could be more accurately blamed on Hillary fundraising there, with blazes sparked by her pants being on fire. You never know what to believe from politicians today. Obama finds race issues in everything. You cannot sort laundry without Obama calling you a racist. But now his liberal minions at California State University, Los Angeles are going to provide separate dorm rooms for black students. Obama came into office saying he was Martin Luther King Jr. It seems he will go out as Jesse Helms. Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, Ron is a frequent guest on CNN. He can be contacted at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter. Bob Miller, the Kings Hall of Fame television play-by-play announcer, said Monday he would return to the broadcast booth to call his 44th season as the club celebrates its 50th campaign in the NHL, but would cut back on his travel for 2016-17. Miller said he would call a 58-game schedule. He was sidelined for the final three months of 2015-16 after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. He plans to work all of the Kings home games in 2016-17 as well as selected road games, including an Oct. 7 exhibition game in Las Vegas. The Kings open the regular season Oct. 12 against the Sharks in San Jose, when Miller celebrates his 78th birthday. Their home opener is two nights later against the Philadelphia Flyers at Staples Center. Millers exact schedule will be announced at a later date, the Kings said. After 43 seasons of doing a full schedule of home and road games, and considering Ill be 78 years old on opening night this season, I have decided the time has come to cut back on the rigors of travel, Miller said in a statement released by the Kings. I am pleased and thankful that I have the complete cooperation and blessing of Kings management in this decision. Nick Nickson, the Kings Hall of Fame radio voice, moved into Millers chair to work the TV side, joining analyst Jim Fox, after Miller underwent a heart procedure last February. Jon Rosen, who works on the Kings website as their in-house reporter, handled play-by-play duties on the radio. The Kings said they would announce their replacement teams for 2016-17 at a later date. Miller was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2000; Nickson joined him last year. Contact the writer: eteaford@scng.com LOS ANGELES A 19-year-old U.S. Marine shot in the head while on weekend leave in Los Angeles has died and police searched for suspects, authorities said Tuesday. Lance Cpl. Carlos Segovia Lopez died at a hospital Monday night, according to coroners spokesman John Cades. The young Marine had been on life support since he was found Friday night slumped over in the drivers seat of his car in South Los Angeles. No suspects were identified and investigators did not have a motive. Officials named the victim as Carlos Segovia Lopez, but a family friend, Claudia Perez, referred to him as Carlos Segovia. We ask everyone to please keep his family and Carlos in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time, Perez posted to Facebook on Tuesday morning. Perez said that the Marine was visiting family and friends while on leave from Camp Pendleton near San Diego. The Marine had spent time with his girlfriend and was on his way to Perezs home, where he usually stays while in Los Angeles, when he was struck by gunfire, she said. He texted my son that he was bringing pizza home. He never made it, Perez said. A vehicle pulled up beside the Marines car, and at least one person opened fire, striking him once in the head, LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman said Monday. He was not in uniform. Police contacted the U.S. Marine Corps, which in turn notified his family. He was born in El Salvador and came to the U.S. with his mother. Both are U.S. citizens, Perez said. He joined the Marines about six months ago. From 2013 to 2014, Cal State Fullerton discouraged students from studying abroad in Mexico. Travel advisories from the State Department warned of carjackings, kidnappings and gunbattles in broad daylight. Mexicos drug cartels were duking it out in the streets with law enforcement and rival gangs. Tourists were being held for ransom; others simply disappeared. CSUF administrators were leery of sending students to Mexico on school-sponsored trips. In the 2013-14 school year, not a single CSUF student studied at a Mexican university. But a 2014 agreement between California Gov. Jerry Brown and Mexicos Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Public Education has improved relations between U.S. and Mexican universities and assuaged administrative misgivings at CSUF about sending students to Mexico. This year, 46 CSUF students have visited Mexico on various study abroad programs. One such program was a 17-day exchange that sent a group of eight students and six faculty members to Guadalajara and Guanajuato on July 7-23. The trip was organized and led by Kari Knutson Miller, dean of University Extended Education and associate vice president of international programs and global engagement at CSUF. Cal State Fullerton is committed to increasing access to, support for and participation in study abroad and study away programs, Knutson Miller said. Mexico-based study abroad programs are now available to all Cal State Fullerton students. The group arrived in Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco and Mexicos second-most populated metropolitan area, on July 7. Students split time between classes at the Universidad de Guadalajara in the mornings and visits to community service providers in the afternoons. One such provider was FM4 Paso Libre, a nonprofit organization founded by Guadalara students in 2007 that helps migrant workers traveling across Mexico. FM4 Paso Libre provides food, clothing and medicine to those riding the freight trains called la bestia, or the beast by some; or el tren de la muerte, the train of death, by others that link Central America to the border cities of northern Mexico. Ill never forget the day we went to FM4 Paso Libre, said Roxanna Ramos, a junior communications major at CSUF who participated in the trip. The stories I heard from these immigrants and the distress I saw in their eyes will always be embedded in my head. Many of the migrants serviced by the organization were not from Mexico; rather they were from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, fleeing the crime and political instability thats come to characterize the region. Many of them had lost limbs or been severely injured by la bestia. These immigrants go through sexual abuse, robbery, violence, hunger and harsh weather conditions, Ramos said. The experience, she said, was eye-opening. After a week in Guadalajara, the group traveled east to Guanajuato. On the night of their arrival, Knutson Miller said, they were welcomed with a fiesta at the home of a former students grandparents. The hosts granddaughter had accompanied Knutson Miller on a study abroad trip to Thailand a number of years ago; when the former student heard CSUF was planning a trip to Guanajuato, she asked her grandparents if theyd be willing to host the group on their first night in Guanajuato. By all accounts, the grandparents knew how to throw a party. They hired a band, and a reporter from the local paper was there, Knutson Miller said. The evening, filled with food, drink, friends, family, music and dance, was fantastic. In Guanajuato, students studied the cultural history of the region. They attended a lecture at a Diego Rivera mural Rivera, a famous painter and the leader of Mexicos public art movement in the 1920s, was born in Guanajuato and visited the silver mines that made Guanajuato one of the richest cities in Mexico during the colonial era. Junior child and adolescent studies major Elizabeth Esqueda said shed always been interested in studying abroad, but her on-campus job never allowed her to travel during the school year. When she heard shed be able to study abroad during the summer break, receive six units of academic credit and fulfill a practicum requirement for her major all in one two-and-a-half week trip, she jumped at the chance. Knutson Miller herself never studied abroad in college. I thought about it; I wanted to, she said. But I worked. Somehow, it was more practical or pragmatic at the time. Knutson Miller began taking CAS students on study abroad trips to Cambodia in 2004. Shes taken students to China, Germany, Thailand and New Zealand, but before 2016 never to Mexico. Administrators were hesitant to send students into what they saw as a dangerous country. Knutson Miller was determined to change this. Forty-one percent of CSUFs student body is Hispanic, according to a census from the fall semester of 2015. Many students have either direct family or ancestral roots in Mexico. Of the eight students who participated in the trip to Guadalajara and Guanajuato, seven have family in Mexico. In July 2014, Brown signed a memorandum of understanding with Mexicos minister of foreign affairs and minister of public education that ushered in a new era of collaboration between American and Mexican universities. The ties between California and Mexico began before the Declaration of Independence and today we take one more step by bringing our institutions of higher learning closer together, Brown said in a statement. The agreement pledged to offer fellowships for students and university faculty, training courses for English language teachers and exchanges of academic materials and research. After the memorandum was signed, the CSU Chancellors Office encouraged individual CSU campuses to explore study opportunities in Mexico. In 2015, CSUF participated in a program with the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC) called Vamos a Guadalajara!, which helped the university develop partnerships with universities in Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Monterrey and Celaya. In January, CSUF sent the first group of students to Mexico. The university now offers a program in Mexico City on the art of Frida Kahlo and another in Ensenada that focuses on tourism and communications, in addition to the Guadalajara and Guanajuato-based program. For this most recent trip, students paid for their own airfare, as well as a $1,700 program fee that covered lodging, transportation, some meals and community-based and cultural activities. Students also paid summer school tuition fees to CSUF. Ramos said meeting with the immigrants in Guadalajara weary, hungry and injured, but determined to reach a new country and begin their new lives gave her a new perspective on one of the most contentious issues in this years presidential election. The experiences I had in FM4 Paso Libre were eye-opening, and they triggered something inside me, she said. As a communications major interested in journalism, she said shes now determined to increase awareness in America of the hardships these immigrants face and the hardships theyre leaving behind. Most of the immigrants were from Honduras and they were fleeing from danger in their home country, she said. (They) were desperately looking to make money to support their familydue to the economic disaster happening in Honduras. Ramos said its important to combat claims that have surfaced during the election that portray immigrants from Mexico and Central America as rapists, drug dealers and thugs. Immigrants are stereotyped as criminals, but they are people looking to improve their lives due to unfortunate circumstances a lot of us can never relate to, she said. Its a perspective that can only be gained by traveling to another country and looking at an issue like border security from a different perspective in this case, from literally the other side. Knutson Miller summed up her experience in Mexico with a quote from writer Mary Anne Radmacher that echoes Ramos reflections: I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world. Students and faculty alike returned from Mexico with new perspectives and new memories; they were not the same, indeed. Thirteen months after making one of the greatest fast-food comebacks in Southern California history, Naugles has announced plans to open up to 1,000 restaurants through franchising. Irvine-based Fransmart, which helps emerging brands expand through controlled franchising, announced the Naugles deal Tuesday. The company is responsible for the growth of top fast-food and fast-casual brands such as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, The Halal Guys and Fountain Valley-based Slapfish. Expansion of Naugles will occur throughout North America in the form of traditional drive-through restaurants, as well as locations inside food halls. Initial locations will open first in Orange County, Fransmart said. Christian Ziebarth, who wrested the Naugles trademark from Del Taco last year, said franchising is the best way to reach people who crave Naugles all over the country. Because there are many displaced fans, this is our best route to be able to reach them in a timely manner, Ziebarth said in a statement to the Register. Our growth will still occur at a steady, controlled pace. Itll take some time to build to 1,000 locations. This will not happen overnight. The first 100 restaurants are expected to open in the next five to six years. They will be a mix of franchise and corporate-run locations as Ziebarth still plans to run his own restaurants. In 2010, Ziebarth launched a battle with Del Taco over the rights to the Naugles trademark. The Mexican fast-food brand merged with Del Taco in 1988. The Naugles restaurants slowly diminished with the last one closing in 1995. In a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark agency, Ziebarth argued Del Taco abandoned the brand years ago, legally allowing him to make a claim. Last year, he won the federal trademark fight, paving the way for Ziebarth and his investors to revive the brand. The first temporary restaurant opened in August 2015 to overwhelming crowds in Fountain Valley. Nostalgic customers stood in line for hours to get a fix of their favorite meals from cheese burritos to bean-and-meat cups. Ziebarth temporarily closed the Fountain Valley location earlier this year so he could focus on operating a Naugles concession stand in Huntington Beach. Last week, the Naugles Facebook page said the beach location would close soon as the tourist season was coming to an end. Though Ziebarth said he would reopen the Naugles in Fountain Valley, he said he eventually had to remove the post as frantic fans misunderstood. Too many people took the statement to mean Naugles was going away for good, Ziebarth told the Register last week. Contact the writer: nluna@scng.com NEW YORK Ahmad Khan Rahami vowed to martyr himself rather than be caught after setting off explosives in New York and New Jersey, and hed hoped in a handwritten journal championing jihad that the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets, authorities said Tuesday as they filed federal charges against him. Criminal complaints in Manhattan and New Jersey federal courts provided chilling descriptions of the motivations that authorities said drove the Afghan-born U.S. citizen to set off explosives in New York and New Jersey, including a bomb that injured more than two dozen people when it blew up on a busy Manhattan street. Meanwhile, more details emerged Tuesday about Rahamis past, including the disclosure that the FBI had looked into him in 2014 but came up with nothing. According to the court complaint, Rahamis journal included a passage that said: You (USA Government) continue your (unintelligible) slaught(er) against the mujahideen, or holy warriors, in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Death to your oppression, the journal ended. One portion expressed concern at the prospect of being caught before being able to carry out a suicide attack and the desire to be a martyr, the complaint said. Still another section included a reference to pipe bombs and a pressure cooker bomb and declared: In the streets they plan to run a mile, an apparent reference to one of the blast sites, a charity run in a New Jersey shore town. There also were laudatory references to Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki the American-born Muslim cleric who was killed in a 2011 drone strike and whose preaching has inspired other acts of violence and Nidal Hasan, the former Army officer who went on a deadly shooting rampage in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, the complaint said. Before the federal charges were filed, Rahmani, 28, was already being held on $5.2 million bail, charged with the attempted murder of police officers during the shootout that led to his capture Monday outside a bar in Linden, N.J. Rahmani remains hospitalized with gunshot wounds. It wasnt immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on the charges. The court complaint describes Rahami buying bomb-making equipment so openly that he ordered citric acid, ball bearings and electronic igniters on eBay and had them delivered to a Perth Amboy, N.J., business where he worked until this month. Federal agents would like to question Rahami. But Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., who received a briefing from the FBI, said Rahami was not cooperating; that could also be a reflection of his injuries. Investigators are looking into Rahamis overseas travel, including a visit to Pakistan a few years ago. In 2014, the FBI opened up an assessment, the least intrusive form of an FBI inquiry, based on comments from his father after a domestic dispute, the bureau said in a statement. The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism, the bureau said. WASHINGTON The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to advance legislation to fight Zika and keep the federal government open, but the bills actual contents remained a mystery. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said lawmakers have yet to reach an agreement, so no text is available yet. They are close, though, he said. Members are continuing to work toward an agreement on that legislation and we all hope to have that completed and available for review very soon, he said. With cooperation, we can get that done and begin debate. By voting 89-7 to go ahead and begin debating the bill before reviewing its text, senators overcame a key procedural hurdle that requires 60 votes before legislation can come to the floor for a final vote. McConnell already had delayed one procedural vote to debate the measure, pushing it back from Monday to Tuesday afternoon. Then, he announced he would delay the roll call again when lawmakers had trouble ironing out the final details of an agreement. Its taken a little longer than I expected, McConnell admitted. Among the items still under negotiation are riders that would provide emergency funds for Louisiana flood victims and for residents afflicted by lead-tainted water in Flint, Mich., said Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. Lawmakers have reached consensus on the Zika part of the deal, but other issues have held up a vote, Thune said. SANTA ANA A maintenance worker was sentenced to eight years in prison on Monday for targeting female college students through social media and then burglarizing their homes, stealing personal belongings including underwear. Arturo Galvan, 44, of Menifee pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree burglary, one count of felony attempted burglary and one count of misdemeanor resisting a peace officer, according to court records. From May 2014 through December 2015, authorities said, Galvan targeted at least 33 women, mostly sorority members from Chapman University and Cal State Fullerton, tracking their movements through social media and then burglarizing their apartments and houses. Police said he would spot his victims in public places, like a coffee shop, and would then try to find them on Instagram to see if the women tagged themselves at the location. If so, police said, he would follow the Internet trail and find photos of the woman taken at her home if she didnt disable the geotag, he could easily get her address, embedded in the photos. If an Instagram profile is public, users can often pull geographical information from the photos, such as coordinates. Authorities said he would then sneak into their bedrooms and steal electronics, like laptops and clothing, including undergarments. Galvan, who originally faced 33 felony burglary counts, was arrested by Fullerton Police on Dec. 3 after he was caught peeping through an off-campus bedroom window. Police said 25 victims were Chapman University students, while the other eight were Cal State Fullerton women. According to court records, in Orange alone he was accused of stealing more than $256,000 in electronics, jewelry and clothing. The rash of burglaries prompted authorities to warn people about the dangers of location-tagging on social media. Months after Galvans arrest, students said the incidents left them rattled and reflecting on the importance of privacy settings. Its very creepy, Ali Rosser, a 21-year-old junior at Chapman University, told the Register this year. Its just one more reason to be careful on social media, especially if youre a woman. Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com ESTERO, Fla. Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of giving aid and comfort to Islamic terrorists Monday, declaring his anti-Muslim rhetoric helps groups such as ISIS recruit new fighters. Trump showed no sign of changing and insisted the U.S. should use whatever lawful methods are available to get information from the Afghan immigrant arrested in this weekends bombings. As Trump supporters at a packed rally in Florida shouted Hang him! the Republican presidential candidate mocked the fact that Ahmad Khan Rahami, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Afghanistan, would receive quality medical care and legal representation. We must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people, he said. These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough, we have to be strong. Both candidates moved swiftly to capitalize on investigations into a weekend of violent attacks bombings in New York and New Jersey and stabbings at a Minnesota mall casting themselves as most qualified to combat terrorism at home and abroad. Clinton touted her national security credentials at a hastily arranged news conference outside her campaign plane, accusing Trump of using the incidents to make some kind of demagogic point. Im the only candidate in this race whos been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield, Clinton, a former secretary of state, told reporters. I know how to do this. The possibility of a home-grown terrorist plot cast a new shadow over the presidential race, diverting both candidates attention from the daily controversies of the campaign and giving them a high-profile opportunity to make their case to undecided voters. Clinton and her team see her experience and what they say is her steady judgment as key selling points for her candidacy. On the campaign trail, she frequently invokes her role in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing to voters the tense atmosphere in the White House alongside President Barack Obama at that moment. But while much of the foreign policy establishment has rallied around Clinton, Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric, promises to close U.S. borders and vows to aggressively profile potential terrorists have fueled his presidential bid. On Monday, he called for tougher policing, including profiling foreigners who look like they could have connections to terrorism or certain Mideastern nations. This isnt just a matter of terrorism, this is also really a question of quality of life, he said. We want to make sure were only admitting people into our country who love our country. Pointing to her Monday morning comment that Trumps words give aid and comfort to Islamic extremists, his campaign said Clinton was accusing him of treason, going beyond the bounds of acceptable campaigning and trying to change the subject from her own failures. She insinuated that Islamic militants, particularly those affiliated with ISIS, are rooting for Trump to win the White House. She said, Were going after the bad guys and were going to get them, but were not going to go after an entire religion. Trump agreed terrorists have a preference: They want her so badly to be our president. Clinton briefly turned her focus from national security on Monday, wooing younger voters at a midday rally in Philadelphia. At Temple University, she acknowledged she needs to do more to get millennials on board. Even if you are totally opposed to Donald Trump, you may still have some questions about me. I get that. And I want to do my best to answer those questions, she told several hundred students gathered in an ornate, wood-paneled lecture hall. This election marks the first presidential campaign where millennials make up the single largest generation among U.S. adults, having surpassed baby boomers during the past four years. The group helped anchor Obamas support, but Clinton has failed to attract them in the same numbers. She was to meet with the leaders of Egypt, Ukraine and Japan late in the day in New York City. The leaders are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump announced plans to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Trump has tried to appear more statesmanlike as the November election approaches. Still, he suggested its fine if some world leaders feel uneasy about him. Well, maybe thats a good thing, not a bad thing. Right now the world has no respect for our country, they have no respect for our president, whatsoever, he said in an interview on Fox News. New York officials said Monday the bombings in a Manhattan neighborhood and a New Jersey shore town were looking increasingly like acts of terrorism with a foreign connection. Authorities were also investigating the stabbings of nine people at a Minnesota mall as a possible act of terrorism. Associated Press writers Lisa Lerer in Washington and Bill Barrow in Indianapolis contributed to this report. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday defended her decision three years ago to solicit $25,000 from Donald Trump at the same time questions were arising about Trump University. The Republican and former prosecutor said she had no regrets about asking Trump for money and no regrets about keeping the donation even after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had filed a lawsuit against Trump University. If I had returned it, you would have reported Bondi accepted a bribe, got caught and returned it, Bondi said. Thats how the reporting goes. And so, no, there was nothing improper about it. So there was no reason to return it. The 2013 check to a committee supporting Bondis re-election campaign from the Donald J. Trump Foundation violated a federal prohibition against charities giving money to political groups. The issue flared back to life amid media coverage of Trumps presidential campaign and the recent news that his foundation paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS over the donation. Democrats in Washington and Florida have been demanding investigations into how Bondis office handled questions about Trump University and the Trump Institute, companies that offered get-rich-quick real-estate seminars. Tuesday marked the first time that Bondi who endorsed Trump for president shortly before the Florida primary in March answered in detail questions about her handling of the donation. Though both Trump University and the Florida-based Trump Institute had stopped offering classes by the time she took office in 2011, her office had received more than 20 complaints from upset former students who claimed they were scammed. Trump has said in the past that he expected and received favors from politicians to whom he has given money. The Associated Press reported in June that Bondi personally asked Trump for help for her 2014 re-election. She said Tuesday that she turned to Trump because he was on a list of friends and family she sought money from when she first ramped up fundraising efforts. Bondi set up her accounts in early August 2013. Trump signed a check on Sept. 9 and it was received by Bondis political committee on Sept. 17. But by that time, emails show, top officials in her office including her chief of staff were being asked by reporters in Florida about Schneidermans lawsuit. Bondis office said at the time that it was reviewing the lawsuit, but it never took any other action. Bondi said her office receives tens of thousands of complaints each year. There was never an investigation into Donald Trump by this office, Bondi said. She added that we raise millions of dollars, thats only 25,000 in the whole scheme of a campaign. Bondi said that she was unaware that her office had been asked about the New York lawsuit until a Florida columnist highlighted the case and the donation from Trump in October 2013. She said she tried to return the $25,000 check to Trump this year when she found out that the money came from his foundation and not from his personal funds. But the Trump Foundation returned the money and told Bondis accountant that Trump himself had reimbursed the money. Even after questions were raised about the propriety of her taking money from Trump, she still welcomed the billionaire businessmans support. Trump hosted a March 2014 fundraiser for Bondi on the lawn of his palatial Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. Attendees were asked to give the $3,000 maximum individual donation allowed under state law. Records show that Bondis re-election campaign received 24 checks totaling $57,000 on the date of the Trump fundraiser. Justice for All, the political committee supporting Bondi, also took in $30,000 that day. Florida Democrats said Bondis public statements did not clear up questions that still remain about the Trump donation. Rep. Ted Deutch, a South Florida Democrat and member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that Bondis murky answers only raise more questions that should be looked into by federal prosecutors. He said the public needs to know exactly when she solicited the donation and whether it was before or after her office made a decision on how to respond to the New York lawsuit. Bribery is a serious federal offense, and the Department of Justice needs to determine if Pam Bondi was paid to look the other way as Trump University was cleared of wrongdoing, Deutch said. It is alleged that the accused wanted to eliminate the Parassala youth as the horoscope said her first husband would die young. The League of Women Voters a nonprofit political organization that strives to increase the understanding of major public policy issues will visit Cal State Fullerton next month for a discussion on the upcoming California ballot measures. Arguments for and against each measure will be presented, as well as the probable fiscal impact. A Q&A forum will follow the presentation. The League of Women Voters: Pros & Cons for State Ballot Measures event is hosted by the universitys Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, or OLLI. This event is free and open to the public. Angie Marcos Its that time of year again when world leaders gather at the United Nations and New Yorkers avoid the East Side. There is plenty for them to pore over, both from the podium and on the side lines: Can a Syria truce still hold? How will Brexit unfurl? Will Donald Trump be joining them next year? How hard is it to get a ticket to Hamilton? Here is a rundown of what to look out for during a week of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Terror An Afghan immigrant was detained Monday late morning after a police shootout in connection to a series of blasts and failed detonations in the New York-area, including one in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan that left 29 injured. The incidents have added further layers of security and anxiety to what is already an extremely policed gathering of dignitaries. The blasts, timed so soon after the Sept. 11 anniversary, come as cities in Europe have been on high alert on the heels of fatal terror attacks in France and Belgium. The new face of Brazil It will be the debut on the international stage for Michel Temer, the 75-year-old law professor who has been president of Latin Americas largest nation for less than a month, following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. He will be the first head of state to address the 193-member Assembly on Tuesday morning and his words will be parsed for indications of how he plans to fix a crumbling economy in a deeply divided nation. Goodbye Obama After eight years and many more grey hairs, this is Barack Obamas final appearance at the annual UN gathering. At once a public platform where hes taken aim at Russia and lamented the many failings in the Middle East, the UN has also been a backdrop for some of his signature diplomatic achievements. Last year, for instance, Obama shook hands with Irans foreign minister as a prelude to a nuclear deal implemented a few months later. One question at the back of every diplomats mind is wholl stand in his place at next years jamboree: Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? From her years as Secretary of State, Clinton is no stranger to the UN. She will stop by to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. No official word yet on whether Trump will make an appearance, though the implications of his America First presidency for the rest of the world make for interesting water cooler conversation up and down the UNs corridors of power. Brexit Means What? Theresa May is fond of repeating Brexit means Brexit, though almost three months after the U.K. shocked the world by voting to leave the European Union its not any clearer what the countrys new prime minister means by that. With eight ministers in tow, she is in New York for barely a day. Having face time with her will be a priority for any leader eager for clues on how the divorce from the 28-nation bloc will unfold. While the U.K. remains one of five veto-wielding Security Council members, the fact that itll no longer be part of the single largest voting bloc in the UN is of some significance. Syria & refugees No issue looms larger or highlights more the shortcomings of the international community than the ongoing carnage in Syria, where a delicate truce was just struck. There will be a Summit for Refugees and Migrants on Monday, an Obama-hosted Leaders Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis on Tuesday and a Security Council member meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Syrian conflict. While there has been no lack of talk, there has been little in the way of actionable progress. As the conflict heads into its seventh year, the effects have reverberated far and wide. The surge in the number of refugees fleeing the violence has deeply tested the European project, sullied the U.S. presidential campaign and helped make up the mind of Britons to quit the EU. New U.N. secretary general Who should succeed Ban Ki-moon as Secretary General when his second term ends on Dec. 31 is yet to be decided. While there has been an effort to make the selection process more transparent, its still everything but. There have been four rounds of straw polls, with another one due Sept. 26, and plenty of bartering behind closed doors so anything can happen. As things stand, though, Portugals Antonio Guterres is the front runner. He is UN High Commissioner for Refugees and a former prime minister. But there has been a lot of noise about the possibility of a first-ever female in the top job and a geographic rotation rule should make it Eastern Europes turn to lead. That puts two Bulgarian women, UNESCO head Irinia Bokova and European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, in contention. Sorry, am busy Conspicuous in his absence is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last year took the West to task for the rise of Islamic State and the instability in the Middle East. On his return to Moscow, he sent war planes into Syria while stunned leaders at the UN scrambled to formulate a response. The star last year was Pope Francis and his appeal to save the planet from environmental ruin. A climate change deal was reached in Paris in December so this year the popemobile is staying put, to the relief of security staff and city drivers. Chinese President Xi Jinping decided against the long-haul flight and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing defeat in region elections, is staying home to weather the political backlash for her willingness to welcome refugees. There are barbs about mobile Chernobyls and floating Fukushimas, fears of coerced consent and economic racism, and deep philosophizing about the nature of consent itself. Is such a thing possible when generations unborn will be impacted by decisions made today? Consent to dump nuclear waste in Americas back yard is not going to be approved by the American people no matter how your PR strategists massage the lipstick on that pig, David Osinga told the U.S. Department of Energy in an email. The DOEs latest idea for figuring out where to stash millions of pounds of nuclear waste garnered more than 10,000 comments from concerned citizens nationwide, according to documents released last week. And while many disagree vehemently on the particulars, they are largely united on one point: After decades of dithering, the federal government must finally take action on its long-broken promise to permanently dispose of highly radioactive spent fuel. This collection of carping and commentary (Ive seen people grow old in this business of trying to solve the nuclear waste problem) is part of DOEs new push to create temporary nuclear waste storage sites in regions eager for the business, such as West Texas and New Mexico. Several such sites could be up and running while the prickly question of finding a location for a permanent repository the root of the present paralysis in nuclear waste disposal is hashed out. That could mean removing spent fuel from the bluffs beside the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station a decade or so earlier than currently envisioned, which is now 2049, according Southern California Edisons decommissioning plan. Across America, some 165 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel cools at 75 commercial reactor sites, due to the federal governments failure to honor the contractual promise it made to utilities back in 1982. But more on that in a minute. NUCLEAR FUTURE? The day before this treasure trove of public opinion was compiled, nuclear powers future in America was the focus of a hearing before a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. There, Sen. Dianne Feinstein expressed deep frustration. I cant just support nuclear power generation if there is no strategy for the interim storage and long-term disposal of the waste, she said. If we cant properly store the waste, we shouldnt build the reactors. Feinstein, a Democrat, and Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee who dearly wants to see more reactors as part of a clean energy future have worked across the aisle for five years in an effort to break bureaucratic paralysis on nuclear waste policy. So far, they have gotten nowhere. This is one of my great disappointments, Feinstein said. Some 130 million people live within 50 miles of a nuclear storage site in the U.S., she said more than 2 in 5 Americans. In California alone, there are nearly 8,000 highly radioactive spent fuel assemblies stored in pools and dry casks at four sites, including San Onofre and Diablo Canyon. All are shut down, or will close shortly, leaving behind what is known in the industry as stranded waste. The future of nuclear power in this country depends on a solution to the waste problem, Feinstein said. Public safety and public acceptance of nuclear power, I believe, depend on it. The lesson of the moribund Yucca Mountain repository largely a waste of time and $10 billion is that state governments and local communities must be willing to host a repository, she said. Storage should also be far from population centers. We shouldnt lose sight of the fact were dealing with very dangerous materials, she said. Problems at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico are a prime example of the risks we face. That New Mexico plant is a deep geologic repository to permanently dispose of waste from nuclear weapons research and production. On Valentines Day in 2014, radioactive materials leaked from a damaged storage drum. Cleanup could top $2 billion and still is not complete. Here we have one of the premier laboratory facilities in world, at Los Alamos, making a basic chemistry error on the packaging of waste drums, Feinstein said. One mistake in a single drum contaminated more than a third of the entire site. That, to me, is really striking. If we cant trust these experts to handle radioactive waste safely, what confidence can we have in other efforts to manage this material safely and securely, long-term, at 78 sites around the country? The same question was raised in many ways in the public comments to DOE. WHAT NOW? By the end of December, the Department of Energy will publish details on how the consent-based siting process will work, as well as considerations for interim storage and deep geologic repositories, Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz told Feinsteins committee last week. The departments 2017 budget sets aside $39.4 million for the consent-based siting effort, including $25 million for grants to interested states, Native American tribal nations and local governments. The money will help communities learn more about nuclear waste management and explore their potential roles in the effort. Such interim storage facilities would allow the federal government to begin meeting its contractual waste management commitments; enable the permanent removal of spent nuclear fuel from shutdown reactors like San Onofre; provide crucial flexibility for the overall nuclear waste management system, such as the ability to conduct thermal management activities and repackage spent nuclear fuel; and be a useful learning experience with research on the behavior of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste over time, he said. Private initiatives are in addition to the DOEs efforts and may accelerate the schedule to remove spent fuel from the shutdown reactor sites, Moniz said. These initiatives present a novel approach that is distinctly different from DOEs consent-based siting approach, as they essentially already include an aspect of community, state and tribal consent, he said. DOE is encouraged by the opportunities presented by these private initiatives, and we are preparing to seek public input on how a privately owned storage facility could fit into the overall integrated waste management system. That will move us toward a solution, and avoid leaving the burden to future generations, he said. UNCLE SAMS PROBLEM? To encourage the development of nuclear power, Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Act in 1982. It promised to accept and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste from commercial reactors by Jan. 31, 1998. In return, utilities operating nuclear plants promised to make quarterly payments into a Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for disposal. The utilities, and consumers, held up their end of the bargain pumping about $750 million a year into the fund but the DOE has not accepted a single ounce of commercial nuclear waste for permanent disposal. Saddled with decades worth of waste, utilities sued the DOE for breach of contract and won. The federal government has paid more than $3.7 billion to utilities thus far, and taxpayers could fork over another $21 billion to $50 billion before Uncle Sam figures it all out, according to the Government Accountability Office. The Nuclear Waste Fund cannot collect more money. A federal judge said DOE couldnt charge for a service it not only wasnt providing, but wouldnt provide for many decades. In 2014, utilities all across America stopped charging customers the disposal fee (some 20 cents a month on the average electric bill). About $41 billion had been collected by the Nuclear Waste Fund over three decades. Some $30 billion remains in the fund, after spending $10 billion on a Yucca Mountain disposal site. Southern California Edison, San Onofres owner, has recovered more than $300 million from the federal government over this failure. Dry storage is being built on a bluff above the Pacific, and spent waste will remain there until the government finds a solution. Contact the writer: tsforza@scng.com Keynote remarks by Angel Gurria, Secretary-General, OECD New York, Sunday 18 September 2016 (As prepared for delivery) Mr. Soros, Ministers, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to welcome you to this joint OECD-OSF event, Leveraging the SDGs for Inclusive Growth: Delivering Access to Justice for All. My profound thanks go to Mr. George Soros, for hosting this event with us. I count Mr. Soros as a trusted friend, and I speak for the whole OECD when I say that we see OSF as a most valued partner. Welcome, also, to our distinguished guests and speakers. Let me start by recognising the momentous achievement of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals one year ago. Across the world, thousands of people some of them here tonight worked tirelessly to ensure that the ambition, the scope, the vision of the Goals were worthy of defining the development agenda for the next 15 years. Let us applaud this achievement. Now, though, the hard work starts! In order to make the 2030 Agenda a reality, three fundamental things are needed: implementation, implementation, implementation! At the OECD we work hard to play our part in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Our OECD Action Plan for the SDGs sets out how were going to help make the SDGs a reality: identifying evidence-based best practice, developing monitoring systems, and focusing on policy coherence in areas like climate, education, gender equality, labour markets and, of course, justice. For SDG 16, dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels, is surely at the very heart of the OECDs quest for sustainable and inclusive growth. The OECD made the promotion of more inclusive growth one of our key strategic priorities. We were deeply concerned by the fact that the top 10% of earners in OECD countries made almost ten times the income of the bottom 10%, up from seven times 25 years ago! And we were worried by the fact that these inequalities touch every aspect of peoples lives educational outcomes, employment prospects, where you live, even how long you live! So since 2014 the OECD has been engaged in making the case, building the evidence, and identifying what works in the fight for more inclusive growth. Access to justice is a central part of this, as also reaffirmed by the OECD Roundtables on Equal Access to Justice. Access to effective forms of justice give citizens effective recourse if they are blocked from obtaining an education, discriminated against at work, or deprived of their right to health care. Justice systems are there to protect the vulnerable from abuse and exploitation, resolve disputes, and foster participation in just societies. Yet, sadly, the reality is that many across the world still do not have access to effective justice: We know that profound disparities persist across countries, with four billion people around the world living outside the protection of the law, mostly because they are poor or marginalised within their societies. The percentage of unresolved legal problems is as high as 40% in countries as different as Australia and Ukraine! We know that the level of actual and perceived access to justice varies also within countries. For instance, in Australia, the prevalence of indigenous people experiencing a legal problem is 1.3 times as high as that of non-indigenous people. We also know that solving legal problems is prohibitively expensive For example, in England and Wales, the cost of unresolved legal problems can go as high as 2500 per person per annum. Other studies show that in Canada between 42% and 90% of individuals who do not seek legal assistance cite cost as a reason. People are pushed into an impossible choice: forgoing legal support, or forgoing healthcare, education, or even housing. And we know that the lack of access to alternative and cost-efficient dispute resolution mechanisms may undermine our efforts to promote productivity in the justice systems. It is no overstatement to say that fair, affordable, and accessible justice systems must form the bedrock of more inclusive societies, and lead us to a successful 2030 Agenda. More needs to be done to ensure access to justice for all. Let me share with you three steps to make it happen: First, we need more evidence to deepen our understanding of the linkages between access to justice, inclusive growth and sustainable development. How big is this business case? We need to focus on citizens needs and help leverage access to justice for transformative and inclusive outcomes on the ground. For instance, a recent study showed that civil legal aid saved USD 116 million in shelter costs in 2009-2010 here in New York State alone! Working with our partners, including OSF, the World Bank, EU, CEPEJ, the World Justice Project and the HiiL, the OECD continues to build more evidence on the contribution of access to justice policies. Second, we need more measures and we need the right measures to better understand the extent to which people can access justice, and whether justice systems are capable of addressing their legal needs in a fair, cost-efficient and timely manner. Finally, we need to identify what works, and spread it! We can already see a host of best practices in OECD countries: The US Interagency Roundtables show how civil legal aid can advance improved access to health and housing, education and employment; The establishment of Maisons de Justice et du Droit in France is a one-stop shop service initiative for many legal, justice and social services, which also exist in Colombia, Ukraine and South Africa, among others. Excellencies, dear colleagues, the SDGs give us a unique opportunity. The road to 2030 might be a long one, but the OECD will be there every step of the way. It is in this spirit that the OECD and OSF invited you here tonight: together we will look to develop the measures, uncover the evidence, and identify the policies that will deliver better access to justice. Together, we will work to make the SDG 16 a reality and design, develop and deliver better justice policies for better lives. Loading... OilVoice will be with you shortly... BROWNVILLE, Neb. Grandma tried to hide the scar. The big one, more than an inch wide, that ran down the middle of her head. She dyed her hair dark colors. She never let a stylist touch it. Looking at photos of her, you wouldnt know it was there. But Lisa knew. And she wondered. Growing up, Lisa Smith shared a room with her grandmother Maurine Chaney Everette in the familys home in California. Her grandmother, Smith said, was like a mother to her. She was there to cook and bandage scraped knees. But there were things she rarely talked about her scar, details of her childhood spent in an orphanage in Oklahoma. When Maurine died in 1992, she took much of her past with her. Smith, who now lives in Auburn, Nebraska, and works as a cook at the River Inn Resort in Brownville, was left with questions. Today, she has many of the answers. In 2010, Smith was able to track down distant relatives from her grandmothers side of the family, many of whom thought Maurine had died as a young girl in the train accident. This month, she will meet one of her distant cousins, author Mary Ruth Hughes, in person for the first time. Hughes will travel to Brownville and hold a book signing and writers workshop at 6 p.m., Sept. 24 at the River Inn. It means a lot to Smith a member of a her family, once lost, traveling to Nebraska to see her. It all started with a simple search. In 2010, Smiths mother was dying of brain cancer. In and out of lucidity, she started telling Smith to find her family. Smith knew her grandmother had been in a train accident she assumed Maurine must have been on the train. Smith knew her grandmother had grown up in an orphanage in Oklahoma. She knew Maurine had a brother. But other than that, she didnt know much. So she started looking online. She found a page for her grandmothers brother Woodrow, one of the few family members she knew by name, on findagrave.com, and reached out to the woman who maintained the page, Mary Ruth Hughes. Hughes, recalling the exchange now, said she was surprised and delighted to hear from her long lost cousin. She replied. Smith said, She wrote back and said Oh my god, were family. And I think, No, no. This is too easy. But it was. Alexander Lee Chaney, Smiths great-grandfather, was the brother of Hughes great-grandfather. Smith told Hughes she was looking for information on her grandmothers family. Hughes put Smith in touch with her first cousin, Bonnie Holdeman, who was living in Madill, Oklahoma. Holdeman invited Smith down to the Chaney family reunion, held annually on July 4 for more than 100 years in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Smith grabbed her son Andrew, now 20, and the two headed south. They met up with Holdeman, and she took them to a historical society in Madill to look for information about what happened to Maurine. There, they found a newspaper clipping. Frisco Train Smashes Farm Wagon; Three Are Dead; Others May Die, the headline read. According to the story, in June 1918, Maurine, then 3, was traveling with her mother, Minnie; her father, Alexander; her 6-month-old sister, Sabra; her brother Amos, her brother Woodrow, and her sister Martha Pauline, through Madill. Amos was driving the wagon. At a railroad crossing, an eastbound passenger train collided with the wagon. Minnie and Sabra, the baby, were killed instantly. Alexander died later at the hospital. Maurine, unnamed in the article, suffered a serious head injury. She was transported to a hospital in Sherman, Texas. At last reports, she was resting well, though her recovery is considered very doubtful, the story said. Following the accident, theres a gap, Smith said, though she thinks her grandmother spent years recovering in the hospital. Doctors had to remove a piece of her skull. Two years later, at 5, her grandmother and brother Woodrow turned up at an orphanage in Oklahoma. There was an older Chaney sister, Smith found, recently married and likely not in the wagon that day. Smith thinks the sister, a poor newlywed, would have been overwhelmed financially by the idea of caring for young siblings, especially Maurine, who could have turned out to be mentally disabled from the accident. So, Smith speculates, she left Maurine and Woodrow to be raised in the home. The other siblings scattered, and years passed. The story of the train wreck resonated through branches of the Chaney family. For decades, they whispered warnings of the dangers of railroad crossings and spoke of the cousins who were killed. We always knew it was this huge thing, Holdeman said. When Holdemans grandmother drove over railroad tracks, she closed her eyes. Smith and her son visited the spot where the train accident took place. Smith took video. Andrew stood by. It hits you where you live, Andrew said. My great-grandmother being at such a young age, as an infant barely surviving being hit by a train when the rest of her family had been killed, it makes you thankful for her ability to survive and carry on after that. Maurine grew up in the home and left in 1932. She married, moved to California and had a daughter. Smith doesnt know why her grandmother was always so quiet about her parents and siblings. Maybe she never knew all that much to begin with. But with her trip to Oklahoma, Smith hoped, in a way, to validate her grandmothers place in the family. Because when the train hit the wagon, Smith found out, the family had been on their way to the Chaney family reunion. When she and Andrew arrived there in 2010, she signed in under her great-grandfather and grandmothers name. Maurine? she heard from many distant relatives, didnt she die in the accident? No, Smith told them. She lived to be 77. It was an awesome feeling to be able to validate her, Smith said. I know that a lot of people doing family history arent looking for that, but I was so close to her that I wanted to do her memory justice. * * * TRACING YOUR OWN ROOTS Lisa Smith found missing family members on findagrave.com, a website started by Jim Tipton in 1995 as a hobby, tracking famous peoples graves. Now thousands of contributors submit new listings, updates, corrections and photographs every hour, says Tipton, of Salt Lake City. A family tree is a puzzle that needs solving, said Marcie Garnett, a professional genealogist and member of the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society. And solving it can be addicting shes traced her own family tree back to the 1600s. Here are some tips Garnett and others offered for decoding your own family tree: Start with yourself and work backward. Use a pedigree chart, available for free on many websites. List places along with names and dates of birth, death and marriage. This will give you an idea of where to begin searching for source records. Begin searching for records of birth, death and marriage to find extra names and information. Most states have departments where important records are stored. In Nebraska, the office of vital records is in the Department of Health and Human Services. In Iowa, it is in the Department of Public Health. Use the census. Online subscription services such as Ancestry.com are available to access the 17901940 census records kept by the National Archive, and many public libraries subscribe and provide free access. (Decennial census records are confidential for 72 years.) Check the historical societies of cities, counties or states for any records that might be available. Dont give up! Census data prior to 1850 often lists only the heads of households, which can make things difficult. This is where many people stop, Garnett said. The information is often located elsewhere. The National Archive lists resources for other types of searches, such as military and immigration records: archives.gov. With the new school year in progress, many educators are again faced with the daunting task of trying to eliminate bullying. With the rise of social media and the ability to be mean and hateful with anonymity, bullying is on the rise. Most educators, who I feel are a special group of people, realize that empathy is an important part of the school environment. Teachers need to have the ability to empathize with students from all backgrounds in order to meet their needs. Not only do teachers have to be empathetic themselves, but they must model and develop the skill of caring in their young students. Good educators value interpersonal skills and know how important it is for students to develop positive relationships. Many people who go into the field of education are just naturally empathetic people. They are the kind of people who will spend their personal money to buy a sweater for a needy student, provide spending money to a student who has none on a field trip, take a student home after school who didnt wear boots for inclement weather. So to see a child being the victim of a bully is especially disturbing to most educators. Trish Marcuzzo and I were talking about the problem of bullying in todays world. Trish was an educator for 35 years with the Omaha Public Schools. Before she retired she had been a teacher, assistant principal, principal and an administrator in the district office. She and her husband, Lou, are the parents of three sons. Trish said, Bullying is a topic that brings strong emotions to the surface whether or not you have personally been bullied or a witness of it. The unfairness, senselessness and downright ugliness of it can be distressing! Marcuzzo went on to say that as a student at an all-girls boarding school many years ago she was unaware of the existence of bullying, and even when she became a teacher in the early 1970s it didnt appear that bullying was a big issue. In todays world, some statistics from National Voices for Equality Education and Enlightenment can be daunting. Every seven minutes a child is bullied. Adults intervene in 4 percent of cases and peers intervene in 11 percent. That means no intervention in 85 percent of the cases. Bullied students seem to grow up more socially anxious, with lower self-esteem, and require more mental health services throughout life. Only 7 percent of U.S. parents are worried about cyberbullying, yet 33 percent of teenagers report they have been victims of cyberbullying. One million children say they were harassed, threatened or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying on Facebook during the past year. As if those statistics arent bad enough, the National Education Association estimates that, each day, 160,000 children miss school because of their fear of attack or intimidation by other students. And according to the National School Safety Center, American schools harbor about 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million of their victims. When children watch TV and see people, who are supposed to be role models, demonstrating bullying behavior, it makes it that much more difficult for bullies to understand how appalling their behavior is. According to the National Voices group, bullying statistics say revenge is the strongest motivation for school shootings. Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75 percent of school-shooting incidents. Parents and school staff working closely together can be powerful in helping to combat bullying. They both should ensure that students feel free to talk with them about being bullied. Unfortunately, bullying is not something that just goes away; adults involvement is essential. Marcuzzo said, As in most elementary schools in OPS, our staff taught anti-bullying lessons, along with social skills and a character development curriculum, and encouraged students and parents to report bullying. With parents and schools working together, problems can be solved. I think blogger Dan Pearce gave us all food for thought: If bullies actually believed that somebody loves them and believes in them, they will love themselves, they will become better people, and many will even become saviors to the bullied. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. financial manager Todd Combs has been elected a director of JPMorgan Chase, the New York investment company said Tuesday. Combs, 45, also was named a director of JPMorgan Chase Bank and Chase Bank, both subsidiaries. He will retain his job at Berkshire while serving on the JPMorgan board. He joined Berkshire in 2010 after serving as chief executive and managing partner of Castle Point Capital, which he founded in 2005. In a press release, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said Combs is an extraordinary leader, investor and thinker, with a deep understanding of finance and business. Were pleased he has agreed to serve on our board of directors, and our company and our board will benefit from his wisdom and judgment. Combs said, I deeply appreciate this opportunity with JPMorgan Chase and look forward to working closely with my new colleagues on the board of directors. Im pleased to join a team committed to serving the interests of customers, clients and shareholders. Berkshire CEO and Chairman Warren Buffett hired Combs and fellow investment manager Ted Weschler, 55, to manage part of the Omaha conglomerates investments, allowing each to build up portfolios totaling about $9 billion so far. Buffett, 86, has praised their investment decisions since then and said hiring the two was a step toward executive succession, gradually putting more of Berkshires investments in the hands of the two younger investment managers. Buffett also has praised Dimons work as head of JPMorgan, which manages $2.5 trillion in assets and has operations worldwide in banking, financial services, commercial lending and asset management. A 63-acre island estate that went on sale last week for the first time in over a century includes a stone mansion, a 21-stall horse stable and a natural cove that can shelter boats in stormy weather. It also has an asking price of $175 million, which industry experts say would easily break a record for the most ever paid for a residential property in the United States. Since about 1900 the property in Darien, Connecticut, has belonged to the family and descendants of William Ziegler, an industrialist who made his fortune in baking powder. The family decided to sell the estate, known as Great Island, as younger generations have moved on and the main house has not been occupied for some time, said David Ogilvy, the listing agent. The record for the most expensive American home was set by a property that sold in 2014 in New Yorks Hamptons for $147 million, said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants, who also tracks luxury home sales as a hobby. In the rarefied market of super high-end homes, Miller said there was a flurry of listings over $100 million across the country a couple of years ago, but many lingered for a year or longer without selling. How deep or wide is that pool of buyers? Its not as deep as was assumed a few years ago, he said. The island sits in Long Island Sound and is connected to the mainland by man-made strips of land. It has a half-mile driveway leading to the main house, several additional homes, a polo field, a private beach and dock, as well as a boathouse. It is about a mile from a commuter train station and Interstate 95. Robyn Kammerer, a local real estate executive with Halstead Property, said she believes that the asking price is reasonable considering the propertys proximity to Manhattan and its expansive, secluded shoreline. Given that the main house has been unoccupied, Ogilvy said the new owners probably will want to make renovations. But Kammerer said that probably would not be a stumbling block. For $175 million, youre going to want it to your taste, she said. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A persistent problem in the investing world is exposing itself around Omaha: the fees investors pay to own mutual funds. It comes down to what the mutual fund industry calls load: the expenses mutual fund buyers are charged upfront and that are deducted from the initial investment sum. Every penny so deducted is one that is not invested and earning a return. It is most often encountered when buying mutual funds through a broker, which many individual, institutional and retirement plans do. Now, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision is motivating lawsuits nationwide over the expenses at least 250 so far targeting employers sponsoring 401(k) plans. Omaha pension and benefit lawyers said they think its only a matter of time before one is filed in U.S. District Court in Nebraska. And it is those employers with 401(k) plans that could be on the hook if they dont get the best deal by buying the fund class with the lowest load, or fees and commissions. Some will have to make up the difference if it is found they failed to drive the hardest bargain on plan-incurred mutual fund fees. At risk are the retirement dollars of anyone who has mutual fund investments through either a workplace 401(k) or through a broker-dealer that didnt avail itself of the lowest fees available. And with people working longer and longer careers, small amounts early can mean big money late. The Department of Labor has studied this issue and they have estimated that if a worker just starting out could reduce their fees by 1 percent, when they retire they would have 38 percent more retirement dollars, said George Morgan, a finance professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Bottom line, every year the public is overcharged by tens of billions of dollars, maybe hundreds of billions. Also facing peril are employers with 401(k) plans. Employees are increasingly suing the company, in the name of the retirement plan itself. At least 250 U.S. employers so far have settled such cases, agreeing to reimburse the plan participants for investment income lost from paying too much in commissions and expenses, said Dan Wintz, a pension and benefit attorney with Omahas Badura & Wintz Law. So far the lawsuits have been focused on the major money centers, Wintz said, such as Chicago and New York. But smaller and medium-sized employers are being considered fair game. The Supreme Court decision last year that brought the issue to new examination has called attention to different classes of mutual fund shares. It works like this: The bigger the investment, the lower the fees. That is, a big retirement plan would be entitled to buy institutional shares at essentially a wholesale discount, a class of mutual fund shares with lower expenses in return for the larger investment. Individual investors are generally sold more expensive retail shares, the higher expenses reflecting the lower initial investment compared with a big institutional investor. (In many cases, these shares are dubbed Class A, Class B and Class C shares, from highest expense to lowest, but total expenses over time by class often vary on a case-by-case basis. The main point, pension and benefit experts agree, is that there is a major expense difference between wholesale and retail shares.) Problem is, the retirement plans and other institutional investors such as endowments and foundations arent always sold the cheaper class of shares they are entitled to given their buying power. That was highlighted last year when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a civil lawsuit dealing with the subject. The court essentially found that 401(k) plan sponsors the companies offering them to employees have a fiduciary duty to monitor, evaluate and compare the underlying investment offerings on an ongoing basis. That ruling has been through the legal wringer. The Supreme Court sent it back to the U.S. appeals court that originally dealt with the matter, telling it to reconsider. It did and reaffirmed its original decision. This month that court, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, took up the matter again. In any case, UNO professor Morgan said employer lawsuits over the matter, if victorious, might force bosses to top off worker retirement accounts to reflect the higher fees that were paid when they didnt have to be and which in the end reduced portfolio returns. Gary Clatterbuck, a pension and benefit lawyer with Omahas Baird Holm law firm, said there are broad implications to the Supreme Court ruling, that a plan sponsor making an investment decision for the 401(k) portfolio is not a one-time affair. Plans, he said, have to be monitored on an ongoing basis for performance and fees. It is one of the big developments plans are facing, said Clatterbuck. You cant just set it and forget about it. Clatterbuck also said plan sponsors can face Labor Department audits, and in some cases be required to contribute extra money to the accounts of participants if the audit finds investment options were offered at the expense of other ones with lower fees. Wintz, the Omaha pension and benefit attorney, said the Supreme Court case called Tibble v. Edison International really opened up litigation on the matter of mutual fund fees within employer-sponsored 401(k) plans. So far, Wintz said, attorneys representing aggrieved employees have targeted mega-employers such as Fortune 500 members Boeing, Chevron and Anthem, a health insurer. But smaller companies shouldnt get complacent. Wintz said that as plaintiff lawyer tactics at big firms doing the big suits become more well-known, smaller law firms will find clients at smaller employers. It is going to go lower and lower, Wintz said. There already are plenty of examples from outside of the Department of Labors employee benefit purview, examples within the broker-dealer industry itself. A big Omaha-based securities broker was just ordered by the industry regulator to reimburse investors for the same behavior as employees are alleging toward their 401(k) sponsors charging them for a more expensive class of mutual fund shares than was available to such bulk buyers if they had purchased the best bargain. According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority monthly disciplinary notice released last week, Securities America has agreed to pay $1.54 million in restitution to customers such as retirement plans and charitable organizations for mutual fund overcharges. The company, Finra said, sold the customers more expensive mutual fund shares than they were eligible to buy. Securities America, with 2,000 registered investment representatives nationwide, said that it had reported the matter to Finra, a group formed by industry members to self-police and authorized to do so by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Many U.S. broker-dealers, including Securities America, missed sales charge waivers afforded certain client account types in mutual funds, said Janine Wertheim, the companys chief marketing officer. We undertook our own analysis of our data and self-reported our findings to Finra. We are in the process of reimbursing clients adversely impacted and are pleased to resolve this matter. Finra said this year it planned to concentrate on fee overcharges. The industry watchdog termed it a mutual fund waiver sweep in a notice posted to it website in May. Trade journal Investment News reported at the time the targeted examinations of broker-dealers followed an already busy year in which national firms Wells Fargo, LPL Financial and Raymond James were ordered to repay $30 million related to the practice. UNOs Morgan said it is notable that Finra is taking a dimmer view than ever of overcharging. Along with the Labor Departments audits of retirement plans with a close eye on what class of mutual fund shares were bought, it adds up to a significant addition to the number of eyes looking over the shoulder of the brokers and broker-dealers, Morgan said. Her name was never on the storefront, but behind the scenes, Margie Swanson always made sure customers of Ernies in Ceresco were taken care of. Swanson, who helped found the Ceresco, Nebraska, business with her husband, Ernest Ernie Swanson, was known as the popcorn lady at the furniture and appliances store. Shed be there with her sleeves rolled up, always helping customers with a bag of fresh popcorn, said Dean Swanson, her son and current president of Ernies in Ceresco. She was always wanting to make sure customers were taken care of properly. If they werent, shed hand them a sack of popcorn and, believe me, the rest of us heard about it. Margie Swanson died Friday at her home in Ceresco. She was 95. The title of popcorn lady was fitting, Dean Swanson said, because his mother was always eager to serve people whether it was teaching Sunday school at the Ceresco Evangelical Covenant Church for 20 years or filling up her 1956 Ford station wagon with kindergartners and driving them to school. Right to the end she was worried about how others were doing, not herself, Dean Swanson said. She was especially passionate about caring for veterans. Swanson served as state president of the American Legion Auxiliary for Nebraska and as volunteer coordinator at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Lincoln. She and other volunteers would visit veterans in the hospital every weekend. She worked really hard for veterans. It was very important to her that they werent forgotten, Dean Swanson said. Margie Swanson was born in Omaha on Aug. 22, 1921. She graduated from Ashland High School in 1939 and went on to work at the Nebraska Ordnance Plant in Mead before she married Ernie Swanson in 1942. Soon after, the couple founded a small grocery store in downtown Ceresco. Ernie was interested in selling more than just groceries, so he branched out to RCA television sets and eventually appliances and furniture, Dean Swanson said. The store, which has expanded several times as other downtown merchants have closed, will celebrate 70 years in business this year. Margie Swanson is also survived by her daughter, Mary Pack, of Lincoln; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Ernie Swanson died in 1987. Services will be Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Ceresco Evangelical Covenant Church, 208 Pine St. in Ceresco. Fraud-fighting and investor education, especially for elderly Nebraskans, will be the topics at free luncheon meetings scheduled for October in Kearney, Grand Island and North Platte. The sessions are funded in part by a grant from the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit investor-education group that received $30 million paid by national investment companies in 2003 to settle conflict-of-interest complaints. The meetings are sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance, the State Attorney Generals Office, the Nebraska Department of Insurance, AARP Inc. and the Better Business Bureau. Those attending will learn about resources to protect family members and hear officials discuss ways to avoid fraudulent investment schemes by spotting red flags. Each session opens at 11 a.m., with lunch and a panel discussion from noon to 1:30 p.m. and information booths open through 2 p.m. To attend, click the Investor Education Forum registration tab at www.ndbf.nebraska.gov or call 877-471-3445. The dates and locations: Oct. 4, Holiday Inn, Kearney, RSVP by Sept. 27 Oct. 6, Bosselman Conference Center, Grand Island, RSVP by Sept. 27 Oct. 12, Sandhills Convention Center, North Platte, RSVP by Oct. 5 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Samsung Electronics said Monday that its investigation into the first report of a Galaxy Note 7 fire in China found no battery problem, reducing concerns that its smartphone crisis had expanded to the worlds largest mobile phone market. The South Korean tech giant said it was not able to investigate a second reported fire because it could not obtain that phone. The two accounts of Galaxy Note 7 fires raised alarms because the South Korean tech giant earlier said no Note 7 recall was necessary in China because the phones sold there did not have the battery manufacturing error that caused fires in phones sold in other countries. Samsung announced the global recall of 2.5 million of its flagship smartphones just two weeks after they were launched. It is struggling to restore consumer trust after 92 reports of Note 7 batteries that overheated or caught fire in the United States, which prompted an official government recall there last week. The company began shipping new Note 7 phones to replace the defective ones this week in South Korea. The Chinese battery supplier for Note 7 phones sold in China said Monday the fires there appeared to be different from those in other countries. We believe the heat problem comes from outside the battery. A very large likelihood exists that other factors gave rise to the heat problem, Amperex Technology Ltd. said. It gave no indication of what may have caused the problems. Samsung said its investigation suggested that external heat had damaged the phone. South Koreas Yonhap News Agency said it may have been an effort by consumers to tarnish Samsung. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. CHARLOTTE, N.C. The top risk manager in the Wells Fargo unit at the center of an unauthorized-account scandal has taken a leave of absence and been replaced in that role, the bank said Monday. Minneapolis-based Claudia Russ Anderson, 58, started a six-month unpaid leave on Monday, Wells Fargo said. In August, she was succeeded by Vic Albrecht, 57, who held a similar post in the banks wealth-management operation, according to the bank. The move comes after Wells Fargo agreed this month to pay $185 million in government fines to resolve claims that employees opened millions of accounts that may not have been authorized by consumers. Wells Fargo employees secretly opened the accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses, regulators alleged. The bank did not admit or deny allegations in the settlement. Claudia Russ Anderson made a personal decision to take a leave of absence. Her position has been filled in her absence, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Richele Messick said in a statement. GRAND ISLAND, Neb. The events of Bernard Schaeffers life in the 1970s and his years since then, all of them behind bars, were examined in detail during a mitigation hearing Monday at the Hall County Courthouse. Schaeffer was given a life sentence in the murder of Donald Beery Jr. of Grand Island in 1977. Beery, 28, was the manager of an Ace Hardware Store. Schaeffer, who was 16 at the time, shot Beery 17 times after Schaeffer and a friend robbed him of the days receipts from the store. He was convicted of first-degree murder and has been in prison since Oct. 3, 1977. Schaeffer, who is now 56, will be resentenced as a result of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case, Miller v. Alabama. That case struck down laws in 28 states and the federal government that required mandatory, parole-ineligible life sentences for individuals whose homicide offenses occurred before age 18. Keeping juveniles in prison for life without a chance of parole, the court said, violates the Eighth and 14th Amendments prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. District Judge Teresa Luther presided over the hearing, which was attended by about 30 people who dont want Schaeffer released from prison. Donald Beerys wife, Edith, 66, and her three children were at Mondays hearing, along with Beerys three siblings. The hearing was a continuation of an abbreviated hearing earlier in the summer. Schaeffer spent seven hours on the stand Monday. Before Beerys murder, Schaeffer carried out two armed robberies of a gas station, burglarized another gas station and helped his friends burglarize that station. He got the idea to rob Ace Hardware one evening when he saw a man exit the store carrying what appeared to be a money bag. That man, whom he didnt know, was Beery. A few weeks later Schaeffer and a friend, George Lanzendorf, hid under a trailer behind the store, planning to render Beery unconscious and take the money. Lanzendorf was going to knock Beery out, but changed his mind. Schaeffer wound up hitting Beery in the forehead with the butt of a semiautomatic handgun. But the blow didnt knock out Beery. He went down to one knee and he came up angry, Schaeffer recalled. The three got into Schaeffers AMC Javelin. Beery sat in the front and Lanzendorf sat in the back seat, holding the gun on Beery. At that point, Schaeffer did not have any thought of killing Beery, he said. I just remember being extremely scared, he said. They ended up at a sandpit west of Grand Island, where Schaeffer told Beery to get out of the car. In pulling the trigger, Schaeffer used up most of two clips because he didnt know how many times it would take to kill him. The money bag contained $600, which Schaeffer split with Lanzendorf. Schaeffer had hoped to use the money to buy an ounce of cocaine and a pound of mescaline, which together cost $1,800. Instead, he bought an engine for his car. Schaeffer now realizes that what he did to Beery was a terrible thing, he said. Mondays hearing was continued until Nov. 22. Luther will issue the sentence on Jan. 3. During a break in the hearing two of Beerys children, Sarah and Mandy, said they dont believe Schaeffer has been rehabilitated. They regretted that the hearing required their mother to relive the events of 1977. It turned my moms life completely upside-down, Sarah said. Here comes Round 4. Nikko Jenkins has been declared competent to face a death penalty hearing in the August 2013 murders of Juan Uribe- Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger. Douglas County District Judge Peter Bataillon set Jenkins death penalty hearing for Nov. 14. The judge purposely scheduled the hearing for that date so it would occur after the Nov. 8 election, when voters will decide whether Nebraska should keep the death penalty. State senators repealed the death penalty in 2015 prompting a petition drive to put it on the ballot so voters could decide if it should remain. If the death penalty remains in effect after the election, a three-judge panel will hear several days of testimony to determine whether Jenkins should receive the death penalty. Its been a long slog 30 months since Jenkins pleaded no contest to the random spree killings that rocked Omaha. The then-26-year-old committed the murders within three weeks of his release from a Nebraska prison, where he had spent 10 years for two carjackings. Since his convictions, Jenkins has had three death penalty hearings set, only to be declared incompetent on the cusp of each. The judges competency finding Tuesday comes a few weeks after State Sen. Ernie Chambers on Aug. 31 asked for a Department of Justice investigation into how Jenkins has been able to obtain the means to slice various parts of his anatomy, including his neck and penis. State psychiatrists allege that Jenkins self-mutilations are the result of his attempts to manipulate, rather than any mental illness. Other psychiatrists have concluded that Jenkins suffers from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and that those mental illnesses have driven his behavior. In his 10-page order, Bataillon echoed Chambers concern about how Jenkins has been able to obtain sharp objects to cut himself, even while in solitary confinement. Prison officials have previously said that Jenkins uses everything from broken-off pieces of floor tile to radio antennas to do it. The judge called it quite baffling as to how Defendant gets the razors and other devices with which to cut himself. The judge also called out Jenkins purported suicide attempts. Prison guards have observed Jenkins slip his waist chain over his shoulders and then pretend to hang himself with his hands between the chain and his neck. He has also attempted or acted as if he was hanging himself twice in his fenced-in recreation area, Bataillon noted. None of these were serious enough to require hospitalization; however, all the cuttings required medical attention. Despite various diagnoses or disfigurements, Bataillon ruled that Jenkins is able to understand the proceedings and assist his defense attorneys in fighting the death penalty. After long evaluations, discussions and other viewings of Jenkins (by doctors), his actions are inconsistent with mental illness, Bataillon ruled. He cant keep up his feigning under close scrutiny. The judge noted that Jenkins testified at the last hearing and coherently answered questions from both his defense attorney and prosecutors. Defendant was quite capable of following the questions of his attorney, Mr. Riley, and answered these questions with appropriate answers, Bataillon wrote. Based on the evidence, this Court ... finds that the defendant is competent to proceed with the sentencing phase of this matter. She didnt want apologies from serial rapist Christopher Ennis as if a sorry could undo the scars on her soul. She didnt want token sympathy from those around her in the fourth-floor courtroom. And heres something else she didnt want: to be called a prostitute. But the now-20-year-old woman snatched, dragged and raped behind bushes in northeast Omaha four years ago walked toward a courtroom Monday morning, only to be victimized again. Youre a prostitute, a relative of Ennis called out. The womans jaw dropped. What are you talking about? I was 16 years old, the woman said. Again, the relatives temper flared. Prostitute, she blared. The relative put up a hand as the 20-year-old woman shot a finger at her. Your brother is a serial rapist, the woman hollered back. Twenty minutes later, he was a serial rapist with a significant prison sentence. Douglas County District Judge Mark Ashford sentenced Ennis, 30, to 90 to 100 years in prison. Under state law, which cuts most sentences in half, Ennis wont be eligible for parole for 45 years. Ennis had faced up to 100 years in prison after pleading no contest to two counts of first-degree sexual assault. DNA connected him to the rapes or attempted rapes of seven women in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Confident that he would get a lengthy sentence, prosecutors allowed him to plead to just two of the rapes. The string of rapes went unsolved until the last woman who was assaulted described the suspects car as being tan or gold with in-transit stickers. About nine blocks away, Omaha police pulled over a car matching that description. Inside: Ennis. They took a DNA sample from him. It connected him to attacks on seven women. The attacks, which occurred as the women walked near 27th and Maple Streets, had become so violent that police feared that the assailant might kill. Ennis grabbed the women from behind, dragged them behind bushes or buildings, choked them and raped them. One of the women said Ennis choked her to the point of unconsciousness. Ennis sometimes would apologize afterward, telling the women that he was high on one drug or another. Monday, Ennis 5-foot-5, slight and wearing the yellow jumpsuit of a man in protective custody choked up as he addressed the judge. I just want to apologize for this whole ordeal, he said, his voice breaking. I didnt plan on I feel terrible about this incident and each individual victim. Ennis then turned to his own woes. He noted that three friends or family members have died in the 2 years that he has been in jail awaiting a resolution to this case. Being in for the time Ive been in ... its been kind of hard on me, he said. I havent had the chance to be around my family and my 6-year-old daughter. Ashford decried Enniss crime spree. The terror that you inflicted can only be imagined, Ashford said. Sexual assault its not really a sexual act. Its a matter of control, violence and power over an individual. Next to homicide, I can think of few crimes that rise to that level. Prosecutor Molly Keane called Ennis a wolf in sheeps clothing a seemingly docile man working full-time at fast-food restaurants by day, a predator lurking and pouncing on women by night. Keane blasted Ennis family for the catcalls outside court. None of the women who was attacked was a prostitute, Keane said. They simply were women walking in their neighborhood some of them with limited financial and transportation means. The attacks have scarred each woman, Keane said. In a letter to the judge, one of the women described her difficulty in forming normal relationships with men. She was a successful, hard-working woman, Keane said. Now, shes blanketly scared of men. She has nightmares. She has flashbacks. Shes even had suicidal thoughts. Likewise, the 20-year-old woman told prosecutors that Ennis July 28, 2012, attack is singed on her brain. She felt so disgusting and dirty, Keane said. She eventually lost a significant amount of weight. She became angry, numb to others feelings. Monday in court, the woman blasted Ennis and his relatives for calling her a prostitute because she had the courage to report Ennis crimes. That really hurts, she said. I was 16 years old. I was on my way to my boyfriends house a half-block away. What happened in that half-block stretch forever altered her life. She told prosecutors that she wanted to rip my soul out of my body after the attack. She didnt cry in court Monday. Didnt scream at Ennis relatives. Didnt dwell on her pain. She just calmly asked a judge to deliver the maximum sentence. I dont need a pity party, she said. I dont need the tears. I dont need the stories. I just need justice. The Westside school board adopted a $71.1 million general fund budget Monday night, months after approving a series of trims that eliminated elementary Spanish classes, summer enrichment camps and several staff positions. The vote comes after the district was forced to make the painful budget cuts in the spring to stave off a projected shortfall of $5.4 million for the current school year. Westside officials said stagnating property values and state aid were behind its budget woes. The cuts totaled nearly $4 million and resulted in consolidated bus routes, the end of the elementary foreign language program and the elimination of more than a dozen full- or part-time jobs. This years general budget also will include an infusion of $1.71 million in cash reserves. The district has been dipping into its reserves for several years to balance budgets. As was true in several other school districts in the Omaha area, Westsides property valuations were up this year, about 4.6 percent. District spending is up about 2.7 percent over the 2015-16 budget. The board will separately approve the tax levy at its Oct. 4 meeting. The proposed total levy is about $1.32 per $100 of valuation, which equals a tax bill of $1,987 for the owner of a home assessed at $150,000. The total levy includes bond debt payment for the $79.9 million bond measure that voters approved last year. Thats an increase of about $25. In other news, the board announced the four finalists for an empty seat on the board. Seven people applied for the vacancy. Board members selected Alexis Birge Boulos, Douglas Krenzer, Jim Rose and Meagan Van Gelder to interview for the board seat previously held by Rosie Zweiback. After 12 years on the board, Zweiback resigned last month to focus on other volunteer opportunities. The school board will hold public interviews of the four finalists at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Sept. 26 at Westsides administrative headquarters. Meagan Van Gelder will be interviewed Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Alexis Boulos will be interviewed Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. The board will interview Doug Krenzer and Jim Rose starting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26. The board is expected to select Zweibacks replacement in early October. Who better to help kick off homecoming festivities with the theme of "Back to Rio" than the most decorated female athlete of the 2016 Olympic Games? Five-time Olympic gold medalist and nine-time world champion swimmer Katie Ledecky helped Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart kick off its homecoming festivities in a special video shown to students on Monday. Ledecky, 19, attended Stone Ridge of the Sacred Heart school in Bethesda, Maryland. Duchesne Head of School Meg Brudney said there are 22 Sacred Heart schools in the U.S. and two in Canada. When the Olympics started, Duchesne received information about Ledecky and other Sacred Heart Olympians around the world through the school's network. Ledecky holds the world swimming records in the women's 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle (long course). She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle events. She won her first gold medal during the 2012 London Olympics in the women's 800-meter freestyle event. This year at the Rio Olympics, she won four gold medals and one silver medal. Even though Ledecky attended a different school, Brudney said Sacred Heart students feel a connection to each other. "We have been following (Ledecky) and posting things about her on our Facebook and social media," Brudney said. "We're just so proud of her." When Duchesne students picked "Back to Rio" for this year's Homecoming theme, the student body president approached Brudney and asked if it would be possible to get a special message from Ledecky for the festivities. Brudney reached out to Stone Ridge's head of school to see what she could make happen. "She said 'Lucky you, Katie is coming in tomorrow' this was about three weeks ago and they videotaped it and Katie was a total sport. She was like 'No problem, I'll do it,'" Brudney said. "They did three different takes, and we picked one, kept it a secret and showed it to the students (Monday)." In the video, Ledecky gave a special "shout out" to her "Sacred Heart sisters" and pointed out her Sacred Heart school ring, an item all Sacred Heart students receive in their junior year. Brudney said the students were "super excited" about the video and appreciated the Ledecky's message. "Katie in her Olympian fashion was just a true sport to do this," Brudney said. "She just played along and we all got the biggest kick out of it." Gail Palmer, a 51-year-old American Red Cross volunteer from Malvern, Iowa, returned from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in shock at the devastation. Palmer was one of many volunteers sent south to help with recovery efforts in the wake of the natural disaster which caused mass flooding and cost millions of dollars in damage. "I saw how hard people were working to get their homes back to the way they were." Palmer said. "It was devastating seeing the three-foot water lines marking everything the water touched on the structures." Her disaster training with the Red Cross taught her how to open, run and close a shelter as well as safe feeding practices; skills needed to help victims who arrived at the shelters in Baton Rouge. She started volunteering after seeing how the Red Cross was helping communities damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Over the past year, she was deployed to five other disasters including wildfires in Washington and California and the mudslides in Oregon. "When I agreed to deploy to Oregon, I knew I could be gone for Christmas, but I also knew I could make a difference," Palmer said. Palmer's 10 years of volunteer experience prepared her for each deployment and she said her continued training with the Red Cross builds upon that knowledge. On Sept. 24, the Council Bluffs Red Cross, 705 N. 16th St., will host a boot camp to train volunteers the skills and other emergency preparedness techniques. The 10-hour boot camp is free and begins at 8 a.m. with check-in starting at 7:30 a.m. Breakfast and lunch will be provided for all volunteers who attend. The program will orient and train individuals to become disaster volunteers to deploy locally and/or nationally. Currently, the Council Bluffs Red Cross has 24 active volunteers in the metro and needs more to respond to local disasters like fires because the number shrinks when volunteers are deployed to national disaster areas, organizers said. We are particularly in need of Disaster Action Team volunteers, who respond to local fires throughout the metro, said Heather Allemang, Disaster Program Specialist. This training will equip volunteers to engage immediately. Anyone interested in helping local or national communities affected by disasters are encouraged to attend the boot camp. Registration is preferred, but not necessary. To register, go online to volunteerconnection.redcross.org/?nd=form__6044. KEARNEY, Neb. Kearney High School won the Sweepstakes Trophy and was named the top band overall at the 2016 University of Nebraska-Kearney's Band Day Parade Competition on Sept. 17. Twenty-four Nebraska bands marched in the University of Nebraska at Kearney parade. Directed by Nathan LeFeber and Rick Mitchell, Kearney High won Class AA and was also awarded the trophy for outstanding drum line. Winning the Outstanding Color Guard trophy was Kearney Catholic High School. Other first-place honors went to Grand Island Northwest High School, Class A; Cozad High School, Class B; Wood River High School, Class C; and Axtell High School, Class D. In the middle school division, first place went to Kearney eighth Grade. Click on the image above to scroll through the photo gallery. UNK Band Day Parade Competition Class AA 1st Kearney High School 2nd Hastings High School 3rd North Platte High School Class A 1st Grand Island Northwest High School Class B 1st Cozad High School 2nd Kearney Catholic High School 3rd Holdrege High School Class C 1st Wood River High School 2nd Amherst High School 3rd Ravenna High School Class D 1st Axtell High School 2nd Overton High School 3rd Kenesaw High School Middle School Division 1st Kearney Eighth Grade 2nd Ogallala Middle School 3rd Palmer Jr. High Outstanding Color Guard Kearney Catholic High School Outstanding Drum Line Kearney High School Top Band Overall Sweepstakes Trophy Kearney High School With the annual harvest season right around the corner, authorities in Nebraska and Iowa have a message for motorists and farmers: Use caution when traveling rural roads and highways. Combines, grain carts, tractors and other agricultural implements travel at slower speeds, authorities said, and their large sizes and loads can create visibility problems. So drivers are reminded to use caution when approaching, following or passing farm vehicles. Operators of agricultural implements may travel on the shoulder of the road when available. The vehicles should display Slow Moving Vehicle warning triangles and use their flashing yellow caution lights when they are on roads. When turning left from a road into a field or farm entrance, farm-vehicle operators are urged to be aware of cars and trucks attempting to pass them, authorities said. Motorists also should use caution when driving at dawn and dusk when glare from the sun can reduce visibility, authorities said. LAKE VIEW, Iowa (AP) Authorities are investigating the death of a woman who was shot while sitting in the drivers seat of a vehicle in northwest Iowa. The Sac County Sheriffs Office said the shooting was reported on Sunday about 2 miles east of Lake View. The office said a man in the front passenger seat was handling a loaded handgun when it went off. The bullet struck the 24-year-old woman. The Sheriffs Office said the woman was taken to Loring Hospital in Sac City and then flown to a Des Moines hospital, where she died. The names of those involved have not been released, pending additional investigation and autopsy results. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A strong odor Tuesday from painters chemicals caused about 350 people to be evacuated from a Nebraska Medical Center building in midtown Omaha. One person was taken to the med centers emergency room for coughing and lung and eye irritation. That person was released shortly after being admitted, said med center spokesperson Taylor Wilson. The initial call to Douglas County 911 dispatchers came in at 9:50 a.m., saying a natural gas leak was causing breathing and eye irritations, Wilson said. However, the odor did not come from a chemical spill or a gas leak. The odor was due to chemicals and sealant that painters were using in a parking garage just southwest of the Durham Outpatient Center, 44th and Emile Streets, on the south edge of the campus. That forced the evacuation of about 350 staff members and patients from the outpatient center, Wilson said. Officials hoped that the outpatient center would be reopened to staff members by afternoon, Wilson said. Later, the center said all afternoon appointments had been canceled. The garage reopened about 2:30 p.m. after workers removed the sealant, Wilson said. Parking was moved to another garage directly to the south of the outpatient center but will return to normal today. Painters were working in the garage that also will serve the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, set to open in May 2017. Three or four other people complained of throat or eye irritation and were checked by firefighters at the scene, fire officials said. Many of the patients from the center were taken directly west to the Durham Research Centers auditorium. From there, some patients remained outside awaiting the outpatient centers reopening. Wilson praised the evacuation effort, saying staff members are well-trained for emergencies. Sara Mangiameli, 30, of Omaha said she was preparing to enter the center when officials told her that it was being evacuated. She was with her grandmother and uncle, who were at the center for physical therapy. They turned us right around, said Mangiameli, who also had her 6-week-old baby with her. They said it was a gas leak, and they were evacuating everybody. Jacqulynn Vasser, 18, who is pregnant, said she was at the outpatient center for a checkup. WASHINGTON Americas potential adversaries are swiftly pursuing the ability to cripple the U.S. militarys space-related capabilities, the head of Air Force Space Command warned lawmakers on Tuesday. We have amazing force structure in space, Gen. John Hyten testified. Both the Chinese and the Russians in particular have been watching those capabilities being deployed on the battlefield for the last 20 years, and in response to that theyre building counter-space capabilities to deny us those capabilities in conflict. Hyten appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on his nomination to lead U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the nations strategic forces, including its nuclear capabilities. StratComs headquarters is at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha. Committee members offered praise for Hytens qualifications for the job and, after the hearing, the panels chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told The World-Herald that he expects the nomination to advance as quickly as possible. During the hearing, McCain highlighted reports that Russia and China are working on measures such as anti-satellite missiles, jamming technology and cyberwarfare to take out U.S. space assets in the event of a conflict. McCain said that in a private meeting before the hearing, Hyten had shared with him deeply disturbing information about the push for counter-space capabilities by China and Russia and that he might soon ask Hyten to provide other committee members with a classified briefing on the subject. The chairman pressed Hyten on the speed with which the nations adversaries are moving and whether the United States has a cohesive strategy to respond. Hyten assured McCain that the strategy is sound but said hes concerned that American progress in the arena is lagging. We are moving much slower in certain areas than our adversaries, Hyten said. We need our industry and our acquisition process to move faster. Much of Tuesdays nomination hearing revolved around the triad of U.S. nuclear forces: the land-based leg of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the sea-based leg of nuclear-armed submarines and the air leg of long-range bombers. Hyten repeatedly expressed his support for maintaining and modernizing each leg of the triad. Bombers provide the most flexibility, submarines offer survivability and ICBMs have the most readiness, he said. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., a member of the committee, asked if the nations strategic needs included a new air-launched nuclear cruise missile. Some Democrats in Congress have questioned whether the new missile is truly necessary given the ability of long-range bombers to deliver gravity bombs. Hyten said the new missile is important because bombers, no matter how stealthy or capable, will face challenges in penetrating enemy defenses. From my 35 years in the military, I believe you need the flexibility that an air-launch cruise missile, a long-range strike option, can provide you, Hyten told Fischer. Hyten is slated to take over StratCom when Adm. Cecil Haney leaves later this year. LINCOLN An inmate who escaped from the Lincoln Correctional Center in June appeared in court Tuesday on a felony escape charge. Timothy Clausen, 52, appeared via video conference. Clausen, who is being held at the Tecumseh State Prison, twice responded yes, sir to Lancaster County Judge Thomas Zimmerman. A public defender was appointed for Clausen, and a preliminary hearing on the charge was set for Oct. 25. Zimmerman set Clausens bail at $250,000. Clausen and Armon Dixon, 37, are accused of escaping from the Lincoln Correctional Center on June 10 by hiding in laundry baskets in a truck headed for the Tecumseh prison. Shortly after the truck left the Lincoln facility, a caller to 911 reported seeing two men wearing what appeared to be prison garb running near U.S. Highway 77 and Warlick Boulevard. The two then stole a truck and drove off with law enforcement officers in pursuit. After crashing the truck near the State Capitol, they disappeared into the neighborhood. Dixon surfaced the following day. Clausen was captured on June 15 when Omaha police found him at the Spencer Apartments complex in northeast Omaha. He was discovered on an upstairs toilet with a revolver beside him. Authorities allege that Wanda Minor, 50, helped Clausen get from Lincoln to Omaha. She has been charged with being an accessory to a felony. Clausen, who is serving a significant prison sentence for attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child and tampering with a witness, faces up to four years in prison and a $25,000 fine for the escape charge. No other charges have been filed. Presidential coattails are not a must-have fashion accessory in Omaha. While Democrat Brad Ashford and Republican Don Bacon are each highly supportive of the presidential nominees for their respective parties, neither congressional candidate in the Omaha-based 2nd District is hanging his campaign on the fortunes of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Bacon makes it clear that Trump was not his first or even his second choice, while Ashford says he is not helping or even communicating with Clintons campaign. When you have presidential nominees with historically high negative ratings, there is not a rush of candidates who want to make joint appearances, said Nathan Gonzales, editor of the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter. I think Ashford and Bacon are unique enough individuals and theyre comfortable enough with their backgrounds that theyd rather have this race play out on local issues, Gonzales added. Nationally speaking, Bacon and Ashford are not alone in keeping some distance between them and their parties nominees. Both Clinton and Trump have high unfavorable ratings among voters, many of whom tell pollsters they are not happy with their presidential choices in this election. And with two divisive candidates at the top of the ticket, there may be little upside for congressional candidates like Bacon and Ashford to give their nominees a political bear hug. That holds especially true in a district like Nebraskas 2nd, where voters have bucked national trends and have shown an independence at the ballot box in recent elections. In 2008, voters in Omaha gave Democrat Barack Obama a historic win in the district, while also sending Republican Lee Terry back to Congress. In 2014, as Republicans swept congressional races across the country, Democrats scored a win in Nebraska as Ashford unseated Terry. Nebraska is not entirely immune from national trends, but the old political saying that all politics is local holds especially true in this congressional election and in this district, said several political observers. Ashford may receive a bit of a lift if Clinton wins Omaha, but Clintons success would be no guarantee of a victory for the congressman. The same holds true for Bacon and Trump, said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia and the founder of Sabatos Crystal Ball. Its a highly competitive district. And its those districts that can make split decisions, giving both parties a win simultaneously, Sabato said. Sabato also said the 2nd District is too close to call in this years presidential race. Earlier this year, he had placed the Omaha district in the leaning Clinton category. However, with Clintons recent dip in the polls, Sabato this week was moving the district into the toss-up category. There are only a handful of truly competitive districts (in the nation) and the Nebraska 2nd is one of them, Sabato said. Gonzalez agrees that the political fates of Ashford and Bacon are not tightly tied to the presidential race. He argued that Ashfords win two years ago was as much a referendum on Terry a longtime congressman who had built up his own negatives in office as it was a show of support for Ashford. It wasnt a wave that swept in Brad Ashford. It was circumstances thats unique to his race, so I dont think a wave can keep him in office, Gonzales said. Asked about the presidential race, Ashford said he is focused on his own campaign and he does not have time to either help or track Clintons campaign in the district. Even so, Ashford said, he strongly supports Clinton. He said he was happy to endorse her during the primary campaign, when she named him one of more than 50 members of her leadership council in Omaha. He said Clinton, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, is the most qualified candidate in the race. She clearly has a history of working across the aisle, and thats based on information from just about everybody Ive talked to in the U.S. Senate, he said. Ashford said he does not believe Clinton is without flaws. He called her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state reckless, adding that he thinks she has learned from the experience. He contended that the email controversy is not a disqualifier for Clinton, noting that it was extensively investigated by the FBI and that FBI Director James Comey, a Republican, recommended against prosecuting her. For his part, Bacon said he thinks Trump is more qualified than Clinton to serve as president. He prefers to talk about Clintons perceived shortcomings than Trumps assets, saying that he thinks Clintons handling of the emails disqualifies her from office. When questioned about Trump, Bacon acknowledged that there have been several things that Trump has either said or done that he has found troubling, such as comments about former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorinas looks and positive remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bacon also said there is a difference between Ashford and himself when it comes to their respective presidential candidates. Bacon said he did not support Trump from the start, while Ashford endorsed Clinton when she was still in a primary fight with Bernie Sanders. Bacon said he initially supported Scott Walker and then Marco Rubio, before backing Trump. He wasnt my first or second choice in the primary, Bacon said. But its between these two now and I have more agreement with him than Hillary Clinton. WASHINGTON Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., is seeking more answers from President Barack Obama on the rationale behind making a $400 million cash payment to Iran now that new information has surfaced about wire transfers to that country. The $400 million was part of a larger settlement with Iran related to a long-standing dispute over a weapons deal in the late 1970s with the shah of Iran. The deal fell apart after the shah was overthrown, and Iran has since been trying to get its money back. Republicans have cited the mid-January payment, provided in euros and other foreign cash, as evidence that it was essentially ransom to secure the release of Americans detained in Iran. Administration officials dispute that characterization. Obama said during a press conference last month that the reason for making the payment in cash was that a strict sanctions regime meant there was no banking relationship between the United States and Iran, so a wire transfer wasnt possible. But a Treasury Department spokesman has confirmed that the United States made at least two separate payments to the Iranian government via wire transfer within the last 14 months, according to a report in Politico. One of those wire payments was in July 2015, when the sanctions cited by Obama were still in full effect, according to the report. It would seem, then, that not only did you embark on a policy that ultimately endangers American lives by incentivizing foreign governments to detain our citizens as a means of extortion, but that this policy was enacted in a manner that maximizes Irans ability to hide its use of these funds, Sasse wrote Monday in a letter to Obama. Politico quoted an unnamed senior administration official as saying that the transfers do not contradict what the president said in his press conference and that Iran wanted the January payment in cash because it otherwise would have faced difficulties in accessing the money. Sasse, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, posed a long series of questions to Obama in his letter, including how many cash or wire transfer payments the administration has made to Iran, whether there is reason to believe Iran is using the funds to support terrorist groups and how many Americans are still being detained in Iran. The writer is a political contributor to CBS News and hosted Face the Nation from 1991 to 2015. He wrote this for the Washington Post. I moderated presidential debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and its an experience like no other. People dont believe me when I say I dont get nervous on television, but I dont. Ive done it so long that it has become second nature to me like a veteran ballplayer getting so zoned in that he forgets hes playing in front of a crowd. But as I was standing backstage before my first debate George W. Bush and John Kerry in 2004 I looked down at my hands and realized I was shaking like a leaf. I hadnt had stage fright in 30 years. Yet, as I stood there thinking how the race for the most powerful office in the world could be influenced by what happened that night while millions upon millions of people were watching, it made me a nervous wreck. Then it came to me. For sure, this was the World Series of politics, but the people who should be nervous were the players. I was just the umpire. With that in mind, I settled my own nerves. Its also why I believe the most important advice I can give to a moderator is this: Remember that nobody goes to a ballgame to watch the umpire. Were not electing a national moderator; were electing a president. If you keep that in mind, the whole thing gets easier. Over the years, Ive been asked to define the moderators role. To me, the moderators main responsibility is to give the viewers a better and more complete understanding of who the candidates are, and its more than where they stand on issues. A vote for president is different from any other vote we cast. We often vote for local government candidates strictly on issues, such as Candidate A wants to put a stoplight at a certain intersection. If were for that, we vote for him; if were against it, we vote for the other person. Not so for presidential elections. Issues are important. Party affiliation is important. But in presidential elections, I believe most Americans cast their votes for the person they feel most comfortable with in time of crisis. So the moderators must do their best to help viewers understand not only where the candidates come down on the issues but also how they react under pressure, whether they seem to know their stuff and whether they appear to have the poise and, yes, the courage to handle the awesome responsibilities of the presidency. In the 2004 debate, I noted that like me, both Bush and Kerry were married to smart women and had two daughters, so I asked, What is the most important thing youve learned from these smart women? Bush said to listen to them. Referring to his wealthy wife, Kerry brought down the house when he said, The president and you and I are three examples of lucky people who married up. And some would say maybe me more so than others. I thought it showed a side of both men we hadnt seen. A good laugh also keeps people awake. One of the toughest assignments for the moderators is fact-checking in real time when they dont have the luxury of looking something up. All the moderators this year are veteran journalists, so Im confident they will have done their homework and be familiar with the issues before the debates. But its more complicated than that. I believe the chief fact-checkers are the candidates. If one of them says something that is dead wrong or inconsistent with what he or she has said previously, the other candidate should have the first opportunity to call his or her opponent on it. This gives the viewers a chance to judge how knowledgeable both of the candidates are. If neither candidate catches the inaccuracy, then the moderator must step in, set the record straight and, if necessary, ask a question about it. With more and more misleading, distorted and downright wrong information finding its way into campaign dialogue this year, moderators should be prepared to say, Candidates, for the record, there is no evidence to support that, or words to that effect. The moderators greatest challenge in this years debates may not be fact-checking but keeping the candidates from hogging the 15 minutes allotted to discuss each of the topics. The last two debates I moderated, I sat at a table with the candidates. Having them in close proximity made reining them in easier. Maybe Im wrong, but I also thought it made them more reluctant to hurl personal insults. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump so despise each other, I doubt either would agree to sit at the same table. If they do get out of line, the moderator must remind them forcefully, if necessary that voters expect them to abide by rules they both agreed to. And one final tip to moderators: If the candidates start throwing things, just dive under the table. Considering what weve seen this year, well all understand. Bit by bit, our society is starting to take responsible action to address the problem of human trafficking the coercion of young women, and in some cases children, into prostitution. Pimps exert tremendous pressure on vulnerable, often impoverished women to engage in the sex trade. In many cases, pimps subject their workers to terrible physical violence and threats. In some cases, such tactics force boys and young men into the sex trade. This problem is a global one, and in our country, an estimated 300,000 children are at risk of being victims of this vile practice, U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer said last year, when the Senate voted 99-0 to approve federal legislation on the issue. During debate on the bill, lawmakers rightly characterized the problem as modern-day sexual slavery. The State of Nebraska, too, has taken action, through legislation enacted last year with support from Attorney General Doug Peterson. The bill, by Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk, is now law and has increased from five years to 20 years the maximum prison term for those who solicit sex from a juvenile. The law boosts subpoena powers for prosecutors and steps up the penalty for keeping a house of prostitution with children. At the same time these steps are being made, nonprofits in Omaha such as the Salvation Army and the Womens Forum of Omaha are doing well- designed work to provide support and strategic vision to help women and men make a successful transition out of prostitution and into normal life. Especially encouraging is SAFE-T, Salvation Army Fight to End Human Trafficking, a new initiative that offers a 24-hour hotline for trafficking victims and improved case management services. The effort, supported by a $1.5 million federal grant to the Salvation Army and the Nebraska Attorneys Generals Office, will coordinate actions among service providers and law enforcement to provide a range of assistance to victims. This work builds on the Salvation Armys longstanding program known as Wellspring. The Salvation Army has pledged to raise a 30 percent match of the federal funds. The SAFE-T hotline number is 888-373-7888. Sexual slavery is affecting millions of people around the world, Fischer said last year during Senate debate on this issue. We cannot turn a blind eye. Thats exactly right. Which is why this array of responses is so encouraging and so needed. In the last six years, two whistle-blowers have exposed government wrongdoing in the war on terrorism. Both have been punished for their actions one with imprisonment, the other with exile. Both recently made progress in their struggles with the government, but only one enjoys the high-profile support that both deserve. Last week, the ACLU and Amnesty International launched a campaign urging President Barack Obama to pardon Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee and government contractor who leaked more than a million classified documents in 2013. The campaign was timed to coincide with the premiere of a major Hollywood biopic, Snowden, with Oliver Stone directing and Joseph Gordon- Levitt in the starring role. The New York Times Magazine published a cover story chronicling the films production, and the day after the ACLUs announcement, the Guardian released a new interview with Snowden in which he laid out his case for a pardon, arguing that the benefits of his actions far outweigh any negative consequences. There has never been any public evidence that any individual came to harm as a result (of what I did), he said. With the countrys most prominent human and civil rights organizations, Hollywood and the international press behind him, Snowden is mounting a powerful effort to return home. Theres reason for him to feel optimistic about his chances. Also last week, three years into a 35-year sentence for disclosing classified information to WikiLeaks, the former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning went on a hunger strike. She demanded minimum standards of dignity, respect and humanity while in prison at the military barracks in Fort Leavenworth, including the ability to undergo gender reassignment surgery, as her doctors have long recommended. After four days, the Army relented. Yet the fact that Manning felt the need to take such drastic measures suggests how dire her time in prison has been so far. Although she came out as transgender in 2013, and although there is no question that she has struggled with gender dysphoria for most of her life, she is still housed with male inmates and required to keep her hair short. She attempted suicide in July, and in response the Army threatened to place her in indefinite solitary confinement, which psychologists and legal experts increasingly agree is a form of torture. Manning is not without allies. She is represented by lawyers from the ACLU, and various organizations have expressed support for her. But there is no Manning biopic in the works, nor is there a coordinated, star-studded effort to obtain a pardon. Why does the Free Snowden movement seem to have so much momentum and energy when compared to the effort to free Chelsea Manning? Both published extensive evidence of wrongdoing among the American military and intelligence services: the killing of 11 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Mannings case, and the unlawful surveillance of many millions of Americans in Snowdens. Both did so not for personal gain or to settle a professional vendetta but because they believed that their government was in the wrong. Both decided to act in full knowledge of the consequences. Exile is no joke, but Moscow is not exactly a military prison. Snowden can give interviews via teleconference robot whenever he likes, whereas Mannings ability to communicate with the world has been severely restricted. Perhaps Snowden is so much more popular for lack of a better word because he is male and straight, his sexuality confirmed by the attractive girlfriend who left the United States to live with him in Moscow. He is also charismatic and clear-spoken. Manning, meanwhile, is a trans woman, a member of one sexual minority that most people still feel comfortable denigrating publicly. Mannings story is also harder to look at, less Hollywood-ready, because of what it says about how the government treats dissidents. In return for her act of conscience, prosecutors charged Manning with aiding the enemy, a capital offense. She escaped the death penalty, but she must serve decades in a military prison. Thats not the kind of thing we like to see on movie screens. Although Manning can go forward with gender reassignment surgery, she faces new charges related to her suicide attempt. No one should face legal punishment for trying to take their own life, nor should Mannings upcoming surgery be viewed as anything other than a good start no whistle-blower should be in prison to begin with. Chelsea Manning deserves widespread, coordinated support for a full pardon, just like Edward Snowden. Karnataka to survey all Arabic schools to check if on same page as state board Cauvery row: All eyes on SC as Karnataka challenges release of water to TN Bengaluru oi-Vicky Bengaluru, Sept 20: Clearly unhappy with the order of the Cauvery Supervisory Committee which ordered Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka would challenge the same in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. There is palpable tension in Karnataka following the order of the committee which has led the administration to take several measures to ensure that law and order is not compromised. Karnataka's Home Minister, Dr. G Parameshwar has termed the order as a blow and disappointing. If we repeatedly face injustice, then the Cabinet will decide on the next course of action, he also said. In Mandya district, which is the epicentre of the protests, holiday has been declared in schools and colleges. Prohibitory orders have been issued in 5 taluks of the district. Karnataka while challenging the order of the committee would also pin its hopes on the Special Leave Petition that it has filed challenging the award of the Cauvery Waters Tribunal. The SLP is expected to come up in the second week of October. On Tuesday, before the Supreme Court, Karnataka would say that it has already released nearly 1.60 lakh TMC of water to Tamil Nadu. Releasing more water will not be possible since the state is clearly falling short of drinking water. At the meeting of the committee both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka failed to reach an agreement on the quantum of water that had to be released. This led to the Union Water Secretary who presided over the committee directing Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from September 21 to 30. Karnataka, meanwhile, has stepped up security across the state. Liquor shops have been ordered to be closed on September 20 and 21 as a precautionary measure. 15,000 police personnel along with Karnataka State Reserve Police, City Armed Reserve Police, Rapid Action Force as well as Quick Reaction Teams have been deployed all over city. Prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC would be in place in the city till September 25. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 8:25 [IST] Karnataka to survey all Arabic schools to check if on same page as state board Karnataka polls: AAP to field candidates in all 224 seats Karnataka Rajyotsava 2022: Interesting facts about Kannada, mesages, quotes to share on WhatsApp Cauvery row: Prohibitory orders in Bengaluru, bandh in Mandya Bengaluru oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Bengaluru, Sept 20: All eyes will be on the Supreme Court that will hear the Cauvery water dispute issue on the plea for direction to both states-Karnataka and Tamil Nadu- to take preventive measures. Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister has directed police officials to keep fire engines, tear gas shells ready in Cauvery belt including Bengaluru. The state government has increased security in many parts of Bengaluru and across Mandya and Mysuru ahead of the SC oder. Here are all the live updates on the Cauvery row: 6.55 pm: Judiciary's verdicts on Cauvery appear arbitrary. Show that the current system has failed. On NDTV 10:30pm today I argue for new mechanism, tweets Nitin Pai, director for Tehelka Institution. 6.35 pm: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah talks to Congress president Sonia Gandhi over phone and says it is difficult to release water to Tamil Nadu. 6.30 pm: Injustice yet again says Dr Parameshwar, Karnataka's home minister on Cauvery order. Cabinet ministers will meet tomorrow to discuss Supreme Court order which directed release of 6000 cusecs of water. Parameshwar also says will wait for order copy and then take decision. 6.16 pm: Stern actions will be initiated against people who take to social media to spread provocative messages, says Bengaluru cops. 6.13 pm: Some mischievous people are spreading rumors. We request citizens not to give attention to them, says Bengaluru police. 6.12 pm: As a preventive measure Section 144 wil continue till Sep 25 In Bengaluru.Strong bandobust wil continue, says Bengaluru police. 5.46 pm: Pro-Kannada activists call for Mandya bandh after SC directs Karnataka to release 6000 cusecs of water. 5.34 pm: Protestors in Mandya has blocked Mysuru-Bengaluru road causing traffic disruption. Police, however are trying to clear the road. 5.25 pm: Bengaluru police says there will be no bandh tomorrow. 4.49 pm: Karnataka says it is wrong to say that water should be released by cutting off drinking water supply to Bengaluru. 4.47 pm: SC orders Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 27. 4.46 pm: Supreme Court tells centre to constitute Cauvery Management Board in four weeks. 4.42 pm: Harish Salve says that the Cauvery issue needs to be settled. This is a luxury litigation that cannot go on. Paddy needs water at a particular time. There is no use of releasing water once the paddy dies. 4.37 pm: Fali S Nariman tells SC it is unlawful to pass interim verdict on water sharing dispute. 4.36 pm: Another counsel for Karnataka Harish Salve requests SC to look into the aspect of water scarcity prevailing in Karnataka. 4.35 pm: Supreme Court says it wants to hear the Attorney General of India on the formation of the Cauvery Management Board. 4.22 pm: Nariman seeks SC not to pass any interim order and leave the water sharing dispute to Cauvery Supervisory Committee. 4.20 pm: Senior Counsel from Karnataka Fali S Nariman argued that there is no guidelines in the order of Cauvery Water Tribunal to release waters on monthly basis. 4.05 pm: Supreme Court tells Centre to constitute Cauvery management board at the earliest. 3.55 pm: Hearing still on at Supreme Court. Both parties make submissions as Karnataka contends asked to release more water. 2.30 pm: Pro-Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj detained in Chamrajnagar. 2.15 pm: Supreme Court hearing underway on the Cauvery water issue. Karnataka water resources minister MB Patil also present in the court hall. 1.00 pm: Cauvery issue protests: Pro-Kannada organisations protest in Mandya (Karnataka) 12.43 pm: Pro-Kannada activists protest by eating mud, in Mandya (Karnataka) over the Cauvery issue. 12.28 pm: Cauvery water released from Mettur dam for irrigation in Tamil Nadu. 12.18 pm: Private vehicles with CCTV have been hired by the Bengaluru Police to keep a strict vigil in the city. 11.45 am: @BlrCityPolice In view of today's supreme court hearing on Kaveri water distribution, all security arrangements made in all Kar. Rly Stns. KAR Railway Police (@KARailwayPolice) September 20, 2016 10.00 am: Security stepped up outside Chief Minister's residence in Bengaluru. 9.00 am: Mandya (Karnataka): Locals offer prayers to 'Mother Cauvery' ahead of SC's decision on Cauvery issue. Mandya (Karnataka): Locals offer prayers to 'Mother Cauvery' ahead of SC's decision on #CauveryIssue pic.twitter.com/FPbkn50y3k ANI (@ANI_news) September 20, 2016 8.52 am: Bengaluru Police has urged people to go to work as usual. City life as usual today. Do not panic and fall for rumours.SWAT vehicles have been positioned at important places in Bengaluru, police say. BSF pressed into service at sensitive areas. 8.50 am: The Supreme Court will hear the Cauvery waters matter today at 2 PM. The legal team from Karnataka is yet to receive a copy of the Supervisory Committee's order. Once the order is received the next course of action would be decided. 8.40 am: #NoBandhInBengaluru: As A Preventive Measure #Section144 will continue till Sep 25 In Bengaluru. Strong bandobust will continue... BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) September 20, 2016 8.38 am: Karnataka Home Minister has also directed police to conduct flag march around sensitive areas. Also appealed to pro-Kannada activists,farmers' associations to maintain peace. 8.30 am: Ahead of the hearing in SC, Karnataka Home Minister has directed police officials to keep fire engines, tear gas shells ready in Cauvery belt including Bengaluru. 8.15 am: Prohibitory orders in 5 taluks in Mandya and holiday has been declared for schools and colleges in the district. OneIndia News Mahanadi: Odisha to move SC, BJD burns effigies of Uma, Raman Bhubaneswar oi-PTI Bhubaneswar, Sep 20: With Chhattisgarh refusing to stop work on the projects being constructed on the upstream of the Mahanadi river, the Odisha government today said it will move the Supreme Court on the issue even as ruling BJD supporters burnt effigies of Uma Bharti and Raman Singh. "The state cabinet yesterday approved a proposal to approach the Supreme Court as the Chhattisgarh government turned down Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's demand of stopping construction of projects on the upstream of Mahanadi," state Excise Minister Damodar Rout told reporters here. "The cabinet fully supports the state government's proposal of approaching the Supreme Court," he said. Patnaik today held parleys with the leaders of different political parties, members of voluntary organisations and experts on the Mahanadi issue. Leaders of CPI, CPI(M), SP, RJD, CPI-ML, Forward Bloc and SUCI took part in the meeting. The chief minister apprised them about the September 17 tripartite meeting at New Delhi. "Representatives of the political parties, who met the chief minister today, have supported the state government's stand on the Mahanadi issue," an official statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office said. "We were apprised of what had happened in the meeting which has already appeared in the media. There was nothing new. We have told the chief minister that the state government delayed in raising its voice against the construction by the Chhattisgarh government," CPI(M) leader Janardan Pati told reporters. He said the CPI(M) has suggested to the state government to approach the Supreme Court to set up a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute as the NDA-led Central government might support Chhattisgarh. Pati also said there was no need to directly approach the Centre for setting up a tribunal as Chhattisgarh was ruled by the BJP. "The Centre will be forced to set up a tribunal if the Supreme Court intervenes," he added. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 14:17 [IST] Bank holidays in November 2022: Here is the full list of non-working days Happy Chhath Puja 2022: Wishes, quotes, Facebook status, WhatsApp messages to share with your loved ones Caught on camera: 17-year-old teenager stabbed to death for protesting sister's harassment in Delhi Domestic air passenger traffic rises to 24% in Aug Business oi-PTI New Delhi, Sept 20: Domestic air passenger traffic rose nearly 24 per cent in August to 83.81 lakh passengers, as against 67.60 lakh passengers in the corresponding period last year, official data released on Monday showed. The domestic air travel demand during the January-August period of this year, however, surged 23.14 per cent to 644.68 lakh fliers, as compared to 523.55 lakh passengers flown by the domestic carriers in the corresponding period of 2015. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said in a tweet that the 24 per cent growth in domestic air passenger traffic in August was the highest across the aviation markets. "Another month of record growth for Indian aviation. August records 24% - highest worldwide," Mr Raju tweeted. Directorate General of Civil Aviation data showed that no-frills carrier IndiGo carried the most number of passengers at 33.41 lakh with a market share touching almost 40 per cent, while another budget carrier SpiceJet had the highest passenger load factor (PLF) during the month under review at 93.2 per cent. National carrier Air India also flew a total of 12.25 lakh passenger during August 2016 with a market share of 14.6 per cent - the lowest so far this year. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 13:35 [IST] Did Germany's 9-euro train and bus ticket pay off? Kerala: One killed, 58 injured as bus topples down from hill 2 killed, one burnt alive as police bus runs over bikers | Watch In pics: 27 killed in bus accident in Madhubani, Bihar Feature oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Patna, Sept 20: At least 27 passengers were killed when a private bus fell into a roadside pond in Bihar's Madhubani district on Monday evening. The Bus was carrying more than 50 passengers at the time of the accident which took place at Basaitha chowk under Bennipatti police station in Madhubani district. Local people said that the bus was on its way to Sitamarhi from Madhubani when the mishap took place on the state highway. Madhubani District Magistrate Giriwar Dayal Singh later confirmed that 27 peole were killed in the accident. "Many of the passengers, who had boarded the bus, swam to safety or might have jumped out of the bus to save themselves", Dayal Singh said. In Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed deep sorrow and said in a statement that reason of the accident was being looked into. Superintendent of police Deepak Kumar Barnwal and other policemen, who received stiff resistance from the villagers who were angry over delay in reaching of crane and pelted stones at them, managed to reach the spot after additional force came in. Story continues in images. 27 killed in bus mishap SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) on its mission to save passengers. 27 killed in bus accident Rescue work in progress. Ill-fated bus is being pulled out by rescue workers. 27 killed in bus accident Local crowd involved in rescue work at the accident spot. 27 killed in bus mishap Rescue workers involved in fishing out the wreckage of the bus which met with the accident. 27 killed in bus mishap Huge crowd watching rescue work in progress at the accident spot. Grieving families of Martyrs Women wail during the funeral of Subedar Karnail Singh at Shibu Chak village in Arnia in Jammu on Monday. Karnail Singh was martyred in terrorist attack at the Army Camp at Uri near LoC. Grieving families of Martyrs Family members mourn during the funeral of Havildar Ravi Paul at his native village, Sarwa in Samba on Monday. Ravi Paul was martyred in terrorist attack at the Army Camp at Uri near LoC. Grieving families of Martyrs Army jawan carry the mortal remains of Havildar Ravi Paul at his native village, Sarwa in Samba on Monday. Ravi Paul was martyred in terrorist attack at the Army Camp at Uri near LoC. Grieving families of Martyrs Village women during the funeral of Havildar Ravi Paul at his native village, Sarwa in Samba on Monday. Ravi Paul was martyred in terrorist attack at the Army Camp at Uri near LoC. Grieving families of Martyrs A family member pays tribute to slain Army jawan Jawra Munda who was killed in Uri attack, at Birsa Munda International Airport, Hinoo in Ranchi on Monday. Grieving families of Martyrs Neighbours console the wailing mother of Sepoy Gangadhar Dolui, who was martyred in the Uri attack, at his house in Howrah on Monday. Grieving families of Martyrs Wife of army soldier Naiman Kujur who was killed in Uri Army base attack, mourns her husband's death at Khorha Toili, Kokar in Ranchi on Monday. Grieving families of Martyrs Sons of Havildar Ravi Paul who was martyred in Sunday's terrorist attack at Uri Army camp, at their native village, Sarwa in Samba on Monday. Grieving families of Martyrs Wife of army soldier Sunil Kumar vidyarthi who was killed in Uri Army base attack, mourns her husband's death in Gaya on Monday. Surgical strikes: How India's heroes returned from PoK with bullets whistling past their ears A year since Uri, new vigour in Indian Army that left 178 terrorists dead Attack at Uri? It was just speculative fire, say sources Four years on: Remembering the surgical strike that dealt a lethal blow to Pakistan (In Pics) Uri attacks: Not just the army jawans, India too cries Pakistan Murdabad in unison Feature oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer The viral video by Indian Jawans chanting "Kashmir rahega, par Pakistan nahi" has created ripples across the country. The fact that India is united in all situations is reflected in the way the country has reacted to the Uri attack. Unanimous in its cry against the neighboring country of Pakistan, India has shown the strength of steel and a rock-solid determination in facing all the ceasefire violations. Tolerance has been India's penache, but now......ENOUGH! Latest reports suggest that the NIA has taken over the investigation of Uri attack. The agency would be collecting DNA samples of the terrorists and observe the commonalities in the Uri and the Pathankot air base attacks in January. "Let Pakistan taste their own medicine" is echoing across the country ever since the attack, which killed 18 soldiers, took place on September 18. From peaceful candle marches to violent protests, India has been witnessing pure emotional outbursts in various ways. Meanwhile, as politicians here find a way out to fight the forces on the other side, it is a wait and watch situation for the world to see where Indo-Pak relations head to. Here are a few in pics: A minute's silence is not enough Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with RJD CHief Lalu Prasad observing one minute silence to pray for soldiers killed in a Uri terror attack and Madhubani bus accidents victims, in Patna. Future of the nation Amritsar: Students pay tribute to the Indian Army soldiers who lost their lives in the attack on Army camp at Uri, in Amritsar on Monday. Future of the Nation Gurgaon: Students pay homage to the soldiers who were martyred in the attack on the Army camp in Uri, in Gurgaon on Monday. The burning sentiments New Delhi: Shiv Sena activists burn a Pakistani flag at a protest against the militant attack on Uri Army camp, in New Delhi on Monday. End of tolerance Mumbai: Congress activists protest against attack on Indian amry camp in Uri in Jammy and Kashmir, in Thane, Mumbai on Monday. Will not forgive and forget Nagpur: Social wokers protest against Pakistan over the attack on the Army camp in Uri, in Nagpur of Maharashtra on Monday. Our Jawans are priceless Amritsar: BJP workers protest against the attack on the Army camp in Uri, in Amritsar on Monday No time for peace Ranchi: School students holds placards during a protest against terror attack at Uri Army base, in Ranchi on Monday. Shame on Pakistan! Ajmer: People burn an effigy representing Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif during a protest against Uri attack, in Dargah Market in Ajmer on Monday. A candle of prayer Ahmedabad: Poeple hold candle and shout anti pakistan slogans during prayer for pay tribute to Victim of uri terrorist attack in Ahmedabad on Monday. OneIndia News Digvijay hints at re-entry of George in Siddaramaiah cabinet Hyderabad oi-PTI Hyderabad, Sep 20: The Congress leadership believes there was no "enough reason" for former Karnataka Minister K J George to resign, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said today, hinting at his likely return into the Siddaramaiah cabinet. "As far as we are concerned, merely a complaint or statement by a person who commits suicide is not enough reason for anyone to resign," the party General Secretary in charge of Karnataka Affairs told PTI here. Singh was asked if the Congress leadership has approved the reinstatement of George in the wake of Karnataka CID earlier this month giving a clean chit to him and two senior police officers in connection with the alleged suicide of Dy SP M K Ganapathy. [Read: Karnataka: Another DySP commits suicide, names minister KJ George] "There was no reason for him (George) to resign in the first place but on his personal thing he resigned. As far as the high command is concerned, there is nothing against George," the two-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said. Asked if the party high command has given green signal for the re-entry of George, Singh said, "That is for the Chief Minister to decide. It is the prerogative of the Chief Minister. We do not interfere in these matters." [Read: Karnataka to hold judicial probe into cop's suicide] Ganapathy was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room at a lodge in Madikeri on July 7, prior to which he had in an interview to a local TV channel said the Minister and the two senior police officers, A M Prasad and Pranab Mohanty, would be responsible "if anything happens to me". George had on July 18 resigned after a court directed police to register an FIR against him and the two police officers in connection with the matter. On criticism in some quarters that Karanataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not handle the situation well on September 12 when Bengaluru witnessed largescale violence over the Cauvery water sharing row with Tamil Nadu, Singh admitted the state government was "not very stringent" on that day. [Read: DySP Ganapathy case: Did a senior cop try to stop FIR against George? ] "The agitation is by farmers. No government, when it's a sensitive issue of water, can be seen to be aggressively taking action against genuine demands of farmers which the government also feels the same way. So, the Karnataka government was sort of not very stringent on the first day. So, some violence did happen. From second day onwards, it was controlled," he said. PTI Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul after 'stealing USD 169 million from the state funds', claims Afghan diplomat Ex-president Ashraf Ghani says he fled Kabul to save 6 million people in the Afghan capital Did Ghani flee with millions of dollars? US watchdog to probe Afghan President calls up Modi, condemns Uri attack India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, Sep 20 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "strongly condemned" Sunday's cross-border terror attack in Uri and conveyed his country's solidarity with India in the fight against terror. "President Ghani strongly condemned the cross-border terror attack and conveyed Afghanistan's solidarity and support with India against all actions to eliminate the threat of terrorism," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. "President Ghani expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers," it said. Modi thanked Ghani for Afghanistan's support, it added. Ghani was in New Delhi last week during which he held talks with Modi. IANS After Uri strike, Pak expected knee jerk reaction from India India oi-Vicky Pakistan expected that India would have a knee jerk reaction following the Uri attack. Both the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Pakistan army which work in tandem had planned both the Pathankot and Uri attack in a bid to provoke India. Pakistan felt that under pressure to act, the Indian government would have a knee jerk reaction as a result of which the issue could have escalated at the international level. At the security meet which was chaired by the Prime Minister, this was one of the aspects that came up for discussion. While pressure grew on the Modi government to hit Pakistan immediately, several officials advised that there should be no knee jerk reaction and as the army put it, "We reserve the right to strike at a time of our choosing." Stop acting as an epicentre of terrorism, India tells Pakistan During the security meeting that was held which was followed by a meeting with the Prime Minister it was decided that India would take the diplomatic path and isolate Pakistan at all International Groupings. While the attack clearly emanated out of Pakistan, India realised that it was the setting up of a trap by both the military and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Pakistan felt that an attack of this magnitude would have led to India hitting back. Pakistan even expected a knee jerk and emotional reaction from India. Had India entered Pakistan and carried out a strike, it would have been used by Pakistan at the United Nations to escalate the issue internationally. Pakistan has already raised the Kashmir rhetoric and will bring it up at the United Nations. This they felt would put India on the backfoot who would be accused of escalating tensions across the borders. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 10:10 [IST] Registrations for CEED, UCEED 2023 to commence in October: All the details here News for IIT aspirants: JEE (Advanced) test on May 21 India oi-Oneindia By Maitreyee Boruah Aspiring IITians' wait for the announcement of dates for the entrance test is over. The Joint Entrance Exam or JEE (Advanced) 2017 will be held on May 21, 2017, IIT-Madras has announced. The forthcoming entrance test, considered as the toughest exam in the country, will be conducted by IIT-Madras. The previous exam for JEE (Advanced) was conducted by IIT-Guwahati. The details regarding the exam were announced after a meeting of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) held at IIT, Madras, on September 18. Those who clear the national level exam will be eligible to study in one of the 18 IITs, the Indian School of Mines (ISM) and other well-known engineering colleges across the country. Remodeling of IIT JEE entrance exam The entrance exam to the prestigious IITs will see several changes in the coming session. For 2017, 20,000 more candidates will be eligible to write the JEE (Advanced) after clearing JEE (Main), thus taking the total up to 2,20,000. The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has taken a significant decision to encourage more students from the SC and ST communities to write the test. The cut-off for the aggregate marks in Class 12 for SC and ST candidates has been reduced from 70 per cent to 65 per cent. In the coming year, students from foreign countries will be allowed to take admission in the IITs after clearing the test. The organisers of the test will provide short video tutorials and SMS services to make the admission, fee payment and result announcement, to name a few procedures, hassle free for the students. OneIndia News Amritsar: 7 children killed as school bus falls in canal India oi-PTI Amritsar, Sep 20: Six children were killed and 17 others injured when a school bus fell into a canal near Border Out Post (BOP) Mahawa near Attari today. The incident took place when the school bus, carrying 37 students, was passing over a narrow bridge, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harkamalpreet Singh said. "The bus got stuck on the bridge and the driver tried to manoeuvre his way out following which the vehicle overturned in the canal, he said. "Out of 37 students, six were killed and 17 others received minor injuries," the SSP said, adding, the injured have been hospitalised and rest of the students escaped unhurt. The cause of the accident was the narrow bridge near the canal, he said. The bus belongs to DAV Public School and the deceased students were in the age group of 10 and 15 years, police said. PTI Tamil Nadu bandh over Cauvery issue today: All you need to know Cauvery row: SC tells Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs water to TN from Sep 21 to 27 India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Sep 20: The Supreme Court today directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from September 21 to 27. The interim order of the Supreme Court comes a day after the supervisory committee had directed Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for ten days. The Supreme Court had on the last date of hearing directed Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu between September 12 and 20. The court also directed the union government to constitute the Cauvery Management Board in four weeks time. During the course of the hearing both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu opposed the order of the Supervisory Committee which had ordered the release of 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for ten days. Karnataka's legal team headed by Senior Counsel, Fali S Nariman told the court that the state will have to sacrifice its drinking water for irrigation purposes in Tamil Nadu. Karnataka also said that it would be wrong to order release of water by cutting off drinking water supply in Bengaluru. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 17:04 [IST] How Indians see their place in the world? Rising Power, two-thirds in Pew survey say India oi-Oneindia By Bruce Stokes Half or more of the public in Canada, Australia and Japan view India favourably, while it's only 26% in China. Indians return the compliment with only 31% viewing China favourably. As India's economy has revived, its international trade and military posture around the world have grown. With the election of Narendra Modi, who has pursued an active foreign policy both within the South Asia region and around the world, India has emerged as an increasingly important player on the world stage. For the most part, Indians are moderately supportive of India's global engagement. Many, however, voice no opinion about such global affairs, again a reminder that for large numbers of Indians living in disparate rural villages or vast urban squatter settlements, international relations are quite removed from the concerns of their daily lives. India and Modi: The Honeymoon Continues, says Pew Research Indians acknowledge their country's growing international stature. About two-thirds (68%) say India plays a more important role in the world today compared with 10 years ago. Only 15% believe India plays a less important role. Notably, only 13% express no opinion, suggesting that most of the public has views on general international issues involving pride in country, even if they may not express views about the specifics of foreign policy. There is no generation gap in this perception of India's eminence. Young, middle-aged and older Indians all see their nation as more important today. And strong majorities of both Indians with only a primary school education or less and those with some college or more think India is a bigger player in the international arena than it did a decade ago. Publics in a few other countries generally have a similarly positive take on India, though a somewhat less enthusiastic one. But there is no appreciable evidence in these countries of a positive bounce in India's stature thanks to Prime Minister Modi's extensive public diplomacy in his first two years in office. How is India doing? Very well, thank you, say 65% Indians Roughly half or more of the public in Canada (52%), Australia (53%) and Japan (54%) hold a favorable view of India. This positive opinion is little changed in Australia, but down 9 percentage points in Japan since 2015. And the Japanese public's assessment of India is down 16 points since its recent high point in 2012, during the government of Modi's predecessor, Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress party. In the wake of Sino-Indian territorial disputes and growing economic competition, only 26% of Chinese hold a favorable view of India. About six-in-ten Chinese (61%) express a negative opinion. For their part, Indians hold mixed views of other major countries. This may in part be explained by the fact that roughly a third or more of those surveyed hold no view at all of many other nations. A majority (56%) of Indians have a favorable opinion of the U.S., with very favorable (33%) views exceeding somewhat favorable (23%). However, overall U.S. favorability is down 14 percentage points since 2015, including an 11-point drop in very favorable opinions. Only 13% of Indians have an unfavorable assessment of the U.S. Younger Indians view the U.S. more favorably (61%) than those ages 50 and older (49%). By a margin of two-to-one (44% favorable to 22% unfavorable), Indians hold a positive view of Japan. This is relatively unchanged from previous years. Just 30% of Indians give a thumbs-up to South Korea, while 24% have an unfavorable opinion. But most Indians (45%) hold no view at all of the country. While many Indians may not express views of other countries, most do have an opinion about neighboring Pakistan - and such views are uniformly negative. India has fought several wars with Pakistan since the 1947 partition of the former British Indian Empire into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Indians hold an unfavorable view of Pakistan. This includes 55% who have a very unfavorable opinion. Overall negative sentiments are up 9 points since 2015. How is Modi doing? Good, say an overwhelming majority in Pew Survey Nevertheless, a majority (56%) of Indians favor further talks between India and Pakistan to reduce tensions between the two countries. Again, on such practical international issues, most Indians have some opinion. This desire for dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad is shared across most demographic groups. Talks enjoy greater support among Congress party backers (63%) than with BJP adherents (54%). A China syndrome Indians hold China in low regard and are concerned about the competitive and strategic challenge posed by Beijing. Just 31% of the public holds a favorable view of China, while 36% voice an unfavorable opinion. However, 32% of Indians voice no view at all. A plurality (41%) of people with a primary school education or less express no view of China, while only 8% of those with some college education or more voice no opinion, underscoring the impact of education on public views of the world around them. Such negative views are coupled with concern about specific problems Indians believe are linked to Beijing. Seven-in-ten believe that China's economic impact on India is a problem, including 45% who say it is a very serious problem. Roughly six-in-ten (61%) Indians with some college education are very worried about the competitive challenge posed by China. Just 38% of people with a primary education or less are similarly concerned. However, just 2% of those with at least some college respond "don't know" to this question, compared with 28% of those with a primary education or less. People who identify with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are more troubled by China's economic impact on India (46%) than are Congress party supporters (37%). Nearly half (48%) of Indians think China's relationship with Pakistan poses a very serious problem for India. Another 21% see this as a somewhat serious challenge. BJP backers are more critical than Congress adherents. Fully 69% hold the view that China's growing military power is a problem for India, including 46% who say this is a very serious issue. Half of those who identify with the BJP are very worried, but only 37% of Congress supporters share that intense concern. And a similar overall proportion (69%) expresses the opinion that China's territorial disputes with India are a very or somewhat serious problem. BJP supporters are more likely than adherents of the Congress party to say China's territorial disputes with India are a very serious problem. Mixed views of foreign leaders Indians hold mixed views of other countries' leaders, with many people voicing no opinion. A majority of Indians (58%) are confident in U.S. President Barack Obama to do the right thing regarding world affairs. This includes 34% who have a lot of confidence in him. But such overall public confidence is down 16 points from 2015. Indians with some college education or more are overwhelmingly confident in him (86%). Views of the two principal candidates for the U.S. presidency in 2016 are marked by the large share of the Indian population that voices no view on the two contenders. Two-thirds of the public has no opinion of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. And a majority (56%) has no view of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Nearly three-in-ten (28%) have confidence in Clinton and 14% have confidence in Trump. Chinese President Xi Jinping enjoys little recognition by or confidence from the Indian public. Fully 64% have no opinion about him. Just 15% express confidence. Only 24% voice confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin. Roughly six-in-ten (62%) express no view at all. India's international role Indians do not need extensive knowledge about international issues to have a view about national priorities or the balance between attention to domestic and foreign concerns. Indians are generally inward-looking in their overall posture toward the rest of the world. More than half (53%) say their country should deal with its own problems and let other nations deal with their own difficulties. Just 23% say India should help other countries deal with their problems. At the same time, Indians demonstrate a commitment to their allies. About half (49%) hold the view that in foreign policy India should take into account the interests of its allies, even if it means making compromises. Just 28% believe that India should follow its own national interests in foreign policy, even when its allies strongly disagree. By about two-to-one (53% to 27%) BJP supporters favor such multilateralism over unilateralism. Congress party adherents are divided on India's foreign policy posture toward its allies. In line with their views on multilateralism, by more than two-to-one (40% favorable, 17% unfavorable) Indians have a positive view of the United Nations, the multilateral institution where India has long been a leader of what was once called the Non-Aligned Movement. But more than four-in-ten Indians (43%) voice no opinion of the UN. India's share of world exports has slowly risen from 0.8% in 2002 t0 1.7% in 2014. While small, it has more than doubled, and the government and business community have aspirations to play an even greater role. By more than two-to-one Indians think this involvement in the global economy is a good thing because it provides the country with new markets and opportunities for growth (52%); only 25% say it's a bad thing because it lowers wages and costs Indian jobs. As with other measures of public sentiment on international issues, just 3% of those with a college education or more voice no opinion, but 24% of people with a primary education or less have no view. With roughly half (52%) the Indian public worried that ISIS poses a major threat to their country, about six-in-ten Indians (62%) believe that overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism around the world. Just 21% say relying too much on such force creates hatred that leads to more terrorism. And Indians are ready to back up that commitment with more defense spending. Across party lines, more than six-in-ten (63%) think the country should increase spending on national defense, just 6% want to decrease it and 20% want to keep it at current levels. Notably, Indians who see China's growing military power as a very serious problem are more likely than those who see China's growing military power as a less serious threat to favor increased military spending. Finally, a plurality of Indians (46%) voice support for making the improvement of human rights around the world one of India's most important foreign policy goals. Roughly a quarter (27%) say improving human rights is important, but that many other foreign policy goals should be more important. Just 5% believe human rights should not be an important Indian foreign policy objective. Source: Spring 2016 Global Attitudes Survey PEW RESEARCH CENTER For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 17:06 [IST] How is India doing? Very well, thank you, say 65% Indians India oi-Oneindia By Bruce Stokes In 2013, the last year of the UPA government, just 29% of the Indian public was happy with the trajectory of the nation. A growing number of Indians, roughly two-thirds (65%), are satisfied with the way things are going in their country. Such satisfaction is up 9 percentage points since 2015 and 29 points since 2014, in a survey taken before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power. In 2013, the last year of the previous government, just 29% of the Indian public was happy with the trajectory of their nation. India and Modi: The Honeymoon Continues, says Pew Research Current approval of the country's direction is widely shared by men and women, by all age groups and education levels, and by people living in cities and in the countryside. And about seven-in-ten supporters of the BJP and more than half of backers of the Indian National Congress party (INC) are satisfied with the way things are going in India. This general approval reflects public contentment with the state of the Indian economy, which grew by 7.6% in 2015 and is expected to grow by 7.4% in 2016, according to recent estimates by the International Monetary Fund, making India the fastest growing major economy in the world. By comparison, the Indian economy grew by only 5% in 2013. Eight-in-ten Indians believe their economy is doing well, up 16 points since 2014. And 35% of Indians today say the economy is very good. Such highly positive views of the economy are up 8 points since 2015 and 25 points since 2014. Given the overall satisfaction with economic conditions there is little demographic difference in such sentiments. Notably, 42% of BJP supporters voice the view that the economy is doing very well, while only 26% of Congress adherents share such strong feelings. Views of the economy are a snapshot, subject to change, as the recent improvement in economic sentiment testifies. But people also see the economy as a bellwether of prospects for their children. Roughly seven-in-ten Indians believe that when today's children grow up they will be better off financially than their parents. This faith in the future is consistent with last year, but up a bit from 2013, when it stood at 64%. People in rural areas are slightly more optimistic for the next generation than those living in urban environments (68% vs. 74%). Indians in different regions of the country differ in their perceptions of national conditions. People in the northern states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh express the most satisfaction (71%) with the direction of the country. Those living in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are the least satisfied (55%). Roughly four-in-ten living in the north say the economy is doing very well (42%), while people living in the western states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh (26%) and in the south (30%) are less likely than those in the north to believe the economy is performing very well. People living in the eastern part of the country - in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal - are more confident (83%) than those in the north (62%) and west (70%) about prospects for the next generation. The challenges India faces Despite satisfaction with the economy and the country's direction, Indians are troubled by a range of problems, both domestic and foreign. Roughly eight-in-ten Indians view crime (82%), lack of employment opportunities (81%), corrupt officials (80%) and terrorism (78%) as very big domestic problems. Concern about all four issues is down somewhat in the past year, with the biggest drop-off (11 percentage points) in the intensity of worry about crime. It is notable, however, that strong concern about crime and joblessness is simply returning to the level of public anxiety in 2014 and concern about corrupt officials is returning to 2013 levels. Apprehension about terrorism, however, is down 10 points from 2013, the last time the question was asked. Air pollution exposure for the average Indian may now be worse than exposure for the average Chinese, contributing to as many as half a million premature deaths per year. About seven-in-ten Indians (68%) believe air pollution is a very big problem in their country. Such alarm is down a bit since last year, but up 16 points since 2014. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of city dwellers are very concerned about air pollution, while roughly two-thirds (65%) of those living in rural areas agree. The issue is of such concern that a plurality of Indians voice the view that air pollution should be reduced, even if it means slower economic growth (47%). Just 24% say air pollution is the price society has to pay for continued economic growth. Communal tensions - between Indians of various religious faiths and/or different castes - have long plagued Indian society. The number of communal incidents in India increased slightly in 2015 after having dipped sharply from 2013 to 2014. Nonetheless, intense public concern about religious and caste troubles is lower than concern about other issues. Just over half (54%) express the opinion that communal relations are a very big problem. Notably, 63% of those in southern states say communal relations are very concerning, just 42% of those living in western India agree. Indians express far less apprehension about international problems. About a fifth to roughly a third of respondents voice no opinion about various foreign issues, reflecting the reality that distant threats seem less compelling than challenges close to home. About half (53%) of the public sees global climate change as a major threat to India, sentiment that is unchanged from last year. Only 8% dismiss climate change as not a threat, while about a fifth (18%) see it as a minor danger or express no view (21%). A comparable proportion (52%) voices the opinion that the Islamic militant group in Iraq and Syria known as ISIS is a major threat to India. There have been no major ISIS-led attacks in India, but over its history the country has experienced numerous incidents of international terrorism, a number of which originated in Pakistan. Few Indians (6%) dismiss ISIS outright as a threat, while 13% see it as a minor challenge for their country and more than twice that number make no judgment. A majority of BJP supporters (59%) are concerned about ISIS, as are 44% of Congress party adherents, though Congress supporters are more likely to express no opinion. A little less than half of the public sees China's emergence as a world power as a major threat to India. Just 6% say it's no threat at all, while about a quarter believe Beijing's rise is a minor challenge (23%) or have no opinion (25%). Roughly four-in-ten Indians express major concern about cyberattacks from other countries (43%) and global economic instability (40%). And a similar percentage sees the large number of refugees leaving countries such as Iraq and Syria as a major threat. Half (50%) of BJP supporters are troubled by the threat of cyberattacks, as are 35% of Congress party adherents. More than four-in-ten (44%) of those who identify with the BJP and roughly three-in-ten (32%) Congress party backers share a perception of the threat posed by refugees. However, it is important to note that on both of these issues Congress supporters are more likely to give no opinion. Only about three-in-ten Indians consider tensions with Russia and U.S. power and influence to be major threats. As with most domestic concerns tested, those with some college education or more express the highest levels of concern about various international threats. Notably, the greatest concern by Indians with a primary school education or less is about climate change (48% see it as a major threat). But, generally, about a quarter to a third or more of people with a primary education or less voice no view on international challenges. People with some college education or more are much more likely to express an opinion. Source: Spring 2016 Global Attitudes Survey PEW RESEARCH CENTER For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 16:02 [IST] How is Modi doing? Good, say an overwhelming majority in Pew Survey India oi-Staff By Burce Stokes But a large number of Indians seem to have favourable views of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, too. Two years after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to enjoy overwhelming public support. Roughly eight-in-ten Indians (81%) have a favorable view of Modi, including 57% who express a very favorable opinion. Just 16% voice an unfavorable assessment of the former chief minister of Gujarat state. This backing has decreased slightly from the 87% of Indians who voiced a favorable opinion of Modi in 2015. But the intensity of such views has waned somewhat: The share of Indians with a very favorable view of Modi is down 11 percentage points in the last year. [Also Read: How is India doing? Very well, thank you, say 65% Indians] Given his strong overall support, it is not surprising that Modi is popular across demographic groups - to both men and women, and among all age groups, educational backgrounds and income levels. As might be expected, 94% of BJP followers support the leader of their party. He is also seen favorably by 61% of Congress party adherents. However, partisan differences in views of Modi can be seen in the intensity of such support: 82% of BJP supporters have a very favorable view of the prime minister, while just 24% of Congress backers voice a very positive opinion. Modi is seen very favorably by seven-in-ten of those with some college education or more and by more than half (54%) of those with a primary school education or less. Notably, despite the Congress party's traditional strength in rural areas, Indians in cities and the countryside have a similarly positive assessment of the prime minister. Views of the opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress party standard bearer in the 2014 election, grandson of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is seen favorably by 63% of the public, unchanged from last year but up from 50% in 2013. Fully 85% of Congress party supporters voice a positive view of Gandhi, but he has only a 52% backing from BJP adherents. Roughly two-thirds (65%) of those with a primary school education or less back Gandhi, while about half (49%) of those with some college or more support him. Rahul's mother, Sonia Gandhi, the long-serving president of the Congress party, is viewed favorably by 65% of the public. This positive view is up from 58% in 2015 and 49% in 2013, suggesting that the public's view of her is steadily improving in parallel with views of her son. Opinions about Sonia Gandhi are similarly partisan: Approval is 88% among Congress party adherents and 52% among BJP supporters. And, just like her son, she enjoys stronger support among those with a primary education or less than from those with some college education or more. India and Modi: The Honeymoon Continues, says Pew Research Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, is viewed favorably by 50% of the public, down from 60% in 2015. The head of the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (the party's name translates as "common man") is viewed favorably by 62% of Indians with at least some college and 44% of those with a primary school education or less. However, only 5% of those with some college or more respond "don't know" to this question, compared with 30% of those who have a primary education or less. Public views of the BJP, Prime Minister Modi's party, mirror opinion about their leader. Eight-in-ten Indians voice a positive assessment of the BJP, including 53% who have a very favorable opinion. Total support for the BJP is down slightly from last year (87%). And the intensity of that backing has waned: Very favorable views are 53% in 2016, down from 65% in 2015. Not surprisingly, the party's most fervent backers are BJP adherents (94%), but 60% of Congress party supporters also voice a positive view of the BJP. The party enjoys roughly equal support in cities and in the countryside. Notably, however, very favorable assessment of the BJP in rural areas has fallen from 70% in 2015 to 54% in 2016. At the same time, support in cities is largely unchanged. BJP favorability is fairly strong across the country: It is highest (86%) in the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, and lowest (71%) in the western states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Two-thirds of Indians have a favorable opinion of the Congress party, up slightly from support in 2015 (61%). While only 28% of the public has a very favorable view, this is up from 16% last year. Again there is a deep partisan divide in public views: 90% of Congress supporters give their party a positive assessment, but only 56% of BJP backers agree. The highest Congress approval is in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Its lowest backing is in the western states. The AAP enjoys relatively less approval than either the BJP or the Congress party and that favorability is declining. Less than half (47%) of the public voices a positive assessment of the AAP, down from 58% in 2015. Reflecting the regional strength of the party, its support is highest in northern states - Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh - and Aam Aadmi-governed Delhi (57%), and lowest in western states (23%). Modi's leadership style and performance Modi's overall public support is higher than people's opinions of his specific character attributes. A majority (56%) of Indians believe Modi is "someone who cares about people like me." Men (61%) more than women (50%) say Modi understands their situation, as do those ages 18 to 34 (59%) more than those age 50 and older (51%). Not surprisingly, Indians who identify with Modi's own party (68%) see him as more sensitive to their needs than Congress party supporters (37%). About half (51%) of the Indian public believes that Modi is someone who stands up for what he believes, while 28% say he is not. About six-in-ten (62%) BJP supporters see the prime minister in this light, but only four-in-ten Congress backers agree. Roughly half (49%) of the public views Modi as someone who is able to gets things done. A third says he cannot accomplish things. Again there is a partisan divide in how people see the prime minister's effectiveness: BJP supporters (61%) are more likely than Congress adherents (41%) to judge Modi as a can-do prime minister. And 49% of Indians say Modi brings people together, while 29% believe he is divisive. While Indians generally approve of Modi's handling of various problems facing the country, such assessments have grown more partisan in the last year. The Indian labor force is growing more quickly than the number of jobs being created by the formal economy. About six-in-ten (62%) Indians approve of Modi's handling of unemployment. More than seven-in-ten (73%) BJP supporters approve of his endeavors, largely unchanged from the number who voiced such approval last year. But among Congress party backers, support for his efforts to deal with unemployment has fallen sharply, from 62% in 2015 to 45% in 2016. A similar proportion of the overall public (62%) approves of the prime minister's efforts to help the poor, a perception that is little changed overall from 2015. Yet there is a widening partisan divide in this assessment: 73% of BJP adherents favor Modi's efforts, while just 46% of Congress supporters agree. The partisan gap, now 27 percentage points, was only 6 points last year. Likewise, about six-in-ten overall (61%) approve of Modi's handling of terrorism. Support among those who identify with the BJP is 71%, unchanged from 2015. Backing by Congress adherents is 46%. A roughly comparable segment of the Indian public as a whole (59%) voices support for the prime minister's handling of corruption. BJP adherents are more supportive (73%) than Congress backers (38%). Notably, Modi's support on this issue is up by 8 points among his own party faithful and down by 18 points among Congress party supporters. More than half (53%) of the public approves of Modi's efforts in dealing with air pollution. Despite very poor air quality in many of India's major cities, there is no difference in the judgment of Modi's performance between those living in urban or rural areas. Nor is there any gender or age gap in such assessments. But there is a 23-percentage-point difference by party: 62% of BJP supporters but only 39% of Congress adherents approve of Modi's performance. In both 2015 and 2016, Modi's lowest approval rating (53%) was for his handling of communal relations. This is a partisan assessment, with his own party (65%) more supportive than the opposition (40%). And public polarization on this issue has grown. It was 10 points in 2015; it is now 25 points, with approval among the BJP growing. As with Modi's overall favorability and the public's judgment of his character, views of his handling of some national problems differ by the education of the respondent. Those who have some college education or more are significantly more likely than those with a primary education or less to approve of Modi's performance on several issues. This education gap is 24 points on helping the poor, 22 points on dealing with corruption and 18 points on handling joblessness. Modi's foreign policy Modi fares less well in public assessment of his handling of relations with other countries, despite having taken 51 trips to 42 nations since he became prime minister in 2014. The prime minister has made four trips to the United States since taking office. More than half (54%) of Indians approve of Modi's dealings with Washington. Just 15% disapprove. But roughly three-in-ten (31%) voice no opinion. Notably, public approval of Modi's handling of America is down 12 percentage points since 2015 despite his having visited the U.S. more than any other country during his premiership. More than four-in-ten Indians (43%) approve of Modi's relationship with Russia, while 25% disapprove. But 32% say they "don't know." Support for the prime minister's dealings with Moscow is up 6 points since 2015. About four-in-ten (38%) back Modi's handling of ties with China. Roughly three-in-ten (32%) disapprove, while 30% express no opinion. Such sentiment is largely unchanged from last year. Just 22% of the public approves of Modi's management of India's volatile relationship with Pakistan. Half disapprove. This harsh judgment is relatively unchanged from 2015. In the handling of China, supporters of Modi's own party, the BJP, are more likely than adherents of the Congress party to favor his conduct of bilateral relations. Notably, however, more than half of BJP supporters (54%) and a plurality of Congress party adherents (45%) disapprove of the prime minister's handling of relations with Pakistan. However, the proportion of Indians responding "don't know" is higher among Congress supporters (35%) than among BJP adherents (23%). Source: Spring 2016 Global Attitudes Survey PEW RESEARCH CENTER India and Modi: The Honeymoon Continues, says Pew Research India oi-Oneindia By Bruce Stokes Indians remain upbeat about Modi and see India playing larger role in the world, but growing partisan take on Modi's record. Two years into his tenure, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to ride a wave of public good feeling about the way things are going in India, the state of the domestic economy and his own stewardship of the country. About two-thirds of the Indian public is satisfied with the direction of the country and eight-in-ten think the economy is doing well. A similarly large proportion has a favorable view of Modi, a sentiment that is down slightly from 2015. Indians are positive about Modi's handling of various challenges facing the nation, though there is a growing partisan divide over the prime minister's record on various domestic issues. In addition to expressing positive views of their country, Indians believe it plays a growing role on the world stage. Roughly half are supportive of India's burgeoning international economic engagement and are committed to their allies. At the same time, the public is wary of China and longtime rival Pakistan. They favor a militaristic stance against terrorism and support increased defense spending. But only about a quarter want their country to help other nations deal with their problems. These are among the main findings of a new Pew Research Center survey conducted among 2,464 respondents in India from April 7 to May 24, 2016. The Indian public's satisfaction with the direction of the country has increased 36 percentage points since 2013, the year before Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took power. Views on the economy have improved by 23 points. And belief that today's children will be better off financially than their parents is up 8 points. A strong majority (81%) of Indians hold a favorable view of Modi, including 57% who have a very favorable opinion of him. A similar proportion of the public (80%) expresses a positive view of the BJP. Modi and the BJP enjoy overwhelming support among men and women, from people of all ages, educational backgrounds and income levels, and among people in rural and urban areas. Even a majority of backers of the rival Indian National Congress party (INC) express a positive view of Modi and the BJP. About half or more of the public approves of Modi's handling of a range of domestic problems facing the country: helping the poor and dealing with unemployment (both 62%), handling terrorism (61%) and dealing with corruption (59%). And roughly half or more of Indians in the survey approve of Modi's leadership style: 56% believe he cares about people like them, 51% say he stands up for what he believes and 49% say he brings people together and gets things done. Growing polarization about Modi Views of Modi's performance are increasingly partisan as the divide grows between how BJP supporters and Indian National Congress adherents judge his achievements. When it comes to views of his leadership, roughly six-in-ten Indians who identify with the BJP see Modi as a unifying figure who stands up for what he believes and gets things done. Only about four-in-ten Congress adherents agree. Majorities of those who identify with the BJP approve of Modi's handling of various domestic issues. Less than half of Congress supporters share that view. BJP support of the prime minister's actions has improved slightly in the past year. But Congress approval has fallen sharply. This has opened up double-digit partisan gaps on Modi's handling of various problems: 35 percentage points on his handling of corruption, 28 points on unemployment, 27 points on his help for the poor. Two-thirds of the public sees the Indian National Congress party in a favorable light and accords two of the leaders of that party - Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi - similarly strong favorable ratings. Notably, roughly half of BJP supporters voice a favorable view of the Gandhis (both 52%) and a majority has a favorable view of Congress (56%). Roughly half of the public sees the Aam Aadmi Party (47%) and Arvind Kejriwal, the party's national convenor (50%), favorably. India's place in the world By more than four-to-one (68% to 15%) Indians believe their country plays a more important rather than a less significant role in the world today than it did a decade ago. And by roughly two-to-one (52% to 25%) Indians voice the view that their involvement in the global economy is a good thing because it provides India with new markets and opportunities for growth. Indians also favor toughness in dealing with the world. A majority (62%) believes that using overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism around the world. Few (21%) worry that relying too much on such force creates hatred that leads to more terrorism. And 63% back increased defense spending. Nevertheless, Indians give priority to issues at home. By more than two-to-one (53% to 23%) they believe that India should deal with its own problems and let other nations deal with theirs. This public preference for a focus on domestic issues reflects ongoing concerns about a range of issues: Roughly eight-in-ten Indians believe crime, corrupt officials, a lack of employment opportunities and terrorism are very big national problems. The China challenge Indians have little love for China. Only about a third (31%) of the public expresses a favorable opinion of their emerging Asian rival. These positive views are down 10 percentage points in the past year, but unchanged from 2014. Another 36% voice an unfavorable opinion and 32% have no opinion. Large majorities say Beijing poses serious challenges for India. Seven-in-ten of those surveyed believe that China's economic impact on India is a serious problem, including 45% who voice the view that it is very serious. Nearly half (48%) of Indians think China's relationship with Pakistan poses a very serious problem for India. Another 21% see this as a somewhat serious challenge. Fully 69% hold the view that China's growing military power is a problem for India, including 46% who say this is a very serious issue. And the same proportion (69%) expresses the opinion that China's territorial disputes with India are very or somewhat serious. Notably, with regard to problems posed by China, BJP adherents are more intensely worried than Congress backers. Contrasting Indian, U.S., EU views of their role in the world Indians are much more likely than Americans and Europeans to express no opinion about international threats. When it comes to their country's role in the world, Indians, Americans and Europeans have some sharply differing perspectives. (For more on how Americans and Europeans see their place in the world, see "Public Uncertain, Divided Over America's Place in the World" released May 5, 2016, and "Europeans Face the World Divided" released June 13, 2016.) Indians are far more likely than Americans and Europeans to see their nation's star on the rise. Roughly two-thirds of the Indian public believes that India plays a more important role in the world today than it did 10 years ago. Only about a fifth of Americans and Europeans (a median of findings from a survey of 10 EU members in spring 2016) hold this view of their respective countries. Only the Germans (62%), among the trans-Atlantic nations surveyed, have a comparable sense of their country's recent ascendancy. At the same time, Indians (23%) are less willing than Americans (37%) or Europeans (40%) to help other nations deal with their problems. Roughly six-in-ten Indians say the use of overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism around the world. Less than half of Americans and Europeans agree. And about six-in-ten Indians back increased military spending. Only about a third of Americans and Europeans are willing to boost current defense budgets. Indians (49%) and Americans (51%) are more in accord about the value of working with allies, even if it means making compromises. Europeans (44%) are slightly less committed to such cooperation. And Indians generally share with Europeans a faith that global economic integration is good for their country. Americans (44%) are less certain. Source: Spring 2016 Global Attitudes Survey PEW RESEARCH CENTER Indian Army kills 10 terrorists at Uri India oi-Vicky New Delhi, Sept 20: Dealing a hard blow, the Indian army has killed 10 out of 15 terrorists who were trying to infiltrate to India from Pakistan. The operation was carried out on Tuesday afternoon at Lachipura area in the Uri sector by the Indian army. The search for the remaining five is still on. India will hit Pak, but Govt does not need to say when and how The operation comes just two days after terrorists attacked the army base at Uri in which 4 terrorists were killed and 18 jawans martyred. Earlier in the day Pakistan opened fire at the Indian posts along the Line of Control in Uri. Intelligence Bureau officials had said that there have been a high number of infiltrations. Following the Uri attack on Sunday, it was reported that several more terrorists will be looking to infiltrate into India. The army and intelligence have been coordinating to flush out militants from the Valley who have infiltrated since the unrest began on July 9 a day after the killing of Burhan Wani. Earlier today a team of the National Investigation Agency filed an FIR in connection with the Uri attack. The NIA has been collecting DNA samples of the dead terrorists. In addition to this the GPS set used by the terrorists will be sent to the United States of America for forensic examination. This would help ascertain the route taken by the terrorists. India on Monday decided that it would isolate Pakistan internationally. As a first step India would through its External Affairs Minister make a strong statement at the UNGA on September 26. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 17:47 [IST] International condemnation of Uri attack continues India oi-PTI New Delhi, Sept 20: The world community continued with its condemnation the dastardly Uri attack with Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and many other countries today conveying strong support to India in its fight against terror. Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Mauritius, Bahrain, Qatar, Nepal Mongolia and South Korea also strongly condemned the terror attack in Uri that left 18 soldiers dead and called for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. In a statement, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, without taking Pakistan's name, said every country is responsible for taking decisive action against terrorism emanating from its territory. "Germany stands resolutely at India's side in the fight against terrorism. At the Indo-German counter terrorism consultations, which will take place in a few days' time, we will further discuss the threat to our two countries' societies," he said. Japan said it condemned terrorism in all forms regardless of its purposes, and strongly reiterated that no act of terrorism can be justified. "Japan expresses its solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. 2 days after attack, Pakistan fires at Indian posts in Uri Strongly condemning the terror attack, Sri Lanka said there was an urgent need for sustained regional and global cooperation to eliminate the menace of terrorism. "In the hour of grief, the Government of Sri Lanka offers its condolences to the families of the victims of the attack," the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said, adding the country had grappled with the challenge of terrorism for three decades. Saudi Arabia, considered to be close ally of Pakistan, denounced the Uri attack and conveyed condolences to the families of the victims. The United Arab Emirates said renewed its "firm stand" against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, adding it supports all actions India may take to "confront and eradicate" the menace. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain, in a statement, conveyed its "full support to the friendly Republic of India in their actions to counter terrorism, renewing the Kingdom's firm position against all forms of terrorism and calling for concerted efforts to eliminate it and cut off its funding". Expressing solidarity, Bhutan said it stands with India in the fight against terror. "Such heinous acts of terrorism call for the need to step up international cooperation to combat the scourge of terrorism that poses a severe threat to the peace and stability of all countries," the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry said. Mauritius, Qatar, Nepal, Mongolia, the Maldives and South Korea have also strongly condemned the strike, saying it cannot be justified under any circumstances. The US, UK, Russia, France, Canada and Afghanistan have already condemned Sunday's attack. PTI Pak off the FATF grey list doesn't mean it's not under scrutiny anymore: MEA secretary Imran Khan again targets Pakistan's establishment on Day 2 of protest march; govt rules out talks over snap polls Pakistan intelligence chief to skip SAARC meet in India India oi-PTI New Delhi, Sep 20: Amidst the ongoing hostility over terror attack in Uri, Pakistan has decided not to send its intelligence chief to India to attend a conference of top security experts of SAARC countries beginning Thursday. Director General of Intelligence Bureau of Pakistan Aftab Sultan will not attend the SAARC meeting and that country will be represented by an official of the Pakistan High Commission, a Home Ministry official said. The two-day conference of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, to be held here, is being hosted by Director of Intelligence Bureau Dineshwar Sharma and intelligence chiefs of all other SAARC nations -- Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives besides India -- will participate it. Sunday's terror attack at a military station in Uri, where 18 soldiers were killed, and the continuing unrest in Kashmir Valley for more than two months after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani led to deterioration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. The four terrorists who attacked Uri had come from Pakistan and Islamabad had openly eulogised Wani's acts, inviting sharp reactions from India. According to a statement issued by the Home Ministry, the second meeting of the High-Level Group of Eminent Experts from SAARC countries will be held on September 22 and 23. 2 days after Uri, 2 infiltration bids in Kashmir foiled The aim of the meeting is to strengthen SAARC anti-terror mechanism, it said. The first such meeting was held in New Delhi in February 2012. The agenda of the meeting includes functioning of SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk (SDOMD), countering terrorism and strengthening anti-terrorism mechanisms in SAARC, intelligence sharing and police cooperation, human resource development and relationship building, combating corruption and cyber crimes, among others. PTI Attack at Uri? It was just speculative fire, say sources Four years on: Remembering the surgical strike that dealt a lethal blow to Pakistan Satara martyr Chandrakant S. Galande cremated with full military honours India oi-IANS By Ians English Nashik (Maharashtra), Sep 20: Indian Army soldier Chandrakant Shankar Galande - who was martyred in a terror attack in Uri on Sunday - was cremated with full military honours here on Tuesday morning, officials said. The body of Galande, 27, reached Satara late on Monday night and was kept at the government hospital till morning as thousands of locals and people from surrounding villages paid their respects. On Tuesday the cortege covered in the tricolor was taken out in a solemn procession through Jashi village amid cries of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Shahid Chandrakant Galande Amar Rahe'. (In Pics) Uri attacks: Not just the army jawans, India too cries "Pakistan Murdabad" in unison Top civil and military officials, three ministers - Mahadev Jankar, Girish Bapat and Vijay Shivtare - as well as local leaders and commoners laid wreaths and paid homage to the gallant soldier. The village was in mourning since the news of his death broke on Sunday. Galande is survived by his wife Nisha, sons - Shreyas, five, and Jai, three - besides his aged farmer parents and two older brothers, who are also in the armed forces. Uri attack: NIA registers case, India makes fresh move to declare Maulana Masood Azhar a terrorist On Saturday, Galande who had joined the army in 2012, had called Nisha to inform that he would be home for a 10-day holiday to help with the farm work. But the very next day, the family heard the news of the tragedy. "It was my desire that all three sons join the armed forces. They respected my wish. Today, the youngest has been martyred. I am proud that his life is sacrificed for the cause of the nation," a teary-eyed Shankar Galande told mediapersons on Monday. IANS Sena targets Pawar, cautions parties over stand on Maratha marches India oi-PTI Mumbai, Sep 20: Shiv Sena today took a swipe at NCP supremo Sharad Pawar over the 'silent marches' being taken out by Maratha community across the state, asking why his party did not do anything to meet the demands of the community while it was in power in Maharashtra and at the Centre. Leaders in Maharashtra have to decide now whether to create an understanding among people or fuel fire over this issue, the party cautioned. The Maratha community, a dominant force in Maharashtra politics, has been taking out silent marches in various towns in the state over the last one month, following the rape and murder of a girl at Kopardi in Ahmednagar district two months ago. The victim belongs to a Maratha community, while the culprits are Dalits. Also, in an oblique reference to the outside support extended by the NCP to the BJP after 2014 assembly polls, the Sena aslo asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to be wary of "allies" trying to weaken his position. Taking potshots at Pawar, the Sena said his party, while in power for 15 years in the state, should have taken firm decisions over issues being raised by the Maratha community. "The ongoing Maratha agitation is like a storm which nobody in Maharashtra is capable of handling. Leaders in Maharashtra have to decide now whether to create an understanding among people or fuel fire over this issue," an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said. If Pawar thinks that the current Maratha stir is a result of people's lack of faith in the government over issues like agriculture and reservation, his thinking is flawed, the Sena said. "It was Pawar's government in the state and at the Centre until yesterday, in which he was the Agriculture Minister for 10 years. The Congress and the NCP had the opportunity to take a decision on reservation for 15 years," it said. "Why did they not take a decision then ? It would be good if the agitators understood this question. When Pawar says the government should take a decision over the issue, he is conceding that they (NCP and Congress) wasted 15 years," the Sena said. The ruling alliance partner futher said that the issue is being milked by vested interests and trying to make the chief minister vulnerable. "Never has a CM lost his chair due to morchas being taken out against the government. The CM only needs to make sure that this issue is not being used by allies to weaken his chair," the Sena said. Yesterday, the community members took out a huge 'silent protest march' ("Muk Morcha") at Jalna in Marathwada. Notably, in a move aimed at countering the silent morchas of the Maratha community, the state government had yesterday appointed Rajya Sabha member and heir of Warrior King Chattrapati Shivaji, Sambhajiraje Bhosale as its tourism brand ambassador. PTI Attack at Uri? It was just speculative fire, say sources Four years on: Remembering the surgical strike that dealt a lethal blow to Pakistan Tearful adieu to Uri martyrs, last rites with state honour India oi-PTI New Delhi, Sept 21: An emotional farewell was given to Uri martyrs with the last rites of the fallen soldiers being performed in their native villages with state honour. Amid slogans by villagers who took out processions, tearful family members bid goodbye to their loved ones as the bodies of army personnel killed in the terror attack at Brigade headquarters in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, were brought to their respective villages. Rich tributes were paid in Maharashtra to Sandip Somnath Thok from Nashik district, Chandrakant Shankar Galande (Satara), Vikas Janardhan Kulmethe (Yavatmal) and Panjab alias Vikas Janrao Uike (Amravati) as their mortal remains were brought. They were given a gun salute. In Jharkhand, a candlelight march was taken out in memory of Nayaman Kujur of Gumla and Javra Munda of Khunti -- who were among the 18 killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists and their last rites were performed with state honour. The mortal remains of N S Rawat were consigned to flames with full military honour in his native village in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan. There was hardly a dry eye when Rawat's five-year-old son, Chandan Singh lit the funeral pyre with the soldier's daughters standing nearby. International condemnation of Uri attack continues Three soldiers from Bihar -- S K Vidyarthi (Gaya), Rakesh Singh (Kaimur) and Ashok Kumar Singh (Ara) were given farewell with state ministers attending their funeral. Jawans Gangadhar Dolui and Biswajit Ghorai, who were from West Bengal, were also accorded a gun salute during their last rites. PTI 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off': AAP stages protest against Delhi LG Construction, demolition activities banned in Delhi as air quality turns 'severe', GRAP stage 3 kicks in Bank holidays in November 2022: Here is the full list of non-working days Happy Chhath Puja 2022: Wishes, quotes, Facebook status, WhatsApp messages to share with your loved ones Caught on camera: 17-year-old teenager stabbed to death for protesting sister's harassment in Delhi Youth injured in acid attack in Mathura India oi-PTI Mathura, Sep 19 A youth today was critically injured in an acid attack by unidentified miscreants here, police said. The victim has been referred to Delhi as his condition was stated to be serious, they added. According to SP (city) Aloke Priyadarshi, Balbir (19), son of Fateh Singh and a resident of Vikas Nagar here, used to work at a machinery store on Saunkh Road. At around 8 pm, he was on his way home along with his cousin Ganesh Gola after the day's work when the miscreants threw acid at him, the SP said. Balbir was immediately rushed to a local hospital from where, he was referred to Delhi. Police have launched a hunt to nab the miscreants, the SP said. PTI Baloch activists to protest outside UN during Nawaz Sharif's address International oi-PTI New York, Sept 20: Baloch activists will hold protests outside the UN General Assembly headquarters here on Wednesday during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's address to the General Debate, to highlight "atrocities" and human rights violations by Pakistani forces in Balochistan. The 'Coalition of American Friends of Balochistan' and Indian-American Organisations said they will hold a "peaceful protest" against Pakistan for "its state sponsored atrocities and terrorism on the people of Balochistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir and minorities". India rakes up Balochistan in diplomatic slugfest with Pakistan over Kashmir The Baloch National Movement of North America (BNM) said a joint protest of Baloch and Sindhi activists will be held outside the UN headquarters to protest the "ongoing military operations" in Sindh and Balochistan. "Baloch people have welcomed and are grateful for the support extended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at such a critical juncture when our nation is struggling to be free from the illegal military occupation of Pakistan since 1948," BNM said in a statement. Sharif will address the General Debate and has said he will raise the Kashmir issue at the UN. The group said that since 2003, more than 20,000 Baloch political activists have gone missing, "illegally abducted" by the Pakistani state security forces and victims of enforced disappearances are being "tortured and executed" in custody. The group also blamed China for joining hands with Pakistan and causing displacement of people living in the tribal and coastal areas with its economic activity. "China is Pakistan's strategic partner in the economic plundering and mass murder of Baloch civilians, particularly in the coastal belt of the Makran region of Balochistan," it said. Strongly criticising the China-Pakistan economic corridor, the group said thousands of Baloch tribal people have been dislocated due to the development of the corridor. PTI British Indian minister takes charge of Conservative Party group International oi-PTI London, Sept 20: Indian-origin British MP Shailesh Vara has been appointed co-chairman of the Conservative Friends of India group that aims to build better links between the diaspora and the party. The 56-year-old Gujarati-origin MP joins co-chair Indian- origin businessman Ranjit Singh Baxi in the group, which is affiliated to the UK's ruling Conservative Party. "The relationship between the Conservative Party and the Indian diaspora continues to grow closer by the day and I look forward to furthering that aim," Vara said today. "There is much work to be done, both in terms of deepening the Conservative Party's relationship with the British Indian diaspora and strengthening our very close links with India," he said. Vara's appointment follows the recent ministerial reshuffle under British Prime Minister Theresa May, when Indian-origin MP Alok Sharma, who had been the Conservative Friends of India (CF-India) co-chairman, was made Minister for Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Sharma is now working with UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson to build links with India following Brexit, CF-India said in a statement. "We have an exciting programme of events and activity planned for the coming year and we can do nothing but accelerate with the sound advice and ideas of one of the most senior Indian-origin politicians in the UK," said Baxi. "Shailesh is someone who will give time and effort to whatever task is in hand and we are looking forward to working with him," he added. Under former Prime Minister David Cameron, Vara had served as a justice minister and minister in the UK's Department for Work and Pensions. In 2014, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Indian government in recognition of his work in promoting closer ties between the UK and India. Patrick McLoughlin, Conservative Party chairman, said: "I am pleased that Shailesh Vara has been appointed Co-Chairman of CF India. He is a very able and versatile politician who has held a variety of government roles in the past and will bring to CF India a wealth of experience." PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 14:44 [IST] British PM dismisses Brexit veto threat International oi-PTI London, Sep 20: British Prime Minister Theresa May has dismissed threats by some EU countries to veto Brexit negotiations with the UK and stressed that all 27-member states will sign up to a deal with Britain. Her comments came after Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico yesterday said that four central European countries Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were willing to block talks unless their citizens retained their rights to work in the UK after the country voted to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23. "The 27 will sign up to a deal with us. We will be negotiating with them. We will be ambitious in what we want to see for the UK. A good deal for the UK can also be a good deal for the other member states because I believe in good trading relations and I have said I want the UK to be a global leader in free trade," May said yesterday just before she flew out to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session. "This is not just about us, it's actually about their relationships and trading within that European arena," she added. Fico had said that member states intend to make it "very difficult for the UK" and said Britain is "bluffing" when it says it can get a good Brexit deal. "I had very constructive meetings with [Mr Fico] when I was doing my visits earlier in the summer. European embassies in UK log rise in hate crimes post-Brexit I've said what I want to see is the deal that's right for the UK. I think that will also be a deal that's good for the member states of the European Union," May said. May is accompanied on the trip by her Indian-origin minister for international development Priti Patel and UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson. PTI If you can yet manage to ride this covered train without tickets, you cant without your umbrellas False alarm over Saudi flight in Manila: airline International oi-PTI Manila, Sept 20: Police surrounded a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight at Manila airport on Tuesday after reports it was "under threat", with passengers not allowed to disembark, the aviation authority spokesman said. "A Saudi plane has been isolated at the airport runway," Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio said. However, it was later reported by the airline said that it was a 'false alarm' and passengers were allowed to disembark. According to reports, the pilot said that the flight was under threat. There were atleast 300 passengers onboard. More details are awaited on the incident. PTI Indian-origin South African is head of global blood service International oi-PTI Johannesburg, Sept 20: An Indian-origin South African has become the first person from the African continent to head a global organisation of medicine professionals working for the safety of blood transfusion worldwide. Ravi Reddy, currently the Chief Operations Officer of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS), will head the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT), headquartered in Amsterdam. Although Reddy has been credited with transforming the safety of blood donation and transfer in South Africa with its very high incidence of HIV/AIDS, he has insisted that this was a team effort by the staff of SANBS. He he has served in various capacities for more than three decades after starting out as a volunteer at the age of 16 at SANBS. He subsequently qualified as a medical technologist with an MBA from the University of Natal in South Africa. SANBS lauded Reddy's appointment as a particularly significant one. "Mr Reddy has played a key role in South Africa's high level of blood safety," said Raju from SANBS, who earlier this year said in a TV interview that there had been only one confirmed case of HIV caused by blood transfusion out of nine million units of blood donated in the past decade. In 2004, there was a huge outcry when it emerged that blood donated by the majority Black community in South Africa was being discarded due to the risk associated with the high incidence of HIV/AIDS in that community. Reddy had spearheaded a campaign to ensure stringent testing and also education among donors to turn this around. He cited the highly-respected international status of SANBS as having contributed largely to his appointment. "I would not have been considered for this position if it were not for SANBS' professionalism and reputation for excellence," Reddy said, adding that receiving this vote of confidence from his peers internationally was humbling. He represented the African region on the board of the ISBT between 2006 and 2012, and is also a member of the Working Party on Transfusion and Transmissible Infections. He has presented and published a large number of scientific papers. The ISBT, now with 100 member countries, was established in 1935 as a platform for exchanging knowledge and advancing the blood-transfusion practice. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 14:34 [IST] Eight out of 10 French do not want Sarkozy back Nicolas Sarkozy says immigrants should 'live like the French' International oi-PTI Franconville, Sept 20: French Presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy said that once immigrants are granted citizenship in France they "should live like the French". Speaking at a public meeting in the northern Paris suburb of Franconville, the outspoken former president, who wants to return to the top job in 2017, also denounced "extremist political Islam" whose goal was to "provoke the Republic". "I will be the president of action, I do not accept the 238" victims of attacks in France since January 2015, he added, promising to lead a "merciless war" on Islamist terrorism. "I will not accept the medieval behaviour that wants men to swim in swimsuits while the women are locked up" in burkinis, he added. Denouncing the "tyranny of minorities", Sarkozy said that if he won the 2017 election, he would be "the president of the national community, because in France the only community that matters is the French community." "If you want to become French, you speak French, you live like the French. We will no longer settle for integration that does not work, we will require assimilation. "Once you become French, your ancestors are the Gauls. 'I love France, I learned the history of France, I see myself as French'," is what you must say, he added. "If we say we can no longer continue with immigration (...) then it is racist. It's unbearable," he said. "I want to be the voice of the silent majority," Sarkozy added to applause. The 61-year-old standard-bearer for the centre-right, who was president from 2007-2012, had seen his poll ratings rise recently after taking a hard line on Islam and immigration following a truck massacre in Nice in July which saw 86 people killed. In August he said France had to fight to protect its secular "way of life". PTI AAP vs LG fight again and this is time it is on Gandhi Jayanti Removal of Gandhi statue from Ghana varsity premises sought International oi-PTI Durban, Sep 20: Some students and academics at the Ghana University are demanding the removal of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, saying he was racist against black people. The Gandhi statue, currently installed in the premises of the varsity, was gifted by President Pranab Mukherjee during his recent visit to Ghana. The students and teachers argue that Gandhi's reference to black Africans as "kaffir" in some of his early writings reflected his 'racist' mindset. The campaign has been led by Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, former director of the Institute of African Studies. The students and teachers have also launched an online petition, asking authorities to facilitate "the removal of the statue of Gandhi" at the earliest. "How will the historian teach and explain that Gandhi was uncharitable in his attitude towards the black race and see that we're glorifying him by erecting a statue on our campus?" wrote a professor in the petition. The campaigners have been raising slogans like 'Gandhi Must Fall' and 'Gandhi For Come Down'. Ampofo is urging members of the University of Ghana Council to heed her petition, arguing among other things that, Gandhi was racist against black people and honouring him will set a wrong example for students, as per local media in Ghana. But there have been voices which oppose the demand. Ocqauye, a professor of political science and a lawyer, said a decision to demolish the statue might have implications on diplomatic ties between Ghana and India. "It will be most unnecessary, most uncalled for and not in the supreme interest of Ghanaians and we must know what serves our interest best," he said. The petitioners referred to Gandhi's open letter to "The Natal Mercury" in 1894, saying he called black Africans as "kaffirs," a derogatory term for black people. "A general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir," they quoted Gandhi as saying in the letter. PTI Trump calls for speedy trial of Afghan bomber International oi-PTI Washington, Sep 20: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has demanded a speedy trail for a 28-year-old naturalised American citizen of Afghan descent who was arrested for planting bombs in New York and New Jersey that injured 29 people. "We must have speedy, but fair trials, and we must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people," Trump told his supporters at an election rally in Florida yesterday. He thanked the police for arresting Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man suspected in bombings in New York and New Jersey. "Today, we have caught this evil thug who planted the bombs. Thank you, law enforcement. Thank you, police. But the bad part is now we will give him amazing hospitalisation," Trump, 70, said. "He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he will probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is," he said. "And on top of all of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer. His case will go through the various court systems for years, and in the end, people will forget and his punishment will not be what it once would have been. What a sad situation," he rued. Trump said the US must use whatever lawful methods are available to obtain information from the apprehended suspect to get information before it is no longer timely. "The Congress should pass measures to ensure that foreign enemy combatants are treated as such. These are enemies. These are combatants. And we have to be tough and we have to be strong," he said. Rahami will be questioned in connection with the explosion that occurred on Sunday in Chelsea district of Manhattan, New York, and injured 29 people. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 17:30 [IST] 50% of Indians disagree with Modi's Pakistan policy: survey New Delhi oi-PTI New Delhi, Sept 20: More than three-fifth of Indians support use of military force to defeat the scourge of terrorism, according to a latest Pew Survey released on Monday which said that about half of the respondents disapprove of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Pakistan policy. "With roughly half (52 per cent) the Indian public worried that ISIS poses a major threat to their country, about six-in-ten Indians (62 per cent) believe that overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism around the world. Just 21 per cent say relying too much on such force creates hatred that leads to more terrorism," said Pew Research Center in its report running into 40 pages. While 68 per cent of the respondents feel that India is playing a more important role in the world than it was doing 10 years ago, the Pew Research Center in its annual survey, which was conducted among 2,464 respondents from April 7 to May 24, said half of the respondents disapprove of Modi's management of India's volatile relationship with Pakistan. His Pakistan policy is approved by just 22 per cent, said the survey which was conducted in the months after the terrorist attack at the Pathankot Air Force base coming from across the border. "Notably, however, more than half of BJP supporters (54 per cent) and a plurality of Congress party adherents (45 per cent) disapprove of the prime minister's handling of relations with Pakistan," the report said. In the handling of China, supporters of Modi's own party, the BJP, are more likely than adherents of the Congress party to favor his conduct of bilateral relations. Pew said Indians are ready to support more defence spending. Across party lines, more than six-in-ten (63 per cent) think the country should increase spending on national defence, just six per cent want to decrease it and 20 per cent want to keep it at current levels. Notably, Indians who see China's growing military power as a very serious problem are more likely than those who see China's growing military power as a less serious threat to favor increased military spending, it said. According to Pew, the Indian public's satisfaction with the direction of the country has increased 36 percentage points since 2013, the year before Modi took power. The survey found that Indian public's ciews on the economy have improved by 23 points. And belief that today's children will be better off financially than their parents is up eight points. The survey said that Modi continues to ride a wave of good feeling (81 per cent) about the way things are going in India, the state of the domestic economy and his own stewardship of the country. In 2015 Pew Survey, Modi's approval rating was 87 per cent. Modi's favorable rating of 81 per cent is followed by that of Sonia Gandhi (67 per cent), Rahul Gandhi (63 per cent) and Arvind Kejriwal (50 per cent). Modi has the lowest unfavorability rating of 16 per cent followed by Arvind Kejriwal (27 per cent), Sonia Gandhi (31 per cent) and Rahul Gandhi (32 per cent). Like Modi, the ruling BJP has an approval rating of 80 per cent, followed by Indian National Congress (67 per cent) and Aam Admi Party (47 per cent). About half or more of the public approves of Modi's handling of a range of domestic problems facing the country: helping the poor and dealing with unemployment (both 62 per cent), handling terrorism (61 per cent) and dealing with corruption (59 per cent). And roughly half or more of Indians in the survey approve of Modi's leadership style: 56 per cent believe he cares about people like them, 51 per cent say he stands up for what he believes and 49 per cent say he brings people together and gets things done, Pew said. Pew said Indians also favor toughness in dealing with the world. "Nevertheless, Indians give priority to issues at home. By more than two-to-one (53 per cent to 23 per cent) they believe that India should deal with its own problems and let other nations deal with theirs. This public preference for a focus on domestic issues reflects ongoing concerns about a range of issues: Roughly eight-in-ten Indians believe crime, corrupt officials, a lack of employment opportunities and terrorism are very big national problems," Pew said. Observing that only about a third (31 per cent) of the public expresses a favorable opinion of their emerging Asian rival, Pew said these positive views are down 10 percentage points in the past year, but unchanged from 2014. "Another 36 per cent voice an unfavorable opinion and 32 per cent have no opinion. Large majorities say Beijing poses serious challenges for India. Seven-in-ten of those surveyed believe that China's economic impact on India is a serious problem, including 45 per cent who voice the view that it is very serious. Nearly half (48 per cent) of Indians think China's relationship with Pakistan poses a very serious problem for India," Pew said. Pew said eight-in-ten Indians believe their economy is doing well, up 16 points since 2014. And 35 per cent of Indians today say the economy is very good. People in the northern states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh express the most satisfaction (71 per cent) with the direction of the country. Those living in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are the least satisfied (55 per cent). Roughly four in-ten living in the north say the economy is doing very well (42 per cent), while people living in the western states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh (26 per cent) and in the south (30 per cent) are less likely than those in the north to believe the economy is performing very well. People living in the eastern part of the country - in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal - are more confident (83 per cent) than those in the north (62 per cent) and west (70 per cent) about prospects for the next generation. Crime (82 per cent), lack of employment (81 per cent), corrupt officials (80 per cent) and terrorism (78 per cent) are the top four national problem, according to the respondents surveyed by the Pew Poll. On Modi's popularity, Pew said while he continues to have a favorable rating of 81 per cent, the share of Indians with a very favorable view of Modi is down 11 percentage points in the last year. In both 2015 and 2016, Modi's lowest approval rating (53 per cent) was for his handling of communal relations. On India US relationship, more than half (54 per cent) of Indians approve of Modi's dealings with Washington. Just 15 per cent disapprove, it said. "Notably, public approval of Modi's handling of America is down 12 percentage points since 2015 despite his having visited the US more than any other country during his premiership," Pew said. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 8:57 [IST] SC strikes down petition seeking an alternative to collegium to appoint judges New Delhi oi-Vicky New Delhi, Sept 20: A petition which sought to have a mechanism other than the collegium to appoint judges has been struck down by the Supreme Court of India. The petitioner had sought to set up an independent body of the executive and the judiciary to select judges both to the High Court and Supreme Court. The Supreme Court while striking down the petition observed that any such directive would amount to amending the Constitution. This cannot be done by the Supreme Court, the Bench also observed. The petition which was filed by the National Campaign for Lawyers said that the setting up of such a body is essential. Further the petitioner also said that the selection of kith and kin of judges and senior advocates as judges must stop. Further the petitioner said that the talented are never selected or considered by the collegium and hence a new mechanism must be put in place. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had recently struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act. The act sought to bring in amendments to the process involving the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. While striking down the NJAC Act, the court had, however, suggested that a Memorandum of Procedure be enforced to ensure transparency into the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 11:54 [IST] Uri attack: It was over in a matter of 12 minutes New Delhi oi-Vicky New Delhi, Sept 20: It was all over in a matter of 12 minutes. Three terrorists were killed and 17 Jawans were martyred in a matter of 12 minutes in Uri on Sunday. Militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammad struck at an army camp in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, in what has been termed as one of the worst attacks on the army in recent times. The four militants who launched the attack, according to investigations, knew the layout of the camp well. This has led to the suspicion that they had enough information on the camp and possibility of them taking help from a mole has not been ruled out. A team of the National Investigation Agency is at Uri to probe how three levels of security had been breached by the terrorists. The other aspect under probe is whether intelligence was ignored. The Intelligence Bureau says that there were enough signals suggesting that terrorists would carry out a major attack on an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the intelligence was not specific in nature, officials claim. All in a matter of 12 minutes: The terrorists dressed in army fatigues with their hair cut short had infiltrated into India late on Saturday. They cut a fence before gaining access to the base. They first moved towards the cook house and fired grenades and bullets. The firing on the diesel barrels caused the fire. As the fire spread to the tents in which the soldiers were present, four terrorists continued to fire. The army managed to kill three terrorists in just 12 minutes. The jawans too caught in the fire were martyred at the same time. In the next few minutes the fourth terrorist was also gunned down by security forces. Officials say that the terrorists were disguised as army personnel. They did not look like members of a suicide squad. Only after the encounter when the bodies were inspected did the officials find that their chests were clean shaven. This is a ritual that the fidayeens carry out before embarking upon a suicide mission. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 10:24 [IST] Uri attack: NIA registers case, India makes fresh move to declare Maulana Masood Azhar a terrorist New Delhi oi-Vicky New Delhi, Sept 20: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday registered a case in connection with the Uri attack after it was told to take over the probe by the Union Home Ministry. In another development, India will send a fresh proposal to have Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maulana Masood Azhar declared as a terrorist. India has made a request to include Azhar in the list of proscribed terrorists and would send a fresh proposal before the end of September. Uri attack: It was over in a matter of 12 minutes This move assumed importance in the wake of the Uri attack. The last time India had made this proposal was following the Pathankot attack, but due to opposition from China, the same did not go through. For the NIA having Azhar declared a terrorist is crucial as he is the prime accused in both the Pathankot and Uri attacks. The agency is probing both the cases. NIA probe The NIA which will probe into the breach of security at three levels will also collect the blood and DNA samples of the terrorists. The army will hand over the seized material from the four terrorists who were killed in the Uri strike. Further the GPS set will be sent to the United States of America for forensic investigation. This would help the NIA find out exactly what route the terrorists had taken. The NIA which is also probing the Pathankot attack is still awaiting confirmation from Pakistan regarding its team's visit. India had allowed a team from Pakistan to visit Pathankot to investigate the matter. Despite several requests Pakistan has not responded to India as yet. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 12:17 [IST] Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000 Bihar's Gopalganj by-poll to see a tough fight between BJP and RJD Elderly parents of three Uri martyrs from Bihar proud of their sons Patna oi-IANS By Ians English Patna, Sep 20: The elderly parents of three soldiers from Bihar, who were among the 18 troops killed in a terror attack in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, are sad at the sudden upheaval in their lives but proud of their sons' supreme sacrifices. "I am proud of my martyred son (Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh) despite my personal loss," Jagnarayan Singh of Raktu village in Bihar's Bhojpur district said. His wife Rajmuna Devi echoed his views. "We are old now but the news of my son's martyrdom is a matter of pride. Earlier, our older son Kamta Singh too was martyred; now another son has died," they said. In fact, not only Ashok Kumar Singh's native village but residents of the entire Piro block said they were proud of his supreme sacrifice. "Hundreds of residents of nearby villages have come to pay their respects to him even though his body is yet to arrive in our village," Singh said. Sepoy Rakesh Singh's father Harihar Kushwaha said his son was brave and sacrificed his life for the country. "I have lost my son but am proud for his martyrdom," a teary-eyed Kushwaha, a resident of Badha village in Kaimur district, said. Kushwaha said all the residents of his village had decided not to cook food till the body of the brave soldier arrived in the village. "We are proud that my son died for the country." Naik Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi's parents Mathura Yadav and Kunti Devi too said they were proud of his sacrifice. "We have lost our son in old age but are proud of his sacrifice for the country," said Yadav, a resident of Boknari village in Gaya district. IANS For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 12:44 [IST] 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Rumble 23 Oct 2022 "I remember when I was shot down in that war. I remember how terrified I was. And it made me feel close to my family, and.. PIX 11 29 Oct 2022 NEW YORK (PIX11) For those eager to vote in the midterm elections, Saturday is the first chance for New York and New Jersey.. Rumble 26 Oct 2022 Will there be a RED WAVE? Or is the steal already underway? Fetterman, the Klingon flopped in his debate with Oz. Lets look at the.. Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia: London-based alternative asset manager Selwood Asset Management LLP marks its first anniversary since its launch in September last year with consistent positive performance and increase in AuM to above $350m. Selwood AM was founded in 2015 by credit specialist Sofiane Gharred after 15 years in banking and investment management. He was joined by former colleagues, and in January 2016 Selwood brought in Malcolm Butler (ex-Citi and COMAC Capital) to build out the business. Tages Capital, one of the most active seed investors in Europe, seeded the fund. Gharred, who is also the chief investment officer of Selwood AM, commented, "I have been trading credit for 15 years and Selwoods strategy is one of the rare and truly alternative investment opportunities, offering liquidity, consistent returns, and low correlation to other asset classes. Our approach is very different from traditional long-short asset managers as the performance delivered to investors is less sensitive to market timing." He said that the fund is focused on liquid Investment Grade Credit in Europe and North America. The strategy aims to maintain a market neutral profile while embedding tail hedge features against extreme market scenarios. Selwood AM chief operating officer Butler said, "We are pleased to have the support of large institutional investors. Selwood AM is differentiated in both the strategy, and the sk...................... To view our full article Click here Reprinted from Consortium News After several years of arming and supporting Syrian rebel groups that often collaborated with Al Qaeda's Nusra terror affiliate, the United States launched an illegal invasion of Syria two years ago with airstrikes supposedly aimed at Al Qaeda's Islamic State spin-off, but on Saturday that air war killed scores of Syrian soldiers and aided an Islamic State victory. Yet, the major American news outlets treat this extraordinary set of circumstances as barely newsworthy, operating with an imperial hubris that holds any U.S. invasion or subversion of another country as simply, ho-hum, the way things are supposed to work. On Monday, The Washington Post dismissed the devastating airstrike at Deir al-Zour killing at least 62 Syrian soldiers as one of several "mishaps" that had occurred over the past week and jeopardized a limited ceasefire, arranged between Russia and the Obama administration. But the fact that the U.S. and several allies have been routinely violating Syrian sovereign airspace to carry out attacks was not even an issue, nor is it a scandal that the U.S. military and CIA have been arming and training Syrian rebels. In the world of Official Washington, the United States has the right to intervene anywhere, anytime, for whatever reason it chooses. President Barack Obama even has publicly talked about authorizing military strikes in seven different countries, including Syria, and yet he is deemed "weak" for not invading more countries, at least more decisively. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has vowed to engage in a larger invasion of Syria, albeit wrapping the aggression in pretty words like "safe zone" and "no-fly zone," but it would mean bombing and killing more Syrian soldiers. As Secretary of State, Clinton used similar language to justify invading Libya and implementing a "regime change" that killed the nation's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and unleashed five years of violent political chaos. If you were living a truly democratic country with a truly professional news media, you would think that this evolution of the United States into a rogue superpower violating pretty much every international law and treaty of the post-World War II era would be a regular topic of debate and criticism. Those crimes include horrendous acts against people, such as torture and other violations of the Geneva Conventions, as well as acts of aggression, which the Nuremberg Tribunals deemed "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." Justifying "Regime Change" Yet, instead of insisting on accountability for American leaders who have committed these crimes, the mainstream U.S. news media spreads pro-war propaganda against any nation or leader that refuses to bend to America's imperial demands. In other words, the U.S. news media creates the rationalizations and arranges the public acquiescence for U.S. invasions and subversions of other countries. In particular, The New York Times now reeks of propaganda, especially aimed at two of the current targets, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin. With all pretenses of professionalism cast aside, the Times has descended into the status of a crude propaganda organ. On Sunday, the Times described Assad's visit to a town recently regained from the rebels this way : "Assad Smiles as Syria Burns, His Grip and Impunity Secure." That was the headline. The article began: "On the day after his 51st birthday, Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, took a victory lap through the dusty streets of a destroyed and empty rebel town that his forces had starved into submission. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Reprinted from Smirking Chimp War on Terror (Image by conservapedia.com) Details DMCA Fifteen years ago, 19 men committed suicide and took more than 3,000 people with them. The 9/11 attacks constituted crimes against humanity and should have been treated as such, with investigations and prosecutions of those who helped plan and finance the horrific crimes. If they had been armed attacks by another country, George W. Bush could have lawfully used military force in self-defense under the United Nations Charter. But they were not. Neither Afghanistan nor Iraq had attacked the United States or any other UN member country. In fact, Iraq had not invaded any country for 11 years, since it went into Kuwait. Neither Afghanistan nor Iraq posed an imminent threat to any nation. None of the hijackers hailed from Afghanistan or Iraq. In fact, 15 came from Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, the Bush administration invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq and changed their regimes, killing and injuring untold numbers of people. The resulting vacuum in Iraq has been filled by Islamic State, which formed and became powerful after the US invaded that country. Bush declared a "war on terror." Terrorism is a tactic, not an enemy and you don't declare war on a tactic. Yet Bush invoked the 9/11 attacks to shred the Constitution. And although he avoids using the phrase "war on terror," Barack Obama is continuing Bush's perpetual war. Bush's War on Civil Liberties Bush did not confine his war on terror to other countries. He mounted a wholesale assault on civil liberties here in the United States. He rammed the USA PATRIOT Act through a shell-shocked Congress that had rejected its provisions prior to 9/11. The act enhanced the government's ability to conduct surveillance and created a crime of "domestic terrorism," which was used to target political activists who protest government policies. It is defined so broadly that it has been used to go after environmental and animal rights groups. Bush inaugurated a new program of COINTELPRO-style surveillance, in which the government used wiretapping without judicial authorization. A similar policy was banned by a Republican-controlled Congress with the passage of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after the FBI used it to target civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. In violation of FISA and the Fourth Amendment, Bush signed an executive order establishing the Terrorist Surveillance Program. It authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to wiretap people within the United States with no judicial review. The NSA has eavesdropped on untold numbers of private conversations. It has combed through large volumes of telephone and internet communications flowing into and out of the United States, collecting a vast amount of personal information that has nothing to do with national security. Bush ordered federal agencies to refuse to honor requests under the Freedom of Information Act, an important vehicle for citizens to hold the government accountable by requesting, receiving and publicizing public records. In particular, three developments on Bush's watch have had a chilling effect on protected First Amendment activity: the shift from reactive to preemptive law enforcement; the enactment of domestic antiterrorism laws; and the relaxation of FBI guidelines on the surveillance of Americans. Bush also indefinitely detained hundreds of men and boys of Arab, Muslim and South Asian descent in the United States and Guantanamo, Cuba, without charges or suspicion of terrorist ties. Bush & Co.'s Illegal Torture Program Nearly 800 individuals have been held indefinitely at Guantanamo, most without charge, in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the US has ratified. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This was not supposed to be what it is. The protests around the country and the world, the topics of wealth accumulation and distribution and basic human needs, the rise of progressive candidates all promised that what we know to be true would now be the center of attention. Except, nothing really happened. We heard some noise, saw some smoke, but the fire of change never broke out. It was, and remains, far too self-contained. The hottest elements disdained coming into contact with the structures and relationships that would help the fire break through and burn into existing institutions that would more visibly carry it. They were too convinced that they would be doused with conformity. They couldn't fathom that they could infiltrate and take over. They wouldn't believe they were strong enough to avoid being co-opted. Those that kept the fire burning are huddled here and there, claiming it has not died out and still works its magic. That truth only makes the situation all the more pitiful. What could have been a wide ranging, uncontrollable force that would have prevented the folly of this year's presidential race remains segregated and mute, neither warming nor enlightening the campaigns of the candidates. 2016 was meant to be another 1789, 1848, or 1917. Instead, it is a carnival show. As someone who has been promoting democratic socialist ideas since he was an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins in 1979, the principles of income equality and the importance of viewing basic needs as human rights are not ideas that appeared on the radar five years ago when some people occupied a park in lower Manhattan. I already had learned at the age of eighteen that Otto von Bismarck had adopted many safety net policies, like unemployment insurance and old age pensions, in the 1880s to take the wind out of the sails of German socialists and lay the foundations for a strong national economy. I knew that most European countries had implemented universal healthcare, strict tax regimes, subsidized higher education after World War II as the means to create stable, healthy societies. I had seen firsthand how the USA had used progressive tax bracketing and federal grants to promote a broad middle class buoyed by public works, social services, and collective bargaining. One of the main reasons I was at Hopkins was the university offered a bachelor's degree in International Studies. Aside from having been identified as an intelligent polymath in junior high school, I had parents who had omnivorous tastes when it came to food, culture, music, literature, et cetera. We also had family members and friends who had seen the world in the military, as part of their jobs, or as immigrants and adventurers. I grew up bathed in the understanding that travel opened one's mind to new ideas and perspectives. In the absence of funds to support much in the way of in-person experience, I thought my college education could be a good substitute and perhaps open doors to seeing the world for myself. Once in college, I longed to visit the places where the governments had emphasized the pursuit of happiness among their citizenry. Those countries had recognized that life, liberty, and property were best protected when common sense restrictions beneficial to all were agreed upon. They also sponsored a real commitment was made to treat everyone equally under the laws. Scandinavia, the Low Countries, the Antipodes, and a few other places were reaping the benefits of democratic socialism and creating environments that left people contented and still free. Meanwhile. the USA was at the turning point when a large segment of the population, goaded by Ronald Reagan, denounced the efficacy and productivity of government at all levels, Watergate, Vietnam, backlash to gains by minorities, and weak leadership had undermined confidence in any actions taken by the US government. A victim mentality arose among the wealthy and people who dreamed of becoming wealthy, leading to slashed tax rates and abandoned regulatory regimes. As is always the case, it took a few decades for this political orientation to create difficulties serious enough for all but the most observant to see. The Great Recession following the Great Lie about Iraq saw to that. Except for some people, the economic, political, and social downturns since 2007 have only reinforced their beliefs that the problem is too much government. That is why the USA currently has three major blocs in the public sphere. First are the people supporting Hillary Clinton and GOP members opposed to Donald Trump. They insist that our problems are all mechanical, caused by poor leadership under George W. Bush followed by intransigent House Republicans blocking the means to fix his mistakes. Second are the people supporting Donald Trump. They believe the professional politicians like the Bushes and Clintons have ground the USA down and we need incisive leadership like that provided by Reagan. Third are the Bernie or Bust supporters. They see that income inequality, federal grant and investment drought, deregulation, wars for no purpose paid with deficit spending, and corporate tax and subsidy laws are chains dragging the USA further and further down. Just as Occupy Wall Street sputtered and died for the most part, the Bernie Sanders campaign has dampened down not as much from the Machiavellian actions of the powers controlling politics as by the failure of leadership. There were counter-revolutionary forces in 1789, 1848, and 1917. Some were successful in the short or long term. But the revolutions that played out to actually bring change all shrugged off that interference because they had groups of leaders who, despite their internal differences, could pull together to reduce the old regime to rubble. When they pulled together, they aroused the passions of tens of thousands of people and made their goals the goals of the people who supported them. Without that organizational legerdemain, any political movement seeking change is bound to fail. Five years on, no one has yet to move the progressive masses to go beyond attending rallies or voting to actually fomenting change. There has been no call to action by a group of leaders at the helm of a nascent movement. There has been no objective other than the pedestrian one of getting Senator Sanders nominated. Occupy Wall Street went too far in foregoing leaders. Bernie or Bust went too far in embracing just a single candidate-leader. For the political revolution needed for the USA to come about, a group of leaders must begin to provide direction to everyone seeking real change. That requires an organization that at present does not exist. I have written at length elsewhere about the troubles facing democracy in the USA and the need for greater, deeper, wider political participation. There is always time for change to occur, but the longer the situation deteriorates, the messier the transition will be. Vancouver Totem Poles (Image by Ted Drake) Details DMCA The internet has catalyzed billions of people to transition from primarily top down to more bottom up-- minded, socially, business-wise. People born after 1980 have been marinating in the internet since they were teens and it's changed their brains-- their neurobiology-- so they perceive and process experiences and relationships differently. The top down mind is a relatively recent phenomenon, a symptom of agriculture and civilization, along with hierarchy, centralization, domination, disconnection and a lot more. Some people were exposed to civilization 10,000 years ago and some were exposed four or five hundred years ago. Before then, for 99% of the time that humans existed, they lived bottom up lives in bottom up cultures with bottom up brains. The few hundred thousand indigenous people living on the planet today STILL live bottom up lives. The thing is, humans evolved, over a course of several million years, to function with bottom up cultures and bottom up brains, to be raised in bottom up parenting situations. Psychologist Darcia Narvaez describes in her William James Award winning book, Neurobiology of the Development of Human Morality, how hundreds of different neurobiological pathways and connections evolved to optimally blossom and unfold when they are stimulated by bottom up parenting and a "nest" that was the usual way that small hunter gatherer bands raised children. Now, as we return to bottom up ways, it is time for us to revisit indigenous wisdom, knowhow and values. That's why Dr. Narvaez organized the conference, Sustainable Wisdom : Integrating Indigenous KnowHow for Global Flourishing . The idea of re-indigenization was frequently brought up as the answer to the unsustainable ways of relating to the world, to the use of energy, to nature, to each other. I attended and participated in the conference, offering a paper in the poster session, titled, Now Is the Perfect Time To Bring Indigenous Wisdom to Western Culture.. Here's what it said: A bottom up revolution is sweeping western culture, catalyzed by the internet and smart phones. This revolution has changed the brain functions of people born after 1980 and has made all people and businesses far more amenable to bottom up ideas--and Indigenous ways and wisdom are bottom up in so many ways. Framing indigenous wisdom as bottom up can help make them more acceptable and embraceable by mainstream, even corporate audiences. Bottom is a concept that has been trending more and more according to Google trends. It's producing trillions in new businesses yet also catalyzing connection consciousness--awareness of values that are similar to those at the core of Indigenous wisdom. For a long time, the Hobbesian, dog-eat-dog, law-of-the-jungle, Darwinian view of aboriginals, characterizing them as "uncivilized" as brutal savages living lives of constant struggle to survive. But we know that aboriginal live in harmony with nature. People like the San Bushmen of Africa work 2-3 hours a day to subsist. Subsist! We talk about subsistence living as a form of deprivation, while actually, in the world of indigenous people still alive, primarily in rain forests, subsistence living works. They have 21-22 free hours a day. There is no unemployment, no mental illness. People are happy. Now, some say the indigenous peoples of the world are the truly affluent. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Reprinted from Reader Supported News Jeffrey Sterling is a former CIA intelligence officer, a U.S. political prisoner, and a black man in an American jail. Jeffrey Sterling has also suffered a heart attack in the federal prison in which he is detained at Englewood, Colorado, and may be dead by the time you read this. Can you help? Good question. Thanks for asking that question. Jeffrey and his wife Holly are reaching out for all the help they can get, ASAP. Per John Kiriakou's post on RSN this morning, "Holly has enlisted the support of Norman Solomon's Roots Action, which has asked supporters to call Warden Deborah Denham at 303-763-4300. In addition to the warden, Solomon recommends contacting the Bureau of Prisons' North Central Regional Office by calling Sara M. Revell at 913-621-3939 or writing to her at NCRO/ ExecAssistant@bop.gov." Jeffrey Sterling is incarcerated ostensibly on an espionage conviction for revealing to New York Times reporter James Risen a secret U.S. project titled Operation Merlin. For the record, Risen, having received the full benefit of top notch legal council, remains free. Jeffrey rots in prison. Risen reported on the pages of The New York Times that Operation Merlin was a failure and that it, in all likelihood, had accelerated Iran's nuclear program rather than undermining it as the CIA had intended. But Sterling had a different problem, his blackness. In the practically all-white CIA, Sterling stood out like a "big black guy speaking Farsi." Which was what his supervisor at the "company" cited as justification for rejecting his application for overseas deployment, specifically citing race as a contributing factor. Then Sterling made his real mistake. He sued the CIA for discrimination. Before sentencing Jeffrey Sterling to three and a half years in prison, Judge Leonie Brinkema, the same judge coincidentally who sentenced former CIA agent John Kiriakou to 30 months in prison on similar charges, said that she was sending a message: "If you do knowingly reveal these secrets, there's going to be a price to be paid." The real message was that the U.S. federal prison system can absolutely function as a gulag. If you challenge or embarrass the American empire, this is what happens to you. Bear in mind two things. The administration of Barack Obama has prosecuted more cases traditionally viewed as whistleblowing than that of any other president in U.S. history, by far. It is by all indications a brutal campaign of repression against the very people who speak out against American government abuse. Further, there was no real evidence presented at trial that Sterling revealed anything of a classified nature to Risen or anyone else. The jury was a typical "terrorized by government terrorism propaganda" lynch mob that would have convicted anyone of anything the government instructed them to. Founders spinning in their graves be damned. Nothing is more sacred or essential to a democracy than transparency. It is not enough to protect society, if that society must sacrifice its values and freedom for those protections. Jeffrey Sterling is in prison because he tried to shed light on questionable government practices. The U.S. government loves to accuse and sanction other nations for repression of opponents and critics. American political prisoners like Jeffrey Sterling bear witness to that hypocrisy. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Reprinted from To The Point Analyses The vast majority of people "live locally." Wherever they are residing, that is the arena of their life, and it is that environment that they know best. Even up-and-coming American political leaders are subject to this rule. This became embarrassingly obvious when, on 8 September 2016, Gary Johnson made his now famous faux pas. Gary Johnson, who once was governor of New Mexico and therefore knows a lot about that state and its strengths and weaknesses, appeared on MSNBC's weirdly named, but widely watched, a.m. program "Morning Joe" (the "Joe" referring, I assume, to the local U.S. term for coffee). The principal reason Mr. Johnson was on the show was that he is running for president of the United States on the Libertarian Party ticket. And, of course, the president of the U.S. is the world's most powerful leader and his or her awareness level is expected to reflect that. Therefore, those running for president are assumed to know everything about what is going on in the world as well as in their own country. This is of course impossible, though there is always a short list of issues that are center-stage. So, what happens is that leaders have "briefing books" prepared on these priority issues. But again, the priorities are judgment calls and can be different for different leaders. Unfortunately for Johnson, foreign policy issues were low on the priority list for the Libertarians -- who are more or less isolationist. That is why, when Gary Johnson was asked by another guest on that "Morning Joe" show, what he would do, if he where president, about the crisis in Aleppo, he answered "And what is Aleppo?" It was a real gaffe, and Johnson was almost immediately taken to task by the "pundits" of social media for being a dummy. One might ask why would anyone expect an ex-governor of New Mexico to know anything about a Syrian city mostly wrecked by civil war? Well, again, because he is running for president. And Aleppo should, many assume, be on his short list. Be that as it may, it was not on Johnson's, whose ideological outlook puts Syria in someone else's local venue. His is New Mexico and maybe, eventually, the rest of the U.S. Part II -- The Power of the Briefing Book Do you think that this unusual? Unfortunately it is not. What is unusual is that Johnson got caught in his ignorance. Fear of just such exposure is one of the reasons leaders now give so few press conferences. Yet history has also shown us that recent presidents have been unafraid to make foreign policy decisions which impact millions, often fatally. As we will see, these decisions almost always reflect their own conditioned ignorance but are made in a way that allows them to be obscured and rationalized after the fact. It just so happens that such decisions helped lead to the Syrian civil war and the destruction of Aleppo. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). US-led airstrikes kill 60+ Syrian soldiers; ceasefire over; Syria & Russia accuse US of assisting ISIS; US confirms American troops on the ground in Syria fighting with Turkey US-led airstrikes that killed 60+ Syrian soldiers not only ended the brief ceasefire, it helped ISIS gain control of territory in Syria, and appears to be an escalation of US-led efforts to provoke Syria and Russia. "The US Central Command claimed they thought the base belonged to ISIS. It does now. With the forces decimated by the US attack, ISIS quickly overran the base," wrote Jason Ditz on Antiwar.com And Syria and Russia - who were adhering to the ceasefire - are furious. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said, "every time the Syrian state makes tangible progress either on the ground or towards national reconciliation, anti-Syrian states increase their support of terrorist organisations ... the latest example of this is the flagrant American aggression on one of the Syrian army's positions in Deir Ezzor to the benefit of Daesh [ISIS]". Russian officials are also essentially accusing the west of backing Islamic militants. Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said, "It is significant and frankly suspicious that the United States chose to conduct this air strike at this time." Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the US commitment to the [now failed] cease-fire, suggesting that Washington wasn't prepared to break with "terrorist elements" battling Assad's forces. "In my opinion, [the US wants] to keep the combat potential in fighting the legitimate government of Bashar Assad. But this is a very dangerous route." Syrian and Russian leaders know the US airstrikes were intentionally meant to kill Syrian soldiers, most likely to provoke a response and/or to assist ISIS. Regime change is all the US cares about, and after years of failing to oust Assad, provoking Syria and Russia militarily is the phase the US has obviously entered in Syria. Additionally, the Pentagon confirmed US special forces are on the ground in Syria fighting alongside Turkey. US officials claim the reason for the deployment is to fight ISIS, but that assertion is laughed-off by most, as Turkey's war is with the Kurds - the same Kurds who are fighting ISIS. Reprinted from Paul Craig Roberts Website The Russian government's sincere and diligent effort to prevent chaos in Syria and additional massive refugee flow into Europe, all the while avoiding conflict with Washington and its vassals, has been brought to an end by Washington's intentional attack on a known Syrian army position, thus wrecking the cease-fire agreement that Russia sacrificed so much to achieve. The response to this fact by the Obama regime's ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, reveals that Washington will lie to the hilt in order to achieve its agenda of reducing Syria to the same chaos as Washington has reduced Iraq and Libya. Washington, and Washington alone, is responsible for the war in Syria. When the British Parliament and the Russian government blocked Obama's intended US invasion of Syria, the Obama regime armed and financed jihadist mercenaries to invade Syria, pretending that the jihadists were Syrian rebels fighting for democracy in Syria. Samantha Power turned history upside down and blames the war on Russia's intervention at the request of the Syrian government against the ISIL jihadists that Washington sent to destabilize Syria. What Samantha means is that if Russia had not come to the aid of Syria, Washington and ISIL would already have destroyed Syria, and there would be no war. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN, said that in his 40 years of diplomacy he had never seen such a high-handed and demagogic performance as Samantha's. Churkin seemed to imply that such an unrealistic and twisted response to known facts as Samantha delivered leaves him without hope of any successful diplomatic outcome. If the Russian government has finally arrived at the conclusion that Washington is determined to destroy political stability in Syria and to replace it with chaos, it has taken a long time. The Russian government has studiously avoided this conclusion, because once diplomacy is acknowledged as useless, force confronts force. In today's context that means thermo-nuclear war and the end of life on Earth. This is the reason that the Russian government has replied diplomatically to Washington's coercive provocations, offering Washington cooperation in place of conflict. However, Washington wants conflict. The Russians have pretended that Washington has a common interest with Russia in combating terrorism, but terrorism is Washington's tool for destabilizing Syria, then Iran, and then the Muslim provinces of the Russian Federation and China. Washington wants hegemeny not cooperation. Now that Samantha Power has made this so clear that the Russian government can no longer pretend otherwise, what will Russia (and China) do? If Russia and China are not ready for the war that Washington is bringing to them, will they retreat in the face of the aggression, sacrificing Syria, the break-away Russian provinces from Ukraine, and the various disputed island issues in the Pacific Ocean while they gather their strength? Or will they decide to break-up the NATO alliance by making the cost of conflict very clear to Washington's European vassals? Clearly, Europe has nothing to gain from Washington's aggression against Russia and China. Or is Russia unable to do anything now that diplomacy is a proven dead-end? Perhaps this is the over-riding question. As far as someone who is not a member of the Russian government can tell, Russia is not completely in control of its destiny. Elements in the Russian government known as "Atlanticist Integrationists" believe that it is more important for Russia to be part of the West and to be integrated into the Western system than to be a sovereign country. They argue that if formerly great powers, such as Great Britain, Germany, and France, can profit from being American vassals, so can Russia. Atlanticist Integrationists claim that Russia's strategic nuclear capability and land mass means that Russia can maintain some sovereignty and only partially submit as a vassal. One problem with this position is that it assumes the neoconservatives are content with less than complete hegemony and would not capitalize on Russia's weakened position to achieve full hegemony. The Russian government probably still has hopes that at least some European governments will recognize their responsibility to avoid war and exit NATO, thus removing political cover for Washington's aggression. Possibly there is some such hope, but the main European political figures are bought-and-paid-for by Washington. As a high US government official told me as long ago as the 1970s, "we own them; they belong to us." Not much hope can be found in the European media. Udo Ulfkotte, a former editor of Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, published a book in which he said that every significant European journalist was on the CIA's payroll. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. India to Double its San Francisco-Delhi Service from Three to Six Times a Week Starting November 21, 2016 www.airindia.in Non-stop Flights Continue to Offer Fastest Flying Time to IndiaAir India announced that it will be increasing its non-stop service between San Francisco and Delhi Indias Capital from three to six flights a week, starting November 21, 2016. The Boeing 777-200LR flights will depart every day except Tuesday. The flying time is 16 hours and 15 minutes a full 3 hours faster than any other airline. The non-stop flights depart San Francisco at 10:30 AM and arrive in Delhi at 4:15 PM the next day. Departures from Delhi are at 2:35 AM, and the arrival time in San Francisco is 6:00 AM the same day.For passengers traveling beyond Delhi, Air India also offers the fastest connections from San Francisco to major cities across India, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and more.Like Air Indias non-stop flights from New York, Newark, and Chicago, the San Francisco-Delhi flights feature First, Business, and Economy Class and a choice of Continental or Indian cuisine served in the gracious style that is distinctly Indian.Fueled by the significantly shorter flying time, our non-stop San Francisco-Delhi service was an immediate success when it launched last December, said Ms. Vandana Sharma, Air Indias Regional Manager-Americas. The three additional weekly fights are a response to the steadily increasing popularity of the service and the convenience of our seamless connecting service to all major business and tourism centers across India, many with customs and immigration formalities at the final destination."For more information on Air Indias San Francisco-Delhi service, and reservations, contact your travel agent or call 1-800-223-7776.About Air IndiaAir India, Indias national airline, has been in operation since 1932. Today, the airline serves 35 international destinations on four continents, and 66 cities across India. The airlines fleet of 118 aircraft, including B787 Dreamliners and B777LRs and ERs, is one of the worlds youngest. Air India is also a member of the Star Alliance. For more information about the airline, visit729 7th Ave9th FlNYC, NY 10019 Global Chestnut Market - By End User Industry, Vendors and Geography Market Shares, Forecasts and Trends (2016 - 2020) http://www.marketintelreports.com/report/9dime5599/global-chestnut-industry-2016-market-research-report http://www.marketintelreports.com/pdfdownload.php?id=9dime5599 http://www.marketintelreports.com/purchase.php?id=9dime5599 www.marketintelreports.com 2016 Global Chestnut Industry Report is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions of the Chestnut industry, focusing on the main regionsNorth AmericaEuropeAsiaAnd the main countriesUnited StatesGermanyJapanChina.Check complete report @The report firstly introduced the Chestnut basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Avail more information from Sample Brochure of report @The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) Basic information;2.) The Asia Chestnut industry;3.) The North American Chestnut industry;4.) The European Chestnut industry;5.) Market entry and investment feasibility;6.) The report conclusion.Order a copy of Global Chestnut Industry 2016 Market Research Report @About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Sales ManagerMayur S.2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington,Delaware,19808United Statessales@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343 Love That Cross, Pastor John Collins, Wyoming celebrates second anniversary this month Evangelist Pastor John Collins celebrates the second anniversary of Love That Cross Ministries and Love That Cross Revivals which began two years ago this month in Wyoming. Since then, Pastor Collins has been awarded and recognized as an outstanding evangelist nationally and internationally. He was featured on the Lars Larson radio program. As head of Love That Cross Ministries and Revival, he is recognized as an influential pastor living in the United States today by Inspirational Faith Magazine. His trademark stand on everything is based on the Holy Bible. He successfully remains biblically correct in his ministry and in his everyday life.Locally, Pastor John Collins is recognized as an eloquent and popular pastor. Nationally, he is recognized for his no nonsense position on difficult issues and calls other pastors to task to address the issues from God's point of view, based on the Bible. Pastor John and Love That Cross take the commandment of "love your neighbor" seriously. He leads his ministry by example and sets a standard for others to follow.Pastor John knows an evangelist is someone who is set apart by God to teach the ways of God. Evangelists are in the public eye because they are outspoken and profess their faith plainly. Pastor John demonstrates to others integrity and honesty in his actions and words, and does it humbly and with kindness. He makes his listeners think. This is one of many reasons Pastor John Collins and Love That Cross have been successful for the past two years.Consistently, Pastor John Collins has shown that in order to get to God, people have to come to believe in Jesus Christ, learn to act like Jesus Christ and learn to act like Christians. Christians are supposed to help the poor, Christians are supposed to treat others as they would like to be treated. The two commandments Jesus taught were to "love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and the other commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself." Pastor John Collins teaches these commandments in every one of his sermons, and he acts them so that people can see how Christians are supposed to be. Pastor John walks the walk. He lives humbly. Many evangelists in the public eye have multi-million dollar homes, expensive new cars, designer clothing and pristine mega churches that they launch their ministry from. Pastor John lives in a middle class home, drives used vehicles and preaches from pulpits of moderate to small churches all over the country. He is quick to help a little girl who walks into a church in her pajamas carrying a doll, not only in feeding her, but helping her family manage the reality of latchkey children left on their own. A conversation with a diabetic woman reveals that she has no food and is unable to get out to a store because she is ill. A phone call to an area food bank and senior center from Pastor John helps the woman get through. Finding wood for heating for a shut in who had no other heating source kept an elderly man warm. An addict who needed to get into rehab couldn't find an open bed was assisted into a rehab center that hadn't had any beds open. Waiting in line at a fast food drive through, Pastor John has been known to pay for the meals of the car behind him. Taking people in off the, feeding and sheltering them, opening one of his churches up on frigid nights for those who have nowhere else to go: all are examples of being Christ-like in the life of Pastor John Collins. He sets an example of being Christian, Christ-like, serving God with humility and obedience.For Pastor John, it is living the fruits of the spirit, every day, in everyday life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is being truthful, having integrity, standing in faith of God in the face of the world and not caring what the world says about him. Pastor John says "Just because you go into a garage doesn't make you a car, and just because you go to church doesn't make you a Christian. It's what you do that matters."Pastor John takes his faith seriously. He takes his relationship with God seriously, he takes the salvation offered by Jesus seriously. He walks that walk every day, every minute. He admits he is a sinner, he knows that he isn't perfect, but he also knows that people are watching and need an example to live by, just like 2000 years ago when God sent Jesus to show mankind how to act. Pastor John strives to show how we are to act as humans, as Christians. At the end of the day, he asks for forgiveness and repents of the sins and gets up the next day to try to be the best that he can be, for God and for Jesus. It is why Love That Cross continues to grow."God is never secondary in my life, He is always Primary"- Pastor John CollinsLove That Cross Ministries was launched in Wyoming, September 2014. Pastor John Collins is committed to revival and evangelism and spreading the hope of the gospel through Love That Cross world wide.A Work of Hope is a ministry committed to providing a hand up to those in need, assisting where needed within the communities it serves.Nick KirschA Work of Hope, Coordinator522 N 29th StreetBillings, Montana 59101 Hiros Physics Help offers the greatest educators for an affordable price with tutoring physics Hiros Physics Help Group is pleased to announce that they have the solution for physics teaching and learning who need the help for college physics courses, and the related math.They offer a wide variety of teaching methods and learning materials, including affordable simple emergent help on a budget.They can also do evaluate science curricula in schools and helping teachers for physical science improve their instructions. 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They are based in Mississippi, but serve the entire US area and any other countries if you speak/write English over the internet.Contact them today to receive advice on how to improve your physics and related math skills.OverviewHiros Physics Help Group is considered as one of the leading supplier of excellent physics tutors in North America with 2 offices across the globe, including the head office in Hattiesburg, MS.Background and DevelopmentWe have more than 15-year experience in teaching physics for biology and pre-med students in the US colleges. Our experts have graduate degrees; in addition, they have teaching and research experiences in professional settings.Key ProcessesLatest technology and materials for education have improved the quality of physics and math instruction. Some of the methods are invented by us with a variety of projects.We have accumulated knowledge on how to improve any of students, especially for students who do not have any background.Hiro's Physics Help Group216 Westover 17EHattiesburg, MS 39402hiro@hirophysics.com Mexico Cards and Payments Market: Total card market Grew at a CAGR of 8.1% during the Period 2012 to 2014 www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/mexico-cards-and-payments-market www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/financial-services https://www.psmarketresearch.com The research report provides in depth analysis and insights into the Mexican Cards and Payments Market including, strategies deployed by banks to market debit and credit cards and competitive landscape (card issuers in the country) for both debit cards and credit cards. The study includes 3 years historical market size and 6 years market forecast in terms of number of cards, value and volume of transactions processed through these cards, and other key metrics. The report also provides information on the key industry trends, major schemes, banks and detailed segmentation of card and payment industry. The research report is a new offering from the companys Financial Services domain, and leveraged from the companys existing cards and payments database of 50+ countries.Explore Report with Detailed TOC on Mexico Cards and Payments Market at:The total number of cards in circulation reached 166.5 million by the end of 2014, whereas the total population of the country reached 119.5 million, representing a penetration of 1.4 cards per person in 2014. In terms of number of cards in circulation, the Mexican payment cards market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.7% over the period 2015-2020. The growth of the card payments market will be driven by the growth of e-commerce, higher disposable income per capita, new product offerings and growth in retail.In Mexico, the debit cards dominate the payment cards market in terms of number of cards in circulation. Debit cards accounted for 81% of the total number of cards in circulation in 2014. Debit cards are being used by consumers to shop at retail outlets, withdraw cash from ATMs and make online payments. Some of the key players in the debit cards market include BBVA Bancomer, Banamex-Citibank, Banorte, Banco Santander, Scotiabank. BBVA Bancomer was the leading bank in terms of number of debit cards issued in 2014.The total number of credit cards in Mexico increased at a CAGR of 6.1% during the period 2012-2014. However during the forecast period, the growth is expected to slow down to a CAGR of 4.8%. The average credit card transaction value in Mexico increased from MXN 861.3 in 2012 to MXN 875.6 in 2014, at a CAGR of 0.8%. The average transaction value is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1.2% during the forecast period.In February 2016, Banamex announced the launch of two credit cards CitiA Rewards and Citi Premier targeted at affluent frequent traveler. Cards offer a rewards program, CitiA ThankYouA Rewards, which ensures the freedom to redeem without any limitations and without the need of a co-issuing partner. The program allows customers the ability to redeem points for travel with the airline of their choice. It is also possible to redeem the points for 4,000+ items that includes travel offerings, and electronic goods among other rewards. The launch of these two new cards completes the family of Banamex global rewards cards and joins Citi Prestige, which was launched three years ago in Mexico. Some of the additional benefits of these new cards are the Global Concierge service, the restaurant program and an extensive offering of protection benefits, including purchase, travel, medical and life insurance.Browse Other Related Report at:Luis Miguel Torre, Executive Consumer Credit Director of Banamex, said: This launch in Mexico represents a very important step for the Citi strategy that pursues the alignment of products and programs in scale economies, always thinking of a standardized experience for our customers that has been proven and is supported worldwide.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:DeepAssistant Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:347 5th Ave. #1402- 210New York CityUnited States Singapore One of the Most Competitive and Attractive Market in the Asia-Pacific Cards and Payments Market www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/singapore-cards-and-payments-market www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/financial-services https://www.psmarketresearch.com The research report provides in depth analysis and insights into the Singapore Cards and Payments Market including, strategies deployed by banks to market debit and credit cards and competitive landscape (card issuers in the country) for both debit cards and credit cards. The study includes 3 years historical market size and 6 years market forecast in terms of number of cards, value and volume of transactions processed through these cards, and other key metrics. The report also provides information on the key industry trends, major schemes, banks and detailed segmentation of card and payment industry. The research report is a new offering from the companys Financial Services domain, and leveraged from the companys existing cards and payments database of 50+ countries.Explore Report with Detailed TOC at:The Singapore payment card market grew at a CAGR of 3.3% in terms of number of cards in circulation, during the period 2012-2014. The country had a high penetration of 3.8 cards per person in 2014, with number of cards in circulation reaching 21.3 million and total population of the country being 5.6 million.In Singapore, the debit cards dominate the payment card market in terms of number of cards in circulation. In 2014, the debit cards accounted for more than half of the total number of cards in circulation in Singapore. Some of the key players in the debit cards market include DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank, OCBC, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank. By scheme, the number of debit cards in circulation was dominated by NETS in 2014. NETS is an online debit payment system jointly owned by DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and United Oversea Bank. DBS Bank was the leading bank in terms of the number of debit cards in 2014.Singapore has the second highest credit card penetration in the Asia-Pacific region. There was intense competition among credit card issuers to encourage card usage and spend. Different marketing strategies numerous campaigns were introduced to attract consumers. The key players in the credit cards market include DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank and Citibank. In terms of the number of credit cards in circulation, United Overseas Bank was the leader in 2014.Browse Other Related Report at:The charge card segment represents a small portion of the Singaporean pay later card market but it is expected to gain momentum due to expected growth in the volume of high net worth individuals during the period 2015 - 2020.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:DeepAssistant Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-Free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:347 5th Ave. #1402- 210New York CityUnited States Oilfield Services Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report By 2020 http://www.mrrse.com/oilfield-services-market http://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/317 http://www.mrrse.com/sample/317 Oil and gas industry is experiencing a tremendous growth from several years and is expected to grow during the forecast period. The industry growth is also elevating the demand of various other industries which are directly related to oil and gas industry. The global oilfield services market provides services to oil and gas industry and is experiencing the similar growth. The oilfield services market is expected to grow in near future.Oil and gas are produced from the reservoir in various phases such as exploration, drilling, production, completion, etc. Different oilfield services are required in these phases to obtain desirable results. Oil and gas reserves are identified using geological modeling, seismic surveys and exploration wells. The well drilled to extract oil and gas requires various services such as wireline, coil tubing, well intervention, simulation, etc for enhancing its production. The oilfield services companies provide equipment, services and infrastructure which are required by the oil and gas exploration and production companies to explore and extract oil and gas.Read Complete Report @The global oilfield services market can be segmented on the basis of type into drilling & completion fluids, well intervention and wireline services, coiled tubing services, pressure pumping & services and others. Each service is very important for the proper functioning and economic production of a well over its life span. Different services are required by wells for various hindrances. Drilling fluids are used during drilling as coolant, lubricants, debris carrier, etc. Coil tubing is used for oil and gas well intervention and rarely as production tubing in depleted gas wells. Pressure pumping services is used to access proven reserves and improve asset value.On the basis of geography, the global oilfield services market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and RoW (Rest of the world). North America is expected to be the market leader in this segment due to the shale gas boom in North America. A large number of wells are being drilled in North America for shale gas exploration which requires various oilfield services. RoW is expected to attain higher growth due to huge expenditure in Brazil and West Africa during the forecast period.Inquiry for Check discount @Increasing exploration and production activities will result in increasing demand of oilfield services market. However, stringent environmental regulations regarding some services such as drilling waste disposal and controversies regarding hydraulic fracturing are expected to hamper the growth of the oilfield services market. The availability of abundant offshore oil reserves and unexplored shale gas reserves will provide an opportunity for oilfield services market during the forecast period.The service provider companies are investing heavily in research and development so as to provide an economical and feasible solution to their clients. Moreover, they have to develop technology and provide services for some of the roughest environmental conditions such as arctic sea and deep and ultra deep sea. Some of the key players in the oilfield services market are Weatherford International Limited, Baker Hughes Incorporated, Schlumberger Limited, Halliburton Company, National Oilwell Varco, FMC Technologies Inc., Yantai Jereh Oilfield Services Group Co. Ltd., Cameron, The Weir Group PLC, Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group, Frontier Oilfield Services Inc., Airtrust (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Pe Ben Oilfield Services L.P., Beron Energy Ltd. and Decollement Consulting Inc. among others.Get a Free Sample Copy of the Report @This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeMRRSE stands for Market Research Reports Search Engine, the largest online catalog of latest market research reports based on industries, companies, and countries. MRRSE sources thousands of industry reports, market statistics, and company profiles from trusted entities and makes them available at a click. Besides well-known private publishers, the reports featured on MRRSE typically come from national statistics agencies, investment agencies, leading media houses, trade unions, governments, and embassies.Corporate OfficeState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United States Explore Small Cell Networks Market Trends, Business Strategies and Opportunities 2025 The Insight Partners http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/small-cell-networks-market http://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPTE100000179 http://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPTE100000179 The Small Cell Networks Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Small Cell Type, Operating Environment and by Service report provides a detailed overview of the major factors impacting the global market with the market share analysis and revenues of various sub segments.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the Small Cell Networks Market to 2025 @The mobile operators across the globe are facing constant challenges for managing and supporting ever growing data traffics and network congestion. Small cell helps telecom operators to provide and ensure excellent data speeds and efficient mobile phone coverage for public and commercial areas. Small cell networks helps telecom operators to lower the network congestion and helps companies to optimize operation cost. Small cell are radio access nodes which operates in the range of 10 to 2000 meters in unlicensed and licensed spectrum. Small cell network usually consist of femtocells, picocells, and microcells which are controlled and designed by the use of remote radio heads and centralized baseband units.Various communication service providers (CSPs) and telecom operators install small cell network consisting of picocells and micro cells which are closely integrated with base stations. This type of facilities helps CSP and telecoms to provide smooth and efficient voice and data services in various remote areas, without setting up heavy infrastructure, which overall help companies to reduce the infrastructural cost while improving revenues. The installation of small cell networks help companies to lower the bottle-necks, which eventually helps companies to provide the optimum quality of service in the spectrum available.Request sample copy @Growing demand and requirement of high capacity spectrums along with the growing mobile voice and data traffic are few of the factors that are expected to boost the small cell network in the coming years. As small cell network adoptions results in the lowering of capital and operational expenditure, CSPs and telecoms across the globe will embrace more of small cell networks in the coming years. The small cell network market is expected to register a high growth rate in coming years, providing ample opportunity to IT infrastructure equipment providers, equipment manufacturers and CSPs. Constant urge and requirements for providing improved personalized services along with better quality of services by CSPs and telecoms will provide high opportunity for the growth of small cell market in future.The global small cell market is segmented on the basis of small cell type into Femtocell, Picocell, Microcell and Metrocell. Further, the global small cell market is segmented on the basis of operating environment into Outdoor and indoor operating environment. The market is also bifurcated on the basis of services such as professional service, maintenance and support, network planning and design, integration and installation services. The global small cell market is further segmented on the basis of regions into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa.Inquire about discount on this report @The high growth in the numbers of users of smart phones, generating high data traffics and increasing M2M connection and devices will foster the growth of small cell network market. Asia Pacific dominates the global small cell network market and is the one of the fastest developing region for small cell market. Some of the chief players operating in the market are ZTE Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Cisco Systems, Inc., NEC Corporation, Samsung, Nokia Networks, Airvana, Inc., Alcatel-Lucent, IP.Access and Ericsson among others.Some of the key points covered in the report: Small Cell Networks Market Landscape Small Cell Networks Market Key Industry Dynamics Small Cell Networks Market Five Forces Analysis Small Cell Networks Market Competitive Landscape Small Cell Networks Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 Type Small Cell Networks Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 Operating Environment Small Cell Networks Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 Services Small Cell Networks Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 Geographical Analysis Small Cell Networks Market, Key Company ProfilesAbout The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comThe Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Biopower in India, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/784622 https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketresearchreports-biz http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Biopower in India, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz""Biopower in India, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles" is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the Biopower market in India.The report provides an in-depth analysis on global renewable power market and global Biopower market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in India (includes conventional Hydro, nuclear and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details renewable power market outlook in the country (includes Wind, small hydro, biopower and renewable) and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in India Biopower market. A detailed coverage of energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to Biopower market development is provided in the report. The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants.The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.Download Sample copy of this Report at :ScopeThe report analyses global renewable power market, global biopower (Biomass and Biogas) market, India power market, India renewable power market and India biopower market. The scope of the research includes -- A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.- An overview on global renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends, generation trends and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources. The information is covered for the historical period 2006-2015 (unless specified) and forecast period 2015-2030.- Renewable power sources include wind (both onshore and offshore), solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), small hydropower (SHP), biomass, biogas and geothermal.- Detailed overview of the global biopower market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by major biopower countries in 2015 and key owners information of various regions.- Power market scenario in India and provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) with forecasts up to 2030.- An overview on India renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends (2006-2030), generation trends(2006-2030) and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources in 2015.- Detailed overview of India biopower market with installed capacity and generation trends and major active and upcoming biopower projects.- Deal analysis of India biopower market. Deals are analyzed on the basis of mergers, acquisitions, partnership, asset finance, debt offering, equity offering, private equity (PE) and venture capitalists (VC).- Key policies and regulatory framework supporting the development of renewable power sources in general and biopower in particular.- Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Reasons to buy- The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Identify key growth and investment opportunities in India biopower market.- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for wind power market.- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential.- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events.- Identify key partners and business development avenues.- Understand and respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects.Follow us on LinkedIn:Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 61.2 List of Figures 82 Executive Summary 92.1 Government Support in Conjunction with Technology Development Driving Global Renewable Power Installations 92.2 Global Biopower Generation Expected to Reach 864 TWh by 2030 92.3 Thermal Power is the Dominant Source in the Power Mix 102.4 India to Rely on Renewable Sources for a Secure Energy Supply 113 Introduction 123.1 Carbon Emissions, Global, 2001-2015 123.2 Primary Energy Consumption, Global, 2001-2025 143.3 Biopower Market, Technology Analysis 163.3.1 Biopower Market, Feedstock Conversion Processes 173.3.2 Biopower Market, Primary Energy Conversion and Recovery Technology 183.4 Report Guidance 224 Renewable Power Market, Global, 2006-2030 234.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Overview 234.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 254.2.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity by Source Type, 2006-2030 254.2.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity Split by Source Type, 2015 and. 2030 274.2.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Comparison among Various Sources, Cumulative Installed Capacity, 2015 - 2030 294.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-2030 314.3.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation by Source Type, 2006-2030 314.3.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, Source Comparison Based on Power Generation, 2015-2030 334.4 Renewable Power Market, Global, LCOE Comparison of Power Generating Sources, 2014-2015 355 Biopower Market, Global, 2006-2030 385.1 Biopower Market, Global, Overview 385.2 Biomass Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 395.2.1 Biopower Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Region, 2015 and 2030 415.2.2 Biopower Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Country, 2015 and 2030 435.3 Biopower Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-2030 455.3.1 Biopower Market, Global, Generation Share by Region, 2015 and 2030 475.3.2 Biopower Market, Global, Generation Share by Country, 2015 and 2030 496 Power Market, India, 2006-2030 516.1 Power Market, India, Overview 516.2 Power Market, India, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 52MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Geothermal Power in Russian Federation, Market Outlook to 2030 - Capacity, Generation,LCOE, Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles 2016 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/743097 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Geothermal Power in Russian Federation, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz""Geothermal Power in Russian Federation, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the wind power market in Russian Federation.The report provides in depth analysis on global renewable power market and global geothermal power market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in Russian Federation (includes conventional thermal, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details renewable power market outlook in the country (includes wind, small hydro, biopower and solar PV) and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in Russian Federation geothermal power market. A detailed coverage of renewable energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to geothermal power is provided in the report. The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants.The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.Download Sample copy of this Report at :ScopeThe report analyses global renewable power market, global geothermal power market, Russian Federation power market, Russian Federation renewable power market and Russian Federation geothermal market. The scope of the research includes -- A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.- An overview on global renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends, generation trends and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources. The information is covered for the historical period 2006-2015 (unless specified) and forecast period 2015-2030.- Renewable power sources include geothermal, solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), small hydropower (SHP), biomass, biogas and wind.- Detailed overview of the global geothermal power market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by major geothermal power countries in 2015.- Power market scenario in Russian Federation and provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) with forecasts up to 2030.- An overview on Russian Federation renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends (2006-2030), generation trends(2006-2030) and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources in 2015.- Detailed overview of Russian Federation geothermal power market with installed capacity and generation trends and major active and upcoming geothermal projects.- Deal analysis of Russian Federation geothermal power market. Deals are analyzed on the basis of mergers, acquisitions, partnership, asset finance, debt offering, equity offering, private equity (PE) and venture capitalists (VC).- Key policies and regulatory framework supporting the development of renewable power sources in general and geothermal power in particular.- Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Reasons to buy- The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Identify key growth and investment opportunities in Russian Federation geothermal power market.- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for geothermal power market.- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential.- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events.- Identify key partners and business development avenues.- Understand and respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects.Table of Contents1 Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 51.2 List of Figures 62 Executive Summary 72.1 Government Support in Conjunction with Technology Development Driving Global Renewable Power Installations 72.2 Thermal Power is the Dominant Source in the Power Mix 72.3 Wind and Solar PV to Witness a Tremendous Growth 83 Introduction 93.1 Carbon Emissions, Global, 2001-2015 93.2 Primary Energy Consumption, Global, 2001-2025 113.3 Technology Definition 133.3.1 Conversion Technologies 133.4 Report Guidance 154 Renewable Power Market, Global, 2006-2030 164.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Overview 164.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 184.2.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity by Source Type, 2006-2030 184.2.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity Split by Source Type, 2015 and. 2030 204.2.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Comparison among Various Sources, Cumulative Installed Capacity, 2015 - 2030 224.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-2030 244.3.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation by Source Type, 2006-2030 244.3.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, Source Comparison Based on Power Generation, 2015-2030 264.4 Renewable Power Market, Global, LCOE Comparison of Power Generating Sources, 2014-2015 275 Geothermal Market, Global, 2006-2030 305.1 Geothermal Power Market, Global, Overview 305.2 Geothermal Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-2030 315.2.1 Geothermal Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Region, 2015 and 2030 335.2.2 Geothermal Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Country, 2015 and 2030 355.3 Geothermal Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-2030 375.3.1 Geothermal Market, Global, Generation Share by Region, 2015 and 2030 395.3.2 Geothermal Market, Global, Generation Share by Country, 2015 and 2030 416 Power Market, Russian Federation, 2006-2030 436.1 Power Market, Russian Federation, Overview 43MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz More than 70% Taiwanese Consumers Aware about Mobile Payment Services, finds Study Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=770627 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/mobile-payment-consumer-survey-in-taiwan-intention-analysis-of-demographic-groups-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ Albany, New York, September 20, 2016 Driven by the efforts made by international giants to capitalize on mobile payment, a considerably large number of firms in Taiwan are jumping into the bandwagon by providing corresponding services. In a report, titled Mobile Payment Consumer Survey in Taiwan: Intention Analysis of Demographic Groups, recently added to the repository of Market Research Hub, a comprehensive analysis of the mobile payment penetration in Taiwan is provided. It analyzes the various factors having impact on the market such as the latest technological advancements and the influence of government initiatives.Request for Free Sample Report:The penetration of the mobile payment industry in Taiwan was possible due to the high awareness about the same across all generations in the country. According to the report, awareness about mobile payment services exceeds 70% across all age groups in the country. As consumers demonstrate increasing preference towards mobile payment options, the future of the industry in Taiwan seems promising. The report has found that nearly 20% of millennial have used mobile payment gateways. Furthermore, over 55% of mobile payment users from millennial and baby boomers prefer using mobile payment as the primary payment method option in Taiwan. The report also states that over 60% of them prefer mobile payment over cash credits.The report mainly focuses on providing a holistic mobile payment consumer survey for the market in Taiwan. For the purpose, it thus elaborates the development of the Taiwanese mobile payment market in detail. To begin with, the report has mentioned the research methods adopted and the participants of the survey. Hence, for the purpose of the study, the mobile payment market in Taiwan has been segmented based on the preferred mode of payment by traction, mobile payment distribution by age, consumer preference in terms of security identification methods, and preferred payment methods.Besides the aforementioned parameters, the report also studies in great detail the various factors influencing consumers towards opting for mobile payment. To present a 360 degree overview, it proceeds with providing an in-depth user experience analysis.On the basis of meticulous survey, the report has found that consumers perception with regards to mobile payments is going strong in Taiwan. Millennial consumers are likely to be the major influencers of the countrys mobile payment market. According to the report, millennial display the highest NFC adoption rate of nearly 40%. Despite witnessing favorable growth opportunities, persisting security concerns have been posing threat to the mobile payment market in Taiwan.This mode of payment is considered highly vulnerable to cybercrimes since it exposes confidential consumer data to cloud. According to the report a considerable 70% of the non-users in Taiwan are concerned about security of their personal data. Moreover, about 30% of millennial users attach prime importance to security and personal financial management. Therefore, for vendors to enjoy sustainable growth making their mobile payment gateways more secure is imperative. Nevertheless, with the latest advancements, the technology is not considered utopian anymore. Furthermore, with core users constituting a major percentage of the Taiwan mobile payments market, players operating therein will have ample opportunities to capitalize on in the near future. As per the report, over 60% of baby boomers and millennial will continue using mobile payment as their primary payment method in the forthcoming years as well.Browse Full Report with TOC -To study the vendor landscape of the market, the report also profiles the leading companies such as Tenpay, Alipay, and others. Strategies adopted by these companies are analyzed, besides which the report also studies their strengths and weaknesses. It includes the threats and opportunities that these market will witness in the forthcoming years as well.About Market Research HUBMarket Research HUB (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free : 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel : +1-518-621-2074Email : sales@marketresearchhub.comWebsite : Global Biotech API Industry 2016 that is driven by industry demands illuminated by new report http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/770196 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ The report analyzes and presents an overview of " Global Biotech API Industry 2016 Market Research Report " worldwide.The Global Biotech API Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Biotech API industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Biotech API market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Biotech API industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Download Sample copy of this Report atTable Of Contents1 Industry Overview of Biotech API1.1 Definition and Specifications of Biotech API1.1.1 Definition of Biotech API1.1.2 Specifications of Biotech API1.2 Classification of Biotech API1.2.1 Antibiotics1.2.2 Vitamin1.2.3 Amino acid1.2.4 Hormone1.2.5 Nervus centralis1.2.6 Antipyretic analgesic1.2.7 Others1.3 Applications of Biotech API1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Biotech API1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Biotech API1.5.1 Industry Overview of Biotech API1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Biotech API1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Biotech API1.7 Industry News Analysis of Biotech API2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Biotech API2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Biotech API2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Biotech API2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Biotech API2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Biotech API2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Biotech API2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Biotech API3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Biotech API3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Biotech API Major Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Biotech API Major Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Biotech API Major Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Biotech API Major Manufacturers in 20154 Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Biotech API by Regions, Types and Manufacturers4.1 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Biotech API by Regions 2011-20164.2 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Biotech API 2011-20164.3 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Biotech API by Types 2011-20164.4 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Biotech API by Manufacturers 2011-20165 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Biotech API by Regions, Types and Manufacturers5.1 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Biotech API by Regions 2011-20165.2 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Biotech API by Types 2011-20165.3 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Biotech API by Manufacturers 2011-20166 Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis of Biotech API by Regions, Types and Applications6.1 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Biotech API by Regions 2011-20166.2 Global and Major Regions Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Growth Rate of Biotech API 2011-20166.3 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Biotech API by Types 2011-20166.4 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Biotech API by Applications 2011-20166.5 Sale Price of Biotech API by Regions 2011-20166.6 Sale Price of Biotech API by Types 2011-2016MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Planned Oil Storage Industry Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts Outlook to 2020 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/716924 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Planned Oil Storage Industry Outlook to 2020 - Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Planned Terminals provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz""Global Planned Oil Storage Industry Outlook to 2020 - Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Planned Terminals" is a comprehensive report providing information on planned storage terminals that store crude oil, petroleum products or, chemicals worldwide. Typical information on terminals includes terminal name, operator name, storage capacity and commodity stored for all planned terminals. The report also provides capital expenditure outlook at global as well as regional level by year and by key countries for oil storage terminals till 2020. The report also provides key country comparisons within a region and regional comparisons, based on contribution to total storage capacity (regional / global). Planned (new build) terminals capacity addition and existing capacity expansions, as announced by the companies have also been included. Further the report also offers recent developments as well as latest tenders and contracts at regional level.Download Sample copy of this Report at :Scope- Updated information relating to all planned oil storage terminals- Provides data from 2016 to 2020- Capacity information of all oil storage terminals- Provides operator information for all planned oil storage terminals- Latest developments and contracts related to oil storage terminalsReasons to buy- Obtain the most up to date information available on planned oil storage terminals globally- Identify growth segments and opportunities in the industry- Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong forecast capacity data- Assess your competitors oil storage terminalsTable of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 81.2 List of Figures 142 Introduction 162.1 What Is This Report About? 162.2 Market Definition 163 Global Planned Oil Storage Industry 173.1 Global Planned Oil Storage Industry, Snapshot 173.2 Global Planned Oil Storage Industry, Planned Oil Storage Terminals 223.3 Global Planned Oil Storage Industry, Regional Comparisons 263.4 Global Planned Oil Storage Industry, Country Comparisons 284 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry 314.1 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Snapshot 314.2 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Planned Terminals, Capacity Expansions and Capex by Country 354.3 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Country Comparisons 394.4 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, South Africa 404.5 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Equatorial Guinea 414.6 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Nigeria 414.7 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Egypt 414.8 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Ghana 424.9 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Angola 424.10 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Liberia 434.11 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Mozambique 434.12 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Morocco 434.13 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Cote d'Ivoire 444.14 Africa Planned Oil Storage Industry, Recent Developments, Tenders and Contracts 445 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry 585.1 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Snapshot 585.2 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Planned Terminals, Capacity Expansions and Capex by Country 635.3 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Country Comparisons 685.4 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, China 705.5 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Malaysia 715.6 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Indonesia 715.7 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, South Korea 725.8 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, India 725.9 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Bangladesh 735.10 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Vietnam 735.11 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Singapore 745.12 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Myanmar 745.13 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Kazakhstan 745.14 Asia Planned Oil Storage Industry, Pakistan 75MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Market For Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine Consumption 2016 Market Research Report http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/770587 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine Consumption 2016 Market Research Report provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The Global Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine Consumption 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine market.First, the report provides a basic overview of the Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.Secondly, the report states the global Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine market size (volume and value), and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies are also discussed.Third, the Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine market analysis is provided for major regions including USA, Europe, China and Japan, and other regions can be added. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Whats more, the Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Get the Free Sample copy of this Report @Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of ContentsTable of Contents1 Industry Overview of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.1 Definition and Specifications of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.1.1 Definition of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.1.2 Specifications of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.2 Classification of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.3 Applications of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.5.1 Industry Overview of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine1.7 Industry News Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine3 3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales and Sale Price Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine3.1 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine 2011-20163.2 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Regions 2011-20163.3 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Types 2011-20163.4 Global Market Size (Volume and Value) of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Applications 2011-20163.5 Global Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Companies 2011-20163.6 Global Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Regions 2011-20163.7 Global Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Types 2011-20163.8 Global Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Applications 2011-20163.9 Global Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Companies 2011-20164 USA Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales, Sale Price and End Users Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine4.1 USA Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine 2011-20164.2 USA Market Size (Volume and Value) of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Types 2011-20164.3 USA Market Size (Volume and Value) of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Applications 2011-20164.4 USA Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Companies 2011-20164.5 USA Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Types 2011-20164.6 USA Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Applications 2011-20164.7 USA Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Companies 2011-20164.8 USA Regional Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine 2011-20164.9 USA End Users with Contact Information and Consumption Volume of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Applications5 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value), Sales, Sale Price and End Users Analysis of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine5.1 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value) and Growth Rate of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine 2011-20165.2 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value) of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Types 2011-20165.3 Europe Market Size (Volume and Value) of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Applications 2011-20165.4 Europe Sales Volume and Sales Revenue of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Companies 2011-20165.5 Europe Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Types 2011-20165.6 Europe Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Applications 2011-20165.7 Europe Sale Price of Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine by Companies 2011-2016MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Gigamon to Showcase its Service Provider Infrastructure Solutions at TWME 2016 Andy Huckridge, Director of Service Provider Solutions, Gigamon Dubai, UAE, September 20, 2016: Gigamon, the leader in traffic visibility solutions, today announced its participation in Telecoms World Middle East 2016 (TWME), being held from September 27-28, 2016 in Dubai. Gigamon will use the TWME to focus on a number of solutions and technologies that enable customers to streamline the introduction of new technologies to their networks and reduce operational and performance impact, especially in the telco industry. Andy Huckridge, Director of Service Provider Solutions at Gigamon will participate in a roundtable on Using Subscriber Aware Technology to offer a Differentiated Service on September 27, 2016 at 12.20 PM.Products that Gigamon will showcase include GigaSMART applications for traffic intelligence, which enhances tool throughput performance to help save on tool costs which in turn get entrenched with capex savings for the carrier. Today it is critical for carriers to provide excellent service and drive revenue growth by focusing on their best customers to affording them a competitive advantage Gigamons Subscriber Aware Visibility is unique in allowing carriers to do this.The strategic relevance of network visibility continues to increase. The market stimuli of today are clear: security, mobility and the cloud. With network visibility being recognized as a strategic imperative for enterprises, service providers and federal agencies, Gigamon provides an intelligent Visibility Fabric architecture, which empowers infrastructure architects, managers and operators with pervasive traffic intelligence and manageability of their infrastructure, helping to lower operational cost, and leading to reduced risk and far fewer outages, said Andy Huckridge, Director of Service Provider Solutions, Gigamon. Gigamon has redefined effective security through the power of pervasive visibility and, by extension, empowered our partners to lead the market in delivering holistic, multi-tiered defenses that scale better and detect threats faster. Telecoms World Middle East 2016 is an ideal platform for us to showcase our service provider infrastructure solutions and reiterate our position as a top Traffic Visibility Fabric vendor in the industry, concluded Huckridge.Huckridges roundtable presentation Using Subscriber Aware Technology to Offer a Differentiated Service will delve into how service providers are seeking a more subscriber-centric and cost-efficient approach to instrument their infrastructure as they look to deploy next-generation architectures in preparation for the demands of tomorrow. Expanding on this, Huckridge said, As the scale of service provider infrastructure and the number of subscribers continues to grow, we believe a new approach is essential to enable the instrumentation of some of the largest networks in the world. We deliver that new approach, focusing visibility on the subscriber rather than on the network. And in doing so, we allow mobile service providers to move beyond the overpriced and underperforming tool proliferation approach of the past. At the roundtable we will look at the specifics of this solution and how to enable new Subscriber Aware based business models.In addition to showcasing its innovative and high-performance visibility solutions, Gigamon also plans to demonstrate how a unified tool rail enabled by Gigamon Visibility Fabric could provide operators with the capabilities to understand both the traffic and technology interdependencies and maintain constant visibility to troubleshoot any issues.Gigamon will be exhibiting at Stand 17 at Telecoms World Middle East 2016. Senior global executives and technology experts from the company will be available at the event to meet with customers and partners and share their global success stories with them.Gigamon provides an intelligent Visibility Fabric architecture for enterprises, data centers and service providers around the globe. Gigamons technology empowers infrastructure architects, managers and operators with pervasive and dynamic intelligent visibility of traffic across both physical and virtual environments without affecting the performance or stability of the production network. Through patented technologies and centralized management, the Gigamon GigaVUE portfolio of high availability and high-density products intelligently delivers the appropriate network traffic to management, analysis, compliance and security tools. Gigamon has been designing and building traffic visibility products since 2004 and its solutions are deployed globally across vertical markets including over half of the Fortune 100 and many government and federal agencies.Conrad Offices, E9, 19th Floor, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai Southeast Asia Propylene Market: propylene glycol production is highly scoped through 2020 Southeast Asia Propylene Market http://industryarc.com/Report/15016/southeast-asia-propylene-market.html http://industryarc.com/pdfdownload.php?id=15016 http://www.linkedin.com/company/industryarc http://goo.gl/Ga7fq7 Propylene or propene is one of the highly used and demanded organic compounds in the industry across the globe. This organic product is used to produce different types of chemicals that are used in various end user industries. There is high scope for the Southeast Asia Propylene Market due to rise in production quantity through 2020.Scope of the Southeast Asia Propylene Market:According to the IndustryARC research analysis studies on the Southeast Asia Propylene Market, the 80% of all propylene in the Southeast Asia market is used to make polypropylene. The crude oil prices highly influence the production and supply content of propylene in this region through 2020. propylene glycol in food, propylene glycol in cosmetics and propylene glycol antifreeze are the major applications of the polypropylene products in the industries in the upcoming term.Singapore is the major producer in the Southeast Asia Propylene Market with high quantity of propylene production for various end user applications. The rise in crude oil production is expected to positively influence the growth of processing of propylene in the region through 2020.Propylene is the raw product for various end user products in the SoutheastAsia Propylene Market. Propylene is used to manufacture containers, fabrics, caps, films, packaging, lids and others. Malaysia and Thailand are expected to have high production and supply of the propylene for industrial use in the Southeast Asia as well as the global market through 2020.More Info @Segmentation and Key Players of the Southeast Asia Propylene Market:The Southeast Asia Propylene Market is segmented into various categories in the IndustryARC marketing research report by geography as follows:By geography: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and MyanmarThe Southeast Asia Propylene Market report by IndustryARC marketing firm also includes overview of the major companies in Southeast Asia region such as: HMC Polymers Co Ltd. IRPC Public Company Limited Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (Private) Limited Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical TbkThe Southeast Asia Propylene Market is a demanding market with high uses of propylene or propene for various industrial applications as well as chemical feedstock to produce chemicals that are high in use for various applications across the globe. This market is expected to witness high growth owing to the increasing investment for monopropylene glycol, ethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol production for industrial use through 2020.Avail sample brochure @About IndustryARC:IndustryARC is a Research and consulting firm that publishes more than 500 Reports Annually in various industries, such as Agriculture, Automotive, Automation & Instrumentation, Chemicals and Materials, Energy and Power, Electronics, Food & Beverages, Information Technology, Life sciences & Healthcare.IndustryARC primarily focuses on Cutting Edge Technologies and Newer Applications of the Market. Our Custom Research Services are designed to provide insights on the constant flux in the global demand-supply gap of markets. Our strong analyst team enables us to meet the client research needs at a very quick speed with a variety of options for your business.We look forward to support the client to be able to better address customer needs; stay ahead in the market; become the top competitor and get real-time recommendations on business strategies and deals. Contact us to find out how we can help you today.Media ContactContact Person: Sanjay MatthewsEmail: sales@industryarc.comPhone: 1-614-588-8538 (Ext: 101)Company Name: IndustryARCConnect with us on LinkedIn @Get More Insights on Reports @Plot No. S-1, Serial No. 1043 & 1048,Phase -1 & 2, Opp. BSNL Office,KPHB, Kukatpally,Hyderabad, Telangana 500072 Global Mobile Phone Display Market 2016 Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Supply Revenue and Forecast 2021 Mobile Phone Display http://bit.ly/2cEVVlg http://bit.ly/2czEMUU Global Mobile Phone Display Market 2016 Industry Size Share Growth Forecast Research and DevelopmentThe Global Mobile Phone Display Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Global Mobile Phone Display market. Details such as the size, key players, segmentation, SWOT analysis, most influential trends, and business environment of the market are mentioned in this report. Furthermore, this report features tables and figures that render a clear perspective of the Mobile Phone Display market. The report features an up-to-date data on key companies product details, revenue figures, and sales. Furthermore, the details also gives the Global Mobile Phone Display market revenue and its forecasts. The business model strategies of the key firms in the Mobile Phone Display market are also included. Key strengths, weaknesses, and threats shaping the leading players in the market have also been included in this research report.The report gives a detailed overview of the key segments in the market. The fastest and slowest growing market segments are covered in this report. The key emerging opportunities of the fastest growing Global Mobile Phone Display market segments are also covered in this report. Each segments and sub-segments market size, share, and forecast are available in this report. Additionally, the region-wise segmentation and the trends driving the leading geographical region and the emerging region has been presented in this report.Get Complete Report with TOC :The study on the Global Mobile Phone Display market also features a history of the tactical mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships activity in the market. Valuable recommendations by senior analysts about investing strategically in research and development can help new entrants or established players penetrate the emerging sectors in the Mobile Phone Display market. Investors will gain a clear insight on the dominant players in this industry and their future forecasts. Furthermore, readers will get a clear perspective on the high demand and the unmet needs of consumers that will enhance the growth of this market.Table of ContentChapter One Mobile Phone Display Industry Overview1.1 Mobile Phone Display Definition1.1.1 Mobile Phone Display Definition1.1.2 Product Specifications1.2 Mobile Phone Display Classification1.3 Mobile Phone Display Application Field1.4 Mobile Phone Display Industry Chain Structure1.5 Mobile Phone Display Industry Regional Overview1.6 Mobile Phone Display Industry Policy Analysis1.7 Mobile Phone Display Industry Related Companies Contact InformationGet Sample Copy of Report @About Us:MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803 Opportunities for automotive MEMS sensors to reach $3.6 billion by 2021 Insights that Matter www.lucintel.com According to a new market report published by Lucintel, the future of the global automotive MEMS sensor market looks good with opportunities in the pressure sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, and others. The global automotive MEMS market is expected to reach an estimated $3.6 billion by 2021 and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2016 to 2021. The major drivers of growth for this market are continuous increases in the electronic content per vehicles and various governmental regulations for fuel emissions and safety in vehicles and increasing automotive production.In this market, safety and chassis, powertrain, infotainment, and body and convenience are some of the major segments of automotive MEMS sensors. On the basis of its comprehensive research, Lucintel forecasts that the body and convenience and infotainment segments are expected to show above average growth during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021 due to surging income level and rising preference for high-end vehicles.Within the global automotive MEMS sensor market, the safety and chassis segment is expected to remain as the largest market due to continuous implementation of vehicle safety regulations and increased awareness about safety among customers, which would spur growth for this segment over the forecast period.By product type, the largest segment is expected to continue to be the pressure sensor segment. Accelerometer and gyroscope are expected to show above average growth during the forecast period due to increasing demand for high-end options in vehicles.North America is expected to remain the largest market due to high growth in mid-size, luxury and light vehicle production, continuous implementation of regulations on fuel emission and safety.Europe and APAC are expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period because of strict government regulations on fuel emission and safety of vehicles, high growth in vehicle production and sales combined with continuous demand for safety and comfort features.For business expansions, the report suggests innovations and new product development, to produce high-performance and energy efficient sensors. The report further suggests the development of closer partnerships with customers, and the development of low-cost solutions.Emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry, include development of MEMS sensor on 300mm wafers and development of MEMS triaxial acceleration sensor. Robert Bosch GmbH, Sensata technologies, Inc., Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Analog Devices, Inc., and Infineon Technologies AG are the major MEMS sensor suppliers in the global automotive MEMS sensor market. Some companies are also pursuing mergers and acquisitions as strategic initiatives for driving growth.Lucintel, a leading global strategic consulting and market research firm, has analyzed growth opportunities in the global automotive MEMS sensor market by product type, application type, and region, and has come up with a comprehensive research report, Growth Opportunities in the Global Automotive MEMS Sensor Market 2016-2021: Trends, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis. The Lucintel report serves as a springboard for growth strategy, as it provides a comprehensive data and analysis on trends, key drivers, and directions. The study includes a forecast for the growth opportunities in the global automotive MEMS sensor market by product type, application type, and region, as follows:Product type ($ Million from 2010 to 2021): Pressure Sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope OthersApplication type ($ Million from 2010 to 2021): Safety and Chassis Powertrain Infotainment Body and ConvenienceRegion ($ Million from 2010 to 2021): North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the WorldThis 162-page research report will enable you to make confident business decisions in this globally competitive marketplace. For a detailed table of contents, contact Lucintel at +1-972-636-5056 or helpdesk@lucintel.com. Lucintel offerings include Mass Transportation, Transportation Market Report, Capital Investment Analysis, Strategic Growth Consulting and Due Diligence.This report addresses the following key questions:Q. 1. What are some of the most promising, high-growth opportunities for the automotive MEMS sensor market by product type (Pressure Sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, and Others), application (Safety and Chassis, Powertrain, Infotainment, and Body and Convenience), and region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World)?Q. 2. Which segments will grow at a faster pace and why?Q. 3. Which region will grow at a faster pace and why?Q.4. What are the key factors affecting market dynamics? What are the drivers and challenges of the market?Q.5. What are the business risks and threats of this market?Q.6. What are the emerging trends in this market and reasons behind them?Q.7. What are some changing customer demands in the market?Q.8. What are the most notable new developments in the market? Which companies are leading these developments?Q.9. Who are the major players in this market? What strategic initiatives have been taken by key players for business growth?Q.10. What is the competitive rivalry and the threat of substitution in this market?Q.11. What have been the M&A activities in the last 5 years in this market?Lucintel, the premier global management consulting and market research firm, creates winning strategies for growth. It offers market assessments, competitive analysis, opportunity analysis, growth consulting, M&A, and due diligence services to executives and key decision-makers in a variety of industries. For further information, visitLucintel222 Las Colinas Blvd West, Suite 1650, Irving, TX 75039, USAPh: +1-972-636-5056 Fax: +1-877-883-5140marketing@lucintel.com Medical Marijuana Packaging Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends, Forecast 2024 Medical marijuana can be defined as the use of cannabis for treatment of certain ailments. It can be utilized for medicinal uses; however, the complete safety and efficacy profiling is till unavailable. Medical marijuana is available in various forms such as flower or concentrates, which is extracted in the form of oils, extracts or edibles. Packaging medical marijuana is a growing business and many companies offer holistic solutions to medical marijuana manufacturers. Get Free Sample Report Copy : http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14459 The key packaging modes available in the market include, Jars Bags Bottles Vials Wrappers Concentrate containers Tubes Custom packaging Bubblers Medical marijuana packaging market is highly reliant on government regulations, as extraction, sale, and distribution not only varies from country to country, but also across states. Due to ever-evolving regulations on marijuana, the market is prone to fluctuations. The packaging manufacturing companies needs to make sure that the packaging is child-proof, opaque, unattractive, re-sealable, properly labelled, tamper-proof and in accordance with the state laws. The market can be segmented on the basis of product type into, Flower packaging Concentrate packaging Edible packaging The global cannabis packaging industry has undergone significant growth and various companies have recently launched recyclable packaging such as metal cans, compostable cellophane bags, and compostable pouches. Product marketing through packaging is a focus area for packaging companies, but meeting local and federal laws is critical for success. The medical marijuana packaging market follows different strategies; for example, companies which are based in USA have an advantage to give custom based products in short time, whereas companies based in Asia Pacific can deliver products at cut-rate prices. Browse the Full Report at: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/medical-marijuana-packaging-market.html Medical Marijuana Packaging Market: Region-wise Analysis Region-wise, the medical marijuana market can be segmented into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East-Africa (MEA). North America is a leading market for medical marijuana, whereas Europe and Asia-Pacific are expected to witness robust growth. The Asia Pacific medical marijuana packaging market is anticipated to witness steady growth during the forecast period, owing to growing use of marijuana in treating various mental illnesses. Sensing the opportunity that this rapidly growing market offers, several packaging companies have made a foray into the medical marijuana packaging landscape. Some of the key companies operating in the marijuana packaging market are Cannaline, Inkable Label, Second Nature Agency, The Green Cross collective, Elevate Packaging, Blazin Bottles, Honest Marijuana Co., Elevate Packaging, Great Pacific Packaging, Inc., Brandsy Cannabis Creative, Dixie Elixirs & Edibles, McKernan Packaging Clearing House, Shatter Labels, Shenzhen (HK) Alfinity Technology Co., Ltd., Kush Bottles, CannaPack, High Supply, Marijuana Packaging, and Collective Supply. Currently, a significant percentage of small-scale industries are actively involved in medical marijuana packaging market, considering the overall state of the market and the expected growth. About TMR TMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Contact TMR 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com This release was published on openPR. Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release. Increasing Applications of Artificial Intelligence are Behind Exponential Growth of Artificial Intelligence Market Artificial Intelligence Market http://www.mrrse.com/artificial-intelligence-market http://bit.ly/2d4pRmi Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has announced that its repository now features a new report, titled Artificial Intelligence Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024. The report, by Transparency Market Research, predicts that the global artificial intelligence market was valued at US$126.24 bn in 2015 and is predicted to reach US$3,061.35 bn by 2024. The market will expand at an extraordinary 36.10% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.Browse Full Global Artificial Intelligence Market Report with TOC :As per the report, the market for artificial intelligence is experiencing an exponential growth owing to companies utilizing cutting-edge technologies for effective positioning of their solutions or services. In addition, the increasing applications of artificial intelligence are also boosting the growth of the market. On the other hand, as per the report, the high initial investment, low access to funding, and the absence of skilled workers are amongst the chief factors that may inhibit the growth of the market in forthcoming years.Moving further, in terms of product type, the report segments the market for artificial intelligence into digital assistance systems, artificial neural networks, expert systems, automated robotic systems, and embedded systems. Amongst these, in 2015, the segment of expert systems emerged as the top revenue-generating segment. This is owing to the rising usage of artificial intelligence in numerous sectors such as process control, diagnosis, design, scheduling, planning, and monitoring.Request A Sample Report :In the next section, on the basis of application, the market is segmented into smart robots, deep learning, digital personal assistants, image recognition, language processing, querying methods, speech recognition, video analysis, gesture control, cyber security, and context aware processing. Amongst these, the segment of image recognition is poised to be the most rapidly developing segment of the market in the forecast horizon.On the basis of geography, the report segments the market into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Amongst these, in 2015, the North America artificial intelligence market dominated the market and held a share of about 38% in the market on the basis of revenue. This region is predicted to maintain its superiority all through the forecast horizon. This is owing to the robust technological base and the increasing funding by governments in this region. On the other hand, the MEA region is also predicted to rise at a remarkable 38.2% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.As per the report, the prime players dominant in the market are QlikTech International AB, IBM Corporation, Google, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Next IT Corporation, eGain Corporation, and Nuance Communications, among others.About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.com Rising Drilling Activities to Drive Demand for Global Well Casing, reports TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11951 Transparency Market Research (TMR) presents insights into the potential of the global well casing market in its new market research report. The research report, titled Well Casing Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024, offers an insightful overview of the drivers and barriers impacting the growth of the overall market. The report also discusses the region wise outlook of the global well cell casing market, along with the other key segments. As per analysts, the rising demand for oil and gas worldwide is the key factor propelling the market.Download Free Research Report Brochure :The rising demand for energy, technological advancements, and increase in drilling activities globally are projected to boost the demand for well casing technology in the forecast period. According to analysts, the growth in the global well casing market is also due to the implementation of several standards for oil and gas casing imposed by regulatory authorities, including the American Petroleum Institute, encouraging the growth of the global well casing market. These standards specify the composition, tensile strength, length, and thickness of casing for a given well and are broadly used for the selection of oil and gas casing.The global well casing market faces challenges such as a decline in oil prices and the limited access to oil and gas reserves. The shortage of skilled and experienced professionals and rising environmental concerns are also expected to dampen the growth of the well casing market worldwide. However, the new shale discoveries in Africa and other regions are projected to act as opportunities and help the market to grow.From the geographical perspective, the global well casing market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. At present, North America holds a substantial number of shale reserves, making it a leading segment in the global market. The increasing number of exploration activities in North America is projected to accelerate the growth of the market in the coming years. Asia Pacific is also expected to offer lucrative opportunities in the market, thanks to the significant rise in mining and drilling activities in Australia and China.The global well casing market is fragmented in nature with the presence of several companies. TMR analysts have observed that the leading companies in the market are opting for joint ventures and partnerships, to establish their presence around the world. Moreover, leading players are shifting their focus on developing nations to avail the benefits of swift industrialization, which hold substantial scope for growth in the coming years. Key players profiled in the global well casing market are: Vallourec S.A., Centek Group, Antelope Oil Tool and Manufacturing Company, and Weatherford International Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207 Global Personal Mobility Devices Market Boosted by Increasing Number of Physically Challenged People Personal Mobility Devices Market http://www.mrrse.com/personal-mobility-devices-market http://bit.ly/2cYwM1s Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has added a new report, titled Personal Mobility Devices Market: (Medical Mobility Aids & Ambulatory Devices: Wheelchairs {Manual and Electric (Standard, Rehab, Bariatric)}, Scooters, Canes & Crutches, Walkers, Stair Lifts, and Others; Medical Furniture & Bathroom Safety Products: Patient Lifts, Medical Beds, Bars & Railings, Commodes & Shower Chairs, and Others) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023, to its online repository. As per the report, the global personal mobility devices market is expected to expand at a rapid pace during the period between 2015 and 2023 owing to the rising aging populationBrowse Full Global Personal Mobility Devices Market Report with TOC :Personal mobility devices comprise specific medical devices that assist in the improvement of the quality of life of the physically challenged and/or to improve mobility in the elderly. Mobility devices such as mobility scooters, wheelchairs, canes, and walkers are among the most used devices across the globe. Promoting personal mobility devices is expected to minimize public health expenditure. As per research by the WHO on global aging and adult health, the aging population in developing nations is predicted to witness a 250% rise, which is higher than the estimated 71% rise in developed countries. The global personal mobility devices market is expected to be propelled by this rising aging population in the years to come.The global personal mobility devices market is segmented on the basis of geography and device type. By device type, the global personal mobility devices market is classified into the medical furniture and bathroom safety products segment and the medical mobility aids and ambulatory devices segment. The medical mobility aids and ambulatory devices segment is sub-segmented into wheelchairs, canes and crutches, scooters, stair lifts, walkers, and others. The medical furniture and bathroom safety products segment is further sub-segmented into patient lifts, bars and railings, medical beds, commodes and shower chairs, and others. Currently, the global personal mobility devices market is dominated by the medical beds segment.Request A Research Report Sample :Some of the leading players operating in the global personal mobility devices market are Amigo Mobility International, Inc., ArjoHuntleigh, Graham-Field Health Products Incorporated, Invacare Corporation, Patterson Medical Holdings, Inc., Pride Mobility Products Corporation, Sunrise Medical LLC, Argo Medical, Drive Medical, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Otto Bock Healthcare GmbH, Permobil AB, and Stryker Corporation. By geography, the global personal mobility devices market is divided into North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, and Asia Pacific. North America accounted for a share of 41.4% in the global personal mobility devices market.In the years to come, the number of hospitals offering personal care services to the aging people is expected to increase. This is predicted to propel the global personal mobility devices market.About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. Headquartered in New York, U.S., MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.com Off-Highway Vehicle Telematics Market Growth and Forecast 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-40 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-40 www.futuremarketinsights.com Telematics is the technology of sending, receiving and storing information through the use of telecommunication devices.Off-highway vehicle (OHV) telematics is the integrated use of information and communication with telecommunications technology. The technology of sending, receiving, and storing information pertaining to off-highway vehicles through telecommunication devices is generally termed as off-highway telematics.OHV telematics business has been witnessing rapid change over the past few years with advancements in the internet, cell phones, and GPS (global positioning system) receivers. GPS receivers and GSM devices, which communicate with the user and web-based software, are installed in each OHV. Overall awareness of OHV telematics has considerably increased in recent years as the technology is now perceived as a convincing solution for improving total vehicular cost of ownership.Utilisation of off-highway vehicle telematics acts as a readymade solution for enhancing the total cost of ownership, particularly in sectors such as mining, construction, industrial, and agricultural equipment.The global OHV telematics market is projected to double in size from 2014 to 2020 due to expected growth in demand from end user industries such as mining, construction and industrial. Stringent government normsconcerning vehicle safety and navigation are further expected to drive growth in the market. The global off-highway telematics market is expected to grow at an above average rate when compared with global automotive production.North America and Europe are the largest contributors in the global OHV telematics market. Asia Pacific is expected to register the highest CAGR, due to high penetration rate of wireless technologies, increasing awareness, and changing government norms.Request Free Report Sample@Globally, among all the above-mentioned segments,the mining industry is expected to provide the maximum potential in the near future as it creates space for technological innovation and advancement. Hence, the demand for OHV telematics solutionswill increase at a promising rate over the next 6 years. Another attractive segment for OHV telematics is agricultural equipment due to implementation of latest technological solutions for improving field productivity, increasing awareness and rising adoption rates in this segment. Reduction in the cost of wireless data and related hardware have also beendriving growth in the market.Consumers view telematics as one of the best ways to reduce vehicle operating cost. The growth in volume of telematics integrated vehicles is expected to grow after 2015. This growth will be fuelled by the entry of rental equipment provider companies into the telematics market.The key players in the OHV telematics market includeCaterpillar Inc., Daimler AG, General Motors Co., Omnitracs, MiX Telematics, Telogis, Verizon, Masternaut, AB Volvo, and TomTom. Participants in this market follow the strategy of acquisitions andmergers to enhance their market share and customer base. Moreover, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)dealing in heavy equipment are going into strategic partnerships with aftermarket vendors to develop advanced solutions. For example, Telogis signed an agreement with Manitowoc Company Inc.in 2013to develop OHV solutions. OEMs do not have sufficient database infrastructure and face difficulty in providing solutions for mixed fleets. Partnering with aftermarket vendors helps OEMs to overcome this shortcoming. OEMs such as Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo, and John Deere work with aftermarket suppliers such as Navman Wireless and industry bodies to develop standard APIs for taking care of data such as vehicle identification, location, and hours of use. Rental fleet companies are now working towards standardisation of more advanced data feeds such as geo-fencing, immobilisation, safety devices and alerts.Caterpillar and Trimble have developed a brand agnostic fleet management and site productivity solutions platform designed for contractors with mixed equipment fleets. The two companies are working on telematics via a joint venture company.Visit For TOC@The Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) and Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) have begun to standardise OHV telematics and provide necessary training to the potential OHV telematics customers. The challenge to install telematics for mixed fleets is expected to be addressed as original equipment manufacturers have started partnering with thirdparty vendors.There have been many initiatives from AEMP and AEM to standardise and educate customers on the benefits of telematics yet the government regulations regarding safety and security are lacking in their intensity. Growth in the global market is further inhibited because heavy equipment fleet owners prefer basic telematics service due to the high cost associated with high end telematics.Currently, OHV telematics is in its nascent stage due to limited awareness of the technology. However, globally, governments have been promoting the use of telematics in OHVs, and consumers have begun slowly to understand the importance of having telematics in their OHVs. Due to this, the global OHV telematics market is expected to expand. Mining, construction and industrial sector segments are expected to play an important role in the overall development of this industry.About Us:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Research Details Developments in Global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Industry 2016 Market Report http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=812319&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-tetraethyl-orthosilicate-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/category/chemicals-market-reports-57.htm In the current competitive era, it is imperative to keep a track of the latest policies adopted by key companies operating in any market. This can help vendors, stakeholders, and clients form better decisions about the market. The study on the global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate market provides key insights into the competitive background of the global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate market. The research report covers a comprehensive analysis of all key organizations and new entrants operating in the global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate market. New strategies adopted by key companies are briefly evaluated by the analysts in the report.The research lays its entire focus on the key local and international companies functioning in the global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate market. Every company is profiled with details such as production capacity, key areas of operation, new product developments, and revenue. Offerings of key companies are examined in the global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate market report. By using SWOT analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of key companies are measured in the report. Moreover, analysts also study the status of research and development activities of all companies operating in the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Along with the information about the key companies and their developments, the research report also measures the cost, price, revenue, and gross of the companies. Statistics related to key firms provided in the report help vendors and stakeholders understand their dominance. The report provides data about the feasibility of new projects in the global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate market. The report highlights key factors that can assist the new entrants in increasing their contribution.Details regarding new project investment are also given in the report by the analysts. The report is an ideal blueprint of the global Tetraethyl Orthosilicate market and provides the current scenario and future prospects of the market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsChapter One Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Industry Overview1.1 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Definition1.1.1 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Product Pictures & Product Specifications1.2 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Classification & ApplicationChapter Two Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Raw Material & Equipments Supplier and Price Analysis2.2 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Labor & Other Cost Analysis2.3 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.4 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Manufacturing Process AnalysisChapter Three Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Manufacturing Plants Distribution3.3 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Tetraethyl Orthosilicate R&D Status and Technology Sources3.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Production by Regions, Technology and Applications4.1 2010-2016 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Production by Regions(such as US, EU, China and Japan etc)4.2 2010-2016 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Production by Product Type & Application4.3 2010-2016 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Price by key Manufacturers4.4 2010-2016 US & China Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.5 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.6 2010-2016 US and China Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Supply Import Export Consumption4.7 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Supply Import Export ConsumptionChapter Five Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions5.1 2010-2016 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Sales by Regions (such as US, EU, China & Japan etc)5.2 2010-2016 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Sales Revenue by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.3 2010-2016 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Sales Price by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.4 2010-2016 Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Demand by ApplicationsRead More @About Us :QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Biometrics Services Market size and forecast, 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-57 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-57 www.futuremarketinsights.com Cyber security is related to information technology security, which focuses on protecting networks, computers programs and data from unauthorized access. Defense and military, government, financial institutions and corporation etc. collect and store confidential information on computers and transfer that data across networks. In order to protect this data and information from cyber attack cyber security becomes necessary. Increasing threats such computer intrusion (hacking), virus deployment and denial of services are increasing the demand for cyber security solutions and services. The governments of various countries such as U.S., Canada, Germany and China etc. are increasing their investment in cyber security due to expansion in computer interconnectivity and dramatic in computing power of government network.The cyber security market report contains the global scenario of this market discussing detailed overview and market figures. The research report analyses the industry growth rate, industry capacity, and industry structure. The report analyses the historical data and forecasts the cyber security market size along with key factors driving and restraining the market growth.Request Free Report Sample@The Cyber security market can be segmented into four major types into security, services, solutions and applications. The Cyber security market is segmented on the basis of types of security which includes six major categories namely network security, application security, endpoint security, cloud security, content security and wireless security. The services segment includes consulting services, risk assessment services, designing and integration services and training services. On the basis of solutions, ten major categories namely risk and compliance management, identity and access management, data loss protection, firewall, IDS, Unified threat management, encryption, antimalware and antivirus, web filtering and others (security and vulnerability management, DDOS mitigation and disaster recovery). The cyber security market can be segmented on the basis of applications into six categories namely defense and military, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), public utilities, healthcare, telecom and IT and others (retail and manufacturing). The market can also be segmented geographically into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (Latin America, Middle East and Africa).The cyber security market across the globe is a multi billion market and is expected to show a substantial growth in CAGR, from 2013 to 2019. There is a significant increase in the cyber security market because cyber security solutions increase cyber speed and offers number of options to save data.Visit For TOC@The key drivers of this market include Government regulation on data privacy, increasing cyber threats and increasing number of data centers, which are the biggest revenue generators for Cyber Security Market. The key restraints to this market are lack of awareness and availability of pirated security software.Some of the key players in the Cyber Security Market are IBM International, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cisco, Lockheed Martin, McAfee, CA Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Trend Micro, Symantec and SOPHOS among others.Cyber security market offers various benefits such as improved security of cyberspaces, increased cyber-defense and faster response time to national crisis. These benefits of cyber security market automatically increase value of service to the end-users.About Us:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Trends in the Software Defined Radio (SDR) Market 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-235 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-235 www.futuremarketinsights.com With the evolution of digital electronics the radio market and communication technologies have evolved a lot. Though the concept of software defined radio (SDR) is not new, in the recent years, this market has undergone many changes in terms of technology and uses. SDR is a type of radio communication system where communication is carried out by the use of software on embedded system or personal computer instead of implementing hardware such as filters, amplifiers, mixers, detectors, demodulators and modulators, among others. SDR are capable of transmitting and receiving a wide spectrum of frequency. When the data from a source is converted into digital format, the remaining activities involved in radio communications are carried out with the help of software driven automated functions.SDR optimizes the tactical information system as embedded software used in SDR helps in the dynamic selection of the communication channel. The number of digital service users is increasing resulting into the improved adoption rate of software defined radio. Public safety, military and commercial use are the three major end-use applications of SDR systems. The demand for SDRs in expected to increase in coming years owing to efficiency and cost effectiveness offered by them. The industry has undergone transformation from analog to digital. Thus, the advance capabilities of digital radio are expected to drive the growth of SDR market. Multiple regulations govern the SDR market and this affects the market growth and trends. For instance, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) legally created a newer class for equipment of SDRs that had streamlined equipment authorization procedure.Request Free Report Sample@Military modernization programs being carried out by several countries such as South Korea, India, Germany, Japan and the U.S and the interoperability provided by SDR are major driving forces for SDR market. The issues faced in the integration of the various sub systems pose a challenge to the SDR market. Further, the development of software platforms, technologies and tools, which allow flexible specification, design and implementation of radio systems, is another significant challenge. Players in software defined radio market have potential opportunity in technical advancements of SDR technology such as resolving the problem of frequency congestion, wide frequency range (spectrum) and improved broadcasting services in future.Software defined radio market is segmented on the basis of type, end-user application and geography. On the basis of type of SDR, the market is segmented into ideal software defined radio, baseband software defined radio (BBSDR) and high frequency software defined radio (HFSDR). On the basis of end-user industry, SDR market is segmented into defense industry, telecom industry, manufacturing plants, public safety vendors and personal use. U.S. Canada, Japan, France, Brazil, South Korea, India, Germany and Italy have emerged as the leading countries for software defined radio market.Visit For TOC@Some of the key vendors in software defined radio market are BAE Systems PLC, Elbit Systems Ltd., IndraSistemas, L3 Communications Corporation, Raytheon Co., Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co KG, Thales Group, Viasat Incorporated, SAAB AB, Rockwell Collins, Northrop Grumman Corp., ITT Corporation, Harris Corporation and Datasoft Corporation, among others.About Us:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Medical Tourism Market Analysis and Value Forecast Snapshot by End-use Industry 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-249 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-249 www.futuremarketinsights.com Medical tourism is one of the most dynamically growing industries today. Considered to be the direct impact of globalisation of healthcare, medical tourism certainly exhibits strong growth potential globally. However, based on FMIs research, the market of medical tourism is expected to concentrate within most of the emerging economies of the world.As developing nations are increasingly heading toward technological advancement and quality services in the medical and healthcare sector, the global medical tourism market is anticipated to witness robust growth over 2014-2020, predominantly in Asian countries.The top treatments people travel abroad for, include cancer therapy, cardiovascular surgeries, orthopaedic treatments, dentistry, cosmetic surgeries, reproductive treatments, weight loss therapies, health screenings, and medical tests and scans. In severe cases, a sizeable patient population also seeks second opinion from specialist doctors out of their countries.Key DriversHigh treatment costs and lengthy waiting times for medical procedures, being the two major factors in driving medical tourism, are also supported by easier and cheaper international travel. While the U.K.s population prefers to travel abroad for bypassing long waits, patients from the U.S. travel outside for availing of treatments at cheaper costs.Medical excellence along with international accreditation are the key factors fuelling a majority of international patient flow, eventually boosting international medical tourism. Currently, over 600 medical departments and hospitals all over the globe are accredited by the U.S. Joint Commission International (JCI). The number of accredited facilities is projected to increase almost by 20% each year. This is another important driver associated with the market growth.Request Free Report Sample@Developing countries, with ever-evolving innovation and demonstrable achievements in medical research are estimated to accelerate the approaching medical tourist flow over the forecast period. Growing healthcare investments by various government and private sectors are also anticipated to further bolster the market growth.Key RestraintsHowever, medical tourists are highly prone to a wide variety of health risks after they return. The conditions may include TB, paratyphoid, amoebic dysentery, deep vein thrombosis, and more; usually caused due to poor post-operative care and inadequate rest. This could affect the market to some extent.Stringent documentation processes, issues related to visa approval, and limited insurance coverage are reportedly some of the most deterring factors for the global market.Global Medical Tourism Market: SegmentationFMIs research on the global medical tourism market offers a six-year forecast, segmenting the market on the basis of type of medical treatment and geography.On the basis of the type of treatment, the market is segmented into cosmetic treatment, cardiovascular treatment, fertility treatment, dental treatment, orthopaedic treatment, and other general treatments.On the basis of geography, the market is segmented into Asia pacific, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America, and South America.Regional OutlookSome of the prominent medical tourism centres across the globe include Thailand, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Israel, Brazil, Turkey, the Philippines, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Canada, and the U.S. According to Patients Beyond Borders, the global medical tourism market is currently growing at an impressive rate between 15% and 25%, and the flow of patients seeking cross-border treatment options will be the highest in Mexico. South and Southeast Asia are expected to dominate the global market in the near future.Visit For TOC@Based on MTAs recently released Medical Tourism Index, there are 41 countries participating in the global medical tourism market. While India broadly secures #1, Israel ranks #1 in the quality of services and facilities.India is renowned for specialist cardiac surgeries, while Singapore is a popular medical tourism destination owing to the expertise in complicated surgical procedures. Thailand has been a popular destination for medical tourism and millions of patients have travelled to Thailand since 2006. It is also the top cosmetic surgery centre globally.Malaysia offers state-of-the-art medical infrastructure and treatments by highly skilled medical professionals, making it another sought after centre among medical tourists. With economically affordable treatment options and favourable government initiatives, Malaysia is anticipated to acquire one of the top market positions in the global medical tourism market, during the forecast period.Key Players: Global Medical Tourism MarketSome of the top key players in the medical tourism industry include Asian Heart Institute (India), Apollo Hospitals (India), Prince Court Medical Centre (Malaysia), Gleneagles Hospital (Singapore), Min-Sheng General Hospital (Taiwan), Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital (Bangkok), Raffles Medical Group (Singapore), Clemenceau Medical Centre (Lebanon), Bangkok Hospital (Thailand), Bumrungrad International Hospital (Thailand), Fortis Healthcare Ltd. (India), Wooridul Spine Hospital (Korea), KPJ Healthcare Berhad (Malaysia), Anadolu Medical Centre (Turkey), and Asklepios Klinik Barmbek (Germany).While these players rank amongst they compete on the basis of exceptional service quality, optimum patient comfort, and relatively reasonable costs for various treatments. Several facilities are also undergoing mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and joint ventures for delivering enhanced medical care, thereby strengthening their market positions. A few prominent examples of highly productive collaborations include the collaboration between Bumrungrad International Hospital (Bangkok) and IBM Watson for better cancer care, and the collaboration of Anadolu Medical Centre (Turkey) with Johns Hopkins Medicine (U.S.).About Us:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Ventilation Equipment Market Growth, Forecast and Value Chain 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-852 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-852 www.futuremarketinsights.com Ventilation equipment are used in buildings to maintain the temperature and to improve the quality of indoor air. These equipment are utilized in both the exchange of air inside to outside and circulation within the building. Ventilation equipment are essential to maintain indoor quality of air in building. Different type of equipment available in ventilation equipment market includes heat recovery ventilation units, room air distribution units and fume hoods. Fume hoods are majorly used in kitchen and laboratories to remove heat, odor and smoke. Room air distribution units are used to mix the existing air with new conditioned air in homes and offices.Ventilation Equipment Market: Drivers & RestraintsConstruction industry is expected to register a substantial growth worldwide in upcoming years which is expected to be driver for the increasing demand for ventilation equipment market during the forecast period. Increasing urbanization supported by regulation for energy efficient building across the globe is likely to spur the growth of the ventilation equipment market.Request Free Report Sample@Ventilation Equipment Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, ventilation equipment market is broadly segmented as:Axial FansCentrifugal FansCross Flow FansDomestic Exhaust FansPower Roof FansRange HoodsOthersOn the basis of Application, the ventilation equipment market is segmented into:ResidentialNon ResidentialVentilation Equipment Market: OverviewRegulations for energy efficient building implement by government all over the world increased the demand for ventilation equipment as it helps in maintain the temperature in an area with less energy consumption. With growing environmental concerns and increasing awareness among the end users ventilation equipment market is expected to register a substantial growth during the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Ventilation Equipment Market: Key PlayersSome of the players in the ventilation equipment market we identified includes, Centrotec Sustainable AG, Greenheck Fan Corp., CaptiveAire Systems Inc, Twin City Fan Companies Ltd., Munters AB, Nortek Incorporated, Flakt Woods Group and Soler & Palau Group.About Us:Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Current and Projected Fruit Concentrates And Puree Market size in terms of volume and value 2014-2020 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-102 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-102 www.futuremarketinsights.com Fruit concentrates are primarily used in the beverages industry to manufacture fruit juices and nectars. Concentrates are also used as natural sweeteners and to produce natural food colours. Manufacturers use fruit concentrates in variety of food items so that customers perceive their products as natural. Fruit concentrates increase the nutrient level and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Consumption of fruit supplements on a routine basis increases the serum concentration of major vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin E. Consumption of fruit supplements or fruit juices helps individuals to achieve their food intake requirement. Purees are produced by grinding, pressing or blending vegetables or legumes into a paste or thick liquid. Fruit concentrates are derived from fruit juices after removing the water content. These and are usually thinner than puree and higher in sugar content. Products such as sauces, soups and drinks require puree as a base. Longer shelf life of puree and concentrates makes them suitable base products/ingredients for food processors and downstream manufacturer. Puree Fruit purees taste like fresh fruits and also offer similar benefits.Indias annual fruit production is approximately 94 Mn tonne, making it the second-largest producer of fruits in the world. India also produces a variety of fruits due to the varied climatic conditions in the region. Various growth factors for beverage industry includes using high quality concentrates and puree as consumers are relatively sensitive to the quality and taste of the product. Hence, purchasing fruit concentrates and puree from healthy and reliable sources increases the demand of the product. Another growth factor is product differentiation .Product differentiation can be done by advertising which can boost the companys sale by differentiating the companys product from others. Growing urbanization, increase in disposable income, demand for healthy and convenient food options and changing food consumption pattern are other growth drivers of the market. Some restraints in the industry include lack of infrastructure for cold storage and warehousing, inadequate infrastructure for quality control and testing, inefficient distribution channels, high inventory carrying cost, high cost associated with packaging and high preferences for fresh food and seasonal availability of raw materials.Request Free Report Sample@On the basis of application, the market can be segmented into beverages, dairy, frozen novelties, flavours, baked food, jams and spreads, soups, sauces, baby food and others. The fruit concentrates and puree market can be segmented geographically into North America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.The fruit concentrates and puree market has been segmented on the basis of geography, type, technology and application. On the basis of type, the market is segmented into fresh, fresh cut, frozen and dried. On the basis of type of fruit used, the major segments are pineapple, mango and banana. Among these, pineapple is the most popular fruit concentrate, accounting for 60% of the worlds fruit juice trade.The major markets for fruit concentrates and puree market are European Union, the Middle East and the U.S. Fruit juices, concentrates and purees are traded internationally and used by a variety of industries; mainly the beverages industry. Beverage industry is the largest end-user of concentrates and purees, producing numerous drinks, nectars and syrups. Mango concentrate is base ingredient for all drinks. Several industries use banana pulp to enhance the flavour of drinks, and it is relatively cheaper than mango. Other products that are traded internationally are acerola from Brazil, Cherimoya from Venezuela and Brazil, Lychee from Brazil and starfruit.Innovation is a major strategy companies adopt to increase market share and to meet the changing customer needs. Intense expenditure on advertising helps industries to create opportunities and increase market share. Social media platforms play a pivotal role in building brand image, helping in understanding consumer behaviour and providing personalized solutions. Recently, various companies have been entering into Joint Ventures (JVs) in order to expand product portfolio and increase market share. Companies which signed joint ventures are the U.S., the U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. The objective behind JVs is to ensure increased production of puree and fruit concentrates.Visit For TOC@Major players in the fruit concentrates and puree market are Oceanaa, DohlerGroup, Capricorn, and Mine Products among others.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: New Report Sheds Light on Global 2-Phenoxyethanol Industry 2016 Market Shares, Research and Analysis http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=812428&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-2-phenoxyethanol-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/category/chemicals-market-reports-57.htm In the current competitive era, it is imperative to keep a track of the latest policies adopted by key companies operating in any market. This can help vendors, stakeholders, and clients form better decisions about the market. The study on the global 2-Phenoxyethanol market provides key insights into the competitive background of the global 2-Phenoxyethanol market. The research report covers a comprehensive analysis of all key organizations and new entrants operating in the global 2-Phenoxyethanol market. New strategies adopted by key companies are briefly evaluated by the analysts in the report.The research lays its entire focus on the key local and international companies functioning in the global 2-Phenoxyethanol market. Every company is profiled with details such as production capacity, key areas of operation, new product developments, and revenue. Offerings of key companies are examined in the global 2-Phenoxyethanol market report. By using SWOT analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of key companies are measured in the report. Moreover, analysts also study the status of research and development activities of all companies operating in the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Along with the information about the key companies and their developments, the research report also measures the cost, price, revenue, and gross of the companies. Statistics related to key firms provided in the report help vendors and stakeholders understand their dominance. The report provides data about the feasibility of new projects in the global 2-Phenoxyethanol market. The report highlights key factors that can assist the new entrants in increasing their contribution.Details regarding new project investment are also given in the report by the analysts. The report is an ideal blueprint of the global 2-Phenoxyethanol market and provides the current scenario and future prospects of the market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsChapter One 2-Phenoxyethanol Industry Overview1.1 2-Phenoxyethanol Definition1.1.1 2-Phenoxyethanol Product Pictures & Product Specifications1.2 2-Phenoxyethanol Classification & ApplicationChapter Two 2-Phenoxyethanol Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 2-Phenoxyethanol Raw Material & Equipments Supplier and Price Analysis2.2 2-Phenoxyethanol Labor & Other Cost Analysis2.3 2-Phenoxyethanol Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.4 2-Phenoxyethanol Manufacturing Process AnalysisChapter Three 2-Phenoxyethanol Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers 2-Phenoxyethanol Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers 2-Phenoxyethanol Manufacturing Plants Distribution3.3 2016 Global Key Manufacturers 2-Phenoxyethanol R&D Status and Technology Sources3.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers 2-Phenoxyethanol Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four 2-Phenoxyethanol Production by Regions, Technology and Applications4.1 2010-2016 2-Phenoxyethanol Production by Regions(such as US, EU, China and Japan etc)4.2 2010-2016 2-Phenoxyethanol Production by Product Type & Application4.3 2010-2016 2-Phenoxyethanol Price by key Manufacturers4.4 2010-2016 US & China 2-Phenoxyethanol Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.5 2010-2016 Europe and Japan 2-Phenoxyethanol Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.6 2010-2016 US and China 2-Phenoxyethanol Supply Import Export Consumption4.7 2010-2016 Europe and Japan 2-Phenoxyethanol Supply Import Export ConsumptionChapter Five 2-Phenoxyethanol Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions5.1 2010-2016 2-Phenoxyethanol Sales by Regions (such as US, EU, China & Japan etc)5.2 2010-2016 2-Phenoxyethanol Sales Revenue by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.3 2010-2016 2-Phenoxyethanol Sales Price by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.4 2010-2016 2-Phenoxyethanol Demand by ApplicationsRead More @About QyresearchreportsQYresearchreports.com focuses on wind and solar energy markets.Apart from providing market research reports we are also capable of providing customized services comprising of primary interviews and in-depth market surveys.Our primary focus is to provide the best in class, in-depth and reliable market data related to Chinese markets.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Market Research on Conveyor Belts Market 2015 and Analysis to 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-319 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-319 www.futuremarketinsights.com Conveyor belts are primarily employed for carrying objects, from one point to another. The belts typically comprise two or more pulleys to rotate a belt in continuous circles. The material to be transported in placed on the belt and is carried to the end point on the belt. Commonly, two pulleys are employed for functioning of one conveyor belt one of the pulleys is rotated and it drives the other pulley while it is rotating. The belts are generally used for transportation in close distances, generally within a building.Conveyor belts may comprise one or multiple layers of materials such as rubber strapped around pulleys that rotate circularly and carry objects or materials along with the rotation. The pulleys are commonly called roller heads. Compounds of rubber are used in the production of belts; the compounds are plasticized to increase their efficiency. The belt has to be uniform and material thickness has to be consistent for better performance of conveyor belts. Single layered conveyor belts are preferred over multi layered belts owing to the risk of air inclusion in multi layered belts leading to lower efficiency and reduced life span of conveyor belts. Thickness of the belts differs depending on the end user and generally has thickness of nearly 20 mm. The belt is treated with heat to improve friction. Belts and roller heads are coated to improve wear and tear resistance and friction depending on the end user application. The belts find application in several industries including transportation of goods and machinery in industrial applications such as automobiles, electronics, construction, aviation, etc.Request Free Report Sample@Demand for conveyor belt is profoundly dependent on increase in industrial investments in a region. Therefore, macroeconomic factors such as GDP growth are among major growth drivers for conveyor belt market. Growth in infrastructure activities such as malls, airports, etc. is also among foremost factors driving growth for conveyor belt market. Economic turmoil is among major factors restraining demand for conveyor belts.Asia Pacific dominates the global demand for conveyor belts and the trend is anticipated to continue for a foreseeable future. Asia Pacific comprises two of the fastest emerging economies across the globe, India and China. Increasing industrial investment in India and China has been among foremost factor driving demand for conveyor belt in Asia Pacific. Therefore, Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing region for conveyor belts during the forecast period. North America is the second largest market for conveyor belts; moreover owing to market saturation in several end user industries in North America, the demand for conveyor belts is anticipated to exhibit a sluggish growth during the forecast period. Demand for conveyor belts in RoW region is anticipated to grow at a better pace in the near future primarily owing to developing economies in South America and Africa.Visit For TOC@Conveyor belt market is fragmented and dominated by regional players that constitute major portion of the global market share. The industry is characterized by high degree of competition and the players compete on their pricing strategy as well as product differentiation to manufacture customized conveyor belts for varied purpose at low cost. Some major manufacturers of conveyor belts include Bando Chemical Industries, Bridgestone, ContiTech AG, Goodyear, ContiTech AG, QingDao Rubber Six and Zhejiang Double Arrow among several others.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Research Report Covers Global Banks Mainframe Industry 2016 : Market Analysis and Key Opportunities http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=812430&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-banks-mainframe-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/category/machinery-market-reports-169.htm The global Banks Mainframe market has been consistently undergoing many changes. By highlighting these changes, the research study carries out a detailed analysis of the global Banks Mainframe market for the period from 2016 to 2021.In the report, research analysts have identified the attractiveness of the global Banks Mainframe market by using efficient analytical tools including investment return analysis, SWOT analysis, and market feasibility analysis. After discussing the current situation of the market, the study diverts its attention towards the future of the global Banks Mainframe market. Considering the results of the analysis, the future of this market is projected to be bright.The research done helps stakeholders and vendors get a complete unbiased picture of the global Banks Mainframe market. New project investments are also studied in the report. SWOT analysis, an industry-standard tool, is used to measure the feasibility of the new projects. Various crucial strategies used by key companies operating in the global Banks Mainframe market are discussed in the report.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The study evaluates the competitive landscape of the global Banks Mainframe market. For this, company profiles of leading players are listed in the report. The market is divided into various segments and sub-segments for a detailed analysis.The research studies the Banks Mainframe market by considering various products, specifications, and applications. The volume of production, pricing structure, and the revenue are the key factors considered in the report to determine the performance of the global Banks Mainframe market. The analysts have also evaluated the sales dynamics and production chain in the report.The report provides a blueprint of the global Banks Mainframe market for the market participants, vendors, stakeholders, and consultants, as it supports them in taking accurate decisions and using the appropriate approaches to gain a competitive edge.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsChapter One Banks Mainframe Industry Overview1.1 Banks Mainframe Definition1.1.1 Banks Mainframe Product Pictures & Product Specifications1.2 Banks Mainframe Classification & ApplicationChapter Two Banks Mainframe Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 Banks Mainframe Raw Material & Equipments Supplier and Price Analysis2.2 Banks Mainframe Labor & Other Cost Analysis2.3 Banks Mainframe Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.4 Banks Mainframe Manufacturing Process AnalysisChapter Three Banks Mainframe Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Banks Mainframe Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Banks Mainframe Manufacturing Plants Distribution3.3 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Banks Mainframe R&D Status and Technology Sources3.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Banks Mainframe Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four Banks Mainframe Production by Regions, Technology and Applications4.1 2010-2016 Banks Mainframe Production by Regions(such as US, EU, China and Japan etc)4.2 2010-2016 Banks Mainframe Production by Product Type & Application4.3 2010-2016 Banks Mainframe Price by key Manufacturers4.4 2010-2016 US & China Banks Mainframe Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.5 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Banks Mainframe Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.6 2010-2016 US and China Banks Mainframe Supply Import Export Consumption4.7 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Banks Mainframe Supply Import Export ConsumptionChapter Five Banks Mainframe Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions5.1 2010-2016 Banks Mainframe Sales by Regions (such as US, EU, China & Japan etc)5.2 2010-2016 Banks Mainframe Sales Revenue by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.3 2010-2016 Banks Mainframe Sales Price by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.4 2010-2016 Banks Mainframe Demand by ApplicationsRead More @About QyresearchreportsQYresearchreports.com focuses on wind and solar energy markets.Apart from providing market research reports we are also capable of providing customized services comprising of primary interviews and in-depth market surveys.Our primary focus is to provide the best in class, in-depth and reliable market data related to Chinese markets.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com China HDI PCB Sales Market Report 2016 - Industry Growth Prospects, Key Opportunities and Forecasts to 2021 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=812496&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/china-hdi-pcb-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/category/semiconductors-market-reports-63.htm This report on the China HDI PCB market carefully outlines the dynamics impacting the growth of the market. It is a qualitative and quantitative presentation of data encapsulating both the challenges and drivers for the market. The top segments and sub-segments leading in the market and their expected positions by the end of the forecast period have also been presented. Furthermore, the contribution of all the segments in the China HDI PCB market has been highlighted under this part of the study. Highlights on the key geographical segments of the market, with main focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the China HDI PCB market, across various regions have also been encapsulated.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The industrial outlook of all the components of the China HDI PCB market has been thoroughly analyzed in the report. The top regional segments of the market and their predicted growth by the end of the forecast period have been described in detail in the report. In addition, the regions that may lose some of their share have also been presented. Furthermore, an extensive understanding of the China HDI PCB market has been presented by highlighting the key developments that took place in the market in terms of technology. Furthermore, mergers and acquisitions as well as joint ventures initiated by the chief players dominant in the market are presented in the report.Next in the report is an analysis on the impact of the economic, geographical, consumer, and political trends on the development of the market. The key growth strategies of the established players have also been presented under the competitive landscape section of this report on the China HDI PCB market. These strategies will prove to be quite beneficial for prospective players looking for penetration into the China HDI PCB market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsChapter One HDI PCB Industry Overview1.1 HDI PCB Definition1.1.1 HDI PCB Product Pictures & Product Specifications1.2 HDI PCB Classification & ApplicationChapter Two HDI PCB Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 HDI PCB Raw Material & Equipments Supplier and Price Analysis2.2 HDI PCB Labor & Other Cost Analysis2.3 HDI PCB Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.4 HDI PCB Manufacturing Process AnalysisChapter Three HDI PCB Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 2016 China Key Manufacturers HDI PCB Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.2 2016 China Key Manufacturers HDI PCB Manufacturing Plants Distribution3.3 2016 China Key Manufacturers HDI PCB R&D Status and Technology Sources3.4 2016 China Key Manufacturers HDI PCB Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four HDI PCB Production by Regions, Technology and Applications4.1 2010-2016 HDI PCB Production by Regions(such as US, EU, China and Japan etc)4.2 2010-2016 HDI PCB Production by Product Type & Application4.3 2010-2016 HDI PCB Price by key Manufacturers4.4 2010-2016 US & China HDI PCB Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.5 2010-2016 Europe and Japan HDI PCB Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.6 2010-2016 US and China HDI PCB Supply Import Export Consumption4.7 2010-2016 Europe and Japan HDI PCB Supply Import Export ConsumptionChapter Five HDI PCB Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions5.1 2010-2016 HDI PCB Sales by Regions (such as US, EU, China & Japan etc)5.2 2010-2016 HDI PCB Sales Revenue by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.3 2010-2016 HDI PCB Sales Price by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.4 2010-2016 HDI PCB Demand by ApplicationsRead More @About QyresearchreportsQYresearchreports.com focuses on wind and solar energy markets.Apart from providing market research reports we are also capable of providing customized services comprising of primary interviews and in-depth market surveys.Our primary focus is to provide the best in class, in-depth and reliable market data related to Chinese markets.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Global Sugar and Sugar Substitute Market Segments By 2015 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/6850 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/6850 Sugar is a naturally occurring nutrient used for adding sweetness to various food items, it is a mixture of carbohydrates along with starch. It is one the important source of energy as it contains carbohydrate. Food additives that resemble the taste of sugar known as sugar substitute. Sugar substitutes are of two types, such as natural substitutes and artificial. The natural substitutes are sorbitol and xylitol and artificial substitutes are artificial sweeteners.The sugar and sugar substitutes market can be segmented by type as Brown sugar, granulated sugar; powdered-sugar and sugar substitutes. The market can also be segmented geographically into North America, APAC, Europe and RoW regions.Download Sample @The global market of sugar and sugar substitute is expected to grow with a single digit CAGR from 2015 to 2021.The major driver is the growing food industry, as it is major source of taste and along with food it has vast applications in medication. Some of the restraining factors are raw material cost which is consistently increasing and cost associated with supply chain is also rising. Moreover eating food that has high content of sugar causes diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Consumers are opting for sugar free products as a preventive measure. The growing heath concerns among the people more than 45 years is expected to have positive impact on the demand for sugar substitutes.The major distribution channels include supermarket/ hypermarkets, departmental stores, convenience stores and dollar stores among others.Request TOC (desk of content material), Figures and Tables of the report:Some of the key players in sugar industry are Agrana Beteiligungs AG, Andhra Sugars ltd, Bautou Huazi Industry Co Ltd and Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries Ltd among others.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Global Saccharin Market Report 2016 - Industry Growth Prospects, Key Opportunities and Forecasts to 2021 http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=812317&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-saccharin-market-research-report-2016.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/category/chemicals-market-reports-57.htm Currently, the global Saccharin market is undergoing a positive shift in terms of consumer demand. This report is an effort to better understand the global Saccharin market with respect to the changing trends and their impact on key companies. The study provides a comprehensive and competitive analysis of the global Saccharin market. This report acts as a valuable source of information for all participants from across the globe. The report analysts have studied the many developmental opportunities for all companies operating in the market.The research report helps key participants in the global Saccharin market better understand the changing trends in the market. By studying the changing trends in the global Saccharin market, vendors and stakeholders will be able to identify the leading companies.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The study examines the current and the historical performance of the global Saccharin market. The report makes future projections by considering factors such as the adoption of new technologies, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the market. It examines the global Saccharin market by considering factors such as the industry chain structure, import and export data, sales dynamics, and key areas of development.The report covers every aspect of the global Saccharin market right from the definition of Saccharin to the progress of every segment and sub-segment, and other information. Various regions where key companies operate are also mentioned in this report.The global Saccharin market is studied in the report by assessing the production chain, revenue generated by key companies, and the production capacity. The global Saccharin market is studied by considering various products that are available in the market, their production volume, pricing and the total revenue generated.Numerous analytical tools are used by the analysts to present a complete study on the global Saccharin market during the period between 2016 and 2021.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsChapter One Saccharin Industry Overview1.1 Saccharin Definition1.1.1 Saccharin Product Pictures & Product Specifications1.2 Saccharin Classification & ApplicationChapter Two Saccharin Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.1 Saccharin Raw Material & Equipments Supplier and Price Analysis2.2 Saccharin Labor & Other Cost Analysis2.3 Saccharin Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.4 Saccharin Manufacturing Process AnalysisChapter Three Saccharin Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Saccharin Capacity and Commercial Production Date3.2 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Saccharin Manufacturing Plants Distribution3.3 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Saccharin R&D Status and Technology Sources3.4 2016 Global Key Manufacturers Saccharin Raw Materials Sources AnalysisChapter Four Saccharin Production by Regions, Technology and Applications4.1 2010-2016 Saccharin Production by Regions(such as US, EU, China and Japan etc)4.2 2010-2016 Saccharin Production by Product Type & Application4.3 2010-2016 Saccharin Price by key Manufacturers4.4 2010-2016 US & China Saccharin Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.5 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Saccharin Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value Analysis4.6 2010-2016 US and China Saccharin Supply Import Export Consumption4.7 2010-2016 Europe and Japan Saccharin Supply Import Export ConsumptionChapter Five Saccharin Sales and Sales Revenue by Regions5.1 2010-2016 Saccharin Sales by Regions (such as US, EU, China & Japan etc)5.2 2010-2016 Saccharin Sales Revenue by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.3 2010-2016 Saccharin Sales Price by Regions (such as US EU China Japan etc)5.4 2010-2016 Saccharin Demand by ApplicationsRead More @About QyresearchreportsQYresearchreports.com focuses on wind and solar energy markets.Apart from providing market research reports we are also capable of providing customized services comprising of primary interviews and in-depth market surveys.Our primary focus is to provide the best in class, in-depth and reliable market data related to Chinese markets.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com OSS/BSS Market - Rising Demand for Converged Billing to Aid Implementation of OSS/BSS http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1402 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ossbss-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com According to Transparency Market Research, the global OSS/BSS market is dominated by Ericsson, Accenture, and Amdocs, who collectively accounted for 27.9% of the market in 2012. Beyond these three, however, the next seven companies collectively accounted for around 22% of the market, and the degree of fragmentation is even higher beyond the top ten key players. Overall, the global OSS/BSS market is moderately fragmented and includes several small-scale producers.Industry Research & Development:Growth of Telecommunications Industry, Smartphones Market Beneficial for OSS/BSS MarketThe prime driver for the global OSS/BSS industry is the increasing demand for convergent billing/charging. Thanks to the diversification of the global telecommunications industry, communication service providers have begun to offer voice, data, multimedia, mobile commerce, and several other types of telecommunications services. The convenience of getting all the services from the same provider has driven the demand for convergent billing, as it is easier to monitor for both the consumer and the service provider.Operations and business support systems allow telecom providers to come up with algorithms to try to cater to the needs of each consumer, based on their purchasing patterns. OSS/BSS also help providers prepare accurate statistics about their own revenue earnings, and provide improved customer care due to the easy availability of the integrated transaction data.Report:The diversification of the telecom industry and the consequent need for convergent billing arise from the rapid growth of the telecommunications industry in recent years. Increasing disposable incomes, easy availability of a plethora of telecom devices due to the proliferation of online as well as brick-and-mortar distribution outlets, and the innovation of low-cost and feature-packed smartphones have given the telecom industry a tremendous boost over the last decade. The Asia Pacific telecom industry, in particular, is showing no signs of slowing down, with the rampant urbanization in countries such as China and India illustrating the magnitude of the opportunity for OSS/BSS industry players in the coming years.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Mobile EMV POS Terminals Market to Witness Lucrative Opportunities across Emerging Nations of APAC http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/800347 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/800347 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressreleases http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketresearchreports-biz MarketResearchReports.biz has announced the addition of a new report to its repository, which presents insights into the various factors influencing the global EMV POS terminals market. The report is titled Global Mobile EMV POS Terminals Market 2016-2020, and is available on the company website for sale. It forecasts the global mobile EMV POS terminals market to exhibit an impressive CAGR of about 18% between 2016 and 2020.View Full Report at:Compiled with the aim of updating stakeholders regarding the recent developments in the market, the report analyzes in detail the growth drivers and restraints impacting the markets trajectory. Currently, the demand for contactless payments systems is surging as users find them more convenient to make payments faster. This is a key factor boosting the uptake of the mobile EMV and POS terminals across the world.Regionally, the global EMV and POS market has been segmented into the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. Among these regions, APAC is likely to hold more than 51% of the global market by the end of 2020. The region is thus expected to continue dominating the global mobile EMV POS terminals market through the course of the forecast period. The growth witnessed in the region will in turn result in the increased preference for non-cash payment methods.The rising purchasing power of consumers, growing number of retail outlets, and the presence of many unorganized retailers will aid the expansion of the mobile EMV and POS terminals market in the APAC. Moreover, the increasing foreign direct investments in emerging nations such as India will also augur well for the APAC market. In developing economies, the enterprises operating in the mobile EMV POS terminals market will gain from the increasing investment in the hospitality and retail sectors.For Sample Copy, click here:The global EMV POS market is currently witnessing a paradigm shift from mature markets in Europe to potential opportunities in the US, China, Brazil, and India. Due to the lucrative opportunities exhibited by developing economies, the leading vendors operating in the global market are currently seeking to strengthen their footprint across Brazil, China, and India. Besides these, the companies are also looking to capitalize on the potential opportunities in South America and Southeast Asia.Consumers across developing economies primarily exhibit demand for low cost payment solutions. Their emphasis on product features, brand, and enhancements is comparatively lower than in matured markets. As a result, enterprises operating in these countries focus less on product differentiation and more on staying ahead of their competitors. This has rendered the vendor landscape in the emerging economies highly competitive. In order to gain competitive advantage, mergers and acquisitions have become popular strategies among leading enterprises operating across developing markets for mobile EMV and POS terminals. Large vendors are thus looking to acquire small and medium sized companies to gain a stronger hold in the market.To study the competition prevailing in the global mobile EMV POS terminals market, the report also profiles a few of the leading enterprises operating therein. Ingenico, SZZT, PAX Technology, and Verifone have been identified as the key vendors in the market. Some of the other companies profiled in the report are ATOS Worldline, Equinox Payments, NCR, CyberNet, First Data, and Spire Payments.Browse Latest Industry Press Release at:MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports.MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients.We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated researchreports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and typesof companies spanning across various industries.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFollow us on LinkedIn: Hospital Stretchers Market: Segment and Analysis up to 2015 2021 http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/hospital-stretchers-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/hospital-stretchers-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/hospital-stretchers-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/prebook/su/hospital-stretchers-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com Hospital stretchers are medical equipment designed especially to transport patients safely within or outside a healthcare center. Hospital stretchers are basically utilized in emergency cases such as rescue services during accidents and in general medical services. Apart from patient transportation, hospital stretchers are also used for several specialized functions such as hospital beds, surgical platforms and as inspection or examination desk. The majority of the stretcher are simple, lightweight and made up of metal or other synthetic materials.Get a copy of free Sample Report @Hospital stretcher is a well-established market across the globe. Rising incidences of chronic disease are the prime factor to stimulate the growth of hospital stretchers market. Additionally, increasing geriatric population is expected to fuel the growth of this market in the near future. Furthermore, the rise in demand for stretchers that are technically advanced and increasing surgical procedures is predicted to fuel the hospital stretchers market. However, high cost associated with specialized stretchers can affect the hospital stretchers market.The hospital stretchers market is segmented on the basis of product types, applications, technology, and geography. On the basis of product types, the market is divided into fixed height, adjustable, bariatric, and radiographic and other types of stretchers. Depending on technology, hospital stretchers can be segmented into two types namely, motorized and non-motorized. Presently, the non-motorized hospital stretchers segment dominates this market. This segment is developing at a moderate rate due to declining demand for manual stretchers from developed countries. Still, the non-motorized hospital stretchers segment is expected to dominate the overall market in terms of sales as they are very affordable compared to motorized stretchers. Further, intra-hospital transport, emergency department, day care surgery department, pediatric surgery department, and radiology department hospital stretchers are different key applications of this market.Know more before buying this report @Hospital stretchers market is undergoing constant development and would keep up this trend in the near future. North America was the largest market for hospital stretchers in 2015 which was mainly contributed by a rise in geriatric population, increased the prevalence of chronic diseases like obesity, gastrointestinal problems, and osteoporosis. Europe is second leading market for hospital stretchers due to increasing aging population. Promising medical tourism and low-cost surgical procedure in the developing countries of Asia-Pacific is expected to drive the hospital stretchers market. Large population and increasing road accidents in developing countries such as India and China are the other major drivers for hospital stretchers market in Asia Pacific region.Industry participants in the market place are focusing on continuous technological advancements. Some key players of the hospital stretchers market are Hill-Rom, Stryker, ArjoHuntleigh, Anetic Aid, BI Healthcare, GF Health Products, Kenmark and BMB Medical.Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @Global Hospital Stretchers Market: Product Type Segment AnalysisFixed-Height StretchersAdjustable StretchersBariatric StretchersRadiographic StretchersOthersGlobal Hospital Stretchers Market: Technology Segment AnalysisNon-motorizedMotorizedGlobal Hospital Stretchers Market: Application Segment AnalysisIntra-hospital transportEmergency DepartmentDay Care Surgery DepartmentPediatric Surgery DepartmentRadiology DepartmentGlobal Hospital Stretcher Market: Region Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaPurchase a direct copy of report with TOC @About Us:Zion Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. Zion Market Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading industry and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite: Oxidative Stress Assays Market: Segment and Analysis up to 2015 2021 http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/oxidative-stress-assay-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/oxidative-stress-assay-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/oxidative-stress-assay-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com/prebook/su/oxidative-stress-assay-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com Oxidative stress assays is a method for detecting and screening markers and reagents of oxidative stress in cells. Key applications areas of oxidative stress assays include clinical laboratories and bio production, pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations (CRO) and biotechnological companies. Assays detect generalized oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione levels, fluorescent proteinbased redox sensors, and lipid per oxidation.Get a copy of free Sample Report @Rapid growth in the biopharmaceutical industry and R&D investments in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are the key driving factor of the oxidative stress assays market. Other major driving factors are technological advancements like high-content screening for drug discovery, and government financial support for life science research. However, growing prices of instrument, lack of awareness, emerging technologies and lack of skilled professions are the major restraints of global oxidative stress assays market. Moreover, emerging markets and technological advancements show the tremendous opportunities for growth in the near future.The report includes detailed competitive landscape of the global oxidative stress assays market and an analysis of Porters five forces model for the oxidative stress assays market has also been included. It includes company market share analysis, product portfolio of the major industry participants. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The report provides detailed segmentation of the oxidative stress assays market based on product, end-users, technologies, test type and region segment. Consumables and instruments is the product segment of oxidative stress assays market. Consumables segment is the largest product of the oxidative stress assays market and projected to grow at moderate rate in the years to come.Know more before buying this report @Based on end user the market is segmented as clinical laboratories, biotechnological companies, pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations (CRO).Based on test type, the oxidative stress assays market is categorized into reactive oxygen species (ROS)-based assays, enzyme-based assays, antioxidant capacity assays, protein-based assays and lipid-based assays. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa), chromatography, microscopy and label-free detection technology are the technology segments of oxidative stress assays market. The ELISA is expected to emerge as leading technology segment of oxidative stress assays market. Label-free Detection Technology is estimated to develop at the highest growth rate during the next few years.The study provides the comprehensive perspective on the oxidative stress assays market growth, throughout the forecast period in terms of revenue (in USD Million), across different region including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil. Out of all the regional segments of the global market, North America and Europe is the dominant share in the overall oxidative stress assays market across the globe.Some of the key player operative in global oxidative stress assays market includes Abcam PLC, Merck and Co. Inc., Cell Biolabs Inc., Oxford Biomedical Research, BioVision, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, QIAGEN N.V., AMS Biotechnology and Promega Corporation.Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @This report segments the global oxidative stress assays market as follows:Global Oxidative Stress Assays Market: Product Segment AnalysisConsumablesInstrumentsGlobal Oxidative Stress Assays Market: Test Type Segment AnalysisReactive Oxygen Species (ROS)-Based AssaysEnzyme-Based AssaysProtein-Based AssaysLipid-Based AssaysAntioxidant Capacity AssaysGlobal Oxidative Stress Assays Market: End-Users Segment AnalysisPharmaceutical CompaniesBiotechnology CompaniesClinical LaboratoriesContract Research Organizations (CROs)Global Oxidative Stress Assays Market: Technology Segment AnalysisEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)ChromatographyMicroscopyLabel-Free Detection TechnologyGlobal Oxidative Stress Assays Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia-PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaPurchase a direct copy of report with TOC @About Us:Zion Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. Zion Market Research is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading industry and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite: Eyewear market growth is driven by rising old population and growing visual deficiencies forecast 7 years http://bit.ly/2cs1Sgc http://bit.ly/2cN0rvv https://gminsights.wordpress.com http://www.fractovia.org https://www.gminsights.com Global Eyewear Market size contribution is predicted to register CAGR of 7% during forecast timeline and surpass a revenue of $166 billion by end of 2022. Increasing population along with growing visual deficiencies like myopia, presbyopia, hyperopia and astigmatism are projected to promote eyewear industry trends during forecast timeline.Growing use of corrective eyewear among people to correct refractive faults is projected to fuel industry demand for the products. Furthermore, increasing consciousness among people about significance of eye checkups is projected to enhance industry expansion. Rising purchasing power is predicted to favorably affect industry demand in future. Strong piano sunglasses industry demand is projected to propel contact lens acceptance and minimize dependence on spectacles. Further, recurring renewal of lenses due to constantly changing prescriptions is predicted to favorably affect the demand for eyewear during forecast timeline.Get a Sample Copy of this Report:Growing geriatric population is also a significant aspect for global eyewear industry growth. Further, reasonable costs, modality and user convenience offered by eyewear items are anticipated to develop large scale industry expansion opportunities by end of forecast timeline.However, increasing acceptance of permanent vision correction methods like photorefractive keratectomy and laser assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) are forecast to negatively affect industry demand for the products.Eyewear Market Product TrendsGlobal eyewear industry is segmented into various products like Contact lenses, Plano sunglasses and Spectacles.Contact lenses segment is sub-segmented into soft lenses, rigid gas permeable lenses and hybrid lenses. This segment contributed more than 31% of total shipments for 2014 due to growing demand for regular disposable lenses and cosmetic lenses.Spectacles segment is sub-segmented into spectacle frames and spectacle lens. It contributed greater than three-fourths of total revenue for 2014.Plano sunglasses segment is further sub-segmented on basis of material and product. Depending upon the material, it can be segregated into polyurethane, CR-39 and polycarbonate. Based on the product, it can be sub-segmented into polarized as well as non-polarized sunglasses. The growth in the segment can be credited growing customer choice and increasing adoption of corrective surgical operation.Request for customization:Eyewear Market Regional TrendsGlobal eyewear market is segmented into Latin America, APAC, North America, MEA and Europe. North America eyewear market share was more than 31% of the global industry share in terms of revenue and size. Increase in growth of North American industry can be credited to growing demand for Plano sunglasses coupled with rising awareness about eye examination around the region.APAC eyewear industry size was more than 20.1% for 2014 in terms of revenue. Fast growing wearer base is projected to promote use of the products during forecast timeline. Europe eyewear market contributed more than 35.1% of the overall revenue for 2014, mainly owing to high selling costs as well as presence of key industry players in the region. Latin America, dominated by Brazil eyewear industry share is projected to experience consistent gains in future.Eyewear Market Competitive TrendsKey industry participants profiled in the report include De Rigo SpA, Carl Zeiss AG, Silhouette International, Chemilens, Fielmann AG, Bausch & Lomb Incorporation, Cooper Vision, Marchon Eyewear, Hoya Corporation, Safilo Group S.p.A., Charmant Group, Alcon, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Marcolin Eyewear, Daemyung Optical CO, QSpex Technologies Incorporation, Vision-Ease Lens Incorporation, Luxottica Group S.p.A., Rodenstock GmbH, Essilor International S.A and Seiko Optical Products Company Limited.Read our insightful industry blogs:Contact Us:Jack DavisCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105Ocean View, Delaware